《Path of Dragons - A LitRPG Apocalypse (BOOK 1 STUBBING APRIL 4)》 Return of the Art Chapter Let''s start with the first one, which is the only piece that I''ve had commissioned yet. It''s the first in a series of six, and I intend to post the others as the artist (Rashed AlAroka) finishes them. Anyway, here''s Elijah: This one is also by Rashed Al Aroka, and it depicts Elijah''s draconid form: The third piece by Rashed Al Aroka. It''s meant to portray Elijah''s guardian form: Now, we have another one by Rashed. This one is, of course, Carmen: The rest of these are AI art. Some of them, I''ve created for marketing. Others were created by fans. Either way, I like them all. So, here we go: Elijah Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Alyssa: Carmen: Draconid Form: Nerthus: Cabbot: The Panther: Voxx: Colt: Roman: Sara the Dragon: 1-1. Waiting for the End to Come Elijah Hart ran a hand over his hairless head as he tried to ignore the curious or disgusted glances originating with the plane¡¯s other passengers. His lack of hair wasn¡¯t really the issue ¨C not by itself, at least. Instead, the real problem was the lack of eyebrows; he¡¯d never really considered how much the presence of those two short tufts of hair affected the way someone looked. Not until he¡¯d lost his, that is. In addition to the alien absence of hair on his brow, he was also afflicted with sunken cheeks, red-rimmed eyes, and a pallid complexion. One look, and anyone who knew anything would recognize precisely what he was. He sighed, drinking in the stale, antiseptic atmosphere. He hated flying, but not because he was terrified of crashing. No ¨C it was more the act itself. The sudden jumps and jerks, the steady drone of the engines, the cramped confines of the cabin ¨C it all added up to a particularly uncomfortable experience that, if he had any choice in the matter, he would have avoided. But some things were more important than the avoidance of discomfort. ¡°Elijah!¡± came his sister¡¯s voice, jerking his attention back to the tablet in his lap. ¡°Shit. Sorry,¡± he mumbled, locking his eyes on the screen. ¡°Chemo-brain, I guess.¡± Alyssa shook her head, pushing a lock of blonde hair back behind her ear before saying, ¡°I wish you would have waited for me to come pick you up.¡± Before Elijah had been diagnosed with cancer and forced to undergo the horrors of radiation and chemotherapy, he and his sister had looked strikingly similar. Now, though, when Elijah looked at his sister¡¯s sandy blonde hair and clear skin, he couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of all he¡¯d lost. Of everything he¡¯d yet to lose. ¡°It would¡¯ve just been a waste of money,¡± Elijah said with a tired sigh. ¡°There¡¯s no point in you paying for a flight all the way out to the island when I¡¯m perfectly capable of sitting in a plane by myself for a few hours.¡± Of course, Elijah didn¡¯t mention the half-dozen times he¡¯d had to race ¨C or hobble, given his distinct lack of energy ¨C to the plane¡¯s lavatory to vomit. The treatments had torn him apart, leaving him a shell of his former self. And though he¡¯d recently finished his last round of chemotherapy, he still hadn¡¯t had time to completely recover. And he never would, either. What the treatment hadn¡¯t destroyed, the disease itself had. Soon, it would all be over. Or that¡¯s what the doctors had said, at least. It was the reason he¡¯d left his home in Hawai¡¯i to fly back to Seattle where he¡¯d grown up. He didn¡¯t want to spend what little time he had left drugged out of his mind in hospice care. Instead, he wanted to spend it with the only family he had left ¨C his sister, her wife, and their son. Still, just because he preferred going home to lying in a hospital bed didn¡¯t mean he was happy with his circumstances. As much as he wanted to see Alyssa and her family, the last thing he wanted was for them to see him wither away and succumb to cancer. He¡¯d have preferred to be remembered as he¡¯d been ¨C vibrant and alive. Not the husk he had become. ¡°Elijah, I ¨C¡± The tablet stuttered, then went dark. At the same time, the lights in the plane¡¯s cabin went the same way, leaving the passengers mired in complete darkness. Someone screamed. Others gasped. Most of the reaction was confined to a low murmur, though. There was no point in panicking. Elijah felt something dig into his forearm, and it only took him a moment to realize that the claw-like fingernails belonged to the woman next to him. He was just about to say something comforting, but his words were cut off when his stomach jumped into his throat as the plane dropped. There were more screams. Elijah¡¯s heart pounded, and his stomach clenched. And then he realized what was wrong. The hum of the plane¡¯s engines had ceased when his tablet stopped working. Had they been struck by lightning? Or was there some other mechanical issue? He didn¡¯t know enough about planes to figure it out. Instead, as was the case with everyone else on the plane, the panic had truly begun to grip him. His fingers wrapped around the armrest, squeezing the hard plastic with every ounce of his meager Strength. Elijah had long since come to terms with his own mortality. Death was inevitable. He would just have to confront it a little earlier than most. And though he¡¯d spent a few weeks after his diagnosis railing against his own fate, questioning why he¡¯d been chosen to die an early death, he¡¯d slowly made peace with leaving the world behind. After all, what choice did he have? It was coming for him, regardless of how he felt. Whether it was in a few more weeks or a scant few minutes shouldn¡¯t have mattered all that much to him. But it did. With everyone else panicking all around him, Elijah couldn¡¯t stop himself from reacting similarly. It was simple human nature at work, and as the plane continued to plummet, his heart raced out of control. He murmured, ¡°It¡¯s going to be fine. These planes can glide for miles without power. It¡¯s going to be okay.¡± ¡°Y-you think so?¡± asked the woman beside him, her voice small, quiet, and terrified. Elijah couldn¡¯t see her ¨C it was night, and with the plane¡¯s lights having stopped working, he was almost entirely blind. Still, he remembered her being an attractive redhead, and she spoke with an Irish accent. She¡¯d introduced herself out of politeness, but after a four-hour flight, most of which Elijah spent mired in self-pity, he couldn¡¯t remember her name. He wanted to say it was ¡°Gwen¡± or something like that, though that might¡¯ve been completely wrong. ¡°I think ¨C¡± Elijah never got the chance to finish his statement because, only a moment later, something wholly unexpected flashed before his eyes. A disembodied block of text appeared:
Your planet (Earth) has been touched by the World Tree. Scanning¡­
Elijah blinked, thinking that he¡¯d suddenly gone crazy. Perhaps he¡¯d hit his head and hadn¡¯t realized it. ¡°What the¡­¡± He never finished that question either, because a moment later, a different message replaced the first:
Scan complete. Grade: Unranked.
¡°What is going on?¡± demanded the redheaded woman. ¡°What does this mean? Who¡¯s doing this?¡± Elijah had no idea how to answer that, so he remained silent. Regardless, the fact that she¡¯d seen the messages as well meant that he wasn¡¯t going crazy. Unless her response was part of his delusion. Either way, he didn¡¯t have much time to offer any words of comfort because a third notification came closely on the heels of the second:
Due to lack of energy and mass, planet (Earth) will be adjusted to multiversal standard. Selective randomization of terrain will occur as mass increases. Standby for insertion of planetary core¡­
None of it made any sense to Elijah, but the information never had the opportunity to marinate because, only a second later, the world shifted. The already pitch-black cabin somehow grew darker, and suddenly, Elijah felt more alone than he ever had in his entire life. He couldn¡¯t feel anything. Not the plane¡¯s sharp descent. Not the fingernails digging into his forearm. Not the ever-present weakness and nagging nausea he¡¯d felt since the night after he¡¯d first started his treatments. Nothing. Nor were his other senses working properly. The sounds of panicking passengers and the buffeting winds were gone. No antiseptic ozone smell assaulted his nose. There was nothing. Instead, he felt as if he was floating in an absolute void. Fortunately, that disconcerting lack of sensory input only lasted for a couple of instants before he was distracted by yet another disembodied block of text:
Planet (Earth) has been accepted for integration into the Cua¡¯ti Sector. Indigenous population given access to the System.
Elijah tried to shake his head, but without any senses, he wasn¡¯t sure if it did any good. In fact, he wasn¡¯t even sure if he had a body in that strange void. He did his best to ignore the existential terror that came with that thought, distracting himself with the information conveyed by the blocks of text. It didn¡¯t make any sense to him, but he also couldn¡¯t deny that it was happening. After all, the woman sitting next to him on the plane had seen the odd notifications as well. Unless it was all a hallucination brought upon by the combination of his disease and the treatments he¡¯d undergone, it was all really happening. And the implications were terrifying. Specifically, the parts about randomization of terrain. His mind jumped to scenes from various disaster movies he¡¯d seen, and he wondered if the entire world was experiencing a great earthquake or some other massive upheaval. If that was the case, how many were already dead? How many would die? Before he could wind himself up even further, Elijah was confronted with yet another notification:
Scanning human (Elijah Hart] for aspects. [Nature] aspect found. [Martial] aspect found. [Scholar] aspect found. Generating class choices¡­ This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
It didn¡¯t take much internal investigation for those so-called aspects to make sense to Elijah. The [Nature] aspect was probably the most fitting, given that, until he¡¯d been diagnosed with cancer, he had spent his adult life working as a marine biologist. Moreover, he had always felt a certain connection with nature that he¡¯d never been capable of putting into words. Ever since he was a kid, he¡¯d always felt more at home in the wilderness than surrounded by so-called civilization. The same could be said for the [Scholar] aspect, which probably came from his years in college and his career as a scientist. The incredible amount of study required to attain a doctorate had clearly left its mark on him. Since then, his work as a marine biologist had only thrust him deeper into the life of an academic, albeit one who spent more time in the field than in a laboratory. Finally, he considered the [Martial] aspect. That probably made even more sense than the one awarded for his time stuck in the trappings of academia. After all, Elijah had spent much of his youth playing one sport or another. He wasn¡¯t always the best at any of them, but he was naturally agile, and what he lacked in sheer physical size, he made up for in Dexterity. However, his first love had always been boxing. He¡¯d never been an elite fighter, but that didn¡¯t matter; he loved the sport, and as a teenager, most days saw him down at the gym. In college, he hadn¡¯t had time to continue boxing, but he¡¯d picked it back up in the years since getting his doctorate. He didn¡¯t train as hard as he once had, but he still put in plenty of time. To see that acknowledged by the so-called System ¨C whatever it really was ¨C was more than a little gratifying. Of course, Elijah couldn¡¯t be entirely certain any of it was even real. It could have just been a hallucination. Or perhaps he was already dead, and the whole thing was the result of his last few neurons flashing out of control. In either case, he wasn¡¯t given enough time to get into those sorts of existential questions. Instead, he focused on the latest notification to appear before him:
You have been awarded four choices of class archetypes. Choose well, because this decision will forever affect your path.
¡°Well, that¡¯s not ominous at all¡­¡± He felt certain that he¡¯d spoken, but he couldn¡¯t actually hear the words. They might¡¯ve just been thoughts, for all he could tell. As soon as he¡¯d finished reading the last notification, another appeared:
Archetype: Warrior A versatile melee archetype, proficient with most weaponry. Features bonuses to durability, Strength, and learning martial techniques. Required Aspect: [Martial] Sample Class Choices: {Berserker}, {Guardian}, {Knight}, {Brawler}, {Gladiator} First Skill: Heavy Strikes Compatibility: 51%
The next was:
Archetype: Researcher Research is the root of all academic pursuits. Features bonuses to memory, calculation speeds, and observation. Required Aspect: [Scholar] Sample Class Choices: {Librarian}, {Tradesman (various)}, {Philosopher}, {Doctor} First Ability: Knowledge Repository Compatibility: 63%
Elijah¡¯s eyes found the third option:
Archetype: Druid The druid is a defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, Ethera density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Scholar], [Nature] Sample Class Choices: {Bard}, {Preserver}, {Fury} First Spell: Touch of Nature Compatibility: 94%
¡°It feels like a video game,¡± he mumbled to himself. He didn¡¯t even think about the fact that the words were lost to the void.
Archetype: Ranger The ranger is a hybrid between the druid and warrior archetypes, with strong ties to both the martial and natural paths. Gives up true mastery of either path in favor of versatility. Features bonuses to durability, Regeneration, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Nature], [Martial] Sample Class Choices: {Predator}, {Tamer}, {Trapper} First Skill: Natural Instincts Compatibility: 89%
So, his choices were between becoming a Warrior, Scholar, Druid, or Ranger. The first seemed pretty self-explanatory, and if Elijah was reading the description correctly, it would eventually branch off into something more specialized. Given his background as a boxer, he was particularly intrigued by the {Brawler} options. However, he was a little thrown off by the seemingly low compatibility of the archetype. The second choice, Researcher, was at first easy to dismiss, but the archetype¡¯s descriptions had hinted that magic was now going to be a real thing. As crazy as that sounded, it was much easier to accept when he was floating in a void, deprived of all senses, and seeing a bunch of notification boxes about classes, archetypes, and the randomization of Earth¡¯s terrain. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the messages concerning Earth¡¯s core and increasing the planet¡¯s mass. So, with the assumption that magic was real, what sort of secrets could a magical Researcher unlock? The archetype had also mentioned {Tradesman (Various)} as class choices that branched off from the Researcher archetype. And Elijah had a suspicion that the System wasn¡¯t talking about electricians or plumbers. If his experiences in a materialistic society were anything to go by, that might be a route to wealth or importance. Not that either of those things really interested Elijah. So long as he was comfortable and doing something about which he could be passionate, he was happy enough. Even so, the Researcher was worthy of consideration, and he couldn¡¯t dismiss that archetype out of hand. Next, he considered the third option ¨C the Druid archetype. He really didn¡¯t know what such a path might entail, but by the required aspects, he could surmise that it might be some sort of natural wizard. Or a scholar focused on the study of the natural world. A plant mage, perhaps. Whatever the case, he didn¡¯t know enough about it to choose it. After all, if the notifications were to be expected, these decisions were permanent. And while he didn¡¯t necessarily expect to survive much longer ¨C even in the calm void, the plane¡¯s descent loomed large in his mind, and he still had terminal cancer to worry about ¨C he would need to make a rational choice. And without further information, there was no way he could choose the Druid archetype. For the first time in his life, Elijah wished he¡¯d spent his youth playing video games like his friends and classmates. However, he¡¯d been too busy with sports ¨C or with his family¡¯s weekend camping trips. That hadn¡¯t left much time for more than the occasional game, but even that was enough to highlight the similarities between this System and some of the rules that governed roleplaying games. Perhaps if he¡¯d spent more time with them, he¡¯d be better prepared to make appropriate choices. Finally, he moved to the last option ¨C the Ranger. It was a blend of the Warrior and Druid archetypes, which made the choice seem very appealing. However, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think that there should be some sort of drawbacks to the class. He found himself focusing on the description, which said it gave up true mastery in favor of versatility. That planted a seed of doubt. For a long time, Elijah stared at the descriptions, torn between his choices. Indecisiveness strangled his mind, and he found himself incapable of making a decision. It would have been different if he¡¯d had all the information, but those paltry archetype descriptions highlighted just how ignorant he was. Suddenly, another flash of text interrupted his internal debate:
Insertion of planet core successful. Due to proximity to high energy sectors, planet¡¯s (Earth) mass and energy adjusted. Randomization of terrain complete. New grade: C
Next, the void suddenly disappeared, replaced by the chaos of the plummeting plane. A feminine voice mumbled, ¡°Oh, God¡­what is going on?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah answered, his own voice quivering with fear. He still hadn¡¯t made a choice, so he turned his attention inward. When he did, he saw the same options laid out before him. Warrior. Scholar. Druid. Or Ranger. They all had their benefits, and he was certain that they would all have deficiencies, too. Meanwhile, the plane found some stability, and it leveled off. The shaking stopped, and Elijah heard more than a few sighs of relief. It was all temporary, Elijah knew. They¡¯d been an hour and a half away from Seattle when everything went dark, which meant that they were still hundreds of miles out to sea. He had no idea how far a plane could glide, but he suspected it wouldn¡¯t be that far. Someone shouted over the din of tense murmuring, ¡°Okay, everyone ¨C please remain calm. I¡¯ve spoken to the pilot, and he says everything is going to be okay. We¡¯ve lost power, but he thinks ¨C¡± Just then, something slammed into the plane, ripping a giant gash in the fuselage. Everyone screamed, and Elijah caught sight of a huge shadow with a hint of feathers before the plane resumed its sharp descent. Elijah¡¯s heart once again jumped into his throat as the plane dropped like a rock. A few unlucky passengers had been torn from their seats and sucked out into the dark night. The wind whipped by, adding to the panic, and Elijah clutched his armrests with all the Strength he could muster. It wasn¡¯t much. Another furious impact tore yet another gaping hole in the plane, and Elijah was close enough to see one of the wings cartwheeling off into the air. Nearby passengers were ripped free, and they disappeared into the darkness a moment later. That was when it hit him. He was about to die. They all were. And there was nothing anyone could do about it. If the crash didn¡¯t get them, then whatever had ripped the plane apart would pick up the slack. The introduction of the System had given a brief glimmer of hope, but reality had come crashing back in a hurry. He was already dead. Between the cancer, the impending crash, and the creature outside, he knew his remaining time was numbered in seconds. That expectation was proved true when, a moment after that thought flitted across his brain, the sound of screeching metal filled his ears as the creature tore into the plane once again. This time, Elijah was one of the unlucky ones who¡¯d been close enough to be thrown free of the plane, and an instant of chaos later, he found himself falling through the air. The starry night twinkled above him as he watched a monstrous, bird-like shape rip into the plane and tear it to pieces. An explosion erupted as something ignited, and Elijah got a brief glimpse of the monster. It was a bird, though its size beggared comprehension. Its wingspan was comparable to the plane¡¯s, and it was equipped with talons the size of an economy car. Elijah didn¡¯t have the chance to see much more before his fall abruptly ended with a splash and unconsciousness brutally smothered his awareness. His final thought before he completely surrendered was that he still hadn¡¯t chosen an archetype. Perhaps he never would. 1-2. Death of Familiarity ¡°What the hell is going on?¡± gasped Alyssa, staring at the disembodied blocks of text. It was too dark to see, but, after that brief period of nothingness, she could feel Carmen¡¯s comfortable presence next to her in bed. ¡°You saw it too, didn¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡­I did,¡± Carmen answered, her hand finding Alyssa¡¯s. She squeezed it tightly. ¡°Could this be real?¡± Alyssa had already gone through the tunnel of disbelief and come out the other side. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn¡¯t see how the situation could be anything but real. It was one thing if it was just her experiencing it, but the combination of the loss of power, the strange period of nothingness, and the fact that Carmen had been through the same thing confirmed the reality of it all. So, she chose to treat it as such. If it turned out that she was crazy, then she would just deal with spending the rest of her life on antipsychotic drugs in a mental institution. ¡°What choices did you get?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°We¡¯ll go over it once we figure this thing out,¡± she said, reaching over to her phone. Fortunately, it still worked, though there was no signal. Still, it gave her a light source. ¡°I¡¯ll go check on Miggy. He¡¯s probably terrified.¡± With that, she slipped off the bed and, using the light on her phone, headed out of her bedroom, down the hall, and into her eight-year-old son¡¯s room. Thankfully, he was more than fine. In fact, he was grinning from ear to ear. When she asked if he was okay, he said, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why¡¯s the power out? It¡¯s not even raining. Can we play Scrabble?¡± Of course that was where his mind would go. For one reason or another, he saw any power outage as an opportunity to play board games, which he loved. Probably because he usually won. ¡°Everything is fine,¡± she said. ¡°Did you see any¡­uh¡­boxes?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Clearly, he hadn¡¯t. Alyssa had no idea why that would be, but that lack of comprehension seemed par for the course. So, she played it off, then led him into the house¡¯s living room. For some reason, she had a very bad feeling, like there was something dangerous right around the corner. Part of that was due to the oddness of the situation, but she also knew just how irrationally people tended to act in any emergency. ¡°Okay, so what did you get?¡± Alyssa asked as she walked into the room. ¡°You first,¡± Carmen said, her feet curled under her on the couch. It was an incongruous position for someone with her particularly muscular physique. Alyssa rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine,¡± she said, glancing at the boxes she¡¯d so far ignored. After the ones talking about Earth being connected to the World Tree ¨C whatever that meant ¨C was the one mentioning aspects. She read it, then said, ¡°I got three aspects. Martial, Faith, and Scholar. You?¡± ¡°Scholar and Magic,¡± Carmen said, obviously disappointed. Even if the situation seemed a little ridiculous, she clearly took it just as seriously as Alyssa. ¡°What are aspects?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°We¡¯re not sure,¡± Carmen said. ¡°But for your mom, Martial makes sense.¡± ¡°Because she¡¯s a policewoman?¡± ¡°And because I¡¯ve spent years practicing judo and jujitsu,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I used to go to the boxing gym with your uncle, too.¡± The mention of Elijah brought with it more pain than she¡¯d expected. If his plane had lost power¡­no, she didn¡¯t want to think about that. Where he was concerned, it was easy to sink into a pit of depression, what with his illness. She was prepared to say goodbye, but that didn¡¯t mean it was easy. Faith made sense, too. Especially since her brother had been diagnosed, Alyssa had spent quite a bit of time praying. She rarely went to church ¨C most of them didn¡¯t especially approve of how she lived her life ¨C but her religion was still important to her. Scholar was easy, too. She¡¯d just finished her master¡¯s degree in criminal justice, and she intended to pursue her doctorate as well. It was mostly so she would look better when it came to promotions at work, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that she¡¯d spent quite a bit of her life studying. For Carmen, the Scholar aspect made even more sense ¨C assuming that it was, as Alyssa suspected, a comment on the lives they¡¯d led. Carmen held her own doctorate in history with a specialization in primitive skills. So, most of her life had revolved around her education. As for Magic? Well, that was a mystery, but hopefully one they could solve by going through the rest of the notifications. ¡°And your archetypes?¡± ¡°What¡¯s an archetype?¡± asked Miguel, snuggling close to Carmen. ¡°In this instance, I think it refers to as an overall classification. But we¡¯re not sure, Miggy,¡± said Carmen. ¡°Hopefully, we can figure it out together.¡± He nodded along, and Alyssa said, ¡°I got Warrior, Priestess, and Researcher. You?¡± ¡°Priestess? Ugh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t knock it. It says one of the sample classes is a Valkyrie.¡± ¡°Sexy.¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± groaned Miguel. ¡°What did you get?¡± repeated Alyssa. ¡°Two choices. Tradesman and Sorcerer. Both of which are bullshit. I mean, it wouldn¡¯t make me so angry if your classes didn¡¯t have feminine suffixes. But you got priestess. Why couldn¡¯t I get Tradeswoman or Sorceress? I mean¡­come on.¡± ¡°I guess they didn¡¯t get the memo on gender equality.¡± ¡°Obviously. So, which one are you picking?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Priestess, right?¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m tempted,¡± she said. ¡°Valkyrie does sound cool. But I don¡¯t know¡­¡± Indeed, looking at her choices, she was torn. Given the vague feeling of unease blanketing her mind, she had no intention of choosing Researcher. With the power outage and the messages she¡¯d read, it seemed a foregone conclusion that things would get more dangerous. And as a police officer, she was duty-bound to meet that danger head-on and protect the populace. So, her choices were between Priestess and Warrior. She looked at the first description again:
Archetype: Warrior A versatile melee archetype, proficient with most weaponry. Features bonuses to durability, Strength, and learning martial techniques. Required Aspect: [Martial] Sample Class Choices: You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. {Berserker}, {Guardian}, {Knight}, {Brawler}, {Guard} First Skill: Heavy Strike Compatibility: 77%
Then, she looked at the one for Priestess:
Archetype: Priestess Faith is versatile, lending power in a wide variety of ways. Features bonuses to Regeneration and Ethera. Required Aspect: [Martial], [Faith] Sample Class Choices: {Valkyrie}, {Apostle}, {Chaplain}, {Paladin}, {Inquisitor} First Skill: Word of Power Compatibility: 63%
¡°Do you want my advice?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°You know I do.¡± ¡°Take Warrior,¡± she said. ¡°The other one sounds fancy enough, but I know you. You¡¯re a fighter. I can¡¯t imagine any other archetype describing you any better than that.¡± ¡°But what if the other one¡¯s better?¡± Carmen rolled her eyes, then raked a hand through her black hair. ¡°You always do this,¡± she said. ¡°Remember when we used to have time to play games together? You would always second-guess your choices. But believe me, Alyssa ¨C you won¡¯t find a better fit than Warrior.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Alyssa asked, pushing the choice aside for the time being. ¡°Tradesman all the way,¡± she said. ¡°Really? You don¡¯t want to sling fireballs?¡± ¡°I mean, yeah. But you know me. I¡¯d rather make things, you know? Besides, I get the feeling that the world¡¯s going to need people who can build things,¡± she said. ¡°You read those notifications, right? Randomization of terrain? I mean, if I were a betting woman, I¡¯d put money on the reason the power¡¯s out is because the grid¡¯s fucked.¡± Miguel gasped. ¡°You said a bad word.¡± ¡°And I¡¯ll probably say a lot more before this is finished,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Carmen.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll put a dollar in the swear jar in a minute,¡± she said. ¡°Of course, money¡¯s probably useless right now.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± asked Alyssa. ¡°That always goes first, doesn¡¯t it? With the power being out, credit cards and stuff are useless. The same for paper money. Haven¡¯t you ever watched a zombie movie? Society¡¯s about to collapse, Alyssa,¡± she said. ¡°This is not a zombie apocalypse.¡± ¡°You know that for sure?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°I mean, maybe not the zombies. But I just got told by a magic box only I can see that I could be a Sorcerer. So, who knows what¡¯s going to happen? My point is that apocalypse rules are definitely in play. Food. Water. Shelter and security. Those are the priorities.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s going to get that bad?¡± Alyssa asked. As a police officer, she had training for that kind of scenario, but she¡¯d never really taken it seriously. Sure, she was prepared to respond to active shooters and terrorist scenarios, but the full collapse of society definitely seemed a bit far-fetched. Carmen shrugged. ¡°I have no idea, but I think it¡¯s possible,¡± she said. ¡°Okay, so first thing¡¯s first,¡± Alyssa said, deciding that it was better to treat it as an apocalyptic emergency and be wrong than the opposite scenario. ¡°We need to catalogue our supplies. You and Miggy go to the kitchen ¨C¡± ¡°Did you seriously just tell me to go to the kitchen?¡± asked Carmen with a grin. ¡°This isn¡¯t time to joke, Carmen.¡± Once again, Carmen rolled her eyes. ¡°Fine. But I want it on record that you¡¯re no fun. I mean, assuming we¡¯re not crazy, we just got offered magic powers. Or at least I did,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s kind of a dream scenario for me.¡± ¡°Except the apocalypse part you just predicted.¡± ¡°Well, the world has too many people anyway,¡± she remarked. ¡°Maybe Roy will get eaten by a zombie. Or turned. Then, I can legally blow his head ¨C¡± ¡°Carmen!¡± ¡°Who¡¯s Roy?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°Someone your mom knows from work,¡± Alyssa said, referring to the head of Carmen¡¯s department. He was a blatant misogynist who constantly questioned her work, belittled her at every opportunity, and had even come onto her on more than one occasion. ¡°He¡¯s not important.¡± ¡°Unless I need to rid the world of a Roy-shaped zombie.¡± ¡°There aren¡¯t any zombies.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that.¡± Alyssa let out a long-suffering sigh. ¡°You¡¯re a child.¡± ¡°I¡¯m young at heart, which is why you love me,¡± Carmen pointed out. ¡°Anyway ¨C you two take stock of the food,¡± Alyssa said, moving on. ¡°I¡¯m going down to the basement to get¡­other stuff.¡± That was where she kept the gun safe, which, given what Carmen had predicted, seemed extremely important. Even if it wasn¡¯t a zombie apocalypse ¨C which sounded silly even in the context of what had happened so far ¨C there was every chance of looters and other violent lawbreakers. And even if she had no intention of exercising lethal force, she was prepared to do whatever it took to protect her family. ¡°Aren¡¯t you forgetting something?¡± ¡°Huh? What?¡± ¡°Your archetype. You really should choose something. You get bonuses to your stats and stuff,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Stats? Like a video game?¡± ¡°Yup. Just like a game.¡± Alyssa shook her head, then confirmed her choice to become a Warrior. When she did, she got a notification congratulating her on it, then another window opened soon after:
Name Alyssa Hart
Level 1
Archetype Warrior
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 6
Dexterity 7
Constitution 5
Ethera 4
Regeneration 4
Attunement None
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Unformed Unformed Unformed Unformed
¡°What does all of this mean?¡± she asked. Before Carmen could answer, another notification popped up, telling her that she had ten free attribute points to spend. ¡°It means that all that weightlifting I did was completely useless,¡± pouted Carmen. Indeed, that was her primary hobby and means of stress relief, and her physique showed it. She¡¯d never been one for heavy cardio, but she had long since cultivated a body studded with bulging muscles. Of course, some of that was mitigated by the fact that she was, at best an inch over five feet tall. By comparison, at nearly six feet tall, Alyssa was extremely tall for a woman, and though she worked out as well, her routines were more for endurance, resulting in a much slenderer physique. ¡°Kind of depressing, really,¡± Carmen remarked. Then, she perked up, adding, ¡°But on the bright side, I put all my points into Strength. So, I can probably lift a car now.¡± ¡°Ugh. Didn¡¯t think it would be smarter to¡­you know, spread the points around?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± Alyssa shook her head, and after spending a few moments reading what each attribute did, decided to follow her own advice, allocating two points into each category. As soon as she did, she let out a gasp as a wave of what could only be called rejuvenation swept through her. ¡°That¡¯s the good stuff, right?¡± said Carmen, still grinning. Alyssa didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she focused on the fact that, if she could feel something like that, then the chance ¨C slim though it was ¨C that it wasn¡¯t real became even more unlikely. In the middle of her thought, something banged against the door. She flinched. Carmen grabbed Miguel, clutching him with her thick arms. Then, a familiar voice called out, ¡°Alyssa! It¡¯s me! Open up!¡± Alyssa let out a sigh of relief, then crossed the living room to the door. When she flung it open, she saw a tall, broad-shouldered and athletic man in his mid-forties. ¡°What¡¯s up, Chief?¡± asked Alyssa, looking past him and the petite blonde woman clutching his arm. The street was dark. ¡°Shit is going to go wrong real quick out there,¡± Roman Cain said. He was both the police chief and her neighbor. ¡°Thought we all might be safer together.¡± Of course, Alyssa knew that he hadn¡¯t come for his own good. Rather, he¡¯d done so for his wife, who was good friends with Carmen. ¡°Yeah. Probably for the best,¡± Alyssa said, stepping aside. ¡°Come on in.¡± 1-3. Castaway Elijah dreamed of his puppy, Fremont, nipping at his legs as he read a book. The dog was a rambunctious thing, still untrained, and full of energy and cuddly love. Slowly, his rational mind intruded on the pleasant dream, telling him that his dog hadn¡¯t been a puppy for years, that he¡¯d been forced to rehome him when it became clear that the cancer was incurable. Doing so had been almost as emotional as when his oncologist had informed him that the treatments weren¡¯t working. That he only had a few more months to live. Gradually, Elijah¡¯s memories distorted, and the puppy¡¯s nipping bites became something altogether more painful. Punishment for the abandonment Fremont had doubtless felt at being left with a neighbor. Suddenly, Elijah¡¯s eyes fluttered open as pain lanced through his leg. He kicked out, but the pain only increased. Moreover, there was something digging into his arm, too. He spasmed, waving his arms and legs as he tried to dislodge whatever had assaulted him, eventually jerking himself free and clambering away. His hands found scant purchase on the slippery rocks and gravel as he crawled away, and he vaguely noticed the steady lapping of waves. The unmistakable smell of the sea. The biting ocean wind. That¡¯s when his memories began to assert themselves. The plane. The cancer. The System. Gasping, he pushed himself to his knees and looked around. As he¡¯d suspected, he was on a rocky beach, but only a few dozen feet away, there was an incredibly dense forest. The sky was gray with clouds, and the steady sound of the waves, accompanied by a strange clicking sound filled his ears. He turned his attention in the sound¡¯s direction, and his eyes widened at the sight. At first glance, it was just a crab, little different from thousands of others Elijah had seen throughout his life. However, it differed in a couple of notable ways. First, it was a perfect example of a purple shore crab. Dark maroon in color, it had stout claws, which bore slightly darker spots. However, unlike its more typical brethren, which were usually only a few inches across, this one was the size of a cat. Elijah scrambled backwards when he saw a dozen more of the creatures bearing down on him, each of similar size. But they followed; judging by the frayed edges of his pants ¨C and the wounds beneath ¨C the little scavengers had thought him dead, and they¡¯d been feeding off of him. More importantly, they didn¡¯t seem all that enthused about losing their meal. The first few scuttled forward in a sideways shuffle, and when Elijah didn¡¯t react, the rest followed. He reacted on instinct, kicking out with bare feet. Apparently, he¡¯d lost his shoes at some point, though he didn¡¯t have time to lament the loss. Instead, the whole of his attention was occupied by defending himself from the horrifically huge crabs. He connected with the first, his foot hitting its incredibly hard shell. It did little damage, but the thing couldn¡¯t escape the reality of its small size, and the momentum of the kick sent it sailing through the air. But it also opened Elijah up to the rest of the crabs, which assaulted his legs with their oversized claws. Snapping, ripping, and tearing ¨C it wasn¡¯t long before his lower legs were a bloody mess, with ribbons of flesh hanging off in strips. A few of the claws had cut right through his muscle, stopping only when it reached the bone. Elijah panicked, kicking out with renewed fury, but his Strength waned with every blow. Whether it was blood loss, his preexisting conditions, or simple fatigue, he didn¡¯t know; what he did know was that he couldn¡¯t continue in that manner. So, after he kicked another one away, he levered himself to his feet, then leapt, pushing off with all of his Strength. He barely cleared a few inches. But it was just enough that when he descended atop the closest crab, he felt the thing¡¯s shell crack and crunch beneath his bare feet. The shards of shell pierced the soles of his feet, but he didn¡¯t allow himself to stop, stomping down as hard as he could. Over and over, until the creature had been reduced to a slurry of shell, crab meat, and its juices. Seeing the other crabs surrounding him, Elijah stumbled away, scrambling over the rocks as best he could. He left a trail of blood and bits of ruined flesh behind, but adrenaline drove him forward and into the trees. He glanced back to see that the crabs had descended upon their fallen fellow, and he sighed in relief. Still, he kept going into the thick forest, only collapsing a few dozen feet in. Crabs wouldn¡¯t go too far inland, so he felt like he was safe. Even so, the presence of the abnormally large crabs was a troubling thing. But it was nothing compared to his ruined legs that increasingly refused to follow his commands. A few more feet, and he tumbled to the ground. Elijah dragged himself forward until, at last, he could turn over and rest his back against a pine tree. Finally, he let himself relax, and in that moment, another block of text appeared before his eyes:
Congratulations for defeating your first foe. Status unlocked (accessed via mental command). There are many ways to advance in this universe, and killing is only one of them. Explore the System to discover your own path to power.
Elijah was both alarmed and relieved to see that his memories on the plane hadn¡¯t been a hallucination. Relieved, because one of his most potent fears was losing his mind. He¡¯d watched his grandmother descend into dementia, and those memories had stuck with him ever since. He¡¯d experienced some mental decay during his treatment ¨C a side effect colloquially known as ¡°chemo brain¡± ¨C and he¡¯d have rather died than go through any more decline in his mental faculties. After a second, during which he grew increasingly lightheaded, Elijah decided to distract himself from the pain by taking a look at his so-called status. When he thought of it, another box appeared. However, this one was divided into various categories. He studied it:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 1
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 3
Dexterity 4
Constitution 1
Ethera Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. 4
Regeneration 7
Attunement None
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Unformed Unformed Unformed Unformed
Below the status was another box, which said:
You have ten (10) attribute points to spend. Each level you gain will grant you two more points to spend as you wish. Upon reaching level ten and gaining a class, each level will come with an automatic allocation based on your class. Some classes will grant additional free attribute points. Choose well. All decisions have consequences.
That was comforting, at least. Elijah had no context for what the numbers on his status page really meant, but he suspected that threes and fours weren¡¯t high. Most of that could be attributed to his disease, which had sapped his muscle mass like nothing else could. But the one point in Constitution was more than a little troubling. Obviously, he knew what Strength and Dexterity were. One represented physical power, while the other was probably representative of his coordination. And Constitution was likely tied to his body¡¯s durability. Regeneration was self-explanatory as well, and he felt certain that it governed his ability to heal. That it was his highest attribute was both comforting and a little disappointing. Comforting because it meant that, if he managed to survive for any length of time, healing quickly would almost assuredly prove invaluable. Disappointing, though, because his other attributes were so low. Even though he had a good idea what each category meant, Elijah focused on Strength, which brought up a new box:
Strength: Determines physical might.
That was in line with Elijah¡¯s expectations, so he quickly moved on to the next attribute:
Dexterity: Determines coordination and reaction speed.
Again, that made perfect sense, given the word¡¯s definition. However, what was left unsaid was that, between the two of them, they represented a much larger concept. Strength wasn¡¯t just about lifting heavier things; instead, it described explosive movement as well, which in turn would determine how quickly he could cover ground. However, without coordination, that ability would be useless. With both high Strength and Dexterity, he would be able to move incredibly quickly. But if either of them lagged behind, his speed would suffer. Next, he looked at Constitution:
Constitution: Determines the body¡¯s stamina as well as resistance to physical and magical damage.
This was the third piece of the puzzle and confirmed that all three of the physical attributes worked together. Strength gave him power. Dexterity gave him coordination. And Constitution would give him the capability of harnessing those attributes to their fullest effect. Without it, he could easily envision a scenario where he quickly ran out of stamina. Or one where his body simply couldn¡¯t endure the strain. He would have to keep that in mind going forward, lest he grow lopsided and incapable of using his attributes properly.
Ethera: Determines the size of the pool of energy used to empower magical spells, skills, and techniques.
Ethera was the first of the attributes to truly surprise him, but the description was as straightforward as he could¡¯ve asked it to be. As was the case with the numbers representing his attributes, he had little context for what it really meant, though. If he ever got a spell, skill, or technique, he would be able to experiment and find out more. So, he moved on to the final attribute, Regeneration:
Regeneration: Determines physical healing as well as Ethera recovery.
This was another surprising attribute. In addition to the effect he¡¯d suspected upon reading the name, it also determined how quickly his pool of Ethera regenerated. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that it would be incredibly important, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine a scenario where he had a huge pool of available Ethera, but once he used it all, it might take him an eternity to regenerate it. With a sigh, Elijah leaned back, staring at his status screen. As he did so, something nagged at him, niggling at the edge of his awareness, like he¡¯d forgotten something very important. Then it hit him. He hadn¡¯t chosen an archetype, but there it was on his status screen. Druid. The System had chosen for him. With focused thought, he found that he could cycle back through his notifications, and as he did, he found the moment he¡¯d dreaded:
Due to failure to choose an archetype within twelve (12) hours, one has been chosen for you. Choice made due to compatibility.
Then, there was another notification informing him that he was now a Druid, whatever that entailed. The decision had been taken out of his hands, but for some reason, Elijah wasn¡¯t upset about it. In fact, it felt entirely appropriate. Perhaps the System knew what was best for him after all. On his status sheet, Elijah focused on his archetype, and yet another table opened before his eyes.
Archetype: Druid The druid is the defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, Ethera density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Scholar], [Nature]
Spells
Touch of Nature Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally.
This notification was the most welcome one he¡¯d yet seen, and he couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh of relief. However, just because he had the spell didn¡¯t mean he knew how to use it. And given that he had precisely zero experience with magic ¨C or Ethera, as it had been called ¨C he didn¡¯t like his chances of figuring it out. Still, given the state of his legs ¨C and his body in general ¨C he felt certain that Touch of Nature was the key to his survival. First, though, he decided to use his free attribute points. With his body ravaged by cancer, he felt that there was only one choice. He wouldn¡¯t get such an influx of attribute points anytime soon, so if he was going to fix himself, he needed to do it now. Even then, he wasn¡¯t entirely certain that it would work. Was the damage already done? He had no idea. But until he felt like the cancer was gone, he would continue to invest his attribute points appropriately. At first, he considered investing them in Regeneration, though that just didn¡¯t feel right to him. That attribute was already pretty high, and he was still dying. No ¨C if he wanted to make it through the cancer, investing in Constitution seemed like the better option. To that end, he flicked his mind at his status screen, mentally willing it to add his free points into the Constitution attribute. Once he was finished, a new box of text appeared before him:
You have spent your free attribute points. Would you like to make this allocation permanent?
Elijah hesitated. If he was wrong, he was probably sentencing himself to death. So, even though he felt confident in his reasoning, he mentally retracted the attributes until only one had been allocated. Then, he confirmed it, bringing his Constitution up to two. He didn¡¯t feel that it made any difference, so he added another. Then another. He kept going until he reached five points, only stopping because he finally felt something changing. Suddenly, his body clenched, his every muscle going taut. It only lasted a few seconds, and when his muscles finally loosened, he felt better than he had in weeks. Probably better than at any time since he¡¯d begun his treatments. That was all the confirmation he needed before slamming every free point into Constitution. That was a mistake. A strangled groan escaped from between Elijah¡¯s lips as he went completely stiff. His body trembled with exertion as he felt vitality flood his body. Blessed, agonizing life. Minutes later, when he went limp, he let out a long, quivering sigh of relief. His body was still weak, but it was a natural weakness, not unlike he¡¯d felt after spending a couple of hours in the gym. It was a far cry from that feverish lack of Strength he¡¯d felt for the last few months. Was he certain that the cancer was gone? No. But he had reason for hope. And sometimes, that was enough to change a person¡¯s entire outlook on life. 1-4. Necessities ¡°I think we have enough for a couple of weeks, so long as we ration,¡± said Alyssa, looking over the stacks of canned food on the table. There were other dry goods as well, but not nearly as many as she¡¯d hoped. ¡°Makes me wish I¡¯d made a Costco run before, you know, the end of the world.¡± Roman shook his head, saying, ¡°I¡¯m not that worried about food. We have the garden out back, too. What really concerns me is water.¡± Alyssa looked away, then ran a hand through her hair. It was so difficult to wrap her head around the fact that the world had changed overnight. However, when the sun had risen, she¡¯d gone outside to survey the damage, and she¡¯d been shocked to discover that, instead of the familiar skyline of Seattle, all she saw on the horizon was mountainous wilderness. The rest of her neighborhood was still there, and though she saw hints that the nearby town of Easton had survived, she anticipated that she¡¯d only seen the smallest fraction of the changes that had taken place. Further supporting that assumption was the fact that utilities hadn¡¯t been restored, meaning that in addition to the lack of power, cellular service had been suspended. Probably due to issues with the cell towers. But that wasn¡¯t an immediate concern. The biggest issue was that, because of the transformation of the terrain, water service had been cut as well. ¡°Lake Eden is only a few miles away,¡± Alyssa suggested. ¡°And we can set up some buckets for rain collection for the short term.¡± ¡°And if it doesn¡¯t rain?¡± asked Roman. He glanced toward the basement¡¯s ceiling, almost as if he could see the others in the house above. He took a deep breath, then said, ¡°I think we need to go to the store.¡± Alyssa leaned forward, hands on the table, and sighed. As a police officer, she¡¯d often had to deal with shoplifters, and during some periods of civil unrest, she¡¯d had to respond to looting as well. So, what Roman had suggested didn¡¯t really sit well with her. However, it wasn¡¯t as if she was contemplating stealing televisions and cell phones. This was a matter of survival. Still. It just didn¡¯t feel right. But considering that the world as they knew it had just ended, her moral quandary felt more than a little silly. ¡°We only take what we need,¡± she said. Roman shook his head, then put his hand on her shoulder. ¡°I don¡¯t like it, either,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s been less than a day, and already, we¡¯re talking about breaking the law.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± ¡°But the thing is ¨C this isn¡¯t anything like what we¡¯ve been trained for,¡± he said. ¡°This is survival.¡± ¡°I just told myself the same thing,¡± she stated. ¡°And if we don¡¯t do this now, there¡¯s not going to be anything left,¡± Roman pointed out. ¡°We need to take care of our immediate survival. You have Miggy. I have Trish. And I¡¯m going to do whatever it takes to make sure they get through this. Next to that, legality doesn¡¯t matter. Hell, I¡¯m not sure morals even come into it.¡± Alyssa shook her head. One day. That was all it had taken. And if they were thinking that way, then everyone else was, too. The moment that thought crossed her mind, she knew that the situation was going to quickly deteriorate. Easton had never had much of a criminal element. That was why she¡¯d moved to the suburbs in the first place. But when people got desperate, social order had a way of being tossed by the wayside. Roman¡¯s suggestion proved that. The real problem was that Alyssa couldn¡¯t really counter it. Food and water were going to be issues. That was a fact. And given the choice between watching her son die of dehydration or hunger and following the law of what may well have been a fallen civilization, she knew precisely which option she was going to choose. So, in that context, Alyssa said, ¡°We need to get going soon. Manning¡¯s isn¡¯t huge, and if we take too long, it¡¯ll be picked clean.¡± With that decided, Alyssa and Roman went upstairs to inform the others of the plan. Everyone agreed that it was the right course of action, but predictably, conflict reared its ugly head when they realized that they were going to be left behind. Trish said, ¡°It¡¯s just a mile or so. What could go wrong? I don¡¯t want to be cooped up in this house, and I¡¯m sure Carmen doesn¡¯t either.¡± ¡°It might be dangerous,¡± Roman said. ¡°Think about it. None of us have really tried out these abilities, but ¨C¡± ¡°I tried mine out,¡± Carmen pointed out. ¡°I mean, Bind isn¡¯t meant for fighting or anything, but ¨C¡± ¡°Nobody said anything about fighting,¡± Alyssa interrupted. ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t want to admit the obvious,¡± Carmen countered. ¡°But I think what Roman was going to say is that people are probably panicking right now. And they have magic abilities. More than that, some of them have definitely come to the same conclusion you two did. Given that, there¡¯s a good chance that they¡¯ll try to keep others from taking resources that might ensure their own survival.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been less than a day!¡± Trish insisted. ¡°You act like all of society is going to collapse just because the power is out.¡± ¡°Trish¡­¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°You haven¡¯t been outside yet, have you?¡± said Carmen. Alyssa added, ¡°Trish, this is way more than just the utilities being cut. The whole world has changed. Did you even read the notifications?¡± ¡°I skimmed them,¡± she admitted. ¡°Something about World Trees and whatnot. Seemed like nonsense.¡± Alyssa massaged her forehead in frustration. ¡°You did pick an archetype, though, right?¡± ¡°Yes. Roman made me choose Healer.¡± Alyssa let out a sigh of relief. Then, she said, ¡°Okay ¨C I think it¡¯s best if we figure out what everyone chose and test out our abilities before we start running around. Like Carmen said, it might get dangerous out there.¡± She looked around, then went on, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go first. I picked Warrior. And the ability I got was Heavy Blows.¡± She navigated to the ability¡¯s description:
Heavy Blows Increase the damage of your melee attacks by 5%. Toggled personal augmentation.
¡°It just says it increases the damage of my attacks by five percent,¡± she explained. ¡°Apparently, it¡¯s a ¡®toggled personal augmentation¡¯, whatever that means.¡± ¡°Self-buff,¡± said Carmen. All but Miguel narrowed their eyes in confusion. ¡°Oh, come on. None of you play video games? It¡¯s obvious.¡± ¡°I only play sports games,¡± said Roman. ¡°I like Candy Crush,¡± Trish stated. Alyssa asked, ¡°You really think this System is like video games? I mean, what are the odds of that?¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°I mean, there are probably all sorts of explanations that would make sense,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe the System seeded the ideas a long time ago, guiding us so that it would make sense when we were touched by the World Tree. Or ¨C¡± ¡°That sounds like the World Tree is some kind of sexual deviant,¡± said Trish. ¡°It¡¯s a tree¡­¡± She shrugged. ¡°Still not the best phrasing,¡± Trish persisted. Carmen rolled her eyes, then said, ¡°Anyway. My point is that the explanations don¡¯t really matter. It is what it is, and I get the feeling that if we keep questioning it, we¡¯re going to end up dead. Accept it, adjust, and move on. Or that¡¯s what I intend to do, at least. So, in that spirit, I took Tradesman, and my first ability is Bind. It lets me bind two materials together.¡± ¡°What use is that?¡± asked Roman. ¡°For combat? Nothing that I can think of,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°But for making things? I mean, it should be incredibly useful going forward.¡± ¡°You took a non-combat option? That¡¯s the stupidest thing ¨C¡± She crossed her arms and interrupted, ¡°I also put all my extra points into Strength. So, watch what you say, big guy.¡± ¡°Calm down,¡± said Alyssa. ¡°I¡¯m sure Carmen can pull her own weight and then some. Besides, people who can make things are going to be valuable. You¡¯ve got to see that, chief.¡± Roman shook his head. ¡°Whatever,¡± he said. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll go next. I took Marksman. Ability I got was Aim, which I can use to increase the damage of any ranged attack by thirty percent.¡± ¡°Wow. That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s nice.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it works on guns, though,¡± he admitted. ¡°Why do you say that?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Instinct? I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s weird. I just¡­know. Does that make any sense?¡± he asked. Alyssa said, ¡°Kind of. My ability kind of came with something similar. I sort of know how to use it, at least. Yours is probably the same way.¡± ¡°Stop trying to make sense of it,¡± Carmen advised. ¡°Just accept it.¡± ¡°Probably for the best,¡± Roman said, shaking his head. Then, to Trish, he continued, ¡°Alright, babe. Tell them what you got.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called Mend. I can¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I guess I can heal people with it. Just wave my hand and they¡¯ll get better? It feels kind of like it would be strong, but¡­it also comes with¡­I don¡¯t know. Sort of like if I cast it, I won¡¯t be able to do it again for a little while.¡± ¡°Cooldown,¡± provided Carmen. Everyone looked at her, and she said, ¡°Game term. Sorry.¡± ¡°What about the kid?¡± asked Roman, gesturing down the hall where Miguel was asleep. He¡¯d tried to stay awake, failing spectacularly. ¡°He get an archetype, too? And what are we going to do with him when we go for supplies?¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t see anything but the initial notification about the world changing,¡± Alyssa answered. ¡°And if we¡¯re all going, we need to take him with us.¡± Roman shook his head. ¡°That¡¯ll complicate things.¡± ¡°Non-negotiable,¡± said Carmen. ¡°Fine. But if it¡¯s dangerous out there¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of him,¡± Carmen stated. Alyssa was quick to voice her own agreement. While Miguel wasn¡¯t her biological child, she¡¯d helped raise him since he was a toddler. So, in every way that mattered, he was as much her son as if he¡¯d come from her own genes. Roman shook his head, saying, ¡°But if you¡¯re taking care of him, you¡¯re going to be distracted when we might need you to ¨C¡± ¡°Drop it,¡± said Trish. ¡°Just drop it, okay. If we had kids, I¡¯d want to keep them close, too. Especially if things are as bad as you say they are.¡± Roman had clearly been outvoted, so, as his wife had suggested, he dropped the topic. Instead, they all went out to the back yard, where they spent a little time practicing their abilities. From Alyssa¡¯s perspective, there really wasn¡¯t much to practice. She just had to use her ability, and it would remain active indefinitely. Perhaps there was some other limiter, but if there was, she couldn¡¯t find it. Trish¡¯s limitations were far more prominent, and after spending almost an hour testing things out, they determined that the cooldown after using Mend was nearly fifteen minutes. ¡°Feels crazy to complain about magical healing, but that seems like a pretty harsh cooldown,¡± said Carmen, pressing two old fence boards together. They stuck, which seemed to be the limits of what her own ability could accomplish. ¡°Still, I guess we just save that for emergencies.¡± Roman, who¡¯d retrieved his hunting bow from his house next door, shot an arrow at a target he¡¯d set up at the other end of the yard. It was only a few dozen feet away, and when he loosed the arrow, it whipped across the lawn with the speed of a bullet, tearing through the target ¨C a fake deer meant for hunting practice ¨C and hitting the shed behind it. ¡°Damn,¡± he said. ¡°Impressive,¡± agreed Alyssa. ¡°Haven¡¯t shot this thing in years. No time for hunting, lately.¡± Indeed, Roman had been promoted to police chief only a year before, and since then, he¡¯d been putting in seventy-hour work weeks. That he was home when the world went crazy was just a stroke of good luck. After everyone had gotten comfortable with their abilities, Carmen went inside to wake Miguel up while everyone armed themselves. Roman and Alyssa both strapped their service pistols to their hips, while Trish was given a shotgun. She handled it with some familiarity, reminding Alyssa that the other woman had spent her fair share of time at the range. Carmen carried an old softball bat and an ancient revolver that had belonged to her father. Despite its age, it was in good condition, and like Trish, Carmen knew her way around some firearms. The only one who was unarmed was Miguel. No one wanted an eight-year-old running around with deadly weapons, after all. Still, he put himself to use by carrying spare ammunition and bottled water in his backpack. Thus prepared, the group set out for their local market. 1-5. Beyond Repair Alyssa kept her hand on her pistol as she walked down the center of the street. Behind her followed Carmen, their son Miguel, and Trish. Bringing up the rear was Roman, who was holding his bow. With her shotgun in hand, Trish complained, ¡°Is all this really necessary?¡± ¡°Maybe. Maybe not,¡± Carmen said. ¡°But I¡¯ve watched enough zombie movies that I¡¯m more than willing to be overly cautious.¡± ¡°There are zombies? Cool,¡± said Miguel. ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you let him watch Walking Dead,¡± Alyssa muttered just loud enough that her wife could hear it. ¡°In my defense, I didn¡¯t expect him to like it so much,¡± Carmen remarked. ¡°Especially after the first season when the quality went downhill.¡± ¡°I liked it!¡± Miguel countered. ¡°Because you¡¯re eight, and you don¡¯t have taste. It¡¯s not your fault. You just haven¡¯t experienced enough variety to know when you¡¯re watching trash,¡± Carmen stated. She reached out to ruffle his black hair. ¡°But I still love you even if your taste leaves a lot to be desired.¡± He dodged to the side, avoiding her hand as he whined, ¡°Mom¡­c¡¯mon¡­¡± Alyssa ignored their back-and-forth as Carmen teased their son. Instead, she focused on her surroundings. It had been a troubling discovery to find that none of their vehicles worked. Even Carmen, who knew a bit about working on cars, had been stumped as to why they were inoperable. She¡¯d tried to change the batteries and even inspected the spark plugs, but everything appeared to be in working order. They just wouldn¡¯t start. So, the group had been forced to head out on foot as they sought supplies at the local grocery store, Manning¡¯s Market. It was only a couple miles away, so they reasoned that the trip shouldn¡¯t prove too arduous. By the time Alyssa and the others reached the end of their street, she was beginning to rethink that assessment ¨C chiefly because of the hole that had been ripped in the side of one of the houses. ¡°How did we not hear that?¡± she asked, ready to draw her pistol. She also had an old machete sheathed on her other hip, but she hoped she wouldn¡¯t need to get close to whatever was capable of tearing a hole in a building. ¡°What even could do that?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Roman, having already nocked an arrow. ¡°And I don¡¯t want to find out, either.¡± The house was barely standing, with a good portion of the roof having collapsed when something had torn through a load bearing wall. ¡°We need to check it,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°In case someone inside needs help.¡± Roman started to respond, and judging by his expression, he intended to argue for ignoring it. It was strange, how quickly he¡¯d abandoned his role as a public servant dedicated to the safety of the townspeople. But then again, judging by what she¡¯d seen so far, the town didn¡¯t really exist anymore. Not in any way that mattered, at least. ¡°If someone¡¯s hurt, I can help them,¡± said Trish, already moving to cross the lawn. ¡°Honey, don¡¯t ¨C¡± She turned, backpedaling for a moment as she said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. It was probably just a ¨C¡± She never got the chance to finish her thought before something came tearing out of the house, moving so fast that Alyssa had difficulty tracking it. In the space of a second, it was already bearing down on Trish. She screamed and tried to run, but as panicked as she was, she only got a step before stumbling. And then, the creature was upon her, latching onto a hastily raised forearm. Blood misted, and the sound of a breaking bone filled the air, accompanied by Trish¡¯s agonized shout. And then gunshots sounded. Alyssa fired once. Twice. Then three times. Each shot took the furry creature in the ribs, but it didn¡¯t release Trish¡¯s arm. Suddenly, an arrow sprouted from just behind its foreleg. Then Alyssa heard the thwap of a bowstring before another joined the first. It yelped, releasing Trish, who fell to the lawn where she clutched her arm as a mewling sound escaped from between her lips. But Alyssa only had eyes for the creature before her. It resembled a wolf, though it was at least the size of a pony. And its coloring was different from any canine she¡¯d ever seen. Predominantly black, the thing¡¯s fur had green-and-blue streaks as well, which gave it a distinctly alien appearance. Alyssa advanced, firing her weapon over and over again as she emptied the magazine into the monster. It didn¡¯t die, though. Instead, it leaped to its feet and stumbled back towards the house. It never got to its destination. As Alyssa fired her gun, Roman continued to loose one arrow after another until, after seven, it finally slumped to the ground. Still, it wasn¡¯t dead, though that wouldn¡¯t last much longer. Alyssa had been hunting with her father enough that she could recognize when an animal was on its last leg. Soon, it would bleed out. She wasn¡¯t willing to trust that assumption, though. So, Alyssa strode forward, dragging the machete from the sheath at her waist, until she stood over it. Then, without further hesitation, she reached back and chopped into the monster¡¯s neck. The blade cut deep, splattering blood on her pants, but the monster still clung to life. So, she swung again, and, at last, it perished. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Breathing hard, more from panic as exertion, she turned and demanded, ¡°What the ever-living fuck was that?¡± No one paid any attention to her, though. Instead, they¡¯d all descended upon the injured Trish. When Alyssa joined them, she saw that the other woman¡¯s arm was misshapen, covered in blood, and had bones sticking out in multiple places. More, it looked the wolf-creature¡¯s claws had clipped Trish¡¯s upper thigh, which was gushing blood. Clearly, it had hit an artery. ¡°You have to use your ability,¡± Carmen was saying. ¡°Spell¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a spell. Not an ability¡­¡± ¡°Whatever it¡¯s called, use it now or you¡¯re going to bleed out!¡± Carmen spat. It made perfect sense, but still, Trish looked at Roman and waited for his approval before she closed her eyes and cast her spell. Alyssa felt something stir, almost like an ephemeral wind, before Trish¡¯s body erupted into golden light. When it faded, her arm was entirely healed, and the bleeding had stopped. ¡°Whoa,¡± gasped Miguel, his eyes wide as saucers. ¡°Magic.¡± ¡°Trish,¡± said Alyssa, holstering her pistol. As she shoved her machete back in its sheath, she spat, ¡°What the hell were you thinking? You saw a house that looked like a monster had torn through it, and you thought you should just traipse across the lawn without any sort of precautions?! What the fuck were you thinking?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I just thought I could help,¡± she sobbed. ¡°I didn¡¯t think there was a monster. Why would I think there was a monster? I just thought¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I don¡¯t know what I thought¡­¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t think at all!¡± Alyssa growled. ¡°This isn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Enough,¡± interrupted Roman, reaching out to grab her by the arm. ¡°She knows that what she did was stupid, Alyssa. Just leave it. Nobody¡¯s hurt, so we can just ¨C¡± Alyssa pulled away. ¡°She just wasted her spell. That means she can¡¯t use it again for a while.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a waste,¡± said Roman. ¡°But it¡¯s done, now. We can¡¯t undo it, so we just have to keep going.¡± Alyssa clenched her fists in frustration. If they didn¡¯t take things seriously, they were all going to die. However, harping on Trish¡¯s mistake wasn¡¯t going to change anything. Hopefully, the woman had learned her lesson. ¡°Fine. But we need to do better.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Roman said, a steely glint in his eyes. He glanced at the pile of fur that had once been a monster, then asked, ¡°So¡­what was that?¡± ¡°Looked like a wolf,¡± she said. ¡°Sort of. Lots of things were wrong, though. Its snout¡¯s too short, the fur is all the wrong colors, and its legs are a little longer than normal.¡± ¡°And it¡¯s the size of a pony,¡± added Carmen, her hand on Miguel¡¯s shoulder. She wasn¡¯t going to let him get too far away, especially after what had just happened. ¡°That, too.¡±¡¯ Carmen reached down to help Trish up, saying, ¡°It¡¯s a monster. Doesn¡¯t matter where it came from. Maybe it¡¯s a wolf that got mutated. That wouldn¡¯t be that surprising, given the fact that Trish here just cast an honest-to-God healing spell. Or it could¡¯ve been brought here from somewhere else. It might¡¯ve just manifested for all we know. The point is that it doesn¡¯t matter for now. All we need to know is that the world just got a lot more dangerous, right?¡± ¡°The people who lived there are probably dead, too,¡± Alyssa said, gesturing to the ruined house. ¡°If they¡¯re not, they ran away. No way they fought it off.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that,¡± Trish said, wiping her tears. She must¡¯ve forgotten that she was coated in blood, because she left red smears across her cheeks. ¡°If they had fought it off, it would¡¯ve been injured. And I¡¯m pretty damn sure doors couldn¡¯t stop that thing. Hell, walls would barely slow it down,¡± Alyssa stated. ¡°If they were still in that house, it would¡¯ve killed them. Same with any other houses we see. Let¡¯s just go to the store, get what we need, then head back home. We can hole up there until¡­¡± She let the statement trail off because the idea of rescue seemed absolutely ridiculous. The city was gone. If those notifications were to be believed, the whole world had been randomized. That meant the army wasn¡¯t coming. No ¨C they were all alone, and if they wanted to survive, they needed to do so on their own. Perhaps someone would eventually come. The government still existed, after all. But Alyssa expected that it would be a long time before they got around to rescuing anyone. ¡°What are you thinking?¡± asked Roman. ¡°I don¡¯t think we should go back to the house,¡± she said. ¡°Not permanently, at least. We need somewhere more defensible.¡± Roman didn¡¯t immediately respond. Carmen and Trish did, though. Neither were terribly supportive of the idea, but that wasn¡¯t surprising, given their personalities. Carmen was concerned with uprooting Miguel, while Trish still wasn¡¯t convinced they needed to move at all. Miguel, for his part, seemed excited about it. ¡°Where?¡± asked Roman. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe the elementary school?¡± she suggested. ¡°Too open.¡± ¡°The bank?¡± ¡°Too small.¡± ¡°The station?¡± was her next suggestion. Roman tapped his finger against his chin, then said, ¡°You know what? That would probably work. It¡¯s got size. It¡¯s closer to the lake, so we would have an easier time getting water. And it¡¯s sturdier than any house.¡± Indeed, the police station was made of brick, and it was a FEMA-approved shelter. That, plus the fact that it was equipped with a sturdy fence and a relatively huge arsenal of weapons made it the perfect choice. ¡°Plus, we kind of need to go there anyway,¡± Roman said. ¡°Once we¡¯re sure Trish and your family are safe, we need to start working on the rest of the town. The station¡¯s the best place to do that.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Alyssa said. She wasn¡¯t nearly as concerned with her duty as she was with making certain that Carmen and Miguel were safe, but she hadn¡¯t abandoned it altogether. ¡°Store first. Then back to the house to gather our other supplies. We probably need to spend the night there before heading out first thing in the morning.¡± Roman nodded. For their part, the others only made minor objections. However, they were quickly convinced when Alyssa pointed at the house, reminding them that a monster had ripped its wall to pieces. After that, they fell into line. So, with that, the group continued down the street as they made their way to the grocery store. When they reached the market over an hour later, they found that more than a few people had already picked it clean. There were still some supplies to be had, but it was far less than any of them hoped. In the end, they had to be satisfied with one cart full of canned goods, another shopping cart filled with bottled water, and another with a variety of dry goods. Thus supplied, the group started back to the house, studiously ignoring the evidence of fighting they passed along the way. A few storefronts had been bashed in, and a couple of houses had taken even more damage than the one where they¡¯d encountered the wolf monster. Still, they didn¡¯t see any other people, which they all found more than a little curious. Alyssa hoped that they were all just hiding, mostly because she didn¡¯t want to think about the alternative. Finally, they returned to the house, where they set about arranging everything they might need to take with them when they left for the station in the morning. 1-6. Magic and Danger Elijah looked down at his ruined legs. The crabs had really done a number on them, and unless he figured out how to use his new spell, he¡¯d be in real trouble. Even if he¡¯d managed to overcome his cancer ¨C which was still unsure ¨C he still had to concern himself with immediate survival. His legs were caked with dried blood and dirt, which didn¡¯t bode well for staving off infection. In addition, huge chunks of muscle were missing, snipped away and eaten by the oversized crustaceans. His legs had been so ravaged that he questioned whether he could even walk without the advantage of adrenaline pumping through his veins. He extended his hand and whispered, ¡°Touch of Nature.¡± But nothing happened, which made him feel extremely foolish. After trying a few different techniques, most of which involved contorting his fingers in various ways, Elijah sagged back against the tree and closed his eyes. Now that he¡¯d calmed down a little, he was beset by wave after wave of agony originating from his legs. There were smaller injuries across his body ¨C the crabs hadn¡¯t confined themselves to a single place, after all ¨C but they were insignificant next to the fiery pain in his lower legs. There was something beyond the pain, though. Something almost soothing. Something comforting. He focused on that sensation, delving deeper and deeper until he finally recognized what he sensed. It was nature. He remembered the description that had come along with the Druid archetype, which had claimed that it included a bonus to ¡°One With Nature.¡± At the time, Elijah hadn¡¯t known what to expect from it, but now, leaning against that tree in the middle of a forest, he felt more at home than he¡¯d ever felt before in his life. In the past, Elijah had been no stranger to the outdoors. As a child, he¡¯d grown up camping and hiking with his parents, and he¡¯d continued that positive relationship with nature when he¡¯d chosen his career as a marine biologist. Often, during a hike or when he was sitting on a boat in the middle of the ocean, he¡¯d found himself looking around in abject wonder and appreciation for the natural world. Sometimes, it was the result of gazing at a particularly vivid sunset. Or seeing a mighty storm on the horizon. Maybe overlooking a raging river that cut through a deep canyon. It had happened so many times that the scenes themselves tended to blend together. But the feeling remained. Now, it had been dialed up to a hundred, and, as a result, he didn¡¯t just feel an appreciation for nature. Instead, it was a connection. He was no longer standing outside, a spectator looking in; rather, he was a part of it. Another piece of the ecological puzzle. Simply put, he belonged. He let out a sigh, and for a long moment, Elijah simply basked in that feeling. It overwhelmed his pain, ushering it into the back of his mind. The agony was still there, but in the face of that overwhelming sense of belonging, it was a pitiful thing that barely even qualified as discomfort. Then, suddenly, that oneness with nature faded away, little by little, until it was only a vague awareness. A metaphysical anchor that kept him moored to the natural world. But more than that, it gave him some insight into his own being, which was divided into four distinct pieces. There was his physical body, weak but vibrant with potential. Then, his mind, a snarl of errant thoughts and determination. His soul, an ephemeral web that suffused his entire body, almost like a second circulatory System but far more complex and infinitely more meaningful. The last piece drew his attention more than any other, though. At the center of who he was, there was a gleaming ball of energy. Physically, it was located in the center of his chest. Spiritually, it was at the intersection of his soul; each pathway inevitably stemmed from that sphere of power, the thickest and most powerful of which ran to his mind. It was all connected, but that core was the driving force behind everything. So, he focused on it. A second later, he let out a ragged gasp. The energy contained in that core wasn¡¯t just overwhelming. It was domineering. But even the brief glimpse Elijah had managed told him that it was the key to everything. So, marshalling his willpower, he shoved his attention back into the core, keeping one thing on his mind. Touch of Nature, he thought. When he did, a surge of power rushed through his soul. It built for a long second until, at last, it flowed into his hand. Elijah opened his eyes to see that his fingers glowed with a soft, verdant light. Trembling, Elijah reached out to touch the most egregious wound on his leg, where the crab had torn a three-inch chunk of flesh from his calf. If he¡¯d been capable of washing out the dirt, debris, and blood, he felt certain he would have seen bone. But when he touched the wound, the green light surged, blanketing it in a warm glow. Then, the flesh began to writhe, bits of muscle and skin growing out in tendrils until they connected with the other side. One after another, looking like fleshy string, they mended together, and as they did, they pushed the foreign substances out. But it wasn¡¯t easy. In fact, holding that concentration was one of the most difficult things Elijah had ever done. If it wasn¡¯t a matter of survival, he might not have managed it. However, it was, so he did, keeping the energy ¨C no ¨C the System called Ethera ¨C flowing through his soul and into his mind, which somehow converted it into the spell. After a few moments, he couldn¡¯t hold it anymore, and with a gasp, his core sputtered and the Ethera ran dry. Still, when he looked down at his leg, he saw mostly unbroken skin where the wound had once been. There were plenty more up and down his calves and on his feet, but in mere moments, he¡¯d managed to completely heal a wound that should¡¯ve taken weeks to mend. Elijah sighed in relief and sagged against the tree. Its presence was comforting, like an old friend who¡¯d wrapped him in its warm embrace. For a moment, Elijah considered simply giving in to his exhaustion and closing his eyes. However, it only took the memory of waking up to being eaten by giant crabs to disabuse him of that notion. So, he sat there, regulating his breathing as he concentrated on his core. Slowly, it refilled, but it didn¡¯t generate the Ethera itself. Instead, Elijah¡¯s mind seemed to have become a funnel, absorbing the energy from the environment and channeling it through his soul down to his core. The key seemed to be keeping his mind clear; otherwise, he could sense the rate of recovery slow to a crawl. Overall, it took almost ten minutes for him to refill his Ethera reserves. Once his core was full, he repeated the process on his other wounds, stopping only when he ran dry of Ethera. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. It took most of the rest of the day, but by the time the sun began to dip toward the horizon, Elijah was healthier than he¡¯d been in months. He was still weak ¨C remarkably so ¨C but he didn¡¯t feel sick or injured. He couldn¡¯t be certain if the cancer was actually gone, but he felt well enough that it gave him some hope for the future. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t going to die, after all. Not immediately, at least. But the fact of the matter was that, even if he was healthy, he was still stranded in the wilderness, alone and with no supplies. And if the size of those crabs was any indication of what to expect, the wildlife had been affected by whatever had turned the world upside down as well. It wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility that things were much more dangerous now than they had been when he¡¯d left Hawai¡¯i. Even so, there was cause for optimism. He was still weak, but he¡¯d just used an actual magic spell to heal wounds that should have been crippling in his current environment. Without Touch of Nature, those wounds would have soon gotten infected, and, given the state of his immune System, he would have succumbed not long after that. Now, though, he had a new lease on life, and he wasn¡¯t going to waste it. So, he gathered all the knowledge he¡¯d managed to compile over decades of camping and hiking, and he began to make a list of what he needed to do if he was going to survive for longer than a couple of days. The first thing he did was check his pockets for his phone, which proved completely unfruitful. It must have fallen out when he¡¯d hit the water. Or while floating in the ocean, perhaps. It wasn¡¯t unexpected, but still, the inability to simply call for rescue was disappointing. In any case, he moved on to the other necessities for survival. First, he needed water. Then shelter. Fire. And finally, food. Luckily, the biome seemed to suggest that he was still in the Pacific Northwest, which meant that water should be plentiful. Shelter might be a little more difficult to find, but given the time of year, food should be abundant. Sure, mushrooms and berries weren¡¯t always appetizing, but they would sustain him until he could find something else. Fire would be the most difficult, especially without specialized tools like a ferro rod or a lighter. Even so, he¡¯d made fires from scratch before, and though the environment was incredibly wet ¨C there were places in the Pacific Northwest that were classified as actual rainforests ¨C he hoped he could put those long-dormant skills to good use. For now, though, Elijah needed to explore his surroundings to see if he could find a ready source of fresh water. So, after inspecting himself for wounds one more time, he pushed himself to his feet. The surge of energy he felt upon standing was enough to make him stumble, and he pressed one hand to the pine tree, steadying himself. He just wasn¡¯t used to feeling¡­good. If anything, that highlighted how adaptable people could really be, that he¡¯d managed to keep going for as long as he had. But now, he didn¡¯t have to worry about that. He hoped. With a sigh, Elijah shook his head, reminding himself that he didn¡¯t have much choice in the matter. Before, he¡¯d been completely incapable of changing his fate. The cancer was terminal, and he¡¯d accepted his death as inevitable. However, now that it seemed to be gone ¨C or at least weakened enough that he¡¯d been given a fighting chance ¨C he felt free. But it was all an illusion. If it still decided to kill him, there was still nothing he could do about it. So, he chose to focus on the things he could affect ¨C mainly, the items on his list. After taking a deep, steadying breath, he pushed away from the tree and trekked inland. It was slow going, mostly due to the density of the forest, but Elijah was an old hand at picking his way through the wilds. So, he made gradual progress until the sound of a stream filled his ears. By that point, the forest had descended into dusk, which made finding shelter almost as much of a priority as finding water to quench his thirst. Still, he trudged forward until he stumbled onto a small stream. It was only a few feet across, but it flowed extremely quickly across the rocks that made up the streambed. Elijah collapsed next to the water, cupping his hands and taking a big gulp. He knew he should have taken the time to boil it, but he was hoping that the combination of his high Constitution and the healing power of Touch of Nature would be a match for any sickness that came from the microbes in the water. Regardless, he didn¡¯t have much choice in the matter. Every piece of wood he¡¯d seen during his trek through the forest had been soaked through by the incessant humidity and the frequent drizzling rain, meaning that he¡¯d have to get lucky if he wanted to start a proper fire. After drinking his fill, Elijah sat back and focused on the sense of One With Nature, and he was surprised to find that it was subtly different than it had been closer to the shore. Stronger, in some ways. But gentler, too. It was as if there was some sort of calming presence watching over the area. And he got the impression that it would be stronger the further inland he traveled. As curious as Elijah was, though, he was in no shape to investigate. Night was on its way, and he needed to find some sort of shelter before that happened. Being alone in the wilderness in the dark was one thing, but trying to sleep in the rain was even worse. So, he reluctantly pushed himself back to his feet and followed the stream uphill. As he did so, Elijah continued to look for a hollow or an overhang that might prove to be decent shelter for the night. But to his eternal surprise and good fortune, only twenty minutes later he found himself staring at something wholly unexpected in such rugged country. It was a cabin. It was old, decrepit, and the roof looked on the verge of collapse. But soaked through, tired, and with night nipping at Elijah¡¯s heels, the cabin looked like a godsend. He ambled forward, tripping over a root along the way, but he maintained his balance until he reached the wall. The cabin itself had been constructed of a series of horizontal logs, with the gaps filled in with mud. The roof was of similar construction, but a layer of moss and leaves would provide insulation. A metal tube, rusted and barely holding together, extended from one of the walls, and Elijah reasoned that it must be the cabin¡¯s chimney. ¡°Hello?¡± he called, sure that he was wasting his time. The cabin was in too poor of shape to have housed anyone in a long while. That impression was further cemented in Elijah¡¯s mind when he began to circle around the structure, and he saw that half of it had, indeed, collapsed long ago. He shook his head, wondering what had happened. How old was the cabin? Why hadn¡¯t the owner fixed it? Where were they now? A hundred similar questions raced through Elijah¡¯s thoughts, but there were no answers forthcoming. So, he carefully climbed over the debris, making certain not to impale his bare feet on anything particularly sharp, and looked around inside. There wasn¡¯t much there. An old pot that might be good for boiling water or, eventually, cooking. A rusted knife that didn¡¯t look sharp enough to do anything with. And the remains of some rotted furniture. Altogether, it wasn¡¯t much better than if he¡¯d found a cave. But for now, it would have to do. Tomorrow, he¡¯d have to find food and a better place to sleep so he could regain his Strength and prepare for whatever came next. He still hadn¡¯t decided if he wanted to continue his trek inland to look for civilization or if he wanted to stay put and wait for rescue. There were merits in favor of either course of action. On the one hand, most survival guides would have told him to stay where he was and wait for rescue. There were plenty of exceptions to that rule, though, and, in any case, everything he¡¯d seen on that plane suggested that the world had experienced significant upheaval. It would be a bit na?ve to expect someone to rescue him. But as Elijah settled down in the most intact corner of the cabin, curling up, he decided that that was a decision better made after a good night¡¯s rest. 1-7. Many Paths to Power After a night filled with fitful sleep, Elijah woke to a world of pain twisting through his stomach. He clutched at his midsection and, as cramps assailed him, heaved the meager contents of his stomach onto the ground beside him. There was precious little there ¨C mostly liquid, in fact, which gave him some clues as to what had happened. The water he¡¯d drunk the evening before had obviously been contaminated. ¡°Stupid,¡± he muttered, thinking back to his decision to drink the water without even trying to boil it. But in his defense, he didn¡¯t really have the means to start a fire. And until he¡¯d found the cabin, he hadn¡¯t had anything in which to boil any water he managed to collect. For a healthy person, the tainted water might not have been that impactful, but his immune System had been devastated by the deadly combination of cancer, chemotherapy, and radiation, and despite the effects of his increased attributes, he clearly wasn¡¯t fully recovered. Once his stomach stopped twisting and turning, Elijah sat up and closed his eyes. The pain was still there, but he needed to move past it. He had plenty of experience in that arena, what with everything he¡¯d been through while fighting his disease, so it wasn¡¯t that difficult to concentrate on the ball of energy in his chest. With an effort of will, he mentally embraced the Ethera in his core, grasping at it with his consciousness. The shock was like dunking his entire mind in frigid water. Or molten lava. It was difficult to tell the difference, the feeling was so intense. However, he pushed past that shock, wrapped his core in his willpower, and pulled. As he did so, he muttered, ¡°Touch of Nature.¡± His hand lit up with verdant energy, and when he laid it on his rebellious stomach, the spell flowed forth and back into his body. For only an instant, Elijah could follow its path, but soon, it left his perception behind. However, a few seconds later, he felt the spell take hold as it healed the damage inflicted by whatever parasite had twisted his stomach into knots. The spell only lasted for a few moments, but by the time the green energy dissipated, Elijah felt better than he had since before being diagnosed. He wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to think that his little spell could cure cancer; based on how long it had taken to heal his legs, he suspected that it didn¡¯t have nearly enough power to do that. Instead, it felt like confirmation that the attribute points that he¡¯d allocated into Constitution had been well spent. Was he cured? He had no idea, but he intended to investigate it further. Even if he hadn¡¯t been completely healed, he¡¯d made progress. And for now, that was enough to give him a jolt of optimism and energy. So, with streams of morning sunlight cutting through the forest¡¯s dense canopy, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and stretched aching muscles. Whatever benefits he¡¯d gotten from Touch of Nature, it had done nothing to counteract the effects of sleeping in such an uncomfortable position. Not that he would complain too much. Not only was he alive, but he had access to magic. Plus, there was still that slight tingle in the air giving him a trickle of energy and a sense of belonging. He didn¡¯t quite feel at home, but he wasn¡¯t nearly as distressed as being stranded in the wilderness should have made him. After a few minutes of stretching, Elijah thought back to the simple list of things he wanted to accomplish. The first part was to catalogue everything he¡¯d found in the ruined cabin. It was all trash, but in the wilderness, even garbage could be useful. A rusted knife. A pot. And a few piles of wood. There was also a coil of rope, but it was so rotted that he wouldn¡¯t trust it to hold even the meager weight of his cancer-ravaged body. Overall, it wasn¡¯t much, but it was better than he could have expected. The pot, in particular, would be incredibly useful when he managed to start a fire. Clutching the rusted knife in his hand, he arduously hacked off the shredded hems of his pants, carefully putting the cloth in his pockets where he hoped they would dry into decent tinder. It wasn¡¯t a great idea, but everything else in the forest was perpetually damp. He had some other thoughts on how to get around that, but for now, he would take the steps he could and hope for better luck in the future. With that done, he scoured the area around the cabin for a walking stick. Fortunately, a storm had come through sometime in the past few days, breaking plenty of limbs. So, Elijah had no difficulty finding a stout, mostly straight branch that could serve as both a walking stick and a means of protection from any nearby predators. Of course, he didn¡¯t think he was going to fight them off. The best he could hope for was to use the stick to establish some distance before he ran away. As he¡¯d searched through the forest, though, Elijah got the distinct sensation that he was being watched. However, no matter how often or how quickly he turned, he saw nothing. Perhaps it was only his imagination playing tricks on him. Or maybe some apex predator who¡¯d been transformed alongside the rest of the planet was stalking him. He shuddered at the thought. There were plenty of predators native to the Pacific Northwest. From bears to wolves and everything in between, they were dangerous enough before the influx of Ethera had transformed the planet. But if they¡¯d been affected like the crabs? The last thing Elijah wanted to run into was a van-sized brown bear. Regardless, he didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. If he was going to live ¨C or maybe even thrive ¨C he couldn¡¯t just stay huddled in that ruined cabin. He needed kindling. He needed firewood and food. Otherwise, he might as well lay down and die. So, marshalling his courage, Elijah set off into the woods. All the while, sticks and rocks stabbed him in the feet, but he ignored the discomfort. None of it drew blood, and he could always use Touch of Nature to heal any damage at the end of the day. As he walked, he kept an eye out for reasonably dry sticks, picking them up when he stumbled upon them. He also kept a lookout for birch trees, hoping to use their bark for tinder. On that account, he was unlucky. Still, he was fortunate enough to find some red bunchberries and a huge chanterelle mushroom. Elijah used the front of his shirt to carry them as he continued his exploration. That same feeling of being watched followed him through the forest until he finally broke free from the brush and into a wide meadow. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. The clearing was about two-hundred yards long and about half-again as wide, but it was completely clear, save for a single, huge oak tree that towered hundreds of feet into the sky. However, as impressive as that sight was, Elijah was more concerned with the wispy, white dandelions dotting the small prairie. He couldn¡¯t help but smile as he realized that he¡¯d found his tinder. It wasn¡¯t perfect, and he¡¯d have to gather hundreds of the cottony white seeds, but there were plenty available. Gleefully, he crossed the meadow and began collecting his bounty, shoving the seeds into one of his pockets. His happiness at finding such a ready supply of tinder was so intoxicating that he almost didn¡¯t notice that the feeling of belonging that had suffused the entire forest had only grown stronger. But once he did, he immediately knew the source. He looked up at the tree towering over the meadow. It called to him. And before Elijah realized what was happening, he found himself stumbling across the meadow. When he reached the tree, he extended a trembling hand and laid it on the rough bark of its trunk. A soothing sensation filled Elijah¡¯s entire body. Suddenly, his muscles relaxed. His mind cleared. And the fatigue that had been building from the moment he¡¯d woken up fell away. Then, he felt a presence. ¡°Hello,¡± came a high-pitched voice. Elijah jerked his head up, and he saw¡­something growing out of the lowest branch. At first, he thought it was just another limb, gnarled as it was. However, as he looked closer, he saw that it had taken the shape of a tiny, six-inch tall person. That person, though, was made entirely of branches that had grown together. It had no defining features, and one of its wooden hands clutched at the trunk. ¡°Did I startle you?¡± asked the tree creature. ¡°Uh¡­n-no,¡± Elijah said, his voice hoarse from lack of use. ¡°What¡­I mean¡­who are you?¡± The creature cocked its head to the side as if thinking about Elijah¡¯s question. Then, after a few seconds, it said, ¡°I am the tree, and the tree is me. I only took this form so I could communicate with you.¡± ¡°Why? Not that I¡¯m¡­ungrateful,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve never spoken to a tree before.¡± ¡°A druid who does not speak to trees? How?¡± it said. Then, it leaned forward, never taking its arm from the trunk. ¡°Ah ¨C I see. You are very weak. New to power. Understandable. But this will not do. My protector cannot be so weak.¡± ¡°Protector?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± said the tree. ¡°You are a druid, and this is your Grove. Therefore, you must protect me.¡± Elijah had no idea what to say to that. In fact, the whole encounter was so strange and unbelievable that he was unsure what to even think. ¡°I have decided to help you.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± he asked. ¡°Information,¡± the tree said. ¡°Now, sit. I will guide you to your first breakthrough. It is not much, but it will give you a better chance of survival.¡± ¡°Breakthrough? What kind of breakthrough?¡± he asked, cursing his own ignorance. He didn¡¯t know anything about the new form the world had taken, and that lack was going to get him killed. So, he decided to wring as much information from the tree as was possible. ¡°Cultivation, of course¡± said the tree creature. Somehow, even without any facial features, Elijah felt like the thing regarded him as something of an idiot. ¡°I have no idea what that means,¡± he said. ¡°I saw it on my status sheet, but ¨C¡± ¡°Heavenly Status,¡± said the tree. ¡°Uh¡­okay. My Heavenly Status, then,¡± Elijah corrected himself. ¡°Anyway, I don¡¯t know if you realize it, but this world just got¡­I don¡¯t know¡­transformed, and there¡¯s no manual or anything to tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°A newly integrated world?¡± the tree said. ¡°Of course. Now I remember. That is why the Ethera is so thin. It makes perfect sense.¡± The tree creature sat down on the branch, then cupped its chin in one hand. ¡°Hmm. So, you know nothing of the System? That is both a boon and a curse,¡± it said. ¡°You have an opportunity to grow very powerful, but with that power will come responsibilities.¡± It looked up. ¡°If you survive, of course.¡± Elijah swallowed hard. He¡¯d already surmised that the new world would be dangerous. If he had magic, then surely others would as well. And judging by what had happened with the crabs, the wildlife would be affected as well. ¡°I¡¯ll do whatever it takes,¡± Elijah stated. He¡¯d made peace with his impending death, but that didn¡¯t mean he intended to lie down and give up. He felt like he had a new lease on life, and he wasn¡¯t going to let it go without doing whatever he could. ¡°Very well,¡± said the tree creature, sounding pleased. ¡°But I am limited in how much information I can convey. The System does not prohibit charity, but there is an established System whereby newly integrated worlds can gain knowledge.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take whatever I can get.¡± ¡°Yes, yes. You have some spirit in you,¡± the tree said. ¡°With how weak your body is, you will need that. In fact, I think that is where we will start.¡± ¡°You want to heal me? I¡¯ve been sick for a while, and ¨C¡± ¡°No. And yes,¡± the tree stated. ¡°It is more complicated than that. Think of it more as I will be guiding you towards the tools that will allow you to heal yourself.¡± ¡°Like Touch of Nature,¡± Elijah reasoned. ¡°No. With cultivation.¡± ¡°You keep saying that word like I should know what it means,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°But if you want me to plant something and help it grow, I¡¯m not sure I have the tools or the ¨C¡± The tree sighed, a sound like wind whistling through its branches. Or perhaps the wind really was rustling its leaves. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure, and he didn¡¯t have much opportunity to figure it out because the tree said, ¡°Cultivation is a System whereby a sentient being improves themselves. There are four categories ¨C Body, Mind, Core, and Soul. They are intertwined but separate. Dependent on one another, but capable of progressing independently.¡± ¡°O-okay¡­¡± The tree went on, ¡°Your body is the easiest, but in your situation, it will be the most impactful. Without it, you will likely die within a month or two.¡± ¡°The cancer?¡± ¡°A disease, yes. I cannot sense any other specifics.¡± Elijah shook his head. So, his efforts at raising his Constitution attribute had been wasted, and the resultant spike of energy was unrelated. He hadn¡¯t been healed at all. It wasn¡¯t really unprecedented. There had been times after his diagnosis when Elijah had almost felt normal. Usually, those moments were brief, and they usually coincided with distractions. Now, he realized that the plane crash and all the changes he had experienced had probably caused such a moment. ¡°What do the others do?¡± he asked. ¡°Your Mind dictates how quickly you can funnel Ethera into your soul,¡± it said. ¡°Together with your Regeneration attribute, it determines how quickly you can refill your stores of Ethera. ¡°Then there is your Soul, which determines how quickly you can bring that Ethera to bear via spells, abilities, and skills.¡± It went on, ¡°But the Core is the most important aspect of your cultivation. At its most basic level, it is where you store your Ethera, and when you cultivate it, you increase the potency of your Ethera. However, it will also influence your entire path, which is arguably more important.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t we improve that one, then?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because you are not ready,¡± the tree said. ¡°In addition, without advancing your Body cultivation, you will surely die, regardless of the stage of your core. And finally, it requires more than this world is currently capable of providing.¡± ¡°But what ¨C¡± ¡°To tell you more than that would be to risk the ire of the System,¡± the tree stated. ¡°For now, all I can do is put you on the path. Learn this lesson well, because your life will depend on it.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand.¡± ¡°Good,¡± the tree said. ¡°Now, let us begin.¡± 1-8. Clearing the Station Alyssa knelt in the park across the street from the police station. Next to her was Roman, with the other three a few feet behind. She asked, ¡°What do you think?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not good,¡± he said, clutching his bow. Alyssa noticed that his knuckles were white, and if she was honest, she didn¡¯t blame him even a little. On their way through town, they¡¯d seen plenty of evidence that the world, as they knew it, was gone. They¡¯d even had to fight a couple of battles, though with Alyssa¡¯s Heavy Blows-empowered machete and Roman¡¯s bow skills, none of the mutated creatures had lasted long. Thankfully, they hadn¡¯t seen anything like that first wolf monster they¡¯d encountered. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s another wolf?¡± she asked, still studying the shattered glass of the front door. ¡°Or something worse? Maybe one of those huge racoons?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted, running his hand through his hair. He looked as bad as Alyssa felt. Just like her, he took the little town¡¯s safety as his personal responsibility, and they¡¯d seen plenty of evidence of just how thoroughly they¡¯d failed in that endeavor. Not that they could have predicted that the world would be transformed overnight, but still, it hit them both extremely hard. Especially when they¡¯d seen the bodies. So far, there had only been a few, and they were so chewed up that they were unrecognizable. Even so, no one in their little group had been unaffected. Alyssa rested her hand on the grip of her pistol. Not because she thought it would do much good. If nothing else, the trip across town had proven just how ineffective firearms were against the transformed creatures. Even the racoons, which seemed to be the weakest monsters they¡¯d encountered, took an entire magazine to put down. The machete at her hip had proven a much more reliable weapon. The same was true of Roman¡¯s bow. Even Carmen¡¯s shotgun, which she¡¯d gotten from the gun safe in their basement, hadn¡¯t done much, and she¡¯d been forced to fight with the old softball bat. It hadn¡¯t lasted long, and she¡¯d replaced it with a solid steel crowbar which, with her Strength, was devastating. The one who¡¯d taken it worst was Trish. She was a nice enough woman, but she just wasn¡¯t built for the apocalypse. Prone to panic and incapable of acting in a crisis, she was more of a liability than an asset. Even her ability to heal couldn¡¯t change that. By comparison, Miguel was taking the end of the world remarkably well. Certainly, he was frightened. What eight-year-old wouldn¡¯t be? But he¡¯d proven his mothers¡¯ son, and he¡¯d responded to the dire situation by searching for ways to make himself useful. At present, he was the group¡¯s pack mule, carrying extra ammunition and a few bottles of water. Their other supplies were in shopping carts they¡¯d taken from the market. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to go in soon,¡± Alyssa said, glancing at the sky. The sun was almost to the horizon, which meant night would soon be upon them. None of them wanted to be outside after sunset, which meant they needed to clear the station out, then secure it so they could hole up for the night. In the morning, they would establish more permanent defenses. ¡°I know,¡± Roman stated, shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. There¡¯s something in there. I know it.¡± ¡°Does that change anything?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°We can¡¯t go back.¡± Indeed, the house was miles away, and it would take at least twenty minutes to reach any other building that might offer any security. ¡°I¡¯m aware. I¡¯m just not looking forward to what we have to do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± ¡°Where do you think everyone else is?¡± he asked. They¡¯d only seen a few townspeople along the way, and none of them seemed keen on doing anything but barricading themselves in their houses. Even when Alyssa had offered to protect them, they¡¯d remained silent. Not for the first time, she recognized that being a police officer didn¡¯t exactly engender trust. The relationship between law enforcement and the general populace had been shattered, and it seemed that the end of the world hadn¡¯t changed that. Alyssa shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s healthy to think about that right now,¡± she said. ¡°Okay, so here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. I¡¯ll run in there and ¨C¡± ¡°By yourself? No chance.¡± ¡°Just listen, alright? I¡¯ll run in there. I got that new ability,¡± she said. Indeed, she¡¯d gained a level along the way, and it had granted her a new ability:
Charge Dash forward at 200% your normal speed for three seconds. Your next attack will do 30% more damage.
¡°I can go in, see what¡¯s in there, and if I get in trouble, I¡¯ll use Charge,¡± she said. ¡°That way, I can lead them out here, where you¡¯ll be waiting to fill them full of arrows.¡± ¡°It sounds dangerous.¡± ¡°More than taking Trish and Miggy in there?¡± she asked. ¡°Because I don¡¯t know about you, but I have no intention of letting my son in that building until I know for sure there aren¡¯t any monsters. Too much can go wrong in an enclosed space. If keeping him safe means I have to take on a little more, then so be it.¡± Alyssa had worked with Roman for almost five years, so she knew him well enough to recognize the sour expression for what it was. He didn¡¯t like the plan, but he also had no alternative proposal. The reality was that the trip across town had taken a lot longer than any of them could have anticipated, and now, they were overextended. With night coming, they didn¡¯t have a lot of choices. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°We could go back to the bank,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s less than a mile away.¡± ¡°There are probably monsters there, too. You saw that hole in the front window,¡± Alyssa reminded him. Indeed, they¡¯d only passed a couple of buildings that hadn¡¯t been breached, and none that were close enough to reach before dark. ¡°You know I¡¯m right, Chief. This is the best option. Besides, you can set that new ability of yours up, too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t trust it,¡± he muttered. ¡°Embrace the magic, chief,¡± she said, forcing a grin she didn¡¯t really feel. ¡°That¡¯s all we can do at this point.¡± Alyssa understood his reservations. It was one thing to use something like Heavy Blows, which just made her better at something she was already doing. But to manifest a trap out of nothing? That was enough to hammer home just how much things had changed. Sure, the monsters did the same, but it required a different sort of response than being able to use magic. Or Ethera, as every notification seemed to remind them. In Roman¡¯s case, his second ability ¨C or spell, as it was categorized ¨C let him set a magical trap that hobbled any hostile creature that passed through. The effect didn¡¯t last more than a few seconds, but the one time they¡¯d tested it, the spell had worked extremely well. How it differentiated between enemies and allies was still a mystery, but it managed it all the same. ¡°Let¡¯s do it, then. Daylight¡¯s burning,¡± he said, replacing his cap. ¡°Probably should let them know the plan,¡± Alyssa said, nodding to the other three. They were far enough away that they had been incapable of hearing the exchange. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Roman stated. ¡°You need to get moving. We¡¯ll be ready when you come out.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± With that, Alyssa stood, then looked back at Carmen. She nodded at her wife before taking a deep breath and turning toward the station. She and Roman strode forward together, but he didn¡¯t pass through the door. Instead, he knelt before it, holding his hands out and casting his spell. Meanwhile, Alyssa stepped into the lobby, holding her machete in one hand and the pistol in the other. If everything went according to plan, she wouldn¡¯t need either. Not inside the building, at least. Outside was a different story, and she didn¡¯t want to think about the immediate future. It was attention she couldn¡¯t spare. So, she crept through the familiar lobby, passing the receptionist¡¯s desk and into the office space. There, she saw ten desks, each sporting a computer monitor. Beyond was an interrogation room, a break room, and a couple of storage closets. On the other side stood the chief¡¯s office. Alyssa stepped softly, keeping her breathing as even as she could. It had been a long time since she¡¯d hunted, but she hadn¡¯t forgotten the lessons her father had taught her. Sure, Elijah had always been the more skilled outdoorsman, but Alyssa hadn¡¯t lagged too far behind. So, she channeled those skills as she cleared the area, finding nothing. Next, she checked the outer rooms, finding more of the same. Which was to say, nothing. In fact, Alyssa was starting to think that, perhaps, whatever had broken into the station had already abandoned it. But she knew better. Besides, there was still one level left to clear. The basement held the holding cells as well as the armory, which meant that there was plenty of space downstairs to hold any number of horrors. So, after taking another deep breath, Alyssa approached the stairs. Opening the door, she poked her head inside. And nearly gagged. There, sprawled across the floor, was a half-eaten corpse that had once been one of her colleagues. By his skin tone, it was Jerome, one of the other deputies. Alyssa didn¡¯t need to check for a pulse to know he was dead. Not only was he completely stationary, but he was missing a third of his torso. Nobody could live through that. Still, after making certain that nothing was going to jump out and try to eat her, she knelt beside him and collected the magazines at his belt. Ammunition would soon grow scarce, and there was every chance that she would soon need it. After all, whatever had killed Jerome was probably still around. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Alyssa continued down the stairs. Notably, Jerome had clearly tried to climb to safety, as evidenced by trail of blood-soaked stairs. Alyssa ignored them, instead focusing on her surroundings. Which was a good thing, because as she hit the staircase¡¯s switchback, something launched itself at her. But it didn¡¯t come from below. Instead, it descended from the low ceiling, spreading bat-like wings as it snapped at her with slavering jaws. With so much adrenaline coursing through her veins, she responded with incredible alacrity, slashing out with her machete. The monster ¨C and it could be nothing else ¨C screeched as the blade bit deep into its furry body. But it still got its claws into her forearm. Alyssa screamed as she tried to dislodge it, banging the monster against the wall. Yet, despite her frantic efforts, it held fast. So, she jammed the pistol against its bulbous body, then squeezed the trigger. The weapon discharged with an earsplitting and unmistakable crack, which was soon followed by another. And another after that. The monster went wild as she emptied the entire magazine into the creature. Blood and fur misted into the air, but it held on until the very end. Finally, after she¡¯d discharged every single round into monster, Alyssa banged it against the wall. Over and over until, at last, its screeches became burbling wheezes. Then, at last, it fell free. Alyssa stared at it for a long moment, unsure of what she saw. The monster was bat-like, but with humanoid characteristics. Especially its face, which looked almost simian. But she didn¡¯t have time to study it, because the sound of a dozen flapping wings filled the air as more monsters ascended from below. Alyssa didn¡¯t hesitate to turn and run. She¡¯d gotten the creatures¡¯ attention. Now, she just needed to lead them outside where, hopefully, her allies could finish them off. That was easier said than done, though, largely because she had a flock of monkey-bats trying to kill her. Dashing up the stairs, she had to duck under one such monster, then lash out with her machete to knock another out of her way before she could get through the door. Once she¡¯d made it through, she used Charge. Instantly, her body responded. Alyssa had run track in college, so she¡¯d always been relatively fast. But the speed she achieved after using Charge was something else altogether. If she ran any less than thirty-five miles an hour, she would have been incredibly surprised. However, that speed came with a cost ¨C chiefly, that she had difficulty changing direction. For a few steps, she was fine, but then she clipped one of the desks, which sent her spinning. With so much momentum, that spin took her into one of the walls, where she caromed into another desk. But she still kept moving forward, eventually stumbling into the lobby and through the door. The bat-monkeys weren¡¯t far behind. Charge dissipated, and she tumbled to the ground. She tried to turn it into a roll, but her movements were graceless, and she ended up sprawled across the pavement of the parking lot. Behind her, the bat-monkeys screeched, the sound accompanied by the steady thwap of Roman¡¯s bow. Meanwhile, Alyssa heard Carmen let out an inarticulate yell, and when she finally righted herself, she saw the stout woman swinging her crowbar at the disoriented and slowed bat-monkeys. In the waning light, they looked like true monsters, largely because there was no way anything like them had ever existed on Earth. But with Carmen¡¯s incredible Strength and Roman¡¯s steady aim, the flock of creatures soon fell. Vaguely, Alyssa was aware of someone kneeling beside her. Trish reached out and used her Mend spell. Vitality flooded through Alyssa¡¯s body as her wounds closed. Instantly, her mind snapped into focus, but it was unnecessary. The monsters were all dead. Roman and Carmen rushed over, and from somewhere, Miguel appeared with a bottle of water. Alyssa looked up and said, ¡°That definitely didn¡¯t go like I planned.¡± ¡°You think? God, you¡¯re an idiot,¡± groused Carmen. ¡°Idiot is a bad word,¡± Miguel offered. ¡°I know, sweetie,¡± said Carmen, tousling his hair. ¡°But sometimes, bad words are appropriate.¡± ¡°Is it clear?¡± Roman asked. ¡°I think so,¡± Alyssa answered, pushing herself to her feet. Despite the healing, she was still a little unsteady. ¡°I saw Jerome. He didn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°Shit. He was a good man,¡± Roman stated. He sighed. ¡°He won¡¯t be the last, though. Let¡¯s get inside and find something to block the door.¡± And with that, the group grabbed their carts full of supplies and headed into the station. Hopefully, it would prove more secure for them than it had been for poor Jerome. 1-9. An Introduction to Cultivation ¡°What do I call you?¡± asked Elijah, still looking up at the tree creature. ¡°I have no name, for I am only a sapling,¡± it said. ¡°Regardless, this is the last time we will speak for some time. I am nearly at the end of my available energy.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Elijah had no idea how to respond to that, so he¡¯d decided to keep his mouth shut. As his father always said, it was better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. It had originally been an Abraham Lincoln quote, but Elijah¡¯s father had adopted it as a mantra. Elijah missed the days he¡¯d spent with his father. Most of the time, they didn¡¯t even talk; instead, they¡¯d just sit in nature and enjoy one another¡¯s silent company. By contrast, his mother had been the talkative type whose base demeanor bordered on mania. She could be exhausting, but her good-natured attitude and kind heart had made it endearing, rather than annoying. Everything would have been so much easier to bear if they were still around. But fate had other ideas, and almost a decade past, they¡¯d died in a brutal car crash. Back then, Elijah had just graduated high school, but he remembered it like it was yesterday. He shook his head. It was neither the time nor the place to think about such things. If the tree creature was running low on energy, then its time was limited. Elijah needed to get as much information out of it as he could manage. So, he looked up and asked ¡°So, what do I do?¡± ¡°Sit,¡± said the tree. Elijah did, crossing his legs under him. The tree was surrounded by a carpet of green-and-yellow moss that had felt particularly luxurious on his sore feet. Sitting atop it was even better, and he found himself relaxing. Or perhaps that was just the tree¡¯s presence, which had put him at ease the moment he¡¯d laid eyes on it. ¡°Put your hands on your knees,¡± it said. ¡°Then close your eyes.¡± Elijah followed the tree¡¯s instructions, feeling a bit silly. He¡¯d tried meditation a few times, but he¡¯d never achieved anything close to a quieted mind. Still, he¡¯d tried it enough that he could recognize the trappings. With his eyes closed, Elijah could feel everything even more clearly. That pull he¡¯d felt back in the cabin was even more potent now, telling him that it had originated with the tree. However, he also felt a sense of connection that he couldn¡¯t quite wrap his head around. Like he was part of something far bigger and more complex than he could understand. But rather than feel overwhelmed by that reality, he instead felt immense comfort. It was as if all he had to do was just let go, and he could throw away his individuality in favor of ¨C ¡°Listen to me, young one! Hear my voice!¡± thundered the tree with far more volume and authority than it had before. ¡°Do not surrender.¡± It took a few more moments for Elijah to latch onto the tree¡¯s continuous instructions, but when he did, he felt overwhelmed with what he¡¯d been about to do. In seconds, he¡¯d nearly given up on everything that made him an individual. ¡°The Call is strong here,¡± said the tree, its voice far gentler. ¡°That you can resist it at all is a testament to your individualistic nature.¡± ¡°The Call?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Of nature,¡± the tree stated. ¡°Of the collective. We call her the Mother of All. But that is your first lesson, young druid. To become one with the Mother is tempting. It will feel natural. But that is not our path. You must resist, or you will lose yourself. Do you understand? Do not surrender.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand,¡± was Elijah¡¯s response. And he did. He was horrified that it had only taken him a few seconds before he almost willingly sacrificed his individuality in favor of joining with the Mother. ¡°You must feel her presence,¡± it said. ¡°But you must not let it overwhelm you. Try.¡± Elijah focused on that feeling, keeping a firm grip on his own identity. It was difficult, and it took quite a while, but with every breath, he let himself more fully perceive the energy surrounding him. In his mind¡¯s eye, it was green, but that was just a construct of his imagination. Still, it helped. For a while, it continued to try to convince him to surrender, but now that he was aware, he could resist The Call. Barely. However, with every passing moment, it was a little easier. ¡°Now, look closer,¡± the tree intoned. ¡°Separate The Call from the Ethera.¡± Elijah followed the tree¡¯s instructions. For a long time, he didn¡¯t even know what he was looking for, but as the minutes passed into hours, he began to recognize a subtle difference between the energy and the presence of The Mother. It still felt like her, but it was separate. Completely different from the Ethera in his core. ¡°I see it,¡± Elijah said, completely unaware of the sweat pouring down his hairless face. In fact, he was so deeply enmeshed in his trance that he could barely perceive the passage of time. ¡°Good. Reach out with your awareness and drag the Ethera toward you,¡± said the tree. ¡°But do not absorb it through your Mind. Surround yourself with it.¡± That was much more difficult. Elijah could barely even follow what the energy was doing when his Mind harvested it from the air and funneled it down into his Core. When he¡¯d done it before, most of the process was automated; he¡¯d just had to give it a nudge. But interrupting that process and forcing the energy to do something else? That was extraordinarily difficult. Still, Elijah bent his will to doing just that, concentrating the entirety of his being on keeping the ambient Ethera from entering through the vortex in his mind. In the end, his will acted as a one-way door, letting the suction of the funnel act on the Ethera but not letting anything through. Hour after hour passed, but he didn¡¯t let up. Eventually, the gathered Ethera began to pool around him, growing ever denser as it clung to his body. One layer after another, it condensed further and further until Elijah could hardly breathe. He pushed harder, packing the energy around him until it had become a cocoon of Ethera. ¡°Hold it there,¡± said the tree, a note of strain in its voice. Elijah complied, focusing every ounce of his will on keeping the energy as densely packed as he could. And then an avalanche of Ethera crashed into him. He almost lost control as the pressure built far past what he could handle. But the new onslaught of energy was more controlled. ¡°Now, condense it!¡± roared the tree, its voice so powerful that it sent reverberations throughout Elijah¡¯s body. ¡°Focus your will on harnessing the Ethera and compacting it into your body!¡± Elijah pulled with his will, focusing on the tree¡¯s instructions. He didn¡¯t stop to wonder how he was doing any of it. Indeed, if he had, he would have felt like he¡¯d gone insane. Or perhaps that he was concussed. But he didn¡¯t have any room for such thoughts in his mind. He could only do as the tree ordered. Even so, he almost lost his grip when his entire body erupted into agony. It was as if he¡¯d descended thousands of feet underwater without any protective gear. The human body just wasn¡¯t meant to withstand that kind of pressure, and it felt like he was on the verge of implosion. His bones creaked, and his organs felt like they were about to rupture. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. If he could have stopped it, he would have. But the Ethera had taken on a mind of its own, increasing the pressure exponentially with every passing second. Elijah tried to scream, but he couldn¡¯t open his mouth. And even if he could, there was no air in his lungs. He was dying. He knew it. The tree had tricked him into willingly walking to his own doom. But Elijah didn¡¯t have the willpower left to curse his own naivete. Eventually, the pressure leveled out, but that was little relief for Elijah. He couldn¡¯t move. He could scarcely think, much less try to break free as the Ethera began to solidify around him. In the beginning, it felt like a dense fog, but then it was like being submerged in water that, in turn, became gelatinous. At some point, it turned completely solid, then crystalline, where it settled. Elijah wanted to scream. To rail against his captor. But he couldn¡¯t marshal the willpower, and even if he could, he was frozen in place. He could only await his fate. Like that, time passed. It could have been hours, days, months, or even years. Perhaps he would sit there, trapped in that crystalline prison for all eternity. And then, suddenly, there was a cracking sound, followed by the sensation of immense power washing through him. Another crack. And then another. Over and over, tiny fissures appeared in the crystal. Elijah still couldn¡¯t open his eyes, but he could feel tiny surges of relief with each crack. Then, finally, the crystal shattered, and he fell over, gasping for breath. That¡¯s when the smell hit him. It was like rotten garbage and sewage rolled into one horrible odor. Lying on his side, he retched, but only a little water came out. Coughing, he pushed himself to his hands and knees. Hanging his head, he muttered, ¡°W-what did you do to me?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± said the tree. ¡°I merely provided a little push. You did this to yourself. That is how cultivating the body works.¡± Elijah slowly sat up, shifting away from the tiny puddle of vomit. However, when he looked down at the blanket of moss that had surrounded the huge tree, he was distressed to see that the once-green-and-yellow carpet had become black and shriveled, almost as if the life had been sucked out of them. Then, he looked at his hands, which were covered in a black, tar-like substance. As distressing as that was, he was more concerned with the state of his fingers. Over the course of his chemotherapy, his body had been ravaged by the toxic chemicals, but the most troubling side effect was when he¡¯d started to lose his fingernails. His toenails had soon followed, but by that point, he had been distracted by other, more pressing issues. Now, though, his nails had returned, and what¡¯s more, the skin he saw beneath the tar-like substance had lost the pallid, sickly complexion that had been with him for months. In its place was healthy skin. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked, confused. He¡¯d thought the tree had been trying to kill him. Or perhaps, to feed off of him in some way. But now? He wasn¡¯t so sure. ¡°You have broken through to the first stage of Body cultivation,¡± the tree said. ¡°You will be stronger, faster, more durable, and healthier than you¡¯ve ever been before. That substance covering you is impurity made manifest and purged from your body. Whatever disease from which you suffered has now been cured.¡± Impurities. Elijah guessed that much of what had been purged from his body had been related to the chemotherapy he¡¯d been forced to undergo. To confirm what the tree had said, Elijah opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 1
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 3
Dexterity 4
Constitution 11
Ethera 4
Regeneration 7
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Unformed Unformed
Elijah shook his head. Not only had he picked up an Attunement ¨C whatever that meant ¨C he¡¯d also progressed his Body cultivation from Unformed to Wood. The next question seemed obvious, so he asked, ¡°What comes after Wood?¡± ¡°Stone,¡± said the tree. ¡°But you will have to find an area with much denser Ethera if you want to progress. As it stands, even if you were fortunate enough to find such a place, attempting to take the next step would kill you.¡± ¡°What? How am I supposed to progress, then?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°So impatient,¡± was the tree¡¯s response. ¡°Barely taken one unsteady step on the path, and already, you want to run. The first ¨C and easiest way ¨C to ensure that you are ready to progress is to gain levels. You can do this in a variety of ways. Killing other creatures is the most common, but any use of your skills or spells will count toward your progression.¡± ¡°Like a video game¡­¡± The tree either didn¡¯t hear Elijah¡¯s muttered interruption, or it simply chose not to acknowledge it. It continued, ¡°The other method is to acclimate yourself to increasingly denser Ethera. To do so, you must repeat what you did here today. Over and over, improving bit by bit until you can take the next step.¡± Elijah¡¯s eyes flicked to the other categories of Core, Mind, and Soul. So, he asked, ¡°What about the others? How do I progress my Core?¡± ¡°I cannot answer that,¡± said the tree. Its voice had already grown dimmer, and Elijah thought it looked even smaller than before. ¡°What I did here was the limit of the assistance I could give, and even that was toeing the line between what is and is not allowed. Any further, and¡­it would not be good.¡± ¡°What else can you tell me?¡± Elijah asked. He was incredibly grateful for the help the tree had given him ¨C the value of ridding his body of cancer, both from an emotional and a physical perspective, was vast ¨C but he wasn¡¯t averse to pushing for more. After all, the more information he could get, the better prepared he would be to survive. Perhaps he could even get to Seattle and find his sister and her family. Though he sensed that with how much the world had changed, that might be a far off goal. ¡°Nothing,¡± said the tree. ¡°I can only wish you luck on your journey. When next we speak, I hope to see that you have progressed.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± The tree creature shrank before Elijah¡¯s very eyes, growing smaller until it was only a small protrusion atop the branch. At the beginning of their conversation, the tree creature had claimed to be an extension of the tree, and now, it had retracted. He leaned back, trying to wrap his head around what had happened. He¡¯d been healed, and if what the tree had said was true, his cultivation had given him a stronger body. What that meant ¨C beyond the basic understanding that it was better ¨C was still a mystery, though. He¡¯d have to do some testing. But first, he needed to head back to the stream and clean himself as well as he could. Then, another question hit him: how long had he been in that crystalline chrysalis of condensed Ethera? It had felt like an eternity, but other than looking up at the sky, which was just as overcast as always, he had no context by which to tell time. He wasn¡¯t that hungry or thirsty, so maybe it had all been in his head. The bushberries and the mushroom he¡¯d gathered, as well as the dandelion fluff, had gone the same way as the carpet of moss. None of it was rotten, but rather, it was more like they had become blackened shells of what they¡¯d once been. Perhaps the tree had sustained him somehow. Either way, it didn¡¯t affect what he needed to do. So, he pushed himself to his feet and started back the way he¡¯d come. 1-10. The First Steps Elijah ran his hand over his head, feeling a light stubble that should not have been there. After all, hair just wasn¡¯t supposed to grow that fast, was it? When the plane had crashed and the System had descended upon Earth, he had been completely bald, his hair having been sacrificed at the altar of chemotherapy. By his count, only a couple of days had passed since then. Except for the chrysalis. He had no idea how long he¡¯d been in there. It could have been days. Years. Months. Or it might¡¯ve been mere hours. His only hints were his budding hair growth, which wasn¡¯t really as informative as it could have been. After all, his entire body had changed ¨C he could feel the Strength coursing through him ¨C was it really so unthinkable that cultivating a body of Wood might prompt some rapid hair growth? Letting out a sigh, Elijah left the majestic tree behind and went about restoring his stock of dandelion fluff. He might have been cured of his cancer, but his needs were still the same. He needed water, food, and a fire, and that was just the beginning. After gathering two pockets full of fluff, Elijah headed back into the woods. On the way back to the fallen cabin, he realized that he¡¯d left his walking stick in the meadow. However, because he expected to find that it had become an empty husk, just like the moss, berries, and mushroom, he chose not to go back for it. He would just find a new one. So, as he walked, he kept an eye out for three things. First, he wanted more mushrooms and berries. They wouldn¡¯t be enough to sustain him indefinitely ¨C he knew he needed protein and fat ¨C but they would go a long way to staving off hunger while he sorted out his other needs. Second, he wanted a new walking stick. It wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary, but he¡¯d always carried a stick while hiking, so it felt right to have one now. Besides, a stout stick could function as an impromptu weapon if he encountered something dangerous. And third, he wanted to gather fallen branches for firewood. Only a few minutes into the woods, Elijah found more bushberries; it wasn¡¯t surprising, the little, red berries were all over the place in the Pacific Northwest. He¡¯d hoped to find some blackberries too, but he hadn¡¯t been that lucky yet. A couple of minutes later, he found a clump of lion¡¯s head mushrooms, which were white and looked a little like bunches of cauliflower. Not for the first time, he silently thanked his father for teaching him about foraging in the wilderness. Otherwise, he¡¯d have run the risk of gathering something poisonous. But that begged the question ¨C was his new body of Wood susceptible to poison? He had no idea, but it would be foolish to assume that it wasn¡¯t. So, he kept gathering until he finally reached the cabin. Once there, he carefully placed his meager stash of food ¨C a few handfuls of bunchberries and the lion¡¯s head mushrooms ¨C on the ground and grabbed the old pot he¡¯d found when he¡¯d first moved into the cabin. It was a little rusted, but he estimated that it would hold a couple of quarts of water. Being that it was his only viable container, he knew he couldn¡¯t be terribly picky. With that in hand, Elijah trekked back to the stream and, after spending quite some time washing the black gunk from his body and clothes, he gathered a pot full of water. It was going to be such a pain, going back and forth. It was late in the summer ¨C assuming that he hadn¡¯t been in that chrysalis for months ¨C so the only real danger was the unforgiving terrain. But it was navigable. In the winter, though? That would be a different story altogether. Elijah found himself hesitating. He¡¯d gotten sick after drinking the water last time, but that might have been the remnants of his fight against cancer. It didn¡¯t necessarily mean that the water was contaminated. Sure, the smart thing to do was to take it back and boil it. However, with the size of the pot, only drinking water that had been boiled would see him spending the majority of his time going back and forth to the stream. The way he saw it, he had three options. Just suck it up and resign himself to wasting so much time when it might not even be necessary. He¡¯d learned enough about wilderness survival to know that any time he spent doing that would be time he couldn¡¯t spend finding food. He¡¯d gotten lucky with the bunchberries and the mushrooms, but as the weather turned, those would slowly disappear. He needed to stock up, or he¡¯d end up starving to death. And that meant spending as much time as possible gathering food. The second option was to move his camp. But on the first day, he¡¯d looked around, and he hadn¡¯t seen any likely shelter. Sleeping out in the open was out of the question. It might work out well enough for now, but the moment the weather turned, it would become a death trap. The old cabin wasn¡¯t perfect, but at least it had most of a roof that would protect him from the weather. The third choice was to simply drink the water without boiling it. It was clearly the most convenient option, but that didn¡¯t mean it was the right one. After all, he had gotten ill the last time he¡¯d tried it. But that might¡¯ve been the cancer or the remnants of failed chemotherapy. The water could have been perfectly potable. In the end, his decision came down to his ability to heal himself with Touch of Nature. Certainly, being forced to do that wasn¡¯t particularly pleasant, but it was a nice safety net if the water was contaminated. If it was, he would just have to use his lone spell to heal himself. But he was also banking on his new body of Wood. His attributes hadn¡¯t changed, but he¡¯d already felt a qualitative difference in his Strength and stamina. So, it wasn¡¯t out of the question that he would be more resistant to waterborne diseases and parasites. He hoped that was the case, at least. So, Elijah bent down next to the stream, cupped his hands, and drank. The water was clear, and it tasted cool and fresh. But he knew better than most that that didn¡¯t mean anything. The water still might make him sick, but he had a way to easily fix that. Sure, he¡¯d lose a bit of hydration if he woke up vomiting, but that was a small price to pay for the convenience of simply drinking from the stream without the necessity of boiling the water. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Once Elijah had drunk his fill, he cleaned the pot as best he could, then used it to carry some water back to the cabin. When he got there, he dug out a shallow pit, surrounded it with gathered stones, and leaned the sticks he¡¯d collected together into a pyramid shape. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but surviving in the wilderness without supplies never was. You had to take what you could get. To that end, he searched the cabin for a likely piece of wood. There were a few options around the collapsed wall, and he chose the least rotted board he could find. With that done, he settled down and used the old, rusted knife to carve a notch into one side of the board. It took a while, but beneath the rust, the four-inch blade was sturdier than Elijah could have expected. When the notch was finished, he let out a sigh of relief. Before, even that much work would have left him exhausted. And while he was frustrated and tired after a long day of trekking through the woods, he still had energy to spare. That, as much as anything else, told him that he¡¯d left the effects of the cancer far behind. Back in the meadow, he¡¯d gathered a few pieces of thick horseweed, which he intended to use as a spindle. So, he stripped them down and selected one roughly as big around as his pinky. Then, he carved a small dimple in one end; it was intended to increase airflow ¨C a tip he¡¯d learned from his father. So, with all of that set up, Elijah carved a divot on the inner edge of the notch he¡¯d cut into the board. With that done, he was ready to attempt to create his first coal. He¡¯d done it before, but that had been under ideal circumstances while camping with his father. Now, though? He had suboptimal tools, barely acceptable materials, and a damp environment. Even if he did manage to get a fire going, it would take a lot of work. But Elijah knew that his life would eventually depend on that fire. Not only would it provide warmth during the chilly nights, but it would also allow him to cook any food he managed to find as well as keep most predators away. He didn¡¯t know if the transformed animals in the area ¨C none of which he¡¯d actually seen, aside from the enlarged crabs ¨C would be afraid of fire, but he was banking on their natures remaining static. At least for now. Who knew what else would come? Elijah shook his head and focused on the task at hand. He couldn¡¯t plan for everything; he just didn¡¯t have enough information. So he could only take it one step at a time, combatting any changes as they presented themselves. He set a bit of dandelion fluff on the divot, then followed up with the dimpled end of the spindle. Sitting crosslegged by his poorly constructed fire pit, Elijah set about creating a coal from which he could start the fire. Friction fires were fickle at the best of times, but using a homemade hand drill was an acquired skill. Still, Elijah had done it before, and even if it had been quite some time, he hadn¡¯t forgotten the technique. Twisting the spindle between his palms, he rapidly rotated the stick of horseweed. For a few minutes, nothing happened, but eventually, small tendrils of smoke started to drift up from the wood. Nothing caught, though, so he kept at it. He''d optimized the process as much as he could, but that wasn¡¯t saying much. So, it still took quite some time before, finally, he created an ember. Leaning forward, he added more dandelion fluff to the coal. It caught easily and burned quickly, so he kept adding to it until he had a nascent flame. Carefully, he pushed forward and placed that flame in the pile of twigs at the bottom of the pyramid of sticks in his fire pit. Then, he added some more dandelion fluff. It caught, and he pumped his fist in celebration before adding more and more sticks to the growing flame. The fire wouldn¡¯t be much with the fuel he had available, but it was proof that he had remembered his father¡¯s teachings. Elijah sat back and admired the growing fire for a long moment before he looked at his hands. He¡¯d always had plenty of calluses, but his battle with cancer had kept him abed for weeks at a time. So, his tender hands had developed a couple of blisters. But he had an answer for that, didn¡¯t he? Focusing on his core, Elijah dragged some Ethera into his soul before embracing his spell, Touch of Nature. His hand glowed with verdant light, and before his very eyes, the blisters healed. After that, Elijah inspected the rest of his body, looking for any other injuries, but he found none. The transformation that had come with his body of Wood had left him completely healed. Only the blisters he¡¯d gained while making his fire and a few scratches on his feet needed healing. As he finished his inspection, the fire roared to life, finally eating into the pyramid of sticks he¡¯d created. He added a few bigger pieces that he¡¯d foraged, then turned his attention to the food he had gathered. The bunchberries were mildly sweet, but didn¡¯t really taste like much else. And the mushroom had a thick, earthy flavor. But Elijah wasn¡¯t in any position to be picky. He needed a lot of calories to survive, so he¡¯d take whatever he could get. Still, he had to admit that he wasn¡¯t a particular fan of mushrooms. As Elijah sat there, he began to make plans for the future. Some of his needs had been met. He had water. A little food. Basic shelter and fire. But there was a time limit on most of it. Foraging for wild edibles was a good start, but it wouldn¡¯t sustain him for long. Besides, those sources would be gone soon after the weather turned. He needed something else. Preferably meat. That¡¯s when he thought of the crabs. He¡¯d already killed one of them, and they hadn¡¯t seemed that difficult to find. Perhaps they would offer a ready source of protein. He also had some ideas about how he could go about fishing in the nearby ocean. There were some hurdles he¡¯d have to clear ¨C like making some line and creating a hook, not to mention finding the right spot ¨C but he felt confident he could make it work. It just might take a lot of trial and error. Meanwhile, he¡¯d need to build up his shelter, both for protection against the wildlife as well as the weather. He also needed to explore some more; rare was the environment that had been completely untouched by man, and he hoped that he could stumble across something he could use. Perhaps some plastic bottles had been washed ashore. Or an old barrel, maybe. The possibilities were endless, and Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t afford to ignore any potential means of survival. Just like that, he realized that he¡¯d already made his decision about whether or not he intended to stay. Certainly, there were merits to setting off into the wilderness in search of civilization, but ultimately, he¡¯d decided that it was better to stay put at least until after he made it through the winter. Maybe then, he¡¯d be able to make such a journey with some degree of confidence. As Elijah sat there eating bunchberries, he continued to make plans for how he was going to survive. Idly, he wondered how the rest of the world was getting by, but ultimately, he couldn¡¯t afford to split his focus. He needed to concentrate on keeping himself alive, and then, once his survival was assured, he¡¯d be able to spare thoughts for others. 1-11. Crab Throughout the night, Elijah kept adding fuel to the fire, so by the time morning came, he was still tired, and his meager store of firewood had been vastly depleted. But he¡¯d managed to keep it going, so there was a chance that he wouldn¡¯t have to go through the grueling process of creating a friction fire again. Of course, he¡¯d have to make sure it had plenty of fuel while he went about the tasks he had planned for the day, but that was unavoidable. There was a reason most survivalists never left home without a ferro rod, after all. Starting and maintaining a fire was hard but ultimately necessary work. Elijah was only thankful that he had plenty of experience with it. Otherwise, he¡¯d have a lot of cold nights ahead of him, and his chances of survival would have plummeted. Either way, the moment the night turned to dawn, Elijah was up and stretching. He was sore from the previous day¡¯s exertions, but not nearly as much as he might have expected. He almost felt like he had before his body had been ravaged by cancer, radiation, and chemotherapy. He still wasn¡¯t quite there, but that bone-deep weakness that, for months, had been his constant companion had disappeared. As he stretched, he went over his tasks for the day. His first goal was to refresh his store of firewood. It wouldn¡¯t be easy because he could only really gather fallen limbs and sticks, and most of those had been rotted by the constant humidity and frequent rainfall. However, it was all he could do until he could create some tools. He had some plans for how to do that, but he knew it would all be trial and error; he had no experience with that kind of thing, so he knew it would probably lean more toward the latter. He could figure it out, though. If cavemen could do it, then he could, too. But that wasn¡¯t a short-term task. For now, he needed to focus on immediate survival. So, after getting loose, Elijah set out from the cabin and started gathering fallen branches and sticks. Like that, he spent most of his morning until, finally, he had accumulated a sizable pile inside his cabin. Most of the wood was wet, but he hoped that the protection of the cabin¡¯s roof would give everything a chance to dry out. After feeding a bit more wood into the fire, Elijah went searching for another walking stick. Or staff, given that he intended to use it in his upcoming crab hunting expedition. It took another couple of hours, but he eventually stumbled upon a birch tree whose limbs would make for a fine staff. He only had to get to them, first. The few that had fallen to the ground were long since rotted, so he had no choice but to climb a few feet up the trunk and somehow cut a limb loose. He even saw a likely target that wasn¡¯t that far out of reach. Fortunately, the tree itself wasn¡¯t that big around, and with his newly recovered Strength and endurance, Elijah found it fairly easy to climb. Then, once he reached the limb, he wrapped his legs around the trunk and got to work. With his hands free, Elijah placed the rusted knife¡¯s edge on the branch, then used a rock he¡¯d recently gathered to hammer out a cut. With his legs burning from the exertion, he continued at it until he¡¯d made a sizable notch that dug a quarter of the way through the branch. If he wanted to make it all the way through, he¡¯d be up there for hours, and he knew his energy reserves wouldn¡¯t last that long. So, without much other choice, he took a deep breath, then reached out to the branch with both hands. Finally, he let go with his legs and swung free. The branch held for a split second before a loud crack filled the air. Then, Elijah fell a dozen feet to land on the leaf-strewn ground. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, and he felt something in his ankle twist, but he¡¯d accomplished his goal. In normal circumstances, it would have been stupid to do such a thing. The chances of injury ¨C which were obviously well-founded, judging by the throbbing in his ankle and what he suspected were a couple of broken ribs¨C were too high. However, Elijah had a healing spell in his pocket, and, because of that, he¡¯d already decided that he could be a bit reckless with his body. So long as he didn¡¯t incapacitate himself by hitting his head or something, he felt confident that he could heal himself from whatever injuries he might sustain. Still, there was the pain to worry about, but it was a small price to pay, given that something like the staff would improve his chances of survival. But it was easy to make that kind of judgement before he actually had to endure it. Now that he felt the consequences of his actions, he¡¯d begun to question whether or not he was an idiot. Even so, what was done was done, and he had more than enough experience dealing with pain and discomfort. Not only had he spent quite a lot of time in the boxing gym ¨C and all that entailed ¨C but he¡¯d also been through the horror that was cancer and chemotherapy. He could handle the pain of a twisted ankle long enough to heal it. Still lying there, Elijah looked inward and grabbed the Ethera in his core, dragging it into the pathways of his soul. Once he was flooded with the magical energy, he embraced his lone spell. He placed his hand, which glowed with verdant Ethera, on his side and used his spell to heal the broken bones. The first application didn¡¯t do the trick, but the second pushed the pain into the background. A third, which exhausted the Ethera in his core, finished the job, letting him breathe freely. Sighing, Elijah sat up and inspected his ankle. ¡°That¡¯s definitely not a sprain,¡± he muttered through gritted teeth. In the time it had taken him to heal his ribs ¨C which was no more than a couple of minutes ¨C the ankle had already started to turn purple. It was also swollen to twice its normal size. Perhaps it was broken as well. That really brought home the stupidity of his actions. Just because he could heal himself didn¡¯t mean that he was invincible. While it would doubtless help, he had a limited amount of Ethera at his disposal, and regenerating it took time. Time he could have spent trying to accomplish the hundreds of other tasks he needed to button up before he felt his survival would be assured. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Lying back, he let out another deep breath. Magic was helpful, but it wasn¡¯t the cure all he hoped it would be. Elijah let out a little chuckle. He¡¯d only been using magic for a day or so, and already, it felt mundane. It was just another tool in his toolbelt, not a miracle that would solve all his problems. Perhaps in the future, it would be more impactful, but for now, it was too limited to do much more than heal small injuries. As he lay there waiting for his Ethera to regenerate, Elijah¡¯s mind wandered. And then, suddenly, the feeling that something was watching him returned. It was buried within that pervasive sensation of belonging that had come courtesy of his druid archetype, but it was there, all the same. Slowly, he turned his head in the direction he thought it was coming from, and he saw a brief flash of movement in a nearby clump of trees. Then, it was gone. The feeling. Whatever was stalking him. Everything. Only his One With Nature remained. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t alone in the forest. That wasn¡¯t really a surprise, but he¡¯d hoped that he could avoid any major predators. There was a chance that whatever had been following him was just a curious herbivore, but he felt almost certain that that wasn¡¯t the case. After all, a simple deer wouldn¡¯t have sent a chill up Elijah¡¯s spine. Probably. It was just further evidence that he needed to curtail his risky behavior. If something attacked him while he was injured, he wouldn¡¯t last long. For the next few minutes, Elijah kept his inner eye on his core while his physical eyes scanned the area. But nothing came, and, eventually, he was able to heal his ankle. It took four uses of Touch of Nature, which told him that the injury was much worse than he¡¯d first suspected. ¡°Stupid,¡± he muttered to himself as he climbed to his feet. He inspected the branch he¡¯d risked everything for. It was long ¨C probably ten feet ¨C straight, and about two-inches thick. A little bigger than Elijah preferred, but he hoped to whittle that down. Eventually. For now, though, it was a good stick. Using the same method he¡¯d used to notch the branch before taking it down, Elijah arduously undertook the task of bringing it down to size. It took a while ¨C most of which was spent banging the rock into the knife blade ¨C but he managed to cut a roughly five-foot section. He also carved one end into a rough point; for what he planned, it needed to act as both a spear and a staff, but it couldn¡¯t be too delicate. He dragged the rest back to his cabin, where he intended to cut it into firewood. Waste not, want not, he thought, tossing the unused portion into the corner. He¡¯d get to that later. For now, hunger gnawed at his belly, and he wanted to use his staff for its intended purpose. So, after popping a few bunchberries into his mouth and taking a quick trip to the stream, where he washed his face and drank his fill of water, Elijah slowly made his way back to the beach. There, the crabs waited, looking entirely disoriented. It wasn¡¯t a surprise. Purple shore crabs usually lived under rocks, and their diets consisted mostly of algae and the rare small animal. So, suddenly being the size of a mid-sized dog was understandably disorienting to the creatures. As a result, they milled around, their instincts telling them to find a rock to hide under while their size prohibited any such action. In a way, it was sad. Or it would have been if Elijah hadn¡¯t recently woken up to a herd of them desperately trying to eat his legs. No ¨C not trying. Succeeding. He¡¯d had the wounds to show for it, too. Clutching his stick, Elijah knelt down as he studied his intended prey. The monstrous crustaceans were big enough that they were a threat, but their disorientation meant that they had yet to adjust to their new size. If they had, the things could end up being a real terror ¨C especially if they were capable of traveling inland. Elijah could easily imagine a scenario where a horde of giant crabs swept through the area, devouring everything they found. Including him and his cabin. But he couldn¡¯t worry about that right now. He wasn¡¯t there to cull the population. Instead, he just wanted some meat. So, he watched and waited until one of the crabs separated itself from the others. It skittered down the shore, which was comprised mostly of slippery, wet rocks. The crab was completely ignorant of how it had made itself into attractive prey. Elijah felt something ignite in his mind. When he was younger, he¡¯d spent quite a lot of time hunting and fishing with his father. Those were some of his fondest memories. But back then, he¡¯d never felt so focused as he did at that moment. It was like the spirit of a great predator flowed through him. He stalked forward on bare, silent feet. Holding the staff in both hands like a spear, he followed the crab until it was almost forty yards away from the rest of the group. But still, it wandered, stopping ever so often to nip at some bit of kelp. Any other time, Elijah might have remembered how many nutrients he could get from seaweed, but in this instance, his mind was laser focused. One step after another, he moved forward, steadily gaining on the brown-ish purple crab. His progress was slow, but that was intentional. He didn¡¯t need to go quickly. He just needed to do it right. Finally, when he was only feet away, he pounced, swinging his staff at the comparatively delicate backmost leg. His first strike connected with a solid crunch, but the crab whipped around without any hesitation, nearly latching onto Elijah with its enormous front claw. He dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the skittering creature, but it scuttled after him. He ran, quickly outpacing the oversized crustacean. When he was twenty feet away, Elijah looked back to see that the crab had lost interest. Apparently, even if it had grown quite a bit, it hadn¡¯t gotten any smarter. So, Elijah circled back around until he was once again behind the crab, then stalked forward and repeated the process. This time, he put a little less force into the blow so he could maintain control and avoid the creature¡¯s response. Once again, his sturdy stick hit with a solid crack, and he darted away. The crab¡¯s pursuit came much more slowly this time. Elijah¡¯s hit-and-run tactics continued until, at last, all of its legs were broken, rendering it almost completely immobile. Still, it wasn¡¯t dead. In fact, judging by its barely audible hisses and whistling screeches, it was in quite a lot of pain. It was a cruel way to kill something, but without proper tools, there was nothing more Elijah could do. But he didn¡¯t have to prolong the kill. So, he carefully approached its rear once again, and, using his stick as a lever, flipped the crab over onto its back. It tried to snap at him, but Elijah had expected that, so he was already backing away and circling back around to the rear. Once there, he approached the helpless creature, located the proper position, and used his staff like a spear. It took a handful of strikes to get through even its softer underbelly, but eventually, he pierced through the shell and severed the nerve center closest to its head. Then, he repeated the process on the one near its rear, killing it. Throughout the whole process, the crab snapped its claws ineffectually, but so long as he was careful, Elijah didn¡¯t have to worry about that. Still, what he had done was an incredibly inhumane way to kill something. But given his lack of equipment, there was no other way to do it. Sighing, he looked down at the crab¡¯s corpse. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to processing it, but he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the other crabs sensed the presence of food. So, taking out his rusty knife, Elijah bent down and got to work. 1-12. An Unseen Threat Elijah studied the results of his efforts, which had been arranged into separate piles according to their intended purpose. The first was simple enough; it was comprised of a couple of crab claws, each the size of a small animal. Beneath that chitinous exterior was at least a few pounds of white meat, which Elijah hoped would see him through until he could supplement his diet with fish. He¡¯d considered harvesting the rest of the crab, but he¡¯d run into two problems. First, crab had a tendency to turn rancid very quickly, and he had no way to preserve the meat. Even the amount he could get from the claws was pushing it, and he wouldn¡¯t dare eat it after twenty-four hours. Even with his ability to heal himself, he wasn¡¯t interested in getting food poisoning from bad crab meat. Second, the other crabs had eventually noticed the smell of nearby carrion, and like the opportunistic scavengers they were, had quickly come scuttling in Elijah¡¯s direction. So, even though he¡¯d only managed to break off the creature¡¯s claws and legs, he wasn¡¯t able to do much else without drawing the ire of the oversized crustaceans. But he wasn¡¯t too upset. The crabs didn¡¯t seem like they were going anywhere, and he already had proof that he could efficiently hunt them. If his other plans for food failed, he felt confident that he could always get more crab. In the future, as the weather turned colder, perhaps he could even use it to bolster his stores of food for the winter. That wasn¡¯t one of his immediate concerns, though. The next pile held various bits and pieces of the crab¡¯s shell that Elijah intended to fashion into needles and hooks. It would take some doing, but he was nothing if not adaptable. Plenty of ancient people had used bones for hooks, and while crab shell was a lot more brittle, it made up for its unsuitability by being readily available. With as much chitin as he had harvested, Elijah was sure that he could make it work. After harvesting the crab, Elijah had been forced to flee the shore and head back to the cabin, where he¡¯d piled his treasure trove of food and potential building material. Then, he got to work. The first thing he did was pop open one of the shells by cracking it with a few blows from his walking stick. Normal crab claws weren¡¯t that difficult to crack, but Elijah soon found that these purple shore crabs hadn¡¯t just gained size. They¡¯d gained durability as well, and even in death, its shell made for an extremely tough material. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he should be saving it for some sort of armor; after all, he¡¯d already discovered that the wilderness was dangerous. Having some protection wouldn¡¯t go amiss. But he tabled that thought in favor of focusing on his task, and eventually, his efforts bore fruit in the form of a cracked claw. Once its structure had been compromised, it was much easier to get to the meat within. Elijah picked the shards of the shell away, then carefully gathered the white meat. It seemed tougher than most crab meat he¡¯d encountered, but as far as he could tell, it seemed edible. So, he tossed the meat into his pot. The second claw, he left alone for the time being. For now, it would keep better inside the shell ¨C at least until morning, when he intended to eat it for breakfast. Once Elijah had a pot full of crab meat, he set it over his small fire and waited on it to cook, stirring it ever so often with his small knife. To be sure it was completely done, Elijah overcooked it by quite a bit, but that was because he knew the dangers of eating undercooked crab. Just because he had the ability to heal himself didn¡¯t mean he wanted to tempt fate. Besides, he had a couple of plans for his Ethera, and healing himself because he ate the wrong things didn¡¯t factor into them. Eating the crab was not a pleasurable experience. Certainly, it would provide him with the necessary proteins and fat that mushrooms and berries couldn¡¯t give him, but he lacked the tools to prepare it properly. As a result, it alternated between mushy, salty, and burned. Elijah had to keep reminding himself that it was necessary in order to keep himself going. Once he¡¯d choked down his meal, he headed back to the stream to wash his pot and rinse the taste out of his mouth. Along the way, he stumbled upon some more berries, which he quickly gathered and ate. Just before he reached the stream, Elijah felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something was watching him. He knew it the same way he¡¯d felt the tree. Whether it was his connection to nature or something more concrete, Elijah had no idea. But he didn¡¯t dare ignore it. Slowly, he turned a circle as he searched for whatever had followed him. As he did so, his mind ran amok, conjuring images of mutated versions of all the predators native to the region. Bears, cougars, wolves, and coyotes were at the top of the list, but there were plenty of other, smaller creatures that could pose a danger ¨C especially if they¡¯d grown the same way the crabs had. Suddenly, he thought of a man-sized mosquito, and he nearly started running right then and there. But he stopped himself, even if he couldn¡¯t keep his heart from beating out of his chest. He could only hope that the System hadn¡¯t chosen that route. For a long few minutes, Elijah continued to study his surroundings, but he was no more successful in finding his stalker. Then, the feeling of foreboding disappeared, leaving him sweating profusely as his heart hammered in his chest. For another five minutes, Elijah didn¡¯t dare move. Then, finally, he managed to steady his breathing and refocus his mind. Whatever had been there ¨C and he was sure it was something ¨C had chosen not to attack. And if he wanted to survive, he couldn¡¯t afford to let fear dictate his actions. Of course, it was one thing to think that and another to overcome the sense of palpable terror he¡¯d felt. Even the remnants were potent enough to keep him rooted in place. But slowly, Elijah managed to shake it off and continue along toward the stream. By the time he¡¯d reached it and started cleaning his pot, he had convinced himself that it was all just an overreaction to an overactive imagination. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. Mostly. But in the back of his mind, he knew it was real. The fact that he¡¯d felt it multiple times since washing ashore was as much an indicator as the visceral feeling of being watched. However, the more time that passed, the easier it was to push that certainty aside in favor of the necessities of survival. Once Elijah finished washing up, he trekked back to the cabin. The moment he entered the area, though, he realized that something was wrong. He crouched, holding his walking stick in one hand and the pot in the other. Neither were great weapons, but he wasn¡¯t exactly spoiled for choice. The forest was deathly silent as he crept toward the derelict cabin. No birds sang. No squirrels chirped. Even the insects seemed to have gone dormant. Flattening himself against the cabin¡¯s most intact wall, he slid forward, inch by inch, until he could see the interior. It was completely unoccupied. His fire still burned, low but merry in the waning light of approaching evening. But it all felt wrong. Like the space had been violated. It took Elijah¡¯s conscious mind a moment to catch up, but when he did, he let out an audible curse. The remaining crab claw was gone, and in its place were a couple of faint tracks. Elijah slowly moved into the cabin and investigated the site of the theft, and he was unsurprised to see feline paw prints in the soft earth. And they were huge ¨C far bigger than he would have expected from a mountain lion or a bobcat, which were the only big cats native to the area. But that didn¡¯t really mean anything, did it? The crabs had grown. Why couldn¡¯t a bobcat? Or worse, a cougar? In the back of his mind, though, Elijah considered another option. The tree that had guided him through his cultivation had clearly come from somewhere else. It wasn¡¯t a native to Earth. So, it stood to reason that the System had brought new dangers to the area. Obviously, Elijah couldn¡¯t be certain. He didn¡¯t have enough information. But he also couldn¡¯t discount the possibility that the region was now home to a super predator like a tiger or a lion. Fear gripped him, cold and palpable. He knew he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against something like that. Especially not with only a stick and a pot to defend himself. Sure, if he was wounded, he could use Touch of Nature to heal himself, but that seemed a poor substitute for combat ability. That¡¯s when Elijah decided to implement his budding plan for self-improvement. He had woeful attributes, especially in Strength. His Body of Wood had helped with that, but it was clear that if he wanted to survive, he needed to address his weaknesses. The most straightforward way to do so was to go out and kill things; he¡¯d felt a bit of foreign Ethera enter his body when he¡¯d killed the crab, and he¡¯d intuited that it was something akin to experience from a video game. But it wasn¡¯t much, and he sensed that he¡¯d have to kill quite a few more if he wanted to progress in that manner. The tree had also explained that he could gain levels via other actions associated with his archetype, but he hadn¡¯t felt any influx of Ethera when he¡¯d healed himself. So, that ruled out a plan for intentionally injuring himself and reaping the Ethera from healing the wounds. If he was honest, Elijah was glad for that. That kind of path, even if it had proven effective, would have been too disturbing. So, that left him with one other possibility. He could do things the old-fashioned way. Elijah was no stranger to working out, so he knew that, so long as he had fuel for his body, he could slowly strengthen himself. In addition, he could cut down his recovery times significantly by using Touch of Nature to heal himself. He had no idea how soon he could expect gains, but he suspected that it would be fairly quick. In the meantime, he would continue to survive. Thankfully, the native predator hadn¡¯t disturbed Elijah¡¯s pile of chitin, so he could still enact his plan to create hooks and needles. Once he had those, he could make some rudimentary fishing line from some dogbane he¡¯d seen in the tree¡¯s meadow. It wouldn¡¯t be nearly as strong as synthetic fishing line, but it would still be better than trying to unravel the threads of his remaining clothing. Elijah settled down close to the fire and went to work. Normally, he¡¯d have carved the hooks from wood, but the crab¡¯s chitinous exoskeleton was too appropriate to pass up. From a mundane crab, the shell would¡¯ve likely been too brittle, but for this evolved version, it almost had the texture and Strength of plastic. Besides, there had been some spines on the underside of the legs that were nearly perfect for hooks. All it took was for Elijah to separate them, then whittle them down to size ¨C a tedious process that took time and concentration, but little actual skill. Eventually, he managed to create his first hook. He held it close to the campfire¡¯s light and grinned. It wasn¡¯t ideal ¨C not like a metal hook would have been ¨C but it wasn¡¯t bad, either. By that point, night had truly fallen, but Elijah wanted to get a few more hooks made before he went to sleep. In the end, he only got three finished, but he was happy with them all. So, having accomplished his goal, he curled up in his corner of the cabin and went to sleep. The next morning, Elijah awoke feeling somewhat refreshed. He wasn¡¯t certain if it was the effect of having a filling meal, or if his body was just getting stronger, but he felt better than he had since before his diagnosis. Which was good, because he had a lot of plans for the day. The first few hours, he spent doing various calisthenics and lifting some heavy rocks he¡¯d found near the shore. And if he hadn¡¯t believed his status before, he was soon convinced by his weakness. Still, he sensed that his body was stronger and more durable than it should be, likely due to his cultivation. He intended to exploit that, pushing himself far past the point of exhaustion with each exercise. After a few hours, he spent a while resting and healing himself with Touch of Nature, and he was surprised to see that his status reflected his work. His Strength had risen by a single point. If he could continue along that track, he could truly make some gains. Once he felt up to it, he set out toward the meadow where he¡¯d seen the dogbane. When he got there, he noticed that the tree was still dormant. However, it still radiated a sense of calm power, letting him know that it was no normal tree ¨C not that he would have made that mistake, anyway. One look was all it took to put the lie to any notion of normality. But he wasn¡¯t there to gape at the tree. Instead, he gathered an armful of dogbane, which were red-stalked weeds that, when picked apart, could make for decent cordage. Having accomplished that, he headed back to his cabin, where he intended to start the process of making fishing line. The trip was uneventful, save for Elijah stopping from time to time to pick various berries or edible fungi. He even found some rosehips, which was a nice discovery. More importantly, he wasn¡¯t beset by that same fear he¡¯d felt near the stream, which was enough to put his mind at ease. Finally, he reached the cabin and relaxed. It remained completely undisturbed, which was reassuring after the previous intrusion. Elijah could only hope that his good luck would continue long enough for him to ensure his survival. 1-13. Safe Haven Alyssa stood on the roof of the police station and gazed out across the parking lot. There, she saw a haggard group of people waiting in front of the crude brick wall Carmen had built. It was rough, but at almost six feet high and half as thick, it had proven to be very effective in the weeks since it had been built. ¡°What do you think?¡± asked Roman, who¡¯d taken a position beside her. She glanced his way. The past couple of months had been difficult for everyone, but Roman had been hit particularly hard by all the death they¡¯d seen. After that first night in the police station, they¡¯d set about creating a safe haven, and along the way, they¡¯d picked up quite a few survivors. At present, their little community, which had extended well past the station by virtue of a series of hastily built structures behind the main building, numbered in the hundreds. And more seemed to come every day. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. ¡°Same as always, right? Take them in, interview them, and then watch them closely.¡± ¡°That method doesn¡¯t work,¡± he said, clearly referring to a recent incident where a few recent additions had plundered the stores of supplies. The group had escaped before anyone even knew they¡¯d stolen anything. Where they¡¯d gone, no one knew, but Roman wanted to hunt them down. Everyone else had talked him out of it. ¡°What¡¯s the alternative?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°Martial law,¡± he said. ¡°Curfews. Strict rationing. Rewards for good behavior.¡± ¡°You make it sound like a prison,¡± she said. He¡¯d spent the first part of his career working at the local jail, so the fact that he¡¯d gone down that road wasn¡¯t terribly surprising. ¡°Same concepts.¡± ¡°And you think that¡¯s fair?¡± she asked. ¡°Fair has nothing to do with it,¡± he answered. ¡°Look around, Alyssa. This isn¡¯t a world where we get to worry about personal freedom. We all have to work toward the greater good, or we won¡¯t survive. You know that as well as anyone else.¡± Indeed, she¡¯d seen more death in the past two months than she¡¯d ever thought possible. The first few days had been particularly hard on the local townspeople, and it was only through luck that their little group had managed to survive. She¡¯d heard stories about monsters breaking into houses within a few hours of the world¡¯s integration, and what¡¯s more, she¡¯d seen the results for herself. The reality was that they had suddenly found themselves in an incredibly dangerous world where support was a distant concept. They had no choice but to take care of themselves. But that need had brought to light an additional problem ¨C they all had different ideas about how to go about it. Roman leaned toward a strict policy where everyone was expected to pull their weight, and if they didn¡¯t, they¡¯d be left behind. Understandable, considering what was at stake. By contrast, Alyssa wanted to leave people to their own devices ¨C at least for the most part. Sure, she expected people to work for the greater good, but she had no interest in forcing them to do things against their will. And she would never kick anyone out of the compound they¡¯d established. Roman would, and without even a hint of guilt. If someone wasn¡¯t pulling their weight, they were worthless to him. Again, Alyssa didn¡¯t exactly disagree with that assertion. She knew how close they were to tipping over the edge. But she didn¡¯t think someone deserved to die just because they were incapable ¨C for whatever reason ¨C of working toward the greater good. Some lacked the skills. Others were barely functional after losing friends and family. Only a few refused for selfish reasons. ¡°I think we need to go down and let them in,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to figure this out eventually,¡± Roman stated. ¡°We need a system. We¡¯re getting too big to be on the honor system.¡± Alyssa nodded. ¡°Then we get everyone together and hash it out,¡± she said. ¡°Or we tell people how it¡¯s going to be, and if they don¡¯t like it, they can leave,¡± he responded. ¡°We can¡¯t do that.¡± He sighed. They¡¯d had the discussion more than a few times, and he clearly didn¡¯t want to revisit the debate. So, he said, ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out later, then. For now, we need to get those people inside.¡± With that, the pair descended from the roof via a ladder that led to the ground. Then, they headed toward the gate. Like the wall Carmen had constructed, it was a crude thing made of plywood and rebar they¡¯d found at a construction site just outside of town, but it did the job well enough. They pulled it open. ¡°Oh, thank God!¡± said a shabby looking fellow armed with a shovel. He sported a few wounds, as did the rest of his party. There were seven in all ¨C two of which were women ¨C each looking like they¡¯d been through hell. ¡°We heard there were people here, but I wasn¡¯t sure what we would find.¡± ¡°Where did you hear that?¡± demanded Roman. ¡°Uh¡­around? There was¡­I don¡¯t know¡­we ran into a group a few days back,¡± the man said, running his hand through greasy hair. ¡°They told us about this compound. Said it was safe.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Nowhere is safe,¡± Alyssa stated. ¡°R-right,¡± he said, glancing at Roman. The former police chief held his bow at the ready, and he already had an arrow nocked. He hadn¡¯t gone so far as to draw it back, but the threat was clear in his expression. The refugee asked, ¡°Can¡­can we come in? We¡¯ve been walking for two days, and ¨C¡± ¡°What are your archetypes?¡± Roman asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Archetypes. What are we dealing with, here?¡± Roman repeated. ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m a Ranger. Martha is a Mage. Two Warriors. Two Scholars. And a Tradesman.¡± ¡°No Healers?¡± asked Alyssa in obvious disappointment. ¡°And two Scholars? Useless,¡± Roman added. One of the women spoke up, ¡°We¡¯re not useless! I¡¯m a historian, and I think ¨C¡± ¡°Nobody cares what you used to be. Or didn¡¯t you get the memo? The world ended two months ago. Now, all that matters is if you¡¯re useful,¡± Roman said. ¡°That means fighting. Gathering. Healing. Building things. Can you do any of that?¡± ¡°N-no¡­¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re useless. But that¡¯s fine. We need manual laborers, too.¡± One of the men said, ¡°But I have a doctorate! I can ¨C¡± ¡°In what?¡± ¡°Uh¡­French literature¡­¡± ¡°Right. Useless.¡± Alyssa wanted to speak up, but they¡¯d agreed to present a unified front. She didn¡¯t like how dismissive Roman was, but division was even worse. So, she held her tongue. Meanwhile, Roman told the group of refugees the rules. They weren¡¯t onerous. No fighting. No stealing. Everyone worked toward collective survival, and if they were attacked ¨C which wasn¡¯t common, but it wasn¡¯t unheard of either ¨C everyone was required to contribute to the defense in one way or another. ¡°Food is earned,¡± he went on. ¡°You work, you eat. You don¡¯t work, you starve. You refuse to contribute, you can take your ass elsewhere. We¡¯ve got no use for freeloaders.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll work,¡± the leader said. ¡°Damn right you will,¡± Roman stated. Then, his expression softened and he extended his hand, ¡°Roman Cain. This is Alyssa Hart.¡± ¡°Cain? That sounds familiar,¡± said the man. ¡°Used to be the police chief,¡± Roman said. ¡°Before everything went to shit, I mean. Not much use for those kinds of titles these days, though.¡± It was at that moment that Alyssa saw a flicker of movement as something streaked toward the open gate. She couldn¡¯t see what it was, but she had been in enough fights in the past couple of months that she didn¡¯t hesitate to act. Yanking the machete from the sheath at her waist, she used Charge and dashed forward to meet it. As she did, she used her newest ability, which she had acquired upon reaching level three. Stomping on the ground, she let loose with Shockwave, sending an invisible pulse of force to hit the monster. It didn¡¯t do much, just stunning it for a split second, but it was enough to give Alyssa an opening. She used it, slashing down with all the force she could muster. And considering that she¡¯d put all her free points into her physical attributes, the power she could bring to bear was considerable. The creature ¨C which looked like some kind of monstrous weasel ¨C took the blade on the shoulder. The momentum of the overhand attack knocked it into the ground. And a moment later, an arrow took it in the eye, killing it instantly. Alyssa¡¯s Charge dissipated, and she slowed to a stop. Her eyes darted back and forth. Sometimes, the monsters moved in packs, and she wanted to ensure that the weasel had been alone. She saw nothing, suggesting that it was a lone hunter. Then, once she¡¯d ensured that there were no other threats, she reached down and grabbed the monster by the tail. In one swift motion, she hefted it and slung it over one shoulder before turning to the stunned refugees. ¡°Good fur. Winter¡¯s coming, and we¡¯re going to need all the materials we can get,¡± she said. Indeed, the monster was almost four feet long, which meant that its pelt would make for a decent blanket. They had access to quite a bit of cloth ¨C by virtue of looting the abandoned homes and the handful of businesses in the town proper ¨C but no one could afford to turn down any resources. ¡°Come on in,¡± said Roman. ¡°We¡¯ll get you settled.¡± With that, the stunned group came through. Alyssa sheathed her machete, then dragged the gate closed, locking it in place. Then, she told Roman, ¡°I¡¯ll go drop this for Carmen. She can probably make something with it.¡± He nodded, and as he led the group into the main building, Alyssa circled around to the left. Soon, she caught sight of Carmen, who was wearing nothing but a sports bra, a pair of shorts, and a heavy leather apron. The other woman was busy stoking a forge. Alyssa took a moment to admire her wife¡¯s muscular form before she remembered that she had a dead animal over her shoulder. Once she did, she strode forward, and when she reached the smithy, deposited the animal carcass. ¡°Really?¡± Carmen said, cutting her eyes at the corpse. ¡°Right in the middle of my smithy?¡± Alyssa shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know where else to stick it,¡± she said. ¡°You want me to process it?¡± ¡°Go nuts.¡± Alyssa did just that, pulling a knife from where it was strapped to her thigh. Then, she commenced with gutting, skinning, and quartering the animal. It took a while, and when she¡¯d finished, her arms were covered in blood up to her elbows. But it was worthwhile, and not just because of the pelt. The meat looked perfectly edible, which would come in handy considering the shortage of food. ¡°I have no idea how you can do that,¡± Carmen said, handing Alyssa a bucket of water. ¡°Just watching you makes me want to vomit.¡± ¡°Grew up hunting with my dad,¡± she said with a shrug as she washed the blood off. ¡°New arrivals have any decent skills?¡± ¡°Not sure. There was a Ranger, so maybe he can help with defense and hunting,¡± she said. ¡°A Mage. A couple of Warriors. And a Tradesman. Two Scholars, unfortunately.¡± Alyssa didn¡¯t precisely agree with Roman about what to do with the less useful people in their budding community, but she couldn¡¯t deny that she was more than a little disappointed with the Scholars. ¡°Oh, maybe I can get an apprentice,¡± said Carmen. Alyssa shrugged. ¡°Maybe,¡± she agreed. ¡°What are you working on, anyway?¡± ¡°Boar spear,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got the blade shaped. I just need to get it sharpened and attached to the haft.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± Alyssa said. She could see the use of such a weapon. Many of the monsters they fought were just mutated animals who just charged blindly when they were disturbed. For that kind of situation, you couldn¡¯t get much better than a boar spear. ¡°Glad you approve, because I made it for you,¡± she said. ¡°Someone else might ¨C¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t make it for anyone else. I don¡¯t give two shits about all those other people. All I care about is that you and Miggy stay alive. That¡¯s why I made it,¡± Carmen said. Alyssa sighed, then rolled her eyes. ¡°So noble.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll leave the nobility to you,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Whatever. You going to be here much longer?¡± she asked. ¡°A few more hours,¡± Carmen said, glancing at the sky. Night was still quite a ways off. ¡°But save some of that weasel, yeah? Miggy hasn¡¯t been getting enough meat.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± Alyssa responded. That was one thing they definitely agreed on. No matter what else happened, the boy was their first priority. She leaned in and kissed Carmen, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t work yourself to death.¡± And then she headed back toward the main building. There was still a lot to do, after all. 1-14. Thriving Elijah hacked at the block of wood, careful to hit it just right. Over the last couple of months, he¡¯d had plenty of practice, but even so, losing concentration would be disastrous for the results. He spared a glance for the pile of firewood propped against one corner of his shelter and reconsidered that word. Disastrous. For weeks after washing ashore, every action had been one of life and death. When he¡¯d killed his first crab, when he¡¯d made his first tools, and, finally, when he¡¯d caught his first fish ¨C the stakes had been incredibly high. But now? He had a stock of smoked fish, a horde of berries, and a store of mushrooms. Food wouldn¡¯t be an issue any time soon; in fact, he felt confident that his cache would last him through most of the winter, and if he continued to gather food, he wouldn¡¯t even need to ration. He looked down at his crude axe. The blade was made of chipped flint, sharpened and refined over the course of a week. It wasn¡¯t his first such tool ¨C they had a habit of cracking if he used them too roughly ¨C and he was certain it wouldn¡¯t be his last. The same went for his stone knife and spear, the latter of which had yet to even see use. Regardless, he could always make more. He¡¯d found a nice vein of the stuff in a nearby cliff, so he wouldn¡¯t soon lack for material. Elijah sighed, flexing his shoulders. Over the past six weeks, he¡¯d made incredible progress regarding his overall physical condition. Some of that was due to his usage of Touch of Nature that reduced his recovery times to mere minutes, rather than days. But he also felt confident that his Body of Wood had played a part as well. When he turned his mind inward, Elijah got the feeling that his body wanted ¨C or needed, perhaps ¨C to be stronger. Whatever the case, the result was explosive muscle growth that had left him nearly as strong as he¡¯d been before his cancer diagnosis. It was a good thing, too, because there was no way his weakened body could have survived for more than a couple of weeks. Getting stronger and healthier hadn¡¯t been a mere desire; it had been a necessity for survival. And Elijah had thrown himself into it accordingly. The results spoke for themselves. Elijah didn¡¯t have access to a mirror, but from what he could see of his arms, legs, and torso, his entire body was lean and corded with compact muscle. He¡¯d never look like a bodybuilder; wilderness survival didn¡¯t lend itself to packing on mass. But he did look ¨C and more importantly, feel ¨C healthier than he had in recent memory. More importantly, Elijah¡¯s constant fishing and crab hunting had had another side effect. Each kill had netted him an accumulation of foreign Ethera. With the fish, it was barely noticeable. A thimbleful compared to the crabs¡¯ cup. But he¡¯d killed a lot of fish, and the pool of Ethera had slowly grown until Elijah felt as if he was going to burst. Soon ¨C maybe the next time he went fishing ¨C he was certain that he would gain a level. And with that, according to one of the notifications he''d seen after having the druid archetype thrust upon him, he¡¯d get another two points to improve his stats. He couldn¡¯t wait because he already knew where those points were going to go. First, though, he needed to finish his daily chores ¨C chopping firewood and gathering water ¨C before he could go fishing. An unrelated shiver ran up his spine. In the past, he would have panicked. But over the weeks, he¡¯d grown used to his stalker. If it really wanted to kill him, it would have done so already. With each passing day, Elijah had grown stronger and gotten better equipped. His axe and spear weren¡¯t ideal weapons, and he was certain that they wouldn¡¯t give him the edge he needed to survive an encounter with the still unseen feline predator. However, he was confident that he could at least wound it. Perhaps the creature knew that as well. Or maybe he was just anthropomorphizing it by attributing human intelligence and reasoning ability to an animal. Either way, if the cat ¨C and he was fairly certain that¡¯s what it was ¨C wanted to kill him, it had already had plenty of opportunities to do so, and with less risk than he now presented. Besides, he had an agreement with the creature. Sort of. Slipping his axe¡¯s haft through his belt of twined dogbane fibers, Elijah grabbed the fruit of his day¡¯s labor and piled it into a neat stack inside his shelter. The cabin had undergone almost as drastic a transformation as his body, and he¡¯d used a series of logs from trees he¡¯d cut down, branches, and moss to enclose the space. At the time, it hadn¡¯t been wholly necessary, but with every passing week, he drew closer to winter. That, in turn, meant that he needed a much sturdier home to stave off the incoming weather. It also served as rudimentary protection from any wildlife that might come sniffing around. It had been the work of a rough couple of weeks, but he¡¯d finally gotten it to a passable, if not completely comfortable, state. With his firewood put away, Elijah sat on the stump he¡¯d dragged inside the shelter and let out a sigh. For a moment, he just sat there, gathering his thoughts. That was one of the issues with living a solitary life. Often, he¡¯d lose himself in his inner thoughts, and he wouldn¡¯t even realize that he¡¯d been staring off into space for some indeterminate amount of time. Usually, his thoughts weren¡¯t elaborate. Instead, they were mostly comprised of half-forgotten memories from the distant past. Ultimately, that was a good thing. He¡¯d had a good childhood with loving parents who would have done anything they could to support him. Certainly, they¡¯d passed away before their time, which was anything but pleasant, but he¡¯d long chosen to focus on the good times they¡¯d shared rather than the devastating loss of their passing. So, as he sat there, he found his mind drifting back to when his father had taught him the rudiments of boxing, to when his mother would take him out into the woods where she helped him to identify various wild edibles. Or when the entire family would visit the farmer¡¯s market. Little things, all, but they were enough to keep his spirits up. Idly, he found himself wondering how his sister was coping. What was life like in the cities? She didn¡¯t live within Seattle¡¯s city limits, but it was close enough that she wouldn¡¯t have escaped the problems that came with a metropolitan area. The world had irrevocably changed. There was magic now. If what had happened to the plane was any indication, modern technology had probably failed. He¡¯d lost his phone in the crash, but he suspected that even if it had survived, it would¡¯ve been rendered into nothing but a useless brick. Likely, everything else was the same. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to think that humanity would react well to the changes. He¡¯d seen people turn into savages after more mundane natural disasters, so it stood to reason that, with survival on the line, people would head down an even less civilized route. Of course, there were plenty of people who would support their neighbors and friends. Good people always outweighed the bad, in his experience. However, he also knew it only took a few people willing to enforce their will on others to enslave a much larger population. Human history was evidence of that. He shook his head. Down that line of thinking was nothing but despair, which was a very real threat in his situation. Elijah needed to keep his spirits up, lest the isolation and brutal environment be allowed to replace it with despondency. If that happened, he¡¯d soon surrender to depression and wither away. And he refused to let that happen. The best cure for that kind of thing was to keep busy. To create manageable goals. To take the wins he could get. So, he ran his hand through his lengthening hair, closed his eyes, and took a deep, centering breath before climbing to his feet. He pushed his makeshift door ¨C which was made of sticks that had been bound together with his homemade cordage ¨C aside and ducked outside the shelter. His main fire burned merrily in its pit, reminding Elijah of his half-finished project. He glanced toward the back of the cabin, where he¡¯d been building a fireplace with stones and clay he¡¯d harvested from the stream. It was arduous work, which meant he¡¯d limited his efforts to only working on it a bit each day, but it was coming along. Hopefully, he would finish it by the onset of winter. Flexing his shoulders, Elijah dragged Ethera from his core and sent a pulse of Touch of Nature through his body. When he¡¯d initially used the spell, he¡¯d done so with very focused intent, which was perfect for healing wounds. However, over the past month-and-a-half, he¡¯d discovered that he could use it without intentional direction. When he did, the Ethera of the spell spread throughout his entire body, healing the minute tears in his muscle fibers that came from exertion, curing his fatigue and hastening his recovery by a large degree. Usually, it took a couple of pulses, but that wasn¡¯t a big deal. He had Ethera to spare, considering he only had the one spell. Hopefully, that would soon change, but he really couldn¡¯t be sure when he¡¯d get another spell. Grabbing his spear, a coil of line, and a wooden container he¡¯d carved from a piece of stump, Elijah set off toward his fishing spot. He took a circuitous route, heading toward the snare lines he¡¯d laid; they had yet to be successful, but he hoped they¡¯d soon bear fruit in the form of small woodland creatures he could eat. Thankfully, the hares and squirrels hadn¡¯t been transformed like the crabs. Otherwise, he¡¯d be in real trouble. He checked his snare lines, but he¡¯d once again failed to catch any prey. However, he did find a stand of mushrooms that he could add to his stash back at the cabin. He slipped each morsel into a satchel he¡¯d crafted from woven grass and lined with his shirt. Soon, he¡¯d have to find some sort of replacement clothing, or he¡¯d die from exposure. At least the weather hadn¡¯t really turned yet, even if Elijah knew it was coming. Slowly, he made his way to what he referred to as his fishing hole. Nestled on the shore almost a mile from where he¡¯d battled the crabs, it was characterized by a deep pool almost thirty yards across which connected to the sea by a narrow channel. The best spot from which to cast his line lay atop a large boulder that he wouldn¡¯t have been able to climb without his recent physical gains. Now, though, so long as he was careful, it wasn¡¯t difficult, and he soon found himself threading his homemade hook with his similarly handmade line. Once that was done, he baited the hook with a piece of rancid crab, then tossed it into the water. Once it had settled, he wove the line around his arm, from elbow to palm, then started to gradually pull it in. The first cast was unsuccessful. So was the second. But on the third, he got a bite. However, when he pulled it in, he saw that the fish had only taken the bait. That was the problem with his hooks ¨C well, one of them, at least. They only managed to do their job about half the time. But Elijah was persistent, and on the tenth cast, he finally pulled in a fish. Like most of the other fish he¡¯d caught over the past six weeks, it appeared to be a steelhead trout. However, it had clearly been mutated just like the crabs had been. Its fins were larger, its body sleeker, and its teeth much more prominent. But fortunately, this mutated variant still tasted the same as every other trout Elijah had ever eaten. More importantly, despite looking like it would be a fearsome predator in the water, it had the same weakness that afflicted almost every other marine animal ¨C it couldn¡¯t breathe outside of the water. Elijah pulled it on top of the boulder, but he gave it a wide berth as it flopped around. He¡¯d have preferred to end its suffering with a swift strike from his axe, but when he¡¯d tried that with the first fish he¡¯d caught, it had ended with the thing flopping around at the wrong time and latching onto his forearm. Without Touch of Nature, he¡¯d have quickly bled out from that wound, so he¡¯d decided to simply let the fish suffocate from now on. Still, it wasn¡¯t a pleasant thing to watch, even if he knew it was necessary. He¡¯d never been particularly averse to hunting or fishing, but watching an animal suffer was something wholly different. Even so, he forced himself to watch. Part of that was practical ¨C he wanted to be alert in case the fish got close to the edge; he couldn¡¯t afford to lose it, and he would throw caution to the wind to avoid that eventuality. But the other reason he made himself watch was because he wanted to be aware of the cost of his own survival. Elijah had long since come to terms with hunting and consuming other animals. Back in the civilized world before the System descended and changed everything, it was possible to avoid eating meat. And for the past few years, he had ¨C mostly. But there was a marked difference between eating meat because you liked it and doing so because you needed the protein and fat if you wanted to survive. That shift in his mindset had given Elijah some insight into the natural order. Animals didn¡¯t care about the morality of killing another animal for food. They just did what they had to do. In that way, nature was brutal. However, most animals shied away from wanton killing as well. For them, there were no trophies. Just a meal and another day of survival. Elijah had gradually adopted that mindset as his own. When the fish died, he felt an influx of foreign Ethera flow from the trout and into his mind, where it spread through the branching conduits of his soul and, finally, into his core, where he felt something shift. He gasped at the resulting flash of power, and when it settled, he didn¡¯t need to see the notification to know that he¡¯d reached level two. Elijah let out a sigh of relief. Now, it was time to see what benefits a level brought with it. 1-15. Snaring Roots Elijah sat on the boulder, the trout forgotten as he looked at the notification that had come with the jolt of power to which he¡¯d been subjected after reaching the second level. It said:
Congratulations! You have reached level two, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
Elijah already knew what he had planned, so he slotted the two points into his Regeneration attribute. His reasoning wasn¡¯t complicated; Regeneration was the only attribute that did two things. First, it would help him heal from wounds more quickly. He already had Touch of Nature for that, but there had been plenty of times when he hadn¡¯t wanted to waste his limited Ethera on minor injuries. Now, those nagging issues would heal that much more quickly. But more importantly, the second function of the Regeneration attribute was what he was really after: Ethera Regeneration. The faster he could regain the energy he spent, the more he could use Touch of Nature. Besides, he was already gaining physical attributes like Strength and Dexterity via his frequent workouts. He had a suspicion that that wouldn¡¯t last forever, though, so he wanted to get as much as he could out of his routine before investing any points in the physical attributes. After assigning his attributes and confirming his choices, Elijah opened his status to inspect his gains. And he wasn¡¯t disappointed. His Regeneration had increased by two points.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 2
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 6
Dexterity 5
Constitution 11
Ethera 4
Regeneration 9
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Unformed Unformed
After he reached level three, Elijah intended to invest an additional point in Regeneration before focusing on Ethera. Once that was up to ten points, he would start working on his other attributes. Hopefully, by then, he would know the limits of his physical training, which would give him enough information to make the right choices. The same line of thinking told him to get everything to ten, then specialize from there based on his experiences. Indeed, there was a part of him that just wanted to throw everything into his physical attributes. Being stronger, more coordinated, or more durable never hurt anyone. However, because of his archetype, he expected that he would become increasingly more reliant on his spells. Those required Ethera, and he was almost certain that he¡¯d eventually outgrow the meager size of his core. No ¨C for better or worse, he was on the path of a spellcaster, and aside from being fit enough to survive, he needed to assign his attributes along those lines. Fortunately, there was no ambiguity about what each attribute did, so he could make his plans with at least some degree of certainty. Sighing, he closed his status before opening a new window. This one described his archetype and, more importantly, the spell that came with his new level. How he knew he¡¯d get one, he wasn¡¯t sure, but that knowledge was firmly entrenched in his mind.
Archetype: Druid The druid is the defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, energy density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. [Scholar], [Nature]
Spells
Touch of Nature Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally.
Snaring Roots Call upon nature to summon a snarl of roots to bind your enemies¡¯ movements.
That had potential, depending on how strong those roots turned out to be. Certainly, it could help him kill the crabs ¨C or more importantly, help him escape if he made a mistake. Even with his experience and a proven technique, killing the crustaceans was no sure thing. More than once, he¡¯d picked a fight he couldn¡¯t win and been forced to retreat, frustrated and wounded. But with this new spell, perhaps his hunting would become safer. And given that Elijah¡¯s survival was balanced on the edge of a knife, safer was always better. He ached to try it out, but there were no enemies about. So, he reluctantly went back to fishing. And over the next few hours, Elijah had decent success, catching four more fish, which he gutted and cleaned before tossing the offal into the water. Then, with his catch in hand, he set off back toward the cabin, where he intended to use some of the wild herbs and mushrooms to make a fish stew. It wasn¡¯t the tastiest thing around due to a lack of proper spices, but it was better than his initial attempts at cooking the crab. Along the way, though, a familiar foreboding sent a shiver up his spine, and he let out a sigh. He knew his stalker had returned ¨C no surprise there; even when he didn¡¯t have a basket full of fresh fish, it rarely let him walk through the forest unobserved. ¡°Come for your tribute, huh?¡± he said as calmly as he could. Still, there was a slight tremble of fear in his voice. He liked to think that he and the cat ¨C whatever it was ¨C had an understanding, but the fact was that he could very well have been fooling himself. It was a wild animal, and judging by his senses, almost assuredly far deadlier than he could hope to be. He had no idea what was going through its mind. Even so, now that he¡¯d started down this path, he knew that trying to stop wouldn¡¯t be smart. So, he grabbed three of the fish and tossed them onto the ground before saying, ¡°Eat well, your majesty.¡± Then, he backed away. There was a rustle in the nearby brush before a huge shape appeared. Elijah¡¯s jaw dropped as he beheld the creature. In a lot of ways, it looked like a panther. But he¡¯d seen panthers before, and none of them were even half this monster¡¯s size. In fact, this creature was closer to the size of a tiger than the panthers Elijah had seen. But that wasn¡¯t the only thing that made him wary. It also had a few characteristics that distinguished it from any other panther ¨C or other animal ¨C Elijah had ever seen. For one, everything about it seemed exaggerated. From its musculature to the size of its teeth or claws, it was all too much. On top of that, it bore a white stripe down its spine that branched down to its ribs, slowly fading into black. And then there were its eyes. Emerald green and glistening with intelligence, they told Elijah that he wasn¡¯t dealing with some mundane animal. Like the tree, this creature was magical in nature. More than anything, Elijah wanted to turn and run. While pursuing his doctorate, he¡¯d worked as an intern at a local zoo. And once, he¡¯d seen a lion turn on one of its keepers; it had been a massacre that the woman had barely survived, and that only because the animal hadn¡¯t really been interested in killing her. If it had been, there was no chance she would have survived. And this creature was almost twice the size of a typical lion. It also moved with unnatural grace, telling Elijah that its bulk wouldn¡¯t slow it down. If he ran, it would pounce, and there would be nothing he could do about it. Even with the local wildlife having been transformed, this creature was an apex predator. The panther stepped forward, its green eyes locked on Elijah. It moved slowly. Carefully. And with deadly silence. Elijah¡¯s heart thundered in his chest even as a cold sweat broke out across his brow. If the panther attacked, he could use his new spell. He had his spear. And he was almost as fit as he¡¯d been before his cancer diagnosis. But instinctively, he knew none of that would matter. He was inferior in every single way, and he only lived because it chose to let him live. It ducked its head and snapped up one of the fish. It swallowed it in a second before eating the second. Then the third. Before Elijah knew it, the panther had finished eating the overlarge trout. Then, it shifted its gaze to Elijah¡¯s basket. It wanted more. He swallowed hard before slowly retrieving one of his two fish from the basket, then tossing it toward the panther. The fish landed only a few feet away from the panther, but it didn¡¯t even look at it. Instead, its eyes remained locked on the basket. ¡°Oh, come on¡­¡± A low growl cut him off. With no more complaining, Elijah threw his remaining fish toward the huge panther, who snapped both up just as quickly as it had the first few. Then, without any hesitation, it turned around and melted back into the undergrowth. In the space of a second, it was gone. Elijah stood there for a couple of minutes, unable to move. He could barely even breathe. But then, resentment set in. He¡¯d just wasted half the day so he could feed a giant cat. Now, he had no choice but to go back to his fishing hole and hope he could catch something else. Sighing, he did just that, and by the time he reached it, the sun had already passed its zenith and was heading toward the horizon. In a few hours, it would be dusk, so he knew he¡¯d only have time to get a single fish. Maybe two, if he was lucky. ¡°Unless that stupid cat decides to shake me down again,¡± he muttered, tossing his line into the water. Almost immediately, he felt a nibble, and he grinned. Perhaps his luck was changing. He tugged on the homemade string, wrapping it around his elbow. But the fish on the end of the line wasn¡¯t going to come in without a fight. Still, Elijah was an old hand at fishing, and he continued to work the line until he felt it go slack. At first, he thought that the line had broken ¨C it wouldn¡¯t have been the first time, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t be the last. But then, he saw a dark shadow in the water before, suddenly, something burst forth from the waves. Elijah only got a brief view of scales and sharp teeth before he threw himself backwards. He tumbled off the boulder and to the ground below, and by some miracle, managed to keep from breaking his neck. When he looked up, he saw an abomination looking down at him. It was dark blue-green in color, with four arms, glistening scales, and a face that looked like it belonged to some bottom-dwelling monstrosity. The monster ¨C and it definitely was a monster, there was no doubt ¨C screeched at him before launching itself into the air. For a split second, Elijah froze. But then, instincts born of uncountable hours in the boxing ring took over, and Elijah dove aside. His brief hesitation cost him, though, and a line of fire erupted across his back. He screamed as he was sent rolling across the rocky shore. With adrenaline coursing through his veins, he ignored the worst of the pain as he pushed himself to his feet. The monster looked at him, then against all odds, its hideous face split into a wide grin. A chill ran up Elijah¡¯s spine as he realized that the thing wasn¡¯t just a monster. It was that, but it was so much more. It raised one of its claws, then licked Elijah¡¯s blood away. Its smile widened. Elijah had a brief moment to take stock of the situation. His spear was atop the boulder, so it was out of reach. He had the flint-bladed axe at his waist, but it was barely even sharp enough to split wood, much less cut through that thing¡¯s viridian scales. So it was useless. No ¨C if he wanted to survive, he had only one option: he had to run. So, as the creature advanced ¨C in no apparent hurry ¨C Elijah embraced the Ethera in his core and pushed it into the webwork of channels that constituted his soul. Then, he cast Snaring Roots. The Ethera left his core in a rush, taking all but a third of his reserves, but it went to good use because, a moment later, thick, brown roots erupted from the ground, snaking around the monster¡¯s legs. They twisted and turned, ensnaring its entire lower body. Elijah didn¡¯t stay to see how far the spell would go, because he knew he only had a narrow avenue of escape. So, once the creature was trapped, Elijah turned and ran, crashing through the underbrush and stumbling over exposed roots. Already, the blood loss was getting to him, but he couldn¡¯t afford the time needed to stop and heal. So, he continued to run, hoping that the monster would be reluctant to follow him inland. But only fifteen or twenty seconds later, Elijah heard the sounds of the creature¡¯s pursuit. He pushed himself, but he just wasn¡¯t fast enough. He tripped over a rock he should have been able to avoid, and he went tumbling down a slight incline and into a shallow depression. When he looked up, he saw that the monster had already caught up. His spell had briefly slowed it down, but it was completely insufficient against such a powerful creature. Elijah scrambled back, searching for a weapon. A stick. A rock. Anything. He came up empty-handed, and once again, the monster grinned its sickening grin before stepping forward. At the end of his rope, Elijah embraced Touch of Nature, hoping to heal the wound in his back so he could try to fight the monster off. In the back of his mind, he knew it was useless. With the size of that monster ¨C it was at least seven feet tall and dense with muscle ¨C and the way it moved, he didn¡¯t stand a chance. Even if he¡¯d been armed, those scales looked tough. Perhaps if he¡¯d had something more potent than Snaring Roots, he would have been able to hold his own. But he had none of those things, so he was almost assuredly going to die. That was okay, though. Elijah had made peace with his own mortality long ago. On that plane, he¡¯d been ready to die; the fact that he¡¯d gotten even a few more weeks was a miracle. Still, none of that meant he was going to go down without a fight. The Ethera in Elijah¡¯s core drained away, fueling Touch of Nature as the wound in his back healed. It wasn¡¯t perfect; it would probably break open the moment he moved. For now, though, it would have to be enough. He¡¯d reevaluate if he somehow managed to survive against the monster. As the viridian beast slowly advanced ¨C it seemed to be savoring Elijah¡¯s fear ¨C he pushed himself to his feet and squared his shoulders, ready for whatever came next. 1-16. An Ant Among Titans Elijah had managed to close the wound on his back, but with the viridian monster slowly closing on him, he had other things on his mind. His core was empty, and it would take at least an hour before it recovered to full capacity. And even if he survived that long, he had no way of defeating the creature. It was too fast. Too strong. And those scales were far too durable. His only other spell, aside from Touch of Nature, had already proved insufficient. No - he knew that, unless he managed some miraculous feat, he was going to die. After everything that he¡¯d managed to survive ¨C from cancer and the plane crash to carving his own place out of the wilderness ¨C it was frustrating to think that it had all been for nothing. But that wasn¡¯t true, was it? The moment he¡¯d recovered from what the doctors had called incurable cancer, he¡¯d accomplished the impossible. Further, there likely weren¡¯t that many people who could have survived his experiences after being stranded in the wilderness. Not only was the forest an inhospitable place, full of dangers both hidden and obvious, but he¡¯d even managed to kill a few of those monstrous crabs. He wasn¡¯t quite thriving, but he wasn¡¯t that far off, either. If only he¡¯d chosen an archetype with more combat potential, he might have been capable of standing against the scaled monster. But that wasn¡¯t necessarily true, either. Without the ability to heal himself, Elijah would have died a dozen times over. And even if he had managed to survive as another archetype, he didn¡¯t think he could have done much against the creature slowly walking toward him. Its aura reminded him of the panther with whom he¡¯d made a tentative truce. But it was also wildly different as well. Elijah had no idea if he was imagining the auras of the two creatures, but given that magic had been thrust upon the world, he was prepared to believe that it was real. Either way, with the panther ¨C or whatever it really was ¨C Elijah felt a sense of connection. It was subtle, but something told him that, while it wasn¡¯t a native to the area, or even Earth, it still belonged. It was still a part of the wider tapestry that constituted the natural world. But the newcomer was something else entirely. It felt like an outsider, and for some reason, Elijah thought of a virus. A corrupting influence that was both part of the natural world and apart from it. Of course, that wasn¡¯t quite right, either, and he didn¡¯t have the time to contemplate what any of it meant. Not if he wanted to maintain any hope of survival. Slim though it was, Elijah knew that that hope was contingent on his persistence, on his refusal to give in. The moment he surrendered and accepted his fate, he would die. But so long as he kept fighting, that hope would survive. So, he steadied himself and drew the flint-bladed axe from his makeshift belt. It was a poor weapon, but even that was better than facing the thing with only his bare hands. Squaring his shoulders, he gripped the rough haft tightly and muttered, ¡°You want some of this? You¡¯re going to have to earn it.¡± To his horror, the monster let out a wheezing sound, which to Elijah¡¯s ears, was unmistakably a laugh. Whatever confidence Elijah had managed to muster faded. Then, before Elijah could hype himself back up, the creature pounced. Its claws flashed as they cut through the air, and it was all Elijah could do to dive out of the way. A ripping, tearing sound preceded a great crash as the enemy shredded a nearby tree ¨C a reminder that if those claws made contact with his comparatively soft flesh, there was little he could do. Elijah rolled to his feet just in time to see the tree tip over with a massive crack and the sound of snapping branches. Fortunately, the monster hadn¡¯t counted on that, and a moment later, the huge trunk of the tall pine tree thudded down right on top of the monster. Even that seemed insufficient against such a mighty creature, but for a few seconds at least, it was stationary. That was Elijah¡¯s moment. He dashed forward, a battlecry on his lips as he raised his homemade axe. He brought it down with all the Strength he could gather. His aim was true, and the flint blade found a home in the monster¡¯s unprotected side. However, Elijah¡¯s heart jumped into his throat when he saw two things. First, his axe shattered into a million pieces, the shards exploding out from the point of impact. A few of them buried themselves in Elijah¡¯s unprotected skin, but most went sailing into the surrounding forest. But more troubling was the second thing Elijah noticed ¨C the blow, mighty though it was, didn¡¯t even leave a mark. No, that wasn¡¯t true. He¡¯d managed to leave the tiniest of scratches ¨C so small that it might have been Elijah¡¯s imagination ¨C on one of the monster¡¯s scales. It hissed and gurgled, leveraging its four muscular arms beneath the heavy tree trunk. Its claws bit deep into the bark, and it pushed. Meanwhile, Elijah took those few seconds for the opportunity they represented, and the moment he recovered from his ill-advised attack, he rolled to his feet and took off at a sprint. One second passed. Then two. Three. He scrambled over a fallen tree and slid down a slight hill, his passage eased by the ubiquitous moisture that seemed to cling to everything. When he reached the bottom, he regained his feet and continued his flight, hoping to put as much distance as he could between himself and the unassailable monster that had pegged him as prey. A handful of endless seconds passed before Elijah heard the sound of pursuit. Still, he ran ¨C because, what else was he supposed to do? He couldn¡¯t fight that creature. He couldn¡¯t hurt it. He couldn¡¯t endure its attacks. He was lucky that he¡¯d managed to survive as long as he had. He dodged between the trees, panting as much from fatigue as from the panic filling his heart. The monster chose a different track. Judging by the sounds of snapping branches and falling trees that dogged Elijah¡¯s path, the creature had chosen to simply run through the various obstacles native to the densely forested wilderness. That was probably the only reason it didn¡¯t immediately catch him. With its size and single-minded pursuit, it was far less suited for forest traversal. But that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t gaining on him. In the end, his doom came in the form of a particularly well-camouflaged root that Elijah never even saw. One second, he was sprinting through the forest, and the next, he was tumbling through the air only to land on his chest. His momentum took him into an awkward roll, and he ended up colliding with a solid berm composed of roots and tightly packed earth. The impact dislocated one of his shoulders and took a few square inches of the skin of his arm. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. More troubling was the fact that he¡¯d stopped moving. Terror gripped him as he tried to scramble to his feet, but the pain in his shoulder made it difficult to focus. On top of that, that arm was useless, which threw off his balance. Still, he grasped at exposed roots as he tried to continue his flight. But by then, the monster was upon him. Insanely sharp claws bit into his legs as the sound of the creature¡¯s hissing laughter mingled with his screams of agony. Elijah lashed out, but he might as well have been kicking a boulder for all the good it did. Even so, he squirmed and kicked as the monster reached down with curious delicacy and turned him over. Oh, God ¨C it wanted to see the look on his face as it killed him. That was the only explanation. Elijah¡¯s screams turned into a defiant, yet trembling, roar as he continued to resist. But it was useless. The monster was unstoppable. Unassailable. Unbeatable. It leaned close, its fetid breath filling Elijah¡¯s nostrils. Then, a forked tongue slithered out from its lipless mouth to trace a line along Elijah¡¯s cheek. It shivered in pleasure. Elijah pressed himself against the ground as he desperately tried to put as much distance as he could between the creature and himself, but it was useless. The ground was as immovable as the creature was inescapable. The monster was also done delaying the inevitable. Dim light glinted off the reptilian creature¡¯s viridian scales, shining with a dark, green-blue tint as it unhinged its jaw and opened its mouth. Row after row of teeth glistened in that yawning abyss as it opened wider and wider. Elijah punched out with his good arm, but the monster didn¡¯t even flinch at the blow. Why would it? It leaned forward. Inch by inch, Elijah¡¯s death crept closer until he could see the blackened flesh inside the creature¡¯s mouth. He closed his eyes, resolving to go to his death with stoic defiance. But then, a whisper of a sound greeted Elijah¡¯s ears, and, suddenly, the weight of the monster¡¯s grip disappeared. A mere second later, the sound of splintering trees filled the air, and Elijah flung his eyes open to see two titans locked in furious battle. The panther had pounced on the monster¡¯s back, its claws biting deep into its scaly hide. Black blood misted the air as the panther subjected the creature to a furious onslaught of raking claws. Those impenetrable scales split. Its blood flowed. And the monster wailed in hissing agony. A moment later, the panther lost the advantage of surprise, and the monster regained its balance, reaching back and gripping the panther¡¯s glossy black fur. But the lithe animal wasn¡¯t so easily caught. It dodged with feline grace, its claws continuing to rake at the monster¡¯s scaly hide. But it didn¡¯t do so without picking up a few injuries of its own. The panther was agile and deadly, but the enemy wasn¡¯t without advantages of its own. And it used them as it clamored to turn the tide of battle, its own natural weapons ripping into the panther¡¯s fur and tearing through its dense muscles. The panther spat and hissed under the assault, but it didn¡¯t let up. Most predators would give up on a hunt if it proved too dangerous, but the scene Elijah witnessed wasn¡¯t one of two animals engaged in a natural battle for survival. No ¨C it was a pair of bitter enemies who were compelled ¨C whether it was by choice or instinct, Elijah had no idea ¨C to fight to the bitter end. Using one arm, he dragged himself further away, but he didn¡¯t take his eyes from the fight. It seemed to go on for ages, but Elijah knew that less than a minute had passed. The panther leapt away from the monster¡¯s sweeping claws, narrowly dodging the attack before it bounded off a nearby tree, changing directions. The tree swayed under the cat¡¯s massive weight, and the panther rocketed toward the scaly creature. It tried to react, but the cat was moving too quickly. The panther¡¯s claws flashed. Once. Twice. Three times in less than a second. And when it jumped away, the viridian monster¡¯s throat had been destroyed. Pitch black blood flowed from the gaping wound, smothering its shimmering scales in stygian blackness. It stumbled to its knees, falling forward only to barely catch itself with an outstretched arm that extended to the black blood-soaked ground. Its claws dug furrows into the soft earth, but with a gurgling, hissing roar, it climbed to its feet and faced off against the cat, who was patiently waiting in the shadows. Elijah could only see hints of its tail¡¯s movement and shining green eyes, but he could easily imagine it crouching for its next pounce. The monster staggered forward, leaving a trail of black blood. The cat knew it only had to wait it out, though. Its enemy was already weakened, and the viridian monster¡¯s Strength fled by the second. But then, the monster seemed to remember its original prey, and it turned toward Elijah. Even with its blood gushing from the wound on its stubby neck, the creature managed its horrifying imitation of a smile before it turned its body in Elijah¡¯s direction. Elijah shuddered. The monster was on its last legs. Its life was going to end. There was no stopping that. But just as surely, it didn¡¯t intend to die alone. Elijah¡¯s hand crept to a small hilt at his waist. The flint-bladed knife was not a weapon. Comprised of a single stone that he¡¯d arduously filed into a point before wrapping the narrowest end with his homemade cordage, it was barely even a tool. But it was better than his bare hands. So, with his good arm, he reached down and yanked it from his makeshift belt. Brandishing it in the monster¡¯s direction, Elijah pressed his back against the berm and pushed himself to his feet. The monster continued to advance, its pace slowed not by a desire to prolong Elijah¡¯s horror, but by its diminishing Strength. Elijah was content to wait. Every second that passed, brought it closer to death. Perhaps, if he was lucky, it would fall before it even reached him. He was not lucky. With a burst of speed that constituted the last of the monster¡¯s Strength, it dashed across the short distance. It reared back, its claws glistening with the panther¡¯s red blood. But Elijah didn¡¯t wait for its attack. Instead, he marshaled the last bit of his own remaining energy and leapt forward, leading the way with his homemade dagger. He knew it wouldn¡¯t cut through the monster¡¯s viridian scales, but he wasn¡¯t aiming for that. Instead, he thrust his knife deep into the wound wrought by the panther¡¯s sharp claws. It sank into the creature¡¯s black flesh, biting deep until it collided with bone. The monster flinched back, losing its balance as Elijah crashed into it. Elijah screamed as he was thrown free, rolling on his already injured shoulder. He could feel the ripping tendons of the abused joint, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself. After a second, he skidded to a stop, and it took him a few more moments to gather his wits and look back at the scene of the battle. And what he saw brought a grim smile to his face. He was so elated that, at first, he didn¡¯t even notice the gaping wound drawing a line across his belly. But within a few seconds, fire erupted in his stomach, and he looked down to see his innards falling out. Even more disturbing, when Elijah looked up, he saw his protector slinking forward. The panther had sustained a host of wounds that Elijah hadn¡¯t noticed during the battle, and beneath its glossy, black fur, he saw hints of white bone. Half its face had been massacred, and it moved with a pronounced limp. Gathering his intestines, Elijah realized that he was about to die. Stomach wounds weren¡¯t immediately fatal, but when a person started spilling his intestines, it was only a matter of time. Soon, he¡¯d grow weak and pass out ¨C if not from the wound itself, then from shock or blood loss. So, even if he managed to recover enough Ethera to power Touch of Nature, he wouldn¡¯t be conscious to use it. But that was okay. He¡¯d done well for himself, and while he knew he was about to die, he¡¯d stood his ground. And that unstoppable monster was now dead. He only hoped that the panther would survive, which, judging by its wounds, didn¡¯t seem likely. It approached, looked at him out of the corner of one baleful green eye, then flopped onto the ground with a pained sigh. Elijah¡¯s eyes drooped as he felt the pool of sticky blood gathering beneath him, and finally, he began to dip into unconsciousness. 1-17. Resurgence Before Elijah dropped into unconsciousness, he saw a familiar notification that jarred him back to awareness.
Congratulations! You have reached level three, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
It was followed closely by another:
Congratulations! You have reached level four, earning two free attribute points (four total). Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
Two levels? That didn¡¯t make any sense. He hadn¡¯t done anything. Sure, he¡¯d jabbed his now-ruined, homemade knife into the monster¡¯s neck, but Elijah felt certain that he had only hastened its demise. The panther had been the real killer. But the evidence was right in front of him; the System had given him credit, and the resulting Ethera had pushed him to level four. As he continued to bleed out, Elijah¡¯s mind turned sluggish, and his ability to focus slipped further and further away. It was like wading through thick mud just to force his status open and allocate his attribute points. When he finally managed to wrangle his mind into doing what he wanted, he shoved the free attribute points into Ethera, bringing his total up to eight. Immediately, Elijah felt an influx of magical energy as his core doubled in size. Thankfully, the upgrade didn¡¯t just provide capacity, but rather, it gave him an amount of energy equal to what he¡¯d get from four Ethera, leaving him with a half-full core. The influx was a heady sensation that nearly drove him to distraction, but he once again harnessed his concentration and forced himself to cast Touch of Nature. The healing spell soothed the injury in his stomach, dragging his intestines back into place and sealing the wound. But before it could do much more than patch things up, Elijah¡¯s core ran dry. He was still gravely injured, and any movement would threaten to tear the wound open, but he¡¯d bought himself some time. His survival was now all but assured, provided he didn¡¯t run afoul of any other monsters. Elijah glanced at the corpse of the scaled creature that had attacked him and shivered. That, of course, brought with it a significant amount of pain. That monster had come out of nowhere, and even with his newly strengthened body and magical powers, it had been completely out of his league. Without the panther¡­ The panther! The enormous cat was lying only a few feet away, its breathing shallow and its eyes filled with agony. And it wasn¡¯t surprising. The panther had killed the monster, but it had also paid the price. Shallow wounds decorated its entire body, but Elijah¡¯s eyes were drawn to the three much more serious injuries it had sustained. The most troubling was a long gash along its side. At least two feet in length, and gaping open to expose the panther¡¯s ribs, it was a ghastly wound that, even in the best of times, would likely spell a wild animal¡¯s doom. If infection didn¡¯t set in, then perhaps it would have a chance. But given the foul odor coming from the now-dead monster, Elijah considered that unlikely. Next, one of the panther¡¯s legs was turned the wrong way, and Elijah saw its broken bones bulging beneath its sleek skin. Finally, the semi-aquatic monster had ripped a chunk of the panther¡¯s face off. In short, the huge cat had almost assuredly given its life to save Elijah. Or perhaps it made more sense that the monster was its mortal enemy. After all, though Elijah had been paying tribute to the panther in the form of a daily fish or two, he¡¯d never gotten the sense that it liked or accepted him. In fact, it had always seemed on the edge of killing him outright. The idea that it would protect him, except as a side effect of its true intention, was almost laughable. But still, Elijah owed the animal his life. It was at that moment that he made a choice. If he recovered enough Ethera before the panther succumbed to its wounds, he would try to heal it. If not, then it just wasn¡¯t meant to be. With that in mind, Elijah settled back against the tree and waited on his Regeneration to refill his core. Slowly, his mind began to churn, drawing the ambient energy in before sending it through his soul and down into his core. The process was both soothing and distracting enough that he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed with the pain of his still-serious wound. To further distract himself, Elijah opened what he¡¯d begun to affectionately refer to as his spell book:
Archetype: Druid The druid is the defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, energy density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Scholar], [Nature]
Spells
Touch of Nature Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally.
Snaring Roots Call upon nature to summon a snarl of roots to bind your enemies¡¯ movements.
One With Nature Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Draw power from nature.
Eyes of the Eagle Briefly enhance your eyesight with the power of a fearsome raptor.
As had been the case with both level one and two, he¡¯d gotten spells for each of his new levels. One With Nature seemed a bit ambiguous, but the second spell, Eyes of the Eagle, seemed fairly straightforward. And for now, completely useless. Perhaps there would be a situation in the future where having telescopic vision would help, but for now, it would do nothing to help him. What¡¯s more, he couldn¡¯t spare the Ethera to test either spell out. However, One With Nature was definitely intriguing. Drawing power from nature could mean just about anything. Would it let him rapidly regenerate his Ethera? Or perhaps give him an influx of Strength? The possibilities were endless, and his speculation occupied his mind until he¡¯d recovered a little more than half his Ethera. Once he¡¯d done that, Elijah pushed himself away from the tree and slowly shifted closer to the panther. By that point, it had been almost an hour since they¡¯d killed the monster, but the cat had yet to succumb to its wounds. Still, its breathing was labored, and Elijah saw pink-tinted foam around its mouth. Clearly, it had internal injuries in addition to the visible wounds. In short, it was dying. Elijah aimed to change that. When Elijah laid his hand on the animal¡¯s paw, its only reaction was a shift of its eyes and a slight tensing of its muscles. Perhaps that was the extent of its capability. Closing his eyes, Elijah pulled Ethera from his core, channeling it through the webwork of his soul, and into his spell, Touch of Nature. He gasped. Healing someone else was clearly very different than healing himself. For one, he couldn¡¯t just place his hand on the appropriate spot and hope for the best. Instead, he needed to know what he wanted to fix before he could heal it. Thankfully, as a trained biologist, Elijah was very familiar with animal physiology, and it didn¡¯t take him long to find the issues. Even without the magical awareness that allowed him to sense problems, Elijah would have had a good idea of where to start. With it, he could pinpoint the issues in mere seconds. That¡¯s when the other difference between healing himself and healing others surfaced. When targeting himself, Touch of Nature had always felt like being wrapped in a wave of soothing energy that both healed and revitalized him. But with the panther, it felt like he¡¯d just poured a glass of water into a vast ocean. Even with his senses and experience as a scientist guiding him, Elijah knew it was going to take more than a few casts to heal even the least of the panther¡¯s wounds. But Elijah was nothing if not persistent. So, he focused on the cat¡¯s internal injuries first, using his gathered Ethera to mend the wounds. He managed three casts before his core ran dry once again, but he¡¯d managed to staunch most of the internal bleeding. It was less effective than he¡¯d hoped, but it was a start. Over the next day-and-a-half, Elijah fell into a rhythm. Once his core refilled, he would cast Touch of Nature on himself a single time, then use the remainder of his pool of Ethera to repeatedly heal the panther. As he did, he learned a couple of things. First, so long as he kept his mind clear, he could regenerate his entire core in two hours. Sometimes, it varied by a couple of minutes, but he chalked the variance up to his inability to keep proper time. After all, he didn¡¯t have a clock to consult. If he let his mind wander, his Regeneration took a significant hit, so he did everything he could to keep his thoughts from wandering too far afield. The second thing he learned was that the panther was vastly more powerful than him. Elijah had no notion of its level, but it was so far above him that it might as well have been a god. But it was mortal, just like him, and he knew that without his help, the cat would have quickly succumbed to its wounds. It seemed to know that as well, and even after Elijah had healed it enough to keep it from dying, it remained in place. Gradually, Elijah mended both his and the panther¡¯s wounds until, after almost two days, the job was done, and he slumped in exhaustion. Hunger gnawed at his belly ¨C after all, he hadn¡¯t had time or concentration to spare for gathering any food ¨C and fatigue weighed down on him like he carried a mountain on his shoulders. Fortunately, water hadn¡¯t been as much of an issue, given that it had rained intermittently throughout the process. The panther pushed itself to its feet, testing its mended leg. Elijah had left it for last, as much to keep the panther in place as because it was the least life threatening of the cat¡¯s many injuries. ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s healed,¡± he said tiredly. His own wounds had healed much more quickly, allowing him to focus entirely on the panther. The cat locked its glistening green eyes on him for a long moment. Then, without even a nod of thanks, it padded away, disappearing into the shadows. Elijah sighed. ¡°You¡¯re welcome, I guess,¡± he muttered. Then, he turned his attention inward to address a notification pushing against his mind. When he did, his jaw dropped.
Congratulations! You have reached level five, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
Another notification soon followed. And then another. Three levels, putting him at seven. That gave him six extra attribute points to allocate, but even more exciting than that, he¡¯d gained three new spells. It was a nearly overwhelming degree of advancement, and he quickly opened his spell book to investigate his gains.
Archetype: Druid The druid is the defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, energy density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Scholar], [Nature]
Spells
Touch of Nature Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally.
Snaring Roots Call upon nature to summon a snarl of roots to bind your enemies¡¯ movements.
One with Nature Draw power from nature.
Eyes of the Eagle Briefly enhance your eyesight with the power of a fearsome raptor.
Ancestral Circle Create a place of power.
Nature¡¯s Bounty Encourage the growth of plants.
Storm¡¯s Fury Call forth the power of a storm and harness its might.
The first spell felt powerful, but the description didn¡¯t give any hints as to what it was supposed to do. Creating a place of power sounded great, but how did it benefit him? He would have to try it out if he wanted to discover the answer to that question. The second spell, Nature¡¯s Bounty, at least seemed more straightforward, and he could already see how beneficial it could be. A good portion of his diet depended on foraging, but what if he could create a garden and accelerate its growth? It would change everything about his life in the wilderness. The last spell was clearly Elijah¡¯s first attack spell, but beyond that, he wasn¡¯t sure what to expect. Storms were deadly, sure, but he wasn¡¯t certain how he was supposed to use such power to fight his enemies. Elijah shook his head as he pushed himself to his feet. While healing himself and the panther, he¡¯d rarely moved from that position, and he¡¯d grown stiff. In the past, he¡¯d have had quite a bit of difficulty sitting still for that long, but in the throes of his quest to mend his savior¡¯s wounds, moving around had been the last thing on his mind. Then, Elijah remembered that he still needed to allocate his six free points. He did so, splitting them between Ethera and Regeneration, bringing them to eleven and twelve, respectively. His original plan had been to focus on his physical attributes once he got Ethera and Regeneration to ten, but he¡¯d never expected to gain so many levels so quickly. He still wanted to get the most out of his physical training, so he¡¯d chosen to focus on his magical attributes for now. Once Strength and Dexterity plateaued ¨C if they did at all ¨C he would reevaluate his plans. For now, though, Elijah had some spells to test. First up was One With Nature, but when he embraced the spell, channeling Ethera from his core and through the pathways of his soul, he got a big shock. His jaw dropped as a cascade of information spread across his mind, telling him how the spell worked. Grinning, he said, ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. Really good. This could change everything.¡± 1-18. The Power of a Druid Elijah felt Strength flow through him as he felt the effects of One With Nature take hold. More, for the first time, the spell came with understanding. It felt as if he¡¯d suddenly remembered a long-lost memory, and the result was that he knew how the new spell worked. And he was impressed. The effects of One With Nature were threefold. So long as he remained in contact with natural earth, the spell would enhance his physical attributes. His new understanding wasn¡¯t specific about the exact degree of enhancement, but he could feel that it was significant. Further testing would need to be done if he wanted exact information, though. The second facet of the spell¡¯s enhancement came in the form of natural healing. It wasn¡¯t even close to rivaling his other spell, Touch of Nature, but it would go a long way toward staving off minor injuries and the effects of fatigue. More importantly, the effect it would have on his physical training would almost assuredly be profound. Finally ¨C and he suspected, most importantly ¨C the spell came with a sense of connectivity with the natural world. He¡¯d felt a version of that the moment he¡¯d awoken with his new archetype. However, One With Nature enhanced that feeling a hundred-fold. More than that, though, he could sense the forest¡¯s aura of life far more keenly, and within a few feet, he almost felt as if he could identify individual organisms. But he suspected that he¡¯d have to grow much stronger for the spell to reach that level, if it ever did. For now, though, he took comfort in the feeling that he was that much closer to belonging in the forest. Elijah also got the feeling that it would protect him from natural predators, at least to some extent. If he antagonized them, they would still react with vicious certainty; however, he felt that they wouldn¡¯t instigate anything. Of course, Elijah suspected that something like the panther would be unaffected. He had no gauge or context for its power, but he knew it was too far above him to succumb to any attack or spell he could muster. Not that he wanted to try ¨C no, he¡¯d been disabused of that notion when he¡¯d witnessed the battle between the panther and the monster. That was a battle he had no interest in fighting. After testing One With Nature, Elijah glanced at the monster¡¯s corpse. It had begun to decompose within an hour of its death, and now, it was little more than a mass of discolored refuse. In the beginning, he¡¯d harbored notions of harvesting its impenetrable scales and using it for armor, but even if it hadn¡¯t rotted into a state of uselessness, Elijah was more than a little put off by both the smell and the sense of wrongness that radiated from its body. Even in death, it didn¡¯t seem like it belonged in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to let it rot so that it would cease its corrupting influence. Mostly, that aura of corruption had faded, but Elijah still wanted to get away as quickly as he could. So, after a few more seconds, he headed in the direction of the stream. As he did so, he marveled at how much stronger and more vital he felt. ¡°Could definitely get used to this,¡± he muttered. The spell¡¯s effects had nearly doubled his physical ability, making traversal through the forest trivial. Soon, he reached the stream, where he stripped off his soiled clothing and washed them as best he could. The endeavor was only a moderate success; the monster¡¯s black blood seemed to have suffused everything, right down to the tiniest of fibers, but he did what he could. Next came his body, and though the water had grown much colder since his first encounter with the stream, One With Nature made him much more durable, so he barely felt the stream¡¯s frigid embrace. Without soap or something abrasive, it took quite a while before Elijah was satisfied with his relative cleanliness, but when he stepped out of the stream, he felt refreshed in a way he hadn¡¯t since awakening on the shore after the plane crash. After dressing, Elijah made his way back to the cabin, which was much the same as he¡¯d left it. The fire had been extinguished, and it looked like some small animal had rooted around in his food stores. Not unexpected after two days, but still disappointing. Before Elijah got down to trying his other new spells, he set about the task of restarting the fire. He might not have needed as much protection from the cold as he had before using One With Nature, but he still didn¡¯t want to go through any more nights without a fire. Summer had already faded, and he knew from experience that fall could turn into winter in a matter of days. So, he needed to be prepared for it. As he worked, Elijah continued to feel his way through One With Nature, and along the way, he discovered that, once cast, it would remain in place indefinitely. However, he also sensed that his body only had room for a single augmentation of its nature. Part of that feeling came from the information he¡¯d been granted alongside the spell, but he could also feel the subtle way the spell stretched his soul. Any more, and it would collapse. But that was fine by Elijah. He didn¡¯t have any other augmentations to cast, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about it. For now. Perhaps he¡¯d have to revisit the problem in the future, though. In any case, once Elijah restarted the fire, he took a few minutes to test the other new additions to his spell book. After One With Nature, the next one on the list was Eyes of the Eagle, which gave him a brief duration of telescopic vision. After casting it for the first time, he looked down at the ground and could see everything as if it was under a weak microscope. It wasn¡¯t powerful enough that he could see microbes or individual cells, but he suspected that wasn¡¯t the purpose. Instead, it was meant to give him the means to see long distances, and he expected that it would accomplish that goal very well. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. The next new spell was Ancestral Circle, which, for now, proved useless. However, like his other spells, it did come with a thorough understanding of the spell¡¯s purpose. And that was enough to make Elijah¡¯s jaw drop. Unlike Elijah¡¯s other spells, Ancestral Circle required significant preparation. Once he chose an appropriate spot ¨C and the moment he understood the requirements, he knew precisely where he wanted to put it ¨C he would have to plant a series of trees in a perfect circle. Then, he would have to empower that circle with his spell. Once that was done, the true purpose of Ancestral Circle would be available to him. And it could be summed up in one word: teleportation. It was limited, but the idea was that he could use the second portion of the spell to instantly transport himself from anywhere in the world to his circle, which the burst of information he¡¯d received with the spell referred to as a Grove. He could only do so once a week, but it was an incredible ability. Still, it would take a vast amount of work to create his Grove. He was so eager to get started that he very nearly set off to his chosen spot right then and there. But good sense won out, and he moved on to the second-to-last spell he¡¯d received after healing the panther. Nature¡¯s Bounty was far more straightforward than any of his other spells. He only had to channel his Ethera from his core and through his soul before casting the spell, and it would cause rapid plant growth within a ten-yard radius. Of course, to plants, rapid meant that it would only take weeks for a plant to reach maturity, but that was still a huge boon. Already, Elijah¡¯s task of growing his Grove had gone from being a project of years to one that might only take months. Doubtless, the two spells were intended to be used in tandem. Finally, Elijah¡¯s exploration of his spell book reached Storm¡¯s Fury. Ever since learning that his transformed world was one of magic, Elijah had imagined being a grand wizard and slinging fireballs at his enemies. Of course, he knew that wasn¡¯t what being a Druid was all about, but even so, he¡¯d become enamored with the fantasy, and he¡¯d found himself hoping that his path would include something of the like. And now, it did. Standing a couple of dozen yards away from his cabin, Elijah sighted in on a rock he¡¯d placed twenty feet away. Then, as he had with every other spell, Elijah dragged Ethera from his core and pushed it through the pathways of his soul and into the spell he wanted to cast. And for a split second after he released it, nothing happened. Then, suddenly, a bolt of lightning tore through the forest¡¯s canopy and hit the ground five feet away from the rock. Electricity spiderwebbed across the ground for another few feet before dissipating, leaving only a few tendrils of wispy smoke snaking up from the point of impact. Elijah grinned. On the one hand, the spell seemed incredibly powerful. He knew the power of that much electricity, and he could surmise that it could be a potent weapon. But on the other hand, he¡¯d missed his target, and badly. Clearly, he needed to practice. That was okay, though. He was nothing if not persistent, and it wouldn¡¯t take a significant shift to add target practice to his exercise regimen. The only big problem was that the spell was incredibly Ethera-hungry, and it had taken almost a third of his capacity to cast it a single time. Not ideal, but Elijah was used to that. Once he¡¯d finished exploring his new spells, Elijah set about replenishing his food stores, gathering mushrooms and berries as he walked around the forest. Eventually, his path took him to the meadow that was home to the powerful tree that had eased the cultivation of his Body of Wood. When he arrived, he noticed something peculiar ¨C the meadow was perfectly circular; it was as if it had been made to accommodate his Grove. Perhaps it had. Or maybe the tree had influenced the area for that purpose. Whatever the case, it was precisely what Elijah needed. He¡¯d already decided to use the tree¡¯s thick aura to his advantage when placing his Grove, and the discovery was just further evidence that he was on the right track. But with the sun dipping toward the horizon, he didn¡¯t have time to get started just yet. Instead, he gathered more berries, some dogbane for more cordage, and a few dozen acorns that had fallen from the tree. The arboreal spirit that dwelled within still seemed dormant, but Elijah hoped that it would awaken soon. After all, if it had guided him through the process of cultivating his body, then it was probably full of other useful information. Once he was finished, Elijah trekked back to his cabin, where he enjoyed a meal of berries and mushrooms before, at last, releasing One With Nature and letting himself fall asleep. When Elijah awoke the next day, he held off on reapplying the augmentation as he went through the daily regimen of exercise he¡¯d established before the fight against the viridian scaled monster. However, instead of being confined to physical exercise, he interspersed target practice into the routine. He still had to stop and concentrate before he could focus enough to cast Storm¡¯s Fury, but by the end of his workout, he¡¯d progressed noticeably. His aim was still lacking, especially if he rushed through it, but he''d found that the process of casting the spell came quicker every time he did it. It was still alien, but like any process, it was on its way to becoming instinctive. Now, he only had to spend the time necessary to push it over the edge to where he could use the spell without thought. Of course, that wasn¡¯t something he could accomplish in mere hours. Instead, it was a task of weeks. Or perhaps months. Maybe it would even be years. But stranded in the wilderness, he had time to spare. More than that, he had plenty of motivation to get it right. After all, that monster had come at him out of nowhere, and if the panther hadn¡¯t saved him, Elijah would have been slain. Even with the cat¡¯s help, it had been a close thing. The new world wasn¡¯t benign. It was deadly. And if Elijah wanted to avoid ending up as some monster¡¯s lunch, he needed to grow more powerful. To that end, he redoubled his efforts and leveraged every ounce of his focus as he continued to practice his aim, one lightning bolt at a time. 1-19. Not Alone Elijah crouched at the tree line, watching the crabs scuttle across the rocky shore. Then, he tossed a bit of fish entrails only a few feet away from the most isolated crustacean. It took the creature a moment to notice it, but when it did, it wasted no time before skittering across the rocks and gobbling it up. That¡¯s when Elijah tossed another bit of fish guts a little further away. After the crab found that one, too, he repeated the process. That¡¯s how, a few feet at a time, Elijah led the crustacean away from its fellows. Once it was sufficiently isolated, he struck. Not with the homemade spear in his hand, but with magic. A thin bolt of lightning, barely visible in the harsh light of the winter sun, descended from the sky to hit the crustacean in the center of its muddy brown shell. It let out a shriek as it convulsed, its limbs spasming out of control as it flopped to the gravelly ground. But Elijah knew from experience that it wasn¡¯t dead. It would take two more strikes ¨C and all the Ethera in Elijah¡¯s core ¨C for the monster to succumb. He quickly re-cast the spell, to similar results. Finally, he finished it off with a third cast. Elijah sighed. For all the excitement he¡¯d felt when he¡¯d gotten his first attack spell, it had proven to be a bit of a mixed bag. While the spell did allow him to hunt in relative safety, it wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as he¡¯d hoped it would be. Clearly, the Druid archetype was no mighty wizard, even if it gave Elijah a single attack spell. Rising from his cover, Elijah trotted to where the crab had died, then set to harvesting it. He¡¯d done so dozens of times over the past eight weeks, so he found the task boring but ultimately necessary. After all, with the onset of winter, the fish had retreated into deeper waters, leaving his once-fertile fishing hole desolated. The crabs ¨C along with his stores of mushrooms and berries ¨C were his only consistent source of food. Sure, Elijah managed to kill a few hares and squirrels here and there, but those instances were so infrequent that he knew he couldn¡¯t rely on them when it came to his survival. Of course, if things got really bad, there were always the bugs he felt crawling through the earth. They wouldn¡¯t be pleasant, but Elijah expected that they would provide some sustenance. Still, he wasn¡¯t quite at the point where he needed to resort to eating insects. He was tired of crab, but it was still better than eating crickets and grubs. ¡°Yeah. My standards are sky high,¡± he muttered to himself. Other animals had no problems eating bugs. It was the same with many human cultures as well. But Elijah found the idea disgusting. Even so, he knew that if he got hungry enough, he¡¯d start digging through the dirt like any other hungry animal. Only, he had an advantage; with One With Nature, he could feel everything within a few feet, and the ground was no barrier to the ability. No ¨C he was perfectly suited for bug hunting. He just didn¡¯t want to do it. So, he hunted crab. Fortunately, there seemed to be an endless number of the creatures ¨C which didn¡¯t seem all that surprising. Purple shore crabs had always been very populous, and the onset of the System hadn¡¯t changed that. At first, Elijah had wondered if the creatures would simply starve ¨C after all, with greater mass came the need for a more plentiful food source ¨C but that problem had been solved by the corpses of sea creatures that regularly washed ashore. Most were half-rotted and bore severe wounds, but the crabs didn¡¯t seem to mind. They had always been scavengers, after all. Soon enough, Elijah finished harvesting the crab, putting the meat in a huge basket he¡¯d woven from sticks, dried reeds, and leaves. Once he¡¯d finished, he set the basket aside and repeated the process, killing and harvesting another crab. He didn¡¯t need the meat for himself, but still, he felt compelled to feed ¨C or perhaps pay tribute to ¨C the panther, which he¡¯d only seen a handful of times over the past eight weeks. Gathering his huge basket ¨C it was at least three feet across ¨C Elijah began the trek back to the cabin. About halfway there, he felt the presence of the panther bearing down on him. It wasn¡¯t as suffocating or terror-inducing as it once had been, but it was still enough to make him sweat. He set the basket down, then piled half of the meat on the forest floor. ¡°Your tribute, your majesty,¡± he said, his voice loud and slightly mocking. ¡°Feels sort of like it should be the other way around, though. You¡¯re the mighty hunter, right? You should be feeding me.¡± The forest stilled, and a wave of oppressive power washed over Elijah. Unperturbed, he said, ¡°Fine, fine. You¡¯re the king around here. I know my place.¡± The feeling disappeared. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if the cat could understand him ¨C he suspected that it could, after a fashion ¨C but he didn¡¯t really care. The panther hadn¡¯t killed him yet, so he didn¡¯t think it was suddenly going to change its mind over a snarky comment. Besides ¨C Elijah had studiously held up his end of the bargain by providing food. The cat had no reason to kill him. But it was still a wild animal, wasn¡¯t it? As such, it was unpredictable. There was no telling what might set the panther off. Then again, it was far more intelligent than any wild animal Elijah had ever seen ¨C even dolphins or chimps. So, applying his previous experiences might not be the best idea. Whatever the case, they seemed to have a mutually beneficial arrangement, and Elijah wasn¡¯t going to do anything to mess that up. So, he added a few handfuls of crab meat to the pile before saying, ¡°There you go. Next time one of those monsters attacks, remember who feeds you, yeah?¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Predictably, the panther didn¡¯t give voice to his agreement. Nor did it show itself at all, and without the cat¡¯s oppressive aura, Elijah would have thought that he was talking to empty air. But he knew the cat was there. It had heard him. And he suspected that it understood. That would have to be enough. With that, Elijah continued back to the cabin. Along the way, he kept an eye out for mushrooms and berries, but with the onset of winter and his constant foraging, he found nothing. It would have been troubling if he hadn¡¯t amassed a significant store of food. And it had finally gotten cold enough that he didn¡¯t have to worry nearly so much about spoilage, even with the crab meat. That was a boon, even if it came with the decidedly less pleasurable side effect of him being cold all the time. He¡¯d tried his best to guard against it, making rudimentary clothing out of woven grass and the few rabbit pelts he¡¯d managed to acquire, but it was mostly ineffective. Still, with his increased Constitution as well as the constant enhancement that came with One With Nature, it wasn¡¯t so bad. Even though the days had continued to grow colder, he felt that, unless things got much, much worse than was normal for the Pacific northwest, he would survive. It wouldn¡¯t be comfortable, but that was true of most of his life now. After storing everything away in raised boxes he¡¯d carved, Elijah added some more wood to his fire, then set off toward his budding Grove. The trip was mostly uneventful, save for when he ran into a rapidly decomposing monster corpse. It looked different than the one he and the cat had fought. Smaller. And somehow less oppressive. However, it was still an alien creature that could ¨C and would, if it got the chance ¨C rip him to shreds. Thankfully, the panther seemed to take hunting them as its personal mission, and over the past eight weeks, Elijah had run into a handful of other monster corpses. Leaving it behind ¨C there was nothing useful about it ¨C Elijah continued on his way until he reached the Grove. In some ways, the meadow containing the huge tree was the same. The dimensions hadn¡¯t changed; nor had the tree itself. However, about thirty feet from the natural tree line, there was now a ring of saplings. They were barely taller than Elijah himself, but even that much growth was so abnormal as to be considered miraculous. Part of their rapid growth was due to his daily usage of Nature¡¯s Bounty, but Elijah suspected that it was also a characteristic of the trees themselves. After all, they¡¯d come from acorns he¡¯d gathered from around the majestic tree at the center of the meadow, and he knew good and well that it wasn¡¯t normal. The ambient Ethera of the area had also increased significantly, and Elijah could keenly feel its nature aspect. It was soothing and energizing, and it increased the Regeneration of his core significantly. Normally, it would take him two hours to regenerate the Ethera in his core, but in the Grove, it was cut down to a quarter of that. And that increased Regeneration had allowed him to make abundant use of Nature¡¯s Bounty, which in turn, had continued to increase his Regeneration. It was a perpetuating cycle, and one for which Elijah was extremely grateful. Without it, his Grove would have taken much, much longer. After completing two circuits through the circle of saplings, Elijah went deeper into the Grove until he reached ten neat rows of turned soil. From that soil sprouted dozens of small plants that would, Elijah hoped, eventually become berry bushes that would, in turn, make gathering food much easier. But the bushes were in their infancy, and it would be weeks before they bore fruit. Still, the fact that they¡¯d sprouted at all was a good sign for Elijah¡¯s long-term survivability. Elijah planted himself in the center of his nascent garden, crossing his legs and activating Nature¡¯s Bounty. His spell¡¯s range was just wide enough to encompass the entire garden ¨C by design ¨C so, once activated, he only had to sit and keep it going. So, that¡¯s what he did; however, as he did so, he focused on the network of pathways and channels that constituted his soul. It was metaphysical in nature, so his only concept of how it worked came from feeling the Ethera as it traced its way through the network. However, a few weeks before, he¡¯d discovered that he could guide and accelerate the process, dumping extra Ethera into the spell and making it more potent. Or that¡¯s what he thought. There were no manuals to read, and Elijah could only go by what he felt. But he expected that it was one of the reasons behind the garden¡¯s rapid growth. In any case, it didn¡¯t seem to be hurting anything, so he kept at it, pushing at the boundaries of his soul¡¯s pathways. That was how Elijah spent the next few hours until his soul started to ache. The first time he¡¯d discovered the process, Elijah had pushed through the pain. A mistake, as it happened, because he¡¯d eventually pushed himself too far, resulting in an inability to use any Ethera at all for the next two days. So, the moment he felt that ache in his soul, Elijah cut the spell off. Looking up, he saw that there was still plenty of daylight left, so he decided to explore a little. He still had little concept of the area beyond his immediate surroundings, so he¡¯d resolved to spend a bit of time each day in exploration. Before he started, though, Elijah knew he needed to refill his core. So, he waited about twenty more minutes before he set off toward the east. Clutching his new, homemade flint-bladed spear, Elijah trekked inland through the dense forest. One hour passed, then two. Along the way, he gathered the few mushrooms and berries that had managed to stubbornly resist the effects of winter. He also saw signs of game, but he didn¡¯t run into any animals. Eventually, though, Elijah crested a small hill only to find himself atop a sheer cliff that dropped off at least two-hundred feet. Below him, the canopy of the forest ran on for at least a couple more miles until it abruptly ended at the sea. ¡°It¡¯s an island¡­¡± Indeed, Elijah could see the curve of the shore a few miles in the distance. Of course, it still could have been a peninsula, but he didn¡¯t think that was the case, for some indefinable reason. In any case, Elijah could see more land stretching across the horizon in the distance. Miles of turbulent sea separated Elijah from the mainland, but at least he wasn¡¯t stranded in the middle of the ocean. Finally finding a use for Eyes of the Eagle, Elijah embraced the spell, then channeled Ethera from his core and through his soul. Immediately, his vision sharpened, and he could see the distant shore as if it was only a few hundred yards away. And what he saw was both troubling and exciting. It seemed that he was not as alone as he thought he was. 1-20. Neophyte Soul From the top of the cliff, Elijah studied the encampment across the strait separating his island from what he expected was the mainland, and what he found was inexplicably infuriating. With Eyes of the Eagle, he could clearly see the beginnings of a primitive town nestled at the foot of a mountain. The low-slung buildings had been constructed of seamless concrete ¨C or some magical variant, he expected ¨C from which grew thick smokestacks that were steadily belching black clouds into the otherwise pristine air. The town was surrounded by thick forests not unlike what Elijah had found on his island, but the inhabitants had waged a war against the flora, clearing large swathes of trees in the process. No doubt, they had been used as fuel for their fires. Or perhaps they¡¯d been used to construct the sturdy-looking barges moored at the town¡¯s simplistic dock. Either way, the sight filled Elijah with a degree of sorrow he couldn¡¯t adequately describe. He''d never really been an environmentalist ¨C not like many of his colleagues. Certainly, he¡¯d always tried to conserve where he could, and he had never been an unrepentant polluter, but he also knew that environmental issues were far more complicated than the hardcore activists wanted to admit. In a vacuum, it was easy to tell people to drive electric cars or eschew eating meat, but those were solutions only available to a select few. Others had to do what they had to do, regardless of environmental consequences. That wasn¡¯t to say that Elijah didn¡¯t want to hold industry accountable for their profit-driven choices. He did. He just understood that things were far less simple than they might appear to be at first glance. However, when he looked upon that decimated forest and the billowing black smoke, he felt a degree of anger he¡¯d never felt before. Clearly, that was his Nature aspect ¨C and the connection that came with his archetype ¨C screaming at him. He did his best to push it to the back of his mind, but it was difficult. The fact that the inhabitants of that town didn¡¯t appear to be human helped, though. Elijah didn¡¯t know what any of them were called, but he saw creatures that reminded him of stereotypical fantasy dwarves, gnomes, and goblins, all of which were working together. Soon, Elijah noticed a flood of the small-statured creatures pour out of what he thought was a mountain cave. Upon further inspection, though, he saw that each of those people ¨C if indeed, that was the right word ¨C was carrying a mining pick. After that, it didn¡¯t take much longer for Elijah to notice the carts full of unrefined ore, though he was too far away to utilize his limited geological knowledge to identify what it was. Elijah stood there, watching the town from miles away, until he could confidently say that the entire settlement was a mining operation. Likely, the chimneys belching clouds of billowing black smoke were connected to smelters, from which they would extract metal from the raw ore. More than that, though, Elijah saw that the refined metals were taken to the biggest building, which looked more elaborate than all the rest. For some reason, he didn¡¯t think he was looking at a warehouse. The building was too elaborate and far too small to serve that purpose. And given that his own spell, Ancestral Circle, had a teleportation component, it didn¡¯t take him long to guess that the alliance of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins had access to something similar. Or perhaps he was wrong. He was still far too new to the transformed world to understand what was and wasn¡¯t possible. However, he felt unreasonably confident in his assertions. For a while, Elijah wondered what he should do. The distance from the island to the town wasn¡¯t short; at least ten miles, but probably more than that, separated him from the coast. So, it would not be an easy trip, even if he managed to construct a raft of some sort. He never even considered swimming; seeing the transformation of the trout, with all their extra teeth, was enough to dissuade him from that notion. And that wasn¡¯t even considering that the monster that had almost killed him had come from the sea. Who knew what else was down there? After a while, Elijah realized that, while the discovery was interesting, it didn¡¯t really affect his situation. With the inability to cross the strait, the best he could do was create a bonfire and hope they saw it. Then, he¡¯d have to hope that they were friendly, which wasn¡¯t entirely likely, given that the town¡¯s inhabitants weren¡¯t even human. No ¨C nothing had changed, save for the fact that he needed to be on his guard. Which was the same as always. As the sun began to dip toward the horizon, Elijah reluctantly turned away and started back toward his cabin. Fortunately, he¡¯d long since mastered traversal through the thick foliage, so he made good time back to the Grove. There, he did a circuit around the clearing, keeping Nature¡¯s Bounty active, before he retreated to his cabin where prepared some stew, which was comprised of seaweed, crab meat, and mushrooms. So, the same thing he ate most days. As he sat there spooning the stew into his mouth, Elijah was struck by a deep sense of longing. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d missed his old life and, more importantly, people, but after seeing civilization so close, the feeling came back with a vengeance. With their setup, the dwarves, gnomes, and goblins were probably eating like kings. Even if they didn¡¯t have access to teleportation ¨C which, for some reason he couldn¡¯t explain, he doubted ¨C their area was probably home to plenty of game. Deer, wild hogs, and a multitude of other edible animals were native to the region, and the thought of enjoying a nice venison steak filled Elijah with a deep sense of longing. Of course, he also missed his friends. He wished he could talk to his sister. Or her family. Idly, Elijah wondered how everyone else in the world was doing. Were they struggling to survive, just like him? Or were things easier in the cities? Were there even cities left? The world had supposedly been rearranged, so there was no guarantee that there hadn¡¯t been more changes. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. He sighed. For now, mere survival was difficult enough. But what about the future? Would he be content to remain an island hermit for months? Perhaps years? No. He needed more than that. He needed a purpose. The problem was that Elijah had never been burdened with anything of the sort. After his parents had died, he¡¯d thrown himself into his schoolwork, eventually getting his doctorate despite not really being passionate about marine biology. Sure, it was interesting enough, and he did enjoy it, but only as a job. It was never a purpose. But now, magic was real. The impossible was now possible. Not that long ago, he¡¯d spoken to a tree. With a mere thought, he could call lightning from the sky. Not to mention his healing abilities. He had power. The question was how he wanted to use it. The problem was that he didn¡¯t know the answer to that fundamental question, and he wasn¡¯t sure if he would figure it out anytime soon. Not that it was urgent. Staying alive in such an unforgiving world was hard enough to occupy most of his focus. So, for the time being, he just had to keep going, and that wouldn¡¯t change until at least the spring. With that thought, Elijah let sleep overtake him. When he awoke the next morning, he embarked on his daily routine of exercise and target practice. At first, his physical attributes had improved, but they¡¯d stalled out at nine points, which just seemed to confirm his suspicions that if he wanted to go past ten, he would need to allocate his points appropriately. Still, with his ability to heal, he felt better than he had since college. He was only thirty years old, but they¡¯d been a hard thirty years filled with sports injuries. But with constant usage of Touch of Nature, the remnants of those injuries, which had presented themselves via nagging aches and pains, had faded to nothing, leaving him whole and hale. If he¡¯d had proper nutrition, Elijah would have been in the best shape of his life. After his target practice, Elijah headed to his nascent Grove, where he completed his daily circuit powered by Nature¡¯s Bounty. The saplings seemed to have grown a few inches, and his garden of berry bushes had continued to sprout. Soon enough, he hoped to have a proper Grove. Once it crossed whatever arbitrary threshold that was imposed by his spell ¨C or maybe the System itself ¨C he would be able to test out the teleportation feature. Once he¡¯d finished his circuit, Elijah settled down next to the majestic tree at the center of the clearing, where he recast Nature¡¯s Bounty, pushing extra Ethera into it. The pathways of his soul flexed, expanding minutely with every pulse of energy only to return back to normal a moment later. However, they did seem a bit thicker than they had the day before. It might have been his imagination ¨C or wishful thinking, perhaps ¨C but his soul seemed a little sturdier. The pathways a little wider. It was as if the previous day¡¯s exertions had stretched them enough that some of the benefits remained. In some ways, it wasn¡¯t unlike his daily exercise. Repeated exertion seemed to be the key to channeling more Ethera through his soul, which he hoped would allow him to cast more powerful spells. Or maybe he was doing things completely wrong and he was on the verge of ruining his pathways. He had no way of knowing. But what he was doing felt right, which was enough to keep him going. Over the next six weeks, Elijah continued the rhythm of his existence. Even as the weather grew colder and more inhospitable, his days maintained the familiar cadence of improvement and the necessities of survival. From time to time, he¡¯d go back to the cliff, where he continued to observe his neighbors. The town grew, with many of the buildings gaining an extra story or two. And whether it was imagination or not, the population seemed to increase as well. So, too, did their impact on the environment. Elijah seethed as he watched the forest¡¯s retreat, but he had no idea what to do about it. Nor was he sure if he truly cared if they cleared a little bit of the woodland. There were plenty of trees out there, after all. But he felt what he felt, artificial or not, and he couldn¡¯t escape it. Toward the end of the sixth week, though, Elijah had a breakthrough that cut right through the monotony. It happened as he sat next to the tree at the center of his Grove; the saplings had continued to grow, and they were on the verge of becoming proper trees. He could feel his spell teetering on the edge of activation. But that wasn¡¯t the source of his breakthrough. Instead, that distinction belonged to what he¡¯d begun to refer to as his soul cultivation. The pathways of Elijah¡¯s soul had continued to thicken; the effect was only minute, but even a small change was cause for celebration because it allowed him to channel more Ethera into Nature¡¯s Bounty, which in turn caused the spell¡¯s radius to increase. In the beginning, it had only been about ten feet wide, but now, the circle¡¯s diameter was at least fifteen feet. Following the same pattern he always did, Elijah flexed the Ethera, pushing against the boundaries of his pathways. They stretched, but he felt that they could take more, so he continued to shove more Ethera through them. Then, suddenly, something snapped. Elijah gasped as the Ethera ran wild, tearing down the limits imposed by his pathways. In the space of a second, his entire soul began to degrade under the influence of the tidal wave of Ethera. Panicking, he tried to stem the flow, but his cultivation System had no interest in following his commands. Instead, Ethera flooded through his mind, dragged into his soul from his surroundings. Meanwhile, the energy in his core came in from the other side, and when the two energies met, they did so with explosive force. The world felt like it was ripping him in two. Elijah screamed, but it was useless. He could hardly think amidst the pain, much less find a solution to the problem. Over and over, those two opposing forces crashed against one another, sending agony arcing through Elijah¡¯s body, soul, and mind. It went on for a subjective eternity as the Ethera tormented him. Before, Elijah had considered the energy benign, but free from the confines of his cultivation System, it was an incredibly destructive force. Especially when the two different flavors ¨C the wild Ethera and the energy from his core ¨C clashed. But Elijah endured. He couldn¡¯t have said how. He didn¡¯t know why. He just clung to his life with as much fervor as could muster as he maintained the grip on his sanity. And slowly, the clashing energies transformed his pathways. But they didn¡¯t grow wider. In fact, they were destroyed completely, and the loose Ethera was freed to rampage through his body. But as the seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned to hours, the transformation took hold, and suddenly, he crested the peak, and his body ¨C or his soul ¨C started to absorb the Ethera. At first, it only took a trickle, but soon, that trickle became a torrent. Then, at last, Elijah¡¯s soul drank the last of the Ethera that had been raging through his body, and he collapsed. When he did, a new notification appeared in his mind¡¯s eye:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Neophyte Soul!
He only had a moment to study that notification and smile before unconsciousness overtook him. 1-21. Nerthus Elijah awoke shivering in the middle of the night. Winters in the Pacific northwest could be brutal, and it seemed that his island was no exception. Fortunately, his initial investment into the Constitution attribute had combined with his Body of Wood as well as One With Nature to give him significant protection from the elements. He was still cold ¨C after all, the temperatures had dropped well below freezing ¨C but his experiences told him that he was at no risk of frostbite or other issues related to overexposure. Of course, even if that wasn¡¯t the case, he had Touch of Nature to bail him out, though that seemed like a waste of Ethera. With a groan, he opened his eyes to see an incredibly clear, starlit sky. That was one thing about being stranded in the middle of nowhere ¨C there was no light pollution, so there was nothing to obscure the tapestry of stars. In a way, it reminded Elijah of being out to sea, though even those experiences had been marred by the occasional drone of an airplane or a satellite streaking through the atmosphere. Now, after the onset of Ethera and the transformation of the planet, there was nothing of the sort. And in all the ways that counted, it was both terrifying and objectively beautiful. After all, while there was incredible beauty that had come with the transformation of the Earth, it also came with the knowledge that everything people had worked toward for thousands of years had been cast aside in the space of an instant. Elijah had no way of knowing for sure, but judging by the way the plane had crashed, technology no longer worked the same way it had before. No more electronics. No more cars. No telephones or computers. They¡¯d been shoved back into the stone age. But along with the dissolution of technology came Ethera and magic. So, hopefully, people had begun to adjust. There was no telling how many different archetypes were out there, and if Elijah¡¯s own abilities were any indication, there was plenty of reason for optimism. There was also call for cynicism as well. Elijah wanted to think the best of people, but he was realistic enough to know that they wouldn¡¯t always cooperate with that optimistic expectation. Instead, they would act according to their own self-interests. Sure, most people would try to help others. And only a few would turn on their neighbors. But it really only took one person with power to ruin everything. One man or woman who chose to take advantage of those weaker than them could do untold damage, especially with the escalation of power that came with the influx of Ethera. That¡¯s what Elijah feared more than anything. A magical tyrant so strong that no one would oppose them ¨C it was a horrifying prospect. Not that it really mattered for now. Aside from his distant neighbors across the strait, Elijah was alone. There was no one to oppress him, save for the environment itself. For a long while, Elijah just lay there, his body still feeling as if it was in a state of flux. Certainly, he could already feel the changes that had come with his Neophyte soul. However, he was more than a little afraid of looking at the changes ¨C which seemed extensive ¨C wrought by his heedless pursuit of improvement. In hindsight, his actions had been stupid. He had no idea what he was doing, and because of that, it wouldn¡¯t have been surprising if he¡¯d crippled himself. In fact, if he¡¯d had the wherewithal to form rational thoughts while in the middle of his soul¡¯s transformation, that was exactly what he would have expected. But against all odds, he¡¯d succeeded in yet another cultivation upgrade. He opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 7
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 9
Dexterity 8
Constitution 11
Ethera 11
Regeneration 12
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Unformed Neophyte
Idly, he wondered what he should do with his future attributes. He¡¯d very much reaped the benefits of having a bigger pool of Ethera and increased Regeneration. But he also knew that, without physical attributes, he wouldn¡¯t stand a chance against more powerful creatures like the viridian monster or the panther. He hadn¡¯t forgotten how much stronger and faster they were, after all. To stand up to that level of might, he needed as much of a boost to his Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution as he could get. It was a conundrum, and it was one he didn¡¯t expect to solve in the near future. Nor did he need to. After all, he hadn¡¯t gained a level in a while, and if he had his way, he wouldn¡¯t be fighting anymore major battles anytime soon. Sure, he got a trickle of Ethera from his crab hunting, but it wasn¡¯t nearly enough to progress at any appreciable rate. It would take a concerted effort to change that, and in the middle of winter, he couldn¡¯t afford to devote himself to such a thing. Survival was hard enough without adding the danger that came with hunting for levels. So, Elijah turned his attention to the pathways of his soul, and he was more than a little surprised to find that they were completely gone. For a moment, he wondered if the System had gotten things wrong. It had claimed that he¡¯d progressed, and because of that, he¡¯d expected to find a minute increase in the size of the channels that carried his Ethera throughout his body. However, that just wasn¡¯t the case. The only thing that kept Elijah from panicking was the fact that nothing really felt wrong about it. So, he tested it the only way he knew how, dragging Ethera from his core and casting Nature¡¯s Bounty. A flood of Ethera poured out of his core, infusing his entire body. A moment later, the spell activated, and when it did, Elijah could feel that the diameter of the area of effect had more than doubled. But it didn¡¯t feel any more powerful. So, Elijah let it drop and cast Touch of Nature instead. Before, the cast had taken almost two seconds, but now, it only took half that. He tried out his other spells, finding similar results. It seemed that, for his constantly channeled spells, it simply increased the area of effect. For Nature¡¯s Bounty, that was an incredible boon because it meant that he could affect more plants at once. For something like One With Nature, though, the effect was somewhat muted and only really influenced the sensory bubble around him. With spells like Eyes of the Eagle, Storm¡¯s Fury, or Snaring Roots, the transformation of his soul merely made them activate much more quickly. Definitely useful, if not life-changing. ¡°You have only begun to walk the path of a cultivator,¡± came a voice from nearby. Elijah didn¡¯t need to look up to know that it belonged to the tree spirit. ¡°For now, you are merely setting your foundations.¡± Elijah glanced at the familiar form sitting on the branch. It seemed a little bigger, but it was hard to tell in the middle of the night. Even with the moon and stars casting the glade in silvery light, it was difficult to see more than shadows. ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°The first steps are unique,¡± the tree spirit stated. ¡°You are not truly a cultivator until you have reached the first stages in body, mind, soul, and most importantly, your core. However, you are progressing well, as is proper for the protector of my glade.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± was Elijah¡¯s response. ¡°What are you talking about? Protector? I¡¯m just trying to survive here.¡± ¡°You have drawn an Ancestral Circle around my glade,¡± the spirit said. ¡°Using my seeds, no less. When the saplings reach maturity, our bond will be complete.¡± ¡°What bond?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°It is a symbiotic connection,¡± said the tree spirit. ¡°Your Grove will become more powerful, and with it, the speed of your cultivation will increase. However, that power does not come without obligations. You must become my guardian, protecting me from those who would harvest my wood and drink my sap in hopes of growing stronger.¡± ¡°Is¡­is that possible?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°It is,¡± the tree spirit responded. ¡°Deplorable and short-sighted though it is, there are those who act as parasites, consuming all they see. Doing so will grant power, but it is fleeting. Harmony is the better path, though it is often slower.¡± Elijah could intuit a little from the spirit¡¯s explanation, chiefly that harvesting and consuming natural resources like the tree would grant power, though it would be a one-time gain. And perhaps it would only be temporary, though Elijah expected that that wasn¡¯t the case. However, he¡¯d already experienced the effects of cultivating under the tree¡¯s branches, so he knew that that was a path to Strength as well. Though, according to the tree spirit, it was slower, yet sustainable. The optimal path seemed obvious to Elijah, but he could also see how quick gains might be appealing as well ¨C especially if growing stronger more quickly would mean survival. But Elijah had no interest in quick gains. Nor did he have any inclination to somehow harvest the tree. Doing so seemed abhorrent, and not just because of the effects of his archetype, though it surely influenced him. Instead, his reticence was born of the knowledge that the tree spirit was a sapient creature. Killing it and consuming its power ¨C however that might be accomplished ¨C was grotesque. Still, Elijah understood people well enough to know that he might just be in the minority in that opinion. ¡°What do I need to do?¡± he asked. ¡°And what should I call you? I don¡¯t want to keep thinking of you as the ¡®tree spirit¡¯, you know?¡± ¡°Hmm. I have never had a name,¡± the tree responded. ¡°Perhaps¡­Nerthus. Yes, that name feels right. Nerthus.¡± ¡°Okay, Nerthus ¨C is there anything I need to do? Or should I just keep helping the other trees grow? Also, are they going to be like you? Sentient, I mean? And how do I progress my other cultivation. Like, my Mind and Core,¡± Elijah rambled. After his ordeal with laying the foundations for his Soul, he felt a little giddy ¨C almost like he¡¯d drunk too much coffee. ¡°No ¨C you are doing enough,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The saplings may one day develop spirits, but not for a very long time. Regarding your cultivation¡­I cannot say. I am limited in what information I can give a newly integrated native.¡± Elijah was a little disappointed, but he wasn¡¯t really surprised. Nerthus had been helpful, but it had always been limited in terms of what information it could convey. But that was fine. Elijah would have loved to hear more, but he¡¯d been doing okay so far. Mostly. Aside from a few speedbumps like almost getting killed by a huge, scaled monster from the ocean. Which reminded him¡­ ¡°While I¡¯ve got you here,¡± Elijah said. ¡°A few weeks back, I ran into this monster. Or I guess it ran into me. It was huge, scaly, and just felt¡­wrong. Like, just looking at it made me nauseous. Anyway, it almost killed me, but there¡¯s this panther who lives in the area ¨C we¡¯ve got kind of an understanding ¨C and between us, we managed to take it down. But it started to decompose almost immediately. None of the other animals I¡¯ve killed have been like that.¡± ¡°That is because that was not an animal,¡± responded Nerthus. ¡°It is one of the Voxx. Creatures from a different realm. They come through portals and corrupt the very land they walk upon. As weak as you are, if you managed to survive an attack¡­perhaps you will be a better guardian than I hoped.¡± ¡°Where do they come from?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Some come from temporary portals,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Those are rare. I suspect that is the origin of the one you encountered. However, there are more permanent¡­¡± Nerthus trailed off, and the entire tree trembled. ¡°I am not permitted to say any more than I have,¡± it stated. ¡°I am sorry, guardian.¡± Elijah shook his head. He¡¯d have preferred more information, but he understood the tree spirits limitations. So, he resolved to be happy with what he could get. However, just when he was going to ask another question, the spirit said, ¡°I must rest now. Perhaps when you complete your Grove, I will be able to remain longer.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No, guardian. Thank you,¡± stated Nerthus, its voice trailing off as it retreated into the branch upon which it had been sitting. Soon, it looked like nothing so much as another knot in the wood. Elijah sighed. He had learned quite a bit from that short conversation. First, it was incredibly important that he continue to try to explore the other facets of his cultivation. He¡¯d already laid the groundwork with his Body and Soul. Now, he needed to work on his Mind and Core ¨C though that would take some doing, because he didn¡¯t even know where to start. Second, he¡¯d learned of the existence of two sets of enemies. There were the people who would want to harvest creatures like Nerthus; for some reason, he expected that the coalition of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins he¡¯d seen across the strait would fall into that category, but he had no real basis for that intuitive leap. Still, with how unconcerned they seemed to be about their environment, it seemed to fit. The other ¨C the so-called Voxx ¨C were a far graver threat, probably to everyone, regardless of how they chose to interact with the world. And third, he¡¯d discovered that Nerthus¡¯s existence ¨C as well as Elijah¡¯s choice of where to grow his Ancestral Circle ¨C gave him a significant advantage. He didn¡¯t know what form that advantage might take, other than to aid him in his cultivation, but he expected that it would be important. But more than the information, Elijah was most grateful for the opportunity to engage another being in conversation. Sure, talking to a tree was a poor substitute for human companionship, but doing so had soothed his mind and soul to the point where he actually felt optimistic about the future. Of course, the moment that thought skittered through his mind, he remembered just how tenuous his situation was. Certainly, he¡¯d managed to find a way to survive, but that was contingent on everything remaining the same. Which was incredibly unlikely. 1-22. Woodworking For the next few weeks, Elijah fell into a rhythm. With winter tightening its grip on the area, the days shortened, and the nights grew longer. However, to his surprise, the cold didn¡¯t seem to bother him much at all ¨C which was a good thing, because aside from a makeshift blanket he¡¯d stitched together from rabbit hides, he had little protection against the elements. Certainly, he¡¯d closed the cabin off by piling moss and leaves across a few upright limbs, but he¡¯d never been much for bushcraft. He knew some of the basics, and he could survive passably well, but Elijah knew he¡¯d never be much of a builder. So, his continually decreasing susceptibility to the cold was more than welcome, though he had no idea if it was due to his Body of Wood or his increased Constitution attribute. Perhaps it was both. Either way, it significantly increased his chances of surviving through the winter. Fortunately, the crabs didn¡¯t seem to care what time of year it was, so his hunting continued apace. However, he did worry about the lack of vitamins and carbohydrates in his diet. He did what he could to supplement his meals with seaweed that he gathered from the shore, but it was a poor substitute for a balanced diet. When his cache of berries and mushrooms ran out, he¡¯d be in real trouble. Which was why he¡¯d taken to spending much of his day trying to force his garden to grow. It was going well, and the bushes had nearly reached maturity, but it would still be some time before they sprouted anything edible. The same could be said for some wild onions he¡¯d planted nearby. To pass the time while he sat in the middle of his garden blasting the plants with Nature¡¯s Bounty, Elijah busied himself with whittling. It was something he¡¯d picked up from his father, but he hadn¡¯t practiced carving in quite some time. Years, in fact, so he was more than a little rusty ¨C an issue that was further exacerbated by the lack of a proper knife. He had his stone-bladed knife, but it was nowhere near as good as working with a steel blade. Still, so long as he went at it deliberately, he could carve something approaching recognizability. His first attempt had been Fremont, the dog he¡¯d been forced to give away, but that had come out looking more like a child¡¯s interpretation of a horse. Which meant that the only recognizable traits it bore lay in the fact that it had four legs and the proper basic shape. Still, with basic survivability taken care of, Elijah had quite a bit of free time ¨C and he¡¯d have more as winter truly embraced the island. So, he¡¯d kept at it. And day by day, he improved. Even as his technique grew more practiced, his focus shifted as well, and he stopped trying to carve figures. Instead, he wanted to replace his walking stick with something a bit more elaborate. Which was how he found himself combing the forest for the perfect material. The hunt hadn¡¯t gone that well. The branches he¡¯d found were almost all rotten, and even the ones that weren¡¯t were bent too far out of shape to be useful for his purposes. Still, he persisted until he found a wrist-thick branch that had only just fallen from a hickory tree. Elijah had no idea why it had fallen, but he suspected it had something to do with the fact that the base looked as if it had been chewed through by some small animal. Couple that with the winter winds that periodically swept through the island forest, and it wasn¡¯t that difficult to figure out. Branch in hand, Elijah trekked back to his cabin and set about straightening it. In the beginning, he only had some vague ideas about how to go about the task, but he did know that it had something to do with saturating the wood with steam. Through trial and error, he¡¯d come across a decent, if a labor-intensive method of steaming the wood, then bending it into the proper shape. Before he¡¯d advanced his Strength, Constitution, or Regeneration, Elijah never could have kept it up for long enough to make the shapes stick. And even with his improvements, he was forced to periodically use Touch of Nature to stave off fatigue. He was also aided by One With Nature, which accentuated his physical capability to the point where he suspected that he¡¯d reached the peak of human potential. Perhaps he¡¯d even exceeded it. Whatever the case, it worked, even if it was a grueling process that took days. It would have been much easier if he¡¯d had clamps and proper woodworking tools, but out in the wilderness, that simply wasn¡¯t the case. Either way, it was good practice for his spells and an even better workout. After two days of working on straightening the stick, Elijah¡¯s Strength finally ticked over to ten. His Dexterity still lagged behind by a couple of points, but he had some ideas about how to remedy that ¨C once he finished his staff. Once the staff had been straightened, Elijah set about carving some decorations into it. When he started, he just focused on the process, uncaring about the result. Afterwards, he would liken it to absently doodling; however, it wasn¡¯t long before his little stone-bladed knife seemed to take on a mind of its own as it carved fanciful designs in the sturdy staff. Soon enough, it started to take shape, and only when it was half-finished did Elijah realize what he¡¯d taken for inspiration. The staff looked remarkably like the tree spirit¡¯s limbs ¨C as if someone had intertwined dozens of small vines into a single structure. At first, Elijah was surprised that his mind had taken him in that direction, but the more he thought about it, the more appropriate it seemed. So, he continued along, only now he was conscious of the direction he wanted to go. As he carved ¨C a process spanning weeks and consisting of him steadily scraping the barely sharpened stone blade against the wood ¨C Elijah found himself continuing to flare Touch of Nature. As always, he kept One With Nature active as well, and often, it was accompanied by Nature¡¯s Bounty as he coaxed his garden into maturity. Once he¡¯d finished the process, the staff looked almost natural, as if it had been grown rather than carved. In addition, even when Elijah let his spells fall away, it practically pulsed with what he¡¯d begun to consider his own flavor of power ¨C a result of its constant exposure to his Ethera, no doubt. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. But it needed something else. And Elijah knew precisely what that something was. During his exploration of the wilderness, he¡¯d stumbled upon quite a few beehives. More than once, he¡¯d considered pilfering the honey ¨C not only would it provide a bit of variety to his diet, but the hive would give him access to beeswax, which had all sorts of uses. However, he¡¯d so far decided against it because he had no apiculture skills. And Elijah had no interest in getting swarmed, even if, from a rational perspective, he knew he could heal whatever damage a few stings might cause. With his advancement in Constitution and his body cultivation, the bees might even be incapable of penetrating his skin. Of course, that was assuming they hadn¡¯t evolved like the crabs had. Some animals had appeared mostly unaffected by the planet¡¯s conversion, but others had been completely transformed. For instance, most of the hares he¡¯d encountered were just normal rabbits, but he¡¯d caught a few glimpses of some rabbit-like creatures that actually had horns. Who knew if the bees he¡¯d stumbled across were similarly transformed? He¡¯d observed them a few times, and they didn¡¯t look any different, but there was no way of telling if they had other new defenses. Perhaps they were even more venomous than normal, which was a terrifying thought. It was one thing to get a painful sting, but it was something else entirely if they were suddenly deadly. Even so, Elijah had come to trust his ability to heal, and he¡¯d decided to attempt to harvest one of the hives. To that end, he¡¯d chosen one close to the stream; if they swarmed him, he intended to cut and run, submerging himself in the frigid water until they lost interest. But he hoped it wouldn¡¯t be necessary. Using an ember he¡¯d carried from the cabin, Elijah started a small fire at the base of the tree where the hive was located. Then, he added green pine needles to make the fire smoke more than normal. Finally, he waved the smoke in the direction of the hive. He only had a vague idea of how it was supposed to work, but he knew that smoking the hive was the most effective method. So, that¡¯s what he did, waiting for a few minutes until he scrambled up the tree and, using his stone-bladed knife, cut a huge chunk of the honeycomb away. Thankfully, the bees in the hive were incredibly lethargic, and though he picked up a few stings, it was nothing like the swarm he expected. Before long, he¡¯d filled a shallow, wooden bowl he¡¯d carved with the stuff, and he retreated, using Touch of Nature to heal the stings he¡¯d received. ¡°Easier than expected,¡± he muttered to himself as he made his way back to the cabin. Along the way, he felt the presence of the panther, but he said, ¡°No fish right now, your majesty, and I don¡¯t think you want to eat beeswax.¡± Still, he left a big chunk of it out, just in case he was wrong about cats and their tastes. After all, he wanted to do whatever it took to stay on the panther¡¯s good side because he¡¯d seen exactly what happened to things that drew its ire. When Elijah made it back to his cabin, he stoked the fire and placed the honeycomb into a pot of water. Then, he set it to boiling. Once the honeycomb had melted, he strained the soupy mess, then repeated the process until, at last, he had a disc of golden wax. Grinning, he set it aside and retrieved his staff. Fortunately, Elijah¡¯s father had taught him how to make his own finish, which combined beeswax, turpentine, and linseed oil. While it would have been much easier to simply go to the store and buy the materials, Elijah had learned how to gather and prepare the proper materials from their sources. The linseed oil had been the easiest because flax ¨C especially in the quantities that he needed ¨C wasn¡¯t difficult to find. After that, it had been a simple process of drying the seeds, then crushing them. It would have been better to boil the result, but that came with a host of problems, chiefly that it was difficult to do so without the oil combusting. There were ways to avoid that ¨C primarily additives ¨C but Elijah didn¡¯t really know how to source them. So, he¡¯d decided to simply use the raw paste, even if it wasn¡¯t ideal. The turpentine had a similar issue in that, ideally, it needed to be distilled, but Elijah had chosen to simply boil it and hope for the best. The results were mixed, but he expected that it would work well enough. With the various ingredients in hand, Elijah added them together like his father had taught him, resulting in a paste that he hoped would seal the wood of his new staff. Sealing wasn¡¯t absolutely necessary, but he had time to kill and a desire to do things properly. After creating the sealant, Elijah dipped a corner of his shirt into the mixture and started massaging it into the wood. He went slowly, and it took him most of a day to finish the process. Meanwhile, he continued to use his various spells, almost on instinct as much as because he needed them. Finally, with his hands cramping despite his constant usage of Touch of Nature, he finished. And when he did, he got a couple of surprises. First, the weeks¡¯ worth of carving the staff had resulted in his Dexterity increasing to the point where it matched his Strength. That was somewhat expected, even if he¡¯d been too distracted to pay much attention to it. However, the second surprise was that the System recognized the completion of the staff with a notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Staff of Natural Harmony]! This item will serve to enhance any spells, skills, or techniques with a nature aspect. Grade: Simple
¡°W-what the¡­¡± Sitting in the center of his budding Grove, where he¡¯d been flaring his Nature¡¯s Bounty, Elijah was dumbfounded. He¡¯d simply meant to carve a cool-looking walking stick, but it seemed that he¡¯d overshot that mark by quite a bit. Excited, he monitored his spell, but its area of effect hadn¡¯t grown by a single inch. In fact, it seemed exactly the same as it had before he¡¯d finished the staff. And he knew good and well that Nature¡¯s Bounty had a nature aspect. It was right there in the name! So that meant he was doing something wrong. After a few minutes of frustrating experimentation, Elijah figured it out when he actively chose to channel his Ethera through the staff, as opposed to simply using his body. Instantly, the area of effect associated with Nature¡¯s Bounty grew by almost ten feet. More than that, though, the associated atmosphere of Ethera felt heavier. Denser. More potent. Elijah couldn¡¯t be sure, but he interpreted that feeling as the spell being stronger, and not just in terms of its area of effect. Which meant that the force he could bring to bear had just grown. Not only would his Grove and garden benefit from the increased power of Nature¡¯s Bounty, but he suspected that channeling Storm¡¯s Fury through the Staff of Natural Harmony would result in a more potent effect as well. ¡°A grand achievement for one so young and inexperienced,¡± came Nerthus¡¯s voice, though when Elijah looked up at the majestic tree at the center of the Grove, there was no physical representation of the spirit. Instead, the voice was disembodied, which somehow seemed even more magical. ¡°I have chosen my guardian well, it seems.¡± Then, Nerthus¡¯s presence faded away before Elijah had a chance to ask any questions. He was about to head back to the cabin when a new notification flashed before his eyes, this one even more interesting than the one that had announced the completion of his staff. 1-23. Supply Run Winter had come, blanketing the region around the settlement in a thick layer of snow. The temperatures had plummeted well below freezing, and as a result, food ¨C as well as every other necessary resource ¨C had grown scarce. Alyssa and a few of the other hunters with martial archetypes hunted as much as possible, and other members of the growing community frequently gathered supplies from the remnants of the town. But the pickings were growing slimmer by the day. Already, the local market had been picked clean of non-perishable goods, and the gathering parties had been forced to range further with every passing week. They¡¯d found a few gas stations here and there, as well as a couple of fast-food restaurants, but for the most part, they had been forced to gather wild edibles like mushrooms and berries. With winter having descended, even those sources of food had dried up. Alyssa sat next to Carmen¡¯s forge, where her wife was busy shaping a hunk of metal into what would probably become a sword. She watched as the other woman¡¯s hammer repeatedly fell upon the hot steel. The spear that Alyssa favored ¨C another of Carmen¡¯s creations ¨C was never far away. They¡¯d been attacked often enough that she didn¡¯t dare walk around unarmed. Not anymore. Finally, Carmen was satisfied with the shape, so she shoved it into the forge ¨C which was really just a fire pit ¨C and let out a sigh. Then, she turned to Alyssa and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Alyssa said. She sat in a camp chair she¡¯d retrieved from the house when she and a few others had returned to gather any supplies they¡¯d left behind. Most of the house had been ripped to pieces by some unknown monster, but the chair ¨C along with a few other essentials ¨C had survived. ¡°Yeah ¨C not buying it,¡± Carmen said. ¡°C¡¯mon. Lay it on me.¡± ¡°Why does something have to be wrong? Can¡¯t I just want to watch my wife work?¡± she asked. ¡°Again ¨C not buying it. You never stop moving unless something¡¯s gone wrong. So, what¡¯s going on?¡± Carmen asked. Alyssa sighed. ¡°Same as always. Not enough food,¡± she said. ¡°Not enough wood. Not enough of anything, really. We have almost three-hundred people living here now, and unless something changes, there¡¯s no way we can survive the winter.¡± ¡°Oh. That.¡± ¡°Yeah. That,¡± Alyssa agreed. Carmen wiped the sweat from her brow, then grabbed a huge stump she often used as a chair. It had to weigh at least three-hundred pounds, but with her enhanced Strength, she didn¡¯t even struggle with it. Carmen had always been a strong woman, but she¡¯d begun to approach superhuman levels. Of course, that had come at the cost of her other attributes, none of which had seen any significant investment. Despite Alyssa¡¯s words of caution, Carmen had no interest in increasing her Dexterity, Constitution, or the more ephemeral Ethera attributes. ¡°We¡¯re going to have to go on another supply run soon,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I was talking to Roman about it, and he thinks we should go tomorrow.¡± ¡°Miggy won¡¯t like that,¡± Carmen said. ¡°And you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it either,¡± she admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m an adult, and I know what¡¯s going on here. Either you do what needs to be done, or none of us survive.¡± ¡°Someone else could go.¡± Carmen shook her head, then put her hand on Alyssa¡¯s thigh. ¡°You¡¯re the highest level here,¡± she said. ¡°Face it ¨C you¡¯re the most important person in this whole community.¡± ¡°Roman ¨C¡± ¡°Is an asshole who nobody likes,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°He tries. He works as hard as anybody. Harder, even. But think about it, Alyssa. Everyone sees you out there on the front lines, leading the charge. Meanwhile, Roman¡¯s in the back with all the non-combatants, firing away from relative safety. On top of that, he¡¯s the guy who¡¯s telling everyone they can only have so much food. That they have to work or get kicked out.¡± ¡°This place would collapse without him.¡± ¡°I know that. You know that. And deep down, most other people do, too. But just because they recognize that he¡¯s essential doesn¡¯t mean they like the guy. Hell, he¡¯s saved my life twice now, and I still barely tolerate him,¡± Carmen said. The fact that most people didn¡¯t particularly care for Roman wasn¡¯t news to Alyssa, though she certainly didn¡¯t think it was fair. Without his influence, the small community would have long since failed. People would have starved if he hadn¡¯t instituted rationing or insisted that everyone had to contribute in some way. Whether it was gathering or hunting, no one was exempt from food procurement duties. ¡°He¡¯s a good man.¡± ¡°Again, not arguing that he isn¡¯t,¡± Carmen said, holding up her hands in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m just saying he¡¯s an asshole. And nobody likes assholes.¡± Alyssa shook her head, then leaned over, her head in her hands as she massaged her temples. She certainly hadn¡¯t signed up to lead a community, and she didn¡¯t think she was cut out for it. However, because she¡¯d reached level nine ¨C making her the highest level person in the settlement ¨C people looked to her for guidance. As she went, the community would follow. ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter,¡± she said. ¡°I think it matters more than you want to admit, but okay,¡± Carmen said. ¡°So ¨C how far do you think you¡¯ll have to go?¡± Alyssa shrugged. ¡°At least a few miles,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe further. Last time he climbed the water tower, Rick said he thought he saw some buildings about ten miles to the north. So, at worst, we¡¯ll have to go there.¡± ¡°Any signs its inhabited?¡± ¡°Not by people,¡± Alyssa answered. Not for the first time, she tried to wrap her head around how much the world had been transformed. Before, Easton had been only a few miles from Seattle¡¯s city limits, but now, there was nothing but forest for dozens of miles all around, with only pockets of the abandoned remnants of civilization. Alyssa had confirmed it for herself when she¡¯d climbed the water tower at the center of town. It seemed that they¡¯d managed to gather all the local survivors into one place, which was both horrifying and gratifying. Horrifying because it suggested that the mortality rate approached seventy or eighty percent. On the other hand, the fact that everyone was willing to gather in one spot and work together for the greater good was certainly a good thing. Alyssa had seen enough post-apocalyptic movies where the world was ruled by warlords to be thankful that such a fate hadn¡¯t come to pass. Perhaps it was different in more populated areas. Or maybe not. Either way, she couldn¡¯t concern herself with hypotheticals that couldn¡¯t be proved one way or another. Instead, she needed to focus on her own situation. For a while, she and Carmen sat together, just enjoying one another¡¯s company. Miguel was in the main building with the other surviving children. Without the benefit of an archetype ¨C the cut-off seemed to be fifteen-years-old ¨C they weren¡¯t yet equipped to make it in the new world. ¡°Are you going to be back for Christmas?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°I hope so,¡± Alyssa answered, fervently hoping that she could spend the holiday ¨C if such a thing even mattered anymore ¨C with her family. It was three days away ¨C as far as they could tell, at least ¨C and she wanted more than anything to be there for what would probably be a very subdued celebration. However, the needs of the many outweighed her desire for family time. She hoped Miguel understood why she just didn¡¯t have as much time for him as she would have liked. Eventually, duty called, and Alyssa bade her wife goodbye. After that, she stopped by to see Miguel before reporting to the armory. She was the first of the hunters to do so, which gave her a few minutes to look her status over: Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Name Alyssa Hart
Level 9
Archetype Warrior
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 10
Dexterity 10
Constitution 10
Ethera 7
Regeneration 7
Attunement None
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Unformed Unformed Unformed Unformed
Unlike Carmen, Alyssa had chosen to spread the sixteen free attribute points out, allocating a few into each category. She¡¯d brought all of her physical attributes to double digits, but Ethera and Regeneration had lagged a little behind. The benefits were apparent, and she felt stronger, more coordinated, and far more durable than she ever had before. She¡¯d never been in bad shape, but with the increased physical capability that came with her new attributes, Alyssa had no trouble throwing a grown man over her shoulder in a fireman¡¯s carry. She knew that because she¡¯d been forced to do just that on more than one occasion, and even hindered by the extra weight, she could sprint at speeds appropriate for a professional athlete. And during her frequent hunts, she¡¯d also taken enough wounds to know precisely how much more durable she¡¯d become. Attacks that would have once been debilitating were far less severe, and she healed from them far more quickly than ever before. But even with her increased attributes, the most important change had come from her abilities:
Archetype: Warrior A versatile melee archetype, proficient with most weaponry. Features bonuses to durability, Strength, and learning martial techniques. Required Aspect: [Martial]
Abilities
Heavy Blow Increase the damage of your melee attacks by 5%. Toggled personal augmentation.
Charge Dash forward at 200% your normal speed for three seconds. Your next attack will do 30% more damage.
Shockwave Stomp the ground, sending a wave of force to stun opponents. Incapacitates lesser enemies.
Hardened Skin Increase your Constitution by one (1) point per level. Current: Nine (9). Toggled personal augmentation
Recover Focus your Ethera, tripling your Regeneration.
Impale Strike an enemy, causing damage over time.
Bulwark Summon a shield of Ethera to protect allies.
Weapon Mastery Grants basic competence with any weapon.
Champion¡¯s Shout Strike fear into your enemies¡¯ hearts, weakening their resolve.
Enrage Channel Ethera into rage, increasing all physical attributes.
All of her abilities were powerful, though a few of them came with significant caveats. For instance, Recover allowed her to heal from grievous injuries in a fraction of the time that would normally be required, but it rapidly drained her Ethera as well. The other abilities were also limited, either by Ethera, time, or an ephemeral cap on how many self-buffs she could maintain. At present, she usually had Heavy Blows active, but she¡¯d found a few occasions where Hardened Skin was more useful. The only one that didn¡¯t seem to count toward her limit was Weapon Mastery, which seemed to always be active, regardless of the situation. Alyssa was busy considering it when the others arrived. First, there was Tony ¨C one of the town¡¯s Rangers. Thin and dark-skinned, he was level six, which made him the fourth highest leveled person in the community behind Alyssa, Carmen, and Roman. ¡°Hey,¡± he said as he came into the room. Following him was Fiona, a mousey woman who¡¯d chosen the Sorcerer archetype. Then, finally, Trish came into view. She was one of only three Healers in the settlement. Alyssa had argued against her inclusion, but Trish had insisted upon coming, citing the very probable need for a healer. Alyssa had reluctantly acknowledged that the blonde woman was right, but she¡¯d have still preferred it if one of the other healers had been available. They all exchanged greetings before Alyssa said, ¡°I guess we need to get going. If we move quickly, we should be able to make it to the Robinson House before nightfall.¡± There wasn¡¯t much else to say, so they quickly set out, passing through the building¡¯s lobby, then crossing the parking lot, and exiting through the gate. Often, Alyssa found herself marveling at how much had changed, and in only a handful of months. Tony ranged ahead, using his abilities to stay hidden as he scouted their route. Periodically, he would return to the road to report his findings while the others moved at a much more sedate pace. Alyssa could have gone much faster, but neither Trish nor Fiona had invested heavily in their physical attributes. Even so, Alyssa knew that if they were attacked, both would prove their worth. Gradually, they covered ground until, as the sun began to set, they reached a large log cabin. The mailbox labeled it as belonging to the Robinsons, though no one knew what had happened to the original owners. What they did know was that the house, with its sturdy walls, made for a great shelter, and it had often been used as such by foragers who needed to spend the night away from the settlement. Though it was technically labeled as a log cabin, the house was more of a mansion than anything else. The sort of place the incredibly wealthy built, and when they stayed there, they called it roughing it. So, to make it safe, Alyssa and the others had been forced to board the windows and block most of the doors. That had been months back, and the house had proved its worth on more than one occasion. So, as the group settled in for the night, they had every reason to feel secure. They weren¡¯t. A little after midnight, something huge and scaly burst through the door, tearing it free of its hinges. Alyssa, who was the one who happened to be on watch at the time, sprang into action, using Champion¡¯s Shout. At the sound of Alyssa¡¯s raised voice, the creature stumbled a bit, but it was otherwise unaffected. Shocked, Alyssa raised her spear and sprang forward, engaging the massive creature so the others would have a chance to respond. 1-24. The Monster Alyssa leaped toward the monster before she even took the time to properly analyze it. Using Impale, she thrust her spear forward, but to her horror, the creature¡¯s heavy scales turned the blade aside. Off-balance, she couldn¡¯t arrest her momentum quickly enough to keep herself from ramming into it, shoulder-first. It took the blow, skidding backward only a few scant inches. She stomped on its talon-like foot, using Shockwave at the same time. Disoriented, the monster lashed out with a backhanded blow that took Alyssa in the chest. She felt her ribs break before she flew backward, only slowing when she hit one of the room¡¯s couches. It flipped, and she tumbled to a stop a few feet later. Owing to her enhanced Constitution, Alyssa maintained consciousness, albeit barely. However, pain lanced through her chest with every breath, and after only a couple of ragged gasps, she coughed up blood. Knowing she didn¡¯t have much of a choice, she used Recover. In addition to rapidly draining her Ethera, the ability was only usable once every couple of days, so she usually kept it in reserve for emergencies. But with what felt like a punctured lung, she thought the current situation counted as just that. Instantly, she felt better, though it would still take some time for the increased Regeneration to heal the damage. But it was enough to mend the punctured lung in short order, which was all that really mattered to get her back on her feet. Using her spear as a lever, she pushed herself upright in time to see a Fireball hit the monster in the face. That brief bit of illumination showed her a creature that resembled nothing she¡¯d ever seen before. With blue-green scales, plated ridges above its eyes, and a squashed visage, the thing was wholly unique. More, it was a little shorter than her, though from the muscles rippling beneath its scales, it wasn¡¯t difficult to see how it had managed to knock her across the room with a single blow. The Fireball sent it stumbling backward, and Alyssa saw a blurry shadow materialize behind the monster. A second later, Tony appeared, stabbing his sword into the monster¡¯s back. Hissing loudly, it wheeled around much more quickly than any of them could have anticipated. Tony tried to retreat, but he was far too slow. The monster¡¯s claw shot out, easily tearing through Tony¡¯s thin, leather armor. It didn¡¯t stop there. In fact, it didn¡¯t even slow when it hit flesh, and an instant later, the claw burst through Tony¡¯s back. Blood splattered against the broken door, and the shocked Ranger desperately tried to wrench himself free. But it was a futile effort. The monster pulled him close. Another Fireball hit it in the back, but it paid no heed. Instead, it cocked its head to the side as it listened to Tony¡¯s increasingly desperate screams. Then, to Alyssa¡¯s horror, its tongue snaked out, running along Tony¡¯s face. Then, it tilted its head back and let out a hissing laugh. Alyssa marshalled her courage and shouted, ¡°Run! I¡¯ll hold it!¡± Dashing forward on wobbly legs, she tried to bound over the couch, but she stumbled. She caught herself, but by that point, it was too late. The damage had been done. Alyssa¡¯s shout had gotten the creature¡¯s attention, and it responded by tossing Tony aside. He crumpled to the ground in a boneless heap. Alyssa barely saw it. Instead, she struggled to get her boar spear set. And to her eternal surprise, she managed to jam her foot down on the butt of the spear just in time. The stunned monster bounded forward, impaling itself with its own momentum. The blade bit deep before the shaft snapped. And then it was on her. In a panic, Alyssa used Hardened Skin, replacing Heavy Blows just before its claws reached her. She fell back, shielding her face with her forearms. The creature¡¯s claws shredded her leather armor like it wasn¡¯t even there. Then, it got to her flesh, which fared no better. Despite her enhanced Constitution, the monster¡¯s talons ripped through her with ease, sending great gouts of blood to coat the walls. Alyssa went into shock, but she kept her wits about her enough to pull her machete from the sheath at her waist. With the monster¡¯s claws digging into her chest, she went to work. Screaming, she activated Enrage, flooding her body with her furious rage. The ability to think rationally fled before the onslaught of emotion. The blade fell, dislodging one of the rigid scales above the monster¡¯s slitted eye. It howled in pain, trying to retract its claw, but Alyssa grabbed hold of its wrist and swung again. And again. When she pulled the blade back, it was coated in blood. She swung again and was rewarded with a wet thunk. At some point, her own screams joined the monster¡¯s cries. Vaguely, Alyssa recognized another Fireball splashing against the creature¡¯s back, but she couldn¡¯t be bothered to care. Her mind was swimming in a sea of fury, and the only thing keeping her conscious was the next swing. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. And the next after that. Over and over, Alyssa swung that machete. Each attack bit a little deeper until its screams became whimpers. Then, Enrage ran its course. It only lasted a few short moments. Twenty seconds, at most. Normally, that was enough to win any battle. But this was no normal creature, and though she¡¯d wounded the monster, she hadn¡¯t put it down. Her shoulders sagged, and her next attack was like swinging through water. The results were predictable. Alyssa¡¯s machete hit the creature¡¯s wounded head, but robbed of any momentum, it did almost nothing. The scaled monster recognized the difference, and it reacted with alacrity, slinging Alyssa across the room, where she collided with one of the pillars holding the roof upright. It splintered. Someone screamed. Another Fireball smashed into the monster, catching it off guard. It stumbled. And Tony, who¡¯d somehow clung to life and crawled into position, latched onto the monster¡¯s ankle and shouted, ¡°Run!¡± It came out in a croak that Alyssa, in her dazed, wounded, and drained state, barely understood. Another Fireball hit the monster, preventing it from rising. The flames splashed onto the floor, catching the rug on fire. That was when Alyssa¡¯s struggling mind put things together. The glow she¡¯d barely noticed wasn¡¯t from Fiona¡¯s Fireballs. Not directly. Rather, the entire cabin had caught fire, and it was on the verge of becoming a raging inferno. Someone grabbed Alyssa by the armpits, and suddenly, she was being dragged across the floor. Slowly. So, so slowly. She muttered, ¡°Leave me¡­save¡­save yourself¡­¡± But Trish wasn¡¯t going to do that. She couldn¡¯t move Alyssa, either. Not with enough speed. She needed a different strategy. Fortunately, she was a Healer. Often, Trish forgot that fact, largely because using her lone spell came with a significant cooldown. If she used Mend, she would be useless afterwards. So, like Alyssa¡¯s strategy concerning Recover, she saved it for emergencies. However, unlike Alyssa, she was terrible at determining when there was no other choice, so she often waited too long, or simply forgot to use it entirely. Some of that was mitigated by her husband¡¯s influence; so long as Roman ¨C or someone else with a decent head for battle ¨C was around, Trish was an extremely valuable asset. Still, even Trish was capable of seeing that, if she was going to save Alyssa, she had little choice but to use her spell. So, that was what she did. Vitality rushed into Alyssa, mending her broken bones, ruptured organs, and rent flesh. In less than a second, Alyssa was in perfect condition. She shouted, ¡°Fiona! Target the pillars!¡± The Sorceress didn¡¯t hesitate to follow Alyssa¡¯s orders. Meanwhile, Alyssa found the remnants of her boar spear and threw it at the monster. The splintered shaft flew true, miraculously hitting the creature in its wounded skull. It howled, then tried to charge. However, with Tony still tangled in its legs, it quickly tipped over. One look was all she needed to determine that the Ranger had died. He¡¯d used the last of his energy to give them a chance, and Alyssa wasn¡¯t going to waste it. So, she grabbed Trish¡¯s arm and yelled, ¡°Evacuate!¡± Alyssa, Fiona, and Trish ran, making for the back door. Along the way, Fiona continued to use her spell to set the interior of the cabin on fire. And then, suddenly, they were free. Stumbling in the snow, the trio went down in a heap, and a second later, the roof collapsed in a giant conflagration of burning wood. Alyssa rolled over and pushed herself to her feet. If the monster could survive that, then they¡¯d never had any chance to kill it. Still, she watched for a long few minutes as the building steadily succumbed to the fire. ¡°W-what the hell was that thing?¡± Fiona asked at last. Despite the battle, the small woman had escaped almost completely unscathed. But that wasn¡¯t a surprise. She had an ability that protected her from fire, and she¡¯d never been in the thick of the fight. Trish was a little worse off, but she¡¯d escaped largely unharmed. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± ¡°It felt wrong.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± asked Alyssa, turning to Trish. The other woman had turned away, clearly struggling with what had happened. Alyssa reached out to comfort her, but Trish pulled away, retreating a couple of steps. ¡°You didn¡¯t feel it? Even just thinking about it makes me want to throw up,¡± she said, gesturing toward the flames. ¡°I felt it,¡± Fiona said. Alyssa shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I wasn¡¯t¡­I guess I just wasn¡¯t in any state to notice,¡± she stated, watching the fire burn. As she did, she drew her backup weapon ¨C the long dagger she kept strapped to her thigh. After all, even if the creature was dead¡­ Wait. She hadn¡¯t felt an influx of experience. The monster hadn¡¯t died. No sooner had that thought crossed her mind than a flaming figure burst free of the burning building. Its scales were half-melted, and it screeched in obvious pain. But it wasn¡¯t dead. Not yet. It raced across the snow-covered ground. Alyssa reacted, trying to intercept it. Fiona shouted. And Trish froze. The monster hit her with the force of a runaway car, ripping through her comparatively soft body with ease. If Alyssa had ever wondered about the effects of her inflated Constitution, she only needed to remember how Trish was practically torn apart. Alyssa had endured a similar attack, and though it was enough to have killed her without the Healer¡¯s intervention, she had more or less remained intact. Trish couldn¡¯t make that claim. In fact, she couldn¡¯t do anything as her body ragdolled across the terrain, leaving a wide smear of blood behind. Alyssa shouted, then leaped upon the monster¡¯s back. Flames licked at her, but she didn¡¯t care. Her fury wasn¡¯t as all-encompassing as it had been under the effects of Enrage, but it wasn¡¯t far off, either. Her dagger rose, then fell. Over and over, as she dug through monster¡¯s weakened scales. It tried to dislodge her. It flailed, screeching and screaming. But Alyssa wouldn¡¯t be denied. And eventually, her blade bit into its brain. Still, it took three more blows before it finally went limp, falling to the melting snow. Alyssa kept going until, at last, Fiona grabbed her by the arms and dragged her away. By that point, she had taken a few burns, but she wasn¡¯t concerned with that. Instead, she only cared about making the monster pay. So, when, at last, it perished, all the fight went out of her. Vaguely, she was aware of some notifications splashing across her inner eye, but she ignored them as she looked at Trish¡¯s limp body. The woman was dead, practically ripped in two. ¡°Oh, God,¡± she muttered. ¡°Oh my God.¡± Fiona didn¡¯t respond because there was nothing else for either of them to say. 1-25. Ladder Elijah wasn¡¯t sure what it meant. Certainly, on the most basic level, the list floating before his inner eye was easily understood. There was no mistaking that much. But the implications were far more difficult to figure out. Still, he studied it, starting with a simple message:
Five months have passed since the World Tree reached this world, giving inhabitants enough time to establish themselves. These are the future leaders of your planet:
Had it really been five months? It didn¡¯t seem like it. But then again, even before the onset of winter, the days had begun to blend together. So, the passage of so much time didn¡¯t come as too jarring of a surprise. Even so, it did give him hope that soon enough, winter would release the area from its cold grip. When it did, he could hopefully progress past mere survival and to something more fulfilling. Perhaps he could even figure out a way to cross the strait. In any case, Elijah moved on to the second notification, which was a list:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 26 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 25 3. Lisa Song ¨C Level 24 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 24 5. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 21 6. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 19 7. Kimberly Jackson ¨C Level 18 8. Michael King - Level 18 9. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 17 10. Theresa Dupont ¨C Level 16 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 99. Caleb Jameson ¨C Level 11 100. Franklin Rich ¨C Level 11
Elijah¡¯s eyes swept over the list, but unsurprisingly, he found that he didn¡¯t recognize any of the names. But if it represented the top one-hundred people in the world ¨C at least regarding levels ¨C that wasn¡¯t unexpected. Still, Elijah was a little disappointed that his name wasn¡¯t on the list. Of course, that wasn¡¯t a surprise either. Not really. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine the benefits of many people working together or using modern weapons, assuming those still worked. By contrast, Elijah was stranded on an island all alone, and he was preoccupied with mundane concerns like staying warm, finding water, or gathering enough food. It was only recently that he¡¯d managed to branch out into woodworking, and even that was more to pass the time when the weather didn¡¯t cooperate. So, discovering that he wasn¡¯t at the peak of humanity shouldn¡¯t have annoyed him. But it still did for some reason. And it only took him a few minutes to figure out why. First, he¡¯d internalized the idea that he would be Nerthus¡¯s protector. Part of that was clearly rooted in the connection he felt to nature ¨C and subsequently, to the tree spirit ¨C but it was also because Nerthus had helped him quite a bit, answering his questions and guiding his cultivation. So, if Elijah could repay the tree spirit by becoming its guardian, then he would. In addition, Elijah suspected that, as the tree spirit matured ¨C and his Grove right alongside it ¨C he would be exposed to some benefits that might make him stronger. Or, at the very least, make the island much safer. If Elijah had encountered the Voxx, then surely, the rest of humanity had as well. And that wasn¡¯t even considering things like that giant flying creature that had downed the plane. No ¨C it was a dangerous world out there, and having a safe home was incredibly important. Finally, Elijah found the idea of quantifiable improvement to be somewhat habit-forming. That feeling he¡¯d gotten as he improved his body cultivation, as he¡¯d gained attribute points either via leveling or through rigorous exercise, or as he¡¯d set the foundations for his soul¡¯s cultivation ¨C it was all addictive in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. And he wanted more. More levels. More spells. Better cultivation. And seeing that so many people had already exceeded his accomplishments was a little frustrating. But it was also inevitable. Elijah was honest enough with himself to know that he had never been what anyone would categorize as the peak of humanity. He was smart and athletic, but he was never the smartest or most physically gifted. But could he change that? Perhaps. Either way, Elijah felt compelled to chase the people on that list, which somehow seemed like it might have been the point. He had no idea what the purpose of the System was, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that it wanted them to grow stronger. Elijah studied the list for quite some time before, finally, dismissing the notification. When he did, he found that he could recall it with only a thought, much like he could with his status or his spell book. As he gave the rankings some thought, he circled his Grove, flaring Nature''s Bounty along the way. The saplings were on the cusp of reaching maturity, and Elijah found himself keenly looking forward to the completion of his Ancestral Circle. Once that was done, he would be free to explore the island a little more. As it was, he was limited to how far he could go because he had to leave enough time to get back to the cabin. But if he could teleport, that would change everything. Once he completed two revolutions, Elijah headed back to the cabin. Once there, he made some crab-and-mushroom stew before settling down for the night. He had a blanket of rabbit furs that he¡¯d stitched together with his natural cordage, so for the first time that day, he felt warm. As he lay there, he recalled the rankings a few times, but nothing had changed. So, he summoned his status to see his own progress:
Name Elijah Hart
Level This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. 7
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 10
Dexterity 10
Constitution 11
Ethera 11
Regeneration 12
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Unformed Neophyte
He¡¯d finally managed to reach his original goal of getting each of his attributes to double digits, but nothing else had changed. The fact that Constitution hadn¡¯t naturally gained any additional points seemed to support the idea that progressing past ten in any category required the investment of the free attribute points that came with leveling. Or perhaps the consumption of natural treasures would help with that. Given that he spent a few hours of each day next to one of those natural treasures suggested that the benefits were more esoteric than a few attribute points, though. Maybe that was how people advanced their cultivation. Or maybe those natural treasures could be turned into powerful items like his Staff of Natural Harmony. The possibilities were endless, and without more information, Elijah had no way of knowing the truth of the matter. In fact, his ignorance had become one of his biggest weaknesses, though one without much in the way of solutions. He could only keep plugging along as he tried to survive at least until spring. Once the seasons turned, he could reevaluate his position. So, he fell asleep, secure in the mandate to simply keep doing what he was doing. Hopefully, things could change as the temperatures rose. The next morning, Elijah awoke to an intense blizzard that had already left the forest coated in ice and covered in a layer of deep snow. But he knew it wouldn¡¯t end soon, judging by the storm¡¯s fury. Thankfully, the cabin was well-placed, so his home was protected from the harsh winds and driving snow. Even so, it made everything more difficult. Even getting water became a chore, and not for the first time, Elijah found himself grateful for the combination of his Body cultivation and enhanced Constitution. Without it, he would no doubt have frozen, if for no other reason than because he didn¡¯t have proper clothing. The shirt he¡¯d been wearing when he''d washed ashore had slowly been repurposed for various tasks, and his pants had been ripped and torn by the crabs. Where his shoes had gone, he had no idea, but he¡¯d been barefoot from the very beginning. That outfit ¨C or lack thereof ¨C would have been fine for a tropical island, but in the middle of a Pacific Northwest winter, it should have been a death sentence. Fortunately, his advancements had taken the bite out of the frigid temperatures, and any other issues that might¡¯ve cropped up could be removed by Touch of Nature. Still, being stranded in the middle of a blizzard wearing nothing but a pair of pants was anything but pleasant, even if it was no longer deadly. The next couple of weeks were more of the same, with Elijah being more or less confined to the cabin. He still had to trudge through the snow to get water, and he kept up his efforts with the Grove. Otherwise, he remained secluded in the relative warmth of the cabin, covered in his makeshift rabbit-fur blanket as he maintained One With Nature and periodically pulsed Touch of Nature to stave off frostbite. Over that time, Elijah lost any excess fat, giving his already-compact frame a lean, stringy appearance. His sandy blonde curls continued to lengthen into a wild nest of hair, and his beard grew into something a lumberjack would be proud of. Meanwhile, to distract himself, Elijah explored his cultivation. First, he spent quite some time trying to familiarize himself with the new shape of his soul, which felt far more amorphous than the pathways had been. Because of that, the flow of Ethera was less constrained, which resulted in the gains he¡¯d already seen. But beyond that, he was incapable of discovering a way to continue his advancement. The same could be said for his Body, which was even less responsive than his Soul, leading him to the conclusion that he was missing something vitally important. But secluded as he was, without even Nerthus to guide him, Elijah had no idea how to progress. Thankfully, his Mind was a different story altogether, and after weeks of poking and prodding, he latched onto something that felt important. In a lot of ways, it was an intuitive leap. But in others, it made so much sense that Elijah found himself wondering why it had taken him so long. Of course, the crux of the matter was that, like all the other facets of cultivation, it was incredibly uncomfortable, which meant that it wasn¡¯t something a person could just stumble upon. Instead, it required focused effort, which, once Elijah decided to pursue it, was one of the few things he had in abundant supply. The technique ¨C if it could even be called such a thing ¨C was simple in that it only required him to flex his mind to such a point that the flow of ambient Ethera increased. In principle, easy. In practice, it was far from it, and on more than a few days, it resulted in a crippling headache. But Elijah felt like he made progress all the same. He might not have been capable of reaching the levels of the people he saw on the rankings list, but he found himself driven by the hope that his cultivation might be even more valuable than a few extra levels. Besides, as uncomfortable ¨C and often painful ¨C as it was, it at least gave Elijah an opportunity for improvement, which with the weather the way it was, was in short supply. Then, one day, the weather began to change. At first, Elijah thought it was just a warm front coming through the area, but after a few more weeks of steadily warmer temperatures, he reasoned that winter had finally released the region from its grip. It still wasn¡¯t comfortable, but at least the frost melted, and the animals began to stir. So it happened that a little over two months after the rankings had been released, spring managed to shoulder winter completely aside. And with that came the moment for which Elijah had been working for months ¨C the completion of the Grove, heralded by a notification from the System:
Congratulations! Your Grove has reached maturity. Teleportation function of [Ancestral Circle] will be available after forging the bond with the Grove.
Elijah pumped his fist in celebration, grinning broadly as he threw the blanket aside. Thankfully, it was already morning, so he didn¡¯t have to wait before heading toward the Grove to check things out. So, he gathered his handwoven satchel and his staff before leaving the cabin behind. The air still had a chill to it, and some of the snow remained unmelted. However, most of the ground was clear. As a result, he made good time as he traversed the forest, making his way to the Grove. To his surprise, the saplings ¨C or trees, now ¨C looked to have grown ten feet overnight. That took him by surprise, but in a world of magic, his shock didn¡¯t last long. The trees themselves were still dwarfed by Nerthus, though they were clearly from the same species. One day, perhaps they would attain sentience as well. Or maybe not, considering that, regardless of how they looked, Nerthus felt different than the other trees. Either way, Elijah was more than a little excited to bond with his newly finished Grove. Once he¡¯d made his way to the center of the meadow, he settled down under Nerthus¡¯s broad limbs before dragging Ethera from his core and pushing it into Ancestral Grove.
Synergy found. Do you wish to bind yourself to the Grove of Nerthus?
Even though Elijah was a little wary of the Grove¡¯s name, Nerthus had been nothing but helpful. And besides, it wasn¡¯t like he had the desire or opportunity to grow another Grove. In his exploration of the island, he hadn¡¯t discovered enough free space to plant a circle of trees, and besides, he¡¯d been working on the Grove for months, saturating it with his magic at every step of the way. Regardless of the name, it was as much his as it was Nerthus¡¯s glade. So, Elijah consented to the binding. A moment later, a presence erupted in his mind, sending him reeling until he collapsed to his knees. Perhaps he should have been more careful after all. 1-26. Domain It was like a bomb going off in Elijah¡¯s head. If he¡¯d thought using One With Nature was a little overwhelming, then the deluge of sensory input that came when he¡¯d completed the Grove nearly crushed his mind into pulp. He could feel everything, right down to the smallest insect, screaming inside his head. But more than that, he knew things he had no business knowing. Like the existence of forty-two squirrels within a hundred yards of the Grove. Or exactly how many trees comprised the forest in that same area. Or how many leaves were on the ground. If he concentrated, he could even say precisely how many grains of dirt were within his range. And given that he could sense everything within a hundred yards of the outside edge of his Grove, that was a lot of dirt. That sudden awareness washed over him, and for a long time, he was rendered insensate. Drool fell from the corner of his mouth as he lay there, staring up at the sky but seeing nothing. Elijah very nearly lost himself to it. Even as day wore into night, and the night into the next day, Elijah didn¡¯t move a muscle. Then, suddenly, he began to acclimate. The adaptation took another day, during which he gradually filtered the awareness down to a minimum. It was still there, hovering at the edge of his consciousness and threatening to overwhelm him. However, he kept it at bay via sheer concentration. It wasn¡¯t pleasant, but he could do it. Probably. So long as he didn¡¯t lose his grip. Which didn¡¯t seem all that likely. But he¡¯d survived it once, and he could do it again, even if that definitely wasn¡¯t his goal. But what if he increased his Mind¡¯s cultivation? Would that ease the burden? Or was that completely unrelated? He¡¯d long since decided that the term didn¡¯t really refer to his mental capacity. Instead, it seemed wholly focused on his ability to draw Ethera into his Soul. But it couldn¡¯t hurt, could it? So, sitting there, Elijah went back to his homemade Mind cultivation technique. When he first pulled against the ambient Ethera, he nearly lost control and let the awareness blanket his consciousness once again. However, he barely managed to maintain the partition he¡¯d created to hold it in place. Still, it made things that much more difficult because he had to split his attention into two directions. Gradually, he funneled more and more Ethera through his mind and into his Soul. It had nowhere to go, so it slowly seeped from his pores and dissipated back into the air, but Elijah kept going. In some ways, it felt like lifting weights with his mind. Each pull was like a bench press repetition, though with the added difficulty that came with maintaining the partition, it was probably more like doing so with one hand while drawing a portrait with another. Or something like that. In any case, Elijah didn¡¯t have the mental capacity for metaphors. Instead, he focused his entire brain on the task at hand. And slowly, the depth of his pulls began to increase. Bit by bit, his capacity for input grew. However, as he worked, Elijah noticed an issue. The more Ethera he absorbed through his Mind, the flimsier the partition became. So, he had to spend almost as much concentration keeping it in place as he spent increasing his capacity. It was as if, for every step forward, he took two steps back. So, after a while, he started shifting some of the Ethera into the partition. It seemed counterintuitive, and Elijah had no real idea what he was doing. Instead, he was just going by instinct. Fortunately, it seemed like that was the last piece of the puzzle, and only an hour later, the Ethera took on a mind of its own. He barely even had to focus, and a river of Ethera flowed into his Mind. Wider and wider, the aperture of his Mind grew until, at last, something shifted, and the flow stemmed down to a trickle, leaving placidity in its wake. It was only after a few minutes of that peace that he realized he had a new notification:
Congratulations! You have cultivated an Opal Mind!
¡°You did well,¡± came the rough, yet curiously high-pitched voice of the tree spirit, Nerthus. Elijah looked up from where he was sitting to see that the spirit had once again taken on its tiny humanoid form, but this time, it had descended from its customary tree branch to stand beside him. Only then did Elijah realize that it was resting a hand on his shoulder. Unknowable energy flowed from its touch; it felt like the natural Ethera he¡¯d experienced when cultivating his Body of Wood, but it was far deeper and infinitely more powerful. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Elijah croaked, his throat raspy with thirst. ¡°H-how long?¡± ¡°You have been cultivating for a week,¡± Nerthus replied. ¡°Before that, you were lying here in the Grove for three days.¡± ¡°Ten days?¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡­how am I still alive?¡± ¡°I lent you some of my power,¡± the spirit responded. ¡°After all, you are the protector of my Grove. Or you will be. The bond goes both ways.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. That was news to Elijah. He¡¯d just wanted to empower his spell so he could teleport around. But now, it seemed that he¡¯d made some kind of pact with a nature spirit of indeterminate power. That didn¡¯t seem like it was going to go so well, especially considering the disparity in Strength and Elijah¡¯s admitted ignorance. ¡°What does that entail?¡± he asked. ¡°And I thought you said that completing the Ancestral Circle would bind us together.¡± ¡°I may have stretched the truth. You must consent to the bond, lest I be expelled from your Ancestral Circle,¡± Nerthus stated, looking down on him with its wooden eyes. Its face was capable of movement, but only just, so the effect was akin to talking to a puppet. ¡°But it benefits you in a number of ways. I will manage the Grove, empowering it to levels far beyond what it could reach naturally. And you will guard me against all external threats.¡± ¡°And this benefits me how?¡± Elijah asked. Nerthus answered, ¡°Cultivation beyond compare. You will advance faster and more easily than any of your contemporaries. In a year¡¯s time, this Grove will be home to the densest nature-attuned Ethera on this planet. And that is just the beginning. I will also prevent any intrusions from the Voxx. No towers. No portals. You will have a safe place to call home.¡± That certainly sounded good to Elijah, but he felt that his end of the bargain might prove more than a little difficult. After all, he wasn¡¯t very strong; indeed, he wasn¡¯t even on the power ladder, so he wasn¡¯t sure exactly how well he could protect himself, much less the Grove. Likely seeing that Elijah wasn¡¯t convinced, Nerthus said, ¡°I will also grow you a home. Yes ¨C in a few months, you will have a home worthy of the dryads of Drathimar.¡± Elijah had no idea where Drathimar was, but in mythology, dryads were nature spirits. Perhaps they were just another race of creatures similar to the dwarves, gnomes, and goblins he¡¯d seen across the strait. Still, he wasn¡¯t convinced. So, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. This doesn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Please,¡± Nerthus pleaded, more emotion than it¡¯d thus far shown evident in its voice. ¡°If you do not agree, I will be cast back to my home world. It is terrible there. No chance of advancement at all. That is why I chose to¡­¡± Its voice petered out, and Elijah expected that it was because the System didn¡¯t want Nerthus to say anything else. ¡°I¡¯m not against it, okay?¡± he said. And it was true. The tree spirit had already helped him quite a bit, giving him as much information as it was allowed to give. And it had just kept him alive while he¡¯d cultivated his Opal Mind. Couple that with how desperate it seemed, and Elijah really did want to help. He just wasn¡¯t sure he could protect himself, much less the tree spirit or its Grove. He said as much, adding, ¡°What am I supposed to do if something attacks? If one of those Voxx things comes out of the ocean, I¡¯m done for. The only reason I survived last time was because of the panther that lives here. And even that was probably only because I¡¯ve been feeding it.¡± Nerthus cocked its head, saying, ¡°Do not underestimate yourself. You have unlimited growth potential. You may be weak now, but in a month, you will be stronger. And a year, even more powerful. In a decade, you will have power incomprehensible to your current incarnation.¡± ¡°If I survive.¡± ¡°If you survive,¡± it agreed. ¡°However, I feel obliged to point out that you have survived this long, have you not? You have Strength of heart, conviction, and willpower; those will take you much further than anything else.¡± Elijah shook his head and looked around. It was a clear night, so the glade was well lit. However, he saw everything with far more acuity than he ever had before. Even in the light of day, his vision was never so sharp. Perhaps that was a result of his Mind cultivation. ¡°What about this¡­awareness?¡± Elijah asked, his thoughts barely brushing against the partitioned portion of his brain. Even that threatened to overwhelm him. ¡°How do I deal with it?¡± ¡°Awareness?¡± the tree spirit asked. ¡°Ah ¨C it is called Locus. Or Presence, by some. It is your greatest asset, but it can be overbearing. I can guide you through learning to deal with it, though if you had asked me, I would have suggested that you partition your mind before the Grove¡¯s completion instead of after. People have died from less.¡± ¡°I can believe it,¡± Elijah muttered. Then, he asked, ¡°Will you be able to give me more information if I agree to be your protector?¡± Nerthus answered, ¡°A little. Not much, though. The System is very strict with what information is to be made freely available to newly integrated worlds. As time goes by, those restrictions will lift, but it will be years before I could reveal everything I know without dire consequences.¡± Even a little more information would help, because ignorance seemed to be the biggest threat to Elijah¡¯s survival. He¡¯d managed to secure food, shelter, and water ¨C the big three, as far as he was concerned ¨C so basic necessities were covered. However, he would¡¯ve died if it wasn¡¯t for the tree spirit¡¯s intervention, and all because he had no idea what he was doing when it came to the System and cultivation. That alone was probably enough to make the choice for him, but it also came with other benefits. Like better cultivation and a home that would presumably improve upon his current situation. And all it would take was for him to play security guard for a magic tree. But wasn¡¯t that kind of in the job description for a druid anyway? He sighed, then said, ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll do it.¡± The tree spirit managed to look relieved despite being unable to contort its face into an expression. It said, ¡°Thank you. You will not regret this.¡± Then, a new notification appeared before Elijah¡¯s eyes. Instead of the unadorned boxes he normally saw, this one bore a golden border. It said:
Do you wish to become the Protector of the Grove, binding your fate to Nerthus, the ancestral tree spirit? This bond is irrevocable and unbreakable by normal means.
Elijah hesitated for only a moment before giving the notification his consent. And then¡­nothing happened. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Thank you!¡± exclaimed Nerthus. ¡°You will not regret this! I can already see the home I will grow for you. You will be very pleased!¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but smile at the excited tree spirit. Still, he asked, ¡°Is that it? I expected more.¡± ¡°The bond is more of a formality that lets me stay on this planet instead of being sent back home. The benefit to you is in the environment,¡± Nerthus said, regaining some of its composure. ¡°You should notice an increase in ambient Ethera within a day or two, and I will begin growing your home soon enough.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more interested in information for now,¡± Elijah said. ¡°This Locus sense or whatever ¨C how do I deal with it? It¡¯s locked away for now, but you said it was important.¡± ¡°Indeed, indeed. It is not meant for the mind of such a low-level druid,¡± Nerthus said. Raising one wooden hand, it continued, ¡°But that does not mean you cannot make it work. It merely requires practice.¡± ¡°Well, considering I¡¯m stranded on a deserted island, I¡¯ve got nothing but time,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, let¡¯s get to it.¡± 1-27. Locus Elijah let out a deep breath as he slowly opened the Ethera-bolstered partition in his mind. For the first few seconds, he only let a trickle of sensory input through while forcing the rest to remain sequestered away, but over the next couple of hours, he gradually released the rest. And to his surprise, it wasn¡¯t nearly as overwhelming as it had been before he¡¯d cultivated his Opal Mind. At most, it was moderately distracting, though even that was manageable. As far as Elijah could tell, the Locus gave him hyper-awareness of everything within a hundred yards of his Grove. That didn¡¯t seem like much until he realized that it constituted over hundreds of thousands of square feet of dense vegetation and copious animal life. But it was more than just knowing things were there. He also felt a connection that hinted at something far deeper than mere awareness. Nerthus had called it an undeveloped Domain, but that didn¡¯t really mean much to Elijah, save that he expected the connection to grow progressively stronger as he gained power. In addition, the tree spirit had claimed that the area would eventually grow to encompass the entire island. But not until he was far stronger and infinitely more capable of handling such a thing. For now, though, Elijah needed to harness the awareness he did have. Eventually, over the next week, he learned to push all but the most basic information behind the partition. Certainly, if anything went wrong ¨C or if there were intruders ¨C he would feel it. But beyond a simple alarm, the connection was very much diluted ¨C which allowed Elijah to function normally. Even so, that awareness in the back of his mind would definitely take some getting used to. So it happened that he pushed himself to his feet and looked around. He¡¯d been meditating for a few days, during which his basic needs were met by an influx of nature-attuned Ethera; that was one of the side benefits of the Grove. It didn¡¯t remove the need for sustenance ¨C not entirely ¨C but it did decrease his reliance on food and water. For instance, instead of being able to go without food for a week or two, he felt sure that he could abstain for at least a month, so long as he didn¡¯t leave the Grove during that time. With water, a week seemed to be his comfortable limit. After that, he suspected he would quickly become dehydrated. Thankfully, Elijah didn¡¯t need to push those limits, because, by acclimating himself to the Locus, he¡¯d accomplished his most immediate task. As he cast his gaze across the Grove, he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the changes. Three new saplings grew nearby. They were only days old, but already, they had grown to a height of nearly ten feet. More than that, they didn¡¯t extend directly toward the sky; instead, they twisted in on one another, their thin branches intertwining until Elijah lost track of which one belonged to which tree. According to Nerthus, those three trees would grow into his new abode, and the spirit assured him that it would be a grand home indeed. But it would take another month or two before it was finished. Until then, Elijah would continue to live in the decrepit old cabin. With that in mind, Elijah trekked back to the stream, gathering mushrooms and berries along the way. Even though there was still a chill in the air, spring had begun to supplant winter, so there was a slightly larger selection than in weeks past. It was still sparse, but that would soon change along with the weather. When he reached the stream, Elijah drank his fill and washed himself in the cold water before heading back to the cabin. The place reeked of rotten crab. No surprise there ¨C Elijah¡¯s enforced cultivation hadn¡¯t been planned, and as a result, his stores of crab meat had gone bad. Very, very bad, judging by the smell. Even after he gathered the basket and dumped it into the ocean, the smell remained. And he suspected it would for some time. So, with that in mind, he made an executive decision to gather his things and prematurely move to the Grove. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t have much to gather ¨C just the Staff of Natural Harmony, his various baskets, the rabbit fur blanket, and a few tools. All in all, it only took one trip to transfer his belongings to the Grove. When he arrived, Nerthus was waiting for him. The tree spirit still spent most of its time in its tree, but now that the ambient Ethera had thickened, it had a little more freedom of movement. ¡°Your home is not ready,¡± it said. ¡°I know,¡± Elijah replied. ¡°But the cabin where I¡¯ve been living isn¡¯t really¡­suitable for habitation anymore. So, with the weather turning, I think I¡¯ll be okay here until the house is done.¡± It probably wouldn¡¯t be pleasant if it started raining, but it was still better than smelling rotten crab for the next few weeks. On top of that, he was afraid that the smell would attract predators. So, it wasn¡¯t just a matter of comfort, but one of safety. ¡°I was wondering,¡± Elijah said. ¡°In my head, I¡¯ve been using generic pronouns. Like ¡®it¡¯. But it occurs to me that I should ask if you¡¯re male, female, or agender.¡± Nerthus raised a hand of twisted branches, then said, ¡°Your concept of ¡®male¡¯ is the closest to reality. You may think of me in those terms.¡± ¡°Good. Okay. So, I¡¯m going to set my stuff up under your tree, okay? And just remember ¨C this is temporary,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Oh, and is it okay if I build a fire? What with you being wood and all, I didn¡¯t want to offend you or anything.¡± ¡°My people have been using fire for millions of years,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°No fire you could create on this world could burn the Ancestral Tree.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay, then,¡± Elijah said. With that, Nerthus retreated back inside his tree, merging with it in only a second or two as Elijah set himself up beneath its expansive boughs. The tree¡¯s canopy wouldn¡¯t provide perfect protection from the elements, but it would be better than nothing. First, he deposited his meager belongings, then he set off back into the forest to gather rocks for a suitable fire pit. As it turned out, the labor was quite a bit easier now that he had the benefit of a properly healthy body. He was sure that the Body of Wood contributed as well, considering that he was far stronger than he¡¯d ever been before. If he had to gauge it, he expected that his cultivation gave him at least a fifty-percent boost to his physical capability, which put him firmly in the range of peak humanity. Probably even exceeding it, if ten really was the human limit without the interference of the System, as he suspected. Once he finished the arduous labor involved in toting heavy rocks into the Grove, he arranged them in a circle around a pit he¡¯d dug, then went back to his cabin where he gathered the firewood he¡¯d already stockpiled. After that, it wasn¡¯t difficult to get the fire started ¨C after all, he had plenty of experience by that point ¨C and settled in for a meal of mushrooms and underripe berries. As he ate, he also took some time to think about his future. With his fate intertwined with the island¡¯s ¨C and Nerthus¡¯ ¨C he knew he needed to get stronger. But the problem was that his neighbor, the panther, had already killed everything on the island higher-leveled than the crabs. In most ways, he was grateful for his protector, but when it came to getting stronger, it was clear that the panther¡¯s presence had stunted his growth. Some familiar names on the ladder had dropped off, either dead or having hit some kind of wall in their leveling, but the ones that had remained continued to get stronger, with the leader, Oscar Ramirez, having reached level twenty-nine. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. And there Elijah was, stuck at level seven. He needed to get stronger, and the only way he was likely to reach any of his goals involved exploring the rest of the island. He still didn¡¯t even know how big it was, much less whether or not it was home to any viable threats. The panther couldn¡¯t be everywhere, after all. Surely, it had left something alive. By the time he¡¯d finished eating, night had already fallen. So, he resolved to begin his exploration of the island when the sun came up, which, the next morning, was exactly what happened. For the next week, Elijah charted the island, and he discovered a few things along the way. First, it was a bit bigger than he¡¯d first suspected. He couldn¡¯t be completely sure, but he judged it to be about six miles long, running from northwest to southeast and about half as wide. The biome remained consistent, and the area was as densely packed with vegetation as anything Elijah had ever encountered. And thankfully, after about a mile, he started to encounter more wildlife as well. The place was lousy with rabbits, marmots, and moles. He also saw a wide variety of birds, a few lizards that were quite a bit larger than they should have been, and a frog as big as a cocker spaniel. But none of them exuded an aura stronger than the crabs, so he left them alone. That changed when, a few miles away from the Grove, Elijah heard a rustle in the bushes. He wheeled around, his staff in one hand and the stone-bladed hatchet he¡¯d been using to cut a path through the vegetation in the other. It was just in time, too, because only a second later, a huge black bear burst through the underbrush. Elijah only had a brief moment to notice its unusual size and slavering jaws before he was forced to react. The bear crashed into him, raking its claws across his shoulders. Elijah screamed in pain, swinging his hatchet instinctively. Despite his panic, his aim was true, and the hatchet found its way to the bear¡¯s snout. However, the small axe wasn¡¯t a real weapon, and under the influence of Elijah¡¯s enhanced Strength ¨C after all, he was already operating a peak human level, and that was further augmented by One With Nature ¨C the hatchet¡¯s stone blade shattered into pieces. But it served the purpose of startling his attacker, and the creature reared back in pain and surprise. Elijah used that opportunity to kick out, his bare feet barely capable of pushing the bear off balance. By that point, he¡¯d managed to regain some of his wits, and he used them to guide Ethera into Grasping Roots, binding the off-balance bear into place. Elijah scrambled back in a panicked crab walk made even more awkward than normal by the death grip he had on his staff. Once he was a few feet away, he channeled more Ethera into Storm¡¯s Fury, pushing it through the Staff of Natural Harmony. When he released the spell, a thick, blue bolt of lightning arced out, hitting the struggling black bear in the chest. The smell of charred flesh and burned hair filled the air as the bear let out a roar of furious agony. Elijah ignored it, dragging Ethera from his core and pushing it through his soul until the spell was charged once again. He let it loose, and another bolt of lightning hit the monstrous bear. Then, he did it again. And again. Over and over until, by the tenth cast, the animal had been reduced to a twisting mass of dead flesh and charred fur. Elijah sat there, panting in that curious exhaustion that seemed to come after every life-or-death experience. His muscles shook, and his heart was beating out of control ¨C a feeling that he¡¯d only experienced twice before. Once, when he¡¯d first learned that the cancer he¡¯d been told was completely treatable was, in fact, terminal. And then once again after the death of the Voxx monster that had nearly killed him and the panther. Slowly, Elijah got his thoughts back under control, and he studied his vanquished foe. The bear was far larger than a black bear should have been, but that didn¡¯t explain its aggressive behavior. Bear attacks weren¡¯t completely unheard-of, but this was different from a creature protecting its cubs or territory. For one, the thing was male, so the first excuse didn¡¯t seem applicable. And second, Elijah had found that, with One With Nature, most animals would simply ignore him unless he attacked them first. But this bear had instigated the encounter. That, coupled with its unrestrained aggression suggested that something was wrong. That suspicion was further supported when Elijah drew the stone-bladed knife that he¡¯d secured to his waist via a makeshift belt woven from his homemade cordage and sliced into the bear¡¯s flesh. When he did, he saw that the expected red muscle was laced with black tendrils of what could only be called corruption. It reminded Elijah of the Voxx, though he wasn¡¯t sure why he was so certain that it was related. It was just a feeling, but one he couldn¡¯t ignore. After a little more inspection, he saw that the bear¡¯s eyes were clouded and milky white, and its saliva was flecked with fresh blood, almost as if it had been rabid. But even though his specialty had been marine life, Elijah had enough experience with land mammals to know that whatever had afflicted the bear hadn¡¯t been something as mundane as rabies. It was corruption, and given what he¡¯d seen of the Voxx, it wasn¡¯t difficult to make the intuitive leap that they were the cause. Still, he didn¡¯t even know if such a thing was possible. For all Elijah knew, it was just another strange mutation foisted upon the world by the touch of the World Tree. After all, if crabs could suddenly grow hundreds of times larger, then an aggressive black bear wasn¡¯t so far outside the realm of possibility that it could be completely discounted, regardless of Elijah¡¯s suspicions regarding corruption by the Voxx. He needed confirmation, and the only way he was going to get it was to ask Nerthus. But first, he needed to heal the gashes in his chest. So, he channeled Ethera through his soul and into Touch of Nature. The wounds weren¡¯t too deep, so it only took two casts to mend his flesh. However, that ended up draining his core dry, so he had no choice but to wait a few minutes before he¡¯d gathered enough Ethera to fuel the teleportation portion of Ancestral Circle. When he finally cast the spell, it was as if one moment, he was in the forest, and after a blink, he was back in the Grove. He¡¯d used it a few times of late ¨C without the ability to return to the Grove at will, his exploration would have been much slower ¨C but Elijah didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever get used to the feeling. Once he¡¯d reoriented himself, he approached the Ancestral Tree where he called out to Nerthis, who grew out of the trunk only a few moments later. Once he was fully present, Elijah explained the situation, then asked, ¡°What do you think it is? I thought it felt like the Voxx, but I figured I¡¯d ask before I jumped to any definitive conclusions.¡± Nerthus nodded. ¡°Your instincts were correct,¡± he said. ¡°There must be a portal nearby. I knew there had to be at least one in the surrounding waters, but this is troubling.¡± Then, Nerthus explained how the existence of portals ¨C dimensional rifts through which the Voxx could invade ¨C had a corrupting influence on non-sentient life. Then, he said, ¡°Fortunately, it seems to be a small one.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± ¡°If it was of significant size, the System would have contained it with a Tower. If that were the case, we would know,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Because it is small, you should be able to take care of it.¡± ¡°What? How? And why me?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because you are the Protector of the Grove,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°It is a simple process. You must find the dimensional tear, enter it, and defeat the guardian. Once you have done so, you will gain a boon from the System.¡± ¡°And¡­and you think I¡¯m capable of that? I¡¯m only level seven,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°With your cultivation, you are much more powerful than your level,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°In any case, you wish to get stronger, correct? This is how you will do so.¡± Elijah sighed. That much was true, and the existence of these portals ¨C or Towers, if they were larger ¨C suggested a reason for why the others on the ladder had grown so powerful. It was also gratifying to know that his cultivation meant that he was stronger than he might appear. But in the end, Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have much choice. This was his island, and according to Nerthus¡¯s explanation, if the portal was left unchecked, its influence would grow until it enveloped the entire area. So, unless he wanted to run away ¨C an impossibility because he didn¡¯t think crossing the strait was a good idea and because doing so would mean abandoning his Grove ¨C he was stuck with dealing with it. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°Any advice?¡± Nerthus cocked his head to the side, then said, ¡°Try not to die. Your protection is needed if the Grove is meant to reach its potential.¡± Elijah shook his head, then said, ¡°Thanks, I guess. I¡¯ll try to find it tomorrow, then.¡± 1-28. A Portal to Hell Elijah spent the rest of the day preparing his mind for what was coming. Nerthus couldn¡¯t tell him much about what he could expect to find on the other side of the dimensional portal, so he¡¯d chosen the route of pessimism. Judging by his experiences with the Voxx and the corrupted bear, he thought expecting the worst was likely appropriate. That night, he slept fitfully, and not just because he still wasn¡¯t used to sleeping under the open sky. Instead, his imagination had gone wild, conjuring one terrible setting after another until he felt like he was going to go mad. So, when morning dawned, he was more than ready to get things over with. First, though, he had to find the portal. So, he returned to where he¡¯d fought the bear, only to find that it had almost entirely rotted away during the night. All that was left were a few clumps of black fur and a couple of puddles of a semi-solid slurry of flesh, blood, and corruption. The sight nearly made Elijah vomit, but he barely managed to keep his breakfast of berries and mushrooms from coming back up. From there, he began his search. The island was only so big, but even with its limited size, the search proved frustrating, and it didn¡¯t bear fruit until four hours later when he felt something amiss. One With Nature was a versatile spell, giving him augmented physical ability as well as giving him a watered-down connection with his surroundings. And it was via this sense that he found the first tendril of seeping corruption. Pinpointing it was difficult, but the general direction was not. So, he picked his way through the forest, keeping that sickening corruption firmly in his senses. And when he stumbled across it, he once again felt the need to vomit. This time, though, he didn¡¯t manage to push through it, and he soon found himself heaving the contents of his stomach onto the forest floor. The tendril wasn¡¯t all that noticeable ¨C not to mundane senses. However, to the feelings that had come with his archetype, it was like bathing in raw sewage. To call it disgusting would have been underselling the repulsiveness to an extreme degree. When he looked around the meandering tendril of black rot snaking across the ground, Elijah felt like he had maggots burrowing into his skin. But he pushed his disgust aside and followed the trail for a few dozen yards, and with each step, he felt the corruption more keenly until, at last, he found the source. It was a gaping rip in the very fabric of reality. With jagged edges of glowing purple light and a center of pitch black, it looked completely out-of-place amidst the verdant forest. Elijah took a deep breath that he regretted after being assailed by another wave of nausea. He wanted nothing more than to simply turn around and flee the alien thing. But he couldn¡¯t. He refused to back away. Not only because he really didn¡¯t have a choice, but also because he didn¡¯t want to be the kind of man who ran from his responsibilities. He never had been, and he wasn¡¯t going to start now that the world had changed, either. So, after resolutely squaring his shoulders, Elijah stepped forward, his staff at the ready, and strode through the portal. When he used the teleportation function of Ancestral Circle, it was no more uncomfortable than blinking. So, he¡¯d expected that going through the portal would be somewhat similar. However, that expectation couldn¡¯t have been further from reality. For an instant, Elijah felt like he was being ripped into a million pieces and from every direction. Then, suddenly, the pain ceased, and he fell to the ground. For a long moment, Elijah knelt on one knee, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Even the memory of that agony was enough to spike his heart rate. But over the next couple of seconds, even that faded away until he felt completely normal. That¡¯s when he took a moment to study his surroundings. The ground was bare, black stone, jagged and so shiny that it reminded him of obsidian. He looked up and when he saw the alien landscape, Elijah couldn¡¯t stop himself from gasping. Huge peaks of grey rock stood against a black sky crisscrossed with rivers of deep purple energy. By itself, that alien atmosphere was enough to tell Elijah that he was no longer on Earth. But the terrain was just as peculiar. The obsidian-like rock extended for thirty yards in every direction, but beyond that was lifeless grey stone. The only color came from what looked like purple anemones, their appendages waving in the motionless atmosphere. But Elijah only had eyes for the hulking creature twenty feet away. In some ways, it resembled the scaled monster that had attacked him what felt like a lifetime before. However, where that creature¡¯s scales had shimmered with a green-blue luster, this new monster was black with purple markings running along its muscular shoulders. It was also much smaller, only topping Elijah¡¯s compact frame by a few inches. But with its bulging muscles, it was much heavier than him. It let out a hissing growl, staring at him with all four of its eyes. Had the other one possessed four eyes? Elijah couldn¡¯t remember. His fingers tightened around the Staff of Natural Harmony, and he held it before him. If everything went right, the monster wouldn¡¯t get anywhere near him. He just needed to keep his wits about him, and everything would be fine. But as much as he wanted to believe that, it was difficult to keep it in mind when facing off against a monster out of his worst nightmares. It shifted forward, its muscles rippling beneath its scales as it dropped to all fours, like a gorilla. Then, without any further delay, it sprang forward. The thing exploded into motion so quickly that Elijah had no time to channel Ethera into Grasping Roots. Instead, all he could do was dive to the side, narrowly avoiding the monster¡¯s pounce. Even so, jagged rocks ripped at Elijah¡¯s bare shoulder as he rolled to safety. He managed to keep a grip on his staff, and by the time he reached his feet, he¡¯d channeled enough Ethera into the spell. Roots, thick and purple, with three-inch thorns erupted from the ground and snaked around the monster¡¯s legs. It yanked its limbs free, tearing the roots from the rocky ground. However, the moment one root was destroyed, three more took its place. And after only a second, the monster¡¯s entire lower half was mired in a quagmire of alien vegetation. That was the difference his Soul cultivation and the Staff of Natural Harmony had made. Before, the roots were flimsy and easily broken, but now, he could pour enough Ethera into the spell that it was a much more formidable obstruction. But Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t last forever. So, he switched his focus to Storm¡¯s Fury, channeling as much Ethera as he could into the spell. In the second it took him to saturate the spell, the monster had begun to break loose. And if it managed that feat before he released the spell, Elijah knew he was doomed. Just as it freed one leg, he loosed the spell, and purple lightning ripped forth, tearing a path from his staff to the black-scaled creature. With a crack of thunder, it punched the monster so hard that it was sent staggering backward. But even more importantly, that purple lightning raced through its body, leaving devastation in its wake. Elijah wasn¡¯t finished, though. Even as the monster convulsed, he charged another spell, releasing it just as the effects of the first faded. This time, the results were even more destructive, and by the time Elijah finished casting his third spell, the creature¡¯s flesh was smoking. But Elijah refused to let up. Seven more times, he cast Storm¡¯s Fury, never letting the monster recover or regain its feet. And when his Ethera ran dry, it was completely still. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. It wasn¡¯t dead, though. Elijah still hadn¡¯t gotten any sort of notification from the System, which meant that, for all the punishment he¡¯d sent its way, it wasn¡¯t dead. And that was a problem because Elijah¡¯s core was almost completely empty. He had just enough Ethera to fuel a heal, but not enough to use Storm¡¯s Fury. And that meant he¡¯d have to do things manually. Elijah drew his stone-bladed knife before stalking forward. The jagged ground threatened to cut into his feet, but months of walking around barefoot had inured him to such discomfort. So, staff in one hand and knife in the other, he slowly approached the prone monster. The closer he drew, the worse it smelled, but he steeled himself against the disgust bubbling in his stomach. Once he got close enough, he levered his staff under the creature¡¯s stomach and flipped it over. And for his trouble, he got a claw to the stomach. It happened so quickly that Elijah had no chance to react. One second, the thing was completely inert, and the next, it was springing forward with flashing claws. Elijah stumbled, and the monster pounced on top of him. Luckily, Elijah had kept a grip on his weapons, and he managed to get his knife up just in time. Even more fortunately, the hardened scales on its stomach had been melted to such a degree that they offered little protection against even so pitiful a weapon as his knife. It sank deep even as Elijah blocked its snapping jaws with his staff. The wood held firm, and the knife bit into the creature¡¯s vitals, ripping them apart without issue. Elijah¡¯s arm pumped, repeatedly stabbing into the monster¡¯s stomach. It wasn¡¯t idle, though. No ¨C it flailed and bit, ripped and clawed ¨C but Elijah had steeled his will and cultivated his Body, which barely allowed him to survive long enough to destroy something vital. And then, suddenly, the Strength went out of the creature¡¯s powerful muscles and it collapsed atop him. With Strength enhanced by the System, his Body cultivation, and One With Nature, Elijah barely managed to push the creature aside. And as soon as he did, he pulsed Touch of Nature, partially healing the wounds he¡¯d taken. He tried to cast the spell again, but his core was entirely dry. So, as he lay there, waiting for his Ethera to recover, Elijah considered the fight. He couldn¡¯t think of anything he could have done differently, save for having better weapons or more Ethera. But even so, he¡¯d only barely managed to survive. One less Storm¡¯s Fury, and he wouldn¡¯t have been able to punch through its scales. One misstep, and he¡¯d have been ripped to pieces. It was a grim reminder of just how little power he really had. Regardless of how much he¡¯d advanced ¨C and he felt that he¡¯d done well with the situation he¡¯d been given ¨C he still had a long way to go. But the notification he got after killing the monster was going to be a good start:
Congratulations! You have reached level eight, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
Elijah did, adding two points to Ethera. It didn¡¯t seem like much, but if he¡¯d had a couple extra casts of Storm¡¯s Fury, he might not have had to kill the monster by hand. Or maybe it wouldn¡¯t have made any difference at all. He had no way of knowing. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing things were a little clearer. Perhaps if everyone had health points, like in a video game, things would¡¯ve made a little more sense. As far as he could tell, though, even things like the relative value of his attributes didn¡¯t follow much logic. For instance, the points he¡¯d spent in Ethera didn¡¯t result in a linear progression in terms of how many times he could cast his spells. The only quantifiable correlation was that more points meant more casts. Perhaps his cultivation threw things off. Or maybe it just wasn¡¯t linear. He had no way to know. Such thoughts occupied his mind until he recovered enough Ethera to once again cast Touch of Nature, which, when channeled through his staff, was enough to push him to perfect health. After that, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around for the exit. The portal through which he¡¯d entered was nowhere to be seen, but in its place was a floating white crystal. When he looked upon it, he felt a draw unlike anything he¡¯d ever felt. He needed to touch it. The need was so overwhelming that it completely abolished any sense of choice. He never even considered resisting it. Elijah walked forward and laid his hand upon its smooth surface. Instantly, the alien landscape disappeared, replaced by a void, as if he floated between realities. It would have been maddening if it didn¡¯t feel so right. Another notification bloomed in his mind¡¯s eye:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Lesser Attribute Potion awarded.
Elijah didn¡¯t have a chance to wonder what that meant before he was whisked away back to reality. An instant later, he was back in the forest, though when he looked around, the portal and tendrils of corruption were gone. And in his hand was a small vial containing a glowing blue liquid. Without a doubt, it was the potion awarded by the System. Perhaps it would have been smart to wait. To investigate more. But the System had yet to lie, so he unhesitatingly popped the stopper off the vial, then upended the contents down his throat. When he swallowed, he felt a budding warmth in the pit of his stomach, then received another notification:
You have consumed a Lesser Attribute Potion, receiving three free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
Elijah pumped his fist. It was precisely what he¡¯d hoped for, and he quickly allocated his points, pushing two into Ethera and bringing it fifteen. The final point, he allocated into Regeneration, bringing it to thirteen total points.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 8
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 10
Dexterity 10
Constitution 11
Ethera 15
Regeneration 13
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
His reasoning was simple. He fully intended to spread his attribute points across each category on his status. However, for now, his spells were his most potent means of survival, so he intended to enhance the relevant attributes until he felt comfortable with where he was. Then, he¡¯d push points into his physical attributes. Once that was done, Elijah headed back to the Grove. He wished he could use Ancestral Circle to teleport back, but the spell had a significant cooldown that still hadn¡¯t lapsed. So, he was forced to go back on foot. Still, it wasn¡¯t an arduous journey, and soon enough, he was back in familiar territory. 1-29. Envoy ¡°I know it¡¯s not a new Playstation, but¡­happy birthday.¡± Miguel looked down at the weapon in his hands. It was a compound bow not unlike the one Roman still carried, but it had been made from scratch by Carmen. The same could be said for the wide variety of arrows in the paired quiver. Alyssa and Carmen had gone back and forth trying to decide on an appropriate gift for Miguel¡¯s birthday. In the past, he¡¯d usually gotten various electronics, games, or toys like Legos. But the world had changed, and not only were those things unavailable, but it was also irresponsible to devote any significant time to such frivolous pursuits. Still, they wanted their son to have a childhood. Or whatever passed for one in the new world. So, in addition to the bow, they¡¯d given him some homemade toys and scavenged board games. None were in perfect condition, but they were the best Alyssa could gather. The young boy¡¯s face lit up, and he exclaimed, ¡°I love it!¡± Then, he threw himself at Carmen, wrapping his arms around her as he profusely thanked his mother. Then, he did the same for Alyssa, announcing that he was going to be a Marksman, just like Uncle Roman. Carmen tousled his hair, then told him to go outside and practice. He¡¯d already been taught the basics of the weapon ¨C all of the settlement¡¯s children had ¨C and he was eager to test it out. So, he quickly scurried from the small cottage that Carmen had built, intent on following his mother¡¯s instructions. That left the two women alone. The moment he was gone, Alyssa¡¯s shoulders sagged. Carmen put her arm around the slenderer woman¡¯s shoulders and hugged her close as she said, ¡°This was the right decision. Everything we¡¯ve seen suggests that people get archetypes based on their past experiences. Being a Marksman will keep him off the front lines. It¡¯s a strong option.¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°I just wish it wasn¡¯t necessary,¡± she stated. It was a useless sentiment. As she well knew, the world had been irrevocably transformed, and there was nothing she could do about it. What she could do was prepare her son to thrive, at least as much as possible. Leaning into Carmen, she thought about how far they¡¯d come. It had been a difficult winter, and more than a few people hadn¡¯t made it. Some had starved. Others had passed away due to exposure. But most of the casualties had come at the hands of the wildlife. Most of the monsters they encountered were clearly mutated versions of Earth animals, but there were other, less natural creatures ¨C like the bat-monkeys they¡¯d had to clear out of the station. But deadliest of all were the scaled monsters like the one that had killed Trish and Tony. Fortunately, they hadn¡¯t encountered any others nearly that powerful; if they had, the settlement wouldn¡¯t have made it. But the ones they had fought were just as dangerous, especially considering that they often targeted people much less powerful than Alyssa. And the results had been predictable. To date, they¡¯d lost almost two-dozen hunters and gatherers to the scaled monsters. But there was hope. The night that Trish had died, Alyssa had gained the ability to choose a class, and since then, ten others had done the same. It was slow-going, but if everyone gained a class, there was a chance that they could stand up to the monsters. So, even if there was hope for their continual survival, it was tempered by the reality of their losses. Still, with spring had come solutions to some of their problems. A few of the Scholars had planted some crops, and a couple of the Tradesmen had figured out how to get power from scavenged solar panels. The yield wasn¡¯t nearly what it should have been, but it was progress. In short, after a hellish beginning to the end of the world, things had begun to look up. It was all different, but Alyssa thought they¡¯d survived the worst of it. Or at least, she hoped so. ¡°How is Roman?¡± asked Carmen. Alyssa sighed. ¡°Outwardly? He¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s doing everything right, and I think people recognize that.¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°He¡¯s still not over what happened to Trish.¡± ¡°Who would be?¡± asked Carmen. It had been months, but the Healer¡¯s death still weighed heavily on the settlement¡¯s leader. ¡°I don¡¯t know. The problem isn¡¯t that he¡¯s still grieving. People expect that. It would humanize him. But he doesn¡¯t let it show. For all everyone knows, he just kept going like normal. Meanwhile, only those of us who really know him can see just how much he¡¯s hurting. I don¡¯t know what to do,¡± she admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your responsibility,¡± Carmen reminded her. ¡°He¡¯s a grown man. If he doesn¡¯t want to address it, there¡¯s not really anything you can do.¡± Alyssa sighed, then pushed away from her wife¡¯s embrace. Standing, she said, ¡°I know that. But I can¡¯t help but feel¡­I don¡¯ t know¡­¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t blame you, does he?¡± asked Carmen. Alyssa shook her head. ¡°No. I don¡¯t think so, at least. Maybe? I don¡¯t know. I blame myself, though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s stupid. You couldn¡¯t have done anything differently,¡± Carmen said without a hint of hesitation. ¡°You did what you could. I know you don¡¯t want to hear this, but Trish was never cut out for this world. You saw that on the first day when she almost got killed. She was always going to end up ¨C¡± Just then, there was a knock at the door, cutting Carmen off. Their cottage only had three rooms ¨C a common area and a pair of bedrooms ¨C but each space was incredibly small. So, it only took Alyssa two steps to reach the door. When she opened it, she saw Fiona, who¡¯d established herself in a position of some prominence after what had happened in the cabin. Since then, she¡¯d become the highest-leveled mage-type, and she¡¯d distinguished herself on more than one occasion. More importantly, she was Roman¡¯s right-hand woman. ¡°The Chief needs you,¡± she said. Looking past Alyssa at Carmen, she said, ¡°Both of you.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Fiona shrugged. ¡°No idea. He just said it¡¯s important,¡± was her response, though Alyssa got the feeling that even if Fiona had known, she wouldn¡¯t have let loose with the information. She wasn¡¯t precisely hostile, but she wasn¡¯t friendly, either. ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s go then.¡± After letting Miguel know what was going on, the trio set off across the settlement. It had grown quite a bit, and the area surrounding the old police station now featured dozens of buildings and other homes. Most weren¡¯t more elaborate than four walls and a roof, but a few were a little more complex. It was further evidence that people had begun to adjust to the new world, especially considering that they¡¯d started to move past the scarcity-induced policies of collective survival and into an economy based on barter. The various Tradesmen had begun to hawk their wares, and, as a result, better weapons, armor, and other goods had taken a leap forward. For her part, Alyssa favored the spear, largely because of the class she¡¯d received at level ten. She¡¯d had a host of options, but none seemed quite as powerful as the one she had chosen. As they walked, she looked at her class¡¯s description:
Class: Dragon Lancer A powerful lancer meant to combat and kill the most dangerous foes. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Achievements: Slay a much more powerful creature with a spear or lance. Garner the loyalty of at least twenty people. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. First Ability: Descending Dragon Attribute Allocation: Physical Compatibility: 97%
She¡¯d gained a couple of levels since then, and her attributes had experienced a huge jump with each level. She had also gotten three new abilities: Descending Dragon, Heart of the Dragon, and Heroic Leap. At first, she¡¯d considered Descending Dragon a niche ability, but upon reaching level twelve and gaining Heroic Leap, the synergy of the two abilities had forced her to reevaluate. Heroic Leap was just what the name implied, and it allowed her to leap much higher and travel faster through the air than her attributes would normally allow. On its own, it was a useful way to close with her enemies, and it gave her far more mobility than she could have otherwise expected. However, where it really shone was when paired with Descending Dragon.
Descending Dragon Fall upon an enemy, dealing more damage based on distance fallen. Protected from falling damage while ability is active.
Alyssa had no way to gauge precisely how much damage she could do with the ability, but she did know that she could obliterate normal beasts, so long as she used Descending Dragon at the apex of a Heroic Leap. If her timing was off, the resulting blow would be less powerful. As for Heart of the Dragon, it temporarily enhanced her attributes. In a way, it was similar to Enrage, but the effect was far less potent. The other differences were more important, though. Not only did it last longer, but it didn¡¯t come with Enrage¡¯s fury, allowing her to keep her wits about her. Before the trio reached their destination, she checked her status as well:
Name Alyssa Hart
Level 12
Archetype Warrior
Class Dragon Lancer
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 16
Dexterity 12
Constitution 12
Ethera 7
Regeneration 7
Attunement None
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Unformed Unformed Unformed Unformed
Unlike the first ten levels, after choosing her class, Alyssa¡¯s attribute allocation was automatic, and she¡¯d gained two points in Strength as well as one each in Dexterity and Constitution per level. She worried a little about her low Regeneration and Ethera attributes, but at the moment, there wasn¡¯t much she could do about it. Perhaps she could figure it out sometime in the future, though. After all, she suspected that, at some point, she¡¯d choose a Specialization, which would likely give her more options for improvement. There was also the question of the four aspects of Cultivation to worry about. No one had figured out what any of that meant, but she expected it would only be a matter of time before they did. Soon, the group reached the central building that had once been the police station. It looked much the same as it always did, though construction had begun to add additional floors. With the abilities granted by the Tradesman archetype, the architects of that plan had promised that it would soon be completed. One of them had even confessed that he envisioned a future where it grew to the size of a skyscraper. Alyssa thought the man ¨C named Toby ¨C was a bit off in the head, but Carmen had insisted that it was theoretically possible, especially if one of the other Tradesmen reached level ten and took something like an Architect class. For her part, Carmen had chosen the Blacksmith class when she¡¯d been offered the opportunity at level ten. She was the only member of the craftsman population to have reached such heights, but there were a few others who were snapping at the heels of her progress. Once they entered the building, they had to pass through what had become a makeshift market-slash-headquarters, where people tried to organize the settlement¡¯s supplies, defense, and gathering missions. It was a mess, but the building was easily the most secure location within the settlement, and so, it was the natural choice for such operations. Soon, the trio found their way to the second level, where they passed a few old offices on their way to the one Roman had claimed. When they entered, Alyssa found her mind drifting back to what felt like ancient history. Roman looked much the same as he always did, which was to say he was lean, broad-shouldered, and dark haired. But his face bore a few extra lines, no doubt due to worrying about all the people who¡¯d entrusted him with their security. The office, though, was almost identical to what it had been before the world had transformed. The same photos. The same old football memorabilia. The same hunting trophies. It was like stepping out of a time machine. Beside the great wooden slab of a desk was a man Alyssa vaguely recognized, though she couldn¡¯t remember his name. ¡°What¡¯s up, chief?¡± she asked. ¡°Sit,¡± he said, gesturing to the trio of chairs across from him. ¡°We need to talk about something important.¡± Alyssa did as he bade, though she had to keep herself from wilting under the intensity of his gaze. She knew he didn¡¯t blame her for the death of his wife, but that didn¡¯t help much with her guilt. As a result, she found it difficult to look him in the eye. Carmen had no such issues, and she plopped down in the chair, throwing her arm over the back in a display of comfort Alyssa wished she could emulate. Fiona took a seat as well, looking like Carmen¡¯s exact opposite. Where Carmen¡¯s muscles had only grown larger and more defined, Fiona looked like she would blow away at the first hint of a breeze. ¡°Who¡¯s the stiff?¡± Carmen asked, gesturing to the man. ¡°Derek or something, right?¡± He adjusted his glasses and said, ¡°Dirk, actually.¡± ¡°Right. Sorry. I¡¯m terrible with names. So, what¡¯s going on, boss?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Right,¡± Roman said. ¡°Dirk here is a Scholar who just reached level ten.¡± ¡°Okay? He¡¯s not the first,¡± said Alyssa. Indeed, there had been a couple of other Scholars who¡¯d managed to climb to level ten. One had taken a Horticulturist class, while the other had become an Administrator. But both had other choices like Banker, Teacher, and Philosopher. It had become common practice to respect peoples¡¯ choices in regards to archetypes, but it was an undeniable fact that most of the townspeople looked down on Scholars because they offered little in terms of immediate survival. Some had found niches where they could be of use, but quite a few were nothing more than inferior laborers. There was even some sentiment that town should cease providing for them, and if they weren¡¯t already ingrained in the burgeoning society, the idea would have probably gotten a little more traction. Roman had given voice to the idea on more than one occasion, though never where anyone but his inner circle ¨C including Alyssa ¨C could hear. ¡°He has a unique class choice,¡± Roman said. Then, he told Dirk, ¡°Go ahead. Tell them.¡± The bespectacled man once again adjusted his glasses, then cleared his throat before saying, ¡°Right. So, it¡¯s called Envoy of the World Tree. The description is, ¡®You have been chosen to represent the Cult of the World Tree. Doing so will legitimize your settlement and grant limited access to the Network.¡± ¡°Uh¡­what the hell does that mean?¡± Alyssa asked. ¡°That¡¯s a damned good question,¡± Roman answered. ¡°Dirk?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Not precisely. But you know how you kind of get an idea of what a class entails before you pick it?¡± he asked. They all had progressed past level ten, so they nodded. ¡°Well, I get the impression that this one is¡­I don¡¯t know¡­necessary.¡± ¡°How so?¡± asked Fiona, her first contribution. ¡°I have no idea. I just think it can help us survive somehow. The Network sounds like it might be some means of communication, right? So, maybe it will let us call for help.¡± Roman said, ¡°That¡¯s what worries me.¡± Carmen asked, ¡°Calling for help?¡± Alyssa answered before Roman did, saying, ¡°It could be dangerous. I know we haven¡¯t had much trouble with would-be warlords and the like, but we¡¯d be stupid to assume they don¡¯t exist out there. Someone gets a little power, and then¡­well, you know how it goes. It¡¯s been the same throughout human history. There are always people out there who will abuse power to enslave or oppress everyone else. And with everything else¡­I mean, does anyone here think there aren¡¯t bad actors out there? If we start calling for help, we might put a target on our backs.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± Roman said. ¡°Still, we can¡¯t ignore this. For all we know, we¡¯re completely wrong about how this works.¡± ¡°I think we have to do it,¡± said Carmen. Fiona agreed, ¡°We can¡¯t ignore a chance like this. We¡¯re already on the verge of ruin. Maybe this Network will give us a chance to do more than just survive.¡± Roman nodded. ¡°I was thinking the same thing. So, Dirk, we¡¯re going to need you to take the class. But don¡¯t do anything else, okay? Not until we know what we¡¯re dealing with.¡± Dirk nodded. ¡°Alright, here it goes.¡± 1-30. The Network Nothing happened ¨C at least not outwardly, but Dirk¡¯s eyes briefly glazed over. It only lasted a second or two before he refocused. ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± he said. ¡°Well, that was anticlimactic,¡± said Carmen, who, like everyone else, was on the edge of her seat after Dirk took the class. ¡°That¡¯s it? What kind of ability did you get?¡± ¡°Not an ability,¡± he said. ¡°A spell.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s it called?¡± she asked. ¡°Um¡­it¡¯s called Branch of the World Tree,¡± Dirk answered. ¡°It says that it imbues a crystal with a connection to the World Tree Network.¡± ¡°A crystal? What kind of crystal?¡± asked Roman. ¡°You think I know?¡± Dirk responded. ¡°I¡¯m just as much in the dark as you are.¡± Alyssa said, ¡°Okay. So, it seems we need to find a crystal. Any ideas where to find one?¡± ¡°How big?¡± asked Carmen. Everyone looked at Dirk, who clearly did not like the attention. He said, ¡°I have no idea. As large as we can find, I suppose.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ve got something that will work,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Really? What?¡± asked Alyssa. ¡°You remember that trophy we found last month?¡± she answered. ¡°You know, the one with the giant golf ball?¡± ¡°You kept that?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s sparkly.¡± Alyssa was about to respond, but then thought better of it. Instead, she just rolled her eyes. Carmen had always been something of a pack rat. Rarely did she encounter anything she wanted to toss out, and that clearly extended to the gaudy golf trophy they had found in one of the small town¡¯s more affluent houses. ¡°Plus, I thought I could reshape it,¡± she said in a small voice. ¡°Maybe into a dolphin.¡± ¡°A¡­a dolphin?¡± ¡°You do have a birthday coming up,¡± Carmen said, blushing. ¡°And you like dolphins¡­¡± Before Alyssa could respond to her wife¡¯s admission, Fiona cleared her throat and said, ¡°As heartwarming as this is, can we get on with it? Where is this crystal? And if you can reshape it, why not do it in something that¡¯s¡­you know, not a golf ball?¡± ¡°I could just do a generic crystal,¡± Carmen stated. She glanced at Dirk, as she continued, ¡°Like a faceted gem.¡± She held her hands about eight inches apart, adding, ¡°About that big. Think that¡¯d work?¡± ¡°I guess? Maybe. I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You are tons of help,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Anyone ever tell you that? Helpful Dirk. That¡¯s what I¡¯m going to start calling ¨C¡± ¡°Enough, Carmen,¡± said Roman. ¡°He¡¯s doing everything he can.¡± Carmen started to respond ¨C probably in a not-so-courteous way ¨C so Alyssa grabbed her by the arm and tugged her away as she said, ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go get that crystal. Where do you want us to meet you?¡± ¡°In the lobby,¡± Roman said. ¡°Ten-four, chief,¡± Alyssa acknowledged, pulling Carmen out the door. A few minutes later, the pair were in the small storehouse beside Carmen¡¯s forge, where she was muttering under her breath while searching through her materials. Eventually, she found the trophy ¨C a gaudy thing that Alyssa couldn¡¯t believe anyone had ever commissioned ¨C behind a bundle of iron rods. Carmen easily pulled the dimpled sphere free of base of the trophy, then tossed the faux marble aside. ¡°Alright,¡± she said. ¡°You might want to look away.¡± Alyssa was well accustomed to Carmen¡¯s process. She had an ability she could use once a week that allowed her to reshape materials only using her hands. Aside from the significant cooldown, the other major downside was that it created a light bright enough to blind most normal people. To protect herself, Carmen pulled on a pair of old welding goggles, then used the ability. Even with her back turned, Alyssa saw stars, and that was just from the indirect light. She couldn¡¯t imagine looking at it directly. After a couple of minutes, Carmen announced, ¡°Alright. I think that¡¯s the best I can do. Sucks I had to waste my cooldown on something like this, but whatever. For the greater good, right?¡± ¡°For the greater good,¡± Alyssa echoed, grinning slightly as she turned to face her wife. In Carmen¡¯s hands was an oblong gem, faceted like a cut diamond. ¡°Oh¡­pretty.¡± ¡°Would¡¯ve been better as a dolphin.¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t even like dolphins, right?¡± ¡°Sure you do. You had all those figurines.¡± ¡°Because they were my mom¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°Wait¡­really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± ¡°You mean I bought you that ridiculous dolphin blanket for nothing? And those matching slippers¡­¡± ¡°They were¡­uh¡­cute. I guess. And warm, which was the main purpose.¡± ¡°God¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It¡¯s the thought that counts.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what people say when they get shitty gifts,¡± Carmen pointed out. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Well¡­yeah, but¡­I mean¡­¡± ¡°And moving right along¡­¡± ¡°Probably for the best,¡± Alyssa acknowledged. ¡°Come on. Roman¡¯s waiting on us.¡± ¡°He can wait for all I care,¡± groused Carmen. She¡¯d never liked being at anyone¡¯s beck and call, which was why she had sought a field where she didn¡¯t really have to answer to anyone. Notably, she followed Alyssa anyway. After all, like her wife, Carmen suspected that Dirk¡¯s spell would probably be important for the settlement¡¯s development. It only took a couple of minutes for the pair to get back to the lobby, where they found the other three. Roman directed Carmen to set the crystal atop a stool someone had hunted down. When she did just that, they all stepped back, and Roman said to Dirk, ¡°Alright. Do your thing.¡± Dirk stepped forward and held out his hand. As he did, he said, ¡°I really hate that you¡¯re all staring at me¡­¡± ¡°Just do it,¡± said Fiona. He sighed, scrunched up his face, and laid his hand on the crystal. A second later, Alyssa felt something in the air move before the crystal lit up with blue light. Then, it started to morph, tendrils of the crystal growing downward to wrap around the stool. At the same time, the rest of the structure elongated before growing more tendrils. ¡°It looks like a tree¡­¡± Alyssa glanced at Carmen, then back at the glowing crystal. The moment Carmen had said as much, Alyssa saw it as well. And with every passing second, it grew clearer until, at last, the blue light faded. When it did, a crystalline tree was revealed. It was maybe six feet tall, with leafless branches stretching the same distance from the trunk. ¡°Uh¡­what now?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Suddenly, someone new appeared before them. And everyone reacted with predictable aggression. Carmen pulled a hammer from thin air, and Alyssa yanked a dagger from the sheath at her waist. Meanwhile, Roman, who¡¯d taken the Assassin class, disappeared completely. When he reappeared a moment later, he had a pair of knives in hand. Dirk was the only one who didn¡¯t move at all. ¡°Oh, isn¡¯t this embarrassing?¡± said the woman as a throwing knife passed right through her. ¡°I suppose you didn¡¯t expect me to show up, huh?¡± ¡°What are you?¡± demanded Roman. It was a valid question, considering that the woman was clearly inhuman, with light green skin, pointed ears, and hair that looked more like vines than any tresses that Alyssa had ever seen. She wore a thin robe that left very little to the imagination. ¡°Oh. I guess you don¡¯t have wood elves here,¡± she said. ¡°No matter.¡± She cleared her throat, then straightened her back. ¡°I am Numa, and I am a representative of the Cult of the World Tree. You would know all about that, I¡¯m sure.¡± ¡°Uh¡­no,¡± said Dirk. ¡°What? Really? Why did you take the class, then?¡± Numa asked. ¡°They made me.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t make you!¡± Carmen barked. ¡°We suggested.¡± ¡°Ah. This¡­is a nice place you have here,¡± said Numa, looking around. ¡°Very chic.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry that it¡¯s not up to your standards,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°We¡¯ve been a little too busy dealing with the fucking apocalypse to worry about making everything all nice and shiny.¡± ¡°Apocalypse? Oh! This is a newly integrated world! That explains so much,¡± she said. ¡°In that case¡­ahem. Welcome! Your world has been connected to the rest of the universe via the majesty of the World Tree. As an official settlement, you now have access to a host of features based on the level of your Envoy.¡± ¡°He¡¯s level ten,¡± said Alyssa. ¡°What does that get us?¡± ¡°Ah, right. Not much, I¡¯m afraid. You get access to the banking System, limited trade, and¡­well, that¡¯s it. But if he reaches level fifty, you will unlock the teleportation System!¡± she said. ¡°So, that¡¯s something to look forward to, right? We also have guides on a variety of subjects, classes, and, of course, cultivation methods. For a price, obviously.¡± Alyssa addressed the obvious concern, saying, ¡°I¡¯m guessing you don¡¯t take dollars. What currency are we using here? Precious metals? Gems? We don¡¯t have much, but ¨C¡± ¡°Etherium, of course.¡± ¡°Uh¡­what the hell is etherium?¡± ¡°Solidified Ethera in the shape of coins,¡± she said, holding up a small, circular object the size of a half dollar. ¡°Copper is the lowest denomination, and it¡¯s denoted by a¡­well, copper color. Then silver. Gold after that. And finally, platinum. It takes a thousand copper to add up to a silver, a thousand silver to amount to the same value as one gold etherium, then a million gold coins to equal a single platinum. Most people only deal in copper and silver coins.¡± ¡°And where do we get these coins? I don¡¯t suppose there¡¯s a class with a Mint ability, right?¡± said Fiona. ¡°Certainly not,¡± said Numa with an indulgent smile. Alyssa didn¡¯t like how condescending the wood elf was, but then again, she probably had every right to be. As far as Numa was concerned, they were backwards savages. It didn¡¯t matter that they¡¯d had their world turned upside down; their lives were primitive by anyone¡¯s measure. ¡°The answer to your question is the Branch of the World Tree. You merely need to touch it, and you will gain access to the banking System.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have anything to deposit,¡± said Carmen. ¡°Oh, but you don¡¯t understand. Of course you don¡¯t,¡± she said with a patient tone that reminded Alyssa of the way a kindergarten teacher would talk to a class full of five-year-olds. ¡°That¡¯s okay. Each time you kill a hostile creature, it marks you. When you access the Branch of the World Tree, it reads those¡­ah¡­marks and rewards you appropriately. For instance, if you kill a reasonably weak creature, you might be credited with a single copper etherium. The more powerful the enemy, the higher the reward. And, of course, defeating one of the Voxx is even more valuable.¡± ¡°Voxx?¡± ¡°Oh, dear. You don¡¯t know about the Voxx.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Carmen muttered. ¡°The Voxx are denizens of another reality,¡± Numa said. ¡°They infiltrate our universe via dimensional rifts. Some of those rifts are only active for long enough to admit a single Voxx. However, others remain in place until someone goes in and closes them. Then there are the towers, which can be divided into different grades of difficulty. Finally, there are primal realms, though I doubt you need to worry about those right now.¡± Alyssa nodded along as Numa explained it, and once the elf was finished, she asked, ¡°So, we use those coins to buy the stuff you were talking about. What form does it take? And how does it arrive?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Numa said. Then, her already huge eyes widened, and she said, ¡°Oh. I get it now. The information will be presented in the form of leaves, which will grow from this tree. Pluck them, and you will be able to read their contents.¡± Alyssa realized then that she would get far more information by testing it out rather than relying on Numa¡¯s explanations. So, she stepped forward and asked, ¡°I just put my hand on it?¡± ¡°Yes. Go ahead,¡± the elven woman prompted with another condescending smile. Alyssa suppressed the urge to roll her eyes, then put her hand on one of the crystalline branches. Immediately a new window flashed before her eyes:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
732 7 0 0
¡°Okay,¡± said Alyssa. ¡°I guess I have a little over seven silver etherium. What can I get for that?¡± ¡°Seven? How¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re the expert,¡± she said. ¡°So ¨C what can I get?¡± ¡°For now? You¡¯re limited to our basic guides. However, those should be quite sufficient for your current level of advancement,¡± Numa informed her. ¡°Okay? How do I access them?¡± After that, Numa walked her through the process. It boiled down to simply thinking the word, ¡°Market¡±, which pulled up the available guides. The wood elf also taught her how to access the other features of the Branch, but all of those were greyed out. Most, she couldn¡¯t even identify because they were hidden. Still, she selected a dozen different guides, exhausting the limits of her currency. A few of them were for Carmen, and they detailed different crafting methods. However, the ones that really excited Alyssa were the ones meant to teach her about cultivation. ¡°I think this is going to change everything,¡± Alyssa said, pulling away. The elf gave her an indulgent smile, saying, ¡°Of course. That¡¯s the point.¡± 1-31. Invaders Elijah heaved a rock above his head, pushing as high as he could. As soon as his elbows locked out, he dropped it back to the ground. Once it settled into the soft, spongy forest floor, he bent down, his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. If he¡¯d had to guess, the rock weighed somewhere around a hundred-and-fifty pounds. Maybe two-hundred, depending on the density. Lifting that kind of weight might not have seemed all that impressive, but given his relatively small size, he was satisfied with the results of his training. Once he¡¯d passed into double digits with his Strength and Constitution attributes, he¡¯d been forced to expand upon his normal workout routine. Before, he¡¯d relied on something he referred to as wilderness crossfit, which included lots of calisthenics and endurance training, but now, if he wanted to push his limits, he needed to lift increasingly heavy things. And considering there were no weight sets of exercise machines lying around, he was forced to use the abundant rocks he found on the shore of his island. Even so, over the past three weeks since he¡¯d closed the minor dimensional rift, he¡¯d made no verifiable progress in his attributes. And he was beginning to think that he never would ¨C not using his free points in the endeavor, at least. Still, even though he didn¡¯t expect to see anything, he opened his status.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 8
Archetype Druid
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 11
Dexterity 10
Constitution 11
Ethera 15
Regeneration 13
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
The moment he saw that he¡¯d gained a point in Strength, Elijah pumped his fist in the air and let out an inarticulate yell of satisfaction. It wasn¡¯t much, and he didn¡¯t think one point of Strength would even be noticeable. However, the fact that he could still train his attributes meant that he had another path he could follow. So, when he headed back to the Grove, he was in understandably high spirits that were buoyed even further when he saw that Nerthus was awake. ¡°Awake, huh?¡± Elijah said as he approached the Ancestral Tree. ¡°I do not sleep. I must go dormant while I process the ambient Ethera I absorb.¡± ¡°Sounds like sleep to me,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°But call it what you want.¡± ¡°Pardon, but you seem to be in high spirits. May I ask why?¡± asked the tree spirit, who was sitting on the tree¡¯s lowest branch, swinging his root-like legs back and forth. Elijah shrugged, then answered, ¡°I just found out that I can continue to gain attribute points with training.¡± ¡°Of course you can.¡± ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°I did. Do not rely on it, though,¡± Nerthis advised. ¡°The higher you climb, the more effort it will take to gain even one attribute point.¡± Elijah sat on the mossy ground and leaned back on his hands. As he did so, he embraced the Ethera in his core, channeled it through his soul, and empowered Touch of Nature. The healing power of the spell washed through him, soothing the fatigue of his workout. So long as he only wanted to suffuse his body with formless healing, the spell was almost autonomous, and it didn¡¯t require much thought after activation. However, if he needed to heal a specific injury, he¡¯d need to focus. ¡°How do they work, anyway? The attribute points. I mean, what is the relative value of one point?¡± he asked. He¡¯d already surmised that ten points seemed to be the natural peak of human ability; however, gaining his eleventh point in Strength didn¡¯t seem to push him into superhuman levels. Nerthus answered, ¡°At ten, you are indeed at the peak of your race¡¯s normal potential. That is not to say that some members of your race haven¡¯t already exceeded that potential; they undoubtedly have. It is just exceedingly rare. In any case, your gains will continue at the same rate with each additional attribute point. However, you must understand that it is all relative.¡± That made some sense to Elijah. When he had first washed ashore, gaining a single point in Strength was an enormous boon. But even if each subsequent point meant the same gains, the increase wasn¡¯t as dramatic. ¡°I get it,¡± he said. ¡°When you can only lift forty pounds, suddenly being able to lift twenty more seems a lot bigger than if you started at two-hundred. The gains are the same, but relatively speaking, one represents a fifty percent increase while the other is only like ten percent.¡± ¡°Just so.¡± A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. So, Elijah reasoned he wouldn¡¯t be throwing cars like a comic book superhero anytime soon. Disappointing, but it was also somewhat comforting. After all, he hadn¡¯t forgotten those people at the top of the leaderboard. If the gains were percentage based, he¡¯d have no chance of standing up to any of them. But if each point defined a specific value, he wasn¡¯t quite as far behind as he¡¯d thought. Still, some of the people on the ladder were closing in on level thirty, which meant that they probably had more than forty more attribute points to work with. If someone went all in one attribute, the results could be dramatic. He said as much to Nerthus, ending with, ¡°If I run into someone who spent all their points in Strength, I won¡¯t stand a chance.¡± ¡°You will be less disadvantaged than you believe,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Without Constitution, they will quickly run out of energy. Without Dexterity, they will have no control. And without Ethera or Regeneration, their spells, techniques, and abilities will be limited in scope.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying a well-rounded approach is better than specialization.¡± ¡°For you, yes. If you had allies, that would not be the case. Once you choose your class and specialization, your attribute allocation will become more specialized.¡± Elijah wanted to ask for further explanation, but he knew it would do no good. The tree spirit¡¯s restrictions had eased somewhat since Elijah had bonded with the Grove, but Nerthus was still limited as to what he could reveal. Frustratingly, classes and specializations fell under the umbrella of taboo topics, and no matter how often Elijah asked, Nerthus steadfastly refused to reveal any details. Soon enough, Nerthus retreated back into the Ancestral Tree, citing a need to rest, which was just as well, because Elijah had plenty of tasks he still needed to accomplish. So, after Touch of Nature had renewed his body, he spent a couple of hours working on his garden. The berry bushes had already borne fruit, proving the value of Nature¡¯s Bounty. So, he¡¯d doubled down, and over the past week, he¡¯d expanded the garden. Hopefully, his efforts would be rewarded. As he sat between the bushes, he glanced toward the three trees that would eventually become his home. Already, they¡¯d twisted together so thoroughly that he had trouble telling where one ended and the others began. More, the branches had begun to grow outward in what Nerthus assured him would become the floor of his new home. He couldn¡¯t wait for it to be finished. Since spring had come, sleeping outside wasn¡¯t as torturous as it had been in winter, but Elijah still found himself missing a roof over his head. Especially when it rained, which was a fairly frequent occurrence. After he was satisfied that his garden was well-saturated with his Ethera, Elijah gathered his fishing equipment and woven baskets and headed toward his fishing hole. With the onset of spring, the fish had come back to shallower waters, and he intended to supplement his diet accordingly. But as he drew closer to the shore, his calm day was interrupted by the sound of agonized screaming. Elijah reacted on instinct, sprinting through the forest until he came to the rocky shoreline where he saw a battle playing out. On one side were a trio of short figures ¨C what looked like a gnome, dwarf, and a green-skinned goblin. And on the other was the panther. The gnome darted toward the panther, a pair of daggers in hand. She moved so quickly that Elijah could scarcely track her movements. To him, she looked like a blur as she crashed into the panther, where she repeatedly stabbed the big cat in the ribs. Before it could react, she dashed away. A second later, the dwarf rammed his shield into the panther¡¯s face, sending it staggering backward. But the panther was only stunned for a brief moment before it pounced on the dwarf. The dwarf raised its shield, shouted something unintelligible, and a second later, a translucent half-dome manifested before him. The panther crashed into it, and with the sound of breaking glass, the half-dome shattered into a million pieces. Each piece homed in on the panther, cutting into its glossy black hide and sending gouts of blood splattering across the rocky shore. But the cat paid its injuries no mind, and only an instant later, it raked its claws across the dwarf¡¯s face. Meanwhile, the gnome had returned to stab the distracted cat a dozen times in the space of a single second before springing backwards in an acrobatic flip. The retreat was just in time to avoid the panther¡¯s reprisal, and when it tried to attack the gnome, its claws found nothing but air. The moment it turned, the wounded dwarf slammed his shield into the panther¡¯s side, sending it skidding across the rocks. Meanwhile, the third member of the party raised a shining staff into the sky, and a beam of light descended upon the dwarf. Elijah gaped as he saw the dwarf¡¯s wounds heal in seconds. The cat recovered from the dwarf¡¯s shield slam, and demonstrating an intelligence no animal should have, pounced on the healer. However, when the panther drew close to the goblin, it found that the dwarf had somehow interposed himself between the two. It was as if he¡¯d simply teleported between them, and as a result, the cat once again took a shield to its face. Like that, the battle continued, and Elijah watched as, slowly but surely, the trio wore the powerful panther down. After a few minutes, its glossy hide was wet with blood, and its agility had been almost completely negated by multiple injuries. Still, it fought on. The problem was the dwarf. Every time the cat targeted one of the seemingly less durable members of the group, he was there to shield them from the panther¡¯s attacks. That was why, when Elijah chose to act, he aimed in his direction. The panther once again pounced toward the healer, and Elijah watched as the dwarf readied himself to intervene. Just before he took that first step, Elijah cast Grasping Roots. A half-dozen thick, spiny vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around his stubby legs. It only took him a moment to pull free, but Elijah¡¯s spell caused just enough delay that the cat finally reached the healer. The results were explosively bloody. The panther ripped through the goblin, sending a geyser of red blood splattering across the rocky shore. The goblin tried to cast a spell, but he was far too slow to complete the cast. He fell only a few moments later, well before the dwarf could extricate himself from Elijah¡¯s roots. That¡¯s when Elijah felt something rip through his hip, the impact sending him spinning away and to the ground. As he skidded to a stop, he saw the gnome standing over him, a murderous gleam in her abnormally huge eyes. She stalked forward, absently twirling a wicked set of daggers as she spat, ¡°You¡¯ll pay for that, human.¡± Elijah tried to clamber to his feet, but she dashed forward, peppering him with wounds as she stabbed him a half-dozen times in the space of an instant. He cried out, blindly swinging his staff, and, through blind luck, managed to connect. The gnome, who was barely the size of a preadolescent child, went staggering to the side. She quickly recovered, but by that point, Elijah had already empowered another cast of Grasping Roots. Vines once again burst forth from the rocky ground, snaking around her legs and giving Elijah enough time to channel Ethera through his Staff of Natural Harmony as he cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning burst forth from the end of the weapon and crashed into her. The momentum of the spell sent her flying through the air to collide with the warrior who was still engaged in his own fight against the panther. The pair fell in a tangled heap, which gave the panther the opening it needed to swipe its claws across gnome¡¯s throat. That attack opened the panther up to a counter from the dwarf, who bellowed something unintelligible before slamming his axe down on the panther¡¯s shoulder. It bit deep, and the panther let out an anguished whimper as it was driven to the ground. Elijah aimed another cast of Storm¡¯s Fury at the dwarf, who took it far better than the gnome had. Instead of being thrown from his feet, he remained anchored to the ground. Then, still smoking from the bolt of lightning, he turned his attention toward Elijah. Armed with a shield and axe, he strode forward. Holding his staff before him, Elijah backed away. He still had enough Ethera to cast Storm¡¯s Fury a couple more times, but after that, he¡¯d be done. ¡°Who are ye?¡± demanded the dwarf, his accent rendering his words barely intelligible. ¡°Uh¡­¡±
1-32. The Cost of Improvement As Elijah knelt on the beach, he stared at the slain panther. But he didn¡¯t really see it. Instead, all he saw was what he¡¯d just done. Strangely, he didn¡¯t feel the least bit guilty about the people he¡¯d helped kill. They were invaders and defilers, and if he wanted to protect his island and the Grove, killing them was necessary. However, he couldn¡¯t help but keenly feel the loss of the panther who had, on more than one occasion, saved his life. Was it silly to mourn the loss of a wild animal that, at any point, might have killed him? Maybe. But in those last moments, he had seen the creature¡¯s mind. He¡¯d felt its soul. And in doing so, he¡¯d forged a brief connection. Perhaps he was simply anthropomorphizing an animal, but as he looked at the panther, he felt a kinship that, in the end, had been reciprocated. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t realized just how much he¡¯d leaned on the big cat¡¯s presence. Sure, it wasn¡¯t precisely a companion, but it had been with him since the very beginning. They had protected one another. And now, it was dead. It took Elijah a long time to get past the poignant stabs of grief racing through his mind, but eventually, he forced himself to stand. As he did so, he felt a bolt of agony carve itself through his torso, and he realized that he¡¯d been ignoring a serious wound in his side. Thankfully, his ill-advised moment of grief had given his Ethera the chance to regenerate, so he was free to use Touch of Nature to heal the injury ¨C at least enough to ensure his survival. He did so, and the wound stopped bleeding. It would take a few more casts to completely heal himself, but he didn¡¯t have the Ethera to power such an effort. Clutching his staff, he turned his attention to the three bodies. They had all been mauled beyond recognition, so Elijah didn¡¯t see much point in truly examining them. However, he wasn¡¯t above looting their corpses. For months, he¡¯d been making do with homemade tools, so he was more than willing to plunder whatever valuables they had on them. Of course, making that decision and actually following through with it were two very different things. While he might¡¯ve been fine with killing the intruders, the process of rifling through the pockets of a bunch of corpses was a grim one, and by the time he¡¯d finished, he¡¯d emptied the contents of his stomach more than once. But the rewards, he thought, were worth that discomfort. Glancing at the panther¡¯s corpse, he amended that thought. He¡¯d have given everything if the panther could have survived just a little longer. But that wasn¡¯t how things had turned out. Not before whatever had transformed the world, and certainly not after. If he could soldier on through the deaths of his parents, he¡¯d get through the loss of the panther. To distract himself, he took stock of his looted treasures, which consisted of a couple of leather pouches, the dwarf¡¯s axe, two high-quality steel daggers, and the warrior¡¯s shield. None of the goblin healer¡¯s possessions had survived the panther¡¯s mauling intact, though Elijah took the time to remove his robes. He did the same with the other two invaders¡¯ clothing, which gave him plenty of material. It was all too small to fit him, so he had no idea what he intended to do with it, but surviving in the wilderness was about resourcefulness. And he wasn¡¯t going to turn down a ready source of good cloth. The same could be said for the rest of their attire, and he picked up a couple of leather belts as well. In the end, it was a treasure trove, but one that had cost far more than it was worth. Sighing, Elijah set about the task of getting rid of the bodies. The panther, he took the time to bury, marking the grave with a small cairn made from the large rocks he found on the beach. It took a while, considering he had no tools, but he managed it all the same. Once he was finished, he just stared at the grave with a forlorn sense of sadness that he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d get over anytime soon. Disposing of the invaders¡¯ corpses was much easier, and after he¡¯d toted the small corpses to what he¡¯d begun to call Crab Beach, he simply threw them to the opportunistic scavengers. From experience, he knew the huge crabs would eat their way through the bodies in a matter of hours. It was not a respectful end, but then again, Elijah didn¡¯t much respect them. Part of that was because of what he¡¯d seen across the strait; the settlement had continued to grow, and the coalition of goblins, dwarves, and gnomes had likewise continued to despoil their environment. However, if he was honest with himself, most of Elijah¡¯s ire came from the fact that they had killed the panther. Did it matter that the cat had probably attacked them first? No. Not really. After all, he¡¯d coexisted with the panther for months, and it had never tried to kill him. Following from that was the perception that there must¡¯ve been a reason for the battle that had ensued. Whatever the case, the damage was done, and he needed to adjust accordingly. So, he spent the next hour searching for the means by which they¡¯d reached his island. And soon enough, he found a small rowboat, which he pulled onto shore and stashed near the tree line where it wouldn¡¯t wash away with the tide. After that, he returned to the Grove, where he settled down to go over the battle¡¯s other gains.
Congratulations! You have reached level nine, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
That notification was quickly followed by another:
Congratulations! You have reached level ten, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points?
And unexpectedly, a third:
Congratulations! Upon reaching level ten, you are eligible to choose a class. Keep in mind that this decision will define your future. Choose wisely.
Then, there was a final notification:
Error. You may not gain accumulate kill energy until you have chosen a class. Please choose a class to progress further.
¡°Godammit!¡± he growled, slapping his hand against the mossy turf around the Ancestral Tree. How much kill energy had he lost? Now, more than ever, he needed to progress quickly and efficiently, and through no fault of his own, he¡¯d wasted at least a level or two worth of energy. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. Elijah¡¯s frustration finally spilled over, and he let out a wordless scream of pure anger. After spending months fighting tooth and nail just to survive the winter, he¡¯d lost his protector. More than that, he¡¯d set himself firmly at odds with the only people around. He was fine with that choice, but it was just one more issue to add to all the pressure on his shoulders. How was he supposed to survive if he didn¡¯t know any of the rules? But it really wouldn¡¯t have mattered, would it? Even if he¡¯d known that reaching level ten would require him to choose a class, he couldn¡¯t have changed anything. Still, it was frustrating, knowing what could have been. Then again, the kill energy he could¡¯ve earned from the day¡¯s actions certainly wouldn¡¯t have let him catch up to the people on the ladder. Those weren¡¯t his enemies, though. Aside from a salve for his competitive spirit, catching up to the people on the ladder wouldn¡¯t really affect him. But the trio he¡¯d helped kill ¨C they were a different story. Not only had they been well organized, but at an individual level, they¡¯d all outpaced him in terms of power. He had no notion of what levels they were, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were well beyond him. So, he needed to get stronger, and fast. The first step on that journey was to choose a class. So, he moved on to the next notification:
Please choose a class from the listed options. Be aware that you may delay this choice until better options are available. However, you will not progress until you have chosen.
If his need to progress wasn¡¯t so urgent, Elijah might have taken the System up on that opportunity. The idea of getting better choices was certainly attractive enough to delay his own development. However, the looming threat of the settlement across the strait made it an impossibility. Further restricting his choices was the reality that, without the panther, his island had just gotten a lot more dangerous. After all, he¡¯d seen the evidence of the cat¡¯s efforts every time he¡¯d stumbled across one of the Voxx bodies. Now, without the panther patrolling the island, the responsibility for keeping it clear of the detestable creatures was left to him. So, Elijah moved on to his choices, the first of which both excited and terrified him.
Class: Animist The animist is a shapeshifter who can take on the characteristics of various beasts. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Create a bond with a guardian beast. First Ability: Shape of the Predator Attribute Allocation: Balanced Compatibility: 99%
Elijah had been using magic since the very first day he¡¯d arrived on the island. He¡¯d healed himself from injury countless times. He had also cured himself of cancer. So, he thought he was used to the idea of magic being real. But upon reading a notification that told him that, if he chose that class, he could transform into an animal, he was taken aback. As such, it took him a few moments before he could look at the notification objectively. The first thing he noticed was that his compatibility with the class was incredibly high. How the System came up with that number, he had no idea, but a similar notification had given him his druid archetype. And that had worked out well. So, he had to believe that the System knew what it was doing. Other than that, it didn¡¯t really give him much in the way of information. Without a description, the name of the first ability, Shape of the Predator, didn¡¯t really tell him much about what he could expect from the class. However, he did note that the attribute allocation was supposed to be balanced, whatever that meant. He re-read the description a few more times before moving on to the next class¡¯s notification:
Class: Fury The fury is a spellcaster who harnesses the power of nature for offensive effect. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Kill ten (10) creatures of a higher level with offensive spells. First Ability: Cyclone Attribute Allocation: Ethera, Regeneration Compatibility: 88%
The description for the fury was a little more informative than the one for the animist, and Elijah took it to mean that the class would give him more spells like Storm¡¯s Fury. The attribute allocation seemed to support that notion. Certainly, the idea of being a nature wizard had a certain appeal. However, his recent fight against the trio of invaders gave him some insight into what that might mean for his future. Seeing the panther rip through the healer so easily had certainly left a mark on his mind. If he chose to become a Fury, would that happen to him? The goblin healer had been very effective, so long as he¡¯d had someone to protect him, but the moment he hadn¡¯t, the panther had ripped him apart without issue. And Elijah didn¡¯t have some shield-bearing warrior to protect him. He was all alone, which meant that choosing the path of a dedicated spellcaster seemed like it might be the wrong way to go. But then again, he kept going back to the listed ability, Cyclone. He¡¯d seen the aftermath of plenty of tornados. What if that spell would let him summon something like that? The settlement across the strait would be gone in an instant. Shaking his head, Elijah moved on to the final choice:
Class: Nurturer The nurturer is a spellcaster who harnesses the power of renewal to promote growth and healing. Required Archetype: Druid Required Achievements: Completely heal a higher level entity from near death. First Ability: Flower of Regrowth Attribute Allocation: Ethera, Regeneration Compatibility: 72%
The moment Elijah read the name of the class, he knew what was in store, and the description did nothing to change his mind. It was a healer, not unlike the one he¡¯d just watched die. Perhaps there was more to it than that ¨C in fact, he was certain that would be the case ¨C but it was similar enough that he didn¡¯t have to think about it too much before he rejected the class. If he wasn¡¯t stuck on a deserted island with dangers all around him, Elijah would have probably picked the Nurturer as his class. The idea of healing people was a rewarding one. And given that he¡¯d gained levels by healing the panther, it was a solid way to progress as well. However, it came with the significant downside of being extremely vulnerable. Elijah couldn¡¯t afford that, so he immediately struck the third option from his list of choices. ¡°Who am I kidding?¡± he muttered to himself. He¡¯d made his choice the moment he¡¯d read the description of the Animist. It wasn¡¯t because he relished the idea of turning into an animal. That was interesting and all, but the real reason he picked animist was because he¡¯d seen the power the panther could bring to bear. On top of that, the attribute allocation was balanced, suggesting that it would be a ¡°jack of all trades¡± sort of situation. Which was exactly what he needed, considering that he was all alone and had no one to depend on but himself. So, without further deliberation, he chose his class.
You have chosen to become an Animist (Druid archetype).
A few more notifications popped up, but Elijah ignored them. Instead, he just stared at the one confirming his class, hoping all the while that he¡¯d made the right choice. Because if he hadn¡¯t, his chances of survival were slim. ¡°Alright,¡± he said to himself, clapping his hands together in anticipation. ¡°Let¡¯s see what these new spells are.¡± 1-33. The Shape of the Predator Elijah opened his spellbook and looked at the new additions:
Archetype: Druid The druid is the defender, ally, and cultivator of nature. Features bonuses to natural Regeneration, energy density, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Scholar], [Nature]
Spells
Touch of Nature Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally.
Snaring Roots Call upon nature to summon a snarl of roots to bind your enemies¡¯ movements.
One With Nature Draw power from nature.
Eyes of the Eagle Briefly enhance your eyesight with the power of a fearsome raptor.
Ancestral Circle Create a place of power.
Nature¡¯s Bounty Encourage the growth of plants.
Storm¡¯s Fury Call forth the power of a storm and harness its might.
Essence of the Boar Harness the stamina of the boar, increasing Constitution attribute by five (5) points. Usable on allies.
Essence of the Monkey Adopt the coordination of the monkey, increasing Dexterity attribute by five (5) points. Usable on allies.
Class: Animist The animist is a shapeshifter who can take on the characteristics of various beasts.
Shape of the Predator Take on the shape of a mighty hunter, vastly increasing your Dexterity and Strength attributes and giving a minor increase to Constitution. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Predator is active.
Despite the lingering feelings of sadness, a sense of excitement washed over Elijah when he saw his new spells. Essence of the Boar and Essence of the Monkey were both impressive enough, but his eyes were immediately drawn to Shape of the Predator. Still, he forced himself to focus on what he considered the more mundane spells. Essence of the Boar would increase his Constitution attribute by five points, while Essence of the Monkey would serve to do the same for his Dexterity attribute. The real question was whether he could keep them both active at the same time. Before, he¡¯d been able to intuit that keeping One With Nature active was the limit of his current abilities, but now that he¡¯d gained a class ¨C or maybe it was because he¡¯d gotten a couple of levels ¨C he felt that those limits had been expanded. So, without further ado, he cast Essence of the Boar. He immediately felt the effects as his fatigue washed away. Sure enough, when he opened his status, he saw that his attributes had increased according to the spell¡¯s description. That success prompted him to cast Essence of the Monkey as well. However, that was when he got the first disappointment. He couldn¡¯t keep One With Nature, Essence of the Boar, and Essence of the Monkey active at the same time. Two seemed to be the limit. Which presented something of a conundrum. Both Essence of the Boar and Essence of the Monkey gave quantifiable increases, while One With Nature was a bit more nebulous. Still, just because it wasn¡¯t reflected in his status didn¡¯t mean that it didn¡¯t come with benefits. One With Nature made him feel stronger, faster, and more durable, even if those gains weren¡¯t represented in his status. So, the way he saw it, the choice was whether or not he wanted an all-around increase from One With Nature coupled with the specific increase that came with either Essence of the Boar or Essence of the Monkey. Or he could just remove all mystery from the equation and use his two newest spells to gain quantifiable increases in his attributes. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. Elijah sat there for a long while as he considered the pros and cons of each combination. But in the end, he decided that he would always keep One With Nature active, largely because it didn¡¯t just come with benefits to his physical abilities. Rather, it also came with a more esoteric connection to the natural world that he¡¯d begun to take for granted. Without it, he knew he¡¯d feel a little lost. As for his second available enhancement slot, he chose to use Essence of the Boar as a default, then switch to Essence of the Monkey as needed. That would protect him from any surprises by increasing his durability while giving him the flexibility to respond to threats according to the situation. Satisfied with that strategy, Elijah shifted his focus to his status. Or more importantly, to the free attribute points he¡¯d yet to allocate. However, to his surprise, he only had four unspent points. Frustrated, he cycled through his various notifications until he saw one he¡¯d somehow ignored after choosing his class:
Class: Animist automatic attribute allocation: +1 STR, DEX, CONS, ETH, REG
¡°What the¡­¡± Elijah trailed off as he realized what it meant. His days of being able to guide his attribute allocation were over. Instead, because of his class, he¡¯d get a single point in every attribute each time he gained a level. While that made sense, he found that he was a little disappointed. After all, he didn¡¯t like the idea of losing control over his own development. Still, it only took him a few seconds to realize that that wasn¡¯t necessarily the case. When he¡¯d closed the minor dimensional rift, he¡¯d been awarded three free attribute points. So, if he wanted to keep a handle on his own progression, he would need to continue to do those sorts of things. Which was probably going to happen sooner rather than later, considering that the panther was now dead. Now, the island didn¡¯t have any guardians left besides Elijah himself. He had no idea if the cat had been closing those rifts itself, but Elijah suspected that that was the case. Suddenly, he started to realize that his progression had just become far more important than ever before. He needed levels as well as the attributes and additional spells that would come with them. Otherwise, he was going to be overrun by the Voxx, the invaders from across the strait, or both. First, though, he needed to allocate his four free attribute points. To him, it felt like an easy decision. He had the means to augment his physical attributes, either directly via Essence of the Boar and Monkey or indirectly by keeping One With Nature active. And it stood to reason that, as he leveled, he¡¯d gain more enhancement slots as well as the spells to increase his other attributes. But so far, his limiting factor had been Ethera. There was an argument to be made that Regeneration was just as valuable, but Elijah found himself discounting that line of thinking. If it came down to a fight, there just wasn¡¯t enough time for Regeneration to make much of a difference. However, being able to cast one more Storm¡¯s Fury could end up being the difference between life and death. So, he chose to allocate all four points into Ethera, thus increasing the number of spells he could use before his core ran dry.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 10
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 12
Dexterity 11
Constitution 12
Ethera 20
Regeneration 14
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
Looking at his status, Elijah felt a deep sense of pride. It felt like an eternity had passed since he¡¯d washed ashore, and in that time, he¡¯d been entirely remade. Certainly, he was still a long way from the superhuman levels that he¡¯d imagined when he¡¯d first accepted that magic was part of his new reality, but he was well on his way. After letting a long sigh, he moved his focus to the most important item on his list. He opened the spell¡¯s description:
Shape of the Predator Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 10 Take on the shape of a mighty hunter (Mist Panther), vastly increasing your Dexterity and Strength attributes and giving a minor increase to Constitution. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Predator is active.
Contagion Physical attacks made while in Predator form also inflict a minor infection.
¡°Wow,¡± Elijah breathed as he read the description. He would have been happy with the transformation alone, so he was ecstatic to find that another ability was included. He didn¡¯t know if it was just a characteristic of being a Mist Panther or if it was awarded as part of his Animist class progression, but he figured that time would answer that question. For now, he was eager to finally use the spell that he expected to define his class going forward. So, without further ado, he stood, then dragged Ethera from his core while focusing on Shape of the Predator. By that point, he¡¯d recovered all of his Ethera, so his core was entirely full. However, the moment he cast the spell, that changed. His Ethera rushed out of him in a tidal wave, draining every last ounce of the energy and leaving it absolutely bare. However, Elijah barely noticed the headache that inevitably followed. Instead, he was entirely focused on the transformation that came soon after. Unlike what he might¡¯ve expected, it didn¡¯t hurt. Nor was it pleasant. It was just odd, feeling his bones rearrange themselves. He fell to all fours as his body continued to change. His organs shifted, his muscles reformed, and midnight fur sprouted all over his body. And after about thirty seconds, the transformation finished. The moment it did, Elijah was overwhelmed by his own senses. He could smell everything. The small animals who made their home in the glade. The nearby bushes of his garden. The tree itself. He even smelled an acrid scent that he immediately interpreted as belonging to his human body. But it wasn¡¯t just his sense of smell that had been enhanced. He also heard things he never knew were even there. The slight chitter of a squirrel that was at least a hundred yards away. The flap of a bird¡¯s wings. The scurrying insects underground. It was everything Elijah could do not to lose himself amidst the cavalcade of sensory input. His vision and sense of touch had been affected as well, though not to the degree that his sense of smell and hearing had been enhanced. He collapsed to his stomach, burying his face between his paws as he struggled to adapt. If he hadn¡¯t already experienced something similar when he¡¯d cultivated his Neophyte soul, he never would have been able to endure it. However, because he¡¯d done so, it only took him a few hours to come to terms with his new, much stronger senses. When he finally did, he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at just how much he¡¯d never noticed before. For a while, he just lay there, his tail swaying back and forth as he took it all in. Then, at last, he pushed himself to his feet and took his first steps as a Mist Panther. To his surprise, his body seemed to move of its own accord. Or rather, like he¡¯d been a panther all his life. A good thing, too, because he had not relished the idea of learning how to walk on four legs. But now, he could focus on everything else. Without further delay, Elijah took off across the glade, moving far more quickly than he¡¯d ever moved in all his life. When he reached the tree line, he bounded forward, kicked off one of the sturdy trees, then hit the ground running. That¡¯s when he noticed an enticing scent. He followed it easily, and soon enough, it started getting stronger. With every step, the smell became more potent until, at last, he found the culprit. Without even thinking, Elijah pounced on the fat hare, clamping down on the back of its neck with his mighty jaws. Then, he shook it, breaking its neck. Elijah didn¡¯t even realize what he was doing until he¡¯d already consumed half of that rabbit. But when his mind caught up to his wild instincts, he recoiled. A moment later, he mentally cancelled the spell. His reversion to humanity took a lot longer than his transformation into a panther, and when it finally completed, the headache he¡¯d felt coming when he¡¯d first cast Shape of the Predator returned in force. When it did, he collapsed onto his rear and just sat there, burying his head in his hands until he¡¯d regained enough Ethera to take the edge off. Once he felt a little better, he looked around and realized that he¡¯d traveled a lot further than he¡¯d intended. As a Mist Panther, he¡¯d moved so quickly, and his mind had focused in on stalking the rabbit so thoroughly that he had completely lost track of anything else. That would be a danger he¡¯d have to mitigate in the future. The same could be said about the instincts that came with his transformation. It was perfectly natural for a panther to kill and eat raw animals. But for a human being? That was something entirely different, and the memory of that rabbit¡¯s raw flesh between his teeth twisted his stomach into knots. Finally, the spell itself was incredibly Ethera hungry, draining every bit of the magical energy from his core. So, it was clear that he wouldn¡¯t be rapidly transforming forms anytime soon. In fact, the next time he used Shape of the Predator, he intended to remain that way for a while, if just to get his proverbial money¡¯s worth out of the spell. All in all, though, Elijah was impressed with the ability. It had performed far better than he could have expected, and the sense of power he¡¯d felt as a mist panther was overwhelming. Perhaps if the spell had been available when he¡¯d stumbled upon the battle between the trio of invaders and the island¡¯s guardian, then the panther might have survived. Elijah sighed. That wasn¡¯t fair. He had no reason to feel guilty. He had done everything he could, and even if he¡¯d had access to Shape of the Predator, it wouldn¡¯t have made much difference. The invaders were simply too strong. Or rather, he was too weak. But that was going to have to change. So, he pushed himself to his feet and returned to the Grove. There, he gathered his staff and set off toward the stream so he could wash the taste of raw rabbit out of his mouth. After that, he would come up with a plan that would hopefully shore up some of his weaknesses. 1-34. The Black Sheep Eason Cabbot ran his hand along the thick bristles of his blood red mohawk as he sat at the desk he¡¯d been given. Ostensibly, he could have commandeered any building in the budding settlement of Ironshore ¨C that was what his contract had said, at least ¨C but he knew better than to make any power moves. For one, it wouldn¡¯t do much good. He was just the head of security, and as such, the miners and other settlers wouldn¡¯t follow him. For another, he had no aspirations of rule. Instead, he¡¯d come to this out-of-the-way backwater of a newly integrated planet with one goal: to get strong enough to return home and claim his rightful place. But it wasn¡¯t going well. Certainly, there were opportunities for him and the mercenaries he¡¯d brought with him. No restrictions on hunting. No guards to keep him from challenging any interdimensional rift he came across. And the local wildlife was just that ¨C wild. Back home on Norat, everything was so restrictive. The rifts were well-guarded, and the wildlife had long since been tamed. The only way to get ahead was to join a guild ¨C or to convince his parents that he was worth their investment. But that had never been possible for him. The sixteenth son of a minor noble house, gaining any degree of power was a tall hill to climb. Moreso because he¡¯d taken a class that painted him as an uncontrollable barbarian. In his defense, though, Berserker was the most powerful class he¡¯d been offered, and it wasn¡¯t even close. He would¡¯ve had to have been a fool to take any of the others. His parents didn¡¯t see it that way, though. Nor did his siblings. And as a result, Cabbot had been forced to take drastic measures ¨C like joining a mercenary group called Black Sky and buying passage to the newly integrated world unimaginatively dubbed Earth. When he¡¯d arrived only a few months before, he¡¯d found that the settlement had only barely been developed. However, the miners had found signs that there was true iron beneath the local mountains, so there was every indication that Ironshore would turn out to be a profitable settlement. Still, Cabbot didn¡¯t care about that. Certainly, he would gain a bonus based on the town¡¯s profits, but it was a pittance compared to what he¡¯d need to get ahead. That was why he sought a shortcut. And his eyes were set on the mist-wreathed island across the strait, which was why he¡¯d sent a scouting team over. They¡¯d been gone for three days, which meant that they were already two past due. He rose, hopping down from the chair. It had been made for a much taller dwarf, and so, it was about two times too large for his diminutive stature. He¡¯d commissioned some gnome-sized furniture, but the local carpenter was a busy goblin with a wait list a mile long. It would take time to fill Cabbot¡¯s order, and in the meantime, he had to make do with what he had. Which infuriated him. Didn¡¯t these people know who he was? But the answer to that question was a resounding no. To them, he was just the mercenary they¡¯d hired to see to their security. Did it matter that he¡¯d purposely stunted his own progression in hopes of securing just such an opportunity? If he¡¯d let himself gain any more levels, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to make the trip at all. So, he was stuck at level twenty-five. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t remain at that level for much longer. Already, he¡¯d started to participate in local hunts, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before they started finding minor dimensional rifts. And with any luck, they¡¯d discover a tower. Not only would the reward for a first clear be significant, but it would also be a perfect opportunity for him and his most trusted subordinates to quickly progress. None of the local non-combatants knew that, though. And even if they did, it wouldn¡¯t matter. They had all the power. All the money. Sure, that would change if he ever pushed ahead and became an Ascendent, but that was a long way off. Most fighters never sniffed such a lofty status. But Cabbot¡¯s parents had, even reaching the next tier of existence as Demigods. Two of his siblings were well on their way to that goal as well. Not Cabbot, though. His parents wouldn¡¯t invest that kind of etherium or political capital into his progression, and so, he was forced to seek out other means of advancement. He would prove them wrong, though. All it would take was one lucky encounter, and he¡¯d blow them all out of the water. Because while he hadn¡¯t gotten the same opportunities as his siblings ¨C or even his contemporaries in the other noble houses ¨C Cabbot had long known that he was special. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been offered such a powerful class. Sure, it came with weaknesses, but he could deal with those. Mostly. But it was fine. There were always going to be growing pains. And if it meant having killed a few of the wrong people while in a murderous rage that had begun as a bar fight, so be it. That was another reason he¡¯d come to Ironshore. He wasn¡¯t afraid, per se. But getting out of Norat just seemed like a good idea. Once again running his fingers over his mohawk, he checked his weapons. Using Arsenal, he pulled out a large, two-handed axe. Then, making certain that it was in good condition, he checked the greatsword as well. Then, the pair of shortswords. A few daggers. Finally, he inspected a large glaive.
Ability: Arsenal You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Store weapons in an extradimensional space. Limited to Unranked items.
The ability was one of the most useful he¡¯d been granted upon gaining his class, and though it precluded the use of higher-grade weapons, he had no complaints. Likely, that was because he couldn¡¯t afford anything better than Crude items for now, and those weren¡¯t enough better than peak Unranked items to matter. Sure, they were usually much more durable, but with Arsenal, losing out on a little durability wasn¡¯t the detriment it otherwise would be. After all, if he destroyed one weapon, he could almost always just summon another. After checking his weaponry, he crossed the small room ¨C it really wasn¡¯t much bigger than a closet, which was something that would have to change, and soon ¨C and left his office behind. When he did, he immediately stepped into a mud puddle. Grimacing, he looked down at this boot. Like its partner, it was a Crude grade item, but it had still been expensive. Besides, would it have killed Ramik to pave the roads? That seemed like a minimal level of development. The goblin who ran the town, though, clearly had other things on his mind, because the settlement was still little more than a few hastily-thrown-together buildings and an imported Branch. Disgusted, Cabbot hopped over the mud puddle, then strode down the street. He had to avoid a few carts along the way, but miraculously, he managed to avoid any more accidents as he trekked across Ironshore. Eventually, he reached the expansive barracks and went inside. The front of the building was a tavern that a group of mercenaries ran during their off-time. Cabbot didn¡¯t mind the split focus, mostly because they¡¯d paid for the privilege. It wasn¡¯t much of an income stream ¨C just a few copper etherium a week at present ¨C but it didn¡¯t require any effort on his part. And over time, it would start to add up. In any case, it was the only place in town to get a decent glass of gnomish whiskey. As tempting as that was, Cabbot resisted the urge as he passed through the tavern ¨C called the Slow Dwarf ¨C and entered the actual barracks. The room was long and lined with two rows of beds, each equipped with a sturdy footlocker and a cabinet for the mercenaries¡¯ other belongings. By no stretch of the imagination was it glamorous, but it was also temporary. As the town grew, the mercenaries would be given land and materials to have their own homes built. If the planet¡¯s Ethera levels continued to rise, then those homes would be incredibly valuable going forward. But that was a worry that wouldn¡¯t bear fruit for decades, if ever. So, Cabbot pushed that out of mind and continued on to the back of the building. Along the way, he greeted a few of the gnomes, but he all but ignored the goblins and dwarves. He wasn¡¯t quite as prejudiced as most of his race, but neither could he ignore the facts. By nature, goblins were tricky, crude, and often cruel, and dwarves weren¡¯t much better. Those were just facts, and no amount of goodwill or understanding was going to change reality. All Cabbot could do was recognize their obvious flaws and adjust his own expectations accordingly. Soon enough, he reached his destination and knocked on the door. A moment later, it swung open to reveal a pink-haired gnomish woman. He grinned broadly and leaned against the doorframe. ¡°Nirea! So good to see you! May I come in?¡± he asked. ¡°I was working.¡± ¡°Right. That¡¯s what this is about,¡± he said, pushing past her. She was just an Administrator, which meant that she didn¡¯t have the ability to stop him. Still, aside from being quite a beauty ¨C which was what had caught his eye in the first place ¨C she was an incredibly valuable member of the mercenary band. Without her, logistics would devolve into an unsolvable mess, which would in turn, create an unmitigated disaster. Mercenaries were only so loyal as their last payday, and if the coins stopped flowing, they¡¯d turn pretty quickly. Nirea pointedly left the door open as she sighed and crossed the office to plant herself in her own, gnome-sized chair. That she had one irritated Cabbot something fierce, but he nobly pushed his annoyance to the side. ¡°Have you heard from Dena and those two idiots she works with?¡± he asked without further preamble. Right to the point. Then, he¡¯d get to personal matters. ¡°No. Dena, Braxon, and Vtigt are still missing. Do you want me to organize a search party?¡± Cabbot shook his head, closing the door. What he had to say wasn¡¯t something he wanted the rest of the mercenaries to hear. ¡°No. If they encountered what I think they found¡­no. We can¡¯t afford to lose anyone else.¡± ¡°You think there¡¯s a guardian over there?¡± Cabbot answered, ¡°I do. It¡¯s the only thing that makes sense. Dena might¡¯ve had bad taste in partners, but she was smart and capable.¡± ¡°Highest level in the band.¡± ¡°Was she?¡± he asked, a little surprised. That was certainly news to him. ¡°She found a minor dimensional rift last week. Then, she encountered a herd of lizard creatures. Ran on two legs, short arms, big teeth. She said they looked like six-foot birds, but with scales instead of feathers. They weren¡¯t that strong, but there were more than a dozen of them. She gained a level there and one in the rift.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°There are a few others who are on the verge of catching her, though. Well, now that she¡¯s¡­missing¡­¡± Cabbot said, ¡°Whatever¡¯s over there must be strong, if it took out three of our higher-leveled fighters. If we go over there, we need to go in force. And we¡¯re not ready for that yet.¡± ¡°When will we be?¡± she asked, drumming her fingers on the desk. He sighed. That was certainly a good question, and one he couldn¡¯t really answer. The truth was that, though the presence of a guardian meant that there was probably some potent natural treasure on that island, they were ill-equipped to handle such a threat. Guardians weren¡¯t just powerful beasts. They were intelligent and cunning, and their sole purpose was to protect that natural treasure until it reached maturity. The World Tree permitted them to exceed the level restrictions imposed by the System, which meant that Cabbot and his mercenaries would almost assuredly be unprepared to face such a creature. Dena and her two hangers-on had discovered that first-hand. ¡°Soon. We just need to get stronger,¡± he said. ¡°Very well. What should I tell the others about Dena, Braxon, and Vtigt? They were popular, and their absence has already been noted.¡± ¡°Tell them that they all received opportunities to go home,¡± Cabbot stated. ¡°Lie?¡± ¡°Of course. To do otherwise would only invite a response. They¡¯ll go over to that island, and they¡¯ll die just like Dena and those other two idiots. If you think about it, we¡¯re saving lives,¡± he said smoothly. She thought about it for a moment, then said, ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°Now that business is done, perhaps you would like to accompany me¨C¡± ¡°My apologies, captain, but I have a good deal of work to do. We will have to do it another day.¡± Cabbot ground his teeth together, then once again ran his hand over his bristly mohawk. Then, he forced a smile he didn¡¯t feel before saying, ¡°Alright then. I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± Without anything else, he turned, opened the door, then strode away. However, he did hear something that sounded very much like ¡°asshole¡± coming from the office he¡¯d just left behind. Clearly, he¡¯d misheard, though. Right. Obviously. 1-35. The First Step Carmen stood in front of her forge, staring at the flames. She had built the thing herself, and to exacting specifications. However, she knew just how much room there was for improvement. Still, as she walked around it and inspected the brickwork, she was more than happy with the results. The forge itself was a little more than waist high, made of thick bricks she¡¯d made herself using a local clay deposit she¡¯d found near the lake. The process hadn¡¯t been as onerous as she¡¯d expected, and it had been made even simpler via copious use of her archetype techniques. Idly, she inspected her technique list:
Archetype: Tradesman A versatile crafter who can create a wide variety of goods. Required Aspect: [Scholar] [Magic]
Techniques
Bond Using Ethera, bond two materials together.
Fracture Harness Ethera to break a material
Summon Tool Summon one of the following temporary tools: mining pick, blacksmith¡¯s hammer, shears, knife, woodsman¡¯s axe
Ethereal Infusion Imbue an item with Ethera.
Minor Enchantment Imbue an item with the minor enchantment: durability
Decontaminate Remove contaminants from a raw material
Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal Gain basic information on your creation.
Refine Material Enhance the basic properties of a material. Only usable on pure substances.
Crafter¡¯s Stamina Gain one (1) point of Constitution per level.
Resist Fire Enhance resistance to fire and heat.
Shape Reshape a material with raw Ethera.
Meld Metals Create an alloy from two metals.
Minor Embellishment Use a single embellishment to augment the grade of an unfinished item. Only usable on metallic weapons, armor, and tools.
Her techniques were mostly self-explanatory, though a few bucked that trend. Specifically, Ethereal Infusion, Minor Enchantment, and Minor Embellishment had required a little experimentation. Now, though, she felt confident that she understood them well enough to attempt something special. And perhaps she would gain a level as well, which would be quite a feat. As a Blacksmith, she didn¡¯t gain experience like the people with combat classes. Instead, her progression was predictably rooted in crafting. However, she couldn¡¯t simply make the same things over and over again. If she took that route, any progress would take forever. No ¨C if she wanted to keep pace with powerful combatants like Alyssa, she had to continuously create new and unique items. Which wasn¡¯t such an onerous task, considering that was the entire reason she¡¯d taken the Tradesman archetype to begin with. For her whole life, Carmen had been fascinated with the idea of making things with her own two hands, which was why she¡¯d chosen to pursue her post-graduate work specializing in primitive skills. And while she¡¯d only had a very basic interest in smithing, when the Blacksmith class became available, it had felt like the best choice. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. In any case, it gave her the opportunity to help without putting herself at personal risk. It wasn¡¯t that she was a coward. She would fight if she needed to. But with Miguel depending on her, throwing herself into battle just wasn¡¯t a viable option. One parent taking that path was bad enough ¨C and worry for Alyssa often kept her awake at night ¨C but two was infinitely worse. God forbid Alyssa was killed, but if it happened, Carmen had a responsibility to continue on without her, if only for Miguel¡¯s sake. Besides, there was an argument to be made that, without the settlement¡¯s crafters, no one would have survived. Primitive though their situation was, at least they had shelter and equipment. Without those two things, few would have made it. Now, though, Carmen wanted to do something more than build a log cabin or craft a mundane iron weapon. Instead, she wanted to make something special. To that end, she gathered an old leaf spring she¡¯d taken from one of the now-useless cars in town. Though it was rusty, it was still good steel, which was what she needed for the project she had in mind. She thrust it into the forge, then worked the attached bellows as she waited for the metal to heat to the proper temperature. Slowly, the color changed. Starting at light yellow, it grew darker, progressing through a series of purples and blues on its way to a dark grey. That grey took on a red tint that gradually took over. When the metal became bright red, she knew it was ready to be manipulated. Using a pair of tongs, Carmen yanked it out of the forge, then placed the cherry red bar of steel on her anvil. She used Summon Tool, and an unadorned blacksmithing hammer weighing about four pounds appeared in her hand. It was a little on the heavier side for what she needed, but with her inflated Strength, it felt almost too light. Still, when the heavy head fell on the bar of steel, the metal moved. Over and over, she hammered against the steel until she saw the color fading back to grey. When it did, she thrust the bar back into the forge and repeated the process. Gradually, the bar of steel took on the shape of a tapered, double-edged blade about a foot in length. Once Carmen had hammered out the basic form, she dismissed the blacksmithing hammer, only to use Summon Tool again. This time, she came up with a much lighter hammer. It took a bit of concentration to make such a change, but she¡¯d mastered it soon after receiving the technique. Thus armed, she started working on the profile of the blade, hammering it into a sloped surface that would eventually become a sharp edge. Before the world¡¯s transformation, she would have done things slightly differently. But because of her techniques, Carmen could skip some steps ¨C like building in a socket for the shaft she intended to attach. So, while the forging itself was slightly easier, the fact that she had to continuously use Ethereal Infusion, constantly bathing the piece in Ethera, made up for the decreased difficulty. Gradually, the spearhead took shape. If she¡¯d only wanted to hammer out something that would meet the basic standard of effectiveness, she could have been finished in less than an hour. However, because she wanted to create something at the height of her abilities, she was forced to take her time. She fell into a rhythm. Hammering until the metal cooled, thrusting it back into the forge, working the bellows until it got hot enough to move, then repeating the process. Over and over until, at last, she was satisfied with the shape. Then, Carmen got down to grinding. She would have preferred a belt sander, but due to the lack of availability ¨C and the fact that she hadn¡¯t had time to build one ¨C Carmen was forced to do it the old-fashioned way. That meant repeatedly dragging the blade along the surface of a whetstone until the shape of the weapon was refined to her tastes. That took even longer than the forging process, but with Ethereal Infusion coursing through her, she fell into something akin to a meditative state. Hours passed, and the sun eventually set, but she kept going by the light of the moon. Each pass along the whetstone took the tiniest portion of metal with it until, just before dawn, she had achieved perfection. She looked up. The forge was still burning, but she didn¡¯t remember adding extra fuel. No one else was around, so she figured that she must¡¯ve done it without thinking. In any case, the blade was finished ¨C except for the heat treat, but that would come later. For now, she needed to work on the haft. For that, Carmen had chosen hickory she¡¯d gathered from the local forest. But she wasn¡¯t just going to jam the two pieces together and call it a day. Instead, like she¡¯d done with the steel, she¡¯d used her Decontaminate and Refine Material techniques to purify and enhance the wood. As a result, it was a good deal more durable than it would¡¯ve otherwise been. After that, she used a combination of Fracture and basic whittling skills to shape the raw limb. In the end, she came up with a six-foot long shaft that was about three-quarters of an inch wide. If the wood wasn¡¯t so durable, she would¡¯ve gone slightly thicker, but because of her techniques, Carmen felt confident that it would survive just about any impact. And she had plans to enhance it further. Once the shaft was finished, Carmen set about heat treating the blade. Normally, she would have preferred to use oil for the quench, but it wasn¡¯t as if she could run down to the local big box store and buy a drum of quenching oil, so she was forced to use water. Which was dangerous because it would cool the metal very quickly, and if there were any flaws in the blade, it stood the risk of shattering. But Carmen had prepared as well as she could, so she could only hope it was enough. With that in mind, she shoved the spearhead back into the forge, waited for it to reach critical temperature, then removed it. The moment it was out of the forge, she thrust it into a barrel of water she¡¯d prepared. Steam billowed, but because of her Resist Fire ability, Carmen was unaffected. Regardless, she was too focused on what she heard to pay any attention to the steam. She listened, but when she heard no cracking sounds, she let out a sigh of relief. Still, after the blade had cooled, she inspected it closely, looking for any flaws. There were none. So, she was free to move on to the next step, which involved shoving the two pieces together, then using Bond to meld them into one piece. If they were comprised of the same materials, it would have been simple. However, because the shaft was wood and the blade was high-carbon steel, it was a bit trickier. Still, Carmen had spent quite some time preparing for just that problem by melding a wide variety of materials together. The trick was focus and patience. If she tried to do it all at once, just using the Bond technique without any direction, it would fail. But so long as she took her time, slowly guiding the two disparate materials into merging, it would create a seamless transition that was stronger than either of the individual materials. With well-practiced resolve, she did just that, directing tiny tendrils of metal and wood into a series of microscopic braids. She couldn¡¯t see them, but so long as she maintained her focus, she could feel them. At the same time, she never let Ethereal Infusion drop, which added some degree of difficulty, but would create much better results. In the end, it took another four or five hours before she finished the process. Once it was done, she sagged in exhaustion, both mental and physical. But she was only getting started. Sure, the spear was fine as it was. It would do the job. Yet it required two more steps before she could call it complete. First, though, Carmen needed some rest. She¡¯d been at it for almost an entire day straight, and though her endurance was augmented by Crafter¡¯s Stamina, it could only do so much. So, she stashed the spear in a corner and headed home to eat and sleep. Fortunately, Alyssa had taken Miguel out into the wilderness, where she was teaching him the lessons her father had taught her. Hunting, fishing, tracking ¨C all sorts of wilderness survival skills that were even more important now than they had been when she¡¯d learned them. Her meal wasn¡¯t terribly satisfying. Just a hunk of bread, a few berries Alyssa had gathered, and some dried meat. Normally, she would have taken the meal in one of the communal dining halls, but that would have come with a host of social obligations she had no time to meet. So, she suffered through her meal, then washed off as best she could before going to bed. Sleep came fast and ended even more quickly, and soon enough she was back at the forge. Technically, she could have finished everything at the cabin, but she had no intention of taking her work home. Sitting near the forge, she held the spear across her lap. After spending quite some time inspecting it for any flaws she might have missed, she decided that its quality was good enough to take the next step. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was the best she could do. For now. She felt positive that, one day, she could make something far more impressive. After all, the crafting guides Alyssa had bought from the Branch of the World Tree suggested the existence of rare, powerful materials. And she knew her journey as a crafter had only just begun. No ¨C there were many powerful items in her future. But every journey began with a single step, and her path as a blacksmith started with a single spear. So, with that in mind, she took the next step. Using a small knife, she started to carve. As she did, she kept two techniques active. The first, as always, was Ethereal Infusion, which bathed the entire weapon in Ethera. The second was Minor Embellishment, which had two requirements to activate. The first was to simply embrace the technique, using it the same way she used any other. The second requirement was to create some sort of flourish in her crafted product. According to the crafting guides, it could be something as simple as embedding a jewel into a tiara, but it hinted that the more appropriate the embellishment was to the item, the more it would boost the eventual quality of the end result. However, the guide acknowledged that there was some debate on the subject as well, and it said that some crafters had posited that the appropriateness of the embellishment was subject to the crafter¡¯s opinion. In short, if she thought it fit, then that was all that mattered. Carmen wasn¡¯t sure about that, but it really wasn¡¯t all that important, either. She¡¯d known from the very beginning what form the embellishment would take. So, she got to work, carving the shaft with fanciful designs that resembled Renaissance ornaments. But she didn¡¯t stop there, instead continuing onto the spearhead with an engraving tool. Once she¡¯d finished, Carmen set it on a nearby rack, then stepped back. From a distance, the designs weren¡¯t even visible. However, once someone drew close enough, they would see just how elaborate they were. It was perfect. But it wasn¡¯t done. There were still two more steps. Both were important, but one was far more critical than the other. So, Carmen chose to take care of that one ¨C the Minor Enchantment ¨C first. On the surface, it didn¡¯t seem all that difficult. All she had to do was carve the appropriate symbol into the surface of the weapon while channeling the technique. However, her tests had told her that it was far from simple, and she knew it would require every ounce of her concentration to get it right. So, Carmen took another break, got some food, and even walked around the settlement for a bit. Once her head was clear, she returned to the forge, placed the spear across her lap, and got to work. She¡¯d left a small ring of virgin territory in the center of the spearhead, and she targeted that space with her engraving tool. As she did so, Carmen used Minor Enchantment. From experience, she knew it would only make the weapon more durable ¨C a minor effect, just as the name implied ¨C but it was worth it. The last thing she wanted was for the spear to snap at the wrong time, after all. So, Carmen put her all into it, doing her best to regulate the Ethera flowing through her so that she wouldn¡¯t overload the would-be enchantment. It was no easy task, but she¡¯d practiced enough that she managed it all the same. And then, after a few strokes of her engraving tool, she was finished. Now, all she needed to do was sharpen the blade and seal the wooden haft with wax. She took her time, partially because the tasks required it. But mostly, she was loathe to finish the weapon. What if it didn¡¯t prove to be worth the trouble? What if it was just another spear? After everything she¡¯d done, it was still made from mundane materials, after all. But part of her reticence was also because, despite the amount of effort it had taken, she had very much enjoyed the process. There was something about the act of creating something from nothing that had always appealed to her, and the addition of magic ¨C or Ethera, she supposed ¨C just made it that much more impactful. But still, she put the finishing touches on it, and just like that, the project was done. It was the product of three days of work and countless hours of practice. She¡¯d arduously gathered the best materials she could, and she¡¯d used every ability at her disposal. Looking back on the process, Carmen didn¡¯t think she could have done anything differently. So, it was with some sense of satisfaction that she used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Spear of the Dragon Lancer]. Overall Grade: Crude Enchantment Grade: F
Carmen pumped her fist in celebration, letting out a whoop of excitement. Then, she did an awkward, little dance. And as far as she was concerned, her celebration was well warranted. Until that moment, the best item she¡¯d managed to craft had still never exceeded an unranked overall grade. That she¡¯d stepped up to the next level was an enormous achievement. Calling something crude wasn¡¯t really flattering, but it represented the first step of magical equipment. According to everything she¡¯d read, it was an enormous leap forward in terms of effectiveness, and even though the Spear of the Dragon Lancer wouldn¡¯t have any fanciful magical powers, it would be nearly unbreakable and would feature a minor self-repair function. In short, it was everything she¡¯d hoped to achieve. But having taken that first step, she couldn¡¯t help but look forward to the next. Sure, she¡¯d made a crude magical item, and that was great. Better than great, really. But what would an item with a simple grade look like? Or a complex one? Before, those goals had seemed almost unreachable. However, now that she¡¯d taken the first step, those heights seemed much more attainable. 1-36. Climbing the Ladder Elijah stalked forward, his feet falling silently against the forest floor as he followed his prey through the forest. Even if it hadn¡¯t made so much noise, there was no mistaking the scent that it emitted. To Elijah¡¯s sense of smell, the odor was a combination of rotten eggs, something similar to cheap cigar smoke, and the sickly sweet scent of decomposing fruit. It was, to put it mildly, extremely off-putting, and he wanted nothing more than to get as far from the smell as he could manage. But he couldn¡¯t do that. No longer could he shirk his responsibilities as protector of his Grove. The panther was gone, and so, he needed to step up and fulfill his role. To that end, he followed the Voxxian creature through the forest. It was small, barely as big as a mid-sized dog, and its sleek body was covered in blue-green scales that shimmered in the scant rays of light that managed to pierce the forest¡¯s canopy. In any other situation, the reptilian monster would have been beautiful, at least in its own odd way. However, with every step it took, the land was further despoiled. It was a virus. A foreign entity that could only spread rot, disease, and destruction. With something like that, there was no coexistence. It was kill or be destroyed, with no compromise in between. So, cloaked in Shape of the Predator, Elijah hunted. It had been two days since he¡¯d gained the spell, and in that time, he¡¯d gained significant mastery over his new form. He knew he was no match for the panther that had died protecting the island from the invaders, but he was rapidly closing that gap. One day, he hoped he could rival its power. But for now, he stalked the Voxxian monster. When it leaped between two rocks, Elijah pounced. His claws flashed as he raked them across its scaley back, and to his surprise and satisfaction, they parted beneath his natural weapons. As Elijah¡¯s weight fell upon it, the monster screeched in pain and shock, but it quickly recovered and flexed its elongated neck as it tried to bite him. Elijah pressed down on it with every ounce of Strength he possessed, holding it there for a few long seconds before he brought his teeth to bear. In only a moment, he¡¯d clamped his jaws around its comparatively smaller skull. He squeezed, and his efforts were rewarded with the sound of cracking bone. And the most repulsive taste imaginable. It was like ash and oil mixed with rubber, and the moment it hit his tongue, he was forced to resist the urge to recoil. Instead, he redoubled his efforts, trying to end the fight before it could even begin. The monster struggled, wiggling beneath Elijah¡¯s comparatively larger form, but it was no use. After a few more moments, the pressure finished its work, and the monster¡¯s skull collapsed entirely, squirting brains, blood, and whatever else the monster had inside its head into Elijah¡¯s mouth. The second the monster was dead, Elijah bounded backwards, spitting and hissing with every foot he could put between himself and the detestable creature. His efforts were useless, and the horrid taste remained. However, he still felt a deep sense of satisfaction as he watched the monster¡¯s death spasms. Finally, once it was dead, he let his spell lapse, and over the next few moments, he reverted to his human form. It was still a strange transition, going from a four-legged mist panther to standing upright, and Elijah assumed that the process was helped along by magic. Otherwise, it would have assuredly been far more jarring. Over the past couple of days, Elijah had learned a few things about his class¡¯s defining spell. First, as he¡¯d discovered on that very first day, his clothing transformed with him. Where it went, he had no idea, but he was grateful for the fact that he didn¡¯t have to walk around naked every time he transformed back into a human. By this point, his clothes didn¡¯t cover much ¨C his shirt had been cannibalized for various projects, and his pants had been ripped to shreds below the knee ¨C but he still appreciated the coverage all the same. The second thing he had discovered was that his staff transformed with him as well. Other weapons did not, though Elijah had no idea why that would be the case. The only answer that made sense was, as always, that it was all magic he didn¡¯t really understand. Hopefully, he would learn more as he made his way through the transformed world. Finally, through trial and error, he¡¯d learned that transforming into a mist panther vastly increased his Dexterity and Strength, which was reflected in his status. Numerically, the spell added ten points to both of those attributes while increasing his Constitution by a comparatively smaller three points. Considering that he couldn¡¯t cast any spells while transformed, the additional points in his physical attributes were a welcome ¨C and wholly necessary ¨C part of the ability. Elijah leaned on his staff as he watched the monster¡¯s death throes. It was the fourth such creature he¡¯d killed in the past two days, and the moment it had died, he received a new notification:
Congratulations! You have reached level eleven. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
Elijah was still of two minds about the fact that he had no say-so in his attribute allocation. However, he couldn¡¯t argue with the fact that, instead of two points, he received five with each level. They were spread across his entire status, but given the nature of his new class, the even distribution seemed appropriate. After all, he still had his druid spells, which required Ethera to cast, but he also needed the physical attributes if he was going to be effective in his mist panther form. He truly was a jack-of-all-trades, which was both comforting and disappointing. Comforting because he liked the idea of being capable of combating any situation that might come up, but disappointing because he knew he¡¯d never be as powerful as a specialist. Probably. While that made sense, it functioned off of the assumption that the world ¨C and classes ¨C were balanced. There was no guarantee that that was the case, though. For all he knew, there were extraordinarily powerful classes that gave people god-like power. Or classes that gave people almost nothing. It was all a mystery to him, and aside from Nerthus, who seemed extremely restricted in what he could say, there was no one for Elijah to ask for advice. So, he had to discover most things for himself. Unfortunately, one of those discoveries happened shortly after he reached level eleven. He¡¯d fully expected to get another spell, much as he had with every other previous level. However, he quickly discovered that that wasn¡¯t the case. He knew he should be happy with his additional attributes, but he¡¯d been looking forward to getting a new spell. Sighing, he just shook his head and hoped that he would get one when he reached level twelve. With that, Elijah set off back to the Grove, stopping by at the stream so he could rinse the foul taste of the Voxxian monster from his mouth. When he reached the Grove, he was unsurprised to find that the three trees that would eventually become his home had continued to grow, twining together to create a sizable floor. Suspended about ten feet off the ground, it spread out for around a hundred feet in every direction, meaning that, once it was finished, it would end up being quite a large house. For now, though, he set himself up beneath what would eventually become the floor and leaned against one of the trunks. There, he focused his mind on the ambient Ethera and began to meditate. The process wasn¡¯t overtly effective, but the swirling Ethera did help him relax, which was sorely needed, given his situation. After a while, Elijah slipped off into a fitful sleep, only waking when the sun rose the next morning. Starting that morning, his life took on a decided rhythm. Most of his time was spent hunting the Voxx. He had no idea where they were coming from, but he killed at least a couple each day. Most were small, but over the next few weeks, he managed to kill a couple that rivaled the one he¡¯d fought in the minor dimensional rift in size. When he wasn¡¯t hunting the Voxx, Elijah was either meditating, gathering food, or exploring his island. And slowly but surely, he made progress in each arena. So, by the time spring became summer, he¡¯d managed to progress far more than he ever thought possible. Never was that more apparent than when he looked at the ladder: Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 31 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 28 3. Lisa Song ¨C Level 28 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 26 5. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 25 6. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 24 7. Kimberly Jackson ¨C Level 24 8. Michael King - Level 23 9. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 23 10. Niko Song ¨C Level 23 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 92. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 18
He thrust both of his hands into the air in celebration as he saw that he¡¯d managed to break into the top one-hundred. He was only five levels away from getting into the top twenty-five, too. However, getting to level twenty-three would technically put him on equal footing with a few of the top ten. How the System differentiated between people of the same level, he didn¡¯t know. Regardless, he didn¡¯t really care about rankings. He cared about power, and after his slow start, he¡¯d truly begun to gain on the leaders. Not that he was competing with the rest of humanity. Not really, at least. Instead, he just wanted enough Strength to do what was necessary. Hopefully, his latest gains would assist in that endeavor. He took a look at his status, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction at what he saw.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 18
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 19
Dexterity 18
Constitution 19
Ethera 27
Regeneration 21
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
His attributes were so much higher than they¡¯d been even a few weeks before. However, he¡¯d confirmed that each attribute point seemed to mean less and less as he grew in power. As far as he could tell, each point gave him the same benefit, but relative to his overall power, it just meant less. For instance, if each point of Strength let him lift an extra twenty pounds, that additional Strength would be a lot more noticeable when he could only lift forty total pounds than when his total capacity was in the hundreds of pounds. In any case, Elijah was satisfied with his progress, especially considering that he¡¯d had to do it all alone. Judging by the surnames of some of the other top one-hundred, that wasn¡¯t the case with most people. For example, three people with the Song surname were in the top ten, suggesting that they were all leveling together. It didn¡¯t take a genius to reason that they all had complimentary classes and abilities, and even if they didn¡¯t, there was value in cooperation. Human beings were social animals, after all. In addition to the extra attribute points that came with each level, Elijah had also gotten a few new spells. Instead of getting one every level, as he had for the first ten, he now got access to a new spell every other level. That meant that, since gaining his class, he¡¯d gained four new spells. He pulled up the individual spell descriptions:
Spell: Essence of the Wolf Channel the alacrity of the wolf, increasing movement speed by twenty percent. Combat cancels effect.
The first spell, called Essence of the Wolf, was similar to the others in the essence line in that it enhanced his physical abilities. However, unlike Essence of the Monkey or Boar, it didn¡¯t provide straight attribute bonuses. Instead, it simply made him run faster ¨C a boon that he had used to great effect while exploring the island. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t take up one of his augmentation slots, so he didn¡¯t have to make a choice between using it or enhancing his Dexterity. The only issue was that the benefits fell away when he entered combat.
Spell: Ward of the Seasons Harness the power of the seasons, increasing resistance to elemental damage (Water, Earth, Fire, Air).
The next new spell, which he¡¯d gotten at level fourteen, was called Ward of the Seasons. It did take up one of his augmentation slots, so it was often forgotten. Certainly, he could see the benefits of the spell, which promised to decrease the damage he took from elemental spells. However, because he¡¯d been fighting nothing but animals and Voxx, none of which had access to spells, he hadn¡¯t seen much use for it. Perhaps that would change in the future, though. For now, he mostly ignored it.
Ability: Guise of the Unseen Fade into your surroundings. Not usable in combat. Requires: Shape of the Predator
At level sixteen, he¡¯d gotten an ability that was only usable when he took on the form of a mist panther. However, even with that limitation, it was incredibly useful. As a hunting cat, he was already incredibly stealthy, but using Guise of the Unseen made him all but completely undetectable. He¡¯d tested it out against various animals, and unless he actively tried to be seen, he was almost entirely invisible. Of all his abilities, it was probably the one that had affected his everyday hunting the most.
Spell: Healing Rain Conjure a nourishing storm that heals allies.
Once again, Elijah could see how his level eighteen spell could be useful. He¡¯d used it a few times, just to get a feel for it, and he¡¯d discovered that it had a couple of points in its favor. First, it took almost no Ethera to cast, meaning that it was incredibly efficient. The downside to that was that it wasn¡¯t nearly as fast-acting as Touch of Nature. A wound that Touch of Nature could heal in minutes took hours for Healing Rain to treat. The second positive aspect of the spell was that the storm it conjured lasted for hours while covering an area that extended around twenty feet in each direction. So, if he ever encountered allies, he could heal multiple people at once with the spell. For now, though, Elijah used it to heal minor injuries and to stave off fatigue while Touch of Nature was more geared toward healing more urgent wounds. Both had their places and were potent parts of his toolkit. All in all, Elijah was satisfied with his progress. However, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that he wasn¡¯t going fast enough. The settlement across the strait had continued to grow, and despite his efforts the infestation of the Voxx had only grown worse since the death of the panther. Unless something changed, and soon, he would be overwhelmed. For now, though, he could only keep going the way he was and hope that it would be enough. 1-37. Survival Isnt Living Elijah bounded off the embankment, using his enhanced Strength to launch himself at the enormous crab. At some point within the past few weeks, the crabs had experienced another growth spurt, and they had reached absolutely gargantuan proportions. With claws as big as motorcycles and a body that would rival a Volkswagen bus in size, it truly had earned the monster label. With that increase in size came the mixed news that they¡¯d begun preying on one another. Usually, when he came within a few hundred yards of the beach, his ears would be assaulted by the thunderous sounds of clacking claws and colliding car-sized crabs. On the surface, that didn¡¯t seem like such a bad thing, and usually, it made hunting the distracted or often-wounded creatures much easier. However, their increased size and decreased availability presented a new problem. Food storage. Ever since the very beginning, Elijah had depended on the crabs as his primary source of protein and fat. He¡¯d supplemented it with various small game and fish, but crab meat had always been the backbone of his diet. And though he often found himself looking at the lumpy bits of white meat with disgust, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to ignore such a ready source of food. However, because the crabs had grown so large and combative with one another, when he killed and harvested one, he was forced to make that meat last. Which wouldn¡¯t have been a problem if he had some means of refrigeration, but with spring already turning to summer, crab meat was quick to spoil. So, he¡¯d ended up wasting far more than he ate. Again, that wouldn¡¯t have been such a problem if they¡¯d remained as numerous as before, but due to their habit of fighting and killing one another, that just wasn¡¯t the case anymore. Still, that was a problem for another time, and Elijah focused on the fight at hand. Or rather, the slaughter. For all their size, the mutated crabs were completely incapable of keeping up with Elijah¡¯s enhanced speed. Even if he¡¯d been in human form, he could have run circles around the thing. The only dangerous bit came from how quickly it could bring its oversized claws to bear, but Elijah was an experienced-enough crab hunter that he was never in any real danger. First, he let his bounding leap take him to the top of the creature¡¯s muddy brown shell. It spun in circles, trying to dislodge him, but he dug his claws into the surface and raced towards its head. Once there, he lashed out with his claws, severing the creature¡¯s eye stalks. It let out a whistling howl ¨C a sound that enormous crabs apparently could make ¨C as it tried to buck him off, but Elijah was already on the move, leaping from his perch and landing on the rocky shore. Once there, he raced off into the nearby brush where he waited for the crab to lose interest. For all that the crabs had grown in size, their intelligence had not increased apace, and as a result, they were just as stupid as always. A good thing, too, because otherwise, Elijah would¡¯ve had difficulty bringing them down. Once the crab lost interest, it meandered around, confused and lacking the senses it needed to navigate the world. Even if Elijah left, it would soon succumb to some other predator ¨C or to another crab. He didn¡¯t revel in the thing¡¯s suffering, but killing was a part of life in any ecosystem. If he wanted to survive, the crab needed to die by any means necessary. Suffering just didn¡¯t enter into his thought process. It couldn¡¯t. Now that he was out of combat ¨C a nebulous state that he couldn¡¯t really explain, save that he knew it when he felt it ¨C Elijah embraced Guise of the Unseen, letting himself fade from view. It wasn¡¯t invisibility. Not exactly, at least. But it was the closest thing to it, and he knew that most creatures would have trouble detecting his presence unless he got really sloppy. Which had happened more often than Elijah liked. While he had the instincts of a hunting cat to call upon, he was still new to it all. As such, he¡¯d experienced almost as many failures as successes. So, he¡¯d learned to handicap his prey any way possible. Thus, his attack on the crab¡¯s primary sensory organs. He stalked forward, confident in his ability to remain undetected as he passed beneath the monster¡¯s shell. Because the crabs had a habit of standing extremely still when they couldn¡¯t see ¨C it was a new development from the unmutated versions, but Elijah had observed it on enough occasions to trust it ¨C he moved beneath the creature¡¯s body without hesitation. Once he reached the appropriate spot, he lashed out, plunging his claw deep into its relatively unprotected underbelly, and destroying the nerve center closest to its head. With that done, he darted out from beneath it just before it collapsed. It wasn¡¯t dead yet, but it was only a matter of time before it succumbed. As he watched it slowly die, Elijah regretted that he couldn¡¯t have finished it off more quickly. Before, when he could simply flip the thing on its back, it was easy enough to destroy the second nerve cluster and kill it, but with how large it had grown, that was simply impossible. So, he had no choice but to watch it slowly perish. However, only a few minutes into the process, an acrid scent wafted toward Elijah. The moment it hit his nostrils, he dashed away. It was just in time, too, because, only a second later, a Voxxian monster the size of a pony crashed into the spot he¡¯d just vacated. Like all of the Voxx Elijah had seen, this newcomer was reptilian in appearance, with viridian scales, wicked talons, and sharp teeth. However, this one was also equipped with a thick, meaty tail that reminded Elijah of a crocodile. Except for the spikes jutting from the end. It recovered quickly, spinning around and using its tail as a weapon. Elijah leaped high into the air, avoiding a blow that would surely have skewered him, but the lizard-like Voxx was ready for that move, and it continued its spin by aiming a raking claw in his direction. Elijah tried to twist out of the way, but being suspended in mid-air, he had no leverage. So, although he managed to avoid the worst of it, he still took a blow to his side. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Blood gushed from the resultant wound, showering the Voxxian monster in red rain. It opened its mouth and screeched in obvious ecstasy as the momentum of the attack sent Elijah spinning through the air only to skid across the rocky beach before colliding with the dying crab. He ignored his wound, leaping to his feet just in time to dodge the Voxxian monster¡¯s next blow, and he managed to clip it with a responding attack that easily parted the scales on its shoulder before landing lightly and taking off into the brush. The lizard-like Voxx crashed through the forest after him. Elijah had come a long way since his first encounter with a Voxxian monster, and so he wasn¡¯t the helpless prey he¡¯d once been. No ¨C he¡¯d spent weeks honing his skills as a hunter, and now that he¡¯d recovered from the surprise attack, it didn¡¯t take him long to gather his wits and turn the tables on the creature. And while he might¡¯ve been comparatively vulnerable on the beach, he was completely at home in the forest that had been his home for the better part of a year. With the failure of its ambush, the monster never had a chance. Over the next few minutes, Elijah engaged in hit-and-run tactics. He didn¡¯t try to kill the thing with a single blow. Instead, he utilized the death-by-a-thousand-cuts mentality. Soon enough, the wounds he¡¯d opened with his first few attacks began to fester, and the monster stumbled. It quickly righted itself, but it was the beginning of the end. Contagion, the passive ability that came with Shape of the Predator, usually didn¡¯t come into play. However, in a long and drawn-out confrontation, it showed its worth when the accelerated infection began to do its work. Elijah could have left it there, and like he¡¯d done with the crab, simply waited on the monster to die. However, he chose to use the encounter to hone his skills. So, over the next hour, he continued to harass the creature until, at last, it fell over and died. Elijah approached, ignoring the acrid scent assailing his nostrils as he beheld his handiwork. The Voxxian monster¡¯s scales had become a mass of shallow cuts, and the barely-visible flesh beneath had turned a sickly green color with infection. It had been a useful fight, but even the day¡¯s two kills hadn¡¯t given him enough energy to gain a level. Which was frustrating. It had been almost a week since he¡¯d achieved level eighteen, and he¡¯d yet to progress any further. That stall had already resulted in him falling off the ladder, which only exacerbated his annoyance. After ensuring that the monster was dead, Elijah returned to the beach to find that his crab was already being consumed by another of the creatures. So, with a feline sigh, he set about repeating his actions, killing the oversized crab with little difficulty. Then, he let Shape of the Predator fall away, resuming his human form. Of late, he¡¯d spent most of his time as a mist panther, and as a result, returning to his natural body left him feeling momentarily awkward. Once he¡¯d taken the time to harvest the huge crab¡¯s claws, he set off back to the Grove. Along the way, he stopped by to wash the blood from the wound on his side. Upon inspection, he saw that the monster¡¯s attack had actually exposed his ribs. After cleaning up, he continued on his way, carrying an enormous crab claw on either shoulder. Once, he would¡¯ve had trouble with such a feat of Strength. Certainly, when he¡¯d first washed ashore, he¡¯d have been entirely incapable of even dragging such heavy appendages. But now? With his increased Strength, the only barrier was how awkward the burden was to carry. When he reached the Grove, he took a few moments to look around before heading to the underside of what would become his house. The roof still wasn¡¯t finished, so he¡¯d yet to move in. However, it was growing closer to completion with every passing day. Still, he found it difficult to take pleasure in its construction. Because he was frustrated with his slow progress. Elijah had never been the most competitive person in the world. Sure, he wanted to win any competition he participated in, but losing hadn¡¯t put him in a foul mood. Not like it had with his sister. Indeed, she had always been the truly competitive one, and if Elijah was honest, he¡¯d half expected to see her name at the top of the ladder. She was the high achiever, after all. But now? Having tasted a bit of success, Elijah desperately wanted to continue climbing the ladder, and not just for the sake of doing so. He knew he needed to get stronger. The Voxx continued to assault his island, and even if they hadn¡¯t, there were the people across the strait to worry about. If he truly wanted to protect his Grove, he needed to grow more powerful, and fast. And just when he¡¯d started to roll, his progress had stalled. His frustrations continued to mount as he stored his crab claws away in a woven basket he¡¯d made for that very purpose. Then, he removed his clothing and cast Healing Rain. A small, localized storm cloud manifested, and a moment later, a steady drizzle fell from the sky. Elijah sat down and placed his hand over his wound before casting Touch of Nature. The combination of the two healing spells quickly mended his flesh, and soon enough, Elijah was entirely whole. But he was still too frustrated to sink into meditation, so he took a few moments to inspect his garden. The berries he¡¯d grown were almost ripe, which would be a boon for his food supply. To quicken the pace, he spent an hour steadily pulsing Nature¡¯s Bounty. After that, Elijah made a circle around the Grove, using his spells to ensure that the trees continued their own growth. According to Nerthus, the Grove would continue to mature, and that it would eventually encompass the entire island. Hopefully, at that point, the steady invasion of Voxx would cease. Once he¡¯d completed a few circuits around the Grove, Elijah retreated to his temporary home beneath what would become his permanent house, and ate some stew he made from mushrooms, wild onions, and, of course, crab meat. It was not pleasant, but he ate it anyway. As he sat there spooning the vaguely edible concoction into his mouth, Elijah pondered the nature of life. Survival, he reasoned, wasn¡¯t enough. Not really. Eventually, endeavoring to simply live another day would lose its luster. He missed people. He missed good food prepared by people who actually knew what they were doing. He missed his family. He missed so many things about his old life. Sure, he¡¯d gotten a second chance when his terminal cancer had been cured. He even got magic powers out of the deal. But was he really living? No. He certainly wasn¡¯t. It was at that moment that Elijah resolved to change that. He still needed to ensure the Grove¡¯s survival, and eventually, he would have to do something about his aggressively industrious neighbors across the strait. But once he¡¯d accomplished those goals, he decided to look for civilization, to find his sister, nephew, and sister-in-law, and to actually start living his life. But as he looked up at the star-filled sky, he realized that those goals were probably a long way from becoming reality. For one, the world had been transformed. One of the very first notifications he¡¯d read said that the Earth would experience selective randomization. And clearly, they had alien visitors. The fact that he¡¯d helped kill a goblin, gnome, and dwarf proved that much. So, he reasoned that finding his way back to Seattle would probably be much more difficult than he could imagine. Sighing, he laid back and closed his eyes. It would be difficult, sure. But that was fine. He had magic powers, after all. He could handle a little journey. With that in mind, he felt a little better about his situation. 1-38. Towers and Rifts As summer laid its hand over the region, the island transformed. Flowers bloomed, fruit ripened, and wildlife became more active than ever before. Elijah was no exception, spending his days hunting and exploring. It wasn¡¯t long before he¡¯d visited every corner of his island, and his efforts as a hunter were more successful than not. In short, he began to thrive. However, despite his efforts in keeping the island clear of Voxx, he¡¯d only barely progressed to level nineteen. Fortunately, that got him back on the ladder, if only onto the ninety-ninth spot. Still, it was progress, and he appreciated the allocation of the additional attribute points that came with the level. As he sat in his Grove, he looked at his status, a habit he¡¯d developed over the months since he¡¯d been stranded on the island. Barely a day went by when he didn¡¯t flick the window open and study his progress. Most of the time, there was nothing to see, but he still did it, nonetheless. That action came with varying degrees of pride and disappointment, depending on his mood. Pride, because he¡¯d come a long way in a little more than a year. When he¡¯d washed ashore, suffering from cancer treatments and terminal cancer, he¡¯d been incredibly weak. In fact, he was so powerless that a few overgrown crabs had nearly killed him. Since that time, his Strength had grown by leaps and bounds, rendering survival trivial. But he knew just how far he was behind the others at the peak. The ladder spoke for itself, after all. So, while his progress had been substantial, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think that it wasn¡¯t enough. The same could be said for the Grove, which had been transformed by his presence. What had been a simple field with a lone tree at the center had become a beautiful and thriving garden, ringed by a tower of trees and featuring lush vegetation that had been enhanced by his abilities. The only thing it was missing was a water feature until it could rival the elaborate and well-tended botanical gardens he¡¯d visited before Earth was transformed. But it wasn¡¯t enough ¨C not to become the safe haven he and Nerthus had envisioned. The coalition of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins across the strait had continued to settle the area, and their little town had become a thriving city with a population in the thousands. The surrounding landscape had been decimated, and though they hadn¡¯t covered everything with concrete like humanity was wont to do, it still smacked of the artificial. More, they¡¯d begun to expand their efforts into the sea, sending sizable ships out that soon returned with massive whales in tow. Elijah had never been a true conservationist, but there was enough of the marine biologist left in him that he saw whaling as an abominable practice. Once, humanity had driven the mighty creatures to near extinction, so he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of anger as he saw those carcasses being dragged into the strait. But he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. There were no regulations anymore. Not that he knew of, at least. And if the state of the crabs was any indication, those whales were probably more than capable of defending themselves. But that didn¡¯t really affect the way he felt about any of it. The fact was that he was inadequate, and his efforts to change that had so far come up short. So far. He still had time, but the settlement continued to grow with every passing week. Soon, they would expand to his island. Why they hadn¡¯t done so, aside from sending the trio that had run into the panther, was a mystery he¡¯d yet to solve. Shaking his head, Elijah took one last look at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 19
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 20
Dexterity 19
Constitution 20
Ethera 28
Regeneration 22
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Sighing, he pushed himself to his feet and looked around. Behind him, his home was nearing completion. The branches had woven together, giving it a rounded shape that culminated in a leafy and impenetrable canopy that, when it was finished, would block out the elements. The interior construction ¨C or growth, if he was being accurate ¨C hadn¡¯t even begun, but according to Nerthus, that wouldn¡¯t take long to complete. Almost as soon as he thought of the tree spirit, Elijah felt a stirring in the ambient Ethera that announced Nerthus¡¯s arrival. He looked up to see the vaguely humanoid knot of twisted roots and said, ¡°You¡¯re popping up a little more often lately.¡± ¡°The Ethera climbs a bit more each day,¡± Nerthus said in his whispering-wind voice. ¡°Soon, it will be capable of supporting my continuous presence.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I have questions,¡± he said. ¡°As is your habit,¡± Nerthus replied from his perch. ¡°You¡¯ve talked about those dimensional rifts,¡± he started. ¡°The one I closed was a minor version, right?¡± ¡°It was.¡± ¡°But there are presumably major ones, as well, right? And you said something about towers before. Can you explain how that works?¡± Elijah asked. Nerthus cocked his head to the side, then, after a moment, said, ¡°Some.¡± Elijah gestured for him to go on, but when Nerthus clearly didn¡¯t take the hint, he said, ¡°Okay? Go ahead.¡± ¡°The minor dimensional rift is the second-weakest version of a Voxx incursion,¡± he stated. ¡°If left to its own devices, it will eventually spew forth a small horde of comparatively weak creatures.¡± ¡°Second-weakest? What¡¯s the weakest?¡± Elijah asked, already guessing the answer. ¡°The spontaneous manifestations. Singular Voxx who manage to tear through the dimensional membrane and invade the world. Weak is a bit of a misnomer, though. Typically, the creatures that come through spontaneous manifestations are much more powerful than those in minor rifts. These, you have encountered as well.¡± Elijah nodded along. That explained why he¡¯d never been able to find the source of the monsters he routinely killed. If they were spontaneous manifestations, then there was no source. They simply appeared. ¡°What causes them?¡± he asked. ¡°A combination of factors I am prohibited from explaining to you.¡± Elijah sighed. It was so frustrating, having a source of information so close but being incapable of getting what he needed. It felt like reading a book that was missing pages. ¡°Okay, what comes after the minor dimensional rifts? Major ones?¡± ¡°No. After that comes average dimensional rifts. Then major. And finally, primal realms. There are more dangerous incursions, but not on this planet. Not yet.¡± ¡°What else can you tell me?¡± ¡°Average dimensional rifts are little different from the one you encountered. They act as a simple bridge between our two realities, and the creatures they manifest will be dependent on the region and ambient Ethera levels.¡± Elijah latched onto the last part, asking, ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that as ambient Ethera levels rise, the Strength of the Voxx will rise, too?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Until the planet stabilizes, you will face increasingly powerful Voxx.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Fantastic,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°Okay, so what about the major dimensional rifts? And the primal realms? Are there any of those around here?¡± ¡°No. You would know if you were anywhere near a primal realm.¡± ¡°What ¨C¡± ¡°I am prohibited from revealing anything else about primal realms.¡± Elijah shook his head, then asked, ¡°What about major dimensional rifts, then?¡± ¡°Those are¡­different,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°How so?¡± For the first time, Nerthus looked flustered. ¡°Towers,¡± he said, obviously straining. ¡°Look for towers.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I can say no more on the subject,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Just¡­just remember what I said.¡± Then, without any further warning, the little tree spirit retracted into his branch, disappearing entirely. Obviously, he¡¯d overstepped, and as a result, he was incapable of sustaining his presence. Was that the secret, then? Was it a matter of energy keeping Nerthus from revealing too much? Elijah had no idea, and he suspected that it would be some time before he got any more answers. However, the information Nerthus had revealed was incredibly useful. Because Elijah had seen something that might have been the top of a tower. During his exploration of the island, he¡¯d seen a rocky spire a few hundred yards out to sea. At the time, he¡¯d thought it just a curious rock formation, but now that he knew what to look for, he could easily imagine that it was the top of a tower. Or perhaps he was just grasping at straws. After all, there was nothing else to suggest that there was a major dimensional rift near his island. But then again, perhaps its presence was the reason Nerthus had strained his limitations to give him the small but necessary bit of information that would steer him in the right direction. But if there was a tower near the island, then it represented both a danger and an opportunity. Since the beginning, the ambient levels of Ethera had continued to rise, and according to Nerthus, the relative danger of the dimensional rifts rose right along with it. So, if there was a tower, it made far more sense to deal with it as soon as possible rather than let it continue to strengthen. Or fester. That seemed a more accurate word, given the nature of the Voxx. Was he ready to face such a challenge, though? His cautious nature screamed at him to avoid finding out. Hunting a few monsters that had manifested on his island was one thing, but to enter a major dimensional rift? That seemed like a recipe for disaster, especially considering that he¡¯d nearly died in the minor version. In fact, if he chose to combat the new threat ¨C if it even it existed ¨C he¡¯d be skipping an entire level. Logically, he should look for an average dimensional rift, then work his way up from there. Instead, he was thinking about jumping from the lowest level threat to one of the highest, with nothing in between. But was that accurate? He¡¯d been hunting and killing Voxxian monsters for months, and he¡¯d gained more than ten levels since defeating the minor dimensional rift. Maybe that would be enough to see him through. Elijah sighed and sat down, leaning against the ancestral tree that was Nerthus¡¯s home. The reality of his situation was that he didn¡¯t have much in the way of options. He knew he wasn¡¯t ready to face the people across the strait. That was an indisputable fact that was supported by verifiable events. He had seen the panther in action, and he knew that, even now, he couldn¡¯t have stood up to it. And it had been killed by the people from across the strait. Without Elijah¡¯s interference, they¡¯d have done it without much difficulty, too. That meant that they were still far above him in terms of power. And soon enough, they¡¯d come to the island. He knew that as well as he knew anything else in the transformed world. Nerthus had said as much, but Elijah¡¯s surety came from observation. He¡¯d seen them consume and destroy everything they saw, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to infer that, if they knew about the existence of the ancestral tree, they would aim their destructive tendencies in the island¡¯s direction. The only thing standing in their way was Elijah himself. And he wasn¡¯t ready to fight them off. He¡¯d long known that he needed to get stronger, and he¡¯d diligently worked towards that goal ever since the panther¡¯s death. But his progress had stalled. He needed a jolt to get him back on track, and the unconfirmed presence of a tower represented just such an opportunity. It just made sense to challenge it. After all, defeating the minor dimensional rift had given him three free attribute points. What potential rewards might a more powerful rift offer? Elijah shook his head. No matter how much he wanted to get stronger, there was no way he could convince himself to walk into unknown danger. He had no real context to guess what a major dimensional rift would entail, and if he went in blind, he would probably end up dead. Certainly, he liked the idea of getting stronger at all costs. He wanted to gain levels, to get attribute points, and learn new spells. But slow, steady, and alive was much better than quick and dead. However, he did decide to check out the rocky pillar to see if it was, indeed, a tower. Scouting the area didn¡¯t mean throwing himself into danger. He would just investigate, then make further decisions from there. With that in mind, he rose and cast Essence of the Wolf, then Essence of the Monkey, and finally, embraced One With Nature. Stretching, he reveled in the increased power of his enhancements, then cast Shape of the Predator. Over the past few weeks, he¡¯d spent more time as a mist panther than as a human, and the transformation felt comfortable in a way his humanity couldn¡¯t match. Perhaps it was the increased power, or maybe it was just easier to live as an animal. After all, with the transformation came the increased focus of a predator. And with so much stimuli tickling his senses, it was difficult to think about philosophical questions concerning loneliness, disappointment, and the future. Whatever the case, Elijah found it so much easier to focus on the task after the transformation completed. He set off across the island, moving with incredible swiftness as he bounded over fallen trees, climbed hills, and leaped across wide depressions. Some of that speed came from the mist panther form, which increased his Dexterity and Strength attributes. Further adding to points to his status was Essence of the Monkey, which gave him an extra five points in Dexterity. The bonuses that came with One With Nature were a bit more nebulous in that it didn¡¯t award temporary bonuses to his attributes. Instead, it just made him stronger, more durable, and more coordinated than normal. Alone, none of the enhancements were too overwhelming, but when taken as a whole? The increased power was significant. Finally, adding to his speed was Essence of the Wolf, which gave him an extra twenty percent movement speed. The end result was that he was more than twice as fast as he would¡¯ve been without his various augmentations, and he covered the distance to the southern shore in a fraction of the time it would¡¯ve taken him to travel the distance in his human form. So, it was only about fifteen minutes before he reached his destination, which was a steep cliff that looked like someone had simply sliced into the side of a hillock. As he stood at the top of the cliff, Elijah glanced down at the crashing waves more than a hundred feet below before letting his eyes wander out to sea. In the distance ¨C maybe two- or three-hundred yards away ¨C he saw a rocky pillar jutting approximately fifty feet above the surface of the water. There were a few more fingers of stone surrounding it, but they barely crested the waves. From a distance, the pillar looked natural. However, after Elijah let Shape of the Predator fall away and used Eyes of the Eagle to magnify his vision, he saw that, beneath that rocky exterior was something that looked manmade. There were too many straight lines for it to be natural. He couldn¡¯t be certain unless he dove into the sea, but Elijah¡¯s instincts ¨C or maybe his sense for Ethera ¨C told him that he¡¯d found a tower. 1-39. The Illusion of Peace Elijah leaned against the ancestral tree, slowly chipping away at the hunk of wood that he hoped would one day become a recognizable figure. But even with the knives he¡¯d taken from the invading trio that had killed the guardian panther, it was slow going. And the results of his attempts at carving were scattered at best. Gradually, he whittled the hunk of wood down to a basic shape. When he finished, he hoped it would resemble the first Voxxian monster he¡¯d encountered, but he knew enough to recognize that the best he could manage was a vague likeness. That was fine, though. It wasn¡¯t as if he intended to enter into some art competition. Instead, wood carving was just a way to pass the time. After a couple of hours, he rose and crossed the Grove. As he did so, he snatched a handful of berries from the bushes he¡¯d cultivated and popped them into his mouth. On the outside, they resembled blackberries, but they were far sweeter than any he¡¯d ever tasted. More, only a few could sustain him for weeks ¨C at least according to Nerthus, who after a dormant week, had recently returned to dole out a few parcels of information. One such nugget was that the fruit grown within his Grove was abnormally nutritious. Eventually, it would pass from abnormal to overtly magical, and would offer restorative powers. But that was a long way off. Still, Elijah appreciated the additional taste even if he didn¡¯t really need the enhanced nutrition. Because of his hunting prowess as a mist panther, food scarcity had ceased to be a threat to his survival. Of course, a lack of variety still haunted him to the point that, when he finally managed to make good on his internal promise to explore the transformed world, he fully intended to abstain from eating shellfish for the rest of his life. But for now, crab remained the most ready source of fat and protein. He could hunt smaller game fairly easily, but doing so just wasn¡¯t worth the energy when he could quickly and easily kill crabs and harvest their meat. After pausing to pulse Nature¡¯s Bounty next to the bushes, Elijah continued across the glade until he reached the trio of trees that had grown together into his home. It had only just reached the point where it was livable, and he was eager to give it a look. For a long few moments, he just stood and admired the creation, though. The trees had grown together so seamlessly that, at first glance, they looked like the same organism. From those winding trunks grew a series of branches and roots that twisted around the base of the trees, creating what looked like a spiral staircase that led to the expansive floor suspended two dozen feet from the ground. From a distance, the structure of the house itself was hidden by leaves and branches, but up close, Elijah could see the solid walls that looked to him like a woven basket made of tree limbs. With no more hesitation, Elijah mounted the steps, feeling the branches that comprised the staircase give slightly beneath his feet. He ran his hand along the tree trunk as he followed the spiral up and into the structure itself. When he did, he found his breath catching in his throat. Flowers danced along the ceiling, slightly glowing with soft, white light that illuminated the interior. Chairs, couches, and other furniture grew from the ground, their surfaces softened by moss and leaves. When Elijah reached down to touch the closest chair, he found that it felt little different from a modern version he might¡¯ve had in his old apartment back in Hawai¡¯i. ¡°No,¡± he said to himself as he sat down with a grateful sigh. ¡°This is so much better.¡± Of course, that might¡¯ve been due to the fact that he¡¯d spent the past year with nothing but stumps and logs as furniture. ¡°I am glad you like it,¡± said Nerthus as he suddenly grew out of the floor. ¡°I thought you couldn¡¯t leave the ancestral tree.¡± ¡°That is true,¡± said the tree spirit, but he didn¡¯t elaborate. That led Elijah to the conclusion that his home was somehow connected to the other tree, probably in a way Nerthus was prohibited from explaining. ¡°Would you like a tour?¡± Elijah nodded, and the little tree spirit led him deeper into the house, describing the home¡¯s features along the way. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, it wasn¡¯t devoid of amenities. In fact, Nerthus had somehow incorporated a kitchen into the design. Certainly, it didn¡¯t feature an electric stove or anything of that nature, but it did have a fire pit where Elijah could cook his food and a few raised, flat surfaces where he could prepare his meals. More importantly, it had what Nerthus described as a cold box. Set into the floor, it was only a couple of feet wide and half as deep, but when Elijah opened it, he felt a blast of cool air. It wasn¡¯t quite freezing, but it reminded Elijah of a small refrigerator. ¡°How is this possible?¡± ¡°Ethera,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°I noticed that you had a food spoilage problem, so I took the liberty of addressing it. Are you pleased?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I definitely am,¡± he said. Being able to preserve his food would free up quite a bit of time, much of which had been wasted due to the need to constantly acquire fresh meat. With the cold box to preserve the meat, a lot less would spoil. Over the next few minutes, Nerthus showed Elijah through the tree house, and to his surprise, it featured a multitude of bedrooms in addition to the kitchen, living area, and even a bathroom. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°There is no running water as yet, but in a few months, I should have enough Ethera to manage it,¡± Nerthus stated, almost apologetically. ¡°No, this is great,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, he wasn¡¯t above hauling a little water if it meant having a comfortable place to do his business. After squatting in the woods for an entire year, even having an enclosed space seemed like a nearly unimaginable luxury. All in all, the house seemed far more elaborate and comfortable than anything he could have expected. So, over the next hour or so, he engaged in the arduous process of moving in. First, he gathered a crab claw he¡¯d harvested earlier that day, and after cracking the shell open, deposited a good portion of the meat in the refrigerated cold box. Then, after disposing of the remnant, he headed to the stream where he washed himself. It wasn¡¯t the same as using soap and water, but he did the best he could with his limited resources. Once he¡¯d removed the worst of the dirt and grime ¨C as well as the scent of the raw crab ¨C Elijah gathered the rest of his belongings. He didn¡¯t have much. Just a few baskets full of berries and mushrooms, his carving attempts, some honey he¡¯d harvested from a hive a few days before, and the gear he¡¯d looted from the invaders¡¯ corpses. He¡¯d already made use of their clothing by picking out the stitches and adjusting it to fit his much larger frame, but there were a few strips of excess cloth he¡¯d been using as rags. After moving everything to the house, he looked around. On the one hand, he was grateful to finally have a real roof over his head and a comfortable, safe place to sleep. However, a wave of depression came with that satisfaction, largely because he had no one to share any of it with. Elijah had never been what anyone would call a social person. He had friends and acquaintances, but he¡¯d always been just as happy alone in the wilderness as he was accompanied by other people. Or that was what he¡¯d thought before spending over a year with no one but an occasionally present tree spirit for company. As he lay in his new bed, which was incredibly comfortable, and looking up at the softly glowing flowers, he found himself wishing someone else was there to appreciate it alongside him. His sister-in-law, Carmen, would have loved it. So would his nephew, Miggy. His sister, Alyssa, would act like she didn¡¯t find it all fascinating and beautiful, but Elijah knew her well enough to know just how false her act was. Finally, his mind wandered to his ex-girlfriend, Lacey. They¡¯d never been truly in love. Elijah could recognize that with the distance and time stretching between them. However, for years, she had been his closest friend. Breaking up with her had been one of the most difficult things he¡¯d ever had to do, but at the time, he hadn¡¯t wanted to burden her with the reality of watching him slowly wither away and die. Now, he regretted that they hadn¡¯t spent more time together. He fell asleep thinking about the times they had shared, and his dreams followed along with that theme right up until something startled him awake. He bolted upright, already embracing the Ethera in his core and priming himself to cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Jerking his head around, he saw nothing but the still-unfamiliar confines of his new home, which was still softly lit by the white flowers growing out of the ceiling. ¡°What the¡­¡± A wave of dense Ethera washed over him with enough force to send his mind reeling. Before, he would¡¯ve said that it was impossible for there to be too much ambient Ethera. Clearly, that was false, and the excess left him feeling dizzy enough that if he¡¯d been standing, his knees would have already buckled. As it was, he had to grab the wall just to steady himself. Over the next twenty seconds or so, the level of Ethera slowly fell until it reached something closer to normal. And then, just as Elijah was thinking about standing, another wave of dense energy swept through him, starting the process anew. Again and again, the cycle repeated over the next few hours until, at last, normality reasserted itself. By that point, Elijah was a mess. He felt alternatingly drunk, hyper aware, and everything in between. Still, once everything settled, he managed to push himself out of bed and stumble his way out of the house. Lurching down the steps proved to be particularly perilous, and he ended up falling down the last few steps. After hitting the ground, he simply lay there for a few moments before pushing himself to his hands and knees as he tried to master himself. The results were mixed, but after a while, he climbed back to his feet and staggered toward the ancestral tree. When he reached the tree, Elijah called out for Nerthus, and only a few seconds later, the spirit grew out of the lowest branch. ¡°How may I¡­oh, dear¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah slurred. ¡°It is a surge,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Please listen carefully, because I do not have much time. The tower, you have found it, yes?¡± ¡°I¡­yeah¡­I found it.¡± ¡°Good. Over the next few hours, the island will be inundated by wave after wave of monsters,¡± the tree spirit said. ¡°After a period of calm, it will repeat unless you challenge and conquer the tower.¡± ¡°Conquer it? I can¡¯t¡­I¡¯m not¡­¡± Elijah¡¯s mind spun. He¡¯d decided not to investigate the tower further, and for good reason. He had no idea what dangers lie within, and as such, he felt like challenging it would be walking to his death. ¡°You must. Otherwise, this island will be overwhelmed and destroyed,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Conquering it will ¨C¡± Nerthus collapsed, merging with the branch before he could get another word out. He was gone so suddenly that, for a long while, Elijah could only stare at that spot. Until he felt something enter the Grove. Elijah¡¯s head stopped spinning, and he whipped around, already embracing his various spells. First came Essence of the Monkey. Then, Essence of the Wolf. One With Nature. And finally, Shape of the Predator. Even as he felt himself transforming into a mist panther, he searched his surroundings for the intruder. It didn¡¯t take long for him to find it. The Voxxian monster, like all the others he¡¯d encountered, was reptilian in nature. However, it stood on two legs and reached around four feet in height. So, given that size and power were correlated ¨C at least as far as Elijah was concerned ¨C he didn¡¯t think the creature would give him much trouble. Then, a second presence appeared in his senses. And a third. A fourth. They kept coming until there were ten of the Voxx stalking forward. There were subtle variations between them, but, for the most part, they were similar. Fortunately, Elijah had embraced Guise of the Unseen the moment his transformation was complete, so he was hidden from view. However, their mere presence made his stomach roil, especially when he realized that they had taken a straight line that would soon bring them to the ancestral tree. Perhaps it was just coincidence, but Elijah suspected that it was their goal. And he couldn¡¯t let them reach it. So, throwing his very valid fears into the back of his mind, Elijah crept forward, intending to massacre the creatures that dared to desecrate his Grove with their horrid presence. 1-40. Preamble to Disaster Elijah stalked forward, moving as quickly as he dared without rendering his Guise of the Unseen ineffectual. The ability was usually very effective, to the point where he could sneak up on most animals without fear of being detected, but it had its limits ¨C chiefly, that if he moved too suddenly or into bright lights, he would be seen. It was still just before dawn, so bright lights were no threat, but he had to be careful to keep his movements under control as he hurried toward the invading Voxx. The monsters approached with little care, crashing through the underbrush as they passed the ephemeral boundary of the Grove proper. They were already within his Domain, but they had yet to pass the circle of trees that constituted his Grove. Still, he could sense them very clearly. More, Elijah knew ¨C how, he wasn¡¯t sure ¨C that they were weakened by the Grove. However, he also felt the Grove¡¯s power level dip, and he inferred that, if the Voxx were left to their own devices, they would slowly drain the Grove of all Ethera and consume whatever remained of the ancestral tree. Elijah refused to let that happen. Not because he wanted to fight them. He didn¡¯t, especially considering that he was outnumbered ten to one. But he also didn¡¯t have much of a choice. The Grove was more than just his home. It was a stronghold against the invaders and a fortress that protected Nerthus and the ancestral tree. And he was meant to be their protector. So, Elijah padded forward on silent paws until he reached the first monster. On all fours, Elijah was only a few feet tall at the shoulder, so the reptilian creature loomed over him. An air of corruption wafted from its viridian scales, accompanied by the sickly sweet smell of decay. If Elijah hadn¡¯t spent the last few months hunting similar creatures, he would have been overwhelmed by disgust. However, he¡¯d grown accustomed to their stench, and so, he barely paid it any heed as he finally pounced. The first attack was vicious, and Elijah¡¯s claws ripped through the monster¡¯s back legs. Its scales parted easily, and his efforts were rewarded with a screech of pain and a shower of black blood. It tried to whip around with a backhanded attack, but it didn¡¯t account for its injury. For all their magical toughness, the Voxx were still physical creatures that were dependent on muscles, bones, and ligaments. So, the moment it tried to turn, its leg collapsed beneath it, sending it stumbling to the ground. Of course, it quickly recovered ¨C magical durability being what it was ¨C but by that point, Elijah was already racing into the shadows. The monster howled in pain ¨C or perhaps in an attempt to communicate with its fellows - but it was useless. Elijah darted from the darkness, targeting the second monster with a similar attack. It was even more effective than the last, and Elijah felt his claws scraping against bone before he bounded away. The third monster was clearly aware of his presence, but with Guise of the Unseen active, it couldn¡¯t pinpoint his location. So, it remained rooted in place, spinning around as it tried to look everywhere at once. It was a curiously human reaction, and if Elijah wasn¡¯t in the middle of a battle, he would have wondered at its origin. As it was, he baited the Voxxian monster by letting himself be seen, then melting back into the shadows. It responded with predictable fury, rushing toward the spot where Elijah had been seen, but by that point, he was already circling around. His subsequent attacks ripped through both of the creature¡¯s hamstrings before Elijah dashed back into the underbrush, using the shadows and his ability for cover. The next few creatures were similarly easy to manipulate, giving Elijah confidence to push himself to do a little more damage with each ambush. It was a mistake, as was made painfully obvious when he overplayed his hand and got a claw to his ribcage for his trouble. He went tumbling into the bushes, leaving a trail of blood as he barrel rolled to a stop. Shaking his head, he pushed through the dizziness that came from blood loss, pain, and a budding concussion from where he¡¯d hit his head multiple times while bouncing through the forest. Knowing that he couldn¡¯t remain stationary for long, Elijah climbed to his feet and dashed away. It was just in time, too, because one of the remaining uninjured monsters ¨C there were only two who were at full Strength ¨C came into view only a moment later. It stopped, sniffing the air, then turned toward where Elijah was crouched. A horrifying grin split its reptilian face before it let out a series of barking hisses. Elijah crept backwards as those barks were answered by its fellows. The creatures were communicating. Were they pack hunters, like wolves? Or was their ability to communicate more advanced? Did they have intelligence on par with humans, perhaps? It was a daunting prospect, but one Elijah had no time to contemplate. Elijah ran, leaving a trail of blood behind him. Doubtless, the monsters could now track him ¨C in fact, he was hoping that they would follow, forgetting the glade until the pesky mist panther was dealt with. For a few seconds, the creatures kept up, but Elijah quickly outpaced them and, after a few more seconds, felt his speed increase as the System deemed him to have gotten out of combat. With that, the effect of Essence of the Wolf reasserted itself, and as a result, he tore through the forest with unprecedented speed that the Voxxian creatures couldn¡¯t hope to match. He ran, but even as his injury sapped his life, he kept his wits about him, leading the monsters on a long and winding trail before finding his way to his old cabin. By the time he reached his former home, Elijah judged that he¡¯d put enough distance between himself and the stalking Voxx to let Shape of the Predator fall away so he could heal himself. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. The only problem was that he had no real notion of how much Ethera he had available. While in his predator form, he had no sense of his core. He knew his Ethera still regenerated while he was transformed, but with everything that had happened, he knew his sense of time was skewed. Perhaps he had enough Ethera to heal himself, but would he have enough to resume his predator form? Whatever the case, Elijah didn¡¯t have much choice. Shape of the Predator came with significant benefits, but in the months since he¡¯d acquired the spell, he¡¯d learned that its durability was grossly lacking. The form was meant for hit-and-run tactics, not standing toe-to-toe with powerful monsters. As a result, he was difficult to pin down, but when he actually took a hit, he had few defenses to mitigate the damage. When he was only fighting one enemy, it wasn¡¯t such a problem. He could pounce, ravage the opponent, then retreat while Contagion did its work. But fighting multiple enemies at once had quickly shown him his limits. He could work around them, but doing so balanced him on a razor¡¯s edge of disaster. Hence, the retreat. Elijah felt himself resume his human form, and, to his relief, he saw that his core had refilled almost entirely. So, he slapped his hand on his side and cast Touch of Nature, channeling the ability through his Staff of Natural Harmony. Enhanced by the staff, the spell quickly took effect. On the surface, the wound closed, but it would require at least one more cast before he was back to perfect health. He couldn¡¯t afford that. He had neither the time nor the spare Ethera to finish the job, so after making certain that he¡¯d stopped the bleeding, he set off through the forest. In human form, he couldn¡¯t move nearly as quickly as he had as a mist panther, but he still put his high Dexterity and Strength, as well as the effects of Essence of the Wolf, to good use. Still, it was a journey fraught with tension as he waited for his core to replenish. He tried to still his mind and funnel more Ethera through his mind and into his soul, but with his adrenaline pumping, it was an exercise in futility. Unable to still his thoughts, he was limited to his natural Regeneration. Elijah could only hope that it would be enough. Bounding over a fallen tree, he slid down a dew-slick hill before popping back to his feet and sprinting forward. Somewhere behind him, Elijah heard one of the monsters crashing through the brush. They didn¡¯t bother trying to conceal their presence, and instead of leaping over obstacles, they simply tore though them. Elijah bent his mind toward pushing his limits, and at any moment, he expected to feel a wickedly sharp claw slice through his spine. While his body might be magically enhanced, Elijah didn¡¯t think he¡¯d make it through that, regardless of how high his endurance or Regeneration was. A few moments later, Elijah leaped over a familiar boulder and splashed down in the stream where he got most of his water. Fortunately, that was the moment where his Ethera regenerated enough to allow him to once again assume the Shape of the Predator. He embraced the spell, and his core emptied as his body transformed. It took a subjective eternity as his form shifted from human to panther, but the transformation completed before his Voxxian stalker climbed over the boulder. With the metamorphosis finished, Elijah took off downstream, pushing himself to his top speed. He left the frustrated monster behind, and when he¡¯d managed to put quite a bit of space between his position and his pursuer. With a little freedom, he dropped to his stomach and rolled, washing the blood away in the process before doubling back. As he did so, he cloaked himself in Guise of the Unseen and resumed his hit-and-run tactics. When he reached the nearest monster, he saw that Contagion had already begun to work its gruesome magic. The creature was still moving forward, but the ability had sapped much of its Strength. If Elijah left it alone, there was every possibility that the infection would eventually kill it off. But he wasn¡¯t going to take that chance. So, he climbed a tree and, when the monster passed beneath him, he pounced, raking his claws across its shoulders as he clamped his jaws down on the creature¡¯s head. It tried to throw him loose, but with Contagion coursing through its veins, it was incapable of displaying its former Strength. Elijah¡¯s jaws flexed, and, a moment later, the monster¡¯s skull was crushed. It fell, dead before it hit the ground. Elijah felt an influx of Ethera that pushed him closer to level twenty, but it wasn¡¯t quite enough to tip him over the edge. But that was fine. He had nine more of the monsters to kill. So, he set off through the woods, trying to ignore the foul taste in his mouth as he stalked the remaining Voxx. The first he found was one of the two uninjured, so he used similar tactics to what he¡¯d employed at the start of the battle. Two quick claw strikes, and its hamstrings were severed. More importantly, it was infected with Contagion. Elijah moved on, disappearing into the shadows as he stalked the remaining monsters. The next one he found was barely capable of standing on its own two feet. In his initial salvo, Elijah had severed the Voxx equivalent of one of the creature¡¯s Achilles tendons. That injury, along with the effects of Contagion, meant that its gait had been reduced to little better than an awkward stumble. Elijah finished it off without any real difficulty. The same could be said for the next, which fell almost as easily. The next few had huddled together as they searched for him, but their superior numbers did them little good as Elijah dashed in, slashed a few times, then used his superior speed to disappear into the forest. It took a few passes, but a few minutes later, they were all dead. Over and over, Elijah killed the powerful monsters. With Contagion slowing them down and gradually sapping their Strength, they were no match for Elijah¡¯s combined advantages. There were a few close calls ¨C especially when he found the lone uninjured monster ¨C but he managed victory all the same. He barely even took any additional wounds. By the time it was all said and done, Elijah was absolutely exhausted, though. However, when he finally returned to his Grove, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Not only had he managed to defend his territory, but he¡¯d also crossed over to level twenty. And with that came additional attributes. Or more importantly, a new ability:
Ability: Predator Strike Ambush an enemy from stealth, causing increased damage. Only usable when under the effect of Shape of the Predator.
When Elijah looked at the ability, he was elated. He¡¯d been hoping for something he could use in his predator form, and reaching level twenty had given him precisely what needed. He could only hope that it would be enough to get him through the ordeal laid out before him. 1-41. The Entrance Elijah stalked the Voxxian monster as it, in turn, attempted to do the same to him. Of course, because he was cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, it had no clue where he was ¨C which was precisely how Elijah liked it. As a mist panther, he was only marginally more durable than he was as a human, so caution was a necessity, rather than a choice. Fortunately, his abilities made it easier. Taking one careful step at a time, he silently closed with the monster. It was a bit bigger than the ten creatures he¡¯d killed during the previous wave, but it was comparatively slower as well. That meant that it was a perfect target for Elijah¡¯s brand of hunting, which involved rapid attacks and hit-and-run tactics that kept him out of harm¡¯s way. However, this time, he had something different in mind. Activating an ability was different than using a spell. Instead of dragging Ethera from his core, he harnessed the ubiquitous energy from his surroundings, funneling it through his mind and into his soul. From there, he let it seep into his body before darting forward and activating the ability. There were no mental commands. Instead, he simply acted according to the instincts that came with the ability. Thus, he used Predator Strike for the first time. His claws flashed toward the monster¡¯s spine ¨C not an optimal target for his usual tactics, but Elijah trusted his instincts to guide him appropriately. He moved with unnatural speed, and just before his claws connected, he felt a surge of power burst forth. An instant later, he tore through the monster¡¯s back, slicing through its thick scales with ease. His claws crushed the creature¡¯s backbone, then severed its spine before raking across its organs. Elijah was so surprised by the sheer power of the attack that he almost forgot that the thing was still alive. Only at the last second did he remember to leap away. Fortunately, the lumbering creature, which was more than six feet tall and built like the world¡¯s most ill-proportioned bodybuilder, was slowed by the sudden obliteration of its spine, so even with Elijah¡¯s hesitation, its counterattack only found air. But Elijah didn¡¯t melt back into the shadows like he normally would have. Instead, he slowly circled the Voxxian monster as it dropped to one knee. Then, unable to support itself, it fell forward. Elijah watched as the thing struggled against its new infirmity, dragging its increasingly useless legs as it dug its claws into the loam-covered forest floor. It growled. It spat. It even barked something that might¡¯ve been an attempt at communication. But Elijah simply continued to watch, waiting as Contagion, which was a passive ability that came with his transformation into a mist panther, took hold. Gradually, the disease spread, further weakening the monster until it coughed up black blood. With a last surge of Strength, it tried to heave itself toward Elijah, but it came a half-dozen feet short before, finally, it succumbed. Elijah continued to circle, keeping his eyes and ears peeled just in case there were more monsters about. He felt nothing, but that wasn¡¯t an indicator that there were no more interdimensional invaders. In the past, he¡¯d found a few spontaneous manifestations that specialized in stealth. If any of those had come with the second surge, he¡¯d be far more pressed. But Elijah found nothing. The second surge had come a few hours after he¡¯d killed the last of the previous wave of monstrous invaders, and according to Nerthus, that pattern would continue until he entered the tower. If he conquered it, then a period of peace would follow. If not, then the tower would disgorge a fresh wave the moment he failed. And again every few hours after that, eventually taking over the entire area. They would eventually break down on their own ¨C something about their natures being incompatible with Earth ¨C but not before doing untold damage to the environment. If it happened enough throughout the world, then Earth would begin to change, eventually becoming inhospitable to the natives. Of course, that would take hundreds of years, but according to Nerthus, it had happened often enough in other worlds that it was a very real danger for Earth¡¯s future. So, Elijah wasn¡¯t just tasked with fighting for his own island. Instead, he was fighting for the whole world. Which was why he didn¡¯t let himself hesitate before transforming back into a human and gathering his woven satchel. It contained enough berries and mushrooms to last him about a week, which he hoped would be enough to conquer the tower. Nerthus had been silent on whether or not that was the case, which didn¡¯t fill Elijah with much confidence. Once he¡¯d slung the satchel across his back, he set off at a jog across the island. He was still under the effects of Essence of the Wolf, but he¡¯d also cast his other augmentations as well. Including Essence of the Boar, because upon reaching level twenty, he¡¯d gained another enhancement slot. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t need the extra Constitution that came with Essence of the Boar, but he suspected that was an impotent fantasy. Nerthus had spoken of the tower like it would be a challenge, and Elijah had learned to trust the little tree spirit¡¯s judgement. So, he was ready to be pushed to his limits. Soon enough, Elijah reached the cliff that was his destination, and in the distance, he saw the pillar of stone protruding from the waves like a giant, rocky finger. It was a foreboding sight, and not just because Elijah fully expected that entering the tower was extremely dangerous. That was part of it, but there was also a sense of unease that came with the mere sight of it. Was that natural? Or was it part of its magic? Elijah didn¡¯t know, and he suspected that he wouldn¡¯t soon find out. So, without further hesitation, he took a deep breath, then commenced with what would have once been an arduous climb. However, with the benefit of his increased attributes, the descent had become trivial, and soon enough, he found himself leaping into the water. At first, Elijah tried to hold his satchel and staff above the waves, but it soon became clear that he was fighting a losing battle. So, even though he knew it would ruin most of the food inside, he stopped trying to keep the contents of the satchel dry. With the staff, at least, he was confident that it could endure the salt water fairly well. Even if it hadn¡¯t been a magical piece of equipment, it was well-sealed. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Lowering his head, Elijah began to swim forward. His heart pounded as he imagined various sea creatures nibbling on his toes. Before Earth¡¯s transformation, he wouldn¡¯t have thought twice about swimming in the ocean. But now? With how much the wildlife had changed? It wasn¡¯t difficult to conjure a scenario where some overgrown fish decided that he looked like a viable meal. Still, he didn¡¯t have much choice but to keep going forward. His Grove needed him, and if Nerthus was to be believed, so did the rest of the world. So, he pushed his fears to the back of his mind and continued with his swimming stroke. After a while, he finally reached the pillar. Up close, he could clearly see the straight lines and the hints of intelligent design that marked it as an artificial creation. Of course, that wasn¡¯t entirely true, either. Not if one considered the towers to be natural. But Elijah didn¡¯t spend long pondering that distinction before he took a deep breath and dove into the water. Fortunately, with his level of body cultivation, his senses had been greatly improved. Without Eyes of the Eagle, he couldn¡¯t really see further, but obstructing forces like darkness and seawater were not the barriers to sight that they once might have been. So, when he dove beneath the waves, Elijah could see far more clearly than he¡¯d expected. Five smaller pillars surrounded the central column, though they didn¡¯t extend more than a foot or two above the surface. As he dove, Elijah saw that they were not, in fact, separate columns. Instead, the smaller pillars of stone connected to the larger, forming the head of a decorative staff. Elijah categorized it that way because he quickly recognized that it was held by a giant, stone hand that was, in turn, connected to an equally large arm that ended in a shoulder. Next came a torso that extended into the darkness hundreds of feet below. He couldn¡¯t even see the sea floor. But even so, Elijah kept going, using the shaft of the huge, stone staff as a guide. Fortunately, with his enhanced attributes, he could swim far more quickly than he ever could have before becoming a druid, and as such, he quickly reached the bottom. There, he saw a landscape of flora that rivaled the island that had become his home. Seaweed danced upon the seafloor, mingling with multi-hued coral while giant crabs scuttled about. Fish ¨C some of which, he recognized, but most were species he¡¯d never seen before ¨C darted here and there, adding to the underwater ecosystem. If Elijah had had a ready source of oxygen, he would have happily remained in place where he could simply observe the wondrous sight. However, the moment he¡¯d dipped below the surface, the clock had begun to tick, and he only had a limited amount of time before even his enhanced body ran out of air. More, the tower still needed to be conquered, lest it spit more Voxxian monsters into the world. So, without further hesitation, Elijah swam across the seafloor, carefully avoiding anything that looked particularly dangerous as he headed toward the base of what he now recognized was a giant, headless statue. When he reached his destination, Elijah was unsurprised to see what appeared to be a Greek style temple, complete with a triangular pediment and carved columns. He was no expert on architecture, but Elijah recognized the style nonetheless ¨C which begged the question of how something so alien would adopt such a familiar form. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have the time to seek out an answer, because his body had begun to protest the lack of oxygen. So, he swam forward, intending to continue his investigation until he was forced to resurface. But soon enough, Elijah found what he was looking for in the entrance to the temple. The portal, which extended from one column to the next, shimmered with unnatural light. Elijah kicked forward, but when he got close, he found himself hesitating. If he went in, there would be no going back. Either he conquered the tower ¨C whatever that really meant ¨C or he would die. There was no in between. There would be no early exits. Win or die. Those were the conditions Nerthus had described, and Elijah wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to commit to that. Not even to protect the Grove. Maybe not even to safeguard the world against an invasion of Voxx. The smart thing to do was to head back to the island, use the boat he¡¯d taken from the invaders to cross the strait to the mainland, then leave everything behind. He could survive the wilderness well enough, and he could start towards his goal of finding what remained of his family. Surely, they could use his help. For a long moment, he considered abandoning his responsibilities. Did that make him a coward? Maybe. Or perhaps it simply made him smart. Because heading into unknown danger was not the intelligent thing to do, no matter how he spun it. Certainly, it might be necessary, but it definitely wasn¡¯t smart. After a few more seconds, during which his oxygen levels continued to dwindle, Elijah made a decision. If he couldn¡¯t risk his life to protect the world ¨C and all the people in it ¨C he didn¡¯t deserve the second chance he¡¯d been given. After all, he¡¯d already made his peace with his own mortality. If he died now, he would do so trying to do the right thing. So, he swam forward and passed through the portal. A moment later, he fell into darkness. He tried to gasp, but he was still surrounded by water. However, unlike before, he could see nothing. Then, he remembered something his father had taught him a very long time ago. Look for the bubbles. The idea was simple. Bubbles would always rise to the surface. So, if he ever found himself underwater and unsure of which way to swim, he only needed to look for the bubbles. So, he pursed his lips and blew, resulting in a stream of bubbles that he then followed to the surface only ten feet above him. When his head broke through, light pierced his eyes. For a second, he wondered why the light hadn¡¯t penetrated into the water, but that only lasted a moment before the need to breathe crashed into him. He took a series of deep, gulping breaths before finally taking stock of his surroundings. He was in a cave. That much was immediately obvious. Stalactites descended from the ceiling, and, a few dozen feet away, Elijah could see a rocky edifice that he hoped was the shore. So, he swam forward until he finally clapped his arm on the curiously porous rock. Like that, he remained stationary as he caught his breath. After a few minutes, he climbed atop the boulder and pushed himself to his feet. When he did, he very nearly let out a gasp of surprise. In the distance ¨C maybe a quarter mile away across another expanse of water ¨C he saw a village. That was odd enough, considering that he¡¯d had to swim hundreds of feet below the surface to get to the portal. But what made it even stranger was that it was populated by what looked like humanoid walruses. The moment Elijah laid eyes on the creatures, a notification flashed before his eyes:
Welcome to The Keledge Tower, Level One. To advance to Level Two, complete the task before you.
Elijah shook his head, then looked at the next notification:
Task: Save the Ulthrak Village from annihilation.
Upon reading that message, he muttered, ¡°This is a lot more involved than I expected.¡± 1-42. A Druids Purpose Before Elijah swam to shore, he took a moment to take on the Shape of the Predator. However, the moment he did, he got a bit of a surprise when he suddenly realized that mist panthers were apparently very poor swimmers. He could stay afloat, and he could move a little, but his frantic flailing ruined any chance at maintaining Guise of the Unseen. So, he let the transformation drop and treaded water until he¡¯d regained enough Ethera to comfortably approach the village. By the time he did, he¡¯d garnered enough attention from the village¡¯s occupants. Indeed, stealth had never been an option. A few of the larger creatures stood on the rocky shore, gesturing threateningly with long spears. So, when Elijah got close enough to stand, he did so, holding his hands up in a gesture of surrender. He¡¯d have preferred to find a different route on shore, but the lagoon was entirely enclosed. So, the stretch of beach before him ¨C which was about three-hundred yards long ¨C was the only way out of the water. ¡°I come in peace,¡± he said, hoping that there wasn¡¯t a language barrier. ¡°I¡¯m here to help.¡± That much was true. After all, the task he¡¯d received from the tower had made it very clear that he needed to save a village. It didn¡¯t take a genius or a leap of logic to assume that the village in question lay before him. That meant that the humanoid walruses were the Ulthrak he needed to save. Of course, that would almost assuredly require their cooperation, which was why he¡¯d tried the peaceful approach. However, he had enough Ethera to fuel Shape of the Predator if they proved less than cooperative. ¡°Where¡¯d you come from?¡± demanded the largest spear-wielder. Like all the others, he had two arms, two legs, and opposable thumbs ¨C which set him apart from Earth walruses ¨C yet he still possessed the characteristic whiskers, tusks, and general girth of the creatures with which Elijah had associated him. The fact that he spoke English would have been surprising if not for two things. One, Elijah had heard the little, dagger-wielding gnome speak English months before. And two, he¡¯d grown used to the existence of Ethera-powered magic, so he didn¡¯t think anything could surprise him. ¡°Uh¡­the surface,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s a tower, Raji,¡± said one of the other ulthrak¡¯s. ¡°That¡¯s what old Migala¡¯s been tryin¡¯ to tell you. That¡¯s why we can¡¯t get out. That¡¯s why ¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Elijah said, earning a glare from Raji. ¡°My world¡­I don¡¯t know if you know anything about Earth, but this tower just popped up out of the ocean. If I don¡¯t conquer it, these things called the Voxx are going to overwhelm my home.¡± Honesty seemed like the best policy, especially when he got a distinct impression of danger from the overlarge Raji. Elijah had never been a great liar, anyway, and he had a feeling if he tried to make something up, he¡¯d end up telling such an unbelievable tale that he¡¯d end up with a spear in his gut. Then, as Elijah was getting ready to defend himself, Raji¡¯s shoulders sagged, and he said, ¡°I knew it. Didn¡¯t want to believe it, but¡­well, what else could it be?¡± ¡°If you knew it, then why¡¯d you argue with Migala all this time?¡± said the smaller ulthrak. ¡°I think you ¨C¡± Raji glared at the other humanoid walrus, which shut him up in a hurry. Elijah took that opportunity to ask, ¡°What is going on here? I thought I was coming in here to fight corrupted reptiles from another dimension.¡± It sounded silly when Elijah said it, but it was the best way to describe what he¡¯d expected out of the tower. Raji answered, ¡°You¡¯d better come with us. Our survival likely depends on you.¡± If Elijah hadn¡¯t already been tasked with saving the village, he might¡¯ve refused. However, he reasoned that completing his task would be a lot easier if he had cooperation from the people he was intended to save, so he just asked, ¡°Are you ulthraks, by the way? Is that your species, I mean?¡± ¡°We are.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay, then. Lead on, I guess,¡± Elijah stated, wading forward until he climbed onto shore. Once he did, Raji turned and led him into the village, which was a collection of huts that looked like they¡¯d been built from whale bones and the hide of some sort of grey-skinned animal. And to Elijah¡¯s surprise, when he looked up, he saw stars winking back at him via a giant hole in the roof of the cavern. He followed Raji through the village until they reached a hut that was much larger than any of the others. Along the way, they passed more of the ulthrak villagers, many of whom were clearly female, while the smaller ones were obviously children. None of them looked particularly happy, and in fact, Elijah saw more than a few poorly dressed wounds among the villagers. As he and Raji passed through the larger hut¡¯s door, he chanced a question, asking, ¡°What happened here? Was there some sort of battle?¡± ¡°The water goblins,¡± Raji said, crossing the single room and taking a seat on a large cushion. He gestured to another, saying, ¡°Sit. I will explain everything.¡± ¡°Not without me here, you won¡¯t, you big idiot,¡± came a scathing voice from the entrance. Elijah¡¯s head whipped around, and he saw an old, incredibly thin ulthrak standing nearby. His skin hung off of him in great bunches ¨C like an obese man who¡¯d recently lost most of his body weight ¨C and he carried a crooked staff with an elaborate head of feathers. ¡°You¡¯ll send our guest out to fight the goblins when he¡¯d clearly be better suited for other tasks.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t even know what¡¯s going on, Migala.¡± ¡°More reason to use him to solve the real problems, hmm?¡± ¡°Just let me explain to him what¡¯s going on. Then, we¡¯ll let him pick his path. You know that¡¯s how this has to work. Curse the Gods for putting us in this situation.¡± ¡°The Gods? No ¨C curse our own weakness, Raji.¡± ¡°That, too.¡± ¡°Well, get on with it,¡± said Migala, crossing the hut. He used the staff like a walking stick, but to Elijah¡¯s senses, it glowed with power. Migala must have noticed, because he said, ¡°Like my staff, hmm? Thinking about taking it? You wouldn¡¯t be the first to try.¡± Raji rolled his eyes ¨C a strange sight, given he was a giant walrus man ¨C and said, ¡°Don¡¯t threaten him, Migala. We need his help to get out of this.¡± ¡°You think there¡¯s any way out of this? No ¨C we¡¯re doomed to a ¨C¡± Raji said, ¡°Enough. Let me explain.¡± ¡°He¡¯s too skinny. And he has so little power. A child could ¨C¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°Enough!¡± Raji roared, and the smaller ulthrak flinched back. ¡°Enough.¡± ¡°I just want to know what¡¯s going on,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Is this real?¡± ¡°Yes. And no,¡± Raji stated. ¡°The reality is that no one really knows. I remember my life. I remember fighting against the goblins. But I know that if I¡¯m in a tower, I¡¯m not the real me.¡± ¡°Just spit it out, Raji,¡± said Migala, who¡¯d managed to regain some of his vigor. ¡°We are projections,¡± Raji said. ¡°Probably. If this tower is conquered, then our people will get some sort of benefit. It¡¯s all¡­fuzzy, like everything is obscured. I don¡¯t even think we¡¯re in our normal bodies.¡± Migala sighed. ¡°Our people volunteered for this,¡± he said. ¡°We were given an opportunity to be recorded by the System, which we took in exchange for some sort of power. I don¡¯t know what. Like the big idiot there said, it¡¯s all a little fuzzy. Once the System had our souls in its grasp ¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re not souls, Migala.¡± ¡°Sure. Our essence, then. Our reflections. Whatever the case, once it had us, we were put to work populating towers like this,¡± he said. ¡°For you, this is all real. But for us? When you die, we¡¯ll just loop back around and start all this over again so the next group that comes in here will have a proper challenge. Until we satisfy the terms of our agreement. Then, this little piece will be reunited with the host, and¡­well, the rest is all just conjecture based on blurry memories.¡± It was a lot to take in. If Elijah understood it right, then according to Migala, none of the people he¡¯d seen were real. Instead, they were lifelike projections of people who actually existed ¨C or at least had existed at some point. ¡°How does that even work? Do you just show up to some System kiosk and tell them you want to get recorded?¡± he asked. Migala gave a derisive chuckle. ¡°That¡¯s actually not that far off,¡± he said. ¡°There are people who ¨C¡± ¡°We can¡¯t tell him any of that.¡± ¡°Why not? I¡¯m not ¨C¡± At that very moment, Migala simply ceased to exist. One second, the skinny ulthrak was there, and the next, nothing of him remained. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°System sanction,¡± Raji said. ¡°Everyone has to follow the rules. I don¡¯t know anything about wherever you came from, but I¡¯m guessing the System is fairly new to you.¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°The one thing you need to know is that System likes its rules,¡± Raji said. ¡°Either you follow them, or bad things happen. Out there, you might just have a run of bad luck. Or you could end up being targeted by heaven¡¯s wrath. Probably the latter if you manage to get the System¡¯s attention. But for us, it¡¯s much, much worse. We¡¯re not physical beings, so we¡¯re easy to stamp out.¡± Elijah nodded. Nerthus had been prevented from answering his questions on more than one occasion, which supported Raji¡¯s explanation. Still, it seemed incredibly callous to end someone¡¯s existence over something so trivial. Sure, Migala hadn¡¯t been strictly real, but he¡¯d clearly been capable of independent thought. Which made him real enough that Elijah felt sorry for him. ¡°What happens if you die?¡± Raji shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he said. ¡°Nothing good, I¡¯m sure. At best, I¡¯ll just cease to exist while my host continues living his life. Or hers, I suppose. But at worst? They¡¯ll be punished in some way. I feel like I used to know, but¡­¡± ¡°But it¡¯s all blurry. Yeah. You said that,¡± Elijah said, nodding along. ¡°I see from your expression that you understand,¡± Raji said. ¡°We know we¡¯re not real, but we feel pain. We think. We have goals. We have lives. We love. We hate. And we want to live. Will you help us?¡±
Branching Task: Save the Ulthrak village or destroy them. Choose wisely, because there are rewards at the end of both paths.
There were probably plenty of people who would have chosen the second option. Certainly, it seemed easier. However, for Elijah, it was never really an option. There was no way he could just kill the ulthraks he¡¯d met. If they¡¯d attacked him, it would have been a different story, but that wasn¡¯t how it had happened. ¡°Can you tell me how this all works?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Like I said, I came in here expecting to fight interdimensional reptiles.¡± Raji shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you much,¡± he said. ¡°Not until you¡­well, here¡¯s what I can tell you. These towers are just constructs meant to siphon Ethera from powerful interdimensional rifts. But left alone, a siphon isn¡¯t enough. It¡¯ll eventually overflow.¡± ¡°The surges,¡± Elijah said, remembering the waves of reptilian Voxx. ¡°That¡¯s just a side effect, but yeah. That¡¯s the gist of it. When someone like you comes in and challenges the tower, it has to spend that Ethera to run things,¡± he explained. ¡°And to provide rewards. So, most towers need to be constantly drained of Ethera, or¡­well, things overflow.¡± ¡°But that means I¡¯ll have to keep challenging it if I want to keep this from happening again?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°In most cases, yes. There are ways around it, but¡­well, I can¡¯t speak to that. So, will you help us?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I intend to, but I¡¯m not sure what I can really do,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not a great fighter.¡± ¡°Is the rest of your team going to join you? Did you get separated?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a team.¡± ¡°You challenged a tower by yourself? Oh, that¡¯s not good.¡± ¡°I¡¯m beginning to realize that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I¡¯m here now, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a way out unless I finish it. So, tell me what needs to be done, and I¡¯ll do what I can to help.¡± ¡°What are your abilities?¡± Elijah didn¡¯t want to reveal all his cards, so he chose to keep his ability to take on the form of a mist panther a secret. He said, ¡°I can heal some, and I can ¨C¡± ¡°You can heal? How often? And how efficiently?¡± the ulthrak asked, his words tumbling out of his tusked mouth in a rapid stream. ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°Never mind. We¡¯ll figure it out,¡± Raji said, pushing his bulk upright. ¡°Come with me.¡± With that, he strode from the building. Elijah sprang to his feet and hurried after him, catching up just in time to hear Raji tell the smaller ulthrak from before to gather all the sick and wounded in the town square. The smaller walrus man rushed off, presumably to do as he was asked, and Elijah followed Raji into the center of the town, which was characterized by a tall tree with gleaming white leaves. ¡°So, what do you need? We don¡¯t have much coin, but ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need anything,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just¡­uh¡­just get everyone clumped around me, I guess.¡± Raji nodded, and over the next half-hour, the square slowly filled with injured ulthrak. Some were carried in on leather stretchers, while others hobbled close on their own power. Soon enough, they were clustered so close to Elijah that he began to feel a little claustrophobic. But he pushed that discomfort aside, knowing full well that Healing Rain had a very limited area of effect. So, he needed to get as many people under the clouds as possible, his comfort be damned. Once everyone had been gathered, there were hundreds of ulthrak in the square. ¡°Is this everyone?¡± Elijah shouted over the din. Raji nodded from afar. Then, Elijah embraced the Ethera in his core, channeling it through his soul and into Healing Rain. When he cast the spell, a localized cloud materialized approximately twenty feet above him before dropping a steady drizzle on the area. It was only a couple dozen feet across, but it covered almost a third of the square. Immediately, the injured and sick ulthrak began to notice the effects of the Healing Rain. Someone gleefully shouted that their wound had been healed, while others gasped in surprised relief. Elijah just stood there, preparing to refresh the spell when necessary. He¡¯d tested it many times, so he knew it would last quite some time before the spell faded. In the meantime, he looked around, searching for someone who needed healing more urgently. And after only a moment, he sighted in on an ulthrak woman who was covered in so many bandages that she looked like a slightly corpulent mummy. Elijah motioned for her to come closer, and she hobbled forward. ¡°What¡¯s your worst injury?¡± ¡°Gut wound,¡± she muttered, grimacing with each word. ¡°Here,¡± Elijah said, kneeling down and pressing his hand against her abdomen. He could practically feel the injury. While he knew it wasn¡¯t the most efficient use of his Ethera, Elijah used Touch of Nature, sending a powerful pulse of healing cycling through his staff, then through his hand and into her body. He tried to guide it to the wound in her stomach, but without actually inspecting the injury, it was safer to simply bathe the area in healing energy and hope for the best. Still, the combination of the two spells ¨C Healing Rain and Touch of Nature ¨C did wonders, and in seconds, her eyes widened in shock. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. And for the first time since gaining his archetype, he understood his place in the world. He could fight. He could kill. But his true calling was preservation. Sometimes, that would take the form of coaxing natural growth from the landscape, as he had in his Grove. Other times, he would be forced to defend the natural world, as he¡¯d tried to do with the panther. But as he healed the ulthrak woman¡¯s injuries, Elijah came to realize that he preferred the third option: mending the broken. 1-43. Why We Fight They weren¡¯t real ¨C not as he recognized reality, at least. Elijah knew that without a shadow of a doubt. However, that didn¡¯t seem to matter when he was surrounded by suffering people. Even if those people happened to be humanoid walruses. He had been at it for hours, and he was soaked with sweat that had mingled with precipitation from Healing Rain. He gasped, pulling his hand away from his latest patient. He was tiny. Barely more than toddler-sized, and with tiny nubs for tusks. He¡¯d also been on the edge of death before Elijah had stepped in and cured some sort of infection by virtue of Healing Touch. It had taken the last of his Ethera, but he¡¯d finally done it. Everyone in the village who¡¯d needed healing had gotten it. And Elijah had been rewarded accordingly. He glanced at the notifications he¡¯d so far ignored, and he couldn¡¯t help but give a tired smile as he slumped to the ground and leaned against the tree in the center of the square. It felt different from the vegetation on his island. Like the shadow of a tree. Or a projection, which was probably more accurate. He leaned his head back and stared at the arboreal canopy, watching the stark white leaves dancing in the subtle breeze. Projection or not, it was definitely beautiful. He stared at it for a long few seconds before reading the notifications.
Congratulations! You have reached level twenty-one. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
Then, he moved on to the next one:
Congratulations! You have reached level twenty-two. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
Two levels in a single day. It was the fastest pace he¡¯d managed since washing ashore, and he hadn¡¯t even gotten into a fight. That alone made him question his previous actions. If healing was so profitable, then what use did he have for killing? Of course, he¡¯d yet to kill anything simply to gain kill energy. The crabs and other animals he¡¯d hunted, he¡¯d done so for food. The invaders, he¡¯d killed in order to protect the sanctity of his Grove as well as in a doomed attempt to assist the panther. And the Voxx ¨C well, that was less about killing, and more about simple extermination. He likened it to pest control. Unpleasant, necessary, and ultimately beneficial. Whatever the case, it wasn¡¯t as if he¡¯d set out to murder hordes of creatures for the sake of quick leveling. Elijah shook his head. He couldn¡¯t even fool himself. While he didn¡¯t think of himself as a bloodthirsty murderer, the reality was that he had enjoyed exterminating the Voxx. He had gotten satisfaction from hunting ¨C and killing ¨C the various animals that were his main sources of food. And the invaders? They were the enemy. He¡¯d known it from the first moment he¡¯d laid eyes on that settlement across the strait, and that impression had been further cemented when they¡¯d tried to kill the panther. No - he felt more guilty about killing crabs than he¡¯d ever feel about taking out the invaders. That realization probably should have worried him, yet he was curiously ambivalent about it. He let out a sigh and focused on his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 22
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 23
Dexterity 22
Constitution 23
Ethera 31
Regeneration 25
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
His attributes truly were beginning to round out, and though his physical abilities hadn¡¯t really kept pace with his expectations, he was satisfied. Originally, he¡¯d thought that the threshold for peak humanity was the ten-point mark. However, he¡¯d had to reassess that assumption when he¡¯d nearly doubled that point total, and he was still incapable of superhuman feats of physical prowess. Certainly, he felt confident that he¡¯d reached at least Olympic-athlete levels of ability, but he wouldn¡¯t be lifting any cars anytime soon. Before his latest burst of levels, he¡¯d done a little testing, and as far as he could tell, it would take nearly triple his current totals to reach what he considered truly superhuman territory. For example, when he got to sixty Strength ¨C assuming he didn¡¯t advance his body cultivation, which seemed likely considering that he still hadn¡¯t figure out how to do so ¨C he estimated that he¡¯d be capable of comfortably lifting around two-thousand pounds. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Of course, that was assuming the gains would be linear. From one-to-ten, they hadn¡¯t been, but ever since, each point seemed to account for around twenty extra pounds of lifting capacity. Then again, those were only estimates. It wasn¡¯t like he had a set of scales lying around, and ¡°little rock¡± and ¡°bigger rock¡± were not accurate units of measurement. Perhaps when he reached civilization, he could remedy that lack of accuracy. The scientist in him wanted nothing more than to sit down and develop a way to accurately test his current capabilities while putting together a predictive model for what he might expect going forward. But that would require his survival, which was anything but assured, given Raji¡¯s reaction to the fact that he¡¯d entered the tower alone. Knowing that he would need all the tools he could acquire, Elijah consulted his spellbook and inspected his new spell:
Spell: Swarm Conjure a swarm of pests that infect your enemies with appropriate afflictions.
¡°Nice,¡± Elijah said, looking at the description. If it worked anything like Contagion, which was a passive ability that gave his claws the ability to infect his victims with a disease that sapped their Strength and slowly damaged them, the new ability would be a nice addition to his toolkit. Looking around, he wished he had an opportunity to test it, though he quickly thought better of that desire. If he was forced into battle mode, it would probably mean that the ulthraks he¡¯d just spent hours healing would once again be injured. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten stronger,¡± came a soft voice from nearby. The child that had been his last patient had already scampered away, which meant that he¡¯d thought he was alone. Clearly that wasn¡¯t the case, and he lowered his face and looked at the speaker. ¡°I¡­I recognize you, don¡¯t I?¡± he said, looking at the female ulthrak. She was quite a bit smaller than males like Raji, but she was still quite bulky. Still, there was something undeniably feminine about her posture as well as her speaking voice. ¡°I was the first person you healed,¡± she said. ¡°I came to thank you.¡± With that, she held out a basket filled with some sort of fruit. Elijah took the container, saying, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°No ¨C thank you,¡± she said. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think any of us would have survived without your efforts.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Anybody would have done the same.¡± Indeed, his experience was that most people tended to work together when faced with catastrophe. He¡¯d seen as much after wildfires, volcanic eruptions, and hurricanes. When disaster struck, people tended to step up. ¡°I¡­disagree. I don¡¯t remember much about who I¡­was. Who I am, I suppose. But every instinct tells me that many people put in your situation would have simply killed us, taken our hides, and ¨C¡± Elijah gasped in horror. ¡°Your hides?¡± ¡°Oh. I¡­um¡­I shouldn¡¯t have said that¡­¡± She backed away, suddenly afraid. Elijah held up his hands and said, ¡°I¡¯m not¡­I would never¡­I mean¡­w-why would anyone do that?¡± ¡°Ulthrak hides are extremely valuable,¡± she said. ¡°It is why the goblins hunt us. With ulthrak hide armor, they will be able to hunt, grow stronger, and expand their territory. Did you truly not know?¡± Elijah shook his head. The mere notion of killing and skinning sapient beings was absolutely abhorrent. Even if the walrus beings¡¯ hides would make the best armor in the world, there was absolutely no way Elijah could ever use it. And he questioned the morality of anyone who could. Of course, that wasn¡¯t really fair. If the choice was between that and death, many would choose the path that would lead them to survival. But Elijah would rather die than take one step down that road. He had no issues with killing for food. Or to protect himself or his territory. That was just natural. But hunting and murdering sapient beings just because they had some resource you wanted? A shiver went up his spine. ¡°No. I definitely didn¡¯t know,¡± Elijah said. He knew he couldn¡¯t say anything to put her at ease, so he simply shook his head and remained silent. He would have to let his actions speak for him. In that moment of silence, he latched onto something she¡¯d said, so he asked, ¡°How did you know I leveled? And what¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Takha,¡± she said. ¡°My name is Takha. And I knew because I have an ability that lets me inspect things. The System provides a description.¡± ¡°And what does it say about me?¡± ¡°That you are a level twenty-two druid,¡± was her answer. ¡°I¡¯m not powerful enough to gain any more information about you. But that staff¡­¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°It glows with Ethera,¡± Takha said. ¡°Where did you get it?¡± ¡°I made it.¡± ¡°Truly?¡± she said, her eyes widening. It was almost like watching a cartoon, her face was so expressive. ¡°You are a great craftsman?¡± Elijah shook his head and let out a slight chuckle. ¡°I¡¯m really not. I just needed a good walking stick. I guess I overshot that mark by a little.¡± Indeed, the fact that the staff could enhance his spells had been an incredible boon that had saved his life more than once. Shaking his head, Elijah stood up. The skittish Takha flinched back, but he ignored the movement. She had every right to be afraid, given that she didn¡¯t really know him. He¡¯d healed her, certainly, but who was to say that he wouldn¡¯t turn on her now that he knew the value of her hide? He never would, but caution was absolutely the right decision on her part. ¡°Now that everyone¡¯s healed, I think it¡¯s time to see what comes next.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The tower. I have to conquer it. I¡¯ve chosen to save you all, but I still don¡¯t know what that really means. I hope Raji can point me in the right direction.¡± With that, he strode off, quickly passing through the small village to reach the largest hut in the village. The flap that served as the building¡¯s door hung open, so Elijah pushed through it. When he did, he saw that Raji was sitting in the center and eating something from a bowl. He quickly pushed his bulk upright and said, ¡°What can I do for you? Is everyone healed? I can¡¯t thank you enough for ¨C¡± ¡°I need to know what the win condition for this place is.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The win condition. I need to save your village. That¡¯s my goal. So, how do I do that? I hoped the healing would satisfy the requirements, but that¡¯s obviously not it. So, spit it out. How do I ensure your survival?¡± ¡°The goblins,¡± muttered Takha. ¡°No. It¡¯s too dangerous!¡± Raji interjected. ¡°We need him to remain here where he can heal us. That will ¨C¡± ¡°The goblins will keep coming. You know that, Raji. And we¡¯ve already lost so many that we can¡¯t stand up to them. Every time they raid the village, we lose more people. Even if we can heal everyone who¡¯s injured, you know we can¡¯t save everyone,¡± Takhi said. ¡°I can¡¯t in good conscience ¨C¡± ¡°Where are these goblins?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°You can¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°You know I¡¯m not going to stay here indefinitely. I¡¯m leaving, one way or another,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I just need you to point me in the right direction, and I¡¯ll be out of your whiskers.¡± Raji shook his head. Elijah knew why the ulthrak wanted him to stay. He¡¯d already made it clear what he thought of Elijah trying to conquer the tower solo, but he¡¯d also seen the good that could be done via Elijah¡¯s healing spells. Likely, he considered it the only way Elijah could lend any aid. Of course, Elijah didn¡¯t think like that. Instead, he wanted to at least investigate the situation before he wrote it off as a lost cause. After all, he had abilities of which the ulthraks were ignorant, and he felt confident that he could at least hold his own. Otherwise, Nerthus never would have sent him into the tower. But he couldn¡¯t say that ¨C not without revealing his secrets and losing any advantage he might have in the event of betrayal. He didn¡¯t want to think the ulthraks would turn on him ¨C he was an optimist, after all ¨C but trust was earned, not freely given. And the humanoid walruses simply hadn¡¯t displayed anything but a willingness to take healing where it was offered. ¡°Fine,¡± Raji said. ¡°If you head to the other side of the village, you¡¯ll see a path that leads up to the surface. Once there, look to the west. That¡¯s where the goblins live.¡± Elijah nodded, then said, ¡°Thanks.¡± Before he left, he looked down at his satchel. The mushrooms and berries he¡¯d brought with him had been ruined by immersion in the salt water, so he asked, ¡°Do you have any rations? I think I might be up there for a while.¡± Raji nodded, and Takha pushed the basket of fruit back into his hands. He hadn¡¯t even realized he¡¯d left it behind. Nor did he remember seeing Takha retrieve it. Still, he took the fruit with a grateful nod as Raji left the hut. He returned a few moments later and handed a parcel to Elijah, saying, ¡°Dried fish. It¡¯s not much, but it should last you a few days if you pace yourself.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°Is there anything I can say to keep you from going?¡± Raji asked. ¡°Our village isn¡¯t much, but you could stay here for a while longer. You would be safe, even if you couldn¡¯t leave.¡± Elijah answered, ¡°No. This is something I have to do. But look on the bright side ¨C if I¡¯m successful, I¡¯ll conquer the tower.¡± Raji shrugged his massive shoulders, saying, ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. We¡¯ll just cycle. I¡¯ll forget this ever happened. At best, I¡¯ll finish whatever my commitment is and rejoin the real me. I don¡¯t know. Either way, win or lose, it¡¯s all the same. So long as we don¡¯t die.¡± ¡°What happens then?¡± ¡°Nothing good,¡± Raji said, and by the set of his tusks, Elijah knew he would get nothing else out of the big ulthrak. So, he once again thanked his hosts, then turned and left. As he did, he heard Raji remark, ¡°No way he makes it.¡± Takha said, ¡°I think he will.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re just as much an idiot as him,¡± Raji responded. He said something else, but by that point, Elijah had gone out of hearing range. He trekked through the village, then when he reached the edge, found the path leading into a tunnel that, in turn, rose at a gradual incline. Elijah followed it, and over the next twenty minutes, the path twisted and turned, steadily climbing until it finally led him to the surface. There, Elijah stopped to marvel at the sight before him. To his left stretched a vast tundra of rolling white hills, and to his right was an expansive ocean. Glaciers and other blocks of ice floated nearby, completing the biome¡¯s appearance. ¡°This is all in a tower,¡± he muttered to himself, glancing at the sky. Night still reigned, but on the distant horizon was the vague illumination that preceded a sunrise. As the cold seeped into his bones, Elijah was suddenly aware of just how underdressed he was. In the fairly temperate summer of the Pacific northwest, his ragged pants and barely-there shirt offered plenty of protection. But in sub-zero temperatures? Even with his increased resistance to the elements that came with his enhanced Constitution, he knew he wouldn¡¯t last more than a few days before frostbite set in. Sighing, he realized that he had no choice but to embrace Shape of the Predator, if only because, as a panther, he had thick fur that would protect him from the cold. So, he turned his attention to his rations, then dug into the fruit. He ate as much as he could stomach, then placed the dried fish in his satchel. He wrapped the bag as tightly as he could before finally embracing his spell and transforming into a mist panther. Immediately, the cold felt less pervasive, placing his decision firmly in the ¡°good idea¡± column. Then, he dipped his head, grabbed the folded satchel containing his remaining rations between his jaws, and set off to the west. Hopefully, he would quickly find the so-called water goblins so he could at least scout things out. After that, he¡¯d make a plan for how he was going to defeat them. 1-44. Guerilla Warfare The sun shone bright in the clear, blue sky as Elijah padded across the tundra. His steps were so light that he barely even left prints across the snow, but even as cautious as he was, he still moved quickly enough that, within a couple of hours of sunrise, he spotted the first sign of civilization when he saw a dark plume of smoke twisting in the air. Soon after, a series of buildings came into view. Reminiscent of the architecture of the ulthrak village, the buildings¡¯ walls were composed of thick, grey hide stretched across a bone frame. However, the basic construction was where the resemblance ended. Instead of being low-slung dwellings, the ones arrayed around a shallow bay were octangular structures that stood on tall pylons. Between the buildings stretched a series of rope bridges, across which scurried a population small, blue figures. Elijah stopped a few hundred yards away and, after letting Shape of the Predator lapse, returned to his human form. He crouched low, planting himself behind a snowdrift. Thus concealed, he waited on his Ethera to regenerate. As he did, he once again lamented his lack of appropriate clothing. With his Constitution, he could withstand the biting cold, but it wasn¡¯t pleasant. So, the few minutes he spent waiting left him shivering uncomfortably. Still, he refused to accelerate his schedule, which hinged on him having a full core before he took even the most basic actions. So, he waited patiently, slowly pulling Ethera through the funnel of his mind. Without any outside stimuli to distract him, he could bolster his Regeneration via meditation. The effect wasn¡¯t so dramatic as to double the speed with which he could refill his core, but it was still significant enough to show a noticeable benefit. Gradually, his core refilled, and when it reached saturation, he poked his head over the snow drift and used Eyes of the Eagle to get a better look at the creatures he expected would be his opponents. They were water goblins, he was certain. Blue-skinned, with long arms and squat legs, they moved like primates. However, with Eyes of the Eagle, Elijah could see gills running just below their sharp jaws. In addition, they were equipped with bat-like ears, short, stubby noses, and sharp teeth. In short, aside from the gills, posture, and blue skin, they looked remarkably similar to the goblin intruder who¡¯d helped kill the panther back on his island. And yet, there was something different about them, too. They were more animalistic. Feral, almost. More than once, Elijah saw one member of the community growl and attack another. It was like they were primal versions of the comparatively more civilized goblin he¡¯d previously encountered. Or perhaps he was simply seeing what he expected to see. After all, he knew what these water goblins had done to the ulthrak village. And he knew why. The idea of anyone raiding a community of sentient creatures just to harvest their hides was absolutely abhorrent. Further disgusting Elijah was the giant whale carcass lying on the icy beach on the other side of the bay. Water goblins scurried all over it, hacking away with primitive tools they used to harvest meat, blubber, and skin. It didn¡¯t take him long to connect the grey hide that comprised the walls of the village¡¯s buildings with the similarly hued skin of the whale. Of course, whaling wasn¡¯t terrible, in and of itself. People needed to eat, and in a primitive culture like the goblins¡¯, whaling may very well have been the only real source of food. However, judging by the gleeful shouts coming from the harvesting goblins, there was more to it than that. Besides, he was well aware of his own personal bias which emanated from predatory whaling practices back on Earth. Elijah watched and waited, spending quite some time studying the village. The goblins might have been primitive, but they were clearly sapient and organized, as evidenced by the community they had created. However, the longer Elijah watched them, the more he felt secure in his decision to side with the ulthrak. But for the life of him, he couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint why he felt that way. On the surface, they just looked like a normal ¨C if primitive ¨C people. Sure, he was probably biased against them due to what they¡¯d done to the ulthrak, but there was far more to it than that. He felt it in his bones that they were the enemy. And then he realized what it was. The blue-skinned goblins were all wearing leather armor. Armor that was obviously made of ulthrak hides. The moment Elijah realized the origin of his disdain, the feeling intensified. No one had ever told him what it meant to be a druid, but his archetype wasn¡¯t simply a line on his status and a few useful spells. It meant more than that. Back in the ulthrak village, he¡¯d discovered that healing was part of it, but he was also a defender, wasn¡¯t he? Looking at the goblins, he was reminded of how he felt about the settlement across the strait from his island. They weren¡¯t interested in living with the land. Nor were they concerned with conservation. Instead, they only took, harvesting whatever they needed and leaving nothing but devastation in their wake. It wasn¡¯t environmentalism that he cared about. Not really ¨C or not as he would have thought of it before the Earth¡¯s inclusion in the wider universe. Rather, it was about balance. And finding a way to live with the world in a mutually beneficial way rather than simply consuming whatever you needed to let you gain power. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. As he sat there watching the village, Elijah considered his feelings. But by the time night fell, he¡¯d gotten no closer to true understanding. However, what he had realized was that he needed to kill the goblins. Part of it was due to the task set by the System, but it was also because he needed to stay true to his druidic calling. So, when night fell, he used Shape of the Predator and, leaving his pack of supplies behind the snowbank, set off toward the goblin village. As he did so, he cloaked himself with Guise of the Unseen. Silent and all but invisible, he approached the village. Many of the goblins had already retired for the night, but there were a few still up and about. Guards, perhaps. Regardless, Elijah¡¯s vendetta was indiscriminate. With surety of purpose, he stalked his first victim, passing under the houses as he crept from shadow to shadow. Soon enough, the blue goblin had separated itself, and he pounced, using Predator Strike. It was over before the goblin ever knew what had happened. It fell, disemboweled by Elijah¡¯s first attack, and with its throat slit by the second. Its aquamarine blood pooled on the snow as Elijah dragged it into the shadows beneath one of the buildings. After that, Elijah continued his task, and the goblins fell, one after another. None of them even knew he was there, much less tried to defend themselves. Thus, the power of his class truly became evident. As he swept through the village, silently slaughtering water goblins, he was too focused to consider the morality of his actions. However, after he¡¯d killed the final creature, he stumbled across the building where they butchered and skinned the ulthrak they¡¯d taken prisoner. After that, any sympathy he might¡¯ve felt dissipated before the harsh reality of their actions. Only after he had seen that grisly charnel house did Elijah get a notification from the System:
Congratluations! You have completed Level One of Keledge Tower. Grade: A To progress further, find the portal to Level Two.
Then, a small box appeared before him. It was a simple, metal cube about four inches wide, but it radiated enough Ethera to surprise Elijah. He leaned forward, sniffing it, but even with his panther¡¯s senses, he smelled nothing out of the ordinary. So, he let Shape of the Predator drop before reaching down and flipping the box¡¯s latch. It sprang open, revealing a simple pewter ring. Elijah took it, resulting in a new notification:
Reward for completing Level One of Keledge Tower: Ring of Aquatic Travel
The ring itself was carved with fanciful whorls, but otherwise, it looked entirely ordinary. Elijah slipped it on, but felt nothing. The last time Elijah had acquired a magical item, he¡¯d gotten a description. But perhaps that was because he¡¯d created the Staff of Natural Harmony himself. Either way, aside from making an inference based on the ring¡¯s name, Elijah had no idea what the ring really did. He would do some testing once he made it out of the tower. In the meantime, he needed to find the portal to the next level. To that end, he searched through the village once again. However, he found nothing, so he expanded his parameters to the small bay abutting the settlement. The moment his feet touched the water, he felt a thrum of Ethera emanating from the center of the bay. It didn¡¯t take a leap of logic to recognize what it meant. The portal to the second level was down there. Groaning, he said, ¡°Swimming again? Ugh.¡± As much as he didn¡¯t want to do it, Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have much of a choice. So, after heading back to the snowbank where he¡¯d spent most of the day observing the water goblin village, he retrieved his supplies and ate his fill. Fortunately, the water of the bay was fresh, so he¡¯d already sated his thirst. Odd, sure. But he wasn¡¯t going to question something that worked in his favor. The last thing he wanted to do was melt snow just so he could get a drink. With that done, Elijah checked to make sure that his Ethera had completely regenerated, then set off back to the bay. When he reached it, he waded in, and once the frigid water reached his midsection, he dove in. It was not pleasant. In fact, his entire body went numb after only a few seconds. With the knowledge that he didn¡¯t have much of a choice at the forefront of his mind, he forged ahead. Using the pulse of Ethera as his guide, he continued to swim until, a few dozen yards later, he was directly above it. Not wasting any time hesitating, Elijah dove. It only took a few seconds to recognize the portal. This time, it presented itself as a stone doorway, its corners twisted in such a way that he struggled to make sense of it. But he didn¡¯t care about that. With the cold sapping his energy, Elijah didn¡¯t have the luxury of time on his side. So, he swam down and passed through the door. Then, he was once again plunged into impenetrable darkness. However, this time, it didn¡¯t fade. Instead, a brief stab of light pierced Elijah¡¯s eyes, and suddenly, he felt an incredibly strong undertow pulling him down. He fought against it, using every point of his enhanced Strength attribute as he swam against the current, but it was useless. He couldn¡¯t escape. He couldn¡¯t even fight to a standstill. Instead, the inexorable current continued to pull him into the watery abyss. Panic suffused Elijah¡¯s mind as his oxygen ran out. But to his surprise, it didn¡¯t matter. That was when he remembered the name of his reward for completing the tower¡¯s first level. The Ring of Aquatic Travel clearly gave him the ability to survive underwater. Still, as Elijah was slowly pulled ever downward, his panic did not subside. Even if he wasn¡¯t going to drown, he had no idea what to expect next. Some indeterminate time later, Elijah hit something solid. But it wasn¡¯t the silt he would have expected. Instead, it was stone. Gradually, his eyes began to adjust, and what he saw shocked him to his core. 1-45. Under the Sea Arrayed before Elijah was a maze of coral and seaweed. Even as he floated only a few feet above the seafloor, he forgot the conflict of the previous day. Instead, he focused entirely on the setting in front of him. Elijah had been diving many times in the past. He had his scuba license, and he¡¯d been an avid free diver before being stricken with cancer. More, he¡¯d watched countless videos of the depths and studied even more photos and texts while earning his doctorate. However, he¡¯d never seen anything like the landscape laid out before him. Coral twisted hundreds of feet in the air, and the thick stalks of seaweed, barely waving in the current, looked like nothing so much as blades of grass. Huge schools of colorful fish flitted about, while Elijah caught sight of larger predators lurking within the forest of coral and seaweed. A shadow enveloped him, and he looked up. A sea serpent the size of a bus slithered hundreds of feet above him, cutting through the water with speed that would have rivaled an airplane. Elijah stared as it darted into the seaweed forest and passed out of view. That was when he noticed a notification waiting for him:
Welcome to The Keledge Tower, Level Two. To advance to Level Three, complete the task before you.
It was almost identical to the notification that had greeted him upon his entry into the tower, and it was followed by a description of the task in question:
Task: Reach the center of the Sea of Sorrows and defeat the Hegemonic Guardian.
Neither of those names sounded good. The words sorrow and hegemony did not fill him with the warm and fuzzies. But he knew he didn¡¯t have much in the way of choices. He couldn¡¯t very well turn back. Nor did he really want to. There was definitely something addictive about meeting the challenges laid out before him. In any case, there was every chance that the previous level had ceased to exist the moment he¡¯d left it behind. Perhaps the scenario had already reset. Looking back, his emotions felt a bit silly. If none of it was real ¨C and it wasn¡¯t, at least according to the ulthraks and his own deductive ability ¨C then what did any of it matter? He shouldn¡¯t have cared if the walrus people lived or died. Nor should the goblins have infuriated him so thoroughly. And yet, they had. He could only reason that there was more at play than he knew. But that wasn¡¯t exactly surprising, given that he knew almost nothing about what was going on. At times, Elijah felt like he was being led around by the nose, and he very much didn¡¯t like it. For now, though, he needed to push those sorts of thoughts to the back of his mind and focus on accomplishing the task at hand and progressing to the third and final level of the tower. To that end, he sank to the sea floor and took cover behind a sizable rock so he could think about how he intended to accomplish the goals that had been thrust upon him. And not for the first time, he realized just how out of his depth and unprepared he really was. Until that point, he¡¯d leaned on his Shape of the Predator, which he¡¯d found was incredibly powerful. It allowed him to remain undetected and, when the time was right, strike hard and fast before sinking back into the shadows. But underwater, adopting that form just wasn¡¯t an option. When he¡¯d tried to swim in his panther form, he¡¯d barely been capable of remaining afloat. In theory, it ought to have been easy enough to adapt. After all, he knew how other animals swam, so it should have been a simple matter of practice before he mastered the necessary technique. But in this case, the instincts that came with the form had worked against him, inciting a simmering panic that had scuttled any attempt at rational thought. It had been all he could do to awkwardly paddle a few feet, much less swim through a territory the size of the Sea of Sorrows. So, he was stuck in his human form. Fortunately, he was extremely comfortable as a swimmer, and with the Ring of Aquatic travel giving him the ability to breathe underwater, he felt confident that he could at least survive the environment. However, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be so simple as to swim in the right direction. Never was that more clear than when he saw motion out of the corner of his eye. At first, he panicked, but that only lasted a split second before he realized that the creature he¡¯d seen was hundreds of yards away. It was an eel, but one with coloring he¡¯d never seen. It was also the size of a horse, which made it the largest eel he¡¯d ever even heard about. It swam from the forest of seaweed and coral, chased by a school of much smaller fish that resembled barracuda. The smaller fish nipped at the eel¡¯s tail, but it quickly started to outpace them. Until a huge claw descended from above, snapping the eel in half. Elijah tensed as the claw¡¯s owner splashed into the water from surface, revealing its entire form. It was a giant crab. Because of course it was. But if every crab he¡¯d ever killed had all somehow combined into one, they wouldn¡¯t have reached half the size of this newcomer¡¯s claw, much less the rest of its body. If it was any smaller than an aircraft carrier, Elijah would have been shocked. No ¨C he was already shocked, regardless of his vehicle-based size estimations. The school of barracuda darted away, but the crab wasn¡¯t going to let even so small of a meal escape. It lashed out with his claw, and though it didn¡¯t make physical contact, the motion created an unnatural whirlpool that sucked the comparatively small fish into its gaping maw. The two halves of the still writhing eel soon followed, and before long, nothing was left of the brief hunt. Then, the crab floated up, eventually breaking through the surface. Where it went after that, Elijah couldn¡¯t see, and if he was honest, he had no interest in finding out. Over the next hour, he settled in to watch the sea. And as he did, patterns became clear. For one, anything that ventured above the forest of kelp and corral was quickly killed and eaten by the crab, so trying to swim above the fray was impossible. Elijah had no idea if it was the same crab, or if it was a series of the creatures, but it didn¡¯t really matter for his purposes. Next, he saw that the ecosystem in the forest was, to put it mildly, one based on predation. If there were herbivorous creatures in there, Elijah never saw them. Instead, everything seemed out to kill everything else, which meant that the entire place was a natural battlefield of epic proportions. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. And that posed quite a problem. If he¡¯d been capable of adopting his panther form, he could have simply snuck through. However, in his human form, he had no more ability in stealth than any other person. Certainly, he¡¯d learned a few tricks over the past year of living in the wilderness, but most of his knowledge was useless in his current environment. The third thing he was forced to realize was that he wasn¡¯t nearly as buoyant as he might have expected, which meant that swimming really was out of the question. In fact, after a little testing, he reasoned that it wasn¡¯t so different from the level of gravity on the moon. And finally, he acknowledged that, once again, the water was free of salt, which seemed even more incongruous than the massive predators or clearly contrived scenario. But at least it meant that he wouldn¡¯t die of thirst if he remained on the level for too long. Food would be an issue, though, largely because he¡¯d lost his woven satchel sometime during the transition between levels. Hopefully, he would complete the task before he had to start considering eating the fish and other creatures he¡¯d seen so far. After a few hours, Elijah realized that he was stalling. He really didn¡¯t want to head into the forest of kelp and corral, largely because he felt incredibly vulnerable without his Shape of the Predator spell. He still had Storm¡¯s Fury, though he wasn¡¯t entirely certain it would work underwater. And he had his newest spell, Swarm. But other than that, he only had his staff to defend himself. And he suspected that that wouldn¡¯t be enough. Letting out a sigh that sent a series of bubbles drifting toward the surface, Elijah pushed the negative thoughts aside. He¡¯d survived cancer. He had learned to thrive after being stranded on a deserted island. He¡¯d killed a host of interdimensional lizards. He could stroll across the seabed and kill some boss monster. If that was what he had to do to survive, then that was what he was going to do. The first order of business was to test Storm¡¯s Fury, though. So, he backed away from his rock and embraced the spell. To his shock, a veritable torrent of Ethera swept through his mind, and Storm¡¯s Fury activated in a fraction of the time it normally took. The moment the spell was saturated, he released his hold, and a thick bolt of white lightning tore across the water and hit the rock. It shattered, sending bits and pieces slowly flying through the water. Elijah grinned. It was definitely stronger, but he wasn¡¯t sure why. Was it the interaction with the water? Or was it the denser ambient Ethera? He had no way of knowing. Testing it again, he fired off another spell. This time, though, he paid attention to the bolt of lightning itself. In its normal form, the lightning manifested from the sky, but when he channeled it through his Staff of Natural Harmony, it emanated from the head of the weapon. But it always took the form of a single, well-defined bolt of lightning. Underwater, that changed. From that single bolt extended a series of smaller branches of electricity, suggesting that it could affect a larger area of effect. The radius around the bolt wasn¡¯t large ¨C maybe a few feet before those branches dissipated ¨C but it was enough to excite Elijah about his chances of making it through the Sea of Sorrows. He decided to test Swarm as well. To his surprise, though, when he tried, it wouldn¡¯t activate. It only took a moment for Elijah to realize that, like Shape of the Predator, the spell would take the bulk of his Ethera reserves to cast. So, he retreated a little and settled in to meditate on funneling Ethera through his mind and into his soul, after which, it settled into his core. He was well used to the process by that point, but he still reveled in the feeling of so much energy flowing through the ephemeral System. Eventually, Elijah regenerated enough Ethera to fuel the spell. So, he rose and channeled it through his staff. A moment later, a school of tiny fish ¨C they looked a lot like piranha ¨C appeared and swept through the area. Without anything to attack, they dissipated only a few moments later. Interesting. According to the spell¡¯s description, the creatures would infect his enemies with ¡°appropriate afflictions,¡± whatever that meant. Elijah didn¡¯t know, and he wouldn¡¯t find out until he used the spell on an enemy. He hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to that, but given the nature of the tower, he suspected that his hopes would soon be dashed. After testing the spell, Elijah settled in to once again regenerate his Ethera, and once his core was full, he finally set off, bounding across the seafloor with long, bouncy steps that helped him cover the ground very quickly. However, he chose to hesitate when he reached the edge of the kelp forest. Was going in the right choice? Maybe. Perhaps not. But he couldn¡¯t think of any other option. So, without further ado, he plunged ahead. This time, though, he kept his footsteps short, and he stayed as low as he could. His attempts at stealth turned out to be useless. Only ten steps into the kelp forest, he passed what he thought was an innocuous rock. But the moment his back was exposed, he felt the water stir. With instincts born of surviving for a year in the wilderness, he dove forward. It wasn¡¯t enough. Something clamped down on his side, ripping into the delicate flesh. His momentum tore him free, and whatever had attacked him pulled back. Blood as well as bits of skin and meat misted into the water as Elijah slapped his hand to his side and pulsed Touch of Nature. He hit the seabed hard before bouncing into a tall stalk of kelp. Even as the spell staunched the bleeding, he got his first glimpse of his attacker. It was a turtle, though a species Elijah did not recognize. The sharp beak and leathery skin were familiar, but its shell was made entirely from rock and coral. More, its legs were far longer than any turtle Elijah had ever seen. And finally, it was at least as big as he was, and it probably weighed at least three-hundred pounds. Probably a lot more. In short, it looked like a primal version of a snapping turtle with a jagged boulder for a shell. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to cast Storm¡¯s Fury, the moment he recovered from his tumble. The monster ¨C and that was the only way he could think of the creature ¨C saw the spell coming, and displaying more intelligence than any reptile had a right to show, it twisted around to present its shell. The lightning hit it, splintering the shell and eliciting a burbling scream from the turtle. It reacted instantly, leaping across the intervening space and latching onto Elijah¡¯s hastily raised arm. Bone crunched as its jaws closed, but Elijah kept his wits about him as he recast the spell. The lightning hit the creature square between the eyes, but even though it was clearly hurt, the thing channeled its inner pit bull and refused to relinquish its grip. So, Elijah re-cast the spell. Once. Twice. Three more times. And as his Ethera dipped to dangerously low levels, the creature finally died. But its jaws remained locked into place, and its weight tugged Elijah to the seafloor. Pain lanced through him. His arm was broken ¨C probably in multiple places ¨C and his side was still missing quite a bit of flesh. He only had enough Ethera for two heals. Maybe three at most. And he had a turtle latched onto his arm. Prying it loose was the first order of business. Then, he intended to ¨C Just then, a school of small fish ¨C maybe seven or eight inches long, with gold scales and red, beady eyes ¨C swam into view. They made a bee-line for the bloody water surround Elijah. Recognizing them for the predatory scavengers they were, Elijah took aim with his staff and cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning arced out, taking the little creatures head-on. But the bolt of electricity was so powerful that it didn¡¯t stop after obliterating the first. No ¨C it kept going, tearing through the school. That¡¯s when the little branches of lightning showed their worth, leaping out to fry most of the remaining fish. The majority of the school died in an instant, but a few managed to survive. But suddenly alone, they weren¡¯t nearly as brave as they¡¯d been only a moment before, and they quickly darted back under the cover of the kelp forest. Elijah felt his shoulders sag. He¡¯d killed the little creatures, but that victory had come at a cost. His core was entirely empty, now. So, he couldn¡¯t heal himself. Grimmacing, he realized that he had no choice but to retreat. But first, he needed to pry the turtle¡¯s jaws apart. So, over the next couple of minutes, he awkwardly did just that. In the end, he had to lever his foot under one side while tugging the other in the opposite direction. And just like that, he was free. It only took one look at his arm to tell him that he¡¯d severely underestimated the damage. He was a marine biologist, but he was familiar enough with mammalian physiology to know that, if he didn¡¯t have access to healing magic, he would lose the arm. It was already swollen to nearly three times its normal size, and bits of bone jutted through the purpling skin. That served to further cement Elijah¡¯s decision to retreat. Letting out a gurgling sigh, he returned to his previous spot and settled in to regenerate his Ethera. Without the adrenaline of the fight pumping through his veins, he felt every pulse of agony emanating from his arm. The only good thing he could say was that it at least served as a distraction from the injury on his right side. Silver linings, he supposed. As he sat there, he began to come to the realization that he might be on his current level of the tower for a little longer than expected. 1-46. Survivor Elijah knelt behind a fallen chunk of coral. In one hand, he clutched his staff, while the other kept him from drifting with the current as he watched the scene laid out before him. It had been nearly a week since he¡¯d first entered the second level of the tower, and in that time, he¡¯d been forced to learn to adapt to life in the sea. At first, it had not gone well, and he¡¯d spent most of the first few days recovering from the brief, intense battles that plagued every step into the kelp and coral forest. But with every fight, he drew a little closer to gaining enough power to traverse the sea with impunity. He still wasn¡¯t there yet, having only reached level twenty-three, but he felt like he was on the verge of gaining another level. And when he did, he would learn a new spell or ability. Hopefully, that would make his task easier to accomplish. Which was why he was watching the giant eel lazily drifting back and forth in the current. It hadn¡¯t moved from the small clearing in some time, and Elijah knew that, if he was going to kill it, he needed to act soon, lest he lose his chance when the thing woke up and wandered off. So, he screwed up his courage, then leaped up, grabbing a piece of branching coral, and dragged himself atop the edifice. Once there, he raised his staff and dragged Ethera from his core, channeled it through his soul, and cast Swarm. Instantly, a thousand piranha-like fish manifested and swept down into the clearing. The eel never saw them coming. In seconds, the little fish, which were barely bigger than Elijah¡¯s fingers, had torn huge chunks from its flesh. More importantly, with each bite, they delivered an affliction that, so far as Elijah could tell, functioned like the necrotic damage associated with brown recluse spiders. Only it was much accelerated and far more powerful. The degradation of the tissue surrounding such a bite would normally take as much as two weeks, but once magic became involved ¨C as was the case with the fish conjured by Swarm ¨C it only took moments. Instantly, the eel¡¯s brown-and-grey serpentine body was riddled with red blisters, which quickly turned white, and soon after, burst with puss and blood. The eel didn¡¯t take the attack lying down, either. It twisted and struck, biting at the swarm of creatures. When its jaws clamped down on them, they burst into clear goo that dissipated only a second later. Over and over, the eel attacked the swarm of biting fish, but it only got a fraction of the creatures before the spell ended. All the while, Elijah waited, hoping against hope that the damage would be enough to take the monster down. Because of the extreme Ethera cost, this was the first time he¡¯d used the spell in battle, and though it hadn¡¯t disappointed, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but hold his metaphorical breath as the thing slowly succumbed to the necrotic venom. Over the next few minutes, it thrashed and bucked, clearly in pain. Elijah hated watching the animal suffer, but he didn¡¯t dare intervene. He¡¯d learned to fear the denizens of the Sea of Sorrows, and though his heart bled for his victims, it wasn¡¯t enough to throw himself into undue danger. Gradually, the eel¡¯s thrashing ceased, and it sank to the silt-covered seabed. But it was still alive. And worse, the sores that were the result of the creatures¡¯ bites had begun to close. If Elijah judged it correctly, it wouldn¡¯t be too much longer before the eel started to recover from its internal injuries, which were almost assuredly much more severe than the bites and burst blisters on its skin. No ¨C if he was going to kill the thing, he needed to act. Fortunately, in the minutes since he¡¯d cast Swarm, he¡¯d recovered enough Ethera to fuel a few casts of Storm¡¯s Fury. Hopefully, that would be enough to end the monster¡¯s life and give him the kill energy he needed to progress. If not, then he would have to find another vulnerable creature and start the process over again. It was not precisely the way Elijah wanted to live ¨C after all, the eel was probably inedible, and even if it wasn¡¯t, there was no way he was going to use that much meat ¨C but that was the reality that he¡¯d been forced to confront. Killing was necessary for survival. It always had been, but that was even more true than it had been back on his island. There, he¡¯d killed so he could eat. Or to protect the island and his Grove from the Voxx. But now, he was killing simply because he needed to grow more powerful. It wasn¡¯t exactly killing for the sake of killing, but it wasn¡¯t so far off that he didn¡¯t see the parallels, either. Regardless, he had already come to terms with it. He¡¯d resolved to survive by whatever means necessary, and so, that was precisely what he was going to do. However, he did recognize that there would come a point in time where he needed to have a better plan than that. In short, he needed a code by which he would live. But for now, what he really needed most was for that eel to die, and no moral debate would change that. So, without further delay, he once again raised his staff, took aim at the eel, and used Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning, hot and furious, arced out from his Staff of Natural Harmony and hit the Eel directly in the forehead. The moment the spell hit, the creature seized, but Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. So, he used the spell again, draining the last of his Ethera. More convulsions followed until, at last, it fell still and settled onto the seabed in a cloud of silt. But the thing didn¡¯t die. Elijah knew that because he hadn¡¯t received the expected influx of kill energy. So, he had a choice. Either he could wait for his Ethera to regenerate and chance the monster healing the damage he¡¯d just done. Or he could go down there and finish it off the hard way. Both options had downsides, but considering that one of the choices¡¯ downside was that he¡¯d get eaten the moment he got within range of the creature, he chose the first option. So, once again, he settled down to wait. As he did, he focused on funneling as much Ethera as he could through his mind and into his core, but when the eel started to stir, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Still, he refused to move. Killing the eel was the goal, and he¡¯d put everything he had into doing just that. But he refused to let that sway his judgement. Instead, he ignored the sunk cost and focused on the most important thing: staying alive. So, he watched as, before he¡¯d even regenerated enough Ethera to fuel two casts of Stom¡¯s Fury, the eel awoke. The moment it did, the creature swam away, taking Elijah¡¯s chance at gaining level twenty-four with it. But at least he was still alive. It was just further proof that, while his archetype was versatile and, in the right situation, deadly, it just didn¡¯t give him the kick he needed to easily kill most of the creatures in the Sea of Sorrows. If he¡¯d had access to Shape of the Predator, things would be very different. He could have snuck up on the eel and ravaged it with Predator Strike, then finished it off with a combination of Contagion and the kind of hit-and-run tactics he¡¯d used against the water goblins on the previous level. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. But his mist panther form was almost entirely incapable of swimming, which ruled that strategy out. He sighed, sending a trail of tiny bubbles drifting toward the surface. It seemed that he wasn¡¯t going to progress via one big kill. Instead, he¡¯d need to target the smaller creatures he¡¯d been hunting since he¡¯d entered the Sea of Sorrows. Once the eel had been gone for a few minutes, Elijah climbed down from his perch and took a familiar route back to the shallow cave he¡¯d been using as a temporary base of operations. When he got there, he looked at it with a sense of blended nostalgia and fatigue. The first, because it reminded him of his earliest days on the island, when even killing a crab had been difficult. The second, for the same reasons. It felt like it had been so long since he¡¯d been able to just relax. Survival, for all that it was periodically exciting, was incredibly exhausting, and, at times, he longed for the days when he could just go home after a long day of work, kick off his shoes, and read a good book. Or watch some trash television. Or any of a number of other wastes of time that came from having most of his needs met. It wasn¡¯t as if he intended to give up. He didn¡¯t. But he would¡¯ve appreciated a short break, all the same. That wasn¡¯t in the cards, though. He¡¯d only made it a few miles into the kelp forest, and he knew he had at least that much left to go before he reached the center of the Sea of Sorrows. So, rest would have to wait. Perhaps indefinitely, if his experiences since the world had been transformed were any indication. But it wasn¡¯t that bad, really. With the water being fresh, he didn¡¯t run the risk of dehydration. And he¡¯d killed enough fish, crustaceans, and other creatures that hunger wasn¡¯t an issue, either. Sure, he had to eat it raw ¨C fire didn¡¯t burn underwater, after all ¨C but ingesting unsafe food was nothing that a quick pulse of Touch of Nature couldn¡¯t take care of. So, he had no issues with meeting his basic needs. As he settled into his cave to rest, Elijah let his mind drift until, at last, he fell asleep. He awoke some indeterminate time later ¨C after all, without the steady rise and setting of the sun, he had no real concept of how much time had passed ¨C he once again set off. Soon enough, he was attacked by a small sea serpent, which he killed with a quick cast of Storm¡¯s Fury. Once it was dead, he ate a bit of its meat, then discarded the rest before moving on. He met a similar ambush by a sea spider with the same tactics, though he ended up having to bash the thing apart with his staff after it survived the onslaught of spells that drained his pool of Ethera. He didn¡¯t eat any of the spider because, well, he drew the line at arachnids. Like that, Elijah slowly progressed, and a day later, he finally achieved his goal.
Congratulations! You have reached level twenty-four. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
The notification came after he¡¯d killed the second of a trio of giant, foot-long shrimp by clobbering it with his staff, and the shock of it very nearly got him killed when the lone survivor launched itself at him. Elijah barely managed to block its attack with his staff, knocking it aside before following up with a hastily cast Storm¡¯s Fury. It drained the last of his Ethera ¨C he¡¯d already cast it a handful of times, missing the little creatures more than he wanted to admit ¨C but the resulting bolt of lightning took the stunned creature head-on, completely obliterating it. Elijah¡¯s shoulders slumped. He¡¯d been at it for hours, and after finally reaching his goal, his exhaustion finally caught up to him. However, he couldn¡¯t afford to rest. Not until he reached some modicum of safety. So, without even looking at his status or whatever new spell or ability he¡¯d gained, he set off to find a safe haven. It took longer than he hoped, but eventually, he found a dense clump of coral that seemed promising. So, he trudged into what turned out to be a tiny cave. The only problem was that it already had a resident in the form of a sizable catfish that did not appreciate being disturbed. By that point, Elijah had enough Ethera to cast Storm¡¯s Fury a couple of times, but judging by the size of the thing ¨C and the famous durability of catfish ¨C he considered retreat a better option. So, after narrowly avoiding the creature¡¯s initial salvo, he leaped for the entrance and dragged himself out. Thankfully, the catfish didn¡¯t follow. After a few more failures, Elijah finally discovered another cave that would serve as a decent resting spot ¨C at least for a few hours. So, he headed inside and spent the next few minutes arduously inspecting the interior for threats. He found none, so he dragged a few pieces of coral in front of the entrance and finally settled down to rest. Though he struggled to keep his eyes open, Elijah forced himself to take a look at his status, just in case anything had changed:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 24
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 25
Dexterity 29 (24)
Constitution 30 (25)
Ethera 33
Regeneration 27
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
Unsurprisingly, aside from gaining two points in each attribute since he¡¯d last checked, nothing had changed. And while he appreciated the additional attributes, Elijah was far more interested in his new ability. So, without further delay, he took a look at it:
Ability: Venom Strike Imbues an attack with fast-acting neurotoxin. Usable in all forms. Damage doubled when in Predator form.
Elijah didn¡¯t really know what to think of it. On the one hand, it certainly opened up a lot of possibilities ¨C especially after he realized that the ability didn¡¯t actually take Ethera. Even though all he wanted was to rest, Elijah took a few minutes to try it out, and what he discovered was that even though it didn¡¯t use Ethera, it still had a cost. The first time he used the ability, he felt a sudden wave of fatigue. The second time, it was stronger. And the third nearly wiped him out. It was an odd feeling ¨C somewhere between the fatigue associated with a high fever and the result of a long workout. He could probably force himself to use it a few more times ¨C especially if he was fresh ¨C but eventually, he would simply collapse from exhaustion. But that was fine. It just gave him one more tool to survive, and, eventually, if he kept stacking advantages and abilities, he would make it out of the tower. 1-47. The Bitter Taste of Victory Elijah was exhausted. It wasn¡¯t just the constant danger, though that was a big part of it. Nor was it the raw fish that had become his diet. He¡¯d even grown accustomed to the taste of the water. No ¨C what really got to him was the constant submersion. People just weren¡¯t meant to live underwater, as evidenced by the fact that his skin had started to break down only a few days into his time in the Sea of Sorrows. On top of that, if he didn¡¯t consistently use Touch of Nature to counteract some of the other effects ¨C like the degradation of his muscles due to the decreased weight and the havoc submersion wrought on his circulatory System ¨C he would¡¯ve already died. But as valuable as Touch of Nature was, it did nothing to combat the psychological effects. Isolation was difficult on its own, but he¡¯d been dealing with that for more than a year. However, when it was compounded by living for more than a month in such an alien environment, it became nearly unbearable. There were only two reasons he¡¯d managed to keep going. First ¨C and most importantly ¨C he didn¡¯t have any choice. He was a survivor, and after being given a second chance at life, Elijah simply refused to give in. With that driving him, he didn¡¯t really have any choice in the matter. The same factors that had driven him to enter the tower in the first place ¨C chiefly, the fact that he would be overwhelmed by the Voxx if he didn¡¯t ¨C kept him moving forward. The second reason he¡¯d managed to maintain his sanity was that, despite the hostility of the environment, he was consistently struck by the beauty all around him. He¡¯d never been a particularly committed biologist. Certainly, he¡¯d enjoyed his work well enough, but he wasn¡¯t nearly as driven as some of his colleagues. Work was work, and he was content with keeping it separated from the rest of his life. However, spending so much time in the Sea of Sorrows had opened his eyes in a way that nothing else ever had. If he hadn¡¯t been trapped there, he might have even enjoyed himself. So long as he could get out of the water and enjoy dry land. In any case, in the previous weeks, he had seen a host of things no one else ever had, and despite the fact that he desperately wanted to leave the Sea of Sorrows, he couldn¡¯t help but appreciate it for the beauty it represented. Even the predators ¨C especially them ¨C filled him with awe. But for now, he needed to focus on the task at hand. If he didn¡¯t, the sea wouldn¡¯t have to kill him because his foe would do the job instead. Crouched behind a half-eaten carcass of what he thought had once been a whale, Elijah studied the creature he¡¯d decided to kill. From Elijah¡¯s perspective, it looked like a giant isopod ¨C with emphasis on the giant part. As seemed common within the Sea of Sorrows, and the transformed world at large, a creature that should have topped out at around twenty inches long had reached truly gargantuan proportions. If it was smaller than a minivan, Elijah would¡¯ve been incredibly surprised. More distressing than its size were the other addendums to its morphology. Chiefly, that its legs ¨C all fourteen of them ¨C were quite a bit longer than the species with which Elijah was familiar. That, in and of itself, wouldn¡¯t have been terribly distressing, but the limbs were also barbed, which told him all he needed to know about their purpose. Its shell also looked quite a bit thicker than it should¡¯ve been, though, given Elijah¡¯s experiences with the crabs on his island, that was expected. Otherwise, the creature looked much like its terrestrial native, the humble wood louse ¨C or the pill bug, as they were usually known. Though instead of a black shell, the giant isopod was equipped with a much lighter-colored armor. Regardless, Elijah had chosen the monster as his target for two reasons. First, after killing the whale and gorging itself, the isopod had grown quite lethargic. That would give him some leeway in his method of attack. Most importantly, though, Elijah knew that if he didn¡¯t kill it, it would almost assuredly hunt him down. Because the overgrown crustacean was very territorial, and it killed anything that dared set foot ¨C or fin ¨C into its territory. The whale, as well as a dozen other, much smaller creatures, was proof enough of that. No ¨C if Elijah wanted to continue to progress toward the center of the Sea of Sorrows, he needed to get past the isopod. And if he couldn¡¯t? Then, he had no business challenging the level¡¯s guardian in the first place. But just because it was necessary didn¡¯t mean Elijah was looking forward to it. He wasn¡¯t. In fact, he was almost certain he was going to die in the effort. However, he was tired of the sea, and he knew that if he didn¡¯t make progress soon, his resolution to keep going would begin to wane. He wouldn¡¯t just give up, but every day he spent in that sea robbed him of some ineffable aspect of his motivation, and without that, he would lose focus and make mistakes that would eventually get him killed. Still, he considered simply going back and continuing to hunt. There was no shortage of prey, and eventually, he would gain more levels. Though over the past few days, he¡¯d gotten the feeling that kill energy was subject to diminishing returns. Killing things within the Sea of Sorrows would still let him progress, but the longer he stayed, the more it would take. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how he knew that ¨C there was no numerical value or anything associated with how much kill energy he needed to level ¨C but he knew it all the same. Not for the first time, Elijah wished he had someone to explain everything to him. Or failing that, a companion with which he could compare notes. Nerthus was great, and he¡¯d been extremely helpful, but he was obviously very limited in what information he could pass on. Shaking his head, Elijah realized that he was just stalling. So, he stepped out from behind the whale and used Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning lanced out from the tip of his staff, hitting the dormant monster directly in its eye. But Elijah didn¡¯t see it. Instead, he used the spell again, to similar results. The creature stirred, locking its eyes on Elijah. He tried to cast another instance of Storm¡¯s Fury, but he cut it off when the monster raced toward him. Propelled by its multitude of legs, the isopod could move incredibly quickly, and as such, Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have time to dawdle. Instead, he turned and ran. Moving quickly in the water required a curious mix of jumping, paddling, and running, but over the previous month, Elijah had been forced to master the awkward technique. As such, he managed to get away just before the isopod reached his previous position. Clicking its mandibles furiously, it dug its sharp legs into the silt and launched itself at Elijah. But by that point, Elijah was already gone, darting between a pair of coral stalks and into a stand of kelp. The isopod thundered after him, crushing the coral and tearing through the waving kelp. Elijah never stopped moving, though he was careful not to outpace the monster. Not that that was a real possibility. It was native to the environment, and despite its bulk, the thing was well-equipped for rapid movement. So, Elijah struggled to stay ahead of it. Leaping over a wide but relatively shallow chasm, Elijah landed with a roll before finding his feet and continuing his flight. A turtle not unlike the one who¡¯d first greeted him snapped at him in passing, but by that point, Elijah was already gone. Just when he thought he was going to be caught, he got a boost of speed as the System finally judged that he¡¯d left combat. The monster still chased him, but because he hadn¡¯t taken any hostile action or damage for a while, his Essence of the Wolf kicked in. Though it was expected ¨C he¡¯d tested it thoroughly ¨C it still came as a welcome relief, and he quickly put some extra distance between himself and the giant sea louse. After a few dozen more yards, he looked back to see that the creature had all but given up. So, mustering his Ethera, Elijah launched another Storm¡¯s Fury in its direction. From that distance, all he could manage was a glancing blow, but it was enough to renew the monster¡¯s ire. Like that, Elijah ran the thing in circles until, at last, he came to the spot he¡¯d prepared ahead of time. It wasn¡¯t a very artful trap. Indeed, any creature with even basic intelligence would know to avoid it. But Elijah was banking on the creature being no more intelligent than the giant isopods with which he was familiar. So, he¡¯d built the trap ¨C which consisted of a few arduously sharpened bones arranged within a cave he had stumbled upon. The cave itself was characterized by a large overhang just above the entrance, and it was only just large enough for the monster to fit. Even though it was a tight fit, the monster still followed when Elijah dashed inside. As he wove through the stakes and into the much narrower back of the cave, Elijah shot another Storm¡¯s Fury at the monster. It ran headlong into the cave, impaling itself on the angled stakes Elijah had carved from another whale carcass he¡¯d stumbled upon a few days before. But that wasn¡¯t enough to kill such a creature. Nor would it suffice to trap it. And with its long legs, it was only a matter of time before the thing escaped. Elijah had a plan for that, too. He had chosen his killing ground well, and though the cave hadn¡¯t initially had two openings, the wall at the narrow end was thin enough that it had only taken him a few hours to carve a hole big enough for him to fit through. So, he dragged himself through, then circled around to the entrance. Once there, he aimed his staff at the overhang above the entrance and let loose with another Storm¡¯s Fury. He''d spent hours making certain that the overhang was weak enough that it would only take a single cast to send the rock and coral tumbling down. And that was precisely what happened, the ensuing avalanche sealing that side of the cave and trapping the giant isopod inside. Elijah pumped his fist in celebration, but judging by the rumbling coming from within the cave, he knew he didn¡¯t have time to pat himself on the back. He still had a giant crustacean to kill. So, he circled back around to what was now the lone exit. Then, he settled in to wait for his Ethera to regenerate. It only took a little while ¨C after all, that was one of the reasons he¡¯d led the creature on such a long chase ¨C before he had enough Ethera to cast Swarm. He pointed his staff into the hole and did just that. He couldn¡¯t see the piranha that the spell conjured, but he didn¡¯t need to because, only a second later, an unholy burbling screech came from within the cave. Elijah knew the conjuration wouldn¡¯t last long ¨C just thirty seconds or so ¨C but the screeching endured well after. At the same time, the monster never stopped trying to escape. The other reason Elijah had circled the trap so many times was because he¡¯d wanted to tire it out. He didn¡¯t know if it had worked, but with its massive size, even when it was exhausted and wounded, it was more than capable of breaking free. But Elijah was committed, now. Everything had gone precisely how he¡¯d planned it. He just needed to finish things off. Which was easier said than done, and over the next thirty minutes, he listened to the monster¡¯s screeches and attempts to escape its fate. At the same time, his Ethera continued to regenerate until, at last, he was able to cast Swarm once again. The results were predictable. More screeches. More localized earthquakes as the isopod tried to break free. But still it didn¡¯t die. So, Elijah waited. And cast Swarm. Then waited some more. By the time the monster finally keeled over, giving Elijah enough kill energy to progress to level twenty-five, it had nearly broken free of the trap. And it had taken seven casts of Swarm to do it in. When it died, Elijah stood atop that half-destroyed mound, looking down at the massive monster he¡¯d just killed, and basked in the satisfaction that, despite being handicapped by his inability to transform, he¡¯d emerged victorious. That was probably why he never saw his inevitable death bearing down on him. 1-48. Divergent Ideas Alyssa swung her spear in a long arc, severing a series of saplings in one swing. As she did so, she let out a shout of anger and frustration. ¡°I¡¯m going to go out on a limb here and say that Carmen didn¡¯t make that thing so you could use it to cut down trees,¡± said Bryce, the party¡¯s Wizard. He specialized in long-casting, hard-hitting spells that could change the shape of any battle, but he exchanged that ability for any personal survivability. Most classes were equipped with some sort of ability that helped keep them alive, but Wizards were one of the few exceptions. As a result, he was definitely the kind of a glass cannon who was almost solely reliant on someone else to be effective. ¡°Like it matters,¡± Kevin, the group¡¯s healer, said. He was a short, dumpy man with a crown of shaggy hair, and he¡¯d taken the Rejuvenator class, which meant that he specialized in efficiency and healing over time. As with every other class, though, that specialization came at the expense of versatility. His healing spells took time to work their magic, and as a result, he wasn¡¯t great for emergency situations. But a healer was a healer, and they were rare enough that nobody could be particularly picky. ¡°I¡¯ve seen that thing go through a brick wall and not get a scratch. Wish I could convince her to make me something.¡± ¡°If you¡¯re using a weapon, you¡¯re doing something wrong,¡± Bryce stated. Tall, weedy, and awkward, he clearly hadn¡¯t allocated many of his attribute points into any of the physical categories. But from what Alyssa had seen, he had Ethera for days, and he regenerated it extremely quickly. ¡°Or you are,¡± Kevin pointed out. ¡°I mean, I¡¯m dependent on jabronis like you to ¨C¡± ¡°That word makes you sound like an idiot,¡± said the final member of their party, Lisa. She occupied the scout role, but she was more of a damage dealer than anything else. Alyssa had no idea what the woman¡¯s class was ¨C she wasn¡¯t keen on volunteering anything ¨C but that wasn¡¯t a huge deal. She did her job, and that was all that really mattered. ¡°What word? Jabroni?¡± Kevin asked. Bryce said, ¡°I think it¡¯s cool. You should definitely keep using it at every opportunity.¡± ¡°Do I sense some sarcasm?¡± ¡°From me? Noooo. I would never¡­¡± ¡°I hate you both,¡± Kevin muttered. ¡°Samesies,¡± Bryce said with a grin. ¡°That word makes you sound just as stupid as him,¡± Lisa said. ¡°In fact, I think being around you two is having a negative effect on my own intelligence. I¡¯m going scouting.¡± She looked at Alyssa, asking, ¡°That alright, boss?¡± Alyssa nodded, and the woman flitted off into the wilderness. If Alyssa really wanted to, she could have kept track of her. She certainly wasn¡¯t as adept at stealth as Roman. But that was fine. For a normal patrol, her skills were adequate for their purposes. As the group continued on, Alyssa struggled to keep her mind on the task at hand. Not because of the banter between the remaining members of the patrol party, but rather, because her mind was nestled firmly back in Easton. The settlement¡¯s name was no new addition ¨C indeed, it had been in place since they¡¯d made the connection to the World Tree ¨C but Alyssa still had difficulty thinking of it as anything but the settlement. Easton had been the now-defunct town where they¡¯d lived before the world¡¯s transformation, not the settlement they¡¯d managed to cobble together from the ruins of a lost civilization. In any case, Alyssa wasn¡¯t frustrated with names. In fact, she should have been happy. Things were looking up, and it appeared that they¡¯d passed through the worst of the transition. The problem, though, was Roman. He¡¯d never been much for compassion, and after Trish¡¯s death, his heart had further hardened. He didn¡¯t care much for the sanctity of human life. Instead, he looked at everything with the eyes of a man who was only concerned with the prosperity of the settlement as a whole. That meant that, if someone couldn¡¯t pull their weight, Roman wanted to get rid of them. The same could be said for any refugees who happened to stumble on them. Most recently, he¡¯d turned a group of thirty away because they didn¡¯t possess what he considered useful classes. Or not enough of them, at least. If they couldn¡¯t contribute to Easton¡¯s immediate needs, then they had no place in the town. He¡¯d turned them away without a second thought, and Alyssa hadn¡¯t found out about it until they were already gone. When she chased them down, they¡¯d been attacked by a herd of monsters, and the majority had been killed. She¡¯d brought the survivors back to Easton, but saving those few wasn¡¯t enough to assuage her conscience. And the worst of it was that she knew that, if another group came while she was gone, they¡¯d be turned away, too. She understood Roman¡¯s stance. There were only so many people they could support. Despite the fruition of the attempts to grow crops and their constant efforts to hunt more game, there was only so much food to go around. More, living conditions were still crowded, and while they were constantly building more houses, it was a slow process that had left quite a few people crammed into small domiciles. They were surviving, but they were a long way from thriving. As a result, taking on more refugees was a bad idea. Alyssa knew that. But she didn¡¯t accept the ramifications. She would go without if it meant someone else had a chance to live, and she suspected that many of Easton¡¯s residents thought the same thing. Or she hoped so, at least. Before leaving on the current scouting expedition, she¡¯d had another argument with Roman about it, but neither had been willing to budge. She trusted the man, and she knew he meant well, but they just couldn¡¯t come to a consensus about how to approach the subject. More than once, she¡¯d thought about how much easier things would be if they simply broke apart and went their separate ways. If she hadn¡¯t had Carmen and Miguel to worry about, she might¡¯ve already done it. Shaking her head as she looked around, she realized how untrue that was. For better or worse, she cared about the people of Easton ¨C too much to abandon them, especially over people she¡¯d never even met. So, as much as she wanted to save everyone, Alyssa knew precisely where her priorities lay. ¡°You alright, boss?¡± asked Kevin. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Kev,¡± she said. ¡°Just stressed is all.¡± ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, we agree with you,¡± Bryce said, adopting an uncharacteristically serious tone. As far as Alyssa knew, the man had approached the world like it was one of the video games he¡¯d played before the world ended. It had served him well, giving him some insight into the inner workings of the System. However, it also meant that he sometimes failed to take things seriously, instead approaching it like he¡¯d simply respawn if things went wrong. He wasn¡¯t the only one, either. More than once, Alyssa had considered the possibility that the world¡¯s integration into the larger universe had been a large enough change that it had broken people¡¯s minds. Not completely. Not with the ones who¡¯d survived, at least. But just enough that they weren¡¯t truly certain if what they saw was real. Alyssa said, ¡°You¡¯re a good man, Bryce. Don¡¯t let yourself forget that. Now, eyes up. You know how dangerous it is out here.¡± For the next hour, they continued on their patrol, passing through the old town along the way. The vegetation had experienced explosive growth over the spring and summer, and as a result, many of the buildings had been enveloped by creeping vines and blankets of moss. Thankfully, though, they didn¡¯t encounter any monsters. They were out there, Alyssa was certain. They always were. In that respect, it wasn¡¯t unlike walking through the woods before the integration. Back then, animals were all around; they were just good at staying hidden. The mutated versions of the new world were much the same, and most avoided humanity as much as possible. The patrols were there to combat the other ones. The type that preyed on humans and killed indiscriminately. There were plenty of those as well, which meant that the patrols were an absolute and dangerous necessity. Almost an hour after she left them, Lisa returned. The slender girl ¨C she couldn¡¯t have been older than nineteen ¨C slipped from between a pair of overgrown buildings, saying, ¡°Boss. You need to see this.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°I genuinely don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good,¡± Alyssa muttered, but she directed the others to follow Lisa as the scout led them across the abandoned and mostly destroyed town. Along the way, Alyssa saw a few smaller animals, and she even caught sight of a couple of skeletons that had once been human beings. They hadn¡¯t had the chance to properly bury the people who¡¯d died right after the integration, and so, they¡¯d been left out to rot. Or for the scavengers to gorge themselves. Finally, Lisa pointed at the old hardware store and said, ¡°In there.¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s some kind of¡­I don¡¯t know. A hole in space or something. It¡¯s weird. Once I saw it, I didn¡¯t go any closer, but I wasn¡¯t so far away that I didn¡¯t feel it.¡± ¡°Feel what?¡± asked Bryce. He carried a staff, though he didn¡¯t know how to use it. It was more of an affectation for the Wizard. ¡°The scaled monsters,¡± she said. ¡°Like that, but different. Wrong, you know?¡± They all nodded. Each of them had felt it, so they knew precisely what she was talking about. ¡°Okay,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Bryce and Kev, to the rear. Lisa, flanking. If something comes, I¡¯ll pin it down. Everyone else do what you do.¡± They¡¯d drilled the strategy dozens of times, and it worked great against the comparatively weak wildlife. Against the scaled monsters ¨C the Voxx, Alyssa had read in one of the guides she¡¯d bought off the Branch ¨C it was only moderately effective. It was fine when they only faced the weaker versions, but against something like the creature that had killed Trish, it would be woefully inadequate. If they fought something like that, Alyssa intended to tell her team to run while she tied it up. They probably wouldn¡¯t obey that order, though. In any case, they couldn¡¯t leave something like that free, let alone something that sounded suspiciously like the dimensional rifts Alyssa had read about. She¡¯d made those guides available for anyone who wanted to read them, but few people had the time or the inclination to learn more than was absolutely necessary. Survival was enough to occupy the whole of their minds. ¡°Follow.¡± Then, Alyssa advanced, passing through the shattered frame that had once held a pane of glass. When she stepped inside, she was assailed by a musty smell and a subtle undercurrent of what she could only interpret as corruption. Overgrown with moss and fungi, the interior of the old hardware store looked like it had been abandoned for decades rather than a little less than a year. An effect of the ambient Ethera, she reasoned. What remained of the shelves was empty, having been picked clean by scavenger teams, so there was nothing useful ¨C aside from a few mushrooms that looked like an edible variety. She marked it in her mind, intending to direct the gatherers to the small cache of potential food. Slowly, they advanced. The store was a local mom-and-pop operation ¨C or at least it had been before the world ended ¨C so it didn¡¯t take long to reach the rear. When the group did, Alyssa saw the anomaly that had garnered Lisa¡¯s attention. Suspended a few inches above the floor, it was a gaping hole with jagged, purple-glowing edges that looked like some interdimensional being had ripped a hole in the fabric of reality. The interior of the portal ¨C and that was clearly what it was ¨C was pitch black, offering no visibility. ¡°We have to go in,¡± she said. ¡°W-what?¡± asked Kevin. ¡°That sounds like the kind of thing someone says before they¡¯re violently murdered,¡± Bryce pointed out. ¡°I hate to agree with him, but Bryce is right,¡± Lisa agreed. ¡°Wait, why do you hate to agree with me? I¡¯m smart,¡± he argued. ¡°You¡¯re stupid smart. Like, you know plenty of things, but¡­well, you¡¯re stupid, too.¡± ¡°That makes no sense.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°That¡¯s a dimensional rift. A minor one, by the looks of it. If we don¡¯t close it, it¡¯s going to burst, and we¡¯ll get a flood of those scaled monsters. If we go in, though, we can close it. And we¡¯ll be rewarded for it, too.¡± ¡°No offense, boss, but we¡¯d have to be alive to get a reward,¡± Bryce said. ¡°That¡¯s the idea, yeah.¡± ¡°But if it¡¯s got one of those big monsters inside¡­¡± ¡°It won¡¯t. It¡¯ll be one we can handle.¡± ¡°You know that?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Not for sure. But everything I¡¯ve read suggests we should be able to do this. More importantly, we¡¯re here. If we take the time to go back, it might burst. If that happens, people will die.¡± ¡°And if we go in there, we might be the ones to die,¡± said Kevin. ¡°Maybe,¡± Alyssa acknowledged. ¡°But maybe not.¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯m in,¡± said Bryce. Kevin looked at him like he¡¯d said something crazy. ¡°Look ¨C we¡¯ve got the boss here. If we¡¯re ever going to earn our pay ¨C¡± ¡°We don¡¯t get paid,¡± Kevin pointed out. ¡°Whatever. You know what I mean. If we¡¯re ever going to do something like this, now¡¯s the time when we¡¯ve got the best chance of surviving. Plus, I¡¯m close to leveling.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a game, Bryce,¡± said Kevin. ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± he replied, a bit of steel in his voice. Like everyone else, he¡¯d lost people, and every now and again, he let the carefree mask slip. ¡°I¡¯m going in,¡± Alyssa said, cutting the conversation off. ¡°You can come in with me if you want. Or not. If you don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re obviously coming with you, boss.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Lisa added, ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± ¡°Alright. Let¡¯s do this,¡± Alyssa said, forcing a smile. She appreciated their loyalty and faith, but she also knew what was probably on the other side of that gate. So, she took a deep breath, then stepped forward into hell. After a blink-and-you¡¯ll-miss-it period of black nothingness, Alyssa stumbled into a rocky landscape. Upon crossing that threshold, the first thing she saw was a sky of roiling, purple fire, but soon after, she took in the grey terrain with rivers of purple liquid cutting through it. More importantly, she saw the creature. Even as the others staggered out of the gate, the viridian monster ¨C four arms, two legs, and a face like a salamander ¨C rumbled forward. It was big. A little over six feet tall and bulging with rippling muscles. Alyssa didn¡¯t hesitate to act. Using Heroic Leap, she launched herself into the sky. The monster stopped its charge, seemingly surprised by what it saw. At the apex of her leap, she used Descending Dragon, which sent her plummeting toward the ground like a falling meteor. She led the way with the Spear of the Dragon Lancer, which sliced through the monster¡¯s scales, pierced through its thick muscles, and erupted from between its four shoulder blades. Then, her weight hit it, knocking it onto its back. The blade of her spear bit deep into the ground, pinning the creature in place. However, Alyssa didn¡¯t escape unharmed. The moment she landed on its chest, the Voxxian monster went insane, and with all four of its claws, tried to rip her to pieces. She sprang away in a black flip that sent a cascade of blood raining onto the landscape, then landed on unsteady legs. Then, she felt the familiar sensation of Kevin¡¯s healing spells layering onto her. One after another, and the wounds the monster had ripped open began to mend. Still, it would take more than a few minutes for her to completely heal, and the monster wouldn¡¯t remain pinned in place for long. That¡¯s where the other two members of the party came in. Bryce had begun casting the second he¡¯d stepped through the portal, and he would be occupied for a few more seconds still. Meanwhile, Lisa had circled around to the back, unnoticed by the monster. And even as Alyssa gathered herself for another pass at the creature, Lisa struck. Once. Twice. Her swords arched out, biting deep under the influence of her abilities. The Voxxian monster screamed in pain, terror, and rage, ripping itself free of Alyssa¡¯s spear. Before Lisa could react, it wheeled around, catching her with a backhand that sent her sprawling. Alyssa bounded forward, dragging her trusty machete from the sheath at her hip. As she did, she used Heart of the Dragon and Enrage in conjunction, sending her attributes skyrocketing. Her first attack hit the creature¡¯s shoulder, and the blade didn¡¯t stop until it was embedded in its collarbone. She tried to yank the weapon free, but it was stuck fast. So, she let it go and kicked out, taking the monster in the stomach. It staggered back but recovered quickly. Still, with Alyssa¡¯s attributes so enhanced, it was no match for her. She raced forward ¨C not at the monster, but at the spear she¡¯d left embedded in the rocky ground. When she reached the weapon, she wrapped her fingers around the familiar haft and yanked it free. That was when Heart of the Dragon ran its course. Her attributes plummeted, eliciting a gasp and a stumble at exactly the wrong time. She twisted around, trying to get her spear up, but the Voxxian monster was already upon her. It tackled her to the ground, then raised its talons high into the air. They fell. Alyssa screamed as she was torn to pieces. Kevin screamed as he tried to layer his healing spells on her, and for a moment, they did the trick. She healed almost as quickly as the monster could tear through her body. But it was short-lived, obviously the result of some ability that accelerated the healing over time effects upon which he relied so heavily. Then, Lisa was back, her swords moving in a blur as she sliced into the creature¡¯s back. It wasn¡¯t much damage ¨C not really. But it was enough to get its attention. The moment it turned to her, Alyssa kicked away. It paid her no mind, intent as it was on getting to Lisa. For her part, the young scout bounded away, barely faster than the scaled monster. That was the opening Bryce needed. He let loose with his spell, and a huge ball of molten rock descended from the sky. When it hit the Voxxian monster, it sent out a shockwave powerful enough to nearly knock the recovering Alyssa from her feet. Lisa stumbled to her knees before pitching forward onto her chest. And the monster was buried under a pile of lava. The spell only lasted a moment before it dissipated, and when it did, a sizable crater ¨C at least ten feet wide and a few feet deep ¨C was revealed. The monster wasn¡¯t dead, though. It pushed itself to unsteady feet, then looked around. Its scales were smoking, and it was clearly wounded. But it was still standing. Alyssa, who was still healing, intended to put an end to that. So, she bounded forward in a loping run. She couldn¡¯t use Descending Dragon so soon, but Heroic Leap had no cooldown. She intended to use that to her advantage. Before she did, though, she used Heavy Blows, then Charge. Finally, she kicked off the ground, using Heroic Leap, sending her rocketing through the air. Before she reached the monster, she threw Bulwark out behind it, then used Champion¡¯s Shout. The creature froze for a split second, which allowed Alyssa to, once again stab it in the chest. As she did, she used Impale, which, in the event that it didn¡¯t immediately die, would cause damage over time. Her momentum knocked the monster back, but it could only go a few inches before it hit her Bulwark, which acted as an anvil. And she was the hammer. Bones cracked on both sides, but Alyssa had the benefit of Kevin¡¯s healing. She reared back, yanking her spear free before stabbing it again. Then again after that. Three times, she managed to wound it before the monster knocked her free. The moment Alyssa was clear, another spell ¨C this time, sharpened spikes of ice ascending from the ground ¨C exploded into the creature. Seeing that it was distracted, both Alyssa and Lisa hit it again. This time, its responses were sluggish, and they managed to do quite a bit more damage than the first few forays. But still, the monster was dangerous and immensely powerful, and they were both forced to retreat a moment later. That¡¯s when Bryce shouted, ¡°After this, I¡¯m out!¡± Then, a giant, earthen worm burst forth from the ground, wrapped itself around the monster, and squeezed. It screamed, but its bestial cries fell on deaf ears. Bryce¡¯s summon only lasted a few seconds before it fell apart, but by then, the monster was barely standing. Alyssa approached with steady resolve, and when she got in range, she thrust her spear forward with deadly accuracy. The creature tried to respond, but it was far too sluggish. The blade took it in the throat, and Alyssa ripped it free a moment later, leaving a jagged wound behind. That was the last straw, and it tipped forward, falling flat on its face. A few seconds later, it bled out, sending a deluge of experience to blanket the group. The moment the monster died, a pure, white crystal appeared before Alyssa. She reached out, touching it, prompting a notification:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Minor attribute potion awarded.
Alyssa also gained a level, pushing her to level fourteen and granting a new ability. She didn¡¯t take the time to inspect it, instead focusing on the vial of white liquid in her hand. She looked around, seeing that all the others were holding similar rewards. ¡°Well, I guess we win,¡± said Bryce, raising his arms in a sarcastic cheer. ¡°Yay us.¡± 1-49. Guardian Elijah was in mid-celebration when he felt something about the current change. No stranger to ambushes, he wheeled around, ready to defend himself. But when he did, he saw nothing but a gaping maw filled with jagged teeth. Panicked, he tried to dash away, but he only took a single step before the maw closed around him. He let out a gurgling scream as the jaws clamped down on him, but he kept enough of his wits about him to grab hold of whatever he could and drag himself forward. The creature¡¯s teeth ripped a ragged wound down his side and very nearly tore his leg off, and yet, he still managed to pull himself to safety. With terror and agony tearing through his mind, Elijah barely managed to slap a hand on his side and cast Touch of Nature before the creature¡¯s bulbous, purple tongue shifted and forced him down its slimy throat. Crushing pressure encapsulated him, breaking bones and making him feel like an overfilled balloon on the verge of bursting. Somewhere in the back of his mind where the terror, pain, and panic couldn¡¯t reach him, Elijah recognized what was happening as the muscles in the creature¡¯s throat slowly pushed him down its esophagus. But he could barely think, much less acknowledge that seemingly useless information. Somehow, he managed to re-cast Touch of Nature. The healing spell wasn¡¯t enough to keep up with the crushing damage, but it was barely capable of keeping him alive and conscious. Pain, he would later acknowledge, was not something to which one could really grow accustomed. Elijah learned the truth of that as he was slowly but surely crushed as the creature swallowed him. Without his consistent use of Touch of Nature or the ability to breathe underwater that had been granted by the Ring of Aquatic Travel, he would have perished. The same could be said about his Constitution, which had been further enhanced by Essence of the Boar. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t think straight enough to be grateful. In fact, if death would have closed in on him, he might have been thankful. Yet, held at bay by his healing spell, death did not come, and eventually, Elijah broke free of the esophagus and fell into a pit of acid. Screaming while he recast Touch of Nature, Elijah dragged himself forward, crawling across the fleshy innards of the monster until, at last, the sting of the acid began to dissipate. But just because the acid wasn¡¯t eating through him at a visible rate, that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t still killing him. Away from the center of what must have been the monster¡¯s stomach, the acid had been diluted by the water, but it was still there, slowly dissolving his flesh. Through the pain, Elijah forced himself to focus just enough to take stock of his Ethera. It was dangerously low. And he knew he couldn¡¯t keep using Touch of Nature. He¡¯d run out of Ethera, and then, he¡¯d die a slow and agonizing death. But with Healing Rain, there was a possibility that he could keep pace with the damage being wrought on his body. So, he cast it. Apparently, being underwater wasn¡¯t enough to stop the spell from activating, and as the falling rain ¨C Elijah didn¡¯t question how that was possible ¨C fell, he felt the healing magic begin to take hold. But just because he was constantly regenerating didn¡¯t mean that the pain had stopped. Indeed, it only meant that, so long as he could keep Healing Rain active, the damage was negated by the Regeneration. Still, the cycle of damage and Regeneration still hurt. A lot. And as a result, Elijah started to go into shock. And that shock eventually ushered him into unconsciousness. When he awoke some indeterminate time later, his Healing Rain had run its course, and the acid had gained some ground. So, he recast the spell and tried to force himself to remain conscious long enough to utilize the Ethera that had regenerated while he¡¯d been unconscious. To that end, he cast Touch of Nature, marginally healing the wound in his side. It didn¡¯t do much. In fact, the spell didn¡¯t even completely close the wound. But it was progress, and in his situation, that was all he could really hope for. From that point on, Elijah¡¯s world devolved into a cycle of hellish agony and healing. It was not pleasant. In fact, it was the worst experience of his life. And given that he¡¯d gone through multiple rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, that was saying something. For a long time, he was incapable of rational thought. Instead, he focused the entirety of his consciousness on maintaining the cycle. Heal. Regenerate. Heal some more. Cast Healing Rain. Keep healing. Regenerate. Hours must have passed. Perhaps days. Elijah had no means of keeping track. But gradually, he gained ground until, at last, the wound on his side had healed as much as it could when encased in a pool of diluted acid. Then, he started on his leg. The monster¡¯s teeth had ripped a long, jagged wound that ran from mid-ankle all the way to his knee, exposing muscle, bone, and everything else skin was supposed to hide. Resting his hand on the injury, he began the cycle anew. By the time he finished, weeks had to have passed, but it might as well have been an eternity. With the ubiquitous pain keeping him from resting, his mind had descended well past the dividing line between sanity and madness. The only thing that had kept him from plunging headlong into insanity was the focus he¡¯d had to maintain. Otherwise, he would have long since succumbed. But it still took its toll, and as he finally saw the wound in his leg heal, the only thought on his mind was vengeance against the monster who was responsible for shoving him into a pit of hell. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. And without the need to use all of his Ethera on healing, he had options available. The first thing he tried was Swarm, but his conjured piranha only lasted a quarter of their usual time before the acid did them in. That was fine, though. He had other spells. After renewing Healing Rain, Elijah cast Shape of the Predator. He still couldn¡¯t swim, but what he had in mind only required him to stand still and attack. He could do that. And so he did, ripping into the monster¡¯s innards with his claws. But it wasn¡¯t enough. The creature was tough, and even though he spent the entirety of Healing Rain¡¯s duration furiously digging into the thing¡¯s flesh, the only effect was a shallow divot. Transforming back into his human form, Elijah renewed Healing Rain and forced himself to think. With the pain of his skin being constantly dissolved by the acid and rebuilt by Healing Rain, his thoughts were sluggish. Still, he could think just clearly enough to recognize that he was missing something incredibly important. Though, try as he might, he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. Then, like a lightning bolt, it hit him. Venom Strike. The ability he¡¯d yet to use because he had no interest in getting close to monsters when he was in his human form. But now? He was already close. Too close, really. To focus his mind, he pulled up the ability¡¯s description:
Ability: Venom Strike Imbues an attack with fast-acting neurotoxin. Usable in all forms. Damage doubled when in Predator form.
Double damage when in Predator form. That was all Elijah needed to set his path. Still, he couldn¡¯t immediately take the first step down that road. Instead, he had to wait until he¡¯d regenerated enough Ethera to fuel the transformation into his Predator form. Then, he needed to cast the spell directly after renewing Healing Rain. Otherwise, he would lose ground to the acid still steadily eating away at his skin. So, he waited. In agony. Compared to the time he¡¯d already spent in the creature¡¯s stomach, it was nothing. But with the plan for his eventual escape taunting him, Elijah could barely stand it. It felt like an eternity. Still, in the back of his mind, buried beneath a mountain of pain, he knew that if he jumped the gun, he would only make things worse. With that firmly entrenched in his mind, he continued to wait. And suffer. Eventually, though, Elijah recovered enough Ethera to power his transformation into a mist panther. Still, he waited until he could renew Healing Rain before he initiated the spell. As usual, the transformation didn¡¯t take long, and as soon as it was complete, he used Venom Strike. Then, he attacked. The effect was immediate, and the monster¡¯s response nearly threw Elijah from his feet. He clung to the fleshy stomach lining with his claws and attacked once again. And again after that. He kept digging into the monster¡¯s innards, with each swipe of his claws bearing with it a refreshed Venom Strike. Each attack drained a bit of his stamina, and within thirty seconds, he could barely hold himself upright. So, he switched back to his human form to wait for the neurotoxin to take hold. The moment he did, though, he realized his mistake. In the ubiquitous pain clouding his mind, Elijah hadn¡¯t considered the fact that, as a human, he didn¡¯t have any claws, and so, the moment he switched back, the monster¡¯s convulsions sent him flying back into the dense acid in the center of the stomach. If he¡¯d been in agony before, there was no word capable of describing what he felt as he plunged into the more concentrated acid. He flailed, watching his skin melting away with every passing moment. Then, the most powerful shudder yet rocked the stomach, and suddenly, Elijah was flying forward. He hit the esophagus, and it opened. A second later, a powerful current pushed him into the fleshy hose until, at last, he passed the teeth that had ripped him to pieces. And just like that, he was free. Tumbling down through the water, he hit a stand of coral that scraped much of his melted skin from his shoulder, then settled into the silt where he lay, completely incapable of moving. Even as unconsciousness started to close in, Elijah managed to cast Healing Rain. Then, darkness enveloped him. It only lasted a few moments, and when he awoke, the blessed lack of acid was enough to jolt him back to reality. He still hurt, but it was the pain of more mundane injuries, rather than constant agony of being dissolved. Opening his eyes, Elijah tried to sit up, but immediately wished he hadn¡¯t. More agony lanced through his body as he collapsed onto the ground. Checking his Ethera, he saw that he had enough to fuel a few casts of Touch of Nature ¨C maybe he¡¯d been out longer than he thought. So, he flopped his arm over his stomach and cast the spell. A wave of healing magic swept through him, making him feel slightly better, but it was directionless and only resulted in a slightly better overall condition. Still, it was better than nothing, especially when combined with the ongoing Regeneration from the still-active Healing Rain. And after his time being slowly digested within the monster¡¯s stomach, the small relief the spell brought with it was more than welcome. He cast the spell three more times before his Ethera ran dry. Then, he lay back and waited for his core to regenerate. As he did so, he focused on the funnel of his mind, trying to force more and more ambient Ethera into his soul. It was mildly successful, though the improvement over his normal meditative Regeneration was barely noticeable. It might¡¯ve even been his imagination at work. Whatever the case, he resolved to keep it up on the off chance that he wasn¡¯t imagining things. Gradually, his core refilled until, at last, he could continue his efforts to heal his ravaged body. One cast of Touch of Nature after another, and after using two cores¡¯ worth of Ethera, he felt well enough to sit up. His body protested as he levered himself upright and looked down at his arm. It was a withered mass of flesh that looked like nothing so much as a melted candle. Groaning, Elijah grabbed it and resumed his healing. With each cast of Touch of Nature, his arm looked a little better. More, he slowly regained feeling as the nerves and muscles rebuilt themselves. However, when he finally finished the healing process, his arm still bore significant scarring. Fortunately, the rest of his body had escaped that fate, though his clothing and hair had long since dissolved. His staff had survived, though, and once he picked himself up, he found it only a few feet away. So, naked as the day he was born ¨C and even more hairless ¨C Elijah started toward the creature that had fallen only a few dozen yards away. The neurotoxin of Venom Strike had nearly killed the monster that had tried to eat him, but the job still wasn¡¯t finished. With vengeance in his heart, Elijah aimed to change that. 1-50. Vengeance and Mercy Elijah rolled his shoulders as he strode forward, but in the back of his mind, he realized that the effect was probably ruined by the curious, bouncing gait required to walk across the seafloor. He didn¡¯t care, though. Instead, he only had eyes for the monster that had tried to eat him. It was an orca. Or that was the closest analogue Elijah could conjure. The thing was at least a hundred feet long, with the same sturdy, yet sleek black-and-white body as the familiar marine mammals. But like all the other animals he¡¯d seen in the sea ¨C and on the island, come to that ¨C everything about it seemed more exaggerated. From its huge, jagged teeth to its slightly more angular body, it was like a cartoon version of the creatures with which he was familiar. And it was obviously dying. The thing was still breathing, but it couldn¡¯t move more than a few feet in any direction. So, as Elijah approached, it only succeeded in flopping around a bit. Still, it was a monster that probably weighed dozens of tons, so there was a very real danger of being crushed. With that in mind, Elijah took great care as he drew closer. But it didn¡¯t even acknowledge his presence. Instead, it seemed wholly focused on its own agony as Elijah¡¯s repeated usage of Venom Strike slowly ate away at it. Given the orca¡¯s massive size, Elijah knew its death would not be quick. Instead, it was in for a slow and agonizing process. There was a part of him that thought it served the creature right. After spending what felt like an eternity being digested by the sea mammal, Elijah thought it had gotten its just desserts. However, the marine biologist inside of him rejected that idea. As much as he wanted to take pleasure in its suffering, Elijah couldn¡¯t shed the lessons he¡¯d learned at his father¡¯s knee. Killing wasn¡¯t wrong. Instead, death and predation were necessary parts of nature. Elijah had never shied away from hunting or fishing. But his father had taught him that any responsible hunter tried to minimize his prey¡¯s suffering. So, as much as Elijah wanted to anthropomorphize the enormous killer whale and assign blame, the reality was that the thing had merely been acting according to its nature. There was no sapience there. It was just an animal, and so, it couldn¡¯t be blamed for its actions. So, taking vengeance on the creature was an exercise in futility. It would never understand its mistake. There was no lesson to be taught. No reform to be found. And, even though Elijah knew he¡¯d feel a certain satisfaction when the thing was dead, he also knew himself well enough to recognize the fact that, with the benefit of time and distance, he would regret it if he let the thing suffer more than necessary. So, it was with mercy on his mind that Elijah raised his staff and conjured his Swarm of piranha, which wasted no time before tearing into the monster. It wasn¡¯t enough to finish it off. Nor was the second cast. Or the third. Soon, it became clear that, if he wanted to hasten the monster¡¯s death, he would have to do so up close. That was why he found himself leaping from a hastily climbed stalk of coral onto the orca¡¯s back. It didn¡¯t react. Instead, the creature only continued its weak convulsions as Elijah climbed towards its head, and then, when he reached his destination, transformed into a mist panther. Immediately, he felt awkward, and his instincts screamed at him to somehow get out of the water. He pushed through that and embraced Guise of the Unseen. Before the fact that he was out in the open and standing atop a giant killer whale could degrade his stealth, Elijah reached back with his claw and used Predator Strike to gouge a massive hole in the orca¡¯s head. That woke it up, and its bucking sent Elijah spinning through the water before he landed in a cloud of silt. With the panic of his feline instincts threatening to overwhelm him, Elijah transformed back into his human form. Then, after he healed the minor damage he¡¯d sustained ¨C just a few bruises ¨C he waited for his Ethera to regenerate enough that he could repeat the process. When his core was saturated with Ethera, he climbed the coral stalk, leaped onto the orca¡¯s back, and repeated his previous strike. This one went a good deal deeper, but the result was much the same, and he ended up back on the sea floor. It took three more uses of Predator Strike before Elijah broke through the monster¡¯s thick skull. After that, it only took one more attack to destroy its brain. And just like that, a wave of kill energy swept through him, giving him another level and a new ability. More importantly, he also received an update to his task, congratulating him on killing the guardian. Now, he just needed to reach the center of the Sea of Sorrows in order to complete the second level of the Keledge Tower. Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged, and he took a moment to dig a bit of the monster¡¯s brain out. One look at the black tendrils that had infested the creature¡¯s flesh, and he knew he couldn¡¯t eat any of it. Which was a shame, considering that he had no idea how long it had been since he¡¯d eaten anything. Perhaps his body was more magical than he¡¯d originally thought. Or maybe his constant usage of his healing spells had helped keep him on his feet even as he starved. It was even possible that his perception of time had been skewed by the persistent agony he¡¯d endured. He had no idea, but regardless of how he¡¯d managed to live through his ordeal, he was now starving. So, without hesitation, Elijah slid off the monster¡¯s back and immediately set off through the Sea of Sorrows. Eventually, he stumbled across a school of mid-sized fish that he killed with a trio of Storm¡¯s Fury casts. Then, like the starving man he was, he tore into them with reckless abandon. Elijah had never been a huge fan of raw fish, but in that moment, he considered it the best meal he¡¯d ever had. He gorged himself, then gathered a few of the fish he hadn¡¯t already eaten before moving on. Like that, he kept going for the next few hours until he finally found a shallow cave in which he could rest. Once he¡¯d blocked the entrance, Elijah settled in to inspect the ability he¡¯d received upon reaching level twenty-six. It was a spell:
Spell: This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Aura of Renewal Tap into the power of nature to increase your Regeneration by ten (10) points. Usable on allies.
Elijah let out a chuckle that came out in a gurgle and sent a stream of bubbles drifting toward the ceiling of the small cave. That certainly would have come in handy while he was being digested. He just stared at the spell and shook his head before mentally canceling one of his other augmentations ¨C Essence of the Monkey ¨C and replacing it with his new spell. Essence of the Monkey was great for when he was on land, but in the Sea of Sorrows, both Aura of Renewal and Essence of the Boar seemed much more important. Those two took up his only available enhancement slots, leaving Essence of the Monkey as the odd one out. Hopefully, though, he would get another slot sometime soon. At least Essence of the Wolf seemed to be a different category ¨C perhaps because its effect was restricted to out-of-combat ¨C so he didn¡¯t have to make the choice between more Constitution or faster movement speed. In any case, Aura of Renewal was a nice addition. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the future might hold. Perhaps he would get an augmentation that would enhance his Ethera next so he could complete the set. As he thought about his attributes, he couldn¡¯t help but toggle open his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 26
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 28
Dexterity 27
Constitution 33 (28)
Ethera 36
Regeneration 40 (30)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
As always, his attributes had gone up by a single point for each of his two levels. It wasn¡¯t enough that he could notice the difference from before he¡¯d killed the orca, but looking back to when he¡¯d first entered the Keledge Tower, Elijah certainly felt stronger, more durable, and more coordinated. And he could cast his spells more often, which spoke to the size of his core. Finally, he felt certain that, without those few points he¡¯d gained in Regeneration, he never would have survived the killer whale¡¯s stomach acids. So, while he hadn¡¯t made huge strides, they were enough to make the difference between life and death. Which was all Elijah could really ask for, all told. Aside from maybe asking not to spend weeks being digested by a giant orca. That would¡¯ve been nice, too, but maybe that would¡¯ve been expecting a little too much, given the world in which he now lived. Such thoughts occupied Elijah¡¯s mind as he settled in to rest and recover as much as he could. He slept, albeit fitfully, and soon enough, the urge to continue to the next and final level of the tower grew overwhelming. So, after once again gorging himself on the leftover fish, he used Touch of Nature to remove any chance of food poisoning, then set off. The next day stretched his capabilities. Not by pitting him against powerful monsters. By that point, he¡¯d spent long enough in the Sea of Sorrows that he felt almost as comfortable in that submerged environment as he did on his own island. Rather, the problem was his own body, which, despite his increased attributes, had been ravaged by malnourishment as well as the acid that had slowly eaten away at him. In fact, when he looked down at his thin limbs and exposed ribs, he suspected that he weighed less than he had at any time since the plane crash that had stranded him on the island. And that was more than a little distressing, because at that time, he¡¯d been fresh off his third round of chemotherapy. Curiously, the problem didn¡¯t present itself in a way he might have expected. He was just as strong as ever before, but he could only show that Strength in extremely short bursts before he grew exhausted. The same could be said for his ability to traverse the Sea of Sorrows. He could only go for an hour or two before he needed to rest, which was a far cry from what he¡¯d experienced before his bout of whale digestion. But gradually, as he continued to eat his weight in slain monsters ¨C from fish to turtles and everything in between ¨C his endurance returned. By the end of that first week after his encounter with the killer whale, he¡¯d reached what he thought of as the halfway point in his quest to recover his stamina. A week after that, he finally felt fully recovered ¨C a feeling that was supported by his increased weight. It was just in time, too, because that was when he finally reached the center of the Sea of Sorrows, which presented itself as a huge hole in the seabed that stretched hundreds of yards across. It didn¡¯t take a genius to guess that, in order to reach the third level, he would have to take the plunge and dive into the hole. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but hesitate, especially when he found himself at the edge of the hole and looking down into the shadowy abyss. Could he have been wrong about it being his goal? Of course. But given the saturation of Ethera in the area, he didn¡¯t think so. He¡¯d also circled the pit, searching for anything else that might qualify as his destination. But he¡¯d found nothing but more coral and kelp. No ¨C it was the right place, but knowing that did nothing to assuage the fear coursing through Elijah¡¯s veins. The first level had been fairly easy. The second had stretched him to his limits. And it stood to reason that the difficulty would only increase going ahead. But as he kept reminding himself, there was no choice in the matter. He couldn¡¯t go back. Even the teleport associated with Ancestral Circle was disabled within the tower, which he¡¯d confirmed at some point during the cycle of healing and dissolution he¡¯d experienced in the whale¡¯s stomach. The only way out was through. So, he squared his shoulders, then dove into the abyss. 1-51. Primordial Jungle Elijah dove, slicing through the water with ease. Then, when he¡¯d gone a few hundred feet, gravity shifted, and he was suddenly falling in the other direction. Inexplicably panicked, he desperately treaded water as he searched for some landmark in the abyssal darkness. Looking down, he saw nothing but blackness. The same was true when he spun left, then right. But when he tilted his head up, he saw a glimmer of light. So, with no other guide, he swam toward it. Gradually, he drew closer to the surface until, finally, he broke free in the middle of a storm. That was a far cry from the Sea of Sorrows, which had been a strangely navigable underwater seascape. Even with only a glance as evidence, Elijah knew that the new environment of the third level was markedly different. For one, it was clear that he would no longer have to live beneath the waves. Above him was a grey sky filled with storm clouds, and in the distance, he saw a strip of dense jungle that stretched from one end of the horizon to the other. Struggling to stay afloat, Elijah knew the dangers of a storm on the open sea, so he started paddling to shore. It was difficult, and not just because of the violent current tugging against him. In addition to that riptide, he also had to deal with the inevitable effects of spending weeks in what amounted to a low-gravity environment. His muscles hadn¡¯t exactly atrophied, but he¡¯d certainly grown used to using them less. And so, the way ashore was awkward and filled with frustration. Still, he persisted and, after what felt like hours, he finally dragged himself onto a muddy beach. Then, he collapsed, taking huge, gulping breaths as he tried to acclimate to what should have been his natural environment. It took some time, but eventually, he forced himself to his hands and knees. Then, a few minutes after that, he pushed himself upright and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that a small, metallic box had, at some point, appeared before him. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that it was his reward for defeating the Kelledge Tower¡¯s second level. So, he reached out with shaking hands and popped it open. Inside was another ring, which he promptly collected. Even as the box dissolved, Elijah read the notification that had accompanied the acquisition of the ring:
Reward for completing Level Two of Keledge Tower: Ring of Anonymity
¡°What the hell does a Ring of Anonymity do?¡± he asked aloud, slipping the dark green circlet around his pinky finger. It shrank, sizing itself to fit, then disappeared from his sight. He could still feel it, so he knew it remained around his finger, but he couldn¡¯t see it at all. A moment later, he received another notification:
Ring of Anonymity Equipped. Choose Mode: Anonymous False Identity (Unchosen) Deactivated (Currently Active)
Elijah had no idea what any of that meant. So, he selected False Identity, which prompted yet another notification:
Specify False Identity: ??
Intuitively, Elijah knew that he could create a pseudonym. But more than that, he could choose a new archetype, which he most certainly did not want to do. He suspected that it was only for display purposes, but he resolved not to use it until he knew for sure. The last thing he wanted was to screw things up. Besides, it wasn¡¯t as if anonymity would do much for him while he was still in the tower. So, he left the ring Deactivated and moved on to the next two notifications he¡¯d received. Both were expected.
Welcome to The Keledge Tower, Level Three. To conquer the tower, complete the Task before you.
It was almost identical to the notifications he¡¯d gotten upon reaching the previous levels, so he shifted his attention to the next:
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it Task: Before you lies the Primordial Maze. There are many paths to completion, but some are more dangerous than others. Choose wisely, reach the center, and conquer the Tower.
Elijah read the message a few times, but it seemed straightforward enough. Before he could embark on that Task, though, he needed to get his feet under him. His time in the Sea of Sorrows had definitely taken its toll, and though he¡¯d managed to recover somewhat, he was still naked, rail thin, and unaccustomed to existing on land. With that in mind, Elijah slowly acclimated to his new environment. First, he worked up to standing, then walking, and finally, to doing the calisthenics routines he¡¯d created when he¡¯d first been stranded on the island. It took almost two days, during which his ability to go without food was tested, but eventually, he managed to recover some semblance of his former conditioning. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to go without water, though. Not only was the rain constant, but the water in which he¡¯d entered the level was fresh. So, that was one thing he didn¡¯t have to worry about. His nudity, though, was unavoidable. Which was how, two days later, he found himself standing on the muddy beach and staring ahead at a dense jungle. Somewhere ahead of him was the entrance to the Primordial Maze, which he would have to traverse before he could conquer the tower and get back to his island. And given his experiences in the previous levels, he expected that the maze would be huge. Even if it was no larger than the Sea of Sorrows, it would take weeks ¨C or maybe even months ¨C to reach the center, and that was assuming he could find his way at all. More, he felt certain that there would be plenty of monsters within. But at least he had all his abilities available. In the Sea of Sorrows, he¡¯d learned a lot about using his caster form, but the jungle ¨C and presumably, the maze as well ¨C were tailor-made for his Predator form. So, without further hesitation, Elijah cast Essence of the Wolf to increase his movement speed, then used Aura of Renewal to help him stave off fatigue, and finally Essence of the Monkey to augment his Dexterity. Only once he finished casting his enhancements did he use Shape of the Predator to transform into a mist panther. The moment the transformation completed, he felt infinitely more comfortable. Some of that was due to his glossy black fur, but there was also some ephemeral quality about the jungle that made him feel more at home. He took a deep breath ¨C oh, he¡¯d certainly missed that when he was underwater ¨C then activated Guise of the Unseen before setting off into the jungle. If he¡¯d been in human form, he might¡¯ve found the dense foliage difficult to traverse. Certainly, with the impenetrable canopy above him, Elijah would¡¯ve felt at least a little claustrophobic. But as a panther? It wasn¡¯t even a factor. He went a little more than a quarter of a mile before he smelled another animal. It was musty and unfamiliar, which triggered Elijah¡¯s curiosity. So, he stalked toward it, keeping low as he passed broken branches and fallen trees. Along the way, the smell grew stronger until, finally, he reached a massive pile of dung. That certainly didn¡¯t bode well, but after giving it a quick sniff, he determined that he¡¯d been tracking a carnivore. A few hundred yards later, he stumbled upon a giant track. It was at least four feet across, with three distinct claws that marked it as either a giant reptile or some sort of bird. In fact, to Elijah, it reminded him of a turkey¡¯s tracks, only hundreds of times larger. Cautiously, he continued to follow the trail until he heard something crashing through the jungle ahead of him. Elijah didn¡¯t let himself react. Instead, he simply continued to follow until, at last, he saw his quarry. And it was terrifying. With its huge jaws, pebbled skin, powerful hind legs, and comparatively small forelegs, the massive reptile could only be described as a tyrannosaurus rex. And it was happily feeding on some smaller, unidentifiable reptile. Clearly, the ¡°primordial¡± label extended to the jungle surrounding the maze. Elijah shivered, then backed away. He had killed creatures just as large as the dinosaur ¨C the killer whale had been much bigger, and even the giant isopod had rivaled the tyrannosaurus in size. But there was just something about seeing the terrifying subject of countless movies and books that sent a jolt of fear up his spine. He backed away, careful not to make a sound that might interfere with Guise of the Unseen. Then, once he¡¯d made it a few dozen yards away, he turned and sped across the jungle. His haste was probably why, five minutes later, he fell afoul of a different sort of threat. The sound of cracking bone echoed across the jungle as something reached up and grabbed him around the foot. Elijah let out a scream as he instinctively tried to tug his limb free, but all he did was make it worse. Something thudded into his side, piercing his hide, and he looked down to see that the thing that had clamped around his foot was what looked like a crude bear trap made of bone. Something else hit him, this time in the shoulder, eliciting another cry of pain as it dug deep into the muscle. If Elijah hadn¡¯t had the benefit ¨C if it could be called that ¨C of spending days being steadily digested within the orca¡¯s stomach, the pain might¡¯ve kept him from thinking straight. It still hurt, but the agony didn¡¯t send him careening down the path of panic. So, even as another something hit him in the back leg, he shifted form and cast Touch of Nature. He followed it up with Healing Rain before reaching down and prying his foot loose. He cast Touch of Nature again, mending the fractured bone enough that he could put weight on it. In the meantime, he heard something shout as another projectile went wide. It was only then that he recognized that someone was shooting arrows at him. He shouted, ¡°I come in peace!¡± He only got a roar in response as something that looked like a mix of ape and sasquatch crashed through the forest, making a beeline toward him. Elijah didn¡¯t need more than a glance to confirm that he had no chance in a physical confrontation. The thing was at least eight feet tall, and beneath its shaggy red fur, it was thick with muscle. More, it was armed with a giant, flint-headed spear. So, Elijah took aim with his staff and cast Snaring Roots, which he¡¯d largely ignored during his time in the Sea of Sorrows. Vines, thick and thorny, erupted from the ground and snaked around the creature¡¯s legs. It tripped, tumbling face-first into the ground, where even more vines enveloped it. Elijah didn¡¯t dare stick around for a fight. He¡¯d already used a lot of Ethera, and judging by the sasquatch-ape¡¯s size, it would take more than a few casts of Storm¡¯s Fury to take it out. However, he wasn¡¯t going to let it off completely unharmed. So, he hobbled forward, reared back with his staff, and, after activating Venom Strike, smacked it across the back of the head. The already-prone monster was driven down by the force of the blow. But Elijah knew he hadn¡¯t done any real damage. Not yet. Eventually, Venom Strike would take effect, but, because he¡¯d activated it in his human form as opposed to as a mist panther, it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as dramatic as when he¡¯d used it against the killer whale. So, after taking his swing, Elijah took off through the forest, bounding over the fallen trees and jumping across various depressions. In a way, he felt like he was back on his island. But clearly, the level of danger in the Primordial Maze was at least as high as it had been in the Sea of Sorrows he¡¯d left behind. Monsters were one thing, but what really frightened him was a creature who could use tools like traps and the arrows still sticking out of him. 1-52. Wild Once Elijah had gone a few hundred yards, he stopped and yanked the arrows out. There were three of them, but only one had penetrated more than an inch. Whether he could blame the ape creature¡¯s poor equipment or his own enhanced Constitution, he had no idea, but whatever the reason for the projectiles¡¯ poor performance, he wasn¡¯t going to complain. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have removed the arrows, a caution borne out by the veritable fountain of blood that came with the most serious wound when he yanked the arrow free. But with Touch of Nature, he was capable of stemming the flow of blood in only an instant. It was especially effective with such a small wound, so after two casts, he¡¯d completely healed the two most serious injuries. However, doing so drained most of his Ethera, so he had no choice but to continue his flight until he regenerated enough to finish the job. So, that was what he did. He knew he was leaving a trail a mile wide for the sasquatch monster to follow him, but he didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. He could only hope that his use of Venom Strike would slow it down enough so that he could get away. Minutes passed, and, to his surprise, Elijah wasn¡¯t forced to endure any further attacks. Soon, he regenerated enough Ethera to finish healing, though he kept running for almost an hour more until, at last, he used Shape of the Predator to return to his panther form and slink into the shadows. Only once he¡¯d climbed a tree did he let himself relax. A little. Even though he¡¯d managed to escape with his life, Elijah knew precisely how close to the edge he¡¯d gotten. One little mistake, and he would have died. And it¡¯d been like that since he¡¯d first stepped foot in the tower. Even back on the first level, the goblins were more than capable of killing him. Certainly, he¡¯d easily massacred that village, but if he¡¯d stepped one foot out of line, they would have fallen on him without mercy. And it was a fool¡¯s hope to expect quarter from such monsters. No - he was walking a fine line, and even if he hadn¡¯t recently spent an untold number of days being digested in the stomach of a killer whale, he¡¯d have been close to his breaking point. A person wasn¡¯t meant to endure so much constant stress. But what choice did he have? He couldn¡¯t afford to just break down. He didn¡¯t get the luxury of taking a break. He couldn¡¯t just call for a timeout. Even if he could find somewhere relatively safe, there was always the danger that some powerful predator would find him. And it wasn¡¯t as if he could just turn around and go home, either. Even if he could exit the Keledge Tower without conquering it, his reasons for challenging it in the first place hadn¡¯t changed. Either he won, or his island ¨C and eventually, the world ¨C would be overrun with horrible monsters from another dimension. He transformed back into his human form and muttered, ¡°How is this my life, now?¡± Indeed, as he used Touch of Nature to complete the healing he¡¯d begun during his flight, Elijah wondered how the rest of the world was faring. Were they fighting monsters, too? What about his sister? What about Carmen, his sister-in-law? Or his nephew? His ex-girlfriend back in Hawai¡¯i? The list went on and on, but it was a pointless exercise because he had no way of getting any answers. Eventually, Elijah came to the conclusion that feeling sorry for himself was just as pointless as wondering how the rest of the world had dealt with the transition. So, he forced his mind to other topics ¨C like the task before him. He¡¯d already gotten turned around, so he didn¡¯t know which way was which. The sun still hadn¡¯t made an appearance, and despite being on the new level for a few days, night still hadn¡¯t fallen. It seemed reasonable to conclude that it never would. Instead, the whole level seemed eternally mired in a rainy afternoon. After a while, Elijah transformed back into a panther, then climbed down from his perch. Over the next day, he scouted the area, but he still hadn¡¯t found the maze. So, he kept going, switching his focus to survival rather than exploration. He¡¯d established that he could go without food for quite some time, but there were repercussions for doing so. With that in mind, he began his first hunt. It didn¡¯t take long before he found another dinosaur. This one was clearly herbivorous, but Elijah couldn¡¯t identify it. Regardless, it was quadrupedal and the size of a large cow, which meant that it had plenty of edible meat. Most importantly, it didn¡¯t seem terribly dangerous, which meant that he could avoid tainting the meat with Venom Strike. Instead, he crept forward, dipping below a series of low-hanging vines as he prepared to pounce. The creature, which resembled a triceratops, but without the natural armor or horns, remained completely unaware as Elijah stalked closer. When he got within a few feet, he embraced Predator Strike and leaped forward, slicing his claws across the monster¡¯s back leg. The joint exploded, but Elijah had let the animal¡¯s ponderous size fool him into thinking that it was slow. It wheeled around, using its head as a club, and it would have connected if the thing¡¯s leg hadn¡¯t completely given out. As it was, the blow still came close enough that Elijah had to spring backwards out of range. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The animal bellowed, either in agony or rage, as it tried to run away in a three-legged gait. It moved relatively quickly for its impairment, but Elijah was much faster. He darted in, slicing his claws across the other back leg. He didn¡¯t cut nearly as deeply, but he still severed the monster¡¯s hamstring. Not enough to completely immobilize it, but it was further slowed, which allowed Elijah to dart in once again and nip at the front leg. This attack wasn¡¯t nearly as effective, but with the dinosaur so thoroughly wounded, Elijah had the luxury of time. So, over the next few minutes, he continuously harassed the injured animal until, at last, he disabled the third limb. Soon after, the creature collapsed. But as Elijah found out when he tried to finish it off, his prey wasn¡¯t completely defenseless. He darted in, and it once again swung its head around, taking him in the side and sending him rolling across the jungle until he hit a tree. Growling, he found his feet. He¡¯d sustained a few broken ribs, and though they were painful, he couldn¡¯t afford to switch back to his human form and heal. Soon, the jungle¡¯s scavengers and other predators would smell the blood in the air, and when they did, they would descend upon the scene. If Elijah was there when that happened, he¡¯d be forced to flee. So, without the option to heal himself, he once again started circling the immobilized monster. It tried to track him, but with its injuries, it could only do so much. So, when Elijah found a blind spot, he pounced. This time, he leaped atop the creature¡¯s back and clamped his jaws down on the base of the thing¡¯s skull. At first, Elijah couldn¡¯t get through the dinosaur¡¯s tough, pebbly skin, but he leveraged his enhanced Strength to great effect, and soon enough, he crushed the thing¡¯s spine. It went limp, but it was still alive. Elijah ended its life a few moments later when he raked his claws across its throat and watched it bleed out. Then, without bothering to shift back to his human form, Elijah tore into the creature¡¯s haunches, eating as much as he could handle before dashing away. Over the next few days, he followed the same pattern. Hunting, eating, and surviving ¨C it was so easy to lose himself in the animalistic instincts that came with his predator form. Soon enough, he found that he only cancelled Shape of the Predator when he was injured and needed healing. Otherwise, he remained in his predator form at all times. And gradually, he lost track of time. At some point, he gained another level, but he didn¡¯t really notice it. He was too busy living the life of an apex predator. Later, he would recognize his descent into animalism as a coping mechanism, but it wasn¡¯t until, weeks later, he stumbled upon the maze that he was shocked out of it. Suddenly, as he stood in front of that gate, his humanity came rushing back, and when it did, it brought with it the memory that he wasn¡¯t just there to survive. He had a goal. He had a Task. To remind himself, he summoned the notification he¡¯d read just after entering the jungle:
Task: Before you lies the Primordial Maze. There are many paths to completion, but some are more dangerous than others. Choose wisely, reach the center, and conquer the Tower.
How long had it been since he¡¯d assumed his human form? It had felt like¡­he didn¡¯t know how long. Days, at least. Weeks, probably. It might have even been months. In his panther form, and with the sameness of the grey days, time was difficult to judge. But he knew it had been far too long. So, with some regret, Elijah forced himself back into the shape of a human being. Even as he changed, he felt a sudden sense of loss. The world seemed so much less alive. There were no interesting smells. He couldn¡¯t see nearly as well. And standing on two legs, he felt so weak. So awkward. So human. His heartbeat quickened. His breath came in sudden, sharp, and shallow pants as a formless panic began to overwhelm him. Nothing seemed to make sense, and if he¡¯d had the Ethera for it, he would have immediately shifted back to the Shape of the Predator. Leaning on his staff, he struggled to get his breathing under control. As he wrangled his emotions, Elijah saw his feelings for the danger they represented. It was so easy to be an animal. It was a much simpler life to surrender to the mechanics of survival and let everything else fall away. But he was not an animal. ¡°Human,¡± he muttered, his voice ragged from lack of use. The word felt thick on his tongue, and it certainly didn¡¯t come easily. It was like his mind was fighting him. Still, he persisted, ¡°I am¡­human.¡± He repeated the words a few more times, and with each iteration, he felt a little more in control. The panic receded, and he felt more comfortable in his own body. Elijah looked down. He had gained weight, and his body was corded with lean muscle. His memory of his self-image was a little fuzzy, but he suspected that he was even healthier than he¡¯d been before he¡¯d entered the tower. For all it was psychologically dangerous, living as a panther had done wonders for his physique. He forced a chuckle. ¡°The Tarzan workout, I guess,¡± he rasped. Then, he studied the arched entrance to the maze. It was constructed of thick, rugged stone, and it looked as if it had existed for thousands of years. The same could be said for the connected wall, which was covered in vines and moss. Both parts of the structure were at least fifty feet tall. Looking at the maze, Elijah¡¯s first idea was to simply climb the walls. It still wouldn¡¯t be easy to traverse, but it would still be much easier if he could get a top-down view. So, he approached the wall and tried just that. However, ten feet up, he started feeling heavier. At first, it was just a minor increase, but with every foot he ascended, his weight increased until he could barely hold on. He''d only made it twenty feet before he could climb no higher. ¡°Should¡¯ve expected that,¡± he said to himself. It felt good to speak, especially after his stint as a panther. It reminded him that he was still human. In any case, it seemed like he had no choice but to traverse the maze the old-fashioned way. With the completion of his Task in mind, Elijah stepped through the gate and entered the Primordial Maze. He could only hope that it would prove less dangerous than the jungle, but even as that thought crossed his mind, he recognized how ridiculous it was. There was no way things would get easier now that he was on the home stretch. If anything, he was in for a steep increase in difficulty. 1-53. The Tower Alyssa said, ¡°We don¡¯t have a choice.¡± ¡°It¡¯s almost fifty miles away,¡± Roman pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s not our problem.¡± Alyssa looked around at the others. Carmen was there representing the noncombatants, but the rest of the council were Roman¡¯s allies. He had handpicked most of them because they agreed with his philosophy of blatant self-interest. Not on a personal level, but rather when it came to the way they ran Easton. That meant that, of the eight members of the council, Alyssa only had one ally. She resisted the urge to scream. The formation of the council was supposed to have been a compromise, a way to solve the rift between Roman and her. But in her frequent absence, the former police chief had managed to stack the deck against her. A few of her people had been intimidated into stepping down, and one had been outright bribed. The replacements were loyal only to Roman. No - that wasn¡¯t quite right. They didn¡¯t care about him. They cared about themselves, and it didn¡¯t matter if that came at the detriment of everyone else. To Alyssa¡¯s sensibilities, they were selfish and cowardly. But she couldn¡¯t really argue with their reasoning ¨C not on a purely logical level. It didn¡¯t make much sense to put their lives on the line in order to help people who couldn¡¯t do anything for them. And if they responded to this new threat, they would certainly be putting themselves, as well as all of Easton, at risk. Choosing not to act carried with it its own risks, though. ¡°You heard the Envoy,¡± she said, gesturing to Dirk. He claimed to be completely neutral, and as an Envoy of the Cult of the World Tree, that was precisely what he was supposed to be. However, he was clearly Roman¡¯s stooge. He¡¯d proven that a hundred times over. ¡°This tower is a threat to our survival. If nothing is done, it¡¯s going to overflow. We¡¯ll be inundated by more Voxx. You have to see that it¡¯s better to take care of it before circumstances force our hand.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m sure the proximity of the refugee camp has nothing to do with your stance,¡± one of Roman¡¯s flunkies said. ¡°Pardon me if I don¡¯t share your bleeding heart and ¨C¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Roman interrupted. The woman snapped her mouth shut. The former police chief took a deep breath, then continued, ¡°Compassion is commendable. You know I don¡¯t want anyone to die unnecessarily, Alyssa. But the fact remains that if we attack this tower, we¡¯ll have to send some of our best. That will leave us vulnerable, and not just to the wildlife. You know what¡¯s coming our way.¡± Alyssa looked away. They¡¯d recently received word that there was a roving band of warriors making their way across the landscape. They¡¯d already sacked a half-dozen towns, and there was a good chance that they¡¯d soon target Easton. The group ¨C no, it was an army, by all accounts ¨C might never find the settlement, but they had to be ready to fight in the event that they were attacked. It had been so much easier when all she had to worry about was patrolling the surrounding area. But as Dirk had leveled, he¡¯d unlocked more features of the Branch of the World Tree, including the ability to communicate with other nearby settlements. And to Alyssa¡¯s surprise, there were dozens of them, though none as large or successful as Easton. But with that communication had come trade, dependence, and news. And it had unlocked Roman¡¯s ambition. It was an open secret that he wasn¡¯t content with ruling Easton. He wanted his own kingdom. Sure, he couched that ambition in a desire to save as many people as possible. After all, Easton was far safer than anywhere else with whom they had been in contact. It only made sense that he take them all under his wing. Of course, if he had his way, that would mean the virtual enslavement of anyone who didn¡¯t offer immediate benefit to society. Alyssa had fought against it, and she¡¯d been mostly successful, but the more power Roman got, the less capable she was to fight against the worst of his nature. ¡°Then we should send our best,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Get through it quickly, gain the benefits, and be better prepared to meet the army coming our way. Or do you want to fight a war on two fronts? Think about it. What¡¯s going to happen when that tower bursts? Even if we fight off the waves of Voxx, we¡¯ll be weakened when that army gets here. They¡¯ll roll over us.¡± ¡°Unlikely,¡± one of the others scoffed. Alyssa shook her head. Of the people present, only she and Roman fought with any regularity. The others were just sycophantic bureaucrats. They all had combat classes, but they used any excuse to avoid anything that might put them in danger. They were cowards, and as such, Alyssa had no respect for them. Certainly, they served a purpose. Someone had to tend to the minutiae required to run the city whose population had grown into the thousands. However, recognizing that they weren¡¯t completely useless didn¡¯t equate to respect. Either way, that lack of combat experience meant that they wavered between looking down on those who protected them and putting far too much trust in those same people¡¯s abilities. ¡°You know I¡¯m right, chief,¡± she said. Roman locked his eyes on hers, but he didn¡¯t change his expression. She couldn¡¯t read him. Not anymore. Not since Trish¡¯s death. His thoughts and emotions had become a mystery to her. After a moment, he asked, ¡°How do you propose we do this?¡± ¡°You and me, at minimum,¡± she said. They were the two highest-leveled people in the city. ¡°A healer. Maybe two. And at least a couple of damage dealers. The tower won¡¯t allow more than six people inside at a time.¡± He nodded, but before he could speak, one of his sycophants spat, ¡°You can¡¯t be serious? We would be defenseless!¡± ¡°There are more than a thousand warriors in this city,¡± Roman stated. ¡°Surely they can defend you while we¡¯re gone. Perhaps you can even defend yourself, Mr. Adams.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got a combat class, don¡¯t you?¡± asked Alyssa. ¡°A warrior variant, right? We could use you in the tower. Unless you think you¡¯re needed here, of course.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°We should take Verin Watson,¡± Roman stated. ¡°She got some sort of Priest class, and she¡¯s probably the most versatile healer we have in the city.¡± The woman in question was one of the newer arrivals, though Alyssa didn¡¯t know much else about her. ¡°I want Bryce Caraway.¡± ¡°The Wizard?¡± ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s one of our hardest hitters,¡± she stated. ¡°That¡¯s four. You know another healer?¡± This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. ¡°Could take Kevin Tate,¡± she suggested. ¡°I¡¯ve worked with him.¡± ¡°No. I think I have someone else that would work,¡± he said. ¡°In fact, I think I can fill our other two slots. So, I suggest you spend the night saying your goodbyes and preparing. We leave in the morning.¡± And just like that, Alyssa had won the argument, though she wasn¡¯t certain if she would grow to regret it. The minor dimensional rift had been difficult enough to overcome, but a tower was supposed to be far more dangerous. The guides she¡¯d purchased from the Branch had been limited in what information they contained, but one thing seemed certain ¨C if they were going to challenge a tower, it was going to be deadly. After Roman had agreed to the plan, the meeting concluded, and Alyssa and Carmen quickly left the former police station behind. Having grown to five stories tall, it was unrecognizable, as was the rest of the city. The collection of log cabins had been replaced by more permanent, brick buildings, and though none of them had much artistry to be seen, there were a couple that had been designed by Architects. Those were clearly higher quality, and there was a hope that soon enough, the rest of the city would follow suit. After traversing the city, Carmen and Alyssa retreated to their home. It still wasn¡¯t huge, but they¡¯d had a host of modern amenities installed. Running water, central heating, and a working kitchen, complete with ethereum-powered appliances meant that it was almost as comfortable of a home as the one they¡¯d abandoned shortly after the world had transformed. In that respect, the Branch of the World Tree had proved invaluable, if only for the guides it made available. Without them, Easton would¡¯ve still been stuck in the stone age. Once they got home, Carmen said, ¡°I don¡¯t like this. You saw that, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± Alyssa asked, plopping down on one of the couches. She¡¯d gone to the meeting straight from a patrol, so even with her inflated Constitution, she was absolutely exhausted. ¡°Roman. He didn¡¯t want you to bring your people even though it made sense,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Why would he do that?¡± Alyssa shrugged. ¡°Probably because he thinks his people would be better,¡± she answered. ¡°Or he¡¯s going to betray you,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°Oh, come on. This is Roman. He¡¯s the chief. He¡¯s a good man.¡± ¡°Who wants to let people die just because he doesn¡¯t consider them useful.¡± Alyssa sighed. ¡°It¡¯s not like that. We have limited resources, and ¨C¡± ¡°I know more about our resources than you do. I go to almost all of those sham council meetings, you know. And we could have taken those refugees in. It would¡¯ve meant people had to cut back a little, but we could have done it.¡± ¡°Yeah? And what about the next group. We¡¯d cut back a little for them, too. And the next after that. Until, suddenly, we have people starving or sleeping in the streets. It¡¯s a slippery slope, Carmen.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± Alyssa rubbed her eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t want to argue about this again,¡± she said. ¡°I trust Roman. Besides, he needs me.¡± ¡°For now,¡± Carmen pointed out. ¡°But fine. Just promise you¡¯ll stay on your guard in there.¡± ¡°I will.¡± ¡°Did you see it?¡± asked Carmen in a different tone. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The ladder.¡± ¡°Oh. He¡¯s¡­he¡¯s still on there,¡± Alyssa said, referring to her brother¡¯s placement on the worldwide power rankings. How he¡¯d managed to even survive, much less climb to such heights, was a mystery to her. When she¡¯d first noticed his name on the list, she had wanted to pick up right then and there and try to find him. But it didn¡¯t take long for reason to take over when she realized that she didn¡¯t even know where to start. The world had been entirely transformed, and there was no telling where Elijah had ended up. However, she took more than a little comfort from the confirmation that he wasn¡¯t just alive, but he was also thriving. She could only wish that everyone could say the same. After that, they moved on to more pleasant topics, like the fact that Miguel had won an archery competition among the town¡¯s children. There were only a couple hundred, and half of those weren¡¯t old enough to compete. But still, it was quite an accomplishment. As the afternoon turned to night, Miguel got home from the school the town had set up. He eagerly told his mothers about his exploits at the competition, and Alyssa made it clear that she wished she¡¯d been able to attend. Carmen had been there, but that was because, as a crafter, she didn¡¯t have to leave the city. Eventually, Alyssa had to break the news that she was once again leaving. Miguel took it well ¨C he took pride that his mother worked so hard to protect everyone ¨C but he was still disappointed. In the end, the family spent a nice night together, though. Which made it that much more difficult when, the next morning, Alyssa found herself waiting near the southern gate. Slowly, the members of the group trickled in. Bryce was the first to arrive, followed by the healer, Verin. She was a matronly woman, but she looked solid enough. And judging by the spring in her step, she wouldn¡¯t slow them down. Next came a man who introduced himself as Trace. He also claimed to be their scout, with the Outlaw class. The next to last to arrive was a woman with the Disciple class, which apparently was a healer variant that also specialized in unarmed combat. Alyssa had no idea how that worked, but the woman ¨C named Chen ¨C seemed pleasant enough. Finally, Roman arrived, flanked by a pair of his sycophants. Alyssa had never even learned their names. Alyssa looked around at her party. Of them all, she was the most heavily armored, but that was no surprise. Carmen had made her a full suit of actual plate armor, and just like her spear, it could take a significant beating. Chen and Trace both wore leather armor, while Roman had equipped a chainmail hauberk, heavy leather gloves, and a pair of armored pants. Bryce wore heavy robes, as much because he didn¡¯t have the Strength to accommodate heavier armor as because he thought it appropriate for his Wizard class. Finally, Verin¡¯s armor was almost as heavy as Alyssa¡¯s, and the older woman had a wicked-looking morningstar at her waist. All in all, they looked like a well-equipped party. ¡°Everyone have rations?¡± she asked, looking from one to the other. Each had a sizable pack on their backs, and they all confirmed that they¡¯d packed plenty of dried meat, hard tack, and extra bottles of water. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get this thing going.¡± She and Roman had agreed that, while he was the highest-ranking official in the city, she would command the party during combat, largely because she had far more experience than the rest of the group combined. ¡°This is going to be so awesome,¡± Bryce muttered. The others looked at him like he was crazy, but no one argued. Instead, everyone but Trace followed. The Outlaw ran ahead, scouting their path. And like that, they slowly made their way across the wilderness towards the south. The tower had appeared almost fifty miles away, so it took them two days of hard travel to reach it. When they did, the group took the opportunity to rest for a day before finally approaching it. To Alyssa, it looked like a ruin, though it was almost entirely intact. The impression of age was due to the thick moss coating the weathered stones. Vines cascaded from the crown, blending it in with the surrounding forest. ¡°And if we go in that thing, we¡¯re going to what? Teleport somewhere else? How does this thing even work?¡± asked Trace. Alyssa told him what she knew, which was precious little. The towers were constructs meant to contain the surging Ethera that came with powerful dimensional rifts. If they conquered them, it would drain the rift for a time, removing the possibility that it would spill over. ¡°So, those Voxx creatures we¡¯ve killed, they¡¯re just¡­what? Constructs?¡± asked Bryce. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think so, though. In truth, I only know as much as I¡¯ve read in the guides I¡¯ve bought from the Branch,¡± Alyssa admitted. ¡°But I think it¡¯s more like these creatures are alien enough that they need all that Ethera to cross over. Again, I might be wrong, though. The guides weren¡¯t very specific.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Roman said. ¡°We have a job to do, so let¡¯s do it. We¡¯ll leave the conjecture to the Scholars.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± she said. Then, to Trace, she said, ¡°You found the entrance, right? Lead on.¡± ¡°Aye, cap¡¯n,¡± he said with a mock salute. ¡°Right this way, m¡¯lady.¡± ¡°Is it captain? Or lady?¡± asked Bryce. ¡°Don¡¯t humor him,¡± Chun said. ¡°Give me a shot, and you¡¯ll find I¡¯m quite humorous,¡± Trace said with an exaggerated wink. ¡°That makes no sense.¡± ¡°I stand by it,¡± he said. Then, he thrust a finger to the sky and shouted, ¡°Onward!¡± Alyssa glanced at Roman and asked, ¡°He¡¯s the best you could find?¡± ¡°He¡¯s¡­an acquired taste. But he¡¯s a fantastic fighter. Stealthiest man I¡¯ve ever seen, too.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± Alyssa said, watching the ridiculous Outlaw march off. They followed Trace around the tower until they found him standing by a large crack in the masonry. Inside was completely dark, and Alyssa could tell by the ambient Ethera that they¡¯d found the entrance to the tower. In truth, she¡¯d expected something more grandiose, but she had no idea why she might¡¯ve thought that. In any case, she once again asked if everyone was ready, and when they confirmed that they were, she said, ¡°Okay. You all know the order. Wait two seconds, then follow. When you get inside, step to the left so the next person in line doesn¡¯t trample you. Everyone got it?¡± They all said they did, which was unsurprising. They¡¯d been over it more than once, after all. So, with that confirmed, Alyssa took a deep breath, then ducked into the tower. 1-54. The Zombie Apocalypse Unlike when she¡¯d entered the minor dimensional rift, Alyssa didn¡¯t stumble. Not physically, at least. But her mind certainly hit a speedbump as she beheld the landscape before her. At its most basic level, it looked like a city, not dissimilar from any of the dozen or so major population centers she had visited before the world had changed. Skyscrapers stretched high into the air, surrounded by comparatively squat structures. Streets cut between them, populated by a multitude of densely packed cars. The whole thing was surrounded by a river, making the city accessible only via a trio of bridges. ¡°Do you recognize it?¡± asked Roman from beside her. She turned, noting that the other four were also staring at the city. She shook her head. ¡°No. But I haven¡¯t been everywhere.¡± ¡°Did you read the notification?¡± was his next question. ¡°Not yet.¡± ¡°You should.¡± Alyssa conceded with a nod, then focused on the notification that had popped up upon entry into the tower:
Welcome to The Zombie Apocalypse, Level One. To advance to Level Two, complete the task before you.
Alyssa stared at that notification for a long moment before moving on to the second:
Task: Enter the City.
It seemed simple enough, but just because it was easily understood didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t be a difficult task. Alyssa glanced around at her immediate surroundings. Clearly, they¡¯d arrived in the outskirts of the city, but more immediately, she and the others stood in the center of a wide street that would have been at home in any low-income neighborhood. What looked like a service station occupied one corner, while an obvious pawn shop sat across from it. The other two corner lots were vacant, though they featured a few overturned and rotting couches and a multitude of burning barrels. It was clearly the sort of area where homeless people tended to congregate. But there were no people around. In fact, aside from a gentle wind that sent the pawn shop¡¯s sign to flapping, there was no sound at all. To call it eerie would have been a vast understatement. And Bryce, at least, agreed, saying, ¡°This looks like the opening scene from 28 Days Later. You know, that horror movie where Cillian Murphy wakes up in the hospital and walks around an abandoned London.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because of the tower¡¯s name,¡± Trace said. ¡°They weren¡¯t zombies in that movie,¡± Bryce pointed out. ¡°They were infected by the Rage virus.¡± ¡°Oh, come on ¨C they were zombies, and you know it. Just because they call them a different name doesn¡¯t mean ¨C¡± ¡°Enough.¡± Bryce cut off at Roman¡¯s single word. ¡°Sorry,¡± he muttered. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would need to remind you people that this is probably the most dangerous place you¡¯ve ever been,¡± he went on. ¡°So, perhaps you should take it seriously.¡± Alyssa wanted to say something, but she held her tongue. She knew Bryce well enough to recognize his coping mechanisms, which included babbling about whatever useless facts had taken hold of his mind. But Roman was right. They needed to focus, and that included refraining from talking about twenty-year-old movies, even if the comparison did seem fairly apt. Instead of commenting on it, she chose to address the topic at hand. ¡°So, we have three options,¡± she said, pointing at the city in the distance. ¡°Three bridges into the city.¡± ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we just go for the closest one?¡± asked Chun, her arms crossed. ¡°You think it¡¯ll be that simple?¡± asked Trace. ¡°Because I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone believes this will be simple,¡± Roman stated. ¡°But that doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t be straightforward.¡± Alyssa said, ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true, chief. The guides I bought said that these tower tasks can be incredibly complex. I read about one where the tower climbers had to fight a war that lasted weeks.¡± It was true, but that tower had been on the verge of being a Primal Realm, so it was larger and more complicated than normal. According to her research, towers could be divided into five levels of power, which coincided with the grades associated with items. The lesser dimensional rifts were better categorized as unranked and crude, but any tower that manifested was at least considered simple grade. But that was just the minimal level of power, and there were also stronger towers that were classified as complex, then sophisticated, miraculous, deific, and transcendent. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the Primal Realms, which were akin to entirely separate worlds, complete with indigenous populations. Like intelligent creatures found in towers, the denizens of Primal Realms were still manifestations of Ethera whose sentience was based on copying existing people¡¯s souls, but the explanations she¡¯d found in the guides were a little fuzzy on how all of that worked. ¡°What grade do you think this is?¡± asked Bryce. They¡¯d all read the same guides, so theoretically, they should¡¯ve all had the same information. ¡°No way to know,¡± she said. It would take someone with a powerful analysis skill to determine that. Abilities like that came from classes subordinate to the scholar archetype. Roman¡¯s policy on the uselessness of those people meant that no one in Easton had received any skills that could manage the sort of analysis they needed. It was short-sighted and more than a little moronic, but Alyssa¡¯s efforts could only effect so much change, especially considering that she had so many other responsibilities. When weighed against keeping the town safe via her frequent patrols, making sure that scholars were properly appreciated seemed particularly low-priority. She always intended to use her influence to change things, but she had so far been too busy to implement any of her plans. That would probably come back to bite them sometime in the future, but for now, she needed to focus on the tower. Over the next few minutes, the group came to a consensus. Without any other information, one choice was much the same as any other. So, they opted to aim for the closest bridge in the hopes that it would help them conquer the tower more quickly. As he had outside, Trace ranged ahead, plotting a course and scouting for dangers, while the rest of the party followed. Alyssa took the lead, with the others coming soon after. Roman brought up the rear, often remaining completely undetected. Which was incredibly unnerving. Alyssa knew she was higher-leveled than the other man, but if Roman wanted to remain hidden, she would never see him. Even though she trusted him ¨C they were friends and colleagues, after all ¨C she still couldn¡¯t escape the wave of anxiety his undetectable presence brought with it. About thirty minutes into their trek through the outskirts of the city, they rounded a corner to find Trace waiting. He held one finger over his lips, indicating that they should remain silent, then motioned for them to follow. They all did, taking great care not to make any noise. They¡¯d all spent time on patrol, so they knew how to stay quiet. Because the people who hadn¡¯t learned that lesson hadn¡¯t survived long. Alyssa and the others followed Trace for a few minutes as he led them down an alley that ran parallel to the river surrounding the city proper. It terminated in a dead end, where Alyssa saw a dumpster. Trace pointed to her, then Roman, before pointing to the dumpster. Then, he climbed atop it, giving him just enough clearance to see over the wall at the end of the alley. Roman, then Alyssa echoed his path, climbing onto the top of the dumpster next to him. It was a close fit, but they squeezed in, maintaining their silence the whole way. When Alyssa looked over the top of the wall, she almost let out a gasp. Fortunately, she kept her wits about her, stifling any audible reaction. Still, she could feel her heart beating out of her chest as she beheld a sea of rotting corpses. Most lay on the asphalt surface of a wide street, and the blanket of cadavers stretched as far as Alyssa could see in either direction. Death had become an undeniable part of her life. Indeed, even before the end of the world, she¡¯d spent a good portion of her childhood hunting with her father and brother. So, she¡¯d never considered herself squeamish around dead bodies. Then, in her time as a police officer ¨C especially when she¡¯d worked in Seattle ¨C she¡¯d seen her fair share of death. Most of the time, the victims died of natural causes, but she¡¯d seen the results of quite a few violent deaths as well. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw stretched out before her, and she wasn¡¯t ashamed to admit that, upon seeing it, she very nearly lost control of her stomach. Still, Alyssa was nothing if not in control of herself, so she managed to push her nausea aside and focus on the multitude of corpses. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. None were in good condition, exhibiting the kind of rot one would expect from a few weeks¡¯ worth of decomposition. In a way, that helped her separate them from their obvious humanity. It was easier to look at a rotting corpses and see things rather than the people they¡¯d once been. A tug at her arm got her attention, and she turned to Trace. The man¡¯s face had gone pale, clearly indicating that he was just as uncomfortable as she was. He extended his arm, pointing toward the corpses. Alyssa followed his gesture, a little unsure of what he intended to point out. However, it only took a couple of seconds before she realized what he wanted her to see. One of the corpses was moving. Zombies. It was so easy to forget what the tower was called, which in turn, had prompted her to take the pile of corpses at face value. But now? It all made horrible sense. Those weren¡¯t just a bunch of dead bodies. No. They were enemies, and after only a few more moments, she realized that they were blocking the way to the bridge, which stood only a couple hundred yards away. Alyssa continued to watch, and over the next few minutes, she caught sight of more movement. None of the zombies moved much ¨C just a twitch here or there ¨C but after seeing the first, the rest were easily noticeable. Finally, she turned away and silently climbed down. There, she settled in to think. It only lasted a few minutes before Roman and Trace got her attention and motioned for her to follow. She did, and they returned with the others to relative safety. They didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, they retreated another few hundred yards until Roman finally said, ¡°I think this is far enough away.¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± asked Verin, her hand resting on her morningstar¡¯s grip. Roman told them, explaining what they faced. He ended by asking, ¡°Any ideas? Let¡¯s get them all out there so we can figure out how we¡¯re supposed to do this.¡± There were a few suggestions, each of them viable enough to work. Most hinged on setting some sort of trap for the zombies, and Verin actually suggested that she get their attention, then lead them away so the rest of the team could progress. ¡°Nobody¡¯s sacrificing themselves,¡± Alyssa said with a roll of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m prepared for it,¡± the Priest said. ¡°I knew I probably wasn¡¯t going to live through ¨C¡± ¡°No.¡± She looked disappointed, which prompted Alyssa to wonder what, precisely, the woman had been through if she was so quick to suggest martyring herself. However, she didn¡¯t pursue the matter, largely because she needed to focus on other things. ¡°Okay, so here¡¯s what I think we should do¡­¡± As Alyssa explained her plan, the others nodded along. It took elements of the others¡¯ plans, but, notably, it wouldn¡¯t require anyone to sacrifice themselves. When she¡¯d finished, Roman said, ¡°I wish explosives still worked. They wouldn¡¯t last long if I could¡¯ve brought a few drums of homemade napalm in here.¡± Alyssa couldn¡¯t disagree, but one of the first things they¡¯d discovered after the world had transformed was that explosives didn¡¯t work anymore. Not to any degree of success. They could still set fires the normal way, but any explosion that exceeded a certain threshold had been significantly diminished. In some cases, like with firearms, that meant that they¡¯d been weakened enough that they quickly became largely useless. In others, as with internal combustion engines, they didn¡¯t work at all. But bombs were definitely off the table. ¡°Yeah,¡± Alyssa agreed. ¡°But we have to work with what we¡¯ve got.¡± ¡°I want to go on record as saying that I really like this plan,¡± said Trace. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d be the bait, so this is a nice change of pace.¡± ¡°The boss doesn¡¯t work like that, man,¡± Bryce pointed out. ¡°She¡¯s ¨C¡± ¡°Not the time, Bryce,¡± said Alyssa. ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Not the time.¡± He sighed, but he didn¡¯t argue. Instead, he and the others headed toward a nearby building. It was a two-story brick structure that, if they weren¡¯t in the middle of a magical tower, Alyssa would¡¯ve pinned as being built in the fifties. It was the sort of relic she recognized as belonging to a bygone, more prosperous era. The entirety of the outskirts was like that. Sure, there were more modern, prefabricated buildings, but there were also long stretches that suggested that the area had once seen some degree of prosperity. Time had taken its toll, though, and over time, the middle class had shifted further from the city, and they were replaced by a slightly less fortunate population. Over and over, the process had repeated until, at last, it descended into poverty. Or that was what the landscape suggested. Alyssa knew it wasn¡¯t real. It was just a detailed projection, not so different from an elaborate movie set, with plenty of detail but none of the real history. In any case, the others climbed to the roof of the three-story building while Alyssa set off toward the mass of zombies. Once she¡¯d reached her destination, she settled down to wait for a little more than half an hour, just to ensure that the rest of the party would be ready. As she waited, she made certain that Hardened Skin was still active. If everything went as she hoped, she wouldn¡¯t need either of her self-buffs, but if things went wrong, she would appreciate the defensive ability far more than the offensive Heavy Blows. Steeling her nerves, she embraced Heart of the Dragon as well. The increase to her capabilities wasn¡¯t massive ¨C only a few points to each physical attribute ¨C but it was enough that she noticed the difference. Fortunately, the ability only produced a minor drain on her energy levels. Even in battle, she could keep the ability active for hours before she began to experience noticeable fatigue. Hopefully, the upcoming fight wouldn¡¯t take that long. With her abilities active, Alyssa stepped out from around the corner and started yelling. The living corpses responded immediately, pushing themselves to their feet. She retreated a few feet around the corner of a building, then waited. The moment she saw the first zombie step into view, she started jogging back toward the building where she had left the rest of her party. The distance went by in a flash, and before she knew it, she was in front of the building. But there was a problem. The zombies weren¡¯t the shambling mass portrayed in most movies, but they weren¡¯t exactly fast, either. The result was that she¡¯d left them behind. So, she headed back, finding that they¡¯d only reached the halfway point. Some had lost interest altogether and were heading back to their original location. That changed when Alyssa let out another shout, and when she saw that she once again had a trail of zombies, she took off at a light jog. Every few yards, she looked back and let out another yell, and like that, she led the horde back toward the building. When she finally reached it, she once again assured herself that the zombies were on their way. Then, she used Heroic Leap, launching herself into the air. With her inflated Strength, as well as the enhancement of the ability, she reached the roof. As she climbed to her feet, she noted that Bryce was already in the middle of casting one of his spells. Meanwhile, Roman had drawn his bow, and was steadily picking off the zombies at the fringe of the mass. After ensuring that the others knew their roles, Alyssa headed to the roof access and hefted her spear. Behind her, Bryce finished casting his spell, and there was the sound of a massive explosion. But Alyssa tried to ignore it. Bryce and Roman had their task, and she had hers. Beside her stood Trace, while the pair of healers had positioned themselves behind her. However, Alyssa noticed that both looked eager for a fight. Verin had her morningstar in hand, while Chun had adopted a fighting stance. Another explosion sounded before Roman shouted, ¡°They¡¯re in the building!¡± The plan was simple. Under no circumstances could Bryce kill all of the zombies. His spells were powerful, but he¡¯d run out of Ethera well before they were all dead. The same was true of Roman with his arrows. So, they were always going to have to fight hand-to-hand. Knowing that, Alyssa¡¯s plan tried to mitigate the weight of the zombies¡¯ numbers by forcing them into the stairwell, which would not only funnel them into a single file line, but it would also slow them down. With that in mind, Alyssa had placed herself at the door where she intended to use her abilities as well as inflated attributes to hold the line long enough to finish the horde off. It was some time before the first zombies broke through the door, but Alyssa was ready. She thrust her spear forward, sweeping the blade across its neck and decapitating it. She¡¯d seen enough movies to know that was the surest method to deal with the creatures. Even as the monster fell, another took its place. Alyssa¡¯s spear whipped out, spearing the zombie through the head. It dropped, just like the first. Two more appeared, trying to squeeze through the doorway at the same time. Alyssa decapitated one, while Trace stepped forward and sliced the top of the other¡¯s head off. They both fell. So it began, but judging by the numbers she¡¯d seen, the battle was far from over. As it turned out, her prediction was correct. On and on it went, and the bodies piled up, blocking the door. Every now and then, zombies would manage to crawl through, but it was enough to give them plenty of rest. After a few hours, Roman announced that the flow of zombies had slowed to a trickle and that the building was probably full of the creatures. That meant that it was time for phase two. Alyssa turned to Bryce, who¡¯d stopped casting for the past hour so he could regain his Ethera. She asked, ¡°You ready?¡± ¡°Definitely not.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°You have no way of knowing if that¡¯s true,¡± he stated. ¡°Bryce, I ¨C¡± He rolled his eyes. ¡°I know,¡± he said. ¡°This is how it¡¯s got to be. Just don¡¯t let them eat my brains.¡± To Roman, Alyssa asked, ¡°Is the ladder clear?¡± He nodded, saying that it was. ¡°Alright, then. Let¡¯s get this thing going,¡± she said. With that, Roman, the two healers, and Trace headed to the back of the building, where they descended a ladder. They wouldn¡¯t stop there, either. Over the next few minutes, Alyssa watched the piled corpses, just in case another zombie broke through. They didn¡¯t, and soon enough, enough time had passed for Alyssa to say, ¡°Alright. Use it.¡± ¡°On it, boss,¡± Bryce said, extending his hand toward the bodies. He muttered something under his breath, though as far as Alyssa knew, there was no verbal component to his spells. Instead, he just had to wait for them to gather enough Ethera. Once the spell was saturated, he would unleash it. Still, he was fully committed to the image he¡¯d created, so he maintained that the incantation was a necessary part of decent spellcasting. And considering that Bryce was the highest level pure spellcaster in Easton, Alyssa couldn¡¯t really gainsay him. In any case, he was effective, so she didn¡¯t push it. After about thirty seconds, he finished his spell, and a huge stream of fire burst forth from his extended hand. It was hot enough that, even from five feet away, Alyssa felt her skin on the verge of blistering. She stepped back, watching as the fire melted the bricks around the doorway and burned the corpses to ash. The stream continued for almost fifteen seconds until, at last, the flames petered out. Bryce¡¯s shoulders sagged as he said, ¡°That was¡­a lot of Ethera.¡± Then, he looked at the results of the spell, saying, ¡°Effective, though.¡± And he wasn¡¯t wrong. Dozens of zombies had been so thoroughly burned that nothing but charred bones remained. More importantly, a few of the flames persisted as more mundane fire. That was due to the others¡¯ preparation. While Alyssa had been acting as bait, the rest of the party had scoured the building for anything flammable, which they placed in such a way as to catch the entire building on fire. One cast wouldn¡¯t be enough, but they didn¡¯t intend for it to be, either. ¡°You still have enough Ethera, right?¡± ¡°One more cast. Not Stream of Flame, though. I can only cast Meteor Strike.¡± ¡°That¡¯ll have to do,¡± she said. ¡°Do it.¡± ¡°Already gathering Ethera.¡± Alyssa watched the half-melted doorway, but Stream of Flame had done its work well. Much of the brickwork had collapsed, blocking the way. The zombies soon piled up on the other side, and eventually, she knew they would manage to break through. But for now, Alyssa and Bryce were safe. Then, the Wizard dropped a meteor on them. It was only a yard or two across, and it certainly didn¡¯t hit with the force of a real meteor. However, it didn¡¯t need to, either. When it hit, the stairwell collapsed, as did a good portion of the roof. Alyssa had expected it, so she grabbed the much taller Bryce around the waist, throwing him over her shoulder in a fireman¡¯s carry, then sprinted across the roof. Using Enrage, she increased her attributes to unreal levels, and when she reached the edge of the roof, she used Heroic Leap, sending her sailing through the air for over thirty feet before she landed on the neighboring roof. As she skidded to a stop, she was greeted by the sound of a collapsing building, and when she turned around, she saw the fruits of their labor. The fires from Stream of Flame had spread throughout the building, weakening it enough that Meteor Strike was enough to tear it down. With all those zombies inside. ¡°I just got a lot of experience,¡± Bryce said. ¡°Good. I think we¡¯re going to need it going forward,¡± she said. Then, looking around, she added, ¡°Let¡¯s go find the others.¡± Patreon Announcement First of all, I want to thank everyone for all your phenomenal support. Because of you, this story has been much more successful than I anticipated. So far, it''s been sitting on the second page of the Popular This Week list, had been on the Rising Stars list for more than a week, and has broken into the top 500 for the whole site. That''s amazing to see, and I''m eager for everyone to read the first book''s conclusion (it''ll be fully posted in about a month). In the meantime, I''ve been steadily increasing the Patreon benefit since the story''s release, and as of today, I pushed it all the way to 40 chapters ahead of Royal Road. The ultimate goal is 50 chapters ahead, but that''s going to take a month or two to hit that mark (I can only write so fast!). In any case, I just wanted to make a quick announcement to let everyone know about the increase. If you''d like to check out the extra chapters (the end of book one is already posted, and we''re 20 chapters into the second book), you can click the link below to be redirected to my page. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Again, thank you all for this story''s success. I hope it''ll continue to be worth your time because I''ve been having a blast writing Elijah''s story. 1-55. The Primordial Maze Elijah was afraid he would once again lose himself if he shifted back into his predator form, so, as he headed through the maze¡¯s entrance, he did so as a human. Holding his staff in front of him like a spear, and naked as the day he was born, he crept forward one tentative step at a time. But nothing attacked. He knew it was coming, though. So, he maintained vigilance as he continued toward the first intersection. He kept close to the moss-covered wall, dragging his hand along the ancient brickwork until he reached his destination. Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Elijah peeked around the corner and saw nothing but more of the maze. No monsters. No giant predators. Just a long, empty corridor that looked no different from the way he¡¯d come. Glancing back in the opposite direction, he saw much of the same. Glancing up at the overcast sky, he let out a sigh of mingled relief and disappointment. Relief, because he truly didn¡¯t want to fight any more monsters. Certainly, gaining a few extra levels would be beneficial, but as had happened in the Sea of Sorrows, his progress while in the Primordial Jungle had slowed to a crawl as the diminishing returns began to take effect. Killing the same creatures over and over was no way to advance. More than that, though, he was just tired of the constant killing. That was one of the reasons his panther instincts had taken over. In his predator form, Elijah didn¡¯t have to worry about stress or morality or anything else. He could just hunt, eat, and live. Everything else had faded into the background. And while that had made his journey through the primordial jungle much easier to endure, it certainly wasn¡¯t a state to which he wanted to soon return. He was a human, not a panther, and though it was sometimes beneficial to let his identity slip toward the latter, it was also dangerous. Elijah knew just how close he¡¯d come to letting his human identity disappear, which was a horrifying testament to his adaptability. So, he was relieved that no foes were in evidence. However, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a little disappointment, too ¨C mostly because it meant that he probably had starvation ahead of him. After all, the jungle, for all its seeming normalcy, was an artificial space. There was no fruit. No edible fungi. If he wanted to eat, he had to kill. And without any other creatures around, Elijah had no source of food. He wouldn¡¯t die, but the prospect of slowly wasting away was distressing enough that he turned around, intending to exit the maze and gather some food to carry with him. The meat would likely spoil quickly, but a quick pulse of Touch of Nature would take care of any problems that might present. So long as he got some calories in him, he would be okay. But as soon as he turned around, he saw a very big problem. The exit had disappeared. The corridor he¡¯d just traversed was a dead end. ¡°Damnit,¡± he muttered, his voice sounding odd in his own ears. Or maybe it was the silence of the maze that rendered it strange. Elijah had been in a few jungles in his time. Not only had he lived in Hawai¡¯i, but he¡¯d also visited the Amazon during college. And one of the many things that set a natural, Earthly rainforest apart from his current location was the ubiquitous presence of insects. Yet, Elijah had yet to feel the sting of a single mosquito. No biting flies. No spiders in their webs. Nothing but dead air and rain. If he let himself notice it, Elijah found the whole thing incredibly disturbing. Forests should be alive, but the Primordial Jungle and the attached maze were anything but living ecosystems. Never had anything felt less real than the moment he realized that. But that was what it was, wasn¡¯t it? The whole tower was just a manifestation of Ethera. That was Elijah¡¯s understanding, at least. Perhaps there were more steps involved, but he felt confident in that basic assertion. Then again, aside from satisfying his intellectual curiosity, knowing that didn¡¯t change anything. The dangers were still present, and they would certainly kill him if he didn¡¯t treat them as reality. So, with that in mind, he turned back toward the center of the maze and sank to his haunches to think about how he wanted to attack the challenge before him. Elijah was no expert on mazes, but he was familiar enough with them to know a few basic strategies for the traversal of a labyrinth. First among them was what was known as the right-hand rule, which was a technique that, fittingly, given the name, would require Elijah to keep in contact with the right-hand wall at all times. The right-hand rule wasn¡¯t foolproof, though, and stood a chance of getting him even more lost than if he¡¯d just wandered around aimlessly. So, he wracked his brain for another method, and over the next few minutes, he came up with what he felt was a viable solution. Basically, it came down to mapping the maze by keeping track of which paths he¡¯d taken and how many times he had taken them. So, each time he reached a path, he would make one of three marks. The initial mark would come during the first encounter. The second would, predictably, come if he crossed that path again. And the third would be for dead-ends. So long as he prioritized unmarked paths, he felt that he could eventually find his way to the center. There were two major problems, though. First, he suspected that using this method would be extremely time-consuming and require quite a lot of backtracking. Yet, he didn¡¯t see any option that wouldn¡¯t have that issue, so he could discount that as unavoidable. The second problem was that he didn¡¯t have any way to mark the paths. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. That was easily solvable, though. The walls were helpfully covered in moss into which it was easy to scrape a pattern. So, he settled on one line for the first crossing of a path, two lines for the second, and a giant ¡°D¡± for dead-ends. ¡°Keeping it simple,¡± he muttered to himself. Then, he stopped hesitating and got to moving, marking his first path. Over the next few hours, he continued that pattern, carving a single line each time he reached an intersection and chose a direction. Eventually, he crossed paths he¡¯d taken before and marked them appropriately as well. The same was true of dead-ends. Like that, he kept going for some time until, at last, his fatigue finally caught up to him. So, knowing that he wasn¡¯t likely to traverse the labyrinth in a single day, he settled down to rest. When he awoke, Elijah continued on as he had before. And so, his days took on a pattern where he kept to his strategy. Each time he passed one of his markings, he made sure to refresh them by using his staff to re-carve the appropriate lines in the moss. Otherwise, after only a few days ¨C or even weeks ¨C they would have grown over. It was in the second week when the hunger got overwhelming, and he resorted to eating the moss. It wasn¡¯t tasty, and Elijah felt certain that it wasn¡¯t really edible. However, he had Touch of Nature on his side to deal with any lethal side effects, and it was the only real solution to his hunger problem. He had no idea if he really got any nutrients from it, but it did fill his stomach. So, there it had that going for it. And with the ubiquitous rain, at least water wasn¡¯t an issue. Boredom was the real killer, and Elijah occupied his mind in a few ways. Most of the time, he dwelled on thoughts of the world at large. Largely, he worried about his sister and her family, but he did give some thought to the rest of the population. One thing he¡¯d discovered since being stranded on the island was that his mind often drifted to his past, and when that happened, his memories seemed far more vivid than they ever had before. That was the nature of extended solitude, he supposed, and he appreciated the ability to remember the good times he¡¯d had with his family and friends. However, it also highlighted just how lonely of an existence he led. One day, he¡¯d leave his island. And when he finally found his family, he would no longer take them for granted. Before that, he had to complete the tower, though. Not only was it the only way of protecting his island from an invasion of Voxx, but now that he was committed, there was no way out but through. And to do that, Elijah suspected he would have to be much stronger. With that in mind, he focused on his neglected cultivation. Upon reaching the Opal stage with his mind, his ability to regenerate Ethera had received quite a boost due to the widening of the aperture through which the ambient energy was funneled into his soul. By comparison, his soul cultivation had decreased the casting time of his spells. Finally, his body reaching the Wood stage had made him stronger and more durable, almost as if it had made each point of his attributes count for more. He had no idea how to improve his core cultivation. Although, he suspected that when he did finally figure it out, it would be even more impactful than the rest of his improvements. Part of that certainty came from a suspicion that it was all meant to work together. So, when he reached the first stage of improvement with all of them, the whole would add up to more than the sum of its parts. However, the majority of his surety was rooted in the feeling he got from his unimproved core. It was the battery upon which everything about him was built. He was all but useless without it. So, it stood to reason that any improvement to his core would be incredibly impactful. It was a shame, then, that Nerthus had refused to give him any information on how to improve it. Perhaps he could figure it out on his own at some point. All that and more flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he slowly traversed the labyrinth, making his marks along the way. Days passed into weeks, and as he¡¯d expected, his time in the maze eventually eclipsed the one-month mark ¨C at least as far as he could count the days. In the absence of a sun, he¡¯d taken to marking the days via how often he slept. It wasn¡¯t exact, but at least it gave him some degree of context. As he went, the monotony of the labyrinth dulled the edge of his mind until, suddenly, everything changed when he stumbled across a dead body. The corpse was unidentifiable, but given its general size and the color of what little fur was left, he suspected that it might have been one of the giant primates that called the jungle their home. His time in the jungle was a bit of a blur, but he remembered enough of it that he could confidently label the primates as deadly foes. And something had killed one. Had it simply wandered into the labyrinth and died of hunger, thirst, or some combination of the two? Maybe. But given the state of the corpse, it was clear that something else was within the maze. Something that had probably killed and then feasted upon the fearsome sasquatch-ape. Elijah knelt beside the body, then, with a shake of his head, started rummaging for anything useful. It was disgusting, and it took far longer to sift through the pile of meat, fur, and bones, but eventually, Elijah came away with a simple stone knife and a collection of broken sticks and string that might¡¯ve once been a bow. There were no arrows. Nor did he find a quiver. Not that he would¡¯ve used such a crude weapon. Perhaps if he¡¯d taken the Ranger class in the very beginning, but he currently had much more potent means of attack. If it came down to a battle, he would rely on his spells or his predator form. After looting the corpse, Elijah backed away. He had a choice to make. He had to keep moving forward, but the question was what form he would take while doing so. There were benefits to both options, and as Elijah settled down into a squat, he considered the choices before him. His human form gave him the opportunity to carry the items he¡¯d looted. Neither the knife nor the broken bow were immediately useful, but he didn¡¯t have to get creative to think of ways that could change. The knife, especially, was invaluable ¨C especially after he¡¯d lost all the equipment he¡¯d brought with him. Only his staff had survived so far. But as a panther, he didn¡¯t really need tools or weapons. More, he could traverse the maze almost undetected, which seemed much more important now that he knew he wasn¡¯t alone within the labyrinth. Clearly, his panther form was better suited for the task. However, Elijah found himself hesitating. Did he dare risk letting those animalistic instincts overwhelm him again? If they took hold, there was every chance they¡¯d never let him go. For a long time, Elijah thought it over, but in the end, he decided that he couldn¡¯t simply ignore such the defining feature of his class. Shape of the Predator was part of him, and he couldn¡¯t run from it. Instead, he needed to use it to his advantage. He had to control the wild nature of his panther form, rather than let it control him. With that in mind, Elijah renewed his enhancements, casting Essence of the Monkey, Aura of Renewal, and Essence of the Wolf. Then, for the first time in more than a month, he embraced Shape of the Predator and took on his mist panther form. 1-56. Crossing Over Alyssa sagged to one knee, propping herself up with the Spear of the Dragon Lancer. Looking around, she saw that the rest of her party looked just as exhausted as she felt. No one seemed nearly as drained as Bryce, though. But that wasn¡¯t surprising, considering that, as they cleared their way to the first bridge, he¡¯d become their most powerful weapon. Despite his clear weaknesses ¨C long cast times and horrible physical attributes ¨C the Wizard¡¯s spells had torn through the zombies in a way none of the others could replicate. Again ¨C not terribly surprising, considering that they¡¯d taken great pains to put him into optimal situations, setting numerous traps and guarding his back along the way. But it was still impressive, nonetheless. Now, though, they¡¯d finally reached their goal. ¡°How many do you think we killed?¡± asked Chen, her leather armor ripped and her hands bloody. During the short campaign, the woman had put her martial arts prowess on display, and while she wasn¡¯t as powerful of a healer as some Alyssa had seen, she made up for it in versatility. She wasn¡¯t the strongest combatant, but she was far from weak, either. ¡°Thousands, at least.¡± ¡°I figured we would have gotten more experience,¡± Bryce said. ¡°But after that first bump, it¡¯s been¡­I don¡¯t know. Underwhelming.¡± ¡°Speak for yourself, beanpole,¡± said Trace as he wiped viscera from one of his blades. ¡°I got a whole level.¡± ¡°I got two, but ¨C¡± ¡°And you¡¯re complaining?¡± Trace asked, shaking his head in derision. ¡°You kids today. No sense of ¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯re like the same age,¡± Bryce interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m an old soul.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an idiot.¡± Trace shrugged. ¡°A badge I wear with honor,¡± he said. ¡°Nobody¡¯s looking out for the fool, right? Being underestimated is a weapon just like any other. You should write that down.¡± Bryce shook his head. ¡°That would mean a lot more if I thought it was intentional,¡± he said. ¡°Acting like an idiot is one thing. Actually being dumb is something else.¡± Before Trace could respond, Roman cleared his throat. He¡¯d taken a back seat during the fighting, but he was still the leader of Easton. So, he had no trouble getting everyone¡¯s attention. ¡°We still have a bridge to cross,¡± he said. ¡°We need to find somewhere to rest that isn¡¯t covered in corpses. Then, we need to move on. I don¡¯t want to be in here any longer than necessary.¡± Alyssa voiced her agreement, and the others fell into line soon after. A few minutes later, they¡¯d found their way to an old gas station, where they settled in for some rest. Roman sat next to her on the counter and offered her a piece of dried meat. She took it, pulling a bottle of water from her own pack. ¡°That was unpleasant,¡± Roman said, his eyes trained on the others, who¡¯d all congregated in a different corner. Once again, Trace and Bryce were having an animated discussion, though Alyssa couldn¡¯t make out the subject. ¡°It¡¯s probably going to get worse when we cross the bridge,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how it¡¯ll be presented, but the guides were all pretty clear about the increasing difficulty. The further you progress, the worse it¡¯ll get.¡± Roman sighed, then ran his hand through his hair. He looked extremely tired, but that wasn¡¯t so different than everyone else. They¡¯d been fighting for what felt like an entire day, and while they¡¯d done everything they could to mitigate the danger, there¡¯d still been a few close calls. And Alyssa knew better than anyone how thoroughly life-and-death situations could drain a person¡¯s energy. ¡°It¡¯s hard to believe, you know.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°This,¡± Roman said, gesturing to their surroundings. ¡°Magic towers and spells and zombies. It really wasn¡¯t that long ago that the worst I had to worry about was a domestic abuse call. I mean, I moved out of Seattle to get away from the stress of living in a big city. Now, I¡¯m responsible for thousands of people. If I make the wrong choice, people die. Even if I make the right decisions, people die. All I can do is mitigate it. I can¡¯t stop it. Not completely.¡± That had been true even before the world had changed. Sometimes, bad things happened, and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. It was a lesson she¡¯d been forced to learn when her parents had died, but it had really been driven home during her time as a police officer. ¡°You¡¯re doing the best you can,¡± she said, reaching out to grip his shoulder reassuringly. He flinched at her touch, but she pretended not to notice as she went on, ¡°You care, Roman. That¡¯s what matters. You just want what¡¯s best for everyone.¡± ¡°I do,¡± he agreed. ¡°But sometimes¡­sometimes, I¡¯m afraid of what it¡¯s doing to me. To us. Before all this, I would have tried to save everyone. Rationally, I know that it would¡¯ve eventually killed us all. We don¡¯t have the resources to support everybody. But still¡­¡± Alyssa shook her head. ¡°The fact that you¡¯re worried about it means you¡¯re a good man, chief. You¡¯re just trying to make the best of a bad situation. We all are. So long as you keep working toward the greater good, I don¡¯t think anyone has a right to criticize you. Not unless they¡¯ve been in your shoes. Not unless they¡¯ve had to make the same choices you¡¯ve had to make.¡± Not unless they¡¯d experienced the same losses, Alyssa left unsaid. Trish¡¯s death had come close to breaking Roman. He¡¯d put on a strong front, and he had kept going despite his grief. But Alyssa knew him well enough to recognize how close he¡¯d come to falling off the edge. That he¡¯d somehow climbed his way out of that pit was just further evidence that he was worthy of her respect. Despite their frequent disagreements. For the next few hours, everyone rested. Fortunately, they¡¯d killed most of the zombies, so they were undisturbed. It was a necessary break, and when Roman finally called for everyone to gather up, they did so with renewed vigor. ¡°We¡¯re crossing the bridge. I want you all to be ready for anything,¡± he said. Alyssa added, ¡°Same formation as before. Roman in the back. Me in the front. Trace, you stick close for now, though. We don¡¯t want you crossing before we do.¡± She recognized that crossing the bridge likely constituted progressing to the tower¡¯s next level, and she didn¡¯t want the group separated. After everyone had received their instructions, the party set out across the corpse-strewed outskirts, and they reached the bridge only half an hour later. It was no different than a thousand other bridges across the world, which meant that it was four lanes wide, about a quarter mile long, and supported by thick, concrete pylons. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. The city beyond was wreathed in fog, though, so, despite the sun hanging high in the sky, none of them could see what awaited. That mist had grown steadily thicker the closer they drew to the city proper. Alyssa took the lead, and the others followed her across the bridge. For most of its length, it was no different from the outskirts. However, when they passed the three-quarter mark, she got a notification:
Congratluations! You have completed Level One of The Zombie Apocalypse. Grade: C To progress further, continue across the bridge.
An instant later, a small box appeared in front of Alyssa. It was silver, with red trim, but it looked no different than any other metallic box she had seen. She stopped, then knelt beside it. From her guides, she knew that it was the reward for completing the tower¡¯s first level, so she didn¡¯t hesitate to flip the latch and open the lid.
Reward for completing Level One of The Zombie Apocalypse: Pendant of Ethereal Regeneration
¡°What is it?¡± asked Roman as Alyssa retrieved the silver necklace. She held it up so the others could see it, but there really wasn¡¯t much to see. Just a blue gem set in silver and attached to thin chain. Alyssa told them what it was called, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what it does. What should we do with it?¡± ¡°Give it to one of the healers. Probably Verin,¡± Trace said. They all looked at him in surprise, and he said, ¡°What? If it comes down to that thing making the difference, I¡¯d rather her have it so she can heal my ass.¡± ¡°It makes sense,¡± said Alyssa. If it did what they expected it would do ¨C help to boost Ethera Regeneration ¨C she certainly had no use for it. Only a couple of her abilities even used Ethera, with the rest taking stamina. The others all agreed, and the pendant went to Verin. The older woman protested, saying that it should go to someone else, but they all insisted. Once Verin had accepted it and verified that it enhanced her Regeneration attribute by three points, the group continued across the bridge. The moment they reached the other side, another pair of notifications crossed Alyssa¡¯s vision. The first welcomed her to the second level of the tower, while the second gave her the task of reaching the capital. They¡¯d barely made it a few dozen yards into the city when the heavy slap of skin against asphalt alerted them that they weren¡¯t alone. Alyssa whipped around, her spear at the ready, and she was just in time to see a bulky figure emerge from the mist. It didn¡¯t even attempt to dodge, instead ramming into her spear with the speed of an Olympic sprinter. The blade cut deep, but the attacker kept coming, sliding past the blade and up the shaft. Before it could reach her, Alyssa spun. Using all her Strength, she flung the monster off her spear. It hit the ground and rolled to a stop. But it wasn¡¯t dead. It pushed itself to its feet just in time to catch an arrow in the eye. Trace flashed in from the side, dragging his sword across its hamstrings. And then, Verin was on it, swinging her morningstar with all her might. The spiked head took the creature in the face, once again knocking it to the ground, where another arrow hit it. At the same time, Chun aimed an axe kick at its already damaged skull. Her heel hit with enough force to crack bone. Still, it didn¡¯t die. In fact, it seemed mostly unaffected by the deluge of attacks. The creature lunged to its feet, pouncing on Chun before she had a chance to react. Another arrow hit it, and Alyssa rushed forward, using Charge to enhance her speed. She knew she wouldn¡¯t get there in time, though. The thing reared back and then, with the speed of a striking snake, descended upon Chun¡¯s exposed jugular vein. It only took an instant before Alyssa rammed her spear into it, but by that point, it had already ripped the woman¡¯s throat out. She fell away, limp and dying. Verin tried to cast a heal, but the impaled monster took her with a backhand before Alyssa could drive it away. The older woman went tumbling across the asphalt, but Alyssa couldn¡¯t do anything to help. Instead, she rammed her spear further into the monster¡¯s chest until the blade got lodged in its ribs. She shouted, ¡°Burn it!¡± Bryce had finally finished his spell. With the influx of experience during the first level, he¡¯d earned a new one, which he let loose at Alyssa¡¯s prompting. A fireball the size of a softball arced through the air, taking the monster in the shoulder. It quickly caught fire, and though it went wild, screeching in pain, Alyssa¡¯s spear kept it under control. A few moments later, it died, falling to the ground. The flames remained, continuing to burn through the monster¡¯s body. It was a bulky thing, with the sort of muscles that would¡¯ve qualified it to compete as a professional wrestler, and though it looked vaguely human, it clearly wasn¡¯t. With maggoty white skin, huge eyes, and pointed ears, it was something else entirely. Alyssa only took it in at a glance before she turned her attention to her fallen comrades. When she did, she saw Verin kneeling beside Chun¡¯s still form. The older woman¡¯s hands glowed with blue light, but no matter how much she tried, it wouldn¡¯t make the jump into Chun¡¯s body. Because the younger woman had already died. Tears fell down Verin¡¯s cheeks as the woman continued to attempt her casting. But it was too late. She knew it. Everyone did. Still, she tried. Over and over again until Roman rested his hand on her shoulder, saying, ¡°She¡¯s gone.¡± Verin didn¡¯t respond. Instead, she rose, then collapsed against the man¡¯s chest. He wrapped his arm around her, comforting the Priest as best he could. After a moment, he looked at Trace and said, ¡°Find us somewhere to rest. We need to get our bearings.¡± As Alyssa watched the man disappear into the mist, she realized what had happened. On the surface, they were powerful enough to fight the monster. However, because of the nature of the previous level, where the zombies were all relatively weak, they¡¯d gotten sloppy. And this new enemy had taken advantage of it. That was her fault. She was the battle leader, and now, because of her failure, one of their number was dead. She had always known it was possible. Likely, even. But knowing it was coming and watching someone die were two very different things. It was especially impactful because, at the end of the day, Chun had been her responsibility. Then and there, she vowed to keep everyone else alive as they climbed the tower. But in the back of her mind, she couldn¡¯t help but doubt herself. Did she have the ability to follow through with that promise? Maybe. Maybe not. Only time would tell. With that in mind, she collected Chun¡¯s body, and when Trace returned, the subdued but alert group followed him into the lobby of one of the skyscrapers. Once inside, they found their way to a side room, where they blockaded the door with disused furniture. Thus secured, they turned their attention to saying goodbye to the woman. Verin was the most affected, but none of them could look at their party member¡¯s corpse without at least some guilt. As it turned out, Roman had known the woman best, and he handled the impromptu eulogy. ¡°She was a good person. I didn¡¯t know her for long. She only arrived at Easton a little less than a month ago,¡± he said. ¡°But she led a group of forty people across the wilderness, personally keeping most of them alive. She was a protector and a healer, and she will be missed.¡± He delivered the short speech in a dry, emotionless voice, but Alyssa knew Roman well enough to recognize his guilt. Probably because she felt it, too. For a long while, they just sat there, stunned. It hadn¡¯t been that long ago that they¡¯d been joking amongst one another. Now, though? None of them even considered making flippant remarks. Eventually, they started planning for the immediate future. They had a destination, though they didn¡¯t know where it was, so finding the capital was the first order of business. Next, once it was found, they needed a safe way to make the journey. None of them thought that the monster that had attacked them was the only enemy, after all. Likely, there were a lot more of them out there. In the end, it came down to taking the journey in steps. They intended to go from one building to another, using Trace and Roman as scouts. It wasn¡¯t elaborate, and it certainly wasn¡¯t a perfect plan, but it was the best any of them could come up with. So with that established, the group set out, leaving the corpse of one of their own behind. Alyssa could only hope that it would be the last time they would be forced to do so. 1-57. Pack Hunters As Elijah padded down the corridor, a chill ran up his spine, raising his hackles. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he was safe from observation, but he still felt like something was watching him. Over the past few days, an eerie ambiance had blanketed the labyrinth, setting him on edge even if nothing had outwardly changed. When he looked around, the same moss-covered walls and endlessly twisting turns greeted him. And yet, he felt like he¡¯d been enveloped by a formless and persistent fear. Since finding that first body ¨C or hunk of flesh, fur, and bone, really ¨C he had come across a half-dozen more, all in various states of decay. The lack of scavenging insects pushed him even closer to the edge, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t take much to shove him over. Still, the only way out was through, he kept telling himself. But increasingly, he¡¯d done so with fatalistic despair rather than the stoic determination that had once accompanied the mantra. He reached out with one paw, scratching a second line next to the one he¡¯d left in his first passing. Then, he chose the other direction, keeping to his pattern. With how much time had passed, he suspected that he was getting closer to his destination. He only had to keep going ¨C even if it felt increasingly futile. Perhaps the labyrinth was endless. Maybe he had missed some key detail that would have seen him completing the level without issue. Elijah¡¯s greatest fear was that it was all just an elaborate death trap. But still, he continued on, and the days continued to pass. Eventually, he grew accustomed to the fear, and he barely even hesitated when he saw new bodies. The only thing that kept him going was a single-minded refusal to quit. And it almost got him killed when he turned a corner and very nearly walked into the center of a recently concluded hunt. The most intact simian body he¡¯d yet seen within the maze lay in the middle of the corridor, surrounded by the creatures who¡¯d obviously killed it. At first, Elijah thought they were terrestrial birds, though that impression was based more on the way they moved than how they looked. It was only when he looked a little closer that he realized that they were four-foot-tall reptiles that stood on two legs. In real life, raptors had not been the devastating predators portrayed in popular media. Instead, they were much smaller than how they were usually depicted, and they were primarily scavengers. However, these creatures very much resembled the fearsome dinosaurs he¡¯d seen in movies and on television, though they differed in a one major way ¨C they looked like they¡¯d been made of twisted roots, with thorns for teeth and tufts of moss in place of feathers. Still, there were six of the creatures huddled around and tearing chunks of flesh from the carcass. Elijah backed away, praying that his Guise of the Unseen was enough to keep him hidden. And to his surprise, he made it back around the corner without gaining their attention. When he did, he let out a feline sigh, then sank to his haunches. He had a choice to make. Either he could backtrack and try to find another way through the maze; there were still plenty of untapped routes. Conversely, he could follow the root raptors. Guise of the Unseen seemed to be up to the task of keeping him hidden, but it would only take a single misstep to ruin the effect. And then he¡¯d have to deal with an entire pack of the creatures. The first option was safer, but no matter how he looked at it, Elijah felt it was the wrong move. He¡¯d been trekking through the maze for so long, and he¡¯d barely seen anything break up the monotony. And given that the environment was a manufactured level of the tower, it suggested that there would be no coincidences. If something changed, it was meaningful. So, it stood to reason that the root raptors were important. Following them was the right choice, even if it was more dangerous than the alternative. With that in mind, Elijah ensured that his enhancements and Guise of the Unseen were active, then stepped around the corner where he settled down to wait. The raptors never noticed him, due in no small part to their grisly feast. They tore the simian corpse apart, seemingly reveling in the dismantling as much as they enjoyed the meal. Or perhaps Elijah was anthropomorphizing them. Either way, he forced himself to watch the ghastly scene, and soon enough, one of the creatures let out a piercing cry. The others stopped, whipping around to the leader, and when it took off at a run, they followed. And just like that, Elijah was alone. He was tempted to run after them, but that was a good way to get detected. So, he approached the corpse, took a few nips from the leftover meat, then sniffed around. Beneath the overwhelming smell of blood was a wet, musty scent that he instinctively knew belonged to the raptors. After finding that scent, it was easy enough to follow their trail. As he did, Elijah continued to mark each turn, but he had a sneaking suspicion that if he continued to track the root raptors, he would find his way to his destination. So it went for the next few hours until he found the scene of another massacre. This time, there were two of the simians, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, there were also a pair raptor bodies. And one of them was still alive. So, once Elijah ensured that there were no other root raptors around, he approached the survivor. It had been pierced through by four arrows, and its labored breathing was shallow. Sap-like blood stained the ground, telling Elijah that the creature was on the verge of death. He had no issues with speeding it along on its way to whatever afterlife awaited the tower¡¯s denizens. He stepped forward, reared back one forepaw, then activated Predator Strike. He swept his claws forward, ripping through it with a combination of his considerable Strength and the augmentation provided by his ability. It never even knew what killed it. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Elijah¡¯s attack destroyed its elongated head, shattering it into a thousand splintered and sap-covered pieces. He received some kill energy, but it wasn¡¯t enough to send him to the next level. So, after ensuring that there was nothing useful around the corpses, he continued to follow the trail. Over the next few hours, he came across three more scenes of slaughter, each with two or more simian corpses. However, there weren¡¯t any other dead or dying raptors. Seeing that, he didn¡¯t spend much time investigating them. As he went, though, the eerie ambiance of the labyrinth continued to grow more and more palpable until every third or fourth step was punctuated by a glance to his rear. He didn¡¯t see anything, but he couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that something was following, that some monster was stalking him. He strained his senses, but he came up empty. Until, at last, he caught a whiff of something familiar. It was just a stray scent, but the moment it wafted beneath his nose, he recognized it. Without hesitation, Elijah leaped to the side, and he was just in time to avoid a descending, thorn-like claw. He skidded to a stop, then used the wall to reverse directions. His claws flashed with Venom Strike before he collided with his attacker. He barreled into it, his claws digging deep and delivering their poisonous payload before he bounded away. He slid to a stop, then reversed course. Crouching low, he saw the creature pick itself up. The thing was clearly a raptor, but instead of only being four feet tall, it was at least half again that height, with wicked claws and gnashing teeth. More distressingly, as the thing rose, the remaining pack of root raptors appeared from around the corner. They didn¡¯t stop when they reached the larger monster, instead tearing across the ground with clearly murderous intent. Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t stand up to so many, so he wasted no time before turning tail and running away. At first, the creatures kept pace, but the moment the System deemed that he¡¯d left combat, his Essence of the Wolf took effect, and he left them behind. But that wasn¡¯t enough. Elijah knew it. These monsters would have to die if he was going to complete the Primordial Maze. It was no different than when he¡¯d had to kill the guardian in the Sea of Sorrows. The only question was how he was going to do it. Had they always known he was there? Were they simply leading him along so that their alpha could kill him off? Had he walked into a trap? Or was there some other explanation? He didn¡¯t know. But what Elijah did know was that he had an opportunity. If he could kill a few of the smaller raptors off, he might have a chance to kill the larger one. To that end, Elijah poured on the speed, hoping to separate the pack. He was certain that the neurotoxin from Venom Strike wouldn¡¯t kill the alpha. His claws had barely even nicked it, suggesting that its Constitution ¨C if monsters even had such attributes ¨C was extremely high. However, the poison would slow it down, he was sure. He hoped that would prevent it from keeping pace, giving him the opportunity he needed to thin the pack. Once he¡¯d been running for a few minutes, he rounded a corner, then leaped onto the wall. His claws dug into the vines, and he pulled himself up. Immediately, his weight increased, but he didn¡¯t have to go far. Just a few extra feet, and then Elijah once again embraced Guise of the Unseen. The muscles in his paws strained under his increased weight, but he pushed through it long enough for the raptors to come tearing past him. They kept going, with a couple lagging a little behind. When the last one passed beneath him, he pounced, falling upon it with Predator Strike. His descending claw ripped through its spine, flattening it against the ground. Then, he snapped out, his jaws closing around the nape of its neck. Then, he squeezed, and the base of its skull shattered. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. He leaped, bounding off the wall, and attacking the next closest creature. This time, it didn¡¯t go quite as well, but he wasn¡¯t aiming to take it out all at once. Instead, he used Venom Strike, and even though he only managed a glancing blow on the quick monster, he accomplished his goal of infecting it with the ability¡¯s neurotoxin. He got one more attack in on a third creature, but by that point, he¡¯d started to push his luck. So, having done what he¡¯d intended to do, he turned and took off back in the direction he¡¯d come. However, he turned down one of the two-stripe routes, taking a different path and putting more distance between himself and the pursuing pack of root-raptors. A few minutes later ¨C well after the effect of Essence of the Wolf returned to speed him along his way ¨C Elijah received a pulse of kill energy as one of the monsters died. A couple of minutes after that, yet another went down. That left only a few more. However, when he tried to repeat his tactic, he was distressed to find that the raptors were ready for him. He barely escaped alive, but even so, he sustained a couple of wounds from their vicious claws. Clearly, his Constitution was too low to stand up to them in a stand-up fight. Taking them head-on was a good way to get ripped to pieces. Fortunately, Elijah was slightly faster, an advantage that was further enhanced when Essence of the Wolf took effect. Still, the fact that they could learn was a disappointing discovery. That meant he couldn¡¯t just keep doing the same thing over and over. But Elijah¡¯s class, if nothing else, was versatile. If he couldn¡¯t kill them in his panther form, then his caster form would pick up the slack. So, once Elijah judged he was far enough ahead, he shifted back to human form, then adjusted his enhancements, exchanging the extra Dexterity of Essence of the Monkey for more Constitution via Essence of the Boar. Then, he cast Healing Rain and settled in to wait at the end of a long corridor. The three remaining raptors appeared only a minute or so later, and he wasted no time before channeling Storm¡¯s Fury through his Staff of Natural Harmony. Lightning tore across the intervening distance between them, hitting the first monster and knocking it back into the other members of its pack. They went down in a heap, and Elijah cast Snaring Roots, further entangling them. Finally, he brought another Storm¡¯s Fury to bear, intending to keep casting until he finished them off. The first monster died after the third cast. It took two more to kill the fifth, but by that point, the third and final root raptor had regained its feet and closed the distance. Elijah didn¡¯t have enough Ethera to cast his spell again, so he reared back and swung his staff with every ounce of Strength he could muster. The monster wasn¡¯t expecting the vicious attack, so it took the blow directly in its open mouth. The impact cracked its lower jaw and the momentum of the attack sent it skidding across the ground. Elijah¡¯s every instinct told him to leap upon it and use finish it off, but his rational mind screamed at him that doing so would be a terrible idea. The alpha couldn¡¯t be that far behind, and even if it didn¡¯t catch up anytime soon, the little raptor was more than capable of ripping him to fleshy ribbons. So, once again, Elijah turned tail and ran. It didn¡¯t matter how long it took to kill the thing. Hit and run. That was his game. Standing and fighting was too dangerous. His feet slapped against the ground as he sprinted to safety. The raptor recovered its feet before Elijah turned a corner, and to his distress, Essence of the Wolf didn¡¯t kick in. Without that extra movement speed, he couldn¡¯t outrun it. Not in human form, at least. But he could still ambush the thing. So, as he turned the corner, he reached out, grabbing one of the vines attached to the wall, and forced himself to a stop. Then, he hefted his staff and waited. The raptor came screaming around the corner only to once again find itself on the wrong end of Elijah¡¯s staff. This time, though, the attack carried with it a Venom Strike, infecting the monster with a neurotoxin that would eventually kill it. Having delivered that blow, Elijah once again sprinted away. A minute later, Essence of the Wolf took effect, telling him that his strategy of slowing the monster down had been effective. A couple of minutes after that, he received another dose of kill energy. Just like that, he¡¯d finished the pack off. Now, Elijah only needed to take out the alpha. Something told him that doing so would be much more difficult than killing the pack of smaller creatures. 1-58. A Rare Opportunity ¡°Are you certain?¡± asked Cabbot, using the same imperious tone he¡¯d heard from his father on so many occasions. The effect, in his opinion, was ruined by a lack of a throne room. Or perhaps by the presence of his disgustingly common office, with its mismatched, oversized furniture, bare walls, and the stubborn draft that kept the space annoyingly cool. Still, he sat in his dwarf-sized chair, back straight and chin held high ¨C just like he¡¯d been taught. Nirea shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but there¡¯s no certainty to be had in a situation like this,¡± she said. ¡°We caught only a trace, and it is unclear how old it is.¡± He leaned forward. ¡°But you¡¯re sure of the trail¡¯s origin, right?¡± he said, a little eagerness peeking through. ¡°The trackers are,¡± she answered. Cabbot¡¯s heartbeat sped up at the confirmation. A dragon? A real one, and not some lowly drake? On a freshly-integrated backwater like Earth? It didn¡¯t seem possible. In fact, it was so improbable that, despite Nirea¡¯s insistence, his skepticism persisted. Still, even the possibility of something like that was enough to excite him in ways he didn¡¯t want to acknowledge. If it was a real dragon¡¯s trail, then it presented a unique opportunity. Dragons were an Elder race, and as such, even the weakest among them were nearly unassailable for someone like Cabbot. He¡¯d heard of whole continents being decimated after a dragon¡¯s descent. But Earth, being newly integrated, couldn¡¯t support power like that. If a true dragon fell upon the baby planet with its full might intact, the entire world would know about it. Right before their death. They probably wouldn¡¯t even recognize the surge of Ethera for the danger it would represent. Newly integrated planets were slowly introduced to Ethera for a reason. It was why each world was transformed the moment they were touched by the World Tree, but that was just setting the table for a slow and steady rise of Ethera levels. If a fully developed member of one of the elder races descended upon Earth so soon after its initial transformation, the planet would be destroyed by the flood of potent Ethera that came with the creature¡¯s aura. That was why the planet represented such a unique opportunity for someone like Cabbot. On his own planet of Norat, he was still a weakling. But on Earth? He was already near the peak. The natives would quickly catch up, though. The environment was carefully cultivated to drive them to progress. So, Cabbot could feel his lead dwindling by the day ¨C which was why he needed to seize every opportunity that presented itself. There was the island across the narrow strait, but he was still wary of whatever Guardian called it home. He¡¯d contemplated sending more explorers to check it out, but a combination of caution, fear, and the necessity of fulfilling his duties to Ironshore had kept him from committing even one team to such an endeavor. After all, Guardians were normally tethered to their natural treasures, but it wasn¡¯t completely unheard-of for one to go on the offensive if it felt threatened. Cabbot had no intention of prompting such a reaction. He still intended to take the island ¨C and whatever treasure it housed ¨C but he would only do so once he¡¯d had the chance to progress a little more. And the potential dragon represented just such an opportunity. Because if one was here, that meant it was young and inexperienced. Vulnerable ¨C at least as much as any dragon ever was. ¡°What do you want to do?¡± asked Nirea. Cabbot shifted in his overly large chair as he thought about her question. His people had a long history of hunting powerful beasts. It was one of the reasons they¡¯d risen to such prominence. He knew what he needed to do, but he also knew it would take almost every coin of ethereum he¡¯d earned since coming to Earth. It wasn¡¯t a huge sum, but a combination of his pay, the profits from the Slow Dwarf tavern, and the proceeds from selling a few minor treasures had left him far richer than when he¡¯d arrived. He had intended to use that money to commission some new equipment ¨C like some Simple-Grade armor or a piece of jewelry that might grant him an attribute point or two. But if he could capture a dragon and drain its essence, the gains would far outstrip anything he could gain from mere equipment. After that, all it would take was commissioning a decent Alchemist to create an appropriate potion, and his cultivation would see marked progression. He might even develop a proper core ¨C something that would, even in optimal conditions ¨C take months. Realistically, he didn¡¯t expect to reach the first stage of core development for years. If he could accelerate that process with a potion created from a real dragon¡¯s essence, he would put himself on a path that would eventually take him to the peak of the new world. So, there really was no choice to make. Only one option was viable. ¡°Do nothing. Not yet,¡± he said. ¡°I need to go to the Branch. When I return, we will act.¡± With that, he pushed himself from the chair, dropping a few extra inches to the office floor. Normally, that would have annoyed him something fierce, but he was too excited to let his ill-fitting office get to him. He didn¡¯t even bother flirting with Nirea or asking her out. He knew she was hesitant to acquiesce to his advances ¨C probably because she didn¡¯t want to seem like she was getting special treatment ¨C but he knew she would give in eventually. Right now, though, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to care about issues of the heart. He had a lot to do, and not much time to accomplish his goals. After all, there was no guarantee that the dragon wouldn¡¯t move on, and quickly. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. So, he pushed past Nirea, then left the office behind. Nimbly, he leaped over the mud puddle in front of his office, then trekked across town to the budding town¡¯s central building. The broad, low-slung building was a combination of warehouse and administrative hub, but more importantly than that, it housed the imported Branch of the World Tree, which made it the settlement¡¯s most important location. Cabbot strode through the front doors, taking a well-trod path through the building until he was forced to a stop at the end of the line leading to the Branch. Sighing, he considered using his position as the leader of the security forces to bully his way to the front of the line, but, like everyone else, he knew that would be counterproductive. Before the World Tree, everyone was equal. To the being that connected their universe, a king was no different than a beggar. That attitude had affected its Attendants and Envoys, and even the elder races would think twice before offending A World Tree Ambassador. So, Cabbot impatiently waited in line as a parade of brutish dwarves, cunning goblins, and gnomes moved into the room housing the Branch. And after forty-five minutes, he reached the front of the line, where he met one of the Envoys. The lowest-ranked members of the Cult of the World Tree were still afforded a significant degree of authority. At the dwarven woman¡¯s word, he could be barred from access. So, Cabbot put on his most winning smile, pushed his innate ¨C and well-earned ¨C prejudice against dwarves aside, and said, ¡°Good afternoon! I trust your day¡¯s going well, honored Envoy.¡± The dwarven woman barely even looked at him before saying, ¡°I¡¯m fine. You understand the rules?¡± Cabbot did. He¡¯d been introduced to his family¡¯s Branch of the World Tree as a child, and he¡¯d visited it ¨C or others like it ¨C on numerous occasions. So, he knew the rules as well as anyone. So, after confirming that he knew how to conduct himself, Cabbot retrieved a handful of copper etherium from his purse and handed them over. The woman took the offering with equanimity, then waved him forward. He suppressed his annoyance, then stepped into the room. Even though he¡¯d seen many Branches over the course of his life, he still found the sight breathtaking. A crystalline tree sprouted from the center of the room. It wasn¡¯t large ¨C barely the size of a sapling ¨C but it was still awe-inspiring, largely because of the Ethera swirling through its branches. He strode forward confidently, ignoring the pair of Envoys standing guard. So close to the Branch, they wielded enviable power, but even if they hadn¡¯t, it would not have mattered. With a flick of thought, they could bar him from accessing the Branch, which would be absolutely disastrous. Not only would it cut him off from ever leaving Earth, but it would also prevent him from ever earning etherium through hunting. He could still get by ¨C after all, people could still pay him via their own coins ¨C but it would still be incredibly inconvenient. Besides, losing access to the World Tree carried with it a certain stigma, and most people shied away from anyone so tarnished. So, Cabbot remained on his best behavior as he approached the Branch and laid his hand on the trunk. Instantly, he saw his ethereum totals:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
212 44 3 0
Upon seeing his amassed wealth, Cabbot felt a mingled sense of satisfaction and disappointment. The first was due to the fact that, aside from a single gold etherium, he¡¯d earned it all himself. However, the latter emotion came from the reality that, no matter how he looked at it, he was poor. His parents ¨C even his siblings ¨C had multiple platinum etherium available to them. And here he was, after months of effort, with only a few measly gold coins to his name. Of course, that still put him head and shoulders over most combatants his level, but to him, it wasn¡¯t enough to simply be better than the unwashed masses. He was meant for much greater things, and he knew it. The world just needed to catch up and recognize that he was better than everyone else. The System knew. That was why it had given him such a powerful class. Now, he just needed to prove that he was worth it. To do that, he needed to contact a few old acquaintances back on Norat. So, he navigated past the Knowledge Base, through the Market ¨C where everything was overpriced anyway ¨C and to the Communications Apparatus. From there, he cycled through his contacts and settled on the person he thought could help him. He initiated the messaging function, detailing what he needed. Fortunately, Erlych didn¡¯t take long to respond, and when he saw the payment on offer, he was quick to acquiesce to Cabbot¡¯s requirements. Soon enough, the transfer went through, and Cabbot headed to the Transfer Portal to await his goods. A few minutes later, a few boxes arrived, accompanied by a foursome of robed figures. They were all Ritualists, though due to the planetary restrictions, they were even lower-leveled than Cabbot. He hoped they would be powerful enough to accomplish his goals. ¡°Where may we set up?¡± asked one of the male gnomes. He was obviously the leader. Cabbot answered, ¡°I will show you to the barracks where you can wait until we track the creature down.¡± ¡°How will you capture the beast?¡± Cabbot hadn¡¯t told them what sort of creature it was, but they had to have guessed. Otherwise, their presence wouldn¡¯t be necessary. He said, ¡°I¡¯m an Eason.¡± ¡°Oh. Very well, then.¡± It was telling that the simple mention of his house was enough to allay any worries. Telling, but unsurprising. The Eason reputation was well-earned, and even a black sheep like Cabbot had all the expertise he needed to capture any beast ¨C even one so powerful as a dragon. Still, after showing the Ritualists to the barracks and getting them set up in one of the attached apartments meant for officers, he took the time to lay out his plans. The idea wasn¡¯t terribly complicated. He simply needed to lure the dragon into a trap. To do so, he¡¯d need a reasonably powerful natural treasure ¨C young dragons were notoriously curious, and they would be attracted to any fluctuation in Ethera, which meant manipulating it into position was the easy part. More difficult was the method meant to capture it. The Entrapment Ritual was a family secret, and one Cabbot had learned as a child. He¡¯d since put it into use on multiple occasions, which meant that, with the materials he¡¯d gotten from Erlych, it would be easy enough for him to empower the ritual. Cabbot hoped that would be the case, at least, because he¡¯d just used every ethereum coin at his disposal. Even the coppers. So, if it didn¡¯t work, he would be back to square one. With that in mind, he gathered the scouts who¡¯d found the dragon¡¯s trail and set off into the surrounding wilderness, hopeful that he¡¯d taken the first steps toward realizing his vast potential. 1-59. A Mighty Hunter The alpha never showed up, much to Elijah¡¯s chagrin. He was keyed up and ready to fight, and the moment he regained enough Ethera, he resumed his predator form before retracing his steps. It wasn¡¯t easy, finding his way back to the site of the original ambush, but the marks he¡¯d previously left at every intersection proved their worth. Eventually, he arrived, and to his mingled disappointment and relief, the alpha was nowhere to be seen. But its scent was everywhere. Elijah crept through the area, sniffing everything, but with how ubiquitous the odor was, he couldn¡¯t get a read on where it had gone. Still, that didn¡¯t mean he knew nothing. It probably wasn¡¯t back the way he¡¯d come, so it had to have gone forward. So, he left the site behind and continued in much the same way he¡¯d spent the past month progressing through the labyrinth. And like that, he kept going, moving slowly and methodically. Never did he drop his guard, though. The giant root raptor had surprised him once, and he wasn¡¯t going to let it happen again. It wasn¡¯t long before Elijah felt that same formless fear that had preceded his previous encounter with the alpha raptor. But no matter how closely he looked, there was nothing following him. Did the thing have some sort of concealment skill, just like Elijah¡¯s Guise of the Unseen? Or was that aura of terror simply that pervasive? Elijah had no idea. But he couldn¡¯t keep his hackles from rising as he continued through the maze. Nor was he surprised when, finally, the creature attacked. It leaped at him from behind, leading the way with its mighty, dagger-like talons. Even though Elijah was on guard for an attack, he was caught by surprise, and so, he barely managed to avoid being gored by those wicked claws. Still, the creature¡¯s claw scraped against his ribs, and the impact sent him tumbling across the ground. Elijah regained his feet just in time to dart beneath the raptor¡¯s next attack. He lashed out with his own claws, raking them across his foe¡¯s ankles in an effort to render it immobile. But his efforts only scattered a few wood chips across the ground. He didn¡¯t stop moving, though, dashing past the much larger figure. He leaped, bounded off the wall, and sent himself flying toward the still-turned raptor. He activated Venom Strike, then latched onto the monster¡¯s back. Holding on with his front claws, he kicked with his back legs, digging into the raptor¡¯s lower back. In addition, he latched onto it with his jaws, activating Venom Strike again. And again. The raptor wheeled around, trying to dislodge Elijah, but it was useless. Not until Elijah¡¯s repeated usage of his ability drained his energy and fatigue began to set in. His muscles went slack, and a second later, the raptor¡¯s wild bucking sent him flying through the air to crunch against the moss-covered wall. Elijah narrowly retained his consciousness. As the giant root raptor spun about and charged, he could barely lift his head, much less dodge the creature¡¯s charge. He¡¯d overreached, and now, he was a sitting duck. With exhaustion setting in, Elijah knew his panther form was useless. So, without any further hesitation, he resumed his human form. It took a second for the transformation to complete, and by that point, the raptor was upon him. Elijah didn¡¯t have time to use his staff. He simply raised his hand and cast Storm¡¯s Fury as the raptor clamped down on his shoulder, its teeth digging in down to his navel. Lighting descended from the sky, tearing into the monster¡¯s back, but rather than dislodge the creature, the resulting convulsions tightened its jaws. Razor sharp teeth ripped into Elijah¡¯s vulnerable flesh, but he cast the spell again. At the same time, he slapped his hand against his side, casting Touch of Nature. It did almost nothing as the raptor ripped his flesh to shreds. So, he cast it again. He summoned Healing Rain, too. But he knew he wasn¡¯t going to last much longer. Already, he could feel the weakness of blood loss setting in, and that was saying nothing for whatever damage its teeth were inflicting upon him. But Elijah couldn¡¯t give up. Not after he¡¯d come so far. He refused. Even as he rapidly descended into shock, Elijah¡¯s mind whirled, searching for some solution. And the only thing he could come up with was a gamble. If he did it, he wouldn¡¯t have anything left. Not for a while. He didn¡¯t have a choice, though. So, as he bled out, he cast Swarm. A thousand biting flies manifested in a cloud, then descended upon the raptor. They tore into its most vulnerable places. Some targeted its fleshy eyes, while others flew into its half-open mouth and down its throat, biting all the way. The shock of it sent the monster reeling backwards, and suddenly, Elijah was free. The raptor bucked, throwing its head back and snapping at the biting flies. But its efforts were useless. The little creatures were too small and far too numerous. They could only last so long, though, and after a little more than thirty seconds, they dissipated. For a moment, the raptor was confused by their sudden disappearance, but soon enough, it locked its eyes back on Elijah, who still hadn¡¯t moved. His still active Healing Rain helped with some of his injuries, but he was too drained to make a break for it. So, devoid of Ethera and with exhaustion weighing him down, Elijah just glared at the raptor in defiance. Then, he screamed. It was a wordless roar, but it still took the raptor by surprise. It took a step back, and then, miraculously, it stumbled. That¡¯s when Elijah saw the black tendrils creeping up its neck. It tried to right itself, but it stumbled again. Then, it fell on its side. The monster¡¯s foreclaws scraped against the ground as it attempted to drag itself forward, to finish the job it had started. And yet, it couldn¡¯t. With every passing second, the neurotoxin from Elijah¡¯s Venom Strike coursed through its veins. That, combined with the afflictions from Swarm, slowly killed it. When it died only half a minute later, Elijah received a huge burst of kill energy that pushed him into level twenty-eight. He barely noticed, though. He was far too focused on his own plight. He was naked, bleeding like a stuck pig, and completely drained of energy and Ethera. If he hadn¡¯t had the presence of mind to cast Healing Rain in the middle of battle, he would have already died. The same could be said for his choice to use Essence of the Boar and Aura of Renewal. Without either, he¡¯d have died. He still might. But no matter what else, he¡¯d won. He had beaten the raptor, and, in his increasingly delirious state, that was all that really mattered. Gradually, with the aid of Healing Rain, the bleeding slowed, then stopped. At the same time Elijah¡¯s Ethera regenerated enough that he could use Touch of Nature. He didn¡¯t dare look down at the gaping wound stretched across his chest. Instead, he just put his hand into position and cast the spell. It didn¡¯t do much, but it did help him feel slightly better. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Over the next day ¨C or it might have been longer ¨C Elijah healed himself every time he regenerated enough Ethera to fuel Touch of Nature. At the same time, he kept Healing Rain going. And between the two ¨C as well as the increased Regeneration provided by Aura of Renewal ¨C he was slowly healed. For the first few hours, it was touch and go, and he very nearly slipped into unconsciousness on more than one occasion. However, he forced himself to stay awake, and, at some point, he passed from critical condition to something a little less serious. When he was finally healthy, he took a moment to inspect the site of the injury, and he found the puckered flesh of a long, wide scar that extended from his collar bone, across his pectoral muscle, and almost to his navel. It went well with the acid scars on his right arm. ¡°How is this my life now?¡± he muttered to himself, running his fingers along that scar. It was difficult to wrap his mind around how many times he¡¯d nearly died since entering the tower. But unless he was completely off-base, that was the last challenge he¡¯d have to complete. Maybe. Certainly, the pack of raptors and their alpha had certainly felt like a threat on par with the guardian of the last level. However, he had to acknowledge that there was every possibility that, with the increased difficulty of the third level, he might have to fight something even more fearsome. If that turned out to be the case, Elijah was not confident in his ability to survive. But as had been his mantra since entering the tower ¨C and even before, really ¨C he didn¡¯t have much choice but to keep moving forward. Sometimes, a man had to do difficult things if he wanted to survive, and there was no point whining about it, even in his own head. So, once he was healed, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and stretched his stiff muscles. After checking to see if the raptor had anything useful on its body ¨C and finding nothing ¨C Elijah shifted back into his mist panther form and continued his exploration of the labyrinth. On the surface, it was no different than before he¡¯d killed the raptor, but somehow, it felt safer. He felt stronger. That was when he remembered that he¡¯d gained another level. Elijah opened his status to make sure:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 28
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 29
Dexterity 33 (28)
Constitution 29
Ethera 37
Regeneration 41 (31)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Unformed Opal Neophyte
Sure enough, he¡¯d passed the threshold into level twenty-eight, gaining another point in all his attributes. With Aura of Renewal, his Regeneration had passed the forty-point mark, too. Which was incredible, considering where he¡¯d started. However, Elijah was more interested in the new ability he knew was waiting on him:
Spell: Calamity Bury your enemies beneath the power of nature. Conjure a natural disaster appropriate to your environment. Only usable in caster forms.
That sounded good. Really good, in fact. He wanted to use it immediately, but Elijah suspected that it would be quite attention-getting. The last thing he wanted was to bring more enemies down on his head ¨C after all, he knew that at least the primitive ape-creatures had some sort of presence within the maze. So, he refrained from shifting back into his human form and trying it out. Instead, Elijah continued through the labyrinth. As he went, he realized something was wrong. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. There was no odor to indicate any other creatures were around. No formless fear to herald the arrival of another raptor. Nothing. And then it hit him. It had stopped raining. In fact, when he looked up, Elijah saw sunlight peeking through the clouds. He had no idea what it meant, but he couldn¡¯t help but bask in the sudden cessation of precipitation. Like that, he stood, tilting his feline face toward the sky and bathing in the warmth of a weak ray of sunlight. However, eventually, he remembered his task and set off again. With every step, it felt like the light grew stronger until, when he looked up a few hours later, he saw nothing but blue skies. That had to be a good thing, he thought, continuing on. It still took him a further day of exploration, but it felt like no time at all until he finally reached the center of the maze. Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged in relief as he looked across a wide, grassy clearing and saw a simple, stone arch. He didn¡¯t need a notification to tell him that he had reached his destination. Once he¡¯d established that there were no threats within the clearing, he shifted back to his human form and stepped forward. A notification flashed before his eyes, verifying what he¡¯d suspected:
Congratluations! You have completed Level Three of Keledge Tower. Grade: S To exit the tower, step through the portal.
Then, consistent with what had happened when he¡¯d completed the other two levels, a small, metallic box appeared before him. He bent down and opened it, revealing a small, crystalline splinter. When he picked it up, another notification flashed before him:
Reward for completing Level Three of Keledge Tower: Shard of the World Tree
As before, it didn¡¯t come with any explanation or description. But something called the Shard of the World Tree couldn¡¯t be trivial. In any case, he hadn¡¯t challenged the tower to get rewards. He¡¯d done it to prevent his island from being overrun. So long as he¡¯d accomplished that goal, that was all he really cared about. Anything else was just icing on the cake. After collecting his reward, Elijah took a deep breath, then stepped through the portal. 1-60. The Taste of Victory Elijah burst through the surface and took a deep breath of freedom. Bobbing up and down with the waves, he lay back and stared at the winter sun for a few seconds before the frigid water began to affect him. Once numbness started to set in, he swam toward his island. When he got within a few dozen yards, he circled around to avoid the cliff, then finally climbed onto the rocky shore. Nearby, a giant crab was busy picking meat from a huge skeleton that, to Elijah¡¯s trained eye, looked like it had belonged to some sort of enlarged sea snake. But he didn¡¯t pay any attention to the pervasive stench of the decaying corpse. Instead, he simply sank to his knees and wept. He had won. He had survived. But months of life-or-death battles had taken their toll, both on his body and his psyche. Most of all, his psyche. Until that moment, he¡¯d refused to acknowledge the stress weighing him down, but now that he was reasonably safe, he could allow himself to acknowledge it. And it was overwhelming enough to drive him to tears of mingled relief and horror. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how long he knelt, weeping, on the rocky shore. But by the time his tears dried, he was shivering with the winter cold. It had been late summer when he had entered the tower, but clearly, the world had continued its steady march through time, and the seasons had turned. Thankfully, with his increased endurance, it wasn¡¯t nearly as deadly as it probably should have been. Still, it wasn¡¯t comfortable, and so, hefting his staff in one hand and the Shard of the World Tree in the other, he pushed himself to his feet and crossed the island. Before he¡¯d challenged the tower, Elijah¡¯s territory had only extended a couple hundred yards around his Grove. However, the moment he¡¯d climbed ashore, he¡¯d known that his Domain had grown to encompass the entire island. Because of that, he could feel everything around him. Normally, it was just background noise not dissimilar from the ambient sound of any forest, but with a bit of mental effort, he could know the island down to its most miniscule detail. He chose to keep the partition of his mind firmly in place, mostly because it would have overwhelmed his mind with the sheer amount of knowledge. Instead, he let himself feel the area around him in a fifteen-foot radius, which seemed to be the limit without getting everything jumbled up. In any case, Elijah trekked across the island. With his increased attributes and Essence of the Wolf pushing his speed to new heights, he covered the few miles with some alacrity, and soon enough, he arrived at his Grove. The sight of the familiar trees and his home nearly brought him to tears. Again. He¡¯d never been much of a crier, but spending months being abused both physically and psychologically could change that kind of thing in a hurry. And so, as he walked toward the ancestral tree at the center of the Grove, he let himself bask in the emotions. ¡°Nerthus?¡± he called, laying his hand on its trunk. He could feel it, and not just the Ethera coursing through it. No ¨C he could feel the life. The tree¡¯s glacial thoughts. Its emotions, such as they were. It was content and, to Elijah¡¯s surprise, joyous. ¡°You made it!¡± came the gnarled, but high-pitched voice of the tree spirit. Elijah looked up to see that Nerthus¡¯ form had reached almost three feet in height, and he was currently sitting on the same branch where he usually appeared. ¡°I did,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t¡­¡± And then, once again, he collapsed to his knees. This time, there were no tears. Just a mental acknowledgement of everything he¡¯d experienced. It was one thing to fight a few Voxxian invaders or giant crabs. But it was something else entirely to endure what he had in the tower. He looked up and said, ¡°That was the worst experience of my life.¡± But if Elijah was honest, that wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Certainly, it had been extremely stressful. And he could have done without all the pain. But there had also been triumphs, as he¡¯d felt after healing the ulthrak village and defeating the giant isopod. Aside from the constant threat of death, he¡¯d even enjoyed the Sea of Sorrows, after a fashion. As he thought about it, Elijah realized that he much preferred his experiences in the tower over the time he¡¯d spent slowly dying of cancer. Back then, he¡¯d had no agency. No control. He was just waiting to die. But in the tower, he had the ability to fight. His survival was in his own hands. And that made all the difference. The real question was whether or not he would do it again. After all, as far as he knew, the same dangers would soon return. The Ethera would build, and the tower would need to be re-conquered. And Elijah only had to think about it for a moment to realize that, when the time came, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to go back in there. Partially because it was his responsibility, but also due to the sheer amount of progress he¡¯d made. Growing stronger was addictive and rewarding in its own right, after all. ¡°Pardon,¡± said Nerthus, interrupting his reverie. ¡°But¡­but what is that in your hand?¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Elijah. He¡¯d intended to ask the tree spirit about his rewards, but in the wake of his relief at finally conquering the tower, he¡¯d forgotten. Still, he clutched the Shard of the World Tree in his fist. He held it up, saying, ¡°I got this for beating the final level.¡± Nerthus gasped, then collapsed into convulsions. No ¨C wait. He wasn¡¯t convulsing. He was trembling while he knelt, his head on the branch. ¡°Uh¡­what¡¯s going on, Nerthus?¡± ¡°The¡­the¡­is that¡­that is a piece of the World Tree.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°Yeah? That¡¯s what the notification said. What¡¯s it do?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡­it is¡­¡± The tree spirit clearly couldn¡¯t find the words. So, Elijah said, ¡°Calm down. Just breathe. Wait ¨C do you breathe?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then do¡­whatever you do to calm down. Meditate or whatever.¡± It took a few more minutes to get Nerthus to relax, and even that was only partially successful. In the end, he was still trembling ¨C with fear or excitement, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure ¨C but he was at least able to talk. ¡°It is a Shard of the World Tree,¡± the tree spirit explained. ¡°A holy artifact for¡­for any¡­¡± He sighed, then admitted, ¡°I lack the vocabulary to explain what that means to me and my people. And anyone who venerates nature.¡± ¡°What is the World Tree?¡± Elijah asked. The name had popped up more than once, but he¡¯d never gotten a decent explanation as to what it was. ¡°It is the beginning and the end,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°It is the source of all life.¡± ¡°Oh¡­that clears it up¡­¡± Nerthus glared. ¡°The World Tree is a universe unto itself,¡± he said. ¡°It runs parallel to our own, connecting everything and everyone. Without it, there would be no System. No communication or travel between worlds. It is the most important being in existence. That shard represents the tiniest sliver of its power. Normally, only the elder races would ever get the chance to see one, and even then, it is rare.¡± Elijah looked down at the small, crystalline object. It was white, with green veins pulsing through it, but to his senses, it was just an ordinary crystal. He didn¡¯t even feel any Ethera in it. ¡°What does it do, though?¡± ¡°It¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°Not for sure. But there are legends¡­¡± ¡°Legends? What kind of legends?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I think that it could change everything,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Oh, yes. I feel it now. If my tree absorbs the shard, it will enhance the Grove¡¯s power.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°Denser Ethera. Stronger vitality. And perhaps¡­perhaps more.¡± ¡°But it won¡¯t hurt, right?¡± Elijah asked. As it was, he had no real use for the shard. If it had emitted even a little Ethera, he might¡¯ve been more hesitant to let the tree absorb it. But at the end of the day, the Grove was his home, and anything that benefited it did the same for him. ¡°No. Not us.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Suppose that¡¯s all I need to know,¡± he said. Perhaps he was making a mistake. There was a chance that the Shard of the World Tree could help him more directly sometime in the future. But as he offered the crystalline shard to Nerthus, he felt good about the choice. Nerthus backed away. ¡°No. Do not offer it to me,¡± he said, trembling. ¡°I could¡­but¡­no. No, I mustn¡¯t. Press it against the trunk of the tree. Yes. Do it soon.¡± Elijah shrugged, then did just that, and when he held the splinter against the ancestral tree, it trembled. Then, in the space of a second, the Shard was gone. A moment later, a burst of Ethera swept out of the tree, and a notification appeared in Elijah¡¯s mind¡¯s eye.
The Shard of the World Tree has been absorbed by an Ancestral Tree.
¡°I really hope that was a good thing,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Oh, it is!¡± Nerthus responded. ¡°I can already feel it. And¡­oh, that is surprising¡­¡± ¡°What is?¡± Elijah asked, a little alarmed. The last thing he needed was more surprises. ¡°The ancestral tree is changing.¡± Elijah looked up, saying, ¡°Looks the same to me.¡± ¡°For now, the transformation is¡­well, it¡¯s more like an evolution. Think of it in terms of your cultivation, though all branches at once.¡± ¡°And again, this is good, right?¡± he asked. ¡°Better than good. It is life-changing.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°My progression is tied to the tree. The stronger it gets, the more powerful I become.¡± ¡°Tell me I didn¡¯t just create a monster,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Oh, no. I am a natural spirit. As such, there is a limit to how much influence I can exert in the physical world. Tending to the tree ¨C and by extension, the Grove ¨C is my purpose. If I ever reached the Transcendent stage, that would change, but only minutely.¡± Elijah knew he wouldn¡¯t get much more information on the subject out of Nerthus, so he nodded. ¡°So, what can you tell me about the two other items I got in the tower,¡± Elijah said, holding up the hand where he wore both rings. The Ring of Aquatic Travel was visible, but the Ring of Anonymity was not, though he could still feel it on his pinky finger. ¡°The first one lets me breathe underwater, but the other is kind of a mystery.¡± ¡°I see only one.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry,¡± Elijah said, pulling the ring off his finger. The moment he did, it became visible. ¡°Called the Ring of Anonymity.¡± ¡°Not uncommon in the wider universe,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°But it surprises me to see one here, given how new this world is.¡± ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°Precisely what its name implies. You can use it to conceal your identity. Does it have one or two options?¡± ¡°Three. Anonymous, False Identity, and Deactivated,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Good, good. That means it is at least Simple grade. Perhaps even the lower reaches of Complex,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°The ring will allow you to either conceal or falsify your identity at will.¡± ¡°Like a disguise?¡± ¡°No. It only affects the response when others use an identification ability,¡± Nerthus stated. Then, seeing that Elijah had no idea what he was talking about, he went on to explain that some classes and archetypes had abilities that allowed them to identify people and objects. ¡°So, it¡¯s useless for me right now,¡± Elijah said, shaking his head. He put the ring back on. ¡°Not really anyone around here to hide from, right?¡± ¡°Just so. However, you may want to familiarize yourself with its use. If I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, you may wish to create a benign false identity that you can use when you eventually encounter civilization,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Druids are not common, and there are those who might target you for the archetype.¡± Elijah nodded, then, with a little focus on the Ring of Anonymity, which brought up the item¡¯s governing notification. After a little fiddling, he found that he could not only change his apparent level, but he could also choose from a long list of identifiers ranging from Fighter to Merchant and everything in between. For a long while, Elijah perused the list, as much to get a sense for what was out there as to find a viable alternative identity. The sheer breadth of options was overwhelming, and according to Nerthus, it represented only a fraction of what was really possible. In the end, Elijah chose to reduce his apparent level and adopt the identity of a generic and non-threatening healer with an eminently common name.
Ring of Anonymity Equipped. Choose Mode: Anonymous Mike Smith ¨C Level 18 Healer (Currently Active) Deactivated
With that done, he left the tree spirit to his own devices and, for the first time in months, returned to his home. Once there, he wasted no time before heading to the bathroom. One good thing about his months-long stay in the tower was that it had given Nerthus plenty of time to complete the tree house. And that meant that it was now equipped with actual running water. When Elijah stepped under the stream of water ¨C which was more like a natural waterfall than anything else ¨C he felt much of his tension wash away alongside all the dirt and grime he¡¯d accumulated. Unfortunately, there was no soap ¨C Elijah had some ideas about how to remedy the lack, but he¡¯d had no time to put his plans into place ¨C but it was still the most wonderful shower he¡¯d ever experienced. After that, he ambled toward his bed, and for the first time in months, felt secure enough to fall into a deep and dreamless sleep. 1-61. Safe and Sound Elijah chipped the last bit of wood away, then ran his thumb over the pawn¡¯s head before holding it out to inspect. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but his whittling skills had improved since he¡¯d first washed ashore. And using the knife he¡¯d taken from the gnomish invader was much better than using the flint-bladed knife upon which he¡¯d once relied. So, at least the chess piece was recognizable. He set it down on the homemade board, where it joined all the others he¡¯d carved. Finally, after four nights of work, he¡¯d finished the set. Leaning back in the chair, he looked down at the small pile of wood shavings and sighed. It had been almost a week since he¡¯d returned from the tower, and he¡¯d spent much of that time in total relaxation. Sure, he still had to pick the incredibly nourishing berries from his garden, and he¡¯d spent a little time fishing as well, but after spending the past few months in a struggle for survival, none of that seemed so onerous. But as he sat there, Elijah had to admit something to himself. He was devastatingly bored. At first, whittling his chess board had been enough to stave off his boredom, and because of that, he¡¯d stretched the process out quite a bit. However, now that he was finished, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what he was supposed to do with all his free time. If he¡¯d been back home in Hawai¡¯i, he might¡¯ve gone out hiking. Or hung out with his friends and coworkers. Perhaps gone on a date with Lacey. Maybe he would have planted himself in front of his laptop and watched some trashy television or the latest, greatest prestige drama. He could¡¯ve gone to a football game. He could¡¯ve played basketball. Or headed down to the gym to workout. The modern world was replete with near infinite ways to waste time and relax, but stranded on his island, opportunities for recreation were slim. Which was why he¡¯d long since taken to carving various bits of wood. Still, that could only occupy him for so long before he started to go a little crazy. The fact was that, with his basic needs met, and with the safety his home represented, boredom had truly begun to set in. Sighing, Elijah decided to do something he¡¯d been putting off for some time. So, he rose from his seat ¨C which had been grown from the floor ¨C and prepared for a little excursion. Or more accurately, a project that had been sitting in the back of his mind for months before he¡¯d entered the tower. To put it simply, he wanted to make some soap. At the most basic level, he understood the process well enough. He needed to make some lye, then melt some fat, and add the two together. He¡¯d even seen it done a few times when he was young. But vague memories were not enough to make him confident that he could do it. Still, he was willing to try. So, the first thing he did ¨C after slipping on some shorts he¡¯d cobbled together from the last remnants of the cloth he¡¯d taken from the invaders ¨C was grab his equipment. Staff in one hand and the axe he¡¯d taken from the dwarf in the other, he descended from his tree house and into the early morning air. It was cold, but judging from the lack of bite in the wind, winter was close to giving way to spring. His first task in his quest for soap was simple: find lots of wood. So, axe in hand, he set off into the forest and set about the arduous process of gathering fallen branches, which he dragged back to his old cabin. It was just as decrepit as always, but at least the smell of rotten crab had dissipated in the months since he¡¯d last visited. Once there, he cleared an area, then once it was free of debris, he started piling his branches. It took most of the day to get enough, but by the time he¡¯d finished, he had enough for a sizable bonfire. He lit it, then sat back to watch as the flames enveloped the meticulously stacked branches. Once that was done, he found a large tree whose trunk was nearly two feet across, then set about cutting it down. With his enhanced Strength, Elijah was only held back by his tools. Luckily, the dwarven axe was well-made, and the tree fell after only a couple of hours. By that point, night had begun to fall, so he retreated back to his tree house, where he spent the night whittling before going to sleep. The next morning, he returned to cut the fallen tree into two sections before rolling them next to the remains of the bonfire. Elijah added some additional branches, then started the process of turning the rounds of lumber into a pair of barrels, which, over the next few days, he accomplished by slowly chipping away at the interiors of both. It really wasn¡¯t so different from how he¡¯d created his bowls, just on a much larger scale. In the end, it was an entire week before he was satisfied, and by that point, he¡¯d managed to accumulate a huge pile of wood ash. So, after lining the bottom of the largest barrel with sticks, then layering some pine straw overtop that, he started shoveling ash inside. Once the barrel was full, he took the smaller barrel, which he estimated would probably hold about twenty gallons of water, to the stream, where he filled it. Then, Elijah started pouring water into the larger barrel, stopping only when he¡¯d created a soupy mess that he covered with a layer of sticks and moss. With that done, he dropped off his tools at his tree house, then shifted into a panther and went on the hunt. Given his awareness of everything on the island, locating his prey was laughably easy, and he quickly hunted down and killed a large boar. The only tricky part was avoiding its lethal tusks, but Elijah was experienced enough with hunting dangerous prey that he had no issues with that. Once the animal was dead, he shifted back into human form and dragged the three-hundred pound carcass back to the cabin, where he processed it. The meat and edible organs went back to the tree house¡¯s cold storage, but he had other plans for the layer of fat he took from the animal¡¯s back. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. After cutting it into chunks, he gathered the old pot he¡¯d long ago found in the cabin, then started melting the fat down over a smaller fire he¡¯d built. Once it had turned to liquid, he poured it through a piece of cloth ¨C again, taken from the clothing he¡¯d looted from the invaders ¨C and into one of his bowls. He repeated that process a couple of times until he had nothing but pure fat, which he left to cool and harden. With that done, his next task was to gather something to make the eventual product smell a bit better. For that, he harvested some pine oil before retiring for the night. The next day, he poked a hole in the bottom of his large barrel and drained the ash water into the smaller receptacle. The dark brown color looked right, but he needed to check if it was appropriately alkaline. To do that, he tasted it. Normally, he¡¯d never have done that ¨C that was a good way to get your tongue melted ¨C but he had access to Touch of Nature, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of playing loose and fast with his own health. Fortunately for his tongue, it was only slightly alkaline. Unfortunately for his project, that meant he needed to repeat the process. So, he filled the barrel ¨C better categorized as a lye hopper, considering its use ¨C with more ash, then poured the water back in. It took three more rounds over the next week to get it where he wanted, but by the time he¡¯d finished, he was satisfied with the results. So, after straining it a couple of times, he boiled the resulting liquid into a more concentrated solution. Finally, he was ready to make his soap. The remaining process involved melting the fat, then adding the lye water before spending the next three hours stirring it. During that time, he added a bit of pine oil and a few pinches of salt he¡¯d gotten by boiling seawater. Eventually, the mixture took on a pudding-like consistency, telling him that it was ready. Upon reaching that point, Elijah poured the white substance into a mold he¡¯d whittled for that purpose and took it back to his tree house. After that, it was just a matter of waiting a few weeks until everything hardened. All in all, it had taken Elijah a week to finish the project. But now? He was back to having nothing to occupy his time. So, without anything else to focus on, he returned to his Grove and, while flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty, circled through the garden. He was on his third revolution when he noticed that the ancestral tree had subtly changed. Before, it had taken the appearance of a massive and ancient oak tree. It wasn¡¯t one, but that was how it had looked. But now? Its brown¨Cgrey bark had begun to skew closer to white, and its leaves ¨C which, given the season, the presence of which was more than a little incongruous ¨C were distinctly lighter. In addition, the Ethera in the area felt noticeably thicker than before. He shook his head, knowing that the Shard of the World Tree was responsible. Was that the extent of the changes he could expect? Or was there more in store? There was no way to know, but Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he¡¯d made a big mistake. In any case, after finishing his rounds, he set off to explore more of the island. He was aware of everything in his territory ¨C which stretched across the whole island ¨C but there was a distinct difference between that awareness and actually laying eyes on it. To Elijah, it felt like the difference between seeing photos of something and experiencing it. So, with that in mind, he began a thorough exploration of the territory he¡¯d claimed. That occupied him for the next few days, though when he reached the cliff overlooking the tower, he got an incredible surprise. He could feel the seafloor. His Domain only extended a few feet past the cliff, but it had definitively grown. Which, according to Nerthus, should not have been possible. So, Elijah used Ancestral Circle to teleport back to his Grove, then marched toward the ancestral tree to demand some answers. Nerthus responded to his calls with some alacrity, and when Elijah told him what was happening, the tree spirit said, ¡°It must be the shard. The boundaries of your Domain are no longer as fixed as they once were.¡± ¡°Does this mean it¡¯ll keep growing forever?¡± ¡°No. This planet is too large, and the Ethera is too diffuse,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°But with luck, your territory will soon encompass the tower. If that happens, you will not need to conquer it again.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°The excess Ethera the tower is meant to contain will go to fueling your Grove,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°It¡¯s not dissimilar from how the Grove prevents the manifestation of other dimensional rifts.¡± That was when Elijah realized that, since returning from the tower, he¡¯d yet to see or feel any other Voxx incursions. When he asked Nerthus about it, the tree spirit explained that his Grove drained any dimensional disturbances of Ethera, keeping them from forming. ¡°It won¡¯t completely disable the tower, but it will keep it from overflowing,¡± Nerthus finished. ¡°Assuming that your Domain grows that large, of course.¡± That was a weight off Elijah¡¯s shoulders. Even if he was a little bored, he¡¯d been dreading going back into the tower. If it was necessary, he¡¯d already decided he would do it, but now, it didn¡¯t seem like he¡¯d have to. Not unless he wanted to. It was just a seed of a feeling, but Elijah had begun to move past some of the more horrible aspects of his time in the tower. He could acknowledge that they were terrible, but time had begun to heal those wounds and blur the memories. Instead, he¡¯d started to focus on how much he had grown as well as the triumph he¡¯d felt upon conquering it. ¡°That is not uncommon,¡± Nerthus said when Elijah had explained what he was feeling. ¡°This universe is built on Strength, and the most efficient way to progress is to challenge dimensional rifts and conquer towers.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What is to prevent me from conquering it again, then?¡± Indeed, if that was the best way to grow stronger, then it made sense to simply repeat the process over and over. ¡°Diminishing returns,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Doing so will not gain as much kill energy. Of course, you can still earn money, but ¨C¡± ¡°Money? I didn¡¯t get any money.¡± ¡°Of course not.¡± ¡°Explain.¡± Nerthus sighed. ¡°The System rewards killing Voxx more than anything else, and the same goes for killing creatures in the towers,¡± he said. ¡°Some of that reward comes via kill energy ¨C which is just another form of Ethera, by the way ¨C but the bulk of the reward is monetary. If you wish to collect your reward, you only need to go to a Branch of the World Tree, which will read your status and give you your reward in the form of currency.¡± ¡°I¡­and where do I find one of a Branch of the World Tree?¡± ¡°Major population centers,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°Like the settlement across the strait?¡± ¡°Perhaps, if they imported one. For natives, someone will have to first join the Cult of the World Tree as an Envoy, which will grant a spell to grow a Branch,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°It really is exciting. Most people in the wider universe never get to see such a thing.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying that when I reach one of these Branches, it¡¯ll be able to tell what I¡¯ve killed, and they¡¯ll just give me a bunch of money,¡± Elijah summarized. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s good to know,¡± he said. He had no idea how the System¡¯s monetary System had been implemented in the world at large, but he suspected that, as was always the case in any society, money would be incredibly important going forward. Not that it did him much good. He was still stuck on his island, and though he felt confident about crossing the strait, he certainly couldn¡¯t do so until his domain rendered the tower safe. So, he really wasn¡¯t any better off than before. But on the bright side, at least he¡¯d have some soap in a couple of weeks. 1-62. Curiosity Saraalinisa looked around with wide eyes, her every footfall accompanied by fresh awe. The trees were so green, the local fauna so varied ¨C it was so distinctly wild that she could not help but wonder if the curated forests of her homeland even qualified for the label. The Empire of Scale was one of the oldest in existence, and though there were plenty of untamed lands within its borders, the inhabited territory was so thoroughly controlled that it could scarcely even be called wild. Or that was true of anyplace Saraalinisa had been allowed to roam unsupervised. That was why she had begged her mother to allow her to visit the newly integrated world called Earth. If she was ever to realize her potential as a true dragon, she needed to experience a world without the protection and guidance of her everpresent chaperones. It had taken some time to convince her mother ¨C a powerful elder dragon in her own right ¨C but in the end, her logic was unassailable. No one truly progressed beneath the shelter of a powerful wing. Instead, a hatchling had to experience the world for herself, lest she be unprepared for the challenges inherent in evolution. Earth represented a perfect opportunity. Even though Saraalinisa was barely more than a hatchling, she was still a member of an elder race. That meant that she was at the pinnacle of what could exist on a newly integrated world. Of the inhabitants of Earth, only truly mighty Guardians could rival her power, and those posed no threat to her. Indeed, they would be more likely to assist than attack. No - she was in no real danger. Otherwise, her mother never would have allowed her to visit the planet. So, the juvenile dragon was more than a little surprised when she caught an ephemeral whiff of something extremely interesting. Since coming to Earth, she had sensed plenty of spikes of Ethera. The world was still in flux, and as such, the ambient Ethera was unsettled. However, there was a distinct difference between wild Ethera and what she felt in the distance. It wasn¡¯t just powerful. It was enticing in a way she couldn¡¯t quite understand. As a result, Saraalinisa was moving before she had a chance to examine her curiosity. Her form was large ¨C at least for the tiny world in which she found herself ¨C but she moved through the forest with sinuous speed. A few local animals fled before her, and rightly so. While she was barely more than a hatchling, on Earth, she was mighty, and the wildlife could sense that they were in the presence of an apex hunter. It reminded her of her youth, when she was little more than a clever lizard. That was decades ago, but she still remembered it with some degree of fondness. Back then, she had fought, tooth and claw, for every advantage. And through some twist of fate, she¡¯d managed to survive. She had thrived, steadily growing in power and intelligence until, at last, sapience had bloomed. That was when her mother had found her. From then on, she had been coddled as she was ushered into juvenility. She had grown into a mighty ¨C if young ¨C dragon. Still, Saraalinisa had a long way to go before she could truly claim her birthright, and when she did, she would need to be much, much stronger. Those thoughts and more slithered through her mind as she stalked through the forest. Every now and then, she came across particularly slow animals, which she used to satisfy her budding hunger. The furry, little creatures went down in a single gulp, reminding her of what she had left behind. They were not unpleasant; in fact, despite the gamey tinge to the meat, she enjoyed the little morsels. However, they were nothing compared to the feasts her mother¡¯s servants prepared on a daily basis. Gradually, she drew closer to the curious ethereal aroma, and with every step, it grew more potent until she could think of little else. In the back of her mind, Saraalinisa knew she should have maintained caution, but a combination of the overwhelmingly enticing smell, her natural curiosity, and the certitude in her own might pushed it aside. Still, she maintained her wits enough that, when she reached the source, she recognized it for the danger it represented. But by that point, she could not stop, and she ran headlong into the trap. Even as the ethereal bonds snapped around her, she fought against them, ripping them to pieces with her claws and teeth. If she was a little older, she might have won free. However, the trap had been well designed, and soon enough, she found herself pressed against the loamy forest floor. Incapable of moving, she tried to use her natural gifts, but only a tiny gout of golden flame came from her snout. And even that petered out after only a few seconds. That was when she realized what was happening. The trap was draining her Ethera. Panic enveloped her heart as she recognized the dangerous situation for what it was. She writhed and snapped, but her efforts were useless. Steadily, the trap siphoned her Strength away until exhaustion gripped her in its claws. She still tried to fight it, but soon enough, she could not even force herself to move. And then, darkness began to close in until, at last, she succumbed to unconsciousness. The last thing she saw before she passed out was a grinning gnome with a blood-red mohawk. * * * Cabbot let out a sigh of relief as he looked at the gold dragon he¡¯d trapped. It was still alive ¨C no trap he could set would be sufficient to drain such a creature¡¯s vitality ¨C but it would remain unconscious until he released it. Which he wouldn¡¯t. Instead, he had plans. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°That what I think it is?¡± asked Brogan, the gnomish tracker who¡¯d first found the dragon¡¯s trail. ¡°You knew we were hunting a dragon,¡± Cabbot said, glancing at the shaggy-haired gnome. ¡°Aye. But I thought it was a dragonkin. Like a wyrm or a drake or somethin¡¯,¡± the scout said. ¡°Didn¡¯t think we were huntin¡¯ a real dragon. And a gold one at that. You sure you want to deal with that kind of weight?¡± Cabbot rolled his eyes. Dragons were powerful enough, but they had to work within the confines dictated by the World Tree, just like everyone else. Sure, if he was stupid enough to ever go to the Empire of Scale ¨C or one of their subordinate territories ¨C he might be in trouble. But he didn¡¯t think so. Earth was an unclaimed planet, and as such, he could do whatever he wanted. Even if half the universe would look down on him for it. The other half, on the other hand, would be jealous of the opportunity. But that was the nature of things, and just by virtue of his birth, he knew which side he fell on. ¡°I think we¡¯ll be just fine,¡± Cabbot said. Then, to the others, he said, ¡°Now, bind it, pack it away, and get it to the ritual chamber.¡± Brogan spat, then asked, ¡°You ain¡¯t gonna help?¡± ¡°I have better things to do,¡± was Cabbot¡¯s answer. The other gnome didn¡¯t seem to like that very much, but Cabbot was banking on Brogan knowing who held the purse strings. ¡°Just get it done.¡± ¡°Aight,¡± he said. Then to his helpers, he said, ¡°C¡¯mon boys. You heard ¡®im. Let¡¯s do it.¡± Cabbot stayed around long enough to ensure that they weren¡¯t going to mess it up, then retreated through the forest, eventually arriving back in Ironshore. Once he did, he quickly made his way to the barracks, where he collected the Ritualists he¡¯d hired. They¡¯d been cooling their heels for weeks while Cabbot and the others hunted the dragon down, and so, they were eager to finish the job. To that end, Cabbot led them into the mines and to the specially prepared chamber where they would drain the dragon¡¯s essence. There, they set up their rituals as Cabbot waited for the scouts to bring the creature along. Once they were finished, the leader asked, ¡°What do you intend to do with the essence? I can offer you ¨C¡± ¡°I have big plans,¡± Cabbot stated. ¡°Very big plans.¡± ¡°Do you need the services of an alchemist?¡± Cabbot shook his head. ¡°No. I intend to use an old friend,¡± he said. ¡°He is an Ascendent Alchemist working for the Ferdan Family.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said the robed gnome. ¡°Impressive. Making Ascendent as a craftsman is no small feat. He must be talented.¡± ¡°Indeed.¡± ¡°What of the other materials?¡± the ritualist leader asked. Cabbot still hadn¡¯t learned his name. Nor did he want to. Ritualists who specialized in essence-draining were not looked upon favorably in most circles. They were necessary, but most people were uncomfortable with the process. Some people even called it a violation of a creature¡¯s soul. A ridiculous superstition, as far as Cabbot was concerned. ¡°I hadn¡¯t thought about that,¡± he said. It would be a shame if such a potent resource went to waste. ¡°Do you have something in mind?¡± ¡°I do. Our¡­organization will be happy to take them off your hands,¡± he said, greedily rubbing his hands together. ¡°You will be compensated, of course. Not only will we pay¡­ah¡­handsomely for those resources, but we will also be in your debt. I don¡¯t think I need to remind you of how useful that could be, considering the nature of our relationship.¡± Indeed, the only reason Cabbot had known to call on Erlych in the first place was because he¡¯d used them before. Not on anything so taboo as a dragon ¨C or any other sentient race ¨C but that relationship was the poorly concealed secret to his family¡¯s power. After all, being able to trap powerful monsters was useless without the means to eke out every ounce of benefit, which was where the ritualists came in. Or rather, the Cult of the Devourer. The Ritualists came from a comparatively weak sect within the cult, but they were clearly adherents of the religion. Cabbot didn¡¯t know much about them, save that they worshipped an ancient Transcendent being whose power was built on consuming the power of others. He¡¯d never researched more than that because, well, he found the notion far too enticing to trust. The Church of the Devourer wasn¡¯t exactly illegal, but the organization was certainly frowned upon in most societies. However, that didn¡¯t stop people from seeking out their services; they just didn¡¯t talk about it at parties. In any case, Cabbot knew just how valuable a good relationship with the Church could be, so he said, ¡°That¡¯s fine with me. Just let me know what you¡¯re willing to pay for the carcass, and we¡¯ll address this once you¡¯ve had a chance to examine it.¡± ¡°The creature is not an ¡®it¡¯,¡± the ritualist leader stated. ¡°What?¡± ¡°They have an identity. A gender. They are a living, thinking, and self-aware being with a soul,¡± he responded. ¡°To refer to them as an ¡®it¡¯ robs it of dignity.¡± ¡°You¡¯re about to drain it of its essence,¡± Cabbot stated. ¡°It won¡¯t have any dignity left when you¡¯re done.¡± ¡°Yes. Our tenets require that we acknowledge what we¡¯re taking,¡± he responded. ¡°Make no mistake. A sapient being will die, their soul stripped away so that we may progress. That is as the Devourer dictates.¡± Cabbot resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He¡¯d seen the creature. It was nothing more than a giant, unthinking lizard. Perhaps it would one day be more ¨C or it would¡¯ve been before he captured it ¨C but for now, it was just another monster. He wasn¡¯t going to say that, though. Not to a gnome who could, with a single order, ruin all of Cabbot¡¯s plans. So, he just nodded his head in acquiescence, saying, ¡°If you say so.¡± After that, the conversation petered out until a couple of hours later when the hunters arrived. Between them they carried a sizable litter, the contents of which was covered in a heavy tarp. It was curious, but at a glance, there was no way anyone could have identified the bulky burden as a living dragon. At the ritualists¡¯ direction, the trackers-turned-porters deposited the creature in the center of the room, where the ritualists had drawn their glyphs and sigils. After that, they hurried away, clearly wanting nothing to do with what was going to happen next. ¡°How long?¡± asked Cabbot before they could get started. ¡°Days, at least. Maybe weeks. It depends on how much power she has.¡± Cabbot nodded, then said, ¡°Then let¡¯s hope for weeks. I¡¯ll leave you to it, then.¡± The lead ritualist nodded, but before Cabbot could leave, he said, ¡°Think on what I said. No power comes without sacrifice.¡± Cabbot didn¡¯t respond, instead pretending that he hadn¡¯t heard. As he left the ritual chamber behind, passing into the mines, the whole of his mind was occupied as he considered everything he stood to gain. 1-63. A Plea for Help Though it took almost three weeks to fully harden, the soap turned out exactly as Elijah had hoped, which was to say that, while it was a little harsh, it did the job. So it was that, after spending almost two years on his island, he was finally able to reach a reasonable level of cleanliness. After that, he collapsed onto the bed, which was made of pleasant-smelling moss and leaves, he looked up at the softly glowing flowers above him and let out a satisfied sigh. It had taken a long time, but he¡¯d finally achieved a level of comfort that should have been impossible. So, of course it couldn¡¯t last. ¡°Elijah,¡± came Nerthus¡¯s soft voice. Elijah looked up to see the tree spirit standing in his doorway. ¡°What?¡± he asked. Then, seeing the troubled expression on Nerthus¡¯s face, he sighed and said, ¡°Please don¡¯t tell me the tower is about to burst again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called a Surge,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°But no. The local tower should be subdued for some time yet. Perhaps for as long as the Grove persists, if your Domain continues to grow.¡± The boundaries of Elijah¡¯s territory had continued to expand, but the growth was slow, and even if it kept going at the same rate, it would take months for the tower to be subsumed into his Domain. Hopefully, it would happen quickly enough that Elijah wouldn¡¯t be forced to challenge it again. He could acknowledge that his previous experience within the tower had been valuable for his personal growth, but that didn¡¯t mean he was eager for a repeat. ¡°Here¡¯s hoping, then,¡± Elijah said, making a show of crossing his fingers. Nerthus clearly didn¡¯t understand the gesture. ¡°Yes. Of course. The reason I¡¯ve disturbed your rest is more troubling than the tower, though,¡± Nerthus said, nervously looking down as he shuffled from one foot to the next. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound good,¡± Elijah said, sitting up. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°I have been¡­contacted by a powerful being,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°And she made a request that I don¡¯t think we should turn down.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t like the way that sounded. He sat up. ¡°Powerful being? That¡¯s a bit vague, man. Can¡¯t you be a little more specific?¡± he asked. In a clear effort to compose himself, Nerthus took a deep breath. ¡°A dragon.¡± ¡°What? A dragon? Like a huge reptile with wings and ¨C¡± ¡°Dragons are technically not reptilian, though they do share some characteristics,¡± he said. ¡°But if you ever meet one ¨C which seems likely, if you are to fulfil the request ¨C you should not liken them to lizards.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because they are touchy about that sort of thing, and you do not wish to anger a dragon.¡± ¡°I think I probably already know the answer to this,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But why not?¡± ¡°Because a suitably upset dragon is fully capable of destroying this entire planet.¡± ¡°Gotcha. Don¡¯t piss dragons off,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So ¨C if they¡¯re so powerful, then why would one need to make a request of me?¡± Nerthus answered, ¡°Because this planet is young. Its Ethera is weak enough that a fully-grown dragon couldn¡¯t survive here. However, that is not to say that they couldn¡¯t destroy this whole planet from afar. Or if they set foot on the surface.¡± Elijah sighed. He certainly didn¡¯t like the sound of that. Nor was he thrilled with the implications behind the statement. It felt like Nerthus was telling him that if he didn¡¯t do what this dragon asked, then he would run the risk of having his entire planet destroyed. ¡°What does this dragon want?¡± ¡°Something was stolen from her,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°In fact, it is, at this moment, only a few miles away. She wishes for you to retrieve it.¡± That sounded very vague to Elijah, and he said as much before asking what, precisely, had been stolen. ¡°Her daughter,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°She is barely past the hatchling stage, though even that should have been plenty to survive a new planet such as this. However, she was abducted soon after her arrival and brought to the settlement across the strait.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I mean, if dragons are so powerful, why would anyone do something so stupid?¡± Nerthus sighed. ¡°I have mentioned this a few times, but this universe can be roughly divided into two philosophies,¡± he said. ¡°On one side, there are those who see the world as theirs by right. They consume, using any means they can to progress. On the other are those like you who, instead, seek to harmonize with the natural world. ¡°The first way is faster, but it comes at a cost. Once a resource is used, it is gone. These devourers must continuously seek new sources of power,¡± Nerthus went on. ¡°They are, in a very real way, a spreading virus that will consume the universe. The worst of them adhere to the Church of the Devourer, a Transcendent being older than your world and much more powerful than anything you can imagine.¡± ¡°But these¡­devourers, their way works, right?¡± ¡°Certainly.¡± If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. ¡°And the other side?¡± Elijah asked, already guessing the answer. Still, he wanted it confirmed. ¡°Preservationists seek to cultivate relationships with sources of power,¡± he said. ¡°For instance, if a devourer were to encounter this Grove, he would harvest the ancestral tree and use the wood to fuel his own advancement.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Potions. Rituals to temporarily provide an ideal cultivation environment. Sacrifices. They might even consume the wood via mastication,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°The methods are many and varied. But the results are the same. They get a little stronger, and this Grove would cease to exist. Once they¡¯d wrung every ounce of power from it, they would move on to the next. And the next after that. Over and over until they reached the pinnacle or there was nothing left.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m already a preservationist, huh?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Or does harvesting the berries in this Grove mark me as a devourer? What if I was to ¨C¡± ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have been offered the druid archetype if you were the sort who might become a devourer.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°But most people are somewhere in between,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°And though I may not like it, I can¡¯t blame people for grasping at power. However, there are those who take things too far. That is what we¡¯re dealing with here.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°Dragons are some of the most powerful creatures in the known universe,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°The people who kidnapped the young one intend to drain her.¡± ¡°Drain her? That¡¯s¡­wait¡­they¡¯re going to use a sentient creature as fuel?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°That¡¯s¡­I mean¡­is that even allowed?¡± ¡°Of course not!¡± Nerthus exclaimed. ¡°But there are those who will do anything for power.¡± Elijah shook his head. The idea was abhorrent, but he could understand the motivation. On Earth, people had done horrible things for money and power, so the idea that some would be willing to sacrifice a sapient creature just to enhance their own cultivation wasn¡¯t all that surprising. Greed, it seemed, was a constant, even in the wider universe. ¡°What am I supposed to do?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°The task is simple. Retrieve the young one.¡± He waved his hand, and a notification bloomed before Elijah¡¯s eyes.
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: Objective: Rescue the Child Reward: Blessing of the Dragon, Kirlissa Do you accept?
¡°This looks like the tasks I did in the tower,¡± Elijah said. Then, he looked up at Nerthus and asked, ¡°How?¡± ¡°Sufficient power gives you the option of offering official tasks through the System,¡± he said. ¡°I am merely the vessel by which the dragon acted.¡± ¡°What is the Blessing of the Dragon?¡± Nerthus shook his head. ¡°That, I do not know,¡± he said. ¡°It could be a useful item. It could be ethereum. Or anything else. There is no limit, save for the level of power of the offered reward.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Enough to make a difference. Not enough to change the fate of this world,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°So, will you take the task?¡± ¡°I have one more question,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Why me?¡± Nerthus cocked his head to the side as if confused. Then, he said, ¡°Because you are a druid.¡± ¡°Yeah, no ¨C I know I am. But what difference does that make? I¡¯m sure there are lots of druids.¡± ¡°No. There aren¡¯t. Perhaps a few thousand satisfied the requirements of that archetype. Of those, only a couple hundred managed to survive. It is a prestigious and rare archetype. Even more so because you have managed to gain power so quickly. Usually, druids are much slower and far less combative. The more action-oriented of the archetype tend to die early deaths.¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s¡­I don¡¯t know if I should feel good about myself for surviving or terrible for all the people who died.¡± ¡°Both,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°Still ¨C that doesn¡¯t answer the question. What makes me being a druid so important?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Dragons trust druids.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Mutual benefit and aligned philosophies,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°That is not to say they are one entity. Dragons tend to be¡­proud, and though dragons and druids have often allied with one another, there is still some level of animosity. However, with something of this nature, there is no better ally than a druid.¡± Elijah still didn¡¯t quite understand. It was just an archetype, which in turn, was just a means to get some useful spells. But he wasn¡¯t going to argue with the tree spirit¡¯s assertion. ¡°Okay ¨C I thought of another question. How did the dragon contact you?¡± ¡°Very painfully,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°I barely survived the touch of her mind.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°So, will you accept the task?¡± the tree spirit asked. Elijah was torn. He had seen how powerful the people across the strait were when they¡¯d killed the guardian. So, what chance did he have of going up against an entire settlement? But then again, could he sit on the sidelines and let an innocent person die? Sure, that person was a dragon, but that didn¡¯t really matter. She was just a child. What kind of monster would he have to be to ignore her plight? And then there was the reward. The Blessing of the Dragon was a bit ambiguous, but Nerthus seemed convinced that it would be worth it. Besides, if dragons were so powerful, then a blessing bearing their name was clearly something worth pursuing. Just like that, Elijah knew what he would do. So, he accepted the task, then told Nerthus his decision. The tree spirit seemed relieved, but he was also clearly worried. ¡°I need to get ready,¡± Elijah said. And so he did. He didn¡¯t have much in the way of supplies to gather, but he did grab his staff. One thing he¡¯d discovered was that, so long as he was wearing an item ¨C even if it was something like a knife stuck to his belt or a pack secured to his back ¨C it would transform right alongside him. That would have been good to know before he¡¯d challenged the tower, but back then, he¡¯d just assumed it was just his staff that transformed with him. So, he¡¯d never even tried it. Now he knew, though, and so, he could prepare accordingly. After stuffing one of his woven satchels full of berries and mushrooms, Elijah stuck his pilfered knife into a homemade sheath at his waist. Then, after checking everything a second time, he bade goodbye to Nerthus, who wished him luck. Then, he set off across his island. Soon enough, he reached his destination. The boat hadn¡¯t been in the water since he¡¯d helped kill the trio of invaders who¡¯d infiltrated his island, and the months that had passed since then had left it a little worse for wear. Still, it wasn¡¯t rotted, so he figured it would hold together at least long enough for him to reach the other shore. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to set off until after dark. So, he settled down to wait. In that time, he focused on what he planned to do. He didn¡¯t know the layout of the settlement ¨C which, by that point, had become a proper city, with thousands of residents ¨C but he hoped he could figure things out when he got there. It wasn¡¯t much of a plan, but he didn¡¯t know how else to accomplish the task at hand. Eventually, night began to fall, accompanied by a light drizzle. Elijah looked to the west and saw dark clouds on the horizon. There was a storm coming, and he could only hope that he had the means to survive it. 1-64. Ironshore Rain fell in heavy drops that reminded Elijah that spring would soon overtake winter. But it had yet to arrive, as evidenced by the biting cold that refused to relinquish its grip. Elijah ignored it as he pushed the small boat out into the sea. He had endured worse, and he knew his suffering had only begun. He could only hope that it would be worth it. Once the water reached his waist, he climbed into the boat, grabbed the oars, and started to row. With his enhanced Constitution, it was trivial to send the vessel cutting through the waves, and soon enough, he was skipping along the surface with some speed. Still, the strait was wide, and even as the darkness of full night enveloped him, he continued to row towards his destination. Even with his augmented Strength, it took Elijah over two hours to cross the strait, partially due to the distance, but also because the boat itself had never been built for speed. Still, he made it without much difficulty. Upon reaching the shore, which was just as rocky as that of his island, he climbed out of the boat and dragged it out of the sea. For his point of ingress, Elijah had chosen a spot about a mile up the shore from the edge of the settlement. He¡¯d done so in an effort to avoid detection; after all, the town was well-lit, and it would have been tempting fate to assume he could arrive at the dock unseen. Thankfully, the tree line was only a few feet from the shore, which allowed Elijah to quickly drag the boat under cover. Once that was taken care of, Elijah recast his enhancements ¨C Essence of the Wolf, Essence of the Monkey, and Aura of Renewal ¨C before casting Shape of the Predator. As always, One with Nature was still active as well. Once he¡¯d assumed the form of a mist panther, he set off through the forest. As he slowly padded through the woods, nimbly leaping over fallen trees and across the dips in the terrain, he sorely missed the awareness of his Domain. He hadn¡¯t felt it back in the tower, but in the weeks since returning to the island, he¡¯d grown used to knowing everything about his surroundings. Fortunately, One With Nature acted as a watered-down version of the skill. The breadth of knowledge it granted was far more limited, and it only extended a dozen yards around him, but it was much better than nothing. Gradually, he covered the ground between his landing spot to the clearing surrounding the city. As he did, he tried to plan for what he would find. A hundred possibilities flitted through his mind, but they were all useless until he knew what obstacles might bar his way. He reached the edge of the forest, then bounded up a tree until he was twenty or thirty feet from the ground. From that elevated position, he gazed out across the clearing at the settlement. The first thing he noticed was that it was far more developed than he¡¯d expected. The buildings weren¡¯t so different from what he might¡¯ve seen from industrious humans, though the few residents he saw put the lie to that image. Gnomes, dwarves, and goblins made up the majority of the population, but he also saw a couple of creatures he could only categorize as dark elves. Because of their onyx skin, refined features, tapered ears, and stark white hair, Elijah couldn¡¯t think of them as anything else. After watching for a while, Elijah resigned himself to the inevitable. He could only glean so much information from afar; he would have to enter the settlement if he wanted to find the dragon¡¯s daughter and complete the task he¡¯d been given. So, after only a little more hesitation, he descended from his perch and embraced Guise of the Unseen before setting off across the clearing. However, after only a few feet, he felt something in the ambient Ethera shift, a feeling that was quickly followed by a sense of vague unease. When he felt that, he stopped in his tracks and retreated a few feet until he felt things return to normal. It took a few more passes before he found the line of demarcation. After a few more minutes of study ¨C during which he followed the line across the clearing ¨C he determined that it surrounded the settlement. With that in mind, and without any other indications as to the purpose, Elijah set out to test it further. As he did, he determined that it clearly wasn¡¯t dangerous, but there was something about it that tickled at the back of his mind. So, after finding a hollow that was out of line of sight of the settlement, he shifted back to his human form. Then, he crossed the line, and just as he¡¯d expected, he felt nothing. That cemented it. The line wasn¡¯t so different from the boundaries of his Domain. However, instead of granting awareness, it was meant to keep the wildlife away. Perhaps it even prevented dimensional rifts from forming. He didn¡¯t know enough to draw any further conclusions, so he retreated out of sight and waited for his Ethera to regenerate. Once it did, he once again assumed the form of a mist panther and stalked forward. After crossing the line, the sense of unease returned, but it wasn¡¯t enough to dissuade him from continuing. Perhaps that was because he wasn¡¯t truly an animal. Or maybe his attributes protected him. It might¡¯ve even been One With Nature keeping the boundary from fully affecting him. Whatever the case, it was easily endured, so he continued to stalk toward the settlement. As he drew closer, more of the town¡¯s details became apparent. It was lit by what looked like gas lamps, though the light was different enough that Elijah thought they must have been powered by Ethera. The buildings themselves were made from a mixture of quarried stone and wood from the surrounding forests, and from an architectural perspective, were entirely unimpressive in their mundanity. Elijah padded forward, keeping low and trusting the shadows and Guise of the Unseen to keep him hidden. Even so, he took great pains to avoid the residents. By that point, it was well past midnight, so there weren¡¯t many out and about, but there were enough that Elijah had to choose his route into the city with care. Fortunately, there were no active defenses or guards; otherwise, he might¡¯ve been found. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Over the next few hours, Elijah explored the city, and as he did, he was struck by just how normal everything seemed. The residents were all mythological creatures ¨C at least from his perspective ¨C but they acted much as he¡¯d have expected from humans. He saw them eating, drinking, laughing with their friends, and enjoying all sorts of leisure activities. He passed a few taverns, and he even crept into a couple of domiciles to see them sleeping. It was all just so normal. And even when he was focused on the task before him, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but be reminded of just how lonely he was. It had been years since he¡¯d spoken to another human being, much less done something so mundane as hung out at a bar. Once, Elijah had taken that sort of thing for granted, but now, he knew just how valuable companionship really was. More, the city ¨C and the normalcy of its atmosphere ¨C suggested that the world hadn¡¯t fared as poorly as he had expected. Certainly, people had died, but if the collection of gnomes, goblins, and dwarves could live normal lives, then so could the human population that had been lucky enough to have survived the world¡¯s transition. Seeing the city also awakened within him a resolve to find other survivors. To search out his family. Before, it had seemed impossible. Now, though, he felt confident that he could traverse the world with some degree of safety. After all, he¡¯d survived the Sea of Sorrows and the Primordial Jungle. Surely, that was more dangerous than whatever he¡¯d find in Earth¡¯s wilderness. In any case, Elijah couldn¡¯t focus on that. Instead, he continued to search the settlement for any hints as to where he might find the dragon¡¯s daughter. Despite his efforts, as dawn approached, he still hadn¡¯t discovered any leads. So, with the population beginning to stir, he had no choice but to retreat, quickly returning to the forest and settling in to observe the town by the light of day. Soon enough, the sun rose, and the town came to life as hundreds of people set about their daily tasks. Elijah focused on two groups in particular, though. One headed into the surrounding forests, while another went to the mine behind the town. After finding a secluded cave a few miles away from the city, Elijah settled in for a few hours¡¯ worth of sleep. When he awoke, he took off through the forest to search out the townspeople who¡¯d gone into the woods. The first group he found were loggers, while the second were clearly hunting the local wildlife. From a perch on the thick branch of an oak tree, Elijah watched as the hunters took down a bear the size of a compact car. The beast put up a decent fight, but the group of five hunters were well-prepared and clearly practiced at their craft. So, the animal fell without inflicting much damage on its killers. After that, they set about processing the creature, and when they finished and headed back to the town, they left nothing behind. After seeing that, Elijah continued to search the forest, and he came across more hunts in progress. None of them even vaguely suspected he was around, which, though unsurprising, was gratifying. Emboldened by that success, he followed each of the hunting parties until he could confirm that they weren¡¯t keeping the dragon¡¯s daughter hidden away. It took most of the day, but by the time the sun set, he¡¯d ruled the hunters out as the kidnappers. So, with night falling, he retreated to his cave and got a few more hours of rest. When he awoke, it was nearly midnight. While he¡¯d slept, the rain had returned in full force, which provided that much more cover as he crept toward the mine. It was situated at the base of one of the surrounding mountains, and the entrance was guarded by a few scattered buildings. Elijah searched them, though he found nothing but administrative facilities that looked strangely reminiscent of what he¡¯d expect from a similar human-run operation, a couple of storehouses filled with various mining supplies, and a guard post manned by a couple of dozing goblins. He also made a couple of discoveries along the way. First, the System¡¯s translation feature apparently extended to the written word, so he had no issues reading the files in the administrative room. Second, that ability gave him a little context for the mining operation ¨C chiefly that the settlement was called Ironshore, was run by a group known as the Green Mountain Mining Guild, and that they were almost exclusively interested in something called true iron. None of that was pertinent to his task, so he only spent a few minutes reading the files. Still, it was nice to get some information about his neighbors. He crept past the goblin guards, entering the mine. At first, he took things slowly, but after a few minutes, it became clear that the mine was entirely deserted. So, he sped up, abandoning Guise of the Unseen in favor of alacrity. He passed carts and piles of ore along the way, but for the first hour or so, he found nothing out of the ordinary. As far as he could tell, it was just an ordinary mine. Then, Elijah noticed that the density of the ambient Ethera began to rise. As he continued on, he came to a fork in the tunnel. Down the left path, the Ethera remained mostly stable, but to the right, it continued to thicken. Reasoning that that had to mean something, he chose the right path. Over the next hour, he was confronted with a few more such choices, and each time, he decided to follow the Ethera, reasoning that it would mean something. Along the way, he paid special attention to the senses granted by One With Nature ¨C a good strategy, because otherwise, he never would have found his quarry. He was slowly padding down the mine shaft when he felt something that shouldn¡¯t have been there. To his left, he could sense the normal life ¨C insects and the like ¨C that indicated there should be a tunnel there, but when he looked, he saw nothing but a solid wall of rock. Curious, Elijah reached out with a paw, and to his shock, he saw it pass through the wall. He snatched his paw back, then inspected it. It seemed the same as always, and he hadn¡¯t felt any pain to indicate that it was dangerous. So, it only took a few seconds for him to conclude that the wall was some sort of illusion. Still, even though such an explanation made perfect sense, Elijah felt a tremble of fear as he pushed through. To his relief, nothing bad happened, and he sighed in relief as he stepped into a new tunnel. However, this one was different. Rougher. It didn¡¯t bear the same wooden beams that supported the integrity of the rest of the tunnels. Likely, that was because it was so small. The rest of the mine¡¯s passages were at least twenty feet across and just as high, but this new tunnel was maybe a quarter of that. Wide enough to permit passage of a couple of the small gnomes or goblins, but wider-shouldered dwarves would have to traverse it single file. Elijah padded down the tunnel as it sloped dramatically downward, twisting and turning every few steps. Then, finally, he reached a point where it opened into a wide chamber. It only took him a few seconds to confirm that he¡¯d found his destination, because in the center of the room lay a large, curled form that could only be a young dragon. 1-65. The Ritual Golden scales glinted in the flickering light of a dozen torches, giving the illusion that the figure was moving. But aside from the gentle rise and fall of her chest, the dragon was entirely motionless. The creature had been described as little more than infant, and yet, she was at least seven feet long, from delicate snout to tapered tail. With wings folded against her back, she had the sinuous shape of a serpent, and yet, four legs were tucked under her form. In short, she was a stunning creature, and for a moment, Elijah could only stare in awe. And then, as he continued to study the scene before him, anger stared to overwhelm the sense of astonishment. Because she was clearly injured, with one of her legs having clearly been broken. Blood coated one of her folded wings, and a long gash stretched from the base of her tail to her ribs. Even more disturbingly, a half-dozen hooded figures that, from their size, had to be goblins or gnomes, were busy drawing complex symbols on the stone ground. Or a few of them were, at least. The others followed behind, sprinkling glittering dust on the still-wet paint. No. Wait. Elijah caught another whiff, and he instantly recognized the smell. Blood, mixed with something else, and pulsing with Ethera. A low growl escaped from between his lips, though he was thankfully far enough away that the gnomes didn¡¯t hear. It didn¡¯t take much intuition to see what was happening. The gnomes ¨C or goblins, perhaps ¨C were setting up a ritual of some sort. That tracked with what Nerthus had described. They wanted to harvest the dragon, taking whatever made her special in order to enhance their own cultivation. Or perhaps, to sell it. He didn¡¯t know which, but it really didn¡¯t matter, either. Even if he hadn¡¯t had the task spurring him forward, there was no way he could see what was happening and not act. Crouching low to the ground, his tail swished back and forth. Then, he pounced, using Predator Strike. His claw ripped through the gnome¡¯s robes, cutting deep before shattering his ribs. Without stopping, he snapped out, clamping his jaws on the screaming figure¡¯s head, then bit down. The creature¡¯s skull shattered. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. Instead, he bounded toward the next closest figure, and when they turned, he saw nothing but wide eyed surprise. He pounced on her, then swiped his claws across her exposed throat. He felt a slight resistance at the last second, but it wasn¡¯t enough to stop him. With two down, Elijah was gone before the rest even knew what had happened. He melted into the shadows, letting Guise of the Unseen settle onto his shoulders. Nestled in the shadows, he knew he was completely undetectable. One of the remaining four figures whipped around, saying, ¡°What¡­¡± Another locked eyes on Elijah¡¯s second victim, and upon seeing the bright, red blood pooling around her fallen body, she screamed, ¡°Rayna!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± said the third, his voice full of authority. He raised his hand, and Elijah felt Ethera gathering at his fingertips. That was enough to mark him as his next victim. Elijah darted from the shadows, then used Predator Strike and Venom Strike at the same time. However, he was surprised when his claw met stiff resistance; it wasn¡¯t enough to stop his attack entirely, but it was plenty to prevent a mortal strike. Still, his claw traced a line across the gnome¡¯s shoulder, sending a spray of blood arcing through the air. Elijah never stopped moving, instead melting into the shadows with Guise of the Unseen. Against animals, such a strategy wouldn¡¯t have been possible. But the gnomes¡¯ senses just weren¡¯t sharp enough to track him ¨C especially after he started attacking the torches. One after another, they fell. They weren¡¯t extinguished, but it was enough to deepen the shadows. Meanwhile, the neurotoxin of Venom Strike had begun to do its job. The leader fell, seizing as he hit the ground. Pink foam escaped his mouth as he rasped, ¡°Poison¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t pay attention. Instead, he stalked his remaining prey. There were only three left, and they planted themselves with their backs against the wall. All three were gnomes. One male. Two female. As if that mattered. With what they¡¯d done to the dragon, they deserved whatever he could dish out, regardless of gender. Elijah circled to the right, careful to avoid the guttering torches. He could taste the gnomes¡¯ fear. He could feel it in his bones. And there was a part of him that reveled in it, that felt justified in striking terror into the hearts of people who thought nothing of killing and harvesting a sapient creature. He padded closer, staying close to the ground. Then, he pounced, once again using Predator Strike. And just like before, he was met with significant resistance that slowed his claws. It didn¡¯t matter. One strike followed the next, and he could feel the invisible shield weakening. Finally, he broke free and gutted one of the females, raking his claws across the gnome¡¯s midsection. His innards spilled out, filling the chamber with the foul stench of ruptured intestines. But the kill had taken too long, giving the remaining two a chance to respond. And respond they did. Elijah felt something slam into his ribs, flipping him over and sending him sprawling across the ground. He recovered quickly, but judging by the burning pain on his side, he¡¯d picked up a serious wound. Even more distressingly, another unseen force slammed into him a second later. Then another. Elijah rolled with the momentum, then launched himself at the wall and used it to spring into another attack. His claws raked across an invisible shield, doing nothing. He¡¯d learned his lesson, though, so he kept moving, diving back into the shadows. ¡°It¡¯s bleeding! Just follow the trail!¡± screeched the remaining female. Elijah kept going, moving as quickly as he could. But he didn¡¯t need to inspect his wounds to know that he might have bitten off more than he could chew. So long as he could strike from the shadows, his mist panther form was deadly. However, in a straight-up fight, it left a lot to be desired, at least in regard to durability. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Where did it go?!¡± ¡°Over there!¡± Something thudded into the wall across the room. ¡°Did you get it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± They were jumping at shadows, which Elijah understood. The combination of his black coat and the dying light of the flickering torches had created a nearly perfect environment for him. But even if he could easily remain undetected and escape if he so desired, the gnomes were still alert enough to see him coming. But Elijah refused to abandon his task. So, he continued to circle, trusting that his Aura of Renewal-enhanced Regeneration could keep him alive, even with his wounds. ¡°Is it gone?¡± asked one, her voice trembling. The other hissed, ¡°I have no idea!¡± ¡°What was it? It looked like a big cat,¡± the female whispered. ¡°But how? With the barrier ¨C¡± That¡¯s when Elijah pounced, his claws raking across her shield. He could feel it weakening with every subsequent attack. He could use Venom Strike and Predator Strike in tandem, and perhaps he could get through, but that would leave him dangerously close to exhaustion. No ¨C it was better to hit and run, over and over, until she was vulnerable. So, that¡¯s what Elijah did. Each swipe he took came with the risk of taking another hit himself. But so long as he kept moving, he felt confident in his chances. The gnomes weren¡¯t fighters. He could tell that much. That made them prone to panic, and more, the constant flow of adrenaline would eventually take its toll. After twenty minutes, they tried to escape. That was the opening Elijah needed to finish the female off. He pounced on her, driving her to the ground. Her partner continued running toward the tunnel as Elijah¡¯s claws flashed. Once. Twice. Three times. She screamed. Elijah paid it no mind as he finally broke through her shield and eviscerated her small body. She died soon after he clamped down on the back of her neck, crushing her vertebrae and severing her spine. The final gnome only made it a few feet into the tunnel before Elijah caught up. However, when he leaped upon the lone survivor¡¯s back, he got a surprise when the creature disappeared, appearing a few feet away. As Elijah recovered, the gnome raised his hands. Ethera gathered in a flash, and then, suddenly, Elijah felt something at his feet. He looked down to see ethereal chains encircling his legs. He tried to pull free, but it did no good. ¡°Stupid animal,¡± the gnome panted, his shoulders sagging. ¡°Suppose it¡¯s not all bad, though. You¡¯re what? Level twenty-eight? Decent materials. Bones for weapons. Pelt for a ¨C¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t going to listen to that. Instead, seeing that he couldn¡¯t escape the gnome¡¯s spell, he knew he had no choice but to play his ace. So, he shifted back to human form, pointed his staff at his enemy, and cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning lashed out, and the shocked gnome went flying backwards, hitting the wall of the narrow tunnel and collapsing to the ground. But it didn¡¯t kill him. ¡°What? That¡¯s not ¨C¡± Elijah cast again, but even though the gnome was once again knocked back into the wall, he didn¡¯t look all that injured. So, after focusing on his core, Elijah decided to use something with a little more oomph. He cast Swarm. At first, it didn¡¯t seem like anything had happened, but then, a buzzing sound filled the air. The gnome said something derisive, but Elijah paid no attention. He knew what was coming. ¡°Ow!¡± said the short figure, slapping a hand against his neck. It was prelude to disaster ¨C at least from the gnome¡¯s perspective ¨C and a second later, a swarm of stinging flies descended upon him. Elijah had no idea why the shield did nothing to stop them, but he wasn¡¯t going to argue with it. Instead, he watched with stoic fury as the swarm¡¯s afflictions took hold. The gnome screamed. Elijah watched. Even after the spell holding him in place faded, he didn¡¯t move until, at last, the swarm dissipated, leaving only a diseased corpse behind. Once he was certain that the gnome was dead, as evidenced by the influx of kill energy that pushed him closer to level twenty-nine, he slapped a hand over his side and cast Touch of Nature. The bleeding stopped, but he didn¡¯t dare use more than one cast, lest he not have enough Ethera to heal the dragon. With that, he dragged the gnome¡¯s body back to the ritual chamber, then cast Healing Rain. Clouds swirled, covering the center of the room and covering the dragon in rejuvenating precipitation. Perhaps more importantly, it washed away the glittering paint the ritualists had been using to draw symbols on the ground. With that done, Elijah set his sights on the corpses; he looted them, coming up with a couple of purses containing a few strange coins, the robes, and a pair of new knives. He slipped his ill-gotten gains into his woven pack, then headed toward the prone dragon. He laid a hand on the golden scales, feeling her breathing. She was warmer than he¡¯d expected, hammering home the fact that she was not a cold-blooded reptile. More, he felt the mass of Ethera swirling in her body. It was no wonder the gnomes had been trying to harvest her. It didn¡¯t excuse their actions, but he understood. Taking a deep breath, Elijah channeled Ethera into Touch of Nature, sending a jolt of healing through the creature. When that did nothing, he cast it again. Then again after that. Two more times, he cast, but the dragon was unaffected. He wanted to do more, but his core was dry. So, Elijah waited, and just like he¡¯d done with the panther what felt like an eternity ago, he healed the creature each time his Ethera recovered enough to facilitate a cast of Touch of Nature. It took two more hours before the dragon awoke. And she did so with explosive violence, raking her claws across his chest and tearing open a gaping wound. Elijah sprang backward, but he knew he could do nothing to stop the vicious monster he¡¯d made the mistake of saving. Her eyes were wild as she stepped on his chest, and smoke curled up from her flared nostrils. ¡°Human,¡± she growled, her voice deep but feminine. ¡°Why? What?¡± Elijah channeled Touch of Nature through his body as he choked out, ¡°I¡­was sent¡­to rescue you.¡± That¡¯s when her eyes lost their wildness, and she glanced around. When she saw the bodies of the gnomes, her expression softened and she stepped back. ¡°Oh,¡± she said. Then, she collapsed, once again losing consciousness. Elijah shook his head, then used the last of his pool of Ethera to cast Touch of Nature on himself. After that, he just lay there, his breath shallow as he tried to deal with the pain of the wound she had caused. Once he¡¯d regained enough Ethera, he cast the spell again. It took two more casts before the wound closed. But by that point, he heard voices coming from the entrance tunnel. Glancing at the dragon, he saw that she was still unconscious. And after his battle against the gnomes and the misunderstanding with the dragon, he was in no shape to fight. He¡¯d healed enough to get around, but anything beyond that would take some time and more than a few more casts of Touch of Nature. Which left him with only one option, though he had no idea if it would work. But given the situation, he didn¡¯t think he had much choice. So, Elijah painfully pushed himself to his feet, then staggered to where the dragon had collapsed. Then, he knelt beside her form, placed his hand on her side, then used the teleport function of Ancestral Circle. He felt the spell tugging at him ¨C and him alone. But he wouldn¡¯t allow that. Instead, he forced more Ethera into the spell so it would accept the dragon as well. It wasn¡¯t so different than when he used the same method to bolster the effect of Nature¡¯s Bounty. Though it was significantly more difficult, and at first, the spell refused to cooperate. But then, suddenly, it snapped into place. Elijah screamed as pain tore through him, and just as the spell enveloped the pair of them, he saw a group of gnomes and goblins appear at the mouth of the tunnel. Then, he was gone, and for a split second, he felt like he was being ripped into a thousand pieces. He thudded to the ground as he and the dragon appeared in his Grove. Blood spurted from a hundred wounds. Vaguely, he heard someone shouting his name, but by that point, the blood loss had begun to take hold. Still, before he passed out, he managed to use the very last bit of his Ethera to cast Healing Rain. Then, everything went black. 1-66. Task Complete Elijah awoke, and for a long time, just lay there unmoving. His body was still a mess ¨C he didn¡¯t need to inspect his wounds to recognize that much ¨C but he didn¡¯t feel like he had the energy to do anything about it. Nor did he have any idea how much time had passed. But one thing he did know was that he¡¯d survived, and judging by the steady sound of heavy breathing nearby, the dragon had as well. For a while, that was enough. Soon enough, though, Elijah¡¯s eyes fluttered open, and he saw a clear blue sky looking down on him. After taking a deep breath, he cast Healing Rain and watched the clouds coalesce above him before they dumped their regenerative payload on him. Then, he began the arduous process of healing himself via Touch of Nature. He felt terrible, and his limbs refused to respond to his instructions. So, he channeled the spell without direction, letting the formless healing energy flood his body. It was inefficient, but given the sheer volume of his injuries, there wasn¡¯t that much wasted Ethera. He wasn¡¯t sure precisely how long he lay there, but it was at least one day. Maybe more, considering that, while waiting for his Ethera to regenerate, he often dozed off. It wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility that, on a few of those occasions, he slept through an entire night. But eventually, Elijah healed enough to sit up. Predictably, when he did, he saw the familiar confines of his Grove staring back at him. He glanced down at his previously unblemished arm, where he saw a series of pale, thin scars marring his skin. Elijah sighed. At the rate he was picking up scars, he¡¯d soon become a malformed mess. Glancing to his side, he saw a mass of golden scales. But given that the dragon was still alive ¨C he could see that she was still breathing ¨C he reasoned that he should take care of himself first, then heal her once he was healthy. So, Elijah continued on his long road of Regeneration, renewing Healing Rain every time it fell away and using Touch of Nature in the interim. And over the next day, he gradually returned to health. Then, he started in on the dragon. With the benefit of time on his side, Elijah could better gauge what was happening, and it didn¡¯t take him long to recognize that the dragon¡¯s pool of vitality ¨C or life energy ¨C was far larger than his own. When he healed her, it was like trying to fill a swimming pool with a bucket. He was making progress, but it was going to take a long time. So, he bent himself to the task. Fortunately, he was in his Grove, so food was no issue. And it only took a quick trip up to his tree house to get water ¨C Nerthus had told him that it would be difficult to exhaust its water stores, so his basic needs were easily met. However, beyond satisfying those necessities, he had a hard time focusing on anything but the task in front of him. That got a little better as the days passed, which hinted that the issue was related to forcing Ancestral Circle to teleport both him and the dragon, but beyond that, he was unsure what else to expect. And so, days passed as he slowly healed the dragon, one Touch of Nature at a time. In a way, it reminded him of how he¡¯d healed the guardian panther so long ago. But as difficult as it had been to heal the panther, it couldn¡¯t even begin to compare ¨C at least in terms of how much Ethera it took ¨C to doing the same for the young dragon. But Elijah persisted. Curiously, Nerthus remained absent. At first, Elijah didn¡¯t even spare the tree spirit¡¯s absence a second thought. After all, he¡¯d only had a handful of conversations with him since making first contact. However, as days passed without Nerthus making an appearance, Elijah started to worry. Not that it did any good. The tree spirit showed up when he wanted to, and there was nothing Elijah could do to change that. So, he pushed that from his mind and focused on healing the dragon. And finally, a week later, Elijah succeeded. Thankfully, the dragon didn¡¯t respond as she had in the ritual chamber. Instead, after her eyes fluttered open, she craned her long neck and looked around before focusing on Elijah. She stared at him for a long moment before saying, ¡°I apologize for my actions, druid.¡± Then, she collapsed into unconsciousness once again. Over the following few days, she awoke a few more times, but she didn¡¯t speak again until, as far as Elijah could tell, she¡¯d finally reached perfect health. At that point, she said, ¡°Where am I? What happened to the devourers?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in my Grove,¡± Elijah answered. Aside from shifting to a more comfortable position, she still hadn¡¯t moved. ¡°You¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°How did we escape? The leader would not have allowed me to leave without a fight.¡± ¡°I used a spell to teleport us here,¡± Elijah said. She narrowed her eyes, then leaned closer, and for a moment, Elijah felt like he was being sized up by a much larger predator. Then, she said, ¡°You are not strong enough to do that.¡± He sighed, then sat down. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong about that,¡± he admitted. ¡°It nearly ripped me to pieces.¡± He raised his arm, showing off the pattern of thin scars. ¡°And I have the scars to show for it.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°So, how did you get caught? No offense, but those guys didn¡¯t seem all that strong,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And you¡­well, you¡¯re a dragon.¡± Before, he hadn¡¯t really understood why Nerthus had spoken of dragons with such reverence. However, after seeing the one before him, he thought he¡¯d begun to understand just how much more powerful the species was. She was only a child, and yet, Elijah was certain that if she so wished it, she could tear him to pieces with only minimal effort. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°They trapped me,¡± she said. ¡°I was¡­foolish and hubristic. Despite my mother¡¯s words of caution, I thought this world beneath me. I was wrong.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t probe the topic any further. Instead, he changed the subject, asking, ¡°So, what do I call you?¡± ¡°I am Saraalinisa.¡± ¡°Uh¡­mind if I just call you Sara?¡± he asked. ¡°Because that¡¯s a mouthful.¡± She cocked her massive head to the side as if thinking it over, then said, ¡°I suppose that will do.¡± ¡°So, what happens now? Because I just checked, and my task isn¡¯t complete.¡± ¡°Task? Wait¡­did my mother send you?¡± ¡°Are you going to eat me if I say she did?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°What? No!¡± Sara shouted. ¡°Why would I eat you?¡± ¡°You attacked me for healing you back in the ritual chamber,¡± Elijah reminded her. ¡°Just covering my bases here.¡± ¡°Bases?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. My point is that I really don¡¯t want to get attacked again. So¡­uh¡­please don¡¯t. Because I don¡¯t think I can stop you if you want to eat me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to eat you!¡± ¡°That sounds like what someone who intended to eat me would say.¡± It was a strange thing, watching a dragon roll her eyes. Curiously human, but also undeniably alien. Either way, Elijah found it disconcerting. ¡°I have no intention of eating you,¡± she said. ¡°So, please ¨C just leave it at that.¡± ¡°Fair enough. My original question still stands. I¡¯m not saying the only reason I rescued you was to complete that task, but I¡¯m not saying it didn¡¯t play a huge part in my decision,¡± he said. ¡°What was the objective?¡± ¡°It just said to rescue the child.¡± ¡°Child? Ugh. She would phrase it like that,¡± Sara said. ¡°I¡¯m almost a century old, and she still treats me like an infant.¡± She let out a snort. ¡°So infuriating!¡± ¡°Again ¨C please don¡¯t eat me.¡± ¡°I am not going to eat you!¡± ¡°Good. Because I¡¯m sure I don¡¯t taste very good. Too little fat.¡± ¡°What is wrong with you?¡± she asked. ¡°Nothing. I just don¡¯t want to get eaten. Plus, I¡¯ve been living on this island alone for close to two years at this point. I mean, I did talk to some nice walrus people, but they weren¡¯t real, so I contend that doesn¡¯t count. There¡¯s Nerthus, too, but he¡¯s a tree. Or a tree spirit, I guess. I¡¯m not sure where he ends and the tree begins, if I¡¯m honest. He¡¯d probably tell me if I asked, but that just felt a little rude, you know?¡± ¡°What is a walrus? And why would they not be real?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­never mind. My point is that I really, really don¡¯t want to get eaten. I can¡¯t stress that enough.¡± ¡°I swear not to eat you.¡± ¡°Even if you¡¯re annoyed with me? Because ¨C¡± ¡°No matter what, I won¡¯t eat you. There. Satisfied?¡± ¡°Well, not really. Who knows if you¡¯re a liar? I mean, you seem trustworthy as far as giant, golden dragons are concerned, but I¡¯ll admit that I¡¯m not the best judge of character. I mean, I had this girlfriend back in high school who was sleeping with half the football team, and I never ¨C¡± ¡°Can you please stop babbling?¡± Sara interrupted. ¡°Oh, right. Just haven¡¯t had a lot of conversational opportunities lately. So, about my quest? Or task, I guess. Not sure if there¡¯s a difference, but we mustn¡¯t get the terminology wrong.¡± Sara sighed, a bit of a spark escaping from between her lips. ¡°Don¡¯t roast me either.¡± The dragon didn¡¯t respond, which Elijah thought was moderately concerning. Instead, she asked, ¡°How did my mother contact you?¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t. She talked to Nerthus.¡± ¡°This is the tree spirit you mentioned?¡± she asked. Elijah nodded, then hiked his thumb in the direction of the ancestral tree. ¡°Lives over there. But sometimes, he visits me in the tree house.¡± Sara nodded, then pushed herself to her feet. When she did, Elijah could only stare in awe. Her form was even more magnificent than he¡¯d first thought. ¡°Stop staring. It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t stare. Gotcha,¡± he said, though he didn¡¯t look away. Sara let out a huff, then headed toward the ancestral tree. When she reached it, she called out, ¡°Tree spirit! Speak to me!¡± Nerthus appeared only a moment later, and Elijah groaned, ¡°Oh, come on. I tried to get you to come out like ten times over the past week, and nothing. But she calls for you one time, and you just pop right up?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a dragon,¡± he said unapologetically, as if that was explanation enough. Looking at Sara, Elijah couldn¡¯t really argue with that assessment. ¡°Please contact my mother and tell her I am safe,¡± Sara said. Nerthus disappeared, merging with his branch. He was gone for only about thirty seconds before he reappeared, saying, ¡°Your mother wishes for your return. Consent, and Elijah will complete his task.¡± ¡°But she said I could stay on this ¨C¡± ¡°She was very specific about the conditions. She said ¨C and I quote, ¡®You have visited the new world. Return and continue your training.¡¯ The Great ¨C¡± ¡°Ugh. Fine. I¡¯ll go. Just do it.¡± ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°The tree spirit is going to use his connection to the world tree to send me home,¡± Sara said. ¡°Once I¡¯m back in Kabalis, you¡¯ll get your reward.¡± ¡°Ah. Makes sense, I guess,¡± he said, tapping his lip. ¡°Except for, you know, the whole thing! You¡¯re just going to connect to the World Tree? And what the hell, Nerthus? Could you have just sent me away?¡± He sighed, then before either Sara or Nerthus could respond, Elijah said, ¡°You know what? Never mind. The answer¡¯s probably just ¡®magic,¡¯ anyway. Right? It¡¯s magic.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not not magic,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°Fine. Carry on, I guess. Stupid trees and magic and dragons¡­¡± He looked up at Sara, then held up his hands, ¡°Not you. Obviously. As the only dragon I¡¯ve ever met who ¨C let¡¯s remember ¨C promised not to eat me, I¡¯m very much on your side. And your mom¡¯s. And any other dragon out there, I guess. Let¡¯s just say I¡¯m pro-dragon all the way.¡± To drive his point home, he held up two thumbs. Sara, for her part, just shook her head, then placed her foreleg on the tree¡¯s trunk. Looking down at Elijah, she said, ¡°You¡¯re weird. But thank you.¡± Without waiting for a response, she disappeared. Nerthus wilted, merging with his tree without another word. That left Elijah alone. Again. ¡°What¡¯s new?¡± he muttered to himself. However, at least he¡¯d completed his task, which was important enough. He couldn¡¯t help but think that he¡¯d have traded the reward for a little company, though.
Congratulations! You have completed a Task. Standby for reward¡­
Elijah held his breath until the next notification flashed before his eyes:
Blessing of the Dragon received. Please choose which form it takes: Core Advancement Item (Wings of the Dragon) Spell (Firestorm)
Elijah sank to his knees as he read the notification. He¡¯d anticipated that the reward to be good, but the Blessing of the Dragon exceeded his expectations. The first option was something he¡¯d sought ¨C without any luck ¨C for quite some time. The second option was a little less exciting, but the name was evocative enough that he was practically drooling at the possibilities. However, the third choice was probably the most straightforward ¨C a new spell, and the name Firestorm suggested that it was a powerful one. Still, Elijah only looked at the options for a moment before making his decision.
You have chosen: Core Advancment
Elijah grinned. And then, something exploded inside of him, driving him back into unconsciousness. 1-67. Dragon Core Elijah awoke suddenly, springing upright the moment awareness returned. However, despite his alarm, he was in no danger. In fact, he felt better than he had in¡­well, ever. Sitting beside the ancestral tree, he glanced down at his hands, but saw no difference. One still bore the acid scars he¡¯d gotten in the Sea of Sorrows, while the other, like most of the rest of his body, was riddled with thinner, much lighter scarring from overstepping in his use of Ancestral Circle. It took only a second more for him to realize that he was, once again, completely nude. Sighing, Elijah muttered, ¡°Of course I¡¯m naked. Again.¡± The loss of what amounted to rags wasn¡¯t a huge loss, and due to looting the ritualists, his collection of cloth was much deeper than it once had been. However, he really hated sewing ¨C especially since he didn¡¯t have proper tools, instead relying on bone hooks and homemade twine in place of thread ¨C so he wasn¡¯t looking forward to putting a new outfit together. If only the robes hadn¡¯t been sized to fit gnomes, he could¡¯ve just used them as they were. But that wasn¡¯t the case, so it looked like he had a good deal of sewing in his future. For now, though, the day was warm enough that his nudity wasn¡¯t terribly uncomfortable. Certainly, he¡¯d have once been a bit self-conscious about it. But there was no one else around ¨C aside from Nerthus¡¯s inconsistent presence ¨C and after spending so much time in the tower without any clothes, he¡¯d gotten over any shyness he might¡¯ve once fostered. In any case, he had other things on his mind. Chiefly, the pair of notifications clamoring for his attention. The first was:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Dragon Core. Current stage: Hatchling
¡°What does that even mean?¡± he said to himself. However, aside from the obvious ¨C that he¡¯d managed to reach the first stage of cultivating his core ¨C he had no idea what it meant. ¡°Okay, so¡­tabling that for later, moving on¡­¡± He pushed past that notification and opened the next:
You have reached the first threshold. Current stage: Cultivator
Elijah knew that he¡¯d accomplished something important, but he wasn¡¯t certain how to categorize it. So, lacking any further information, he opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 29
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 30
Dexterity 29
Constitution 30
Ethera 38
Regeneration 32
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Opal Neophyte
As expected, he¡¯d gained a single point in every attribute when he¡¯d gained level twenty-nine. But that certainly didn¡¯t account for how much stronger he felt. If he had to compare it to something, he would¡¯ve likened it to how he¡¯d felt after cultivating his body of wood. Though there was more to it than that, Elijah sensed. So, he took a moment to look at his spell book. And at first, it looked no different ¨C at least until he reached Shape of the Predator:
Shape of the Predator Take on the shape of a peerless hunter, vastly increasing your Dexterity and Strength attributes and giving an average increase to Constitution. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Predator is active.
There were a couple of changes. First, it had once featured the word ¡°mighty¡± to describe the transformation, but now it used the term ¡°peerless¡±. Second, it described the increase to his Constitution as average instead of minor, suggesting that it would be more impactful. If he¡¯d had any doubts about the general power of his spells, though, they were allayed when he reached his various Essence spells, the benefits of which had all doubled. So, instead of Essence of the Monkey increasing his Dexterity by five points, it now would enhance the attribute by ten points. Perhaps his other spells would see a similar increase in their potency. But he wanted to check things out, just in case. So, after stopping by the treehouse and wrapping one of the robes around his waist, Elijah headed to the beach where he usually hunted the giant crabs. Fortunately, there was one there, and even more luckily, the unnatural growth that had transformed the species seemed to have run out of steam. As a result, the one in front of him was no larger than a truck. A good thing, too. When the crabs had continued to grow, he¡¯d spent more than a couple of sleepless nights worrying about world-devouring crabs. Thankfully, it seemed that such a future would remain in his nightmares where such things belonged. In any case, Elijah used his Essence spells to increase his Regeneration and Dexterity, then applied One With Nature before pointing his staff at the crab. First, he used Entangling Roots, and at his command, thick vines erupted from the rocky shore to grab the crab¡¯s legs. It tried to tug free, but most of the vines remained intact. And those that broke were quickly replaced by more of the same. That was a marked improvement over the previous incarnation of the spell, which had been weak enough that he¡¯d often forgotten to use it. Now, though, that seemed to have changed, and it was potent enough to at least slow down powerful enemies. Idly, he wondered how it would fare against something like the Voxxian monster that had nearly killed the panther. Shaking his head, he knew that such a matchup wouldn¡¯t end well. He had no idea how strong either creature had been, but he was well aware of just how poorly he¡¯d match up to either the Voxx monster or the guardian panther. He¡¯d gotten stronger, but that kind of power seemed to be out of his reach. For now. Elijah watched as the crab continued to struggle, but it seemed incapable of escape. From experience, though, Elijah knew that it wouldn¡¯t last forever. Instead, the spell had a duration of around a minute before it would start to lose steam. So, he quickly raised his staff and channeled Storm¡¯s Fury though it. The bolt of lightning that tore out of the Staff of Natural Harmony was thicker and brighter than any he¡¯d summoned before, and when it hit the crab, it sent bits and pieces of the creature¡¯s shell flying away from the point of impact. At the same time, the creature collapsed into a seizure as the powerful electrical current coursed through its body. The aroma of cooking crab filled the air, telling Elijah just how much stronger his spell was. Still, he needed more tests. So, he aimed another couple of casts at the crab, killing it. ¡°Solid improvement,¡± he muttered to himself. Indeed, the spell had never been the most potent, and before, it had taken at least a eight casts to kill one of the crabs, depending on how strong the individual monsters were. Having that number cut in half was a remarkable increase in power. Still, he had more spells to test. So, over the next few hours, he did just that, finding another crab on the other side of the island so he could determine how much stronger Swarm had become. Curiously, the afflictions it inflicted weren¡¯t that much stronger, but the size of the swarm itself had grown by nearly half. However, the biggest change came when he finally decided to test Shape of the Predator. The transformation occurred much as it always did, but instead of sprouting fur, he grew glistening black scales. Looking down at his claws, he saw that they were far longer as well, and upon seeing that, he quickly sought out a small pool of water so he could look at his reflection. When he did, he let out a reptilian hiss. He certainly didn¡¯t look like a panther anymore. Indeed, if he had to describe the new expression of Shape of the Predator, he would have said it was a curious mixture of alligator, wolf, and panther. More than anything, the new form looked like some undiscovered dinosaur, swift, sleek, and more than anything else, deadly. The next big shock came when he used Guise of the Unseen. Instead of simply melting into the shadows as he normally did, he watched his blurry reflection fade away entirely. No ¨C that wasn¡¯t necessarily true. He didn¡¯t become invisible. Instead, the ability acted more like a chameleon¡¯s color-changing defense mechanism, though it was obviously aided by Ethera, because if he stood still, his scales were almost completely indistinguishable from their surroundings. So, not only would he gain far more attributes, but the viability of Guise of the Unseen had seen a significant boost as well. Elijah tracked down another crab, but this time, he only intended to use abilities native to Shape of the Predator. Chiefly, Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and Guise of the Unseen. However, when he pounced, using Predator Strike, his claws went through the animal¡¯s shell like it wasn¡¯t even there. He destroyed the monster¡¯s frontal nerve center with that single attack, and it collapsed in a heap, still alive but incapable of moving anything but its back legs. Silently apologizing for the creature¡¯s suffering, he proceeded with checking Venom Strike¡¯s viability as well, and he got the results he had expected. The crab died only thirty seconds after Elijah had used Venom Strike, which injected it with a much more potent neurotoxin. He still had one spell to test, but because Calamity had a significant dormant period after being cast, he chose not to experiment. After all, it would be quite an issue if he needed the powerful spell and didn¡¯t have it available. So, as he had since acquiring the spell, he kept it in his back pocket, just in case he needed it going forward. Once he¡¯d finished testing his Strength, Elijah returned to the Grove. There, he found Nerthus waiting for him in the tree spirit¡¯s customary spot on one of the ancestral tree¡¯s branches. ¡°Thanks for bailing on me, man,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you have any idea how many questions I have? I mean, could you always use the World Tree like that? And ¨C¡± ¡°What happened to you?¡± Nerthus interrupted. ¡°I¡­you¡­you are different.¡± ¡°Right. Yeah,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Well, the Blessing of the Dragon ¨C you know, the reward for my task? Well, it gave me three options. I could have taken an item called Dragon Wings and ¨C¡± ¡°You refused?! Dragon Wings are some of the most sought after items in the universe!¡± Nerthus exclaimed. ¡°They allow for true flight. Do you know how rare that is at your stage?¡± ¡°Right. Maybe I should¡¯ve taken that, but I don¡¯t think so. The other option was a spell called Firestorm. I¡¯ve gotta tell you ¨C that one tempted me,¡± he said. ¡°As well it should!¡± Nerthus shouted, clearly excited. ¡°Well, I thought the other option was better,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I upgraded my core.¡± ¡°W-what? How? That should not be possible on this world¡­the Ethera is too thin.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t know what to tell you. That was the reward,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s at the hatchling stage, if that means anything to you.¡± ¡°Hatchling? That doesn¡¯t¡­I¡¯ve never heard of that¡­what kind of core did you get? A nature core? Tree? Perhaps the predator core?¡± ¡°Dragon.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what it said on the box,¡± Elijah stated. Then he read the notification aloud, ¡°Congratulations! You have cultivated a Dragon Core. Current Stage: Hatchling.¡± Nerthus fell off his tree. Elijah rushed over to make sure the tree spirit was unhurt, but he found the small creature muttering to himself. ¡°That isn¡¯t possible. You can¡¯t be¡­no. They wouldn¡¯t¡­but she would have the power to¡­oh, dear¡­¡± ¡°Calm down, man. What¡¯s going on? Is a Dragon Core really that rare?¡± Elijah asked. Nerthus fixed him with a look of disbelief, then said, ¡°It is beyond rare. As far as I know, it may well be unique.¡± ¡°Oh. Well. That¡¯s good, then.¡± ¡°Good? Good?! It is unprecedented!¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said. It¡¯s good. Maybe I¡¯ll be able to get off this island, now,¡± Elijah said. His brief trip across the strait had reawakened his need for human companionship. Seeing all those people living normal lives ¨C he wanted something like that. Certainly, he had no intention of abandoning his Grove, but he could always return with Ancestral Circle. ¡°Anyway ¨C what¡¯s so good about it?¡± ¡°Oh¡­yes. Right. Where to begin?¡± ¡°How about you start with why you just about have a seizure every time someone says the word ¡®dragon¡¯, and then we can move on from there.¡± 1-68. Long Overdue ¡°First, you must understand the fundamental races that comprise the universe,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Humans are one. Obviously. But there are also elves, dwarves, gnomes, goblins, kysar, and elementals, with each race having various branches. For instance, elves have three main variants ¨C wood elves, dark elves, and high elves. Each of the other races have at least as many varieties who have followed different evolutionary paths.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± Elijah said. ¡°When you say races, I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re not talking about ethnicity.¡± ¡°I am not. Though most races can reproduce with one another, creating even more diversity, each is fundamentally different from the other.¡± ¡°Gotcha. Lots of interbreeding. A bunch of half-elves and demignomes running around. Not really my thing, but someone has to be into that kind of thing, right?¡± Elijah asked. Nerthus just looked at him like he¡¯d gone a little crazy. ¡°Sorry. This is the second longest conversation we¡¯ve had, and like I said before, it¡¯s kind of gotten to me.¡± ¡°Right.¡± Elijah apologized again, then said, ¡°Carry on.¡± Nerthus continued to explain the shape of the universe and its inhabitants, once again pointing out the difference between devourers and preservers, though Elijah got the feeling that neither group was exactly codified. They were just labels that probably meant different things to different people. He also talked about how there were thousands of worlds, adding, ¡°The older they are, the more connected to the world tree they are. That makes the overall Ethera in those worlds thicker and the denizens more powerful on average.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m guessing the world tree is where the System comes from?¡± ¡°No. Though it is dependent on the World Tree to spread, the System is not of the World Tree. Instead, it is the result of multiple Transcendents working together,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°They worked for eons until, at last, they created the System.¡± ¡°Oh. Why?¡± ¡°To help people resist the Voxx, of course,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°But I digress. You wish to know of dragons. They are what¡¯s known as an elder race. There aren¡¯t many, and even the youngest among them is capable of feats few of the fundamental races can match. To those of us following a nature path, they are as gods.¡± That certainly explained Nerthus¡¯s reaction. Elijah asked, ¡°So, what does it mean that I have a Dragon Core? And why do I feel so much better, now? It¡¯s like I got twenty or thirty percent stronger in the blink of an eye.¡± Indeed, during his testing, he¡¯d tested his attributes by lifting progressively heavy rocks, which was where he¡¯d gotten his estimate. It wasn¡¯t exactly scientific, but he felt confident in the assessment. ¡°You passed the first threshold,¡± said Nerthus. Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°You say that like it¡¯s supposed to mean something to me. Come on, man. I have no idea what any of this stuff means,¡± he groaned. ¡°It is the System¡¯s way of measuring your overall cultivation,¡± he said. ¡°There are nine stages, starting with Cultivator and ending with Supremacy. It is the first half of Godhood.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C are you saying I can become a god?¡± ¡°Indeed. How do you think the originators gathered enough power to create the System? Of course, they went far beyond our current measurements, but ¨C¡± ¡°I can become a god, though? Like, you¡¯re not screwing with me, are you?¡± ¡°Yes. Though, I caution you that such a journey will take you millennia. However, with a Dragon Core, if you progress that far, you will be one of the more powerful deities,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°In plain terms, what does core cultivation do?¡± ¡°It increases the density and quality of your stored Ethera, making your spells, abilities, and techniques more powerful. Different types of cores represent differing degrees of improvement. For instance, if you were to have cultivated a nature core and reached the seed stage, you would have experienced a five or six percent increase in the power of your spells. Higher stages result in larger increases, though I can¡¯t speak to anything after the sapling stage.¡± ¡°Uh¡­are you sure about those numbers?¡± ¡°Quite. Why do you ask?¡± ¡°It¡¯s just that¡­well, I can¡¯t say that this is the case for everything, but my Essence spells ¨C they increase my attributes by set amounts ¨C all experienced a bigger increase than what you¡¯re describing.¡± ¡°Oh? That should be expected, with a Dragon Core. They are some of the most powerful beings in the universe, after all. How large of an increase did those abilities experience? Ten percent? Fifteen?¡± This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Um¡­higher. A lot higher.¡± ¡°Thirty?¡± Elijah gestured for the tree spirit to keep going. Nerthus went pale ¨C quite a feat, considering that he was made of tree bark ¨C and Elijah took pity on him. He said, ¡°Double.¡± ¡°D-double?¡± ¡°Yeah. For those spells, at least. I can¡¯t tell for sure with the others, though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not¡­that isn¡¯t possible.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve said that a couple of times already. I don¡¯t think you really know what that word means.¡± Nerthus looked like he was on the verge of having a seizure, so Elijah changed the subject, ¡°So, you said dragons are only one of the elder races, right? What are the other ones?¡± Nerthus shook his head, muttering to himself, but after a few seconds, he looked up and answered, ¡°Demons are one. Angels are another. And mechaniques, though they are exceedingly rare.¡± ¡°Demons?¡± Elijah said. Then, he held his hands up to his head with his index fingers pointing skyward. ¡°Like, horns, forked tails, and cloven hooves?¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°They are the sworn enemies of angels, though they rarely come into actual conflict. Long ago, they reached an agreement to remain on their respective sides of the universe. If they hadn¡¯t, there¡¯s every chance that nothing would have survived the ensuing war. Mechaniques, by comparison, are a race of awakened golems. No one knows how they reached that stage, and any attempts to replicate the feat have met with failure. There are a handful of other elder races that have died out as well.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­a lot to take in.¡± The idea that angels and demons were real had been more of a surprise than seeing gnomes and dwarves. ¡°So, is there a reason why some of our religious stories and myths mention these elder races? Or the foundational races, come to that.¡± ¡°Before the planet¡¯s integration, it would have been incredibly difficult for them to reach your planet. However, difficult does not mean impossible. Likely, this planet has been visited sometime in the past, which is the source of your myths, legends, and religions.¡± Elijah shook his head. If the rest of the world knew that, then there were probably some religions that would experience quite a bit of upheaval. The only thing that made it any more palatable was that the way Nerthus described deities was more like Greek gods, rather than any of the omnipotent monotheistic versions. The first was frightening, but the second was far more so. The idea that a flawed being could reach that level of power was one of the most horrifying things Elijah could imagine. ¡°What does this mean for me, though?¡± he asked. ¡°Druids are already rare,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°But a druid with a dragon core? If there is another one in the entire universe, I would be shocked. You must keep this to yourself. Otherwise, the Grove will be in danger.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Some will see it as an obstacle to overcome,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Strength invites challenge. However, dragons have their own enemies. We have spoken of this, but you must understand that the most extreme devourers can and will attempt to harvest anything they can find that will increase their power. That was why the young dragon was trapped. That is why you must be careful. Even if only your core is of the dragon, it is still valuable in the extreme.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Understood,¡± he said, thinking that it sounded like more trouble than it was worth. However, he only needed to remember the challenges he¡¯d faced so far to recognize the necessity to gather as much Strength as he could. That included his Dragon Core, regardless of the problems that came with it. ¡°Alright, I only have a couple more questions,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, he¡¯d been compiling them since the very beginning, and now that Nerthus was willing to explain some things, he intended to take full advantage. ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned that the World Tree let you connect with Sara¡¯s mother. How?¡± ¡°The World Tree connects everything. You merely need to know how to tap into it. Your spell, Ancestral Circle, does this.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°And I haven¡¯t the time to explain it in the sort of depth understanding would require.¡± ¡°Alright. No need to get snippy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And I see you¡¯re getting a bit antsy to get back in your tree, so I¡¯ve only got one more question.¡± Nerthus sighed, ¡°Very well.¡± ¡°Why aren¡¯t we being inundated by powerful beings?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Those gnomes had some Strength, but the fact that, after less than two years, I could kill them like that suggests that they weren¡¯t very powerful. But that doesn¡¯t make sense. How come there aren¡¯t stronger people here taking over the world?¡± ¡°Two reasons. First, there¡¯s no reason to,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°This world may one day be valuable, but for now, getting here and taking over is far more trouble than it¡¯s worth. That may change in the future, but for now, only the people who want to escape their old lives would come here. Second, the low density of ambient Ethera is uncomfortable for anyone above a certain level or cultivation threshold.¡± ¡°What about Sara? How was she trapped?¡± ¡°She is a child, and, according to her mother, she was reckless. For someone with the right skills, that is all that¡¯s necessary. Let that be a lesson to you, Protector of the Grove. No matter how strong you become, a moment of inattention is all it will take to bring you low.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a cheery thought.¡± ¡°You must excuse me,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°I have stayed far longer than I should. If the Ethera levels continue to rise, I should soon be capable of leaving the tree permanently. However, I should point out that I will never be able to leave the Grove.¡± ¡°Oh. That sucks.¡± Nerthus cocked his head to the side, then said, ¡°No. Not really. This is a great thing, tending a druid¡¯s Grove. At heart, I am still a tree, and trees were never meant to roam. Goodbye, for now.¡± ¡°Yeah. See you later, Nerthus.¡± With that, the tree spirit retreated to the ancestral tree, laid his hand on the trunk, and then merged with it. The process was a bit of a mind bender, but Elijah had seen it often enough that it didn¡¯t really seem that odd to him anymore. ¡°What a weird world¡­¡± After that, Elijah stood, grabbed the pack that had been discarded when he¡¯d returned to the Grove, and headed back to his tree house, where he intended to get started on sewing his new clothing. Halfway up the stairs, he stopped mid-step as he felt something he had hoped he would never feel. Someone had landed on his island. No. Not just one person. A veritable army of gnomes, goblins, and dwarves had invaded his Domain. He could feel them all so thoroughly that it almost felt like he was standing right there beside them. Ten. Twenty. Thirty. The numbers didn¡¯t stop climbing until he reached fifty, all having been carried ashore by a small fleet of rowboats. Elijah was vaguely aware that one of them was shouting orders, but his Domain didn¡¯t extend to interpretation of sound. It didn¡¯t matter, though. Even as they spread out, he hopped down the steps and checked his enhancements. They were all still active. With that confirmed, he was ready to defend his Domain, and he quickly shifted into the Shape of the Predator. Once he¡¯d taken on his new form, he set off across the island he knew so well. 1-69. Defense Elijah darted through the dark forest like a ghost, letting Guise of the Unseen hide him. The ability didn¡¯t just change the color of his scales or use the shadows to obscure him. Instead, it also harnessed his Ethera to muffle every other aspect of his presence. He was quieter. His odor less pronounced. Even the air moved a little less while he was cloaked in the ability. Still, it wasn¡¯t perfect, and at the speed he dashed beneath the trees, he knew he was vaguely visible. Fortunately, the awareness that came with his Domain helped him avoid anything ¨C whether it was wild animals or his prey ¨C so he remained as unseen as the name of his ability would suggest. Fifty invaders was a daunting number. In the ritual chamber, he¡¯d fought against six, and he¡¯d only narrowly managed to survive. And who knew if these newcomers would be more suited to a fight? After all, he hadn¡¯t forgotten the battle that had killed the panther. That trio of combatants had been far stronger than the ritualists. So, Elijah knew he needed to be prepared for the worst. Both Shape of the Predator and Essence of the Monkey provided double their previous attribute enhancements, and One With Nature probably did so as well, even if it wasn¡¯t displayed in his status. So, his effective Dexterity ¨C and Strength ¨C had more than doubled with the formation of his Dragon Core. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the even more ephemeral increase he¡¯d gotten from passing the first threshold. No - he was more powerful than ever before. The only problem was that he expected that he would need it if he was going to repel the invasion. One against fifty weren¡¯t good odds, no matter how much stronger he felt. Even with his advantages, if he made one small mistake, he would become easy prey. So, knowing how close to the edge he needed to walk, he let himself slip into the instincts that had come with Shape of the Predator. They¡¯d let him survive the Primordial Forest, so Elijah reasoned that they would stand him in good stead against the invaders. Hopefully, he would retain enough of his rational mind to pull out of it once everything was done. With that done, his gait became even more graceful, his movements more silent as the animalistic part of his mind took full advantage of his improved attributes. He never slowed, springing over natural gullies, bounding past boulders, and climbing and leaping from tree to tree when there was no other option. He covered almost three miles in a little more than a quarter of an hour ¨C a mighty feat, considering the terrain ¨C and during that time, few of the island¡¯s residents even knew of his passing. It was a heady feeling, knowing just how efficient a predator he had become. But soon, he pushed those emotions to the side as he finally reached his destination. The beach was one of the more accessible on the island, with a long, open stretch of shore marred only by the occasional rock or piece of driftwood. There were a dozen boats, each a copy of the one Elijah had used to cross the strait. With a clear night sky lit by a carpet of stars as well as the silvery light of a gibbous moon, there was plenty of illumination for him to study his prey. Most of them were diminutive gnomes, but there were a few green-skinned goblins and broad-shouldered dwarves mixed in as well. More importantly, they were kitted out for battle, with most of them wearing one sort of armor or another. Elijah saw more than a few wearing sturdy plate, while most wore chainmail mixed with hardened leather. Even the ones Elijah marked as casters wore armored robes and carried staves. The rest were armed with a wide variety of weapons ranging from axes to swords and shields, with quite a few wielding bows mixed in. They didn¡¯t look so much like the small army he¡¯d expected as they seemed to be a collection of individuals. Elijah could only hope he would be able to use that to his advantage. So, he watched from the tree line, keeping low to the ground with Guise of the Unseen masking his presence. And as they started setting up tents a few dozen yards from shore ¨C far enough to keep dry during high tide, but not nearly enough for Elijah¡¯s preference ¨C an idea began to take shape. And the more he thought about it, the more sense it made. So, once Elijah was satisfied with his plan, he set off back the way he¡¯d come. As he did, he kept a proverbial eye on the invaders via the senses granted by his Domain, but they continued setting up their camp. When they¡¯d first arrived, Elijah had thought they had somehow followed the metaphysical trail he¡¯d left behind after rescuing Sara. However, the fact that they seemed keen on sticking around for at least a little while suggested a different motivation, though Elijah wasn¡¯t clear on what, precisely, that was. Sure, he felt confident that it had something to do with the ancestral tree, but beyond that, he was completely ignorant. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. In any case, he didn¡¯t expect he would ever find out. With any luck, he¡¯d be rid of them in only a few hours. With that in mind, he continued to dash through the woods until, at last, he reached a familiar beach on the other side of the island. Fortunately, he only had to follow the beach for a few minutes in order to find his quarry. One of the huge crabs stood before him, busy tearing into some carcass that had washed ashore. Elijah wasted no time before bounding toward the creature, then tapping it on its leg. Then, as the monster skittered around, he sprang backward out of range of its claws. Then, he took off down the beach, the crab in tow. Every now and then, when the crustacean started to lose interest in the chase, he¡¯d circle around and reengage. Even before reaching the first threshold and having his spells and abilities enhanced by the Dragon Core, he¡¯d been capable of running circles around the crabs. He could even manage it in his human form, so doing it as the scaled predator barely required any focus. Elijah led the creature along the beach until he saw another crab. When he did, he repeated the process, nipping at its armored legs before dashing along. It followed, just like the other, though it was about thirty feet in front of the first. He kept going, leading the creatures along as he gradually circled the island. It took hours, but the only really tricky part had come when he reached the western cliffs. There, he¡¯d had to switch to his human form and swim while keeping the crabs engaged via Storm¡¯s Fury. He lost one along the way, but by that point, he¡¯d grabbed three others, and he reached the next beach without any further issue. As soon as his Ethera allowed, he switched back to the predator form and continued along until he felt the invaders¡¯ camp looming ahead of him. Throughout the process, Elijah had let his mind wander slightly. However, with the invaders so close, he reengaged his focus and stalked forward. He knew he had to time things correctly. Otherwise, the crabs would lose interest. By that point, the invaders had finished setting up their camp, and they¡¯d set out a few sentries, one of which was only a couple dozen feet in front of him. The scout wore stiff leather armor and was armed with a bow, but more importantly, he was clearly alert. It didn¡¯t help. Elijah circled, staying low and hidden by the terrain, until he saw the gnome¡¯s back. Then, using Predator Strike, he pounced. The first attack met little resistance, but it wasn¡¯t immediately fatal. He let out a high-pitched scream, but was quickly silenced by a claw to the throat. Without skipping a beat ¨C and knowing just how tight his window was ¨C Elijah clamped his jaws around the scout¡¯s thin arm, bit through the bone, then repeated the option on the other limbs. In short order, he had five pieces of gnome piled before him. More troublingly, the crabs were almost upon him, and the gnome¡¯s scream had roused the camp. That was fine, though. Elijah shifted back to his human form, grabbed one of the limbs, and tossed it in the direction of the skittering crabs. Then, he repeated the action, scattering the bloody chunks of gnome in a rough line that led directly to the camp. After that was done, he ran off, bounding across the rocky shore and into the tree line. No one had ever seen him. His breath coming shallow and fast, Elijah circled the camp. Even in his human form, he was no slouch when it came to remaining hidden, and soon enough, he found himself on the other side of the camp. It was at that moment that the crabs came into view, having followed Elijah¡¯s trail of gnome parts. When the invaders saw the massive monsters, they let loose with a wide variety of attacks. Mages cast fire balls, archers shot arrows, and the heavily armored warriors rushed to what they thought were the front lines. That left the other scouts on a proverbial island where, even if they shouted an alarm, they would get little support. And Elijah was more than willing to take advantage of that. In his caster form, he wasn¡¯t nearly as deadly as he would be as the scaled predator, but he was still much stronger than an average human. And he had a big, sturdy stick. So, when he rushed the gnome, swinging his staff like a baseball bat, the little scout fell without a word. He hadn¡¯t died ¨C he¡¯d only been knocked unconscious ¨C but that was fine. Elijah had no qualms about finishing the job with the knife at his belt. After slitting the invader¡¯s throat, he took a look back at the camp. They were handling the crabs well enough, and though the crustaceans had little hope of actually hurting the invaders, they were extremely durable. And there were almost a dozen of them, which meant that the camp¡¯s damage was spread out enough that it gave Elijah plenty of time to kill the lone remaining scout. This one went much the same as the last, though it took two staff strikes to put the goblin down. Still, Elijah managed, then slit the green-skinned creature¡¯s throat before turning back to the camp. Three of the crabs had been killed, and the rest were on their last legs. Not surprising, considering the overwhelming Strength of the force. However, Elijah had never meant for the crabs to be anything but a distraction. His real attack was forthcoming. He only wished he¡¯d had the chance to test it, but between the rescue, his subsequent recovery, and gaining his Dragon Core, it had slipped his mind. In his defense, his island had been relatively safe since the very beginning, so he hadn¡¯t expected a small army of invaders to land on his shores. Still, as he gathered his Ethera, he vowed to never let it happen again. From now on, he¡¯d test his abilities and spells as soon as he could. Once he¡¯d shifted enough Ethera into the appropriate spell, he cast Calamity, hoping it would be just as devastating as the description implied. 1-70. The Boss Mist swirled around Alyssa as the monster launched itself at her. Moving far more quickly than any normal human could have managed, she raised her Spear of the Dragon Lancer just in time to intercept its snapping jaws. Still, its momentum hit her like a truck, sending her tumbling onto her back. The monster followed, raking its claws across her breastplate. The metal held, but only barely, and Alyssa used the creature¡¯s inertia against it as she rolled, kicking up as she sent it flying past her. It hit a nearby wall, shattering glass and distorting the steel frame of a floor-to-ceiling window. Even as it skidded across the building¡¯s lobby, an arrow followed. Just before it hit, the projectile split into three, each of which slammed into its chest. A stream of pale blood arced into the air as the monster screamed. A blur materialized behind it, and suddenly, its head was rolling to a stop at Trace¡¯s feet. The Outlaw disappeared a second later, but Alyssa didn¡¯t see it. Instead, she was too busy pushing herself to her feet so she could face the next threat. There were three enemies, each advancing with cautious implacability. They looked much the same as all the other monsters they¡¯d faced in the city ¨C pale white skin, with almost human features and abnormally muscular bodies ¨C but Alyssa wasn¡¯t concerned with their appearance. She had already seen enough of them, after all. Stomping down, she used Shockwave, the ability sending out a wave of force that briefly stunned them. Then, she thrust her spear forward in a move that might¡¯ve looked odd from a full fifteen feet away. As she lunged, she used Unstoppable Thrust, sending a thick wave of ethereal force piercing through them.
Unstoppable Thrust Thrust with a spear or lance, hitting all enemies in a straight line.
It wasn¡¯t enough to kill the monsters, but it certainly did plenty of damage. More importantly, it kept them off-balance as she used Heroic Leap, pushing herself high into the air. Then, she fell upon them with Descending Dragon, skewering the centermost monster with her spear. Even as the blade exploded through its skull, she let loose with Champion¡¯s Shout, striking fear into the remaining creatures. It wouldn¡¯t last long. She knew that. But then again, she didn¡¯t need much time to wrench her spear free and sweep it out in a wide arc that hacked into the second monster¡¯s neck. She used that momentum to sweep the legs out from under the third monster, which she dispatched with a two-handed thrust to its inhuman face. But that¡¯s where her luck ran out. Something rammed into her back, sending her sprawling across the concrete sidewalk. The metal of her armor screeched in protest as she tried to twist around, but her assailant had timed its attack well. Without looking back, she used Bulwark, hoping to superimpose the invisible shield between herself and her attacker. But without being able to see, her aim was off, and she placed the shield behind the pale-skinned monster. So, she improvised, gathering her limbs beneath her and pushing up with all her might. As she did, she once again activated Heroic Leap. Bones crunched ¨C hers as well as the monster¡¯s ¨C but she gritted her teeth through the pain and sent an elbow back to hit the monster again. It let loose with what sounded like a combination of a dog¡¯s yelp and a human¡¯s scream, but it didn¡¯t loosen its grip. If anything, it clung to her back with even more fervor, its claws digging deep into her flesh. Then, heat washed over her, and the monster¡¯s screams ceased. ¡°Stay still!¡± yelled Bryce. Then, Alyssa screamed as something ripped the claws free. Bryce called out, ¡°Need a heal!¡± ¡°I¡¯m almost out of Ethera!¡± responded Verin. But despite the healer¡¯s lack of fuel, a spell of Regeneration washed over Alyssa. The wounds in her back closed, though she knew that a single spell wouldn¡¯t entirely heal the damage. In fact, if she moved too violently, the lacerations would re-open. Still, it was better than nothing. She used Recover, sending her Regeneration through the roof. With that done, she levered herself to her feet. Wobbling, Alyssa thrust the butt of her staff into the ground and looked around. The monsters were dead, and everyone had survived. For now. She¡¯d lost track of how long they¡¯d been there. Time was difficult to track in the mist, and even without it, there was no night or day to mark the time. Still, she suspected it had been days, at least. Maybe as much as a week, based on how often they¡¯d been forced to rest, and barely an hour of it had passed without significant combat. But according to Trace, they¡¯d finally reached their destination. More importantly, they¡¯d done so without losing anyone else. Sure, they¡¯d all been injured, but they¡¯d made it. Letting out a deep sigh to steady her nerves and help herself deal with the pain of her persistent wounds, Alyssa looked around. Everyone was there, and aside from Roman, they were all looking to her for direction. She said, ¡°Into the building. Find us a defensible position.¡± ¡°But the capital is right there¡­¡± She glared at Trace. The man¡¯s armor had definitely seen better days, but due to Verin¡¯s ministrations, he was whole. The same could be said for all the others. For her part, Alyssa¡¯s armor was mostly intact, though she¡¯d lost one of her vambraces during a previous fight. Still, for her next suit of armor, Alyssa intended to ask Carmen to make her a more robust backplate. The current level of protection back there was woefully insufficient, as she¡¯d discovered when the latest monster had sunk its claws into her back. Aside from the terrible state of their armor, everyone looked exhausted. And given what had happened the last time they¡¯d gone from one level of the tower to another ¨C which was what she assumed would happen when they reached the capital ¨C Alyssa wanted everyone in the best shape possible. That meant rest and repast. No one spoke much over the next couple of hours. By that point, they didn¡¯t have much to say. For her part, Alyssa watched for any sign of attack, planting herself in the doorway as the rest of her team prepared for what was to come. She was so focused on the lobby of the building ¨C which looked like every upscale office building she¡¯d ever seen ¨C that she didn¡¯t even notice Roman until he put a hand on her shoulder. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She flinched, moving with incredible speed as she extricated herself from his grip. She had her spear up and at his neck in only an instant. The moment she realized what she¡¯d done, she retracted the blade and apologized. Roman shook his head, saying, ¡°No need to apologize. We¡¯re all on edge. I shouldn¡¯t have snuck up on you.¡± Alyssa sighed, then resumed her vigil. Roman joined her. ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll find on the next level?¡± she asked at last. ¡°More monsters,¡± he stated. ¡°Beyond that¡­I don¡¯t know. But I don¡¯t think we¡¯re done with this one.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked. ¡°You read the guides. There¡¯s probably some kind of guardian.¡± ¡°Boss monster!¡± supplied Bryce from across the room. She turned her head and glared at him. ¡°Don¡¯t eavesdrop.¡± ¡°Sorry, boss.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Roman said, running his hand through his hair. ¡°There¡¯s probably something we¡¯ll have to beat before we advance. Maybe it¡¯s another horde of monsters. Or it might be a bigger, badder monster. But I don¡¯t think we¡¯re done with this level. Not by a long shot.¡± Alyssa didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. She was already prepared for something worse, so it didn¡¯t really matter if they met it at the end of the second level or the beginning of the third. So, she just said, ¡°We¡¯ll beat whatever we find. We don¡¯t have a choice.¡± Roman didn¡¯t say anything after that, instead giving Alyssa¡¯s shoulder another squeeze before heading back to rest with the others. At one point, he might have tried to relieve her, but he¡¯d learned firsthand that doing so wouldn¡¯t do any good. She had a responsibility, and with her heavy armor, Recover ability, and high level, she was the best person for the job. So, if someone wanted to replace her as the group¡¯s guardian, they¡¯d have to physically drag her out of the way. No one was willing to try that. After a couple more hours, Alyssa¡¯s wounds had healed, and everyone had recovered enough that they felt confident in moving forward. So, they set off from the skyscraper¡¯s lobby and down the wide street. The evidence of the previous battle remained, but they all ignored it. Instead, they kept moving along the route defined by Trace¡¯s scouting, and soon enough, the capital came into view. ¡°Familiar,¡± she muttered. And it was. The building before them lay at the center of a wide plaza whose details were lost to the mist. However, the building itself was almost a perfect replica of the U.S. Capital building, though even larger than the real thing. Still, Alyssa was less concerned with that than the creature planted at the base of the steps. ¡°Eyes up,¡± she said a little louder, hefting her spear. ¡°Boss monster ahead.¡± The monster in question looked a lot like the others they¡¯d fought, though where they were roughly human-sized, this new creature was the size of a giant. If it was less than fifteen feet tall, Alyssa would have been surprised, and its frame bulged with dense muscle. More, the pale skin was riddled with raised green veins. And what¡¯s even worse, it had clearly noticed them because it pushed itself to its feet ¨C an act which made Alyssa reassess her previous estimate of the thing¡¯s height; it was at least twenty feet tall, and maybe even larger. A shiver of fear slid up Alyssa¡¯s spine, but she suppressed it. ¡°You all know what to do.¡± Indeed, the group had been working together for long enough that they were all extremely familiar with the most effective strategy. Alyssa stepped forward. The monster echoed the motion, cocking its head to the side as if surprised that she wasn¡¯t running in fear. She hefted her spear in both hands. Then, she used Heart of the Dragon, flooding her body with Ethera and inflating her physical attributes. Meanwhile, Roman stepped to the side, raising his bow. He drew an arrow from the quiver at his waist, but he didn¡¯t draw it back. Not yet. At the same time, Bryce started casting a spell while Trace slipped away unnoticed, fading into the mist. Finally, Verin slipped her morningstar from her waist and cast her own spell. Alyssa felt the woman¡¯s heal-over-time spell hit her, followed by a second effect. Thus prepared, she trotted forward. The monster was only forty yards away, so it wasn¡¯t long before Alyssa used Heroic Leap, following it up with Descending Dragon. Predictably, the monster was taken by surprise ¨C even if it had expected her descent, it certainly didn¡¯t envision the sheer ferocity of her first strike. Still, it managed to dodge to the side at the last second, so Alyssa¡¯s spear ¨C which had been aimed at its head ¨C hit its meaty shoulder instead. The blade tore through pale flesh, spraying Alyssa with a fountain of blood. She bounded backwards, leaving the spear embedded in the monster; she might have been capable of dislodging it, but she wasn¡¯t sure of it. So, she¡¯d chosen not to try. Flipping, she used her newest ability. Leathery wings manifested, spreading out from her shoulder blades and allowing her to glide away. It was perfectly timed, too, because only a second later, the monster charged forward, trampling the spot where she would have landed. Instead, it caught nothing but air, and Alyssa canceled the ability. She landed on its shoulders, grabbed the spear, and used Enrage. With her increased Strength, she yanked it free, then used Heroic Leap to send herself flying away. Predictably, the monster attempted to follow, but she¡¯d used Bulwark the moment her feet left its bulbous flesh. So, it hit the low wall, tipped over, and landed on its face. That¡¯s when Bryce finished his spell. The ground beneath the monster erupted, and suddenly the earth worm wrapped itself around its torso. The creature screamed in pain as the worm squeezed, its rocky flesh contracting until bones started to break. But it didn¡¯t last long before, with a mighty shove, the monster broke free. Rocks and earth exploded in every direction as a roar of fury filled the air. Before it could rise, Roman shot it. Once. Twice. Thrice, the thwap of his bowstring sounded, and suddenly, three arrows sprouted from the monster. It seemed stunned, looking down at them in confusion. They had barely even pierced its skin, much less done any damage. Then, they exploded into whirlwinds of shadow that enveloped the thing. Another arrow hit its leg, and arcane black chains shackled it to the ground. Another arrow took it in the head, piercing one of its eyes. It stumbled, clearly blinded by Roman¡¯s newest ability. He hadn¡¯t named it, but Alyssa thought of it as Blinding Shot. He¡¯d kept the rest of his ability names a secret as well, but they were certainly effective at hindering the creature. Still, Roman didn¡¯t have the ability to finish it off. And Bryce had only just begun casting his latest spell. Fortunately, that was when Trace made himself known. He launched himself from the mist as if he¡¯d only just manifested from nothing. His swords flashed as he fell on the creature, stabbing down into its chest. Then, he raced away, disappearing back into the mist. The blinded monster never even knew he was there. But it wasn¡¯t dead. Like Roman, Trace kept his ability names close to his chest. However, Alyssa had seen the Outlaw¡¯s blades rip through lesser creatures with ease, so she knew just how much damage he could do. The monster had to be on its last legs. Alyssa just needed to finish it off. So, she strode forward, and when she reached the hobbled creature, she used Unstoppable Thrust. A wave of piercing force ripped through it, sending more blood to spray across the plaza. Then, she used Heroic Leap, sailing high into the air. When she started to fall, she summoned an invisible Bulwark before kicking off the plane of Ethera with yet another Heroic Leap. Twice more she repeated the action until she was more than a hundred feet in the air. Then, at last, she used Descending Dragon.
Descending Dragon Fall upon an enemy, dealing more damage based on distance fallen. Protected from falling damage while ability is active.
She fell, leading the way with her spear. Just before she reached the monster, its eyes cleared, and for the briefest of moments, it saw its doom. The Spear of the Dragon Lancer bit into the monster¡¯s skull with enough force to shatter it entirely. But Alyssa¡¯s attack didn¡¯t end there. Instead, her knee took it in the chest, obliterating flesh and bone alike before cracking the plaza¡¯s stone tiles and digging a shallow crater in the ground below. When the dust settled, she rose, covered in the creature¡¯s blood and having defeated the guardian of the tower¡¯s second level. Without any of them, it wouldn¡¯t have been possible. Roman had hobbled it. Both Bryce and Trace had weakened it so that Alyssa could finish it off. It was a team effort, but to anyone who saw her rising from that crater, it was clear who¡¯d shouldered the bulk of the load. Alyssa looked around, then down at her gore covered body before letting out a resigned sigh. ¡°I really need a shower.¡± 1-71. Cursed Standing in the center of camp, Cabbot shouted, ¡°They¡¯re just crabs, you idiots! Just kill them!¡± Even as he said it, the whole of Ironshore¡¯s defense force waged war against the remaining three pests. They weren¡¯t terribly dangerous ¨C not unless his idiotic soldiers made a bunch of mistakes, which, given their performance so far, wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility ¨C but they were difficult to kill. Still, despite taking the camp by surprise, the attack hadn¡¯t claimed any casualties. He turned to Nirea, demanding, ¡°Have you heard from those idiot scouts? Why didn¡¯t they warn us?¡± She looked up, tucked a vivid pink lock of hair behind her ear, then said, ¡°No contact. They are presumed incapacitated, though we won¡¯t know for certain until we investigate further.¡± The gnomish woman was an Administrator, which was supposed to be an extremely valuable addition to any force. However, from what Cabbot could tell, she was mostly a waste of resources. All she ever did was tell him things he could have figured out on his own. She was lucky she was beautiful. Otherwise, Cabbot would¡¯ve already gotten rid of her. ¡°Well, investigate, then!¡± he growled. ¡°Figure it out!¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± she said, and then, without any further conversation, she strode away. ¡°Not now!¡± he spat, though by that point, she was too far away. He looked around, seeing that he was safe. At least the idiots had managed to repel a few scavengers; if they hadn¡¯t¡­ He looked around at the battle-hardened combatants. They were all of a level with him, though he knew most had fairly common classes. Not like him. The Berserker class had never been his goal, but after seeing his other options, he¡¯d made the only choice that made any sense. And since then, he¡¯d come around to its benefits. However, that didn¡¯t mean he was completely comfortable with some of its downsides. That would take years of pain and effort ¨C neither of which really appealed to him. Still, it was a powerful class with great attribute bonuses that put him above any other elite in Ironshore. And even if he¡¯d lost the opportunity the captured dragon represented, he was still on a fresh world with plenty of chances to improve. So long as he could find whatever natural treasure made the island so special. And it was special. He knew that from the moment he set foot on shore. The Ethera was thick, feeling almost solid to his senses, and the crabs¡¯ advanced mutation was even further evidence that there was something worth harvesting in the area. He just had to find it. But to do that, he needed to establish a foothold. Cabbot might¡¯ve been impatient, but he was anything but foolish. The first step was to create a defensible position. Then, he would send the scouts to map the interior of the island. Meanwhile, his underlings would begin the process of subduing the local fauna. And when the time came, he would reap the benefits. Really, it was probably for the best if a few of his soldiers died. That meant that he¡¯d have to worry less about appeasing them. After all, natural treasures were finite, and Cabbot had no desire to split the benefits with anyone else, least of all the sorts of idiots he¡¯d been able to recruit for an expedition into a newly integrated backwater. Finally, one of the dwarven warriors ¨C Rockbeard, unless Cabbot was mistaken ¨C finished off the final crab with a vicious, overhead swing of his axe. And then, everything went quiet. A few of the soldiers who knew how to harvest monsters rushed forward, intending to tear the crabs to pieces in hopes of finding something useful. The shells were durable enough that some of the craftsmen back in Ironshore might be able to use them for armor. The meat would probably be edible as well, and given the thickness of the ambient Ethera, a decent Chef might be able to make something worthwhile with it. But Cabbot wasn¡¯t concerned with any of that. The real prize was whatever treasure had given the island its increased Ethera density. Unless it turned out that the crabs were more valuable than he expected. If that happened, he would take his cut. ¡°Mr. Cabbot,¡± came Nirea¡¯s voice. Cabbot whipped around and demanded, ¡°What?¡± ¡°We found one of the scouts,¡± she said. ¡°Or what was left of him. Initial findings suggest that he was killed before the ¨C¡± At that moment, the Ethera in the air stirred. Cabbot only had a moment to activate his ability, Deathwish, before the world came alive with wind, lightning, and trembling earth. He activated Blood Shield as well, enveloping himself in a bubble of red-tinged force. It was just in time, too, because a second later, an enormous bolt of lightning descended upon Nirea, tearing through her before ripping a hole in the rocky shore. The force of the lightning bolt sent her flying through the air, where the wind cut through her, leaving a trail of blood behind. She landed before taking another bolt of lightning, but by that point, Cabbot knew she was already dead. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. All around him, chaos reigned as the earth was ripped asunder and a violent thunderstorm tore across the sky. Blades of wind whipped through the air, drowning out the screams of agony coming from anyone who hadn¡¯t raised some sort of defenses in time. The warriors fared the best, with the healers following soon after. But the mages took the worst of it. At the end of the day, ethereal shields ¨C which were a staple among the mage variants ¨C could only take so much before they broke. And break, they did. Cabbot fell to the ground, curling up in the fetal position as the entire camp was torn apart by the fury of nature. It only lasted a handful of seconds before it dissipated, but by that point, the damage had been done. When Cabbot pushed himself upright, he saw nothing but carnage. Most of his soldiers had survived, but there were enough casualties that he had to wonder if he¡¯d made a mistake by coming to what had been described as a cursed island. ¡°Report!¡± he screamed, his voice shaking as he let his abilities lapse. But that¡¯s when he remembered Nirea¡¯s fate. She¡¯d taken care of all the administrative functions, so when she¡¯d stupidly allowed herself to be killed, her failure had robbed him of necessary utility. Looking around, Cabbot felt something sting him. He slapped his hand against his neck. ¡°Sound off!¡± he shouted. Then, something else stung him. A moment later, a wave of dizziness swept over him. He looked up to see a swarm of biting flies descending upon the camp. And as his stomach twisted with nausea, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if the island was, indeed, cursed, as so many back in Ironshore suspected. * * * Elijah didn¡¯t stay to watch his Swarm fall upon the camp. Calamity had been incredibly effective, and it had killed a few of the invaders by itself. However, like the crabs, it was only ever intended to be part of the first wave of attacks. A distraction meant to break through their defenses and allow Swarm to do its work. The only downside was that Calamity had a significant recharge period before it would once again be available ¨C a tradeoff that was probably responsible for its incredibly low Ethera cost. By comparison, Swarm had a high cost, but could be cast back-to-back if he had the available Ethera. Which he didn¡¯t. In fact, Elijah¡¯s core had been almost entirely drained by the sequence of attacks, so he had no choice but to retreat. As he ran through the forest, he wondered how effective Swarm would be. He knew the force had plenty of healers among their number, but he also had no clue whether they could cure the Swarm¡¯s afflictions. Even if they managed it, there would be a cost. And that was fine with Elijah. Despite hoping otherwise, he¡¯d known from the moment the invaders landed on the shores of his island that he wouldn¡¯t win the battle in a single day. Indeed, he expected it to take quite a bit longer than that. But the first strike was important because he hoped it would set the tone for the rest of the conflict. He needed to keep them off-balance so he could continue to wage guerilla warfare. The worst that could happen was if they chose to break camp and head back to Ironshore. That would let them regroup, resupply, and replenish their numbers. If they returned after that, then they would be prepared for Elijah¡¯s tactics. Of course, they didn¡¯t even know who he was. Even if they suspected his presence ¨C as opposed to some guardian ¨C they would only think he was a caster. They didn¡¯t know about his predator form, which gave him the continued advantage of surprise. All in all, Elijah was happy with how things had gone. He just hoped his advantage would continue. To that end, he retreated from the shore, racing through the forest with experienced ease. All the while, he kept his mind trained on the devastation he¡¯d wrought on the camp. There were thirty-one survivors, and if his senses were anything to go by, they hadn¡¯t escaped unscathed. Only a couple seemed completely healthy, and the healers were in the process of healing the afflictions. It was no easy task, either, and it took multiple casts for each of the afflicted. Once Elijah was about a mile away, he settled down to rest. Glancing up at the forest¡¯s canopy, he saw sunlight beginning to peek through the leaves. It had been an exhausting night, but he¡¯d only just begun with the defense of his island. There were still more than thirty left, and Elijah knew he and his Grove wouldn¡¯t be safe until they were all dead. So, he rested. He regenerated his Ethera. And, more importantly, he considered the tactics he would need to employ if he was going to survive the incursion. * * * Cabbot looked around at the devastated camp. Almost twenty dead, all because his moronic and lazy scouts hadn¡¯t been paying attention. If they hadn¡¯t already paid for their inattention with their lives, he would have killed them. ¡°Sir,¡± said Iros, one of the goblin mages. He¡¯d just been healed, but his skin still bore the marks of that damnable infection. Even Cabbot hadn¡¯t been capable of resisting it, and though it hadn¡¯t killed him, he still felt weak. And judging by the way Iros swayed on his feet, the goblin was just as affected. ¡°We should go back. We need to regroup.¡± ¡°Regroup? No.¡± ¡°But sir¡­¡± ¡°Look around, Iros,¡± Cabbot said, sweeping his arm to indicate the ruined camp. Most of the tents had been trampled by the crabs, and the dead bodies still hadn¡¯t been recovered. Multiple people lay on the ground, groaning in pain, too ill to rise. Healers knelt beside some, but Cabbot suspected that, before they got to everyone, a few more would perish. But that was expected. And, in his mind, it was acceptable. After all, the less people who lived, the fewer times he had to split the reward for their efforts. More, Cabbot thought of it as trimming the fat. Without the weak to hold the rest of them back, the group would be capable of so much more. ¡°What am I looking at?¡± asked the goblin. ¡°If the natural treasure¡¯s guardian is powerful enough to do this, then think about what it must be guarding,¡± Cabbot said. It was well known that a guardian¡¯s Strength was directly linked to its treasure. Iros¡¯s face split into a jagged-toothed grin as he processed Cabbot¡¯s statement. ¡°I see,¡± he said. Then, his grin faded before he continued, ¡°But sir¡­what if it¡¯s too powerful for us to kill? Remember what happened to Dena and her group.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t know what happened to those three. For all we know, they ended up getting killed by some sea monster,¡± Cabbot said. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Those idiots were always too confident for their own good. And anyway, we¡¯re prepared now. We know the guardian¡¯s tricks. Now, we can defend against it. Get the shield arrays set up. Use the coins if you need to.¡± Iros said, ¡°Aye, sir.¡± Cabbot nodded, then said, ¡°This time tomorrow, we¡¯ll all be taking whatever this island has to offer.¡± He looked around at the rest of the group. ¡°Well, those of us who survive.¡± Once they defeated the guardian, Cabbot intended to make certain that there weren¡¯t many left to split the spoils. 1-72. A Test of Might Alyssa stepped through the doors and felt the familiar moment of nothingness before the interior of the capitol building came into focus. Once, she¡¯d visited Washington, D.C., and while there, she¡¯d taken a tour of the U.S. Capitol building. So, the sight that greeted her was easily recognizable. The expansive lobby was festooned with white marble, with a foursome of comparatively small statues standing before square columns. Behind and between those was the much larger replica of the Statue of Freedom, which depicted a robed woman wearing an elaborate headdress. Behind that sculpture was a pair of identical staircases that met on an elevated platform. ¡°It looks like the Capitol Visitor Center,¡± she said once the others had joined her. ¡°Like, the U.S. Capitol? But that wasn¡¯t Washington, D.C. out there,¡± remarked Bryce. ¡°I mean, I¡¯ve never been, but¡­well, I¡¯ve seen movies.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t,¡± agreed Roman, clutching his bow while looking around. ¡°I¡¯m willing to bet that the rest of this building doesn¡¯t exactly match up with the real thing, either.¡± Alyssa didn¡¯t say anything else, but she suspected Roman was right. The levels for towers could take just about anything for inspiration, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that it had used one of Earth¡¯s most iconic buildings. However she did wonder if it would have presented itself similarly if the tower climbers hailed from another country. If they¡¯d been French, perhaps it would have resembled the Louvre. Or Buckingham Palace for a group of Englishmen. She shook her head. There were too many possibilities to consider, and regardless of how interesting it was, it seemed a fruitless endeavor to do so. Understanding the nature of towers wouldn¡¯t help them survive what was coming. What could help them, though, was the silver box that suddenly appeared before her. Alyssa knelt, flipped the latch, and opened the box to reveal a long, thin dagger. She looked at the notification that had appeared directly after she¡¯d stepped into the building:
Congratluations! You have completed Level Two of The Zombie Apocalypse. Grade: B To progress further, defeat the Final Guardian.
It was an expected message, though Alyssa had to admit that she felt a sense of accomplishment when she saw that the group had been given a higher grade than after the last level. She wasn¡¯t certain what it really meant, but she suspected that the reward¡¯s power was dependent on their grade. In any case, she moved to the next notification:
Reward for completing Level Two of The Zombie Apocalypse: Stiletto of Sundering
¡°It¡¯s called a Stiletto of Sundering,¡± she said, reaching out to pick the weapon up. When her fingers closed around the hilt, she felt a brief jolt of Ethera, suggesting that it was an incredibly powerful weapon. Even her spear, which, according to Carmen, was the strongest weapon created by any of Easton¡¯s crafters, didn¡¯t come with that sort of feeling. She glanced back at her companions, wondering who should get the item. Verin and Bryce were out, largely because Byrce had no martial ability and Verin favored her morningstar. Alyssa also ruled herself out as the recipient. She could use a dagger well enough due to her Novice level of Weapons Mastery, but she preferred to use the spear. A dagger would only be a backup weapon for her. But both Roman and Trace could make use of it. In Roman¡¯s case, he typically used his bow. However, he had a couple of abilities meant for use in melee combat. As for Trace, the Outlaw favored longer blades, but Alyssa suspected that he could use daggers just as effectively as he used his swords. ¡°I¡¯m thinking it should go to you or Trace,¡± she said to Roman. ¡°Up to you.¡± Without hesitation, Roman said, ¡°Trace. He can make better use of it.¡± The Outlaw narrowed his eyes. ¡°You sure, chief?¡± Roman nodded. ¡°Consider it a loan. When we get back to Easton, we¡¯ll redistribute these rewards for the greater good.¡± Trace shrugged. ¡°Sounds fine to me.¡± Then, he accepted the offered Dagger of Sundering, letting out a slight gasp when he took hold of the hilt. He didn¡¯t say anything else, though, so everyone quickly moved past it. Alyssa told everyone what the level¡¯s task was, but no one was terribly surprised. According to the guides they¡¯d all read, most towers required a show of Strength before the climbers could claim the final reward. After taking a few minutes to collect themselves, they began their progress through the building, using a similar strategy to what they¡¯d established in the city. Trace and Roman acted as scouts, while the others took the only route available to them ¨C up the stairs and down the wide hall. Alyssa noticed that each side of the corridor was lined with paintings, though they¡¯d been slashed to pieces, obscuring the subjects. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. After a few hundred feet ¨C which would make it an incredibly long hall ¨C Alyssa started to notice the blood. At first, there were only a few drops here and there, but soon enough, the group came across huge, standing puddles of red liquid. More, the walls were stained with patterns of splattered blood. ¡°Okay, this is starting to freak me out,¡± Bryce muttered, almost under his breath. Alyssa was tempted to tell him to stay quiet, but she refrained from doing so because, if she was honest, she felt just as uneasy as he did. Still, they kept going, with Roman and Trace periodically returning to report that the way forward was more of the same. Along the way, they passed a multitude of side rooms, but none were occupied. Not anymore, at least. But judging by the amount of blood in each of what appeared to be well-appointed offices, they once had been. Clearly, the building had been the subject of a massacre of epic proportions. Gradually, Alyssa led the others down the hall, eventually reaching an intersection. Roman and Trace had already explored all three directions and passed on which way would lead them to their destination, so Alyssa didn¡¯t hesitate before continuing forward. Over the next few hours, they experienced more of the same. Eventually, blood covered everything, and they found themselves walking through what felt like a half-congealed bog. Finally, Roman appeared before them and whispered, ¡°This is going to be an issue.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve got to see it. I can¡¯t really¡­I can¡¯t really describe it.¡± After being assured that there were no enemies around, Alyssa left the other two behind and followed Roman. The journey took another few minutes, during which they were accompanied by the squelching sounds of their footsteps, but soon enough, they found Trace standing before a pair of massive, wooden doors. And the Outlaw looked like he¡¯d seen a ghost. Roman held a finger up to his lips, indicating that she should remain silent. Then, he pushed one of the doors open ¨C just a crack ¨C and gestured for her to take a look. Alyssa leaned forward, pressing her eye to the opening. Her eyes widened in horror. At first, she wasn¡¯t certain what she was looking at. At a glance, it looked like a pile of meat, misshapen and with a series of odd bulges. However, after she saw it quiver, Alyssa recognized that some of those bulges were human limbs attached to a bulbous mass of naked fat and muscle. And it was huge. At least forty feet tall and just as wide. The sight was so grotesque that she almost didn¡¯t recognize the setting. Then, her thoughts caught up, and everything clicked into place. She pulled away, and Roman gently pulled the door back into place. Then, the trio retreated to where they¡¯d left the other two. When they arrived, Alyssa finally asked, ¡°Was that the Senate Chamber?¡± Roman nodded. ¡°Yeah. I think the scale is off a little, but I recognize it from the State of the Union.¡± ¡°And that monster?¡± Alyssa asked. It was Trace¡¯s turn to answer, and he said, ¡°It¡¯s people.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a big ball of people. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re zombies like we saw outside, or whatever. But those are people. I think¡­I think it¡¯s all the people who were in these offices,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­I got close. Closer than I wanted. And I saw them. The faces. The arms and legs. The¡­t-the everything. They looked like they were in pain.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not real,¡± Alyssa said, reaching out to pat him on the shoulder. He yanked away. ¡°It was real enough for me.¡± She didn¡¯t persist, instead turning to Roman. ¡°How do we kill it, then?¡± ¡°Overwhelming force?¡± he said. ¡°With all the blood, I don¡¯t think we can get this place to catch fire. So, I think we¡¯re just going to have to hack it to pieces. Drop a Meteor on it. That sort of thing.¡± ¡°And we think that¡¯ll work?¡± ¡°I know just as much as you do,¡± he replied. ¡°But I don¡¯t think this is the kind of thing we can outthink. If we want to win, we¡¯re going to have to do it in a straight-up fight.¡± ¡°Against that thing?¡± she asked, a shiver of fear traveling up her spine. ¡°We¡¯ll lose.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re underestimating what we can do,¡± Roman stated. ¡°You destroyed that last monster. Besides, we don¡¯t have a choice. Not unless you can think of a way to make this work.¡± Alyssa shook her head, but she didn¡¯t immediately respond. Her first inclination was to set a trap for the thing, but there were two issues that made that impossible. For one, it was so huge that any trap would have to be absolutely enormous. They didn¡¯t have the means to create something like that. For another, there were no materials to construct anything of note. They couldn¡¯t even dig a basic pit because, under all the blood and the floor, they found only concrete. No - it was like Roman had suggested. If they were going to conquer the tower, they¡¯d have to do so in a straight fight against the abomination. So, Alyssa turned her mind to creating a battle plan where they might stand a chance of survival. She didn¡¯t get far, though, because the reality was that none of them had seen the thing in action, so they had no context for its capabilities. Without that, any plan was largely useless. Still, they could follow some basic parameters, which she explained to the others. In the end, the fight would likely require a lot more improvisation than Alyssa would like, but that was unavoidable. She hated going into it half-cocked, but there really wasn¡¯t any choice in the matter. That monster was between them and conquering the tower, which meant that, one way or another, it needed to go down. So, without further ado, the group set off for the tower¡¯s version of the Senate Chamber. When they reached the double doors, Alyssa once again asked if everyone was ready. They all confirmed that they were as prepared as they could be, so, after taking a few steadying breaths, she slowly pushed the doors open. ¡°Can you hit it from here?¡± whispered Alyssa, glancing from Roman to Bryce. The latter shook his head in the negative, but Roman confirmed that he could shoot the monster from that distance. It was only a hundred yards ¨C at most ¨C so that wasn¡¯t that surprising. Ever since he¡¯d gained his class, Roman¡¯s ability with the bow had grown by leaps and bounds, and Alyssa had seen him hit targets from hundreds of yards away. ¡°Okay,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°Start casting.¡± Bryce did as he was told, closing his eyes as he mumbled his spell. At the same time, Roman raised his bow, nocked an arrow, and drew it back to his cheek. Ethera gathered as he used some ability. He exhaled, then loosed the arrow. It flew with unerring accuracy, and when it hit the bulbous monster, it did so with an explosion of force that tore a massive divot out of the bulging mass of flesh at its side. It let loose with a thousand screams, each one loud enough to set Alyssa¡¯s ears to ringing. Then, it rolled around, and she saw its faces. Hundreds of them, all connected by flaps of moist skin. Men. Women. Fat and thin. Beautiful and ugly. It didn¡¯t matter. They¡¯d all merged into one. Every eye locked onto the party standing at the open door. Then, it heaved its bulk into motion, rolling across the ground and crushing chairs and desks along the way. It moved with alacrity that belied its size. When it drew near enough, Alyssa used Bulwark, hoping to trip it up as she had with the previous monster. But it rolled over the shield like it wasn¡¯t even there, the monster¡¯s shapeless bulk conforming to the immovable plane of Ethera with ease. Alyssa cursed. Bryce was a long way from finishing his spell. He needed more time, and she was the only one who could give it to him. ¡°Keep me alive,¡± she muttered to Verin. Before they could object to the alteration of the plan ¨C which had hinged on them staying safe in the hall while Bryce and Roman peppered it with attacks ¨C Alyssa dashed forward. The plan hadn¡¯t been a bad one, per se. However, the moment it moved past her Bulwark, she knew it wouldn¡¯t work. The thing was like a boneless slug, and it could easily conform to the confines of the hall. So, it was better that she fight the battle in the open. Hopefully, that would allow her to use her mobility and keep it occupied while Bryce and Roman did their job. With Heroic Leap, she soared into the sky, hoping that she had what it took to survive. 1-73. Hit and Run Sunlight streamed through the forest canopy, casting the undergrowth in deep shadow. Elijah stepped lightly, his feet making no sound as he slowly approached the trio of invaders. The closest was a slight gnome with bushy, turquoise hair, while her two escorts were both dwarves with magnificent, black beards. The pair of dwarves both held wicked axes, and the gnome wore a robe and carried an elegant staff that was taller than she was. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± growled one of the dwarves, peering intently into the shadows. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m bein¡¯ watched.¡± ¡°This place is cursed,¡± said the other. ¡°You always say that,¡± the gnome responded, rolling her large eyes. Elijah took another slow step, carefully placing his paw on the loamy ground. ¡°I do not.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right, Biko,¡± the other dwarf said. ¡°It¡¯s just like that cave we found last month. You said that was cursed, too, and how¡¯d that turn out?¡± ¡°That was different. How was I s¡¯posed to know there was ghouls around?¡± ¡°Ghouls are common on newly integrated worlds,¡± the gnome stated. ¡°Did you even read the pamphlet I made before we came here?¡± Another step. ¡°Biko can¡¯t read.¡± ¡°Can so!¡± Then another. ¡°Sure, buddy. We all believe that,¡± said the second dwarf, patting the other on the shoulder. Finally, Elijah was in range. He used Predator Strike, then pounced. His claws met some resistance from the mage¡¯s shield, but it wasn¡¯t enough to keep him from ripping out her throat. Even as she fell, Elijah kept moving, disappearing into the shadows. The moment he was out of sight, he bounded up the trunk of a tree, then out onto a limb. Meanwhile, the dwarves reacted, charging noisily into the brush, but finding nothing. ¡°Oh, gods¡­¡± ¡°What was that?!¡± ¡°Looked like a giant lizard.¡± ¡°Weren¡¯t no lizard. That was a ¨C¡± Elijah leaped from the branch, using Venom Strike as he dropped onto the smarter dwarf¡¯s shoulders. In less than an instant, his teeth sank into his neck, and then he was gone, bounding back under cover. ¡°It bit me! It bit me!¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ but a scratch¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t feel so good¡­¡± Elijah raced from the scene, getting far enough away to use Guise of the Unseen. Once he did, he wheeled around and crept back to where the dwarf had fallen to his knees. He fumbled at his belt pouch, grabbing a small vial and tipping it back. Even as he did, Elijah darted forward, using Predator Strike before slashing his claws across Biko¡¯s hamstrings. Even as the short figure fell forward, Elijah dashed behind a tree. ¡°Gimme that potion! It got me! It got me, Tor!¡± Whatever the other dwarf had drunk had clearly counteracted the neurotoxin inflicted by Venom Strike, but he was still a little unsteady. He turned left, then right, holding his axe before him. He used some sort of ability, but Elijah couldn¡¯t tell what it did. Probably something defensive, given their obvious role. Elijah didn¡¯t care. All he needed was to break the skin, and he doubted anything but a powerful mage¡¯s shield could stop that. So, he once again used Venom Strike, then dashed from under cover and leaped at Tor¡¯s face. His claws barely managed to pierce the dwarf¡¯s skin, but it was enough to deliver the toxic payload before he bounded off. Tor coughed, then pitched forward onto his face. The potion obviously hadn¡¯t completely cleared the neurotoxin, and the extra dose had pushed him over the edge. Even as he fell into a seizure, Elijah circled the remaining dwarf, who, due to his torn hamstrings, was having trouble remaining upright. Coming at him from behind, Elijah once again used Venom Strike before raking his claws across the dwarf¡¯s back. Before Biko could turn around, Elijah had already bounded up the nearest tree, where he waited for the neurotoxin to finish the dwarf off. It took less than a minute before the final bit of kill energy swept through him. Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged as he sank to his stomach in exhaustion. Using so many abilities so close together had really taken it out of him. But still, he¡¯d managed to win the fight, which meant that there were only twenty-eight more. After a few minutes of rest, Elijah leaped from the branch and headed toward the next group. The bulk of the invaders were still in camp, but after they¡¯d recovered from Elijah¡¯s first attack ¨C mostly, at least ¨C they had begun to send groups out to scout their surroundings. At present, there were two other groups out and about, which meant that Elijah had his targets. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Gradually, he stalked his prey ¨C another group of three, consisting of a pair of goblins and a gnome ¨C and, when the time was right, he pounced. The fight went much as the last had, and over the next couple of minutes, he took them down. The only dangerous bit came when the mage¡¯s shield managed to block his first attack, but Elijah was quick enough to adjust. The next attack took the mage out, and the remainder of the battle followed the script he¡¯d used during the first encounter. The next group fell as well, and soon enough, Elijah was alone within the forest. With the invaders confined to their camp, he decided to head back to the Grove, where he ate a meal of berries and mushrooms. He¡¯d have loved to eat something warm, but he didn¡¯t want to give away his position with a fire. If the invaders were even moderately observant, they could follow a plume of smoke right to the Grove. ¡°Wait¡­¡± There was an opportunity there, wasn¡¯t there? If he could count on the invaders coming to a certain spot, then couldn¡¯t he take advantage of their predictability? It was worth a shot. Elijah thought he could kill them using his current tactics, but only if they didn¡¯t adjust. So long as they kept to groups of three or less, he would be fine. But if they increased their numbers? Things would get much more difficult. Wouldn¡¯t it be better if he could take some of them out of the fight without his direct intervention? At worst, it would force them to focus more on the environment. With that, Elijah cemented his plan and set off across the island. He didn¡¯t intend to go far ¨C just a mile from the camp ¨C but once he reached the clearing, he got to work. First, he started digging. With his enhanced Strength and sharp claws, he was almost as efficient as a small backhoe, and within an hour, he¡¯d completed his first pit. Then, he dug a handful more, arranging them in a semicircle. It took half a day, but the invaders remained idle, giving him the opportunity to complete his undertaking. Once the pits had been dug ¨C each one reaching a depth of almost ten feet ¨C he set off into the forest to gather sticks. Doing this required that he shift back into his human form, but he didn¡¯t mind. He had plenty of Ethera available, so he could shift back into his predator form at a moment¡¯s notice. Fortunately, Elijah¡¯s enemies remained sequestered in their camp. Likely, they knew that something was hunting them, and as a result, were reluctant to leave ¨C especially with night coming. That played right into Elijah¡¯s plans, giving him hours to finish building his traps. He¡¯d based the design on a medieval fortification called a trou de loup ¨C or a wolf hole ¨C which consisted of a dense pattern of conical pits, at the bottoms of which would be punji sticks. In some cases, rotting meat or feces would be smeared on the wooden stakes, but Elijah had neither the time nor the inclination to go to those lengths. In any case, he suspected that any long-running infection that came from such tactics would be easily cured by the healers among the invaders. No - all he cared about was creating more chaos. With any luck, he could repeat his actions from before, using Calamity and Swarm to further whittle their numbers down. And if he was truly fortunate, he¡¯d kill them all in one go. After sharpening the stakes with his knife, Elijah jammed them into the bottoms of the pits, then went about gathering some firewood, which he arranged in another shallow pit at the center of the arrayed traps. By that point, it was already night, which gave him only a few short hours to finish the project. The last piece that would bring everything together required him to weave a series of flimsy mats from grass he gathered from nearby. Once he¡¯d done that, morning was only about an hour off, so he quickly covered them with a thin layer of dirt and loose grass that he hoped would disguise his traps. Finally, with his traps built, Elijah lit the fire before piling a series of green limbs onto the pile. As the fire filled the air with a thick plume of dark smoke, the invaders set out from their camp en masse. They were going in the wrong direction at first, but as Elijah continued to stoke the fire, adding more and green limbs, they clearly noticed the plume of smoke and changed directions. And just like that, Elijah¡¯s plan was on. He retreated into one of the trees, climbing until he had a good view of the clearing. Then, he waited. It only took them an hour to reach the clearing. All twenty-two of them, advancing in a line. They did so cautiously, but none of them even looked at the ground. Elijah¡¯s previous efforts to kill their scouts bore fruit when the first few ¨C a couple of gnomes and a goblin ¨C fell into one of the traps. They screamed, and the group panicked. One of the gnomes ¨C a fellow with a vivid red mohawk ¨C started shouting something Elijah couldn¡¯t hear, gesturing violently. That was when Elijah leaped down from the tree, shifted into his human form, and, for the second time in the past three days, used Calamity. The sky tore apart as thick storm clouds rolled in. The earth rumbled and the wind whipped into a frenzy. That was enough to send the remaining invaders into a panic. They scattered. Unfortunately, the clearing was absolutely lousy with traps, and it only took a couple of seconds before the panicked invaders ran afoul of the previous night¡¯s efforts. A full half of the group fell into traps as Calamity tore the area asunder, peppering it with lightning, blades of hurricane force winds, and a minor earthquake. As before, it only lasted for a few seconds before it dissipated, but by that point, the damage was done. Elijah cast Swarm. Thousands of biting flies manifested, then swept down on the trapped invaders. Some tossed fireballs and other spells out to try to mitigate the mass of insects, but their efforts were all for naught. A handful of gnomes and goblins had managed to avoid the traps, but all except one had fallen to Calamity. Elijah crouched at the tree line, watching as Swarm did its work. Slowly, the kill energy flooded in, pushing him past level thirty. And just like that, the invaders were finished. Only one remained. A few others were still alive, but he was the only one who remained upright and mostly healthy. The same gnome that seemed to be in charge, pulsing with red energy, stood amidst the carnage. He looked around, panicked and furious, screaming something unintelligible. Elijah kept an eye on him, and as he continued to regenerate his Ethera, inspected his new spell:
Shape of the Guardian Take on the form of a stalwart guardian, vastly increasing your Strength and Constitution attributes. Spellcasting is suspended while Form of the Guardian is active.
Another shapeshift, but unlike Shape of the Predator, it didn¡¯t cost nearly as much Ethera. As Elijah read the new spell''s description, he watched the gnome''s tirade continue. And after only a second more, the red-glowing gnome finally locked his eyes on Elijah''s position, and with a growl, launched himself toward the man who¡¯d torn his small army apart. The gnome shouted in rage, the glow of his red aura increasing in intensity as he tore across the battlefield. . 1-74. Inevitable Using Descending Dragon, Alyssa rocketed toward the bulbous mass of sweaty flesh. It reacted far more quickly than she could have anticipated, and even as she fell, a series of appendages thrust upward, each one tipped with a yellow pustule. They burst, spraying her with a sticky goo that immediately set her armor to smoking. Through some miracle, she avoided getting it into her eyes, but the rest of her body was fair game. She screamed in mingled agony and anger, but her spear remained steady, tearing into the bulky monster and carving a huge gash into its moist form. The moment she landed, she tried to kick off, intending to use Wings of the Dragon to glide away to safety. However, the monster was too fast, and its multitude of disparate arms whipped out, grabbing at her legs. Caught off balance, she tumbled forward, slamming face-first into the naked flesh. The thing let out a multitude of screeching laughs, then wrapped its arms around her, hugging her close. The skin split, then the flesh beneath opened as well, trying to swallow her whole. Panicked, Alyssa summoned another Bulwark directly below her, and miraculously, the invisible shield locked into place, preventing the flesh from closing around her. Activating Enrage, she let loose with Champion¡¯s Shout, flooding her body with Strength even as the latter ability stunned the monster¡¯s grasping limbs. With that small opening, she shoved herself upright and leaped away, sprouting wings a second later. But her victory was short lived, as a tendril of pure muscle lashed out, smashing against her lower half and sending her off course. Before she could right the proverbial ship, Alyssa crashed into the ground, destroying one of the desks before rolling to a stop against another. With her vision blurred and her thoughts slowed by a probable concussion, Alyssa struggled to rise. She heard someone shout something, but her sluggish mind couldn¡¯t wrap itself around the meaning. Then, a wave of vitality swept through her. Her thoughts cleared, and her agony faded under Verin¡¯s ministrations. Shaking her head, she looked up to see that the monster was on fire, with a full quarter of its flesh resembling something with the consistency of melting rubber. The smell of cooking flesh ¨C which was disturbingly like grilled pork ¨C filled the air, but despite the obvious damage wrought by Bryce¡¯s fiery spell, the monster was far from dead. And it was just as clearly pissed off. Each of its faces screamed in fury while its various appendages waved in formless anger. It rolled forward, intent on crushing the author of its pain. Bryce tried to run, but he tripped over something Alyssa couldn¡¯t see. Roman shouted something, but he¡¯d dashed away in the opposite direction. Bryce never stood a chance. He yelled, casting another spell, but it was the quick-casting variety, and the fireball connected with barely a sizzle before the bulbous monster rolled over him. It quivered in obvious ecstasy as a squelching sound filled the air. A second later, Alyssa saw the melted flesh begin to reform. Most of it was featureless, but she couldn¡¯t mistake the growing presence of Bryce¡¯s agonized face. Fury, disgust, and fear coursed through Alyssa¡¯s mind as her Enrage reached new heights. She threw herself to her feet, then raced across the Senate Chamber. The monster turned in her direction, quivering eagerly as it likely contemplated adding yet another body to its mass. When she got close enough, Alyssa activated three abilities, all in quick succession. First, Champion¡¯s Shout, to briefly stun the monster. Then, Impale, to add a damage-over-time component to her next ability. Finally, she aimed a lancing strike in the direction of the monster¡¯s injured side, shouting a wordless war cry as she unleashed Unstoppable Thrust, sending a concentrated spear of Ethera to tear through its mass. Blood misted into the air as a layer of flesh was carved from its body. It screamed. But Alyssa wasn¡¯t finished. Once again, she used Heroic Leap. This time, though, she didn¡¯t go upward. Instead, she used it to send herself into a horizontal Charge. Her spear took the creature in the injured side, slicing deeper than ever before. She landed amidst the bloody muscle with a wet squelch, pulled her spear back and stabbed again. And again after that. Vaguely, she recognized Roman¡¯s arrows joining her barrage of spear strikes. With every passing second, she was battered by the creature¡¯s nearest limbs. But none could dislodge her. Over and over, she brought her weapon to bear. She didn¡¯t escape unscathed, but Verin healed her from a distance. In the meantime, she also activated Recover almost by instinct. Slowly, she carved her way into the monster until, at last, she found something that seemed important. It was a concentrated ball of dense flesh that looked like a mass of wriggling worms. Was it the brain? Or was it the creature¡¯s original form? Alyssa didn¡¯t care. She attacked it, using Impale to increase the damage. Those wriggling worms shot out, but most of them hit her armor. The ones that found skin tried to burrow into her, but with Hardened Skin enhancing her Constitution, they couldn¡¯t find any purchase. She ignored the pain, stabbing and slicing with her spear until, at last, the thing fell still. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. A second later, the flesh lost cohesion and fell apart. Alyssa tumbled to the ground as she was buried beneath hundreds of bodies. She panicked, slicing the cadavers apart, with every ounce of fury she could muster. But they were dead, and as such, they were no match for her blade. They were heavy, though, and it took her a few minutes to carve her way free. When she finally did, she found Roman and Verin waiting for her. And they looked almost disappointed. Or was that sadness? They had lost Bryce, after all. Maybe they felt guilty. She started to say something, but then, something rammed into her back. Alyssa twisted, but her body failed her. She flopped to her side, confused as to what had happened. Was there another monster? No¡­ She had felt the experience from killing the monster. They¡¯d conquered the tower. More, she could see the reward box sitting only a few feet away, gleaming in the ambient light. She tried to roll over, but her body wouldn¡¯t respond. Recover had faded. So had her passive augmentations. ¡°W-what¡­¡± Roman crossed his arms, saying, ¡°Again.¡± ¡°You got it, chief.¡± Another stab, this time in her kidney. Alyssa coughed up blood, but she couldn¡¯t move. ¡°Damn nice knife, here,¡± came Trace¡¯s voice as he circled into Alyssa¡¯s field of vision. He looked like he hadn¡¯t even fought in the previous battle. He tossed the Stiletto of Sundering into the air, letting it flip before its hilt fell back into his hand. ¡°Interesting effect. Did you know I have an analysis ability? Part of being a proper Outlaw is recognizing what goods are worth stealing, after all. And this one is a real gem. Doesn¡¯t do much damage. Not really. But it debuffs the shit out of you. Forcefully deactivates self-buffs and decreases attributes. Not by a lot. Really hits the ol¡¯ Constitution hard, though. Just enough that my ability could put you down.¡± Roman growled, ¡°Enough with the monologue.¡± ¡°Sorry, chief.¡± It took all of her Strength, but Alyssa managed to croak, ¡°W-why¡­¡± Roman sighed. ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t see what you¡¯ve done?¡± he asked. ¡°Always putting yourself out there, taking extra patrols, saving people¡­and all the while, I¡¯m doing what¡¯s necessary. I¡¯m making the hard decisions, the unpopular choices. And people hate me for it as much as they love you. I can¡¯t have it. I won¡¯t stand for division.¡± Alyssa tried to move, to do something, but whatever Trace¡¯s ability was, it robbed her of any control over her own body. She didn¡¯t think it was permanent. It would wear off. So, she just needed to keep Roman talking. She spat, ¡°Is¡­it¡­about¡­Trish¡­¡± Roman¡¯s placid expression changed in an instant, taking on a pained and furious visage. ¡°It¡¯s not about that,¡± he growled. ¡°It is¡­¡± She saw his knuckles whiten around the grip of his bow. He took a couple of deep breaths, then looked from Trace, who seemed as calm as if he was on a walk in the park, to Verin, who was clearly uncomfortable. But she seemed stoic. Committed. Alyssa didn¡¯t think she was going to step in to help. Roman closed his eyes and took yet another deep breath. And when he once again opened his eyes, it was as if his anger had simply washed away. ¡°Believe what you want,¡± he said. ¡°This isn¡¯t personal.¡± If Alyssa could have moved, she would have laughed in his face. She could see it in his expression. He blamed her, whether or not he wanted to admit it aloud. He sighed. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯re going to die here, Alyssa. I wish it hadn¡¯t worked out this way. You¡¯re a good person. One of the best. I know you want to help,¡± he said. ¡°And believe me, you dying here today ¨C that¡¯ll help Easton more than anything else you could do.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°You know it¡¯s true. Your death will make sure we¡¯re all united to face the difficulties to come,¡± he said, stepping forward. He knelt beside the box, then unlatched it. A notification flashed across Alyssa¡¯s eyes. Everyone froze, clearly reading the same notification Alyssa had just received.
Congratluations! You have completed Level Three of The Zombie Apocalypse. Grade: A To exit the tower, find the portal.
It was an expected message, though Alyssa had to admit that she felt a sense of accomplishment when she saw that the group had been given a higher grade than after the last level. She wasn¡¯t certain what it really meant, but she suspected that the reward¡¯s power was dependent on their grade. In any case, she moved to the next notification:
Reward for completing The Zombie Apocalypse: Seal of Authority
¡°Oh, that¡¯s a good one, chief. Lets you establish the town as an official city with the System. Don¡¯t know what that means, but it¡¯s probably good,¡± said Trace. ¡°If you¡¯re going to do it, just do it,¡± said Verin. ¡°I didn¡¯t agree to this so I could watch her suffer. It¡¯s inhumane.¡± ¡°F-fuck you,¡± Alyssa spat, feeling some of the feeling coming back to her legs. Just a few more moments, and she¡¯d be able to move. And when she regained mobility, she would end all three of them. The Priest would have to go first. Then the Outlaw. She¡¯d save Roman for last, and she intended to take her time with the traitor. ¡°Fuck you all.¡± ¡°Best get on with it, chief,¡± Trace said. ¡°The effect won¡¯t last much longer. She¡¯s already getting feeling back.¡± Roman shook his head, pocketing the Seal of Authority. It was a simple item the size and shape of a coin, though she couldn¡¯t see it well enough to recognize more than that. Once he¡¯d put it away, he stepped forward. He held a hand out toward Trace, and the Outlaw responded by handing him one of his swords, hilt first. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I wish I didn¡¯t have to do this. Even with¡­everything that¡¯s happened, I still consider you a friend.¡± Then, Ethera swirled around him as he raised the sword in a two-handed grip. Even as it fell, Alyssa tried to squirm out of the way. She desperately attempted to activate an ability. Hardened Skin. Heroic Leap. Shockwave. Anything. But none of them responded any more than her paralyzed body. The sword fell, biting deep into her exposed neck. She didn¡¯t even feel it. Nor did she immediately die. Blood pooled beneath her, and she tried to speak. Nothing came out but a wordless gurgle. Roman raised the sword again, and just like it had the first time, it fell upon her neck. Still, she lived. Barely. Darkness had begun to creep around her eyes, which flicked from one person to another. Trace looked unconcerned. Roman was stoic, yet regretful. But Verin ¨C she had tears in her eyes. She didn¡¯t look away, though. The sword came down again, and at last, her head fell free. It rolled a foot or so away, and for a few seconds, Alyssa¡¯s awareness persisted. But then, finally, her life winked out. Her last thoughts were of impotent anger and revenge. 1-75. Protector of the Grove The charging gnome was shorter than any of the others Elijah had seen, a fact he¡¯d tried to disguise with a very ridiculous mohawk that extended almost a foot higher than was reasonable. Still, the diminutive man moved with enough alacrity that Elijah almost didn¡¯t have time to respond. At the last second, he pointed his staff in the gnome¡¯s direction, casting Entagling Roots. The spell took hold, transforming the targeted area into a quagmire of thorny roots. They reached up, wrapping around the racing gnome¡¯s legs and digging into his flesh. But he never stopped moving, ripping free and leaving quite a bit of blood behind. He was unaffected, though, moving just as quickly as before. Next came Storm¡¯s Fury, sending a bolt of lightning in the gnome¡¯s direction. It hit, and the attack was effective. The gnome ¨C Cabbot, Elijah thought he¡¯d heard someone say back in the camp ¨C tumbled backward from the force of the lightning¡¯s impact, flipping end over end until he came to a rest after ten feet. Elijah watched as Cabbot staggered to his feet, his clothing smoking and the flesh on one side of his face charred. Only a moment later, the red energy cloaking his form pulsed, and the blistered and black flesh flaked away, leaving unmarred skin behind. He was healing, and at a rate Elijah thought impossible. Even with Touch of Nature combined with Healing Rain, if he¡¯d tried to heal that much damage, it would¡¯ve taken hours. Perhaps days. But Cabbot had accomplished the feat in only seconds. Seeing that, Elijah turned to run. He couldn¡¯t keep up to that kind of power. Not in a straight-up fight. Instead, he intended to use the same tactics he¡¯d used before, harassing the gnome with hit-and-run tactics until he went down. However, before he could get more than a few steps, something hit him in the back. He went flying through the air, then hit the ground where he tumbled, end over end, until he hit the tree line. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t collide with a tree. Instead, he was slowed by the underbrush, and about ten feet into the forest, he came to a stop on his back. He felt something wet. Confused ¨C there was no water around ¨C he reached down, dipping his fingers into the puddle below. Pulling his hand away, he held it up in front of his face. And all he saw was red. Blood. He was bleeding. That didn¡¯t seem right. There was something he needed to do. Some way he should have responded. But in his foggy state, Elijah couldn¡¯t solve that seemingly insurmountable puzzle. Then, by instinct more than conscious thought, he cast Touch of Nature. The healing power coursed through him, healing his concussion and clearing his thoughts. But it did little for the gaping wound in his side. ¡°You ruined everything!¡± came a shout, accompanied by something ¨C Cabbot, his slowed mind reasoned ¨C crashing through the underbrush. Elijah used Touch of Nature again, but it was like trying to fill a bucket one thimbleful at a time. The bleeding slowed, but it didn¡¯t even come close to stopping. He tried to rise, but his legs didn¡¯t seem to work. So, all he managed was to awkwardly lever himself into a sitting position. When he did, he saw the gnome, still pulsing with angry red energy, charging through the forest, an enormous, bloody axe raised above his head. Cabbot¡¯s murderous intentions were clear. Elijah¡¯s options were nearly nonexistent. In fact, he only had one, and it was untested. But he had no choice. So, without any other options, Elijah embraced his newest spell. Ethera raced through his body, transforming it with every passing millisecond. Scales sprouted, muscles inflated, and his skeleton twisted into the appropriate shape. After only a second, he had assumed the Shape of the Guardian.
Shape of the Guardian Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 30 Take on the form of a stalwart guardian, vastly increasing your Strength and Constitution attributes. Spellcasting is suspended while Form of the Guardian is active.
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per Week
Elijah gasped as the notification flashed before his eyes. Whether it was a sign from the System, or his subconscious mind reminding him that his shapeshifting forms came with innate abilities, he had no idea. But regardless of whence it had come, Elijah wasted no time before using Guardian¡¯s Renewal. As the description promised, his wounds instantly healed. The exhaustion he¡¯d felt from his days of fighting a guerilla war disappeared. And just like that, he was ready to meet the gnome on equal footing. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. However, the transformation had clearly surprised Cabbot, who¡¯d stumbled to a stop. ¡°W-what¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t wait for him to regain his composure. Instead, he pushed himself to his feet and raced forward. Or he tried to, at least. His new form was enormous and powerful, and the sudden disparity between his Strength and Dexterity made him clumsy. As a result, he found himself stumbling. Cabbot took that as an opportunity to regain his momentum. Fury evident in his expression, he leaped forward, hefting his axe in a herculean swing that took Elijah by surprise. He tried to dodge, but he still hadn¡¯t managed to master his new form. So, he once again stumbled, and Cabbot¡¯s axe took him in the hip. A loud clang filled the forest as Cabbot¡¯s momentum took him tumbling past Elijah¡¯s surprised form. The blow hadn¡¯t even drawn blood. Instead, the axe had gotten lodged in Elijah¡¯s scales. With a sweep of his powerful foreleg, he knocked the weapon aside, then turned to face Cabbot. ¡°What are you?¡± the gnome demanded, pulling another weapon out of nowhere. This one was a plain-looking greatsword with a blade almost twice Cabbot¡¯s size. He held it easily, though, evidence of his inflated Strength attribute. ¡°A druid,¡± Elijah growled, speaking before he thought better of it. He¡¯d never even tried in his predator form, so the ability to do so surprised him. ¡°And you¡¯re trespassing in my Grove.¡± Cabbot took a step back, and the red light enveloping his form flickered, then dimmed slightly. ¡°A d-druid? Here? How?¡± Elijah tried to shrug his massive shoulders. It was difficult, given his new anatomy. As far as he could tell, the Guardian form was a mixture of dinosaur, ape, and bear. But that was inadequate to describe what he felt. He could move on two legs, but he was much more comfortable using his long arms to move in an ape-like gait. Perhaps he would know more about the form when he had a chance to study it further. For now, though, he had a gnome to kill. Cabbot easily interpreted the situation, and as a result, his light flared as he charged forward. This time, his attacks were more measured, but his blade was incapable of doing more than chip Elijah¡¯s scales. At least at first. With each ineffectual attack, Cabbot¡¯s fury rose. With it, he grew stronger. Faster. And less controlled. In seconds, he¡¯d become a whirling dervish of slashing blades. Elijah tried to respond in kind, but due to a combination of his mismatched attributes, inexperience with his new form, and the gnome¡¯s rapid movements rendered his own counterattacks ineffective. Each miss brought with it more frustration, and soon enough, Elijah was roaring like the beast he appeared to be. If he¡¯d been in his Predator Form, he could have easily kept up. But it came with its own weaknesses ¨C chiefly, that if he was hit, he probably wouldn¡¯t survive. By comparison, the Guardian Form lived up to its name, and it traded coordination for explosive Strength and durability. In any case, he was stuck in the form because he didn¡¯t have the Ethera to fuel another transformation, and he couldn¡¯t endure the gnome¡¯s attacks as a human. No ¨C he had to remain in the Guardian form for now. Which meant that the two combatants reached something of a stalemate. The fight wore on. Minutes passed, becoming more than an hour. The whole time, Elijah stoically withstood the gnome¡¯s ferocious attacks. Eventually, though, the everlasting battle took its toll. Not on Elijah, who was well-suited to such a fight ¨C not only due to his Guardian form, but also because of his experiences in the tower. There, he¡¯d learned to endure, and against Cabbot, he put those hard won those lessons to good use. As he did, he slowly grew more used to his new body. He knew it would take quite some time before he was nearly as comfortable in the Guardian form as he was as a human or in the Predator shape, but he did improve, even clipping Cabbot a few times. Still, the biggest deciding factor was that the gnome¡¯s abilities clearly weren¡¯t made for a long-drawn out battle. As it wore on, it became obvious that he was fighting against impotent frustration as much as he fought Elijah. And in the end, his abilities began to peter out. The red light dimmed, and his movements slowed. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t dare make his move. He knew that the moment he did, it would reignite the gnome¡¯s fury. So, he had to make that first major blow count. Cabbot flailed against inevitability. Eventually, his sword broke, and he produced another axe from thin air. That broke, too. However, with every passing minute, the gnome¡¯s attacks grew weaker until they were incapable of even chipping Elijah¡¯s scales. Still, he waited. And waited. The gnome continued, but Elijah knew how to be patient. Then, finally, the light winked out, and Elijah struck. With his Strength attribute so thoroughly inflated, he was well into superhuman territory. And even if he didn¡¯t have the Dexterity to control his power, he didn¡¯t really need to, either. Not with Cabbot having slowed to more normal speeds. Elijah lashed out with his foreclaw. It was a simple jab, but it took Cabbot directly in the face. The gnome flipped backward, then hit one of the nearby trees. It shuddered with the impact, and Cabbot crumpled. The red light flickered back into being, but Elijah had no intention of letting the gnome get going. Using his explosive Strength, he rushed forward. Then, clasping his hands together, he brought both fists down on the injured figure. Red light flared again, and bones snapped back into place. Elijah hit him again. And again. Over and over, his attacks barely outpaced the Berserker¡¯s Regeneration. Slowly, Elijah gained ground. He shattered bones, over and over, and then, suddenly, the red light disappeared. Kill energy rushed into Elijah ¨C less than he would have expected ¨C as the gnome finally died. Elijah sighed, the sound coming out in a growling hiss, then let his shoulders sag. He still wasn¡¯t finished. There remained a few survivors who¡¯d managed to live through the barrage of Cataclysm, Swarm, and his traps. So, after letting himself resume his human form, he looked down at his body. There were hundreds of tiny cuts where his scales had been chipped. Shaking his head, Elijah used Touch of Nature, healing the minor damage, then marshalled his resolve. Most of the fighting force was dead, but as he¡¯d suspected, a few had managed to survive ¨C all of which were still impaled on the stakes he¡¯d planted at the bottom of the pits. After taking a deep breath, he used Storm¡¯s Fury to finish them off. It wasn¡¯t pretty, and it usually took more than one cast, but he did what he had to do. He would have preferred something more humane. The gnomes and goblins certainly suffered more than Elijah would have liked. But in the end, he needed to protect his Grove. That meant finishing the job he¡¯d started. When he reached the last one, though, he hesitated. She was a goblin, with huge, green ears and sharp teeth. But unlike the others, she hadn¡¯t fallen into one of the traps. He pointed his staff at her and demanded, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Calix,¡± she coughed, spitting blood. She was either a mage or a healer, judging by her robes and the staff lying nearby. But she was just as clearly out of Ethera ¨C using it was probably the only reason she¡¯d survived so long. ¡°Do you want to live, Calix?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡­I do¡­¡± Elijah stepped forward, then put his hand on her shoulder. The battle against Cabbot had gone on long enough that he¡¯d managed to regenerate most of his Ethera, so he had no issues with casting Touch of Nature. It took four pulses ¨C and half of his remaining Ethera ¨C but in only a few seconds, Calix was healthy. ¡°W-why?¡± she asked, looking up at him with mingled fear and awe. ¡°You need to go home,¡± he said. ¡°When you get there, I want you to let everyone in that town know what happens to anyone who comes to my island. You come here, you die. Period. This is the last bit of mercy I¡¯ll give. Do you understand?¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± ¡°And if I hear about you trying to harvest sentient creatures as fuel for your advancement, I will come for you. If it comes to that, Ironshore will not survive. Do I make myself clear?¡± She nodded eagerly. ¡°Go,¡± he growled. Calix didn¡¯t need any further prodding. After all, Elijah had killed almost fifty people in less than two days, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that she was far too frightened to do anything but flee. However, before she got more than a few steps, she did manage to stop, turn, and ask, ¡°W-what are you?¡± Elijah thought about it for a second before he said, ¡°I am the protector of the Grove. Challenge me at your own risk.¡± 2-1. Recovery Elijah watched Calix as she shoved one of the rowboats out into the sea, then board the small vessel and start paddling away. He didn¡¯t avert his eyes until almost twenty minutes later when the little boat disappeared behind a rolling wave. That¡¯s when his shoulders sagged in relief. He knew he¡¯d taken a risk by letting her go. There was every chance that, as soon as she reached Ironshore, she would gather as many fighters as she could find before coming back to his island to exact vengeance on him. But he was also well aware of his own limitations. Certainly, if the entirety of the expedition had remained missing, they would be wary of setting foot on his island. They would also be curious, though, and that curiosity would eventually drive them back to the island. Now, though, the goblin mage would tell her people precisely what had happened to her colleagues. Elijah had seen the fear in her eyes, and he suspected that she would do just about anything to avoid setting foot on the island again. Hopefully, she would warn the other residents of Ironshore away, telling them that they would find nothing but death if they came to his island. It was still a risky move, though, and one he hoped wouldn¡¯t come back to bite him. It wasn¡¯t that he had issues with killing the invaders. He didn¡¯t. They¡¯d come to his island with avarice in their hearts; that much was proven the moment they¡¯d abducted and attempted to drain the young dragon, Saraalinisa. Even so, Elijah was willing to live in peace, so long as they left him alone. For now, though, he had other issues at hand ¨C like cleaning up his island. He could feel every single dead body, and though he was tempted to let them rot, he chose another tactic. After all, he¡¯d already dug a bunch of holes, hadn¡¯t he? He still needed to refill those traps ¨C otherwise, the local wildlife might fall afoul of them ¨C so throwing a few dead bodies into each one wouldn¡¯t really require much extra effort. So, Elijah set off across his island and started gathering corpses. At first, he¡¯d resolved to simply carry them, but the first few he¡¯d killed had already begun to bloat, so he retreated to his grove, gathered a few coils of homemade cordage as well of some of the old ritualist¡¯s robes he¡¯d intended to use to make clothes. Then, he stretched those robes between a pair of long, stout branches, tying them off before heading back to the first bodies. The task of loading the litter was, in a word, disgusting ¨C especially considering that he couldn¡¯t just toss them into place. Instead, he had to search the bodies first. The first group ¨C which was the first trio he¡¯d ambushed the day before ¨C had a few weapons, some clothes, and various leather goods like belts. Each subsequent group was much the same, though he also came away with a decent stash of curious coins. He¡¯d seen their like before, but he hadn¡¯t taken the time to really examine them. Now, he did, and he came away with a host of questions. First, each one emitted its own localized cloud of dense ethera. Second, they looked and felt like copper, though they were far lighter than they should have been. Knowing he wasn¡¯t going to figure it out anytime soon ¨C not without Nerthus¡¯s input, at least ¨C Elijah thrust every coin into a few pouches. He even found a couple that looked silver, but they joined all the others. Over the next couple of days, Elijah went through the bodies, one by one, and he even combed through the former campsite near the beach. He looted a ton of interesting items ¨C tents, tools, and more cloth than he knew what to do with ¨C but the one that excited him most was a small sewing kit he found on one of the goblins. Until then, Elijah had been forced to make do with needles of bone or crab shell, so the addition of a few good, steel needles was a godsend. And he hoped it would let him sew some decent clothes. Because he was still wearing nothing but a gnome-sized robe he¡¯d repurposed into a makeshift kilt and tied around his waist with a bit of homemade cordage. So, the sewing kit was a fantastic find, as was the rope he gathered from the campsite. However, the biggest score was when he uncovered a crate of dried meat, cheese, and bread. Elijah stared at it in awe. For two years ¨C or something like that ¨C he¡¯d been eating nothing but what he could hunt, fish, or gather. And while there was something to be said for mushrooms and wild edibles, the reality was that he¡¯d never been a very good cook. More, even if he¡¯d had the skill, he didn¡¯t have the spices to make any decent recipes work. So, aside from some wild onions he¡¯d managed to grow in his garden, his cooking didn¡¯t feature much in the way of seasoning. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the fact that, in the tower, he¡¯d eaten his meals raw. Sometimes, that was as a panther, which somehow made it better, but he¡¯d done so as human often enough that he would appreciate anything he could get. Still, he didn¡¯t eat right away. Instead, he continued his task of burying the bodies, then took everything he¡¯d gathered back to his Grove. It took a few trips because there was so much, and when he finally had everything in one place, he couldn¡¯t stifle an appreciative sigh. ¡°The Grove is secure?¡± came a familiar voice. Elijah looked up to see Nerthus perched on one of the steps leading up to his tree house. ¡°Yep. I let one go, though,¡± he said. ¡°I thought she might warn the others off.¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Do you think that will work?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure. It¡¯ll probably keep them away for a while, but it¡¯s definitely not a permanent solution,¡± he said. ¡°If they¡¯re willing to kidnap a dragon, they won¡¯t be scared off by me. Not indefinitely.¡± ¡°What do you intend to do?¡± Nerthus asked. ¡°For now? I want to eat my weight in dried meat and cheese,¡± he answered. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going to keep going the same way I¡¯ve been going. I don¡¯t know. I have a few projects in the back of my mind. Plus, I just want to rest for a while.¡± The tree spirit cocked his head to the side, then asked, ¡°And what about when you get bored?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Who says I¡¯ll get bored?¡± ¡°I do.¡± He sighed. ¡°Fine. Once I¡¯m happy with the security of the Grove, I plan to explore a little,¡± he said. ¡°Branch out, you know? Maybe I can find my sister.¡± Nerthus said, ¡°Hmm. Perhaps this is overstepping, but you may want to consider diplomatic relations with the settlement across the strait.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°They clearly have a Branch of the World Tree,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°I figured as much. That¡¯s how they got here, right? Through the World Tree.¡± ¡°Yes, but not like you¡¯re thinking. When the World Tree touched this world, non-Earthlings were given the opportunity to come here,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Some did so as representatives of larger organizations. From what you have told me, the people in Ironshore are like that. Others came to escape something in the more settled worlds. Still others came to take advantage of a virgin world and the progression that will come with taming it.¡± ¡°Okay? What does that have to do with anything? I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong ¨C it¡¯s interesting, I guess. But it doesn¡¯t really answer the question, does it?¡± ¡°Right. I was getting to that. Many of these colonizers brought Envoys with them,¡± Nerthus went on. ¡°The Branches they can summon are a little more advanced than the ones native to this world. So, in addition to the most basic functions, like accessing the Knowledge base, Market, and Communications apparatus, they will often come with the ability to detect additional settlements within a certain territory.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, if what Nerthus had said was true, then if he could gain access to the Branch, then he could use it as a guide to find the next closest settlement. Then that one could direct him to the next. And so on. Eventually, he would find Easton ¨C or at least Seattle. At worst, he could find other people who could send him in the right direction. It was as good of a plan to find his sister and her family as any he¡¯d come up with. So far, the best he¡¯d thought of was to simply roam around and search for signs of civilization, which he would readily admit was a bad plan. The only problem was that the people of Ironshore weren¡¯t very likely to let him simply waltz into town and use their Branch. At best, they would refuse him entry. At worst, they would attack him on sight. But then again, if there was one settlement like Ironshore around, then there were probably others as well. And perhaps they would be more amenable to a good relationship. Elijah shook his head and said, ¡°I guess that¡¯s a start.¡± After that, Nerthus retreated into his tree, and Elijah began cataloguing his new cache of supplies. Soon enough, he had everything sorted into separate piles. One pile held various weaponry ¨C almost a dozen axes, at least as many staves, and a few swords ¨C while another was comprised of the clothing he¡¯d stripped from the corpses. The next was a little smaller, and it contained various leather items ranging from belts and pouches to armor. The next pile contained various bits of metallic armor. It was all valuable enough, though not to Elijah. If they¡¯d been sized to fit him, it would have been one thing, but given that each piece was made for the much smaller dwarves, gnomes, and goblins, they were useless to him. However, he hoped that, perhaps, he could find some use for the metal. He was only basically familiar with blacksmithing methods, but he was willing to learn via trial and error. The final pile had the various odds and ends he¡¯d found in camp. Pots and pans, cooking utensils, and various other tools were prominent. ¡°Aren¡¯t you a beauty,¡± he said, holding up a large pot. For the longest time, he¡¯d had to make do with an old, rusted, and far too small pot. But now, he was spoiled for choice, which would go a long way toward improving his quality of life. In all, looting fifty corpses and the camp they¡¯d built on the shore had proven extremely valuable, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of optimism about life going forward. More than anything, though, he was looking forward to digging into the crate of food he¡¯d taken. Still, he took the time to head down to his garden, where he gathered a basket of berries and a handful of wild onions. Then, he went back to his tree house where he laid out a feast, which he tore into with all the gusto of a man who hadn¡¯t eaten anything but poorly cooked crab, fish, and wild edibles for two years. Which was to say, he quickly gorged himself. The meal wasn¡¯t anything complicated. Generously, the contents of that crate would have been called travel rations. But still, it was better than anything Elijah had eaten in quite some time. And he enjoyed every last bite until, finally, he¡¯d had enough. Once that was done, he stripped down, took a shower ¨C using his homemade soap ¨C and then went to bed. But he didn¡¯t immediately go to sleep. Instead, he lay there for a long time, just staring at the gently glowing flowers on the ceiling. As he did, he thought back to what he¡¯d been through for the past couple of years. Sometimes, it was difficult to wrap his head around it all. From the moment he¡¯d washed ashore, Elijah had struggled to survive. For the longest time, even getting enough food had been difficult, but gradually, he had adjusted. Along the way, he¡¯d been forced to become a killer. Not only had he killed dozens of Voxx ¨C the interdimensional lizard creatures who threatened the entire world ¨C but he¡¯d also slain plenty of sentients as well. Goblins. Gnomes. Dwarves. He¡¯d even fought and killed raptors that seemed like they were made of roots and moss. More than anything, though, he had survived. And he had protected his island. But now, Elijah felt like he¡¯d turned a corner. Not just because he suddenly had a glut of supplies. That was part of it, but he¡¯d also proven that he could stand toe-to-toe with anyone. So, with that in mind, he was running out of excuses not to venture out into the wider world where he hoped to reunite with his sister and the rest of humanity. It was with those thoughts that he finally succumbed to a blessedly dreamless sleep. 2-2. A Great Loss Carmen hammered away at the hunk of steel, steadily shaping it until she finally achieved her goal ¨C a utilitarian longsword. The result was nothing impressive, though she hoped that once she was finished, it would at least reach Crude grade so she could practice her enchanting. Either way, it would be a useful piece, if only by virtue of her skill. Even her failures were head and shoulders above what anything the other Blacksmiths in Easton could forge. She was busy inspecting the cooling blade for any major flaws when she felt someone standing behind her. It was a trick she¡¯d learned from her habit of constantly immersing herself in Ethera; she could tell when someone was nearby, just by the way the ambient Ethera swirled around them. Still, she didn¡¯t turn as she said, ¡°If you¡¯re here to put in an order, just know that I¡¯m booked for at least three weeks solid. Longer, probably. So, I don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be able to get to you.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about that,¡± came an unfamiliar voice. Carmen turned to see an older woman she didn¡¯t recognize. The newcomer carried a wicked-looking morningstar strapped to her waist, but otherwise had a middle-aged, matronly look about her. The ethnicity was wrong, but still, the woman reminded Carmen of her abuela. ¡°Don¡¯t know you,¡± Carmen said, crossing the forge to a barrel full of clean water. She dipped her hands in, then splashed some of it on her face. ¡°If you¡¯re not here to hire me, then what do you want?¡± ¡°It¡¯s the¡­uh¡­council,¡± the woman said. ¡°They want to see you.¡± ¡°Yeah? Well, they can wait,¡± she responded with no small degree of impatience. She¡¯d long since grown weary of their petty back and forth, and it had grown even worse since Alyssa and Roman had gone to conquer the tower. If they were self-serving before, then Carmen really didn¡¯t know a strong enough word to categorize their selfishness in Roman¡¯s absence. Hopefully, when the Chief returned, he would set them straight. Or maybe Alyssa would. ¡°It¡¯s important,¡± the older woman stated. Carmen sighed. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Verin.¡± ¡°Well, Verin, do you know what I do?¡± she asked. ¡°You¡¯re a crafter.¡± ¡°Right. But do you know what that really means? Every day, our hunters encounter stronger creatures. Monsters, really. Even the normal animals have gotten powerful enough to give a classer a good fight. Do you know why so many of them have survived?¡± she asked. ¡°Skill?¡± Carmen chuckled. ¡°Partially,¡± she admitted. ¡°But I can say with no false modesty that it¡¯s at least partially because of me. And people like me. I spend my days crafting armor and weapons so that the people who keep us safe can fight the things that, with every passing day, get a bit better at trying to kill us. So, with all due respect ¨C I don¡¯t come running when those assholes in the council whistle for me.¡± She frowned. ¡°Roman is there,¡± she said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Roman is back from the tower.¡± Carmen broke into a wide grin. It was the wonderful news she¡¯d been waiting to hear, though if Alyssa hadn¡¯t come straight to find her, then that meant something had gone wrong. Had they failed in conquering the tower? Was there some other threat? Probably the latter, given the pattern since the apocalypse had started. ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you lead with that, then? Come on. Let¡¯s go see what¡¯s going on.¡± Verin looked like she wanted to respond, but then clearly thought better of it. Not that Carmen much cared. She was already striding toward the door before she even finished her sentence. After passing through and into the street, she paused only long enough to ensure that Verin had followed. Then, once she¡¯d locked her door ¨C Easton was a fairly orderly place, but thievery was still a problem ¨C she strode off through the settlement and towards the five-story government building. Once, it had been a two-story police station, but as the little settlement had grown into a proper city, the Architects and Builders had worked overtime to add more space. A good thing, too, because with a population that had climbed into the high five digit range, it took quite a lot of people to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Still, as Carmen joined the throng of pedestrians ¨C they still hadn¡¯t figured out how to get anything but electric cars to work, and even those had been deemed useless because of how inconvenient they were ¨C she barely noticed the city¡¯s growth. Once, it had only been a collection of ramshackle huts, but now, the structures were strong and sturdy as well as architecturally interesting. Even the streets had been paved with cobblestones, giving Easton an atmosphere that hovered between that of a modern city and something out of the Victorian era. The people themselves wore an eclectic mixture of contemporary clothing from before Earth had been touched by the World Tree and the latest from the city¡¯s Tailors. There were people wearing blue jeans walking side-by-side with those clad in elaborate robes. Some people, it seemed, had taken the magical nature of their transformed world as an excuse to indulge some eclectic stylistic choices. There were plenty of people wearing armor, as well. Some were Guards, as denoted by the standard-issue chainmail and sky-blue sashes of their offices, but others were the people tasked with patrolling the outskirts for threats to the city. Carmen had been on a few such hunts, so she recognized the necessity of armor, even if it was a bit mismatched, as was the case with those men and women. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Gradually, the pair of women made their way to the government building. There had been talk about renaming it, but getting the council to agree on anything was a tall order. Especially without Roman¡¯s steady hand on the tiller. Carmen didn¡¯t particularly like the man, but she could at least acknowledge that he was necessary for Easton¡¯s survival. Without his influence, most of the people within the town¡¯s walls would long since have died. A few times, Carmen¡¯s escort tried to make conversation, but she quickly realized that it was a useless endeavor. It wasn¡¯t that Carmen was antisocial ¨C quite the contrary ¨C but she was too eager to see her wife to let even idle conversation slow them down. Soon enough, Carmen found herself walking through the government building¡¯s familiar front doors. The entire first floor, which had once played host to the entire police force, had been completely remodeled into a grand lobby with the Branch of the World Tree standing at its center. Dirk, the Envoy of the World Tree, stood silent sentry as a line of people accessed the Branch¡¯s features. With a thought, he could ban anyone who displeased him, and in the Branch¡¯s vicinity, he wielded significant physical power. So, no one even considered stepping a single toe out of line. Carmen gave him a nod, which he returned. Once, he¡¯d been a fairly timid man, but the power had gone to his head. Now, he had cultivated an inflated sense of self-importance. Fortunately, Carmen rarely had reason to rub shoulders with the likes of him, so his faults were easily ignored. After crossing through the lobby, Carmen and her morningstar-wielding escort approached the stairs that would lead them to the Council Chambers on the top floor. There, she hoped to be reunited with her triumphant wife. Still, even with her excitement distracting her, Carmen couldn¡¯t help but be mildly distracted by the questions circling her mind. But she didn¡¯t have to suffer for much longer before, at last, they reached the pair of carved, wooden double doors that would lead to the chambers. Surprisingly, the woman didn¡¯t hesitate before pushing them open and stepping inside. Carmen followed. ¡°Carmen,¡± said Roman, pushing himself to his feet. He¡¯d been sitting at the head of a polished oak table, so he was still more than a dozen feet away. ¡°Sit. There¡¯s much we need to discuss.¡± ¡°Why are you talking like that?¡± she asked, noting his formal tone as she looked from one face to another. All the normal culprits were there, and they all wore forlorn expressions. There were two newcomers there, though. One was a short, slender man with a pair of shortswords strapped to his back, while the other was the stoic, matronly Verin who¡¯d brought her to the Council Chambers. For a moment, Carmen was confused until she saw something familiar leaning against the table. That¡¯s when it hit her. ¡°W-what¡­what¡­what happened?¡± She had crafted the Spear of the Dragon Lancer herself, and while she had created even more powerful weapons since, it held a special place in her heart. Because it had been a gift meant to keep her wife safe. If it was here, then¡­ ¡°Oh, God¡­¡± She sank to her knees, already having come to the only logical conclusion. Alyssa was gone. She was dead. Suddenly, Roman was by her side, his hand on her back. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­I tried to save her.¡± ¡°How?¡± she managed, looking up at him with tearful eyes. Roman knelt beside her and said, ¡°She died a hero.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I asked. How did she die? I want the details.¡± Carmen hadn¡¯t forgotten the warning she¡¯d passed on to Alyssa before she left for the tower. Back then, she¡¯d told Alyssa to watch out for Roman, largely because they¡¯d always had such differing views on how to run Easton. He shook his head. ¡°I know how you¡¯re feeling, Carmen. I¡¯ve been where you are right now. It doesn¡¯t feel real, does it? Sometimes, I still look up and expect Trish to walk through the door. It¡¯s been more than a year, and¡­and I still haven¡¯t gotten over it.¡± Carmen clenched her fists, then repeated her question, ¡°How did Alyssa die?¡± It came out as more of a growl, and the tension in the room rose to unprecedented heights. Still, Roman didn¡¯t react negatively, even if there were more than a couple of hands subtly creeping towards weapons. Then, he told her a pretty story about Alyssa sacrificing herself for the greater good. He described the circumstances, explaining how Alyssa had been speared through the back by a creature that cancelled her self-buffs while draining her attributes. She was defenseless, and she died before Verin ¨C apparently, that was the matronly woman¡¯s name ¨C could heal her. All of it was perfectly believable. Alyssa had certainly been the type to sacrifice herself so her teammates could survive. Carmen had seen it play out on dozens of occasions, and she knew it was why Alyssa was so popular amongst most of the city¡¯s residents. They knew a hero when they saw one. But in the back of her mind, Carmen felt suspicion take root. After all, Alyssa¡¯s death was nothing but a benefit for Roman. He¡¯d wrung everything he could out of her, and now that the city seemed capable of defending itself, she was no longer necessary. Or maybe that was just misplaced anger. She knew herself well enough to recognize that she just wanted someone to blame. The reality was that the world was an incredibly dangerous place, and it was only a matter of time before Alyssa ran into something capable of killing her. Before, it had been easy to think of her as something akin to a chosen one. Everything had come so naturally to her. But now she was gone. Carmen knelt there for some indeterminate time, her eyes unseeing until, at last, she blinked. By that point, all the others ¨C except for that slim man with the twin blades ¨C were gone. Idly, Carmen recognized that he had a high-quality dagger at his waist. It was at least Simple grade. Maybe even Complex, which was unheard-of. Though with it in its sheath, she couldn¡¯t use Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal to get any more information. That small distraction was enough to pull her out of her stupor, and she shook her head before saying, ¡°Thank you for telling me.¡± She climbed to her feet, then grabbed the Spear of the Dragon Lancer. For a moment, Roman looked as if he was going to object. After all, most of the time, such a weapon would have gone to the city¡¯s armory to be assigned to someone it might benefit. But her challenging glare must have told Roman that, if he wanted to confiscate it, he would have to pry it free of her cold, dead fingers. He clearly didn¡¯t want to go down that road. ¡°Where are you going?¡± he asked when she turned to leave the room. ¡°First, I¡¯m going to get Miggy and tell him that his mom¡¯s dead,¡± she stated, the last word coming out ragged and barely audible. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going to Juan Carlos¡¯s bar so I can get well and truly drunk. You¡¯re welcome to join.¡± ¡°I¡­the funeral arrangements are ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°And I¡¯ll let you know where to show up. She always considered you a friend.¡± ¡°I did too.¡± Then, without another word, Carmen turned and left the room, trying to figure out how she was going to tell Miguel the news. 2-3. A Special Garden A drizzle fell from the grey sky, accompanied by a fine mist that dampened the entire island. It was the sort of lazy rain that wasn¡¯t quite enough to drive one inside for the day, but too heavy to completely ignore. For Elijah, though, it was little different from any other day. He¡¯d long since grown accustomed to much harsher elements, so as he tended his garden, he barely noticed the inclement weather. A little more than a week had passed since his successful defense of the island, and he¡¯d spent much of that time in well-earned relaxation. As much as he longed to explore the world and find civilization, the previous few months had certainly taken their toll. He needed to decompress, and there was no better way to do that than to lose himself in the task of nurturing his increasingly impressive garden. There was something almost meditative about walking among the bushes, flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty as he went. From time to time, he was forced to pull weeds, though even those he preferred to leave alone. Because calling the Grove a garden was a bit of a misnomer. As beautiful as it had become, it was still a wild place, and taming that wilderness held little appeal for Elijah. He preferred to leave it be, to let it grow as it would. However, there were practical concerns as well. He depended on the berries growing on the bushes he¡¯d meticulously planted long ago. Certainly, he could survive off of foraging and fishing, but there was a wide gap between simple persistence and flourishing. The berries ¨C and the other wild edibles he¡¯d managed to cultivate ¨C represented the ability to veer away from the day-to-day struggle of wilderness survival. After all, there was a reason humans had developed agriculture in the first place, and despite his preference for wild things, Elijah wasn¡¯t averse to carrying on that proud farming tradition. So, he tended his garden, pulling weeds as he went. From time to time, he would grab a ripe berry and pop it into his mouth, and it was on one such occasion that he got quite a surprise. ¡°Oh¡­¡± The blackberry wasn¡¯t just sweeter than its fellows, though that was the first thing Elijah had noticed. He quickly moved past that observation when he felt a tiny surge of Ethera race through his body. But there was something else there as well. Something he couldn¡¯t quantify. One thing he did know was that it made him feel incredible, like that tiny spark of Ethera had carried with it a little ball of pure adrenaline as well. After gathering a couple, he carried them to the ancestral tree and called out, ¡°Nerthus? You in there, man?¡± For once, the little tree spirit actually responded. His appearances were still rare enough that Elijah usually didn¡¯t even try to contact him, but of late, they¡¯d grown a bit more frequent. In addition. Nerthus looked a good deal larger, with more defined features as well. Finally, the tree spirit¡¯s bark had taken on a much paler shade, mimicking the changes to the ancestral tree that had begun after it had absorbed the Shard of the World Tree that Elijah had received as a reward for defeating the tower. ¡°Yes?¡± the humanoid bundle of roots asked. Elijah held up one of the blackberries and explained what he¡¯d felt. When he finished, he asked, ¡°So, what¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°It is as expected. I¡¯ve told you that the Grove will change this island, yes?¡± ¡°You have.¡± ¡°The ambient levels of Ethera will rise and thicken, which comes with a host of benefits, both for you and the flora. One of those benefits is that many plants ¨C especially within the Grove itself ¨C will become pseudo-treasures. That berry is one. It is a potent source of vitality which, given time, will help you heal more quickly and provide far more sustenance than any normal food. Be wary, though ¨C as your Grove strengthens, so too will its value. Right now, it is fairly unremarkable in the grand scheme of the universe. But in a decade or two, it will be extremely valuable to many craftsmen. Alchemists, especially, would kill for such a ready source of Ethera-rich pseudo-treasures.¡± That was news to Elijah, but then again, basically everything he learned about his new world could qualify for that label. The reality was that, aside from the occasional explanations from Nerthus, he¡¯d spent most of his time on the island flying blind. According to the tree spirit, he could change that by finding a Branch he could access in order to purchase some guides, but he didn¡¯t foresee that opportunity presenting itself anytime soon. After all, it was a big world out there. Much bigger than Earth had been before feeling the touch of the World Tree, in fact. So, the chances that he would find a settlement with a Branch ¨C other than the one across the strait, which came with its own problems ¨C were fairly slim. Still, he knew that was the only way he would get any significant degree of information. Nerthus was prohibited from saying too much, mostly because the system was structured to force people to gain knowledge either first-hand or through the guides it sold. It was something to do with that being the optimal way to ensure proper progression, and that restriction would remain in place for years to come. ¡°So, eating these things isn¡¯t bad for me, right?¡± Elijah asked, looking down at the blackberry. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Nerthus answered, ¡°No. The opposite, in fact. It will help prepare your body for the next step in your cultivation, and, in addition to providing sustenance, it will provide some degree of passive Regeneration. How much is dependent on your consumption as well as the power in the fruit.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C so you¡¯re saying that if I eat enough of these things, I can directly enhance my attributes?¡± ¡°Yes. If you were a Cook, you could create meals that would get even more out of those ingredients,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°A truly skilled Chef can do even more, and with a wide variety of ingredients that augment attributes other than Regeneration. Of course, if you had either of those classes, you would not be a Druid, and as such, we wouldn¡¯t be having this conversation in the first place.¡± ¡°But if I found someone who had a class like that?¡± ¡°Then your little Grove would be even more valuable,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The same would be true for an Alchemist. However, I do warn you to be wary of any of those you might find. Many of them veer into devourer territory.¡± After that, Nerthus reached the limit of the information he could pass on, and soon retreated into his tree, leaving Elijah alone once again. He returned to his gardening, but he didn¡¯t get much done before he felt something interesting. Ever since the ancestral tree had absorbed the Shard of the World Tree, the Grove had grown past the confines of the island. The boundaries had yet to reach more than a few dozen feet into the ocean, but Elijah hoped that it would soon encompass the tower, obviating the need for him to re-conquer it sometime in the future. Nerthus claimed that would be the case, but Elijah was impatient for the tree spirit¡¯s prediction to come true. In any case, the expansion of his Domain brought with it an awareness of the sea surrounding his island. Most of it was unremarkable ¨C just rock, silt, and various forms of sea life. However, the Domain had just grown to encompass the mouth of an underwater cave that, according to his awareness, extended well below the seabed. Elijah had been cave diving quite a few times in his life. Sometimes, it had been for work, but he¡¯d also done it for fun as well. There was definitely something incredibly engaging about the act of exploration ¨C especially when it was in a location few, if any, others had ever experienced. So, the moment his Locus had touched the cave ¨C more of a tunnel, really ¨C he¡¯d felt a deep sense of longing. Partially, it was for a simpler time when he might¡¯ve gone diving with friends. But it was also a call to adventure. For better or worse, his time in the tower, though deadly and exhausting, had awakened something inside of him. He wanted to explore new things. He needed to experience everything his new, magical world had to offer. And though he¡¯d been putting off heading to the mainland ¨C for good reasons, too ¨C he didn¡¯t think there was any issue with seeing a new facet of his island. He glanced at the grey sky. With the near-ubiquitous cloud cover obscuring the sun, it was sometimes difficult to accurately tell the time. Especially when Elijah often lost himself in whatever task he was performing. But he¡¯d paid enough attention to recognize that it wouldn¡¯t be long before nightfall, so he resolved to spend the rest of his day tending to the garden. In the morning, though, he intended to explore the cave on the edge of his awareness. So, with that, he continued his task until sunset, then headed back to his treehouse where he enjoyed a meal of leftover fish stew and berries. After that, he took a shower ¨C using his harsh, homemade soap to thoroughly clean himself, then retired to his bedroom. For a while, he lay awake, just thinking about the world at large. As always, the persistent questions of how the rest of humanity had dealt with the world¡¯s transformation occupied his mind until, at last, he fell asleep. That night, he dreamed of once again being trapped in the stomach of a giant killer whale. The next morning, he jerked awake, covered in cold sweat and with his heart pounding out of his chest. Sighing, he massaged his temples. While he¡¯d tried to move on from some of his experiences in the tower, some of those memories still crept up on him from time to time. It wasn¡¯t enough to counteract his enthusiasm for exploration or progression, but it was definitely a poignant reminder that nothing worthwhile ever came without a cost. Certainly, he wanted to continue to grow his power. And he wanted to see wonderful sights like he¡¯d experienced in the Sea of Sorrows and the Primordial Jungle. The new world gave him that opportunity, and he fully intended to use it. However, he had to remember that that path wasn¡¯t without significant peril. Elijah pushed himself out of his mossy bed and ran his hand through his blonde curls. He¡¯d need to cut it soon, he reasoned. While he didn¡¯t exactly have access to a barber, he had a knife and a couple of reasonably reflective surfaces. So, he could make do, even if he¡¯d never grace any magazine covers. If such things even existed anymore, which didn¡¯t seem likely. Sighing, he rose to his feet, then slipped on a pair of homemade shorts. Autumn had already come, but his Constitution had grown enough that he could withstand fairly extreme climates without the benefit of heavy clothing. At a certain point, it became extremely uncomfortable, but the temperatures hadn¡¯t quite dropped that low. Besides, he didn¡¯t want to swim around fully clothed. Even as the sun peeked above the horizon, Elijah set about his morning routine. He went through his exercise regimen ¨C he wasn¡¯t sure if it still helped very much, but almost two years of daily training had formed a habit. In any case, he spent most of the morning going through various calisthenics, then practicing his aim with Storm¡¯s Fury. After that, he enjoyed a breakfast of berries before, at last, he could finally get to the fun part of his day. With that, he found himself racing across the island, staff in hand. He leaped over shallow gullies and bounded over fallen trees; he barely even had to look where he was going, he¡¯d grown so used to sensing his environment with his Locus. Soon enough, he reached his destination, which was one of the beaches on the east side of the island. Without hesitation, he waded into the chilly water, then dove into the depths. His Locus guiding him, Elijah cut through the salty water like a fish. With the Ring of Aquatic Travel, he didn¡¯t have to worry about holding his breath, so he quickly found the cave, which presented itself as a narrow crack ¨C maybe three-feet wide ¨C that cut into the rocky seabed. At the entrance to the cave, Elijah hesitated for a few moments. After all, he was well aware of how deadly cave diving could be. But he was superhumanly durable, now, though. And he couldn¡¯t drown. So, he expected it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as dangerous as it would¡¯ve been before the world¡¯s transformation. So, without further ado, Elijah dove through the cave¡¯s entrance. 2-4. Spelunking Cold darkness enveloped Elijah as he passed through the jagged mouth of the cave. He could still see, if only barely, and the current threatened to throw him into the sharp rocks. He kicked forward, grabbing hold of those rocks as he pulled himself through the tunnel. Cave diving was not for the weak of heart; nor was it fit for the easily panicked. Not only did the diver have to be cognizant of his oxygen levels, but it was incredibly easy to lose oneself in the twisting turns of a submerged tunnel. Elijah didn¡¯t have to worry about the former, but the latter could probably get him killed. After all, though he could survive without food and water for a time, he was no immortal. So, he kept his wits about him as he gradually pulled himself through the narrow tunnel. Soon, his Locus receded, and he had to rely on his more mundane senses. As he followed the cave¡¯s path, he noticed a slight decline that quickly grew far steeper until he was swimming down an almost vertical shaft. With every foot, his heart beat a little faster as he imagined all the monstrous things hidden in the darkness. Elijah thought he could survive most threats ¨C at least long enough to run away ¨C but he hadn¡¯t experienced everything the world had to offer. Far from it, in fact. What if he ran into the underwater equivalent of that great raptor that had torn his plane apart so long ago? Or another creature like the panther that had once guarded his island? And that wasn¡¯t even considering the possibility that he might encounter one of the Voxx. After all, the most powerful of the interdimensional reptiles he¡¯d encountered had come from the sea. Still, Elijah continued on, confident in his own abilities. He¡¯d conquered the tower, defeating creatures much more powerful than he was. So, he reasoned that, if push came to shove, he could repeat that feat in the real world. Still, he didn¡¯t savor the notion of being eaten by some sea creature, so he remained focused on his surroundings, concentrating as much on One with Nature as his more mundane senses. It worked, after a fashion, but it was far from ideal. Slowly, the cave began to level out, and Elijah found himself with a pair of options. One branch of the tunnel continued down, while the other broke off to the right. He knew he was already pretty deep ¨C maybe fifty feet below the sea floor ¨C so he decided to check the latter branch. So, he turned to the right and continued on. However, the tunnel only continued for a few dozen more feet before it started to narrow. Still, Elijah persisted, steadily dragging himself along until he only had a few inches of clearance. When that happened, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of claustrophobia. His heart raced, and if he hadn¡¯t been equipped with the Ring of Aquatic Travel, his breathing would have quickened into shallow and panicked pants as well. There was just something so powerfully primal about the fear of getting trapped in a tight space, and though Elijah had been cave diving a few times in the past, he certainly wasn¡¯t immune to his own nature. So, it took him a few moments to master his fear and slowly back away. More than anything, Elijah wished he could just take a few deep, calming breaths. An impossibility considering his situation, but the desire was there all the same. Inch by inch, he pushed himself backward until he could flip over and retrace his proverbial steps. When he finally reached the fork, he considered returning to the surface, but instead, chose to resume his descent. So, he continued to pull himself down into the depths. At some point, the water grew still, and the darkness became even more oppressive; it was like he¡¯d passed some ephemeral threshold into the mythological underworld. Any heat remaining in the water slowly dissipated with every passing inch until even Elijah¡¯s much enhanced Constitution began to falter. Still, he went on. In some ways, it felt almost like a dream. With no light, he couldn¡¯t see. With the numbing cold, he couldn¡¯t feel. Sound was muffled, and he certainly couldn¡¯t smell or taste anything but the salty water. But he could feel his surroundings. He was incapable of distinguishing between the microscopic creatures in the water and clinging to the walls of the cave, but he could feel their collective life force. And it was comforting, knowing that even in such an inhospitable environment, life persisted. It reminded Elijah of all the undiscovered creatures in the deepest parts of the ocean. They lived in a lightless world of crushing pressure, and yet, they thrived. If ever there was a testament to the enduring nature of life, then it would be found in the ocean¡¯s depths. Such thoughts occupied Elijah¡¯s mind as his descent continued, and he reached something akin to a meditative state. Without much in the way of sensory input, he lost track of time. Indeed, he felt almost formless as he drifted ever downward. It was so hypnotic that he almost didn¡¯t notice when the slope leveled out. However, he couldn¡¯t help but see the subtle green glow hovering in the distance. Elijah dragged himself forward, and the illumination loomed larger with every passing moment until it suffused everything. Then, he realized the source. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Tiny crystals, no bigger than a thumbnail, lined the submerged tunnel. Elijah slowed to a stop, reached out, and ran a finger across the surface of one crystal. It felt like warm glass. For a while, Elijah just floated there, drifting back and forth in the subtle current as he beheld the phenomena. He was well-acquainted with bioluminescence, but these crystals were unlike anything he¡¯d ever seen. And the subtle aura of Ethera they emitted told him that they were magical in nature. As if there was ever any doubt. One glance, and he¡¯d known. Eventually, he resumed his path and continued through the tunnel. The crystals slowly grew larger until they were at least the size of his fist, and the illumination they cast followed suit, increasing in intensity until Elijah felt almost as if he was beneath the light of a green sun. Still, he kept going until, at last, he reached the end of the tunnel. It didn¡¯t terminate in a dead end as he¡¯d expected. Instead, it opened into a massive chamber, at least a hundred yards wide and only half-filled with water. He swam to the surface, and when he broke through, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from taking a deep lungful of air. A mistake in normal times ¨C who knew what gasses might¡¯ve been trapped in such an air pocket ¨C but the danger proved unrealized, because it was no different from the atmosphere of his island. Sure, it was a little stale, but that wasn¡¯t going to kill him. In any case, Elijah was far more focused on his surroundings. The cave was roughly spherical, and the dome-shaped ceiling, which was about thirty or forty feet above him, was absolutely covered in more of the glowing green crystals. Verdant light danced across the surface of the water. To call it beautiful would have been completely underselling the awe in Elijah¡¯s heart. He lay back, letting himself float on the surface as he stared up at the ceiling. The water was still cold enough to be uncomfortable, but he barely felt it. Instead, he was far too focused on the fact that he was looking at something he could confidently say that nobody had ever seen before. And in that moment, Elijah was content. Not just happy, because that was fleeting. Contentment was something else altogether, and though it didn¡¯t carry with it the intensity of most other emotions, it ran far deeper. Stress he didn¡¯t know he¡¯d been carrying since his adventures within the tower melted away, and thus unburdened, he could truly appreciate the ethereal beauty before him. More, he could see the wonderous nature of his new life for what it was. Sure, he¡¯d been forced to kill, and not just a little. But as he¡¯d felt since the very beginning, that was just part of the circle of life. It felt a bit clich¨¦ to think of it in such terms, but there was a reason for the ubiquity of such sentiment. Some things had to die so others could live. It had been true before the world¡¯s transformation, and it had become even more so afterwards. The funny thing was that he didn¡¯t really feel the weight of his actions ¨C not in any way that was going to affect him. Only a week or so before, he¡¯d killed almost fifty people. By all rights, it had been a massacre. And yet, he didn¡¯t feel the least bit guilty for it. Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to believe that they¡¯d all been terrible people, either. Most had probably just been following orders when they¡¯d landed on the island. That didn¡¯t matter, though. They¡¯d thrown their lot in with the sort of people who would kidnap and try to kill a sapient being, and for no other reason than to drain her power. That painted them all with the same brush, so when they¡¯d come ashore intending to do the same to his Grove, he felt justified in his actions. In fact, he was content in the knowledge that, given the same situation, he would make all the same choices. Admitting that he didn¡¯t really mind the killing ¨C so long as he felt it was warranted ¨C felt good, like he didn¡¯t have to lie to himself. He also came to realize something he¡¯d been dancing around for quite some time. When he¡¯d first washed ashore, Elijah had been given a second chance at life. And throughout his time on the island, he¡¯d used that opportunity to steadily claw his way forward. He had survived, and, to his own surprise, he¡¯d actually enjoyed most of it. Not the pain. Obviously. But the triumph. The discovery. The magic. The connection to nature he¡¯d gained with his archetype. They all coalesced into one inescapable truth: he liked his new life. And more than anything else, he wanted more. He needed to experience new adventures. He craved that moment of triumph he¡¯d felt after accomplishing what felt like the impossible. After overcoming long odds and defeating fearsome monsters. He wanted to gain more levels, to acquire new abilities. He wanted to see what the higher levels of cultivation had to offer. And more than anything, he wanted to see more incredible things. Elijah knew that path wasn¡¯t going to be a comfortable one, and he would probably experience plenty of pain along the way. But so long as he survived, he could take it. ¡°It¡¯ll be worth it,¡± he said to himself, the sound carrying through the cave. The sound bounced off of the crystals, sending green power arcing from one to the other in a wave. It looked fearsome, but Elijah could feel that it wasn¡¯t dangerous. So, he couldn¡¯t help but grin at the sight. And at his personal revelation. Or rather, an admission. For a long time, Elijah simply floated there, a contented smile playing across his face as he beheld the crystal cavern. Every now and then, he¡¯d let out a subdued shout before he watched the green lightning dance across the ceiling. But then, he felt something he¡¯d been dreading since he¡¯d let the little goblin mage leave his island alive. Someone had encroached upon his domain. Sighing, Elijah righted himself, then cast the teleport function of Ancestral Circle. A moment later, he appeared ¨C still soaking wet ¨C in the middle of his Grove. The invaders still hadn¡¯t moved from shore. Elijah could feel both of them standing beside their rowboat. Then, one of them planted something in the ground. It took Elijah a moment to recognize the white flag. Did that mean the same thing for them as it did on Earth? Or was it something else? Elijah chose to believe the former, but prepared for the later. In any case, he had no intention of meeting ¨C or fighting ¨C them in his homemade shorts. Instead, he¡¯d sewn a garment for just such an occasion. It resembled a toga, but it represented the best of Elijah¡¯s tailoring capabilities. So, wanting to make a reasonably good impression, he retrieved the garment from his treehouse, donned it, and then set off across the island, staff in hand. Hopefully, it would turn out better than last time. 2-5. Diplomacy Cold, clammy humidity hung thick in the air as autumn had begun to give way to winter¡¯s frigid grip. Still, as Elijah raced across his island, he was largely unaffected, save for the sweat on his brow. Even so, the robes he¡¯d sewn were ill-fitting, and as he went, he had to take great care to keep them from snagging on the dense foliage. As a result, his progress was slower than if he¡¯d been less clothed. Oddly enough, he almost wished he could return to the nudity of his time in the tower. At least then he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about it. Instead, he could focus on the task at hand. The two figures who¡¯d arrived on his island still hadn¡¯t moved more than a few feet from their little boats, suggesting that they were waiting on him. The white flag supported that notion, though, as he approached, he remained wary of any traps. Sure, he could feel everything through his Locus, but he was also fairly ignorant of the world. For all he knew, there were ways around his extra-sensory perception. And he had no intention of walking into a trap. Elijah took a few minutes to visually inspect the area, but to his relief, he found nothing out of the ordinary. So, without further delay, he headed toward the beach, stopping a few feet away from the tree line. From there, he studied the newcomers with his own two eyes. There were a pair of them ¨C a goblin and a dwarf ¨C but neither looked to be armed. The goblin¡¯s skin was pale, with only the barest hint of a green tint. Both of his huge, bat-like ears bore multiple piercings that glittered gold and silver, but his features were a little less exaggerated than the other goblins Elijah had seen. He wore sturdy boots, slacks, and a black vest over a white shirt. In short, he looked strikingly normal, even despite his short stature and obvious goblinhood. The dwarven woman next to him was the exact opposite. With heavy shoulders bulging with muscle, she wore a sleeveless tunic and a plaid kilt whose hem brushed against the rocky beach. More than that, her worn features and leathery skin told a story of hard work. But neither looked like a combatant, though Elijah had to admit that, due to his ignorance, he probably wasn¡¯t the best judge of such things. For all he knew, he was looking at the two most dangerous people in the world. He didn¡¯t think that was the case, but he really didn¡¯t have much basis for that judgement. Elijah took a deep breath, then stepped out from the tree line. The pair flinched at his appearance, but neither of them said anything as he approached. With each step, they grew more frightened until, at last, he was only ten feet away. He didn¡¯t intend to go any closer. ¡°Why are you here?¡± he demanded, planting the butt of his staff in the ground. ¡°Apologies,¡± said the goblin, wringing his hands. His voice was fairly high-pitched but scratchy. Almost as if he was a pre-teen with a sore throat. ¡°But we are emissaries from the Green Mountain Mining Guild.¡± ¡°Is that supposed to mean anything to me?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°No. Not as such,¡± stated the goblin. ¡°But we have come to apologize.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Yes. Eason Cabbot blatantly flouted our rules when he led his subordinates to this island,¡± the goblin said. ¡°He ¨C¡± ¡°What about when he tried to kidnap and drain a dragon?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Was that against your rules, too?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°You heard me,¡± he said. ¡°We¡­we knew nothing of this¡­¡± ¡°Oh, come off it, Ramik,¡± huffed the dwarf. Her voice was gruff, and her tone one of annoyance. ¡°You knew the connivin¡¯ little bastard was up to somethin¡¯. You might not¡¯ve known what, but you knew somethin¡¯.¡± ¡°Carisa!¡± ¡°What? You ain¡¯t convincin¡¯ nobody with your little act. Just be straight with ¡®im like I said. He¡¯ll come around or he won¡¯t,¡± she said. Then, she tuned to face Elijah and said, ¡°I¡¯m Carisa. Head o¡¯ the miners. Meanin¡¯ I¡¯m only second in command to Ramik there. ¡®Cept he knows if he steps out o¡¯ line, I¡¯ll straighten ¡®im out real quick-like.¡± ¡°You will do no such thing!¡± spat the goblin. ¡°I am your superior, and I would appreciate it if you acted as such.¡± Then, as if he¡¯d just remembered Elijah was there, he went even paler than normal. He took a deep breath, then straightened his vest. ¡°Right. As I was saying, the Green Mountain Mining Guild and Ironshore had no knowledge of Cabbot¡¯s misdeeds. If we had, we would have stopped him.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve done much good,¡± Carisa stated. ¡°He had all the fighters on ¡®is side. Wasn¡¯t nothin¡¯ we could do to stop him. ¡®Cept Mr. Protector of the Grove over here did us a favor, yeah?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anyone any favors,¡± Elijah interjected, finally deigning to speak. ¡°They invaded my island. I reacted.¡± ¡°Some reaction,¡± she muttered. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t like unannounced visitors. Which brings me to why you¡¯re here,¡± he said. ¡°I seem to recall telling that little goblin mage that I¡¯d kill anybody who set foot on my island.¡± Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. ¡°And yet we still live,¡± said Ramik. ¡°That could change.¡± He swallowed hard in an exaggerated expression of fear. ¡°What do you want?¡± Elijah asked before either of his two visitors could speak again. ¡°An understandin¡¯,¡± said Carisa. ¡°Maybe even an alliance.¡± At that, Elijah wanted to laugh out loud. His only real contact with the settlement had been the murder of nearly fifty people. To follow that up with diplomacy was more than a little surprising. Still, he kept his face expressionless. ¡°And what do you offer?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you want?¡± Ramik countered. ¡°Nothing,¡± Elijah said. And he meant it. The island could provide everything he needed. Certainly, he intended to expand his horizons sometime in the near future, but they didn¡¯t need to know that. The less the people of Ironshore knew about his island, the better ¨C at least as far as he was concerned. But then again, if they¡¯d come to him, they probably wanted to keep him happy. ¡°We needn¡¯t be enemies,¡± Ramik said. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m content with being very distant neighbors. Like I said, I want people to stay away from my island,¡± he responded. ¡°That¡¯s it. I was fine with things the way they were. I stayed here, you all stayed over there. But then fifty people came to my island hoping to¡­I don¡¯t even know what they intended, but it wasn¡¯t good. I like this place the way it is, and I don¡¯t want anyone screwing with it.¡± ¡°That seems reasonable,¡± Ramik responded. ¡°But let me ask you this ¨C do you enjoy wearing rags? I suspect that you could use many things that we take for granted. That¡¯s what I¡¯m offering. Clothing. Equipment. Soap ¨C¡± ¡°I make my own soap.¡± ¡°What? Really? I mean¡­never mind that,¡± Ramik went on. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Carissa interrupted, asking, ¡°Yer a human, ain¡¯t you? A native, right?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°We can give you access to our Branch. Should be at least as advanced as any on the planet,¡± she said. Elijah didn¡¯t immediately respond. That was the one thing he really wanted more than anything else, largely so he could cure some of his ignorance. However, he could also admit that he wouldn¡¯t mind seeing what goods they had to offer. Perhaps some spices. Maybe something with caffeine. He definitely missed coffee. Or perhaps he could obtain some proper clothing. It was an attractive offer, but there was one thing that neither Ramik nor Carissa had mentioned. ¡°And what do you want from me?¡± ¡°Mutual defense,¡± Ramik said. ¡°You killed most of our fighters. We still have enough for basic defense, but if any truly powerful enemies attack, we will be vulnerable. I¡¯ve sent for reinforcements, but those cost quite a bit of etherium, and I¡¯ll be honest ¨C the coffers aren¡¯t precisely overflowing of late.¡± At that, he directed a pointed glare at Carissa. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me,¡± she said before spitting on the ground. ¡°Ain¡¯t my fault the true iron¡¯s stubborn on this planet. We¡¯re gettin¡¯ there. Just takin¡¯ a bit longer¡¯n we thought it would.¡± Ramik sighed. ¡°This is neither the time nor the place to get into that,¡± he said. ¡°Mr. Protector, if ¨C¡± Elijah cringed at the moniker. If he¡¯d had it to do over again, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have labeled himself in such a way. But there was nothing he could do about it now. So, he said, ¡°My name is Elijah.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Elijah,¡± the goblin repeated. ¡°We would also like the opportunity to purchase any equipment you might have¡­ah¡­acquired during the previous raid.¡± That, Elijah had no issues with. He¡¯d already set aside a few pieces he thought might be valuable ¨C an axe he intended to use for cutting down trees, a few extra daggers, and lots of leather and cloth ¨C but the rest, he had little use for. If he could simply sell them back to the people of Ironshore, it would solve some issues for him. ¡°I have no problem with the last part. The rest of it, I¡¯m going to have to give some thought. I don¡¯t think I¡¯m revealing any secrets when I say that I don¡¯t trust you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Your people came here to kill me and take what was mine. If they could have done it, they would have.¡± ¡°Right, but ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not finished,¡± Elijah growled. ¡°Even so, I¡¯m not completely opposed to the idea of working together. I just need to give it some thought before I commit to anything. In the meantime, I would ask that you get back in your boat and return to Ironshore. I will bring the equipment across once I¡¯ve made my decision.¡± For a moment, the goblin looked like he was going to say something else. However, Carissa beat him to it, saying, ¡°Sounds fair ¡®nuff.¡± Elijah just nodded, then turned around and retreated into the trees. He didn¡¯t stop, either. Instead, he just kept going, never turning back. However, he did keep tabs on his visitors, who resorted to arguing the moment he was out of earshot. That wasn¡¯t surprising; they seemed keen enough on bickering. But then they boarded their little rowboat and, soon enough, they were on their way back to Ironshore. Elijah lost track of them when they passed out of his Locus. When he got back to the Grove, he went straight to the ancestral tree and called for Nerthus. The little tree spirit had grown more active with every passing day, so he responded in only a few seconds. ¡°Yes?¡± Elijah wasted no time before telling him what had happened. When he¡¯d finished ¨C which didn¡¯t take long ¨C he asked, ¡°So, any advice? I was thinking that it wouldn¡¯t hurt to sell the weapons back, at least.¡± ¡°You need to access the Branch. Whatever concessions you must make, that should be the goal.¡± ¡°Is it really that important?¡± ¡°It is. As I¡¯ve said before, I am restricted in what information I can pass on. That is by design. On integrated worlds, the rules are much more flexible, but here, the origin of any knowledge must be the World Tree.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Three reasons. The first is that the system is infallible. As such, any information it provides is guaranteed to be true. The same cannot be said for what might be passed on by visitors such as those goblins or gnomes. It is not difficult to manipulate people with bad information.¡± Elijah nodded. That much was true. Before the world had been transformed, humanity had been plagued by misinformation. Bad actors the world over had spent trillions of dollars in an effort to manipulate the populace via incomplete or outright false information. So, it stood to reason that the invaders ¨C or visitors, as Nerthus categorized them ¨C could do the same. ¡°And the second reason?¡± ¡°It is generally agreed that knowledge freely given does not promote the sort of growth necessary for the system¡¯s goals. As such, earning knowledge is preferable,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°And finally, the system is an ethereal construct that needs fuel to function. The ethereium spent on various functions accessible at any Branch goes towards that goal. ¡°Aside from that, what good is etherium? I mean, I know it¡¯s money, but does it have value other than what¡¯s assigned to it?¡± ¡°Of course. Etherium is a basic component of crafting,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°Before you ask ¨C no, I can¡¯t explain it to you.¡± Elijah sighed. It was just further evidence that he needed to access that Branch. Just like that, he made up his mind. He intended to approach any potential alliance with his eyes wide open, though. And if they stepped one toe out of line, he had no issues repeating his actions from the week before. 2-6. Drowning The hammer fell, sending sparks flying from the molten metal. Carmen knew it was too hot, that the result was going to be almost entirely unusable. But she didn¡¯t much care. Indeed, all she really wanted to do was hit something ¨C anything ¨C really, really hard. So, she had retreated to her forge, intending to lose herself in the process of shaping metal. Instead, she¡¯d quickly made one mistake after another until she stopped even trying to do anything worthwhile. With a growl, she reached down and grabbed the glowing bar of steel, then tossed it at the wall. It hit with another spray of sparks, then shattered entirely. That¡¯s when she let out a primal yell that sounded more like it came from a wild animal than a human woman. The moment the scream died in her throat, she sank to her knees and collapsed into a mess of sobbing tears. Alyssa was never supposed to be the one to die. Even if everyone else was killed, Alyssa should have survived. Carmen had made sure that her wife had been equipped with all the best equipment ¨C armor the likes of which no one else in Easton could even think about making ¨C and that wasn¡¯t even mentioning Alyssa¡¯s gifts. She was the best fighter in the city, and she¡¯d proven her mettle in countless battles. And yet, she had fallen. She wasn¡¯t the only one, either. One of the healers had died, and so had the lanky wizard who¡¯d been part of Alyssa¡¯s normal team. Roman had spun a pretty tale. He¡¯d talked about how brave Alyssa had been, about how she had sacrificed herself so the others could live. That certainly sounded like the woman Carmen had married, but still ¨C she hadn¡¯t forgotten the growing animosity between Alyssa and Roman. That loomed over everything, casting frustrating doubt over the man¡¯s story. Bending over, Carmen hung her head. Her sweat-soaked hair formed a curtain around her face as the tears continued to fall. She knew her suspicions were unfair. Roman had never done anything to suggest that he would betray Alyssa. In fact, despite their differences of opinion, the pair had been close friends. They had relied on one another at every turn. Carmen knew she was just looking for someone to blame. The fact of the matter, though, was that there was no single guilty party. People died every day. The world was dangerous and deadly, and Carmen needed to look no further than the situation itself. Going into the tower had always been a risk, and for once, Alyssa had paid the price for her gallant nature. But just because Carmen knew there was no one to blame didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t angry. That she didn¡¯t need to vent her frustrations on something. Anything. And given that the metal had proven to be a poor opponent, she decided to seek out a more satisfying foe. So, with tears still falling down her cheeks, she went to the corner where she found her armor. It wasn¡¯t the same quality as the beautiful suit of plate she¡¯d made for Alyssa. In fact, it looked just about as ordinary as any suit of armor could. Plain steel, with only a few embellishments to set it apart, the armor was workmanlike in both appearance and function. It suited Carmen perfectly, and she donned it with grim determination. Once she¡¯d strapped the various pieces into place, she retrieved a giant, two-handed hammer from the storeroom. Like her armor, it didn¡¯t look like anything special. Indeed, it had a crude, almost unfinished look about it. But also like her armor, it was well-crafted, and its quality exceeded any of her creations, aside from the gear she¡¯d made for Alyssa. Thus armed and armored, Carmen grabbed a rucksack, then headed to the nearby home she¡¯d shared with Alyssa and her son. Miguel was staying with friends for the night, so the house was deserted. Confronted with that emptiness, Carmen once again felt on the verge of breaking down. The years after the world¡¯s transformation hadn¡¯t been easy, but as a family, they¡¯d shared plenty of happy times ¨C especially in that house. Now, it was empty, and it would never feel full again. Forcing her emotions aside for the moment, Carmen gathered some provisions ¨C just a few bottles of water and the dried meat Alyssa had always favored for when she went on her patrols. Once she¡¯d taken care of her supplies, she set off for the gate. When she got there, the pair of guards tried to caution her against going out alone, but one glare was all it took for them to back down. So, soon enough, Carmen was trekking down the well-trodden trails in the surrounding wilderness. At first, she had no real notion of where she was going. She just wanted to find something to kill. But in the back of her mind, she knew precisely where she was destined to end up. And hours later, she stood in front of the derelict building she¡¯d once called home. It had already been picked clean, and in the two years since it had been inhabited, the surrounding wilderness had reclaimed the single-story house. But it was still recognizable enough that Carmen couldn¡¯t look at it without tearing up again. She probably would have stayed longer if it wasn¡¯t for the massive creature charging down the street at her. On the most basic of levels, it was a brown bear. However, like most of the local wildlife, the world¡¯s transformation had turned it into something else. Something bigger, faster, and far deadlier. Fortunately for Carmen, she¡¯d changed, too. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Even as the monster charged at her, drool flying from its slavering jaws, Carmen pulled the massive hammer from her shoulder. For her first ten levels after Earth had been touched by the World Tree, Carmen had put every free point into Strength. And that attribute had been further enhanced after she¡¯d gained her Blacksmith class. So, even though the hammer weighed north of a hundred pounds, she handled it like it was as light as a feather. The bear monster closed with frightening speed, and if Carmen hadn¡¯t been so enveloped by her own grief and rage, she might¡¯ve succumbed to fear. That wasn¡¯t what happened, though. Instead, she met the charging bear with a sweeping attack reminiscent of a softball swing, and the huge chunk of steel at the end of the hammer took the mutated animal directly in the face. Carmen experienced a deep sense of satisfaction when she felt bones crunch under the blow. The bear stumbled, though its mass and momentum were so great that it still tackled her to the ground. Fortunately, her attack had shattered its jaw, so it couldn¡¯t bring its most potent weapons to bear. It still had claws, though. So, Carmen dropped her weapon ¨C it was useless when she was buried beneath a thousand pounds of pissed-off ursine ¨C and locked her own meaty hands around its wrists. Thus began a contest of strength. Woman against monstrous bear. And for a moment, it looked like the bear might come out on top. Then, Carmen regained her leverage, and suddenly, the bear was losing. With a great heave, she flipped the creature onto its back and rolled atop it. Then, Carmen let out a mighty roar that dwarfed anything the bear could utter as she ripped her arms out to the side. More bones cracked as the bear¡¯s joints couldn¡¯t handle the stress. It whimpered, suddenly aware of its own vulnerability. If Carmen had let it, the thing would have run. But she hadn¡¯t come out into the wilderness to wrestle bears. She¡¯d come to kill something. So, without further ado, she cocked her arm back, curled her fingers into a fist, and commenced with transforming her wishes a reality. Over and over, her gauntleted fists descended, and slowly, she pummeled the monster¡¯s face into a bloody pulp. At first, it squirmed as it tried to escape, but soon enough, even that struggle fell away. At some point, Carmen had stopped attacking a living monster, instead transitioning into beating a dead bear¡¯s corpse. But still, she persisted, screaming and growling and crying all the while. It did no good, though. Her frustration and grief remained as poignant and powerful as ever. When she pulled away, her knuckles were sore and bloody beneath her armored gauntlets, and one of her hands was probably broken. Her one-sided attribute allocation meant that her Constitution couldn¡¯t really hold up to her Strength. But she¡¯d get someone to heal her when she got back to Easton. For now, she grabbed the knife from her belt and started processing the creature. That took quite some time; it was a large animal, after all, and she wasn¡¯t an expert. However, over the next couple of hours, she finished the job, coming away with a decent quality pelt and a few hundred pounds of good meat. Once she¡¯d gotten everything she could out of the bear, she began the long trek back to town. Along the way, she had to fight two more times, though nothing as menacing as the bear, and when she finally returned to Easton, she¡¯d added a significant amount of meat to her haul. She handed it over to the guards and told them to distribute it accordingly. Then, she took her pelt to a man who¡¯d taken the Leatherworker class and told him what she wanted made. It cost quite a few etherium, but he was amenable. Finally, after washing the worst of the blood away, Carmen headed to one of the town¡¯s handful of taverns, where she quickly got down to the serious business of drinking herself into a stupor. While she was there, multiple acquaintances approached to give her their condolences, and for the most part, Carmen accepted them with as much grace as she could muster. However, at some point, she skated past mere drunkenness and into absolutely sloppy territory. Which had always been the goal. However, just before she let herself fall into unconsciousness, someone sat across from her at the table. She looked up with blurry eyes, but didn¡¯t recognize the woman. ¡°Don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be much company,¡± she slurred. Then, Ethera gathered, and the woman cast a spell on Carmen. She never even had a chance to react before it enveloped her. And gradually, her drunkenness faded away, replaced by horrible sobriety. ¡°What the fucking hell?¡± Carmen growled. ¡°Hope you had a good goddamn reason for doing that, because¡­¡± That¡¯s when she recognized the woman. Verin. The healer who¡¯d been there with Alyssa when she¡¯d died. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± the older woman said, pushing her hair behind her ears. Her face was largely unlined, but she had a few grey streaks mixed in with the brown locks. ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­I just wanted to talk.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t. Or didn¡¯t me getting blackout drunk give you a goddamn hint?¡± Verin¡¯s eyes found the table, and tears started to fall down her cheeks. Carmen sighed. ¡°Look ¨C I didn¡¯t mean it like that, alright? Just don¡¯t start crying on me. Listen ¨C just tell me what you want, alright? I¡¯m all ears.¡± Verin looked up, her eyes glistening. ¡°I was with her.¡± ¡°I know. Roman told me.¡± ¡°I should have¡­I should have saved her,¡± Verin said. ¡°I wish¡­I just wasn¡¯t strong enough. But I¡¯m a healer, right? That¡¯s my job. I should have saved her.¡± Carmen shook her head. With sobriety came terrible clarity, and she saw the day¡¯s actions for what they were ¨C especially when she saw her own grief reflected in Verin¡¯s. ¡°Look ¨C it¡¯s okay,¡± she said. ¡°You did everything you could have done.¡± The matronly healer said nothing. ¡°You¡¯re new around here, right? You just got here a couple of weeks before the tower.¡± Carmen didn¡¯t know what else to say. She didn¡¯t want to be the one to comfort someone else. She wasn¡¯t capable of it, and even if she was, that was a road she had no interest in traveling. So, she¡¯d changed the subject. ¡°Yes. I came with a group of refugees. Some of us were allowed in, but¡­others were not,¡± she said. ¡°Because of what I did in the tower, Roman is letting the rest in.¡± ¡°Well, at least something good came of it,¡± Carmen said. And indeed, she meant it. Not only had they kept the tower from overflowing and burying them beneath a horde of Voxx, but it had saved a few refugees, too. Alyssa would have been proud of that. She took a deep breath, then said, ¡°Look ¨C I¡¯m sure you mean well and everything, but I really can¡¯t do this right now. So, I¡¯m going to go. I hope¡­I hope you get what you want out of all this. We can always use good healers.¡± ¡°T-thank you,¡± Verin said, her gaze back on the wooden table. Carmen just shook her head and pushed herself to her feet. After paying her tab ¨C with a single copper etherium ¨C she headed back home. She was done feeling sorry for herself. Now, she needed to focus on what really mattered ¨C making the world a safer place for Miguel. Mistrunner 2 Now Available on Kindle and Audible! I just wanted to make a special post to let everyone know that Mistrunner 2 is now available on Kindle and Audible (narrated by Soneela Nankani). I really love this story, and I think it represents some of my best writing (especially books 2 and 3). So, if you''ve enjoyed reading this far and want to support my work, please head on over to Amazon and give it a shot (link to follow). I feel like the quality deserves success, and I hope you all do too! For those who don''t remember the chapters covered in that book, here''s the synopsis:
Nearly a century ago, the people of Earth surrendered their freedom to the aliens responsible for the cloud of nanites, known as the Mist, that transformed the planet¡¯s ecosystem: Landscapes became toxic. Animals morphed into monsters. Humans found themselves imbued with supernatural abilities and wielding technological wonders that changed the world¡¯s balance of power. Now, while ruthless entrepreneurs take advantage of their fellow man in order to accrue incalculable amounts of wealth, the aliens prepare to descend like a plague and drain Earth of its natural resources once and for all. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Mira Braddock¡¯s uncle was once the most powerful man in Nova City, and before his death, he empowered his niece with a Tier 7 Nexus Implant. Cybernetically enhanced and trained as a warrior, Mira is not only peerless on the battlefield but also possesses the ability to control the Mist that¡¯s pervaded every machine¡ªand person¡ªshe encounters. Setting her vengeful sights on Nora Lancaster, the woman who betrayed her uncle and took over his empire, Mira wages a war against the city¡¯s competing overlords, tearing apart their fragile alliances and turning them against one another. But with every victory Mira claims, innocents get caught in the crossfire. Struggling to regain her sense of compassion and empathy for others, Mira won¡¯t find peace until she¡¯s fulfilled her rage-fueled quest against Nora, an enemy whose endgame promises mass destruction on an unimaginable scale . . .
Anyway, the links are down below: 2-7. Change is in the Air A distinct chill laced the morning air as Elijah hefted a large boulder above his head. Judging by its size, the mass of rock was at least two-hundred pounds, and Elijah let out a loud grunt as he locked his elbows out before dropping it to the loamy ground. The moment he was free of his burden, his shoulders sagged in exhaustion. He¡¯d been working out with that boulder for almost an hour, and it had certainly taken its toll. So, he channeled Ethera through his soul and into Touch of Nature, sending a pulse of healing magic through his body. It was only mildly effective in combating his fatigue, but as he¡¯d learned since the very beginning of his time on the island, that strategy certainly helped to mitigate his recovery times. He spent the next few minutes stretching his tight muscles before taking off at a light jog that took him to the beach, where he didn¡¯t hesitate to dive into the ocean. Over the next couple of hours, he swam a circuit around the island. Once, he wouldn¡¯t have dared do any such thing ¨C the fear of mutated marine life had been enough to keep him from even considering it ¨C but ever since his time in the tower, he¡¯d moved past those fears. He was still wary, but with his Locus extending almost fifty yards from shore, he would know about any threat well before it posed any real danger. Once he¡¯d completed his circuit, Elijah climbed out of the ocean. His arms and legs were burning with exhaustion, but another pulse of Touch of Nature served to alleviate that, at least to some small degree. Still, he needed to rest a bit before he concluded his training regimen. With that in mind, he returned to his Grove, where he spent the next hour or so tending to his garden with Nature¡¯s Bounty. The process was meditative as well as restorative ¨C not to mention necessary ¨C so by the time he¡¯d finished, he was more than ready for the more enjoyable, if frustrating portion of his training. Once he¡¯d finished up with the garden, he left the Grove behind and headed for his old cabin. When he reached it, he saw that the derelict building was in just as poor of shape as it had always been, though the simple repairs he¡¯d made ¨C like closing off the collapsed wall by leaning a mixture of branches and moss against the roof ¨C had fallen by the wayside. Likely, one of the frequent storms that plagued the area had torn the makeshift wall down. The sight brought with it a degree of nostalgia. At times, it felt as if only a few days had passed since he¡¯d washed ashore and taken refuge in the ruined structure. At others, it felt even more distant than the two-plus years that had passed since then. Still, without that cabin, Elijah probably wouldn¡¯t have survived, and if he had, it would have been significantly more difficult and a good deal less comfortable. So, if he ever met the original builder, he would shower that person with all the gratitude he could muster. In any case, he wasn¡¯t there to reminisce about days past. Instead, just like when he¡¯d gotten his first attack spell, Elijah had taken to using the area for training. So, without further hesitation, he embraced Shape of the Guardian and shifted into the curious ape-bear-lizard hybrid to which he¡¯d gained access at level thirty. A couple of days after he¡¯d dealt with the invaders, Elijah had finally taken the opportunity to truly inspect his new form. And he hadn¡¯t been disappointed. With thick, red-and-black scales, the new shape was monstrous in size. If he decided to push himself fully upright, Elijah estimated that the form was at least nine feet tall and heavily muscled. There was a significant layer of fat, too ¨C not unlike a grizzly bear, in that respect. The face was a little harder to describe in Earthly terms, but if he forced himself to compare it to something familiar, he would have said that, with its spiny protrusions, it resembled a bearded dragon ¨C which felt somewhat appropriate, given the nature of his Dragon Core. By comparison, the scaled body was easier to categorize as distinctly simian in shape. With long arms, stumpy legs, and a powerful torso, the shape looked like it belonged to the world¡¯s largest, scaliest ape. It also came with a significant issue, as specified by the description:
Shape of the Guardian Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 30 Take on the form of a stalwart guardian, vastly increasing your Strength and Constitution attributes. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Guardian is active.
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per Week
On the surface, it all looked great. And it was, which was reflected in his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 30
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
Alignment N/A
Strength 62 (31)
Dexterity 40 (30)
Constitution 72 (31)
Ethera 39
Regeneration 53 (33)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Opal Neophyte
After reaching level thirty, Elijah had been happy to find that his limit for augmentations had increased to three, not including One with Nature or Essence of the Wolf. So, he could keep Essence of the Monkey, Essence of the Boar, and Aura of Renewal active at all times ¨C which he did. However, even with Essence of the Monkey increasing his Dexterity by ten points, there was a huge disparity between his power and coordination. So, while he was capable of incredibly rapid movement, he had difficulty controlling himself. The disparity was especially difficult to endure after spending so much time with his balance of attributes skewing more towards immense coordination. The problem had presented itself during the fight with the gnomish leader of the invaders, and in hindsight, the only reason Elijah had managed to win that battle was because of a gross power disparity. He expected that he and Cabbot had been similar level, but Elijah had the benefit of his comparatively advanced cultivation, so he got far more out of his attributes than the gnome had. Couple that with the overpowered nature of Shape of the Guardian ¨C especially with Guardian¡¯s Renewal effectively bringing him back from the brink of death ¨C and it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand how he¡¯d won. But it definitely hadn¡¯t been skill that saw him through to victory, because, as Elijah had discovered every time he tried to use Shape of the Guardian, he was incredibly clumsy in the new form. It was an issue he was determined to remedy. Thus, he¡¯d quickly incorporated it into his training regimen. He¡¯d made some progress, but he knew he had a long way to go. So, he quickly got to it. In his experience, nothing built hand-eye coordination quite like juggling, so Elijah had gathered a multitude of rocks for just that purpose. They weren¡¯t identical or anything ¨C not like juggling balls usually were ¨C but that worked in his favor. Or rather, it made things much more difficult, which in turn, made the exercise that much more effective. Still, it was a frustrating experience, and more than once, he¡¯d used his incredible strength to chuck rocks off into the distance. But he persisted, as much out of a stubborn refusal to give in to the limitations of the form as it was due to a desire to improve. Either way worked, but it definitely made for a very different mindset. For almost two hours, Elijah kept at it until he¡¯d finally had enough. Then, he moved on to engaging in various agility drills he¡¯d learned over the years playing sports. These were slightly easier, because he could ride a wave of momentum until completion. However, he tried to vary things just enough to throw off his own rhythm so that he forced himself to learn to control his body better. Once he was finished with that, Elijah shadowboxed. He¡¯d engaged in the drill often enough in the past that it should have come easily to him, but due to the disparity between his Strength and Dexterity, as well as the odd anatomy of the form, it was much more difficult than it should have been. However, just like with the juggling, he persisted through the frustration, hoping that so long as he kept at it, he would learn to deal with the imbalanced attributes. By its very nature, the form would never be particularly coordinated. That was an inescapable fact. And yet, Elijah hoped that repetitive practice would help him to work around the lack of coordination at least enough that he could control his bulky body. Because, as it was, he had trouble even running in anything but a straight line, which meant that he would be a sitting duck for any agile foe. After a little more than an hour of shadowboxing, Elijah finally arrived at the most hated part of his workout. At one point, he¡¯d enjoyed yoga. There was something meditative about it that had always given him a sense of peace. But in his Guardian form, the practice was far too frustrating to allow for anything even approaching that lofty state. If anyone else would have been there, they would have probably gotten a good giggle out of watching a nine-foot-tall ape-lizard trying to contort itself into various yoga poses. Elijah could acknowledge that it probably looked incredibly silly. However, as he tried to wrangle his body into each position, his frustration continued to mount until, at last, he¡¯d had enough. With a bestial roar, he launched himself from the warrior pose and into a nearby tree. His foreclaw swept out, destroying the trunk of the tree in an explosion of splinters. He watched as the tree tipped over, then fell. Slowly, his anger faded until, at last, his mind stilled to the point that he could make sense of what he¡¯d just done. Ever since he¡¯d gained Shape of the Predator, Elijah had known that his forms came with appropriate instincts. As a mist panther, it had manifested almost immediately when he¡¯d lost himself in hunting a hare. Later, he¡¯d nearly lost his humanity altogether in the Primordial Forest. And presumably, the scaled panther form that the shape had become when he¡¯d attained his Dragon Core would show similar tendencies. It was the form of a hunter, and once he assumed that shape, his instincts followed suit. Now, the Guardian Shape had shown its own colors. It was a stalwart, powerful beast, but he could easily envision a scenario where he lost himself to its ferocity. He¡¯d have to keep that in mind, lest he do something he¡¯d regret. Like knocking down a perfectly innocent tree. Or killing an annoying person. With a bestial sigh, Elijah let the form drop. He¡¯d had enough training with the scaled ape form. Instead, he needed to work on something he¡¯d put off for far too long. In the Sea of Sorrows, he had been deprived of his predator form. As a result, he¡¯d been forced to fight as a human, which had put him at a distinct disadvantage ¨C not least because his attributes were distinctly inferior in his natural shape. However, it was also because, until that point, he¡¯d relied on his mist panther form in almost every physical confrontation. So, he just wasn¡¯t used to fighting as a human. And certainly, he¡¯d gotten by, but during those long days, he¡¯d made a vow to himself to remedy his situation through training. Thus, he¡¯d decided to practice with his staff. He knew that, if he ever had to fight someone like Cabbot in his human form, he¡¯d never come out on top. He just didn¡¯t have the attributes or abilities to do that. But he hoped to develop his technique to the point where he could at least hold his own long enough to bring his various spells to bear. The problem with that was that he had almost no experience fighting with a staff, and as a result, when he decided to train, he felt like a little kid swinging a stick around. Which wasn¡¯t so far from the truth, really. The only difference was that, with at least some fighting experience, he had some notion of what might work. So, over the past week, he¡¯d developed a few drills so he could practice strikes and blocks while incorporating some boxing footwork. Was it perfect? Far from it. But it was the best he could do with the resources he had. So, as the sun dipped toward the horizon, Elijah occupied himself with flailing his staff around. He tried to maintain some semblance of discipline and technique, but the results were, at best, mixed. Still, he kept at it until night finally fell. As darkness enveloped the forest, Elijah returned to the Grove, where he made another circuit of his garden ¨C and the trees that constituted his Ancestral Circle ¨C while flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty. Finally, he ended his day with a meal of berries and fish-and-mushroom stew. All in all, it was a good day, but he suspected that it would take many more before he saw any real results. In the meantime, though, he intended to take Ramik and Carissa up on their offer. He¡¯d already bound the weapons together with some of his homemade cordage ¨C he wasn¡¯t going to waste the looted rope on something like that ¨C and he planned to head to Ironshore at first light. With that in mind, he took a long, cold shower ¨C he certainly missed hot water something fierce ¨C then went to bed. 2-8. A Warm Welcome The next morning dawned crisp and cool, but Elijah was hesitant to extract himself from his warm, rabbit-fur blankets. Still, he was a creature of habit, and he had many tasks to accomplish before heading to Ironshore. So, he groaned as he threw the comfortable bedding aside and pushed himself to his feet. Soon enough, he began his morning routine. Starting with a leftover fish stew breakfast and ending with an abbreviated version of his training regimen, it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah was donning his best outfit. It was a toga, just like the one he¡¯d worn for the first meeting, but the stitching was a little tighter, and the fit a little better. Still, he knew he was never going to be much of a tailor, which highlighted one of his goals for the day. If he did nothing else, he intended to purchase some proper clothing. To that end, Elijah found the little basket where he kept his pilfered etherium and dumped it all in one of his homemade satchels. Then, he gathered the looted weapons in an awkward bundle before heading to the beach where the invaders¡¯ incursion had begun. The rowboats were all exactly where he¡¯d left them, so he selected the sturdiest one and shoved it into the surf. The water was frigid, but Elijah had grown used to it during his daily swims, so it was only mildly uncomfortable. Likely, that had as much to do with his Constitution as it did his routine. In any case, he pushed the small vessel out to sea, then hopped inside and started rowing across the strait. As he went, Elijah was reminded of the last time he¡¯d crossed over to the mainland. Back then, he¡¯d been on a mission to rescue a dragon from people intent on draining her for their own cultivation. That had ended with Elijah killing quite a few gnomish ritualists, saving the dragon, and obtaining a Dragon Core. That Core cultivation had, in turn, given him the strength to kill the invaders. He sighed as he continued to row. So much had happened, and in so little time. Once, he¡¯d struggled to even place on the power ladder, but now? He¡¯d progressed into the top twenty-five, and given the advanced state of his cultivation ¨C which Nerthus claimed should have been impossible on such a young world ¨C Elijah felt comfortable in saying that he was one of the most powerful people on Earth. Which was insane. Almost as if to reassure himself, he opened the ladder and found himself in the thirty-second position:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 38 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 37 3. Hu Shui ¨C Level 35 4. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 35 5. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 34 6. Kimberly Jackson ¨C Level 33 7. Abigail Lowrey ¨C Level 33 8. Michael King - Level 33 9. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 33 10. Thor Gunderson ¨C Level 32 11. Niko Song ¨C Level 32 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 14. ¡­ 32. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 30 33. ¡­ 34. ¡­ 35. ¡­ 91. Carmen Rodriguez ¨C Level 21
Oscar Ramirez, whoever he was, still maintained the top spot, and most of the other names were unchanged. However, Elijah noticed that one of the Songs had dropped off the list entirely. It didn¡¯t take a genius to intuit that they were now dead. Given what he¡¯d been through so far, Elijah expected that to happen more often, too. He kept reading the names until he got to his, and initially, intended to close the window. But then a new name jumped out at him. Carmen Rodriguez. His sister-in-law. The oars came to a stop, and as he stared at that line, the boat just drifted back and forth in the gentle current. Carmen was alive. But what did that mean? Surely, she wouldn¡¯t have let anything happen to his sister. Definitely not to Miguel. In fact, if something had gone wrong with Elijah¡¯s nephew, he felt confident that Carmen would have descended into apathy or, in a worst-case scenario, suicidal thoughts. No ¨C if Carmen was alive, then the rest of her family and by extension, Elijah¡¯s ¨C had to have made it as well. A broad grin spread across his face as he realized just how much he¡¯d dreaded finding out his family¡¯s fate. Now, he knew. He just knew that Alyssa and Miguel were okay, and that made everything so much easier. So, with that buoying his mood, he resumed his rowing, propelling the little rowboat across the strait. Still, it took quite some time to cover the distance, so he had plenty of opportunity to think. Mostly, his thoughts centered on Alyssa, Carmen, and Miguel, and he found himself wondering how they had survived. Had they formed a community with other survivors outside of Seattle? Or had they gone into the city itself? More, what classes had they gotten? Miguel was only ten years old ¨C by Elijah¡¯s calculation, at least ¨C but had he gotten an archetype when the world had transformed? This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Elijah had no answers to any of his questions, but he couldn¡¯t help but ask them in his own mind. And like that, he eventually found himself completing his journey and approaching the Ironshore docks. They weren¡¯t terribly impressive, at least compared to what Elijah had seen in the old world. However, they were functional enough, and the long docks seemed capable of berthing at least a half-dozen of the whaling ships he¡¯d seen sailing from the small city. Elijah navigated to one of the shorter docks, keenly aware of all the people ¨C mostly gnomes, dwarves, and goblins ¨C watching his every move. Someone called out to him, but he ignored whoever had shouted. Instead, he pulled up to the dock, then used a rope attached to the rowboat to tie off. Then, he reached down and heaved the bundle of weapons onto the wooden planks. They landed with a thud, but Elijah paid the sound little attention. Instead, he was prepared to shift to his Guardian form at a moment¡¯s notice. His caution proved unnecessary, because only a few moments after he¡¯d landed, a small figure ¨C even for a gnome, he was miniscule ¨C scurried in his direction. When he got close, he nervously smoothed his long mustaches and said, ¡°Welcome, Protector of the Grove, to our humble town!¡± He bowed deeply. ¡°I have sent for Overseer Ramik. I am Uban, the dockmaster.¡± ¡°Good to meet you, Uban,¡± Elijah said, climbing out of the boat. His bare feet slapped against the dock, reminding him that he wasn¡¯t wearing any shoes. The lack certainly hadn¡¯t been a problem back on his island, but now, with every passing second, he grew distinctly more aware of his state of dress. By comparison, Uban wore what Elijah would have classified as Victorian garb. The cut was a bit wrong, and his wide-brimmed hat reminded him of a bolero, but it somehow fit the aesthetic. In any case, Elijah¡¯s homemade toga was, in a word, shabby to the point of being classified as rags. Which it kind of was, considering that he¡¯d made the garment from repurposed Ritualist¡¯s robes. Whatever the case, that was an issue that had contributed to his decision to visit Ironshore in the first place. Hopefully, he could find replacement clothing ¨C and much more ¨C while he was in town. ¡°You don¡¯t have to use that whole Protector of the Grove stuff,¡± he said. ¡°Just call me Elijah.¡± ¡°Oh¡­okay,¡± said the nervous gnome. ¡°Elijah.¡± After that, the little gnome tried to make nervous small talk, but he was obviously too anxious to succeed. So, Elijah tried his best to seem welcoming and kind, but with his lack of social interaction over the past couple of years, he was certainly out of practice. He was nearly certain that the smile he meant to be reassuring came across as a little demented. As a result, it was with some degree of relief that he saw a familiar face when Ramik approached. Elijah nodded to him and said, ¡°I brought your weapons. What¡¯ll you give me for them?¡± ¡°Ah¡­there are some¡­um¡­these are all unranked grade,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°The best we can do is five silver etherium per weapon.¡± Elijah had no idea if that was an appropriate price, so he took a moment to think it over. He must¡¯ve looked a bit hostile, because Ramik quickly cleared his throat and amended his previous offer to seven silver. Elijah accepted that, then watched as someone else ¨C a dwarf ¨C sorted through the weapons and gave the goblin overseer a count. Ramik accepted that, then counted out seventy-seven silver coins, which he handed to Elijah. Once those had been deposited in his homemade satchel, he told the goblin what he wanted. ¡°First things first, I need to go to the Branch,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Then, I want to get some new clothes. Something durable. Maybe a good pack, too. Seeds, if you have them. And some spices. After that, if I have money left over, I want to buy a woodworking kit. Knives and files and such. Can you provide all of that?¡± Ramik tapped his lip. ¡°The clothes, certainly. And we¡¯re lucky enough to have a high-level Leatherworker in town, so the pack won¡¯t be a problem either. As for the seeds¡­maybe. We have some Farmers, but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯ll be willing to part with any of their seeds. Spices, I¡¯m afraid, won¡¯t be possible. Not unless you want to go through the Branch Market.¡± ¡°I might just do that,¡± Elijah stated. He¡¯d been living without proper spices for so long that the idea of even basic seasoning seemed positively decadent. But he wasn¡¯t going to go broke just for a little paprika. ¡°And the tools?¡± Ramik said that he could accommodate that, too. So, without further delay, the little goblin ¨C and his couple of dwarven guards ¨C led Elijah through Ironshore and to the large building that seemed like the small town¡¯s hub. He didn¡¯t know what to expect, but as they progressed through the building, Elijah was a little surprised to find that it was largely normal. Sure, some of the architectural choices seemed a little odd, and it certainly wasn¡¯t sized for someone of his height, but it definitely wasn¡¯t so abnormal that it seemed alien. The same, however, could not be said for the crystalline tree that was the Branch. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful,¡± he muttered to himself, wide-eyed as he took it in. Ramik asked, ¡°Is this the first time you¡¯ve seen one?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°This one is a little more advanced than what you would see in a native settlement,¡± the goblin stated. ¡°It is an import from my home world.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah lied. He didn¡¯t want to show the depth of his ignorance, so he kept his questions to himself. But he did ask one that couldn¡¯t be avoided, ¡°How do I access it?¡± ¡°Just touch it.¡± Elijah approached, trying to ignore the stern-looking dwarf that stood watch. He expected that the robed individual was one of the Envoys of the Cult of the World Tree Nerthus had mentioned. As such, he wanted to avoid offending her. So, he nodded and asked, ¡°May I?¡± ¡°You may,¡± she replied in a gruff voice. ¡°Don¡¯t be expectin¡¯ special treatment from now on, though. You come back ¡®ere, and you wait just like everybody else, ya hear?¡± Elijah nodded. He¡¯d had no idea that he was skipping to the front of a line, but he wasn¡¯t going to refuse now that it had been arranged. So, he stepped forward and laid one gentle hand on the crystal tree¡¯s trunk. Immediately, he became aware of a series of notifications waiting to be opened. He cycled through them, and as he did, he recognized them as menus meant to help him navigate the Branch¡¯s various functions. There were almost a dozen headings, but most were inaccessible to him. Instead, only five were available: the Market, the Bank, the Knowledge Base, the Regional Map, and the Communication¡¯s Hub. The first destination was the Bank. From Nerthus, he knew that each time he¡¯d killed something, the system had marked him for reward. And the Bank was where he could access those rewards.
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
321 92 11 0
¡°Can I deposit the coins I already have into the Bank?¡± Elijah asked, glancing in the Envoy¡¯s direction. ¡°You may. Simply think it, and the Branch will transfer any coins you have on your person to the Bank.¡± Elijah followed the dwarven woman¡¯s directions, and with a stir of Ethera, the coins he had in his pack disappeared. When he looked at the readout for his balance, he was unsurprised to see that it had changed slightly:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
362 179 11 0
Satisfied, Elijah moved to the next order of business: accessing the Knowledge Base. To his surprise, there were hundreds of topics ranging from crafting methods to faction information, with some of the Guides carrying hefty price tags. So, he satisfied himself with subjects pertaining to the system itself. Still, he spent three gold on almost two dozen guides before he finally settled on one called ¡°A Practical Guide to Progression.¡± It was touted as a sort of progression-for-idiots instruction manual, and Elijah eagerly paid the fifteen silver to gain access. When he¡¯d finished, twenty-two crystalline leaves grew from the tree¡¯s branches, but Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. He still wanted to check out the Market, the Regional Map, and the Communications Hub. The last, he hoped might give him some insight into where his sister might have ended up. As it turned out, all three topics were largely useless for him. The Regional Map only showed one other settlement, and it was almost two-hundred miles away. It was also the only accessible target for communications. The Market was a little better, but Elijah held off on buying any of the few items available to him. He still had more practical concerns, and he didn¡¯t want to spend all his money on frivolity. So, with that done, he collected the leaves, tossing them into his satchel, and let Ramik lead him away from the Branch and to what he dubbed the Crafting District. 2-9. Shopping Spree In preparation for what he hoped would be a shopping spree, Elijah had kept a decent number of etherium coins out. At Ramik¡¯s suggestion, though, he restricted himself to a few dozen copper coins and ten silver. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t need more than that,¡± the little goblin said, checking what looked like a pocket watch he¡¯d pulled from his vest pocket. ¡°But if you do, you can always return to the Branch and withdraw more.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Elijah asked, curiously nodding at the device. ¡°Oh. I apologize for the rudeness,¡± Ramik answered. ¡°But all this talk of money prompted me to check my own available etherium. This is an enchanted coin storage device called a folio. It doesn¡¯t actually hold etherium, but instead allows you to exchange promisary notes with other people. If you had one of these, it would obviate the need to carry coins on your person.¡± ¡°How does it work? And where can I get one?¡± ¡°It only stores information,¡± Ramik said with a small smile. ¡°It maintains a thin connection to the Branch, allowing one to transfer wealth without physically exchanging coins.¡± ¡°Like a credit card,¡± Elijah reasoned. It sounded remarkably similar, and just as convenient as his old debit card. ¡°I have no idea what that is.¡± ¡°Sorry. My world ¨C before all this ¨C had a similar system. Though we used a different currency.¡± ¡°Ah. I see. As to where you might acquire a folio, I can show you to an appropriate tinkering shop. You will still have to get it paired to your personal Bank, and it likely won¡¯t be inexpensive.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay,¡± Elijah said, already preparing himself to do without. He had no real notion of how much his money was really worth, but he couldn¡¯t imagine that it was a lot. So, he moved on to the next subject, asking, ¡°So, what about clothes? I don¡¯t know if you noticed, but I¡¯m kind of wearing rags here.¡± He tried to soften the statement with a slight grin, but Ramik still went a little greener than normal as his eyes found the persistent blood stains on Elijah¡¯s toga. He¡¯d scrubbed the cloth as well as he could manage, but blood tended to be quite difficult to wash away. He¡¯d also hoped that the cloth¡¯s dark material would hide it. Clearly, he¡¯d been wrong. Suddenly, he realized what he must look like to the residents of Ironshore. In the beginning, he¡¯d hoped that most of them would be ignorant of his exploits, but judging by the fearful looks that had followed him since his arrival in the small town, that just wasn¡¯t the case. So, that, combined with his curious manner of dress, massive-in-comparison size, and apparent disdain for grooming, had probably given people the wrong impression about him. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say no to a barber, either,¡± he remarked. ¡°I think we could arrange that,¡± Ramik said, tucking his folio away. Elijah ran his hand through his curly hair, adding, ¡°You don¡¯t have to escort me around. I can find my own way.¡± ¡°Ah, well, I think it¡¯s best if I show you where to find everything. The Black Sun mercenaries weren¡¯t popular. Not exactly. But they still had friends.¡± That was the first time Elijah had heard the name of the group who¡¯d assaulted his island, and for some reason, he wasn¡¯t surprised to find that they had been classified as mercenaries. That fit with what he¡¯d seen. After that, Ramik led him down the street and toward a nearby building. Elijah had spent some time exploring the small city in his predator form, but in the light of day, everything looked so much nicer. But then again, he¡¯d been a little distracted by his mission to rescue the dragon the last time he¡¯d been in Ironshore. In any case, he was pleasantly surprised by how clean and orderly the little town was ¨C it really did look like a mix of a settlement out of an old Western and something he¡¯d see in a modern fantasy movie. That impression was only supported by the presence of tiny gnomes and green goblins. Dwarves, by comparison, could almost pass for short, particularly hirsute, and broad humans. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but gawk a little as he followed Ramik into what turned out to be a barbershop manned by a trio of swarthy gnomes. They were all absolutely tiny, had blisteringly white hair, and eyebrows that looked like not-so-small caterpillars of the same hue. Elijah would have put a few of his coins on the idea that they were related in some way. Perhaps even brothers, given their similar features. ¡°Oi! This the one, then?¡± asked one of them. ¡°¡¯Course it is, you dolt! How many o¡¯ them you think¡¯s is runnin¡¯ round ¡®ere?¡± said another. ¡°Don¡¯t kill us Mister Protector,¡± said the third. ¡°We ain¡¯t got nothin¡¯ to do with no Black Sun bastards. I was just sayin¡¯ the other day as how we ought to kick ¡®em out, I was. Send ¡®em back where they come from, I said.¡± ¡°You ain¡¯t said no such thing, Brok.¡± ¡°Did so!¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t never heard so much as a peep of that kind o¡¯ talk.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t talkin¡¯ to you when I said it, was I? Nope. I was talkin¡¯ to ol¡¯ Derkins. You can ask ¡®im, too. He¡¯ll tell you the same, he will.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°Gentlemen,¡± said Ramik. All three went silent in the space of a heartbeat, telling Elijah that the goblin was held in no small esteem. ¡°Mr. Elijah requires your services.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± said Brok, narrowing his eyes. Then, they widened. ¡°Oh. You need a little trim, you do. Step right up, big fella. We¡¯ll get you sorted in a hurry, we will.¡± As he spoke, he gestured to a chair that looked like it¡¯d been sized to fit a dwarf. Elijah had never been a giant ¨C in fact, he was considered a little below average, for a human being ¨C but he was skeptical that he¡¯d fit. Still, he followed the gnome¡¯s instructions and miraculously wedged himself into place. What followed was the oddest twenty minutes of Elijah¡¯s relatively young life. He¡¯d had plenty of haircuts throughout his life, but the way Brok did it was certainly a novel experience. On the surface, some of it was familiar. The gnome used scissors just like any other barber Elijah had ever seen. However, those sheers weren¡¯t wielded in the gnome¡¯s hands. Instead, they floated around seemingly of their own accord as Brok gestured here and there. At first, Elijah was a little leery of the sharp scissors ¨C and how close they came to his ears ¨C but it quickly became apparent that Brok was in complete control. So, he let himself relax a little as he listened to the three brothers drone on and on about one thing or another. If Elijah was honest, it felt good, just hearing other people talk. He¡¯d had a few conversations with Nerthus over the months since being stranded on the island, but they were few and far between. Most of the time, he¡¯d been all alone, with no one for company but himself. And though he wasn¡¯t about to go insane from the lack of human contact, he definitely recognized that it was no way for a human being to live. In short, it was nice just being around other people ¨C even if those other people were bickering amongst themselves about things he didn¡¯t really understand. Elijah ended up paying a few copper etherium for the service, and judging by Ramik¡¯s narrowed eyes, he¡¯d gotten ripped off. However, a few measly coins were a small price to pay for something he¡¯d very much needed. Next, Ramik led a freshly shorn Elijah a few streets over and into a Market that was obviously a tailor¡¯s premises. Soon enough, a pudgy, matronly female dwarf stomped out, put her hands on her hips, then demanded, ¡°What is this, then?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Seeing that Elijah was out of his element, Ramik stepped, saying, ¡°Mari, this is Elijah. Our friend and potential ally from the island.¡± ¡°The island? What island are you¡­¡± Her face went white, and she took a step back. ¡°He needs some clothing. Simple grade, if you have the materials.¡± For a few seconds, she didn¡¯t respond. Clearly, she was frightened of Elijah, but he had no idea how to combat that impression. So, he remained silent as she worked her way through her feelings. In the end, it was probably Ramik¡¯s presence that got her to come around, but even then, she still didn¡¯t look happy to have Elijah in her shop. That was fine, though. He¡¯d never really expected to be accepted in Ironshore, but so long as he got what he needed out of them, he¡¯d be happy. In fact, he¡¯d already accomplished his primary goal by buying the various guides from the Branch. Those would hopefully go a long way to cure his ignorance and give him some much-needed direction going forward. Everything else was just icing on the cake, as far as Elijah was concerned. Still, the idea of getting some proper clothes was definitely attractive, especially if he intended to encounter more people anytime soon. The idea of meeting other humans while wearing nothing but a toga wasn¡¯t precisely appealing. Finally, she said, ¡°Seven silver. Each. I can modify some trousers for him. A few shirts. No boots, though. His feet are too big for goblin- or gnome-sized shoes and far too narrow for anything meant for a dwarf. And I don¡¯t have the materials for anything special order.¡± After that, she disappeared into the back, leaving Elijah to examine the wares on display in her Market. The clothes were a fairly simple design, and they seemed high quality if mundane. When Mari returned, she had a clear pane of glass in one hand and a pad with a stylus in the other. She held the glass up, reminding Elijah of people taking photos with their smart phones, then said, ¡°Hmm. The pants are going to be a bit short. Mid-calf, at best. Can¡¯t stretch the materials any more than that, so it¡¯s just going to have to do.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t exactly keen on wearing what sounded a lot like capri pants, but he wasn¡¯t going to argue with the dwarven woman. She already didn¡¯t like him ¨C that much was clear ¨C so he didn¡¯t want to push his luck. So, he agreed before asking, ¡°That piece of glass ¨C that¡¯s for measurements, right?¡± ¡°It is. Also lets me apply one of my abilities to inspect items other than clothing,¡± she said. ¡°Nice staff, by the way. Shame it¡¯s bound to you. You could sell it for quite a few etherium. Who made it?¡± ¡°I did.¡± She narrowed her eyes, then said, ¡°Interesting. Clothes will be ready in a couple of hours. Now, shoo.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need any other prompting, and he left the shop with Ramik only a moment later. Their next stop was a leatherworker who sold Elijah a miraculous pack that could hold almost twice as much as its exterior would suggest it was capable of holding. In addition, it was a Simple-Grade item, so it was much more durable than more mundane packs. The only downside was that it cost Elijah most of his remaining silver, which meant that for any more shopping, he¡¯d have to return to the Branch. Before that, Ramik took him to purchase his own folio. His first impression of Ramik¡¯s device seemed accurate, and the item he ended up buying for himself looked like a pewter pocket watch. When he opened it, though, he didn¡¯t see a clock face; instead, there were a series of dials meant to indicate how much etherium he had in his bank. At present, all the dials were on zero, but that was because he had yet to pair it with the Branch. Which was, by necessity, the next stop. This time, Elijah was forced to awkwardly wait in line, just as the Envoy had promised. He didn¡¯t mind, though. It gave him some time to fiddle with his pack, which was an endless source of wonder for him. He¡¯d been using magic for quite some time, but a bag that seemed to house a much bigger space than it should just seemed more miraculous. Apparently, such containers weren¡¯t uncommon in the wider universe, but on Earth, with its low level of Ethera density, they would be a rarity for years to come. That Ironshore had any at all was just a stroke of luck, which explained why it had been so expensive. After Elijah had paired his folio with the Branch, he and Ramik finished up his shopping. He probably spent more money than he should have, but in the end, he acquired almost everything on his list. The lone exception was, predictably, spices. He got a few, but Ironshore simply didn¡¯t have enough to spare. Finally, Ramik asked, ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be presumptuous, but would you like to join me for a meal? There are a few people who wish to speak with you.¡± Elijah almost refused outright, but then he thought better of it. The people of Ironshore ¨C aside from the ones who¡¯d attacked his island ¨C had been decent enough to him. So, he felt that he should return the favor. He wasn¡¯t about to commit to any alliances, but the idea of cultivating decent a decent relationship with his neighbors seemed more attractive than ever before. So, he said, ¡°That sounds nice. I¡¯m starving.¡± 2-10. A Simple Meal The smell of smoked meats greeted Elijah before the restaurant even came into sight. His mouth watered as he remembered all the barbecue joints he¡¯d sampled over the course of his life. His infrequent forays into vegetarianism ¨C usually taken at the insistence of a girlfriend or his more environmentally conscious coworkers ¨C had consistently been squandered by his love of well-cooked meat. He was a born carnivore, and no amount of social pressure could ever really change that, even if he¡¯d made a decent effort at it from time to time. But now, after having to subsist for more than two years with nothing but his own terrible cooking for comfort, he couldn¡¯t stop his mouth from watering the moment those savory smells graced his nostrils. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to wait long before they reached the restaurant. It was a squat structure that took up an entire corner of an intersection of two major thoroughfares, and judging by the number of people entering and exiting the building, it was one of Ironshore¡¯s more popular destinations. The interior was packed with dwarves, gnomes, goblins, and the odd elf, all of whom sat at a pair of long tables that reminded Elijah of cafeterias he¡¯d seen during his high school years. The only difference, aside from the clientele, was that instead of being made of plastic and stainless steel, they were constructed of scrubbed wood. Of course, the moment the diners saw Elijah, their conversations came to a poignant halt as each and every eye turned to behold the interloper in their midst. Ramik seemed to have anticipated this, and he quickly led Elijah across the main room and to a private dining area. There, Elijah found at least one familiar face among the five other people already seated at a more formal-looking table. Carissa nodded to him, and said, ¡°Welcome to the Stuck Pig. Best Cook in town runs the joint.¡± ¡°I could smell it from a block away,¡± Elijah admitted. He gave her a reassuring smile before adding, ¡°Believe me when I say it almost brought tears to my eyes.¡± Soon enough, Ramik had guided Elijah to a chair, and the moment he sat, he realized what his next project should be. Sure, Nerthus had grown a few chairs in his tree house, but if he wanted to sit in his garden, he had to do so on the ground. Already, his mind whirled with plans for building the perfect chair. It wasn¡¯t until a few seconds later that he realized that he¡¯d been staring off into space, and that everyone was looking at him. Elijah cleared his throat, then said, ¡°Sorry. I¡¯ve been alone for a long, long time, and I sometimes get a bit lost in my own head.¡± ¡°How long?¡± asked Carissa. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not exactly sure,¡± he said. ¡°Time got a bit funny there for a while. I think it¡¯s been around two years. Except Nerthus, of course, but he doesn¡¯t really count.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked one of the other goblins. Elijah noted that she had conniving eyes, so he marked her as untrustworthy. But that wasn¡¯t so different from all the rest of them. Not really, at least. Even Ramik and Carissa, both of whom had actually helped him, had yet to earn his trust. ¡°Who is Nerthus?¡± asked the fourth diner. He was another dwarf, and judging by the way he kept glancing toward Carissa, the pair were either related or a couple. Elijah didn¡¯t know enough about dwarven physiology or mannerisms to make a judgment about which one was more likely. ¡°Just a friend. He¡¯s not important,¡± Elijah said. ¡°These are some nice chairs, by the way. You wouldn¡¯t know who made them, would you? I¡¯d love to get the plans.¡± ¡°Chairs?¡± ¡°Yeah. I don¡¯t have any chairs on my island. Well, I do, but they¡¯re not exactly where I want them, you know? I was thinking of building a couple. Everyone needs a hobby, I guess, and I suppose I could make chair-building mine. Though after I finish one chair, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll want to build more. That¡¯s the ticket, I think. Figuring out what you want to keep doing, I mean. I keep trying to fill my time with different things, but after doing it once, I¡¯m done with it. Like when I made my soap. It was a fun and diverting project, but I don¡¯t think I ever really want to do it again.¡± Everyone just stared at him like he¡¯d grown a third ear. But unlike with Sara the dragon, Elijah hadn¡¯t just started running off at the mouth on accident. Instead, he¡¯d done it for a reason ¨C to throw them off and keep them from focusing on his slip of the tongue. He hadn¡¯t intended to mention Nerthus. Nor had he meant to awkwardly stare off into space. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. As it turned out, the group was willing to forgive his seeming eccentricity, and they soon turned their attention to the reason they¡¯d invited him to the meal in the first place. They wanted an alliance ¨C desperately, it seemed. When Elijah had killed the Black Sun mercenaries who¡¯d tried to invade his island, he¡¯d robbed Ironshore of much of their defense force. As such, they were vulnerable ¨C and they knew it. To them, Elijah represented a solution to that problem. After all, he was powerful enough to kill almost fifty people, all by himself. Surely, he could protect them from anything that might come after them until they managed to contract more mercenaries. Either way, they spent the next fifteen minutes trying to forge an alliance with Elijah. For his part, he was content with a pact of non-aggression, so he didn¡¯t commit to anything one way or another. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t long until the food arrived. Elijah¡¯s eyes lit up as one tray of steaming meat after another was brought in by the restaurant¡¯s waitstaff. They were all goblins, identifiable by their simple, if identical red outfits, but Elijah was admittedly unconcerned with anything but the food they served. Not only was there plenty of meat ¨C it looked like pork, but it might¡¯ve been something else ¨C slathered in some sort of red sauce, but there were also tureens filled with various vegetables. When he saw the rest of the diners serving their own plates, Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to join them, piling his own plate high with everything he saw. Over the course of his life, Elijah had eaten plenty of great meals. From the simple ¨C like the home-cooked meals he¡¯d once enjoyed with his family ¨C to the borderline ostentatious, like eating at five-star restaurants in celebration of special occasions, he¡¯d enjoyed some of the best Earth had to offer. None of it came close to what he tasted in Ironshore¡¯s best restaurant. With the grace of hindsight, Elijah could at least admit that his enjoyment was based at least partially on the fact that he¡¯d been eating charred crab and poorly-prepared fish stew for most of the past two years. But unbeknownst to him, it was also the effect someone with the Cook class could have on food preparation. Either way, he would remember it as the best meal he¡¯d ever eaten, and it was almost enough to push him over the edge and into an alliance, if only it meant that he could enjoy their food a little more often. ¡°I think I might have to kidnap your Cook and put them to work on my island,¡± he joked. The levity didn¡¯t quite make it through, though, and he got a couple of frightened looks before he pointed out that he was, in fact, joking. That got a couple of nervous laughs, telling him in no uncertain terms how they saw him. To them, he was a dangerous and unpredictable force that was responsible for mass murder. Did it matter that he had no intention of attacking anyone who didn¡¯t try to attack him first? No. Nuance was easily outpaced by fear, and never was that more obvious than during that wonderful meal. As a result, Elijah was at least a little relieved when it came to an end. With a promise that he would give the alliance all due consideration, he and Ramik left the others behind. Without any other errands to run ¨C and with daylight already starting to fade ¨C Elijah and the goblin stopped by the clothier so he could pick up his clothes. Mari, the Tailor, handed him a few large parcels, telling him that she had put together three full outfits for him. He thanked her, paid the fee ¨C plus a bit extra for her trouble ¨C and then told Ramik that he was ready to return to his island. The goblin took that in stride and escorted him through town and back to the dock. Once there, Ramik broached the subject of the alliance. ¡°We really could use your assistance,¡± he said. ¡°I know you are hesitant to ¨C¡± ¡°Look,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯m not saying I don¡¯t want an alliance. I¡¯m not sure. But if you need me, just send someone to the island. Don¡¯t stray from the beach, and I¡¯ll be there as soon as possible. As far as mutual defense ¨C I¡¯ll do what I can. I¡¯m not saying I¡¯ll come to your rescue, but I¡¯m not saying I won¡¯t, either.¡± Ramik sighed. ¡°That will have to do, then.¡± Elijah climbed into the rowboat, then added, ¡°But I want to reiterate. Just because we¡¯re playing nice doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯ve forgotten that your people were the aggressors. I know you claim not to have had anything to do with Cabbot and his mercenaries, and I¡¯m inclined to believe you. But if anyone comes to my island looking for trouble, trust me when I say that they¡¯ll get more than they want.¡± With that, he pushed off and started rowing across the strait. As he went, Elijah considered the alliance on offer. It seemed to him that Ironshore didn¡¯t really have much to offer that he couldn¡¯t get for himself. Sure, he liked having access to a Branch, but he¡¯d exhausted the possibilities of the guides on offer. With the crystalline leaves in his pack, he had more information to study now than he could get through in a year. And he¡¯d gotten everything else he needed for the time being. So, why would he ally himself with them, except as an expression of social responsibility? Could he sit idly by and watch them overrun by some unnamed enemy? What if the Voxx attacked them? Or some pack of dangerously mutated animals? Or worse, another settlement? No. Elijah knew himself well enough to recognize that he couldn¡¯t do that. Did that make him some doomed white knight? Maybe. It certainly wasn¡¯t conducive to self-preservation. However, he simply didn¡¯t want to be the sort of person who could stand by and watch people being killed for no other reason than because he couldn¡¯t find any reason to intervene. If he could help, he would. Basic decency dictated at least that much commitment. But he had no intention of committing to some sort of official alliance. More than anything, he wanted to be left alone ¨C at least until he didn¡¯t ¨C and the best way to do that was to keep to himself and maintain a sense of danger that would hopefully keep the people of Ironshore away. With that in mind, Elijah crossed the strait, arriving back on his island just before the sun settled below the horizon. 2-11. Exploration The crystalline leaf glittered in the faint light of Elijah¡¯s treehouse, but he was no longer fascinated by the thing¡¯s structure. It was just an information delivery device, little different from a book, and as such, he was far more interested in the knowledge it contained. Figuring out how to use the leaves had taken Elijah a few hours, and it was only when Nerthus stepped in to explain it that he¡¯d managed to unlock the information stored within. Looking back, Elijah should have figured it out on his own. The idea ¨C to simply inject a bit of Ethera into the item, much as he would with one of his spells ¨C wasn¡¯t complicated. However, after returning from Ironshore, he was emotionally exhausted, and he¡¯d let that affect his thought processes. Once Nerthus had stepped in, though, his mood improved, and he set about learning everything he could. Like everything else in the new world, the leaves were tied to the system, and as such, they sent information directly into his mind, opening windows not unlike his notifications, that he could read at his own pace. ¡°I might have overdone it with the guides,¡± he muttered to himself, tossing the glittering leaf onto his bed and lying back. So far, he¡¯d only made it through a single one, and even then, he hadn¡¯t absorbed half the information he probably should have. Despite his experience with academia, Elijah had never enjoyed studying. He could do it, as evidenced by the degrees he¡¯d earned, but it was always an exercise in frustration. The first leaf he¡¯d chosen to read was, predictably, the one dedicated to giving an overview of progression, and at the most basic level, he understood it well enough. Still, he looked at the page still hovering in his mind:
Whether they are warriors or crafters, scholars or mages, each person is subject to the Divine System, which eases the burden of progression and provides an easily quantifiable means of tracking and guiding an individual¡¯s strength. The generally accepted tiers of power are as follows:
Level 1-125 Mortal
Level 126-250 Ascendent
Level 251-500 Demigod
Level 501-1000 Deity
Level 1000+ Transcendent
As he¡¯d read the information on each individual tier, Elijah had learned that Mortals made up the vast majority of the population. However, there was a huge difference between a level one and someone who¡¯d reached the peak of said tier. At level one-hundred, a person would be given the opportunity to choose a specialization, which, as far as Elijah could tell, was a way to augment a specific part of their power. What form that would take was still a mystery to him, though, because it wasn¡¯t covered in the guide. Twenty-five levels later, upon progressing to the Ascendent tier, a person would get the first opportunity for progression. Each subsequent tier ¨C Demigod, Deity, and Transcendent ¨C would come with another class evolution. The information about becoming a Transcendent was a little spotty, largely because few people ever reached those heights. And the ones who did weren¡¯t contributing to guides. If they were, Elijah didn¡¯t have access to that information, and even if he did, a fraction of the associated cost would be enough to bankrupt him many times over. In any case, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have to worry about that kind of thing anytime soon. Progressing through the Mortal Realm was supposed to take decades, but a single line had given Elijah hope that his ascent would be a little quicker: Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
On newly integrated worlds, progress may be accelerated due to higher Ethera density and increased opportunity.
Basically, he interpreted that as meaning that he would have more foes to fight, and thus, more experience ¨C or kill energy ¨C to absorb. So far, that had proven to be the case, and he expected that when he set off to explore, it would be even more dramatic. The Ascendent Realm was known to take much longer to cross than the Mortal Realm, and even the talented often stumbled along the way. That wasn¡¯t surprising to Elijah. In a journey that would take multiple decades, people would inevitably lose motivation or exhaust their own talent. Even more would be distracted by more mundane concerns. Even the increase in longevity that came with reaching the Ascendent Realm wasn¡¯t enough to combat the many obstacles in the way of reaching Demigod status. The same could be said for the path to becoming a Deity, though it was even more arduous and, outside of a few rare exceptions, always took centuries. As he¡¯d already noted, information on reaching the Transcendent Realm was thin on the ground, though the guide did note that, with everything after Ascendent, it wasn¡¯t enough to simply reach the appropriate level. There was some kind of trial required as well, and with each Realm of power, those trials grew more difficult. Basically, everything he¡¯d learned told Elijah that if he wanted to reach the peak, it was going to be the product of centuries. So, while it was interesting to contemplate, he knew he¡¯d be better off focusing on the immediate future. To that end, he¡¯d continued his study, discovering the item grades, enchantment tiers, and, more importantly, information regarding cultivation. According to the guide, there were nine levels of each facet of cultivation. For Mind, Soul, and Body, the levels were standardized, but with the Core, it was individualized. There were many types of Core cultivation ¨C some common and others far rarer ¨C but nothing he¡¯d read indicated that anyone else had anything like his Dragon Core. Nerthus had indicated as much, but he¡¯d still half expected to see it listed among the examples in the guide. When it wasn¡¯t, it started to dawn on Elijah just how much of an advantage Sara¡¯s mother had bestowed upon him. In the end, he spent almost three days perusing the various guides, and he¡¯d come away much less ignorant than he¡¯d been before going to Ironshore. And yet, he knew there was a nearly infinite amount of knowledge still out there. Some subjects, the guides had barely brushed on ¨C like the Voxx or the various races that comprised the universe¡¯s population ¨C but Elijah felt certain that there was a lot more that wasn¡¯t even mentioned. In short, he couldn¡¯t learn everything in a day or two of intense study. Not surprising, really. Even on Earth, which was just a single planet, it was impossible to learn everything about everything. So, a universe made of hundreds ¨C if not thousands ¨C of inhabited planets was that much more complex. Still, it was nice to have some of the most basic information at his disposal. However, he¡¯d reached the end of his patience. Before his visit to Ironshore, Elijah had made plans to explore the surrounding area and, hopefully, eventually reunite with his family. Those intentions hadn¡¯t changed. So, it was with some anticipation that he levered himself out of bed, gathered the scattered leaves, and replaced them in a basket he¡¯d woven. Then, he shoved that into his pack. After that, he set about preparing provisions for a short journey. First, he went to the kitchen where he gathered some fish filets he¡¯d smoked, a bunch of berries from his garden, and an earthen jug full of water. The last was a new addition and the result of his latest project; it probably would have been easier to simply go back to Ironshore and buy the equivalent, but he¡¯d chosen not to, as much so that he wouldn¡¯t grow dependent on the small city as because he took pleasure in his own self-sufficiency. In the end, it was a satisfying project, even if the results weren¡¯t as successful as some of his previous efforts. The jug, which was made from clay he¡¯d harvested from near his stream, could hold liquid just fine, but due to a mishap with the baking process, it was a little misshapen. That didn¡¯t affect the usefulness, but the aesthetics left a lot to be desired. As he loaded the jug into the pack, Elijah was once again impressed by the pack¡¯s vast carrying capacity. It was at least twice the size its exterior suggested, which meant that he could carry plenty of supplies. And he did, packing it full of everything he thought he might need. Then, Elijah donned one of the outfits he¡¯d bought in Ironshore. The style of the clothing was uncomplicated and workmanlike, featuring a shirt that laced down to mid-chest and a pair of pants that didn¡¯t quite reach his ankles. Unsurprisingly, considering the complexity of the common zipper, the fastenings were limited to laces and buttons. The fabric was soft enough to be comfortable, but tough enough that Elijah suspected the clothing would resist normal wear and tear. On top of that, the Tailor had specified that each piece was Simple grade, which he¡¯d since learned was the lowest level of magical equipment. Typically, the limited level of magic in those items only meant that it was more resistant to damage than it otherwise would be, but that was fine by Elijah. It wasn¡¯t as if he was going to run around in armor, after all. Once he was dressed and everything had been packed away, Elijah took one last look around the treehouse as he tried to remember anything he might¡¯ve forgotten. That effort didn¡¯t result in any epiphanies, so, after calling out to Nerthus ¨C and getting no response ¨C he decided to stop delaying his departure. With that in mind, he climbed down the steps and took a look at the ancestral tree. Its color had continued to change over the previous weeks, and its bark had turned almost completely white. In addition, the leaves had taken on a blue color, giving Elijah the impression that the Shard of the World Tree was still being absorbed. He spared a moment to wonder what would happen when it finished, but he had no real context to make predictions. He just knew that Nerthus had implied that it would be a fundamental transformation, which was exciting enough that Elijah was impatient to see results. In any case, he didn¡¯t remain long before he set off across the island with the eventual destination of the beach where he¡¯d stashed his collection of rowboats. The trip only took a few minutes, and before he knew it, he was standing on the beach next to his rowboat. The sun had already risen high in the sky, which meant that he¡¯d reach the other shore by mid-afternoon at the latest. So, not wanting to put it off, he pushed the little boat out into the surf, hopped in, and started to row. The crossing went quickly, aided by Elijah¡¯s inflated attributes, and he soon found himself pulling the rowboat onto shore. He¡¯d considered taking it into Ironshore and leaving it there for safekeeping. However, he¡¯d decided not to because he didn¡¯t really want them to know he wasn¡¯t on the island. Sure, leaving it untended on the shore meant that it probably wouldn¡¯t be there when he returned ¨C unless he did so within a couple of days ¨C but that wasn¡¯t a huge deal. He had a multitude of other boats on the island, and he could always use Ancestral Circle to return. And if push came to shove, he had no issue with swimming the distance, even if he didn¡¯t relish the notion. In any case, it was better to be safe than sorry. He wanted to trust Ramik and the others, but he¡¯d have to have been a fool to extend that trust so early in their relationship. Once Elijah had pulled the rowboat ashore and stashed it past the tree line, he took a deep breath, then used Shape of the Predator. In a lot of ways, he was just as comfortable in his scaled panther form as he was as a human ¨C and that was the problem. It was so easy to lose himself in the shape¡¯s wild instincts. After nearly doing so in the Primordial Forest, he¡¯d made a concerted effort to assert his humanity, but the animalistic mindset always hovered just out of sight, ready to pounce like the predator to which it belonged. However, as wary as he was of using the form too much, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that it was unmatched for wilderness traversal. Even without Guise of the Unseen, he was difficult to track, and with that ability enhancing his stealth, he was all but impossible to perceive. Fortunately, his new clothing as well as his pack and staff transformed with him, which meant he could move light and fast as he embarked upon the initial stages of exploration. Hopefully, he would find something interesting and, perhaps, a few hints as to where to find his family. With that in mind, he set off, keeping his senses trained on the environment as he began. 2-12. Spiders The rainstorm started only an hour after Elijah had begun his trek inland, though with the dense canopy of a temperate rainforest above, only scattered drops of precipitation made it to the ground. However, as was common to the region, humidity clouded the atmosphere, and dewy wetness clung to every leaf. Elijah was only barely affected, though; his scales weren¡¯t as warm as his old coat of fur had been, but they were still largely impervious to the elements. He slipped through the forest, keeping the awareness granted by One with Nature at the forefront of his mind. Back on the island, where he knew every last blade of grass on an intimate level, such concentration wasn¡¯t necessary. But now that he was on the mainland, he slipped back into the same frame of mind that had let him survive the most dangerous parts of the tower. At first, he circled Ironshore, as much to get back into the proper frame of mind as to check up on his would-be allies. Their efforts at deforestation had slowed to a crawl, probably because they¡¯d progressed past the need for wooden structures. Instead, they¡¯d begun to replace those with sturdier stone and what seemed like a magical form of concrete. There were still hunting parties out and about, but that wasn¡¯t surprising. Not only were most of the wildlife dangerous and territorial, but the animals were also ready sources of meat. Ironshore had no herd animals Elijah had seen, so they were still dependent on wild game for their protein. Likely, that would continue for some time, though fishing would probably overtake hunting as the primary source of meat going forward. Or at least that¡¯s how it usually worked with human coastal settlements. Perhaps other worlds had developed differently. After making certain that there were no real threats in the immediate area, Elijah started moving towards the only town he¡¯d seen on the Branch¡¯s map function. Without context, he knew it would still be difficult to find the settlement, but he figured it was the best place to start his search for Seattle, which he hoped would lead him to Easton where he could find his sister. There was a problem, though. Ironshore abutted a sizable mountain range, so Elijah couldn¡¯t simply travel in a straight line. Instead, he had to search for a pass, which was exactly what he did for the next three days. Most of the time, he remained in his predator form and hunted whichever small animals he could find. However, he did make a point to resume his human form for at least an hour each day, lest he fall into the same trap that had threatened to rob him of his humanity back in the tower. For the most part, he went unmolested. He could¡¯ve fought a few dangerous-looking animals ¨C like a sizable boar that he found eating a giant stag it had killed ¨C but he chose to silence his more murderous impulses. That wasn¡¯t to say he didn¡¯t fight. He certainly did, though he confined his efforts to when he sensed a Voxxian trail. On three separate occasions, he followed that acrid stench to its owner, and when he got close enough, he used Predator Strike to kill each reptilian monster. It wasn¡¯t so different from how he¡¯d hunted them on his island, though it was more difficult in a couple of ways. First, each of them was stronger than any of the spontaneous manifestations he¡¯d seen on the island. As a result, in all but one case, he was forced to follow up his initial attack with a second killing blow. In addition, they were slightly more difficult to track because he didn¡¯t have the benefit of his Locus to guide him. Still, he made do and accomplished his goal. Eventually, Elijah found a pass that cut through the mountain range. It had clearly been used by a herd of some sort of animals, and it was only by following their trail that he was able to find the pass. However, they had used it long enough in the past that their scent had all but dissipated, and Elijah was incapable of identifying the animals by what was left. Still, he had no issues using their trail as a guide, and so, he continued along until he saw something that brought him up short. From a distance, it looked almost like the entire area had been covered by thick frost. The sudden change served to alert Elijah to the point that he pulled to a stop so he could study the phenomenon, and soon enough, he recognized it for what it was. Gossamer webs, thin and delicate, covered everything in front of him. More importantly, he saw a few dark shapes, each one the size of a golden retriever and with eight horrible legs, poised to pounce on anything stupid enough to wander into their domain. He looked past them and saw a few dozen large cocoons that he suspected contained the herd animals that had preceded him. Setting up behind a boulder, Elijah crouched low, his thick, alligator-like tail sweeping back and forth in anticipation as he watched. For a long time, nothing changed, but then, a bird ¨C it looked like a sparrow, but it was quite a bit larger than any version of that bird Elijah had ever seen ¨C landed. It grabbed at something on the ground, then tried to lift off, but its feet were caught in the web. It screeched and flapped its wings, but no matter how much it struggled, it couldn¡¯t free itself. A moment later, a half-dozen spiders descended on it. The ill-fated avian stopped moving a few seconds later, and the arachnids ¨C which resembled tarantulas, but with dark green instead of brown coloring ¨C quickly dragged it away, wrapped it in spider silk, then left it with the rest of their prey. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Elijah continued to watch, and though he felt confident that he could pick his way through the webs, he wasn¡¯t absolutely certain he could do so while avoiding the spiders. Which meant that he had no intention of trying. He¡¯d long since come to the conclusion that versatility was the hallmark of his archetype. He could heal passably well ¨C though with restrictions ¨C cast decently damaging spells, and through his two animal forms, either become a stealthy skirmisher or a stalwart defender. He didn¡¯t think he could do any of those things as well as a specialist might, but with his Dragon Core boosting his abilities by a significant degree, he could do well enough that it didn¡¯t matter. And that versatility gave him the ability to attack various situations with a wide variety of tactics. So, sure ¨C attacking the spider¡¯s nest in his predator form was too reckless to contemplate. However, there was nothing that said he couldn¡¯t do so in his natural form. So, still crouched behind the boulder, he allowed himself to shift back into a human. Then, hefting his staff, he peeked out from behind the huge rock. The pass still looked the same, but without the enhanced senses of his predator form, he had difficulty picking out the motionless spiders. It didn¡¯t matter. For what he had planned, he wouldn¡¯t even need to aim. So, without further hesitation, Elijah dragged Ethera from his core, filtered it through his soul, and flooded Calamity with power.
Spell: Calamity Bury your enemies beneath the power of nature. Conjure a natural disaster appropriate to your environment. Only usable in caster forms.
He released it, letting the spell envelop the nest. The spiders reacted to the swirl of Ethera, but they were incapable of escaping the coming cataclysm. The ground shook, and dark clouds swirled overhead, heralding the impending disaster. The earth opened, swallowing the nest even as lightning split the sky. The spiders went wild, screaming in pain and fury as they were caught in the storm of lightning, cutting wind, and roiling earth, but they couldn¡¯t combat the power of Elijah¡¯s spell, and one by one, they fell before its might. It only lasted a few seconds before the air cleared and the earth quieted, leaving only the smell of ozone and cooked spider behind. However, there were a few that managed to survive, though none were in good shape. So, Elijah stepped out from behind the boulder, took aim with his staff, and repeatedly cast Storm¡¯s Fury, killing the survivors. And just like that, the spider¡¯s nest went quiet. He should have known that it wouldn¡¯t stay that way, but he was too busy patting himself on the back for gaining a level to even see the shadow moving in the distance. Not at first, at least. But then, Elijah saw what was rapidly approaching, and he nearly collapsed in fear. ¡°Spiders really aren¡¯t supposed to be that big,¡± he mumbled to himself. Indeed, the creature skittering toward him was far too large and fearsome to be allowed, and from its bulbous and furry abdomen to the writhing chelicerae, it was at least ten feet long. With its sprawling legs, it seemed even more massive. Was it the mother, and all the smaller creatures were simply its offspring? Or was there something else going on? Elijah had no idea, and he didn¡¯t have the time to think it through because the creature was quickly closing the gap. His Mind spun as he sucked Ethera down into his Soul where it was redirected into his Core in an attempt to regenerate as much energy as possible. Meanwhile, he embraced Snaring Roots, loosing the spell as quickly as he could. At the spider¡¯s feet sprouted a multitude of roots that quickly wrapped themselves around the monster¡¯s feet. However, either the spell was too weak, or the spider was just too strong, because it quickly ripped free; those roots were soon replaced by more, but Elijah recognized that the spell would do nothing more than slow it down for a few seconds. Hopefully, that would be enough. He didn¡¯t have enough Ethera to fuel Form of the Predator, which still took more than half of his Core¡¯s contents. But Shape of the Guardian took far less, and he had just enough to power the transformation. But he hesitated. The smart move probably would have been to run away, regenerate, and come back when he was more prepared. He was already thinking of how he could whittle the thing down with repeated uses of Storm¡¯s Fury or attack it with a stealth-boosted Predator Strike. And yet, Elijah held his ground. Partially, it was due to a need to test Shape of the Guardian¡¯s potential. He¡¯d spent some time working on maneuvering in that transformed state, and he hadn¡¯t had a chance to put all that training to work. But mostly, he chose to continue the engagement because he simply didn¡¯t want to back down. He felt confident that he could survive, given his ability to heal via Guardian¡¯s Renewal and the increased movement speed granted by Essence of the Wolf. Still, Elijah hoped it wouldn¡¯t come to that. In the space of a second, he had fueled Shape of the Guardian and begun the transformation. Meanwhile, the spider ripped through Snaring Roots in its desperation to reach Elijah. Even as it continued to tear itself free of the constantly regrowing roots, Elijah¡¯s body transformed. By the time the arachnid reached him, Elijah had fully taken on the Shape of the Guardian, which presented as a strange amalgam of reptile and ape, though one with far more mass than should have been possible. Elijah loped forward, using his hands for balance as he raced to meet the spider before it could completely recover from its entrapment. He hit it with the full weight of his massive body, knocking it backwards with a shoulder tackle that sent it tumbling across the rocky terrain. But a single blow ¨C even with his enhanced weight and strength ¨C wasn¡¯t enough to take out a monster so huge, and it quickly righted itself, screeched in fury, then skittered back into the fray. Elijah met it with a vicious uppercut with all his weight behind it. It flipped backward, but the creature wasn¡¯t without its own tricks. A thick strand of webbing shot out from the spinnerets attached to the back of its abdomen, hitting Elijah square in the chest. And then he was yanked from his feet by the spider¡¯s momentum. Before he could rise, the creature had righted course, bounding off the sloping boundary of the pass and directly at the recovering Elijah. He had only a moment¡¯s warning before he felt its teeth cut through his scaley armor and into his flesh, injecting him with its venom. 2-13. Slugfest Fire raced through Elijah¡¯s body, melting his muscles from the inside out. And on instinct, he very nearly used Guardian¡¯s Renewal.
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per Week
But he caught himself before he activated the ability. It had a lengthy cooldown, and so, needed to be saved for emergencies. And while he was in agony as the venom coursed through him, liquifying and necrotizing his flesh, he knew he could endure much more than that. So, he shoved the pain to the back of his mind and focused on the fight at hand. The decision was made in an instant, which meant that by the time he retook control, the spider¡¯s fangs were still buried in his meaty shoulder. Which was fortuitous, because that put it within reach of Elijah¡¯s claws. In his guardian form, his claws weren¡¯t nearly as sharp as they were as a predator. Nor could he activate Venom Strike, which meant he only had the strength of his limbs on which to rely. Fortunately, the form came with a significant boost to his Strength, and with the spider already in his grasp, he could leverage that attribute to its fullest capacity without having to worry about his lacking coordination. So, he reached out and grabbed the first thing he could, which happened to be the monster¡¯s chelicerae. Elijah¡¯s fingers wrapped around the meaty mouthparts, and with the other hand, he grasped the thing¡¯s foremost leg. It writhed in his hand, but his grip was like iron. Then, with all the power he could bring to bear, he pulled. The mouth parts came loose in a shower of thick, light blue blood and Elijah got a brief look at the pale flesh beneath the harder exoskeleton. The glance didn¡¯t last long, because only an instant later, it lashed out with panicked fury that sent Elijah tumbling backward until he hit the boulder behind which he¡¯d recently hidden. The impact knocked the breath from his lungs, and he felt multiple ribs crack before he fell on his face. For a second, stars flashed before his eyes, and he struggled to make sense of his situation, but his Regeneration, augmented by Aura of Renewal, quickly showed its worth, and it only took a few moments for the worst of the concussion to clear. When it did, he pushed himself to his feet ¨C wincing with the pain of his broken ribs ¨C and coughed up foamy blood. But as much as he wanted to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal, he held off. He could still function with what was obviously a punctured lung, and the spider¡¯s venom, while painful, wouldn¡¯t incapacitate him anytime soon. Even now, his natural Regeneration, which was augmented by Aura of Renewal, was hard at work counteracting it. He shook his head, clearing the cobwebs as he stared across the pass at the still panicking spider. For a moment, Elijah took pity on the creature. It hadn¡¯t really asked for the battle. In fact, the argument could be made that he was the aggressor. But whatever pity he felt was quickly quashed by the pain coursing through his muscles. On top of that, he¡¯d long since recognized that being part of the natural world didn¡¯t mean abstaining from killing. In fact, it meant the opposite. He would kill, just like any other animal. Sometimes for subsistence. Other times, for dominance. But regardless of the reason, he was no pacifist. Down that road lay weakness and death. And yet, just because he was resigned to the necessity of killing, it didn¡¯t mean that he wanted to watch the creature suffer. So, it was with renewed determination that he stepped forward in an ape-like gait, though after the spider¡¯s venom had robbed him of most of the mobility in his right arm, it was a bit off-balance. As he turned his approach into a charge, the spider mastered its panic and skittered forward to meet him. The resulting clash was titanic, and Elijah felt it rattle his teeth. Beneath its fur, the spider had the benefit of a chitinous exoskeleton protecting its most vital parts. Elijah still had his scales and high Constitution, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as durable as the spider¡¯s natural armor. But armor or no, the force each combatant could bring to bear was monumental, and soon enough, the sound of cracking carapace filled the air as Elijah hammered his fist into the monster¡¯s head and thorax. Meanwhile, it used its own legs like spears, jabbing them into Elijah with ruthless precision. The first time Elijah had used Shape of the Guardian against Cabbot, the gnomish berserker had been largely incapable of penetrating his scales. That wasn¡¯t the case with the spider, which was far and away more powerful. Elijah had no capability of determining another entity¡¯s level, but he knew that, on the most basic of levels, the spider was more powerful than him. In fact, it reminded him of the guardian orca he¡¯d fought back in the Sea of Sorrows, though that context didn¡¯t really do it justice, given that Elijah himself had grown more powerful since then. In any case, he didn¡¯t have time to think about relative power. Instead, it was all he could handle to simply endure the spider¡¯s attacks while trying to punish it with his own. But gradually, he found himself losing ground. Bit by bit, the venom, combined with the spider¡¯s persistent attacks, wore him down. However, Elijah did plenty of damage of his own, and though the spider was clearly winning the battle, doing so required that a steep price be paid. To Elijah, it felt like some of the old heavyweight boxing bouts he¡¯d seen growing up. Just two powerful fighters trading blows until one simply outlasted the other. As a spectator, those sorts of bouts turned into gruesome, awe-inspiring displays of perseverance, and as a participant, it wasn¡¯t so different, save that he traded awe for exhaustion. Long minutes passed as the pair hammered one another with blows that would crack boulders, and yet, neither backed away. With the understanding that to lose was to die, neither even considered concession. Instead, they both threw everything they had into the fight, and soon enough, the minutes passed into more than an hour. On both sides, endurance began to lag, and the blows lost some of their impact. And yet, they both persisted, harnessing every ounce of their waning strength in the effort to dispatch the other. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Blood ¨C red from Elijah, and light blue from the spider ¨C flew as flesh was rent, and slowly, the gap between the two widened. With fatigue mounting, Elijah found that he could avoid fewer and fewer blows. The spider slowed as well, but at a much more gradual pace. The writing was on the wall. Elijah had picked a fight he couldn¡¯t win. For a moment, he considered fleeing. If he used everything he had in an all-out assault, he could get enough room to dash away. The spider might follow, but Elijah was banking on it retaining some of its instincts. Spiders favored ambush as a hunting method, and as such, they were poor pursuers. Elijah could only hope that the mutated version before him was hampered by those same limitations. Yet, Elijah hesitated, and for one simple reason: he wanted to win. But was winning a battle worth the increasingly real risk of death? Sure, he could probably use Guardian¡¯s Renewal and win the fight. But was it worth using an ability with such a long cooldown? No. Despite his current form, Elijah wasn¡¯t some heavyweight brute meant to trade blows with enormous and powerful monsters. His strengths were rooted in his versatility. And he chastised himself for forgetting that. So, without further hesitation, he altered his strategy. Instead of returning the spider¡¯s assault with attacks of his own, he started looking for openings. And soon enough, one presented itself, and he pounced, grabbing hold of its legs and, harnessing every point of his Strength attribute, heaved it off the ground. Then, he spun like he was an Olympic hammer thrower, and tossed the spider into the distance. In the past, he might¡¯ve followed that attack up with a charge and a heavy blow. But with his new strategy in mind, Elijah did the opposite. He pivoted, then sprinted away. The off-balance spider gathered itself for pursuit, but by that point, Elijah had already begun his descent down the pass. There was no way the monster could catch him, especially when, around thirty seconds later, Essence of the Wolf kicked in, increasing his movement speed by twenty percent. Soon enough, the spider recognized the futility of its pursuit and gave up on the chase. Still, Elijah kept going for a little while longer until, at last, he switched back to his human form and cast Healing Rain. It soothed his injuries and served to counteract the venom coursing through his body, but the spell wasn¡¯t nearly strong enough to heal him in any reasonable amount of time. So, he used Touch of Nature, harnessing his Ethera to send life-giving vitality throughout his injured body. The first cast only served to stop the bleeding from the multitude of wounds Elijah had sustained. However, he had plenty of Ethera to keep going, and after the sixth cast, the spider¡¯s venom had been nullified. It took a few more to reverse the damage it had wrought, but Elijah kept at it until, with only a third of his Ethera remaining, he had brought himself back to perfect health. And this time, he hadn¡¯t even added any new scars to his collection, which was progress, as far as he was concerned. He sat near a scraggly tree and focused on his Mind, funneling Ethera into his Soul. As he always did, he pushed against the boundaries of his cultivation, forcing the aperture ever wider. According to the basic guides he¡¯d read, that was the accepted method to prepare the Mind for the next stage of cultivation. But while Elijah would take any improvement he could, he was more focused in regenerating the energy in his core a little more quickly. So, he cleared his thoughts and pulled as much Ethera into his system as he could, and over the next half hour, he regained enough energy to fuel Shape of the Predator. So, after only a few more minutes ¨C he wanted a little buffer in case he needed to shift back into his human form and cast a quick heal ¨C he embraced the spell and transformed himself into a scaled panther. Once he¡¯d assumed that form, Elijah used Guise of the Unseen, then stalked across the pass and returned to the battleground he¡¯d left behind a few hours before. After his use of Calamity, the earth had settled, but the smaller spiders¡¯ corpses ¨C as well as the remnants of their prey ¨C remained. Elijah spent the next few minutes watching for movement, but he saw no sign of the larger spider. So, he padded forward on silent feet and sniffed at some of the drying blood it had left behind. That familiarized him with the scent, so he had no issues following the wounded spider¡¯s trail up the pass and into a large cave. There, he found the monster curled into a ball. Gossamer webs coated almost the entirety of the cave¡¯s interior, and Elijah knew enough about spiders to recognize the danger that represented. Even if it wouldn¡¯t catch him like it would smaller prey, if he stepped on that collection of webs, he would almost assuredly alert the spider. And that would ruin his plans. So, with slow and delicate steps, Elijah silently stalked through the cave. With his heightened Dexterity, he had almost perfect control of his body ¨C especially when it came to something that, from an instinctive perspective, came so easily to the scaled panther form ¨C so while it took time, Elijah¡¯s progress was never in question. Once he drew to within a few feet of the injured spider, Elijah took a few moments to simply admire the creature for what it was. He¡¯d never been much of an arachnologist, but he¡¯d have been a fool not to acknowledge how impressive spiders were. The one in front of him was even more so, and not just because of its size. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that it had ruled the pass ever since the world had been transformed, and it probably would have continued to do so if Elijah hadn¡¯t come along. In a way, it was sad, the loss of such a magnificent creature. But such was the law of nature. Maybe he could have simply let it live. Certainly, now that Calamity had cleared the way of smaller spiders and their webs, he could keep going without much issue. But what about the next time? If the spider was allowed to recover, Elijah might not get another chance to kill it. And if he tried to use the pass again, who was to say that it wouldn¡¯t be the one to come out on top? After all, animals could progress, just like the sentient races. They didn¡¯t have the benefit of the system, but they could still grow stronger ¨C at least according to Elijah¡¯s experiences as well as the basic information provided by his guides. No - he needed to kill it while he had the opportunity. So, after using Predator Strike and Venom Strike, he pounced. With his Strength and the enhancement provided by the first ability, his claws went through the creature¡¯s head with comparative ease. Still, though, it didn¡¯t immediately die. Instead, it flailed, nearly catching Elijah with one of its spear-like legs. He bounded out of the way, using the cave¡¯s wall to reverse course before hitting it again. This time, his claws weren¡¯t nearly as effective, but the attack still carried with it another dose of the neurotoxin associated with Venom Strike. Elijah kept moving, leaping off the spider¡¯s back and racing across the cave. Then, he reversed course, and crouched low, watching the spider¡¯s continued flailing. It found him a moment later, then surged forward. But Elijah was too quick, and he easily dodged, returning the spider¡¯s attempted attack with one of his own. Like that, the fight continued. Each time Elijah¡¯s claws made contact with the monster¡¯s furry carapace, he delivered another dose of neurotoxin. However, even as injured as it was ¨C the result of the previous fight as well as Elijah¡¯s continued attacks ¨C the battle didn¡¯t end quickly. Instead, Elijah balanced on a knife¡¯s edge as he narrowly avoided one assault after another. Eventually, the spider¡¯s movements began to flag, but Elijah continued his own efforts unchecked. It was then that Elijah realized that, back when he¡¯d been in his Guardian form, he hadn¡¯t been nearly as close to defeating the spider as he¡¯d thought. Even if he¡¯d used Guardian¡¯s Renewal, the rejuvenating effect likely wouldn¡¯t have been enough to fuel his survival. But now? He only had to keep going, and his scaled panther form would see him through to the end. Over the next half hour, Elijah persisted, and the spider slowly lost the battle to the neurotoxin. And, as fatigue started to work against Elijah, the spider finally succumbed to its wounds, collapsing in a mass of legs and furry carapace. Elijah skidded to a stop, but he didn¡¯t immediately approach. He didn¡¯t think the monster was intelligent enough to play dead, but he didn¡¯t intend to take any chances. So, he waited until a wave of kill energy washed over him, confirming the monster¡¯s death, before he let himself relax.
Congratulations! You have reached level thirty-two. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
If Elijah hadn¡¯t been convinced of the monster¡¯s power, then the fact that it gave him most of a level on its own served to confirm that it was no run-of-the-mill animal. But for now, he was more interested in the next notification he expected. However, when it didn¡¯t come, he realized that his assumption that he¡¯d get a new spell at level thirty-two clearly wasn¡¯t accurate. So, it was with a little disappointment that he left the cave and continued on his way. 2-14. A Dead Civilization The spiders weren¡¯t the last threat Elijah faced as he traversed the pass, but they were the deadliest. Along the way, he ran into a couple more Voxx, which he dealt with accordingly, but he avoided any other dangers, aside from those posed by the terrain itself. On more than one occasion, he was forced to climb up or down steep cliffs or leap across gaping chasms, but in every instance, he proved up to the task. And then, days later, he finally began his descent. It took a further couple of days to reach the other side of the mountain range, and when he did, he found himself back in the woods. However, instead of the temperate rainforest with which he¡¯d grown accustomed, he¡¯d come to a boreal forest, with tall pine trees and rocky terrain peppered with a multitude of placid lakes. The temperature also experienced a significant decline, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was due to the regional climate or if it was winter tightening its grip. Whatever the case, he keenly felt the cold, even with the advantage of his animalistic endurance and inflated attributes. That prompted some experimentation with Ward of Seasons:
Spell: Ward of the Seasons Harness the power of the seasons, increasing resistance to elemental damage (Water, Earth, Fire, Air).
However, to his disappointment, the augmentation did nothing to cut the cold. According to his guides, that sort of thing wasn¡¯t unnecessary, and the spell had never been meant to abate environmental effects. Instead, it was intended to protect him from hostile spells. Still, he¡¯d hoped that it would prove special, and he was sorely disappointed when it did nothing to protect him from the cold. Hopefully, it would prove useful in the future. The forest itself, which had distinctly less undergrowth than the tangled mess he¡¯d left behind, was much easier to traverse, though, so he made good time as he slowly left the mountains behind. The whole time, he kept a keen sense of his island in the back of his mind; he was ready to teleport back via Ancestral Circle at a moment¡¯s notice. Fortunately, no such necessity presented itself, allowing him to continue his efforts at exploration. After another week, Elijah started to see signs of civilization. At first, it was only a few roads here and there, but soon enough, he came upon the first cluster of buildings alongside what had once been a stretch of interstate highway. The on- and off-ramp had survived, as had a gas station and a Burger King. Both were in a state of advanced disrepair, suggesting that it had been quite some time ¨C years, perhaps ¨C since they¡¯d been inhabited. Still, Elijah spent a few hours inspecting both, and he found precisely what he¡¯d feared when he stumbled upon a pile of old human bones. They bore deep grooves that were probably teeth marks, but beyond that, Elijah had no evidence to support any theories concerning how they had died. It was further confirmation that the world had not weathered the transformation very well. Of course, Elijah had expected as much. He¡¯d had to fight tooth and nail to survive, and though he acknowledged that his path was probably more difficult than most, it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that the rest of humanity hadn¡¯t escaped the end of the world as everyone knew it unscathed. Partially, it was a function of civilization. In the United States ¨C and most other developed countries as well ¨C the fact was that people had moved on from many of the skills they would need once everything stopped working. Survival skills had become a hobby, rather than a necessity, and as such, few people could call themselves experts. Sure, there were plenty of people out there who could adjust. But there were probably just as many who would¡¯ve starved to death once their local supermarket ran out of viable food. Many more would have died from avoidable diseases and, as sad as it was to say, the chaotic opportunism that came on the heels of any disaster. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the mutated wildlife, the other races who¡¯d chosen to descend upon Earth in hopes of building a better life, and the spontaneously manifesting Voxx. All of it coincided to create a world where survival was probably the exception to the rule rather than the default. Those thoughts accompanied Elijah as he continued to encounter the remnants of a dead civilization. Sometimes, it was just a stray house or two ¨C clearly, the area had been rural ¨C but every now and then, he¡¯d find an entire deserted neighborhood. Where the people had gone was no mystery; he found their remains as well. Often, they were clustered together as if they¡¯d tried to take solace in numbers. Those were usually accompanied by rudimentary attempts at defenses. Cars that had been pushed together, boxes, wooden pallets ¨C they¡¯d used everything they could to create walls. But it obviously hadn¡¯t worked, because each instance Elijah stumbled upon featured the remains of the would-be holdouts. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. At first, Elijah let it all send him spiraling into melancholy, but as the days wore on, he grew progressively more numb to it until he just accepted that most of humanity had already died. There were clearly survivors. The ladder was proof enough of that, but Elijah kept going back to his previous supposition that the endurance of human life was, at best, rare. In any case, as he continued his increasingly depressing exploration, he found himself wondering if he¡¯d actually lucked out by being stranded on a deserted island. The panther had protected him ¨C mostly ¨C from anything truly dangerous, which had allowed him to get a handle on the situation. Without that, he¡¯d have probably died fairly early on. Almost three weeks after he¡¯d left the pass behind, Elijah stumbled on something he never expected. He crouched behind a disused gas station pump as he looked across an overgrown street at the low-slung building that had, once upon a time, been a Wal-Mart. The sign had been ripped down, and trees ¨C still barely more than saplings ¨C sprouted from cracks in the parking lot¡¯s concrete. But that wasn¡¯t what drew his attention. He¡¯d seen a few such buildings, and he¡¯d even raided a couple, finding nothing that he could use. But what made this one unique was that it was clearly occupied. Not by people, though. Instead, the residents were grey-skinned, tusked creatures that Elijah could only call orcs. They carried primitive weapons and wore very little in the way of clothing. Most were only clad in loincloths, in fact. But there were hundreds of them engaged in what looked like a primitive sort of tribal life that reminded Elijah of the various races of proto-humans. He wasn¡¯t certain if that was an accurate impression, but it was the first thing that came to mind when he saw their heavy brows, sloped foreheads, and jutting jaws. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, Elijah watched them for a few hours before he decided to move on. The orcs weren¡¯t hurting anyone, and though he knew from the guides he¡¯d read that they tended to be quite warlike, they were isolated enough that he didn¡¯t think they would be a problem for anyone. Besides, what was he going to do? Fight an entire settlement on his own? The idea wasn¡¯t just laughable ¨C it was suicidal. So, once he¡¯d confirmed that the orcs were just living their lives, Elijah moved on. And over the next couple of weeks, he continued to explore. Along the way, he saw more evidence of humanity¡¯s rapid fall. In one instance, he came across an abandoned settlement that had been built around an old prison. It was reasonably well-developed, suggesting that the occupants had made it for a while, at least. But like everywhere else Elijah had found, it was entirely abandoned. Still, he spent a few days exploring the disused town, finding few clues as to why its people had left. Over time, he did find a few useful items, though. Like the collection of glass jugs that could hold a gallon of water each. His clay version had already begun to fall apart, so he was extremely thankful for the new additions. Elijah had also raided an old hardware store, taking a wide variety of tools he thought would be valuable for his continued survival. The only limit was the room in his pack, and even though it was a little more than twice as large as the exterior suggested, it still wouldn¡¯t hold everything he wanted to take. But mostly, he just continued to explore, killing Voxx whenever he came across one of their trails. As a scaled panther, he found dispatching most of them easy enough, though he did encounter a few that managed to survive his initial ambush long enough to pose a serious problem. Elijah still won those fights, but he didn¡¯t do so without incurring injuries himself. Fortunately, he had the tools to deal with that, and his healing spells got quite a workout. In a lot of ways, it reminded him of his first year on the island. Technically, the wilderness was a good deal more dangerous. Everywhere he went, there were creatures that wanted to kill him. However, he had the ability to mitigate that danger ¨C either before or after it manifested ¨C and he soon found himself adapting to it. Just like he had adapted to the necessities of survival on the island. Before Elijah knew it, winter had truly come, and with it came frequently inclement weather. Snowstorms, freezing rain, and miserably cold sleet were almost as common as clear days, and often, the temperatures dipped well below freezing. He was somewhat protected from the elements by his high Constitution, but even with that, it got to the point where he considered going home and waiting the winter out. In fact, he was on the verge of making just such a decision when, at last, he reached the settlement that had been listed on the Branch¡¯s Regional Map. Called Norcastle, it had clearly gotten its name from the ancient castle at its center. However, even from a distance, Elijah could recognize the multitude of newer structures surrounding the large, stone fort. In addition, there was a sizable wall that looked like it had been constructed of cinderblocks encircling the entire town, which was even larger than Ironshore, both in terms of area as well as apparent population. As Elijah settled down to observe the city, he estimated that it was home to at least ten thousand people, but probably somewhere closer to twice that many. From an ethnic perspective, it was a bit of a melting pot, and Elijah saw people of all different skin tones. However, there were no non-humans in evidence, which suggested that everyone there was a native of Earth. In the distance, Elijah saw some cultivated fields and farmsteads, but they were too far away for him to see any details, even with Eyes of the Eagle. And there were people constantly coming and going through the large main gate, many of whom carried game or gathered resources. For the most part, it looked like a thriving town. Except for all the bodies. Just outside of town, there were workers digging a huge hole in the ground. Elijah might¡¯ve discounted it as a well or something of the sort, but next to it was a huge pile of white-wrapped corpses. Maybe a hundred of them, all in various states of decomposition. Clearly, there was something wrong with Norcastle. The question was whether or not Elijah wanted to get involved. He needed to get into the city; that much was certain. They had a Branch, and hopefully, it would lead him to more settlements. He certainly didn¡¯t think he¡¯d find Seattle so quickly, but if he kept going, he¡¯d eventually stumble across some information that might lead him in the right direction. It would probably take years, but he had to believe it was possible. However, as a healer, didn¡¯t he have some sort of responsibility to help people who needed it? He¡¯d done it in the tower, and without question, so why did he hesitate when it was in the real world? The answer, he realized, was simple. In the tower, he¡¯d known the rules. Or at least he¡¯d thought he did. But in the real world, there were no rules. The people down in Norcastle might meet his attempts at helping them with hostility. In the end, though, Elijah didn¡¯t want to live in fear. Even if those fears were valid, he couldn¡¯t let them dictate his actions. If, for whatever reason, the people of Norcastle chose to turn on him, he would react accordingly. But until then, he would do what he could to help. With that decided, he let his scaled panther form fall away, then strode toward the town. 2-15. A New Purpose Carmen knelt next to her forge, staring at the smoldering coals. The apparatus was mostly enclosed, which meant that it was insanely hot, but due to her technique, Resist Fire, she barely felt it. She¡¯d yet to truly test the resistance to its fullest extent, but she suspected that she could shove her hand into a normal fire without any detriment. But inside her forge was no normal fire. Instead, the forge had been carefully assembled from blocks enchanted by a true Bricklayer, and the fire itself burned Ethera soaked coal. It wasn¡¯t quite a graded item, in and of itself, but it wasn¡¯t truly mundane, either. As a result, the fire was more than just fire, and hopefully, that would help with the forging process. Once Carmen was satisfied with the state of the flame, she pushed herself upright and grabbed a specially prepared bar of steel. It had been merged, via Meld Metals, with titanium she¡¯d harvested from a wrecked and abandoned sports car one of the scavenging teams had found, and then, she¡¯d mixed it with a bit of aluminum. The result was an alloy that shouldn¡¯t have been possible. She had further refined the resulting alloy by using Decontaminate and Refine Materials multiple times. Finally, she had used Ethereal Infusion for two hours a day for two weeks, bathing it in Ethera until it practically glowed with magic. Hopefully, it would be enough to take her crafting to the next level. The bar of metal had a silvery sheen, was almost ten feet long, two inches deep, and at least four inches wide, and if she hadn¡¯t invested so heavily in her Strength attribute, there was little chance she would have been able to lift it, much less work with the metal. For what she intended to create, that excess weight was more than appropriate. With a grunt, she shoved one end into the enchanted flame. Then, she waited for it to heat up before removing it. After slamming it onto her anvil, Carmen used her summoned hammer to fold a ten-inch piece over, then back again. Over and over, she repeated the process until, finally, it broke free. She set the smaller piece aside, then shoved the end of the bar back into the forge. Normally, Carmen would have just cut it with a saw, but the alloy was far too hard for any of her tools, so she¡¯d had to resort to more of a brute force method. And over the next few hours, she repeated the process until she had twelve identical pieces. She stacked the ingots on top of one another, then used Bond to bind them all together. ¡°Better than forge welding,¡± she muttered. But she wasn¡¯t done. So, grabbing the brick of dense alloy with a pair of heavy-duty tongs, she thrust it back into the forge. Once it had reached the proper temperature ¨C which took far longer than it should have, likely due to the innately magical material ¨C she pulled it out and started to hammer. Gradually, using various other summoned tools in conjunction with her hammer, she shaped the hunk of metal into a rough approximation of a war hammer. However, because of its size, Carmen knew that only someone with immense strength would ever be able to wield the massive weapon. Which was perfectly within her expectations. Once she¡¯d achieved the rough shape, she started in with smaller tools, giving the item a more refined appearance. One side was big, brutish, and aggressive, while the opposite bore a long, tapered spike. Meanwhile, the top looked almost like the tip of a spear. When she¡¯d finished with the hammer¡¯s head, she started in on the haft, which was also made of the same alloy. Finally, she attached the two via Bond, finishing the base weapon. But that was only the beginning, and after she heat-treated the entire thing ¨C in oil she¡¯d also treated with Ethereal Infusion ¨C Carmen started in on the engraving. At first, she¡¯d intended to do that before hardening the weapon, but according to the guides she¡¯d bought from the Branch, that was a suboptimal path. So, even though it was much more difficult to carve embellishments into the hardened metal, Carmen was more than willing to endure the hardship if it meant a better result was possible. Gradually, the carving, which was nothing more than Celtic style whorls, took shape, and it complimented the Damascus-like pattern of the folded metal. Once that was finished, Carmen took the teeth of a Voxxian beast and used Bond to merge them in a ring around the base of the hammer head. With the two Embellishments finished ¨C her current limit ¨C Carmen started in on the enchantment. At present, she only had two available. One for durability, and the other for power. She chose the latter, reasoning that the alloy and sturdy construction would make it functionally indestructible with her current strength. Finally, she wrapped the grip in supple leather she¡¯d gotten from a local Leatherworker, finishing the weapon.
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Destroyer]. Overall Grade: Simple (Low) Enchantment Grade: F
¡°Finally!¡± Carmen sighed. She¡¯d made hundreds of weapons since she¡¯d created the [Spear of the Dragon Lancer], and she¡¯d yet to exceed its grade of Crude. ¡°Until now,¡± she amended. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. The weapon itself was impressive, but that was largely due to the Ethera wafting off of it. From a visual perspective, it was primitive and brutish. But that suited Carmen just fine. It was a weapon meant to kill, and in that endeavor, it would be very effective. ¡°I suppose congratulations are in order?¡± came a voice from the forge¡¯s door. Carmen whipped around, hefting the hammer in a fighter¡¯s stance. She was far from the most effective combatant in Easton, but due to her high level, she could definitely hold her own. On top of that, she¡¯d spent quite a bit of time working on her ability to wield the hammer, so she thought she was a match for all but the city¡¯s elites. Not so with the man standing in her doorway. ¡°What do you want, Roman?¡± she asked. He sighed. ¡°Most people call me Chancellor, now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not most people, chief.¡± He ran his hand through his dark hair and said, ¡°You¡¯re definitely not. How have you been?¡± ¡°I¡¯m getting by.¡± Indeed, ever since her brief outburst of self-destruction following Alyssa¡¯s death, Carmen had thrown herself into her work. And that effort had paid off, sending her level skyrocketing past everyone else in town. She had even managed to reach the ladder, which was something no one else in town had accomplished. As a result, she had a waiting list for her services that was a mile long. Everyone in the city ¨C and even some of the nearby towns with whom they¡¯d established trade relations ¨C wanted a weapon made by her. So, she had money, power, and the ability to advance her craft by experimenting with expensive materials. The only thing she didn¡¯t have was Alyssa. No. Aside from Miguel, who was increasingly busy with training for when he acquired an archetype of his own, she had no one. Whatever friendships she¡¯d managed to cultivate had fallen by the wayside, leaving her with nothing but her forge for company. ¡°That¡¯s a nice weapon,¡± Roman said. ¡°Personal use?¡± She nodded. ¡°I still like to do my part on patrol.¡± The statement was a bit misleading. While she did participate in her fair share of patrols, her reasoning had nothing to do with communal safety. Instead, she reveled in giving herself over to the violence. Without that release, she would have long since done something incredibly self-destructive. ¡°You don¡¯t have to, you know.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware.¡± He sighed again. ¡°Carmen, I know I¡¯ve said this before, but ¨C¡± ¡°What do you want, chief?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just want to check on my friend?¡± ¡°Is that what we are?¡± she asked. ¡°I don¡¯t dislike you, Roman. I really don¡¯t. But we were never close. At best, we were acquaintances, and we¡¯ve grown further apart since Alyssa died. I haven¡¯t seen you since her memorial. So, I¡¯ll ask again ¨C what do you want? And please, for both our sakes, stop bullshitting me.¡± ¡°I want to offer you a job.¡± ¡°I do consulting on potential commissions every Thursday. You can come by the shop and ¨C¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about you making weapons or armor,¡± he stated. ¡°This is about a unique opportunity. Last week, some of our scouts discovered an abandoned iron mine. It¡¯s about two-hundred miles south of here.¡± ¡°Okay?¡± ¡°The Ethera density there is like nothing we¡¯ve seen before. And they found this,¡± he said, tossing something underhanded to Carmen. She caught it easily, her Dexterity more than up to the task. But the moment it touched her skin, she let out a little gasp of surprise. ¡°What is this?¡± ¡°I was hoping you could tell me,¡± he said. Carmen opened her hand and gazed at the item resting on her palm. The bulk of the small ball of earth was just normal rock, but there was a vein of some sort of metal passing through the center. It pulsed with Ethera strong enough to make her carefully prepared steel-titanim-aluminum alloy seem mundane by comparison. She used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal, but because the bit of ore wasn¡¯t her creation, the technique did nothing. ¡°Give me a minute,¡± she said before crossing the forge to the bloomery she¡¯d built. ¡°What is that?¡± asked Roman, following her. ¡°It¡¯s a special furnace meant for smelting,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re in luck. I had to build this a few months ago so I could smelt copper more easily. Now shut up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll remind you that I¡¯m the chancellor of this ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s my forge. Shut up, or get out. I don¡¯t care who you are.¡± Thankfully, he went silent, which let Carmen get to work. The process of smelting wasn¡¯t nearly as complicated as most people thought. It started with heating the ore up to an appropriate temperature, reducing it with something like charcoal along the way. Once it was hot enough, the blacksmith simply needed to beat it with a hammer until there was only pure metal leftover. Of course, that was only if the ore behaved similarly to iron, which wasn¡¯t a guarantee. If it was more like gold or silver, she would have to add another couple of steps to the process. However, given that Roman had described it as coming from an abandoned iron mine, Carmen was hopeful that it would react the same. Thankfully, that hope proved well-founded when she saw the bits of metal collecting at the bottom of the furnace. Soon enough, the process was complete, and Carmen extracted the bloom ¨C which was a combination of slag, metal, and other impurities ¨C and put on the finishing touches via further refinement. That meant lots of heating and hammering, which she took to with gusto. Eventually, she had a little less than a pound of gleaming, green metal. She used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal:
Cold Iron Overall Grade: Simple Enchantment Grade: N/A
¡°It¡¯s called cold iron,¡± Carmen said, holding the pierce of green metal with her tongs. ¡°And this little lump might just be worth more than this entire forge. If I had enough of it, I might even be able to make Complex items.¡± Roman nodded. ¡°Then it¡¯s settled,¡± he said. ¡°We must protect that mine at all costs.¡± ¡°Okay? What does that have to do with me. I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong ¨C I want to work with this stuff, but that mine isn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I want you to run it,¡± he said. ¡°I intend to spare no expense in getting that mine up and running. We have a few Scholar archetypes we think might make good miners.¡± ¡°And they want that?¡± ¡°They want to eat. They want shelter. They want advancement. This is how they get it,¡± Roman stated. ¡°They¡¯re useless right now, and you know as well as anyone just how thin our margins are. We start letting people freeload, and ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about this, Roman. I resigned from the council because I¡¯m not cut out for leadership. I just want to make my weapons in peace.¡± ¡°This is important. We secure this mine and use it to make weapons, and we¡¯ll have a leg up on everyone else in the region. Maybe the world,¡± he said. ¡°Or do you think people are just going to let us be? There are roving warbands out there. And we¡¯ve gotten word of budding kingdoms. If we don¡¯t do the same, they¡¯ll wash over us like a tidal wave.¡± Carmen didn¡¯t doubt him. She wasn¡¯t nearly as idealistic as Alyssa had been. She was a historian, and so, she knew just how ruthless people could be when it came to power. It wasn¡¯t a question of if someone would try to conquer everything, but rather when. Still, she had little interest in running anything, let alone a mine. ¡°I get ten percent,¡± she said. ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°The cold iron. I need materials.¡± ¡°Five.¡± ¡°Seven.¡± ¡°Deal,¡± Roman said. ¡°And I want a full contingent of warriors. Real Carpenters, too.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t intend to half-ass this, Carmen,¡± Roman stated with a wide smile that didn¡¯t really touch his eyes. But then again, most of his emotions never did. Not since Trish had died. ¡°You¡¯ll get everything you need to make this a success. I guarantee it.¡± 2-16. Plague Standing before the Norcastle main gate, Sam Harvin shifted uncomfortably as he tried to adjust his armor. It was a new addition, and he still hadn¡¯t grown accustomed to wearing it. But according to his captain, it was strong enough to stand up to Voxxian claws and teeth, so Sam was more than willing to endure a little discomfort. ¡°Quit fidgeting,¡± said his partner, Lorelai. She was a middle-aged woman with grey-streaked, black hair, and she reminded him of nothing so much as a middle school teacher. Not surprising, considering that it really hadn¡¯t been that long ago since he¡¯d been in one of those classrooms. ¡°Nobody¡¯s going to take you seriously if you keep messing with your armor. And look alive. We have a job to do, in case you forgot.¡± He rolled his eyes, saying, ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You say that, but the fact that I have to keep reminding you to pay attention tells me that you don¡¯t really take this seriously. We¡¯re the first line of defense if we see another attack.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he groaned. Indeed, that had been hammered into him during the six weeks of training he¡¯d endured after awakening his archetype. Not for the first time, he wished he¡¯d chosen one of the non-combat options, but he¡¯d been too enamored with the idea of becoming a powerful warrior that he¡¯d never even considered anything but becoming a Warrior, and then, upon reaching level ten, the Guard class. He''d regretted it ever since. Sure, he was stronger, faster, and more durable than he¡¯d ever been, but his levels had lagged behind his peers¡¯ who¡¯d chosen non-combat archetypes. For instance, his older sister¡¯s friend, Jess, had been offered a Healer archetype, which she¡¯d parlayed into a powerful variant class called Light Keeper. Since then, her levels had shot up ¨C but then again, that was true of all the town¡¯s Healers. ¡°You¡¯re doing it again,¡± cautioned Lorelai, jerking him back to attention. ¡°Pay attention, or I¡¯m going to recommend you for punishment duty.¡± ¡°I was paying attention,¡± he lied. The problem was that, while he knew the wilderness was dangerous, he didn¡¯t have the first-hand experience with it that most of the town¡¯s citizens did. After the world had been transformed, he, his sister, and his mother had taken shelter in the local church. So, while others were fighting for their lives against suddenly mutated animals or monstrous creatures from some other reality, he¡¯d been safe and sound in the ancient castle-turned-cathedral. Then, over the following couple of years, that church had become the centerpiece of what would become Norcastle. So, unlike most of the others, he¡¯d never had to deal with the dangers the new world represented. Sure, like everyone else, he knew what was out there. But knowing and experiencing were two different things, and Sam¡¯s first real brush with true danger had only occurred after he¡¯d chosen his archetype and set himself down the path to becoming a Guard. That hadn¡¯t ended well ¨C he¡¯d struggled to even hold his ground during the curated hunting expeditions the city¡¯s defense force used to train combatants ¨C and he¡¯d been regretting his choices ever since. A slap on the back of his head once again brought him back to reality. He was about to say something to Lorelai that he would no doubt regret when he caught sight of something moving near the tree line. He squinted, using Enhanced Sight to zoom in on the anomaly, and asked, ¡°Is that a person?¡± Lorelai, who¡¯d been glaring at him, followed his line of sight and focused in on the person striding out of the forest. ¡°I think it is,¡± she said. ¡°Is it one of the gatherers? Or a hunter?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± Sam said, tightening his grip on his spear. Outsiders weren¡¯t completely unheard-of. There were a few small settlements in the region, and Norcastle had even played host to an emissary from another city a few hundred miles away. However, almost no one was stupid enough to traipse around the wilderness alone. ¡°You don¡¯t recognize him, do you?¡± Lorelai said that she didn¡¯t, which worried Sam. She was annoying and a bit of a hard-ass, but Lorelai was very good at her job. And she had a great memory, especially when it came to people. Sam would have been surprised if she hadn¡¯t memorized the faces of every single hunter or gatherer who¡¯d left the city during her shift. Soon enough, the figure came close enough that Sam recognized him as a short, sandy-haired man wearing curiously anachronistic clothing and carrying a staff. But there was something about the way he carried himself that put Sam on edge. He couldn¡¯t pinpoint exactly what was bothering him until Lorelai said, ¡°He¡¯s completely relaxed.¡± People didn¡¯t exactly avoid the wilderness. Plenty of locals still ventured outside the city¡¯s walls, and with some degree of regularity. However, when they did so, it was with significant caution. Sam had learned to recognize it. Shifting eyes. Tense shoulders. Careful steps. Everyone who left Norcastle knew that they were walking into danger. But this man? He was completely at ease. As he drew closer, Sam took in more details. He had a beard, though it looked like it had been inexpertly hacked short. His blonde hair was curly, and had grown over his ears. And his complexion was fair, but with just enough tint to suggest that he spent most of his life outdoors. He wore a large pack on his back, and his wooden staff looked more like a series of twisted roots than a straight shaft. ¡°He¡¯s not wearing shoes,¡± said Lorelai. Sam glanced at the man¡¯s feet, and sure enough, his pants ended just above his ankles. Below that was nothing but bare skin. ¡°Weird.¡± ¡°Very.¡± The man finally got close enough that Sam could use Inspect, which was one of his Guard skills:
Name: Elijah Hart Archetype: Healer Level: 19
¡°A healer?¡± Sam muttered. ¡°By himself?¡± ¡°That name sounds vaguely familiar,¡± Lorelai remarked. ¡°You think he¡¯s from around here?¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe he passed through, though. Look alive. He¡¯s almost here.¡± Almost as soon as she finished the sentence, the man raised a scarred hand in a friendly wave and said, ¡°Hello!¡± He stopped in front of them and gave Lorelai a welcoming smile. Then, he turned his attention on Sam, and with a nod, said, ¡°Sorry. Not from around here. This is Norcastle, right?¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°It is,¡± said Lorelai. ¡°Where did you come from?¡± asked Sam. ¡°Oh, here and there. Most recently from a town called Ironshore.¡± ¡°State your business,¡± said Lorelai. ¡°Well, two things. First, it looks like you¡¯ve got some issues here I can maybe help with,¡± he said, gesturing with his staff toward a passing corpse wagon. Sam had gotten so used to them that he barely even noticed their comings and goings. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is it some kind of sickness? Were you attacked?¡± ¡°Plague,¡± Sam said. ¡°We don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°You said two things. What was the other?¡± asked Lorelai. ¡°Oh. Well, I¡¯m looking for Seattle. I have family there,¡± he said. ¡°Outside of it, if I¡¯m honest. And I¡¯m just trying to figure which way to go.¡± That was a common enough issue, and one with which Sam could readily relate. His own father had been away on business when the world changed, and he¡¯d often considered setting out to search for him. However, his good sense had always won out; after all, the world was an incredibly dangerous place, and anyone who decided to trek across the wilderness was either stupid, suicidal, or incredibly competent. Maybe all three. Lorelai said, ¡°Haven¡¯t heard anything about Seattle. A part of San Francisco ended up about five hundred miles from here, but we haven¡¯t really heard anything but rumors out of there.¡± Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged as he shook his head and said, ¡°Kind of expected that. So, can I come in? I¡¯m a healer, and like I said, I might be able to help with your plague problem. Plus, I definitely wouldn¡¯t say no to a nice meal and maybe a shower. If not, I¡¯ll just be on my way.¡± There were no restrictions on who could enter the city, so they really didn¡¯t have the authority to deny him entry. However, Sam couldn¡¯t help but be a bit suspicious of the man. Not just because of his odd attire ¨C his clothing definitely wasn¡¯t modern, and the lack of footwear was even weirder ¨C but also because he¡¯d been wandering around the wilderness alone. Even the various Rangers and Scouts were required to adhere to a buddy system. So, even though Sam knew he didn¡¯t have much to fear from a Healer ¨C especially one that was only level nineteen ¨C he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of unease when he looked at the newcomer. Maybe it was the extensive scarring on his hand. How badly must he have been injured that, even as a Healer, it had left its mark? Even as Sam was considering stopping Elijah, Lorelai spoke up, ¡°Normally, there¡¯s a one copper fee for entering the city, but since you¡¯re a healer, we¡¯ll wave it.¡± ¡°No need,¡± said Elijah, slinging his pack off his shoulder and rummaging inside. He reached in all the way up to his shoulder, which given the size of the bag, didn¡¯t seem possible. There must¡¯ve been some sort of optical illusion at play. In any case, the Healer quickly withdrew a handful of copper coins and handed one each to Lorelai and Sam. ¡°So, can you point me at the nearest hospital or whatever? I really do think I can help out.¡± Lorelai gave him directions, even offering to have someone guide him there. However, Elijah insisted that he could find his own way. So, after only a couple more minutes, they sent him on his way. When he was gone, Sam asked, ¡°You sure that was a good idea? He seemed¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Dangerous,¡± Lorelai said. ¡°You felt it, same as me.¡± ¡°Then why¡¯d you let him in?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a Healer, and he wants to help,¡± the other guard stated. ¡°That¡¯s enough. If we don¡¯t stop this¡­plague, there won¡¯t be a Norcastle left in a year.¡± ¡°It¡¯s that bad?¡± ¡°You really should pay more attention, Sam,¡± she said, her expression far softer than usual. ¡°If you keep sticking your head in the sand, something is going to kill you. I won¡¯t always be here to protect you.¡± ¡°I know, Lorelai.¡± ¡°I think you believe that. Anyway, eyes forward. That big group of hunters that left this morning should start filing in soon.¡± And with that, Sam fixed his gaze on the surrounding wilderness, still wondering if they¡¯d made a mistake letting the scarred Healer into the city. * * * Elijah strolled through the gate, and the moment he turned a corner, he let out a massive sigh of relief. Until that moment, he¡¯d yet to trust the Ring of Anonymity to conceal his identity, so he had no idea if it would even work. Of course, he had no reason to doubt the ring¡¯s efficacy, but it was still a nerve-wracking experience. According to the guides he¡¯d bought from the Branch, anyone with the Guard class had the ability to discern someone¡¯s identity, including level and archetype. So, if anyone was going to see through his Ring of Anonymity, then the pair at the gate would have. That they hadn¡¯t was just further confirmation that the item was the real deal. Though he did belatedly remember that, while toying with the ring, he¡¯d changed his surname back to his real name. Hopefully, that hadn¡¯t raised any flags, but in the interest of not taking any further chances, Elijah changed it back to Smith. Once that was done, he took another deep breath, then straightened back to his full height and looked around. The city was much larger than he¡¯d initially suspected, and it sprawled for quite some distance in every direction. In addition, it seemed to have a population to match its size, and even so close to the gate, Elijah saw more than a few pedestrians. He also saw carts carrying dozens of corpses, each wrapped in white cloth. The passersby gave the wagons a wide berth, but Elijah couldn¡¯t fail to notice the furtive glances they cast toward each passing cart. Otherwise, the city looked much as he¡¯d seen from afar. Which was to say that most of the buildings were clearly newly constructed. For a moment, Elijah considered trying to find a hotel in which to stay the night. Or maybe a restaurant. However, the sight of the bodies had reminded him that Norcastle had a deadly crisis on their hands, and there was a good chance that he could help. So, with that in mind, he strode down the street. Fortunately, it hadn¡¯t rained in some time, so the dirt streets were dry. He didn¡¯t usually mind walking around barefoot ¨C after two years, he was used to it ¨C but if the streets had been muddy, he might¡¯ve changed his tune. In any case, he got quite a few curious glances as he followed the guard¡¯s directions to a large, three-story building near the center of the city. The moment he caught sight of it, he knew he¡¯d reached the hospital. Part of that certainty was due to the big, red cross decorating a sign out front, but the steadily moving line of sick people gave it away as well. He advanced, stepping across the street and nimbly avoiding the passing hand-pulled carts ¨C most of these bearing mundane goods instead of bodies ¨C and pedestrians along the way. Soon enough, he found himself approaching the building¡¯s main entrance, where another pair of guards stood. Both wore makeshift masks over their haggard faces. ¡°Stop right there, buddy,¡± one of them said. She was actually taller than Elijah, which wasn¡¯t terribly uncommon. He¡¯d never been a big man, after all. ¡°Back of the line.¡± Elijah continued forward, saying, ¡°The Guard at the gate told me to come here. I¡¯m a ¨C¡± The other Guard, who was a square-jawed man wearing a spiteful expression, hefted his cudgel and swung it at Elijah. He didn¡¯t hesitate and parried the attack with his staff. Before the Guard could react, Elijah had turned the parry into a low swing that ended with the Guard¡¯s legs being swept out from under him. It happened in the space of an instant; Elijah hadn¡¯t even meant to react, but his instincts, earned after spending years in the wild, had won out. Seeing the other Guard preparing to attack, Elijah shoved his staff under her chin and said, ¡°I¡¯m not in the habit of letting people attack me. So, please ¨C let¡¯s just leave this here, okay? I don¡¯t want to hurt anyone.¡± By that point, the fallen Guard had scrambled to his feet. His face was red from clear embarrassment, and he spat, ¡°Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve done?¡± ¡°Yeah. I took it easy on you. Now, before you two do something stupid, let me explain what¡¯s going on. I¡¯m a Healer. I was told to come here and help out. If you don¡¯t want it, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll go on my way. But judging by everything I¡¯ve seen so far, you could definitely use my help.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C you¡¯re a healer?¡± the female Guard said. Then, her eyes briefly unfocused ¨C a sign that Elijah took as her using an ability, probably the one meant to identify him. The other one didn¡¯t have the presence of mind to even do that much. Instead, he looked like he was half a step away from attacking Elijah again. ¡°You are. And only nineteen? How did you put Garret down like that?¡± ¡°I know kung fu.¡± ¡°Wait, what?¡± ¡°Kung fu. Martial arts. I¡¯m a black belt.¡± ¡°You are?¡± ¡°Sure. My hands are deadly weapons,¡± Elijah said. ¡°My feet too, but nobody ever asks about those.¡± She glanced down at his bare feet and muttered, ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Screw this guy, Holly. We don¡¯t have to ¨C¡± Holly rolled her eyes and said, ¡°Shut up, Garret.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not my boss!¡± he growled. ¡°He¡¯s a healer, idiot. We need as many of those as we can get. Now, shut up. Or I¡¯m going to shut you up. Got it?¡± Holly said. Garret clamped his mouth shut. He clearly didn¡¯t like it, but Holly just as clearly didn¡¯t care. To Elijah, she asked, ¡°Are you really a black belt?¡± ¡°God, no. But I can handle myself okay,¡± he replied with a grin that he hoped was disarming. From experience, he recognized that probably came off as a bit cocky. Or maybe deranged, given his lack of social contact over the past couple of years. ¡°Anyway, is it alright if I go on in? And who do I talk to about what the situation is? I think we can maybe knock this plague thing out in an afternoon.¡± She cocked her head to the side and said, ¡°At level nineteen? Color me skeptical. But you¡¯re more than welcome to give it a try. God knows we could use the help.¡± Then, she gave him directions on how to find Jess, the other Healer on duty. Elijah thanked her for her help, gave Garret a grin, then headed inside. The building was large, but it didn¡¯t have many twists or turns, so he quickly found his way to the appropriate room ¨C which was a huge, gymnasium-size space containing at least a hundred of occupied beds. Elijah only got one step inside before a familiar smell wafted into his nose. ¡°Voxx,¡± he muttered to himself as he realized that he might¡¯ve just stepped into a situation he couldn¡¯t handle. 2-17. Miracles The acrid stench Elijah associated with the Voxx filled his nostrils, reminding him of past battles. The smell of human misery reminded him that something else was at play, though. So, after only a few moments of hesitation, he pushed forward, his bare feet sounding loud against the cold tiles. ¡°Sir? Can I help you?¡± came a high-pitched voice. Elijah turned to see a pretty woman with dark skin. If he¡¯d had to guess, he would have said that she was in her mid-twenties, but long, stressful hours had robbed her of some of her vitality. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t be in here, especially dressed like that.¡± Elijah looked down at his attire. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with what I¡¯m wearing?¡± he asked. The woman wore purple scrubs that had been mended in a few spots and a pair of comfortable-looking sneakers. ¡°You¡¯re barefoot. In a hospital. Surely you can¡¯t think that¡¯s appropriate.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. I keep forgetting about that,¡± Elijah said, suddenly self-conscious. Unfortunately, his bare feet were a necessity. One with Nature required him to be in contact with the ground, and while being indoors didn¡¯t seem to deactivate it, for some reason, wearing shoes ¨C or any kind of foot coverings ¨C did. It was a quirk of the system, and one he¡¯d yet to find a way around. So, for now, he needed to remain barefoot, though he hoped to one day find a means of subverting the augmentation¡¯s requirements. Though he supposed he should count himself lucky that it didn¡¯t deactivate when he leaped into the air or stepped foot on man-made surfaces. Otherwise, the seesawing of his effective attributes would¡¯ve driven him insane. ¡°Occupational hazard, I¡¯m afraid,¡± he said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m Elijah.¡± She frowned at him, then said, ¡°Jess. What are you doing here?¡± He ran his hand through his hair. ¡°I¡¯m a Healer.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± she asked dubiously. ¡°You don¡¯t look like any Healer I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ve seen all sorts of Healers, have you?¡± ¡°Well, no. But none of them I know walk around barefoot. Or looking like they stepped out of a Renaissance Faire.¡± ¡°Ouch. My outfit¡¯s not that bad. The dwarven lady who made it was very skilled.¡± ¡°Dwarven?¡± ¡°Never mind that.¡± Letting his staff fall against his chest, he slapped his hands together and said, ¡°Alright. I¡¯m full of Ethera and ready to heal. Where can I set up? Now, I feel obligated to inform you that my spells ¨C well, one of them at least ¨C can get a bit messy, so it¡¯s probably best if I set up somewhere with a drain in the floor. Like a locker room. Or maybe outside. I don¡¯t know. This is your turf, so I¡¯ll let you decide.¡± ¡°What are you talking about? How can a healing spell be messy?¡± she narrowed her big, brown eyes and crossed her arms. ¡°Wait. Are you messing with me? Did Sam send you here? This is a serious place with seriously ill people. If you ¨C¡± Elijah gripped his staff and said, ¡°Woah. I really am a Healer. You people really are the suspicious sort. Makes a guy feel a little unwelcome, if I¡¯m honest.¡± ¡°Prove it.¡± Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°So little trust,¡± he muttered. ¡°You could just get one of those Guards outside to identify me.¡± ¡°Or you could heal someone.¡± She looked back at the room full of patients, then pointed at one. ¡°That one. He¡¯s already been healed, but there¡¯s still a little bit of the plague left in him.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you heal it all?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Ethera. I¡¯m running on fumes here,¡± she said. ¡°Same as the other four Healers. If it wasn¡¯t for us, the plague would¡¯ve already killed everyone in town. But even with everything we¡¯ve done, there¡¯s a limit to our Ethera, and¡­well¡­we can¡¯t get to everyone in time. Not even close.¡± Elijah could hear the frustration in her voice, and what¡¯s more, he understood it. He¡¯d felt something similar when the panther had died. Despite all the power they¡¯d been given ¨C and it was miraculous what healing could do ¨C there were still limits. ¡°Do you care if I get the room wet?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Why would the room get wet?¡± ¡°It¡¯s part of my spell. Well, one of my spells.¡± ¡°Is it real water?¡± ¡°As opposed to fake water?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Some of our Mages can conjure ice,¡± she said. ¡°But it disappears after a few minutes. Same with rocks. We learned that the hard way when someone tried to build a wall out of conjured earth.¡± Elijah cocked his head to the side, then rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. ¡°You know what? I¡¯ve never even bothered to pay attention to whether or not the water sticks around,¡± he said, a little ashamed that he hadn¡¯t tested that facet of Healing Rain. But in his defense, the climate of the island was that of a temperate rainforest, so it was almost always wet, raining, or both. And when he¡¯d used the spell in the tower, he¡¯d either been underwater, or he¡¯d had other things on his mind. ¡°Best assume it¡¯s real, I guess.¡± She let out a tired sigh, then said, ¡°Fine. Follow me.¡± Without another word, she turned around and strode away. Elijah followed, hurrying to catch up. With Essence of the Wolf active, he had no issues keeping pace as they crossed the room. Soon enough, she led him into another hallway, and he asked, ¡°Where¡¯re we headed? Someplace special? I¡¯ve been ¨C¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Elijah¡¯s words died in his mouth the moment they passed into another room. The stench of the corruption was so strong that he very nearly gagged the moment he stepped over the threshold. But even then, the smell was nothing compared to the sight of three figures, each one looking as if they were rotting alive as they lay on soiled hospital beds. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°These are the worst,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve been trying our best to keep them alive, but¡­no matter what we do, the plague just keeps coming back. If you want to prove you¡¯re a healer, then here¡¯s where you should start, because if you can¡¯t do anything for them, they¡¯re probably going to die within the next hour. When they get this bad, we just make them comfortable because¡­because it would take too much Ethera to heal them. If we even can.¡± ¡°Jesus,¡± Elijah muttered, studying the unfortunate trio. Two of them were men, and the last was a woman. However, there was nothing to suggest that they were in any way connected. Indeed, if it wasn¡¯t for the thick black tendrils spreading across their mostly naked skin, they would¡¯ve looked mostly normal. The only saving grace was that they were at least unconscious. But Elijah¡¯s every sense told him that they were anything but ordinary. Not only did the smell of the Voxxian corruption ¨C and Elijah was certain that¡¯s what it was ¨C hang thick in the air, but he could also feel it sliding across his skin like he¡¯d been dunked into a box of squirming maggots. The sour, acidic taste tickling his tongue was even worse, though. In short, being in that room ¨C which was only about fifteen feet across ¨C was one of the most unpleasant things Elijah had ever endured. And he¡¯d been digested in the stomach of a monstrous orca, so that was saying something. ¡°Go nuts,¡± Jess said, gesturing to the nest of corruption. Elijah shook his head, swallowed hard, then stepped forward. Without further hesitation, he ensured that Aura of Renewal was active so that he could be at peak Regeneration, then cast Healing Rain. Storm clouds gathered, wreathing the ceiling in dark fog. Then, the first drop of rain fell. Then another. Soon after, a deluge of water poured forth from the clouds, and each drop that hit one of the patients did so with a sizzle. Elijah stepped through the rain, then laid his hand on the first patient. She was older ¨C maybe forty or so ¨C and her body had clearly been ravaged by her illness. In a lot of ways, it reminded him of his time being treated for cancer. Back then, he¡¯d had to sit in his oncologist¡¯s office as they pumped him full of dangerous chemicals. But he hadn¡¯t done so alone. There were always one or two other people in there undergoing the same dubious treatment, and Elijah had watched as those familiar faces succumbed to the horrors of chemotherapy. The woman laid out beneath him was little different, with sunken cheeks, pallid skin, and loose flesh that suggested rapid weight loss. And then there were the black tendrils of corruption. It all made Elijah sick. But instead of vomiting like he wanted to, he swallowed his discomfort and laid his hand on the woman¡¯s forearm. It was cold and clammy to the touch. She almost felt like she¡¯d already surrendered to death, but the shallow rise and fall of her chest told him differently. For a second, he just let himself feel her moist skin. Then, he drew Ethera from his core and funneled it into Touch of Nature. The healing power of the spell raced out of him and into the woman. The effect was immediate. She gasped, her eyes shooting open as her hand shot out. Elijah could have dodged ¨C the woman couldn¡¯t move very quickly, after all ¨C but he let her wrap her fingers around his forearm. Her eyes locked onto his, and she croaked, ¡°Kill¡­me¡­¡± Elijah ignored her. He could practically feel her pain, it was so palpable. Since the very beginning, Elijah had been using Touch of Nature to cure himself of various diseases. At first, the spell had been used to eradicate various parasites he¡¯d picked up from drinking tainted water, but he¡¯d used it to similar effect dozens of times throughout his time on the island. So, if he knew nothing else about how the spell interacted with a patient, he knew precisely how it went about counteracting disease. For specific injuries, he had to guide the spell, but with disease ¨C especially one that suffused the entire patient¡¯s body ¨C it was more akin to flooding the recipient with ephemeral vitality and forcing the body¡¯s natural recovery into overdrive. Which was precisely what happened. The first cast didn¡¯t really do much. But under the effects of Healing Rain, combined with a second cast of Touch of Nature, he sent the black tendrils into a retreat. The next cast pushed them back further. And the fourth banished them altogether. Elijah was fairly sure that the woman was cured ¨C though she was still disoriented ¨C but he cast Touch of Nature a final time before he pulled away. He glanced back at Jess, who stood on the other side of the doorway, her mouth agape, and he said, ¡°I think that takes care of her. You might want to get her somewhere else so it doesn¡¯t reoccur.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± she asked. ¡°Healed her,¡± he stated. ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you do the same thing?¡± ¡°Not like that.¡± ¡°Oh. Well, call me special, then. I¡¯ll take care of these others, then we can move to the big room. Unless you don¡¯t want me making it rain in there, in which case we probably need to set up some sort of ¨C¡± ¡°Wait ¨C you still have Ethera?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Elijah said, checking the state of his core. He could still cast Touch of nature a dozen more times before he ran dry, but his Regeneration was high enough ¨C especially with Aura of Renewal augmenting it ¨C that it wouldn¡¯t take that long to recover. Not for the first time, he wished that Touch of Nature was a little more potent. But then, he supposed that it would probably cost more Ethera, so it would almost assuredly even out. ¡°I can keep going for a while,¡± he said. ¡°And the rain is persistent, so it¡¯ll keep coming down for¡­I don¡¯t know¡­ another hour, maybe? After that, I¡¯ll have to cast it again, but by then, I should have plenty of Ethera recovered.¡± ¡°But¡­but how do you have¡­if I did what you just did, I¡¯d be out for the rest of the day¡­¡± Elijah shrugged again, then gave her a grin before saying, ¡°Like I said ¨C I¡¯m special, I guess. Now, if you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m going to save a couple of lives.¡± He winked at her. ¡°Because that¡¯s what heroes do.¡± She snorted in laughter. ¡°That¡­was terrible.¡± ¡°Really? It sounded cool in my head.¡± ¡°Did it?¡± ¡°No. Not really. But in my defense, I¡¯ve only really had gnomes and a tree to talk to for a while, so my conversational skills are a little out of practice. Oh, and a goblin. A few dwarves, too, but they¡¯re not great conversationalists.¡± ¡°You might be the oddest man I¡¯ve ever met,¡± Jess said as she positioned herself behind the healed woman¡¯s gurney. It was the sort that one would find in hospitals, so it was equipped with wheels. ¡°And I know actual wizards.¡± Elijah shrugged, then knelt beside the second patient. ¡°If you¡¯re going to be anything, be the best version of that you can be. That¡¯s what my dad used to tell me. So, I¡¯ll take that as the compliment it was obviously meant to be.¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to go out on a limb and guess that he probably wasn¡¯t talking about being weird,¡± she said, pushing the woman toward the door. Elijah cast Touch of Nature on his latest patient, then glanced at Jess and said, ¡°Maybe not, but I¡¯ve decided to embrace it anyway. Besides, who wants to be normal, right? Odd is so much better. Sexier, too, I¡¯m told.¡± She stopped. ¡°Did you just hit on me? Here?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Maybe. That all depends on your reaction. If it¡¯s disgust, then of course I wasn¡¯t coming onto you. I¡¯m offended that you would even suggest such a thing. But if you¡¯re even mildly interested, then I¡¯m one-hundred percent flirting. Or trying to. Like I said, I¡¯m a bit out of practice.¡± She just shook her head and continued to wheel the woman away. Elijah glanced at the comatose man he intended to heal and said, ¡°That went well, right? I think it went well.¡± Then, he laid his hand on the man¡¯s arm and cast Touch of Nature. 2-18. Norcastle Gentle drops of Healing Rain fell upon Elijah¡¯s head as he forced the aperture of his Mind ever wider. Ethera flooded through his Mind, cascading through his soul and into his Core. But he needed more, so he continued to pull against the ambient Ethera in an attempt to force the aperture wider; it was no use, though. There was something missing. A vitally important piece of the puzzle that he simply didn¡¯t possess. Still, he kept at it, steadily stretching the aperture as much as he could. It was only a miniscule improvement over his passive Regeneration, but over time, it made a significant difference. Besides, he felt like he was on the right track regarding the improvement of that facet of his cultivation. As for the others, he was still unsure how to progress. Hopefully, he would gain some insight in the near future, because he found himself itching for improvement. A touch on his shoulder jerked him from his meditative state, and his eyes fluttered open. It took a moment for them to refocus, but when they did, he saw the familiar confines of the hospital¡¯s main room. The beds had been arranged around him in an effort to maximize the number he could reach with Healing Rain, but even so, he and the other Healers had been forced to steadily cycle the patients. ¡°Is that all of them?¡± he asked. He¡¯d been at it for a few days, and in that time, he¡¯d lost count of the number of people he¡¯d healed. Hundreds, at the least. Maybe thousands. Most, he healed via Healing Rain, but some of the worst cases had required the application of Touch of Nature. The other Healers had done their part as well, but if Elijah had learned anything since coming to Norcastle, it was that his spells were far and away more efficient than most. On top of that, his relatively high level ¨C hidden though it was by his Ring of Anonymity ¨C gave him far more Ethera with which to work. So, as a result, he¡¯d done the work of at least ten other Healers. But even that was insufficient to adequately explain his contribution. Because of his Dragon Core, his spells were almost twice as potent as they otherwise would be. On top of that, he gained a significant boost from his overall level of cultivation. So, a spell like Healing Rain, which had once struggled to mend even minor wounds, had become a powerful tool for healing. There was something else at play, too, though Elijah hesitated to commit to the idea. Still, he suspected that lower-level people were easier to heal than those who¡¯d progressed further. His efforts in healing his own wounds suggested as much, and that notion seemed to have been confirmed by the ease with which he¡¯d healed some of the less powerful people in the Norcastle hospital. It was a subject he would need to address next time he visited a Branch. Perhaps he could find a guide that would give him more definitive answers. And failing that, there was always Nerthus to ask. Jess, who was flanked by another exhausted Healer, said, ¡°That¡¯s it. For now. They¡¯ll all be back, though.¡± ¡°That sounds like first-hand experience talking.¡± ¡°It is,¡± she sighed. The other Healer ¨C an elderly man with nothing but a ring of grey fringe on his head ¨C said, ¡°At first, the number of patients ebbed and flowed. We would make progress and think we eradicated the disease altogether. Then, a few days later, it would return worse than before.¡± ¡°Do you know what¡¯s causing it?¡± Jess shook her head. ¡°We¡¯ve looked, too. Combed the whole city. We¡¯ve exterminated all the pests, tested the water, even the food. But we haven¡¯t found anything that could be the cause.¡± Elijah nodded along. ¡°But we¡¯re done for a little while, right?¡± he asked. ¡°We are.¡± He felt his shoulders sag. Just because his Constitution and Regeneration gave him the ability to keep going for quite some time without rest didn¡¯t mean that it was pleasant. He felt just as exhausted as the others looked. ¡°Is there someplace I can rest? Maybe get a good meal?¡± ¡°What kind of meal?¡± Elijah pushed himself to his feet, then ran his hand through his hair. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Not sure what choices there are. Like I said before, I¡¯ve been a little cut off from society for a while. The last properly cooked meal I had was made by gnomes. Or was it goblins? I can¡¯t remember. Anyway¡­yeah¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t tell if you¡¯re serious, joking, or a little crazy,¡± she said. ¡°Probably all three,¡± the older Healer groused. ¡°Lot of that going around since the world ended.¡± Elijah raised a finger and said, ¡°Pizza. That¡¯s what I want. Any suggestions? You have pizza here, right?¡± ¡°With goat cheese. All our cows got eaten,¡± Jess said. The older man just shook his head and left. ¡°What¡¯s his deal?¡± Elijah asked. Then, before Jess could answer, he said, ¡°You know what? Never mind. It¡¯s not hard to figure out. So, you want to have some pizza with me? Or are you going to leave me all alone to find my way in the big city?¡± He gave her his best fake pout, which drew a laugh. ¡°You are terrible at this,¡± Jess remarked with a shake of her head. ¡°But is it working? It might just be a pickup tactic. Kind of like negging. But, you know, reverse.¡± ¡°Self-negging.¡± ¡°Or I might just be terrible at flirting. You never know.¡± ¡°Plus, the setting really isn¡¯t doing you any favors,¡± she acknowledged. ¡°But you know what? Sure. I¡¯ll have some pizza with you. It¡¯s expensive, though.¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve got money.¡± Indeed, he¡¯d withdrawn enough etherium back in Ironshore that he shouldn¡¯t have to worry about whether or not he could afford a meal. Thankfully, Norcastle had adopted it as its basic currency, largely because the city itself used it to buy various items through the Branch Market. The coins had other uses ¨C primarily in crafting ¨C but very few of the city¡¯s tradespeople had progressed to the point where they could use them. Or so Elijah assumed. Either way, he had money, and he wasn¡¯t opposed to using it to pay for a shared meal between him and Jess. He certainly wasn¡¯t interested in her in anything but a superficial way, but he had spent the majority of the past two years alone. So, her company certainly looked enticing from where he was standing. In any case, after the pair took a few minutes to clean up in the hospital¡¯s bathrooms, Jess led him through the city and to Norcastle¡¯s only pizza joint. It wasn¡¯t much different from the surrounding buildings ¨C just a cube-like structure made of sturdy cinder blocks ¨C but the owner had made some attempts to differentiate it from all the rest. Beneath a red awning that stretched across the fa?ade were a series of wooden tables and crudely constructed chairs. It was also incredibly crowded, with every table occupied. Fortunately, Jess knew the owner, who quickly made room for them in the back. At first, the conversation was confined to lighthearted banter, but eventually, Jess asked, ¡°So, what¡¯s your story, anyway? Where did you really come from? And how did you survive the wilderness? I¡¯ve seen what¡¯s out there, and I can¡¯t imagine going more than a mile or two from the city, especially not alone.¡± For a moment, Elijah considered lying. Or simply refusing to answer. But despite Nerthus¡¯s warnings to keep his circumstances hidden, he decided that he didn¡¯t really want to live like that. Sure, he¡¯d keep some things under his belt. He had no intention of revealing his ability to shapeshift into powerful animal forms. However, he didn¡¯t see any issues with giving her the broad strokes. So, he said, ¡°When the World Tree touched Earth, I was flying home to die.¡± Then, he explained the basics of how he¡¯d spent the past couple of years. He omitted quite a few details ¨C like the specifics of his class, the panther guardian, and the tower. He did mention Ironshore, though only in the vaguest of terms, and he explained that it was almost entirely populated by gnomes, dwarves, and goblins. ¡°Wait, are you serious?¡± she asked. ¡°There are actual gnomes?¡± ¡°All of that, and you latch onto the gnomes?¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re cool,¡± she said unapologetically. ¡°And cute. Back when we actually had video games, I used to always play as a gnome.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll appreciate fetishization of their entire race,¡± he said lightheartedly, which earned him a playful roll of Jess¡¯s eyes. ¡°But yeah ¨C there are gnomes, though I admit I¡¯m not a huge fan. I had a bad experience with one.¡± Indeed, Elijah¡¯s opinion of the little people would forever be tainted by Cabbot. His views on mohawks were similarly affected, though he didn¡¯t say that to Jess. After she asked a few more questions, it was his turn to throw some in her direction, so he asked, ¡°So, what did you do before this?¡± ¡°Medical school. I was almost finished, too. Then the world ended, and¡­well, you know the rest. Death, destruction, and eventually, survival. I lost¡­a lot of people.¡± Elijah reached across the table and gripped her hand. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She shook her head, sniffed loudly, then wiped her eyes before saying, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ve come to terms with it. Everybody lost somebody, and we lose more every day. You know, it¡¯s funny. If you¡¯d have asked me before all this happened, I would¡¯ve probably thought it sounded kind of cool. Me and my friends used to joke about the zombie apocalypse and how we¡¯d survive, you know? But now? I would give just about anything to just go back to the way everything used to be. Back to my boring little life.¡± Elijah wanted to agree with her. He truly did. But he knew it would be a lie. For better or worse, now that he had tasted what the new world ¨C or universe, really ¨C had to offer, he wanted more. He didn¡¯t enjoy the pain he¡¯d had to endure. Nor was he looking forward to the inevitability of more. And yet, he was excited for the future in a way he¡¯d never been back in Hawai¡¯i. Then there was the fact that when Earth felt the World Tree¡¯s touch, it had given him a new life. Before, he¡¯d been dying of cancer. He¡¯d only had a few weeks to live. But now, he had a full life ahead of him. Maybe it was a selfish way to look at it, but he was strangely okay with how everything had turned out. Even if it meant that millions ¨C or billions ¨C had died. Tragic, sure. But what was done, was done. There was no going back. And Elijah intended to make the most out of the chance he¡¯d been given. But he didn¡¯t say that. Instead, he just nodded and muttered vaguely comforting things until their pizza arrived. That proved to be the highlight of the night. It was easy to forget just how perfect of a food pizza really was, but the moment he took that first bite, Elijah was reminded of that indisputable fact. ¡°That good, huh?¡± asked Jess after watching him devour the first piece. ¡°You have no idea. I spent most of the last two years surviving on mushrooms and badly cooked crab,¡± he said, stuffing another piece into his mouth. ¡°I don¡¯t even mind the goat cheese. And what is this meat?¡± ¡°Venison sausage,¡± she said. ¡°There¡¯s a huge herd of deer that roam across the plains about forty miles south of here. We send hunters down there pretty consistently, though they have to be really careful because the deer are supposedly extremely dangerous now.¡± ¡°Mmm,¡± he mumbled around a mouthful of glorious pizza. After that, the evening wore on. For his part, Elijah ate far more than his fair share of pizza, even insisting on meeting the owner, who he showered with effusive praise ¨C and a handful of etherium. Meanwhile, Jess lightened up, especially when Elijah started talking about his Grove. He didn¡¯t reveal its magical nature, but he still spoke of it with enough enthusiasm that Jess couldn¡¯t help but mirror it. Then, after a couple of hours of pizza and conversation, Elijah asked, ¡°So, your place? Or am I staying in a hotel tonight?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°I think you know the answer to that.¡± ¡°Alright. But I have to warn you ¨C I have a tendency to snore. If you can ¨C¡± With a chuckle, she tossed a napkin at him. He caught it deftly. ¡°You know I¡¯m kidding, right? Unless you¡¯re interested. In which case¡­¡± Another amused roll of her eyes told him all he needed to know. Perhaps he was on the right track, but she wasn¡¯t interested in making a night out of it. Which was fine. But Elijah did have one other question. ¡°So, when did all of this plague stuff start, anyway? Nobody could ever give me a good answer.¡± ¡°About a month ago,¡± Jess answered. ¡°Was there anything about the days before that that stick out? Anything at all?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Not that I know about. But I¡¯m probably not the best person to answer that. You¡¯d probably need to ask Captain Essex. He¡¯s in charge of the city¡¯s defense and keeps order in town. If anyone knows about¡­strange occurrences, it would be him. Why? Do you think you have an idea about what¡¯s causing the plague?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Nothing concrete. It¡¯s just that I smelled something familiar when I saw those first patients. But if anyone in this city had seen anything like what I¡¯m thinking of¡­well, everyone would know about it. In any case, I think I¡¯m going to find that hotel you mentioned and get some sleep. I might get you to introduce me to this Captain Essex in the morning, though. If you don¡¯t mind, I mean.¡± ¡°Sure. If you think you can help figure out the source, I¡¯ll do whatever you want.¡± ¡°Whatever I want? Well, in that case ¨C¡± ¡°Get your mind out of the gutter.¡± She said it with a note of annoyance, but Elijah saw the interest in her eyes. That was enough to buoy his mood for the entire walk to the hotel. In fact, he was distracted enough that he briefly forgot about the horrible suffering he¡¯d witnessed over the past few days. 2-19. Defining the Source That night, Elijah went to bed a little disappointed, and for a couple of reasons. Obviously, he would¡¯ve preferred it if Jess had joined him; her company had only hammered home just how lonely he¡¯d been since washing ashore on his island. And while he could ignore it most of the time, the connection he¡¯d forged with the former medical student was just electric enough to send his imagination running wild with possibilities. The other reason for his ill attitude was the inn room itself. Despite the fact that he¡¯d been camping in the wilderness for the past couple of months, he still remembered his mossy bed back on the island, and the inn¡¯s mattress just couldn¡¯t measure up to Nerthus¡¯s work. Still, he was exhausted enough that it was only mildly disappointing, and, what¡¯s more, he¡¯d slept in worse. So, even though he wasn¡¯t as comfortable ¨C or satisfied ¨C as he might¡¯ve hoped, Elijah spent a restful enough night, and, the next morning, he felt reenergized. When he awoke, he pushed himself upright and looked around. The room was spartan, with only a bed, a utilitarian nightstand, and a bathroom. However, Norcastle had running water ¨C apparently, Plumber was an actual class, and the city had a couple who¡¯d managed to supply it with water via their creations ¨C so he quickly jumped in the shower, then changed into one of his spare outfits. As always, he had no shoes. Most of the time, Elijah barely noticed, but in the city, his unshod feet were noteworthy enough that other people definitely did. It didn¡¯t matter, though. If everything went according to plan, he wouldn¡¯t be staying much longer. So, after dressing, Elijah gathered his things and left the room behind. His bare feet slapped against the wooden floor as he traversed the short hallway and entered the stairwell before descending a couple of flights of stairs and exiting into the hotel¡¯s common room. There, he found the proprietor standing behind a bar, where she was manning a griddle. The heavyset woman glanced over her shoulder and asked, ¡°What can I get for you?¡± ¡°Whatever¡¯s easiest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just so long as it¡¯s hot.¡± ¡°Got sausage and pancakes. Even some real maple syrup.¡± ¡°That sounds great.¡± He watched as the woman got to work, and he sensed a barely-noticeable swirl of Ethera accompanying her actions. Clearly, she had some sort of technique associated with cooking; perhaps she even had the Chef class. If that was the case, Elijah was truly looking forward to breakfast. After all, he hadn¡¯t forgotten the meal he¡¯d enjoyed back in Ironshore. While the woman cooked, Elijah took a look at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 34
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 35
Dexterity 34
Constitution 35
Ethera 43
Regeneration 37
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Opal Neophyte
During his time healing the plague-stricken patients back in the hospital, Elijah had gained two more levels. Distressingly, though, he still hadn¡¯t been awarded another spell. The last one he¡¯d gotten was at level thirty, and that was Shape of the Guardian. If he hadn¡¯t read guides that said that he would, indeed, get more spells going forward, he might¡¯ve been even more worried. However, he knew it was only a matter of time before he acquired some new tools for his tool kit. Still, he had high hopes for level thirty-five. In the beginning, he¡¯d gained spells every level, but after reaching the tenth, the frequency had been reduced by half. After he hadn¡¯t gotten a spell at thirty-two, he¡¯d hoped the pattern would continue, and he¡¯d get one at thirty-four. But now that that hadn¡¯t happened, he could only hope that it would happen at level thirty-five. For now, though, his attributes had continued to rise by one point each level. As the innkeeper continued to cook, a few other guests descended from their rooms above and took seats around the common room. Whoever had built the hotel had clearly taken inspiration from old school inns rather than modern hotels, because the business was clearly as much a tavern and restaurant as it was a lodging. As he waited, Elijah cast Essence of the Boar, increasing his Constitution attribute by ten points. The same for Essence of the Monkey, though it increased Dexterity instead. Finally, he topped it all off with Aura of Renewal, then Essence of the Wolf. He already had One with Nature active as well. Once he was fully enhanced, he looked at his status again, and he was pleased to see the state of his attributes. Elijah couldn¡¯t quantify the effect of each point, but after having reached such lofty heights, he knew he was approaching superhuman levels of strength, coordination, and durability. Still, he had no real context for how he might stack up against more focused individuals. Given that, according to the guides he¡¯d read, each class gave attribute bonuses according to its nature, there was every chance that others might be quite a bit more powerful than him. As he saw it, that was the source of his greatest strength as well as his biggest weakness. On the one hand, he had the versatility to respond well to a wide variety of situations. However, on the other, he lacked specialization, so he would be at a disadvantage against more focused classes. Still, he hoped that his cultivation and Dragon Core might prove the difference if it ever came down to that. Soon enough, the innkeeper served him, and Elijah proceeded to eat what felt like a mountain of pancakes and sausage before paying her a copper etherium and excusing himself. After that, he left the hotel ¨C or inn, really ¨C and headed toward the hospital where he was supposed to meet Jess. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. He arrived a little earlier than anticipated, so he spent the next half hour focusing on his Mind cultivation. It was still stubbornly resistant to his attempts at advancement, which served to solidify his certainty that he was missing something important. However, none of the guides he¡¯d bought from the Branch back in Ironshore had specified any viable cultivation techniques. ¡°What are you doing?¡± came Jess¡¯s voice. Elijah opened his eyes to see that she was, once again, wearing her purple scrubs and sneakers, and she looked just as good as she had the night before. ¡°Cultivating.¡± ¡°What? How?¡± Elijah explained what he knew, which was precious little, really. His own advancement had been contingent on a series of strange events, the unmatched Ethera density on his island, and Nerthus¡¯s help. However, he told Jess what he could, ending with, ¡°I¡¯m still trying to figure it all out. There might be some guides available at your Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base. I don¡¯t know how that works, though, because the only one I¡¯ve used was transplanted here from somewhere else. So, it was probably more advanced than yours.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know anything about that. Branch access is very tightly regulated. Only the mayor¡¯s inner circle really use it, except to access the Bank,¡± she said. ¡°Not even Captain Essex and his people get to, so I¡¯m pretty sure someone like me has no chance.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± That definitely threw a monkey wrench in Elijah¡¯s plans. He¡¯d intended to at least access the Regional Map in the hopes of finding the next closest settlement, but now, he realized that that might not be possible. After that, Jess insisted on taking him to the barracks where Captain Essex and his people were housed. She wanted to get back to the hospital as soon as possible ¨C even if the plague had been taken care of for the time being, people got injured all the time, and she took her job very seriously. So, neither of them really spoke on the way. Which was fine with Elijah, because he quickly lost himself in thought. He didn¡¯t like the idea of Branch access being restricted. The Knowledge Base alone held the keys to survival, and that wasn¡¯t even considering the things that could be bought in the Branch Market. That regular people couldn¡¯t use those functions was more than a little troubling. But Elijah couldn¡¯t really do anything to change that. For now, he had more than enough on his plate, what with finding the source of the plague and searching out any hints as to the whereabouts of his sister. So, he had little interest in getting distracted trying to interfere in something he didn¡¯t really understand. For all he knew, the mayor had good reasons to restrict access to the Branch. Still, he didn¡¯t like it, and that wasn¡¯t going to change just because he didn¡¯t want to dive into the deep end of Norcastle¡¯s problems. After about fifteen minutes of walking through the city ¨C during which time, Elijah confirmed his first impressions of the city and its population ¨C they reached a large building attached to the wall. The gate was only a few hundred yards away, so the barracks were close enough that they could respond to any developing situations. ¡°Follow me. And don¡¯t say anything weird, okay? Captain Essex doesn¡¯t really put up with disrespect.¡± ¡°I never say anything weird. And stop looking at me like that. There, that raised eyebrow thing. Super disrespectful.¡± She sighed and rolled her eyes, muttering something that, to Elijah, sounded curiously like, ¡°This is a huge mistake.¡± But Elijah was certain that couldn¡¯t be the case. He followed her inside, and she spoke to a receptionist who, in turn, told them to wait while she presumably went to speak to the captain. A couple of minutes later, the plump woman returned and told Jess to go ahead. Elijah followed in her wake, looking around as they passed through a bare hall. He also paid attention to One with Nature, though he felt nothing out of the ordinary. Not until the captain¡¯s office came within his range. At that moment, he felt the swirl of Ethera that suggested a powerful person was on the other side of that door. The feeling wasn¡¯t as powerful as he¡¯d felt from Ramik back in Ironshore, but it was potent enough to give Elijah pause. In any case, he stood to the side as Jess knocked on the door. A moment later, a rough voice bade her enter, which she did. Elijah followed into the office, and was unsurprised to see a pale, broad-shouldered man sitting behind an old metal desk reminiscent of the one his fourth-grade teacher had used. Elijah stood to the side as Jess introduced him, making certain to mention his efforts at healing the plague victims. ¡°Which is why I agreed to this meeting. Thank you, Mr. Hart. You saved a lot of lives over the past few days.¡± Elijah shrugged, leaning on his staff as he said, ¡°Least I could do. But I don¡¯t want it to all be for nothing. So, I¡¯ve decided to see if I can figure out the source.¡± ¡°You think you can?¡± Essex asked, narrowing his eyes in suspicion. ¡°I believe so, yes. But I need you to answer a couple of questions for me, if you can. It¡¯ll help me narrow things down.¡± Essex gestured for him to go on. Elijah asked, ¡°Have you or your people been in contact with the Voxx?¡± Even without One with Nature, Elijah couldn¡¯t have missed the sudden tension in the man¡¯s face. Or the fact that he glanced at Jess, then said, ¡°Miss Roy, if you would please give us some privacy¡­¡± Jess said, ¡°What is the Voxx?¡± ¡°Please, Miss Roy. This is need-to-know information. I promise you will receive an explanation when appropriate.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just going to tell her the moment I leave,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°So, you may as well let her stay.¡± Essex ground his teeth so hard that Elijah could hear it. Or maybe he¡¯d simply sensed it via One with Nature. Sometimes, it was difficult to tell the difference. In any case, the man didn¡¯t look happy to be pushed against a wall. He almost growled, ¡°And if I tell you that the consequences for doing so could be very detrimental to your health?¡± Elijah looked the man in the eye and said, ¡°I¡¯m unconcerned with what you deem dangerous.¡± For a long moment, the pair of men stared at one another, neither willing to back down. Finally, Essex deflated and said, ¡°Fine. On your head be it, then. Just know that you¡¯re putting her in danger as well. Some knowledge is ¨C¡± ¡°Dangerous, sure,¡± Elijah stated. Then, he turned to Jess and said, ¡°The Voxx are interdimensional lizards who invade our world in one of three ways. Sometimes, they simply manifest as singular entities. Those are the least deadly. Basically pests. Most of the time. But they have the chance, albeit a small one, to manifest something much, much stronger. The most powerful creature I¡¯ve ever seen came from one of those. I think.¡± Essex seemed to take issue with that assessment, and he said, ¡°I beg to differ on that account. They are dangerous creatures who can ¨C¡± ¡°Sure, they¡¯re dangerous. But nothing compared to the next ones. Those come from dimensional rifts. Those are temporary rips in the fabric of our reality. If you can go in and defeat the monster inside, you¡¯ll close them. And get a reward. But the Voxxian creature inside can be pretty strong,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°If you don¡¯t close them, they corrupt the environment and drive the local wildlife crazy. I¡¯ve also read that they can burst, creating a mini-surge.¡± ¡°And where did you read this?¡± ¡°A guide I bought from the Branch Knowledge Base,¡± Elijah lied. In reality, it had been explained to him by Nerthus. ¡°Anyway, the third type is worse. If you¡¯ve got a tower around here, which is what I suspect, then it¡¯ll go a long way to explaining things. So, please ¨C tell me the truth, Captain Essex ¨C are we dealing with a tower? Or is it just a dimensional rift?¡± ¡°What is a tower? I mean, I know what a tower is. But I feel like I¡¯m missing some context.¡± ¡°A tower is like a dimensional rift on steroids,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The system erects a tower around them which drains the Ethera by creating a complex environment that can be challenged by ¨C¡± ¡°Is it like a video game dungeon?¡± she asked, interrupting him. ¡°Uh¡­I guess? I was never much of a video game guy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But the problem is that if those towers are left unattended, they will eventually burst into a surge. And they¡¯ll keep spilling more Voxxian monsters out until someone goes in, challenges the tower, and conquers it. That drains the Ethera ¨C at least for a while ¨C and keeps the Voxx from passing over.¡± He turned to the captain and asked, ¡°That about the shape of things?¡± Essex nodded. ¡°It is,¡± he said tersely. ¡°Tower or rift?¡± ¡°Tower,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve sent three teams inside. None have come back out.¡± Elijah groaned. ¡°And you¡¯ve been dealing with the surges, right? I¡¯m guessing some of your people got injured, and that¡¯s how they got infected with the plague, huh?¡± he guessed. Given what he knew, it was the only thing that made sense. Or rather, it was the only problem with a potential solution. If the Voxx weren¡¯t responsible, then the plague could¡¯ve almost literally been caused by anything. In that case, he¡¯d have to chalk it up as a loss and move on; at the same time, he¡¯d advise anyone healthy to do the same. But then Essex said, ¡°It only happened one time. Just a single injured warrior. Since then, we¡¯ve been careful. We don¡¯t get close to the monsters. But the plague keeps coming back.¡± Elijah shook his head. There were a host of potential explanations, but it probably came down to magic. The Voxx spread corruption wherever they went, and this particular tower seemed to house a particular virulent version. ¡°Alright, then. I guess I know what I need to do.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Essex as Elijah turned to leave. Elijah glanced back at the man and said, ¡°Well, I¡¯m going to conquer the tower. Obviously.¡± He didn¡¯t wait for a response before he left the office and turned down the hall, his mind already whirling with potential plans for defeating the tower. It was only after he¡¯d gone a few steps when he realized that the downside of what he hoped was a cool exit meant that he¡¯d never actually gotten directions to the tower. He was just about turn around and sheepishly return to the captain¡¯s office when Jess caught up to him. Then, the captain followed soon after. ¡°Wait!¡± the man said, reaching out to grab Elijah¡¯s arm. Elijah didn¡¯t react well to that, and he quickly jerked away. In only a second, he had his staff in the man¡¯s face. ¡°Please don¡¯t grab me. I get jumpy,¡± he said. Essex backed away, raising his hands in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m not a threat to you.¡± ¡°Sure you¡¯re not,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But you know what? I don¡¯t care. Just tell me where to find this tower. I¡¯ll run on over, conquer it, then be on my way. The good thing is that it won¡¯t surge while I¡¯m inside, and after I beat it, you¡¯ll need to use that break to get stronger.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because even if I conquer it, it¡¯s not going to stop. It¡¯ll be a while before it comes back, but you¡¯ll be right in this same situation in a few months. Maybe a year. But it¡¯s not a bad thing. Towers are great for levels. I¡¯ve read that, in other parts of the universe, they¡¯re seen as strategic resources.¡± Indeed, ever since Elijah had recovered from his previous tower run, he¡¯d thought about revisiting the challenge. He had expected that foray into another tower to be the one near his island, but the thought process remained the same. In the last tower, he¡¯d gained ten levels. If he could repeat that feat in this current challenge, he¡¯d put himself at the top of the power ladder. That was enough of a reason on its own, but couple that with a good cause, and Elijah¡¯s decision was easy enough. ¡°We can send someone with you. There are a few talented ¨C¡± ¡°No, thanks. They¡¯ll just slow me down. All I need from you is some supplies and a map. Oh, and when I get back, I want access to your Branch.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Non-negotiable, Cap¡¯n.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t call me that. It¡¯s Captain Essex.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said. Cap¡¯n Essex.¡± The man groaned, massaging his forehead. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m skeptical you¡¯ll even survive, but if you happen to surprise me, I¡¯ll make sure you get access. In the meantime, if you¡¯ll wait here, I¡¯ll get you everything else you¡¯ll need.¡± ¡°Sounds like we have a deal, Cap¡¯n.¡± Essex didn¡¯t respond. Aside from another groan, at least. But that surely had nothing to do with Elijah. Once Essex left, Elijah and Jess went back to the man¡¯s office, where they waited for him to make good on his promises. Once they were there, Jess remarked, ¡°Is that what you call respectful?¡± ¡°Sure. Why? Did it not come off as respectful?¡± 2-20. Different Paths As the sun rose high into a cloudless winter sky, Elijah looked down on the corpse of small town Americana. A strip of a street, overgrown with weeds and other vegetation, sliced between two rows of abandoned businesses. From a distance, Elijah couldn¡¯t identify them all, but he recognized the striped pole of a barbershop, a few signs declaring the names of the businesses, and a handful of rusting automobiles. The structures themselves were no more than two stories tall, many with glass fronts shaded by rotting cloth awnings, the remnants of which fluttered in the breeze. Once, it might have been a quaint little town, but now, it was nothing more than the crumbling ruins of a lost world. Elijah knelt by the tree line, hundreds of yards away, and used Eyes of the Eagle to study the ruins, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, he¡¯d passed through a handful of similarly abandoned towns on his journey from Ironshore to Norcastle, and he knew he¡¯d seen only a fraction of what was out there. Likely, whole cities had been laid to waste. If the transformed wildlife hadn¡¯t done the trick, then people certainly would have. Elijah had seen how people reacted in even mundane times of crisis. Looting. Murder. Tribalism. It was all so commonplace as to have become clich¨¦. And with something like what had happened after Earth had been touched by the World Tree, it would inevitably be worse. It didn¡¯t take much of an imagination to envisage a situation where a particularly strong despot came to power. And there wouldn¡¯t be anything to keep them from doing whatever they wanted to do. No government. No law enforcement. Just chaos and anarchy, which always favored the amoral. But there had to be some hope. As often as Elijah had seen evil rise up, he¡¯d also seen plenty of instances where people had come together to support one another. It had happened in Norcastle. Hopefully, that would prove to be the rule, rather than the exception. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t look down at that snippet of a once-thriving town and feel anything but a sense of poignant loss. It wasn¡¯t just for the people who¡¯d died, though that was a significant part of it. Added to that was the cultural loss as well. Would it survive? What Elijah had seen in Norcastle suggested that it wouldn¡¯t ¨C at least not intact. Bits and pieces would persevere, but the world, as Elijah and everyone else had known it, was gone. Never was there a more apt representation of that fact than the ruins of the abandoned town in the distance. With a sigh, Elijah rose to his feet and ran his hand through his hair. It had been almost an entire day since he¡¯d left Norcastle behind, and according to the map Essex had given him, he was incredibly close to the tower. Soon enough, he intended to enter it, and then, he¡¯d spend the next days or weeks fighting for his life. When he thought of it in those terms, he almost turned around and left it all behind. By all rights, he shouldn¡¯t have committed himself to the quest. However, the fact remained that, over the course of the two-plus years since he¡¯d been stranded on that island, he had changed. Not only had he gained magical powers and the ability to shapeshift into powerful animal forms, but he¡¯d also attained nearly superhuman strength, endurance, and coordination. But it was more than that. Those were important, but even more impactful was his shifting mindset. Things that should have terrified him, he simply took as a matter of course. He wanted to enter that tower in order to save Norcastle from the plagued Voxx. That was a given. But his decision to challenge it was also seeded by a need to advance. He wanted to get stronger, and a tower was the best place to do that. But more than that, even, was Elijah¡¯s need to seek a challenge. To balance on the edge of life and death and come out on top. That was the real benefit of conquering the Keledge Tower near his island. It had changed him, body, mind, and soul. And he wanted to experience that feeling, that sensation of overcoming adversity and conquering what should have been unbeatable, again. Since then, he¡¯d learned that most towers were only challenged by groups of people. As many as six individuals could enter the same tower, which meant that most people wouldn¡¯t dare try with less. The notion of going alone was unthinkable except at the highest echelons of power when finding peers became nearly impossible. That he¡¯d managed to conquer the tower by himself was a feat worthy of praise. That he wanted to try to repeat that accomplishment was a little insane, though he felt that there were two factors in his favor. First was his versatility. By virtue of his varied spellbook as well as his animal forms, he was suited to combat a wide variety of situations. So, going alone wasn¡¯t the detriment that it would be for, say, a Warrior whose ability to heal would be very limited. With his Dragon Core, he felt even more strongly about his chances. But the second factor was arguably more important. Nerthus had informed him that a tower¡¯s relative strength was based on Ethera density. They were graded according to the density, much like items. The lowest-ranked tower was simple-grade, but they could reach as high as miraculous-grade. And while Elijah didn¡¯t think that the tower he¡¯d conquered was the highest-grade possible, he knew it couldn¡¯t have been the lowest, either. That certainty was based primarily on the fact that the Ethera on and around his island was far denser than what he felt in the Norcastle region. By extension, any tower that would have manifested would have to be much weaker than one near his island. Or that was what he hoped. He was still a novice when it came to those sorts of things ¨C every human on Earth was ¨C but the theory fit together well enough, as far as he could tell. And given that there was no more information available at Ironshore¡¯s Branch of the World Tree, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever learn the truth without copious experimentation. Basically, he needed to challenge and conquer a variety of towers before he could come to any viable conclusions. But before that, he needed to find the Norcastle region¡¯s tower. So, to that end, Elijah strode forward with a confident gait. He crossed a wide meadow before reaching the outskirts of the ruined town. The moment he passed the first building, though, he felt a steep rise in the ambient Ethera. It didn¡¯t feel like a dimensional rift, though. There was no mistaking that much. Rifts ¨C and towers, to an extent ¨C felt wrong in a way nothing else really could. This, by comparison, felt natural. But even though his senses told him to relax, Elijah kept his guard up as he progressed through the town. Originally, he¡¯d intended to scavenge anything useful, but he quickly saw that the stores on either side of the street had long since been picked clean. Likely, the people of Norcastle were responsible. Still, Elijah continued to check each building. He wasn¡¯t certain what he hoped to find ¨C in fact, he had almost everything he needed ¨C but he wasn¡¯t going to pass up a golden opportunity just because he lacked imagination or foresight. So, he went through each abandoned store with a proverbial fine-toothed comb. And he found nothing of note. But as he searched the small town, Elijah felt the density of the ambient Ethera continuously increase. Eventually, he was following that more than he was looking for anything useful, and after almost two hours, he finally found the source. He caught a quick glimpse of it through the broken windows of an old appliance store before he hastily ducked back out of sight, his heart beating out of his chest. In only a second, he¡¯d already channeled Ethera into Shape of the Predator, and it only took a few more moments before he once again assumed the form of a scaled panther. When he did, he embraced the Guise of the Unseen, hiding him from view. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Only then did he allow himself to relax. He waited for almost a minute before his heartbeat slowed down. Then, crouching low and trusting his ability to keep him hidden, he slithered out from cover and searched for the creature that, before, he¡¯d only glimpsed. And there it was, in the back of the store, looming over a broken washing machine. Most of the store itself was empty, obviously having been plundered by Norcastle¡¯s scavengers. They had electricity, even if it was obviously in short supply, so the appliances were still useful for them. In any case, Elijah wasn¡¯t even remotely concerned with those sorts of mundane thoughts. Because a bear had mistaken the appliance store for a cave. It wasn¡¯t just any bear, though. The thing was enormous ¨C at least the size of a polar bear ¨C with mottled black-and-red fur. But Elijah¡¯s gaze quickly flicked past the creature, and he saw the reason the enormous ursine had settled in the store. At first glance, it was obviously a mushroom. Red-and-white, which a stereotypically thick stalk and a bulbous cap, it was easily identifiable as a fly amanita. However, with a diameter of at least six feet, it was many times larger than any mushroom Elijah had ever seen. And it was clearly the source of the thickened Ethera. Elijah could feel it with every cell in his body. Nerthus had often spoken of natural treasures. The ancestral tree with which the spirit was linked was one such treasure, but he¡¯d also intimated that the transformed world would be full of them. Once, Elijah had wondered how he might identify such a treasure. Now, though? Looking at that enormous mushroom ¨C and more importantly, feeling the waves of dense Ethera pulsing off of it ¨C Elijah no longer wondered. But what was he supposed to do with it? More importantly, whatever he decided, how was he going to deal with the bear? Was it an intelligent guardian like the panther had been? Or was it just a mutated animal? More importantly, did it matter? Because, judging by the bear¡¯s size ¨C and more urgently, the feeling Elijah got when he looked at the thing ¨C it was just as powerful as the panther had been. So, the source of that power, or rather, its origin, was somewhat a moot point. Elijah settled back on his haunches and watched, though the bear seemed lethargic. Probably due to the winter¡¯s onset. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the blizzards swept through the region, and it didn¡¯t take a biologist to suppose that the bear was settling down for hibernation. Perhaps that would give Elijah an opportunity. At first, he considered attacking the creature with every weapon he had at his disposal. Perhaps he could even take it out before it had a chance to respond. However, even if that was possible ¨C which he doubted ¨C Elijah¡¯s thoughts traced a different path. The bear had done nothing to him, and he couldn¡¯t stomach the idea of killing it for the simple crime of existing. With the spiders, his hand had been forced. They were in the way, and he couldn¡¯t have gotten through the pass without dealing with them. But the situation with the bear was different. It had done nothing to him. It didn¡¯t really pose a threat to him, either. In fact, he could easily bypass the overgrown ursine and continue on his way. And he would have, if it wasn¡¯t for the call of that amanita. So, if he didn¡¯t want to kill the bear ¨C or couldn¡¯t ¨C Elijah needed to find a different path to getting what he wanted. And it didn¡¯t take him long to remember how he¡¯d originally befriended the panther. A little fish could go a long way toward building a friendship. With that in mind, Elijah retreated and quickly set off toward a stream he¡¯d passed a few hours before stumbling upon the ruins of the nameless town. By the time he reached the stream, though, night had begun to fall, so he chose to set up camp rather than approach the bear at night. So, he built a fire, then settled in to eat a supper of dried meat, a few berries and mushrooms he¡¯d gathered along the way, and a piece of flatbread he¡¯d gotten back in Norcastle. It was not a pleasant dinner, and he was once again reminded of the meals he¡¯d eaten back in the city. Or of the berries he grew on his island. It was at that moment that he realized just how much he missed his Grove. He wanted to sleep in his bed. He wanted to tend to his garden. To catch his fish. He even wanted to eat his crabs. At some point, it had gone from a place where he¡¯d washed ashore to an actual home. Thoughts of his Grove settled onto his mind until, at last, he fell asleep. Somewhere around midnight, he was awoken by something tickling against One with Nature, but when he looked around, he saw that the culprit was just a racoon. Elijah didn¡¯t shoo it away, and the small creature approached cautiously. It sniffed his extended hand, then skittered backward a foot or so. But it didn¡¯t flee. Instead, it came back, a little more confidently than it had before. Over and over, it repeated the same motions until, at last, it seemed to accept that Elijah wasn¡¯t going to hurt it. Then, it settled down next to him, curled up at his hip, then promptly fell asleep. Elijah knew that was unnatural behavior for just about any wild animal, much less a raccoon. They were nocturnal, so the fact that it was sleeping at night was a bit of a red flag. So, with as gentle a touch as he could manage, Elijah reached out and used Touch of Nature on the little ball of fur. Immediately, he felt a host of parasites in the thing¡¯s stomach. They might¡¯ve been worms. Or something else native to the new world. However, they were sucking the life right out of the little creature. So, Elijah used his healing ability to banish the parasites. Idly, he wondered how that worked. How did the spell know not to heal the parasites instead of the raccoon? Was it based on his perception? He¡¯d done something similar with himself on enough occasions that that explanation made as much sense as any other, but he resolved to ask Nerthus when he returned to the Grove. In the meantime, he healed his new friend, and when he¡¯d finished, the little raccoon fell into an even deeper slumber. Elijah did as well, though he was careful to once again ensure that One with Nature was active so that the passive awareness it granted would alert him of any threats. That took him all the way until morning, when the raccoon stirred, waking him. Elijah opened his eyes and glanced at the little critter, and with a yawn, asked, ¡°Feeling better?¡± It predictably didn¡¯t answer. Instead, it just scurried away, disappearing into a nearby bush. ¡°No ¨C don¡¯t thank me. It was the least I could do,¡± he muttered to himself. Then, he shook his head and let a wry smile play across his face as he said, ¡°What did I even expect? A talking raccoon? C¡¯mon, Elijah. You know better than that.¡± With that, he reached into his pack and retrieved his homemade fishing line. He¡¯d always intended to get some back in Ironshore, but in all the hustle and bustle of buying the rest of his supplies, he¡¯d forgotten. Still, his hand-made line and hooks were more than capable of doing the job. So, he got to his feet, then headed toward the stream. That¡¯s when he realized that his equipment was poorly suited for the job at hand. He saw the fish, but they simply weren¡¯t inclined to be caught. So, after spending almost an hour in a fruitless attempt at fishing, Elijah shifted into his Guardian form and channeled his inner bear. And with his incredible Strength pushing his body to ridiculous heights, he had no issues with slapping the water so hard that it stunned the nimble fish. After that, it was simple to grab them and toss them onto shore. Before another hour had passed, he had almost two dozen silvery trout. Hopefully, that would be enough. However, before he headed back to the town with his intended offering, he gutted one of the fish, fileted it, then roasted the results over his fire. He still wasn¡¯t a good cook, but brook trout were difficult to screw up too badly. Once that was done, he broke his fast, then wove some cordage through the trouts¡¯ mouths before slinging the lot over his shoulder and heading back to town. His plan was simple enough. Bears were already intelligent creatures, and they had a long history of peaceful coexistence with humans. Sure, they were wild animals, and they should always be treated as such, but so long as he played his cards right, Elijah felt certain that his offering of food, coupled with the subtle pacifying effect of One with Nature, would see him through to an alliance with the hulking creature. Even so, he was more than a little nervous when the appliance store came into view. He could still see the bear ¨C or more, the shadow of the creature ¨C inside. But even when he approached, slowly and deliberately, the monstrous animal didn¡¯t respond. Then, suddenly, it lifted its massive head and sniffed the air. ¡°I¡¯m a friend,¡± Elijah said in an even tone. The bear sniffed again, then shifted its bulk. Elijah knew just how quickly bears could move, so he was on guard. As it turned out, it wasn¡¯t necessary. The bear eyed him for a long moment, then huffed and settled back down. Elijah relaxed. A little. But he knew he was still on thin ice, so he pulled the bundle of fish off his back, then tossed it at the bear¡¯s front paws. ¡°All yours,¡± he said. The bear wasted no time before digging in and devouring one fish after another. Elijah sat down, his back to the wall, and crossed his legs. He could spring to his feet in less than an instant, and he had a full core of Ethera, so he felt confident that he could escape at a moment¡¯s notice. But he didn¡¯t want to. Instead, he was compelled to coexist with the creature. Whether it was by virtue of his archetype or something else, he wasn¡¯t sure. But it was there, all the same. More importantly, with the bear seemingly having accepted his presence, Elijah could bask in the dense Ethera wafting off the giant mushroom. And the moment he let himself feel it ¨C really feel it ¨C he realized that it was the piece of the puzzle he¡¯d been missing in his attempts at advancing his Mind cultivation. 2-21. Quartz Waves of dense Ethera crashed against Elijah¡¯s mind, threatening to envelop and overwhelm him, and yet, he endured, bracing himself for each impact. It was the only thing that kept him from being completely engulfed by the magical energy. Just before the latest wave slammed into him, he opened the aperture of his mind as wide as he could. The results were predictable, and yet, still surprising. The flow of dense Ethera threatened to rip him apart as it rushed through his mind and into his soul. There, most of it dissipated, evaporating into nothing before a trickle entered his core. He held the aperture open for only a second, but in that time, he very nearly tore his mind to pieces. When he closed his mind, he collapsed into panting exhaustion as his hands slammed into the mud-covered floor of the appliance store. For a few seconds, he knelt there, his mind and body twisting into knots. Gradually, though, he mastered himself, and after a couple of minutes, he managed to force his eyes open. Elijah flinched back when he saw a wet snout and a pair of glistening brown eyes only a handful of inches from his face. The bear wasn¡¯t having it. Instead, it advanced, then snorted, sending a mist of mucus and other wet gooeyness to coat his face. ¡°Oh, come on, man¡­¡± It snorted again, then sat on its backside like a trained circus bear. ¡°Seriously? Again? I just fed you,¡± Elijah complained. That got a low growl in response. ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. You¡¯re perfectly capable of hunting your own food. I can¡¯t spend all my time fishing. I¡¯m on the clock here.¡± Indeed, he¡¯d been trying to cultivate his mind and reach the next stage for the past three days, and he knew that if he didn¡¯t make a breakthrough soon, he¡¯d need to move on without reaching his goal. The tower was still a threat, and if he didn¡¯t challenge it soon, another surge would come. And then, more people would die. His cultivation wasn¡¯t worth that. Elijah told himself that he would¡¯ve already gotten to the next stage if it wasn¡¯t for the bear¡¯s greed. His plan of offering it a meal had backfired, and now, it expected him to run off and catch some fish each time its stomach rumbled. And given its size, that was quite a frequent occurrence. So far, he¡¯d acquiesced to the animal¡¯s demands, mostly because it was a bear the size of a Honda Civic. But he was nearing the end of his rope. Still, once he managed to get his body and mind under control, Elijah pushed himself to his feet, gathered his staff and pack, then shifted into his scaled panther form. He didn¡¯t do so for its stealth or combat capabilities; rather, he knew that, of his three forms ¨C human, scaled panther, and guardian ¨C the predator form was by far the fastest. That was because it increased both his Strength and Dexterity attributes by a significant amount. So, that form, coupled with his personal enhancements and Essence of the Wolf, gave him the ability to traverse the terrain with incredible alacrity. So, he reached the stream in only a few minutes. When he did, he quickly started swatting the fish out of the water. Fishing in his scaled panther form required a different strategy than doing so as a guardian, but it was at least as efficient. Soon enough, Elijah had caught almost thirty fish. Once he¡¯d gotten enough, he switched back to his human form, threw the fish into his pack ¨C he didn¡¯t like it, but that was the best and most efficient way to get a lot of fish to the bear ¨C then, shifted back into his predator form for the trip back. Predictably, he found the bear right where he¡¯d left him. ¡°This is it,¡± he said, resuming his human form and tossing the fish at the ursine. ¡°No more until I finish.¡± The bear snorted, then started to noisily devour the offered pile of fish. Not for the first time, Elijah considered shifting back into one of his animal forms and attacking the greedy, slothful beast. But he suspected that that wouldn¡¯t end well for either of them. So, he restrained himself, then crossed the abandoned appliance store and set himself atop a mostly destroyed dishwasher. That was as close as he could get to the amanita without actually touching it ¨C which would be a mistake, as he¡¯d found out on his first day in the appliance store. Even a tiny brush against the thing¡¯s cap had made Elijah so ill that it had taken so many casts of Touch of Nature to heal him that his core had gone dry. And in the interim, he¡¯d been miserable, spewing from both ends. It had taken every ounce of his self-control to keep himself casting. No ¨C he had no interest in repeating that, so he got as close as he dared, then settled back down to meditate. As it had every time in the vicinity of the enormous mushroom, the moment he opened the aperture of his mind, the Ethera came pouring in. Elijah¡¯s first instinct was to flinch away from the torrent ¨C he had the first few times ¨C but he shoved that instinct aside and forced the aperture of his mind to remain open. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. The Ethera flooded his soul, then, slowly, began to seep through his pores before dissipating back into the air. Over and over, Elijah flexed the aperture, forcing it wider and wider until it became physically painful. Still, he kept going, and soon enough, he started to pull against the current. He needed more Ethera. So, with one half of his mind, he grabbed ahold of the torrent of Ethera, pulling it with all his might. And with the other half, he forced the aperture wider. The Ethera filled him, body, mind, and soul. And yet, he still didn¡¯t progress. He felt confident that the effect of his cultivation on his Regeneration had been increased, but it wasn¡¯t enough to push him over the edge to the next stage. Something was missing. With most of his conscious thought occupied with the Mind exercises, Elijah had trouble focusing on the problem at hand. However, soon enough, an errant thought skittered across his mind. To achieve the Opal Mind, he¡¯d had to channel Ethera into the partition he¡¯d created so he could deal with the effects of his locus. So, what if that was what was missing? What if he needed to bolster that partition? Desperate to make progress, Elijah did just that, breaking the flow of Ethera into two. One went into his soul, then misted into the air. But the other went into the partition he¡¯d created. Most of the time, Elijah didn¡¯t even think about it. It was just there, and it kept him from being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information that came with his Domain. However, as he focused on it, he couldn¡¯t deny that it was a beautiful, almost tangible thing. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if he was simply imagining it, or if it truly was the webwork of Ethera that it seemed to be, but he latched onto the idea that it was the latter. And he used the onslaught of Ethera to enhance it. Soon enough, one strand of Ethera became two. And two became three. The web slowly transitioned into a three-dimensional thing that encompassed his entire Mind. Before, it had simply separated it into two halves, but by the time Elijah was finished, it had become something far more complex. Still, it wasn¡¯t until he received a notification that he recognized it for what it was:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Quartz Mind!
Quartz. The ethereal structure in his mind looked like a faceted gem. A rough one, barely more than a natural stone, but it was unmistakable. On top of that, instead of two separate pieces, it had been divided into nine. And in the center of each one was a miniature aperture. None were as large or as wide as their predecessor, but collectively, they could handle far more Ethera. Elijah couldn¡¯t be certain, but after a little testing, he guessed that the effect of his Regeneration on his ability to regain Ethera had been improved by at least twenty-five percent. It wasn¡¯t quite as dramatic as it had been when he¡¯d first cultivated the Opal Mind, but it was a sizable increase, nonetheless. He was tempted to stay and see if he could work on the rest of his cultivation, but there were two problems with that. The first was that he didn¡¯t really have any hints as to how he might go about it. He¡¯d tried to simply repeat the actions that had put him on the path of cultivation in the first place, but he¡¯d had very limited success. So, he would have to spend precious time figuring it out before he could even make any progress. It had taken months of practice ¨C every chance he¡¯d gotten, he had cultivated his Mind ¨C to prepare for the final push into Quartz. And he suspected it would be a similar path with the other facets of cultivation. However, more pressing was the simple fact that he needed to enter the tower sooner rather than later or the people of Norcastle would suffer the consequences of his inaction. He couldn¡¯t stomach having that on his conscience, so, after he¡¯d gotten a handle on the new structure of his Quartz Mind, Elijah pushed himself to his feet. ¡°Well, that¡¯s it,¡± he said to the bear, who hadn¡¯t bothered to move. It had only opened a single eye. ¡°I guess¡­well, goodbye. No more free fish for you.¡± If the animal cared at all, it gave no indication. So, with a sigh and a shake of his head, Elijah slipped off the old dishwasher, gathered his things, then reapplied his various enhancements. Once Essence of the Monkey, Aura of Renewal, and Essence of the Boar had been activated, he embraced Essence of the Wolf, then slipped into the Shape of the Predator, and left the little town behind. Over the next day and a half, Elijah traversed the wilderness. As always, he killed any Voxx he found ¨C which was only two, but he exterminated both of them with extreme prejudice. And slowly, he homed in on the location of the tower. As it turned out, the map was a little off, but with Elijah¡¯s incredible traversal speed, he had little trouble finding the structure. Unlike the first tower Elijah had challenged, which presented as a giant, headless statue just offshore of his island, the latest tower took the shape of a featureless green obelisk. Its sides were entirely smooth, to the point where Elijah couldn¡¯t even see the seams of whatever stone that had been used in its construction. At its base were four smaller pillars, each about twenty feet tall and ending in a tapered point. The tower itself was at least twenty times that height, and it reminded Elijah of nothing so much as the Washington Monument back in the District of Columbia. He¡¯d only been to Washington, D.C. once, and that was back when he was in high school, but he distinctly remembered how awe-inspiring the giant monument to America¡¯s first president was. The green obelisk definitely had that same aura about it, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit intimidated by the simple majesty on display. And that feeling was further enhanced by the thick Ethera hanging in the air. It was nothing compared to the island, but it was much denser than anywhere else in the region, save for the immediate area around the amanita. Even if he hadn¡¯t known what the obelisk represented, the density of the ambient Ethera would have screamed its importance. For the next hour, Elijah slowly circled the structure. He quickly found the door ¨C a simple, square opening that led into impenetrable darkness ¨C but he ignored it at first. Instead, he wanted to get the lay of the land so that when he managed to conquer the tower, he would know what he was exiting into. As it turned out, there wasn¡¯t anything notable about the area. A few scattered trees decorated the meadow in which it was located, but Elijah couldn¡¯t find any wildlife. Likely, they¡¯d all been scared away by the surges. So, after he¡¯d satisfied his curiosity, Elijah took a deep breath, checked his supplies for what felt like the hundredth time, then strode forward and into the tower. 2-22. The Back Door One moment, Elijah was striding across a meadow and through a big, blocky doorway, and the next, his bare foot touched down in something warm, wet, and squishy. That alone would have been bad enough ¨C especially when it got between his toes ¨C but what made it even worse was the horrid stench that suddenly enveloped him. ¡°Oh, God,¡± he muttered to himself as he tried not to gag. He was markedly unsuccessful, especially when he had the chance to truly take in his surroundings. Before him stretched a wide body of water, from the center of which rose a steep edifice topped by a menacing wall. The water itself wasn¡¯t an inviting or placid lake. Instead, it was a seething moat, below the surface of which writhed something Elijah¡¯s instincts told him was absolutely deadly. That water was also the source of the horrible stench tickling his nostrils. For a moment, Elijah had difficulty placing it; it was like rotten eggs mixed with vomit and hot garbage. But after only a few seconds, he recognized the smell for what it was. ¡°Sulfur,¡± he sighed, though he knew there was more to the smell than that. It was an odor usually associated with swamps, but after a brief look around, he discounted that possibility. The lake ¨C or moat, really ¨C notwithstanding, the area was incredibly arid, with very little in the way of vegetation to be found. Instead, large, rocky pillars jutted up from the ground, twisting high into the sky, which was discolored by a setting sun. Beneath Elijah¡¯s feet was mud, or at least he hoped that was all there was, considering that, across the expanse of roiling water, Elijah saw a wide grate from which flowed some sort of disgusting sludge. The moment he realized that the area was inhabited, he shifted into his scaled panther form, then embraced Guise of the Unseen. And it was just in time, too, because only a few seconds later, a loud screech filled his ears before a wide shadow fell over him. He looked up to see an enormous, winged creature soaring a hundred or so feet above his position. At a glance, it looked like a bat, but there were two issues with that assessment. First, even if his perspective was a little skewed by the distance, he judged its wingspan to reach at least thirty feet. Maybe as much as fifty. And that would make it ten times the size of even the largest bat back on Earth. But that was within Elijah¡¯s experience. He¡¯d seen plenty of oversized animals, so he knew that his concept of proper size wasn¡¯t really relevant in terms of identifying creatures. After all, he only had to remember the size of the crabs on his island to confirm just how much larger things could get in his new world. In any case, he was far more concerned with the second problem with his initial identification. He was no chiropterologist, but he felt confident that bats weren¡¯t supposed to have horns. Of course, that could have been a mutation, too. He¡¯d seen hares with horns back on his island, so who was to say that giant bats couldn¡¯t have them as well? Elijah watched as the enormous, horned bat glided toward one of the jutting towers along the wall, where it landed. Just before it passed out of view, he caught a glimpse of something big and bulky upon the creature¡¯s back, but he had neither the time nor the visual acuity to identify the rider. Only once he¡¯d gotten his bearings did Elijah bother to read the notification he¡¯d received upon entering the tower:
Welcome to Reaver¡¯s Citadel, Level One. To advance to Level Two, complete the task before you.
The Reaver¡¯s Citadel was obviously the keep positioned at the top of the plateau in the center of the lake. Elijah read the next notification:
Task: Reach the dungeon and defeat the Warden. Optional: Rescue the prisoner.
The moment Elijah read that there was an optional goal, he knew he was going to try to accomplish it. Largely, that was because he knew that the towers graded performance, and the system created rewards based on that. For instance, he¡¯d gotten an S grade for completing the Keledge Tower, and his reward had been the Shard of the World Tree, which Nerthus had claimed was a treasure the likes of which shouldn¡¯t have existed on such a newly integrated world. And Elijah certainly wasn¡¯t immune to the call of cool, new equipment. His rings had already proven useful ¨C though he¡¯d belatedly realized that leaving his name the same on his false identity as the listing on the Ladder had probably been enough to out him as more than he appeared to be ¨C so he figured that any new rewards would probably be just as beneficial. And if he was going to get a reward, he preferred that it was as high quality as he could get, which meant that he needed to not only conquer the tower, but he needed to do so in a way that the system recognized as extraordinary. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. So, he needed to complete the optional task. Of course, he¡¯d have probably done so anyway, just based on the way it was phrased. And the environment. He wasn¡¯t sure what sort of people might live in such a place, but he suspected that they wouldn¡¯t be a welcoming bunch ¨C especially with a name like Reaver¡¯s Citadel, which was quite evocative in all the wrong ways. So, it stood to reason that any prisoner of theirs might just turn out to be Elijah¡¯s ally. Or maybe he was completely off-base, in which case he¡¯d need to reevaluate as he progressed through the tower. In any case, he couldn¡¯t afford to stand around doing nothing. So, after getting his bearings, Elijah decided to circle the moat in order to further investigate the situation. A few feet from the water line, there was a sharp rise of about five feet, so Elijah crested that and looked around a little more. Most of the terrain was much the same as his first impressions had indicated. However, in the distance, he saw a few squat structures standing next to a long bridge that stretched across the water and to a yawning gate built into the base of the plateau. Deciding that that was probably the easiest way in, Elijah stalked forward. Even with Guise of the Unseen masking his presence, he took great care to use the natural terrain to his advantage. He flitted from one rocky outcropping to the next, and as he did so, he was reminded of the American southwest. Specifically, he thought of the time he and his family had visited the Colorado Plateau when he was only a teenager. There, he¡¯d gotten his first taste of the desert, with its huge rock formations and arid climate. The area surrounding the Reaver¡¯s Citadel reminded him of that, though the terrain bore a deep red color he¡¯d never seen from an Earthly landscape. As he slowly approached what he soon recognized as guard houses, the light began to fail. Dusk took hold, and Elijah got his first glimpse of the creatures who called the Reaver¡¯s Citadel home. The pair of humanoids guarding the bridge were both at least ten feet tall, and their body types were reminiscent of power lifters ¨C all solid, heavy muscle beneath a layer of fat. More importantly, they were clearly not human. With jutting tusks, bald heads, and huge, pointed ears, the creatures were most appropriately labeled as ogres. Perhaps they were actually members of some other species, but Elijah could think of no name more suitable for the hulking humanoids. Both ogres wore pitch black, metallic armor that looked more like cast iron than anything else. However, Elijah had enough sense to suppose that it was likely far more powerful than mundane iron. At the very least, it would be as strong as high-carbon steel, and that was if it wasn¡¯t magical in nature. If it was, Elijah really had no gauge for what to expect, except that he didn¡¯t want to find the limits of their equipment. Instead, he skirted around the guard houses, avoiding notice as he continued along the edge of the moat. The smell continued to be an issue, but he ignored it as he circled the moat. By the time he¡¯d reached his original position ¨C or a close approximation of it ¨C night had fallen, but he¡¯d found nothing else of note. So, as far as he could tell, he had two options. The first was to try to sneak past those two guards, cross the bridge, and enter the citadel that way. He had no idea what was on the other side of the bridge, but he suspected that he¡¯d find more ogres, at the very least. There was a good chance that there were other defenses as well, though he couldn¡¯t speak to what form they might take. Which led him to the other option, which centered on him crossing the moat and slipping through one of the grates and into what he hoped were drainage tunnels. They looked like they were large enough to accommodate even his guardian form, so Elijah didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have any issues fitting. But still, that wasn¡¯t his first objection to that option. No ¨C that distinction belonged to the smell. That, coupled with the sight of that sludge slowly oozing out of the tunnels, gave him a good idea what was going on, and he could confidently say that it was absolutely disgusting. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t meant for sewage. Maybe his nose had fooled him on that front. But he didn¡¯t think so, and for that reason, he shied away from what was obviously the optimal path. With that in mind, he found himself crouched approximately twenty feet from the two ogre guards. That close, they looked even larger and far more menacing than they had from a distance, and Elijah¡¯s eyes kept flicking toward the huge battle axes they wore strapped to their backs. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that, with their obvious strength, the creatures were more than capable of bisecting him with a single blow. He crept close, taking one careful step at a time. With Guise of the Unseen, Elijah felt confident that he wouldn¡¯t be seen ¨C especially at night ¨C but he knew it was far from perfect. If he put one foot out of line, he would be seen. Fortunately, he had ample experience sneaking around. As it turned out, his confidence was entirely misplaced. The moment he came within ten feet of the guard house ¨C and the pair of ogres stationed on either side of the bridge¡¯s entrance ¨C a blindingly white light erupted into being. Suddenly, Elijah felt his stealth being stripped away and exposing him to the hulking ogres. For the longest of instants, he stared at them, and they stared right back at him. Then, confusion turned to rage, and without any more warning, the closest ogre ripped the axe off its back and leaped forward with a bestial roar. Elijah¡¯s instincts had been honed by much worse circumstances. In the Sea of Sorrows and the Primordial Jungle, he¡¯d often had to deal with ambush predators, so his reaction to the charging ogre was completely intuitive. He crouched low, then dodged to the side just in time to avoid the descending blade of the ogre¡¯s axe. The miss threw the creature off balance, opening it up for a counterattack, but Elijah had no intention of getting into a straight fight. Instead, he used the opening to gather his wits and dash away. Both of the ogres roared angry challenges, but Elijah paid them no attention. Instead, he raced along the terrain, dodging behind rocky protrusions at every opportunity until, at last, the white light faded. But even then, he didn¡¯t slow. He kept running well after the reactivation of Essence of the Wolf told him that he¡¯d exited combat. In fact, he circled the moat, racing across the terrain for miles along the circumference of the roiling body of water until, at last, he felt his safety was assured. Only then did he let himself slow to a stop. Elijah knew how fortunate he was to have escaped. Perhaps he could have defeated the ogres, but he knew it would have been a pyrrhic victory. Doubtless, that blindingly white light had been an alarm, of sorts, and like all alarms, it would have brought with it some sort of response. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that, if he¡¯d stayed and fought, he would have quickly been buried under a mountain of bulky ogres. No ¨C retreat had been the right choice. But now, if he was going to accomplish his task, he only had one available option. Once he¡¯d caught his breath, Elijah shifted back to his human form and, after using Eyes of the Eagle to look at the nearest grate, muttered, ¡°I really don¡¯t want to do this.¡± He didn¡¯t have much choice, though. So, he took a deep breath, getting a nose full of the foul odor in the process, then settled in to regenerate his Ethera. Once his core was completely full, he renewed his enhancements, then switched to his guardian shape. What it lacked in stealth, the form made up for in sheer durability. The scaled ape form had one other thing going for it, and that was the fact that it was much better suited to swimming than the predator form. Shaking his head, Elijah loped forward and waded into the water. 2-23. Oozes of Indeterminate Origin The water was warm. And not the sort of warm one usually experienced in a bath, but rather, the kind that usually came when someone urinated in a pool. That was to say that it was absolutely disgusting, and it was made even more so by the stench invading Elijah¡¯s nostrils. It was so horrid that, for a brief moment, he considered going back. However, it only took the memory of those monstrous ogres ¨C or more importantly, the enormous weapons they wielded ¨C to keep Elijah paddling forward. Then, only twenty feet from shore, something brushed against his leg. It was only a tentative touch, but it was more than enough to hasten Elijah¡¯s stroke. Even as he put his immense strength to work, the water bubbled all around him. Suddenly, a hundred tentacles, each tipped with a hand of tinier and even more horrifying tendrils, burst from the water. Elijah lashed out, slashing the closest with his foreclaws. They fell like wheat before a scythe, though with far more white, puss-like gore than would come from any harvested plant, clearing his way. He didn¡¯t squander that brief opening, and with a mighty heave of his long arms, he cut through the water. Behind him, something roiled and splashed, but Elijah knew better than to look back. He had no interest in identifying whatever monster he¡¯d disturbed. One with Nature had already given him more information about the nigh-unidentifiable monstrosity than he ever wanted. He couldn¡¯t get a good picture, but he could sense a tangle of slimy tentacles and way too many eyes, which was more than enough to speed him along. The sound of splashing chased him through the water, but Elijah barely stayed ahead as he clambered toward the grate. His heart beat out of his chest as the tentacled creature tickled his heels, but he narrowly managed to reach the grate before it closed in on him. After grabbing hold of one of the bars, he levered himself out of the water and onto the thin ledge of the grate. Without hesitation, he yanked against the bar. And yet, it didn¡¯t move. With the tentacle monster bearing down on him, Elijah gripped the bar with both hands, then pulled with every point of his inflated Strength attribute. It creaked under the stress, but still, it held fast. A tentacle whipped out of the water and lashed his leg, then wrapped around his foot. It yanked. Elijah held onto the bar, and before the tentacle monster could pull him back into the water, he let out a grunt and summoned a level of power he didn¡¯t know he possessed. The bar screamed in protest, but Elijah kept pulling until, an moment later, it budged. It only moved half an inch, but it was like the breaking of a dam. With its integrity having been sundered, the bar quickly surrendered to his massive strength. However, it didn¡¯t break free. Instead, for all his efforts, it only bent just enough to widen the gap by a few extra inches. Elijah hoped it would be enough. So, he ripped his leg free of the tentacle ¨C which dislodged quite a few of his scales ¨C and before more could descended upon him, shifted back into his human form and narrowly squeezed between the bars. He barely made it before a dozen slimy tentacles fell upon the spot he¡¯d just vacated. Elijah rolled, then scrambled backwards as he beheld the monster he¡¯d only just escaped. And it was a true horror, with hundreds of bulbous eyes, a body that looked like a cross between a bullfrog and an octopus, and dozens of slimy, grasping tentacles. Suddenly, his decision to cross the moat seemed ill-advised. But in his defense, he¡¯d had no idea what horrors the water held, and he¡¯d been riding high on the seeming invincibility of his guardian form. But looking at that thing, Elijah knew that if he hadn¡¯t escaped its grasp, it was more than capable of killing him. That, more than anything else he¡¯d seen so far, hammered home just how much he had underestimated the tower. Certainly, he had every reason to think he could defeat it. However, he wouldn¡¯t do so easily, and if he didn¡¯t take just as much care as he had back in the Keledge Tower, he would end up just like the teams Captain Essex had sent into the Reaver Citadel. Elijah continued to back away, though the tentacle monster seemed incapable ¨C or at least unwilling ¨C to send its tendrils through the grate. For that, Elijah was grateful, but he wasn¡¯t going to trust it too far. So, he made certain to keep an eye on the creature until it retreated into the water. He still didn¡¯t relax, though. Instead, after seeing the shallow wound on his leg, Elijah cast Healing Rain and settled in to regenerate his Ethera. He wasn¡¯t missing much, but he didn¡¯t want to progress until he was at his best. A few minutes later, the wound had healed, and he was in as good a condition as he could be. So, pushing himself to his feet, he took stock of his surroundings. The tunnel was made of well-worn stone, and it was absolutely covered in thick, green algae. Otherwise, it looked unremarkable, save for the stream of sludge flowing down its center. Elijah could see bits and pieces of bone in the bubbling goo, but otherwise, it was mostly unidentifiable. Or rather, he didn¡¯t want to think about what it probably was. Instead, he positioned himself on the edge of the tunnel where he could at least avoid stepping in it, then embraced Shape of the Predator. He shifted into a scaled panther, which, due to its horizontal posture, made the pipe seem far less confining. After he¡¯d assumed the proper form, he used Guise of the Unseen before setting off down the tunnel. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. For the first hundred feet, it was unremarkable and flat, but soon enough, the passage took on a sharp incline. That was within Elijah¡¯s expectations, but what he hadn¡¯t counted on was the slick algae that made climbing that slope a pain. In the end, he had to deploy his claws and treat it like he was climbing a tree. Fortunately, his talons were sharp enough that they could gouge their way through stone, but that method meant his pace was much slower than it otherwise would¡¯ve been. In any case, Elijah chalked it up to the price he had to pay and continued on. For a while, nothing changed, and his path was entirely unobstructed, but then he reached a large, circular chamber positioned at the intersection of tunnels. Inside, the ground leveled off, but the interior of the circle was a wide cesspool. More importantly, there was a collection of gelatinous creatures half submerged in that slurry of waste and water. Elijah hesitated at the tunnel¡¯s exit, remaining mostly hidden by the declining slope. He peeked over the lip and observed the amorphous blobs. The largest was the size of a beachball, but the smallest Elijah could see was only about a foot across. The rest ¨C he counted ten of them, but he suspected there were many more beneath the surface of the cesspool ¨C were somewhere in between, with the majority skewing closer to the largest than the smallest. On the surface, they looked mostly harmless, but Elijah knew better than to trust that notion. Nothing in the tower was harmless. Even the mostly benign ulthrak on the first level of the Keledge Tower had been capable of killing him, and none of his experiences in either the Sea of Sorrows or the Primordial Jungle had suggested anything but more of the same. No - those harmless-looking balls of sludge were dangerous, even if Elijah had no idea how that danger might be presented. Still, he had no intention of finding out, so he continued to observe their behavior until he¡¯d established that the things didn¡¯t really do anything. Perhaps they fed on the miasma of water and waste. Or maybe they didn¡¯t eat at all. After all, there was nothing to suggest that the environments within towers had to be working ecosystems. For all Elijah knew, they were just there to hinder anyone who tried to enter the citadel by sewer. Fortunately, Guise of the Unseen seemed capable of hiding him from their senses, so he hoped that he would be able to bypass them altogether. With that in mind, he gradually padded forward until he¡¯d crested the lip dividing the chamber from the descending tunnel. There, he paused, ready to flee at a moment¡¯s notice. But the oozes didn¡¯t react to his presence at all. The closest was twenty feet away, so perhaps he was outside their sensory range. Once he¡¯d fully progressed into the chamber, he looked around, and it only took a few moments for him to work out how everything fit together. If he thought of the circular chamber as a clock, then at the twelve, three, six, and nine o¡¯clock positions, there were tunnels leading down, presumably to empty into the moat. Between each pair was another tunnel that sloped upward. Elijah felt certain that those would lead him into the citadel. That seemed to establish the route he needed to take, so, while keeping a close eye on the oozes, he carefully crept toward the closest tunnel that led upward. Thankfully, the room wasn¡¯t that large, and with the way everything was positioned, he didn¡¯t have far to go. Still, he had no interest in drawing the attention of the oozes, so he took his time as he covered that short distance. He was well-used to moving stealthily, but the relatively close proximity of the oozes ¨C as well as their indeterminate nature ¨C certainly ratcheted up the anxiety. So, Elijah was more than a little relieved when he finally reached his destination. Still, he didn¡¯t relax. Instead, he stopped at the mouth of the tunnel and settled in to observe. It was a good thing, too, because only a few moments later, a bulbous ooze came trundling down the tunnel, leaving a disgusting trail of slimy sludge in its wake. It moved deceptively fast, and its arrival was so surprising that Elijah almost found himself in a head-on collision. However, he sinuously dipped out of the way just in time for the thing to pass. Still, the thing splattered a bit of sludge on him with its passage, and Elijah had to suppress a pained yelp when it started eating through his scales. He suppressed it, then quickly scurried up the tunnel until he was out of range. Once he¡¯d reached the relative safety, he shifted out of his predator form. Unsurprisingly, that only made things worse, largely because he was no longer protected by his durable scales. Still, he pushed the pain aside just long enough to unsling his pack and retrieve one of his jugs of water. Then, biting his lip, he washed the ooze away before, at last, using Touch of Nature. Distressingly, it took three casts of the healing spell before the pain faded, and another couple before the damage was reversed. That, as much as anything, told Elijah that his choice to avoid those oozes was the correct one. But he knew he wasn¡¯t out of the woods yet. That last ooze had come from somewhere, and he had a feeling that it wasn¡¯t a one-time thing. So, as soon as he¡¯d healed, he only paused long enough to allow himself to regenerate enough Ethera to fuel Shape of the Predator. Once he had enough in his core, he cast the spell, resumed his scaled panther form, then embraced Guise of the Unseen. Thus hidden, he mounted the upward slope and continued on his way. It only took a couple of minutes of gradual progress before he saw another ooze sliding toward him. With no other way to avoid it, Elijah leaped, then used the side of the tunnel to vault over the thing. Still, he came close enough that he was sprayed by a few more drops of that caustic ooze. But this time, Elijah didn¡¯t intend to take the time to heal. Instead, as soon as his feet hit the ground, he raced up the incline. Moving as quickly as he could without discarding his stealth altogether, he quickly reached a switchback. There, he saw a couple more oozes, though these two were moving back and forth in the tiny, square space. Elijah paused only long enough to discern the pattern, then put that knowledge to good use as he timed his passage to narrowly miss them both. He did pick up a few more drops of caustic mucus, though; that just added to his mounting pain as he continued on his way. Over and over, he repeated the same steps until, at last, he passed beneath another iron grate. Looking up, it took him a few moments to discern that it was a drain that ran the length of the floor above. He followed it for a few seconds until he finally found the source of all those oozes. Just above was a huge, humanoid creature with toxic green skin and bulbous features. More distressingly, it was absolutely covered in what looked like pus-filled boils. Elijah watched as one burst, but instead of spewing liquid, it erupted with one of the familiar oozes. The thing quickly slipped through the grate and began its long trek toward the cesspool far below. For his part, Elijah easily avoided it as it went on its way, but his mind churned with questions. The most prevalent one, though, had to do with the fact that the huge monster ¨C which he¡¯d decided to think of as a troll ¨C was bound by thick, iron chains. Was this the prisoner he was meant to free? 2-24. A Potential Ally A steady flow of gelatinous sludge dripped down into the drainage tunnel. The smell alone was enough to turn Elijah¡¯s stomach, but he was even more concerned with the persistent drops clinging to his scales. Most of them were confined to his upturned face, which made it all the worse. Further complicating his situation was the enduring pain of the caustic ooze still burning its way through his scales. It wasn¡¯t enough to derail his thoughts ¨C especially after he¡¯d spent so much time in the belly of an orca ¨C but it was just distracting enough to be a constant irritation. Elijah ignored it, though not without a significant expenditure of willpower. Thankfully, that was where his Mind cultivation came in handy. In addition to increasing the effect of his Regeneration attribute ¨C and by no small degree ¨C it had also further partitioned his mind into nine distinct sections. It wasn¡¯t quite like having nine brains working for him, but it did give him the ability to quarantine distractions in such a way as to let him focus on the task at hand. One of those sections was dedicated to the awareness of his Domain back on the island, another focused on One with Nature, and a third housed the pain waging a steady war through his body. The other six were entirely focused on climbing the tunnel wall toward a shaft that would lead him to the floor above. Inch by inch, he climbed, moving so deliberately that it took him full minutes to move each foot. His caution wasn¡¯t unfounded, either. The troll, despite its clear captivity, was the size of a fully-grown bull elephant, and Elijah wanted nothing more than to avoid its notice. One slip-up, and the thing could flatten him without even trying to. And if he actually drew the thing¡¯s ire? He didn¡¯t want to consider that. So, he climbed and he hid, cloaked by Guise of the Unseen, and he eventually, he reached the six-foot shaft that led topside. It was only about two feet wide, which meant that in his scaled panther form, it would be a tight fit. However, he didn¡¯t dare shift back into his smaller human form. Doing so would rob him of his stealth, and that would almost assuredly spell disaster. With that in mind, he resigned himself to a brief bout of claustrophobia as he wedged himself into place. The going was tough, mostly because he couldn¡¯t extend his claws more than an inch or two. However, Elijah was nothing if not persistent, and he slowly covered the distance to the top of the shaft. Fortunately, the grate meant to cover the top had rusted away, meaning that he could barely fit through. Still, it was an even tighter fit than the shaft itself, and as he dragged himself through, the shards of rusted iron that had once been the grate scraped painfully against his scales. The remnants of the grate were incapable of piercing his natural armor, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable. He shifted that discomfort into another partition in his mind. Meanwhile, the troll¡¯s pustules continued to burst, sending a steady stream of oozes to collect in the cistern far below. And even though the massive creature was only ten feet away, Elijah forced himself to ignore it, save for a basic awareness of its position. In the end, that sliver of attention saved his life. Elijah had no idea what had alerted the troll, but one second, the thing was sitting and staring into nothing, and the next, an enormous fist was falling in Elijah¡¯s direction. He ripped himself free of the shaft, the sudden movement tearing one of his scales free, then launched himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the descending fist. It hit with thunderous impact, shaking the floor and sending Elijah off-balance. He quickly righted himself ¨C partially due to his inflated Dexterity attribute, but also because of the instincts of the scaled panther whose form he¡¯d taken ¨C then bounded away. The troll roared in fury, erupting into violent motion as it dove for the intruder. Elijah used every point of Strength he possessed to propel himself forward, but the Troll¡¯s might clearly outstripped his own. The result was inevitable. Elijah knew it even as he felt the monster gaining on him with every passing millisecond. But just before it caught up, the sound of rattling chains heralded Elijah¡¯s saving grace. The bindings pulled taut, stopping the troll in its tracks. It roared in frustration, anger, and obvious agony as it reached out with dirty, meaty fingers, but by that point, Elijah was far out of range and sheltering on the other side of the room, where he turned to face the bound monster. It was entirely contained by the thick chains attached to the manacles on its wrists and ankles, but still, Elijah wasn¡¯t as worried about the metal as he was about the brickwork to which the bindings were attached. However, it quickly became clear that he was worried about nothing. Well ¨C not nothing. The troll was certainly worth every ounce of trepidation Elijah could muster. And yet, it was obviously incapable of attaining its freedom. Otherwise, it would have already done so. Even so, it certainly presented a problem in that it had clearly detected him. Until he lost its attention, he wouldn¡¯t be slipping back into the sheltering embrace of Guise of the Unseen. With that in mind, he reluctantly turned his back on the slavering monster and took stock of his location. The good thing was that the room was plenty big enough for the both of them. Bound as it was, the troll couldn¡¯t reach past the room¡¯s halfway mark. But the good news came with a significant degree of ill tidings, largely due to the fact that the room looked like nothing so much as a jail cell. Aside from the tentative confirmation that the troll was the prisoner his optional task had charged him with freeing, that meant that Elijah was trapped. The room¡¯s lone exit ¨C which was large enough to permit passage from something even as large as the troll ¨C stood on the other side of the cell, and it was barred by a door made of ancient timbers bound by thick iron bands. Elijah finally let Shape of the Predator fall away and resumed his human form. His bare feet were silent against the cold and clammy stone floor as he crossed the intervening distance and grabbed hold of the door¡¯s ring-like handle. To Elijah¡¯s dismay, when he tried to push or pull it open, it remained steadfastly stuck in place, assuredly due to a lock on the other side. ¡°Stuck,¡± he muttered to himself, confident that his voice wouldn¡¯t carry over the sound of the still-raging troll. He fell to his haunches, then began the arduous task of healing himself from his previous contact with the oozes. As before, the caustic burns stubbornly resisted his efforts, but he pushed through it, using far more Ethera than healing such small wounds should have required. Meanwhile, the troll continued to growl and spit, but Elijah mostly ignored it. Bound as it was, the monster posed little danger. However, he wasn¡¯t so arrogant that he didn¡¯t devote one of the nine facets of his Mind to keeping tabs on the creature. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It was due to this small bit of attention that he came to realize that the monster wasn¡¯t simply angry. Nor was it feral. It was in pain, a factor made obvious by its bloodshot eyes and the increased volume of its screams that accompanied each popped pustule. Elijah crouched, his staff across his knees as he gave the situation some thought. The nature of towers was a little confusing. On the one hand, the environments were clearly manufactured, and that meant that there were intended paths to victory. However, on the other, there were less obvious ways to overcome each obstacle. So, he wasn¡¯t limited by the system¡¯s intentions. But the fact that his task had mentioned the prisoner meant that it might be the key to victory ¨C at least for the first task. Elijah was busy giving that some thought when the sound of a turning lock assaulted his ears. Or maybe he¡¯d felt the ogre on the other side via One with Nature. Sometimes, his senses mingled together, obscuring the actual source. Either way, he leaped to his feet and, at the same time, shifted into a scaled panther. It was just in time, too, because at that moment, the door swung open, admitting an ogre. However, this ogre wasn¡¯t like the others. It was just as tall, but instead of being built like a powerlifter, its body type could best be described as morbidly obese. Roles of fat cascaded down its body, squishing together until Elijah couldn¡¯t tell where one ended and another began. He just had time to note its attire ¨C a fur-covered loincloth held in place by a thick, leather belt ¨C before he sprang into motion. His claws flashed, ripping into the ogre¡¯s stomach. The flesh parted easily, spilling blood and fat onto the floor, but it wasn¡¯t the disemboweling blow Elijah had hoped it would be. More, the ogre responded far more quickly than its body type might¡¯ve suggested, and its fist smashed against a bounding Elijah mid-air, the impact hitting him in the ribs and sending him skidding across the jail cell¡¯s stone floor. He came to a sudden stop when he slammed into the wall. He felt his bones crack under the impact, but he shunted the agonizing pain into its own facet of his mind, and it was a good thing, too, because he needed all of his available concentration to avoid the ogre¡¯s follow-up blow. He leaped to the side as its pudgy foot came crashing down, narrowly missing his darting form. But Elijah knew better than to fight an entirely defensive battle, so he dashed in, raking his claws across the back of the ogre¡¯s leg. Muscle split under the influence of Elijah¡¯s claws, and the ogre stumbled. That allowed him to leap upon its back, where he dug his claws into its bulbous flesh. Then, snapping out like a striking snake, he latched his jaws onto the base of its skull. Harnessing every point of Strength he could muster, he flexed the muscles of his jaws, and after a brief moment of resistance, he was rewarded with the sound ¨C and feel ¨C of crushing bone. The ogre flailed as it desperately tried to dislodge him. However, the creature¡¯s pudgy arms were just inflexible enough to keep it from reaching him. So, even as Elijah clamped down on its skull, it slammed its back against the wall. With the full weight of its massive body behind the blow, the force it brought to bear was enough to crush multiple of Elijah¡¯s bones. Still, he held on, knowing that if he let go, the creature would be free to finish him off. He was already too injured to continue the fight in any other way, he continued to flex his jaw even while the ogre crushed him against the wall. Gradually, those cracking bones began to shatter, and then, suddenly, the integrity of the skull collapsed entirely, giving Elijah free access to the brains they were meant to protect. The taste of iron and salt played across his tongue as his teeth ripped apart the ogre¡¯s brain. Still, it remained upright for a few moments until, at last, it could go on no longer. It fell forward, hitting the ground with a thunderous crash that threw Elijah free. A second after he rolled to a stop, he tried to rise, but too many of his bones were broken. The partition in his mind was incapable of holding back the tide of pain, and for a brief second, it enveloped him. Ruthlessly, Elijah thrust it back where it belonged, and with the weight of his willpower holding it in place, he let his body shift back to human form. The moment he did, he realized just how dire his situation was. He hadn¡¯t been so injured since being digested by the orca guardian back in the Sea of Sorrows. He forced himself to look down at his body; one of his legs had been turned the wrong way ¨C a sure sign of a compound fracture and probably a dislocated knee as well. He knew that it was even more serious than it appeared because, left like that, the blood flow would likely be interrupted, and the leg would die out. In addition to that, he had multiple broken ribs as well as what felt like someone stabbing him in his lower back. Finally, there were multiple other contusions, each signaling another problem. The only solace was that, even with all of his broken ribs, it didn¡¯t feel like any had punctured his lungs. ¡°Silver linings,¡± he muttered to himself as he looked up at the still growling troll. At least he wasn¡¯t covered in a bunch of caustic blisters like his cellmate. With a pained breath, Elijah channeled Ethera from his core and through his soul, fueling a cast of Healing Rain. A wave of relief washed over him as the soothing precipitation fell on his injuries, but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to heal him. Indeed, even Touch of Nature wouldn¡¯t do anything until he embarked on the arduous task of setting his broken bones. So, that was what he did. Reaching down, he grabbed his lower leg, then gently twisted it. Pain lanced through his shin and up the entirety of his leg. Nausea followed soon after, making him feel like vomiting. However, he persisted, knowing that if he wanted to keep his leg, it had to be done. At first, it wouldn¡¯t move, though. A gentle tug wasn¡¯t enough. He needed something altogether more violent. So, taking a deep breath, and with tears in his eyes, Elijah wrenched it back into place. He let out a loud, agonized cry, and for a moment, he blacked out from sheer shock. But he recovered his wits soon after, then continued the agonizing task of setting his broken bones. Being melted by stomach acid was painful, but there was something altogether different ¨C and arguably worse ¨C about the pain he was forced to endure while setting those bones. Some of that was due to the fact that he was in complete control of it, which made things so much worse. But it was also the differing nature of the pain. Either way, he wouldn¡¯t have wished either situation on even his worst enemies. Even so, Elijah kept going until, at last, he¡¯d accomplished the feat. After that, it was a simple task of continuously casting Touch of Nature until he ran low on Ethera. Then, he rested until he¡¯d regained enough to repeat the cycle. Over and over, he kept going until, at last, he managed to banish the pain altogether. Not long after that, he¡¯d healed himself entirely. Once that was done, he sagged against the wall and glanced over at the troll. Over the hours ¨C or it might¡¯ve been as much as a day ¨C since Elijah had begun his healing, the creature had grown accustomed to his presence. It still wasn¡¯t in a good mood, but it had at least stopped growling. Elijah was staring vacantly at the creature when something occurred to him. Healing Rain had a diameter of around thirty feet, which meant that its edge extended just enough to affect the troll¡¯s lower legs. And to Elijahs surprise, where the rejuvenating precipitation had fallen ¨C continuously over the past day ¨C the cysts had all but disappeared. Was that why the troll had calmed down? The rest of its body was still just as disgustingly infected as the rest, but those legs ¨C they almost looked healthy. Elijah glanced at the door, then back at the troll. He still hadn¡¯t accomplished the first task, which was to defeat the Warden. That meant that the ogre he¡¯d killed wasn¡¯t the guardian of the level ¨C which was troubling, given how close it had come to killing him. Certainly, it hadn¡¯t been an optimal fight; the monster had come upon him when he was incapable of using Guise of the Unseen ¨C or Predator Strike ¨C but it was still a healthy reminder that towers were meant to be challenged by entire groups, and the difficulty reflected that. So, it was entirely possible that the Warden ¨C wherever it was ¨C might be far too strong for Elijah to defeat alone. Still ¨C he didn¡¯t have to be alone, did he? There was a potential ally only a dozen or so feet away. Elijah glanced back at the troll, and as he did, an idea began to take shape. 2-25. On the Road Snow gently fell, drifting down from the slate gray sky as Carmen steadily trudged alongside the pickup truck. As heavily laden as it was, the vehicle could barely move more than a few miles per hour, and even that was only possible because of the incredible accomplishments of a few Engineers. Electric motors still worked after the apocalypse, but far less efficiently than they had in the past. As a result, even electric cars ¨C or trucks, in this case ¨C were vastly underpowered. Still, considering that they¡¯d yet to find any proper beasts of burden ¨C and if they did discover a herd of horses or oxen, they would probably be mutated and wild ¨C it was the best way to move large quantities of gear, supplies, and goods. The truck itself was one of seven they¡¯d commandeered for the trip out to the mine, though even that number seemed inadequate, considering how much they needed to do to get the settlement up and running. Fortunately, Easton¡¯s scouts as well as the men and women who worked as laborers had already cut a path through the wilderness. It wasn¡¯t a road ¨C not precisely ¨C but it would make resupply much easier. Of course, that wasn¡¯t why Roman and his cronies had been so adamant about its construction. They didn¡¯t care about what went to the mining settlement; instead, they were only concerned about what came out. Roman had big plans for how he intended to use the cold iron to catapult his budding kingdom to the top of the region¡¯s pecking order. That was fine by Carmen, because after Alyssa¡¯s death, she¡¯d begun to pull back from the settlement she¡¯d helped found. And in that time, things had changed so much that she barely recognized it anymore. By all accounts, it was a successful city. They were well set up for security, and nobody really went hungry anymore. However, it was so far removed from the culture they¡¯d lost in the apocalypse that it felt like an entirely different world. Many of the freedoms modern society had taken for granted had been discarded. Any criticism of the city¡¯s leadership ¨C or of Roman himself ¨C was met with swift reprisal in the form of banishment. The logic was that if someone disagreed with the way things were run, they could try to make their own way. Some had left voluntarily, but even more had been cast out into the wilderness, kicking and screaming all the way. Carmen could understand it, too, and from both sides. In Roman¡¯s favor was that his methods had turned Easton into a safe haven amidst the chaos of a changed and much more dangerous world. He provided protection and stability when both were in short supply. From his perspective, they had only survived because of his efforts, so having the methods by which he provided that survival questioned was tantamount to a slap in the face. Even so, the idea that someone could be sentenced to death ¨C because that¡¯s what banishment usually meant ¨C over spoken criticism was absolutely abhorrent. And making it even worse was that Carmen knew that if Alyssa had been there, she wouldn¡¯t have allowed it to happen. But at least Roman had come around on the subject of Scholars and the subset of classes that came from the archetype. In the beginning, the benefits those people offered were far outweighed by the cost of keeping them safe and fed while supporting their progression. Now, though, Easton had the resources to spare, and what¡¯s more, they¡¯d developed a need for the sort of people who could ease the burden of bureaucracy. They still weren¡¯t treated particularly well ¨C at least not in comparison to crafters or combatants ¨C but at least they weren¡¯t refused entry altogether, which was a step up from the previous policy. Whatever the case, Carmen had no interest in politics. She just wanted to get to the mine, get it working properly, and then progress her own path while raising her son. However, she couldn¡¯t escape the reality that Roman¡¯s policies could very well affect Miguel, so she knew she didn¡¯t have the luxury of just ignoring it. For now, though, she could focus on the things she could control. To that end, she continued to walk aside the slow-moving truck. She was far from the first line of defense ¨C there were dozens of scouts and other combatants traveling along with the convoy ¨C but she remained alert regardless. She had also been wearing her armor almost constantly since leaving Easton a week before, and even if it was well-fitted, she was eager to get to their destination so she could go back to normal attire. It wasn¡¯t that it was too heavy. Her Strength attribute was more than capable of bearing the weight. But wearing a full suit of plate armor for twelve hours out of each day was incredibly uncomfortable. The only upside was that the experience had already prompted her to incorporate some changes into her designs. Just as she was solidifying some of her plans in her mind, one of the scouts burst through the dense foliage, skidding to a stop just in front of Carmen. ¡°What is it now?¡± she demanded. The scout ¨C a stout young man who¡¯d only just gained his class ¨C said, ¡°Incoming. Apes of some kind.¡± He pointed back the way he¡¯d come, saying, ¡°The others are slowing them down.¡± ¡°How many?¡± asked Carmen, her grip tightening on Destroyer¡¯s haft. Over the weeks since she¡¯d finished forging it, the hammer had proved its worth a hundred times over. Crossing the threshold from Crude to Simple grade had been a qualitative leap forward, and one she was more than capable of exploiting in battle. ¡°Ten at least. Maybe as many as twenty.¡± ¡°Incoming!¡± Carmen bellowed in warning. The response was well-practiced as the trucks ground to a halt and the members of the caravan readied themselves for battle. Because the threat was omni-directional, the bulk of the responding force joined Carmen and the scout, but they knew better than to leave the other directions undefended. The result was a lopsided deployment with Carmen at the head. There were a few decently strong combatants at her flanks, but none were the cream of Easton¡¯s crop. Indeed, almost everyone she¡¯d been given were, at best, green. At worst, they were the sort of below-average specimens Roman would have been glad to send away. Whatever the case, Carmen was by far the highest-leveled person in the entire caravan, and even as a crafter, that meant she could bring quite a bit of force to bear. With her high-quality armor and powerful weapon, she was the lynchpin of any defense effort. As such, she positioned herself to take the brunt of any attack. Behind her, the Scholars and children took up their bows, slings, and other ranged weapons. They wouldn¡¯t do much damage, but when everyone¡¯s lives were at stake, everything counted. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Over the week since they¡¯d been on the road, the convoy had been forced to respond to a multitude of attacks, and from a wide variety of sources including carnivorous deer, curiously aggressive beavers, and a few Voxx. So, their response was well-practiced. Still, they hadn¡¯t escaped unscathed, and even with the pair of Healers included within their number, they¡¯d lost a few people. Such was life in their new world. The incoming threat was heralded by the sound of a fighting retreat. Men and women shouted, as much as a response to the battle as to announce their position to the waiting caravaners. Then, the first few burst from the dense foliage on the side of the path and took up positions among the defenders. Another dozen joined them before, at last, the enemy arrived. They looked like chimps, though as was the case with most wildlife, they¡¯d been mutated by the onset of Ethera that had transformed the world. Their already impressive musculature was denser and more prominent, and they had grown sharp tusks as well. But at least they were no larger. The idea of a gorilla-sized chimp was a truly terrifying concept. In any case, Carmen didn¡¯t have much time to consider such things before the first screeching chimp threw itself at her. She met its charge with a herculean swing of her hammer. With her lopsided attributes, it would¡¯ve been easy to think that she couldn¡¯t move with alacrity. However, that simply wasn¡¯t true. Because of her high Strength, she was capable of momentous bursts of speed; the only downside was that, without comparable Dexterity, those sorts of maneuvers were incredibly difficult to control. That was why she had chosen a broad-headed hammer as her personal weapon. Swinging Destroyer didn¡¯t really require fine motor control, after all. The head of the hammer took the overly muscular chimp directly in its tusked face, and the momentum of the blow sent it tumbling back the way it came. It didn¡¯t stop until it hit the trunk of a tall pine tree, the impact shaking loose a cascade of pinecones and needles. But the creature wasn¡¯t killed. In fact, it was only stunned. That was the problem with the mutated wildlife. They were dangerous, sure, but they were also incredibly durable. Even with everyone¡¯s increased attributes, combating those animals often took an application of force that, in the old world, would have easily killed any organic being unlucky enough to find itself on the wrong end of those attacks. After that first attack, the other chimps fell upon the defenders. All around, people activated various skills. Some were subtle ¨C like a gentle flow of Ethera around a weapon ¨C but others were a little more bombastic. However, Carmen hadn¡¯t been allowed any dedicated Mages or Sorcerers. Those, according to Roman, were necessary for Easton¡¯s defense, and they were too vulnerable to send out into the wilderness. So, the fight took a lot longer than it otherwise would have if they¡¯d had access to the sort of devastating spells a Wizard or Elementalist could bring to a fight. Still, Carmen fought on, wading into the battle secure in the knowledge that her armor would protect her. Others couldn¡¯t say as much, and the sounds of wounded combatants joined in with the chimps¡¯ screeches. She ignored that, though. At one point, she might¡¯ve tried to be everywhere at once, but that was a path to ruin. She wasn¡¯t a dedicated combatant, and as such, she could only rely on her equipment and high attributes to see her through. Others weren¡¯t so limited, though no one was high enough level to truly affect the battle alone. As a result, teamwork and organized tactics proved to be the deciding factor. The chimps were powerful ¨C far more so than any individual in the convoy ¨C but they were also animals. As such, they didn¡¯t fight with anything approaching a cohesive strategy, and that difference saw the defenders through to victory. Still, it took hours until, at last, there were only a few left. Those were quickly dispatched until only a single wounded chimp faced off against Carmen. It was the biggest and strongest of the entire pack, and so, it would be the last to fall. Carmen stepped forward, slamming her hammer into its side. It tried to dodge, but it could do nothing to avoid the follow up attack. With a sledgehammer strike that absolutely destroyed the skull of the last chimp, Carmen finished the battle. Looking around, she saw a few injured warriors, but miraculously, none had died. That was probably due to the Healers¡¯ intervention, but it may well have been because of the group¡¯s experience. They¡¯d fought quite a few battles along the way, so it would¡¯ve been odd if they didn¡¯t get better at it. She glanced back toward the truck to see Miguel standing in the bed, bow in hand and mostly empty quiver at his hip. He didn¡¯t have an archetype yet, but he¡¯d already proven himself a talented archer ¨C which was just fine by Carmen. Anything that kept him out of the thick of battle was great, especially if it gave him the tools to survive when things inevitably went wrong. To that end, he¡¯d been training with the scouts and even taking lessons from some of the other combatants. The problem was that most of them had, only a few years before, led absolutely ordinary lives doing mundane jobs. There was only so much Miguel could learn from construction workers or accountants. Even so, in the two-and-a-half years since the apocalypse had begun, Miguel had learned to handle himself with a handful of weapons. And he¡¯d continue to train with those until he was given the opportunity to choose an archetype when he turned fourteen. That was still a few years away, but Carmen hoped that he would learn enough to set himself apart and gain a host of solid options. She quickly found the man in charge of the combatants. Technically, he had equal standing with her, but Colt had made it clear from the very beginning that he saw her as the expedition¡¯s true leader. Largely, this was based on the immense respect with which he¡¯d held Alyssa, but it was also the result of his single-minded pursuit of personal strength. Either way, she appreciated it, if for no other reason than that she knew just how disastrous having two leaders could be. The man himself was a little over average height, with relatively narrow shoulders, a thick black beard, and only stubble on his head. In his hand was a katana that Carmen had forged herself; it was still Crude grade, but it was still one of her better pieces, and she knew from experience that Colt was well-suited to using it. In terms of levels, he was in the top five combatants in Easton, but in terms of actual skill, he was probably the most dangerous person in the settlement. Which was probably why Roman had sent him away. Like Alyssa before him, he¡¯d made a habit of throwing himself into the thick of things, and his reputation had seen quite a boost because of his penchant for saving people. Perhaps that was what would¡¯ve happened to Alyssa, if she had lived. Maybe Roman would have sent her away, too. Colt took off his wide-brimmed cowboy hat that was his personal affectation and wiped his forearm across his forehead before saying, ¡°Could¡¯ve been a lot worse.¡± ¡°Yeah. How far do we have until we get there?¡± she asked. ¡°Because we can¡¯t keep going like this indefinitely.¡± ¡°A day. Maybe two before the scouts get into range. Another couple of days for the rest of us.¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°To think, there was a time when we would¡¯ve been able to cover this much ground in a day. Wish these hunks of junk could go a little faster.¡± Colt spat on the ground and said, ¡°Not really my department. You want someone or something cut in half, I¡¯m your guy. You want to figure out how to make cars run right? That¡¯s more like your thing.¡± ¡°I¡¯m no Engineer. I just smack hot metal with a hammer,¡± Carmen pointed out as she watched Colt use a spare bit of cloth to clean the blood and bits of chimp flesh from his blade. ¡°If it was just a normal engine, I could maybe do something. But these electric motors?¡± She shook her head, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that there are some Engineers back home who are trying to implement Ethera into the process. I¡¯m not sure how that works, but I think I speak for everyone when I say I hope they figure it out soon.¡± ¡°Won¡¯t get any argument from me.¡± With that, they began the process of tending to the wounded and getting moving again. Soon enough, the sun started to dip below the horizon, and Carmen called for a halt. After spending the next hour making camp, she settled in with Miguel next to a fire. After Alyssa¡¯s death, he barely spoke anymore. Hopefully, getting the mine set up would give them both a fresh start. 2-26. Troll on the Loose The odious smell that permeated the dungeon had grown no less pervasive, but Elijah ignored it as he stalked forward. On either side of the hall were more cages not dissimilar from the one in which he¡¯d left the troll. However, they were mostly empty, and the ones that were occupied contained only corpses of fearsome beasts. The only ones Elijah recognized were smaller trolls, but even those were so plague-stricken that he could barely make the connection between them and the sole living monster within the dungeon. Certainly, he hadn¡¯t intended to empathize with that creature, but after seeing what had happened to the other prisoners within the dungeon, he couldn¡¯t help but feel sorry for the troll. Whatever it had done to earn its captivity certainly wasn¡¯t enough to force it to endure the torturous existence with which it had been afflicted. Making it worse was that, according to the Ulthraks back in the Kelledge Tower, there was a good chance that a real consciousness was buried somewhere inside that monstrous form. The thought sent a shiver up Elijah¡¯s spine. Gradually, he progressed through the dungeon, memorizing the twists and turns of its disgusting hallways along the way. He saw a few more ogre jailers, but there was nothing to indicate that any of them were the Warden he sought to complete his Task. Still, after exiting the troll¡¯s cell and leaving its curiously attentive gaze behind, Elijah had no issues hiding from the ogre jailers. But it only took the memory of his previous fight to tell him that attacking those bulky creatures was a mistake. Even with the benefit of Predator Strike on his side, getting through those thick layers of fat and muscle was a tall task. Perhaps he could kill them on his own, but there was enough doubt that he couldn¡¯t commit to that path. After all, if he failed to quickly kill one, his would-be victim would almost assuredly raise the alarm. In that event, Elijah¡¯s chances of survival would fall to almost nothing. So, he chose caution instead. As he continued to stalk through the dungeon, he flared One with Nature as often as possible. And he discovered something he¡¯d already suspected: it was far less effective indoors than it was out in nature. Back in Ironshore ¨C and then in Norcastle ¨C he¡¯d noticed as much, but being in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel confirmed that the spell worked much better in the untamed wilderness. Still, it wasn¡¯t completely ineffective, and it still gave his attributes an invisible boost. Fortunately, his other enhancements worked the same as always, bolstering his Dexterity, Regeneration, and Constitution by a significant degree. That made his task much easier, and he managed to avoid detection until, at last, he¡¯d mapped the entire dungeon. And what he¡¯d discovered wasn¡¯t ideal. First, there was only one exit, and that was guarded by four ogres wearing black iron armor like the ones he¡¯d seen near the gatehouses outside. Otherwise, there were four jailers scattered throughout the dungeon as well. But their presence wasn¡¯t what truly worried him. No ¨C that distinction belonged to his discovery of the Warden. He¡¯d expected another ogre, but what he¡¯d found was something altogether different. Elijah stood in the corner of what could only be called a torture room, where he stared at a black-skinned elf. The man was short and slender, with prominently tapered ears and a mane of thick, white hair. Like many of the ogres Elijah had seen, he wore a suit of bulky, black armor, though his had been embellished with a series of silver whorls that sparkled with stored ethera. Elijah didn¡¯t have to study it for long before he became convinced that it was magical in nature. So was the slender sword at his hip, which glimmered with the same silvery metal. However, Elijah was less concerned with his attire ¨C or race, for that matter ¨C than the fact that he was gleefully torturing what looked like a taller, bulkier goblin. Even more disturbingly, the elf wasn¡¯t asking any questions. He didn¡¯t seek information. Instead, he was clearly tormenting the creature for no more reason than because he wanted to hear it scream. Even if Elijah hadn¡¯t been tasked with killing the elf, he would have committed himself to that endeavor right then and there. Killing was often necessary. That was the cost of survival. Even torture, for some misguided individuals, might hold some value as an interrogation method. He¡¯d heard that it didn¡¯t really work, but Elijah could at least follow the logic that would lead someone down that road. But torture for torture¡¯s sake was absolutely abhorrent, and Elijah had no intention of letting it continue. Still, he knew he couldn¡¯t attack without a plan, so he retreated through those same halls and back to the jail cell where he¡¯d killed the ogre jailer. After he¡¯d slain the creature, Elijah had shifted into his scaled ape form and tossed the heavy corpse to the troll as a distraction. As one monster fed on the remains of another, Elijah had resumed his human form, rushed forward, and cast Healing Rain. The troll had ignored him, and over the course of the spell¡¯s duration, those painfully popping pustules of caustic ooze had slowly shrunk. They weren¡¯t gone, but the troll looked as if it was in far less pain. Moreover, the formation of the cysts ¨C and the oozes that came from them ¨C had become less frequent, suggesting that Elijah¡¯s efforts hadn¡¯t been for naught. It also looked a good deal less infuriated, which was key for Elijah¡¯s plan. After resuming his human form, he raised his hand in what he hoped was a placating gesture, then stepped forward. The troll shifted, obviously noticing Elijah¡¯s progress. But it didn¡¯t rush him, so he took another step. Then another when it showed no further reaction. Finally, Elijah was close enough that another cast of his spell would envelop the creature, so he used Healing Rain, then retreated. Even as heavy drops of rejuvenating precipitation fell, Elijah crouched on the other side of the cell. He knew better than to expect to have tamed the troll. A single meal and a little healing could only do so much, after all. So, he never allowed his awareness to waver. At the same time, he studied the cell itself ¨C a task only possible because of his faceted Quartz Mind. If he¡¯d tried to pay attention to so many things ¨C his Domain, One with Nature, the cell, and the troll ¨C before he¡¯d advanced his cultivation, he would¡¯ve no doubt been lost in the weeds. But now, it was a simple task to compartmentalize the disparate thoughts. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Still, he was pushing the limits of his Mind by fostering even those simple strains of thought. Perhaps once he advanced to the next stage, the facets would expand and allow for more complex thinking. For now, though, anything more than cataloguing sensory input required the full weight of his Mind. The cell itself was a simple, rectangular room made of the same stone common across the rest of the dungeon. Most of the floor was covered in a thick layer of algae that even crept a few feet up the walls. However, it was densest near the drainage grate ¨C and the shaft probably meant for waste disposal ¨C that split the cell in two. The troll was confined by manacles on its thick wrists and ankles, which were in turn attached to the wall via bulky, black iron chains. Elijah only had eyes for the thick locks holding those manacles together, largely because, after killing the jailer and looting the corpse, he had the means to free the creature. Or so he expected. He glanced down at the key in his hand and contemplated how he might accomplish that feat. At first, he¡¯d hoped that healing and feeding the troll might engender some sense of cooperation, but that clearly wasn¡¯t going to happen. It would tolerate his presence only so long as it couldn¡¯t kill him. The moment it was freed, he would become its target. Was the optional part of the Task a fool¡¯s errand? Was there no way to complete it? Elijah knew that Towers could accommodate up to six people, and that they were usually meant to be challenged by those groups. Entering into such a situation alone was regarded as only a step above suicidal, largely because the challenges necessary for completion not only required incredible strength, but they usually necessitated a wide variety of skills as well. So, he had no doubts that there were probably classes that could easily combat and conquer his current dilemma. But he just didn¡¯t have the necessary skills to pacify the monster. If it had been an animal, perhaps it would have been possible. He could have treated it like the bear guarding the amanita he¡¯d encountered. But the troll was clearly something else. It wasn¡¯t sapient, but it wasn¡¯t an animal, either. Or if it was, it was intelligent enough not to fall prey to the placating manipulation of One with Nature. Elijah continued to ponder the problem as Healing Rain did its work. When the spell faded, he darted close and recast it. The troll tolerated him, and yet, Elijah knew that if he tarried for even a second too long, it would destroy him. After the third cast, he started to wonder why he was even bothering with healing the creature. It wasn¡¯t real. And as far as he knew, the moment he conquered the dungeon, the troll would reset just like everything else. Yet, he couldn¡¯t just ignore its suffering. So, he continued along, reapplying Healing Rain four more times over the next few hours. And in that way, the troll was healed. It was only when he saw the way the now-healthy troll strained the plates attaching the chains to the wall that a plan began to take shape. It wasn¡¯t ideal. He knew that there were a host of ways it could go wrong. But he also suspected that, without the assistance the troll could provide, he stood little chance of bypassing the guards, much less killing the Warden. Was it possible? Certainly. But not probable. So he latched onto another, arguably just as dangerous, plan. But given that it didn¡¯t involve him attacking an entity of entirely unknown strength, he preferred it over squaring off against the Warden in straight fight. As soon as Elijah saw that the troll had been completely healed, he settled down to renew his stores of Ethera. Flexing every facet of his Quartz Mind, he dragged nine streams of energy through his Soul and into his Core, enhancing his Regeneration by a good amount. It took no small degree of concentration, but it was effective, so long as he wasn¡¯t too distracted. Gradually, his Core refilled, and after he renewed his augmentations ¨C Essence of the Monkey, Essence of the Boar, Aura of Renewal, One with Nature, and, finally, Essence of the Wolf ¨C he embraced Shape of the Guardian and shifted into the scaled ape form. Without hesitation, he launched himself forward with every point of his enhanced Strength attribute. And considering the augmentation provided by the guardian form, he could bring quite a bit of power to bear. He launched himself forward, accelerating like a sports car before slamming into the wall with incredible force. The troll, for all its wariness, never even had a chance to react before Elijah kicked off the wall and threw himself to the other side of the cell, where he skidded for a few feet before his momentum ended in a collision with the other wall. Shifting back into his human form, he immediately cast Touch of Nature as he shook his mangled hand. His Constitution attribute was incredible in his Guardian form, but the anatomy of whatever creature upon which it had been based was not suited for punching. Instead, it was meant to rip and tear with its claws. As a result, he¡¯d broken a couple of bones in his hand. But that was what his healing spells were for, and after two casts, he managed to mend his bones. At that point, he took a look at his handiwork, and when he laid his eyes on the brickwork surrounding the anchor, he felt a mixture of disappointment and encouragement. The first was due to the fact that, for all the power he¡¯d managed to harness, the results were decidedly minor. A few tiny cracks, and that was it. However, he was also encouraged by that small effect, if only because it proved that his plan was a viable one. Now, though, the troll was awake and aware, which made his job that much more difficult. He¡¯d surprised it once, but that seemed like¡­wait¡­what was it doing? The troll had shifted to the side. It could only move a few feet, but the meaning seemed clear. It was giving Elijah a free shot. Did it understand what he was doing? That seemed to be the case, but¡­ Well, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. So, after healing himself and regenerating the Ethera he¡¯d spent in the process, he shifted back to his guardian form and once again launched himself at the anchor. This time, he used his palm to strike the wall, which seemed to bear the impact much better than his delicate knuckles. It was also a little less effective, but that initial punch had served to weaken the brickwork enough that it didn¡¯t matter overmuch. Over and over, Elijah threw himself at the wall until he jarred the first anchor loose. And with that proof of concept buoying his efforts, he wasted no time before assaulting the other three. It took quite some time, and periodically, Elijah was forced to shift back into his human form in order to heal the damage he was doing to his own body. He also tried to use the key on the troll¡¯s manacles, but predictably, it slapped him across the room the moment he started groping around its wrist. Still, he eventually managed to accomplish his goal. It was just in time, too, because only a few moments after he¡¯d regenerated his ethera, the door to the cell screeched as someone opened it. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to enact the next part of his plan, which began and ended with him diving down the descending shaft just in time to avoid being seen. He dug his fingers into the algae-covered walls, arresting his momentum as the sound of footsteps thundered in his ears. ¡°Look not sick no more,¡± came a deep baritone. ¡°Look same to me.¡± ¡°You no see good.¡± ¡°Yeah? You ugly!¡± ¡°You ugly!¡± A second later, Elijah heard something that sounded like someone had slapped a side of beef, which was followed by a noise not unlike a deflating bellows. Then, the second ogre said, ¡°No call me ugly or you get more fist!¡± The other ogre began to offer a wheezing response when it was cut off by the sound of crumbling mortar, clinking chains, and cantankerous troll. It was music to Elijah¡¯s ears. 2-27. Distraction The floor of the cell shook with titanic battle as the two ogres clashed with the freed troll. Warbling screams filled the air, suggesting that things were not going well for the jailers. That was as expected; the troll wasn¡¯t just larger, but it had looked far sturdier, as well. Still, even if the winner had been assured ¨C which was no certain thing ¨C Elijah had no intentions of letting it play out. Not without having his say. So, wedged in the shaft, he shifted his way up until only his head poked above the floor. When he did, he saw precisely what he had expected. The massive troll had everything it could handle as it fended off the other two creatures, but it was clearly in control of the fight. The ogres were powerful enough to hold their own, though, and it looked like it was going to be a long, drawn-out fight. Elijah aimed to change that. So, without further hesitation, he gripped the Staff of Natural Harmony and channeled Ethera into Swarm.
Spell: Swarm Conjure a swarm of pests that infect your enemies with appropriate afflictions.
The spell wasn¡¯t as devastating as Calamity. However, it had the benefit of being far more subtle, which was precisely what he needed at the moment. He released the spell, and a few seconds later, a few biting flies manifested before landing on the broad, naked back of one of the ogre jailers. A second or two later, it was joined by a veritable horde ¨C or, appropriately, a swarm ¨C of flies. The bulk of the little insects attacked the same ogre, but the nature of a swarm meant that there were plenty of others for the other jailer as well as the troll. Now that the troll had been freed, and he¡¯d gotten the appropriate credit, he thought nothing of using it for his ends. Certainly, he didn¡¯t want to watch it suffer, but that didn¡¯t mean he would spare the aggressive creature out of some misguided sense of friendship. If it lived, that was fine. But if it ended up dying, Elijah wanted his afflictions to ensure that he got at least some kill energy from its passing. Besides, he needed it angry and raging, or it wouldn¡¯t be much of a distraction. The flies didn¡¯t last long, and by the time they dissipated into motes of Ethera, Elijah had already retreated into the shaft where he hoped to avoid notice long enough that he could exit combat. Meanwhile, the battle continued, and through the use of One with Nature, he kept track of the three combatants¡¯ conditions. The ogres had clearly gotten the worst of it, and the one who¡¯d shouldered the brunt of the impact looked like it was only a hair¡¯s breadth from passing out. Wet, clammy skin, splotchy cheeks, and unsteady legs were only the most apparent of its symptoms, and Elijah knew that it certainly wasn¡¯t fighting at full strength. The same could be said for the other ogre jailer as well as the troll, but there was enough of a difference that it was only a matter of time before the most affected ogre fell. It ended up coming sooner rather than later when the troll hammered the ogre with a giant, meaty fist that sent it splattering against the wall. Even as the masonry crumbled, the troll pounced, hammering the unfortunate ogre with all its might. Elijah only caught glimpses here and there ¨C all via One with Nature ¨C but he got the impression that the pummeling was similar to what one might see from a silverback gorilla. In any case, the ogre was done for, and though it continued to fend the troll off with everything it could muster, its fellow could read the writing on the wall. And when it did, the remaining ogre jailer didn¡¯t swoop in to save its comrade. Instead, he turned tail and ran, dashing through the door as quickly as its meaty proportions would allow. At first, the troll paid it no mind, but the moment it finally finished with its gruesome and single-minded task, it whirled around to look for another victim. When it didn¡¯t find one, the formerly imprisoned troll let out a frustrated roar, then squeezed through the cell door ¨C no small feat, given its larger size ¨C and took off down the hall. Elijah waited a few moments before he climbed out of the shaft, and the moment he saw the devastation that had been wrought on the cell, his reticence to engage the ogres or the troll in battle was reaffirmed. The walls were cracked, with one of them covered in blood, and large chunks of brick had been torn away. But that was nothing compared to the state of the ogre the troll had killed. From the shoulders down, it was much the same as Elijah had expected. Just a large, corpulent body composed of equal parts fat and muscle. However, from the neck up was just a mass of unidentifiable meat and exposed bone. The troll hadn¡¯t just beaten the thing to death. Indeed, he¡¯d rendered it entirely unrecognizable. Seeing that, it was easy for Elijah to imagine that the ogre jailer¡¯s death had been a mere byproduct of the troll venting its rage and frustration. Elijah wasted no more time inspecting the site of the battle. Instead, he quickly shifted into the Shape of the Predator and slipped into the Guise of the Unseen. Only then did the tension in his mind dissipate, and he slipped from the cell, secure in his own invisibility. As soon as he did, he saw more evidence of the troll¡¯s passage. Unlike the cell¡¯s door, the corridor was easily large enough to accommodate even the enormous troll, and yet, it looked like the creature had gone out of its way to smash into everything it saw. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. More cracked walls were the most obvious sign of its ire, but it had also torn torches from their sconces and dented other cell doors. Elijah followed the trail of destruction as he made his way through the dungeon, his passage accompanied by the echoing sounds an ongoing battle up ahead. Along the way, he saw the bodies of the remaining ogre jailers; the troll had clearly used the weight of surprise to ease the battle, and he¡¯d dispatched the unarmored creatures without even slowing down. Elijah padded forward, his feet silent as he crept from one flickering shadow to the next. He knew it wasn¡¯t strictly necessary ¨C Guise of the Unseen as well as his form¡¯s ability to change color was enough to render him nearly invisible ¨C but he didn¡¯t want to take any chances. As such, his progress was much slower than it likely should have been. Even so, he reached the source of the noise only a couple of minutes later. By the time he caught sight of the troll, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but let out a silent gasp of horror. It bore hundreds of wounds. Some were small ¨C pinpricks for a creature of its size ¨C but some gaped open, with huge flaps of skin flopping around with every movement. Its opponents hadn¡¯t fared any better, though. Four armored ogre guards encircled the troll, harrying it with their massive weapons. However, despite their brutish appearance, the ogres displayed no small degree of cooperation and finesse, hemming the creature in and slowly whittling it down with superior reach and the weight of numbers. That simply would not do. So, Elijah retreated to the chamber¡¯s door, then ducked out of sight before resuming his human form. Then, he once again used Swarm, sending a cascade of biting flies to inflict their afflictions on the ogre guards. Fortunately, their armor proved no obstacle to the tiny insects, and before the swarm dissipated, the four remaining guards ¨C one had been completely incapacitated, but it was still alive, while another slumped against the wall, its body misshapen and unmoving ¨C had been infected. And even in that short span, the effect had already made itself known. A woozy guard didn¡¯t move quite quickly enough to avoid the troll¡¯s sudden attack, and as a result, it ended up being slammed against the wall with the force of a runaway train. Predictably, it didn¡¯t survive intact, and even from so far away, Elijah could hear cracking bones over the sound of twisting metal. That was when Elijah shifted back into his scaled panther form, automatically embracing Guise of the Unseen the moment it was available. Then, he settled in to wait. However, even with the numbers tilting slightly more in favor of the troll, it quickly became clear that it was destined to lose. The afflicted ogres couldn¡¯t move quite as quickly as before, but the troll hadn¡¯t escaped the swarm unscathed, either. So, while it wasn¡¯t quite as affected as the guards ¨C probably due to a better Constitution attribute or some inherent advantage of being a troll ¨C the gap hadn¡¯t widened enough to give it an appreciable advantage. So, the fight continued on, settling into a standstill, which meant that Elijah had little choice but to act. After all, it was only a matter of time before the Warden responded. And if that dark elf added its weight to the battle, the troll¡¯s fate would be sealed. Elijah knew he needed to act before then, because if he didn¡¯t have the troll as a distraction, he knew precisely how the fight would go. Perhaps he could use hit-and-run tactics to thin the ogres¡¯ numbers, but in a relatively small and enclosed space, he wasn¡¯t so sure that was a viable strategy. And that was saying nothing of whether or not they could implement an alarm similar to the one that had outed him at the guardhouse outside. If that happened, he would surely die. So, with those issues pressing down on him, Elijah did the only thing he could. He attacked. Targeting the first ogre proved to be quite difficult, largely because it never quit moving. Moreover, he wanted to time his attack such that he wouldn¡¯t be seen; to that end, he needed to use the troll as a shield from the other two ogres. So, he waited for the perfect moment, and when it presented itself, he pounced. Striking out like an ambushing crocodile, he used Predator Strike before slashing his claws across the back of the ogre¡¯s ankle. Then, even as it wailed in anger and pain, he dashed away, slipping through the door before the thing could wheel around. There, he waited until, thirty seconds later, he heard the sound of crunching metal before Essence of the Wolf kicked back in. Now that he was out of combat, Elijah once again embraced Guise of the Unseen before creeping back into the chamber. True to his expectations, the troll had overcome the wounded guard, and the ogre now lay in a crumpled and motionless heap only a few feet from the other dead guard. There were only two remaining, and the troll seemed more than capable of overcoming those odds. Still, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to leave that up to chance. So, he once again set himself up for another strategic attack, and when it presented itself, he launched himself forward and sliced through the ogre¡¯s hamstrings. However, it was only when he whipped around to dart back into the safety of the hallway that he realized that he¡¯d pushed his luck a little too far. The elf, its dull, black iron armor glowing with Ethera, leveled its silver sword in his direction. It started to say something, but Elijah had no interest in hearing some villain¡¯s monologue. So, mid-stride, he shifted back into his human form and preemptively cast Healing Rain. The spell was wide enough to encompass half the room, and even as the storm clouds gathered, Elijah embraced Form of the Guardian. The call for stealth had faded. Now was the time for unmitigated strength. As he felt his body shifting, Elijah slammed into the wide-eyed elf, but by the time he¡¯d completed his transformation, the creature had recovered his wits enough to once again attempt to speak. And Elijah responded appropriately by harnessing every point of his inflated Strength and ramming his open palm into the elf¡¯s chest. A sound like a gong announced contact, and a moment later, the slight creature rocketed backward, hitting the wall with bone-crunching force. Elijah wasted no time before bounding forward, grabbing the stunned elf around the waist, and spinning in place like an Olympic hammer thrower before launching him down the hall. Elijah didn¡¯t wait for his opponent to land before he raced back into the room and threw himself at the injured ogre. His shoulder hit the monster in the hip, eliciting a howl of anger and pain. It hammered a fist against Elijah¡¯s back, knocking the breath from his lungs, but he was too close for the ogre to bring its massive weapon to bear. So, he bunched his legs and drove himself as well as the ogre into the wall. More bones broke, but more importantly, the guard was stunned by the sudden impact. That gave Elijah the chance he¡¯d been looking for, so he reared back, and brought his clasped hands down on the monster with every ounce of power he could summon. Other than extending the ogre¡¯s dazed state, the blow did little good. However, Elijah persisted, repeating the attack. When that didn¡¯t finish the guard off, he did it again. And again after that. Over and over, he smashed his scaly fists into the ogre¡¯s exposed head. And after the sixth such attack, he was finally rewarded with the feel of a shattering skull beneath his claws. Stil, he gave it one more blow for good measure. That one cracked the ogre¡¯s skull open like an overripe melon, splattering brain, blood, and bone across the wall. Still, he seethed with a need to keep going. To rip that corpse to pieces with every ounce of his power. Yet, he pushed that aside and forced himself to disengage. He was just in time to see the elf¡¯s snarling face as it drove its silver sword into his chest. 2-28. Showdown Pain lanced through Elijah¡¯s chest as the blade parted his scales and drove deep into the meat of his torso only to erupt from his back an instant later. The sheer force of the attack drove him backward until he thudded against the wall, sending a spiderweb of cracks arcing out from the point of impact. Dust and debris rained down on his head as the sword pinned him in place. Panicked, he lashed out, his claws raking against the elf¡¯s face. But they never reached his dark skin. The creature smirked and leaned on the hilt of his blade, twisting it cruelly. ¡°Beast,¡± he growled, his voice melodious yet menacing. ¡°You dare strike me?!¡± Elijah hissed and spat as he tried to escape, but the sword¡¯s grip was absolute. He couldn¡¯t wrench himself free, no matter how hard he pulled. But more distressingly, he felt something being dragged out of him. It wasn¡¯t just Ethera. It was something far more vital. His life force, perhaps. Certainly, he felt weaker with every passing second. Desperate to stop that pull, Elijah reached out, his long arms moving with incredible speed until he wrapped his claws around the elf¡¯s wrist. Then, he yanked. The elf clearly hadn¡¯t expected that, and the result was a slight stumble in Elijah¡¯s direction. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was just enough to put him in range of Elijah¡¯s sharp fangs. His jaws snapped shut with undeniable power, and the elf¡¯s invisible shield shattered. The Warden threw himself backward, mitigating some of the damage, but when he recovered only a moment later, long, jagged strips of flesh still hung from his ruined face. Elijah used that small opening to grab hold of the sword and pull. It took every ounce of strength he could bring to bear, but he still managed to yank it free. Then, he roared. At that very moment, the injured troll, having dispatched the final ogre with a thunderous punch, joined the battle. It rushed the still reeling elf, aiming a massive blow in his direction. However, just before it closed the distance, the Warden regained his wits and thrust his hand at the monster. Bands of red energy exploded from his fingertips, wrapping around the charging troll¡¯s limbs. Then, the elf yanked his arm back, sending the enormous creature flying across the room only to collide with the wall. It didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, it crashed through the wall, sending bricks flying in an explosion of momentum. Elijah raced forward, raising the sword in an attack. However, he was no swordsman, and his scaled ape form was ill-suited for using weapons. As a result, his intended blow was clumsy and fated for failure. Still, he had surprise on his side, and due to that, he very nearly made contact. The elf moved like a striking snake, though, and despite his heavy-looking armor, he managed to dodge Elijah¡¯s attack with inches to spare. But he could do nothing to allay Elijah¡¯s charging momentum, which took the form of a shoulder tackle that sent the slender elf flying backwards. He hit the ground a half dozen feet away, but he didn¡¯t skid to a stop until he hit the wall on the other side of the room. Elijah threw the sword aside, then pounced. He never reached his target. With a snarl, the Warden swept his hand out, and once again, red bands erupted from his fingers. This time, though, they were aimed at Elijah. For his part, he tried to dodge, but the ribbons of energy seemed to have a mind of their own, following his every move until they slithered around his limbs. And then he was flying through the air, just like the troll before him. He caromed off the remnants of the shattered wall, then cartwheeled across the neighboring cell until he came to rest two dozen feet into the room. The guardian shape was incredibly durable. Elijah knew from experience that he could endure all sorts of damage in the scaled ape form. With his hard scales, dense bones, and enhanced Constitution, he was like a living tank. However, the limits of his endurance had clearly met their match, because he could already feel multiple broken bones as well as a multitude of shattered scales. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the internal damage. He struggled to rise, but he let out a growl of pure agony as his leg collapsed the moment he tried to put weight on it. It was broken in multiple places, he was sure. Elijah looked up to see that the elf had recovered his sword and was hacking at the grievously wounded troll. The monster¡¯s battle with the ogres as well as the aftereffects of Swarm¡¯s afflictions had clearly put the creature at a vast disadvantage, and the elf was more than strong enough to exploit the effects of its many injuries. More troublingly, each fall of the Warden¡¯s sword came with a swirl of Ethera that snaked around his body before being absorbed. With every strike, the elf¡¯s wounds healed a little. Elijah knew that if he let that continue, he¡¯d never have a chance of winning the fight. Certainly, he could use Guardian¡¯s Renewal and heal himself before either resuming the battle or retreating long enough to reenter stealth. However, by that point, the Warden would have completely healed. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. And even with an ambush, Elijah doubted his chances of defeating the elf if he had the chance to recover. Moreover, he wasn¡¯t sure if the elf would allow his retreat. Those red ribbons of energy ¨C a spell, obviously ¨C had been inescapable. Who was to say what other abilities the elf possessed? No ¨C Elijah needed to put everything on the line, and all at once, or he would never defeat the Warden, much less conquer the tower. With that in mind, he activated Guardian¡¯s Renewal. Instantly, his bones mended, and his flesh was renewed. In seconds, he was whole, hale, and ready to continue the fight. However, he had no intention of doing so in his scaled ape form. Its endurance and strength had already proven a poor match. So, he had other plans. Having regained his health, Elijah shifted back into his human form. The moment he did, he yanked Ethera from his core and cast Swarm. The spell took a decent portion of his available Ethera, but due to his cultivation and ever-increasing core size ¨C which came with each point of the associated attribute ¨C it wasn¡¯t nearly as much as it once had been. So, even as the biting flies manifested, he embraced another spell.
Spell: Calamity Bury your enemies beneath the power of nature. Conjure a natural disaster appropriate to your environment. Only usable in caster forms.
The ethera drained out of his core at a rapid pace, flooding the spell with power. Then, Elijah released it, and all hell broke loose. The ground was sundered, the stale air suddenly broke into sharp gusts that would rend flesh, and lightning filled the air. Meanwhile, Elijah was already casting another spell. This time, he preemptively cast Healing Rain before using the last of his Ethera to shift into the Shape of the Predator. As his scaled panther shape replaced his human form, Elijah raced toward the door. The elf ¨C and the troll, who still clung to life despite having its head mostly severed ¨C was too distracted to notice his departure. Fortunately, the system took that into account, because the second he was out of view, he felt Essence of the Wolf increase his movement speed, which told him that he¡¯d left combat. So, he wasted no time before slipping into the Guise of the Unseen and returning whence he had come. Neither Calamity nor Swarm were long-lasting spells, but only a few seconds had passed. So, the elf and the troll were still very much occupied. The elf had redoubled his efforts at hacking through the troll, clearly hoping that the draining ability could outpace the damage of Elijah¡¯s spells. And it was mostly working. However, everything went wrong for the Warden when, at last, the troll succumbed to the cascade of damage and passed away. Suddenly, the elf¡¯s efforts were for naught ¨C obviously, his victim needed to be alive to facilitate his draining spell ¨C and it was at that moment that Elijah embraced Predator Strike and pounced. Instead of focusing on harrying attacks as he had against the ogres, Elijah leaped onto the elf¡¯s back, latched his powerful jaws onto the nape of his neck, then squeezed. Since the transformation ¨C or evolution, perhaps ¨C of the predator form, Elijah had spent quite a lot of time examining his physiology. In a lot of ways, it resembled the big cat it had once been, which was why he referred to it as a scaled panther. However, that characterization was a bit of a misnomer, especially when it came the structure of his head. Most big cats could only muster around a thousand pounds-per-square-inch of bite force. Even before the form¡¯s evolution, Elijah knew he far exceeded that, especially under the effect of Predator Strike. However, he still felt like that was just a multiplier on the limitations of basic physiology. The new scaled panther form had a jaw more like a crocodile, and as such, in that shape, he could bring an absolutely incredible amount of force to bear. With the modifier of Predator Strike working in his favor, that degree of pressure went from incredible to astounding. Elijah knew that. He had come to rely on it. And yet, he was still surprised when the elf¡¯s head popped like a grape. The Warden fell, collapsing into a boneless heap atop the troll it had worked so hard to kill. Elijah leaped free, shocked at how easily the elf had died. He¡¯d been gearing up for a long, epic battle where he had to dart back and forth and wear the Warden down. And what he¡¯d gotten was a sudden and somewhat anticlimactic end. Not that he was complaining. And after a few moments, he saw evidence of why the elf had succumbed so quickly when he noticed the dark tendrils tracing a spiderweb of discoloration up what was left of its neck. Clearly, the affliction of Swarm had weakened him. Calamity had contributed as well. Though Elijah had only intended the two spells as distractions, they were obviously more powerful than he¡¯d expected them to be. After letting out a hiss of relief, Elijah embraced Guise of the Unseen once again and turned to see if there were any other threats. He¡¯d already accounted for everyone in the dungeon, but there was nothing to say that they couldn¡¯t get reinforcements from the citadel above. When nothing came for another five minutes, he finally let himself relax. He¡¯d sustained no damage since using Guardian¡¯s Renewal, so he was still in perfect health. Still, he switched back to his caster form and spent some time in meditation so he could regain his spent Ethera. When that was done, he set about looting the ogres as well as the Warden. The ogre guards had very little Elijah could take with him. Their armor and weapons were far too bulky, and they¡¯d carried nothing but a couple of copper Ethereum in their belt pouches. He collected what loot he could, then turned his attention to the elf. Fortunately, the sword fit in his pack, though try as he might, he couldn¡¯t remove the Warden¡¯s armor. It was almost as if it was part of the elf¡¯s body. So, after spending far longer than he probably should have trying to pry it loose, he marked it up as a lost cause. However, he did retrieve another set of keys that he hoped would come in handy going forward. He also looted a pair of silver Ethereum, which he added to his collection. With that, he felt that he was finished with the floor ¨C especially considering that he¡¯d finally accomplished the Task. However, before he advanced and retrieved what he hoped would be a useful reward, he had to take care of something important. The kill energy ¨C or experience, which was a gaming term the people back in Norcastle had used ¨C had pushed him over the edge and into level thirty-five. And with that level, he had finally gotten his first spell in quite some time. As he looked at the resulting notification, he couldn¡¯t help but smile at the achievement. 2-29. Brambles The smell of death and decay hung heavy in the air as Elijah crouched in the cell where he¡¯d defeated the Warden. The corpses of the troll, dark elf, and ogres were a long way from decomposition, but to Elijah, they still smelled of rot. Perhaps that was just his imagination. Or given the things he¡¯d seen in the other cells, maybe not. Either way, he was eager to leave it all behind for more pleasant environs. However, before he could do that, he had a few tasks before him. The first concerned the fact that, by virtue of killing the Warden and the troll he¡¯d temporarily saved, he¡¯d finally reached level thirty-five. And that advancement had come with a host of advantages. As always, he¡¯d gained another point in each of his attributes, enhancing his already-impressive status further past the human standard:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 35
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 36
Dexterity 45 (35)
Constitution 46 (36)
Ethera 44
Regeneration 58 (38)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
Of course, his attributes didn¡¯t tell the full story of his advancement. Due to both One with Nature and his cultivation, his attributes all meant much more than the numbers might suggest. He still wasn¡¯t certain exactly how much those factors affected him, but he knew that it was significant. And if he managed to advance the rest of his cultivation, the gap between his apparent and effective attributes would only grow wider. However, to his annoyance, he still wasn¡¯t entirely sure how to go about furthering his cultivation. He¡¯d tried variations on the methods he¡¯d used to take the first step in each category, but those had so far yielded no results. He supposed he just needed to keep at it, and maybe he would unlock the secret. But in the back of his mind, he hoped that, eventually, Nerthus would be able to tell him more. Or perhaps he could purchase a guide from a more advanced Branch of the World Tree. Either way, he suspected that continuing to progress his cultivation would be a difficult road. If it was easy, then everyone would have done it. And though he couldn¡¯t be certain, he didn¡¯t think anyone in Ironshore had made strides in that department, supporting the notion that it would take more than a few lucky guesses to break through to the next cultivation stages. Still, there was hope. After all, he¡¯d already reached the second stage in the cultivation of his Mind. That was proof that he could do the same with the other components of cultivation. Even so, his attributes were still progressing nicely, especially when he was under the influence of his various enhancements. He shuddered to think of where he would be without them. ¡°Dead,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°I would be dead.¡± Ironically, the enhancement that had probably served him best during battle didn¡¯t even show up in his status. Essence of the Wolf had proven itself a vital component of his toolkit on so many occasions that he knew that, without a shadow of a doubt, he would have died dozens of times over without it. Not only did it increase his movement speed ¨C which was incredibly valuable, as he¡¯d proven in the Primordial Maze as well as many other times since then ¨C but it also gave him an easily understood indicator of when he entered and dropped out of combat. That was precisely the information he needed in order to properly time the use of Guise of the Unseen. For what felt like the thousandth time, he found himself grateful that he¡¯d been granted the druid archetype. Otherwise, there was no way he would have survived even a few weeks on the island, much less everything that had happened since then. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. Two-and-a-half years. At times, it certainly didn¡¯t seem like it had been that long. But at others, it felt like an eternity had passed since he¡¯d been on a plane and dying of cancer. He wasn¡¯t just a different person, now. He felt like an entirely different species. However, it was at times like these that he found himself glancing at the power ladder and wondering about his family. Carmen¡¯s name was still on there, giving him comfort. Sure, he knew that Carmen Rodriguez wasn¡¯t a terribly uncommon name. There were probably thousands of women bearing that moniker. But Elijah knew in his gut that the one on the ladder was his sister-in-law. ¡°Or maybe it¡¯s all just wishful thinking,¡± he acknowledged aloud. After all, he needed to believe that Alyssa and Miguel were okay, and clinging to the notion of Carmen¡¯s survival as an indicator that they were still alive satisfied that need in a way no self-assurance could. It was something tangible that he could point to as evidence, and until he discovered otherwise, he would choose to believe that everyone he loved was still out there living their lives in the transformed world. A pretty fantasy, perhaps, but it was one he needed to believe. Idly, he wondered if they¡¯d thought the same thing when seeing his name. Maybe they¡¯d thrown a party when he¡¯d popped onto the ladder. Or perhaps they hadn¡¯t noticed at all. Surely they had their own problems to deal with, and Elijah was well aware that everyone wouldn¡¯t be quite as obsessed with that ladder as he¡¯d become. Whatever the case, he couldn¡¯t afford to dwell on it. Instead, he had a tower to conquer, and before he did that, he needed to examine his latest spell:
Spell: Shield of Brambles Shelter beneath nature¡¯s embrace, protecting yourself and damaging any who attack you.
The description was a little ambiguous for Elijah¡¯s taste, but he could sense a few things about the spell. First, it was an enhancement not unlike Essence of the Boar or Monkey, meaning that it would take up one of his three slots. That alone soured him on it a little. He liked his extra attributes, and now that he could use all the relevant spells to enhance them, he was loathe to give them up. Second, he could sense that there were two benefits to the spell. For one, it would shield him from some degree of damage. How much was yet to be seen, but any extra protection would be welcome. He hadn¡¯t forgotten how easily that magical sword had slid through his scales, after all. And that had been in his Guardian form, which increased his Constitution by a fair amount. He didn¡¯t want to think about the damage it would have done if he¡¯d been in his human form. So, he couldn¡¯t dismiss the spell altogether, especially when it had a secondary function, which would somehow inflict damage on anyone who attacked him. He had no idea what form that would take or how severely it would injure his attackers, and the only way he was going to find out was to test it. So, without further ado, Elijah cancelled Essence of the Monkey, then cast Shield of Brambles. As he did so, he looked at his arm, and what he saw was simultaneously awe-inspiring as well as troubling. His skin turned slightly green, taking on the texture of bark. At the same time, tiny thorns ¨C maybe a quarter of an inch long ¨C sprouted all over his body. Strangely enough, they positioned themselves atop his clothes, which made for an odd sight. Extending his index finger to one of the thorns, he was disappointed to find that it passed right through the protrusion. But then again, that shouldn¡¯t have been terribly surprising. The spell¡¯s description had specified that it only damaged those who attacked him, so it stood to reason that it would only become material in that event. Which was more than a little frustrating. In a tower, he didn¡¯t have much chance to test a new ability. The margins for error were so thin that he just couldn¡¯t afford to use a suboptimal enhancement. Perhaps that would change. Maybe he would find a good opportunity to find its limitations. But for now, he would keep going with the same approach he¡¯d used since the beginning of the tower. So, he canceled Shield of Brambles, then reapplied Essence of the Monkey. After ensuring that his other enhancements were active, he took the opportunity to explore the rest of the dungeon, paying close attention to the torture room. The giant goblin was exactly where Elijah had last seen it ¨C which was to say that it was hanging from a torture rack ¨C but it had already surrendered to death. The room itself was a grotesquerie of torture equipment. Hooks, knives, and various other tools abounded; there was even something that looked suspiciously like an iron maiden in the corner. Despite the fact that some of the implements had the potential of being somewhat useful, Elijah declined to take them with him. He told himself that they were all too bulky and that they would take up too much room in his pack. But in the back of his mind, he knew the real reason lay in their intended purpose. However, he did find a small chest containing a few gems, a handful of etherium ¨C both copper and silver ¨C and a shiny dagger with a ruby embedded in the pommel. Like the sword he¡¯d taken from the Warden, it felt magical, though Elijah had no idea what form that magic might take. Perhaps he could get one of those tablets that Mari, the Tailor back in Ironshore, had used to inspect his staff. She¡¯d said something about it utilizing her techniques, so he suspected he wouldn¡¯t be able to use it. Either way, he hoped to find someone who could help him out by identifying the weapons he¡¯d looted. Maybe he could even sell them for a decent number of coins. He wasn¡¯t hurting for money or anything, but he¡¯d seen the price of some of those guides. More, he wanted to be in position to buy things he might need in the future, and from his experience, one could never have enough money. That was true in the old world, and he suspected it would be the same moving forward. In any case, he finished his perusal of whatever the torture room had to offer, then left it behind as quickly as possible. Soon enough, he found himself standing before the gate leading up to the citadel above. He had no idea what to expect up there, but he knew it would tax his abilities. So, he took a deep breath, then used one of the keys from the Warden¡¯s keychain to unlock the gate. It swung open with an ominous creak, but as horror movie-esque as the sound was, nothing jumped out at him. Now that the need for thumbs had been obviated, he replaced the keychain in his pack, took his staff in hand, and shifted into the Shape of the Predator. Then, after embracing Guise of the Unseen, he padded forward. The moment he passed through the gate, he felt himself shift slightly. It only lasted an instant, and when it passed, the stairwell beyond the gate looked no different than it had from the other side. Yet, he knew that he¡¯d passed into the next level of the tower. Hammering that home was a simple, silver box that had suddenly appeared before him. Almost as soon as he noticed his reward for defeating the previous floor, a notification flashed before his eyes:
Congratluations! You have completed Level One of Reaver Citadel. Grade: B To progress further, complete the Task before you and reach the Throne Room.
His grade was a little disappointing, especially after he¡¯d gone to such lengths to complete the optional Task. However, when he thought about it, Elijah could guess why he hadn¡¯t gotten full marks. After all, he¡¯d only killed a few of the monsters himself. That had to have counted against him. In any case, he moved on to the next notification that appeared before his inner eye:
Task: Defeat the Five Lieutenants.
That certainly didn¡¯t sound promising. If the five lieutenants were anything like the Warden, he had his work cut out for him. And this time, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d have the benefit of a semi-friendly troll to act as a distraction. Still, he¡¯d gotten this far, and he had to believe he had what it took to conquer the tower. Hopefully, his reward would help with that. So, he quickly shifted back to human form, then bent down and unlatched the small chest. Inside was a simple red strip of cloth.
Reward for completing Level One of Reaver Citadel: Sash of the Whirlwind
Elijah reached in and retrieved the strip of cloth. It was a little more than three feet long, so it could easily wrap it around his slim waist. But when he put it on, tying it in place, he immediately felt the item¡¯s effect. A wide smile spread across his face. He couldn¡¯t deny the utility of his previous rewards. The Ring of Anonymity and the Ring of Aquatic Travel had both served him well enough. Though, by his own admission, the latter had proved far more useful than the former so far. The jury was still out on the Shard of the World Tree he¡¯d given to Nerthus, but given the tree spirit¡¯s reaction, it was probably the most valuable of his rewards. However, based on his initial impressions, the Sash of the Whirlwind would be even more immediately impactful. 2-30. The Wrong End of a Swarm After Elijah tied the Sash of the Whirlwind around his waist, he looked at his status. What he saw was incredible ¨C a boost of three points to both Strength and Dexterity ¨C but what he felt was even more impressive. It was difficult to explain, but he felt faster and more energetic than even that small boost would have suggested. Indeed, the effect was so prominent that he felt almost as if the world was moving just a little bit slower than normal. His Predator and Guardian forms both came with significant attribute boosts, so he knew very well what those felt like. This was something entirely different, and unless he missed his guess, it would prove to be life-altering, at least in terms of his combat ability. Once again, he cursed his inability to inspect his items. Sure, he knew the name, but unlike had been the case with the Ring of Anonymity and the Ring of Aquatic Travel, the label did nothing to hint at its purpose. Even so, if that influx of speed that he felt was any indication, the name still felt appropriate enough. For a few minutes, Elijah practiced moving with the new sash, but he quickly tired of the game. He wouldn¡¯t be able to properly test it until he found some enemies. So, with that in mind, he once again shifted into his scaled panther form and set off up the moldy stairs and into the darkness beyond. With One with Nature, he could feel most of his surroundings, but even so, he kept his every sense trained on his immediate vicinity. Like that, he crested the first flight of stairs and reached a small rectangular platform. There was nothing there, so Elijah quickly mounted the set of stairs leading up and in the direction he¡¯d just come. Soon enough, he found another switchback. Then another until, finally, he reached a thick, wooden door banded with black iron. Stepping close, he tried to extend his senses to the room beyond, but he felt nothing past the door. So, he adopted his human form, then retrieved the Warden¡¯s keyring from where he¡¯d stashed it in his pack. After that, it only took a few tries to find the proper key, which he used to unlock the door. Then, he pushed it open to reveal a dark room filled with crates and barrels. He stepped inside, and the door slammed shut behind him. The moment it did, Elijah felt a thousand presences flare to life around him. One with Nature didn¡¯t tell him much about what they were, but he could feel their long, fat, and furry bodies. More importantly, he sensed that they were aggressive, and that they¡¯d targeted him as their potential prey. Without hesitation, Elijah preemptively cast Healing Rain, then canceled Essence of the Monkey before using Shield of Brambles. Finally, he cast Shape of the Guardian. Shape of the Predator was great for dealing damage, but with the size of the horde bearing down on him, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t avoid taking damage himself. For that, the scaled ape form was far superior. Discarding Essence of the Monkey in favor of Shield of Brambles followed a similar logic. A few extra points of Dexterity weren¡¯t going to help him very much in his current situation, but a little extra mitigation and whatever reflective damage came with the spell would be far more useful. In fact, it was just such an occasion ¨C an onslaught of smaller, numerous enemies ¨C for which he¡¯d preemptively decided to use Shield of Brambles. It was just a twist of fate that it had come so quickly after he¡¯d gotten the spell. Or maybe not. The towers were curated, after all, so there was a good chance that it had somehow noticed the acquisition of the spell and given him a perfect chance to use it. Elijah had no idea, and he was in no position to ponder a question to which he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever get an answer. Even as those thoughts crossed his mind, his transformation into a scaled ape completed, and just in time for him to meet his opponents. The first one launched itself high into the air, clearly with the intention of clawing out his eyes. However, with the seeming time dilation afforded by his new Sash of the Whirlwind, Elijah saw it coming from a mile away. Still, his foresight was only enough to allow him to turn his head before the furry bullet hit him in the side of the head. Elijah¡¯s scales protected him from the thing¡¯s sharp teeth, but the sheer force of its impact sent him stumbling. The rodent ¨C and it was definitely a foot-long rat, bulging with muscle ¨C wasn¡¯t so lucky. The second it hit him, a giant thorn ejected from Elijah¡¯s scales, piercing it through the chest. It only went about an inch deep before breaking off, but that was more than enough to send the little monster to screeching in pain as it fell to the stone floor. A quick but vicious stomp ended that, and he felt the monster¡¯s bones crunching underfoot. He also felt its innards oozing between his talons, but thankfully, he didn¡¯t have any time to think about that before another little rodent hit him. Then another. Dozens came, all at once, but they met the same end as the first. Pierced through by thorns, they all fell to the floor, where Elijah stomped them to death. None of them were particularly dangerous. Not individually. However, that was mostly because they only got one bite in. However, Elijah knew that, without the extra armor provided by Shield of Brambles or his enhanced Constitution, he never could have withstood the onslaught. Even with all of his advantages ¨C and in his scaled ape form, he was almost perfectly suited for that kind of battle ¨C it was still an incredibly painful fight. The rodents were equipped with sharp teeth as well as enhanced strength, so, while they had trouble getting all the way through his scales, their bites were still anything but comfortable. But as always, Elijah endured. The small wounds they did manage to inflict were healed quickly enough by Healing Rain, so he was never in much danger. That would have changed had he been in his human or scaled panther forms, though. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine being ripped to shreds under that barrage of sharp teeth and claws. Even in his guardian form, the fight would have gone very differently if Shield of Brambles hadn¡¯t proved its worth by incapacitating the little beasts. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. By the time he squished the last one underfoot, Elijah had long since lost track of how many he¡¯d killed. Hundreds, surely, though he didn¡¯t think the number exceeded a thousand. Regardless, he slew so many that he actually gained another level, putting him at thirty-six. With that last monster dead, he let his shoulders sag in relief and fatigue. He hadn¡¯t really had to put forth much effort. He wasn¡¯t that tired, either. However, there was just something about being constantly nibbled to death that brought with it an exhaustion all its own. Yet, he couldn¡¯t allow himself to rest for more than a couple of minutes before he moved on, exploring the room in which he¡¯d found himself. Remaining in his scaled ape form, Elijah loped from one end of the room to the other, surmising that it was a cellar of sorts. He did discover that the crates were filled with foodstuffs ¨C mostly moldy bread and bits of dried meat ¨C and the barrels contained some foul-smelling liquid he took to be beer of a sort. He didn¡¯t taste it, though, so he couldn¡¯t be certain. Instead, after shifting back to his human form, he retrieved one of his jugs from his pack and drank deeply before satisfying his hunger by dipping into his own travel rations. They were mostly tasteless, but he did savor one of the berries he¡¯d brought from his grove. After almost two months of travel, he didn¡¯t have many left, so he¡¯d resolved to eat them sparingly. The tart flavor reminded him of home, though, and more than ever, Elijah found himself missing his grove. Certainly, his thirst for adventure hadn¡¯t faded, but he couldn¡¯t deny that he also craved the comforts and safety of home. Once he¡¯d satisfied his hunger and slaked his thirst, Elijah rose from his haunches and headed toward a stairway he¡¯d found during his previous examination of the room. It was short, ending in a pair of doors embedded in the roof, confirming his deduction that he was in a cellar. However, that presented a problem in that he was quite sure that, on the other side of those doors were enemies. And not the sort he could kill as easily as the rat swarm. Mentally preparing himself to respond to any threats, Elijah took a deep breath, then reached out to unlatch the doors before pushing one open. He poked his head out just enough to see the confines of a broad, empty hallway before scrambling through. After slowly letting the door close behind him, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Predator, then adopted Guise of the Unseen before stepping into a deep shadow near the wall. It was just in time, too, because only a few seconds later, he heard the heavy tromp of boots and the clinking sound of metal clashing against metal coming down the hallway. A moment later, another ogre ¨C this one clad in black armor ¨C appeared. He already had his weapon out, but he¡¯d nonchalantly let the massive broadsword rest on his shoulder as he marched down the spacious hall. Elijah didn¡¯t dare move a muscle as he hid in the shadow of what he now recognized as a tall, narrow statue depicting another dark elf. This one had the same elven features that the Warden had possessed, but he wore an imperious scowl. Instinctively, Elijah knew that this elf was likely the final foe he¡¯d have to defeat if he wanted to conquer the tower. First, though, he needed to defeat five lieutenants. To that end, he waited ¨C holding his breath the whole time ¨C as the enormous ogre stomped down the hall. Guise of the Unseen had proven itself hundreds of times, and he trusted the ability implicitly. However, the close proximity of the gargantuan ¨C and deadly ¨C ogre was enough to send his heart to beating out of his chest. Yet the ability remained just as effective as ever, because the ogre never even glanced in his direction. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t relax until it turned a corner and was out of sight for more than thirty seconds. For a few more seconds after that, he remained still as he let his heart rate normalize. When it did, he took another deep, hissing breath, then padded forward on silent feet. Staying low to the ground, he practically slithered to the end of the hall, then peaked around the corner. The coast was clear, so he continued on. As Elijah progressed, he studied his surroundings with a keen eye. The structure itself was much the same as he¡¯d encountered below. Just unadorned stone walls, without much in the way of decoration. However, it was free of the algae that pervaded the sewer and dungeon, which told him that the denizens at least understood the value of cleanliness. Every so often, he¡¯d pass by a tapestry depicting ogres in battle. The style was extremely primitive, but it was easy enough to make out the subjects. Then there were the statues, each one representing the same dark elf. Some had him standing stoic guard, a giant sword with its tip planted into the ground. Others showed him in the middle of battle, sword raised high and with a snarl on his sharp-featured face. It was a not-so-subtle hint of what was to come. Finally, after spending quite some time wandering the halls ¨C and seeing more than a dozen ogre guards along the way ¨C Elijah found an unlocked door. It wasn¡¯t the first he¡¯d encountered, but it was the only one that was occupied. He crept through the door, seeing a tall, gangly man sitting behind a desk with his head in his hands. Elijah slipped around the edge of the room, preparing himself to attack. He used Predator Strike, then Venom Strike for good measure. However, just before he pounced, he noticed the heavy shackles on the man¡¯s ankles. From those iron cuffs stretched a pair of thick chains leashing him to a couple of rings beneath the desk. That¡¯s when Elijah stopped to really study the man. He was bald, and his skin held a waxy sheen. Upon his body were a collection of rags ¨C dirty, dusty, and frayed. But more than anything, Elijah noticed that the man was weeping. He was a prisoner, just like the troll had been. For a moment, Elijah considered attacking anyway, but he discarded that notion as disgusting. The man was clearly human, and the idea of killing an unarmed and helpless man crossed almost all of Elijah¡¯s lines. On top of that, he didn¡¯t sense that the prisoner was very powerful, so he wouldn¡¯t even get much experience for it. So, there was little to gain from killing the man, which gave Elijah two choices. One, he could simply leave the prisoner behind. Or two, he could free the man and use him as a source of information. The former was, on the surface, the smarter option. There were a ton of ways freeing the prisoner could backfire, and Elijah wasn¡¯t so certain of his own strength that he wanted to make the task before him more difficult. However, the second was appealing as well. The possibility of gaining the upper hand through information was enticing, all on its own. Ultimately, though, the decision came down to one thing. Elijah knew that towers were structured very deliberately. The presence of the prisoner was important, and he suspected that freeing the man would prove, if not necessary, then important going forward. That was enough to push Elijah into the second option. So, without further hesitation, Elijah backed away ¨C just out of reach of the man¡¯s chains ¨C then let his predator form fall away. With it went Guise of the Unseen, exposing him completely. However, the prisoner was too engrossed in his own misery to even notice the sudden appearance of another human being. Elijah cast Healing Rain, which encompassed the entire room. Then, even as the first drops fell and the man looked up, he said, ¡°Hello. I¡¯m Elijah. You look like you could use some help.¡± 2-31. The Old Man and the Ogres The prisoner looked up with heavy-lidded eyes, his face creased from advanced age, and locked his gaze onto Elijah. He opened his mouth as if to speak, revealing a mouth devoid of teeth, then let out a rasping cackle that quickly turned into a coughing fit. Elijah¡¯s instincts told him to step in, to offer comfort to the elderly man, but he pushed that urge aside. Looks, he knew, could be deceptive, and he had no idea what capabilities the old prisoner possessed. ¡°Help?¡± the man croaked, disbelief evident in his rough voice. ¡°There is no help. Only the sweet release of death. Will you deliver me, stranger? I am willing. I will not resist.¡± His chains clinked as he held his hands out in submission, but still, Elijah was wary. So, he asked, ¡°Do you know that you¡¯re in a tower?¡± ¡°Tower? No. That is impossible. I remember¡­oh¡­Goddess and her Empire, I remember the Reavers descending upon my village. They took us all. I resisted. I tried to save them. But I was powerless. I lived, even when I should have died. There¡­t-there is no one else left. Just me¡­¡± Elijah considered the cost of the man¡¯s endurance. His ordeal had clearly robbed him of the necessary faculties to see the truth of his circumstances. Briefly, Elijah wondered what that meant for when this fragment of his soul returned to the host ¨C if it ever would ¨C but he couldn¡¯t afford to ponder such things. Every moment he spent without the shelter of Guise of the Unseen was another opportunity for his enemies to find him. So, as much as he wanted to help the old man see the truth, he simply didn¡¯t have the time nor the opportunity. So, he moved on, asking, ¡°Why did they spare you? What do you do in here?¡± The man had already begun to babble about empires, curses, and goddesses, so Elijah had to snap his fingers in front his face before he looked up. When he did, no recognition was apparent on his face. Clearly, the elderly man¡¯s mind was gone. Deciding to use a familiar tactic, Elijah unslung his pack and retrieved a jug of water. He took a drink, then handed it over. ¡°Drink. It¡¯s safe,¡± he prompted. The old man didn¡¯t need any more prodding, and an instant later, he was sputtering under the onslaught of water as he tried to drink too much at once. Yet, the fact that he spilled more than actually went down his throat didn¡¯t seem to deter him one bit. Finally, after emptying the entire jug, the man seemed to remember that Elijah was there, and he narrowed his eyes, asking, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°My name is Elijah.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°I think you know,¡± Elijah guessed. When the old man didn¡¯t offer a response, Elijah went on, ¡°I¡¯m here to kill the lieutenants, and then the Reaver.¡± Once again, the elderly man¡¯s eyes narrowed to slits. Suddenly, he burst into laughter that soon became another coughing fit. This time, Elijah had no trouble ignoring his own helpful nature as the old man muttered, ¡°Kill the Reaver¡­as if¡­ha!¡± ¡°Are you finished? Because if you keep going on like this, the ogres are probably going to come investigate. I¡¯m pretty sure I can take at least a couple of them,¡± Elijah lied. ¡°But you? They¡¯ll smash you to bits. Maybe that¡¯s what you want. I don¡¯t know. But I need your help. A lot of people depend on my success.¡± ¡°I did that once,¡± the man mused. ¡°Tried to take it all on my shoulders. I couldn¡¯t bear the weight. And¡­I¡­I don¡¯t remember much more than that. Isn¡¯t that odd?¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re in a tower.¡± ¡°Not possible. If this were a tower, and you were a challenger, you would not be alone,¡± he said. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe I do things a little differently. It doesn¡¯t matter, though. Look ¨C these ogres imprisoned you, right? They killed people you cared about, didn¡¯t they? Don¡¯t you want revenge?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Then help me,¡± Elijah urgently insisted. ¡°Give me information, and maybe I can make them pay for what they did to you. I could even save you.¡± ¡°I am beyond saving, and there is no possibility of your success. No ¨C better to just give in and beg for a quick death. No suffering.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll risk it. Tell me about the lieutenants.¡± ¡°Monsters, all. Tuk and Tok are mages, masters of fire and ice, and their domains reflect their chosen elements,¡± the old man stated. ¡°Domains? They have domains?¡± That got the prisoner¡¯s attention. ¡°No. The wings of the citadel in which they live and work. Not true Domains. I am surprised you know of such things,¡± he said. ¡°Where did you hear of them?¡± ¡°Here or there,¡± Elijah answered, already filing away the information. ¡°What about the others?¡± It didn¡¯t get any better from there. Now that the old man was talking, he was more than willing to give Elijah all the information he could desire. Each lieutenant commanded a separate wing of the citadel. To the north was Tuk, with his fire. Tok ¨C who was apparently Tuk¡¯s twin brother ¨C commanded frost to the south. Meanwhile, to the east was a dark elf named Tulariel who held dominion over shadow. A high elf named Avasil, who was a master of light, was to the west. Finally, on the next floor up was a domineering ogre who was supposedly the strongest warrior the citadel had to offer. He was known only as the Champion. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. The ogre warrior guarded the way to the Reaver who was almost assuredly the final obstacle to conquering the tower. So, even if Elijah found a way to bypass his Task to slay the other lieutenants, he would still have to defeat the Champion. Once the old man had finished his explanation ¨C which Elijah was convinced was the whole reason he existed within the tower ¨C he said, ¡°Now that I¡¯ve answered your questions, I have a request for you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think the keys I stole will work on those ¨C¡± ¡°Kill me.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Please. Kill me. If it is a tower, then I will be that much closer to having fulfilled my purpose. One day, I will be freed to rejoin myself in the outside world, and I will be all the richer for it. But if it is not a tower, I do not wish to live another day. It is¡­too painful, physically and emotionally. Please¡­I would do it myself, but¡­¡± He pulled the chains taut, showing that he only had a few extra inches of movement. ¡°Why do they keep you here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I translate texts,¡± the man said. ¡°The¡­Reaver is something of a student of the occult. From time to time, she descends from her perch and requests a translation of some obscure text. Yet another reason I must die. Those¡­books, nothing good can come of them. Fel rituals, soul magic, and daemonic pacts. You mustn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Real demons? As in the elder race?¡± He gave a rasping chuckle. ¡°No. Someone like her, as powerful as she is compared to the likes of us, could never command one of the elders,¡± the man said. ¡°She makes pacts with beings from Alta Terra. The Underrealm. They use that pact as a tether to allow them to traverse the World Tree and enter this realm.¡± Elijah told the old man that he didn¡¯t understand. To that, the prisoner simply shook his head and said, ¡°The universe you know, the one in which we live, is called Mortalum. Above is Pruina, the Ice Fortress, Silvara, the Wilderness, and Aesira, also called the Realm of Sky. Below us is Ignis, Nilfara, The Umbra, and the Ethereum. And below even that is the Underrealm, located in the roots of the World Tree. It is there from which the Reaver¡¯s daemons hail. They are alien creatures with fel powers of corruption, and they can only pass into this realm by virtue of an invitation.¡± ¡°The pacts you mentioned,¡± Elijah reasoned. It didn¡¯t take a genius to make that connection. The old man nodded. ¡°You will likely never see the other planes,¡± he said. ¡°Few natives of Mortalum do. To even survive, you must become an Ascendent at the very least, though even then, it is dangerous to the extreme. Not that going to the other planes is ever safe. Even for Demigods.¡± ¡°What about Deities and Transcendents?¡± The man snorted. ¡°What do I know about those lofty existences, hmm?¡± he asked, a little more personality showing through. Was he getting comfortable? Or was it a ruse to get Elijah to do what he wanted? ¡°Probably more than me,¡± Elijah admitted deprecatingly. The old man snorted again, but he didn¡¯t extend the conversation. A few seconds passed before he asked, ¡°So, will you do it?¡± ¡°I¡­¡± Suddenly, Elijah was reminded that it wouldn¡¯t be his first experience with mercy killing. Not only had he done so while hunting with his father throughout his childhood, but more memorably, he¡¯d killed the panther guardian he¡¯d been incapable of saving. More than once, he¡¯d replayed those events in his mind, and he knew precisely how many mistakes he¡¯d made that day. But this was different. He could save the old man. With a few casts of Touch of Nature, Elijah could heal him. Then, he could find some way to free the prisoner from those shackles. He was smart. Resourceful. He could figure it out. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°You can¡¯t free me.¡± ¡°Why? I¡¯ve done ¨C¡± ¡°If you do, I will kill you,¡± the old man said in a low voice. When he looked up and saw Elijah¡¯s puzzled expression, he went on, ¡°Oh ¨C this is not the real me. It is, but these chains, they weaken me. Drain my Ethera until there¡¯s nothing left. Freed, I would recover, and the beast would take over.¡± ¡°What beast?¡± ¡°One of those demons we were talking about,¡± he said. ¡°I was one of her first experiments. Her first sacrifice. She offered me up, and with these chains, I was incapable of resisting. The stupid creature never expected to take over a bound body, though. It was restricted and drained, just as I was. She lets it out from time to time, using it to translate demonic rituals. If it was at full strength, I would not be aware during those periods. But now? I know everything it does. I know how it thinks. I know its cravings as my own. The moment these chains are removed, it will take over, and it will wreak havoc on this entire Citadel. I am already dead. Finishing the job will be a mercy. It cannot survive without me to anchor it to this plane.¡± While listening, Elijah had felt his heart sink. He knew what he had to do. Certainly, the old man could be lying. But it didn¡¯t seem likely. Besides, Elijah kept reminding himself that killing the man wouldn¡¯t be permanent. He was just a sliver of a soul borrowed by the system and thrust into the tower so as to give it authenticity. Or variety. Regardless of the reason, it didn¡¯t really matter. The fact was that there was no good reason for Elijah to refuse the man¡¯s request. And there were plenty of reasons to do it. Except it felt wrong in ways logic and reasoning couldn¡¯t touch. For all his life, Elijah had been told killing another person was wrong. So, even with the mitigating factors of the situation, he couldn¡¯t help but hesitate. Sure, he had killed, and often. All those gnomes, goblins, and dwarves had fallen by his hand, and that wasn¡¯t even considering the things he¡¯d done in the tower. Yet, there was something entirely different about those, and Elijah was at least honest enough with himself to admit that it was based on the fact that they weren¡¯t human. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. When he opened them, he was resolved to do what was necessary. So, he said, ¡°I need you to close your eyes.¡± The old man looked a little surprised at the request, but then nodded, saying, ¡°I understand.¡± When his eyelids fell, Elijah used Shape of the Predator to adopt the scaled panther form. Then, because the old man¡¯s eyes were closed, it only took a few seconds for him to slip out of combat. The moment he did, he let Guise of the Unseen envelop him. Thus cloaked in the stealth ability, he activated Predator Strike. He padded into position, his feet silent. The old man clearly didn¡¯t hear him. He had no idea what was coming. Once Elijah was behind the man, he cocked his claw back, then swiped across the old prisoner¡¯s neck. The blow, which was augmented by Predator Strike, hit so swiftly and with such force that it decapitated the old man. Even as the prisoner¡¯s head fell free, Elijah felt a tiny trickle of experience, telling him that the man was dead. He let out a reptilian sigh, then noticed that the shackles had unlatched the moment the man died. Seeing that, Elijah wasted no time before gathering the chains, then shifting back to his human form so he could stow them away in his pack. With that done, he waited a few moments to let his Ethera regenerate, then shifted back into his scaled panther form before once again adopting the Guise of the Unseen. Without another look back, he padded out into the hall and continued on his way. Still, even if he didn¡¯t look back, he would never forget the sight of that old man¡¯s headless body. 2-32. A Mercenary Mindset Roman stood on the balcony, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared at the horizon. Below him, the city of Easton spread out for more than a mile. The old wall had been dismantled, and the area surrounding his palace ¨C the former police station ¨C had been meticulously redesigned. The Architects, Builders, and Sculptors had only had time to implement the new plans in an area of about two square blocks, but they covered more ground by the day. ¡°It truly is amazing how quickly people can work with these new classes,¡± he remarked, careful to measure his words. With his position, he needed to maintain a certain aura of authority, and speaking like a small-town police chief was no longer appropriate. Instead, he struggled to channel a more imperious personality ¨C even when he wasn¡¯t in public. He turned to Fiona, the Mage who had become his closest advisor, and asked, ¡°How long until they complete the Royal District?¡± The mousey woman¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as she answered, ¡°Victor claims that it will be complete at the end of next month.¡± ¡°And the new wall?¡± asked Roman, squinting into the distance. The wall in question was located two miles away, but even from such a distance, it wasn¡¯t difficult to see. Roman had approved the plans himself, but it was still hard to believe such a thing was possible. Little more than the foundations had been completed, but when the wall was finished, it would stretch almost three-hundred feet into the air and encircle the entire city. Even the outskirts. ¡°That will take longer,¡± Fiona answered. ¡°Six months. Perhaps a year.¡± ¡°Unacceptable.¡± Fiona said, ¡°We¡¯re pushing them, but the Arcane Researchers all agree that ¨C¡± Roman¡¯s glare was enough to send her sputtering to make excuses, and each one angered him even more. His knuckles whitened as his fists tightened, but he refused to shout. He was better than that. He needed to be steady. Strong. Immovable. Otherwise, he couldn¡¯t be a proper leader. So, he listened as Fiona haltingly explained how the complexity of the wall¡¯s intended enchantments were slowing down its construction. The true issue was that he was dependent on a bunch of Scholars. Ever since Earth had felt the touch of the World Tree, their mere existence had been a thorn in his side. In the beginning, his annoyance with their archetype choice was born of simple practicality. When they lived in a world where every day was a struggle to survive, fighters and crafters were exponentially more useful than someone whose skills began and ended with the ability to remember things really well. That was an intentional oversimplification, but the fact remained that Roman regarded anyone who chose the path of a Scholar as, at best, selfish. At worst, they were cowards. Most of them were idealistic idiots who refused to accept that the world had irrevocably changed and that their priorities should shift as well. Even if it was uncomfortable. Even if it meant they¡¯d have to do the sorts of things they often regarded as barbaric or beneath them. Of course, Roman was no idiot. He understood the value such people could bring to a society. However, he also knew that, when food and security were in such short supply, Scholars and Researchers were a luxury they couldn¡¯t afford to indulge. So, he¡¯d made a lot of difficult choices. He¡¯d indirectly killed thousands by refusing Scholars entry into Easton. Each one of those deaths weighed heavily on his shoulders, but that was what leadership often was ¨C choosing between a collection of terrible options. And now, the price of those choices had come due. It had been months since he¡¯d rescinded the moratorium on allowing new arrivals with Scholar archetypes into the city, and though the population of dedicated academics had grown significantly, few exceptional people had emerged. Some of his advisors had pointed out that some of that was due to the city¡¯s reputation. The world was disjointed and disconnected, but there was enough trade between Easton and a few other towns and cities that word of their discriminatory practices against Scholars had spread. Because of that, very few of those people even tried to enter the city anymore, opting for more accepting environments. As a result, Easton¡¯s advancement had suffered, though Roman had some ideas on how to solve that problem. He only needed a little more time before he could implement those plans. In the meantime, they were forced to work with the tools they had on hand, which meant that development on a project like the wall was slow. Still, Roman hoped it would be worth it, especially considering the resources they¡¯d put into it. He¡¯d lost count of how many Ethereum they¡¯d spent ¨C not to mention the physical cost of all the labor that had gone into it ¨C to get even this far. And the price would only become more exorbitant before the project was completed. ¡°It will be worth it, sir,¡± said Fiona. She was his right-hand woman, and as such, she knew him better than anyone else in Easton. Especially since Alyssa had met with her unavoidable fate. ¡°When the wall is finished, we won¡¯t have to worry about spontaneous Voxx manifestations anymore. Not to mention that it will keep out the monsters.¡± Indeed, even though the second was the traditional purpose of a wall ¨C especially one as formidable as what they were building ¨Cthe first benefit was the most important. Every week, Roman read reports about those spontaneous manifestations. Voxxian monsters suddenly appearing in people¡¯s homes, in businesses, and even in public squares. The city¡¯s guardsmen dealt with them as quickly as possible, but rare was the instance where one of the Voxx was killed without taking at least a couple of citizens with it. ¡°I know. That¡¯s why I greenlit the project,¡± he said, turning away. Then, he looked at his watch and asked, ¡°Where is he? He should be here by now.¡± ¡°I am,¡± came a voice from nearby. The moment the sound hit Roman¡¯s ear, he had his sword out of the sheath at his waist and three temporary enhancements singing through his body as the weapon sliced through the air. With supernatural control, he halted the blade¡¯s path as it touched Trace¡¯s throat. The Outlaw didn¡¯t flinch. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. He knew Roman well enough to trust the Assassin¡¯s control. Roman rewarded that trust by only nicking the man¡¯s neck. It was a testament to Roman¡¯s passive ability, Sharpened Blade, that even that was possible, given Trace¡¯s level and Constitution. The man¡¯s Outlaw class was more well-rounded than most, which meant that he could fill a wide variety of roles, though with a trend toward stealth and utility. That meant that, even though he wasn¡¯t overpowering, he was dangerous in almost every situation. He¡¯d proven that on many occasions, and if Roman had his way, he¡¯d continue to do so in service of Easton¡¯s best interests. ¡°Not the welcome I expected,¡± the man said, an air of nonchalance lacing his voice as he pushed the blade away with one finger. He ran that same finger across the tiny cut on his neck, wiping the blood away. Notably, the nick healed only a second later ¨C some ability at work, Roman knew ¨C and Trace grinned as he added, ¡°I thought we were friends.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve told you not to sneak up on me,¡± Roman responded. ¡°If you continue to flout my instructions, you might end up having an accident.¡± Trace chuckled. ¡°So you keep saying. But then, you keep coming back to me. Some people might consider our relationship a little toxic,¡± he said. ¡°Far be it from me to make that kind of judgement, though.¡± Roman sheathed his sword a bit more forcefully than he otherwise might have. It was a high-quality weapon ¨C one of the best available in Easton ¨C but it was still only Crude. None of the other weaponsmiths in the city had managed to repeat Carmen¡¯s feat of creating a Simple-Grade item. It wasn¡¯t for lack of trying, either. The highest-leveled of the bunch didn¡¯t have Carmen¡¯s knack, and the ones who had the knack had yet to attain the necessary techniques. And the couple who had both were lazy, unmotivated, or lacked follow-through. It was a good reminder that, by definition, most people were mediocre. Even in a world full of magic and wonder, that would remain true. That, more than anything, made him regret sending Carmen away. However, he knew that she was a ticking time bomb that, if she remained in Easton, would eventually explode. It was only a matter of time before she discovered the truth of what had happened in that tower. He¡¯d taken steps to mitigate the chances that someone would let the cat out of the bag, but Carmen was far too intelligent to ignore the obvious explanation for how Alyssa had died. All it would take would be a stray thought before her suspicions would begin to mount. From there, she¡¯d put it all together. Roman was certain of it. So, he¡¯d pushed her away from the city in the hopes that the distraction of running the mine would keep her from figuring things out, at least until he was ready to do what was necessary to deal with her. It would have been easier to simply kill her and everyone else who¡¯d been there. However, he hadn¡¯t quite reached the point where he¡¯d resort to wanton murder to solve all his problems. Alyssa¡¯s death had been necessary. She was too popular. People had already begun to rally behind her. And it was inevitable that, sooner rather than later, they would decide that she¡¯d make for a better leader than Roman. Never mind that he was the only reason Easton had survived. He¡¯d made all the unpopular choices. He had owned the sacrifices necessary for the city to make it through the events that had killed so many others. Without him, people would have starved. Without him making the hard choices, they would have been incapable of defending themselves. They¡¯d have been weighed down by individual freedoms and freeloaders, and they¡¯d have met a similar fate as dozens of other prospective settlements. By comparison, Alyssa had set herself up as the hero. The person who leaped into battle, putting her own safety at risk to ensure the survival of others. She was the knight in shining armor who never had to make any of the unpopular choices. It would¡¯ve been so much easier if she¡¯d done so out of a desire to undermine him. But Roman knew that wasn¡¯t the case. She¡¯d simply acted according to her nature, and she¡¯d never even realized that, whether she wanted it or not, she had set herself against him ¨C at least in the eyes of the people. The fact that she had often ¨C and publicly ¨C disagreed with him made the entire situation untenable. But if Roman was honest with himself, he knew that at least part of his decision to remove her was based on her failure to protect Trish. Because of Alyssa, his wife was gone, and even more than a year later, he still felt the loss so keenly that, when he was alone, his grief sometimes sent him spiraling into a level of depression he couldn¡¯t afford to let anyone else see. Roman bore some responsibility as well. He should have insisted that Trish stay behind. Up until that point, he¡¯d sheltered her as closely as he was able. However, she¡¯d been adamant that she be allowed to do her part, and he had finally acquiesced to her demands. Largely, that decision was based on his trust in Alyssa. She would protect his wife. He¡¯d been so certain of it. And yet, Trish had died, setting Roman on a path that had ended with him ordering the death of his closest friend. His only friend, really. There were plenty of sycophants like Fiona, all scrambling for his approval in a selfish quest for more power and authority. He recognized them for what they were, but he also saw the benefits they could bring. So, he tolerated them. However, none could replace Alyssa, who¡¯d always spoken her mind, even when it put her at odds with him. There was value in that, but it also set a dangerous precedent. Opposition could not be allowed. Not yet. If they were divided, the city would fall. Roman knew that as surely as he¡¯d ever known anything. Which brought him to why he¡¯d summoned Trace to the palace. The man was uniquely qualified to do the job Roman had in mind. ¡°I have a proposal for you,¡± he said. ¡°No offense, chief, but I¡¯m not looking to get married,¡± Trace said with the same crooked grin he almost always bore. ¡°Nothing against you. You¡¯re great. Very handsome. I¡¯m just not interested in that kind of ¨C¡± ¡°Take this seriously,¡± Roman interrupted. ¡°The world ended. Magic and monsters exist. If you¡¯re taking this seriously, you¡¯re doing it wrong.¡± Roman¡¯s grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, the threat of which Trace did not miss. He held up his hands, saying, ¡°Fine. Putting on my serious face. What¡¯s up? What do you have for me?¡± ¡°Like I said ¨C a proposal. An opportunity. I want you to head up a new division of the government,¡± Roman said. ¡°Your focus will be information gathering and, if necessary, quiet removal of threats to the common good.¡± The decision had not been lightly made, but Roman felt confident that he¡¯d made the right choice. Not only did Trace¡¯s class suit the role perfectly, but he also had a certain moral flexibility that would almost assuredly prove necessary. Couple that with his connections throughout the city ¨C the man seemed to know every low-life in Easton ¨C and he became the clear choice. ¡°That sounds an awful lot like a secret police, chief,¡± Trace said. ¡°Not a great track record for those, historically speaking.¡± Roman didn¡¯t dispute that. ¡°I will give you resources,¡± he stated. ¡°You will have top-tier equipment. Good people. Advancement opportunities. And, of course, you will be well-compensated.¡± Trace grinned. ¡°You had me at well-compensated.¡± ¡°That is literally the last thing he said,¡± Fiona pointed out, her first contribution to the conversation. ¡°And the only thing that mattered,¡± Trace pointed out. ¡°Look ¨C I¡¯m a simple man. Pay me what I¡¯m worth, and I¡¯ll do whatever job you¡¯ve got in mind.¡± ¡°A true mercenary,¡± Fiona said. ¡°Don¡¯t you have any civic pride? Don¡¯t you care about the greater good.¡± ¡°If the money¡¯s right, sure. I care about all sorts of things if you pay me enough.¡± ¡°Disgusting.¡± ¡°Practical.¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Roman said before the two could further their argument. Then, to Trace, he asked, ¡°You¡¯ll take the job?¡± ¡°I will. And I promise I¡¯ll root out all the bad apples. Every last one,¡± Trace said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s talk more about my compensation. I assume there¡¯s a bonus for every traitor I find¡­¡± 2-33. Putting in the Work As Elijah slipped from one shadow to the next, every exhale brought with it a cloud of mist. The temperature had been falling for a while, and with every step, it had grown ever colder until frost decorated the rough columns on either side of the hall. He glanced up at the vaulted ceilings that had become common in this wing of the citadel, and he saw that small icicles had formed. In addition, when he saw one of the armor-clad ogre guards tromping down the hall, he noticed that the giant creature had donned a fur-lined cloak and heavy gloves. Elijah felt none of the cold, though. The moment the temperature had begun to drop, he¡¯d found an abandoned room where he¡¯d shifted into his human form and replaced Essence of the Monkey with Ward of the Seasons.
Spell: Ward of the Seasons Harness the power of the seasons, increasing resistance to elemental damage (Water, Earth, Fire, Air).
The effects were immediate, shielding him from the increasingly frigid temperatures and confirming what he¡¯d already suspected. The frigid cold was magical in nature, so the enhancement had worked as an effective counter. That boded well for what he knew he would have to do in order to conquer the tower. Still, Elijah needed to scout things out before he made any firm plans. So, he continued on his way, noting the patrol path of the guards along the way. They were pretty well spaced out, which was a great sign, but he didn¡¯t want to act upon the strategy slowly forming in his mind. For now, he was only gathering information. Gradually, he passed through the halls. Every now and then, he would find branches, and he dedicated one facet of his Quartz Mind to keeping track of the layout as he explored the wing. And over time, Elijah noted the pattern, which roughly resembled a series of concentric hexagons with a circular chamber at the center. Each layer was connected by five larger halls that spread out from the center like spokes of a wheel. Elijah couldn¡¯t enter the room itself, as it was blocked by a thin sheet of ice. He could break through, but doing so would assuredly draw the attention of the large shape ¨C presumably, the ice ogre, Tuk ¨C he could just barely make out on the other side. He also noted that the ambient Ethera had grown much thicker as he¡¯d drawn closer to the creature¡¯s icy domain. In any case, he couldn¡¯t see how to get to the lieutenant without garnering the attention of every ogre in the wing, so he quickly retreated. Elijah remained in that wing long enough to completely map the layout and the pattern of the guards¡¯ patrols before he left it behind and headed to the northern section of the citadel. There, he found that the corridors followed a similar pattern, though instead of increasing cold, the temperatures quickly rose to sweltering levels. And when Elijah finally reached the lieutenant¡¯s chamber, the heat became visible, and the floor beneath his feet grew uncomfortably hot. And given the protection afforded by Ward of the Seasons, that was saying something. Without it, he felt positive that it would¡¯ve been hot enough to blister, even with his enhanced Constitution. However, just like had been the case with the Tuk¡¯s domain, visibility into Tok¡¯s chamber was blocked. This time, though, instead of a sheet of ice, a wall of fire obscured his vision. Fortunately, the layout of the wing was identical the one dedicated to ice, so once Elijah confirmed that, he focused his attention on other things. The guards in the area had eschewed their armor completely, and they wore similar outfits ¨C if a loincloth qualified for that label ¨C as the more rotund jailers back in the dungeon. However, even without the protection the black iron armor provided, they were still formidable foes. Each one was slick with sweat and obviously miserable, though the fact that they weren¡¯t burned, even when they passed by the central chamber, was a testament to their inflated Constitution attribute. In any case, Elijah noted their patrol paths, then retreated to the milder environment surrounding the old prisoner¡¯s corpse. Once there, he commenced planning. The first obstacle was obviously the guards, and each one represented a potentially deadly battle. The troll had struggled with the ones down in the dungeon, but Elijah expected that that was largely due to the fact that it had been outnumbered. So, he reckoned that if he could get each of the guards alone, it would give him the best opportunity to defeat them. And given that there were twelve such guards in each of the two wings ¨C along with five patrolling his current location ¨C that strategy was probably going to be a lot trickier than it might seem at first glance. Each wing was an expansive maze of corridors, but they weren¡¯t so spread out that he could fight a battle without getting the attention of that area¡¯s guards. After giving the problem some thought, Elijah came up with a plan he thought would work. However, the viability depended on the relative intelligence of the ogres. If they were smart, there was no chance of it working. But if they were as dim as his experiences had led him to believe, then he had a chance. Without any other options ¨C that he could think of, at least ¨C Elijah retreated to the cellar, where he took a few minutes to renew the appropriate enhancements before preemptively casting Healing Rain, regenerating his Ethera, and then shifting back into his scaled panther form. After applying Guise of the Unseen, he climbed the steps and positioned himself just outside the cellar. Once there, he crouched in one of the shadows and waited for his first victim. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t much of a delay before the steady clink of armor and the heavy clomp of ogre footsteps announced the imminent arrival of one of the patrolling guards. Soon enough, the hulking creature stepped into view, but Elijah remained completely stationary as he waited on his victim to arrive at the appropriate location. One weighty stomp came after another until, at last, the monster drew even with Elijah¡¯s position. That¡¯s when he activated Venom Strike and Predator Strike before he pounced, savaging the unsuspecting ogre¡¯s right knee. His claws bit deep between armor plates, ripping through meat and ligaments. The guard let out a shout of surprise and tried to wheel around and bring its massive cudgel to bear. By that point, though, Elijah had already darted into the cellar. He didn¡¯t descend the steps, though. Instead, he let out a low growl, just loud enough for the ogre to hear. As he crouched there, he knew that he¡¯d reached the moment of truth. If the ogre was smart, he would seek help. If he was as dumb as Elijah hoped, then the guard would follow the trail Elijah had left. He had plans for both scenarios, but he certainly preferred the latter. When it came to enemies, dumb was always better than smart. For a moment, the ogre seemed confused, but then he realized where the growl had originated. Once he did, he wasted no more time before pursuing Elijah into the cellar. Unfortunately, the wound on its leg wasn¡¯t nearly as debilitating as Elijah had hoped, so he was caught by surprise by the ogre¡¯s rapid arrival. Still, the time dilation effect of his Sash of the Whirlwind came in handy, allowing him to move just quickly enough to avoid the charging ogre. Even as Elijah bounded away, it became clear that the ogre hadn¡¯t counted on the presence of steps. Overbalanced, the guard couldn¡¯t halt his momentum before clattering down the stairs and into the cellar. That¡¯s when Elijah pounced again, clawing and biting a handful of times in quick succession. He didn¡¯t care about doing immediate damage. Instead, he wanted to build up instances of Contagion. For that, fast, shallow cuts were the best. And given his advantages ¨C high Strength and Dexterity, coupled with the effects of his Sash of the Whirlwind ¨C he was capable of moving extremely quickly. Even so, he very nearly pushed his luck too far, and he was forced to narrowly dodge the recovering ogre¡¯s backhanded blow. Elijah raced away, shifting into his caster form before renewing Healing Rain. It drained only a tiny bit of Ethera, but with the extra potency provided by his Dragon Core, it could potentially save his life. So, he preferred to keep it active during every fight he could. Once that was done, he turned his attention to the ogre and saw that he¡¯d nearly recovered his feet. Elijah pushed Ethera from his Core, through his Soul, and into Snaring Roots. Thick vines erupted from the ground, tangling the ogre¡¯s massive feet. It tried to rip free, and it succeeded in tearing through the first wave of roots. However, they were quickly replaced by more. But even as one facet of his Quartz Mind kept an eye on his enemy, Elijah was pushing more Ethera into another spell. Leveling his staff at the ogre, he let loose with Swarm, manifesting hundreds of biting flies that descended upon the ogre. The creature¡¯s armor offered little protection against the tiny insects, and soon enough, they slipped beneath the plates and delivered their afflictions. The ogre bellowed, slapping his meaty hands against his own body in an attempt to smash the little bugs. He got quite a few of them, too. Yet, there were plenty that survived to get the job done. As the ogre unsuccessfully attempted to deal with the insects, Elijah cast another spell. His Ethera was getting low, so he didn¡¯t use Calamity or Storm¡¯s Fury. Instead, he used Shape of the Guardian to shift into the scaled ape form, then launched himself at the distracted ogre. He crashed into the monster in a vicious shoulder tackle before pummeling the prone creature with his fists. Between blows, he snapped out with his powerful jaws, and the sound of rending metal filled the air. It did little good, but Elijah was playing the long game. More evidence of that manifested when the ogre tried to fight back, clawing and punching, but each attack only resulted in painful thorns being embedded in his hands. Elijah kept up the pressure, knowing good and well that if he let the ogre recover ¨C even for a second ¨C it would spell his doom. So, he continued to punch, bite, and kick ¨C each attack buoyed by his immense Strength. Still, it wasn¡¯t until the combined effects of Contagion, Venom Strike, and Swarm had taken hold that Elijah truly started to win the battle. The ogre¡¯s resistance weakened, and its bellowing cries turned into pained moans. And still, Elijah kept on. He didn¡¯t grow any stronger as the fight went on, but with the ogre¡¯s power being sapped by various afflictions, it certainly seemed like it. Finally, after a few minutes that felt like hours, Elijah finished the creature off with a mighty bite that crushed the ogre¡¯s skull. That didn¡¯t kill it. The ogre was too durable for that. But its body went mostly limp, save for a series of uncontrolled spasms. Elijah lashed out again, and he felt more bones crunch beneath the might of his jaws. Still, he didn¡¯t feel an influx of kill energy, so he attacked again. And again after that. In all, it took five more bites before the skull completely shattered like a melon. Finally, a flood of experience washed over him, and he let himself relax as he backed away. The fight had gone almost perfectly, and he had managed to keep the pressure up the entire time. The ogre had never had a chance to regain his balance. Still, it had taken far more damage to put it down than he¡¯d ever expected. But he¡¯d done it. That was all that mattered. Now, though, he needed to repeat the process. So, after taking a few minutes to drag the body out of the way ¨C looting a pouch containing a couple of copper ethereum along the way ¨C he settled down to recover his Ethera and center his mind. A little less than an hour later, he headed out to repeat the process. His next victim went down a little easier, though he took a bit of damage because he stayed in predator form a little too long. Still, the few broken ribs he¡¯d sustained when the ogre caught him with a wild kick were nothing that a little Healing Rain couldn¡¯t mend. However, the third ogre very nearly killed him. Elijah didn¡¯t know if it was just a higher level than the others or some other facet he¡¯d overlooked, but it endured his initial barrage without flinching. Then, it ripped through the entanglement of Snaring Roots before Elijah had even finished casting Swarm. So, he¡¯d been forced to dodge while in caster form ¨C a losing strategy if ever there was one. Predictably, he¡¯d taken a hit, but fortunately, because he¡¯d had an entire facet of his Quartz Mind focused on casting Swarm, he managed to complete the spell as he flew across the cellar and hit a cluster of barrels with bone crushing force. If Elijah hadn¡¯t had Shape of the Guardian ready with another facet of his mind, he would have died then and there. However, as it happened, he managed to shift into a scaled ape just in time to meet the ogre¡¯s charge. It still wasn¡¯t ideal, but after that, the stacked afflictions combined with Shield of Brambles and the enhancements of his durable form was enough to tip the balance in his favor. Even so, it was a long, hard-fought battle that pushed him to his limits. Afterwards, he was forced to spend nearly ten hours healing himself before he was ready for the fourth battle. That went much better ¨C in nearly perfect mimicry of the first fight ¨C and Elijah finished it off without issue. A couple of hours later, he managed to kill the sixth and final ogre guard in the area. Doing so pushed him to level thirty-seven, which, on the surface, wasn¡¯t nearly as beneficial as it might¡¯ve once been. However, it put him one step closer to gaining a new ability, which was what he truly considered important at the moment. Even more importantly, killing that sixth ogre meant that he could now focus on clearing the wings to the north and south. So, once he¡¯d healed from the final battle, he took a few minutes to eat and drink before setting off toward the fire wing. Hopefully, things would continue to go his way. 2-34. That Burning Sensation The first time Elijah attacked one of the ogre guards in the fire wing, he got quite a surprise when it summoned a fireball and tossed it in his direction. Fortunately, he¡¯d kept one facet of his Mind focused on the monster, so he narrowly managed to leap aside before the ball of flame swallowed him. Still, it represented a serious deviation from what he¡¯d found clearing the first half-dozen guards. Regardless, the addition of spellcasting ability didn¡¯t change his general strategy, so, even as his scales smoked from the near miss, he raced through the corridors to his carefully chosen battleground. He reached it after only half a minute, barreling through the door and slipping to the side just in time to avoid yet another arcing fireball. It splashed against the far wall as Elijah shifted into his human form and cocked back his staff. The moment he caught a hint of the ogre passing through the doorway, Elijah swung his weapon with all the might he could muster. It cracked against the guard¡¯s kneecaps hard enough that it would have shattered a lesser staff. However, the Staff of Natural Harmony was a Simple Grade item, and so it was unnaturally durable. Still, to Elijah, it felt like he¡¯d just hit a brick wall, and the impact sent incredibly painful vibrations through his hands and up his forearms. But the tactic proved its viability when the ogre lost his balance and stumbled through door. Already off-balance, the guard couldn¡¯t mitigate the effect of Elijah¡¯s next attack, which came via a blow across the creature¡¯s broad back that sent it into an even more exaggerated stumble. That, in turn, ended with the guard falling flat on its face. Its momentum took it all the way to the far wall. Elijah leveled his staff at the monster, then cast Snaring Roots. The resulting eruption of vegetation wrapped around the ogre¡¯s entire body, encasing it in a cocoon of thorny vines. That was far more effective than if the creature had remained upright, because it robbed the ogre of any leverage. Even so, Elijah knew it would only last a few seconds, so he acted quickly, casting Swarm, then Healing Rain in quick succession. He¡¯d shunted the pain from his burning scales into its own facet of his mind, so it didn¡¯t affect his cognitive abilities. However, he was still very much aware of it, so he was even more cognizant of the soothing precipitation that healed the damage. Elijah got his next surprise when he saw that Swarm hadn¡¯t summoned the biting flies it had in the previous area. Instead, it had manifested hundreds of glowing orange spiders, each one emitting visible heat. They descended upon the prone ogre, their obviously painful bites sending its struggles to a new level of panic. But Elijah barely noticed it. Instead, he was already shifting into the Shape of the Guardian. The transformation only took a second, but to his impatient mind, it was still too long. In the previous area, he¡¯d come to enjoy the sense of power he felt in the scaled ape form, so he was eager to resume that mighty shape. The moment he felt his body complete its transformation, he loped forward, covering the ground in a couple of hopping steps before he descended upon the panicked and diseased ogre. However, the moment he reached the creature, he got his second shock when the guard erupted into flames hot enough to burn the vines to ash. Fortunately, the swarm of spiders were clearly resistant to the fire, because they were entirely unaffected. Unfortunately, Elijah was very much affected as the flames hit him like an exploding bomb. Even with Ward of the Seasons active, his scales proved to be little protection against the eruption of fire. All along his front, they melted, but his exposure was blessedly brief as he was quickly tossed backward by a shockwave that sent him on a collision course with the wall on the other side of the room. He hit with bone-crunching force, but his body held up surprisingly well to the blunt force impact. Still, when the back of his head hit the stone wall, he saw stars. Whether it was due to his high Constitution or the ongoing effects of Healing Rain, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure, but he recovered quickly and picked himself up just in time to see the flaming ogre do the same. It bellowed a challenge, slapping its chest with one fist. Then, it gave its bald head the same treatment, reminding Elijah of some of the more unhinged boxers he¡¯d seen during his years participating in the sport. Then it charged, once again taking Elijah by surprise, this time with how quickly it moved. But with the extra time afforded by the Sash of the Whirlwind, Elijah quickly got over his shock and reacted by dodging to the side. The ogre was afflicted with the same issues that affected Elijah when he was under the influence of Shape of the Guardian in that it had plenty of Strength to propel it forward at incredible speed but lacked the Dexterity to control that power, meaning that he had no chance of changing direction. Or stopping. He hit the wall head-first, knocking himself for a loop. He bounced back, then stumbled, shaking its head. That¡¯s when Elijah leaped forward, his claws lashing out with all the power he could muster. Fire licked at him as his short, stubby claws gouged into the guard¡¯s bare chest. Ward of the Seasons protected Elijah, though, allowing him to continue his attacks against the off-balance creature. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Once. Twice. Then three times. Each attack dug deeper into the ogre¡¯s flesh until Elijah felt bone. However, it was at that point that the guard regained his wits and, with extreme and explosive speed, he punched out. His meaty fist took Elijah in the stomach with an uppercut that launched him toward the ceiling. In the air, he lacked leverage to affect his own movement, so he could do nothing about his fall toward the ogre¡¯s follow-up attack that collided with his toothy snout. Once again, Elijah was sent flying across the room, stopping only when he collided with the wall with even more force than his first meeting with the barrier. His breath left his lungs in a rush, and it felt like iron bands wrapped around his chest. Fortunately, Healing Rain persisted, soothing his injuries just enough to let him quickly regain his faculties. When he did, he saw something that gave him hope. The ogre was clearly stronger than the guards he¡¯d previously fought. Probably due to that fiery corona surrounding its body. However, Elijah could also see that the ability was a double-edged sword. Blisters had already begun to spread across the ogre¡¯s bare skin, and they were worsening by the second. That meant that Elijah only had to endure. That, in turn, meant that he was in for a painful run. Yet, he didn¡¯t shy away. If he could deal with being eaten alive by an orca¡¯s stomach acid, then he could take whatever the fire ogres could dish out. In theory. In practice, the next few minutes were an exercise in torture as he and the ogre went back and forth. Elijah got in a few hits here and there, but most of the work was done by the still ongoing afflictions as well as the fire that was the origin of the guard¡¯s explosive power. Without any of his advantages ¨C whether it was Ward of the Seasons, his enhancements, or his inflated Constitution ¨C Elijah would have fallen prey to the ogre¡¯s attacks. However, they proved just enough to endure the worst of it until, gradually, the guard wore down. As he did, Elijah¡¯s blows landed a little more often until he felt like he was fighting a one-sided battle. Still, every time he drew close to the ogre, his body erupted into fiery agony. So, by the time he finally downed the monster, he was drowning in so much pain that he could barely think straight. Still, every second that passed after the ogre¡¯s flames winked out, he was healed a little more by Healing Rain. That, along with his Quartz Mind, allowed him to drag himself out of that painful abyss. When he did, he shifted back to his human form and started casting Touch of Nature. It took a few hours for him to return to normal, but he didn¡¯t immediately set off to pull another ogre to his chosen killing field. Instead, he took quite some time trying to center himself. In theory, enduring pain was just about willpower, but every person had limits. Eventually, enough agony would break anyone, and despite the fact that he¡¯d progressed past human limitations, Elijah was no different. But that wasn¡¯t necessarily true, either. By all rights, he should have been riddled with post-traumatic stress, and yet, once he¡¯d recovered, his mind just skated away from all the worst parts of his ordeal. It had been the same with his time in the first tower, which had been incredibly taxing on his psyche. Now, though, he almost looked back on it with fondness. Not the part where he¡¯d been eaten alive by a mutant orca. Or when he¡¯d almost lost himself to his feral side. Or when he¡¯d had a chunk of his side eaten by a giant snapping turtle. Or dozens of other life-or-death situations. When he looked at it like that, he should have been a mess. And yet, he didn¡¯t feel wracked with anxiety. In fact, even now, only a couple of hours after enduring the fire ogre¡¯s attacks, he felt positively optimistic. Clearly, there was something else at play, but he had no idea what that might be. Nor was Elijah terribly concerned with something that seemed helpful. He couldn¡¯t afford to deal with the psychological effects of his adventures, so it was probably better that something ¨C probably the system or the cultivation of his Mind and Soul ¨C had dulled it. In any case, once Elijah had recovered ¨C mentally and physically ¨C he embarked on a painful and necessary quest to exterminate the fire ogres. The second was just as difficult as the first, but over time, he developed a viable strategy. It was a little more dangerous, but he found that using his caster form a little more generously made things much less painful. So long as he continuously cast Snaring Roots, weaving Storm¡¯s Fury in, he could remain mostly out of range of the ogres¡¯ flames. Of course, he still made mistakes, and there were plenty of close calls. After those fights, he ended up looking a bit like Freddy Krueger. Fortunately, his healing spells kept him from scarring, but he did lose most of his hair. More distressingly, he once again ended up naked when his outfit caught fire and burned to crisp. After that, he stashed his pack in another room before resuming his quest in the nude. After all, he could easily repair his body. His expensive clothes were another story altogether. By the halfway point, Elijah was more than ready to move on. At first, the pain he¡¯d been forced to endure was counterbalanced by the struggle. However, as it had gotten easier, the process had become an unexciting slog. Or as unexciting as being burned alive ever could be, he reasoned. Still, he had no choice but to finish it off, and for two reasons. First, he didn¡¯t dare fight the lieutenants while any of the guards still lived. He knew each one would strain his capabilities, so he didn¡¯t want to complicate matters by adding a few extra ogres to the mix. The second reason was just as practical, and it centered on the influx of kill energy he received with every slain guard. He¡¯d already reached level thirty-seven, and he hoped that, by the time he finished off all the guards ¨C in every wing ¨C he would attain level forty and gain a new spell. But first, he needed to finish the fire ogres. So, once he¡¯d healed from the latest fight, he took a deep, steadying breath, and got back to work. 2-35. Every Tool Icicles hung from the ceiling, and thick frost coated every surface, but Elijah forced himself to ignore the biting cold as he raced through the corridor as quickly as he could manage. Behind him, two hulking ogres, both covered in icy spikes, followed with deceptive speed. Each stride of their long legs ate quite a bit of distance, and they had the Strength to propel their massive bodies forward with alarming alacrity. Still, Elijah narrowly outpaced them. But he had no idea what to do next. Two facets of his mind whirled with one idea after another as he searched for some way to salvage the situation, but there were no clever tricks to be found. Especially when he turned a corner and ran headlong into two more icy ogres that should not have been there. He ducked, sliding across the icy-slick floor as he avoided a similarly coated axe as it descended on the spot he¡¯d just vacated. It sent shards of ice flying, but by that point, Elijah was already leaping high into the air. But not high enough. Thinking quickly, he used Venom Strike before raking his claws across the face of yet another ice ogre. As it reeled back in pain, Elijah kicked off the creature¡¯s shoulder, bounded off the wall, then hit the ground running. The whole thing had only taken little more than a second, but even that was enough to give the pursuing ogres the chance to catch up. Fortunately, they hadn¡¯t expected to run into their fellows either, and as a result, one pair collided with another, resulting in a tangled scrum of hulking monsters. That was the opportunity Elijah had been waiting for. He dug his claws into the floor, grinding to a stop. The moment his momentum had been arrested, he whipped around, shifting back to his human form. Even as his body morphed, he threw out his staff and shoved Ethera into Calamity. He released it only a moment later, and the fury of nature descended upon the fallen ogres. Lightning cracked. Thunder rolled. And the ground was rent asunder, ripping through the prone monsters without mercy. However, Elijah paid little attention to that. Instead, he was already casting a second spell. As he forced Ethera into Swarm, hundreds of crystalline rats formed from the ice on the walls, then scurried forward to fall on the reeling ogres. Even then, Elijah wasn¡¯t finished casting. With the influx of levels as well as his advancement in cultivation, his core had grown quite a bit larger than it had been in the beginning. That translated into the ability to cast more spells before he ran dry. So, he had plenty of fuel to use in the attempt to salvage the situation his carelessness had foisted upon him. So, he channeled Storm¡¯s Fury through his staff, sending a thick bolt of lightning out to join the storm summoned by Calamity. It struck the closest ogre directly in the upturned face, sending a powerful electrical current arcing through the massive creature¡¯s body. But it didn¡¯t stop there. Because it was touching all the other ogres ¨C who were conveniently clad in iron, which made for a great conductor ¨C the electrical current flowed from one to the other, effectively extending the single cast to four targets. So, seeing how effective it was, Elijah cast it again. Then, he went for a third cast, but by that point, he knew he was pushing his luck as well as his core¡¯s capacity. So, he stepped forward, cocked his staff back, and used Venom Strike before hitting the closest ogre in the face. The staff took the creature in the jaw, and Elijah was rewarded by the sound of breaking bones ¨C or cracking ice, perhaps. More importantly, he delivered the neurotoxin of Venom Strike.
Ability: Venom Strike Imbues an attack with fast-acting neurotoxin. Usable in all forms. Damage doubled when in Predator form.
He used it again before hitting the next closest ogre. However, the moment he connected, his good fortune truly did run out, and the first monster caught him with a wild backhand that sent him stumbling into the frosty wall. Elijah quickly recovered, but by that point, Calamity had ended, and despite the afflictions Swarm had delivered, the ogres had begun to pick themselves up from the floor. That was when Elijah decided to once again run. This time, though, he didn¡¯t switch into his Predator form. Because he had an idea. Dashing to the end of the hall, he turned around to see that the first ogre had climbed to his feet. He stumbled forward in pursuit of Elijah, but his body lacked the Strength it had once possessed. Elijah waited. The next ogre found his feet, too. Then, the third. Finally, the fourth lurched upright. By that point, the first creature had reached the halfway point, but still, Elijah held his ground. Just before the last monster resumed his own pursuit, Elijah cast Snaring Roots. The prickly vines exploded from the ground, eagerly wrapping around the already weakened ogre¡¯s legs. For a moment, it looked confused that its legs wouldn¡¯t move, and then, it tipped back over. The vines continued to snake out, wrapping the ogre in a prone cocoon, but Elijah didn¡¯t stick around to watch. Now that he¡¯d slowed one down, he needed to run. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. So, he took off down the corridor, turning down paths he¡¯d memorized. The ogres followed. Although, because they were fighting the afflictions of Swarm as well as the neurotoxin of Venom Strike, their steps were slow and plodding. Due to that, Elijah easily managed to outpace them. So, after a few more minutes dedicated to racing through the halls, he finally felt Essence of the Wolf take effect. When it did, he didn¡¯t hesitate to shift into his Predator Form, then adopt Guise of the Unseen. However, he didn¡¯t stop. Instead, he padded forward with as much speed as he could muster, then slipped into one of the empty side rooms. It was just in time, too, because the first Ogre thundered past the entrance only a second later, completely oblivious that he¡¯d lost Elijah¡¯s trail. Even so, he didn¡¯t relax. That was what had nearly gotten him killed the first time. But in his defense, how was he supposed to know that the ogres would be able to detect him? He still didn¡¯t even know what had prompted their discovery. One second, he¡¯d been sneaking along as he searched for a way to separate them and kill them one-by-one, and the next, one of the huge creatures had wheeled around and aimed a herculean kick in his direction. It was only due to his faceted Mind that he saw it coming and managed to leap aside. What followed was a desperate chase through the corridors that had mercifully just ended. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. Throughout his flight through the tunnels, one facet of his Mind had been working overtime trying to come up with a plan to make the best of the situation, and, through some good fortune and quick thinking, he¡¯d managed to engineer just such a chance. Now, he needed to follow through. So, after the second and third ogres rushed past, he crept out and sprinted down the hall to where he hoped to find the final ogre he¡¯d bound with Snaring Roots. Only a few moments later, he got his wish when he nearly ran into the creature. Without hesitation, Elijah leaped, opened his mouth wide, and used Predator Strike before clamping down on the monster¡¯s head. The ogre was wholly unprepared for the attack, and weakened as he was, he had little chance of stopping Elijah¡¯s forceful bite. He flexed his jaw, and his teeth bit deep. When he yanked away, a chunk of flesh and bone came with him. The ogre lurched out of control, then crashed into the wall. Elijah bounded free, then darted back in to slash his claws across the creature¡¯s hamstrings. Then, he repeated the motion on the ogre¡¯s ankles. The creature tumbled to the floor, cracking the ice along the way. In a panic, the monster activated an ability that sent spikes of ice erupting from the ground, but they were unfocused and too slow to catch Elijah. He dodged around them, then leaped on the ogre¡¯s back. Digging his claws between the plates of armor, he once again reared back, then struck forward with snapping jaws that tore another chunk from the base of the creature¡¯s skull. Knowing what was about to happen, he repeated the action, though this time, he didn¡¯t let go or try to tear free. Instead, he latched on with everything he could muster. That¡¯s when the ogre managed to push himself to his knees, then launch himself backwards, slamming Elijah against the wall. Still, he didn¡¯t let go. Even as he felt his bones creak under the impact, he raked his claws across the monster¡¯s back, digging deep even as he continued to apply pressure on the ogre¡¯s skull. Letting out a hiss of mingled pain and fury, Elijah tapped into a well of Strength he didn¡¯t know he possessed, and he was rewarded a moment later with the sound of a skull cracking. A second later, brains and plasma squirted into his mouth as the creature finally succumbed to its many injuries. It collapsed, pinning Elijah against the wall so thoroughly that he was forced to switch into his Guardian form to push it out of the way. After finally winning free, Elijah switched back to his caster form and ran back the way he¡¯d come. As he did so, he channeled Touch of Nature in an attempt to heal his aching bones. He didn¡¯t think he¡¯d broken anything, but it was close enough that he knew that ignoring the injuries would be a mistake. His bare feet slapped against the icy floor, though he barely felt the cold. Ward of Seasons, which had taken the place of Essence of the Monkey, had proven invaluable. Once, he¡¯d considered the enhancement to be mostly useless because it did nothing to block the weather. However, in the Ethera-induced cold of the citadel¡¯s ice and fire wings, it had become one of his most important spells. He quickly found his way to another side room ¨C they were all empty, and it felt almost like they¡¯d been included more to make the citadel seem like a real place than to serve an actual purpose ¨C where he settled into a corner and continued his healing. Fortunately, his injuries were minor compared to some of the damage he¡¯d been forced to endure in the past, so it wasn¡¯t long before he was back to perfect condition. As soon as he¡¯d recovered his Ethera, Elijah shifted back into his Predator form, then set off through the corridors. After all, he still had quite a few ogres to hunt. Three of them were already wounded, and he hoped to take care of them first. However, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to be picky. So, he stalked through the halls until, at last, he found his next victim. As it turned out, the ogre was not one of the ones he¡¯d already fought. What followed was a systematic dismantling of the force of ogres manning the frost wing of the citadel. Elijah was ruthless as he slowly picked them apart using similar tactics to the plans he¡¯d employed in the fire wing. However, unlike the fire ogres, the ice ogres¡¯ abilities tended more towards defense than doing extra damage, which played right into Elijah¡¯s hands. So long as he only fought one at a time ¨C which wasn¡¯t easy to arrange, but he managed ¨C the ogres couldn¡¯t do much to harm him while in Guardian form. Of course, that also meant that each battle was a long, drawn-out affair where Elijah was forced to use every source of damage he could muster, including Shield of Brambles. Still, it was the safest way to proceed. Ironically, the quickest way to deal with the ice ogres was in his human form, when he could chain cast his spells. However, it was simultaneously the most dangerous as well as the least efficient. Each battle he tried to fight in that manner left his core completely drained, and the margin for error was slim enough that if he made even the slightest mistake, he¡¯d end up splattered against the wall. Somewhere in the middle was his scaled panther form. Each fight began with him using Predator Strike and Venom Strike, but after that, he usually switched to one of his other forms for the rest of the battle. However, for a couple, he remained in his Predator form, which proved to be effective but ultimately exhausting. It also was almost as dangerous as fighting in his human form. But he knew it was important to familiarize himself with all the tools at his disposal, so he focused on making each form work in his favor. In that way, he slowly whittled the ogres down, one by one, until he finally killed the last ice ogre in the wing. That last kill came in his Guardian form, when he repeatedly slammed a weakened ogre¡¯s head against a wall until it finally succumbed to all the damage he¡¯d inflicted. He sagged against the wall, his hissing breath coming in ragged gasps. He¡¯d pushed himself incredibly hard, and as a result, he¡¯d managed to not only clear the last of the ogres from the wing, but he¡¯d also progressed to level thirty-nine. One more, and he¡¯d get a new spell. But now he had a decision to make. Would he challenge the two lieutenants? Or would he assault the next two wings? The remaining two wings were located up a set of stairs, so they were slightly isolated from his current position. That also suggested that the two elves ¨C one of light, and the other of shadow ¨C were slightly above the ogres in the citadel¡¯s hierarchy. In turn, that probably meant that their guards were a little more dangerous. In the end, it came down to one simple fact ¨C he wanted to be at his best when he fought the lieutenants, so that meant he needed to gain at least another level. And that, in turn, made his choice clear. He needed to clear the other wings first, and then he could assault the lieutenants. Hopefully, whatever spell he gained at level forty would be enough to catapult him to victory. 2-36. Light and Shadow ¡°Stay on your side, fiend!¡± bellowed the blonde elf. As he spoke, he brandished a long, slim sword that glinted in the flickering firelight. ¡°If you cross, we will be forced to take action!¡± The dark elf planted her hands on her hips and sneered, ¡°You haven¡¯t the power to threaten me, cur.¡± ¡°Call me cur once again, and I shall ¨C¡± ¡°Cur,¡± she purred. ¡°Filthy. Mangy. Obedient. Dog.¡± The blonde elf¡¯s face screwed up in a rictus of anger, and he took a step forward. However, he stopped just before he stepped across the silver line cutting across the floor and dividing the chamber into two halves. Instead, he spat, ¡°The Queen of Light shall hear of this, shadow!¡± The dark elf woman spread her arms out wide and bowed as she replied, ¡°By all means, tell your decrepit mistress that you are a mangy cur. I shall back up the claim, should she seek a confirmation.¡± ¡°You¡­¡± Elijah backed away, having seen enough of the exchange. It wasn¡¯t the first time the two had traded insults, and he suspected it would not be the last, either. During his previous reconnaissance, he¡¯d discovered a few key things. First, there was quite a lot of animosity between the two sets of elves. He had no idea if that was indicative of the rest of the universe, but light elves and dark elves very much hated one another. Second, the two sides simply refused to pass from one wing to the other, instead rigidly remaining in their territory. The exchanges he¡¯d overheard seemed to suggest that bad things would happen to whoever crossed that line, though he¡¯d yet to discover what form those repercussions might take. And finally, he had absolutely zero chance of using his previous strategy to take care of the two forces patrolling the Light and Shadow wings. For one, there were just too many elves, and each one was armed, armored, and felt far more powerful than the ogres Elijah had killed. For another, he strongly suspected that any hostile actions would have both sides bearing down on him, and with unknown abilities. No ¨C he needed a different strategy, so he¡¯d spent much of the past eight hours reconnoitering the area. During that time, the seeds of a proper plan had begun to take root, and Elijah felt that it would only take a bit of cultivation ¨C the mundane sort ¨C to create an opportunity to destroy all of the elves in one go. He¡¯d probably lose out on some kill energy ¨C or experience, as they called it in Norcastle ¨C but if things went right, he wouldn¡¯t be in nearly as much danger as he¡¯d encountered while fighting the ogres. But first, Elijah needed the right opportunity. So, as he waited, he continued to explore the wings. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he could come and go as he pleased. Neither the light or dark elves seemed capable of detecting him. If they could, he would¡¯ve long since gotten their attention. As he explored, he came to appreciate the mirrored d¨¦cor. The shadow side was decorated all in black, with silver accents to give it shape. Meanwhile, the light wing was the opposite, with white stone and tiles featuring gold accents. It made for an interesting study in contrasts, and an aesthetic that Elijah could very much appreciate. Still, the two wings were not without hidden dangers. In addition to the guards ¨C which were ubiquitous ¨C both wings featured themed traps. In the dark side, that meant shadows that often weren¡¯t shadows at all, but instead deep holes that ended in jagged spikes. The other wing had corridors crisscrossed with beams of light that Elijah suspected were capable of cutting a person in two. Both obstacles made traversal of the wings in question an extraordinary pain, and keeping himself from falling afoul of those traps had definitely kept Elijah on his toes. Still, his impatience to progress and gain enough kill energy to get level forty had almost gotten him killed a couple of times. Only his copious experience had kept him from making deadly mistakes. However, now that Elijah knew the dangers, he could avoid them easily enough. The biggest issue was that he was forced to go against his instincts and avoid the shadows. Fortunately, Guise of the Unseen as well as his chameleon-like natural camouflage was enough to help him avoid detection. Otherwise, he found the chambers housing the two lieutenants, both of which were hidden by their native elements. For the shadow lieutenant Tulariel, that meant deep, impenetrable shadow. The light lieutenant was hidden by a sheet of white light. As usual, Elijah didn¡¯t dare cross the thresholds for fear of alerting the lieutenants as well as their underlings. With that suspicion in mind, Elijah knew he needed to take care of the guards before he engaged the lieutenants that were the subject of his Task. Eventually, he found himself following a lone dark elf as he approached the chamber at the center of the two wings. As normal, his patrol coincided with that of one of the light elves, and the pair commenced with their banter. Elijah ignored it, instead waiting for the perfect time to implement his plan. * * * Par seethed at the mere sight of the uppity elven woman on the opposite side of the Sacred Line. She wore a contemptuous expression, and though that wasn¡¯t uncommon, it still set Par¡¯s blood to boiling. How dare she look at him like that? He had half a mind to leap across the line and show her the error of her ways. And then, he would teach her the meaning of respect. By the time he was finished, she would be begging him for the mercy of death. He wouldn¡¯t give it, though. Instead, he would keep her as a pet. A broken warning for anyone who dared to berate the servants of the one, true Mistress. Oh, yes. She would make quite the example. That pretty, little fantasy comforted him right up until he heard the elven woman speak. And then reality came crashing down on him when he realized that he was powerless to do anything about her impudence. The Sacred Line existed for a reason, and to cross it was to surrender to death. Par was angry. Furious, really. However, he was not stupid, and he knew better than to give in to his instincts. He wasn¡¯t one of those fat ogres downstairs, after all. He could think, and more importantly, he was more than capable of self-restraint. However, the little light elf was trying his patience with every moment she remained among the living. ¡°I thought I smelled something awful,¡± she said, wrinkling her perfect nose. ¡°Clearly, His Dark Reverence prefers unclean lackeys. Unsurprising, given his own proclivities.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Par clenched his fists in fury. ¡°Your petty insults have no effect on me, wench.¡± ¡°Insults? Nay! I merely worry for your hygiene, cousin,¡± she said. ¡°It is unsanitary to walk around in such a state. Unseemly as well. Think of how your filth reflects upon your master¡¯s reputation. Though I suppose if he was worried for such things, he would not have set down his own path of decrepitude. Such a shame, for I hear he was once quite handsome. Now, though¡­well, to say that it is a great loss is an understatement. Still, he has my pity, cousin. As do you.¡± ¡°My Master is ¨C¡± ¡°You could convert,¡± she said brightly. ¡°Come to the light, cousin. We would welcome you with open arms. After a shower, of course. We wouldn¡¯t want your filth to spread.¡± ¡°You are filthy!¡± he shouted. ¡°Such a pointed rejoinder. Surely, your wit knows no bounds.¡± Par stepped forward, coming right up to the sacred line. But he didn¡¯t dare cross. Not until his Master completed his cultivation and decided to take the citadel for his own. When he did, not only would the blasphemous light elves fall, but so would that monstrous champion. The Reaver himself would find himself writhing beneath Tulariel¡¯s boot. The Reaver would beg for mercy, and yet, it would not be granted. Because The Dark One was not merciful. Nor was he cruel. He was simply unstoppable. Irresistible. He would one day rule the world. And after that, the universe. Eventually, he would go to the Abyss and challenge the Ravener himself for dominance. Par was so certain of it that he couldn¡¯t keep a smile from spreading across his dark face. ¡°Do you crave insults, then? Enjoy them, do you?¡± sneered the blonde elf from only a few feet away. ¡°If so, you will ¨C¡± ¡°Prattle on, little elf. I know that my Master will soon tear your entrails from your body and hold you up as an example of what happens when you follow the wrong path. You will be powerless to stop it. You will beg and plead, but it will do no good. When the Master is finished with you, he will put a stop to your disgusting Mistress¡¯s misdeeds. She will bow before him, or she will die like everyone else who has ever challenged my Master. That, I promise, cousin.¡± She looked as if she was about to respond, but she clearly thought better of it. Instead, she stamped her foot, let out a huff, and turned on her heel before striding away. Par was just feeling a sense of triumph when he felt something grab him around the waist. He didn¡¯t even have time to react before he found himself sailing through the air. Par windmilled his arms as he flew across the sacred line, only to collide with the retreating light elf woman. The pair of slender, armored figures clattered to the floor in a tangled heap. Before Par could extract himself, panic set in. He had crossed the line. His heart beat out of his chest as the realization took hold. He had done the unthinkable, putting himself at the mercy of the light elves. Panicked, he struggled to free himself and retreat, but he could not accomplish that feat before he felt a vice-like grip around his throat. Fiery pain erupted from the light elf¡¯s touch, and an outraged shout tore free from her perfect lips. ¡°You dare?!¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean ¨C¡± He could choke out no further words because her grip tightened even further. More, he felt the strength draining from his body. That was why no one crossed the line. To do so was to put oneself at the mercy of the enemy. For every second he remained on the wrong side, he would grow weaker until nothing but a husk remained. The light elf was going to kill him far before that, though. He barely had an opportunity to wonder what had thrown him across the sacred line before the pain overtook all rational thought. However, he did catch sight of a pair of emerald eyes glinting from within the shadows of the connected hall. * * * Elijah watched as the dark elf died. He¡¯d barely managed to retreat into the relative safety of the corridor before the two elves had collided, and it had been just in time to avoid the light elf¡¯s searching gaze. Now that the dark elf was dead, though, Elijah found himself once again nestled within the concealing embrace of Guise of the Unseen. The attack ¨C which had been undertaken in his Guardian form ¨C had gone off without a hitch, and though he¡¯d hoped for a longer fight, the results were acceptable. The light elf pushed herself to her feet and, for a long moment, stared down at the withered elf in confusion. Clearly, she was having trouble figuring out why he¡¯d seemingly thrown himself at her. She was in the middle of trying to make sense of it all when the next part of Elijah¡¯s plan commenced, and a pair of dark elves rounded the corridor¡¯s corner and caught sight of the scene. They erupted into motion a second later, charging into the chamber and demanding answers. The light elf tried to explain, but the pair were having none of it. Without any further delay, the pair launched themselves across the line, grabbed the light elf, and dragged her back to their side. They hadn¡¯t stayed long enough for the drain to take effect. The light elf struggled. She screamed. But just as the dark elf had been weakened by being on the other side, so too was she diminished by the darkness. That, combined with the fact that she was outnumbered, sealed her doom. Elijah watched as the elf¡¯s screams drew more attention, and from both sides. Soon enough, two dozen light elves faced off against just as many dark elves. They screamed insults at one another, each more disgusting than the last. And yet, they restrained themselves. At first. Soon enough, though, the insults reached a crescendo, and an enraged light elf screamed bloody murder before launching himself across the line. His fellows followed, and the silver line dividing the two halves of the chamber shattered into a thousand splinters. After that, the fight descended into a bloody melee that provided the perfect backdrop for Elijah to work his magic. Still in the shadowy corridor, he shifted into his human form and cast two spells in quick succession. First came Swarm, summoning a flock of bats that descended upon the warring elves. Each bite delivered a powerful affliction that would hasten their demise. Meanwhile, Elijah cast Calamity as well, adding to the chaos and delivering plenty of punishment all its own. The wind whipped into a frenzy, sending blades of air arcing through the mass of warriors, and lightning split the sky, electrocuting the unsuspecting elves. Even as the two spells wrought havoc upon the warriors, Elijah slipped back into his Predator form, then retreated until he left combat. Then, he embraced Guise of the Unseen and returned to the impromptu battlefield. There, he saw the fruits of his labor. More than half the elves had already died, and the battle was still going strong. Idly, he marveled at how little of a spark it had taken to set everything ablaze. The elves clearly hated one another, and it hadn¡¯t taken much to send them into a battle lust. Still, Elijah knew that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Some would survive, and he¡¯d have to finish the job himself. Gradually, the battle wore on, but Elijah didn¡¯t act until only one survivor remained. For the normally slim dark elves, he was quite bulky, and his armor was stained with fresh blood. He jammed his sword into a prone light elf, using the blade to support his weight. Then, he let out a wheezing cackle of mingled incredulity and relief. He was so occupied that he never even noticed Elijah¡¯s approach. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore it when the Druid leaped upon his back, dug his claws in, and clamped his jaws down on the base of his skull. The dark elf tried to react, but he was so weakened that the force of Elijah¡¯s bite was enough to burst his skull. He fell dead without any further struggle, and Elijah leaped free, landing nimbly among the corpses. He¡¯d had a hand in killing each and every one of them, and yet, he¡¯d struck only one killing blow. Still, he¡¯d managed to accomplish his goals ¨C to clear the wings while gaining enough experience to progress to level forty ¨C and that was what was truly important. Standing over the corpses of his enemies, he let himself return to his human form. Then, he inspected the results of his progression. He¡¯d gained a new ability, and he was eager to inspect it.
Ability: Iron Scales Harden your scales, temporarily reducing all damage by 90%. Usable in Guardian Form. Duration dependent on Constitution. Current Duration: 4.2 seconds.
Elijah read the ability¡¯s description with some degree of relief. He¡¯d been a little afraid that he¡¯d gain another enhancement. And while the increases to his attributes were helpful, they were not impactful enough to change a battle by themselves. However, if it worked the way he expected it to, Iron Scales was precisely what he thought he¡¯d need in the coming battles. 2-37. Of Two Minds Ice tickled the pads of Elijah¡¯s feet as he stalked through the frost wing. On the surface, it looked little different than when he¡¯d left it behind the first time. However, the halls had grown even colder than before, and as a result, the ice coating the walls had thickened. The same escalation had been present in the fire wing, though he¡¯d not investigated it very thoroughly because he intended to target the frost lieutenant first. With that in mind, he¡¯d set off through the worsening conditions, quickly finding the doorway that would lead to the lieutenant¡¯s chamber. He¡¯d checked it before, so he knew that the door led to a long, twisting hall that terminated in a thin and obscuring sheet of ice. Before, he¡¯d only given it a cursory inspection so he could verify the lieutenant¡¯s location before turning back, so he knew the way. However, when he finally reached the lieutenant¡¯s quarters, he discovered that the ice sheet that had once guarded the entrance was gone. And the moment he saw inside the chamber, he got quite a shock. Before, he¡¯d only caught a glimpse of the lieutenant blurry silhouette, and once he had confirmed that he was looking at another ogre, he¡¯d turned back. However, now, in the blazing firelight, he could see that the creature was differentiated from the other ogres by one key characteristic. It had two heads sitting atop its broad shoulders. One was ice blue, while the other was a deep crimson. It wasn¡¯t until he looked across the room and saw the telltale glow of overheated stone that he realized what was going on. The twin lieutenants, Tuk and Tok, shared a body. Elijah had no idea how that was supposed to work, but he was fairly sure that was what was going on. Still, he took the time to retrace his steps, return to the fire wing, and follow the mirrored path that eventually led back to the same chamber. And the two-headed ogre that sat in what looked like a study. The bulky creature was at least twelve feet tall, and his body type was somewhere between that of the guards and jailers. However, it was hidden beneath heavy, purple robes that concealed more than they revealed. Leaning against the wall near where the ogre sat was a metallic staff etched with swirling lines that glowed slightly. One half was blue, while the other was orange. The study itself was exactly what Elijah would have suspected, with one wall dedicated to bookshelves that were packed full of huge, dusty tomes. The ogre himself sat in an oversized leather chair, with his feet propped on an equally large ottoman. In one hand was a mug of something steaming, while in the other, he held one of the large tomes. He looked almost peaceful, at least insofar as a twelve-foot monster with two heads could. ¡°Turn page. Done reading,¡± barked one head. ¡°Not done yet. You not read whole thing.¡± ¡°I skim. Read it before.¡± ¡°You not read before.¡± ¡°How you know?¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You stupid.¡± ¡°You stupid!¡± Suddenly, a massive hand slapped against the fire head. Tok, unless Elijah was mistaken. Then, the other hand hit Tuk in the face. After that, Elijah lost track of what was going on. It was an odd thing, watching a two-headed ogre punch and slap itself in the face. Odder still was when the faces started biting back. Clearly, the pair of ogres didn¡¯t much care for one another. More importantly, Elijah couldn¡¯t resist the opening he¡¯d been afforded. So, he crept forward, activating both Venom Strike and Predator Strike along the way. He¡¯d checked his enhancements before he¡¯d entered the room, so he was entirely prepared for battle. Having no reason to delay ¨C and every reason to attack while he had the advantage of a distraction ¨C he pounced as soon as he was in range. However, he didn¡¯t bother with the hobbling attacks he so often employed. Instead, he went in for the kill shot. Leaping high into the air, he opened his mouth as wide as it could go, then clamped down on Tok¡¯s head. Then, harnessing every muscle in his powerful jaw, he squeezed. With his cultivation, the natural bite force of the scaled panther form, and the inflated attributes that came with Shape of the Predator, Elijah could bring quite a bit of force to bear. And it was downright terrifying when he used Predator Strike at the same time. He used the full extent of that horrifying might to absolutely crush the first ogre¡¯s head between his jaws. Then, he was bounding away before the other head even had a chance to react. Or so Elijah thought. A giant shard of ice hit him mid-air, scraping across his scales and sending him spinning until he collided with the bookshelf. Even as a cascade of tomes fell upon him, Tuk bellowed, ¡°Brother! Arggh!¡± Elijah shot to his feet, feeling more than a twinge of pain in his side as the books rolled off of him. He rose just in time to see Tuk stamp his foot on the ground, causing a series of icy stalagmites to erupt from the ground. Tiles shattered, sending an explosion of frost-rimmed stone flying across the room. Elijah turned, tucking his head as he was pelted with hundreds of shards. But his scales protected him from the incidental damage. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. However, he had to bound out of the way in order to avoid the deadly spikes of ice. He narrowly dodged the spell, but he was sent crashing into the wall a second later by yet another flying icicle. ¡°You kill Tok!¡± Elijah had felt his shoulder pop out of socket upon impact, but he was otherwise in fighting shape. However, he knew he couldn¡¯t remain in his Predator form. His speed was insufficient to completely dodge the flying ice spikes, and his defenses were incapable of standing up to the inevitable damage he would sustain. So, he shifted. But he didn¡¯t take on his Guardian form. Instead, he resumed his caster shape, leveling his staff at the panicked ogre before he¡¯d even completed the transformation. He let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. The ogre was clearly surprised, because he remained completely motionless as the lightning bolt tore across the room and hit him square in the chest. The smell of burning flesh filled the air as the ogre was thrown from his feet. He didn¡¯t go far before hitting the ground on his back, but it was enough to give Elijah the opportunity to cast his next spell. Thorny vines burst from the ground, rapidly wrapping the ogre in writhing roots. The ogre wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as the guards had been ¨C apparently, its casting abilities had come at the expense of some Strength ¨C so it struggled to escape the thorny bonds. After casting Healing Rain, Elijah ran forward, using Venom Strike along the way, and brought his staff down on the prone ogre¡¯s face. The creature¡¯s nose exploded into a bloody ruin, but more importantly, Elijah delivered yet another instance of neurotoxin. He used it again, and again after that ¨C he wasn¡¯t worried about inflicting immediate damage. Rather, he only wanted to stack as much neurotoxin as he could. Meanwhile, the soothing rain went to work on his injuries even as he wailed on the fallen monster. With one facet of his mind, he kept track of how much time had passed, and just before Snaring Roots was scheduled to run its course, he leaped backward, casting Swarm along the way. By that point, his stores of Ethera had dipped past the halfway point, so he chose to use some of that to shift into his Guardian form. The rest, he would keep in reserve for an emergency. As Elijah took on the shape of a scaled ape, the ogre was beset by frost spiders. Each bite delivered yet more venomous damage, and though the creature had escaped the bonds of Snaring Roots, it was completely incapable of stopping the swarm of spiders. Its panic gave Elijah plenty of time to finish his transformation, and by the time he loped forward, the creature was in sorry shape, indeed. But the ogre was anything but defeated, as he proved a moment later when he raised his staff high into the air and shouted, ¡°Blizz-ard!¡± Immediately, the air temperature plummeted well past freezing. Despite Ward of the Seasons, Elijah felt the icy cold down to his very bones. In fact, he could feel it sapping his strength with every second. And that was before the swirl of snow and ice began. The whirlwind cut through Elijah with frigid fury, but the combination of his high Constitution and powerful enhancements was just enough to keep him on his feet. He loped forward, hitting the ogre with a shoulder tackle that took the creature to the floor. Elijah heard a sharp exhale of rushing air leave the ogre¡¯s chest, and he knew he had only a handful of moments to finish the fight. So, he raised his hands high and channeled his inner ape as he brought his fists down like hammers. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to precision. Instead, Elijah only cared about harnessing as much of his Strength as possible as he repeatedly pummeled the monster into submission. The first few attacks were absorbed by the creature¡¯s copious flesh, but Elijah kept on until he felt bones crack beneath his balled fists. He kept going, knowing good and well that if he didn¡¯t keep the pressure up, the ogre would recover. Meanwhile, the frigid cold continued to assail him, threatening to undermine his vigor and vitality until the ogre could turn the tables. Elijah refused to let that happen. So, he gave himself over to the fury, letting it consume one facet of his Quartz Mind. He focused on that, leaving the rest to other tasks. Like pulling him back before he let the animalistic rage completely overwhelm him. He¡¯d come close before ¨C in a different way back in the Primordial Forest, but it was similar enough that he knew precisely how dangerous his feral instincts could be ¨C and he refused to let it happen again. Fortunately, with eight facets of his Mind on the job, he felt secure enough to give one over to the ferocious instincts that came with the Guardian form. Bones crunched, and organs burst beneath Elijah¡¯s fists. He knew it wasn¡¯t his sheer Strength at work. The creature had already been weakened by Swarm¡¯s afflictions, the neurotoxin of repeated instances of Venom Strike, and the gaping wound where his brother¡¯s head had once been. Still, Elijah was surprised at how easily the monster succumbed to his onslaught. But he knew it was a little misleading. Most people wouldn¡¯t have the protection of Ward of the Seasons, and he could feel that, without that enhancement, he would have already fallen to the intense cold. In addition, he had the advantage of versatility as well as his cultivation ¨C including the powerful Dragon Core ¨C on his side. With that providing context, his victory should not have been a surprise. And yet, it was. Elijah pummeled the monster until, at last, it perished. The icy storm persisted for a few moments after that, but it quickly dissipated. A second later, the ice it left behind started to melt. Seeing that, Elijah picked himself up and watched as the storm continued to fade. The study was a mess, and most of the books had been completely destroyed. However, a few of them had managed to survive, so after resuming his human form, Elijah crossed the room and gathered them. In his hands, the tomes were absolutely enormous, and worse, they were in a language he could not understand. Evidently, the universal translation that had come with the system didn¡¯t include the written word. ¡°Or maybe just not this writing,¡± he muttered to himself. It was the first time he¡¯d spoken since killing the old prisoner. ¡°God,¡± he continued, running his hand through his hair. ¡°I really need some company for this kind of thing.¡± Indeed, the constant solitude had begun to wear on him, and he hadn¡¯t realized how much it had affected him until he¡¯d met with the old man. In retrospect, it wasn¡¯t surprising. People were social animals, after all, and even the most solitary person needed some human contact. Maybe he should have invited Jess along. If she¡¯d seen him in action, perhaps she might¡¯ve been a bit more amenable to his advances. He swallowed hard, remembering all the killing he¡¯d done. ¡°Yeah, probably not.¡± Besides, she likely wouldn¡¯t have survived the tower anyway. There was a reason none of Norcastle¡¯s teams had conquered it, after all. Elijah shook his head and pushed past those thoughts. There was nothing to be gained from maudlin regrets or asking unanswerable questions. So, refocusing on his task, he crossed the room once again, and found the ogre¡¯s staff. The thing was at least as big around as Elijah¡¯s bicep, and almost twice his height. A suitable size for an ogre, but for Elijah, it was unwieldy and ultimately useless. However, he wasn¡¯t going to just leave it behind. The thing pulsed with power, suggesting that it would be valuable. Maybe not to a human, but surely there was someone who¡¯d want it. After all, there were plenty of other races on Earth, now. Maybe one of them was of a size to use a staff the size of a goal post. So, resolving to take it with him, Elijah hefted it onto one shoulder and took one last look around the room. There was nothing left that either hadn¡¯t been destroyed or simply wouldn¡¯t fit in his pack. Satisfied that he¡¯d taken everything he could, he left the study behind and went in search of the next two lieutenants. 2-38. Illusions and Shadows Finishing the two-headed ogre that was Tuk and Tok had come with a couple of benefits. The first was the enormous staff Elijah had thrown over his shoulder, but even more importantly, he¡¯d gained another level. Given that it had taken an entire wing of elves to progress to level forty, doing so from a single kill ¨C or two, if he counted the twin heads as separate entities ¨C was phenomenal efficiency. That gave Elijah a little more insight into how the system awarded kill energy, and he suspected that, even though the creatures were probably only a few levels higher than their guards, they awarded a lot more experience. Likely, it was something to do with Ethera density, which translated into more power. That made sense, though Elijah was still trying to wrap his head around how everything worked. For instance, he knew he gained experience from healing, but he¡¯d also surmised that healing himself was useless for those purposes. In addition, the power of the entity he healed seemed to have some effect as well. Everything still didn¡¯t add up. Not completely. But he didn¡¯t have the time nor the inclination to investigate. Instead, he headed toward the stairs that would lead him to the next lieutenants. Before he ascended, though, he dropped his pack and the ogre¡¯s staff in the large, central chamber. That way, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about lugging everything around or damaging his pack. Thus unburdened, Elijah checked his enhancements to ensure that everything he needed was active. At present, he was using Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Boar, and Shield of Brambles, as well as Essence of the Wolf and One with Nature. Once he was satisfied with everything, he shifted into the shape of the scaled panther, then proceeded up the steps before following a twisting hall that led to the light wing. Along the way, Elijah deftly avoided the slicing beams of light until he reached an intersection. Down one hall, he knew he would find the once-divided chamber that had become a graveyard for elves. He chose the other, which he¡¯d already established would lead him to the light lieutenant. That¡¯s when he embraced Guise of the Unseen, took a deep, steadying breath, then headed up. The path was fraught with even more beams of burning light, but Elijah¡¯s high Dexterity allowed him to maneuver his body well enough to easily avoid them. So, he reached the next lieutenant quickly and without issue. The elf inside was precisely what he¡¯d been led to expect. Avasil was beautiful, wearing a long, gossamer robe, and seemed entirely at peace. Except for the huge basin of blood in front of which she stood. At first, Elijah tried to convince himself that it was some other red liquid, but the smell ¨C which was augmented by his animalistic senses ¨C was absolutely unmistakable. After he allowed himself to accept the reality of the basin, which was at least four feet across and made of elaborately engraved stone, it didn¡¯t take long for him to look up and see the source of all that blood. Three bodies, all completely devoid of skin and entirely unrecognizable, hung from the ceiling. Every few seconds, a few drops of blood would drip down to land in the basin. Avasil, meanwhile, paid them no heed. Instead, she occupied herself in much the same way the twin ogres had, which was to say that she was reading a book. However, neither the nearly incomprehensibly beautiful elf nor the bodies hanging from the ceiling were the most extraordinary details in Elijah¡¯s view. Instead, that label belonged to the fact that there were eight identical elves moving throughout the room. However, even their presence wasn¡¯t what alarmed Elijah. No ¨C it was the fact that, despite their appearance, which was as solid-looking as anything else in the room, they were just as plainly fake. It wasn¡¯t a single thing that told him they weren¡¯t real. Rather, it was a multitude of factors. The first that he¡¯d noticed was the most important, though. None of them showed up in the sense granted by One with Nature. At first, he hadn¡¯t really understood what had triggered his instincts, but the void was jarring enough to send a tingle of unease up his spine. But it was more than that. There was no smell coming from any of them, save for the single elf standing near the basin, but other than that, they were perfectly realistic. They were copies. It only took Elijah a few seconds to make the connection. The lieutenant was a master of light, but instead of using the dangerous beams that existed throughout the rest of the wing, she had created illusions. But they weren¡¯t real. Elijah could feel that through One with Nature. He couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on how he knew it, but he completely discounted the possibility that they were corporeal. Instead, he felt completely certain that they were like ghosts. For most people, they would make for a confusing mess, but Elijah could see through the deception. And as such, there was nothing keeping him from attacking the real lieutenant. There was a part of him that was curious about what she was doing with the bodies and the blood. However, he wasn¡¯t so interested that he would pass up a golden opportunity to attack an unwary enemy. So, without further hesitation, Elijah padded into the room, avoiding the illusions along the way, then positioned himself behind the elf. It was telling about how far he¡¯d come down the path of a killer that he didn¡¯t hesitate before leaping into action. After engaging Predator Strike as well as Venom Strike, Elijah pounced. Even as his jaws closed around the elven woman¡¯s head, she let loose with a series of flashing lights that had him seeing stars. The illusions all screamed, and Elijah felt the light burning holes through his scales. But it only lasted a second before he bit through Avasil¡¯s skull. After that, the illusions let out one last scream before dissipating into motes of light. Then, a blaze of blinding light flashed before everything went dark. Then, slowly, the flames flickered back to life, revealing a very different setting than the one he¡¯d seen before he¡¯d killed the elf. And she was definitely dead. He¡¯d felt the influx of energy that heralded her death. Plus, he¡¯d crushed her entire skull between his teeth, which was usually a good way to ensure something would cease living. However, when Elijah looked down, instead of the beautiful elf ¨C headless though she was ¨C he saw a decrepit creature with pallid, flaky skin and a body that looked like it belonged to a desiccated corpse. The copies were predictably gone, but the illusion that had apparently extended to the entire room had disappeared as well. Now, Elijah saw a blood-stained torture chamber that would have been at home in the dungeon where he¡¯d killed the Warden. Elijah pushed his disgust aside, focusing on what was really important ¨C he¡¯d managed to kill the light lieutenant without a real fight. Of course, it wouldn¡¯t have been possible without the unique advantage of One with Nature, proving the necessity of bringing the right tool for the job. For most people, that meant having a diverse group, but Elijah had to lean on his personal versatility instead. It had worked so far, but he dreaded the day when he¡¯d encounter a situation he simply wasn¡¯t equipped to handle. That day had yet to come, but he knew it would. Hopefully, he¡¯d have even more skills and abilities when it did. For now, though, he needed to loot what he could, then head to the other wing where he would deal with Tulariel, the master of shadow. Over the next few minutes, Elijah scoured the area. However, other than a few extra copper Ethereum, he found nothing of value. Even the books he¡¯d seen had been illusory, so he quickly left the grisly chamber behind, retracing his steps as he headed toward the shadow wing. That necessitated the traversal of the battlefield, where he was confronted with the results of his actions. Dead elves, each wearing elaborate armor that was impossible to remove, carpeted the floor, though Elijah pushed past them without a second glance. In a few facets of his mind, though, he wondered if killing denizens of a tower counted as murder. On the surface, he was certain that it didn¡¯t. And yet, some vestiges of guilt remained, casting doubt on his certainty. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Fortunately, he quickly left that chamber behind and found his way through the shadow wing and to the room that housed Tulariel, the shadow lieutenant. In the Shape of the Predator, and with Guise of the Unseen cloaking his presence, Elijah observed the dark elf was in the middle of executing an elaborate sword kata. It was a truly impressive display of grace, balance, and skill, reminding Elijah of just how inadequate his efforts with the staff were. It also lit a fire beneath him. Once he conquered the tower, he resolved to devote himself to better learning the weapon he¡¯d adopted as his preference. At the moment, though, he had an elf to kill. There was no justification for it. As far as Elijah could see, Tulariel was simply minding his own business. Unlike Elijah¡¯s previous encounter with Avasil in the light wing, there were no basins of blood or skinned corpses. Still, he knew precisely what he had to do, and the fact that the elf didn¡¯t overtly deserve it was irrelevant. It was a fundamental aspect of nature¡¯s brutality that sometimes, some creatures needed to die so others could live. Elijah understood that better than most, and he refused to let himself get tangled in doubts. Instead, he focused on the obstacle in his way, on the death that would allow him to live. He lashed out like a striking snake, intending to end the fight the same way he¡¯d overcome the last lieutenant. However, at the last second, Tulariel¡¯s battle instincts kicked in, obviously telling him that he was in mortal danger. Just before Elijah¡¯s jaws closed in, the dark elf dove forward, moving so quickly that Elijah couldn¡¯t even redirect his course. After missing his target, he crashed into the floor, then dug his claws into the tiles, forcing himself to a stop just in time to see the dark elf dart in, slashing his sword across Elijah¡¯s unprotected flank. He shifted, avoiding the brunt of the blow ¨C only possible because of the time dilation afforded by his Sash of the Whirlwind ¨C and his scales deflected the sharp blade before it could penetrate too deeply. However, the message was clear. In the realm of speed, Elijah was woefully outmatched. The only solace was that, due to Shield of Brambles, Tulariel had been assaulted by a painful thorn for his trouble. ¡°A draconid? Here?¡± the elf breathed, yanking the thorn from his hand. He narrowed his eyes. ¡°No. You are more than a mere beast, are you not?¡± Elijah didn¡¯t answer. Instead, his mind whirled with potential strategies. The scaled panther ¨C or draconid, apparently ¨C form was ill-suited to a straight fight. It was deadly so long as he had the advantage of surprise and kept his opponents on the back foot, but its defenses were too soft to stand up to even glancing blows. No ¨C as much as he wished he could remain in his favored form, he couldn¡¯t do so. But that presented a problem all its own, chiefly that both of his other forms ¨C human and scaled ape had weaknesses of their own. As a human, he was wholly dependent on Ethera to do damage. However, that same pool of Ethera was the only way he could endure damage. By comparison, the scaled ape form was incapable of keeping up with the dark elf. Still, it was his best shot. So, without further ado, he initiated the shift from draconid to human. He only paused for a brief second before he cast Shape of the Guardian. ¡°What? A shapeshifter? What sort of monster are you?!¡± Tulariel didn¡¯t ask any other questions before he launched himself forward with blistering speed. Elijah tried to avoid it, but mid-transformation, he was incapable of doing much more than protecting his head. The sword sliced into his shoulder, stopping only when it hit the bone. However, by that point, Elijah¡¯s transformation into a scaled ape completed. He let out a roar, slapping the sword away and throwing himself at the elf. Tulariel¡¯s reflexes were up to the challenge, though, and he nimbly danced away, aiming a backhanded blow at Elijah along the way. Fortunately, his scales were more than up to the task of deflecting the attack ¨C largely because the elf was incapable of putting his full strength behind it ¨C but he couldn¡¯t stop himself before colliding with the wall. With a growl, Elijah tore himself away, then wheeled around to face the elf. ¡°A lamellar ape?¡± Apparently, that was the true name of his Guardian form, which would have been interesting if Elijah wasn¡¯t in a fight for his life against a superior and frustrating opponent. Suddenly, he launched himself forward, hoping to take the elf by surprise. With all his Strength, he could move incredibly quickly. However, because his attributes were lopsided, that Strength was incredibly difficult to control. And he didn¡¯t even have Essence of the Monkey to close some of the gap, either. So, the elf had little trouble spinning out of the way and landing yet another attack. This one cut a few inches into Elijah¡¯s hip, telling him that, despite what that first attack might have suggested, the elf was more than capable of harming him. It would take a while, but it was possible. Likely, even, considering that Elijah couldn¡¯t even catch the nimble swordsman, as became evident over the next few minutes of back and forth. Elijah¡¯s frustrations mounted as he missed the elf time and time again. Each charge was rewarded with yet another painful wound as well, which only exacerbated Elijah¡¯s rage. But he shunted that into one facet of his Mind, focusing the rest on coming up with a plan of attack. However, he kept coming back to one simple reality: attacking was what was eventually going to get him killed. Instead, he needed to defend. So, instead of once again charging after the elf, he slammed his fists into the ground and waited. The elf, realizing that something was the matter, hesitated. However, he couldn¡¯t pass up an opportunity of attack, so he darted in, slashing his sword across Elijah¡¯s shoulder. It clanged against his scales, doing nothing.
Ability: Iron Scales Harden your scales, temporarily reducing all damage by 90%. Usable in Guardian Form. Duration dependent on Constitution. Current Duration: 4.2 seconds.
Using his latest ability made his scales incredibly durable, but only for a few brief seconds. However, because of his inflated Constitution, he felt that he could use it quite a few times before fatigue started to take hold. More importantly, he could counter the elf¡¯s attacks without even moving. Tulariel retreated, pulling another thorn out of his forearm. Already, his body was peppered with lightly bleeding wounds, and if he wanted to kill Elijah, there would be many more where they¡¯d come from. All Elijah had to do was take damage, and the thorns from Shield of Brambles would eventually wear the elf down. And so the elf continued to attack. Elijah, for his part, practiced activating Iron Scales at the last second, and because of his Sash of the Whirlwind, he managed it well enough. Still, it was unsurprising when the elf had finally had enough. He retreated, then refused to attack further. ¡°It seems we are at an impasse,¡± Tulariel said. ¡°So we are,¡± Elijah growled. ¡°You can speak?¡± ¡°I can.¡± ¡°Are my subordinates dead?¡± was the elf¡¯s next question. ¡°They are,¡± Elijah said. Speaking in the lamellar ape form was unnatural, but he could manage it. ¡°The light elves, too.¡± The elf cocked his head to the side, obviously surprised. Then, he grinned. ¡°Small rewards, I suppose. Why have you attacked us?¡± ¡°Because I must,¡± Elijah said. He knew better than to start going on about towers and tasks. It was unlikely that the elf would believe him, and even if he did, it would do little good. After all, it wasn¡¯t as if the creature intended to surrender. Nor could Elijah allow it. His Task had been clear on that count. Besides, Elijah had a plan to finish things in a hurry. ¡°Why? I can give you ¨C¡± Elijah cancelled Shape of the Guardian, and before he¡¯d even completed his transformation, he¡¯d begun to cast a spell. Meanwhile, the elf recovered from his surprise and dashed in Elijah¡¯s direction. Still, the delay was just enough to allow the spell to complete. Snaring Roots leaped from Elijah¡¯s staff, prompting a surge of lashing vines to erupt from the floor and wrap themselves around the elf. It wouldn¡¯t last long. Elijah knew that. But he hoped it would be just enough to give him one shot. And he knew exactly how he was going to use that opening. He ran forward, casting another spell along the way. He didn¡¯t have time for Storm¡¯s Fury or Swarm, and he didn¡¯t want to spend the Ethera necessary to fuel Calamity. But that was fine. Long ago, he¡¯d chosen his path, and though he would utilize those attack spells when necessary, he preferred his animal shapes. So, he once again shifted into the lamellar ape form, enhancing his Strength and Constitution to superhuman levels. The elf, trapped by the vines, tried to rip himself free and avoid the oncoming attack, but he was slowed just enough to allow Elijah one good attack. And he used it well. With his hands clasped together, Elijah raised his arms, then brought his fists down with thunderous fury. The elf lashed out with his sword, but it clanged off of Iron Scales just before Elijah¡¯s own attack fell. The impact of his fists crushed the elf¡¯s collarbone as well as a few ribs. It also sent him crashing to the ground where the remnants of Snaring Roots held him in place for Elijah¡¯s next blow. It fell with inevitable force, crushing bones and rupturing flesh. He hit the elf again. And again after that. Over and over, he repaid the elf for every attack he¡¯d landed. And soon enough, the dark elf perished. Elijah stood over him, then let out a roar as he beat his chest with wild abandon. The lieutenants were all dead. Now, he only needed to challenge the Champion before defeating the Reaver himself. Hopefully, he would be up for the task. 2-39. Place Your Bets After examining the dark elf¡¯s corpse, Elijah came away with an extra sword and three silver Ethereum, which was the most he¡¯d gotten from any individual kill. Fortunately, when he returned to where he¡¯d left his equipment in the central chamber, he found that the blade was just small enough to fit inside his pack. So, he added it to his collection before settling down to rest and recuperate. Because of his copious use of Iron Scales, he¡¯d sustained very little actual damage. However, that same strategy had drained his stamina more thoroughly than anything he¡¯d ever done. It felt like he¡¯d just run two marathons back-to-back while carrying a sack of rocks on his back, and he very much needed a few hours of downtime. It also didn¡¯t help that he hadn¡¯t really slept since entering the tower, which by his count, had been at least three days ago. Maybe as much as a week. Time felt a little squirrely when he had nothing to mark the passage of each day. He was also hungry and thirsty, so he spent a little time taking care of his biological necessities ¨C and eating his last grove berry ¨C before heading to one of the most isolated rooms he could find and settling down to take a nap. It was a testament to how tired he was that he was able to fall asleep at all, and for the next few hours, Elijah slept like a contented baby. So, when he awoke, he felt ready to defeat the Champion and progress to the last level of the dungeon. So, he pushed himself upright, ate some mostly tasteless travel rations and drained one of his jugs of water. If he didn¡¯t conquer the tower soon, he would have to start rationing his water. He¡¯d only brought a handful of glass jugs, and there were only a couple left. Pushing that out of his mind, Elijah climbed to his feet and went through a brief calisthenics routine so he could work out the kinks in his stiff muscles. He¡¯d healed all his injuries from the day before, but his body still paid the price. However, it only took a quick cast of Healing Rain and a little stretching to banish the resulting soreness. Once he¡¯d done that, Elijah set off through the Citadel and toward the stairs leading up to the Champion¡¯s wing. The old prisoner had pointed it out, but Elijah hadn¡¯t needed it because the broad stairs were obviously important. At least forty feet wide at the base, they narrowed to only ten feet across after a hundred or so yards. From what Elijah had seen of the Citadel¡¯s dimensions from the outside, the distances seemed impossible. But magic was involved, so possible only seemed like a suggestion rather than a rule. In any case, after getting himself into the right frame of mind, Elijah shouldered his two staves ¨C one, the enormous ogre¡¯s staff, and the other his Staff of Natural Harmony ¨C then shifted his pack before embracing Shape of the Predator and slipping into the draconid form. Fortunately, the magic took care of the staves and his pack, leaving him free to progress up that long flight of intimidating stairs. Once he reached the top, Elijah let Guise of the Predator settle across his shoulders before he approached the doors. To his surprise, the massive, gilded doors opened inwardly of their own volition. However, Elijah could see nothing but a black field on the other side. So, he took a deep breath, then pushed through. Unlike when he¡¯d progressed from one level to the next, he felt no sense of displacement. Instead, it was like walking through any other doorway. However, as he passed the threshold, his vision cleared and he saw a large expanse of glittering, grey sand. More distressingly, Guise of the Unseen was forcefully canceled, leaving him entirely exposed. Elijah didn¡¯t even have a chance to look around before a bellowing voice bounced off the walls to assail his ears. ¡°Little draconid!¡± it roared. ¡°I have watched you dismantle my would-be challengers, and I approve of your methods! However, if you wish to face me, you will need to prove yourself worthy against more varied opponents! Do you accept the challenge?¡± Elijah had only dedicated one facet of his mind to listening to the voice¡¯s declaration. The other eight were occupied with cataloguing his surroundings. The floor was grey sand that glittered in the firelight of a hundred surrounding torches. The walls were tall and featureless, save for a sturdy gate on the other side of the circular room. However, the most surprising aspect was the fact that he could hear the din of hundreds ¨C perhaps even thousands ¨C of conversations. ¡°You must answer!¡± Elijah finally found the source of the voice. He was an ogre, and yet, he was simultaneously larger and more muscular than any Elijah had seen below. Fifteen feet tall, with bulging muscles that made him look like a bodybuilder, the ogre wore nothing but a fur loincloth, hide boots that came up to mid-calf, and a leather harness crisscrossing his massive chest. Aside from a ragged scar that cut from his hairless scalp, diagonally across his face, and to the opposite jaw, his lumpy visage looked little different than the lesser ogres Elijah had so far encountered. But even from so far away, he radiated power and authority as he stood on a platform atop the wall. Three elven women, all clad in gossamer robes, sat in elaborate chairs to either side of the massive ogre, and beyond the platform, Elijah saw the source of the din he¡¯d heard before. Hundreds of ogres and elves stood shoulder to shoulder in an enormous, bowl-shaped arena. That gave Elijah some insight into what sort of challenge the ogre offered. And given the point of the Task he¡¯d been given, it didn¡¯t take much for him to connect the dots. The path before him looked clear. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He just didn¡¯t like where it would lead him. Elijah preferred to fight unfair battles. That was where he excelled. But with what was coming, he knew that wouldn¡¯t be possible. For the first time, he would be forced to fight on even terms. No tricks. No clever plans. Just him against whatever opponents the ogre sent his way. He didn¡¯t know if he could survive. Still, it wasn¡¯t as if he had a choice. The walls were too high to climb, and he couldn¡¯t go back the way he¡¯d come. None of his spells could reach the ogre, either. So, he had no other option but to go along with the scenario. So, knowing what was coming, Elijah shifted into his human form. As he did, he was suddenly aware of his own nudity. He hadn¡¯t bothered dressing after defeating the ogres, largely because he hadn¡¯t seen the point. Now, though, with thousands of ogres and elves looking down on him, he regretted the oversight. Pushing his embarrassment aside, he cast Healing Rain. Then, he ensured his enhancements were still active before raising his voice and shouting, ¡°I accept your challenge!¡± The crowd roared. The ogre clapped. And the gate opened. A trio of tall, goblinoid creatures strode forward. ¡°The challenger versus the Hobgoblin Trio!¡± announced the giant ogre. ¡°Who will win? Place your bets now!¡± The hobgoblins looked like their smaller counterparts, and yet, they were much larger. In addition, they had much more muscle and far more refined features. Still, each one wore a savage snarl on his face, and they all carried jagged and rusty swords. Elijah had no intention of letting them get close. So, he used Snaring Roots, aiming just in front of them. Normally, he used the spell on a single opponent. However, it wasn¡¯t really that limited. Instead, the vines that it manifested would attack any enemy that came too close. So, when the hobgoblins did just that, the thorny vines lashed out, tangling their legs. One tripped and fell on his face. Another was briefly immobilized. And the last attacked the vines with his jagged sword, hacking through the thick roots with savage ferocity. But it was just enough to allow enough time for Elijah to cast Swarm. Hundreds of hornets, each the size of Elijah¡¯s thumb, swooped in, stinging the hobgoblins and delivering their afflictions. At the same time, he shifted into the Shape of the Guardian and raced forward. Using every point of Strength at his disposal, Elijah covered the ground in an instant. The immobilized hobgoblin that was his target stood no chance of dodging, and Elijah hit it like an out-of-control locomotive. The impact broke the comparatively slender hobgoblin¡¯s bones, and Elijah ended its life only a second later when he grabbed its head like he was palming a basketball, and squeezed. It popped like an overfilled water balloon, surprising even Elijah with its fragility. However, he wasn¡¯t going to sit there and stare. Instead, he wheeled around, and with a roar, raced toward the hobgoblin who was still trying to cut himself loose. Elijah reached out, grabbed him by the waist, and spun around before tossing him into the crowd. He didn¡¯t see where the creature landed, but he felt the influx of kill energy that told him the hobgoblin was dead. That left only one. Elijah turned slowly before locking his eyes on his intended victim. These weren¡¯t enemies. They were prey. And Elijah intended to make that abundantly clear. Seeing the approach of a massive lamellar ape, the hobgoblin let out a terrified scream. For his savage side, the sound was music to Elijah¡¯s ears. Before the hobgoblin could scramble away, Elijah leaped, and his arcing path ended when he landed upon the hobgoblin. Bones broke. Organs ruptured. And ultimately, the creature died an ignoble death. Elijah bent down, scooped up the hobgoblin¡¯s corpse, and tossed it at the ogre. It didn¡¯t quite make it up to the platform, but it came close enough that the elven women flinched. The Champion ¨C and that was who it had to be ¨C pointedly did not, though. ¡°Impressive!¡± the ogre bellowed with a hearty laugh. ¡°Very impressive. But how will you do against the next opponent?¡± Elijah had no chance to answer before the gates opened once again, this time revealing a large, reptilian creature. Its torso was humanoid, but the bottom half resembled an enormous snake. Elijah didn¡¯t have much chance to study it, though, because the creature opened its mouth wide, then spat a glob of thick mucus in his direction. Elijah darted to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile before rushing the snake-man. It moved as quick as its reptilian appearance would imply, and it managed to avoid Elijah¡¯s charge. It lashed out, raking its claws across his shoulder as he barreled past. However, Elijah used Iron Scales at the last second, and the snake-creature¡¯s claws clanged harmlessly. ¡°The Naga are known for their speed and Dexterity as well as their potent venom. One nick can kill even the strongest warriors! Can our sturdy challenger compete with that? Place your bets!¡± Elijah paid the ogre¡¯s commentary little heed as he dashed in, aiming to end the fight in only a second. However, the creature once again evaded him, though he did manage to activate Iron Scales before it raked its claws across his ribs. Like that, the fight went on, with neither side capable of gaining an advantage. At least that was the case until Elijah finally had enough and switched to his draconid form in mid-stride. The increased Dexterity was all he needed to land a solid blow, and with his claws, he ripped a long gash in the naga¡¯s abdomen. Intestines spilled out, though Elijah was incapable of avoiding a retaliatory swipe that opened up a gash in his hind leg. Fiery agony erupted from the wound, and his leg immediately spasmed. Yet, Elijah had endured pain before, and he managed to dash away before the naga warrior could follow it up. When he turned back to face the snake-like creature, he saw that it was struggling to gather its intestines. So, Elijah used that distraction to his advantage when he shifted into his human form, used Touch of Nature to counteract the monster¡¯s venom, then aimed Storm¡¯s Fury in the naga¡¯s direction. The creature had no chance of dodging, and it took the resulting lightning bolt square in the chest. It flew backwards, landing a few feet later in a coiled and twitching heap. Elijah didn¡¯t let up, though. Instead, he hit it with another Storm¡¯s Fury. And another after that. By the fourth, the creature¡¯s twitching had become a full-blown seizure, and it died only a few seconds later. ¡°Incredible!¡± yelled the ogre. ¡°Absolutely astounding! But can the challenger stand up to the Forest King himself?¡± Something huge, green, and monstrous crashed through the gate, knocking the metal doors aside and letting out an immense roar. ¡°Place your bets now!¡± 2-40. Challenging a Champion In most cases, a frog alternates between disgusting and cute, depending on who¡¯s looking at it. Rarely are they considered horrifying, and yet, that was precisely the thought that crossed Elijah¡¯s mind as he barely managed to dodge a thick, rubbery tongue. It slapped against the body of one of his previous opponents ¨C a mantis-like creature with organic scythes for hands ¨C that he¡¯d narrowly defeated only a few minutes before. The frog¡¯s tongue stuck fast to the corpse¡¯s chitinous exoskeleton, but Elijah knew it would only be temporary. The tongues of amphibians ¨C and the saliva they secreted ¨C were a marvel of nature, and on Earth, frogs captured prey by covering them in said saliva, which was capable of transforming from liquid to solid and back, making for some of the stickiest substances in nature. That meant that it wouldn¡¯t stay stuck to the mantis¡¯s body for long, so Elijah needed to act quickly and decisively. With that in mind, he aimed his staff at the frog ¨C which was the size of a rhinoceros ¨C and let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. The lightning tore across the arena, disappearing into the frog¡¯s gaping mouth. The creature let out a deep, croaking bellow of pain as its body was wracked with convulsions. As had been the case for the past ten fights, the giant ogre on the platform far above commented on Elijah¡¯s progress. However, he didn¡¯t hear it. Instead, he sprinted forward, hoping to take advantage of the frog¡¯s electricity-induced seizure. As he did so, one facet of his mind completed the casting of Shape of the Predator, and over the space of three steps, he shifted into the draconid form. He¡¯d shifted a dozen or more times since the gauntlet had begun, and he suspected his latest transformation wouldn¡¯t be the last. Whatever the case, he crashed into the amphibian with snapping jaws and slicing talons that ripped into the creature¡¯s rubbery stomach with ease. Yet, he didn¡¯t get to anything important before the frog recovered and tried to hop away. But Elijah had already seen that tactic, so he latched on with claws meant for climbing trees and went along for a ride. The panicked frog sailed high into the air, its arc taking it on an inevitable collision course with the wall. It smashed into the barrier with a wet squelch, and the impact very nearly jostled Elijah loose. Nearly was not completely, though, and Elijah managed to hang on. More importantly, his tenacity was rewarded with an opportunity to truly dig into the stunned monster¡¯s belly. He dug deep, raking his claws across the wet and pliable flesh until, at last, he hit organs. Without skipping a beat, Elijah continued to tear into frog¡¯s abdomen until he had completely submerged in its innards. That was when the real work started. Elijah didn¡¯t bother with trying to identify organs. Vaguely, he recognized some of them, but what they were was less important than inflicting as much damage as possible. So, he tore his way through the frog¡¯s guts one raking claw a time. In the back of one facet of his mind, he was aware of how disgusting it was. However, he¡¯d long since moved past acknowledging that, adopting a philosophy of pragmatism. Besides, he¡¯d once been a biologist, so he could handle all sorts of grotesque sights, sounds, and, as it turned out, tastes. More importantly than that, though, by that point, Elijah was exhausted enough to not care about anything except killing the monster as quickly as he could. So, that was what he did. And eventually, he managed to finish it off, though it took far longer than Elijah would have expected. Like many of the other creatures he¡¯d fought since Earth had been touched by the World Tree, the frog was clearly far more durable than any animal should have been. However, he¡¯d long ago accepted that most of the biological knowledge he had accumulated over years of study was now useless. After all, what use was any of that against dinosaurs made of roots? Or monstrous killer whales whose insides seemed to defy the laws of physics? Or, as was the case with his latest conquest, a giant frog who, according to everything Elijah knew about biomechanics, was so large that it should not have been able to bear its own weight. In any case, Elijah felt a deep sense of relief when he finally climbed out of the monster¡¯s slimy gut. Once he did, he summoned Healing Rain, as much to wash the remnants of the frog¡¯s innards away as to treat any injuries. Even as he basked in the rejuvenating precipitation, he heard the tenor of the crowd suddenly shift. For a moment, he didn¡¯t understand what was going on, but then Elijah picked up what they were saying. ¡°Champion! Champion!¡± they chanted, over and over, until the ogre finally bellowed for them to quiet down. ¡°This challenger has accomplished something impressive. For that, he has our praise!¡± shouted the ogre. The crowd went wild. ¡°But! If he is to be called a champion, then he needs to do more than defeat a few hobgoblins. Indeed, he must become a challenger in truth. He must fight me!¡± The enormous ogre then stepped forward and leaped from the platform. He landed in a spray of glittering gray sand only a moment later. By that point, Elijah knew he was in trouble. The ogre was even larger than his first assessment had suggested ¨C a trick of perspective, he was sure ¨C and what¡¯s more, he was far more muscular than any of the other ogres Elijah had fought. He looked like a perfect warrior. But the implications were clear. Elijah needed to kill the Champion if he wanted to complete the tower. There were no clever tricks to be played. No sneaking. No ambushes. Just him and the opponent. If the fight had happened a few weeks before, he would have never had a chance. However, because he¡¯d spent the past few days ¨C or weeks, maybe ¨C learning to use every facet of his toolkit, Elijah didn¡¯t even flinch at the challenge before him. Instead, he remained in place, letting the waters of Healing Rain wash away the remainder of his fatigue while he leveraged his Quartz Mind to increase his Ethera Regeneration as much as possible. The tiny vortexes at the center of each facet of his Mind eagerly drank the ambient Ethera, funneling it through his Soul and into his Dragon Core. Across the arena, the ogre beat his muscular chest and roared to the crowd. It was clear that the Champion was as much a showman as he was a fighter, especially considering that his bare chest had been oiled and his bald head shined to a dull gleam. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Not that that made him any less dangerous, of course. Elijah did find it amusing, though, and he was reminded of a professional wrestler. Perhaps that would change once the fight began. Elijah rolled his shoulders, then checked his enhancements. The ogre looked so muscular that if he landed a single blow ¨C even a glancing one ¨C it would have dire consequences for Elijah, so he replaced Shield of Brambles with Essence of the Monkey. Beyond that, he had Essence of the Wolf, One with Nature, Aura of Renewal, and Essence of the Boar active. With that, he was ready for the fight. He stepped forward, leveled his staff, and summoned Calamity. Thunder rolled, and lightning struck as blades of wind swirled, kicking up sparkling grey dust and obscuring the ogre. Elijah couldn¡¯t see much, but he definitely noticed when the Champion came crashing through the maelstrom, his fists gleaming with purple energy. Elijah hurriedly cast Snaring Roots, but they did nothing to stop the enormous ogre¡¯s vast momentum. He ripped through them, barely even slowing down. And yet, even that small delay allowed Elijah enough time to cast Swarm. Hundreds of fist-sized mosquitoes manifested, then flocked onto the Champion¡¯s oil-slick back, where they latched on and started doing the job for which they had been summoned. Yet, few of those proboscises managed to penetrate the ogre¡¯s thick hide, and their inability mitigated the swarm¡¯s effect. Still, a few managed to break through, so the spell wasn¡¯t entirely useless. Elijah cast Storm¡¯s Fury, sending a bolt of crackling lightning to hit the creature in the chest. That definitely did something, sending the ogre¡¯s muscles into involuntary contractions. However, that only slowed the monstrous humanoid down a little more than the roots, so Elijah had no choice but to rapidly shift into his lamellar ape form. He managed to complete the transformation just in time to meet the ogre¡¯s charge. And get sent flying through the air to hit the wall hard enough to crack the bricks from which it had been constructed. Fortunately, he used Iron Scales just before the ogre made contact, but even ten percent of that punch was enough to make Elijah see stars. He was still within the effective radius of Healing Rain, though, so it cleared up quickly. That was just in time for him to see the ogre once again bearing down on him. Elijah used Iron Scales once again, then leaped at the creature. The two collided with a titanic impact that shook the very ground, but Elijah definitely got the worst of it. Even with the protection afforded by Iron Scales, he had the breath driven from his chest by a momentous uppercut that took him in the gut. That¡¯s when Elijah realized his mistake. He¡¯d gotten so used to fighting like a beast that he¡¯d forgotten the years¡¯ worth of lessons he¡¯d learned in the boxing gym. The lamellar ape form wasn¡¯t perfectly suited for most of his techniques, but the general principles remained just as valid as they ever were before. So, when he regained his composure a second later, he stepped back into the fight with renewed confidence. The ogre came in with a simple jab, but instead of simply taking the hit, Elijah shifted slightly to the side, letting it pass him by. Elijah returned the would-be blow with one of his own, whipping his own fist out to slap against the ogre¡¯s hip. With the size difference, that was the best spot he could reach, and though it wasn¡¯t ideal, it certainly threw the ogre off balance. Elijah followed it up by tapping into his bestial nature. His jaws snapped out, latching onto the ogre¡¯s exposed thigh, and ripping a chunk of his quadriceps muscle away. The Champion howled in pain and fury, but by the time he brought his own fists to bear, Elijah had danced away. Awkwardly, by his standards. But it was effective enough to let him avoid the ogre¡¯s furious and ill-aimed punch. That further overbalanced the creature, which Elijah used to great advantage when he rushed in with a shoulder tackle that bent the Champion¡¯s knee the wrong way. Its sudden collapse surprised Elijah, and that shock very nearly got him killed. Even as the ogre fell, it reached out, grabbed Elijah¡¯s shoulder, and yanked him off his feet. Before he knew what was happening, the creature had him pinned to the ground and was raining one herculean blow after another down on him. Elijah used Iron Scales, but it could only do so much against such a powerful opponent. However, that damage reduction was just enough to keep Elijah from being pummeled into unconsciousness. While one facet of his Quartz Mind focused on using Iron Scales at the appropriate time, another took care of keeping him moving just enough to avoid taking too solid of a blow. Still another housed his panic. The rest were wholly occupied with trying to think of a way out of the dire situation. But as far as he could tell, there was only one shot. He just didn¡¯t want to take it because, if he was wrong, a bad situation would turn to worse, which would probably mean the end of his struggle, and not in a way that would see him traipsing into the next level of the tower. He didn¡¯t have much choice, though. The battle had turned in a hurry, and he had none of his usual tactics available. The creature had escaped his Calamity without issue, and the Swarm had already dissipated without infecting the ogre with much in the way of afflictions. So, he shifted. Not because he wanted to take advantage of his draconid form. Rather, he transformed because that form was much, much smaller than the lamellar ape. As such, when the ogre¡¯s fist descended, it found only sand where Elijah¡¯s head had once been. Meanwhile, the smaller size also gave him just enough wiggle room to escape the ogre¡¯s grasp. He slithered out from beneath the creature, then leaped onto the wall. Bounding off that surface, he launched himself at the slightly confused ogre. He landed lightly, then sank his claws into the monster¡¯s oiled back. The creature howled at the sudden pain, and he tried to dislodge the stubborn draconid, but to no effect. Because Elijah had learned something about his opponent. The ogre was strong. Far stronger than anything he¡¯d ever encountered, and that was including the very first encounter with one of the Voxx. However, the Champion¡¯s attributes were lopsided, but not in the way Elijah¡¯s Guardian form was. Instead of having a detriment of Dexterity, it instead lacked Constitution. Normally, that wouldn¡¯t have been such a debilitating weakness. The monster was still plenty durable, and with its extremely high Strength and Dexterity, it could probably end most fights before they had a chance to really begin. Yet, Elijah was just capable of avoiding that fate, and he¡¯d managed to find the ogre¡¯s weakness. And now, on the Champion¡¯s back, he could finally exploit it to the fullest extent. His claws bit deep, but his teeth went even deeper. He ripped into the monster¡¯s back, tearing it to ribbons even as he ripped huge chunks of muscle from its body. Bits of flesh flew through the air, and blood coated the grey sand, but Elijah refused to stop. He couldn¡¯t afford to rest. Even the slightest pause would lift the pressure and allow the ogre to regain his equilibrium. Elijah couldn¡¯t let that happen, so he ripped and tore, bit and clawed until, at last, he found his way to the ogre¡¯s vulnerable organs. He started with the intestines, but those were shredded in seconds. A foul and acrid stench filled Elijah¡¯s nostrils as he dug into the chest cavity, piercing lungs and finally, latching onto the ogre¡¯s overlarge heart. He ripped it free, then, at last, bounded away. The ogre fell like a tree, hitting the ground with a massive impact that sent even more sand, blood, and guts into the air. He was dead before he hit the ground. Just like that, Elijah had won the battle and conquered the second floor of the tower. 2-41. The Reaver The crowd went silent, as if they were unsure how to react to the fall of the Champion. That silence stretched for what felt to Elijah like an eternity before, suddenly, they let out a collective roar that shook the very foundations of the arena. It wasn¡¯t simply deafening. Rather, it was a sound so loud ¨C so visceral ¨C that it was physically painful to endure. However, Elijah felt nothing but elation at his accomplishment. He basked in the crowd¡¯s approval, his chest heaving with excitement. Then, he noticed a silver box glinting in the distance. It stood before the gate, his reward for another level conquered. The prideful satisfaction he felt was nothing new. He¡¯d felt the same way, though to a lesser extent, upon winning bouts in his boxing days. Or when playing other sports as a kid. It was always addictive, and yet, it was usually fleeting as well. Not so, this time. Elijah knew how uncommon his accomplishments were. His first tower had been a series of misadventures he¡¯d survived through cunning, good fortune, and simple endurance. However, the gauntlet he¡¯d just run was no such thing. He¡¯d fought, not via tricks or subterfuge, but in an even match against impossible odds. And he had come out on top. That he¡¯d proven himself stronger than an entity like the Champion ¨C much less the ten encounters through which he¡¯d fought before facing off against the giant ogre ¨C was a heady realization. Yet, Elijah knew he wasn¡¯t finished. There was still one more level left in the tower, and if he was going to conquer it and survive, he would need every aspect of his unique abilities. So, with that sobering realization coursing through every facet of his mind, he summoned Healing Rain and set about scrubbing himself clean. The water wouldn¡¯t persist longer than the spell¡¯s duration, but it still lasted long enough for an impromptu shower. He¡¯d even packed a little of his homemade soap for just such an occasion. He must¡¯ve made for an odd sight, showering with his summoned raincloud in the middle of an arena that, at present, housed quite a few dead bodies. But the crowd never stopped cheering, which told Elijah that they weren¡¯t even whatever passed for real people within a tower. Instead, they were just background noise. Meaningless, soulless, and inconsequential. ¡°I¡¯ll still take the cheers, though,¡± he said to himself as he finished washing the soap ¨C and all the viscera ¨C from his body. The shower also served the purpose of reinvigorating and healing much of the damage he¡¯d taken. However, he still had to use Touch of Nature to heal a few broken bones he¡¯d sustained. All in all, though, he managed to make it out of the arena with far fewer injuries than he¡¯d have suspected. It was a rarity for him to get through a fight without being beaten, bloody, and on the brink of death, so he chose to enjoy it while he could. After all, he still had the Reaver to defeat, and he wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to think it would be any easier than the gauntlet he¡¯d just endured. And given the fact that it would¡¯ve only taken a mistake or two to send the previous battle careening in an entirely different direction, Elijah was wary of what he might have to suffer on the next level of the tower. After he finished showering, he dressed in one of the outfits he¡¯d bought back in Ironshore. He still had one that was undamaged, but he chose one that had already been subjected to quite a bit of wear and tear. As usual, he wore no shoes, as much because he didn¡¯t have any as because his spells seemed to work better so long as his feet remained unshod. Clean and rejuvenated, he returned to the ogre¡¯s corpse and took the creature¡¯s money pouch, which he tossed into his pack. Then, he retrieved the giant staff he¡¯d lugged up from the other wings, then shouldered it before heading toward his reward. The chest was a lot bigger than the ones he¡¯d received in the past, and as he approached it, he noticed that it looked slightly more elaborate. He leaned down, then unlatched the clasp that held it shut. The lid popped open of its own accord, revealing a leather bracer. The moment he opened the treasure chest, a notification popped up, too:
Congratluations! You have completed Level Two of Reaver Citadel. Grade: A To progress further, go through the gate and reach the third and final level.
Elijah pumped his fist in celebration at his grade. He¡¯d only received a B for the previous level, but it seemed that he¡¯d performed far better in his most recent challenge. The question remained as to how that would translate to his reward. The Sash of the Whirlwind had been invaluable so far, allowing him to move more quickly than ever before. Often, he likened it to time dilation, but it was really that his increased speed was accompanied by an adjusted perception of time. That gave him the opportunity to use his speed more efficiently. Still, it wasn¡¯t a huge difference, and he suspected that was because of his decidedly average performance in the previous level. Now that he¡¯d gotten a higher grade for the second, he hoped that the reward would be that much more powerful. So, it was with eager hands that he reached down and grabbed the leather bracer. When his fingers brushed against the item, an expected notification flashed before his inner eye:
Reward for completing Level Two of Reaver Citadel: Silver Bracer of Rage If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
As usual, it didn¡¯t give any indication as to what it would do. So, he picked the bracer up and turned it this way and that while inspecting it. As he¡¯d already seen, the item was primarily made of black leather, but the back side, which was intended to protect his forearm, was plated silver. In addition, there were designs etched in silver thread across the whole thing. It reminded him of Celtic knots, but slightly off ¨C as if it was a similar concept, but developed by a different culture. But it was an interesting look, he couldn¡¯t deny. The inside of the bracer was lined with soft fur reminiscent of sheepskin, though with a silver sheen, and a leather lace on the bottom held the whole thing together. Elijah unfastened it, then slipped the bracer onto his right arm. Once he tied the laces ¨C awkwardly, because he only had one hand to do it ¨C he felt a surge of power. When he opened his status, he saw that his Strength had improved by seven points. ¡°Nice,¡± he said to himself. Given that Strength was the only attribute that he couldn¡¯t directly boost via one of his enhancements, any help in that department was more than welcome. Still, he¡¯d hoped for more. Even the Sash of the Whirlwind, which was supposed to be worse than the Silver Bracer of Rage ¨C if the grades were meant to indicate anything ¨C had an extra function in addition to the three points it gave him to both Strength and Dexterity. Sure, the attribute bonuses for the bracer was better by a point, but he¡¯d hoped for an extra function. Whatever the case, he intended to put the extra Strength to good use. After renewing his enhancements, he opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 41
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 53
Dexterity 55 (45)
Constitution 53 (43)
Ethera 51
Regeneration 65 (45)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
His attributes were really getting up there, especially since he¡¯d gained another level during the previous battle. One point per level in each category didn¡¯t seem like a lot, but it definitely added up. Getting extra attributes via his equipment was nice as well, especially when it gave him an extra ten points in Strength and three in Dexterity. Added to all of that were the effects of his enhancements. And when he shifted into his forms, the results were even more impressive. After all, Shape of the Guardian gave him thirty extra points in Strength and Constitution, which was an absolutely insane amount of power and durability. Similarly, Shape of the Predator gave bonuses to Strength and Dexterity as well, so when he was in either of his animal forms, he was an absolute terror. And even with all of that, he¡¯d struggled with the ogre Champion. That was a sobering thought, and it brought him back to the reality of his situation. He¡¯d done well so far, but when he progressed to the next level, he¡¯d be forced to fight the leader of the Citadel. And Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t be an easy battle. So, he pushed his self-congratulatory thoughts away and focused on the path ahead. The gate was open, but he couldn¡¯t see much beyond the entrance. He stepped forward into the darkness, but he didn¡¯t immediately progress to the next level. Instead, he followed a long, low-ceilinged hall for a few hundred feet before it doubled back and sloped upward. He kept going, hitting multiple switchbacks until, at last, he reached another door. He pushed it open, revealing a featureless black plain of impenetrable darkness. Knowing that it was the way to the next level, Elijah stepped through and felt the familiar displacement that had come with progressing between previous tower levels. It only lasted a moment before his bare foot hit something soft. He looked down to see an elaborate rug. Another second, and he saw that he¡¯d stepped into a richly decorated corridor. Lined with doors, the corridor was lit by flickering lamps, and it featured a host of small statues, oil paintings, and tapestries. And that was just what Elijah saw at a glance. Before he could study it further, though, he heard voices coming from nearby. So, he shifted into the Shape of the Predator, then adopted Guise of the Unseen only a second before two elves came into view. One was a dark elf, with onyx skin and white hair, but the other was a light elf, with blonde hair and a fair complexion. Clearly, the enmities of the previous level meant nothing here. Fortunately, the elves were either too distracted to see him or completely incapable of piercing his Guise of the Unseen, because they never even glanced in Elijah¡¯s direction. That allowed him to get a good look at the pair, and he was a bit surprised to see that they were devoid of the armor every other elf he¡¯d seen within the tower wore. Instead, they were both dressed like they¡¯d stepped out of a period drama. The female elf with the blonde hair wore a gown of deep crimson, while the male dark elf was clad in pantaloons, a blue tunic, and actual hose. Both wore copious amounts of jewelry and quite a bit of dark makeup around their eyes. Elijah waited for the pair to pass by, then followed at a discrete distance. He didn¡¯t know where he was going, so one direction was as good as any other. He trailed the two elves for a few minutes, listening to them chatter on about nothing as it became clear that they were a couple. Eventually, though, they led him to a pair of elaborately carved double doors, which they unhesitatingly stepped through. From his position a half dozen yards behind them, Elijah only caught a brief glimpse of the room on the other side of the doors. But the moment he did, he realized that he¡¯d found exactly what he was looking for. Still, he waited for another elf to wander into the room, and he slipped inside before the door could close. After positioning himself in an out-of-the-way corner, Elijah took stock of the situation. And it wasn¡¯t good. Around a vast table laden with a feast were seated two dozen elves. And at the head was a man ¨C not an elf ¨C that was clearly the Reaver. If Elijah hadn¡¯t known from the man¡¯s commanding demeanor, he would have gotten the picture from the notification that popped up the moment he laid eyes on the black-clad man.
Task: Slay the Reaver without alerting his subjects.
2-42. Gluttony If Elijah hadn¡¯t been keenly aware of how close he was to the elves ¨C and more importantly, to the Reaver himself ¨C he would¡¯ve sworn that he was watching a high-budget fantasy movie. The table itself was polished wood, and it was piled high with so much food that Elijah questioned whether or not the elves could consume even a quarter of it. He saw whole roast pigs, tureens of buttery potatoes, and a host of other foods he couldn¡¯t identify but looked amazingly appetizing. Suddenly, he was reminded of how long it had been since he¡¯d had a proper meal. During his trek to the tower, he¡¯d eaten nothing but wild game and whatever edibles he could forage. He was used to that sort of diet, so he didn¡¯t mind, but it was woefully lacking compared to the feast laid out before him. It was especially pointed because of the sheer delight shown by the elves each time they took a bite. More than once, he considered casting Calamity and clearing them out, just so he could take their meal. However, the Task set by the tower had specified that he should kill the Reaver without alerting his subjects. He didn¡¯t think that failing the second part would result in anything dire, but he was certain that it would at least affect his eventual grade. And he had no intention of taking a lesser reward if he could help it. So, he settled into a corner and watched the progression of the feast, and over time, the elves grew progressively drunker. The Reaver, though, abstained from alcohol. His cup ¨C which was a jeweled thing that looked more like a chalice ¨C only held water. He also didn¡¯t eat nearly as much as the elves, who were positively gluttonous with their consumption. For his part, Elijah held his own hunger at bay through a sheer expression of willpower. It wasn¡¯t until it had been gnawing at one facet of his mind for more than an hour that he realized just how unnatural it was. Elijah had always enjoyed food. Simple or complex, the product of home cooking or a five-star restaurant ¨C it didn¡¯t matter. He could always find something to appreciate. Even cooking wild game over an open fire was enough to get his salivary glands working overtime. And yet, he¡¯d never felt an urge to eat, to consume, that was nearly as strong as what he experienced watching those elves gorge themselves. Perhaps it was because of his cultivation, or maybe it was something else entirely. But he knew that the hunger was wrong. That it was alien. That it came from the Reaver. The moment that thought crossed Elijah¡¯s mind, he doubled down on his resistance. The challenge of the current level of the tower had already begun, and he¡¯d almost fallen prey to it without even realizing that he was in danger. Now that he knew what to look for, he could feel the tendrils of alien thoughts wrapping themselves around his mind. And once he was aware, it was much easier to resist the hunger that had, only a few minutes before, seemed so potent. He also saw the gluttonous elves for what they were. The slight crinkling around their eyes. The fearful glances toward the Reaver. The tears coating their cheeks. They weren¡¯t guests. They were prisoners, one and all. But Elijah wasn¡¯t there to free them. Instead, he watched as they continued to gorge themselves. The food gradually disappeared down their respective gullets until, at last, the first one passed out. Her stomach bulged obscenely, and using One with Nature, Elijah knew she was dead. She had literally eaten herself to death. And she wasn¡¯t the last. Over the next few hours, the elves dropped, one by one until only the Reaver remained. Still, he sat at the head of the table like nothing had changed. He sipped at his water with a mild expression that bordered on boredom. Then, finally, he stood. The legs of his chair scraped against the tile floor, loud in the silence the dead had left behind. He looked from one elf to the other, disappointment playing across his face. He ran his hand through his brown hair before letting out a tired sigh. Then, the air around him shimmered. So did the ambient Ethera. And before Elijah¡¯s eyes, the Reaver transformed. His arms and legs extended, growing longer and skeletally thin. The same could be said for his hands, and soon enough, the fingers had doubled in length. More, they were tipped in jagged black claws. The man¡¯s skin took on a gray hue, and his face remolded itself into a visage out of a horror movie. Like a mixture of man and bat, with long incisors extending to at least a few inches long, he looked like someone¡¯s twisted interpretation of a vampire. However, when the man fell on the elves¡¯ corpses, Elijah found that the Reaver wasn¡¯t interested in blood. Or not only blood, Elijah amended. The ghoulish mockery of a man ate everything. It was a grotesque sight, watching that creature gorge itself, but Elijah didn¡¯t dare look away. Instead, he watched every last bite. And it was nearly enough to send his stomach into rebellion. He kept himself from vomiting, but it was a close thing. Even so, Elijah¡¯s stomach twisted into knots as he watched the creature¡¯s macabre feast. The Reaver took special and obvious pleasure in consuming the elves¡¯ ruptured stomachs, but he seemed to quite enjoy every other bit of elf he consumed as well. Even the bones, which crunched loudly beneath his powerful jaws. Or the intestines, which went down with a wet slurp. Eventually, Elijah stopped trying to identify the bits and pieces, but unfortunately, his biology background came back to haunt him. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Whatever the case, the only solace was that it couldn¡¯t last forever. Eventually, the Reaver completed its feast, leaving only bloody chairs behind. It shifted back into a human form and returned to its chair. A moment later, a pair of ogres stomped into the room. Their body types resembled the jailers, which was to say that they were built like sumo wrestlers, though even more obese. The pair waddled in, and without a word, started clearing the table. Very little food had survived the elves¡¯ forced gluttony, so they were mostly tasked with gathering used dishes. It took a few trips, but gradually, they accomplished their task. In the meantime, the Reaver sat at the head of the table, with a bored expression playing across his face as he sipped at his water. Once everything had been cleared away, the Reaver pushed himself back to his feet and, without a word, left the dining room via a side door. A disgusted Elijah followed, intending to ambush the creature the moment he had a chance. However, even though he had already used Predator Strike as well as Venom Strike in preparation of the attack, he never got the chance. Most of the time, the hall was deserted. Yet, each time Elijah verged on commencing his attack, an elf or ogre would be there. Usually, they shuffled past the Reaver quickly ¨C obviously, they were engaged in their own tasks ¨C but they were frustratingly spaced in such a way as to ensure that Elijah never had a clear opportunity to do what he very much wanted to do. After a few minutes, during which the Reaver traversed the halls at an unhurried pace, he reached a pair of elaborate double doors. At first, Elijah thought he¡¯d stumbled upon some sort of ritual room or something else of importance. However, when the Reaver threw the doors open, he saw another long, straight hall. It was at least fifty yards long, and from what Elijah could see, it was entirely empty. Looking left, then right, Elijah ensured that no one else was around. Then, he crept forward, preparing to pounce. He knew precisely how he intended to attack; he only needed to do it. Just before he was going to leap upon the creature¡¯s back, heavy footsteps announced a new arrival. Frustrated, Elijah whipped around to see the second-largest ogre he¡¯d ever beheld. The creature was tall and broad, and he was clad in a full set of dark iron armor. Elijah could see nothing of the ogre¡¯s skin. Instead, he looked like a monstrous automaton. ¡°Remain in the hall,¡± the Reaver said. ¡°I feel something amiss, though I know not what it might be. Be wary.¡± The metal-clad monster grunted an affirmation, the sound confirming that it was, indeed, a living creature. Elijah had enough experience with that armor to recognize the futility in attacking such a creature. He could get through it, perhaps, but not in his draconid form. Even with Predator Strike, he would fail. He knew that as well as he could sense that the creature was much, much higher level than him. Frustrated, Elijah slipped into the hall as he followed the Reaver. The corridor was nothing special, though Elijah felt curious abnormalities in the walls. Or rather, he felt the tiny organisms that lived in the pits and grooves that shouldn¡¯t have been present in a solid wall. He remained a few feet behind the Reaver as they traversed the hall until they reached another pair of double doors on the other end. There, the Reaver flung them open to reveal a large and richly furnished apartment. Velvet, thick carpets, and gold ornaments abounded, but the Reaver paid them no heed. Instead, the creature stepped inside, closing the door only an instant after Elijah had slipped in after his prey. Just like that, Elijah had a golden opportunity. He had the Reaver alone. He only needed to finish it off before it reached the end of the hallway and that massive, metal-clad guard. Still, he didn¡¯t rush. Elijah had always been a patient person. So, he waited and watched as the Reaver went further into the apartment. After a few minutes of watching the monster go about its nightly routine, he finally got the opportunity he¡¯d been waiting for. With the additional power of Predator Strike as well as Venom Strike singing through his claws, he pounced. And missed entirely. His claws swiped through the creature¡¯s human head, but he hit nothing but air. In the meantime, the Reaver screeched. It was a sound no human had ever uttered, and Elijah likened it to something that should¡¯ve come from an insect. At the same time, the thing transformed ¨C or perhaps it let the illusion of its human form lapse ¨C showing Elijah his error. He¡¯d been using his eyes when he should¡¯ve relied on his other senses. As a result, he¡¯d been fooled by a formless illusion. But now that the monster was in its natural form, that would no longer be a problem. So, even as the thing panicked, Elijah lashed out with his claws, using every point of Strength and Dexterity to get in as many attacks as possible before the monster reacted. When he finally bounded away, he left a ruin of bloody ribbons where the monster¡¯s emaciated thigh had once been. But Elijah had pushed it a little too long, and he was forced to leap over the creature¡¯s retaliatory counterattack. It swung its long, thin arm with wild abandon, clipping Elijah¡¯s tail and throwing him off-balance. However, even though it sent him sliding across the bedroom, it wasn¡¯t enough to injure him. That had never been the point, though. When Elijah recovered, he saw that the Reaver had abandoned the fight altogether and was using its lengthy legs to sprint toward the apartment¡¯s exit. Elijah¡¯s heart jumped into his throat. If the creature reached the guard, he wouldn¡¯t have just failed his Task, which would end with him losing a potential reward. Instead, he¡¯d run the risk of losing his life. The guard was dangerous enough on his own, but if the Reaver made it to the end of the hall, more help would be on its way. It wouldn¡¯t be long after that that Elijah would be buried under the weight of the entirety of the level¡¯s defenses. He couldn¡¯t let that happen. So, he launched himself after the Reaver, moving with every ounce of speed he could muster. His claws dug into the tiles and ripped the rich carpets apart as he tore across the room. But despite its awkward appearance, the Reaver was deceptively fast, and it remained just ahead of Elijah¡¯s pursuit. When it reached the door, Elijah knew he had to change tactics. Fortunately, he had just the tool for the job. So, he initiated a transformation back into his human form without breaking stride. The Reaver threw the doors open, then started down the hall. But Elijah didn¡¯t let it get another step before he embraced Snaring Roots and cast the spell. Thick, thorny vines exploded from the floor, wrapping around the monster¡¯s thin legs. It ripped free, but for every vine it shredded, another took its place. For a brief second, it was immobile. Elijah crashed into it, having initiated yet another transformation ¨C this time, taking on the shape of a lamellar ape. The monster raked its claws across his chest, but Elijah had preemptively used Iron Scales, and the attack did nothing. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Elijah¡¯s own blows, which rained down on the monster¡¯s emaciated body with reckless and inevitable abandon. Bones cracked, and the monster screamed. Yet, despite the volume, no cavalry came running to the creature¡¯s rescue. For a second, Elijah thought he¡¯d won the battle. But then, he heard a metallic click, and an instant later, a line of fiery agony erupted in his side. 2-43. Not so Simple Elijah twisted away from the lacerating pain, trying at the same time to keep a grip on the monster¡¯s bony shoulder. But he couldn¡¯t do both at the same time, so his hind brain kicked in, forcing him to flee the agony cutting a long line into his scales. Against that, his Iron Scales were wholly insufficient, and he let out a roar of pain all his own. It joined the monster¡¯s anguished whimpers. No matter how quickly Elijah moved, though, the pain persisted, and soon enough, he saw why. A small dart ¨C no bigger than his human thumb ¨C was embedded in his scales, and when he yanked it free, he found that a series of long, writhing white tendrils came with it. As they left his body, they left behind a stinging pain that felt like the world¡¯s most painful jellyfish sting. From the inside. The second the last of the tendrils had left his body to dangle from the dart, Elijah tossed the projectile aside. Or at least he tried to. However, the tendrils had left his entire side so numb that the best he could do was a slight shrug as he dropped the thing onto the carpeted floor. The tingling numbness spread quickly, encompassing the entire left side of his torso and all the way down his hip before, at last, slowing to a virtual stop. But the effects didn¡¯t stop with simple numbness. Instead, with the sensation having spread to his chest, he soon found that his breathing had shallowed to the point where he knew he wasn¡¯t getting enough oxygen. That, in turn, caused him to panic. In only a second, Elijah was panting with anxiety, with his mind whirling for a solution. Meanwhile, the injured Reaver had begun to recover, its shattered bones shifting grotesquely as they reset. As it pushed itself to unsteady feet, it let out a hiss of pain. Then, it cocked its arm before following it up with a backhanded blow aimed at Elijah¡¯s face. He tried to dodge, but with half his body not working properly, he only managed to shift enough to avoid taking the attack head-on. ¡°Pitiful beast,¡± the creature rasped as Elijah crashed to the floor. Then, it kicked him. ¡°You attack me? In my home?! How dare you?!¡± It kicked Elijah again. The blows didn¡¯t hurt. In fact, he couldn¡¯t even feel them, even if he knew they¡¯d left some damage behind. Instead, the pervasive numbness had started spreading again, telling him that he needed to do something to stop it, lest he lose all bodily control. So, between kicks, Elijah shifted back to his human form, then cast Touch of Nature, which pushed the numbness back just enough that he could roll out of the way of the next blow. He could do nothing about the follow up kick that took him in his side and launched his much lighter body into the wall. Once again, via One with Nature, he felt the odd grooves in the wall. Suddenly, one facet of his mind arrived at the answer. Traps. There were traps in the walls. How could he have missed that? Why hadn¡¯t he paid more attention? If he had¡­ No. He couldn¡¯t go down that road. Instead, he used Touch of Nature once again, though a good portion of the spell¡¯s power went to healing his ribs. Meanwhile, the Reaver continued to rant about intruders and trespassers, spitting out insults that made him sound like an indignant aristocrat who¡¯d stumbled upon a thief. Which wasn¡¯t so far from the truth, really. Except that the aristocrat in question was a monstrous creature with skin like a cadaver and arms and legs that were about two sizes too long for its skeletally slender body. As that useless thought skittered through one facet of Elijah¡¯s Quartz Mind, he used the others to search for a strategy to escape his dire situation. Because even with Touch of Nature, he was only barely able to push the numbness back. So, with the monstrous Reaver kicking him, he didn¡¯t have much opportunity to change his circumstances. Still, being launched a few feet away had given him just enough time to attempt a gambit. So, he shifted his staff just enough to aim it at the Reaver¡¯s feet, then cast Storm¡¯s Fury. His aim left a lot to be desired, but he still managed to clip the monster¡¯s foot with his spell. That sent its leg into brief spasms, which gave Elijah an opening to cast Healing Rain. The nurturing precipitation fell from the sky, soothing Elijah¡¯s injuries and working toward pushing the numbness away. It was incapable of doing the job alone, but with another application of Touch of Nature, he gained even more ground. More importantly, when the Reaver recovered a second later, the healing spells gave him the necessary control to avoid the worst part of the next kick. Though he did feel a rib shift a bit, even when he only took a glancing blow. It was healed a second later, and he continued with that strategy. With another facet of his Mind, though, he started casting another spell. Even as he shifted and rolled around on the floor, trying his best to dodge the Reaver¡¯s swinging kicks and stomping feet, a swarm of blood-sucking mosquitoes manifested and swooped down on the unsuspecting monster. It was a testament to how worked up the thing was that, at first, it didn¡¯t even notice the summoned insects. Which made for a perfect scenario for the little creatures to do the maximum amount of damage. Or at least that was how Elijah comforted himself as the reaver¡¯s uncoordinated barrage of attacks continued. He wasn¡¯t just getting the snot kicked out of him. He was distracting and delaying the monster. It was strategy, not incompetence. Of course, he didn¡¯t quite believe that, even as one facet of his Mind tried to convince him of it. After a handful of seconds, the Reaver finally noticed the mosquitoes sucking its blood. However, by that point, it was too late for it to stop the cascade of afflictions they brought with them. Soon after, it abandoned its quest to kick Elijah into submission, opting instead to try to dislodge the pesky insects. It was mostly unsuccessful in that endeavor, but more importantly, the thing¡¯s antics gave Elijah some much-needed breathing room to cast Touch of Nature a couple more times. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Soothing healing washed through him, banishing the numbness almost entirely. Tiny white tendrils were ejected from his body with every instance of the spell. If Elijah would have been a little less occupied with his own survival, he certainly would have been disgusted at the things that had been in his body. As it was, though, he was far too focused on the task at hand. Because now that the numbness had been overcome, he felt like he finally had the upper hand. So, after casting Touch of Nature one last time and healing the damage he had left, he swept his staff out, catching the Reaver mid-kick. With Elijah¡¯s still impressive Strength working for him, he managed to knock the monster¡¯s leg out from under him. The Reaver tipped over, but before it fell, it caught itself with one of its enormously long arms. Then, it skittered backward in a crab-walk that took it further down the hall. Elijah tried to cast Snaring Roots again, but he didn¡¯t have enough Ethera to fuel the spell. In fact, the constant healing had sapped almost the entire contents of his core. He didn¡¯t remember spending so much Ethera, but he supposed he must have gone into a daze or something. Or maybe the numbing tendrils had had a secondary effect of draining his Ethera. In any case, the situation had changed, and he had no choice but to adapt. So, he used the one spell he could and once again shifted into the Shape of the Guardian. It had always been his least costly spell, and as such, it gave him the best chance to survive the encounter. As he threw himself to his feet, his body transformed, taking on the strange amalgamation of lizard and primate. Then, he raced after the Reaver. The first trap he triggered almost took him by surprise, but he¡¯d dedicated one facet of his mind to keeping track of the changing conditions, and as a result, he became aware of it just in time to avoid the debilitating dart. It was a close enough call that he shifted another three facets of his mind to that task. As he continued his pursuit of the monster, he was forced to react to more trap activations, twisting and turning his immense body as he sought to avoid a repeat of his first encounter with the darts. He managed it. Barely. But it slowed him down to the point where he only barely managed to keep pace with the Reaver. With the distance between his prey and the end of the long hall steadily shrinking, Elijah knew he needed to change tactics. So, he harnessed every point of Strength he possessed and flung himself down the hall. However, he didn¡¯t go directly at the monster. Instead, he bounded forward, bouncing from one wall to another and keeping just ahead of the traps. With his Strength, he could move incredibly quickly, but when he did that, he couldn¡¯t really control himself very well. So, he removed that part from the equation, just pointing himself in a direction and going. Like that, he stayed just ahead of the triggering traps, though he knew that if he slowed by even a millisecond, he would be peppered with darts. So, he didn¡¯t slow, and as a result, he crashed into the Reaver in barely a couple of seconds. The creature was more than a little surprised at Elijah¡¯s rapid pursuit, so it didn¡¯t even react before it was bowled over. Elijah knew the danger hadn¡¯t ended, though, so he wrapped his hand around the monster¡¯s slim waist, then used the monster¡¯s body as an impromptu shield against the closest trap. The darts thudded home in the Reaver¡¯s struggling body. It did not possess Elijah¡¯s high Constitution. Almost immediately, one of its arms went limp, quickly followed by the rest of its body. In only a few seconds, it was a dead weight, flopping around like a corpse. But it lived. Elijah could sense that much. Without knowing what else to do, Elijah returned the same way he¡¯d come, traversing the hall on his way back to the Reaver¡¯s quarters. Along the way, he continued to use the monster as a shield, intercepting the darts as they came. With multiple facets of his mind focused on the traps, he could anticipate their activation well enough to facilitate his passage. By the time he reached the apartments, the Reaver had taken nine darts in various parts of its body, and as a result, it was only barely clinging to life. Elijah ended it by banging its head repeatedly against the ground. It took quite a few blows, but eventually, he managed to kill the thing. The resultant experience gave him another level, but more importantly, the monster¡¯s death completed the final level of the tower. He sighed, letting the creature fall from his claws. His shoulders slumped as he shifted back to his natural form and realized just how close he¡¯d come to losing. He shuddered to think of what would have happened had he succumbed to those darts. A few seconds later, a notification told him that he¡¯d completed the last level:
Congratluations! You have completed Level Three of Reaver Citadel. Grade: A To complete the tower, progress to the exit.
He was a little disappointed he hadn¡¯t gotten the highest possible grade, but he was a little too relieved for that to last more than a second or two. He¡¯d conquered the Reaver¡¯s Citadel, and though it hadn¡¯t been quite as harrowing as the Keledge Tower, it certainly hadn¡¯t been easy, either. His abilities had been stretched to their limits, and as a result, he¡¯d been forced to learn how to use every tool in his kit. That was the true reward. Of course, there was a more tangible reward waiting for him as well, and it only took a second for him to find the silver box. It was lying next to the huge ogre staff he¡¯d dropped when he¡¯d been forced to transform to his human form after his failed attempt at an ambush. He bent down and opened the lid, resulting in another notification:
Reward for completing Level Three of Reaver Citadel: Claws of Gluttony
The item inside was a strange one. At first glance, it looked like a disparate pile of black iron. However, when Elijah pulled it from the box, he realized that it was precisely what the name suggested. Composed of a single leather cuff that was connected to five distinct and hollow claws via a series of thin, black chains ¨C it looked like an awkward thing to wear. That suspicion was confirmed when he tried it on as well. He checked his status, and once again, disappointment blossomed when the item didn¡¯t live up to his expectation. This time, he didn¡¯t even get any attribute bonuses. Indeed, the item seemed no more than ornamental in nature. So, he took it off and threw it into his pack. Hopefully, he would soon find someone who could help him identify the items he¡¯d acquired in the tower. And perhaps buy the ones he didn¡¯t need. If not, he would have to go back to Ironshore where he knew he could get that kind of information. Not that he wanted to do that just yet. He could travel between Ironshore and Norcastle much more quickly now that he knew where the second was located. However, it was still a long trip, and one he didn¡¯t want to reexperience just yet. In any case, he scoured the Reaver¡¯s quarters, coming away a little disappointed with his haul. There was very little in the apartments that wasn¡¯t nailed down, and what he could take probably wasn¡¯t worth it. Still, he found some tiny golden statues that looked like they might be valuable, so he figured that it wasn¡¯t a total loss. He tossed those into his pack as well, then set about searching for the exit. The search only took him a few minutes, and he found the exit in the bathroom of all places. With a shrug, he stepped through the door and was transported back into the real world. 2-44. The Conquering Hero Returns It had been almost three weeks since the stranger had come out of nowhere, brought hundreds of people back from the brink of certain death, and then declared he would conquer the tower that had plagued Norcastle for months. In that time, Captain Orville Essex had begun to doubt his initial impression of the man. According to his Inspect ability, Elijah Smith was an unremarkable, level eighteen Healer. Yet, the way he¡¯d moved, not to mention his feats in the hospital, had come at odds with that label. Essex had chosen to trust his gut that something was amiss, and what¡¯s more, he had decided to trust the man. He¡¯d come to regret that in the intervening weeks, when the mayor and the goons he¡¯d put on his council had taken issue with the fact that Essex hadn¡¯t let them know about the enigmatic Healer. More, they¡¯d called his qualifications into question, casting doubt on his assessment of Elijah. They had even spread rumors about his ineptitude. After all, if he thought a level eighteen Healer was special ¨C aside from his ability to work in the hospital ¨C then why would the citizens of Norcastle trust him with their security? But the captain had held fast in his assessment. Elijah Smith was not normal. In fact, Essex suspected that the Healer had some ability or item meant to obfuscate his true class and level. That was the only explanation for his obviously high attributes. He¡¯d subdued one of Essex¡¯s guards without skipping a beat, and what¡¯s more, he clearly had the ability to traverse the wilderness alone. That, combined with the reportedly ridiculous Ethera pool that allowed him to heal far more than anyone else in the city, was enough to convince Essex that the man was special. Was he special enough to conquer a tower that had, so far, killed more than two dozen of Norcastle¡¯s strongest warriors? That was the question that had kept him up at night. ¡°I should have insisted on sending some of my people with him,¡± he muttered, staring at his desk. Jess Roy, the other Healer who¡¯d brought Elijah to Essex in the first place, sat across from him. As she had done every day since his departure, she¡¯d come by to ask after the man¡¯s well-being. And as always, Essex had no answers. The tower had yet to erupt into another surge, so they knew the other Healer was still alive. Beyond that, though, his fate was a complete mystery. ¡°You can¡¯t just send some people in to help him?¡± she asked. Essex shook his head, ¡°We¡¯ve been over this. Even if you don¡¯t send the maximum number of people into a tower ¨C which is six, apparently ¨C it locks others out after a few hours. Last week, I sent some people up there to check, and they were blocked from getting in. He¡¯s still alive, but we can¡¯t help him. As long as it doesn¡¯t send another surge out, we know he¡¯s still alive, though.¡± ¡°You still think he¡¯s that guy on the ladder,¡± she said. ¡°I do,¡± the captain responded, leaning back and running a hand through his hair. As he did, he pulled up the appropriate list:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 46 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 45 3. Hu Shui ¨C Level 44 4. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 44 5. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 44 6. Niko Song ¨C Level 43 7. Thor Gunderson ¨C Level 43 8. Kimberly Jackson ¨C Level 42 9. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 42 10. Michael King ¨C Level 41 11. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 38 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 14. ¡­
The power rankings kept going after that, but Essex wasn¡¯t concerned with any of those names. There were a few people within Norcastle who were knocking on the door of making it into the top one-hundred, but they were still a few levels away. For his part, Essex didn¡¯t think any of them would ever reach those lofty heights. Even the best of them were only a little above average, in terms of talent, and the gap between them and the best of the best kept growing wider. And the distance between the top ten and everyone else was a wide gulf that didn¡¯t look like it would ever be crossed. Essex himself was only level twenty-four, and he¡¯d had to make a concerted effort to get to that point. The same was true for his guards, and the only ones who¡¯d made it to a higher level had done so by spending every waking moment hunting in the wilderness alongside likeminded people. That sort of attitude came with issues all its own, and most nights saw the captain lying awake wondering what would happen when those people figured out that the only thing keeping them in check was a sense of morality. One day ¨C perhaps soon ¨C someone powerful would decide that they were tired of following rules. And when that day came, Essex could only hope to minimize the casualties. In any case, that was a problem for another day. Or hopefully, one that would never manifest. For now, he was focused on the ninth name on that list. Elijah Hart had gained a few levels over the past three weeks, and as a result, he¡¯d jumped into the top ten ¨C an impressive feat by any measure, given how set the general rankings usually were. Sure, the top ten jostled a place or two pretty frequently, but the names had remained mostly the same since the ladder had been introduced. That supported the captain¡¯s theory that Elijah Hart and Elijah Smith were one in the same. After all, what better way to rapidly progress than to challenge a tower meant to be conquered by an entire group of people? Doing so alone was bound to result in some impressive gains, assuming the solitary challenger managed to live through the attempt. ¡°He didn¡¯t seem like one of the top ten most powerful people in the world,¡± Jess stated. ¡°He was just kind of weird.¡± If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Essex shook his head, then looked around at his office. The world had changed so much, and he knew he was on the verge of being left behind. He was too old to change the way he thought. Too set in his ways to adjust to the new realities of their transformed world. He didn¡¯t intend to give up, but he could see the writing on the wall. But for now, he just wanted to protect the people who couldn¡¯t protect themselves. The innocents who¡¯d taken refuge in Norcastle deserved a life where they didn¡¯t have to worry about plagues or monster attacks, and he¡¯d long since decided to devote his life to that endeavor. However, if someone like Elijah Hart decided the world would be better off if Norcastle was wiped from the map, then Essex didn¡¯t think he could do much to stop him. ¡°The sort of person who gets onto a list like that is bound to be abnormal by definition,¡± he stated. ¡°I just hope he¡¯s peaceful.¡± ¡°He was nice,¡± Jess said. ¡°Weird, but nice. Even when Mark attacked him, he didn¡¯t overreact. He just stopped him.¡± ¡°Because he was never in danger,¡± Essex stated. ¡°But what if someone who can actually hurt him does something stupid? What if he decides to get serious with us? It would probably take the whole guard to stop him. He¡¯s probably left hundreds of bodies in his wake.¡± ¡°He might¡¯ve just healed his way to his level.¡± Once again, Essex shook his head. ¡°I doubt that very much,¡± he responded. It was possible, certainly, but healing didn¡¯t work nearly as well for progression as killing. Largely, that was due to the fact that healing the same person over and over gave diminishing returns. There were ways around that, but the system was finnicky enough that their experiments had yet to yield concrete results as to what worked and what didn¡¯t. It was entirely possible that it wasn¡¯t a set of hard and fast rules, but rather a system of guidelines that were applied based on individual and unique situations. But the biggest reason Essex doubted that Elijah had reached his level via healing alone was the fact that he hadn¡¯t even hesitated to say that he could conquer the tower. That kind of confidence only came from experience. A terrifying prospect, given the difficulty even his best warriors had encountered with the surges of Voxx as well as the people who¡¯d already failed to conquer the tower. Just then, a knock on the open door announced the arrival of one of Essex¡¯s guards. When he looked up, the woman said, ¡°Captain. He¡¯s back. The Healer. And there¡¯s trouble.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Some of the mayor¡¯s men were at the gate when he arrived, and¡­¡± ¡°Oh, God,¡± Essex said, leaping to his feet. He was running down the hall before the guardswoman had even turned around. And he had good reason for his haste, too. If the mayor¡¯s men acted the way they normally did, then there was a good chance that someone was going to end up dead. And he couldn¡¯t allow that to happen, because once blood was shed, there was little he could do to stop it. So, he ran, praying that he wasn¡¯t too late to stop the seemingly inevitable clash. * * * Eljiah gripped his staff with white-knuckled fingers as he glared at the four men who¡¯d chosen to bar his way. They were all burly, bearded, and armed, though Elijah didn¡¯t get the sense that they were terribly dangerous. It was only a vague feeling, but through his experiences, he¡¯d learned to judge that sort of thing with some degree of accuracy. ¡°Look at ¡®im,¡± said one. ¡°Scared out of his mind, he is.¡± ¡°¡¯Bout to piss his pants, probably. You scared, little man?¡± The other two just laughed. The first ¨C a balding man who looked like an NFL linebacker ¨C stepped forward and pushed Elijah. Or he tried to, at least. Elijah saw it coming, but instead of lashing out with his staff ¨C or worse, shifting into one of his forms and killing all four of the men ¨C he just shifted slightly and avoided the man¡¯s hand. That overbalanced the fellow, and he stumbled a little before getting his feet back under him. ¡°You think you¡¯re clever, huh? Well, you ain¡¯t gettin¡¯ in here without payin¡¯ the toll. Two silver coins, or you can walk back wherever you came from.¡± ¡°And that big stick. Looks expensive!¡± said one of the others. Elijah already had a single copper Ethereum gripped in his other hand, so he held it up and said, ¡°Last time I came here, this was the entry fee. Has that changed?¡± The guard, who Elijah recognized as the same one he¡¯d encountered the first time he had entered Norcastle, shook his head, though the burly bullies didn¡¯t see him. ¡°You pay us separate,¡± the leader spat. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I asked why I should pay you.¡± ¡°¡¯Cause we¡¯ll beat you if you don¡¯t!¡± the man growled. ¡°Then I¡¯m not paying for entry, right? I¡¯d be paying to avoid having to teach you a lesson. Is that right?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t hear so well, do you? Or maybe you¡¯re just incapable of understanding. I don¡¯t know. The point is that I¡¯m not paying you just so I don¡¯t have to go through the trouble of beating you all within an inch of your lives. In fact, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s any trouble at all. You seem the types who need it, so I¡¯ll just consider it a public service.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You say that a lot.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Variation. Nice. Variety is the spice of life, I¡¯m told. So, we doing this thing? I need to meet with Captain Essex, and you¡¯re kind of in my way,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°But I¡¯ll warn you right now ¨C it¡¯s not going to be pleasant for you. I think I can hold back, but you¡¯re all kinds of weak, so I¡¯m not making any promises.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Jesus, man. You¡¯re backsliding now,¡± Elijah said to the clearly confused would-be bully. ¡°Look ¨C just let me past, and it¡¯ll save you a beating. And a little advice? Just stop. You¡¯re going to pick a fight with someone who¡¯s perfectly willing to teach you the lessons I¡¯m trying to avoid here.¡± That seemed to do it for the man. Clearly, his brain had short-circuited, because he didn¡¯t even repeat his favorite word again before launching himself at Elijah. However, because of his Sash of the Whirlwind, well-honed battle instincts, and his high attributes, to Elijah, the intended attack looked like it was moving in slow motion. So, he let the giant staff fall from where it was leaned against his shoulder, and before it even hit the ground, he sidestepped and swung his Staff of Natural Harmony. He didn¡¯t use all his Strength, but even so, the sound of a breaking bone echoed through the area as Elijah¡¯s staff hit the man¡¯s knee. It bent the wrong way, and the bully let out a scream of pure anguish as he lurched to the ground. He hit with a small cloud of dust and a pitiful whimper. His lackeys, who¡¯d started forward at the same time, pulled to a stop a few feet away. Elijah raised his finger, saying, ¡°Not another step, or I won¡¯t heal him. If you still insist on fighting, things are going to get worse for all of you. A lot worse.¡± That ¨C along with how easily he¡¯d disabled their leader ¨C brought them up short. So, keeping one facet of his Quartz Mind trained on the trio, Elijah knelt beside the fallen bully. Then, he tapped him on the head, saying, ¡°Shut up. It¡¯s just a dislocated knee. And a broken kneecap. You¡¯ll be fine. Quit whining.¡± ¡°You¡­y-you asshole!¡± the man shouted, grabbing at Elijah. It was a weak attempt, and one that was easily slapped it aside. ¡°Come on, man. Do you want me to heal you or not? If I leave you like this, I can guarantee you¡¯re going to walk with a limp the rest of your life. Maybe Jess and the other healers can fix you up. I don¡¯t know. But with your attitude, I¡¯m doubting it. So, this might be your best chance to avoid spending the rest of your days hobbling around.¡± That got through the man¡¯s thick skull, and he shut up after that. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to heal him outright, though. For one, he didn¡¯t want to waste the Ethera. For another, he didn¡¯t want to have to break more of the man¡¯s bones when he recovered. So, he used Healing Rain instead, then as the rain started to fall, he said, ¡°Stay in the storm. It¡¯ll be a little cold, but it should be enough to heal you.¡± With that, he pushed himself to his feet, grabbed the giant ogre staff from where it had fallen, then stepped forward. When he reached the stunned guardsman, he apologized for the mess, then handed him the copper Ethereum entry fee. After that, he strolled into the town. Just as he reached the first intersection and turned toward the hospital, he saw Captain Essex speeding in his direction. Jess followed a few dozen feet behind. When the older man reached him, Elijah said, ¡°Oh, nice to see you captain! I took care of your little tower issue. But you should probably keep sending people in there at regular intervals. It won¡¯t be quite as dangerous now that the Ethera¡¯s been drained, but it¡¯ll still be a pain, so don¡¯t send your rookies in there.¡± Then, he stepped past the stunned captain and smiled broadly as Jess finally caught up. He said, ¡°Hey! I¡¯ve been thinking a lot about you, and I¡¯ve decided to let you court me.¡± ¡°Huh? Court?¡± ¡°I feel like I¡¯m speaking a different language lately. Court. As in, attempt to date. I know, it¡¯s a stunning turn of events, but I think you¡¯ve got a good shot,¡± he said. She burst out laughing. ¡°You haven¡¯t changed a bit, have you?¡± ¡°You mean I¡¯m still ruggedly handsome and incredibly charismatic?¡± ¡°Yeah. Sure. Let¡¯s go with that.¡± ¡°I feel like you might be making fun of me.¡± ¡°Oh, no ¨C I would never do that.¡± ¡°Good. I don¡¯t deal well with teasing. I have very thin skin.¡± 2-45. Consequences A blanket of snow covered the roofs and collected in the shadowy alleys of Norcastle as Elijah was escorted through the town. From most of the eaves hung garlands and flickering lights, and evergreen wreaths festooned most of the doors. Red and green ribbons and streamers abounded, lending the city a festive spirit that felt infectious, even after the encounter with the thugs at the gate. ¡°I didn¡¯t realize it was Christmas,¡± Elijah said softly as he took in the festive decorations. Indeed, his sense of time still hadn¡¯t recovered after his trips into towers and his long isolation. At one point, he¡¯d tried to keep up with the passing months, but it had quickly grown impossible. Now, he usually only paid attention to the seasons, and that only for practical reasons. The idea of celebrating holidays ¨C especially ones with religious connotations ¨C hadn¡¯t even crossed his mind since the world had been transformed. Still, he wasn¡¯t immune to the Christmas spirit. Growing up, the holidays had always been a source of warm and comforting memories, and even the end of the world as he¡¯d always known it hadn¡¯t changed that fact. ¡°The mayor thinks it¡¯s important to celebrate the holidays. He thinks we¡¯d lose sight of our past if we forget the things that used to be important,¡± Essex said. Jess pointed out, ¡°Plus, everyone likes Christmas.¡± ¡°That as well,¡± Essex stated. ¡°Neat,¡± was Elijah¡¯s response. He immediately regretted the word choice, but it was too late to change it, so he just let himself fall silent. Soon enough, they reached a large square, at the center of which was an enormous spruce tree that was at least forty feet tall and decorated with twinkling lights as well as red and green ornaments. ¡°Went all out, huh?¡± ¡°I love it,¡± Jess said, her bright smile showing off a pair of dimples Elijah hadn¡¯t noticed before. ¡°My favorite time of year.¡± After that, they left the square behind and headed in the direction of the guards¡¯ headquarters. Now that they¡¯d left the main thoroughfare behind, the decorations became less prominent, but they were still there, just more subdued. Even the building that was their destination bore a festive wreath on the door. They passed inside, then headed to the captain¡¯s office. Once the door was shut, Elijah leaned his massive ogre staff against the wall and let out a sigh. ¡°That thing is just too big,¡± he said. ¡°So, what¡¯s up? Who were those guys out front? And am I going to have to kill them?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± Essex said. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t want to, but¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re the mayor¡¯s men,¡± Jess said, flopping down in one of the chairs. ¡°Do you really think you could? Kill them, I mean.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Probably. If they come at me all at once, I might have to reveal some of my secrets, but¡­yeah,¡± he said. ¡°I think I could do it. Why? You need some bullies killed?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± she said. ¡°Of course not!¡± ¡°It probably wouldn¡¯t be much trouble. I could just nip on over, and ¨C¡± Essex interrupted, ¡°Please do not kill anyone in my city. It¡¯s going to be difficult enough explaining what you just did as it is.¡± ¡°I was just kidding.¡± ¡°About murder,¡± Essex pointed out. ¡°Yeah. Probably bad taste,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Won¡¯t happen again, cap¡¯n.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t call me ¡®cap¡¯n¡¯.¡± ¡°Aye, aye,¡± Elijah said, giving the man a poorly received salute. However, before Essex could say anything else, Elijah went on, ¡°So, I guess you want to hear about the tower, huh? Turns out, it was a pain¡­¡± He went on to describe ¨C in detail ¨C everything he¡¯d seen inside. If Essex was going to send more people in, he needed to know everything. Perhaps that would give his subordinates ¨C or possibly even himself ¨C the opportunity to survive. For their part, both Jess and Essex listened intently, with the latter even going so far as to take copious notes and asking plenty of questions. Due to his advanced Mind cultivation, Elijah had no problems remembering everything, so he gave Essex all the information he could want and more. By the end, more than three hours had passed, and Elijah was even more exhausted than after his bout in the tower¡¯s arena. The problem was that he¡¯d barely had any social interaction over the past couple of years, so when he did talk to other people, it was an exciting and sometimes frustrating experience where he often went overboard one way or the other. Sometimes, that manifested in poorly conceived jokes, but his issues with talking to Jess were another symptom of his psychological trauma. Elijah knew that, and yet, there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it except to try to work through those issues as best he could. And that was exhausting, if ultimately necessary. When he¡¯d finally finished, he said, ¡°And that¡¯s about it. Went in, killed some ogres and elves, fought a gladiator-style gauntlet, and killed this creepy Slenderman-slash-vampire knockoff. But it wasn¡¯t about the enemies I killed. The real reward was the loot I got along the way.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s how the saying goes,¡± Jess interjected. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Well, that¡¯s how it should go. Anyway, do you need to know anything else about the tower? Because I¡¯ve been roughing it for a while now, and I¡¯d love to get a nice meal and a real shower. Oh, and is there anyone around here who can identify items? Because I got some stuff in there that I¡¯m not sure exactly what it does.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s all I need for now,¡± Essex said. ¡°But can I give you some advice?¡± ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°However it is that you¡¯re concealing your identity, you should probably choose a different name. If I made the connection between your assumed identity and the power rankings, then someone else will, too.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d accidentally left his real name on his assumed identity when he¡¯d first arrived in Norcastle, but he¡¯d changed it before he had gotten too far into the city. He hadn¡¯t even considered changing his first name, though. ¡°I guess I¡¯m just not really cut out for that kind of thing.¡± ¡°You should probably learn to be,¡± Essex said. Elijah sighed. ¡°Probably right,¡± he said, running a hand through his hair. It was greasy and more than a little unkempt, reminding him of just how little good his impromptu shower back in the tower had been. He pulled his hand away, looking at a bit of gore that had stuck to his finger. He shook it, sending the chunk of grey skin to plop against a wall. ¡°Gross.¡± ¡°Is there anything else we should know?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Elijah said brightly. ¡°Oh, there¡¯s also a little, abandoned town a few miles away. Your people should probably avoid it unless you want to die. There¡¯s a big, grumpy bear there. He¡¯s kind of a friend, actually. Or at least he tolerates me. I think that was probably the fish, though. But I like to think my winning personality had something to do with it. In any case, he¡¯s probably way more than any of you can handle, and I¡¯d be very upset if someone took that as a challenge, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mess with my bear buddy is what I¡¯m saying. I can¡¯t stress this enough.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t. But I can¡¯t control everyone,¡± Essex stated. Elijah nodded. ¡°Alright. So, if there¡¯s nothing else?¡± There wasn¡¯t, so he grabbed both of his staves and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to get a shower and some rest. When can I visit the Branch of the World Tree?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll set it up. Just come back here when you¡¯re ready,¡± Essex said. With that, Elijah said goodbye to Jess, then headed back outside. By that point, the sun had begun to set, which made the holiday decorations that much more expressive. The sight brought with it a wave of nostalgia. In Hawaii, he hadn¡¯t been especially interested in Christmas. Certainly, he¡¯d celebrated ¨C everyone did ¨C but it didn¡¯t carry the same cachet that it had back home. But the holidays he¡¯d shared with his family before his parents had died were some of his best memories. Those memories came with a certain sadness, though. Not only were they a grim reminder of his parents¡¯ untimely deaths, but it also brought his separation from his sister and her family into focus. Before the world had transformed, he¡¯d always assumed he¡¯d have plenty of time to reconnect, and there was always technology to fill the gap left by physical distance. After nearly dying to cancer, though, he¡¯d been forced to confront the realities of his choice to move so far away from home. The isolation was especially difficult when his illness had forced him to abandon work. His coworkers had tried to keep in touch, but they were always just that ¨C coworkers. Without the connective tissue of a shared career, they inevitably drifted away. He¡¯d even lost his girlfriend¡¯s support, though that was more his fault than hers. In any case, seeing the Christmas decorations of Norcastle brought with it a mixture of pain, nostalgia, and a little comfort. So, when he arrived at the hotel ¨C or inn, really ¨C Elijah wore a subdued smile. The innkeeper was just as brusque as before, but she remembered him, which made his renting a room a little easier. Soon enough, he found his way upstairs where he took a long shower before going to bed. He slept like a log, and when he awoke, he set about the task of emptying his pack and cataloguing his loot. The two most important pieces were the staff and the Claws of Gluttony, though the sword he¡¯d taken from the Warden was probably quite valuable as well. Beyond that, he¡¯d taken a few smaller weapons from the elves he¡¯d set against one another. Finally, he had a large pile of loose copper coins as well as a few silver Ethereum. He still wasn¡¯t certain what the sword or staff did, and he felt sure that he was missing something with the Claws of Gluttony as well. However, as he¡¯d told Essex, he had no way of figuring any of that out. So, that was at the top of his list regarding what to do for the rest of the day. After that, he needed to access the Branch and deposit his Ethereum as well as try to find out if there were any other towns nearby. Because his resolution to find his sister hadn¡¯t faded. Sure, he¡¯d been derailed a bit by his recent tower excursion, but now that Norcastle was safe, he was even more dedicated to hunting her down than ever. So, after dressing in his cleanest clothes, he headed downstairs and settled in at the bar. The same cook greeted him, and he ordered a breakfast of sausage and oatmeal. While he waited for his food, Elijah glanced around the room and, to his frustration, found that quite a few of the patrons were watching him. Sure, they tried to look like they weren¡¯t, but with his multi-faceted Mind as well as One with Nature, Elijah could see through their thin subterfuge. So, as he ate, he kept an eye on everyone. Most of the inn¡¯s diners were just normal people, but six people stood out. Elijah couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on what made them different, but he suspected that each one had a few levels under their belt. And it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out why they were there, especially after his actions the day before. It seemed that, despite his efforts to help the city¡¯s people, his peaceful stay in Norcastle had come to an end. But Elijah had no interest in going on a rampage, so even though he could tell that none of the watchers had good intentions, he still took the time to enjoy his breakfast before heading back upstairs. The moment he was in his room, he threw open the window, checked to make certain that he hadn¡¯t left anything behind, then shifted into his draconid form. Then, he embraced Guise of the Unseen before leaping through the window and landing in the alley beside the building. There, he settled into the shadows to wait. Only ten minutes later, he heard a ruckus before the heavy tromp of boots announced that someone had entered his room up above. A few seconds after that, he saw one of the men from the inn¡¯s common room poke his head out the window and let out a curse. Elijah only had to wait a little longer before the hostile men and women stormed out of the inn and spread out, presumably to look for him. But he knew they wouldn¡¯t find him. So, he waited until their search took them down the street before he set off across the city. He didn¡¯t intend to stick around Norcastle for much longer, but he still needed some information before he set off back into the wilderness. More, he intended to check on Jess and Essex to make sure they were okay. Because if they weren¡¯t, bad things were going to happen to whoever had hurt them. 2-46. The Right Direction The frigid air reminded Elijah of the recently departed tower, though there were enough differences that he didn¡¯t start experiencing flashbacks. For one, he increasingly thought that he was immune to post-traumatic stress. Certainly, in the immediate aftermath of some horrible experience, he felt the full weight of his trauma. More than once, those instances had very nearly broken him ¨C at least temporarily. However, the more distance between him and what should have been life-altering trauma, the more he could look at it like from the perspective of an observer. He knew he should feel differently. Everything he¡¯d ever learned about human psychology told him as much. And yet, he didn¡¯t, lending weight to his budding theory that the influx of Ethera had come with some sort of inoculation to the psychological impact of life-and-death struggle. Or maybe it was his cultivation. It might¡¯ve even been his archetype. As a steward of nature, he had a unique perspective on the struggle inherent in nature, so perhaps that insight was enough to alter the way he processed the things he¡¯d been forced to do. Either way, he was grateful for it. Without that ability to keep going in spite of everything he¡¯d been through, he would have long since succumbed. And if that had been the case, there¡¯s no chance he would have survived. In addition to that seeming inoculation to the psychological consequences of his decisions, the other reason he didn¡¯t descend into flashbacks was because of the clear, blue sky. It was the sort of morning that only seemed to come in winter, and freezing though it was, there was a certain crisp beauty to it that certainly had never been present in the tower. But the irritation and murderous thoughts were similar. In the tower, he¡¯d aimed those feelings at ogres and elves, but in Norcastle, the target landed squarely on the backs of the mayor¡¯s men who¡¯d been sent to harass him. Or kill him. Maybe they even thought to kidnap him. Elijah had no idea what their goals were, but he had seen enough to recognize that the realization of those goals would be bad news for him. Not that they had any chance at all. They were weak, blundering idiots, and they posed no threat to him. Even in his human form, which was markedly weaker than either of his other shapes, he could tear them apart with ease. And he was sorely tempted to exercise his superiority, as well. The only thing holding him back was simple morality. Defending his grove was one thing. So was fighting his way through a tower. But when he had the option of simply leaving? No ¨C he couldn¡¯t make himself take lethal steps if he had that option in front of him. Of course, that wouldn¡¯t be the case if they¡¯d hurt Essex or Jess. Or any of the other Healers at the hospital. Elijah was hesitant to kill other human beings, but he wouldn¡¯t hold back if they were the first to cross those lines. So, he stalked through the town, and despite the city streets being bathed in bright sunlight, none of the other pedestrians could see him. They were completely unaware of the predator in their midst, and that fact excited his draconid instincts like nothing else could. But he pushed those wild impulses aside and focused on the task at hand. At first, he¡¯d followed a few of the thugs who¡¯d meant to ambush him in the inn, but he¡¯d quickly lost interest when they gave up on the chase and returned to the castle in the center of the city. Elijah could have followed, but he thought another tactic was appropriate, which was why he found himself traversing the city on his way to the hospital. Once he reached the building in question, he waited a few minutes for an opportunity to slip inside. When one didn¡¯t present itself, he circled the structure until he found an open window on the second floor. Using his sharp claws like he was climbing a tree, he vaulted to the window and slipped inside. From there, it was easy enough to find Jess. She was perfectly fine, which was quite a relief. However, he didn¡¯t immediately confront her. Instead, he waited until she was alone until he shifted back to his human form and said, ¡°Don¡¯t scream.¡± Of course, she screamed. Or tried to. But before more than a peep could escape from between her lips, he had himself pressed against her, with his hand over her mouth. ¡°I said not to scream,¡± he repeated. ¡°I¡¯m going to let you go. Please, for the love of my friend Nerthus, don¡¯t scream. Okay?¡± She nodded. Elijah let her go and backed away. That moment of closeness had felt nice, though. Way nicer than he would have expected. But he had been alone for quite some time, so maybe he should have known how much a little human contact would mean to him. In any case, he pushed that aside and said, ¡°I saw you have some visitors in the hospital. Want to tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Jess didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she punched him ¨C inexpertly ¨C in the chest. Then, she hit him again. ¡°Don¡¯t ever do that again!¡± she hissed. ¡°I thought I was about to die! And where did you even come from? How did you get in here? I swear, if you ¨C¡± Elijah took the first couple of hits, but then he caught her wrists as gently as he could. ¡°I came in through one of the windows, okay? And I couldn¡¯t very well use the front door, could I? I saw the goons out there,¡± he said. ¡°And the ones inside, too. What the hell is going on?¡± ¡°Let me go,¡± she said with a calm iciness that brooked no hesitation. Elijah pulled away and held his hands up in surrender. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I just can¡¯t afford to let you take all your frustrations out on me. I¡¯m sure those idiots out there are going to notice if you¡¯re gone for too long,¡± he said, looking around the storage room. It was large enough to accommodate the two of them, but only just. ¡°It¡¯s your fault.¡± ¡°What is?¡± ¡°That they¡¯re here,¡± she said. ¡°They¡¯re the mayor¡¯s men.¡± ¡°I saw two women.¡± She rolled her big, brown eyes. ¡°It¡¯s a figure of speech,¡± Jess said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t literally mean that they¡¯re all male.¡± ¡°People. You should call them people so you can avoid these kinds of ¨C¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Fine! People!¡± she interrupted, and with some vehemence. ¡°You are so frustrating to talk to sometimes!¡± ¡°Just take a deep breath,¡± Elijah said, his hands still in the air. He had his staff in one of them, and the butt hovered dangerously close to what looked like a shelf full of cleaning chemicals. ¡°Woosah.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Thinking it was probably safe, he lowered his hands. Fortunately, Jess didn¡¯t react to that. ¡°I saw it in a movie once.¡± ¡°What does that have to do¡­you know what? Never mind. You need to get out of the city,¡± she said. ¡°The mayor is after you. I don¡¯t know exactly what he wants to do, but I can guarantee it won¡¯t be good.¡± ¡°I could just kill him.¡± ¡°What? No! You can¡¯t kill him. He¡¯s¡­it¡¯s complicated, okay? I mean, he¡¯s an asshole, but he¡¯s also the reason a lot of people are still alive.¡± ¡°Counterpoint, he sent people to probably kill me. And it wouldn¡¯t even be that hard. Probably. I haven¡¯t really killed any humans though, so¡­yeah,¡± he said, trailing off when he saw the expression of horror on Jess¡¯s face. ¡°Not that I want to kill people. I just¡­I mean¡­okay. I won¡¯t kill anybody unless they deserve it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­a good policy.¡± ¡°And just so we¡¯re clear, the mayor and his goons don¡¯t deserve it, right?¡± ¡°They do not.¡± ¡°Alright. Noted. Just maiming and crippling. I can do that.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I was¡­I was mostly joking,¡± Elijah lied. ¡°I think you¡¯d better leave,¡± Jess said. ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that. It¡¯s just that¡­I mean¡­with everything going on, it¡¯s probably best. Not that we don¡¯t appreciate what you did.¡± ¡°Sure seems like nobody appreciates it,¡± Elijah said, more than a little annoyed. He¡¯d done nothing but try to help the people of Norcastle, and now he was getting chased off? That wasn¡¯t right. ¡°We do. I swear, we do,¡± she said, stepping forward and gripping his arm. ¡°This is for your good as much as it is for anyone else¡¯s.¡± ¡°I promise you, it¡¯s not,¡± he said, gently pushing her hand away. All the playful quirkiness was gone from his voice as he continued, ¡°But I get it. I¡¯m dangerous, weird, and I scare people, right? Or maybe the mayor heard about what I did ¨C either in the tower or the hospital ¨C and he wants to use me. Either way, if I stay here, I¡¯m going to have to make it clear why that¡¯s a bad idea. So, you¡¯re right. I probably should leave. I just wish it would have ended differently.¡± She looked down. ¡°Me, too.¡± Elijah shook his head, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t freak out.¡± Without any more warning, he used Shape of the Predator, assuming his draconid form. To her credit, Jess didn¡¯t scream, but she definitely reacted with some alarm, pushing herself against the wall in an effort to get as far away from him as she possibly could. Of course, that just highlighted an issue Elijah hadn¡¯t anticipated. So, he cancelled the transformation, shifting back to his human form. Then, he said, ¡°Okay, so I had this cool thing planned where I was just going to transform into a draconid, then disappear. But that¡¯s not possible, because apparently, you being all freaked out by it counted as me being in combat. Which¡­you know¡­ouch. That hurts. But whatever. I get it. Giant lizard dragon monster, right? Of course you¡¯d be scared. But it does raise an issue, chiefly that I need you to leave the room first so I can use my stealth ability.¡± ¡°What kind of a Healer are you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m technically not one. I¡¯m a Druid. Totally different thing. Better, in my opinion, but your archetype is totally cool, too. So¡­unless you want to, you know, give me a proper goodbye¡­¡± ¡°Not going to happen,¡± she said, snorting a chuckle. He shrugged and grinned. ¡°Didn¡¯t really expect it, but you can¡¯t blame a guy for trying. But I do need you to tear yourself away from me. I won¡¯t get past those thugs without going on a killing spree if I¡¯m unable to use my stealth.¡± ¡°Just take care of yourself, okay? And come back. Maybe we can¡­you know¡­see what happens,¡± she said. Then, before he could respond, she left the room. The moment she did, he whispered to himself, ¡°That went really well.¡± Even as he said it, he shifted back into his draconid form and adopted Guise of the Unseen. A moment later, he was padding through the hospital toward the window he¡¯d used as an entrance. He took a few seconds to watch Jess, who was cut off by one of the goons, but her responses to his questions were acceptable enough that he let her go a moment later. So, seeing that she was fine, Elijah left her and the hospital behind. One facet of his Mind paid attention to his surroundings as he traversed the city, but the majority of his thoughts were on the Healer. He¡¯d never really expected anything to happen. Maybe if he¡¯d stuck around a little longer, but he knew that, even in the best of times, he was an acquired taste. He¡¯d been a lot smoother before the world changed, but two solitary years had a way of affecting a man¡¯s personality. He still hadn¡¯t returned to what he¡¯d once considered his normal demeanor, and he wasn¡¯t certain that he ever would. But that was fine. It might make things a little lonely going forward, but hopefully, the more time he spent around people, the easier it would become. In any case, Elijah soon crossed the town, barely noticing the festive decorations along the way, and soon arrived at the guard¡¯s quarters. It only took a little patience to wait for an opportunity to enter and make his way to Essex¡¯s office. It was empty, but that didn¡¯t stop Elijah from heading inside and waiting on the captain. An hour later, the man himself showed up. Upon entering, he shut the door, then plopped down in the chair behind his desk. A second later, he¡¯d opened the drawer to retrieve a bottle of whiskey. Elijah let Guise of the Unseen and Shape of the Predator drop at the same time. The captain reacted quickly, yanking a long dagger from his belt. But Elijah slapped it away with one of his staves. The other, he balanced on his shoulder as he said, ¡°Calm down, captain. I¡¯m just here for a little information.¡± ¡°How did you get in here?¡± ¡°Just waltzed right in. Nobody even tried to stop me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But never mind that. There are some things I need to know, and I think I¡¯m correct in assuming that I¡¯m not going to get the Branch access you promised.¡± He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. If it makes you feel any better, I did try to ¨C¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°In fact, it makes me feel like you took advantage of me. Here I was thinking we had a deal. Shame on me, I suppose. But here¡¯s the thing ¨C you still have information I need. Even if I can¡¯t access the Branch, you can help me out.¡± ¡°What do you need to know?¡± ¡°Are there any other settlements nearby?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Ones with Branches, I mean.¡± ¡°No. Not that we¡¯re close enough to connect with, but there were some refugees that came from the east. They said that the population is denser in that direction, but it¡¯s also more dangerous.¡± ¡°I can deal with danger,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Did they say anything about what towns or cities are there? I¡¯m looking for Seattle.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Oh, what?¡± ¡°I have heard some things about Seattle,¡± Essex stated. ¡°It¡¯s in that direction, but I don¡¯t know if you really want to go there.¡± ¡°Why not?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a warzone,¡± Essex stated. ¡°Three different factions. I don¡¯t know much beyond that.¡± ¡°Who does?¡± ¡°Nobody here. The group who came from there died about four months ago,¡± the captain explained. ¡°They never integrated with the rest of the population. They didn¡¯t trust us. They ended up being some of the first to die from the plague.¡± ¡°Crap,¡± Elijah said. Then, he sighed. He¡¯d come in search of a direction, and he¡¯d gotten that much. Still, he¡¯d hoped for a little more. ¡°Any luck with item identification?¡± ¡°Sorry, no. All the crafters are loyal to the mayor, so¡­¡± ¡°So, if I go to them, they¡¯ll run to tell his people. Great. Well,¡± he sighed. ¡°I guess that¡¯s it, then. I wish I could say I¡¯ve enjoyed my stay in your town, but the last bit where people were trying to hunt me down and kill or capture me kind of soured me on Norcastle. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry it happened like this. If I was in charge, I would have done things very differently,¡± the captain responded. Then, he looked Elijah in the eyes. ¡°Take care of yourself, Mr. Hart. I have a feeling that things are going to get a lot worse for you before they get better.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Story of my life. I¡¯ll survive.¡± 2-47. Bad Omens ¡°Don¡¯t like this one bit,¡± growled Kurik as he knelt next to the tracks. He looked around the pass, seeing a story that had played out months before. There were hundreds of tiny arachnid corpses, all in various states of decay. He recognized the species, which on his home world, had been referred to as sovereign spiders. Typically, the creatures were incredibly territorial, and left unchecked, they were capable of approaching sapience. They had no natural predators, largely due to the fact that their flesh was infused with poison that would painfully kill anyone or anything that ingested it. As a result, there was little reason for natural predators to have evolved. But something had killed the budding community, as evidenced by the piles of corpses and half-rotted webs. ¡°We found somethin¡¯, boss!¡± came a shout from up the pass. The dwarf pushed himself to his feet, then knocked the dust from his pants before following the shout to its origin. The pass was narrow, but it was more than large enough to accommodate Kurik and his team of scouts. They had been tasked with finding a way through the mountains, and it appeared that they had discovered just that. However, the spider corpses had brought them all up short. After a few moments, he found his way to a yawning cave. From experience, he knew it would have been a perfect location for a sovereign spider queen to nest. But judging by the smell, something large was rotting inside. Kurik didn¡¯t need to lay eyes on the corpse to know what he would find. But he¡¯d always been thorough, which was why he¡¯d been given leadership over the scouts of Ironshore. It was also why he¡¯d survived as long as he had. So, he squared his shoulders and headed through the mouth of the cave. Only a moment later, his dwarven eyes adjusted to the lack of light, and he saw the rotting corpse of a full-grown sovereign spider queen. He also saw his subordinate, Rasana, kneeling next to the thing. She was short, even for a gnome, and her blue hair stood in stark contrast to the hulking monster¡¯s corpse in front of her. She looked back, her eyes shining, and grinned. ¡°It¡¯s a real queen, Kurik! Do you know what this means?¡± ¡°That somethin¡¯ even nastier is out here,¡± he muttered. ¡°No. I mean, yes. Of course that¡¯s a possibility. But I¡¯m talking about the venom!¡± she went on. ¡°Do you know what we could do with something that strong?¡± ¡°Poison somethin¡¯?¡± ¡°No! Well, yes. But I talked to old Biggle ¨C you know, the alchemist ¨C and he said that a potent poison is the only thing he¡¯s missing for a body cultivation potion!¡± she said, her words spilling out in a rush. ¡°With the amount I could get from this big of a specimen, I bet he could make ten or maybe even fifteen doses! That¡¯s huge, Kurik! Like, super huge!¡± Kurik didn¡¯t need her to tell him the value of cultivation. Back home, his people would make pilgrimages to the lava pits far below the city and use the dense, ambient ethera as well as the lava itself to spark the evolution into the first stage. Of course, even that had required alchemical assistance for all but the most naturally gifted, so he was well aware of how valuable something like that could be. ¡°A poison based body cultivation? Seems less than optimal,¡± he muttered. He and the rest of his clan had been exiled before he¡¯d ever had a chance to start his own cultivation, and he¡¯d all but given up on taking the first steps down that road. However, a newly integrated world offered many opportunities, which was why it was like a magnet for outcasts like him. Like everyone in Ironshore, really. ¡°I think it would be brilliant!¡± she squeaked. Even after more than two years living side-by-side with gnomes, Kurik still wasn¡¯t quite used to them. None of them had proper beards, and they were far too excitable. Still, he didn¡¯t want to be prejudiced, so he¡¯d tried his best to be as accepting of the other races as possible. Because of that, he had one of the most evenly integrated squads in the entire city. ¡°Imagine what that would do for your poison resistance. I heard it¡¯s great for hunters and alchemists.¡± Kurik wasn¡¯t so sure if he¡¯d accept a poison-based body cultivation even if it was available. A proper dwarf had a fire constitution, after all. Any dwarf with anything else, regardless of how advanced their cultivation, was worthy of mistrust. Or at least that had been the case back home. But he wasn¡¯t back home anymore. He was on Earth, and he needed to adjust his expectations accordingly. ¡°What killed her?¡± he asked, wanting to change the subject. ¡°Looks like an animal of some sort,¡± the little gnome answered, pushing herself to her feet. ¡°But I don¡¯t think I¡¯d want to meet the sort of creature that could do this to a queen sovereign spider.¡± Kurik had some ideas about that, but he didn¡¯t give those thoughts voice. The entity who called the mist-wreathed Isle of Slaughter home was not to be mentioned, lest he visit some calamity upon their heads. Still, he¡¯d heard some stories from the goblin Callix who was the lone survivor of the expedition sent to that island. Unless she¡¯d been drinking, she never spoke of the slaughter she had seen, but that changed when she was in her cups. So, Kurik had made it his business to facilitate that by spending a few nights buying her one drink after another. After all, if there was some murderous monster living only a couple of miles away, he needed to know. He¡¯d rather take his chances in the wilderness than ignore that sort of threat. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! What he¡¯d learned had very nearly sent him running. But then the human had visited their city, and during that time, he¡¯d acted perfectly reasonable. So, Kurik had resolved to stay. However, he had also decided to take no chances at risking that man¡¯s ire. Whatever the case, he¡¯d learned enough to match the human¡¯s fighting style with the old wounds he saw on the spider¡¯s corpse. Certainly, it could have been his fears manifesting to make connections that weren¡¯t there, but Kurik had always prided himself on his ability to look at things objectively. More than that, he trusted the instincts that told him that he was looking at the aftermath of that man¡¯s passage. He was just about to order Rasana to organize the processing of the monster¡¯s corpse when another member of his team raced into the cave. Pavi was a goblin, but unlike his more urbane brethren, he¡¯d taken a liking to the outdoors. That had translated into his joining Kurik¡¯s scouting team. Pavi bent down, catching his breath as he said, ¡°Boss. There¡¯s tracks up ahead. You need to come see.¡± ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but there a lot,¡± the goblin panted. ¡°I think¡­I know I¡¯m not the most experienced, but¡­¡± ¡°Spit it out.¡± ¡°Hundreds. Maybe thousands, boss. I don¡¯t know what made the tracks, but there were a lot of them.¡± ¡°Show me.¡± After that, Pavi led him outside and up the trail through the pass. After a few minutes, they came upon the tracks Pavi had mentioned, and Kurik saw precisely why the young goblin was so alarmed. There weren¡¯t just hundreds of tracks. There were thousands leading to a rough path that ran perpendicular to the main trail. A few felled trees lay nearby, telling Kurik yet another story. But most troubling of all was that he recognized the tracks. Not wanting to believe his own first impressions, he knelt at the edge of the trail and examined an isolated footprint. That confirmed his fears. ¡°Orcs,¡± he said. ¡°Orcs?¡± Pavi echoed. ¡°Here? Where¡¯d they come from?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kurik admitted, pushing himself back to his feet. He ran his hand through his vibrant red hair, then let out a sigh. ¡°Gather the other scouts.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Now, Pavi. We might already be too late.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°Do you know anything about orcs?¡± Kurik asked. The goblin admitted that he didn¡¯t, so Kurik went on, ¡°They have a very distinct cycle of social development. When they first appear, they¡¯re little more than intelligent beasts. Like the crag apes back home. But if a pack grows past a certain point, they start working together. Their society starts to evolve, becoming a primitive tribe. For a while, that¡¯s how they stay. But if they¡¯re left alone for too long, they go to the next phase.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Conquest. Throughout the universe, on every planet connected to the World Tree, orcs are considered a menace that must be eradicated the moment they¡¯re found. Otherwise, they will rapidly grow into a force that will sweep across a planet, conquering everything in their path. Eventually, they will develop sapience. Do they not teach the story of the Dredlock Empire on your world?¡± ¡°Nobody taught us anything where I¡¯m from,¡± Pavi stated. ¡°Well, they should. This many orc tracks means only one thing,¡± Kurik said before pausing for a moment. When he continued, his voice was grim, ¡°Ironshore is in grave danger.¡± After that, the young goblin sped off to gather the others. Meanwhile, Kurik waited, his mind churning with a host of possibilities. Each one was worse than the last, so by the time his ten underlings joined him, he was on the verge of panic. Still, he kept his wits about him as he gave out his instructions. Two of his scouts, he sent back to Ironshore. Six were tasked with following the tracks to their origin. Meanwhile, he and Pavi ¨C who happened to be the stealthiest of all the scouts, save for Kurik himself ¨C would follow the tracks until they found the orcs who¡¯d used the pass. With any luck, they would have missed Ironshore altogether, but even as that thought crossed his mind, Kurik knew that it was a longshot. Once everyone had their orders, they set off into the wilderness. For his part, Kurik led Pavi along the alternate path for almost a mile until they reached another trail that led down the mountain. It showed plenty of signs of having been used, but not recently. That was somewhat comforting, but Kurik knew enough about orcs to know that it wouldn¡¯t last. If they¡¯d sent a war party out, there was assuredly a village in the other direction. Still, he didn¡¯t want to make any assumptions, so he continued to follow the tracks, using Camouflage to mask his passage. Pavi did the same, though his ability wasn¡¯t as advanced as Kurik¡¯s. For the rest of the day, they descended the mountain on the crooked and winding path used by the orcs, and just before nightfall, they found their quarry. The orcs were big, with jutting brows, sloped foreheads, and jutting tusks. More distressingly, they were all wearing primitive clothing and carried stone-bladed weapons. That suggested that they¡¯d reached a reasonably advanced stage of development. As he knelt in the bushes a few dozen yards away, Kurik could only take solace in the group¡¯s size. There were only twenty orcs there, which was far more than he could fight alone. But even with the bulk of Ironshore¡¯s defenders having been slain by the man on the island, they had enough capable warriors to fend off such a group. Still, after Kurik had seen everything there was to see, he and Pavi circled around the group of orcs and continued down the narrow pass. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that the group they¡¯d encountered was only one among many. Over the next day, they found many more like it until, at last, they reached the base of the mountain. There, they encountered the bulk of the orcs¡¯ forces. A hundred or more fires burned among a forest of tents. But more distressing was the sheer number of orcs present. If there were less than five thousand, Kurik would have been incredibly surprised, and he suspected that the true number was probably twice that. After he¡¯d observed enough, Kurik grabbed the young goblin scout¡¯s arm and guided him away. He didn¡¯t relax until they were miles into the wilderness, and even then, only slightly. He said, ¡°Pavi, I want you to promise me something.¡± ¡°What is it, boss?¡± ¡°What¡¯s about to happen to Ironshore is going to be horrific. I intend to fight until the very end, but if it comes down to it, I want you to promise me that you¡¯ll gather as many people as you can and flee.¡± ¡°But boss¡­¡± ¡°Those orcs there are more than we could¡¯ve handled before we lost the mercenaries,¡± he said. ¡°We have almost no chance of winning now. You owe it to yourself to escape what¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± He fingered the axe at his waist. ¡°Orcs are good for leveling, I¡¯m told. I intend to see for myself.¡± 2-48. Unforgivable The smell of pine needles hung in the air, and regret danced in Elijah¡¯s mind as he padded through the forest. He¡¯d left Norcastle without making the mayor¡¯s guards pay for their transgressions, and he sorely wished he¡¯d taken a different tactic. However, as vicious as his need for justice was, they had done nothing more than inconvenience him. And by all accounts, the mayor was a big part of the reason the city¡¯s residents had survived. Elijah had no problem with killing. He¡¯d done it enough to get past any compunctions he might have had in that arena. However, he drew the line at senseless violence, which was how he would have categorized killing or maiming the mayor and the people sent to harass him. So, as much as it galled his pride to let them off without punishment, he pushed those thoughts away and focused on his surroundings. Fortunately, his draconid form wasn¡¯t cold-blooded, so he could easily endure the frigid temperatures. Yet, just because the weather wasn¡¯t harmful, it didn¡¯t mean it was particularly pleasant. At least he was used to it after spending most of the past two years outdoors. Still, as he traversed the forest, he was more than a little cranky, which was why he decided to go a little out of his way to revisit the guardian bear and the amanita that had facilitated his Mind cultivation. Perhaps he could spend a few days to see if it could do the same for the other parts of his cultivation. As powerful as his Quartz Mind was, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but believe that progressing to the next stage of Body would be even more impactful. And if he could do the same for his Dragon Core? That would be a game-changer for him. With those thoughts occupying a few facets of his Mind, Elijah quickly covered the familiar ground between Norcastle and the small town he¡¯d visited on the way to the tower. Soon enough, he reached the stream where he¡¯d caught so many fish, but in the middle of winter, it had mostly frozen over ¨C a testament to the region¡¯s frigid climate. Leaving the frozen stream behind, Elijah kept going until he caught sight of the small town. It had snowed the night before, so the slice of long-lost Americana was covered in a white blanket. Yet, it only took Elijah a few seconds to recognize that something was out of place. He couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on precisely what was wrong, but still, he couldn¡¯t escape the notion that something terrible had happened. So, after embracing Guise of the Unseen, he slipped down the slope and entered the city at a light trot. Along the way, he noticed a host of unfamiliar smells ¨C animals who¡¯d come through the area, he was certain ¨C but there were two other easily identifiable scents present. The first was the acrid stench of decay that seemed to pervade everything in the area, but the second was the all-too-familiar smell of humans. Elijah¡¯s stomach tied itself into knots as he came to the most likely conclusion, and yet, he refused to acknowledge it. Instead, he explored the whole town, taking extra time in every building in a subconscious effort to avoid the inevitable. However, he could only delay so long before he found the old appliance store. Or what was left of it. The collection of washing machines, dish washers, ovens, and microwaves had spilled into the street as if they¡¯d been carried out on a tidal wave. Most bore some degree of damage, and a few had been completely ripped apart. Their innards had been scattered across the road and partially buried beneath the snow. Elijah knew what he would find, but he needed confirmation. His heart pounded in his chest as he crept forward, nimbly leaping from one fallen hunk of machinery to another. Meanwhile, the stomach-churning odor of oily decay clung to everything, growing more powerful with every step he took into the appliance store. And then, he saw what remained of the bear with which he¡¯d briefly coexisted. It was just a pile of offal and bone. The once mighty creature had been skinned, and half its body had been butchered. Whoever had killed it clearly hadn¡¯t had the ability to take everything, though, so quite a bit of the corpse remained intact. Though without the bear¡¯s glorious pelt, it made for a pitiful sight. Elijah stared at it for a long while, and with every passing moment, his pulse quickened. Rationally, he knew that the bear¡¯s death was no great tragedy. It was entirely possible that it had attacked someone who¡¯d stumbled upon its lair. Maybe the killers had been acting in self-defense. And yet, Elijah¡¯s anger continued to mount. Perhaps it was because, somewhere in the back of one facet of his Mind, he recognized the signs that someone had deliberately hunted the bear. Or maybe, after his period of peaceful coexistence with the beast, he simply couldn¡¯t look at its death objectively. Whatever the case, his anger reached a crescendo when he saw what had happened to the amanita. It had been hacked to pieces. What remained had rotted, so the pile of decaying fungus was barely recognizable. In addition, the aura that had surrounded it was almost completely gone, leaving behind only a tiny surge in the density of the ambient Ethera. As he stared at the aftermath, Elijah seethed, especially when he saw the remnants of broken spears and arrows lying around. He turned away from the scene, letting his anger envelope him. It wasn¡¯t that they¡¯d killed the bear. Elijah had killed plenty of animals himself, so he didn¡¯t begrudge someone for hunting. However, what truly set him off was the waste. They¡¯d barely harvested a quarter of the animal, suggesting that the purpose of the kill hadn¡¯t been for food or resources. Rather, it had been an attempt to gain levels. Or maybe even for the challenge itself. Worse yet, there was a possibility that they had killed the bear just because they could. Because they enjoyed the act of killing. Perhaps they liked watching the bear suffer, then took joy in hacking the amanita to pieces. Elijah had no idea which camp the killers fell into, but in his anger, he had difficulty imagining that they were justified. In any case, he didn¡¯t waste much more time before setting off. But he didn¡¯t head in the direction of the next town. Instead, he looked for the killers¡¯ trail. Soon enough, he found precisely what he was looking for and proceeded to follow it out of town. Fortunately, the trail was still fresh enough that, through his heightened senses and the increased concentration afforded by his Quartz Mind, he had no difficulty following the tracks. Still, he didn¡¯t catch up to them until well past sunset. When he did, he approached under the concealment of Guise of the Unseen and watched the murderers who had killed the creature who, in Elijah¡¯s anger, he¡¯d begun to remember far more fondly than was probably warranted. * * * Rooker sat on the overturned log, staring at the flickering flames as a bit of bear roasted on a spit. The fat and juices trickled down the juicy hunk of meat, and when they hit the fire, they sizzled. It looked delicious, and it smelled even better. However, even if it was more nourishing than most meat, a couple of meals had never been the goal. Instead, he and his boys had been contracted by an elven alchemist named Breeze to harvest the giant mushroom that had very nearly killed all four of them. If they hadn¡¯t had the benefit of the poison resistance potion, they¡¯d have dropped dead before they even got close to the horrible thing. But they¡¯d persisted, and they¡¯d filled the specially prepared sacks with bits of mushroom flesh. They¡¯d even had to leave a little behind because they didn¡¯t have enough room. So, their job was done, and in only a few weeks, they¡¯d get the body cultivation potions they had been promised. Killing the bear had just been a well-deserved bonus. The dumb beast had put up quite a fight, too, and their Healer, Richard, still hadn¡¯t recovered enough Ethera to completely mend their wounds. Rooker was the only one who¡¯d managed to make it through entirely intact, but that was only because of his high Constitution as well as his Jerkin of Resilience that he¡¯d gotten as the reward for conquering the tower back home. He''d been the only survivor of that one, and yet, he¡¯d come out on top. Like always. That was the key benefit of his Vanguard class, after all. A clatter yanked his attention away from the roasting meat to see the pair of damage dealers ¨C Tommy and Vic ¨C fooling around with the bear¡¯s pelt. Tommy, the spell-caster of the group, had the thing draped over his shoulders with its head functioning as a gruesome hood. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°Knock it off, you two,¡± he growled. He was the highest level among them, so he had taken his position as their leader. And given that he was only a couple of levels from making it onto the ladder, the others respected him in a way they wouldn¡¯t have with anyone else. Still, all three were young and immature, so he often felt like he was babysitting his sister¡¯s kids. Of course, Michelle hadn¡¯t made it through the apocalypse. Neither had his nieces or nephews. But he didn¡¯t like to think about that. No ¨C the world had changed, and if he wanted to survive more than a few more years, he needed to keep his eyes facing forward. That was why he¡¯d taken the job offered by the alchemist. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have even spoken to one of the elves. They mostly kept to themselves, but they¡¯d also refused to help when so many humans were reeling from the world¡¯s transformation. That was hard to forget. Not for Rooker, though. He was a pragmatist, through and through, and he¡¯d have done the same thing in the elves¡¯ places. In fact, he had done exactly that when he¡¯d chosen to withhold his own assistance when it might¡¯ve saved some of his neighbors. If they couldn¡¯t survive on their own, then they didn¡¯t deserve his help. More, he couldn¡¯t afford to offer it ¨C not if he wanted to ensure his own survival. The moment the apocalypse had hit ¨C or the World Tree had touched Earth, as he¡¯d learned ¨C it had become an every man for himself sort of situation. That was especially true after he¡¯d lost his family. But Rooker didn¡¯t like to think about that, so he pushed the thought out of his mind. It was at that moment that he heard a rustle in the nearby bushes. Knowing precisely how dangerous the wilderness could be, he whipped around, yanking his axe from the loop on his belt. ¡°Who¡¯s there?!¡± he demanded. At the same time, the two knuckleheads left their fooling around behind and leveled their own weapons in the direction Rooker was facing. For his part, Richard quickly retreated behind Rooker. As a Healer, the once-pudgy man was barely capable of defending himself, much less fighting anything more dangerous than a bunny, so he was almost entirely reliant on the others. For Rooker¡¯s part, he didn¡¯t care about the man at all. But he liked the idea of having a Healer in his pocket in case things got dicey. ¡°I come in peace,¡± came a man¡¯s voice. It was a little rough, but clear as a bell. Then, the owner of that voice stepped out of the wilderness. He held a staff that looked like twined roots, and his clothes were oddly cut but unremarkable, save that the pants ended just above the man¡¯s ankles. He was handsome, though a little rough around the edges, with curly blonde hair and a beard that looked like it hadn¡¯t been trimmed in some time. However, there were two true oddities about him that made Rooker look twice. First, his feet were bare. What would drive someone to walk around the forest in the dead of night without any shoes, Rooker had no idea, but the characteristic was strange enough to make him do a double take. Second, the hand gripping the staff was scarred, and to Rooker, it looked as if he¡¯d been seriously burned. The scarring went past his wrist and disappeared beneath his sleeve. ¡°Stop right there,¡± Rooker growled, gesturing with his axe. The man did. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to sneak up on you. I just saw your fire and figured I¡¯d drop in and say hello,¡± he stated. Then, he gave a half-hearted wave and said, ¡°So, hello, I guess.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± Rooker asked. ¡°I¡­I just told you?¡± Rooker blinked. ¡°What¡¯re you doing out here? It¡¯s not safe.¡± The scarred man gave a shrug. ¡°Kind of my thing. I¡¯m looking for my sister. You wouldn¡¯t know where Seattle ended up, would you? I think there¡¯s a city called Tom¡¯s Town a hundred miles or so south of here. I was thinking of heading there first, then seeing if I can find any more information on Seattle.¡± ¡°East,¡± Richard said from his position behind Rooker. He¡¯d relaxed a little, and for good reason. It was just one man, after all. Of course, there could be others nearby, but Rooker didn¡¯t think so. If that was the case, they¡¯d have just attacked without bothering with a ruse. ¡°I heard Seattle ended up east of her. Not even next to the ocean anymore.¡± ¡°Really? Wasn¡¯t expecting that,¡± the newcomer said. ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll probably still head south first since I¡¯m so close, but¡­yeah. That¡¯s helpful information.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a Healer?¡± asked Vic. He was the only one in the group with the ability to identify people, though it only told him a person¡¯s archetype. How that related to his Stalker class, Rooker had no idea, but it was a useful enough ability to have. ¡°Oh. Yeah. Why? You need healing?¡± the man asked. ¡°You have spare Ethera?¡± asked Richard. The stranger shrugged. ¡°Depends on a few things. Like what¡¯s that on the spit right there?¡± he asked. ¡°Bear,¡± grunted Rooker. ¡°Killed this high-level fucker a couple days ago. This is the last of the meat we could take. Shame, too. He was big. Only reason we were able to kill him at all is because of this sleep poison we got from an alchemist. It was a pain getting in close enough to get it in him, but once we did, it knocked him right out.¡± ¡°Oh. So, were you just hunting, then?¡± ¡°No,¡± blurted Richard. ¡°We were hired to harvest this ¨C¡± Rooker cut the Healer off with a glare. ¡°We were on a job,¡± he said slowly. ¡°That¡¯s it. Details aren¡¯t important.¡± The man shrugged again. ¡°Mind if I lower my arms? My Strength is a bit lacking, so my shoulders are screaming at me right now.¡± Rooker nodded, and the man dropped his arms, then rolled his shoulders. ¡°You want some?¡± he asked the man, gesturing to the hunk of bear meat roasting over the fire. ¡°Plenty to go around. And Richard could use a little help with the healing. The boys over there are ¨C¡± Just then, the man pointed his staff at Richard ¨C who¡¯d moved out from behind Rooker. The Ethera in the area shuddered before a thick bolt of lightning erupted from the stranger¡¯s staff, then hit Richard directly in the chest. He was flung backwards with enough violence that, when he struck a nearby tree, the sound of cracking bones echoed through the campsite. For a brief moment, everyone was stunned by what had happened. And then, suddenly, everyone erupted into motion. Vic yanked his dagger from the sheath at his waist ¨C the idiot¡¯s bow wasn¡¯t even strung ¨C then launched himself at the man. Meanwhile, Tommy raised his hands high into the air as he began casting a spell. He never got the chance. The Vanguard was already moving to intercept him, but he was far too slow. Rooker watched as the man transformed, taking on the form of some sort of scaled nightmare that looked as if someone had crossed a panther with a crocodile, but far sleeker than either of those descriptors would normally indicate. The man ¨C or creature ¨C hit Tommy like he was shot out of a cannon. With claws and teeth, the monster ripped through the spellcaster like he was made of paper. Blood and other viscera misted into the air, but the monster didn¡¯t stop. Instead, it disappeared into the darkness on the other side. ¡°What the fuck¡­w-what the fuck was that?!¡± Vic pleaded, sliding to a stop. He jerked around, looking this way and that, but he clearly didn¡¯t see anything. The creature¡¯s scales were dark, so it was perfectly suited to hide in the shadows. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Rooker said, already using spells and abilities to accentuate his already stout defenses. Some of them were intended to protect comparatively more vulnerable teammates, and they had diminishing returns when he used them on himself. However, he almost never blessed anyone else with his defensive abilities. It was every man for himself, after all. He didn¡¯t care if his teammates survived so long as he walked away. In fact, he preferred it that way because, if he was the only one left, he wouldn¡¯t have to split any rewards. ¡°Is Richard still alive?¡± ¡°Fuck if I know, man!¡± Vic shouted. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Pull yourself together.¡± ¡°You pull yourself together, asshole! It just went through Tommy like it was ¨C¡± He slapped his hand against his neck, then tapered off. He was trying to look everywhere at once, but Rooker had already written the man off. So, he backed himself against a tree and set his feet. By that point, he¡¯d layered four defensive abilities, one atop the other to create a veritable cocoon of protection. So, he was ready for whatever that monster was. Meanwhile, Vic continued to panic, muttering to himself the whole while. Every now and again, he¡¯d slap his hand against any bit of exposed skin, but Rooker wasn¡¯t certain if that was a nervous tick or if a swarm of mosquitoes had descended upon them. Whatever the case, he wasn¡¯t concerned with a few insects. Or at least, that was the case until Vic fell to his knees and vomited. In the firelight, it was difficult to tell, but Rooker thought he saw blood in the resultant puddle. He shouted for Vic, but the man pitched forward onto his face, collapsing into convulsions. He went still a second later. Suddenly, Rooker felt very alone. So very alone. And tired. He wanted nothing more than to go back in time and hold his daughter again. Or his wife. They¡¯d had their problems. He¡¯d been a terrible husband back then. But if he could just go back, he would change. No more drinking. No more cheating. He would never lay a hand on her again. He just wanted a second chance. ¡°Why?¡± came a deep, rumbling voice. Rooker looked up to see a monstrosity looming in the shadows. It was enormous, with hints of scales and a face like a spiny lizard. But it was shaped more like an ape, with long arms and squat legs. ¡°Show yourself, monster!¡± Rooker bellowed with all the false bravado he could muster. ¡°I¡¯m not hiding,¡± the creature growled, stepping into the firelight. It was just as awful and intimidating as Rooker¡¯s first impression had suggested. ¡°Tell me why you killed the bear. The mushroom, I understand. But the bear was innocent. Once it was unconscious, you could have left it.¡± ¡°Leave it? Why?¡± Rooker asked, confused. ¡°It was a monster. Monsters give experience. That¡¯s the world we live in.¡± ¡°And you? Will you give experience when I kill you?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± the Vanguard asked, his confident fa?ade breaking. ¡°I was going to let you live,¡± the monster stated, its gravelly voice rattling Rooker¡¯s bones. ¡°You just wanted the mushroom, and the bear was in the way. But you killed it when you didn¡¯t have to. I won¡¯t let that pass.¡± With that, the monster erupted into motion. Rooker used his final ability, manifesting an Ethereal shield a foot in front of him. The monster didn¡¯t even slow down as it shattered the plane of magical force, then crashed into its owner. Rooker¡¯s defenses were useless against the powerful monster, and it ripped through him with ease. Still, he managed to get a couple of blows in of his own, though they clanged off the creature¡¯s skin with the sound of metal on metal. And then, the creature grabbed his head with one of its massive claws. That¡¯s when it started squeezing. At first Rooker¡¯s Constitution was up to the task, but the power the monster could bring to bear was absolutely overbearing. And soon enough, the integrity of his skull collapsed, and he knew no more. 2-49. Pests With mixed feelings dancing in her heart, Carmen watched her son as he trained with the practice spear she had made for him. A few years before, she¡¯d have never condoned such a thing. Back then, even combat sports like boxing or mixed martial arts had been off the table, and she had actively forbidden him from playing football. There was too much chance of permanent injury, especially to Miguel¡¯s all-important brain, for her to sign off on those sorts of things. But now, the world had irrevocably changed, and she knew better than most that if they didn¡¯t change with it, they would become fodder for those who had adapted more fully. Or for some sort of monster, of which there were plenty. The reality was that, if she wanted to prepare Miguel to thrive, she needed to ensure that he had the tools to do so. That meant training him with weapons as well as ensuring that his normal education continued apace. In addition, she¡¯d begun to teach him the rudiments of crafting ¨C at least as much as she had learned ¨C and bought plenty of guides so he would know as much about the system as possible. Still, it felt so odd, worrying about his combat ability. That was a remnant of the old world, though, and Carmen had to remind herself to push it away so that it didn¡¯t infect her perception of reality. The moment the World Tree had touched Earth, the entire paradigm had shifted, and the world had become a place where nothing was assured. A pang of regret sliced through her heart. She¡¯d learned that lesson the hard way. Alyssa had been the best person she¡¯d ever known, and yet, she¡¯d died anyway. Not for the first time, she wondered what had really happened in that tower. Roman¡¯s story made sense. It was a dangerous place, and if anyone would have sacrificed herself so others would live, it was Alyssa. However, there was a degree of doubt she couldn¡¯t quite push aside. Roman had had every reason to get rid of Alyssa. His grip on Easton was stronger now than it had ever been while Alyssa was alive. Yet, there was one problem with that line of thinking. Roman had Alyssa had been friends for a long time even before the world had ended. And Alyssa had been convinced that Roman was a good man. She had thrown her support behind him at every turn. That kind of bond wasn¡¯t easily discarded. Besides, Carmen had seen Roman¡¯s face during Alyssa¡¯s memorial service. That kind of grief was difficult to fake, especially for a man like Roman. Even so, she¡¯d once warned Alyssa to remain wary of the man, and for good reason. So, she was of two minds on the subject of whether or not to trust Roman¡¯s version of events. Not that it mattered. She needed to move on, both for her sake and for her son¡¯s good. He hadn¡¯t taken Alyssa¡¯s death well, and if Carmen started wallowing in her own depression ¨C which was the inevitable path that would take ¨C it would only push Miguel to do the same. So, as much as she wanted to dwell on the death of her wife, being a responsible mother came first. With that in mind, Carmen watched Miguel sparring with one of the warriors who¡¯d been sent to protect the mine. The small town they¡¯d built around the mine had grown to include three main buildings as well as a handful of houses for the workers. And with what they¡¯d found so far, there was every reason to expect that growth to continue. Carmen suspected that, one day, it might become a full-blown city to rival Easton itself. But that hinged on the continued exploration of the mine. Almost as soon as that thought crossed Carmen¡¯s mind, she heard someone approach. ¡°What is it now?¡± she asked, glancing back to see Colt drawing closer. ¡°I¡¯m busy.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said, removing his hat and wiping his forearm across his sweaty forehead. His other hand rested on the hilt of the katana at his hip. She knew from experience that he could have that blade out in the blink of an eye, and he was quite adept at using it. The man characterized himself as a samurai, even claiming to follow the bushido code ¨C which was a bit odd, considering that he looked every inch the cowboy, with his wide-brimmed hat and leather duster. But oddities had become the norm, and all Carmen really cared about was his competence. In that arena, she couldn¡¯t have asked for a better second-in-command. ¡°Just one day,¡± she said, sighing as she pushed herself to her feet. She¡¯d been sitting on an old tree stump near the training grounds she¡¯d established. There, the warriors as well as any children who¡¯d come along could practice their martial skills. She stretched her back with a groan. ¡°Just one day was all I wanted. Can¡¯t even give me that, can you?¡± ¡°Sorry, ma¡¯am. But the miners ran into some problems,¡± he said with his characteristic drawl. ¡°Big problems or little problems?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t come to you with the little ones, ma¡¯am.¡± She sighed in annoyance. ¡°Stop calling me ma¡¯am. You¡¯re making me feel like I¡¯m some old crone. You¡¯re older than I am, for God¡¯s sake,¡± she said. ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Carmen just shook her head. That was the thing about Colt. He wouldn¡¯t change for anyone, which was probably why she appreciated him so much. It was also why he¡¯d been sent to the Silverswift Mine. Why it had been named that, Carmen had no idea, but she¡¯d discovered some documentation in an abandoned office near the entrance that labeled it such. Odd, considering that it had been an iron mine, but Carmen had no interest in thinking of a name herself. So, she¡¯d kept the old name, as ill-fitting as it was. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. The budding settlement had taken a similarly silly ¨C but much more understandable ¨C name when someone had started referring to it as Silverado. ¡°I hate that our village is named after a stupid pickup truck,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s where the name came from, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°I know that, Colt,¡± she said. ¡°Alright. Show me this problem.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he drawled. Then, after Carmen waved at Miguel ¨C he was fine in the training ground, given that there were a few warriors with decent levels around ¨C the pair set off for the mine¡¯s entrance. It was less than a quarter mile away, so they covered the distance quickly enough, passing through the burgeoning settlement along the way. Carmen was pleased to see that everyone was busy either processing the little ore they¡¯d managed to mine or working on the town¡¯s infrastructure. If they¡¯d been slacking off, she might¡¯ve had a few choice words for her people. Soon enough, they reached the mine¡¯s entrance. When they¡¯d first arrived, it was only a few feet wide, and it had experienced a cave-in sometime in the recent past. However, through arduous labor ¨C most of which had required Carmen¡¯s personal participation ¨C they had managed to clear the debris and widen the entrance by a considerable amount. But that wasn¡¯t what Carmen was focused on. Instead, her attention lay solely on the group of fighters and miners who were congregated at the entrance. A few of them showed clear signs of having recently engaged in combat, and one of the expedition¡¯s two Healers sat nearby, clearly exhausted. ¡°What happened?¡± she asked as they approached. ¡°Some critters attacked us, ma¡¯am,¡± Colt answered. ¡°Don¡¯t rightly know what they were, but they were small and vicious. Big, sharp teeth, too.¡± ¡°Like gremlins or goblins?¡± ¡°No. Critters,¡± he reiterated. ¡°Like the movie from the eighties.¡± ¡°Never saw it,¡± she stated. ¡°Well before my time.¡± ¡°Freaked me out as a kid,¡± Colt said. ¡°Maybe that¡¯s why I thought of ¡®em when the miners described what they saw.¡± ¡°Probably. Unless eighties movie monsters are real, now,¡± she joked halfheartedly. ¡°If we encounter Freddy Krueger in there, I¡¯m done. We don¡¯t need the ore that badly.¡± ¡°I think everyone would agree with that one, ma¡¯am.¡± They reached the group a few moments later, and Carmen asked what had happened. The first to answer was a rawboned woman with high cheekbones that, if she wasn¡¯t covered in dirt and blood, would¡¯ve made her look like a runway model. Or that would have been the case if she wasn¡¯t so clearly used to hard labor, which was made evident by her well-defined muscles and callused hands. She said, ¡°We were expanding one of the new tunnels, following a thick strain of that cold iron. That¡¯s when they hit us, hard and fast. We killed a couple, but there were way too many. We had to retreat.¡± ¡°Laney, right?¡± asked Carmen. If she remembered correctly, the woman was in charge of the third shift of miners, but she¡¯d not learned much else about her. Or anyone else, really. She could put a few names to faces, but she had spent much of the trip from Easton to Silverado in the grip of depression. It wasn¡¯t until they¡¯d started work on the budding town that she had begun to come out of it. ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± she said. ¡°Miner extraordinaire. Actually, I¡¯m a Scholar. Haven¡¯t gotten my class yet, though, so I ended up having to volunteer for labor to stay useful. You know how it goes.¡± A few others among the miners nodded along. Carmen knew just how common that story was. It didn¡¯t make sense. Scholars were ill-suited to manual work, and yet, they formed the bulk of Easton¡¯s labor force. Like Laney, most of them hadn¡¯t had much of a choice. If they wanted to remain in Easton, let alone earn their keep, they needed to do whatever it was the city needed them to do. And given Roman¡¯s prejudice against Scholars, that usually meant that those with that archetype were relegated to all the worst job. It was a damned waste, but Carmen was in no position to do anything about that sort of ridiculous thinking. More, she didn¡¯t think she¡¯d be very successful in changing anyone¡¯s mind, given that the city owed its continued prosperity to Roman and his policies. The existence of the critters wasn¡¯t a surprise. Ever since they¡¯d first begun exploration of the mine, they¡¯d known that something had expanded the system of tunnels that had existed since before the touch of the World Tree had changed the world. So, having to clear the creatures out had always been an inevitability, though one she¡¯d hoped would wait until her people were a little better prepared. ¡°Alright. Here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do,¡± she said. ¡°I want a group of three warriors to come with me into the tunnels. We¡¯ll hunt down as many of these critters as we can, but our real objective is to find wherever they¡¯re nested and put them down. Sound good?¡± There was a murmur of agreement from the miners, but Carmen was only really interested in Colt¡¯s response. He said, ¡°It needs to be done, so we¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Gather two more. Best we¡¯ve got for close quarters,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I¡¯m going to get my armor.¡± She wasn¡¯t like the people with combat classes. Certainly, she could hang with them well enough, but only if she had proper equipment. Without her armor, she really only had her Strength to set her apart. The rest of her attributes were, at best, mediocre, and none of her skills translated to combat. Still, she could hold her own, but she knew that the gap would continue to widen as humanity progressed. Eventually, she wouldn¡¯t even be in the same realm as people with actual combat skills. For now, though, she could handle herself well enough, so she headed back to her office-slash-home and donned her armor. Despite having been through quite a bit of fighting on the way to the mine, it didn¡¯t show any wear and tear. Once Carmen was wearing her armor, she glanced at her massive hammer. However, she chose to leave it behind because, in the tunnels, she wouldn¡¯t have any room to swing it. Instead, she would rely on Summon Tool and use a blacksmith¡¯s hammer. It wouldn¡¯t pack quite the punch of her Simple-Grade weapon, but it would still do the trick. Thus armed and armored, Carmen headed back to the entrance of the mine to await Colt and the two other combatants that would accompany them on their critter hunt. As it turned out, he chose a pair of Warrior archetypes. One had a Brawler class and specialized in hand-to-hand fighting, while the other was a Vigilante who favored a longsword. He also had an ability that allowed him to identify creatures, which Colt reasoned would come in handy. ¡°Tiffany,¡± Colt said, nodding toward the Brawler. Then, he indicated the Vigilante as he continued, ¡°And Brett have been with us for more than a year. I trust them.¡± ¡°Well, then I do too,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Let¡¯s do this thing.¡± 2-50. Argos The morning air held a distinct chill as Elijah leaped over a burbling stream. When he reached the other side, he slowed to a stop before shifting into his human form. With a sigh, he unshouldered his pack, setting his two staves aside as he squatted next to the stream. After dipping his hands into the water, he splashed his face. How long had it been since he¡¯d killed the group of hunters? Two days? Three? It might¡¯ve even been a week. After he¡¯d slaughtered the leader, who¡¯d been a little more durable than Elijah had expected, he¡¯d taken the time to loot the corpses, coming away with nothing worthwhile besides a few extra Ethereum that he added to the pile at the bottom of his pack. Other than that, he¡¯d also taken the sack of mushroom flesh. Everything else, he¡¯d left behind, as much because he didn¡¯t want to strip the bodies as due to his limited carrying capacity. However, one thing he did carry with him was the guilt. Despite the justifications that kept playing through his mind, the fact was that he¡¯d unhesitatingly murdered four people. Certainly, he¡¯d killed before, and far more than he ever could have imagined possible in the years preceding the world¡¯s transformation. But they¡¯d all been gnomes and goblins and elves. Or they had been the pseudo-real people populating the towers. But these last four were humans, just like him. And he wasn¡¯t so far removed from the civilized existence that had once characterized his life that he didn¡¯t find it at least somewhat repulsive. At the end of the day, he was a murderer. Sure, he had his reasons, and for the most part, he accepted them as just. But most was not all, and Elijah was still trying to deal with the psychological ramifications of his actions. The worst part was that, given the same set of factors, he would make the same choice every single time. Those men had flippantly killed the bear for no more reason than that they could, and that was something he refused to accept. What that said about him and his place in the new world, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain, but he knew his heart well enough to recognize that he would continue along that path, even if it one day made him a monster. Perhaps that was why he¡¯d become a Druid in the first place, because he had the capacity to look at the world from that perspective. And because he had the wherewithal to act, even if it meant going places most people would not. In any case, Elijah felt the stain of guilt ¨C faint though it was ¨C that would require some time to wash away. In the meantime, though, he felt a more immediate need to wash himself of the inevitable filth of more than a week living and hunting in the wilderness. So, without further ado, he quickly undressed, then retrieved the much-diminished bar of homemade soap from his pack before stepping into the frigid stream and taking an impromptu bath. He even cast Healing Rain to assist in the process. Even as dirt, mud, and congealed blood were washed from his body, so too were fatigue as well as the worst of the guilt clinging to his psyche. It didn¡¯t magically disappear, but the symbolic nature of his wilderness shower gave him both the context as well as the time to come to terms with his actions. And unsurprisingly, he was fine with what he¡¯d done. In a vacuum, murder was wrong. He knew that. But he couldn¡¯t bring himself to regret killing the hunters. From what he¡¯d seen, the world was a better place without them. So, by the time he had finished, he was clean in body, mind, and spirit. In the aftermath, he propped himself against a boulder and let himself relax for the first time since the night he¡¯d rid the world of the hunters¡¯ stain. With the sun warming him, it was only a matter of time before he dozed off. He didn¡¯t dream, but when he awoke, a sense of contentment enveloped his mind. He also couldn¡¯t help but notice that he¡¯d attracted a small audience. A squirrel the size of a beaver sat on the limb of a nearby oak tree, chittering down at him with mingled annoyance, curiosity, and fear. Elijah sighed, then pushed himself to his feet. As he dusted himself off, the squirrel¡¯s chittering grew more urgent. Finally, Elijah said, ¡°Fine, fine. I¡¯m getting out of your territory, you little tyrant.¡± That didn¡¯t placate the creature, and it didn¡¯t cease its tirade until Elijah retrieved his staves and pack, then took on his draconid form. The moment he did, the squirrel went silent before fleeing through the forest¡¯s canopy. Elijah just shook his scaley head before taking off in the opposite direction. As the days wore on, the forest thinned, and more evidence of a fallen civilization presented itself. The remnants of old roads bore dozens of abandoned automobiles. Some seemed mostly intact, but others had clearly been ripped apart by powerful beasts. Still others showed signs of salvage, having been dismantled for parts. That was an encouraging sign even if Elijah didn¡¯t see any evidence of current occupation in the area. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As he kept an easterly heading, he started seeing more and more proof of human habitation. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore one, simple fact ¨C the actual signs he saw were not in English. By virtue of the system¡¯s translation feature, he could still read them, but he still recognized that they were written in a language he shouldn¡¯t have been capable of understanding. He did know enough to recognize that it was Greek, though. Which made no sense, considering that his island was in the American Pacific Northwest. But then again, the world had been transformed, and its geography had been rearranged. So, with that framing his expectations, it should not have been surprising to suddenly stumble upon a region that had once been located on the other side of the world. In any case, Elijah couldn¡¯t complain with the steadily rising temperatures he¡¯d experienced since descending from the more mountainous region around Norcastle. It wasn¡¯t warm, per se. But it was much more temperate. Along the way, he ran into Voxx from time to time, but none of them were particularly strong. So, even though he killed each one that he found, they only provided a trickle of experience. He shook his head at that. Hanging out with actual human beings had resulted in him changing some of his terminology. Instead of referring to the influx of Ethera he received upon killing an enemy as kill energy, he had begun to think of it using a gaming term that was popular in Norcastle. Experience. It seemed fitting enough. In any case, the result was that he hadn¡¯t gained a single level since leaving the tower, and as a result, he found that he was a little irritable at the lack of progress. That was odd, too. He¡¯d gone weeks between levels back on his island, and that hadn¡¯t bothered him. Perhaps he was growing addicted to progression. Or more probably, it was an issue of mindset. Back home, he didn¡¯t feel the need to constantly progress because, well, it was home. But in the wilderness? Things were different. Regardless, he didn¡¯t intend to go out of his way to hunt powerful monsters just to gain a few levels here and there. If he did, he would be no better than the hunters he¡¯d found so disgusting. But killing Voxx ¨C even the weak versions he kept stumbling upon ¨C was always a nice distraction. He hoped it would prove profitable, too. He knew that each kill was recorded by the system, so he likely had quite a sizable reward waiting for him to visit a Branch. Not that he had much to spend it on, of course. There were a few things he wouldn¡¯t mind buying back in Ironshore, and he¡¯d foregone purchasing quite a few guides that looked useful because they were incredibly expensive, so there was always something he¡¯d need to buy. More than anything, though, he wanted to find someone ¨C anyone ¨C to identify the loot he¡¯d taken from the tower. He was still carrying the giant ogre staff, and he had a small arsenal of swords and daggers in his pack. Finally, there was the curious reward he¡¯d gotten upon defeating the Reaver and conquering the tower. The Claws of Gluttony didn¡¯t have an overt purpose, but he was certain that they would be somehow useful. He just needed someone to help him discover what form that usefulness might take. Those thoughts occupied one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind, while the others were free to focus on his environment. His diligence bore fruit as he hunted his way across the region, and eventually, he came upon a road that led into a moderate sized Greek town. From a distance, Elijah could see people going to and fro, but none of them strayed outside the city¡¯s stone wall without a couple of armed warriors to protect them. As Elijah drew closer ¨C under the Guise of the Unseen ¨C he couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that the surrounding fields had been left untended. Moreover, there were a handful of empty paddocks that had clearly been used for livestock. And finally, he saw the locals¡¯ furtive glances and hurried gaits. Clearly, they were afraid of something, though Elijah couldn¡¯t figure out what it was. Because, other than the humans in and around the city, the immediate region was almost entirely deserted. There were birds and a few squirrels chittering and chattering in the trees, but on the ground, there was nothing. No hares. No deer. Elijah picked up the scent of a few Voxx, but after following those trails, he found that the monsters had long since been killed. As he explored, Elijah saw a couple of signs that declared the town to be Argos, which sounded vaguely familiar. In any case, he quickly exhausted the possibilities of the surrounding wilderness and fields, so he prepared himself to enter the city proper. Though, once he made that decision, he came upon a difficult choice. Did he want to enter the town as a human and risk something like what had happened back in Norcastle? Or would he prefer to slip in under the Guise of the Unseen, access the Branch ¨C if there was one ¨C then slip back out without any of the residents, aside from whoever manned the Branch itself, being the wiser. In the end, though, Elijah¡¯s decision came down to two factors. First, he had no intention of slinking around like a thief for the rest of his life. His draconid form was powerful, and he would use it accordingly. However, letting himself fall into the habit of always being unseen was not healthy, and it held little appeal for him. He wanted to talk to actual people. He wanted to socialize. He wanted to drink and eat and do all the things he¡¯d missed during his solitary confinement on his island. Second, Elijah didn¡¯t think he could accomplish his goals while flying entirely under the radar. The Branch¡¯s attendant ¨C or Envoy of the Cult of the World Tree, he¡¯d learned back in Ironshore ¨C would doubtless know of his presence the moment he came into range of the Branch. But more, he wanted to identify his items ¨C and maybe even sell some of them ¨C resupply, get some information, and, perhaps most importantly of all, sleep in a real bed. He couldn¡¯t do any of those things while in his draconid form. So, without any further hesitation, Elijah retreated out of sight of the guards manning the gate, then let his draconid form slide away. After that, he took a deep breath, tried to smooth down his unkempt hair, then set off on a path that would take him to the city¡¯s entrance. Soon enough, the guards caught sight of him, but they didn¡¯t react with the hostility he might have expected. Instead, they simply watched his approach with grim resignation. 2-51. Atticuss Arsenal ¡°What are you doing out so late?!¡± the grizzled guard barked. He had an olive complexion and a great, bushy, and black beard. It was almost as if he¡¯d grown such magnificent facial hair in order to make up for the lack of hair on his head. Otherwise, he was short and stocky, wearing a leather breastplate and carrying a shield and spear. ¡°Do you have a death wish, boy? At your level, you¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t meet the beast!¡± ¡°The beast?¡± Elijah asked, adjusting the giant ogre staff he had propped over one shoulder. His other staff, he used as a walking stick. ¡°What kind of beast?¡± Indeed, he hadn¡¯t sensed any other creatures in the area, so the notion that there was some sort of beast around was something of a surprise. However, on second thought, it was entirely possible that some great predator had killed or scared off any other animals. ¡°The maneater,¡± the other guard said in a quiet voice. She was taller than her partner, with similarly dark hair and a nearly identical complexion. However, she was wearing a helmet, so Elijah couldn¡¯t get a good look at her face. ¡°Now, in with you. You don¡¯t want to be out after dark. That¡¯s when it¡¯s most active.¡± Elijah asked, ¡°Do I need to pay or¡­¡± ¡°What? No. Of course not,¡± said the bearded guard. ¡°In with you, now. We¡¯re about to lock up.¡± Elijah knew better than to argue, so he thanked the pair, then stepped through the gate. As soon as he did, a horn sounded, loud enough to echo for miles, and behind him, the gate creaked closed. He did notice that there was a smaller door set into the gate, but it was barred shut as well. Soon, the entire city would be locked down, likely as a defense against the maneater the guards had mentioned. Pushing those thoughts to their own facet of his mind, Elijah looked around as he strode into Argos. The architecture was what he would have expected from a Mediterranean city, with red tiled roofs and stucco walls. Yet, there were only a few remaining bits of evidence that it had once been a modern town. The streets were populated by pedestrians and hand carts, without a car in sight. However, there were still electrical lights, and Elijah even heard a few stereos playing music. The people themselves wore an odd collection of old and new. There were plenty of old sports jerseys, blue jeans, and tee-shirts, but there were also oddly cut trousers, shirts, skirts, and dresses as well. Elijah even saw a few robes that looked like they would¡¯ve been at home in a movie about fantastical wizards. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t the only one carrying a staff. In fact, the vast majority of the pedestrians were armed with at least a dagger. Quite a few had swords, axes, and spears. There were also plenty of guards present, and though they eyed everyone with stoic purpose, Elijah saw no evidence of overt corruption. It was a nice reminder that, sometimes, people could be good and effective at keeping order. He hoped that would turn out to be the rule, rather than the exception he¡¯d seen in Norcastle. Yet, for all that, Elijah saw anxiety etched on every face. Every furtive glance told him that the population was uneasy. Elijah strolled through the city, the butt of his Staff of Natural Harmony thudding against the flagged streets along the way. The architecture of the city was impressive in its diversity. From what he had seen from afar, he had expected a picturesque Mediterranean town, and there was certainly some of that present. However, there were plenty of modern, soulless buildings that would have been at home in any midwestern strip mall as well. The curse of modernity, he reasoned. In any case, Elijah spent the next few hours just wandering around. It was nice, just being around people for once. He¡¯d gotten a taste of it back in Norcastle, but he¡¯d jumped from one crisis to another without stepping back and letting himself enjoy the benefits of civilization. There was just something comforting about being surrounded by other human beings. Most people took that for granted. Even those who preferred to stay away from crowds took solace in the knowledge that they weren¡¯t really alone. As isolated as they were, they knew that, if they so chose, they could have a conversation with their neighbors. They could meet up with friends. They could go see family. Many chose to eschew those benefits of living in a connected society, but the fact that the option was there was more important than exercising it. The highlight was a large statue that, according to an engraving on the plinth, was meant to depict Heracles. Further, it was supposed to be an exact copy of the famous Farnese Heracles statue. That it had survived the transformation of the world filled Elijah with a sense of gratitude. Even though it was a copy, its endurance felt like an assurance that Earth¡¯s culture and mythology wouldn¡¯t be completely lost. Of course, billions of people had likely perished in the transition ¨C and thousands more probably died each day ¨C so there would be an undeniable effect going forward. Hopefully, humans would maintain some connection with the world they¡¯d lost. Eventually, Elijah¡¯s wandering took him to what looked like an armory. The sign out front declared it to be Atticus¡¯ Arsenal, which was perfect for ticking off one item on his to-do list. He still needed help identifying the items he¡¯d looted, and he expected that a weapons shop would be perfectly suited to such an endeavor. So, it was with some anticipation that he stepped through the front door of the shop. Inside, he found a dozen racks filled with weapons of every sort. Some were clearly low-quality, which meant that they were bad examples of even unranked items, but others were just as obviously higher grade. And there was one sword on display that drew Elijah¡¯s eye like no other. It was situated in a glass cabinet, but even with that barrier blocking his senses, Elijah could feel the Ethera dancing around it. ¡°You¡¯ve got a good eye, friend,¡± came a male voice. Elijah glanced over to see a man leaning against a doorframe. He was tall and well-muscled, with the build of an athlete. On his head was a mop of curly, black hair, and he had the same olive complexion that seemed so common amongst the town¡¯s residents. One thing that set him apart was a large, hawkish nose that gave his face an aggressive cast that it would¡¯ve otherwise lacked. Other than that, Elijah noted that he was clean-shaven, with a strong jaw, and a slightly pointed chin. The man wiped his hands with a rag he then stuffed into his pocket, and continued, ¡°That¡¯s my baby. Came from an actual tower. It¡¯s the blade of a true hero like Heracles himself.¡± ¡°You conquered a tower?¡± Elijah asked, surprised and awed. He¡¯d beaten two himself, but he¡¯d half expected that he was unique. It only took a moment¡¯s thought to realize how silly it was. The world didn¡¯t revolve around him, and while he was strong, there were probably plenty of people out there who could accomplish similar feats. In fact, the last time he¡¯d looked at the ladder, he¡¯d seen that there were at least eight other people who were higher-leveled than him, so the idea that his experiences were unique was ridiculous. The man laughed jovially, then said, ¡°Me? No. I¡¯m just a humble merchant. The man who looted it died a few weeks after conquering the tower.¡± He sobered, then shook his head. ¡°Great man. A great loss.¡± ¡°How did he die?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not from around here, are you?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°What gave it away?¡± he asked. ¡°What didn¡¯t? Don¡¯t have many blondes in Argos. A few, but it¡¯s a small town, so I know most of them. Plus, I¡¯d have noticed a man walking around in the middle of winter without shoes.¡± ¡°Oh. That.¡± ¡°So, where¡¯d you come from?¡± ¡°Most recently, Norcastle,¡± Elijah said. He saw no reason to lie. Or maybe he just didn¡¯t like the idea of it. Either way, he wouldn¡¯t shy away from hiding his identity when necessary, but the notion of lying about every facet of his existence was so unappealing that he¡¯d rather deal with the consequences of having his every secret known than try to keep up with a web of lies that would inevitably unravel at all the wrong times. ¡°But before that, I was living just outside a town called Ironshore.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°Norcastle. Heard that name once or twice. Never been, but¡­well, travel isn¡¯t as easy as it used to be, is it?¡± the man remarked. ¡°Wish it was different, though. Staying cooped up in a little town like this is not the life I¡¯d have envisioned. But enough about that. What can I do for you? No offense, but you don¡¯t look much like a sword-swinger, if you know what I mean. The Healer tag doesn¡¯t help, I¡¯ll grant, but I suppose it takes all kinds. For all I know, you¡¯re going for a Paladin class or something.¡± ¡°Oh. Right.¡± Elijah had completely forgotten about his Ring of Anonymity. However, at least he hadn¡¯t made the same mistake he¡¯d made when he¡¯d first entered Norcastle. Back then, he¡¯d forgotten to change his surname, which had led Essex to guess his identity. Now, he was comfortably ensconced in the false identity of Elijah Smith, the level nineteen Healer. ¡°Yeah. Blades really aren¡¯t my thing. I just thought it felt powerful.¡± ¡°Getting a similar vibe from those two staves you¡¯re carrying. The big one¡¯s a bit weaker than the twisty one, but both are strong. High Crude, at least. Maybe even low Simple,¡± the man said. ¡°I¡¯d have to examine them properly to tell for sure, though.¡± He stepped forward, offering his hand. ¡°Sorry. Name¡¯s Atticus, just like on the sign out front. Atticus Ariti.¡± Elijah took the man¡¯s hand and gave it a firm squeeze. ¡°Elijah Smith.¡± ¡°Sure you are.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know how you¡¯re doing it, but I¡¯ll eat my socks if you¡¯re only level nineteen. And if that¡¯s false, I¡¯m willing to bet that the rest is, too. But it¡¯s fine, Elijah. I¡¯ll respect your privacy. Any merchant worth his salt would do the same,¡± Atticus said. Elijah¡¯s first instinct was to dispute the man¡¯s claim. However, he¡¯d just finished acknowledging how much he hated dishonesty, so he said, ¡°How did you know? About my level, I mean?¡± ¡°Two things. Most people don¡¯t go waltzing through the wilderness without a few friends to watch their backs. Most don¡¯t go far from the city at all. So, that was the first clue. Second was that you¡¯re glowing with powerful items. Even your pants are Crude grade, and that¡¯s not considering the hot spots. Like those staves. The two rings on your fingers. That pack. The bracer there. Can¡¯t hide that kind of thing from somebody like me.¡± ¡°Like you?¡± ¡°Oh. That¡¯s my class.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± The man gave him a crooked grin. ¡°We just met, friend. Not going to show you all my secrets, am I? So, let¡¯s get to why you wandered into my shop. You don¡¯t need weapons, so¡­¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I need some items identified. I¡¯m also looking to sell a few pieces. You in a position to help me with that?¡± ¡°Friend, you came to the right place. Let me show you to my office,¡± Atticus said. If Elijah wasn¡¯t completely certain that he could take the man out if necessary, he would¡¯ve been a bit more cautious. So, he followed the arms merchant through the doorway at the back of the building and into a large storage area. There were crates lining every wall, and in the center was a long, wooden table, upon which were a few curios and a giant ledger. Atticus planted himself on the other side of the table, then slammed the enormous book shut. Despite the surprising sound, Elijah didn¡¯t even flinch. ¡°Nerves of steel on you, huh?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got,¡± Atticus said with a sweeping motion that indicated Elijah should place whatever wares he possessed onto the table. So, he started with the giant ogre staff. It wouldn¡¯t completely fit, so a foot or so of its length hung off the ends of the table in both directions. Atticus leaned forward and squinted before announcing, ¡°Staff of Twin Forms. Low Simple Grade. Enhances fire and ice spells by eighteen percent. Nice find. No bond necessary.¡± ¡°Bond?¡± ¡°Yes. You get the benefit without the necessity of bonding it. That makes it more valuable because the owner can just resell it once he outgrows it. Or she, I suppose. Equal opportunity and all that,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°Uh¡­how do you bond items?¡± For a moment, Atticus stared at him like he¡¯d asked the dumbest question imaginable. Then, he laughed. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve just been walking around with unbound items!¡± he exclaimed, having figured Elijah out. ¡°No ¨C that other staff is definitely bound. So are the rings. I can see that much. But the other items you¡¯re wearing¡­oh, this isn¡¯t great, friend. Not great at all. Didn¡¯t you wonder why you weren¡¯t getting the full effects?¡± ¡°Just tell me how to bond them. Please.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be happy to,¡± the arms dealer said. ¡°I¡¯m always ready to help my customers. You are a customer, aren¡¯t you? I¡¯d hate to give you all this vital information and have you leave without doing any business.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°I¡¯m definitely selling the staff. No question about that,¡± he stated. ¡°All I ask is that you give me a fair deal.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Atticus responded, leaning closer to the staff once again. ¡°I can give you two silver. It would be more, but the thing is too big for most people. I¡¯m sure if you bonded it, it would size to fit, but then you¡¯d lose the main selling point. In fact, I¡¯m not sure I even want it. Probably only useful to some of the crafters, and even then, only as scrap. Or as an example. Yes, I¡¯m certain. It¡¯s going to be taken apart for sure. Still, I offered already, so¡­yes. I can do two silver. Friend prices, of course.¡± Elijah knew he was being taken advantage of, but he wasn¡¯t really attached to the staff in the first place. It was a nice curio, but ultimately, it wasn¡¯t something he could use. So, he said, ¡°Fine. Two silver ethereum. You have a folio?¡± ¡°Not sure what that is, friend, but we can settle up at the town Branch once we¡¯re done here,¡± Atticus said, already putting the staff away. ¡°Now, as promised, because we¡¯re such good friends and you¡¯re now a loyal customer, I¡¯ll let you in on the closely-guarded secret of bonding an item. Just drip a bit of blood on item in question, then run some Ethera through it.¡± ¡°Really? That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°That¡¯s it, friend. Now, I¡¯m going to assume that none of the items you¡¯re actively wearing are for sale. That belt looks very interesting, though. Very interesting indeed.¡± ¡°No. But I do have these,¡± Elijah said, unshouldering his pack. He reached inside ¨C noting that the merchant was very interested in the pack itself ¨C then retrieved the weapons he¡¯d looted from the elves. He set them on the table, then ended with the sword he¡¯d taken from the Warden. ¡°All for sale.¡± Atticus¡¯ eyes widened at the treasure trove of weaponry. Each one of them was higher quality than most of his wares, so he stood to increase the value of his stock by quite a bit. ¡°Where did you get these?¡± the merchant asked, leaning close to one of the daggers. ¡°Here and there. You have your secrets, and I have mine. Anything notable about them?¡± ¡°They¡¯re all high Crude,¡± he said. ¡°On the edge of being Simple-grade. Just called crude steel daggers and swords. But they¡¯re all extremely durable. Better than most of what we have here in town. I¡¯ll give you one silver ethereum each.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Plus two copper for each.¡± ¡°Alright. But that doesn¡¯t include the sword here,¡± Elijah said, pointing to the weapon he¡¯d taken from the Warden. ¡°It¡¯s better than the rest.¡± ¡°Yes. Right. It¡¯s Simple Grade. Called the Punisher,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°When bonded, it provides an extra two points to Dexterity. It also has a secondary effect called Pain Spike. I¡¯m not certain what it does, but it sounds pretty self-explanatory to me. I can give you ten silver, but that¡¯s my hard cap on a single item. It¡¯s not quite as good as Challenger¡¯s Call out there, but that¡¯s probably a good thing.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll add that to the tally. That¡¯s all I¡¯m selling, though,¡± he said. ¡°But I do need you to identify a couple of things.¡± Atticus agreed, though he said he would charge a nominal fee for each service. It only turned out to be a few coppers, so Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about that. The first item he had the merchant identify was the Claws of Gluttony, which garnered quite a reaction. ¡°Simple-Grade again. Medium, though. This is the best weapon I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± Atticus said, his voice filled with awe. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it has a passive ability attached to it. Only activates when bonded. Oh¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry, friend, but unless you¡¯re a bare-knuckle brawler, you¡¯re out of luck. And I can¡¯t afford to buy something like this unless you¡¯re willing to sell it for a fraction of its worth,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°What¡¯s the effect?¡± ¡°It increases all unarmed damage by nine percent,¡± he said. ¡°But it also has an effect called Anticoagulant. I¡¯m thinking it causes extra bleeding as a damage-over-time or weakening effect.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Seems powerful,¡± he said. ¡°For the right person, most certainly,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Not many people fighting with their hands, though. Almost everyone picks up a blade or at least a club. Our guards favor the spear on account of our heritage. But the hero doesn¡¯t need a weapon, I¡¯m told.¡± ¡°Hero?¡± ¡°Goes by Atlas. Mightiest warrior in the village. He¡¯s hunting the maneater right now. Sad, because he¡¯s surely going to die.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± ¡°Because everyone else has,¡± Atticus said. ¡°But enough of that. Do you have anything else you need identified before we head to the Branch and settle up?¡± Elijah did. First came the Silver Bracer of Rage, which turned out to have an additional effect that was unsurprisingly called Rage. Elijah didn¡¯t know what it did, but Atticus had some insight into that sort of thing. ¡°It¡¯s probably a berserking ability,¡± he said. ¡°Increased attributes or damage at the cost of control. There are a few abilities like that.¡± The final item Elijah had Atticus identify was the Sash of the Whirlwind. It had no extra effects, but Elijah did learn that the time dilation was called Haste. However, it was limited to only two percent when unbonded. Once Elijah bonded the item, it would increase to five percent. The attribute bonuses would remain the same. ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said, retying the sash around his waist. ¡°I believe you might be the best equipped person I¡¯ve ever seen, and you¡¯re not even wearing any proper armor,¡± Atticus said with a shake of his head. ¡°I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a story behind all of that.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I got stranded in the middle of nowhere when the world changed, so I had to fend for myself. I guess there are benefits to that,¡± he said. ¡°If you manage to survive.¡± Atticus laughed, then clapped Elijah on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong, friend. The survival is the tricky part, I¡¯m sure. Now, come on. Let¡¯s get you paid.¡± 2-52. Good Company Atticus slapped Elijah on the back and proclaimed, ¡°You aren¡¯t so bad of a guy, friend. And best of all, you¡¯re rich! So you can buy dinner!¡± ¡°Uh¡­alright?¡± Elijah said, depositing a few crystalline leaves into his sack. They were guides that he¡¯d bought that would hopefully shed some light on a few topics that were still a mystery to him. Those same guides had been available back in Ironshore, but they had been much more expensive. Vaguely, he remembered Ramik mentioning that Ironshore¡¯s Branch had been imported, so perhaps that had something to do with the increased cost. Whatever the case, with the prices of those guides, he felt like he was stealing. Unfortunately, there was almost nothing available on the Market, and there was only one town listed on the map, and it was at the very edge of the range. Still, it would give Elijah a good starting point for his continued search for his sister. He had also added quite a few coins to his tally, especially after Atticus had paid him. He checked his folio:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
114 422 17 0
Even after buying the guides, Elijah was a lot richer than when he¡¯d left Ironshore. He supposed that conquering a tower alone was a good way to earn money, though he was still unsure of how he was intended to spend his wealth. He had everything he needed ¨C so far ¨C and he had a feeling that acquiring new equipment and supplies would only grow easier as he progressed in levels. ¡°What do you suggest?¡± he asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about Greek food.¡± ¡°Oh, you¡¯re in for a treat, friend!¡± said the jovial Atticus. Despite shelling out quite a few coins, he was in a great mood. That probably meant that he¡¯d gotten the better of Elijah in their dealings, but that wasn¡¯t so concerning. He had plenty of money, after all, and he was more concerned with getting the items off his hands ¨C especially the giant ogre staff ¨C than he was about getting the absolute most money he could out of selling them. Still, he intended to make an attempt at contextualizing prices going forward; that way, he could avoid getting ripped off by less reputable merchants. ¡°I know the best restaurant in Argo. The finest moussaka you¡¯ll ever taste. You¡¯ll see, friend. You will see.¡± Elijah just nodded, saying, ¡°Sounds good. I¡¯ve never had moussaka.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re in for a treat!¡± After that, Atticus dragged him from the building containing the Branch. It was located in a central location, but the structure itself was little different from the rest of the city. By the time they stepped out into the street, night had begun to fall, and as they strode along, Elijah noticed the prevalence of elderly women sitting on the buildings¡¯ balconies. As they passed, they would lean in to one another, clearly gossiping about him. A few even pointed, making him feel incredibly self-conscious. Atticus assured him that it was nothing to worry about. Instead, it was just a characteristic common among older Greek women. Even if he¡¯d been absolutely normal ¨C which he decidedly was not, considering his blonde hair and odd attire ¨C he would have become a source of gossip. Eventually, Atticus led him to a restaurant. In front of the building, there were a half dozen tables, at which various diners dug into their meals. Elijah didn¡¯t recognize many of the dishes served, but he was no expert on Greek cuisine, so that was unsurprising. Atticus obviously knew the owner, because he greeted the portly, heavily bearded man with a jovial hug. He introduced Elijah as a good friend. The owner ¨C who was named Nikolas ¨C escorted them to a private table in the back. There, Atticus and Elijah took seats on opposite sides. ¡°It¡¯s nice, yeah?¡± Atticus asked. ¡°Better than anyplace I¡¯ve eaten lately,¡± Elijah answered honestly. The last time he¡¯d eaten a meal at a proper restaurant had been back in Norcastle, and even that had been the inn where he¡¯d stayed. Before that, he¡¯d had pizza with Jess the night before he¡¯d left for the tower. ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. So, what¡¯s your story?¡± asked Atticus, leaning in eagerly. ¡°Who says I have a story?¡± ¡°Everyone has a story, friend. You¡¯re more powerful than you have any right to be, you have special treasures I¡¯ve never seen before, and you¡¯re walking around out in the wilderness alone. If anyone has a story, it¡¯s you,¡± he stated. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Elijah sighed. ¡°The long and short of it is that I was stranded alone when the World Tree incorporated Earth. So, I ended up having to spend the next two years ¨C I think; time got a bit funny ¨C trying to survive. A couple of towers later, and I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°A couple of towers? Where¡¯s your team?¡± ¡°No team,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just me.¡± ¡°Seems like there¡¯s a story there, too.¡± ¡°Not an interesting one,¡± Elijah lied. ¡°So, what about you? How¡¯d you end up here?¡± ¡°Born and raised in Argos. I moved to Athens a few years back, but I was back home visiting my mother when everything changed,¡± he said. Then, his face fell. ¡°She didn¡¯t make it. Giant rat creature. They were bad there for a while, but then they just¡­stopped. Most people think they went elsewhere, but I don¡¯t know. I think something killed them. Same with the cats.¡± ¡°The cats?¡± ¡°Argos used to be lousy with them. It was an issue in the first six months or so, but then, they started disappearing until there weren¡¯t any left. Dogs went next. Now, anything smaller than a mule disappears after a few days. Nobody knows what¡¯s happening.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Eh. Just life in the apocalypse, right? I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve seen stranger things,¡± Atticus said. Just then, Nikolas arrived bearing two plates of what looked like lasagna. However, the smells were all wrong, It was obviously the moussaka Atticus had mentioned, so once the owner left them alone, he wasted no time in digging in. And it was glorious. ¡°What is this, and why have I never had it? It¡¯s amazing!¡± ¡°It¡¯s moussaka, friend. Eggplant lasagna with lamb. The national dish of Greece.¡± ¡°Is it really?¡± asked Elijah around a mouthful of the delicious dish. Atticus laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it should be. Now eat, friend. Eat and be merry!¡± After that invitation, Elijah had no compunctions about doing precisely that. Before he knew it, his plate was clean. However, it didn¡¯t take long before Nikolas returned with another serving. In all, Elijah ate three helpings as well as a dessert of baklava. Through it all, Atticus proved an amiable companion, though he did continuously ask for details about Elijah¡¯s exploits. For his part, Elijah revealed a few more bits about what he¡¯d been through, including his misadventures in Norcastle. ¡°That¡¯s your problem, friend,¡± announced Atticus with a laugh. He gestured with a fork as he continued, ¡°You should have bowed to them. People like that, they expect subservience. When they don¡¯t get it, they react with violence.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t really argue with that,¡± Elijah acknowledged. ¡°So, where are you going after this? Do you seek another tower? Or are you here to hunt the maneater?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No more towers.¡± ¡°The maneater, then.¡± ¡°Everyone keeps mentioning that. What is it?¡± Atticus leaned in, and in a stage whisper, said, ¡°There are two schools of thought on that, friend. Some people believe it¡¯s just some evolved beast. No different from any other. We had issues with wolves a few months back, for instance. But me? I think different.¡± Elijah raised an eyebrow. ¡°Oh? What do you think it is?¡± ¡°Have you ever heard of the Nemean lion?¡± ¡°One of the twelve labors of Hercules, right?¡± guessed Elijah, intrigued. ¡°Indeed, friend. Impenetrable hide. Claws sharper than any mortal sword. Sprung from the moon goddess, Selene.¡± ¡°And you think this creature is here?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°We have history with the Nemean lion around here. Just north of here was the town of Cleonae, where the hero received his quest,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°This system made monsters real. The hero Atlas slew a minotaur not three months past. Who says the system is not a tool of Olympus, eh? The gods are angry for moving on without them, and they sent their monsters to punish us.¡± ¡°You believe that?¡± asked Elijah, his dubiousness apparent. Atticus shrugged, then grinned. ¡°I¡¯ve no idea, friend, but it¡¯s as good an explanation as any, eh? Besides, something is killing people out there. That¡¯s indisputable. So, the question remains ¨C are you here to hunt our monster? I fear Atlas is already gone, and with him out of the picture¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t know how to respond. On the one hand, he had no issues hunting a monster. In fact, that seemed right up his alley. However, from his perspective, it was far more likely that the monster in question was just a guardian beast who was protecting its territory. In that case, there was no way Elijah would hunt it, even if it was killing people. But there was another possibility for handling the situation, wasn¡¯t there? What if he befriended the creature, then used Ancestral Circle to take it back to the grove? It would be difficult, but he¡¯d done it before with Sara the dragon. Besides, the creature would probably be much happier in his grove, right? It was certainly something to think about, and before Elijah even knew it, he had already decided to check it out. He was self-aware enough to know that part of that was due to what had happened to the bear. If he¡¯d done the same for that guardian beast, it would still be alive. ¡°I can look into it,¡± he said. ¡°But I can¡¯t really guarantee anything. Chances are I won¡¯t even find anything out there.¡± ¡°You will. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°What makes you so certain?¡± ¡°A good feeling. Now, let¡¯s drink!¡± he said, raising his mug of beer. Elijah tried to beg off, but in the end, the boisterous merchant insisted. Fortunately, Elijah¡¯s Constitution and Regeneration were high enough that beer really couldn¡¯t inebriate him unless he went seriously overboard. Just to be sure, though, he continuously healed himself via Touch of Nature. He wanted to trust Atticus, but getting drunk with a stranger seemed far too reckless, even for Elijah. So, he drank with the merchant, and as he did, he felt much of the tension he¡¯d carried melt away. It wasn¡¯t the alcohol, per se. Rather, it was just being around people who weren¡¯t looking to exploit or kill him. In fact, there were moments when he felt like he was back home with his friends and coworkers, just hanging out and having a good time. But before long, the night came to an end, and he helped a very unsteady Atticus back to his shop. Apparently, he lived on the floor above, so Elijah had no qualms about leaving the merchant to find his own way to bed. Meanwhile, he quickly found an inn where he rented a room from an annoyed innkeeper. ¡°Sorry about how late it is,¡± he said, sliding an extra couple of copper coins to the frowning woman. ¡°I got caught up with a friend.¡± She snorted. ¡°Lose your shoes, too?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I don¡¯t have any shoes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s quite an oversight.¡± Elijah looked down at his bare feet. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re probably right.¡± Then, he took the key from the crochety old woman and headed up the nearby stairs to the room he¡¯d rented. To his surprise, there were no villains there to ambush him. No sudden issues. Nothing but a bed, a nightstand, and a pitcher of water. Over the next few minutes, he undressed, then used the pitcher of water to wash himself as best he could. He knew it was inadequate, but the small inn was the only place that was open so late. So, he figured that beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers, and he made do with what he had. Once he was done, he collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep before more than a minute had passed. 2-53. Ladenia Elijah missed his own bed. And the tree house. The grove, too. Even Nerthus. When he¡¯d first washed ashore on that island, he¡¯d have never expected to think of it as home, and yet, from the moment he¡¯d departed, he had begun to miss all the things that had grown so familiar. Certainly, he didn¡¯t miss the monster attacks or the starvation that had plagued his first few weeks, but his grove had come a long way since then. It was easily as comfortable as his apartment back in Hawaii. As he lay in the hotel¡¯s thin-mattressed bed, he cast the whole of his Mind back to his Domain. Thanks to his Locus, he always knew what was going on back on the island, but he usually kept that information sequestered in its own facet of his Mind. But every now and again, he liked to turn his full attention to the goings on back home. When he did, he was gratified to sense that it was much the same as always. His Domain had continued to grow, and it had even encompassed the tower. However, the rate of growth had begun to slow, and he suspected that it would peter out within a hundred yards of the island¡¯s shores. Even that was an incredible amount of territory, though, and what¡¯s more, he could sense the tower¡¯s excess Ethera draining into the grove itself. That was just as Nerthus had predicted, and he expected that it would keep the tower from overflowing in a surge of Voxx. ¡°That¡¯s a relief and a half,¡± he said to himself as he stared up at the ceiling, his hands behind his head. For a long time, he just enjoyed the safety and security of civilization while keeping his Mind focused on his Locus. It was oddly comforting, knowing everything that was happening back home. If Elijah was honest, he¡¯d half expected to have already been called home for one reason or another. But the people of Ironshore had remained on their side of the strait, seemingly content to live separately. A good thing, too, because as much as he craved the comforts of home, he still had a goal ahead of him. Finding his sister remained at the top of his list. Fortunately, Carmen¡¯s name was still on the power rankings, and he took some solace in the implication that his sister, as well as Miguel, was still out there and safe. After all, there was no way that Carmen would let anything happen to Alyssa. Not so long as she was alive, which she clearly was because she¡¯d actually gained a couple of levels in the past few weeks. That was enough to put at least some of his anxiety to rest. With that thought, Elijah pushed himself out of bed and looked around the room. The night before, he¡¯d barely noticed his surroundings, but he was pleasantly surprised to find that the room was extremely clean, if a little sparse. As he¡¯d noted before going to sleep, there was no bathroom attached to the room, so he quickly went down the hall to take advantage of the communal toilet. Fortunately, he was an early riser, and so, he didn¡¯t have to wait his turn. Once he was finished, he went back to his room and took another birdbath with the provided pitcher of water, then headed downstairs. As was the case with the last hotel where he¡¯d stayed, the bottom floor functioned as a restaurant, but to his disdain, the surly innkeeper wasn¡¯t cooking to order. Instead, a few minutes after he sat down, she stopped in to serve him some flatbread that had been topped with tomatoes and drizzled in olive oil. ¡°What is this?¡± he asked, trying his best not to sound disappointed. He wanted bacon and eggs, or at least something a little heartier than a bit of bread. ¡°Ladenia,¡± the woman answered. ¡°Good. Eat.¡± Without further explanation, she left him to his meal. ¡°At least there¡¯s coffee,¡± he said, reaching out to grab the cup she¡¯d left behind. When he took a sip of the hot beverage, he was taken back to the world before everything had changed. It had been so long since he¡¯d enjoyed a real cup of coffee that he¡¯d almost forgotten how much he loved the bitter brew. Even without sugar, it was amazing, and he almost forgot about the ladenia. But then his stomach started rumbling, and he gave it a shot. ¡°Oh, my god,¡± he muttered around his first bite. First of all, there was a lot more going on than simple bread and tomatoes. There were onions and herbs on the fluffy flatbread, too. And of course, the olive oil set it all off. It was divine, and Elijah quickly forgot about his previous objections as he tore through the entire meal in what felt like seconds. As he swallowed the last bite, he signaled the innkeeper and asked for seconds. Strangely, his obvious enjoyment of the food cut through her surly demeanor, and she actually favored him with a smile. ¡°I have something else for you. Wait.¡± Before she left, she refilled his coffee cup and patted him on the head like he was a child. But given her advanced age, she was probably old enough to have been his grandmother, so he didn¡¯t take offense. Especially if she kept bringing him delicious food and coffee ¨C if she did that, he would take whatever she wanted to dish out. Soon after, she returned and set a plate in front of him. He looked at the round, pancake-like dish in front of him and asked, ¡°What is this?¡± It certainly didn¡¯t smell like a pancake, and it had nuts sprinkled on top. There was also honey drizzled across the whole thing. ¡°It¡¯s called sfakianopita,¡± she said, beaming. She waved her hand, adding, ¡°Eat. It¡¯s good.¡± By that point, Elijah trusted the older woman¡¯s judgement, so he dug in. And predictably, it was amazing. It was soft and crispy and flaky, all at once. And the cheese and honey and nuts all played perfectly together. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°I think you¡¯re my new favorite person in the world,¡± he said, grinning at the woman as he continued to chew. Meanwhile, he was trying to think of a way to coax the woman back to his island. He was top ten on the power ladder, wasn¡¯t he? That meant he was famous and powerful. Surely, he deserved a personal cook. For her part, the woman just smiled knowingly. There was no trace of the curmudgeonly innkeeper he¡¯d met the night before. Instead, she¡¯d been replaced by a kindly, old grandmother. Elijah knew which one he preferred. Regrettably, by the time he finished the small pancake-like pie, he was absolutely stuffed. Still, before he left on the day¡¯s mission ¨C he still hadn¡¯t forgotten about the supposed maneater stalking the countryside ¨C the innkeeper thrust a basket into his hands, telling him, ¡°Egg muffins. For later.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t going to turn her down, so he took the basket with gratitude and handed her a couple more cooper ethereum. Of course, she tried to refuse, but he insisted, closing her fist around the coins and saying, ¡°That was the best breakfast I¡¯ve had in years. Thank you.¡± And he meant it, too. Of course, he could count on one hand the number of times he¡¯d eaten anything but leftover fish stew, crab, or a few berries, so that probably wasn¡¯t the compliment it seemed. Still, he was as satisfied with the meal as he¡¯d ever been. After that, Elijah grabbed his staff from where he¡¯d leaned it against the table and set off. As he started through the city, he once again noticed the prevalence of older women sitting on balconies and presumably gossiping about everything they saw. He gave one group a wave and a smile, which set them off into excited whispers. His contented grin widened at that, and he kept on going until he reached the gate. When he passed the guards, they reminded him to be back inside before nightfall. Otherwise, he would risk the ire of the maneater. Elijah assured them that he would do just that, then strode off toward the tree line in the distance. As he did, he saw an olive grove on the other side of town. That explained where all the olive oil had come from, at least. Once Elijah reached the concealment of the trees, he took a few minutes to find a secluded glen where he settled down on a fallen log. There, he started emptying his pack. After all, he now knew that, because he hadn¡¯t bonded his items, he wasn¡¯t getting their full use. So, he quickly got down to the business of doing just that, pricking his fingers and thrusting his ethera into his magical equipment. It was a bit embarrassing that he hadn¡¯t figured it out on his own, but it only took a moment for him to realize that it was nothing to be ashamed of. After all, it would¡¯ve taken quite an intuitive leap ¨C or some odd coincidence ¨C for him to figure the process out. ¡°I mean, who goes and smears blood on their fancy new sash, right?¡± he asked the forest. ¡°Nobody. That¡¯s who.¡± In any case, he quickly did just that, then shoved some ethera into the sash. A moment later, when he tied it around his waist, he felt the difference. It wasn¡¯t a huge difference, but the Haste effect was still more potent than it had been before. Next, he bonded the Claws of Gluttony before slipping the awkward thing onto his hands. While he wasn¡¯t going to run around punching things in his human form, he fought unarmed in his other shapes. So, he expected that the effect would work just fine. And Elijah certainly wouldn¡¯t refuse a straight nine percent increase to his damage, let alone the Anticoagulant effect. Finally, he bound his bracer. When he did, he became immediately aware of the Rage effect. With a thought, he could activate it. However, he intuitively knew that once he did, the ability would go on cooldown for six hours. So, he needed to be careful about using it. With all that done, he embraced Shape of the Predator, and once he¡¯d assumed his draconid form, he looked down at his claws. The right set ¨C the ones that corresponded with the Claws of Gluttony ¨C had taken on a distinctly metallic sheen. That seemed to confirm that, if he wanted to take advantage of the weapon, he¡¯d need to attack with that claw ¨C not ideal, but still better than nothing. He suspected it would be more effective in his lamellar ape form, largely because he was more dependent on his claws ¨C or hands, really ¨C in that shape. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to refuse any extra source of damage. Now that his items had been bound, and he was fighting at peak strength, Elijah decided to finally get started on the task at hand. So, he took on the Guise of the Unseen and set off through the woods. During his conversation with Atticus, he¡¯d discovered that the last recorded maneater attacks had been in the olive groves, so that was the direction Elijah headed. As he did, he kept an entire facet of his Quartz Mind dedicated to parsing the data he received from One with Nature. The effective radius still wasn¡¯t more than a dozen feet or so, but he¡¯d found the extrasensory perception to be invaluable nonetheless. Yet, even with that on his side, he found nothing until he reached the groves. There, he encountered plenty of twitchy and anxious workers. However, there was no sign of the maneater. So, Elijah kept going, slowly making his way through the olive groves until he reached the edge. That was where the hero Atlas had gone hunting the monster, so Elijah had always figured that was where he would end up. Soon enough, he¡¯d left the olive groves behind, though even miles from the city, he still hadn¡¯t found any evidence of the monster. In fact, other than birds and a few tree-dwelling creatures, there were no animals at all. The day wore on, and as his search continued, he encountered more of the same. Until, at last, he smelled blood. One whiff, and he knew that it had originated with a human as well. He expected that he¡¯d finally found Atlas¡¯ trail, and judging by the spatter of blood, it seemed that the hero was injured. So, Elijah followed the smell, pausing every now and again to make certain that he wasn¡¯t walking into a trap. However, he didn¡¯t sense anything amiss, so he continued to track the injured hero until, finally, he caught sight of him. And he was nothing like what Elijah had expected. When he¡¯d heard the name Atlas, he¡¯d envisioned a huge, strapping man with bulging muscles capable of bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. However, the person huddled against a boulder and sitting in a pool of his own blood looked little bigger than a child. Even to Elijah, who was below-average size, the boy looked slim to the point of malnutrition. He wore round spectacles and had a mop of curly, black hair that made him look like a member of a boy band. He was clutching a long, thin stick, and his eyes flicked around as if he was expecting to be attacked at any moment. That was probably smart, because his bloody clothing and multitude of wounds suggested that he¡¯d already gotten the worst of some enemy. And judging by how twitchy he was, whatever had mauled him was still out there. For a moment, Elijah considered waiting to see if the enemy ¨C probably the maneater ¨C would show itself, but the idea of using a dying teenager as bait just didn¡¯t sit right with him. So, he let Shape of the Predator fall away, and he said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a little young to be out here all by yourself?¡± ¡°No! You idiot! Run away! It¡¯s going to ¨C¡± Before Elijah could even cast Healing Rain or approach the young man, something slammed into his back, sending him pitching forward into the loamy forest turf. 2-54. The Nemean Lion Pain erupted in Elijah¡¯s back as his attacker brought incredibly sharp claws to bear. Due to his high Constitution, he wasn¡¯t ripped to shreds, but the claws still scraped against his ribs. As the creature ¨C whatever it was ¨C tore his flesh to ribbons, one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind focused on casting Form of the Guardian. The second he finished the spell, his body started to morph. First, he grew scales. Then, his arms extended, his hands becoming vicious claws. His legs didn¡¯t grow any shorter, but the effect was the same due to the lengthening of his torso and the sheer amount of muscle that came with the form of the lamellar ape. The moment the transformation was complete, Elijah used Iron Scales. It didn¡¯t do anything for the ruin that had already been wrought on his back, but it would hopefully prevent more damage in the immediate future. But only for a few seconds. Then, he would have to cast it again, which was not a viable strategy. Using the ability in quick succession would drain his stamina very rapidly, and if he employed that approach, he would quickly wear himself out. As a result, he was on the clock. With that timer occupying one facet of his mind, Elijah used the second of solace granted by his ability to shove himself to his feet. With his long arms, he tried to dislodge the creature on his back, but it was both too small and too awkwardly positioned. So, even with his extended reach, he couldn¡¯t get ahold of the thing. So, after spying the nearest tree, he launched himself backwards. Just before he crashed into the massive trunk, the little monster on his back leaped free. That was when Elijah got his first look at the thing. ¡°Is that a housecat?¡± he murmured, his transformed voice coming out as more of a growl. Indeed, the supposed monster was clearly a housecat, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain of the breed. With an extraordinarily fluffy coat of tawny fur, it would¡¯ve looked like a stuffed animal if it wasn¡¯t for the blood splattered across its chest. The animal was also more than twice the size of any housecat Elijah had ever seen, which meant that its stature was similar to a mountain lion. ¡°Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± screamed the boy, his voice cracking. Then, he added, ¡°No Artemis! Bad girl! Leave the man¡­er¡­monster alone!¡± The cat, which Elijah belatedly recognized as a Maine Coon, briefly shifted its focus to the boy. That gave Elijah an opening he wasn¡¯t going to squander. So, he launched himself forward, intending to end the fight with a single blow. With the increased Haste effect from Sash of the Whirlwind, Elijah moved with incredible alacrity, and he managed to take the distracted cat by surprise. His claws glinted metallically as they swept out, but when he made contact with the little monster¡¯s tawny fur, he got the surprise of a lifetime. The sound of metal scratching against metal filled the air, and though the momentum of the blow sent the cat sailing through the air, the attack did not bear the results Elijah had anticipated. The little creature twisted, hitting a tree feet-first, then launched itself back at Elijah. He barely had time to once again use Iron Scales before it hit him like a launched missile. Despite its comparatively small size ¨C after all, even a bobcat was tiny compared to his lamellar ape form ¨C the impact of its attack sent him staggering backwards. Then, it savaged his chest with its sharp claws, though most of the damage was mitigated by the still-ongoing Iron Scales. But it was set to end soon. To avoid having his chest shredded as thoroughly as his back, Elijah clambered for a grip on the little creature, and to his surprise, he managed to grab ahold of its great, bushy tail. However, when he did, he felt something that, once again, filled him with surprise. Instead of fluffy fur, the cat was covered in something more akin to the bristles of a steel brush. When his claws closed around the tail, he felt those bristles painfully digging into his palm. Yet, he wasn¡¯t going to let such a perfect opportunity go to waste. So, despite the annoying pain, his grip tightened. And when he had a good hold of the tail, he ripped the creature away from his chest and slammed it against the ground. Once. Twice. Three times, channeling his inner Hulk. The little monster yowled in agony, but Elijah wasn¡¯t rewarded with the sound of breaking bones. Instead of being crippled by being slammed into the ground multiple times, the cat had gone wild, clawing anything that came into range. That meant that, as soon as Iron Scales wore off, the creature tore into his wrist and forearm. Elijah¡¯s Constitution was high, so those claws didn¡¯t sever tendons, but even if it wasn¡¯t permanently damaging, it was more than enough to frustrate him. However, just before he took his anger out on the cat via another slamming attack, something hit Elijah in his already wounded back. The smell of sizzling meat assailed his nose before the blistering agony reached his mind. And when it did, he reacted reflexively, loosening his grip just enough that the cat was able to wriggle free. ¡°Leave her alone!¡± screamed the boy. Elijah stumbled to his knees as the flesh of his back smoldered. Then, another attack landed, and the molten pain shot through the roof. He collapsed onto his chest as another fireball sailed overhead, hitting a nearby tree and setting it alight. Elijah tried to rise, but with the muscles in his back having been destroyed, he couldn¡¯t move more than a few inches. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. His options were limited. Touch of Nature was powerful, but the healing it offered was far from instantaneous. Given that he could scarcely move, and he had two enemies bearing down on him, that just wouldn¡¯t work. So, without any other choices he could see, Elijah used Guardian¡¯s Renewal.
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per 6.7 Days.
The ability was instant, and his body immediately recovered. Muscles mended, flesh reformed, and his scales were quickly restored. Yet a lingering pain persisted, almost as if he had a pulled muscle. As far as Elijah knew, that shouldn¡¯t have been possible. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t enough to hinder him, but in one facet of his Mind, he was definitely concerned. More distressing was what he finally allowed himself to notice. The pervasive, sickly sweet scent of rot filled the air, and beneath the cat¡¯s fur was a series of familiar, black tendrils. Now that he saw it ¨C albeit only barely ¨C Elijah knew the source. He¡¯d seen such a thing before, and the encounter had been significant and terrifying enough that he would never forget it. Clearly, the cat had run afoul of a dimensional rift, which had infected it with the madness Elijah had seen from the bear back on his island. Back then, he¡¯d managed to close the rift before it had spread too much, but from the looks of it, wherever the cat had been infected had probably been there for quite some time. ¡°W-what? How?¡± breathed the boy. Elijah rose to his feet, completely restored. That prompted another attack from the young man, who summoned a ball of blue-white fire and tossed it in Elijah¡¯s direction. Now that he could see it coming, he had no issues dodging it, and when he did, Elijah darted forward to wrap his massive claw around the young man¡¯s waist. At the same time, the cat managed to push itself to its feet and flee into the surrounding forest. It used some sort of ability, because it even disappeared from One with Nature far before it had time to leave the area of effect. So, with only one enemy left, Elijah turned his full attention to the young man. He squeezed, then growled, ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± ¡°Please¡­she¡¯s just sick¡­she¡¯s not¡­she¡¯s not bad! Don¡¯t hurt her!¡± The fury of the lamellar ape threatened to overwhelm Elijah, but he shoved it aside in favor of human calm. Still, he was prepared to rip the young man in two if the situation called for it. In fact, he craved that outcome in ways he didn¡¯t want to think about. ¡°Explain,¡± he growled. ¡°She¡¯s¡­she¡¯s my only friend! Please don¡¯t hurt her anymore!¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Elijah snarled. He fully realized that the statement was entirely contrary to his tone, but he didn¡¯t dare switch back to his much more vulnerable human form. That fire would have eaten a hole through him in a second if he hadn¡¯t been in his Guardian shape. He unsuccessfully tried to soften his voice as he once again prompted, ¡°Explain. Now.¡± ¡°O-okay. Okay. Just¡­just don¡¯t hurt her¡­¡± Then, the young man launched into what sounded to Elijah like an unlikely tale. According to Atlas ¨C which Elijah surmised was the boy¡¯s name ¨C the animal was his cat, Artemis. Just after Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree, the cat had started to level via hunting various pests in Argos. It had also become the young man¡¯s protector, keeping him safe until he was old enough to take an archetype. He¡¯d chosen the Sorcerer archetype, though he didn¡¯t specify his class. Elijah got the feeling that most people kept that information to themselves, at least in Argos. ¡°Then, Artemis started hunting other cats. Even dogs,¡± Atlas explained. ¡°She kept getting stronger, too. So did I. And when we found out about the tower, I was one of the people asked to go. I¡­I was the only one who made it back. When I did, Artemis was gone. And all the animals in the city had been killed. I don¡¯t know if that was before or after she got¡­infected.¡± Elijah sighed, which came out more like a growl. Then, he finally let the young man fall from his grip and made a choice that, in a vacuum, was probably stupid. However, the alternative was something he didn¡¯t want to consider. He shifted back to his human form, which caused Atlas to scramble backwards in fear. Holding up a hand, Elijah said, ¡°Calm down. I¡¯m going to heal you, okay? And then you¡¯re going to show me where the rift is. Once I close it, we¡¯ll find your cat, and I¡¯ll try to remove the infection.¡± ¡°What? How? You¡¯re not a Healer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not wrong. But I¡¯m close enough,¡± Elijah responded, already casting Healing Rain. As the soothing precipitation started to fall, he added, ¡°See? Healing Rain. Feels good, right? I¡¯m here to help.¡± Elijah was well aware that his bedside manner left a little to be desired, but he hoped that his calm tone, human visage, and healing would bridge the gap and allow the young man to trust him ¨C at least enough that he wouldn¡¯t start tossing more of those blue-white fireballs at him. ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± He didn¡¯t get anything else out before Elijah took a step forward and laid his hand on the young man¡¯s shoulder. He wasn¡¯t going to push his luck by insisting on a proper examination, so he settled for the untargeted form of Touch of Nature. That was usually fine for self-healing, but when he was trying to mend someone else¡¯s injuries, it was decidedly less effective. Still, he made do, suffusing the young man¡¯s body with rejuvenating energy. Atlas gasped and flinched before he was beset by a series of tremors as his body mended. In the end, it took six casts of Touch of Nature to heal the boy, which was a testament to Atlas¡¯s level of power. ¡°That¡­most people have trouble healing me,¡± he muttered, looking down at his bloodstained clothes. ¡°Because of my class¡­¡± Elijah could tell that the young man didn¡¯t want to talk about that, so he asked, ¡°What¡¯s your real name? And don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s really Atlas. I know that¡¯s bullshit.¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s Isaak. The Atlas thing wasn¡¯t my idea.¡± ¡°Well, Isaak,¡± Elijah said, holding out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah.¡± When the young man grasped his hand, he pulled Isaak to his feet and added, ¡°Nice to meet you. Now, let¡¯s go find that rift. With any luck, we¡¯ll have your cat healed by the end of the day.¡± 2-55. A Different Kind of Challenge The forest was silent, but Elijah felt the corruption of the of the nearby dimensional rift. It was clearly higher grade than the one he¡¯d entered back on his island, which didn¡¯t bode well for the difficulties ahead. Even as he focused on that with one facet of his mind, the other partitions in his Opal Mind monitored his surroundings. One facet was trained on Isaak, who walked beside him, but the rest were entirely focused on the environment. He didn¡¯t want to get ambushed again, and One with Nature seemed incapable of detecting the corrupted cat. ¡°So, why did Artemis attack you?¡± he asked, following the strengthening trail of corruption. Now that he was looking for it, it was easier to track, and he knew it was closer than expected. ¡°She was a good girl, at first,¡± he said. ¡°She even protected me. But¡­once she disappeared, and I figured out what was happening, I knew I needed to help her. Or stop her...¡± Elijah stopped, then turned to put his hand on the boy¡¯s shoulder. He was taller than Elijah, but he held himself with a stoop. ¡°Listen. You need to accept that this might not turn out like you want it to,¡± he said, trying to be as compassionate as possible. The cat wasn¡¯t just the boy¡¯s pet. That was his friend. His guardian. Better than most, Elijah could understand how important that could be. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to heal her, and I think I have a good shot. But I¡¯ve never done this, and there¡¯s every chance that I won¡¯t be able to. If that¡¯s the case¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± the boy said, his eyes adopting a steely glint that flashed behind his round spectacles. In that moment, Elijah could see the determination that had allowed Isaak to survive the tower. ¡°I¡¯m prepared to do what¡¯s necessary.¡± ¡°Good.¡± After that, Isaak explained how the cat had spent the past week toying with him. It wasn¡¯t simple cruelty, either, though that was part of Artemis¡¯s motivation. In addition, it had been using Isaak as bait, wounding him and waiting on other monsters or animals to investigate the smell of what they thought was a wounded animal. When they came around, Artemis pounced. It was a viable hunting method, though one that Elijah found disturbing for a number of reasons he didn¡¯t want to contemplate. However, he did find himself wondering if it was an expression of the cat¡¯s natural cruelty or if the corruption had twisted it into something it never should have been. Whatever the case, he listened to Isaak¡¯s explanation with equanimity as they approached the rip in the dimensional membrane that connected their world with the Void. One of the guides he¡¯d bought back in Argos had elaborated on the nature of the universe, which he¡¯d added to the explanation he¡¯d gotten from Nerthus. He already knew that the World Tree connected multiple universes ¨C nine, in fact ¨C but the space between those universes was referred to as the Void. It was uncharted territory ruled by an entity called the Ravener. There wasn¡¯t much information on that creature ¨C or god, as it seemed ¨C but the guide wasn¡¯t shy about calling it the enemy. The space on the other side of the dimensional rift was, like the towers, a result of the system¡¯s intervention. So, instead of directly connecting the normal universes with the Void, it acted as both a barrier and a bridge between dimensions. In many ways, it was exactly the same as the towers, but on a much smaller scale. Even so, Elijah had also learned that they could be much more dangerous than towers, and for a variety of reasons. Mostly, though, it was due to the fact that people often underestimated those dangers, but also because the level of the creatures inside were completely independent of the challenger. That was a departure from the nature of the towers, the levels of which scaled according to the level of the people trying to conquer it. Of course, that didn¡¯t mean that a level twenty could jump into a tower and defeat nothing but creatures of that level. Instead, the guide described the tower denizens as ¡°appropriately leveled to provide a difficult challenge to an entire group of would-be conquerors¡±. That was further muddled by the grades of towers, but that seemed to be less based on levels than on real power. It was all a little confusing to Elijah, but the gist of it was that most towers were theoretically surmountable by a well-tuned group. However, challenging and defeating the higher-grade towers was much more difficult and only appropriate for the best of the best. Every time he dug deeper into the universe ¨C or multi-verse, he amended ¨C the more he saw how little he understood. There were so many layers that it would take a lifetime to explore them all. But that shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. Even before the touch of the World Tree, Earth had been complex enough to take a lifetime to understand, and that was with the knowledge of all of human civilization to build upon. It only stood to reason that a multi-verse that was composed of not just multiple planets, but multiple universes, would be infinitely more complex. So, he¡¯d resolved to take things one step at a time and work with whatever snippets of information he could acquire. Anything else would be too overwhelming to contemplate. With that in mind, he and Isaak continued to follow the trail until, at last, they discovered the tear in the dimensional fabric. It manifested as a large, ragged rip hanging in the air. Through it, Elijah could see nothing but darkness, though he knew what to expect on the other side. Spreading out from that rip were black tendrils of corruption that looked like glistening vines. They reached about thirty feet in every direction, and the moment Elijah stepped within that circle, he felt the corruption skyrocket. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Isaak let out a gasp. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± he mumbled. ¡°I don¡¯t like it one bit.¡± ¡°You get used to it,¡± Elijah lied. ¡°Just try to ignore it.¡± He turned to the young man and continued, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this. I can go in alone.¡± ¡°No. I need to help.¡± Elijah admired the boy¡¯s courage. ¡°Fine. You remember what I told you, right? We¡¯re going into a space between worlds where we¡¯ll have to fight something, just like in the tower, but on a smaller scale.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Okay ¨C you¡¯re a mage, right? Like, you sling fireballs.¡± ¡°Soulfire.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s soulfire. It eats away at a person¡¯s Ethera while doing¡­a lot of damage. I¡¯ve never seen anything survive after I hit it.¡± ¡°I survived.¡± ¡°I know,¡± the boy said with a visible tremor. ¡°I can also increase Ethera regeneration. And I have an ability called Soulfire Explosion. If I use it, everything dies, and I¡¯m out of commission for the rest of the fight. Last time, I had to spend a week in recovery.¡± ¡°Do you have anything else noteworthy?¡± ¡°I have a couple of self-buffs,¡± he said. ¡°One called Arcane Shield that can block a few attacks. One called Shackle that kind of roots a bad guy in place. There are a couple more, like Fireball and Ice Explosion that I don¡¯t use that much. I normally just use Soulfire Dart, like the one I hit you with.¡± ¡°Alright. So, I¡¯m going to try something, then,¡± Elijah said. Then, he cast Essence of the Boar, Essence of the Wolf, and Aura of Regeneration on the young man. The enhancements stuck, but when he tried to use Essence of the Monkey on Isaak, it wouldn¡¯t take hold. Still, that was enough to elicit a gasp of surprise from Isaak. ¡°What was that? I feel¡­better. Like, a lot better.¡± ¡°One increases your Constitution, another your movement speed, and the last is called Aura of Regeneration. It increases your Regeneration quite a bit,¡± Elijah explained. Then, he cast the enhancements on himself, though he added Essence of the Monkey to his own list. He still couldn¡¯t use everything all at once, but he hoped that when he got a few more levels, that would change. Of course, he also kept One with Nature active as well, but that was always the case. Isaak responded by casting an enhancement of his own, and when Elijah looked at his status, he saw that his Regeneration had increased by another fifteen points. That was incredible, considering that Isaak probably hadn¡¯t advanced his cultivation like Elijah had. And if he had, he certainly didn¡¯t have the benefit of the powerful Dragon Core. So, the base spell was definitely powerful. With that, the pair were ready for the challenge of the dimensional rift. So, without further hesitation, they stepped inside. For a brief instant, Elijah felt like he was being ripped into a million pieces. He¡¯d experienced much the same in his first trip into a dimensional rift, so he had expected it. However, Isaak clearly hadn¡¯t, and his response was predictable. He let out a long, piercing scream before falling to one knee and sobbing. Elijah left him there for a few seconds before kneeling beside the boy. He put his hand on Isaak¡¯s back and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s over. Now, eyes up. This isn¡¯t like the last time I was in one of these.¡± The setting was similar. Populated by jagged rocks that looked distressingly like obsidian, the ground was otherwise barren. In the distance, he could see huge peaks of grey stone, and just as before, there were a multitude of purple rivers of energy. A few dozen feet away, Elijah saw what looked like purple anemones waving in the motionless air. More importantly, he saw his opponent. The Voxxian monster was small. Maybe three feet tall, but built of solid muscle and coated in dark green scales. It cocked its head to the side, gazing at Elijah with obvious curiosity. ¡°On your feet, Isaak.¡± The moment he uttered those words, the little creature let out a screech, then charged Elijah. For his part, he immediately shifted into his lamellar ape form and leaped forward into battle. He met the monster¡¯s charge with a herculean punch that sent it skidding across the rocky ground. It shattered the jagged shards of obsidian with its passage, only coming to a stop thirty feet away when its momentum was met by a larger black edifice. But it wasn¡¯t dead. Not yet, at least. Isaak had recovered from the pain of passing through the dimensional rift, and he¡¯d already tossed a Soulfire Dart at the prone creature. The little ball of blue-and-white fire moved extremely slowly, but the fallen Voxx was too stunned to take advantage of that weakness. The Soulfire Dart hit it in the shoulder, then quickly enveloped the creature. It screeched again, but the sound quickly died away, replaced by the sizzle of broiling flesh. Only a few moments later, it was dead, leaving behind only a charred and unrecognizable husk. ¡°Is that it?¡± the young man asked, panting with excitement and fear. Elijah looked back to see Isaak pushing his spectacles back into place. ¡°I expected it to be harder.¡± ¡°No. We didn¡¯t get a notification.¡± Just then, the ground rumbled, and via One with Nature, Elijah felt two distinct presences flare into existence. A moment later, two creatures erupted from the rocky ground. Both of them screeched, then launched themselves into a charge that mirrored the previous monster¡¯s attack. However, these two Voxx were slightly different than the one that had come before. Not only were they noticeably larger and more muscular, but they featured sharper-looking claws. ¡°Upgrades,¡± Elijah muttered before leaping forward. However, the creatures were smart enough not to meet his charge head-on. Instead, the second he moved in their direction, they split. One went for Isaak, while the other intended to confront Elijah. Knowing that the young man wasn¡¯t built to take hits, Elijah pivoted, springing sideways and tackling the other monster. However, the first quickly adjusted and darted toward Isaak. Even as Elijah grabbed hold of the monster and started pummeling it into submission, the other reached Isaak. But to his surprise, the young man¡¯s shield held through the monster¡¯s first blow, and he responded by hitting it with another Soulfire Dart. Just like that, the monster ended up like the first ¨C charred and crispy. Elijah¡¯s opponent died a few moments later. But almost as soon as it went down, he felt the next wave of monsters. Three more burst from the ground a second later, confirming the nature of the rift¡¯s challenge. ¡°It¡¯s a gauntlet,¡± he shouted. ¡°Conserve your Ethera as best you can. I think we¡¯re going to be here for a while!¡± 2-56. A Battle of Endurance Three Voxxian monsters clambered across Elijah¡¯s broad back, biting and clawing for purchase. He¡¯d just used Iron Scales, so they stood no chance of actually harming him. However, the same couldn¡¯t be said for Isaak, who was running in circles as he tried to avoid yet another creature. He was not doing a good job of it, either, because the thing kept catching up and biting him. The only reason he hadn¡¯t already fallen was the ethereal shield that protected his body. Eljiah couldn¡¯t worry about the boy, though. He had to trust that Isaak could take care of himself, because he was already starting to feel the strain of using Iron Scales too many times in quick succession. If something didn¡¯t change ¨C and soon ¨C he would fall from sheer exhaustion. So, with that in mind, he reached back with one long arm, and snatched at the much-smaller Voxx. It dodged nimbly and continued its gnashing attack. So, he tipped over and slammed himself into the ground, back-first. Two of the monsters scattered, leaping from his back just in time to avoid being flattened. However, the third wasn¡¯t so lucky. Bones crunched as the full weight of Elijah¡¯s Guardian shape squashed the creature. It didn¡¯t die, but it certainly wasn¡¯t recovering from that anytime soon. More importantly, Elijah had a brief moment to enact the next part of his hastily-conceived plan. Without hesitation, he shifted back into his human form and cast two spells. The first was Healing Rain, which he hoped would be enough to keep both himself and Isaak healed for the time being. The next was Snaring Roots, which he aimed at the boy¡¯s pursuer. Thick, thorny, and purple vines erupted from the ground, wrapping around the small creature and locking it into place. Meanwhile, the remaining two Voxx reversed course and made a beeline toward the suddenly vulnerable Elijah. He met the first one with a baseball swing of his staff that sent it skidding to the side, but that opened him for the other¡¯s attack. Elijah raised his arm just in time to keep it from tearing into his torso, but when it crunched down on his forearm, he let out a cry of anger and agony. Without aiming, he used Storm¡¯s Fury, and a bolt of lightning descended from the sky. It hit the creature clinging to his arm, sending it into convulsions, and he used that brief opening to fling it away. The second it flew free, Elijah cancelled Essence of the Monkey and used Shield of Brambles. After that, he shifted back into his lamellar ape form; the transformation completed just before the two creatures returned to the fight, but this time, Elijah was ready for them. He didn¡¯t even bother keeping them off him. Instead, he was perfectly willing to endure their attacks. With Iron Scales active, they did almost no damage, and every time they bit or clawed ¨C which was quite a lot, considering their favored form of frenzied attacks ¨C they got a sharp thorn for their troubles. In seconds, they were coated in a dozen rivulets of blood. At the same time, Elijah stomped on the injured Voxx that was still struggling to rise despite its plethora of broken bones. He ended its life with a generous application of force directed at its vulnerable skull. It couldn¡¯t avoid the blow, so it died after only a few more seconds. That left three, two of which were covered in their own blood from a hundred reflective thorn attacks. The third was still struggling with the roots as Isaak finally realized that he was no longer being chased. To his credit, the second he had an opening, he took aim at the struggling monster and let loose with one of his balls of soulfire. Even with its limbs wrapped in writhing vines, the creature managed to dodge the oncoming spell. Mostly. It still took a glancing blow, which for any other spell, might have been an issue. With soulfire, though, it was more than enough. The monster howled in agony as, in the space of a second, its arm melted entirely. However, the remainder of the ball of soulfire hit the roots, burning them to a crisp and freeing the creature. It stumbled as it tore loose from the remaining tendrils of vegetation. For his part, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to watch the unfolding battle between young man and Voxx. He was far too busy with his own opponents. Thankfully, the multitude of wounds ¨C small though they were ¨C had begun to take their toll, and the two Voxxian creatures had slowed considerably. That allowed Elijah to reach back and grab one of them by the loose skin on the back of its neck. His claws dug into its hide as it attempted to wriggle free, but he wasn¡¯t having that. Despite its efforts at escape, Elijah¡¯s grip held, and he proceeded to slam the creature into the rocky ground. The first instance broke bones, but the second shattered them. The third ruptured organs, and the fourth took its life. He let out a roar as he tossed it away, turning his attention to his remaining attacker. It wasn¡¯t long before it went the way of its partner, broken and dead. At that moment, Isaak finally finished his target off as well, using a whip of pure soulfire to slice through the creature. It fell into two disgusting halves that squelched when they hit the ground. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called Soul Whip,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not good with aiming it, so I can¡¯t use it unless they¡¯re close.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t mention that before,¡± Elijah accused, his lamellar ape voice low and growly. The young man shrugged. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if I might need it against you,¡± he admitted self-consciously. ¡°That¡­makes a lot of sense.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not mad at me?¡± Isaak asked. Elijah shrugged his massive shoulders, saying, ¡°Can¡¯t blame you. You don¡¯t know me. I don¡¯t know you. But I¡¯ll tell you this right now ¨C you use that thing on me, and we¡¯re going to have a big problem.¡± Isaak swallowed hard. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­I wouldn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°Look alive. Next wave is coming soon.¡± Just then, a massive rumble shook the ground, and Elijah felt dozens of presences swimming through the earth toward the surface. He knew exactly how to deal with that, so before they could complete their ascent, he shifted back to his human form and cast Calamity. Even as the wind began to blow, he shifted back to his guardian shape and readied himself for the coming struggle. As it turned out, he needn¡¯t have worried. The second the creatures ¨C and there were more than ten ¨C surfaced, Calamity descended upon them in all its disastrous fury. The wind howled as it cut them to pieces, and the earth buckled beneath them. And all the while, Elijah stood back, using his massive form to shield the young man. In the end, all but three of the Voxxian monsters perished in the Calamity, and the trio of survivors were in no shape to fight back when Elijah went in to finish them off. They were much smaller than the previous wave ¨C maybe three feet tall, at most ¨C but they still looked extremely dangerous, with their sharp claws and biting teeth. Elijah pummeled them to death without hesitation. When he returned to his position in front of Isaak, the curly-haired young man was in awe. ¡°You just¡­how did you¡­what level are you?¡± If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Besides, levels aren¡¯t everything.¡± Before he could elaborate, a deep, resounding roar cut across the landscape, bouncing off the jagged obsidian rocks to make it seem like it was coming from everywhere all at once. But Elijah didn¡¯t need to rely on his aural senses to recognize the source. He could see it coming right for him. It was big. Bigger even than the monster that had nearly killed the panther back on his island. It also only had one set of arms, which somehow made it look even more fearsome. Elijah had just enough time to notice a huge sail-like set of spines on its back before it crashed into him. He met its charge with one of his own, though the impact with the twelve-foot tall monster sent him flying backwards like he¡¯d been hit by an eighteen wheeler. Isaak lashed out with his Soul Whip, though to much lesser effect than against the other monsters. The tendril of blue-white fire wrapped around the Voxxian monster¡¯s leg, setting it to sizzling, yet that was where the damage ended. Still, it must have been quite painful, because the monster let out a shuddering scream of pure agony before it backhanded Isaak. Blood arced, and the young man went flying away. Elijah¡¯s mind went white with fury, and he sprang to his feet and launched himself at the monster. He hit with the force of a charging bull, knocking the Voxxian monster into a stumble. However, it recovered quickly, raking its claws across Elijah¡¯s back. Even with a hastily activated Iron Scales, Elijah felt his hide part beneath its sharp talons. But he wasn¡¯t without claws of his own. He snapped out his fists, ripping and tearing with all the fury he could muster. With the additional potency from his Claws of Gluttony, he managed to do quite a bit of damage before the monster lashed out with its foot, kicking him across the landscape. He tumbled, flipping over three times before hitting an escarpment of jagged, black rock. It shattered, and a few bits lodged between his scales as his momentum took him a few feet further. Fortunately, he was durable enough that the damage was minor, and he recovered his feet only a second later. As he did, he saw the huge monster¡¯s unhurried approach. It almost looked like it was enjoying it. Or perhaps Elijah was simply anthropomorphizing the macabre smile playing across its semi-reptilian face. Whatever the case, he wasn¡¯t going to waste the opportunity represented by the distance between them. So, without even pushing himself to his feet, Elijah once again shifted to his natural form and cast Swarm. Then, knowing that he needed all the damage he could get, he cast Essence of the Monkey, willing it to replace Shield of Brambles before he cast Shape of the Predator. Assuming his draconid form took a lot more mana than taking on the shape of the lamellar ape, but he knew he couldn¡¯t win if he fought on the huge monster¡¯s terms. He needed to change the paradigm, and the Shape of the Predator offered the best chance to do that. The giant Voxxian monster reached him just as the transformation completed, and he narrowly bounded out of the way of what would have been a devastating slash. Yet, because of Haste and his increased control, he easily dodged it before springing off a nearby shard of jagged stone and leaping onto the monster¡¯s back. There, he dug his foreclaws into its shoulders and raked with his back claws. Elijah only managed a few good gouges before he saw another attack coming his way. So, he leaped free and sprinted away. Meanwhile, as the monster followed with its lumbering steps, a swarm of tiny, glowing bugs descended on it, delivering a payload of afflictions as it loped after Elijah. He had no trouble keeping ahead of the creature, but when he got too far away, the scaley monster lost interest and started toward the still-prone Isaak. So, he darted back in, raking his claws across the Voxxian monster¡¯s legs ¨C as much to get the thing¡¯s attention as it was to do damage. It worked, and he slowly led the creature away from the hopefully recovering Isaak. Healing Rain was still going, so if he hadn¡¯t already succumbed to his injuries, there was a good chance that he would live. So long as Elijah dealt with the monster. So, he continued like that for a few minutes, darting in every so often to keep the creature¡¯s attention as well as to do whatever damage he could muster. Meanwhile, every time he attacked the monster, he stacked instances of Contagion as well as Anticoagulant from the Claws of Gluttony. In addition, the afflictions from the Swarm were busy working on the monster as well. Gradually, Elijah whittled the monster down. It was slow, though. Very, very slow. And he got into trouble more than a few times when he underestimated the monster¡¯s speed. It was so easy to forget that massive Strength ¨C which the monster clearly possessed ¨C translated into explosive, if often short-lived and barely controlled bursts of speed. So, on more than one occasion, Elijah found himself on the wrong end of that equation. Still, each time, he managed to escape with only a few scrapes. Until, almost twenty minutes later, it caught him with a backhand that crushed his ribs and sent him tumbling across the landscape. As it happened, he ended up near where the battle had begun, but to his shock, Isaak was nowhere to be seen. He couldn¡¯t give that much thought, though, because the moment the monster had sensed even a hint of weakness, it had become rejuvenated. The sluggishness of its many injuries briefly forgotten, it charged Elijah with renewed fury. Elijah forced himself to his feet, but one of his legs was broken, and Healing Rain had long since run its course. With his mobility cut to almost nothing, he had no choice but to initiate a shift into his lamellar ape form and hope he could endure whatever punishment the creature dished out. So, he did, noting that his ethera had gotten extremely low due to his constant shifting back and forth as well as the copious use of his spells. He would need to be more cognizant of that going forward. But for now, he had other things on his mind. Like the monster bearing down on him. His transformation completed just in time for him to once again meet the charge. However, in this instance, he was at an even more distinct disadvantage due to his broken leg. Even so, Elijah took the hit as well as possible, rolling with the blow to dissipate the impact. The injured Voxx was still stronger than him, though, and he definitely got the worst of the clash. He landed flat on his back, his head hitting with enough impact to make everything fuzzy. When he recovered his wits, he saw the massive monster looming over him. It once again wore the disgusting grin upon its face. It laughed, a sound like clinking glass. Elijah tried to pick himself up, but the creature stomped down on his chest with its entire weight. Elijah felt his ribs creak as he struggled to breathe. It cocked its arm back, clearly intending to level a fatal blow. Elijah struggled, his claws raking against the monster¡¯s ankle as he tried to free himself. It was useless. Every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind whirled with potential solutions. He considered shifting again. He could probably wiggle out from under the monster¡¯s foot if he took on his human form. Yet, with it so close, there was almost no chance he¡¯d win free. And without the increased Constitution that came with his guardian form, there was no way he could endure the monster¡¯s attacks. For similar reasons, he couldn¡¯t shift into his predator form, either. Those thoughts ¨C and a hundred others like it ¨C writhed in Elijah¡¯s mind, but he could think of nothing. No clever plans. No new powers. He was going to die. Then, a flash of white and blue light announced his salvation before a ball of soulfire hit the monster in the back. It sizzled, filling the air with the smell of charred meat. And for the briefest of moments it let up the pressure on Elijah¡¯s chest. He used that opening ¨C slim though it was ¨C to roll free. Then, with only one leg, he pushed off and threw himself at the off-balance monster. He hit it with a shoulder tackle that drove it backwards. It tripped over the nearby escarpment, then tumbled to its back. Elijah latched onto its chest, riding it to the ground, and when it hit, he pummeled it with every point of Strength he could muster. Between blows, Isaak ¨C ragged and looking as if he was barely hanging onto life ¨C tossed another ball of soulfire at the monster¡¯s head. It hit the struggling creature and melted its scales. Elijah kept going, and Isaak refused to let up either, though one facet of his mind recognized that Isaak had fallen. Elijah feared the worst, though he couldn¡¯t spare the attention to worry about the young man¡¯s fate. When Elijah saw that his blows weren¡¯t doing enough damage, he activated the Rage ability of his Silver Bracer of Rage. His mind was flooded with fury as his attributes skyrocketed. He didn¡¯t have the presence of mind to check his Strength, but blows that had once felt completely ineffective were suddenly dislodging scales and breaking bones. The Voxxian monster struggled, yet just as had been the case with Elijah only a few moments before, it couldn¡¯t escape. He roared in berserk fury as he continued to smash his fists into the monster, not stopping even after it had finally succumbed. In fact, Elijah didn¡¯t let up until, finally, the effect of Rage dissipated, leaving him feeling even more drained than if he¡¯d used Iron Scales a dozen times. His shoulders sagged as he looked up to see that Isaak¡¯s form had gone unnaturally still. That cut through the last vestiges of his enraged state, and with that clarity, he forced himself back into his human form. Dragging his broken leg, he stumbled toward the fallen young man, hoping that he wasn¡¯t too late to save him. 2-57. Futility He was dead. ¡°Help him!¡± Carmen shouted, whipping her head around. But the Healer she had brought into the mines was busy performing triage on another Warrior. Meanwhile, Colt and Tiffany stood at the head of the tunnel, defending them against a tide of critters. There were hundreds of them, each the size of a basketball and with teeth like razors. Alone, they weren¡¯t that dangerous to anyone with a few levels under their belt. But in the numbers they¡¯d found within the mine¡¯s tunnels, they were like terrestrial piranha that could strip the meat from their prey¡¯s bones in a matter of minutes. At first, the expedition to exterminate the pests had been safe enough. For the first few days, the group, which consisted of Carmen, Colt, Tiffany, and Brett, had been more than enough to deal with the scattered creatures. However, after a week of constant exploration of the tunnels, which included constant backtracking and frequent trips back to the surface in order to rest, they had finally discovered the nest. And it was both awful and awe-inspiring. The cavern had contained thousands of the little monsters, each of which were capable of downing a level fifteen warrior. None of her group were that low of a level, but to Carmen, the second she¡¯d laid eyes on the colony of little terrors, she¡¯d known they weren¡¯t up to the task. So, like any good commander, she¡¯d called for a retreat. That had gone well enough, and in the following days, she¡¯d begun to assemble an assault team. More, she¡¯d sent a runner back to Easton begging for more Healers. She had yet to hear back from Roman, which wasn¡¯t that surprising. It was an arduous journey made even worse by the onset of winter. So, it made perfect sense that no one had returned. Yet, Carmen¡¯s hand had been forced when groups of the critters ¨C they were actually called Terrestrial Molaks, according to Brett, whose Vigilante class gave him an ability to identify enemies ¨C started to surface. The first time they had, the critters had killed one of the guards and maimed a couple who¡¯d been on a walk through the town. That had necessitated a response. So, Carmen had commandeered the services of one of the town¡¯s two Healers, gathered a handful of warriors, and set off to exterminate the pests. It had not gone well. The mistake was forging ahead and having their Elementalist set fire to the nest. Before they¡¯d done that, Carmen and the others had rigged the surrounding tunnels to collapse, so they thought they could trap the creatures inside and burn them to death. And at first, it had worked well enough, with hundreds of the little monsters perishing in Logan¡¯s summoned flames. That was one thing that had changed with the apocalypse. Conventional combustion was far less effective than it once had been, which was why gas cars and guns didn¡¯t really work as they once had. However, magical flames picked up the slack, and once set, they could use the ambient ethera as fuel. So, Logan¡¯s fires burned hot and fast, enveloping the entire cavern in seconds. The group was busy patting themselves on the back when a trio of much larger molaks came crashing through the debris blocking the tunnels and giving the rest of the critters an escape route. More distressingly, it gave them a free shot at the people who¡¯d attempted to engineer their deaths. Her people had fought valiantly, and yet, there had been far too many molaks. So, Carmen had organized a fighting retreat, eventually taking shelter in a small cavern with a single narrow and easily defensible entrance. Since then, they¡¯d fought a steady stream of the critters, taking a plethora of wounds along the way. The Healer ¨C Keith ¨C had done everything he could, but it was obvious that it would only be a matter of time before he ran low on ethera. In the meantime, the wounded continued to pile up, overwhelming even his magic. Carmen checked the young man¡¯s pulse and found nothing. Still, she hoped that Keith could do something. So, she reached down and grabbed the body around the waist before throwing it ¨C no, him ¨C over her armored shoulder. He didn¡¯t react at all. As she ran across the small cavern, Carmen tried to convince herself that her burden was simply unconscious. Keith would save him. She just knew it. So, when she reached the Healer, who already had three patients, she gently laid the body down and begged, ¡°Please¡­please tell me you can help him¡­¡± Keith took one look at the young man, his eyes flicking down to the gaping wound in his chest, then shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he croaked. ¡°He¡¯s already gone. Even if he wasn¡¯t, I don¡¯t have the ethera to¡­I can¡¯t do anything about that kind of injury.¡± He hung his head. Whether it was exhaustion or shame, Carmen had no idea, but for her part, she felt both. Everyone had put their faith in her, and she¡¯d rewarded that trust by getting people killed. Three were already dead, and she had no idea if the critters had made it outside. If they had¡­ No. She refused to go down that road. She¡¯d done everything she could, and at every turn, she¡¯d made the choices she thought appropriate. She couldn¡¯t let herself drown in self-pity or guilt. That didn¡¯t help anyone. So, she reached out and gripped Keith¡¯s bony shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. He really was a thin man, largely because he¡¯d been a member of one of the groups of refugees that had initially been denied entry into Easton; it was only recently that his people had been allowed in, and his condition reflected that. He wasn¡¯t precisely unhealthy, but he clearly hadn¡¯t been flourishing either. Carmen had hoped to provide him a fresh start. Now, he was watching the people who depended on his miraculous healing ability die. That was going to take a toll. ¡°You¡¯re doing everything you can,¡± she said. ¡°Keep it up.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Then, she ran a hand through her hair ¨C she had no idea where her helmet had gone ¨C and when she pulled her hand away, she saw that it was bloody. It didn¡¯t matter. She was still on her feet, and she wouldn¡¯t trouble the Healer for a mere scratch. Before Keith could notice, she stepped away and returned to the entrance. There, she saw Colt hard at work. Most of the time, he simply sliced the little monsters to ribbons with precise, perfectly-controlled attacks. However, from time to time, he would use one of his techniques, and one of the larger critters would simply fall to chunks. He called it Blade Storm, and the way he described it, it manifested thirteen razor-sharp blades of ethera that cut his target to pieces. It was expensive to use, but it was as sure of a kill as any ability could guarantee. By comparison, the rawboned Tiffany¡¯s knuckles were bloody and from her knuckles grew a series of ethereal claws. When she punched, they ripped jagged wounds in the creatures¡¯ coarse-furred hides. She had a few other abilities that she rarely used, which was common for the combatants. Most of them didn¡¯t have enough experience to use anything but their go-to skills, spells, and abilities, which was often enough to deal with the typical threats they saw during routine patrols. This was different, though, and it highlighted a huge issue with how they were training the potential fighters. But that was a concern for another day. For now, Carmen stepped up and shouldered the exhausted Tiffany aside. As she did, she growled, ¡°My turn.¡± Then, she manifested her blacksmithing hammer with Summon Tool, and planted herself beside Colt. It wasn¡¯t long before she was forced to use the crafting tool for its adapted purpose when she crushed a critter¡¯s spine. The little round creatures had odd anatomy, but she¡¯d fought them enough by that point that she knew precisely where to hit them to do the most damage possible. She employed that knowledge to great effect as she stoically stood vigil, shoulder-to-shoulder with Colt. At some point, one of the other Warriors replaced Colt, but Carmen barely noticed. Instead, she focused entirely on the task at hand, which meant using her immense Strength to pummel the monsters to death. Because she was used to long hours at the forge, she barely grew fatigued, and she didn¡¯t have any combat skills or abilities, so she never ran low on ethera. As a result, Carmen felt like she could keep going indefinitely. Of course, that wasn¡¯t true. Eventually, she would grow tired. But that point was a long way off. In addition, she took almost no damage due to the high quality of her armor. If the rest of her people had been wearing something similar, perhaps they could have avoided casualties altogether. But she¡¯d been too caught up in wanting to be properly compensated for her work. All the best crafters were, largely because they all thought the danger had passed. Clearly, they were wrong, and they needed to get back to the basics of collective survival. When Easton had first been founded, everyone had contributed without thought for how it would personally benefit each one. And that was fine, in a vacuum. People deserved to earn a living. Yet, the world was still changing, and everyone¡¯s lives were still balanced on the edge of a knife. Carmen ¨C and the other crafters ¨C needed to do what they could to keep people from falling over that edge. Those thoughts flitted through Carmen¡¯s mind as she monotonously slaughtered one critter after another. It wasn¡¯t until she realized that she stood alone against the tide that she began to realize how dire their situation was. She¡¯d been fighting for hours, and so had everyone else. They¡¯d picked up one wound after another until, one by one, they¡¯d fallen. She couldn¡¯t look back to check if they were dead or simply wounded, but she feared the worst. That thought crashed into her mind, and in that moment, something broke. She didn¡¯t grow any stronger. Her fatigue, thin though it was, didn¡¯t wash away. Instead, it was like she experienced a rush of adrenaline that, later, she would liken to what a parent might feel when she saw her child being threatened. In those sorts of situations, people had been known to lift cars, and Carmen¡¯s physical abilities skyrocketed along those same lines. Suddenly, every fall of her hammer sent a critter splattering against the ground. At the same time, her fury ¨C or frustration, perhaps ¨C climbed to unprecedented levels. She took that out on the monsters before her. And for a while, it was enough to convince her that she was going to win. But reality came crashing down on her when that surge of adrenaline faded, and her arms started to feel like they were encased in lead. She slowed, and her blows lost their lethality. Still, she pushed on, trying to force the strength back into her muscles. It didn¡¯t work. A critter latched onto her arm. Then, as she was trying to dislodge it, another crunched down on her leg. She kicked it away, but another soon replaced it. Then another after that. She kept swinging, screaming all the while. From somewhere behind her, she heard a scream, and she felt the weak activation of skills. Yet, she couldn¡¯t even turn to see what was going on, much less help the people who¡¯d chosen to put their faith in her. Just as she felt a monster latch onto her neck, sending a gout of blood gushing into its greedy mouth, she spared a thought for Alyssa. She wasn¡¯t sure if she believed in an afterlife, but in a world of magic and monsters, the idea didn¡¯t seem as silly as it once might have. And while she didn¡¯t want to leave Miguel, she couldn¡¯t deny that there was a part of her that welcomed death and the possibility of being reunited with the woman she loved. The moment that thought crossed her mind, she felt a surge of rotten guilt envelope her. She was better than that. She needed to be. Miguel needed her to be stronger. With a roar, she grabbed the critter and tossed it aside before ramming into the nearby wall and squashing the trio of monsters clinging to that side of her body. Then, she did the same to the other side. Over and over, she let the critters latch onto her, then she used her own body as a hammer, and the wall as an anvil. Like that, dozens died, but she certainly didn¡¯t escape unscathed. Her armor had limits, after all. And it couldn¡¯t cover everything. Her growing fatigue hadn¡¯t disappeared, either. No ¨C that brief surge had given her a few moments more, but it wasn¡¯t enough. It wasn¡¯t nearly enough. Still, Carmen fought on until she felt the effects of blood loss and exhaustion drive her to her knees. The first time it happened, she forced herself back to her feet with a swell of forced energy, but it didn¡¯t last long. It couldn¡¯t. Soon enough, she fell and couldn¡¯t regain her feet. Even so, she never stopped swinging her hammer. Even when her blows lost all strength, she refused to give in. Finally, she fell and couldn¡¯t force herself to rise. Briefly, Carmen felt sharp teeth on the back of her head, but then, there was something different. Blistering heat washed over her. Because of Resist Fire, which was no doubt intended to help her endure the heat associated with magical forges, she was unharmed. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the critters, and the smell of burning fur filled Carmen¡¯s nostrils. Once the confusion passed, she looked up to see a hellish scene. Monsters burned, some of them so hotly that they actually melted. Amidst that stood a man, tall and thin and wearing a red-and-white robe. Carmen recognized him from somewhere, but in her exhausted state, she couldn¡¯t quite place him. However, she certainly remembered the person beside him. Or rather, the morningstar at the woman¡¯s waist. ¡°Verin,¡± she muttered. It was the Healer who¡¯d been with Alyssa when she¡¯d died. That probably meant something, but now that the threat was ended, even that mystery couldn¡¯t keep Carmen from slipping into unconsciousness. 2-58. A Neglected Purpose Purple lightning flashed in the sky as the smell of death filled Elijah¡¯s nostrils. He stumbled toward the fallen Isaak, dread and despair mingling in his heart as he let his guardian form fall away. With each staggering step, pain lanced up his broken leg, but he forced himself to ignore it, and as soon as his transformation completed, he summoned Healing Rain. A storm of soothing precipitation gathered, dumping its rejuvenating payload on Elijah and Isaak alike. But the young man wasn¡¯t moving, and when Elijah finally reached him, he found that Isaak¡¯s breathing had stalled. ¡°No¡­¡± He reached out and, as soon as he laid his hand on the boy¡¯s chest, he used Touch of Nature. It pulsed, and Isaak¡¯s body seized at the injection of healing ethera. Yet, Elijah could tell that it hadn¡¯t worked. Forcing life into a corpse wouldn¡¯t do anything. Dead was, after all, dead. Yet Elijah refused to accept it. So, he channeled it again. And again after that. Each time, the boy¡¯s body jerked like he¡¯d just been subjected to the electrical current of a defibrillator. However, the moment the flow of ethera ceased, he went limp. Elijah gritted his teeth and continued his efforts. Over and over, he kept going until there were only wisps of ethera left in his core. He pulled on more, flexing his Mind and Soul for all they were worth. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Tears traced lines through the dirt and dried blood on Elijahs cheeks as he tilted his head back and screamed. That didn¡¯t do any good, either. It just wasn¡¯t fair. Nothing was. The world had become a cruel place where a young man like Isaak had been tasked with becoming a hero. He was just a boy, and yet, he¡¯d marched into danger and answered the call of heroism. And then, he¡¯d died unceremoniously, and for no other reason than that Elijah was incapable of saving him. Of protecting him. Ever since he¡¯d killed those hunters, Elijah had felt that something was wrong. That everything was skewed. He¡¯d avenged the bear, killing people that, in his head, he¡¯d pegged as villains. But were they? Elijah really had no idea. The reality was that he¡¯d reacted based on frustration and, he could admit to himself, a false sense of companionship. For so long, he¡¯d been alone, and in retrospect, it was easy for him to anthropomorphize the creature. Yet, the bear would probably have tried to kill him if he hadn¡¯t continuously brought it food. The same was true of the panther he remembered far more fondly than reality suggested. More than once, Elijah had thought himself immune to the stress that came from his traumatic existence. But he wasn¡¯t. Not anymore than anyone else, at least. He¡¯d just processed it differently. And that flawed method had led him down a road that eventually pushed him into killing a group of hunters that may or may not have deserved what he¡¯d done to them. Did he feel guilty about it? No. He did not. Not truly. Yet, he knew that, in the future, he needed to think things through, rather than react based on his ultimately flawed feelings. He also needed to be cognizant of his tendency to lose context. Animals were animals, and people were people. And in the changed world, he couldn¡¯t blame humanity ¨C or the various other sapient races ¨C for killing. That was probably the only way anyone was going to survive. What the hunters had done still didn¡¯t sit well with him, though. He didn¡¯t like it, and he suspected he never would. However, that didn¡¯t mean they had deserved to die. Thoughts like that flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he struggled to absorb enough ethera to fuel more attempts at healing the fallen Isaak. He knew it was useless. But just like with the bear, he had latched onto the young man in a way that probably wasn¡¯t warranted by the situation. They barely knew one another, after all. But in Elijah¡¯s mind, the boy had taken on the role of a little brother. Or a nephew. Hopefully, if Miguel was in a similar situation, someone would try just as hard to help him. So, Elijah kept going well past the point when he should have stopped. Then, after some interminable time, Isaak¡¯s eyes shot open. His hand shot out, and Elijah only recognized the danger at the last second. He dove to the side just in time to avoid taking a ball of soulfire to the face. He didn¡¯t care, though. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± ¡°What?¡± panted Isaak. ¡°How? Of course I¡¯m alive.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­um¡­it¡¯s an ability. A spell. It kind of keeps me alive. It¡¯s called Stored Soul. Think of it like a second life. So long as I cast it before a fight, I can survive fatal damage. I go into a coma for a while, but¡­yeah. It¡¯s saved my life three times so far. It goes on cooldown after activation, though. It¡¯ll be a month before I can use it again,¡± Isaak said, the words spilling out all at once. ¡°You probably shouldn¡¯t tell strangers that,¡± Elijah pointed out. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You¡¯re not a stranger, though. You saved me.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°We¡¯re even, then. You saved me, too.¡± ¡°I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± the young man said, grinning. He tried to get up, but winced. ¡°Oh. I guess I¡¯m not completely healed, huh? How long have been here? It usually takes a week for me to wake up from the coma.¡± ¡°It¡¯s been about an hour. Maybe two since the monster died,¡± Elijah said. It made sense. Likely, the influx of healing had shortened the duration of the coma. He picked himself up, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t move. I want to finish healing you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­I think we should probably get out of here.¡± ¡°Why? There aren¡¯t any more monsters.¡± Isaak pointed at the sky. Elijah followed the gesture to see that it had broken into a million jagged pieces, revealing an abyssal blackness that did not look good. It was as if they were inside a broken snow globe, except that it was intended to keep something out rather than in. ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re probably right¡­¡± With that, Elijah reached down and helped Isaak to his feet. Then, they hobbled back to the entrance, where a pair of white crystals floated in the air. Elijah touched one, and Isaak touched the other. That prompted a notification to appear before Elijah¡¯s mind¡¯s eye:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Lesser Rejuvenation Potion awarded.
¡°Whoa,¡± exclaimed Isaak, looking at the vial in his hand. ¡°This is¡­this is amazing.¡± Elijah was less enthused. ¡°Yippee,¡± he muttered to himself. He could already heal himself, so he didn¡¯t see a whole lot of use for a potion that would do the same thing. Others clearly didn¡¯t have that option, so it must have been very valuable. However, he would¡¯ve much preferred an attribute potion like he¡¯d gotten the last time he¡¯d closed a Minor Dimensional Rift. He sighed, pocketing the potion as he said, ¡°Beggars can¡¯t be choosers, I guess.¡± After that, the pair left the rift behind, and when they stepped back into the world, the rip in reality dissipated, and the black tendrils of corruption dissolved. Elijah was less concerned about that than the giant cat barreling toward him. He pushed Isaak aside and took the furious feline¡¯s leaping charge right in the chest. It only managed to rake its claws across his unprotected skin a few times before Elijah managed to reposition his hands and shove the thing away. The cat was big, but Elijah¡¯s Strength attribute was well past the peak of humanity. As such, dislodging an eighty-pound cat wasn¡¯t nearly as difficult as it would have been before the world had changed. The creature went flying away, bounced off the trunk of a tree, then came rocketing back at Elijah. He met it with an overhand swing of his staff that ended with the cat hitting the ground with enough force to leave it stunned. That¡¯s when Elijah dropped his staff and pounced on the cat, wrapping his arms around its torso. He could feel the corruption pulsing through it. ¡°Don¡¯t kill her!¡± ¡°I¡¯m not!¡± Elijah growled, struggling to hold the struggling cat still. He hadn¡¯t escaped its initial pounce unscathed, and he was bleeding pretty profusely. Even so, he had the animal at his mercy. ¡°I¡¯m going to heal it. Her. I¡¯m going to try to heal her. Just¡­just be prepared for if it doesn¡¯t work¡­¡± With that, Elijah cast Healing Rain. It barely cost any ethera, especially considering the sheer volume of healing it could offer. It was especially efficient, considering that the spell was healing him, the cat, and Isaak, all at the same time. But for now, he was mostly concerned with banishing the corruption from Artemis the cat. He focused as hard as he could, channeling Touch of Nature into the overgrown feline. It went wild, bucking and hissing and raking its claws across his arms. With Elijah holding it off the ground, it couldn¡¯t get any leverage, though. He cast the spell again, trying his best to guide it toward the corruption. But the moment the two clashed, he knew it wouldn¡¯t do any good. The corruption wasn¡¯t a disease or a virus. Indeed, it didn¡¯t feel like anything else Elijah had ever experienced. Even calling it corruption felt wrong. It was so fundamentally different from anything else he¡¯d ever experienced, as a result, Elijah struggled to even contextualize it. Alien was the best he came up with, but even that implied that it was of their universe. It wasn¡¯t. It was from somewhere else ¨C whatever was on the other side of that rift. Not the place where they¡¯d fought the Voxxian monsters. No ¨C that was just a bridge. Instead, the corruption was from wherever that bridge led. Still, he kept trying to heal, but to no effect. The cat wasn¡¯t diseased. It wasn¡¯t unhealthy. It was just different. Desperate to find something that worked, Elijah shouted, ¡°Isaak! Take the potion from my right pocket. I need you to pour that down Artemis¡¯ throat. Can you do that without getting cut to ribbons?¡± He nodded, saying something about his Ethereal Shield. Then, he followed Elijah¡¯s directions, finding the vial and uncorking it. The moment he did so, Elijah felt the power emitting from it. Then, Isaak reached in and awkwardly dragged the cat¡¯s mouth open. It hissed and spit and tried to claw him, but each time it did, it was met with a shimmering blue shield. Eventually, Isaak managed to pour the concoction down Artemis¡¯s throat. Instantly, he felt the difference. The potion was more than simple healing. It exceeded what Elijah could do by a fair amount, adding some other characteristic that he simply couldn¡¯t identify. However, what he could tell was that the moment the potion went down Artemis¡¯s throat, the corruption had started to retreat. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Elijah felt the darkness rally as the effect of the potion started to dissipate. So, he spat, ¡°The other one!¡± To his credit, Isaak didn¡¯t hesitate, which told Elijah just how much the young man loved his cat. Isaak yanked his own potion from his pocket and added that to the mix as well. As he did so, Elijah forced as much ethera as he could muster into repeated castings of Touch of Nature. And finally, it worked. Slowly. The cat continued to struggle, but soon, its yowls weakened and its wriggling lost vigor. Elijah continued to pour ethera into his healing spells, and miraculously, the corruption retreated, then began to dissipate. Just as he was about to run out of energy, the last of the otherworldly taint dissolved, leaving only a healthy cat behind. But it was absolutely exhausted, and the creature immediately went limp, passing out. Elijah felt like doing the same, but instead, he gave Isaak a tired smile as he said, ¡°She¡¯s going to be okay. I think.¡± ¡°I hope so. Do you have any idea what those potions were?¡± Isaak asked, grinning like a giddy idiot. ¡°Uh¡­Rejuvenation Potions is what the notification said. Why? What¡¯s so special about them?¡± ¡°They¡¯re kind of like a cure-all. I think I remember someone who had an identification skill saying that the description claimed that ¡®No affliction can endure a Rejuvenation Potion¡¯. Those things are priceless,¡± Isaak stated. Elijah shrugged and scratched behind the cat¡¯s ear. Even out cold, it let out a contented purr. ¡°Worth it,¡± he said, and he could tell that Isaak completely agreed. 2-59. Levels and Rewards ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Isaak, looking around the darkening forest. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I sleep outside all the time,¡± Elijah said, sitting beside the small fire he¡¯d built. Artemis was draped over his lap, sound asleep. Because she was so much larger than any housecat had a right to be, she didn¡¯t quite fit in his lap, but that clearly didn¡¯t bother her very much. And if Elijah was honest, he didn¡¯t mind, either. ¡°I spent an entire winter sleeping outside once. Don¡¯t recommend it one little bit. Of course, I¡¯ve got a pretty awesome treehouse now.¡± ¡°You live in a treehouse?¡± ¡°I think I¡¯m selling it short here. Not a house in a tree. A house made out of a tree. That¡¯s a very important distinction, I¡¯m pretty sure,¡± Elijah pointed out. As he spoke, he idly scratched behind the cat¡¯s ear. ¡°What are you?¡± asked Isaak. ¡°Uh¡­a human being. Well, as much of a human as any of us are anymore,¡± Elijah answered. He tilted his head to the side and scratched his chin. ¡°Though with cultivation in the mix, I¡¯m not really sure how true that is. I mean, I feel human. But Body of Wood doesn¡¯t really sound like a very human thing to have. More tree territory, if I¡¯m honest. Or Pinocchio. Pre-¡°real boy¡± shenanigans, of course.¡± ¡°I was¡­I was talking about your class,¡± Isaak clarified. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m a Druid. Well, technically, that¡¯s my archetype, but that¡¯s good enough.¡± ¡°Does that mean you¡¯re a protector of nature?¡± asked the young man. ¡°Or is it more like the Celtic druids?¡± ¡°The first,¡± Elijah answered, reaching into his bag. He still had some travel rations in there, down near the bottom. So, he reached in almost up to his shoulder and grabbed the jerky wrapped in wax paper. When he pulled it out, he offered some to Isaak. ¡°Jerky? I¡¯m not sure what kind of animal it¡¯s from, but it¡¯s not bad. A bit peppery for my taste, but it¡¯s better than eating crab every day.¡± ¡°Crab?¡± ¡°Yeah. Used to love it. But fun fact about crab ¨C when you eat it every single day for more than a year, it kind of loses its luster, if you know what I mean. Maybe if I¡¯d had proper spices, but those are hard to come by out in the wilderness. Best I could do was some salt from boiling seawater, wild garlic, and a few odds and ends I gathered,¡± Elijah babbled. ¡°It was edible, but only just. Didn¡¯t really help that I¡¯ve never been much of a cook. My dad used to tell me I could burn water, and he wasn¡¯t that far off.¡± As Elijah spoke, Isaak tore a chunk of the jerky away and scooted a bit closer to the fire. It was still on the tail end of winter, and though the temperatures had begun to rise, nights remained quite chilly. ¡°I don¡¯t know anybody else who can do what you do. Are you on the power ranking list?¡± asked Isaak. Elijah considered lying, and his good sense told him to do just that. However, he¡¯d never been much for dishonesty, especially with someone who had saved his life earlier that day. Besides, the notion of constantly lying about who he was just left a bad taste in his mouth. So, he said, ¡°Yeah. Top ten, actually. What about you?¡± He hadn¡¯t even checked, but given the boy¡¯s obvious power, it seemed likely. ¡°I was in the nineties for a little while after the tower,¡± he stated. ¡°But I haven¡¯t hunted that much lately. I just¡­¡± The young man trailed off, and Elijah understood precisely why. It didn¡¯t take a psychiatrist to recognize the inevitable consequences of the trauma the boy had been through. ¡°It¡¯s okay. You don¡¯t have to talk about it,¡± Elijah said. For a long moment, Isaak just stared into the crackling fire. Then, in a low voice, he said, ¡°I was the only survivor. I shouldn¡¯t have made it, either. I was the first to go down. Too slow. My shield didn¡¯t hold. The monster¡­I think it was a werewolf or something¡­it was too fast, and it targeted me first. Stored Soul saved me, and when I woke up, everyone was already dead. But the monster, it was wounded. Barely alive. I killed it, and I got the rewards.¡± He laughed harshly. ¡°A stupid sword I couldn¡¯t even use.¡± ¡°I saw it.¡± ¡°Ridiculous thing, right?¡± Isaak said, shaking his head. ¡°After that, everyone started calling me a hero. Someone said I was like Atlas, standing with the world on his shoulders, and it stuck. Me. A titan. Even stupider than the sword. Before the world changed, I was a nobody. Worse than nobody. I spent all my time playing online games and avoiding...everything. But now I¡¯m supposed to be a hero or something. I don¡¯t know how to do that.¡± ¡°Me neither,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°What? You saved me. You saved Artemis. You are a hero,¡± Isaak insisted, leaning forward, his eyes glistening. Elijah just shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m definitely not what you think I am, kid,¡± he said. Then, he stood, careful not to wake the cat cradled in his arms. He stepped toward Isaak and deposited Artemis beside him. The cat woke up and yowled in his direction, but he ignored it. ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk. I¡¯ll make sure nothing messes with you.¡± ¡°What? Did I say¡­¡± Elijah ignored the rest of the boy¡¯s question, instead slipping into the trees and shifting into his predator form. He had Guise of the Unseen wrapped around him within a couple of steps. But he didn¡¯t go anywhere. Instead, he just turned around and watched over Isaak, who looked incredibly small and young, sitting there beside the fire. The boy was also na?ve. The fact that he thought of Elijah as a hero was laughable, especially considering that not that long ago, he¡¯d killed four people for no more of a crime than hunting a bear and picking a mushroom. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. There was more to it than that, he knew. Far more. On top of his trauma and his tendency to anthropomorphize animals, he suspected that his attitude was being affected by something far greater than himself. Was that the effect of his archetype? Or was it something more ephemeral? Had he truly gone wild? Or was he simply making excuses for indulging in his most violent tendencies? The truth was that he didn¡¯t know, and that scared him. Because for better or worse, Elijah knew he had the power to become something incredibly scary. Without rules or restraint, he would be a monster not unlike the Voxx. Just pure destruction in human form. After leaving Norcastle, he¡¯d been patting himself on the back for taking Jess¡¯s advice and refusing to rise to the mayor¡¯s unspoken challenge. But in retrospect, it was easy to leave the town behind because he just didn¡¯t care enough to react. Pride wasn¡¯t Elijah¡¯s sin, after all. But his frustration had left him primed to react poorly when he¡¯d come upon the bear¡¯s corpse, and he¡¯d given in to the anger. The rest was history, and not the sort any sane person would look upon favorably. As Elijah considered his actions ¨C and how to avoid falling into that trap again ¨C he watched the young man fall asleep. Artemis pretended like she was asleep as well, but in his draconid form, Elijah could tell that she was awake and alert, likely to guard Isaak from any potential predators. It made him think of the panther who¡¯d died what felt like a lifetime ago, which brought his thoughts back to the bear. Neither had deserved to die, but in retrospect, he could understand the motivation to hunt them. The world was a dangerous place, and unless humanity grabbed at whatever power it could, people would die. If not to the dangerous wildlife, then to the non-human settlements like Ironshore. Some of those people were assuredly aggressive. Even so, Elijah couldn¡¯t stomach the idea of hunting something for no more reason than to gain experience. Doing so for food was acceptable. For defense, too. Even for dominance. But just for experience? It just left him feeling queasy, and for reasons he couldn¡¯t quite articulate. He only knew he didn¡¯t like it. To distract himself from that, Elijah focused on something he¡¯d not let himself acknowledge while with Isaak. Since leaving Norcastle, he¡¯d gained three more levels. The first was when he¡¯d killed the four hunters, and the other two had come in the dimensional rift. Normally, three levels wouldn¡¯t have excited him ¨C after all, it wasn¡¯t as if he needed to allocate his attribute points anymore ¨C but in this case, he¡¯d finally hit the level forty-five threshold. And that meant that he¡¯d gotten a new spell.
Essence of the Lion Channel the might of the lion, increasing Strength attribute by ten (10) points. Usable on allies.
It was a familiar format, largely because he had similar enhancements meant to augment his other attributes. The lone holdout was ethera, and he wasn¡¯t certain if he¡¯d ever get something like that. However, he could already think of tons of situations where having the extra Strength that came with Essence of the Lion would come in handy. The only drawback was that he couldn¡¯t use all of his enhancements at once. Yet, if he ever found himself fighting as a member of a group, he could pick and choose the enhancements he bestowed upon other people, tailoring the augmentations to the person¡¯s archetype, class, or role. And who knew? Perhaps at level fifty he would gain another slot. Once he finished examining the new spell ¨C which didn¡¯t take long, considering how similar it was to the others in the Essence line ¨C Elijah decided to take a look at his full status for the first time in quite a while.
Name Elijah Hart
Level 45
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 67 (57)
Dexterity 79 (49)
Constitution 57 (47)
Ethera 55
Regeneration 69 (49)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
His attributes had continued to grow by one point for every level, and combined with his equipment and enhancement spells, he felt like he was in a good place. And in his draconid form, it was even more dramatic. But he had to wonder about the other people on the ladder. Were their attributes just as impressive? He knew his archetype was rare, and he believed his class was as well. On top of that, with his Dragon Core, his enhancement spells were that much more effective. So, he felt confident that he could stand toe-to-toe with any of them, even the ones ahead of them on the list. Yet, it stood to reason that they¡¯d all experienced their own lucky encounters as well. Perhaps their cultivation was just as advanced as his. Or maybe more so. The reality was that he had no idea, and so far, he¡¯d yet to find an opportunity to answer the questions strangling his thoughts. And perhaps he never would. The world was a big place, after all. What were the odds that he¡¯d actually run into another high ranker? Slim, Elijah knew. But still, he expected that it would eventually happen. Power drew power, and strength challenged strength. It was na?ve in the extreme to suspect that there wouldn¡¯t be friction between those high-ranking people. Competitive natures dictated as much, and that was discounting the possibility that someone might see their fellow people as a means of progression. No - he knew he would run into them at some point. He just needed to be ready for when the inevitable came to pass. Until then, though, he had other things on his mind. He still needed to find Alyssa, and despite having spent the past months exploring and fighting his way across hundreds of miles, he still didn¡¯t feel any closer to accomplishing that goal. But he would. He believed that because he didn¡¯t want to contemplate any other possibility. With that at the forefront of his mind, Elijah switched back to his human form and returned to the campsite. There, he settled down to watch over the now-sleeping young man and his cat. 2-60. A Hearty Welcome and an Awkward Situation Morning sunlight filtered through the forest¡¯s canopy as a dewy chill carpeted the forest floor. Somewhere up above, a bird chirped, and in the distance, a squirrel chittered, painting the morning with a cold, yet idyllic brush. Elijah sat with his back to the trunk of a tree, his head tilted upward as he enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere for what it represented. He looked across the campsite to see Artemis staring back at him from her position cuddled next to Isaak. She was a dangerous creature. He knew that down to his very core. Even without the corruption of the dimensional rift infecting her, Artemis was a peerless predator. Due to that undeniable fact, Elijah was hesitant to leave her behind. The chances that she would end up killing someone were high enough that taking her back to his island was probably the most responsible path he could take. And yet, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to make that decision. For one, he didn¡¯t have the heart to separate Artemis from her owner. Or perhaps she was the owner in this situation. Regardless, it seemed that neither would accept being parted from the other¡¯s company. So, if Elijah took one, he¡¯d need to take the other. And he had no interest in doing that. Not only would having another person underfoot, trampling his grove, be far more trouble than it was worth, but the prudence of that course of action was extremely questionable. Elijah knew he wasn¡¯t great company, and sentencing someone else to the sort of solitude he¡¯d endured was a cruelty he refused to contemplate. No ¨C that wasn¡¯t a path he intended to explore. Perhaps Artemis would hurt someone, but maybe not. Elijah couldn¡¯t be responsible for the whole world, after all. It wasn¡¯t his problem to solve. He¡¯d already done enough by saving her and Isaak, and, if he was honest, he was eager to get back on the proverbial road and hunt down his sister, Carmen, and Miguel. Because if nothing else, the bond between Isaak and Artemis had proven the value of having trustworthy people around. Even if those people happened to be overgrown and deadly housecats. More than anything, he wanted to just unload his problems onto someone, but he didn¡¯t think many therapists had survived the touch of the World Tree. Not many of anything had, as far as he could tell. But as a substitute, his sister would do just fine. Certainly, she¡¯d played that role before, and he¡¯d done the same for her. But that was back before he¡¯d run away to Hawaii. Of course, he¡¯d never characterized it like that. On the surface, taking that job had made perfect sense. It was in his field, and it was paradise, after all. But in reality, Elijah could admit that he¡¯d just wanted to get as far away from all the trappings of familiarity that reminded him of the parents he¡¯d lost far too soon. It was a mistake, and one he¡¯d acknowledged on more than one occasion. Being diagnosed with terminal cancer tended to prompt introspection, and as he was dying, he¡¯d most regretted losing touch with his sister. Now, he had a chance to rectify that mistake, and with all the things going through his mind, he needed the support of family more than ever. Finally, about an hour after dawn, Isaak¡¯s eyes fluttered open and he pushed himself upright. ¡°I can¡¯t believe I slept all night,¡± he muttered, stretching. He ran his hand through his curly, black hair, smacking his lips as he yawned. ¡°Didn¡¯t you need to rest? I could have stood watch.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Not the first all-nighter I¡¯ve ever pulled. At least I have the attributes to soften the blow, now.¡± He reached into his pack and retrieved one of his glass jugs, which he handed to Isaak. The boy took it gratefully, and after taking a long swig, wiped his arm across his mouth. ¡°We should head back to the city. My sister is probably worried sick.¡± ¡°Sister?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°You never mentioned a sister.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Must have slipped my mind,¡± the young man said. ¡°She didn¡¯t want me to come out here looking for Artemis. She¡¯s kind of protective like that.¡± ¡°This is an older sister, right?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t what?¡± ¡°Look, I¡¯m grateful for what you did for me. But please don¡¯t go after my sister,¡± he said. ¡°She¡¯s¡­just don¡¯t, okay?¡± ¡°What makes you think ¨C¡± ¡°That look. I¡¯ve seen it enough to know exactly what it means. Delilah was always popular.¡± ¡°Was that because of her looks or¡­¡± Isaak just shook his head. Elijah tried to babble an excuse ¨C his social graces might have been a bit rusty, but he was still aware that he¡¯d crossed a line ¨C but he ended up going off on a tangent about how big his grove was. It was not an effective conversational path, and by the time they started back to the city, Isaak was visibly annoyed. Artemis just followed along, but Elijah got the feeling she was judging him, too. But that might have just been the fact that she was still a cat, if an overgrown one. Still, Elijah wouldn¡¯t let that dampen his spirits. After all, he¡¯d successfully completed the mission he¡¯d set for himself, gained a couple of levels and a new spell, and, to top it all off, a beautiful woman was waiting back in Argos to show him how grateful she was that he¡¯d saved her little brother. And he¡¯d saved a couple of lives, which, now that it was done, didn¡¯t seem quite as important as all the rest. ¡°I hate how much you¡¯re smiling,¡± Isaak muttered as they drew within sight of the gate. Elijah pointedly ignored him. The same two guards were working the gate, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, they recognized him straight away. They were far more excited about Isaak¡¯s return, which meant quite a lot of back-slapping and jovial declarations as to the hero¡¯s valor. Artemis hadn¡¯t even stopped. Instead, she¡¯d disappeared through the gate to wander the city. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t kill anyone. Or at least nobody that didn¡¯t deserve it. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Once they made it past the two enthusiastic guards, Elijah and Isaak made their way through the city. As they went, the same old ladies sat on their balconies exchanging gossip. Meanwhile, Isaak received the celebrity treatment, which he endured with as much grace as could be expected. Still, Elijah could recognize the tightness of frustration in the young man¡¯s shoulders. One good thing was that, apparently, Greek people liked to show their appreciation with food, which meant that by the time they reached Isaak¡¯s home, they¡¯d been loaded down with various fruits and a couple of hearty meat pies. The smell alone was enough to set Elijah¡¯s mouth to watering, so when Isaak invited him inside, he was more than happy to take advantage of the young man¡¯s hospitality. It had nothing at all to do with the possibility of meeting the boy¡¯s goddess of a sister. Unfortunately, by the time he finished his meat pie, no such sister had presented herself. So, without any reason to hang around, he said his goodbyes and headed back into town. For a couple of hours, he just wandered around enjoying the atmosphere. He enjoyed the wilderness, and he was a bit solitary by nature, but Elijah could appreciate civilization as much as the next guy ¨C especially when everyone was so friendly. It was such a departure from what he''d experienced back in Norcastle that he couldn¡¯t help but make the comparison. Where one town had responded to the world¡¯s transformation with petty cronyism and corruption, another had pulled together in solidarity. The existence of somewhere like Argos was enough to color Elijah¡¯s expectations with a fair amount of optimism. Eventually, he made his way to Atticus¡¯s shop, where he found the eponymous owner closing a deal with a man in a heavy, purple robe. Elijah recognized the ogre staff the man was in the process of buying, so he gave Atticus a quick thumbs up. He didn¡¯t mean to eavesdrop, but he definitely overheard the final price the two agreed upon, and it was quite a bit higher than what Atticus had paid. So, once the purple-robed would-be wizard departed the shop, he asked, ¡°Was everything you told me about that staff a lie?¡± ¡°Welcome back, my friend!¡± ¡°Oh, don¡¯t ¡®my friend¡¯ me. You paid me two silvers for that stick, and you just charged him fourteen.¡± ¡°He overpaid, friend.¡± ¡°Or you underpaid.¡± ¡°I would never!¡± he said, clutching his chest as if stabbed. Elijah rolled his eyes and said, ¡°Whatever. What¡¯s a few silvers between friends, right? But maybe you can help me with identifying a couple of other items.¡± ¡°More treasure already? Did you go to the tower, then?¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Just some things I didn¡¯t know what to do with before. Still don¡¯t, honestly. But figuring out what they are is probably the first step.¡± With that, the two men headed into the back room. There, Elijah rummaged in his pack until he found the two items that were his goal. The first was the bear¡¯s pelt, which he set onto the table. ¡°Dire bear pelt,¡± Atticus stated, with a note of surprise. ¡°Simple-Grade. Where did you get this?¡± ¡°Oh, out and about. What about this?¡± he asked, setting the pack containing the amanita flesh onto the table. ¡°It¡¯s an enchanted sack, but inside is what¡¯s left of a natural treasure. I wouldn¡¯t open it if I were you, though. It¡¯ll almost certainly make you sick.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t identify it, then. The pack is Crude-Grade, though. Called a preservation sack. You might have more luck with an alchemist, but we don¡¯t have any living in the city limits.¡± ¡°Does that imply there¡¯s one outside the city?¡± Atticus nodded. ¡°There¡¯s one that lives in a commune about forty miles to the south, on the edge of the swamp. I¡¯ve never met him, but I¡¯ve heard weird stories,¡± he said. ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°The cult-y kind. I don¡¯t know anything else, but people certainly don¡¯t hold him in high esteem, friend. Name is Konstantinos. Don¡¯t know any more, and I¡¯ll be honest ¨C I don¡¯t want to know.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Oh, took care of the maneater, by the way. Turns out, you had a dimensional rift. It¡¯s closed now.¡± After that statement, Atticus begged Elijah to tell him more. And for his part, Elijah parlayed that into a meal, which the two took at a local tavern. By the time he was done telling the story ¨C in as self-deprecating way as possible ¨C the pair had already finished their meals and were deep into a night of drinking. Which was why Elijah didn¡¯t even notice the newcomer until she tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around a little too quickly and almost stumbled directly into a woman¡¯s chest. He caught himself just in time, then pulsed Touch of Nature to rid himself of the effect of the alcohol. Then, he realized where he was staring, so he looked up and into the eyes of the goddess he¡¯d envisioned earlier. She looked a little like Isaak, though far more mature and infinitely more feminine. However, she was far from some dainty maid. Instead, she was a striking Amazon, with thick shoulders and a warrior¡¯s physique. ¡°You¡¯re smaller than I expected,¡± she said with a smirk. ¡°Cute, too. Isaak didn¡¯t mention that.¡± ¡°Uh¡­Delilah?¡± ¡°Oh, so he mentioned me. Good.¡± Then, without further explanation, she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight. His bones creaked under her high Strength, but with the orientation of his face ¨C which was positioned in the center of her chest ¨C he couldn¡¯t really complain. When she finally released him, Atticus cleared his throat and slurred, ¡°I think I deserve a hug, too. Whatever he did, I did it twice as much.¡± Delilah ignored him, which didn¡¯t seem to bother the weapons dealer at all. Or that was the impression Elijah got when Atticus turned his attention back to the mug of beer in front of him. Meanwhile, he got a good look at Delilah. She wore a boiled leather cuirass and a skirt composed of leather strips. From the knees down, she wore brass greaves, which left her thighs on display. And from Elijah¡¯s still slightly drunken perspective, they were great thighs. In fact, everything about her was great, even if she was almost a foot taller than him. She probably weighed more, too. But that didn¡¯t dissuade him at all. Instead, he found it quite interesting. But in his defense, outside of Jess, who¡¯d never really considered giving him the time of day, he¡¯d not had much of an opportunity to mingle with the opposite sex in more than two years. So, of course, he put his foot in his mouth. ¡°Yeah, I can see why you¡¯re popular.¡± ¡°What?¡± she asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion. ¡°What do you mean by popular?¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s something your brother said.¡± ¡°You were talking about me with my brother?¡± ¡°Of course. I think he meant to fix us up. I tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. Said we¡¯d make a great couple.¡± ¡°Did he now?¡± ¡°More or less.¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking it was less more than more,¡± she stated. ¡°I¡¯m far too drunk to make sense of what you just said. So, I don¡¯t have a room yet, but there¡¯s an inn around here where the owner loves me,¡± he went on. ¡°I¡¯m sure ¨C¡± ¡°You think you can handle me?¡± she asked, her eyes twinkling. ¡°Definitely,¡± Elijah said with a grin of his own. Then, without hesitation, she dipped down, wrapped her arms around his waist, and threw him over her shoulder. With his Sash of the Whirlwind, Elijah probably could have avoided it, but in his human form, his Strength and Dexterity weren¡¯t quite high enough to make use of the item¡¯s Haste. Besides, he wasn¡¯t all that displeased with the sudden shift because it at least gave him a nice view of her backside. Still, he made a show of resistance, claiming, ¡°I was just joking!¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± Then, she was marching outside and to the house where he¡¯d left Isaak earlier that day. Nobody in the streets batted an eyelash at the clear abduction, which Elijah would later learn was due to Delilah¡¯s well-known proclivities. She was a straightforward woman, and apparently, not averse to taking what she wanted. And at that moment, she wanted Elijah. Yet, despite the lack of dignity in its beginning, Elijah couldn¡¯t think of any reason to object to what he hoped would prove to be a very eventful night and a much-needed release. 2-61. The Morning After Sunlight filtered through the curtains, illuminating the dancing dust motes in the air. For a moment, Carmen had no idea where she was, and she reached for a partner that wasn¡¯t there. Then, everything came crashing down on her like a tidal wave, and she suddenly felt very alone. That lasted right up until she saw Miguel curled up in a chair, his mother¡¯s old spear leaning against the wall next to him. That brought all sorts of mixed feelings, but the most prevalent was that she couldn¡¯t afford to lose herself in the still-poignant grief that came every time she thought of Alyssa. She had a responsibility to the living, including Miguel and all the people of Silverado who¡¯d entrusted her with their safety as well as their potential prosperity. She shifted, and her muscles screamed at her for the mistake. Groaning, she persisted, propping herself up on the pillow. That noise woke Miguel, whose eyes fluttered open sleepily. Just like his mother, he took a moment to remember where he was, but when his eyes found Carmen, they widened in surprise. ¡°Mom! You¡¯re awake!¡± he shouted, launching himself from the chair. In less than a second, he crashed into her, burying his face in her shoulder as he hugged her as tightly as his little arms could allow. He¡¯d put on a bit of muscle since he¡¯d started training, but he still wasn¡¯t strong enough to really affect Carmen. Physically, at least. Emotionally, he had all the power in the world. Even though it caused some degree of pain, Carmen wrapped her arms around her son and returned his hug with one of her own. She didn¡¯t even realize she was crying until her tears started to drip onto his mop of black hair. She sniffed loudly, then said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, sweetie. I¡¯m so sorry.¡± ¡°For what?¡± he asked, pulling away. Carmen didn¡¯t want to release him, but she also didn¡¯t want to smother him. When they locked eyes, she saw the evident confusion implied by his question. ¡°I made a dumb decision. I shouldn¡¯t have gone into that mine,¡± she said. ¡°But I know my limits, now. I won¡¯t leave you ever again.¡± Then, she hugged him again. ¡°But mom, you saved all those people,¡± he said, his voice muffled by its close proximity to her chest. ¡°Everybody says you¡¯re a hero.¡± Hero. People had called Alyssa that, too. But that had gotten her killed. Carmen didn¡¯t care what people thought of her. In fact, a sudden epiphany told her that, in the grand scheme of things, she didn¡¯t care about anything nearly as much as providing Miguel with an opportunity to grow up in a safe environment. That meant that she couldn¡¯t just throw herself into dangerous situations, regardless of what she saw as her responsibility. Not only did that put her in unnecessary danger, which in turn increased the odds of turning Miguel into an orphan, but it was also a waste of her talents. She was strong, and she could hold her own in battle. Yet, if she had been focusing on the things she did best, then the people who¡¯d followed her into that mine would have been far better equipped to meet the dangers therein. As a result, as Carmen had fought what she thought was a fruitless battle, she¡¯d made the choice that, if she managed to survive, she would devote herself to giving her people the tools they needed to do the jobs for which they were suited. They were the Warriors. She was the crafter. And as much as she wanted to do her part as a fighter, she needed to remember that she¡¯d chosen her path long ago, and now she needed to walk it. All of that flitted through her mind as she held Miguel, and in that moment, she had to admit that her own selfish desire to protect her son played a part in that resolution as well. Before she could respond to her son¡¯s remarks, the door to the room ¨C which Carmen belatedly recognized as the town¡¯s infirmary ¨C to admit a familiar face. Verin looked much the same as she had when she¡¯d fetched Carmen so Roman could deliver the news of Alyssa¡¯s death, which meant that she was an older, matronly woman with a thick, gray braid and a stout figure. She was unarmored, and the morningstar she normally wore at her waist was nowhere to be seen. The woman gave Carmen a tight smile that didn¡¯t touch her eyes as she asked, ¡°How are you feeling?¡± ¡°Like I was in an eighteen-car pileup,¡± Carmen admitted. ¡°I¡¯m sore all over.¡± ¡°That¡¯s normal.¡± ¡°Is everyone else okay?¡± Carmen asked, rather than talk about her own condition. She was alive, which meant that she would recover. In any case, she was far more worried about whether or not everyone had made it out alive. Verin shook her head. ¡°We saved as many as we could, but¡­¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Brett Thomas,¡± she said. ¡°He fought until the very end, but by the time we arrived, he was already dead.¡± Carmen¡¯s heart jumped into her throat. Over the course of the battle, the Vigilante had proven himself a dozen times over. He was a talented fighter, and Carmen had thought he would be the last to succumb. Perhaps he wouldn¡¯t have died if he¡¯d had proper armor. ¡°Anyone else?¡± she asked. ¡°Nora Lassiter and Misha Addison.¡± ¡°I remember Nora, but the other¡­¡± ¡°She came with me,¡± Verin said. ¡°We were in such a hurry that some of my people were caught off-guard by the number of monsters. Misha was our Knight, and she¡¯s the only reason we arrived in time to save everyone else.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Carmen said, shaking her head. To Miguel, she said, ¡°Sweetie, why don¡¯t you go get me something to drink?¡± ¡°But mom¡­¡± Carmen knew he wanted to stay and listen in, but she didn¡¯t think it was appropriate for a boy his age to hear a casualty report. So, she gave him her best ¡°mom look,¡± cutting off any further objections. He did move extra slowly on his way out, though, just to make sure everyone knew he wasn¡¯t happy about being excluded. Once Miguel was out of the room, Carmen got the full report of the injured. A few people had lost limbs, but aside from Brett, Nora, and Misha, everyone else had survived. Verin credited Keith, the other Healer, for that. And Carmen herself, of course. The story of how she¡¯d single-handedly held the entrance had already begun to make the rounds. It was made even more plausible by the tales of how, despite only being a crafter, she¡¯d fought side-by-side with the combatants on the trip from Easton to Silverado. That had done wonders for her reputation, and her status as a hero had been cemented by her exploits in the mine. And Carmen hated it. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. To move on, she asked Verin for the whole story of how she had come to arrive in the mines. And to her surprise, it was only partially as she expected. Apparently, the messenger she¡¯d sent back to Easton had never actually made it to the city. Instead, he had been intercepted by Verin¡¯s patrol, and the older woman had taken it upon herself to respond. After that, they¡¯d come as quickly as possible, and when they had arrived, they had found a town in disarray and a few warriors holding off a tide of critters who were trying to spill out into Silverado. ¡°Then we fought our way through until we found you. We would have gotten there sooner, but Devin had to stop a few times to recover his Ethera,¡± Verin explained. ¡°So, Roman doesn¡¯t know what happened here?¡± Verin shook her head. ¡°I think it¡¯s best he doesn¡¯t know you and I met,¡± she said, looking away. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t talk about it here. But if I asked, would you meet me and some other people back in Easton? In a month or two, I mean. There are some things you need to know,¡± Verin said. ¡°What kinds of things?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°The kinds of things that will explain why Alyssa had to die.¡± At first, Carmen didn¡¯t react. But then, she threw herself from the bed with all the Strength she could muster. It was considerable, and as a result, she moved so quickly that Verin couldn¡¯t react before Carmen rammed into her, clamping her hand around the older woman¡¯s throat. Carmen didn¡¯t stop until she¡¯d slammed Verin against the wall hard enough to shake the building. Leaning in, she growled, ¡°What did you just say?¡± The sound of a glass hitting the floor jerked Carmen¡¯s attention towards the door, where she saw Miguel staring at her, wide-eyed and in shock. ¡°Mom?¡± he breathed. ¡°Miguel, go get Colt. Now.¡± ¡°But mom, why ¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t ask questions. Just go. Now.¡± Miguel clearly wanted to disobey, but when he saw his mother¡¯s face, he thought better of it. The moment he raced from the room, Carmen turned her attention back to Verin, who¡¯d started to turn blue from lack of oxygen. ¡°I¡¯m not letting you go until Colt¡¯s here to back me up,¡± she hissed. ¡°But if you know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯d better think long and hard about telling me absolutely everything. You don¡¯t know me, so I¡¯ll explain it to you in the clearest way possible. I am usually an easygoing person. I don¡¯t get angry very quickly. But one thing sure to set me off is my family. So, if you know anything about how my wife died that you haven¡¯t told me, then I suggest you tell me the moment I let you go. Got it?¡± Verin tried to nod, but Carmen¡¯s vice-like grip prevented her head from moving more than an inch or two. Just then, Colt arrived, wearing a hospital gown, his hat, and with his sheathed sword in one hand. Miguel followed after him, out of breath. Colt took less than a moment to take stock of the situation before saying, ¡°Miggy, I¡¯m going to need you to do me a huge favor. You good with that, boss?¡± Miguel nodded, saying, ¡°Yes, sir!¡± ¡°Close that door and guard it with your life,¡± he said. ¡°Anybody tries to come in here, I want you to scream bloody murder. Got that?¡± Miguel said that he understood, then hastened to obey the Samurai¡¯s orders. When the door slammed shut, Carmen said, ¡°Colt. If she tries anything, I want you to use Blade Storm and cut her into a hundred pieces.¡± He unsheathed his sword, saying, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Carmen released Verin, and the older woman fell to the ground, gasping for air. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t worked on her Constitution very much. A mistake, but an understandable one for someone who could heal herself from any injury. In any case, Carmen wasn¡¯t concerned with the woman¡¯s deficiencies. Instead, she¡¯d latched onto her words. Ever since the world had been transformed, Carmen had mistrusted Roman. She¡¯d tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but the combination of his questionable policies as well as the way he¡¯d treated his wife had always left a bad taste in Carmen¡¯s mouth. Then, he¡¯d taken a hardline stance against Scholars, which, while better in the short run, was a surefire way to create a regressive society that would never meet its potential. But with monsters knocking on the door and issues like starvation becoming a real threat, standing up for people who couldn¡¯t really pull their weight wasn¡¯t on anyone¡¯s mind. It wasn¡¯t until Easton had moved past the immediate survival stage that she¡¯d begun to advocate for the Scholars. It had been met with little success, and that only because of Alyssa. It wasn¡¯t the only thing the two had disagreed on. But Alyssa had always trusted Roman. After all, they¡¯d been friends and coworkers for years before the apocalypse had reared its ugly head. So, while they were prone to animated disagreements, the two still trusted one another. Carmen had seen Roman in a different light, though, and she had even warned Alyssa of the dangers of going into the tower. Yet, when Roman had brought news of Alyssa¡¯s death, she¡¯d simply accepted the story due to shock and a desperate need to believe that her wife had died for a purpose. In the back of her mind, though, she¡¯d never quite abandoned the notion that Roman had engineered it somehow. That he had betrayed Alyssa. So, when Verin had uttered those words, ¡°why Alyssa had to die¡±, something inside of Carmen had snapped into place. Suddenly, Roman¡¯s story didn¡¯t seem so believable. ¡°Tell me everything,¡± she spat, glaring down at the woman who she¡¯d already found guilty by association. And Verin did as she¡¯d been ordered, spilling the story with a mix of eagerness and shame that Carmen found repulsive. Or maybe that was due to what she had to say. Verin explained how Roman had approached her just before the trip into the tower, promising that her people would be given a place in Easton if she went along with what he had planned. At the time, Verin didn¡¯t have any choice but to do it. She had more than a hundred people ¨C some of whom were friends and family ¨C depending on her. So, she went in, knowing that something bad would happen. ¡°I didn¡¯t think he was going to kill her,¡± she mumbled. ¡°I swear¡­I just thought¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± It was either a lie or naivete. ¡°Go on. Tell me how he did it.¡± Verin continued, explaining in brutal detail how Trace had stabbed Alyssa in the back. ¡°He had this dagger that we¡¯d looted from the other level,¡± she said. ¡°But that just made it easier. He already had another plan to make it happen. That dagger made her vulnerable, and then¡­then, Roman¡­did it.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°You¡­y-you don¡¯t want to know¡­¡± ¡°Tell me!¡± Carmen roared, kicking Verin in the side. She didn¡¯t hold back, either. In her state, she couldn¡¯t have, even if she¡¯d wanted to. And she did not want to. Verin coughed, spitting up blood, but she didn¡¯t dare embrace any skills. Not with Colt standing there ready to cut her to pieces. He would, too. Everyone knew how much he¡¯d idolized Alyssa, and he had transferred much of that devotion to Carmen in her stead. ¡°H-he¡­he beheaded her,¡± she said. Then, she looked up with tears in her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so¡­s-so sorry. I didn¡¯t know he was going to¡­I thought¡­I thought I could maybe let him do it, then heal her, but¡­she¡­she was gone, and¡­¡± ¡°Kill her.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Kill her, Colt. Do it, or I¡¯m going to beat her to death with my bare hands. I don¡¯t want Miguel to see me like that.¡± ¡°With all due respect, ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Carmen said. ¡°If you can¡¯t stomach it, I can.¡± And then she embarked on a quest to do just that. She only got one good kick in before Colt wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away. Carmen was incredibly strong, but he had all the leverage. Still, she could have broken free, and she would have if she hadn¡¯t been interrupted by a garbled cry coming from the broken woman at her feet. ¡°I know how to get revenge on him!¡± Carmen tore free, but that sentence had torn a hole in her resolve. So, she growled, ¡°How?¡± She knew good and well that Roman¡¯s position was nearly unassailable. Not only was he one of the highest levels in Easton ¨C he wasn¡¯t quite on the power ladder, but he was close ¨C but he also had the weight of the entire government on his side. That meant that to get to him, one needed to either be prepared for a suicide run, or¡­ ¡°There¡¯s a resistance,¡± Verin said. ¡°Mostly people who were loyal to your wife, but there are people who lost friends and loved ones to his policies. I can¡­I can put you in touch with them. I can help you! I¡¯m sorry! I just wanted to save ¨C¡± Carmen had heard enough. Or perhaps she¡¯d finally lost whatever thread of civility she had left. Whatever the case, she suddenly had her summoned blacksmithing hammer in her hand. Even as it descended, Colt tried to stop her. He wasn¡¯t quick enough, though. Just before the blow landed, Carmen caught sight of Verin¡¯s surprised face. Had she really expected to be forgiven? Had she truly thought Carmen could ignore that confession? If so, then she didn¡¯t know who she was dealing with. The hammer crushed the healer¡¯s skull with a sickening crunch that sent splatters of brain and fragments of bone against the wall. Then, Carmen hit her again. Roaring in inarticulate rage, she continued to pummel the woman¡¯s skull until it was little more than a slurry of blood, bone, and brain matter. By the time she¡¯d finished, she was hoarse. Pushing a bloody lock of hair out of her face, she turned to a stunned Colt and said, ¡°I need you to find out who these rebels are. I¡¯d very much like to meet them.¡± Colt swallowed hard, then said, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°And Colt.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t let Miggy in here, okay. He doesn¡¯t need to see this.¡± ¡°Y-yes, ma¡¯am.¡± 2-62. A One-Time Thing It was a good morning. That was the most prevalent thought in every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he lay on his side, his head propped on one hand as he beheld the goddess he¡¯d met the night before. As she dressed, this time in normal clothes as opposed to the Wonder Woman get-up she¡¯d worn when she had accosted him, she gave him a small smirk. ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a prostitute class?¡± he asked. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. ¡°Come again.¡± ¡°What?¡± he said. Then, it hit him what he¡¯d just suggested. ¡°No! I didn¡¯t mean you! It¡¯s just that I was thinking about it last night, and ¨C¡± ¡°And you think I¡¯m a whore? I¡¯ll have you know that I¡¯m a well-respected member of this community, and I do not have a prostitute class!¡± she shouted. Her eyes went to the spear propped against the wall. Before she could take a step toward it, Elijah leaped to his feet, just in case he needed to defend himself. He didn¡¯t think getting stabbed would kill him, but he didn¡¯t want to experience it regardless. He held his hands out in surrender, ¡°Wait. That¡¯s not what I meant!¡± She stopped, put her hands on her hips, and demanded, ¡°Then explain it. If I don¡¯t like your explanation, there¡¯s always the spear. And believe me, I¡¯ve got a good measure of your attributes, so I¡¯m fairly sure you¡¯re not getting away if I don¡¯t want you to.¡± ¡°Do men run away from you often?¡± he couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking. ¡°Not successfully.¡± Elijah could believe it, too. While he had no idea what level Delilah was, she¡¯d certainly proven that her physical attributes were up to just about any task. He¡¯d only spent one night with her ¨C and it was definitely a pleasurable one ¨C but he was sore in places he didn¡¯t even know existed. To call her strong would have been an understatement. If he was in a bit less desperate of a situation, he might¡¯ve wondered why she wasn¡¯t on the power ladder, but as it was, he was far too concerned with explaining himself. ¡°It was just an idle thought, okay? I¡¯m weird. We¡¯ve established that. I sometimes lose track of things,¡± he said. ¡°Do better,¡± she said, taking a step toward the spear. ¡°Okay! Okay,¡± he said. ¡°I spent a long time alone. Like, a long time. Longer than you can imagine. So, I sort of lost some of my¡­uh¡­social graces. I¡¯m trying to get them back, but it¡¯s a work in progress. What I meant when I asked about that¡­other class was that there seem to be classes for all sorts of other professions. And that¡¯s supposed to be the oldest one, right? I¡¯m sure that wherever the system came from had lonely people who would pay for companionship, right? It seems like there¡¯d be just as much call for someone with that kind of class as there is for, say, a carpenter. Or an archivist. Or whatever other non-combat classes are out there.¡± ¡°Just idle curiosity, then. That¡¯s your final answer, huh?¡± ¡°I should warn you that I am a powerful warrior, and I will defend myself if necessary,¡± he said. That¡¯s when he realized that he was probably twenty pounds lighter than her, a couple of inches shorter, and as they¡¯d established the night before, lacking more than a few points in Strength. He was also still naked, which he only realized when Delilah¡¯s eyes flicked down to his most private bits. But he stubbornly refused to cover up. She¡¯d seen all there was to see, anyway. It wasn¡¯t as if he had anything to hide after the night they¡¯d spent together. ¡°You really believe that, huh?¡± she asked, cocking her head to the side. ¡°Scrawny thing like you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­I spent two years with barely enough food to survive,¡± he said. ¡°I think I¡¯m in pretty good shape, all things considered. And let¡¯s not even talk about when I got digested by a whale. Or whale monster, I guess. I was down to skin and bones after that.¡± ¡°A whale monster? Where in the world did you encounter a whale monster?¡± ¡°In the Sea of Sorrows. Or something like that. I forget the name, if I¡¯m honest,¡± he said, hopping off the bed. ¡°My point is that you shouldn¡¯t make light of someone who¡¯s been through what I¡¯ve been through. Bad form, and all that.¡± She narrowed her eyes again, and he added, ¡°My other point is that, in no way, shape, or form did I mean to impugn your reputation. If I did, I apologize wholeheartedly and throw myself upon your generous mercy.¡± He ended with as dramatic a bow as he could muster. ¡°You¡¯re not getting laid again.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me. It was fun. I had a great time,¡± she said. ¡°But this was always going to be a one-time thing.¡± ¡°Ugh. I feel used.¡± ¡°Because you were,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Look ¨C do you have any idea how few men my age are still around in Argos? Not many. Do you know why?¡± Elijah shook his head, though he did take a moment to find his underpants, which were hanging from a standing lamp. Classy. ¡°Who do you think the first ones called to defend the city were? The young, healthy men. And who do you think were the first ones to die when the Voxx started surging? Yeah. You guessed it,¡± she said, her expression suddenly hard. ¡°It was almost overnight that the average age in Argos rose by fifteen years. So, when somebody new comes in and saves my little brother, well¡­a girl has needs.¡± Elijah guessed, ¡°But a girl doesn¡¯t want commitment.¡± ¡°Just so. I¡¯ve got plans,¡± she said. ¡°Me and Isaak are going to travel once we both get a few more levels under our belts. We want to see the world.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Elijah understood wanderlust better than most. He had no intention of sitting still, even after he found his family. Yet, he also didn¡¯t want to be responsible for two strangers, even if they were reasonably capable. Isaak had proven himself, and he suspected that Delilah was nearly as strong in her own way. But Elijah was on a different level, and he didn¡¯t want to saddle himself with that kind of responsibility. ¡°It¡¯s not you,¡± Delilah said. ¡°It¡¯s me. I don¡¯t want to have to carry anyone.¡± Elijah almost laughed at that, but he remembered his manners well enough to keep that to himself. Instead, he just gave her a feigned sad smile and said, ¡°I understand. I hope you both find exactly what you¡¯re looking for.¡± After that, Delilah finished dressing. When Elijah hesitated to do the same ¨C aside from his hastily donned underwear ¨C Delilah cleared her throat pointedly. That¡¯s when he remembered that they were in her room. Clearly, she had no intention of leaving him behind, so he quickly apologized and dressed, gathering his things without much fanfare. Once that was done, they shared an awkward goodbye, then Delilah led him downstairs and past Isaak, who was pointedly ignoring everything as he sat at the table eating a piece of fruit. Elijah had no intention of extending that awkwardness, so he just gave a half-hearted wave before Delilah practically pushed him from the house. A couple of old women sitting on the neighboring front porch sniggered at his treatment, so he just gave them a shrug before heading on his way. It wasn¡¯t long before his path took him to the Branch, where he deposited his coins and spent a few minutes perusing the Knowledge Base as well as the Map. He bought a couple of extra guides ¨C one on crafting and the other called Guidelines for Entering a Newly Touched World, which he surmised was intended for people traveling from other worlds to ones that had been recently touched by the World Tree. He hoped that would give him some insight in case he encountered more off-worlders. On the Map, he found his next target, which was called Kalajma. That didn¡¯t sound Greek, so he suspected that it had come from a completely different part of the world. Which was both exciting and daunting. Elijah hadn¡¯t experienced a lot of different cultures in his short life, but he knew just how easy it was to say or do the wrong thing when you didn¡¯t know the societal rules. Still, if it was half as friendly as Argos had been, then he expected he would enjoy the new town. Once he¡¯d copied a rough facsimile of the map into a notebook he¡¯d bought back in Ironshore, Elijah thanked the Envoy and went on his way. Before he decided what to do, Elijah stopped by a caf¨¦, where he enjoyed a cup of coffee. As he sat there, he became keenly aware that someone was watching him. So, he focused on One with Nature, and he found a familiar presence in the nearby alley. He didn¡¯t immediately go check it out, though. Instead, he continued to enjoy his coffee, chuckling softly when his visitor started pacing impatiently. However, Elijah didn¡¯t want to push things too far ¨C especially because he knew what his friend was capable of ¨C so instead of ordering another cup, he paid his bill, leaving an extra copper ethereum as a tip, then headed into the alley. ¡°What?¡± Predictably, his stalker didn¡¯t answer, but that was more due to the fact that cats typically couldn¡¯t speak, rather than any intention of rudeness. Artemis just stared at him flatly, then approached. ¡°I¡¯m not taking you with me,¡± he said, kneeling down to pet the cat. When he did, he was reminded that her fur on her back felt like metal bristles, which sort of took the fun out of the whole thing. Still, he was careful to show her the positive attention she obviously craved as he said, ¡°You need to stay with Isaak. Protect him. He¡¯s strong, but he¡¯s vulnerable. If you ¨C¡± ¡°Are you giving my cat an explanation like she can actually understand you?¡± came Isaak¡¯s voice. ¡°Huh?¡± Elijah asked, forcing himself to calmly look back. ¡°No. You must have been hearing things. I wouldn¡¯t¡­you know what? Sure. I was explaining to Artemis that she can¡¯t come with me.¡± ¡°Pretty sure she doesn¡¯t want to go with you,¡± Isaak said, stepping forward. He seemed a lot more confident than he had in the woods. But that was probably because he was more comfortable in the city where everyone saw him as a hero. Or maybe it was because Argos was only home to one monster, and now that Artemis had been cured of the corruption, she wasn¡¯t going to start attacking people. Probably. Cats being cats, one could never be sure, but Elijah felt reasonably confident that Artemis wouldn¡¯t just haul off and start hunting people. Especially so long as Isaak was around. In any case, Artemis raised her head primly and sashayed past Elijah to leap into Isaak¡¯s arms. Considering her size, that was quite a feat, but Isaak didn¡¯t seem to have much difficulty holding the cat. What was obvious was that Artemis didn¡¯t have any intention of leaving her friend, which just highlighted how silly Elijah felt. ¡°Just one of those days,¡± he sighed. ¡°What¡¯s up, then? Need me to save you from something else?¡± Isaak held his cat close as he said, ¡°No. I just¡­I just wanted to thank you again. I know you didn¡¯t have to help me. Most people wouldn¡¯t have, especially after I hit you with that soulfire ball. But you did. And¡­well¡­thanks. If you ever need me for anything, I¡¯ll be here.¡± Elijah nodded, but he really didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. ¡°Also, please stay away from my sister.¡± ¡°What? Why? I mean, she came for me!¡± ¡°Ugh. Please just¡­no. Just no.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong!¡± Isaak just shook his head. Then, he cleared his throat before asking, ¡°Where are you going to go?¡± Elijah was more than happy to move the conversational topic to something else, and he said, ¡°There¡¯s a town a few hundred miles from here. It¡¯s called Kalajma. That¡¯s the next stop.¡± ¡°I thought you wanted to go to Seattle.¡± ¡°I do,¡± he said. ¡°And how do you know that?¡± Indeed, he¡¯d never revealed his plans to Isaak. Suddenly, he was suspicious. ¡°Delilah told me. She said you told her about it last night.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t do much talking last night.¡± ¡°Gross.¡± ¡°Where did you really hear it?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Fine. It was from Atticus. When we got back into town, someone told me that you two had gotten kind of friendly. So, I went over there today and asked about you,¡± Isaak said. ¡°He told me about Seattle.¡± ¡°What else did he tell you?¡± ¡°Nothing!¡± Isaak said, taking a step back. ¡°Easy, kid. I¡¯m not going to attack you. Jesus. People are so paranoid. Like I¡¯d just murder a kid in the middle of town,¡± he muttered. ¡°Just don¡¯t tell anybody else, okay? I¡¯m not exactly hiding here, but I don¡¯t need my business all over town.¡± ¡°You might¡¯ve made friends with the wrong person, then. Everybody knows Atticus is the town gossip,¡± Isaak revealed. ¡°Of course he is,¡± Elijah said, running his hand down his face in exasperation. In reality, it wasn¡¯t really that surprising. In retrospect, it wasn¡¯t even that frustrating. Atticus was just a friendly guy who was probably on good terms with everyone in town. Of course he¡¯d talk. Elijah could just hope that he hadn¡¯t revealed all of his secrets. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m leaving anyway, and I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll ever come this way again.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know where Seattle is? It¡¯s to the southeast. Close to five-hundred miles, though. At least according to the last peddler that came through here,¡± Isaak explained. ¡°He seemed pretty sure about it, though, and from what I understand, it¡¯s not a good situation down there. But that was more than a year ago, so I¡¯m sure things have changed.¡± ¡°Do you know anything else about it?¡± Isaak shook his head. ¡°And that¡¯s second-hand information. For all I know, the peddler was lying. But he seemed sure that Seattle was in that direction, and I don¡¯t see why he would lie about that part.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± After that, the conversation went on for a few more minutes, but it was clear that Isaak didn¡¯t have any more information. So, Elijah said goodbye, patted the cat on its bristly head, then set off to the southeast. Hopefully, before too long, he would reach Seattle and find his sister. So, it was with some degree of optimism that he left Argos behind and set off into the wilderness. 2-63. The Looming Threat Kurik dove aside, rolling away just in time to avoid the orc¡¯s descending axe. The stone blade thudded into the loamy turf, sending an explosion of black soil and dead leaves into the air. The monster roared in frustration as it yanked the massive blade out of the ground, but it had dug into the roots of a nearby oak tree, so the motion wasn¡¯t quite as smooth as it should have been. That was the only opening Kurik needed. The dwarf dashed in, drawing his one-handed axe from the loop at his belt. He swung, and, with a sickening thunk, the blade bit deep into the off-balance orc¡¯s knee. It was like hacking at an ancient tree, but Kurik ripped it away, keeping his momentum going as the orc finally retrieved his massive weapon from where it had become embedded in the ground. Kurik skidded to a stop, twisting back to face his opponent. The orc was almost twice as tall as him, and broader across the shoulders as well. The heavily muscled creature wore nothing but a loin cloth and the hide of some animal across its shoulders, and its weapon was about as primitive as any Kurik had ever seen. Stone-bladed and with a haft made from the femur of a monstrous animal, it looked too large even for the huge orc. And it was, often overbalancing the monster. Though that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t deadly. If he found himself on the wrong end of that blade, he knew he¡¯d end up bisected. No ¨C he had to fight smart. Fortunately, he was well-prepared for such a battle. Through his long years, he¡¯d fought so many oversized opponents that he¡¯d lost count. That was the life of a dwarf, after all. Or any of the shorter-statured races. He made up for it with sheer durability and, some would say, stubbornness. The real advantage was upstairs, though. So, with that in mind, Kurik slowly retreated, holding his axe in an easy grip he¡¯d learned from his long-dead father. Then, he crooked his finger at the hulking monster and said, ¡°C¡¯mon, you big idjit. I¡¯m right here waitin¡¯ fer ya.¡± The orc didn¡¯t need any further invitation, and with an echoing roar that Kurik hoped none of the other orcs in the area had heard, it threw himself forward. So, Kurik did the only sensible thing: he turned on his heel and ran, leaping over a fallen and rotted tree, then sliding down the dew-slick slope on the other side. The monster barreled through the tree, sending decomposing splinters flying before realizing its mistake and tumbling down the slope after Kurik. That gave the dwarf a few extra seconds to stretch his lead, though he didn¡¯t dare glance back. That would only slow him down, and he knew that the huge creature was possessed of enough Strength to throw itself forward with incredible quickness. Certainly, it couldn¡¯t control that speed, but that wouldn¡¯t do much to help Kurik on a straightaway. So, he continued to sprint, nimbly avoiding the worst of the area¡¯s thick underbrush. It was like a tropical jungle, it was so dense. But Kurik was an experienced scout, and he knew how to move in all sorts of terrain. He was at home in the forest, so he didn¡¯t have any trouble keeping ahead of the orc. The chase continued for about thirty more seconds before he saw a small mark on one of the trees as he darted past. Grinning, leaped over a barely noticeable depression, then skidded to a stop. The orc came only a few seconds later, roaring in bestial fury as it caromed off of trees and ripped its way through the dense foliage. Then, it hit the depression and disappeared. Less than an instant later, a pained yowl filled the air. But Kurik didn¡¯t immediately approach. Instead, he waited for a few more seconds to see if the creature was going to climb out of the trap. It didn¡¯t, but not for lack of trying. Agonized screams, frustrated growls, and the sound of digging greeted Kurik¡¯s ears, but the monster seemed to have been confined to the pit. In most cases, Kurik would have waited a little longer. Many animals were more than capable of pretending they¡¯d been caught so that they could turn the situation around on a careless hunter. He¡¯d seen it happen, and more than once. But orcs were too stupid ¨C or perhaps single-minded ¨C for that kind of thing. At their current stage of development, they could barely even use tools, much less think strategically. Yet, they were dangerous monsters, and what¡¯s worse, Kurik knew that Ironshore wasn¡¯t prepared to meet such a threat. Not with most of their security forces having been killed in an ill-fated attempt to snatch some natural treasure out from under a powerful guardian. Kurik had seen the man for himself, and though he didn¡¯t think much of what he¡¯d seen, he knew well enough to respect his deeds. A full fifty people had gone to that island, and only one had returned. Kurik knew better than to tempt those odds. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t have gone hunting on that island anyway. Just wasn¡¯t worth it, as far as he was concerned. There were other ways to advance that didn¡¯t involve fighting a guardian on his own turf. Less deadly ways. Kurik wasn¡¯t a coward. He¡¯d fight when necessary, and if he thought the odds were in his favor. But trying to take more than a dwarf¡¯s share was what had gotten his clan banished in the first place. It was why he¡¯d spent his formative years without a father, and ultimately, it was why he¡¯d ended up in Ironshore looking for a fresh start. He crept forward, keeping on his toes as he approached the pit. And when he looked down, he saw precisely what he¡¯d expected. The pit itself was almost ten feet deep and lined with sharpened sticks. But it was more than just a hole in the ground. It was augmented by two of his abilities. The first was Conceal Trap, which was why the orc had never detected it.
Conceal Trap Create an illusion to hide a trap. Lasts thirty (30) minutes. Potency of the illusion is based on Dexterity.
Kurik¡¯s Dexterity was fairly high for his level, which meant that, when he used the technique, his traps were almost entirely undetectable for someone near his level. The orc had him by three levels, but it clearly hadn¡¯t the wits to see through Conceal Trap. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. The second ability was the one that really gave the trap some punch, though:
Venom Trap (augment) Augment an existing trap with potent venom. Choose type: Paralysis Neurotoxin Necrotic (CURRENT)
The ability was an incredible boon for any hunter. Normally, he used the Paralysis type of venom ¨C after all, he didn¡¯t want to ruin the meat of his prey. However, now that he was hunting orcs, he knew he needed to use the most powerful venom available to him. When he¡¯d originally received the ability, it had been nearly useless. But over time, he¡¯d discovered that he could add potential types to the ability; the only caveat was that he had to experience it himself. The Necrotic Venom had come from a scorpion native to his home world called a lava dredger. Normally, they were fairly peaceful creatures, but when agitated, they would strike. But it only took one hit, and their victims were goners. To endure it, Kurik had been forced to commission an expensive healing potion, but in the years since, it had proven invaluable. ¡°Hurts, don¡¯t it? I still remember that sting,¡± he said, looking down at the orc. Already, the venom had infected it, and because it¡¯d been stabbed by the stakes in multiple places, the venomous skill had worked extremely quickly. The thing would be dead in less than a minute, unless it possessed some sort of healing ability. Which it almost certainly didn¡¯t. Kurik had killed enough orcs over the past few weeks to be as sure about that as he was about anything else in his new world. Ever since he¡¯d reported the orc invasion to the mayor as well as Ironshore¡¯s ruling council, he¡¯d been tasked with keeping an eye on the horde while killing as many as he could. The rest of his scouting team was doing the same, and to date, they¡¯d slaughtered almost a hundred of the monsters. Yet, there were still plenty left. Their primary purpose wasn¡¯t fighting a war, though. Instead, they were meant to watch for signs that the orcs had detected Ironshore. The boundary field they¡¯d set up upon arrival kept the worst of the monster population away, but it could only do so much against semi-sentient creatures like orcs. The moment the orcs got a whiff of such a juicy target ¨C even if it was rendered faint by the boundary field ¨C they¡¯d come running, and in full force. And that eventuality, which they¡¯d hoped they could avoid, had clearly come. The orcish horde had shifted, and begun their march toward Ironshore. By Kurik¡¯s estimation, they were no more than two or three weeks away, which meant that he needed to hightail it back to the city and warn them. But what that would accomplish, he didn¡¯t know. They couldn¡¯t stand up to the oncoming horde. Not even if the security forces were still intact. He knew that the city¡¯s leaders had pooled all their ethereum in order to hire more, but they could scarcely afford the teleportation fee for any force that would make a difference, much less enough to actually get them to come. No. Ironshore was doomed. Kurik knew it, and if he was a smart dwarf, he would have already fled into the wilderness. Yet, he hadn¡¯t because, if he was honest, he was tired of running away. That was what he¡¯d done when his people were exiled. And he¡¯d done it again when the opportunity to come to a new world had crossed his path. That wasn¡¯t how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. So, Kurik waited until the orc had succumbed to the venom of his trap, then headed back towards Ironshore. Along the way, he met up with his squad. Most of them had greatly benefited from the ongoing hunt ¨C so had Kurik ¨C which in normal circumstances, would have been cause for celebration. But now? None of them were thinking of anything but the coming fight. As a result, it was a somber group that headed back to Ironshore. * * * Ramik glanced up at the grey sky and watched the roiling clouds that heralded a coming storm. He let out a sigh, then glanced at his closest friend and said, ¡°Storm¡¯s coming.¡± Carisa let out a snort. ¡°Storms¡¯re always comin¡¯,¡± she said in her characteristic brogue. ¡°Be a lot more interestin¡¯ if you said it wasn¡¯t ¡®bout to rain.¡± The goblin shook his head, then removed his glasses. With a handkerchief he took from his pocket, he wiped the priceless lenses. They weren¡¯t intended to correct his vision ¨C he¡¯d had that fixed long ago ¨C but rather, to give him some insight into the flow of ambient ethera. For instance, when he looked across the strait at the guardian¡¯s island, he could see just how special of a place it really was. Through the lenses, the island practically glowed with potential. It was nearly enough to awaken the avarice in his heart, but he only had to remember Eason Cabbot¡¯s fate to recognize just how bad of an idea it was to pursue that line of thought. ¡°It was meant to be a metaphor,¡± he explained. ¡°But I suppose it was a terrible one.¡± ¡°What do ye want to do?¡± she asked. ¡°Do we have any choice?¡± was his responding question. ¡°The guardian said ¨C¡± ¡°He said he might help. Not that he would.¡± ¡°But might is better than we¡¯ve gotten from anyone else,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°There are ten thousand bloodthirsty orcs coming this way, Carisa. Do you know what an orc horde can do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve read the same stories as you.¡± ¡°Then no. I¡¯ve seen it. On my home world. I was only a child, but I remember it so keenly. They swept across the countryside, conquering and devouring everything they could find. Some people say they are descended from the great Ravener himself.¡± He shook his head, continuing, ¡°But they¡¯re just monsters, Carisa. Deadly, dreadful monsters that only know aggression,¡± he explained. ¡°We stopped them. Barely. But a lot of good goblins lost their lives in that fight.¡± Indeed, his own family, once prominent members of a successful merchant guild, had been devastated. From there, they¡¯d experienced a precipitous fall from grace, ending with Ramik leading what was left of his family into the new world. They weren¡¯t even part of the guild anymore. But Ramik had vowed to return the Lendar¡¯i family back to prominence if it was the last thing he did. The Green Mountain Mining Guild had given them the opportunity to do just that, and though they weren¡¯t members, that could change soon enough. He just had to defend the town from an orcish invasion. A tall task, especially given that his entire security force had been killed. Certainly, everyone in town had at least some ability in combat. Nobody came to a new world without that. However, those meager abilities wouldn¡¯t count for much against a ravening horde of orcs. Because of that, he¡¯d used the Branch¡¯s limited communication capability to ask for support, but the guild¡¯s hub had only told him that they would take it into consideration. That was code for, ¡°Fend for yourself.¡± The reality was that Ironshore was operating on a razor thin budget as it was, and because they¡¯d yet to find anything truly valuable, it was probably easier for the Green Mountain Mining Guild to cut ties and leave them to their own devices. If they managed to survive, then that was great. But if not, then they wouldn¡¯t have sunk any more ethereum into the venture. It was just good business. Terrible from a compassion standpoint, of course, but that was normal. Guilds weren¡¯t charities, after all. ¡°You think he can stop ¡®em?¡± Ramik shrugged his shoulders, then replaced his glasses. ¡°I don¡¯t know. He¡¯s strong. I felt it.¡± ¡°He also killed Cabbot and his folks.¡± ¡°Cabbot was an idiot who was convinced he was far more powerful than he actually was,¡± Ramik spat. ¡°When I saw who he was, I thought that we had lucked out. An Eason. Here. Yet, I quickly discovered why he¡¯d ended up on a frontier world with all the rest of us desperate people.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t desperate. I just felt the call of adventure,¡± Carisa insisted. That was blatantly untrue. Cabbot had seen her file. She was a competent enough miner and engineer, but the dwarven woman was anything but reliable. She¡¯d left a string of misdeeds in her past, the same as almost everyone in Ironshore. The same as anyone who chose to come to a newly touched world. They were wild, lawless places that catered to the desperate and depraved, and more often than not the dangers outweighed the potential rewards. But still, like Ramik, they came because they had no other options. For him, it was either take his chances on Earth, or spend the rest of his life wallowing in mediocrity. And that latter was the best-case scenario if he¡¯d stayed on his home world. ¡°I think we have to try,¡± he said, still gazing across the strait at the island. ¡°He may not help us, but our backs are against the wall, Carisa. We need him.¡± ¡°Aight,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll fetch us a boat, and we¡¯ll go for a little visit. Let¡¯s just hope he don¡¯t kill us on sight.¡± ¡°He wouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You sure ¡®bout that?¡± she asked, raising one bushy eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯m¡­not,¡± he admitted. But then, he straightened his coat, pushed his shoulders back, and said, ¡°But we can¡¯t let that dissuade us.¡± ¡°Aight,¡± she said again. ¡°Sounds good to me. He didn¡¯t kill us last time, so here¡¯s hopin¡¯ he¡¯ll keep to that.¡± 2-64. A Man Needs a Code Elijah knelt atop the hill, looking out across the valley. It was an idyllic scene, with lush vegetation and a gentle stream cutting through the center of the dell. Despite the drizzling rain that had pervaded the region since he¡¯d left Argos a couple of days before, sunlight still bathed the hollow, giving it a surreal, yet comfortable atmosphere. The only thing marring the landscape was the crumbling skyscraper standing in an asphalt clearing on the eastern side of the valley. Ignoring the obvious damage, it would have been at home as part of any major city¡¯s skyline, though Elijah didn¡¯t recognize it. Still, it was so incongruous that it sparked his curiosity to the point that he felt obligated to check it out. Running his hand through his hair, he let out a low sigh. Every time he decided to investigate one oddity or another, he ended up getting sidetracked from his primary quest. It had happened in Norcastle with healing the plague-stricken townspeople and the tower, then again in Argos. He knew that if he kept giving into his wanderlust, he¡¯d never find his sister. And now that he knew where to find Seattle, he was more eager for a reunion than ever. After all, Easton had been just outside of the city, so hopefully finding Seattle would mean finding that small town as well. Even if the two locations had been separated by Earth¡¯s sudden transformation, it would at least give him some degree of verifiable progress. Because so far, he¡¯d felt like he was just wandering randomly and hoping for a clue to point him in the right direction. Which was precisely what he¡¯d gotten. Now, he just needed to not ignore it. Still, the mystery of the skyscraper called to him, and in the end, he decided that a quick look wouldn¡¯t hurt. So, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then set off down the hill and into the valley. With Essence of the Wolf working in conjunction with his high attributes, he covered the ground incredibly quickly. He didn¡¯t have much context for his actual speed, but if he traveled any slower than a thirty mile-an-hour jog, he would have been surprised. He could go much faster if he fully exerted himself, though that was always a little disconcerting. It would also quickly exhaust him. In any case, he slowed down as he descended into the valley, if for no other reason than because it was a pleasant setting. So often, it was easy to forget just how miraculous nature could be. Once, it had been common for people to lock themselves in their homes and stare at one screen or another without ever enjoying what the Earth had to offer. Likely, people in cities were still unwilling to venture out into the wilderness, albeit for a different reason. Now, it was due to the dangers inherent in the wilds rather than laziness, depression, or the habits of a screen-addicted society. Those thoughts flitted through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he beheld the wonders of the idyllic valley. Birds chirped, and small animals chittered. Meanwhile, he could feel everything all around him. Even the trees felt more alive and aware than normal, which was both welcome and a little disconcerting. Eventually, he reached the stream, where he stopped to drink and wash. As he did so, he cast his mind back to the events of the past few weeks. It had begun with his flight from Norcastle, and it had ended with his night with Delilah. Somewhere in the middle of it all, his awareness of his place in the world had begun to coalesce. In hindsight, he wished he hadn¡¯t killed those hunters. Not because he didn¡¯t think they deserved it. He fully believed that they had. Yet, he also knew that his perspective was skewed by his compromised mental state. He¡¯d let that drive him to do something that he now regretted. From a philosophical perspective, Elijah knew he needed to accept that people would hunt the wildlife in order to advance. Progression was as necessary a part of survival as food or water, and without it, people would stagnate and eventually die when they encountered some hostile situation they couldn¡¯t handle. That was the world, now. And as much as it pained him to see something like the bear killed, it was a fact of life he would have to accept going forward. That didn¡¯t mean he had to do those sorts of things himself, but he could at least look the other way while others did. The same was true of natural treasures, though given what he¡¯d experienced so far, the idea of consuming something for a one-time benefit when you could instead bathe in the ethera it emitted indefinitely was the height of stupidity. Yet, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t do anything about that. He could govern his own actions, but he would not run around some eco-police hell-bent on punishing people for their crimes against nature. Down that road lay disaster, both for his own mental health as well as the likelihood he would be tolerated by the rest of the population. But one thing Elijah did know was that he enjoyed helping people. That had begun with the ulthraks in the first level of his island¡¯s tower, and it had only grown more prevalent when he¡¯d helped heal the people in Norcastle. The same could be said when he¡¯d fought his way through the Reaver¡¯s Citadel, and then saved Isaak and Artemis. In a world where so much had been destroyed and so many lives had been lost, he liked the idea that he could affect positive change. He could save people. He could rescue and heal them. With the power he¡¯d earned, he could do miraculous things, and he refused to let that go to waste. Did that make him na?ve? Perhaps. And maybe it would one day come back to bite him. But he wouldn¡¯t want to live with himself if he ever became the sort of person who could see a chance to save someone and simply turn away. It would take a truly damaged person to end up like that. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. He liked to think that his parents had raised him better than to let that sort of attitude take hold. Those thoughts and more occupied Elijah¡¯s mind as he idled near the stream. Eventually, he caught a couple of fish, made camp, and had a peaceful meal, all thoughts of the nearby skyscraper briefly forgotten. As night began to take hold, he decided to tackle the skyscraper in the morning. For now, though, he was content. Which was why it took him a few moments to recognize the warning in his mind. The source wasn¡¯t his immediate surroundings. Rather, someone had landed on his island. Through his Locus, he could feel the familiar figures of Ramik and Carisa planting a white flag on his beach. Elijah¡¯s initial reaction was one of annoyance. He¡¯d told them to stay away from his island, and yet, there they were. However, that only lasted for a moment before he came to terms with the fact that his irritation was more about the fact that his foray into the wider world had been interrupted. Clearly, the people of Ironshore needed help, and they were willing to ask him to intervene in whatever problem they¡¯d found. Through his Domain, he watched the pair standing on the shore and waiting. They didn¡¯t stray from the beach where they¡¯d landed, which further reinforced Elijah¡¯s surety that they¡¯d come in peace. So, he had an option to either ignore them and hope they simply went away, or he could use Ancestral Circle and teleport back to his grove so he could see what they wanted. But even before he¡¯d posed the question to himself, Elijah knew what he was going to do. So, it was with some residual irritation that he gathered his things, making sure that he smothered the fire before embracing Ancestral Circle and teleporting back to his grove. When he reappeared, he stumbled to his knees at the influx of dense ethera. It took him a few seconds of deep breathing to reacclimate. Had it grown thicker? Or had he simply grown accustomed to the thinner ambient ethera in other parts of the world? He resolved to ask Nerthus after seeing what Ramik and Carisa wanted. However, he did take a second to snatch a berry from one of the grove¡¯s bushes and popped it into his mouth. It was sweeter than ever, and he experienced a slight jolt of energy and vitality the moment he swallowed. ¡°Oh, it¡¯s good to be home,¡± he said. Despite his annoyance at having been called back, he couldn¡¯t deny that much. Even though his bed ¨C and the shower ¨C called to him, Elijah knew he needed to take care of business first. So, he shifted into his draconid form and took off across the island at close to full speed. Anywhere else, he couldn¡¯t have traveled through such dense forest at top speed, but with the knowledge of the terrain he received from his Locus, he could have gone even faster. The result was that he arrived at the beach ¨C or rather, the tree line nearby ¨C only a few minutes later. Predictably, Ramik and Carisa remained near their boat, nervously looking around. ¡°You think he¡¯s comin¡¯?¡± asked the dwarven woman. The goblin shook his head, then straightened his coat. ¡°My answer is the same as the last ten times you have asked, Carisa,¡± he said in his prim voice. ¡°I have no idea. If he hasn¡¯t responded in the next hour, we will have to return to Ironshore and prepare to either flee or fight back.¡± ¡°If we fight, we die,¡± Carisa stated. ¡°We have no fighters, other than that squad of scouts. And they ain¡¯t much for a straight fight.¡± ¡°Again, I am aware.¡± ¡°Hope he shows up soon. I¡¯m hungry,¡± Carisa said, leaning against the rowboat they¡¯d used to reach the island. That statement prompted Elijah to wonder if he should return to his grove and gather some more berries, but ultimately, he decided against it. The moment either of them tasted his berries, they¡¯d know just how special the island was. As far as he was concerned, they didn¡¯t need any more incentive to visit, so he chose to simply shift into his human form and step out from the tree line, his Staff of Natural Harmony in hand. As he did, he asked, ¡°What do you want?¡± The pair flinched away from him, but both quickly mastered themselves. Ramik was the first to speak. ¡°Thank you for coming,¡± he said with a bow of his head. ¡°Skip the pleasantries. I was busy. What do you want?¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Ramik said, adjusting his glasses. ¡°As you are¡­ah¡­aware, our security force was¡­well, we no longer have a security force. We have attempted to hire more, but the teleportation fees to a newly touched world are exorbitant. The only reason any of us are here was because of the settlement incentive, which covered the fees for anyone who met the requirements. Otherwise, we ¨C¡± ¡°We can¡¯t hire nobody else,¡± Carisa interrupted. ¡°We got a few people who can fight, but not enough to do what needs doin¡¯.¡± Ramik cut his eyes at the muscular dwarf. ¡°Right. That is what I was saying,¡± he went on. Then, he looked back at Elijah and continued, ¡°We have been training people, but it¡¯s not enough.¡± ¡°Enough for what?¡± ¡°Orcs,¡± Ramik answered. ¡°A horde have invaded and are coming for Ironshore.¡± Immediately, Elijah thought back to the tribe of orc-like creatures he¡¯d seen on the other side of the mountain range. They had settled in an abandoned Wal-Mart, but it didn¡¯t take an intuitive leap to come to the conclusion that those monsters were one in the same with the ones described by Ramik. The goblin went on to explain the nature of an orc horde and how it posed a unique threat to not just Ironshore, but to all surrounding areas. That included Elijah¡¯s island, which meant that he really didn¡¯t have much of a choice but to help. Not that he would have refused, anyway. Certainly, the mohawked gnome and his warriors had come from Ironshore, but the rest of the population had made it clear that he¡¯d been a rogue element. On top of that, they¡¯d been kind to him ¨C likely because they were terrified, but still, that mattered. And, of course, his previous resolution to help where he could loomed large in his mind. So, he asked, ¡°How long until they reach Ironshore?¡± ¡°A couple of weeks. Perhaps three,¡± Ramik said. ¡°Bit could be as few as five days before we see their scouts.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll help,¡± he said. ¡°Just like that?¡± asked a surprised Ramik. ¡°I told you he¡¯d help,¡± Carisa said. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Feels like we¡¯re in this together, for now,¡± he said, wanting to maintain an air of mystery and danger. ¡°But I expect cooperation and some degree of compensation. We¡¯ll discuss that later.¡± Ramik nodded, and, after a few more awkward exchanges, the pair boarded their boat and rowed out into the strait. When Elijah lost sight of them, he let himself relax. A whole horde of orcs. He had his work cut out for him. But for now, he just wanted to go back to his grove, talk to Nerthus, and then sleep in his own bed. Tomorrow, he would worry about fighting what sounded like a war. 2-65. Rebellion ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Carmen, looking around Easton. It had been months since the last time she had visited, and in that time, the city had once again transformed. It was difficult to believe that only a few years before, it had been nothing more than a sleepy suburb. Now, it was a walled city that had to house at least a hundred thousand people. Probably a lot more. ¡°Because if you¡¯re wrong¡­¡± Colt nodded. ¡°Sure as I can be,¡± he responded, his hand on the hilt of his katana. The duster he always wore had been pushed back to allow for easy access to the sword. Underneath, he wore a set of chainmail Carmen had made herself. It wasn¡¯t her best work ¨C she still wasn¡¯t great with the delicate process of making that type of armor ¨C but, as a low Simple-Grade item, it was head and shoulders above average. ¡°Didn¡¯t have a ton of information to go on.¡± It would have been easy to take that statement as a reprimand for her actions regarding Verin, and in fact, she¡¯d admonished herself enough as it was. Colt knew that better than most, and Carmen was well aware that he didn¡¯t mean the statement as anything but informative. Not that Carmen regretted her actions, per se. Verin had deserved to die. So did Roman. However, the timing could have been better. As it happened, her rash reaction to learning what had really happened in that tower had robbed her of the opportunity to learn more about the so-called rebels. So, after interrogating Verin¡¯s squad ¨C and to no avail ¨C she¡¯d been forced to send Colt to search things out. Fortunately, he had a background as a bounty hunter, which he was quick to point out was not as exciting as it sounded, so he was a natural choice as an investigator. Still, she¡¯d spent the following weeks on pins and needles as he¡¯d gone back to Easton to investigate. When he¡¯d returned with the identities of the rebels, Carmen had been relieved. However, when he¡¯d revealed that he¡¯d already set up a meeting, she couldn¡¯t help but be a little suspicious. That had followed her all the way back to Easton and to the tavern door in front of her. It was located in what had once been the least developed part of the city, and in a lot of ways, it still was. But as much as she had grown to hate Roman, she couldn¡¯t deny that his policies were effective. Exclusionary and oppressive, but effective nonetheless. Because as far as she had seen, the city was incredibly clean, the people looked well-fed, and most of all, they were safe. Of course, there were guards on every street corner, each one wearing blue and white uniforms and sporting decent levels, and someone had decided to get the propaganda machine going. Even in the small portion of the city Carmen had seen, she¡¯d passed four statues in various stages of construction. Each one depicted Roman in some sort of heroic pose. More than that, she¡¯d seen a host of banners and flags that reminded her of Soviet era propaganda. And finally, she¡¯d noticed more than one poorly disguised member of a secret police. If she¡¯d seen that many, then she could extrapolate that there were far more scattered throughout the population. Easton had become a fascist police state in every way that mattered, but with that had come safety, which was likely the only reason anyone tolerated it. At least at first. But after years, the pervasive propaganda had assuredly done its work. Carmen hesitated to call the population brainwashed, but they had certainly been manipulated. Even without that, though, the world was such a dangerous place that giving up freedom in favor of security was a valid option. So long as you weren¡¯t one of the undesirables. There were plenty of those, too. People who¡¯d only done the bare minimum. The ones who¡¯d chosen a less-than-optimal class or archetype. The untalented. The lazy. The apathetic. The disabled. The list went on and on. For anyone who didn¡¯t fit Roman¡¯s narrow definition of usefulness, Easton was hell. But at least they were protected from the monsters on the other side of the walls. That was the first problem. The second was that anyone who was strong enough to be useful was well-treated and, as a result, had few reasons to buck Roman¡¯s authority. Sure, there were likely a few people here and there who would object based on empathy, but from everything she¡¯d ever seen of human nature, Carmen knew those would be the exception, rather than the rule. That meant that any potential rebellion would already start from well behind, making its viability that much less likely. Carmen knew these things, and yet, she didn¡¯t care. Roman needed to die. She was committed to that endeavor to such a degree that she was willing to ignore everything else if it gave her a chance to see it through. ¡°I wish I was wearing my armor,¡± she muttered. Indeed, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for people to walk around Easton wearing armor or carrying weapons, but it did tend to get the attention of the guards. As she was trying to avoid such notice, Carmen had left her armor and hammer back in Silverado. She sighed. ¡°You first. I¡¯ll follow.¡± Colt nodded, then opened the door. A cacophony of noise swept out of the building and overwhelmed Carmen. The tall Samurai stepped inside, and Carmen followed. Fortunately, the tavern, which was called the Flailing Fortune, was busy enough that two new entrants weren¡¯t enough to garner any undue attention. The pair went straight to the bar, where they ordered a pair of drinks. Then, once the bartender served them, Colt said, ¡°I¡¯m lookin¡¯ for somethin¡¯ special.¡± ¡°Brothel¡¯s down the street.¡± ¡°Not what I was talkin¡¯ about. I hear there¡¯s a special meeting downstairs. Real special, you hear? Be mighty obliged if you¡¯d let ¡®em know that Carmen Rodriguez is here, and she wants in.¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. The bartender, who Carmen noted was young enough that his poor excuse for a mustache hadn¡¯t really filled in yet, swallowed hard, then took a step back. A second later, he glanced at Carmen, and recognition dawned in his expression. His face went pale. ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Carmen rolled her eyes and leaned forward. ¡°Listen. What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Pete.¡± ¡°Look, Pete. I¡¯m pretty sure I already know where this little get-together is,¡± she stated. Her eyes flicked toward a door in the back that looked like it led downstairs. The bartender¡¯s eyes followed that small gesture, and he went even paler. ¡°So, here¡¯s the thing. I¡¯ve come to help. So, run along down there and let them know I¡¯m here. That way, we can avoid them scattering across the city. I don¡¯t want to have to chase anyone down.¡± She gave him a smile that she was sure didn¡¯t touch her eyes and said, ¡°Short legs, you know. Not built for running people down.¡± A moment of indecision passed, followed by a pregnant silence. Then, finally, he let out a deep breath before saying, ¡°Fine. Alright. I¡¯ll go let them know.¡± ¡°S¡¯all we ask,¡± drawled Colt. Then, Pete took yet another steadying breath before heading toward the door. Colt said, ¡°You see the bouncer?¡± ¡°Yep,¡± Carmen said, taking a drink of her beer. It was not the highest-quality stuff, but it was more than they had back in Silverado. ¡°Is he coming this way?¡± ¡°Not yet. Think they¡¯ll rabbit?¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°Dunno. Maybe. I was on the council.¡± As far as the public was concerned, she and Roman were thick as thieves. Of course, they had no idea that he was responsible for the murder of her wife, which was an important bit of context. ¡°Means you¡¯re valuable. If you wanted ¡®em gone, you wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve come yourself. You¡¯d send those secret police.¡± ¡°You saw them too?¡± ¡°Couldn¡¯t miss ¡®em. Lost ¡®em before we came, though. Sure of that much,¡± he said. As he did, his eyes flicked towards the door, and he said, ¡°Here we go.¡± Carmen tensed. She didn¡¯t have a bunch of combat abilities or spells like real fighters, but she made up for it with her high level. That gap would close soon, she was sure, but for now, she could hold her own. As such, she was ready to use Summon Tool the moment she felt threatened. Pete came back to the bar, looking slightly more relaxed. When he reached them, he said, ¡°You can go down. They said that you¡¯d¡­uh¡­better not be trying anything. ¡®Cause they got some powerful fighters down there. Real heavy hitters.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Colt.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he said, sweeping his coat back and swaggering toward the door. To Carmen, he looked like a gunfighter from an old western, which should have been a little silly. Yet, he made it work, radiating an aura of pure danger that told anyone looking for trouble that he was ready for just that. By comparison, Carmen felt clunky and clumsy. Or like a little girl playacting as a dangerous fighter. Perhaps he felt like a little boy playing cowboys, but she doubted it. Colt was a lot of things, but unconfident was definitely not one of them. Either way, she followed him to the door, where they both descended a set of stairs that terminated in another door. Carmen could hear muffled conversation on the other side, but she couldn¡¯t make out any actual words. Colt led the way, pushing through the door. But the second he stepped through, he whipped his katana out and to the side. ¡°Easy there, fella,¡± he said, circling so that Carmen could get through. Just then, someone moved across the doorway, but Carmen had expected it. So, she barreled into him ¨C or her, she supposed ¨C slamming them against the wall. Her hand found their throat. ¡°Like my friend said, easy. We¡¯re not here to fight,¡± she said, finally taking in the attacker. He was average height, but with heavy shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, Carmen saw that Colt had his blade against another, much taller would-be attacker¡¯s throat. Behind her were three other people. Presumably, they were who she¡¯d come to see. So, she said, ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to let this guy go. If he tries to attack again, we¡¯re not holding back. Got it? We¡¯re just here to talk.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± came a strong voice. Carmen stepped back, releasing the attacker. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. Already, his neck had begun to purple. Meanwhile, Colt stepped away from his target as well, sheathing his sword so quickly that Carmen had trouble tracking the movement. Trusting that he would watch her back, she turned to face the three people. There was one man and two women, though she didn¡¯t recognize any of them. ¡°Are you here to kill us as you did Verin?¡± asked one of the women. She had close-cut gray hair and wore decidedly shabby clothing. ¡°Do I have a reason to want you dead?¡± she asked. Apparently word of Carmen¡¯s clash with the healer had somehow gotten back to the city. Hopefully, it had yet to reach Roman¡¯s ears. ¡°Perhaps,¡± the older woman stated, leaning forward. There was a table separating them from Carmen, but with her Strength, that wouldn¡¯t be much of a barrier. The room was lit by a series of candles on the table, casting the entire area in deep, flickering shadows. ¡°You are one of his lackeys, are you not? One of the founders of this city, in fact.¡± ¡°I am. A founder I mean. Makes it all the more difficult to see what it¡¯s become,¡± Carmen stated evenly. ¡°I¡¯ll just come out and say what I¡¯m here to say. I¡¯m not one to dance around the facts. So, here it is. I know you¡¯re planning some sort of rebellion or resistance. I want in. If you know who I am, then you know what I can offer.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked the lone male across the table. He was tall, with an acerbic appearance. More, he was missing an arm, suggesting some tragic story that Carmen didn¡¯t care about. ¡°Do I need a reason other than the obvious?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± said the woman. ¡°The city isn¡¯t much different than when you were assigned to the mining colony. Worse, perhaps, but not much. What changed, to set you on this path? And why did you kill Verin, if not to punish her for fomenting rebellion?¡± ¡°Because she helped kill the woman I loved,¡± Carmen answered simply. ¡°Roman, too. And a guy named Trace. I don¡¯t care all that much about your rebellion, if I¡¯m honest. Sure, it¡¯s sad, and it all sucks. But I can¡¯t deny that Roman has given people safety when there wasn¡¯t much of that available. I disagreed with some of his policies, and I argued against them when I was on the council. I was overruled, so I left it behind.¡± She leaned forward, her hands on the table. The two fighters tensed behind her. ¡°All I care about is killing Roman. And that little weasel Trace, too. You give me that, and I¡¯ll make sure you have the best equipped rebellion in the world. So long as I get a chance to stand over him as he¡¯s bleeding out on the ground, I¡¯ll give you the means to accomplish your goals. That¡¯s what I offer, and that¡¯s what I want in return. So, are we on the same page?¡± The woman glanced at her companions, then back at Carmen. As she did, she said, ¡°I think we can work with that.¡± 2-66. The Calm Before the Storm For a few minutes, Elijah stood on the beach watching the crashing waves as the storm rolled in, bathing him in a deluge of precipitation. Spring had already taken hold, but the rain still felt like frigid needles against his skin. However, some of that discomfort was mitigated by the blanket of dense ethera that covered the island. The difference between what he¡¯d felt in the valley he¡¯d recently left behind and the power emanating from his grove was so stark that he wondered how he could¡¯ve felt comfortable in the former. But it didn¡¯t take him long to figure it out. The drop had been so gradual that he¡¯d barely noticed it in real time. It was like the old wives¡¯ tale of the boiling frog, and it really put his unique situation into perspective. Certainly, he could have simply left the grove behind and made his way through the world. But it was his home, and what¡¯s more, it was special in a way that he had yet to truly appreciate. So, even if he was willing to let the people or Ironshore fend for themselves ¨C and likely fail ¨C he couldn¡¯t stomach the thought of ceding his grove to the impending tide of vicious orcs. He remained in place for a while, letting the cold rain soak him through. Then, he sighed and turned back to the tree line. Before he¡¯d taken two steps, Elijah had shifted back into his draconid form, after which he raced across the island and to his grove. When he reached the circle of trees, he noticed that the ancestral tree at its center had continued its transformation. With stark blue leaves and bark of purest white, it looked both alien and familiar. However, it also felt like home in a way he couldn¡¯t quite explain. So, he stepped into the grove with gratitude in his heart. As he did, he couldn¡¯t help but notice the state of his garden, which had grown far more than he ever would have expected ¨C especially because it had done so in winter. He could suspect that it was feeding more off of the ambient ethera wafting from the ancestral tree than via normal biological processes. What that meant for the plants themselves, he had no idea. He plucked another berry, popping it into his mouth and savoring the tartly sweet taste as he pulsed Nature¡¯s Bounty. It didn¡¯t even come close to covering the entire garden of bushes and other plants, but it still felt like a return to normality. So, he took solace in that as he strode toward the tree. When he reached it, he called out, ¡°Nerthus? You in there, bud?¡± ¡°I told you before that I can leave the tree more frequently now,¡± came the tree spirit¡¯s familiar voice from behind. As Elijah turned, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that it had grown slightly deeper. The reason for that became apparent a moment later when he saw that the tiny tree spirit had nearly doubled in size, topping out at a little taller than Elijah¡¯s waist. ¡°I cannot come and go as I please, but I have far more freedom now that the Ancestral Tree has reached early maturity.¡± ¡°Early maturity?¡± asked Elijah. Then, he said, ¡°Good to see you, by the way. I hope you¡¯re doing well?¡± ¡°I am, thank you for asking,¡± Nerthus answered with a bow of his head. Then, he explained, ¡°For an Ancestral Tree, maturity is a difficult thing to quantify. For some, that stage is reached very quickly. For others, it takes years. However, for all of them, stepping past that point to become an elder is a long and arduous process that most will never achieve. Most that do have the benefit of an ideal environment as well as the protection of a Druid. Or someone equivalent.¡± ¡°So, this tree will grow more powerful?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Indeed. Its progress will be much slower now, but it has finally borne a seed,¡± Nerthus said excitedly. ¡°There were seeds before, remember?¡± ¡°Those were mundane,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Unranked. This seed is much different. More powerful. It is difficult to tell, but it is at least Complex-Grade. Perhaps even Sophisticated. With a natural treasure such as the seed of an Ancestral Tree that has absorbed a Shard of the World Tree, the grading system lacks nuance.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah lied. As far as he knew, the grading system for items, towers, and natural treasures was well-established. ¡°You do not. The seed is connected to its progenitor. They are separate, but they are also a single entity,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°And that entity is connected to the World Tree in ways the Heavenly System is not meant to fully understand.¡± ¡°What does that mean from a practical perspective, though?¡± ¡°If you plant the seed, it will eventually connect to its progenitor through the World Tree, extending the boundaries of your Domain.¡± ¡°Oh. I like that,¡± was Elijah¡¯s lacking response. ¡°I suppose it¡¯ll raise the ethereal density in that area, too, huh?¡± ¡°It will, though not to the degree of the original grove,¡± Nerthus said. Elijah sat down and leaned his back against the tree. ¡°So,¡± he said. ¡°Theoretically, I could take that seed, plant it elsewhere, and eventually, get similar benefits to what I have here?¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°And what would happen if some disaster struck here?¡± Nerthus gasped. ¡°Why do you ask that?¡± Elijah sighed, then explained the situation with the orcs ¨C or at least what he knew of it. When he¡¯d finished, he said, ¡°I was just thinking that if things start looking really bad, I could grab the seed and run.¡± ¡°You cannot do that.¡± ¡°Why?¡± he asked. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t want to. Just to be clear, I intend to fight. But there¡¯s a good chance we¡¯re going to lose, and I want a backup plan just in case.¡± ¡°That is understandable, but it is neither possible nor advisable,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°If this tree dies, then its progeny will lose the majority of its power. You will be incapable of creating another grove after that.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± For the first time ever, Nerthus interrupted Elijah, saying, ¡°The reason it is inadvisable has nothing to do with that, however. Instead, it concerns the nature of orcs. They are spawned from the system, usually using some local beast as a template. They evolve quickly, becoming intelligent enough to create a rudimentary society. From the very beginning, though, they have one goal ¨C to conquer. Some say they are a test created by the system. Others claim that they are tainted by the Void. Regardless of their true origin, they are a plague that must be eradicated before it is too late.¡± ¡°Too late for what?¡± ¡°The survival of your planet,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°They will conquer and consume until there is nothing left. Then, once they¡¯ve grown strong enough, they will set off into the wider universe to do the same. By that point, only the truly powerful will be capable of dealing with them, and even then, it is no sure thing. You mustn¡¯t ignore this threat, or you could very well lose this planet before it is even fully developed.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°And I assume that nobody can help us, huh? Like the dragon lady who gave me my core, maybe.¡± ¡°The system¡¯s restrictions cannot be overcome. Sending even one person here after the initial rush would cost many fortunes. Perhaps some powerful faction will respond to the threat when Earth is fully integrated, but by that point, the orcs will have already won,¡± Nerthus answered. Back in Argos, Elijah had bought a guide explaining ¨C in broad terms ¨C what happened when the World Tree touched a new planet. For a short time, low-level people were permitted to travel to what the system called the frontier, and for a negligible cost. However, after that, the cost of doing so became exorbitant to the point that very few could afford it. On top of that, only people under level twenty-five could come at all, and those over a certain level were too powerful to exist on a planet like Earth without destroying it with their mere presence. That wouldn¡¯t last, though. After the planet¡¯s ethereal density stabilized, a countdown would begin until it was opened up to the rest of the universes. Sometimes, that took a hundred years, but it wasn¡¯t uncommon to take much longer. Elijah had no idea how long it would be for Earth ¨C no one did ¨C but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be anytime soon. That was both comforting and distressing. The former, because it meant that some powerful despot couldn¡¯t descend on Earth and enslave everyone. The latter, because benevolent factions couldn¡¯t help with problems like the orcs. It was a double-edged system, and one Elijah in which couldn¡¯t decide whether he liked it or not. But the facts were clear ¨C he had no real choice but to fight. ¡°I have two other things you might be able to help me with,¡± he said. Then, he explained what had happened with the hunters. He did so as neutrally as he could, ending with his acquisition of the bear¡¯s pelt and the mushroom flesh. ¡°The mushroom is useless for us,¡± Nerthus said, shaking his head sadly. ¡°An alchemist may be able to make use of it, though. The pelt is a different case. May I see it?¡± Elijah nodded, then reached into his pack. The pelt was all the way at the bottom, so it took him a couple of minutes to remove everything. When he finally retrieved the item in question, he laid it out before Nerthus. ¡°It was a powerful creature,¡± the tree spirit said. ¡°What do you intend to do with it?¡± ¡°I was going to ask you about that. I almost just buried it,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Kind of a memorial ¨C¡± ¡°You mustn¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°What? I thought you¡¯d support that sort of thing.¡± Nerthus shook his head. ¡°The death of such a creature is a sad thing. However, nothing we can do will change that. There is no dishonor or shame in using its body or eating its flesh. Though if a weakling were to consume the meat from such a powerful beast, they would almost assuredly be negatively affected. Perhaps they would even perish due to the influx of potent ethera.¡± ¡°That can happen?¡± ¡°It can.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°So, if I¡¯m not going to bury it, maybe I should¡­make a cloak out of it,¡± he said. ¡°I see. If you choose that route, may I suggest that you leave it here for a few weeks?¡± Nerthus asked. ¡°Then, once it is saturated in potent ethera, treat the hide as you did your staff. In that way, any item created from it will be much more powerful and tailored to your needs.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Would that work with other items?¡± Nerthus shook his head. ¡°Only resources,¡± he answered. ¡°And then, only if those resources were once living.¡± Despite the restrictions, it still seemed like it could be a significant boon. However, like the creation of his Staff of Natural Harmony, preparing the hide would take time. It would also require materials that he didn¡¯t have. Fortunately, the hunters had done one thing right by already fleshing the hide, which meant that Elijah could get by with storing it in his tree house for now. So, after only a little more conversation with Nerthus, Elijah made his way to his home, climbed the stairs, and unpacked. After that, he gratefully took a shower before, at last, heading to bed. Yet, as tired as he was, he couldn¡¯t sleep. Instead, he just lay in bed and stared at the lightly glowing flowers as he contemplated the coming fight. A hundred ideas on how to deal with the orcs flitted through each facet of his Quartz mind, but the fact was that he had too little information to create a proper strategy. Hopefully, he would address that lack tomorrow when he headed back to Ironshore. Eventually, the comfortable bed did its job, and he finally let himself relax. Once he did, he drifted off to sleep. 2-67. Errands The next morning, Elijah¡¯s eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, he forgot the weight of responsibility resting on his shoulders. In those brief few seconds, he raised one hand, letting the warm blanket of dense ethera envelop him as he let the first rays of the morning sun dance across his fingers. But it couldn¡¯t last. He knew he was on the clock in terms of preparation for the coming orc invasion, and as such, he didn¡¯t have time to lie abed. So, with some degree of frustration, he pushed himself out of bed and dressed for the day. He chose his least dirty outfit, which still wasn¡¯t precisely clean, and vowed to find some easy way to do laundry in Ironshore. Once that was done, he gathered his things before heading downstairs and to his grove, where he enjoyed a breakfast of berries while walking through the garden and flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty. It wasn¡¯t necessary. The bushes had already reached the point where they were self-sufficient, which meant that his efforts only had a limited effect on their growth. Yet it calmed him, bringing back memories of days he¡¯d spent trying to coax the bushes and other plants to fruition. He took a few minutes to converse with Nerthus as well, though he didn¡¯t broach any important subjects. Instead, he simply wanted to make the tree spirit feel better about their partnership because, during his travels, he¡¯d come to the conclusion that he¡¯d treated Nerthus more as a means to an end than an actual friend. He aimed to change that going forward. Soon enough, when the sun had pushed fully above the horizon, Elijah gathered a bunch of berries in his pack, then bade Nerthus goodbye before heading to the beach where he¡¯d stored his collection of rowboats. Despite his neglect, the small vessels still looked in good repair, so he pushed one into the surf and began the journey across the strait. As he did so, he sensed a couple of large fish ¨C one that was much larger than the boat ¨C swim by beneath him. Yet, none of them paid Elijah¡¯s passage any heed. They were too focused on their own lives, which presumably included hunting for prey large enough to sustain them. Like that, Elijah covered the distance to Ironshore¡¯s dock, where he was greeted by more than a few hostile stares. The city itself hadn¡¯t changed all that much, save that it had developed a little more, with some of the buildings having grown, both in terms of size as well as architectural complexity. Indeed, it looked like a proper city now instead of something that would have been at home in the wild west. But while there were plenty of fearful glances still directed his way, there was plenty of anger there as well. Fortunately, one of the dock guards recognized him ¨C after all, how could they mistake him for anyone else? ¨C and asked him to remain at the dock while she fetched Ramik. What followed was an awkward few minutes where Elijah tried not to notice all the aggressive glares. To him, it looked like the dockworkers as well as the few sailors present were only a few inches from tossing rotten produce at him and running him out of town. Soon, Ramik arrived, though, and when the distinguished-looking goblin did, the people reluctantly went back to their business. ¡°What¡¯s going on with them?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°They blame you,¡± the goblin answered with a shake of his head. ¡°If you hadn¡¯t killed the mercenaries¡­¡± ¡°What was I supposed to do? Just let them kill me?¡± he asked. The question was a little misleading. For all he knew, Cabbot hadn¡¯t come to the island with murder on his mind. The presence of his private army seemed to counter that presumption, but Elijah had every reason to suspect that if he¡¯d simply run away, Cabbot would have let him. Still, there was no way he would have let the greedy gnome destroy his grove and use it for his own progression. So, the point was moot. ¡°No. Of course not. But the public, they don¡¯t know all the facts,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Even though we¡¯ve spread the story, some disbelieve. Others give credence to rumors. The point is that the people are woefully misinformed, as well as frightened. They want to blame someone, and you are the easiest target.¡± That made sense to Elijah, at least. Everything he¡¯d experienced, both before and after Earth experienced the touch of the World Tree, suggested that people were rarely great judges of where to place blame. Especially when there was someone as different as Elijah around. ¡°Is it going to be a problem?¡± ¡°No,¡± Ramik said firmly. ¡°We have enough guards to keep order.¡± ¡°Alright. I have a few errands I want to run,¡± he said. ¡°Then, I want to check out the horde myself. Once we do that, maybe we can develop a strategy.¡± ¡°Oh. I thought¡­¡± ¡°That I¡¯d just snap my fingers and make the problem disappear?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°No. Of course not. I¡­no. You are right. Expecting you to deal with them alone was wrong,¡± he said. ¡°I apologize. We will do our part.¡± The conversation went on for a few more moments, but nothing of import was said. So, it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah found himself heading into the city. Notably, there were a couple of guards trailing him. He didn¡¯t mind, though, because as he headed to his first destination, he became convinced that, without the guards, he would have been attacked. Or at least confronted. He had no desire to deal with that, so he was grateful for the guards¡¯ dissuading presence. In any case, he quickly found his way to Mari¡¯s tailoring shop. When he entered, the matronly dwarf looked up from where she was arranging some of her wares, gave him a short look, and said, ¡°Still haven¡¯t gotten any shoes, have you? Barbaric.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I thought about buying some in another town, but it just felt weird,¡± he admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m meant for footwear.¡± ¡°If you say so. What do you want? Perhaps some cleaning powder for your clothing? All the gods know you need it,¡± she stated. ¡°Uh¡­is that just soap? Because I have plenty of that, and ¨C¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s an alchemical solution. Sprinkle some on your clothes, and it¡¯ll clean them,¡± she stated. ¡°Not as good as a proper self-cleaning enchantment, but better than doing it the old-fashioned way. I suggest you go visit that crazy old coot of an alchemist if you¡¯re really interested in buying some. I have a few pouches in the back, but my prices won¡¯t be kind.¡± ¡°Oh. Okay. But no. I was coming here to ask if you know anything about tanning hides,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve done it without ethera before, but I¡¯m wondering if there¡¯s something else I should be doing.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Tanning solution is something Biggle can provide,¡± she said. ¡°I was more thinking of using natural methods.¡± ¡°Ah. Then you¡¯re going to want some brains,¡± she said. ¡°Preferably of a sentient creature. More ethera, you see.¡± Elijah was well aware of the brain-tanning method, and on top of that, he knew he was about to have to kill a lot of orcs, all of which satisfied the sentience requirement. It was a gruesome thought, especially considering that orcs so closely resembled people. Yet, Elijah couldn¡¯t allow himself to fall into the trap of looking at them like that. Instead, he intended to treat them much the same way he¡¯d treated the ogres and dark elves in his most recent tower run. Which was to say that he was going to try to see them as enemies, rather than people. It had worked for armies going back throughout all of human history, so Elijah hoped it would work for him as well. Otherwise, there was every chance he was going to add quite a lot of trauma to his already-significant psychological burden during the coming conflict. ¡°Is there anything else I should know?¡± he asked. ¡°What do you plan to do with this hide you¡¯re curing? I assume it¡¯s special, or you wouldn¡¯t bother.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. He shrugged. ¡°A cloak, maybe. I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted. ¡°Maybe some bearskin pants or something.¡± ¡°No ¨C a cloak is good,¡± Mari said, tapping her finger against her chin. ¡°Yes, lots of possibilities there. I could even tailor it to your specific needs, provided we have the proper materials. Those wouldn¡¯t be difficult for someone like you to acquire, I¡¯m certain.¡± ¡°You want to make a cloak for me?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course. I could even tan it, if you like.¡± ¡°No. I need to do that myself,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°But no offense, why would you do that? I got the feeling that you didn¡¯t much care for me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be silly. You¡¯re to be our great protector, are you not? What sort of citizen would I be if I didn¡¯t offer my services. Not for free, of course. Obviously. But I will make you a great deal,¡± she said. ¡°Is there anything else you need? Some new clothes, perhaps?¡± Eljiah shrugged. ¡°Unless you have something better than what I¡¯m wearing, probably not,¡± he responded. ¡°But thank you. I¡¯ll probably take you up on your offer. Probably not until after¡­you know¡­what¡¯s coming.¡± ¡°Of course, of course. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be victorious.¡± Elijah definitely didn¡¯t like the dwarven woman¡¯s sudden change of tone. When he¡¯d visited before, her attitude was best described as terse. Still, she had a Tailor class, which meant that she could probably do things with that bear hide that he could only dream of. He could stitch things together, but that was the extent of his talent in sewing. So, he already knew he would take advantage of Mari¡¯s offer. After only a little more conversation, he exited Mari¡¯s shop, promising to return with the hide when he¡¯d finished preparing it. His next stop was on the other side of town, so he, along with his guards, quickly set off. Along the way, Elijah couldn¡¯t ignore how unpopular he was. It also didn¡¯t help that he stuck out like a sore thumb, considering he was the only human in town. Fortunately, he reached his destination only fifteen minutes later, though it was not what he¡¯d expected. Set at least a hundred yards away from the next closest building, the alchemist¡¯s shop ¨C or was it a home, perhaps? ¨C sat atop a low hill. A winding path led to a small fence, on the other side of which was an overgrown garden teeming with ethera. Elijah marched up the winding path, and when he reached the low gate that he could have stepped over if he so desired, he called out, ¡°Biggle? Can I come in?¡± There was a small, muffled explosion, followed by a shouted expletive, after which a squeaky voice spat, ¡°Drat! I almost had it!¡± Then, Elijah heard the sound of clinking glassware and the thud of something extremely heavy before the door to the little cottage banged open, revealing a tiny gnome. He was maybe two feet tall and built like a toddler, yet he had a great, white beard, thick eyebrows that looked like pale caterpillars, and a bulbous nose. There wasn¡¯t a bit of hair on his head, and the tips of his beard smoldered as if they¡¯d just been on fire. He stomped out, demanding, ¡°What do you want? I swear by all the gods that ¨C¡± That¡¯s when he caught sight of Elijah. Recognition dawned, and the gnome went pale. ¡°W-what¡­what are you¡­please don¡¯t kill me! I got nothing against nature! All my ingredients are sourced from cruelty free ¨C¡± ¡°I need your help,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t care about any of that. I just need some cleaning powder. I also have something that might interest you.¡± ¡°What? You¡¯re a Druid, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°How did you know that?¡± ¡°It¡¯s obvious to anybody who¡¯s paying attention,¡± Biggle answered. ¡°Are you really not here to avenge the death of your floral friends?¡± Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not. I just told you why I¡¯m here.¡± Biggle narrowed his twinkling blue eyes. ¡°Hmm. A reasonable Druid. Never thought I¡¯d see the day. But it¡¯s a new world and a new attitude, I say,¡± he said. ¡°Well, come on in. Don¡¯t mind the tentacula. It¡¯s just playful.¡± Elijah looked back at his guards, both of which took a step back and shook their heads. ¡°We¡¯ll stay out here,¡± the female dwarf said. ¡°Right, Marv?¡± ¡°Policy,¡± he grunted. Elijah nodded, saying, ¡°Sure. Policy. I understand.¡± Then, he opened the gate and marched through. As he did, he focused on One with Nature and discovered that most of the plants were mobile. He suspected that they were carnivorous as well, judging by the unique smell of predation. Still, none of them attacked him, which he counted as a lucky break. It unnerved Biggle, too, who said, ¡°Wish they¡¯d stop biting me like that¡­¡± In any case, Elijah quickly followed the gnome inside the cottage, which was absolutely strewn with what looked like chemistry equipment and cooking supplies. There were pots and pans, cauldrons, beakers, vials, and what looked like Bunsen burners. In addition, bundles of herbs hung from the beams on the ceiling, and there were huge barrels lining the walls. On the shelves were all sorts of jars bearing labels like, ¡°newt eyes¡± and ¡°giant¡¯s toes¡±. And it smelled like a wet foot. ¡°Sorry about the mess. And the smell. I¡¯ve been doing some experiments, hoping to make a breakthrough, and they have not been going well,¡± the little gnome said. ¡°You know how it is. One drop of basilisk saliva too many, and the whole things goes up in smoke.¡± As he spoke, he climbed atop a stool so he could more or less look Elijah in the eye, and he asked, ¡°So ¨C what can I do for you? You wanted cleaning powder, yeah? Can¡¯t blame you on that one. No offense, but you smell worse than a three-day-old bobtik.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Right. You wouldn¡¯t know what that is, would you? A bobtik is a swamp monster with a curious life cycle where it starts to decay almost as soon as it hatches,¡± Biggle explained. ¡°By the third day, they have the most pungent aroma. But that¡¯s when you have to harvest them, or you¡¯ll miss peak efficiency. So ¨C you also said you had something for me? I¡¯m not interested in any more kelp. I have plenty.¡± It took Elijah a moment to catch up, but when he did, he unshouldered his pack and said, ¡°I have this mushroom. Well, most of it, at least. It¡¯s contained in a specially made satchel right now.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­I¡¯m always interested in mushrooms. Was quite a mycologist back in the day, you know? World-renowned, some might say. Not this world, though. Another world. You wouldn¡¯t know it.¡± Ignoring the gnome¡¯s babbling, Elijah reached into his pack and retrieved the sack containing the mushroom flesh. He set it before the alchemist, saying, ¡°That satchel is keeping its aura contained. Otherwise, it would¡¯ve probably killed a few people on the way here.¡± Biggel¡¯s eyebrows twitched. ¡°And where did you get this sack?¡± he asked innocently. ¡°I killed the four hunters who had harvested the mushroom,¡± Elijah answered honestly. ¡°I don¡¯t know where they got it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Right. So, let¡¯s see what you¡¯ve got here,¡± the alchemist said. Then, he unbuckled the strap and flipped the top open. Immediately, the entire room was bathed in dense ethera. It wasn¡¯t quite as strong as it had been when the mushroom was still whole, but it was still enough to elicit a slight feeling of nausea. After using that same ethera to fuel his cultivation, Elijah was used to it, though. However, he did notice that with every passing instant, it felt noticeably weaker. Biggle slammed the bag shut. ¡°Is that something you can use?¡± Eljiah asked, already knowing the answer to that question. ¡°Of course it is. That¡¯s a high Simple-Grade natural treasure,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°There¡¯s nothing else like that in the surrounding area. And if there was, it won¡¯t last through the orcs¡¯ invasion.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s valuable.¡± ¡°Extremely. With this, I could create a powerful body cultivation potion. It might even be enough to push someone to the halfway mark.¡± ¡°Of the first stage?¡± ¡°Yes. Of course.¡± ¡°Alright. This is the deal. If you want to take it, great. If not, I¡¯ll go elsewhere. You give me half of what you make from it, and the mushroom¡¯s yours,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Half? I wouldn¡¯t make any profit! Best I could do is a quarter.¡± After that, the haggling commenced, and it didn¡¯t end until they¡¯d settled on a third of what Biggle created from the mushroom, plus a ten-pound sack of cleaning powder. Elijah thought he got the better of the deal, but then again, it seemed that Biggle thought the same thing. So, who was to say who won the negotiation? In the end, though, Elijah was satisfied, and that was all that really mattered. After Biggle told him that the potion would be ready in a few weeks, Elijah departed and, along with his guards, headed to the center of the city. There, they led him to an administrative building, inside of which he met a surly-looking dwarf with spikey black hair and a short beard. ¡°Name¡¯s Kurik,¡± the dwarf said, holding out a hand. ¡°Can¡¯t say as I blame ya for killin¡¯ Cabbot. He was a right cunt.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said, taking Kurik¡¯s rough hand in his own. ¡°Yeah. I guess he was.¡± After that, Ramik explained that Kurik was the highest-level combatant in the entire town. He was apparently some sort of Ranger variant, which meant he was more of a scout than a fighter. However, now that Elijah had killed their entire security force, Kurik had been forced into the latter role. ¡°I got thirty good scouts under me,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°Another ten that ain¡¯t worth spit, but they¡¯re still better than nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°And of the fifteen hundred residents of Ironshore, two-thirds are combat capable,¡± Ramik explained. ¡°Some to a lesser degree than others.¡± Elijah remembered the barbers he¡¯d met during his second visit to Ironshore, and nodded. He didn¡¯t think they¡¯d contribute much to a fight. ¡°Will they still contribute?¡± ¡°All but the little ones,¡± Ramik answered. ¡°The more mature among the children will be used as runners, both for messages as well as supplies. However, there are a few who are not old enough to do even that. We intend to house them here until the fighting is done.¡± Or until everyone was overrun by orcs. ¡°Alright,¡± Elijah said. He didn¡¯t know much about war, so he was prepared to bow to their judgement. ¡°I guess I need to see these orcs with my own two eyes.¡± ¡°Right. I¡¯ll lead you,¡± Kurik said. And not long after that, the pair were traveling through the wilderness. As they went, Elijah refrained from using his draconid form. He was certain that Kurik and his squad of scouts knew about his ability to shapeshift, but he didn¡¯t want to give away any of his secrets, just in case they were leading him into an ambush. As it turned out, two days later, he discovered that the residents of Ironshore had been entirely truthful as to the nature of the threat. He stood on a hill, crouching low at the tree line, and looking out at a camp containing thousands of orcs. ¡°God. This is going to get really ugly, isn¡¯t it?¡± he muttered, using Eyes of the Eagle to get a good look at the creatures. Beside him, Kurik said, ¡°Damn right it is. Damn right.¡± 2-68. Escalation Horns blew, and flags rippled in the wind of some officiant¡¯s spell. The richest and most influential people in Easton stood nearby, drinking and dancing, completely unaware that the world ¨C indeed, the universe ¨C was passing them by. They all thought that the danger had passed, that they were safe. They believed that, after having survived the past few years, they could simply go back to old customs, as if the world would soon return to normal. But as Roman stared down at the Seal of Authority, he knew it was all a misguided fantasy. There was no such thing as normal. One could never stop striving. The days of humanity standing on the shoulders of past generations were long gone, and now, people needed to forge their own path through an unfamiliar and expansive universe. That was what drove him. That was the reason he couldn¡¯t relax. Theirs was a dangerous and deadly world filled with all the worst sorts of monsters. And he was the only one standing between his people and total annihilation. More than anything, he wished that Alyssa could have seen that. But she¡¯d insisted on questioning his authority, on pushing against his every decision. She had championed the weak and protected the insubordinate, and all the while, monsters were knocking at the door. It was madness that she couldn¡¯t see the danger she represented. She would have turned on him, Roman was certain of it, and when she did, she would have had enough support to get everyone in Easton killed. Her death had been necessary. Regrettable, certainly. It had been the hardest thing he¡¯d ever had to do. Even after the betrayal that was her inability to prevent Trish¡¯s death, he still cared deeply about Alyssa. She had been his only true friend. But that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. As a selfless leader, that was the burden he was forced to bear. All that and more washed through Roman¡¯s mind as he watched his people celebrate an accomplishment that was not theirs. The wall had finally been completed, and as such, the city within was safe from the formation of minor rifts or spontaneous manifestations of Voxx. It was a tremendous feat of engineering, enchanting, and architecture. Yet, it could do nothing about the virus that had already begun to take root within his city. ¡°Congratulations, boss,¡± came a grating voice Roman did not want to hear. ¡°The sheep are safe, but what now?¡± Roman didn¡¯t turn. ¡°What do you want, Trace?¡± he asked, slipping the Seal of Authority into his vest pocket. ¡°Maybe I just wanted to make small talk with the big man in charge,¡± the Outlaw said, stepping forward until he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his superior. Out of the corner of his eye, Roman saw Trace¡¯s garish attire. The man flouted the notion of a uniform, making alterations that made him stand out. It was still the same blue-and-white outfit, with black boots and a badge of authority on the chest. However, the cut was anything but normal, with a long blue coat with a dragon stitched on the back. If it was anyone else, Roman would have had him whipped. Or killed. Yet Trace was valuable, and they both knew it. So, he got away with things no other person could. For now. Soon, there would come a point when the man went too far. ¡°In that case, leave,¡± Roman stated. ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood for your foolishness.¡± ¡°You really take all this seriously, don¡¯t you? If you say that¡¯s how you¡¯ve always talked, I¡¯ll call you a liar.¡± ¡°Normally, people who say such things end up dead,¡± Roman said, refusing to rise to the Outlaw¡¯s bait. He had changed his speech patterns, but that was a necessity. His people deserved more than the small-town sheriff he¡¯d been. They needed dignity. Respectability. They needed a king. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡± ¡°What do you want, Trace?¡± A surge of ethera announced the activation of some sort of ability, but Roman wasn¡¯t afraid. The Seal of Authority gave him plenty of leeway so he didn¡¯t have to react to every ripple in the ambient ethera. Still, he cut his eyes at Trace. ¡°Don¡¯t get all antsy,¡± the man said. ¡°I know better than to mess with you here. It¡¯s just an ability meant to prevent eavesdropping.¡± ¡°That¡¯s new.¡± ¡°Is it? Maybe I¡¯ve just kept it in reserve all this time.¡± That was the problem with Trace. He was an incredibly useful man to have around, ruthless and efficient in what he chose to do. However, he was untrustworthy as well as secretive, meaning that he was unpredictable. Roman hid his irritation by adopting an at-rest stance, with his hands behind his back. His eyes never wavered from the affluent people who¡¯d attended the party he never wanted to host. But Fiona had insisted, saying that it was a display of power as well as a way to keep the idiots happy. He acknowledged that she had a much better head for such things, so he¡¯d chosen to trust her judgement. Still, he could barely hide his irritation. ¡°Speak your mind.¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°You are absolutely no fun. You know that, right? Fine. I¡¯ve traced the traitors to a tavern in the southern district,¡± Trace stated. ¡°Mostly the usual suspects. You know the ones.¡± Indeed, even with Alyssa dead, he¡¯d had to deal with no shortage of naysayers and dissidents. Even as they sheltered beneath his wing, they complained about the manner in which he provided for their safety. It was maddening. He¡¯d given them everything. By all rights, their lives were his to do with as he pleased. Yet, treason had bloomed, vivid and poisonous. The only solace was that they were easy to keep track of. Roman already knew who the leaders were, even if he was unaware of the methods they intended to use. That was where Trace came in. ¡°That is not news,¡± he said. ¡°No,¡± Trace said, running his hand through his hair. ¡°No, it¡¯s not. But the people they¡¯re meeting with ¨C that might interest you quite a bit.¡± ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Who do you think? Who has more reason to hate you than anyone else?¡± Trace asked. ¡°Carmen.¡± ¡°Bingo,¡± Trace said. ¡°Does she know?¡± ¡°Does it matter?¡± the Outlaw asked. ¡°She was always a loose end. We should¡¯ve clipped that thread a long time ago.¡± Roman finally turned away. He knew he should have killed Carmen the moment he came back from that tower. Yet, his soft heart had stayed his hand. It wasn¡¯t that he cared so much about the woman herself. He¡¯d never particularly liked her in the first place. But he refused to orphan her child. Not unless he was forced to do so. ¡°What happened afterwards?¡± Roman asked. ¡°She left,¡± Trace answered. ¡°Headed out of the city, presumably back to Silverado.¡± ¡°Interesting. Did you have her followed?¡± Roman asked. ¡°Of course. Two of my best girls,¡± he said. Roman ground his teeth. Trace¡¯s depravities regarding his female underlings were well known, and they were a visible stain on the reputation of the government. And as the ultimate authority within Easton, the man¡¯s reputation was a blight on Roman¡¯s as well. Yet, he was too useful to hold accountable. For now. Eventually, Trace would outlive his usefulness. At that point, Roman would make him pay for every crime he¡¯d committed. And he would enjoy it. ¡°I want you to go to Silverado and keep an eye on what she¡¯s up to,¡± Roman ordered. ¡°Want me to just kill her? Because I¡¯m assuming you don¡¯t want me to just waltz into that little mining camp and announce I¡¯m there on a mission of espionage.¡± ¡°You will remain unseen.¡± ¡°So, is that a no on the killing? Because if we¡¯re just going to put her down, I wouldn¡¯t mind trying my hand with her. She¡¯s a bit thick for my tastes. Too many muscles. But like I always say, I¡¯ll try anything once.¡± Roman¡¯s hand shot out, faster than most people could even track, and his fingers clamped around Trace¡¯s throat. The Outlaw tried to activate an ability, but Roman used one of the functions of the Seal of Authority, ending it immediately. He hated using the cooldown for something so mundane, but making a point was important. Besides, it would cycle in a week. He lifted Trace from the ground, and as the other man¡¯s feet dangled a few inches from the polished tile floor, Roman growled, ¡°You will not touch her. If you harm her without my say-so, I will make you wish for death. You know what I can do.¡± With that, he released the Outlaw, who fell to the floor in a gasping heap. For his part, Roman returned to his previous stance, looking for all the world as if he¡¯d never even moved. ¡°Jesus fucking Christ, man,¡± Trace croaked, massaging his throat. ¡°I was just joking. You didn¡¯t have to go all evil emperor on me.¡± ¡°I am not evil. I am necessary.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Trace muttered. ¡°I believe you. But do they?¡± Roman had already seen precisely what Trace was referring to. A few of the guests had noticed his outburst, but the moment they realized that he was staring back at them, they hastily returned to their little bubble of affluent ignorance. ¡°They do not care,¡± he stated. Trace picked himself up off the floor, then dusted himself off as he said, ¡°Because they¡¯re terrified.¡± ¡°So long as they are obedient, it doesn¡¯t matter to me.¡± Indeed, Roman had long since moved past the need to be loved by his people. Most of them would never see the things he did to ensure their lives continued. They were blissfully unaware of the sacrifices he¡¯d endured, the difficult decisions he¡¯d been forced to make. For someone like him, love had never been on the table. Fear, though ¨C that was attainable. Natural, even. And most importantly, fear kept people in line. He¡¯d learned that in his previous career, and it was a lesson that was still applicable in his current endeavor. ¡°Damn, man. They¡¯re well-trained,¡± remarked Trace with a shake of his head. ¡°Do you understand my instructions?¡± ¡°Yeah. I got it. But for the record, you could¡¯ve just told me to leave her be. You didn¡¯t have to do what you did.¡± ¡°Yes, I did. You may go. Now.¡± For a moment, Trace looked as if he was going to argue, but then thought better of it. Assuredly, the previous lesson was on his mind. In any case, the man turned on his heel and marched out of the ballroom. When he did, Roman went back to his stoic attendance of the celebratory party. Soon enough, he found the Seal of Authority back in his hand. On the surface, the pendant was nothing special. Just a few extra attribute points. However, when he¡¯d bound it, he¡¯d discovered two separate abilities. One, he¡¯d used on Trace, locking down the Outlaw¡¯s abilities. It only lasted for a few seconds, but with that much time, Roman could do all sorts of damage. But the other ability it granted was far more important, as anyone who tried to attack him in his city would quickly discover. The thought had just crossed his mind when he saw Fiona approaching. She was dressed in an emerald dress that clung to her waifish body, accentuating what few curves she possessed. More than once, she¡¯d made it clear that she was interested in more than a professional relationship with Roman, but he¡¯d never even considered taking advantage of her in such a way. He was better than that. She asked, ¡°What did the weasel want?¡± ¡°He wished to congratulate me on the completion of the wall,¡± Roman lied easily. ¡°Huh. Unexpected, but I suppose it shouldn¡¯t be. It¡¯s a great accomplishment,¡± she said. ¡°And just in time, too. That roaming warband is getting closer. Did you give any thought to their demands?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t pay a ransom for my city¡¯s protection. If they attack, we will defeat them,¡± Roman stated unequivocally. Indeed, the warband¡¯s leader, a man who called himself Laramie, had recently sent an emissary demanding that Easton pay a tithe. He referred to it as a protection fee, but the implication was clear. Pay willingly, or it would be taken. Roman hadn¡¯t even needed to consider it in order to refuse, which he did so by virtue of beheading the emissary and launching his body over the wall. ¡°The wall will protect us,¡± Fiona said, taking a sip. ¡°It will,¡± he said. And if it didn¡¯t, they had plenty of fighters. If they failed, then Roman would have to use the Seal¡¯s second ability. Either way, anyone who attacked Easton would quickly discover the error of their ways. 2-69. Harassment The night hung heavy in the air as Kurik crouched atop a thick branch, looking down at the game trail. For the past day, he and his squad had steadily engaged in a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the orcs. They had killed dozens, and yet, their efforts paled in comparison to their ally. At one point, Kurik had doubted that a single person could make enough difference to turn the tides of the coming conflict. No longer did he harbor such doubt, because he¡¯d gotten a small peek at what the man was capable of, and he¡¯d come away both impressed and horrified. Kurik pushed those thoughts aside. He couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted, because he heard his prey finally coming into range. He¡¯d been stalking the orc for the last hour, and he¡¯d finally managed to bait the hulking creature into following him. Now, he only had to wait as the monster crept down the trail. It made an attempt at concealment, and it was clearly capable of moving through the thick terrain with some degree of stealth. However, to Kurik¡¯s keen eyes, it was entirely exposed. Just when it passed beneath him, Kurik leaped from his position on the branch. His axe flashed with his Eagle¡¯s Talon ability, which augmented his melee damage by forty percent for a single strike. The caveat was that he could only use it while striking from above. It was a very limited ability, but under the right circumstances, it was devastating as well. Never was that clearer than when his axe cleaved through the orc¡¯s shoulder, cutting diagonally across its torso and digging deep into its chest. It would have gone further if it wasn¡¯t for the thing¡¯s dense bones and high Constitution. In any case, Kurik¡¯s momentum bore the monster to the ground, and he ended up on top of the bulky and bleeding monster. Orcs were notoriously hard to kill, and even the devastating attack he¡¯d just delivered wasn¡¯t enough to finish it off. So, he reared back, intending to deliver a killing blow. But before he could, he heard a twig snap behind him. Knowing what that signified, he dove forward in a roll that narrowly let him avoid a descending club. He came up running, recognizing that he¡¯d already lost the fight. A pair of orcs crashed through the underbrush behind him, both bellowing in rage as they left their fellow behind. Hopefully, it would bleed to death, but Kurik had fought enough orcs by that point to know how unlikely that was. If they weren¡¯t killed outright, they would recover. Not to full strength ¨C they weren¡¯t trolls, after all ¨C but enough that they could keep on fighting. Still, as much as he regretted the necessity of leaving the kill unfinished, Kurik knew his own abilities well enough to recognize that he couldn¡¯t stand up to a single orc in straight combat, much less two. So, he ran. As he did so, he ran through his options. He had a couple of traps nearby, and both had been enhanced with his ability. Yet, he didn¡¯t want to use them unless absolutely necessary. The fact was that each time he used the ability, it took a significant amount of ethera, so he¡¯d begun to ration his abilities. As a result, he was forced to rely on other tactics, which had further exposed what he already knew. He was no Warrior. Sure, he was a decent enough scout, and he could function as a fair archer while holding his own in hand-to-hand combat. But against creatures like orcs, he was woefully outmatched. It was a reminder of his place in the world. Perhaps one day he could rise above that position, but that day had yet to come. He could run, though, and with his Fleet-Footed enhancement, he could move incredibly quickly through rough terrain. The only person he¡¯d ever found who could rival him was his newest ally, which, as far as he was concerned, didn¡¯t really count. The human was clearly an outlier, so comparing himself to Elijah wasn¡¯t a fair exercise. Just when Kurik was on the verge of veering toward one of his traps, he heard a commotion behind him. Then, suddenly, there was only one orc following. Knowing what that meant, he kept running until, suddenly, the noise repeated. It was followed by silence. ¡°You¡¯re clear,¡± came a quiet voice. Kurik slowed to a stop, then turned around to see Elijah standing over a fallen orc. The creature had had its entire torso ripped open, and its head flopped to the side, its neck nearly severed. ¡°I was fine,¡± Kurik insisted. ¡°I know. Just helping where I can,¡± the man said. He made for a curious sight, with his odd collection of equipment and curios. Kurik knew enough to recognize that many of them were magical in nature, though he couldn¡¯t even begin to guess their purpose. However, he was well aware that anyone with that many magical items was either rich or dangerous. Elijah was probably both, at least in relation to the rest of Earth. ¡°Did it work?¡± Kurk asked. Elijah stepped forward into the light and shrugged. ¡°Sort of, I guess,¡± he said. ¡°I got a few of them, but not as many as I would have liked.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°They have a couple of spellcasters,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Stopped my spells from doing too much damage. I wasn¡¯t expecting that.¡± ¡°They¡¯re more advanced than we thought.¡± ¡°It looks that way,¡± said the man. He ran a hand through his curly blonde hair. ¡°You should go tell Ramik and the others. Take the rest of your squad, too. We¡¯re not going to win the fight like this.¡± ¡°You think we need to come up with another strategy?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stay out here and slow them down.¡± ¡°By yourself?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be careful,¡± Elijah said. ¡°In the meantime, you need to make sure everyone¡¯s ready for what¡¯s coming, because this isn¡¯t something we can stop before it gets to Ironshore. There¡¯s going to be a fight there, one way or another.¡± ¡°I think that was always the case,¡± Kurik admitted with a sigh. There was little chance of stopping the horde before it reached the budding settlement. Everyone had known that from the very beginning, but some had hoped that they could use Elijah¡¯s power to avoid that inevitable eventuality. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You should go. I¡¯m going to keep hunting.¡± Kurik nodded, and without another word, headed to the rendezvous point to reconnect with his people. As he did, he hoped that Elijah could work a miracle, because he expected that that was what it was going to take if they were going to survive. * * * As soon as Kurik was gone, Elijah shifted back into his draconid form and went on the hunt. The past day had been exhausting in a way he hadn¡¯t experienced since the last tower, but in a lot of ways, it was much worse. First of all, the orcs were far more attentive than the ogres had ever been, and if Elijah wasn¡¯t extremely careful about how he moved among them, they would detect his presence. Fortunately, he¡¯d gotten plenty of practice doing just that, so, for the most part, he was fine. Yet, he¡¯d still gotten into trouble a couple of times, and he¡¯d barely made it out of those instances alive. Second, while the orcs were disturbingly humanoid in appearance ¨C aside from their tusks, immense size, and grey skin ¨C they were just as obviously monsters. They had some semblance of a society, but it was a hollow thing, as if they were merely imitating something they had seen. Or, as Kurik had suggested, acting upon instincts they didn¡¯t understand. As a result, they seemed sapient at first glance, but they weren¡¯t. However, even that hint was enough to make killing them a difficult thing. Elijah had pushed the resultant guilt aside, but it was much harder to do so than he¡¯d expected. Not that it was going to stop him from doing what was necessary, but it definitely didn¡¯t help his mindset. And finally, there was the issue of their advancement. He¡¯d grown used to being able to use Swarm and Calamity whenever he wanted, and the first time he¡¯d done so against the orcs had gone off without a hitch. He¡¯d killed a couple dozen of them, even gaining a level in the process. Yet, when he¡¯d tried to do so a second time, one of the orcs had risen up and cast something to reduce the effect of the spells. Another had cast some sort of red globe of liquid in his direction. He¡¯d avoided it, but the fact that it had found him so quickly did not bode well for his chances of using his spells in the future. Which had been his primary strategy, so since then, Elijah had been forced to rethink things. He¡¯d also sent Kurik and his scouts back to Ironshore to help with the preparations. Though he didn¡¯t see how they could win. In the meantime, though, Elijah intended to keep fighting as best he could, and if the battle was hopeless, perhaps he could level enough to gain a new spell or ability that would make the difference they needed to survive. That made Elijah¡¯s goals clear. So, without any further ado, he set off through the underbrush, passing beneath the trees as he headed toward the location where he¡¯d last seen the orcs. Soon enough, he found their camp. It was still dark, so they had yet to begin their march, but Elijah had already witnessed their routine, so he knew what to expect. Still, he watched from the shadows, waiting for an opportunity. As he did, he studied the camp. There were hundreds of tents, dozens of fires, and thousands of grey-skinned orcs. How the tribe had expanded so rapidly, Elijah had no idea. Perhaps he¡¯d only seen a small portion back at that abandoned Wal-Mart. Or maybe they reproduced that quickly. Whatever the case, there were far more than Elijah could handle alone. In truth, even if he hadn¡¯t killed Ironshore¡¯s security force, the chances of repelling the invasion seemed incredibly slim ¨C unless they could figure out some way to even the odds. Being on the defense would help. So would the fact that the orcs were barely-thinking monsters. But that wasn¡¯t going to be enough. A few minutes after Elijah had begun his vigil, a trio of orcs broke away from the camp and tromped off into the woods. It was only then that Elijah realized something that had eluded him until that very moment. Orcs had to eat. That was an unavoidable fact of life. He¡¯d seen them hunting, cooking, and eating by their fires. Yet, he¡¯d not recognized the opportunity that held. Still, before he established a plan, he wanted to confirm his suspicions. So, he followed the trio into the woods, and sure enough, twenty minutes later, he saw them take down a wild hog the size of a hippopotamus. The three orcs expertly dressed the animal, then hauled the meat back to the camp before setting off for another hunting expedition. That¡¯s when Elijah struck, hitting the first one with an attack that utilized Predator Strike. He ripped through the creature with little difficulty, then bounded away into the underbrush. As soon as he was out of sight of the orcs, he bounded up a tree. By that point, the remaining two hunters were alert, but because they never bothered to look up, they had no idea where he was. Elijah dropped out of combat a few moments later, then adopted Guise of the Unseen before repeating the process. Two more attacks, and the trio of hunters were dead. But that had never been the point. He¡¯d only killed them because it was a good opportunity to thin the horde. With the numbers arrayed against Elijah and Ironshore, he couldn¡¯t afford to let such a chance go to waste. However, he didn¡¯t linger after finishing them off. Instead, he took off across the landscape with as much speed as he could muster, and soon enough, he found Kurik and his squad of scouts. Before he approached, he shifted back into his human form and called out, ¡°It¡¯s me. Don¡¯t attack.¡± Then, he stepped out of the trees. Kurik said, ¡°Thought you were stayin¡¯ out here to hunt.¡± ¡°I was. I did,¡± Elijah said excitedly. ¡°But I figured something out.¡± ¡°Yeah? What¡¯s that?¡± Elijah told him, then elaborated on his plan. ¡°You think we can do that? There are only ten of us here,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Twenty more back in Ironshore.¡± ¡°You¡¯re scouts and hunters, right? This is what you do,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I think this is our best option.¡± Kurik shrugged. ¡°Better than any idea I got. Best we get to it, then.¡± 2-70. Hunters Hunting Wearing Guise of the Unseen like a cloak, Elijah crept forward, his body low to the ground as he stalked the stag. It was an enormous deer, at least the size of a full-grown moose, which meant that it was a perfect target for his plan. However, the creature was powerful ¨C he¡¯d known that from the moment he set eyes on it ¨C so he needed to take care in his approach. One wrong move, and he would end up with a set of sharp antlers in his chest. It had already happened once during an earlier hunt, and he didn¡¯t want to repeat that experience. He would survive, at least long enough to heal himself, but that would cost him hours of hunting. And considering the overall goal, that just wasn¡¯t an acceptable price to pay. So, over the past two days, he had learned caution, and in a way he¡¯d rarely employed during his previous exploits. In those instances, he¡¯d always known that, even if he did make a mistake and was injured, he could always heal himself. And while that was still true, the time factor meant that any delay could prove a failure that could, in turn, doom the entirety of Ironshore. Elijah couldn¡¯t stomach that, so he¡¯d pushed himself to heights of stealthy hunting he¡¯d not thought possible. But it was too slow. Soon, he knew the time to institute his plan would pass, and they would have to implement the next phase. Still, the more animals he and the other hunters killed, the less food there would be for the orcs. It didn¡¯t really fall in line with his protector of nature image, but he¡¯d pushed that sort of thing aside in favor of survival. So, the goal was to cut down the animal population to the extent that the orcs would no longer have enough to sustain themselves. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t kill them. Elijah was certain of that. But it would weaken them, at least to some degree, and he hoped that would prove the difference in the inevitable battle to come. With that in mind, he silently slipped through the underbrush. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he should have been undetectable for the stag. Yet, when he came within a few feet, the thing skittishly pranced away. However, by that point, Elijah was already close enough to pounce. He leaped high into the air, landing on the beast¡¯s broad back. Digging his claws into its hide for balance, he struck like a crocodile, latching his powerful jaws on the stag¡¯s neck. He squeezed, ripping through the animal¡¯s flesh and feeling its bones crack beneath his mighty bite. It went limp, having never gotten the chance to resist, and it fell to the ground in a heap. Elijah sprang away, shifting back into his human form before his feet hit the ground. It was at that moment that the orc struck. Elijah had no idea the monster was even there, which meant that it had been using the stealth ability some of their hunters and scouts possessed. Still, it never should have happened. He¡¯d been too focused on the task at hand. Or too exhausted, after three days of constant hunting. Whatever the case, Elijah never had the opportunity to dodge the creature¡¯s thrusting spear. Its flint tip bit deep into his side before ripping a gaping wound in his flesh. He staggered away, but the orc followed close on his heels. Elijah whipped around, spraying the ground with blood as he smashed his staff against the pursuing orc¡¯s tusked face. Under the weight of the blow, the monster stumbled, and Elijah followed that attack up by sweeping his staff toward the orc¡¯s ankles. It tripped, tumbling to the ground. Before it had the chance to react, Elijah cast Snaring Roots, and thick, thorny vines snaked up from the ground to wrap around the monster¡¯s flailing extremities. With a couple of moments to spare, he cast Healing Rain before shifting into his lamellar ape form. The second the spell completed, and he transformed, his arms lengthening and scales sprouting across his increasingly muscular body. Finally, he loped forward, raising his clenched fists high into the sky before bringing them down with thunderous force. That brought a whimper of pain from the monster, but it was far from defeated. So, Elijah continued pummeling the creature until he felt bones break beneath his momentous blows. Finally, the thing went quiet and ceased drawing breath. Elijah didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, he reached down, grabbed the orc¡¯s head in his giant claws, and twisted. Its neck broke, but in his fury, Elijah didn¡¯t care. Instead, he wrenched it back and forth until the thick muscles in its neck tore. Once that happened, it only took a couple more twists before the thing¡¯s entire head ripped free. He wanted to roar triumphantly, but even with the bestial fury raging through him, Elijah knew better than to invite further orcish attention. So, he settled for tossing the head aside and beating his chest in victory. However, he only indulged his inner beast for a few moments before the urgency of the situation caught up to him. Usually, where there was one orc, there would be more soon to follow. So, he shifted back to his human form and examined his injury. Because the flint blade of the orc¡¯s spear hadn¡¯t been particularly sharp, the wound was jagged and anything but surgical. Still, it hadn¡¯t hit anything vital ¨C aside from nicking his intestine, which had already mended from Healing Rain ¨C so he only took the time to pulse Touch of Nature a couple of times before turning his attention to the stag he¡¯d killed. He unslung the pack on his back, then opened it. The satchel was a special loan from the hunters, and it was one of the reasons they¡¯d been able to implement his plan so flawlessly. Like his normal pack, it was much larger than it appeared from the outside, and it could accommodate the meat from four deer the size of the one he¡¯d just killed. It would also keep that meat fresh. However, it could only be used for that very specific purpose. If he were to put anything but fresh meat inside, it would quickly break down. So, it was incredibly useful for a very specific purpose, but absolutely useless for anything that exceeded that function. In any case, the pack was nearly full, which meant that as soon as he processed his kill, Elijah would need to return to the forward camp and exchange it for an empty one. After that, he would return to the forest and continue his hunting efforts while someone else took the meat back to Ironshore. It had been going on for a few days by that point, so they had the process down to a science. But before he could do that, Elijah needed to skin the animal and process the carcass. So, he set to it, using one of the knives he¡¯d taken from the mercenaries who¡¯d invaded his island what felt like a lifetime ago. Once, it might¡¯ve taken him hours to accomplish the task, yet with so much practice and the indefatigable endurance of a man who was well past human limits, he accomplished the task in about thirty minutes. After that, he gathered the pack, which was incredibly heavy because of how much meat he¡¯d packed away, shouldered the hide, and took off across the forest. Even in his human form, he was more than capable of moving quickly and quietly, and besides, he¡¯d been spending quite a lot of time in his bestial forms. Doing that was dangerous, as he¡¯d found in the jungles outside of the Primordial Maze. About an hour later, he finally arrived at the forward camp, where he was confronted with a blue-haired gnome who was part of Kurik¡¯s squad. ¡°Rasana,¡± he acknowledged with a nod. She grinned. ¡°What do you have for me this time?¡± she asked, pushing her spectacles up her nose. They weren¡¯t for correcting her vision. Instead, they helped her see tracks more easily. He shook his head, then said, ¡°Just meat. Two deer, a hog, and a couple of giant turkeys.¡± The two turkeys were closer to dinosaurs than any bird he¡¯d ever seen, and it had taken quite a bit of effort to take the pair of seven-foot-tall birds down. Still, they¡¯d had quite a lot of meat on them, which he supposed would be helpful for the town. More importantly, killing the beasts would deny the orcs any sustenance. ¡°The pickin¡¯s are gettin¡¯ pretty slim out there,¡± came Kurik¡¯s voice. Elijah turned to see the lead scout approaching from the right. He carried a large satchel as well, though he clearly struggled beneath its immense weight. That was the other detriment of the hunting sacks, as they were called. They could hold plenty, but they did nothing to alleviate the weight of whatever was put inside. As such, most of the hunters and scouts couldn¡¯t get the most out of them like Elijah could. ¡°Think we might need to start pullin¡¯ back.¡± Elijah sighed. He¡¯d seen much the same thing, but he knew they¡¯d missed quite a lot of animals. There just wasn¡¯t enough time to truly hunt every denizen of the forest. Yet, they¡¯d gotten the easy prey, which meant that the orcs would have to work that much harder to meet their consumptive needs. That was a small solace in an otherwise desperate situation. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. As he and Kurik stepped into the camp, Elijah asked, ¡°Phase two?¡± ¡°Probably the best chance we¡¯ll get. The others are still workin¡¯ on clearing the animals from here to Ironshore. We¡¯ll work backwards from here, and by the time we get to the city, we¡¯ll be as ready as we¡¯re gonna get,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°How should I contribute?¡± Elijah asked. The plan was simple. Over the next few days, Kurik¡¯s scouts would riddle the forest with traps. Some, like the dwarven leader himself, had abilities related to those traps. As a result, some of the orcs would die. Others would be injured. But no matter what, the traps would slow them down. Kurik shook his head, saying, ¡°Can you hit them with that big spell again?¡± ¡°No. Those shaman in there are too dangerous,¡± he answered. ¡°If I use Calamity or Swarm when they¡¯re paying attention, I¡¯ll have the whole horde after me in¡­wait¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I just had another idea.¡± ¡°Well, we ain¡¯t got all day,¡± Kurik responded. ¡°Spit it out.¡± ¡°Alright, so what if I do that and lead them back the other way,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That could give you some extra time to lay traps. And the more we can delay them, the better prepared Ironshore will be, right?¡± ¡°Think you can do that without gettin¡¯ caught?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I think so. Probably. I can move pretty quickly when I want to.¡± ¡°Then do it,¡± Kurik advised. ¡°The more time we have, the better.¡± Elijah nodded, then said, ¡°I need a few minutes of rest, though. Any food here?¡± ¡°Not much. We¡¯ve been sendin¡¯ everything back home. ¡®sides, we can¡¯t really have a fire out here. But here,¡± he said, leading Elijah to a barrel. Inside were a bunch of wild edibles, including mushrooms and berries. ¡°Should be enough to keep you goin¡¯.¡± Elijah grabbed a handful, then sat on one of the nearby fallen logs. Kurik joined him as he ate. ¡°This takes me back,¡± he sighed. ¡°Living in the woods, eating mushrooms. It¡¯s like I¡¯m stuck right after the world changed.¡± ¡°Surprised you survived all by your lonesome,¡± Kurik remarked. Elijah had shared a little of his story with the dwarf, but he hadn¡¯t told him everything. ¡°Most people wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t alone. Not at first,¡± Elijah said, referring to the panther. ¡°Not completely, at least.¡± ¡°I reckon it¡¯s always hard on the natives when the World Tree touches a new planet. Least there¡¯s not a lot of reason for the truly powerful to stick their noses into the situation,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Most of us are runnin¡¯ from somethin¡¯. Lookin¡¯ for a new life, you know? If any of us had any choice, we wouldn¡¯t be here.¡± ¡°Not sure how to take that,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Don¡¯t take it no way. New worlds, they¡¯re hard. Dangerous. And most of us won¡¯t get the chance to see our families or friends again for years. Decades, if ever. Teleporting off-world is expensive.¡± ¡°How expensive?¡± ¡°Platinums. Plural.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. So far, he¡¯d only amassed seventeen gold ethereum, and from what he remembered, it would take a million of those to equal a single platinum ethereum coin. There were guides in the Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base that cost as much, but the vast majority were far cheaper. That had led him to believe that he was fairly well off. Now, he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. ¡°Even teleportation within the world¡¯s network is prohibitively expensive. Hundreds of gold for the closest locations, and a lot more for ones further away,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°Not that it matters. The world¡¯s too new to have any connections right now. But it¡¯ll come. Just wait. In a couple of decades, it won¡¯t even be uncommon.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d seen the teleportation option at the various Branches he¡¯d visited, but they¡¯d all been greyed out, so he hadn¡¯t thought much more about it. After a few more minutes, during which the pair went silent as they ate their meager meal, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and said, ¡°I guess I need to get going if I¡¯m going to get this thing done.¡± With that, he headed out, shifting into the draconid form as soon as he was out of sight. Without using Guise of the Unseen ¨C or worrying about being detected ¨C Elijah could move incredibly quickly across even the most difficult terrain, so it only took him a few hours to reach the orcish horde. When he arrived, he took a few minutes to observe the enemy. They were on the move, though their progress less resembled an army on the march than a mass of individuals that happened to be going in the same direction. To Elijah, it reminded him of the crowds that came at the end of a football game when a hundred thousand people all tried to leave the stadium at once. There was nothing organized about it, though Elijah did give them a wide berth. At the same time, he used Guise of the Unseen, just to ensure that he remained undetected as he circled around to the backside. Once he reached that position, he knelt behind the thick brush, leveled his staff at the tail end of the horde, and used Swarm. Before the mass of insects even manifested, he was casting Calamity. And the moment the spell left his staff, he shifted back into his draconid form and took off into the forest. A moment later, a blob of red energy splashed down on the spot he¡¯d just vacated. Even from more than twenty feet away, Elijah could feel the sizzling power of the spell, which only reaffirmed his caution. If he hadn¡¯t already expected it, that manifestation of ethera would have hit him. And he didn¡¯t want to know what it did. As he raced through the forest, the tromp of hundreds of orcish feet followed. Elijah stayed ahead of them, but he was careful to let himself be seen more than once. And when he thought the pursuers were far enough away from the main horde, he turned and cast Swarm again. This time, the red ball came even more quickly, which meant that he couldn¡¯t follow it up with Calamity. But that was fine. He wasn¡¯t trying to kill anything. Instead, he only wanted to further separate the group and, eventually, slow down the entire horde. So, he kept going for miles more, narrowly staying ahead of his pursuers. Yet, after more than an hour, Elijah saw an opportunity when, at last, his conjured insects made it past whatever defenses the shaman had erected. He only realized it when he got an influx of experience that signaled a few deaths. More followed soon after, suggesting that, at last, he¡¯d run the shaman out of ethera. That meant the creature was vulnerable. And Elijah aimed to take advantage of that. So, he raced ahead, quickly outpacing the sub-horde, and the moment he felt Essence of the Wolf kick in, he used Guise of the Unseen. Once he¡¯d rendered himself undetectable, Elijah doubled back, and when he saw the shapes of the group of orcs who¡¯d chased him around the forest, a reptilian grin spread across his draconid face. The orcs who were still standing were clearly on their last leg. Most could barely manage a stumble, no doubt because of Swarm¡¯s afflictions, and Elijah suspected that, left alone, they would soon succumb. However, the shaman ¨C identifiable by a large, feathery cloak and a skull-topped staff ¨C was busy trying to prevent that. Elijah had no idea what spells he was casting, but he could feel the swirl of ethera and see the effects. Each time the shaman cast a spell, one of the orcs straightened to its full height, reenergized and healed. Elijah couldn¡¯t let that stand. There were nearly twenty of them left, which was a testament to Elijah¡¯s efforts so far. But he didn¡¯t care about killing a few dozen regular orcs. He wanted to take out the shaman. So, the way was clear. He needed to continue to drain the creature¡¯s ethera by forcing it to continuously heal. With that in mind, Elijah found another bush, where he crouched and leveled his staff before casting Calamity. Clouds gathered, and thunder rolled while the wind whipped into a frenzy. In seconds, it had reached the height of its fury, sending violent bolts of lightning crashing down and blades of wind slicing through the group of orcs. Meanwhile, the earth rumbled and shook, splitting open and throwing them off balance. The shaman tried to counter by erecting a shield that looked like a giant, red bubble, but it popped after only a second. And Elijah recognized the sag of the creature¡¯s shoulders for what it meant. It was spent, and its charges paid the price. The Calamity tore through the already-damaged orcs, killing quite a few and injuring even more. That¡¯s when Elijah struck from afar, aiming his staff at the shaman and letting loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. In all the commotion, none of the monsters even noticed the extra bolt of lightning that slammed into the shaman¡¯s chest, sending it flying backwards into a tree. Elijah heard the impact even from almost a hundred feet away. He cast Swarm, then conjured Healing Rain, positioning it above the orcs. Then, he shifted into the lamellar ape form before rushing forward. He fell upon the monsters with all the furious Strength he could muster, slicing through flesh and breaking bones with wild abandon. It felt good to finally let loose. And with Shape of the Guardian active, he could truly appreciate the melee for what it represented. The orcs tried to resist, but after the deluge of damage he¡¯d already brought to bear, they were weak and powerless to fight back. As a result, it ended in glorious slaughter, and when he finally reached the still stunned shaman, he fell upon the feather-cloaked monster without mercy. It was more of an execution than a fight, and by the time Elijah had finished, he¡¯d earned enough experience to push him to level fifty. Not only did that place him in the top five on Earth¡¯s power rankings, but it also awarded him another ability:
Brand of the Stalker Sear a brand on an enemy, preventing all forms of stealth and increasing your damage against them by fourteen (14) percent.
¡°Nice,¡± Elijah said after he¡¯d shifted back into his human form. But it was difficult to feel too excited about his accomplishment. Sure, he¡¯d killed a good number of orcs, but it was barely anything next to the full weight of the horde. Still, he¡¯d proven the viability of the strategy, so, after taking a few minutes to settle himself ¨C and finding that he now had room for another enhancement ¨C he used Essence of the Lion and took off across the wilderness to repeat his actions. He couldn¡¯t kill them all at once, but if he kept chipping away at them, he would accomplish both of his goals. One, it would inevitably slow the horde to a crawl. And two, he¡¯d gain a few more levels while whittling away at the orcs¡¯ numbers. Perhaps he could even deprive them of shamans altogether. Only time would tell, so he bent his will toward the task at hand. 2-71. Equipping an Army Searing heat buffeted Carmen as she stepped into her newly expanded forge. Inside, there were seven apprentices working, and that wasn¡¯t even considering the number of people who¡¯d been tasked with smelting the freshly mined cold iron ore. After exterminating the last of the critters, Silverado¡¯s miners had found thick veins of the stuff, and ever since then, they¡¯d been steadily pulling it from the earth. And it was just as potent a resource as Carmen had expected. She crossed the forge, making her way to a pile of ingots waiting to be worked. She retrieved one, then used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal, resulting in a notification flashing before her inner eye:
Cold Iron Ingot Overall Grade: Simple (Medium)
It was already better than the metal she¡¯d used to create Destroyer, and that had been the product of weeks¡¯ worth of work and quite a lot of scavenging. It was no wonder Roman had been so adamant that the mine be tapped. Carmen spent the next few minutes searching for the perfect ingots. Most were on the low end of Simple-Grade, but there were a couple that were in the middle, like the one she¡¯d inspected. Those were her targets, and after a few more minutes, she found ten such ingots. Then, she carried them to her personal forge, which was separate from her apprentices. Normally, she didn¡¯t mind working among them, but sometimes, she needed full concentration. As such, she¡¯d had the separate area built to her exacting specifications, which included her own smelter as well as a forge that could handle the intense heat of a fire fueled by ethera-soaked coal. She was certain that there were better fuels out there, but she¡¯d yet to find any. Perhaps when she did, she¡¯d be able to take the next step in her progression as a Blacksmith. But that was a worry for another day. For now, she was only concerned with completing the project before her. So, she took the first two ingots and used Meld Metals to merge them into one. Once she had, she used Refine Material. The results were mixed because the designated smelting crew all had the same technique available to them. As such, the ingots had already been subjected to multiple instances of that, as well as Decontaminate. Still, her technique was a little more powerful than theirs, so she still managed to eke a little use out of it. In truth, it probably wasn¡¯t worth the ethera, but Carmen had ever been a perfectionist, and so, she intended to take every step possible to ensure the product was the peak of what she could achieve. Especially given its purpose. So, once she¡¯d prepared those two merged ingots, she thrust them into the flames and started working on the rest of her materials. And by the time she¡¯d finished, the metal was hot enough for her to work. So, using Summon Tool, she manifested a pair of tongs and dragged the molten metal ingots out of the fire. Once she¡¯d slapped it onto an anvil, she conjured a hammer and started pounding the metal into submission. She only got a dozen good blows in before she had to shove it back into the forge. That was one of the problems with Cold Iron. As its name suggested, it was resistant to fire, and it dissipated heat remarkably quickly. Because of that, a smith who wanted to work with the metal needed to be incredibly cognizant of hammering cold metal, which would result in stress fractures that would, in turn, lower the grade of the item. Carmen had no intention of letting that happen. So, over the next few hours, she diligently worked, spending more time letting the forge heat the metal than she actually spent hammering. However, for a crafter, patience was a virtue. It was even more important to maintain focus when the natural inclination was to let her mind wander. Staying on task was an especially difficult thing, what with everything going on. After meeting with the rebel leaders, Carmen had agreed to provide high-quality armor and weapons to them and their allies. She wasn¡¯t sure about working with the roaming warband led by Laramie, but she had been assured that they were better than Roman. She hadn¡¯t needed much convincing, given the personal enmity she held for the man. If Carmen was honest with herself ¨C which was a rare thing ¨C she would have admitted that she didn¡¯t truly care about the fate of Easton. Instead, the only thing that concerned her was taking revenge on Roman. And as a Blacksmith, the best way she could do that was by providing powerful equipment to the fighters who could give her the opportunity to take her vengeance. Those thoughts flitted along the surface of Carmen¡¯s mind as she worked. If she could have stopped them from doing so, she would have, but that was almost impossible. As a result, her product probably suffered, at least a little. Still, the slow pace of the work did give her the opportunity to use one of her latest techniques:
Ethereal Fortification Infuse a single blow with ethera, injecting an in-progress item with additional power. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
It did precisely what the description said it would, and each time she struck the metal with it active, it sent a jolt of ethera into the material. However, it came with two issues. First, it was slow to activate, which meant that she had to work with a steady and deliberate pace. As such, using it with Cold Iron, whose rapid cooling meant that she had a very short amount of time to work with, slowed the work down considerably. The second issue was that it used an incredible amount of ethera, which served to highlight some of the issues with her attribute allocation. She was heavy on Strength and Constitution, but light on Ethera and Regeneration. The less said about her low Dexterity, the better. Still, each level she attained served as a course correction due to the automatic allocation that came with her class. So, if she wanted to be better, she knew the course. In the meantime, though, she struggled to maintain enough ethera to consistently use her abilities, which slowed her down even more. Even so, Carmen was nothing if not patient, and she persisted through her own limitations. After nearly seven hours, she finally held up the product she had created. It was a breastplate, sized to fit Colt. The man was her second-in-command, and yet, he wore no armor aside from that ridiculous coat of his. And it wasn¡¯t even Crude-Grade. No, if he was going to be effective, he needed better armor. Carmen aimed to satisfy that need. So, after setting the unfinished breastplate aside, she grabbed another ingot and continued the process. Over the next two days, during which she fielded a few questions from her apprentices who¡¯d been tasked with forging the equipment for the rebels, but she also managed to hammer an entire set of armor into shape. A breastplate, two bracers, and a pair of greaves. It wasn¡¯t ideal, and if she¡¯d had her way, she would have outfitted him in a full set of armor that covered his entire body. However, Colt had made it abundantly clear that he wanted no such thing. So, this was a compromise. The metal itself was deep blue, with hints of pearlescent white. Hopefully, he would like that color. In any case, now that the base structure was done, Carmen needed to start with the embellishments. So, she used another new technique:
Ethereal Etching Use ethera to carve embellishments into metal. No tools required.
With that ability, she didn¡¯t need any tools to create ethera-infused embellishments on the armor. However, that was not the extent of what she had planned. Instead, she intended to adjust things a little more fully, using Shape.
Shape Reshape a material with raw ethera.
With that, she could make minor adjustments to the armor that would have otherwise required quite a bit more hammering or a grinder. However, using the two in conjunction was extremely ethera thirsty, which meant that she was in for a long haul. Still, she persisted, using her two techniques as often as she was able. And gradually, the armor took its final shape. She wasn¡¯t going for anything truly eye-catching. Just a mostly plain breastplate, with etched greaves and bracers. Still, there was beauty in subtle simplicity, and what¡¯s more, Carmen knew that Colt¡¯s taste trended toward the unassuming. Eventually, she finished, though she didn¡¯t dare use Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal yet. Just because the armor was forged, it didn¡¯t mean the project was complete. So, she gathered the individual pieces and headed away from the forge. When she left the building, she couldn¡¯t help but blink as the sunlight of a new day assailed her eyes. Yet, she didn¡¯t wait around to let her sight adjust, instead heading to the neighboring building that housed Silverado¡¯s overworked Leatherworkers. There, she found the man she was looking for. ¡°You finish it?¡± she asked. ¡°I did,¡± the Leatherworker said. He wasn¡¯t particularly skilled, and he hadn¡¯t even reached level twenty yet. However, he was the best Silverado had to offer, so Carmen reasoned that beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers. After he retrieved the piece in question, she inspected it. When she was satisfied, she told him what she wanted. It was just one piece of the puzzle, so she wasn¡¯t terribly concerned with the quality of his work. Yet, she knew the end product would be better if she let a real Leatherworker do it rather than try to make it work on her own. So, after explaining everything, she left the armor with him. With that done, she had a few hours to kill. So, she strode toward the training yard where she expected to find Miguel. Sure enough, he was there, practicing the sword with Colt. The two had a good relationship, which Carmen appreciated. A young boy needed all the positive role models he could get, and Colt satisfied that requirement quite well. For a long time, she leaned against the fence that encircled the training ground, just watching her son go through his training. Some of it, she understood, but her approach to battle had always been more of a charge in and hit things really hard sort of method. So, the subtleties of swordfighting had never appealed to her. But watching Miguel, she could certainly see the draw. When he saw her, he gave her a subdued wave, but he knew better than to interrupt his lessons. So, that was all Carmen was going to get for now. After a couple of hours, she returned to the Leatherworker and inspected his work. It was adequate, so she handed him a handful of copper ethereum for his trouble. He tried to protest being paid, saying that he didn¡¯t mind, but Carmen knew just how much a few extra copper could help. So, she didn¡¯t mind. In any case, she quickly returned to the forge with the item, then, after taking a few minutes to center herself, used Bond to make the Leatherworker¡¯s work permanent. After that, she started the enchantment process. She still couldn¡¯t do anything more than a Minor Enchantment, but she had learned a few extra methods over the past few months. As such, she could imbue the item with a few extra attribute points. She still hadn¡¯t gotten the hang of adding an ability, and she suspected that would be the case until she managed to upgrade her Minor Enchantment technique. But that was fine. It would still be better than what anyone else in Easton wore. The process took many more hours ¨C so many, in fact, that Carmen grew dizzy from lack of food, which interrupted her efforts for a few hours ¨C but in the end, she accomplished precisely what she¡¯d set out to do and created an item set in the middle of the Simple-Grade.
Congratulations! You have created a unique item set: [Warden¡¯s Armor]. Overall Grade: Simple (Middle) Enchantment Grade: F
The bracers had been seamlessly integrated into a new leather duster, which had been made from the hides of the highest level terrestrial molaks. The Leatherworker had enchanted it for durability, though he was incapable of doing any more than that. Carmen hadn¡¯t expected the breastplate or greaves to be included in the set, but she was more than happy with the results. Hopefully, it would be enough to protect the strongest fighter she had. Because she had a feeling that hard times were coming. 2-72. The Importance of Ditches Elijah sat on the edge of the ditch, his legs dangling nearly ten feet above the deepest portion. It was filled with sharpened stakes, many of which glistened with ethera from various skills. After his initial success with the divide-and-conquer strategy, he¡¯d managed to use it one more time before the orcs ¨C or rather, the shamans ¨C wised up and refused to follow him into the wilderness. They still sent a few bands of orcs after him, but he quickly discovered that they weren¡¯t nearly as vulnerable to his spells as they¡¯d once been. It was only a day later when he saw them performing some sort of ritual that he discovered the reason. Obviously, they¡¯d enacted some sort of defense against him. It wasn¡¯t really surprising; they¡¯d long proven that they were capable of mitigating his spells. Yet, this was the first time that they¡¯d developed a strategy to do so without the shamans being present. And Elijah didn¡¯t like what that represented, because it verified everything he¡¯d already learned about orcs. They were evolving more with every passing day. If he and his allies didn¡¯t do something soon, the creatures would grow too powerful to combat. So, he¡¯d retreated to the area around Ironshore, where he hoped to contribute to the preparations of their collective defense. When he¡¯d arrived, he had discovered that they had piled quite a lot of dirt into an edifice that surrounded the town, and they¡¯d built some siege engines as well. The alchemist, Biggle, had even lent his expertise to brewing a few dozen barrels of some sort of toxic concoction that he claimed would ¡°make those orc-y bastards think twice about coming to Ironshore¡±. Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure of that, because if there was one thing he¡¯d confirmed, it was that orcs were single-minded in their pursuit of dominance. They¡¯d already swept through the area like a plague, consuming anything they hadn¡¯t destroyed. So, Elijah knew there was little chance of them giving up. Nothing short of total annihilation would stop the orcs. Which meant that the weight on his shoulders wasn¡¯t limited to the coming conflict. There was every chance that if he and the other defenders of Ironshore failed, the orcs would rampage across the region and eventually grow too powerful to stop. If the situation got to that point, Earth would almost assuredly be doomed. And the only thing standing in the way of that was a few ditches, Elijah, and some non-combatants who¡¯d been thrust into a situation they were ill-prepared to confront. He sighed, reaching into his pack and retrieving a jug of water. He drank deeply from it, then set it on the ground. A moment later, the sound of soft footsteps announced the arrival of Kurik. ¡°Want a drink?¡± Elijah asked, holding up the jug. ¡°Water?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pass,¡± the dwarf said, settling in beside Elijah. He went on, ¡°Should be here in a day or two. We¡¯re not sure if they¡¯ll stop outside of our range and amass before coming for us.¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Elijah guessed. ¡°They¡¯re getting smarter.¡± ¡°Orcs do that.¡± ¡°Have you thought about what¡¯s going to happen if we¡¯re unsuccessful?¡± Elijah asked, glancing toward the dwarf. Kurik looked as exhausted as Elijah felt, with large bags beneath his eyes. ¡°I¡¯ll disappear into the wilderness. You should do the same.¡± ¡°If I¡¯m still alive, I¡¯ll be fighting.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°You don¡¯t owe nothin¡¯ to us. We attacked you in your home. By all rights, you ought to¡¯ve killed each and every one of us.¡± ¡°Cabbot was different,¡± Elijah reasoned. ¡°And honestly, he probably wouldn¡¯t have tried what he did if he knew what I could do. Definitely not if he knew the orcs were coming.¡± ¡°If he knew that, he¡¯d¡¯ve got mommy and daddy Eason to pay his way back home,¡± Kurik responded. ¡°They paid most of the fee to get them ritualists here. Like it wasn¡¯t nothin¡¯, too. I bet that idiot didn¡¯t even know they was subsidizin¡¯ his little dragon kidnappin¡¯ plot.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah agreed half-heartedly. He never really knew Cabbot, so he couldn¡¯t speak to that. ¡°But you¡¯re asking me why I¡¯m doing this? Three reasons.¡± ¡°Yeah? What are they?¡± ¡°First, I¡¯m not the kind of guy to abandon people when they need help. I know that probably makes me a sucker, and I¡¯m sure someone will eventually take advantage of me,¡± he explained. ¡°But if that happens, that¡¯s on them. Someone else¡¯s dishonesty won¡¯t stop me from doing what I think is right.¡± ¡°Noble words. Maybe you¡¯ll change your tune when somebody crosses your lines.¡± Elijah shrugged, looking out over the array of ditches. There were twelve of them, each just as deep as the last. Hopefully, that would slow the orcs down. ¡°Maybe,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°But the second reason is a little more personal. I want to protect my home. I like my island, and I can¡¯t imagine the orcs leaving me alone if they take Ironshore. So, protecting the city is a roundabout way of protecting myself.¡± ¡°And the third reason?¡± ¡°This is my planet,¡± Elijah said. ¡°If we don¡¯t stop them here, those orcs are going to spread. That¡¯s what they do, right? They¡¯re like a virus. And I¡¯ve got people out there I care about. Not anyplace close, but they¡¯re out there. And if I don¡¯t do what I can right now, there¡¯s a good chance that they¡¯ll find themselves on the wrong end of that horde sometime in the near future. The orcs are vulnerable now. Beatable. That means I¡¯ve got to take my shot, here and now, because there¡¯s a high probability that humanity will never get another chance.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. For a few moments, Kurik didn¡¯t speak. Then, he took a deep breath before saying, ¡°Nobility and selfishness. I can get behind that.¡± ¡°Anyone who says they¡¯re doing something for purely altruistic reasons is lying,¡± Elijah said. ¡°There¡¯s always a little self-interest in there.¡± ¡°You ain¡¯t wrong,¡± Kurik agreed. Then, the two fell into an easy silence until, a few minutes later, Kurik said, ¡°That sure is a lot of ditches.¡± ¡°Yeah. A friend of mine from college was on track to being a historian,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Specialized in ancient warfare. And every time we saw a movie or talked about a book that dealt with war or sieges, he would always criticize the tactics on display. His favorite thing to say was that the best and most effective defense is a ditch. If you¡¯ve already got one ditch, then build another. You can fancy it up with stakes and walls or water, but the bottom line is that ditches are where it¡¯s at when it comes to defense.¡± ¡°Sounds like a smart fella,¡± Kurik said. ¡°¡¯cept the parts of that I didn¡¯t understand at all, of course.¡± The pair shared a laugh, but then Elijah pushed himself to his feet before saying, ¡°I¡¯m going to get a shower and a real meal. You interested? Might be the last time we¡¯ll get the chance.¡± Kurik shook his head and glanced back at Ironshore. ¡°Got a complicated relationship with cities. Don¡¯t do so good with people, if you catch my meaning.¡± ¡°Yeah. I can understand that. But if you change your mind, you¡¯ll know where to find me.¡± ¡°If I didn¡¯t, I¡¯m sure I could just follow the angry glares. Some folks still ain¡¯t forgiven you for killin¡¯ their so-called security force,¡± Kurik stated. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Can¡¯t blame them for that, I guess. Anyway, I¡¯ll see you later.¡± ¡°Sure.¡± After that, Elijah ambled toward Ironshore. When he entered the city proper, he was once again confronted by the same resentful glares that had greeted him every other time that he¡¯d visited the city. There was fear there as well, but it was muted, probably because they were growing accustomed to his presence. Eventually, that would assuredly come to a head. When that inevitability came to pass, Elijah would have to make an example of someone, which was something he didn¡¯t want to have to do. In any case, they weren¡¯t quite there yet, so he traversed the small city without issue. He passed by a few familiar locations, like the barbershop, Mari¡¯s boutique, and the central building housing the Branch. In the distance, he saw the mines as well, though he hadn¡¯t visited them since rescuing Sara the dragon. For a moment, Elijah considered using Ancestral Circle to teleport back to his grove so he could spend the night there. However, he chose not to for one simple reason: he had no idea if he¡¯d have time to row his way back to the mainland if the orcs attacked. No ¨C it was better to remain in town, even if it meant being a little less comfortable. ¡°Elijah!¡± came a shout from behind. He turned to see Ramik jogging in his direction. The prim and proper goblin was dressed in the same Victorian style he always did. That wasn¡¯t a precise description, considering that there were some subtle but glaring differences, yet it was close enough that Elijah felt comfortable with that descriptor. In any case, he stopped so that Ramik could catch up. The goblin doffed his bowler hat and asked, ¡°Can I interest you in a meal? I have a reservation at the Stuck Pig. I remember how much you enjoyed that last time, and I thought you might like another visit.¡± Elijah looked down at his travel stained clothes and said, ¡°You know what? Sure. But I¡¯d prefer to get cleaned up a bit first. Give me about an hour?¡± ¡°Certainly!¡± said the excited goblin. ¡°Any suggestions on a hotel? Somewhere with a shower?¡± ¡°Oh ¨C a man of your means will want the Imperium.¡± ¡°Sounds expensive,¡± Elijah groused. ¡°It is. Yet, there is no finer accommodation in the city. Indeed, it is the only true hotel in town. We don¡¯t get many visitors. Or any, point of fact. So, there hasn¡¯t been much use for the place, if I¡¯m honest. However, that¡¯s sure to change as the world begins to open up,¡± Ramik insisted. Elijah shrugged. It wasn¡¯t as if he was short on money, so he said, ¡°Sure. So long as it has a shower and a soft bed, I¡¯ll be happy.¡± ¡°Oh, you will be quite satisfied. Allow me to lead the way.¡± After a nod from Elijah, Ramik led him through the city and to a large, three-story building with elegant architecture that put Elijah in mind of the Palace of Versailles, though on a much smaller scale. It also featured a sizable bronze dome, but the general theme was close enough that it made Elijah wonder about the similarities between the newcomers¡¯ culture and those native to Earth. As such questions crossed through a couple of facets of Elijah¡¯s mind, he followed Ramik into the Imperium. And when he stepped inside, he couldn¡¯t contain a slight gasp. To call the d¨¦cor rich would have been an understatement. Inlaid marble, gold trim, and elaborately carved moldings abounded, and the floor tiles were arranged in an artful and dizzyingly complex geometric design. A goblin in a tuxedo greeted them. Aside from a brief glance at Elijah¡¯s bare feet, he gave no indication that he was put off by the sheer shabbiness on display before him. ¡°Welcome to the Imperium,¡± the goblin intoned. ¡°My name is Dakar, and I am the chief proprietor of this branch of the Imperium, the finest hotel in the universe. Please, may I ask what I can do for you?¡± ¡°My friend wishes a room,¡± Ramik said. ¡°Money is no object.¡± ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s some object,¡± Elijah remarked. ¡°Trust me, my friend ¨C you won¡¯t regret spending a few ethereum on this,¡± Ramik stated. Elijah shrugged. He didn¡¯t really know what else to spend his money on, so he said, ¡°Sure. Whatever. Fair warning, though ¨C it¡¯s got a ways to go if it¡¯s going to compete with my tree house.¡± ¡°I am certain that the Imperium will compare quite favorably to any¡­tree house,¡± said Dakar. And it did. Elijah spent the next hour being pampered in a way he never thought possible. Not only was he afforded the opportunity to finally take a shower, but the apartment he rented for the night was twice as large as his tree house. On top of that, it was just as richly decorated as the rest of the hotel. That meant that it looked like it was fit for a literal king. On top of that, Elijah was also subjected to a massage administered by a skilled dwarven woman. So, when he finally returned to the lobby an hour or so later, he felt more refreshed than he had in months. The following meal was just as enjoyable, albeit in a different way. There was something so communal about eating a meal in good company. It seemed like such a simple thing, and though the food was good, it shouldn¡¯t have relaxed him like it did. However, by the time Elijah finished with the Stuck Pig ¨C where he ate what felt like his weight in smoked meats and sides he couldn¡¯t identify ¨C he felt flush with contentment. A more cynical person would have expected something to interrupt that happiness, but nothing happened, and Elijah ended up settling into his huge bed and falling asleep with some degree of optimism in his heart. He almost managed to forget about the orcish horde knocking on the proverbial door. But not quite. 2-73. An Unscrupulous Man Trace was bored out of his mind, and the worst part about it was that he didn¡¯t think there was any end to it in sight. It was his own fault, really. He knew it, too. He should have just killed the bitch and let the chips fall where they may. It was still on the table, as far as he was concerned, though if he went down that road, he¡¯d have to talk fast to keep Roman from gutting him. And he would, too. That cold bastard would slaughter his own children if he thought it would further his goals. Trace had seen it play out in the tower, when he¡¯d watched the man decapitate a woman he¡¯d called his closest friend. And for what? So he could solidify his rule? It was madness of a sort Trace wanted nothing to do with. Yet, he¡¯d stuck around in Easton, largely because, so long as he acted according to Roman¡¯s will, he got to do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. And since the world ended, that was all he cared about. There had been a time, and not so long ago, that he¡¯d have put his life on the line for family and friends. In fact, he¡¯d done just that right after the world had changed. He was good at it, too, and for a while, he had been successful. But then Marly had died, killed by some sort of humanoid tree monster that had taken Trace nearly an hour to hack apart. She was the first, but she¡¯d been far from the last. One by one, everyone he¡¯d ever loved had been taken from him until he was the only one left. That¡¯s when he broke, when he had chosen to give up on the idea of being a hero. Of protecting people. Of looking out for anything but his own best interests. Since then, he¡¯d descended down a spiral of hedonism, theft, and murder, only surfacing when his benefactor gave him a task. Nearby, two of his girls ¨C cute little slips of femininity ¨C waited, watching for his signal. He couldn¡¯t see them, much to his dismay. Like him, they were equipped with potent stealth skills, so no one that wasn¡¯t at least ten levels their senior would be capable of detecting them. Unlike him, though, they were both gorgeous. It was practically a crime, covering that up with a skill. They were also oh-so-pliable. Trace had taken advantage of that last trait on more than one occasion. They were broken, too. But instead of throwing caution to the wind and truly committing to the pursuit of pleasure in all its varied forms, they¡¯d simply given up. Most of the time, they didn¡¯t even say anything ¨C which was fine by him. The last thing he wanted was to waste time listening to a teenage girl¡¯s inane chatter. However, they¡¯d also been trained well, so the pair were effective enough that he would have kept them around, even if they didn¡¯t satisfy his other, much more depraved requirements. In any case, Trace didn¡¯t have to worry about them, so he kept his attention squarely on the two figures in the middle of what looked like a paddock. The area was surrounded by a low fence, and it featured hard-packed dirt that spoke of many hours of trampling feet. The two people within its bounds were interesting enough that Trace barely noticed their surroundings, though. One was a boy with dark hair and a tan complexion, while the other was a tall, slim man who looked like he¡¯d stepped off the set of an old cowboy movie. However, instead of a six-shooter, he wielded a katana with a gleaming blade and a worn hilt. Next to him, the boy looked even smaller than he truly was. But given his parentage, Miguel Rodriguez was bound to end up on the short side. Of course, Trace recognized the cowboy as well, and in truth, he had nothing against Colt Marsters. By all accounts, the man did his job and kept to himself. The only thing that annoyed Trace about him was his propensity to play the hero. The man had never met a dangerous situation he wouldn¡¯t throw himself against, which Trace found na?ve, performative, and a little sad. It was as if the man was trying to prove to everyone how competent and heroic he was. It made Trace a little nauseous. The pair clashed, their practice blades clacking as they went through a series of measured drills. For his part, Trace found the entire thing pointless. He¡¯d never practiced his bladework, but he¡¯d done just fine for himself. After all, it wasn¡¯t so difficult to understand that the pointy end went into the other man. That was one lesson Trace had learned well, and he¡¯d put it into practice more times than he could count. Still, he could at least appreciate the dedication involved, especially considering he¡¯d seen Marsters in action. Even if he was nauseatingly heroic, the cowboy certainly knew his way around a fight, and he¡¯d proven his prowess on enough occasions that nobody who wanted to live would underestimate him. Trace looked past the two faux combatants and into the town beyond. All of the buildings were made of rough-hewn timber, giving them the appearance of log cabins. It cast the entire settlement in a rustic light that put Trace in mind of the vacations he¡¯d once taken with his family. Those had been good times, and he remembered them fondly. Yet, it also came with the same heart wrenching pain that accompanied any memory of the past. So, he quickly pushed past it. His true target was in the largest building, probably forging armor for the enemies of Easton. Trace didn¡¯t care so much about a petty rebellion because he knew precisely how unsuccessful any attempt would be. Roman wasn¡¯t untouchable ¨C not quite ¨C but so long as he stayed inside those walls, he might as well have been. Trace had found himself the target of the man¡¯s ire on enough occasions that he no longer held any interest in challenging him. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. In any case, armor or not, anyone who chose to attack Easton was going to get a rude awakening. So, Trace wasn¡¯t entirely certain why he was even there. He could have assassinated her on the road. Or in her sleep. And he already knew where to find the warband with whom the rebels had made an alliance. Watching Carmen was pointless. Yet, he was there, doing as he¡¯d been told, like a kept dog. It was infuriating. So, it wasn¡¯t surprising that his mind quickly turned to a different plan to deal with the uppity blacksmith and her little band of rebels. After all, if he had something she desperately wanted to keep safe, then it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to keep her in line. And Trace remembered his own children well enough to recognize the lengths a mother would go to keep harm from befalling her children. It took him a while to work himself up to it, but after a couple of hours, Trace had convinced himself that Roman would appreciate his initiative. He may even give him some sort of reward. No ¨C the plan that had taken root in his mind was a good one. He just needed to make it work, and he¡¯d get whatever he wanted out of Roman. So, he knocked on the tree he¡¯d been hiding behind, which was the signal for the two girls. After that, he retreated twenty yards into the woods to a prearranged location and canceled Concealment. A moment later, the pair of girls removed their own camouflaging capabilities. They were similar in appearance, though one was dark of hair while the other was blonde. One day, Trace wanted to get a brunette and a redhead to complete the set. With a slight smirk, he told them his plan, and to their credit, they didn¡¯t argue. They¡¯d long since learned that he wouldn¡¯t react well to any questions. In any case, they listened, and when he¡¯d finished, all three adopted their stealth abilities before setting off for the training grounds. As they had been for hours, Colt and the boy continued to practice. Trace nimbly climbed over the fence, then padded across the training rounds until he was in perfect position. Then, he drew the Dagger of Sundering from the sheath at his waist and struck, using Armor Pierce. The blade sliced through the thin protection of the man¡¯s shirt ¨C his duster hung over the fence in the other direction ¨C piercing Colt¡¯s kidney. The cowboy reacted instantly, lashing out with a backhand that took Trace in the cheek and sent him spinning to the ground. Immediately, he embraced Vanish, hiding himself from view. As he did so, he turned his tumble into a dive, and it was just in time, too, because only a moment later, the ground erupted into a cloud of dirt and dust as a dozen invisible blades tore through the earth. Trace looked back to see that Colt had stumbled. The Dagger of Sundering had done its job, robbing the man of his attributes. Even as Colt tried to get himself under control, the two girls struck. One high, and the other low. Their blades bit into the man, but he wasn¡¯t considered one of Easton¡¯s best combatants for nothing. In the blink of an eye, his sword flashed out, and the blonde girl¡¯s head went flying through the air while her body crumpled to the ground. Colt paid no attention to his injuries. Instead, before the other girl could react, he kicked her in the chest, sending her falling backwards toward the ground. She never made it. Not in one piece, at least. Colt once again flicked his sword, activating his ability and she fell to the ground in pieces. Just like that, Trace was all alone and facing a furious Colt Marsters. He considered running. He was good at that. Yet, the blood pooling on the ground told Trace that Colt wasn¡¯t in the best shape. So, when he saw how wobbly Colt was, he decided to stick it out, circling around and looking for an opening. He didn¡¯t dare snatch the child, who stupidly hadn¡¯t run away, even when Colt shouted for him to do just that. Instead, Miguel stood his ground, hold his practice sword like it would do any good. To keep him around, Trace used Intimidate on Miguel. Most of the time, it wouldn¡¯t work on people, but the kid didn¡¯t even have an archetype yet, so he was entirely unprotected. As a result, he dropped his useless weapon, widened his eyes, and went stiff as all rational thought fled before the face of unmitigated terror. Meanwhile, Trace darted in, stabbing Colt in the stomach. However, the moment his blade made contact, the wounded cowboy reacted with a lightning fast slash that nearly took Trace¡¯s head off. As it was, he bounded away just in time, picking up a gash on his cheek instead. But Trace knew he¡¯d been caught out in the open ¨C a fact that was confirmed by a twinge from his Danger Sense ¨C so he immediately activated Riposte. It was perfect timing, because Colt used his bread-and-butter attack a second later.
Riposte For one-and-a-half (1.5) seconds, block any attack and return it to its origin at fifty (50) percent power.
It was the single most important ability Trace had, but it was also an extremely limited one. As such, he¡¯d trained himself to use it at the most opportune moment. In this case, it sent Colt¡¯s attack right back at him. The man never even saw it coming. Unfortunately, even as it ripped the cowboy to shreds, Trace knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill him. It was enough to send him toppling to the ground in a puddle of his own blood, though. Trace stalked forward, tossing his Dagger of Sundering from one hand to the next as he prepared to finish the job. Yet, the sudden banging of a door and a shout from within the mining town alerted him that he didn¡¯t have the time. So, he ran forward, grabbing the kid, and throwing him over a shoulder. As he did so, he used Stun to knock him out. Normally, it would only last an instant, which he usually used to give himself an edge in a fight. But with someone who hadn¡¯t even gotten his archetype, the ability was a lot more effective. The kid went out like a light, and Trace sprinted away from the training ground. After leaping over the fence, he used Light Step to increase his footspeed, leaving any pursuit behind. And just like that, he¡¯d accomplished his goal. Now, he only needed to return to Easton, hand the kid over to Roman, and Carmen would fall into line. 2-74. The Horde Arrives Elijah awoke to the gentle sound of a flute. As his eyes fluttered open, he glanced around the enormous and garishly appointed room, but he couldn¡¯t find the origin of the music. Yet, even so, he found it enormously soothing, as if it was capable of washing all of his cares away. Of course, it only took a moment for him to remember the urgency of Ironshore¡¯s situation, and when he did, that dense brick of anxiety that had plagued him for the past couple of weeks returned to the pit of his stomach. Tension tightened his muscles, ruining the restful night of sleep he¡¯d just enjoyed. For a long few minutes, Elijah wished he could just let unconsciousness return and carry him away into blissfully ignorant sleep. Yet, he knew he couldn¡¯t do that. Not only did he have responsibilities to tend to, but any possibility of rest had disappeared the moment reality had reasserted itself. Even if he¡¯d wanted to go back to sleep, he couldn¡¯t have managed it. So, with some regret, he threw his blankets aside and pushed himself upright. As he stretched, he noticed that the flute music had ceased, and in the back of his mind, he wondered if he was finally cracking under the pressure. After everything he¡¯d been through, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think it was only a matter of time before his sanity slipped. Sighing, he glanced toward the window. It was a huge, arched thing that stretched from the richly tiled floors to the molding near the ceiling, and ethera danced along the panes. He shook his head, ignoring the oddity as he looked out over the town. Despite being just past dawn, people were already up and about, moving with no small degree of urgency. And Elijah couldn¡¯t blame them, either. Every report he¡¯d read suggested that the orcs were soon to arrive. Perhaps it would be today, or maybe it would be tomorrow. But there was no doubt that they were coming, and soon. The people of Ironshore might not have been classed as combatants, but they intended to be ready to defend their new homes. What other choice did they have? None of them could afford the fee to teleport to another world, and fleeing into the wilderness was almost as dangerous as facing the orcs. It was especially so because the orcs certainly wouldn¡¯t stop at Ironshore. They would keep going, sweeping across the land until there was nothing left. With that fate before them, the idea of risking everything to cut the threat off before it could grow out of control was an attractive one. Still, some had already fled. Elijah had seen them leave during the night, and though he held no true grudge against them, he couldn¡¯t help but think of those people as cowards. They¡¯d been called to defend their homes, and they¡¯d responded by running way. As understandable as their response was, those were the actions of cowards. Elijah pushed those thoughts out of his mind. He had no right to judge them. Certainly, he had the ability to resist. He could fight back. But what was a Cobbler supposed to do against a horde of orcs? What of a Cook? Or a Fisherman? They simply weren¡¯t equipped to confront the threat, and so, they¡¯d taken the only path available to them. Then again, they could still help, and that help could well prove the difference in the coming battle. Elijah¡¯s own actions stood in stark contrast to theirs. He was no resident of Ironshore, but he hadn¡¯t truly hesitated to come when called. Sure, part of that was motivated by self-interest, but even so, he¡¯d shown up. That the same couldn¡¯t be said for every person who called Ironshore home was enough to turn Elijah¡¯s anxiety to simmering anger. He wondered if, when he and the city¡¯s other defenders defeated the orcs, the deserters would be welcomed back. Maybe. But he suspected not. For his part, Elijah had no idea what he would do if he was in charge, and he was glad that was not a decision he¡¯d be forced to make. Whatever the case, he pushed himself to his feet and stretched. The bed had been comfortable, but after sleeping outside so often, it had been a little too soft. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to complain. After that, he headed to the bathroom, where he took care of his business ¨C the presence of a toilet, even one with an odd design, was definitely an improvement over living outdoors ¨C and washed his face. With that done, he donned his clothing and equipment before checking himself in the mirror. He had changed so much over the past few years, but in a lot of ways, not at all. His hair was much longer than it had ever been before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, and his beard a bit scragglier. Yet, he looked younger and, if he was honest with himself, slightly more handsome than he had even before his cancer diagnosis. Slightly marring that effect were the scars that still hadn¡¯t faded. His right arm still bore the mark of his torturous time in the whale¡¯s physics-defying stomach, and the curious, crack-like evidence of his ill-advised misuse of Ancestral Circle remained on his chest and neck. Even so, he wasn¡¯t the disfigured abomination those features might have suggested. Instead, he felt they were just interesting rather than off-putting. But he could at least acknowledge that he was a little biased on that account. Certainly, Delilah hadn¡¯t minded, which he thought should have counted for something. Of course, given her insatiable enthusiasm, he didn¡¯t think she would have minded if he had been missing whole limbs. As he thought of her, he couldn¡¯t help but grin. It had been a long three years, and that night had been quite the stress reliever. Though it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah shook his head. He couldn¡¯t afford to just sit around and reminisce about a woman he would probably never see again. It had been fun and, in a lot of ways, necessary, but it was over. It was never going to be more than a one-night thing. Besides, he had other things he needed to focus on, like the impending orc invasion. So, he straightened his shirt, ran his fingers through his hair, then left the bathroom behind. On his way out, he grabbed his staff and pack before leaving the ridiculously opulent room behind. As he strode down the hall, his feet slapped on the cold tile, the sound punctuated by the clack of his staff against the same. Soon, he reached the sweeping stairs that led down to the lobby, and after that short descent, he was greeted by the hotel¡¯s goblin manager, Dakar. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I trust everything was to your liking, sir?¡± ventured the short, green-skinned fellow. ¡°It was,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You guys do breakfast around here? Or should I go elsewhere?¡± ¡°Alas, but no,¡± said Dakar with an apologetic shake of his head. ¡°I¡¯m afraid our cooks fled in the night. I hope you won¡¯t hold that against the Imperium.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not your fault,¡± he said. Then, he reached into his pocket and retrieved his folio. ¡°What do I owe you?¡± Dakar answered, ¡°Nine silver.¡± Elijah nearly choked, but he¡¯d already been told it was expensive. So, he paid the fee and headed in search of some breakfast. To his distress, most of the city¡¯s buildings had been boarded up and were closed for business. So, he ended up wandering toward the southern side of town, where the defenses were the thickest. There, he found Kurik supervising yet more ditch digging. ¡°Get a good night¡¯s rest?¡± he asked the dwarven scout. ¡°Rest? What rest?¡± groused Kurik, running a hand through his coarse and spiky hair. ¡°Ain¡¯t nobody got time to rest with an orc horde on our doorstep. We ain¡¯t all fancy like you, stayin¡¯ at the Imperium.¡± ¡°It was a bit much,¡± Elijah said with a laugh. ¡°Even the toilet was gold.¡± ¡°A gold shitter? Ain¡¯t that a sight to see,¡± Kurik laughed. Elijah doffed his pack, then reached inside. He grabbed a handful of berries and, after popping one in his mouth, asked, ¡°Want one?¡± Kurk took the offered berry, and when he ate it, his eyes lit up. ¡°What in all of Ignis was that?¡± ¡°Like it?¡± ¡°¡¯Course I like it! Where¡¯d you get those?¡± Elijah shrugged, popping another into his mouth. One was more than enough to sate his hunger, but he wanted to make a point. As he chewed, he said, ¡°Here and there. You know how it is. You¡¯re out adventuring, you find a bush full of pseudo natural treasures. May as well pick a few, right?¡± ¡°I hate you,¡± the dwarf muttered. ¡°So you don¡¯t want another?¡± asked Elijah. He¡¯d gone back to his island a couple of days before, specifically to gather some of the miraculous berries. His reasoning was that they made for perfect travel rations, but in reality, he was just tired of eating dried and peppery meat. ¡°Gods damned right I want some more.¡± Elijah acted as if he wasn¡¯t certain about doing just that, but then knocked it off when the dwarf started looking a bit antsy. After that, he grabbed another handful and handed it over. To his credit, Kurik made sure all his men got a berry before eating his second one. After that, Elijah took a swig from one of his jugs of water and asked, ¡°So, you think they¡¯ll be here today?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure of it,¡± Kurik stated, staring off across the field. There were nearly a dozen ditches between him and the tree line, each one lined with sharpened stakes. Most had been modified with various abilities, as well. But to Elijah, it seemed a pitiful defense for what he knew was coming. As if he could read Elijah¡¯s mind, Kurik said, ¡°Ain¡¯t no shame in runnin¡¯. You don¡¯t owe us nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good,¡± was all he said in response. Kurik knew better than to push, and the two fell silent. And before long, Elijah went to help the scouts as they continued to dig trenches and festoon them with stakes. Like that, the hours passed until, at last, someone raised the alarm. The clear sound of a ringing bell swept across the would-be battlefield, letting everyone know that, finally, the orcs had arrived. Kurik asked him, ¡°You ready for this?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Elijah admitted. Over the past couple of years, he¡¯d fought quite a bit, but he¡¯d never been in a real battle. And he knew enough to recognize how different the two situations were. ¡°Me neither,¡± admitted Kurik. ¡°Is anyone ever?¡± Kurik shook his head, saying, ¡°Probably not. But ¨C¡± It was at that moment that the first orcs stepped out from the tree line. They were just as huge, muscular, and savage-looking as ever, which softened the psychological blow of what Elijah knew was about to happen. The orcs had overwhelming numbers on their side, but Elijah knew they were going to need those and more. The orcs kept piling out from within the forest as they amassed just outside of the city¡¯s defensive perimeter. There were thousands of them, and each one started howling for blood the moment they caught sight of the city and its defenders. Elijah glanced to his side, and he saw that the townspeople had all come the moment the alarm had been raised. Not only did he see hundreds of people he didn¡¯t recognize ¨C goblins in three-piece suits, dwarves wearing the heavy clothing of miners and wielding picks, as well as gnomes with oversized weapons ¨C but there were plenty he did know. Mari, the tailor, wielding a giant club. The trio of barbers, armed with shears. Ramik with an elegant rapier, and Carisa, who was armed with a pair of hand axes. Even Dakar, the proprietor of the swanky Imperium, had shown up, though he didn¡¯t appear to be armed. But rather than find it comforting, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder how many of them would die before the day was done. He only had a few more moments to contemplate the mortality of his allies before the orcs let out a collective roar, jerking his attention back to the upcoming battle. The grey-skinned monsters surged as one, accelerating into a sprint before leaping clear over the first ditch. Then the next. And the next after that. However, they all didn¡¯t make it, and because of the nature of such a crowd, the ones in the back couldn¡¯t maintain the momentum necessary to complete the leap. They ended up impaled on the stakes, and their cries of pain were even louder than the enraged shouts of their comrades. Elijah ignored them all, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on the Staff of Natural Harmony. He could feel the familiar carved roots digging into his palm as the orcs raced across the battlefield. Every ditch claimed a few more casualties, and that number climbed as the rest of the orcish army flooded out of the trees. Then, when the orcs were only a few dozen feet away, Elijah raised his staff and cast Swarm. The now-familiar nimbus of red energy bloomed into being as one of the shaman ¨C unseen amidst the horde ¨C blocked the manifested insects from reaching the orcs. Yet, that was never Elijah¡¯s goal. Next, he cast Calamity. A natural disaster of myriad proportions erupted among the orcs. Slicing winds, rumbling earth, and sizzling lightning tore through them. But they were once again protected by the shaman. However, Elijah had been watching, and he pinpointed the origin of that red-tinted ethera. That¡¯s when he saw the shaman. Elijah cast Brand of the Stalker. The spell, which was usable in any of his forms, cut through the chaos as well as the shaman¡¯s attempt at a block, and it slammed into the creature¡¯s chest. The instant it landed, Elijah knew precisely where the monster was. He could have closed his eyes, and it wouldn¡¯t have made a bit of difference. He raised his staff high into the air, and the rest of the defenders cut loose with any ranged abilities they had at their disposal. For some, that meant loosing a barrage of arrows. For others, there were spells and skills. Fireballs and ice spikes, earthen spears and balls of roiling electricity fell among the horde, scorching, freezing, and impaling. Yet, on the swell of slavering savages came. Elijah didn¡¯t waste his ethera on any more ranged attacks. Instead, he cast Healing Rain, then checked that his various enhancements were active. For this sort of battle, he¡¯d chosen Essence of the Boar, Essence of the Lion, Aura of Renewal, and Shield of Brambles. As always, One with Nature and Essence of the Wolf were active as well. However, he¡¯d made certain that his various enhancements weren¡¯t limited to himself. Instead, he¡¯d spent much of the morning making certain that each and every person he could see were augmented by appropriate spells. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep some of them alive. For now, though, as the orcs charged through Calamity and a hundred other spells and skills, he shifted into his lamellar ape form. It was the first time that most of the townspeople had seen it, and even in the chaos of an impending clash, the sight drew quite a few gasps. One overzealous ¨C or frightened ¨C person even hit him with a weak fireball. Elijah ignored it. Instead, he planted his feet, roared, and beat his chest as he prepared to meet the orcs¡¯ charge. 2-75. The Battle of Ironshore The smell of charred flesh and the screams of dying orcs filled the air as Elijah let the rage of the lamellar ape rush through him. All around him, gnomes, dwarves, goblins, and a scattered few elves screamed their various battlecries as the orcish horde bore down on them, leaping the final ditch before ramming into the defenders. For his part, Elijah threw himself into a trio of clustered orcs, his claws sweeping out to swat them aside. Another roar escaped his maw as he turned that into a shoulder tackle that bore his enormous and muscular target to the ground. He got one pummeling blow in before a flint-headed spear dug into his side. It did no good because he¡¯d activated Iron Scales, preventing any penetration. The orc on the other end of the spear got the worst of the exchange as a wicked thorn from Shield of Brambles pierced its torso. Elijah paid it no heed, vaulting to his feet and leaping into the mass of orcs. With his overly long arms, he grabbed one around the ankle and swung the monster around like an impromptu weapon. He only got a few good hits in before he spun around like an Olympic hammer-tosser, then threw the orc over the heads of its fellows. That got the attention of the horde, and they collapsed onto him like a wave of dull, grey muscle. They bit and clawed, stabbed and slashed, but Elijah kept Iron Scales active, and at great cost to his stamina. Yet, he had no choice. So long as they were focused on him, the orcs couldn¡¯t target his allies. And the Ironshore defenders used that distraction to great effect, raining destruction onto the throng of attackers. It took the form of a wide variety of spells, skills, and projectiles, but the end results were clear ¨C mass casualties. Most didn¡¯t die outright. The orcs were far too hardy for that. However, in a battle like the one before them, a grievous injury was just as good as a kill shot. Whatever took the orcs out of the battle, even for a few minutes, was a win. Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to pay much attention to his allies. Instead, every facet of his Quartz Mind was trained on his surroundings. One paid attention to his mundane senses, while another was focused on One with Nature. The rest, he employed to drive his reactions and counterattacks. The result was that, to his enemies, he likely seemed like he had eyes in the back of his head coupled with precognition. He didn¡¯t dodge blows, though. Instead, he merely shifted to protect his most vital areas. The hide of the lamellar ape was as thick as armor, and even without Iron Scales sending his defenses through the roof, he had more than enough Constitution to protect him. He was especially difficult to harm if he never took a solid blow, so that was what he endeavored to ensure, and to some degree of success. He still took plenty of hits that would have felled someone with lesser defenses. But ever since he¡¯d attained the Shape of the Guardian spell, he¡¯d trained himself to fight appropriately to the form¡¯s strengths and weaknesses. He still hadn¡¯t mastered it, but against the comparatively crude orcs, it was enough. Yet, the sheer weight of numbers was an issue. There weren¡¯t merely hundreds of them. Instead, there were thousands, and it felt like every time Elijah took one out, another pair took its place. Fortunately, his inflated attributes served him well, and he managed to maintain his position at the center of the line, where he anchored the defenses. Every now and again, he caught sight of the region behind the orcs, and he saw that they¡¯d formed gruesome body bridges across the various ditches. The orcs who¡¯d been incapable of leaping over the obstacles, either due to injury or simple weakness, had simply piled up, creating an avenue for even more orcs to overcome the trenches. Still, the defenses had served their purpose by slowing the orcs, claiming a few lives, and preventing the defenders from being overwhelmed straight away. The battle had become a brutal melee where, aside from Elijah and a few of the scouts, the defenders were more than outmatched. Fortunately, they were better equipped and stood atop a berm that had been constructed from the piled dirt that had once filled the trenches. It was only a few feet high, but it was enough to give them the advantage of positioning to couple with the benefit of superior equipment. It was barely sufficient to keep the defenders¡¯ casualties to a minimum ¨C for the time being. Yet Elijah knew it couldn¡¯t last, especially when a trio of red balls of energy splashed down in the middle of the defensive line. Before he could react, a half-dozen gnomes and goblins went down screaming, and even if they might¡¯ve recovered, they never had the chance because the orcs pounced on the opening. Chaos ensued. Elijah leaped backward, using his long arms to great effect as he pummeled the orcs in order to reestablish the defensive line. But by that point, ten defenders had died, and there were more of those red balls on the way. And Elijah knew their origins. The shamans needed to be dealt with, but he hesitated to leave the defenders. So far, he was the only reason they¡¯d maintained their line. But that wouldn¡¯t last long if he left the shamans to their own devices. So, without any more deliberation, he leaped forward, crashing into an orc, and shouldering it aside. It attempted an attack, but he used Iron Scales to avoid any damage. Then, he was among the orcs, swinging his arms like battering rams as he waded through the sea of grey flesh. After a few seconds, Iron Scales ran its course, but he didn¡¯t renew it. He had a long way to go, and he knew his endurance was finite. So, he put his head down and forged ahead, leaping over the first trench and landing among the surging sea of gray flesh. There were so many orcs that he was immediately surrounded, and the creatures wasted no time before trying to fill him full of holes. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. But Elijah¡¯s high attributes weren¡¯t just for show, and with the benefit of the Haste effect he got from his Sash of the Whirlwind, he was capable of avoiding the worst of the attacks. Slowly, he battered his way through. It helped that the single-minded orcs weren¡¯t willing to give up on their true goal, which was to conquer the town. As a result, they only attempted to attack him in passing instead of bearing down on him with the full weight of their effort. If they had, he never would have gotten much further than that first trench. However, with the combination of his high Constitution, Haste, and the orc¡¯s borderline indifference to his progress, he finally reached his destination. The Brand of the Stalker burned bright in his awareness, marking the shaman¡¯s location. In the sea of orcs, that was important, because he would have otherwise never found the creature. He barreled through the last few orcs and launched himself through the air at the shaman. It never even saw him coming before he crashed into the creature, bearing it to the ground. It hit with a grunt, and to its credit, it started to cast some sort of spell, but Elijah already had the upper hand. The creature had no chance to recover before he grabbed its head in both of his clawed hands and twisted. Even amidst the chaotic roar of battle, he heard the sound of snapping vertebrae. But he wasn¡¯t content with that. Instead, he let out a bestial yell as he wrenched the monsters head back and forth until, at last, it tore free. That¡¯s when a red ball of liquid agony hit him in the back. A scream of agony ripped its way from his mouth as he fell forward, slamming face first into the ground. Orcs descended upon him, stabbing him mercilessly, but he couldn¡¯t spare any attention for that. Instead, there was only one thing on Elijah¡¯s mind ¨C the sheer, burning torment boring into his scaled back. On instinct, he activated Iron Scales, and though it blocked the spear strikes from the orcish warriors, it did nothing to alleviate the agony rampaging through his body. He flopped around on the ground, desperately trying to regain control of himself, but it was no use. His muscles seized in a full-body cramp as untenable pain swept through him. Then, another ball splashed into him. Elijah¡¯s vision went white with agony. Another came down, though he was in so much pain that he scarcely felt the difference. He couldn¡¯t think. He could barely breathe. Yet, utilizing the full force of his Quartz Mind, Elijah shoved the torment into its own facet. It spilled over into another. And another after that. But finally, it was contained, leaving the others to work on the problem. He couldn¡¯t move. His back was in ruins. And he felt positive that, in only moments, he was going to die. With One with Nature, he could feel the location of the other two shamans. They were behind him and to the left, flanked on either side by a pair of enormous orcs that must¡¯ve been the most evolved warriors in the horde. But Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about them. He¡¯d killed bigger and stronger. What did worry him were the pair of shamans. He felt the ambient ethera swirl as they raised their feathered staves toward the sky, swirling them in some unknowable ritual. Elijah knew that another pair of attacks were incoming. He had no choice. He used Guardian¡¯s Renewal. As his body mended, banishing the pain and healing his shredded back, Elijah regained control of his body. It was just in time, too, because the pair of shamans finished their spells. Twin balls of red agony tore across the space between them and Elijah, but by that point, he had already sprung to his feet and launched himself at the two orcish spellcasters. Their eyes widened in surprise, and the two guards attempted to intercept him. But with his high Strength, coupled with Haste, the monsters had no chance of stopping him. He hit the first shaman like a runaway train, launching him through the air and into a surging line or orcish warriors. Elijah skidded to a stop, gripping the ground with one clawed hand to arrest his momentum as he pivoted and lashed out. To its credit, the shaman managed to dodge backward just enough to avoid a lethal blow that would have ripped its throat out, but it could do nothing to keep Elijah from grabbing its staff and ripping it away. That¡¯s when he took it in two hands and swung it like a golf club, connecting with the shaman¡¯s chin and launching it into a backflip. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. He turned that swing into a low backhand that sent one of the guards sprawling across the ground. That gave him just enough space to pounce on the fallen shaman and crush its skull beneath a heavy, stomping foot. One facet of his Quartz Mind let him know that the other shaman had recovered, sending another ball of red energy screaming in his direction. But having seen it coming, Elijah had no trouble dodging the relatively slow-moving projectile. He darted to the side, then loped forward. The shaman tried to block his descending claw, yet it underestimated his immense strength. As a result, the staff broke, and Elijah¡¯s claws ripped through its face, sending a spray of blood splattering against the ground. It howled in agony as it stumbled backward, but Elijah didn¡¯t let it put any distance between them. Instead, he refused to allow that, grabbing the monster¡¯s shoulder and dragging him close. Then, he followed his instincts and struck. Not with his hands. Nor his feet. Instead, he snapped out like a crocodile, clamping his jaws around the orc¡¯s head and crushing it like a melon. The taste of blood and brains filled Elijah¡¯s mouth as he flung the dead orc at one of the pursuing guards. The corpse functioned as a perfect distraction to mask Elijah¡¯s charge, which took the enormous orc in the midsection. His claw dug deep into the monster¡¯s torso until he felt bone. Then, he latched onto the creature¡¯s spine and ripped. It did not go well for the massive orc, as more than a few vertebrae came free. It flopped to the ground, paralyzed by Elijah¡¯s unconventional attack. Meanwhile, armed with a new, bony weapon, he threw himself at the remaining guard. And miraculously, the monster turned and ran. That strategy earned it another few seconds of life as Elijah tore across the battlefield in a pursuit that ended when he tackled it to the ground and pummeled it into submission. He let out a roar of victory, losing himself in the heady sensation of success. Yet, that lasted only a few seconds until he saw the sea of grey flesh and tusks all around him. The battle was yet to be won. He intended to change that. So, after checking his surroundings, he shifted into his human form, and the sudden cessation of his bestial rage nearly overwhelmed him. However, he¡¯d experienced it often enough that he quickly adjusted. Then, he cast Swarm, Healing Rain, and, targeting a few hundred feet away, Calamity. Then, before the spells even took hold, he rapidly cast Shape of the Guardian, retaking the form of the lamellar ape. The rage returned, but it was accompanied by a sense of immense satisfaction as he saw his spells crash into the horde, unfettered by the now-dead shamans¡¯ protective shield. Seeing that, Elijah threw himself back into battle, knowing that he had a long fight ahead of him. But in his mind, the odds had just tipped in the defenders¡¯ favor. 2-76. The Warlord With three orcs clinging to his exhausted body, Elijah struggled to stay upright as the monsters bit and clawed, stabbed and scratched. Roaring, he tried to dislodge them, but the creatures were nothing if not tenacious, so his efforts were for naught. Still, he managed to grab hold of one with his free arm and rip it free. A second later, it was sailing through the air to collide with another of its fellows. When it did, a handful of arrows fell upon that area, piercing through their durable bodies. At that sight, Elijah received a surge of energy and kicked out, sending another one of the orcs tumbling across the blood-soaked earth to bowl over another pair. But the moment he¡¯d freed himself from that set of grasping hands, another orc leaped to the fore to take the dislodged creature¡¯s place. And then another after that. Before Elijah could bring his sluggish reflexes to bear, two more orcs had latched onto him. So, when a sixth and final monster hit him with a shoulder tackle, it sent him staggering backwards and into one of the ditches he¡¯d so laboriously helped to dig. For a second, he felt weightless, but then he slammed into the ground. Fortunately, he maintained just enough of his wits to activate Iron Scales before he landed. Otherwise, he would have been impaled by the sharpened stakes that had already claimed the lives of so many orcs. As it was, his scales were only nicked, but the orcs couldn¡¯t claim such good fortune. Two of them were crushed beneath his massive weight, while two others were completely pierced through by the sharpened stakes. That left only the two that had been clinging to his front, and in a daze, Elijah dealt with them the same way he¡¯d killed so many others. With either hand, he gripped a different monster¡¯s head, then squeezed. They screamed in protest, clawing at his wrists, but they could do no good. No ¨C they were powerless to resist his immense Strength, and after only a few more seconds, their skulls shattered. Even as their brains oozed between Elijah¡¯s claws, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder at how perfectly sized the orc¡¯s heads were to fit in his guardian form¡¯s hands. But then a wave of nausea hit him, reminding him that he wasn¡¯t out of the woods. Not only was there a battle still raging all around him, but even the tiny scratches he¡¯d gotten from the stakes were enough to send the poison rampaging through his body. His muscles had already started to lock up, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before it affected his heart. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill him outright. Not with his high Constitution. However, in his already depleted condition, it would be even more effective than normal. And in the ongoing battle, any decline in his abilities would probably end with him dead. So, with every ounce of willpower he possessed, Elijah forced himself to his feet and threw the orcish corpses aside. He tried not to notice the sheer carnage all around him, but even a glance was enough to horrify him. Elijah had never seen so many bodies in one place. Blood and guts abounded, and grey corpses were piled high. It was a miracle that he¡¯d found an uncovered stake in the trench. All the rest of them had already claimed more than one life, and they wore their trophies with however much pride a stake could display. Which was none. But Elijah¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t in any place to make that distinction. Already, his thoughts had grown just as sluggish as his heartbeat, and he knew he needed to get to safety, and soon. So, with his waning willpower pushing him forward, he climbed the steep slope of the trench, surfacing on the other side. Then, he loped in the direction of the defensive line, bowling orcs over with every passing moment. He didn¡¯t stop to attack any of them. He could barely keep his mind on the singular task of making it to the relative safety of the defensive line. If he let himself get distracted, he would never survive. So it happened that around thirty seconds later, and with the poison already beginning to shut down his organs, he made it. The moment he got there, the dwarves and gnomes in the area parted, allowing him passage. They¡¯d done it before during the battle, and Elijah suspected that they would have to do it again before it was all over. As he passed through, he shifted into his human form and stumbled to his knees. Then, he cast Healing Rain before pulsing Touch of Nature over and over again until, at last, the poison dissipated. Then, he promptly vomited. It was like that, on his hands and knees and with a trail of vomit connecting his lower lip to the suddenly muddy earth that Kurik found him. Elijah looked up and said, ¡°I think that was one of yours.¡± ¡°Stop gettin¡¯ stuck with ¡®em, and you won¡¯t have to deal with it anymore,¡± the dwarven scout said. Like Elijah, he looked worse for wear, with more than a few rips in his leather armor and a couple of chips in the blade of his axe. The dwarf himself didn¡¯t look injured, but Elijah could see dark bags beneath his eyes, and his hair was missing in a jagged line that suggested he¡¯d recently been healed. ¡°You aight?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡¯m healed. Just took a lot of ethera, and I had to get rid of the excess poison,¡± Elijah said, nodding at the puddle of vomit. After another moment, he rocked back on his heels and unslung his pack. Then, he retrieved a jug of water, which he used to swish the taste out of his mouth. Spitting, he asked, ¡°How is the battle going?¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Better than expected,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Probably thanks to you.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°More like the ditches and your traps,¡± he said. Indeed, they¡¯d been far more effective than even he had anticipated, and the traps had claimed hundreds of orcish lives. He glanced up at the sky and saw that the sun had risen to its zenith. Had it already been an entire day? He remembered fighting into the night, and dawn felt like it had come only minutes before. However, time was difficult to gauge in the middle of a battle, and it was doubly so when he was so exhausted. ¡°How many more are there?¡± ¡°A few thousand, at least.¡± ¡°So many?¡± Elijah asked, incredulous. He felt like he¡¯d killed that many on his own, and he¡¯d reaped the benefits, too. He was already level fifty-three, and he expected that he wasn¡¯t far from getting another level. Soon, he¡¯d gain a new ability at level fifty-five. ¡°Yeah,¡± said Kurik as he ran his hand through his wild hair. ¡°They just keep comin¡¯. Good news is that our scouts say the end of the line is near. Won¡¯t be long ¡®fore they start gettin¡¯ desperate. They¡¯ll start going into a frenzy, then. And any big¡¯uns they got are gonna come out, then.¡± ¡°I already killed the shamans.¡± ¡°Bound to be some higher level ones in there, too. Can¡¯t underestimate those.¡± Elijah shook his head, then grabbed a bit of dried meat from his pack. He offered some to the dwarf, who took it. As he chewed on the tough rations, he said, ¡°May as well get back to it, then.¡± Before he could rise, Kurik put his hand on Elijah¡¯s shoulder, and he said, ¡°Stay. Rest for a few more minutes. Just keep that rain going, yeah? We¡¯ll set up triage right here for the time being.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more useful out there,¡± Elijah pointed out. He¡¯d seen the difference from when he was out there taking all the attention in his lamellar ape form and when he¡¯d retreated. And it wasn¡¯t a pretty sight, with the orcs pushing the rest of the defenders to their limits. They¡¯d held each time, but only just. However, Elijah was so exhausted that even he had to admit he couldn¡¯t simply hop back into battle. So, he nodded, then made sure that Healing Rain remained in effect before sitting back down. Soon enough, Kurik had brought a few of the wounded to within the area of effect of Healing Rain, though Elijah had already sunk within himself, dragging as much ethera into the nine vortexes of his Quartz Mind, pushing the flow into his Soul, and letting it settle into his Dragon Core. It wasn¡¯t real rest, but it was better than nothing. And after half an hour, he stood and refreshed Healing Rain before leaving the wounded behind. They would be tended to by Ironshore¡¯s other Healers who could tend to the wounded much more efficiently. Once he reached the defensive line, he looked out at the battlefield. In most places, he couldn¡¯t even see the ground, the carpet of gray corpses was so dense. The orcs were pressing the defenders, but the front lines had employed long spears to keep them at bay while the ranged attackers brought their spells, skills, and projectiles to bear. It wasn¡¯t perfect, and there were more than a few instances where the orcs broke through. Yet, it was effective enough that Elijah felt free enough to use his spells. Specifically, he cast Swarm. Once. Twice. Three times, each subsequent instance targeted on a different portion of the remaining horde. It drained his ethera rapidly, but his Quartz Mind was already hard at work refilling his core. In seconds, the entire battlefield was subjected to an immense swarm of stinging insects that descended upon the orcs with ruthless fury. They bit and stung, often unseen and ignored, delivering their deadly payload of afflictions. Meanwhile, Elijah used Calamity the moment his ethera allowed it, and a disaster followed, ripping into the orcs with nature¡¯s wrath. Elijah cast it again after only a few seconds, draining his ethera down to the dregs. But it was worth it, judging by the sheer number of orcs that fell before his spellcasting might. He watched for a few long minutes as the horde¡¯s progress slowed to a crawl. That gave him enough time to continue regenerating his ethera. It was a good thing, too, because not long after, an orc that was at least nine feet tall stepped onto the field. Immediately, Elijah knew it was the orc¡¯s chief. Not because of the elaborate, leopard-skin wrap or the enormous slab of metal it wielded as a sword. Rather, he knew because of the thing¡¯s aura, which swept out from its position, enveloping the orcish horde and sending them into a fury. They didn¡¯t care of they were injured. And any brief respite Elijah¡¯s spells had gained quickly dissipated before their rage. Glowing red with ethereal magic, they rushed forward with renewed vigor, and when they clashed with the line of defenders, spears snapped and they fell upon the people of Ironshore with the ferocity of rabid animals. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out the causal effect. Nor did it take Elijah long to choose a course of action. So, he sighted in on the orc warlord and used Brand of the Stalker. The second it landed, he shifted into his guardian form and bounded forward, barreling through the horde of enraged orcs along the way. He could see the afflictions eating away at them, and more than a few sported grievous injures. However, the famous endurance of orcs was on full display, and whatever the warlord had done had robbed them of even the most basic survival instincts. They didn¡¯t attempt to avoid Elijah¡¯s or the defenders¡¯ attacks. Instead, they just fell upon their chosen enemies, trading blow for blow. And they were winning. Elijah knew he needed to reach the warlord and neutralize it before the battle was lost. So, he leaped over trenches and swept the orcs aside as he used his immense Strength to cover as much ground as possible. Then, finally, he fell upon the massive orc, hitting with all the weight and rage he could muster. And for the first time since the battle had begun, he was rebuffed. He bounced off the orc like he¡¯d hit a brick wall, then staggered backwards, dizzy and dazed. Elijah barely regained his wits in time to dive aside and avoid the orc¡¯s descending slab of a blade. It hit the ground, cleaving an orcish corpse in two and spraying blood, dirt, and entrails in every direction. It recovered quickly, though, aiming a front kick at Elijah¡¯s chest. It connected, sending Elijah stumbling back. That kick, which felt like it had broken a couple of ribs, was evidence that Elijah was in over his head. Yet, he had no choice but to keep going. More than a thousand people were depending on him. So was Nerthus and his grove. And in a way, the rest of the world. He couldn¡¯t give up. He couldn¡¯t consider failure. So, with renewed resolve, he launched himself back into the fight. 2-77. Blind ¡°Bring her back,¡± growled Carmen, staring down at the woman in the chair. She couldn¡¯t have been more than twenty years old, and once upon a time, she¡¯d been quite lovely. And she would be again once Keith was done with her. She glanced at the Healer, seeing hesitation on his face. ¡°Now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not comfortable with this,¡± he said, wringing his hands. He¡¯d already brought the woman back from near death a half-dozen times, and as far as Carmen was concerned, he would do so a half-dozen more before they were done. And a hundred more after that. It would keep going until she gave Carmen what she wanted. ¡°I don¡¯t care. Do it.¡± ¡°Carmen¡­¡± All it took was a scathing glance before he went silent. Then, he used his healing spell ¨C Carmen had no idea what it was called ¨C and the mostly-dead woman gasped in surprise. Keith kept channeling the spell until she was back to perfect health. ¡°Please¡­I didn¡¯t¡­I had no idea¡­I didn¡¯t want to ¨C¡± Carmen didn¡¯t care about the woman¡¯s excuses. She¡¯d never even asked for a name. All she knew was that after that despicable excuse for a human being had taken Miguel, they¡¯d lost him in the woods. However, their search had yielded some results when they¡¯d found two women trying to hide nearby. They¡¯d been cloaked in some sort of skill meant to camouflage them, but all it took was the direct attention of one of Silverado¡¯s scouts to strip them of the effect. Laid bare, they¡¯d quickly surrendered. Since then, they¡¯d learned the error of that course of action. One was already dead, the result of Carmen letting her temper take over and push her much too far. And she¡¯d come close on more than one occasion with the other, which was the woman sitting right in front of her. That was where Keith had come in. Carmen had beaten the woman near to death so many times that her knuckles had cracked and broken under her own Strength. And yet, the ally of that monster had refused to reveal anything. It would have been admirable if Carmen wasn¡¯t so furious ¨C with herself as much as with the Outlaw who¡¯d kidnapped her son. And with Roman, who¡¯d doubtless ordered it. With the world itself. So, she took it out on the helpless prisoner she¡¯d tied to a chair. At first, it had been an attempt to get information, but it had quickly devolved into something much worse. Something far more primal. Once, she¡¯d have looked down on anyone who used such methods, on those who would let their emotions get the better of them when confronted by evil. Now, she embodied that wrath more than she¡¯d have ever thought possible. It wasn¡¯t surprising. Alyssa¡¯s death had changed her, and in more ways than she wanted to contemplate. Before, she¡¯d looked at the world with a fair amount of optimism. But now? That seemed like such an alien viewpoint that she couldn¡¯t understand how anyone could see the world through such rose-colored glasses. And when she¡¯d seen Trace fleeing through the woods with her son thrown over his shoulder, Carmen had snapped. It had almost cost Colt his life. He¡¯d been so thoroughly injured that it took Keith and the town¡¯s other Healer nearly six hours to save him. Even then, he wasn¡¯t entirely whole. Meanwhile, Carmen had stomped through the woods in a vain attempt to catch a man whose very existence screamed of an ability to hide. He was a rodent. A pest that needed to be exterminated. Yet, like all pests, he was incredibly difficult to pin down. So, when the two accomplices had been found, Carmen hadn¡¯t wasted any time before employing the worst of the worst interrogation tactics, and to almost no effect. Sure, she¡¯d discovered some pertinent information, like the fact that Trace was the head of some sort of secret police in Easton. Or that he¡¯d been sent ¨C along with what sounded like a harem of young and beautiful apprentices ¨C to spy on Carmen. What was unclear was whether or not he¡¯d chosen to kidnap Miguel on his own or if it had been part of the plan. ¡°Where did he go?¡± she asked, pulling back her fist. She hit the woman again, breaking the delicate bones in her face. ¡°Where is he keeping my son?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­know,¡± she muttered, spitting blood with every syllable. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know¡­¡± Carmen hit her again. And again after that. It was the same answer, over and over again. So, she kept going until, at last, someone grabbed her arm. Then, when that wasn¡¯t enough, a second person joined in. And a third. In all, it took four people to restrain her, and even they were barely capable of the job. Colt, injured and pale, screamed, ¡°We know where he went! You don¡¯t have to do this!¡± That cut through her fury. ¡°What?¡± she spat, her eyes wild. ¡°Where?¡± ¡°We found a trail,¡± Colt stated. ¡°Heading toward Easton. That¡¯s where he¡¯s going. I¡¯m sure of it.¡± ¡°Kill her, then,¡± Carmen growled. ¡°No, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°What did you just say?¡± she demanded, still struggling against the people restraining her. She glared at the tall, slim man. ¡°Do you know what she did? Do you understand ¨C¡± ¡°She didn¡¯t do anything,¡± Colt said, his voice calm. ¡°The one responsible is Trace. This girl is a victim, same as anyone else. You know that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Carmen responded. ¡°I won¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t¡­¡± She tried to pull away once again, but much of her fury had dissipated. Instead, it was replaced by hopelessness. ¡°He can¡¯t be gone. I¡­I can¡¯t¡­I¡­I¡­¡± She collapsed into sobs. Colt stepped forward, saying something Carmen didn¡¯t hear. Then, she was suddenly free. But she didn¡¯t launch herself at the bound woman, as she would have just moments before. Instead, she collapsed to her knees. Colt knelt beside her, wincing in pain as he put his arm around her shoulders. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay. If they was gonna do somethin¡¯ to him, they already would¡¯ve,¡± he said. ¡°We have allies in Easton. We can use them to make Roman give ¡®im back.¡± Carmen barely heard him. Instead, she wept as she tried to process the chain of events that had led her to such dire straits. If she hadn¡¯t flown off the handle and killed Verin, things might have turned out differently. Yet, she knew that would never have been possible. The moment the Healer had revealed her part in Alyssa¡¯s death, her fate was sealed. Finally, Carmen wiped the tears from her eyes, sniffed loudly, then said, ¡°Then we need to go. Now. Get one of the trucks ready.¡± ¡°What about her?¡± asked Colt. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Carmen glared at the injured woman. ¡°Heal her,¡± she told Keith. ¡°But we¡¯re not letting her go. Now, let¡¯s move.¡± Everyone in the room did just that, and Colt helped her to her feet. ¡°You okay?¡± he asked. ¡°No,¡± Carmen answered. Then, she said, ¡°Put on your armor. You¡¯re going to need it.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± the cowboy said before heading toward the door. ¡°And Colt?¡± she said. He turned back to face her. ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am,¡± he repeated. From there the small town erupted into a whirlwind of activity as Carmen and her most loyal followers assembled. The civilians within the town were vulnerable, but the remaining combatants were more than capable of guarding them against all but the worst threats. That, Carmen reasoned, would have to do. After all, as much as she wanted to protect the people who had put their trust in her, she cared about her son infinitely more. Soon, she found herself leading a small caravan of trucks through the wilderness toward Easton. Fortunately, the road had been cleared, which allowed the electric trucks to make much better time than normal. However, there was no chance that they would catch Trace. By the time they¡¯d figured out which direction he was traveling ¨C which seemed obvious in retrospect ¨C he had almost a day as a head start. Still, Carmen and her people didn¡¯t waste any time, and over the next couple of days, they managed to reach the region surrounding Easton. But when they reached the gate, Carmen was met with an issue. ¡°Wait right here, ma¡¯am,¡± said the guard, who was dressed in the blue-and-white uniform of Easton¡¯s guards. The gate itself was massive, and though Carmen had seen it before, she found it extremely imposing. More troubling was the fact that she counted twenty guards nearby, which was more than normal. On top of that, they were more than enough to overwhelm Carmen¡¯s people. The guard disappeared into the gatehouse. The wall to which it was attached was nearly a hundred feet high and half as thick, but more distressingly, it pulsed with enough ethera to give Carmen pause. There was far more at play than simple bricks and mortar. ¡°Don¡¯t like this one bit,¡± said Colt, who sat in the passenger¡¯s seat. Three more combatants were in the bed of the truck, and just as many occupied the following vehicle. ¡°Feels like an ambush.¡± Almost as soon as those words left Colt¡¯s mouth, a trio of high-level guards came out of the gatehouse. The moment they locked eyes on Carmen, she knew they hadn¡¯t come to talk. That supposition was supported by the fact that one of them drew his sword. Carmen shouted, ¡°Go!¡± It was the signal Colt had been waiting for, but he was still too late. The second the truck surged forward, the portcullis of the gate fell. It clanged to the ground before the truck¡¯s tires even got any traction. Seeing that, Colt did what they¡¯d discussed on the way to the city, and after spinning out for a brief moment, he whipped the truck around and fled. The other vehicle followed. Arrows and various spells fell upon them, but the guards¡¯ aim was inferior to the task of hitting a moving target, so both trucks escaped with only minor damage. Carmen swore as they tore off through the woods, going offroad to avoid pursuit. After thirty minutes, Colt said, ¡°I think we lost ¡®em. Where to?¡± ¡°I think you know.¡± ¡°The rebels aren¡¯t ready,¡± Colt said. ¡°And only about a third of the warband has any gear.¡± ¡°He has Miguel. We can¡¯t wait.¡± ¡°Ma¡¯am, I don¡¯t think ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to come with me,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°I¡¯m just telling you what I¡¯m going to do. It has to be now, and for more than just Miguel. It won¡¯t be long before word gets back to Roman. He probably already knows what¡¯s going on. So, we need to strike now before he has a chance to prepare. You know that¡¯s the only play here.¡± ¡°Let me sneak in,¡± Colt said. ¡°I can ¨C¡± ¡°You can¡¯t sneak into the palace. You¡¯re a samurai, remember? Not a ninja.¡± Colt ground his teeth, clearly frustrated. Carmen could agree on that front. However, she also knew there wasn¡¯t much either of them could do about it. They only had one chance to get Miguel back, and that meant they needed to put everything on the line. ¡°You could send someone in to talk to him. Negotiate,¡± Colt suggested. ¡°You think he¡¯d listen?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°The only way to deal with somebody like Roman is from a position of strength. He doesn¡¯t understand anything else. Besides, he needs to die. I¡¯ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll get Miggy back,¡± Colt insisted. ¡°I know. Or I¡¯ll tear Easton down to get him,¡± she said. However, in the back of her mind, Carmen knew that wasn¡¯t feasible. She had power, but it wasn¡¯t the sort of strength she would need to take on a whole city. Even in a one-on-one fight, without all the support that came with running a city, she would come up short against someone like Roman. But that was why she¡¯d made allies. Now, it was time for them to live up to their side of the bargain. So, she directed Colt to move on. He didn¡¯t need directions because he knew as well as anyone where to find the warband. Everyone did, even Roman and his people. Yet, they maintained a tentative peace because neither side wanted to give up their advantage by pushing an attack. For Roman, that meant he and his forces remained in Easton where they could defend from a position of strength. Meanwhile, the warband ¨C which was called the Crimson Eagles ¨C stayed just close enough to the city to pose a credible threat. By any measure, it was a cold war. Carmen intended to apply some heat. With that in mind, they soon arrived at their destination, which was an old mall that had been converted into a veritable fortress. The alterations weren¡¯t pretty ¨C not like Easton ¨C but they were functional, with rough walls and towers made of timber. Guarding the compound were hundreds of combatants, each with a raw and ragged look about them. Carmen understood it. These people had been fighting since the very beginning, and without much in the way of safety. But they weren¡¯t the villains Roman and Easton¡¯s council made them out to be. Instead, they were composed of castoffs and undesirables as well as the people who¡¯d vowed to protect them. Quite a few had been turned away from Easton at one point or another because they didn¡¯t have useful classes. Most of the fighters were the men and women who refused to abandon family and friends who¡¯d been denied entry. There were also a few bandits in there. A couple of people who only wanted to murder, pillage, and raid. Though Carmen had been assured that those were kept on a tight leash, their presence was still a point of contention. However, with what was on the line, she wasn¡¯t nearly as concerned as she might¡¯ve once been. ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Carmen muttered. ¡°What?¡± Colt asked. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Just then, a flight of arrows erupted from the surrounding woods. Some hit the trucks with the power of gunshots, but most targeted the tires. Colt slammed the truck in reverse, but it was no use because, only a moment later, someone leaped out from behind a rock. He was an enormous man, wielding a giant hammer that he sent on a collision course with the truck¡¯s front end. The head of the weapon hit with resounding force, tearing through the hood and destroying the engine. At the same time, a bunch of men and women wearing the armor Camen and her people had created descended on the other truck with merciless fury. Carmen¡¯s people tried to fight back, but against such a focused and sudden assault, they were powerless. Colt leaped from the truck¡¯s passenger seat, drawing his sword at the same time. He lashed out, slicing the giant, hammer-wielding man to pieces with Blade Storm, but a second later, someone tackled him to the ground. Meanwhile, Carmen dove free of the trick, summoning her blacksmithing hammer. But before she could bring it to bear, she had someone clinging to both arms. In a second, they had forced her arms behind her back and shoved her to the ground. Furious, Carmen looked up to see Laramie, the man behind the warband, looking down on her. He was a tall and muscular man with dark skin who favored armor that made him look like he¡¯d stepped out of a Mad Max movie. But he had clear, intelligent eyes that belied the barbaric appearance of his armor. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± she demanded, struggling to free herself. It was useless. Whatever they¡¯d used to bind her arms was stronger that steel. ¡°We¡¯re in this together!¡± He loomed over her, saying, ¡°We were. But things change, Carmen. We got a better offer.¡± He squatted down. ¡°I hate Roman. I want to see him dead for all the things he did. But I¡¯ve got people to feed. Civilians to protect. And he can give us that. You can¡¯t.¡± ¡°You asshole! He took my son!¡± ¡°He took a lot of sons. Daughters, too,¡± the leader of the warband said. ¡°But the reality of survival doesn¡¯t care about that. I¡¯d hoped you would understand, even if you didn¡¯t want to accept it.¡± Then, he pushed himself to his feet and called for the prisoners to be taken away. That included Carmen, and though she struggled, she was incapable of escape. Instead, she and Colt were half-dragged, half-escorted into the mall before someone shoved the both of them into a makeshift dungeon that had once been some long-closed clothing store. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Colt said. ¡°I keep failing you.¡± Carmen didn¡¯t respond. Instead, she turned her attention to their surroundings. The former store had been stripped of everything but a few mannequins, and the entrance was guarded by a roll-down cage. Moreover, both she and Colt ¨C the only two survivors ¨C were bound so tightly that neither could properly move. That¡¯s when the reality of her situation hit her. Her capture had probably sealed her son¡¯s fate. If he wasn¡¯t dead, he soon would be. And she wouldn¡¯t be far behind him. Colt hadn¡¯t been the only one to fail. ¡°There¡¯s a lot of that going around,¡± she muttered. 2-78. Teamwork The warlord roared, and the orcish horde responded to its call, clambering to cross the trench-strewn battlefield on their way to destroy Ironshore. The defenders attempted to fend them off with their long spears and copious use of their various abilities, but the frenzied orcs had no sense of self-preservation. As a result, they crashed into the defenses with reckless fury, nearly breaking the line with the sheer weight of their charge. Meanwhile, Elijah picked himself up just in time to avoid the warlord¡¯s descending blade. He leaped backward, clearing nearly twenty feet in a single bound, but the warlord followed, screaming with fury that was only matched by his followers¡¯ collective rage. Elijah batted the flat of the weapon, sending it just off course. As it hit the ground, he lashed out with a hand clad in the Claws of Gluttony, ripping a chunk of flesh free. It was a superficial wound ¨C barely more than a scratch ¨C but the orcish warlord screamed like he¡¯d just taken a mortal injury. In a sudden move that took Elijah by surprise, it lowered its shoulder and hit him with a charge that knocked him from his feet. He hit the ground on his back, then rolled to a stop a few feet later to see the warlord¡¯s blade once again descending in a quest to split him in two. Using the Haste of his Sash of the Whirlwind to great advantage, he again slapped the flat of the blade. This time, however, it wasn¡¯t enough to send the blade completely off-course, and it hit his shoulder, carving a massive slab of flesh free. As the meat flopped to the ground, Elijah let out a roar and leaped at the monster¡¯s legs. He didn¡¯t attack with his claws. Instead, he snapped out with his powerful jaws, and when they closed around the monster¡¯s calf, he heard cracking bones. Then, channeling his inner alligator, he rolled, and the monster lost its balance, falling atop Elijah in a heap. With every point of Strength he had at his disposal, Elijah shoved the monster away. But when he tried to find his feet, he realized that the orcish warlord had latched onto his ankle. He yanked, trying to free it, but it was no use. Its grip was like iron. The only solace was that, in such close proximity, it couldn¡¯t bring its massive slab of a sword to bear. Yet, its own two hands were plenty to do all sorts of damage. It demonstrated that fact when it wrenched Elijah¡¯s ankle to the side, breaking delicate bones. Howling in pain, he jerked free, but by that point, the damage had been done. Elijah stumbled to all fours which quickly turned into a three-legged retreat. The orc followed, screaming bloody murder as it limped in pursuit. But to Elijah¡¯s horror, the thing had the same famous durability of all orcs, and it was far better suited to dealing with a gimpy leg. So, it caught him after only a few seconds. As it reached for his thick tail, Elijah made a choice that he hoped wouldn¡¯t come back to bite him. He shifted into his human form, casting Healing Rain the moment it became available. At the same time, he reversed course and dove between the giant creature¡¯s legs. The moment he rolled to a stop, he pulsed Touch of Nature, sending regenerative ethera toward his ruined ankle. The orc whipped around, mistakenly trying to pivot on its own injured leg and paying the price. When it put weight on the limb, it stumbled slightly, giving Elijah the opportunity to put a few more feet worth of distance between himself and the monster. Then, he pulsed Touch of Nature again, healing his injury enough that he could put weight on that leg. One more, and it was entirely healed. And it was just in time, too, because the orcish warlord recovered extremely quickly. It launched itself at him, drawing a machete-sized dagger from its hide belt. Even as it descended, Elijah was casting another spell. Swarm completed just before the orc reached him, and Elijah aimed a baseball style swing at the creature¡¯s already-injured leg. He put every ounce of power he could summon behind it, and he was rewarded with the loud sound of cracking bone. Or that was what he thought, right up until he looked down at his staff and saw only a jagged wooden stake. He was so surprised that he didn¡¯t even see the orc¡¯s backhanded blow before it hit him in the stomach, sending his much lighter body flying across the battlefield. He hit the ground almost thirty feet later, collided with a screaming orc, and nearly rolled into one of the trenches. For a moment, his head swam with what he expected was a concussion, but a reflexive cast of Touch of Nature banished the wooziness. Then, he used it again to heal himself only to discover that he wasn¡¯t grievously injured. He thanked his smaller body for that. If he¡¯d been anchored by a lot more mass, he wouldn¡¯t have been launched across the field, which had served to dissipate some of the force. Regardless, he knew he was in a rough state. His store of ethera was getting much lower, and he knew he couldn¡¯t continue the fight like he had so far. His guardian form had no advantages over the massive orc, and his human form was practically useless without ethera. So, Elijah reasoned that he only had one chance of winning the battle. Using a similar tactic to what he¡¯d employed against the ogre champion back in the tower, he shifted into his draconid form after using one last Touch of Nature. Then, he turned and ran. The orcish warlord followed, barreling through its own people as it chased him. Meanwhile, Elijah bounded from one to the other, using his superior speed and motor control to dodge any attacks they sent his way. At the same time, his claws flashed every time he passed an orc, severing tendons and ripping through muscles. More importantly, though, he infected them with Contagion. That was only a side effect of his flight, though. Leading the orc away was the primary goal, and the monster, as single-minded as it was, never suspected that it was being manipulated. Elijah leaped over trenches and wove between the orcs comprising the horde, and though he experienced more than one close call, he narrowly avoided any attacks they sent his way. For a long few minutes, he utilized every facet of his Quartz Mind to keep track of the chaotic battlefield. But then, the warlord seemed to recognize that it was being led on a merry chase, and it turned to return to its original purpose. That was precisely what Elijah had been waiting on, and he leaped, hit an orc, to reverse course, and rocketed toward the warlord¡¯s back. He leaped upon it, using Venom Strike before savaging the monster a half-dozen times, then bounding away. It reacted with all the fury Elijah would have expected and abandoned its march toward Ironshore so it could chase Elijah¡¯s retreating form. The cycle repeated a few more times over the next hour, and every second felt like he was balanced on the edge of a knife. One tiny mistake, and he¡¯d have gotten pummeled by the warlord or its minions. Yet, Elijah had been through multiple crucibles since Earth had been touched by the World Tree, and through those experiences, he¡¯d been forged into the sort of person who could walk that tightrope and expect to maintain his footing. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. That was true right up until he made a fatal mistake. He¡¯d just dashed in for yet another hit-and-run attack on the warlord, but the monster surprised him with a sudden reversal. It might have been dense, but it had finally recognized its situation for what it was. And rather than perpetuating its own doom, it chose to turn the tables on Elijah. He was in mid-air when the monster whipped around and clamped its fingers around his neck. He squirmed, scratching and clawing at the creature¡¯s arm. It was under the effect of dozens of instances of Contagion as well as the afflictions of Swarm and Venom Strike, and yet, it looked only a little worse for wear. By comparison, the surrounding orcs almost all looked like they were dead on their feet. But Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about them. Indeed, he wasn¡¯t worried about anything but his own life. Panicked, he let his draconid form fall away and immediately initiated a transformation into a lamellar ape. Before it could truly begin, though, the orcish warlord slammed him into the ground. Elijah felt his body crumple. Bones broke, and his organs felt like they ruptured. Yet, the monster wasn¡¯t finished. Instead, it lifted him in both hands and slammed him against the ground again. He¡¯d just completed his transformation, though it felt like it did little good. Even though he managed to use Iron Scales, the ability did nothing to alleviate the damage that had already been done. He hit the ground again with thunderous impact. He kicked out blindly, connecting with the monster¡¯s thighs and digging deep grooves in the warlord¡¯s gray flesh. Yet, it did little good as the creature once again raised him high into the air. Elijah¡¯s mind whirled with strategies to avoid what he knew was coming. Iron Scales protected him a little, but even the ten percent of the damage that made it through was enough to push him closer to his body giving out. His situation was desperate, and despite using every facet of his mind to search for an answer, he found no solutions. In that moment, Elijah was certain he was going to die. Iron Scales gave out, and the monster let out a victorious roar as it slammed Elijah into the ground. The killing blow didn¡¯t come, though. Instead, a dense bubble of blue energy bloomed into being around Elijah, softening the blow. The orcish warlord looked down on him with mingled confusion and surprise, which allowed Elijah to wriggle free. As he did, he activated Rage. Instantly, his body was flooded with renewed Strength, sending his physical attributes skyrocketing well past his normal limits. And when he hit the ground after having freed himself from the warlord¡¯s grip, Elijah used that additional power to great effect. He grabbed hold of the monster¡¯s ankle and yanked with all his might. The creature, weakened by various afflictions and blood loss from the Claws of Gluttony¡¯s Anticoagulant effect, was incapable of remaining upright. It tipped over, hitting the turf hard. Elijah knew that wasn¡¯t enough to even the slow the monster down, much less put it out of commission. However, he did have an idea. So, ignoring the pain of his injuries, Elijah thrust himself to his feet and dragged the struggling orc a few feet to the nearest trench. Because he recognized where on the battlefield he¡¯d ended up. After all, it wasn¡¯t that long ago that he¡¯d fallen afoul of the stakes at the bottom of that very ditch. With all the Strength granted by his lamellar ape form, combined with his natural attributes and the effects of Rage, Elijah heaved the orc over the edge. In mid-air, it flailed for a few seconds before slamming into the bare stakes. Of course, the monster tried to pull itself free, but Elijah wasn¡¯t going to allow that. As Rage dissipated, he switched to his human form. Rather than heal himself, which he desperately needed, Elijah cast Snaring Roots. Thick vines erupted from the ground, holding the monster in place. Then, he cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning descended from on high, smashing into the prone warlord. Without the enhancement of the ruined Staff of Natural Harmony, the spell did little damage. Yet, that was never the point. Instead, Elijah had cast Storm¡¯s Fury with one intention: to stun the creature. And in that endeavor, it was successful. As the orc ripped itself free of the vines, Elijah cast Snaring Roots again, keeping it in place. But to his horror, the warlord wasn¡¯t succumbing to the poison on the stakes as quickly as Elijah had expected. And he didn¡¯t have the ethera to keep going much longer. Indeed, if he didn¡¯t heal himself soon, he was going to die. He could feel fluid building in his lungs, and his insides hurt like never before. In that moment, Elijah made a decision to end it, one way or another. So, after pulsing Touch of Nature a single time to keep himself alive, he initiated a transformation back into his lamellar ape form, draining the last of his ethera. Before he¡¯d completed the change, the orc ripped free of the vines, and it started to extract itself from the stakes. That¡¯s when Elijah fell upon it, raining a series of vicious blows onto the vulnerable monster. He pummeled the creature with every ounce of fury he could muster, and yet, he couldn¡¯t do so without taking plenty of hits himself. It was like two heavyweight boxers trading blows in the twelfth round of a championship fight. Neither was in any condition to continue, and yet, they both persisted well past the point of no return, hammering one another with heavy blows that could shake the world. Elijah knew what his decision entailed. He wasn¡¯t going to make it. Even if he managed to take the monster out, the damage was too severe. Without a full core of ethera, he couldn¡¯t heal himself quickly enough to recover. But he was okay with the choice he¡¯d made. Running had been an option, and he¡¯d considered it. Yet, that was just delaying the inevitable. The monster had been vulnerable, and if he hadn¡¯t pounced when he had, it would have recovered and laid waste to the remaining defenders as well as Ironshore. From there, the horde would sweep across the world. And though he hadn¡¯t seen them in a long time, Elijah had people he cared about out there. Not only were Alyssa, Carmen, and Miguel somewhere out in the world, but he¡¯d had friends back in Hawaii, too. Not to mention the friends he¡¯d made in Ironshore. Isaak and Delilah back in Argos. Or Jess and Essex in Norcastle. Nerthus and his Grove. There were a lot of reasons he couldn¡¯t allow the orcs to live. Elijah channeled that while pummeling the warlord, and it gave him a burst of energy that, in turn, allowed him to, at last, finish the thing off with a massive blow that broke the creature¡¯s neck. He only had a brief moment to realize that he¡¯d won before the weight of injuries swept over him. Dizziness assailed every facet of his mind, but he managed to climb free of the trench before, at last, collapsing. He crawled forward a few feet, but that was the extent of his ability. Faintly, he heard familiar voices, and he suddenly realized that he¡¯d shifted back to his human form. Someone shoved something into his mouth, and miraculously, he felt a brief surge of healing. More importantly, a drop of additional ethera hit his core a second later. Something else hit his tongue, and he felt something tart and familiar. His eyes focused, and he realized that Kurik was standing over him and holding a handful of Elijah¡¯s grove berries. ¡°Open up, ya moron,¡± the dwarf growled. ¡°Not lettin¡¯ you die after all that.¡± Elijah¡¯s jaw fell open, and Kurk shoved another couple of berries into his mouth. That was enough to clear his head, at least a little, and though he had a host of questions, he knew he needed to cast Touch of Nature or he wouldn¡¯t survive much longer. So, he did, and soothing energy washed over him, mending his injuries. It was only a drop in the proverbial bucket, but it was enough to return him to complete awareness. He jerked, croaking, ¡°What happened? The orcs.¡± ¡°Dead,¡± Kurik said. ¡°When you finished the big¡¯un off, they lost that enhancement. Wasn¡¯t long after that that your afflictions took ¡®em down. With a little help from us, o¡¯ course.¡± ¡°Oh¡­so¡­it¡¯s over?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Everything but the clean-up,¡± Kurik said. Elijah finally relaxed with a sigh of relief that sent an arc of pain tearing across his torso. ¡°Good,¡± he muttered. ¡°Oh¡­Kurik?¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I need that orc¡¯s brains. The big one. Save those for me,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s very important.¡± Then, without further conversation, he let himself finally relax. That led to his consciousness slipping away. Before he went out completely, he heard Kurik say, ¡°Brains? Never heard that¡¯n before.¡± 2-79. Humanity Trace had screwed up. He knew it, too. Pacing back and forth, he periodically glanced at the boy who¡¯d caused him so much trouble. Miguel was bound, hand and foot, like a trussed pig ¨C a necessity, after everything that had happened. Over the past few days, Trace had been forced to take a host of precautions against the troublesome child¡¯s persistent escape attempts. The moment Stun had worn off, the child had started kicking and screaming, necessitating that Trace chain the ability, over and over, while he fled toward Easton and what he¡¯d hoped was safety. Usually, Stun was a fairly cheap ability, costing only a touch of ethera and a bit of stamina. Yet, having to use it once every minute for days had taken its toll, so once Trace had reached Easton, he¡¯d quickly found one of his safehouses and tied the kid up. Surely, it wasn¡¯t comfortable for the little demon of a child, but it allowed Trace some much needed rest. At some point, he¡¯d slipped into an exhausted sleep, which had cost him almost six hours. And perhaps his life. When he¡¯d awoken, he had quickly discovered that Easton had devolved into riotous chaos. Everywhere he¡¯d looked, there were hundreds ¨C perhaps even thousands ¨C of malcontents protesting and causing violent mischief. More than once during his first scouting expedition, he¡¯d seen guards being overwhelmed and beaten to death by rebels. Trace knew it was all pointless. While Roman might not hold every part of the city in quite as tight of a grip as others, that was by choice. He simply didn¡¯t care about the poorer parts of Easton, and so, the presence of his guards was minimal. But the moment the rebellion reached the core of the city, they would be dealt with appropriately. It would be a slaughter of epic proportions, too. Trace had seen the planned responses. He¡¯d helped create some of them. Yet, just because the integrity of the city wasn¡¯t in question, that didn¡¯t mean much for his situation. Because crossing through the riots was still extraordinarily dangerous, and with much of his capability in stealth nullified by having to carry a child along, he knew it wouldn¡¯t end well for him. Because he was well-known in the seedier parts of the city, and after everything he¡¯d done, he was not exactly well-liked. Part of that was because of his actions as the head of Roman¡¯s secret police, but Trace could admit ¨C at least to himself ¨C that it was mostly due to his own less-than-reputable proclivities. After all, his girls had come from somewhere, and many of them had friends and family who didn¡¯t look upon Trace terribly kindly. And a riot was a perfect opportunity for some of them to exact revenge. So, he¡¯d spent the past few days holed up in his safehouse, only climbing out of the basement to steal provisions. Fortunately, the place was secluded enough that the riots never came close enough to risk discovery. Still, despite his relative safety, he was more than ready to head to the palace, present his prize, and get his reward. So, it was with some degree of excitement that, after pacing for a few more hours, he left the basement and went to scout the situation. And to his surprise, he found that the riots had been put down. Yet, the damage was extensive, with more than a few buildings having been destroyed by spreading fires. Trace also saw plenty of bodies as well, though those were in the process of being collected by the city¡¯s dedicated corpsemongers. Even Trace wasn¡¯t certain what those people did with the bodies they collected. Each time he¡¯d attempted to infiltrate their underground lair ¨C because of course that was where they would set up shop ¨C he¡¯d been discovered via unknown means. It was one of Easton¡¯s burgeoning mysteries, and a reason that Trace intended to leave the city behind once he¡¯d extracted all the benefits he could from Roman. With that in mind, Trace went back to the safehouse and gathered the boy, tossing him over his shoulder. At first, he used Cloak of Skullduggery to mask his presence, but he quickly recognized that it was neither effective nor useful. There weren¡¯t enough people around to care about his nefarious-looking actions, and even if there were, they were occupied with clean-up efforts. A few guards recognized him, though, so he felt confident that they would come to his aid if anyone accosted him. As he traversed the city, he saw more evidence of the riots of the past few nights. Whole buildings had been brought down, and one of the plazas looked like it had seen a bloody battle. Some of the city¡¯s downtrodden maintenance workers were busy trying to clean up all the gore, but they had their work cut out for them. It was further evidence of just how far some of them had fallen. Trace knew for a fact that some of those workers had once held positions of authority and wealth, back in the old world. There were a couple of politicians and former CEOs among them. Yet, they¡¯d made the wrong choice regarding archetypes, and they¡¯d paid the price for that singular bad decision. Easton was no place for Scholars, especially when their specialties weren¡¯t in the few areas Roman had deemed useful. Even Trace recognized that it was a regressive policy to push those Scholars into manual labor. But he was in no position to change any of it. Not that he would have tried, anyway. As far as he was concerned, the bunch of formerly rich and uppity politicians, CEOs, lawyers, and the like had gotten what they deserved. Maybe they could now appreciate what it was like to live on the bottom rungs of society that Trace knew so well. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He remembered his old life well enough to take some sense of justice from that. As Trace drew closer to the city¡¯s core, the evidence of fighting grew more pronounced until every successive block grew bloodier. Then, suddenly, it ceased. That wasn¡¯t surprising, given that the number of guards had grown right alongside the violent aftermath. A few times, Trace saw guards looting curiously well-provisioned corpses. More than once, he used Appraisal to determine that the most popular items were Simple-Grade. If all of the dissidents had been armed and armored with equipment like that, the results might¡¯ve been a little different. Yet, there were only a scattered few such instances that Trace could see, which meant that the effects were minimal. Still, the only times Trace saw any significant number of guards¡¯ corpses were around such well-armed bodies, suggesting that they¡¯d put up quite the fight. That just underscored how important good equipment really was. Not that Trace needed to be reminded of that, after he¡¯d used his Dagger of Sundering to such great effect. It had allowed Roman to kill Alyssa ¨C that uppity bitch ¨C and it had been at least as effective in every fight Trace had fought since then. It was a valuable piece of equipment, and he expected that he¡¯d get years of use out of it before he moved on to something better. More importantly, it was the lynchpin of any plans he¡¯d made to deal with people like Roman. Eventually, they¡¯d come to an impasse ¨C it had come close to happening a few times already ¨C and when that time came, Trace intended to come out on top. Despite the disparity in power, especially in Easton, Trace liked his chances. Regardless, he put those thoughts aside as he entered the vicinity of the palace. Once there, he dropped any pretense at stealth and was greeted with a mixture of revulsion, respect, and curiosity by the palace guards. The structure itself was a display of brutal opulence. Roman¡¯s Architects had done a phenomenal job of creating a beautiful, yet overbearing building that was dominated by straight lines, sharp angles, and Gothic flourishes that gave it a very distinct appearance. Trace saw it as needless posturing, but he supposed that Roman had his reasons for ordering such a building. The rest of the city would soon follow suit, he knew. That was how Roman thought. Everything had to be in its place and conform to the collective. Otherwise, it would drive the man mad. After entering the palace, Trace made his way through the familiar halls until he reached the wing containing Roman¡¯s office. There was a throne room as well, though that was only for official duties, like hearing the petitions of the useless council. They held no real power, except to suggest things or request Roman¡¯s intervention. Ultimately, every major decision was made by the big man himself. As he swaggered up to the guards on duty, he said, ¡°Special delivery for the big guy. You want to sign for it?¡± At that, the kid squirmed a little more, so Trace reapplied Stun. He went blessedly limp, giving Trace a little peace. The guards looked at one another, then decided to pass the burden onto someone else. So, one of them disappeared through the doors, presumably to let Roman know what was going on. Meanwhile, Trace tried to make conversation with the remaining guard, asking, ¡°So, a bit of a scuffle out in the city, huh? What happened?¡± ¡°Rebel scum,¡± the man spat, his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. ¡°Don¡¯t know what they expected to accomplish. They never had a chance, the poor idiots.¡± ¡°Seems like they did a lot of damage,¡± Trace said. The guard shrugged. ¡°Burning down their own homes and businesses. Really smart,¡± he responded. ¡°Like I said, I don¡¯t know what they expected that to do, except make their own lives harder. Guess there¡¯s a reason they are who they are, right? If they were smart or competent, they wouldn¡¯t have anything to bitch about. It¡¯s like I was telling my wife ¨C they¡¯re just a bunch of useless malcontents who are upset with the way the world works. It¡¯s not enough that they¡¯re only alive because of the safety and security we provide. No ¨C they want all the benefits without any of the work.¡± Trace listened as the man went on about how the poor and less useful deserved everything they got, so he was grateful when the other guard returned and waved Trace through. He nodded at the pair of sentries and swaggered through the door and into a long hall. There were other guards posted at regular intervals, but they didn¡¯t move a muscle as he traversed the opulent corridor. Soon, he found himself at the door to Roman¡¯s office. He knocked and immediately received the go-ahead to enter. When he did, he saw the man himself sitting behind a massive, wooden desk. The walls were decorated with various trophies from Roman¡¯s kills. None of them had been truly impressive prey, and Trace suspected they were more for ambience than to commemorate any significant events. Yet, they did that job well, and when Trace looked at those monstrous heads, a chill went up his spine. He tossed the kid onto the sofa that stood against the wall ¨C it was upholstered in leather and looked extremely comfortable ¨C and said, ¡°So, I might¡¯ve took a bit of initiative with the whole Carmen problem.¡± Roman¡¯s eyes flicked to the child, but he didn¡¯t give any other reaction until he asked, ¡°Is that who I think it is?¡± ¡°If you think it¡¯s that bitch¡¯s brat, then yeah. I think I killed her second, too,¡± he said, plopping down in one of the chairs on his side of Roman¡¯s desk. He added, ¡°You¡¯re welcome on that one.¡± ¡°I told you to watch her. Not to kill anyone.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, drawing a small knife from his belt. He picked at his fingernails. ¡°I like to go above and beyond the call of duty. One of my many positive traits. So, here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking ¨C you let the rebel bitch know that ¨C¡± In the blink of an eye, Roman was across the desk. If Trace hadn¡¯t been so exhausted, he might have responded. Yet, given where they were as well as Roman¡¯s advantage in levels, he would have still been overmatched. Still, he did manage to jab the small knife into Roman¡¯s shoulder as the taller man slammed him into the ground. ¡°What the ¨C¡± Trace didn¡¯t get a chance to finish his sentence before Roman¡¯s fist found his face. He tried to activate his abilities, but it was useless. Roman punched him again, growling, ¡°I told you to watch!¡± He smashed his fist into Trace¡¯s face again. ¡°Not to kidnap a child!¡± Again, he punched Trace. By that point, his mind had gone fuzzy, and though his abilities were suddenly available, he was in no mindset to consciously use them. Especially when Roman hit him again. And again. Along the way, Roman kept growling about crossing lines, but Trace couldn¡¯t understand any of it. But one thing he did understand was when Roman yanked a dagger from his belt and rammed it into Trace¡¯s chest. Over and over again, he stabbed the Outlaw until Trace managed to croak, ¡°W-why¡­¡± ¡°You disgust me,¡± Roman said, straightening his back. He pushed a lock of stray hair from his bloody face before adding, ¡°Every man has a line. You just crossed mine.¡± Then, he reached forward, grabbed Trace by the hair and sliced the Outlaw¡¯s throat. Even as he bled out, Trace¡¯s mind whirled with questions. He didn¡¯t truly understand what he¡¯d done wrong. Which was precisely the problem, he belatedly realized right before everything went dark. 2-80. Bound Fate A new day dawned on a field strewn with corpses. Having recovered overnight, Elijah stood on the earthen bulwark where Ironshore¡¯s defenders had made their last stand. It was little more than a slight rise next to a trench, but from a symbolic ¨C as well as a literal ¨C perspective, it had been incredibly important. To Elijah, it looked like an island amidst a sea of grey bodies. ¡°How many, do ya think?¡± came Kurik¡¯s familiar and gruff voice. Elijah turned his head to see the broad-shouldered dwarf standing only a few feet behind him. He¡¯d also been injured in the battle, though not nearly as grievously as Elijah, who¡¯d only been a hair¡¯s breadth from death. The only reason he¡¯d survived was due to Kurik¡¯s quick thinking with Elijah¡¯s grove berries, which had given him a surge of vitality as well as ethera. In turn, that had given him the fuel he needed to enable his own recovery. Still, Elijah knew how close he¡¯d come, and he was also well aware that Kurik had saved his life. That wasn¡¯t something he would soon forget. Nor would he quickly move on from the sacrifices endured by the people of Ironshore. They¡¯d been challenged by the orcish horde, and they¡¯d risen to the occasion, emerging victorious. That meant something to Elijah, and he respected them all the more because they¡¯d refused to give up. He could empathize with that kind of attitude. ¡°At least ten thousand,¡± Elijah said, looking at the carpet of corpses. It was difficult to gauge just how many orcs had assailed the small city. Yet, one thing was certain ¨C it had been more than they¡¯d expected. ¡°Do you think there are more out there?¡± ¡°Probably. It¡¯s a big world.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Did you ask around about that shield?¡± he asked. In the immediate aftermath of the battle, Elijah had been in no position to remember things properly. However, since his recovery, he¡¯d recalled that someone had used a spell to shield him from the orcish warlord¡¯s onslaught. Likely, that had saved his life. So, he¡¯d asked Kurik to find out who he should thank for that intervention. ¡°Oh. That,¡± said the dwarf. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I found out, though it¡¯s not the happy endin¡¯ you might want for,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°You remember Calix?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Elijah answered. Indeed, he¡¯d seen the little goblin who was the lone survivor of the ill-fated expedition to his island on more than one occasion. However, he hadn¡¯t really spoken to her, largely because of the fear he had seen in her eyes. ¡°It was her,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°Took a spear to the gut for her trouble, too. Didn¡¯t make it.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± Elijah muttered, hanging his head. It wasn¡¯t as if he¡¯d really known the goblin. And his choice to let her live had been the result of a whim rather than an attempt at mercy. Yet, he didn¡¯t know how to react to the knowledge that she had not only saved his live, but she¡¯d died in the process. ¡°Wasn¡¯t for you,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°She knew you were the only one who could save us, so the girl made the only reasonable choice she could.¡± ¡°I suppose.¡± That statement, while probably true, still didn¡¯t help with Elijah¡¯s roiling emotions. ¡°Got any more of them berries?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Sure.¡± Then, he unshouldered his pack, reached inside, and handed Kurik a handful. The dwarf ate them appreciatively, then said, ¡°They ain¡¯t the best taste, and they¡¯re a mite too much for me. But damn if they ain¡¯t reinvigorating.¡± ¡°They are that,¡± Elijah stated. Then, he asked, ¡°What are they going to do with all the corpses?¡± ¡°Burn ¡®em, I suppose. Why?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°They¡¯re not useful?¡± ¡°Not anymore. ¡®cept the brains you asked for. We got to those in time. Most of the rest went bad too quick to harvest,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Not that anybody was lookin¡¯ forward to using it, course. They look too close to people, see. Puts everyone off, even if we all know they¡¯re just monsters like any other.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± Elijah said. There was a clay full of the brains in question inside his bag, but he¡¯d yet to really look at them. ¡°Doesn¡¯t really feel like we won.¡± ¡°But we did,¡± Kurik said. ¡°And most of us got the levels to prove it. This little battle probably single-handedly ensured that Ironshore¡¯ll survive for years to come. Most of these people are used to levelin¡¯ from craftin¡¯ and such. That¡¯s slow, but it¡¯s steady. Killin¡¯ that many orcs was enough to push most of ¡®em to the next ability or technique threshold. That¡¯s big.¡± ¡°You get anything good?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Want to share?¡± ¡°Nope.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said. After that, the two remained silent for a few minutes until Elijah said, ¡°Thanks again for saving my life. I¡¯ll pay you back. I promise.¡± ¡°You saved my home,¡± Kurik said. ¡°That¡¯s payback enough.¡± ¡°Still¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry ¡®bout it,¡± the dwarf insisted. ¡°Friends don¡¯t keep score, right?¡± Elijah nodded. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t really considered the idea that he and Kurik were friends, but in retrospect, it was obvious. After spending so much time together in the wilderness, he felt more comfortable around the dwarf than he had with anyone since the world had ended. Perhaps even more than anyone from his old life, except Alyssa. Because there was something about going to war with someone that forged a much more meaningful bond. Next to that, his previous friendships felt shallow. ¡°You should come to my island,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I think you¡¯d like it.¡± ¡°Last folks who went to your island ended up pretty dead.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. Ramik and Carisa have visited twice.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t go no further than the beach,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°That don¡¯t count.¡± ¡°This is different. You¡¯re invited,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°But no worries if you¡¯re not comfortable with it.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯ll come. I just wanted to ruffle your feathers a bit s¡¯all,¡± the dwarf said with a chuckle. ¡°But for now, I got work to do. Me and some of the other scouts are goin¡¯ to make sure there ain¡¯t no more orcs out there. You want to come?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not unless you need me,¡± he answered. He¡¯d had enough orc slaughter for two lifetimes, and he wasn¡¯t eager to revisit that situation. He would if necessary, but so long as there was a choice, he knew which side of the fence he¡¯d land on. ¡°Besides, I need to talk to Ramik about something.¡± ¡°Alright then,¡± Kurik said. He extended a hand, which Elijah grasped. ¡°See you soon, then.¡± ¡°See you soon.¡± With that, Kurik started to pick his way across the battlefield. Only then did it occur to Elijah that the dwarf had likely volunteered to search for any orcish stragglers in an effort to avoid the cleanup. Smiling wryly, Elijah turned and descended the berm and started back to the city. As he did, he checked his gains from the battle. First, he noted that he¡¯d gained level fifty-five, as denoted by his updated status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 55
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.
Strength 67
Dexterity 59
Constitution 57
Ethera 65
Regeneration 59
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
His attributes, even without the benefit of his many enhancements ¨C or buffs, as the people in Argos and Norcastle called them ¨C had become truly impressive. And he knew that with every level, they would become more so. He¡¯d already proven that, from a physical standpoint, he could stand against some incredibly powerful monsters, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the future would hold in that department. However, he was far more interested in the next notification he¡¯d received:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Ancestral Circle. Please choose a path:
Roots of the World Tree Protection of the World Tree Blessing of the World Tree
By creating additional circles, you may spread your roots to new locations. By expanding your circle, you may enhance the protection afforded by your grove. Through a nurturing touch, you may increase the power of your grove.
It was the first time he¡¯d been afforded the opportunity to evolve one of his spells or abilities, and it was far more involved than he¡¯d expected. So far, he¡¯d simply been awarded spells at specific intervals, but now, it seemed like his progression would require more input in the future. For now, though, he had a decision to make. Based on the descriptions, which seemed a little inadequate, the choices came down to whether or not he wanted to spread his influence or empower his grove, either via enhancing the protection it afforded or what sounded like increasing the ethera density. Before he made a decision, he needed to talk to Nerthus to see if the tree spirit could offer any insight. He¡¯d already checked the available guides at the Branch of the World Tree, and he¡¯d found nothing that seemed like it would explain anything. There was precious little concerning Druids at all, and what little existed was incredibly expensive. Of course, it didn¡¯t help that none of it was organized in any way that Elijah could understand, so searching for applicable information was a pain. Apparently, there were classes that specialized in such things, but Ironshore wasn¡¯t large or important enough to warrant such people. In any case, Nerthus offered the best chance of solid information, so he embraced the teleportation portion of Ancestral Circle, and a moment later, he disappeared only to rematerialize in his grove. Once there, he called out for Nerthus. When he appeared, Elijah let him know what had happened in the battle with the orcs, then broached the subject of his evolutionary path. ¡°Interesting,¡± said Nerthus as he paced back and forth. As he scratched his chin, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that the tree spirit¡¯s mannerisms ¨C and speech patterns ¨C had become quite a bit more human of late. He wondered if that was his influence or if it was a normal development for tree spirits. ¡°The first will almost assuredly let you create a teleportation network. The second will allow you to establish a defensive perimeter that will protect the island from would be invaders. And the third will increase the ethereal density of the grove.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Reasonably so,¡± Nerthus said. Then, he admitted, ¡°However, I should point out that these are guesses. The reality could very well be quite different from what I¡¯ve inferred from those descriptions. That is unlikely, given the straightforward language used.¡± ¡°The choice is obvious, then.¡± ¡°Is it? All three seem very useful,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Though there are some caveats to that sentiment.¡± ¡°Oh? It seems to me that we should increase the ethereal density,¡± Elijah said. His reasoning was simple ¨C according to everything he¡¯d read, advancing his cultivation required incredibly dense ethera. If his grove could naturally provide that, then he would be halfway to reaching the next stages of his development. ¡°That is a mistake,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Really? I was thinking that my cultivation ¨C¡± ¡°It would be useful, but the timing is troubling,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Unless I am wrong in my assessment, the increase in density will be multiplicative based on current levels. That means that it would be far more useful to wait until Earth¡¯s ethereal density settles. That will be years from now.¡± That made sense. If he were to do it now, then he¡¯d be giving up long-term benefits for a short-term boost in power. From Nethus¡¯s perspective, that probably seemed like an incredibly poor choice. However, Elijah also knew that that presupposed that he would survive long enough to take advantage of those long-term benefits, which was not guaranteed. Getting the boost that increasing his cultivation stage would provide would no doubt go a long way to ensuring his survival. ¡°What about the defense one?¡± Elijah asked, still mulling over the other option. ¡°Very helpful,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°It would have helped with the orcish invasion, certainly. The city on the shore would not benefit, but it might have been enough to let the grove endure.¡± That seemed straightforward enough, though Elijah wasn¡¯t sure what form that defense might take. So, he asked, ¡°And the other one?¡± ¡°Mobility will be very important. Teleportation is extremely expensive,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Prohibitively so. If you can move around the world without having to pay that, you will be able to afford many things you otherwise would not.¡± ¡°So, I could theoretically have a teleportation point that would let me cross the world in an instant?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Assuredly.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°It should also be noted that you will not evolve the spell immediately. These things require the completion of a quest,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The more powerful the spell, the more time-consuming the quest. You will also likely be afforded the opportunity to choose the other two options at some point in the future.¡± ¡°So, it makes sense to take the most immediately impactful.¡± ¡°Likely, with the aforementioned caveats.¡± That made Elijah¡¯s decision, so he made his choice.
Congratulations! You have chosen to evolve Ancestral Circle into Roots of the World Tree. Complete the following quest to finalize the evolution: Accomplish Two Feats of Strength (COMPLETE) Conquer One Tower (COMPLETE) Build a Dolmen (INCOMPLETE)
¡°Oh. Nice,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Two steps already finished. Only one to go. Apparently, I need to build a dolmen.¡± From what Elijah remembered, a dolmen was something like Stonehenge. Which meant that he had his work cut out for him. He explained everything to Nerthus, who told him that those dolmens would likely constitute the teleportation points. So, he wouldn¡¯t be able to just build the dolmen anywhere he wanted. Instead, he needed to find a proper location first. And he had some ideas about where he wanted to put it. So, with that taken care of, Elijah collected his things, making sure to stock up on berries, and headed to his rowboat collection ¨C which was dwindling with each time he teleported back to his island ¨C and paddled across the strait and into Ironshore. Once he reached the dock, he set off for the city¡¯s governmental building, where he hoped to find Ramik. Along the way, Elijah noticed two things. First, the residents of the city were incredibly busy in the aftermath of the battle. Some had been tasked with cleaning up the battlefield, while others were repairing damage wrought by a few orcs who¡¯d broken through the line and descended upon the city. Still others were organizing supplies for the survivors. It was a nice reminder that, when disaster struck, people tended to band together. That those people were gnomes, dwarves, and goblins ¨C as well as a few elves ¨C was immaterial, and it warmed Elijah¡¯s heart to see everyone working toward the greater good. Hopefully, that would last. The second thing he saw was more of an absence than anything else. Gone were the dirty looks and angry glances he¡¯d endured before. There was still fear there, but they didn¡¯t seem to hate him. That was progress, at least as far as Elijah was concerned. Eventually, Elijah reached the governmental headquarters and found Ramik, who looked as busy as anyone else Elijah had seen during his trek through the city. Still, the goblin was quick to greet him, asking, ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°I came for my payment,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Oh. That. What can we give you? Our ethereum ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want money,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°I want cooperation. A friendship, maybe. At least an alliance.¡± ¡°I¡­I think we can do that,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°So, here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking I want¡­¡± After Elijah explained his plan, and Ramik agreed enthusiastically, he went in search of a perfect location. So it happened that the next day ¨C after Elijah had spent another night in the Imperium ¨C he found himself standing in the center of Ironshore. Ramik had held up his end of the bargain, clearing the large plaza and ripping up the flagstones that had once covered the ground. Elijah stood in the center, alongside Ramik and Carisa, and looked at the gathered townspeople. Almost everyone was there, though there were some exceptions ¨C most notably, that some familiar faces were missing. Two of the three barbers had perished in the fight, as had Calix and a couple of the guards who¡¯d once escorted Elijah through town. Some, like the tailor Mari, bore visible scars, but most just looked exhausted. Ramik spoke, his voice loud and clear, ¡°People of Ironshore! We have endured a powerful calamity, and we have survived, not least because of the actions of our friend and ally, Elijah Hart. His benevolence does not end there, though. As a Druid, he has chosen to bless our city by planting a very special tree. Henceforth, this square shall be known as Druid¡¯s Park, and any who deface it shall be severely punished.¡± Elijah remained silent, though his gaze was enough to make some of the townspeople flinch. Hopefully, that would be enough to dissuade anyone who might harm the tree he intended to plant. If not, then there were more direct methods available. With that, Elijah retrieved the seed he¡¯d taken from the ancestral tree, then planted it in the hole he¡¯d already dug. After covering it, he summoned Healing Rain, then sat cross-legged next to where he¡¯d planted the seed. Closing his eyes, he flared Nature¡¯s Bounty. Like that, days passed, and Elijah healed in ways he didn¡¯t think possible. Because of One with Nature, he was aware of people coming to take advantage of the rejuvenating properties of Healing Rain. That brought a smile to his face. After all, he¡¯d always liked healing people. On the fifth day, Elijah felt the seed sprout. And on the sixth, it had become a tiny seedling. That was when Elijah finally opened his eyes and took a deep breath. Already, the park had begun to flourish, with grass having sprouted. There were other small plants as well, but most importantly, the tree had taken root. Now, it didn¡¯t need his guidance, though he fully intended to usher it into the sapling stage. So, after eating a few berries, Elijah closed his eyes and continued the cycle. 2-81. The Deal Carmen struggled against her bonds, though it was no good. She¡¯d tried to use her various techniques to escape, but they were all meant to bind things together, rather than to tear things apart. Her lone ability meant for that kind of thing was only useful on metal, so in her current situation, she had nothing. Perhaps one of her future abilities would fill that void. If there was a future. She was well aware of how dire her situation was, which made that a dubious prospect. After she and Colt had been captured, they¡¯d been thrust into a cage ¨C which had taken the form of an old clothing store ¨C where they¡¯d rotted for the past few days. It was only recently that they¡¯d been released from that prison, though freedom wasn¡¯t precisely what it was cracked up to be. One of their captors had put bags over their heads, then guided them outside before tossing them into what seemed like the bed of a pickup truck. That was where she still was, being jostled as the truck sped across what felt like the world¡¯s bumpiest road. Not that she was that concerned with comfort at the moment. For three days, she¡¯d beaten herself up over her mistakes. The first was when she¡¯d tried to ally herself with the rebels, but in her anger and desperation, she had made plenty since then as well. It had all culminated in the kidnapping of her son as well as the deaths of the people who¡¯d followed her. The only survivor was Colt, and he wasn¡¯t doing so well. More than once, he¡¯d tried to escape, and they¡¯d beaten him bloody. If that was the extent of it, Carmen wouldn¡¯t have been so worried about him, but they¡¯d also taken his sword hand, lopping it off at the wrist, then having a Healer stop the bleeding. Even then, Colt had never stopped struggling for escape. Neither had Carmen, but they¡¯d treated her much more gently. So, she at least had all her limbs ¨C which was no comfort, considering the worry she held for not only her own fate, but for her son¡¯s as well. There was no telling what Trace had done to the boy. Eventually, the truck pulled to a stop, and Carmen heard a muffled conversation that suggested they¡¯d arrived in Easton. That wasn¡¯t surprising. After all, Laramie and his warband had clearly made a deal with Roman. But rather than fury, Carmen just felt exhausted. If there was one thing she¡¯d discovered, it was that she wasn¡¯t cut out for leadership. She wanted to be, but she simply didn¡¯t have the temperament. She was too selfish. Too volatile. Those thoughts occupied Carmen¡¯s mind as the truck entered the city. She knew from experience that vehicles weren¡¯t allowed far past the gates, so she wasn¡¯t surprised when they came to a stop only a few minutes later. Then, one of Laramie¡¯s goons grabbed her and threw her over a shoulder. Presumably, Colt received similar treatment, and like that, they were taken through the city. More muffled conversation followed them along the way, but Carmen couldn¡¯t hear well enough to understand any of it. However, she did smell plenty of smoke as well as the unmistakable odor of blood and death. Something had happened in the city, she reasoned. Something terrible. It seemed that that was all the new world had to offer. Eventually, the smells faded, and the murmurs took on a much more aggressive tone. Carmen wasn¡¯t certain whether that was for her or for her barbaric captors, but she didn¡¯t think it mattered so much. The people of Easton weren¡¯t important. Only the man at the top. Still, it felt like an eternity before the cool and conditioned air of what Carmen assumed was Roman¡¯s ridiculous palace assailed her, but it wasn¡¯t long after that when she was unceremoniously dumped onto a tile floor. Someone ripped the black hood from her head, and she blinked in the glaring light. That¡¯s when she saw him. ¡°Miggy!¡± she shouted, struggling to go to her son. It was no good, though. With her hands and feet bound, she couldn¡¯t do anything more than flop over. For his part, Miguel raced to her side and buried his head in her shoulder, muttering one apology after another. She soothed him by saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a good kid,¡± came the voice of the man who¡¯d been standing behind Miguel. Carmen looked up to see Roman staring down at her, his gaze intense and predatory. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for what happened. If it makes any difference, the man who took your son is dead.¡± ¡°Fuck you,¡± Carmen growled. ¡°I know what you did.¡± ¡°I figured as much,¡± Roman said. ¡°You likely care nothing for apologies, but I am sorry. If there had been any other way, I would have taken it.¡± Then, he gestured toward Miguel, and one of his lackeys stepped forward to drag her son away. Carmen started to protest, but when Roman insisted that he wouldn¡¯t be harmed, she let it go, telling Miguel that everything would be okay. She didn¡¯t need to be told that Roman held all the cards. They were completely at his mercy, and Carmen knew precisely how thin that could be. So, she chose to subdue her fury and play along. Once Miguel was out of the room, she said, ¡°What do you want? Why am I still alive?¡± ¡°Straight to the point.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry. Did you want to enjoy a beer together? Reminisce about old times? Like when you killed my fucking wife?¡± ¡°Fair,¡± Roman sighed. Then, he glanced at another lackey, saying, ¡°Stand her up, and put her in a chair. We can do that much, at least.¡± After that, the guard ¨C another man in blue and white ¨C dragged her to her feet before shoving her onto a leather couch. That¡¯s when Carmen took in her surroundings, and what she saw was a grotesquerie of ridiculous trophies. Stuffed heads of monsters Roman had presumably killed, skulls, and a few weapons adorned the walls, giving it the air of a man who was trying far too hard to appear strong and deadly. But Carmen didn¡¯t need convincing. She knew that Roman was a snake in a person suit, and though she didn¡¯t respect him as a man, she was more than wary of his lethality. Shifting, she asked, ¡°So, now that we¡¯re comfortable, what do you want?¡± Roman, who was leaning against the edge of a monstrous slab of a desk, said, ¡°I want your services. You make me a weapon to the best of your abilities. I¡¯ll provide the materials. All I care about is the product.¡± ¡°Or what? You¡¯ll kill me?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a monster, Carmen. I don¡¯t kill people unnecessarily. And the fact of the matter is that you are powerless, now. The rebels have pitched their fit, and they have been punished accordingly. Their leaders are dead. Laramie has agreed to a truce. And everyone loyal to you has been captured or killed. You are no longer a threat to me, so I see no reason to kill you. After this, I intend to let you go. We¡¯ll call it banishment. You will no longer be welcome in Easton. But I won¡¯t kill you. And I certainly won¡¯t do anything to your son. You have my word on it. No matter what else happens here, he¡¯ll be safe.¡± ¡°Is this where you take him hostage or something?¡± Carmen asked, noting the ambiguous wording. ¡°Of course not. What do I want with a child? He¡¯ll go with you.¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I refuse.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t heard the rest of it,¡± Roman said. ¡°You do want your people to survive, don¡¯t you? What about your friend there? He¡¯s a powerful fighter. Shame about his hand, but your captors had to take precautions.¡± Carmen glanced at Colt, who hadn¡¯t moved since she¡¯d had her hood removed. He was still breathing, but he was clearly unconscious. ¡°So, you¡¯re going to kill a bunch of other people if I don¡¯t build you a weapon. Is that it?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°What kind of weapon? I don¡¯t know how to make a proper bow.¡± ¡°A longsword,¡± Roman answered. ¡°The specifications will be forthcoming once you agree.¡± There really wasn¡¯t much of a choice. Even if he was lying, Carmen could never refuse, if only because of the possibility that Roman would make good on his promise. If he didn¡¯t, then Carmen was no better or worse off for having tried. Certainly, she didn¡¯t want to give him anything that would make him more powerful, but given the options before her, she didn¡¯t see as she could make any other decision. So, Carmen said, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Really? Just like that?¡± Roman asked. ¡°There¡¯s not much choice, is there? You¡¯re going to kill a bunch of people if I don¡¯t. If you think I¡¯m going to make any other decision, you obviously don¡¯t know me.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± he allowed. ¡°Maybe I never did.¡± After that anticlimactic exchange, Roman called for a healer to take care of Colt. Then, he had someone show Carmen to a forge in the lower reaches of the palace. There, she was given access to a pile of cold iron ingots and enough ethereal coal to run the forge for a month. She didn¡¯t think she¡¯d need that long, though. As she started working, she considered trying to build a flaw into the weapon or giving it less than her best effort. However, she ultimately chose not to for a couple of reasons. The first was that she wasn¡¯t certain how to do the former, and the second was that she was afraid that giving Roman an inferior product would result in the execution of the people she hoped to save. That would have negated the whole decision, so when she embarked on the question to forge the weapon, she did so with every ounce of skill she possessed. So, after using Decontaminate and Refine Material on the metal billets, she stacked them atop one another until she had a dozen layers. Then, she shoved the result into the forge so they would weld together. Normally, she would¡¯ve used Bond to shorten the process, but with the ethereal coal ¨C and so much of it that she didn¡¯t have to ration it ¨C she could afford to do it the old-fashioned way. That, in turn, meant that the resulting billet would have been exposed to more ethera, and theoretically, it would have a higher ceiling in terms of quality. After completing the forge weld, Carmen started in on shaping the piece. The specifications she¡¯d received were simple. Just a typical longsword with a cruciform hilt and a two-inch wide blade forty-two inches long. Completing the design was a fuller that ran along the length of the blade. Shaping the piece took quite some time, due to the curious trait of cold iron to dissipate heat very quickly, but Carmen was used to working with it. So, she persisted until, what felt like a day later, she completed the blade. However, that didn¡¯t mean the project was done. Instead, it was only the beginning. The next step was to create the cross guard, which required much the same technique, yet with a different aim. This time, after forging a bar in the right length, she used a drifting tool to hammer a hole in the center. Once that was done, Carmen used Summon Tool to manifest a file so she could shape the hole into a slot that would fit the blade¡¯s tang. It was an arduous and tedious process, but she found the monotonous work soothing. Eventually, Carmen managed to complete the cross guard before slipping it into place. It was close to a perfect fit, and she used Bond to weld the pair together. Just like that, she had a sword, though a crudely shaped and dull one without a proper hilt. After ensuring that everything fit together properly, Carmen used the forge¡¯s grinder to refine the blade into its final shape. Sparks flew as she removed the unneeded metal until, hours later, she was left with a perfectly crafted sword blade. Even the cross guard followed the specifications exactly. Next came the heat treat. So, Carmen shoved the entire blade into the forge, then waited for it to reach the proper temperature before summoning a pair of tongs and removing the metal from the forge. Moving quickly, she dropped the blade into a barrel of heated oil. Flames shot toward the ceiling, but because of Resist Fire, Carmen ignored them. Instead, she listened for any tinging sounds that might indicate that the blade had cracked. She heard nothing, and when she removed the blade, she saw that it was entirely straight. That was a relief, because Carmen knew how easily such a long blade could warp. After that, Carmen created a handle from a block of wood, then fitted it onto the tang. Using Bond, she then attached a pommel and wrapped the handle in soft leather that she then adhered to the wood using her ability. That completed the sword, though Carmen still needed to add the embellishments as well as the enchantment. For the first embellishment, Carmen spent quite some time filing the likeness of a dragon¡¯s head onto the pommel. The second came when she embedded a pair of onyx gemstones on either end of the cross guard. To her, it looked a little ostentatious, but she was working from Roman¡¯s specifications. So, Carmen reasoned that if he wanted the weapon to look like some edgy teenager¡¯s idea of a perfect sword, then that was what he would get. The stakes were too high for her to place artistic integrity over the lives of her people. Once that was finished, she used Bond to ensure the onyx gemstones would never move. Sighing, she looked at the weapon. She still hadn¡¯t sharpened the weapon, but it was already beautiful, with a Damascus pattern dancing along the blue-white steel. She hated that it was going to such a monster. To complete the project, Carmen started in on the enchantment. On the surface, it was a simple task. She simply needed to carve a couple of symbols onto the weapon while using her Minor Enchantment technique. Yet, it required significant concentration as well as a steady flow of ethera. So, after taking a few deep breaths, Carmen got to work, bending her entire mind to the task. It took a lot longer than she would have preferred, but she wasn¡¯t one to cut corners. So, after etching one side of the blade, she flipped it over and used a different symbol on the other. The enchantments themselves weren¡¯t complex. One was intended for durability, the other for sharpness. Yet, they were elegant in their own way, and when Carmen finished, she received the notification she¡¯d sought for all those long hours:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [False Dragon¡¯s Fang]. Overall Grade: Simple (Peak) Enchantment Grade: F
She let out a long, slow sigh. It was the highest-graded item she¡¯d ever created, which came with mixed emotions. On the one hand, Carmen was proud of herself for the accomplishment. It was the culmination of long hours¡¯ worth of work as well as years of training and practice. However, at the same time, she hated that it was going to someone like Roman, who would doubtless use it for detestable purposes. She took solace in the name, at least. While Carmen wasn¡¯t certain why the system had labeled it false, she felt it was appropriate, given Alyssa¡¯s class. To her, it said that Roman¡¯s entire position was a charade. That he was a fake. That gave her some comfort, though it was still a bitter pill to swallow, considering how everything had gone of late. There was a lesson there, and one that Carmen had only just begun to embrace. The first part was that she was no leader. She didn¡¯t want to be responsible for anyone but herself and Miguel. But the second bit was that she needed to keep her priorities straight. Sure, imagining vengeance on Roman was an enticing thought, and she still longed to plunge the False Dragon¡¯s Fang¡¯s blade into the man¡¯s heart. Yet, she knew her priorities should be to protect Miguel and the people she¡¯d already put in danger. So, with some regret, she sheathed her desire for vengeance while doing the same for the blade she had just created. Once that was done, she left the forge to find a pair of blue-and-white clad guards standing outside. They escorted her to Roman¡¯s office, where she presented the blade. He was impressed, though Carmen saw a slight tick of anger on the man¡¯s face when he was told the weapon¡¯s name. But miraculously, Roman was as good as his word, and soon enough, Carmen found herself standing between Miguel and Colt in front of Easton¡¯s gates. Fifteen people were to her rear, and each person had been given a small pack of supplies. It was only enough for a few days¡¯ survival, but it was more than Carmen had expected. Nobody had been allowed to take weapons or armor. ¡°I hate that it ended this way,¡± Roman stated from behind them. Carmen looked back to see that the man was wearing the armor she¡¯d made for Colt. He had the False Dragon¡¯s Fang in a scabbard at his hip. ¡°Me too,¡± Carmen said. Though, she was certain that they meant very different things. For his part, he probably regretted that she wasn¡¯t working for Easton anymore. But for Carmen¡¯s, she wished it would have ended with Roman dead at her feet. She had other priorities now, though, so she pushed those thoughts aside and told her people, ¡°Come on. We need to get moving.¡± Then, without another word, she set off into the wilderness, her son¡¯s hand clutched tightly in her own. 2-82. Hunter Thor Gunderson knelt atop the hill, staring across the valley at the creature. The monster was huge, but then again, most of his prey had been of late. It was the only way to get any sort of challenge. The animal was a little bigger than an African elephant, with a long shaggy coat of soft fur that hung down to its ankles. Its head was similarly elephant-like, with a long, tapered trunk, great floppy ears, and a pair of massive tusks that Thor had seen disembowel lesser creatures. But unlike an elephant, this monster was no quadruped. Instead, it stood on two feet like a man. It was intelligent, too, having shown the ability to utilize crude tools. At present, it wielded a giant tree-trunk like a club. For his part, Thor carried a much less impressive weapon. At least on the surface, it appeared that way. But he didn¡¯t need to look at his spear to know it was far from ordinary. The haft of the spear was made of bone, and it had been carved with fanciful designs that made it look like scrimshaw. The blade was like black glass, sharper than anything else Thor had ever seen, with blood red tassels tied just below its base. Thor himself was far more overtly exceptional. Standing at almost seven feet tall, he had once been a champion power lifter. After the world had been transformed, he¡¯d utilized his massive strength to his advantage, and in the years since, he¡¯d used that brief head start to keep himself ahead of everyone else. Or perhaps it was his taste for a great hunt that made him special. Since the very beginning, there had been no peak he didn¡¯t try to climb, no monster ¨C bestial or otherwise ¨C he didn¡¯t want to hunt. He¡¯d spent the intervening years stalking and killing one powerful creature after another, and he¡¯d reaped the rewards of success, climbing the power ladder until he¡¯d found himself in the top five. Yet he¡¯d so far been unable to bridge the gap, even after using his talents to help various groups conquer multiple towers. He¡¯d fought in rifts. He¡¯d slaughtered Voxx. And he¡¯d even worked a stint as a bounty hunter. Still, the top of the ladder remained as distant as ever, and Thor¡¯s frustration had continued to mount. The result was that he¡¯d pushed himself into progressively more dangerous hunts, stalking prey that he should never have considered fighting. He¡¯d even ventured into the deadly Frozen Wastes, where he¡¯d hunted ice mammoths. He¡¯d only skirted the edges ¨C anything else would have killed even him ¨C but he¡¯d expected the lethality of the situation to work in his favor. And it had. Still, the gap between him and the people at the peak had remained just as wide as ever. Each time he gained a level, so did they. Sometimes, more than one. It was maddening. Yet, Thor persisted. He knew they would slip up. Those ahead of him would make mistakes and end up dead. Or worse, their pace of improvement would slow. And then, he would pass them by. It was only a matter of time. So, with that in mind, Thor tracked his target with a steady gaze, waiting for the opportune moment to move in. Meanwhile, the monster, which he¡¯d identified as a tiyeto, meandered around, periodically snatching leaves from nearby trees. It was mostly carnivorous, but the creature would also eat flora if it was hungry enough. Thor decided to make his move, descending the slope on silent feet. Before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, Thor hadn¡¯t been much of a hunter. He¡¯d been a few times growing up, but his training schedule hadn¡¯t left much time for anything else. However, soon after the world had changed, he¡¯d discovered the joy of stalking and killing prey. The more dangerous, the better. Gradually, he covered the distance between to the tiyeto, only stopping when he was a little more than ten feet away. Then, he forced ethera into his most important ability, Bite of the Hunter, and his spear erupted into green light. Just before the blade pierced the tiyeto¡¯s chest, the monster reacted, darting to the side. It only moved a few inches before Thor¡¯s attack landed, ripping through its shoulder and sending chunks of meat and bone flying. But it was enough to save the monster from a one-shot kill. Annoyed, Thor landed with a roll that a man of his size never should¡¯ve been capable of, then found his feet a moment before the tiyeto¡¯s counterattack found him. He leaped backward, barely avoiding the monster¡¯s sweeping tusks, then darted forward, using the butt of his spear to knock the natural weapons aside. Then, he dipped low, twirled his spear like a quarterstaff, then stabbed the monster through the trunk. Or that was what he¡¯d intended. Instead, the blade skipped off the creature¡¯s tough skin, barely leaving a scratch. That was the issue with hunting monsters that were a higher level then him. Without powerful abilities like Bite of the Hunter, his weapon was incapable of piercing through their defenses. Still, it wasn¡¯t Thor¡¯s first hunt, and he had a few more tricks up his sleeve. However, he had to be alive to play those cards, so the moment his attack failed, he used Survival of the Fittest to briefly enhance his physical attributes. The surge of Strength and Dexterity allowed Thor to dodge the tiyeto¡¯s next attack, which came in the form of a sweeping tree trunk. Then, he used Fury of the Stalker, and his spear took on a red sheen. Enraged, the tiyeto trumpeted its anger before it leaped at him. Thor didn¡¯t immediately react. Instead, he waited patiently. However, when the monster¡¯s club descended, it found no resistance until slamming into the ground and sending an eruption of dirt and leaves into the air. That¡¯s when Thor, having used Mirror Trap, attacked it from behind. This time, his spear, enhanced by Fury of the Stalker, bit deep into the monster¡¯s torso, ripping through its organs and sending an explosion of ethera to do even more damage. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. The creature let out another trumpet of rage, but it quickly turned into agony. And finally, despair. Thor stabbed it again, this time in the small of its back. Its legs went limp, and it fell to the ground. The once-mighty monster flopped around, swinging its club ineffectually as Thor watched from just out of range. It was pitiful, how easily it had fallen. Only thirty seconds, and it was all but dead. He stood there for a long while, gazing upon the creature as it bled out. Finally, he tired of the show and stepped in, raking his spear across the tiyeto¡¯s throat. It finally died thirty seconds later, giving Thor an influx of experience that pushed him to level sixty. Then, he let out a roar of exultation as he thrust his spear to the sky. Once he did, he looked at the power rankings:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 61 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 60 3. Thor Gunderson ¨C Level 60 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 58 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 57 6. Hu Shui ¨C Level 56 7. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 55 8. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 53 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 52 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 49 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­
¡°Number three,¡± he said to himself. By all accounts, it had been an impressive climb, but to him, it was still inadequate. The only result that would satisfy him was to reach the very top and stay there. Anything less was failure. But Thor also knew that success was not built by a single action. It was a winding road, and one comprised by many steps. He¡¯d just taken a big one, and as a result, he had come close to achieving his goals. Part of that was the next notification he received, which confirmed that he¡¯d gained another new ability:
Ancestor¡¯s Torpor Summon an ancestral spirit that saps the Strength and Dexterity of your enemy. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 19 seconds.
That had the potential to be a strong ability, though Thor would not make any determinations on its viability until he had the chance to test it out. Still, he¡¯d yet to be disappointed in the skills, spells, or abilities he¡¯d received so far, and he was fairly certain this would follow that same pattern. ¡°Impressive skill, young one,¡± came a voice from behind him. Thor wheeled around, identified his target, and leaped. His spear passed through the small creature¡¯s head, though he met no resistance whatsoever. He crashed into the ground, his spear sliding into the loamy turf. Expecting an attack, he dove forward, ripping the spear from the ground and whipped around. The enemy had not moved. ¡°Honestly, that¡¯s how you react? I didn¡¯t even ¨C oh, you¡¯re attacking again.¡± Indeed, Thor had just thrust his spear through the seemingly insubstantial little man, and it was just as effective as the last attack. Which was to say, not at all. A few more fruitless attacks, and Thor finally pulled back, breathing hard. ¡°What is going on?¡± he demanded. ¡°Are you a ghost?¡± ¡°That is an interesting question,¡± the little man said. He was no taller than three feet, and he was built like a child. However, he bore a thick, red beard and a truly impressive mustache. Coupled with the wrinkled face, bushy eyebrows, and bald head, and he looked like a tiny old man. ¡°I¡¯m not dead, but this is a projection of my spirit. Sadly, it¡¯s the only way I can visit your wonderfully wild planet.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand.¡± ¡°Of course you don¡¯t,¡± the little man said, shaking his head. ¡°I am not of Earth. You have met offworlders before, yes?¡± Thor nodded. ¡°Not very verbose, are you? Oh well. I¡¯m not here for conversation,¡± he said. ¡°My name is Eason Edmund, clan patriarch of¡­you know what? You don¡¯t know what any of that means, do you? Of course not. You¡¯re an unlearned and uninformed barbarian ¨C oh, you¡¯re attacking again.¡± Thor certainly didn¡¯t enjoy being called a barbarian, so he¡¯d done what he always did when he didn¡¯t like something ¨C attack. It did no more good than his previous attempts to teach the little man some manners. ¡°If you¡¯re done?¡± said Eason Edmund with a sigh. Thor backed away, still wary. ¡°Good. I am here with an opportunity.¡± He waved a hand, and a notification bloomed into being before Thor¡¯s inner eye:
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: Obejctive: Hunt the Druid (Elijah Hart) Reward: Blessing of the Gnome, Eason Edmund Do you accept?
¡°Blessing? What does that mean?¡± asked Thor. ¡°Oh, you can read. Good,¡± Eason Edmund said. ¡°The blessing will give you two options. Either a spell that mimics one of my own abilities or the advancement of your core.¡± ¡°And all I have to do is hunt someone?¡± Thor asked. He recognized the name from the seventh spot on the power rankings. ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Thor. ¡°Call it family pride,¡± Eason Edmund said. ¡°He took something from me and mine. Now, we weren¡¯t exactly using it. Cast it aside, really. But it was still ours. So, he will be punished.¡± ¡°When you tell me to hunt him, do you mean¡­¡± ¡°Oh. Right. That wording is a bit ambiguous. You are the punishment. Kill him. Get a reward. That is the deal. Do you accept?¡± Thor didn¡¯t need to think about it before he nodded and affirmed it in his system notifications. ¡°Good. Very good. I can¡¯t risk telling you where he is, but you should find him in that direction.¡± The little creature pointed off to the southwest. ¡°That is all the help I can give you, so I hope you are as good of a hunter as I think you are,¡± Eason Edmund said. ¡°I am the best hunter in the world,¡± Thor said. Then, without another word, he set off through the woods. Somewhere behind him, a little gnome grinned broadly. 3-1. A Second Wind As the noon sun shone down on Elijah¡¯s head and a gentle wind tousled his curly hair, he sat in the middle of the square known as Druid Park, wearing a mantle of contentment. After everything he had been through, he thought it was important to keep a positive mindset. When he¡¯d been diagnosed with terminal cancer, it would have been so easy to give in to despair. And in fact, he had, surrendering to what he thought was his inevitable death. Only after Earth had been touched by the World Tree had he been given a second chance at life. That had come with significant hardship as well, and for more than two years, he¡¯d struggled to survive alone on a deserted island. But he had persevered, and eventually, he¡¯d begun to amass significant power. Yet, it seemed that every time he turned around, there was a new challenge meant to push him to even greater heights. More, it felt as if every step he took was beset by one distraction or another. The moment he¡¯d left his island in search of his family, he¡¯d been sidetracked by a string of events that had conspired to keep him from focusing on his primary task. Certainly, he¡¯d done some good along the way. He¡¯d healed and saved plenty of people, though he was more focused on the ones he¡¯d killed. At the time, he¡¯d considered himself justified, but with the benefit of hindsight, he could recognize his mistakes. Even then, he didn¡¯t precisely feel bad about the things he¡¯d done. Rather, he only acknowledged that if he kept going down that road, he would become something he didn¡¯t want to be. So, he¡¯d resolved to keep his vengeful impulses to a minimum, establishing a code of conduct so he¡¯d know when he was about to step over the line. Hopefully, that would be enough, because he wasn¡¯t certain if he could trust himself to react appropriately in any given moment. Sure, he hoped so. And he strove to be as moral a person as the situation allowed. But Elijah could at least acknowledge that he had issues and that he couldn¡¯t always rely on his own judgement. That was where the code came in. It boiled down to a few simple tenets, the first of which was that he wouldn¡¯t punish people for doing what they needed to do to survive. If that included killing powerful beasts or harvesting natural treasures, then so be it. As distasteful as he considered either activity, he couldn¡¯t judge people for them. It went against his instincts, but that was kind of the point. He was a human first, a Druid second. And that was how he needed to approach things. That was what had led him to help defend the people of Ironshore from the orcish horde. It had been a brutal battle, but he and the dwarves, goblins, and gnomes who¡¯d come to Earth in search of a new beginning had eventually emerged victorious. With no false modesty, Elijah knew that he was the biggest reason for their successful defense of Ironshore. But he didn¡¯t regret it. In fact, he reveled in what he considered a good deed, and the people of Ironshore had begun to tolerate him. They still didn¡¯t see Elijah as one of them, but even begrudging acceptance was better than hostility. He hoped that his relationship with them would continue to grow and evolve in a positive way. Finally, Elijah opened his eyes, and he flinched away when he saw a huge pair of eyes staring back at him. It took him a moment to realize that a gnomish child was sitting in front of him. She was tiny ¨C barely a foot tall, and sitting atop a giant toadstool that had grown in front of him. ¡°Hey,¡± she squeaked brightly. ¡°Mr. Biggle said these aren¡¯t poisonous and that you wouldn¡¯t mind letting them grow in your park. I don¡¯t believe him. Not about the poisonous thing, but about you not minding. You look kind of grumpy.¡± ¡°Uh¡­I¡¯m not grumpy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s what my mom always says when dad stays out too late and comes home dizzy,¡± she said. ¡°But I know she¡¯s lying. I think you might be like that. Most grown-ups are liars.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Elijah lied. He¡¯d told plenty of fibs in his day. ¡°Well, I am. But I¡¯m not lying right now.¡± She cocked her head to the side, her pink pigtails swaying. ¡°That¡¯s what a liar would say,¡± she reasoned. ¡°True,¡± Elijah agreed, nodding sagely. ¡°But if I¡¯m not lying and said I was, then I¡¯d be a liar.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense, Mr. Druid.¡± ¡°Elijah.¡± ¡°Druid Elijah,¡± she said. ¡°Uh¡­what was it that you wanted? Or were you just watching me meditate?¡± he asked. ¡°I like watching the tree grow,¡± she said. ¡°It got bigger even since yesterday. Is that because of you?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I have a spell that helps plants grow,¡± he said. Then, he focused on the giant mushroom upon which the gnomish child sat. ¡°Mushrooms, too, apparently.¡± ¡°Mushrooms are plants.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong. They are fungi.¡± ¡°Fun guy? They¡¯re not guys. And they¡¯re not fun, either. I guess Mr. Biggle thinks they are, but everybody knows he¡¯s weird. Mom doesn¡¯t like me hanging around with him, but he makes the best candy. You¡¯re not supposed to know that, though. He told me not to tell anybody. I didn¡¯t, but all the other kids know anyway,¡± she said. ¡°I think he can¡¯t keep a secret.¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Elijah said. Without his Quartz Mind, he might not have followed the conversation. ¡°So? You¡¯re just a fan of watching trees?¡± You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°Oh. No. Uncle Ramik wants to see you. That¡¯s why I was here,¡± she said. ¡°He said he¡¯d buy me a new dress from Miss Mari if I told you. I don¡¯t think that¡¯s worth a dress, but he¡¯s always been a sucker. I just do my eyes at him, and he¡¯ll do whatever I want.¡± To punctuate that statement, she opened her eyes wide and adopted the most adorable expression Elijah had ever seen. He could certainly understand why Ramik let the little girl wrap him around her tiny finger. ¡°I see,¡± he said. ¡°Be careful not to abuse that power. There¡¯s a saying from this world. With great power comes great responsibility. Do you know what that means?¡± ¡°Of course. I¡¯m ten. I¡¯m not an idiot.¡± ¡°Oh. Uh¡­¡± ¡°I told you,¡± she said, pushing herself to her feet. She put her hands on her hips and demanded, ¡°You need to go see Uncle Ramik so I can get my dress. Right now.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Elijah said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°What¡¯s your name, anyway?¡± ¡°Rosabella.¡± ¡°Nice to meet you, Rosabella. I¡¯m Elijah,¡± he said, holding out his hand. She eyed it for a second, then said, ¡°What am I supposed to do with that?¡± ¡°You shake it. It¡¯s a custom on Earth.¡± She shrugged, then grabbed his wrist and wiggled it a bit. ¡°That¡¯s weird.¡± Then, she hopped off the toadstool and walked away, leaving Elijah a little nonplussed. He felt certain that he¡¯d seen a handshake or two among the residents of Ironshore. Still, he gathered his wits quickly enough, then set off from the government building. Before he left the park, though, he looked back at the progress. He¡¯d only spent a couple of weeks bathing the park in Nature¡¯s Bounty, but the results spoke for themselves. The ancestral tree had grown into a six-foot sapling, and the surrounding square was now teeming with vegetation. Including a patch of mushrooms that Elijah knew weren¡¯t there when he¡¯d started his most recent bout of meditation. He''d have to talk to Biggle the alchemist about that. Elijah took one more look before letting out a sigh and heading down the connecting street toward the governmental building. It wasn¡¯t far ¨C only a few blocks ¨C but even in that short distance, Elijah saw that the people of Ironshore had taken to the city¡¯s repairs and upgrades with quite a bit of vigor. As such, the city had begun to transform, taking on a much more refined appearance. However, he did notice that there were a lot more trees present than there had been before, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if that was due to his influence. Perhaps. After all, the city and its residents did owe their survival to him, at least in part. Maybe they wanted to show their appreciation. Or they might have done it in an effort to stay on his good side. Either way, Elijah was grateful. The more trees there were, the better ¨C and that wasn¡¯t even his druid senses speaking. Indeed, that was just common sense, as far as he was concerned. In any event, Elijah quickly made his way inside the large building and found his way to Ramik¡¯s office. An attendant greeted him, then let him in to see the goblin mayor of Ironshore. Ramik cut a prim, well-dressed figure, with a three-piece suit, a pair of stylish spectacles, and a pair of shiny shoes. Normally, he wore a bowler hat ¨C or at least an approximation of one ¨C but it hung from a low rack near the door. Overall, the goblin looked like a Victorian-era gentleman, albeit one with green skin, goblinoid features, and a height that couldn¡¯t have been more than three feet. Ramik looked up from where he¡¯d been writing a letter with an honest-to-goodness quill pen and said, ¡°Oh, Elijah. Thank you for coming. I trust my¡­ah¡­niece didn¡¯t trouble you too much?¡± ¡°Niece?¡± Elijah asked, taking a seat across from the goblin. ¡°There a story there?¡± Indeed, the little girl had been a gnome. ¡°By marriage,¡± the goblin stated. ¡°My wife¡¯s a gnome, and that¡¯s her sister¡¯s child. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± ¡°Sure. What¡¯s up?¡± Elijah asked, draping his arm over the back of the chair. ¡°Something going on? The orcs aren¡¯t back, are they? I feel like someone a bit higher up than a gnomish child would have come for me if that was the case, but you all surprise me every time I turn around.¡± ¡°No, nothing like that,¡± Ramik said with a wave of his hand. He took his glasses off, then wiped the lenses with a handkerchief he took from his vest pocket. ¡°According to Kurik, the orcs were completely wiped out. He found their origin, and there were none left.¡± ¡°Good riddance,¡± Elijah stated. It had been a costly war, and not just in terms of the people they¡¯d lost. They¡¯d also attempted to starve the orcs by hunting all the game in the area. It wouldn¡¯t likely have a permanent impact, but even though it had been Elijah¡¯s suggestion, it still filled him with unease. It would have been worse if it hadn¡¯t worked. ¡°Indeed,¡± Ramik said. ¡°The reason I asked you to come is twofold. First, there is a memorial service tonight, and I hoped you would make an appearance.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Elijah said without hesitation. Without those people, he wouldn¡¯t have survived. Specifically, there was a goblin mage who¡¯d saved his life at the end of the battle, so he thought he owed at least her the respect of showing up to her memorial. ¡°What else?¡± ¡°An official alliance, as we spoke of before. The terms are simple ¨C you help us if we¡¯re threatened, and we¡¯ll do the same, defending your territory as if it¡¯s our own,¡± he said. ¡°Of course, we will stay away otherwise. We have no desire to push that.¡± ¡°Ah. Yeah. I mean, that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll have to look at the official terms, but¡­yeah. That sounds good.¡± Elijah recognized that he likely should have expected it. After all, even the temporary alliance they¡¯d established to deal with the orcs had been successful, and considering their close proximity, it made sense to become allies. Before the fight against the orcs, Elijah might have refused, but now, he had few reservations about an official partnership. After that, the pair chatted a little, and when the time came, Ramik led him outside. Soon enough, they¡¯d crossed the city until they reached the outskirts. In the distance, Elijah saw a large pyramid of lumber. It took him a moment to realize that it was intended to be fuel for a funeral pyre. When they arrived, most of the city was already there. Still, the memorial service wasn¡¯t meant to start until after dark, so Elijah took the opportunity to study the pyre. It was constructed of raw lumber, and he noted that each small body that had been placed upon it was wrapped in pristine white cloth. ¡°Shame, ain¡¯t it?¡± came Kurik¡¯s voice. Elijah glanced to his right to see that the dwarven scout, with his spiky black hair and short beard, was standing next to him. He wore an unreadable expression upon his sharp-featured face. ¡°It is,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°I wish we could have saved more.¡± ¡°Me, too.¡± After that, the pair went silent, and as the evening turned to night, the rest of the city turned out. Once the sun had completely set, Ramik stepped forward and gave a speech. It was short and to the point, detailing the noble sacrifices of each casualty of the battle. He also extolled the virtues of the defenders, giving them credit for what they¡¯d accomplished, both for Ironshore and for the world at large. For if they hadn¡¯t stopped the orcish horde, it would have swept across the lands until it had conquered everything or someone else had stepped up to kill them. Finally, once Ramik had finished his speech, he stepped up to the pyre and summoned a fireball, which he cast into the dried lumber. It went up in flames a moment later, burning bright and fast as the city¡¯s residents said goodbye to their lost friends and family. It served as a reminder that Elijah still had a task before him. He wasn¡¯t ready to resume his search for his own family, but he certainly hadn¡¯t forgotten the personal quest. With that in mind, he watched the flames burn alongside everyone else. 3-2. No Safety Net The wide world spread out before Carmen, and all she could think of was the city she¡¯d just left behind. However, as she clutched her son¡¯s hand, she wouldn¡¯t allow herself to look back. Even as she heard the guards of Easton chuckling and jeering, she refused to give them ¨C or Roman ¨C the satisfaction of appearing hesitant. So, with her shoulders straight and her back unbent, Carmen strode into the wilderness. Beside her, still trembling, was her son, Miguel. She could well understand his fear, after what he¡¯d been through. After being abducted by the villainous Outlaw Trace, the boy had been dragged across miles of terrain then thrown at the feet of the man who¡¯d murdered his other mother, Alyssa. Due to reasons Carmen still hadn¡¯t wrapped her mind around, Roman had chosen to spare Miguel. What¡¯s more, he hadn¡¯t killed Carmen or Colt, either. Instead, he¡¯d merely exiled them. Yet, that was as good as a death sentence, especially given that none of them had any equipment. So, that was the first order of business. ¡°Do you know of anywhere that hasn¡¯t been picked clean?¡± she asked, turning to Colt Marsters, her loyal right-hand man. Somewhere during his own captivity, he¡¯d been stripped of his armor, duster, and the katana he normally wore on his hip. But the most striking difference ¨C even more than the hand they¡¯d taken ¨C was the absence of his cowboy hat. Without it, he looked almost naked. The man ran his remaining hand through his thinning hair and drawled, ¡°Might be something to the west. Back when I was still runnin¡¯ with the city¡¯s scavengers, most everybody avoided that.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Carmen asked. Early on, she¡¯d participated in her fair share of patrols, but those had been focused on keeping the city clear of dangerous beasts. It had been years since she¡¯d actually gone scavenging, save for when she¡¯d helped harvest a Corvette¡¯s engine for a few bits of titanium she¡¯d used to construct her hammer. That had been lost, too. So had the forge she¡¯d worked so hard to build. All her other projects, as well. She felt lost, adrift in a sea of danger for which she was ill-prepared to confront. But as had been the case since Earth had been touched by the World Tree, she pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the path before her. They needed equipment. Food. Water. And shelter. Everything else ¨C including maudlin thoughts of everything she¡¯d lost in the past couple of weeks ¨C would have to wait for later. ¡°There¡¯s a couple of territorial beasts in that direction,¡± Colt said. ¡°But it¡¯s mostly ¡®cause of the Marauders. They don¡¯t always set up shop out that way, but when they¡¯re there, they¡¯re nothin¡¯ to mess with.¡± Like everyone else in Easton, Carmen knew of the Marauders. They were a small gang who were reputed to make a living hijacking the few trade caravans that ran between the city and its allies. At one point, Carmen might have wondered why nobody had ever done anything about it, but now that she knew the depths Roman would sink to in order to protect his city ¨C or rather, his rule ¨C she suspected that they¡¯d made some sort of deal in exchange for virtual immunity. Or perhaps Roman simply didn¡¯t care enough about what amounted to a minor and easily avoidable inconvenience for his merchants and traders. Whatever the case, they were a persistent threat, and one that could work both in their favor and to endanger their quest to survive. ¡°Should we risk it?¡± she asked, well aware that there were nearly fifteen other people following her. That was all that was left of her followers. The rest had either been killed during the pitifully ineffective rebellion, or they¡¯d turned coat. Not that Carmen would blame them for the latter. Everyone had to live in the real world, and that often meant compromising one¡¯s ideals in order to survive. If she had been given that same option, perhaps she would have taken it. Of course, Carmen was honest enough with herself to recognize the lie she¡¯d just tried to tell herself. No matter what rewards were on offer, she would never let Roman¡¯s actions go unaddressed. He had killed her wife, betrayed her in the most vile way possible. Carmen could not forgive or ignore that, even if it meant that she would end up on the wrong end of the sword she¡¯d been forced to forge. ¡°Mom¡­¡± Carmen looked to her son, asking, ¡°What is it, mijo?¡± ¡°Did he really¡­he really killed her, didn¡¯t he?¡± Carmen stopped. They were far enough from the gate by that point that the guards couldn¡¯t see her. Then, she knelt in front of him and looked up. ¡°When did you get so big?¡± she muttered. It was a good question. She¡¯d been so wrapped up in everything else ¨C from getting the Silverado mining operation off the ground to the planned rebellion ¨C that she hadn¡¯t paid nearly enough attention to the one member of her family that had survived. Well ¨C that wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Elijah was still out there, and while he wasn¡¯t her blood, he was still family. And for as long as she¡¯d known him, he¡¯d treated her like a sister. No ¨C he was as good as her blood, and judging by the power rankings, he was still alive and doing well enough. Regardless, she couldn¡¯t focus on a man she likely would never see again. With how Earth had grown and been rearranged, he could be on the other side of the world. Elijah was alive, but for now, that fact was irrelevant to her situation. By contrast, Miguel was right there in front of her. That was what mattered. That and the people who¡¯d put their trust in her, erroneous though that choice had proven. ¡°Did he?¡± Miguel persisted, ignoring her previous question. She sighed. ¡°He did,¡± Carmen stated. Miguel¡¯s face contorted with rage. ¡°I¡¯m going to kill him,¡± he announced. ¡°I am. I don¡¯t know how, but I¡¯m gonna get a good class and¡­and I¡¯m gonna kill him.¡± ¡°Mijo¡­¡± ¡°Kid, you ain¡¯t killin¡¯ nothin¡¯ right now,¡± Colt interjected. ¡°You remember what we talked about, right? Keep your eyes on what¡¯s in front of you. Do you know what that is right now?¡± Miguel shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Protectin¡¯ your mom,¡± the man interrupted. Then he gestured with his stump at the other people gathered all around. They were a ragged bunch, but at least they weren¡¯t injured. Roman had at least given them medical attention, which given the powers of the city¡¯s Healers, meant that they were in perfect health. ¡°All these people need you. So, keep your eyes on the prize, kid. Otherwise, you ain¡¯t never gonna survive long enough to kill nobody. You get me?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t hear that. I asked if you got me, son.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± ¡°Good. Now, go help Diana over there pool our supplies. We might need to ration.¡± Miguel quickly scurried to the indicated woman ¨C a redhead who¡¯d once been quite plump ¨C and did as he¡¯d been told. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Carmen said, ¡°Thanks. I don¡¯t know how we¡¯re going to deal with that.¡± ¡°Training.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°That¡¯s how we deal with it. Look, boss ¨C the kid ain¡¯t gonna give up on his mission. We both know it. So, best we can do for him is to prepare him for it. That means training. That means equipment. That means gettin¡¯ him the best class possible. Otherwise, we¡¯re just throwin¡¯ him to the butcher.¡± Carmen nodded. She didn¡¯t like that idea, but she also wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to think she could dissuade her son from trying to avenge his mother¡¯s murder. Only time could do that, and even then, it was no sure thing. For now, Colt¡¯s plan seemed to be the best option. Besides, Carmen had no other ideas on how to curtail her son¡¯s vengeful impulses. It did put his trembling into context, though. He wasn¡¯t afraid. He was angry. Over the next few minutes, Carmen and Colt discussed their route while Miguel and Diana catalogued their supplies. Roman hadn¡¯t given them much ¨C just enough food and water for a day or two at most ¨C so they needed to figure out how to solve those immediate problems. Fortunately, there were more than a few lakes and streams nearby, so hydration wouldn¡¯t be much of an issue. Food, though, would be hard to come by. They could forage some, but given that winter had just broken, there wasn¡¯t much available ¨C especially when they needed to feed so many. ¡°If we can get some metal, I can make us some weapons,¡± she said. They wouldn¡¯t be very good ¨C Crude-Grade, at best ¨C but that was better than nothing. Without a forge, she¡¯d have to rely on her abilities and techniques. Fortunately, they were well-suited to working without equipment, fire, or the best materials. ¡°Should be some to be found to the west, like I said,¡± Colt responded. ¡°Don¡¯t know much more than that, but we need to be ready to fight.¡± After that, Carmen took stock of the people there. Seventeen, total, and only she and Colt had any real combat experience. The rest were Scholars who¡¯d been masquerading as laborers, and aside from a couple of identification abilities, they had no immediately useful abilities. Sure, Carmen knew that, in the long run, Scholars would be extremely valuable members of any society. Yet, in the short term, they were practically useless, which was why Roman had taken such a hard line against their initial inclusion in the city. Now, Carmen was saddled with a bunch of mouths to feed, and even if everyone there was well-meaning, they were incapable of pulling their own weight. So, as much as she hated agreeing with Roman, she understood his reasoning better than ever. However, she wouldn¡¯t let it change her attitude. They were still people, and they deserved to live just as much as anyone else. Even if they were practically useless for the current situation. Once she and Colt knew what they were dealing with, they led the group through the wilderness to the west as they made their way to the supplies they needed to survive. Hopefully. In all reality, nothing was guaranteed, and Carmen knew that they could very well be walking into a dangerous situation for which they were ill-prepared. As it turned out, though, they encountered nothing dangerous before stumbling upon an old gas station. Beside it was a wide highway that went on for miles in both directions, which Carmen expected would ease the burden of travel. More importantly, the abandoned business offered an opportunity for salvage. So, like a flock of vultures, the group descended upon the filling station to search for supplies. And their initial efforts found no rewards. The shelves had been picked clean, and there was nothing overtly useful inside. Colt held up one of the flimsy metal shelves. ¡°You think this will work?¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°Too soft,¡± she stated. She needed metal. Iron or steel, preferably. Those would be the easiest to work. Anything else would either be too soft or too hard. ¡°I found something!¡± came Miguel¡¯s voice. Carmen rushed through the building, remembering a time when it would have been stocked with all sorts of convenient products. No more. Finally, she reached the storage room, where she found her son kneeling next to a box full of screws. ¡°Will this work?¡± Carmen nodded and praised her son for his find. Then, she picked up the box. It was only eight inches wide, but it was just as deep, and it was half full. So, there was enough metal in there to create a single large blade, with enough left over for a couple of knives. But that didn¡¯t make sense. If she wanted to equip her people as quickly as possible ¨C and with weapons they could use more easily and efficiently ¨C spears were the better choice. Not only would they require much less metal, but the barrier for basic mastery was much lower than a sword or dagger. She looked up at the other gathered refugees. ¡°I need a bunch of sticks. About four to six feet long. As straight as you can find,¡± she said. ¡°Colt!¡± The man poked his head through the door, asking, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am?¡± ¡°Do you know how to use a spear?¡± ¡°I know which end¡¯s deadly,¡± he answered. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because you¡¯re in charge of teaching everyone the basics.¡± Then, she sent him to supervise the stick-gathering operation. Meanwhile, she used Bond to meld the screws, one after another, into a series of billets. Once that was done, she went outside and used her latest ability:
Smolder Use Ethera to heat metal when a forge is not available.
Then, she placed the first billet on a rock, manifested a hammer with Summon Tool, and went to work shaping the first spearhead. It was quick work, especially with her Strength and the ability to keep the metal hot. Still, it wasn¡¯t ideal. Normally, she would have used Decontaminate as well as Refine Material to ensure the metal was perfect. Yet, if she did that, she would lose quite a bit of mass, and given that the box of screws wouldn¡¯t provide a surplus of raw metal, she needed those contaminates, if for no other reason than to ensure she had enough spearheads to arm everyone. For similar reasons, she chose not to use Shape, though that was a question of ethera rather than material. It was a very useful ability, but the ethera cost meant that it was best used for detail work rather than rough shaping. And considering that a simple spearhead only needed the rough work, she didn¡¯t think it was the best option. So, she continued on, refining the shape the old-fashioned way ¨C with hammer and heat ¨C until she¡¯d created a six¨Cinch, leaf-shaped spearhead. It was rough, and it wasn¡¯t sharp, but she had a plan for that. First, though, she wanted to finish with the other blades. Gradually, she did just that, creating more than a dozen nearly identical spearheads. By the time that was done, night had fallen and Colt and the others had returned with a bundle of appropriate shafts. So, they retreated inside, where they ate in relative silence before Carmen went on to the next step. Using Shape, she ran the first blade between her thumb and forefinger. She didn¡¯t remove any material. Instead, she applied pressure and her ability to narrow the metal until it was sharp. It wasn¡¯t a razor, but it was enough to kill. And that was the best she could do under the circumstances. After the first spearhead, the process was a little easier, and that pattern continued right until the last one. There was a point when she¡¯d have considered such a task beneath her. After all, she was the highest-level crafter in Easton. She was on the power ladder. She was special, and making spearheads failed to capitalize on her advantages. But now, she realized that there was no such thing as a mundane task. Not if she wanted to be the best crafter possible. If that was her goal, then she needed to approach each project ¨C regardless of how tedious ¨C like it was intended to be a masterpiece. Anything else, and she would stagnate. For now, though, she just needed to arm her people. So, once the blades were finished, she manifested a knife with Summon Tool, which she used to shape the sticks into spear shafts. Half of them weren¡¯t appropriate for the job ¨C they were either too thin or bent ¨C but the others had gathered more than enough, so Carmen had plenty to work with. And over time, she managed to create fourteen shafts. After that, she notched one end of the shafts before shoving the blades into place. After that, she used a combination of Bond and Shape to ensure that they wouldn¡¯t become dislodged. And just like that, she had fifteen spears. However, she did take a little extra time to add some rudimentary embellishments to each ¨C carving an artful whorl into the shafts ¨C before enchanting them by etching a symbol into each side of the blade. As she did, she used Minor Enchantment, focusing on durability for one, then sharpness with the other. When she¡¯d finished the first, she received a surprising notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Simple Spear]. Overall Grade: Crude (Peak) Enchantment Grade: F
If Carmen had been honest with herself, she would have expected the spears to be ungraded. However, she wouldn¡¯t have been surprised to reach the lowest reaches of Crude-Grade. But to come so close to Simple-Grade was shocking, considering the poor quality of materials she¡¯d been forced to work with. She sighed. Perhaps they were just due some good fortune. It would be the first bit of good luck in a long time, but she hoped it would be a pattern. With that in mind, she went to work duplicating the feat. 3-3. The Wall Elijah sat on the edge of the bed, trying desperately to get his thoughts in order. He had so many things to do, and it felt like the clock was ticking on his opportunity to do them. More than anything, though, he was eager to get back on the proverbial road. Now that he had a lead on where to find Seattle, he felt the call of family even more keenly than ever before. If he hadn¡¯t been called back to defend Ironshore from the orcish invasion, he would have almost assuredly already reached the city. Of course, that was no guarantee of finding them. Last he¡¯d spoken to Alyssa, they had been living just outside of Seattle in a sleepy town called Easton. And it was far enough away from the city proper that there was every chance it had ended up in a different part of the world. When the World Tree had touched Earth, the planet had been transformed. Those very first notifications had claimed as much, saying that it had selectively randomized the planet while also increasing its mass. However, Elijah hadn¡¯t really realized what that meant until he¡¯d set off across the wilderness. Since then, he¡¯d spent months traveling through the wilds, and he knew he¡¯d barely scratched the surface of what Earth now had to offer. Never was that more obvious than when he¡¯d learned that the once-coastal city of Seattle was now nowhere near the ocean. He didn¡¯t know how that would have affected the place, but he suspected it wouldn¡¯t be a positive change. More than that, he¡¯d also learned the scope of Earth¡¯s casualties. Millions, if not billions, of people had already died, and if the recent orcish invasion had taught him anything, it was that the dangers had yet to pass. If anything, things would get worse before humanity caught up with their new world¡¯s development. Which meant that Elijah needed to get to work. So, he pushed himself upright. He¡¯d once again chosen to stay in the Imperium, largely because it was familiar, but he could admit ¨C at least to himself ¨C that he enjoyed the luxury. Before the world had been transformed, he¡¯d never had the opportunity to stay in a truly extravagant hotel, so now that he had some money, he wanted to take advantage. However, he knew he couldn¡¯t make a habit of it, because his funds had already begun to dwindle. Woefully, he looked at his folio:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
211 309 18 0
He still was far from destitute, but Elijah knew that if he continued to spend without thought, that could change in a hurry. Besides, it wasn¡¯t as if the Imperium¡¯s rooms were any more luxurious than his tree house. The only difference was that if he¡¯d gone back home for the night, he¡¯d have had to paddle to shore in one of his rapidly dwindling supply of rowboats. Despite the fact that doing so would only take about an hour, Elijah had convinced himself that he couldn¡¯t afford such a delay. It was a lie. But it was one he¡¯d readily chosen to believe. Whatever the case, it was with some regret that he pushed himself to his feet and glanced at his reflection in the gilded mirror on the wall. The person staring back at him was almost entirely unrecognizable from the man who¡¯d survived the plane crash. Though he¡¯d never be bulky, Elijah had put on quite a bit of muscle over the years since the world had transformed. However, due to his active lifestyle ¨C or perhaps his body cultivation ¨C he barely had any fat on him. As a result, his muscles looked like they¡¯d been chiseled from marble. Of course, that body was marred by plenty of scars, too. Most of his right arm bore the puckered scars he¡¯d gotten while being digested by a monstrous orca, and his torso was crisscrossed with the results of his many battles. He had not lived a peaceful life over the past few years, and he didn¡¯t expect that to change anytime soon. As he¡¯d acknowledged only a few minutes before, the world was a dangerous place filled with powerful predators, and he had little choice but to become dangerous and powerful himself. He ran a hand through his curly, blonde hair and muttered to himself, ¡°God, I need a haircut.¡± The assessment was just as appropriate for his beard, which had grown out of control in the past few months. In his defense, though, there wasn¡¯t much call to trim a beard while in the wilderness. It was possible, but it was tedious enough that he¡¯d chosen to simply let it grow. Now he was regretting that. That just reaffirmed the first item on his list ¨C he would go the barbershop to get something done about his hair. But first, he needed to get a shower. So, he headed to the connected bathroom, where he enjoyed a long, hot shower that served to unkink his tense muscles. After spending a little more time in the shower than he¡¯d first intended, Elijah stepped out, dried off, then found his pack. It was a little worse for wear, with plenty of scuffs and minor tears, but he suspected it would last a good while longer. Reaching inside, he retrieved his clothes. The night before, he¡¯d used plenty of cleaning powder on his entire wardrobe, and to his surprise, it had worked exceedingly well, even leaving behind a pleasant floral scent that reminded him of fresh laundry. So, he dressed, ran his fingers through his hair ¨C he still lacked a comb ¨C then popped a few berries into his mouth before heading out. As he had planned, the first stop was the barbershop, which served as another reminder of everything Ironshore had lost. Once, there had been three gnomish barbers, but now, there was only one. He made a show of joviality, channeling some of the trio¡¯s old banter, yet Elijah could tell that the barber¡¯s heart wasn¡¯t in it. And he didn¡¯t blame him, either. After all, he¡¯d lost his companions only a couple of weeks before. In the barber¡¯s place, Elijah wouldn¡¯t have been up for genial conversation either. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. In any case, the barber made quick work of his hair, trimming it down to something far more manageable. He even took care of Elijah¡¯s beard, shaping it into some semblance of tidiness. Before he left, he bought a portable grooming kit that included a couple of brushes, a comb, and some scissors that he shoved into his pack. Now that he was making a habit of visiting civilization, he needed to be more cognizant of his appearance. To that end, he stopped by Mari¡¯s shop, too, and purchased a few more sets of clothes. They were only a little nicer than his current wardrobe, but according to her, they featured a minor self-cleaning enchantment as well as one for durability. ¡°Now, they won¡¯t clean major stains, so keep some cleaning powder handy,¡± she cautioned. ¡°I will,¡± he added. ¡°I¡¯m also going to bring that bear hide by here sometime soon. I still need to tan it, but once I do, I think we should go with a cloak.¡± ¡°Hmm. I¡¯ll start preparing for it, then,¡± she stated. ¡°Once we settle on the price, of course.¡± ¡°How much?¡± he asked. ¡°How much are you willing to pay for a one-of-a-kind creation from the best tailor you¡¯re likely to meet on this baby world?¡± was her responding question. She asked it with a slight smirk playing across her face. After that, they went back and forth until they¡¯d settled on two whole gold ethereum coins for the project. Elijah transferred one to her folio as a deposit, promising to bring the hide as soon as possible. He could only hope that it would end up being worth it, though considering the quality of the materials ¨C and what he had planned for preparation ¨C Elijah expected it would be. In any case, the negotiation left him feeling like he¡¯d run a marathan, and he was more than happy to leave Mari¡¯s premises behind. Once that was done, Elijah swung by Druid¡¯s Park to check the ancestral tree sapling, and he was happy to find that there were a few children running around and enjoying the park. That felt appropriate, and he even recognized little Rosabella playing tag with her friends. When he waved, she just rolled her eyes before hesitantly waving back, as if doing so was so far beneath her that she had to force herself to be polite. After seeing that the tree was in good hands, Elijah went in search of Ramik, but his attendant ¨C or perhaps secretary was the proper term ¨C told him that the mayor was inspecting the site meant for the wall. That was interesting, so Elijah quickly found his way to the outer edge of town, where Ramik stood conversing with a few other gnomes, dwarves, and goblins. They all had a rough-and-tumble look about them, which suggested that they were builders. It also made Ramik look entirely out of place, with his prim three-piece suit and bowler hat. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Elijah asked when he approached them. ¡°Up?¡± asked Ramik, glancing toward the sky. For once, it was completely devoid of clouds, and the sun shone, bright and warm. ¡°Just an expression,¡± was Elijah¡¯s reply. ¡°It means what are you doing. So, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Ah. Human vernacular is odd,¡± Ramik said with a nod. ¡°The system¡¯s translation feature helps, but for idioms it is often insufficient.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth,¡± Elijah agreed with a grin. ¡°So, I hear you¡¯re building a wall. Want some help?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t,¡± said one of the builders ¨C as surly a dwarf as Elijah had ever met. ¡°What if ¨C¡± ¡°Said we got this, Mr. High-and-Mighty druid,¡± he growled. ¡°And I meant it. So, why don¡¯t you go run off to your ¨C¡± Elijah stepped forward, and the dwarf cut himself off in a hurry when Elijah said, ¡°Let¡¯s get something straight here. Just because I helped with the orcs doesn¡¯t mean I won¡¯t rip you to pieces if you offend me. You were at the battle, weren¡¯t you?¡± He nodded. ¡°Then you know that¡¯s not an idle threat. So, I¡¯ll ask you to shut up while I¡¯m talking to my friend Ramik.¡± Then, he turned to the prim goblin and, using a much more genial voice, asked, ¡°So, do you want my help?¡± ¡°Ah, what sort of help?¡± he asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I was thinking maybe a bramble wall? I¡¯ll have to think about it,¡± he admitted. If he was going to do something like that, he¡¯d need the proper types of plants, and that meant a significant time commitment. That wasn¡¯t even considering how long it would take to coax those plants into growth. Still, he did like the idea of surrounding Ironshore with a dense wall of brambles. If they¡¯d had something like that for the orcs, the invasion might¡¯ve gone a lot better. ¡°We will of course accept any help you might offer,¡± Ramik said. ¡°For now, though, we will proceed with our builders¡¯ plans. With the enhanced ethera density, we should be capable of supporting proper defenses.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± ¡°A stronger boundary, for one,¡± Ramik explained, referring to the aura that persuaded beasts to leave the city alone. The current version was enough to keep smaller animals away, but anything with even a smidgen of sentience would ignore it. ¡°And one can never underestimate the value of a proper bulwark.¡± Elijah knew there was probably more to it than that, but he didn¡¯t want to push. He didn¡¯t think of the people of Ironshore as enemies anymore, yet he knew how quickly that could turn around. They still didn¡¯t completely trust him, and if he was honest, that feeling was mutual, though with a few exceptions like Ramik and Kurik. After only a little more conversation, Elijah bade them goodbye, then headed into the wilderness. The biggest task of the day was far closer to his heart than getting a haircut or commissioning a new piece of equipment. Instead, he intended to ascertain the cost the war had exacted on the environment. Most of that had been the result of the orcs¡¯ voracious appetite. However, Elijah had helped implement a plan to deprive the horde of prey by hunting everything themselves. They hadn¡¯t gotten everything ¨C that was all but impossible ¨C but Elijah was worried that he¡¯d helped do irreparable harm to the local ecosystem. It was worth it. He didn¡¯t regret his actions. Without that, the orcs might have been far stronger than they had been when they¡¯d reached Ironshore. Or they might have approached with more caution. Either way, the plan had been successful, and by any measure. Yet Elijah had become a Druid for a reason. He hadn¡¯t been the one to pick his archetype, but his compatibility with it was well warranted. On top of that, he walked around with the One with Nature ability active at all times. As a result, he could feel every living thing in a way no one else could. And as a result, he couldn¡¯t remain unaffected. So, it was with some trepidation and anxiety that he entered the wilderness. Elijah didn¡¯t bother shifting into his draconid form. Instead, he remained a human, though he cast his awareness as far as possible as he strolled through the forest. And what he saw nearly brought tears to his eyes. The orcs had torn through the area as only a ten-thousand-strong band of voracious devourers could, and they¡¯d left few stones unturned. Trees had been ripped from the ground and knocked aside, and the underbrush had fared no better. It looked like a category-five hurricane had passed through the area, though with the added effect of most of the animal life having been killed. Elijah saw hundreds of rotting carcasses. Some were small, clearly having once been rats and squirrels. Other bodies belonged to half-eaten birds. There were a few larger animals, too. And not just herbivores, either. Even mighty predators like birds and wolves had been killed by the insatiable horde. But there was cause for optimism, too. The area wasn¡¯t nearly as devoid of animal life as he¡¯d expected. In fact, if he hadn¡¯t known what had happened ¨C or seen the evidence every time he stumbled upon a corpse ¨C he would never have guessed that the area had been the site of a mass slaughter of animal life. It was just further evidence that the local fauna was far more durable than he¡¯d ever suspected. If he¡¯d had to guess, he would have said that it would only take months for everything to return to normal. A year at most. That was a comforting thought, and though his guilt still remained, it was somewhat assuaged by what he¡¯d found. So, it was with some degree of optimism that he engaged Ancestral Circle and returned to his grove. After all, he had a lot to do before he could resume his search for Alyssa and the rest of his family, and it wasn¡¯t going to get done until he settled in and did the work. 3-4. Fat, Brains, and Bear Hides Upon arrival in his grove, the first thing Elijah did was to return to his treehouse and collect a few things he knew he would need. The hide, which he¡¯d left there for the past few weeks, was the most important bit, but there was a sealed cask he¡¯d gotten from Kurik that was equally necessary for what he had planned. The rest of his materials could either be found in the forest of his island or he¡¯d already collected them in his pack. So, gathering the massive pelt, he descended back into the grove, where Nerthus greeted him. ¡°Hey, Nerthus. Sorry I can¡¯t talk right now. Got a lot to do.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± the tree spirit said. ¡°I am here to inform you that the sapling you planted across the strait is nearly connected to the grove. It will only be a few weeks more.¡± ¡°Oh, nice. I knew it was growing pretty quickly,¡± Elijah said, adjusting the huge hide on his shoulder. Even rolled up, it was enormous, but then again, its owner had been the size of a rhinoceros, so that shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. ¡°Anything else?¡± Nerthus shook his head, which looked disturbingly human. He¡¯d continued to grow and evolve during Elijah¡¯s search for his family, which meant that he¡¯d reached a height of almost four feet tall. ¡°No,¡± he said. ¡°But you should check your cave sometime soon.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Elijah asked. He rummaged in the facet of his Quartz Mind that he¡¯d dedicated to monitoring his Domain, and he quickly found the underwater cave. To his surprise, it had developed quite a bit since the last time he was there. Before, it had been a hollow cave without any significant life, but now, it had already begun to develop its own ecosystem. It was still in its infancy, but Elijah suspected that it would become quite lush sometime in the future. ¡°That¡¯s awesome. I think I could transplant some sea plants down there, too. I bet it would really¡­no. Not right now. I¡¯ve got other things to do first.¡± He couldn¡¯t afford to get distracted, so after only a little more casual conversation with Nerthus ¨C about the grove, which was all the tree spirit seemed to care about ¨C Elijah left the area behind, making for the cabin that had once been his salvation and home. When he arrived, he found that it was just as overgrown and dilapidated as it had been the last time he¡¯d visited, though that was no surprise, considering that it was missing a wall and half of its roof had been caved in. Yet, Elijah had little interest in the cabin itself. Rather, he only wanted the area surrounding it, largely because it was clear of debris or vegetation. So, once he¡¯d arrived, he set the hide and his pack down before heading back into the woods to find some lumber he could use to build a frame from which he could stretch the hide. Considering the hide¡¯s size, it would have to be a large frame indeed, but Elijah had already identified the proper branches and limbs via his locus, which made the search feel unsatisfying and a little like cheating. Not that he was going to complain. While he enjoyed the process of making things, he was more interested in completing his projects efficiently and well. So, over the next hour, he gathered the appropriate branches, then carried them back to the cabin, where he deposited the bundle by the hide. After that, he laid them out in a rough square, then notched the ends so they would fit together properly. Soon enough, he¡¯d tied everything together with cordage he¡¯d bought back in Ironshore. Standing back, he admired his work; he¡¯d always enjoyed building things, and that had grown even more poignant during his time stranded on the island. A couple of minutes later, Elijah retrieved the hide, then laid it out in the center of the square. Fortunately, he¡¯d remembered to take proper measurements, or he was certain that he would have misjudged the size. As it was, the hide ended up being almost fifteen feet long and almost as wide. ¡°You really were a big guy, weren¡¯t you? Wish I could have saved you,¡± Elijah muttered, imagining bringing the bear back to the island. Would it have allowed that? Probably not. And it might¡¯ve created far more problems than it solved. Yet, it was a nice fantasy that occupied his mind as he began the tedious process of tying the outer edges of the hide to the frame he¡¯d built. By the time he was finished, it was stretched taut. Luckily, the hunters had already done a tremendous job of fleshing the pelt, so that was a step Elijah didn¡¯t have to worry about. That allowed him to skip a few steps and jump right to salting the hide. So, he flipped the frame so that the fur faced down, then retrieved a huge, burlap bag of salt from his pack. It was on the edge of what the container could handle, but Elijah hadn¡¯t wanted to underestimate just how much he would need. So, with that in mind, he started spreading the salt across the inner part of the hide. Once that was done, he stepped back and admired his work. The next step couldn¡¯t be completed for around fifteen hours, so he had two other projects meant to occupy him until then. The first was that he was starting to run low on soap, and he wanted to make some more. However, instead of using his previous method, he wanted to change things up a little in the hopes of making something that was slightly more magical than mundane soap. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. So, he set out to create some lye. With that goal at the forefront of his mind, he used the same method as before, which involved burning a lot of limbs, collecting the ashes, and running water through it multiple times until he¡¯d created an alkaline solution. The biggest difference was that his forest was subject to much denser ethera than ever before, so he had reason to expect that the ash would be a bit more magical in nature. Yet, he wasn¡¯t certain, so the only thing he could do was give it a try. And over the next fifteen hours, he did just that. Using the same hollowed out logs that he¡¯d made the last time, he repeatedly filtered water through the ashes until, at last, he had what he needed. But by the time that was finished, the hide was ready. So, Elijah turned his attention to that. Over the next few hours, he used a large stick to scrape the salt from the hide. It was stubborn, but he was persistent, and over that time, he finished that step of his project. That left him with the most important phase: the tanning. Elijah knew the theory behind brain tanning, and he¡¯d confirmed the steps with both Biggle and Mari. However, he¡¯d never done it before, so he was a little hesitant. Still, he forged ahead, hopeful that he wouldn¡¯t screw things up too much. Yet, he did consider paying Mari to come to the island so she could supervise. Not that she would have consented to come, given the history of people who¡¯d visited his island. Of the fifty-two people who¡¯d done so, only three had survived. So, Elijah chose to abandon that notion. Instead, he pushed ahead with what he knew. Fortunately, he was well-prepared, and he had everything he needed to make the solution. With that in mind, he gathered the sealed cask of brains that had been taken from the orc warlord, then emptied them into a large pot. They came out slimy and more than a little pungent, but he could tell they hadn¡¯t turned. Next, he spent a few frustrating minutes separating the yolks he¡¯d taken from a few dozen eggs he¡¯d found on the island. He added those, then retrieved the last ingredient from his pack. Normally, Elijah would have preferred to make everything himself, but he simply didn¡¯t have access to mineral oil. So, he¡¯d been forced to buy some from Biggle. Fortunately, the little gnome alchemist was predisposed to working with Elijah after buying the mushroom flesh that he was using to make cultivation potions. Because of that, he didn¡¯t rip Elijah off. Not too badly, at least. In any event, the mineral oil had been incredibly expensive, which meant that Elijah was very much invested in making certain that it was well used. So, once he¡¯d emptied the right amount into the huge pot, he started mixing it over a fire. He didn¡¯t intend to boil it, but instead, he just wanted it warm enough for all the ingredients to coalesce. Which they did, giving him a warm, white liquid that he hoped would do the job. Positioning himself on all fours atop the stretched hide, Elijah spread the concoction across the surface. He made certain that there wasn¡¯t an inch uncovered, and before long, he¡¯d finished. After that, he took a few large sheets of waterproof cloth he¡¯d gotten from Mari and covered the whole thing up. Needing to leave that overnight, Elijah turned his attention back to the soap. So, for that, he returned to his treehouse to gather another cask that Kurik had given him. This one contained fat harvested from the orc warlord. As his kill, Elijah was entitled to every part of the monster. Yet, he¡¯d only wanted the brains and fat. The rest, he wasn¡¯t certain he wanted to know where it went. Perhaps the bones would be good for weapons, but he didn¡¯t think the people of Ironshore would eat orcs. Yet, he wasn¡¯t certain of that, which made him rethink eating any meals there for some time. The creatures weren¡¯t really much more than animals, but they were far too human-like in appearance and intelligence for him to completely dissociate from the notion of cannibalism. That probably made no sense, but he¡¯d have felt the same way about eating an ape. Or a dolphin. Or any of a dozen of the more intelligent animal species. Stupid, probably. But that was where he drew the line. Though, if he was honest with himself, he would have admitted that that line would quickly become very blurry if he grew hungry enough. He didn¡¯t want to think about that, though. Instead, he started melting the fat over the fire, and once it was liquid, he strained it over and over again until all the impurities were gone. Then, he set it aside to harden. The next step was to gather some aromatics, for which he turned to his grove. Fortunately, lavender grew naturally there, so he¡¯d picked some the week before and left it to dry. Now, he just needed to infuse it. So, Elijah took the dried lavender and shoved it into a huge jar, then coated it with some oil he¡¯d bought from Biggle. Elijah had no idea what it was, but it had a similar consistency to coconut oil, and most importantly, it had no odor. So, it would have to do. Throughout the process, he¡¯d continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty ¨C not to encourage plant growth, but rather, to blanket the area in his personal ethera. Fortunately, the spell played extremely well with the natural ethera ¨C probably because it was already infused with his own due to the Domain ¨C so it created a potent bubble of energy that he hoped would serve to augment everything he was trying to make. However, he¡¯d finally reached the point where he could only wait for the two projects to progress to the next step. The pelt needed time for the brain solution to tan it, and the ash needed to increase the alkalinity of the water in the lye hopper. Finally, the lavender needed time to infuse the oil. But that was always going to be the case. His plan wouldn¡¯t be completed overnight, so he¡¯d already come up with another project to occupy his time. In short, he needed to create another staff to replace the Staff of Natural Harmony that had been destroyed during the battle with the orcs. First, he wanted to go back to his treehouse and sleep a bit. He¡¯d been at it most of the day, and at some point, the sun had set without him even realizing it. So, with that in mind, he headed back to his grove, climbed into his treehouse, and into his bed. He was asleep in moments, and that night, he dreamed of soap and bear hides. 3-5. A New Staff The next morning dawned bright and cheerful, and Elijah rose to the sound of birdsong. For a few moments, he just lay in bed, enjoying the morning for the peace it represented. It would have been so easy to let himself get wrapped up in all the terrible things he¡¯d seen and done. Yet, for all the danger of the new world, it was also incredibly beautiful. Remembering that was key, he was certain. After all, attitude was a choice. If he focused on nothing but the most negative things, then his outlook on life would be tainted as a result. Yet, if he chose positivity and optimism, it would infuse his life with the same. Certainly, Elijah knew he would descend into plenty of valleys ¨C he¡¯d been in quite a few already, and it would have been na?ve to believe that he wouldn¡¯t revisit them ¨C but he also recognized that he¡¯d seen a lot of peaks as well. Choosing where to place his focus was what separated happiness from misery. And he knew which one he wanted to embrace. So, he rose with a smile on his face as he confronted the day¡¯s tasks. The first order of business was to enjoy breakfast. He didn¡¯t want to hunt or fish ¨C and he definitely didn¡¯t feel like going and killing a crab ¨C so Elijah decided to make a circuit of his grove, pulsing Nature¡¯s Bounty as he picked berries. From the outside looking in, the berries all looked similar, but to Elijah, each one tasted slightly different. It was like they were all sorts of berries in one, and as a result, there was plenty of variety to keep him on his toes. Once he¡¯d finished eating ¨C and putting his stamp on the grove ¨C Elijah headed back to the cabin where he investigated the results of the previous day¡¯s work. The hide wasn¡¯t quite ready yet, but that wasn¡¯t surprising. Mundane hides would take at least a day for the brain solution to seep in, but Elijah had fully expected the magical bear pelt to take much longer. The same was true of the lavender infusion. It would likely take at least a week for it to complete, and in that time, Elijah had a major task to undertake ¨C he needed to carve a new staff. The Staff of Natural Harmony had been with him almost since the beginning. With it, he¡¯d accomplished a host of miraculous deeds, ranging from conquering towers to defending his island. It had been his constant companion, and without that comforting staff, he felt almost naked. But he was also excited about the possibilities before him. When he¡¯d first created the Staff of Natural Harmony, he¡¯d had no idea what was going on. He hadn¡¯t even realized what he was doing when he¡¯d spent weeks pulsing Nature¡¯s Bounty and One with Nature. And almost by accident, he¡¯d created something that he now understood to be quite unique. Most people couldn¡¯t create a Simple-Grade item at all, much less by accident. The only downside ¨C if it could even be considered such ¨C was that the result had been bound to him from the moment of its creation. ¡°Guess I¡¯m not going to make a living as a staff-maker,¡± he said to himself with a grin as he set off into the forest in search of the perfect stick. But that grin quickly faded as he came to realize just how many choices there were. If all he cared about were dimensions, there were a near infinite number of solutions. So, he chose to focus on something else ¨C the ethereal signatures of each branch. That narrowed it down to three possibilities, each powerful in a subtly different way. The first was straight, and the tree from which it had grown had a powerful current of ethera running through it. However, when Elijah focused on it, he couldn¡¯t help but feel that it was a little too wild. It was hard to quantify, but it felt like someone had tried to bottle a storm. And to Elijah, that just didn¡¯t feel right. So, he moved on to the next, which felt more appropriate in temperament, but the current was much weaker. However, the third felt perfect, with a powerful but steady flow of ethera that put Elijah in mind of what he felt from the ancestral tree. The only issue was that it was anything but straight. Instead, it looked almost like a shepherd¡¯s crook, it was so bent. But when Elijah finally reached the tree, he couldn¡¯t deny that he felt a certain affinity for the branch. Sure, it was crooked, and if he wanted to, he could certainly straighten it out. However, he felt that it would have lost some of its uniqueness if he did that. In fact, the more he looked at it, high up in the tree, the more he forgot all about the other two options. So, without any further hesitation, Elijah climbed the tree and, with a heavy-bladed axe, chopped the branch away from its tree. In the past, he might have chosen not to do such a thing ¨C his notion of what a Druid was had been skewed by Earthly ideas ¨C but now, he realized that it wasn¡¯t so much about preservation at all costs. Rather, it was about living with the environment without taking things too far. Or perhaps his current impression was wrong as well. He knew that it was a fluid thing, and, more importantly, he was still learning and adjusting. So, what he believed today wasn¡¯t necessary going to be true tomorrow. Or in a year. Certainly not in a decade. And that was fine. He intended to take things as they went, and if he discovered new information that necessitated an adjustment in philosophy, then that was what he would do. Anything less would be idiotic. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. So, with the branch in hand, Elijah climbed down from the tree and set off across the island toward the cabin. Once he arrived, he checked the hide and discovered that it was ready for the next stage. So, after scraping the hide clean, he gathered four large rocks, arranged them at the four corners of the frame where he¡¯d stretched the hide, then placed the frame atop them, suspending the hide almost a foot above the ground. Then, he climbed atop it, and stood in the center. As he did, the hide stretched, which was the point of the exercise. For the next hour or so, Elijah paced back and forth across the hide. A couple of times, the frame slipped, but for the most part, everything held together. More importantly, the hide stretched quite a bit, and when he was done, he tightened the twine holding it in place, then applied another coating of the brain solution. Once again, he covered it, intending to leave it overnight. Then, Elijah headed back to the grove, where he started carving his staff using the same flint-bladed knife he¡¯d used when making the Staff of Natural Harmony. His skills as a whittler still weren¡¯t perfect, but with his high Dexterity, the results were far better than they had been with his last staff. Yet, he took his time, starting at the bottom and slowly progressing up the shaft. However, that first day, he only made it about a foot before the sun began to set. That was fine, though. A key component of the process ¨C at least according to Nerthus as well as Elijah¡¯s experience with the Staff of Natural Harmony ¨C was time. His ethera needed the opportunity to infuse the staff. So, as impatient as he was to finish, Elijah forced himself to take his time. Anything less, and the results would be unimpressive. The next day, he made more progress, and he applied another coating of brain solution to the bear hide. And the third day was much the same. On it went for the next week, with Elijah spending every waking moment on his various projects. Finally, on the eighth day, he reached the point where another coating of the brain solution would render the hide unusable, so, he moved on to the next stage: smoking the hide. With that in mind, Elijah built a large teepee of sturdy branches, upon which he rested the hide, fur-side up. Then, he built a fire beneath it. Once that was done, he gathered a bunch of moss, which he used to cover it and keep the smoke from escaping. After that, he returned to his carving, which had progressed to the bend. When he¡¯d first begun, Elijah had had no direction, but over the course of the project, he¡¯d developed a good feel for what he wanted. Or perhaps it was what the branch wanted to become. Whatever the case, Elijah knew precisely where it was going; the only question was whether or not he had the skill to make it work. So, with his knife in hand, he set about carving one of the most intricate pieces he¡¯d ever whittled. The whole time, he continued to flare Nature¡¯s Bounty and One with Nature, hoping to push as much ethera into the process as he could. It took four more days before he was satisfied. And when he finished, he received a notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Serpent Healer¡¯s Crook]! This item will serve to enhance any healing spells cast by the wielder. Grade: Simple
¡°Healer¡¯s Crook?¡± Elijah muttered. That didn¡¯t sound as useful as his last staff. But then again, it was still Simple-Grade, so he expected it would be powerful. Even if the description said it would only enhance his healing spells, that was okay. He didn¡¯t really rely on his damage spells, anyway, and he suspected that the limitation would make the enhancement the Serpent Healer¡¯s Crook did possess that much stronger. He would have to test it out to make sure, though. More importantly, it felt appropriate. Perhaps he would create something better sometime in the near future, but for now, he was excited about the idea of being a more powerful healer. The ability to heal was one of the things that set him apart, and besides, he enjoyed making people better. So, he wasn¡¯t disappointed with the results of his hard work. Just surprised. But one thing he did like, and unequivocally, was the look. The shaft was carved to look like the scales of a great serpent, and the head followed the same motif, resembling a cobra. He had originally intended it to resemble a dragon, but as he¡¯d carved the curved branch, his movements had taken on a mind of their own, almost as if the staff had rejected his original plan in favor of the snake motif. And Elijah was pleased with the result. So, armed with his new staff, he returned to the cabin where he found that the bear hide had completed the smoking process. And judging by how soft the leather felt, it had been incredibly successful. Still, after going back to the treehouse, he used a large amount of cleansing powder to ensure the whole thing was perfectly clean. And he was pleasantly surprised by how soft and pleasant it felt. In fact, he was tempted to simply use it as a blanket, but he ultimately decided that doing so would be quite a waste of effort. Because he could feel the ethera wafting off of it. If it had started off as a Simple-Grade material, Elijah knew it was now pushing the limits of the grade. By that point, his lavender oil was entirely infused as well, so he strained it, then, after ensuring that it smelled the way he wanted it to, Elijah proceeded with the final step of making his soap. Like before, the process was simple enough ¨C just mixing the fat and lye over heat, while adding in a bit of the aromatic oil ¨C but Elijah took his time, continuing to flare One with Nature as well as Nature¡¯s Bounty along the way. And eventually, the substance reached a pudding-like texture, and he poured it into a series of molds he¡¯d created. It would take a couple of weeks to cure, but Elijah had high hopes for the soap. For now, though, he¡¯d completed his tasks. So, he needed to return to Ironshore, then get ready for his next step. Before that, though, he had one more project he wanted to begin. That would have to wait until morning, though. Night had already fallen, and he needed some rest. So, after showering ¨C and using the last bar of soap from his previous batch ¨C Elijah went to bed. With any luck, the next day would work out the way he hoped. 3-6. An Unwilling Warrior Even in the old world, badgers were fearsome creatures that no sane person would confront unless absolutely necessary. And since Earth had been transformed, they had grown even more terrifying ¨C a fact of which Carmen was intimately aware, considering she was facing one such monster armed only with her summoned blacksmithing hammer. From its snout to the end of its tail, the low-slung creature was almost ten feet long, making it nearly the size of a grizzly bear. Yet, snarling and hissing, it was far more aggressive than even the most territorial bear. Carmen shouted, ¡°Now!¡± Then, pushing her understandable fear aside, she threw herself at the creature. It dipped to the side, then snapped out with its sharp teeth. They clamped down on Carmen¡¯s torso, but they were incapable of piercing her makeshift chainmail armor. It had been hastily constructed from scrap metal only that morning, but even then, it had reached low Simple-Grade. As a result, it held. Barely. But it did nothing to dissipate the enormous biting force the monster could bring to bear. Nor did it protect her legs, which were suddenly vulnerable to the badger¡¯s sharp claws. Carmen let out another scream, though this time, it wasn¡¯t meant as a signal. Rather, it was one of pure pain as the claws tore through the thick leather pants she¡¯d made ¨C which weren¡¯t even Crude-Grade ¨C and bit into her soft flesh. Her Constitution, inflated by her time at the forge as well as her automatic attribute allocation, mitigated some of the damage, but it was incapable of protecting her completely. Yet, Carmen knew that she only had to hold on for a few more seconds. As she gritted her teeth, she brought her hammer down on the overgrown badger¡¯s head. It thudded as it connected with the monster¡¯s skull, but despite Carmen¡¯s immense Strength, the creature barely even reacted to the blow. So, she hit it again. All the while, it shredded Carmen¡¯s legs with its sharp claws while it attempted to shake her like a dog with a toy. She held her feet, but she knew it was only temporary. The beast was too large and too strong to resist for much longer. Finally, the rest of her people arrived. Armed with the spears she¡¯d made soon after their exile, they descended on the badger, stabbing with the practiced precision of the experienced hunters they had been forced to become. Meanwhile, Colt slashed with his own shortened spear, sending a Blade Storm at the monster. He followed it up with another ability that added quite a bit of momentum to a thrusting attack. It wasn¡¯t a fancy maneuver, but it was incredibly effective, especially with the aim of a veteran warrior like him. The blade of the spear bit into the creature¡¯s throat, and when he ripped the weapon free, it came with a gout of blood. But badgers were well-known for their immense durability, and the touch of the World Tree hadn¡¯t robbed the mutated version of that trait. It fought on, even with a dozen spears repeatedly needling into its thick hide. Carmen bore the brunt of its thrashing, and it never released the vice-like grip of its jaws. However, the badger wasn¡¯t the only one with unnatural toughness. Indeed, if there ever was a person who personified the badger, it was Carmen, and she endured with all the resilience she¡¯d developed over the long and difficult years she¡¯d experienced since the touch of World Tree had descended upon Earth. And all the while, she repeated brought her hammer down on the monster¡¯s skull. One blow after another descended until she felt its skull crack. Then, it shattered. Still, it fought on, albeit with a drunken stagger that robbed it of much of its lethality. Even then, Carmen didn¡¯t let up until, at last, she felt an influx of experience that announced the creature¡¯s demise. As it collapsed, so did she. Gasping for breath, she looked down at her legs. They weren¡¯t in great shape, though much of the damage was superficial. Still, she was glad to see Miguel running in her direction and carrying their cobbled-together first aid kit. ¡°Don¡¯t cut them,¡± she muttered, already unfastening her pants. It was no time for modesty, so she agonizingly ripped the pants off ¨C taking blood and flesh with them ¨C and straightened her legs. That¡¯s when Miguel went to work, cleaning the wounds with water and an antiseptic that had been mixed by one of the other refugees. Theresa wasn¡¯t an alchemist ¨C that was a Tradesman class ¨C but there was some overlap with her Chemist class that made her a decent substitute. As such, she¡¯d been able to mix not only the antiseptic, but also a healing unguent that Miguel applied after cleaning the wounds. ¡°Did the teeth go through?¡± Miguel asked. Carmen shook her head. ¡°No. I think I broke a rib or two, though,¡± she said as he bandaged her legs. Already, she could feel the foul-smelling paste going to work. It didn¡¯t act as quickly or as well as a real Alchemist¡¯s concoction, but it still resulted in miraculous healing. In the old world, the gashes and claw marks on her legs would have taken weeks ¨C or perhaps even months ¨C to completely heal. But with Theresa¡¯s unguent, she¡¯d be back on her feet in less than an hour, and the wounds would be completely closed in a week. Without the woman¡¯s contribution, Carmen would have already been dead, and the same could be said for almost everyone else in the party of refugees. Even with that miraculous healing paste, they¡¯d had enough close calls over the past weeks that Carmen found herself dreading the dawn of each day. After all, if they could only look forward to more death, danger, and hardship, it was difficult to keep putting one foot in front of the other, especially when they weren¡¯t even certain of their destination. But one look at Miguel as he bandaged her wounds told Carmen that she had no choice. Even if she was on the verge of giving up on herself, she could never abandon him. That was what being a mother was. As Miguel applied first aid, the other refugees descended upon the enormous badger¡¯s corpse. Normally, processing such a large animal would have been a difficult and time-consuming process. However, when fifteen experienced people fell upon the task, it was quite a bit easier. As a result, by the time Miguel had finished bandaging Carmen¡¯s wounds, they¡¯d already skinned the creature. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°Save that hide. We can make decent armor out of it,¡± she called. Colt responded with his customary, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± With that, Carmen reached out and tousled her son¡¯s hair. ¡°Thanks, mijo.¡± Of course, he pulled away from that show of affection with an annoyed, ¡°Mom¡­¡± That brought a rare smile to Carmen¡¯s face. The weeks since they¡¯d been banished from Easton had been wrought with difficulties, and, as a consequence, her attitude had suffered. Not since the weeks after Alyssa¡¯s death had she felt so defeated. Perhaps that feeling was even more appropriate, given her current situation. After all, Alyssa¡¯s death was less of a defeat than simple loss. However, the recent events could unequivocally be categorized as the former. She had chosen to rebel ¨C for good reason, she thought ¨C but that had led to quite a few deaths. Roman had beaten her, and not by a slim margin. That was difficult to accept. ¡°You okay?¡± asked Colt, looking down on her. Miguel had gone to help with processing the animal ¨C the meat was important for their survival, after all ¨C and she¡¯d been staring off into space. She shook her head, then extended her hand, ¡°Help me up?¡± He grasped her hand in his, then hauled her to her feet. Pointedly, his eyes never wavered from her face. But he did say, ¡°Might want to put on some pants, boss.¡± ¡°What? You don¡¯t like bandage chic?¡± she asked, trying to force some levity into the situation. ¡°I ¨C¡± At that very moment, an arrow thudded into Colt¡¯s shoulder. He stumbled, but to his credit, he maintained his feet, letting out a shout, ¡°Marauders!¡± Carmen whipped her head around, her injuries forgotten, and what she saw was not encouraging. Ten men, each armed with swords as well as bows, surrounded them. They¡¯d clearly been living in the wilderness, because they were dirty, and their equipment was in a state of disrepair. Yet, if they could survive the wilds, they were dangerous. The leader ¨C a dirty and thin-faced man with a ragged beard ¨C stepped forward, saying, ¡°Weapons down. We don¡¯t want to hurt nobody. Just give us your women, your gear, and your critter, and we¡¯ll leave on good terms. If you don¡¯t, we¡¯ll have to take it by force. You don¡¯t want that.¡± Carmen knew that even that offer wasn¡¯t genuine. The Marauders were well known to take slaves, and when they got tired of them ¨C which didn¡¯t take long ¨C they slaughtered them like animals. There were even rumors that the bandits were cannibals, though Carmen wasn¡¯t certain she believed those stories. Whatever the case, she recognized that complying with the Marauders¡¯ orders was a good way to end up dead. And she didn¡¯t want to think about what would happen in the interim. So, rather than respond, she signaled Colt, who immediately used Blade Storm. Due to using a spear rather than a sword, the ability wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as normal, but it was still potentially deadly. However, the bandit leader wasn¡¯t without skills of his own, and the moment he felt Colt¡¯s ability activate, he summoned some sort of green shield. The Blade Storm ripped into it with the sound of metal clashing with metal, but the shield did its job. ¡°Get ¡®em boys!¡± the leader screamed. Carmen spared a glance back to see that Miguel had taken cover, but to her horror, he¡¯d armed himself with a spear and planted himself in front of a cowering Theresa. That filled her with a brief surge of mingled terror and pride, but she didn¡¯t have time for anything else. Because one of the bandits was bearing down on her with what looked like a large net. Clearly, they didn¡¯t want to damage her ¨C or the other women, likely ¨C which was why they hadn¡¯t simply filled them all full of arrows. That was their mistake. Using her massive Strength, Carmen threw herself to the side just in time to avoid the net. When she planted her foot and reversed course, pain shot through her legs, but she ignored it. Instead, she once again used Summon Tool to manifest a heavy blacksmithing hammer, and brought it down on the man¡¯s shoulder. She¡¯d been aiming for his head, but he dodged at the last moment. It didn¡¯t matter. A scream of pure agony filled the air as his shoulder crumpled. The rest of his body followed soon after when Carmen dipped low, shattering his knee with another sweeping attack. Even as he hit the ground, Carmen was charging the leader. He tried to summon another one of his green shields, but against Carmen¡¯s Strength, the plane of ethera was entirely insufficient to arrest her momentum. It shattered with a sound like tinkling glass, and she hit the leader with a shoulder charge that bore him to the ground. To his credit, he managed to wrest Carmen¡¯s hammer from her clutches, and it dissipated into motes of ethera the moment she lost her grip. As the pair grappled, the rest of the refugees responded to the threat. None of them were Warriors. They weren¡¯t even Rangers or Tradesmen. But what the group of Scholars lacked in spells and skills, they made up for in sheer determination, survival instinct, and experience. Over the past weeks, they¡¯d been pushed to their limits ¨C past them, really ¨C and the result was a disregard for their own safety that was shocking to behold. Even as the stunned bandits tried to respond with a volley of arrows, the group of Scholars let out a roar of wanton determination as they fell upon their attackers. And their deceptively high-quality spears were the perfect tool for the job. The blades, wrought by one of the highest-level Blacksmiths in the world, sliced through the bandits¡¯ makeshift armor with ease, piercing organs and ripping gaping wounds in the Marauders¡¯ bodies. Meanwhile, Carmen¡¯s struggle continued until she finally managed to get her hands on the leaders¡¯ head. Then, she used Smolder. The ability was meant to heat metal, but it worked well enough against a skull. He screamed as his skin blistered, and he tried to escape. Yet, Carmen¡¯s grip was like iron, and she channeled as much ethera through the ability as she could manage, and the results were predictable. Even as the leader¡¯s brain boiled, she let out a scream of rage and pain until, at last, she experienced yet another wave of experience that announced his demise. When she finally let him go, his head was a blackened husk. Looking around, she saw that the vaunted Marauders had all been slain by her refugees, proving that, even in a world of inflated attributes and powerful skills, determination and desperation had their place. Still, she knew that her people wouldn¡¯t survive long armed only with that and a few spears. So, as she pushed herself to her feet, she said, ¡°Strip them of anything useful. We¡¯re going to need this gear, I think.¡± Then, she reached down to the sword the leader had never even drawn. It wasn¡¯t a great blade, but she didn¡¯t care about that. Instead, she was more interested in the metal. It was just normal steel, but that was better than a few nails she¡¯d melded. Finally, she glanced back at Miguel, who still hadn¡¯t moved from in front of Theresa. He was safe and uninjured, which couldn¡¯t be said for the rest of her people. They¡¯d all picked up wounds, and though they were capable of ignoring those in the heat of battle, now that the adrenaline of the fight had faded, they needed treatment. So, she called out to Miguel and Theresa, telling them to get to work. On the one hand, she was furious that her son hadn¡¯t found cover. Instead, he¡¯d been fully prepared to defend Theresa. However, on the other, she couldn¡¯t help but see hints of his mother in his actions. Sure, Alyssa¡¯s blood didn¡¯t run through his veins, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t her son. As Miguel scurried to do as he¡¯d been ordered, Colt said, ¡°He¡¯s smart. Protected the only healer we have.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I just wish it wasn¡¯t necessary.¡± ¡°My dad used to have a sayin¡¯ for that kind of thing,¡± Colt stated. ¡°Shit in one hand and wish in the other, and see which hand fills up first.¡± ¡°That¡¯s gross.¡± ¡°Yep. Accurate, though.¡± Then, he set about helping everyone else gather gear and finish processing the badger. Carmen knew that if the Marauders had been intent on killing them, they would be dead. The only reason they¡¯d managed to survive was a combination of underestimation and a desire to take some of them hostage. That just served to reiterate how thin the margins were out in the wilderness. So, Carmen let out a sigh, then found her pants. That was the first step. Whatever happened next, she wanted to be fully clothed. 3-7. A Long-Term Plan Elijah sat on his treehouse¡¯s balcony, his feet on the banister as he cradled an earthenware mug his hands. The sun had barely risen, so there was still a slight nip in the air, but he¡¯d decided to temporarily use the bearskin as a blanket. He raised the mug to his lips and slurped at the tea. He didn¡¯t know precisely what the leaves were, but the drink bore a striking similarity to coffee. He¡¯d even managed to get some sugar in Ironshore, so he could make it precisely the way he liked it. He sighed. It was a peaceful morning, but the day¡¯s tasks loomed over him like an ominous specter. He¡¯d completed his various projects ¨C though the soap was still in the process of curing, which would take a couple more weeks at least ¨C but he still had one thing he wanted to accomplish before moving on. Yet, a niggling fear remained in his mind, and it centered on the fact that Ironshore was still all but defenseless. Certainly, they¡¯d managed to repel the orcs, but there were so many unique factors that had gone into the defense that Elijah knew it was unlikely to be replicated in the future. The planned wall was a good start, but there remained the issue of personnel. The city simply didn¡¯t have enough combatants, and the ones it did have were woefully inadequate for the task. But was it his problem? That was the question that continued to assail his thoughts. By all rights, he¡¯d given them enough. And he¡¯d already agreed to help if they were ever under attack. On top of that, he¡¯d planted the ancestral tree sapling in the center of town, which would hopefully give them some reflection of the benefits he enjoyed in his grove. It would also prevent any spontaneous Voxx manifestations or the opening of any dimensional rifts. But could he do more? Could he put them in a position to defend themselves? Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if that was even possible, but the issue was certainly on his mind. However, he cast it aside as he finished his tea and pushed himself to his feet. After depositing the bear pelt on his bed, Elijah dressed, then gathered the Serpent Healer¡¯s Crook and his pack before descending from the treehouse to the grove below. For a few minutes, he walked among the flora as he pulsed Nature¡¯s Bounty. He didn¡¯t think it was strictly necessary ¨C according to Nerthus, the grove was entirely self-sufficient, and it would continue to grow more powerful of its own accord ¨C but the process calmed him in a way little else could. Besides, he didn¡¯t think it could hurt. Like that, he spent the next couple of hours. In some ways, that was an even larger part of recentering himself than his various projects. Elijah had very nearly died in the battle against the orcs, and though it wasn¡¯t his first brush with death, he hadn¡¯t escaped unscathed. The grove was important as a coping mechanism, and without it, he knew he¡¯d probably be much worse off, at least from a mental perspective. After he¡¯d been there for a few minutes, Nerthus made an appearance, but aside from expressing his admiration for Elijah¡¯s new staff, he didn¡¯t really have much to say. And given that Elijah wasn¡¯t really in the mood to talk, it wasn¡¯t long before Nerthus retreated to his tree. Elijah did take a moment to wonder what the tree spirit did with most of his day, but that didn¡¯t occupy his mind for very long before he turned to one of the many other subjects he needed to address. The cave. Nerthus had indicated that he needed to check it out, and after using his locus to inspect it, he had come upon a plan. According to everything he¡¯d read so far about cultivation, it required incredible ethera density. The cave was a good start, as its ambient ethera was far thicker than it was even in his grove. However, Elijah expected that he could make it much better. And given that he had a little time until his soap cured, he figured he would use that to his advantage. So, without further ado, he gathered a few pounds of berries and a couple of jugs of water into his pack, then set off across his island. He took his time, enjoying the forest for what it represented. Once, it had seemed so inhospitable ¨C and to outsiders, it probably was even more so now ¨C but to Elijah, it just felt like home. After a while, he reached the rocky shore closest to the cave¡¯s entrance, then shifted into his lamellar ape form. Of his two alternate forms, it was the best suited for swimming. So, once he¡¯d transformed, he waded into the surf and then dove into deeper water. With his Ring of Aquatic Travel, he wasn¡¯t forced to breathe, which was always a strange sensation that took significant adjustment. Though, after spending so much time in the Sea of Sorrows, he quickly adapted and embarked on his initial quest. The first step was to reach the cave and inspect it. So, after a couple of minutes of swimming, Elijah found the entrance, then squeezed through. However, he quickly discovered a serious issue ¨C his lamellar ape form was too large to fit ¨C so he backed away before retreating to shore. Once there, he shifted back to his human form and deposited his things on the beach. It wasn¡¯t ideal for what he had planned, but he¡¯d just have to adjust going forward. So, he dove back into the surf and swam down to the entrance to the cave. Once there, he slowly followed the underwater tunnel, squeezing through a few truly narrow passages and using One with Nature in lieu of his other senses. And eventually, he reached his destination. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. The density of the ethera hit him like a brick wall. If he were to compare it to the ethera on the surface, he would have said that the cave was to the surface as the grove was to Ironshore. That was to say that it was more than twice as thick, which boded well for what he had planned. There was a large air pocket in the cave, which allowed Elijah to swim to the surface, where he saw the familiar green glow of the crystals embedded in the cave¡¯s walls. They seemed slightly larger than the last time he¡¯d visited, but he wasn¡¯t certain if that was a faulty memory or if they¡¯d actually grown. Neither would have been terribly surprising. And in any case, the answer wouldn¡¯t change his plans. After swimming around for a bit and inspecting the cave, Elijah swam through the tunnel and back to the open ocean. It was a little odd, going back the other way ¨C the last time, he¡¯d used the teleportation function of Ancestral Circle to leave ¨C but he managed it all the same. And soon enough, he found himself back on the beach, where he sat down and drank deeply from his jug of water. He also ate a few berries. One thing was certain ¨C Elijah had his work cut out for him. Yet, he was so entranced with the idea in his head that he couldn¡¯t have stopped himself even if he found reasonable faults. So, after leaving everything on the beach, he swam back out into the ocean, keeping going for nearly a mile before diving down to the seafloor. There, he discovered the vibrant ecosystem he¡¯d hoped to find. Huge stalks of coral, colorful fish he couldn¡¯t identify, and waving kelp were only the beginning. He also saw many examples of the mutated purple shore crabs that seemed to love his beach so much, equally massive versions of other familiar marine life, and more than a few gigantic sharks. He even saw a couple of whales off in the distance. It was such a striking environment that Elijah very nearly forgot his task. By education and experience, he was a marine biologist ¨C if a somewhat apathetic one ¨C but that seafloor hammered home the notion that his education was largely useless in the new world. Certainly, the scientific methodology was still just as pertinent as ever, but the knowledge he¡¯d spent so long memorizing was woefully outdated. It was a little depressing, knowing he¡¯d wasted all that time in school. But it was also exciting because there was so much more to discover. Briefly, he considered returning to his habits as a biologist and starting a project to catalogue the changes. That only lasted a few moments, though, until he remembered how much he hated the tedium that came with any scientific endeavor. He¡¯d long regarded it as a necessary evil, and he had no desire to return to that hellish boredom. Still, he¡¯d always enjoyed the exploration aspect of the job. The discovery of new knowledge, seeing things no one else had seen ¨C that was the idealized version of marine biology that had pushed him into the field in the first place. Now, he had an opportunity to do just that, but without the downsides that came with being an actual scientist. He wanted exploration and adventure, not charts and academic papers. So, after treading water for a few moments, he swam down to the seafloor, intent on collecting some plants. Because he had a theory that he wanted to test, and the only way he knew to do that was to transplant a few plants to the cave. So, he gathered a few streams of kelp, making sure to persevere every part of the sea plants, and then headed back to the cave. The following passage wasn¡¯t ideal, mostly because of the tight fit, but Elijah managed it well enough. Once he reached the chamber, he swam to the bottom where he spent quite a lot of time arranging his kelp so as to give it the best chance of survival. Of course, if his theory was invalid, it wouldn¡¯t matter. Once he¡¯d finished, he settled into the silt at the bottom of the cave and flared both One with Nature as well as Nature¡¯s Bounty. The latter was intended to help the plants take root, while the former was meant to help him ascertain whether or not the plants could survive. Normally, they couldn¡¯t ¨C not without sunlight. However, he theorized that the light from the green crystals would help fill the gap. Along with ethera, of course. With that ephemeral fuel, nearly anything was possible. If it could prompt such massive mutations in the animal ¨C and plant ¨C life, he felt certain that it could help a plant survive in a cave without sunlight. So, he continued to flare his spells, settling into a meditative pattern that, if he was honest, was quite calming. It wasn¡¯t so different from what he¡¯d done in Druid¡¯s Park, though with the added oddity of being underwater. Hours passed into more than a day, and despite Elijah¡¯s growing hunger and thirst, he refused to retreat until he¡¯d given it his best shot. It was only after two days that he finally opened his eyes and let a smile spread across his face. He¡¯d done it. The kelp had taken root. Now, he needed to gather a few more varieties of plants, and he¡¯d have a working ecosystem. Then, the real work could begin. So, he quickly swam from the cave and back to shore, where he slaked his thirst and sated his hunger before heading straight back out to sea. Once there, he engaged in the long and arduous task of slowly transplanting plants to his sea cave. That took almost three more days before he judged that it was full enough. Then, he headed to shore and finished his berries, drank some water, and went back to his treehouse, where he spent the night sleeping. After that, Elijah returned to the sea cave and spent the next week ¨C periodically heading to shore to drink and eat ¨C enhancing the cave as much as possible. He knew it wasn¡¯t a finished product. It had taken years for the grove to fully develop. Yet, he knew that the ethera density would speed things up to some degree. So, he hoped it would soon become something he could use for cultivation. But unless he wanted to babysit it for a few more weeks, he¡¯d done all he could for the time being. Now that it had taken root, he felt that it was best to simply let it develop on its own. Besides, he¡¯d finally stumbled upon an answer to his question concerning the defense of Ironshore. It would require a little initial investment on his part, but it would hopefully save him a lot of headache in the future. So, without further ado, Elijah left the underwater cave behind and headed toward land. He intended to spend the night in his own bed, but tomorrow, he would go to Ironshore to tell Ramik his plan. Hopefully, the goblin mayor would agree that it was for the best. 3-8. Putting Together a Team Elijah rowed across the strait, his strokes straining the integrity of the paddles as he crested one rolling wave after another. Normally, the strait was fairly calm, but as was the case far more often than not, a storm had rolled in overnight, and it had brought some rougher seas with it. As always, Elijah could feel what could only be called sea monsters swimming around beneath him. He¡¯d seen a few during his time transplanting sea flora to the cave, and he was still in awe of those creatures. There were massive eels, sea snakes, and turtles aplenty, but there had also been monsters that defied any attempt at identification as well. One in particular looked like a cross between a shrimp the size of a Honda Civic and an octopus, which was unlike any sea creature Elijah had ever studied. Fortunately, they¡¯d all been uninterested in him, which he reasoned was due to his archetype. After seeing the violent war between the wildlife that seemed commonplace on the seafloor, Elijah felt certain that most people would quickly find themselves targeted if they were to enter the ocean. It was one more reason to be grateful that the system had chosen the Druid archetype for him. If it hadn¡¯t, he might¡¯ve made the mistake of choosing something like the Ranger archetype, which would have surely ended with his death. Those thoughts occupied Elijah¡¯s mind as he crossed the strait and, eventually arrived at the dock. When he had done so in the past, he¡¯d been beset by hostility, but now, the general vibe that greeted him was one of borderline indifference. People were still wary of him. However, they weren¡¯t outright terrified, which he counted as a win. Probably. In one facet of his mind, Elijah could easily imagine that that lack of fear might one day bite him in the backside. Hopefully, he would be able to counter it when that came to pass. After docking and tying off the rowboat ¨C which he intended to take back to the island, because his collection was beginning to grow quite slim ¨C Elijah traversed the pier and headed toward his first stop. However, when he entered Mari¡¯s shop, he was a little surprised to see Rosabella there alongside a gnome who must¡¯ve been her mother. He gave a little wave, and the girl just rolled her eyes in annoyance. That certainly told Elijah where he stood in the little gnomish girl¡¯s estimation. So, he busied himself by perusing Mari¡¯s wares while she dealt with her other customers. Out of the corner of his eye, Elijah noticed that the two gnomes were buying a fancy dress. Finally, they finished, and when Rosabella¡¯s mother noticed him, she was quick to usher her child out of the shop. Mari said, ¡°You¡¯re bad for business.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Elijah apologized. ¡°I guess I¡¯m still not that popular around here.¡± ¡°They¡¯ll come around. Just keep spending money, and they¡¯ll all welcome you with open arms,¡± Mari advised. ¡°Now, what do you want? I can¡¯t stand around her chit-chatting all day, you know.¡± Elijah held up a finger, then dove into his pack to retrieve the tanned bear pelt, and he was more than a little satisfied when Mari¡¯s eyes widened the moment she saw it. ¡°I¡¯m guessing I did an okay job?¡± he asked. Mari didn¡¯t verbalize an answer. Instead, she reached into her pocket and retrieved a six-inch rectangle of glass. She held it up and let out a small gasp, but she quickly marshalled her control. Then, the dwarven tailor said, ¡°It¡¯ll do. Peak Simple. There¡¯s a chance I can push it to Complex-Grade. I¡¯m not guaranteeing anything, mind you, but with the right materials, I think I can manage.¡± ¡°What right materials?¡± Elijah asked, thinking she was angling for either more money or for him to cough up some other resources. He hadn¡¯t brought anything with him, but his island was a treasure trove of ethera, so Elijah felt certain that he could find something appropriate. ¡°Oh, this and that. You don¡¯t have to worry about it. Everything¡¯s covered by the deposit. Now, let¡¯s get you measured and out of my shop. Bad for business, like I said,¡± she went on. After that, Mari took plenty of measurements. For some, she used a tape measure, though with odd and irregular units that Elijah didn¡¯t understand. For others, the tailor utilized various instruments that she claimed were meant to test his attunement as well as ethera density. When she did that, she went briefly wide-eyed, once again, though she hid it quickly. All in all, it took about twenty minutes before she¡¯d finished, and once she had, she said, ¡°It¡¯s going to be at least two weeks before I complete the item. Perhaps as much as a month. Don¡¯t bother me until then, or I¡¯ll add a penalty fee.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°No buts. Out with you, then!¡± Elijah let himself be shooed into the street, and once Mari had retreated into her shop, he let out a sigh. Someone chuckled behind him, but when Elijah turned around, he couldn¡¯t find the culprit amidst the other pedestrians. Either way, he next headed to Druid¡¯s Park, where he spent a couple of hours flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty. The effect was minimal at this point in the tree¡¯s life cycle, but he found the process calming. And besides, it couldn¡¯t hurt. One thing he did notice was that the ethera density in the area had already begun to rise. He didn¡¯t expect that it would ever rival the island, let alone the underwater cultivation cave he¡¯d begun to build, but it would be quite an improvement over what he¡¯d felt the first time he had visited the city. Hopefully, that would help them. In any case, once Elijah was finished, he strolled through the city in search of a proper meal. Inevitably, he ended up at the Stuck Pig, which wasn¡¯t the only restaurant in town, but it was his favorite. So, he went inside, found a place at one of the long, communal tables in the center of the large main dining room, and before long, was tearing his way through a plate of boar ribs. That was how Ramik found him, with sweet and tangy sauce all over his face and staining his beard as he tried to get every last morsel of meat from the bone. ¡°Oh, hey,¡± Elijah said, gesturing with the almost completely clean rib. ¡°I was going to stop by your office later.¡± ¡°Is there an issue?¡± asked the goblin, sitting across from Elijah. ¡°No,¡± he answered. ¡°Well, there is. You¡¯re too weak. Like, laughably so.¡± The little green man went pale. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°Oh ¨C not you specifically,¡± Elijah clarified. ¡°I¡¯m talking about the collective you, as in all of Ironshore. A city this size should have been able to handle that orc invasion. But the problem is that you haven¡¯t had any opportunities to fight or earn experience.¡± ¡°Experience?¡± ¡°Kill energy. Whatever. My point is that I have a solution,¡± Elijah said, nibbling the last bit of meat from the bone. ¡°This is amazing, by the way.¡± ¡°Indeed. Orc is difficult to prepare properly, but ¨C¡± It was Elijah¡¯s turn to go pale. ¡°Orc?¡± ¡°Yes. They must dilute the ethera before serving it. Not for you, obviously, but they would quickly run out of business if they catered to people of your stature,¡± Ramik said. ¡°So, you¡¯re telling me I¡¯m eating orc.¡± ¡°Yes?¡± ¡°As in the creatures we spent all that time killing a few weeks back.¡± ¡°Ah ¨C I see the issue. Rest assured that the Stuck Pig is well-versed in all the latest innovations and spells associated with food preservation. It is well-known that dry aging the orc is key to ¨C¡± This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m going to be sick.¡± In truth, Elijah recognized that his reticence to eat orc was a little ridiculous. Despite the fact that the monsters were bipedal, they were no more sapient than apes. However, he had well-explored reservations regarding consumption of those creatures, too. Sure, he would do it if the choice was between that and starvation, but even then, he would investigate every other option before going down that road. Except he¡¯d just eaten an entire plate full of juicy, meaty ribs that said otherwise. And the worst part was that he¡¯d enjoyed it quite a lot. ¡°Are you ill? Do you need a Healer? I think ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Elijah insisted, washing the taste out of his mouth with some sort of fruit punch the restaurant had served. ¡°Just a crisis of conscience. I¡¯ll be okay, though. Onward and upward, I always say.¡± He hesitated. ¡°I don¡¯t actually say that.¡± ¡°I see. You had a point you intended to make?¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Sorry. I want to put together a team,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Your strongest people.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I want to run them through my tower.¡± ¡°Your tower?¡± ¡°Oh ¨C I never told you about that, did I? So, there¡¯s a tower just off the coast of my island,¡± Elijah said. When Ramik¡¯s eyes widened in alarm, he went on, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not about to surge. It did once, but I took care of it. Now, I¡¯m keeping it in check. The point is that I can take your people in there, they can get the rewards ¨C and the levels ¨C and that¡¯ll help you defend the city if something like that orc horde comes again. I¡¯ll teach them how to beat it, then they can lead others to do the same thing. And soon enough, you¡¯ll have all your combat-capable people getting all the experience you could ever want.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Ramik said, knuckling his chin. ¡°You have access to a tower? Do you know what grade?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Elijah admitted. He had gotten some estimates from Nerthus, but none of it was certain. ¡°Pretty difficult, though. Took me months. But part of that was when I was swallowed by a whale, which wasn¡¯t as pleasant as Jonah made it out to be. Lots of acid. It should be a lot quicker this time, now that I know what I¡¯m doing. Not the whale digestion. I sort of just experienced that. Didn¡¯t require a lot of thought. The tower, though ¨C I know it like the back of my hand.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s just a thought,¡± he said. ¡°No worries if you don¡¯t want to do it. I¡¯ll just head back to my island. I¡¯ve got a couple of projects to tend to anyway.¡± ¡°No. Don¡¯t. I think the idea has merit. I simply need to speak to the others about it before I send anyone into such a dangerous situation,¡± Ramik said. ¡°No matter if the tower is well-documented, it will still be potentially deadly. And we cannot afford to lose any more people.¡± ¡°I get that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°If it matters, I¡¯ll do everything I can to keep them alive.¡± ¡°Yes, of course. Give me a few hours, and I will have an answer.¡± After that Ramik excused himself, leaving Elijah to ruminate on the fact that he¡¯d been eating orc ribs. That didn¡¯t leave him in the best of moods, so he paid his bill by transferring a few copper ethereum from his folio, then headed out to wander the city. He knew that Ramik would find him when the time came, and if not, Elijah was more than capable of hunting the goblin down. The city was doing well, as far as he could see. Most of the buildings that had been damaged during the orcish invasion had been repaired, and there were efforts underway to improve everything. In addition, he caught sight of the site meant for the wall, and he was impressed to see that the foundation for a large portion had already been laid. In a couple of months, it would be complete. Eventually, his feet took him to Biggle¡¯s alchemy shop, which was situated on a hill on the edge of town. Once there, he pushed through the low gate and passed the curiously writhing plants to knock on the door. When he did, he called out for the Alchemist, which elicited a startled yelp and, predictably, a small explosion. ¡°What?¡± demanded the white-haired gnome as he slung open the door. Then, recognition dawned on his face, and his expression softened. ¡°Oh. You. Come in, come in. Don¡¯t mind the smoke.¡± When Elijah stepped inside, he caught a breath of the caustic smoke, which burned its way through his lungs, requiring him to pulse Touch of Nature to undo the damage. ¡°What is it that you want?¡± the gnome asked. ¡°Not that I mind a visit from a dear friend. Obviously. Just wasn¡¯t expecting company is all.¡± ¡°I wanted to ask you about those body cultivation potions,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What do they do?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± Biggle asked. ¡°Only a few years ago, my world was completely different. No ethera. No magical spells or cultivation. So, no. I don¡¯t. That¡¯s why I asked,¡± Elijah said, letting a little of his annoyance peek through. He wasn¡¯t angry ¨C not precisely ¨C but he didn¡¯t like the implication that he was somehow at fault for not knowing the ins and outs of something that hadn¡¯t even existed on Earth before a few years ago. Biggle swallowed hard. ¡°Oh. Right. I sometimes forget about you natives,¡± the gnome said. ¡°So, body cultivation. Two ways you can do get past the first stage. You can ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need to know about that. I want to know about the second one,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°You¡¯ve already passed the first stage, have you? Interesting. Well, whatever lucky encounter you experienced, just know that the second stage will be much more difficult,¡± Biggle said. ¡°The first step is to inoculate yourself with increasingly powerful ethera. Most use potions, but I¡¯ve heard that there are those who use specially prepared foods as well. Baths, too, but those are usually fueled by some sort of aquatic natural treasure. The point is that you¡¯ll need to prepare yourself for the real test.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Surrounding yourself with incredibly dense ethera and torturing yourself,¡± Biggle said. ¡°Or that¡¯s the gist of it. The official explanation is that you¡¯re doing damage to yourself that¡¯s so extensive that it forces your body to react. If it¡¯s properly prepared, you will enter a chrysalis whereby your body will progress from one stage to another. Sometimes, these can last a week, but for some, it can last as much as a year.¡± ¡°Is that common?¡± ¡°Depends on how prepared your body is,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°So, those potions ¨C what do they do?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the torture part. Lots of pain. Breaking down muscle tissue. It¡¯s designed specifically to elicit the proper reactions for cultivation,¡± Biggle explained. ¡°Though most people can¡¯t handle it all at once. You break it down, inject a bunch of ethera, then use another potion to keep yourself from dying. Then, a year or so later, you do it again once you¡¯ve fully recovered. On and on it goes until you tip over the edge.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And the effects of gaining the second tier?¡± ¡°Around the same as the first,¡± was the gnome¡¯s answer noncommittally. Elijah got the impression that the vagueness was due to ignorance. ¡°Can you make the potions stronger?¡± ¡°I can if you think you can handle it. Don¡¯t go overstepping though. Lots of promising cultivators have killed themselves by doing that,¡± he said. Elijah said, ¡°Stronger. Strongest you can make. That¡¯s what I want.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°I am,¡± Elijah stated. His reasoning was based on two things. First, Biggle¡¯s potions were almost assuredly designed to take someone to the first stage, rather than the second. As such, Elijah expected that he would need a much stronger push to send his body into the proper state. That meant a more potent potion. The second reason Elijah decided to go stronger was because of his ability to continuously heal himself. He¡¯d been through something similar in the whale¡¯s stomach, so he knew he could take quite a lot of punishment. And in the back of his mind, Elijah also had no interest in slowly progressing over the course of years. He wanted it done quickly, which meant putting his body through a lot more punishment. Though he was hesitant to acknowledge that facet of his reasoning because he knew it made him seem a bit na?ve and a lot impatient. ¡°Alright ¨C the next thing I want to know ¨C is there anything you can do with these?¡± Elijah asked, reaching into his pack and retrieving a berry. He handed it to the alchemist, who took it eagerly. ¡°This is a low Simple-Grade natural treasure!¡± ¡°Is that a yes?¡± Elijah asked, a little embarrassed that he¡¯d been eating the things like candy. ¡°Of course it¡¯s a yes!¡± the alchemist said. ¡°I can make restoration potions! Yes! Strong ones, too! How many of these berries do you have? Did you find an entire bush during your travels? How did you defeat the guardian?¡± ¡°Yeah. I found a bush. Someone else had¡­ah¡­injured the guardian, so I helped myself. So, I have about twenty of them,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Same deal as with the mushroom?¡± ¡°Of course, of course. Gimme!¡± Elijah did, and he had to stifle a bit of a chuckle when he saw how carefully the gnome handled the little berries. If he found out that Elijah had a few dozen bushes filled with the things back on his island, Biggle might¡¯ve had a heart attack. After that, Elijah asked when his potions would be ready, and Biggle said that they¡¯d be finished in about three weeks. That lined up with Elijah¡¯s other deadlines, so that information was well-received. So, after only a little more conversation ¨C during which Biggle tried to acquire some more information as to the location of the fictional bush Elijah had plundered ¨C Elijah left. And he found Ramik in his office only a little while later. ¡°So?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I agree with your plan,¡± the goblin said, removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes. ¡°But we can¡¯t pay you. It¡¯s not in the budget.¡± ¡°Pay me?¡± Elijah asked, a little confused. Then, he realized that what he was offering was extremely valuable. Still, he said, ¡°That¡¯s fine. We¡¯re in this together, right? My only requirement is that Kurik comes.¡± ¡°That was always going to be the case. He¡¯s the highest-level combatant in the city, and he just so happens to be back in town for the night. I¡¯ve already informed him that he¡¯s going.¡± ¡°Oh. Cool. When can I meet the others?¡± ¡°Tomorrow. I assumed you want to do this as soon as possible,¡± Ramik guessed. ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll head over to my island in the morning, spend the night there, and then hit the tower first thing,¡± Elijah stated. He knew he was extending quite a lot of trust by taking the others to his island, but that was by design. He hadn¡¯t been lying when he said that he and the people of Ironshore were in it together. But still, he said, ¡°Oh, and Ramik ¨C if anyone messes with my island at any time, I will destroy this town and kill everyone in it. I like you. I want to work together. But my priorities haven¡¯t changed. Do you understand?¡± Ramik swallowed hard. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Good. That¡¯s good,¡± Elijah said with a smile. ¡°If you need me before the morning, I¡¯ll be in the Imperium trying to sleep. Oh ¨C you need to find something that¡¯ll let your people breathe underwater. I have something, and they might get a reward before it¡¯s necessary, but yeah ¨C if they don¡¯t have that, they¡¯re probably not going to make it.¡± With that, he left the goblin behind and headed to the ultra-expensive hotel. As he did, he muttered to himself that he needed to find a cheaper place to sleep. But even as he grumbled about it, he made a beeline to the luxurious hotel. 3-9. Meeting the Team ¡°He¡¯s going to kill us,¡± said Nia, wringing her green, long-fingered hands as she stood on the dock. ¡°He¡¯s going to take us over there and sacrifice us for some sort of ritual, like he did with all those mercenaries from Black Sun.¡± ¡°If he wanted to kill us, he would have already done so,¡± pointed out Robolo. ¡°And that nightgown is ridiculous, by the way. We¡¯re going to a tower. Not a sleepover.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a nightgown!¡± she insisted, resisting the urge to flip her hood up over her head. It wasn¡¯t necessary, but she¡¯d always cherished the look of the mysterious sorcerer. That was why she carried a diamondain staff even when it was markedly worse ¨C and more expensive ¨C than the dagger she could¡¯ve gotten instead. ¡°It¡¯s a wizard¡¯s robe.¡± ¡°Looks like a nightgown to me,¡± the gnomish Confounder replied. He straightened his vest as if to highlight the difference between his attire and hers. Then, he said, ¡°At least you wore sensible shoes. I half expected you to show up in slippers or some such nonsense.¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Kurik, the scout, said. ¡°And he ain¡¯t killin¡¯ nobody. He saved the city, in case any of you idjits forgot.¡± ¡°He saved himself,¡± Ssethik, the Rogue stated. Despite the fact that he was the only member of the party who was also a goblin, Nia didn¡¯t really trust him. Of course, that was probably due to prejudice rather than anything else. Rogues, like most stealthy classes, were not well-regarded in any civilized company. But that was the problem, wasn¡¯t it? Ironshore was not civilized. Instead, it was a frontier town on a newly touched world, and it was populated by cast-offs and ne¡¯er do wells. So, Nia fit in quite well, considering she was both ¨C at least according to her father, who was quite upset that she¡¯d run away. It served him right for trying to make her wed that cad Benka. As if she would ever stoop so low, especially when she had an adventuring career ahead of her. No - coming to Earth was the right choice, even if it had nearly gotten her killed on multiple occasions. The orcish horde had been a terrifying experience made even more so by the human shapeshifter who¡¯d ostensibly saved the entire city with his heroics. But for a chance illness, he¡¯d have killed her alongside all the rest of the city¡¯s combatants. She didn¡¯t belong to Black Sun like Eason Cabbot and the others ¨C she was independent ¨C but she would have gone right alongside them if she hadn¡¯t been sick. And now, she was willingly throwing herself into the clutches of the monstrous man who¡¯d already killed so many. It was idiotic. But it was also necessary. Someone had to go, and she was one of the best qualified in the city. On top of that, the chance to run a tower was one she couldn¡¯t pass up. Back home, she would have had to pay hundreds of silver ethereum for that opportunity, and even then, it would have been one of the carefully curated towers that barely gave any rewards. But this was a wild tower that, from what the mayor had told her, had only been conquered a single time. The rewards for defeating that challenge would be immense. So, Nia ¨C alongside Kurik, Robolo, and Ssethik ¨C had agreed to accompany the so-called Protector of the Grove. Hopefully, she wouldn¡¯t come to regret it. Kurik said, ¡°He could¡¯ve left. Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ could¡¯ve stopped him if he just picked up and left. I¡¯ve seen him move through the woods like it ain¡¯t nothin¡¯. He¡¯s better than any scout I got, my own self included.¡± Ssethik shook his head, but he didn¡¯t respond. For Nia¡¯s part, she didn¡¯t know what to think of the surly dwarf¡¯s declaration. Kurik wasn¡¯t known to venture into hyperbole, so she had no reason to disbelieve his statement. Yet, the idea that someone could do the things she¡¯d seen in the battle and act as a scout as well ¨C that was terrifying. Sure, Nia knew that there were people with better classes out there. Better cultivation, too. And she was also aware that a newly touched world¡¯s natives were given many opportunities the wider universe never received ¨C not without significant cost, at least. The guides available to their native branches cost a fraction of what they did on other worlds or, in Ironshore¡¯s case, via an imported Branch. But someone who could fill multiple roles was the epitome of rare. For her part, Nia was a heavy-hitting damage dealer. As a Lithomancer, she could manipulate earth and stones to a high degree. And while she had sturdier defenses than most spellcasters, she could only take a couple of hits before her comparatively frail body succumbed to any damage that might befall her. By contrast, Robolo was a completely different sort of Sorcerer known as a Confounder. Nia wasn¡¯t certain of the specifics, but the gnome could manipulate the minds of his enemies, and according to everything she had seen, he was best suited to controlling the battlefield. Meanwhile, Ssethik was a Rogue, which meant that he was great at sneaking around and ambushing his foes. Nia wasn¡¯t sure what class Kurik had, but she knew he worked as a scout and that his traps were deadly. Aside from that, his abilities were a mystery. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. One thing she did know was that he was just as limited as everyone else. Most people ¨C at least as far as Nia had seen ¨C could only perform one function in a group. She and Ssethik were damage dealers, albeit both with a different focus, while Kurik and Robolo were meant for control. That left two major roles unfilled. And they were the most important to the success of any endeavor ¨C the frontline fighter colloquially known as the defender who was meant to protect the rest of the group and the healer, who was there to mend any damage they sustained. Without those two roles being filled, there was almost no chance of success. Yet, there they were, waiting to meet the human who intended to lead them into a wild tower. And what¡¯s more, according to rumors, the man had already conquered it himself. Alone. That knowledge was enough to raise the hairs on the back of Nia¡¯s neck. ¡°If you say so,¡± Ssethik stated. ¡°For me, I¡¯ll be keeping my eye on him.¡± ¡°I would expect nothing less,¡± came a new voice. Nia whipped around to see that the man in question was standing behind her. She nearly fell over the hem of her robe trying to get away from him, but he reached out to steady her. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I sometimes get in the habit of not being seen. I¡¯m sure you understand.¡± He gave her a smile that looked like it belonged to an insane person, but she supposed it was more likely meant to be reassuring. Or perhaps he truly was as crazy as the rumors suggested. Either way, she had no interest in offending someone like that, so she tried to smile back, but she feared it came across as more of a snarl. Or a grimace. Either way, he released his grip on her arm. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah, and I¡¯ll be leading this tour group. If you would, step into the rowboat, and we¡¯ll get moving. Our first stop is my island. It doesn¡¯t look like much from here, but I can tell you right now, it¡¯ll knock your socks off.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not wearing socks,¡± said Ssethik, holding out his foot. Indeed, his foot was clad only in what looked like a slipper. Nia had seen their like before, and she knew they were intended to aid his abilities in stealth. ¡°Is that what happened to your boots? Did something on this island knock them off?¡± ¡°Perhaps there is a powerful monster that collects shoes,¡± suggested Robolo. ¡°I once knew of a gabernoak that liked to steal ladies¡¯ underthings. When we finally hunted it down, we found that it had quite the collection. Disgusting creatures, gabernoaks. They live underground, where they¡¯re mostly sedentary. And when they¡¯re confronted, they resort to parroted insults. Mostly harmless, though they do ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s enough,¡± Kurik said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t meant to be literal.¡± The human said, ¡°Anyway¡­all aboard! Please keep your arms and legs inside the boat at all times. Out there be sea monsters.¡± He punctuated his excited shout by pumping his fist up and down. Nia had no idea what any of it meant, but the last thing she wanted to hear was a gnome going on about stealing ladies¡¯ underwear. So, she hurried onto the rowboat. Ssethik followed, sitting beside her, and Robolo and the dwarven scout came next. The last to board was Elijah, who sighed. ¡°Guess I¡¯m rowing,¡± he muttered, taking the oars. ¡°Should¡¯ve just teleported.¡± Then, he pulled the oars and the boat leaped forward. Over the next half hour, they cut across the strait. Kurik and the human made small talk, but Nia had a hard time following the conversation. After all, she had grown up on the coast of her homeworld, and so knew the sorts of monsters that dwelled within the sea. She also recognized how vulnerable the little boat could be. Certainly, it bore a basic enchantment meant to ward off the creatures of the deep, but those enchanments were weak enough as to be ineffectual. Still, nothing attacked them on the way, and soon enough, they landed on the shore. After everyone disembarked, Elijah pulled the boat onto the beach, all the while muttering about teleportation. In any event, it wasn¡¯t long before it was nestled next to a handful of other similar vessels. That¡¯s when Nia realized where they¡¯d come from. In retrospect, it was obvious, but recognition hadn¡¯t dawned until she saw them all lined up next to the forest. Those were the row boats Eason Cabbot and his mercenaries had used. Elijah had taken possession of the vessels after killing the intruders. She swallowed hard. Almost on cue, Elijah slapped his hands together, making everyone but Kurik flinch. ¡°Alright. We¡¯re going to be camping here for the night,¡± he said. ¡°Well, you are. I intend to sleep in my own bed tonight, thank you very much. Kurik¡¯s coming with me.¡± ¡°I am?¡± the dwarf asked. ¡°You are,¡± Elijah said. Then, he turned and started walking towards the woods. However, before he reached them, he turned around and said, ¡°Please don¡¯t try to follow me. If you do, I¡¯ll know. Don¡¯t stray far from the beach, or I can¡¯t guarantee your safety.¡± With that cryptic statement, he strode into the forest. Kurik hurried to follow. When the two were gone, Robolo turned to Ssethik and asked, ¡°So what do we do now? Why did he want to bring us out here if we weren¡¯t going into the tower until tomorrow?¡± Nia finally found her voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I¡¯m doing what he said. I¡¯ll gather some wood for a fire,¡± she said. ¡°Then I intend to rest. I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to have much of a chance once we¡¯re in the tower.¡± With that, she did just that, gathering sticks that had fallen to the forest floor. Robolo did the same, and soon enough, they had enough to start the fire. By that point, the sun had begun to fall toward the horizon. That¡¯s when she realized that Ssethik was nowhere to be found. She turned to Robolo, ¡°Did you see where he went?¡± The gnome understood her meaning and shook his head, ¡°No. But he¡¯s a Rogue. That¡¯s kind of the point of his class.¡± It was at that point that Ssethik stepped out of the woods. Or stumbled, really. He wore an expression of terror on his face, and his normally deep-green complexion had paled. Nia shot toward him, demanding to know if he was injured. For a moment, his eyes were unfocused until, at last, he snapped back to himself. When he did, he shook his head, saying, ¡°No. No. I¡¯m fine. I just¡­there¡¯s something out there. Something very dangerous.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t get a good look,¡± Ssethik said. ¡°But it was there. It could have¡­it knew where I was. It growled at me.¡± ¡°He told us to stay on the beach. Maybe that wasn¡¯t for his protection. Maybe that was for ours,¡± Robolo guessed. ¡°He can shapeshift. Maybe it was him.¡± ¡°No human can see me when I use my abilities. I tested it when he first came to Ironshore. No ¨C this was something else. A guardian, maybe. I don¡¯t know. This place gives me the creeps,¡± Ssethik said. ¡°It¡¯s only one night,¡± Robolo stated. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°I¡­I hope so,¡± Nia stated. ¡°I hope so.¡± 3-10. Inevitable Enmity ¡°Ye didn¡¯t have to scare him so bad,¡± Kurik said, running a hand through his spiky hair. ¡°He was just curious.¡± ¡°Curiosity killed the cat,¡± Elijah replied, having just shifted back to his human form. ¡°What cat?¡± Kurik asked. Elijah sighed. ¡°I always forget that the system¡¯s translation feature doesn¡¯t really do anything for idioms,¡± he muttered. ¡°But that one seems obvious if you take it into context.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± the dwarf replied. Elijah glanced back toward where the others were camped. Even though they were only a couple hundred yards away, their campsite was impossible to see through the thick forest. Even before the World Tree had touched Earth, forests in the Pacific Northwest could get incredibly dense ¨C to the point where they could easily be classified as jungles. And the introduction of ethera ¨C especially when it was as thick as it was on Elijah¡¯s island ¨C had made it exponentially worse. Without his high Dexterity and the awareness that came with his Domain, it would have been hell trying to cross the island. ¡°His stealth ability was good, though.¡± ¡°You found him,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°Yeah, but I have a lot of advantages most people don¡¯t,¡± Elijah pointed out. He trusted Kurik ¨C after fighting a war together, he felt justified in that attitude ¨C but he still didn¡¯t intend to reveal all of his secrets to the dwarven scout. ¡°Are the others any good?¡± ¡°Best we have,¡± Kurik responded. ¡°That ain¡¯t sayin¡¯ much, if I¡¯m honest. We ain¡¯t got much to pick from. But that little goblin girl is a talented earth mage. You¡¯ve seen a little of what Ssethik can do. From what I understand, he packs a punch, too. And Robolo is a fair Confounder. Not great, mind you, but he can hold his own. What I¡¯m worried about is the healin¡¯ and the defendin¡¯.¡± ¡°My world refers to it as tanking,¡± Elijah said, referring to a gaming term he¡¯d heard in both Norcastle and Argos. ¡°But don¡¯t worry so much. I did this by myself not that long ago. It¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°Hope you¡¯re right. Now, where¡¯re we goin¡¯? You live here, right? You got a cave or somethin¡¯ ¡®round here?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°Oh, I can do a lot better than a cave,¡± Elijah answered with a grin. ¡°Come on. There are some things I want you to see.¡± With that, he strode off through the brush, and Kurik followed. As they traversed the forest, they spoke sparingly, which was one of the things Elijah liked about Kurik. He wasn¡¯t averse to conversation, but after spending so much time alone, he had a tendency to lapse into long silences. As a scout ¨C and presumably, someone who¡¯d spent long stretches in the wilderness alone as well ¨C Kurik had a similar attitude. So, they could enjoy one another¡¯s company without having to fill it with needless chatter. That was rare, as far as Elijah had seen, and it predisposed him to liking the sometimes-surly dwarf. In any case, Elijah kept one facet of his Quartz Mind trained on the site where the other three had camped. He wanted to trust them, too, but they had yet to earn it. He didn¡¯t blame Ssethik for trying to explore. He would have done the same thing, if their roles were reversed. Yet, he wasn¡¯t going to allow the goblin Rogue to wander around the island unfettered. If the wrong people caught wind of what he had in his grove, then greed might overcome good sense, and Elijah would be forced to kill a bunch of people again. He certainly didn¡¯t want to be put into that situation, so he resolved to keep the island¡¯s most special traits to himself. Except in specific circumstances, like with Kurik. As he¡¯d already established, he trusted the dwarf. Sure, they hadn¡¯t known one another long, but he already considered Kurik a friend. What¡¯s more, Elijah trusted the scout¡¯s personality, which seemed almost as important as their friendship. Of course, in the back of one facet of his mind, Elijah knew that his own psychological issues probably played a factor. After all, he had been alone for a long time ¨C with only a few brief lapses in that lonely existence ¨C so he was quick to grasp at any companionship he could find. That had already prompted a few bad decisions ¨C most notably with how he¡¯d handled the death of the bear guardian ¨C so he forced himself to acknowledge what might be one more ill-conceived choice. Still, Elijah hoped that it wouldn¡¯t come back to bite him. If it did, though, he was prepared to do what was necessary. Those thoughts flitted through his mind as he and Kurik crossed the island, and after a half hour of slow progress, they finally reached the grove. ¡°What in the¡­¡± Elijah could understand Kurik¡¯s reaction. The grove wasn¡¯t just impressive. It was miraculous ¨C a fact which Elijah often forgot due to how accustomed he¡¯d grown to the place. ¡°Nice, right? This is my grove,¡± Elijah said. Kurik didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he just stared at the grove, his mouth agape. Elijah understood it. Certainly, the entire island was blessed with incredibly thick ethera, but it was a whole different level of density inside the grove proper. On top of that, though Elijah had never tried to curate the garden or force it to grow in any particular way, it still had a paradisical quality about it that was hard to articulate. The colors were sharper, the bushes fuller, and, as Elijah had long known, the fruits and berries were far more flavorful. In addition, his frequent strolls through the grove had created a series of paths that made it seem far less wild than it should have been. And then, at the center of it all, was the ancestral tree. With blue leaves and white bark, even a glance was enough to label it miraculous. Yet, it also glowed with an ephemeral quality that wasn¡¯t quite visible to the naked eye. But Elijah felt it. Clearly, so did Kurik. Smaller, less obviously magical versions of the same tree sprouted in a perfect circle around the grove. They weren¡¯t as overtly impressive, but even those had an otherworldly aspect that Elijah rarely bothered to notice. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Finally, to the left of the ancestral tree, near the edge of the grove itself, was Elijah¡¯s home. The three trees from which it had been grown were the same species ¨C if such a thing even applied ¨C as the ones on the grove¡¯s boundary, but they were markedly different as well. More obviously curated, though no less impressive for it. They twined together, then branched out into the large structure that was suspended nearly twenty feet from the ground. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± Kurik admitted. ¡°I thought you were livin¡¯ in a cave out here. But this¡­I ain¡¯t never seen nothin¡¯ like this.¡± ¡°Thanks. I wish I could take credit for all of it, but mostly, it¡¯s Nerthus who does the work,¡± Elijah said, stepping across the boundary. Kurik hesitated, and Elijah asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about groves like this,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°People step inside, then they ain¡¯t seen again for a hundred years, if at all.¡± ¡°Huh. We have stories like that, too,¡± Elijah said, thinking of fairy tales he¡¯d heard as a child. ¡°But I promise I won¡¯t abduct you or futz about with time.¡± He ended the statement with a reassuring grin. Though, he expected that it probably came off a bit manic. He was excited to finally show his grove to another person, so he had trouble containing his anticipation. Thankfully, Kurik didn¡¯t hesitate any further and stepped past the boundary. Once again, he let out a gasp after experiencing the even denser ethera inside the grove, but then he sighed. ¡°This is amazin¡¯.¡± ¡°Yeah. Wait until you meet Nerthus. He¡¯s a bit shy, but he¡¯s pretty awesome, too. Most of this is because of him,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Without his help, I never would have survived.¡± And that was the truth. Without the body cultivation Nerthus had guided him through, Elijah would have died to terminal cancer. And that wasn¡¯t even considering all the help the tree spirit had offered since then. Certainly, it was a symbiotic relationship, and Elijah knew that Nerthus had gained almost as much as he had. Yet, that did nothing to diminish his appreciation. After that, Elijah led Kurik on a tour of the grove, culminating with the treehouse. Helpfully, Nerthus had expanded the house while Elijah had been searching for his sister, and so, there were a few guest rooms available. They each were equipped with comfortable beds and all the same amenities Elijah enjoyed. Though his room ¨C or the balcony outside of it ¨C had the best view of the ancestral tree and the garden. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say,¡± Kurik said when they were finished. ¡°I thought you were out here livin¡¯ in a cave, but this place is better than my house back in Ironshore. Hells, it¡¯s better than my family¡¯s home back on my old world. Smaller, sure, but you don¡¯t have a whole clan to house.¡± The pair were sitting in the living area and enjoying a meal. Elijah hadn¡¯t hunted or fished in a while, so all they had were berries and other wild edibles from the grove. Not that either were complaining, of course. It was still a fine supper. ¡°What was your world like?¡± Elijah asked. Kurik shrugged. ¡°Most of it wasn¡¯t so different from this world,¡± he answered. ¡°My people were originally subterranean, but we¡¯d been spreadin¡¯ across the surface for years. It was dangerous, though. Powerful beasts roamed my world, and there were plenty of Primal Realms, too. Thankfully, the beasts had reached the point where they fought the Voxx themselves, so there weren¡¯t many surges anymore. Some worlds ain¡¯t so lucky.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah responded. He¡¯d done a little research into the Voxx, largely because the guides associated with them were the cheapest in any Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base. That made sense, considering that the World Tree and the Voxx were so opposed to one another. Whatever the case, he¡¯d often wondered about what would happen if towers and dimensional rifts were left unchecked. But according to Kurik, the wildlife would eventually learn to fight the Voxx. Not always, though. Sometimes, whole planets were consumed. After that, the pair lapsed into an easy silence where they simply enjoyed the atmosphere as well as the meal. Eventually, Kurik excused himself, saying that he needed to get a good night¡¯s rest before challenging the tower. However, Elijah stayed up for a few hours after that, just thinking about what was coming. After a while, though, he took a cue from Kurik and headed to his own bed, where he enjoyed a fitful night¡¯s rest. When morning came, Elijah rose with a fair amount of anxiety. Though he¡¯d survived his first run through the tower, it hadn¡¯t been easy. And it had taken months. This time, he didn¡¯t have that to spare, so he hoped it would go much more smoothly. He had every reason to expect that it would, given how well he knew each level. After all, those months he¡¯d spent inside hadn¡¯t been idle. He¡¯d explored almost every inch, so he knew most of the Keledge Tower¡¯s secrets. He also had the benefit of an entire group, which should make things easier. So, it was with some optimism that he completed his preparations, gathering his pack ¨C and the waterproof containers in which he¡¯d stored his food and water ¨C before he and Kurik set off to gather the other three members of their party. The trio they found a half hour later looked like they¡¯d had a rough night. Perhaps, Elijah thought, he¡¯d gone a bit too far scaring the goblin Rogue. Whatever the case, if they couldn¡¯t handle a night on the island shore, then they were going to have quite a rough time inside the tower. Elijah could only hope that they¡¯d acclimate to the danger and stress. Otherwise, it would complicate things. With that in mind, Elijah led the group around the edge of the island. He had no interest in letting them see any more of it than absolutely necessary, so he kept to the beaches whenever possible. That necessitated that they kill a couple of crabs, and Elijah was happy to see that the group was at least competent ¨C insofar as they had a chance to display that trait while fighting the relatively weak and stupid crabs ¨C and an hour or two later, they finally reached the cliff overlooking the tower. It looked the same as always ¨C the top of a statue depicting a figure armed with a decorative staff ¨C but it was still just as impressive as ever. ¡°We¡¯re going to swim from here,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Anyone have any issues climbing down the cliff?¡± Nia ¨C the goblin Lithomancer ¨C raised her green, long-fingered hand and said, ¡°I can do it, but I would need a rope.¡± ¡°Then climb on my back,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Anyone else?¡± None had any issues, and though she looked uncomfortable with the prospect, Nia quickly climbed onto Elijah¡¯s back. To accommodate her, he¡¯d shifted his pack around to his chest. Then, he began his climb down, which went off without a hitch, though Nia¡¯s fingers dug painfully into his shoulders. Clearly, the little goblin didn¡¯t like heights. Whatever the case, they soon reached the surf, then swam to the pillar of stone jutting up from the ocean. After that, Elijah dove, following it down for more than a hundred feet before he finally reached the base, which still looked like a Greek temple. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to lead the others through the tower¡¯s entrance, and when he did, he experienced a familiar shimmer of ethereal reality before falling through nothing. Darkness surrounded him, and for the briefest of instants, panic raged through one facet of his mind. It was an inevitable and instinctual reaction to the situation, but that made it no less powerful. However, less than a moment later, his rational mind took over, and he followed the bubbles toward the surface. His head broke through a few seconds later, and he took a deep but ultimately unnecessary breath. Not long after, Kurik broke through with a gasp. Then Nia. Ssethik came next. And finally, Robolo breached the surface. They had finally entered the tower. Doing so came with a shift in attitude. In the outside world, there was room for a laissez-faire demeanor. But in a tower ¨C even one he¡¯d already conquered once ¨C things were much more serious, and he instinctively adjusted his mind accordingly. In the distance, Elijah saw the shore as well as the familiar Ulthrak village. Three massive warriors stood guard, though they were far enough away that they¡¯d yet to see the newly surfaced party. So, Elijah swam forward, hoping for a meeting similar to the one he¡¯d enjoyed during his first run through the tower. A couple of minutes later, Elijah came within range, and he raised his hand in a wave. However, the reaction was not what he¡¯d expected. Their stances were too aggressive, and their walrus-like faces were contorted in rage. Then, Elijah discovered the reason, and he nearly kicked himself for overlooking the obvious issue. ¡°Goblins!¡± one of the guards shouted. And then, a war drum sounded, alerting the rest of the village. 3-11. Unavoidable Conflict Elijah knocked a thrown spear aside with his Crook of the Serpent Healer, then dove beneath the surface. The water wouldn¡¯t completely mitigate the momentum of the missiles, but it would slow them down enough that his high Constitution could protect him properly. Once he was ten feet underwater, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, then used his long arms to propel himself forward. As he did, he cursed himself for his obvious oversight. He¡¯d known the ulthraks were at war with the goblins. That was the whole point of the first level. So, he should have expected that they wouldn¡¯t react positively to his party-mates. Yet, he¡¯d overlooked that key factor, and now, he found himself mired in a completely avoidable battle. People were going to die because of his mistake. Hopefully, it would be the ulthraks. He hated thinking of them like that, but the bottom line was that they weren¡¯t entirely real. Even if he killed them in this instance of the tower, they wouldn¡¯t really be dead. The same couldn¡¯t be said for his companions. So, the moment the attack commenced, Elijah had chosen to fight without restriction. Not that he had much choice. Judging by the number of spears hitting the water, the ulthraks certainly weren¡¯t holding back, and he had no option but to match their ferocity with his own. With that at the forefront of his mind, Elijah cut through the cold water until he reached shore. Then, he sprang onto the rocky beach, a roar erupting from his throat. The first ulthrak fell in seconds, its blubbery body practically ripped in two. Spears descended upon Elijah, but he¡¯d used Iron Scales the moment he¡¯d left the water. So, they bounced off of him with a metallic clink. Even as Elijah garnered the most attention ¨C after all, he was a big, vicious monster and an obviously deadly threat ¨C his comrades swam to shore behind him. Using One with Nature, he kept track of each one, and as he did, Ssethik winked out of existence. Or that was how it seemed, but Elijah knew the truth. The goblin Rogue had engaged some form of stealth, which elicited a fair amount of envy in Elijah¡¯s heart. He couldn¡¯t use Guise of the Unseen unless he was out of combat, but clearly, Ssethik had no such restrictions. Meanwhile, Kurik unlimbered his bow and started firing with deadly precision. Ethera swirled around Robolo and Nia as they prepared to cast their spells, but Elijah couldn¡¯t spare them more than a little attention as he crashed into his next target, who he recognized as the ulthrak leader, Raji. The huge walrus-man who¡¯d been so helpful during Elijah¡¯s first foray into the tower took the charge and responded with rabid fury, jabbing his spear at Elijah¡¯s torso. And even with Iron Scales blunting the damage, the impact tore through Elijah¡¯s chest, and when Raji yanked it free, it did so with a fountain of blood. Elijah didn¡¯t let it slow him down, though, and he crashed into the massive ulthrak, tackling him to the ground. A second later, he was raking his claws, which glinted with the metallic enhancement provided by his Claws of Gluttony, across Raji¡¯s blubbery stomach. Fat and blood flew free, but as was the case with most aquatic mammals, it looked a lot more traumatic than it really was. The thick skin and blubber served to insulate those sorts of creatures, but they also functioned as a natural armor. After all, if a predator was forced to dig through half a foot of fat before getting to anything important, it would obviously protect those vitals from casual damage. Even as Elijah tore through all that fat, Raji bellowed in rage, pummeling his opponent with massive fists. Elijah felt every blow, each of which was powerful enough to bruise bones. Still, he couldn¡¯t spare that any attention because if he did, he¡¯d inevitably succumb to the powerful warrior¡¯s momentous blows. Even as Elijah rolled on the ground, grappling, biting, and clawing at Raji, his companions fought on. In one corner of his mind, he kept track of everyone, and every now and then, he¡¯d see Ssethik erupt out of stealth and bury a dagger in someone¡¯s back. A second later, he¡¯d disappear from Elijah¡¯s senses. His foes rarely fell after a single attack, but a second was usually enough to take them down. However, one time he was a little too slow at reactivating his stealth, and he took a massive backhand that sent him skipping across the ground where he crumpled in a heap. Hopefully, he wasn¡¯t dead, but Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to disengage and cast Healing Rain. If he did, Raji would inevitably finish him off. Even as that thought skittered across Elijah¡¯s mind, Robolo completed his spell. Three walrus-men froze in place. Then, their shoulders slumped as they stared at the ground, their eyes unseeing. It was almost as if they were asleep on their feet. For his part, the moment Robolo completed the spell, he went pale. Elijah recognized the exhaustion that came with completely draining an ethereal core, and he was relieved to see the gnome backing away in an attempt to avoid any further combat. Suddenly, a pair of enormous slabs of rock tore free from the shore, then slammed together, sending an explosive echo to bounce around the massive cavern. However, there was also a wet squelch riding along with the clacking sound of rock colliding with rock as one of the ulthrak warriors found himself between the slabs of stone. When they parted, wet strings of gore were all that was left. Then, the two hunks of rock flew toward their next victim, clacking together with deadly force. However, now that the advantage of surprise had dissipated, the ulthrak warriors were able to avoid the worst of it. Still, a few were caught in the fury of Nia¡¯s spell, which resulted in a plethora of broken bones as well as a few more deaths. Finally, Kurik continued to pepper the ulthraks with arrows. Most did very little damage, but one out of every three or four arrows glistened with ethera, and it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah recognized their effect when he saw the ulthraks stumbling around, obviously weakened by whatever skill Kurik had empowered. Even so, there were far too many, and Elijah recognized the writing on the wall. If he didn¡¯t do something soon, the battle would be lost, and their short-lived tower run would end. So, with a mighty heave, he shoved Raji away. Then, Elijah launched himself in the opposite direction, shifting into his human form at the same time. As the transformation completed, he hit the ground, rolling once before finding his feet. With another facet of his mind, he¡¯d already begun casting Healing Rain. Hopefully, that would save the fallen goblin Rogue, but if it wasn¡¯t enough, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford the time necessary to cross the battlefield so he could use Touch of Nature. In the meantime, another separate facet of his Quartz Mind started casting Swarm, while still another dragged ethera from his core in preparation of using Calamity. The moment the plague of tiny insects manifested, Elijah shifted to shoving that ethera into his most devastating spell. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. And just as he completed the casting, Raji arrived, aiming to continue the fight they had already started. The giant ulthrak roared, and Elijah threw himself to the side. He was too slow, though, and the giant walrus-man clipped him. That sent his body cartwheeling across the battlefield. Fortunately, Elijah managed to avoid hitting his head, so he completed the cast of Shape of the Predator, shifting into his draconid form. With the influx of Strength and Dexterity that came with the form, Elijah twisted his body to land on his feet. Then, he used Venom Strike before reversing course and pouncing on the still off-balance Raji. His claws bit deep as he raked them across the back of the ulthrak¡¯s ankles, partially severing Raji¡¯s tendons. But it wasn¡¯t enough, and Elijah was forced to bound away in order to avoid the responding backhand. Then, Elijah accelerated, using a similar tactic to what he¡¯d utilized against the orc horde. His draconid shape wasn¡¯t nearly as durable as his lamellar ape form, but it excelled in agility and coordination, which allowed Elijah to weave through the battling ulthraks, scratching and clawing them along the way. Each wound he inflicted carried with it Contagion, and that, along with Swarm¡¯s afflictions, was enough to severely weaken ¨C and even kill ¨C most of the ulthraks. And all the while, Calamity raged. Without the enhancement of his Staff of Natural Harmony, it was far less damaging than it had been before. That wasn¡¯t to say that it did nothing. It was still a powerful spell that drew power from his unmatched Dragon Core, yet for the current fight, Elijah was more concerned with the chaos it caused. Sure, a few of the walrus people would perish in the resulting storm of lightning, wind, and earth. But it was hectic enough to provide him with all the cover he needed to inflict hundreds of instances of Contagion. So, by the time the storm of Calamity faded, the ulthraks were collectively on their last leg. A few of the stronger members ¨C including Raji ¨C persisted, but even they had been affected. Elijah regretted that it was necessary, but he couldn¡¯t afford to restrain himself. The ulthraks were a powerful foe, and if he held back even a little, he and his comrades would die. He couldn¡¯t allow that, so after infecting most of the walrus people with Contagion, he shifted back to his lamellar ape form. Meanwhile, he was relieved to see that Ssethik had recovered and that none of his other companions had fallen. So, with that playing across his mind, Elijah fought on. He met little resistance as he tore through the weakened tribe of ulthraks, at least until he reached Raji. The weakened walrus man put up a respectable fight, but, in the end, he couldn¡¯t stand up to Elijah¡¯s onslaught. Still, Raji didn¡¯t fall until after a long and drawn-out slugfest that lasted until the last of the tribe had already succumbed. Broken and battered, the tribal leader resisted until the very end, when Elijah slammed his head against the rocky shore, shattering his skull and killing him. And then, everything was quiet. In that silence, regret bloomed anew in Elijah¡¯s mind, but he shoved it away. Raji would return. So would all the rest. That was how the towers worked. Even so, it still felt wrong, killing the tribe that had once treated him with so much kindness. The only solace was that the children as well as the elderly had retreated into a series of caves on the other side of the large cavern. Even though he knew they weren¡¯t real, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure he could stomach killing children. He looked back at his own companions, who¡¯d picked up a few more injuries. Healing Rain had long since dissipated, so those wounds persisted. Rising to his feet, Elijah rolled his shoulders before shifting back to his human form. Then he cast Healing Rain and basked in the regenerative precipitation. His lamellar ape form was durable, but it wasn¡¯t invulnerable. As such, he¡¯d picked up quite a few wounds of his own. They healed at a remarkable rate ¨C far more quickly than they should have ¨C reminding Elijah of the effect of his new staff. It seemed that the enhancement to healing spells was far more potent than he¡¯d anticipated. He approached the others and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t even think about two of you being goblins. This level is all about a conflict between the ulthraks here and some goblins up above. I¡¯ll try to do better next time.¡± With that, he strode forward into the village. He and the others swept through the village, searching for any valuable loot, but there was nothing worthwhile to get them to use any of their limited storage space. So, it wasn¡¯t long before they ascended to the tundra and set off across the snow-covered landscape. Kurik tried to talk to Elijah, but he was too distracted by what had happened in the ulthrak village to be a decent conversational partner. So it happened that they arrived at the goblin village. ¡°Disgusting,¡± spat Ssethik, who¡¯d remained visible throughout their trek across the tundra. ¡°A mimicry of goblinhood.¡± ¡°It is offensive,¡± agreed Nia. She didn¡¯t seem quite so fearful as she had been before the fight against the ulthraks, but she was still quite timid. ¡°Last time I was here, I just ambushed them,¡± Elijah said. The tower¡¯s first task remained the same as it had the first time, so he¡¯d barely even acknowledged it. Still, the first objective had been failed when they had killed the ulthraks instead of saving the village. The moment the last one had died, the task had updated to the current objective:
Task: Destroy the goblin village.
It was a simple enough task. ¡°Do you want to do the same thing? Or do you want a more direct assault?¡± Elijah asked. The others were perfectly fine with letting Elijah and Ssethik repeat the previous tactics, so after he shifted into his draconid form, Elijah and the Rogue swept through the village, slaughtering the primitive goblins with ruthless efficiency. It went off without a hitch, and soon enough, they had completed the first task. The group congregated at the bay, though Elijah was disappointed with the reward he received upon opening his small, silver chest:
Congratluations! You have completed Level One of Keledge Tower. Grade: E To progress further, find the portal to Level Two.
It was a terrible grade, but Elijah expected that it was the result of their failure to complete the first task. It wasn¡¯t their fault ¨C after all, the ulthraks had attacked first ¨C but the tower didn¡¯t seem to care about excuses.
Reward for completing Level One of Keledge Tower: Goblin Dagger
¡°Oh, come on. This thing is practically worthless,¡± Elijah said, looking down at the useless blade. It was clearly low quality, though he suspected it was at least Crude-Grade. Even so, he had plenty of daggers. One was in his pack, while the other was sheathed at his waist. It also sported a jagged and poorly-forged blade, making it seem even worse than it probably was. But even more annoying was the fact that it confirmed Elijah¡¯s suspicion that his companions ¨C who¡¯d each received an identical dagger ¨C would be forced to use alternate means of underwater breathing if they wanted to survive the next level. After all, his own Ring of Aquatic Travel had been a reward from his first time through the level. ¡°Hope you all can breathe underwater,¡± Elijah remarked, glancing at the others. They responded by pulling potions from their pockets. Kurik said, ¡°Fish-lung Potions. Nasty, and they only last twelve hours. We each brought ten.¡± ¡°So, we¡¯re on the clock,¡± Elijah reasoned. ¡°Alright. Drink up, then we¡¯re going to the next level. Follow me. Don¡¯t do anything I don¡¯t do.¡± Then, he waded into the bay before diving down to the entrance of the tower¡¯s second level. Hopefully, it would go better than the first. 3-12. Breeze A cold wind swept across the open field, cutting through the warm spring air and heralding the storm to come. Thor glared at the horizon as if he could intimidate the weather into a delay. But as powerful as he had become, that was still impossible. Though who knew what the future would bring? Godhood was on offer, and he wasn¡¯t going to fail in his quest to attain it. But the first step was to complete the quest given to him by the annoying little man. To that end, he pulled his attention from the storm in the distance and focused on his most useful ability:
Hunt of the Ancestors Summon an ancestral spirit to guide you toward worthy prey.
He flooded it with ethera, and a moment later, a wispy figure manifested before him. The spirit belonged to one of his ancestors, yet there was no resemblance apparent. Even if there had been, Thor knew it would have been impossible to detect. The shimmering spirit wasn¡¯t quite formless ¨C the pieces of a human figure were obvious ¨C but anything more detailed than basic shape had been obscured. Still, it spoke, ¡°You have summoned me again, disrespectful child. Have you not found your prey?¡± ¡°Respect is earned, old fool,¡± Thor spat, gesturing with his spear. ¡°Find the Druid I seek.¡± ¡°Very well, whelp,¡± the spirit intoned, obviously annoyed to have been given such a task. Then, it spun in place before exploding into a hundred tendrils of ethera that sped off in every direction. A second later, one winked out. Then the next. Over and over, they disappeared until only one remained, speeding off to the east. ¡°It is faint, but the Druid¡¯s ripples are in that direction. Summon me again when you fail to follow the trail on your own.¡± Then, the spirit disappeared, leaving only that thin thread of power behind. Thor¡¯s grip on his bone-hafted spear tightened in anger, but it was an impotent emotion. The spirit was immaterial, and as such, it was unassailable. In truth, Thor had no idea if it even belonged to his actual ancestor or if it was just a trick of the spell. Whatever the case, it had proved invaluable as he¡¯d spent the past few years hunting progressively more powerful creatures. Without it, he would have been stuck killing whichever monsters he happened to stumble upon. And if that had been the case, there was no chance he could have progressed so high and so quickly. To reassure himself of his place in the world, he once again summoned the power rankings:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 63 2. Sadie Song ¨C Level 62 3. Thor Gunderson ¨C Level 61 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 59 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 58 6. Hu Shui ¨C Level 56 7. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 56 8. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 53 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 52 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 49 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­
His frustration mounted. Both Oscar Ramirez and Sadie Song remained just ahead of him. No matter what he did, Thor couldn¡¯t quite pass them. More than once, he¡¯d considered hunting one of them instead. It wouldn¡¯t be the first time he¡¯d hunted a human; more than once, he¡¯d done so ¨C sometimes, for ethereum, but others because he thought it would be a challenge. None had been. Which was both disappointing and reassuring. Even when someone was a higher level than him, his powerful abilities as well as his secret weapon had been enough to see him through. When he¡¯d acquired his Body of Wood, he hadn¡¯t thought it would be so impactful, yet it had proven to be the difference between him and everyone else he¡¯d met. As far as Thor had seen, no one else had unlocked the secrets of cultivation. That gave him an advantage that he intended to use to catapult himself to the top. That was why he¡¯d accepted the little man¡¯s quest:
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Obejctive: Hunt the Druid (Elijah Hart) Reward: Blessing of the Gnome, Eason Edmund
The first time he¡¯d received a task through the system, it had given him a potion that he¡¯d used to ease the cultivation of his body. The gnome, Eason Edmund had promised that his reward would be similar, which Thor hoped would propel him to even greater heights. He just needed to finish the hunt, kill the so-called Druid, then turn his sights on the people who were ahead of him on the power rankings. Perhaps Elijah Hart would provide him with a decent hunt, but that was a secondary concern. His primary objective was to be the best, to climb the ladder to the top. Everything else came after that. So, with that in mind, Thor set off across the landscape as he followed the tendril of power the ancestral spirit left behind. It led him along for many miles, through forests and past mountains. Still, he kept going, killing anything that happened to be in his way. Most were worthless in terms of experience, but he killed them anyway. Some, he used for food, but most, he killed for no other reason than because he could. He reveled in the reality that they couldn¡¯t stop him. Just like the Druid that was his next target. For two more days, Thor traveled through the wilderness until, at last, he crested a hill and saw a town spread out before him. However, it only took one look for him to recognize that its residents were not human. Short and slim, with pointed ears and an ethereal beauty that even Thor couldn¡¯t deny, characterized them as elves. Which he found frustrating. He¡¯d run into a few elves during his travels, and after the initial shock of encountering non-humans, he¡¯d quickly found that they were aloof and judgmental, with an air of unearned superiority that he found extremely off-putting. There were multiple breeds of the creatures, though he¡¯d only met the ones on the lowest rungs of their hierarchy. He¡¯d killed the last group he¡¯d found, though he had no interest in fighting an entire town. Especially when most of them were likely weaklings that would offer more trouble than they were worth. Still, the thin line of ethera that had resulted from Hunt of the Ancestors was never wrong. Often, it was frustratingly vague. It didn¡¯t point him toward his actual prey, but rather the ripples of his passing. Thor often thought of it as a way to track the consequences of a person¡¯s existence. Those clues would then lead him to his quarry. So, he had no choice but to head into the elven town and ask a few questions, which was the part of the hunt he enjoyed the least. It was his only way forward, though, so he took a deep breath, then strode forward, using his red-tasseled spear like a walking stick. His arrival came with some degree of notice, though the elves had clearly had dealings with enough humans that they didn¡¯t give him more than a few disapproving looks. Despite the fact that he wanted to challenge each and every one of them, he ignored their expressions. Instead, he followed the thread of ethera through the town. As he did, he couldn¡¯t help but notice the architecture, which was oddly cozy, and it was also obvious that quite a lot of effort had gone into integrating the architecture with nature. The houses looked almost like they¡¯d been grown, rather than assembled, and most had roofs made of green sod. Trees dotted the town, and the people wore rough-spun clothing that gave them a rustic appearance that hadn¡¯t been present with the elves Thor had encountered in the past. Perhaps he¡¯d found a different breed that wasn¡¯t quite as high-and-mighty as their cousins. Whatever the case, Thor wasn¡¯t terribly interested in architecture or elven culture. Instead, he only cared about finding his prey, and with that in mind, he continued to follow the thread of Hunt of the Ancestors until it led him to a dwelling that was set a little apart from all the others, and in more way than one. First, the style was quite different than all the rest, and it looked almost like a miniature palace, with swooping arches and modest spires. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than a modern home ¨C or modern in terms of the old world ¨C but it was clearly meant to convey luxury. Or perhaps station. In any case, it was also separated by some distance from the rest of the town, which only served to highlight how different it was. The thread of ethera led directly to it. Thor strode forward, then banged on the door. A few moments later, an elf opened the door. She wore a grey dress that, to Thor, clearly marked her as a servant. Or maybe that was her subservient demeanor. Either way, he said, ¡°I demand to speak to the master of this house.¡± She blinked, then said, ¡°Do you have business with Master Breeze?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Of what sort?¡± ¡°The sort that will not be shared with a servant,¡± he stated. ¡°Now go. Fetch your master.¡± She blinked again, then said, ¡°Very well. Wait here.¡± Before he could reply, she slammed the door in his face, which irritated him to no end. However, he stifled his anger. Even if he intended to make the girl pay for her impudence ¨C after all, he was third on the power rankings, and he deserved respect ¨C he would not do so until he got the information he wanted. Thor was not so impulsive that he would hamstring his own quest to smother his own anger. That could come later. For a few long minutes, he waited, not moving a muscle, until at last, the door swung open. The same servant bade him enter, then asked him to follow. Thor did, and he was led through the opulently decorated house to what was obviously an office of some sort. There, he encountered an elf. Though this elf was different from all the rest. Where they were short, he was tall. Where they were comely, he was acerbically beautiful. He was clearly a member of the aristocratic breed of high elves. ¡°A barbarian at the gates. To what do I owe this dubious honor, number three?¡± asked the elf. Thor very nearly struck, right then and there. But he wrangled his anger enough to ask, ¡°You know who I am?¡± ¡°Of course. We have an up-to-date power ranking list,¡± the elf stated, steepling his fingers. ¡°Again, I ask ¨C what can I do for you? I have a full line of potions available. Healing. Ethera recovery. I even have a couple of weak potions meant for body cultivation, though I daresay they wouldn¡¯t do you much good at your stage.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want your potions,¡± Thor spat. ¡°I want information.¡± ¡°Ah. That is a product I can offer as well. What sort of information do you desire? Would you like to know about the budding kingdom to the southeast? What of the one thousands of miles from here? Do you wish to know tower locations? I have a map with six of them, though more are discovered each passing month.¡± ¡°No. I want to know about the Druid.¡± The elf went pale. ¡°Druid? I know of no Druid.¡± ¡°You would do well not to lie to me,¡± Thor growled. ¡°And you would do well to remember where you are. If you attack me, I can guarantee you will not survive the attempt.¡± ¡°Neither would you,¡± Thor said with all the confidence of a man who¡¯d not known defeat in quite a long time. ¡°Indeed,¡± the elf said. Then, he spread his long arms, saying, ¡°But I have no reason to lie. I have encountered no Druids. If I had, I would tell you everything you want to know.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Let us just say that alchemists and Druids are rarely allies. They stand in opposition to everything I do. More often than not, that results in irreconcilable enmity. So, tell me ¨C why do you think I have had anything to do with a Druid?¡± Thor wasn¡¯t going to reveal the details of Hunt of the Ancestors, so he just said, ¡°I was led here.¡± ¡°Ah. A spell, then. Are you a seer? No ¨C not with that spear. Perhaps you were pointed in this direction by someone with the sight. Yes ¨C that makes sense,¡± the elf stated. Then, he tapped his chin. ¡°I have encountered spells of that sort. They track consequence, yes?¡± Thor nodded. That was as accurate a way to describe what his spell did as he could envision. ¡°Something like that.¡± ¡°That means your Druid¡¯s actions touched me in some way,¡± the elf said. Then, after a second, he said, ¡°Ah. That would make sense.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I sent a team of adventurers out into the wilderness to acquire a powerful natural treasure,¡± the elf said. ¡°That was some time ago. I assumed they had been defeated by the treasure¡¯s guardian, but now¡­it is possible that they ran afoul of a Druid. If that was the case, then it is no wonder that they never returned.¡± That sounded like a good lead to Thor, especially considering that his spell would not have led him to the elf if he didn¡¯t have a clue. So, he asked, ¡°Where would I find this treasure?¡± It would have been easier if he could have used his spell more often, but it was extremely limited in that respect. At present, it took more than a month to recharge. ¡°That will cost you, my barbarian friend,¡± the elf said. ¡°What do you want?¡± ¡°The same thing I wanted from the last team I sent ¨C the treasure,¡± the elf stated. ¡°Agree to acquire it for me, and I will point you in the proper direction.¡± Thor grinned. ¡°I think I can work with that. Tell me where to go,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯ll fetch your treasure.¡± ¡°Fantastic. My name is Breeze, by the way.¡± ¡°Thor,¡± was his reply. ¡°Oh, I know precisely who you are, Mr. Gunderson.¡± 3-13. The Power of Foreknowledge Irritation bordering on anger coursed through every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he threw himself at the huge turtle. Its jagged-beaked head snapped out, its jaws clamping down on his hastily-raised arm. He¡¯d used Iron Scales, but even then, he felt his bones creak under the enormous biting force the monster could bring to bear. Still, he only grunted, shunting the pain into its own facet of his Quartz Mind as he wrapped his other arm around its neck in a headlock. Then, he squeezed. ¡°Now!¡± he roared, his voice coming out with a multitude of bubbles, and the other members of his party rushed in to do their part. Kurik slammed the notched blade of his axe into the turtle¡¯s enormous head, while Nia used a spell to send spears of stone into its underbelly. Most were deflected by its hard shell, but some managed to breach the creature¡¯s defenses. Finally, Ssethik leaped upon one of its legs, ramming both of his daggers through its pebbling skin. Meanwhile, Robolo was busy keeping two other monsters occupied ¨C one was an eight-foot-long barracuda, while the other was a sea snake that failed to fit into any category Elijah knew. Even as the two monsters drifted lazily in the current, the Confounder who¡¯d rendered them insensate struggled with the burden on his ethera. It wouldn¡¯t be long before his core was completely spent, which meant that Elijah needed to end the fight. But he needed the others to get a few more good hits in because, as he¡¯d learned since entering the tower, the system distributed experience based on the efforts of everyone involved. In some cases, that meant the primary damage dealer got the lion¡¯s share, but there were plenty of exceptions ¨C like healing, controlling enemies, and shielding allies ¨C that the only thing clear about how experience was allocated was that it was a complex thing that only a Scholar could fully understand. So, rather than try fruitlessly to manipulate it, Elijah and his companions had adopted a simple strategy ¨C everyone needed to contribute as much as possible, while Elijah kept them as safe as he could. In this instance, that meant holding the turtle in place so the others could pile on as much damage as possible. However, they were so far beneath him ¨C with the exception of Kurik, whose skills were unsuited to direct confrontation ¨C that even that wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill this particular enemy. Still, he waited until they¡¯d gotten a few more attacks in before squeezing the turtle¡¯s neck so hard that bones cracked. A moment later, its struggling ceased, save for a few twitches from its jaw. A blow from Kurik¡¯s axe finished it off, and Elijah let it fall to the seafloor, where it settled into the silt. Meanwhile, he threw himself at the sea serpent, which he judged was the most dangerous of the remaining two enemies. The second he touched it, Robolo¡¯s spell broke, and the monster tried to slither away. Elijah caught it by the tail, and because it was unable to escape, the sea snake whipped around, baring a set of six-inch fangs. Elijah punched it in the back of the throat, then used Iron Scales as it clamped down. The creature didn¡¯t have the biting power to even nick his scales, so long as he kept the ability going. By that point, the others knew the drill, and they shifted their attention to the serpent. That¡¯s when things went wrong, though. In his squeaky gnome voice, Robolo shouted, ¡°It¡¯s breaking loose!¡± At that moment, the spell holding the barracuda in place shattered, sending a small pulse of ethera across the seafloor. Even as Elijah wrestled with the serpent, the overgrown fish sighted in on Robolo and tore through the water to attack what it saw as its tormentor. Fortunately, they were prepared for that, and when the fish darted toward the gnome, an earthen cage sprang up around the Confounder. The fish hit it going full speed, sending a cascade of stones to drift toward the seafloor as a cloud of silt billowed, obscuring everything. But the cage held, stymying the barracuda just long enough for Robolo to recast his spell. It went still again as the cage fell to pieces, and via One with Nature, Elijah saw Nia sag in exhaustion. Normally, summoning that cage wasn¡¯t that taxing for the little goblin Lithomancer. However, it was exacerbated by two factors. First, she was used to only using it on herself, and pushing it onto Robolo increased the ethera cost by a significant margin. Second, her Regeneration was absolutely horrible, which meant that since the very beginning, she¡¯d never actually regained much ethera. Aura of Renewal helped, but it wasn¡¯t enough to keep her going indefinitely. Yet, Elijah couldn¡¯t spare the attention for that kind of thing. Instead, he was too busy monitoring the totality of their circumstances. One slip in concentration, and one of the weaker members of his party could die. Elijah wouldn¡¯t allow that. Soon enough, the sea serpent died just like the turtle, and Elijah turned his attention to the lone remaining combatant. He fell on the barracuda, grabbing hold of its fins and ripping them free. After that, the fight went predictably. Even if the fish managed to break away from Elijah¡¯s grip ¨C which it did a couple of times ¨C it couldn¡¯t control itself without those pectoral fins. In the end, the monstrous fish went down when Ssethik gutted it from underneath, sending its intestines spilling across the ocean floor as blood clouded the surrounding water. When it went down, Elijah shifted into his human form, then cast Healing Rain. With the Crook of the Serpent Healer, the spell was almost three times as powerful as it had been when he was using the Staff of Natural Harmony. Sure, his old staff was a better all-around weapon, but for healing, his new weapon was far superior. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Is anyone badly hurt?¡± he asked. They all shook their heads. For once, he¡¯d managed to shield them from any major damage. As a defender, he was growing more competent with each fight. Certainly, he lacked some of the abilities a more specialized Fighter might¡¯ve possessed ¨C he¡¯d learned a little about normal group composition from Kurik ¨C but he was a passable substitute. Some of that was due to the fact that he was a higher level than the others, and that gap was further widened by his more advanced degree of cultivation. Still, it was a good learning experience. However, one thing was certain ¨C the others would have died a dozen times over without his presence. Yet, that wasn¡¯t as terrible as it sounded. Because he was the highest level of the group, the tower¡¯s level was determined by Elijah¡¯s. As such, most of the monsters they¡¯d fought were meant to be a challenge for someone of his advancement, and the others could barely even hurt them. The benefits were impressive, though. ¡°Got ¡®nother level,¡± Kurik said in the aftermath. ¡°That¡¯s seven since we came to this cursed sea. I ain¡¯t leveled like this since¡­well, ever. Not even when I was a little one.¡± ¡°It is nice,¡± agreed Nia. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Ssethik stated, trying to sound unimpressed. Robolo remained silent, which suggested to Elijah that the gnome was busy reading a notification. After that, the group spent a few minutes recovering, but the potion situation put them on a timer. If they didn¡¯t finish the Sea of Sorrows in a total of five days, people would start to suffocate. So, considering that over half that allotted time had already passed, they didn¡¯t have leave to linger. With that in mind, the moment everyone had recovered ¨C both in terms of ethera as well as their injuries ¨C Elijah led them deeper into the Sea of Sorrows. Along the way, he pointed out any dangers he¡¯d discovered during his first run through the tower. The group proved to be attentive students, though that probably had a lot to do with the fact that nearly everything Elijah showed them was potentially deadly. Like the rock turtle they¡¯d just killed. Or the sea spiders who spun their gossamer webs across potential paths. Or any number of other predators. Slowly, they made their way across the seafloor. Their progress was much quicker than Elijah¡¯s initial run through the level, largely because he was much better suited to meet the challenges that presented themselves. Back then, he¡¯d been forced into only using his human shape, and as such, the bulk of his power remained hidden for the majority of the level. With only a day to spare, they found the level¡¯s guardian. The monstrous orca was much as Elijah remembered it, which meant that it looked like a mutated version of a killer whale. The black-and-white pattern was the same, but it was both much larger, and its features looked far more aggressive. When he looked upon it, he still felt a sense of frustration and anger, but he supposed that was natural. Getting eaten and digested was bound to elicit some degree of enmity. This time, he wanted to ensure a better outcome, so he consulted with his group before retreating about a quarter of a mile from where they saw the orca. There, they proceeded to set a trap. Nia used her earth manipulation powers to hollow out a cave, while Kurik and Elijah set traps. The plan was almost identical to the one Elijah had used to kill the giant isopod during his first run through the tower. He intended to bait the orca into the trap, then escape the other side. This time, however, he had plenty of help meant to ensure it was a much safer proposition. So, with that in mind, the group worked ¨C against the clock as much as the environment ¨C until, at last, Elijah set out to pull the orca into position. And for once, it went off without a hitch. The creature was fast, but in his lamellar ape form, Elijah could propel himself to incredible speeds ¨C at least so long as he didn¡¯t have to turn. Soon enough, he reached the prepared spot, then dove into the cave, where he shifted into his human form and turned to face the orca. Just as the giant whale entered, Elijah used Snaring Roots. Wiggling tendrils that looked like sea anemone appendages snaked up from the interior of the cave, wrapping themselves around the orca. Then, as Elijah dove through the exit, both Robolo and Ssethik brought their attack skills to bear. The gnomish Confounder sent small bolts of purple light at the orca. The primary purpose of that spell was to stun enemies, but they sizzled upon impact, doing a slight amount of damage. Meanwhile, Ssethik tossed a series of spectral throwing daggers at the monster. They didn¡¯t do much damage, but they were better than nothing. And besides, the Rogue wasn¡¯t about to get close to such a foe. Not without a defender to keep its attention. Even as they completed their first volley from their position at the tunnel¡¯s entrance, Elijah shouted, ¡°Bring it down!¡± Nia did just that, leveraging what little ethera she had to collapse the roof as well as the entrance. Stone fell upon the thrashing orca, but due to the nature of the cave, it counted as a trap. And that meant that Kurik could enhance it with his ability. Ethera swirled as the creature was infected with neurotoxin, and high-pitched cries of pain filled the water. Yet, it did not die. Not immediately, at least. Elijah added Swarm to the mix, knowing that he couldn¡¯t afford to hold back. The rocks were heavy, and the orca was wounded, but it was strong enough to tear free unless they continued to pile on the damage. So that¡¯s what they did. It didn¡¯t feel as much like a fight as it did an extermination, but after almost an hour of pouring every ounce of ethera they could into doing as much damage as possible to the orca, it finally succumbed. And though they wanted to celebrate, the group was far too exhausted for that. So, they simply gathered together to rest, then when everyone had recovered enough to move on, they did just that. Eventually, they reached the end of the second level, which presented as a massive hole in the ground. By that point, the others were down to their last potion, so they couldn¡¯t afford to take any longer before diving in. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. The first time through, it had taken him weeks to traverse the Sea of Sorrows. This time, though, he¡¯d managed it in less than five days. Sure, he¡¯d had help. But as much as he enjoyed having other people with him, their presence had slowed him down more than anything. Even so, it was a nice accomplishment, and he¡¯d already met his goals of providing Ironshore with an opportunity to increase its people¡¯s power. Hopefully, they¡¯d gain a couple of good rewards along the way. With that in mind, he followed the others into the massive sinkhole and toward the tower¡¯s final level. 3-14. A New Challenge ¡°How did we only get a C-Grade out of that?¡± Elijah complained, looking at the item he¡¯d found in the silver reward box. It was a pair of boots, called Footpads of Silence. ¡°It was flawless.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just glad to be outta the water,¡± Kurik remarked, looking at his own set of footwear. He held them up. They were grey, with dark soles. ¡°Manta Ray Boots.¡± All the others had received similar items, though with different themes. None of them would share the names, though. Apparently, outworlders were prone to secrecy. Elijah tried his new shoes ¨C slippers, really ¨C on, and the moment he did, One with Nature winked out. ¡°Ugh. Useless,¡± he muttered. Apparently, the system wanted to keep him barefoot. Or maybe it was his Druid archetype. Whatever the case, he wasn¡¯t going to render One with Nature useless just for a pair of shoes. Besides, wearing them felt odd, after going so long without any shoes. So, he took them off and stored them in his pack. The others were quick to bind their new equipment, and rightly so. Any additional attributes or abilities would inevitably prove to be a boon. Hopefully, Elijah could find someone to buy his new and useless shoes, because he had no intention of wearing them. Kurik pointedly looked at Elijah¡¯s bare feet, then at the pack, and shook head. Elijah just grinned and shrugged, saying, ¡°Not my style.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the deal with this place, then?¡± asked Ssethik, his hands on his hips as he gazed into the jungle. ¡°Well, there are a bunch of dinosaurs out there, for one.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a dinosaur?¡± asked the Rogue. ¡°Giant lizard.¡± ¡°Like a dragon?¡± ¡°No. Sort of. I don¡¯t know. They¡¯re not intelligent, though. Just animals. Deadly ones, though. And then there are the sasquatches,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°They¡¯re tool-users, but I don¡¯t know if they¡¯re sapient or not. Probably best not to worry about it, though. They¡¯re aggressive, which means if we see them, we should probably treat them as enemies.¡± He stretched ¨C after spending so long in the sea, his body needed a little time to adjust; to aid that, Elijah summoned Healing Rain, which added rejuvenating precipitation to the storm assailing the beach where they¡¯d come ashore. ¡°After that comes a maze. That¡¯s what¡¯s going to take the longest,¡± he said. ¡°There are sasquatches in there, too. And these big, bipedal lizards made of roots and branches. I called them root raptors in my head, but I¡¯m now beginning to realize that that¡¯s kind of stupid,¡± Eliah said, raking his fingers through his wet hair. ¡°But that¡¯s about it. We just need to get to the maze¡¯s entrance, then find our way to the center. Once we do, we¡¯re done with the tower. Easy peasy, right?¡± It was not. Hours later, as Elijah and the others fled yet another group of sasquatches, he cursed his statement. The problem was that he¡¯d never even considered the reality that he¡¯d spent almost the entire time in the Primordial Jungle ¨C and the maze, afterwards ¨C in his draconid form. And as was the case more often than not, most of that span had been beneath the cloak of Guise of the Unseen. So, he¡¯d snuck past the vast majority of the dangerous monsters that lived in the Primordial Jungle. That was impossible now, what with him having to bring a few people with absolutely zero skill in stealth along for the ride. As a result, their little group had spent the past few hours either fighting or fleeing. Elijah ducked under a branch, narrowly avoiding an arrow that thudded into the trunk of a nearby tree. Then, he grabbed the branch, redirecting his momentum and sending him back in the other direction. As he did, he used Shape of the Guardian, assuming the form of a lamellar ape as he crashed into the sasquatch that had been hunting them. The monster barely staggered, but that was enough to give Elijah the opportunity to bring his claws to bear. One swipe, then two, and he opened up a couple of gaping wounds that sent blood spraying across the jungle. But he wasn¡¯t done. Indeed ¨C he was only getting started. The sasquatch was enormous, durable, and faster than it had any right to be, but the moment Elijah had taken it by surprise, he¡¯d gained an advantage he refused to surrender. So, he kept the pressure up with continuous attacks that eventually sent the monster to the ground. It reacted with predictable fury, but its weapons had tumbled free when Elijah had crashed into it, and its hands and feet were poor replacements. In that way, it was disturbingly human. Elijah didn¡¯t let that dissuade him from doing what was necessary, though, and he pummeled the thing with all the considerable Strength he could bring to bear. On top of that, his efforts were accentuated by his equipment. The Sash of the Whirlwind lent him Haste, while the Claws of Gluttony made any wound he inflected bleed more freely than normal. That, in turn, weakened the monster to a noticeable degree with every passing second. And in the end, it was enough to give Elijah the edge he needed to finally bring the fight to a close when he wrapped his arms around its neck and squeezed. Its bones didn¡¯t break, but with the blood flow to its brain suddenly ceasing, it died after only a few minutes. Apparently, its anatomy was disturbingly human as well. Once the monster was dead, Elijah fell to his back, his breath coming in deep and ragged hisses. Like that, he lay for a few moments before finally pushing the enormous creature off his body and rising to his feet. A nearby commotion was all the indication he needed to recognize that the battle wasn¡¯t finished, and he shifted into his draconid form before letting Guise of the Unseen envelop him. Then, he padded toward the noise, reaching the site of an ongoing battle. Kurik faced off against another sasquatch whose feet had sunk into forest¡¯s loamy ground. Nearby, Nia held her staff aloft as she chanted furiously. At the same time, Robolo crouched atop a limb, his hand outstretched toward a dinosaur that looked like a carnivorous version of a triceratops. It swayed on its feet, clearly bespelled. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Ssethik was nowhere to be seen. Kurik tossed his axe at the sasquatch, hitting it in the thigh before running forward. The creature swiped at him, but he dropped to his knees, grasping the axe¡¯s handle as he skidded between its legs. Then, he bounded up the trunk of a tree, climbing it with the dexterity of a monkey before launching himself at the monster¡¯s back. Ethera swirled as he activated an ability, and he descended upon the sasquatch¡¯s back with undeniable force. The monster¡¯s back split beneath the axe¡¯s bite, and it howled in rage, turning far more quickly than its bulk would indicate was possible, and it took Kurik with a backhand that sent him flying across the jungle and into the brush. That was when Elijah struck, using Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike as he leaped upon the monster¡¯s back and clamped his powerful jaws on its skull. It burst in only a second, and the monster fell limp. Elijah knew there was no time to waste, so he darted to the triceratops, embracing Guise of the Unseen before again using Predator Strike. His subsequent attack ripped through the creature¡¯s thick, pebbled hide, dragging a gaping laceration in its belly. Intestines spilled out, spelling the beast¡¯s doom, but as Elijah had discovered on multiple occasions, gut wounds were not quick killers. The triceratops went wild, bucking and biting anything close. Trees fell before the massive monster, but Elijah bounded free, shifting to his human form as he rolled to a stop. Then, he summoned Snaring Roots, binding the beast in place. Healing Rain came next, and he hoped it would be wide enough to reach the fallen Kurik. That was when Ssethik struck. Not the beast, though. Instead, the goblin Rogue had finally chosen to attack Elijah. For his part, Elijah had known it was coming. The goblin didn¡¯t cut a trustworthy figure, and what¡¯s more, he¡¯d been warned more than once that Ssethik had been friendly with the fallen Eason Cabbot. As such, the attack didn¡¯t really come as a surprise. But it did come at an incredibly inopportune moment. With his attention on the triceratops, he only noticed Ssethik at the very last moment. That was probably what saved him, as the dagger meant to pierce his heart missed its target by only a couple of inches. However, even that was enough to send an eruption of blood and flesh to splatter against the ground. What¡¯s more, Elijah fell to the ground, where he sprawled on his hands and knees for a split second before he swung his staff in a backhanded blow meant for the goblin. It hit nothing but air as Ssethik used his stealth ability to disappear. That was fine, though. Because Elijah followed that up with Calamity. The ground erupted as hundreds of bolts of lightning filled the suddenly deadly air. The triceratops took the brunt of the damage, but via One with Nature, Elijah found Ssethik when he caught a stray bolt of lightning. That was when Elijah used Brand of the Stalker. Once that was done, Elijah took his time finding his feet. Ssethik had fled the area, but that didn¡¯t matter. Wherever he went, Elijah would find him.
Brand of the Stalker Sear a brand on an enemy, preventing all forms of stealth and increasing your damage against them by fourteen (14) percent.
So, he aimed Storm¡¯s Fury at the triceratops. It fell twitching to the ground, which allowed Elijah to shift into his lamellar ape form and finish it off. As he did, he noticed that Ssethik¡¯s attack had come with a powerful poison, but it had been counteracted by Healing Rain, which, with the Serpent Healer¡¯s Crook, had been accentuated far beyond normal. Still, the poison was still strong enough to send a wave of dizziness through Elijah¡¯s body. So, he took a moment to use Touch of Nature. That served to close the wound in his back as well. He turned to Nia, who hadn¡¯t moved from where she¡¯d hidden behind a bush, likely having spent the entirety of her core¡¯s contents. ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt down Ssethik. If you knew what he intended, you¡¯d better not be here when I get back,¡± he said. ¡°Because if I find out that you did and that you failed to warn me, I¡¯ll make sure you end up just like him.¡± Then, he strode off through the jungle. However, he didn¡¯t immediately chase Ssethik down. Instead, he found Kurik, who was just rising from presumed unconsciousness. Elijah quickly told him what had happened, which elicited a string of curses, then began healing the dwarf. It was remarkably easy, and it only took two casts of Touch of Nature. Another benefit of his new staff. Or perhaps it was due to Kurik being a lower level. Either way, Elijah was grateful for how quickly he ushered his friend to recovery. After that, he used Shape of the Predator, then Guise of the Unseen before stalking toward Ssethik. The goblin Rogue had taken refuge a few hundred yards away, where he waited ¨C presumably, hoping that Elijah would prove incapable of hunting him down. So, when Elijah pounced, the goblin displayed an expression of surprise. Elijah pinned him to the ground, his claw digging into the goblin¡¯s chest as he demanded, ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Why? You killed my friends!¡± Ssethik hissed, dragging his dagger from his belt. He never got the chance to bring it to bear, as Elijah snapped out, crushing the goblin¡¯s skull with a single flex of his powerful jaws. The dagger fell to the ground, and Elijah pulled away. He¡¯d known for a long time that it was coming. The angry glares of the people of Ironshore had mostly faded, but there were still plenty who regarded him as the enemy. Ssethik was clearly one of them. But he still didn¡¯t know what to do about it. He¡¯d hoped that saving the city would help. And it had. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. His only solace was that it didn¡¯t seem to be a pervasive attitude anymore, so Elijah figured that his only response was to grow strong enough that any attempts at revenge would be rendered useless. Whatever the case, he gathered the goblin¡¯s equipment, throwing it into his pack before returning to the others. When he reached them, they were all quick to assure him that they¡¯d had nothing to do with Ssethik¡¯s assassination attempt. Elijah chose to believe them, if for no other reason than because they hadn¡¯t actively tried to help the Rogue. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said. Then, without another word, he shifted into his draconid form before stalking off into the jungle. From there on out, he didn¡¯t bother trying to include the others in his hunt. Instead, he simply cleared the way, escorting them to the maze¡¯s entrance. After that came the long and arduous process of finding their way through the labyrinth. It was easier than Elijah¡¯s first visit to the maze, largely because One with Nature had expanded, and as a result, he could feel dead ends much more quickly. Still, finding their way through the maze was not the work of a day. Instead, it took nearly a week before they encountered the root raptors. Elijah killed the first few without the group even knowing they were there, and a few days after that when the alpha finally attacked, Elijah countered it with his lamellar ape form. What followed was a long and drawn-out fight that required Elijah to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal. But in the end, he emerged victorious. Kurik tried to speak to him about what had happened, but Elijah was in no mood. Instead, he silently led them to the exit, where they received an F-Grade, presumably because they¡¯d lost one of their group. Elijah didn¡¯t care. Nor was he concerned with the worthless sword he was awarded. Indeed, all he really wanted was to leave the tower behind, take care of the remainder of his errands, and leave Ironshore behind for a while. Perhaps when he returned sometime in the future, it would be on better terms. 3-15. An Uneasy Feeling The smell of blooming flowers hung in the air, reminding Carmen that spring had well and truly arrived. In any other situation, she might have welcomed it. Indeed, even as a refugee who¡¯d been banished to wilderness, she appreciated the warmer weather. However, it also highlighted a series of issues, not least among them that with the passage of time came the increased risk of hunger. Her group had long since run out of rations, and though they¡¯d had some degree of good fortune hunting, they were only a couple of dry spells away from having to ration what they had left. But mostly, she was worried about the increased animal activity that would inevitably accompany the warmer weather. Many predators either hibernated or at least slowed down during winter, but now that spring had arrived, they would be up and about. And they would see the ragged group of refugees as prey. Because for the most part, that was what they were. Certainly, they could hold their own if they caught a monster by surprise. And against desperate groups of bandits, they could survive well enough. Yet, Carmen knew exactly how close to the edge they were walking, and it was painfully obvious that it would only take a single push to send them all careening over a cliff and into oblivion. If it weren¡¯t for her responsibilities as a mother, she might have simply given in and let it happen. Increasingly, the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other had become draining in a way she could scarcely articulate. It wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why, either. She¡¯d lost everything. Her wife. Her forge. Even her home. Miguel was the only thing left, and he was the lone thread keeping her from simply giving up. If she¡¯d been back in Easton, she might have lost herself at the bottom of a bottle. Or maybe she would have picked a few fights. Lost herself in her work, perhaps. However, none of those outlets were available. Instead, they¡¯d been replaced by the tedium of survival, and it had proven a poor substitute. Because as difficult as it was, survival was not exciting. Nor was it terribly distracting. Long periods passed where nothing happened, and in those moments, Carmen could only dwell on everything she¡¯d lost. On how thoroughly she had failed. People had died because of her. Others had been banished from the only viable life available to them. As a result, they were out in the wilderness with no real civilization for a hundred miles in any direction. They needed rest. They needed somewhere they could settle in and collect themselves. Perhaps a place where they could set a permanent life. Maybe they would choose to keep going and look for something more developed. Or not. But for the moment, everyone needed a break from the constant rigors of travel and survival. One was doable, but both at the same time came at the expense of one¡¯s sanity. Carmen felt it as keenly as anyone else. So, she couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of optimism when Colt returned to the column of refugees and said, ¡°There¡¯s a good spot up ahead. Water. Some wild edibles nearby. And a reasonably intact shelter.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Carmen asked, still trudging along the highway. It made travel easier when they could find a stretch of road, but it was also a grim reminder of the world they¡¯d all lost. It was especially poignant when they stumbled upon an old roadside hotel or a gas station. They¡¯d seen fast food restaurants as well as a few abandoned rest centers, establishing that they were traveling in what had once been America. Every now and then, they¡¯d find something that clearly belonged to other countries as well, which served as another testament to how thoroughly Earth had changed. It was one thing to know that everything had been mixed up and randomized, but it was something else altogether to see a plainly Russian business a mile away from a building from South Africa. ¡°A high school,¡± Colt said. ¡°There are a few cars in the parking lot, too. Nothing electric, but you could use the materials.¡± ¡°You think it¡¯s a viable place to settle?¡± The man shrugged, then reached up to his head, but as had been the case since they¡¯d been exiled from Easton, he was missing his customary hat. For some reason, that struck Carmen as sad. Or wrong. The lack of his right hand didn¡¯t help that sense. ¡°Dunno,¡± he admitted. ¡°Maybe, though. It¡¯s right next to a lake, too. There¡¯s water and shelter, and we can potentially fish for food. Seems like a good start.¡± Indeed, it was. And over the past month or so, they¡¯d covered enough ground that they weren¡¯t looking over their shoulders expecting Roman¡¯s people to overtake them. So, they were far enough away from Easton that they could reasonably expect to be left alone. For now. Carmen suspected that Roman had plans for expansion, so who knew what the future might hold? ¡°Alright. Lead us there,¡± she said. Then, she turned to the others and let them know what was going on. That was met with no small amount of relief, and soon enough, they left the highway, following a small road until, about five miles later, they came upon their destination. The school ¨C called Lincoln High School ¨C was nothing special. Just a low-slung series of unimaginative buildings. However, upon initial inspection, it seemed mostly intact. And it was large enough to accommodate their group. Still, Carmen approached with all the caution of someone who knew just how dangerous their world had become. So, she summoned a pair of blacksmithing hammers ¨C one in each hand ¨C and activated her latest ability: The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Augment Weapons In a twenty (20) yard radius, increase the durability of all weapons you have created. Also, add fire damage to each weapon. Temporary. Duration based on Strength. Current: 7 Minutes
It was Carmen¡¯s first true combat ability, which she¡¯d acquired at level thirty-five. And though it wasn¡¯t as flashy as something a Warrior or Sorcerer might use, it had proven incredibly useful over the past couple of weeks. It was also helpful that her summoned hammers, which had been manifested with Summon Tool, counted as her creations. As she used Augment Weapons, her hammers took on a red sheen. So did the blades of the spears each of the refugees carried. Most importantly, Colt¡¯s new sword did as well. Called Second Chance, it had been created using the metal from that first bandit leader¡¯s sword, and it was easily the best weapon anyone in the group had. However, it was a long way from the best Carmen could do. But without a proper forge and the right materials, it would have to do. Even with only one hand, he was still far and away the best combatant among the refugees. Every now and then, Carmen would see him fumbling with something ¨C like the clasp of a belt she¡¯d made to hold his sheathed sword ¨C but otherwise, he bore the loss stoically. Carmen wondered if she would have reacted the same. Probably not. Colt led the way through the school¡¯s front doors, and Carmen was happy to see that it was no different than a thousand schools across America. To her left, she saw a school office, and to the right, a trophy case meant to commemorate a bunch of academic or athletic achievements. But there were no flying monkeys or other unlikely monsters. So, they continued on, checking each classroom along the way. To Carmen¡¯s surprise, they found nothing but desks, whiteboards, and a bunch of abandoned computers. Everything looked like it had been untouched since the world¡¯s transformation, which put Carmen¡¯s hackles up. Still, no matter how hard they looked ¨C and they searched every corner of the small school ¨C no dangers presented themselves. In fact, they found nothing but good fortune, even stumbling upon what had been the school¡¯s woodshop classroom. ¡°This is all good steel,¡± Carmen said, inspecting a sawblade. ¡°This can¡¯t be real¡­¡± ¡°We were due a little good luck,¡± said Theresa. The woman had huge bags beneath her eyes, and a sag to her shoulders. She¡¯d earned both. She was the closest thing they had to a healer, after all. Without her prowess as a Chemist, none of them ¨C including Carmen ¨C would have survived. Even with her efforts, they¡¯d come close to losing multiple people. And Theresa wasn¡¯t the only one who needed a rest. They all did. Which was why the school was such an attractive option. Still, Carmen insisted on sweeping through the place one final time before giving the order to settle in. That resulted in no new information, so the group took refuge in the school¡¯s cafeteria. Meanwhile, Carmen and Colt ¨C and Miguel, to Carmen¡¯s consternation ¨C scouted the surroundings. They were just as devoid of monster activity as the school. Even the lake, which was nestled only a few hundred yards from the school, was incredibly peaceful. In fact, the whole area looked like paradise. That sent a chill up Carmen¡¯s spine, and as she stood on the shore, she said, ¡°This is too good to be true.¡± ¡°We¡¯re allowed to find peace,¡± Colt said from where he stood beside her. ¡°The world ain¡¯t all terrible, ya know. There¡¯s plenty of good out there. We just got dealt a raw hand.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it,¡± she muttered. She ran her hand through her dirty hair. How long had it been since she¡¯d felt clean? Back in Silverado? Suddenly, she needed a long, hot shower. But that wasn¡¯t forthcoming. The days of conveniences like that were long in the rearview. She settled down onto the ground and, as she clutched her knees to her chest, she looked out over the lake. Before she knew it, tears were tracing lines down her dirty cheeks. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d wept since being exiled from Easton, but she never really allowed it to go past a few scattered tears. Yet, now that she was alone ¨C or mostly ¨C she couldn¡¯t stop them. Soon enough, the sobbing escalated into the ugliest, sloppiest sort of crying. For his part, Colt remained nearby, but he didn¡¯t remark on what Carmen considered a display of weakness. Miguel, on the other hand, sat next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder as he said, ¡°It¡¯ll be okay, mom. It¡¯ll all be okay.¡± As he spoke, he rubbed her back. It reminded her of how Alyssa had always comforted Miguel. Which only served to bring all of her deep-seated sadness bubbling to the fore. She wept, and not just for the losses she had endured. Indeed, she cried for everything she knew was coming. All the hardships she and all the other refugees would have to experience before they could even think about returning to normalcy. She wept for a boy who¡¯d have to grow up without one of his parents. But most of all, she wept because she missed Alyssa. She¡¯d always been the strong one. She had been the backbone of their relationship, and always, Alyssa had been the shoulder Carmen had cried on. Now, she only had Miguel, and that was a burden she didn¡¯t want to put on her son. However, she couldn¡¯t stop. So, she wept. For how long Carmen sat there, she didn¡¯t know, but by the time she finally pulled herself together, her eyes had gone dry, and the sun had set. At some point, Colt had wandered off, but Miguel had remained by her side the entire time. Just like his mother would have done. Finally, she glanced over and said, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°For what?¡± he asked, blinking his big, brown eyes. ¡°For being here,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°I¡¯ll be stronger from now on, but for now¡­thank you. Now, let¡¯s go back inside and see if we can make something of this place.¡± After that, the pair rose and headed into the school, where they found Colt and the others. They¡¯d each laid out the blankets they¡¯d scavenged along the way, and they were all resting comfortably. It was the first peace they¡¯d experienced since leaving Easton, and though they were still tense, every indication was that they could finally relax. But just because things appeared safe didn¡¯t mean Carmen could drop her guard. So, she drew Colt to the side and said, ¡°I¡¯ll take first watch. You take second. This place seems peaceful, but¡­¡± ¡°I get it. But flip that,¡± Colt said. ¡°I¡¯ll keep an eye on things. You need your rest.¡± Carmen was going to argue, but then she just shook her head. Colt was right. If anyone in the group needed a peaceful night, it was her. So, she just said, ¡°Okay. Wake me when it¡¯s my turn.¡± Then, she headed to a corner where she laid out her own ratty blanket, then laid down and, within only a few minutes, was asleep. That night, she dreamed of broken promises and shattered peace. They were not pleasant dreams. 3-16. A Strained Relationship It was a subdued group that left the tower behind and swam to the shore of Elijah¡¯s island. For his part, he spoke little ¨C only as much as absolutely necessary to ensure the others knew what he needed them to do ¨C and what he did say was terse. Even with Kurik, who by all rights, had done nothing wrong. If Elijah was honest, he was angrier with himself than with the people of Ironshore. After all, he¡¯d known that there would be repercussions for killing Cabbot and his band of mercenaries. That they¡¯d taken so long to present themselves was only due to a combination of necessity ¨C they knew they needed him to combat the orcs ¨C and circumstance. ¡°I hope you know Ssethik didn¡¯t represent the city,¡± said Kurik once they¡¯d reached the shore. Elijah had wasted no time in escorting the group to one of the rowboats. ¡°He wasn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I just need some time alone.¡± Indeed, there was a part of him that wanted to hold the entire city accountable and wipe them from the map. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult, either. He knew Ironshore well enough. He was intimately acquainted with what defenses they possessed. He could do it over the course of a couple of nights, and there wasn¡¯t much any of them could do to stop him. But would that solve the problem? Sure. It would assuage his anger, and temporarily, it would probably make him feel a little better. After all, he wasn¡¯t some saint who could brush off an assassination attempt. He was furious, and nothing that had happened since Ssethik¡¯s ill-fated attempt at murder had served to alleviate any of that rage. Yet, as attractive as going on a killing spree was, he knew that it would ultimately be counterproductive. He didn¡¯t need Ironshore ¨C not in a physical sense, at least. But from a social perspective, the idea of having civilization so close ¨C and all the benefits that came with it ¨C was an attractive prospect. On top of that, he would have been lying if he didn¡¯t admit that he¡¯d made a few friends among the goblins, gnomes, and dwarves. Kurik was one of them. So was Ramik. Biggle, the alchemist. He was even on friendly terms with the terse tailor Mari. And that wasn¡¯t even considering all the children in the city. The moment Elijah thought of orphaning little Rosabella ¨C or worse, her ending up on the wrong end of his claws ¨C his anger dissipated, and it was replaced by disappointment. So, as he watched the scout climb into the rowboat next to Nia and Robolo, it was with a deep sense of melancholy. The problem was that he was an outsider. He had been from the very beginning, and as much as they¡¯d tried to accommodate him, it only took a short walk through Ironshore to hammer home just how out-of-place he was. Sure, he¡¯d made friends, but he was still a human. And among the short-statured goblins, gnomes, and dwarves, he was a clear outlier. He needed more of his kind. He needed his sister. Carmen. Miguel. And whoever else they wanted to bring with them. Elijah had no intention of ever leaving his grove behind. It was too safe and far too important to abandon. So, he assumed that Alyssa and her family would simply come to live with him. It just made sense. Though what if they were already established somewhere? What if they didn¡¯t want to come with him? What if something had happened to them? A thousand questions spiraled through his mind, sending him down roads he didn¡¯t want to contemplate. Sure, he could see Carmen¡¯s name on the power rankings, and he¡¯d taken solace in that. However, he wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to truly believe that the Carmen Rodriguez on the ladder was definitely his sister-in-law. For all he knew, there were a million Carmen Rodriguezes out there. And if that wasn¡¯t Carmen, then he had no reason to suspect that his sister, out of all the billions of people who¡¯d died in the aftermath of Earth¡¯s transformation, had survived. It was even less likely that a child like Miguel had made it. If he looked at things realistically, no one he knew from his old life was still alive. Simple numbers suggested that he¡¯d never see any of them again. But for so long, Elijah had refused to look at things like that, so, even amidst the melancholy strangling his mind, he shoved those negative thoughts aside. If he dwelled on them for too long, he would succumb to depression. He¡¯d done it before, and for days at a time, especially during his first few months on the island. He didn¡¯t like to think about that, though. Instead, he chose to look at the positive side of things. Like the fact that his soap was probably finished curing. So, Elijah grabbed hold of that thought and, once he saw that Kurik and the other two had passed the halfway point, he retreated across his island and to his grove. He¡¯d left the soap to cure inside his treehouse¡¯s kitchen, so he climbed the stairs and found the series of molds. And it had cured well. It even smelled nice. ¡°You completed the tower more quickly than I expected,¡± came Nerthus¡¯ voice. ¡°And I noticed that you went in with four companions, but only three exited. Do you wish to speak of what happened?¡± Elijah turned to see the four-foot-tall tree spirit standing near the door. If he wasn¡¯t moving, it would have been easy to imagine that he was an expertly carved statue. But despite Nerthus¡¯ general stillness, he still moved like any other living thing. It would have been unnerving if Nerthus hadn¡¯t been the one person in the whole world that had earned Elijah¡¯s explicit trust. ¡°It was an ambush. The goblin Rogue,¡± Elijah explained with a sigh. ¡°I saw it coming. Even if Kurik hadn¡¯t warned me, I could see it in Ssethik¡¯s eyes. He hated me. And what¡¯s more, he thought he could gain some sort of advantage by killing me. He never stood a chance.¡± That wasn¡¯t entirely true. Elijah had shifted at the last possible moment, which had forced the Rogue to miss a lethal strike. However, if Ssethik had been allowed a thousand chances, Elijah would have done the same thing nine-hundred-and-ninety-nine times. The reality was that Ssethik had been completely outmatched, even if the goblin hadn¡¯t known it. ¡°What will you do?¡± asked Nerthus. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Right now, I¡¯m going to bathe with my soap,¡± he said. ¡°I hope it¡¯ll have some positive effect. Other than cleaning me, I mean. After that, I¡¯m going to take a long nap. The rest, I¡¯ll figure out in the morning.¡± Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. After that, Elijah asked Nerthus how things were going in the grove, and he received a long dissertation on how the tree spirit was trying to guide the gardens into a specific formation. It was one of the few things that truly excited Nerthus, so Elijah was glad to listen. ¡°And here I thought the paths and everything just naturally appeared because of the way I used Nature¡¯s Bounty,¡± he mused. ¡°Oh, no. The way you use that spell is effective, but it wreaks havoc on my designs,¡± Nerthus revealed. ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t you tell me that?¡± ¡°Because you seem to enjoy it,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°And it is your grove.¡± ¡°It¡¯s as much yours as it is mine, Nerthus. I mean, if I¡¯m doing something you don¡¯t like, let me know,¡± he said. Nerthus looked away and asked, ¡°When will you be departing again?¡± ¡°Are you asking that because you want me to find my sister? Or because you want me to stop messing with your garden designs?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± ¡°Which one¡­oh. I see,¡± Elijah said. He sighed. ¡°I won¡¯t use it unless you ask me to.¡± ¡°I could teach you to command it better,¡± Nerthus offered. ¡°I have devised a twelve-year plan meant to give you the control necessary to affect the changes you ¨C¡± ¡°Going to have to pass,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t have twelve years right now. Maybe after I find Alyssa and Carmen. And Miguel. Which reminds me ¨C do you think you could grow a new treehouse? Like, a separate one? With a few rooms. I want it to be ready for them when they get here.¡± ¡°Certainly. It will be grander than this hovel,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Grander? I don¡¯t want it to be better than¡­oh, you¡¯re already gone. Great.¡± Indeed, Nerthus had slipped into the floor, disappearing eagerly. Hopefully, that meant he was excited about the task. Sighing, Elijah muttered, ¡°And my sister is going to have a better house than me.¡± Then, Elijah gathered his soap, cut it into easily usable blocks, then took one into the shower. Once he¡¯d let the water warm, he undressed and stepped under the stream. Then, he lathered himself up. The moment the soap touched his skin, he let out a gasp of surprise. It didn¡¯t just feel rejuvenating, as he¡¯d hoped. It also imparted a degree of the ethera that surprised him. He couldn¡¯t quite tell where it went, but he felt sure that it was a good thing. Perhaps he¡¯d take some to Biggle and get an expert¡¯s opinion. In any case, he enjoyed his shower far more than any he¡¯d ever experienced, and he stayed beneath the warm stream of water for far longer than he had expected. By the time Elijah left the bathroom, his fingers and toes had turned pruny. ¡°Pruny?¡± he asked himself. ¡°Or is it with an -ie? Prune-like?¡± Shaking his head, he realized it didn¡¯t matter, and soon, he hopped into his extraordinarily comfortable bed, and for the first time since the night before he¡¯d entered the tower, he slept soundly. The next morning, he rose from bed with a significantly better attitude. So, it was with a spring in his step that Elijah headed down to the garden, where he picked a series of berries and other edible plants. Then, he gathered his things and headed to shore, where he boarded his rowboat and started toward Ironshore. Between strokes, he muttered, ¡°I would give anything for a fish form or something. Just something that would keep me from having to row these stupid boats.¡± But that didn¡¯t seem to be on offer, so he bent his back to the task. It wasn¡¯t that it was difficult. With his high attributes, propelling the little rowboat across the strait was easy enough. Yet, it was slower than he would have liked, and it was tedious enough to sour his attitude. Which was probably why, when he finally docked in Ironshore, he wore a grimace that sent a few people scurrying in the other direction. Word of Ssethik¡¯s betrayal, it seemed, had gotten back to the city. Case in point, Ramik soon appeared, hurrying across the dock to confront Elijah. ¡°It¡¯s fine, Ramik. Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Elijah said as he tied the boat off. ¡°What?¡± asked the goblin as he slowed to a stop. ¡°I said it¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah reiterated. ¡°Ssethik was a bad apple, right? He acted alone. His attitude wasn¡¯t representative of Ironshore, who still wants to be my ally.¡± He looked up at the mayor. ¡°Is that what you were going to say?¡± ¡°More or less.¡± Elijah sighed, then pushed himself to his full height. Putting his hands at the small of his back, he stretched. ¡°Look ¨C I like you, Ramik. There are a few other people here I would consider friends, too. So, I¡¯ll tell it to you straight,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°This is your one mulligan.¡± ¡°Mulligan?¡± ¡°Free shot,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You get one free mistake. After that, if anything like that happens again, I¡¯m going to get angry. And you wouldn¡¯t like me when I¡¯m angry.¡± ¡°Ah¡­that last part¡­was that supposed to be poignant? I don¡¯t like it when anyone¡¯s angry,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°If I had my way, no one would ever ¨C¡± ¡°I really need to show you guys some movies,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. ¡°My point is that I¡¯m willing to give you all the benefit of the doubt. But if you keep pushing me, I¡¯m going to have to reevaluate our friendship.¡± Ramik swallowed. ¡°Understood.¡± ¡°Good. Glad we had this little talk,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Now, I have a man to see about some soap.¡± With that, Elijah set off down the dock and into town. As he did, he was well aware of the furtive glances that came from the town¡¯s people. It seemed that word had spread even further than expected, and the residents of Ironshore were on pins and needles wondering what he was going to do. Fortunately for them, he¡¯d mostly moved on from the assassination attempt. As he¡¯d told the mayor, he was willing to give Ironshore the benefit of the doubt, but if they kept pushing his buttons, he was going to give in to his inner rage. They wouldn¡¯t survive that. Putting that out of his mind, Elijah¡¯s first stop was at Mari¡¯s shop, and the taciturn dwarven tailor informed him that his cloak wouldn¡¯t be ready for another two or three weeks. That wasn¡¯t what Elijah wanted to hear ¨C indeed, he was even more eager than ever to resume his search for his family ¨C but he reasoned that he didn¡¯t have much choice in the matter. Mari was a skilled crafter, and if she said she needed that much time, he would believe her. Besides, he had some ideas on how to spend the intervening days. His next ¨C and only other planned ¨C stop was Biggle¡¯s laboratory-slash-home. As always, when he arrived, he interrupted some experiment that resulted in a crash and a muffled explosion, but the little alchemist was still happy enough to see Elijah ¨C especially when the gnome was introduced to Elijah¡¯s soap. ¡°Where did you get this?¡± demanded the alchemist with a fervor Elijah had never seen from him. ¡°Made it. Used fat from the orcs and wood ash from the trees on my island,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Plus some lavender oil I made. Why? Is it good?¡± ¡°Do you have any idea how much something like this is worth?¡± ¡°¡¯bout tree-fiddy?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing. So ¨C tell me what I¡¯ve got.¡± Biggle raised an eyebrow, then said, ¡°This is a body fortifying soap. It doesn¡¯t result in increased attributes, but it will give you a temporary boost in defenses. In addition, it has slight healing properties. Better than anything else, it will prepare you for higher levels of body cultivation.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°Yes. It takes years of using something like this to get any results,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°But when combined with a few other methods¡­yes, we could sell this for quite a lot. Not terribly useful at your level of cultivation, but for the people of Ironshore¡­¡± He tapped his lip as he studied the soap. Then, finally, he asked, ¡°How much do you want for it?¡± ¡°How much are you offering?¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s like that, is it? Well, I can¡¯t give more than six silver per bar. Take it or leave it.¡± Elijah shook his head and tried not to smile. That was far more than he¡¯d expected, but he knew it was far less than Biggle could afford. So began a back and forth that ended with Elijah getting more than ten silver per bar. He¡¯d packed five away, which he handed over to the alchemist. After he paid, Biggle said that the cultivation potions would be ready in a day or two. So, Elijah left the alchemist with the intention of returning in two days. After that, he went back to his island, then dove down to the cave to check its progress. To his surprise, the ethera density had increased by a significant degree. However, he still spent the next couple of days flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty within the cave¡¯s bounds. Because he wanted it to be at peak ethera density when the next part of his plan dawned. 3-17. The Lady of the Lake Carmen wrenched the leaf spring of the vehicle free, then set it aside. The ends were still smoking from her use of Smolder, which she¡¯d utilized to weaken the steel so she could pull it away from the car. She could have used Fracture, but it required a lot more ethera than Smolder, making the choice easy even if it required a judicious application of her Strength. Slapping her hands together, she pushed herself to her feet and let out a sigh as she looked around. The parking lot of the school was much the same as it had been when they had first arrived, though with a couple of key differences. First, there were a couple of people standing guard against any intrusions. Nothing had attacked them yet, but Carmen and the others knew precisely how dangerous the wilderness was, so they didn¡¯t want to take any chances that something could sneak up on them. The second difference was that the few cars had all been taken apart so that Carmen could harvest the high-quality steel she found in the parts. Unfortunately, modern cars had much less steel in their makeup than they once might have, and as a result, her haul hadn¡¯t been quite as extensive as the number of cars might have suggested. Still, she¡¯d managed to gather enough that she hoped to outfit the entire group of refugees. And now that they¡¯d settled, she¡¯d had a chance to build a reasonable forge in which to do it. So, Carmen gathered the steel and headed around to the back of the school where she¡¯d built her forge. It was located beneath an awning outside of the cafeteria, and the presence of a few old cigarette butts suggested that it had once been used by the workers as a break area. Obviously, schools were intended to be smoke-free zones, but Carmen was familiar enough with human nature to know just how little that would matter to people who just wanted to enjoy a smoke in peace. She didn¡¯t exactly approve, but with everything that had happened over the past few years, it was difficult to begrudge anyone for taking what enjoyment they could from their lives. If that included stealing a few moments to smoke a cigarette, then so be it. In any case, Carmen wasn¡¯t worried about the self-destructive habits of the past. Instead, her mind was firmly on the present, with an occasional glance toward the future. To that end, she needed to complete her first project, which was to arm her people so they had the best chance of survival in the event that something attacked them. Or someone. Carmen was well aware that it wasn¡¯t a matter of if that came to pass, but when. And she was determined to prepare the refugees for that inevitable eventuality. So, once they¡¯d settled in, she had wasted no time in building a forge. The bricks were rocks that had been mortared together with clay she and Miguel had harvested from a nearby deposit. It had been messy work, but enjoyable enough, if only because it had allowed her the chance to spend time with her son. Of late, those sorts of opportunities had been in short supply, and since nearly losing him, Carmen was more determined than ever to take advantage of any chances she could find. The forge itself wasn¡¯t a complex structure. Just a big, brick oven with a chimney. However, because of her abilities like Bond, the structure ¨C aside from the chimney ¨C was airtight and well insulated. Attached to it was a bellows she¡¯d made from the enormous badger hide. The only issue was that with a paucity of coal, she was forced to use wood. That wasn¡¯t ideal, because coal tended to burn much more evenly. Yet, Carmen was well aware that beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers, so she would take whatever she could get. Hopefully, that would change as they settled in, though she knew they would have to get lucky to find a coal deposit anywhere close ¨C especially considering they didn¡¯t have anyone who knew anything about such things. In any case, wood would have to do for the time being. So, Carmen gathered her firewood, then spent the next few hours alternating between Decontaminate, Refine Material, and Ethereal Infusion. It was tedious work, but if she wanted to make the best of her situation, she needed every advantage she could get. So, she bent her will to removing the wood¡¯s impurities, then using Bond to fuse the results back together before repeating the process. All the while, she kept Ethereal Infusion going, making certain to flood the fuel with as much as possible. Doing so before burning the wood would impart some of that ethera into the fire. In turn, that would seep into the metal. As she worked, Carmen gazed out at the nearby lake. A few of the other refugees were lounging on the shore, their toes tickling the calm water. One of them laughed at a joke. It was such a peaceful scene, and one that was desperately needed after their trek through the wilderness. Even a few days without their lives being constantly threatened was enough to raise everyone¡¯s spirits. Even Carmen¡¯s. Certainly, she hadn¡¯t forgotten all the blood on her hands. It would take years before she even began to forgive herself for the hubris she¡¯d displayed by trying to rebel against Roman. And she would never get over what that man had done to her wife. Yet, the school felt like it might be the second chance everyone so desperately needed. But danger was around every corner, and Carmen knew better than most how necessary good equipment could be. So, once she¡¯d finished with the wood, she set it aside and started in on the steel. Gradually, as the day went on, she processed the material, purifying and infusing it with ethera until it had practically become an entirely new metal. Of course, it wasn¡¯t on par with the cold iron they¡¯d mined in Silverado. There was a qualitative difference in the base material that no amount of refinement could rival. Yet, Carmen was still proud of the results, even if her constant and repeated use of Decontaminate and Refine Material had whittled the amount down by two-thirds. That was expected, which was why she¡¯d spent so much time pulling bits and pieces from the cars, but it was still a little disappointing when she looked at the twenty billets of steel. Stolen story; please report. ¡°You can help if you want,¡± she said, glancing over at Miguel, who¡¯d been watching the whole time. ¡°I don¡¯t have any abilities,¡± he countered. ¡°You don¡¯t need abilities to pump the bellows,¡± she said. ¡°Besides, it builds muscle better than all that sword training you¡¯ve been doing with Colt. I don¡¯t know why you chose that weapon in the first place.¡± ¡°I train with spears, too,¡± he argued, his voice cracking. He¡¯d started to hit puberty, and as a result, he was right in the middle of a growth spurt, which meant there was a few inches of ankle visible below the hem of his trousers. ¡°And Colt has been showing me how to use a quarterstaff, too. He told me that between warriors of equal skill, a quarterstaff expert can beat a swordsman every time.¡± ¡°And yet you still spend ninety percent of your training time with the sword,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°Couldn¡¯t be because you think it¡¯s cool, right? It¡¯s completely practical, I¡¯m sure.¡± Miguel blushed. ¡°I can use a bow, too,¡± he said in a soft voice. ¡°Colt says it¡¯s smart to know as many weapons as possible so you¡¯re never without one.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a smart man,¡± Carmen agreed. ¡°Now, come here and ¨C¡± At that moment, a scream tore across the ground between the school and the lake. Carmen jerked her head in the direction of its origin, and whatever aura of peace that had infused the area completely shattered beneath the weight of what she saw. A thick and slimy tentacle had slithered out of the lake and taken hold of one half of the couple who¡¯d been lounging on the lakeshore. And that tentacle was pulling the screaming man into the lake. He scratched and clawed at the soft earth, but it was useless. The monster ¨C for that was the only thing it could have been ¨C was too strong, and its grip was far too sure. At that moment, the tentacle burst into a mist of blood and slimy chunks of flesh, and it went wild, releasing the man and rising high into the air. Blood fell like rain as it thrashed back and forth, but by then, Colt had arrived. He hacked into it with a horizontal strike that had all the elegance of a lumberjack going about his business. But for all its crudeness, the attack was successful. Colt¡¯s sword ¨C called Second Chance ¨C bit deep, and when he pulled it free, it came with a wedge of blubbery meat. It slammed down into the ground like a falling tree, yet Colt dodged, diving to the side with a roll and then hacking again. And again after that. By the time he aimed another strike at the creature, Carmen had recovered her wits, screaming, ¡°Stay back!¡± as she sprinted toward the lake. As she ran, she used Summon Tool, manifesting two blacksmithing hammers and enhancing them with Augment Weapon. The ability swept through Colt, lighting his sword with orange flames. And when he aimed yet another strike at the tentacle, it hit with a distinct sizzle. Carmen slid to a stop next to the wounded man. His leg had obviously been crushed by the tentacle, and though he tried to pull himself to safety, his infirmity clearly limited his efforts. Meanwhile, his partner ¨C a thin woman who normally wore the haunted expression of someone who¡¯d lost far too much ¨C simply watched in horror, stunned by past traumas and fresh terror. And then, Miguel was beside the woman. He grabbed hold of her hand and yanked. At first, she did nothing. But she was too horrified to resist for long as he dragged her away. Carmen wanted to chastise her son for his disobedience, but there was no time. And besides, if she thought about it, she would have been proud. He was his mother¡¯s son, after all. Alyssa would have done the same thing, regardless of the danger to herself. Carmen dismissed her hammers, recognizing that it was not the time to fight. Rather, it was time to run. So, she screamed, ¡°Hold it off until we can get to safety!¡± Colt didn¡¯t acknowledge her orders. Instead, he continued his furious quest to chop the thick tendril in two. At the same time, Carmen hooked the wounded man under the armpits and dragged him backward. She could have carried him, and easily, but she didn¡¯t know if that would injure him further. So, she tried to be as gentle as possible while pulling him away from the lakeshore. After twenty or thirty feet, she heard a loud splash and looked up to see that the horrors of the lake had only escalated. Because where before there had only been a single tentacle, there were now ten. And they were all waving and writhing in obvious fury. That wasn¡¯t the truly disturbing part, though. That label belonged to the thing rising from the depths. It looked like a woman, if said woman was twenty feet tall, naked, and with the skin of a shark. Its hair was made of water snakes, and sharp fins jutted from its forearms. The lower half of the monster¡¯s body was dedicated to the tentacles, all of which were hundreds of feet long and as thick as a telephone pole. The monster let out a shriek, and for a brief second, Carmen¡¯s mind went blank. She dropped the man to the ground as her muscles went slack. A second later, she returned to herself, but when she looked around, she saw that the others ¨C Miguel, the haunted woman, and Colt ¨C were not so lucky. Carmen had no idea why she¡¯d endured better than the others, but she wasn¡¯t going to let that resistance go to waste. Miguel and his charge were out of range of the tentacles ¨C for now ¨C but Colt was right there, practically in their grasp. So Carmen dashed forward, resummoning her hammers and launching herself at the tentacle that had suddenly gone on the offensive. Just before it fell upon Colt, she rammed into it, leading the way with both of her blacksmithing hammers. With her monumental Strength, Carmen packed quite a punch, and as a result, she knocked the thick tentacle aside. It fell upon the shore, kicking up mud and rocks upon impact. Carmen didn¡¯t pay much attention to that. Instead, she dipped down, grabbed Colt around the waist, and threw him over her shoulder. Then, she ran, propelling herself away from the lake with all the speed she could muster. And given her Strength, she could move incredibly quickly, if only in short bursts and in a straight line. When she reached the injured man, she repeated her motions, throwing him over the other shoulder as she dashed toward the school. When she reached the safety of her open-air forge, Carmen looked back to see that the monster was crawling its way free of the water. The message was clear. This was that monster¡¯s territory, and they only had three choices. Give in, run away, or fight it for dominance. That last one might¡¯ve been the most attractive, but she knew from the brief fight that she and the others had no chance of winning that battle. So, the only real choice was to run. The brief bout of safety they¡¯d experienced had been an illusion. ¡°Put me down,¡± growled Colt. Carmen did just that, handing over the injured man. Then, she said, ¡°Gather everyone. Get as many supplies as you can carry. We can¡¯t stay here.¡± To his credit, Colt didn¡¯t argue. Instead, he just said, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± Then, Carmen snatched the metal she¡¯d spent all day refining into her hands. So with regret and fear, they were forced to abandon the false sanctuary. As she prepared to leave, Carmen looked back to see that the monster hadn¡¯t slithered far from the lake, but she knew it wouldn¡¯t stop so long as they remained in the area. It was just one more piece of evidence that peace was in short supply in the transformed world. Perhaps it was even nonexistent. 3-18. Stone The smell of lavender twisted in the air, fusing with the steam from the shower. Meanwhile, Elijah sang Tiffany¡¯s I Think We¡¯re Alone Now as he scrubbed the dirt, muck, and salt from his body. It wasn¡¯t his favorite song or anything ¨C though he did have a soft spot for eighties pop music ¨C but it was catchy, and for some reason or another, it had been in his head for the past week. So, as one did, the moment he¡¯d stepped into the shower, he had immediately burst into song. He blamed his sister. After all, she loved that sort of music, so growing up, it was always playing in the background. Back then, Elijah had made a show of hating it, but as he¡¯d gotten older, his little brother irritation had turned to nostalgia. Now, he remembered it all so fondly, especially because it reminded him of a time when family had been as close as the next room. He desperately wanted to get back to that. Looking back, leaving for Hawaii was one of the biggest regrets of his life. He¡¯d done it as much to run away from everything that reminded him of his parents¡¯ death as he had to pursue his career as a marine biologist. In retrospect, he should have stayed and leaned on the family he had left. But that revelation came as a benefit of perfect hindsight, and at the time, he¡¯d been in no state to be reasonable. In any case, he channeled some of that nostalgia as he sang in the shower, and when he finally stepped out, his mood was definitely buoyed. And why should it not be? He¡¯d spent the past two weeks working on his underwater cave, ushering it to unprecedented levels of vegetation. That, in turn, had served to thicken the ambient ethera to the point where it had actually become visible. At present, it hung in the air pocket like a thick fog, just begging to be used. On top of that, the nature of that ethera had changed as well, taking on a flavor ¨C for lack of a better descriptor ¨C similar to what he felt in his grove. And according to Nerthus, it was perfect for what he had planned. So, he was in understandably good spirits as he left the bathroom and stepped out onto his balcony to dry. Winter had well and truly given way to spring, so the air only had a slight nip to it. To Elijah, whose elevated Constitution protected him from anything but frigid temperatures, it was quite pleasant. ¡°Do your kind routinely walk around without clothing?¡± came a voice from behind him. Elijah turned his head to see Nerthus standing at the balcony door. The tree spirit looked no different than he had a few weeks before, but Elijah still felt that Nerthus had grown stronger. Denser, perhaps. He could only regard that as a good thing. ¡°Not really,¡± Elijah admitted, making no move to cover himself. It was his home and his grove. He could walk around nude if he damn well pleased. Besides, he didn¡¯t think Nerthus cared that much. Though, looking at the expression on the tree spirit¡¯s gnarled face, he began to wonder at that assumption. ¡°I see.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t wear clothes,¡± Elijah accused. ¡°I don¡¯t have any¡­dangly bits, either,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°For those who do, it is¡­customary to cover them up when in the presence of others.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Fair enough,¡± he muttered. ¡°But if you¡¯re going to get all pearl-clutch-y, you should probably knock or something before you come into my house. Just saying.¡± Nerthus didn¡¯t respond, which Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how to take. Regardless, he quickly dipped back inside and dressed. When he¡¯d finished, he told Nerthus what he had planned, then asked, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s dense enough?¡± ¡°Yes. But I do not know if you are ready. It would be better if you used that soap of yours for another two or three years. Then you would be truly prepared to take the next step.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°What¡¯s the worst that can happen?¡± he asked, drying his hair with one of the towels he¡¯d bought back in Ironshore. No matter what else happened with the city, it was still good for filling the gaps in his supplies. After all, it wasn¡¯t as if he could just run out to the nearest big box store and buy bed linens or towels. But there were plenty of supplies like that available in Ironshore. The only downside was that someone might try to assassinate him from time to time. And he had to row across the strait. He wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good exchange or not. ¡°You could die,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± Elijah said. They had discussed it plenty of times, and they¡¯d both agreed that, theoretically speaking, he should have the healing power necessary to keep himself alive until he crossed the threshold and solidified the chrysalis that would usher him into the next stage of body cultivation. But theory and practice didn¡¯t always agree. So, there was some degree of uncertainty concerning the upcoming process. Still, Elijah was willing to take a chance because the alternative was to wait years to make the push. It wasn¡¯t just impatience that drove him ¨C though there was some of that ¨C but rather, a near certainty that he would need all the advantages he could get. After all, he¡¯d almost died against the orcs, and he wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to believe that they were a unique threat. For all he knew, there was another horde somewhere out there. Or something even worse. And that wasn¡¯t even considering that as the world¡¯s ethera density rose, so too would the power of the Voxx. No ¨C he needed to take chances, or he would never maintain his lead. And if he didn¡¯t have that on his side, he would lose his ability to traverse the wilderness unaided, and that would, in turn, make finding his family impossible. Besides, it felt like the right choice, and in a way Elijah didn¡¯t really understand. Was that intuition part of his cultivation? Was his body trying to tell him something? Or perhaps it was his class. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Or maybe he was fooling himself and he¡¯d die a horrible death in an underwater cave. Whatever the case, he¡¯d made his choice. Good or bad, he was going to try. So, after a few more minutes of conversation with Nerthus, he went to bed, and the next morning, he rose with a mission on his mind. So, he gathered the three vials he¡¯d gotten from Biggle, then undressed and shifted into his draconid form. Before he knew it, he was racing across the island and to the beach closest to the underwater cave. Before he dove into the water, he shifted back to his human form, then checked his bag to ensure that he¡¯d brought all of his supplies. Each item was packed away in waterproof containers, but everything was there. So, he wasted no more time before wading into the surf, then diving toward the cave. By that point, the trip had become routine, but when he started seeing the glowing crystals, he was still awestruck. The same could be said for the cave itself, though for a different reason. Certainly, the domed ceiling was festooned with the same green crystals as always, but Elijah was more concerned with the plethora of sea life that had taken hold. The various ocean flora he¡¯d transplanted into the cave had thrived, growing rapidly under the influence of Nature¡¯s Bounty as well as the thick ethera. And that vegetation had attracted various creatures. Mostly, the population was limited to insects, but there were a few reptiles, amphibians, and fish present as well. They all ignored him as he swam to the deepest point in the cave. Then, Elijah focused inward. On his heartbeat. On the gentle sway of the water against his skin. On the subtle sounds of the surrounding ecosystem. But most of all, he let himself truly feel everything around him via One with Nature. If he¡¯d tried that before he¡¯d achieved the Quartz Mind, he would have been overwhelmed. However, not only had it allowed him to break his mind into nine separate pieces, each with its own vortex through which he could siphon ambient ethera, but it also increased his ability to parse large quantities of information. It wasn¡¯t easy, and it required him to utilize every facet of his mind. But he managed it all the same. And the results were stunning. He could feel every single organism in the cave ¨C and not just the flora and fauna. The microbes, too. The bacteria. The algae floating in the water. Even with his Quartz Mind, it bordered on overwhelming. Yet, he¡¯d spent much of the past week preparing himself for it, so he managed to keep himself from collapsing under the weight of so much input. Instead, he let it suffuse him in a way that made him truly feel like a part of something much greater. However, Elijah knew the risks before him, so he kept himself from fully giving himself over to that feeling, lest he lose his grip on his identity. It was a real danger, according to Nerthus, so he was very cognizant of it. Still, he walked himself right up to the edge. Then, without opening his eyes, he reached into the bag he¡¯d brought along and retrieved the first vial. As he held it in his hand, he preemptively cast Healing Rain before shoving the vial into his mouth and uncorking it with his teeth. The liquid slammed into his mouth like it had a mind of its own, burning blisters in the tender skin as it washed down his throat. Elijah was ready for it, but still, he let out an impotent and garbled scream of pure agony. But with another facet of his Mind, he focused on the next task, which was to retrieve the second and third vials, which he raised above his head and popped open. The potions drifted down, enveloping his entire body in a cloud of diluted poison. It was pure torture. Yet, Elijah didn¡¯t use Touch of Nature to heal himself. Nor did he move away from that cloud of poison. Instead, he simply endured, focusing on the ethera all around him. The cloud of poison didn¡¯t dissipate. Nor did it fall to the cave¡¯s floor. It hung all around him, eating him alive even as the first potion assailed him from within. After thirty seconds, Elijah pulled a berry from his bag and tossed it into his mouth. He couldn¡¯t taste it. Nor could he chew. Swallowing was the extent of his ability, and even that was almost beyond him. Still, he persisted, and the berry went down, sending a spark of healing and ethera coursing through him. So, he ate another. Then another. Over and over, he ate the berries, and the ethera in his body continued to build. Even as he did that, he pulled with every vortex of his faceted Mind, flooding his soul with even more ethera. His core filled to bursting, but he kept going until the ethera was seeping from the wounds inflicted by the poison. But even then, it wasn¡¯t enough. His body hadn¡¯t reached the point of failure. The stress was still too faint to prompt the metamorphosis. So, he retrieved the final vial from his bag. This potion was the strongest yet, and Biggle had cautioned him not to use it. But Elijah had known, even then, that he wouldn¡¯t have a choice. For whatever reason, his body was too durable. He downed that potion as well. Indescribable pain tore through him, and without his Quartz Mind, he would have succumbed, then and there. However, he managed to barely shunt the pain into one facet after another until there was only one left. That, he kept free to guide the ethera into his body. And then, finally, it happened. Elijah couldn¡¯t tell what it was that he felt, but he knew that his body was ready. So, with one last heave, he shoved every bit of ethera out. And the results of that expulsion mingled with the incredibly dense ethera, solidifying a second later. After that, Elijah¡¯s body was rebuilt, one cell at a time. The metamorphosis he¡¯d experienced upon reaching the Body of Wood stage had been transformative, curing him of his cancer and expelling all sorts of impurities. However, the next stage was a qualitative leap forward. It wasn¡¯t just perfecting what was already there. Instead, it was pushing past the limits of humanity and into something else. He knew all of this from the guides he¡¯d bought, but feeling it happening was something else altogether. Elijah had no idea how long he remained in that cocoon of solid ethera, and if he was honest, he didn¡¯t really care. He was too busy reveling in the process, which was agonizing, transformative, and edifying, all at once. It was as if he¡¯d reached physical enlightenment. Yet, as high of a peak as he¡¯d reached, he could now see just how far he had to go. Then, suddenly, it was over. The end began with a simple crack, no bigger than a hair, but it slowly spread until great sheets of solidified ethera sloughed off of the cocoon. They dissolved the moment they broke away, so when Elijah finally broke free, there was no evidence of the chrysalis. Except for the naked man floating in the center of the cave. Or the fact that all the vegetation and animal life that he¡¯d so arduously nurtured to fruition had died, dissolved and used for fuel. Now, all that remained of what had once been was a thick layer of silt at the bottom of the cave. However, Elijah was not distressed at that fact. Death was a part of any circle of life, and he could feel the dense life energy blanketing the cave¡¯s floor. From that would spring a new cycle, stronger than ever before. But for now, Elijah was only concerned with the notification he¡¯d received:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Body of Stone.
After reading that notification, he could only wonder how long he¡¯d been in the cave. It had felt like only a few minutes, but as he¡¯d discovered in the past, his perception was always a bit skewed while he cultivated. In any case, he¡¯d done it. He had achieved the next step. Now, he only needed to take care of a few errands, and he could finally get down to completing his quest to evolve Ancestral Circle. Then, he would resume his search for his sister. As he floated in that underwater cave, though, Elijah let himself bask in his achievement. 3-19. The Importance of Goals For a long time, Elijah just floated in the cave. As he gently swayed back and forth with the weak current, he reveled in the feeling of his Body of Stone. He¡¯d only progressed an hour or so ago, and yet, he could already feel more of a difference than he¡¯d felt when he¡¯d taken the first step on the path of body cultivation. That initial stage had cured his cancer while also acting as a multiplier on his physical attributes. Progression to the Body of Stone stage came with a similar increase, though it was far more noticeable. Even when he was nearly weightless, he could feel the Strength surging through him. If he had described the previous stage¡¯s multiplicative effect as making him half-again as strong, then the second step doubled that. He was still dependent on his actual attributes, but those numbers now counted for even more. And according to Nerthus, as well as the single guide to cultivation he¡¯d found, progression now increased his life span. Though the actual degree to which that was expressed was dependent on species as well as attributes and other categories of cultivation, it wasn¡¯t uncommon for Body of Stone to come with a lifespan that was twice as long as the base. Each subsequent step was supposed to be even more dramatic, meaning that if he could take a few more steps, he could live for thousands of years. Which was unfathomable. For all that he could understand those numbers, actually conceptualizing a life spanning for thousands of years was difficult. After all, the pace of human development meant that the entire world could be transformed in a few hundred years. So, what would Earth look like in a thousand? Two thousand? Elijah¡¯s imagination wasn¡¯t up to that sort of prediction. But as someone who¡¯d, only a few years before, made peace with the fact that he would soon die, Elijah would take any extra years he could get. And if that meant seeing a rapidly transformed world, then so be it. After all, Elijah had already seen how quickly Ironshore had developed, so he suspected that there were places in other parts of the world that could match that pace. Maybe Seattle was one of them. Elijah could only hope. And now that he¡¯d accomplished his goals for the moment, it was time to resume his long-delayed search for his sister. Of course, he¡¯d kept an eye on Carmen¡¯s name on the power rankings, and though he¡¯d watched it bounce on and off the list, Elijah took solace in the assumption that she was still alive. Because if she had survived, then so too had Alyssa. Elijah was well aware of the flaws in his reasoning. There were a host of issues, and they weren¡¯t limited to the fact that Carmen Rodriguez was an incredibly common name. There was no guarantee that the Carmen whose name he was tracking on the power rankings was even his sister-in-law. But he chose to believe it was, just like he chose to focus on how that might relate to his sister¡¯s survival. And his nephew¡¯s. It was one of the only things keeping him sane. Eventually, Elijah moved on from that, then swam toward the tunnel. He intended to embark on his quest immediately, but he knew that after what he¡¯d done to the cave¡¯s environment, he needed to spend a little time setting things right. So, despite his desire to immediately set out for Seattle, he spent the next few hours transplanting sea life into the cave. Then, he remained behind for an additional day while he continuously used Nature¡¯s Bounty. As he did, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from repeatedly checking his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 56
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 67
Dexterity 59
Constitution 57
Ethera 65
Regeneration 59
Attunement Nature This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
If he hadn¡¯t been so hard on the cave, he might¡¯ve attempted to advance his Soul cultivation as well. He hadn¡¯t studied that very much, but he knew that it required him to reform the pathways of his soul in a very specific way. The problem was that that pattern was based on his archetype, which meant that he had no guidance in how to accomplish that feat. He¡¯d asked Nerthus about it, but the tree spirit was just as ignorant. So, Elijah could only hope that he would muddle through it, find an appropriate guide in the Knowledge Base, or meet someone who could point him in the right direction. The first sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. The second seemed unlikely after Elijah¡¯s search had so far proved fruitless. And the last was just as implausible, given the paucity of Druids, much less Animists. So, he was at a bit of a loss on how to proceed. Yet, Elijah had done well enough so far, so he had to expect that he¡¯d eventually figure it out. Or not. In which case he would focus on other means of growing his power. Part of that was because he knew he¡¯d need as much strength as possible in the new world. He had no interest in ruling over anyone, but he also wanted to retain his own freedom. Elijah needed to believe that humanity would pull together and work toward a common benefit, but he was enough of a realist to understand that there would be those who chose to oppress anyone weaker than them. The solution to that ¨C at least in terms of Elijah¡¯s continued freedom ¨C was to be so strong that no one could force him to do anything. However, that was only part of why Elijah wanted to continue getting stronger. The second part was both more ephemeral and far more understandable. He enjoyed it. There was something about the continued ability to overcome obstacles in his path that had proved to be addictive. Meeting goals was similarly habit-forming. And the strength itself was addictive in its own right. Of course, there was a love of adventure and exploration that drove him as well. And finally, he couldn¡¯t deny the rush he felt when he saved someone. Whether it was via healing people like he had in Norcastle, saving someone like he had with Artemis outside Argos, or coming to Ironshore¡¯s aid ¨C whether they appreciated it or not ¨C Elijah liked knowing that he¡¯d done the right thing. It was similar to why some people gave to charity. Sure, there was a selflessness to it, and that was to be lauded. Yet, there was a selfishness there as well. People liked the feeling of helping others. And Elijah was no different. As far as he was concerned, that was the best expression of selfishness in which one could engage. In the end, it all coalesced into a reality where Elijah had no intention of stopping. In fact, everything he¡¯d read in his guides made him want to keep going as far as possible. He knew he wouldn¡¯t reach the top. Few did. In fact, that wasn¡¯t even adequate in expressing how rare it was. It wasn¡¯t one in a million. Or a billion. Even trillions. Quadrillions ¨C or more ¨C people attempted it, and only the best even made it to Ascendent. There were three more steps ¨C and almost nine-hundred levels ¨C just to reach Transcendent. And it didn¡¯t stop there, even if there was no information on it. So, Elijah knew he wouldn¡¯t get to that point. Still, if he could make it to Ascendent ¨C or Demigod, even ¨C he would count that as a worthy accomplishment. Not that he could think of such things at the moment. He wasn¡¯t even halfway through the Mortal realm, so any thoughts of going higher than that were the epitome of prematurity. Still, goals were important. Some needed to be immediate ¨C like his resolution to repopulate the cave. Others, like his quest to reunite with Alyssa, were more long-term. But it was nice to have an overarching and far-reaching goal towards which he could work. In any event, Elijah occupied himself with those thoughts as he pushed the transplanted flora to take root in the cave. And to his surprise, it did so quickly and with unexpected verve. Using One with Nature, Elijah discovered the reason ¨C the plants that had been destroyed during his push to Body of Stone hadn¡¯t just dissolved. Instead, they¡¯d been absorbed into the silt, which would provide an incredible base from which the plants could sprout. The result was that his cultivation cave would only grow stronger in the coming months ¨C a good thing, considering his needs. So it happened that, a few days after he¡¯d completed his cultivation goal, he emerged from the cave and headed inland. When he reached the grove, he found that Nerthus had already begun work on the house intended for his sister and her family. It still had a long way to go, but that was fine. Even if he found them sooner rather than later, they could always stay in his house. He would even welcome it, after a fashion. Once he¡¯d taken a few hours to compose himself, Elijah set about testing his Body of Stone, and after spending a few hours lifting increasingly heavy rocks, he could only conclude that his previous estimates were in the right ballpark. Without measured weights, he couldn¡¯t be certain, but he did know that rocks that he¡¯d once struggled to lift were now a breeze to handle. If he had to guess, he would have put himself firmly in the superhuman territory. Sure, he wasn¡¯t Superman or the Hulk, but he felt certain that he could give someone like Spider-Man a run for his money. Or maybe not. It had been years since he¡¯d read any comic books, and the movies were all so inconsistent with character strength that using that as a measurement was largely pointless. Regardless, Elijah was stronger than any human had a right to be, and that was as satisfying a judgment as he could rightly give. After testing his endurance, speed, and coordination, he found similar results. Still, he continued like that well past dark as he accustomed himself to his newly inflated power. Eventually, though, Elijah made his way back to the grove, where he once again bathed with his rejuvenating soap and went to sleep. It was the last time he would do so in a bed for a while, so he wanted to get his money¡¯s worth out of it. He slept well past sunrise, and when he rose, he took a while to enjoy a cup of tea and a breakfast of freshly caught fish. The meal took him back to the days when he¡¯d lived off crab and fish, which, through the lens of nostalgia, he looked upon far more favorably than he¡¯d have ever expected. Soon enough, though, he ran out of reasons to delay. So, after spending a little time talking with Nerthus ¨C after all, the tree spirit had to get lonely out there all by himself ¨C Elijah headed to the beach, hopped into one of his last three remaining boats, and began the journey across the strait. The trip was uneventful, save for a brief brush with a curious whale. Elijah stopped for a while and patted the enormous creature¡¯s back. It liked that, and Elijah had to admit that he did as well. When he¡¯d first embarked on his career as a marine biologist, he¡¯d harbored expectations of working with whales and dolphins. In the end, he¡¯d studied marine bacteria, but he¡¯d never lost his fascination with the huge mammals. Eventually, though, the whale lost interest and headed to deeper waters. Elijah watched it go, feeling a deep sense of connection that he often ignored. From what he understood, most people thought of forests and furry animals when they heard the term Druid. Yet, he felt just as poignant a connection with the sea as he did with any forest. Maybe even more so. And after spending so much time underwater of late, it had only grown stronger. One day, he would have to explore the deep places of the world and see what wonders they had to offer. But not yet. He still needed to find Alyssa. And before that, he had to stop in Ironshore. So, with some regret, Elijah continued his trip across the strait, docking not much later. When he did, he noticed that the fear had returned to the city. Despite everything he¡¯d done for the people of Ironshore, they were terrified of him. That was better than ire, he supposed, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they¡¯d ever accept him. Not that he could do anything about that. In any case, Elijah set off across the city, intending to complete his errands as quickly as possible before continuing his quest to find his sister. 3-20. Cloak of the Iron Bear Ironshore was a bustling town, though its population was low enough that it often seemed a lot sleepier than it really was. Still, there were enough wary glances aimed at Elijah that his trip through the city felt claustrophobic in a way that had nothing to do with tight quarters. So, he was more than a little relieved when he arrived at his first destination, which was the central government building where Ramik kept his office. The lobby was much the same as always, with a floor of white ceramic tiles, in the center of which was the crest of the Green Mountain Mining Guild that had apparently financed the operation. It consisted of a single peak, surrounded by a circle of iron. Elijah had seen it often enough that he barely paid it any heed as he crossed the lobby and mounted the stairs on his way to Ramik¡¯s office. When he arrived, he found that someone had preceded him with news that he was coming, because Ramik greeted him at the door, offering a long-fingered, green hand. Elijah took it, shaking it firmly as Ramik said, ¡°You seem different. You must have needed the rest your island could provide.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Yeah. Something like that,¡± he said. ¡°Can we talk? In private, I mean.¡± ¡°Certainly,¡± Ramik said. ¡°I was just finishing up when a runner brought word of your arrival. Come in!¡± Elijah followed the dapper goblin inside, where he found Carisa, the dwarven leader of the mining expedition. Like all dwarves, she was around four feet tall and stout, with a blunt-featured face and a mane of red hair that set her apart from even her own people. She smiled broadly upon seeing Elijah, and she too offered her hand. When Elijah shook it, he couldn¡¯t help but note that her grip was far stronger ¨C and rougher ¨C than Ramik¡¯s. She was a woman who worked with her hands, while Ramik clearly specialized in administration. As befit their positions within the town, Elijah thought. ¡°Sit, sit!¡± Ramik said, gesturing to one of a pair of chairs on the near side of a big desk made of cherry wood. It was ornately carved, and even though it smacked of age, it smelled like the forest to Elijah. The chairs were made from the same material, though they sported colorful cushions. As Elijah took a seat, Ramik asked, ¡°Can I get you a drink? We¡¯ve made some headway in our distillery, and the results are quite good. Not the best, mind you. Even if we¡¯d nailed down the recipe, truly good whiskey requires quite a lot of aging. But in a few decades, we might be able to make something better than passable!¡± ¡°No thanks,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You seem like you¡¯re in a good mood.¡± ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I be? The orcish horde has been defeated, and we¡¯re coming back stronger than ever!¡± ¡°Plus, we found a deposit of blood tin in the mines,¡± said Carisa with a smug smile. ¡°Just like I predicted.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t predict blood tin,¡± said Ramik. ¡°Well, no. Not blood tin specifically. But I knew there was something down there!¡± Carisa countered. ¡°If we can find some sun copper, we can make vampiric bronze. Think of it! And you know sun copper is a lot more common than blood tin.¡± ¡°Would be better if we found divine tin,¡± Ramik countered. ¡°On the frontier? There¡¯s no chance!¡± ¡°I¡¯m only teasing,¡± Ramik said with a subtle smile. ¡°You¡¯ve done a phenomenal job. Truly, this will be quite a boon to our economy. We may even want to branch out and send merchants to other cities.¡± ¡°I thought you had to send everything back to your guild or something,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Oh, no. Not at all. The fees for something like that would bankrupt this operation within a day! We¡¯re only taxed until we reach the end of our contract. After that, we will be completely independent,¡± Ramik said. Then, he went on to explain that that was one of the benefits of a Branch ¨C and the reason they were given one to import. It gave them the ability to transfer ethereum to their sponsor¡¯s headquarters. In return, the Green Mountain Mining Guild financed the founding of the town. ¡°So far, we¡¯ve only barely kept our heads above water, but with this discovery, we should be able to start growing. Especially if we can establish trade relations with other settlements.¡± ¡°I could probably help with that,¡± Elijah offered. ¡°Not with the people part. I can guide someone to the two other settlements I found.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve explored the region?¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. Only a few hundred miles,¡± Elijah said. He might¡¯ve gone a bit further than that implied, but it was difficult to keep track of that kind of thing. ¡°I found two other cities. One¡¯s only a couple of weeks away, but the other is quite a lot further. Maybe two months? Distance is difficult to gauge.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± said the goblin, tapping his lip. ¡°We will have to do it eventually. Ironshore is self-sufficient, but we will never pay our debts unless we branch out.¡± After that, Elijah and Ramik established the groundwork for how they were going to tackle the issue. For Elijah, it wouldn¡¯t really put him out, so he had no objections to leading someone to Norcastle. After that, he intended to go much faster, so that was where his guidance would end. That was perfectly acceptable to Ramik. ¡°So, do you expect me to do this for free?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because I did that before, and it got me a knife in the back for my trouble.¡± ¡°Ssethik was not ¨C¡± ¡°I know you had nothing to do with it. But it put things into perspective,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t think the people here are ever going to really accept me. Hopefully I¡¯m wrong, but I just don¡¯t see it right now. So, I¡¯ve done everything I intend to do for free.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°What do you want?¡± Ramik asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe some of that ore you were bragging about,¡± he said. ¡°Not much. Just enough for personal use.¡± Ramik hesitated for a moment, but Carisa cut him off. ¡°That ain¡¯t unreasonable,¡± she said. ¡°Say, a fifty pounds?¡± When Ramik objected ¨C more to Carisa¡¯s interjection to the content of the deal ¨C she pointed out that the mine and its output was within her purview. As such, she had the authority to make the deal. After that, it was just a matter of negotiation. Elijah had no context for what blood tin was worth, but he reasoned that more was better. So, he managed to increase his payment to sixty-five pounds, to be delivered after he led someone to Norcastle. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t required to make a return trip. ¡°And I don¡¯t think I need to point out that if someone lands on my island, they¡¯d better be ready for a fight,¡± he said once the negotiations had concluded. ¡°It is not undefended.¡± They both insisted that they had no intention of going there uninvited, and what¡¯s more, they assured Elijah that they wouldn¡¯t spread the news of his absence. That was just about as much as he could expect, so he left it at that. In the meantime, he went by the Branch to withdraw some ethereum for the trip, then headed to his most anticipated destination. He''d given Mari plenty of time to complete his cloak, and he was more than eager to see the result. So, it was with some degree of expectation that he entered her shop. Fortunately, there were no judgmental customers or precocious children around, so he was able to get Mari¡¯s attention straightaway. She greeted him with a subdued, ¡°Hello. I was beginning to wonder if you¡¯d forgotten about your order.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been busy,¡± Elijah said apologetically. ¡°Island upkeep, you know? Anyone who tells you that owning an island is hard work is probably trying to sell you something.¡± She didn¡¯t even crack a smile, prompting Elijah to mutter, ¡°Tough crowd.¡± ¡°In any event, I completed work on your commission almost a week ago. Would you like to inspect the item?¡± Mari asked. ¡°Of course!¡± Elijah said a little too enthusiastically. She just looked at him with that same expression of tired disapproval. Pointedly, her eyes flicked to his bare feet, which only deepened that demeanor. Then, she just shook her head and disappeared through the door at the back of her shop. That left Elijah to peruse her other goods. As always, everything was sized to fit much smaller people, so he predictably found nothing that would work for him. Not that he needed a larger wardrobe, of course. Fortunately, his clothes transformed right along with him when he took on one of his other shapes, which had saved him a lot of trouble. Briefly, he imagined Bruce Banner ripping through shirts as he transformed into the Incredible Hulk, which made him thankful that he didn¡¯t have to invest in implausibly stretchy purple shorts. He was admiring the stitching on a goblin-sized suit when Mari finally returned carrying what looked like a bundle of brown fur. She set it on the counter and announced, ¡°It turned out much better than I expected.¡± ¡°Grade?¡± asked Elijah, straightening to his full height. Thankfully, the ceilings were of a height to accommodate his taller figure. If it had been dwarf ¨C or worse, goblin or gnome ¨C sized, he would¡¯ve had to stoop. ¡°Low Complex.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t lie, boy,¡± she said. ¡°The leap from Simple to Complex isn¡¯t as dramatic as it is from Complex to Sophisticated, but it is still the best item I have ever crafted.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Are you going to question my every statement?¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry. I¡¯m just surprised is all,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I thought you would have created much better items, for some reason.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t understand crafting,¡± she pointed out, which was a fair assessment. Elijah liked to dabble in item creation, but his archetype and class were ill-suited to the endeavor. That he¡¯d had as much success as he¡¯d enjoyed was due to a variety of factors, but mostly, it was because of the grove and its dense ethera. Without that, he wouldn¡¯t have been nearly so successful. ¡°Do you think high-quality materials are made available to someone like me? No. That¡¯s why I came here. On the frontier, there are far more opportunities.¡± ¡°I guess I could see that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So¡­what¡¯s with the cloak? You said it¡¯s Complex-Grade? What does that mean in practical terms?¡± ¡°It is far more durable than a Simple-Grade item,¡± she said. ¡°It would take a concerted effort to destroy that cloak. In addition, it has two abilities associated with it. The first is called Temperate, and it will protect you from extreme temperatures. Wearing that cloak, you could be stranded in the most frigid tundra on this world, and you wouldn¡¯t feel more than slightly uncomfortable. The same goes for scorching deserts.¡± ¡°Nice,¡± Elijah said, though he was a little disappointed. It was a useful trait, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as flashy as some of his equipment. ¡°What¡¯s the other one?¡± ¡°It¡¯s called Cold-Blooded,¡± she answered. ¡°In normal temperatures, the cloak will provide a modest boost to your physical attributes. However, the colder it gets, the more dramatic the increase.¡± ¡°Where does it top out?¡± ¡°In temperatures native to this world? It could reach as high as fifteen points to each attribute. No more than twenty.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but grin. Now that was more like what he had expected. ¡°What¡¯s it called?¡± ¡°Cloak of the Iron Bear,¡± Mari answered, handing him the bundle of fur. Elijah took it, then let it unfurl. For a moment, he was lost in nostalgia and grief as he looked at the soft, brown fur. That had once been a living creature. A noble animal that had only wanted to guard its natural treasure. And now it was a piece of clothing. ¡°Are you displeased?¡± asked Mari. Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. Just remembering a friend,¡± he said. The moment the words left his mouth, he had to remind himself that they were false. The bear hadn¡¯t been a friend. It had barely tolerated his presence. Any other impression was the result of his psychological issues as well as the rose-colored lens of nostalgia. ¡°Thanks, Mari. You outdid yourself.¡± With that, he drew his knife and pricked his finger. After smearing a bit of blood onto the fur, he injected some of his ethera into the cloak, binding it to him. Then, he slung it over his shoulders, fastening it into place with a pair of silver clasps that had been molded into the shape of a bear¡¯s head. After that, the two settled their accounts, and Mari told him not to hesitate before bringing him any other interesting bits of hide or cloth he found. He nodded along, then excused himself. With his new cloak draped over his shoulders, Elijah set about completing his other tasks. First, he went to the town¡¯s largest general store, where he bought traveling supplies like rations, a couple of pots, and a sack of tea leaves so he could enjoy a taste of caffeine each morning. He also purchased some salt, pepper, and a couple of other interesting spices. Now that he had money and availability on his side, Elijah had no intentions of ever eating bland meals again. Next, he headed to the barber to get his hair and beard wrangled into something approaching order before finally sharing a meal with Ramik and Carissa. This time, they chose a more intimate dining experience at what seemed a much more upscale restaurant. Elijah ate venison that had been doused in some sort of spicy gravy, and for the first time in quite a while, he had some bread smeared with honey butter. That made the entire meal worth it. Finally, now that Elijah was as prepared as possible, he set out for where he was supposed to meet the person he was intended to lead to Norcastle. As it turned out, Elijah was happy to find that that person was Kurik. So, he was in good spirits as they set off for the pass that would allow them to bypass the towering mountains. 3-21. On the Road Again ¡°Can¡¯t believe you fought that monster by yourself,¡± Kurik said, shaking his head as they strode through the pass where Elijah had once fought what he¡¯d since learned was a sovereign spider. Apparently, they were considered quite deadly, though Elijah was more concerned with the mixed feelings he¡¯d encountered upon seeing the aftermath of the battle. Most of it had grown over, and the largest spider had been harvested some time ago. Yet, the signs of the fight were still there in the overturned earth and the half-decayed webs that still coated much of the ground. Elijah¡¯s internal conflict originated with his own hypocrisy. He¡¯d once killed a group of hunters for murdering the bear whose very hide he now wore as a cloak, but not long before that, he¡¯d slaughtered the sovereign spider without a hint of remorse or hesitation. At the time, he¡¯d fooled himself into believing it had been necessary, but he knew that wasn¡¯t true. After he¡¯d injured the spider and killed its children, he could have continued on his way unmolested. Instead, he¡¯d stalked it to a cave and finished it off. That, in turn, had allowed the orcs free passage through the mountains, which had not ended well for anyone involved. Elijah wasn¡¯t so deluded as to believe the invasion was his fault. It wasn¡¯t. The orcs would have killed the spider themselves if Elijah hadn¡¯t. But at the same time, that would have undoubtedly thinned the horde a little. So, at least some of Ironshore¡¯s blood was on his hands. ¡°What did you do with the body?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Butchered it. A good bit was already rotten, but we got a fair share,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Biggle¡¯s puttin¡¯ together some body cultivation potions with it.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said, wondering if the potions he¡¯d used had used the sovereign spider¡¯s corpse as one of their ingredients. After that, the pair lapsed into comfortable silence. Elijah wasn¡¯t antisocial by nature. Or he hadn¡¯t been before the world had changed. However, spending years alone on his island had fostered a certain aversion to too much civilization, and he¡¯d yet to tear himself free of that attitude. Likely, he never would. So, as much as he enjoyed brief periods of socialization, it never took him long to reach the limits of his patience. When that happened, the wilderness seemed even more enticing than ever. So, Elijah appreciated the opportunity to travel to Norcastle with someone whose attitude mirrored his own. In any case, he and Kurik traveled in companionable silence until they reached the termination of the pass. Once there, Elijah stopped and said, ¡°Do you want to swing by where I saw the orcs? Just to make sure they¡¯re not back?¡± Kurik shrugged. ¡°Might as well,¡± he drawled. ¡°We checked it before, but ain¡¯t no harm in doublin¡¯ up, if you know what I mean.¡± After that, the two headed towards the abandoned Wal-Mart where Elijah had first encountered the orcs. Back then, he¡¯d chosen to leave them be, completely ignorant of how much of a problem they represented. Even then, they were too many for him to fight alone, but still, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he should have made an effort. After all, Elijah had proven that he was at least fairly skilled at guerilla tactics, so it wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility that he could have at least decreased their numbers enough to make the following invasion a much less serious issue. But hindsight was useless, except to learn from his mistakes and apply those lessons to future problems. So, he tucked that information away and focused on the present. Gradually, Elijah and Kurik made their way across the landscape. Each time they passed a relic of the old world ¨C whether it was an old gas station, someone¡¯s home, or some other abandoned building ¨C Elijah took the time to explain the history to Kurik. For his part, the dwarven scout seemed fairly interested, especially in cars. After seeing a large eighteen-wheeler that had been abandoned on the side of a strip of highway, Kurik said, ¡°We got transports back home, too. They use ethera, but I always found ¡®em interestin¡¯. My da always said I missed my true callin¡¯. Shoulda been a teamster, he¡¯d say. Noble profession, that. Requires quick reflexes.¡± ¡°The drivers were important here, too. Without them, the whole world would¡¯ve come to a grinding halt. People would have starved.¡± ¡°Interestin¡¯.¡± Then, they moved on, though Kurik showed incredible interest in all the varieties of automobiles they passed. He also found the abandoned buildings intriguing, but only for whatever resources they might offer. Each time they found anyplace that hadn¡¯t been picked clean, Kurik marked the location on the map he¡¯d started drawing the moment they¡¯d passed through to the other side of the mountains. They also encountered a few Voxx, though none so strong that the creatures would give either Elijah or Kurik any trouble. Still, it was a nice source of experience for the dwarven scout, who actually gained a level along the way. For his part, Elijah felt that it would take quite a bit more than a few scattered Voxx to send him to level fifty-seven. But that was fine ¨C he was still in the top ten on the power rankings, which meant that he was one of the strongest people on Earth. And given how difficult it had been to advance his cultivation ¨C especially attaining the Dragon Core as well as the Body of Stone ¨C he expected that he had a leg up on everyone else that had nothing to do with raw levels. Though, there was every chance that the top performers would have experienced similar advantageous encounters, so Elijah tried to keep those sorts of useless assumptions in the back of his mind where they wouldn¡¯t affect his actions. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Eventually, they reached their first destination, which was the abandoned Wal-Mart. In some ways, it looked much the same as it had when he¡¯d last seen it. The structure was still intact, and the parking lot still hadn¡¯t been overtaken by the surrounding forest. However, a musty smell that Elijah had learned to associate with orcs hung over the entire area. ¡°Are you sure you got them all?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Pretty sure,¡± said the scout, unhooking his axe from the loop at his belt. ¡°Only way to be certain, though.¡± Elijah shrugged. Then, without any further hesitation, he embraced Shape of the Predator, adopting his draconid form. ¡°Won¡¯t never get used to that,¡± muttered Kurik with a shiver. ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah, his voice coming out in a low growl that gave anything he said an aggressive tilt. ¡°You don¡¯t know how unnervin¡¯ you look,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°Ain¡¯t nobody can see that and not think of dragons. And any thought that strays into that territory sends a shiver up even the bravest spine.¡± ¡°Huh.¡± Elijah knew dragons were, in a lot of ways, at the top of the universal food chain. According to everything he¡¯d learned from Nerthus ¨C as well as the few guides he¡¯d bought ¨C dragons were an elder race. However, seeing that in a guide was one thing. Seeing it in his friend¡¯s reaction was something else altogether. ¡°I¡¯ll go first. You want to stay out here? Or you coming with?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you. Don¡¯t go sneaky on me.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯m not doing it in this form,¡± he said, embracing Shape of the Guardian and growing into the form of the lamellar ape. ¡°There. Much safer.¡± Kurik just shook his head. Rather than repeat their previous conversation, Elijah loped ahead, crossing the parking lot and ducking through the opening that had once been the building¡¯s entrance. Before the world had transformed, it had been glass, but now, it was guarded only by a sheet of leather that had been stitched together from a dozen hides. The orcs were no leatherworkers, though, and the hides had not been cured. So, after months of neglect, they were mostly rotted and smelled terrible. Elijah ignored that as he pushed through the entrance and looked around. There were still plenty of remnants of the old world present. The checkout counters remained in place, and Elijah recognized the produce section as well as what had once been a deli. However, the aisles had been dismantled and repurposed to create a series of primitive structures that must have been the orcs¡¯ domiciles. That suggested a level of development Elijah didn¡¯t want to consider. Instead, he preferred to think of them as animals who¡¯d piled together for warmth and security. That they¡¯d managed to build even the crude and primitive structures inside the Wal-Mart was enough to make Elijah nauseous. He¡¯d killed hundreds of them. If they were slavering beasts, that was fine. He could accept that. But if they were people, even ones who¡¯d firmly established themselves as the enemy, it would necessitate a completely different sort of feeling. Was it guilt, precisely? No. But it wasn¡¯t not-guilt, either. Whatever it was, Elijah didn¡¯t want to think about it. So, he focused on the task at hand, and he led Kurik through the Wal-Mart as they searched for any remaining orcs. They found none, though Elijah did get an impromptu lesson on orcish reproduction. ¡°They lay eggs?¡± ¡°Sort of. It¡¯s more like they have an ability that lets them manifest these pods. The orcs claw their way out once they¡¯ve reached maturity,¡± Kurik explained, nodding to the still-gooey pods. To Elijah, they looked like terrestrial fish eggs, though that wasn¡¯t altogether accurate, either. In fact, there was nothing Elijah had seen outside of a movie that could adequately compare to the orc¡¯s reproduction pods. ¡°They look like the pods from the Matrix combined with the eggs from Alien,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°What?¡± Kurik asked. Then, Elijah went down a tangent where he tried to explain movies to Kurik. Apparently, the concept of plays was not alien to him or the rest of the universe, so he understood it well enough. Still, Elijah vowed to hunt down a television and DVD player, as well as a means of producing electricity so he could show his friend the glory of film. ¡°I think we should burn it,¡± Elijah said after that conversation petered out. ¡°Not a bad idea,¡± Kurik agreed. After that, they spent far more time than either intended carting armfuls of wood into the building. It ended up taking nearly three days of constant work to finish, but when they did, they set the whole thing ablaze. Fortunately, there was little chance of the fire spreading, what with it being surrounded by acres of concrete, so they watched the orcish settlement burn without worry. And Elijah had to admit that he felt some degree of satisfaction that had nothing to do with orcs. After all, Wal-Mart, for all its convenience, was representative of everything that had been wrong with the old world. So, watching it burn felt cathartic in a way Elijah didn¡¯t really want to examine. A day later, Elijah and Kurik were back on the proverbial road. Their journey continued unimpeded until, at last, they reached the edge of the forest. In the distance, Elijah could see the city of Norcastle, which looked much the same as it did the last time he¡¯d visited. ¡°Are you comin¡¯?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to it,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Last time I was here, I didn¡¯t leave on the best terms. Probably best if I make myself scarce. When you get to the gate, ask for Captain Essex. He¡¯s a decent man, and he¡¯ll introduce you to whoever you need to see about a trade alliance.¡± ¡°Aight, then,¡± Kurik said. He extended his hand, and Elijah grasped it. As they shook, Kurik said, ¡°Easiest trip through the wilderness I ever had. Normally, beasts are more of a problem.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Guess I¡¯m a lucky charm. Be careful. I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll attack you on sight, but you never know. Humans are touchy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You say that like you ain¡¯t one.¡± ¡°What can I say? I know my people,¡± he said. After that, the pair parted ways, and Elijah shifted into his draconid form before setting off for Argos. He hadn¡¯t forgotten the spell evolution quest for Ancestral Circle, but he wasn¡¯t going to waste it by building a dolmen in Norcastle. For one, it was too close to his grove for what he had planned. For another, his experiences in Norcastle had left a bad taste in his mouth, and for now, he intended to avoid the place. Perhaps that would change sometime in the future, but Elijah wasn¡¯t eager to reach that point. Argos, though, was far enough away that he wouldn¡¯t consider it a waste to create a dolmen there. Besides, he had a much better impression of the formerly Greek city. So, it was with some eagerness that he sped across the terrain. 3-22. Breadcrumbs Thor leaped backwards, fending off the Voxxian monster with his spear. At the same time, he used Ancestor¡¯s Torpor, and a translucent spirit climbed out of the ground and wrapped itself around creature. From experience, he knew it was only visible to him, but the effects would be keenly felt by any enemy:
Ancestor¡¯s Torpor Summon an ancestral spirit that saps the Strength and Dexterity of your enemy. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 19 seconds.
The monster stumbled, giving Thor the distance he needed to bring his next ability to bear when he raised one hand and called down yet another ancestral spirit. This one was much larger than the one associated with Ancestor¡¯s Torpor, and it was plainly meant for battle.
Ancestral Champion Summon an ancestral spirit for a single mighty strike.
The spirit descended upon the monster¡¯s back, jabbing an elaborate spear through its body. It let out an unholy screech, but Thor knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. So, he directed his mana into Fury of the Stalker, and the blade of his spear erupted into red energy. At the same time, he embraced Survival of the Fittest, enhancing his attributes far beyond his normal power. Then, while the monster was still reeling from Ancestral Torpor and the spiritual attack, Thor bounded forward ramming his tasseled spear into the creature¡¯s neck. Scales parted beneath the sharp blade, and blood spurted. Still, the durable creature didn¡¯t die. Indeed, it mustered its remaining strength and launched itself at Thor. But he was already gone, having used Mirror Trap.
Mirror Trap Channel the power of your ancestors to create an illusory copy. At the same time, you will appear at the enemy¡¯s rear, unseen and unnoticed.
The monster never even realized that the spear in its neck had disappeared. Instead, it was too furious to realize that it had been duped. It slashed forward with its claws, swiping ineffectually through Thor¡¯s illusion. It stumbled, off-balance and wounded. That¡¯s when Thor struck, once again using Survival of the Fittest and Fury of the Stalker to enhance his next attack. It bit deep into the unbalanced monster¡¯s spine, severing its connection to the lower half of its body. It flopped onto its belly, where it furiously clawed against the unnatural black rock in an attempt to flip itself around. Thor didn¡¯t immediately kill it, though with its lack of mobility, that would have been easy enough. Instead, he circled the monster, his spear held loosely in one bloody hand. The battle had stretched his capability, and he bore more than a few wounds. Yet, after fighting six waves of increasingly dangerous Voxxian monsters, he was the only one still standing. As was proper. ¡°You thought yourself my equal,¡± he said, looking down on the fallen creature. It truly was an ugly beast. All blue-green scales and ridges and too many limbs. Yet, there was a deadly grace to it, too. An efficiency of design that brought to mind true predation. It had been a worthy foe. Thor glanced at the other monsters he¡¯d defeated. Tens of creatures, all dead. Just like every other enemy he¡¯d ever faced. Because Thor did not lose. That had been true before the world¡¯s transformation, and it remained the case after everything had changed. He¡¯d begun to wonder if there were any true challenges out there for him. But that was before he¡¯d been tasked with hunting the so-called Druid. Without any real information as to the man¡¯s location, he¡¯d been forced to rely on Hunt of the Ancestors, which was, even in the best-case scenario, vague. As a result, he felt like he was running in circles trying to track the Druid down. After leaving the elven town behind, he¡¯d trekked through the wilderness for weeks, enduring all the hardships that travel through the wild places of the world entailed. Barely a day had gone by when he hadn¡¯t been attacked by one beast or another, and though he could endure such minor inconveniences, there had been a few times when he¡¯d been forced to use every tool in his kit to avoid becoming some animal¡¯s supper. And though Thor reveled in winning each battle, he vastly preferred being the hunter as opposed to the hunted. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. So, it was with mixed feelings that he¡¯d entered the minor dimensional rift. There was a part of him that wanted to bypass the thing. Certainly, it would continue to corrupt the surrounding area, but that wasn¡¯t his problem to solve. Yet, he knew precisely how beneficial such circumstances could be. Not only would conquering such a rift give him experience ¨C which, at his level, was hard to come by ¨C but they routinely gave other benefits as well. In the end, that selfishness was what pushed him to enter the rift. And now, he only needed to finish the monster off, and he would be able to continue his quest to hunt the Druid. To that end, he stepped forward, raised his spear, and stabbed the struggling creature in the chest. For all that they were alien, the Voxx still had all the right organs and in all the proper places. So, piercing its heart was easy enough for the experienced hunter. After that, the monster only lasted a few more seconds before its life faded. Only a moment after that, Thor found the reward box. He¡¯d conquered enough rifts that he wasn¡¯t surprised at the silver box¡¯s sudden appearance, and he wasted no time before opening it and collecting the reward ¨C an attribute potion that he downed only a moment later, giving him two extra points with which he could accentuate his attributes. He chose to allocate them into Dexterity. Then, he looked to his wounds. He¡¯d bought some alchemically treated bandages back in what was left of Oslo, but they were only marginally better than his natural healing. Still, he wasn¡¯t about to traverse the wilderness with open wounds. So, he took quite some time to sew his wounds and wrap them in those treated bandages. Most of his injuries weren¡¯t serious, but there was a gash across his thigh that, in the old world, probably would have taken months to completely heal. However, with the bandages as well as his Regeneration, it would heal in a few days. Likely, it wouldn¡¯t even scar. Once Thor had finished treating his wounds, he left the rift behind. At one point, he¡¯d tried to harvest their tough scales with the intention of using the material for armor. However, the lifeless pieces began to decay the moment they interacted with Earth¡¯s atmosphere, making them worthless. The hulking man took a few minutes to settle himself, taking a couple of swigs of water from his Endless Canteen, then resumed his hunt as he followed the tendril of ethera associated with Ancestral Hunt. It was weak, but he could still follow it easily enough. So it went for the next two days, during which he was forced to fight a few more beasts. None of them gave more than a trickle of experience, but animal life in the new version of Earth was incredibly territorial. So, even if they had no chance of winning, they attacked without mercy. And if he wasn¡¯t careful, the collective weight of so many fights would eventually weigh him down. If that happened, he would eventually succumb. One fight wasn¡¯t dangerous. But twenty, all in a row? That was when things became much more serious. Still, Thor fought on, making steady but slow progress as he crossed the wilderness. And eventually, the tendril of ethera led him to a walled city. In the center was an ancient castle, but much of the surrounding architecture looked a little more modern. Regardless, all Thor was concerned with was the fact that Ancestral Hunt had led him directly to the city. So, he strode down to the town and to a gate he¡¯d spied from afar. When he reached it, his progress was blocked by two guards ¨C one a young male that looked like he still hadn¡¯t reached adulthood and a stout female wearing a helmet. The male said, ¡°State your business.¡± ¡°My name is Thor Gunderson. Remove yourself from my path or suffer the consequences.¡± ¡°Buddy, you¡¯re not ¨C¡± Thor struck, stabbing out with his spear so quickly that the young man never even had a chance to react. The woman, however, had quicker reflexes, and she responded by dragging her sword from the scabbard at her waist. But she was too slow to bring it to bear before Thor executed a thrust that took her in the chest. Her armor looked impressive enough, but it was entirely useless against Thor¡¯s Tribal Spear. The blade cut through the metallic breastplate with ease, piercing her chest and destroying her heart. Both guards fell. Thor took a quick look at their equipment, decided looting it was more trouble than it was worth, then strode into the city. As he did, a few of the townspeople looked at him with distinct fear, but no one else barred his path. Which was a good thing. Thor wasn¡¯t a monster. He didn¡¯t want to kill anyone unless it was necessary. However, his version of necessary was more than a little skewed. He refused to be delayed by some weakling. That was what Thor had discovered in the wake of Earth¡¯s transformation. Once, the world was ruled by institutional power that was backed up by military might. Those institutions took great pains to protect the weak. But now? The weak were even more useless than ever, and Thor had all the power. And without consequence to hinder him, he saw no reason to burden himself with their problems or cater to the demands they could never hope to enforce. Personal power was all that mattered. As he followed Ancestral Hunt through the city, people hurried out of his way. Some might have done so because they knew who he was. The power rankings were visible to everyone, after all. Or maybe they¡¯d heard what he had done to the guards. Whatever the case, no one seemed eager to get in his way. Even the other guards, who pretended they didn¡¯t even see him. They, better than anyone else, knew precisely how overmatched they would be in any fight. Eventually, Ancestral Hunt led Thor to a large, two-story building that was marked by a red cross. That meant it was likely a place of healing. However, just before he stepped up to the door, someone called from behind, ¡°Perhaps I could help you find something.¡± A wave of irritation slid through Thor¡¯s mind. Yet, he restrained himself. Due to the nature of Ancestral Hunt, he knew that his prey was not in the city. It was more like following the Druid¡¯s tracks, which meant he was chasing the man¡¯s past impact, rather than following him to his current location. As such, he¡¯d found that supplementing the spell with interrogation was usually beneficial. So, when he turned to see a slim, dignified, and older man standing before him, he took a moment to identify him with Hunter¡¯s Eye.
Name: Orville Essex Archetype: Warrior Level: 38
The man was not quite strong enough to be on the power ladder, yet Essex was no weakling. By contrast, Thor would have been surprised if the guards had even reached level thirty. Still, Essex was no threat to someone like Thor. ¡°A Druid came through this town,¡± he said. ¡°A man named Elijah Hart. I am hunting him. You will tell me everything you know of him, or I will lay waste to your town.¡± ¡°Do you believe you can do that?¡± asked Essex. Suddenly, Thor became aware of a dozen other guards, each with levels nearing Essex¡¯s. He dismissed them as inconsequential, saying, ¡°I do.¡± He could practically see the man¡¯s thought process. Even if they managed to subdue Thor ¨C practically an impossibility in and of itself ¨C they would not do so without significant casualties. That was the tyranny of personal strength. They could bring a hundred men, and Thor would almost assuredly still come out on top. And if he didn¡¯t, he would leave devastation in his wake. ¡°Very well. He came here and healed some of our citizens. Then, he conquered a nearby tower. After that, the mayor made the mistake of sending some people after him,¡± Essex explained. ¡°He killed them all?¡± ¡°No. He left in the night. I don¡¯t know which way he went.¡± ¡°He did not punish them?¡± asked Thor, incredulous. If it had been him in that situation, he would have slain the attackers as well as the mayor. Probably a good many citizens as well, just for good measure. ¡°He just left.¡± Perhaps this Druid was not as worthy a foe as Thor had first thought. Certainly his actions ¨C healing people and running from danger ¨C didn¡¯t fit the image Thor had cultivated in his mind. Yet, he believed the guard. ¡°I will remain here for the night. In the morning, I expect supplies for a long journey. And ten gold ethereum.¡± ¡°The supplies we can do, but why would we give you our coins?¡± ¡°If you do not, I will kill everyone in this town,¡± said Thor. Then, he strode away, looking for somewhere to sleep. In the back of his mind, though, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if his hunt was going to end in disappointment like all the rest. 3-23. A Strong Ruler There were seven opponents, all of equal skill, though none had the benefit of Roman¡¯s attributes. Even without the enhancement provided by the Seal of Authority, his level far outstripped that of his opponents. But that didn¡¯t matter. He was better than them, and to a degree that made him almost a different species. Of course he would have the advantage of superior Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Still, he didn¡¯t activate any of his spells or abilities, because that wasn¡¯t the point of the session. Instead, he was training his swordsmanship, and he couldn¡¯t do that if he ended the fight before it could ever start. That, and he didn¡¯t want to kill them. Doing so would only result in a slight trickle of experience, and they were far more useful as practice opponents. So, they circled him, their own swords held before them. Some had known something of sword fighting before the world had been touched by the World Tree, but others were more recent studies. Yet, Roman was enough of a realist to know that each and every one of them was his superior, at least in terms of pure technique. Fortunately, he did have the advantage of his attributes, which served to even the odds. A good thing, considering he couldn¡¯t countenance the notion of losing a fight in his own city. Not only would it affect his reputation ¨C and thus, invite challenge ¨C but it would also scrape against his ego in a way he never intended to analyze. Suddenly, the first sparring partner struck, her sword flashing against the torchlight of the dojo. Roman reacted instantly, slapping the sword away with enough force that it nearly went flying from the woman¡¯s grip, displaying her weakness for everyone to see. It was a pitiful showing. But it also highlighted Roman¡¯s driving force. Only he was strong enough to save everyone. Only he had the power to ensure their safety. And if he wanted to continue rising to the challenge, he couldn¡¯t allow himself to let up. So, he trained. As soon as he¡¯d parried the first attack, the other six foes struck. Roman¡¯s sword became a whirlwind as his footwork struggled to keep pace. Fighting one of them was well within the bounds of his capability, but all six ¨C and with the first woman having just recovered ¨C was on the verge of pushing him too far. Still, as the clang of metal against metal continued, Roman fought on. And with every blocked attack, he grew stronger. It was reflected in his attributes, but that was the ability of his sword at work. The False Dragon¡¯s Fang had an insulting name, but its viability as a weapon was unquestionable. Not only was it incredibly sharp and durable, but it also came with enhancements to his attributes. But the ability, which was known simply as Escalation, was what truly set it apart. And as his power climbed, Roman¡¯s tentative ability to defend against so many enemies grew sturdier until, at last, he began to overcome them with sheer Strength. Swords flew from their weak grips, and in one case, a hand followed suit ¨C it was that man¡¯s own fault for being too slow ¨C until, at last, they had been subdued. ¡°Do not bleed in my dojo,¡± Roman snarled at the wounded man who was clutching his stump to his chest, sullying his gi. He kicked the severed hand toward the man, growling, ¡°Go see a Healer.¡± Of course, a Healer was incapable of regrowing limbs. Perhaps it would be possible in the future, but for now, no one in Easton ¨C God, he hated that name; it sounded so pedestrian when it should be majestic ¨C had that kind of ability. Hopefully that would change going forward. Still, it was possible to reattach the limb, so long as he hurried. As ordered, the man fled the dojo in search of a Healer. Once he was out of the room, Roman glared at the scattered drops of blood he¡¯d left behind. That was unacceptable. But he didn¡¯t intend to cut the training session short just for a little blood. So, he said, ¡°Again.¡± This time, instead of the False Dragon¡¯s Fang, he used a training sword, but even then, only six of them couldn¡¯t hope to stand up to his might. Still, Roman continued his training for hours more until, at last, Fiona arrived. The tiny waif of a woman had made some attempts to accentuate her boyish figure ¨C likely to get Roman¡¯s attention ¨C but to him, those attempts made her look more like a child wearing an inappropriate costume. Not like Trish. But Roman¡¯s wife had never been cut out for life in the apocalypse. Unlike him, she¡¯d had difficulty adjusting to the necessary mindset, and because he¡¯d sheltered her so completely, she¡¯d been entirely unprepared for the brutality of the new world. He knew that, and yet, there was a part of him that still blamed Alyssa. Even dead, her mistakes still haunted him. If she hadn¡¯t forced his hand, he wouldn¡¯t have had to banish the best crafter in the city. Likely, he should have killed Carmen. The woman¡¯s crimes called for as much. But at the same time, he felt that he owed it to Alyssa not to orphan her son. Losing one mother was difficult, but losing a second parent was enough to ruin the child. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. And Roman was not such a monster that he could put Miguel on that path. No ¨C he was a hero. Perhaps not in the traditional sense. He didn¡¯t charge into battle wearing shining armor and physically protecting the weak. Yet, everything he did was meant to ensure that the largest number of people survived. That made him a hero, at least as far as he was concerned. If only the others would understand that, many of his problems would be solved. ¡°My lord,¡± Fiona said, bowing her head. She¡¯d begun to use the affectation sometime after he¡¯d banished Carmen, and Roman had to admit that he liked it. What was he, if not the Lord of Easton? ¡°Hello, Fiona. What news?¡± he asked, struggling to maintain a pattern of speech appropriate to his position. He was no actor, though, so he¡¯d had to spend countless hours forcing himself to drop his casual demeanor. It had worked, though. People respected and feared him. ¡°They are ready,¡± Fiona stated. ¡°Do you wish to proceed?¡± ¡°What level?¡± ¡°Thirty-five,¡± she answered. ¡°That will have to do,¡± he answered. Then, without even looking at his training partners, he set off from the dojo he¡¯d had built within the palace. He¡¯d taken great pains to make it as authentic as possible, which meant finding an architect who understood Japanese style. He had no illusions about becoming a samurai ¨C not like the cowboy who followed Carmen around like a lost puppy ¨C but the discipline of that style of swordfighting certainly appealed to his straightforward sensibilities. The rest of the palace was decidedly more western in appearance, and the Architects and Interior Designers had chosen to channel Gothic design principles. Roman was unconcerned with the specific d¨¦cor, but what he did care about was the perception it dictated. And for that, the palace was perfect. Sharp, deadly, and beautiful ¨C it gave all the right impressions. Roman strode the halls without acknowledging any of the other people present, and soon enough, they reached a set of stairs that led down below. He didn¡¯t hesitate before descending, passing multiple checkpoints along the way. None of the guards present ¨C each in their blue-and-white uniforms ¨C dared try to stop him, and before long, he found himself in the dungeon. It was even more extensive than the palace. Part of that was due to the sheer number of detainees ¨C traitors, all ¨C but it was also because of the special project that was housed within. Many of the prisoners were rebels who¡¯d been captured during the recent bout of unrest, but others were petty criminals. Most were thieves who were too lazy to contribute to the greater good; instead, they¡¯d chosen to prey off their fellow citizens. Others had been arrested for vandalism. Some were violent offenders. But one and all, they were the dregs of society, and as such, they represented an opportunity for Roman. After all, if they¡¯d already proven themselves useless in life, then perhaps their deaths could be of use to Easton. ¡°I would like to see the program in action,¡± he said. ¡°As you wish, my lord,¡± said Fiona. Then, she gestured to the warden ¨C a man whose name Roman didn¡¯t bother remembering ¨C who led them deeper into the facility until, at last, they reached a large warehouse. The first thing that hit Roman was the smell ¨C it had the odor of a kennel, and for good reason. It was populated with hundreds of cages, each one containing a monster. Or a beast, Roman supposed. He watched as a prisoner, naked but for a pair of sturdy manacles, was handed a dagger. Then, the emaciated woman was led to one of the cages, where she was forced to slaughter the animal held within. It took a handful of thrusts, but it succumbed soon after. As soon as it was dead, someone wheeled the cage away and replaced it with another. Then, the woman was directed to repeat the process. ¡°It ain¡¯t efficient,¡± said the warden. He was a thickset man with a huge gut, which disgusted Roman. It was almost enough to push him to action. ¡°Maybe a quarter of the experience per kill as if they were found in the wild. And it don¡¯t work after level thirty-five.¡± ¡°No experience at all?¡± asked Roman, surprised. ¡°Some of them scholars say it¡¯s ¡®cause the system measures effort, too. It¡¯ll give you some leeway early on, but there comes a time when it ain¡¯t gonna work no more.¡± ¡°Does this affect the program¡¯s viability?¡± Roman asked, glancing at Fiona. ¡°No. It will work. We¡¯re almost certain.¡± ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it. Bring them forward,¡± Roman ordered. And only a few minutes later, there were twenty prisoners before him. Each one was shackled and looked as if they hadn¡¯t eaten in weeks. Perhaps they hadn¡¯t. After all, they needed to be kept in a weakened state. Without hesitation, Roman drew the False Dragon¡¯s Fang, pulled it back, and lopped the head from the nearest prisoner¡¯s neck. As it flew free, he experienced an influx of experience. It wasn¡¯t nearly as much as he would¡¯ve gotten for killing a level thirty-five monster in the wild, but it was still enough to move the needle. ¡°Did it work?¡± asked Fiona, her eyes shining with excitement. ¡°It did. We will proceed,¡± he said. Then, he did just that, executing each of the criminals. It was a testament to how weakened they were that none of them even resisted. Likely, they counted death as a release. That served Roman¡¯s purposes, and by the time he¡¯d killed all twenty, he¡¯d crossed the threshold to another level. He¡¯d already been close, but even that much seemed like a confirmation that they were on the right track. After all, these people were drains on society, but he¡¯d finally found a way to make them useful. It felt good, solving such a problem. ¡°Good. Very good. How many are in this dungeon?¡± ¡°More than a thousand. And there are more coming each day. The issue is capturing the monsters, but we have dedicated teams scouring the countryside,¡± Fiona explained. ¡°We can provide twenty kills a day, at least for a few weeks. After that, we may have to reevaluate.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll have your criminals,¡± Roman said. ¡°Inform Remus that he is to enforce the strictest letter of the law. That should get us a few more criminals. And if you run out of monsters, have them kill one another.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± ¡°What word of Arbor?¡± he asked, referring to the nearest city-state of any strength. In terms of population, it was even larger than Easton, though its military might left a lot to be desired. ¡°Primed for invasion.¡± ¡°Hold off, for now. We need to handle this delicately. In the meantime, we will continue to develop our strengths. Daily runs of the tower for our elites. And as many prisoners as you can find.¡± ¡°Yes, my lord.¡± With that, Roman turned away, secure in the knowledge that he was doing everything within his power to ensure that Easton rose to prominence. After all, without his guiding hand, the world would soon fall into chaos. It was his duty to bring everything under one banner, because he knew that things would grow more dangerous with every passing day. 3-24. Increasing Sophistication A gentle rain fell upon Elijah¡¯s upturned face as he floated on the surface of a small pond. He could feel fish and freshwater eels, turtles, and frogs among dozens of other aquatic creatures. Most were larger than they had been before the Earth was transformed by the touch of the World Tree, yet the difference wasn¡¯t nearly as dramatic as it had been in the ocean. Elijah could only suppose that was due to space, but it was just as possible that the area¡¯s ambient ethera wasn¡¯t strong enough to support that kind of life. Whatever the case, he couldn¡¯t deny that it made for a peaceful place to rest. He''d been traveling for almost a week, and he still hadn¡¯t reached Argos. Part of that was due to the number of Voxx in the area, but it was also because he didn¡¯t rush himself. In the wake of everything that had happened in Ironshore ¨C and what had preceded those events ¨C he desperately needed to slow down and let the peace of the natural world envelop him. He had gotten some of what he needed on his island, but increasingly, his home had begun to feel more curated than natural. Was it his influence? Nerthus¡¯s? He didn¡¯t know, but the island felt distinct from the true wilderness in a way Elijah couldn¡¯t adequately explain. But he felt it, especially since leaving Norcastle and Kurik¡¯s company. While traveling, he¡¯d found a couple of natural treasures, as well, though he¡¯d left them alone when he¡¯d found that they were too weak to give him much benefit. Perhaps if he was willing to dig them up and take them with him, that might¡¯ve been different, but he refused to go down that road. He might¡¯ve accepted that other people would make such use of those natural treasures ¨C and kill any powerful beasts they stumbled upon ¨C Elijah wasn¡¯t going to do the same. If he¡¯d learned nothing else, it was that he needed to be consistent, or he¡¯d lose track of his own morality. That was where his code came in. He would kill, either in self-defense or the defense of others. He also wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do whatever was necessary within a tower. Yet, he¡¯d decided not to seek out violence, even when his instincts screamed at him to punish those who approached the new world differently. Like with the hunters he¡¯d killed what felt like a lifetime ago. They might have deserved it, but Elijah wasn¡¯t an unbiased judge, and he didn¡¯t trust himself to make that determination. So, his code required him to stay out of such situations. Of course, he wasn¡¯t so deluded that he expected not to violate that code at some point. Was he strong enough to resist the urge to defend a guardian if he saw one being attacked? Maybe. Probably not, though. However, he intended to make a go of it, and if he failed, it would just serve as motivation to do better in the future. The world was complicated, and his code was frighteningly simple. The two would eventually come at odds. And when that happened, Elijah felt that his reaction would come to define him. He could only hope that the result was a good definition. He sighed, feeling a tiny fish nipping at his feet. It tickled, but there wasn¡¯t anything in the pond that could really hurt him. And even if it did, he could always heal whatever damage that was done. He was so busy drifting lazily in the pond that he didn¡¯t even feel the frog before it hopped out of the water and onto his chest. ¡°Hey bud,¡± Elijah said to the enormous bullfrog. It was slimy and the size of a basketball, but Elijah didn¡¯t mind. He¡¯d always had a certain affinity for the amphibians, so he had no issues letting it rest on his bare chest. Then, without warning, the giant frog let loose with its tongue. Elijah had left his Sash of the Whirlwind with all the rest of his clothes and equipment on the pond¡¯s shore, so he could barely even perceive the thing¡¯s tongue as it sped towards his head. So, he never had a chance to react. Fortunately, the fleshy projectile wasn¡¯t meant for him. Instead, it skated right past his ear and hit a massive mosquito that had been hovering nearby. Before Elijah could blink, the insect was in the frog¡¯s mouth, with a few of its spindly legs sticking out from the opening. ¡°Uh¡­thanks,¡± he muttered. It croaked in return, then hopped off his chest and swam away. The encounter had served to ruin the peaceful ambiance of the pond, so he flipped over and swam to shore. Fortunately, by that point, the gentle shower had ceased, and the sun had made a return. So, Elijah spent the next few minutes sunning on a rock, and when he was dry, he dressed, grabbed his crook and pack, and set off. Only a few hundred yards into the woods, he caught a whiff of corruption. Thinking it was just another Voxx, he shifted into his draconid form, then adopted the Guise of the Unseen before tracking the corruption to its source. Yet, after a few steps, he realized that he wasn¡¯t stalking a single monster. Instead, he¡¯d detected a minor dimensional rift. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. So, knowing the dangers of leaving one of those untended ¨C especially in the middle of the wilderness where no one was likely to find it ¨C Elijah continued to follow the scent of corruption until he found what he was looking for. The rip in reality was much the same as any of the others Elijah had encountered, and thick tendrils of black corruption extended for a hundred feet all around. If it wasn¡¯t conquered and closed, those tendrils would continue to spread, and what¡¯s more, they would corrupt the local wildlife. Elijah had no idea how far such corruption would go ¨C perhaps indefinitely ¨C but he had no intention of finding out. So, after shifting back to his human form and checking his equipment, he looked at his enhancements. At level fifty, he¡¯d gained another slot. So, he cast Essence of the Boar, Essence of the Monkey, Aura of Renewal, and Essence of the Lion. The only one he left off was Shield of Brambles, and while it was useful, the others seemed more necessary. Topping it off were his enhancements that didn¡¯t take one of his slots: Essence of the Wolf and One with Nature, both of which he kept active at all times. Thus prepared, Elijah stepped into the rift, and after experiencing the same brief moment of displacement, his feet slapped down onto black sand. The moment he reappeared, he recognized that the rift was different from the others he¡¯d conquered. For one, he was in a cave, rather than outdoors. For another, he could feel hundreds of creatures via One with Nature. None of them were large, but they were all snaking through the sand in his direction. Having no interest in seeing what they were, Elijah immediately cast Calamity, then Swarm. Neither was as strong as they had been when channeled through his Staff of Natural Harmony, but they were still powerful spells that could do all sorts of damage. More importantly, among other effects, Calamity was characterized by shaking the earth. That, in turn, was deadly for the monsters under the ground. However, what Elijah hadn¡¯t banked on was the loose sand, which blew every which way with Calamity¡¯s blades of wind. As those deadly gusts scoured the cave¡¯s floor, Elijah caught sight of the monsters. They were worms, maybe twenty inches long and as big around as his wrist. More disturbingly, they had lamprey mouths full of sharp teeth that Elijah suspected would be quite painful. Thankfully, his forethought bore fruit, keeping the little monsters from reaching him. At the same time, they were subjected to Calamity and a thousand biting locusts manifested by Swarm. But they didn¡¯t die. So, Elijah replaced Essence of the Lion with Shield of Brambles, then shifted into his lamellar ape form. His scales formed just in time, too, because the first of the monsters reached him a second later. In the past, he might have flinched away from those lamprey-like mouths ¨C or more importantly, the razor sharp teeth inside ¨C but by that point, he¡¯d experienced enough battle to trust his hastily activated Iron Scales. As the first worm tried to latch on, it was assailed by a thick and damaging thorn. It screeched, but it didn¡¯t stop trying to bite him, which earned the monster a half-dozen more thorns. That, combined with the afflictions from his Swarm and the damage from Calamity, finished it off. Then, the rest of the monsters arrived, and they died just like the first. Elijah was forced to chain Iron Scales, which rapidly drained his stamina, but it was the only viable option of dealing with so many small and deadly monsters. At least for him. Others likely had different methods of dealing with such a threat. However, as passive as it felt, it was an effective strategy, and soon enough, Elijah was surrounded by a host of worm corpses. Yet, he knew that wouldn¡¯t be the end of it. So, the moment the monsters were dead, he shifted into his draconid form and took a look around the cave. It wasn¡¯t huge ¨C maybe forty feet wide and half-again as long, ending in a single tunnel that functioned as the exit. The message was clear. He was intended to go down the tunnel, which differed from previous rifts he¡¯d encountered. In fact, it reminded him of a tower, though a miniature version of one. That prospect was both exciting and daunting. The first, because it would almost assuredly give him enough experience to progress. In addition, with any challenge he could overcome, he would be rewarded by the system. Yet, it was also anxiety-inducing, because there was a chance that he¡¯d bitten off more than he could chew. Of course, he couldn¡¯t let that sort of thinking infect him. He was one of the strongest people in the world, a designation he¡¯d earned throughout countless battles, and he would do well to remember that fact. So, it was with that in mind that he progressed down the tunnel, and it wasn¡¯t long before he found the first foe. It was a normal Voxxian monster, maybe six-feet tall, and with two sets of arms. It was covered in a thick, scaly, viridian hide that shimmered in the darkness. Elijah wasted no time before embracing Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike. Then, he pounced, leaping upon the monster¡¯s back and clamping his powerful jaws around its head. He flexed, and he felt the thing¡¯s skull collapse. It fell to the sandy floor, limp and lifeless, a second later. Elijah leaped free, immediately embracing Guise of the Unseen. For a long few moments, he waited in that tunnel for any response. However, no new threats presented themselves, so he eventually moved on. About a hundred feet away, he encountered another Voxx, and it died in almost identical fashion. Then a third. And a fourth after that. In all, he ended up killing ten of the creatures before he reached another large chamber. Unlike the previous encounter, this one was occupied by something more dangerous than a few bitey worms. Indeed, there were three full-grown Voxxian monsters in the chamber. One was a few feet taller than the others, but even the smallest towered eight feet above the floor. But they were all different, both in height as well as build, which seemed incredibly important to Elijah. He crept forward, studying the monsters. The largest paced back and forth, growling and grunting aggressively, while the others stood mostly still. Elijah didn¡¯t know what any of it meant, but he was increasingly sure that it was all very important. So, he didn¡¯t immediately attack. Instead, he watched and waited, devising a plan that he hoped would work. Then, he padded forward, embraced his abilities, then pounced. 3-25. The Trinity The moment Elijah leaped upon the Voxxian monster¡¯s back, he got a surprise as his claws failed to find purchase. Instead, they skated off of a shimmering purple shield, and when he snapped out a bite, his jaws were entirely rebuffed. Still, via one facet of his Quartz Mind, he noticed a series of large cracks spread across the purple surface of the shield before it faded from view. By that point, though, the monsters knew he was there, and they wasted no time before reacting. The big one stomped on the ground, and huge spikes of jagged black rock erupted from the cave¡¯s sandy floor. Elijah shoved himself away from the monster he¡¯d attacked, then deftly maneuvered to avoid the explosion of spikes. A few nicked him, but those grazing attacks were incapable of doing any real damage. The same could not be said for the third creature, who descended upon Elijah with bestial fury. A purple light bloomed across its scales, and it exploded into a series of raking attacks that Elijah had no chance of avoiding. Not all of them, at least. Still, he managed to dodge more than half. It wasn¡¯t enough to save his body from being ravaged. The monster¡¯s vicious claws raked across his comparatively soft scales, ripping ragged gashes with every attack that landed. Still, Elijah was no novice to battle, and he gave as good as he got, building instances of Contagion and even managing to empower a couple of Venom Strikes. But even so, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t fight the monster toe-to-toe. Not only would he end up ripped to shreds, but the creature¡¯s allies would soon join the battle. To punctuate that eventuality, the largest of the trio barreled into him, hitting him with a bone-shaking tackle that sent him skidding across the room and thudding into the cave¡¯s wall. If he hadn¡¯t cultivated a Body of Stone, Elijah felt certain that he would have broken every bone in his body. With that advanced level of cultivation, it still hurt, but it didn¡¯t feel like anything broke. That was a good thing, too, because two of the three monsters were already bearing down on him, which meant that he didn¡¯t have time to deal with broken bones. So, seeing them coming for him, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t continue in his draconid form. It was great for one-on-one battle, and it was even better when he could get the jump on an enemy. But against multiple opponents all focused on ripping him to pieces, it was less than optimal. So, he shifted into his human form and cast Snaring Roots. As vines erupted from the ground to snake around the monsters¡¯ ankles, Elijah gained enough time to cast Healing Rain. With the Crook of the Serpent Healer, it was an exceedingly powerful heal over time that he hoped would keep him alive long enough to even the odds. The smaller monster was the first to break free of the roots, and it did so before Elijah had time to shift his shape. So, he had no option but to use his cloak to briefly shield him from the creature¡¯s flurry of claws. A second later, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, and as soon as the transformation completed, he reached out and grabbed the creature whose claws were suddenly finding no purchase. He wrapped his claws around the monster¡¯s waist, then he cocked his arm back and threw it with every ounce of Strength he could muster. It hit the opposite wall with the sound of cracking stone, and it crumpled to the ground. Yet, Elijah found his worst nightmare coming true when the third monster ¨C all but forgotten ¨C bloomed with purple power, which it tossed at its fallen ally. That energy landed upon the other Voxxian monster, and Elijah was horrified to see its injuries immediately begin to mend. That changed everything. He couldn¡¯t focus on the others. Not until the Healer was dead. So, he launched himself at the monster with all the fury and ferocity he could summon to his aid. It wasn¡¯t enough, and the creature managed to slip to the side just in time to avoid his charge. Elijah couldn¡¯t stop his momentum before thudding into the wall and sending a rain of pebbles onto his head. A second later, the big monster tore free of Snaring Roots and barreled toward him. Elijah had no choice but to pick himself up and meet the charge with one of his own. The two collided with a titanic impact that shook the cave, but Elijah got the better of the clash, knocking the monster back a few feet. Until the recovered damage dealing monster rejoined the fight and ripped into him. Elijah managed to use Iron Scales, and his Shield of Brambles did some damage to the furious barrage of blows. Yet, he knew he couldn¡¯t keep it up. Iron Scales didn¡¯t cost ethera, but it definitely cut into the more ephemeral and harder to define stamina. So, if he tried to chain it, he would eventually grow too fatigued to fight. Which put him on a timer. Elijah desperately needed to change the paradigm before he reached that point. So, he lashed out with a sudden backhand that clipped the smaller Voxx, then followed it up with a shoulder tackle that sent the larger one to the ground. He stomped down on it, then threw himself across the cave. Not at an enemy. Instead, he needed to put some distance between him and his foes. As he flew across the room, he shifted into his human form, then used Calamity. He¡¯d just finished his casting when he hit the wall, but because of his Body of Stone, he managed to maintain focus long enough to chain that into Swarm. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. The familiar storm of lightning, wind, and earth enveloped the entire cave, and a thousand biting locusts manifested into being before descending upon the monsters. In the confusion, Elijah shifted into his draconid form and sprinted toward the tunnel. He was moving so fast that the Voxxian monsters had no chance of catching him, and he dipped into the tunnel before racing along its length. Hundreds of yards later, he left combat and embraced Guise of the Unseen before returning to the cave where he¡¯d arrived. It was just in time, because only a second later, the giant Voxxian monster charged into the passage behind him. Elijah ignored the monster and sprinted back the way he¡¯d come. Using Guise of the Unseen, he was all but undetectable in the dark, and he reached the second chamber, where he found the other two Voxx. The damage dealer was roaming around the room, sweeping its arms as if it was looking for Elijah¡¯s hiding place. Meanwhile, the healer remained in the center of the room. Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to wait. So, he embraced Predator Strike, then Venom Strike. And finally, used the Rage ability from his Silver Bracer of Rage. The moment it took effect, his Strength skyrocketed. He raced forward and pounced. Not on the Healer, who¡¯d proven it could resist his initial strike. Rather, he was banking on the damage dealer lacking the shield that protected the spellcaster. He hit the monster with ridiculous momentum, and tore into its chest with the sheer impact of his charge. The Healer tried to react, but Elijah followed it up with another snapping attack. He wrapped his jaws around one of the monster¡¯s arms and crushed its shoulder. Then, he bounded away, rocketing back toward the Healer. The monster¡¯s eyes widened the moment before Elijah hit. The same purple barrier bloomed into being, but this time, Elijah had a little extra time on his side. More, he saw that the cracks from his first attack hadn¡¯t mended. So, he hit that spot again. And again after that. Three more times, in rapid succession, and the shield shattered. Elijah got two more attacks in before he heard a series of thudding footsteps that heralded the big Voxx¡¯s return. Elijah darted away, shifting into his human form and casting Calamity once again. Then, he followed it up with another Swarm. His ethera drained precipitously, but he had enough to finish the fight. So, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form before loping forward and leaping back into the fray. He hit the injured damage dealer a second later, and he grabbed the thing by its legs before turning to meet the charging warrior Voxx. He swung the injured damage dealer like a club, hitting the newcomer in the face hard enough to send it staggering to the side. Elijah leaped, grabbing his living ¨C for a little while longer, at least ¨C weapon with both hands and bringing it down in a thunderous attack that rattled the cave. Even as he did, another set of summoned insects and the recently cast Calamity reached a furor, adding to the damage and chaos. Elijah¡¯s spell cut visibility down to almost nothing, but via One with Nature, he could feel everything in the cave. So, he wasted no more time bringing his massive Strength ¨C and his now-dead weapon ¨C to bear against the suddenly vulnerable healer. The creature let out a screech that cut off as Elijah pummeled it into the ground. He turned, tossing the dead Voxxian damage dealer at the rising warrior, then turned his attention back to the fallen healer. Elijah had long likened his lamellar ape form to a gorilla, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. The general proportions were the same even if most of the details differed. However, at that moment, Elijah channeled an enraged silverback as he bombarded the fallen Healer with a barrage of furious fists. Bones broke beneath each blow, and it wasn¡¯t long before the monster¡¯s life winked out. That left only one. Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then padded forward under the cover of Calamity. When he struck, he didn¡¯t aim to kill the monster with a single blow. Instead, using Venom Strike and Contagion, he only wanted to administer as many wounds as he could possibly inflict. Because the warrior had already proven that it was durable. Moreover, it could very nearly match Elijah¡¯s Strength. But what it couldn¡¯t stand up to was a cascade of afflictions. So, Elijah aimed to overwhelm its Regeneration and Constitution with as many as he could bring to bear. It was a long, slow slog, but Elijah¡¯s plan worked as well as could be expected. Fortunately, the monster had a similar problem to what he experienced in his lamellar ape form in that, because of its high Strength, it was capable of incredible feats of rapid movement. However, it lacked Dexterity, which meant that it couldn¡¯t control its body well enough to harness that Strength in any meaningful way. For his part, though, Elijah had Dexterity to spare, and he danced around the monster, avoiding its clumsy ¨C but deadly ¨C blows with ease. Still, it required significant concentration, and if he lost focus for even a moment, he would have been splattered against the wall. That was where his Quartz Mind came into play. He constantly shifted those thoughts from one facet to the next. Each time one grew mentally fatigued, he would move it to the next one, and he repeated that more times than he could count, spreading the mental strain over nine facets as opposed to a single mind. And it worked. Eventually. By the time the monster finally fell, nearly an hour had passed, and the creature was riddled with open wounds, each one oozing black poison. Elijah slowed to a stop and let out a hissing sigh of relief as reality ripped apart in the center of the room, providing an exit. But he was more concerned with his reward. The first was intangible ¨C he¡¯d crossed the threshold, passing the threshold into level fifty-seven. It was a small step, but it still felt good. The second reward was more solid, and it presented itself via a silver box that Elijah opened after he shifted back to his human form. That resulted in a notification:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Miracle Seed awarded.
Elijah picked up the Miracle Seed. It was about the size of a walnut, but otherwise, it looked like any other seed Elijah had ever seen. Still, if it was an item on par with the other rewards he¡¯d gotten from minor dimensional rifts, it would be valuable. So, he slipped it into his pack and exited the rift, happy with his performance as well as the reward. 3-26. A Pleasant Night A fire flickered merrily in the shallow pit Elijah had dug. It wasn¡¯t strictly necessary, especially with his new Cloak of the Iron Bear protecting him from extreme temperatures. Yet, there was something undeniably comforting about a campfire, especially when there was a spit with a venison tenderloin roasting above it. Elijah watched as the juices dripped into the fire, sizzling upon impact. If someone had asked him before Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree, he would have said that becoming a guardian of nature would prohibit the consumption of meat. Back then, it would have just made sense. But part of being a Druid was understanding the circle of life, being a part of nature rather than apart from it. So, in that context, killing and eating other animals was perfectly in line with what Elijah had increasingly come to consider the purpose of his archetype. Yet, just because he was a Druid, it didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d ceased being a human being, either. And with that came an entirely different agenda. So, while he was cognizant of his purpose as a Druid, its importance did not exceed his human desires. Chiefly, if it came down to a choice between protecting the natural world or finding his family, he knew precisely which choice he would make. And that wasn¡¯t going to change. Perhaps that made him selfish. Or maybe it just made him human. Regardless, as complicated as his system of priorities was, Elijah was comfortable with it. One day, he might even write it down. He leaned back against the stump where he¡¯d made his camp and sighed. ¡°People will consider me a great philosopher,¡± he said with a wry smile at the absurdity of such a thing. The notion that anyone would give credence to his tangled knot of guiding principles was both horrifying and anxiety-inducing. Elijah wasn¡¯t smarter than most people. Nor was he some arbiter of justice. He was just a guy who¡¯d taken a bit of power for himself and was trying to make his way through the world. With that thought flitting through his mind, Elijah reached into his pack and retrieved the reward from the day before. The Miracle Seed was a curious thing. There was life in there, Elijah could feel, but it was amorphous in a way he couldn¡¯t quite explain. He¡¯d seen plenty of normal seeds since the world had ended. Felt them with One with Nature. And none of them had felt even close to what he experienced while examining the Miracle Seed. But more than anything else, when Elijah looked at it, he felt roiling potential. It was constrained by the seed, but only barely. What would happen if he planted it? If he used Nature¡¯s Bounty to accelerate its growth? It didn¡¯t feel like the ancestral tree seed he¡¯d planted in Druid¡¯s Park, though it felt no less powerful for its differences. In fact, there was a part of him that wondered if it was an even stronger treasure. Not that he could figure it out anytime soon. He didn¡¯t intend to plant it anywhere but his island, and he wasn¡¯t going to head back to his grove before he at least found Seattle. Doing so would be a huge waste of time. So, Elijah replaced the seed and tilted his head toward the sky. His campsite was in a clearing, so he had a great view of the night sky, and as he always did when in the wilderness, he marveled at how expansive it seemed. In a way, it reminded him of night on the open ocean, but even that didn¡¯t do it justice. When Earth had been transformed, even the sky had changed. There were more stars, and they shined all the brighter. So did the moon, which seemed larger and clearer than ever before. Was that the effect of his enhanced senses? Or had even space been transformed? Elijah didn¡¯t know, and he¡¯d never even thought to investigate it through the guides available in the Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base. Still, as he sat there waiting for his supper to cook, Elijah wondered if the touch of the World Tree had extended to other planets in the solar system. Had Mercury and Mars experienced an influx of ethera? What about the gas giants? Even now, was there life finding a way to exist out there? Elijah knew there were other planets ¨C thousands of them, in fact ¨C that had been touched by the World Tree. Indeed, there were nine separate universes, not including the abyssal space between the World Tree¡¯s branches. And each of those universes played host to innumerable worlds. It was all dizzyingly complex, and even considering just how vast the multiverse connected to the World Tree really was threatened to cause a headache. Whatever the case, it was a safe bet to assume that he would never see the majority of the worlds that comprised the universe. He let out another sigh. The idea that he would visit any other worlds would have felt insane only a few years before. But now? It was an actual possibility. In fact, it was a goal. In his old life before Earth¡¯s transformation, he¡¯d enjoyed traveling. But he¡¯d always made excuses to stay put. But if searching for his sister had confirmed anything for Elijah, it was that he was afflicted ¨C or blessed, depending on perspective ¨C with a serious case of wanderlust. He liked his grove. In a lot of ways, he needed it. Yet, he liked traveling across the world as well. Experiencing new cultures like he had in Argos was exciting, and if he was honest with himself, fighting new enemies and confronting different challenges was just as exhilarating, though in a different way. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. In short, it wasn¡¯t a matter of if he¡¯d find a way off of Earth, but rather, when. So long as he managed to survive, at least. And find Alyssa. Once his family was safe and sound, he would be free to pursue those other goals without the specter of familial security hanging over his head. With that in mind, Elijah watched the stars until he felt a presence nearby. Turning his head, he saw a wolf. Not a mutated version of the notorious predators, but just a regular wolf. And then he felt a dozen more surrounding him. It was a testament to how efficient of hunters wolves were that the touch of the World Tree hadn¡¯t blessed them with increased size or extra appendages. Instead, the grey-furred wolf before him looked absolutely normal. Though Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t. No matter how proficient it was as a hunter, nothing could have survived in the wilderness without enhanced Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. That meant that the pack surrounding him was dangerous. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t flinch. Instead, he reached into his pack and removed the remainder of the meat he¡¯d harvested from the deer he¡¯d killed earlier. It was wrapped in wax paper that was meant to preserve meat and other perishables; he¡¯d bought it back in Ironshore, though this was the first time he¡¯d had occasion to use it. The wolf crept closer, but the other members of its pack remained in the shadows. Presumably, they were ready to pounce at the first sign of weakness. Or perhaps they were frightened. After all, from Elijah¡¯s experience, beasts tended to have a subtle sense of how strong an opponent was. Otherwise, the predators would inevitably pick a fight with prey that was far stronger than it appeared. That rarely happened, at least as far as Elijah had seen, so he¡¯d come to the conclusion that they could perceive relative power. He envied them that. For his part, Elijah¡¯s sense of power was purely observational. He could tell when something had high Strength or Dexterity, but levels were a different thing altogether. Other people, like Kurik, had abilities that could gauge a creature¡¯s level, but Elijah had never been offered such a skill. In any case, he unwrapped the huge hunk of meat, then tossed it at the wolf. The canine sniffed it for a second, then took a bite. In only a second, it had devoured the whole thing. So, seeing that there was an entire pack to feed, Elijah emptied his stores. The deer he¡¯d killed was quite large, so he hoped there would be enough to go around. Before long, the entire pack had come out into the open, where they were feasting on the fruits of Elijah¡¯s labor. He didn¡¯t mind, though. He could always hunt something else, and the wolves were clearly hungry. As the wolves ate, so did Elijah, tearing into the cooked slab of venison as soon as it was finished. A couple of the wolves approached, low growls rumbling from their throats. But Elijah only had to look at them to send them backing away. That confirmed that the beasts knew he was stronger than them. Perhaps they still might¡¯ve attacked if the whole pack was willing, but after having been fed, most of the wolves were content to leave him be. As they shared their meals, Elijah felt an urge to reach out and pet one of the beasts that came too close, but he had to remind himself that these were wild animals. They weren¡¯t domesticated dogs. And if he made the wrong move ¨C which probably included petting them ¨C there was every chance he¡¯d lose a hand. Or at least a finger. So, he restrained his urges and simply enjoyed their close proximity. Once they¡¯d finished, one of the wolves ¨C it might¡¯ve been the first one to approach ¨C let out a low whine. Elijah held out his hands, saying, ¡°That¡¯s it. You¡¯ll have to hunt your own food if you want anymore.¡± The wolf cocked its head to the side as if it was considering what Elijah had just said. Then, without any other reaction, it turned and padded away, disappearing into the shadows. The other wolves followed, and a few seconds later, they left the circle of awareness Elijah gained from One with Nature. ¡°Just eat my food and leave,¡± he muttered. Shaking his head, he complained, ¡°No thank you or anything.¡± After that, Elijah spent a couple more hours just enjoying nature and letting his mind wander across a multitude of subjects. Some of those were memories from his past. Others were conjecture about the future. And still others were various bits of media that kept playing through his mind. It was only when he started humming Shaggy¡¯s It Wasn¡¯t Me that he decided to try to get some rest. So, using his pack as a pillow and the Cloak of the Iron Bear as a blanket, he shut his eyes and passed into contented sleep. The next morning dawned cool and crisp, and after a night of pleasant dreams, Elijah rose with eagerness in his heart. Before he got moving, he enjoyed a breakfast of berries, then headed toward a nearby stream where he made use of his homemade rejuvenating soap. So, by the time he was finished, he was fully awake and ready for the coming day. After drinking a cup of tea beside the remnants of his fire from the night before, Elijah set off toward Argos. By his reckoning, he was only a week or so away from the Greek city, and he was eager to reunite with his friends. Mostly Delilah, though. Sure, she had said it was a one-time thing, but who was to say that they couldn¡¯t have another one-time rendezvous? Or maybe two. Elijah might even be persuaded to stay for a week, so long as her company was on offer. And who knew? Maybe they¡¯d actually spare a few moments for a real conversation or two. Elijah¡¯s mind was firmly in that space when he felt something he very much didn¡¯t expect. He threw himself sideways as a spear crashed down in the spot he¡¯d just vacated. In the space of a second, he¡¯d searched One with Nature for his assailant, and he very much did not like what he saw. 3-27. Human Nature Elijah cursed himself for not traveling in his draconid form. Not only would it have allowed him to cross the wilderness much more quickly ¨C even without the Dexterity and Strength boost it provided, the form was still much better suited for the task ¨C but it would have allowed him to avoid the current situation entirely. Because the men and women surrounding him were clearly not intent on hunting beasts. There were twelve of them, all armed with spears, axes, and swords and wearing leather armor that, even to Elijah¡¯s untrained eye, looked like it was poor quality. Still, there were enough of them that Elijah knew he needed to take them seriously, especially considering that he was caught out in the open. ¡°You don¡¯t want to do this,¡± he said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°We really do, mate,¡± said the one who¡¯d thrown his spear. He was a tall, whipcord thin man with cheekbones that could cut glass. He also wore his facial hair in a pointed goatee that really sold the evil bandit look. ¡°Now, give us your pack and whatever coins you got, and we¡¯ll let you be on your way.¡± ¡°I want the stick, too,¡± said the woman beside him. She was almost as tall as him, but even slimmer to the point of looking malnourished. A few dirty smudges on her cheeks and mussed blonde hair gave her an almost feral appearance. Otherwise, she was quite striking, to the point that Elijah wondered if she might¡¯ve been a fashion model in her old life. Perhaps that was why she¡¯d plainly disregarded her hygiene and appearance. After all, that could be a defense mechanism while surrounded by unscrupulous men who faced no real societal consequences for giving in to the worst of the worst inhibitions. Elijah preferred not to assume the worst of anyone, but he knew there had to be some overlap between people who would resort to banditry and those who might choose to ignore the concept of consent. In that context, her appearance made a lot of sense. Or maybe Elijah was reading too much into it, and she was just a habitually dirty person. Regardless, he had no time to muse on the subject. Instead, he needed to focus on the people who were trying to rob him. So, he said, ¡°If you keep going like this, I¡¯m going to kill every one of you. It won¡¯t be quick, either. When you realize your mistake, you¡¯ll try to run, and I¡¯ll hunt you down.¡± He pointed his crook at the man who¡¯d thrown his spear. ¡°And you¡¯re going down first. I¡¯ll crush your skull with my bare hands.¡± ¡°Think we¡¯re scared of you? You¡¯re only a Healer,¡± the two-bit villain spat. Then, he chuckled. ¡°And level nineteen, too? What are you even doin¡¯ out here?¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± Elijah muttered with a shake of his head. His Ring of Anonymity had caused more problems than it had potentially solved, and it was getting very close to the point where he was just going to discard it. ¡°Think about it, man. You find me out here all alone, and your first thought is that I¡¯m vulnerable? You know how hard it is to survive in the wilderness, right? You have to. And yet, here I am. All by myself and not worried at all. Why do you think that is?¡± ¡°He¡¯s crazy, Rolph. That¡¯s all it is,¡± the thin woman said. She was armed with a sword that she looked comfortable using. But then again, anyone who managed to survive in the new world was probably, at the bare minimum, competent. ¡°Fair warning, Rolph,¡± Elijah said, shifting his stance a little. ¡°I don¡¯t mind killing you all, if that¡¯s what it comes to, but I¡¯d rather avoid it. Guilty conscience and all.¡± For a second, silence reigned. Then, Rolph extended his hand and the spear he¡¯d thrown jerked free of the loamy forest turf and returned to his hand. That was clearly the signal for the other bandits to attack, and before another second had passed, Elijah was buried beneath the weight of a dozen spells and skills. Some were simple projections of ethera that took the form of slashing blades, but there were bolts of energy, a couple of fireballs ¨C which seemed incredibly irresponsible to Elijah ¨C and even a flying icicle. For a few moments, the bandits threw everything they had at Elijah, and the ground kicked up into a cloud of dust. When it settled ¨C both literally and metaphorically ¨C the bandits were confronted with a monster. The moment Elijah had felt the bandits¡¯ attacks activate, he¡¯d shifted into his lamellar ape form and activated Iron Scales. For most attacks, that was sufficient to rob them of any effect, but for the fire and ice skills, it was almost useless. Thankfully, his Constitution was high enough to pick up the slack, so when the barrage ceased, Elijah was almost entirely unharmed, save for a few chunks of ice that had lodged between his scales and a little smoke curling toward the sky. ¡°What the ¨C¡± Rolph never got the chance to finish his exclamation, because Elijah dashed forward almost too quickly for any of them to perceive. He crashed into the bandit leader with undeniable momentum that should have sent the man flying backwards into the trees. However, Elijah prevented that by wrapping his huge fingers around the man¡¯s head. He squeezed, and it shattered beneath the pressure he brought to bear. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Rolph fell to the ground in a heap, and for a few moments, the bandits just looked upon him with mingled awe and horror. Then, one of the women let out a scream, which functioned as yet another signal. But apparently that signal meant different things to different people, because a few of the bandits immediately turned tail and sprinted into the woods. Others decided to try their luck with a few more attacks. It went about as well as the first barrage, which was to say that it was entirely ineffective. Meanwhile, Elijah burst into motion, charging the next bandit on his list. In the past, he might have hesitated before attacking a woman. In the old world, that made sense. In fact, he would have avoided physical violence against anyone, with the caveat that they weren¡¯t in a boxing gym. Yet, that attitude was useless in the transformed world, especially in a kill or be killed sort of situation. Not that Elijah was in much danger. He¡¯d already established that he wasn¡¯t. But that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t going to follow through with his promise. He would leave people to their own devices right up until they attacked him. Then, all bets were off. That was exacerbated by the bestial rage that came with the guardian form. So, when he reached the woman, he didn¡¯t hesitate to snap out and clamp his jaws around her head. It burst just as quickly as Rolph¡¯s, and as her now-headless corpse fell, Elijah turned his attention to the remaining assailants. They didn¡¯t last long. In fact, at that moment, most of them decided that their fleeing allies had the right idea. They scattered, leaving only a couple to the fight. The remaining bandits put up a slightly better fight than their leaders, but in the end, they fell without even scratching Elijah¡¯s scales. Then, he began the hunt. Because Elijah hadn¡¯t been lying when he¡¯d said he would kill each and every one of them. Partly, it was because he saw them as a menace. It took a special kind of evil to prey on people during crisis ¨C and the world¡¯s transformation certainly qualified for that. In a perfect world, everyone would pull together and support one another. That was a pipe dream, though. Elijah knew it went against human nature. There would be exploitation, like what had happened in Norcastle. But at least the mayor of that town had given something in return. The bandits, by contrast, were a blight. A virus. They were no different from the Voxx who spilled out from the rifts. And just like those monsters, they needed to be exterminated. So, Elijah shifted into his draconid form and started his hunt. The first few were easy enough. They hadn¡¯t gotten far, and without the advantage of numbers or circumstance, they stood even less of a chance of surviving his attacks. Couple that with the nature of the draconid form ¨C it was called the Shape of the Predator for a reason, after all ¨C and the results were predictable. However, with every passing moment, the others drew further away. If he could have, he¡¯d have marked each and every one of them with the Brand of the Stalker, but the nature of the spell meant that it could only be used on a single enemy at any given time. So, he sometimes forgot to use it at all. It was an issue he needed to rectify, because the spell gave him a powerful boost to his damage. So, as he hunted each of the bandits down, he made an effort to use Brand of the Stalker before he pounced. And the results were encouraging, if only barely noticeable against such weak opponents. Over the next few hours, Elijah stalked every last one of the bandits. When cornered, some begged for mercy, but most never even knew he was there before he fell upon them, ripping them to pieces with claws and fangs. Doing so gave him a heady sense of power that was, in a way, addictive. Sure, he enjoyed a challenge like he¡¯d experienced in the most recent rift. However, there was something to be said for dispensing justice against a weaker enemy that could never hope to stand up to him. By the end, though, it just felt tedious. Another item to tick off his to-do list. So, he ended it as quickly as he could, and when it was all over, he left them to rot. Their equipment was mostly worthless, and his bag space was limited. So, he only bothered to take the couple of ethereum coins they had on them before leaving the area behind. But upon resuming his human form, any satisfaction Elijah felt retreated before a feeling of guilt. It wasn¡¯t regret ¨C not precisely ¨C and his rationale remained just as valid as ever. Yet, in his natural shape, Elijah couldn¡¯t escape the reality of what he¡¯d done. He¡¯d ended a dozen lives, and without hesitation or, truthfully, any risk to himself. He could have escaped. He was stronger and faster, and he could have disappeared into the forest without any real difficulty. Sure, they were a menace, but was he truly meant to be the arbiter of justice? For all he knew, those people had chosen their path out of necessity. Life was difficult, and sometimes, people had to make tough choices. They had attacked him, though, and largely because they thought he was a soft target. That he wasn¡¯t what he seemed was the only reason he wasn¡¯t dead with the vultures picking through his belongings. Still, Elijah knew the situation wasn¡¯t nearly as straightforward as it appeared to be. It stood in stark contrast to what had happened his first time in Norcastle. The mayor had sent people after him ¨C for some inexplicable reason ¨C but Elijah had allowed himself to be convinced by Jess to flee rather than fight. The resulting frustration had been a contributing factor to what had come next when he¡¯d slaughtered the hunters who¡¯d killed the bear and harvested the mushroom natural treasure. Would he have done the same if he¡¯d allowed himself to respond to the mayor¡¯s aggression? Maybe. But perhaps not. It was a strange dichotomy, and it highlighted the fact that Elijah, for all the lip service he played to pacificism, was a creature of violence. He could constrain it. And often, he left it behind for long stretches. However, it only took a slight threat to send him down that familiar path. And his bestial forms didn¡¯t help, either. If he¡¯d ever needed confirmation that they affected how he saw things, he only needed to turn his attention to the conflicting feelings he¡¯d felt during his most recent hunt. In his draconid form, he¡¯d felt fully justified. And to a degree, he still did. Yet, the moment he¡¯d returned to his human form, that certainty had chipped away beneath the weight of his human empathy. Such thoughts flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he left the area behind. Hopefully, he¡¯d feel better about it when he reached his destination. 3-28. A Sad Reality ¡°They won¡¯t last much longer without rest,¡± said Theresa, the Chemist who¡¯d so far kept everyone in Carmen¡¯s group on their feet. ¡°I don¡¯t know how they¡¯re still on their feet.¡± ¡°Constitution and Regeneration,¡± Carmen said, looking back at the ragged group of refugees who¡¯d been banished from Easton alongside her. To say they looked dejected was an understatement, and she knew that they were on the verge of simply giving up. It was a glimpse into the sad reality forced upon all the people Roman had turned away from Easton. At the time, Carmen had seen those rejections as necessary, but though she hated what they represented, she¡¯d never really put herself in their shoes. To think salvation was at hand for it to be suddenly snatched away ¨C it was cruel in a way Carmen had never considered. Not until she had experienced it. The school was supposed to be their shelter. A small pocket of peace amidst a dangerous and deadly world. But that peace had been shattered by the monstrous creature that lived in the lake. The only saving grace was that it seemed incapable of traveling on land for more than a few hundred yards. So, they¡¯d quickly left it behind. Even then, they hadn¡¯t allowed themselves to rest until a day later when people started to collapse. Since then, they¡¯d been forced to take shelter wherever it could be found. Usually, that meant hiding in whatever abandoned building they passed, but more often than not, they weren¡¯t safe. Monsters, it seemed, liked to have a roof over their heads as well, and so, it was a rare opportunity that saw them staying in one place for more than a day. Even then, they seldom did so unmolested. That was where Carmen, Colt, and, to her horror, Miguel stepped up to protect everyone. He had no extra attributes, and he didn¡¯t have skills or spells to help him, but what Miguel did have was his mother¡¯s fighting spirit and penchant for heroism. Still, he didn¡¯t throw himself into the middle of things. Instead, he limited his contributions to keeping watch and using the bow Carmen had made for him to fill any monsters full of arrows. Typically, he didn¡¯t have much of an effect in battle, but he was a quick thinker, and he¡¯d learned to do what he could with his limited capability. When Carmen tried to get him to hold back, he agreed to do so. But the moment danger struck, he was right there trying to assist where he could. And he was effective. A few of the refugees owed their lives to his quick thinking. Much to Carmen¡¯s chagrin, he was as valuable a member of the group as anyone else besides Colt, Theresa the Chemist, or herself. Still, for all of their efforts, the end looked like it was on the horizon. Not because they would find safety, but rather because normal people could only maintain that constant state of readiness for so long before they started making mistakes. Or forgot why they were trying so hard to survive. Carmen had Miguel¡¯s survival to spur her on. A few of the refugees were couples, so they leaned on one another. And Colt had his duty. But everyone else? There was only so much misery a person could endure before they stopped caring whether they continued living. ¡°We still have a long way to go,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Do you have any more of that root? Can we brew some more tea?¡± Theresa shook her head. ¡°I think we were fortunate to find that much,¡± she admitted. ¡°Unless we get lucky again, we don¡¯t have anything else. Maybe if I were an Alchemist¡­¡± Carmen wanted to comfort the woman, but realistically, she was right. Being a Chemist gave her a few of the same skills as an Alchemist, but the class was clearly geared more towards research. She had the knowledge, and she could see things no Alchemist could, but Theresa lacked the abilities necessary to bring it all together. As a result, she could barely eke more than the base effect of her ingredients out of any given concoction. In a perfect world, teams of Chemists and Alchemists would work together. But as had been proven time and time again, theirs was no perfect world. Still, without Theresa¡¯s efforts, they would have already lost a few people. So, Carmen didn¡¯t have it in her to denigrate the Chemist, even in her mind. She said, ¡°You¡¯ve saved us more times than I can count. I don¡¯t know any Alchemists that could have done the same.¡± It was a lie, and they both knew it. But it was one no one in the group would even consider refuting. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to suck it up, then,¡± Carmen stated, glancing at the sky. There was a storm brewing on the horizon, which meant that finding shelter was of paramount importance. They could keep going in the rain, but doing so would likely sap whatever will the most vulnerable members of the group possessed. For the next couple of hours, they continued on until Colt returned from his latest scouting expedition and told her that a potential shelter lay ahead. He¡¯d checked it for monsters and found nothing. However, that was no guarantee that it was safe. More than once, they¡¯d thought the same thing only to find themselves facing off against one nightmare or another. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Still, they couldn¡¯t afford to be picky, so after she let everyone know where they were going, she led them down the stretch of highway, passing a crumbling overpass before finally reaching the destination Colt had described. It was an old Best Buy, complete with the large, yellow sign. It was also enormous. At one point, Carmen had just accepted big box stores as a matter of course. However, since the apocalypse, she¡¯d begun to understand just how wasteful they were. She always knew, of course, but like most Americans, she¡¯d swept those concerns under the proverbial rug. But now, when she looked at the giant monument to excess, all she could think about was how pointless it had all been. Sure, she¡¯d liked her electronics as much as the next gal. Throughout college, she¡¯d been an avid gamer, and it was only after she¡¯d had Miguel that she¡¯d taken a step back from the hobby. However, like everyone else in the world, she¡¯d remained addicted to her screens. Still, having hundreds of thousands of square feet dedicated to electronics was absurd. More than anything, though, Carmen looked at that enormous building and wondered how they were going to defend such a space. Especially since one side had completely collapsed. Hopefully, the rest of the building would be usable. Carmen and the others entered through the entrance, passing the long-shattered glass doors. The first thing Carmen noticed was the fact that they weren¡¯t the first people to have taken shelter inside the building. Someone had shifted some things around, and there was even an old fire pit. However, there were no people about, and even after they went through the ruined store, they found no inhabitants. After that, they engaged in the long-practiced process of making a camp deep in the back of the enormous store. Once everyone was settled in, Carmen scoured the area for usable materials, but there was a paucity of metal, suggesting that someone had already been through. What that meant, she wasn¡¯t sure, but considering that she was still toting the metal she¡¯d acquired back at the school, Carmen wasn¡¯t even sure that she needed more. Certainly, everyone could use some armor, but she had neither the time nor the equipment to make anything better than Crude-Grade. To do that, she needed a real forge, an anvil, and a variety of tools she couldn¡¯t manifest via Summon Tool. Armor ¨C whether it was plate or mail ¨C was far more complex than making a few spearheads or a sword, and she saw no reason to invest her time in creating a new forge when they would be moving on within the next day or so. Because the reality was that setting up camp on their own wasn¡¯t really a viable option. Not if everyone was going to survive. They needed civilization to ensure that, and Carmen had vowed to keep going until they found somewhere to settle. After Carmen completed her survey of the surrounding area, she returned to the campsite to find almost everyone huddled together, their eyes either fearful or lifeless, with little in between. The few who didn¡¯t fall into those extremes were just exhausted. Carmen counted herself among that number. Without Crafter¡¯s Stamina, she would have long since given in to fatigue. So, she sat atop an old washing machine with a sigh. In a cleared area only a dozen or so feet away, Colt led Miguel through some sword drills. How either of them had found the energy, Carmen had no idea, and she was of mixed feelings concerning her son¡¯s fascination with combat. But she only had to remember how dangerous the world was to understand what drove Miguel. Because she felt it, too. More than once, she had cursed herself for taking Tradesman as her archetype. If she¡¯d taken Warrior or Sorceress, she would have been in a much better position to protect her son. But she hadn¡¯t. And now she was paying for that. The only solution was to keep going, to grow strong enough ¨C even as a crafter ¨C to accomplish her goals. After a couple of hours, Colt and Miguel finished their drills. While the samurai headed in her direction, Miguel kept practicing. When Colt reached Carmen, he leaned against the washing machine. ¡°How is he?¡± she asked. Her son spent more time with Colt than with anyone else. ¡°Terrified,¡± Colt answered. ¡°Don¡¯t blame him, neither. He¡¯s weak. Almost defenseless. That¡¯s a scary thing.¡± ¡°I hate it.¡± ¡°So does he,¡± Colt stated. ¡°That¡¯s why he trains like he does. He¡¯s driven. Reminds me of his mother.¡± ¡°Alyssa ¨C¡± ¡°No. His other mother,¡± Colt interrupted. ¡°He¡¯s more like you than you can see. Stubborn. Strong. Or he will be. He don¡¯t let nobody tell him no when there¡¯s somethin¡¯ he wants. Same as you.¡± ¡°Hopefully, he¡¯ll be more successful,¡± Carmen said. ¡°You¡¯re doin¡¯ your best. Couldn¡¯t nobody do better,¡± Colt responded. ¡°My best might not be good enough,¡± she said. ¡°They¡¯re on the verge, Colt. You see it, right?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°If we don¡¯t find somewhere safe soon¡­¡± ¡°We will. You¡¯ve noticed it, right?¡± Colt said. ¡°People have been huntin¡¯ this area. And somebody stripped this store of anything useful. If I was a bettin¡¯ man, I¡¯d say there was a settlement ¡®round these parts. Maybe not a big one. We¡¯re still too close to Easton for a city to be here that we didn¡¯t know about.¡± ¡°How far do you think we¡¯ve gone?¡± she asked. ¡°A few hundred miles at least.¡± ¡°No more¡¯n six-hundred. No less than five, though.¡± ¡°So far?¡± ¡°We been followin¡¯ highways, mostly. Easy travel. Plus, everyone here¡¯s at least level ten. Doesn¡¯t seem like it, but we can cover some ground.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re right,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I want to be as far away from that lake monster as we can get before we settle in.¡± After that, the two went silent. Eventually, even Miguel¡¯s seemingly inexhaustible fervor gave way to fatigue, and he settled in to sleep. For her part, Carmen stayed on watch until late into the night, when she was relieved by Colt. Then, she lay next to her son so she could get a few hours of rest. The next morning, everyone set about their various tasks. Colt went hunting, while everyone else converted the area to something a little more defensible. They piled appliances into a makeshift wall, and they cleared a living space. It wasn¡¯t perfect, and if they were attacked, the defenses would do little good. However, it was the best they could do for now. So it went for the next three days until, at last, Colt returned with the news he¡¯d anticipated that very first night. ¡°It¡¯s a village,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe two-hundred people. The town¡¯s surrounded by a palisade, and it looks sturdy enough.¡± ¡°You think they¡¯ll take us in?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know,¡± Colt said. ¡°They look peaceful, but who knows? The real question is whether we can afford not to try.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Carmen said. ¡°We¡¯ll try in the morning. For now, everyone could use a little more rest just in case we need to run again.¡± ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± 3-29. Fellowship The wind whipped the trees with an unmatched frenzy that reminded Elijah of the strongest hurricanes. Yet, he was hundreds of miles from the shore, which meant that the storm shouldn¡¯t have been nearly so fearsome. Still, if the sustained winds were less than a hundred miles an hour, he would have been incredibly surprised. So, whether it made sense or not was irrelevant, and Elijah was forced to take solace in a cave that, judging by the smell, had only recently been occupied by some sort of predator. Fortunately, that beast had long since abandoned it ¨C probably when winter had released its grip on the area ¨C so all that remained were a few scattered bones and the aforementioned smell. Even so, Elijah had quite a lot of trouble relaxing, not least because of the howling wind, but also because the smell of a carnivore hung so thick in the air. His instincts told him to be on guard, either for something trying to kill him or for a competitor that needed to be put in its place. It was one instance where he didn¡¯t try to overcome his bestial instincts. What followed was two long days of sheltering in place. Fortunately, Elijah had plenty of food and water for a prolonged stay, but he quickly found that he was bored. So, he found the skeleton of some long-dead prey animal ¨C a moose, he thought ¨C and started carving the bones. In a lot of ways, it was no different from whittling wood, though it differed in enough ways that he ruined more than a few bones before he got the hang of it. Even then, Elijah was no expert carver, so the results were less than ideal. Looking at his Crook of the Serpent Healer, he wondered how he¡¯d managed to create something so lifelike. Perhaps his abilities or his connection to nature had bridged the gap that skill couldn¡¯t cross. Whatever the case, Elijah quickly tired of the exercise and abandoned it. Instead, he just closed his eyes and focused on his internal ethera. When he¡¯d established his Neophyte Soul, he¡¯d completely broken his natural pathways, and that had allowed him to saturate his entire body with the ethera. However, while it was better than what he¡¯d started with, it was still limited. He suspected that if he received any new spells, they would take ages to cast until he figured out how to reform the pathways of his Soul. The problem was the amount. His current spells only took sips, which meant that the current form of his Soul had actually sped things up. Yet, if he wanted to take gulps ¨C as he suspected any new spells would ¨C it would be incredibly slow. That was the problem the next stage was meant to address by reforming the pathways, stronger, faster, and more extensively than ever before. But as much as Elijah tried, he couldn¡¯t figure out the method to reach that goal. He would either need a teacher or a guide if he was going to reach that point. The same was true of his Dragon Core. In a lot of ways, it was even worse, because, while there was some information on taking the next step in the cultivation of his Soul, there was absolutely nothing about Dragon Cores. Regardless, Elijah persisted until the storm broke. So, it was with some relief that Elijah set off through the wilderness, where he saw the aftermath of the storm. There were whole swaths of forest that looked like a bomb had gone off, and the atmosphere was eerily silent. The animals, birds, and insects had fled before the storm, and the absence of life ¨C other than the local flora ¨C was almost as disconcerting as the more overt devastation. Elijah continued on for a couple more days, and over the course of his trek, the evidence of the storm continued to be evident, suggesting that it had been at least as wide as a hurricane. But eventually, Elijah found his way to Argos. From a distance, it looked much the same as it always did, but when Elijah saw the olive groves, it became apparent that the city hadn¡¯t escaped the storm unscathed. The olive trees hadn¡¯t been completely destroyed, but many of them had been stripped bare by the harsh winds. No doubt, their fruit had been taken as well. Which didn¡¯t bode well for Argos. Elijah approached the gate warily, and he was unsurprised to see a couple of familiar faces standing guard. The same two sentries greeted him with characteristic acceptance, then ushered him inside, with the bearded man saying, ¡°If you want to help, there¡¯s a triage center that¡¯s been set up at the center of town.¡± ¡°Triage? For what?¡± ¡°The storm. There were a few buildings that collapsed,¡± they said. ¡°We tried to save as many as we could, but¡­¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Elijah said. Then, without any further hesitation, he hurried through town. Inside the city was a bustle of activity, with everyone pitching in as they repaired the extensive wind damage the city had experienced. Elijah saw a few familiar faces ¨C Atticus and Isaak among them ¨C but he didn¡¯t stop to help. Instead, he hurried toward the town¡¯s central square where he felt he could do the most good. When he reached the plaza, he saw hundreds of injured people, but only a couple of exhausted-looking Healers. So, Elijah found a man who looked like he was in charge and said, ¡°I have an area healing spell. It causes rain, but it¡¯s got a radius of about forty feet. How do you want me to use it?¡± After that, it wasn¡¯t long before they¡¯d packed as many people around Elijah as they could. Some were worse off than others, but they all sported serious wounds. Elijah used Healing Rain, which elicited a couple of cries of fear as some of the people clearly thought the vicious storm had returned. However, the moment those rain drops descended, their cries ceased. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t truly appreciated his new staff. The Crook of the Serpent Healer couldn¡¯t augment his damage spells, but what it lacked in that department, it more than made up for with how much it boosted his healing spells. Using it, each passing second of Healing Rain was almost as powerful as his unmodified Touch of Nature. Sure, it had been augmented by the Dragon Core as well as his new staff, but it was an extremely powerful spell that could heal hundreds of people at once. That made it extraordinarily valuable. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Still, Elijah knew he could do more. So, as people were healed, he sought out the most injured among them and used Touch of Nature. Just like Healing Rain, it was enhanced by his Crook of the Serpent Healer, so it was almost as powerful as a healing spell from a real Healer. The only difference was that his spells were extraordinarily efficient, and each boost he gave them only made them more so. Because they all still cost exactly the same amount of ethera as they had when he¡¯d first gotten them. As such, he felt like he could cast for days. He even took the time to cast Aura of Renewal on everyone he saw. It was especially helpful for the other healers, but that extra Regeneration was useful for everyone. In the end, it took almost five hours before Elijah ran out of ethera. By that point, he¡¯d healed all but the most persistent injuries, and though he wanted to stay and finish the job, the other Healers insisted they could handle it. It wasn¡¯t until he stepped out from under his latest Healing Rain that he realized just how exhausted he was. Ethera clearly wasn¡¯t the only cost of constantly casting spells. Stamina was a component as well, and though it was far less impactful ¨C especially with his many advantages ¨C healing for six straight hours left him feeling like he¡¯d gone twelve rounds with a professional heavyweight. Which was to say he was beat. So, with only a little regret, he made his way to his favorite inn, and when he stepped inside, he couldn¡¯t help but smile at the matronly innkeeper. He planted himself at the bar and said, ¡°You know, I never learned your name.¡± ¡°Agatha. Food?¡± ¡°You read my mind. Whatever you¡¯ve got. I trust your judgement,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Smart.¡± Then, the woman disappeared into the kitchen, allowing Elijah to look around at the other occupants of the common room. There were only a few, and they looked just as tired as he felt. So, Elijah occupied himself by staring blankly at the polished wood of the bar. He hadn¡¯t intended to space out like that, but that sort of thing tended to happen when someone was as exhausted as he was. He didn¡¯t break out of his reverie until Agatha set a shallow bowl in front of him. ¡°Giouvetsi. Good.¡± Elijah had no idea what that meant, but he recognized the smell of beef and tomatoes. Of course, there was pasta that almost looked like rice in the bowl as well. After his previous meals in the inn, he truly did trust Agatha¡¯s judgement, so he wasted no time before digging in. And of course it was amazing. ¡°Oh, God¡­¡± ¡°Is good, yes?¡± Elijah nodded enthusiastically. It tasted like nothing he¡¯d ever had before. There were elements of other things he¡¯d eaten, but the combination was something wholly new that defied his expectations. He tore through the entire casserole-slash-stew in record time, but Agatha was quick to offer a second helping, which he devoured almost as quickly. After stuffing himself ¨C to Agatha¡¯s delight ¨C he rented a room and passed out without even bothering to shower. The next morning, he rectified that mistake and apologized to Agatha for the mess. Then, he handed over a couple extra copper ethereum for her trouble. He half expected her to refuse, but she shoved the coins into her pocket so quickly that he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if a skill was involved. Either way, he left the inn on good terms and found his way to Atticus¡¯ Arsenal. The shop¡¯s owner was inside, and he greeted Elijah, ¡°I hear you have been busy, my friend! The whole town is talking about the mysterious and powerful Healer!¡± ¡°Just doing what I can,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, what¡¯s new?¡± ¡°Other than the hell storm?¡± asked Atticus. ¡°It swept in without warning and nearly tore the whole town apart. Fortunately, we have a few buildings that were built by people with appropriate classes. Otherwise, no one would have survived.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d known that there were classes for just about everything, but he hadn¡¯t considered what that really meant. Apparently, a building designed by an Architect and built by a Contractor would be much stronger than something from the old world. He wondered what the other innumerable classes could do. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest. I didn¡¯t expect you back so soon,¡± Atticus admitted. ¡°No offense, and I¡¯m glad you came when you did, but you have the look of a wanderer, my friend.¡± ¡°I get that.¡± After that, Atticus remarked on the two new pieces of equipment Elijah had obtained since they¡¯d seen one another last. Though Elijah didn¡¯t reveal much, except the two items¡¯ grades. Next, Elijah had Atticus appraise the three items he¡¯d acquired in his most recent tower run. First came the Footpads of Silence, which turned out to be Simple-Grade. Second was the Goblin Dagger ¨C a Low Simple-Grade item that Elijah chose to keep, if only because it had a self-sharpening function and increased durability. Finally, he sold the useless sword ¨C called a Gleaming Blade ¨C to the arms dealer. In the end, he sold the slippers and the sword for seven silver. He would have gone even lower, largely because he just wanted them out of his pack, but Atticus didn¡¯t know that, so he¡¯d offered what Elijah thought was a fair deal. Then, they lapsed into polite conversation until Elijah finally excused himself, saying that he might be around a little more often in the near future. Atticus greeted that news with some enthusiasm, and considering how helpful Elijah had been so far, it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why. Once he¡¯d caught up with Atticus, he headed to Isaak¡¯s house. Or rather, Delilah¡¯s. Unfortunately, when the young man answered the door, he said, ¡°Oh, you¡¯re back. She¡¯s not here.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°My sister. She¡¯s gone.¡± ¡°Uh¡­couldn¡¯t I just be here to see you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What about Artemis?¡± ¡°Drop the act. I know you came to see her. And I¡¯ll tell you like I¡¯ve told all the others. She¡¯s not here, and even if she was, she probably wouldn¡¯t want to see you again. She¡¯s not interested in relationships.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not either,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°Sure. I¡¯m certain that has nothing to do with why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°I thought we were friends.¡± ¡°Acquaintances.¡± ¡°I saved your life.¡± ¡°Then you slept with my sister. Very loudly.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t my fault.¡± Isaak all but rolled his eyes. ¡°Okay, fine. It was at least fifty percent my fault. But she did abduct me ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear this,¡± Isaak said. Elijah sighed. ¡°Fine. How are you, then? What about Artemis? No more incidents?¡± he asked, each question coming in quick succession. ¡°Depends on what you mean by incidents.¡± ¡°Has your cat attacked and killed anyone since the last time I was here?¡± ¡°Killed? No. Attacked? Sort of. But she had good intentions! She was protecting some kids and ¨C¡± Elijah raised his hands. ¡°Slow down, kid. As long as she didn¡¯t kill anybody, I don¡¯t care. And even if she had, I¡¯d probably assume they deserved it. Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°With her track record, though¡­no. I¡¯ll trust you. If you say she¡¯s been good, I believe you.¡± After that, Isaak invited him inside, and they talked over a cup of tea. Apparently, Isaak¡¯s development had stalled a little, and he was a little nervous about having to challenge the tower sometime in the near future. Elijah offered to help, but Isaak said, ¡°No. I appreciate it, but the town has already put together a team. According to the guides we read, it should be easier now that it hasn¡¯t had time to build. So long as we keep clearing it, it should be manageable. And besides, we¡¯ll never gain levels just killing local beasts. That¡¯s one of the reasons the towers exist, right? So we can grow.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Elijah said with a shrug. He knew they were there as a means to drain ethera from large rifts, but he supposed they could have multiple purposes. After all, the entire system seemed to have been built to help people grow stronger. Why wouldn¡¯t the towers be the same? Over the next hour, Elijah overstayed his welcome, hoping that Delilah would magically return. But Isaak quickly wised up to that strategy and ushered him out of the house. ¡°Well, I guess I¡¯m eating alone,¡± he said to himself. Then, he headed back to his inn to see what Agatha would serve this time. 3-30. Sanctioned A hundred guards, fifty to a side, lined the throne room. Each one was immaculately dressed in their formal, blue-and-white uniforms. Their boots had been glossed to perfection, and there wasn¡¯t a thread out of place. Their hair was all identical ¨C male and female alike ¨C and each was armed with a gleaming saber. Being assigned to the throne room was an honor, but one that came with a steep price: conformity and perfection. Anything else would invite the ire of the Lord of Easton. No one would welcome that. For his part, Roman barely noticed the men and women who were tasked with keeping order. To him, they were little more than decorations, no different from the elaborate tapestries on the walls. Those bore the sigil of the city ¨C a lone, blue tower on a field of white ¨C and they represented the excellence Roman expected from everyone who served him. And they did serve him, one and all. He was not the sort of misguided monarch that pretended to serve the people. Instead, he had his position because by virtue of how much better than them he was, and he refused to act otherwise. Instead, he saw his power as an example for which everyone else could strive. He was the ideal. A subject of aspiration and admiration. A hero who deserved their worship. Roman took that responsibility very seriously, to the point that he despised even the appearance of imperfection. So, he held himself to the same standard as those who toiled at his feet. Never did he feel that weight more keenly than as he sat on his uncomfortable throne. It was made of cold iron, which in any other situation, would have been an absolute waste of such a valuable material. However, to Roman, it gave the perfect impression. His city was rich. They were powerful. And they could afford to use one of the most expensive materials anyone had discovered for something so useless as making a fancy chair. Of course, all that ethera made sitting in it even more uncomfortable than the flat, metal seat would have otherwise suggested. But the dizziness that came from it was a price Roman was willing to endure. After all, image was everything. He could have all the power in the world, but if he didn¡¯t show it to the world, then his tenuous grip on authority would shatter. He¡¯d learned that early in his career as a police officer. Back then, he¡¯d often found himself outnumbered and, in certain places, outgunned. And yet, he had an entire organization behind him. He had the illusion of power propping him up. And as such, he was allowed to do whatever was necessary to rein in the savages he routinely encountered. But that had been a long time ago. Even before the world had transformed, police authority had begun to degrade, and all because of a few bad apples. Certainly, most police had covered for those disgraceful members of the force, but that was more about self-preservation than any approval they might¡¯ve held for the idiots who routinely made mistakes. If they turned on their own, it was only a matter of time before it became acceptable to nitpick every little interaction a cop had with the public. And that would be disastrous. A man couldn¡¯t do his job if he was constantly wondering if he was going to be vilified ¨C or worse, prosecuted ¨C for doing what was necessary. So, as soon as he hit twenty years in, he¡¯d moved to Easton and run for sheriff. With his pristine track record and experience, he won the election in a landslide. After that, he¡¯d thought he was on easy street. He had authority, but in a town like Easton, any real issues were rare. As such, he¡¯d spent most of his time hunting or fishing. It was like a pseudo-retirement, but without the issue of losing his paycheck. In any case, his career had taught him the necessity of a strong reputation and the importance of public perception. So, he¡¯d used those lessons well when he¡¯d realized that he needed to step up and be the heroic leader the people of Easton deserved. He had internalized those lessons to the point where he couldn¡¯t imagine living any other way. And now, it was all about to pay off. ¡°You may approach your king,¡± said Fiona, who was standing to the right of the throne. She wore an elegant dress that befit her station as his chief advisor, but beyond noting that detail, Roman thought nothing of her. Instead, his focus was on the man striding pridefully down the center aisle of the throne room. All the nobles ¨C the rich and powerful of Easton ¨C were gathered in pews on either side, and each one was dressed in their most elaborate finery. To Roman, they looked like nothing so much as peacocks clamoring for attention. But he was sad to admit that he needed them. Not to rule. He had that handled. Rather, he required their cooperation if Easton was going to thrive. If it was going to grow, they ¨C or rather, their ethereum and influence ¨C would be key factors. The man before him was the lynchpin, though. With black skin, thick dreadlocks that hung below his shoulders, and a physique that made him look like a former athlete, Laramie was the leader of the most powerful warband in the region. He¡¯d conquered dozens of smaller towns over the past couple of years, but when he¡¯d set his sights on Easton, he¡¯d quickly discovered that his people, while vicious and well-trained, were not up to the task. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. After that, relations had devolved into a cold war where neither side was willing to take the fight to the other, lest they lose their advantages. However, just before the rebellion, Fiona had brokered a deal with the group of warmongers and bandits. The terms were simple ¨C they would join forces under Easton¡¯s banner. In return, Laramie and his thugs would receive citizenship ¨C and all the benefits that entailed. For his part, Laramie himself would be appointed the general of Easton¡¯s armies. As a powerful warrior and a charismatic leader, he was well-suited to the position. However, Roman couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he had the brains for the operation. Leading a band of howling barbarians was one thing. Heading up a real army was something else entirely. The latter required discipline and intelligence that Roman was skeptical Laramie possessed. Still, the man brought thousands of battle-hardened fighters with him, and they would follow no one else. So, the point was moot. At least he¡¯d cleaned himself up and donned proper armor instead of the Mad Max getup he usually favored. In fact, aside from the hair, he looked like a proper soldier, wearing gleaming armor and a tabard in Easton¡¯s colors. ¡°Your majesty,¡± he said, dropping to one knee and bowing his head. At least he could follow directions when it mattered, Roman thought. Getting the man to do that much had been a pain. ¡°Do you swear fealty to King Roman the Just?¡± intoned Fiona. ¡°With all my heart, I do,¡± Laramie responded in a clear voice. ¡°May Easton endure.¡± After that, the man rose and took two strides to the throne, then planted himself to Roman¡¯s left. There, he stood, his chin held high and his shoulders back as his lieutenants all came forth and swore fealty to Roman. When the last man did, Roman was about to give his speech when something interrupted him. No one in the throne room would be stupid enough for that, but the system itself didn¡¯t care about his budding kingdom. A notification flashed before his eyes:
Congratulations! You have met the requirements to embark on a quest to become an official ruler under the system. Complete the following quests to solidify your rule: 1. Conquer an enemy and hear their oath of fealty. 2. Become an Arbiter of Justice. 3. Expand your territory until you rule over 1,000,000 people. 4. Reach the top ten on the Planetary Power Rankings (Earth)
The moment Roman saw the first part of the message, his mind went wild with the possibilities. The very system had deemed him worthy of rule. That was confirmation that he was the one person who could usher Easton ¨C perhaps even Earth itself ¨C into a new age of prosperity and safety. Given the size of the universes attached to the World Tree, perhaps he could even conquer other planets. The sky was no longer the limit. But then he read the requirements. The first seemed easy enough. After all, he¡¯d already converted one enemy to a subject. But the second tripped him up. He¡¯d dispensed justice plenty of times. What, then, did it take to become an Arbiter of Justice? He had no idea, which frustrated and annoyed him. How was he supposed to complete a quest if he didn¡¯t know what the requirements meant? Even as his anger began to mount, he read the third requirement, and he nearly choked on the number. A million people was an intimidating figure. For context, Easton was one of the largest cities on Earth ¨C at least as far as Roman knew ¨C and it only housed a little more than a hundred thousand citizens. To reach a million people was a daunting task. But at least it was straightforward. And it wasn¡¯t as if he didn¡¯t already harbor plans of conquest. That was the entire reason he¡¯d accepted Laramie¡¯s fealty. The fourth item on the list was even more unrealistic. At present, he wasn¡¯t even on the power ladder. He was close. He knew that much. But there were a hundred people and dozens of levels between him and the completion of that goal. For a moment, it felt like the system was mocking him. It was as if it was dangling everything he wanted just out of reach, and when he grabbed for it, it yanked that reward away. He heard imaginary laughter in his mind, which sent him into a cold rage. However, Roman didn¡¯t let it touch his face. Instead, he merely stared out at the gathered nobles ¨C both old and new members of the aristocracy. Then, he pushed himself to his feet. With his hand resting on the hilt of the False Dragon Fang, he announced, ¡°Easton is still in its infancy, but we are strong. We have persevered through countless hardships. We have defeated the rebels. We have made friends of our enemies. And now, we will go to war. Because if we do not, the world will surely perish. We fight because we must. Otherwise, humanity will not survive.¡± With that, he descended from the throne¡¯s dais and marched down the aisle. No one uttered a single word as he made his way to the enormous and intimidating doors. When he reached them, a pair of guards pulled them open, which meant he didn¡¯t even have to break stride as he left the throne room. Two of his personal guards ¨C elite Warriors, both ¨C followed him silently as he left the throne room behind and headed toward his office. As he did, he barely noticed the majestic palace, the artwork, or the expensive d¨¦cor. Instead, his mind was squarely on his plans for the completion of his quest. Clearly, the system wanted to push him, almost certainly because even it knew he was humanity¡¯s only hope. It saw potential, and it had set a challenge with the intention of forcing him to meet that promise. That meant that it knew he could accomplish those seemingly impossible goals. By the time Roman arrived at his office, he was even more certain than ever before that he was Earth¡¯s chosen one. He merely needed to keep going, and he would save humanity. The system had practically sanctioned him already. If that wasn¡¯t a vote of confidence, Roman didn¡¯t know what would qualify for that label. Still, the system wasn¡¯t going to do the work for him. So, as he settled into his desk chair ¨C which was much more comfortable than the throne ¨C he set his mind to how he was going to achieve his goals. 3-31. The Dolmen In the wake of the hellish storm, the whole of Argos came together. In a way, it reminded Elijah of what he¡¯d seen in Ironshore, which further confirmed his judgment of the city. It was such a sharp contrast to Norcastle. The people who lived in that city hadn¡¯t been unhappy. Nor were they bad people. But they didn¡¯t share a sense of community. Not like Argos. Over the next week, Elijah pitched in wherever he could. Much of his time was spent healing, but he also volunteered to help usher the olive groves and other farms back to health. It required him to reveal his archetype ¨C after all, what sort of healer also had plant magic? ¨C but once he demonstrated his abilities, he was given as much access as he could have wanted. And for days, he spent every waking moment trying to help the groves heal. In a way, it reminded him of his earliest days on the island, when he¡¯d spent so much of his time trying to get berries and other wild edibles to grow more quickly. However, since then, his version of Nature¡¯s Bounty had grown exponentially more powerful. Part of that was due to his Core, but he felt that there was more to it than that. Which was strange. None of his other spells ¨C save for One with Nature ¨C had changed. Perhaps it had to do with his connection with nature. Or maybe there was some other factor of which he wasn¡¯t aware. There was even a possibility that it was all in his head, though he hoped that wasn¡¯t the case. Regardless of the details, Elijah found that his efforts actually resulted in a trickle of experience. He¡¯d gotten a bit from healing, and even if it wasn¡¯t much, it was nice to see his work rewarded. By comparison, the experience he got from helping the plants grow was miniscule. However, he spent so much time doing it that it started to add up. He didn¡¯t gain enough to push him to an additional level, but the fact that he could notice the amount at all was surprising. After all, he¡¯d spent countless hours helping the plants in his grove grow. Why, then, hadn¡¯t he gotten experience from that? It was a mystery to which he didn¡¯t know the solution. Yet, it was barely enough to occupy one facet of his Quartz Mind. The fact was that he wasn¡¯t doing it for experience. Or rewards of any kind, really. Instead, he was doing it because he could. The people of Argos had been kind to him. They¡¯d welcomed him. And sure, he¡¯d repaid that with his own efforts ¨C both in his first visit and his most recent stop ¨C but that was how community was supposed to work. Elijah reveled in that. Eventually, though, his job was finished. Sure, he could have kept going, and there would have been minimal benefits. But he¡¯d hit something of a wall, and any further efforts would show diminishing returns for the city. Besides, with the city¡¯s recovery well on its way, Elijah¡¯s original purpose was weighing on him. In the short-term, he still needed to establish a dolmen so he could upgrade his Ancestral Circle spell. That was vital and, perhaps more importantly, Elijah was impatient to see what that spell evolution would entail. He had some idea, but the description had been vague enough to leave more than a little mystery. So, once he¡¯d ensured that Argos was on the right track, he headed out into the wilderness to search for the perfect spot. He didn¡¯t really know what he was looking for, but he reasoned that he¡¯d know it when he saw it. For a long time, he just circled the city, steadily getting further away. But then, as his mind wandered, he began to veer off track. By the time he noticed it, he was already a few miles from Argos. And then, he found it. The glade wasn¡¯t special. He knew that. But he was equally sure that it was perfect for what he had in mind. The only question was where he would find his building materials. So, after Elijah had established the location ¨C and mapped out the basic foundation ¨C he began his search for a series of huge rocks. When he thought of a dolmen, it immediately conjured images of Stonehenge. And as luck would have it, he¡¯d done a report on the collection of ancient standing stones as an undergraduate, and he remembered the basic layout of the famous landmark. More importantly, he wanted to get as close as possible to the original, which meant that he needed some truly huge boulders. Fortunately, there was a mountain range nearby ¨C or foothills, really ¨C so he knew where to look. The only issue was that he would almost certainly have to travel for miles both ways. Still, it was bound to be worth it. After all, the last thing he wanted was for his dolmen to be so small and flimsy that a strong gust would blow it over. And given the storm he¡¯d seen on his way into Argos, that seemed like a realistic worry. So, he set out, using his draconid form to speed across the landscape at absolutely ridiculous speeds. Soon enough, he reached his destination, but it still took him two more days before he found an appropriate collection of boulders. Then, he was forced to spend another three days scouring the side of the mountain for the exact right specimens. So, it was almost a week after he¡¯d left Argos before he started back to his chosen site, a huge boulder on his back. He didn¡¯t intend to build the entire circle as it had existed in ancient times. Instead, he only wanted to build the inner circle that remained mostly intact. Or at least, it had before the world had transformed. Who knew if it was still there? Regardless, his plans were such that he knew he wouldn¡¯t be entirely accurate. He simply didn¡¯t have the materials. So, he¡¯d settled on building five arches, each with two large heel stones and one smaller cap stone that was intended to sit on top. Of course, even that was an enormous project. Stonehenge¡¯s heel stones could weigh as much as thirty tons, which was far too heavy for Elijah to carry on his back. Still, he was surprised to find that in his lamellar ape form, he could carry what he estimated as a third of that. So, the boulders he¡¯d chosen reflected that. About halfway through the trip, he realized that just because he could lift something, that didn¡¯t mean it would be comfortable. In fact, it made for an arduous journey that took him far longer than he¡¯d expected. Yet, he persisted, and eventually, deposited the stone in place. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°Only nine more,¡± he growled, looking up at the sun. It was midday, meaning he could still make another trip before sunset. Not that he was looking forward to it, of course. He was definitely not. But Elijah wasn¡¯t one to shortchange his tasks, so he hesitantly returned to the foot of the mountains and collected another heel stone. Over the next week, he continued the task. After five days, he¡¯d had all of his heel stones, and the next two days were dedicated to finding and transporting the capstones. Despite their smaller size, it was no easier because those smaller boulders were located much higher up the mountain. Fortunately, it only required five more trips until he deposited the last stone in the glade. Once that was finished, Elijah collapsed onto the ground and promptly fell asleep, only to awake the next morning and get back to work. Most people weren¡¯t aware of it, but to make Stonehenge, the ancients hadn¡¯t simply piled rocks on top of one another. Building the monument had actually taken quite a lot of planning. Elijah endeavored to repeat their methods. The first step was to dig an appropriate set of holes to hold the heel stones in place. That was the easy part. The more difficult task was to arduously carve the stones ¨C chipping bits and pieces away with great care ¨C creating mortice holes and tenons so that everything would fit together without moving. It was basically like Legos, though with stone instead of plastic, and it was one of the most tedious processes Elijah had ever endeavored to complete. As he worked, he continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty. At first, it was a reflex that came from the fact that he¡¯d done so every other time he¡¯d tried to craft anything, though when he realized what he was doing, he decided to keep going. After all, it couldn¡¯t hurt. Gradually, the stones began to take shape, and in the end, it required another week¡¯s worth of work before he was ready to fit everything together. That¡¯s when he shifted back into his lamellar ape form, then shoved the heel stones into place. Next, he fitted the cap stones on top. And of course, nothing fit together properly. Not surprising, really. He was no builder. Still, he got things close enough that it only took a few more days¡¯ worth of tedious adjustments to get it right. And when he¡¯d finished, he stepped back and admired the fruits of his labors. Yet, when he looked upon the circle, he realized that he wasn¡¯t satisfied. For one, it was missing an altar. That was an easy enough fix. Just a couple more trips to the mountain, and he¡¯d have his materials. But at the same time, he didn¡¯t like that idea. He was a Druid. And he felt that the circle needed to reflect that. So, he disappeared into the forest and quickly found an acorn. Using One with Nature, he searched out the one with the perfect ethereal signature, and when he found it, he quickly returned to the build site and planted it in the center of the stone circle. Then, Elijah recast Nature¡¯s Bounty, adding Healing Rain to the mix. He knew it would still take a while for the tree to grow, so he started in on the second facet of his plan. Using the Goblin Dagger and a large rock, Elijah started carving his standing stones. He was no sculptor, but his experience with woodcarving certainly stood him in good stead. And besides, he didn¡¯t intend for anything to be lifelike, as his Crook of the Serpent Healer was. Instead, he chiseled a series of relief sculptures meant to represent dragons. They weren¡¯t as simple as cave drawings, but they certainly weren¡¯t photoreal. Still, it was the thought that counted. Or that was how he approached it. However, as he carved, his makeshift chisel took on a mind of its own. It was similar to what he¡¯d felt while carving his staves, only this time, Elijah could feel it happening in real time, rather than in retrospect. And he was certainly onboard. He let the inspiration take him to places he never would have expected, and the results were absolutely beyond his meager skill. When he finally finished ten days later, he stepped back and truly admired what he had created. For one, the tree had sprouted, reaching a height of fifteen feet. It also had an aura about it that suggested that it was more than what it appeared to be. The ethereal aura of a natural treasure was missing, but anyone with eyes ¨C or perhaps a soul ¨C could tell that it was special. Even so, it was easy to ignore the young tree next to the circle of standing stones. From top to bottom, the heel stones had been carved with fanciful depictions of dragons. The relief sculptures were shallow, but in the sunlight, they almost looked like they were moving. The effect was so distracting that Elijah almost didn¡¯t notice that he¡¯d completed his quest.
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Dragon Circle] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Simple) Enchantment Grade: D
¡°Growth?¡± he wondered. ¡°What does that mean? And how did I enchant it?¡± Then, he saw the quest completion notification:
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements to evolve Ancestral Circle into Roots of the World Tree: Accomplish Two Feats of Strength (COMPLETE) Conquer One Tower (COMPLETE) Build a Dolmen (COMPLETE)
Then, another notification followed:
Due to the nature of your dolmen [Dragon Circle], as well as the nature of your other accomplishments, the spell has evolved at peak efficiency. As your dolmen(s) grow in number as well as grade, the spell will grow more powerful.
Finally, Elijah saw the listing in his spellbook change:
Roots of the World Tree Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 3 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 3. Cooldown: 6 Days Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 5 (1 Used)
Elijah¡¯s jaw dropped. It was far beyond anything he¡¯d ever hoped to achieve. The first part ¨C the teleportation ¨C he¡¯d mostly expected, though the much shorter cooldown was a nice surprise. However, the real shock was the additional effect, which would allow him to transport other people without nearly killing himself. And finally, he could create four more Dragon Circles. He¡¯d really only expected one, so that was also a fantastic surprise that made all of his effort worth it. But now that he¡¯d finished his first Dragon Circle, Elijah didn¡¯t have any other excuses not to continue his search for his sister. So, he set off back to Argos to rest and check on the city. And in the morning, he would set off in search of Seattle. 3-32. That Swamp Life ¡°Are you sure Delilah¡¯s not going to be back anytime soon?¡± Elijah pleaded. ¡°I¡¯m positive,¡± said Isaak. ¡°And you¡¯ve got sauce in your beard.¡± Elijah extended his tongue as he awkwardly tried to find whatever sauce Isaak was talking about, but he failed miserably. The result was that Elijah ended up looking quite silly, but in his defense, he¡¯d drunk far too much liquor at Atticus¡¯ insistence. The other man was like a bottomless pit of alcohol tolerance, and even Elijah¡¯s vaunted Constitution was incapable of keeping up with Atticus¡¯s capacity for strong alcohol. Sure, he could have used Touch of Nature to fix the issue, but getting drunk was kind of the point of drinking. And with every shot he¡¯d taken, that had seemed truer. Perhaps there was a connection there. Regardless, Elijah tried unsuccessfully to get the sauce from his gyro out of his beard for a few more seconds before he lost interest. For the next couple of hours, he enjoyed his time with Isaak and Atticus ¨C and a half-dozen other people whose names he didn¡¯t even come close to remembering ¨C until he staggered back to the inn and collapsed into the bed he¡¯d rented for the night. He was out in only a few minutes, and he awoke the next morning with a distinct groan. His head was pounding, his mouth felt like it was full of sand, and for some reason, his ears were ringing. Compounding the issues was the fact that he felt absolutely grotesque, and one sniff of his armpits confirmed that he smelled like it, too. It was a mixture of body odor, alcohol, and something else indefinable but no less gross. So, after pulsing Touch of Nature to get rid of his headache, he staggered into the shower and put his soap to good use. That helped. A lot. In fact, when he left the shower, he felt like a new man. Idly, Elijah found himself wishing that he¡¯d had healing powers during college. But then again, it was probably better that he hadn¡¯t. After all, the threat of a powerful hangover was often the only thing that had curtailed his drinking. Without that, he might¡¯ve descended into full-blown alcoholism. Whatever the case, in the present, he was more than glad for Touch of Nature, which trivialized the worst parts of his hangover. For the rest, there was coffee ¨C which Agatha actually had in stock ¨C a good breakfast, and lots of water. So, after draining two of his jugs, refilling them at the sink, then draining them again, Elijah left his room and descended the stairs in search of whatever magical morning meal Agatha had on offer. As it turned out, he was a tad disappointed when she served him oat porridge. It wasn¡¯t bad, but it was a long way from her usual fare. Still, he thanked her profusely and ate everything she put in front of him. That got a motherly smile from the woman which only grew wider when he handed over a couple of copper ethereum coins. After that, he spent almost an hour enjoying his coffee while engaging Agatha in idle conversation. As it turned out, she¡¯d lost her husband shortly after Earth had been touched by the World Tree. However, both of her sons had survived, though she complained that they didn¡¯t visit often enough. They considered themselves adventurers, and according to Agatha, they were part of the patrol headed by Delilah. ¡°So she is out of town,¡± Elijah said. Until that moment, he¡¯d thought Isaak was lying. Not that he¡¯d have blamed the young man if he had been. Having a sister like Delilah had to be difficult, considering the number of suitors she must¡¯ve had. ¡°Yes. Corrupting my boys.¡± ¡°What do you ¨C¡± She interrupted, going on a barely understandable rant about how Delilah had convinced her sons to join her in her quest to be an adventurer. Agatha went on to complain about Delilah filling their heads with notions of immortality and untold riches. Clearly, Agatha wanted her sons to find more local professions, but it seemed that they¡¯d already chosen combat classes, so that ship had sailed. Eventually, Elijah extracted himself from the rapidly devolving conversation and went to say goodbye to both Isaak and Atticus. As expected, the arms dealer was paying for the previous night¡¯s efforts to drink every bit of alcohol in town. So, he was in no mood to talk. Or be awake at all, it seemed. So, he waved Elijah on, telling him to stop by the next time he was in the area. Isaak was a little more acerbic in his greeting, and he clearly disapproved of Elijah¡¯s previous antics. And he just as obviously resented him for not being hungover. Regardless, Elijah needled him by saying, ¡°Tell your sister I stopped by, huh? I¡¯ll ¨C¡± Isaak slammed the door in his face, cutting him off. Elijah glanced to the side, where Artemis had just stepped out of the alley. She fixed him with an expression of disapproval ¨C that shouldn¡¯t have been possible from a cat - then turned her nose up and pranced away. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°Well, hello to you, too,¡± Elijah muttered with a shake of his head. And just like that, it was time to leave Argos behind for the time being. Certainly, he fully intended to return. Part of that was so he could see Delilah, but he had to admit that he felt more like he belonged in the Greek city than he ever had in Ironshore. It wasn¡¯t home, but it managed a fair impression. In any case, Elijah set off without regret. It was tempting to swing by the Dragon Circle, but it was to the northeast. Meanwhile, he needed to go west. Perhaps he could even check out the skyscraper he¡¯d seen the first time he¡¯d set out from Argos looking for Seattle. He¡¯d been called back to Ironshore before he¡¯d had the chance, but he felt certain he¡¯d cross that area before it was all said and done. So, after leaving Argos ¨C and telling the guards he¡¯d be back sometime soon ¨C he set off to the west. Once he¡¯d gotten out of sight of the city gates, he shifted into his draconid form and let loose. He sped across the landscape, running at a pace of at least fifty miles an hour. Perhaps even faster. Exact speed was a little hard to judge without a speedometer, after all. Whatever the case, it was less than a day before he arrived in the vale where he¡¯d seen the skyscraper, but to his surprise, the structure had already collapsed. Still, he took a few hours to examine it, but he found nothing out of the ordinary ¨C at least insomuch as a skyscraper in the middle of the wilderness could be normal. So, it wasn¡¯t long before he moved on. After another day, he ran into quite an obstacle when he arrived at a massive canyon. Elijah had never visited the Grand Canyon, but in his head, he imagined it like the ravine in front of him. It was at least a mile from one side to the other and it was more than five-hundred feet deep. More distressingly, it cut across the landscape as far as he could see in both directions. At the bottom of the canyon ran a rapidly moving river. But unlike the Grand Canyon, this ravine was absolutely lousy with vegetation and animal life. It looked like a jungle, with huge vines and other plant life covering both sides, with a forest covering the lowest points. Elijah was on the verge of climbing down ¨C after all, his lamellar ape form seemed perfectly suited for that kind of thing ¨C when he saw a huge bird land on a tree that grew out of the side of the cliff. The bird looked like a hawk, though with a wingspan of at least twenty feet. However, that wasn¡¯t so abnormal. Elijah¡¯s first experience with mutated animal life had come only seconds after Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree. Back then, a huge bird had literally ripped his airplane apart. In the chaos, Elijah had been thrown free of the plane. He still had no idea how he¡¯d survived the fall, only to regain consciousness on his island¡¯s shore. Whatever the case, the bird wasn¡¯t anything noteworthy. What was of note was the even larger spider that suddenly sprang out of the vegetation, wrapped its legs around the stunned bird, then dragged the raptor back into the thick curtain of vines. A few rustles followed, but then everything went still. Elijah swallowed. He had no interest in dealing with that. Maybe he could beat such a creature. Or creatures. After all, there could have been hundreds of those giant spiders within the vines. But even if he could win such a fight, it wasn¡¯t worth the risk. Besides, he¡¯d decided not to just kill beasts for being in his way. It had nothing to do with fear. He definitely wasn¡¯t creeped out by how quickly that creature had attacked, snatched its prey, and disappeared. Not at all. He was just being sensible. He was only following his code. With his courage intact, Elijah turned from the canyon and followed it to the south. Eventually, he came across another river that emptied via a majestic waterfall that reminded Elijah of Niagara Falls. Where it fell, there was a huge lake at the bottom of the canyon, but the river kept going from the other side. In any case, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form, then fought the current as he crossed the river, and on the other side, he was greeted by the cry of a group of ducks. They quacked at him aggressively, and considering that they were the size of labradors, he quickly moved on. From there, the ravine began to grow shallower, and the air became more humid. And soon enough, Elijah encountered another river. He crossed it, then found another one after only a few more miles. The whole time, he kept an eye on the canyon, looking for a place to cross. But by the time it came to an end a few days after his first encounter with the canyon, he¡¯d reached a muggy swamp. ¡°Ugh,¡± he groaned. ¡°I hate swamps.¡± And he did. They smelled bad, were difficult to traverse, and were home to some of the deadliest predators in the world. He¡¯d spent some time in mangrove swamps while working on his doctorate, and he¡¯d hated every last moment. Yet, unless he wanted to backtrack and try the north, he had little choice in the matter. From there, Elijah tried to skirt the edges of the swamp. He was not successful, and after only a couple of hours, he was forced to once again shift into his lamellar ape form, or he¡¯d have been wading in waist-deep water and mud. The guardian form also provided some protection against the biting insects that seemed so ubiquitous in swamps. And given how everything on Earth had grown more dangerous, he had no interest in experiencing whatever afflictions they might expose him to. He was already having waking nightmares about horse-sized mosquitos ¨C he hadn¡¯t seen anything like that, but he just knew it was only a matter of time ¨C so he didn¡¯t want to add to his psychological burden. So, it was a tired, annoyed, frustrated, and altogether miserable Elijah that came upon a compound on the edge of the swamp. To him, it looked like it had come straight from the American Gulf Coast, with the main structure on slim pylons that looked like stilts. Otherwise, it was made of rough wood, with an unpainted tin roof, and it was surrounded by a dozen other buildings of similar design. More importantly, they had boats, which seemed to be just what Elijah needed to ease the burden of his trip across the swamp. So, he found a bit of dry-ish land, then shifted into his human form. As he approached, he felt like he was forgetting something important, but no matter how he wracked his brain, he couldn¡¯t remember what it was. ¡°If it was important, I would¡¯ve remembered it,¡± he reasoned as he approached the compound. 3-33. Eber ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± said Carmen. ¡°Seems too¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Gonna need a bit more¡¯n that, boss,¡± Colt said, kneeling beside her. His stump of a hand rested on his knee while he shielded his eyes with his one good hand. ¡°Looks like a normal town to me.¡± ¡°I know. I think that¡¯s what¡¯s bothering me. It just seems too peaceful.¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t like the school,¡± he said. Indeed, they¡¯d spent most of the past few days scouring the area for any major threats, and they¡¯d found nothing. In fact, it felt like they¡¯d found a pocket of peace that hadn¡¯t been touched by the apocalypse at all. And Carmen knew better than to accept that. It had been more than four years since the end of the world as they knew it, and though Carmen hadn¡¯t seen everything Earth had to offer, she¡¯d certainly seen enough to know that nobody had escaped unscathed. So, the peaceful village at the edge of the forest sent up all sorts of red flags. However, no matter how she looked at it ¨C and she¡¯d studied the place as closely as she¡¯d ever studied anything ¨C it was just a normal village with a population approaching two-hundred or so. The most unbelievable part of it was that they all looked so happy. Or at least content. Certainly, they didn¡¯t walk around laughing like clowns or anything. Their emotions seemed normal enough. But there was none of the dejected misery that seemed so common in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s touch. Then again, Easton looked the same at first glance. It was only when one dug a little deeper that they would find the corruption below the surface. The inequality. The classism. The fascist policies. The spineless dictator running it all. ¡°You¡¯re doin¡¯ it again, boss,¡± Colt said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The face,¡± he answered. Annoyed, Carmen forced the grimace to fall away. She¡¯d recently been warned ¨C by her number two, no less ¨C that the other refugees had begun to fear her. Part of that was because of her ferocity in battle that saw her charging any enemy with a berserker¡¯s fury. But the other part was that her resting expression suggested anger. It had gotten to the point where everyone thought she was perpetually on the verge of flying off into a rage. They didn¡¯t deserve to live in fear of the person leading them, so Carmen had vowed to fix the issue. The results were so far mixed. She glanced at Colt, her eyes flicking to his missing hand. He rarely acknowledged the disabling injury, but every now and then, Carmen noticed him reaching for something with the stump. Or struggling with his sword belt. He¡¯d even asked her to make a slightly shorter sword ¨C called a wakizashi ¨C that was better suited for one-handed use. The result was Second Chance, which he¡¯d so far put to good use despite his infirmity. More than once, Carmen had overheard him telling Miguel that the sword wasn¡¯t important. Only the swordsman. He¡¯d even gone on to say that a proper fighter would be proficient with every weapon he might be forced to wield. Even his bare hands, if necessary. Carmen could get behind that attitude. She hoped to give Miguel a peaceful life, but that just didn¡¯t seem possible in their new world. So, if that was the case, then she intended to prepare him for a violent life as best she could. If the world was going to try to kill them, then she intended to give him the tools to survive. That was the biggest change from the old world, she thought. Not the monsters. Not the magic. Not even the non-human settlers she¡¯d heard about. Rather, the most impactful difference was the proliferation of violence. Before the World Tree had touched Earth, war and violence were far off concepts that she¡¯d never expected to experience. Sure, she had opinions, and lots of them. She routinely criticized the wars that were fought abroad. But she¡¯d never really conceptualized the idea that she might one day have to fight for her own life. Pacifism was an easy policy when no one threatened you. Now, she realized how na?ve she¡¯d been in her bubble of peace. The moment her life was ¨C or worse, Miguel¡¯s ¨C on the line, any notions of morality or rules of war disappeared. In those moments, it was kill or be killed, and brutality was the only proper response. Whether she liked it or not. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have a choice,¡± she admitted, glancing back to where they¡¯d left the other refugees. They were more than a mile away, holed up in an old Dollar General whose building was more or less intact, but Carmen could well remember how exhausted they were. ¡°They don¡¯t have much left in them. They need rest. Safety. They need to stop running, if only for a little while.¡± Indeed, ever since they¡¯d been chased from the school ¨C or really, since they¡¯d been exiled from Easton ¨C it had been one crisis after another. Carmen had lost count of how many battles they¡¯d fought. Most were against mutated animals who saw them as an easy meal, but there had been a couple of encounters with opportunistic bandits, as well. But the school had nearly broken them. This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it To think they¡¯d found somewhere safe only to have it snatched away? It was a wonder they hadn¡¯t already given up. ¡°And you, boss?¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll keep going as long as I have to,¡± she said, though she felt just as exhausted as everyone else in the party. ¡°We need to do this, and if it turns bad, we¡¯ll just have to deal with it.¡± After that, she sent Colt back to fetch the others. In the meantime, Carmen continued to watch the small town. Nothing stood out to her as abnormal ¨C aside from the fact that they weren¡¯t miserable ¨C so when the others joined her, she led them down the slope of the hill and toward the main gate. The watchman on guard saw them well in advance, so when the group of refugees arrived, they were greeted by a trio of people. One was a woman with gray hair and a curiously unlined face. The second was a short, balding man with a bit of a paunch and a thin mustache. And the final member, who stood in the center, was a blonde woman who looked like she knew how to work for a living. She had a raw and unfiltered look about her that suggested that she was no stranger to hard living. ¡°What do you want?¡± the blonde woman asked, her tone neutral. ¡°Shelter. Even if it¡¯s only for a night or two,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°I¡¯m a high-level blacksmith, and there are a few Scholars here with various skills. We¡¯ll work in exchange for shelter.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°No? That¡¯s it?¡± The woman responded, ¡°You don¡¯t want ¨C¡± ¡°We could use a Blacksmith,¡± said the grey-haired woman. ¡°You can make weapons and armor, yes?¡± ¡°I can.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think this is a good idea,¡± said the first woman. ¡°Noted,¡± the paunchy man stated. Then, he grinned at Carmen. ¡°I think we¡¯ve come to a consensus. Welcome to Eber. Yes, I know ¨C an odd name, but it¡¯s the one we chose. I¡¯m Wendell. Come on in. We¡¯ll get you settled, and then you can show us your skills in the forge.¡± ¡°Uh¡­alright,¡± Carmen said. Her sense for danger was ringing loud and clear, but it was a testament to how much she and her group of refugees needed a few nights of safety that she pushed right past it, convincing herself it was paranoia. Still, she resolved to be on her guard. She didn¡¯t have an inspection ability like the guards back in Easton, but she was sensitive enough to ethera to have a sense if someone was far and away stronger than her. And from what she could tell, none of these people ¨C the watchman included ¨C were. So, if they wanted to cause trouble, she would be in a good position to respond. And that wasn¡¯t even considering Colt, who was significantly stronger than her in combat, even if he was a few levels lower. No ¨C despite the alarm bells ringing in her mind, Carmen didn¡¯t see how they had much choice in the matter. So, without further ado, she let herself be led inside, and the other refugees followed. As they traversed the town, a few of the residents took notice. Most cast smiles in their direction and, overall, seemed happy to see the newcomers. In fact, quite a few offered them food or water, and they seemed eager to welcome the refugees into their town. But there were a handful who stared at them, blank-faced. However, Carmen¡¯s curiosity at that only extended until they were escorted into a longhouse where they found that a feast had been laid out. The long, wooden table was laden with all sorts of food. There were vegetables of every type, venison, some sort of fowl, and even what looked like fresh-baked bread. Which was curious, because Carmen hadn¡¯t seen any wheat fields or vegetable gardens at all. Still, she didn¡¯t really make the connection, largely because she was suddenly so ravenous that she could scarcely think. So, she and the others ¨C including Colt, who was uncharacteristically nonchalant about security ¨C dug in. Before long, they were all laughing and enjoying what Carmen considered the best meal she¡¯d ever had. Soon enough, though, the meal was finished, and she leaned back and groaned contentedly. ¡°I think I ate too much,¡± she said. Then, looking around, she asked, ¡°Have you seen our hosts?¡± As Colt grabbed another piece of crusty bread that had been slathered in butter, he said, ¡°No, boss. I think this is all for us.¡± Even though she was full, Carmen continued to eat. As she did, there was a part of her that screamed that something was wrong. However, with all the food so readily available, she couldn¡¯t stop herself. And eventually, that voice grew thinner and thinner until she could scarcely hear it. Eventually, the grey-haired woman, who introduced herself as Wendy, came to collect them. Then, she showed them to another longhouse where they could sleep. The refugees all accepted that with no small degree of gratitude, which they expressed vociferously. At last, it felt like they¡¯d found somewhere safe. Somewhere they could finally rest. That night, everyone ¨C including Carmen ¨C slept like logs. It didn¡¯t hurt that the beds, which were arranged in two separate rows along either of the longest walls, were more comfortable than anyplace they¡¯d ever slept. So, when morning finally dawned, Carmen arose more refreshed than she¡¯d felt since Silverado. However, it seemed that everyone wasn¡¯t as content as they¡¯d appeared to be. ¡°Where is Diana?¡± she asked, referring to one of the other refugees. Colt looked around. ¡°I didn¡¯t even hear her leave,¡± he admitted. He shook his head and added, ¡°But I guess she wanted to keep goin¡¯. She said she had family out there somewhere. Probably went to find them.¡± Carmen narrowed her eyes. That didn¡¯t make much sense. None of them were in any condition to travel, especially alone. But she dismissed her concerns, saying, ¡°People aren¡¯t always rational, are they? You never know when someone¡¯s going to make a really bad decision.¡± Colt agreed with her, remarking that it was sad state of affairs when someone was so accustomed to misery that they couldn¡¯t accept solace when they found it. After that, Carmen was shown to her new forge. It wasn¡¯t in great condition, but it was much better than anything she¡¯d had available to her since being banished from Easton. So, it wasn¡¯t long before she got to work. As she did, the other refugees all tried to make themselves useful as well. In the back of her mind, though, Carmen¡¯s doubts were screaming that she needed to escape. However, it only took the memory of the meal she¡¯d eaten the night before to banish those doubts. After all, she was full, and she was safe. What else did she need? 3-34. The Missing Child All the worst sorts of insects buzzed around Elijah¡¯s head as he crouched beside a bald cypress tree whose roots and the lower reaches of its wide trunk were submerged in the murky water. Beneath his feet was mud, decomposed organic matter, and quite a few creepy and crawly freshwater creatures. He could feel each and every one of them with One with Nature, so it wasn¡¯t nearly as nerve-wracking as it otherwise might have been. He¡¯d walked through a swamp before the world had changed, and back then, he¡¯d had no idea what was in the water, leaving him anxious and certain that any given moment would see him being bitten by something nasty and venomous. He didn¡¯t have to worry about that anymore, though. Even the few times those sorts of animals passed him by, they just ignored him. Still, it wasn¡¯t exactly pleasant, feeling the muck between his toes or the insects buzzing around his head. So, after watching the compound for a few more minutes, Elijah decided to stop procrastinating and waded forward. For most of his time on the edge of the swamp, he¡¯d remained in his lamellar ape form, but he didn¡¯t think the sight of an ten-foot-tall lizard-gorilla would make the best impression with the people who lived in the compound. So, when he approached the collection of raised buildings, he did so in his human form. And that meant that he was walking in water up to his waist, which he was sure would ruin his good pants. And his shirt. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t hurt his Cloak of the Iron Bear or his Sash of the Whirlwind, though as Simple-Grade items, they were probably safe enough. Plus, he had a small bag of cleansing powder in his bag, so he was prepared to wage war against the swamp muck. As he approached, Elijah raised his hand, waving toward the structure as he shouted, ¡°Hello?! Anyone there?¡± Only then did he notice a pair of eyes peeking out from beneath the largest building. Elijah knew enough to recognize them for what they were, and he stopped in his tracks. The alligator swam forward, swishing its great, meaty tail back and forth as it slowly closed on him. Then, it passed within the boundary of One of with Nature, and Elijah got a sense for the thing¡¯s size. ¡°It¡¯s a damn dinosaur¡­¡± And it was. The huge reptile was at least thirty-five feet long, which meant that the beast assuredly weighed more than two-thousand pounds. Probably closer to three. But even as it swam closer, Elijah didn¡¯t react with alarm. Because he could feel that it didn¡¯t mean him harm. Instead, it was just curious. It was also plainly a guardian, just like the panther back on his island or the bear whose hide he now wore as a cloak. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain precisely how he knew the difference, and in fact, he wasn¡¯t sure what separated a normal mutated beast from a true guardian. But he knew one when he saw it. And the alligator was definitely a guardian. Which made no sense to Elijah. The guardians he¡¯d encountered so far were tied to powerful natural treasures, and Elijah felt nothing of the sort in the general area. More, while guardians were typically stronger and smarter than normal beasts, they were still wild creatures. So, he had no idea why one would have been camped out beneath the compound. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t have much time to think about that, because the alligator was bearing down on him. So, he held a hand out and, using his most soothing voice, said, ¡°Whoa there big guy. I¡¯m a friend. Here.¡± Elijah reached into his pack and found a parcel of meat. He¡¯d hunted a little while traversing the wilderness and while building his Dragon Circle, so he had extra. He unwrapped the package and threw the chunk of still-bloody meat ¨C Elijah thought it was boar ¨C at the alligator. The monstrous guardian erupted from the swampy water, snapping its enormous jaws around the hunk of wild pork, splashing down after it caught it. ¡°Well, that¡¯ll ruin her appetite, for sure,¡± came a voice. ¡°Bessy, leave that dirty man alone!¡± Elijah looked up to the deck that ran along the front of the building to see an older, dark-skinned woman in a pair of overalls. Covering her black, braided hair was a John Deere cap, and Elijah noticed that she was just as barefoot as him. More importantly, the giant alligator splashed around one more time before turning around and returning to its place beneath the building. For some reason, Elijah interpreted the creature¡¯s body language as petulant. Which made no sense for a thirty-five-foot reptile. ¡°Uh¡­hey,¡± Elijah said, giving the woman a small wave. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah.¡± ¡°You lost?¡± she asked with a slight smirk as she leaned on the balcony. ¡°You look lost. But Bessy likes you, so maybe you¡¯re alright.¡± ¡°Uh¡­Bessy¡¯s the alligator, right?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see anyone else ¡®round here,¡± she said, her smirk turning into a wide grin. Though she was close enough that Elijah could see some tension around her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re not slow, are you? My cousin¡¯s daughter was a bit like that. Sweetest kid you¡¯d ever meet, but¡­well¡­never mind that. Come on up, I s¡¯pose. Konnie ain¡¯t gonna be back for a few more hours. You can meet the family in the meantime.¡± This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. At that, a gaggle of children came storming onto the deck. Elijah counted ten, each one under the age of eight. And none of them looked remotely like the woman on the balcony. Or one another. One look, and Elijah knew that none of them were related. They all looked excited to see him, though. That¡¯s when Elijah remembered what he never should have forgotten. Back in Argos, someone ¨C he couldn¡¯t remember who ¨C had mentioned an Alchemist who lived on the edge of a swamp to the south. And clearly, Elijah had stumbled upon that alchemist¡¯s compound. That put him on his guard. He was friendly with Biggle, but Nerthus had been quite clear that Alchemists were typically Devourers, meaning that they made no efforts to live in harmony with their environments. They consumed everything they found without thought for long-term benefits or consequences. At the time, Elijah had considered it a black-and-white sort of thing ¨C kind of an us-versus-them situation ¨C but since, he¡¯d come to realize that there was a whole world of nuance between the extremes. Still, the tree spirit¡¯s words of caution when dealing with Alchemists had persisted. So, Elijah approached the dock where he saw four aluminum, flat-bottom boats moored, with no small degree of caution. When he reached the floating dock, he slapped his crook onto the wooden surface, then pulled himself up. Upon seeing all the muck and a handful of insect bites on his legs, Elijah made a choice to reveal one of his tricks. He used Healing Rain. Then, with the clean, fresh precipitation showering him, he scraped the worst of the mud and muck from his skin. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it kept him from tracking filth all across the dock. As he did his best to clean himself, the woman and the children descended from the deck via a set of stairs connecting the house to the dock. When she arrived, she looked at him, then up at the localized storm cloud, and said, ¡°Interesting. It heals?¡± ¡°It does,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s pretty useful for showers, too.¡± ¡°Useful, he says,¡± she muttered, shaking her head. Then, she raised her voice and said, ¡°C¡¯mon, kids. Get yourselves into the rain!¡± The children descended, and soon, Elijah was surrounded by a bunch of dancing and playing kids. It was a little disconcerting. The woman extended her hand, and Elijah took it. She said, ¡°I¡¯m Marcy. Sorry ¡®bout the kids. Can¡¯t afford to pass up free healin¡¯. Usually, Konnie takes care of that sort of thing, but if we can save a few pots, it¡¯ll make everything easier.¡± ¡°I can do more focused healing if you need it,¡± he offered. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah, by the way.¡± ¡°Nice to meetcha, but the rain should be fine. Mostly just to take care of the different diseases the bugs carry ¡®round here,¡± she said with a shake of her head. ¡°It¡¯s crazy. Used to be all we had to worry ¡®bout was malaria from mosquitoes. Now, without healin¡¯ or pots, anybody who ain¡¯t opened an archetype yet would die in a place like this. I keep tellin¡¯ him we should move, but he just won¡¯t hear it. Says the swamp¡¯s the best place to do his work. And now Bryce is missin¡¯ and¡­¡± That¡¯s when Elijah saw her puffy eyes. She¡¯d clearly been crying. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± he asked. ¡°Who¡¯s missing?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry ¡®bout that¡­¡± ¡°I kind of do. Come on. Tell me what¡¯s going on.¡± It took a little more prodding, but after Marcy sent the kids to the other side of the dock where they couldn¡¯t hear the explanation, she eventually told Elijah the story. Apparently, one of their daughters ¨C the eldest ¨C had recently gotten her archetype. And because of that, she thought she was strong enough to take some of the burden from her father by going out into the swamp to gather herbs herself. The whole explanation was couched in hints and sideways statements, probably to hide the severity of the situation from the children if they overheard. It worked, too. They had no idea that their father or sister was missing. ¡°And she never came back,¡± Elijah guessed. He glanced at the kids, adding, ¡°Yet.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where Konnie went. He knows the swamp but...he¡¯s been gone almost a whole day,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯d¡¯ve gone after him myself, but then the kids would¡¯ve been alone.¡± Elijah sighed, then pushed himself to his feet. Leaning on his crook, he said, ¡°I guess I know what I have to do, then.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go find them,¡± he stated. Then, he slid back into the swamp water. ¡°Ugh. I just got out. No ¨C it¡¯s fine. It¡¯s a good cause.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to ¨C¡± ¡°Oh, come on. You don¡¯t really expect me not to go after them after all of that, do you?¡± he said. ¡°Obviously I¡¯m going to go. And don¡¯t think I¡¯m not onto you. You told me that whole story because you hoped I would go. Makes sense, I guess. I¡¯m a stranger, and I¡¯m obviously capable of traveling through the swamp without dying. But I¡¯ll tell you right now, you¡¯d better not be lying to me to set some kind of weird and convoluted trap. That¡¯ll annoy the hell out of me.¡± He looked up at Marcy, who was just staring at him in disbelief. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You¡¯re really going to go?¡± ¡°Obviously. I¡¯m not some kind of monstrous asshole.¡± A couple of the children slapped their hands over their mouths, eyes wide at his swear. ¡°Oh. Sorry. Butthole.¡± They giggled. ¡°Jerk?¡± The giggles only increased. ¡°They¡¯re not worried about¡­uh¡­what¡¯s-his-name?¡± ¡°They don¡¯t really understand what¡¯s going on,¡± Marcy admitted. ¡°It¡¯s not the first time Konnie¡¯s been gone for a while. He always comes back.¡± One of the children raised his little fist into the air and crowed, ¡°Daddy always comes back!¡± And then, the children ran back up the stairs. Once they were gone, Marcy said, ¡°Thank you.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Don¡¯t thank me yet,¡± he said. Then, he asked, ¡°Which way did they go?¡± ¡°Southeast,¡± Marcy answered. ¡°There¡¯s an area a few miles into the swamp where Konnie usually does his herbin¡¯. That¡¯s where Bryce would¡¯ve gone.¡± ¡°Alright,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to walking through the swamp for untold miles, but he didn¡¯t want to take one of the boats, either. If something was out there hunting Alchemists and Alchemists¡¯ daughters, he didn¡¯t want to be stuck in a boat when it inevitably attacked him. As to his reasoning for choosing to help, that was even simpler. He¡¯d told the truth. He¡¯d have had to be an absolute monster not to help when he could. And while Elijah didn¡¯t consider himself a heroic knight in shining armor, he¡¯d long since chosen to help wherever he could. So, with that in mind, he set off into the swamp, hoping to save the Alchemist and his daughter quickly so he could continue on his quest to find Alyssa. 3-35. Through the Swamp Fireflies danced to the tune of croaking frogs as night descended on the swamp. In his lamellar ape form, Elijah waded forward, trailing his claw along the wide trunk of a cypress tree. And as he did, only one thought occupied his mind. ¡°I hate swamps,¡± he growled to himself. ¡°I hate swamps so damn much.¡± He cursed himself for not taking one of Marcy¡¯s boats. At the time, he¡¯d chosen to leave them behind because he wanted to be ready for anything that might attack him. However, after trudging through the questionably murky water, with the swamp muck oozing between his scaly toes, Elijah regretted that decision. But it was too late to go back. He¡¯d come too far, by that point. So, as eerie darkness enveloped the hellish marsh, he continued along. In the distance, Elijah saw a series of tiny flickering lights, though he ignored them. They were what many Cajuns native to the Louisiana Bayou referred to as feu follet, and in their mythology, they were seen as supernatural in nature. Some people thought they represented the last vestiges of passing loved ones, while others attributed the flickering lights to evil spirits. In reality, they were simply the result of volatile gases released from decomposing organic matter that had briefly caught fire. Though, if Elijah was honest with himself, he preferred the first explanation. It would be nice to think that those tiny, flickering lights ¨C so visible in the deep dark of the swamp ¨C were the spirits of his parents who just wanted one last opportunity to say goodbye. He sighed, trudging along. Fortunately, his thick scales proved a good deterrent to the biting insects that pervaded the environment, so he was only uncomfortable, rather than subject to whatever diseases they inevitably carried. As he slowly pushed deeper into the swamp, Elijah could feel everything via One with Nature. Snakes, monstrous catfish that lived in the tangled roots of cypress trees, and reptiles of every sort were the most common, but Elijah felt plenty of frogs swimming to and fro as well as birds nesting in the tops of the trees. There were even quite a few fiddler crabs, with their single oversized claw, skittering along beneath the surface of the murky water, unseen despite growing to sizes that would¡¯ve dwarfed a black bear. Most of the beasts in the swamp left him alone, but every now and then, one would dart close to inspect the large predator in their midst. That never lasted long. The moment they caught a whiff of him ¨C or rather, his lamellar ape form ¨C they ran away. Elijah wondered if any had originally intended to attack, or if they were simply curious. There was no way to know for sure, but it was a good question that occupied one facet of his mind for a little while. Like that, hours passed, and night truly enveloped the swamp. If he hadn¡¯t been mired in muck and filthy, stagnant water, Elijah might¡¯ve considered the landscape beautiful. There had always been something mystical and evocative about swamps, a trait that was only exacerbated by unique traits like the swamp lights. Or perhaps it was the simple mystery characteristic to truly wild places that had remained untouched by human hands even before the world had been transformed by the touch of the World Tree. Swamps had always been dangerous ¨C partially because of the native wildlife, which trended towards the deadly, but also because of how easy it was to lose oneself within that watery maze of cypress trees ¨C and Elijah was well aware of just how true that still was. One bite from one of the obviously venomous snakes that slithered nearby, and most people would die in minutes. The same was true if they fell afoul of the alligators poised to ambush any prey that wandered nearby. Or the giant spiders whose gossamer webs blanketed the entire canopy for whole acres. It was a deadly dangerous place, and Elijah suspected he was one of the few people on Earth who could traverse it with any real expectation of survival. So, he continued on, keeping his senses trained on his surroundings as he searched for a sign of Konnie the Alchemist or the man¡¯s daughter, Bryce. But as he waded through the swamp, he caught the scent of something else. Something reptilian. But also alien. Elijah was busy trying to figure out what was different about it when he finally felt his quarry on a small island amidst the stagnant water. Konnie was huddled beneath a boat that had been overturned. Normally, the flat-bottomed vessel wouldn¡¯t have offered much protection, but against something as large as the enormous fiddler crab snapping its single, overlarge claw against the metal hull, the makeshift defense was just enough to stymie it. The crab was only a little smaller than the ones on Elijah¡¯s island, though even from a distance, he could intuit that it was much more dangerous. Size wasn¡¯t the only measure of a creature¡¯s lethality, after all. In fact, it probably wasn¡¯t even the best way to judge any given opponent. In any case, Elijah knew he had to step in, or the overgrown crustacean would figure out how to flip the comparatively light boat over. So, without any further rumination, Elijah charged forward, propelling himself through the stagnant water with his massive Strength. The crab was so determined to tear its way through the boat¡¯s hull that it never even saw Elijah coming. With a grunt, he hit the beast with a shoulder charge, flipping it end over end as it skipped across the water. A moment later, it hit a cypress tree, then fell into the water with a splash. Elijah spread his arms wide and declared his dominance via a massive roar. It was a challenge, and one the crab had no interest in meeting. After the creature righted itself, it skittered away, disappearing beneath the surface to bury itself in the muck. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Elijah didn¡¯t relax until the thing passed the outer boundary of his senses, disappearing from One with Nature. Only then did he let himself shift back to his human form. With one hand, he reached down, grabbed the edge of the boat, and flipped it over. Konnie, who turned out to be an incredibly thin, pale-skinned man wearing a straw hat and a great, bushy, and grey beard thanked him by trying to stab him with a trident. Or was it a pitchfork? Elijah slapped the weak attack aside, saying, ¡°Stop that. I¡¯m here to help.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± the man asked, his voice carrying an accent that belonged to the American deep south. ¡°Name¡¯s Elijah. Marcy asked me to help, Konnie.¡± It only took a cursory look to see that Konnie was grievously wounded. Not only were his clothes stained red with blood, but he smelled of decay and disease. Couple that with the deep, black bags beneath his eyes and his pallid complexion, and Elijah could intuit an infection of some sort. ¡°What got you?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Giant nutria,¡± Konnie grunted, referring to a breed of semi-aquatic and invasive rodents originally native to South America; they¡¯d long since spread far beyond their original ecosystems. ¡°Shoulda brought Bessy with me. Nothin¡¯ messes with me when she¡¯s ¡®round.¡± ¡°I could see how that would be the case. You mind if I heal you?¡± Elijah asked, already summoning Healing Rain. ¡°Or do you have a potion or something you¡¯re waiting to use?¡± ¡°Heals. Please.¡± Elijah raised his hand and approached slowly. He didn¡¯t want to get a pitchfork in the stomach, after all. Fortunately, Konnie was lucid enough to distinguish friend from foe, so he only flinched a little when Elijah placed his hand on the man¡¯s neck. And he almost recoiled at what he felt. ¡°How are you still alive?¡± Elijah wondered, already pulsing Touch of Nature. He also used Essence of the Boar and Aura of Renewal to augment the man¡¯s natural healing and defenses. ¡°You¡¯ve got more poison than blood in you.¡± ¡°Leeches,¡± Konnie said. ¡°You use leeches?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°I¡¯m confused¡­¡± ¡°No. Leeches got me when the boat got flipped,¡± the Alchemist explained. ¡°They¡¯re not normal leeches. They got a bitta venom in ¡®em. And there was a lot of ¡®em.¡± ¡°Huh,¡± Elijah muttered as he continued to heal Konnie. ¡°How ain¡¯t you the just as bad off?¡± he asked, obviously wondering why Elijah had been assailed by the same leeches. ¡°Special Druid secret,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Now, Marcy sent me out here to find you and a girl. You¡¯re the first part. Where¡¯s the other?¡± ¡°Why¡¯re you helpin¡¯?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a helpful guy.¡± ¡°Most ain¡¯t.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not most,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Listen, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s smart for you to be out here right now. There¡¯s something around here that doesn¡¯t really belong. I don¡¯t know what it is, but it¡¯s different. Alien.¡± At first, Elijah had thought there was a guardian around, but he felt that it was something else. At least it wasn¡¯t a Voxx. ¡°That¡¯s the hydra.¡± ¡°Hydra?¡± ¡°A mutated beast, I think. Buncha heads. Like a blend between a gator and a python. Or maybe a viper, considerin¡¯ its poison.¡± ¡°A hydra¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said.¡± ¡°How big is it?¡± ¡°Bigger¡¯n Bessy. At least twice her size. We don¡¯t normally go anywhere near its territory, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gettin¡¯ bigger,¡± Konnie said. ¡°The hydra is growing?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°No ¨C its territory. I¡¯m scared it¡¯s gonna attack the house. We got kids there.¡± ¡°Move,¡± Elijah suggested. ¡°Can¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°We was here first!¡± Konnie growled. ¡°Them kids need this.¡± ¡°Explain,¡± Elijah said, still healing the man. Konnie took a deep breath, then said, ¡°Them ain¡¯t our kids. Not by blood¡­¡± After that, he went on to explain the situation. Soon after the world¡¯s transformation, Konnie ¨C who insisted on being called Konstantino ¨C stumbled upon a half-submerged church van. The driver was already dead, but the children inside were still alive. ¡°I done what anybody would¡¯ve,¡± he said. ¡°Rescued ¡®em. Loaded ¡®em up in the boat. But their time in the swamp had changed ¡®em. That¡¯s why I took the Alchemist class. I wanted to help ¡®em. And I figured it out.¡± Then, he explained the solution. As it turned out, the children were only healthy so long as they got a very specific potion twice a day. Otherwise, they would quickly grow ill and die. ¡°I¡¯m just tryin¡¯ to keep ¡®em goin¡¯ until they can get an archetype. A class, maybe. If they get enough Constitution, they can survive. I know it. ¡®til then¡­¡± ¡°And the ingredients are native to this swamp, aren¡¯t they?¡± Elijah asked. Konstantinos nodded. ¡°Well, shit.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡± Clearly, Konstantinos couldn¡¯t move his family. But if he was right about the hydra, they couldn¡¯t stay, either. Not so long as the hydra remained. The solution seemed simple. Killing the hydra would solve the problem. Yet, Elijah was conflicted. Still, he was a human first, and a Druid second. Besides, the lives of those children were at stake. Sure, he intended to approach the situation with as much tact as possible, but if it came down to a choice between the hydra and Konstantinos¡¯ family, he knew which one he¡¯d choose. But first, he needed to find the girl, Bryce. So, he asked, ¡°Your daughter. Do you know where she might have gone?¡± ¡°South. I can show you.¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You need to go back to your compound.¡± He had a feeling it was going to end in a fight, and one Konstantinos was ill-suited to confront. Of course, the Alchemist argued. It was his daughter out there, and he had no intention of abandoning her. Yet, when Elijah pointed out that, even after being healed, he was in no condition for a trek through the swamp, Konstantinos backed down. After that, Konstantinos seemed to accept his limitations and described the area where Elijah might find the girl. He did add that Bryce might not actually be there, saying, ¡°But that¡¯s where the herbs we need are located, and she knows that. It¡¯s the best lead we got as to where she went.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll find her,¡± Elijah promised. ¡°What about the hydra?¡± asked Konstantinos. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it,¡± he said. Then, after getting the Alchemist back in the boat and sending him off, Elijah shifted back into his lamellar ape form and once again set off across the swamp. And as he did, that reptilian smell ¨C he couldn¡¯t describe it any other way ¨C grew stronger until, at last, he caught sight of the hydra. The monster was much as Konstantinos had described it. Its three heads were like giant boa constrictors, though with a few extra ridges around the eyes, and its body was distinctly crocodilian, with green-brown scales and a thick, ridged tail. The moment Elijah laid eyes on it, he knew it was no natural creature. Not to Earth, at least. In retrospect, he¡¯d felt the same about the sovereign spider that had guarded the pass through the mountains, though he¡¯d been incapable of understanding what it meant. To a lesser extent, he recognized it from the people of Ironshore, as well. Clearly, the hydra hadn¡¯t originated on Earth. Neither had the panther on his island. Or the bear. But while those creatures had felt like they belonged, the hydra did not. To him, that confirmed that the hydra wasn¡¯t a guardian, either. Instead, it was something else. It was alien. It was a monster. Still, as distressing as that realization was, Elijah was more concerned with the girl who¡¯d climbed one of the cypress trees in an attempt to escape the monster. 3-36. The Alchemists Daughter Elijah could scarcely see the girl, as she was hidden in the branches, but he certainly heard her scream. He also saw the small fireball she tossed down at the hydra. It hit with a splash of flames, but the spell had very little effect on the monster. And it was a monster. Elijah was sure of that. He didn¡¯t know precisely what made it so different or why he recognized it, but he was absolutely certain that the hydra was not of Earth. Of course, given its appearance, that should have been obvious ¨C but the injection of ethera into the ecosystem had mutated much of the native fauna, rendering many creatures unrecognizable. Yet, it was obvious to Elijah ¨C for some inexplicable reason ¨C that that was not the case with the hydra. Regardless, he didn¡¯t have leave to ponder the situation, because the creature chose that moment to attack. Not the girl, who was out of reach. Rather, it targeted the tree itself, snapping out with its powerful jaws to chip away at the trunk. One head struck. Then the next. And finally, the third, digging deep into the tree, which shook with every impact. Given what Elijah saw, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before the tree fell. And then, the girl ¨C Bryce ¨C would be defenseless against such a powerful creature. Elijah represented her only chance at survival. He needed to act, and quickly. Whatever moral quandaries he¡¯d experienced concerning the fate of the hydra faded next to the immediate danger posed to the Alchemist¡¯s daughter. Fortunately, Elijah was in the proper form for a reckless charge. So, without giving it any more thought, he threw himself toward the hydra. In his lamellar ape form, he was not sneaky. Nor did he pretend to be. Still, the hydra was so focused on its intended prey ¨C and he moved so quickly ¨C that he managed to take it by surprise. He barreled into the monster, sending it tumbling into the water. But it recovered quickly, one of its heads snapping out to latch onto Elijah¡¯s shoulder. He¡¯d used Iron Scales before impact, but the monster¡¯s fangs still managed to pierce his thick hide. He felt the injection of venom burn its way through his flesh, but he was more concerned with the fact that the other two necks had wrapped around him like constrictor snakes. The pair of struggling titans splashed into the water, where the hydra clearly had an advantage. Its heads continued to snake around him, and when they¡¯d wrapped around his torso a few times, they started biting. The first bite that managed to pierce his scales sent an injection of potent venom scorching through his muscles, eliciting a burbling gasp. Meanwhile, as they fought for leverage, Elijah struggled to free himself, and to little effect. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to breathe. Otherwise, he might¡¯ve drowned. Even so, he couldn¡¯t keep himself from experiencing a brief moment of panic that the monster continued to use to its advantage, snapping out a dozen times in the space of a few seconds. Some of its bites were turned away by Elijah¡¯s defenses, but more than enough made it through. He wrestled with the monster, rolling through the water as the increasing volume of poison coursing through his veins became an ever-more-urgent issue. It wasn¡¯t debilitating, but if the fight went on much longer, he knew it would be. Fortunately, Elijah wasn¡¯t without his own advantages. He used Rage. Then, he snapped out, wrapping his jaws around the hydra¡¯s nearest neck. Its flesh parted beneath the force of his mighty bite, and he ripped away a chunk of muscle and scales. The monster went wild, its heads writhing. That gave Elijah just enough room for a gambit. He transformed into his human form, giving himself more space, then kicked off one of the rapidly constricting necks and launched himself free just in time to avoid being crushed. He sailed through the air, then skipped across the water before thudding into another cypress tree. Most facets of his mind went fuzzy, but a couple remained clear enough to cast a pair of spells. The first was Healing Rain, which dumped rejuvenating precipitation on him. The second was Touch of Nature. The combination of the two healing spells was enough to banish most of the poison, but it didn¡¯t get everything. Without the enhancement of his Crook of the Serpent Healer, even that would have been nearly impossible, especially in the short time he had available. That highlighted just how useful the new staff was, though he had no time to appreciate his weapon. Once he was healed, Elijah shifted back to his guardian form. But he didn¡¯t charge the creature. That had proven a bad strategy. So, as the hydra righted itself and faced off against him, he approached carefully, his own tail swaying back and forth in the murky water. The monster hissed with all three heads, though the one from which he¡¯d taken a bite was clearly wobbly. That was the point of weakness. All he needed to do was finish the job he¡¯d started, and hopefully, the monster would bleed out. Already, it was pouring gallons of blood into the swamp. Elijah just needed to hasten its eventual demise. But he knew he needed a different strategy, especially when he saw that the blood loss had begun to peter out. He needed to act fast. So, he bent every facet of his Quartz Mind to thinking of a solution. And with all that brainpower working in his favor, it wasn¡¯t long before he chose a course of action. Once he did, he bunched his muscles, then once again threw himself at the monster. It cocked its heads back, ready to strike. Yet, when Elijah had made it halfway, he leaped high into the air, and the apex of his jump, he switched to his draconid form. Even as he fell, the creature struck. However, it was incapable of understanding why its formerly huge opponent was now a quarter of its size. So, its attacks were clumsy, ill-timed, and poorly aimed. Moreover, in his draconid form, Elijah was far more dexterous, so when the strikes did come, he had no issues with slapping them aside and using his momentum to launch himself at his target. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. But he didn¡¯t attack the hydra again. Instead, he kicked off the monster, marking it with Brand of the Stalker, then leaped in the direction of the girl. As he flew through the air, he switched back to his lamellar ape form. He landed only a few feet from the tree and shouted, ¡°Get on my back! Your dad sent me!¡± It came out in a roar. But to her credit, the girl didn¡¯t hesitate. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d seen his human form, and that was why she trusted him, or if she was just desperate enough to trust a lizard-ape. But she leaped from her branch without delay. Unfortunately, her aim was terrible, so Elijah was forced to catch her. He did, then threw her over his shoulder and beat a hasty retreat. The hydra followed. The girl screamed. She also cast a fireball in its direction, but as before, it was useless. Elijah wasn¡¯t counting on her help, anyway. Instead, he was wholly focused on running. His reasoning was twofold. First, he hadn¡¯t come just to kill a hydra. His primary objective was to rescue the girl. Perhaps he¡¯d come back and fight the monster, but not until Bryce was safe. Second, he¡¯d seen something during the brief standoff. The wound he¡¯d inflicted on the hydra was healing, and at a visible rate. Because that was what hydras did, wasn¡¯t it? In mythology, when one head was removed, two more would grow back in its place. He didn¡¯t know if the real version of the creature was the same, but it was clearly capable of healing even from grievous wounds. That, in turn, meant that any fight against the monster would take some time, and given his most important goal, Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to do that. So, that only left retreat. Unfortunately, the hydra was more accustomed to its natural environment, so losing it ¨C even with his massive Strength to propel him at ridiculous speeds ¨C took quite a while. Elijah ran deeper into the swamp until he stopped even trying to wade through the water. Instead, he leaped to a cypress branch and channeled his inner monkey, using his long arms to throw himself across the canopy. After that, he quickly left the hydra behind. And even if he hadn¡¯t, it would have been incapable of reaching him. After all, as the girl had proven, the monster couldn¡¯t climb trees. Eventually, long after they¡¯d left the monster behind, Elijah spied a bit of dry ground. He landed with a thump, then lowered the girl to the ground. During their retreat, she¡¯d passed out, and it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah realized why. She¡¯d taken a couple of bites from the hydra, as evidenced by the three puncture wounds on one of her shoulders. They¡¯d already clotted, so the bleeding was minimal. However, one sniff told Elijah that she was under the effect of the monster¡¯s venom. So, he gently lowered her to the ground and shifted back to his human form. A second later, he used Healing Rain, then started in on her with Touch of Nature. When he did, he couldn¡¯t help but recognize how severe the internal damage was. How she hadn¡¯t already died, he had no idea, but her organs had already begun to shut down. More, the muscle around the wounds had nearly liquified under the caustic venom. Hoping he wasn¡¯t too late, Elijah continuously cast Touch of Nature. Slowly, the venom retreated, but even after he¡¯d finished it off, the damage it had wrought still needed to be repaired. So, he kept going, one cast after another until, at last, the final wound closed. Only then did the girl¡¯s eyes flick open. And when they did, she hastily scrambled away in an awkward crab walk. For his part, Elijah held up his hands and said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. You¡¯re safe.¡± He looked around at the inhospitable environment. ¡°Well, safe-ish.¡± ¡°Where am I? Who are you?¡± she demanded. Then, she looked down at her ripped shirt. She hadn¡¯t been exposed, but her tee-shirt was in tatters. So, she threw her arms over her chest and hugged herself tightly. Seeing how uncomfortable she was, Elijah unshouldered his pack, retrieved one of his shirts, and tossed it to her. She caught it. ¡°For your modesty,¡± he said. She quickly turned her back and donned it. As she did, Elijah asked, ¡°How did you get the attention of that monster, anyway?¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t answer any of my questions.¡± ¡°I saved you.¡± ¡°You abducted me.¡± ¡°You jumped on my back! Or tried to. I ended up having to catch you, though. Your falling aim is terrible,¡± he insisted. ¡°Why would I abduct a skinny little¡­you know what? Fine. You¡¯re saved. Make your way back home on your own.¡± Elijah shifted back into his guardian form and started to leave. The girl cut him off by screaming, ¡°No! Don¡¯t go!¡± He turned back to her, asking, ¡°Seriously? Do you want me to stay? Or do you think I¡¯m some creepy kidnapper?¡± Elijah knew she was just a contrary and frightened child, but he definitely didn¡¯t like the implications of her accusations. ¡°Stay. Please.¡± He¡¯d never really intended to leave. If he¡¯d had to, he would have thrown her over his shoulder and taken her back home, regardless of what she said about him. Yet, he preferred it if she went willingly. ¡°Fine.¡± With that, he resumed his human form. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah,¡± he said. ¡°And you¡¯re Bryce. Your mom sent me after you.¡± ¡°And dad?¡± ¡°Fine last I saw him. Should be home by now,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Which is our next stop, by the way. Your turn.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°How did you get treed by a hydra?¡± ¡°Oh. Well, I was trying to get these herbs and ¨C¡± ¡°I know why you came out into the swamp. I¡¯m asking why you picked a fight with that monster,¡± Elijah elaborated. ¡°I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Sure. Then tell me what happened. Why did you go anywhere near it? And don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t know it was there. I saw that thing well before it saw me, and I wasn¡¯t even trying to be sneaky.¡± ¡°I¡­uh¡­I tried to kill it,¡± she said. ¡°Really.¡± ¡°I thought I stood a chance! I have my archetype and everything!¡± ¡°That thing is probably level fifty. Wait. Do monsters have levels? Or just sapients? I mean, it makes sense that they would have levels,¡± Elijah said, tapping his chin. ¡°I guess I could ask Kurik. I think he intimated that animals did. The orcs definitely. But ¨C¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Bryce asked, her hands on her hips. The girl was tall ¨C even taller than Elijah himself, which really wasn¡¯t that big of an accomplishment ¨C and had the gangly awkwardness of most tall teenagers. Otherwise, she was just a normal-looking kid, with blonde hair she wore in a single braid. ¡°Just saying that you had absolutely no chance of killing that monster,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯re lucky you weren¡¯t immediately eaten. How are you alive, by the way? That poison should have killed you.¡± ¡°I had a potion.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good potion!¡± ¡°That¡¯s for sure,¡± Elijah admitted. Anything that let someone as weak as her survive that venom was powerful. Perhaps Konstantinos was a higher-leveled Alchemist than Elijah had originally thought. ¡°But potion or not ¨C that was still stupid. You realize that, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± she said sullenly. ¡°But I didn¡¯t have a choice. It was¡­oh, God¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The reason I attacked it. It was heading toward the house¡­¡± ¡°Shit,¡± Elijah muttered. If it had been heading in that direction, it just confirmed that it intended to expand its territory. And Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to let it accomplish that goal. Bessie the alligator was assuredly a great protector, but against the hydra, the beast had no chance. ¡°Guess we¡¯re doing this, then,¡± he said. ¡°I hope you¡¯re feeling better, because if that thing started back toward the house as soon as we lost it, I don¡¯t have time to drop you off. And I can¡¯t leave you here.¡± The last thing he wanted was to bring a teenager along with him in a fight that would almost assuredly take everything he had. But as he¡¯d said, there wasn¡¯t much choice in the matter. So, after giving Bryce the benefit of two enhancements ¨C Aura of Renewal and Essence of the Boar ¨C he shifted back into his lamellar ape form and said, ¡°Hop on. We¡¯ve got a monster to kill.¡± 3-37. Expansion ¡°Idiots,¡± said Roman with disgust as he looked out across the battlefield. The sun had long since set, and even though thousands of fighters had already fallen, the battle continued to rage. At one point, the sky had lit up with hundreds of spells, and of all sorts, but most of the Sorcerers and other casters had quickly run out of ethera. Now, the air was filled with the clash of metal on metal as the more physical combatants fought a bloody and, ultimately, pointless fight. Roman had no idea why Arbor¡¯s leaders had been so resistant. They were clearly outmatched. The battle had been decided before it had even begun. And yet, those leaders had sent their army to die in the field against Easton¡¯s superior force. Certainly, Arbor had more people, but numbers were largely unimportant. When quantity and quality clashed, the latter would win every time. Even so, Roman was anxious. It had been quite some time since he¡¯d left the friendly and empowering confines of Easton, and though he was one of the strongest people on the field, he didn¡¯t have the safety net of the Seal of Authority to back him up. After all, aside from providing a few measly attribute points, it only worked in the city. So, if he were attacked, he would have to rely on his own abilities rather than the powerful item. Yet, he refused to show his anxiety. Instead, he stood, straight backed and wearing the armor Carmen had created for her second-in-command. As he gazed across the battlefield, he rested his hand on the False Dragon Fang. He knew he cut a striking figure, and one that his people could both respect and aspire to match. He was an inspiration. An example for all of the people who loved, respected, and admired him. A specter of fear for those who might harbor notions of opposing him, too. ¡°The battle is going well,¡± Fiona said. ¡°As always, your Majesty¡¯s leadership has seen us through to victory.¡± ¡°It is not won yet,¡± Roman stated, raising his chin at the compliment. Or Fiona¡¯s statement of fact. The coming end of the battle was a herald of his majesty and proof that he had been chosen by the system to usher humanity into a new age. It was practically divine right. ¡°True. But with your leadership, success is inevitable.¡± Roman permitted himself a slight smile at that. Night hung over the battlefield, but with the stars and a full moon casting their light upon the clashing warriors, everything was visible. Most of Arbor¡¯s forces had been defeated, but there were still a few large pockets of resistance. Most notably, at the center of their defensive line was their leader, Morgan. He was a hulking brute of a man, with a massive beard and more muscles than he knew what to do with. But more than anything, when Roman looked at the man, all he could think of was the brute¡¯s indignity. He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his lessers, risking his life like a common soldier. More, he¡¯d paid no attention to his grooming, and he wore armor that looked fit for the scrap heap. By comparison, even the lowliest of Roman¡¯s fighters wore better gear. That was due to the sheer volume of cold iron they¡¯d mined in the past few months. Carmen had done the lion¡¯s share of the work in getting Silverado established ¨C a task Roman had given her more to get her out of the way than because he cared about the potential benefits of such resources ¨C but since her ouster, he¡¯d sent almost a thousand people into the mines. The results were obvious. With their high-quality blue-and-white armor, his people fought better and were far more durable than any force Arbor could muster. The only reason the battle had gone on for so long was due to the fact that Easton¡¯s army had originally been outnumbered nearly two-to-one. In the center of it all was Laramie, his long dreadlocks flying as he whirled around like he¡¯d stepped out of a comic book movie. There was so much wasted motion. So many unnecessary twirls and flourishes. Yet, even as distasteful as it was ¨C especially to someone like Roman, who had become something of an expert in the noble art of swordfighting ¨C it was effective enough. Roman could only think that the general¡¯s high attributes and useful skills were the reason. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t his swordfighting techniques. ¡°Does he believe he¡¯s attending a dance?¡± Roman groused. Fiona, who was the only one near enough to hear him, answered, ¡°He is a showboat. A selfish combatant who cares more about how he looks than the effectiveness of his abilities. I¡¯ve seen three people die while he twirls around like a ballerina. It¡¯s disgusting.¡± Roman couldn¡¯t disagree. But he wasn¡¯t surprised. The man was no soldier. Instead, he¡¯d relied solely on his personal prowess and charisma to lead his warband. And while they had been effective, against anyone with even a little discipline, they had been doomed to fail. More than once, Roman had wished he could have spared the time to wipe them out, but his plans required a larger army than Easton could field. So, the warband was necessary. Even if using them and their flashy general left a bad taste in his mouth. More worrying was the man¡¯s potential influence on the more disciplined soldiers native to Easton. The last thing Roman wanted was for them to look at Laramie and try to copy his reckless and selfish style. He was no example, and the soldiers of Easton needed to be reminded of that. ¡°After this battle, make certain that our people spend the next few weeks drilling,¡± he said. ¡°Have the sergeants focus on discipline and conformity. We must present a unified front. I do not want any of our core soldiers infected by that man¡¯s influence.¡± ¡°So it will be,¡± Fiona intoned. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. After that, the two went silent, and Roman watched the battle continue to unfold. It went as well as he could have expected, though Easton¡¯s armies lost more people than he wanted to consider. Yet, Arbor¡¯s force was even harder hit, and after a few more hours, only one pocket of resistance remained. Morgan himself stood among a hundred of his strongest and deadliest fighters. Most wore similar armor to the man himself, which meant they were a lusterless bunch who looked like they¡¯d never given any thought to their appearance. They stood in stark contrast to Easton¡¯s fighters, whose armor still gleamed blue and white despite the blood and gore of the battle. Laramie stepped forward, calling out, ¡°Morgan! Face me yourself, and your people will live!¡± ¡°What is he doing?¡± Roman spat. That wasn¡¯t the plan. There was no reason to face the dangerous leader of Arbor in single combat. The battle was already won. Even if Laramie was victorious, there was nothing to be gained. But if he lost, Easton would be down a general. And while Roman didn¡¯t approve of the man¡¯s style, he knew that the warband¡¯s inclusion in the armies of Easton was still too new. Without Laramie, they would drift away. Or cause problems. The big leader of Arbor stepped forward, hefting his giant glaive upon his shoulder. Such an inelegant weapon with a laughably low bar for basic competence. He bellowed, ¡°You want some of this?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Laramie replied, also stepping forward to stand before his people. The battle had all but stopped, the exhausted combatants having stepped back for a brief respite. ¡°Here¡¯s the deal. You fight me. If I lose, you¡¯ll get to go back to your city where you can hole up and resist for as long as you want. But if I win, your people surrender. They¡¯ll be treated well. You have my word on that.¡± ¡°Your word means nothing, warlord,¡± growled Morgan, spitting on the ground. ¡°Besides, you¡¯re not in charge, are you? Where¡¯s your little king? If anyone should fight me, it¡¯s that coward.¡± Roman¡¯s grip on his sword¡¯s hilt tightened. ¡°Do not rise to his taunts, your majesty.¡± He barely heard Fiona¡¯s words, he was so angry. After everything he¡¯d done, after all that he¡¯d sacrificed, someone had the audacity to question his courage? He¡¯d fought and bled for Easton. He¡¯d conquered a tower. He¡¯d done things no man should be asked to do, and all so that they could have a chance at survival. And this barbarian insulted him? It was untenable. But it was also the reason he¡¯d never intended to give Morgan the chance to speak. The man was an uncouth commoner. A common Warrior with more muscles than brains. And he needed to die. So, Roman strode forward, shouting, ¡°You wish to face me, Morgan? So be it!¡± Fiona said something to try to stop him, but Roman refused to hear her. Instead, he embraced Assassin¡¯s Vigor, which quickened his reactions. As he crossed the battlefield, he drew his sword. No one moved. They didn¡¯t dare. Even the enemy watched with anticipation as the King of Easton descended from on high to walk among them. When he reached his own soldiers, they parted before his passage, and soon enough, he stood next to Laramie, who wore a smirk upon his disrespectful face. ¡°Good of you to join us, your majesty,¡± the dreadlocked man said. ¡°Perhaps you can show us how it is done.¡± A hush fell over the battlefield as thousands of soldiers focused on the two men standing a few dozen feet from one another. ¡°Very well,¡± Roman said softly. Then, without warning, he used his newest ability, called Predation.
Predation Disappear from sight, teleporting behind your foe. Charge based on Dexterity. Current: 2. Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 7 Minutes
The moment the ability activated, he disappeared, and an instant later, he was behind Morgan. Then, his sword flashed as he used Eviscerate. His single stroke, which Morgan had somehow managed to dodge, was followed by a dozen more, all in quick succession. The big man couldn¡¯t stand up to all of them, and soon enough, his armor parted and blood flew. He used some sort of ability which cloaked him in green light, but it was useless, because Roman had followed it up with a spell.
Weaken Inflict your opponent with crippling weakness, cutting their attributes by 60%. Duration based on Dexterity. Current: 3 seconds.
Even as Morgan staggered, wounded and weakened, he swung his great halberd around. But by that point, Roman had already gotten too close. He used Murder:
Murder Instantly slay anyone weaker than you. Viability based on total power. Cooldown based on cultivation level. Current: 7 Weeks
Roman buried his sword in the man¡¯s chest, concealing his use of the ability. Morgan, of course, was already dead. It was a shame, too, because Roman would have preferred to make some scathing and belittling remark. Still, the situation had worked out in his favor. So, he pushed the huge man away, letting him clatter to the ground in his cheap armor. Then, Roman looked around and said, ¡°Take them all into custody. No one else dies unless absolutely necessary.¡± Then, as he strode back toward Laramie, the forces of Easton surged forward. With what they¡¯d just seen, Arbor¡¯s army was in no state to fight. After all, Morgan was the strongest among them, and he¡¯d single-handedly kept them from being routed. If he had fallen so easily, then what chance did they have? ¡°Impressive,¡± Laramie said with a smile that bordered on insolence. If Roman hadn¡¯t just used all of his most powerful abilities, he might¡¯ve killed Laramie, then and there. But with only his second tier of spells available, he knew any ensuing fight would be annoyingly close. ¡°As befits your status, my king.¡± Of course, no one else knew just how limited he was. For a single fight against someone at or below his own power level, he was nearly invincible. Yet, if someone was much stronger than him, he would struggle. Or if he had to fight multiple people at once. Still, his skillset was perfect for reminding his underlings why he was the one in charge. Fortunately, Morgan had only been a couple of levels above Roman, so when he¡¯d used Weaken on the barbaric man, it had opened him up to Murder. The rest was just pantomime meant to disguise his true abilities. Still, as annoyed as he was at Laramie for putting him in such a position, Roman was satisfied with the way things had turned out. Not only had they defeated Arbor¡¯s forces, but he¡¯d gotten the chance to show how powerful he was. In addition, he¡¯d gained quite a few more prisoners, which he hoped to put to good use sooner rather than later. After all, his strategy of leveling via the execution of prisoners was still ongoing. Yes ¨C he was well on his way to satisfying the requirements of his quest. More importantly, he was on the verge of becoming the savior the people of Easton ¨C and perhaps Earth ¨C needed. 3-38. Man or Monster ¡°What are you humming?¡± asked Bryce, who was perched on Elijah¡¯s shoulder as he made his way through the swamp. Because of her gangly height, she kept digging her knee into his neck, which was both annoying and awkward. So, he¡¯d distracted himself by dipping into the facet of his Quartz Mind dedicated to monitoring his Domain. There was something altogether comforting about focusing almost entirely on his island, about knowing where everything was and where it was supposed to be. With every other facet of his mind, he concentrated on his surroundings. After all, the swamp was still a dangerous place, and he didn¡¯t want to be caught unawares by a powerful beast with a grudge. And apparently, he¡¯d lapsed into humming. ¡°Under Pressure,¡± he said. ¡°By Queen.¡± ¡°God. How old are you?¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m not¡­oh¡­oh, no¡­¡± ¡°What?!¡± she hissed, digging her fingers into his scales. Or trying to, at least. As she did, she whipped her head around, presumably searching for some attacker. ¡°I just realized that I¡¯m over thirty,¡± he groaned. In his lamellar ape form, it came out as a growl. In the Shape of the Guardian, everything did, really. ¡°It¡¯s official. I¡¯m ancient. It¡¯s all downhill from here.¡± Indeed, at some point during his tenure on the island, he¡¯d left his twenties behind. He wasn¡¯t precisely sure exactly what date it was, but judging by the seasons, he¡¯d reached the ripe old age of thirty-two. That number had once seemed incredibly high. In a lot of ways, it still did. ¡°You scared me to death. Don¡¯t do that,¡± the girl said, slapping him on the side of the head. There wasn¡¯t much force behind it, but Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if that was because she was incapable of hitting him harder or if she had intended it playfully. Regardless, it was annoying, which was a good description of his every interaction with Bryce. ¡°I wonder if I was as annoying as you when I was a teenager. I don¡¯t think so. But I¡¯m sure you don¡¯t think of yourself like that, either,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not annoying!¡± ¡°You really are.¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one growling something by the queen.¡± He let out a low, rumbling sigh. ¡°Not the queen. Just Queen. You know, Freddie Mercury? The best rock band to have ever existed? Bohemian Rhapsody. We Will Rock You. Under Pressure. You know, Queen?¡± ¡°Ugh. A dad band.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not a¡­you know what, never mind,¡± he muttered. ¡°They¡¯re too good for your ears anyway. You probably like some vapid Disney singer or something.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about me,¡± she argued. ¡°I¡¯m not like ¨C¡± ¡°Shh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t shh me!¡± ¡°I said shut up!¡± he hissed, forcefully lowering his voice. ¡°The hydra is up ahead. About a hundred yards away.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Bryce responded in a whisper. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± ¡°I was thinking of throwing you at it like a baseball.¡± ¡°What¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m kidding. Shut up.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me to ¨C¡± ¡°In fact, here,¡± Elijah said, grabbing the girl around the waist and shoving her onto a nearby branch. He looked up at her, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t move. Unless I die horribly. I mean, I don¡¯t think that¡¯s going to happen, but who does, right? If I get slaughtered by the mythical monster over there, you can move all you like. Probably in the other direction would be my suggestion, but that¡¯ll be up to you.¡± With that, Elijah turned back to the hydra in the distance. It didn¡¯t look like it was in a hurry, which was a good thing. If it had been, it would¡¯ve probably already reached the house. As it was, the thing was still almost a mile off ¨C at least as far as Elijah could figure. Distance and direction were, at times, difficult to gauge in the swamp, so there was every chance that his estimate was a little off. Regardless, he had his target in sight, and he had a couple of ideas about how to kill it. So, he shifted into his human form and waded forward as quietly as possible. He regretted it instantly. There was something altogether grotesque about the way the mud and muck squished between his toes that was so much worse when he wasn¡¯t covered in scales. On top of that, his clothes and equipment immediately soaked through. At least he didn¡¯t have to deal with the leeches, though. Using One with Nature, he felt a few nearby, but they didn¡¯t seem interested in him. Odd, but he wasn¡¯t going to argue with it. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Slowly, Elijah waded closer until he was only a dozen yards away. Then, he adroitly climbed one of the nearby cypress trees. And once he was nestled safely among the branches, he used Swarm. The murky water roiled as a thousand leeches manifested and immediately went for the hydra. Even as they latched onto the curious amalgamation of snake and crocodile, Elijah raised his hand and cast Calamity. Clouds formed overhead, and the wind quickly whipped into a frenzy. Meanwhile, as the ground shook, the hydra ¨C who was already under assault by the leeches ¨C sank into the mud. Waves of murky water crashed into the monster as it struggled to dislodge itself from the mire. At the same time, it aimed its ire at the comparatively tiny leeches latching onto its limbs. Each strike destroyed one of the leeches, but there were so many that the overall Swarm was barely impacted. Elijah cast Shape of the Predator, shifting into his draconid form. It was ill-suited to swimming, but it was perfectly at home among the tree branches. So, after using Guise of the Unseen ¨C the hydra still had no idea he was even there ¨C he dashed across the limb where he¡¯d been perched and leaped to another. His feet hit without even a whisper of sound, and he continued to race along the canopy until he was directly above the hydra. Then, he used Venom Strike and Predator strike before descending upon its bulky body. The moment he landed, he snapped out, wrapping his jaws around one of the monster¡¯s necks, then squeezing with biting force that would turn a real alligator green with envy. And it was just as effective as he¡¯d hoped. He didn¡¯t just tear a chunk out of the thick and sinuous trunk of a neck. Instead, he snapped it into two, sending that head flopping into the water. Elijah didn¡¯t stick around to watch, though. Instead, even as the hydra bucked and twisted, sending its remaining two heads to attack him, he retreated along its spine, scratching and biting the whole way. Even the tiniest nicks in the monster¡¯s thick scales was enough to inflict an instance of Contagion, which Elijah hoped would add a significant burden on the creature¡¯s Regeneration. When he found the monster¡¯s tail, he marshalled his Strength and leaped, sailing high into the air until he latched onto another tree limb. The hydra, who¡¯d whipped around to follow him, slammed into the tree¡¯s trunk a second later. Despite Elijah¡¯s high Dexterity, the sudden motion combined with his unsure footing to shake him free of the branch. He plummeted toward the murky water ¨C or more importantly, the increasingly enraged hydra. Knowing he didn¡¯t have much choice, Elijah shifted into his guardian form. The transformation didn¡¯t complete until after he¡¯d splashed into the murky water, but only a second later, with the hydra bearing down on him, Elijah erupted from the mire and hit the monster in a thunderous tackle that smashed it into the nearby tree trunk. The cypress cracked under the herculean impact, but Elijah didn¡¯t see it fall. Instead, he was wholly focused on fending off the remaining two heads. As they had in their first fight, the necks wrapped around him like the largest anacondas in existence. In only a second, he was being squeezed with enough force to crush a boulder. However, Elijah was much sturdier than any large rock, so he bore the pressure with stoic resolve. Yet, he knew it wouldn¡¯t last. As strong as he was, and even with his massive Constitution, he had limits. And the hydra was capable of pushing him past them. On top of that, the fanged heads had already returned to their tried-and-true strategy of trying to fill him with holes. What¡¯s more, Elijah was horrified to see that the stump of the head he¡¯d severed had already sprouted two more heads. Earth¡¯s mythology had somehow gotten it right. For every head he removed, two more would take its place. On top of that, its clearly superior regeneration had already worked to counteract the tidal wave of afflictions that had come via Contagion, the Claws of Gluttony, and the army of leeches that had descended upon it. Elijah once again activated Rage, which had just come off cooldown. And thankfully, that sudden surge of Strength gave him just enough power to gain a little room from the constricting necks. He used that to lash out with his jaws, repeatedly ripping chunks away until the monster finally relented. Even as it reeled, Elijah burst free, grabbed it by the neck, and, with a mighty heave, started to spin. At first, the enormous monster refused to move. However, Elijah had spent more than a week toting multi-ton stones, and the hydra, as big as it was, didn¡¯t compare to those hunks of rock. So, after only a little struggle, he was successful. He spun. The hydra hissed and spit and bit. Elijah had used Iron Scales, so the monster¡¯s fangs mostly skipped off his hide as he pivoted, dragging the creature through the water by its neck. The first revolution was slow. The second picked up some speed. And by the third, Elijah was moving fast enough to make himself dizzy. He kept going for three more revolutions until, at last, he released the hydra. It skipped across the water before slamming into a tree. Even from dozens of yards away, Elijah could hear bones cracking from the impact. Or perhaps that was the cypress tree, because only a second later, it tipped over to fall atop the fallen monster. Elijah loped in that direction, fully intending to rip the monster to pieces. Sure, its Regeneration was insane. It had proven that. And it could regrow its heads. But Elijah was willing to bet on his own power in a match with the hydra¡¯s regenerative abilities. So, he cut across the intervening distance, hellbent on finishing it off. However, just before he reached it, three serious problems presented themselves. First, the tree into which he¡¯d thrown the hydra just happened to be where he¡¯d left Bryce. She¡¯d tumbled free when it had fallen, and she seemed to have made it through okay. Except that she was distressingly close to one of the monster¡¯s heads, which had snaked out from beneath the tree, clearly intent on claiming a victim. The second issue was the venom coursing through his body, burning its way through his muscles and veins. His own Regeneration was not up to the task of dealing with that much damage, and he knew he was only minutes away from death. His body would degenerate beyond his control well before that, though. Already, he could feel his muscles liquifying beneath the weight of so much venom. And finally, the third problem was that there was a new arrival to the battle that presented itself by erupting from the mud and muck to clamp a giant, oversized claw around his waist. Elijah had no idea why the fiddler crab had chosen that very moment to act, but it was the worst possible time. Even as the crab tried to snip him into two pieces, the hydra¡¯s head snapped out, intent on ending Bryce¡¯s life. She screamed. Elijah roared. And the hydra hissed in what sounded like glee. Yet, there was nothing Elijah could do. 3-39. A Fathers Fury Time felt like it was moving in slow-motion as Elijah struggled against the fiddler crab¡¯s oversized claw. Even as he levered it apart, he knew it was pointless. The girl, who was fiercely trying to scramble away from the hydra¡¯s snake-like head, was going to die. He could see that as plain as day. Then, he felt something coming. Something big. Something scaley. Something alligator-y. Bessy raced through the swamp with unmatched speed and barreled into the recovering hydra, jaws first. The monster reacted the same way it had against Elijah, by wrapping its necks around the newcomer. However, Bessie had not come alone. Indeed, Konstaninos was perched on the giant alligator¡¯s back, a glass vial in either hand. Screaming a high-pitched warcry, he tossed the potions at the hydra, where they hit and shattered with an audible sizzle. The monster reeled, and Konstaninos ¨C wearing a massive straw hat and a pair of overalls ¨C reached down to his daughter. She grasped his hand, and he yanked her onto the alligator¡¯s back. But as bombastic as Konstantinos¡¯ entrance into the battle was, his potions were largely ineffective as anything but distractions. Fortunately, he recognized that, and Bessy ripped free of the hydra¡¯s attempts to constrict her, then swam away. The hydra tried to follow, but the swamp was the alligator¡¯s natural habitat, and if she didn¡¯t want to be caught, she wasn¡¯t going to be. That distraction gave Elijah the time he needed, and he used that to lever his hands beneath the fiddler crab¡¯s enormous claw. With his massive Strength, he levered the claw apart, then dove away just in time to avoid being snared again. But the crab was persistent, and it wasn¡¯t going to be ignored. So, rather than attack the hydra ¨C which was still trying to catch Bessy ¨C Elijah had to turn his attention to the giant crab that had interrupted the fight. He launched himself at it with bestial fury, grabbing its eye stalks and yanking them free. The crab went wild, spinning around and snapping its huge claw. But Elijah wasn¡¯t caught unaware, because if there was anything he knew, it was how to kill giant crabs. After all, he¡¯d hunted them enough on his island that he could call himself an unmatched expert in crab slaying. So, he dove beneath the beast, and when he reached the center of the crab, he pushed himself upward. A second later, he pressed the van-sized creature above his head. It didn¡¯t go willingly, kicking its legs and snapping its claw ineffectually. Elijah heaved it toward the hydra. Like a skipping stone, the monster bounced off the water, then hit the reptilian creature hard enough to send it pitching sideways. It didn¡¯t like that, and it reacted like any monster would to a new threat. For a second or two, the two enormous creatures engaged in a furious battle. The crab managed to snip a few chunks of flesh from the hydra¡¯s torso, but it was clearly incapable of standing up to the mightier monster¡¯s concerted attacks. As a result, it was only a few moments before its shell cracked beneath the hydra¡¯s powerfully constricting necks. It didn¡¯t last long after that. But it was the delay Elijah had needed to shift back to his human form and use Healing Rain. He also pulsed Touch of Nature a couple of times, bringing himself back to workable condition. He would have preferred a few more, but that just wasn¡¯t in the cards. As he cast, he yelled at Konstantinos, ¡°We need to stop it from regenerating!¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t got nothin¡¯ can do that!¡± the Alchemist yelled from where he¡¯d directed Bessy to stop. ¡°Shit,¡± growled Elijah. It was clear that he was going to have to do it the hard way, which meant wearing the hydra down, one bit at a time. There had to be a limit to its Regeneration, after all, and Elijah knew that the only chance for Konstantinos and his family to survive was to find that limit and push the monster past it. So, he once again used Swarm, then Calamity. Leeches surged all around the hydra, latching onto its legs and the lower half of its body. All the while, they administered their afflictions. In the meantime, the other spell went to work, causing chaos as well as minor damage against the powerful monster. But Elijah was more concerned with the distraction as he leaped up to a branch and pulled himself free of the muck. When he did, he shifted into his draconid form. In the chaos of Calamity, the hydra had lost track of him, so he had no issues with adopting the Guise of the Unseen. Under the cover of his stealth ability, he stalked forward, leaping from one branch to another until he was directly above the hydra. Then, as he had before, he pounced and bit. This time, he targeted the base of the neck, ripping through it with his powerful jaws. At the same time, he latched on with his front claws, digging in as he raked his back claws across its scaled hide. He ripped it to shreds, but more importantly, he administered a multitude of instances of Contagion. Without his Quartz Mind, he wouldn¡¯t have been capable of multi-tasking like that, but with it combined with his high Dexterity, he had no issues controlling each of his limbs independently. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. His opportunity was limited, though. So, as he felt the hydra recover, he bounded away, and another head flopped free. He knew it wasn¡¯t going to be enough. Already, there were two other heads growing from the stump of the other neck he¡¯d severed earlier in the battle. But he could only hope to overwhelm the monster¡¯s Regeneration. As he reached another limb, Elijah considered another solution. It was a long shot, but as he raced across the limbs, he wondered if it was precisely the strategy they needed to win the fight. So, after shifting back to his human form and once again using Swarm and Calamity ¨C which drained his ethera to a shocking degree ¨C Elijah shouted down to Konstantinos, ¡°I need fire!¡± ¡°Fire?¡± ¡°Burn the stumps!¡± Konstantinos yelled back, ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I can do it!¡± Bryce interrupted, a fireball already blooming at her fingertips. Before anyone could stop her, she aimed that ball of fire at the hydra and tossed it. Of course, it went wide. Elijah could empathize. After all, he¡¯d been forced to spend countless hours practicing with Storm¡¯s Fury before he could even begin to rely on his aim. Yet, as understandable as her poor technique was, it had the unfortunate consequence of summoning the ire of the hydra. It raced forward, one full-sized head and two that were only half the normal size. Though that meant they were still as big as a normal anaconda. On top of that, Elijah could see a couple of much smaller snakes already wriggling free of the other stump. Instead of his various afflictions taxing the monster¡¯s Regeneration to failure, it seemed that its power of healing had only increased. But more distressingly, the hydra¡¯s sudden charge had taken Bessy by surprise. She dashed to the side, her meaty tail propelling her away with frightening speed. So, she wasn¡¯t in any danger of being caught. Yet, that sudden movement had sent the unbalanced Bryce tumbling face-first into the water. With its other target having already dashed out of range, the hydra was quick to reorient on the fallen Bryce. Even as Konstantinos shouted and tried to redirect Bessy, the hydra bore down on the teenage girl. Elijah made a decision. He knew he didn¡¯t have much chance. Each time he¡¯d tried to fight the monster in his lamellar ape form, he¡¯d gotten the worst of the exchange. Sure, he¡¯d escaped a couple of times, but he¡¯d gotten to the point where if he took too many more hits from those venomous fangs, he would run dry of ethera. Yet, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from leaping to the girl¡¯s rescue. Shifting into his guardian form mid-air, he leaped upon the hydra¡¯s back. It reacted the same way it always did, by abandoning every other goal to wrap its necks around Elijah¡¯s body. It squeezed and bit. He returned that with a couple of bites of his own. However, with the combination of the monster¡¯s enormous regeneration and the fact that he didn¡¯t possess any venom of his own ¨C not in the lamellar ape form, at least ¨C Elijah definitely got the worse of the exchange. The monster repeatedly struck, subjecting him to increasingly more venom. At the same time, it squeezed. Vaguely, Elijah was aware that the others were trying to help, but his every thought was focused on doing as much damage as he possibly could. Somewhere in the back of his mind ¨C beneath all the pain of having his bones crushed and the burning venom coursing through him ¨C he thought that if he did enough damage, it might give Konstantinos and Bryce a chance to survive. Yet, if he¡¯d have looked at it objectively, he¡¯d have recognized just how useless it was. However, he had one more card to play. One more ability to use. Guardian¡¯s Renewal beckoned. With a flick of his mind, Elijah could completely recover. But to what end? Even if he returned to complete health, he was still trapped. It would only prolong his life for a few more minutes. Fortunately, he was not alone. Bessy returned to the fight, Konstantinos roaring from her back as the alligator leaped free of the swampy water and snapped her jaws shut on the hydra¡¯s lone remaining full-sized head. With the famous biting power of her species, she ripped through the thick muscles and severed its spine. And just like that, Elijah was falling into the water. He still had the neck wrapped around him, but its muscles had lost all tension, so he had little trouble tearing free. Once he did, he was forced to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal to combat the venom melting through him. He threw himself free of the water, wrapped his claws around the half-grown heads, and used every point of Strength he could muster to wrench them free of the stump. They resisted for a brief moment, but after only a second, muscles tore and bones of the monster''s vertebrae broke. ¡°Burn it now!¡± he screamed. Bryce was close enough that her poor aim was inconsequential, and after she summoned her fireball, she tossed it at the monster¡¯s stumpy neck. Then, she did it again. And again after that. Flesh seared, sealing the monster¡¯s healing. But Elijah knew it was a long way from dead. So, leading the way with his claws, he leaped upon the monster¡¯s back and started digging into the wounds he¡¯d already inflicted. At first, it seemed ineffective, but after only a few moments, he began to make progress. A little while longer, and he¡¯d managed to reach its organs. Then, Elijah switched to his draconid form, using the last of his ethera in the process. But it was necessary. Not only did the form come with the passive enhancement of Contagion, but in that shape, he could also repeatedly use Venom Strike so long as he had plenty of stamina. And considering that Guardian¡¯s Renewal had returned his body to perfect condition, he had plenty of stamina to spare. So, without having to worry about retribution, he went to work, using Venom Strike with every single swipe of his claws. He quickly became fatigued, but the effects were noticeable as thick, black tendrils of rot spread through the hydra¡¯s organs. But the monsters Regeneration was ridiculously powerful, and it waged quite a battle with Elijah¡¯s efforts. Still, after a few more minutes, it finally started to lose ground until, at last, the hydra perished. By that point, Elijah was running on empty. His ethera was gone. His stamina was depleted. And he¡¯d used every cooldown he had. Yet, the monster was dead. And he¡¯d received quite the reward for it as well. He looked at the last notification in a long list:
Congratulations! You have reached sixty-one. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
It was an incredible boost, and more levels than he¡¯d gotten at one time since he¡¯d been forced to mercy kill the panther. More importantly, he¡¯d passed level sixty, gaining a new ability. And it was a powerful one, too. 3-40. A Debt Owed Riding an alligator in the middle of a swamp was an odd sensation, but Elijah had to admit it wasn¡¯t even the strangest thing to have happened that day. Instead, that label belonged the fact that he had battled ¨C and defeated ¨C a literal hydra, not unlike the one from Earth¡¯s mythology only an hour before. It was just one more oddity to add to the list of curiosities he¡¯d experienced since Earth was touched by the World Tree. And he knew it wasn¡¯t going to be the last, either. The world had grown into something magical and often unrecognizable, so the existence of mythological beasts shouldn¡¯t have even moved his needle. Yet it had, largely because the thing had been powerful enough to nearly kill him. In fact, if it hadn¡¯t been for the quick intervention of the other two people riding the alligator ¨C and Bessy herself ¨C he would have found his end at the bottom of the hydra¡¯s gullet. Of course, he never would have been in the swamp if it hadn¡¯t been for Konstantinos and his wayward daughter, Bryce. Still, seeing the father and daughter together, he considered his labors to have been worth it. At that moment, Bryce glanced back at him and frowned. ¡°Why are you grinning like that? It¡¯s creepy.¡± ¡°You¡¯re creepy,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°What does that even mean?¡± ¡°Nothing.¡± The teenage girl shook her head and rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to the swamp before them. Elijah needed to do no such thing. Or rather, he was already paying attention to everything around them via One with Nature. He didn¡¯t need his eyes to see everything in the general vicinity. So, he once again turned his attention to the day¡¯s gains. First, he looked at his updated status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 61
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 94 (72)
Dexterity 79 (64)
Constitution 72 (62)
Ethera 70
Regeneration 84 (64)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
He still had his enhancements ¨C or buffs, as the people of Argos called them ¨C active, so his attributes were pretty well inflated. It was especially noticeable because of his equipment, which added an extra twelve Strength and five Dexterity. It would have been even more if it had been a bit chillier. After all, because of the Cloak of the Iron Bear¡¯s Cold-Blooded ability, he would gain attributes as temperatures dropped. Not very useful in the hot and humid swamp, but at least Temperate still kept him from sweltering. In any case, his attributes had well and truly reached superhuman levels. Of course, he already knew that. It hadn¡¯t been that long ago that he¡¯d toted multi-ton rocks for miles in order to build his Dragon Circle. Still, it was nice to see his power quantified by hard numbers. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. However, Elijah was more interested in the new addition to his spellbook he¡¯d received after crossing the level sixty threshold:
Soothe Heal a large amount of damage over a short amount of time. Duration: 60 seconds.
He¡¯d already tried it out on Bryce and Konstantinos, both of whom had taken incidental damage during the fight, and he was pleasantly surprised by the effects. From what he could tell using that small sample size, the new spell worked like a combination of Touch of Nature and Aura of Renewal. It lasted sixty seconds, but during that time, it injected a small amount of healing for every three seconds that passed. Altogether, those twenty pulses were slightly more effective than a single cast of Touch of Nature. Yet, it had both pros and cons. Due to the nature of the spell, it took sixty seconds to get the full effect. That meant that it wasn¡¯t sufficient to combat truly urgent needs. However, it made up for that with its efficiency as well as convenience. It cost a fraction of the ethera necessary to cast Touch of Nature, which meant that it was far and away the most efficient method of healing he had available. And on top of that, it had one major benefit ¨C he could cast it from a short distance away ¨C no more than ten feet, he¡¯d found. That had always been the issue with Touch of Nature. As the name implied, it required that he touch his patient. Soothe solved that problem, though in a roundabout way. It wouldn¡¯t replace Touch of Nature, he was certain. But rather, it would be a nice addition to his spellbook. Already, Elijah was thinking of a hundred different situations where it would have come in handy, but the most recent battle against the hydra was the most glaring among them. If he¡¯d had that available, he might not have had to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal to curtail the effects of the monster¡¯s venom. But what was done was done. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t need the powerful restoration before the week-long cooldown was up. All of that went through Elijah¡¯s mind as they cut through the swamp. As it turned out, he¡¯d gotten turned around at some point, and they were much further away from Konstantinos¡¯ homestead than he¡¯d first expected. So, it took a couple of hours before they reached the collection of tin-roofed houses. When they did, they were greeted by the same gaggle of excited children and a very relieved-looking Marcy. It wasn¡¯t long before they climbed onto the dock, and Elijah was shown to an outdoor shower stall. Thankfully, it was enclosed, so he wasted no time before he stripped off and took a shower using his homemade soap. He also took some time to wash the muck from his clothes, though much of it persisted through his efforts. He could have used some of his cleansing powder, but he didn¡¯t have enough to just use it whenever he liked. Besides, he knew he still had some time left in the swamp ¨C after all, it was still between him and Seattle ¨C so he figured he¡¯d wait until he¡¯d left it behind before truly banishing the muck from his life. Still, he spent a good while making sure he got his clothes as clean as possible. Then, he donned a different ¨C and clean ¨C set of clothes so he wouldn¡¯t contaminate the house. Thus clean, he gathered his things and headed inside, where he found the chaotic situation he should have expected, given the number of children. ¡°Sorry,¡± said Marcy, looking up when he came into the living area. ¡°Bit of a madhouse, ain¡¯t it? Never thought I¡¯d have ten kids to care for at my age, but it is what it is, I guess. Wouldn¡¯t trade it for the world.¡± The interior of the house was cozy, with a rough-hewn look that matched the exterior. However, it had that ephemeral quality that was hard to pin down but marked it as a home, rather than simply a house. Part of it was atmosphere. Some of it was the presence of soft fabrics. Knickknacks. Memories. Pictures. Elijah hadn¡¯t felt anything like it since he¡¯d been in his childhood home. Sure, his treehouse on his island was his home. But it certainly wasn¡¯t homey. After a few moments, Konstantinos led him out to the back deck, where they sat in a pair of chairs that overlooked the swamp. Night had begun to fall, which cast the mire in deep shadow. That same air of mystery Elijah had experienced before returned, and now that he wasn¡¯t waist-deep in murky water, he could truly appreciate it. Konstantinos offered him an unmarked, brown glass bottle, saying, ¡°My special brew.¡± ¡°Beer?¡± asked Elijah. The thin man nodded, then scratched his beard before taking off his cap and wiping the sweat from his forehead. ¡°Don¡¯t know how you stand wearin¡¯ that fur coat in this heat,¡± the man said before taking a sip of his own beer. Elijah did the same, then settled back in his chair with a sigh. ¡°Just part of my style,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°So, what¡¯s the deal with the alligator? She¡¯s a guardian, right? Where¡¯s her natural treasure?¡± Konstantinos shook his head before taking another pull from the bottle. ¡°Some strangers came in and took it. Giant sunflower. It was at least four feet across,¡± he said. ¡°They came in, attacked ¡®er, then made off with the flower. She was too wounded to follow. That¡¯s how I found ¡®er. My pops used to work a gator farm down in the Glades, so I always had a soft spot for ¡®em. Anyway, I brewed up some potions and nursed ¡®er back to health. After that, she followed me home. Been with me ever since.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± ¡°Yep. Way I see it, she replaced the treasure she lost with guardin¡¯ me and the kids,¡± he said. ¡°Normally, she don¡¯t take kindly to strangers. Makes it odd that she seemed so taken with you.¡± ¡°Not my first encounter with a guardian. They like me.¡± ¡°Class?¡± ¡°Archetype. Plus, I know how to treat them. Give them some food, and most of the time, they come around pretty quick.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡± After that, the pair lapsed into an easy silence that lasted until the sun had fully set. Then, Konstantinos said, ¡°I just want you to know how much I appreciate what you did. Not many folks would step out like that and risk theirself.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome. But I think more people than you think would¡¯ve done the same thing,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I know there are probably some rough people out there. Some bad ones. But I have to believe there are plenty of good ones, too. I¡¯ve run into a few.¡± ¡°Hope you¡¯re right. I don¡¯t want the kids to grow up in the kind of world where folks won¡¯t help one another out.¡± ¡°Me neither.¡± That¡¯s when Marcy came outside to tell them that dinner was ready. She¡¯d made chili, which, as luck would have it, was one of Elijah¡¯s favorite foods. So, he ate it gratefully before turning his attention to the children. After a bit of prodding, he tried to address their issue, but it wasn¡¯t long before he recognized that there was nothing to heal. Not really. It was more like their bodies had changed. So, he had no choice but to assume that Konstantinos¡¯ assessment was correct. Hopefully, when they reached the age where they could choose an archetype and start leveling, they would get better. Until then, the potions were the only choice. ¡°I have another Alchemist friend how might be able to help,¡± Elijah said in the wake of his failure to fix the issue. He settled onto a couch with patterned upholstery that belonged in the early eighties. ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯ll want to come all the way out here, but I¡¯d be happy to ask.¡± That offer was met with enthusiastic approval. Soon enough, the children were put to bed, leaving Elijah alone with the adults. And Bryce, who seemed a little less annoying than she had in the swamp. Apparently, her parents had made it abundantly clear how disappointed they were with her actions, which had subdued some of her spirit. Or perhaps that was the blatant consequences of her actions, which had very nearly gotten them all killed. Contrition was probably a good reaction to that sort of thing. In any case, she soon disappeared into the back of the house as well, which gave Elijah the opportunity to tell Konstantinos and Marcy an abbreviated version of his story. He left out the more magical bits, only telling them that he¡¯d been stranded alone for quite some time. ¡°And now I¡¯m trying to get to Seattle to see if I can find my sister,¡± he said. Marcy shook her head, saying, ¡°To think that Seattle is as close as it is now. Before the world changed, this was Louisiana.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really know how close it actually is,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°It could be a thousand miles away for all I know.¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t,¡± Konstantinos stated. ¡°That¡¯s where them men who took the sunflower came from. I heard ¡®em talkin¡¯ about it before I knew what they was about. It ain¡¯t close, but it ain¡¯t thousands of miles away, neither. They made that clear.¡± That was an encouraging statement. Soon, it was time to retire for the night. They didn¡¯t have an extra bed, but they gave Elijah some blankets and a pillow so he could sleep on the couch. He¡¯d certainly slept on worse, so he was grateful for their hospitality. It wasn¡¯t long before he¡¯d settled in. Before he succumbed to unconsciousness, he acknowledged that he felt good about his actions. Not only had he gained some levels, but he¡¯d also helped good people, which was equally important. So, he went to sleep satisfied with the day¡¯s work. 3-41. Deserters Carmen was in her element. After spending so long away from the forge, she¡¯d nearly forgotten how much of her identity had become wrapped around being a Blacksmith. But now that she¡¯d been given access to a smithy ¨C even if it was poorly equipped ¨C she was reminded why she¡¯d chosen the path of the crafter that first day of the apocalypse. At the time, she¡¯d thought it was because of her past working with primitive skills, but since then, she¡¯d come to recognize the simple joy of creation that came from her work. That was why she did it. And more than anything, she wished Miguel would follow in her footsteps. Being able to hold his own in a fight was important. Necessary, even. However, she¡¯d never wanted him to devote his life to violence. Still, the boy had all but chosen his path. He worshipped Colt, and he spent the vast majority of his time training. She just hoped he wasn¡¯t doing it solely in pursuit of a revenge he would probably never get. Carmen had followed that path, albeit briefly, and she knew it was bound to end in ruin. She didn¡¯t want that for her son. Since her failures ¨C and there were so many of them that she¡¯d lost count ¨C she had vowed to leave that sort of thing behind. Instead, she would focus on survival. And once that was assured, she would rededicate her life to creation. Because that was infinitely better than pursuing violence. Of course, Carmen wasn¡¯t so deluded that she thought she¡¯d always feel the same. Anytime her mind fluttered past the memories of what Roman had done to Alyssa ¨C and to Colt, as well as all the people who¡¯d died in the rebellion ¨C her anger flared. Working the forge was a useful coping mechanism for that. Nothing was quite as therapeutic as repeatedly banging her hammer into hot metal. Well, nothing except doing the same to a certain tyrant¡¯s head. Perhaps she hadn¡¯t moved quite as far past the notion of violence as she wanted to believe. In any case, she focused on the task at hand, which was to bring the town of Eber¡¯s smithy up to her standards. The first step was repairing the forge, which was little more than a fire pit surrounded by a few bricks. Such a design was serviceable, but it was better to build an actual furnace, if for no other reason than so that it could maintain heat for longer. In the back of her mind, though, Carmen could acknowledge that her insistence on building a proper forge was based at least partially on a sense of completion and order. Such a structure appealed to her perfectionism. With that in mind, she started in on the process. It wasn¡¯t difficult. There were plenty of bricks around. On top of that, she could spare the ethera to use Bond to create an airtight seal between bricks. It was time-consuming, though, and it took most of the day to finish the project to her standards. After returning to the longhouse to eat a hearty meal that tasted better than almost anything she¡¯d ever eaten, Carmen started in on creating a proper anvil. Once that was finished, she forged some tools. And finally, just before the end of the day, she completed work on a pedal-operated grinder. As she stood at the entrance to the smithy, she put her hands on her hips and let out a relieved sigh. It had come together better and more quickly than she ever could have expected. Much of the burden had been eased by her various techniques and skills, but her inflated Strength certainly came in handy as well. ¡°Oh, this is wonderful!¡± came Wendy¡¯s voice. Carmen turned to see the grey-haired woman grinning broadly as she beheld the remodeled smithy. So, she said, ¡°It¡¯s passable. I still need a proper smelter. And I¡¯d like to forge some good files for detail work. But for now, it¡¯ll do the job.¡± ¡°It is fantastic!¡± the woman insisted, clutching her hands before her. Carmen wiped her dirty hands on a rag, then wrapped it over her shoulder. ¡°I can¡¯t believe none of you are crafters,¡± she said. ¡°How did that happen?¡± ¡°A quirk of coincidence,¡± Wendy answered. ¡°Some coincidence. What about the two missing people?¡± she asked. They¡¯d only been in Eber for three days, but each night had seen a single deserter. First, it had been Diana, but then Seth had disappeared during the second night. Now, Theresa, of all people, was missing. ¡°Our hunters tracked them for a few miles,¡± Wendy said. ¡°But we didn¡¯t dare go any further than that. The wilderness is dangerous.¡± Carmen sighed. ¡°You don¡¯t have to tell me that,¡± she acknowledged. It was terrible that the others hadn¡¯t even bothered to tell anyone they were leaving, but she understood it. They were probably resentful to have been banished like everyone else. Or that was how Carmen justified their sudden departure. In the back of her mind, though, doubts persisted. She chose not to pay attention to that sort of paranoia. Eber had turned out to be a paradise. The people were kind, there was plenty of food, and there was a chance for each of them to create a real life. Even more importantly, they didn¡¯t have to worry about monster attacks. The three days of safety they¡¯d experienced since their arrival had been enough to bring Carmen nearly to tears. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. No - if the deserters couldn¡¯t see what an opportunity the town represented, that was their problem. ¡°Can you make equipment, now? We do not have much steel, but we have done some scavenging,¡± Wendy stated. ¡°Yeah,¡± Carmen answered, looking at the scrap metal with which she had been provided. Most of it was rebar, but there were some old car parts and a lot of steel tools as well. In all, there was at least a few hundred pounds of usable material, which meant that it was enough to make plenty of equipment. ¡°What do you want me to work on? Armor or weapons?¡± ¡°Armor.¡± ¡°You know a good weapon can make ¨C¡± ¡°Armor, please. Especially breastplates. As sturdy as you can create,¡± Wendy stated. ¡°Alright¡­I can do that,¡± Carmen said. ¡°But I can¡¯t get started until tomorrow. Is that okay?¡± ¡°Of course!¡± Wendy answered. ¡°You should work at your own pace. Obviously.¡± ¡°Oh. Good. I¡¯m starving.¡± Hearing that, Wendy smiled broadly and ushered Carmen through the town and to the longhouse, where everyone else had already begun to dig into the extravagant meal they¡¯d been provided. ¡°You really know how to put on a feast,¡± Carmen said, rubbing her hands together in anticipation. ¡°Indeed. It is the one thing we can do well,¡± she said. ¡°Go. Eat. We¡¯ll talk about your project in the morning.¡± Carmen didn¡¯t need any more encouragement, and she quickly found a spot at the table, where she started shoveling meat, potatoes, and vegetables onto her plate. As she ate, she steadily lost all sense of decorum, and soon enough, she was using her bare hands to stuff as much food as she could into her mouth. Even after she¡¯d sated her hunger, she kept going. It wasn¡¯t until she felt like she was on the verge of bursting that she leaned back and really looked at the people who¡¯d followed her into exile. Each and every one of them had food and grease smeared all over their faces. They were all smiling, too. However, there were a couple with tears streaming down their cheeks. Clearly, they were overjoyed at the abundance before them. It was a testament to how much they¡¯d been through that a simple meal could bring them to tears. She was busy ruminating on that when someone grabbed her shoulder. Instincts born from weeks in the wilderness ¨C where every step brought new threats ¨C came to the fore. She whipped around and exploded out of her seat. Before she knew what she was doing, she had her assailant by the throat and had slammed her against the wall. That¡¯s when her mind caught up to her instincts and she realized who it was. A blonde woman ¨C the same one who¡¯d greeted them on that first day ¨C stared back at her, clearly unimpressed. Carmen released the woman¡¯s neck, vaguely noticing that her fingers had left no marks. In fact, the blonde woman¡¯s skin hadn¡¯t felt quite right. Not nearly as elastic as normal skin. Perhaps it was a skill. Or maybe her Constitution was just that high. In any case, Carmen was embarrassed to have reacted so violently, so she said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Old habits.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she said. Then, her eyes flicked to the others at the table. Carmen followed her gaze, but she was surprised to see that no one had reacted to her outburst. Instead, they continued to stuff their faces. The woman asked, ¡°May we speak in private? What I have to say is not for ¨C¡± ¡°Willa!¡± came a shout from the door. Carmen turned to see that Wendell was standing there, anger clearly etched on his face. ¡°Leave our guests alone. You have responsibilities.¡± Willa started to say something, but then thought better of it. With a sigh, her shoulders drooped, and she said, ¡°Yes. I was just here to ensure our¡­guests had everything they needed.¡± ¡°They do.¡± ¡°I see that now. I will take my leave,¡± Willa said. Then, to Carmen, and without moving her mouth, she whispered, ¡°Run.¡± After that, she slipped around Carmen and marched toward the door. Confused, Carmen watched the woman until she¡¯d left the longhouse behind. The moment she was gone, the kindly-looking Wendell grinned broadly and asked if everyone was enjoying their supper. When they said they were, he encouraged them to, ¡°Eat, eat! There¡¯s plenty more where that came from!¡± Then, he left everyone ¨C including a slightly confused Carmen ¨C behind. ¡°What¡¯s up, boss?¡± asked Colt, looking up from where he¡¯d been shoving food into his face. He looked so uncharacteristically enthusiastic. Normally, he was the epitome of stoicism. But now¡­ Carmen¡¯s issues melted away. ¡°Nothing,¡± she said, the incident all but forgotten. ¡°Just making sure we have everything we need.¡± Then, she sat down and continued to eat, not stopping until the last of the food was gone. Even then, everyone present looked for more, and when they didn¡¯t find it, they left disappointed. That night, Carmen slept poorly, so she was a little cranky ¨C and hungry ¨C when she woke up the next morning. Fortunately, there was another feast for breakfast, which everyone took to with gusto. But there was one person missing. ¡°Where¡¯s Charles?¡± she asked around a mouthful of porridge. Colt shrugged. ¡°Must¡¯ve wanted to move on,¡± he said. ¡°Same as the others.¡± ¡°Right,¡± Carmen muttered. Was she so terrible that the other refugees would leave such a paradisical town just to get away from her? Clearly, they¡¯d harbored quite a lot of enmity, if they¡¯d so readily leave safety, food, and community behind. And without even saying goodbye. She looked around. How many others were planning to leave? They all looked happy enough, but so had the others. Sighing, Carmen pushed away from the table. ¡°You¡¯re done? There¡¯s plenty left,¡± Colt said. He¡¯d already eaten what had to be his weight in porridge and fat, greasy sausages, but he¡¯d kept going all the same. There was something else off about him, though Carmen couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint what it was. Still it was like a burr in her mind. ¡°Not hungry,¡± she answered, gripping his shoulder reassuringly. It was clammy and wet with sweat. ¡°I¡¯m going to get the forge up and running, see if I can start working on the armor Wendy asked me to make. I need to earn my keep, after all.¡± ¡°Suit yourself,¡± he said, going back to his meal. That¡¯s when she realized what was wrong. ¡°Where is your sword?¡± ¡°Oh, that? I didn¡¯t think I needed it ¡®round here,¡± he said. ¡°No monsters to fight, right? Why would I carry that useless thing around?¡± That made sense, though it still struck Carmen as wrong. But if he didn¡¯t want to carry a sword, she certainly wouldn¡¯t make him. The less violence in the world, the better, as far as she was concerned. So, with a shrug, she once again reiterated her plan, then headed out to the forge to get to work. As she traversed the village, she couldn¡¯t help but notice how many of the townspeople watched her, most of whom wore the same blank expressions that she¡¯d seen from a few people the first time she¡¯d led her people into town. ¡°Weird,¡± she muttered, wondering if she¡¯d done something wrong. Perhaps they were angry that she hadn¡¯t held up her end of the bargain. That made some sense. So, Carmen resolved to get a few pieces done, just to show that she was willing to work for all that amazing food she¡¯d been given. 3-42. Valosta Elijah finally climbed free of the bog with a deep sense of relief that was so prevalent that it made him want to simply flop onto his back and rest. Yet, just because he¡¯d found the edge of the mire, that didn¡¯t mean he had fully left the swamp behind. The ground was still moist, and the same wildlife still pervaded the environment. So, he knew he still had miles to go before he could realistically put the swamp behind him. So, he continued to trudge along, one facet of his mind focused on his surroundings while the rest were dedicated to his wandering thoughts. He¡¯d left Konstantinos¡¯ homestead behind three days before, but he still couldn¡¯t escape idle speculation as to their condition. The children, especially, worried him. Even so, there was nothing he could do for now, so he struggled to push them out of mind. Instead, he tried to focus on what was ahead. Chiefly, he thought about Seattle and what he hoped would be a reunion with his sister and the rest of her family. Alyssa had visited about a year before he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but even before the world had been transformed, it had been years since he¡¯d seen Carmen or Miguel in person. Had they changed as much as he had? What archetypes and classes had they taken? He knew Alyssa well enough to expect her to have chosen something action-oriented. She was a fighter, and her archetype choice would have reflected that. As for Carmen, that was a bit more difficult to predict. From her physique, most would have anticipated a Warrior archetype for the stocky Latina. Yet, Elijah expected that she would have chosen something with more utility than that. As far as Miguel ¨C he wasn¡¯t even old enough to have been offered an archetype. From the guides Elijah had read, that usually didn¡¯t happen until a year or so after puberty, and for humans, that meant somewhere between fourteen and sixteen. For Bryce, she¡¯d gotten her Sorcerer archetype a few days after she¡¯d turned fourteen. Given that around four years had passed since Earth had been touched by the World Tree, Miguel would be twelve or thirteen. So, there was every chance that he was on the verge of receiving his archetype. Maybe he could be a Druid, too. It would be nice to pass his knowledge onto the younger generation. But then again, Elijah had been told that Druids were fairly rare. On top of that, they were generally considered a weak archetype, at least until they got a few levels under them. Versatility usually came with a distinct cost, bringing to mind the old saying about being a jack of all trades, but a master of none. Of course, there was more to that quote. ¡°A jack of all trades is a master of none,¡± Elijah said aloud. ¡°But is oftentimes better than a master of one.¡± So, perhaps the real quote was even more applicable than the shortened and often mistaken version would suggest. In any case, he wasn¡¯t so sure that he had a lot of knowledge to pass on to any potential students like Miguel. More often than not, he flew by the seat of his pants, and while that had so far been successful, it wasn¡¯t very helpful in a teaching endeavor. Elijah knew, because he¡¯d worked various stints as a teacher¡¯s assistant during graduate school. And to put it mildly, he was not good at it. Perhaps that had something to do with his general apathy towards his former field of study. Regardless, as he left the swamp behind, Elijah amused himself by imagining how he might impart his druidic knowledge to another generation. Like that, time passed and the landscape changed. Swamp gave way to lowlands, and those lowlands became a coastal plain ¨C which was odd, considering that, as far as he could tell, there was no ocean nearby. Just more evidence of how the world had been transformed. None of the terrain made any sense, and the signs of former habitation were scattered. It wasn¡¯t uncommon to find bits of a suburban neighborhood right next to untapped wilderness, and Elijah even stumbled across the aftermath of a broken dam that had ended with an entire town flooded. He didn¡¯t have the fortitude to investigate further. But judging by the fact that only the tallest buildings were visible above the new lake, Elijah expected that the death toll had been quite significant. He had no interest in seeing that, so he quickly left the site of that tragedy behind. There were also plenty of old businesses, strip malls, and big box stores. Elijah did take the time to investigate those, though he found nothing of worth aside from a few extra containers. Even if he¡¯d found something interesting, he wouldn¡¯t have had the space to take it with him. His pack was bigger on the inside than it appeared to be from without, but Elijah estimated its carrying capacity was only around three times that of a normal pack of its size. So, space was quite limited. The end result was that he passed up quite a few things he thought would be useful. Like when he found an intact electronics store stocked with all sorts of entertainment options. Sure, he didn¡¯t have access to electricity ¨C the transformation of the world had ruined the power grid ¨C but he expected that solar panels might work. Not that he had any of those available, and even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t really have the expertise necessary to get what he wanted out of them. Still, that small issue aside, and as eager as he was to introduce some of the people of Ironshore to the glories of the cinematic experience, he simply didn¡¯t have the means to tote a seventy-inch television around. But he did snag a small but nice collection of classic DVDs and a laptop computer, just in case he found what he needed to make them work. It was an odd feeling, walking through the ruins of a civilization he¡¯d once taken for granted. On the one hand, he was reminded of the sheer degree of consumerism that had infected Earth, but on the other, he also couldn¡¯t forget all the convenience he¡¯d once enjoyed. Never was that clearer than when he¡¯d pass a half-destroyed fast-food restaurant or an abandoned Starbucks, which inevitably prompted distinct cravings for a Big Mac or a cappuccino. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But those cravings went unaddressed. Sure, he had his tea. And his berries. He¡¯d also developed at least some level of ability as a campfire cook. But there was just no substitute for the sugary drinks or greasy foods to which most of America had been addicted. Eventually, though, Elijah crested a low hill, and he saw a huge, white house surrounded by manicured grounds characterized by lines of ancient oak trees. Nearby, Elijah saw a small town of low buildings, and on the far side of the settlement, there were acres of corn stalks. For a long time, he just watched. There were probably two-hundred people dwelling in the town and around thirty or so that lived in what looked like a plantation house. The two populations intermixed, though, and to Elijah, they looked fairly happy and prosperous. So, after making sure he wasn¡¯t about to walk into a dangerous environment, he descended the hill and approached the walled town. There, he saw a couple of men standing guard. Both carried compound bows made of some sort of composite and were dressed in blue jeans and tee-shirts declaring their outdated loyalty to one sports team or another. ¡°Where¡¯d you come from?¡± asked one of the guards. He was middling height, with a slight paunch and a bald head beneath a red cap. The other man was dressed similarly, though with a black cowboy hat. He was also a few inches taller and a lot more muscular, though Elijah thought there was enough resemblance between the pair that they could have been brothers. Or at least cousins. Whatever the case, he answered, ¡°Most recently, a swamp that I wouldn¡¯t wish on anybody. But before that, a town called Argos.¡± ¡°You American?¡± ask the muscle-bound guard. ¡°Of course he¡¯s American, idiot,¡± said the shorter man as he dismissively slapped his comrade in the arm. ¡°You heard him, right?¡± ¡°The system translates stuff.¡± ¡°Accents, Bruce,¡± said the shorter man, shaking his head. ¡°The translation doesn¡¯t do anything for accents. Use your brain, for God¡¯s sake.¡± Then, he turned his attention back to Elijah and said, ¡°You sound like a Yankee. Where are you from? Originally, I mean. Before everything got all jumbled up.¡± ¡°Hawaii.¡± ¡°Oh. Did that end up around here?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°I was on a plane that went down when everything happened,¡± he admitted. ¡°Oof. Must¡¯ve been rough.¡± Elijah shrugged, saying, ¡°It wasn¡¯t a picnic, I can tell you that. But I survived.¡± ¡°Yep. That¡¯s all any of us can do. So, what brings you to our little town?¡± ¡°Looking for my sister. She lived near Seattle. I heard it was in this direction, so that¡¯s where I¡¯m headed.¡± ¡°Yep. It¡¯s about three- or four-hundred miles that-a-way,¡± the short man said, pointing to the southwest. ¡°Don¡¯t recommend you go there, though. Last I heard, things were bad around there. Class war. Poor folks fightin¡¯ the rich. Bad stuff. Glad we never had issues with that here in Valosta.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the name of the town?¡± ¡°Plantation, really,¡± the guard answered, shifting uncomfortably. Elijah could understand that. The label definitely came with some undesirable connotations, especially given the guard¡¯s dark skin. ¡°Or it used to be, I guess. Now it¡¯s just a big house with good farmland all around. Only reason any of us survived. But enough about that. You looking to stay the night? Or were you wanting to keep going?¡± ¡°I could use a meal and a nice bed,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Well, then you¡¯re in luck. You want the Draymond house. Used to be a bed and breakfast. Now it¡¯s a tavern. But they still rent rooms when we have travelers come through here.¡± ¡°That sounds great,¡± Elijah said. And he meant it, too. He didn¡¯t mind sleeping outside, but he definitely preferred a bed when he could get one. After that, Elijah paid the one copper entry fee, then headed into town. As he walked down the main street, he was reminded of the area where he¡¯d found the bear and the mushroom natural treasure. There was just something unmistakable about small town America that made it instantly and recognizably comfortable. Valosta was small ¨C only about twenty total buildings ¨C but it hosted a few businesses. Elijah recognized a tailor, a cobbler, and even a couple of bars. In addition, there was a small diner that was calling his name. So, he stepped into a place called Mel¡¯s, where he quickly planted himself at a long bar. As he unshouldered his pack, a man stepped out of a storage room and said, ¡°Ah. Don¡¯t recognize you.¡± ¡°Yeah. Just passing through. I had a craving for something greasy,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°You help me out with that?¡± The man returned Elijah¡¯s grin with a smile of his own. ¡°I believe I can. We¡¯ve had good hunting lately. You like venison?¡± ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Venison patty melt comin¡¯ right up, then,¡± said the man. After that, he went to work. As he did, he introduced himself as Mel ¨C which Elijah probably should have guessed. Soon enough, the smell of cooking meat and the sound of sizzling grease filled the air, and Elijah asked, ¡°You cooking with gas? Or is that griddle electric?¡± ¡°Electric. There¡¯s a bunch of wind turbines about two miles from here. Good bit of the grid survived, too. So, the town has power,¡± Mel answered, flipping a ground venison patty. ¡°Made survival a lot easier. Every now and again, we have to do maintenance, but we¡¯ve got a few folks around here who know a thing or two about it. So, it¡¯s all still in good workin¡¯ order.¡± ¡°Lucky.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth,¡± said Mel with a nod. ¡°We¡¯ve gotten our fair share of travelers. Seattle¡¯s not that far away. And there¡¯s some Turkish city off to the west. A Korean city to the north, too. None of ¡®em are in good shape, but there¡¯s a fair amount of trade between ¡®em. So, we get people from time to time.¡± ¡°Interesting. Have you done any traveling yourself?¡± ¡°Me? God, no. Not that brave. Our hunters range pretty far, though.¡± After that, Mel started talking about his son, who happened to be one of the town¡¯s dedicated hunters. Elijah could recognize fatherly pride when he heard it, which warmed his heart. Apparently, Valosta was one of the towns where people had banded together, which was always nice to find. Soon enough, Mel served Eljiah the best patty melt he¡¯d ever eaten. Sure, the bread was cornbread ¨C which gave it a bit of a crumbly consistency ¨C but it didn¡¯t hurt the taste. In fact, given the construction of the sandwich, it probably wasn¡¯t even a patty melt at all. But as Elijah ate it, he cared less about what it was called and more about the greasy, crumbly goodness he was stuffing into his mouth. After eating, Elijah paid Mel, then headed to the bed and breakfast the guard had mentioned. Once there, he met a thick-bodied and kindly woman who set him up with a room. Elijah was happy to find that it had an attached bathroom, so he wasted no time before stripping down and showering. He¡¯d bathed a few times in various streams and ponds along the way, but there was nothing quite like taking a long, hot shower. He also took the time to use a good portion of his cleaning powder on his clothes, gear, and, most importantly, his Cloak of the Iron Bear. Once that was done, he collapsed onto the bed and promptly fell asleep. 3-43. A Place of Power ¡°Can I help you, friend?¡± asked the man leaning against the door frame in the back of the shop. He was tall, though not nearly as tall as Thor, with a slender waist and wide shoulders. It was the build of a Warrior, yet Thor suspected that the man was no true fighter. However, there was a sense of menace about him that made Thor hesitate to force anything. ¡°I seek a Druid,¡± Thor stated. ¡°I¡¯m an arm¡¯s dealer, not a rumormonger,¡± he stated. ¡°You want weapons? I¡¯m your man. I even a few pieces of decent armor. Our adventuring team recently completed a run of the tower, so ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your trinkets.¡± ¡°Ah, see ¨C that¡¯s where you¡¯re wrong, friend. Everyone can use a solid weapon. Sure, you¡¯ve got that spear. Nice weapon. Probably suits you quite well. But everyone can use a backup, right? And a big fellow like you? With those arms? You seem like an axe-man,¡± the merchant said. ¡°I can ¨C¡± ¡°Enough of your babble!¡± Thor growled, his fingers tightening on the haft of his spear. ¡°Tell me about the Druid.¡± ¡°You should watch your tone, friend,¡± the arms dealer said, his demeanor shifting. ¡°You¡¯re number three on the list, but how do you think you¡¯d fare against an entire city? We only have one person on the power rankings, but I can tell you right now ¨C you cause trouble in Argos, and you¡¯ll not leave here alive.¡± At that moment, Thor sensed something strange. A weakness he couldn¡¯t explain. ¡°What did you do?¡± he demanded, stepping forward. His legs wobbled, and as a result, he nearly stumbled. ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Name¡¯s Atticus, friend,¡± the merchant said, stepping forward. There was no kindness in his voice. ¡°And in here, I¡¯m basically a god. Zeus himself could walk in here, and he would tremble at my wrath.¡± ¡°You¡¯re only level thirty¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t deal with many merchants, do you?¡± asked Atticus, approaching a glass case containing a golden short sword. His hand passed right through the glass pane, and he withdrew the weapon with nonchalance bordering on dismissiveness. Then, he pointed the weapon at Thor. ¡°Now, are you going to be a good boy while in my town? Or am I going to have to show you why nobody messes with a merchant in his own shop? Your choice, big guy.¡± Thor wanted nothing more than to put the man in his place. Yet, he knew better than to fight a battle he didn¡¯t understand. That was underscored when his mind flicked to his status:
Name Thor Gunderson
Level 67
Archetype Ranger
Class Ancestral Hunter
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 10 (128)
Dexterity 10 (142)
Constitution 10 (101)
Ethera 10 (42)
Regeneration 10 (72)
Attunement Conflict
Cultivation Stage: N/A
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood N/A N/A The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. N/A
¡°What did you do?¡± Thor spat, steadying himself by grabbing hold of a nearby rack. The weapons upon it clattered to the shop¡¯s floor, but he paid no attention to it. Instead, he was too focused on the insidious weakness pervading his normally reliable body. He hadn¡¯t been so feeble even before the world¡¯s transformation. ¡°Evened the odds. Now, are you going to make me kill you? I¡¯d prefer if we parted friends, but that ship seems as if it¡¯s sailed. Perhaps it never even left port.¡± ¡°Fix it!¡± Thor yelled, even his voice sounding pitiful in his ears. ¡°Not going to happen,¡± Atticus said, stepping close. ¡°Since it doesn¡¯t seem like you¡¯re going to buy anything, then I¡¯m going to have to ask you to leave. Now.¡± Thor started to respond, but Atticus wasn¡¯t having it. Instead, his hand shot out, clamping around Thor¡¯s thick neck. It happened so quickly that Thor couldn¡¯t hope to respond, and before he knew it, he couldn¡¯t breathe. Panic ¨C hot and terrifying ¨C tore through his mind as, for the first time since the apocalypse, he truly found himself outmatched. He gripped Atticus¡¯ wrist, but it did no good. His eyes bulged as he fought for breath, but the merchant paid no mind to his victim¡¯s struggles. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t intend to kill Thor. Instead, he just pushed him through the door and shoved him hard enough that Thor stumbled into the street. A second later, his power returned to full strength. Before he knew what he was doing, he¡¯d leaped to his feet and let out a roar as he threw his spear as hard as he could. It clanged off a solid sheet of ethera covering the doorway, then fell to the ground. Thor gaped in surprise. Meanwhile, Atticus bent down and grabbed the bone-hafted spear. ¡°Bound, huh? Shame. It¡¯s a nice weapon,¡± he said. Then, he turned his attention to Thor. ¡°I¡¯ll make you a deal, friend.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t make deals with weaklings! You will ¨C¡± ¡°Come in here and call me a weakling.¡± Thor seethed. But as furious as he was, he could read the writing on the wall as well as anyone. The merchant had used some sort of spell on his shop, and the effect was that, so long as he remained inside, he was unassailable. So, he knew better than to walk into that. Of course, there were hundreds of ways to get around that. He could wait for the merchant to leave. Or he could burn the building down. Maybe Atticus had friends or family somewhere nearby. If the cooldown for Ancestral Hunt hadn¡¯t been up, he might¡¯ve used them. But with the ability available, he saw no reason to challenge the man. He didn¡¯t acknowledge that his fear, born of the previous encounter and that feeling of feebleness, probably played an even bigger role in his decision-making. But that reality remained nestled in the back of his mind, reminding him of how easily all of his power could be snatched away. Atticus said, ¡°I¡¯ll give your little toy back. In return, you leave. No looking back. No campaign of vengeance. Just go away.¡± ¡°And if I refuse? What if I tear this town down around you?¡± ¡°You might find that a little more difficult than you expect,¡± Atticus said. Suddenly, Thor realized there were people all around him. Some, like the tall, muscular girl with a spear, looked like they could handle themselves. Others, like a matronly woman carrying a spatula, of all things, were clearly weak. However, there was one that drew Thor¡¯s Hunter¡¯s Eye:
Name: Isaak Anthopoulos Archetype: Sorcerer Level: 51
He certainly didn¡¯t look very powerful. In fact, Isaak Anthopoulos was little more than a child, skinny and awkward. He wore a pair of round-rimmed spectacles, an affectation that sold his feeble appearance. Yet, at level fifty-one, he was in the middle of the top one-hundred, which meant he was an opponent who shouldn¡¯t be underestimated. Thor could defeat the boy. He was certain of that. But not with dozens of other people around. He also preferred to fight his battles with the advantage of surprise on his side. So, even though his mind roiled in anger and indignation, Thor knew better than to rise to the arms dealer¡¯s taunt. But he wanted to. Desperately. However, he hadn¡¯t climbed the ladder by being stupid or impulsive. He knew when to pull back. And he was well aware that there were battles that couldn¡¯t be won. Or that weren¡¯t worth the cost of victory. So, he spat, ¡°Deal.¡± ¡°Good choice, friend,¡± Atticus said, casually tossing the spear to Thor. Even as Thor caught it, he became aware of a cat suddenly appearing at his feet. The creature was the size of a mountain lion, though it was clearly a housecat. More importantly, when he used Hunter¡¯s Eye, he found that the thing was the highest level he¡¯d seen in the city. That confirmed his decision, and with every eye on him, he quickly retreated from the town. The cat followed him all the way to the gate, but it didn¡¯t pursue any further. Only when he was out of sight of the guards, he finally let his anger out. He shouted, thrusting his spear into a nearby tree. It splintered beneath the blow, and a second later, the tree tipped over and, with a thud, fell. Breathing hard ¨C from fury, rather than exertion ¨C he considered going back to the city and killing everyone there. He could do it. Especially since they wouldn¡¯t be expecting him. But he had to remind himself that the costs of doing so far outweighed any benefits he might gain. Except for banishing the shame of being run off, of being made to feel like a weakling. If it hadn¡¯t been for Isaak Anthopoulos or the cat, he would have done it, too. He¡¯d done more for less disrespect. Yet, those two filled him with wariness. He didn¡¯t acknowledge it as fear, but there was a thin line between the two. Whatever the case, Thor took a few moments to calm himself before using Ancestral Tracking. Soon enough, the ephemeral and mostly formless spirit appeared. It immediately filled the air with a cackle. ¡°So fearful!¡± it laughed. ¡°So pitiful!¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Thor growled, gesturing with his spear. ¡°Lead me to my quarry.¡± ¡°Oh, very well.¡± Then, the thing spun around before erupting into a hundred threads of ethera. They disappeared, one by one, until they pointed off to the north. As soon as the disrespectful spirit disappeared, he set off in that direction. As he did, he soothed his ego by reminding himself that his choice to leave Argos was rooted in practicality. Killing those people would have done nothing for him. Instead, he had a goal. A prey. And he refused to be distracted from that purpose. It was discipline that drove him. Not fear. An hour later, he found himself in an idyllic glade, in the center of which was the strangest monument Thor had ever seen. In some ways, it reminded him of Stonehenge, yet the stones were unweathered and bore fanciful designs that further inspection told him were supposed to be dragons. More, there was a young tree in the center. The moment he¡¯d stepped into the glade, Thor felt the power of the place. Yet, when he looked closer, he couldn¡¯t pinpoint the origin. More, when he experimentally thrust his spear at one of the massive stones, he was surprised to find that it was protected by some sort of ethereal shield resting only an inch above the surface of the stones. The same was true of the tree, which he tried to cut down because he suspected it was a natural treasure. Once again frustrated, Thor tried to take it out on the monument, and to no effect. He used every ability at his disposal, and though he quickly ran himself out of ethera, the circle of stones and tree remained completely unmarked. A few hours later, after he¡¯d calmed himself, he followed some tracks to a nearby range of foothills where he quickly found where the stones had originated. But his prey remained at large. So, he returned to the circle, where he tried to think of how to proceed. However, the fact was that he had no leads. No trail to follow. He was stuck. Which meant that he had little choice but to wait until Ancestral Hunt came off cooldown. In the meantime, he occupied himself by hunting the local wildlife. It was unsatisfying and without challenge, but at least it allowed him to exorcise his frustrations. Soon enough, though, Thor¡¯s ability became available, and it pointed him to the south. The moment he knew which way to go, he set off across the wilderness, eventually reaching a wide ravine, which he followed south to what appeared to be an endless swamp. There, Thor hesitated for a few minutes, wondering if there was another way. Yet, the thread of ethera was clear, and it directly into the mire. So, after taking a deep breath, Thor waded into the murky water. Immediately, he felt something latch onto his leg, and when he reached down to inspect the wound, he grabbed something thick and slimy. He yanked it free, and when he pulled it out of the water, he saw that it was a monstrous and disgusting leech. It was at that moment that he questioned his course. But the memory of what had happened in Argos still haunted him. The only way to prevent a reoccurrence was to get so strong that no one else could even hope to stand up to him. Next to that resolve, a few leeches was nothing more than an annoyance. So, he pressed on, looking forward to the day when he could take his frustrations out on the Druid. 3-44. A Small Task ¡°You ain¡¯t never heard of shoes?¡± Elijah looked up from his drink to see a burly man leaning against the bar next to him. Another one was on the other side, practically bouncing from foot to foot in anticipation. Elijah had been in enough bars to recognize when the local tough guys were spoiling for a fight. In truth, he was almost willing to oblige them. But given his Strength, he didn¡¯t think it would be satisfying. More importantly, there was every chance he¡¯d end up killing someone if he didn¡¯t remain under control. While he was thinking of what to say, the choice was taken out of his hands. The antsy one took his hesitation as an invitation, and he aimed a right hook at Elijah¡¯s temple. Of course, he didn¡¯t know that Elijah saw it coming. Even a little tipsy, Elijah could easily keep track of everything around him. So, he ducked. As he did, he cast Soothe on himself and slipped from the stool. The antsy man¡¯s fist slid past Elijah¡¯s head and right into his friend¡¯s face. It broke, erupting into a spray of blood as the big guy staggered backward. Meanwhile, Elijah reached out with the crook of his staff, hooked it behind the puncher¡¯s ankle, and yanked. Already a little off-balance, he had no chance of remaining upright, and only a second later, his feet came flying forward while his body went backward. Then, he thudded against the bar¡¯s peanut-shell-covered floor, slamming his head against a bar stool along the way. Elijah winced, muttering, ¡°Oh, that has to hurt.¡± When he saw the man wasn¡¯t moving, he added, ¡°Oh, shit. Please just be a concussion. Don¡¯t be dead¡­¡± He cast Soothe on the man, adding another instance of the spell to the man with the broken nose. Even as the two healed, he said, ¡°Look guys ¨C¡± Just then, a man in a white cowboy hat stepped inside and ripped his mirrored sunglasses from his face before exclaiming, ¡°Goddammit, Derek. What the hell, boy? I told you a million times not to mess with visitors.¡± The big guy ¨C Derek, apparently ¨C said, ¡°We was just havin¡¯ fun, boss¡­¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that, despite his nose having been healed by Soothe, the man¡¯s voice still had a nasal cast to it. There was every chance that the bone hadn¡¯t set properly and had healed wrong. Perhaps he should offer to break it again, just to reset it. ¡°And you!¡± the white-hatted man spat, pointing to Derek¡¯s fallen friend. He was still on the floor, though his eyes had fluttered open. ¡°Dollars to donuts, you tried to sucker punch ¡®im, right? Goddammit. I¡¯m surrounded by idiots.¡± ¡°But boss, we wasn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t wanna hear it, Todd. You two git on up outta here. There¡¯s a hunt comin¡¯ up. Maybe a few days out in the woods¡¯ll straighten you out.¡± ¡°But boss, we wasn¡¯t s¡¯posed to have to go ¡®til next rotation!¡± exclaimed Derek. ¡°You arguin¡¯ with me, boy?¡± Derek swallowed, then sniffed before wiping his nose. ¡°N-no, sir.¡± ¡°Good. Now go on. Git.¡± The two men seemed to know better than to disobey, so they quickly picked themselves up and hurried through the door. Even as it swung back and forth with their passage, the newcomer took off his hat and, with a sigh, reached down to pick up the fallen bar stool. He straightened, then sat. As he did so, he set his hat on the counter, then signaled the barkeep. ¡°You gonna sit?¡± he asked without looking back at Elijah. ¡°I was actually about to leave.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon. Have a seat. Next drink¡¯s on me.¡± Elijah shrugged, then returned to his own seat. As he did, he said, ¡°Thanks for stepping in when you did.¡± ¡°Seemed like you had it handled.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Then why the gratitude?¡± ¡°Because those idiots might¡¯ve kept coming at me. If that happened, I might have ended up killing them,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You kept that from happening. So, thanks.¡± At that point, the bartender slapped a pair of shot glasses on the table, then filled them with whiskey. Elijah took his drink and downed it, as did the other man. ¡°So, what¡¯re you doin¡¯ in a bar at ten in the morning?¡± Elijah shrugged again. ¡°It¡¯s an actual saloon, like in the movies. How could I not?¡± The man chuckled, then turned to Elijah. ¡°Name¡¯s Ray.¡± ¡°Elijah.¡± ¡°So, Elijah. What brings you ¡®round these parts?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°This and that.¡± ¡°Care to be a bit more specific?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°Listen,¡± Ray said. ¡°We get visitors from time to time. Merchants, travelers, hunters and the like. But I gotta say ¨C you¡¯re probably the oddest one I¡¯ve seen.¡± ¡°Thanks?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t a compliment.¡± Elijah chuckled, and he finally let himself acknowledge the man¡¯s appearance. He was tall ¨C probably well over six feet ¨C and slim, with a demeanor that said he knew his way around a fight. It was part confidence, part bravado, and all cool. It was like the Marlboro man had walked into a bar and sat next to him. ¡°So, is this where you tell me to get my stuff and move along?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°For my own good, obviously.¡± ¡°Hell no,¡± Ray said. ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do, so long as you don¡¯t kill nobody. I¡¯m just curious. Man walks into town, no shoes and nothing but a shepherd¡¯s crook ¨C all alone, mind you, and when nobody goes into the woods by themselves ¨C without a care in the world. Can¡¯t blame me for bein¡¯ a bit interested.¡± ¡°I¡¯m an interesting guy.¡± ¡°That you are,¡± the man said. He nodded at Elijah¡¯s empty glass and asked, ¡°Want another? Or you itchin¡¯ to get back on the road?¡± In truth, Elijah was ready to leave. There really wasn¡¯t much to the town ¨C aside from Mel¡¯s greasy spoon ¨C which meant that there wasn¡¯t much reason to stick around. His poor opinion of Valosta wasn¡¯t helped by the fact that he hadn¡¯t slept particularly well. The room was comfortable enough, but the walls were thin, and he couldn¡¯t help but hear the exploits of some of his more amorous neighbors. It was a good reminder of why he preferred his tree house. Then, the encounter with the two thugs, while not unexpected, had deepened his sour mood. ¡°I¡¯ve got time for a drink or two, so long as you¡¯re buying.¡± Ray chuckled again, then ordered another pair of drinks. As the barkeep poured, Elijah asked, ¡°So, you mentioned a hunt? Just for food? Or is there a monster around? Maybe a rift or a tower?¡± ¡°Ah. Makes sense. You¡¯re one of those, huh?¡± ¡°One of what?¡± ¡°Adventurers. Don¡¯t know where they got the idea that runnin¡¯ around and fightin¡¯ monsters for a livin¡¯ was viable career, but there¡¯s people that go from town to town, challengin¡¯ towers and closin¡¯ rifts.¡± He chuckled again and shook his head. ¡°Never thought anything like that¡¯d come outta my mouth. Rifts and towers and monsters. Feels like I¡¯m in one of my kids¡¯ video games.¡± ¡°Kids?¡± Ray didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he went silent for a long moment before asking, ¡°So, you one of ¡®em?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I¡¯m no stranger to those sorts of things. But I don¡¯t usually seek them out. They kind of find me instead.¡± ¡°So, what brings you into town?¡± ¡°You asked that already.¡± ¡°I did, didn¡¯t I?¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°I¡¯m heading to Seattle,¡± he said, not seeing a reason to conceal his purpose. ¡°Looking for my family. I was¡­elsewhere when the world changed. So, I¡¯m going to the nearest city to where they lived.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± ¡°Not much to say. It¡¯s not an uncommon thing. Used to see people like you more often. They all wore shoes, though.¡± ¡°Any success stories?¡± ¡°No. Better to move on,¡± he said with some degree of bitterness. ¡°The old world¡¯s gone. Whatever the hell this is is all that¡¯s left.¡± After that, they lapsed into silence. It lasted for a couple of minutes as the two enjoyed another shot. Then, Elijah asked, ¡°So, are you the sheriff around here or something?¡± ¡°Sheriff? Me? Nah. Just a concerned citizen,¡± he said. ¡°Concerned about me?¡± ¡°About those boys. They¡¯re my idiot cousins,¡± Ray revealed. ¡°Always been stupid. Their momma let ¡®em get away with too much as kids. Now, they don¡¯t know when to stop.¡± ¡°I see.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re leavin¡¯ after this?¡± Ray asked. Elijah answered, ¡°I don¡¯t really see any reason to stick around. You¡¯ve got a nice town here, but it¡¯s not exactly a tourist trap.¡± Ray laughed. ¡°It certainly is not. Mind if I ask a favor, then?¡± he asked. ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°Those boys that just left, can you follow ¡®em? Without bein¡¯ seen, I mean.¡± ¡°What makes you think I can?¡± ¡°Intuition.¡± ¡°Hypothetically, let¡¯s say I could. Why?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in the market for somebody as can keep ¡®em from bein¡¯ eaten. Like I said, the wilderness is dangerous,¡± Ray said. ¡°Pay¡¯s not great. Just a few silver ethereum. But I¡¯ll throw in a bottle of shine. Made by a man with the Distiller class.¡± ¡°Is that what we¡¯ve been drinking?¡± ¡°Yep. Ol¡¯ Jeb¡¯s been makin¡¯ shine since before the world changed,¡± Ray answered. ¡°Now he¡¯s got the class to back ¡®im up.¡± ¡°Five,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I can do five silver.¡± ¡°Five bottles,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d tasted the moonshine already, and it packed quite a punch. More than anything he¡¯d had since rejoining civilization. So, he reasoned he could get a decent price for it back in Ironshore. After all, their distillery was only just getting going. It would be a while before they worked out the kinks. Ray¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°Five? You don¡¯t strike me as an alcoholic.¡± ¡°Everyone has their vices,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°That¡¯s my price. But first, tell me about why you¡¯re worried about these hunters.¡± After that, Ray went on to explain that there had been two groups of hunters who¡¯d been killed in the past month. That wasn¡¯t so abnormal. The wilderness was dangerous. However, what was strange was that they hadn¡¯t been eaten. Instead, they were found a few days after they¡¯d died, their bodies more or less intact. ¡°Bandits, maybe?¡± Ray shook his head. ¡°Nothin¡¯ missin¡¯.¡± ¡°What do you think it is?¡± Elijah asked. Ray shrugged. ¡°I got no idea,¡± he admitted. ¡°If I did, I wouldn¡¯t need your help. Might be a beast. Could be some mythological creature come to life. Whatever it is, it¡¯s killin¡¯ my people. And I¡¯d like it stopped.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s where I come in,¡± Elijah reasoned. ¡°For five bottles of shine, you¡¯d better keep ¡®em alive.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°You get two days,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll follow them for two days. But then I¡¯m heading out. I¡¯ve already gotten distracted more times than I can count. It¡¯s time I focused on what¡¯s really important.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair enough.¡± Ray extended his hand, and Elijah took it. The pair shook, then Elijah downed his latest drink before casting Soothe. ¡°Love that spell,¡± he said to himself as the effects of the alcohol faded. After that, he gathered his things and set off. The town was small enough that it didn¡¯t take him long before he left it behind. From Ray, he¡¯d learned the hunters¡¯ direction, so it was only a few minutes before he caught sight of them heading into the woods. So, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then used Guise of the Unseen. So, under the cover of his stealth ability, he stalked the group. He could only hope that it would end much better than the last time he¡¯d found himself hunting a party of hunters. Back then, though, he¡¯d been hellbent on making his prey pay. This time, he was in a much better headspace. Or that¡¯s what he thought. Only time would tell. In any case, Elijah quickly caught up to the group, which consisted of ten members. Half were armed with spears, while the other half had giant boar spears with huge and heavy blades coupled with a crossguard meant to keep a charging beast from slipping up the shaft and mauling the wielder. Fortunately, the hunter label seemed more based on an activity than a class, because the men ¨C and two women ¨C were completely incapable of detecting Elijah. So, he followed them, hoping for the best. 3-45. Moonlight A gentle breeze rustled the forest canopy, and the smell of blooming flowers danced in the air. Even in the shade, it was hot, but the Cloak of the Iron Bear kept Elijah from becoming uncomfortable as he followed his quarry. The hunters, for all their bluster, were terrible at their jobs. They moved with heavy-footed obliviousness, frightening any real game they might have targeted. In addition, they had yet to close their mouths long enough to look or listen. ¡°Shoulda smacked him for real,¡± said Todd. ¡°I was ¡®bout to really bring it when Ray stepped in.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± said the heavyset Derek. ¡°He was lucky. S¡¯all I¡¯m sayin¡¯. We woulda messed him up but good.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but roll his eyes. It was clear that the two idiots were talking about him, but it was just as clear that their statements were entirely bluster. The other hunters recognized it, too, and one of the women actually did roll her eyes. In any case, Elijah continued to follow them, silent and unseen, as they traversed the forest. It was a wonder that the hunters had ever killed anything, as terrible as they were at the job. But Elijah guessed that most of the forest¡¯s game was aggressive enough that making a lot of noise could prove to be a viable hunting tactic. Of course, that was assuming that the hunters only attracted monsters they could reasonably defeat. There were plenty around that would rip through the group without expending any real effort. Elijah felt positive that if it came down to it, he could slaughter all ten even more easily than he¡¯d killed the group of hunters who¡¯d killed the bear. A single round of Calamity and Swarm would probably do them in. So, considering that a stiff breeze could probably blow them over, Elijah knew he needed to be extra diligent. With that in mind, he stalked them even as they failed to find any meaningful prey. A few times, one would shoot an oversized squirrel or grouse, but for the most part, they seemed incapable of completing their task. Just before night fell, the group of hunters arrived at a displaced trainyard. As they settled into a cargo car, Elijah took a few minutes to investigate the area, and he was unsurprised to find that the tracks ¨C of which there were a multitude ¨C ended only thirty or so yards into the forest. Otherwise, the yard was populated by quite a few locomotives and box cars. At one end was the skeleton of a building, its structure rusted or crumbled, with every window having been shattered. The forest had reclaimed much of it, with vines snaking up any walls that hadn¡¯t already fallen. It was another reminder of how much Earth had changed in the past few years. At one point, the yard had probably been a hub of activity in the center of some city. But now, it was just an artifact of a world that no longer existed. As Elijah explored, he caught the scent of something interesting. After seeing that the hunters had closed themselves up in a box car ¨C for defense, it seemed ¨C Elijah decided to investigate the odor. It was an animal, he was certain. But there was blood there, too. And something else ¨C an ethereal trail Elijah couldn¡¯t quite place. Gradually, he followed the trail as it circled the train yard. Sometimes, it doubled back on itself, and others, it meandered in an odd direction. Yet, it progressively got further and further away from the yard. Hours passed, and the night progressed. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t find his quarry ¨C until, at last, he stumbled upon a small pond. The body of water was only a hundred yards across, but it glowed with silver luminescence. More importantly, it felt powerful, and in a familiar way. It reminded him of the ancestral tree. Or the mushroom. Even with so much similarity, there were enough differences that Elijah briefly doubted whether he¡¯d found a natural treasure. Until he saw the stag across the pond. Its snow-white coat glistened in the silver moonlight, marred only by a streak of deep red. In awe, Elijah stared at the majestic beast ¨C no, it was a guardian, just like the panther or the bear ¨C with glittering and crystalline antlers that spread out from its massive head. Elijah watched. And he knew, beyond a shadow of any doubt, that the guardian knew he was there. Despite the fact that he was cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, the stag was aware of his presence. He slowly approached, circling the pond with deliberate caution. As he did, he let Guise of the Unseen fall away. Then, he shifted into his human form. The stag nearly bolted, then and there, but it settled after only a moment. Elijah held his hand out as he took one slow step after another. And then he saw why the stag hadn¡¯t run. Behind it were two fawns. They looked so tiny, nestled against the huge stag¡¯s white coat. Belatedly, Elijah also saw a doe, this one with no antlers but no less majestic, lying near the stag. She was covered in blood. Instantly, Elijah chose to cast Healing Rain. Then Soothe. The stag flinched, and the fawns trembled. But the doe remained still. Elijah felt it in his heart, but he refused to accept it. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He rushed forward for the last few steps, sliding to a stop near the fallen doe. He saw a trio of large arrows protruding from her body. One had hit her in the neck. Another, in her flank. But the worst had taken her in the chest. It clearly hadn¡¯t hit her heart, but judging from the bubbles in the still-wet blood, the lung had been pierced. She was dying. Despite his efforts, she wasn¡¯t long for the world. Via One with Nature, Elijah felt three corpses nearby, but he knew they weren¡¯t human. Their pointed ears, slim figures, and otherworldly beauty marked them as elves. He wasn¡¯t worried about a few corpses, no matter what species, though. Instead, Elijah was wholly focused on the family of deer. Reaching out with a tentative hand, he slowly inched toward the fallen doe. She was still breathing, though it was shallow. Rapid. She was dying. She flinched when his fingers brushed against her soft fur, and the stag snorted. Elijah felt ethera gathering, but he ignored it. Instead, he channeled ethera through Touch of Nature. The life-giving ethera flowed into her, guided by his knowledge of biology as well as his innate understanding of living things. So often, Elijah was forced to simply flood the spell through his patients¡¯ bodies. But he knew precisely what her injuries meant. He was no veterinarian, but he was well-versed in animal physiology. So, he used that to inform his efforts. And slowly, she healed ¨C just enough to ensure that she would survive for a little while longer. However, just before he got ready to pull the arrows free, he felt something that he knew had the potential to mess everything up. He erupted into motion, using every point of Strength at his disposal to interpose himself between the deer and the idiotic hunters who¡¯d suddenly arrived. An arrow thudded into his shoulder. Then, another hit him in the leg. Still a third took him directly in the chest, where it lodged in his sternum. That¡¯s when he looked up to see four more arrows in flight, all aimed at the stag who refused to abandon its mate. Elijah¡¯s hands flashed out, and he snatched one out of the air. The next one clipped his arm, while the last two flew wide, one thudding into a tree while the other was lost in the underbrush. ¡°Stop!¡± he roared. But it was too late. The stag had had enough. Its crystalline antlers lit up with silver light, and a second later, a beam of energy erupted from between them, burning through one of the hunters. The others scattered. But Elijah knew they weren¡¯t gone. He wheeled around and slapped the stag in the face, screaming, ¡°No!¡± Elijah knew precisely how silly it must¡¯ve looked, but against all odds, it worked. The deer¡¯s antlers went dark ¨C or as dark as glittering crystal could get ¨C and it actually managed to look chastised. Or maybe that was Elijah¡¯s propensity to anthropomorphize animals. Either way, it was no longer attacking anyone, which he counted as a win. ¡°I¡¯m going to try to save your friend!¡± he shouted to the hunters who¡¯d scattered into the forest. ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, let me do it. If you attack these animals, I will kill every last one of you. Do you understand?¡± There was no answer. But Elijah was banking on the hunters recognizing how ineffective their arrows had been. Hopefully, that would give them some hints as to how much more powerful than them he was. So, with that, Elijah quickly circled the pond and found the woman who¡¯d nearly been cut in two by the deer¡¯s retaliatory attack. But thankfully, she was still alive. So, Elijah pressed her flesh back together, then used Soothe. He was prepared to use Touch of Nature as well, but as it turned out, the heal-over-time was enough to knit her back together. She healed in seconds, telling Elijah just how weak she was. As he¡¯d discovered, healing wasn¡¯t so different from fighting. The more powerful a creature ¨C or a person ¨C was, the more effort it would take to heal them. And vice versa, a characteristic he¡¯d just seen in action. The woman gasped, shooting upright and trying to ram a hunting knife into his side. Elijah knocked it away disdainfully, saying, ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°Y-you¡­you have arrows in you,¡± she breathed. ¡°Oh. Right,¡± Elijah said. Then, he proceeded to snatch the projectiles out of his flesh. None had gone more than a quarter of an inch in, so the damage was negligible. Then, he raised his voice, saying, ¡°If you all know what¡¯s good for you, you¡¯ll leave right now. I¡¯m going to save these deer. I know you¡¯re busy imagining what kind of benefits you could get from killing them. Put that out of mind, because I can guarantee you ¨C if you try it, you¡¯ll never live to see any benefits. Don¡¯t push me.¡± Then, Elijah returned to the family of deer and went back to treating their wounds. As he tore the arrows out of the doe, he continuously pulsed Touch of Nature. After four or five casts, the chances of her death grew negligible. However, Elijah didn¡¯t intend to leave her side until she was back to perfect health. As he worked, the hunters gathered together, then came to some consensus and left. Elijah knew they would be back. At best, they would wait until he was gone. At worst, they¡¯d gather everyone in town to come hunt the beasts. The benefits were too attractive, especially considering there was a natural treasure nearby. So, as Elijah worked, eventually moving to the fawns, then the stag, he developed a plan. It would require yet another delay to his primary goals, but he couldn¡¯t in good conscience leave the deer to fend for themselves. Once he¡¯d finished, he sighed. The first step was done. Now, the real work could begin. So, Elijah stripped down, leaving his gear on the shore before diving into the pond. As soon as he hit the water, he knew he¡¯d made a mistake. The ethera wasn¡¯t just thick. In felt almost solid, like he was swimming through pudding. And for the first time since he¡¯d gotten his Ring of Aquatic Travel, the fact that he couldn¡¯t breathe actually mattered. He still didn¡¯t need to fill his lungs with air, but the thickness of the ethera was enough that he felt like an overfilled balloon. Panicked, he backstroked, then, mercifully found his way to shore. Once there, he knelt on his hands and knees, panting to catch his breath. After a few minutes he looked up to see the stag staring at him, and even though Elijah knew it was in his imagination, he could have sworn it was smirking in his direction. ¡°Yeah, yeah. I¡¯m an idiot. Got it.¡± Originally, he¡¯d intended to take whatever the natural treasure was and relocate it. However, now he was forced to rethink things. Only after a few more minutes did he realize the obvious answer to the issue at hand. But as obvious as it was, Elijah didn¡¯t really want to do it. Still, he didn¡¯t see any other solutions, so he resolved to get started. ¡°As soon as I feel a little better,¡± he muttered, rolling over onto his back. A second later, one of the fawns approached and licked his forehead. ¡°Yeah. Big fan of yours, too little guy. Just give me a minute to rest my eyes¡­¡± 3-46. Necessity Roman¡¯s face twisted in disgust as the stink of the unwashed mass of prisoners wafted into his nose. He asked, ¡°Can we not wash them, at least?¡± ¡°We could hose ¡®em down,¡± offered the warden. The fat man had somehow gained weight since the last time Roman had seen him, which only added to the air of disgust that pervaded the lowest reaches of the palace dungeon. ¡°But they¡¯d just get dirty again. Ain¡¯t much reason for them to care about hygiene, as such. Most don¡¯t think they¡¯re ever gettin¡¯ outta here.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not,¡± snickered Fiona. ¡°Right you are, High Magister,¡± the fat man said. ¡°But if they don¡¯t have no hope, then they don¡¯t care about nothin¡¯. Not much we can do about that, neither.¡± ¡°Start cutting things off,¡± Roman suggested. ¡°If they refuse to adhere to basic standards of hygiene, then they don¡¯t need toes. Or fingers. Or any number of other appendages.¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty. We¡¯ll get right on that after today¡¯s session,¡± the warden agreed. Roman didn¡¯t respond. He¡¯d found that keeping his communications with his underlings to a bare minimum served to motivate them. It was something he¡¯d learned at his father¡¯s knee. The man had never been effusive with praise ¨C or any feedback at all, really ¨C so Roman had spent much of his early years striving for his approval. It was only after decades that he¡¯d come to realize that it never would have come, regardless of what he accomplished. Still, the lessons stuck. And what was Roman, if not the father of Easton? So, he channeled his own past, though with the roles reversed, and his people had responded appropriately. Most tripped over themselves in an attempt to garner even the slightest praise. But the other side of that was that he met failure with unmitigated ire. Some of the people who¡¯d managed to disappoint him were in this very dungeon. All of that flitted through Roman¡¯s mind as he traversed the disgusting space. Cages lined the walls, most of which held naked and dirty people. None were in good shape, but that was by design. Even if he preferred not to be exposed their stench, Roman didn¡¯t care about their actual physical condition. Instead, he only took their levels into context. Eventually, they reached the open space where the sacrifice would be performed. In the beginning, it hadn¡¯t been anything more than a bit of bare floor. Yet, the warden ¨C in an effort to please Roman ¨C had gone to great lengths to dress it up. Standing torches had been arranged in a wide circle, and ten men and women had been shackled to a series of stone altars. Each of the sacrifices had been scoured clean, their hair shorn down to the scalp, and given pristine white robes to wear. More importantly, they¡¯d all reached the level limit of thirty-five. Reaching any higher would require actual danger that the dungeon could not provide. But that was expected. Even though Roman would have preferred to push them to even higher levels, the cost of doing so would have been extravagant. Roman regarded it as a blessing that the system, in all its wisdom and glory, had cut them off at level thirty-five. In a speech he¡¯d already given countless times, Roman stepped up and said, ¡°You have all been chosen. Your sacrifice will go toward strengthening the city. In that way, you can pay for your previous failures.¡± One of the women looked up. Her eyes were deeply sunken into their sockets, and her skin was waxy, giving her a cadaverous appearance. Then, she spat, ¡°Fuck you.¡± Suddenly, the air came alive with ethera, though it never coalesced into a spell. The warden, who had the Jailer class, clamped down on her. So long as the prisoners were within his dungeon, they were largely impotent ¨C at least in terms of using spells and abilities. ¡°Her first,¡± Roman said, stepping forward and drawing his sword, False Dragon Fang. It shimmered in the torchlight. He brought it back, then let it fall upon her neck. It sliced through flesh and bone with frightening ease, and the woman¡¯s head fell free. It bounced slightly, then rolled for a brief moment before coming to a stop. Roman stepped up to the next, though this man accepted his fate without complaint. The next one after that growled more profanities, and the next didn¡¯t move. Each one died the same as the last, and Roman continued on until twenty sacrifices had been made. The influx of experience only barely progressed him, but that was normal. It was not a sprint. Instead, it was intended to be a marathon. Hundreds had already been sacrificed, and thousands more would follow that same path ¨C all for the greater good. Because as Roman grew stronger, so did Easton. But he could admit that he wanted more. He needed more power, and not just inside of his city. However, with unquestionable willpower, he shoved those selfish desires aside. He could go out and hunt monsters. He could have joined his people as they worked to conquer towers and close rifts. Yet, he knew that Easton was better served with him remaining within the city. He was the one person holding everything together. Not only that, but he was a symbol. He was an example, an ideal for which his people could strive. So, he pushed his self-interest aside and focused on what was truly important. ¡°When will the next sacrifices be prepared?¡± he asked. The warden rubbed the back of his neck, answering, ¡°Could be as soon as next week. If you wanted, we got some higher level monsters. We was gonna use ¡®em to push the sacrifices to level a bit faster, but if you want ¨C¡± Stolen story; please report. ¡°I will not sully my blade with dirty beasts.¡± ¡°Of course. I know. It¡¯s just that we could push you higher faster if you just killed a couple here and there.¡± ¡°No.¡± The refusal hit the warden like a ton of bricks. In reality, the man was right. Or he would have been if he understood Roman¡¯s class at all.
Manhunter Embrace the path of murder. When you kill a sapient entity, gain twenty-five (25) percent more kill energy. All other sources will be reduced by the same amount.
The ability was a passive enhancement that remained active at all times. He couldn¡¯t cancel it, even if he wanted to. And when Roman had first received the ability, he¡¯d been quite angry, even taking it out on a few nearby soldiers. However, it wasn¡¯t long until he saw the system¡¯s wisdom. It had seen his plight and given him the tools to overcome it. But its blessing had come with a commiserate curse. After all, it seemed intent on testing his resolve. It was only when he recognized that reality that he¡¯d fully committed to his path. Whatever obstacles it set before him, he would overcome. Because he had to, and not only because he refused to fall short of the system¡¯s lofty expectations. No ¨C he did it because he was the only one who could. He was mankind¡¯s savior. Or at least he had that potential. If he fell short, then everyone would be doomed. He didn¡¯t know what form humanity¡¯s fate would take, but he could sense that something terrible was coming. Some challenge only he could meet. With humanity¡¯s survival at stake, was there any line he couldn¡¯t cross? No. So, with that surety of purpose coursing through him, Roman passed his sword to Fiona, who wiped the blood from the shining, blue-and-white blade. Then, she sheathed it at his hip. After that, Roman took a few minutes to tour the facilities. They¡¯d spent quite a bit of ethereum and man-hours to continue to develop it. Yet, it was only one piece of the strategy of empowerment they had devised. The next stop on his tour highlighted the other side of the coin. Located even deeper beneath the palace was a maze-like series of ever-expanding tunnels. The entrance was guarded by a massive iron door and an entire garrison of soldiers. The commander in charge greeted him with a salute, saying, ¡°Your majesty. We are grateful for the grace of your presence.¡± Roman dispensed with any niceties, saying, ¡°How is it? Are the preparations complete?¡± The man smiled broadly. ¡°We believe so. The Necromancer has done phenomenal work,¡± the commander stated. ¡°Would you like to see?¡± Roman nodded, and a moment later, he was led into the next room, then up a set of stairs. After that, he followed the commander down a connected hall. The entire way, Roman could smell the stench of death ¨C all rot and blood ¨C but more importantly, he could feel the cold and unnatural ethera. ¡°Has anyone spoken to the Necromancer?¡± he asked. ¡°Not in the past week, your majesty. We used to see him once a week, but he stopped responding. His minions get stronger by the day.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Roman answered, approaching a grate in the floor. He leaned over, and for a moment, saw nothing. Then, suddenly, something flashed in the hall beneath. Another figure came a second later. Then another. ¡°What level are they?¡± ¡°Almost level forty.¡± ¡°And they keep rising? Without killing one another?¡± ¡°They do.¡± The entire plan hinged on the Necromancer, a former gravedigger who¡¯d somehow gotten the most disgusting class imaginable. Yet, as grotesque as it was, it was also uniquely suited for their purposes. Because the Necromancer was not only capable of raising the dead into minions, but each one of those creatures progressed in levels based on the power of the Necromancer. And he, in turn, gained energy from simply maintaining and commanding his horde. The only limitation ¨C as far as Roman could tell ¨C were the number of available corpses. From the guides Roman had seen, Necromancy was entirely forbidden, and the reason for that hardline stance was obvious. Yet, that didn¡¯t mean Roman was willing to put aside such a potential advantage. He also had no intention of letting the Necromancer have his way. Not unfettered, at least. ¡°How goes the culling?¡± The commander said, ¡°We slaughter them once a week. Our men usually gain at least one level each time.¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± Roman said. Roman was never going to let the Necromancer and his horde of ambulatory corpses loose. That could go wrong too quickly. However, he had no issues with using the undead monsters to level his men in relative safety. The only issue was that the zombies didn¡¯t count as sapient entities, meaning that Roman couldn¡¯t take advantage of the program himself. Still, he didn¡¯t begrudge his loyal men such a powerful opportunity. Their progression reflected his own glory, after all. So long as they didn¡¯t rise too high. But that was what the dungeons were for. After his inspection, Roman listened to another report, but his attention quickly began to slip. So, he once again checked the progress of the quest given to him by the system:
Congratulations! You have met the requirements to embark on a quest to become an official ruler under the system. Complete the following quests to solidify your rule: 1. Conquer an enemy and hear their oath of fealty. (COMPLETE) 2. Become an Arbiter of Justice. 3. Expand your territory until you rule over 1,000,000 people. 4. Reach the top ten on the Planetary Power Rankings (Earth)
He¡¯d completed the first part after conquering Arbor. Once he¡¯d defeated Morgan so soundly, the man¡¯s second had been forced to surrender the city and swear fealty. Since then, he¡¯d been a model citizen of Roman¡¯s growing empire. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the rest of the people in that city, a full tenth of which had ended up in Easton¡¯s dungeons. The rest had fallen into line. By all rights, Roman should have been happy with his progress. Upon conquering Arbor, the population of his territory had grown by nearly a hundred thousand. In addition, he¡¯d made progress in his quest to climb the Planetary Power Rankings. Soon, he would enter the top one-hundred, he was certain. However, as much progress as he¡¯d made, it seemed insufficient. Because the specter of some nameless threat loomed in the future. Roman had no idea why he was so certain disaster was coming, but he was sure, all the same. And he needed to be stronger if he was going to save everyone. ¡°Keep it up, commander. You are building the hope of humanity,¡± Roman said to the man in charge of the undead meat grinder. Then, he turned and headed back to the surface where he would continue to guide Easton toward supremacy. Because if he didn¡¯t, Earth would surely fall. 3-47. The Next Circle Elijah slammed his fist into the concrete foundation. The impact hit with massive force, sending deep cracks to spread across the area. Then, Elijah scooped the pieces up, throwing them into a plastic, fifty-five-gallon drum he¡¯d found in the displaced railyard. It was that discovery that had given him the idea that he¡¯d begun to implement. Whether or not it would work was still a mystery. Because for all Elijah¡¯s knowledge, he only knew the basics of making homemade concrete. And what he did know relied on the ability to run down to the local hardware store and buy the materials. For obvious reasons, that was no longer possible, so Elijah had been forced to improvise. Typically, making concrete required three parts sand, two parts aggregate, and one part cement. The first part was easy enough to gather from a nearby train car that had been filled with sand. The second part was just rocks, of which there were plenty. But the final part was much more difficult, considering that cement was made via a complex process that required heating a mixture of limestone and clay, letting it cool, grinding the result down to a powder, and adding extra materials he didn¡¯t have, Elijah was forced to improvise. He was aware that, before Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree, the process he had in mind would almost assuredly fail. Yet, he was banking on the presence of ethera to bridge the gap. If it failed, he would be forced to go to Plan B, which would require him to somehow retrieve the natural treasure at the bottom of the pond, then relocate to somewhere else. Elijah wasn¡¯t even sure he could do that first part, much less get the family of deer to follow him across the wilderness. So, he was pretty well invested in making the first plan work. With that in mind, he continued the first part of his process ¨C gathering concrete. He¡¯d already filled twelve barrels, and he still had eight more to go before he would be satisfied. So, over the next day, he engaged in the arduous process of breaking apart the foundation of the railyard¡¯s lone building. All the while, the deer remained nearby. The doe still hadn¡¯t completely recovered, so she wouldn¡¯t stray far from Elijah¡¯s Healing Rain. Which was fine by him, considering he didn¡¯t know how long it would take for the Valosta hunters to marshal their courage and return to the pond. If they did and found the deer, they would inevitably attack. And in that event, people were going to die, either by his hand or at the end of those light beams the stag could utilize. Elijah wanted to avoid that, so he channeled that attitude into his work. Fortunately, with his guardian form¡¯s enormous Strength, Elijah could accomplish quite a bit of destruction, and in a short amount of time. So, by the end of that first day, he¡¯d managed to fill his barrels. However, he didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, he spent that entire night pummeling the shards into powder. It was a tedious process, largely because he wanted to avoid bursting his drums. But as was the case anytime Elijah had an established process with a verifiable endpoint before him, it was oddly therapeutic. He sank into the task, and by the time the sun rose, he¡¯d managed to reduce the gathered concrete shards into twenty barrels of fine powder. Only then did he allow himself to rest. Of course, the moment he retrieved a couple of his berries from his pack, the deer came sniffing around. Sighing, he tossed one to each, saying, ¡°You only get one apiece.¡± The two adults caught the thrown berries, but the pair of fauns missed. Elijah let out a chuckle as they scrambled to recover the fallen morsels. After that, the animals warmed up to him, and by no small degree. Once he¡¯d rested for a while ¨C he didn¡¯t dare let himself sleep, for fear that everything would go wrong while he was unconscious ¨C Elijah began to gather the other ingredients. Fortunately, he had plenty of drums ¨C he¡¯d counted almost a hundred of them in one corner of the building ¨C so he had no issues gathering the sand for the first ten batches. Then, he collected two empty barrels and headed back to the pond, where he retrieved some water before turning to the railyard. As far as he could tell, he had enough materials for five batches, and once confirming the process in his mind, he started forward. Only to stop a moment later. He was no expert builder, but he did know that rebar was typically used to give support to concrete. Fortunately, there was plenty of that within the foundation. So, he began the arduous task of gathering enough for his purposes, which was much more difficult than it probably should have been. Not for the first time, he wished he had modern tools, because repeatedly bending rebar back and forth until it weakened enough to snap was the epitome of tedium. Once Elijah had managed to gather enough, he took a few minutes to rest. Predictably, the deer saw that as an opportunity to get more berries, and Elijah didn¡¯t have the heart to refuse. Despite his fatigue, he couldn¡¯t help but grin a little as he saw the fauns prancing about excitedly afterwards. But that only lasted as long as it took him to remember that he was on a timer. Eventually, the people of Valosta would come. He was certain of it. And while Elijah didn¡¯t blame them for trying to take whatever advantages they could, he certainly wasn¡¯t going to make it easy for them. So, he got back to work. Mixing the concrete was even more tedious that gathering the rebar, but he persisted until he¡¯d created a gray slop consisting of the now-powdered pieces of the foundation, some rocks he¡¯d gathered, quite a lot of sand, and just enough water to mix it all together. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Even so, the first batch was ruined when he added too much water. The second was better. But the third was when he managed to dial it in. So, after shoving pieces of rebar into the barrel where he¡¯d mixed everything together, he left it to cure. Meanwhile, he started in on the other batches. For his plans, he needed three barrels for each pillar. And it would take eighteen pillars ¨C as well as a different, larger piece for the capstone ¨C to complete his design. So, Elijah got to work. As he did, he made certain to flare Nature¡¯s Bounty. He wasn¡¯t certain if it would have any effect on the inorganic matter, but he wasn¡¯t going to take the chance that things wouldn¡¯t work by varying his methods. As it turned out, the drums made perfect molds, so after four days, Elijah managed to complete the sixty-fourth pillar piece. After that, he began the demanding process of moving them from his workspace in the railyard to the pond. That harkened back to his days carrying multi-ton rocks from the mountains to the site of his Dragon Circle, though instead of carrying only one at a time, he now carried two. Still, it took some time to get everything from one spot to another. Once that was accomplished, he arranged the base layer around the pond. Fortunately, the small body of water was perfectly circular, so it was easy enough to position the cylinders of concrete appropriately. As always, he continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty when possible throughout the whole process. Fortunately, it was usable in all forms. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve had to complete his tasks in his human form, which, while strong enough to accomplish his goals, lacked the long arms that made everything easier. Once everything was arranged into nine groupings of two cylinders, he began the second layer, placing one piece atop another. Of course, he was forced to carve tenons and mortice holes, but fortunately, Elijah had plenty of experience with that. Still, he made certain to take his time so he wouldn¡¯t run the risk of cracking the pillars. He didn¡¯t think it was necessary, though. Despite cutting a couple of corners while mixing the concrete, it had turned out to be far more solid than he could have expected. It might¡¯ve been Nature¡¯s Bounty that had given it the extra strength, but he suspected that it was the addition of the ethera-infused pond water. Whatever the case, aside from being a bit time-consuming, carving the tenons and mortice holes wasn¡¯t difficult, and he completed that part of the project in good time. Finally, he repeated the process with the third layer. In the end, it took another entire week before he finished the collection of twin pillars. Throughout the process, he¡¯d been forced to take a few breathers. When he did, he retreated to the railyard. But he still kept breaks to a minimum. He knew he couldn¡¯t keep going like that, though. So, once he¡¯d finished the pillars, he retreated deep into the woods before settling in to sleep. It was not a peaceful rest, mostly because he expected disaster to strike at any moment. However, when he awoke the next morning, he found that nothing had changed during the night. Of course, that was probably because of the powerful guardians ¨C both the stag and the doe were at least as strong as the bear had been. Whatever the case, he enjoyed a cup of tea, then a couple of berries before heading back to the railyard. Once there, he took a few hours to construct the first mold for his capstones. It had been constructed from a pair of drums which had been cut in half. Then, he¡¯d laid three halves, end to end, like a trough. It wasn¡¯t perfect. He¡¯d used some clay harvested from near the pond to bind everything together, but Elijah was certain that some of it would inevitably leak. Yet, it was the best Elijah could do. So, he mixed some more concrete, then carefully poured it into his makeshift mold. It worked, more or less, though when it dried, Elijah was forced to chip away some excess bits where it had leaked through. Still, it was good enough, so he quickly proceeded to make the other nine. That took two more days. When he¡¯d finished, Elijah carried the capstones to the pillars where he took another day to carve the appropriate mortice holes and tenons before piecing everything together. After that, Elijah stepped back to admire his handiwork. ¡°Impressive,¡± came a familiar voice. Elijah whipped around, Storm¡¯s Fury ready. However, when he saw who¡¯d come to visit, he relaxed. A little. He and Ray had had a friendly conversation, but that didn¡¯t mean they were friends. And Elijah expected that the man in the white cowboy hat was probably the most powerful person in the entirety of Valosta. ¡°Thanks,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It took a lot of work.¡± ¡°I know. Been watchin¡¯,¡± the man said. ¡°From a distance. Didn¡¯t want to interrupt.¡± ¡°Why are you here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Curiosity, mostly. But I gotta admit, seeing those monsters right behind you and feelin¡¯ whatever that is in the pond has got me a bit antsy,¡± Ray stated. ¡°What do you intend to do with it?¡± ¡°They¡¯re not monsters.¡± ¡°Eh?¡± ¡°The deer. They¡¯re guardians.¡± ¡°That s¡¯posed to mean somethin¡¯ to me?¡± Ray asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Guardians are supposed to be here. Monsters aren¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°But that¡¯s just a working theory. I plan on investigating it next time I visit a Branch. Or I¡¯ll ask my tree spirit.¡± ¡°Tree spirit?¡± ¡°His name¡¯s Nerthus. Good guy. Getting a little uppity lately, though. Especially when I mess with his garden. Which is technically mine, but it¡¯s also his home. So,¡± Elijah babbled, holding his hands up as if he were weighing two options. ¡°My point is that these are good guys.¡± He glanced back at the family of deer. ¡°Plus, look at those fauns. You ever see anything that cute?¡± Of course, with the stag standing over his progeny, cute probably wasn¡¯t how anyone would describe the scene. After all, the deer was the size of a moose, with crystalline antlers that could shoot weaponized moonlight. So, Elijah supposed that the word intimidating would be a better descriptor. ¡°Didn¡¯t answer my question.¡± ¡°Relocation,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And this circle?¡± ¡°The means by which I will relocate them.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± ¡°None of your business,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Look ¨C this conversation is a courtesy. I don¡¯t want this to get ugly, so I¡¯m trying my best to keep it from going in that direction. But make no mistake ¨C I¡¯m not asking permission. If it comes down to you or these four,¡± he said, gesturing to the family of deer. ¡°I¡¯ll choose them every single time. So, don¡¯t push it.¡± ¡°That sounds a little like a threat.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Just the way it is,¡± he stated tiredly. ¡°Was a time I¡¯d have just killed everyone involved and got on with my life. But I¡¯m trying to turn over a new leaf. Be a better person, you know? I¡¯m holding onto that, but if people start pushing, I¡¯m going to let my instincts take over. You probably wouldn¡¯t like that.¡± ¡°You sound pretty confident,¡± Ray remarked. ¡°Just experienced.¡± The man stared at Elijah for a long moment, then sighed. ¡°Goddamn. You don¡¯t flinch, do you?¡± ¡°Not where anybody can see.¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll keep them away,¡± Ray said. ¡°At least for another week. After that, you¡¯re on your own.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°For your town¡¯s sake, let¡¯s hope that¡¯s all I need.¡± Ray just shook his head. Then, he unshouldered a satchel and dropped it to the ground. Elijah heard the clink of bottles. ¡°Your payment.¡± Elijah almost refused. But then, he remembered that he¡¯d actually done the job he¡¯d been asked to do. So, it was only fair that he be paid. ¡°Thanks.¡± After that, Ray turned and left. Once he was gone, Elijah went back to work. 3-48. The Moon Well Lightning cracked, and thunder rolled as a summer storm swept through the area, dumping a deluge of rain along the way. Elijah sat back, leaning against the trunk of an oak tree as he enjoyed the ambiance. To him, there was something comforting about a proper rainstorm ¨C a combination of all five senses that coalesced to remind him of home. Not the island, though considering its climate, that was probably accurate as well. Instead, he thought of his childhood, when he and his family would spend long weekends camping out in the wilderness of the Pacific Northwest. So, he watched the rain fall upon the pond, leaving ripples with every drop. An earthy scent pervaded the air, calming Elijah in a way little else could. He sighed, breathing deeply as, for the first time in weeks, he let himself relax. Because he¡¯d finally completed the heavy lifting involved in creating his latest dolmen. The results were distinctly different than the Dragon Circle, but no less impressive for it. In any case, everything had come together far better than Elijah could have hoped, though not without significant effort. Not unsurprisingly, he¡¯d been forced to adapt to a host of problems, and he¡¯d even had to replace a couple of pillar pieces when they¡¯d cracked under the weight of the capstones. Yet, Elijah had persisted, and now he saw nine monuments, each almost ten feet tall. They seemed even larger, though, looming as they did at equidistant points around the pond. At present, the concrete structures had a distinctly brutalist cast, which felt oddly appropriate. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. He still had two more steps to complete before he would count the project complete. Only when he was satisfied would he use Roots of the World Tree to christen his new circle. But he knew he was on a timer. In less than a week, it would be open season. Perhaps the hunters of Valosta would wait a little longer than that, but that was when Ray¡¯s influence would end. And Elijah expected that curiosity and greed would bring quite a few visitors, each one intent on killing his new friends and stealing the natural treasure at the bottom of the pond. Neither endeavor would be successful. Now that the deer were completely healed, they were more than capable of protecting themselves. The same could be said about the natural treasure. If Elijah couldn¡¯t even get close enough to it to determine its nature, then the comparative weaklings of Valosta had no chance. Indeed, Elijah¡¯s haste was more about protecting those idiots than anything else. And as much as he wanted to let them reap the seeds of destruction they were so intent on sowing, his conscience wouldn¡¯t allow that. So, with another grunt, he pushed himself upright and stretched his tired muscles. Toting the cylinders of concrete hadn¡¯t been as taxing as carrying multi-ton rocks from the foothills to his Dragon Circle, but it had still left him feeling like he¡¯d just endured a long and arduous workout. Which wasn¡¯t so far from the truth. His efforts over the past couple of months had even netted him a couple of extra attributes points ¨C one in Strength, and the other in Constitution ¨C underscoring just how much he¡¯d exerted himself. It also confirmed that, even though it was obviously possible to gain attribute points through training, it was incredibly difficult. But Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with his attributes for the moment. Instead, he needed to complete the project. So, after stretching a little, then using Soothe before pulsing Touch of Nature a single time, he crossed the clearing and reached the first monument. Kneeling, he inspected the vine he¡¯d planted the day before. Already, it had sprouted a few inches from the ground, courtesy of his continuous use of Nature¡¯s Bounty. So, he guided the vine, adjusting it so that it would grow in the proper direction, before moving on to the next. Then the next after that. He¡¯d planted dozens of vines, and each one needed guidance. Yet, it only took him a few minutes to ensure they would keep growing in the right direction. So, once that was done, Elijah shifted into the form of the lamellar ape then used his claws to scratch various designs into the cement pillars. He had no illusions of covering them with relief ¨C he was no sculptor, after all ¨C but his instincts dictated that he should make some efforts at embellishment. Still, he was incredibly careful so that he wouldn¡¯t inadvertently crack the pillars. As he worked, he continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty, stopping ever so often to ensure the vines continued to grow appropriately. Like that, he continued for the next five days, resting only when absolutely necessary. Fortunately, with his high attributes as well as his healing spells, he could go for quite some time without sleep. Besides, he wasn¡¯t exactly exerting himself. The work was time-consuming and tedious, but it was not physically difficult. And by the fifth day, he¡¯d completed his task. Stepping back, he admired the fruits of his efforts. The general shapes of the nine monuments were unchanged. Yet, the relief carvings had altered the entire vibe. Some of the brutalist cast remained, but it was softened by the carvings he¡¯d so painstakingly created. Instead of dragons, he¡¯d gone with a subtle moon motif. In addition, the vines had snaked around the pillars. Back on Earth, designing something like that would have doomed it to a short life. Vines didn¡¯t seem overtly destructive, but they could tear a structure down in a matter of years. However, with the addition of ethera, Elijah felt certain that his monuments would remain standing for decades ¨C maybe even centuries ¨C to come. The entire area had been flooded with Elijah¡¯s personal ethera via One with Nature as well as Nature¡¯s bounty, and it had mixed with the energy wafting off the pond. The combination was heady and powerful, a mixture of wild and cultivated that left Elijah in awe. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Once he¡¯d ensured that the circle had taken the exact shape he desired, he used Roots of the World Tree, further infusing it with his essence. The moment the spell completed ¨C which took almost an hour to charge ¨C a notification flashed before his inner eye:
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Moon Well] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Simple) Enchantment Grade: E
Moon Well. That fit, both in terms of the aesthetic as well as the feeling of the ambient ethera. However, he was a little disappointed that the enchantment grade of his latest circle was lower than it had been with the Dragon Circle.
Roots of the World Tree Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 3 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 4. Cooldown: 6 Days Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 5 (2 Used)
Elijah saw two differences when he checked the description of Roots of the World Tree. First, the maximum capacity for his gateways had increased to four, which was a good thing because it would simplify the planned relocation of the family of deer. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t been certain how he intended to temporarily separate them. Now, he didn¡¯t have to worry about that issue, though he was still a bit unsure how he intended to get them onboard with his plan. He''d have to overcome that obstacle when it presented itself. The next difference he saw concerning his spell¡¯s description was an expected change. The possible number of dolmens he could empower ¨C for now ¨C remained at five. Yet, he¡¯d used two, giving him only three more opportunities to expand his teleportation network. Originally, he¡¯d intended to place the second circle much further from the Dragon Circle, but his plans had been altered the moment he¡¯d seen the danger presented to the deer. Or more accurately, to the people of Valosta who would inevitably bite off far more than they could chew. As Elijah was admiring his hard work, he felt a nearby presence that he¡¯d come to recognize. Over the past week, elves had flitted past on more than one occasion. Like the corpses he¡¯d detected on his first day near the pond, they were small ¨C no more than five feet tall ¨C with pointed ears and a perfect sort of beauty that marked them as inhuman. Yet, they felt no more powerful than the humans back in Valosta. Until now. The one standing at the very edge of One with Nature was outwardly little different from the others. But Elijah was more concerned with the feeling of power wafting off of her. She remained in place, standing as still as a statue, and watching Elijah with the ferocious intent of a hunting predator. Elijah ignored her. If she wanted to talk, she could. But he didn¡¯t intend to change his plans just because a slightly-more-powerful-than-normal elf was curious. So, he took a moment to steady himself, then cast Roots of the World Tree. For the first time ever, he focused on the portion of the spell meant to open a gateway to his grove, and after about thirty seconds of constantly feeding it ethera from his Dragon Core, the spell completed. When it did, a series of vines ¨C not unlike those summoned by Snaring Roots ¨C snaked up from the ground, intertwining and growing upward until they came together in an arch. When those vines connected, the interior of the arch shimmered before pulsing with powerful ethera. A moment later, the view shifted. Instead of looking through and seeing the Moon Well, Elijah saw his grove on the other side. Thick ethera wafted out of the opening, mingling with the dense energies hanging around the pool. Elijah turned to the deer, who¡¯d backed away from the sudden expression of Elijah¡¯s spell, and said, ¡°Alright. In you go.¡± The stag shook his great head, then let out a slight snort. Meanwhile, the doe and two fauns cowered behind the patriarch of their small family. Elijah had expected some hesitation, so he unshouldered his pack, then retrieved a few of his remaining grove berries. Over the past couple of weeks, Elijah had fed the deer plenty of the little fruits, and that practice had seriously cut into his supply. Yet, it wasn¡¯t without purpose. It was like training a dog with treats, though in this case, the trainees intelligence was more like that of dolphins. Still, it plainly worked, because the moment he held one of the berries aloft, the gathered family of deer perked up. ¡°So, here¡¯s the deal,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t know if you can understand me. Probably not. But if you go through that gate, you¡¯ll be safe. You¡¯ll also get more berries.¡± As he spoke, the deer¡¯s eyes never left the berries. ¡°Yeah, you only care about that last part, right? Of course you do.¡± Then, he tossed the berries into the gate. The stag took a tentative step forward. But the fauns were not nearly so cautious. They darted out, passing through the gate before their parents could stop them. That was as effective of bait as Elijah could conjure, and the two deer passed through only a second later. It was heartwarming, seeing that the family of guardians were unwilling to be separated, even when they had no idea what was on the other side of that gate. The moment the doe passed through the portal, it shimmered again before the view to the grove disappeared. A second later, the vines retracted. Once they were gone, Elijah sighed in relief. He could feel them in his domain, which confirmed they were safe. That was definitely a load off of his shoulders. So, without further delay, he used Roots of the World Tree once again. This time, he didn¡¯t concentrate on the gate-summoning portion of the spell. Instead, he focused on teleporting himself. The two were on separate cooldowns, but when he returned to the Grove, it would be another three days until he could return to the Moon Well. Just before he completed the spell¡¯s casting, his elven audience stepped forward and began to speak. She said, ¡°You are ¨C¡± When Elijah laid his eyes on her, his breath caught in his chest. It was one thing to sense her with One with Nature. In a lot of ways, it was more intimate than using his eyes. But still, Elijah was human, and like almost every other person in the world, he¡¯d spent most of his life relying on his vision. So, it provided a very different ¨C and arguably more affecting ¨C view of the elf. She wasn¡¯t just beautiful. Her appearance was otherworldly. Alien. And no less enticing for it. Elijah only got a brief glimpse before he was whisked away and back to his grove. But that was more than enough. As his feet dug into the soil of his domain, the three days before he could return to the Moon Well seemed like an eternity. 3-49. The Miracle Seed ¡°No!¡± exclaimed Nerthus. ¡°Cease that behavior at once! That is not for eating!¡± Elijah broke out of his brief musings on elven beauty to see that in the couple of short minutes since the deer had passed through his summoned gate and into his grove, they¡¯d made themselves at home. And considering they were voracious eaters with a taste for Elijah¡¯s grove berries, the results were predictable. And in truth, so was Nerthus¡¯ obvious exasperation. The little tree spirit interposed himself between the stag and the nearest berry bush, but he was incapable of stopping the doe and the two fauns from dashing past to run unrestrained through the garden. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but chuckle a little at his friend¡¯s antics. But then Nerthus pleaded, ¡°Please stop them!¡± Elijah sighed. The deer hadn¡¯t actually done any damage to the garden ¨C yet ¨C but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before they did. So, he stepped forward and grabbed the stag¡¯s antlers. ¡°No.¡± The deer tried to pull away, but Elijah wouldn¡¯t allow it. His grip was like iron, and as he stared the guardian in the eyes, he said, ¡°If you don¡¯t control yourself, I will take you back. Your children and mate will be in danger. Do you understand?¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if the creature could comprehend the words, but the meaning behind them definitely got through. Sure, the powerful stag could pretend he was just some ordinary deer, but Elijah knew differently. He was an intelligent creature that could understand far more than he let on. Or that was what Elijah was banking on. If the deer proved uncontrollable, he would gather them up and take them across the strait. It would not be a comfortable trip, and Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how he would accomplish the feat, but he wasn¡¯t willing to let the creatures ruin all of Nerthus¡¯ hard work. He released the deer¡¯s crystalline antler, then pointed off into the nearby forest. ¡°Go,¡± he said. ¡°And take your family with you. There are no predators here. No danger. You¡¯ll be safe.¡± The stag cocked his head to the side, then, miraculously, let out what sounded like a high-pitched bark combined with the bleating of a sheep. The other three deer ¨C the fauns and the doe ¨C immediately stopped in their tracks, then jerked their heads around to the patriarch. When he had their attention, he turned and bounded off into the forest. His family followed. Elijah let out a sigh of relief as he monitored their passage through the island¡¯s forest. They were not native to the thick forest, but they made their way through the dense undergrowth remarkably well. More importantly, they didn¡¯t even look back at the grove, which told Elijah that they understood that it was off-limits. ¡°Thank you,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°I did not want to be forced to hurt such magnificent creatures.¡± ¡°You think you could?¡± Elijah asked. Until then, Nerthus had never displayed any combat capability. ¡°Of course. In this grove, I could defeat them with little difficulty,¡± he answered. ¡°I am to a normal guardian as you are to other humans.¡± ¡°Are you a guardian, too?¡± Elijah asked, realizing that he had no idea how to classify the tree spirit. ¡°I am the tree. In most ways, I am a combination of natural treasure and guardian. My species lives in harmony with an ancestral tree, which means that as it grows stronger, so do I. We are one, and in most ways that matter.¡± ¡°What species are you? What do your people call themselves?¡± Elijah asked, realizing once again that he hadn¡¯t really treated Nerthus as a friend. Rather, he¡¯d treated the tree spirit as a means to an end. Sometimes, that end was information, and at others, it was tending to Elijah¡¯s grove. And while Nerthus had certainly never complained, Elijah knew he¡¯d been a bad friend. ¡°I am a spryggent.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Spryggents are the offspring of hamadryads and dryads,¡± Nerthus responded. ¡°I remained dormant in this tree until my parents sent me here in the hopes that we could take root.¡± ¡°Do you miss them?¡± ¡°I never knew them. But I know more of them than I could ever quantify. While dormant, I was connected to them, and I saw through their eyes,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°I was only barely aware, but much of that knowledge remains with me. I was separated from them when they sent me here, but the memories remain.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. However, even though he understood Nerthus¡¯ words, he was not certain that he truly grasped the spryggent¡¯s full meaning. He simply didn¡¯t have the context for full comprehension. Still, he felt the necessity to say, ¡°Well, you¡¯re my family now.¡± And he meant it, too. Nerthus wasn¡¯t just the person who tended his grove. Nor was he simply a friend. They were connected in an inextricable way, and over the years of their companionship, they¡¯d grown into something far deeper than mere friendship. ¡°Thank you. I¡­I do not know how to respond to that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I just wanted you to know,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But this conversation does remind me of a couple of questions I had. I¡¯ve told you about the bear guardian I met, right?¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°You have,¡± Nerthus said, gesturing to Elijah¡¯s cloak. ¡°You wear its pelt.¡¯ ¡°Oh. Right. Well, I ran into another one,¡± he said. ¡°An alligator whose natural treasure had been harvested. It was protecting a family instead.¡± ¡°Interesting. Guardians are powerfully nature-attuned creatures,¡± the spryggent explained. ¡°Because of that, they are strong. I don¡¯t know how the system chooses them to come to a new world, but it¡¯s always consensual. They have to agree, and when they do, they come to a new planet with a natural treasure. The panther who came to this island was paired with this tree, for instance.¡± ¡°Where do you fit into that?¡± ¡°I am part of the tree, and it is part of me.¡± That was as good of an explanation as he was likely to get, largely because it seemed that Nerthus didn¡¯t entirely understand the distinction. To him, he and the tree were so intertwined that he likely wasn¡¯t sure where one ended and the other began. So, Elijah moved on to the topic he¡¯d most wanted to address. ¡°What about the deer I brought here?¡± Elijah asked. Then, he explained the way Roots of the World Tree worked. ¡°They can¡¯t guard their natural treasure from here, right?¡± ¡°From what I understand, your circle will provide adequate protection. The moment you finished it, the connection between guardian and treasure was severed,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°In a way. It is complex. A guardian can exist without its treasure, but it is rare. Normally, they would die to protect it. In return, it strengthens them.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What about the others?¡± ¡°Others?¡± ¡°The other animals that are as powerful as guardians, but they¡¯re not of this world,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°Ah. The estranged.¡± ¡°That sounds ominous,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It is. Sometimes, creatures from other worlds are accidentally imported into newly touched planets,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Many times, they are incompatible with the environment, and as a result, they die in agony. But other times, they flourish.¡± ¡°Why, though? Is the system prone to mistakes?¡± ¡°Not as such. When this planet was touched by the World Tree, it was forcibly expanded. That, in turn, randomized the terrain,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°But that mass came from other planets, usually ones that were doomed to be overrun by Voxx and dragged into the void. The World Tree saved them, but in doing so, it doomed some to a short life in an environment for which they were ill-suited.¡± Elijah nodded. So, basically, creatures like the hydra or the sovereign spider were rescues. Unsuited additions to the newly touched world. That explained why they felt so out of place. In many ways, it was sad. The creatures had never asked to be relocated, after all. Even if being moved to Earth had saved them, it had to be difficult for those creatures to adjust. But it also brought to mind another issue. ¡°Are any of them invasive?¡± he asked. History was full of species that had been introduced to new ecosystems only to take over. ¡°Some,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°It is yet one more danger of a newly touched world.¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. It didn¡¯t really change anything, though. He asked, ¡°So, anything happening here? How is the grove?¡± After that, he received a long and enthusiastic explanation of Nerthus¡¯ efforts and plans regarding the grove. Elijah nodded along, and though he enjoyed horticulture as much as the next guy, he didn¡¯t think anyone liked it as much as Nerthus. Still, he owed it to the spryggent to at least listen. So, that was how Elijah spent the next twenty minutes until he remembered another topic. ¡°Oh,¡± he said, rummaging in his pack. ¡°I got something else that might interest you. Hold on a sec while I find it. Ah, here it is.¡± Then, he retrieved the Miracle Seed he¡¯d gotten for closing the most recent minor dimensional rift. ¡°That is a Miracle Seed!¡± ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said, tossing the walnut-sized seed up and down in his palm. Nerthus¡¯ eyes never left it. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°It will become whatever you want it to be,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Within reason.¡± ¡°There it is,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You have a better explanation?¡± Nerthus did, and he was more than happy to talk about it. As it turned out, the Miracle Seed was capable of becoming any sort of plant native to the world where it had originated. That didn¡¯t sound particularly exciting, but Nerthus pointed out two things that changed that. First, many plants on Earth had been transformed by the injection of ethera that came with the touch of the World Tree. As a result, they had developed a host of interesting characteristics, from new defense mechanisms to actual mobility. That was interesting enough, but the second part was what really excited Elijah. The plant that grew from the miracle seed was absolutely natural, meaning that reproduction was not only possible, but almost inevitable. So, one plant could become many, many more ¨C especially with Elijah¡¯s influence. The possibilities were endless. Yet, there was one thing he wanted more than anything else. ¡°You think it could be a coffee plant?¡± ¡°It can be anything.¡± Elijah squatted. There were probably better uses of the Miracle Seed. He¡¯d considered trying to grow a briar wall for Ironshore. There were plenty of vegetables that would probably be useful as well. However, the fact was that Ironshore wasn¡¯t really his responsibility. Sure, he¡¯d planted the ancestral tree seed there, but that was more symbolic of their alliance than anything else. Ironshore needed to care for itself because, if they continued to lean on him, then they¡¯d never grow into their own strength. As for vegetables ¨C while that would be helpful, he was honest enough with himself to recognize that he¡¯d never get as much use out of a vegetable garden as he did out of some coffee. On top of that ¨C and almost as if he was trying to justify what he¡¯d already decided to do ¨C Elijah considered the fact that there were a host of medicinal uses for teas. Surely coffee would be the same way, especially with the benefit of being cultivated within his grove. ¡°I think we need about a twenty-by-twenty-foot space,¡± Elijah said. Upon hearing what Elijah had planned, Nerthus grew even more excited. He claimed to have the perfect location, as well, and he quickly led Elijah to the other side of the grove where there was about fifty square feet of open land. Nerthus said that he¡¯d had another project in mind for that area, but the cultivation of a Miracle Seed was far more exciting. So, they spent the rest of the afternoon marking out the planting grid before Elijah dug a hole and planted the seed. That gave him a prompt:
You have planted a Miracle Seed. Please choose which plant you would like to grow.
After that, Elijah saw an overwhelming deluge of choices. Some of them, like an apple tree, were sorely tempting, but he had his plan. So, he arduously searched through the list until he found the one he wanted:
You have chosen coffea arabica.
After that, Elijah felt ¨C through One with Nature ¨C the seed transform and begin to sprout. Fortunately, the Miracle Seed was as good as its name suggested, and in seconds, the stalk broke through the surface of the rich soil, and the root system began to develop. By the time it stopped, the plant was around six inches tall. ¡°Nice,¡± Elijah said, summoning Healing Rain and flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty. ¡°I know what I¡¯m doing until my cooldown resets.¡± 3-50. Catching Up Healing Rain mixed with normal precipitation as a storm gripped the island, bathing Elijah and his coffee tree in ethera as well as life-giving water. There was a time when he might not have remained outdoors in such a storm, yet he found it comforting and rejuvenating in a way that had nothing to do with the effects of his spell. It helped that the seasons had once again turned, with spring giving way to summer. With that, the temperatures had risen, giving the rain a soothing cast that paired well with Elijah¡¯s memories. But he knew it couldn¡¯t last. Nor did he want it to. Because soon, his cooldown would be up, and he would be able to return to the Moon Glade and resume his search for his sister. Four years ¨C give or take ¨C had passed since he¡¯d last spoken to her, and though he clung to the idea that she and her family had survived, he knew that the odds were not in their favor. And even if they were still alive ¨C as he fervently hoped ¨C his reunion with them was not urgent. If they¡¯d made it this long, then they would persevere for weeks ¨C or even months ¨C longer, and without his input. He knew that. Yet, that knowledge was not the comfort it should have been. Anxiety gripped his mind, telling him that he needed to find them as quickly as possible. He had no idea where that feeling came from, but from a psychological perspective, it was understandable. Until recently, he¡¯d had other things on his mind. But now, finding Alyssa, Carmen, and Miguel was the most important task on his list. As such, for the past months, it had drawn the vast majority of his attention. And he was impatient to complete the search. The first step was to finally reach Seattle. From there, he hoped he could find something that would point him in the right direction. Perhaps he could even find them, safe and sound, living in the city. Given where they lived, it wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility. It was unlikely, though. For all he knew, Easton had ended up on the other side of the world. If that was the case, Elijah had no idea how he was going to find the town Alyssa called home. He sighed, cutting that line of thought off before it could gain any momentum. He knew the odds. He¡¯d examined all the terrible possibilities that threatened to stymie his reunion with his family. Yet, dwelling on those would do no good for anyone. Indeed, it would send him spiraling into a combination of panic, anxiety, and melancholy. Elijah refused to let that take hold of his mind. Instead, he focused on the product of the Miracle Seed. The coffee tree he¡¯d grown had sprouted in record time. Even when Nature¡¯s Bounty was taken into account, it had reached maturity far more quickly than he ever could have expected. Already, the tree had bloomed into white flowers. From there, the petals had fallen free, leaving nubs called carpels behind. Those, in turn, would become the coffee cherries. Normally, those flowers wouldn¡¯t have appeared for years, but clearly, the tree that had come from the Miracle Seed was special. And that trait was only enhanced by Elijah¡¯s copious use of Nature¡¯s Bounty. He opened his eyes to see Nerthus standing next to the six-foot-tall tree, his hand on the trunk. Elijah asked, ¡°How is it?¡± Apparently, Nerthus had an ability similar to Nature¡¯s Bounty. It was only usable within the general vicinity of his ancestral tree ¨C or of what he referred to as the daughter tree in Ironshore ¨C but it was almost as powerful as Elijah¡¯s own ability. That was a good thing, considering that without it, the subsequent trees they¡¯d planted from cuttings that originated with the eldest coffee tree, it would be quite some time before there were any viable coffee cherries. Even with Nerthus¡¯ help, it would be a month or two before there was anything worthwhile. But that was fine. If nothing else, the world¡¯s transformation had taught Elijah patience. Things tended to happen when they were ready to happen, and not a moment before that. Of course, the addition of human interaction definitely threatened to shatter that laissez-faire attitude toward time. But Elijah wasn¡¯t ready to think about that. Instead, he pushed himself to his feet, then stretched his stiff muscles. As he did, Nerthus answered, ¡°The tree is healthy.¡± ¡°Anything else?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°What else is there?¡± ¡°That¡­is a good point,¡± was Elijah¡¯s response. Indeed, for a tree, the only thing that really mattered was if it was healthy or not. Everything else would be weathered in due time. ¡°I think I need to run over to Ironshore before I head back out. Do you need anything?¡± ¡°Seeds.¡± ¡°What kind?¡± ¡°All kinds.¡± ¡°Oh. Alright. I¡¯ll see what¡¯s available,¡± Elijah promised. He wasn¡¯t very optimistic about it, though. Last time he¡¯d asked around about seeds, he¡¯d been told that there were none available. Maybe Biggle had some. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. After that, Elijah ran his hand through his rain-slicked hair, then returned to the treehouse where he took a quick shower, dressed, then gathered his things. Once he¡¯d thrown his cloak over his shoulders, he left the grove behind. As he crossed the island, he swung by a small meadow where the deer had taken up residence. He¡¯d been keeping track of their adjustment via his locus, but it was nice to lay eyes on them. They greeted him warmly ¨C probably because he¡¯d approached carrying a few grove berries, but Elijah told himself it was because they were truly happy to see him. He didn¡¯t really believe it for a second, though. He spent the next half hour playing with the fauns before leaving them behind and finding his way to his collection of rowboats. There were only three left, which meant that he¡¯d soon need to spend some time retrieving the couple he¡¯d left on the other shore and bringing them back to the island. He desperately wanted to avoid that, but it seemed inevitable. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to engage in that particular labor until absolutely necessary. So, he pushed it out of mind for the time being. With that, it wasn¡¯t long before he pushed one of his last three boats into the surf, hopped in, and started rowing across. The trip was easier than ever, partially due to his increasingly powerful body, but also because, in the wake of the storm, the strait was like glass. So, the boat easily glided across the placid surface of the water. As he went, he was, as always, aware of the creatures beneath the surface. However, unlike previous trips, he took the time to identify the estranged that should have been obvious. There were only a few ¨C like a giant turtle with tentacles growing out of its shell ¨C but they were there, all the same. Yet, as obviously out-of-place as they were, they felt more at home than the hydra had. Perhaps they would eventually acclimate and be accepted into the environment. Or maybe that was his preference for optimism at work. In any case, it didn¡¯t take Elijah long to reach the docks of Ironshore, and when he did, he was greeted by the customary glances of distrust. They didn¡¯t veer into hatred as they once might have, but acceptance still seemed a little ways off. Perhaps it would never arrive. Putting that out of mind, Elijah tied the boat off, then commenced with his errands. Not only did he buy supplies to replace those he¡¯d already used, but he also swung by Biggle¡¯s shop to find some seeds. The Alchemist didn¡¯t have any, but he did direct Elijah to a worn-looking elf who lived on the other side of town. That elf ¨C named Rega ¨C was in charge of Ironshore¡¯s farming efforts, and they parted with a variety of seeds that ended up costing Elijah a small fortune. He paid it willingly, though, knowing that Nerthus would use them well. Besides, the spryggent had never really asked for anything else, so buying a few seeds was the least Elijah could do for his friend. Next, Elijah took the time to visit Ramik in his office, where he was informed that the city had progressed considerably. Not only had work on the wall reached the halfway point, but the weekly runs through the tower had gone incredibly well. Their people were leveling steadily, with Kurik maintaining his lead as the strongest person in town. ¡°I even conquered it once myself,¡± Ramik said proudly. ¡°You? I didn¡¯t think you were a combatant,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I¡¯m a Sorcerer by archetype,¡± he stated. ¡°A Sage by class. No real attack options, I¡¯m afraid. More of an enhancement specialist.¡± ¡°That sounds useful,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How come you never enhanced me?¡± ¡°Ah. I tried,¡± Ramik said. ¡°But the spells were ineffective, I believe because you were already under the effect of a more powerful version of my spells.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not a Sage.¡± ¡°Yes. But take my spell, Sage¡¯s Fortitude. It increases the recipient¡¯s Constitution by eight points,¡± the dapper goblin explained. ¡°If you have a Constitution enhancement that is stronger than that, mine will not take effect. One can only have a single enhancement that affects any given attribute. With some exceptions, of course. With the system, there are always those to worry about.¡± Elijah nodded. That made sense, though it did highlight the need to coordinate with any allies in the future. ¡°So, everything¡¯s going well?¡± ¡°Exceedingly so. Biggle is on the verge of finishing some body cultivation potions, and with the increased ethera density, we can likely utilize them to a high degree of efficiency,¡± he said excitedly. ¡°If we had more fighters, we could become a true power on this planet.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah said, of two minds about that. He wanted Ironshore to be secure. After all, he had friends in the city. Ramik was among them. Yet, he couldn¡¯t quite forget the enmity with which some of the citizens held him. On top of that, it really hadn¡¯t been that long ago that Ssethik had tried to kill him. And before that, fifty mercenaries had invaded his island. That led Elijah to wonder if the collection of gnomes, goblins, and dwarves were truly his allies, or if they were simply too afraid of the consequences of being his enemy. Would they remain his friends if they had enough people to defend themselves? Or if they had the power to defeat him? Those were good questions. But for the time being, he chose to trust Ramik because the goblin mayor had yet to give him reason not to. So far, all of Elijah¡¯s dealings with him had been above board. With that in mind, the meeting with Ramik went on with only a small degree of tension between them. Finally, Elijah excused himself and visited Druid¡¯s Park. As was the case every other time he¡¯d visited, he saw children playing in the area. That gave him some hope, at least. After he¡¯d ensured that the tree was healthy, Elijah returned to his island. Once there, he gave the seeds over to Nerthus ¨C who became visibly excited by the gift ¨C then retreated to the treehouse where he decided to call it a night. After all, he intended to return to the wilderness in the morning when his cooldown was up. So, he wanted to spend one last night in his own bed. However, as he lay abed, sleep was not forthcoming. After lying there for a couple of hours, Elijah pushed upright and climbed out of his comfortable bed. A few moments later, he was sitting on his balcony, which gave him a great view of the ancestral tree and the open sky above it. Stars twinkled down on him, and not for the first time, he found himself wondering if his sister was looking at that same sky. If so, what was she thinking? Did she know he was alive? Was she searching for him, too? Questions like that assailed his mind until, wrapped in his Cloak of the Iron Bear, Elijah nodded off, only to awaken at sunrise. After taking a few minutes to stretch ¨C sleeping in that awkward position still resulted in more than a few aches and pains ¨C Elijah took a shower, gathered everything he needed, then let Nerthus know he was departing. Then, at last, Elijah cast Roots of the World Tree, focusing on the personal teleportation function. A second later, his feet settled into the soft earth surrounding the pond. But he wasn¡¯t alone. Indeed, he was surrounded. 3-51. The Breaking Point Sparks flew as Carmen hammered the red-hot billet of steel, and as she worked, she left her worries behind. Yet, even as the metal began to take shape, she couldn¡¯t escape the reality of her failures. Over the past week, two more people had deserted in the dead of night without even bothering to say goodbye. If ever there was a judgement on her leadership, it was that the people who¡¯d followed her out of Easton refused to even remain in the same town she occupied. Her hammer fell, filling the forge with the sound of metal against metal. Frustration mounted as she dwelled on her shortcomings until each hammerfall began to descend with ever increasing force. One after another, she slammed the summoned hammer against the metal, flattening it until it was paper thin. And then, she shattered it. With a growl, she kicked the pieces away, then hurled the hammer at the wall. It never reached its destination, dissipating into motes of ethera the moment it left her hand. Still, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from smashing her fist into the anvil. She didn¡¯t use all of her vaunted Strength, but it was enough to send a stab of pain up her forearm. Which only added to her irritation. She sank to her knees and hung her head. Eber was supposed to have been the answer. A safe space where they could recover. A town they could hopefully call home. And yet, as perfect as it was, her people had slowly chosen to abandon its friendly confines in favor of the devastatingly dangerous wilderness. It was madness, and the only viable explanation was that they simply couldn¡¯t stomach sharing a town with the person who¡¯d ruined their lives. Carmen thought she¡¯d accepted her faults and failures. Clearly, she was mistaken. Sometime later, Willa found her on her knees, with tears tracing tracks through the soot on her cheeks. Carmen looked up and said, ¡°What? I¡¯m almost done with the ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. I need you to come with me. Now. We don¡¯t have much time, and I need to show you something,¡± Willa said. ¡°Huh?¡± The other woman snapped her fingers in front of Carmen¡¯s face. ¡°Wake up! I know it¡¯s difficult, and I don¡¯t want to be insensitive here, but I need you to¡­you¡¯re not even listening,¡± Willa said with a sigh. Then, she stepped forward, cocked her arm back, and slapped Carmen across the face. ¡°What the hell was that for?!¡± Carmen demanded, her melancholy briefly forgotten as she threw herself to her feet and summoned another hammer. It erupted into fire as she used Augment Weapons. She had no idea why the other woman had attacked her, and her mind swam in a sea of confusion, but she knew precisely how to react to threats. Or at least her body did. Willa raised her hands, saying, ¡°I¡¯m not your enemy. Or I don¡¯t want to be.¡± ¡°Why did you slap me?¡± Carmen asked, trying her best to keep her voice even. But anger roiled in the back of her mind, mingling with the frustration of only moments before to create a volatile and violent brew that could erupt at any moment. ¡°Talk quick, because I¡¯m on the verge here.¡± ¡°You have been manipulated,¡± Willa said, taking a step backward. She glanced at the door. ¡°The others are distracted right now. I need you to come with me so I can show you what¡¯s really going on here.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t do any good. You have to see it.¡± Carmen cocked her head to the side. ¡°That sounds a lot like you¡¯re trying to lead me into a trap or something,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not. I tried to warn you before. Don¡¯t you remember?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­¡± A piercing pain jabbed its way through Carmen¡¯s brain, and for a moment, her vision went white. It only lasted for an instant, but when it faded, she remembered when Willa had confronted her in the longhouse. ¡°What did you do to me?¡± she rasped. ¡°Nothing. I haven¡¯t¡­but¡­it¡¯s difficult to explain,¡± Willa said. ¡°Please. I need to show you. Put this on.¡± She shoved a large cloth into Carmen¡¯s hands. When she looked down, she saw that it shimmered like silver, but it felt like a thick, wet blanket. At Willa¡¯s insistence, Carmen slipped it over her head. Surprisingly, even when she was completely covered, it didn¡¯t impede her vision except to cast everything in a slight fog. Willa said, ¡°Follow me. Do not make any undue noise.¡± Carmen did as she was told, letting the other woman lead her out of the smithy and into the waning sunlight. She hadn¡¯t realized that she¡¯d been inside the building all day; she hadn¡¯t even stopped for lunch. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled. Will whipped around, hissing, ¡°Marshal your hunger! Do not give in!¡± ¡°But I¡¯m so¡­hungry¡­¡± And she was. Ravenous, in fact. It was as if she hadn¡¯t eaten for weeks. Yet, she could distinctly remember feasting only that morning. But the memory was blurry. Ill-defined. Carmen couldn¡¯t make sense of it. Fortunately, the hunger faded a moment later, replaced by thick nausea. She pushed that aside as well, and a few seconds later, she was once again following Willa through town. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Oddly enough, as she walked through the town, it was like no one could see her. The townspeople who would usually glare at her with blank expressions simply stared through her as if she wasn¡¯t even there. It wasn¡¯t just unnerving. It was alarming in a way Carmen couldn¡¯t adequately explain. Slowly, they made their way through the town, turning away from the main street on their way to the town¡¯s small cemetery. Carmen had never visited it, but she¡¯d seen the collection of tombstones from afar. However, what she now saw was very different from what she¡¯d observed in the past. The tombstones were the same, but in the center of the small, fenced graveyard was a mausoleum fit for a king. ¡°What¡­what is that?¡± ¡°Our temple.¡± ¡°Temple?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± After that, Willa led her forward. With every step, Carmen¡¯s dread grew more poignant until she could scarcely put one foot in front of the other. Without Willa dragging her forward, she never would have made it to the cemetery¡¯s gate. As it was, her stomach tightened with fierce anxiety that she couldn¡¯t quite understand. Before they reached the door to the mausoleum, Willa whispered, ¡°When we get to the bottom, do not react. Do not speak. Simply watch. When I leave, follow. Do you understand?¡± Carmen said that she did, albeit in a barely audible voice. It was all she could muster with the way her insides had been twisted with formless fear. Slowly, she followed Willa through the open door, then down a set of stone steps. Each footfall came with an increasingly foul smell. It wasn¡¯t quite decay, but that was the largest part of it. Lacing it was something else Carmen couldn¡¯t quite identify. It was sickly sweet, reminding her of rotten fruit mixed with sulfur. The odor was nearly enough to push her stomach into full rebellion. But she shoved that down, swallowing hard as she followed Willa down the stairs and to a long hall lined with flickering torches. It seemed far too large for the village¡¯s needs, and after the first ten feet, they passed a set of doors on either side. Constructed of steel, they were closed, but Carmen was tempted to investigate them further. Remembering Willa¡¯s warning, she chose not to. Slowly, they kept going until they passed another set. Then another after that. Ten more sets came and went until a realization dawned on Carmen. It was not a mausoleum. It was a dungeon. Carmen¡¯s muscles tightened in anticipation. Willa continued on, though, so she didn¡¯t have any time to investigate things before, at last, they reached the end of the hall. A quick glance backward told her they¡¯d come nearly five hundred feet. But she was far more interested in what was ahead. A door loomed before her, larger and more elaborate than any she¡¯d passed in the hall. Willa pushed it open, then stepped inside. Carmen followed, and she had to force herself not to gasp at what she saw on the other side. Remembering Willa¡¯s warning, Carmen ground her teeth together and dug her fingernails into the palms of her hands. She didn¡¯t feel the pain, though. Instead, the whole of her attention was on the scene before her. Three people ¨C all of which she¡¯d thought were deserters who¡¯d fled into the wildernesss ¨C knelt in the center of the room, though Carmen could scarcely see them. Not with five villagers surrounding each one. None of them moved. The deserters all just stared ahead, expressions of full contentment playing across their faces. It wasn¡¯t until Carmen glanced at the far wall that she realized what was happening. Still, she wished she hadn¡¯t. The walls were lined with mirrors, and the scenes reflected in those silvery surfaces were not the same as what Carmen saw in the center of the room. Because the villagers were not people at all. Not as reflected in those mirrors, at least. Instead, the reflected figures were exceedingly tall, skeletally thin, and wrinkly creatures with grey skin and tiny heads. Upon those heads were huge, pointed ears and faces that looked like they belonged to humanoid bats. Yet, even more disturbing were the proboscises extending from within their open mouths and connecting to the members of Carmen¡¯s party. At a rhythmic pace, glowing bulges would travel from the far end of each proboscis and into a creature¡¯s mouth. Finally, Carmen noticed the crates piled against the wall nearest the door. Willa didn¡¯t hesitate to reach down and grab a crate before leaving the room. Carmen almost forgot to follow her but remembered at the last second. So she hurried to catch up, desperate to find out what, precisely was going on. However, there was one obstacle in their way. ¡°Willa,¡± said Wendy. ¡°Have you settled your misgivings?¡± ¡°Yes, mother,¡± Willa said with a dip of her head. ¡°I am still growing accustomed to our new place in this world.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± said Wendy, reaching out to run her fingers along the other woman¡¯s cheek. ¡°It does take some adjustment. It is for the best, though. Soon, we will have the equipment we need to venture out into the wilderness and spread our influence. The world will be ours. You will see.¡± ¡°Yes, mother,¡± Willa said. ¡°I look forward to when we no longer have to hide.¡± ¡°Of course. You are ill-used to such necessity. You did not live in the old world, before it was taken over,¡± Wendy stated. Then, she looked down at the crate in Willa¡¯s hands. ¡°Ah ¨C I am keeping you from your task. Go. Feed our guests.¡± ¡°As you say, mother.¡± With that, Willa hurried past the other woman. Carmen followed, narrowly avoiding Wendy in the tight tunnel. Her heart beat out of her chest as she followed Willa through the tunnel and up the stairs. She barely even breathed until they returned to her smithy. The moment the door shut, she ripped the concealing cloth away and demanded, ¡°What the ever-loving fuck was that?!¡± ¡°Please be calm.¡± ¡°Calm? You want me to be calm? Those monsters ¨C¡± ¡°I am not a monster.¡± ¡°Y-you¡¯re one of them?¡± Carmen asked, suddenly putting two and two together. She backed away, summoning a hammer. It burst into flames a second later. ¡°You needn¡¯t fear me,¡± Willa said, holding up her hands. She certainly looked just as human as ever, yet Carmen could now sense that something was wrong. ¡°We didn¡¯t ask to come here to this world. We were snatched away from our homes along with this entire region.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Then, Willa explained that her people were known as sidhe, and they were not native to Earth. Somehow, when the World Tree had touched the planet, it had transferred Willa and her people to Earth. Since then, they¡¯d been struggling to survive. ¡°What do you mean? You have food. Safety. You have ¨C¡± ¡°We do not eat as you know it,¡± Willa said. ¡°We feed off of others¡¯ memories, carried to us via a natural ability through a transfer of ethera. It is not immediately fatal, but after a few feedings¡­our¡­prey will never recover.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re saying¡­¡± ¡°That you must escape if you wish to survive,¡± Willa stated. ¡°My people will try to stop you. We are stronger and faster than anyone in your party, save for you or the swordsman. If you wish to live, you must create weapons specifically to combat my people.¡± Willa handed Carmen a piece of paper. ¡°That is an enchantment. It makes any weapons brittle, but it is also deadly to the sidhe.¡± ¡°What? Why are you doing this?¡± ¡°Because I would rather die than kill innocent people. On our world, our prey were deadly creatures called orcs,¡± she said. ¡°They were only sapient by the most basic of measures. They were also warlike monsters who only thought of conquest. Killing them was no great tragedy. But this? I cannot support it. I would rather perish.¡± Carmen wanted to ask more questions, but she never got the chance. Willa¡¯s head whipped toward the door, and she said, ¡°I must go. Your people must be fed. Do not eat the food. It is conjured via a skill, and it muddles the mind.¡± And then, she disappeared through the door, leaving Carmen confused, furious, and terrified, all in equal measure. 3-52. A Soft Heart A dozen elves, each no more than five feet tall, surrounded Elijah. None looked particularly aggressive, but they were all armed with bows, spears, or wide-bladed scimitars with curved hilts. Though, as peaceful as they seemed at first glance, Elijah was very aware that they were clearly waiting for him. And given that they¡¯d surrounded him, he didn¡¯t think they were there on a social call. ¡°Whoa, guys,¡± he said, raising one hand toward the beautiful elf who¡¯d tried to speak to him before he¡¯d teleported back to his grove. She was just as striking as ever, with wide eyes, a perky nose, and full lips. Framing her face was a curtain of glossy, white hair that fell to her shoulders. She wore an earth-toned tunic fastened at the waist with a wide, leather belt and a pair of voluminous pants that were tucked into her knee-high boots. A matching scarf encircled her neck, and she had some sort of symbol Elijah didn¡¯t recognize tattooed between her eyes. ¡°You don¡¯t want to mess with me. I¡¯m very dangerous.¡± She cocked her head to the side. ¡°You are a Healer, yes?¡± ¡°Uh¡­sure. But a dangerous Healer,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Wait. That didn¡¯t come out right. Makes me seem like I¡¯m kind of bad at my job. I¡¯m not. But I am dangerous. My point is that you should definitely not attack me. For your own good.¡± ¡°We have no intention of attacking you, Healer.¡± Not for the first time, Elijah wished he had never acquired his Ring of Anonymity. It had caused nothing but trouble so far, and right then and there, he decided to do something about that the moment he figured out what the elves wanted. ¡°Then what do you want? You tried to kill the deer, right? Who¡¯s to say you won¡¯t try to do the same to me?¡± ¡°The perpetrators of that heinous act were desperate youths who made a terrible choice,¡± the elven woman said. Belatedly, Elijah noticed that she, too, carried a staff. However, hers looked like it was made of frosted glass, reminding him of the ogre staff he¡¯d looted in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel. The one she carried was engraved with myriad symbols, though. ¡°What followed was a tragedy, and on both sides. However, it does not represent our values. We revere guardians.¡± ¡°And yet your people tried to kill them.¡± ¡°As I said, a mistake born of desperation.¡± ¡°Why were they desperate?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°And can you guys not surround me like this? I really don¡¯t like people being behind me like that.¡± ¡°Do you pledge not to flee?¡± ¡°Definitely not. I¡¯ll run if I think it¡¯s necessary.¡± She sighed. ¡°Very well.¡± Then, she gestured, and the elves backed away before circling around to join the elven woman. Like that, they looked even more intimidating, but at least they were all in his line of sight. More importantly, without a gaggle of elves behind him, Elijah felt certain that he could escape at a moment¡¯s notice. He was experienced enough with moving through the forest that he felt confident that if it came to that, they would never catch him. Moreover, he saw that each of the elves was dressed almost identically to the woman. However, none of the others had a tattoo in the center of their foreheads. ¡°Are you pleased?¡± came the elven woman¡¯s voice. It was high-pitched, but slightly raspy, and with an accent that Elijah couldn¡¯t quite place. ¡°What do you want from me?¡± he asked. ¡°And what¡¯s your name? I¡¯m Elijah, by the way.¡± ¡°K¡¯hana Tamira.¡± ¡°Kala?¡± ¡°K¡¯hana.¡± ¡°That¡¯s literally what I just said.¡± For the first time, there was a crack in her placid expression. It only lasted a moment, but Elijah was glad to see that she wasn¡¯t as robotic as she seemed. Still, he wasn¡¯t precisely happy with drawing her annoyance, so before she could say anything else, he asked, ¡°You waited here for three days, right? You didn¡¯t do that unless there¡¯s something you want from me.¡± ¡°On behalf of the elves of Arvandor, I wish to offer you a bargain.¡± ¡°Arvandor? Is that your home world? Or is that a town?¡± ¡°It is our city,¡± she stated. ¡°Do you wish to hear the terms of our bargain?¡± ¡°Sure. Shoot.¡± ¡°Shoot you?¡± ¡°What? No. It¡¯s an expression,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°Damn my overreliance on idioms,¡± he said, dramatically shaking his fist toward the sky. The elves didn¡¯t like that, and they looked like they were on the verge of responding with all the sharp things in their possession. Elijah sighed. ¡°Just tell me the terms.¡± ¡°Curious,¡± K¡¯hana responded. ¡°Your ways are strange. You mean to travel north and east, do you not?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°Have you scouted the route?¡± ¡°Nope. I usually just wing it,¡± Elijah admitted. After all, it couldn¡¯t be that difficult if other people had managed it. And he knew they had. Ray had said that Valosta had played host to many traders over the years. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Without our help, you will perish in the Twilight Clefts.¡± ¡°That sounds ominous. What are the Twilight Clefts?¡± K¡¯hana then proceeded to explain that the region directly to the north was a maze of canyons and ravines populated by a host of deadly predators. More importantly, it was nearly impossible to find a route through without the elves as guides. She claimed that anyone who refused their help ¨C which they normally offered for a price ¨C died in the canyons. ¡°We wish to guide you through.¡± ¡°Okay? How much?¡± ¡°We do not want your ethereum,¡± K¡¯hana said. ¡°Instead, we wish your services as a Healer.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have any of your own?¡± ¡°We¡­recently went to war with a tribe of rock gnolls. Though we were victorious, the war was not without cost. Treacherous creatures. They knew to target our Healers, first. Many perished,¡± she explained. ¡°We work to replenish our numbers, but for now, we are vulnerable.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t mind healing a little.¡± Indeed, he quite enjoyed it. Curiously, he found quite a lot of joy in using every facet of his power set. He loved the freedom and power inherent in his draconic bestial forms, the utility of his spells, and the sheer satisfaction of healing people. So, he had no trouble committing to the latter, especially if it got him to Seattle a little more quickly. Because he was certain that he could traverse the Twilight Clefts without the elves¡¯ help. If he could get through the Primordial Maze, a few canyons and ravines didn¡¯t scare him. Yet, from the way K¡¯hana spoke, doing so would be quite difficult. More, it would almost assuredly be time-consuming. So, healing a few elves was a nice exchange if it saved him a little time. Besides, he¡¯d be kicking himself for weeks if he refused to heal people who needed it. ¡°I believe you misunderstand. While we will accept any healing you wish to give, the bargain is contingent on you accompanying us in our efforts to conquer a tower,¡± she stated. ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. He had no intention of heading into another tower. Doing so would be another delay he had no interest in enduring. ¡°I mean, that¡¯s¡­uh¡­I¡¯m not really doing towers. Thanks for the offer, though? I¡¯ll just make my own way.¡± ¡°Please,¡± she said, bowing her head. ¡°If we cannot do this, we will be forced to flee. There is nowhere else for us to go. The tower already overflows and ¨C¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Do you know anything about this tower?¡± he asked. ¡°How long does it take to conquer? Have you run it before?¡± ¡°We have not,¡± she admitted. Then she explained that, until recently, there was a human settlement that had taken responsibility for the tower. However, the gnolls had grown bold enough to attack the town, killing most of the residents. The ones that had survived chose to retreat to Seattle. Since then, the tower had been building ethera until, at last, it had burst, surging with Voxx. ¡°We hold our own against the Voxxian monsters. Yet, we do not have the Healers to attempt to conquer the tower. If we go in there as we are, we will all perish.¡± Elijah ran his fingers through his hair. ¡°Jesus. No pressure, right?¡± he muttered. He truly did not want to get involved in another tower. Yet, could he really live with himself if he chose not to help them, then came back at some later date to find that their town had been overrun by Voxx? No. That was the answer he didn¡¯t want to admit to himself. Elijah was a lot of things ¨C a murderer, among others ¨C but he couldn¡¯t rightly stand to the side while innocent people suffered. Did that make him a na?ve white knight? Maybe. Probably. But he didn¡¯t want to know the sort of person who could see other people in trouble and turn his back. And certainly, he couldn¡¯t stomach the idea of becoming that person. The very notion was revolting. So, he said, ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll help.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± K¡¯hana said, bowing at the waist. ¡°But I need more than just a guide through the Twilight Clefts,¡± he said. ¡°I want one extra reward. I get to pick, too.¡± ¡°Any but the last,¡± K¡¯hana said without hesitation. Clearly, she¡¯d expected such a caveat. ¡°Fine,¡± Elijah said, slapping his hands together. ¡°So ¨C where is this tower, anyway? Let¡¯s get this thing done.¡± As it turned out, the tower was on the other side of the Twilight Clefts. However, K¡¯hana had no issues with setting out right then. Soon enough, they were trekking across the wilderness, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, it only took half a day for the terrain to change. The first thing he noticed was the dropping humidity, but it wasn¡¯t long before the forest gave way to scrubby bushes and otherwise barren and rocky soil. It reminded Elijah quite a bit of the American southwest, with mesas, buttes, and twisted, scraggly trees. As they went on, traveling through the night, the terrain grew rockier until, by morning, Elijah found himself overlooking a series of canyons that stretched on for miles in every direction. At first, he thought he could simply leap across them, remaining on top, but K¡¯hana quickly disabused him of that notion by revealing that, in a lot of places, the canyons were nearly a quarter of a mile wide and twice as deep. From a geological perspective, none of it made sense. There was nothing to have carved such a wide variety of ravines. But there they were, all the same, reminding Elijah that the transformed Earth did not follow the same rules it once had. The elves led him forward, sure of their route as they took one turn or the next, and gradually, they made their way through the canyons. As they did, Elijah discovered that the elves who¡¯d attempted to kill the deer were youths who¡¯d been led astray by a human traveler¡¯s stories of powerful beasts and natural treasures. By the time K¡¯hana and the others had discovered they were gone, it was too late to save them. It was a difficult story to hear, and one that visibly saddened K¡¯hana. Yet, Elijah had difficulty sympathizing with the dead elves. After all, they¡¯d set out to kill the deer. He¡¯d vowed not to punish people for hunting powerful guardians and looting natural treasures, but that did nothing for the way he felt about those who would choose that route. Eventually, they turned a corner, and Arvandor was laid bare before him. The elvish city was unlike any Elijah had ever seen. From the canyon floor, all that was visible were a series of rope bridges stretching from one side of the ravine to the other. However, further inspection revealed more than a hundred caves on either side. Elijah followed K¡¯hana and the other elves to a nearby earthen ramp that led to one such cave, and once he was inside, Elijah was shocked to find that all the caves were connected. More, there were hundreds of chambers inside, each with walls carved with some script Elijah couldn¡¯t read. Some of the chambers were large and served as communal spaces where elves congregated for mercantile or social reasons, while others were small and were clearly intended as sleeping quarters. He was not afforded the opportunity to explore, because K¡¯hana led him to one of the sleeping chambers, where she insisted that he get some rest. After all, they were going to attempt to conquer a tower in the morning, and they all needed to be as fresh as possible. Elijah wholeheartedly agreed, and he was happy to find that the chamber, while small, seemed to be equipped with all the necessary amenities. It even had a small bathroom, though there was no shower. Not surprising, given the scarcity of water in the surrounding desert. Still, Elijah stripped down in the bathroom and summoned Healing Rain, which served the same purpose as any shower. Once that was done, he finally lay down in the room¡¯s hammock, where he quickly fell asleep. 3-53. An Oddity Sitting cross-legged in the center of the ritual circle, K¡¯hana Tamira stared into the flickering candle flame. But no matter how hard she tried, she could not concentrate on her meditation. So, with an exasperated sigh, she let her shoulders slump in frustration and exhaustion. ¡°You fail because you lack focus,¡± said elder Hama. K¡¯hana glanced at the older elf, but bit back the scathing retort she so wished she could level at her unforgiving master. Like most elves lucky enough to reach any significant years, Hama showed only a few signs of her advanced age. Her face was largely unlined ¨C save for a few crow¡¯s feet at the corners of her eyes and a slightly more acerbic visage ¨C but her hair was slate gray. As was the case with every other elf in Arvandor ¨C and on the homeworld they¡¯d been forced to leave behind ¨C Hama wore the kushti. It was as much a ceremonial outfit as it was practical, created to help the sand elves of Erag weather the intense heat of their natural environment. It was composed of a tight-fitting top with loose, billowing pants that had been tucked into soft, leather boots created from the hide of a bilo lizard. Completing the outfit was the akah, a long, flowing scarf meant to be wrapped around an elf¡¯s head, protecting her from the harsh sun. ¡°I lack focus because I am anxious for what it is to come,¡± she stated. ¡°If we are unsuccessful¡­¡± ¡°Life will continue. We will find another solution. You are a Water Witch. Learn to swim with the current, or you will be washed away.¡± K¡¯hana dug her fingernails into her palms. She¡¯d heard much the same from Hama, and on so many occasions that she could recite her master¡¯s lessons verbatim. Yet, knowing them was not enough. She needed to internalize them. To live them. To be like water. She suddenly pushed herself to her feet, then said, ¡°I am done meditating. I must ensure our guest has what he requires for the coming trials.¡± Without waiting for a response, she left the ritual circle behind. As she traversed Arvandor, she marveled at the moisture in the air. Even in what the natives considered a desert, there was far more water available than nearly anywhere on Erag. Though it was often disconcerting, that trait was one of the few differences she appreciated. However, there were a considerable number of other changes to which she had struggled to acclimate. Adapting to the presence of only one sun, instead of the three that populated the skies of Erag, the local population with their odd customs, and the threat of Voxx were among the most difficult adjustments. On Erag, they never had to worry about monsters of any sort, which was, in a way, the reason so many had chosen to relocate to Earth. They never could have anticipated how difficult it was, constantly struggling for survival, fighting monsters, and with the threat of a Voxxian invasion always hovering over their heads. Many had died. Almost everyone else had regretted their choice to come to Earth. There was no going back, though. Not unless they became much wealthier. It was possible. Newly touched worlds were often treasure troves, both in terms of leveling opportunities and natural treasures. But those advancement prospects came with proportionate danger. Once she was a good distance away from the ritual circle ¨C or more appropriately, Hama ¨C K¡¯hana found an unused corner of the city, where she sank to her haunches and ran her hand through her silky hair. With a sigh, she used Water Body, then stared at her skin as she twisted her hand back and forth. It shimmered in the city¡¯s blue-tinted ethereal lights.
Water Body Transform all or part of your body into water, negating most physical damage. Duration contingent on Ethera and percentage of body transformed.
When she had first received the spell, she¡¯d been incapable of limiting its effects. Back then, it was all or nothing, with no in-between. Yet, in the years since, she¡¯d learned to control it with perfect aptitude. That was comforting. It proved that, despite her failures, she had the capacity for success. If she could learn to control the notoriously difficult Water Body, then she could do anything she set her mind toward. But as reassuring as the fruits of her long labors were, the reality of her failures remained. Not only had she failed to protect her people, which, as Arvandor¡¯s resident Priestess of the Rains, was her chief responsibility, but she¡¯d also failed to advance her class, Water Witch. Hopefully, she could make good on both failures in the upcoming tower run. Without the stranger they¡¯d stumbled upon near the natural treasure, she would never have attempted it. Indeed, when the tower had surged, they¡¯d made preparations to abandon the territory they had claimed. However, as a high-level Healer ¨C much higher than the level her scouts had claimed he displayed ¨C he was capable of dragging them toward success. And once they¡¯d conquered the tower once, they could bring that information back to the others and, with that in hand, the city could be saved. Or that was the plan. The reality had yet to be written, and there were quite a few issues with her expectations. Chief among them was that, once the stranger was gone, they would still be without a viable Healer. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. That was why she wanted to level so badly. Water Witch traced its roots to the Sorceress archetype, but it was a true hybrid class. Yet, it did not show that until after level fifty, when the first healing spell, Waters of Renewal, would be granted. Until then, a Water Witch¡¯s only healing ability was Spring of Rebirth, which was too unwieldy to rely upon in a tower. Thus, if they were going to survive ¨C and hopefully thrive ¨C she needed to complete the tower, gain enough levels to acquire Waters of Renewal, and lead her people to prosperity. But to do that, she required the help of the strange human with a host of inexplicable abilities. Not only could he heal ¨C as he¡¯d demonstrated by nurturing the doe back to health ¨C but he could also transform into a hulking reptilian monster that, to anyone who knew what to look for, screamed of an origin within the Empire of Scale. When K¡¯hana had first laid eyes on that monstrous creature, she¡¯d thought an actual dragon had descended upon Earth. Of course, that was silly. She¡¯d been taught all the forms the elder race could take. Everyone was, lest they risk offending one of those powerful beings through ignorance. Yet, the creature had radiated such power that she¡¯d briefly lost touch with her education. And when she recovered from that initial shock, K¡¯hana had been left with a mystery. Then, just when she had decided to approach, he had disappeared for three whole days. By the time he¡¯d finally returned ¨C simply appearing from thin air ¨C she¡¯d been on the verge of returning to Arvandor in failure. Because in addition to proving incapable of tracking down the two young elves who¡¯d followed the deer before they ran afoul of the powerful guardians, she would have lost the one chance of survival they¡¯d found. But miraculously, he¡¯d returned, and even more surprisingly, he¡¯d agreed to the bargain she had offered. He¡¯d barely even negotiated, though giving up one extra reward was still a steep price. Even so, K¡¯hana didn¡¯t really know what to think of him. He was clearly mightier than his level indicated, and judging by what she¡¯d seen, there was little chance that he was a true Healer. He was powerful, though. He¡¯d proven that through the feats she¡¯d observed. And she knew that, in her situation, she didn¡¯t have the leeway to be picky. He could do the job, and that would have to be all that mattered. For now. Perhaps that would change after the tower. In any case, once she¡¯d calmed herself, she canceled her spell and continued on her way. As she passed various members of her community, she received customary greetings of respect. Normally, that consisted of each elf touching their forehead, then their lips, and gesturing outward. It was meant to be symbolic of her power and her standing within the community, the pillar upon which it rested was to find water and share it with the clan. In Erag, it was a position of no small necessity. Water Witches were figures of great respect, and without them, water was virtually impossible to find. Not so on Earth, where lifegiving water practically gushed from the ground. There were even places ¨C like the pond where they¡¯d discovered the stranger ¨C where water was so profuse that it collected in every depression. K¡¯hana didn¡¯t trust such abundance. By Erag¡¯s standards, the Twilight Clefts were paradisical, which was more than enough for her. Anything lusher would be too much. Eventually, K¡¯hana reached the domicile assigned to the stranger. To her surprise, when she pressed her hand against the door, activating the enchantment meant to announce her presence, he was quick to answer. With a blush, she averted her eyes from his naked torso, but thankfully, he quickly saw to his lack of modesty by tugging on a clean, white shirt. However, K¡¯hana had been incapable of stopping herself from seeing the huge number of scars on his chest. They weren¡¯t as severe as the ones covering his right arm, but they were noticeable all the same. Clearly, this human was no stranger to battle. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked with a cheerful grin. ¡°Is it time to go? Give me like¡­two seconds, and I¡¯ll have everything ready.¡± As he spoke, he retreated into the room he¡¯d been given. Even from where she stood in the doorway, she could see that dozens of items lay on the bed next to a tattered pack. There were containers of every sort. Some were made from materials she recognized, but others were a mystery. She did notice quite a lot of food, though. She smelled meat that had been wrapped in some sort of preserving packaging, fruit, and even some tea leaves. There were jugs containing liquids ¨C likely water ¨C and more than a few sets of clothing. ¡°Come in,¡± he said, looking back as he stuffed things into his pack. Then, he reached into one of the containers and retrieved a berry unlike any she¡¯d ever seen. It was large, knobby, and purple. He asked, ¡°Oh ¨C want a berry? They¡¯re pretty good.¡± With that, he tossed one in her direction. She caught it, almost on instinct. But if she hadn¡¯t seen him popping another into his mouth, she might¡¯ve avoided the projectile. However, trusting that it was safe ¨C after all, he¡¯d shown no reasons for distrust ¨C she took a dainty bite of the tiny fruit. Flavor exploded in her mouth. It was tart and sweet, and more importantly, it sent a ripple of vitality coursing through her body. Riding in the wake of that vitality was a tiny surge of ethera that made her briefly forget the amazing taste. ¡°W-what¡­what is this?¡± ¡°I call them grove berries,¡± the man said, still grinning. K¡¯hana saw that the berry had briefly stained his teeth purple. ¡°But now that I say it out loud, that seems¡­I don¡¯t know. It sounds a little dirty, right? No? Well, I still feel like it should have a more distinguished name. Like king berries or something. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m still kind of workshopping it.¡± He paused. ¡°Actually, that¡¯s a lie. I haven¡¯t even thought of it before now. But I will!¡± ¡°What¡­what are you talking about?¡± she asked, a little taken aback. ¡°Oh. Sorry. I tend to ramble a bit around pretty girls. I blame the fact that I was an awkward kid. Late bloomer, you know? Plus, spending a couple of years with only a spryggen for company will drive anybody a little weird. Oh, there were crabs there, too. Lots of crabs.¡± ¡°What is a crab?¡± He raised an eyebrow. ¡°Guess you don¡¯t have crabs where you come from. So, crabs are like sea spiders. You have spiders, right?¡± he said. She nodded, though the idea of a sea seemed incredibly unnatural. ¡°So, I have those on my island. Big and with a hard shell. They actually taste pretty good. Or they used to, at least. I spent like two years eating almost nothing else, so I kind of lost my taste for it. Plus, I think when they mutated, they lost whatever made them tasty.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But I guess that might be because they were originally purple shore crabs. People didn¡¯t usually eat those before. So, that might be an explanation. The point is that I don¡¯t want to eat crab. I can¡¯t stress that enough.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± He finished shoving everything into his pack, then donned his heavy, fur cloak. After grabbing his hooked staff ¨C it was carved to look like a serpent, and it radiated an uncommon level of power ¨C he slapped his hands together and said, ¡°So, let¡¯s go do this thing. I¡¯m on a schedule. Hopefully, we can knock this tower out in a few hours. In and out, no big deal, right? Beat some monsters, collect our prizes, and win. Easy peasy.¡± ¡°We have a few more hours before everyone will be ready. I simply came here to ensure that you had everything you needed,¡± she said. ¡°What? Then why¡¯d you tell me it was time to leave? I got packed and everything.¡± ¡°I did not ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll just explore a little. Want to be my tour guide? Or do you expect me to make my own way? You know what ¨C never mind. I can see from your expression that you¡¯ve got other things on your mind. Hopefully I don¡¯t get lost. If you need me, just holler.¡± And then, without another word, he pushed past her and jauntily strode down the hall, whistling an oddly catchy tune. More importantly, he left K¡¯hana completely nonplussed. ¡°What have we gotten ourselves into?¡± she muttered to herself as she watched him turn a corner. 3-54. The Lighthouse Elijah held his hand out in a gesture of greeting, introduced himself, then added, ¡°Nice to meet you.¡± The male elf, who looked a lot like K¡¯hana, though with black hair instead of white, eyed his hand warily, then turned his nose up at the offering. Elijah winced. ¡°Ah, leaving me hanging. This is getting off to a great start.¡± ¡°Badu,¡± said K¡¯hana admonishingly. ¡°Be respectful.¡± Badu grunted, then turned his back and headed toward the tunnel that would take him out of the city. ¡°Ouch. Guess I¡¯m not well-liked, huh? I¡¯ve been there before. Didn¡¯t end well,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°What do you mean?¡± K¡¯hana asked, a little more comfortable around him than she had been when she¡¯d barged into his room. A good sign, as far as Elijah was concerned. ¡°Oh, it was this whole thing. A goblin tried to stab me in the back. Well, he did actually stab me. But he missed the important bits.¡± ¡°What happened to him?¡± Elijah massaged the back of his neck. ¡°Nothing good. So, where¡¯s this tower we¡¯re meant to run? And where¡¯s the rest of the crew?¡± he asked. ¡°Crew? Ah. Yes. The party,¡± she said. ¡°You have met Badu.¡± ¡°If you call that a meeting, sure. He didn¡¯t seem to like me much,¡± Elijah stated. Indeed, the elf¡¯s expression had made it abundantly clear how he felt about Elijah. ¡°No clue why. I¡¯ve only ever met one other elf before today, and she didn¡¯t have any issues with me.¡± ¡°Another elf? Where? Which tribe?¡± ¡°Not sure. She was a little taller than you. Blonde hair. Not nearly as pale.¡± ¡°Hm¡­a forest elf, most likely,¡± K¡¯hana said. ¡°Or a hybrid. There are many of those.¡± ¡°Right. Anyway ¨C what about your friend over there? Why was he so angry with me? Usually, people need to talk to me for at least a few minutes before they start getting annoyed,¡± Elijah said self-deprecatingly. ¡°His sister was one of the elves killed by the stag,¡± K¡¯hana informed him. ¡°He likely thinks you robbed him of a chance of vengeance.¡± ¡°Vengeance? On a deer?¡± ¡°Indeed. In our culture, guardians are considered much like any sapient race. With that comes respect, but it also comes with accountability.¡± ¡°Yet your people hunted them like normal beasts,¡± Elijah pointed out, letting a little of his anger out. ¡°Doesn¡¯t feel like respect to me.¡± ¡°It is not. They were wrong.¡± Elijah sighed, running a hand through his curly, blonde hair. It had once again grown much longer than he preferred. ¡°So ¨C what about that team, huh? There¡¯s Badu, right? Can¡¯t say I¡¯m happy about him having my life in his hands, but whatever. What about the rest?¡± ¡°Formal introductions are forthcoming,¡± she said. And indeed, they were. Once Elijah followed her out of the tunnel and into the neighboring ravine, they met with three other elves. Predictably, one was the surly Badu, whose default expression seemed to be a sneer. According to K¡¯hana, he was a Wind Whisperer, which meant that he specialized in air-based attacks. What form that would take, Elijah didn¡¯t know, but he assumed it would be similar to the blades of wind that accompanied his Calamity spell. The next elf was even shorter than K¡¯hana. She gave Elijah a respectful bow and said, ¡°My name is Syka. I am a Golemancer.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Elijah asked. As it turned out, Golemancers were Sorceresses who specialized in summoning earthen creatures. Syka demonstrated that by casting a spell that caused a blocky creature to climb out of the ground. It was at least seven feet tall and made entirely of rock. ¡°Gbartik will be our defender,¡± Syka said, slapping the creature on a boulder-like leg. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how that would work, but they all seemed perfectly happy with that arrangement. So, he¡¯d decided to take a wait-and-see sort of attitude. At the end of the day, if it didn¡¯t work, he felt confident that he could do things on his own, even if it turned out to be less than optimal. The final elf introduced herself as Nimana, and she was a Sand Mage that specialized in impeding enemies. Alone, she was largely incapable of killing anything, but K¡¯hana pointed out that she was a vital member of any team that would make everyone better. Elijah could understand that, and he looked forward to seeing what she could do. ¡°And you?¡± he asked K¡¯hana. Even next to the other elves, who all wore identical clothing and had similar features, she was strikingly beautiful. Yet, there was enough of a cultural distance between them ¨C never mind the intimidatingly alien beauty ¨C that he never even considered trying for anything more than a professional arrangement. Well, he considered it. Because he obviously had. He¡¯d just dismissed those sorts of feelings. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°I am a Water Witch,¡± she said. ¡°What does that mean?¡± he asked. K¡¯hana went on to explain that, in addition to providing the absolutely necessary ability to locate water in a desert, she had the ability to use spells associated with water. She went on to explain that she, as well as Badu were tasked with doing damage. Syka and her golem filled the role of the defender. And Nimana¡¯s job was controlling the battlefield. Meanwhile, Elijah was expected to heal. It was a good plan, though Elijah knew better than to expect things to work out exactly as they¡¯d arranged. If he¡¯d learned nothing else in his life, it was that plans rarely lasted long in a fight. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t have to take matters into his own hands. Or claws, as it were. In any case, as the sun rose, casting the Twilight Clefts in deep shadow, the group set off through the maze of ravines. They moved quickly, but Elijah had no trouble keeping up ¨C much to the chagrin of Badu, who¡¯d set the pace. Fortunately, the other elves weren¡¯t nearly as surly as the Wind Whisperer, and they weren¡¯t shy about asking him questions. ¡°And these¡­televisions ¨C they showed plays?¡± asked Syka, who was riding on her golem¡¯s shoulder. Each step sounded like a miniature earthquake, which meant that any notions of stealth had long since gone out the window. ¡°Sort of. We also watched sports and the news, though the second one was more performative than informative there in the end,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°But everyone loved movies.¡± ¡°I would like to see one of these¡­movies,¡± Syka said. The other elves agreed. Except Badu, who seemed to take the entire conversation as an affront to his honor. Hopefully, that wouldn¡¯t end up being an issue. ¡°Have you all been to many towers?¡± Elijah asked a while later. ¡°No. On our world, the only people permitted to conquer towers are the rich. Or the elite fighters,¡± said K¡¯hana. ¡°That is one of the reasons we came here. On Erag, opportunities are very limited.¡± ¡°Seems a bit shortsighted. But you don¡¯t have to worry about surges? What about monsters? We had an orc issue back home.¡± ¡°Orcs? Here?¡± asked Nimana, obviously alarmed. ¡°Not anymore.¡± ¡°But you got them all?¡± Elijah insisted that they had, saying that he knew exactly how dangerous they were. Then, he asked about the surges again. ¡°No. On Erag, everything is well controlled. From time to time, a particularly powerful rift opens in the wilderness, and it manages to fester. However, for the most part, everything is kept under control. It will one day be the same here.¡± Elijah nodded. That was a good thing, as far as he could see. Certainly, it would stifle growth and progression, but that was better than letting Voxx run rampant, wasn¡¯t it? In any case, he didn¡¯t have to worry about that from his tower. Even if the people of Ironshore hadn¡¯t been committed to running it once a week, his grove drained any excess ethera it produced, meaning that it would never surge. The elves¡¯ situation wasn¡¯t really all that different from any group that braved the dangers of any frontier. All they wanted was opportunity. So, when the chance to come to Earth was presented to them, they jumped on it. Elijah could respect that. Over the next day-and-a-half, the group made their way through the Twilight Clefts, and during that time, Elijah learned two things. First, the elves were very odd. They had a plethora of strange customs, and the cultural differences made for some awkward situations. Like when Syka eagerly offered him a bag full of live crickets as a snack. He¡¯d refused, saying that he preferred his grove berries. The elves were also incredibly cognizant of their water usage, and they survived off only two or three sips a day. By comparison, Elijah¡¯s consumption was downright decadent, and each time he gulped water from one of his jugs, they gave him looks of incredulity. Or anger, as was the case with Badu. The second thing he¡¯d recognized was that he did not care for the canyons at all. Not only were they incredibly confusing to navigate, but with those walls on either side, Elijah had flashbacks of his time in the Primordial Maze which left him feeling claustrophobic and uncomfortable. So, he was more than a little relieved when they finally left the canyons behind. His relief was doubly noticeable, because, for all that he liked having company, it was exhausting having to be around people for so long. Especially when those people were sand elves. ¡°Is that it?¡± asked Elijah, shading his eyes as he looked off into the distance where he saw a steep mesa topped by what looked like an abandoned lighthouse. ¡°It is,¡± said K¡¯hana. ¡°We must scale the cliffs. Can you climb?¡± ¡°I can manage,¡± Elijah said. After another forty-five minutes, they reached the rock face in question. The summit of the plateau was at least a thousand feet up, with nearly sheer sides populated by a few craggy cliffs and scrubby trees. ¡°So, don¡¯t freak out,¡± Elijah said. He knew that K¡¯hana had seen his lamellar ape form, but he had no idea if the others knew the extent of his capabilities. So, he thought it best to warn them. Even so, when he shifted, there were a couple of gasps of surprise. And Badu glared even harder, if such a thing was possible. ¡°Dude, you really need to lay off the stink eye there,¡± Elijah growled, his voice the sort of deep rumble a person could feel in their chest. ¡°Getting really old. That¡¯s all I¡¯m saying. Anyone need a ride?¡± Badu¡¯s expression darkened, which couldn¡¯t have been a good sign. Whatever the case, no one took Elijah up on his generous offer, so, using his long arms and ape-like power, he quickly scaled the cliff. At the same time, Syka continued to ride on her golem¡¯s shoulder as it nearly kept pace with Elijah¡¯s ascent. Badu was the next fastest, nimbly gliding from one outcropping to another like an elf-shaped kite. Nimana followed, and though she didn¡¯t use any obvious spells or abilities, her progress was impressive. Bringing up the rear was K¡¯hana, who clearly had not invested heavily in her physical attributes. Elijah¡¯s instincts told him to help her, but he knew enough about people to recognize just how bad of an idea that was. If she¡¯d wanted assistance, she would have taken him up on his first offer. Trying again would only make her seem weak. Which she was. But it was polite to pretend otherwise. Besides, she probably had other talents. In any case, Elijah was the first to reach the top, and by a wide margin. That gave him the opportunity to meet a recently spawned Voxxian monster, face-to-face. The reptilian creature looked a bit different than the ones he¡¯d encountered in more verdant territory, which was to say that instead of glistening viridian scales, its hide was leathery, ridged, and incredibly rough. Fortunately, it was not very strong, so when it threw itself at Elijah, he caught the monster by its shoulders, did a pirouette, then tossed it over the cliff. It sailed through the air for nearly forty yards before it started its descent. And when it hit the ground a couple of seconds later, it splattered across the barren desert. Which was a good thing, because Elijah didn¡¯t want to be forced to go down there and finish it off. As he knocked the dirt from his massive claws, the others crested the edge of the cliff. He shifted back into his human form as he said, ¡°Who¡¯s ready for a tower run? Should be fun, right?¡± 3-55. An Estate of Unrest Cool night air tickled Elijah¡¯s skin as he stepped through the portal and into the lighthouse tower. For a moment, he ignored the notifications announcing his entrance and informing him of the task he was meant to accomplish, instead focusing on his surroundings. The air wasn¡¯t just cold. It carried with it a mostly unidentifiable odor that reminded him of a long-neglected basement. Yet, the environment didn¡¯t support that imagined scenario, because he found himself in the middle of a forest populated by gnarled trees. Fog clung to the ground, obscuring the underbrush from sight. Elijah could feel it via One with Nature, but nothing about it was abnormal. However, he couldn¡¯t escape the tendril of unease that gripped his spine. As the others materialized beside him, he acknowledged his notifications. The first was:
Welcome to The Magister¡¯s Estate, Level One. To advance to Level Two, complete the task before you.
It was similar to every other notification he¡¯d received upon entering a tower, and the name didn¡¯t give him any information as to the nature of the challenge. So, Elijah moved on to the next notification.
Task: Discover the source and take the first step to destroying it.
¡°That¡¯s vague,¡± he muttered. He turned to K¡¯hana and continued, ¡°Find the source. What do you think it means?¡± ¡°We do not know, outsider,¡± Badu growled, pushing past Elijah and looking around. ¡°We must explore the area and find ¨C¡± Just then, a screech filled the air, cutting him off. It was a long way off, but it still sent another chill up Elijah¡¯s spine. More importantly, it clearly frightened Badu. The elf took a step back, a ripple of air surrounding his body. It was all Elijah could do not to sigh in frustration. Over the course of the journey to the lighthouse, he¡¯d learned a few things about the elves. Their personalities were still something of a mystery ¨C they weren¡¯t eager to reveal too much to him, after all ¨C but one thing was obvious: they were even more inexperienced than he was. Sure, they¡¯d come from a long-developed world where the touch of the World Tree had been present for millennia. However, the nature of their society was such that none of them had ever even sniffed a tower. On their world of Erag, that privilege was reserved for the aristocracy or their forces. And the elves who¡¯d come to Earth came from the elven equivalent of the ghetto. Or a trailer park. They were the poorest of the poor. The desperate masses whose only hope for any future was to pick up everything, travel across multiple universes, and settle in a dangerous world full of the unknown. Because of that, Elijah was far and away the most experienced among the party, at least when it came to towers. ¡°Okay, so as far as I can tell, each of you can take three buffs from me,¡± Elijah said, using one of the gaming terms he¡¯d learned in cities like Argos and Norcastle. They just felt less awkward. ¡°So, what do you want? I can do everything but Ethera.¡± After he was forced to explain what he meant, they each told him their preferences. And understandably, they all asked for Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Boar, and Essence of the Monkey. In addition, they received Essence of the Wolf, which didn¡¯t take up any of their slots. For his part, Elijah added Essence of the Lion, intending to switch it out for Shield of Brambles if the situation called for it. For now, though, he reasoned that, as the group¡¯s designated Healer, he wasn¡¯t supposed to take any damage. So, he applied his buffs accordingly. Syka added a spell which coated their bodies in barely-visible armor that looked like it was made of rock. According to her, it wasn¡¯t meant to increase any attributes. Rather, it blunted any damage they might have to endure. Although the spell could only take so much damage before it fell away, Elijah was happy for the extra protection. None of the others had any buffs to apply, which Elijah found odd. He had so many that he¡¯d just assumed that everyone else had access to similar enhancements. Obviously not, though. Once everyone was buffed, the group set out through the trees. As they did, the screeching grew ever louder. To Elijah, the cries sounded like nothing he¡¯d ever heard before ¨C a combination of a birdcall and a human¡¯s screams, with a little extra reverberation thrown in for good measure. Either way, it was wholly unnerving ¨C a state that affected the elves just as much as it did him. If it had been up to Elijah, he would have shifted into his draconid form and remained under the cover of Guise of the Unseen. However, that would have exposed the other members of the party. He forced himself to remember that, unlike in the previous towers he¡¯d conquered, his job wasn¡¯t to do everything. In fact, his only task was to keep everyone alive. To that end, he remained in his human form, alert and ready for any dangers that might present themselves. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. Or that was what he thought. The reality was that he very much was not prepared for the monsters that came screeching through the trees. They were humanoid. In fact, they seemed like they might¡¯ve once been actual humans. Yet, they were green- or grey-skinned, wearing ripped and ragged remnants of clothing that barely covered anything. On top of that, their arms were slightly too long, their claws far too sharp, and their faces a massacre of scars, pustules, and mucus. Oh, and they were clearly feral, displaying the sort of unflinching commitment to attack usually reserved for the unliving in zombie movies. Using One with Nature, Elijah was the first to detect the horde of creatures as they cut through the foggy forest, and he shouted, ¡°Ready yourselves! Monsters coming!¡± He recoiled from what he felt through One with Nature. The monsters were anything but natural. In fact, they felt like abominations ¨C mixtures of death and life and something else Elijah couldn¡¯t identify. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it before the fast-moving monsters showed themselves. The elves recoiled, but to their credit, they reacted quickly. Gbartik, the earthen golem, rumbled forward to meet them, and with a roar that sounded like a landslide, activated some sort of ability that drew the attention of the enemies. The ghouls ¨C because they couldn¡¯t be anything else, from Elijah¡¯s perspective ¨C collapsed onto the golem with a cloud of dust. Chips of rock flew as the sound of claws on earth filled the air. Elijah cast Soothe on the giant earthen creature, and the damage inflicted by the monsters started to heal. But it wasn¡¯t enough, so he used Healing Rain as well. That kept pace, but Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t last. Eventually, the golem would fall before the tide of monsters. Fortunately, the elves had already responded, filling the atmosphere with various spells. K¡¯hana wielded a whip of water, which she used to repeatedly lash the ghouls. Where that spell landed, flesh parted, and in some cases, limbs flew free. At the same time, Nimana cast a spell that turned the ground to quicksand. The ghouls sank to their knees, impeding their movement. The golem¡¯s footing, though, remained sure. But the real star was Badu, who twirled and gestured like a kung fu master, sending out blades of wind that cut the ghouls to pieces. Before long, the area had become a charnel house for oddly colored flesh as the elves brought their powerful spells to bear. Meanwhile, Elijah struggled to mend any damage his party members sustained. Most of that damage was directed at the golem, but every now and then, one of the ghouls would break free of the horde and fall upon one of the elves. In those instances, the party redirected their fire, slaughtering the offending ghoul, yet there was always some damage. In response, Elijah made a habit of darting forward to use Touch of Nature. However, for each member of the party, Soothe remained active. The combination of that heal-over-time spell and Healing Rain was enough to keep up with any incidental damage ¨C at least to the point where it would allow enough time for Elijah to apply Touch of Nature. Like that, the group fought. But it quickly became apparent that, unless something changed, Elijah would run out of ethera. So, he slowly adjusted his tactics. Instead of playing it safe by keeping Soothe active on each of his group members, he used it more reactively. It was more dangerous, but it was also the only way he could accomplish his goal of keeping everyone upright until the horde was defeated. More than anything, though, he began to understand the limitations of his class. Other Healers, he knew, could use powerful spells from afar. Meanwhile, to utilize his most powerful healing ability, Elijah had to lay hands on the spell¡¯s recipient. Soothe and Healing Rain were extremely efficient, but to heal lethal damage, they were both far too slow-acting. Regardless, Elijah kept pace ¨C probably because of the combined influences of his powerful Dragon Core and the Crook of the Serpent Healer. Without either, he would have failed. Of course, the moment Elijah felt like he¡¯d managed to get a handle on things, it all went wrong. Part of it was the simple progression of the tower, which was expected. What Elijah didn¡¯t expect was for stupidity to rear its ugly head ¨C though, in hindsight, that particular inevitability should have been obvious as well. The first part came when a larger, burlier, and significantly more powerful ghoul crashed through the trees and fell upon Gbartik. The golem responded with a massive backhand that sent the newcomer staggering away, but no one could afford to pull their attention from the main horde. So, Elijah chose to act. He shouted, ¡°I¡¯m going to stall the big one! Don¡¯t attack it!¡± A second later, he finished casting his spell, and thick vines erupted from the ground, tangling themselves around the alpha ghoul¡¯s legs. It tried to rip free, but they held. It was only temporary, but it would allow the others to refocus. Even as he resumed healing, Elijah saw something that, if he wasn¡¯t so busy, would have elicited a groan. Badu twirled, aiming a round kick at the hulking ghoul. He was nearly a dozen feet away, but the ability sent a series of wickedly sharp air blades at the ghoul. They hit with a shower of dull blood, but they also severed the roots keeping the ghoul in place. And that was more than enough to ruin everything. The monster ripped its legs free of Elijah¡¯s immobilizing spell, then sighted in on Badu. Even as the elf landed, the creature stomped forward and clamped its claws around him. Gbartik let out its taunting yell, but it was no good. There was no diluting the alpha ghoul¡¯s ire for the elf who¡¯d injured it. Elijah cast Soothe on Badu, then renewed Healing Rain. But those spells were incapable of keeping up with the monster¡¯s might. Badu screamed as his bones were crushed beneath the creature¡¯s grip, but even with Elijah¡¯s efforts mending the worst of the damage, he was incapable of stopping the monster¡¯s jaws from closing around his neck. His screams turned to gurgles as the ghoul ripped his throat out. That¡¯s when Elijah arrived, slapping his hand on Badu¡¯s leg and channeling Touch of Nature through his body. His flesh mended, and the gurgling scream turned to cries of agony. That just invited the ghoul to try again. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to alloy that. He aimed his staff at the monster¡¯s legs in a sweeping attack that ripped its feet out from under it. Badu scrambled free as the alpha ghoul fell, and Elijah shoved him away. Then, he reared back and brought his staff down in a sledgehammer strike that shattered the creature¡¯s face. It wasn¡¯t enough to disable the monster, but it still provided a great distraction until, at last, Gbartik arrived. Smaller ghouls crawled all over the golem¡¯s back, ripping its rocky flesh free in a shower of pebbles and dust. Elijah reapplied Soothe, but even when he dashed forward and used Touch of Nature, it was clear that his efforts would come up short. He looked back to see that his party was on the verge of being overwhelmed. None were down, yet, but that didn¡¯t look like it was going to last long. Elijah knew what he had to do. ¡°Retreat!¡± he shouted. ¡°I can¡¯t keep up with the damage!¡± To their credit, the elves did just that. And with Syka¡¯s quicksand spell, the ghouls were slowed just enough to give them an opportunity to get away. Which left Elijah alone. That was fine, though. He was a Druid. More, he was an Animist. And if there was one thing he was good at, it was going solo. Even as his party members escaped, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form. Then, he unleashed bestial hell. 3-56. The Curse and the Cure Anger coursed through Elijah¡¯s entire body, gripping his mind with implacable fury as he laid waste to the monsters clambering across his scaley body. They bit, and they clawed, and despite his high Constitution and the durable nature of his Shape of the Guardian, they left him in ruins. Yet, Elijah was no stranger to pain. He could endure whatever the ghouls dished out. Not so for his companions. Fortunately, with every passing moment, they drew closer to safety. He hoped. They¡¯d passed out of his detection range, so he couldn¡¯t be sure. Elijah had lost track of how long it had been since that idiot Badu had ruined everything with his misguided attempt at heroics. But it had been at least an hour. Maybe much longer. In any case, he didn¡¯t have much opportunity to focus on anything else, because the horde of ghouls just kept coming. At first, he¡¯d expected to finish the alpha off ¨C which he had with no difficulty ¨C and rejoin his party members. However, by the time he¡¯d broken free, even more ghouls had arrived, and they stood between him and wherever the elves had taken shelter. He didn¡¯t know if they were alive or dead. In fact, all Elijah really knew was that he was furious. With the ghouls. With the tower. With the system that had created it. But most of all, his fury was directed at Badu, who¡¯d started the cascade of misfortune that had seen Elijah surrounded by hellish ghouls. He channeled that anger into his attacks. In the lamellar ape form, he didn¡¯t bother with fancy maneuvers. Most of the time, he simply bashed his enemies with his superior Strength and the leverage of his long arms. Sometimes, he ripped them to pieces. Other times, he used an unlucky ghoul as a temporary weapon, battering its fellows to death with a green-skinned cudgel. But there was no grace to it. Simple power and durability. Still, he took plenty of damage. The monsters¡¯ claws were sharp, and what¡¯s more, they had some sort of ability that made them even more lethal. And finally, there was an unidentifiable affliction buried in each attack, and as it built up, Elijah found himself growing weaker. He had Strength to spare, though. So, he continued his massacre. Even when alpha ghouls showed up, he barely slowed. They couldn¡¯t stand up to his might. Elijah knew he was on a timer, though. The affliction continuously built, sapping his Strength. Eventually, it would push past the point of no return and weaken him enough that the endless tide of ghouls overcame even his vaunted Constitution. So, he slowly followed the path of his companions, hoping that they¡¯d found somewhere to hole up. And to his surprise, Elijah found just that an hour or so later when he spied a mausoleum. It was made all of black marble decorated with sharp points that reminded Elijah of Gothic architecture. But it had a sturdy door protected by a shield of shimmering ethera. More importantly, when he drew closer, he could sense his companions inside. The elves were all prone, clearly injured, and surrounded by other people who seemed to be tending them. By the time he reached the door, Elijah was on his last legs. The insidious affliction had sapped his Strength to almost nothing, and his hide hung from his body in tatters. He shouted, ¡°Let me in!¡± He heard Badu weakly mumble something about leaving him out there, but he was overruled by K¡¯hana, who begged the other people to let him inside. They complied, and the shield of ethera flickered, then disappeared. After that, a group of people ¨C humans, by the look ¨C poured out, burying the ghouls in a series of spells. They weren¡¯t powerful, but each spell had an added effect of repelling the monsters. Elijah dashed past them, stumbling through the door. A moment later, the mausoleum¡¯s defenders collapsed back through the entrance, restoring the shield. Then, they slammed the door, sealing the ghoulish horde outside. Elijah dropped to his knees, his scales in tatters. Pain and weakness coursed through his entire body, drowning his mind in confusion. His vision began to darken, and he verged on losing consciousness. However, one facet of his Quartz Mind managed to maintain enough focus for him to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal. As the ability took hold, his body mended. But the weakness persisted. The ethera that drove the ability fought against it, going back and forth until, at last, it came through. The weakness disappeared and, as Elijah¡¯s body finished its healing, he let out a sigh of relief. Then, he shifted back to his human form. For a long moment, he remained on his hands and knees. His crook remained on the floor of the mausoleum as he tried to catch his breath. But he wasn¡¯t focused on any of that. Instead, the whole of his attention was on the fact that Guardian¡¯s Renewal had, for the very first time, struggled to heal him. And that wasn¡¯t supposed to happen.
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per 6.65 Days.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Instantly and completely regenerate, the description said. There were no caveats. No addendums to its power. And Elijah had assumed it was entirely unlimited. Clearly, though, there were some things that could challenge it. And presumably, there were afflictions or levels of damage that would defeat it, as well. The struggle between the ghouls¡¯ afflictions had stretched its limits, and if it had been any worse, Guardian¡¯s Renewal would have failed. Which did not bode well for his companions. He looked up to see the elves lying nearby. Their clothes were bloody, and they had clearly suffered plenty of wounds. Due to his efforts in healing, many of those injuries had mended. However, it was clear that they suffered from the same afflictions that his Guardian¡¯s Renewal had struggled to banish. Elijah pushed himself to his feet and immediately summoned Healing Rain. Then, he cast Soothe on each elf. As he moved to K¡¯hana¡¯s side, he said, ¡°Tell me what¡¯s wrong.¡± With some effort, she managed to say, ¡°Weakness. My stomach is twisted in cramps. My mind is¡­foggy.¡± ¡°Heal us!¡± rasped Badu. ¡°Show you¡¯re not worthless!¡± Elijah wanted to lash out and silence the elf. But he restrained himself. Instead, he said, ¡°You¡¯re the one who went off-script. If you wouldn¡¯t have ruined my spell¡­you know what? I don¡¯t need to prove myself to you. You¡¯re a moron, and as far as I¡¯m concerned, you can die.¡± K¡¯hana said, ¡°Please, Elijah¡­¡± He sighed, preparing to respond. However, before he could speak, one of the tower¡¯s natives said, ¡°You will not be able to heal them. You are no Priest.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked, looking up. The people were all human, though with slightly exaggerated features. But they wore tall hats with short brims, pants that only came down to their knees, and buckled shoes. Each one wore a long coat, held closed by silver toggles. ¡°You may heal the wounds, but the curse will remain. If it is not banished within a day, your friends will join the Magister. We will slay them before we allow that.¡± Elijah¡¯s fingers tightened around his Crook of the Serpent Healer. He took a step forward and said, ¡°Don¡¯t threaten my allies.¡± ¡°It is no threat,¡± said the man. ¡°It is a kindness. The curse will change them, and in ways they will not want to endure. They will become monsters.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t going to take the man¡¯s word for it. So, he knelt next to K¡¯hana, laid his hand on her shoulder, then flooded her with Touch of Nature. For nearly five minutes, he continuously cast the spell. All the while, he kept Soothe and Healing Rain going as well. But despite all that, she did not recover. In fact, she grew worse. Finally, when his core was empty, Elijah pulled away. As he did, he turned on the tower native and demanded, ¡°How do I fix it?¡± ¡°You must find the source and slay it.¡± ¡°Where is it? What is it?¡± ¡°In the manor,¡± the native said. ¡°Lord Lothgal is the source of the curse. He must be destroyed, and the curse will be lifted.¡± That reminded him of his task. Discover the source and take the first step in destroying it, the notification said. It didn¡¯t take a leap of logic for Elijah to see how it all tied together. The first step was likely to gain access to the manor, which meant crossing the ghoul-infested grounds. Perhaps if he was a true healer, he would have some means of removing the curse, but as it stood, none of his spells did any good. That meant he had only one option. He needed to conquer the tower in order to save the elves, and he would have to do so alone. More, he didn¡¯t have the leeway to tarry as he had in his first run through the Keledge Tower. He¡¯d taken his time in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel as well. Now, though, he couldn¡¯t do that. Sighing, he rolled his shoulders and asked, ¡°Is that door the only way out?¡± The native said, ¡°No. There is a back door that exits slightly closer to the manor. But that area is infested with servitors.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah said. Then, he knelt next to K¡¯hana and, in as soothing a voice as he could manage, said, ¡°I¡¯ll fix this. Just hang on.¡± He gripped her shoulder again, but she didn¡¯t give any signs that she¡¯d heard him. None of the others were conscious, either. So, after ensuring that the natives would care for his companions, Elijah followed the leader to the back exit, which required traversing a series of catacombs until they reached a ramp that led to a hatch. Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back when I¡¯m done dealing with Lord Lothgal.¡± ¡°I wish you luck, friend.¡± Elijah just shook his head, then shifted into his draconid form. In the shape¡¯s growly voice, he said, ¡°Turn around. I need to stealth.¡± To his credit, after telling Elijah the appropriate direction, the man didn¡¯t ask any questions. Nor did he display any real degree of alarm. Instead, he just did as he was asked, and once Elijah was cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he opened the hatch. Under the influence of Essence of the Wolf, Elijah dashed through. At first, he didn¡¯t see any ghouls ¨C or servitors, as the man had called them ¨C but as soon as the hatch clanged shut, the creatures made their presence known. They rushed toward the closed hatch, scratching and clawing at an ethereal shield. Meanwhile, Elijah stalked away, weaving between the twisted trees as he made his way in the direction of the manor. As he went, he was astounded by the sheer number of servitors. At rest, they barely moved, and without One with Nature, he might not have noticed them at all. Yet, with his spell, he could feel just how unnatural they were. Elijah¡¯s instincts screamed at him to kill as many as he could, but he knew that was a path to ruin. After all, Guardian¡¯s Renewal wouldn¡¯t be available for more than six days, so he had no way of removing the curse. So, he couldn¡¯t simply fight his way into the manor ¨C not so long as the servitors were around, at least. Instead, he needed to sneak through the forest, enter the manor, and kill Lord Lothgal, whoever that was. After a little more than an hour, he finally caught sight of the manor, and as the tower¡¯s ambience might suggest, the building was an exaggerated caricature of gothic architecture that looked like it would have been at home in a video game. Dark spires jutted toward the sky, and detailed statues depicting agonized figures were the most obvious characteristics, but the other hallmarks of gothic architecture were there as well. Flying buttresses, pointed arches, and grotesque gargoyles abounded, and the entire thing was built out of dark stone. With the everpresent fog and silvery moonlight, it made for an incredibly imposing structure. Elijah only took a few minutes to study it before he set off to find a way inside. The moment he reached the entrance, he found himself rebuffed by a dense horde of servitors, each one an alpha, that was so thick that it made sneaking inside an impossibility. There simply wasn¡¯t room. And even if there had been, when Elijah looked at the doors, he saw a blood red shimmer that reminded him of the shields erected by the natives, though in a different color. Abandoning that entrance, Elijah circled the manor, looking for other possibilities. He found a few, but each one was guarded by that same red shield. He was just getting ready to test his mettle against the manor¡¯s defenses when he stumbled upon a battle in progress. There were a dozen of the tall-hatted natives fighting against a small group of servitor alphas. And they were losing. Elijah would have left them to die, but he was brought up short by two factors. First, the natives clearly knew more about the manor than he could discover in the short time allotted. So, perhaps they could direct him to an unguarded entrance. Or failing that, maybe they could at least tell him what the defenses entailed. Otherwise, he¡¯d have to test them himself, and he didn¡¯t think that would end well. The second reason was rooted in the fact that they ¨C or at least their allies ¨C had already helped him and his party members. But would they continue to do so if the ones back in the mausoleum discovered that he chose not to help their fellows? Probably not. So, with a draconic sigh, he prepared himself for battle. 3-57. The Creator Elijah had no intention of engaging the servitors in a straight fight. There were only ten of them, so he felt reasonably sure that, using Iron Scales, he could endure whatever they could dish out. Yet, if he missed even one attack, he ran the risk of becoming infected. And if that happened, he had nothing to stop it. In other words, infection meant death. So, with that in mind, he positioned himself at the edge of his range ¨C which was around twenty yards. Then, he ducked behind a spiny hedgerow and cast Swarm. He desperately wished he hadn¡¯t. Hundreds of maggoty white grubs climbed out of the ground to latch onto the servitors¡¯ bare legs. None of them even recognized the danger, and Elijah wasn¡¯t going to put himself at risk just to save some people whose help was not guaranteed. Instead, as soon as the first Swarm dissipated, he cast it again. And again after that. With every passing second, the servitors grew weaker until they were incapable of standing up to the tower natives. After that, the battle wound down fairly quickly, with Elijah¡¯s potential allies ruthlessly finishing the monsters off. Once they did, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and waved at the men and women who¡¯d been fighting the servitors. They didn¡¯t seem surprised. In fact, they were relieved to see him, for some reason. As Elijah approached, he saw that each one wore thick chainmail beneath their ripped clothing. ¡°Are you all okay? Do you need healing?¡± ¡°We are uninjured, stranger,¡± said a woman as she stepped forward. She was blonde, with a thick braid, but otherwise unremarkable features. ¡°Are you here to slay the Creator?¡± ¡°Uh¡­maybe? Is that Lothgar?¡± ¡°No. That fell being is far beyond any of us. The Creator is vulnerable, though. We have sundered his defenses. His horde has abandoned him. If you slay him, the servitors shall lose all power.¡± ¡°You¡¯re saying that if I kill this Creator, the ghouls will die?¡± ¡°They will.¡± ¡°Okay. That¡¯s added to the list, then,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, if he could kill the ghouls, getting into the manor would become much easier. ¡°Is there another entrance besides the main one? I need to get inside.¡± ¡°The Creator has a key,¡± the woman answered. ¡°If you slay him, you can take the key and enter the mansion through any of the entrances.¡± ¡°And those red shields?¡± ¡°They will drain your blood from your body if you pass through them without a key,¡± she stated. ¡°Fantastic. Guess it¡¯s time to kill a Creator, then. What can you tell me about him?¡± he asked. As it turned out, the answer to that question left a lot to be desired. Other than giving him directions to the Creator¡¯s Crypt ¨C because of course it had set up shop in a crypt ¨C the woman could offer no more information. She did reiterate the dangers inherent in being injured by the servitors, but she also noted that the Creator and its closest abominations were incapable of inflicting such an affliction. She also refused to accompany Elijah, claiming that she had another mission. When he asked about that, she went silent, choosing not to elaborate. Obviously, Elijah would have to assail the Creator on his own. So, after thanking the woman for the information, he shifted back into his draconic form and headed off into the forest, following the woman¡¯s directions. After thirty minutes, he reached his destination. The entrance to the crypt was another mausoleum, though instead of black marble, this one was constructed of white stone trimmed all in gold. A fortune had to have been spent just on the decorations, which trended toward art deco, but with more of a gothic flair. In any case, the door was open, so after spending a little time searching the surrounding area ¨C which was entirely free of servitors ¨C Elijah headed inside. On the other side of the door was a steep set of stairs, and with every step, Elijah felt the temperature drop. More, when he reached the bottom, he saw glowing green liquid flowing on either side of the connected hall. It bubbled and sloshed, though Elijah wasn¡¯t brave enough to touch it. In any case, he continued on, padding down the corridor, which was about ten feet wide, until he reached a large chamber a few hundred feet in. That¡¯s when he received his first sight of the Creator. It was about nine feet tall, and unnaturally thin. For clothing, it wore a thick, black robe trimmed in yellow stars, and otherwise, it was covered in dirty bandages. In the few spots where its skin was exposed, thick scabs were visible. When Elijah entered the chamber, the creature was bent over a cauldron, stirring it with a giant ladle. Lining either side of the room were six ¨C three to a side ¨C bulbous abominations that took the basic shape of people, but were clearly pieced together from some other, far larger type of creature. The disparate pieces had been sewn together with thick wire, and they had only blank skin where their faces should have been. The floor was made of iron grates, below which was that same bubbling green liquid. Every now and then, the Creator would bend down, dip his ladle into the green substance, and add it to the cauldron. As it worked, it hummed tunelessly. As horrifying as the scene was, the smell made everything infinitely worse. A mixture of methane, rot, and something sickly sweet made Elijah¡¯s stomach turn. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. But he ignored it. Instead, he focused on the presence of the amulet around the Creator¡¯s neck. It matched the description he¡¯d been given, so he felt confident in marking it as the key to entering the manor. The way Elijah saw it, he had three options. First, he could simply pounce on the Creator and hope he could kill the creature before it had a chance to react. Something told him that was a long shot, though. This wasn¡¯t just some random servitor, but a creature of some importance to the tower. And from his experience, that meant it would be difficult to kill. The second option was to engage in hit-and-run tactics. The corridor was long enough that using that strategy might be possible. He could attack the Creator, then dart back up the corridor and use his spells to keep his distance. Slowly, that would whittle the monster down. But that risked bringing the servitors into the mix. They weren¡¯t in the area at present, but who was to say that would continue to be the case? Surely, the Creator could call its creations into battle. And if that happened, Elijah would certainly die ¨C either from the onslaught of ghoulish monsters or via the curse they carried. The third option was to ambush, then switch into his lamellar ape form and take whatever punishment they could dish out. That was an all-or-nothing tactic, though, without much in the way of margin for error. In the end, Elijah decided on a combination of the first and third option. He would ambush, then adjust from there. So, with that in mind, he stalked forward, the iron grates beneath his feet cold. The green liquid bubbled and popped, adding its ambience to the Creator¡¯s strange humming. Elijah leaped, pouncing on the monster¡¯s back and aiming a vicious bite at its skull. However, the moment his jaws latched onto the thing¡¯s head, it let out an unholy screech, then collapsed into a pile of bandages. Elijah hit the floor with a metallic clang, then wheeled around, looking for a creature that was not there. The bandages snaked across the floor, unraveling as they went in different directions. Elijah pounced on one, ripping it to shreds, but the others were too quick. They reached their destinations, wrapping around the abominations and climbing their stocky torsos until they wrapped around their heads like blindfolds. That¡¯s when five monsters shuddered to life. The sixth remained stationary as the others rumbled forward. Elijah knew better than to remain motionless, so he dashed toward one, using Venom Strike before raking his claws across its leg. He kept going, bounding off the wall to change direction before aiming another strike at the next monster. Without stopping, he dashed toward the next in line. Then, everything went wrong. The grates opened, and a series of tentacle-like bandages erupted from the bubbling green liquid, wrapping themselves around Elijah¡¯s form before he realized what was happening. He thrashed, ripping himself free, but even more bandages emerged to replace them. Meanwhile, the abominations dropped into the pool of liquid, but rather than being melted by acid or poisoned, their skin took on a shimmering green tint as they were obviously empowered. Elijah only noticed that much because of One with Nature, but he didn¡¯t have any time to do anything with that information. Instead, the entirety of his attention was required to keep himself from being yanked into the green liquid. While it might have been empowering for the abominations, it certainly wouldn¡¯t have that effect on Elijah. Fortunately, the entire floor didn¡¯t disappear. Instead, there remained a grid of two-inch wide beams, to which the grates had been attached. That didn¡¯t seem like much to work with ¨C and it wasn¡¯t ¨C but it was enough for Elijah. But he lacked the Strength to break free of the bandages. So, he engaged Shape of the Guardian, transforming into a lamellar ape and ripping them apart with ease. In that form, his Dexterity was distinctly lower than his Strength or Constitution, but it was still high enough to let him balance on the thin beam. Elijah leaped at the nearest abomination, colliding with the creature with all the force he could muster. The impact sent the thing staggering, but it was not nearly as devastating as he had expected. Still, it was something, and Elijah latched onto that thin opportunity ¨C as well as the monster ¨C and began pummeling its faceless head with everything he could bring to bear. Bones cracked beneath his fists, but he only had a few seconds before the other abominations closed. As they did, Elijah noticed that the beams upon which he¡¯d been balanced had begun to retract, leaving only a pool of green. More, the bandages clearly weren¡¯t going to remain idle. So, he did the only thing he could do. As the abomination reeled from his assault, Elijah shifted back to his human form and started casting. He first used Soothe, then Healing Rain, and Swarm. As a series of tiny hands manifested, each one with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth in its palm, Elijah cast Calamity. The moment he finished, he used Shape of the Predator. Chaos reigned as he took on the form of a draconid, and he used it to great advantage, aiming one Venom Strike after another at the abominations as he leaped from one to the next, clawing and biting as often as he could manage. In seconds, he¡¯d loaded each one with enough afflictions to fell an elephant. But they showed no signs of slowing down. Indeed, they almost looked like they were growing stronger. As the winds of Calamity sloshed the green liquid, Elijah caught sight of the Creator. The creature was huddled near its still-standing cauldron, but it had folded itself so completely that, until Calamity had exposed it, the monster had remained hidden. And if it was hiding, that meant it was vulnerable. Elijah could use that. So, he leaped. As he sailed through the air, the Creator clearly sensed him. It tried to skitter away ¨C without its bandages or robes, it was a mass of leaking pustules and scabs, skeletally thin and unnaturally long-limbed. But when it lurched to the side, the monster was ungainly. Elijah hit it like a missile, tearing into its sore-stricken flesh with reckless abandon. It screeched, and the abominations lumbered in for a rescue. It was too late. Elijah snapped out, clamping his jaws around the monster¡¯s thin neck. He flexed, and his teeth closed with irresistible force. Flesh parted, and bones snapped as all sorts of bodily fluids ¨C blood and pus among them ¨C squirted into Elijah¡¯s mouth. He ignored it. Instead, he shook his head back and forth, rending the flesh until it could hold on no longer. The monster¡¯s body crumpled to the ground as Elijah killed it. The moment it died, the abominations fell inert. At the same time, the green liquid drained away, revealing an entire floor full of soggy bandages. But Elijah hadn¡¯t escaped unscathed. The green liquid had been an incredibly powerful acid that, even in that brief few seconds of contact, had eaten through Elijah¡¯s feet almost to the bone. But now that it was gone, the combined power of Soothe and Healing Rain washed the damage away. Still for good measure, he shifted back to his human form and used Touch of Nature until he returned to perfect condition. Only then did he reach down and snatch the amulet from where it had fallen from the Creator¡¯s neck when it had been decapitated. He took a deep breath. The source was dead, which meant that he had assuredly defeated the first floor of the tower. Now, he just needed to progress to the second, and he would gain a reward. More importantly, he would be that much closer to conquering the tower and saving the elves. With that in mind, Elijah shifted back to his draconid form, let Guise of the Unseen settle onto his shoulders, and padded back the way he¡¯d come. 3-58. The Concubine The smell of decay mixed with moist odor of drifting fog as Elijah approached the pile of servitors. None of them even twitched, and as he drew closer, he verified that they were dead. Perhaps they¡¯d never truly been alive, though he suspected that he¡¯d gained some experience from each one, because his levels had skyrocketed after killing the Creator. He looked at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 66
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 99 (77)
Dexterity 84 (69)
Constitution 77 (67)
Ethera 75
Regeneration 89(69)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
While five points in each attribute wasn¡¯t the huge boon that it had been when he¡¯d first washed ashore on his island, it was still a large enough increase that he could feel the difference. He felt stronger, more coordinated, and far tougher. Most importantly, his pool of available Ethera continued to increase in size, enabling more casts. But Elijah was even more interested in the new ability he¡¯d gotten at level sixty-five. He looked at its listing in his spellbook:
Nature¡¯s Rebuke Curse an entity to endure the power of nature, doing damage over time. Triple damage against unnatural creatures. Lasts two minutes.
It was exactly what Elijah needed, as far as he was concerned. In his caster form, his damage capabilities trended more toward area than single target, which in a lot of cases, was great. However, aside from Storm¡¯s Fury, which was underwhelming without his old Staff of Natural Harmony to increase its damage, he had nothing meant for a single entity. So, he hoped that Nature¡¯s Rebuke would fill that niche. It was especially nice because he could cast it, then switch into one of his other forms while it did its damage. It was just one more affliction he could pile on, and he was eager to see how well it worked against monsters like the servitors, which definitely would have qualified as unnatural. In any case, there was nothing around that needed killing, so he continued on his way until he reached the manor. Once he did, he saw hundreds more servitor corpses, each one looking as if it had simply dropped dead mid-stride. Perhaps they had. Still, as he circled the large building, he couldn¡¯t escape just how eerie it all felt. He almost preferred the unrelenting hordes of monsters to the silence hanging over the grounds. Eventually, Elijah reached his destination. He could have entered the manor via the front door, but he couldn¡¯t bring himself to be that brazen. Instead, he¡¯d chosen one of the side doors intended for servants. Of course, Elijah didn¡¯t think the tower¡¯s scenario actually included a domestic staff, but the architectural layout still clung to that illusion. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. After ensuring that there were no threats in the vicinity, Elijah shifted back into his human form, then reached for the door. The red shield rippled like he¡¯d just plunged his hand underwater, but he felt nothing until he grasped the door¡¯s handle. It felt strikingly normal, and he pushed it open before stepping inside. And he was confronted with a normal-looking kitchen. Sure, there were no modern appliances, and there was an enormous fireplace in the center of the room, which hosted an equally large cauldron, but it didn¡¯t really seem abnormal. There were no cooks, though. No scullery maids. The fireplace was cold, and according to One with Nature, the cupboards were completely empty. But Elijah was more interested in the silver box he found at his feet and the notifications that flashed before his eyes.
Congratluations! You have completed Level One of The Magister¡¯s Estate. Grade: B To progress further, complete your Task.
That was expected, though he thought the system was generous with its grading scale. Certainly, after how wrong everything had gone because of Badu, he¡¯d expected a much worse score. However, the relatively high grade suggested that the reward would be better than Elijah expected. So, it was with some eagerness that he reached down and opened the silver box. Inside was a large parcel of grey leather. When he touched it, he received another notification:
Reward for completing Level One of Magister¡¯s Estate: Ghoul-Hide Satchel
¡°Ew,¡± he muttered to himself, resisting the urge to drop the disgusting thing. The notion that it was made of the skins of those creatures outside was troubling. Yet, Elijah knew that any item he received from conquering a tower level was bound to be useful. Doubly so, considering the high grade. So, he resolved to ignore the satchel¡¯s dubious composition. Instead, he took a few moments to inspect its dimensions. And to his vast surprise, the inside was at least twice as large as his current pack. More, as a satchel whose strap could be worn across his torso, it was much more convenient. Finally, he could tell that it had some degree of weight reduction, because after he transferred his belongings from his old pack to the new satchel, he could feel the difference in the burden. All in all, it was a huge upgrade, even if it wasn¡¯t quite what he¡¯d expected. Thankfully, now that it was empty, he could throw his old pack inside the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, so he could travel much more lightly. After that, he took a while to inspect the kitchen, but his first impressions turned out to be accurate. It was empty, both of people and of any goods. Even the pots and pans were gone. Or perhaps they¡¯d never existed. Whatever the case, it didn¡¯t take him much longer to move on. Of course, he did so in his draconid form and under the influence of Guise of the Unseen. As it turned out, it was almost entirely unnecessary, because the manor was completely deserted. Still, he could smell the odor of people, so he followed that trail through expansive building. However, he didn¡¯t do so without checking every room right down to the closets. And he found nothing, save for a huge set of locked doors that shimmered with the same protective barrier as the entrances. Elijah expected that it was the way ahead, which meant that he needed to find another key. After leaving that behind in search of such a key, he reached what seemed like living quarters fit for a princess. Ignoring the rich d¨¦cor, which trended toward velvet and silk amidst wrought iron and dark wood, Elijah stalked forward. And that¡¯s when the trail he¡¯d been following ended in the scene of a massacre. A blonde woman, all in white, knelt amidst a dozen bodies. Her porcelain skin was marred by blood that coated her dainty chin, while tears flowed freely down her cheeks. The corpses around her were dressed like all the other natives Elijah had seen, but it didn¡¯t take him long to recognize the woman who¡¯d helped him only a couple of hours before. Her throat had been ripped out. The blonde woman quivered with her tears. But then, she leaned forward and licked the congealed blood that had pooled beneath her. As she did, she muttered, ¡°So hungry. S-so¡­hungry.¡± For a long time, Elijah just watched the woman feasting upon the pool of blood, and though he was disgusted, he couldn¡¯t help but feel pity. Clearly, she was in no small degree of distress. She obviously hated what she was doing. But she couldn¡¯t resist. She couldn¡¯t stop herself. It didn¡¯t take a huge leap of logic to come to the conclusion that she was a vampire, and not a willing one. But as much as he pitied the girl, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to try to help her. Perhaps the natives had tried that route, and they¡¯d paid the price for their sense of mercy. Elijah wanted to let her live, the signs were too obvious to ignore. Perhaps someone else could have saved her. Maybe there was something he¡¯d missed. For all Elijah knew, there was some cure for her condition somewhere else in the house. But the fact was that he didn¡¯t have the time to search the entire manor. As such, he had one option, even he hesitated to exercise it. But hesitation wasn¡¯t refusal, and he slowly crept forward until he was only a couple of feet behind the weeping vampire. Then, after using Predator Strike and Venom Strike, he struck, snapping out with his powerful jaws. They closed around her head, clamping down with tens of thousands of pounds of pressure. She reacted just before his teeth connected with her skull, but by that point, it was too late. Her head burst in a fountain of blood. A second later, her entire body melted into crimson liquid that, in turn, evaporated after a few more moments. And just like that, she was dead. But standing in the center of all those corpses, Elijah was a little disappointed. She had fallen too easily. Of course, he didn¡¯t crave a life-or-death fight. However, there was a part of him that had expected his opening salvo to be just that ¨C the beginning of a back-and-forth fight. He knew it wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t know his own strength. He was well aware of how powerful he could be. Instead, he suspected that the vampire girl simply wasn¡¯t that strong. So, she¡¯d never really been meant to be an obstacle. So, after making certain that the rest of the natives were dead, Elijah moved further into the living quarters. Soon enough, he found his way to a bedroom, and after a little searching, he found two items. The first was a diary, and looking at the first few pages told Elijah that it belonged to the vampiric girl he¡¯d just killed. He continued to read ¨C or skim, really, given the time constraints ¨C and he found himself engrossed in her story. Predictably, she hadn¡¯t always been a vampire. Instead, she¡¯d been abducted from a nearby village, and when she was brought to the manor, Lord Lothgal had taken her to his bed. At first, even though she wasn¡¯t willing, she had not resisted, thinking that he would tire of her company and let her go. That had never happened. Instead, he somehow converted her to vampirism and forced her to feed on her former neighbors. But the girl ¨C whose name was Sharath ¨C hadn¡¯t given up. Instead, she¡¯d plotted to kill Lothgal, persuading a local wizard to create an item that would allow her to infiltrate the lord¡¯s chambers and kill him in his sleep. That was the second item Elijah had found. He turned the locket over in his hands. He knew how it worked, and he knew what it would do, too. The diary had been clear on both counts. Yet, Elijah hesitated. Surely, there was a better solution to his issues than to use some untested magical device. However, his hesitation only lasted as long as it took for him to hear a scratching at the bedroom door. Using One with Nature, he sensed that the corpses he¡¯d left behind had risen as vampires, and they¡¯d followed his scent to the bedroom. Soon enough, they would break down the door, and after that, it would come down to another fight. But it wouldn¡¯t get him any closer to the lord¡¯s quarters. So, Elijah took a deep breath, then slipped the locket around his neck. As he stepped forward to the spot described by the diary, the vampires burst through the door. He opened the locket, and the item activated. Instantly, Elijah felt his body contract, and the item¡¯s effect was not a painless experience. Instead of shrinking down, like he¡¯d seen in so many movies growing up, it was more like his body imploded, collapsing in on itself. Which presented a problem, because when the effect completed, he was only about a quarter of an inch tall. And he was hundreds of body lengths above the floor. As the vampires burst into the room, slavering for blood, he fell. During the fall, he cast Soothe, then shifted into his lamellar ape form just before he hit the floor with a thud. Thankfully, he was more than durable enough to survive such a fall, and nothing broke. But that extreme of blunt-force impact definitely wasn¡¯t pleasant. Soothe helped, though, and he pushed himself upright before taking stock. He¡¯d positioned himself according to the diary¡¯s description, so he wasn¡¯t far from his destination, which was a crack in the baseboard. From there, he didn¡¯t know what to expect. Indeed, all he knew was that it would lead him to Lord Lothgal, which was the ultimate goal. Most importantly, Elijah knew that the item¡¯s effect would only last for a little more than thirty minutes. Which meant that he was on an even tighter timer. So, he set off, passing through the crack and leaving the vampires behind. 3-59. Vermin Elijah shifted into his draconid form and attempted to adopt Guise of the Unseen. However, when he tried, the ability refused to cooperate. That told him two things. First, he was not alone. And second, they were watching him. Flaring One with Nature, he tried to find his hidden observers, but even though the cavernous crack in the wall was only a dozen or so inches across, his ability couldn¡¯t touch the sides. Apparently, it had scaled right alongside his decreased size. In some ways, he felt no different than he usually did. The effects of his attributes had kept pace with his shrunken size. ¡°Guess I won¡¯t go full Mighty Mouse,¡± he mused. Shaking his head, he quickly moved. He had no idea how long the tunnel ¨C or crack in the wall ¨C really was, and he was on a timer. After all, the half hour duration of the locket¡¯s effect had already begun to tick down. So, he couldn¡¯t afford to waste any further time. With that in mind, he pushed forward, shifting into his lamellar ape form after a few steps. If he couldn¡¯t use Guise of the Unseen, then he would take advantage of his guardian form¡¯s much higher defenses. For the first few hundred subjective feet, Elijah encountered no issues. He could feel something watching every step he took, though. He didn¡¯t know what form his watchers might take, but his mind went wild with possibilities. Without wasting any time, Elijah was capable of fairly rapid movement, and with his unseen watchers following his every movement, he pushed himself into a loping jog that covered ground quickly. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. The moment he increased his pace, a sickly-sweet smell filled the entire area. And, at last, he looked up and caught sight of his would-be foes. Elijah recognized them immediately, and he was not happy about what he saw. Long, with huge, bulbous heads equipped with enormous mandibles, the termites were more than five times his small size. Analytically, he knew that meant they were abnormally large ¨C even considering his shrunken stature ¨C but he chalked it up to the effects of magic. After all, he was still in a tower populated by vampires and ghouls. Encountering slightly larger termites shouldn¡¯t have been a surprise. At first, they didn¡¯t attack. Instead, they just hung upside down from the ceiling, looking down on him. He sped up, knowing what that smell was. Termite soldiers like the ones on the ceiling used pheromones to alert their colony of intruders. Normally, that meant going to war with ants, but Elijah supposed that he was sufficiently ant-like for the termites to treat him as an enemy. After only a couple of seconds, one of the termites reared back, then shot something viscous and shiny from the center of its bulbous head. Elijah was so surprised that he didn¡¯t try to dodge until it was too late. The substance hit him in the shoulder a moment later, knocking him sideways. More disturbingly, when he tried to lift the attached limb, he found that the goo was sticky, pinning his arm to his side. A moment later, he saw hundreds of other termite soldiers copy the first, and a second after that, the air was full of those globs of sticky stuff. Elijah pushed himself to go even faster, ripping his arm from his side along the way. It took almost all of his considerable Strength to do so, but he managed it. Barely. If he let even a dozen of those globs hit him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to move. Then, he¡¯d be a sitting duck for the termites. Elijah pushed himself to his top speed, which, considering his Strength, was impressive. He had no way of gauging it, but if he was going slower than seventy miles-per-hour ¨C subjectively, of course ¨C he would have been incredibly surprised. Even so, the termites almost got him. More than anything, he wished he could simply fight them on even ground. However, they refused to come down from their perches, and though he could probably reach them if he leaped, that strategy would probably get him hit by more goo. So, he¡¯d chosen to run. After all, termites were territorial. Generally speaking, they wouldn¡¯t leave the vicinity of their colony. So, he just needed to outrun them ¨C which was easier said than done. Elijah dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the latest volley, then continued to spring through the cave-like crack in the wall. His Sash of the Whirlwind stood him in good stead, the Haste effect giving him just enough time to react. But each volley was a close call. Until, at last, he managed to tumble free of the tunnel. He kept going for a few hundred more yards before he dared to look back. The termites were still there, angrily glaring at him from the opening. But they hadn¡¯t pursued him any further. He sighed, resuming his human form. Once he had, he used a combination of Healing Rain and his soap to scrub the goo free. He was so engrossed in the task that he never even saw his next foe¡¯s approach until it entered the range of One with Nature. When it did, he wheeled around to see an absolutely enormous rat staring back at him. Or perhaps it was a normal-sized rodent, and it just seemed large compared it his current size. But it was also no normal rat. Huge chunks of its flesh were missing, exposing bits of bone. Most of the fur on its left side was gone, and one of its eyes hung from the socket on a fleshy string. By all accounts, there was no way the thing should have been ambulatory, given its decrepit condition. And judging by the smell coming from it, its insides were no better than the features Elijah could see. Yet, on it came, and moving with an alacrity that belied its state of clear decay. Elijah reacted quickly, casting Snaring Roots, then, for the first time ever, using Nature¡¯s Rebuke. The creature stumbled as thorny vines erupted from the floor, cracking tiles as they snaked around the rat¡¯s legs. When Nature¡¯s Rebuke landed, it reared back, letting loose an unholy screech that sent a chill up Elijah¡¯s spine. He followed that up with Swarm. Then Calamity. Finally, he used Storm¡¯s Fury, and even as a thousand tiny mites manifested, the world erupted into chaos comprised of vicious wind blades, rumbling earth, and lightning. The largest bolt came from Storm¡¯s Fury, hitting the rat directly in the forehead. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But the rat paid no attention to any of that chaos. Instead, it continued to screech, twitching and shaking from the effects of Nature¡¯s Rebuke. Clearly, it was no natural creature, and that meant the spell was triply effective. More, it was just as obviously painful. As Elijah watched the rat, listening to its agonized screams, he couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly guilty. However, that only lasted until he truly focused on it via One with Nature. Upon brushing that facet of his mind, he recoiled. Anger welled inside of him, and he added another Storm¡¯s Fury to mix. Then another. It was only because the monster finally died that he backed away, panting. At first, he had no idea what had come over him, but it only took a bit of inward focus to recognize that it originated with his archetype. Druids were the stewards of nature, and commitment to that endeavor came with a slightly adjusted mindset. Before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, Elijah had been closer to nature than most. Indeed, growing up, he¡¯d spent more time outdoors than under a roof, and when he¡¯d decided to pursue his degree in biology, focusing on marine life, he¡¯d spent countless hours out on the open ocean. But back then, he¡¯d never felt nearly as close to nature as he did after attaining his archetype. And that connection had only grown stronger in the time since. That was helped along by his constant use of One with Nature, which served to give him insight into everything around him. Most of the time, that was a good thing. Yet, when he focused on the rat, his mind reeled the sheer unnaturalness of its body, of its very being. And the abomination of it made him angry. To a lesser extent, he¡¯d felt something similar with the ghouls, but for one reason or another, the situation was far worse with the rat. Probably because it had once been a normal creature, whereas the ghouls and the Creator¡¯s other minions had been manufactured. Either way, he wanted nothing more than to banish the rat¡¯s corpse. A skittering sound coming from nearby told Elijah that he was the only one who felt that way. He whipped around to see a dozen monstrous cockroaches bearing down on him. Upon laying eyes on his latest attackers, Elijah saw that the word cockroach was a bit of a misnomer. They were that, sure, but they seemed like they had some ant in them, too. Whatever the case, the hybrid was horrifying, huge, and clearly intent on killing him. But they were natural creatures, which was something of a relief. Still, he took the time to use Nature¡¯s Rebuke on each one. They let out a collective roar when the curse landed, but they didn¡¯t start twitching uncontrollably like the rat had. Elijah took a moment to use Brand of the Stalker on the largest one, too. It was at least twice the size of the rest, so he figured it was the strongest of the bunch. Then, he shifted into his draconid form. It was just in time, too, because the ant-roaches reached him only a second later. Elijah leaped over the first low-slung monster, and he nearly got a mandible to the stomach for his trouble. The monster reacted quickly, only missing by inches. Elijah landed, then lashed out with his claws, embracing Venom Strike a second before his claws raked across the ant-roach¡¯s natural armor. But he didn¡¯t stop. Without the protection of Guise of the Unseen, Shape of the Predator was extremely vulnerable. However, it could also put out quite a lot of damage, especially against heavily armored monsters like the ant-roaches ¨C largely because he could bypass their chitinous exoskeleton by administering his various afflictions. Because Venom Strike, Nature¡¯s Rebuke, and Contagion didn¡¯t care about armor. Once the enemy was infected, Elijah just needed to wait for them to go to work. With that in mind, he dashed from one ant-roach to the next, using his high Dexterity and respectable Strength to help him avoid any retaliatory strikes. And it worked ¨C for a while. But because he was walking a tight rope between success and disaster, it was inevitable that he would eventually slip up and make a mistake. There were just too many variables and unpredictable factors for it to be otherwise. So, he wasn¡¯t really surprised when one of the ants suddenly reversed its course, pivoting on three of its six legs, then taking a chunk out of his vulnerable side. Elijah stumbled ¨C only for a second ¨C but that was enough for the rest of the monsters to pile on. In moments, he was buried beneath a small mountain of chitin, skittering legs, and biting mouthparts he couldn¡¯t really identify. When he saw the writing on the wall, Elijah initiated a shift to his lamellar ape form, but the nature of the transformation meant that it took a couple of seconds to complete. And in that time, the ant-roaches ripped him to pieces. So, when he finally took on the Shape of the Guardian, he did so with a momentous roar. He thrust himself upright, throwing a couple of the insects free. Then, he lashed out, battering the monstrous creatures with a series of hard strikes. Yet, even as he cracked their chitin, the monsters kept coming. Then, Elijah caught wind of a second wave that was even larger than the last. He grabbed one of the insects, hooking his claws under a pair of ridges in its exoskeleton, then ripped it apart in a shower of orange meat and fluid. But as he let out a massive roar, he knew it was a pyrrhic victory. Because behind the second wave was a third. Hundreds of monsters were coming his way, and there was nothing he could do to survive it. He pushed away, intending to run, but by that point, so many of the monsters had latched onto his legs that he knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to outpace the newcomers. Nor could he switch out of the lamellar ape form, because without Iron Scales blunting the monsters¡¯ bites, he¡¯d probably start losing limbs. He ripped another monster away, slamming it into a third. Chitin cracked, and he ripped the legs from still another. Then, the second wave hit, and he was buried beneath a pile of insects. He didn¡¯t stop fighting, though. He wouldn¡¯t. But in a couple of facets of his mind, he knew he was doomed. Then, suddenly, the effect associated with the locket ended, and he rapidly grew into his normal size. The ant-roaches did not, though, and after a brief period of surprise, Elijah brushed them from his scales and viciously stomped them all to death. Still, even after they were all dead, he couldn¡¯t forget that he¡¯d very nearly been killed by a bunch of insects. Clearly, he should have taken his chances with the vampires. He had underestimated the dangers, and because of that, his journey had almost ended. So, after shifting back to his human form, Elijah took a few minutes to heal. As he did so, he took the break as an opportunity to calm his nerves. Then, he finally looked around. The crack ¨C which looked so tiny from his current perspective ¨C had terminated in a small sitting room. It was richly decorated, with velvet covered furniture and d¨¦cor of dark wood. But more importantly, Elijah had gotten a notification upon exiting the crack.
Congratluations! You have completed Level Two of The Magister¡¯s Estate. Grade: C To progress further, complete your Task.
At first, despite his close brush with death, he thought it was a curiously easy level. Yet, in retrospect, he thought he might have bypassed some difficult challenges. After all, there was a chance that others might not have found the vampire¡¯s diary. Or the locket. And even if they had, the effect only affected one person. So, it was possible for him to take advantage of the shortcut, but if he¡¯d have had the elves with him, it would have been useless. Unfortunately, the locket had dissipated into motes of ethera the moment he¡¯d returned to normal size, so he wouldn¡¯t be able to take it with him. Regardless, a C-Grade wasn¡¯t ideal. He just hoped it wouldn¡¯t affect his reward too much. After looking around and failing to see his reward, he decided to move on. There was only one exit and Elijah suspected that going through it would net him his reward. So, with determination, he strode forward, opened the door, and stepped through. 3-60. The Slow Clap A slight breeze flowed through the opulently decorated hall, fluttering the tapestries decorating the walls. Elijah only had to look at the end of the corridor to see the open window which was the culprit. Could he have entered through that opening? Or was it only there for ambiance? He had no idea, but it highlighted the fact that towers were far more complex than he¡¯d first expected. His first time through one, he¡¯d thought the experience was fairly linear, but each subsequent run through a tower had hammered home that each task could be completed in a wide variety of ways. Some of those options would only be open to people with a few specific abilities, yet others were based on the way people thought. Perhaps a more straightforward person would have simply led his group through the front door. Or a thief might¡¯ve found his way to the open window Elijah had just found. There were likely dozens of ways to overcome each obstacle, which made each tower a dizzyingly complex set of branching possibilities. His previous task had been to reach the lord¡¯s quarters, which he¡¯d clearly accomplished, because his new goal had been updated:
Task: Defeat Lord Lothgal.
At least it was uncomplicated. Elijah looked down to see that a silver box had predictably manifested. He knelt down and opened it, retrieving the items inside. When he did, another notification flashed before his inner eye:
Reward for completing Level Two of Magister¡¯s Estate: Weighted Gloves
At first glance, they looked like MMA gloves, with padding along the knuckles and bare fingers. Yet, when Elijah picked them up, he couldn¡¯t deny that they fit their name. ¡°Weighted gloves indeed,¡± he muttered. Even with his Strength, their weight was noticeable. More, he could feel hard protrusions in the knuckles that would functionally be similar to using brass knuckles. Finally, they were made of almost identical grey leather to his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, which meant that he had no interest in investigating their composition. Elijah had something of a choice to make. He couldn¡¯t wear his Claws of Gluttony at the same time as the Weighted Gloves. So, he needed to decide whether or not to replace the older piece of equipment. His first instinct was to keep what he had. The Claws of Gluttony were a little limited, especially given that their effect only worked when he clawed his opponents. Yet, Anticoagulant was a powerful ability that, though it wasn¡¯t flashy, had definitely made plenty of difference. But the Weighted Gloves called to him, largely because of his past. He¡¯d spent a lot of time in the boxing gym, and though the gloves were a plainly different design, they still reminded him of those days. So, his choice was probably inevitable. Wasting no time, Elijah nicked his finger, bleeding on the Weighted Gloves before shoving some ethera into the items. Then, he exchanged the gloves for the Claws of Gluttony and checked his status, noting that he¡¯d gained an additional five Strength and Dexterity. More importantly, he sensed that the item came with an ability. He didn¡¯t know what it was called, but when Elijah mentally flicked its switch, the gloves disappeared. He activated it again, and the gloves came back. He did it a few more times, noting a couple of things. First, the additional attributes he¡¯d gained remained in both states. Second, there was no limit to how often he could use the ability. That meant he wouldn¡¯t have to walk around wearing a pair of fingerless leather gloves, which was strangely comforting to his vanity. He already had to deal with everyone noticing his bare feet. Complicating that with a pair of weird gloves was probably pushing the eccentric image a bit too far. Regardless, he was happy with his choice, so he placed his Claws of Gluttony into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then turned his attention to the notification he was most interested in.
Congratulations! You have reached level seventy. Attribute points allocated according to your class.
¡°Towers really are great for leveling,¡± he said to himself. Of course, Elijah knew his actions weren¡¯t really repeatable. Not for most people, at least. He had a unique set of spells and abilities that made him almost entirely self-sufficient. That meant that he didn¡¯t have to split his experience ¨C each kill gave a set amount, which was split between whoever had contributed to its defeat, according to how the system interpreted their efforts. So, the result was that, so long as he had plenty of high-leveled monsters, he could achieve a truly frightening leveling speed. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. He knew it would slow down, though. His first levels had been achieved by killing dozens of crabs and fish, each of which was barely even recognized by the system at that time. Back then, anything powerful enough to give him any levels had been killed by the panther. But since then, he¡¯d noticed that each level he¡¯d achieved had been the result of more effort than the last. And things would soon get out of control. Still, he suspected that he would need all the levels he could get if he was going to keep going, so he wasn¡¯t going to argue with the system that, for now, seemed to favor him. Regardless, he was eager to look at his new ability:
Flicker Step Slip into the shadows, emerging behind your opponent. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of the Predator. Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 61.2 Seconds.
There was a lot to unpack with that description. First off ¨C it was a potentially amazing ability. Elijah could already think of quite a few situations where it would have been incredibly useful. In his draconid form, mobility was essential, so anything that could help in that area was a boon. The second thing Elijah noted was that the cooldown would decrease based on his Dexterity. In one of the guides he¡¯d purchased, he¡¯d discovered that most skills whose cooldowns were based on a specific attribute ¨C rather than being static ¨C had a minimum cooldown. Still, it was nice to know that Flicker Step¡¯s cooldown would decrease each time he leveled. It was an interesting ability, and he knew it would come in handy. But he didn¡¯t have time to truly investigate or test it. After all, he was still on a timer. By his reckoning, he¡¯d already used up half of his allotted time. Through the window, he could see the evidence of the sunrise. And if he failed to complete the tower before the twenty-four hours had passed, the elves were doomed. So, with that in mind, he shifted back into his draconid form, adopted Guise of the Unseen, then padded down the corridor. There were only a few ways to go, so it didn¡¯t take Elijah long to establish that the wing was vacant. But it was obvious from the sheer wealth on display that it was meant for the lord of the manor. Or perhaps gaudiness was the better word. The decorator had clearly spent quite a lot of money on the d¨¦cor, and they obviously had a preference for gold, silver, and red velvet. In addition, the resident was obviously something of a narcissist, because there were dozens of large paintings depicting a handsome, white-haired man with ivory skin. He looked like the epitome of aristocratic class, complete with a velvet cape, pantaloons, and a haughty expression that made Elijah feel like even the paintings were looking down on him. However, there was no evidence of the man himself. So, Elijah quickly left that wing behind and found his way to a wide, central corridor. He spent a little more time exploring the next wing over, but it was empty as well, though it had clearly housed one or more women, judging by the dresses in the closets he found. With those two avenues having been exhausted, Elijah found his way back to the main corridor, then backtracked to a large, locked door. If his sense of direction was correct, it would lead him back to where he¡¯d found the vampire girl and the people she had killed. So, there was only one other way to go. It was the obvious one. Elijah padded down the center of the corridor, keeping One with Nature flared as he looked for any traps. There were none, and eventually, the hall ended in a set of open doors. Both were elaborately carved with symbols Elijah didn¡¯t recognize and trimmed with red gold. Elijah slipped inside, and he very nearly gasped at what he saw. It was an enormous cathedral. The vaulted ceiling soared high above, and the walls were lined with pointed arches, inside of which were stained glass windows depicting the man from the paintings. That same figure was seated before a giant pipe organ on the other end of the chamber. It was obviously Lothgal. Even if Elijah hadn¡¯t recognized him from all the paintings, he could feel the power wafting off the man. And judging by what he felt, Lothgal was the most powerful creature he¡¯d ever encountered. As Elijah watched, the man began to play the organ, which erupted into what sounded curiously like Bach¡¯s Toccata and Fugue. It was a little too on the nose to be completely coincidental, but Elijah wasn¡¯t terribly concerned with how a magical tower had manifested a famous piece of Earthen music typically associated with vampires. If it could create ogres, trolls, and ghouls, anything was possible. Regardless, Elijah settled in to wait, intending to implement the vampire girl¡¯s plan of killing Lothgal in his sleep. However, as the minutes stretched into more than an hour, he began to feel the timer ticking down. After two more hours, it was clear that Lothgal had no intention of slowing down. He¡¯d switched to another piece of organ music that Elijah didn¡¯t recognize, but was equally haunting. Judging by his theatrical and enthusiastic organ playing, it didn¡¯t seem that Lothgal was eager to return to his chambers for some well-earned rest. So, Elijah decided to act before it was too late. He padded forward on silent feet, passing one pew after another until, at last, he reached the dais upon which the organ had been placed. In the back of one facet of his Quartz Mind, Elijah felt that something was wrong, but no matter how he looked at the scenario, he couldn¡¯t quite figure out what that was. So, he pushed his misgivings aside, positioned himself behind Lothgal, and, after using Venom Strike and Predator Strike, pounced. And he found nothing but air before crashing into the pipe organ. The instrument let out a loud clatter as pipes were knocked aside and sent to fall onto the floor. Meanwhile, Elijah struggled to extricate himself from the wreckage. It wasn¡¯t until a few seconds later that he managed to free himself that he saw what had happened. Lothgal was still sitting exactly where he¡¯d been before Elijah had pounced. In fact, he was still enthusiastically playing the organ that was no longer in front of him. The illusion flickered, then disappeared. That¡¯s when Elijah heard a slow, methodical clapping coming from the central path through the cathedral. He turned to see the real Lothgal¡¯s measured approach. The man looked exactly as he had on the dais ¨C which, in retrospect, was clearly an illusion ¨C though he wore a broad, yet condescending smile as he slowly clapped. ¡°Bravo! Bravo, beast!¡± he said jovially. ¡°You are quite entertaining. Perhaps when my pretties are done with you, you can be my jester. I have always wanted one.¡± Then, Elijah became aware of five more presences flickering into being. It only took a glance to put two and two together. Each newcomer was a woman dressed all in white, and beautiful ones at that. But they were all pale-skinned, with the same indefinable aura of hunger hanging from their shoulders that Elijah had sensed from the vampire girl. Moreover, he could feel that same sense of wrongness he¡¯d experienced from the plague rat. They were vampires. Obviously. As a Druid, it was his duty to rid the world of unnatural things. So, despite his surprise, Elijah calmly shifted into his human form. Then, he aimed his mind at the closest vampire bride and used Nature¡¯s Rebuke. She screamed in agony, and the final battle of the Magister¡¯s Estate began. 3-61. Cleansing the Unnatural Four vampire brides glided across the tiles, screeching with fury. Meanwhile, a fifth had fallen to the floor, where she screamed in agony as she raked her long nails across her beautiful, pale face. And finally, Lothgal looked on like a child who¡¯d just gotten the Christmas gift he¡¯d wanted all along. Targeting one of the other vampire women, Elijah once again cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke. However, when he did, he felt something slice through his mind, slamming the door shut on his ethera. Panicked, he was thrown off his intended casting sequence, and it was only due to the Haste from Sash of the Whirlwind that he managed to duck under a set of blood-red claws that would have ripped his throat out. He dove forward in a roll, scrambling to understand what had just happened. At the same time, Lothgal let out a haughty laugh. He wagged his finger, saying, ¡°Nuh-uh-uh. No more of that, now!¡± Elijah had no idea how the vampire lord had managed to block his casting, but after only a moment, he sensed two things. First, the wall between his ethera and the ability to cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke was gradually growing thinner, suggesting that it would only last for a handful of seconds. Maybe a minute. But that was still too long. Second, he realized that it didn¡¯t just block Nature¡¯s Rebuke. Rather, it prevented him from casting Swarm, Calamity, and Storm¡¯s Fury as well. It didn¡¯t take a genius to understand that Lothgal had somehow silenced his ability to cast damage spells. However, a quick cast of Healing Rain told him that his other spells and abilities were available. That meant he had a chance. Because without the ability to shapeshift or heal, he would have been dead in the water and had no choice but to flee. All of that flashed through Elijah¡¯s mind in the space of a moment, but even that small delay very nearly got him killed when another of the brides closed on him. She launched herself at him, her claws glistening with that same red enamel. Meanwhile, her sister-brides followed close on her heels. Elijah cast Soothe as he reared back and aimed a baseball style swing at the vampire¡¯s face. She was mid-air, so she had no chance of dodging the blow, and she took it right in the mouth. However, two issues presented themselves after that. First, Elijah heard the distinct sound of cracking wood. The staff hadn¡¯t shattered ¨C not completely ¨C but he knew it wasn¡¯t long for the world. Hopefully, it would still work as intended, but he had no guarantees. Whatever the case, he didn¡¯t dare use it as a pummeling weapon again. The second major problem was that, even though the leaping bride was knocked aside, his attack had done nothing for the others. And they were almost upon him. So, without further delay, Elijah initiated a shift into his guardian form. As Shape of the Guardian transformed his body, elongating his arms and adding hundreds of pounds of muscle, Elijah leaped backwards to give himself a little extra time. His tactic worked, and by the time the three vampire women closed the gap, the change had completed. So, he met them with the fury of the lamellar ape, using his long arms to batter them aside. But to Elijah¡¯s immense surprise, each attack did a lot more damage than he would have expected. Bones broke beneath his heavy blows, and the vampire women went flying backwards. The last, he grabbed around the head like he was palming a basketball, then squeezed. She screamed in pain, but her skull proved unnaturally sturdy. She raked her claws against his scales, and even though he¡¯d preemptively used Iron Scales, she left grooves in his flesh. But Elijah could take that. He lifted her from the ground, and though she kicked and struggled, she could do nothing to stop him from slamming her against the tiles hard enough that they shattered. Her body followed suit, but she didn¡¯t die. So, he did it again. That did the trick, and once he felt that trickle of experience enter his body, he picked the corpse up and threw it at Lothgal. The vampire lord nimbly danced to the side with a playful pirouette and a hearty laugh, filling Elijah with rage. But he couldn¡¯t spare any attention for Lothgal, because the other three vampire brides were bearing down on him. The fourth remained in agony as she writhed on the ground trying to rip her own skin off. Clearly, Nature¡¯s Rebuke was not a painless curse, but seeing her reaction did beg the question of what, precisely, it felt like. Elijah hoped he would never know. Pushing that to its own facet of his Quartz Mind, Elijah threw himself at the other three vampire brides. They reacted in kind, attacking with the reckless ferocity of rabid beasts, and what followed was a knock-down, drag-out fight where those three women gave as good as they got. However, where each of their raking attacks were mitigated by the combination of Elijah¡¯s thick hide, Iron Scales, and his uncommonly high Constitution, his own blows were met with almost no resistance. And each time he hit one of them, he was once again astounded by how much damage he did. There were only two possible explanations. Either they were incredibly fragile, or the Weighted Gloves had a trait meant to increase his damage in some way. And given their construction, he expected the latter was the cause of the potency of his attacks. In any case, Elijah put everything he had into the fight, and the vampire brides paid the price. At first, he only broke bones. But soon enough, those broken bones became much more serious injuries. And finally, they were slain, one by one until only the one Elijah had disabled with Nature¡¯s Rebuke remained. Calmly, he walked toward the woman, and even though the curse had long since worn off, she still hadn¡¯t moved. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. The pale skin on her once beautiful face had been scraped clean from her skull. Most of it was under her nails, but there was a decent amount piled nearby. Green veins of something that felt like nature¡¯s fury were visible even through her white dress. She was still in agony. Elijah raised his foot, then brought it down on her head. His heel thudded into her skull, crushing it like a melon. It burst. And then, he turned his attention on Lothgal. From the other vampire girl¡¯s diary, he knew that none of the women had been willing. If he could have managed it, he would have spared them. However, the moment they gave into their hunger, they were lost. That much had been clear in the text, and it was the girl¡¯s most fervent fear. So, as much as Elijah regretted the necessity of killing them, he knew that he¡¯d had no choice. It didn¡¯t matter that they weren¡¯t real. He still felt it, deep in his heart. He was a killer, and many times over. But he wasn¡¯t so hard-hearted that he could slaughter a group of victimized women and not feel some measure of guilt. Even if it was necessary, regret was inevitable. Elijah fed that emotion into the bonfire of rage burning in his heart. And that ire was directed at one person. The still-amused Lord Lothgal who was now the focus of the entirety of Elijah¡¯s attention. ¡°Very impressive. You truly are a savage beast. I could use ¨C¡± Elijah bounded forward, but not at the vampire. Instead, he targeted a seemingly empty pew. When he crashed into it, shattering the wood into splinters, he felt something much softer beneath him. That something hissed and tried to bite him, but Elijah ignored the real Lothgal¡¯s pitiful attempts at an attack and wrapped his hands around the creature. Then, he heaved the vampire lord across the cathedral. The pale-skinned creature hit one of the columns, which sent him cartwheeling across the room until he finally crashed into the mostly destroyed organ. The pipes that hadn¡¯t already fallen clattered down atop Lothgal, burying him under a ton of brass. The first time he¡¯d tried to attack the vampire lord, Elijah had sensed that something was amiss. He had ignored it. This time, though, he paid attention to the alarm in his mind, and it wasn¡¯t long before he recognized that it was One with Nature screaming at him that what it sensed didn¡¯t match up to what he saw before him. So, when he wanted to target Lothgal, he¡¯d focused on One with Nature, and he¡¯d found a curious absence sitting on the pew. He¡¯d interpreted that as the creature¡¯s true location. From there, it was simple. Which was why he was surprised when the illusion stabbed him in the back. He felt it flicker into existence a second before the blade bit into his back, which allowed him to twist just enough to avoid having his spine severed. Still, the blade ripped through his Iron Scales and into his kidney. He reacted instantly, aiming a backhand at the vampire lord. Lothgal danced backward, ending with a back handspring accompanied by a ringing laugh. That¡¯s when Elijah caught sight of his foe¡¯s state. The creature was more than a little worse for wear, with ripped and tattered clothing, a couple of bones jutting at all the wrong angles, and a jaw that looked as if it was hanging on by a thread. But even as Elijah clutched the freely bleeding wound in his back, the vampire adjusted his shattered jaw, and before Elijah¡¯s eyes, it healed. The same was true of his broken bones. Even his clothing reformed. Within a few seconds, Lothgal was whole and, once again, looking as if he was ready to attend a ball. He raised a long dirk to his lips. His tongue snaked out, and he licked Elijah¡¯s blood. Then, with a theatrical shiver, he said, ¡°Oh, aren¡¯t you delicious. A nice little appetizer before the main course.¡± Elijah¡¯s chest tightened in fear, and for the first time ever, he understood what his own foes must¡¯ve felt when he¡¯d used Guardian¡¯. It was not a pleasant sensation. With the vampire so far away, Elijah took a moment to shift back to his human form and cast Soothe on himself. As his back healed, he cast Healing Rain as well. Finally, he targeted the vampire and cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke. Before he could complete the cast, though, the vampire gestured with his dagger, and Elijah¡¯s spell slammed into another barrier. This one, though, seemed like it was going to last much longer. ¡°Keep that nasty little curse of yours to yourself,¡± spat the vampire lord, showing anger for the very first time. It was gone a second later, replaced by the same flippant attitude he¡¯d worn during the entire fight. Elijah¡¯s mind whirled. He didn¡¯t want to prolong the fight. The vampire was too tricky, and he knew he was up against his deadline. If he took much longer, the elves would die. Or be transformed. Or whatever it was that the curse¡¯s effect turned out to be. And though he didn¡¯t think he owed the elves anything ¨C indeed, he had found the entire affair much easier without their interference ¨C he didn¡¯t want them to die. Well, none of them but Badu. But even that idiot didn¡¯t deserve to perish. So, Elijah leveraged every facet of his mind toward figuring out how to kill the vampire as quickly as possible. And looking around the cathedral, he quickly came up with a plan. So, he slowly backed away ¨C accompanied by the vampire lord¡¯s insults ¨C until he reached the pile of brass pipes that had once been the organ. Then, he reached down, picked one up, and threw it as hard as he could. The vampire dodged easily, mocking Elijah¡¯s technique. ¡°I did not expect you to be a coward!¡± he shouted with a laugh. Elijah ignored him. Instead, he threw another of the brass pipes. Once again, the vampire lord easily dodged. The next one was similarly avoided. ¡°Honestly, you should ¨C¡± Elijah suddenly rushed the vampire lord. Once again, he¡¯d used that illusion ability, but as he had before, Elijah saw right through it via One with Nature. So, he crashed into the invisible Lothgal. The vampire lord slithered away, stabbing Elijah three times in quick succession, then darting forward to bite him. Elijah took it. Even as the creature¡¯s fangs pierced his Iron Scales, he grabbed Lothgal around the waist and charged forward. Because he¡¯d never meant to hit the vampire with the brass pipes. Instead, he¡¯d been aiming at something else. The stained glass had proven to be far more durable than he¡¯d expected, but three heavy metal pipes thrown with all the force Elijah could muster had done the trick, shattering the window and allowing the morning sunlight to peak through. Elijah didn¡¯t know much about vampires. He¡¯d never been into monster movies or tween romances with glittery heartthrobs. But everyone knew that vampires didn¡¯t mix well with sunlight. And that knowledge proved true when he thrust the vampire into the beam of light. It didn¡¯t just blister him. Nor did it turn Lothgal into ash. Instead, it melted him. The heat did blister Elijah¡¯s scales, but he¡¯d endured worse. Lothgal tried to squirm free, but the sunlight had robbed him of all power. So, he died only a few seconds later, and just like that, Elijah had conquered the final level of the Magister¡¯s Estate. 3-62. Bane A chilling scream echoed across the town, sending a tremor up Carmen¡¯s spine. She shoved the hastily constructed spear into Miguel¡¯s hands, saying, ¡°Stay in the back. Don¡¯t try to save anyone.¡± ¡°I know, mom,¡± he said in an obvious attempt to appear courageous. Carmen could see his knuckles whiten as he gripped the spear haft far more tightly than normal. But just because he was frightened, that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t brave. If anything, the fact that he was ready to meet the challenge despite the fact that he was weak and afraid said the opposite. If the situation weren¡¯t so dire, Carmen would have reveled in the pride of having raised someone with that kind of backbone. But as it stood, she didn¡¯t have the time to do so. Because in the day-and-a-half since she¡¯d learned of their hosts¡¯ true nature, another of her party of refugees had gone missing. She knew where Bruce had disappeared to, as well. The monsters that lived in the town looked human, but they were, in fact, horrible and predatory creatures called sidhe. And they existed by sucking the life out of their human victims. Upon learning that, Carmen had attempted to leave the town ¨C surreptitiously ¨C but she¡¯d found her way blocked at every turn. So, she¡¯d gotten to work creating the bane weapons by using the enchantments Willa had given her. Since then, she¡¯d forged eight spearheads, attaching them to shafts, and a sword for Colt. For her own use, she intended to use a heavy blacksmithing hammer she¡¯d created and engraved with the appropriate enchantments. But now they were ready. Of the people who¡¯d been banished from Easton, only seven remained, including Miguel, Colt, and herself. However, she didn¡¯t blame herself as much as she had when she thought everyone was simply going their own ways. So, in a way, finding out that they¡¯d been magically manipulated by monsters was comforting. Or it would have been if she could wipe the image of those creatures from her memories. Every few minutes, her mind would wander, and it would return. Those bat-like faces. The grotesque proboscises. The elongated limbs. It all coalesced into something horrifying that she hoped she could one day forget. Still, it made the notion that they would soon be tasked with killing the monsters that much easier to swallow. Awakening the others from their food-induced, borderline hypnotic state had been difficult, but Carmen had discovered that intense pain was enough to wake them up. So, she¡¯d burned each and every one of them with a hot brand. Even though it had left them initially angry, it had done the trick. So, after that, it was a simple task of arming them. Now, they stood in her forge, each one carrying a spear and looking ready to use those weapons. After all, they were survivors. They¡¯d each one gone to great lengths during their trek through the wilderness. And so, they were ready to do what was necessary. Even Miguel. Especially him. The young man had moved past his initial anger, and with his back straight and with his spear in his hands, he looked so much like his mother. They hadn¡¯t shared blood. Biologically, Miguel wasn¡¯t even related to Alyssa. But that didn¡¯t matter. Miguel had idolized her, and even without trying, he channeled her essence. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t meet the same end, though Carmen knew that was out of her control. He was on the verge of adulthood. Certainly, in the old world, he¡¯d have had a few years yet before he had to worry about that sort of thing. But in the apocalypse, getting an archetype was the mark of maturity. And he wasn¡¯t far away from that. A year, at most. Carmen wasn¡¯t certain what to think of that, but she knew it was neither the time nor the place to explore those sorts of feelings. So, she pushed them aside, praying that there would be a future where she¡¯d have a chance to truly investigate the way she felt about her son growing up. ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± she asked, looking from one person to the next. They all nodded resolutely. Colt said, ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± He still didn¡¯t look right without his hat. Carmen vowed to find him a new one as soon as they made it out of Eber. Nodding, she said, ¡°Let¡¯s go, then.¡± Resolutely, she led them outside. As horrible luck would have it, she hadn¡¯t finished the weapons until after sunset, and given the mostly overcast night, the village outside was cast in deep shadows. Carmen knew better than to believe there was nothing hidden in the darkness. In fact, the moment she stepped out of the smithy, she saw movement as something skittered across the street. There were no lights, though. No blank-faced villagers. Indeed, it looked like a ghost town. Yet, Carmen could sense ¨C or possibly imagine ¨C the dangers lurking nearby. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. She gestured for her people to come with her, and as she did, she used Augment Weapons. Each of the weapons she¡¯d created bloomed with blistering fire, illuminating the area. And the surrounding sidhe. They hissed at the group, but Carmen wasn¡¯t going to let them take the initiative. Instead, she rushed forward, swinging her hammer with all her Strength. It took the sidhe ¨C who wore the blank face of an average-looking man ¨C directly in the chest. The thing never even tried to avoid it, almost as if it didn¡¯t fear such a blow. So, when the hammer caved its sternum in, it briefly wore an expression of the purest shock. Then, it collapsed, the illusion it wore falling away before it hit the ground. Carmen bulled past him, swinging the hammer at the next closest sidhe. But it danced aside, avoiding the attack. Colt lashed out with his new sword, its bane blade cutting through its neck like it was made of paper. No blood came from the resultant wound. Instead, thick, white pus bubbled up from the thing¡¯s stump. Carmen kicked it in the chest, sending the de-illusioned creature flying into its fellows. But even kicking its dead body felt like trying to move a brick wall. While she was capable of moving it, it was only just. And there had been no give beneath her foot. That hammered home the reality of their situation. If it weren¡¯t for their bane weapons, that seemed to do far more damage than they otherwise would have, even her vaunted Strength would have been insufficient. And that was saying nothing of the rest of her party, which, aside from Colt, was composed of low-level non-combat Scholars. They did have those weapons, though. And as she pushed forward, leading the way with her enchanted hammer, the others attacked with their bane spears. They were barely Simple-Grade weapons, and yet, they sliced through the sidhe with ease. Before long, the monsters wised up to the danger and backed away. Carmen didn¡¯t let them regroup. Instead, she plowed ahead, swinging her hammer with ruthless efficiency. Her Crafter¡¯s Endurance stood her in good stead, but her Strength served her purposes even better. Finally, Augment Weapons enhanced the already-deadly bane weapons, and even the slightest touch of the enchanted hammer was enough to send one of the sidhe reeling. Until, at last, the gates came into view. According to Willa ¨C who was curiously absent ¨C the sidhe were tied to the village in some way. Because of that, they were vulnerable outside its walls. So, there was almost no chance they would pursue Carmen and her people into the wilderness. However, there were two people standing before the gate. Wendy and Wendell stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Every once in a while, their illusions would flicker, revealing their true appearances. And they were larger, with even longer limbs, than any of the other sidhe. The challenge was clear. If Carmen and the others expected to escape, they would have to do so by going through the pair of sidhe leaders. With the other sidhe pouring out of their houses to join the horde, Carmen knew there wasn¡¯t time to strategize. Instead, she charged, hammer held high. And when she reached the creatures, she came to understand why Wendy and Wendell were in charge. They moved so quickly that she couldn¡¯t even track it, and before she could register what was happening, she found herself skidding across the ground at the end of a backhanded blow that had dislocated one of her shoulders. And given her Constitution, that was a testament to how much power the creatures held. Fortunately, Colt was a much better combatant than she could ever be, and his loyal nature dictated that when Carmen had charged, so did he. As she picked herself up, he launched a Blade Storm at the pair, but to both of their surprise, the ability had almost no effect. Aside from a few small cuts that seeped white pus, the creatures were entirely unharmed. But Colt refused to be dissuaded. However, where Carmen had engaged in a reckless charge, the one-handed swordsman took a measured approach. Wendell snapped out, his illusion flickering to reveal a grotesquely long arm. Yet, Colt had no issues sidestepping it. Then, he thrust. Wendell¡¯s eyes widened, and he shifted slightly. However, he was off-balance, so he was incapable of avoiding the stab that took him in the hip. He screamed ¨C an unholy shriek that sounded like a thousand dying crows ¨C and tried once again to strike Colt. The samurai didn¡¯t move much, but it was just enough to elicit a narrow miss. Yet, Wendell wasn¡¯t alone. Wendy blurred forward, solidifying her status as the town¡¯s true alpha, and before Colt could react, she snapped out a blow that took him in the head. Despite being taken by surprise, the samurai rolled with the blow, and that was likely the only reason he managed to survive. Still, even getting clipped was enough to send him stumbling to the ground. The sidhe woman pounced. That¡¯s when two things happened. First, Carmen returned to battle, swinging her hammer in a wide arc meant to cave in the woman¡¯s head. But she hadn¡¯t forgotten the wounded Wendell, who¡¯d somehow superimposed himself between Carmen and Wendy. As a result, he took the blow mean to kill the other sidhe, adopting her fate as his own. Carmen¡¯s hammer crashed through his upraised arms with enough force to crush his skull, sending a gelatinous white goop flying through the gate. Yet, as satisfying as the kill was, it meant that Wendy had a free shot at the stunned Colt. But Miguel had no intention of letting that happen. The boy ¨C no, the young man ¨C planted himself between the two, bracing the bane spear with his foot. Like a charging boar, Wendy couldn¡¯t stop herself before being impaled on the weapon. She slid down to the shaft, pus dripping from her mouth as she grasped for Miguel. A recovered Colt slashed, and the sidhe¡¯s hands went flying. A moment later, she perished. Seeing that, Carmen shouted, ¡°Everyone through the gate!¡± The rest of the group, who¡¯d been holding the other sidhe off, slowly backed through the gate. The sidhe refused to pass through, which seemed to confirm Willa¡¯s information that said the creatures were weakened outside of their territory. Not that the refugees could spare the time to confirm that. Indeed, the only person that bothered looking back was Carmen, and she saw a smiling Willa standing behind the horde of sidhe, her arms crossed. She raised a hand to her brow and gave Carmen a salute. The meaning was clear. Willa hadn¡¯t helped Carmen and the others out of the goodness of her heart ¨C if the sidhe even had those organs. Instead, she was motivated by simple greed. She wanted power, and she saw a way to rid herself of her rivals. Or superiors. But as much as Carmen found the whole concept disgusting, she¡¯d still benefited from it. Shaking her head, Carmen turned and followed her people into the wilderness. As she passed the tree line, she wondered what else they would be forced to endure before they reached some semblance of safety. 3-63. The Librarian ¡°Why sunlight?¡± asked K¡¯hana, leaning against the lighthouse wall. The other elves were there as well, all wearing somber expressions. They had conquered the tower, but through little in the way of their own efforts. As such, they clearly felt it was a hollow victory. Sure, they¡¯d gained some experience and a few items apiece, but their time in the tower had shown them that they weren¡¯t ready for such a challenge. Elijah understood it, too. It was easy to look at the concept of a tower as an opportunity ¨C and it was ¨C but it was also a deadly scenario meant to push a well-prepared group to its limits. Ensuring that was the fact that the level of the creatures inside ¨C and their power ¨C was scaled based on the highest member of the would-be conquerors. The only reason Elijah was capable of overcoming those challenges alone was a combination of his high-quality gear, the versatility of his class and archetype, and, most importantly, his potent Dragon Core. Without any of those things, he would¡¯ve been destined to lose. Of course, he didn¡¯t acknowledge that he¡¯d managed to conquer his first tower without the benefit of his Dragon Core. Yet, that experience had been a defining moment for him. A crucible that reforged him, body and mind. And he¡¯d beaten it not through skill, but through a sheer application of willpower. Most people would have failed. Elijah knew that. Certainly, the elves would have fallen. Together or alone, they were simply ill-suited to the task. Which meant that he felt a little bad about insisting they should hold up their end of the bargain they¡¯d struck. None of the items they¡¯d been awarded sounded particularly interesting. Elijah didn¡¯t think he would actually use any of them, but he also had no intention of letting the elves off without paying for his services. By all accounts, they¡¯d each gotten the easier end of the deal. They¡¯d nearly died, sure. But they¡¯d done almost nothing, and they¡¯d gotten rewards for each level he¡¯d overcome. Still, even though he only intended to sell it to someone like Atticus, he wasn¡¯t sure which item he was going to take. So, after leaving the tower, the group had settled in to rest ¨C they still weren¡¯t entirely recovered ¨C while Elijah had told them everything he could about the tower. That included his method of slaying the vampiric Lord Lothgar. ¡°You guys don¡¯t have vampires?¡± he asked. ¡°You know, blood suckers that are allergic to crosses, garlic, and sunlight?¡± K¡¯hana shook her head. ¡°We¡­do not. Are these monsters native to Earth?¡± Elijah answered, ¡°No. More like myths. Just stories we would tell one another. But I can guarantee that anyone from Earth would have figured it out.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± It really was. Until that moment, Elijah had never considered that it would be possible for the system to draw inspiration from Earth¡¯s mythology. And given humanity¡¯s obsession with entertainment and storytelling, there was a lot of material out there. Perhaps someone else would run a tower and have to fight the system¡¯s version of Freddy Krueger. Or the Power Rangers. Who knew what the limitations might be? Or if there were any. Elijah said, ¡°So, I¡¯m having a little trouble figuring out which item I want.¡± Badu¡¯s expression darkened. Or perhaps that was his resting expression. Either way, at least he didn¡¯t speak. Elijah was tempted to just take whichever reward the idiotic Wind Whisperer cherished most, but he wasn¡¯t quite that vindictive. ¡°Is there nothing else we can offer you?¡± asked K¡¯hana. He shrugged. ¡°Unless you can direct me to some good guides on cultivation, no,¡± he said, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°I¡¯ve tried looking through the Knowledge Base, but¡­well, it¡¯s not easy to sort through all that stuff. I swear, last time I tried, I spent like two hours searching and I found almost nothing worthwhile.¡± ¡°Did you consult a Librarian?¡± ¡°A what?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I mean, I know what a librarian is. Obviously. We had them in our libraries. You know, big collections of books. But the way you said that made me think you¡¯re talking about something completely different.¡± ¡°A Librarian is a class derived from the Scholar archetype. Those with that class often work to help people find specific information in a Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base,¡± said K¡¯hana. ¡°Of course, they also work with private knowledge bases as well. The Blue Water sect employs many such Librarians in our¡­their own knowledge repositories.¡± Elijah ran his hand through his hair, then admitted, ¡°I don¡¯t think there were any Librarians attached to any of the Branches I¡¯ve visited. None that I saw, anyway. Just Envoys.¡± ¡°We have a Librarian in Avandor.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need her to spell it out for him. They owed him a tower reward that he clearly didn¡¯t need. Or want, really. But he could think of a hundred ways a Librarian could help him. So far, he¡¯d just snatched any guide that he could afford and seemed interesting. As a result, he¡¯d expanded the breadth of his knowledge of his new universe, at least to some degree. However, he hadn¡¯t gotten any information specific to his needs. But one subject interested him more than any other. Cultivation ¨C specifically, for his Soul, which had so far proven a fruitless pursuit. It wasn¡¯t like cultivating his Mind or Body, where he¡¯d managed to stumble his way to success. Reaching the next stage of Soul cultivation would require him to redraw the pathways through which ethera infused his body. Until he did that, he would be stuck at his current stage. ¡°Just so we¡¯re clear, what are you offering?¡± he asked. ¡°One subject,¡± K¡¯hana answered. ¡°Our Librarian will help you answer one question. In exchange, you will forego the additional reward for conquering the tower.¡± ¡°Two.¡± ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°What? Why? It¡¯s just ¨C¡± ¡°Faran¡¯s level is low,¡± she said. ¡°His cooldown is expansive. He can answer one question per week.¡± ¡°Ugh. Seriously? That must make leveling slow,¡± Elijah remarked. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. ¡°It is. However, he is a diligent worker, and a Librarian¡¯s task extends further than mere research. He will go far, so long as our people survive,¡± K¡¯hana said with some pride. ¡°She¡¯s just saying that because he¡¯s her brother,¡± Syka said with a grin. ¡°That is untrue,¡± K¡¯hana retorted, her cheeks reddening. ¡°Alright,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How about this? One question now. Another the next time I visit.¡± ¡°That is acceptable,¡± K¡¯hana said, clearly relieved. After that, the rest of the elves relaxed a little. It seemed that they had expected him to react poorly to the restriction. Perhaps they even thought he would simply kill them and take their rewards. Maybe some people would have. After all, he¡¯d conquered a tower on his own. It didn¡¯t seem impossible that he could kill them just as easily. A silly notion, from Elijah¡¯s perspective. Not only did he value life more than that, but he stood to gain much more from keeping them alive. Knowledge was more valuable than a few trinkets. Speaking of trinkets, Elijah looked down at his new staff. As he did, he recalled the notification he¡¯d gotten after completing the tower with a B-Grade:
Reward for conquering the Magister¡¯s Estate: Dragon-Touched Staff
It was not a remarkable-looking weapon. Just a six-foot-tall staff of polished, black wood. When Elijah looked closely, he could see a slight scale pattern along the shaft, but beyond that, the only decoration was on the metallic caps on either end. They bore twin sigils that looked like stylized dragons that had been etched into the metal. However, considering that he¡¯d cracked his Crook of the Serpent Healer, Elijah had accepted the reward eagerly. Like his other staves, using it didn¡¯t give him any additional attributes, but he knew it would have other benefits. He just needed to visit a merchant like Atticus so he could identify it properly. In addition to the Dragon-Touched Staff, Elijah had benefited from the last level of the tower by gaining another two levels. At present, he was level seventy-two, which meant he¡¯d finally reached the top five on the power ladder:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 75 2. Thor Gunderson ¨C Level 74 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 73 4. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 72 5. Hu Shui ¨C Level 71 6. Niko Song ¨C Level 66 7. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 64 8. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 61 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 59 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 57 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­
Elijah couldn¡¯t believe he hadn¡¯t reached the top spot. As quickly as he¡¯d leveled in the tower, the top three had managed to stay ahead. Clearly, they¡¯d found some very unique situations to overcome. Perhaps they¡¯d even challenged towers themselves. However, judging by the names, it seemed likely that Sadie Song and Niko Song were related. Sure, Song wasn¡¯t an uncommon surname, but the fact that they were so close together on the power ladder was enough of a coincidence for Elijah to feel certain of his intuition. But more than anything, Elijah was most impressed with Oscar Ramirez and Thor Gunderson. He knew precisely how difficult it was to level, and those two stood above everyone else. It was remarkable, and Elijah hoped he could someday meet them and compare notes. Perhaps they could even work together. Of course, as always, he searched the list for Carmen¡¯s name, finding her just outside the top fifty. Her progression was impressive, too, but Elijah was more interested in confirming that she was still alive. That provided him with a level of comfort that made it easier to keep going. By the time Elijah had finished with his various notifications, the elves were ready to move out. So, they set off across the arid landscape, eventually entering the Twilight Clefts. After a few more hours, they arrived back at Arvandor, where K¡¯hana led him to the city¡¯s Branch. As they walked, Elijah asked, ¡°How many elves live here?¡± ¡°Fourteen thousand, three-hundred, and twelve,¡± she answered. ¡°So many? Was your world so bad that you would risk coming here? I mean, don¡¯t get me wrong ¨C I love Earth. It¡¯s my home. But even you have to admit that it¡¯s a difficult place to survive, what with the monsters and towers and Voxx.¡± ¡°With danger comes opportunity,¡± she answered. ¡°On Erag, my lifespan would have been no more than a century. Here, I have the opportunity to live for millennia. I can achieve power unlike anyone in my family. Perhaps I can even reach immortality. Certainly, my world was safe. We were well-protected. But without risk, I could never hope to rise above the circumstances of my birth. I was born a Tteset, and I would have died a Tteset. Now, I can rise above that.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t sure what a Tteset was, but he assumed it was the caste the elf had belonged to. He understood her reasoning, too. Just like the people back in Ironshore, she¡¯d come to Earth for opportunity. Eventually, they reached the Branch, which was manned by a single elven Envoy. K¡¯hana spoke to that attendant, and Elijah was allowed to access the Branch. As he took care of some housekeeping ¨C checking his stock of Ethereum as well as studying the map to see if there were any towns nearby. As it turned out, there was. And it was his goal. Seattle was only a few hundred miles away to the northeast. It took all of Elijah¡¯s self-control not to leave right then. However, he restrained himself, and soon enough, K¡¯hana returned with a young boy in tow. If he was more than fifteen, Elijah would have been surprised, but he definitely saw the resemblance between the two siblings. Once Elijah told Faran what he wanted, the boy touched the crystalline Branch, then used some sort of ability. It lit up with inner light, then grew a crystal leaf. He handed it over to Elijah, saying, ¡°It is called An Introduction to Druidic Cultivation, and it covers the first three stages.¡± ¡°Druid?¡± asked K¡¯hana, having overheard. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s me.¡± ¡°You are a Druid.¡± ¡°Uh¡­yeah. I just said that.¡± ¡°But in the tower, you were effective¡­¡± ¡°I know. I was there.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Talent?¡± ¡°I do not jest. Druids are known to be weak in combat. Useful, certainly, but they are not capable of what you did,¡± she insisted. ¡°Ouch. Tell me how you really feel,¡± he muttered. Her perception of his archetype wasn¡¯t really a surprise. He¡¯d known all along that Druids traded potency for versatility. But he hadn¡¯t thought their ¨C or by extension, his ¨C reputation was that poor. To hear Nerthus talk about it, Druids were the most powerful archetype in existence. Then again, he was a tree spirit, so perhaps he wasn¡¯t particularly unbiased on the subject. ¡°How?¡± she asked again, stepping closer. Elijah took a step back. He certainly appreciated the elf¡¯s looks, but he wasn¡¯t quite ready to contemplate interspecies relations. And given her appearance, that would inevitably be where his mind went if she remained in such close proximity. ¡°I¡¯m super special,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Well, now that I¡¯ve got what I wanted, I suppose it¡¯s time for me to mosey on along. Hit the ol¡¯ dusty train, so to speak.¡± He gave her an awkward salute that he immediately regretted, then said, ¡°Off I go before I truly humiliate myself. I¡¯ll see myself out.¡± And he did, regretting more than just his silly salute. Perhaps he should go back to see if K¡¯hana had any interest in humans. But by the time he¡¯d reached the city¡¯s exit, he still hadn¡¯t come to any decision, so he thought it best if he just moved along. After all, he still had one question to ask, so he intended to come back. Maybe by then, he would know whether or not he wanted to pursue a human-elf relationship. 3-64. Battlefield A summer wind skated across the plain, rustling the sparse vegetation before tousling Elijah¡¯s hair. He sighed, propping his forearms on his knees as he stared at the dancing flame of his campfire. Nearby, he could feel various skittering insects as well as a few lizards who fed on them. In turn, he knew there was a nearby snake waiting to ambush any lizard who happened to cross its path. Above, a hawk screeched, ready to swoop in and capture the snake. And somewhere, something assuredly hunted the hawk as well. That was nature. A constant cycle of conflict and death from which life was both sustained and renewed. Idly, he wondered where he fit in that circle. But one look at the hunk of snake roasting over his fire told him precisely where he stood. For better or worse, he was at the top of the food chain. An alpha predator with few real threats. Yet, Elijah didn¡¯t really take joy in his place above the other animals. Instead, he just felt a sense of belonging. He was as much a part of the ecosystem as any other beast. He was just self-aware enough to recognize it. He did wonder about the wider universes, though. There were nine realms attached to the World Tree. And those realms were each host to innumerable universes that, in turn, contained a bevy of planets, many of which were populated. The vastness of those connected universes beggared Elijah¡¯s imagination to the point where he couldn¡¯t really comprehend it. All he knew was that he was small. Very, very small. Never did he feel that more acutely than when he glanced up at the night sky and saw a blanket of uncountable stars. He sighed, leaning back as he waited for the snake cook. There was peace in knowing his place, even if he was no more important than a single grain of sand. Those thoughts and more flitted through his mind as he stared up at the stars and listened to the sizzling sound of searing meat. The serpent had been a large creature ¨C some form of mutated rattle snake, he thought ¨C but it had died easily enough to a single swipe from a Predator Strike-enhanced claw. It had barely even awarded any experience. But that didn¡¯t matter. He¡¯d hunted it for food. Not for progression. In any case, it had weighed almost a hundred pounds, so, even though he didn¡¯t particularly like snake, he had no issues with using the meat to augment his dwindling supplies. Eventually, the snake finished cooking, and he tore through the gamey meat, pairing it with a couple of grove berries and a jug of fresh water. It was a bit wasteful, but he¡¯d grown so attached to the taste of those berries that he often ate more than he should. Soon enough, though, he¡¯d finished his meal. After that, he wrapped the remaining meat in wax paper he¡¯d gotten back in Ironshore, then shoved the parcels into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. Finally, he retrieved the glittering leaf he¡¯d gotten from the Branch back in Arvandor. It was called Druidic Cultivation, and he hoped it would be precisely what he needed. The Librarian had claimed as much, but Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure. His class was supposed to be rare, and his archetype even more so. So, finding a means of cultivating his Soul ¨C which required him to rebuild the pathways that had been dissolved during the initial stage ¨C was something he considered a long shot. When he opened the guide, he realized that his doubt was misplaced. The first bits recounted methods of reaching the first stage of cultivation. However, he was a bit surprised to learn that he¡¯d had it quite a bit easier than most people. Apparently, his grove had assisted him quite a bit.
A druid¡¯s grove is an incalculable benefit to their cultivation. With it, many of the typical requirements, which can include expensive potions and rare natural treasures are unnecessary. However, the true benefit of a grove lies with inspiration. Normally, cultivation requires an epiphany. An understanding of the world and one¡¯s place in it. Yet, for the first three stages of cultivation, a druid needs no such thing, so long as they have their grove. After that, understanding is necessary.
It went on to explain that a sufficiently powerful grove could play host to hundreds of druids. Apparently, as the sole Druid bonded to the grove ¨C indeed, the progenitor of such ¨C he gained significantly more powerful benefits than was typically seen. It wasn¡¯t multiplicative. In fact, much of that power went to waste. Yet, it still put him in a far better situation than any other cultivator, according to the guide. That made sense. Elijah had long wondered why everyone hadn¡¯t reached the first stage of cultivation, at least in one category. Now, he understood it. Everyone else needed expensive potions or natural treasures, incredibly dense ethera, and, worst of all, some mental component that Elijah didn¡¯t truly understand. As a Druid, he needed none of those things ¨C for now. He went on to read that the grove was only one part of that. Indeed, the mere fact that he¡¯d been offered the Druid archetype in the first place meant that he was more capable of understanding his place in the world than most. Then, the addition of One with Nature had hammered that home. Repeatedly. The bond with the grove had sealed those lessons in his mind, internalizing insight on an instinctual level. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. That advantage would dissipate after the third stage, though that was a long way off, as far as he could tell. According to the guide, after a certain point in their progression, people¡¯s priorities tended to shift from gaining levels to seeking insight and proper environments for cultivation. Levels, it said, would come during that journey. Elijah read it all with no small degree of anticipation. The notion of going to wonderous places in pursuit of opportunities certainly appealed to his sense of wanderlust. But he had a long way to go before that would be necessary. For now, he needed to focus on cultivating his Soul. And despite his advantages, it looked incredibly complex. The pattern was there, but it wasn¡¯t as simple as memorization. Even with his multi-faceted Quartz Mind, it was a daunting prospect. Not only did the pattern look like the world¡¯s most complex root system, with microscopic strands twined around one another, but it was also three-dimensional. Because of that, Elijah knew that learning it would be the product of months, rather than the few hours he had originally suspected. In addition, the guide also claimed that some archetypes may require the cultivator to make slight adjustments based on the way everything felt. To put it mildly, it was a much more difficult process than anything else he¡¯d endured. But it was nice to have a goal. So, Elijah spent a few hours studying the guide¡¯s example until, at last, he decided to get some rest. As he fell unconscious, images of branching root systems occupied his mind. Thankfully, his dreams didn¡¯t follow suit, and he awoke the next morning feeling as refreshed as ever. After stripping down and stepping away from his campfire, he cast Healing Rain and took a shower. In the wilderness, the availability of a shower ¨C even if it was rainwater that would disappear soon after the spell completed ¨C was a nice convenience, and the process of bathing left him feeling even better. So, once he¡¯d finished and dressed, he enjoyed a breakfast of leftover snake meat, and set off in the appropriate direction. As he did, one facet of his mind remained occupied by the root pattern. Even with constant thought, Elijah knew it would take quite a lot of time before he would be comfortable enough to try to force himself to take the next step in Soul cultivation. But that was okay. There were no timers, after all. He could take however long he needed. Slowly, he covered the ground, his new staff clacking against the dry earth as the hours passed into a few days. His routine remained the same, and though the way was nominally difficult, Elijah had to admit that he enjoyed himself. On the surface, the desert looked lifeless. However, via One with Nature, he could tell that that impression couldn¡¯t be further from the truth. He felt every insect, every reptile, and every hardy plant he passed. And it gave him more than a small sense of appreciation for how fervently they clung to survival. To him, it felt appropriate. That was the ultimate goal of everything in nature, after all. Survival, both on an individual and a species-wide level, was the most potent driving force behind every creature¡¯s behavior. Elijah was so caught up in it that, when he crested a hill and the area changed, it hit him like a ton of bricks. Suddenly, it felt like he was swimming in a pool of death. He stumbled slightly, then looked around. Everywhere his eyes went, there were corpses, and in an advanced state of decay. Most were naked, but quite a few wore damaged bits of armor. Broken weapons ¨C swords and spears, mostly ¨C were scattered all around. Clearly, a battle had been fought in the area. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how long had passed. A week or two, at most. Not more than that, he suspected. And clearly, there were thousands of casualties. As far as he could see, there were dead bodies. Crows and other carrion eaters feasted on the corpses, cawing loudly at one another. It was a disturbing sight, but when Elijah focused on One with Nature, he was even more horrified. The level of carnage in the area had stained the very land. If the ambient ethera in his grove represented nature, then the battlefield was dedicated to death. To conflict. War. Elijah had felt various other flavors of ethera ¨C especially in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel, where two wings had been dedicated to the opposing forces of fire and ice ¨C but nothing could have prepared him for what he experienced standing on the edge of the battlefield. It made his skin crawl, but it also got his blood pumping as his heart raced under the influence of a burst of adrenaline. He could easily imagine that aura pushing other people to greater heights of aggression. One spark, and conflict would ignite. Elijah didn¡¯t like that one bit. So, he crouched, holding his staff upright as he let the ambient ethera waft over him. It felt wrong. Unnatural. And Elijah knew that, as a Druid, he needed to set things right. However, at first, he had no idea how he was meant to do that. Then, it dawned on him. If he removed the evidence of the battle, then perhaps it would curtail the aura from growing even denser. After all, when he focused on each one, they felt like miniature natural treasures, though not the sort that anyone would want to use. They were tainted. Corrupted. They were grotesque. But once the idea had flitted across Elijah¡¯s mind, he couldn¡¯t abandon it. Besides ¨C people deserved proper burials, didn¡¯t they? That was normal. Noble, even. So, Elijah girded his loins and gathered his mettle before wading in and getting to work. He didn¡¯t dare shift into the form of the lamellar ape. It already came with rage issues, and he didn¡¯t want to exacerbate that with the aura of conflict. Besides, it felt more respectful to embark on the task as a human. Over the next three days, Elijah engaged in the task. He dug a huge, mass grave in the center of the battlefield, then dragged each of the decomposing bodies to the site, then tossed them into the pit. It was traumatizing, and Elijah hated what he was forced to do. However, with every passing hour, he grew more convinced that it was necessary. Eventually, seven facets of his Quartz Mind were occupied with preparation for his Soul cultivation, while the remaining two respectively focused on his environment and the task. Eventually, though, he completed the task, covering hundreds of gathered corpses with the previously excavated dirt. But once it was finished, Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t enough. So, he went in search of some appropriate seeds. What he found was a Joshua tree only about a mile away, which he thought fit what he had in mind. So, seeds in hand, Elijah retreated back to the grave site, where he planted the seeds in a wide circle. He had no intention of using it as a teleportation point. Rather, he simply wanted to overwhelm the aura of conflict and death with one of nature. So, in that pursuit, Elijah cast Healing Rain, then flared Nature¡¯s Bounty. Over the next few days, he continuously coaxed the seeds to sprout into saplings. As he bathed the area in his own ethera, which was further reinforced by the juvenile trees, the aura left behind by the battle retreated until it was barely even noticeable. Only then did Elijah step back and consider it a job well done. So, once he was certain that his efforts would kick off a cycle of renewal, he moved on, satisfied with his efforts. 3-65. Fighting Against Nature With a wet squelch, Thor yanked a monstrous leach from his side, then crushed it in his grip. It was both satisfying and grotesque, the way the thing¡¯s insides ¨C and the blood it had sucked from him ¨C oozed between his fingers. He tossed the pest aside, where its remains were immediately set upon by the biting fish that were so prevalent within the mire. How anything managed to survive the swamp was a mystery. Only a couple of days after he¡¯d entered the swamp, he¡¯d come upon a helpful alchemist. Well, helpful after he realized that Thor wasn¡¯t going to take no for an answer. Regardless, the thin, bearded man with the curious accent had provided him with potions meant to cure him of the myriad ailments that came from trekking through the marsh, and he¡¯d even relayed information that had pointed Thor in the direction of his intended prey. Of course, that meant trudging for long miles to the center of the swamp. Each step was a battle, and when he¡¯d reached the deepest parts of the mire, he¡¯d found nothing but more disease, pain, and battle. But no Druid. Only when he¡¯d resorted to using Ancestral Hunt did he come to realize that the alchemist had purposefully led him astray. The tendril of ethera pointed in the opposite direction, which meant that he had a long way yet to go. Fortunately, the alchemist¡¯s potions worked to rid Thor of the worst of the swamp¡¯s ailments, though the side effects included a torturously twisted gut and loose bowels. So, when he finally set foot on dry ground, he did so with more than a little relief. Since the world had transformed, Thor had been in all sorts of deadly environments, but none had been nearly as frustrating as the swamp. That was the biggest reason he hadn¡¯t gone back to teach the alchemist a lesson. The mere notion of trudging back the way he¡¯d come twisted his stomach into knots, and he hadn¡¯t had to think about it long before leaving the swamp behind. Perhaps the swamp wasn¡¯t as dangerous as some areas he¡¯d visited. He never felt on the verge of death. But every step was exhausting in a way Thor had never experienced. He was glad to leave it behind. He was even happier to find a stream where he could clean himself. As he washed the muck of weeks¡¯ worth of travel ¨C and everything else he¡¯d endured at the end of that insidious potion ¨C away, Thor found a host of smaller leeches, plenty of biting insects, and even a snake that had wrapped around his ankle. He executed them all with ruthless prejudice, and at last, he was rid of the swamp. One of the other issues he¡¯d faced was that, in the swamp, there was nowhere to rest. As a result, he¡¯d been awake for more than a week. So, the moment he found a bit of dry, protected ground, he curled up and slept for what felt like an eternity. When he finally woke more than twenty-four hours later, he felt even groggier than before. More, he was stiff to the point of barely being able to move. Finally, his brow was wet with sweat, and the accompanying chills that wracked his body told Thor that he was suffering from a fever. So, he downed the last of the potion provided by the alchemist and fell asleep. For three days, he endured the sickness. Days and nights blurred together, and for a while, he was certain he was going to die. Yet, finally, on the fourth morning, the fever broke. By that point, he felt like a shadow of his former self, and it took a further day before he felt up to trekking back to the stream and, once again, washing the filth from his body. That helped. A little. But with the breaking fever came lucidity, and he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how the Druid had managed to cross the swamp. Elijah Hart was below him on the power rankings, so he should have been markedly weaker. It didn¡¯t make sense that he could go somewhere Thor could not. Yet, he had. The only solace Thor could muster in his heart was that there was a good chance that Elijah Hart had suffered just as much as he. And now, at last, he was free to continue his hunt. So, after bathing, Thor found a different area in which to rest, and a couple of days later, he finally set off across the landscape. The ground was still spongy in places, and he had to watch out for bogs, but he made his way much more quickly than he¡¯d traveled through the swamp. And eventually, he fully left the mire behind. Ancestral Hunt had already come off cooldown, but he didn¡¯t use it yet. Instead, he followed the landscape in what felt like a natural direction. Surely, if the Druid had come through the area, he wouldn¡¯t have veered off the easy path. So it went for quite a few days, and gradually, the terrain transformed into a forested plain. As he traveled, Thor slowly recovered. He killed everything he saw, and even managed to stumble upon a rift, which he conquered. Along the way, he gained levels, passing the threshold into level seventy-four. For all that it frustrated him, the constant war with nature he¡¯d experienced in the swamp had done wonders for Thor¡¯s progression. But each time he gained a level, one thing became absolutely certain ¨C if he was going to continue to progress, he would need to find stronger prey. The local wildlife was periodically powerful. Every now and then, he¡¯d stumble upon a stronger-than-normal monster. Yet, he knew that if he wanted to continue at his pace, he would need to enter towers and rifts. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Perhaps, he would even visit one of the embattled areas like the Frozen Wastes. He¡¯d even heard of a region in what was formerly China that had become mired in death and monsters. Or he could simply hunt powerful people. He¡¯d done so before, and the benefits were always astounding. Not only would he gain experience commensurate with their levels, but he¡¯d also get to take whatever treasures they had in their possession. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t the traditionally moral thing to do, but in his experience, morality didn¡¯t truly exist. It was all relative. One man¡¯s atrocity was another man¡¯s necessity. So, he didn¡¯t concern himself with such inconsequential things. Eventually, Thor reached a settlement composed of a huge, white house surrounded by fields of what looked like soybeans, and a nearby collection of quaint buildings. Thor had seen many such settlements before, though most had been abandoned, their former inhabitants either killed by the encroaching wildlife or scattered to the wind. It was further evidence that most of humanity was too weak to survive the new world. Still, he wasn¡¯t so disconnected from his roots that he couldn¡¯t appreciate a little civilization. Especially because it would give him an opportunity to resupply as well as to sleep in an actual bed, for once. Thor prided himself on his ability to survive and even thrive in the harsh wilderness. Yet, he did enjoy the amenities of civilization whenever they were available. Especially after the ordeal he¡¯d endured in the swamp. So, it was with some degree of relief that he trekked toward the village. However, when he finally reached the collection of buildings, he was confronted by a tall man, who said, ¡°Howdy, stranger. What can we do for ya?¡± The fellow wore a white cowboy hat and mirrored sunglasses, but the first thing Thor noticed was a leather holster at his hip. In the old world, it might¡¯ve held a pistol, but now, it played host to a twisted metal rod that Thor recognized as a wand. He shifted slightly, putting his weight on his back food. He was ready to spring into motion at the slightest provocation. His experience with the merchant had reminded him that, even if he was more powerful than his opponent, that didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t dangerous. For all he knew, the man in the mirrored sunglasses had a supremely deadly skill that he could only use once a year. If that was the case, Thor would be in trouble. That was the thing he¡¯d let himself forget. The world was full of innumerable classes, some of which were incredibly powerful in very specific situations. Certainly, levels and cultivation could overcome that, but the fact remained that if he wanted to survive, he needed to be wary of putting himself in disadvantageous circumstances. So, instead of bulling into the town as he had in the past, he said, ¡°I need a place to rest and resupply. I also require information.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind helpin¡¯ with the first two. For a price, of course. With the last, that depends on what sort of information you¡¯ll be wantin¡¯,¡± the man said, shifting a bit so as to prevent a slimmer profile. He looked like a gunfighter from a western, and Thor very nearly challenged the man, then and there. But he used Hunter¡¯s Eye instead:
Name: Rayland Timmons Archetype: Sorcerer Level: 47
By Thor¡¯s count, the man¡¯s level put him just outside the top one-hundred. But in reality, he was only ten levels from cracking the top ten. Most of the power ladder was bunched between levels fifty and sixty, so just because the man wasn¡¯t one of the world¡¯s most powerful people, that didn¡¯t mean he was a weakling. And Thor had seen the dangers of fighting people on their own turf. Likely, the town had a few other combatants around who could make his life difficult. So, despite the fact that he had almost thirty levels on Rayland Timmons, Thor chose a non-violent path. Besides, he preferred attacking his prey from the shadows. He could fight in a straight battle, but that was a good way to get killed. ¡°I¡¯m looking for a Druid,¡± Thor stated. ¡°Elijah Hart. I believe he passed through this town recently.¡± The man took off his hat, then wiped his sleeve across his forehead. Then, he glanced up at the sun before saying, ¡°Don¡¯t ring any bells. We get a lotta travelers comin¡¯ through here, though. Feel free to ask around. But I¡¯ll tell you this once. You cause trouble, and you better be ready to take on everybody here. Big boy like you, with all them levels ¨C you can probably put up a good fight. But you won¡¯t win. I can promise you that.¡± ¡°Is that a challenge?¡± Thor asked, tightening his grip on the spear in his hand. He refused to be talked down to by someone so much weaker than him. ¡°Just a promise. Law and order, son. That¡¯s the name of the game. Without that, we¡¯re no better¡¯n beasts.¡± Thor wanted to show the man what a beast he could be, though his previous caution was warranted. So, he marshaled his self-control and said, ¡°I agree. I will cause no trouble unless someone forces me to do so.¡± ¡°Fair ¡®nuff. In that case, you probably want to stay at the Draymond House. Feel free to wander, but keep my promise in mind,¡± Rayland Timmons said. After that, Thor moved on. However, as he did so, he felt the man¡¯s eyes following his every move. More than that, it felt like wherever he went inside the town ¨C whose name he¡¯d never sought ¨C other people watched him. Clearly, they knew what it meant to host powerful strangers. So, he only stayed in the town for one night, though even that was refreshing. At the same time, he had asked around until he found a few disgruntled men in the local saloon. They told him about a curious monument in the forest, so Thor considered that the next stop. Still, when the next morning saw him leaving the town behind, he considered turning back around and laying waste to everything he saw. They had insulted him with their suspicions, and as such, he thought they deserved to be taught a permanent lesson. Yet, the memory of his encounter with the merchant brought him up short. That feeling of weakness he¡¯d experienced in the man¡¯s shop still clung to his mind, pushing him toward caution. So, with no small degree of displeasure constricting his thoughts, Thor set off back into the wilderness. As he did so, he couldn¡¯t help but hope that he¡¯d finally tracked his prey. Originally, he had nothing against the Druid. However, with every passing day and with each hardship he¡¯d endured, he¡¯d grown to hate the man. Killing him, he reasoned, would go a long way toward rectifying those feelings. 3-66. Seattle Elijah slithered forward, staying low to the ground. It wasn¡¯t strictly necessary. Guise of the Unseen was more than sufficient to keep him hidden. Yet, he felt that it helped relieve the burden on the ability. Perhaps it did, but Elijah chose not to play with proverbial fire. After all, he¡¯d been doing things the same way since the very beginning, and he didn¡¯t see any reason to try to fix something that wasn¡¯t broken. Regardless, neither of the Voxx he¡¯d been stalking were aware of his presence. So, once he was close enough to the first, he used Predator Strike, then launched himself at the misshapen, red-scaled creature with all the fury he could muster. His jaws clamped down on the monster¡¯s neck, crushing it in a single bite. The monster went limp, but before it could fall to the ground, Elijah was already moving. Not with his feet, though. Instead, he used Flicker Step.
Flicker Step Slip into the shadows, emerging behind your opponent. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of the Predator. Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 61.2 Seconds.
He disappeared just before the monster¡¯s fellow closed in on him. Then, he appeared directly behind the creature. He used Venom Strike, then leaped upon the creature¡¯s back. His foreclaws dug into the thing¡¯s shoulders, while his back claws cut the monster¡¯s lower back to ribbons. Meanwhile, he clamped his jaws around its shoulder ¨C he¡¯d been aiming for the head, but it moved at the last second ¨C crushing bone as his mouth closed on the hunk of meaty flesh. Then, he ripped it all free before bounding away. Elijah hit a nearby rock, which he used to change direction as the monster sloppily pursued him. It hit the earthen bulwark with a crash, and Elijah darted in, slashing his claws across its legs before he once again broke away. It staggered after him, though with the effects of Contagion and Venom Strike, it was barely capable of maintaining its feet. It would have bled out in a few more minutes, so the smart ¨C and safe ¨C strategy would have been to continue to run circles around the creature. Yet, his attack had more than one goal. In addition to ridding the world of the taint of the Voxx¡¯s existence, Elijah had set out to test his newest skill. He¡¯d already done so almost a dozen times, but he¡¯d found that it was far more difficult to use than many of his other abilities. The sudden teleportation was disorienting, and it required a very different sort of mindset to use it properly. So, while trekking through the desert wilderness, Elijah had searched for opportunities to practice. That meant he made slower progress in terms of distance traveled each day, but in his opinion, it was worth it. Not regarding experience. He barely got any from these low-level Voxx. Instead, he knew he would need to be able to use Flicker Step as well as he used all of his other spells and abilities. And that meant practice. Besides, every day he killed a few of the horrid Voxx was a good day. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t interested in letting the monster bleed out. Instead, he waited the sixty seconds necessary for Flicker Step to reset, then used it again. He didn¡¯t subject it to the same volume of attacks as his first pass, but he did slash his claws across the backs of its legs a few times before darting away. The creature continued to stumble mindlessly after him. He knew it wouldn¡¯t last much longer. A minute or so, at most. Still, Elijah managed to get one more Flicker Step in before the monster keeled over. With that, he settled down and examined the way his body felt. Using Flicker Step was taxing to his stamina. It wasn¡¯t quite as bad as using Iron Scales ¨C which had grown easier as he¡¯d leveled and gained attributes ¨C but it was definitely noticeable. As a result, even if the cooldown allowed for it, he couldn¡¯t use it without cost. But that was fine. Elijah had long since accepted that nothing was free. Each of his abilities had a cost that was usually balanced against its cooldown and power. So, the fact that Flicker Step was limited was nothing unexpected. And it was powerful. The key to making his draconid form work for him was mobility. Otherwise, the shape simply wasn¡¯t capable of mitigating damage. Sure, it was slightly more durable than his human form, but that was just because of its scales. And given the power of some of the monsters he routinely fought ¨C in rifts and towers, if not in the wilderness ¨C meant that the difference counted for nothing. If he was consistently getting hit in either form, he was probably going to die. So, having what was effectively a teleport ¨C albeit one with limitations ¨C was a game changer that he hoped would help him further develop his fighting abilities. At worst, it would allow him to load his enemies with even more afflictions. As he shifted back into his human form, he had to admit that he was very happy with his new ability. Yet, he couldn¡¯t help but look ahead. Getting new spells was addictive, and though he expected them to become more infrequent at some point, he still very much looked forward to whatever he would get at level seventy-five. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. And it was just around the corner, too. While he might not have gotten much experience for any individual kill, there were enough of them that the last Voxx had given him enough to push him over the edge to level seventy-three. Two more levels, and he would gain a new spell. It was easy to understand how some people fell into the trap of pursuing progression above all else. He certainly didn¡¯t condone killing the wildlife just for a bit of experience, but with every passing level, he¡¯d begun to understand the mindset better. Still, that wasn¡¯t a path he could ever walk ¨C not with a clean conscience, at least. Pushing that aside, he continued on his way, leaving the pair of rapidly rotting corpses behind. As he did, most of his Mind ¨C six of the nine facets ¨C was focused on memorizing the pattern he intended to use for his Soul cultivation. Even after a week, it was still a long way off, but now that he had a goal in mind, it wasn¡¯t nearly as frustrating. It did highlight the other issue, though: there was nothing in the guide he¡¯d bought concerning the cultivation of his Dragon Core. Certainly, there were sections that concerned generic Core cultivation. There was even a missive containing information on a Nature Core. But there was nothing about dragons. Still, he did get some insight that he thought might help. The first step to any Core cultivation was cycling. Or, to put it more simply, dragging ethera into his core until he could hold no more, swirling it around, before expelling it. Over and over, thousands ¨C if not millions ¨C of times until, the quality began to improve. However, it would never do that unless the process was completed in an area with incredibly dense ethera. Like his cultivation cave. Even his grove might suffice. But regardless, that was only the first step. There was nothing about how to push to the next, either. So, he resolved to ask for that specific bit of information when he returned to the leven city of Arvandor sometime in the future. For now, though, it was all he could handle to focus on traveling through the wilderness while working on memorizing the pattern for his cultivated Soul. But it was certainly something to consider. The biggest issue, as far as Elijah was concerned, was ignorance, but not in the way one would think. Instead, he was ignorant of what he didn¡¯t know. Often, he was just stumbling around, grasping in the dark. Sometimes, he¡¯d managed to grab hold of something worthwhile, but the fact was that, even with a resource like a Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base, he needed to be pointed in the right direction. There were a host of questions he didn¡¯t even know to ask. That was where the rest of humanity was supposed to pick up the slack. With thousands of people in one place, surely some of them would stumble upon some necessary bit of information. The law of averages basically demanded it, the presence of Librarians notwithstanding. It made one thing abundantly clear ¨C he needed to branch out. He needed to socialize. He needed community. Otherwise, he would always be groping around in the dark. At some point, his ignorance would come back to bite him, he was certain. He needed to get serious about heading that off at the pass. To that end, he finally remembered to turn his attention to the Ring of Anonymity. More than once, it had gotten him into trouble. So, he¡¯d chosen to do something about that. He didn¡¯t want to discard the item altogether. It was still potentially useful. And he also didn¡¯t want to walk around advertising that he was one of the top five most powerful people in the world. That would invite challenge, and it would bring unwanted attention. Elijah intended to avoid that. Fortunately, there was a happy medium that he thought would satisfy his requirements. He¡¯d learned in Valosta that there were some classes that could hide their information, even from people with appropriate skills. In that small town, which saw plenty of travelers, it wasn¡¯t even uncommon. So, Elijah figured that he could simply use the anonymous option on his ring. He also shorted the displayed name to simply Eli. That would hopefully keep people out of his business. And if not, he had plenty of ways to respond to any challenge. So, he continued on through the desert, surprised that the terrain hadn¡¯t changed. By his reckoning, he shouldn¡¯t have been far from Seattle. And yet, the region was as arid as any desert. In fact, it still looked a lot like the American southwest, which shouldn¡¯t have been possible. Of course, it was explicable the same way everything else was ¨C magic. Or ethera, to be more accurate. The world had transformed, and the terrain had been randomized. As a result, many regions had been set down in completely different environments. But did the area immediately turn to desert? Or did the vegetation slowly die, giving in to the arid climate? The latter didn¡¯t seem possible, given that only four years had passed. Yet, the former wasn¡¯t either. So, Elijah kept turning back to magic. Without having lived through it, there was no way to know. Perhaps the natives would. Those thoughts occupied him over the next couple of days until, at last, he crested a hill and saw his destination. Elijah had grown up near Seattle, so he knew the skyline extremely well. Even though he hadn¡¯t seen the city in years ¨C the time since the world¡¯s transformation notwithstanding ¨C he should have recognized everything. But he didn¡¯t. There were landmarks he recognized. The Space Needle still stood. So did a few of the skyscrapers. He even saw Lumen Field, where the Seahawks had once played. But so many other familiar buildings had clearly fallen. And in the center of the city rose a giant mesa. As expected, there was no shoreline in the area. In fact, the humidity had dropped precipitously with every day over the past week. And it had already been a desert. So, it was easily the dryest place Elijah had ever been. Still, in the area surrounding the city, there were dozens of huge container ships that had fallen onto their sides. It looked as if the water had simply disappeared, leaving the ships behind. On bare feet, he continued forward at a slight incline of what had once been the seafloor, passing the graveyard of ships with no small degree of caution. But the derelict vessels were clearly abandoned, and the hulls had been used for salvage, with large portions of the thick steel having been cut free. It was an odd sight, though one Elijah should have expected. Ships were treasure troves of salvageable material, and the people of Seattle had had plenty of time to take whatever they needed. Soon, he¡¯d passed through the collection of ships, and he saw a large wall, which had clearly been built from the wreckage of the fallen buildings. About a mile from the city, he found a wide highway which was mostly intact. As Elijah followed it, he saw plenty of abandoned cars. They¡¯d all been stripped of anything worthwhile, as far as he could tell. But he was no mechanic, so he didn¡¯t know enough to say for sure. However, as shocking as the area was, Elijah was even more surprised when he saw a black shape zooming toward him. Initially, he thought it was a bird or some other sort of animal, but as it came closer, he saw it for what it was ¨C a commercial drone. His first instinct was to tear it out of the sky with a well-aimed cast of Storm¡¯s Fury, but he restrained himself. The thing didn¡¯t seem dangerous, and as he¡¯d already established, he didn¡¯t want to draw too much attention. So, he gave the drone a lazy wave as he continued toward the city. It turned around a few moments later, heading back toward the city. Elijah followed it. 3-67. The Lay of the Land ¡°You¡¯re anonymous,¡± said the guard, who was wearing all black fatigues that reminded Elijah of S.W.A.T. gear he had seen on television. The man even had kneepads, elbow guards, and fingerless gloves, which Elijah thought was a little much. Of course, he was currently wearing a pair of fingerless gloves himself, so he didn¡¯t feel like he had a lot of room to criticize other people¡¯s fashion choices. At least he had the good sense to keep his hidden, though. The man looked at his partner and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do.¡± ¡°Uh¡­me neither,¡± the other stated. ¡°Look, guys ¨C I just want to see my friends in the city,¡± Elijah said with an easy smile that he hoped didn¡¯t come off as disingenuous. Or deranged. ¡°My name is Eli Summerall. I¡¯m level thirty-eight.¡± As he spoke, he switched his Ring of Anonymity to the second option, altering his apparent level as well as his name. Apparently, walking around with an anonymous identity was just as much of a red flag as doing so with his real name visible. He also changed his archetype to show that he was a Ranger, which he thought would be more believable than Healer. ¡°There. Removed the skill that hid my level and stuff,¡± he said. ¡°Why were you using that?¡± one of the guards demanded. The only thing he was missing was an automatic rifle. Instead, he wore a sword at his hip, though it looked like it had been made of some sort of odd composite, rather than steel. ¡°Seems suspicious.¡± ¡°You know how it is. You¡¯re walking around out in the wilderness. Bandits see you¡¯re level thirty-eight, and they think they can take you, right?¡± Elijah lied. ¡°Well, they think twice about that kind of thing if they don¡¯t know your level. Little travel tip, if you ever want to go venturing out into the forest.¡± Elijah looked back at the barren landscape. ¡°Or desert, I guess. Not the Seattle I remember, I¡¯ll tell you that much.¡± ¡°You from here?¡± asked the first guard. He was young, maybe twenty years old, and built like he knew where to find the nearest gym. ¡°Originally, yeah. Or Easton, I guess. Doesn¡¯t seem like it ended up here,¡± Elijah said. It was a lie. He¡¯d grown up a few hours from Seattle, but he figured it was the easiest way to get information out of the guard without asking overt questions about his sister. After all, he was a powerful person, and given what he saw of the city, he didn¡¯t think Seattle was run by the best sort of people. And those types might use his family to try to manipulate him in some way. ¡°Never heard of it,¡± the man said. ¡°But I wasn¡¯t here when the apocalypse started. My family wandered in after ¨C¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to know that, Tommy.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. I guess you can go on through,¡± the guard said, waving him inside, much to the relief of the other people waiting to get in. There weren¡¯t many, and most of them looked like they¡¯d been living rough out in the wilderness. So had Elijah, but he had a lot of advantages they clearly didn¡¯t, so he looked like he¡¯d been out for a Sunday stroll. ¡°Thanks. Any suggestions where I might find a room to rent for a few days? And a drink, maybe?¡± ¡°Sure. Try the Dirty Cactus for drinks. Best bar in town. Mostly the right sort of people, too, if you know what I mean. As far as a room, there¡¯s a couple of hotels in that area. Best one¡¯s probably the Holiday Inn,¡± the second guard said. By comparison to his partner, he was tall, with wide shoulders and a bit of a paunch. But he looked like he knew how to handle himself. After getting directions, Elijah thanked the pair, then moved on. However, he did wonder what the guard meant by the ¡°right sort of people¡±. He figured he¡¯d find out soon enough. Regardless, as Elijah walked through the town, he was struck by how many modern conveniences there were. The other cities he¡¯d visited had had access to electricity in some form or another, though it was heavily rationed. However, after only a few steps into Seattle, Elijah knew that it was different. There were drones flying around everywhere, and when they drew within range of Elijah¡¯s One with Nature, he could tell that they were powered by a mixture of ethera and electricity. The few cars he saw were all electric, and there were quite a lot of electric scooters, bikes, and motorcycles around as well. And there were phones in every hand, just like before Earth experienced the touch of the World Tree. It made the city seem almost normal, though that illusion was shattered by the ruins he passed as he entered the city. Buildings had fallen, streets had been destroyed, and there was even a fifty-foot-wide sinkhole that he had to cross a rope bridge to bypass. It was clear that Seattle had not recovered from the calamity of the World Tree¡¯s touch. Elijah didn¡¯t know why, either. The other cities and towns he¡¯d seen had all showed that people had the ability to rapidly repair and build sturdy structures. He¡¯d even seen many of those crafters in action when Argos was being repaired in the wake of the tempest. Surely, with their population, Seattle had plenty of people with that same capability. As he traversed the city, following the guard¡¯s directions, Elijah saw plenty of other guards, each one wearing what looked like surplus police or military gear. It was such a strange sight, especially given that other cities seemed to have embraced a much more medieval mindset, at least regarding weaponry and armor. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder how Kevlar would stand up to his claws. Eventually, he passed Lumen Stadium, and he was surprised to find that only half of the massive building had survived. The other half was simply gone. Elijah didn¡¯t know if it had fallen from some structural damage or if it had been sent somewhere else when the world was transformed. Whatever the case, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but stare at the massive monument to humanity¡¯s excesses. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. It was a great example of the lengths to which people had once gone to distract themselves from the world¡¯s ills. And he was no different. He¡¯d attended football games in that very stadium, and he¡¯d screamed for the Seahawks alongside all the other fans. There was nothing wrong with that, but even acknowledging that, Elijah wondered where humanity might¡¯ve turned to replace those distractions. In any case, he eventually moved on, and after a few more blocks, found his way to the appropriate area, which was populated by a half-dozen hotels, at least twice as many bars and nightclubs, and quite a few general stores. Clearly, it was where most travelers were directed, which gave Elijah leave to relax. He obviously didn¡¯t belong. Anyone who looked at him would know that. But amidst a crowd of other visitors to the city, he didn¡¯t stick out quite as much. Except for his bare feet, which got more than a few curious glances. Still, he found his way to the bar mentioned by the guard ¨C it was called the Dirty Cactus ¨C and stepped inside. The interior was much as one might expect of a dive bar, but Elijah was more than a little excited that it had an actual jukebox. So, before he did anything else, he headed over and, to his dismay, saw that it still took actual quarters. With a disappointed sigh, he headed to the bar and sat on one of the stools. A redheaded bartender wearing pair of jeans and a white tee-shirt that was two sizes too small asked, ¡°What can I get for you?¡± Elijah asked, ¡°Have any quarters?¡± ¡°For what?¡± she asked, giving him a crooked smile. She was pretty, though on the edge of middle age. She wore it well, though. ¡°The jukebox.¡± ¡°Ah, sure,¡± she said, reaching into her pocket. She slid a couple of quarters across the polished wooden surface of the bar, adding, ¡°Pick something good.¡± He gave her a wink, then retreated to the jukebox. He¡¯d already seen the song he wanted to hear, so he made his selection. The machine came to life, then blared the song. ¡°She¡¯s a good girl,¡± Tom Petty sang. ¡°Loves her mama. Loves Jesus, and her boyfriend, too¡­¡± When Elijah returned to the bar, the woman said, ¡°That¡¯s certainly a choice. You look a bit young for Tom Petty.¡± ¡°And the Heartbreakers.¡± ¡°And the Heartbreakers,¡± she agreed. ¡°There a story there?¡± ¡°Do I need one to enjoy Free Fallin¡¯?¡± he asked with a grin. In reality, it had been in a key scene in one of his father¡¯s favorite movies, and Elijah had sort of absorbed the song by osmosis. So, every time he heard it, he experienced a wave of nostalgia, both for the film as well as all the times he¡¯d watched it with his family. ¡°I suppose not. What can I get you?¡± she asked. ¡°Beer?¡± ¡°That I can do,¡± she said, reaching down and grabbing a large, glass mug. She put it under a tap, and as it filled, she remarked, ¡°You¡¯re not from around here, are you?¡± ¡°Grew up close to here, believe it or not. Easton. You ever heard of it?¡± She nodded. ¡°Of course. My first boyfriend¡¯s family lived there,¡± she said with a wistful sigh. ¡°But it¡¯s gone. Haven¡¯t heard anything about it since the world ended, either.¡± ¡°Changed.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The world changed. It didn¡¯t end. We¡¯re still around, right?¡± he said. ¡°Tell that to all the people who didn¡¯t make it,¡± she said sourly. Elijah ran his hand through his hair, then took a sip of his beer. It wasn¡¯t good, but it was better than he¡¯d expected. He asked, ¡°Lose people?¡± ¡°Haven¡¯t we all.¡± ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Everyone¡¯s sorry. Doesn¡¯t change anything, though,¡± she stated. ¡°So, what brings you here? Riches? Adventure? Get lost in the desert?¡± ¡°Little bit of everything, honestly. What¡¯s the deal with this city, anyway? I¡¯ve noticed a little tension,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Same as ever. Powerful people fighting other powerful people and using all of us as pawns,¡± she stated. ¡°Even the apocalypse won¡¯t stop them. Noticed you didn¡¯t really answer my question, though. What brings you to Seattle.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Looking for family, mostly. But I¡¯m also looking for opportunity,¡± he said with far more honesty than he¡¯d originally intended. She leaned forward. ¡°Oh, so you¡¯re one of those, are you?¡± ¡°One of whats?¡± ¡°Adventurers.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not sure what that is.¡± ¡°People who go around trying to beat towers and rifts,¡± she said. ¡°The ones who want to get stronger. The ones who think they can fight their way to immortality.¡± Elijah was about to deny it, but then he thought better of it. That really did describe him. Sure, his overarching goal was to find his family, and he wanted power for his own reasons. But he¡¯d have been lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t at least partially driven by the idea of growing stronger. ¡°I guess that pretty much describes me, then,¡± he said. ¡°Well, I hope you have a good team, then. And money. Because the government doesn¡¯t let just anyone run their tower,¡± she said. Someone else signaled her, and she said, ¡°Let me know if you need anything else.¡± Elijah nodded, then finished his beer. After that, he didn¡¯t feel much like drinking, so he laid a couple of copper ethereum on the bar, thanked the woman, then headed back into the city. He stopped by a few more bars, gathering information all the while. And he learned a few more things about the state of Seattle. The biggest discovery was that it was a city in constant conflict. At present, there was something of a tentative truce, but most of the residents expected the fight to resume at any moment. That explained the lack of development, too. There were four major factions vying for control. The first were the remnants of the old government, which were headquartered in and around the old capitol. The former Mercer Island ¨C now called Mercer Mesa ¨C was the giant plateau at the center of the city, and most of that island¡¯s former residents had formed a second faction, though they mostly kept to themselves. The third faction were located in Lake City, where the tower had risen. They¡¯d used it to develop the most powerful combatants in the city, and from all accounts, they were the strongest fighters around. The last faction were mostly headquartered in Ranier, and they were largely hunters and scavengers who ventured out into the wilderness to close Rifts, fight spontaneously manifesting Voxx, and provide the city with meat. Because of that, they were the second strongest fighters, and they controlled most of Seattle¡¯s food supply. They also played host to a figure known as the Gardener, who operated what sounded like a huge greenhouse where most of the city¡¯s vegetables and fruits were grown. That was interesting enough, and Elijah intended to investigate that situation. However, by the time he finished gathering information, night had fallen, and, after spending so long in the desert, he wanted nothing more than to sleep in an actual bed. So, he headed to one of the hotels ¨C an old Hilton that was still standing and had electricity ¨C where he rented a room for almost as much as he¡¯d spent in the Imperium. A little while later, Elijah had taken a shower and collapsed into his bed for a good night¡¯s rest. 3-68. Buying a Life The mattress was lumpy. None of the plumbing worked. And the whole room somehow managed to smell like bleach and mildew, both at the same time. On top of that, Elijah could feel every creeping, crawling insect in the walls, and he could hear everything that happened in the next room over. Yet, for some reason, he¡¯d slept incredibly well, and when it came time for a shower, he just stepped into the bathroom and summoned Healing Rain. So, as far as he was concerned, things were looking up. Except for the fact that Easton, according to an overheard conversation between the proprietor of the hotel and a guest, was more than a thousand miles away. How much more was a bit of a mystery, and even the city¡¯s presence was little more than rumor. Still, Elijah would take even the smallest clue that would lead him in his sister¡¯s direction. Because as much as he enjoyed trekking through the wilderness and seeing different places, when he thought of his sister, the weight or urgency had settled firmly onto his shoulders. And he knew why, too. Life in their new world was cheap. Even before Earth had felt the touch of the World Tree, people died every day. Sometimes, it was because of disease. Others, because of accidents like the one that had taken his parents. And in other parts of the world, conflict and hunger claimed even more lives. However, the increased danger of the world, coupled with the fact that civilization seemed to have taken a step backward, meant that people had died at a much higher rate. Billions had perished. And Elijah knew that there was more death to come. If the environment didn¡¯t do it, people would pick up the slack. The situation in Seattle had made that abundantly clear. So, who knew what perils Alyssa, Carmen, and Miguel had faced? And who was to say that they wouldn¡¯t find themselves up against a foe they couldn¡¯t overcome? Elijah was one of the strongest people in the world, and he¡¯d nearly died more than once. No ¨C life didn¡¯t hold the sanctity it once had, and he felt more driven than ever to find his family. That was why he didn¡¯t plan on staying in Seattle for very long. A couple of days, at most. And then, he¡¯d set out for Easton. In the meantime, though, he had a few things he wanted to investigate. The first item on the list was personal. Seattle seemed to have a better handle on how to integrate ethera and electronics than anywhere he¡¯d yet seen. So, he intended to do some shopping so he could bring some modern conveniences back to his grove. Even something as simple as a working computer would do wonders for his organizational skills. His notebook was great, but he couldn¡¯t help but think that being able to properly organize all his notes would be beneficial to his plans for cultivation as well as for the development of his island. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the potential entertainment options. E-Readers, video players, and phones held endless possibilities, and he was eager to see what had survived. As for some of the other potentially useful technology, like drones and cars, he held little interest. He could move through the rough terrain of the expanded wilderness at least as quickly as all but the most rugged vehicles, so he didn¡¯t have much use for that sort of thing. And drones just seemed like more trouble than they were worth. Perhaps he would grow to regret that attitude, but for now, he had no desire for such things. The second order of business regarded information. He was woefully ignorant of the rest of humanity, and he wanted to know how everything stood. Seattle was a big place, and from what he¡¯d heard in his previous exploration of the city, it played host to plenty of travelers. As such, they would have a better sense of the world than anywhere else he¡¯d been. And finally, he wanted to visit the so-called Gardener. Everything he¡¯d heard pointed to them having some sort of nature-based class, and Elijah had some hopes that he might finally meet another Druid. Regardless, his first stop was to get breakfast, so he found a nearby restaurant where he ordered a couple of breakfast burritos. As it turned out, the meat was all soy-based, which didn¡¯t really affect the taste so much. Even if it had, the peppers and onions definitely made up for it. It wasn¡¯t the best Elijah had ever tasted, but it was far better than any attempt he¡¯d made at cooking, so of course he had seconds. Unfortunately, the restaurant had no coffee, and he was only given a single bottle of water to drink, and even that cost more than the entire meal. When he asked about it, the server told him that water was scarce, and that the only reliable source was a series of water accumulators the government had bought from the Branch¡¯s Market. That highlighted another item on Elijah¡¯s list. He needed to visit the local Branch as well. Hopefully, given that it was under government control, that wouldn¡¯t prove to be too much of a hassle. After breakfast, Elijah set off through the city. As soon as he left what he¡¯d dubbed Seattle¡¯s foreign quarter, he started to notice the divisions he¡¯d heard so much about. Not in the civilians, most of whom looked like normal people, albeit ones who¡¯d been through rough times. Rather, Elijah focused on the clear combatants. The ones associated with the government all wore variations of the gear Elijah had seen from the guards, which meant black fatigues and modern body armor. Most carried swords, but he saw a few crossbows and wands ¨C worn on the hip like pistols ¨C as well. By contrast, the Lake City militants wore far more eclectic gear in line with what Elijah had seen in other places. Plate armor, chainmail, robes ¨C in the old world, they might¡¯ve looked like cosplayers. However, Elijah recognized that many of those pieces were Crude- or even Simple-Grade, just from the aura of power they emitted. From what Elijah understood, that equipment had likely come from the tower. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The final set of people Elijah saw wore far rougher gear. Most of it looked handmade, but some of the pieces were decent-enough quality that Elijah could feel the ethera running through it. Those were the Ranier hunters, whose territory also played host to the city¡¯s largest crafting community. It was a symbiotic relationship. The hunters provided materials, and the crafters created equipment. As he explored, Elijah discovered that much of the city had been destroyed, and other buildings had been constructed on the rubble. So, he couldn¡¯t recognize much of what he saw, and he ended up getting turned around on more than one occasion. Thankfully, there were enough people around that he could simply follow the flow of pedestrians. Eventually, Elijah found his way to a large plaza containing an open-air market, where they sold all the electronics he could ever want. Much of it was broken, and none of it was charged, but Elijah still found a tablet as well as a laptop computer. He also bought an E-Reader the merchant claimed held more than a thousand books. And finally, he spent four silver ethereum coins on a small generator that converted ethera to electricity. The conversion rate was terrible, but it would serve to charge the electronics he¡¯d bought, so long as he only did one at a time. Even so, it would take days for it to do the trick, though he supposed that beggars couldn¡¯t be choosers. Once all of that was done, Elijah continued on through the city until he reached what was once a large department store. There were four burly guards outside, but Elijah suspected they were just for show. None seemed to have particularly high attributes, at least, and they didn¡¯t pay much attention to him as he stepped inside. ¡°Welcome to my shop,¡± a woman said with an urbane voice. She sounded like she was trying to emulate the old trans-Atlantic accent that was once so prevalent in Hollywood movies, which immediately put Elijah off. Nobody really talked like that anymore, which meant that the woman ¨C who was in her fifties, with white-streaked black hair ¨C was putting on a show. ¡°The Covington Emporium has equipment for all archetypes. From martial gear to jewelry, we are ¨C¡± At that very moment, someone bulled past Elijah. Or they tried. With his Constitution, it would take quite a bit more force to knock him aside, so the person caromed away before hitting the tile floor and skidding to a stop. A second later, three fighters followed, though they didn¡¯t hit Elijah. ¡°You little shit!¡± growled one. ¡°You know who you tried to steal from?¡± The man ¨C he was middle-aged, and looked like he was ready for a trip to the country club, though his clothing was ripped and stained ¨C flipped over and tried to scramble away. Meanwhile, one of the burly warriors descended upon him, grabbed him by the collar, and hoisted him aloft. ¡°Penalty for theft is execution,¡± the big, dark-skinned man spat. ¡°May as well do it here. More witnesses. People need to know not to mess with us,¡± said the second fighter. They were all clearly hunters from Ranier, judging by their rough gear that looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. ¡°Seems that some lessons are hard for these idiots to learn.¡± The old man clutched a bag to his chest, pleading, ¡°We¡¯re starving! We just need ¨C¡± At that point, the man holding him aloft spat in his face. ¡°Rich asshole. You think we care if you starve? You all never cared about us, did you? Well, now the shoe¡¯s on the other foot, eh?¡± ¡°You will not dispense justice in this store!¡± shouted the proprietor. Elijah just watched, and even though he knew it was probably smarter to just stay out of it, he really didn¡¯t want to watch someone get executed just because they stole a bit of food. The aggrieved man threw the thief onto the ground, and the impact was enough to daze him. Then, the the would-be dispenser of justice slammed his foot onto the man¡¯s back and drew a sword from his waist. It was a heavy-bladed thing, the sort most people would use to hack their way through a jungle. He hefted it. But before he could let it fall, Elijah stepped forward and grabbed the man¡¯s wrist. ¡°Sorry. I can¡¯t let you do this,¡± he said. ¡°The guy¡¯s just hungry. Maybe I can pay for whatever he stole, huh? Nobody needs to die here.¡± The man tried to yank his hand free, but Elijah¡¯s grip was like iron. So, he said, ¡°This isn¡¯t your business.¡± ¡°I¡¯m all for law and order, but killing someone for theft just feels excessive to me. I don¡¯t think I could live with myself if I let it happen right in front of me,¡± Elijah responded, his voice calm. He¡¯d felt the man¡¯s Strength, and it was nothing special. Likely, his other attributes followed suit, so he didn¡¯t think he had much to worry about. ¡°Like I said, I¡¯m willing to pay if it means everyone walks away from this.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t want your money,¡± growled one of the others. The remaining two had already flanked Elijah, clearly meaning to surround him. ¡°Shut up, Robbie,¡± said the man whose wrist Elijah had in a vice grip. He had some inkling of what Elijah was capable of. ¡°Maybe we can just take his stuff, too. Serves him right for ¨C¡± ¡°I said to shut up, Robbie!¡± the first man growled. Then, he addressed Elijah, ¡°Two silver.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Elijah said. Then, he rolled his eyes and fished in his satchel for the right coins. It took an awkward second, considering he only had one hand to do the trick, and that had been dedicated to holding his staff. Still, after leaning the Dragon-Touched Staff against the crook of his arm, he managed it. He handed the pair of coins over, then released the man. ¡°Are we good?¡± He nodded, pocketing the coins. Then, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who you are, but if you run around making trouble on account of this trash, expect to make a lot of enemies.¡± ¡°Noted,¡± Elijah said. Then, the three men backed away. The two subordinates were obviously upset at having to forego a public execution, but the man in charge silenced them. Elijah kept track of the trio until they¡¯d left the effective radius of One with Nature. Then, he turned to the older man and helped him up. ¡°You have my gratitude, stranger,¡± the man stated, knocking the dust from his front. ¡°Those thugs are a menace, but they¡¯re strong enough that civilized people can¡¯t do anything about them.¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± Elijah said noncommittally. He didn¡¯t know if ¡°thug¡± was the right word, especially given some of the connotations that came with it. Regardless, he was okay with how things had turned out. A couple of silver coins wasn¡¯t a high price to pay if it meant saving someone¡¯s life. ¡°How can I repay you?¡± the man asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not sure I feel right about taking a reward from someone who has to steal food,¡± he said truthfully. ¡°How about we put you up for the night at least?¡± the man asked. ¡°Safest place in all of Seattle. Please. I insist on paying my debts.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Fine,¡± he said, remembering the terrible conditions of the hotel room. ¡°I mean, sure. That would be great. Thanks.¡± By that point, it was already getting late, so Elijah and the man set off in the direction of Mercer Mesa. 3-69. Mercer Mesa Mercer Mesa loomed above Elijah, soaring to a height of almost a thousand feet. From afar, he¡¯d estimated that it only reached an elevation of a few hundred feet ¨C which was huge, considering that the surrounding land was almost perfectly flat ¨C but the closer they came to the enormous edifice, the more he realized how mistaken he had been. ¡°This used to be Mercer Island, right?¡± Elijah asked his guide. The man grinned broadly, asking, ¡°Ah ¨C a local, I see? Do you have family on the island?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. I grew up a little northeast of the city. Near Mt. Baker,¡± he admitted. ¡°Though I was living in Hawaii when the world changed.¡± ¡°Are the islands near here, then?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I was actually visiting family when it all happened,¡± Elijah stated, not wanting to give too much away. ¡°Or I was headed that way, at least. You wouldn¡¯t happen to know where Easton ended up, do you?¡± ¡°Easton? I¡¯ve actually heard stories about it,¡± the man stated. ¡°Supposed to be far to the east. A bastion of civility, from all accounts. They¡¯ve managed to preserve a proper society. Some of our people considered setting out in that direction, but, alas, there are too many among us who would never survive the journey. The wilds are not safe.¡± Elijah nodded. Then, as they circled the giant plateau, he realized that he hadn¡¯t even introduced himself to his guide. ¡°My name¡¯s Eli, by the way,¡± he said. Then, looking at the state of the man, he added, ¡°If anyone in your community needs healing, I have a few spells that might help.¡± ¡°A good Samaritan, then?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I was once quite the philanthropist myself. Contributed to a host of charities designed to uplift the less fortunate,¡± the older man explained. ¡°Of course, do they remember that when the tables are turned? No. Of course not. Bunch of savages. Oh ¨C I¡¯m Barry. Barry Brockerton.¡± ¡°Good to meet you, Barry,¡± Elijah said, seeing all the red flags the man was waving. Clearly, he¡¯d been quite wealthy before Earth was touched by the World Tree, but just as obviously, his wealth had counted for very little since everything had changed. Even so, seeing the man¡¯s age, Elijah was surprised at how nimbly he picked his way among the rubble. He was likely healthier than he¡¯d been in decades, though his face still bore the weight of his years. Slowly, they circled the mesa until they came to a stop in a seemingly innocuous area. It looked no different from anywhere else, with a wide, empty space that Elijah suspected had once been covered by water. Now, it was just parched earth. A couple hundred feet distant was a berm, atop which were crumbling buildings. Barry pulled a mirror from his pocket, then tilted it so that it would catch the sun. Then, he waved his hand before the reflective surface. It took Elijah a moment to recognize what he was doing, but when he did, he couldn¡¯t help but smile. ¡°Morse code,¡± he remarked. ¡°Yes,¡± Barry said with another wide smile, displaying blisteringly white teeth that were far too straight to be real. When he grinned like that, the combination of his tan skin and aristocratic demeanor made Elijah think of country clubs and yachts. ¡°Do you understand it?¡± That elicited a shake of Elijah¡¯s head. ¡°No. My dad taught me and my sister some when we were kids, but the lessons never really stuck,¡± he lied. He remembered it all well enough to know that Barry¡¯s message was simply a means of identification combined with a code word. Broccoli. Elijah vowed to remember it in case he needed it for some reason. Once Barry had completed the signal, a few seconds passed before a thick rope descended from above. Initially, Elijah was surprised that they¡¯d found so much cordage, but then he remembered that Seattle had been a port town. That meant there had likely been quite a lot of rope lying around. ¡°That¡¯s a long way up.¡± ¡°George will take care of it. Strong as an ox,¡± said Barry, grabbing the rope. It was as big around as his wrist, but there were a couple of harnesses braided onto the end. He stepped into one, then offered another to Elijah. For his part, Elijah had no interest in leashing himself to anyone, so he declined. ¡°I can make my own way up,¡± he said. ¡°Are you certain?¡± Barry asked, clipping himself into place with a series of metal carabiners. Elijah nodded, then slipped his staff into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. That elicited a wide-eyed glance that Barry tried to hide a second later, but Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about the man¡¯s greed. He expected it. If Barry thought he could take Elijah¡¯s stuff, then he¡¯d discover the error of his assumptions shortly. Besides, just because the man admired Elijah¡¯s satchel, that didn¡¯t mean he was going to try to take it. In either case, Elijah slapped his hands together, then did a couple of stretches before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll see you up there.¡± Then, he set off, using the mesa¡¯s many handholds to easily propel himself forward. With his Strength and Constitution, not to mention his Dexterity, Elijah was capable of a far faster pace than he showed. However, he made sure to keep pace with Barry, who, after hooking himself into the harness, allowed himself to simply be dragged up the face of the cliff. That struck Elijah as a bit humiliating, but he vowed to keep those thoughts to himself. He needed to remember that everyone wasn¡¯t blessed with the attributes he took for granted. Either way, the trip only took about thirty minutes, and by the time he crested the lip of the mesa, Elijah could recognize why Barry had said that the top of the plateau was the safest place in Seattle. The trip was trivial with his attributes, but it was easy to see how the steep cliff would prove a sturdy defense against normal people. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. When he pulled himself over the edge, Elijah was surprised find a large, dark-skinned man in a pair of overalls waiting for him. The man was at least six-and-a-half feet tall, bald, and built like an NFL lineman. And he was busy turning a crank, which was attached to a pulley system meant to haul the rope to the top. It reminded Elijah of the old-fashioned systems that had once been used to load ships before mechanized cranes had become widespread. ¡°Hey,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Need some help?¡± ¡°Nah, boss. I got this,¡± the man said in a deep voice as he continued to turn the crank. Soon enough, Barry was dragged over the lip of the cliff, and as he unfastened the harness, he said, ¡°Thank you, George. Keep an eye out, will you? I was accosted in the city, and those thugs might have followed me.¡± ¡°Aight, boss.¡± After that, Barry led Elijah away from the edge. As he did, Elijah looked back at George, who had assumed a position at the edge of the plateau, where he stood watch. Nearby was a large cudgel that was clearly intended as a weapon. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking,¡± said Barry, pulling Elijah¡¯s attention away. ¡°But George is one of the good ones. His family¡¯s been with mine for decades. He knows where his bread¡¯s buttered, let me assure you.¡± Elijah remained silent, disliking the vibes he¡¯d gotten from the exchange. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to pass judgment based on a single interaction. For all he knew, George was perfectly happy and well-compensated for his role, but Barry¡¯s demeanor certainly didn¡¯t suggest as much. In any case, Elijah wasn¡¯t there to right the wrongs of oppression and prejudice. So, he pushed that out of mind, instead focusing on the environment. And he had to admit, he was impressed ¨C not by the massive mansions, which he¡¯d expected, but rather by the sheer amount of greenery in evidence. There wasn¡¯t a single lawn that wasn¡¯t covered in thick grass, and there were large oak trees all around. It was such a departure from the surrounding desert that Elijah was temporarily struck speechless. As he followed Barry, eventually stepping onto a paved road that showed only a few signs of wear and tear, Elijah saw that every garden seemed to be in bloom, and some of the houses even hosted fountains and pools in their back yards. The denizens were all clean, wearing lightweight linens, khaki pants, and colorful polo-style shirts. It all struck Elijah as so wrong that he initially didn¡¯t know what to say. Finally, though, his mind caught up to the situation, and he asked, ¡°Where¡¯s all the water coming from?¡± ¡°Ah ¨C I knew you were observant,¡± Barry said, walking toward a golf cart. ¡°We have the only permanent source of water in the entire city. It¡¯s why everyone attacks us when we go down below.¡± He slipped into the driver¡¯s seat, gesturing for Elijah to mount the passenger¡¯s seat of the golf cart. He did, and Barry took off, accompanied by the hum of an electric engine. Over the next few minutes, Elijah saw more of the same until, at last, they reached a massive mansion that could have accommodated dozens of people. It was built in the style of an English manor house, complete with ivy covering the brick walls and an expansive estate that looked like it had never missed a watering session. Like everywhere else on the plateau, every flower was in bloom, filling the air with sweet smells and attracting fat honeybees. ¡°We have a deal with the Gardener. We give her water, and she provides one of her acolytes to help us with our horticultural pursuits,¡± Barry explained over the crunch of gravel as they progressed up the long driveway. ¡°We¡¯ve repeatedly tried to get the other so-called factions onboard, but they seem incredibly resistant. They¡¯re all plotting against us, you see. Trying to take what¡¯s rightfully ours. Even the government ¨C or what¡¯s left of it ¨C thinks they¡¯re entitled to steal from us. Well, we won¡¯t have it. If they want our water, then they need to come to the table with something of value. Like the Gardener. She understands.¡± Elijah let the man rant, but he¡¯d already begun to form his opinion of the people atop Mercer Mesa. Perhaps that was colored by Barry¡¯s attitude of obvious superiority, or maybe it came from having dealt with people like him back in Hawaii. After all, the islands played host to plenty of wealthy and entitled assholes. Because of those past experiences, Elijah wasn¡¯t really willing to give Barry and his people the benefit of the doubt. Still, just because he likely wasn¡¯t going to associate with them anymore didn¡¯t mean he couldn¡¯t take advantage of their hospitality. After all, he¡¯d paid two silver ethereum to save Barry. It was only right that he get something to show for his expenditure. ¡°It was that damned, jumped-up community manager that ruined everything,¡± Barry went on to say as he pulled the golf cart around behind the mansion. ¡°Isaiah Roberts. Guess he saw a chance to take advantage of the situation. Organized a militia and tried to municipalize necessities. He already took over the electrical grid. Now he wants to take our water.¡± ¡°Was he going to pay you for it?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°A pittance! Not even enough to consider it a real payment, I say. So, we shut everything down. See how they like paying three times what we were charging to get water from those inefficient water accumulators,¡± Barry answered as he guided the golf cart to a bay next to a half-dozen others just like it. Inside, there were three Hispanic men wearing coveralls. Barry didn¡¯t even acknowledge them before hopping out of the cart and saying, ¡°Enough about that. Let me introduce you to the family. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll love to meet a fine, upstanding young man like yourself.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Elijah said, disembarking from the golf cart and following Barry. As he did, he glanced back to see one of the men in coveralls hooking a cord into the cart¡¯s battery, obviously recharging it. There was a subtle sense of ethera wafting about the area, though Elijah assumed that was simply part of the technology that blended electricity and ethera. The pair circled the house until they reached a wide, open area containing a pool that looked like it belonged in an upscale resort. Not only were there tiers to it, each one connected by a waterfall that flowed into the next, but there were a bevy of women lounging around wearing bikinis. A few minutes later, Elijah was introduced to all four women, and he learned that the eldest ¨C who was only a few years older than him ¨C was Barry¡¯s wife. She looked like she¡¯d been on the receiving end of quite a lot of plastic surgery. The other three were beautiful women, though they were all a bit younger than Elijah. They were Barry¡¯s daughters, though he could infer enough to recognize that they were not children of the man¡¯s current marriage. In any case, Elijah struggled to be polite until, at last, he was shown inside. Not by Barry, of course. By a woman in a shapeless gray dress. She didn¡¯t even introduce herself, though she did look disapprovingly at Elijah¡¯s feet. Not that he cared about that sort of thing anymore. He¡¯d grown mostly immune to people¡¯s judgements on his habitually unshod feet. In any case, he was shown to an expansive suite with a massive bedroom that rivaled the Imperium for opulence. It was equipped with a television ¨C that actually worked ¨C and a stereo system with a collection of CDs. But for the moment, Elijah was more concerned with the shower. He''d bathed only the night before, but the day¡¯s exploits ¨C trekking through a dusty desert town and climbing a cliff ¨C had left him coated in grime. So, he headed into the shower, stripped down, and got to work ridding himself of reddish dirt and body odor. 3-70. Dinner and a Movie Elijah felt his muscles unkink beneath the blisteringly hot stream of water. He hadn¡¯t had a proper shower since he¡¯d left Valosta, and even then, the water pressure had left a lot to be desired. However, the mansion¡¯s water pressure was just fine, and though Elijah had come to judge the inhabitants of Mercer Mesa poorly, he certainly wasn¡¯t above taking advantage of the luxuries they¡¯d amassed. Perhaps he could convince Nerthus to increase the temperature in his shower back home. Or better yet, he could get him to somehow create a hot tub. Maybe he could invite Delilah over. Or Jess. Or perhaps even K¡¯hana, if he felt that adventurous. Sighing, he realized that wasn¡¯t going to happen. Not only was he aware that he¡¯d most likely assigned far more importance to those meetings than was probably appropriate, he would come off a bit creepy if he suddenly popped back into their lives and invited them to see his cool hot tub. Still, it was a nice fantasy. Eventually, Elijah tired of the steaming hot shower and stepped out, refreshed and ready for whatever came next. So, he was a little surprised to find a woman standing in his room. Specifically, one of Barry¡¯s daughters. Victoria, if he remembered right. Fortunately, Elijah had thought to wrap a towel around his waist, which preserved his modesty. For her part, Victoria seemed a bit disappointed about that last part, though that could very well have been Elijah¡¯s own vanity intruding on the situation. ¡°Ah, father wanted me to invite you to supper,¡± she said in a chirping voice that was just on the edge of annoying. Her eyes played over the scars decorating his torso, then settled onto his right arm. That scarring had grown slightly less pronounced when he¡¯d progressed to the Body of Stone stage of his cultivation, but it was also somehow more well-defined, and in a way Elijah couldn¡¯t quite explain. It was as if the scarring was part of him, and though the marks had faded somewhat, the echo remained, drawing attention from anyone who laid eyes upon them. Right now, that was Victoria. And it made Elijah a little uncomfortable, so he cleared his throat and asked, ¡°Are you going to keep staring while I get dressed? I don¡¯t mind an audience. I¡¯d just like to know if you¡¯re expecting a show.¡± ¡°Depends on the show,¡± she said without a hint of propriety. It sounded silly in that comically high-pitched voice. ¡°I can moonwalk,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not well, but I can do it. When I was a kid, I could do the Macarena, too. But that gets kind of difficult without the song.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a dance. Popularized in the nineties. I know, that¡¯s probably before your time. Before mine, too, if I¡¯m honest. But my sister was into all sorts of older music, and she went through a¡­well, a phase. It wasn¡¯t pretty, made even less so by the fact that her annoying little brother copied her dance moves,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°In my defense, though¡­well, I don¡¯t have much of a defense, other than that I was a stupid kid. And later, a stupid teenager. A dumb twenty-something, too. Now that I think about it, revealing the depths of my stupidity is not the defense I thought it was.¡± ¡°What?¡± she repeated, cocking her head to the side. She also gave a little bounce that brought Elijah¡¯s attention to the fact that she was still clad in a skimpy, yellow bikini, with only sheer wrap around her hips to preserve her modesty. Obviously, that was by design. Elijah had never been a lothario. In fact, he¡¯d always been a bit awkward around women, but he¡¯d participated in enough bar crawls to know when a woman was hitting on him. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t so foolish not to recognize her ulterior motives. He wasn¡¯t bad looking, but he was no male model, either. And while he thought of himself as quite a catch, the chances of a beautiful girl he¡¯d only just met throwing herself at him was a bit too far-fetched for him to accept. Especially when it was fairly obvious that she was only doing so at her father¡¯s behest. Maybe Barry had sent his daughter in the hopes that she could get her hooks into him. The man was savvy enough to know that Elijah was strong. And rich, given that he¡¯d dropped two silver ethereum like it was nothing. No ¨C Victoria was a ploy, and not one Elijah intended to fall for. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that, you know,¡± he said. ¡°Do what?¡± ¡°Act like you¡¯re interested in me. I know you¡¯re not,¡± he said, running his hand through his wet hair. ¡°I mean, you¡¯re beautiful. I won¡¯t deny that. And I¡¯m sure you¡¯re perfectly pleasant. But whatever you have in mind here, it isn¡¯t going to happen.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± she said in a more normal tone of voice. ¡°Haven¡¯t been rejected like that in¡­well, in forever. Stings a little.¡± Elijah said, ¡°I got used to rejection a long time ago. My personality can be a bit grating. It used to be not so bad, but, well, years alone can kind of expose the edges, if you know what I mean. But it¡¯s not you. It¡¯s definitely me.¡± ¡°Again, ouch,¡± Victoria said, sitting on the bed. Elijah couldn¡¯t tell if she was actually upset or if she was still playing a role. ¡°Turned down by a barefoot man who carries a purse. If my friends knew¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s a satchel.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°It¡¯s not a purse. It¡¯s a satchel. Indiana Jones carries one.¡± ¡°It looks like a purse to me. I mean, back before the world ended, men carrying purses was kind of coming into style, so I guess that¡¯s okay. The material is a little odd, though. What is that, sharkskin?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a purse,¡± Elijah insisted, skating right over her question about the satchel¡¯s composition. He didn¡¯t think she wanted to hear that it was made from ghoul skin. Or servitor, he supposed. Either way, it was a bit gross, so he decided to keep that information to himself. ¡°Sure, sure. A satchel. Right,¡± she said with a sigh. Then, she flopped backward, exposing herself in all sorts of interesting ways. As she ran raised her hands to her head, she said, ¡°Dad¡¯s going to be disappointed. He wanted me to bring you into the fold, so to speak. You did something to impress him down there. Frankly, I don¡¯t see it, but he¡¯s a pretty good judge of character. Wait ¨C where are you going?¡± ¡°To get dressed,¡± Elijah said, reaching down to grab the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then his Cloak of the Iron Bear. Everything else was in the bag. Then, he disappeared into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. After that, he tossed everything onto the floor and splashed some cold water on his face. That refocused him. A little. At least enough to get dressed in his cleanest set of clothes. The rest, he coated in Cleansing Powder before shoving everything back into his satchel. Once he¡¯d settled his cloak over his shoulders and grabbed his staff, he opened the door. Thankfully, Victoria had given up by that point, which was both disappointing and a relief. The woman made him uncomfortable, and not in a good way. She wasn¡¯t really interested in him, so that made the whole exchange suspect. Regardless, once Elijah was dressed, he headed out of the room and downstairs, where he found the entire family ¨C and staff, it appeared ¨C waiting for him. ¡°Ah, all cleaned up, I see!¡± Barry exclaimed with feigned exuberance. ¡°We were just about to have supper. I have to apologize, though ¨C we¡¯re on a bit of a vegan diet these days. Courtesy of the Gardener.¡± ¡°I have meat,¡± he said. ¡°Lots of it. I killed a boar just a couple of days ago, so I¡¯ve got about a hundred pounds of pork in my satchel.¡± Barry asked, ¡°Uh¡­in your¡­satchel?¡± ¡°Or purse. Whatever. I¡¯d be happy to share,¡± he said. ¡°Is it safe?¡± Barry asked. That¡¯s when Elijah realized that the objection wasn¡¯t to the categorization of his bag. Rather, Barry was worried about food spoilage. So, he quickly disabused the man of that notion, telling him that his bag ¨C as well as the wax paper he used to wrap it ¨C had been created to prevent spoilage. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it extended the shelf life of raw meat by at least a few weeks. Normally, that was plenty for Elijah¡¯s purposes, though he had to admit that he¡¯d have rather pawned the snake off on them. The meat wasn¡¯t bad. It just wasn¡¯t his favorite. Still, he wanted to make a good impression on his hosts, so when he was directed toward the kitchen ¨C which was populated by more servants ¨C he retrieved his wild boar meat and laid it on the counter. The cook, who was a large Pacific islander, was ecstatic for such a bounty, and he assured Elijah that he knew exactly how to prepare it. After having lived in Hawaii for a few years, Elijah had no doubts about that. So, once he¡¯d asked if he could help ¨C getting a firm no in response ¨C Elijah returned to the house¡¯s living area, where Barry handed him a glass containing expensive-smelling liquor. ¡°So, you¡¯ve mentioned this Gardener a couple of times,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Any chance I can meet them?¡± ¡°Her. And what¡¯s your interest in her? She¡¯s talented enough, but quite plain. Dirt always under her fingernails, smudges on her cheeks ¨C she looks like the help,¡± Barry said haughtily. His wife, who was sitting beside him on the couch, elbowed him in the ribs. He grunted, then asked, ¡°What? I¡¯m only telling the truth. If she wanted people to take her more seriously, she would at least clean up a bit. Positively barbaric, the way she traipses around that little garden of hers.¡± ¡°It¡¯s the size of a football field and ten stories tall, dad,¡± the other daughter, whose name Elijah couldn¡¯t remember, said. She was practically a clone of her sister, though. Same perfect nose. Same delicate features. It was only when Elijah saw the pair together that he recognized the telltale signs of plastic surgery. It wasn¡¯t surprising, really. Lots of young women of a certain income bracket had gone down that route, and though Elijah had nothing against it, he¡¯d never found that sort of artificialness to be attractive. However, it did beg the question of how all those changes would react under the effects of healing or body cultivation. For whatever reason, Elijah didn¡¯t think they¡¯d mix all that well. ¡°Mr. Eli?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± he said, realizing that he¡¯d let his mind ¨C all nine facets ¨C wander. ¡°Oh, sorry. My mind went a bit blank there for a second. Long day, I guess. What was the question?¡± ¡°I asked what your interest in horticulture is,¡± said Victoria. ¡°Mostly berry-related.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Berries. You know, little fruits that grow on bushes. I grow them back home, and I¡¯m always looking to improve the product. Also coffee trees, though those are berries, too. Or cherries, I guess. Either way, they¡¯re close to maturity by this point,¡± he remarked, casting one facet of his mind back to his domain and seeing that the coffee trees were almost to the stage of bearing fruit. Which meant his coffee-making operation was about to take off. ¡°My point is that I have agricultural interests, and I¡¯d love to talk shop.¡± Barry said, ¡°I don¡¯t see why we couldn¡¯t make an introduction. After what you did today, it¡¯s the least I could do.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Elijah said, thinking that his foray into what counted for high society after the apocalypse was going to bear some fruit. After that, the family continued to pepper him with questions, and Elijah answered as vaguely or in as convoluted a manner as possible. Eventually, they started to lose the thread, so it was a good thing that dinner was soon served. The chef apologized that he hadn¡¯t been able to slow-cook it, but Barry tersely said, ¡°I¡¯m sure you did your best, Marcus.¡± Clearly, he didn¡¯t mean it. In fact, it was meant as an insult, which rubbed Elijah the wrong way. That kind of followed the pattern he¡¯d noticed since meeting Barry, and he¡¯d long since begun to wonder if he¡¯d made the right choice in saving the man. Still, he kept his mouth shut ¨C mostly ¨C as they settled in for the meal. After everyone had eaten, Barry announced that it was time for a movie. Elijah was excited about it until he saw that the film chosen was The Wolf of Wall Street. It wasn¡¯t a bad film ¨C in fact, on every technical level, it was great ¨C but he¡¯d found that many people got all the wrong lessons from it. Barry and his family definitely did, seeming to idolize the main character who¡¯d defrauded thousands of people out of millions of dollars. But Elijah watched the film in silence, constantly shifting away from Victoria, who seemed incapable of taking no for an answer. So, it was with no small degree of relief that he headed upstairs and went to bed. He made certain to lock the door, though. A good thing, too, because, via One with Nature, he felt Victoria¡¯s presence when she tried to sneak into his room. She even had a key, which made his decision to block the door with a chair seem all the smarter. After that, sleep was slow in coming, and when it did, it was much lighter than normal. So, when he woke the next morning, he wasn¡¯t in a particularly good mood. 3-71. The Gardener Tart flavor burst in Elijah¡¯s mouth as he bit down on one of his grove berries. Fortunately, he¡¯d resupplied in his most recent trip back to his island, but still, he¡¯d been gone long enough that his stores were running a little low. That brought to mind the question of his future. Certainly, he knew he was going to set out for Easton, soon. The stories he¡¯d heard, which had painted Easton as much more civilized than Seattle, were a great comfort. If it was safe, then so too was his family. Still, it was some distance away, which meant that he had weeks of travel in front of him. So, he wondered if he should build a dolmen to create a teleportation point near Seattle. It would certainly give him a little flexibility going forward, and the city was large enough to warrant staying in touch. Yet, he hesitated, largely because he only had three remaining opportunities to create circles. He¡¯d already put two of them incredibly close together, and he wanted to spread them out a little more in the future. In fact, his original plan was to put at least a thousand miles between each one. Otherwise, it felt like a waste. However, his needs were a little more complex than that, and the presence of the Twilight Clefts further complicated the issue. He¡¯d yet to make a final decision, but so far, Elijah was leaning toward creating a circle nearby. If he found the right location in the next few days, then he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to get to work. In the meantime, though, he needed to deal with Barry and his daughter, Victoria, at least long enough to get an introduction to the mysterious Gardener. In addition, Elijah wanted to access the local Branch of the World Tree in the hopes that he could see the local map. It was a good plan, so after swallowing his berry, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and headed to the bathroom, where he took care of his business, washed his face, and even combed his unruly hair. It didn¡¯t do much good, but it didn¡¯t look horrible, either. ¡°It¡¯s my hobbit look,¡± he muttered to himself. Indeed, it did quite resemble the hair of the short race of people from Lord of the Rings. Adding to that impression was his bare feet. Even his clothing was somewhat similar to the style he¡¯d seen in the movies. But at least he was slightly taller than those heroic, if unassuming, characters. Once Elijah judged himself to be presentable, he removed the heavy chair he¡¯d propped against the door, then headed out. Only a minute or so later, he found himself in the kitchen, where Barry was already up and about. The man offered him a cup of tea, saying, ¡°I do apologize. No coffee. The Gardener has a few trees, but it¡¯s ungodly expensive, and we can¡¯t afford to waste our capital on something so trivial. The tea is nice, though. Bought it from one of the Ranier scavengers.¡± Elijah considered refusing, but after a moment¡¯s thought, he took the offered cup. Not only would it have been slightly rude to turn it down, but Elijah felt that he was owed something for having to physically block Victoria from accosting him in the night. However, there was a part of him that had considered letting it happen. He was human, after all, and it had been a while since he¡¯d felt that sort of release. Still, she wasn¡¯t precisely willing. Or rather, her motivations were anything but pure. So, Elijah felt uncomfortable with the whole situation, and he wanted nothing more than to extricate himself as soon as possible. So, he asked Barry about the introduction the older man had promised the night before. ¡°Ah, yes. The Gardener. She¡¯s quite odd,¡± Barry said. ¡°An academic, by all accounts. Nasty place academia. So much misinformation and manipulation, all to get the masses riled up. Of course, we donated to the university, but that¡¯s just the sort of thing one does. They turned on us the moment the world changed, though.¡± He shook his head sadly. ¡°Just like everyone else.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said, deciding not to reveal the fact that he¡¯d once been an academic as well. Of course, he barely considered himself to qualify, what with how apathetic he¡¯d been about the actual science of it all. Still, he didn¡¯t like the sound of Barry¡¯s views. Or maybe it was just Elijah putting everything he knew about the man into context. Whatever the case, he was eager to go his own way and leave Barry and his family behind. So, he drank his tea quickly ¨C it was weak and a little flavorless ¨C then followed Barry out of the house. Thankfully, Victoria seemed to have gotten the picture, because she was nowhere to be seen. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth, Eli. I wouldn¡¯t mind if you stuck around,¡± Barry said as he drove the golf cart down the driveway. ¡°Tori¡¯s taken quite a liking to you, and you seem to be quite a capable fellow. We could use someone like you.¡± Elijah said, ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m flattered. But I¡¯m¡­ah¡­attached. My girlfriend lives in Argos. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve ever heard of it, but I don¡¯t think she would be too keen on me entertaining offers from other women.¡± It was a lie, of course. Elijah had simply chosen Delilah as his fictional girlfriend because she was the first person to come to mind. But he thought it was as good an excuse as any for why he didn¡¯t want anything to do with Victoria. Maybe if her company wasn¡¯t clearly a means of manipulating him, he might¡¯ve felt differently, but with the situation the way it was, that didn¡¯t bear thinking about. ¡°Ah, I see,¡± said Barry. ¡°Tori will be devastated, I¡¯m sure. In any case, you are still welcome to stay. We need the right sorts of people. Like yourself.¡± Elijah just nodded along, more than ready to simply leave without the promised introduction. But thankfully, Barry was easy enough to tune out. It would be different if the man ever actually said anything worthwhile, but as it turned out, he didn¡¯t. So, Elijah¡¯s contribution to the conversation was limited to nods and the occasional, ¡°Uh huh.¡± Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Like that, the time passed as Barry guided the golf cart through the neighborhoods of Mercer Mesa. Instead of heading toward the southern tip of the plateau, they ended up going in the opposite direction, eventually reaching another pulley operated by yet another burly man. Soon enough, Barry was being lowered to the ground while Elijah climbed down under his own power. He reached the bottom well before his host. Looking around, he saw that it was more of the same. A wide, open area stretched for a few hundred feet before terminating in a rising berm, from which a series of dry and abandoned docks stretched. When Barry joined him, the pair set off to the northwest, eventually climbing the slope and into the ruins of the city. This portion of Seattle was even worse off than the parts Elijah had seen, and it looked like a warzone. Still, even with the apparent destruction, Elijah was surprised to find a huge skeleton that was almost two-hundred feet long. ¡°Is this a crocodile?¡± he asked, recognizing the structure. It was missing quite a few bones, but it was still more or less intact. ¡°Ah, yes. When that beast burst forth from the surrounding desert, every available warrior responded,¡± Barry explained. ¡°Thousands of people, all working toward one goal. It was the only time they all worked together. We were safe atop the mesa, of course. Most defensible place in the city.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t doubt that. However, he had serious issues with the fact that the people of Mercer Mesa didn¡¯t seem to care much about anyone else. They¡¯d proven that by hoarding water, and their actions against the giant creature whose skeleton Elijah was staring at was further evidence. If the mesa was truly safe, then they should have offered shelter to the rest of the city¡¯s residents. Yet, they clearly had not. ¡°Did a lot of people die?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Yes. Thousands, at least. This was a densely populated area,¡± Barry stated. ¡°Mostly vagabonds and ne¡¯er do wells. A tragic loss, but most wouldn¡¯t have made it much longer anyway.¡± ¡°I see.¡± After that, Elijah didn¡¯t really contribute to the conversation. Barry didn¡¯t seem to notice much, he was so focused on traversing the landscape. He was clearly more capable than his age would suggest, but he still struggled climbing over some of the larger obstacles. Even so, it was only an hour or so before they finally passed into occupied territory. Judging by the people and their attire, it was not the best part of town. No one looked malnourished, but the residents were dirty, and with ragged clothing. Not surprising, really. Life in the desert was harsh, and water was too precious to use on something so trivial as taking a shower. Even so, Elijah longed to share his jugs of water with the first group of dirty children he saw. They were playing soccer in the street, so they weren¡¯t in poor condition. Still, he could imagine how tough their lives were. Elijah and Barry didn¡¯t pass unnoticed, and along the way, they garnered plenty of attention ¨C usually from rough-looking men and women wearing leather armor that looked like it had come from some sort of reptile. It wasn¡¯t until Elijah looked closer that he made the connection between the giant crocodile skeleton he¡¯d seen and the scaley armor. Still, none of those people accosted them, so they made their way without delay. And eventually, Elijah saw their destination. ¡°Wow,¡± he said aloud as he looked at the structure. It was at least ten stories tall, and it was all made of glass. Inside, Elijah could see row upon row of greenery. ¡°How big is it?¡± ¡°Big enough that it¡¯s the single largest contributor to Seattle¡¯s food supply,¡± Barry said. ¡°The Gardener¡¯s political stance might be a bit suspect, but no one can deny the effectiveness of her methods.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t disagree with the last part. Indeed, he could feel the ethera wafting off of the building. It wasn¡¯t nearly as dense as the atmosphere on his island or in Ironshore, but it was at least as thick as anywhere else he¡¯d been. He didn¡¯t wait on Barry to lead him forward. Instead, Elijah continued on, with the older man hurrying to catch up. Finally, he reached the front gate, which was huge, metal, and guarded by a dozen armed warriors. Judging by what Elijah felt, they were decently strong, too, though he couldn¡¯t tell their exact levels. ¡°You¡¯re not on the schedule,¡± said the leader. He was middling height, but with the kind of muscular physique that suggested a history of athletics. ¡°I brought someone to meet the Gardener,¡± Barry stated. ¡°This isn¡¯t the botanical gardens,¡± the man responded. ¡°We¡¯re not giving tours.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Barry said. ¡°But I¡¯m certain that the Gardener would want to meet this young man. He is well-traveled.¡± ¡°Ah.¡± The man didn¡¯t immediately say anything else. Instead, he pulled a radio receiver, which was attached to a block of electronics at his waist, from his shoulder, then said, ¡°Got a visitor that wants to see her.¡± ¡°Ten-four,¡± came the crackling reply. Elijah looked at the radio. For some reason, he¡¯d assumed that such means of communication wouldn¡¯t remain operational. However, upon further thought, he couldn¡¯t see any reason they wouldn¡¯t. Internal combustion engines didn¡¯t work, but that was only because fuels like gasoline were no longer as volatile as they¡¯d once been. They still burned, just not as violently as they once had. As a result, they were incapable of doing the job of pushing pistons. But electronics were fine. Suddenly, Elijah wanted to check to see if he could get any use out of a CB radio. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly how they worked, but there was a chance they could still be useful. In any case, he gave it some thought as they waited. It only took a couple of minutes before the gate opened, revealing a woman in a pair of coveralls. She was flanked by a man wearing scaled armor and carrying a sword. Their guide and a guard, it seemed. The woman, who was brunette and mostly unremarkable, save for sharp chin, asked, ¡°This the guy?¡± The outside guard confirmed that Elijah was, indeed, the guy. Then, the woman motioned for him to follow. So, he and Barry did, and when Elijah stepped inside the giant greenhouse, he couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath of the thick ethera. And the sense of nature. However, when he passed the plants, Elijah thought they seemed perfectly normal. Maybe a little bigger than they should have been ¨C especially the ones bearing fruit ¨C but they clearly weren¡¯t on the same level as the flora on his island. Still, it was impressive. After a couple of minutes, Elijah and Barry were escorted to the center of a field of wheat, where they found a tall, slender woman wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top. Upon her head was a wide-brimmed straw hat, and she wore a pair of thick glasses. At the moment, she was kneeling next to a curious contraption that looked like a tall, metal cylinder. She didn¡¯t look up when they approached. Instead, she leaned closer to the machine, which was open, as she said, ¡°You¡¯re not on the schedule, Barry. If you need more food, you know the deal.¡± ¡°Ah, it¡¯s not that. I wanted to introduce you to my friend, Eli.¡± She looked up, then. That¡¯s when she said, ¡°Elijah? What are you doing here?¡± 3-72. Trust ¡°Ah, shit,¡± Elijah said, rubbing the back of his neck. He had no idea how he hadn¡¯t recognized her. In retrospect, he should have. It wasn¡¯t as if she¡¯d really changed that much since high school. In fact, she looked remarkably similar, given that it had been nearly ten years and an apocalypse since the last time he¡¯d seen her. Still, Elijah knew he should have recognized his first serious girlfriend. ¡°Wow. That happy to see me, huh?¡± ¡°Shit. Sorry. Hey, Lucy. How have you been? Apocalypse treating you alright?¡± She laughed, letting out a small snort that she tried to cut short. It didn¡¯t work, which clearly distressed her. ¡°You really haven¡¯t changed, have you?¡± she said, pushing herself to her full height. She was about an inch taller than Elijah, which meant that she was reasonable tall for a woman. And in those shorts, she looked like she was ninety-percent leg. ¡°More than you can imagine,¡± he said. ¡°I heard you had cancer,¡± she stated. ¡°Didn¡¯t really take. Saved by the apocalypse,¡± he admitted. ¡°How about you? Last I checked, you were an engineer, not a botanist.¡± Whatever the case, he felt certain that she wasn¡¯t a fellow Druid. He didn¡¯t know how he knew that, but every fiber of his being told him that he would know for certain if he met another person of his archetype. ¡°How do you think I made all this work? Engineering¡¯s all about solving problems, even when we¡¯re using ethera instead of electricity,¡± she said. Then, she glanced toward Barry and said, ¡°You can go. You¡¯ll get your shipment on time.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Come with me,¡± Lucy said, grabbing Elijah¡¯s upper arm. She tugged on him, but he didn¡¯t move at first. That brought a curious glance, but Elijah didn¡¯t resist further. Instead, he let himself be dragged away from Barry. Once they were out of earshot, Lucy said, ¡°Didn¡¯t think I¡¯d see you hanging out with the likes of Barry Brockerton.¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t hanging out. I happened to help him out, and he offered to put me up for the night,¡± Elijah said. ¡°He try to push one of his daughters on you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Which one? I bet it was Tori. She¡¯s the eldest. Of course, he¡¯s tried that with every man of intermediate power in the city. Some of them have even fallen for it,¡± Lucy said, leading him through the giant greenhouse. ¡°Super sleezy, but I guess he¡¯s working with the tools he has.¡± ¡°Did you just refer to a person as a tool?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I could use worse words,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Like slut. Or whore. Harlot¡¯s a good one, too. And believe me, those girls have earned that and worse. Even before the world changed, they were¡­ah¡­social climbers. Dana, the youngest, slept with half the Seahawks¡¯ defensive backfield. Including the backups.¡± That¡¯s when they reached a door that led to a small office. Upon entry, Elijah noted that it looked just like any other blue-collar office he¡¯d ever seen. There were tools lying on the metal desk, and the entire back wall was filled with a series of wooden cubbies that held rolled-up blueprints. She sat on the edge of the desk, saying, ¡°Alright. Spill it. What are you doing here? Last I heard, you were dying in Hawaii.¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s kind of a tactless way of putting it.¡± Lucy rolled her eyes. ¡°Like you care. C¡¯mon. Tell me why you¡¯re here,¡± she said. With anyone else ¨C except for Alyssa or Carmen, maybe ¨C Elijah would have been hesitant to reveal too much. However, he and Lucy had too much history for him to treat her like anybody else. They¡¯d started going out in middle school, and that relationship had lasted all the way until Elijah¡¯s senior year in high school. The only reason it hadn¡¯t continued was because, after his parents¡¯ death, he¡¯d pulled away from everyone. Lucy had tried to make it work, but back then, Elijah was far more interested in wallowing in self-pity to let her be there for him. As a result, they¡¯d broken up, he¡¯d left for Hawaii the next fall, and he hadn¡¯t spoken to her since then. But the bond remained. Just seeing her alive had filled him with such potent relief that it was hard to even quantify it. So, without hesitation, Elijah told Lucy everything. He didn¡¯t hold anything back. Not his archetype. Not his class. He even told her about his grove and the panther, which turned out to elicit a lot more of an emotional response than he¡¯d thought possible. Clearly, he¡¯d kept things bottled up, and now that he had the benefit of a listener he trusted, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from letting loose with his burdens. For her part, Lucy listened with an implacable expression. She didn¡¯t judge him, however, and when he finally admitted to what he¡¯d done upon finding the hunters, she frowned. Elijah quickly moved on, telling her about his code, then explained everything that had happened since then. ¡°And here I am,¡± he said. The explanation had taken more than an hour, but Lucy hadn¡¯t really moved. By comparison, Elijah had paced back and forth, gesturing as he told the story. Once he was finished, he stopped and asked, ¡°Thoughts?¡± ¡°Top five.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re in the top five. You know, I never even look at the rankings. Most people don¡¯t,¡± Lucy admitted. ¡°I knew they were there, but I¡¯ve always had way too much going on to pay attention to it. But if I¡¯d just looked, I would have known you were alive.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Elijah fidgeted a bit as he said, ¡°Well, I wasn¡¯t even on the list for the longest time. The first year on the island was just me trying to survive. You know, only killing things when I needed food. The panther killed anything strong enough to actually hurt me, so it took a long time for me to even get a level. It wasn¡¯t until I started hunting Voxx that I started really leveling. Since then, I¡¯ve run multiple towers, and I¡¯m still losing ground on the top people.¡± ¡°And your sister¡¯s wife is on the power rankings, too?¡± Lucy asked. ¡°That¡¯s quite a coincidence.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Carmen was always exceptional. More than me. I just got lucky,¡± he admitted. ¡°Good class. A powerful guardian to protect me while I got my feet under me. That sort of thing.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t sell yourself short,¡± Lucy said, pushing her glasses up the her nose. ¡°I doubt most people would have survived what you¡¯ve described.¡± ¡°Maybe. What about you?¡± he asked. ¡°The mysterious and powerful Gardener. I expected another Druid.¡± ¡°Nope. I took Tradesman,¡± she said. ¡°Then Ethereal Engineer. I wouldn¡¯t have gotten nearly as far if it wasn¡¯t for my husband, though. He took Scholar, which didn¡¯t seem all that useful at first. But then he got a class called Etheracist. It let him map the flow of ethera and predict how it would react to certain stimuli. Together, and with the help of a bunch of other Tradesmen, we built the Garden.¡± ¡°I notice a lot of past tense there. What happened?¡± ¡°Same thing that happened to most of the world. A lot of people died,¡± she said. ¡°But Sean passed after a freak accident. A beam collapsed on top of him. There weren¡¯t any Healers around, so¡­¡± She sniffed, wiping a tear from her cheek. ¡°How long ago?¡± ¡°Two years last month.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said, stepping forward. He wrapped his arms around her, saying, ¡°I wish I was here.¡± ¡°Me too.¡± The pair remained like that for a few more minutes until, finally, Lucy pulled away, wiped her eyes, and said, ¡°You¡¯re looking for Easton, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard it¡¯s to the east.¡± ¡°It is. I¡¯ve had that confirmed. Somewhere between seven-hundred and a thousand miles away,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it on maps.¡± Then, she went on to reveal that the people of Seattle hadn¡¯t been completely idle. Instead, they¡¯d spent the last few years steadily exploring the area around the city and compiling maps. More, there were apparently some efforts underway to create a new worldwide government, though distance and the complications of communication had stymied those efforts. Still, it was nice to know that people hadn¡¯t completely descended into anarchy. ¡°So, do you want me to help out? I can probably spend a week or so in here and triple your output,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Maybe even more. I don¡¯t know. With the framework you have in place, it might be a lot more.¡± ¡°I think ¨C¡± A knock at the door cut her off. Before she could respond, the door swung open. At the same time, Elijah stepped in front of Lucy, shielding her from danger. It was a good thing, too, because three armored fighters stepped through a second later. The one in the center was a dark-skinned man with a military haircut and the crisp mannerisms that went with it. He wore the same black fatigues Elijah had seen from the guards at the city¡¯s gates. The other two ¨C a man and a woman ¨C were dressed in identical gear. ¡°When most people knock on a door, they wait for an answer before they barge in,¡± Elijah said, planting the butt of his staff on the floor. It hit with a metallic clang. ¡°Kind of rude. A bit dangerous, too. That¡¯s the kind of thing that causes all sorts of accidents.¡± ¡°This the guy?¡± the man in the middle asked. ¡°Matches the description,¡± said the woman. ¡°Taller than they said, though. Not much, but still¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re looking for me?¡± Elijah asked, ignoring the quip about his height. He was average. Not short. He just wished people would recognize that. ¡°We are,¡± said the man. ¡°My name is Isaiah Roberts, and I¡¯m the Lord of this city.¡± ¡°Kind of presumptuous to call yourself that,¡± Elijah remarked. ¡°Boys. Stop,¡± Lucy said, grabbing Elijah¡¯s shoulder. He very nearly reacted to that, and not in a way that would make him any friends. However, he managed to corral his instincts just enough to keep himself in check. Still, it was evidence of how tightly he was wound. Lucy noticed, probably because every muscle in his body had contracted the second she¡¯d touched him. ¡°Relax, Elijah. Isaiah is a good man.¡± ¡°I am relaxed,¡± Elijah lied, his eyes never leaving Isaiah. ¡°What do you want from me? I haven¡¯t killed anyone since coming into town. In fact, I wasted two silver to keep from having to do that. So, I can¡¯t imagine why you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°You¡¯re top five. I¡¯d have to be an idiot not to want to meet you,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°I¡¯m just a level thirty ¨C¡± ¡°Your skill or item doesn¡¯t work on a Lord.¡± ¡°You keep saying that like I know what it means. Not that I care much about titles,¡± Elijah was quick to add. ¡°I¡¯m a system sanctioned Lord,¡± Isaiah revealed. ¡°One of the benefits of the path I rook is that I can see through most identity obfuscating skills and items. It doesn¡¯t come for free, but you were odd enough that I thought it was warranted.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not that odd.¡± ¡°You came strolling out of the desert like you didn¡¯t have a care in the world. You¡¯re wearing no less than four items that are at least Simple-Grade. Including your purse, of all things. And ¨C¡± ¡°Satchel.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe I have to keep pointing this out. It¡¯s a satchel. Not a purse. Indiana Jones uses one,¡± Elijah said. It seemed like an important distinction, and he didn¡¯t understand why people kept making the same mistake. ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve heard that before,¡± one of Isaiah¡¯s guards said. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± the Lord said. ¡°My point is that you were clearly powerful. So, I used an ability, and I found out who you are. That¡¯s why I¡¯m here.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain anything. Do you want my help with something? Or is this just a meet-n-greet? Because I was trying to catch up with an old friend,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m concerned. What relationship do you have with Mercer Mesa?¡± ¡°None that matters.¡± ¡°Would you be willing to work against them?¡± asked Isaiah. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t particularly like them, if that¡¯s what you¡¯re asking. But I¡¯m not staying in this city for much longer. So, I have no intention of getting involved in your¡­whatever it is you¡¯re about to propose.¡± As far as Elijah was concerned, there was only one reason a city¡¯s leader would approach him. He needed Elijah¡¯s strength, probably to get a leg up on his competition. And while Elijah wasn¡¯t necessarily opposed to putting someone like Barry in his place, he was more concerned with getting to Easton. ¡°I see. And what if we gave you unfettered access to our Branch? And the tower we have under our control?¡± Isaiah asked. ¡°Do you happen to have a Librarian?¡± ¡°We do. She¡¯s low leveled, but we could make her services available to you.¡± That was even more tempting. Still, Elijah said, ¡°I can¡¯t get tied up here. I¡¯m searching for something. When I find it, I may come back. If I do, there¡¯s a chance I might help. Assuming you¡¯re not some sort of tyrant. You¡¯re not, are you?¡± ¡°I just want to help the people of this city,¡± the man stated. ¡°That¡¯s why your answer is so disappointing.¡± ¡°Is this where you try to force my hand?¡± ¡°Of course not. We aren¡¯t the bad guys here. If you change your mind, come to the Capitol. Chances are, this conflict won¡¯t soon end.¡± ¡°Alright.¡± Then, the man turned on his heel and marched away. His flunkies followed, the last one out closing the door with some degree of force. ¡°That went well,¡± Elijah said, glancing back at Lucy. ¡°So, what¡¯s his deal?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a good man,¡± Lucy said. ¡°Former marine. Before the world changed, he won an election as a city councilman. He ended up taking everything over after everyone else died or shrank away from the challenge. Thousands of people owe their lives to Isaiah Roberts.¡± ¡°Ah. Then I¡¯m glad we didn¡¯t get into a fight,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, those maps you were talking about? You happen to have one you can lend me?¡± 3-73. Necessary Adjustments The wind whipped the dust storm into a frenzy, but Miguel just wrapped the cloth more tightly around his face and hunched his shoulders against the furious windstorm. Using his spear as a walking stick, he followed Miss Teresa, doing his best to keep an eye on everything around him. There was nothing visible but a thick wall of dust, but he wasn¡¯t going to let that stop him. After everything he¡¯d seen in his young life, he knew just how quickly the world could turn on him. He¡¯d learned that lesson the day after the world had transformed, and each day since then had served to hammer home that lesson. Idly, he found himself wondering about his old friends. Had any of them made it far into the apocalypse? He didn¡¯t think so. If they had, someone would have found them. But it was easy to forget about them, to see those days like they¡¯d been nothing but a dream. The new world seemed far more real. More consequential. Certainly, more dangerous. His mother¡¯s death had served to highlight that, and the years had been filled with furious training, bouts of anger, and more tears than he wanted to admit. Colt always cautioned him to feel those emotions, but not to let them rule his life. And Miguel tried. He truly did. Some things just seemed impossible. The sadness was easy to ignore. All he needed to do was keep busy, and his devotion to training satisfied that requirement. But the rage? That was far more difficult to abandon. It was with him at all times, pushing him forward at a frightening rate. In that way, it was easy to look at it as a benefit, but that was just an illusion. It held him back in ways he wasn¡¯t quite ready to confront. That didn¡¯t mean he should abandon the idea of killing Roman. It remained a worthy goal. But he needed to be cold. Detached. He needed to focus on the task at hand, not the fury that seemed to hang from his shoulders like a thick cloak. So, to combat that, he had turned to the meditative exercises Colt had taught him. Those worked. What¡¯s more, they were necessary to becoming the best swordsman ¨C or any other sort of fighter ¨C he could be. The trick was remaining aware of his surroundings while he entered what Colt referred to as the sword trance. He wasn¡¯t perfect at it, but it helped center his thoughts. Like that, he continued on until, suddenly, Miss Theresa stopped. He stepped up and shouted over the wind, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She shook her head, then shrugged. They¡¯d left the forest behind almost a week before, and they¡¯d been traveling through the desert ever since. However, it wasn¡¯t until the past couple of days that the storm had come, and in the wide-open desert, there hadn¡¯t been anywhere to take shelter. Like Theresa, he waited until the next person in line signaled for them to follow. And soon, it became clear why they¡¯d briefly stopped. Someone ¨C probably Colt ¨C had found a cave where they could find solace from the howling wind and abrasive sand. Once inside, Miguel let his face-covering fall away, then planted himself at the mouth of the cave. He couldn¡¯t see anything, but he wasn¡¯t going to let that stop him from guarding the lone point of entry. If something wanted to get to his mom ¨C or the others ¨C it would have to go through him. Like that, he stood sentry until, a half hour later, he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder. ¡°Go get some food and water,¡± Colt said. ¡°I got this for now, kid.¡± Miguel looked back at his mentor. He looked much the same as always, though like everyone else in the party, he¡¯d made a few concessions to the desert climate and the sandstorm. The most notable among those was that he¡¯d wrapped a cloth around his head, the last bit of which he¡¯d been using as a mask. It now hung free, revealing a week¡¯s worth of salt-and-pepper stubble. Nodding, Miguel assured the man that he would be back. Then, he stepped deeper into the cave where the others were huddled around a small fire. A spit was suspended over the flames, spearing through one of the desert lizards that seemed so pervasive. They were venomous, but everyone in the party aside from Miguel had enough Constitution to endure it. That highlighted how ready he was to get his archetype. Then, he could begin to develop himself in earnest. Until then, the effects of his training were minimal. He could practice with weapons all day, but if he fought someone with even a few levels, he would stand no chance. He couldn¡¯t even use anything better than Crude-Grade equipment to narrow the gap. No ¨C he¡¯d learned his lesson the day Trace had taken him, and he¡¯d taken it to heart. Theirs was a world of levels, and without power, he would inevitably become a victim. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. The next few minutes saw him taking a hunk of lizard ¨C the tail alone had nearly ten pounds of meat, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about rationing ¨C and settling in to eat. Not long after he sat, his mother joined him. ¡°Are you okay, mijo?¡± she asked. ¡°Don¡¯t call me that. It makes me seem like a little kid.¡± She sighed, then leaned her head against the rocky wall. Facing him, she said, ¡°Nice deflection. Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he stated, tearing a piece of gamey meat with his teeth. And he was. Compared to the people they¡¯d already lost, at least. So many had fallen prey to the sidhe. Miss Rebecca. Mr. Amons. Leif. Miss Michaels. Janet. And that wasn¡¯t even considering all the people who¡¯d died before reaching Eber. Or the ones who¡¯d been killed during the rebellion. Miguel hadn¡¯t seen all of them fall, but he knew they were gone. ¡°We¡¯re going to find somewhere safe,¡± she said. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°I¡¯m serious.¡± ¡°Does anywhere like that exist?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. I think so. There has to be somewhere.¡± He shrugged, then went back to his meal. For her part, his mother fell into silence before she stood and walked toward Colt, who stood guard at the cave¡¯s entrance. Miguel truly didn¡¯t believe anywhere was safe. So, he vowed to create his own safety. Before he could do that, though, he needed to get stronger. He needed to gain an archetype. And then, the work would really begin. * * * ¡°He¡¯s holdin¡¯ up,¡± Colt said, not looking back as Carmen approached. ¡°I know you hate how this is now. You want to let him be a kid. But that ain¡¯t possible anymore. Best we can do for him is give him the tools to succeed.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± she said, eyeing the sandstorm. Night had begun to fall, cutting visibility down to nothing. ¡°When do you think he¡¯ll get an archetype?¡± ¡°Soon. If it¡¯s more than six months, I¡¯ll be surprised.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± she said. Regardless of what he picked, the chance to level and gain attributes would give him the tools to survive. At present, that was all she could hope to achieve. ¡°When the storm dies, I¡¯ll start scouting,¡± Colt said. ¡°Katie find any water?¡± Katie was one of the surviving members of the party, and she had the Geologist class. As such, she had an ability that had proven useful in finding water ¨C a necessity in the desert. Without her, they never would have chanced the terrain. Instead, they would have followed the forest. Even with that ability to help out, Carmen had wondered if they¡¯d made the right choice. But it was too late to turn back now. ¡°A little,¡± she said. ¡°Enough for a couple of days.¡± Over the next few hours, the storm continued to rage until, suddenly, the wind fell away. The sudden cessation of noise was odd. Eerie. But true to his word, Colt immediately set out to see if he could find some sort of civilization. While he was gone, Carmen took his place at the head of the cave, with Miguel joining her sometime around midnight. They didn¡¯t speak. Instead, they simply watched. That was how, just before dawn, Colt found them. ¡°There¡¯s a town about two miles away,¡± he said. ¡°Decent size. Maybe big enough for a few thousand people.¡± ¡°The residents?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°None.¡± ¡°None?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a ghost town,¡± Colt stated. ¡°Not a bit of movement. I looked around a bit, and there¡¯s nobody there. But I think we should search the place, see if there¡¯s anything there we can use.¡± ¡°You think we could settle there?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think so. There¡¯s a reason it¡¯s abandoned. I found a few bodies. They¡¯re old. Months dead. Lots of claw marks.¡± He didn¡¯t need to say anything else. Carmen knew what he meant. If there was something around that could cause a thousand or more people to desert a town, then they wouldn¡¯t stand any chance against it. But as he¡¯d said, they could scavenge for supplies. After that, they established a plan to shelter in place for a day. They¡¯d been going nonstop for some time, and even with augmented attributes, they were all exhausted. So, they rested for the rest of the day, recovering their strength until the next morning, when they set out just before dawn. The desert sky was completely clear, and the illumination from the moon and stars was more than enough to light their way. Still, they were all on guard for any threats. The desert seemed empty, but there were thousands of deadly animals, ranging from reptiles to massive scorpions, that posed plenty of threat. As luck would have it, they made it to the town without issue. And it was much as Colt had described, though Carmen suspected that it had housed quite a few more people than he¡¯d originally estimated. Without hesitation, they set about searching the area. By that point, they were all expert scavengers, so they made good time as they scoured one building after another. Still, there were more than a hundred structures, so it was late afternoon before they found something worthwhile. ¡°Maps,¡± Carmen said to herself, sorting through the scattered papers. Some of them had deteriorated a little, but they were still legible. ¡°I think this place is called Farwood,¡± she mumbled, pointing to what she suspected was their current location. Then, her breath caught in her throat. ¡°Seattle.¡± Indeed, it was clearly labeled on the map, and if her estimates were correct, the city was only a hundred or so miles away. She looked up as Colt walked in, but before she could speak, he said, ¡°We need to get out of here. Now.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Monsters,¡± he said. ¡°Saw them from the wall. Maybe two miles away. Group of ten. They¡¯re some kind of bipedal creatures with dog-like heads. They weren¡¯t wearing clothes or armor, but they carried primitive weapons.¡± ¡°Do you think that¡¯s what drove the local population away?¡± ¡°If I was a bettin¡¯ man, I¡¯d say yes.¡± ¡°Shit. Gather everyone.¡± ¡°Find anything?¡± ¡°I hope so. Seattle¡¯s northwest of here. I think that¡¯s our best bet. If it¡¯s still standing¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s our best shot,¡± he said. Then, he set off. As he left, Carmen gathered the maps, as well as the few bits of supplies she¡¯d scavenged. After that, she joined Colt and the others outside. They¡¯d found precious little; the people who¡¯d once lived there had taken nearly everything of value. But they¡¯d still scavenged a couple of weapons, a few sacks, and even a leather breastplate that had been given to Miguel. Carmen told everyone what was going on, and to their credit, they didn¡¯t even bat an eyelash at the threat posed by the nearby monsters. After everything they¡¯d experienced, that wasn¡¯t enough to alarm them. They accepted the danger as a matter of course. After that, they set off toward the city they hoped would be their salvation. 3-74. Leaving Seattle ¡°Fried squash?¡± Elijah asked, gazing at the meal with no small degree of appreciation. ¡°And fried chicken? Mashed potatoes? Wow. Just wow. Tell me again why we didn¡¯t get married?¡± Lucy rolled her eyes, saying, ¡°Because we were barely more than children.¡± ¡°Yeah. I know. Other than that, though.¡± ¡°You disappeared and ran away to Hawaii to play with fish.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Not my best decision,¡± Elijah said with a grin. He knew Lucy didn¡¯t take him seriously. If anyone knew his odd sense of humor, it was her. ¡°I should¡¯ve put a ring on it. Is that what the kids say these days? I¡¯m over thirty now, so I¡¯m way out of touch.¡± She laughed. ¡°You were always out of touch. And nobody¡¯s said that for two decades,¡± she said, grabbing the spoon and serving herself a helping of squash. ¡°But no. Not fried chicken.¡± ¡°What is it, then?¡± Elijah asked, helping himself. It certainly looked like fried chicken. ¡°We call them sand monitors,¡± Lucy said. ¡°They taste a bit like chicken, especially fried by a decent Cook. But more importantly, they¡¯re everywhere out in the desert.¡± ¡°Huh. I didn¡¯t see any. I did eat a snake the other day, though.¡± ¡°How in the world did you not see any sand monitors? They¡¯re incredibly aggressive and very territorial. And like I said ¨C they¡¯re everywhere in the desert.¡± Elijah took a bite. It did taste a bit like chicken, though with a bit more tang to it. It was also slightly fattier. Whatever the case, it tasted fine, so he didn¡¯t think twice about digging in. As he chewed, he said, ¡°Most animals leave me alone.¡± He swallowed, then continued, ¡°Monsters are different, though. And how Guardians react is based on how much of a threat you are to their treasure. I think. I¡¯m still trying to figure out how all of it works, honestly.¡± ¡°Is it your class?¡± ¡°My archetype, I think. I¡¯m pretty close to nature.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± she said. ¡°Do you think you can stay for a couple of days? I can set up a greenhouse where we can test your spell out. Maybe it won¡¯t affect the balance too much. And there¡¯s a chance I can figure out how it works and ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ve already told you. I need to find Alyssa. I¡¯ve already gotten distracted way too many times,¡± he said. ¡°But once I find them and make sure they¡¯re safe, sure. I¡¯ll come back and you can have me for however long you want me.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Was that innuendo?¡± ¡°Do you want it to be?¡± he asked. ¡°You drop into town and you immediately want to jump into bed?¡± she asked. ¡°What kind of girl do you think I am?¡± ¡°The kind who can use a friend?¡± Elijah guessed. He hadn¡¯t missed the tension in her eyes. The tightness in her shoulders. ¡°Look ¨C I¡¯m going to be serious for a second. If you need a friend, I¡¯m here. I¡¯ll listen. I¡¯ll be a shoulder for you to cry on. You know that, right? I might joke about the other thing, but at the end of the day, we¡¯re friends. There¡¯s too much history here for anything else.¡± ¡°Elijah Hart. Being serious. I never thought I¡¯d see the day.¡± ¡°I can be serious when I need to be,¡± he said. Before the world had changed ¨C or really, before his cancer diagnosis ¨C that was probably a lie. But things were different now. He¡¯d learned to be the person he needed to be when necessary. ¡°I guess everyone¡¯s changed, huh.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°So? You want to talk?¡± And she did. As they shared a meal, Elijah listened to Lucy¡¯s story. It wasn¡¯t really much different from so many he¡¯d already heard in other places, but it hit harder when it was someone he¡¯d grown up with. Someone he¡¯d once loved, at least as much as an awkward teenager with no life experience could love anyone. In the end, nothing happened except for two friends catching up. Perhaps they could take things further when they met again. In any case, Elijah went to bed alone, and despite the comfortable accommodations of Lucy¡¯s guest bedroom, he slept poorly. The next morning, Elijah broke his fast with a couple of pears grown in Lucy¡¯s greenhouse, then set out for the capital. He didn¡¯t like how things had ended between him and Isaiah, so he wanted to mend that relationship. Soon after arriving at the large building, which looked almost the same as it had before Earth was touched by the World Tree. Certainly, the grounds were no longer green, and the fountain was dry, but the rest looked undamaged. At least that was the case with the domed Legislative Building. However, most of the structures on the rest of the campus had been destroyed, and their rubble cleared away. The air above the building was abuzz with drones. Most looked just like the one Elijah had seen just outside the city, but there were a few much larger machines that emitted far stronger ethereal signatures. Elijah guessed they were weaponized in some way ¨C a frightening proposition, but one he felt he could combat fairly easily. One cast of Storm¡¯s Fury could bring them down, and if he used Calamity, they¡¯d all fall. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t there to pick a fight. Instead, he wanted to meet the man in charge, so he pushed forward, and after climbing the stairs, entered the building. There, he found himself facing a trio of guards. ¡°Hey, fellas. Is the boss in?¡± he asked with a little wave. ¡°And who are you?¡± This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it ¡°A friend?¡± Elijah replied. ¡°No? I guess Isaiah doesn¡¯t have a lot of those, right? No, probably not. Either way, he¡¯ll want to see me.¡± ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Oh. Shit. Sorry. I just figured all of you had those weird identification skills. My name is Elijah. Tell him I want to see him. He¡¯ll know what it means.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Yeah. That probably doesn¡¯t really fit there. But I always wanted to say it, you know? Like I know an inside joke. I don¡¯t, though. Barely know the guy. But he really will want to see me.¡± That seemed to confuse two of the three guards, but the other followed just fine. His radio crackled, and he explained the situation. Someone on the other side told him to escort Elijah inside. ¡°See? Told you,¡± Elijah gloated as he followed the man into the building. As he did, he was impressed by the appearance of so much activity. The place was a hive of productivity, though Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder how many of them were actually busy, as opposed to simply appearing to be so. From his experience, a government building was probably host to more of the latter than the former. In any event, Elijah soon found himself being led into an office. Inside was a large desk, but the office was otherwise unadorned, save for a couple of landscape paintings and a huge map on the wall. The latter was even more detailed than one he¡¯d gotten from Lucy. Behind the desk was Isaiah, who was staring at a computer screen. ¡°You can leave him here,¡± the man said. The guard saluted, then turned on his heel and strode away. Elijah started to speak, but Isaiah held up a single finger, asking him to wait. He typed for a few more moments, then let out a tired sigh before closing the laptop. Looking up, he asked, ¡°What can I do for you, Mr. Hart?¡± ¡°I wanted to let you know that I¡¯m going to help you,¡± Elijah stated without preamble. ¡°I don¡¯t know the whole situation here, but from what I¡¯ve seen, those people up on Mercer Mesa are the bad guys. If it was any other commodity, I probably wouldn¡¯t care, but it¡¯s water. People are dying because of their greed. I won¡¯t stand aside and let that continue.¡± ¡°I see. What changed your mind?¡± ¡°Mostly a whim,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But also, I¡¯m not a complete dick. That said, I can¡¯t help you right now. I know you have a responsibility to your people, and I respect that. But I have family out there. I can¡¯t afford to get distracted here. If it came down to it, I¡¯d let everyone in Seattle die if it was them or my family. They¡¯re all I have left.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Do you?¡± ¡°I do. We¡¯ve all lost people, Mr. Hart. I can respect a man who wants to protect his family.¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t like it,¡± Elijah guessed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what I like,¡± Isaiah stated. ¡°You know good and well that I can¡¯t make you help me. So, I have no choice but to take whatever assistance you are willing to give. I just hope it doesn¡¯t come too late. This city is a powder keg. It will explode. The only questions are when and who will survive the conflict. You should know that your friend will be one of the first targets. Anyone who wants to rule this city will need to control the Gardener.¡± ¡°That crossed my mind.¡± ¡°And yet, you still intend to leave.¡± ¡°I do.¡± Isaiah sighed, then reached into one of his desk drawers. He placed an item on the desk, then slid it forward. ¡°Is that a walkie talkie?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°A radio powered by ethera,¡± Isaiah answered. ¡°It¡¯s good within a thousand miles of Seattle. It would go a long way toward engendering trust if you took this radio with you. And perhaps, when our time of need arises, you will respond to our call.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t make any promises. I want to help, but¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ve already established your priorities. I would still like for you to take the radio.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Fine,¡± he said, looking forward to examining the machine. Perhaps he could take it back to Ironshore and let some of the Tradesmen inspect it. He retrieved the item, then shoved it in his satchel. ¡°I¡¯m heading toward Easton. Hopefully, I¡¯ll find my family there, then come back this way.¡± ¡°I understand. Good luck.¡± After that, Elijah saw no reason to stick around. So, he turned and left the office, looking forward to continuing what he hoped would turn out to be the last leg of his journey. * * * With mixed emotions gripping his heart, Isaiah watched the strange man leave his office. On the one hand Elijah Hart was clearly trouble. He displayed issues with authority, a flippant attitude, and an unpredictable nature. However, he was just as obviously powerful. He could face down some of the most powerful warriors in the city and feel no fear. As was appropriate for someone in the top five most powerful people in the world. But even that designation didn¡¯t tell the whole story. The ladder only measured levels. Isaiah knew there was far more to a person¡¯s power than the number in their status. Cultivation and class were just as important, and in those realms, Elijah Hart was head and shoulders above anyone Isaiah had ever seen. He opened his laptop, studying the readout on the screen. It was the result of his drone¡¯s scan, and it laid bare Hart¡¯s entire status. Including his advanced progression on the path of cultivation. More, though, it told him how rare the man¡¯s class was. And on Earth, it was unique, which meant that it was probably powerful. The combination of his levels, cultivation, and class meant that Elijah Hart was incredibly dangerous, which was why Isaiah wanted the man on his side. He sighed, leaning back in his chair. The world was so different. It felt like only yesterday that he¡¯d been separated from the Air Force, where he¡¯d served as a drone pilot. Having done his duty, he¡¯d fully intended to serve his community as well. That was how his political career had started, and, to his surprise, his success had garnered quite a lot of attention from national power brokers. They¡¯d been grooming him for a congressional run when the world had changed. After that, he¡¯d taken the Scholar archetype, thinking he could leverage his brain to help people survive. Initially, that had seemed like a mistake. The new world was not a peaceful one, and as a result, he was at a disadvantage. Still, his military training served him well, and he managed to survive. Many had not. Then, everything had changed when he received his class, Technomancer. According to all the guides he¡¯d seen, it was a rare class, and a hybrid between three archetypes. Scholar, for the knowledge he¡¯d need. Tradesman, to put that knowledge into action. And Sorcerer, for ethereal control. It allowed him to integrate ethera into drones ¨C or other machine-based golems ¨C giving him the ability to enforce order on Seattle. But there was resistance, and he was still fighting to get everything under control. With another sigh, he leaned forward, massaging his thigh. That was the other benefit of his class. It had given him the tools to replace his normal prosthetic with something far more durable, powerful, and useful. Unless he pulled the hem of his pants up, most people couldn¡¯t even tell that it wasn¡¯t flesh and bone. As miraculous as his creation was, it still ached, though. He¡¯d lost his leg in a car accident during his time in the Air Force. It was funny, actually. He¡¯d chosen the Air Force at least in part because of how often he¡¯d seen soldiers and marines coming back from the front lines missing limbs. He didn¡¯t want to experience that, so he¡¯d gone the safe route. And then, he¡¯d gotten into a normal car accident that had ended with his leg needing to be amputated. But at least he¡¯d managed to survive, and there were quite a few other people who wouldn¡¯t have without his efforts. That was gratifying, even if he knew the entire city was poised on the brink. Unless something changed soon, things were going to descend into anarchy, and he felt that Hart represented the only real chance to avoid that fate. For the time being, though, Isaiah intended to keep doing his best. In his experience, the answer to any problem was hard work. So, with that in mind, he called his assistant in and said, ¡°Set up a meeting with Rogers. We need to continue the dialogue.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the man ¨C boy, really ¨C said. And just like that, Isaiah pushed Hart from his mind and focused on doing his job. 3-75. Got You Thor yanked his spear from the Voxxian monster¡¯s body, sending a spray of black blood to splatter on his pants. He frowned, then spat on the creature. Then, he looked around at the other corpses. There were five of them, a full three of which were capable of healing. The other two had been durable, with thick scales and a dearth of Dexterity. The result was that it had taken Thor many frustrating hours to finish them off. But he had won. As was right and proper. And he¡¯d already gained the reward he¡¯d sought ever since he¡¯d left those hellish canyons behind. He looked at his status with no small degree of pride:
Name Thor Gunderson
Level 75
Archetype Ranger
Class Ancestral Hunter
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 144
Dexterity 158
Constitution 109
Ethera 44
Regeneration 78
Attunement Conflict
Cultivation Stage: N/A
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood N/A N/A N/A
As always, the bulk of his attributes had been automatically assigned to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. From what he¡¯d seen, the sheer number he was awarded for each level was uncommon, with two being allocated into Strength and Dexterity, while one went into Constitution. In addition, he received four free points each level. Though he wanted to believe that his talent was responsible for his rapid rise ¨C and he would tell anyone who¡¯d listen that that was the case ¨C Thor was well aware that his rare class was the largest contributor to his power. Without it, he wouldn¡¯t have had such a wide range of useful skills or the weight of his attributes on his side. It was why he was always so frustrated with towers and rifts. They scaled to his level, which sometimes made him feel like he¡¯d actually lost ground with every step forward on his path. However, when he encountered other people or wild beasts, he was reassured of his own power. He was one of the strongest people in the world, and he didn¡¯t like to be made to feel inferior, even if he knew it was a contrived scenario meant to push him to his limits. A silver box appeared before him, and when he opened it, he saw a shimmering vial full of yellow liquid. The notification that came with it told him what it was:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Lesser Cleansing Potion awarded. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
¡°Where was this when I was going through that damnable swamp?¡± he demanded, grabbing hold of the potion. It was a powerful concoction that had three functions. The first was that it immediately cured the imbiber of most ongoing ailments. That alone was extremely useful, but the second feature, which was to apply a low-level heal over time, really separated it from any Alchemist-created potion. But the third function made it an invaluable part of any toolkit. Once he drank it, the potion would remain in his system for the next half hour, pulsing every thirty seconds to cleanse him of any afflictions. He''d received such a potion once before, and he¡¯d been forced to use it in his very first tower. Otherwise, he would have ended up like his companions ¨C a withered husk, defenseless against the spider monsters who inhabited that tower. As it happened, he was the only survivor, which meant that he¡¯d received quite a lot of experience for clearing the nest of monstrous arachnids. So, he knew the value of what he held, and he suddenly felt much better about the Rift. But more importantly, Thor was interested in his newest ability:
Ancestral Clone Create an independent clone to act according to your will. Level of clone dependent on Dexterity. Current: 58. Duration dependent on Ethera. Current: 1.23 minutes. Cooldown dependent on Regeneration. Current: 7.3 days.
¡°Interesting,¡± he said, though he was a little irritated at the restrictions. Not only did it have a low duration, but the potential clone was only going to be level fifty-eight. Presumably, that would affect its attributes as well. However, the real irritant was that it had such a long cooldown. More than a week meant that it was only usable in emergencies. That also meant that he couldn¡¯t afford to test it out, because as he stepped out of the Rift, he knew he was getting close to his prey. The surrounding desert was much the same as it had been when he¡¯d found the Rift, though night had fallen. He didn¡¯t care about that. He could push forward without rest easily enough, and as he¡¯d found throughout his time in the canyons ¨C as well as the desert beyond ¨C finding somewhere safe was almost impossible. More than once, he¡¯d gone to sleep in a cave only to awake to find some venomous monster clamping down on one of his limbs. In a lot of ways, it was just as bad as the swamp that had driven him to his absolute limits. Though at least he didn¡¯t have to worry about those damnable leeches. Regardless, Thor wouldn¡¯t dare to rest for more than an hour or two every couple of days, and it would remain that way until he reached civilization. So, after sitting down and eating a meal of dried meat that had come from some sort of enormous lizard that had made the mistake of trying to attack him on his first day in the desert, he rested for about an hour. Then, he pushed himself to his feet and set off in the direction that had been revealed the last time he had used Ancestral Hunt. Since leaving the last town, he¡¯d found a strange pond that was surrounded by immense concrete statues. Like the other circle he¡¯d found outside of Argos, it was completely impervious to his every attack. So, he¡¯d moved on, following Ancestral Hunt until he found an area marred by hundreds of deep canyons. He¡¯d spent weeks wandering through them, even having to battle some primitive, dog-headed humanoids. They had not been powerful, but there were quite a lot of them. As a result, he¡¯d spent a long time fighting the creatures, and for very little in the way of reward. So, he was grateful when they finally gave up and fled his presence. After that, though, Thor had been incredibly aware that eyes were upon him. He couldn¡¯t see any of the watchers, but he knew they were there. As a result, his trip through the canyons was one characterized by unease. So, when he finally found his way through, Thor was very grateful. Nearly a week later, he had found the Rift, which he¡¯d challenged eagerly, if only for an opportunity to see something other than the bleak desert landscape. Through the night, he progressed through the waterless wastes until he saw something on the horizon. At first, he thought it was an oasis, but when he finally reached it, he found no water. Instead, it was just a circle of oddly twisted trees. But that wasn¡¯t what concerned him. Instead, an irrational anger suffused his mind. He wanted nothing more than to rip those trees out of the ground, but he mastered his fury long enough to examine the origin of the emotion. And what he found was as troubling as it was surprising. A blanket of nature hung over the area, thick and seemingly impenetrable. However, as Thor stood there, he felt something else far beneath it. Thor¡¯s first impression was as if someone had painted over a masterpiece, covering it with a child¡¯s fingerpainting. Beneath that cloyingly profane blanket of nature was a roiling pit of conflict and rage that, at first, he couldn¡¯t identify. Then, he remembered the line on his status:
Attunement Conflict
For the longest time, he¡¯d ignored it. As far as he could tell, it was useless. Or merely informative, like his name. Yet, with what he felt beneath that thin veneer of nature, he suddenly understood that it was far more important than he¡¯d ever realized. Instinctively, he mentally reached out for whatever he felt, but he found himself coming up short. No matter how he tried, it was impossible to grasp. And that made him angry. He lashed out with his spear, cutting through the first tree. It splintered pleasingly, which only spurred his anger. So, Thor continued his tirade, ripping the trees apart with every swing. And each attack pushed him further until his mind went white with fury. When he finally came back to himself some indeterminate time later, he was surrounded by a series of low stumps and splintered tree trunks. That felt good, even if it didn¡¯t solve the problem. That aura of conflict remained out of reach. But at least he¡¯d tipped the balance a little. Perhaps one day, conflict would overcome the disgustingly wholesome aura of nature. Soon after, Thor moved on, crossing the desert with renewed purpose. Destroying the trees had been therapeutic, after a fashion. However, it was a poor salve. He needed to vent his anger on something that could feel it. He needed to find his prey. So, it was with conflict roiling in his heart that, four days later, Thor finally came into sight of a city. From the maps he possessed, he expected it to be the formerly American city of Seattle. Surely, given the transient nature of humanity after the world¡¯s transformation, there were plenty of other nationalities that now called it home, though. It still bore the stink of the former superpower. Never was that more apparent than when he saw a mechanical drone cutting through the sky in his direction. For some reason, that angered him even further, and when it came close, he reared back and threw his spear at the thing. The weapon flew through the air with deadly precision, and when it hit the drone, a brief blue light flashed before the thing exploded into a hundred pieces. Thor used the weapon¡¯s ability, which allowed him to return it to his hand, so long as it was within a few hundred feet. Then, re-armed, he proceeded toward the city¡¯s gates. The guards didn¡¯t dare impede his entry, and as he strode into the city, he was appalled by the decrepit state of the once-mighty metropolis. Crumbling buildings abounded, the place smelled like a sewer, and worst of all, the people were all low-leveled trash. ¡°Animals,¡± he muttered, feeling an urge to simply enslave the lot of them. They would at least serve a purpose, then. However, that thought only lasted for a moment before he realized that it would be more trouble than it was worth. Let lesser men corral the unwashed masses. He had better things to do. With that, he found a secluded alley ¨C where he was forced to ignore the smells emanating from the trash heaped on the other end ¨C and used Ancestral Hunt. Predictably, the spirit that responded to his call made a snide remark about the filth, but when it became clear that Thor had no intention of rising to the insulting tone, the thing sent its tendrils of ethera in every direction. A few moments later, all but one had dissipated, and judging by the solidity of it, his prey was close. So, it was with no small degree of anticipation that Thor set off through the city. Fortunately, the path led him to another gate, and back into the desert. As much as he hated the arid terrain, he was grateful to be away from such a filthy place. He set off, following the trail for another hour until he saw a speck on the horizon. He didn¡¯t even need to use Hunter¡¯s Eye. He knew he¡¯d finally found his prey. The man was still more than a mile distant, and he clearly hadn¡¯t noticed Thor. So, he took a circuitous route, which sent him around a great hulk of a container ship and to a rock formation in the distance. The Druid was taking his time, looking around like a tourist, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for Thor to get ahead of him. As he waited, poised to attack, he couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°Got you.¡± 3-76. Hunter and Beast Elijah leaned forward, sniffing the air as he stuck his head through the huge gash in the ship¡¯s hull. The air inside was musty and, odd as it seemed in the middle of a desert, almost humid. He knew it was an illusion. He could feel the colony of snakes inside, and he could intuit that they were the source of the strange feeling. It was a potent hunting method, waving a moist environment in front of the parched desert denizens, but it wasn¡¯t one Elijah would fall for. But if he hadn¡¯t had One with Nature on his side, he might¡¯ve gone exploring. And while he hoped he could stand up to whatever other deadly hunting techniques the snakes could bring to bear, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure that would be the case. So, after assuring himself that there wasn¡¯t anything more interesting than a clever predator inside, he pulled away. The snakes shifted a little, probably in annoyance that their potential prey hadn¡¯t fallen for their trap, but otherwise, they didn¡¯t react. Elijah sighed, then stepped away from the hulking container ship. He¡¯d already inspected a few of them, and unsurprisingly, they¡¯d all been picked clean. Sure, there was plenty of metal inside, but it probably was too mundane to be truly valuable. Still, he marked the graveyard of ships in his mind, just in case he ever needed a ready source of thousands of tons of steel. The latest ship was no different than the rest, though, so he felt content to leave it alone. Besides, he had somewhere he needed to be. He¡¯d only just begun the last leg of his journey, and already, he¡¯d allowed himself to grow distracted. Hopefully, his will would prove stronger the next time he encountered something moderately interesting. Or someone in trouble, which seemed the more likely possibility, given his past experiences. He stretched a bit, then looked at the sky. It wasn¡¯t much past midday, so he still had plenty of time to cover ground before nightfall. Still, he was tempted to shift into his draconid form to speed his progress, but ultimately, he made the same choice he usually did and remained in his human form. His bestial shapes were incredibly useful and extremely powerful, but they both came with a shift of mindset that would overwhelm him if he wasn¡¯t careful. It had nearly happened in the Primordial Forest, and since then, Elijah had vowed not to lean too heavily on his animal forms. Certainly, they were his most potent weapon in combat, but for something as simple as travel, they were only slightly better than his natural form. And that minor improvement in speed wasn¡¯t worth risking a descent into a more primitive mindset. So, on his own two feet, he set forward, using his staff as a walking stick. Thankfully, his Cloak of the Iron Bear prevented him from growing overheated, but the attributes it provided were minimal. One day, he¡¯d find his way to a much colder environment where the item could really shine. But for now, he was grateful for the Temperate trait, which kept him cool even in the blisteringly hot desert sun. Leaving the ship behind, he strode through the desert. His gait was that of a determined walk, though he moved at a speed appropriate for an Olympic sprinter. That pace was evidence of just how large the world was. Even as quickly as he could cover ground, he¡¯d barely seen a fraction of a percent of the new and improved Earth. In a way, it was intimidating, but it was also incredibly exciting. With how much everything had changed, there were untold wonders out there for him to explore. He only had to find them, which he intended to do once he¡¯d found his family and ushered them to safety. Those thoughts occupied his mind as he passed a large pillar of rock. It was only at the last second that he recognized the danger bearing down on him, and even that was only because he could see his attacker via One with Nature. However, the man was moving so quickly that the spell ¨C and the Haste from Sash of the Whirlwind ¨C only gave Elijah a moment¡¯s worth of warning. That was barely enough to give him the opportunity to fling himself to the side, narrowly avoiding a descending spear. He rolled to his feet, leveling his staff in the man¡¯s direction. And he was more than a little surprised at what he saw. His attacker was enormous. At least seven feet tall, and with the body of an elite athlete, he had long, blonde hair and a matching beard. His facial hair had been braided and tied off with a leather thong, giving him the appearance of a fierce Viking. His armor followed the same theme and was composed of chainmail and hardened leather. The spear that had nearly impaled Elijah was more primal in appearance, with a white haft and red tassels just below the long, leaf-shaped blade. ¡°You forgot the horned helmet,¡± Elijah said, pushing himself to his feet as his opponent yanked his spear from where it had become embedded in the ground. ¡°What?¡± the man asked in a curiously accented voice. ¡°You¡¯re a Viking, right? You need a horny helmet,¡± Elijah stated, using the man¡¯s confusion to adjust his buffs. At level seventy, he¡¯d gained yet another slot, so he used Essence of the Boar, Aura of Renewal, Essence of the Monkey, Essence of the Lion, as well as Essence of the Wolf and One with Nature. The last two didn¡¯t take up his buff slots, which he suspected was due to the fact that they were impossible to cast on anyone else. ¡°That is a myth,¡± the man growled, stepping forward. Elijah mirrored his movement, taking a step backward. ¡°Only ignorant Americans believe Vikings actually wore horned helmets.¡± ¡°Guilty, I guess,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The American part, I mean. Though I guess ignorant applies, too. We¡¯re all ignorant about something. For instance, did you know that sharks are covered in tiny teeth called dermal denticles? That¡¯s why their skin feels like sandpaper.¡± By that point, Elijah had finished adjusting his buffs, so he held his opening salvo just on the edge of casting. It took quite a lot of concentration to do so, but he had Mind facets to spare. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°What are you babbling about?¡± demanded the Viking. ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± Elijah asked, wanting to avoid a fight if he could. The man was obviously powerful, with high attributes. More, Elijah could feel the ethera wafting off of him. Given that, he wasn¡¯t certain he could win any ensuing battle. But more than that, he didn¡¯t want to kill anyone unless there was no other choice. ¡°I am a hunter,¡± the man spat. ¡°And you are prey.¡± A slight twitch was the only warning Elijah got before the man exploded into motion. Fortunately, that was all he needed. The first spell he cast ¨C as he dove to the side ¨C was Snaring Roots. Then, he followed it up with Storm¡¯s Fury. Neither worked as well as he¡¯d hoped. Brown roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around the Viking¡¯s legs. However, the man was far too strong for them to do more than slow him down. Still, that was enough to ease Elijah¡¯s aim, and a bolt of lightning descended from above, slamming into his chest. For a brief moment, his muscles went out of control, and he stumbled slightly. That allowed the roots to snake around him, wrapping around his arms, legs, and torso a dozen times in the space of a second. Elijah cast Calamity. The sky broke apart, and the earth trembled as sharp blades of wind descended upon the prone giant. Sand rode upon the wave of wind, obscuring all vision. Elijah used that to his advantage, casting Swarm. A thousand scarabs burst forth from the sand, burying the man beneath a tide of tiny, biting beetles. Elijah was just patting himself on the back when he sensed another presence nearby. He whipped around to see another identical Viking descending upon him. His spear glowed with menacing red light that elicited a flinch from Elijah. Fortunately, he had plenty of time to slap the weapon aside with his staff. He cast Soothe, anticipating that he wasn¡¯t going to make it through the fight without being injured. Then, finally, he shifted into the lamellar ape form. It was just in time, too, because the warrior that had been tangled in the roots finally recovered enough to rip free of the bindings. And with a roar, he threw himself at Elijah, his own spear shimmering with identical red energy. Elijah snapped out a backhand that, shockingly, the man managed to block. Then, in a deft bit of spear work, he reversed the weapon and swept Elijah¡¯s feet out from under him. Even as he felt, Elijah knew he¡¯d found a deadly foe. The only question was whether or not he could endure what was coming. * * * Thor¡¯s insides were on fire. The biting insects had inflicted upon him some sort of caustic venom that he suspected would have turned his muscles to mush if it weren¡¯t for his incredible Constitution. But he was far too strong to succumb to mere insects, and he¡¯d shrugged the attacks off. Still, he knew that if the fight went on for too long, he¡¯d have to do something about it. Which was why he¡¯d used Ancestral Clone to turn the tide of battle. It had worked incredibly well, too, distracting the Druid long enough for Thor to tear free of the frustratingly restrictive vines. Now, he aimed to end the fight quickly and efficiently, charging forward with his spear held before him. However, he nearly blanched when he saw the man transform into some sort of creature from nightmare. At first, Thor thought he faced one of the Voxx, but he quickly noticed a few major differences. First, while the Druid¡¯s new form was reptilian, it wasn¡¯t, for lack of a better word, wrong. The Voxx were alien, and that was always evident from their appearance. The new form of the Druid felt far more natural. Still, it was clearly not of Earth. In a way, it resembled a gorilla, though with black scales instead of fur, and a head like a spiny lizard. Its teeth were sharp and plentiful, and its thick, stubby claws seemed perfect for ripping. In short, it was a monster built for murder, not unlike hundreds of others Thor had hunted. All of that flashed through his mind as he bore down on the man-turned-monster. He lashed out with his spear, using Fury of the Stalker to augment his attack. His clone did the same, though the other figure moved much more slowly than the real thing. That was fine, though. It had already served its primary purpose, and anything else it could offer was a bonus. The Druid tried to react, backhanding the clone. However, the doppelganger managed to raise his spear, slapping the attack aside. By that point, Thor arrived, thrusting his spear at the monstrous figure. It hit the thing in the ribs, though the sound of metal on metal announced the futility of the strike. Thor panicked, bounding backward in shock. The clone wasn¡¯t so quick, and the monster grabbed hold of the fake Thor¡¯s arm and wrenched it out of socket. The clone managed to slip away, but not before his arm was rendered useless. Thor recovered his wits and used Bite of the Hunter. It was a limited ability, and one that had a significant cooldown. Usually, he used it as an opener, taking advantage of surprise to guarantee a hit. He¡¯d suspected that the Druid had some way of detecting his presence, though, so he¡¯d foregone its use in the initial ambush. That had turned out to be a smart choice, because Elijah Hart had managed to avoid the blow entirely. He wouldn¡¯t this time, though. The blade of Thor¡¯s spear blazed with green light as he shoved Ethera into the ability.
Bite of the Hunter Infuse a weapon with ethera, bypassing defensive abilities for a single strike. Efficacy and cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 7.3 hours.
Thor knew that the ability was contingent on his Dexterity being higher than his foe¡¯s. Otherwise, it would have poorer returns, based on the gap. That was why he¡¯d spent so many of his free points augmenting that attribute. It was one of the major reasons he¡¯d been able to kill so many powerful enemies, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t fail him in this instance. He¡¯d seen the monstrous Druid move, and there was no chance that he was equipped with Dexterity on the level of Thor¡¯s. More than that, he had no chance of dodging the blow. The spear¡¯s blade hit the Druid in the chest, biting deep as it parted the monstrous man¡¯s scales. Less than an instant later, the clone¡¯s own version of Bite of the Hunter rammed into the Druid¡¯s back, though to far less effect than Thor¡¯s. The man-monster howled in pain as Thor ripped his spear free. Blood gushed from the wound, telling the hunter that he¡¯d hit either an artery or the creature¡¯s overlarge heart. The man-creature stumbled to his knees, but before Thor¡¯s eyes, the wound ceased bleeding. Then, the scales grew back together. And the monster shook its head, refocusing. It was at that moment that Thor felt a tremble of fear coursing up his spine. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that,¡± the monstrous Druid growled. Then, with bestial fury flashing in those reptilian eyes, it threw itself in his direction. 3-77. The Battle Continues Even as Elijah felt Guardian¡¯s Renewal mend his broken body, he growled, ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that.¡± Then, he threw himself at the Viking who¡¯d injured him. The spear strike had cut right through Iron Scales and Elijah¡¯s dense Constitution, ripping his heart to shreds. Even Soothe, which was still active, was incapable of healing it before he bled out. So, without any other choice, he¡¯d used Guardian¡¯s Renewal. It had worked, though for the second time since gaining the ability, it had struggled with the task. Clearly, the ability¡¯s description wasn¡¯t meant to be taken literally:
Guardian¡¯s Renewal Instantly and completely regenerate. Cooldown affected by Regeneration attribute. Current: Once Per 6.65 Days.
Elijah could only think that the Viking had used some sort of skill that limited his healing. Guardian¡¯s Renewal had overpowered it, but only just. It was just further confirmation that he couldn¡¯t allow himself to become complacent. Even his most powerful ability could be overcome, given the right counter. But for now, he couldn¡¯t afford to give it any further thought. Instead, the fight before him required the entirety of his focus. He crashed into the Viking like an out-of-control train, but to his absolute surprise, he didn¡¯t trample the enormous man. Instead, the hunter caught him, skidding backward across the desert for a few yards before leveraging his own Strength to bring Elijah¡¯s momentum to a stop. His hands clamped around Elijah¡¯s wrists, squeezing with incomparable might. In response, Elijah snapped out with his jaws, but the Viking managed to shift just enough to avoid having his face ripped off. So, Elijah kept going, over and over as he attempted to overpower the man. Like that, they struggled to a stalemate for a few tense seconds. Until the second, weaker version of the Viking stabbed him in the back. His spear didn¡¯t get far past Elijah¡¯s thick scales, but it was enough of a distraction to give the stronger doppelganger an advantage. And the man was more than capable of exploiting any advantage he found. Suddenly, Elijah found himself being shoved backward and into the other twin¡¯s spear. It pushed further into his lower back. He growled, continuing to snap at the man. But it was useless. He¡¯d lost the advantage of leverage, and now, it was only a matter of time before he was overcome. He needed to change the paradigm, or he stood a good chance of dying. So, he made a sacrifice. He let his limbs go limp, and the big man was briefly overbalanced. Elijah ripped his wrists free of the man¡¯s grip, but his maneuver meant that the other spear went even deeper into his back, nicking his kidney before scraping against his spine. Pain erupted inside of him, but he shunted it into its own facet of his Quartz Mind. With clarity of thought that belied his delicate condition, Elijah rolled away, using the brief opening to shift into his draconid form. As soon as four feet hit the ground, he sprinted away. The Viking tried to follow, and for a few moments, he kept pace. However, when Elijah reached the nearby container ship, he slipped inside the rent in the hull. A dozen snakes snapped out in an attempt to inject their venom, but his sudden arrival had surprised them. As a result, they were incapable of bringing their fangs to bear. Elijah bounded past the snakes and through an open hatch. He hit the painted steel floor, sliding past on legs weakened by blood loss, and colliding with the bulkhead. He righted himself, then sprinted down the corridor. Just before he turned a corner, the Viking entered the range of One with Nature, which meant he¡¯d just arrived in the room with the snakes. This time, they were not surprised. Before Elijah went out of range, he was happy to see that at least one of the creatures had latched onto his attacker and injected its venom. But as much as Elijah wanted to go back and continue the fight, he knew that was the worst choice. So, after turning a few more corners, he shifted into his human form and cast Soothe. Then, he used Touch of Nature, channeling as much ethera as he could to quickly heal the wound. It took almost a minute, during which he continued through the maze-like halls of the ship. However, the bleeding stopped after the first fifteen seconds, which meant he wasn¡¯t leaving such an easy trail to follow. He used that to his advantage, varying his pattern, doubling back, and doing whatever he could to lay a false trail. In the meantime, he continued to heal himself until the wound finally closed. That highlighted an issue he¡¯d come to recognize. As he grew more powerful, his healing spells had become less effective. It was more complicated than that, but he suspected that it had to do with the fact that it took far stronger attacks to hurt him. It was almost like his life was a bucket full of water. As he leveled, the bucket grew larger. Each attack against him took some of the water, which he could restore with healing spells. Yet, his healing spells could only restore a certain amount. So, even though they continued to heal the same as always, they felt relatively weaker. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Or something like that. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how to adequately describe it except to say that stronger people took more healing than weaker people. Perhaps there was a better explanation out there, but he was in no position to ponder that position. Maybe he could find another Librarian and ask sometime in the future. In the meantime, once he¡¯d healed himself, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then used Guise of the Unseen. Only then did he allow himself to relax. It was the first alternate shape he¡¯d gained, and in combat, the predator form was still his most comfortable. And because of that, he knew precisely how to proceed. With that in mind, he slipped into the shadows and stalked the hunter. * * * Thor gripped his spear with white knuckles, resisting the urge to let out a frustrated roar. He¡¯d had the Druid! He was stronger! Faster! He could kill him! But somehow, the slippery drittsekk had managed to turn the tables and escape. Then, the coward had disappeared into the bowels of a ship. Still, Thor would have caught up if it hadn¡¯t been for that nest of desert vipers. He¡¯d killed them all, but not before they had injected him with potent venom. That had combined with the afflictions inflicted by the Druid to slow him considerably. As a result, he¡¯d had no choice but to imbibe his recently acquired Lesser Cleansing Potion. It had done its job, removing the ailments while healing the damage they¡¯d already wrought. Meanwhile, it would protect him from any future afflictions, though only for a short time. That meant he was on a timer. So, he forged ahead, ready to finish the monstrous man off. Seeing him shift into a scaley beast had been a surprise, to be sure, but Thor wouldn¡¯t let himself be deterred. Instead, he stalked forward, hunching his great form beneath the ship¡¯s low ceilings as he followed the trail of blood. Suddenly, something flashed out of the darkness, slicing through his hamstring before disappearing. Thor had never even heard it. Nor was he certain where it had gone. More importantly, even as he stumbled, he felt an affliction take hold. It wasn¡¯t powerful, but the brief moment it existed before being cured by the potion¡¯s ongoing effect told him that it would be a problem. Fortunately, Thor¡¯s Constitution was high enough that the attack wasn¡¯t much more than a scratch. Once he regained his balance, he wheeled around, searching for his attacker. But he found nothing. Then, something hit him again, targeting his ankle. The thing¡¯s claw sliced through his boot with ease, then into his Achilles tendon. It didn¡¯t rip through it, but it definitely did more damage than the previous attack. He stumbled again. Then another attack hit him from behind. Thor swept his spear in a backhanded attack, but he found nothing but air. His potion only had a few more seconds left on it. Then, he¡¯d be far more vulnerable. He knew he needed to act decisively. So, without further hesitation, he used Mirror Trap:
Mirror Trap Channel the power of your ancestors to create an illusory copy. At the same time, you will appear at the enemy¡¯s rear, unseen and unnoticed.
Without a visible target, Thor simply faded from sight. Meanwhile, he saw his copy, which was indistinguishable from his own form. His clone had already fallen apart back in the room with the snakes, so he was starting to run low on cards to play. In fact, he only had one more before things would begin to grow desperate. Hopefully, he could fool his attacker. He backed away, still unseen and ready to slaughter the foolish creature. He suspected it was the Druid, but it could have just as easily been some other monster. Regardless, he intended to destroy them. As he crouched, coiled like a serpent, he could practically taste the experience. * * * From the shadows, and cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, Elijah studied the odd scene before him. In the center of the corridor was the Viking, his eyes darting around in terror as he stabbed at the darkness. It was a convincing illusion, and Elijah would have been fooled if it wasn¡¯t for one, simple factor: Using One with Nature, he could sense the true hunter only a dozen feet away, his muscles tense as he prepared to spring the trap. It was almost comical ¨C or it would have been if Elijah hadn¡¯t already seen the man¡¯s resilience. Not only had he shrugged off Elijah¡¯s attacks, but he¡¯d also ignored the host of afflictions ¨C both from the previous Swarm as well as Contagion and Venom Strike ¨C that had been inflicted upon him. He was an absolute tank. Which meant that Elijah needed to adjust his method of attack. Hit and run tactics wouldn¡¯t work. Instead, he needed to bring his considerable Strength to bear. Even in his draconid form, it had reached an impressive level, and that was further magnified by his crocodilian jaws. Elijah knew he wouldn¡¯t get a better chance. The man was completely stationary. So, if he wanted to decisively end the fight, then he knew what he had to do. With that in mind, he stalked forward, staying low to the ground. The illusion continued its pantomime, which Elijah ignored as he positioned himself behind the hunter. Then, after using Predator Strike and Venom Strike, he pounced. The Viking sensed his presence at the last possible moment, so instead of clamping his jaws on the man¡¯s skull, he wrapped his teeth around the hunter¡¯s thick shoulder. Knowing he needed to make the most of even that, Elijah flexed his jaw. Bones crunched, and blood gushed. The spear clattered to the floor while the hunter shouted in pain. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, the man grabbed hold of his snout, then wrenched his jaws apart. Then, before Elijah could react, he threw Elijah down the hall. He flew through the illusion, making it flicker. But before he hit the wall, which would have almost assuredly broken bones, he initiated a transformation into his lamellar ape form. Then, at the last second, he embraced Iron Scales, lessening the damage of the impact by ninety percent. Still, when he hit, the metal bulkhead dented, and the ship creaked in protest as he caromed off the wall and hit the floor with a deep thud. Elijah was only stunned for a brief moment before he shook his head and pushed himself to his feet. Across the corridor, maybe forty feet away, was the hunter. The man tipped the contents of a shimmering red vial into his mouth before he tossed the glass tube aside. It shattered. But Elijah was more concerned with the fact that the man¡¯s wound had already stopped bleeding. Clearly, as grisly as the wound was, the fight was far from over. 3-78. Back and Forth In the Shape of the Guardian, Elijah faced off against the hunter. He still didn¡¯t know the Viking¡¯s identity, so he grunted, ¡°Who are you? Why did you attack me?¡± ¡°I am Thor Gunderson, the most powerful man in the world, and you are the fuel of my ascension,¡± the blonde giant spat. Suddenly, it made perfect sense why the fight had been so difficult. The last time Elijah had checked, he was number two on the power rankings. In the past, Elijah had expected that his advanced progress along the path of cultivation would have given him an advantage against anyone near his level. However, that clearly wasn¡¯t true. He could hold his own against Thor, and he might¡¯ve even been a bit stronger in the form of the lamellar ape. But it was close enough that they might as well have been in a dead heat. Clearly, Elijah¡¯s class ¨C and the versatility it offered ¨C meant that he couldn¡¯t stand toe-to-toe with other, more specialized combatants. It was only because of his cultivation that he¡¯d even managed to stand on the same stage. Which was a little frustrating until he realized that it was also a strength. After all, Thor might¡¯ve been stronger in terms of pure attributes. But he couldn¡¯t heal. And Elijah could bring all sorts of abilities to bear. Most importantly, he could heal himself. Thor could not, aside from the potion he¡¯d just imbibed. And those were limited, Elijah knew. If someone took more than one in close succession, each subsequent potion would be far less effective until, eventually, they wouldn¡¯t work at all. After that, they would actively poison the user. So, Thor had taken one potion already. Maybe more than that, given his ability to endure Elijah¡¯s afflictions. Because of that, Elijah knew he had the upper hand. He merely had to take advantage of his unique abilities. For now, though, that meant pummeling the man like an angry gorilla-lizard. Without further conversation, Elijah threw himself forward in a loping, leaping sprint that let him cover the ground between him and his foe in an instant. Thor was ready for it, though, planting his recovered spear in the ground in an effort to impale Elijah like a charging boar. However, Elijah was no dumb beast, and he twisted at the last second, hitting the wall and using it to redirect himself. With a leaping strike, he brought his hand down on Thor¡¯s shoulder. The wound had healed, but not completely. As a result, the Viking was a little slow to respond. Elijah¡¯s balled fist fell upon the man¡¯s arm with bone-breaking force. Thor screamed in agony as his shoulder was wrenched out of socket. But he was a veteran warrior, and he used his experience to great effect, ignoring his pain as he twisted away. Elijah stumbled past, and a second later, felt the bite of the hunter¡¯s spear. It slipped into his flesh, parting his scales. However, it lacked the effect it had before, so it didn¡¯t go much deeper than an inch or two. A second later, Elijah felt an icy hand latch onto his leg. A second later, that frigid cold went up his limb to pervade his entire body. And with it came a weakness Elijah could not explain. It was as if he¡¯d lost dozens of attribute points in the space of a moment. It was so shocking that he only narrowly managed to dodge the hunter¡¯s next attack. Though that might have been a mischaracterization of his actual response. He didn¡¯t truly dodge. Instead, he flopped to the ground, struggling to move his own weight. Everything felt wrong. He wasn¡¯t just weak. He was also uncoordinated. A brief look at his attributes told him that he¡¯d lost nearly fifty Strength and Dexterity. He scrambled away, unsure of what was happening. Clearly, the hunter had used some sort of ability. But Elijah had no idea how long it would last. He needed to stall for time. So, he shifted into his human form and flipped over to find a spear descending in his direction. Panicked, he knocked it aside just before it could stab him through the chest. Instead, it hit his shoulder, shaving a chunk of meat away before the blade cut into the metal floor. Roaring, the hunter kicked Elijah in the ribs, sending him skidding away. Thankfully, Elijah¡¯s Constitution hadn¡¯t been affected by the depowering skill. Otherwise, his chest would¡¯ve been caved in. As it was, the impact broke a few ribs. Elijah cast Soothe on himself as he slid across the floor. Then, before Thor could follow, he used Snaring Roots, tripping the man up. A quick pulse of Touch of Nature brought Elijah back to perfect health, but by that point, Thor was ripping free of the roots. So, Elijah cast Storm¡¯s Fury. A bolt of lightning descended from the ceiling, striking his raised spear and sending his body into convulsions. It was only temporary, Elijah knew. But he just needed to buy time, which meant he quickly cast Snaring Roots once again. As he did, he backed away, summoning Healing Rain to accompany Soothe. Fortunately, he¡¯d long since learned that the efficacy of his spells was based on perception. If he viewed someone as an enemy, then they would be unaffected by beneficial spells. The same could be said for allies and detrimental abilities. Because he wanted to keep plenty of ethera in reserve for healing and transformations, Elijah chose not to use Swarm. After all, he¡¯d used it once before, and it had been entirely ineffective. So, he didn¡¯t want to waste his energy. Instead, he continued to back away, peppering the Viking with Snaring Roots and Storm¡¯s Fury. It slowed the man down, but it also infuriated him. And that, in turn, lent him strength. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t quantified in attributes. Rather, it was the sort of power that came from raging adrenaline, and the hunter used it well, ripping free of the thorny vines almost the moment Elijah conjured them. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It also made him reckless, though, which Elijah intended to use to his advantage. So it went for a long couple of minutes, with Elijah frustrating the barbaric hunter as much as he could manage. Thor shouted insults, roared, and even threw his spear a few times. But Elijah had taken the man¡¯s measure, so he was ready for whatever he could bring to the table. The same wasn¡¯t true of Thor, though Elijah was certain the hunter expected that to be the case. Gradually, Elijah slowed his casting, wanting to give the impression that he was running low on ethera. That wasn¡¯t so far from the truth, but his Quartz Mind was hard at work dragging plenty of energy back into his soul, then sending it into his core. As a result, he could keep going for some time. But he needed Thor to think he had the upper hand. He wanted him to believe he could win. Which he could. But not if he reacted the way Elijah expected. The man charged, and, with his back against a wall, Elijah smiled. He shifted into his draconid form. It almost took him too long. But he managed it just before Thor reached him. He used Flicker Step, disappearing and reappearing behind the hunter. Thor smashed into the wall, embedding his spear up to the shaft in the metal bulkhead. Elijah used Venom Strike, then leaped upon Thor¡¯s back. His claws latched onto the man¡¯s shoulders, and his head darted forward. Even as his jaws clamped onto Thor¡¯s skull, the man went wild. But the weakness had already run its course, and Elijah¡¯s Strength and Dexterity had returned to normal. He flexed his jaw, bringing tons of pressure to bear on the Viking¡¯s skull. It resisted, but Elijah persisted. Meanwhile, his back claws raked against Thor¡¯s flesh, ripping it to ribbons. The wounds were superficial, but every attack brought with it another instance of Contagion. He also continuously used Vencom Strike, stringing it together, one after another, inflicting even more afflictions upon the man. In seconds, they had begun to pile up. Yet, Thor was sturdy enough that he didn¡¯t immediately give in. In fact, his skull remained stubbornly unbroken, and he recovered enough to throw himself backward into another wall, breaking a few of Elijah¡¯s comparatively delicate bones. However, he was still under the effect of Soothe and Healing Rain, so while the damage wasn¡¯t immediately mended, the worst of it was healed almost as soon as it was inflicted. Meanwhile, Elijah continued to flex his jaws and rake his claws across the man¡¯s increasingly vulnerable flesh. Thor reached back, trying to wrench Elijah loose, but his fingers had already begun to tremble, and his muscles had started to weaken. Black goo leaked from his ears and mouth, and his eyes had turned bloodshot. Still, he fought on. So did Elijah. Even after Soothe and Healing Rain had run their course, and his broken bones ceased to mend, he kept it up. He knew that he needed to finish the fight, or he would never get another chance. The man would down a potion. Or use some other ability. Elijah had no idea what Thor could do, but it was safe to assume that the second-highest person on the power rankings had a few unplayed aces up his sleeve. Elijah refused to let him turn to those. And after another few minutes, during which Elijah endured a dozen broken bones ¨C many of which were in his back legs, preventing him from continuing that method of attack ¨C Thor¡¯s skull finally gave way. At first, it was only a small crack that presented as a slight give in the bone, but after only a second, it shattered completely. Brain and bone gushed into Elijah¡¯s mouth, but miraculously, Thor fought on for a second or two before his body realized that it no longer had an intact brain. Then, the man collapsed, and Elijah was flooded with experience. Despite the notifications he received in the wake of that wave of kill energy, Elijah couldn¡¯t focus on that. Instead, he arduously shifted to his human form, then spat out a mouthful of gore. He pulsed Touch of Nature, but he quickly found a serious issue. His legs weren¡¯t just broken. They¡¯d been shattered. Normally, if the breaks weren¡¯t too bad, a simple use of his spells, and they would set themselves. But it wasn¡¯t unprecedented for him to have to set the bones. Now, though, the issue was that his femur had been broken in six places, with shards of the bone having erupted from the skin. And his ankle ¨C with all those delicate bones ¨C was in even worse condition. In that case, there was nothing to set. It was just a collection of pieces that he wasn¡¯t certain he could ever piece back together. It was an overwhelming task, and one that he knew would end up being one of the most agonizing experiences he¡¯d ever endured. Yet, there was nothing for it but to do it. So, after pulling a bit of leather from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, Elijah shoved it between his teeth, bit down, and got to work. And it was worse than he could have imagined. For the femur, it was a simple act of shifting the bones into the proper position, then healing them. However, because it was a compound fracture, with the bone exposed, that meant getting his hands bloody and jamming things back where they belonged. Once that was accomplished, Elijah used Touch of Nature to get the healing started. Yet, he didn¡¯t dare finish the task, lest the residual healing make the rest of it harder. The last thing he wanted was for the bones to heal out of place. If that happened, he¡¯d have to break them again, then start the process back over. So, with tears in his eyes, Elijah continued to work. And after a few agonizing minutes, he slumped against the wall, his breath coming in ragged gasps. He¡¯d managed to complete the task with the femur, but it was still incredibly weak. He doubted it would even hold his weight. But for now, everything was where it was supposed to be. Which meant that the real work was still ahead. His ankle ¨C and the attached foot ¨C was a mess. But he remembered enough of anatomy that he knew where all those tiny bones were supposed to be. So, he used that knowledge ¨C along with an incredible tolerance for torment ¨C to slowly piece that portion of his lower leg back together. To call it an arduous process would have been an understatement. And without ethera, Elijah knew the foot would¡¯ve needed to be amputated. However, with his magical abilities bridging the gap, he saved the foot. It took him an agonizing hour of torturous tedium, but he did it. And when he finally slumped against the wall and used Soothe as well as Healing Rain, he could force himself to remain conscious no longer. So, he slipped into that welcoming darkness, hopeful that nothing would attack him while his recovery commenced. As luck would have it, he remained completely unmolested. Either there were no scavengers around, or they simply lacked a taste for half-dead Druid or slain hunter. Whatever the case, over the next three days, Elijah slowly recovered. More than once, he had to reset his bones. The job he¡¯d initially done was good enough, but it wasn¡¯t perfect. So, to keep things from healing out of place, he was forced to adjust. And it hurt enough that he considered simply going through life with a limp. Yet, he persisted, and by the time the third night fell, he was as healthy as he¡¯d been before the fight with the hunter. Only then did he allow himself to check his notifications. And when he did, he couldn¡¯t keep the smile from his face. 3-79. Control Roman stood on the balcony, looking out over the city. In the wake of his campaign of conquest, which had swept through seven city-states over the past year, Easton had changed so much as to be almost unrecognizable. There was nothing left of its humble origins. No more hastily-constructed buildings. No eyesore of a wall made of random debris. And no more rebels. No - the city was a metropolis that blended both old and new, with a loyal population that knew precisely how lucky they really were. There were a few pockets of dissidence, but they were rare. More importantly, Roman¡¯s people knew exactly where to find them. If they progressed past a few muttered complaints, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to use them as fuel for his army¡¯s progression. In any case, Roman wasn¡¯t concerned with that. The system currently ran like a well-oiled machine, churning through those malcontents to push his loyal soldiers to new heights of power. Of course, there were limits. Killing prisoners, no matter how strong they were, wouldn¡¯t help any of them progress past level thirty-five. Fighting the undead minions of the Necromancer was a little better in that slaughtering those abominations came with no arbitrary limitations. Yet, even that wasn¡¯t a perfect situation. Each kill only gave a whisper of experience, which meant that thousands needed to be slaughtered for every potential level. Most of the time, it would be more trouble than it was worth, but there were two reasons the program continued. First, the situation down there had gotten a little out of control. Unless they continuously culled the creatures, there was a chance that the Necromancer¡¯s minions would break free and overrun the city. They¡¯d even stopped throwing bodies down there for a while, but the man simply reanimated the slain creatures that were already down there. Roman had considered sending his people in to kill the vile former gravedigger, but the tunnels were far too dangerous for that. It would require thousands of men, and even that could prove insufficient. So, in the end, he¡¯d chosen to forego that strategy. The second reason he hadn¡¯t stopped the program was that it still provided a steady trickle of experience that he hoped, over time, would set his people apart. It wasn¡¯t the backbone of his training program, but it provided his people with experience ¨C and not the kind that came from killing monsters ¨C which was invaluable. After all, if they could stand up to an undead horde, they wouldn¡¯t flinch before living soldiers. Still, he had plans in place to deal with the Necromancer if he ever escaped his lair. Most of it hinged on the authority that he hoped would come with his ascension into Lordship. He¡¯d had one of the Scholars do some research for him, so he knew that it would come with what it referred to as a limited Sphere of Authority. At the lowest level of Lordship, it would only give him the ability to enforce his will in his capitol city, and even that was limited based on the relative power ¨C if someone was stronger than him, then it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as effective ¨C as well as time. The latter was there because the system seemed uninterested in letting a weakling with a title bully a truly powerful person. Still, the nature of the title was such that it would help even against some of the monsters at the top of the power ladder. Plus, by the time Roman actually acquired the title, he would be strong enough to stand among them. After all, the quest required it.
Congratulations! You have met the requirements to embark on a quest to become an official ruler under the system. Complete the following quests to solidify your rule: 1. Conquer an enemy and hear their oath of fealty. (COMPLETE) 2. Become an Arbiter of Justice. (COMPLETE) 3. Expand your territory until you rule over 1,000,000 people. (CURRENT: 723,411) 4. Reach the top ten on the Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) (CURRENT RANK: 98)
The first step had been the easiest step to complete, and he¡¯d managed it after defeating Arbor¡¯s army. The second had occurred after his first public execution, a performance he¡¯d repeated each week over the past few months. Aside from satisfying the terms of his quest, it was also a great reminder that Easton was a city of law and order, and one where dissention would not be tolerated. And it worked. People not only aceepted it, but they showed up in droves to see justice meted out. They jeered and insulted the prisoners, and they cheered when Roman killed them. It was a grim reminder of how barbaric and tribal people could be, but it served Roman¡¯s purposes quite well. Even if he no longer got experience from the executions. No ¨C if he wanted to continue his progression, he¡¯d need to venture into the local tower and put his skills to use. He¡¯d even put together a team of some of the most powerful ¨C and loyal ¨C members of his army to do just that. However, he¡¯d so far found himself hesitating because he knew from experience just how quickly loyalty could be turned on its head. After all, Alyssa had been loyal right up until she¡¯d made it clear that she opposed him. Sure, she pretended she was his friend. But he knew the truth. Without her, the rebellion had been mostly toothless, which only proved that he¡¯d made the right choice. He pushed those thoughts out of mind. The population under his control had grown by leaps and bounds, but he knew that continued expansion was contingent on further conquest. There were plenty of options, too. The only issue was that his army was becoming quite spread out. Trying to rule an empire that spanned thousands of miles ¨C even with some of the transportation advances his Tradesmen had come up with ¨C was incredibly difficult. At present, he was dependent on much of those city-states¡¯ old power structure to run the cities. And he knew how dangerous that was. At any moment, they could turn on him. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. But for now, they were under control, and he could only hope to hold on long enough to meet the terms of his quest. Thankfully, his policies usually resulted in a better life for the population. Food was no longer an issue. Safety ceased to be a concern. And he gave the local fighters a means of growing stronger. Certainly, it came with harsh penalties for anyone who rebelled, and the situation wasn¡¯t great for the worthless vagabonds who lacked drive. Those people gave nothing to society, so they got nothing in return. But they didn¡¯t matter. Anyone with power looked upon his system with favor, and theirs were the only opinions that Roman truly cared about. Although, even that was only true insofar as they played their roles and submitted to his authority. ¡°What do you want?¡± Roman asked, sensing Fiona behind him. That was his latest ability, called Assassin¡¯s Awareness, and it gave him some sense of his surroundings up to a radius of around ten feet. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it was useful enough that he didn¡¯t feel it was a wasted ability. ¡°The name change has been approved by the council,¡± she said. At least she had ceased trying to climb into his bed. ¡°Good,¡± Roman said, not bothering to face the woman. Instead, he remained standing on the balcony, his hands behind his back as he stared out at his city. The notion that the council could have refused his motion was laughable. They knew better than to oppose his wishes. ¡°What do you think of the city¡¯s new name?¡± ¡°It is proper. The city deserves a majestic name.¡± Roman agreed. Easton had always been a small name for a small town. So, now that his kingdom had grown to encompass a huge population across multiple cities, he¡¯d taken that as an opportunity to adopt a more fitting moniker for the capital of his budding empire. ¡°Valoria,¡± he said. That was the name he¡¯d chosen for the city ¨C and his kingdom ¨C and he felt that it fit well. It had gravitas that Easton never would. ¡°Inform the council that I approve. Then, make plans for a celebration of the formation of our new kingdom. We need games. Feasts. We need the people to feel pride in their homes.¡± ¡°Yes, your majesty,¡± Fiona said. ¡°It will be as you command.¡± Indeed it would. As was proper for a man who¡¯d been chosen by the divine system as Earth¡¯s savior. * * * The smell of death filled the air, pervading Benedict Emerson¡¯s nostrils, but it was a smell he preferred to the rotting aroma of the city above. Certainly, it wasn¡¯t literal. By all accounts, Easton was a clean enough city. Yet, he could smell the societal and cultural rot all the same. He was used to it, though. It had been present in the old world, and nothing had really changed in the wake of the apocalypse. Sure, the setting was different. Monsters and magic now existed. But for him? It was just more of the same. That was why he¡¯d always preferred the company of corpses. After medical school, he¡¯d taken a job as a medical examiner so that he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the living. He¡¯d even worked the night shift to avoid social interaction as much as possible. Not because he had some psychological issue that made him uncomfortable. No ¨C he was fine with company. His issue was that other people were all so disappointingly petty, judgmental, and small. For most of his life, he¡¯d been the victim of bullying, largely because he didn¡¯t fit the mold of what they deemed acceptable. It had only gotten worse as he grew older, culminating in him becoming an outcast. He didn¡¯t mind it, either. In fact, he preferred to simply be left alone. So, his status as a social pariah had become a boon. Even so, he didn¡¯t forget his history, and his heart was filled with hatred he rarely acknowledged. So, when the apocalypse hit, he saw his opportunity to take revenge ¨C especially when his Sorcerer archetype had led to his powerful class:
Name Benedict Emerson
Level 51
Archetype Sorcerer
Class Warlock
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 22
Dexterity 29
Constitution 70 (25)
Ethera 144
Regeneration 21 (122)
Attunement Control
Cultivation Stage: N/A
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood N/A Opal Neophyte
Those first few levels had been difficult, especially when he was forced to lob Ethereal Bolts at monsters in order to level. However, he¡¯d made it work, and he¡¯d taken revenge on more than a few of his old bullies. And their families. Some neighbors, too. When he¡¯d finally acquired his Warlock class ¨C and the signature ability, which was called Animate ¨C those bullies had joined his army. He gained experience just by keeping them around. However, doing so came at the cost of his Regeneration. The more he maintained, the bigger the detriment. It had taken him a long time to establish the formula for cost versus reward, but he¡¯d figured out the optimal balance. That had been further changed when he¡¯d found the natural treasure ¨C a hunk of rock that radiated ethera. The guardian that had stood sentry over it had slaughtered all but one of Benedict¡¯s army, but in the end, he¡¯d been victorious. And he¡¯d used that natural treasure to fuel his first steps along the path of cultivation, establishing his Opal Mind. In his moment of weakness, though, he¡¯d been accosted and captured by Easton¡¯s soldiers. He¡¯d been incapable of resisting, and having seen him in action, they knew the scope of his abilities. After that, they¡¯d thrown him in a dungeon to take advantage of his unique skills. He could have escaped. He intended to once he¡¯d met his goals. But for now, he was content with biding his time and growing stronger. Because for his purposes, there wasn¡¯t a better situation. The mere act of keeping his minions empowered gave him a trickle of experience, and he got even more on the occasions when they managed to kill one of the soldiers. The only issue was that he felt every blow against his minions. Each death felt like his own. And every wound came with significant pain. Over the months since his imprisonment had begun, he had learned to endure, though. And just as he¡¯d taken revenge on his bullies, he intended to make his tormentors pay. That would wait until he¡¯d wrung every level he could out of them, though. 3-80. Freedom Elijah sat cross-legged on the desert floor, staring at the items arrayed in front of him. There were three of them, though the most outwardly impressive was Thor¡¯s spear, which was scaled to fit the man¡¯s immense frame, with a haft of carved bone, and a sizable blade that could have doubled as a dwarf¡¯s shortsword. However, looks could be deceptive, and he was far more interested in the other two items. One was a simple necklace made of twine from which dangled three large fangs. Elijah had no idea what it did, but he could sense that it was no ordinary item. Maybe it would be useful, but even if it wasn¡¯t something he would use, it would at least net him a few extra coins. Magical gear was always in demand, and Elijah had expenses. He wasn¡¯t poor by any stretch of the imagination, but with how much information he intended to extract from the Knowledge Base, he knew he would need as much money as he could acquire. More than that, though, he felt that Earth¡¯s economy would eventually normalize. When that happened, more luxuries would become available. And though Elijah had never considered himself to be particularly materialistic, he wasn¡¯t above treating himself, either. So, while he didn¡¯t really need much money as of yet, he expected that to change as Earth developed. As a result, he wouldn¡¯t turn down any source of wealth. In any case, the third item was the most immediately useful. He had no idea what it was called, but the canteen was unique in that it didn¡¯t require binding. More, despite being a normal-looking container, it held hundreds of gallons of pure, clean water. Thankfully, it worked differently than his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, because even with his bag¡¯s weight reduction ¨C which was around ten percent, if he had to guess ¨C that much water would have been incredibly heavy. However, the canteen weighed no more than any other container its size. So, even if it wasn¡¯t particularly flashy, the item was far more useful than any new weapon could be. But as excited as he was about his loot, Elijah was far more interested in the other rewards from his fight with Thor. So, he finally allowed himself to look at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 76
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 87
Dexterity 79
Constitution 87
Ethera 85
Regeneration 99 (79)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Neophyte
He¡¯d shot past the level seventy-five threshold, which, on the surface, didn¡¯t make a lot of sense. Back in the Battle of Ironshore, he¡¯d killed hundreds of orcs, all of which carried with them a decent level, and he¡¯d only leveled a couple of times. One kill shouldn¡¯t have been so impactful. Yet, it had been, which led Elijah to believe that the system took more into account than simple levels. But he hadn¡¯t understood how it all worked, even from the very beginning. That made trying to optimize leveling a pain. So, it was a good thing that Elijah had never really focused on leveling, per se. Rather, he tended to concentrate on other goals. Like completing a tower. Or protecting Ironshore. Killing Voxx. It wasn¡¯t like he had much room to completely curate his experience, so he rarely thought about it. Perhaps a Scholar could make sense of how it all worked. Regardless, the levels themselves, while useful because of the extra attribute points they brought with them, weren¡¯t nearly as important as the next two notifications he¡¯d received after killing Thor. In some ways, the first was predictable. Yet, it was even more impactful than seeing the numbers on his status:
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 76 2. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 76 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 74 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 72 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 67 6. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 65 7. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 62 8. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 59 9. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 58 10. ¡­ 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­
¡°Numero uno,¡± he said to himself. He and Oscar Ramirez, who¡¯d been at the top since the very beginning, were the same level. Yet, Elijah had taken the position of primacy. He could only assume that it was because of his advanced level of cultivation. However, it could have been alphabetical, too. Either way, Elijah would take it as an immense victory. When the power rankings had first appeared, Elijah hadn¡¯t even been on the list. Yet, now he was on top. The most powerful person in the world. It was a good feeling, and one that came with more satisfaction than he would have expected. Elijah wasn¡¯t really dependent on outside approval, but it was impossible to look at that and not feel a sense of gratification for all the breaks that had gone his way. For all the lucky encounters. For meeting Nerthus. For washing ashore on his island. For the panther. There were so many coincidences that if even one would have gone in a different direction, he would have died. Only a handful of years before, he¡¯d made peace with his own impending death. That familiarity with his own mortality had persisted, but he no longer expected to die at any moment. In fact, according to everything he knew, he now stood to live longer than anyone on Earth ever had. There were hundreds of years stretched out before him. Maybe even millennia, if he managed to continue his progression. And avoid getting killed by hulking Vikings. Though Elijah had won the fight, it had pushed him as far as anything since the orcish warlord. Maybe even further. Certainly, it had been more painful, and without any of his advantages, he would have failed. His survival was the culmination of a thousand other decisions and victories, so he knew that if he intended to make it through the next challenge, he would need to continue along his path, wherever it might take him. Thankfully, he had a brand-new tool to help speed him along his way. Elijah looked at his newest spell:
Shape of the Sky Take on the form of an airborne hunter, increasing Dexterity attribute. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Sky is active.
Elijah stared at the spell. On the surface, it didn¡¯t seem as impactful as Shape of the Guardian or Shape of the Predator. There were no vast attribute increases. And it didn¡¯t come with a passive ability like Shape of the Predator. Yet, Elijah didn¡¯t care about any of that, because he was too focused on one word: airborne. It seemed that he¡¯d finally received the ability to fly. Upon seeing that notification for the first time, Elijah had wanted to leap to his feet and immediately try it out. However, he¡¯d forced himself to save the best for last. Otherwise, he had a feeling that he¡¯d have ignored everything else. Even his healing and gathering loot, the latter of which was usually his favorite part of post-fight activities, even if he never actually knew what he was looting until he had it appraised. But compared to the ability to fly? None of that really mattered. It was one thing to shift into a terrestrial animal. As magical as that was, it was easy to accept. After all, he¡¯d spent his whole life on the ground. However, the notion that he could transform into a flying creature was truly miraculous, and he couldn¡¯t wait to try it out. And now that he¡¯d taken care of everything else he needed to do, there was no more reason to delay. So, after shoving everything into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, Elijah took a deep breath, then cast Shape of the Sky. As always, the transformation took a second or so, but soon enough, he¡¯d shifted. His arms transformed, growing much longer, with a thin membrane stretching into leathery wings. The rest of his body remained much the same size, but the shape was quite different, though he couldn¡¯t really inspect himself properly. As was the case with all of his transformations, he was, of course, quite scaley. Once the transformation had completed, Elijah waddled ¨C that was the only way he could describe it ¨C toward the large pool of water he¡¯d poured into a depression while testing the canteen. There, he saw his blurry reflection. His head looked a lot like it did in his draconid form, though his neck was quite a bit longer. Maybe three feet, total, and around a foot in diameter, ending in a sinuous body. A long, snake-like tail extended for a dozen feet behind him. In short, he was shaped like a mixture of a bat, a lizard, and a snake, and when he stretched his wings to their full extent, they reached a span of more than two-dozen feet, which was probably twice his total length. However, he was a little surprised to see how colorful his scales were. Both the draconid and lamellar ape forms were slightly subdued in terms of coloration. That could not be said of the Shape of the Sky. It was as colorful as any tropical bird, with a body of forest green and wings that transitioned to blue, then deep red at the tips. The tail followed a similar pattern, though with hints of yellow thrown in for good measure. To Elijah, the effect was mesmerizing. But it highlighted one thing ¨C the form wasn¡¯t meant to be a stealthy hunter. He could feel the strength in his claws, which told him that if he was going to hunt in that form, he would need to use similar tactics to an eagle. Dive, snatch, and carry away. And given his size, he suspected that he could hunt some very large beasts in that manner. After all, some species of eagle had been known to carry away livestock and children. Given that his wingspan was at least double that of the largest eagle to ever live ¨C not to mention his inflated attributes ¨C Elijah thought it was reasonable to expect quite a bit better performance from the Shape of the Sky. But before he could get to that point, Elijah needed to test his wings out. After all, his instincts were sufficient to make running on four legs easy enough, but that was probably due to the fact that it wasn¡¯t a huge deviation from things he¡¯d done in the past. Crawling around wasn¡¯t so different from moving around on four legs. The same could not be said for flying. Still, Elijah was more than eager to give it a shot. So, without further ado, he launched himself into the air and flapped his wings. And for a moment, it worked. He soared into the sky without much difficulty. But that didn¡¯t last long, and he quickly lost his rhythm and plummeted right back to the parched ground of the desert, kicking up quite a lot of dust in the process. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t break anything. So, he tried again. And again after that. Elijah kept going until, hours later, he had mastered the art of taking off. He knew that without the instincts that had come with the form, it would have taken months to even get that far. Regardless, he spent another few hours learning to glide, to climb, and to dive. However, the biggest hurdle was learning how to land. The first attempt actually broke one of his legs. The second attempt ¨C undertaken after using Sooth to heal the fracture ¨C went slightly better, but he still ended up twisting his knee out of socket. The third time was not the charm, and he experienced much the same result. In the end, it took him more than a week to reach even intermediate mastery of flight, but even then, his landings were more than a little rough. He could only resolve to get better. Practice, as they said, made perfect, and Elijah was determined to reach that level. Because flying was intoxicating. More than once, he found himself simply reveling in the act of soaring high above the planet¡¯s surface. And then there was the speed. Elijah had no real way to gauge, but he suspected that his top airspeed was at least a hundred-and-fifty miles an hour, which meant that he could cover some serious ground. That practical detail was secondary to the sensation of flying, though, and his focus on the latter was what got him into trouble. He was approaching one of the large pillars of rock that stood near the Twilight Clefts when he heard a voluminous screech. A second later, something enormous hit him in the back, ripping through his scales and sending him plummeting toward the ground. He twisted, lashing out with his claws as he used everything he¡¯d learned to correct his flight path. He managed to level out just before he would have hit the ground, and as he skimmed across the rocky terrain, he craned his long neck backward to see an enormous raptor ¨C it looked a bit like an eagle, but with a bright red coloring that marked it as unique ¨C circling the pillar. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t pursue, hinting to Elijah that its intention was to protect what was probably its nest. So, he flew away, landing after a couple of miles to see to his wounds. He was just healing when something interrupted his intended flying practice. The radio in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel crackled to life. He could barely hear it, but when he retrieved the contraption, a familiar voice came through, ¡°Elijah Hart. If you can hear me, please respond.¡± It was Lucy. He pressed the button, then said, ¡°What¡¯s going on? Uh¡­over?¡± ¡°Oh, thank God. I¡¯ve been trying to contact you for over a day,¡± she said breathlessly. ¡°Sorry. I was busy. Do you need something?¡± ¡°You need to get back to Seattle. Someone¡¯s here looking for you.¡± Elijah immediately thought about Thor. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t alone. So, he asked, ¡°Who is it? And who even knows I was in Seattle?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but it¡¯s Carmen. Your sister-in-law is here.¡± That was all Elijah needed to hear. He told Lucy that he was on his way, then shoved the radio back into his satchel before shifting into Shape of the Sky. He was speeding toward Seattle a moment later. 3-81. A Rescue Carmen paced back and forth, keenly aware of the three guards standing near the door. More importantly, she could feel the cameras pointed at her, and she knew the dangers they represented. After all, it had only been a day since she¡¯d felt the bite of Seattle¡¯s war machinery. Upon reaching the city, she and her companions had been so relieved. At last, they¡¯d reached civilization, and not a moment too soon. Their water reserves had run out the day before, and they¡¯d exhausted the majority of the medicinal flesh of the cacti that Theresa had gathered. Without them, they would have long since succumbed to the bites from the huge lizards that seemed so common in the desert. In short, they were on their last legs, and if they hadn¡¯t spotted the enormous mesa in the distance, the weaker members of the group ¨C including Miguel ¨C would have fallen. So, they¡¯d approached the city with no small degree of relief, only to be accosted by a group of hunters. The men and women had seen them as easy prey ¨C not the battle-hardened survivors the refugees had become ¨C and they¡¯d quickly shown the hunters the error of their ways. Even with their thirst-induced weakness, the survivors had managed to fight the bandits to a standstill that was only broken up by a swarm of weaponized drones swooping in and firing a barrage of stunning nets upon the combatants. Carmen had fought free, but that only brought more attention from the flying menaces. And eventually, she¡¯d been captured, just like all the rest. That should have been the end of it. If there was any justice in the world, at least. But as it turned out, it was her word against that of the attackers, and, on top of that, there were some sort of politics at play. So, it was far more complicated than it should have been, and even though they¡¯d been the victims, Carmen and her companions had been detained. That¡¯s when Lucy had come into the picture. She barely knew the woman, except from Alyssa¡¯s stories of her childhood. However, Lucy somehow knew Carmen, and, after a brief meeting, she¡¯d been working on the group¡¯s behalf. That was probably the only reason they hadn¡¯t been executed. Carmen knew that. It would have been much easier for the city¡¯s leadership to simply rid themselves of the problem. And in a lot of ways, Carmen wished they would get on with it. She was tired. Exhausted, really. And she was fed up with living minute-to-minute, assailed by one horror after another, with no solace on the horizon. So, she preferred for something to happen, rather than waiting, stuck in limbo while the powers-that-be figured out what to do. Of course, on the heels of that came guilt. She knew that desire was false. She would keep going through however many hardships she was forced to endure, so long as her son survived. She¡¯d already tried to talk her way free, but that hadn¡¯t worked. So, she had no other option but to wait. And she¡¯d never been great at that. So, when the door finally opened, Carmen¡¯s mood had long since soured. But it all disappeared the moment she saw the person in the doorway. ¡°Elijah?¡± He looked different. The last time Carmen had seen her brother-in-law, he¡¯d been knocking on death¡¯s door as he battled terminal cancer. It was only a video call on Alyssa¡¯s laptop, but even then, he¡¯d been a shadow of his former self. Now, he looked like he was on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. He wasn¡¯t just healthy. He was strong, with an aura of vitality and ethera wafting off of him with every breath. It was like standing in the presence of a natural treasure, and his mere presence took her breath away. As Carmen took a deep breath, she catalogued his other features. He hadn¡¯t shaved in months, and his blonde beard was both bushy and unkempt, like he¡¯d spent all that time in the wilderness. His curly hair wasn¡¯t all that better, though it looked like he¡¯d at least run a comb through it sometime in the past week or two. He wore oddly-cut clothing that reminded Carmen of a Renaissance faire, though her experience with crafting told her that they were at least Crude-Grade. Maybe even better. His other equipment ¨C a red sash around his waist, a couple of rings on his fingers, an iron-shod staff, and even the purse at his waist ¨C glowed with far more power. He was as well-geared as anyone she had ever seen. But that was probably appropriate, given his placement on the power rankings. Being in the top three obviously came with many opportunities for loot. Then there were the scars. The most obvious were located on his hand, and those looked like the result of severe burns. They were a little faded, but still extremely obvious. Carmen only saw hints of other scars ¨C like a pair that peeked out from beneath his tunic or a few that were visible below the mid-calf hem of his pants ¨C but they all coalesced to suggest that her hardships were not unique. In fact, it was obvious that Elijah had endured plenty of his own. ¡°Camen,¡± he said, his voice cracking with emotion. He stepped forward ¨C notably, the guards didn¡¯t even try to stop him ¨C and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. ¡°You have no idea how long I¡¯ve been looking for you.¡± Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. For her part, Carmen couldn¡¯t stop the tears from falling down her cheeks as she buried her face in his shoulder. Part of it was simple relief. She¡¯d never fancied herself a damsel in distress, but Elijah¡¯s sudden presence felt like a rescue, and in all the best ways. After a long embrace, Elijah pulled away, and he asked the obvious question, ¡°Where¡¯s Alyssa? And Miguel?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s a long story,¡± Carmen said, noticing that Elijah had shed a few tears of his own. She glanced at the guards, then at the camera, saying, ¡°And not one I¡¯m going to tell here.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± he said. After that, he turned to the guards and stated, ¡°I¡¯m leaving. Don¡¯t try to stop me.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re taking the others with us,¡± Carmen said. She and the rest of the refugees had been separated and placed in different cells. Carmen didn¡¯t even know where the others were being held. She then explained as much to Elijah. He reacted predictably, telling the guards, ¡°Get her friends. Now.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Do it,¡± came a voice over an unseen intercom system. ¡°Give him what he wants. Except the swordsman. He stays.¡± That was just as predictable as Elijah¡¯s reaction. Colt had killed three men, and in full view of the drones. Clearly, that came with consequences. Carmen didn¡¯t intend to abandon her friend, but she could read the room well enough to recognize that arguing would do nothing to help Colt. Instead, she wanted to get Miguel to safety before she worried about Colt¡¯s situation. He would do the same thing if their situations were reversed. So, over the next few minutes, Carmen and Elijah waited as one of the guards went to fetch the others. When the remaining refugees ¨C including Miguel ¨C arrived, Camen was happy to see that they were in decent condition, but she couldn¡¯t stop herself from ensuring that Miguel was unhurt. They¡¯d been fed and watered, at least. That was as good of treatment as she could have expected. Upon seeing Miguel, Elijah smiled wryly and said, ¡°Last time I saw you, you were only this tall.¡± To accentuate his point, he held his hand at about waist height. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Miguel gave him a firm nod, but refrained from speaking. It wasn¡¯t the time for a family reunion, after all, and Miguel was aware enough to recognize that. After that, the guards escorted them out of the building, which turned out to be some sort of law enforcement hub. Along the way, she saw plenty of black-clad guards, each one looking overworked and more than a little fed up with their situations. Keeping the peace in a city populated by people with superhuman powers had to be a thankless proposition. Regardless, no one stopped them as they were shown to the door and freed. Elijah told the guard, ¡°Inform your boss that we¡¯re not done. I appreciate him accommodating me, but I intend to see the other one freed as well. So, after I get these people settled, Isaiah and I are going to have a long conversation.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± came a male voice from overhead. Carmen looked up to see a drone hovering silently above them. Other than a simple nod, Elijah didn¡¯t acknowledge the statement. Instead, he turned and led Carmen and the others through the city. Her first trip into the city had been short ¨C the building where they¡¯d been housed was right next to the wall ¨C so Carmen hadn¡¯t had the chance to see much of Seattle. Because of that, she was more than a little surprised at the state of the city. It looked nothing like Easton. Roman¡¯s city was clean, with mostly new buildings that were laid out in a perfectly organized grid. Seattle, on the other hand, was haphazard, and many of the buildings had clearly been constructed from the remnants of the old city. Some of the landmarks remained, but for the most part, it looked as if the city was in the midst of a post-war rebuild. The people were an odd collection of old and new, with various ethera-fueled electronics right alongside swords, staves, and axes. Most of the people wore modern clothing in various states of degradation, but there were plenty of residents wearing armor and robes. It made for a unique atmosphere that wasn¡¯t present somewhere like Easton, where people had fully embraced the differences that had come with Earth¡¯s transformation. Carmen wasn¡¯t certain which way was better. On the one hand, Easton was clearly more advanced in terms of quality of life. However, Seattle¡¯s use of electronics seemed like a worthy route to integrating Earth¡¯s past into its future. Regardless, that wasn¡¯t really what occupied most of Carmen¡¯s thoughts. Instead, she was almost entirely focused on how she was going to tell Elijah that his sister was gone. It wasn¡¯t an easy conversation, made even more difficult by the circumstances surrounding Alyssa¡¯s death. And Carmen knew that if she told Elijah everything at once, he would tear off across the world and kill Roman. Because that¡¯s what she wanted to do. If it was just her, she¡¯d have done as much the moment she¡¯d discovered the truth. Certainly, she would have failed. She couldn¡¯t stand up to Roman and the institutions of power with which he¡¯d surrounded himself. She would have thrown her life away, and, at the time, she would have been fine with that. However, she¡¯d reined herself in because she didn¡¯t only have her own life to protect. Miguel depended on her. So did Colt. And the other refugees. Due to that, she couldn¡¯t afford to act selfishly. And Elijah was in the same situation. Perhaps he had a better chance of success. Carmen had no idea how much power he held. Yet, she needed him. So did Miguel. He obviously held sway with the Seattle government, and more, he knew how to survive. If her exile had taught her anything, it was that that was the most important thing in the new world. She and the others wouldn¡¯t make it much longer on their own. Finally, with those thoughts dancing in her mind, Carmen and the others followed Elijah to a huge, glass building. They didn¡¯t go inside, though. Instead, they found their way to a nearby structure that had once been a small apartment building. There were men in leather armor standing outside, but Elijah paid them no mind as he entered. That¡¯s when Carmen saw Lucy. The leggy and bespectacled blonde welcomed them to her home, and another woman escorted the others further inside, presumably so they could get cleaned up, fed, and settled in to sleep. Meanwhile, Lucy herself led Elijah, Carmen, and Miguel to the second floor, which had been set up as an enormous suite that was clearly Lucy¡¯s private residence. ¡°Nice place,¡± Carmen said, impressed as she looked around. Like the rest of the city, it was a mix of old and new, though the place had all the amenities of a stylish modern apartment. Lucy thanked her for the compliment, then offered them food and drink. Elijah accepted the offer, so Carmen and Miguel did the same. Soon enough, they each had plates of fresh fruit and vegetables along with huge bottles of water. Finally, once they were settled and Lucy had left them alone ¡°to get reacquainted¡±, Elijah said, ¡°I think it¡¯s time for that long story.¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not a good one,¡± she warned. ¡°I figured that out. Where¡¯s my sister?¡± ¡°She¡¯s¡­she¡¯s gone,¡± Carmen said. ¡°She died more than two years ago.¡± 3-82. Strength by Selfless Necessity The armrest of the couch shattered under Elijah¡¯s grip. The moment he had seen that Carmen was alone, he knew what she would say. But some part of him had refused to accept it until those fatal words left his sister-in-law¡¯s mouth. ¡°She¡¯s¡­she¡¯s gone,¡± Carmen¡¯s words echoed in every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind, playing over and over again. For once, he regretted his cultivation. ¡°She died almost two years ago.¡± A hundred regrets washed over Elijah, and they went back to the very beginning. Upon washing ashore, he had been content to simply survive. Gaining levels had been a side effect of continuing to live another day. He¡¯d only killed when absolutely necessary, and even then, only the weakest creatures around. That meant that, when he finally started to take leveling seriously, he¡¯d been fighting from behind. Since then, he¡¯d let one distraction after another direct his course. If he¡¯d been more focused, perhaps he could have found Alyssa in time. ¡°How?¡± he asked, his voice barely audible as he stared at the floor, completely unseeing. ¡°A tower,¡± Carmen answered, her own voice quivering with emotion. ¡°She went in so she could protect Easton, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± he asked. People dying in towers wasn¡¯t uncommon. It took preparation as well as a very specific mindset for most people to survive the system¡¯s challenges. Elijah had managed it, but he knew that few others would have the skillset necessary to repeat his feat. He¡¯d learned that from escorting Ironshore¡¯s fighters through the tower in his Domain, and that reality had been further established when the elves had nearly died in his most recent run through the Magister¡¯s Estate. Still, Elijah felt that there was more to the story. Carmen shook her head and asked, ¡°Do you really want to know? It¡¯s going to change everything. We need you right now, Elijah. I don¡¯t know your story. I don¡¯t know how you¡¯ve survived. But you¡¯re decked out in a fortune¡¯s worth of gear, and you¡¯re in the top five on the power rankings. I need you. Miguel needs you.¡± ¡°Not top five. Top one,¡± came a voice from nearby. ¡°He¡¯s the most powerful person in the world, now.¡± Elijah glanced toward Lucy, who¡¯d brought another platter of fruit with her. She didn¡¯t stand around, though. Instead, she left the fruit behind and vacated the room, giving Elijah¡¯s shoulder a squeeze on her way out. ¡°Someone killed her, didn¡¯t they?¡± Elijah asked, trying to keep his tone even. But inside, it felt like someone had wrapped barbed wire around his heart. His insides had twisted into knots, and his mind roiled with the reality of his sister¡¯s demise. It had always been a possibility. In the most rational parts of his mind, he¡¯d known that from the very beginning. There was a reason many people referred to Earth being touched by the World Tree as the apocalypse. Billions had died, and that death toll continued to rise each day. But he¡¯d never even considered that Alyssa might have fallen. Not consciously, at least. ¡°Yes,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°Who?¡± ¡°Someone she thought was a friend,¡± Carmen said. ¡°You know how she was. She always gave people the benefit of the doubt.¡± Then, she told Elijah everything she knew about Alyssa¡¯s death. About how they¡¯d struggled to survive in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s touch, how Roman had risen to a position of leadership within the budding community, and how Alyssa had opposed the man¡¯s potentially disastrous policies. ¡°When it came time to combat the tower,¡± Carmen went on. ¡°There was never any question of whether or not Alyssa would go. She was the strongest person in town, and she felt that it was her duty to protect everyone. I warned her against it. I tried to get her to see the dangers Roman represented. But she trusted him. All she saw was the friend he¡¯d been before the apocalypse. I knew what kind of person he was, though. I saw it before, and it only got worse the more power he attained.¡± ¡°So, he killed her in the tower,¡± Elijah guessed, a numb rage pervading his mind. The only reason he hadn¡¯t immediately set off to kill the man was because of the words that had preceded Carmen¡¯s explanation. She needed him. So did Miguel. And they were the only family he had left. He wouldn¡¯t abandon them on a quest for revenge ¨C not until he could guarantee their safety. ¡°Not alone,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°He had help. They¡¯re all dead, now.¡± ¡°You killed them?¡± ¡°One of them. I¡­I lost control when I found out,¡± Carmen said, clenching her fist and looking down at her knuckles. ¡°What happened after?¡± he asked, keeping his rage from his voice. Still, there was a slight quiver. A tremble that betrayed the fact that he was barely holding on. Finding out that Alyssa was gone was bad enough, but discovering that she had been killed by some would-be despot? It very nearly pushed him over the edge. As images of ripping some faceless man limb from limb danced in Elijah¡¯s mind, Carmen explained the failed rebellion that sounded like it had never really gotten off the ground. Then, she told him the story of Miguel¡¯s kidnapping, then the warlord¡¯s betrayal, before ending with the deal Roman had offered. Carmen continued to look down at her hands as she said, ¡°I should have tried to kill him. I wanted to. But Miggy was right there. I couldn¡¯t run the risk that he¡¯d get caught in the crossfire. So, I took his deal. I made his sword, and we were exiled.¡± Then, she went on to recount their harrowing journey through the wilderness, telling him about their encounters with bandits, life-sucking sidhe, and lake monsters, in addition to more mundane creatures that had tried to kill them. Finally, she explained how they¡¯d ended up in the holding cells in which he¡¯d found them. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. The last part he already knew from his conversation with Isaiah, who very much hadn¡¯t wanted to give up his prisoners. Elijah had been forced to make some promises about rendering aid in the coming conflict with the people of Mercer Mesa, though he¡¯d already resolved to do that, so he didn¡¯t feel as if he¡¯d really given anything up. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t thinking about that. Instead, in the wake of Carmen¡¯s tale, Elijah found himself staring at his sister-in-law. She had changed. Once, she¡¯d been quite bulky, owing to many hours in the gym. However, now she looked like she¡¯d lost at least twenty pounds, probably due to a lack of proper nutrition and the rigors of traveling through such hostile territory. That, as much as anything, cooled his ire. It didn¡¯t obliterate it. He was still just as angry as ever. Yet, Elijah knew that he needed to adopt a less reactive attitude, if for no other reason than because his only remaining family needed that from him. He would have been a terrible person indeed if he ignored those responsibilities in favor of seeking revenge. ¡°What do you intend to do?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°In the long-term? Or right now?¡± he asked, far more calmly than he truly felt. His tears had dried, leaving behind only a numb realization that he would never see his sister again. ¡°Both?¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m going to kill him. I know that. I¡¯m still debating whether or not I want to kill everyone else in that city, too,¡± he admitted. ¡°There are also questions of how much I want him to suffer. That¡¯s the thing about healing. I can take a leg off, then heal him to keep him from bleeding out. I could take him apart, piece by piece. I know all the ways to make it hurt, too.¡± He stood, feeling a frigid lack of remorse spreading through his mind. ¡°But this guy really loves his position, right? He likes being in charge. Maybe I¡¯ll just take that apart, first. From what you¡¯ve said, that would probably hurt more than losing a few limbs, right?¡± Elijah said. Turning back to Carmen, who was looking at him like she had no idea who he was. She was right to think that. Elijah had changed. At times, he still felt like the easy-going, often-slacking, and always apathetic biologist. But he was a killer. He¡¯d proven that so many times that he¡¯d lost count of all the ways he¡¯d become a different person. ¡°Once, I let a bully stay in power. He sent some people after me, and I let a friend convince me to just leave, rather than show that man the error of his ways. I regret that, now, but at the time, I thought that keeping him in charge was better for the people who lived in his city. That¡¯s not true, though, is it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Carmen admitted. ¡°Without Roman, a lot of people would have died.¡± ¡°Because of him, one person who didn¡¯t deserve it did die.¡± ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know that? I¡¯ve lived with that every day for the past two years,¡± Carmen spat. Then, she glanced at Miguel, who¡¯d remained silent the entire time. ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. ¡°My point is that I can¡¯t afford to act without thinking. I want this man to suffer. And he will. The only question is how many people get caught in the crossfire.¡± ¡°And what about the short-term?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°Do you live around here?¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I live a long way from here. Thousands of miles, I think. But that¡¯s not important. As soon as we get your friend released, I intend to take you all home with me. Or those that want to come, at least. I won¡¯t force anybody to do anything they don¡¯t want to do.¡± ¡°We just spent months in the wilderness,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°I don¡¯t think anyone will want to spend months more in the ¨C¡± ¡°They won¡¯t have to. I need a couple of weeks. Maybe a month. Then, we¡¯ll be in my Grove. Nobody will have to spend more than a few days outside this city,¡± he said. ¡°How?¡± He forced a smile he didn¡¯t feel. He feared that it came off more as a snarl. Or at best, a grimace. Regardless, he answered with as truthful an explanation as he was willing to give outside of his own grove. He trusted Lucy, but Isaiah had proven that he had ears everywhere in Seattle. So, he said, ¡°Teleportation. It¡¯s a bit limited, but I can manage to get you all back home. I have some other cities I could take your friends ¨C one in particular ¨C but I want you and Miguel to come home with me. It¡¯s safe.¡± Indeed, he didn¡¯t mind bringing Carmen¡¯s other companions to his Grove, but he didn¡¯t intend to let anyone but family live there. They could settle in Ironshore, though. After that, he excused himself, swinging by the kitchen to ask Lucy to help get Carmen and Miguel settled. ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± she asked. ¡°I know how close you and Alyssa were.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not now. Maybe not for a while,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not¡­I still haven¡¯t processed it, yet.¡± ¡°You know I¡¯m here for you, right?¡± she said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to confront this alone.¡± ¡°I know¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ve tried that before, remember?¡± she went on. ¡°I do,¡± he said. ¡°And I know better, now. But I¡¯ll tell you right now, I¡¯m going to get Carmen and Miguel somewhere safe, then I¡¯m going after her killer. So, I probably won¡¯t be around for a while.¡± ¡°Just so you don¡¯t withdraw completely,¡± Lucy responded. ¡°I am here for you, but all I really care about is that you have someone. If it¡¯s Carmen, that¡¯s fine. Or someone else, if you have friends that can fill that role. I don¡¯t know. But no man is an island, Elijah. We all need other people. I can be that for you. We¡¯ve always been friends, right?¡± ¡°I¡­I know,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°And I appreciate it, Lucy. Once I wrap my head around it, I might take you up on the offer. For now, though, I need to talk to Isaiah and get him to release Carmen¡¯s friend.¡± ¡°He killed three men,¡± Lucy said. ¡°I¡¯ve killed a lot more than that,¡± Elijah said. It was only partially true. He hadn¡¯t killed many actual people. Only a handful. But if he counted orcs and tower denizens, that number skyrocketed. ¡°Nobody¡¯s trying to put me in jail. If Isaiah knows what¡¯s best for him, he¡¯ll let the guy go. If he doesn¡¯t, then¡­well¡­I don¡¯t want to think about that.¡± After that, Elijah left Lucy¡¯s quarters, then the building where they were housed. Soon enough, he¡¯d crossed the city and found himself standing before the capitol building. He didn¡¯t get past the fountain in the center of the grounds before he saw Isaiah limping in his direction. The man¡¯s infirmity wasn¡¯t immediately noticeable, but to Elijah, who¡¯d felt the curious amalgamation of ethera and machinery in Isaiah¡¯s leg, it was obvious. ¡°I know what you want,¡± Isaiah stated when he reached Elijah, who¡¯d stopped beside the dry fountain. It was filled with sand and old coins. ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t just let him go. He killed three people,¡± the leader of Seattle said. ¡°He¡¯s going free,¡± Elijah stated evenly without looking at Isaiah. ¡°The question is whether or not I become an enemy in the process.¡± ¡°You¡¯d go back on the deal? For one man? Who is he to you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never even met him,¡± Elijah answered, turning his gaze on Isaiah. ¡°But he¡¯s important to someone I care about. I don¡¯t have many of those. People I care about, I mean. And I just found out that one less made it through the apocalypse. So, you can imagine that I¡¯m pretty committed to helping the ones I have left. That means you need to release the man you have in custody. Or I¡¯ll take him. It¡¯s your choice.¡± A clearly unhappy Isaiah sighed. ¡°Fine. He¡¯ll be at the Gardener¡¯s compound in an hour,¡± he said. ¡°Good. And Isaiah? I hope he¡¯s not hurt.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll have the Healers look him over.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± Elijah said. Then, without another word, he strode away, only one facet of his Mind on the conversation he¡¯d just carried out. The rest was still wrestling with the fact that his sister was gone. He felt that wouldn¡¯t change anytime soon. 3-83. The Fallibility of Memory Elijah sat next to a fire, sipping water from his new canteen. It hadn¡¯t even occurred to him to have his loot identified back in Seattle. He had far too much on his mind. Even after his previous resolution to keep his priorities in order, it had taken every bit of self-control he possessed to keep himself from taking on the Shape of the Sky and flying toward Easton. He could have reached the city in a couple of days, and then, he could get on with the business of exacting revenge for his sister¡¯s murder. Yet, the moment he¡¯d laid eyes on Miguel and Carmen, he¡¯d remembered why he had made the choices he had made. First, he needed to get them to safety. Then, he would help them to get their lives back on track. Maybe that meant settling them into Ironshore. Carmen was a Blacksmith, after all. She could surely find a place in the mining town. And there were other children in Ironshore. Miguel could make friends his own age. It was a good plan, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain that Miguel would ever fully recover from the things he¡¯d experienced. They had changed him, and irrevocably. The only question was whether or not he would embrace that change and use it to his advantage or if he would let it cripple him. It wasn¡¯t that simple, Elijah knew. The human psyche was a fragile thing, and healing it wasn¡¯t as simple as mending broken bones. At best, Miguel would be scarred for years to come. At worst, he would have post-traumatic stress disorder. As callous as it was, Elijah hoped for the former, if only because those scars could become potent armor for life in a world that was as far from safe as humanity had ever experienced. In any case, Elijah felt obligated to keep the only family he had left as safe as he could manage. So, he hadn¡¯t taken off for Easton. Not immediately. Though his rage remained just as potent as ever, he¡¯d shunted it into its own facet of his Quartz Mind, where it could roil as much as it needed. Every now and then, he focused on it. It was almost a form of torture, and it kept the pain fresh, but he felt that he needed that reminder. It was a means to keep him from forgetting that he had another duty. Because eventually, vengeance would come. Elijah didn¡¯t look over as Carmen settled in beside him. She, Miguel, and the tall, slender swordsman whose freedom Elijah had negotiated, had insisted on coming with him as he scouted out a new location for a dolmen. It slowed him down considerably, but he didn¡¯t have the heart to refuse them. The other refugees had remained with Lucy to recover before embarking on their new lives. ¡°You know what¡¯s weird?¡± he said, still staring at the fire. ¡°I don¡¯t remember her face. Not really. I remember events. I remember that stupid sweater she wore the last time I came home for Christmas. But I can¡¯t remember her face.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Carmen said, sitting with her forearms on her knees. ¡°I remember all those best memories in perfect detail. I even remember the last time I saw her. She was wearing the armor I made for her. Carrying the spear I¡¯d forged. And she seemed so hopeful, like she intended to use the time in the tower to mend the breaking relationship she had with the man who¡¯d once been her friend. Her mentor, really. I sometimes wonder if she had that attitude right up until they murdered her.¡± ¡°I wish I had memories like that,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I was talking to her on a video call when the world changed. I had no idea that would be the last time I¡¯d ever see her.¡± Then, he glanced at Carmen, asking, ¡°You don¡¯t have any pictures or anything, do you?¡± Carmen shook her head, her face illuminated by the firelight. Elijah could see tears glistening from her cheeks. She did that a lot, lately. It was as if finally finding Elijah had reignited her grief. For his part, he¡¯d shed plenty of his own tears, though most of them had come in seclusion. He wasn¡¯t ashamed of it or anything. Crying was a normal reaction to loss. However, he wasn¡¯t the sort of person who took solace in company. For better or worse, he was a loner, and his time since the World Tree¡¯s touch had descended upon Earth had only accentuated that. So, he usually wept alone, just like he did everything else with only himself for company. ¡°No,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°Before everything happened, most everything was digital. We had some family photos in the house, but when we left, we prioritized supplies. By the time we came back, everything had been destroyed. After that, I just never thought to get anything new made. There were a couple of artists in Easton but¡­I guess I just thought we had more time.¡± She sighed. ¡°I thought I saw it coming,¡± she admitted. ¡°I even warned her. But I didn¡¯t really think he¡¯d go that far. We were all friends. We had neighborhood barbecues. They worked together for years. In retrospect, I should have seen the signs. His wife was terrified of him. I don¡¯t think he was ever abusive ¨C not physically, at least ¨C but¡­well, knowing what I know now, it should have been obvious that he¡¯d go down this road.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ve killed people, you know. Not many, but there was one just a few days ago. I don¡¯t know why he attacked me, either. He was at the top of the power rankings. Higher level than me. But when it came time, I didn¡¯t hesitate to do what needed to be done.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± ¡°Because I want you to understand that that was me when I didn¡¯t really have anything against the guy, other than that he attacked me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I crushed his skull. But this? This is going to be different.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°I know,¡± she said softly. It was telling that she didn¡¯t try to dissuade him. Carmen wanted Roman dead as much as anyone, but it seemed that she had accepted her own limitations. For the next hour, they both remained in place, staring at the fire. As they did, the sun slowly rose above the horizon, casting the sky in blue and orange. It was a beautiful sight, but neither were in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. Still, the rising sun brought with it a pair of wakeful companions. Colt pushed himself to his feet, then stretched a few times before silently joining them by the fire. Miguel mimicked the swordsman. ¡°What are we doing out here?¡± asked Carmen. Elijah answered, ¡°I need to find an appropriate spot for a dolmen.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°It¡¯s like a monument. Think of Stonehenge,¡± Carmen answered, clearly putting her educational background as a historian to good use. Then, she asked, ¡°Why, though? Is it¡­like, a memorial site?¡± Elijah shook his head, saying, ¡°No. Not really. I assume there¡¯s one of those back in Easton, right?¡± ¡°There is. No body, though,¡± Carmen said. Then, she quietly added, ¡°Just a marker.¡± Elijah¡¯s fingers tightened into a fist, but he didn¡¯t immediately respond to that piece of information. Instead, he took a deep breath, before saying, ¡°This dolmen is special. It¡¯s part of a spell. Once I¡¯ve finished it, I¡¯ll be able to teleport back¡­home. There are limitations, so it might take an extra week after that, but that¡¯s something we¡¯ll figure out later. For now, though, we¡¯re searching for the perfect spot.¡± ¡°How will you know it?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s more of a feeling than anything. Or if I find a natural treasure,¡± he said. ¡°But this close to Seattle, I doubt there¡¯s anything around.¡± After that, he shared some of his grove berries among the group, but he got a bit of a shock when Miguel passed out after a single bite. It only lasted a few frantic seconds, and when he rose, he eagerly asked for more while wearing a mile-wide grin across his face. Carmen nixed that idea, and Elijah tended to agree. From what he¡¯d felt, the boy hadn¡¯t actually been hurt by the berry. He¡¯d just been overloaded by ethera and vitality, which both seemed like good things. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t going to go against a mother¡¯s wishes regarding her child, so he handed over some dried meat instead. Carmen and Colt had no issues with the berries, though. It was, in fact, the opposite, and even that small meal left the both of them looking a little healthier and far more energetic. That left Elijah to look forward to what his coffee would do, once he got around to harvesting his trees and roasting the beans. In any case, after they finished their breakfast, they smothered the fire and set off across the desert. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, the others were decent enough with their woodcraft, but he found plenty of opportunities to point out one thing or another, especially to Miguel, who took to the lessons with verve. He seemed especially interested when Elijah grabbed one of the big desert monitors and let the boy touch it. The reptile wasn¡¯t particularly happy about being manhandled, but because of Elijah¡¯s long experience in the wilderness and, most likely, his archetype, the creature tolerated it. Still, when Elijah released the four-foot-long lizard, it scurried away and disappeared into the desert. Like that, they continued for three more days until, at last, Elijah sensed something nearby. He couldn¡¯t figure out what, precisely, it was, but he recognized the feeling as similar to what he felt outside of Argos. Before, that sensation had led him to the site of the Dragon Circle, so he didn¡¯t hesitate to follow the ephemeral trail. When it ended, he couldn¡¯t help but gasp at what he found. It was a small pond, maybe a hundred feet across and surrounded by greenery. More importantly, when Elijah approached ¨C alone ¨C he sensed that the pond played host to a guardian. He pulled a hunk of meat from his satchel as he stepped into the tiny oasis, and at first, he didn¡¯t see the creature he sensed. However, it only took a moment before he saw the bulge of a giant shell cutting through the water. Elijah tossed the still-bloody hunk of meat into the water. Or at least that was where its arc should have taken it. Instead, a giant turtle snapped out, catching the chunk in its beak. ¡°Easy there,¡± Elijah said, his voice steady as he held out his hand. ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt you or take your treasure.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t even certain there was a treasure to take. He didn¡¯t feel one. But in his experience, one usually came with the other. It didn¡¯t matter, though. He wasn¡¯t some ravening devourer hellbent on harvesting everything that could be of use. He only wanted to build his dolmen, though he needed to make peace with the giant turtle before he committed to that. Thankfully, animals were fairly predictable. Part of that was clearly his archetype¡¯s influence. One with Nature could be taken literally, and wildlife ¨C whether that meant animals or the more advanced guardians ¨C tended to accept him far more easily than they did other people. So, the creature was already predisposed to accepting him, which meant that it only took a few hours of feeding to get it on his side. Still, when Carmen, Miguel, and Colt finally approached to see him scratching the creature¡¯s chin ¨C its head was at least two feet across, and the rest of its body matched that size ¨C it let out a low rumble. To which Elijah responded with a simple, ¡°No.¡± Its growl didn¡¯t cease until Elijah fed it another hunk of meat. After that, it went silent, even allowing Miguel to approach. He seemed to delight in the turtle¡¯s presence, which the thing picked up on. Apparently, giant oasis turtles could read a person¡¯s mood. Either way, that lasted a few more hours before Elijah was willing to leave the others in the oasis while he searched the area for proper materials. At first Carmen insisted on accompanying him, but he only responded by saying, ¡°You¡¯ll just slow me down. I need to cover a lot of ground. You can help when I¡¯m toting rocks across the desert, though.¡± After that, he cast Shape of the Sky, eliciting three gasps of surprise. He said, ¡°Relax. It¡¯s still me. This is my secret. Just go with it.¡± Then, he launched himself into the air, and though he wobbled a bit ¨C he still wasn¡¯t completely accustomed to the mechanics of flight ¨C he quickly found himself soaring high into the skies. Once there, he circled a few times before activating Eyes of the Eagle. From so high up, and with his vision magnified, he could see for dozens of miles in every direction. Still, it took a few more hours before he found a sandstone pillar that was surrounded by dozens of appropriately sized boulders. It was almost forty miles away from the oasis, which meant that he was in for a significant hardship, getting everything into place. However, if there was one thing he was accustomed to, it was hard work. So, he landed, shifted into the form of the lamellar ape, then hefted the largest stone. A moment later, he was trudging across the desert, once again carrying a multi-ton boulder on his back. 3-84. Circle of Spears ¡°See, I have to carve these little holes in the stone so the structure won¡¯t tip over the first time a storm comes through,¡± Elijah said, pointing to the intended location of the first of many mortice holes. ¡°And the piece that goes on top will have protrusions that fit into the holes.¡± ¡°Like Legos,¡± Miguel responded with a nod. ¡°Exactly. I thought the same thing,¡± Elijah said. Then, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, adding in his growly voice, ¡°I have to have nine sets of two heel stones. Those are the bases. Then, I¡¯ll fit nine capstones on top of them.¡± As Elijah got to work carving the first mortice hole, Miguel narrowed his eyes and asked, ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be easier if you had some tools? I bet mom could make you a real chisel.¡± ¡°Uh¡­maybe?¡± Indeed, that made a lot of sense. With each of his other dolmens, he¡¯d worked almost exclusively with his own claws. They were as hard as any metal he¡¯d found, and the increased attributes that came with them made everything that much easier. Still, he felt a little silly that he¡¯d never even thought of buying a proper chisel. ¡°It would have to be at least Crude-Grade, though,¡± Miguel guessed, running his hand along the sandstone. To the young man¡¯s credit, he hadn¡¯t reacted with horror upon seeing Elijah transform into his other forms. In fact, he¡¯d taken it in stride, which Elijah attributed to a host of traumas that had numbed Miguel to magical things. Still, it was gratifying that his nephew was actually impressed by Elijah¡¯s bestial forms. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Carmen or Colt, who, even after a couple of days, looked at those shapes with narrow-eyed suspicion. They had accepted him, but it was clear that they were conflicted about it. Hopefully, they would come around. Even so, they¡¯d both proved helpful with the construction of the dolmen. As he¡¯d toted the boulders back to the oasis, they ¨C along with Miguel ¨C had dug the holes that would accommodate the structures¡¯ foundations. And they¡¯d done a better job than Elijah ever could have, owing to Carmen¡¯s archetype as a Tradesman. It was a good thing, too, because with the pond so close, and with the porous nature of the earth surrounding the oasis, water had a habit of seeping through. Carmen had fixed that with a generous application of her skills as a crafter. That was when she was at her best. Because when Carmen wasn¡¯t busy, the weight of everything she¡¯d been through settled onto her shoulders. And as strong as she was, it was more than she could bear. Often, those times would find her simply staring off toward the horizon, looking for something that clearly wasn¡¯t there. Elijah could sympathize, though with his Quartz Mind, he could shunt those unhelpful emotions into their own facet where he could ignore them. Mostly. He knew it wasn¡¯t entirely healthy, just as he recognized that keeping the fires of his rage stoked in another facet was a bad coping mechanism. But he couldn¡¯t afford to deal with those problems at present. Because he needed to ensure his family¡¯s safety. That was the responsibility that superseded everything else, even if he was forced to constantly remind himself to adhere to his plan instead of flying off toward Easton to exact revenge. So, he worked. And he tried to convey his process to Miguel. Much of it was instinctive. In the past, outside of building the basic structure of his dolmens, he hadn¡¯t consciously guided the process. However, now that he tried to teach Miguel what he was doing, it was like a door had opened in Elijah¡¯s mind. Suddenly, he paid attention to the swirls of ethera all around him. They¡¯d been there before, but it took conscious thought to acknowledge them. ¡°I guess it¡¯s part of my archetype,¡± he admitted when Miguel asked about it. ¡°I¡¯m a Druid, and I have a spell called One with Nature. Up until now, I just thought it gave me a small boost to my attributes and let me feel everything around me. But I think it might be a lot more than that.¡± ¡°What does it feel like?¡± asked the boy. No ¨C young man. He was only an inch shorter than Elijah, which meant that he would almost assuredly grow even taller than his uncle. Given Carmen¡¯s short stature, Elijah could only assume that Miguel got his height from his biological sire. Or maybe Carmen had some taller ancestors, and the genes had simply skipped her generation. It was even possible that the influx of ethera was responsible. After all, it had influenced everything else about Earth¡¯s environment. From the flora to the fauna, and even the very sandstone with which he was currently working, the entire planet had been changed. Who was to say that ethera wouldn¡¯t affect human development, too? Perhaps a Scholar would know. Regardless, Elijah sensed nothing amiss with the young man. He was perfectly healthy, even if he hadn¡¯t quite recovered from the rigors of trekking through the wilderness without proper nutrition. But those hardships had also shaped him into something far more resilient than any fourteen-year-old had a right to be. All of that flashed through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind before he said, ¡°It¡¯s overwhelming. Without my Mind cultivation, there¡¯s no way I could handle it all. I can sense all the life around me, right down to the tiniest organism. That gives me a picture of the inorganic world, too. And some sense of the ethera. I think that connection influences me. It makes me more sympathetic to wildlife. They feel more real. And I believe animals can sense that. Especially guardians like the tortoise.¡± ¡°Snappy.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°His name is Snappy.¡± ¡°Uh¡­did he tell you that?¡± asked Elijah, looking up from his work. Miguel rolled his eyes. ¡°Of course not,¡± he stated. ¡°I had a pet turtle when I was little. That was his name.¡± ¡°And the new Snappy reminds you of your pet?¡± ¡°Not really,¡± Miguel admitted. ¡°I mean, look at him. I don¡¯t think turtles are supposed to have shells that sparkly.¡± Indeed, Snappy was a clearly magical creature, with a shell that looked like it was made of jagged quartz that sparkled with ethera. He was also larger even than the giant tortoises on the Galapagos Islands. In fact, Snappy was the size of a Toyota Camry, and probably significantly heavier. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I once had most of my side bitten off by a sea turtle. I¡¯m pretty sure Snappy is a tortoise, though. Mostly land-based. Turtles generally have much sleeker shells and are primarily aquatic. Technically, all tortoises are turtles, though all turtles aren¡¯t tortoises, so unless someone is being incredibly pedantic, you can refer to Snappy as either.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a magic turtle. I don¡¯t think it matters.¡± Elijah started to respond, but then thought better of it. The reality was that old classifications didn¡¯t really matter anymore. After all, they didn¡¯t account for the rapid transformation of most creatures. Idly, Elijah wondered if someone would embark on an effort to adjust science to the new reality. It probably wouldn¡¯t be very useful in the short term ¨C after all, everything was still changing as Earth¡¯s ethera levels continued to rise ¨C but eventually, someone could probably make a good living classifying beasts, monsters, and guardians into a bestiary that included known weaknesses and abilities. That could prove invaluable to anyone who ventured into the wilderness. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. That seemed like the job for a Scholar, though, and one with far more patience than Elijah could muster. He loved experiencing nature, but he¡¯d grown far too restless to spend days cataloguing wild creatures. Even before the world had changed, he¡¯d found that part of his job to be tedious ¨C which was probably why he¡¯d come to realize how ill-suited he was to his former profession. Deep down, he¡¯d always known he was no true scientist. He didn¡¯t have the proper temperament. But Earth¡¯s transformation had mercilessly hammered that knowledge home. He had the curiosity, but not the patience to see it through to anything useful. In any case, he said, ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re probably right.¡± After that, he turned the majority of his attention to the task at hand. He could finish the project without full focus, but he knew the product would suffer. As he worked, Elijah continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty, which was a great boon for the oasis¡¯ flora, for which Snappy seemed incredibly happy. He was clearly an omnivore, because he would greedily chomp down on any bits of meat Elijah threw his way, but his diet consisted primarily of the vegetation around the oasis. Though he also seemed to love eating the birds that would periodically land near the pond. And insects. A few large frogs. Basically anything that came into his territory was fair game. Except Elijah. And Miguel, oddly enough. Once the young man had been introduced to the large tortoise, Snappy had become more than tolerant of his presence. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Carmen or Colt, both of which drew low growls when they ventured too close to the pond. Thankfully, Elijah¡¯s dolmen ringed the oasis, which meant that none of them had to get too close to the water. Gradually, the structure began to take shape, and Elijah was more than a little impressed with Carmen¡¯s great Strength. She wasn¡¯t as strong as he was in his lamellar ape form, but she was nearly his human shape¡¯s equal. Though her other attributes clearly lagged far behind, as far as Elijah could tell. In any case, she was very helpful when it came to arranging the large stones. She also proved incredibly useful when it came time to placing the capstones. The system of mortice holes and tenons was sufficient to hold everything in place, but she had an ability that fused the sandstone together, making it far sturdier than it otherwise would have been. In addition, she used an ability that she called Strengthen to augment the durability of the normally brittle sandstone. When she was done, it was harder than limestone. But as had been the case with his previous dolmens, simply assembling the monuments wasn¡¯t the end of the work. Instead, Elijah focused his continued efforts on carving designs into the sandstone. At first, he just let his imagination drive his creativity, but over that first day, the designs began to take what, in hindsight, was a predictable shape. After their reunion, Elijah had asked Carmen a host of questions about his sister, and over time, he¡¯d developed some idea as to how she had reacted to the touch of the World Tree. She had become a protector and a hero, with a spear as her preferred weapon. Even her class ¨C Dragon Lancer ¨C had reflected that. And that knowledge ¨C along with his grief for his sister ¨C shaped his designs. Slowly, the first one took its final form, and Elijah stepped back to see the results. It was a spear, following the description Carmen had given him of his sister¡¯s favored weapon. Snaking around the weapon was a serpentine, Chinese-style dragon. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were an artist,¡± Carmen remarked, clearly impressed. ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± Elijah said, his hands on his hips. ¡°Seventeen more.¡± ¡°Those are powerful enchantments,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°But they¡¯re different than anything I¡¯ve seen so far.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Every time I think I¡¯ve got a handle on how everything works, this system throws me a curve ball. Seeing this, it tells me how much I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Enchantments aren¡¯t constrained by the simple designs I know,¡± she answered. ¡°Until now, I thought they had to use the symbols I¡¯ve found in guides. But that¡¯s not the case. Or not the whole case, at least. I feel like¡­meaning and belief play a part. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s more complex than that. Form matters. But so do the other pieces. Though I think your class lets you skip some steps with this.¡± Elijah¡¯s hand found his chin. ¡°Interesting.¡± He didn¡¯t really know much about crafting. He was completely beholden to his instincts when it came to creating anything like his dolmens, staves, or soap. Carmen clearly had more control over her creations, though she didn¡¯t have the benefits that let him craft things far beyond his meager skills. Those creations usually came with restrictions. For instance, his staves turned out however they wanted ¨C regardless of his intent ¨C and were only usable by him. So, Carmen had far more freedom ¨C and likely, potential ¨C while Elijah¡¯s methods were more intuitive and unpredictable. ¡°Can I add something?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Just some enchantments of my own. It should help.¡± Normally, Elijah would have refused. He knew the dolmens required a delicate balance, even if he didn¡¯t quite understand what that truly meant. However, given the subject of the carvings and Carmen¡¯s earnest request, Elijah could not refuse. So, he just nodded. After that, Elijah continued with his task, carving the dragon spears into each heel stone. Every now and again, he¡¯d glance toward Carmen, who was hard at work with a chisel she¡¯d somehow manifested. Ethera swirled around her, suggesting that she was using more than one ability as well. The product was clearly far more elaborate than a few simple enchantments, though, even when her additions covered the rest of the heel stone, Elijah didn¡¯t object. It wasn¡¯t just art. Nor was it only an expression of practical necessity. The act was therapeutic. And as they worked, Elijah recognized that it was, at its core, necessary. Not just for the dolmen, but also as a monument to his sister¡¯s life. To the life of Carmen¡¯s partner. As they worked, Miguel worked with Colt, practicing swordplay with a pair of sticks carmen had shaped into practice weapons. From time to time, Miguel would approach the pond and feed Snappy. A few times, he even climbed atop the giant tortoise¡¯s shell and rode the creature as it circled the pond. Snappy seemed to enjoy it almost as much as it delighted Miguel. Elijah could feel that much, which was just a reminder of how intelligent guardians could be. As therapeutic as the act of carving the dolmens was for Carmen and Elijah, the budding relationship between boy and tortoise was just as important for Miguel. Over the next week, the dolmen took shape, and the nearby oasis grew ever more verdant. More animals arrived. Birds. Insects. Reptiles. Even a few desert rodents Elijah couldn¡¯t identify. By the time they¡¯d finished the project, the oasis had become truly paradisical. Finally, once Elijah and Carmen completed their carvings, he received a notification that was both surprising and expected:
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Circle of Spears] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Complex) Enchantment Grade: C
The dolmen¡¯s name was appropriate, given the spear motif. More, it felt right in a way Elijah couldn¡¯t quite identify. However, the surprises came from the overall grade, which was Complex, making it the most advanced dolmen he¡¯d ever created. Yet, given Carmen¡¯s contribution, it probably shouldn¡¯t have been terribly surprising. After all, she was a proper crafter. That clearly counted for something with the system. The same could be said for the enchantment grade, which was the highest he¡¯d seen. ¡°I got two levels for that,¡± Carmen said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s incredible¡­¡± For his part, Elijah had gotten a little experience. Every act related to his class gave him a trickle of progression. But it was barely enough to move the needle. Obviously, he was no crafter, and while the system acknowledged his efforts, that was clearly a sub-optimal way to push forward. Still, Elijah hadn¡¯t created the dolmen for experience. He¡¯d started it so he¡¯d have another teleportation point, but slowly, the project had morphed into a memorial for his fallen sister. And in both endeavors, it had been an unmitigated success. The next notification was evidence of the first:
Roots of the World Tree Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 3 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 4. Cooldown: 6 Days Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 5 (3 Used)
¡°It¡¯s done,¡± Elijah said. Now, they just needed to gather the others, then get everyone relocated. After that, he would embark on his quest for revenge. 3-85. Relocation ¡°What are you going to do?¡± asked Lucy. Elijah leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. He and the others had returned to Seattle to find it unchanged. Palpable tension still hung in the air, and everywhere Elijah looked, he saw drones, cameras, or black-clad guards who looked like they were wearing police-issue riot gear. More than once on his way to Lucy¡¯s apartment, he¡¯d seen those tensions erupt into brief spurts of violence. Sometimes, the fights were between the hunters of Ranier and the residents of Mercer Mesa. Other times, the guards fought against the well-equipped warriors from Lake City, which was where the local tower was located. None of the battles lasted long before they were broken up, but to Elijah, it was clear that the city was on the verge of exploding. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why, either. Water ¨C and many other supplies ¨C were scarce, and each faction contributed something vital to the city. As a result, they had no choice but to work together, even if they hated one another. The only thing holding it all together was Isaiah and his government, though they were only so effective as each faction¡¯s willingness to listen to reason. In short, Elijah did not envy Isaiah the task before him. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted. ¡°In the short term, all I care about is the safety of my family. After that¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯re still going to kill the guy, right? This leader of Easton,¡± Lucy said. ¡°Definitely.¡± ¡°Have you thought about the ramifications of his death?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not really,¡± he lied. Indeed, he knew that killing the man who¡¯d helped create a safe haven for thousands of people would have consequences. At best, someone else would rise up and take his place. Perhaps they would be better, but there was just as much chance that they¡¯d be worse. And in the worst-case scenario, a bloody struggle would come, leaving everyone vulnerable to the very real threat represented by the environment. Or other people. ¡°I know you¡¯re smarter than that,¡± Lucy said, practically reading his mind. ¡°There¡¯s a chance that he¡¯s the best of a bunch of bad options.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care.¡± That was true enough. When weighed against his desire for vengeance, the fate of a bunch of strangers was inconsequential. He would let a thousand people die if it meant making his sister¡¯s killer pay for his betrayal. ¡°What if he was right?¡± she asked. ¡°He wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°According to Carmen, who¡¯s not exactly impartial.¡± ¡°I believe her,¡± Elijah said, looking up to see Lucy wringing her hands. ¡°What if Alyssa really did pose a threat to him? What if she truly was putting everyone in danger? What if ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care,¡± Elijah repeated. ¡°If Alyssa intentionally challenged his rule, then she had a good reason. If she murdered a bunch of people, I would assume that she did so because they were a threat. She has¡­had my full trust.¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t infallible.¡± ¡°Close enough for me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°She was my sister. Family means that she gets the benefit of the doubt in every situation. It¡¯s the same with Carmen and Miguel. If they kill someone, I¡¯ll say, ¡®They probably had it coming.¡¯ Maybe that makes me a bad person, but I don¡¯t care. That¡¯s who I am.¡± Lucy just shook her head, clearly unsure how to respond to that kind of certainty. ¡°What about me? Would you support me like that, too?¡± she asked. ¡°Once? Definitely. I probably still would, but I¡¯d be lying if I said it was unconditional,¡± he answered. She sighed, then tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. ¡°I guess that¡¯s better than nothing. It¡¯s been a long time since we were together.¡± ¡°It has. I used to think about you, you know,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I almost quit school and came home. It was my sophomore year in college, and I was having a rough time. Too much drinking. Too little school. You know how it goes. I knew I needed to make some changes, and I thought you¡¯d be a part of that.¡± ¡°What stopped you?¡± ¡°I got on Facebook and saw that you were with someone else. I guess I should be happy. I mean, if you were going to move on with anybody, I¡¯m glad it was with the man you eventually married,¡± Elijah admitted. He sighed and leaned back in the chair, looking around the room. ¡°Kind of like losing to the eventual winner of the Super Bowl. You¡¯re upset, sure. But if you¡¯re going to lose, at least you lost to the best.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a competition, Elijah,¡± Lucy said. ¡°I know that now. I¡¯ve matured.¡± ¡°Have you?¡± ¡°Some.¡± She laughed. ¡°So, what happened when you realized that you couldn¡¯t swoop back into my life?¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I dedicated myself to school. I stopped drinking so much. I got back in the gym. You know, normal self-improvement stuff. And it would¡¯ve worked, too, if it wasn¡¯t for that dastardly cancer!¡± he said, shaking his fist dramatically. ¡°Or, you know, the apocalypse.¡± Elijah knew he was all over the place, emotionally speaking, but that was by design. If he let himself wallow in his own grief ¨C or his pending vengeance ¨C he would make some seriously unhealthy decisions. He was self-aware enough to recognize that that wouldn¡¯t end well. And he had responsibilities, after all. To that end, he glanced back toward where Carmen, Miguel, and Colt had gone to meet with the others. ¡°What is taking them so long?¡± he wondered. ¡°They might not want to go,¡± Lucy said. ¡°Seattle isn¡¯t perfect, but it¡¯s relatively safe. After what those people have been through, that¡¯s much better than going off with a mysterious stranger who doesn¡¯t wear shoes.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­fair.¡± Truthfully, Elijah didn¡¯t care much if the rest of the refugees came to Ironshore. The only reason he¡¯d even offered was because Carmen cared about them. Perhaps they would be more comfortable in Argos, which was the third option he¡¯d given them. It was much smaller than Seattle, but the Greek city wasn¡¯t nearly as volatile, either. Elijah and Lucy continued to catch up on old times ¨C notably avoiding any serious topics ¨C until, at last, Carmen returned from where she¡¯d been speaking to her people. ¡°Most of them want to stay here,¡± she said. ¡°So, it¡¯s just me, Colt, Miguel, Theresa, and Byron.¡± ¡°Five,¡± Elijah said, scratching his beard. ¡°Less than expected, but more than ideal.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°It¡¯ll just take longer,¡± he said. ¡°An extra six days.¡± Lucy asked why that number made a difference, but Elijah didn¡¯t elaborate. As much as he wanted to trust Lucy ¨C and he did ¨C he also knew that she had her own situation to worry about. Her fate was intertwined with Seattle¡¯s, and there was a good chance that she could reveal Elijah¡¯s secrets to people like Isaiah or whoever was in charge of the hunters. And that wasn¡¯t a danger Elijah was willing to accept, so he didn¡¯t tell her the details of his teleportation abilities. Even though she clearly wasn¡¯t happy about him keeping his cards close to his chest, she accepted it. As it turned out, Carmen volunteered to stay behind at the oasis with Elijah and Miguel. So, when they set out for the Circle of Spears, they did so with the plan of splitting the group into two. Both Theresa and Byron ¨C the first of which was a Chemist, while Byron was a Geologist ¨C would go ahead with Colt, while Elijah and his family remained in the oasis until the cooldown was up. When they reached the oasis, the two newcomers were awestruck by the circle of sandstone monuments as well as the verdant oasis. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t have the chance to meet Snappy, which probably would have been quite alarming. Once everyone was gathered, Elijah said, ¡°Alright, so ¨C my grove is a little different than anywhere else you¡¯ve been. The first thing you¡¯re going to notice is that the ethera is unimaginably dense. I¡¯m told that it takes a few days to get used to it. Otherwise, it¡¯s like walking around in a hundred-percent humidity, but with the added effect of being extremely magical. ¡°The second thing you¡¯ll see is that my grove makes this oasis look like the desert,¡± he went on. ¡°You might see my deer there, as well. They¡¯re not exactly friendly, but they won¡¯t bother you if you don¡¯t bother them. But stay in the grove, just in case. ¡°And finally, there¡¯s Nerthus. He¡¯s kind of like my groundskeeper,¡± Elijah explained as he ran his hand through his hair. ¡°He¡¯s a tree-man, so don¡¯t be too alarmed by his appearance. He¡¯s a good guy, and very polite. He¡¯s also the person who¡¯ll show you where you can stay until we get there.¡± ¡°A tree-man?¡± asked Theresa, suddenly nervous. ¡°Well, a spryggent. Looks like he¡¯s made of roots and branches. Huh. I just realized that he might know where the root raptors came from. Or the idea of them, at least. Maybe the system just thought them up from scratch, but I think it usually takes inspiration from real things. And those monsters looked a lot like Nerthus.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Oh. Sorry. I sometimes go off on tangents. Occupational hazard. Spend a few years alone, and it takes its toll on your conversational skills,¡± he answered. ¡°Anyway ¨C my point is that Nerthus is a cool dude.¡± ¡°A cool dude?¡± asked Miguel, trying not to giggle. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± the young man said innocently. ¡°I¡¯m sure everyone talks like that where you¡¯re from.¡± ¡°I think you just called me old and out of touch,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Ouch.¡± With a shrug, Miguel pointed out, ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± It was good to see him joking around. Upon their reunion, the young man had been extremely reserved. He still was, but the two weeks in the oasis had helped him come out of his shell. Of course, he¡¯d had years to deal with his mother¡¯s death, while Elijah¡¯s loss still felt fresh. Either way, the attitude was infectious and at least diverting, which was something Elijah desperately needed. ¡°My point is that Nerthus is in charge of the grove if I¡¯m not there. So, you need to do what he says until I get back,¡± Elijah stated. Then, he handed a note to Colt, adding, ¡°Give that to the tree-man. He¡¯ll get you sorted out until I get there.¡± ¡°Gotcha, chief,¡± Colt said, taking the note in his lone hand. ¡°Anything else we need to know?¡± ¡°Not that I can think of. Other than the fact that I can sense everything that happens on my island. So, don¡¯t do anything you wouldn¡¯t do right in front of me,¡± Elijah said cheerfully. Then, he cast Roots of the World Tree. As soon as the spell completed, sucking almost half of his core dry of ethera, a series of vines grew out of the ground, snaking together until they¡¯d created an arch. When it was complete, the air inside the gate shimmered, and the view shifted. Suddenly, he could see through to his grove, which looked little different than before. Still, the people gathered around him gasped ¨C at least as much because of the sudden appearance of a gateway to what looked like another world as it was due to the verdant grove on the other side. That put on a smile on Elijah¡¯s face, and he gestured toward it, saying, ¡°Go on through. We¡¯ll be there in six days.¡± Colt immediately led the way, not hesitating as he covered thousands of miles in a single step. The other two glanced at Carmen, who gave them a reassuring nod. To their credit, they both marshaled their courage and followed the slim swordsman into Elijah¡¯s grove. Elijah let the spell wink out, though he kept an eye on things. Sure enough, Nerthus quickly responded to their presence, but he clearly knew what the gate meant, because he wasted no time in getting the three settled. That gave Elijah an opportunity to spend some more time with his family. The next six days passed without incident. For a few hours each day, Elijah worked on the intended map of his Soul, but for the most part, he simply enjoyed Carmen¡¯s and Miguel¡¯s company. It was a relaxing week, and one they clearly needed. They¡¯d been through an awful lot, and they obviously needed a break. Especially Carmen, who, by the end of the cooldown period, had begun to resemble her old self. Finally, six days after he¡¯d first opened the gate, Elijah cast Roots of the World Tree once again, and after the arch formed, led his family through to his grove. Nerthus greeted them a moment later, and Elijah said, ¡°Nerthus, this is my family. Carmen, Miguel ¨C this is Nerthus. He¡¯s family, too.¡± And though he hadn¡¯t realized how he felt about Nerthus until he¡¯d described the spryggen to the refugees, he meant it. The tree spirit wasn¡¯t just the castellan of his grove. Nor was he simply a friend. Nerthus was family, and in all the best ways. 3-86. Diplomacy The sun shone bright on Valoria, a sign from the Divine System that it was a truly favored city. More importantly, as Roman looked out over the city he¡¯d only recently renamed, a notification superimposed itself across his inner eye.
Congratulations! You have met the requirements to embark on a quest to become an official ruler under the system. Complete the following quests to solidify your rule: 1. Conquer an enemy and hear their oath of fealty. (COMPLETE) 2. Become an Arbiter of Justice. 3. Expand your territory until you rule over 1,000,000 people. (COMPLETE) 4. Reach the top ten on the Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) (COMPLETE)
The last domino to fall was his ascension to the top ten of the power rankings, but through arduous effort, he¡¯d finally managed to reach his goal. The slaughter of prisoners had long since ceased giving him experience, so he¡¯d been forced to turn to other measures. The first step he¡¯d taken was to accompany his men in the culling of the undead hordes beneath the city. That was the backbone of his leveling strategy, and in that endeavor, it had proved extremely effective. It wasn¡¯t fast, but it was steady. And Roman was nothing if not committed to improvement. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. The elites at the top of the power rankings actively sought improvement as well, and so, their levels continued to climb. So, if all Roman did was slaughter mindless zombies, he would never have reached his current pinnacle. Fortunately, he had three towers to augment his leveling speed. The first was the one in his original territory, and he and his hand-picked team had gotten the process of conquering that zombie-infested cityscape down to a science. It was still difficult, and if any of them made a mistake, they would have fallen. Yet, that was why he had chosen his team so carefully. They were men who didn¡¯t make mistakes. All former military, all with complimentary classes. In their company, all Roman had to do was stay out of the way. Of course, he didn¡¯t do that. He contributed as much ¨C or more ¨C than anyone. And he knew that, despite their well-practiced teamwork, without his efforts, the team would have fallen many times over. But that was true in almost every situation. After all, Roman was destined to save Earth. How could he not do the same for his team? The other two towers ¨C one near Arbor, and another next to a town called Bristane ¨C were more difficult, but they went into each with as much information as the locals could provide. The Arbor tower was a massive jungle where the goal was to interrupt a series of sacrifices. There were other details, of course. Two other distinct steps that constituted the two lower levels of the tower. Yet, it was straightforward enough. The third tower was the reason Roman had managed to level so quickly, though. The scenario was a war between four factions, and the tower¡¯s challengers were meant to pick a side and usher their allies to victory. Roman didn¡¯t do that, though. Instead, he directed his team to slaughter everyone they found. It resulted in a terrible rating for the run ¨C and horrible rewards ¨C but a few minor trinkets didn¡¯t matter to Roman. Only levels were important. Even then, he hadn¡¯t quite reached the top fifty. Competition for those spots was fierce, so he¡¯d been forced to cycle through the towers three more times over the past months until, at last, he¡¯d satisfied the terms of his quest. He hadn¡¯t even opened the notification that he hoped would grant him official Lordship sanctioned by the Divine System. Savoring the anticipation, he checked the power rankings:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 76 2. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 76 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 74 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 72 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 67 6. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 65 7. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 62 8. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 59 9. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 59 10. Roman Cain ¨C Level 57 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­
Only a few weeks before, he¡¯d expected that he would be forced to take another round in the towers. That meant spending weeks on the road, then another few days in each tower. However, he¡¯d satisfied the terms of his quest when, suddenly, the top man on the list had disappeared. Clearly, he had died, and given that Elijah Hart, whose name sounded vaguely familiar for some reason, had jumped to the top spot, it was probably reasonable to expect that the two had fought. And the lower-leveled man had won. That had vaulted Roman from the thirteenth spot and into the top twelve. After that, he¡¯d spent nearly a week slaughtering zombies beneath the city, finally climbing to level fifty-seven and completing his final quest objective when he reached the top ten on the power rankings. It was satisfying, seeing the results of all his work. He¡¯d put in years of tedious labor to get where he was, and he felt certain that he¡¯d been forced to work harder than everyone else. After all, he had a city to look after. A people to protect. The others assuredly were off galivanting through the world, selfishly pursuing their own power. They had no purpose. Not like him. So, it was even more satisfying when Roman finally opened the other notification:
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements for sanctioned Lordship. Please choose a path:
Defender Conqueror Benefactor
Designate a capitol city to receive defensive benefits. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Receive powerful tools to assist in gaining new territory. Give your people the tools to prosper.
Roman frowned. He hadn¡¯t anticipated that he would have to make a choice. However, he supposed it made sense. Perhaps there were further steps he could take that would allow him to gain all three benefits. Or maybe the choice would establish his specialization going forward. Either way, the next notification told him that he only had twelve hours to make a choice. The first move, which was to eliminate the Benefactor option, was easy enough. He expected his people to earn their keep, after all. From his perspective, it wasn¡¯t his responsibility to ensure prosperity. Rather, he was responsible for security. So, he moved to the next two choices, which were equally attractive. Making Valoria more secure was a goal toward which he¡¯d been working for years. It had started with defending the old police station, but it was the driving force behind most of his decisions. Yet, he¡¯d already succeeded, hadn¡¯t he? Valoria was safe. With that in mind, he turned his attention to the last choice ¨C the Conqueror option. What better way to advance his cause than to bring more people under the umbrella of his protection? He didn¡¯t even see it as conquest. Rather, he viewed it as outreach. As spreading his influence to envelope the rest of the world. Roman was, after all, Earth¡¯s savior. And though it would have been nice to believe that everyone would stand aside while he gave the planet¡¯s population the benefit of his rule, he knew that would not happen. He would have to free the rest of the world from the clutches of despots, tyrants, and, worst of all, the incompetent. No ¨C when he looked at it that way, the choice was obvious. He selected Conqueror, resulting in yet another notification:
You have chosen the Conqueror path. To claim your title, absorb your Seal of Authority.
Roman had expected as much, as he¡¯d actually done some research on system-granted titles. At first, he had been quite frustrated by the search for information, but he¡¯d lucked out when Fiona found someone with a Librarian class in Arbor. Still, Roman was incredibly disappointed when the woman in question could only help him find information on one subject each week. In any case, he got the information he needed, which told him what to expect and how to proceed. So, he pulled the Seal of Authority from his jacket pocket, then concentrated on its activation. That resulted in another notification:
Would you like to absorb the Seal of Authority? Doing so will destroy the item. Warning: absorbing the Seal of Authority before completing the requirements will result in crippling pain and possible death.
Roman checked his previous notifications once again, just to ensure that he hadn¡¯t been mistaken. As before, the requirements had been met. So, after taking a deep breath, he affirmed the command to absorb the Seal of Authority, placing it on his chest. At first, nothing happened, making him feel incredibly silly. However, after only a handful of seconds, the Seal of Authority completely dissipated, dissolving through his shirt and into his skin. That¡¯s when a deep, blinding pain erupted in his chest. He let out a scream, but the agony only lasted a split second before fading away. Roman slumped, gasping for air, but he quickly got ahold of himself when he heard someone entering the foyer on the other side of his office door. So, he steadied himself, then turned, leaning against the balcony to wait. A second later, via Assassin¡¯s Awareness, he felt Fiona enter the office. She looked around, then saw him standing on the balcony overlooking the city. She approached. ¡°Your majesty,¡± she said with a deep bow. ¡°I regret the necessity of interrupting you.¡± ¡°Not enough to abstain, it seems. What do you want?¡± ¡°You have a visitor,¡± she stated. ¡°A woman who represents a settlement that once was Hong Kong.¡± ¡°I am no diplomat. Let the council speak to her,¡± Roman stated. Indeed, he didn¡¯t have time to meet with the ambassador of every tiny community. ¡°She is powerful. On the power rankings, in fact,¡± Fiona stated. ¡°Oh? What rank?¡± ¡°Number three.¡± ¡°Sadie Song?¡± he asked. ¡°Yes,¡± was Fiona¡¯s eager response. ¡°And she mentioned an alliance.¡± ¡°Did she, now?¡± Roman responded. ¡°Well, we mustn¡¯t keep her waiting. Full honor guard. And contact my team. I want them with me.¡± ¡°As you say, your majesty.¡± * * * ¡°This place stinks, bro,¡± said Dat Bao, his accent strange, even to Sadie¡¯s accustomed ears. It was a combination of Vietnamese and American that sounded completely unique and distinctly out of place. ¡°Feels evil.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t call me bro,¡± she admonished. It was one of the affectations he¡¯d picked up while attending university in the United States, and one he still hadn¡¯t discarded even years later. For her part, Sadie¡¯s accent was equally discordant. Despite being a Chinese citizen, she spoke with a British accent, on account of spending most of her formative years in London. After that, she¡¯d attended Harvard, where she¡¯d met Dat Bao. The pair had been friends ever since, so when she returned home to Hong Kong during the winter break before the world¡¯s transformation, he¡¯d come with her. It was a lucky break, too, because he¡¯d proven a stalwart companion through all the troubles. Just as fortunately, her brother had risen to great heights and had taken on the responsibilities of leading their forces while she sought help against the undead blight that threatened to overwhelm their settlement and sweep across the world. It was that experience with the unliving that gave her ¨C and Dat Bao ¨C insight into what they both felt. ¡°Sorry, bro. You feel it, right?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Do you think they are near a Primal Realm too?¡± ¡°No,¡± Sadie stated, looking around the rooms where they¡¯d been left. They were luxurious ¨C far more so than anywhere else they¡¯d been ¨C but Sadie wasn¡¯t impressed by wealth. ¡°The ethera density is far too low.¡± ¡°And no vampires walking around, either. No zombies. I haven¡¯t seen any ghouls.¡± ¡°There is that to consider as well,¡± she admitted. ¡°I believe there may be a necromancer around.¡± Sadie hated that she knew so much about the various flavors of undead. However, it was inevitable, considering how she¡¯d spent most of the past three years. Soon after Earth had been touched by the World Tree, she had accepted the responsibilities thrust upon her by her grandfather. He¡¯d known, even then, that Hong Kong would need to be guided by a strong hand, and he¡¯d pushed her and her siblings, Niko and Lisa, to meet that need. They¡¯d fought and leveled, and when they¡¯d found the nearby Primal Realm, they¡¯d combated the forces spilling out of it. From the very beginning, they¡¯d been among the strongest people in the world. That was because of the teamwork and complimentary classes she and her siblings had taken. For her part, she had chosen the Warrior archetype, which had become the Crusader class. Lisa had been their Sorcerer, taking the Inquisitor class. And Niko was their Healer, taking the Bishop class. And for a while, they held their own. Until Lisa had been killed during an undead offensive. Then, everything had started to fall apart. They¡¯d been steadily pushed back ever since, taking refuge in the ruins of Hong Kong while the various undead forces surged around them. Dat, with his Witch Hunter class, had been invaluable. So were the rest of their thousands of soldiers. Yet, it wasn¡¯t enough. Not until Sadie, Dat, and Niko had been given a quest. She still remembered the notification:
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: Obejctive: Destroy the Summoning Ritual Reward: Blessing of the Angel, Gabriel Do you accept?
At first, she¡¯d been hesitant to accept. However, once Dat had found the ritual, all hesitation vanished. Through one of his class skills, he had discovered that the purpose of the ritual was to summon a demonic monster to Earth. And given the number of sacrifices that had gone into powering it, Sadie had known it would be a powerful creature indeed. And besides, she wasn¡¯t so jaded that she wouldn¡¯t accept a task from an actual angel. So, she and the other two had accepted the quest, and through great hardship, had managed to complete it, sundering the undead force¡¯s efforts. The potential rewards had exceeded anything Sadie had ever expected. However, one stood above all else: core advancement. They each chose that option, and they had developed Angelic Cores, which had given them power none of them could have imagined. As a result, their spells were more potent than ever before. More, later, when they finally figured out how to advance their bodies, minds, and souls, they had reached the first stage of cultivation. But it wasn¡¯t enough. Even with all that extra power, they still hadn¡¯t been able to defeat the undead forces. Their numbers were inexhaustible, and they continuously grew in power. So, while Niko and the rest of their army held the undead to a stalemate, she and Dat had set out on a pilgrimage to seek help against the invasion of the unliving. So far, they¡¯d met no one who could help. Everyone in the new world had problems, and few were willing to weaken their own defenses to help a bunch of strangers. Still, she held out hope for the newly renamed Valoria. Now, though, with the scent of undeath hanging in the air, Sadie had her doubts. Finally, after hours of waiting ¨C which Sadie spent pacing back and forth across the plush carpet ¨C someone came through the door. The small, waifish woman wore far too much makeup, and her dress was unflatteringly tight. The four men who followed had the bearing of experienced soldiers. Finally, a man with dark hair and a condescending expression came in. ¡°Welcome to Valoria,¡± the woman said. ¡°May I have the pleasure of introducing his majesty, King Roman Cain.¡± Sadie nearly rolled her eyes at that title. There was so much wrong with the introduction that it felt like a child¡¯s play. However, the name did ring a bell, and after only a moment, she recalled that she¡¯d last seen it on the tenth spot of the power rankings. In fact, she¡¯d watched the name¡¯s steady rise over the past few months. So, either the man stood on a mountain of recently killed bodies, or he¡¯d found some loophole in progression. Whatever the case, he had at least some power, though Sadie knew from experience that levels were less a mark of power and more an indicator of a person¡¯s progress. Certainly, some degree of might came with each level, but it was only one of many factors that contributed to a person¡¯s strength. ¡°Thank you for seeing me, your majesty,¡± Sadie said, bowing in respect. Whatever the man¡¯s story, he had a powerful force behind him. Millions of people owed him their allegiance, which meant that he stood to help her cause. That deserved acknowledgement. ¡°Not at all,¡± the man said, affecting a strangely formal tone that bore a hint of an accent that she knew wasn¡¯t real. ¡°It is the least I could do for a fellow ranker.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± she said. ¡°May I speak bluntly and without preamble?¡± ¡°You may.¡± ¡°We need help,¡± Sadie stated. Then, she launched into an explanation of the situation, ending with a plea for assistance. ¡°If we do not gather a powerful force, we will fall, and the undead menace will spread across the world.¡± The self-styled king frowned. Then, he said, ¡°I apologize, but as of now, we cannot afford to send help. However, if you can hold the line for a few more months, there is a chance that I could send a few battalions.¡± ¡°A few months, bro? We¡¯ll be dead by then.¡± Sadie saw the king¡¯s knuckles whiten as he clutched his fists. His voice was calm when he said, ¡°It is the best I can offer. We have our own problems. Our own battles to fight. My first priority is to keep my people safe. Fighting your battles for you would jeopardize that endeavor. I am sorry.¡± Sadie just shook her head in disappointment, but she didn¡¯t push. It would do no good. So, after a few more minutes, during which she discussed local events ¨C getting a lay of the land was incredibly important ¨C Sadie and Dat left the depressingly gothic palace behind. ¡°Seattle?¡± she asked, looking at the map she had brought along. Dat said, ¡°Sure, bro. I¡¯ve always wanted to see the Space Needle.¡± 3-87. A Dragons Command Eason Edmund sat at his desk, examining a crystal. It was a synthetic treasure created in one of his mineral gardens, and even though it was barely more than Simple-Grade ¨C as such things were measured ¨C it emitted a power that would nearly rival that of a wild natural treasure. Still, he wasn¡¯t happy with the result. He knew his people could do better. With how many coins he¡¯d sunk into the project, they needed to ¨C or he would lose everything. Not soon. It would take centuries before the bill would come due. But it would come eventually. ¡°It is passable,¡± he said, looking up at the Minerologists. He¡¯d raised the pair from childhood ¨C not personally, obviously ¨C ushering them to the Scholar archetype, then pushing them into the rare Minerologist class, all in the hopes that they could help the Eason family climb to new heights. Most factions did so by colonizing newly integrated worlds, but that was a time-consuming and financially debilitating tactic. For one, simply reaching those new worlds was expensive, but sending a force large enough to make a difference would bankrupt all but the wealthiest families in the empire. That was why most turned to mercenary companies like Black Sky, who had been granted special dispensations by the Cult of the World Tree. Or they sent their least talented youths, a tactic which was rarely successful enough to rely upon. Still, if a settlement gained a foothold in such worlds, the benefits could be vast. Of course, those worlds faced many challenges of their own. Most ended up being excised from the World Tree¡¯s influence and left to drift into the void. Or they were converted into Ancestral Realms. But the ones that survived the trials before them played host to powerful natives with many advantages that made them difficult to dislodge, even when so many rewards were on offer. To Edmund, it had always seemed incredibly unfair. Artificially propping up the weak until they could stand up to their betters benefited no one. Better that those natives bend the knee to someone who could protect them, who could usher them to true power, who could show them how the multi-verse worked. The World Tree and its damnable cult had other ideas, though, and just like everyone else, Edmund had no choice but to abide by their rules. So, without the wealth necessary to send multiple expeditions to newly touched worlds, all in the slim hope that they could survive, he¡¯d turned to the idea of creating his own treasures. It wasn¡¯t an unheard-of method. In fact, it was quite common. That was what classes like the various flavors of Farmers and Horticulturists did, albeit on a broad and comparatively weak scale. Yet, those synthetic treasures could never benefit anyone above the Mortal rank. And who cared about them? Sure, that was the beginning, but there were countless means of progressing through those levels and preparing to become one of the Ascended. Yet, after that was the true bottleneck, and the difficulty of progressing after that point was why the order of the universe rarely changed. The powerful remained powerful, and the weak continued to muck through whatever scraps they could find. Anyone with the ability to grow synthetic treasures that could rival the power of equivalently graded natural treasures would upset that balance. They would rise to the top and carve out a place for their followers. For those on the bottom rung of the multiversal power scale, it was the only way forward. ¡°What level have you reached?¡± he asked. ¡°One-hundred and two,¡± said the one on the right. Edmund had never bothered learning their names. He rarely did, even with his own family, much less a pair of orphans with potential. Once they Ascended and realized some of that potential, he might deign to learn their names. Maybe. Definitely, once they reached the Demigod stage. He might even invite them to supper if they matched his own Deity stage. But he wouldn¡¯t serve them anything remarkable. They were mere commoners, after all. ¡°Twenty-three more levels,¡± Edmund said, tossing the valuable gem onto his desk. It slid across, then came to a stop only an inch from the edge. The two Minerologists both had to suppress gasps. To Edmund, it was trash, but for them, it represented the culmination of years¡¯ worth of labor. Such small dreams. ¡°Report to Elder Rahm. She will create a training plan to push the both of you to Ascendency. After that, perhaps you will be able to create something worthwhile.¡± ¡°Pardon, Grand Master¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°Will we be required to enter¡­a tower?¡± asked the gnome on the left. She was pretty enough, and once she reached a proper stage of development, she might even be beautiful. He would keep an eye on her. ¡°Of course. Killing those monsters in the tower is the most efficient means of leveling,¡± Edmund stated. ¡°I will ¨C¡± The world shook, cutting him off. The two weaklings screamed in unmitigated fear, clutching one another as if it would do any good. For his part, Edmund spun up three spells, adding a defensive ability to the mix. Ice encased his body, forming into a suit of armor that tripled his size. Then, he dragged a wand from the storage pouch at his belt, ready to respond to anyone who would dare threaten his world. Not so much because he cared about the place. Or certainly not the people who called it home. Rather, because he could not be seen to allow such an affront to his authority. That would invite challenge, and after spending so much of his power to offer that oaf a quest to avenge his idiot great grandson¡¯s death, he was disgustingly vulnerable. Cabbot had been a moron. He¡¯d thrown a century¡¯s worth of planning aside in an effort to forge his own path. Edmund could have respected that if the idiot hadn¡¯t gotten himself killed. And as with a threat to his planet, Edmund couldn¡¯t allow the murder of a member of his family to go unanswered. But then the barbarian had actually failed, creating a backlash that worsened Edmund¡¯s weakness. As a result, he was weaker than he¡¯d been since he¡¯d reached the Deity stage more than a century past. Still, he could deal with some uppity¡­ The shaking abruptly ceased. The pair of unbalanced Minerologists fell to the floor, scuffing the tiles. Edmund had obliterated people for less, but he stayed his hand. Instead, he cast his senses across his lands, finding a disturbing absence. It was one thing if a fight was imminent. Edmund had come up the hard way, scratching and clawing for every level he gained. So, he was prepared for a battle. However, the lack of any obvious threat was disturbing in a way that no enemy could be. Because it represented two options, both of which were terrifying. While Edmund tried to wrap his mind around what either of those possibilities might mean, the door to his office swung open. He was about to tell his servants off for interrupting him when a vision of beauty glided through the door. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She looked human. Mostly. And while Edmund wasn¡¯t normally attracted to such gangly creatures ¨C give him a proper gnomish wench any night of the week ¨C he could not deny the woman¡¯s striking appearance. It was real, too. No illusions. No glamours. Just simple perfection. Golden hair fell upon slim shoulders, framing a visage that was both delicate and commanding, in equal measure. Her eyes were lined in what looked like golden makeup, but upon further inspection, Edmund realized that it was decorated with tiny, glittering scales. He whispered, ¡°Oh, gods¡­¡± Similar scales created a pattern on her neck that fell down to her breastbone. And though Edmund suspected that they continued across her torso, the woman¡¯s white robes prevented him from confirming those suspicions. She stepped forward, her movement somehow sinuous, and gave him a slight, knowing smile, ¡°I do not require your worship, Eason Edmund. Just your obedience.¡± ¡°Transcendent.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± was her reply. ¡°I apologize for any disruption my arrival might have caused. Veiling my presence is impossible while traveling through the World Tree. A hint of my power peeked through before I could corral it. I will, of course, pay appropriate reparations, should you so require.¡± ¡°Ah¡­that is not necessary, your eminence,¡± he said after finding his voice. He let his Ice Armor fall away, lest he offend the powerful visitor. ¡°Nonsense. Have your accountants send a bill to my seneschal on planet Sethik,¡± she said. ¡°That is inside the Empire of Scale, of course. Certainly, you will have no trouble finding it.¡± Edmund dipped his head in subservience. ¡°As you wish, your eminence,¡± he breathed as confidently as he could manage. However, his heart beat out of control as he faced someone who had reached the pinnacle of measurable progression. How far behind that she¡¯d manage to climb was anyone¡¯s guess. Certainly, he lacked the ability to discern the details. Still, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from using Icy Gaze. The results were disturbing:
Name: Kirlissa Archetype: Sorcerer Level: 1000+
It had been some time since Edmund¡¯s identification spell had failed so spectacularly. And given that it had only provided basic information, and incompletely at that, that was the only way to label it. However, even that tiny bit of information was enough to give a lesser gnome a heart attack. He¡¯d known she had reached the Transcendent stage. That was obvious from the moment he¡¯d laid eyes on the woman. Or dragon. He¡¯d never met one in person, but everyone had heard the stories. And Edmund was no exception. Now that he¡¯d seen one, he felt that the descriptions were woefully inadequate. Rumor said that, as they progressed, they gained the ability to refine their secondary form. Clearly, this Kirlissa had a soft spot for humans, and had chosen her form accordingly, though with some nods to her draconic race. ¡°Tell me, Eason Edmund,¡± she said, her voice losing that small hint of kindness it had possessed only a moment before. ¡°Are all gnomes afflicted with such a blatant disregard for common courtesy? Or is it just you?¡± It took him a moment to recognize his error. For so long, he¡¯d been at the top of the heap. The king of the hill, so to speak. That meant that he could examine anyone he wished to inspect, and with as much scrutiny as he liked. However, doing so in the wider multi-verse was generally frowned upon. He prostrated himself, apologizing profusely. ¡°I meant no disrespect, revered elder,¡± he pleaded. ¡°A bad habit, nothing more.¡± ¡°Arise, gnome. You mustn¡¯t lose face in front of your¡­subjects,¡± she said, glancing at the pair of cowering Minerologists with a flash of disapproval. Edmund understood that much, at least. They were truly disgusting things, wearing no better than Simple-Grade clothing. He pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his own Sacred-Grade robes. They would have been Deific, but finding a Deity-Stage crafter was almost impossible among his allies, and none existed within his realm. It was one more reason he needed to create more growth. ¡°May I offer you some refreshments? A slave or two? We are ¨C¡± ¡°I need nothing from you, gnome,¡± she said. Her eyes flashed reptilian for the briefest of moments, then returned to a more normal human appearance. ¡°Save for one thing.¡± ¡°Say it, and I shall endeavor to make it a reality.¡± ¡°Good. I am pleased that you are so eager to make amends.¡± ¡°Amends? What have I done to offend you, Transcendent one?¡± he asked, his mouth going dry. ¡°You do not know?¡± she asked. ¡°Did you not wonder why your great grandson spent a small fortune to hire ritualists from a group of known adherents to the Church of the Ravener?¡± ¡°Devourers?¡± ¡°The worst sort,¡± she answered. ¡°I knew nothing of this. The boy was headstrong and stubborn. He left the family years ago. Last I checked, he¡¯d joined a mercenary group and headed to some backwater world on the frontier.¡± Suddenly, all the air left the room, and an immeasurable pressure descended on Edmund. ¡°Do not lie to me, child,¡± she said evenly. Then, the pressure disappeared, and the air returned as if it had never been gone. It had only lasted an instant, which normally would have been no threat to Edmund¡¯s endurance. Yet, he found himself gasping for breath. It didn¡¯t help. The monster before him wasn¡¯t simply one step ahead of him. She was practically a different species. Often, his people referred to him as a god, but Kirlissa was as far ahead of him as he stood above even the lowest peasant who¡¯d barely begun on the path of cultivation. ¡°By the time I found out, he was already dead,¡± he admitted. ¡°Yet, you intervened on a newly touched world. You offered a quest.¡± ¡°It is my right to avenge my descendant¡¯s death,¡± he said quietly. It was barely more than a whisper, but it was backed up by his considerable will. He looked up and into the dragon¡¯s eyes. ¡°That is the way it has always been done. I broke no precepts. I did not descend upon the planet myself. I did everything by the book.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± she said, stepping forward. She was only a couple of feet taller than him ¨C short by human standards ¨C but with that footfall, she seemed to grow. ¡°I must ask you, then, how I should respond to the ancestor of the gnome who abducted my daughter and attempted to drain her essence as if she was a natural treasure?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Kirlissa¡¯s hand shot out, faster even than Edmund could track. Before he knew it, she had him by the throat and held him aloft. He didn¡¯t need to breathe much, but having her hand ¨C no, it had become a claw, golden scaled and powerful beyond measure ¨C around his neck was nearly enough to elicit panic. ¡°My. Daughter,¡± she growled, enunciating the words very carefully. ¡°A mere child, barely more than a hatchling. The Druid you attempted to have killed saved her from that fate. Then, he killed your pitiful descendant like the affront to nature he was. He was acting on my behalf. If you take issue with that, then you are more than welcome to address your concerns with me. Would you like to do that, Eason Edmund? I am here to meet your challenge, should that be the path you desire.¡± ¡°N-no¡­¡± ¡°I can¡¯t hear you,¡± she said, pulling him closer. ¡°I do not!¡± She dropped him. ¡°That is good,¡± Kirlissa said, the feeling of looming power falling away. When it did, she felt no larger than when she¡¯d first entered the office. ¡°Then I must request that you push your grudge against the Druid aside.¡± The threat in that command was clear. If he attempted to harm the Druid again ¨C even by proxy ¨C he would incur the wrath of a Transcendent. Which was suicide. If Kirlissa was truly angry, she would destroy the whole planet. Perhaps the entire system. And no one would step up to stop her. Because no one who cared about him, his planet, or the system to which they were attached was powerful enough. As unfair as it was, Kirlissa could do whatever she liked, and no one would challenge her. So, he bowed his head and said, ¡°As you say, honored dragon. I will leave my grudge, here and now.¡± ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Then I shall take my leave.¡± With that, she simply disappeared as if she¡¯d never even existed. Panting, Edmund struggled to calm himself until he noticed the pair of Minerologists still cowering on the floor. They both looked at him with wide, tearful eyes. They had seen everything. His weakness. Tales of his own cowardice, understandable though it was, could not spread. ¡°Pity,¡± he said. ¡°I had such high hopes for the two of you.¡± ¡°Master, I ¨C¡± The once-promising Minerologist never got the chance to utter a full sentence. Instead, her head was pierced through by a spear of ice. Then, her partner¡¯s head exploded under similar force. With a sigh, he just shook his head. Now, he would have to start all over. No matter ¨C he¡¯d lived for thousands of years. What was a few decades¡¯ delay, really? On the scale of one who¡¯d reached the Deity stage, it was no more than the blink of an eye. 4-1. Showing Off ¡°This is amazing,¡± said Miguel, his mouth hanging open as he stared at the verdant landscape of Elijah¡¯s grove. They had only just arrived, having been teleported thousands of miles in an instant via Elijah¡¯s Roots of the World Tree spell. But neither Carmen nor Miguel had any means of knowing just how vast the distance between his most recent dolmen, the Circle of Spears, and his grove really was. By comparison, Elijah knew precisely how far they¡¯d come. After all, he¡¯d spent the better part of two years trekking across the wilderness ¨C albeit with a few distractions along the way ¨C in an effort to reunite with his sister. However, when he¡¯d finally found his nephew and sister-in-law, he¡¯d been horrified to learn that Alyssa had been killed long ago. Perhaps it had happened before he¡¯d even left his island. Whatever the case, that discovery had come with a healthy dose of rage, guilt, and grief. The first came because his sister hadn¡¯t been slain by happenstance. No monster ¨C at least not of the normal variety ¨C had killed her. Instead, she had been murdered by a power-mad despot she¡¯d once considered a friend. That betrayal was foremost in the most prominent facet of Elijah¡¯s Quartz Mind, though he couldn¡¯t allow himself to embark on his planned quest for vengeance. Not yet, at least. He needed to get his family ¨C and the other refugees who¡¯d come to the grove almost a week before ¨C settled. After that, he would give himself fully to revenge. The second emotion ¨C guilt ¨C was twofold. Most prominently, he¡¯d taken his sweet time adjusting to the new world. After Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree ¨C and been transformed ¨C he¡¯d spent months simply surviving. He hadn¡¯t been driven by a need to grow stronger. Instead, he¡¯d focused almost entirely on satisfying the necessary requirements to continue living. However, that had all changed after his protector ¨C a powerful mist panther guardian ¨C had been killed, and he¡¯d been forced to see to his own safety. A few months ¨C and a life-altering tower run ¨C later, and he¡¯d become a different person. Yet, he still wondered what might have happened if he¡¯d taken responsibility for his own progression sooner. Would it have been enough? Maybe not. But the mere possibility that it would have let him find his sister before she was killed haunted him. The same could be said about his habit of giving in to every distraction he found in his travels. Whether it was healing the plague-stricken residents of the first human settlement he¡¯d found or one of the superfluous tower runs he¡¯d embarked upon, Elijah knew he¡¯d wasted a lot of time. Certainly, he¡¯d also grown more powerful, but he¡¯d trade any number of levels ¨C or strangers¡¯ lives ¨C if he could get just a few more days with his sister. The second facet of that guilt came from before Earth¡¯s transformation. Just before Elijah had graduated high school, he¡¯d lost both of his parents. That had sent him down a spiral of grief where he¡¯d pushed everyone away, and it had culminated in his jetting off to Hawaii for college, where he¡¯d studied to become a marine biologist. And while his pursuit of a degree ¨C and employment afterwards ¨C had been reasonably successful, it had also put thousands of miles, both figuratively as well as literally, between him and the only family he had left. Before, he¡¯d thought he had plenty of time to reconnect, but being diagnosed with terminal cancer had thrown those plans aside. That was how he¡¯d ended up on his island in the first place. Knowing he was dying, Elijah had decided to live his last days with his sister ¨C mostly at her insistence. But the world¡¯s transformation ¨C and the subsequent crash of his plane ¨C had seen him stranded on a deserted island. Loneliness had taught him just how deep his regrets went. Sure, he didn¡¯t immediately set off to find his sister and her family, and even when he had, he¡¯d taken his time. From his perspective, there had been no urgency. More, simply finding them when the entire world had been randomized and transformed made the task almost impossible. It was like finding a needle in a haystack, and it was only through coincidence ¨C and a little planning ¨C that he¡¯d found Carmen and Miguel. Or maybe he was just making excuses. Perhaps his guilt was warranted. Either way, there was nothing he could do to change the past. What he could do, however, was to ensure his family¡¯s safety. Carmen and Miguel weren¡¯t related to him by blood, but then again, neither was his spryggent friend, Nerthus. That didn¡¯t change the fact that all three were family. ¡°I thought you might like it,¡± Elijah said to his nephew. He reached out and gripped the boy¡¯s ¨C no, the young man¡¯s shoulder. ¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this. When I first got here, it was just a big meadow with the ancestral tree in the center. It looked different back then, too.¡± ¡°Different how?¡± ¡°Well, it was more like a normal tree,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°But when Nerthus absorbed a Shard of the World Tree, it started to change. So did he, come to that.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± said Nerthus, who had a habit of standing so still that one could almost mistake him for a tree himself, albeit an oddly shaped one with only a few leaves. Or perhaps an expertly carved sculpture. However, Nerthus was as distinct an individual as anyone else Elijah had ever met, and he was powerful in his own right. The grove was as much his as it was Elijah¡¯s. Perhaps moreso, considering how much time and effort the spryggent had spent guiding its growth. More than that, though, Elijah owed the tree spirit his life. Without him, he¡¯d have never embarked down the path of cultivation, and without those advantages, he had no doubt that he would have long since perished. Most recently, he¡¯d have been slain by one of the most powerful people in the world. Even then, Elijah had been forced to use his entire toolkit to survive Thor Gunderson¡¯s ambush. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. ¡°The ethera here is so dense,¡± Carmen said, almost as impressed as her son. She was a short woman ¨C even compared to Elijah, who, in his more honest moments, would have admitted that he was a little below average in the height department ¨C and even though she¡¯d clearly lost weight during her travels, she was still quite muscular. Otherwise, she and Miguel shared the same tan skin, dark hair, and brown eyes. She asked, ¡°How is this possible?¡± ¡°The ancestral tree is a natural treasure,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°A powerful one, too. All ancestral trees are strong, influencing their environments more broadly than most treasures. My tree is far more powerful than most, especially after absorbing the Shard of the World Tree.¡± ¡°Making it the center of the grove didn¡¯t hurt, either,¡± Elijah supplied. He and Nerthus had spoken on the subject at length, so he knew just how special his situation was. Most natural treasures didn¡¯t last long. Even if they were protected by powerful guardians, they were usually consumed by natives or even opportunistic wildlife. Not only had Elijah foregone consuming the tree, he¡¯d also actively reinforced and empowered it. The results had been impressive, growing its influence to encompass the entire island. Indeed, when Elijah had established his grove ¨C via one of the first spells his Druid archetype had granted ¨C it had come with a Domain, inside of which was a Locus of awareness. It had since grown a little past the island¡¯s boundaries, so the result was that he could sense everything about the island, regardless of his own location. Fortunately, he had his Quartz Mind to deal with the overwhelming amount of information. ¡°Do you guys want a tour?¡± Elijah asked. Miguel eagerly said that he did, while Carmen¡¯s agreement was a little more subdued. So, after they gathered the other three who¡¯d preceded them a week before ¨C they¡¯d been holed up in the treehouse intended to become Carmen¡¯s living quarters since they¡¯d arrived ¨C Elijah set out to show them the highlights of his island. Fittingly, the first location was the grove itself. It was the beating heart of Elijah¡¯s Domain, and it was easily the most important part of the island. Everyone was suitably impressed by the varied vegetation and the stand of coffee trees Elijah had most recently planted. Nerthus had also planted a wide variety of other plants, from herbs to sunflowers and everything in between. ¡°Glad to see the seeds I got for you didn¡¯t go to waste,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Amazing work, Nerthus. Really. You¡¯ve outdone yourself.¡± The spryggent beamed at the compliment. It was in moments like that that Elijah remembered that, though Nerthus looked like a weathered collection of twisted roots, he was in fact, little more than an adolescent. Even since their first meeting, Nerthus¡¯ personality had developed considerably, and Elijah expected that trend to continue going forward. After the grove, Elijah took the group to the ruined cabin that had provided solace and protection from the elements for the first few months after the world had transformed. Then, he took the group to the beach, where he introduced them to the giant crabs that seemed to love his island so much. They didn¡¯t get close enough to get the huge crustaceans¡¯ attention, but Elijah did describe his first few encounters with the creatures. ¡°I woke up to them nibbling on my legs,¡± he said. ¡°They weren¡¯t bigger than a cocker spaniel back then, but they grew to this size within a year. Thank God they leveled off. Otherwise, we might be in danger of living in a world ravaged by huge crabs,¡± he joked. Once they were suitably impressed by the crabs, Elijah showed off his dwindling collection of rowboats, then pointed out Ironshore across the strait. ¡°That¡¯s where most of you are going,¡± he said. ¡°The people there are mostly okay. Goblins, dwarves, and gnomes. Oh, and a couple of elves. But they¡¯re nice enough, now that¡­well, Ramik keeps them in line.¡± He''d almost let loose with the tale of how he¡¯d slaughtered fifty Ironshore residents who¡¯d attempted to invade his island, but it didn¡¯t take a genius to guess that that wouldn¡¯t have ended well. Carmen, Miguel, and Colt would be fine. But the other two? They were clearly terrified of him, and he wanted to avoid spooking them any further. Besides, they¡¯d find out the truth soon enough, anyway. But by then, they¡¯d be on the other side of the strait where he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it. The final landmark he wanted to show them was the tower, which took a couple of hours to reach. It would have taken longer, but Elijah knew the optimal path. And the others ¨C aside from Miguel ¨C all had a few levels under their belts. For his part, the young man didn¡¯t complain; instead, he endeavored to keep pace, and though he couldn¡¯t do so, he kept up a lot better than Elijah would have predicted. It was impressive, and it boded well for when the young man gained access to the system and actually started gaining attribute points. ¡°Wow,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I¡¯ve never actually seen a tower.¡± ¡°I have,¡± Colt said. ¡°I was with the second group who went through the one near Easton. It was not a pleasant experience.¡± ¡°They usually aren¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But if you want to get stronger, Ironshore sends a group through there once a week. I¡¯m sure they¡¯ll let you in. They have a shortage of combatants.¡± ¡°I¡­may just do that,¡± Colt stated. ¡°When can I do it?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°Not until you have a class,¡± Carmen said. ¡°And if I hear about you going anywhere close to that tower¡­¡± ¡°I know, mom. I¡¯m not stupid,¡± he complained. Carmen just shook her head. After that, Elijah led the others back to the grove. By that point, it was time for supper, so he shared a bit of meat he had stored in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, which they cooked in his kitchen. However, retrieving it highlighted the fact that Elijah had picked up a lot of stuff recently. So, he knew he would need to stop by Atticus¡¯ shop soon, not only to identify the items, but also to unload anything he didn¡¯t need. After the meal, everyone but Carmen headed to the other treehouse. Once they were gone, Elijah and his sister-in-law sat on his balcony, which overlooked the grove. Both clutched steaming mugs full of the tea he¡¯d bought back in Ironshore, and for the longest time, neither spoke. Finally, though, Carmen said, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°For what?¡± ¡°For this. It¡¯s exactly what we need,¡± she said. ¡°When you told me about this place, I thought you were exaggerating. But now¡­I think you might have been underselling it. It¡¯s paradise.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t always like this. My first year was incredibly difficult.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t doubt it.¡± They both went silent for a little while longer until, once again, Carmen broke the silence and asked, ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need her to elaborate. He knew what she was asking. ¡°I¡¯ve got some things I need to take care of,¡± he said. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going to Easton. I intend to kill him. That¡¯s certain. Other than that, I don¡¯t know. I still haven¡¯t decided.¡± For a moment, Elijah thought his sister-in-law was going to argue. But then, she just gave him a curt nod and said, ¡°Good. If anyone in this world deserves the worst you can dish out, it¡¯s Roman Cain.¡± 4-2. Getting Settled The next morning, Elijah awoke feeling refreshed, and it actually took him a few moments to remember the burden of vengeance he¡¯d taken upon himself. The moment he settled into those thoughts, his mood darkened, but he forced the roiling emotions into their own facet, where he could ignore them at least long enough to do what needed to be done. Because as much as he wanted to simply rush off to Easton, he knew he had a lot to accomplish before he could do so without worry. For one, he needed to finish getting Carmen and the others settled, and that meant introducing them to Ironshore. Then, he had a few other minor tasks to accomplish before he could, in good conscience, fully embrace his new mission. And one larger task, though that would have to wait until after a visit to Ironshore. To that end, he pushed himself out of bed, then took care of his business in the bathroom before taking a long, hot shower. To his delight, Nerthus had adjusted both the water pressure as well as the temperature, so even with his high Constitution, Elijah could feel the change. In the days before Earth¡¯s transformation, it might¡¯ve felt like he was being pressure washed by near-boiling water, but now? It was soothing. So, Elijah took a little longer than absolutely necessary before he stepped out of the shower and dressed. After that, he completely emptied his satchel, placing everything in separate piles, depending on their type. Magical items went in one section, while leftover meat went into another. The few berries he had left found their way into another section, while his clothing ¨C which was universally soiled ¨C was in another pile. There were bits and pieces of animal hide, a few teeth, and some wooden trinkets he¡¯d carved during his downtime. It was shocking, how much would fit into the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, and looking at his accumulated possessions, Elijah had no choice but to come to one, simple conclusion: he¡¯d become a bit of a packrat. With that in mind, he set upon the items, earmarking much of it for disposal. He didn¡¯t need a half-dozen poorly preserved rabbit furs, after all. Nor did he need a collection of snake fangs. The same could be said for Thor¡¯s clothing, which Elijah had looted. The cloth was nothing special, and it was all sized to fit a giant. Besides, it was all bloodstained and had been ripped to pieces by the battle. So, it went into the heap of items meant to be discarded. The man¡¯s armor was a different story. It was mundane. Not even Crude-Grade. And Elijah questioned why such a powerful fighter had bothered wearing armor that was, by every metric Elijah could use, inferior to the man¡¯s bare skin. Perhaps it was meant to assuage the Thor¡¯s vanity. After all, he¡¯d seemed to have chosen his attire to portray a specific aesthetic. Or maybe it had held sentimental value, though from what he knew of the former high-ranker, that didn¡¯t seem likely. Either way, Elijah wasn¡¯t in the habit of discarding good metal or cured leather. So, he kept that. As for the magical items, there were a few that had yet to be identified. Like the fanged necklace. Or even Elijah¡¯s new staff. He suspected that it would help his shapeshifting in some way, but he couldn¡¯t be certain of anything until he had Atticus identify it. The Ghoul-Hide Satchel¡¯s functions were easier to discern, but Elijah wanted to get it appraised as well. The same was true of his Weighted Gloves. The canteen, too. Finally, the meat went into his cold storage. It would keep for a while in there, and though Elijah knew he wouldn¡¯t remain on the island long, he intended to leave it there for Carmen and Miguel. They couldn¡¯t hunt as easily as he could, so that seemed the most prudent course of action. The pile of clothes ¨C as well as his Cloak of the Iron Bear ¨C got a generous dusting of cleansing powder. It would take a couple of hours for that to work, so he donned his lone clean pair of pants before heading out to the grove to refamiliarize himself with everything. He could, of course, sense the entire island right down to the tiniest insect, but there was something about actually laying eyes on the flora that made all the difference. For a while, he just walked among the bushes and flowers, delighting in the aromas as well as the fat honeybees buzzing about. Thankfully, those insects hadn¡¯t been changed by the touch of the World Tree. Upon finding his patch of lavender, he picked some so that he could get another batch of infused oil going. And of course, as he walked through the grove, he didn¡¯t hesitate to grab a couple of berries here and there. But eventually, his path took him to his coffee trees. Each one had reached almost twenty feet in height, which was abnormally large for that species. However, Elijah chalked that increased size up to the presence of ethera that had grown so many other things out of proportion. The cherries were still green, which meant that they weren¡¯t yet ripe. But he could sense that it wouldn¡¯t be long before they were ready to be plucked. Then, he¡¯d have all the coffee he could drink. And hopefully, it would have some special effects, just like his berries. He was inspecting his trees when Carmen approached. He¡¯d felt her awaken nearly forty-five minutes before, but he¡¯d pointedly not paid much attention to the facet of his Mind that was dedicated to monitoring his Domain. Everyone deserved at least a little privacy, after all. ¡°Sleep well?¡± he asked, resting his hand on one of the trees¡¯ branches. He held out his other hand, asking, ¡°Berry?¡± ¡°I did. That moss bed was probably the most comfortable place I¡¯ve ever slept,¡± she admitted, taking one of the berries. She let out an audible sigh upon popping it into her mouth. ¡°Why does every one of these taste different?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Ethera is weird.¡± ¡°You can say that again. Are these coffee trees?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Elijah answered, finally looking back at her with a grin. He almost felt it, too, but he knew he was forcing it. Perhaps the day would come when every thought wasn¡¯t accompanied by pangs of loss, but for now, he would just have to fake emotions other than grief or anger. To distract himself, Elijah explained how he¡¯d gotten the Miracle Seed. ¡°And after that, Nerthus helped me turn one tree into a whole grove. Though when I made my calculations, I only made enough for personal use. I guess I¡¯m lucky they¡¯re a lot bigger than I expected.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°What are we planning for today?¡± she asked. ¡°Well, I¡¯m about to train a little,¡± Elijah said. ¡°About an hour or so. By the time I¡¯m done, everyone over in Ironshore should be awake. So, we¡¯re going over there so I can get your friends settled. You and Miguel are welcome to live here on the island, but I don¡¯t want the others here.¡± Then, his hand found the back of his neck and he added, ¡°Uh¡­if you want to live here, I mean. Totally get it if you don¡¯t want to, what with my localized omnipotence. Well, omniscience, at least.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not all-powerful, but I am all-knowing.¡± ¡°I know what the two words mean, Elijah. What are you talking about?¡± she asked, annoyed. ¡°Well, I kind of know everything that happens here on the island. Everything.¡± ¡°Everything?¡± ¡°Everything.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­disturbing,¡± she said. ¡°Try living with it. Not that I¡¯m complaining, mind you, but if I didn¡¯t have a Quartz Mind, I¡¯d have already gone nuts, I¡¯m sure. But Opal kind of kept it in check too, so who knows.¡± ¡°It would be silly not to live here. For Miguel, at least ¨C the increased ethera density has to be beneificial,¡± she said. ¡°And I¡¯d love to know more about cultivation. I haven¡¯t stepped on that path yet, but I¡¯m beginning to think that I need to remedy that. I don¡¯t intend to fight, but I¡¯m certain that it will help me with smithing.¡± ¡°Oh ¨C yeah. Speaking of that, the town over there across the strait? They have a mine where they¡¯ve found some sort of special metal,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t remember what it was called, but Carisa ¨C she¡¯s the dwarf in charge ¨C seemed really excited about it. So did Ramik, come to think of it.¡± After that, Carmen seemed a lot more excited about visiting Ironshore. However, Elijah meant to keep to his plan, not least because he didn¡¯t want to barge in on Ramik before the goblin even had a chance to properly wake up. So, after extricating himself from Carmen¡¯s interrogation on magical ores, he retreated to the beach, where he restarted the training routine he followed each time he was home. And he was more than a little surprised to find that everything was quite a bit easier than it had ever been. To make things more productive, he found a couple of huge rocks to carry around while he swam, ran, and did various acrobatics. Still, it was only marginally taxing, at least until he went through his yoga routine in his lamellar ape form. That was still just as challenging as ever. About halfway through, he felt Colt approach. The slim swordsman asked if he wanted to spar a bit, and Elijah consented. That¡¯s when he discovered just how lacking his staff-fighting technique was. Even though he knew he should have had a host of advantages on his side ¨C regarding attributes, cultivation, and the general superiority of his chosen weapon ¨C he found himself being soundly beaten by the one-armed man. Of course, in a real fight, Elijah would have simply switched to one of his bestial forms and ripped Colt to shreds. But that wasn¡¯t the point, and it drove home the notion that he needed quite a lot of practice before he could ever consider himself competent with his staff. Fortunately, Colt was willing to give him plenty of pointers, so Elijah felt that he made decent progress, even though their practice session only lasted for an hour. After that, he resolved to continue training with the man for as long as he remained on the island. Part of that was simple necessity. He couldn¡¯t afford to be so vulnerable in his caster form, and his fight with Thor had hammered that into him. In that battle, Elijah could only retreat and hope to delay the man long enough to pounce on any weakness. Hopefully, with enough practice, he could fix that deficiency, because if Colt had proven anything, it was that attributes weren¡¯t everything. Technique counted for quite a lot. Elijah would have been lying to himself if he didn¡¯t admit that his competitive spirit was responsible for the rest of that resolution. He¡¯d never taken losing well. Usually, his response was to train harder, and this situation was no different. After that, the pair returned to the grove, where they found everyone else up and about. The spares ¨C as Elijah referred to Theresa and Byron ¨C remained in the treehouse, obviously afraid to offend him by venturing out of bounds. Elijah hadn¡¯t gone out of his way to disabuse them of that notion, largely because he wasn¡¯t comfortable with strangers wandering around his island. In any case, he returned to his own treehouse, took a blisteringly quick shower, then dressed in his now-clean clothes. He was certain to don his normal magical kit as well. That included his two rings ¨C the Ring of Aquatic Travel that would let him breathe underwater and the often-useless Ring of Anonymity that would give the ability to disguise his identity. Next came his Weighted Gloves, which he willed to disappear a moment after slipping them onto his hands. After that, he tied his Sash of the Whirlwind in place before wrapping the Silver Bracer of Rage around his forearm. Finally, he slipped the Ghoul-Hide Satchel on, settled the Cloak of the Iron Bear over his shoulders, fastened it in place with the silver toggles, then took up his Dragon-Touched Staff. Thus equipped, he descended from his treehouse and joined the others before leading them to his collection of rowboats. It was then that he remembered just how much he hated rowing across the strait. At first, he was tempted to simply shift into the Shape of the Sky and fly across, but that could very well cause issues with his neighbors. On top of that, it wouldn¡¯t really save any time because Camen and the others would still have to paddle across. So, it was with some regret that, after everyone was onboard, he shoved the rowboat into the water, leaped aboard, and began the arduous task of rowing everyone across. Of course, some of the others ¨C including the one-armed Colt ¨C offered to help, but he insisted he was fine with it. He even said he enjoyed it, for some indefinable reason. Regardless, he guided the small boat across the strait with ease, and only twenty minutes later, they arrived at the dock. Of course, suspicious glances from the residents of Ironshore soon found them. Elijah was used to that, though. So, he wasted no time in tying the boat off and helping everyone onshore. After that, they headed to Ramik¡¯s office. For his part, the dapper goblin mayor was happy to see Elijah, and he was eager to share that they¡¯d established trade relations with Norcastle on the other side of the mountain range. ¡°That¡¯s awesome,¡± Elijah said, forcing a smile. He hadn¡¯t even remembered that they were trying to liaise with the human city, but he was glad of any success Ironshore could find. He had long suspected that their fate would be tied to his, after all. As they rose, so too would he. Especially since humans were integrating into the town. ¡°There are only a few so far, but we expect more to come from Norcastle,¡± Ramik said proudly. ¡°We¡¯re growing, Elijah. In a few years, we may even turn a profit!¡± Soon after, Elijah had made arrangements for Theresa and Byron to stay in the city. Both had a few levels under their belts, and Ramik seemed thrilled by their Classes. Next, Elijah took Carmen to see the mine foreman, Carisa. The dwarven woman was even happier to meet Carmen ¨C after discovering she was a Blacksmith ¨C than Ramik had been about the pair of Scholars, and before long, the dwarf and his sister-in-law had forgotten he was even there. So, Elijah, Colt, and Miguel went to the Stuck Pig, where they enjoyed a nice meal. It was a bit early for lunch, but it only took a whiff of the succulent smells of roasting meat to get the other two onboard. After that, Elijah ran some errands ¨C buying some supplies for soapmaking, more cleansing powder, and rations ¨C before finally going back to fetch Carmen. She had somehow found an anvil, and was deep into a demonstration for Carissa. ¡°I¡¯ll return to the island once I¡¯m done,¡± Carmen said. ¡°You go ahead.¡± ¡°It¡¯s getting dark soon,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Then I¡¯ll stay the night here. I¡¯m sure Carissa can find a place for me to bunk,¡± Carmen stated dismissively. After the dwarven foreman eagerly agreed to that, the pair practically pushed Elijah out of the mining office. ¡°It wasn¡¯t so long ago that I was sneaking through town and murdering ritualists,¡± he mused. ¡°What was that, hoss?¡± asked Colt. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Somethin¡¯ ¡®bout murderin¡¯ ritualists?¡± ¡°Nothing. I¡¯m sure you misheard. Let¡¯s go,¡± Elijah said, already walking toward the dock. 4-3. Good for the Soul Normally, Elijah enjoyed the sound of birds chirping in the morning. However, after a night of heavy drinking until he blacked out, he found the cacophony to be the height of annoyance. For a long time, he just lay there, reveling in his own misery until he finally pushed himself upright and cast Soothe. It helped, though it took almost the entire runtime of the spell before his headache faded and his stomach stopped roiling. He almost regretted it. After all, he¡¯d consumed nearly five gallons of the potent liquor he¡¯d gotten back in Valosta. He should have spent the entire day paying for his excess. Without those consequences hanging over his head, Elijah knew how easy it would be to turn back to the bottle. He¡¯d never been one to try to drown his sorrows, but then again, he¡¯d never lost a sister, either. And now that he didn¡¯t have the dolmen¡¯s construction or getting everyone settled to distract him, he could give himself fully to the grief. And the anger. That was there, too ¨C inescapable and inexorable. Swinging his legs off the bed, Elijah bent over, resting his elbows on his knees as he stared at the floor. At least drinking the night away had given him some reprieve. But he knew he couldn¡¯t do that every time he didn¡¯t want to deal with his emotions. Not only was it unhealthy, but it was also more expensive than he could manage. Alcohol wasn¡¯t cheap in Ironshore, and his free supply was now gone. Perhaps he could learn to ferment his berries into wine. Shaking his head, Elijah ran his handd through his hair and let out a long sigh. Alyssa wouldn¡¯t have approved of any of it. She would have scolded him like she had when he¡¯d gone down a similar route right after their parents had died. She was right, too. Elijah was an adult, now. Not only did he have responsibilities, but he also had goals. More importantly, Miguel had begun to look up to him. It hadn¡¯t been long since they¡¯d been reunited, but the young man clearly craved examples to emulate. He had Colt, and that was great. From what Elijah could tell, Miguel couldn¡¯t have picked a better man to model himself after. But he¡¯d latched onto Elijah as well, which came with a responsibility to put his own self-pity aside and be there for the young man. They all had to do that. Carmen had managed it, and so could Elijah. With that in mind, he climbed to his feet with another sigh, but the next intake of breath nearly made him gag. Drinking himself into a stupor was messy work, and the smell of his strenuous labor hung off him like a cloak. That cemented Elijah¡¯s first order of business, and he wasted no more time before taking a shower. His homemade soap made a world of difference, picking up the slack where his spell had left off, and when he exited the bathroom, he felt like a new man. However, he couldn¡¯t escape the reality of the night¡¯s excesses, so he spent a little time gathering bottles and cleaning the bedding. Finally, a little more than half an hour later, he was ready to start his day. Like always when he was home, he spent the next couple of hours training, though he wasn¡¯t afforded the opportunity of another sparring session with Colt. That wasn¡¯t to say that the other man wasn¡¯t training on his own. He was, and Miguel was with him, but they were doing their own thing, practicing sword katas in the grove. So, Elijah focused on his own routine, and after the previous day¡¯s efforts, he managed to alter his regimen to push even his massive attributes to their limits. Around three hours after he¡¯d begun, he felt a rowboat enter his domain, and a second later, he recognized that Carmen had finally returned. He left her to her own devices for another hour, and in that time, she arrived back at the grove, where she watched her son¡¯s training. Elijah found her sitting on the roots of one of the trees that comprised the outer ring of his grove, and he joined her. The first few minutes, they simply watched, but then, Elijah asked, ¡°Did you have a productive introduction to Ironshore?¡± ¡°I did,¡± she said. ¡°You know they don¡¯t have a proper blacksmith? They have some people with classes specializing in processing ore ¨C making alloys and such ¨C but no one to work with the final product.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re going to fill that role?¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m building my own smithy,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°A proper forge, like I had back in Silverado.¡± Elijah winced. ¡°That name¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said with a wry smile. ¡°I didn¡¯t name it, though.¡± ¡°Do you know what happened to it?¡± She shook her head, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m sure Roman wouldn¡¯t have abandoned it. That Cold Iron is too useful. Though they don¡¯t have any smiths worth a damn, now. Not unless someone stepped up, and I know everyone who might¡¯ve. They¡¯re all average at best. Lazy, unmotivated, and untalented, at worst.¡± ¡°Ouch. Tell me how you really feel.¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know how it is in a city like that,¡± she responded. ¡°By and large, people aren¡¯t really built to excel. They do what they have to do to get what they want. Most of the time, that means survival with a few conveniences. Some distractions. And for a crafter in Easton, the bar is incredibly low. You can get pretty rich just making run-of-the-mill equipment. The incentive to push higher just isn¡¯t there, except for personal motivation. They think they¡¯re safe. They believe the danger has passed.¡± ¡°It hasn¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°There are more than towers out there.¡± He¡¯d read a couple of guides about the progression of dimensional rifts. The most common expression of those anomalies was spontaneous manifestation. A powerful Voxx would simply tear through the membrane between universes and enter one of the planets connected to the World Tree. In a lot of ways, these were the most dangerous, because they could be far more powerful than the Voxx attached to dimensional rifts and towers. Above those were primal realms, which, as Elijah understood them, were like towers on steroids. They were bigger, more complex, and far deadlier than towers. As a result, they could accommodate up to twenty people, as opposed to the comparatively smaller groups that could challenge a tower. But even more troubling, those primal realms could exert influence on the world, transforming the terrain to fit their theme. The guide he¡¯d read used a magmatic cave as an example, explaining that in such a scenario, the land surrounding the primal realm would take on the fiery traits of the realm. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. But there were bigger threats out there, too. Ancient realms. Battle worlds. Trial planets. The list went on and on. The fact was that they¡¯d joined an extremely dangerous multiverse, and even if the people of Easton had attained some semblance of safety, that would not remain the case for all eternity. Eventually, they would be threatened, and if they didn¡¯t have the strength to stand up to those threats, they would die. Elijah couldn¡¯t worry about that, though. Especially considering that he had yet to decide whether or not Easton needed to share its leader¡¯s fate. His instincts told him to simply remove the city from the map, but his sense of morality ¨C as sometimes skewed as it was ¨C wouldn¡¯t let him do so without significant consideration. ¡°I¡¯m going to be gone for a couple of weeks,¡± he said. ¡°Is it¡­is it time?¡± ¡°No,¡± he answered. ¡°I¡¯m not going to Easton yet. I¡¯ll be close, but I would rather not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯ve been working on my Soul cultivation for a while. If I don¡¯t finalize it now, I¡¯ll have to spend a little time each day keeping it fresh. I don¡¯t want to be distracted while I do what I need to do in Easton, so I need to push through to the next step.¡± ¡°Cultivation. Alyssa had started working on her Body before she passed.¡± ¡°Ask Nerthus about it if you want some help. He¡¯s the one who put me on the right path,¡± Elijah suggested. ¡°If he can¡¯t help, I could give it a shot. I¡¯ll be honest, though ¨C most of what I¡¯ve done probably isn¡¯t replicable.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll ask him. If not for me, then definitely for Miguel. He¡¯ll be getting his archetype soon, and I know how powerful cultivation can be.¡± ¡°Anything that gives him a better chance of survival,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°I¡¯ll help where I can, but¡­after¡­after I do what I need to do.¡± After that, Elijah left Carmen to her own devices as he prepared for what he intended. Once he¡¯d left his valuables behind in the treehouse, he set off across the island and, upon reaching the beach, he disrobed and waded into the cold water. Soon enough, he dove beneath the waves and was swimming toward the crevice that would lead him to the cultivation cave. He took his time, slowly making his way as he mentally prepared. He couldn¡¯t afford to let extraneous thoughts pollute his mind, so even after he reached the cave, he spent nearly three hours forcing himself into the right headspace. He did notice that the ethera density had risen to unprecedented levels, and the flora had responded in kind. It was a practical jungle of kelp and other sea plants, with plenty of small fish, water bugs, and other marine creatures having arrived to take advantage of the thick energy. If Elijah had to guess, the ethera in the cave was at least twice as dense as it was in the heart of his grove. The rest of the island was even thinner, though compared to the outside world, it was an ethereal paradise. For cultivation purposes, all of which required extremely dense ethera, there probably wasn¡¯t a better location in the world. Even if there were a few places that could rival it ¨C the world was huge now, after all ¨C Elijah¡¯s cave was entirely sustainable. He could use it over and over again, and from what he could tell, it would just keep growing stronger. A good thing, too, because the requirements to reach the next levels of cultivation would assuredly be quite steep. In any case, Elijah swam to the center of the cave, then focused on his task. He didn¡¯t start the process yet. Instead, he continued to meditate as he established the right frame of mind. Hours later, he felt he was ready. The first step was to swirl the ethera in his Core, which wasn¡¯t particularly difficult. He¡¯d already started cycling the energy in preparation for taking the next step in his Core cultivation, so he¡¯d learned the basics of moving ethera. Still, it took time and the focus of all but a few of his Mind facets. Elijah fell into a rhythm, pushing and pulling the ethera to create a whirlpool of energy that stretched his core to its limits. The pressure continued to build until, at last, he gave it an outlet, guiding the gathered ethera to a single point that marked the genesis of his first channel ¨C and the system of channels he intended to build. It was like an explosion going off inside his body, and Elijah had to harness every ounce of his willpower just to keep from gasping at the sudden spike of pain. Cultivation, it seemed, required significant pain tolerance. But that single explosion was only the beginning, and over the next few hours, he continued to swirl his ethera, then focus its pressure toward that same point. And slowly, the channel began to take shape, snaking out from his core and up his torso, forming the main trunk of the intended pattern. Not coincidentally, the pattern he¡¯d memorized looked very much like a tree. That pattern was a long way off, though. He¡¯d allocated two weeks for the process, but after excavating that single channel, he knew it would likely take even longer than his initial estimate. Still, once begun, stopping short of completion was not an option. It was possible to resume the process, but that would affect the result. And Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to take anything but the best. So, he leveraged his Mind as well as his considerable willpower ¨C and tolerance for pain ¨C to continue on. After the first trunk, he used the same method to carve the branches which would take ethera throughout his body. The first step of Soul cultivation, which he¡¯d taken what felt like a lifetime ago, had decentralized his pathways, but that was only preparation for the second step. One had to break the system down before it could be rebuilt, better and more efficient ¨C and more personally meaningful ¨C than ever. Gradually, Elijah forced the channels into being. The trunk was first, then the limbs. And finally, the branches. Later stages would build upon those efforts, creating a more elaborate system, but for now, the rudimentary design was enough. Throughout the process, Elijah was keenly aware of the cost of any potential mistakes. He wouldn¡¯t die. Nor would he lose the ability to use ethera. Rather, the system would simply be less efficient. And given that every subsequent step built off the initial foundation, getting it right was an absolute necessity. Days passed into more than a week, and eventually, he passed the bounds of his estimated time of completion. Yet, on he went, digging the channels through his body. At some point, he stopped processing the pain. He was aware of it, but it was distant. Unimportant. However, he grew ever more exhausted until manipulating his ethera felt like trying to stir molasses. Even so, he pushed on. And finally, after he¡¯d long since lost track of time, the task was done ¨C a fact that was verified by a flash of ethera that hardened the walls of each channel. That was expected, but in his state of intense fatigue, Elijah was still startled. Suddenly, all the ethera in his body dissipated. For a moment, he was drowning in nothingness. Then, the apertures in his Mind opened up, and ethera flooded back in. However, unlike before, it didn¡¯t simply diffuse into his body. Rather, it followed the well-defined channels he¡¯d spent so long carving. And it moved so quickly that Elijah had difficulty tracking it. The Soul wasn¡¯t some ephemeral thing. In a very real way, it connected everything about his ethereal system, and those channels concentrated the ethera, keeping it under pressure to force it to go much faster than ever before. Elijah let out a watery gasp that sent bubbles toward the cave¡¯s air pocket above. Then, he read the notification he¡¯d expected:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Novice Soul.
For a while, he just floated there, satisfied with his progress. Then, he looked down to see that the process had drained the cave of most of its ethera. Fortunately, the plant life hadn¡¯t died, as it had when he¡¯d cultivated his Body of Stone. That was a relief, at least. But more than anything, Elijah was glad to have taken one of the necessary steps before he could embark on his quest for revenge. 4-4. Doing Things Right The water inside the cave was deathly still, evidence that his actions had driven the sea life away. Likely, it was a defense mechanism meant to ensure that they didn¡¯t get caught in the dangerous flows of ethera. After all, when Elijah had cultivated his Body of Stone, it had killed everything in the cave. And while death was an inevitable part of life, he didn¡¯t relish the notion of killing anything unnecessarily. The trick was deciding when it was needed. Regardless, after floating in the cave for a few more minutes, Elijah turned his attention to his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 76
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 87
Dexterity 79
Constitution 87
Ethera 85
Regeneration 79
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Novice
His attributes hadn¡¯t changed since he¡¯d killed Thor, but he could feel the difference in his casting speed. The benefits were more than that, though. Initially, he¡¯d thought the different categories of cultivation coincided with specific benefits. Back then, it had seemed so clear. The stage of his Body affected the expression of his physical attributes. It didn¡¯t raise his Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, or Regeneration. Instead, it made each point count for more. Meanwhile, his Mind gave him the ability to regenerate ethera more quickly with each higher stage. And his Soul affected the application speed of that ethera. The Core was the odd one out, and in addition to affecting the potency of his spells, it also changed their flavor. For him, that meant his alternative shapes had taken on draconic characteristics, but for others, it would probably have quite a different effect. In any case, Elijah now saw how nothing was quite as separate as it had once seemed. In fact, it was all intertwined in a way that meant that a step forward in any category would mean an overall benefit. So, when he¡¯d reached the Novice Soul stage, it had also removed something of a bottleneck for his ability to regenerate ethera. Before, his Mind was capable of pulling in far more energy than he could process. Now, though, his Soul could finally keep up. The only piece lagging behind was his Core, and he¡¯d already begun to work on that. Thankfully, Elijah didn¡¯t have to repopulate the cave this time. However, he did spend most of a day pulsing Nature¡¯s Bounty, and to his surprise, the spell¡¯s effective radius had nearly doubled. He could only guess that was his Novice Soul¡¯s effect at play. Once he was assured that the cave¡¯s ethera density would recover, he swam free of the cave, breaking into the ocean sometime later. After that, it only took him a few minutes to reach the shore, where he quickly dressed in the clothes he¡¯d left there weeks before, then headed back to the grove. Carmen wasn¡¯t there, which he reasoned was due to her having gone to Ironshore. Idly, Elijah wondered how her forge was coming along, but he had no interest in crossing the strait to find out. She would explain everything when she returned. Neither Miguel nor Colt were on the island either, which felt a bit like old times. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t really acknowledged what a lonely existence he¡¯d led in the wake of washing ashore, but after having his family around for a few days, the lack was extremely noticeable. But at least Nerthus was there. Elijah busied himself by preparing for his coming trip, but there was only so much to do, so he eventually ended up wandering the grove and inspecting all the different flora Nerthus had planted. There were so many varieties, many of which Elijah had never seen before, that he quickly lost count. In addition, there were plenty of mushrooms, hundreds of species of insects and spiders, and quite a few rodents as well. Elijah even felt a few snakes who would inevitably feed on those rats. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. It was a thriving ecosystem, though a curated one that somehow conveyed a sense of wilderness as well. It was a unique place, and though Elijah often took it for granted, he couldn¡¯t have been more appreciative for the wondrous grove. Eventually, he found Nerthus tending to the coffee trees, which had grown even larger in his absence. ¡°These were only supposed to grow to around fifteen feet tall,¡± he remarked, resting his hand on one of the branches. It was incredibly healthy, with dense veins of ethera pulsing through it. ¡°They¡¯ve grown almost twice that height, and they¡¯re still not entirely mature.¡± ¡°I suspect you are correct,¡± said Nerthus. The spryggent had also grown a bit, too, reaching a height of around five feet. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he was taller than Elijah. ¡°The cherries will ripen soon.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯m very much looking forward to it,¡± Elijah said, already imagining his first cup of coffee. ¡°Which reminds me ¨C sugar.¡± ¡°What would you like to know about it?¡± asked the tree spirit. ¡°Well, I was wondering if I should try to grow sugar cane or sugar beets,¡± Elijah said. He knew that the process of making granulated sugar wasn¡¯t a complicated one. Generally, the idea was to simply squeeze the liquid out of either source, then heat the product until it crystallized. After that, a centrifuge was used to separate it. However, the problem was that sugar cane generally favored tropical environments, and sugar beets were far less efficient. More, the process was time consuming as well as wasteful. That¡¯s when he considered another alternative. ¡°What do you know about apiculture?¡± he asked. ¡°Bees?¡± ¡°For their honey,¡± Elijah said. He preferred sugar in his coffee, and lots of it. However, he knew for a fact that his island had plenty of bees. It wouldn¡¯t take much to create an apiary that could satisfy his sweet tooth. Then, he explained the idea behind it to Nerthus, finishing with, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the honey will have the same effects of other things grown here, right?¡± ¡°I do not know,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°I can start the project if you wish. Bees are an integral part of any grove.¡± ¡°I think that would be best,¡± Elijah said, already imagining enjoying a honey-sweetened cup of coffee. ¡°But for now¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Nerthus when Elijah trailed off. ¡°Oh. Nothing. Carmen and Miguel just got back to the island.¡± After that, the pair waited on the others to reach the grove, and when they did, Elijah approached. They exchanged greetings, after which he broke the news, ¡°I managed to get to the second stage of Soul cultivation. But now, I have a couple of errands I need to run that are going to take me at least a week.¡± ¡°You like to stay busy, don¡¯t you?¡± Carmen responded. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not usually. I mean, normally I take my time with everything. It took me almost two years before I even crossed the strait. But I can¡¯t do that now. You know why.¡± Miguel blurted, ¡°You¡¯re going to kill him.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Elijah said. The young man deserved to know the truth. Besides, it would help no one if Elijah shielded him. After everything Miguel had seen, it would be pointless, too. Brutal honesty was the better path. ¡°But not yet. I¡¯m going to Argos, first. I have a friend there who can identify my excess gear, and if it¡¯s not useful, he¡¯ll buy it. On top of that, I made a promise to another friend, and I intend to make good on it.¡± He¡¯d almost forgotten to enlist Biggle¡¯s help with Konstantinos and the sickness affecting his children, but now that he had the ability to teleport to the area, he could see no reason not to get it out of the way. After all, Elijah hadn¡¯t forgotten the price he¡¯d already paid for procrastination. Time was not promised, and every passing day meant that those children would run the risk of succumbing to their issues. ¡°Can I come?¡± asked Miguel. Elijah was about to refuse, but then he thought better of it. Argos was the only place he¡¯d found where he felt almost as comfortable as in his own grove. And if Miguel wanted to see it, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to turn him down. The only question was whether or not Carmen would allow it. ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem with that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What about you Carmen? You want to go?¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°No. I can¡¯t. I¡¯m still getting the smithy set up,¡± she said. Then, she revealed how much work had gone into the site. It seemed that Ironshore was just as eager as she was, and they¡¯d fully committed to putting her to work. On top of that, she explained that the other two ¨C Theresa and Byron ¨C had found work as well. The former was working with Biggle, while the latter had gone to work in the mines ¨C not as a miner, but rather, utilizing his Geologist skills in some way. Elijah didn¡¯t probe further; as interesting as he found the myriad classes, he was more concerned with accomplishing his goals. ¡°But Miggy can go.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± Elijah and Miguel both said at the same time. She narrowed her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not a helicopter mom,¡± she muttered. ¡°Miggy needs to see the world, and not just the parts that are going to try to kill him. Argos sounds like the sort of place he needs to visit.¡± ¡°Oh. That makes sense,¡± Elijah said, and it did. Miguel had been through a lot, and it was important for him to see that everything about their new world wasn¡¯t terrible. In fact, it was filled with miracles. ¡°You make it sound boring,¡± Miguel mumbled under his breath. Elijah heard it just fine, though. Elijah skated right past that, saying, ¡°Alright, then. We¡¯re going back to Ironshore to pick up a friend. Then, we¡¯ll go to Argos.¡± ¡°So soon?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Don¡¯t you need to prepare?¡± Elijah slapped his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, saying, ¡°Got everything I need right here.¡± Of course, Carmen had other ideas, reminding him that Miguel didn¡¯t have a magical satchel. So, after enduring her chastisement, Elijah set off for Ironshore while Miguel went to pack his clothes. He didn¡¯t have much, which was something that would soon need to change. Perhaps he could get Mari to make him a set of clothes, too. In any case, Elijah wasn¡¯t going to sit around and wait for Miguel, so he took on the Shape of the Sky and quickly launched himself high into the air. The trip across the strait was much quicker in that form, and in only around thirty seconds, he thudded down on the path just outside of Biggle¡¯s yard. He¡¯d just taken on his human form when the guards arrived, reminding Elijah that he hadn¡¯t told anyone in the town about his new form. So, he spent the next few minutes assuring the pair of guards that there was no monster around. Everyone in town knew about his ability to shapeshift, so it didn¡¯t take that long to convince the two dwarves. By that point, though, Biggle had taken notice of them. ¡°What in all the hells is going on out here? Elijah? What are you doing here?¡± the gnome demanded. ¡°Get packed. We¡¯re going on a trip.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll pay you. You¡¯re going to consult with another Alchemist about some sick kids,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I am?¡± Elijah clapped his hands. ¡°Chop chop, man. I want to be there before nightfall,¡± he said. ¡°Where are we going?¡± the bushy-eyebrowed gnome asked. ¡°And you mentioned pay? How much?¡± Elijah sighed. Then, he explained the situation, ending with, ¡°We¡¯ll be gone for no more than a week.¡± After that, they negotiated the price of the gnome¡¯s assistance. It was far more expensive than Elijah would have preferred, but he had no leverage in the situation. More, he wanted Biggle to just drop everything. So, a little extra was warranted, even if Elijah found it slightly irritating. Regardless, it only took Biggle thirty minutes to pack everything he would need, and then, the pair returned to Elijah¡¯s island. This time, they took one of the rowboats he¡¯d left behind, much to his chagrin. He¡¯d have much preferred to fly, but he didn¡¯t think Biggle would appreciate being carried around in his talons, and Elijah certainly wasn¡¯t going to let the gnome ride on his back. In any case, they made decent time crossing the strait, and Elijah beached the rowboat after only thirty minutes. When he noticed Biggle¡¯s hesitation to step one foot onto the shore, Elijah let out a sigh. ¡°Nothing is going to hurt you so long as you stay on the beach,¡± he said. Perhaps he¡¯d done too good of a job making the island seem dangerous. It was. Immensely so, when he was around. But the look on Biggle¡¯s face was one of abject terror. ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories.¡± ¡°And they¡¯ll tell you that everything was fine until people left the beach,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Remember that.¡± He wanted to trust the Alchemist, but his grove was a treasure trove to someone with that class. So, he had no intention of showing Biggle anything interesting. Besides, he¡¯d already established the rules for the people of Ironshore. They weren¡¯t permitted to travel inland. And Elijah wasn¡¯t going to change those rules for anyone but his most trusted friends. At present, that list only contained one name from Ironshore: Kurik. As it turned out, Elijah didn¡¯t have to worry about Biggle wandering around. The gnomish Alchemist remained in the boat while he went to fetch Miguel. When Elijah arrived in the grove, he found Carmen fussing over her son, drilling him about behaving himself while he was with ¡°Uncle Elijah.¡± She also grilled him about things he might¡¯ve left behind. Finally, Miguel hefted his backpack and said, ¡°I¡¯ve got everything I need, mom. Relax.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell me to relax, mijo,¡± she said. He held up his hands. ¡°Sorry, sorry. I didn¡¯t mean it. Well, I did. But you know what I mean.¡± Elijah cut in, saying, ¡°Well, it¡¯s about time to hit the ol¡¯ dusty trail¡­¡± Punctuating that, he grabbed Miguel by the upper arm and dragged him away, waving at Carmen as he pulled Miguel from the grove. ¡°We¡¯ll be back before you know it. Trust me!¡± Soon enough, they¡¯d progressed through the forest and reached the boat to find Biggle huddled in the corner. ¡°I heard something,¡± he said. Elijah knew good and well that there was nothing to hear, but he just nodded sagely. ¡°That¡¯s the guardian spirit. Extremely powerful. Eats gnomes for every meal.¡± ¡°R-really?¡± asked the terrified Alchemist. ¡°No. There¡¯s nothing there. Besides, we¡¯re leaving.¡± Then, Elijah cast Roots of the World Tree. It completed far more quickly than it ever had before, and in only around fifteen seconds, the gate of roots and vines had formed. A moment later, the interior of the arch shimmered, then solidified into a view of the Dragon Circle. ¡°After you,¡± Elijah said, gesturing to the gate. To his credit, Miguel didn¡¯t hesitate to stride through. Biggle was a lot more circumspect. Though, at Elijah¡¯s urging, he went through as well. Then, finally, Elijah did, too. 4-5. Responsibilities Beneath his palm, the first menhir Elijah had created pulsed with power. It was one of nine that comprised the dolmen that had unlocked so much potential, transforming Ancestral Circle into Roots of the World Tree, giving him the ability to teleport across the world, so long as he¡¯d created a circle to receive him. But it felt different than it had before. Stronger. The ethereal flows that coursed from one menhir to the next hadn¡¯t been nearly as obvious before, but now, Elijah felt that he could practically see the web of ethera connecting the entire thing. And in the center of that circle was a level of power Elijah hadn¡¯t seen anywhere but his grove. There was something beneath it, too. Something he couldn¡¯t even begin to understand. Had the flows grown stronger? Or was Elijah simply more attuned to the ethera, now that he¡¯d reached the second stage of Soul cultivation? He had no idea, though the guide he¡¯d bought had suggested that progression through the stages of cultivation often came with increased perception. At the time, he¡¯d thought that it only meant that his senses would grow sharper. That had been the case so far, with his visual acuity and hearing having progressed far past human norms, especially in his bestial shapes. Yet, he suspected that there was far more to it than that. Perhaps one day he would be able to sense ethera as clearly as he could see the leaves on a tree. There were Scholars who specialized in studying ethera, after all. So, such a thing was almost assuredly possible. He just wasn¡¯t certain if he would ever reach that point. ¡°This is incredible,¡± muttered Biggle, his mouth agape. ¡°How far have we come? Who built this? Is it some relic of the past? I¡¯ve heard about transportation networks before, but this is different than any stories I have heard.¡± ¡°Transportation networks?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Like the teleportation feature associated with the Branch?¡± Biggle shook his head. ¡°No. That is often far too expensive for planetary travel. Normally, there are mages who specialize in such things,¡± he said. ¡°On my home world, it is still too expensive for the likes of me, but for¡­ah¡­more prosperous people, using that network is no great burden. I have never seen such things, though. My village was too remote and far too poor to qualify for a hub.¡± ¡°So, what¡¯s the point of Branch teleportation?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Interplanetary transport,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°There are ships capable of moving between worlds and universes, but that is only viable on a large scale. Or if someone is obscenely wealthy. Or powerful, though the two normally come hand-in-hand, from my experience.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°This is so cool,¡± Miguel said, having circled the dolmen, running his hands over each heel stone. ¡°It¡¯s like the one outside of Seattle, right? Except it¡¯s different. The rocks are different, but the carvings are, too. Why?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the nature of inspiration,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°What is a Seattle?¡± asked Biggle, struggling to wrap his name around the city¡¯s name. Clearly, he had no idea what it was. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. C¡¯mon. We¡¯re on the clock here,¡± Elijah said. They had six days to accomplish his goals, and given that one of those goals involved trekking into a swamp, he knew they¡¯d be pushing it to get everything done in time. So, he led his small group away from the Dragon Circle and toward Argos. ¡°How far have we come?¡± Biggle asked, struggling to keep up. His short legs were definitely a weakness when it came to trekking across the wilderness. Though it had never seemed to bother Kurik, who was only a bit taller than the gnome. So, maybe it was more to say that the Alchemist¡¯s class didn¡¯t give him the tools to overcome the shortcomings of his race. ¡°About a thousand miles? Maybe. I didn¡¯t exactly keep track when I was traveling,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°It could be closer to two-thousand, but I don¡¯t think so. I ended up backtracking a lot in the more mountainous regions.¡± ¡°Impressive,¡± Biggle said, glancing back the way they¡¯d come. They were well away from the Dragon Circle, so he couldn¡¯t see the dolmen. Still, Elijah thought he knew what the Alchemist was thinking. So, he decided to cut any issues off at the pass, saying, ¡°You will not visit one of my circles without my permission or accompaniment.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me, Biggle. I¡¯ve been told to watch out for Alchemists. I¡¯ve heard that people like you can get a bit greedy. I¡¯m not saying you¡¯re one of those sorts of Alchemists, but I am cautioning you to leave my things alone.¡± ¡°I¡­see,¡± Biggle said. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I was only curious about how it all worked. I had no intention of doing whatever it is you¡¯re afraid I would do. I prefer to grow my own ingredients, not harvest them from nature.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said. After that, the trio trekked across the terrain until, at last, they reached Argos. It had fully recovered from the tempest that had swept through the area, which only highlighted how impressive construction classes were and how quickly they could complete a project. Eventually, they would reach a point where they could easily build structures to rival anything from the old world. And they would assuredly be equipped with all the modern amenities. It was only a matter of time. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. And survival. In any case, the two guards on duty recognized Elijah, so after only a few moments¡¯ worth of polite conversation, they waved him through. Elijah found it notable that they¡¯d barely even looked at Biggle, indicating that they had encountered non-humans before. Soon enough, he found himself walking into Atticus¡¯ shop. ¡°Ah, good to see you, friend!¡± the tall, hawk-nosed merchant said. ¡°I was just thinking of you. And you brought guests! Any friend of Elijah¡¯s is a friend of Atticus. I will even give you a discount. Two percent off any weapon in my shop. Quality guaranteed, of course!¡± Elijah grinned at his friend. Even with his morose tendencies of late, he couldn¡¯t help but smile when seeing Atticus. The man was so full of joy for life that it became infectious. ¡°I have some things I¡¯d like appraised. And I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll want to sell some, too.¡± With that, Atticus led them into the back, where they stated the process of identifying each item. The first was the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, which turned out to feature a fifteen-percent weight reduction and a trait called Preservation, which, true to the name, kept any perishable goods fresh for twice the duration as normal. ¡°A great item,¡± Atticus said. ¡°I would offer to purchase it, but it appears you have grown quite attached to it. A good call, my friend. One can never carry enough goods.¡± Next came the Weighted Gloves, which, according to Atticus, would increase his unarmed damage by twenty percent. Elijah had expected something like that, but he was impressed with the degree to which it would augment his attacks. The canteen was, predictably, called an Everlasting Canteen, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, it hadn¡¯t originated with a tower or Rift. Instead, Atticus informed him that it had a creator¡¯s name attached to it: Rajesh Bedi. There was no more information, though Elijah was definitely interested in finding the maker. After all, with something like that, Seattle¡¯s water supply issues could be solved much more easily. The spear Thor had used was called Ancestor¡¯s Spear, and it had an ability that allowed the wielder to recall it once thrown. Elijah had seen that in action during his fight with the Viking, so he knew precisely how useful such an ability would be. However, he still had no intention of using it himself; he¡¯d grown accustomed to his staves, and he had no desire to change what had worked so far. Neither had Miguel expressed any interested in the weapon ¨C he seemed to prefer swords, from what Elijah could tell ¨C so he intended to sell it to Atticus. Fortunately, the merchant was willing to pay good coins for the item, probably because Argos had a culture of spear use. ¡°I blame Delilah. All the young men want to impress her with their spear work. Most of the young women, too,¡± Atticus said with a shake of his head. ¡°Too bad most are too weak to use this monster. Still, I know of a few strong fighters who would pay a premium for a High-Simple-Grade weapon with such a useful ability.¡± After that, they set it aside until they got to the negotiation part. There were still a few items left to go, and Elijah preferred to sell everything together. There were only two other items for which Elijah had high hopes, and he wanted to save the most interesting one for last. So, he ended up having quite a few daggers and a few Crude-Grade swords appraised ¨C none of which were nice enough to pass on to Miguel, considering that his mother could make him better weapons when he came of age ¨C before finally arriving at the penultimate item ¨C the fanged necklace he¡¯d taken from Thor. ¡°Interesting,¡± Atticus said. ¡°It¡¯s called a Wolf Totem. I¡¯m guessing that¡¯s the origin of the teeth, though it¡¯s clearly a system reward.¡± ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°Plus three to all attributes,¡± the merchant answered. ¡°Powerful. But it¡¯s a Complex-Grade item, so that¡¯s to be expected. The trait attached to it is even more interesting, though. Adds fifteen percent duration to all afflictions.¡± ¡°Oh. Nice,¡± Elijah said. That was as good as a fifteen percent increase to the damage of Swarm, Contagion, and Venom Strike, which meant he was definitely going to wear it. It also explained why the hunter¡¯s debuff had lasted so long. ¡°That should help.¡± ¡°Very good indeed, my friend!¡± ¡°Alright. I only have one last item to check,¡± Elijah said, handing over his staff. He¡¯d yet to bond it, largely because, on the off chance that it was unsuitable, binding it to himself would render it worthless. Still, he thought that unlikely, given the name. ¡°Dragon-Touched Staff,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Adds fifteen points to Strength and Dexterity, with five to Constitution. It also has a trait that increases the power of all enhancements by a flat five points. That¡­that is unheard of. Do you know how valuable this is?¡± ¡°Priceless,¡± Elijah said. ¡°A less honest merchant would steal this from you,¡± Atticus said, handing it back to Elijah without hesitation. ¡°But they don¡¯t call me Honest Atticus for nothing.¡± ¡°No one calls you that.¡± ¡°They might.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard it.¡± ¡°Neither have I, but I assume that¡¯s only because they don¡¯t want to stroke my ego. Everyone knows how humble I am,¡± Atticus said without a hint of humor. ¡°Right. You¡¯re the humblest man I know.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I keep telling people!¡± Elijah just smiled wryly and shook his head. ¡°Alright ¨C so how much for the pile?¡± he asked. The collection of items included the nearly worthless ¨C to Elijah, at least ¨C weapons, as well as the Ancestor¡¯s Spear. Elijah also threw in Thor¡¯s armor, though Atticus confirmed that even the best piece was only Low-Crude-Grade, which meant that the set was almost useless for anything but disassembling it for parts. Still, Elijah wanted it out of his satchel, so he insisted that Atticus include it. The bickering was a long and arduous, though good-natured, process. Every now and then, Miguel would break in to ask a question about something he¡¯d found in Atticus¡¯ storeroom, but the merchant didn¡¯t mind it at all. Eventually, they came to an agreement, with the entire collection bringing Elijah almost fifty silver coins. Once they exchanged the sum ¨C via folios, which was a new addition on Atticus¡¯ part ¨C Elijah said, ¡°Oh. I meant to tell you this earlier. My sister-in-law is a Blacksmith, and she¡¯s going to be making some new equipment sometime soon. She¡¯s getting her forge set up right now, but I expect her to get to work within a few weeks. I might bring some of her products around, once she¡¯s up and running.¡± ¡°Ah¡­I don¡¯t know, my friend. This is not a place for amateur work¡­¡± ¡°She¡¯s on the power rankings,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And I think she¡¯s capable of creating Complex items under the right circumstances.¡± ¡°Which is why someone of her stature, skill, and no doubt, beauty will be more than welcome to display her wares in my shop,¡± the merchant said, switching gears without missing a beat. Though Miguel mouthed the word ¡°gross¡± when Atticus mentioned Carmen¡¯s beauty. ¡°Thought that might interest you,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°Just wanted to let you know so you¡¯ll have enough money to make some purchases. Wouldn¡¯t want you to miss out.¡± After that, Atticus told Elijah about Thor¡¯s visit to Argos, which elicited quite a lot of genuine laughter from everyone in the storeroom. But in the end, it was soon time for them to get going. Not only did Elijah want to introduce Miguel to the glories of Greek food, but he also wanted to visit Isaak ¨C and maybe Delilah, if she was in town ¨C before turning in for the night. Because in the morning, they would set off for the swamp, where they would hopefully save some children. 4-6. A Lot to Learn After visiting Isaac¡¯s house and catching up over a cup of tea ¨C during which Artemis jumped in Miguel¡¯s lap, where she remained the entire time ¨C they went to dinner, where they were served spanakopita. Everyone enjoyed it at least as much as Elijah, which was gratifying. After that, they headed to the inn, where they rented a pair of rooms ¨C one to be shared by Elijah and Miguel, and another for Biggle ¨C from Agatha, who seemed delighted to see Elijah. ¡°Everyone seems to like you here,¡± Biggle remarked as they climbed the stairs. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t have any issues with that, despite his size. ¡°Surprising.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t give off the most approachable aura,¡± the gnomish Alchemist stated. ¡°Most people in Ironshore are terrified of you, and for good reason.¡± ¡°That¡¯s only because I killed a few people.¡± ¡°As I said ¨C a good reason,¡± the gnome stated. ¡°In any case, I look forward to meeting this other Alchemist. I have had few opportunities to discuss my craft with someone with the same class, though that Chemist has all sorts of delightful ideas. I look forward to working with her as well. You humans are full of surprises.¡± After that, the group separated, and once Miguel was settled and asleep, Elijah silently left the room and headed back to Atticus¡¯ shop. For his part, the weapons dealer seemed surprised to see Elijah. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my friend. I am not up for celebrations tonight,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not about that. I wanted to ask for you to keep an eye out for a couple of things,¡± Elijah said. Then, he told Atticus what he was looking for. Afterwards, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ll find what I want, but I¡¯m throwing out a pretty wide net. Hopefully, someone will find something suitable.¡± ¡°Indeed. I¡¯ll keep watch for anything that might work, my friend.¡± Then, seeing that Atticus was in no mood to entertain guests, Elijah said his goodbyes and headed back to the inn. He¡¯d already found that Delilah was once again out of town ¨C this time, running the local tower with her team ¨C so he had nowhere else he wanted to visit. Except maybe the tavern, though he resisted that urge. He had no wish to become an alcoholic, after all, so even if it might¡¯ve felt temporarily good to once again drown his sorrows in an ocean of alcohol, he knew it was a bad idea. Still, it was difficult. After returning to the inn, he slept poorly, and when he rose the next morning, he felt even more anxious to get on with the task at hand. He¡¯d spent most of the night lying awake and thinking about his sister ¨C or more accurately, her death ¨C which did not put him in the best frame of mind. If the lives of children weren¡¯t at stake, he might¡¯ve abandoned everything else and flown off to Easton at that very moment. But he¡¯d promised Konstantinos that he would help, so help, he would. Elijah rose before dawn, and he was happy to see that Miguel did the same, though he did grumble a little about how early it was. Soon enough, the pair had taken care of morning necessities, and even as the sun had begun to rise, they went to fetch Biggle. The gnome was clearly not an early riser by habit, but when he saw Elijah¡¯s no-nonsense expression, he hurried to ready himself for the day¡¯s travel. Only a few minutes later, he joined Elijah and Miguel as they ate a breakfast of fat sausages and fluffy eggs as prepared by Agatha. The meal was just as amazing as always, and all three ate with the gusto of starving men. Miguel put away enough for three people, reminding Elijah what it was like to have once been that age. Back then, he¡¯d eaten his parents out of house and home, and he hadn¡¯t slowed down until after college. That was the joy of a youthful metabolism. Though, that prompted the realization that Elijah probably didn¡¯t have to worry too much about overconsumption anymore. Even if he wasn¡¯t so active, he suspected that it would take a truly impressive degree of sloth for his body to degrade on its own. And besides ¨C he was only thirty-one years old. With his cultivation and attributes, that meant that he was less than ten percent into his expected life span. In any event, they finished their meal and, after Elijah paid, they set off, leaving Argos behind and heading in the direction of the swamp. In the past, Elijah had taken a roundabout path, only turning south when he hit the ravine that cut across the terrain. However, he expected that the trip would be much faster this time around, largely because they intended to travel directly toward the swamp. The issue with that assumption soon became apparent, though. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault you¡¯re giants!¡± Biggle complained, pumping his legs to keep up. ¡°Even with my pep-it-up potion, I can¡¯t ¨C wait, what are you doing? Stop that! Stop that this instant!¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Elijah said, having placed Biggle on his shoulders like a toddler. He could remember doing the same for his nephew when Miguel was only a couple of years old. Elijah had come home for the holidays, and they¡¯d gone to visit the local botanical gardens that had been decorated with colorful Christmas lights. But predictably, the much younger Miguel had been incapable of keeping up, so Elijah had put the boy on his shoulders, where he¡¯d remained for most of the outing. ¡°I¡¯m not going to slow down just to accommodate you. This is faster.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also humiliating!¡± ¡°There¡¯s no one out here to judge you,¡± Elijah reminded him. ¡°I mean, we could fly, I guess. But I¡¯m thinking you might enjoy that even less.¡± That shut the gnome up. He didn¡¯t want to travel in the talons of Elijah¡¯s Shape of the Sky, after all. For his part, Elijah would have preferred to avoid that, too. As convenient as flight was, he wasn¡¯t quite ready to transport passengers any meaningful distance. For one, landing was still an issue that had yet to be resolved. He could manage it, but he knew that if he didn¡¯t possess superhuman durability, he¡¯d have already broken his legs many times over. It would be markedly worse if he was carrying someone. So, they strode through the wilderness, with Biggle on his shoulders. As they did, Elijah held a conversation with his nephew, and eventually, the topic turned to the boy¡¯s future. ¡°So, have you figured out what you want to do?¡± he asked. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Miguel shook his head. ¡°No. I don¡¯t even know what archetypes I¡¯ll be offered. I just don¡¯t want to be a Scholar?¡± he said. Surprised, Biggle asked, ¡°Why ever not? Scholars lead to some incredibly valuable classes!¡± Miguel shrugged. ¡°But they seem so useless.¡± ¡°That¡¯s untrue,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°Every archetype has the potential for immortality. They all perform valuable and necessary functions as well. Warriors fight. Rangers scout. Scholars learn. Without Merchants, fair trade would be impossible. Without Administrators, our cities would not function. There is no useless archetype. Only useless people.¡± ¡°How many archetypes are there?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°Twelve.¡± ¡°So many?¡± asked Elijah. He¡¯d only encountered a fraction of that number. After that, Biggle listed the archetypes. Warrior, Ranger, Druid, Sorcerer, and Healer, Elijah already knew. However, there were still quite a few others. Scholars, for one. Tradesmen, who became various crafters. Merchants like Atticus. Entertainers, many of which had powerful abilities to increase the power of those who enjoyed their performances. Then there were Administrators, Tacticians, and Explorers, as well. ¡°And from there, we have innumerable classes. Most are hybrids, taking bits from archetypes other than the root,¡± Biggle explained. ¡°My point is that there are many choices, and while the archetype is incredibly important, choosing the wrong option is something that can be rectified through progression. The class choice is one opportunity, but then there are specializations at level one-hundred. After that, each time a person enters a new realm of power, they have the opportunity to evolve their class. Most will simply take a more powerful version of their own. However, there are those who choose to correct past mistakes by slowly shifting their path to one they deem more appropriate. It is a fascinating subject, really.¡± ¡°How do you know all this?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°Ah ¨C my mother was a Scholar. She studied classes and advised the local lord on how to guide his children in the proper direction,¡± he admitted. ¡°He didn¡¯t like it when his firstborn son was only offered non-combat archetypes, though. So, we were forced to flee.¡± ¡°Everyone in Ironshore seems to have a similar story. Not the specifics. Just that they all seem to be running from something. It was the same with the elves.¡± ¡°Elves?¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. There¡¯s a city of elves living in a desert a little ways away. They sounded more like pioneers, though. Like, they came here for opportunity that didn¡¯t exist on their world.¡± ¡°I see. That is usually the case with people who come to a newly touched world. It is the frontier, without much in the way of safety. However, there is opportunity to forge your own path, which attracts a certain type of person,¡± Biggle explained. ¡°Though I would be willing to wager that there are a couple of advanced settlements here. They may be talented junior members of a sect meant to fuel their progression in an unsettled world. Or they could represent various other interests. Those are the ones you need to watch out for. They¡¯ll be well-equipped, knowledgeable, and driven. In a world like this, that can be a dangerous combination.¡± Elijah nodded, continuing on with his conversation with Miguel. The young man had no idea what direction his development might take, but Elijah didn¡¯t blame him for that. After all, he was still a child. It would have been odd if he¡¯d known those sorts of things with any certainty, and the fact that he was still unsure meant that he was at least giving it some thought, rather than simply going for whatever sounded coolest. Eventually, almost two days later, they reached the swamp, after which Elijah was forced to transform into a lamellar ape so that his two companions could climb atop his shoulders and avoid the many dangers of walking through the murky water. For his part, Elijah seemed to avoid the worst of it, just as he had during his first trip through the swamp. Still, because of where they¡¯d entered, it took an extra day for them to reach Konstantinos¡¯ compound, and when they did, they were greeted by Bessie, the guardian alligator. Elijah responded to her charge by tossing her the last hunk of desert snake he still had in his satchel. She gobbled it up, returning to her position beneath the compound¡¯s largest building. ¡°¡¯lo there!¡± yelled Konstantinos from the deck. He was wearing a pair of overalls and nothing else, which put his incredibly skinny torso on full display. He didn¡¯t seem self-conscious about it, though. ¡°Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d be back!¡± Elijah climbed onto the floating dock, and after Miguel and Biggle descended from his shoulders, he took on his human form. Then, he began the arduous process of cleaning the muck from his lower body while plucking any pesky leeches free. Fortunately, he¡¯d only picked up a few small ones, and it only took a quick pulse of Soothe to get rid of the afflictions they¡¯d carried. Once he was done, he shook Konstantinos¡¯ hand, saying, ¡°I said I had a friend who might be able to help.¡± He nodded at Biggle, adding, ¡°This is that friend. He¡¯s an Alchemist, just like you, but he might have some knowledge you don¡¯t.¡± After that, Biggle and Konstantinos started a conversation that lost Elijah after only a few moments. Luckily, they were quickly rescued by Marcy, who escorted them inside ¨C after Elijah showered the rest of the muck off ¨C where she served them mugs of tea. Then, she told the story of how a giant man had come by only a couple of months before. ¡°He stormed up, half dead from all the leeches,¡± Marcy explained. ¡°Said he was lookin¡¯ for a Druid or some such. Konnie sent him traipsing off into the swamp, but his soft heart got the better of him, so he gave ¡®im some potions. I wouldn¡¯t¡¯ve done that. But I¡¯m not as nice as Konnie.¡± ¡°Where are the kids?¡± Elijah asked, looking around. ¡°In the other buildin¡¯,¡± she said. ¡°Bryce¡¯s teachin¡¯ ¡®em their numbers and such. You alright in here by yourselves? I got dinner to tend to.¡± Elijah said that he was, while Miguel was still entranced by his surroundings. Despite everything he¡¯d been through, he¡¯d lived a pretty sheltered, suburban life before the world had been transformed. As such, he had never been exposed to much in the way of other cultures. Sure, he¡¯d visited some of Carmen¡¯s family, though only a couple of times because they didn¡¯t precisely approve of her sexuality. Elijah didn¡¯t know the whole story, but he did know that the resulting falling out was why she¡¯d left southern California for Washington state. Either way, Miguel certainly had never seen anything like the compound. It was cozy in a way that only a true home could be, which clearly reminded the young man of everything he¡¯d lost. So, Elijah decided to distract him. ¡°So, I¡¯ve been thinking,¡± he said. ¡°About what?¡± ¡°About your future. I know you¡¯ve been working with Colt,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And he speaks highly of your skills. But I think it would be a shame if you let yourself be pigeonholed like that. You need more than just the ability to swing a sword.¡± ¡°I can use a spear, too. And an axe, but I¡¯m not that good yet. I¡¯m a good shot with a bow, too.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not talking about weapons¡¯ training. I want you to train with a friend of mine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I haven¡¯t spoken to him about it, but I think I know him well enough to know what he¡¯ll say.¡± ¡°What kind of friend? And training in what?¡± ¡°A dwarven friend. He¡¯s a scout for Ironshore, and he¡¯s probably the highest-level fighter they have.¡± ¡°Higher than you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not part of Ironshore. So, no. Not even close.¡± ¡°What if I want to train with you instead?¡± Elijah sighed, leaning back into the couch. It was upholstered in a truly garish fabric, but it was extremely soft and comfortable. ¡°You don¡¯t want to train with me,¡± he said with a sigh. ¡°Most of what I know isn¡¯t really transferable. If you end up with the Druid archetype, I won¡¯t hesitate to teach you. But I hope you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Miguel asked, a little hurt. ¡°Because it¡¯s not a strong archetype. Not right off, at least. It¡¯s a blend of Scholar, Healer, and Sorcerer. So, I can do a lot of things, but until I got my class, I couldn¡¯t do any of them well. Even now, strength to strength, I can¡¯t stand against someone with a more focused class. My cultivation helps, and I intend to put you on the right path with that. But being a Druid isn¡¯t about learning fancy techniques or doing sword katas. It¡¯s about connection. Instinct. It¡¯s a mindset more than an archetype. So, unless you decided to follow me down this road, there¡¯s nothing I can teach you better than someone like Kurik or Colt. Not about fighting, at least.¡± That wasn¡¯t what Miguel wanted to hear, and as a result, he went quiet. Elijah tried to reengage, but after a few one-word answers, he gave up. Clearly, he had a lot to learn about dealing with kids. 4-7. A Natural Balance ¡°These children are remarkable,¡± said Biggle. ¡°I wish I had access to a Physician to understand precisely what¡¯s happening here.¡± The kids ¨C who were all lined up in front of the gnome ¨C were mostly taller than Biggle, but they all beamed at the apparent compliment. One even threw his hands into the air in celebration. However, Elijah knew that none of them ¨C save for Bryce, perhaps ¨C had any clue what he was talking about. ¡°What¡¯s the difference between a Healer and a Physician?¡± asked Bryce, who looked uncomfortable at the scrutiny she¡¯d just endured. Biggle didn¡¯t have much use for boundaries, so after feeding each of the children some concoction that he claimed would make things clearer for him, he¡¯d leaned in close enough that his overlarge nose touched her cheek. ¡°I thought they were the same thing.¡± ¡°Ah ¨C that¡¯s a common mistake. A Physician is a Scholar class. While a Healer specializes in fixing problems, a Physician¡¯s main purpose is diagnosis. They endeavor to understand, rather than heal. Though many of them possess some ability in the latter,¡± Biggle said. ¡°Tell me, child ¨C you weren¡¯t with these other children in the beginning, were you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­no. I was adopted before the apocalypse.¡± ¡°Apocalypse?¡± Biggle asked, clearly confused. Then, his eyes widened in understanding. ¡°Ah. I can see why you humans would see the touch of the World Tree in such a light. But this is no apocalypse. It is an opportunity. Think of it like the great forest moths. They begin life as the spotted caterpillar, no larger than you are now, but then they undergo a transformation that lets them take to the skies. They grow so large that they can block the smallsun.¡± ¡°A caterpillar as big as me?¡± she gasped. ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have those here?¡± asked Biggle. ¡°No, we don¡¯t,¡± Elijah said, smiling slightly. ¡°Our caterpillars are usually smaller than a finger.¡± ¡°What? That makes no sense. How would the moth grow so large, then?¡± ¡°Moths are tiny,¡± Bryce said. ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Miguel pointed out, staring at the girl. If she¡¯d noticed the intensity of his gaze, she might¡¯ve been a bit uncomfortable. Thankfully, she hadn¡¯t recognized the young man¡¯s clear infatuation. In retrospect, it should have been predictable. They weren¡¯t far off in age, and Miguel clearly hadn¡¯t encountered many girls over the past couple of years. ¡°Moths are really small.¡± Elijah nearly chuckled at Miguel¡¯s pointless contribution to the conversation, but instead, kept his mouth shut as Biggle said, ¡°That¡­is troubling.¡± He shook his head. ¡°But never mind your oddly sized moths. My point is that you didn¡¯t endure the same transformation that blessed these children. When they come of age ¨C provided they survive that long ¨C they will be well on their way to the first stage of body cultivation. I have never seen something so remarkable.¡± ¡°What does it mean?¡± asked Konstantinos. ¡°Two things,¡± Biggle said, holding up two tiny fingers. ¡°First, you saved these children¡¯s lives. That concoction you¡¯ve been feeding them is primitive but inspired. That¡¯s the difference between a passable Tradesman and an exceptional one. Creativity. It¡¯s what separates us from those less talented.¡± ¡°Humility, too,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Bah. Humility. What use is it? If you¡¯re good, let the world know!¡± Biggle insisted, emphatically thrusting his finger toward the ceiling. Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°What¡¯s the other thing?¡± ¡°The second is that I know how to help them,¡± Biggle stated, puffing out his chest. He addressed Konstantinos, who still wore a pair of denim overalls with no shirt. Otherwise, he had on a straw hat, with what looked like a piece of swamp grass sticking out from between his lips. ¡°It¡¯s a pill meant to do the same thing your little potions have done. The difference is that it¡¯ll last a lot longer.¡± ¡°How much longer?¡± asked the other Alchemist. ¡°Well, you¡¯re getting a day or two out of your version, right?¡± ¡°They get dosed every day,¡± Konstantinos answered. ¡°And it¡¯s yucky!¡± one of the children shouted. Another mimed like she was vomiting, while yet another pointed at his open mouth while he wore a grimace. ¡°This pill will last at least a month. Maybe two. And it uses ingredients that grow all over the place. Not just this damnable swamp,¡± Biggle said, punctuating that statement by slapping his hand against his neck, killing a mundane mosquito. There were much bigger ones out in the swamp. ¡°That¡¯s if you don¡¯t want me to cure them.¡± ¡°Course we want you to cure ¡®em,¡± said Marcy. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t we?¡± ¡°It¡¯s complicated, but the gist of it is that these kids¡¯ bodies are being tempered, much like what¡¯s required for body cultivation,¡± Biggle said. ¡°It¡¯s a dangerous practice, but it¡¯s not entirely unheard of. The problem is that if the mix is wrong ¨C even by a little bit ¨C it¡¯ll kill the subjects.¡± ¡°Are they in danger?¡± ¡°Left untreated? Absolutely. They would die within a few days,¡± Biggle said. ¡°But because of your¡­husband¡¯s efforts, calamity has become an advantage. The conditions in the swamp struck the perfect balance, naturally creating a situation that would require an Alchemist far more skilled than me to engineer. But I can cure them. I can turn them back to normal. I know a potion that would do the trick. However, that would squander the opportunity in front of them. A Body of Wood? Before they even begin their path of progression? It would be an immense advantage, and one that would set them up for success.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°But we¡¯d have to leave the poison,¡± guessed Konstantinos. ¡°And if they miss one dose¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous,¡± said Marcy. Konstantinos was obviously less convinced. Perhaps he knew how much of an advantage Body cultivation could prove to be. Or maybe he simply took Biggle at his word. Either way, the decision was far more complicated than it might seem. Sure, there was danger. But if that danger was properly managed, the potential rewards could be incredible. After that, Konstantinos and Marcy sent the children away while they retreated into a back room to discuss the issue. For his part, Elijah hoped they would take the path Biggle described, but he could understand their hesitation. When a child¡¯s life hung in the balance, risks were difficult to embrace, even if logic dictated that one should do so. In the end, they did not reach a decision before Elijah, Biggle, and Miguel ¨C much to the last one¡¯s regret ¨C left. However, Biggle did give Konstantinos the recipe for the pill meant to manage the poison as well as the concoction that would cure them. That gave them the tools to make whatever choice they felt most comfortable with. Meanwhile, Miguel had mustered his courage and asked Bryce to visit him in his magical grove. The girl clearly didn¡¯t believe the following description, but she half-heartedly promised that she would try to visit if she ever got the chance. That put Miguel on cloud nine, even though, to Elijah, it seemed pretty obvious that she was just being polite. He had no intention of telling the young man, though. In any case, both Miguel and Biggle were in great moods as they returned the way they¡¯d come. What made it even better was the fact that Konstantinos consented to usher them to the edge of the swamp on one of his boats. So, Elijah didn¡¯t even need to get his scales wet. The trip back to Argos was equally uneventful, save for the fact that Elijah took the two by the ravine, where they saw one of the massive spiders ambush another bird. That delighted Miguel, but Biggle found it horrifying, prompting a discussion on how the gnomish Alchemist could find giant moths so normal, while an enormous spider terrified him. Elijah barely listened as the pair bickered. His obligations were nearly satisfied, which meant that he was on the verge of setting out for Easton. When he got there, he would exact his revenge. At present, the only question was whether or not he intended to hold the whole city accountable for his sister¡¯s death ¨C and Carmen¡¯s as well as Miguel¡¯s exile ¨C or if he would only take vengeance on Roman. He had yet to decide, but Elijah knew the time would come when the choice was forced upon him, one way or another. In any case, they arrived in Argos a couple of days later, which meant that they had a free day. So, Elijah allowed Miguel to wander the town alone while he stopped by Atticus¡¯ shop to see if the merchant had had any luck filling his requests. ¡°No luck, my friend. I have some items that would fit,¡± Atticus answered with a shake of his head. ¡°But they¡¯re nothing special. I feel certain that I will have a chance to obtain the equipment you require in a month or so. There are a few scheduled tower runs upcoming, which usually results in an influx of inventory. We have also been getting more traders of late.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yes. From a wide variety of places, too. I¡¯m told there is a tribe of nomadic hunters who reside on the plains past the swamp to the south. Some of my products come from their forays into that region¡¯s towers. We¡¯ve seen quite a few traveling merchants as well,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°I only wish Argos had more dedicated crafters. We¡¯ve a few decent Leatherworkers, Builders, and quite a lot of Farmers. No Blacksmiths or Tailors, though.¡± ¡°Once Carmen gets settled, hopefully we can figure something out,¡± Elijah said. ¡°If she¡¯s as good as you say, we will all get very rich!¡± he exclaimed. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m told she¡¯s good, but I¡¯ve never seen her products,¡± he said honestly. ¡°In any case, I¡¯ll be heading back home tomorrow, but I¡¯ll try to stop by here sometime soon.¡± With that, Elijah returned to his hotel room, where he got started on the next phase of his cultivation. He knew the basics of how to take the next step with his Core, but he¡¯d only spent a little time practicing the technique. It required him to take in as much ethera as he could ¨C enough to make him feel like he was going to burst ¨C then swirl it around before expelling it as slowly as possible. To Elijah, it was a little like taking a long, deep breath, then holding it in, though with the added difficulty of doing some calisthenics along the way. It wasn¡¯t a perfect analogy, but it described the process well enough for him. Regardless, he quickly found the first issue. The ethera density in Argos was severely lacking, and as a result, it took almost ten minutes for his Core to reach complete saturation. Then, another ten to push it to its uncomfortable limit. But even then, it felt hollow. Like he should have been filling a balloon with water, but all he had was air. It was the best he could do, though, and he spent the next half hour swirling the ethera around until he could hold it no longer. Then, he let it out. Almost an hour, and he¡¯d done very little good. He couldn¡¯t even notice any difference, even though he knew it should have expanded ever so slightly. To him, the activity seemed a lot like working out. It was meant to be a long process, and he wouldn¡¯t notice improvement for a while. He kept going, though, repeating the cycle a few more times before he started to lose focus. He probably would have continued, but Miguel¡¯s return was distracting enough to throw a wrench into those plans. So, after his nephew excitedly described his foray into Argos, Elijah broached the subject they¡¯d begun to discuss on the way to the swamp. ¡°Would you like to train with Kurik? If so, I can set it up when we get back,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Don¡¯t feel obligated to agree, though. If you have no interest in learning the skills he can teach, then it would just be a waste of time.¡± Miguel narrowed his eyes. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I want to do it? I would have given anything to have those skills after we were exiled,¡± he said. ¡°Alright, then. I guess that settles that,¡± Elijah said. He glanced at the window, seeing that darkness had completely settled over Argos. ¡°Get some sleep. We¡¯re going to leave early in the morning.¡± Miguel quickly agreed, but even after the lights were extinguished, sleep was elusive, and for both of them. Miguel was clearly too excited for slumber, but Elijah had other things on his mind. Because now that he¡¯d met his obligations with Konstantinos, he only had one more task to accomplish before setting off for Easton. Once he¡¯d introduced Miguel to Kurik ¨C who he still hadn¡¯t asked to mentor the kid ¨C there would be nothing else, aside from a few preparations for the journey, to delay his departure. And now that it was so close, Elijah was eager to get started. Excitement wasn¡¯t the right word. Nor was anxiety. Instead, it was a mixture of both, with a healthy dose of dread thrown in. Some righteous indignation, too. A sense of serving justice, as well. To put it mildly, he was beset by a snarl of varied emotions that were extremely difficult to identify. The end result, though, was that he looked forward to looking his sister¡¯s murderer in the face and watching the light life leave his eyes. That, at least, was a comforting thought that ushered him into sleep. 4-8. Final Preparations Elijah awoke a little before dawn, but he didn¡¯t immediately rise. For one, he didn¡¯t want to wake Miguel, but for another, he wanted to spend an hour cycling ethera through his Core. He wanted to create a routine that would, over time, better prepare him for success. So, he pushed himself to a seated position, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes before getting down to the task at hand. This time, it took him a little longer to saturate his Core, which he took as a good sign, but he cut himself off after only one cycle. The rising sun told him that it was time to get on with the primary objective. With that in mind, he woke Miguel, who rose and turned an accusatory, bleary-eyed gaze in Elijah¡¯s direction. ¡°What¡¯s the rush? We could sleep in,¡± he complained. ¡°Sleeping in is how everyone else gets ahead of you,¡± Elijah cautioned. ¡°That¡¯s what my dad used to tell me. When I was your age, I didn¡¯t really believe him, but now, I realize he was a lot smarter than I ever gave him credit for back then.¡± Miguel asked, ¡°What was he like?¡± ¡°Old and wise.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon. Be serious.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah muttered, running his hand through his hair. Having a thirteen-year-old chastise him for not being serious was a bit of a blow to the concept of his own maturity. ¡°Fine. He was about my height. Maybe a little taller. And he had the kind of tan you only get from spending years outside. He never wanted to be indoors. Whenever he wasn¡¯t working, he wanted to be camping. Or fishing. Hunting, maybe. Sometimes, he just went hiking. Your mom and I used to go with him all the time. So did mom. She liked to gather herbs and stuff. Mushrooms, too. Those were good times.¡± ¡°They got in a car wreck, right?¡± Miguel asked, his voice small. Elijah nodded. ¡°Yeah. One day, they were there. Happy. Healthy. Like two monuments that I thought would never disappear. But then, the next day, I was standing outside as your mom identified their bodies,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It didn¡¯t feel real. Not to me. Not until the funeral. But even after that, for years, I would turn around and half expect them to be there.¡± That was why he ran away after high school. Sure, he usually categorized it as going off to college, but in reality, he¡¯d done it to escape the memory of his dead parents. It hadn¡¯t really worked. Only time could do that. But he¡¯d been a stupid kid with equally dumb ideas. ¡°But without the things they taught me, I never would have survived the touch of the World Tree,¡± Elijah said, surprised that, even after all this time, no tears came. Usually, they did when he really thought about his parents. ¡°Though I thought I was a better campfire cook before everything happened. I mean, I wasn¡¯t good. I used to joke that I could burn water. But it wasn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t have a cooking skill,¡± Miguel said. ¡°Right?¡± ¡°What? A cooking skill?¡± ¡°Yeah. Lots of people have them,¡± his nephew explained. ¡°It¡¯s part of one of the archetypes. Maybe a couple of them. But without it, food just kind of tastes bland. Before¡­everything happened with mom, we went to school, and my teacher, Mr. Gary, said that it was because of ethera. Like, our bodies need it, so if food doesn¡¯t have enough of it or something, it ends up tasting bland. That¡¯s where the different cooking skills come in. They inject ethera into normal food.¡± Elijah just stared at him. It explained so much. Maybe the problem wasn¡¯t that the crabs on his island didn¡¯t taste good. The issue was with him and his lack of cooking skills. Perhaps those same crabs, cooked by someone with actual ability, would taste amazing. It also put some of his other experiences into perspective. Like how every time he visited a new town, he found someone whose cooking was even better than what one would expect in a five-star restaurant. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°You just blew my mind.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I need to hire someone that can cook,¡± Elijah said, his mind already going to his coffee project. What would happen if he roasted the beans himself? Would the product be inferior? He hoped not, but he wasn¡¯t willing to take that chance. Sure, now that the trees were approaching maturity, they would bear fruit far more often, but he didn¡¯t want to waste his precious coffee cherries on a failed endeavor. After all, the whole point was to make delicious coffee that had beneficial properties like his grove berries. If he ruined that by roasting his own beans, he¡¯d never forgive himself. He shook his head. ¡°You just added an item to my to-do list,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Thankfully, it can wait.¡± ¡°Until after you kill Roman?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°He saved my life, you know. Why would he do that? He barely knew me. When that other guy took me, I thought I was going to die. Then, when he gave me to Roman, I thought he¡¯d use me against mom. But he didn¡¯t. He was furious. Killed the kidnapper in like a second. And I still don¡¯t know why,¡± Miguel said. Elijah didn¡¯t know either, and he said as much. However, he added, ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. From the situation your mom described, I think it¡¯s safe to say that he¡¯s at least deluded. Maybe he had a psychotic break. Or he might¡¯ve just always been an asshole that draws the line at messing with kids. I really don¡¯t know. He is going to die, though. Probably painfully.¡± He¡¯d considered sugarcoating the reality of what was coming, but he figured Miguel deserved to know the unfettered truth. To that end, he¡¯d vowed to be completely honest with his nephew. But that didn¡¯t mean he reveled in that conversation, so it wasn¡¯t long after that statement before he rose and headed to the bathroom. Less than an hour later, he, Miguel, and Biggle were marching toward Argos¡¯ gate. Elijah had hoped that a visit to the city would help him to deal with his sister¡¯s death ¨C and the anger that had come with it ¨C but if anything, it had only made things worse. It only took a few hours to reach the Dragon Circle, so they were forced to sit around for another hour before Elijah¡¯s cooldown ran out. When it did, he opened a gate, and everyone stepped through and into Elijah¡¯s grove. That was when he realized the issue. Biggle stumbled, staring around the grove, wide-eyed. ¡°Shit,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°What is this place? The ethera density¡­those berries¡­¡± Elijah grabbed the Alchemist by the collar before he could run off. Then, he knelt beside the gnome and said, ¡°This is my grove, Biggle. I like you. I think we¡¯re on the verge of being friends. But if you come to this grove without my permission, I won¡¯t hesitate to kill you. The same goes for anyone else in Ironshore.¡± ¡°I would never!¡± Biggle insisted, struggling to free himself. It didn¡¯t work. ¡°Sure. I know that. I¡¯m just letting you know the rules. You¡¯re the only Ironshore resident other than Kurik and the human refugees who¡¯ve seen this grove,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ll caution you not to spread any information about what you¡¯ve seen here. I don¡¯t want to have to kill a bunch of people just to make a point.¡± ¡°Do you have any idea what you have here?¡± Biggle asked, looking around. ¡°This grove could fuel the progression of a hundred fighters. Maybe a thousand. The potions I could make¡­the pills I could create¡­¡± He trailed off, then sighed. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s for the best. I don¡¯t have the expertise to utilize ingredients of this quality,¡± he admitted. ¡°I can¡¯t even identify most of these things.¡± ¡°Even if you could¡­¡± ¡°Hands off,¡± Biggle said, raising his tiny hands. ¡°You have my word.¡± ¡°I knew I could count on you,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°And if it turns out I can¡¯t¡­well, it wouldn¡¯t be the first time I¡¯ve killed a gnome.¡± Biggle swallowed hard, then said, ¡°You truly are a violent person. You know that?¡± ¡°I¡¯m whatever I need to be,¡± Elijah countered, releasing the gnome. Biggle straightened his collar, but he didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he seemed eager to leave the grove behind, which Elijah thought was for the best. In truth, he had never seen himself as a violent person. However, some things were worth protecting, and sometimes, that meant letting the more feral side of himself out. Besides, a few threats were preferable to having to slaughter a bunch of unwelcome visitors, which he would unhesitatingly do if they invaded his grove. Or threatened his family. In any case, he led Biggle to the beach, then used one of the rowboats to return him to Ironshore. Meanwhile, Miguel went to train near the old cabin. He only paid attention to the young man for long enough to know that he was in no danger before turning his attention to other matters. While he was in Ironshore, Elijah spent some time topping off his supplies before returning to his island. He hated using the rowboat, but if he didn¡¯t take it back, no one else would pick up the slack. So, he got to rowing, and when he reached the island, he retrieved his old jars, filled them with a scentless oil he¡¯d bought in Ironshore, then stuffed a bunch of lavender into each one. By the time he finished taking his revenge, the infused oil would be ready for another batch of soap. He¡¯d just finished that task when Carmen returned to the island. He¡¯d considered stopping by her new smithy, but he hadn¡¯t wanted to disturb her. So, he waited until she got back to the grove before heading out to meet her. ¡°It¡¯s time, isn¡¯t it?¡± she guessed. Elijah nodded. ¡°I¡¯m leaving in the morning.¡± Then, he described his plan. His intention was to use the individual teleportation function of Roots of the World Tree, which worked on a different cooldown than the gate portion, to travel to the Circle of Spears outside of Seattle. Then, he would use Shape of Air to fly to Easton. Hopefully, he could reach the city in a day or two. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll stay there. It depends on if I want to destroy the city,¡± he remarked. ¡°You think you can do that?¡± she asked, her face smudged with soot. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe. Not quickly, though,¡± he said. Calamity could do a lot of damage, and in a wide area, but it was not strong enough to tear down buildings. ¡°It would take a while.¡± He expected Carmen to argue on behalf of Easton, but she didn¡¯t. Instead, she said, ¡°Make him suffer.¡± ¡°I will,¡± Elijah promised. Indeed, that was one of the reasons he was even considering the city¡¯s total destruction. From what Carmen had said, Roman valued that city more than anything, so its destruction would assuredly cause him more pain than anything else Elijah could do. ¡°But more than anything, I need you to survive,¡± Carmen stated, reaching out to grip his arm. ¡°Miguel is safe here. It¡¯s been so long since we had that. And without you, that all disappears. So, survive.¡± Elijah intended to do that, too. But if it came down to a choice between taking his revenge and his own death, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain which route he would choose. Hopefully, it wouldn¡¯t come down to that. ¡°I talked to a friend while I was in Ironshore. Kurik. He¡¯s a scout,¡± Elijah said. ¡°He¡¯s coming by tomorrow to pick Miguel up. It¡¯s not quite an apprenticeship ¨C that won¡¯t come unless Miggy gets the right archetype and class. But it¡¯s training. Kurik¡¯s going to show him woodcraft, trapping, and hunting. I told him that it was all subject to your approval, though, so if you don¡¯t want it to happen, just tell Kurik when he comes by.¡± ¡°You¡¯re willing to let him into the grove?¡± asked Carmen. Elijah nodded. ¡°He¡¯s a friend,¡± he said. ¡°I trust him.¡± ¡°Then so do I,¡± Carmen stated, adding that the plan had her approval. ¡°Well, since I¡¯m not leaving until the morning, do you and Miggy want to go have a last meal at the Stuck Pig? Hopefully, they¡¯re not still serving orc ribs,¡± he said. 4-9. A New Perspective After saying his goodbyes and cautioning Miguel to heed Kurik¡¯s commands, Elijah gathered his things, double-checked that he had everything he would need, then used Shape of the Sky. The transformation came much more quickly, barely taking a second when, before, it had taken a couple. Soon enough, he¡¯d launched himself toward the sky. He beat his powerful wings, rising above the grove as he quickly gained altitude. There was something undeniably addictive about flight, about defying gravity to soar through the air. Not only was it a much quicker means of travel than going on foot, but it represented a degree of freedom that few humans had ever enjoyed. In his flight form, he could go almost anywhere, do almost anything. And that was a heady notion, especially given the breadth of miracles waiting to be discovered. He¡¯d seen a few such miracles since Earth had been touched by the World Tree. Some were large, like the presence of a skyscraper in the middle of an untouched and pristine valley. Or the deep ravine that rivaled ¨C or perhaps even exceeded ¨C the Grand Canyon in scope. But there were plenty of small miracles as well. The peaceful glades, the curious wildlife, the streams and waterfalls ¨C the whole world was magical and miraculous, and though Elijah was wholeheartedly committed to his quest for vengeance, he couldn¡¯t deny that a good part of him desperately wanted to fly off toward the horizon on a different sort of quest ¨C one of discovery. Elijah circled his island at an altitude of thousands of feet, and from that vantage, the entire landscape was laid out before him. He could see his island, small compared to the massive mainland. Ironshore looked tiny as well. A fairly well contained collection of buildings that seemed far too small to house the few thousand people Elijah knew lived there. Then there were the looming mountains just beyond the town. The range stretched as far as Elijah could see, jutting much higher than his current altitude. At present, the peaks were wreathed in clouds and blanketed in white snow, making him feel even smaller than he really was. Elijah had become powerful. According to the power rankings, he was the strongest person on Earth. However, when he looked upon those mountains, he knew just how little that title counted. Before experiencing the touch of the World Tree and being transformed, Earth had seemed a lot smaller than it really was. Elijah blamed global communication, the ease of travel, and the internet for that perception. However, the moment all of that quit working, that view had shifted. Suddenly, a few hundred miles was a long way to travel ¨C let alone thousands. Before, Elijah could have gone on the internet to see what was happening on the other side of the world. Now, he didn¡¯t even know what was going on in Ironshore unless he physically went there and asked around. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the world¡¯s transformation, which, according to everything he¡¯d heard, was rumored to be as large as Saturn. Elijah had barely paid attention during lessons that covered astronomy, but he had some idea of the scope that size represented. The planet was at least ten times its former size, and filled with wonders and dangers to match its new stature. Those thoughts flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he circled his island. Then, he turned his attention to the ocean. From so high up, he could see dozens of miles, and when he used Eyes of the Eagle, he could see much, much further. And under the effects of that augmentation, he could see darkness on the horizon. It was hundreds of miles away, he knew, but he could see enough to suspect that that smudge in the distance represented an enormous storm. Was it coming toward his island? Elijah couldn¡¯t know. However, despite the rain-soaked climate of his region, the island had never experienced hurricanes or the like. So, he felt reasonably certain that they were safe from truly inclement weather. Besides, he also expected that the grove would survive any storm the world could throw its way. Sure, there would almost assuredly be damage. Maybe his coffee trees would be uprooted. But the ancestral tree would be fine. So would his and his sister¡¯s treehouses. For a while, he continued to circle until, at last, he decided to get a move on. Initially, he¡¯d intended to use Roots of the World Tree to instantly teleport to Seattle, but overnight, he¡¯d decided against that tactic. The ability to immediately jump thousands of miles was too valuable to use it just to save a couple of days. The last thing he wanted was for the spell to be on cooldown when he needed it most ¨C like if he needed a quick escape. Another part of the choice to forego the use of Roots of the World Tree was based on his burgeoning skill at flying. He hadn¡¯t used the form nearly enough for flight to feel instinctive, so he intended to use the trip to simultaneously work on his skills while also putting himself in the right mindset for the coming trials. Because Elijah didn¡¯t think getting revenge on Roman would be easy. Perhaps from a physical standpoint, he could manage it well enough. After all, he was the strongest person in the world, according to the power ladder. That had to mean something. On top of that, he had a wealth of combat experience, and in a wide variety of situations, to draw upon. He¡¯d recently killed one of the top three most powerful people in the world, too. So, Elijah knew he had the ability to do what needed to be done. But killing someone in cold blood required a different frame of mind. That was especially true if he intended to bring down the city, too. Which was still up in the air, if he was honest with himself. On the one hand, from what Carmen had described, the entire city of Easton was rotten to the core, and the world would be a better place if that city no longer existed. However, on the other hand, Elijah knew that Carmen¡¯s perception was tainted by her own mindset. Inevitably, there were still innocent people in that city. And even if there weren¡¯t, there were degrees of guilt. Some people doubtless deserved execution. But others, even if they were in some way complicit in Alyssa¡¯s murder, hadn¡¯t earned that fate. It was a complex situation, and one Elijah intended to ponder as he flew toward the city in question. He beat his wings against the air, climbing ever higher until he passed through the clouds and into an entirely new world. Via One with Nature, he could feel things he couldn¡¯t identify in and above the clouds. However, he saw nothing but a few shimmers in the air. It reminded him of what he thought of as the Predator effect, derived from the titular movie alien who could camouflage itself almost completely. However, when it moved, it created a barely visible shimmer. The same was true of the things Elijah sensed through One with Nature. They represented a wide variety of shapes. There were things that felt like serpents, a few amorphous blobs, and humanoid variants, among many others. It took Elijah a few minutes to recognize that they were made of air, putting him in mind of spirits. Or elementals, perhaps. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Fortunately, they were not aggressive. Indeed, they ignored him altogether, even when he came close. Still, it was an interesting discovery, and one Elijah would have studied closer if he didn¡¯t have his mission to worry about. As it was, he quickly left the clouds behind as he soared toward the mountains. As he drew closer, he recognized many other flying creatures. Some were recognizable species of birds, though they were typically much larger than they had been before Earth¡¯s transformation. Yet, there were other beasts that could only be described as magical in nature. Elijah saw a flock of winged serpents in the distance, as well as an animal that looked strikingly like a griffon, though he couldn¡¯t be sure, considering that it dove into the forested mountainside before he had a chance to study it. Eventually, Elijah found the path through the mountains. He didn¡¯t try to fly over them, instead targeting the pass he¡¯d used before. As he flew through it, he saw that the remnants of the spiders had begun to fade. At last, the gossamer webs that had once coated the entire area had started to dissolve. There were other animals about, too, which boded well for the ecosystem¡¯s recovery from the invasive monster¡¯s presence. He covered ground much more quickly than he had in his first few trips, and after only a few hours ¨C some of which, he spent practicing flying through narrow valleys ¨C he began his descent into the foothills. On a whim, Elijah decided to stop by Norcastle. Mostly, he wanted to check on Jess and Essex, but he also wanted to make certain that Ironshore¡¯s interests were protected. After all, they were his allies, and their fate affected his own. The stronger they were, the better they would be able to protect their territory, which was a good thing for him. So long as they didn¡¯t get any ideas about invading his island, that is. But they¡¯d stayed away so far, and Elijah could only hope that that pattern would continue. After a while, he saw Norcastle in the distance, so he landed ¨C badly ¨C and, after using Touch of Nature to heal the resulting injuries, he shifted into his draconid form and continued on to the tree line closest to the city. Once there, he settled down to study the situation. The city itself looked much the same as it always had. The gate was guarded, but not by either of the people Elijah remembered. That didn¡¯t mean anything, though. Perhaps it was just a different shift. Either way, Elijah couldn¡¯t tell much from afar, so he embraced Guise of the Unseen before padding across the large, open field until he reached the wall. Once there, he launched himself upward, using his claws to grab hold of the uneven stones so he could climb to the top. He reached his goal unseen, then crossed the four-foot-wide wall walk before leaping down to the ground on the other side. And just like that, he was inside Norcastle. After looking around a bit, Elijah could confirm that not much had really changed. Some of the people seemed to have higher levels, and the stench of corruption was gone. There also weren¡¯t any corpse wagons to be found, so he felt confident that the plague had not returned. That meant that Essex and his people ¨C or perhaps the mayor¡¯s men ¨C were doing their duty by periodically running the tower. Hopefully, the Reaver¡¯s Citadel hadn¡¯t resulted in too many deaths, though Elijah expected that there would be a few, regardless of his efforts. He''d detailed the tower¡¯s layout ¨C at least what he¡¯d seen ¨C for Essex before leaving the first time, but even then, people would still have to do the work. And with the unforgiving nature of each tower¡¯s challenges, it was inevitable that some casualties would occur. Regardless, Elijah was satisfied that his efforts hadn¡¯t been wasted, so he moved on with the first task, which was to ensure that Essex was still around. A quick trip to the man¡¯s office told Elijah that he was fine ¨C if a little overworked ¨C but he didn¡¯t bother emerging from stealth. That would only cause the man problems. So, he moved on to the next ¨C and more important ¨C task. The hospital was a lot less crowded this time around, so it didn¡¯t take Elijah long to find Jess. She looked much the same as always, wearing purple scrubs and a pair of sneakers, though she felt a little stronger than before. That was probably inevitable. After all, she gained experience through healing, which was her job. Elijah followed her for about an hour until she went to an office that would provide a bit of privacy. Once inside, he dropped Shape of the Predator and, even as he resumed his human form, asked, ¡°Miss me?¡± She gave a start, nearly falling out of her chair. Then, she patted her chest, saying, ¡°Jesus ¨C you scared the hell out of me, Elijah!¡± ¡°Sorry. I was trying to be spontaneous and romantic.¡± ¡°By popping up out of nowhere? You have a weird idea of romance.¡± ¡°Mostly derived from romantic comedies. So¡­yeah. You¡¯re probably right. But I was just kidding. Sort of,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t leave under the best of circumstances, so I figured it wasn¡¯t a great idea to just come strolling in here. Hence the stealth.¡± She let out a deep breath. ¡°That was probably a good idea. There was someone looking for you a couple of months back,¡± she said. ¡°Big guy. Really strong. I don¡¯t think you want to let him find you.¡± ¡°Oh, him? I crushed his skull,¡± Elijah said, picking up a knickknack off the desk. It was a little bobble-head of a baseball player. ¡°But in my defense, he didn¡¯t give me much choice. He stabbed me in the heart. And in the back. A couple of times, if I remember right. Plus, he was all like, ¡®I¡¯m a mighty Viking hunter, and you are my prey! Raa!¡¯. Or something like that. He wasn¡¯t a nice guy is what I¡¯m saying. Had a nice water bottle, though. Really useful.¡± ¡°What?¡± Jess asked, clearly struggling to follow Elijah¡¯s interpretation of the fight. After only a second, she just shook her head and said, ¡°You haven¡¯t changed.¡± ¡°More than it seems,¡± Elijah said, his tone suddenly serious. ¡°Probably not as much as I should, though.¡± Indeed, most of the time, Elijah felt like the same person he¡¯d been the last time he¡¯d visited Norcastle. But so much had changed that he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. Even his conversation with Jess felt forced, and not in his normal, nervous way. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked, reaching out to touch his arm. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, honestly,¡± he admitted. ¡°I found out my sister died. It¡­I haven¡¯t taken it well. It happened years ago. But¡­I still feel guilty that I wasn¡¯t there for her.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Elijah gave her a small, sad smile. ¡°You don¡¯t know that. Neither do I. Chances are, I¡¯d have ended up the same as her, even if I had been there. But the not knowing ¨C that¡¯s the worst,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m fine, though. I just thought I¡¯d stop by to see if everything was okay here.¡± After that, Jess explained that Essex had made a deal with the mayor to send joint teams into the tower. That had proven a success, and since then, the captain of the guard had worked to gradually gain more freedoms for the people. The mayor had acquiesced, especially when Kurik had appeared and offered an ongoing trade deal. After that, his attitude had shifted, and the corruption that had been so prevalent the last time Elijah had visited had faded into the background. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s still a shady figure, but it¡¯s a lot better now,¡± Jess stated. ¡°We all have full access to the branch too. So long as we pay a few copper ethereum, we can use it as much as we want.¡± ¡°That¡¯s great, Jess. I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t kill him last time,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d considered it after the man had sent some thugs to his inn. Back then, he hadn¡¯t known if their intention was to simply collect him, rob him, or murder him, but he¡¯d chosen to interpret it in the worst way. As such, the only reason he hadn¡¯t gone to teach the mayor a lesson was because Jess had asked him not to. Plus, back then, he¡¯d maintained an aversion to kill humans. That still persisted to a certain extent, but if Elijah felt justified, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate. ¡°Either way, I¡¯m glad you¡¯re okay. That¡¯s a load off my mind,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m going to be on my way.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to stick around? Maybe have a meal?¡± she asked, hopeful. Elijah was tempted to take her up on it, but he shook his head and said, ¡°No. Rain check, maybe.¡± Then, he left the room, shifting into his draconid form the moment he entered the hall. Once he was out of sight, he once again adopted Guise of the Unseen before heading toward the wall. 4-10. Migration Elijah sat cross-legged on a boulder, his eyes closed and focused almost entirely on One with Nature. During his previous attempts at cycling his ethera in an effort to begin the process of advancing his Core to the next stage, he had begun to feel something that he¡¯d never felt before. Or rather, that he¡¯d only experienced a single time, when he¡¯d first tried his hand at cultivation and very nearly succumbed to what Nerthus had referred to as the Call. Back then, the spryggent had described it as giving himself completely to the Mother. Or to nature itself. Though, Elijah hadn¡¯t understood it at the time. Now, he was beginning to. Because nature wasn¡¯t just some ephemeral concept. Certainly, it could be referred to in that way, but there was an underlying structure. Not an awareness, per se, but a desire. A need. An influence that Elijah couldn¡¯t quite categorize or understand. But it was powerful, he knew, and he expected that it was partially responsible for some of his more questionable decisions. Like when he¡¯d killed those hunters. Or when he¡¯d nearly lost himself to his animalistic instincts during his first tower run. As he sat there, he traced that influence back to the very first time he¡¯d laid eyes on Ironshore. Back then, he¡¯d felt outraged at the deforestation and the billowing clouds of smoke that had come from the budding town. It wasn¡¯t until later that he¡¯d moved away from that snap judgement and to something more reasonable. But he hadn¡¯t forgotten his initial anger. That, he attributed to his connection to nature making itself known. It should have been obvious that his class would influence the way he saw the world. Or maybe it was his attunement. After all, nature was listed right there on his status. Regardless of the origin, Elijah felt that he couldn¡¯t truly progress until he understood the influences working to dictate his actions. In a few years, he didn¡¯t want to look back and realize that he¡¯d begun to walk the path of some lunatic eco-terrorist. Nor did he want to lose his connection with something so powerful, largely because he felt it would prove necessary in the future. He didn¡¯t know how. Nor did he know why he believed it to be true. Yet, he did believe it, and that meant that he needed to understand what was going on. So, he meditated, focusing his attention on One with Nature. He felt every last detail of his surroundings, and for a fifty-foot radius. When he truly concentrated on that deluge of information, Elijah felt overwhelmed by the sheer scope. Billions of microbes. Thousands of insects. A few animals. A host of vegetation. The list went on and on. However, beneath it all was what Elijah was looking for. There was an order to things. It felt clich¨¦ to think of it in such a way, but it felt like a circle of subsistence. An ongoing battle for survival that somehow fit perfectly together in a way where every individual organism got what it needed. Where did he fit into that? He felt simultaneously like an outsider, a part of the ecosystem, and a steward. A guardian of the delicate balance of life that was accepted, but never truly a part of that world. Unless he gave in. He felt the pull. The Call. He could leave everything behind and join with nature. Like that, he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about things like vengeance. Instead, he would merely become part of the cycle, and when his time came, he would die, only to fuel someone else¡¯s survival. In that way, he would live on. It was beautiful. But it was also antithetical to everything it meant to be sapient. That subversion of the self was entirely unnatural, which was ironic, given that it would allow him to truly become One with Nature. Elijah sighed, then opened his eyes to see a sun dappled glen. He was a few hours away from Norcastle, where he¡¯d stopped for the night. His morning cycling practice had somehow turned into a meditation on nature, but he didn¡¯t regret the loss of a few cycles of Core cultivation. On the contrary, he felt that he¡¯d made progress on a path he¡¯d yet to truly recognize. Still, he¡¯d already spent enough time idling in the dell. So, he unfolded his legs and reached into his satchel, retrieving a hunk of dried meat. As he chewed on that, he hefted his Endless Canteen to wash it down. After breaking his fast, Elijah spent a few minutes stretching stiff muscles before using Shape of the Sky and taking to the skies. His takeoff was much better than it had been only a couple of days before, and he hoped his improvement would continue, at least until he could land without risk of breaking his bones. He flapped his wings, gaining a little altitude before speeding on his way. Elijah was tempted to stop by Argos, but he¡¯d just left the city a few days before. So, it wasn¡¯t that difficult to ignore that temptation. Instead, he flew toward the ravine, hoping to cut the swamp out of his journey. Yet, when he reached the area, he discovered that those large birds that were the frequent prey of the canyon spiders were quite territorial. They didn¡¯t appreciate his intrusion, and Elijah had no intention of fighting an aerial battle ¨C after all, his current form wasn¡¯t meant for fighting ¨C so he reluctantly veered south. Soon after, he found himself flying over the swamp. Even at an altitude of a few hundred feet, the insects were maddening. But at least he didn¡¯t have to wade through tepid, waist-deep water. It took Elijah the rest of the day to reach the outer reaches of the swamp, but as night fell, he landed on one of the infrequent islands, where he spent a fitful night sleeping. He¡¯d done the same during previous trips into the swamp, but that didn¡¯t mean it was any less nerve-wracking. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. Still, Elijah endured the rigors of swamp life for the span of a night, and the next morning, he left it entirely behind. If he kept his pace, he would reach Easton in only a few days. A week-and-a-half, at most. No sooner had that thought entered his mind than he noticed a dark splotch on the horizon. At first, Elijah thought it was another storm, but if that was the case, it was even larger than the one off the coast of his island. As Elijah continued to fly north, the cloud resolved itself into thousands ¨C maybe hundreds of thousands ¨C of tiny shapes. It was only when he got much closer and used Eyes of the Eagle that he got a good look at the creatures, confirming that they weren¡¯t tiny at all. They were also nightmarish. With bodies that mostly resembled birds, they had all the requisite pieces. Wings. Feathers. Enormous talons that were larger even than Elijah¡¯s own. But instead of the expected raptor¡¯s head, they had the faces of women. However, they weren¡¯t ordinary women. Nor were they beautiful. They were, instead, horrifying mixtures of bird and woman that sent a shiver of unease coursing up Elijah¡¯s spine. Instantly, he knew these were no natural beasts. They weren¡¯t guardians, either. Rather, they were monsters ¨C those unfortunate creatures that had been snatched up almost by accident and deposited in an unfamiliar world. They did not belong, and yet, there they were ¨C an affront to nature that Elijah was loathe to let stand. But good sense won out over his outrage, and he recognized that he couldn¡¯t fight tens of thousands of migrating harpies. That mythological moniker was the only way Elijah could describe them, and it felt appropriate, even if it was more than a little unnerving. He dove, hoping to avoid the swarm. Yet, he¡¯d gotten close enough that the monsters had seen him, so a few hundred of the creatures mirrored his move. He crashed down into the lowland forest, shifting into his draconid form before he hit the ground. That softened the blow, though the impact still rattled his teeth. But Elijah didn¡¯t have time to consider that, because the first of the harpies arrived only a few seconds later. And they were even more grotesque than he¡¯d first thought, with huge, fleshy noses that resembled beaks. The first to attack was huge ¨C at least as big as his predator form, which was the size of a tiger ¨C and with a wingspan to match. It crashed into him before he could dodge, though he used Flicker Step before the momentum could take him more than a few inches. He disappeared, reappearing behind the monster, and after the single instant it took to reorient himself, Elijah pounced, using Venom Strike for good measure. Fortunately, the monster possessed no great defensive abilities, and Elijah¡¯s claws bit deep, ripping into its delicate wings with ease. The creature screeched in pain, the sound cutting through every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind and stunning him. He staggered, recovering after a second or two. However, by that point, it was too late. A dozen more harpies had arrived. And one of them had latched onto his back with its enormous talons. In only a moment, it was dragging him back into the sky. He shifted into his largest shape, transforming into a lamellar ape. The sudden influx of weight threw the harpy slightly off, which was enough for Elijah to latch onto the creature¡¯s talons ¨C one in each hand ¨C and wrench them apart. He put everything he had into the move, and it was more successful than he expected, going far past the point of pulling them apart and into the territory of breaking the bones. Once again, Elijah was assailed by the monster¡¯s debilitating screeches, but that was only a minor concern, considering that he was falling directly into a mass of hungry harpies. With the instincts of the lamellar ape raging through him, Elijah let out a challenging roar as he fell. He hit with a thunderous impact that broke the unlucky harpy that was directly beneath him, but Elijah gave that monster¡¯s fate no thought. Instead, he lashed out with a backhanded blow that sent another harpy flying backward until it hit a nearby tree trunk. The sound of broken bones joined the cacophony of birdcalls that had accompanied the flock of harpies. Elijah loped after it, leaping in to ensure that it was dead. As he did, he used his upgraded Soul to fuel another transformation, this time back into his draconid shape. He hissed before clamping his jaws around the monster¡¯s body, crushing it even further. Though, he didn¡¯t stick around to finish it. Instead, he raced along, dodging talons and, to his surprise, barbed tails, along the way. In his draconid form, he had the Dexterity to manage the feat, though even then, he knew that the mass of harpies would eventually overwhelm him. So, the goal wasn¡¯t to kill them. Rather, he only wanted to escape long enough to engage Guise of the Unseen. With that in mind, Elijah raced along, taking the hits he couldn¡¯t avoid. He could have easily endured them in the lamellar ape shape, but it was ill-suited for escape. Certainly, in that form, Elijah could move incredibly quickly, but if he tried that in the middle of a forest, he would have hit so many trees that any extra speed he could put on would have been completely negated. No - the draconid form was his best shot, even if it left his scales in tatters. Never was that clearer than when he sensed even more harpies hovering just overhead. Some descended through the trees, turning hundreds into thousands as the ferocious monsters continued to hunt him. Elijah ran, bounding over the terrain with well-practiced agility. It took almost an hour, during which he was further injured, before he managed to lose them for long enough to engage Guise of the Unseen. Still, even though he was cloaked in stealth, Elijah didn¡¯t slow down. Instead, he kept running for hours more until he stumbled upon an abandoned convenience store. Such buildings were not uncommon, but this one was mostly intact, so he hoped it would provide him shelter until the flock of harpies moved on. So, he padded inside, and even though his wounds screamed at him for attention, he took the time to ensure that no other creatures had claimed the location as their own den. Even with his natural affinity for animals, no creature would take an invasion of their home lightly. Thankfully, the building was empty, so Elijah found his way to a back office, where he finally shifted into his human form and saw to his wounds. They were extensive, with bits and pieces of his skin hanging off in ribbons. Blood coated his clothes, and half his scalp had been torn away. Even more distressingly, the moment he stopped moving, he let himself acknowledge the debilitating venom coursing through his veins. Those barbed tails hadn¡¯t simply been for show. Instead, they¡¯d delivered one injection of venom after another. It wasn¡¯t as deadly as his own Venom Strike, and it didn¡¯t have anything on the afflictions delivered by Swarm. Yet, it was still enough to muddle his thoughts and make him cough up blood. Or maybe that was the result of numerous internal injuries. Regardless, Elijah quickly got to work healing, stacking Healing Rain, Soothe, and multiple casts of Touch of Nature. He only got the first cycle out before his injuries ¨C blood loss and a debilitating venom among them ¨C took their toll. He didn¡¯t pass out, but he might as well have, for all he was able to move. Or think. Instead, he sank into a foggy, mostly paralyzed state where he could do nothing but wait for Healing Rain and Soothe to counteract his conditions. 4-11. The Importance of Dental Hygiene Even as Elijah drifted in and out of semi-consciousness, his mind seemed determined to settle on his past and how it might affect his future. At times, he¡¯d find himself daydreaming about growing up with Alyssa, and only minutes later, his thoughts would turn to what he intended to do to Roman. Back and forth, over and over, seeming to go on for an eternity. It was not a pleasant way to spend the couple of days it took him to recover from the harpies¡¯ attacks and their insidious venom that stubbornly resisted his efforts at curing himself. In the end, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d simply outlasted it or if he¡¯d finally overwhelmed it. Either way, though, he returned to complete lucidity after a long two days, during which he used every ounce of ethera in his core, and multiple times. By the time he regained his wits, Elijah knew well enough to recognize how lucky he¡¯d gotten. Individually, the harpies weren¡¯t terribly strong. He could kill them easily enough. However, when their flock numbered in the many tens of thousands, and with the potent venom they could inject, their lethality was nearly absolute. Few people would have managed to survive such an onslaught. Even two days later, Elijah could sense that they were still in the area. Every now and again, he would feel one of them swoop into range of One with Nature. Fortunately, though, they seemed unwilling to land for more than a second or two, so his hiding place remained as viable as it had been when he¡¯d found the abandoned convenience store. That meant that he didn¡¯t dare take to the skies for now. Still, he decided to take shelter in the old gas station for another day, at least. As he did, he alternated his time between healing ¨C his wounds had proven extremely stubborn, so long as the venom remained in his system ¨C and cycling his Core. He still hadn¡¯t made much progress, but Elijah expected that his failure was due to the low ethera density. After all, Nerthus had told him multiple times that even reaching the first stage of Core cultivation was incredibly difficult ¨C to the point that it would require outside assistance ¨C on Earth. And it would remain that way until the density of the planet¡¯s ethera reached a certain point. It had definitely risen over the past couple of years, but Elijah expected that it still had a long way yet to go. However, he also had a bit of a secret weapon in the form of his grove and, more importantly, his cultivation cave. With the advantage that those spots¡¯ high ethera density represented, he hoped to make some strides in Core cultivation once he returned home. His stomach twisted at the thought. For some reason, it felt almost like a betrayal to think of anything other than avenging Alyssa¡¯s death. And it was even worse to make plans for the future, as if his current quest was just an item to be checked off a list. It was so much more than that, and rationally, he knew that fact, but his grief and guilt had no need for logic. So, it was with renewed focus that, three days after first taking shelter in the convenience store, Elijah shifted into his draconid form, then adopted Guise of the Unseen before leaving it behind. Sure enough, his suspicions about the harpies proved correct, and the entire area was lousy with them. Most nested high in the tops of trees, but Elijah caught sight of a few as they swooped down to kill some unsuspecting beast. When they did, every harpy in the area would descend upon the slain animal, where the entire group would rip and tear the poor creature to shreds. Sometimes, the more volatile harpies would take things too far and attack one another, resulting in a bloodbath. Elijah kept a close eye on every monster he could sense, either with his mundane senses or via One with Nature. He didn¡¯t think they could see through his ability¡¯s camouflage ¨C especially in the forest ¨C but he also didn¡¯t want to take any chances, either. After all, he¡¯d seen what those creatures could do to their chosen prey, and he wanted nothing to do with them. Or the nasty venom they could inflict upon him. With that in mind, Elijah padded through the forest, careful and hidden beneath the Guise of the Unseen. It was slow, but it was safe. Like that, he gradually covered ground. Miles melted before him until night began to fall, and he found shelter in an old, abandoned mobile home. There were a dozen more in the area, suggesting that the area had once been a trailer park, but most of the other structures had fallen before the rigors of time. After all, those sorts of homes had never been built to last. Still, the one where Elijah sheltered was mostly intact, though he did get a bit of a surprise when he found the previous owner¡¯s remains. The bones had been picked clean of any flesh, so only a skeleton was left. A woman, from what Elijah could tell from the pelvis. In the next room, he found a few much smaller skeletons. Children. Humanity had been hit hard by what many referred to as the apocalypse. Billions had died. But the hardest hit had been the children who didn¡¯t even have the benefit of the system to ease the transition. All around them, creatures ¨C and monsters in human skin, like Roman ¨C developed unnatural abilities, and they had no way to defend themselves. It was a miracle any had survived. Though there was some hope. Miguel had made it. So had plenty of children in Norcastle and Argos ¨C more in the latter than the former, but there was no shortage of young people in either. Elijah felt some optimism at that thought. Even as he stared at the remains of the children who¡¯d once called the trailer home, he could find some room for hope. The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Though it was tempered by reality. Humanity had suffered many losses, and Elijah suspected that more were to come. It was while he was clearing another of the rooms of any debris that a notification flashed before Elijah¡¯s mind¡¯s eye:
Four years have passed since your planet (Earth) felt the transformative touch of the World Tree. In one year, the top five-thousand (5000) humans and top five-hundred (500) settlers will be afforded the opportunity to endure the Trial of Primacy. Participation is not mandatory, though it is encouraged. In one (1) year, present yourself at any Branch of the World Tree, and you will be teleported to the Trial Grounds. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
¡°The Trial of Primacy?¡± Elijah muttered aloud. His voice was barely a whisper, largely because the harpies were still about. ¡°What the hell is that?¡± But as always, there was no answer. The system seemed hell-bent on forcing everyone to consult the Knowledge Base for answers. When he went back to the elven city of Arvandor, he intended to use the Librarian to get at least one answer. Maybe he would ask about the Trial of Primacy. More than that, though, Elijah was surprised that his estimate of time had been a little off. Until that point, he¡¯d thought that they¡¯d passed the four-year mark months past. However, unless the system used some other calendar, he¡¯d been mistaken. Still, four years was a long time, and it felt even longer than it really was. Simultaneously, though, it was like he¡¯d washed ashore on the island only recently. Much had happened since then. He was an entirely different person, and not just because he¡¯d beaten cancer that should have been terminal. Not only were his priorities completely different now, but he was also the most powerful person in the world. That came with responsibilities. Expectations. He sighed, shaking his head as he sat in the corner of the room. He leaned against the wall and tilted his head toward the half-rotted ceiling. He wasn¡¯t as strong as he seemed. Elijah knew that better than most. Despite having a head-start on almost everyone in the world ¨C in the form of his cultivation, which was assuredly more advanced than almost anyone else¡¯s ¨C he had struggled in his fight against Thor. Certainly, he¡¯d won ¨C and that was what ultimately mattered ¨C but it had highlighted the issues he would face going forward. On paper, he was strong. But his archetype, which was a hybrid that took pieces from a bunch of different disciplines, was never meant to be a front-line combatant. Sure, his class helped. So did his cultivation. But it wasn¡¯t enough to let him stand toe-to-toe with true combatants of similar level. He could do wondrous things. As far as he knew, nobody else had the ability to teleport across thousands of miles. He could create his own equipment, at least to a certain extent, and he could grow some truly remarkable things in his gardens. Yet, those things didn¡¯t help in a fight. Not for the first time, Elijah thought back to K¡¯hana¡¯s shock when she¡¯d discovered that he was a Druid. It was warranted, too. From the guide he¡¯d recently read, the archetype was heavily implied to be a mostly non-combat class that focused on nurturing their grove. That wasn¡¯t Elijah¡¯s path, though. He liked fighting. He enjoyed exploration. And while he also liked tending to his grove, the reality was that he would go insane if that was the entire scope of his future. So, he had no choice but to push ahead with his cultivation, and hopefully, when it came time to choose his specialization, he could further adapt his archetype to his purposes. After that, there was an evolution to anticipate, too. Equipment would help as well. No ¨C Elijah¡¯s path was clear. He needed to scratch and claw for every advantage he could find, lest he be held back by his archetype¡¯s non-combat nature. In the meantime, he would lean on his versatility as he continued to gain levels. With that in mind, he settled in to rest as he ate a couple of grove berries. Without those little fruits, his recovery would have taken much longer, which just solidified another one of Elijah¡¯s advantages. Everything grown in his grove was infused with dense ethera. As such, it often had special properties, like the restorative traits of his grove berries. Hopefully, his coffee would be even better. And he still intended to make another staff once he finished his quest. The Dragon-touched Staff was great. Better than he could have expected. Yet, it still didn¡¯t feel as natural as either of his other two staves had. His mind whirled with plans for the future as he rested, and eventually, he settled in to sleep. Thankfully, his dreams were of the normal, nonsensical variety, so he ended up resting well before rising the next morning and continuing on his way. Gradually, he made his way across the landscape. He was tempted to take the same path he¡¯d taken on his way to Seattle ¨C after all, he could swing by Arvandor to use his question ¨C but ultimately, he chose not to do so. Largely, that decision was based on simple expedience. Easton was located to the northeast, while Seattle was almost due north. So, it made sense to cut diagonally across the terrain, even if it meant exploring new territory. Eventually, Elijah¡¯s path took him by a ruined commercial park located on either side of a three-mile stretch of interstate. The highway was packed with abandoned automobiles, most of which bore some degree of damage. Some looked like they¡¯d been stripped for parts, but judging by the rust, that had occurred some time ago. There were no signs that the region was populated. As Elijah progressed along the highway, he saw a few car dealerships, then a couple of big box stores ¨C the sort that sold everything in ridiculous bulk, like gallon jugs of mayonnaise. Elijah inspected a couple of those, but other than picking up a couple of computers, a few giant packages of underwear, and a dozen tubes of toothpaste. He knew the last would¡¯ve already passed their expiration date, which meant that the paste inside would be a little less effective. However, Elijah was counting on the fact that the tubes were unopened to have extended their shelf life a bit. Besides, even then, it would be better than the charcoal he normally used to clean his teeth. He also grabbed a box full of toothbrushes. With ethera and healing, he didn¡¯t think he needed to worry about cavities. However, those two factors did nothing for bad breath. Whatever the case, his scouring of the big box stores took half a day before he decided to move on. Even then, the harpies were still around, which meant that he would need to continue on foot. So, that¡¯s what he did, shifting back into his draconid form and using his stealth ability to remain undetected as he drew ever closer to Easton, where he would exact his revenge. 4-12. Avoiding Distractions A gentle rain fell, each drop flowing off Elijah¡¯s sleek scales as he leaped from one rock to the next. Beneath him, a river raged, spraying a mist into the air as the swift-moving water crashed into the boulders. Elijah had spent hours trying to find a crossing ¨C the current was far too strong to safely swim across the wide river ¨C and not for the first time, he cursed the harpies that prevented him from taking flight. Their numbers had begun to thin, but he couldn¡¯t help but liken them to a swarm of locusts. Except these particular pests were as large as a lion, and with a wingspan to match, rather than the size of a thumb. Regardless, so long as he was careful, they didn¡¯t pose much of a threat. That would change if he failed to use Guise of the Unseen, though, so he remained cloaked in his camouflaging skill. Still, despite the relative safety he enjoyed, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but lament the slow pace of travel. When he¡¯d set out, he¡¯d hoped to be in Easton in a couple of days. And that would have been a viable expectation, given the speed he could achieve with Shape of the Sky. However, traveling overland was much slower, especially when he had to do so under the effect of Guise of the Unseen. It didn¡¯t prevent him from running flat out, but moving that quickly would strain the ability, which would chance exposing him to the harpies. So, as frustrating as it was, Elijah exercised every ounce of his patience to maintain his pace. He leaped from the final boulder and to the riverbank, then left the river behind. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if the river had originated with Earth, but he doubted it. The thing was half a mile wide, a size that wasn¡¯t usually conducive to such a rapid current, but he didn¡¯t know enough about rivers to say for certain if such a body of water had existed before Earth¡¯s transformation. What certainly hadn¡¯t existed back then were the creatures that called the river home. They could only be described as monsters, though for once, Elijah chose discretion rather than confrontation. Not only would a fight bring the harpies down on his head, but he also had no interest in letting himself get distracted by one side quest or another, as he had throughout his travels before discovering his sister¡¯s fate. With that in mind, he continued on, crossing a few other, smaller rivers along the way. He also saw a couple of settlements in various states of development. One had high walls and seemed well-protected, while another was open to attack and was barely holding on. The residents of the latter looked like they could use Elijah¡¯s help, but as was the case with the river monsters, he chose to ignore them. Perhaps that made him selfish, but with every step closer to Easton, his mindset focused on the conflict to come. He refused to dilute that by getting sidetracked. Days passed until, at last, he left the harpies behind. Or put more accurately, they chose to continue on, launching themselves into the sky and flying off as one ridiculously huge flock. In the beginning, he¡¯d estimated that they numbered in the tens of thousands, but after traveling beneath them for more than a week, Elijah amended that estimate to millions. One day, that might prove to be an issue, especially for any settlements in their path. Fortunately, the harpies seemed willing to avoid the populated towns and villages Elijah had passed along the way, which engendered hope that harmony was possible. If not, then someone would have their hands full with dealing with the monsters. But not him. Not now. Elijah didn¡¯t immediately take to the skies. Instead, he remained with his feet planted firmly on the ground, though he did abandon Guise of the Unseen. After a day of traveling out in the open, he judged it safe and used Shape of the Sky, and once again, flew high above the landscape. From that vantage point, he saw the terrain far more clearly. It wasn¡¯t particularly mountainous, but it wasn¡¯t flat, either. More importantly, the area was absolutely littered with remnants of Earth¡¯s fallen civilization. He saw overgrown subdivisions, stores, and even a couple of complexes that looked like they¡¯d once served as schools. He also saw people. Not a lot of them, but there were enough small groups out and about that Elijah expected he was getting close to a sizable population center. Still, it wasn¡¯t until he saw the tall wall brimming with ethera that he realized that he¡¯d arrived in Easton. Carmen had spent some time describing it, so he knew precisely what he was looking at. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t immediately head into the city. Instead, he circled for a couple of hours until he saw a familiar sight. He landed in the center of the street that cut through his sister¡¯s old neighborhood. The surrounding homes looked little different than any other place Elijah had visited. A few of the houses remained intact, but most had been subjected to catastrophic damage. That had been exacerbated by time and the weather, which had collapsed most of the structures. The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Elijah remembered the last time he¡¯d visited. Back then, Miguel had only been four or five years old. Just about to start kindergarten. Carmen had been working on her dissertation, while Alyssa had just started her career as a police officer a couple of years before. For his part, Elijah had just gotten a job after finishing his doctorate, and he¡¯d decided to visit his sister before starting. In those days, the apathy concerning his chosen field hadn¡¯t truly set in, and he¡¯d been eager to do important research that he¡¯d hoped would change the world. ¡°I was so na?ve,¡± he muttered to himself, having shifted back to his human form. They all were. Alyssa thought she was going to help her community and change police practices for the better. She¡¯d tried. For a while. But eventually, she¡¯d come to realize that there was only so much a single police officer could do, and she¡¯d shifted her focus toward the pursuit of a law degree. Carmen might¡¯ve been the most realistic of them. She knew her chosen field wasn¡¯t particularly important, but she was no less enthusiastic for it. Who could have predicted that she would use those skills to become one of the strongest crafters in the world? Certainly not Elijah. For what felt like the thousandth time, Elijah wished he¡¯d chosen to come back home sooner. If he¡¯d taken a flight even a day earlier, he would have been in Easton when the world had transformed. But would that have helped? Without Nerthus¡¯ guidance in cultivating his Body, the cancer would have remained. And he¡¯d been close enough to death that there was almost no chance that he would have discovered the means to cure himself without the spryggent¡¯s help. So, as easy as it was to second guess the past, Elijah knew that it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. There was nothing he could have done to prevent Alyssa¡¯s death. In fact, his presence would have been a hindrance. With that in mind, Elijah continued down the street, the iron cap on the butt of his staff clicking against the pavement. Most of the street was covered by a layer of dirt or vegetation, but there were still a few bare patches. There were animals all around, many of them having created nests inside the houses, but none of them bothered Elijah as he strode toward his sister¡¯s house. His path unimpeded, he reached the site only a few minutes later. The low-slung, single-story house was just as overgrown as all the rest, and half of it had been entirely destroyed. The other half remained strikingly intact, though, so Elijah hoped that his reasons for visiting the house would bear fruit. He stepped forward, and an audible flapping sound announced the sudden ascent of a giant bird that had nested atop the house. Flashing back to his ordeal with the harpies, Elijah immediately shifted into his lamellar ape form. His heart pounding, he wheeled around, ready to fight. However, the bird was just a normal, if overgrown, crow. It circled a couple of times, cawing loudly, but it clearly had no intention of picking a fight. His heart beating out of his chest, Elijah steadied himself before shifting back to his human form. The experience with the harpies had clearly taken their toll. It took a few moments for his heartbeat to normalize, and when it did, he continued forward. The door had been knocked from its hinges, and it lay to the side, half on the porch and the other half tangled in the overgrown topiary that hid most of the house¡¯s fa?ade. Elijah stepped inside. The sun was still high in the sky, but the interior of the house was mired in darkness. As a result, it took a few moments for Elijah¡¯s eyesight to adjust to the gloom. While he waited, he focused on One with Nature, cataloguing the various organisms in the house. There were a few rodents, plenty of reptiles like lizards and snakes, and more insects than Elijah wanted to count. He did make note of a large colony of termites that reminded him of his experiences in the Magister¡¯s Estate. But there was nothing inside that would threaten his life. So, when his eyes adjusted, Elijah set about his task without fear. The first place he visited was the kitchen, where he found a bunch of rusted pots and a host of empty cabinets. After the world¡¯s transformation, Easton¡¯s residents had survived in no small part due to extensive scavenging efforts. So, the fact that the house had been picked clean of immediately useful things ¨C which included the cabinets¡¯ contents ¨C wasn¡¯t particularly surprising. Still, Elijah did find a huge cast iron pan that he thought would be useful. It was marred by a patina of rust, but he knew that wasn¡¯t enough to ruin such a sturdy pan. Not that he could use it for its intended purpose. After all, he didn¡¯t have a cooking skill, which meant that anything he prepared would be bland and tasteless. Maybe he could gift it to someone. Or perhaps his packrat tendencies were making themselves known. In any case, it didn¡¯t take him long to move on from his sister¡¯s kitchen. The next stop was the living room, where he¡¯d hoped to find some photos. However, that hope was quickly dashed when he saw that anything that hadn¡¯t been taken was rotted, probably due to the area¡¯s humid climate. Still, Elijah spent a while sifting through the ruins, hoping to get lucky. He did not. And after some time, he moved on to what had to be Miguel¡¯s room. There, he found much of the same. The bed had been stripped of its mattress, and the chest of drawers was entirely empty. The television remained, as well as an old gaming system. However, Elijah knew that neither would work, even if he managed to provide electricity. In its ruined state, the house offered minimal protection against the elements, which didn¡¯t mix well with electronics. Elijah did find a few shirts hanging in the closet, though they were far too small for the current Miguel. So, it wasn¡¯t long before he moved to the master bedroom, where he found more of the same. Decayed photos. Inactive electronics. And rotted clothes. However, he did find a pistol in a case under the bed. ¡°Useless hunk of metal,¡± he said aloud, tossing it back to the floor. The other discovery was in that same case, and for a long moment, Elijah stared at the wad of cash. He knew it was an emergency fun, intended for use if the electrical grid went offline and cards stopped working. A reasonable thing to have, but ultimately, it had proven entirely useless. What use was a few bills when monsters were trying to rip your face off? The rest of Elijah¡¯s search bore no fruit, so when he found the basement, he didn¡¯t have high hopes. He descended the steps, his shoulders slumping in both fatigue and frustration. Yet, that all disappeared when he laid eyes on an item in the corner. 4-13. Memories and Tears Tiny clouds of dust kicked up with each of Elijah¡¯s steps as he shuffled forward, lost amidst the roiling memories of days long past. Just like the rest of the house, the basement had been ransacked. Boxes had been overturned to spill their contents over the concrete floor. Most of it was useless. One had contained old winter wear, another had been filled with tangled Christmas lights. There was a disassembled fake Christmas tree as well as a few old, festive wreaths. Elijah saw a couple of bicycles, their tires having dry rotted. And a host of other bits and pieces that were all that remained of the lives Alyssa and her family had once led. But Elijah only had eyes for one item, as well as the wooden crate beside it. He approached, then laid his hand on the old record player. The fa?ade was brushed aluminum, with sides of laminated particle board and a clear, plastic hood that had been so discolored by age that it obscured the inner workings of the player itself. On either side of the machine were matching speakers, maybe six or seven inches tall. With bated breath, Elijah reached out and touched the plastic hood, feeling the rough surface that had been through so much over the years. Like everything else in the basement, it was covered in a thick layer of dust, which took a couple of swipes from Elijah¡¯s hand to remove. And there on the top was the Nirvana sticker he expected. He stared at the simple, black-and-yellow decal as he remembered the day his sister had gotten it. She hadn¡¯t even been a teenager when she went through her grunge phase. Of course, they were both at least a decade too old to have lived through the genre¡¯s heyday, but Alyssa had never cared about following trends. Indeed ¨C she¡¯d reveled in eschewing the sorts of things all her peers seemed to hold in such high esteem. And because Elijah had idolized his older sister, he had as well. At least when it came to entertainment. The sticker was surrounded by a dozen others, all representing various bands. In a lot of ways, it was a timeline of her evolving tastes. She had never cared about consistency, putting hip hop artists right next to death metal, and with everything in between. It was a perfect representation of who Alyssa had been in her youth. A girl searching for something ¨C anything ¨C that spoke to her. And when she found it, she latched on with both hands. It didn¡¯t matter if it matched her perceived persona. She¡¯d never cared about fitting in. Instead, as clich¨¦ as it was to think of it in such terms, she had always walked to the beat of her own drum. And she¡¯d paid for it, too. On top of being tall, awkward, and lesbian, she¡¯d made no efforts to be like all the other girls. That had made her something of a loner. Sure ¨C she¡¯d had a few friends, but they were relationships of circumstance, rather than true affection. But Elijah had always been there, a few years younger, but still, they were incredibly close. And now she was gone. Forever. He would never listen to music with her again. He¡¯d never hear her talk about the girls she liked. The obscure movies she always overanalyzed. Her plans to lead the way in changing law enforcement. The list went on and on. If there was one word that could describe Alyssa, it was that she was committed. It didn¡¯t matter the subject. If she latched onto something, she embraced it completely, and to a nearly obsessive degree. And Elijah missed that. Tears carving a path down his cheeks, he opened the record player¡¯s lid, exposing the interior. It all looked to be in good order. No missing pieces, and the hood had protected it from the dust. It was a shame, then, that there was no electricity. Still, Elijah hefted it and slipped it into his satchel. It was almost too wide to fit, but he managed it. And once it was inside the bag, it settled in next to all of his other supplies. The speakers came next, after he¡¯d wrapped the wires around them. Finally, Elijah turned his attention to the wooden crate. Leaning forward, he pursed his lips and blew. With his Strength, it was like using a can of compressed air, and the dust billowed before him. Not having expected that, Elijah pulled away, coughing as he waved his hand in front of his face. Once the dust settled, though, he saw the crate¡¯s contents. His sister¡¯s collection of records had never been large. Often, she traded them in at a local second-hand store so she could satisfy the terms of whatever her latest obsession might have been. Her fixations were powerful but flighty, and when she was done with something, she moved on quickly. Even so, like the stickers, the crate¡¯s contents were akin to a timeline of her tastes. The first record was, predictably, Nirvana¡¯s Nevermind ¨C the one with the underwater baby on the cover ¨C and though the iconic photo was faded with age, it was still more than recognizable. Elijah flipped to the next, which was a record by Aerosmith. The next after that was Blind Melon. And then things took a hard left turn when he found a record from the eighties. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The cover featured a simple portrait of a pretty, teenage girl with red hair and a single word. Tiffany. It was the pop star¡¯s first album, and the one that launched her to stardom in the late eighties. Of course, if Nirvana was before Alyssa¡¯s and Elijah¡¯s time, then that album ¨C which was the sort of vapid teen pop of the era ¨C certainly was. However, it also featured some themes that resonated with Alyssa in a way that none of the current music of the time ever did. More than that, though, it was special because it was the album Alyssa had been listening to the night she had come out to Elijah. That year, Elijah had just started to get serious about boxing, and he¡¯d spent most afternoons after school at the gym. So, he didn¡¯t get home until a few hours after his sister, and when he did, he arrived to find her crying in bed while listening to ¡°I Think We¡¯re Alone Now.¡± He remembered it so vividly. Almost twenty years had passed since that day, but the memory was still so fresh in his mind. He sat on the end of her bed and awkwardly patted her on the foot, telling her that it would be okay. At the time, he¡¯d had no clue what had made her so distraught, but he knew enough to offer whatever comfort he could muster. Of course, Alyssa had insisted that it wouldn¡¯t. That¡¯s when Elijah asked what had happened, and she just blurted out that she was a freak. She¡¯d practically screamed that everyone at school was going to find out about it, too. And in true dramatic teenager fashion, she¡¯d collapsed onto the bed in a fit of tears. Elijah had continued to try to comfort her, but he had no clue what was really the matter. Alyssa had never cared about fitting in, after all. So, if someone thought she was a freak, she¡¯d have borne that label with pride. Finally, she¡¯d let the proverbial cat out of the bag, revealing that she was, in fact, a lesbian. More, she¡¯d confessed her love to one of the other girls on her track team. Those feelings were not reciprocated, and Alyssa had retreated in horror, leaving track practice early. At the time, Elijah had had no idea how to respond. He didn¡¯t really understand the gravity of her revelation until much later, but he definitely understood that Alyssa was hurting. So, he did his best to comfort her. It didn¡¯t really work, though. Still, she eventually got over the rejection, and when Elijah finally realized what it really meant that she¡¯d chosen to come out to him before she¡¯d even done so with their parents, it brought them closer than ever before. And since that day, Elijah had always associated that song with his relationship with his sister. There were other songs they enjoyed together, too. Lots of other albums, many of which were represented in that crate. As Elijah flipped through them, his grief continued to mount with every memory they brought to the forefront of his mind. The time she¡¯d helped him get ready for his junior prom. The day of her graduation. The night she got home from her first real date with a girl. Long conversations about their plans for the future. The night their parents had died. The day Elijah had left for Hawaii. Alyssa¡¯s old music had even been playing in the background when Elijah had let her know ¨C in a phone call ¨C that he had been diagnosed with cancer. She hadn¡¯t believed him, at first. Denial was often the first phase in those sorts of situations. For a while, she had even insisted on coming to Hawaii to support him. Elijah wished he¡¯d let her. He wished he¡¯d done so many things. Made so many changes. Those feelings of grief and guilt wrapped even more tightly around his heart, constricting his mind and soul to the point where he could scarcely think. And then there was the rage burning everything else for fuel. He would never again see his sister. Never hear her voice. They would never sit and listen to music again. They wouldn¡¯t watch movies together. They wouldn¡¯t reconnect after Elijah¡¯s ill-conceived flight to Hawaii. She would never see her son grow into a man. She would never get to grow old with the love of her life. She would never see the miracles Elijah sometimes took for granted. And it was all because of one deluded and self-absorbed man. Elijah wanted to lash out, then and there. He needed to destroy something. To tear the house down. Yet, he kept himself under control, slipping the records ¨C one by one ¨C into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel for safekeeping. He spent a little more time looking through the basement, but he found nothing else of sentimental value. So, a couple of hours later, he regretfully climbed the stairs and traversed the interior of the house until he¡¯d left it behind. After a single look back, Elijah adopted the Shape of the Sky, transforming over the course of a second or two, then launched himself toward the blanket of gloomy clouds above. Only a few minutes later, he landed in a copse of trees just outside Easton, then used Shape of the Predator. As was the case in Norcastle, Elijah had no interest in announcing his presence to the residents ¨C or more importantly, the guards ¨C of Easton. Instead, he chose to enter under the Guise of the Unseen. However, when he found his way to the wall, he discovered that it was far too sheer to climb the hundred-foot edifice. So, after seeing that, Elijah slowly padded along the length of the wall until he reached a gate. It was guarded by a half-dozen men wearing blue and white uniforms. Each one felt reasonably strong, though Elijah had no notion of their levels. But judging by the ethera wafting off of them, they were at least high enough to give him pause. More importantly, when he came into view, one of the guards¡¯ eyes settled on him for the briefest of seconds before moving on. Elijah didn¡¯t know if the man had seen him. Probably not, or he would have attacked. After all, he was in his terrifying draconid form, which would certainly elicit some reaction. More likely, the guard had only noticed something out of the ordinary. Or he¡¯d gotten a feeling. And Elijah suspected that if he tried to walk through the gate in broad daylight, he¡¯d be detected. So, without further hesitation, Elijah retreated a few hundred yards and settled behind a tree, where he intended to wait until nightfall to enter the city. Impatience gripped him, but he pushed past it, focusing on the impending task. 4-14. The Lay of the Land Flickering ethereal lights cast the gate in wavering shadows, which proved to be perfect cover for Elijah¡¯s ingress. He slipped past one of the guards, narrowly avoiding her by a scant handful of inches. She started, looking around in shock, but when she saw nothing, she muttered, ¡°Must¡¯ve been the wind.¡± Her partner said, ¡°Storm¡¯s comin¡¯, I think. Saw it on the horizon earlier.¡± The woman shook her head. ¡°What I wouldn¡¯t give to still be able to check my phone for the forecast,¡± she sighed. ¡°The things we miss, huh?¡± ¡°Netflix.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°I miss Netflix,¡± the man elaborated. ¡°Not just the good stuff, either. Those cheap, cash-grab, one-big-star movies they used to pump out. I would get some beer and pizza, and just turn one of those silly things on.¡± ¡°If they were silly, then why did you watch them?¡± she asked. He shrugged. ¡°Guess we all need a little silliness sometimes,¡± he answered. ¡°Call it a release. I don¡¯t know. But I miss it.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense. I liked¡­¡± Elijah passed out of earshot as he stepped into the city, completely unnoticed by the guards. Even when he was well out of sight, he didn¡¯t bother shifting back to his human form. He knew his appearance was distinct, and his experiences in Seattle told him that he only had a vague idea of what kind of identification abilities people could aim at him. Isaiah had known his whole status, and Elijah couldn¡¯t chance someone with similar abilities recognizing who he was and inferring with his plans for Easton. Or, as he discovered a few minutes later, Valoria. He¡¯d overheard that bit of information by eavesdropping on a conversation between two pedestrians who were more than a little critical of the name change. Unbeknownst to them, not only did Elijah overhear them, but their conversation didn¡¯t go unnoticed by a few other pedestrians. Most notably, there was a man with shifty eyes who seemed extremely interested, and he followed the pair as they turned a corner. Elijah let them be, but he suspected that he¡¯d just discovered the presence of the secret police Carmen had described. How fascist had the government become if people couldn¡¯t even criticize something as innocuous as a name change without incurring the city-state¡¯s wrath? Shaking his draconic head, Elijah moved on, wandering through the city. A couple of times, he bumped into one of the many pedestrians, but there were enough people in the area that no one suspected that an invisible predator moved among them. However, as the night wore on, the traffic slowly dwindled, and Elijah let himself truly take everything in. And he had to admit that the city represented an impressive achievement. It was clean, orderly, and far more structurally advanced than places like Seattle. There was no obvious crime, and certainly, it didn¡¯t feel like every alley might be the site of a murder. There were blue-and-white clad guards on nearly every corner, though, and plenty of plain-clothes watchers were out and about as well. Elijah recognized them easily enough, and he suspected that the citizens did as well. However, the residents clearly chose to ignore the obvious. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but offer his begrudging respect for what Roman had accomplished. Sure, it was built on a foundation of evil, but there was no denying that the city was a safe place to live. Eventually, Elijah passed through a large square. At first, he didn¡¯t understand the purpose of the platform in its center, but after inspecting it more closely, he smelled the unmistakable scent of blood. Then, recognition dawned in his mind, and he saw it for what it was. A stage for execution. A series of blocks ¨C ten ¨C stood in a line on the stage. Each one was missing a rounded chunk, and the resulting divot was stained with the blood Elijah smelled. Seeing that, it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine a row of prisoners strapped to the blocks and being beheaded by an axe-wielding executioner. And given the prevalence of the iron-rich scent that pervaded everything, the edifice had seen quite a lot of use. Elijah moved on, his anger mounting. Sometimes, executions were necessary, especially in a situation where you couldn¡¯t afford to jail a dangerous prisoner. When you were struggling to provide for law-abiding citizens, it was an easy decision to rid yourself of that sort of burden. Yet, that situation didn¡¯t describe Valoria. More, from Elijah¡¯s perspective, that sort of circumstance was, by definition, rare. The fact that executions in Valoria clearly weren¡¯t uncommon told Elijah that there was more at play than simple expedience or the public good. Moving on from the square did nothing to assuage Elijah¡¯s outrage, especially when he wandered into a less affluent portion of the city. There was a clear line of demarcation, beyond which were simple, unadorned, and unimaginative buildings that looked like cubes made of lifeless brick. A few bore graffiti, some of which were messages that insulted Roman or his government, and the residents were poorly fed, dirty, and cloaked in rags. Obviously, all was not well in Valoria. Over time, Elijah overheard enough to recognize that the majority of the poorest caste were Scholars, which because of Carmen¡¯s descriptions, he knew were second-class citizens in the city. Roman didn¡¯t value their potential contributions, and as such, even being permitted to live in Valoria was a relatively new development. For the first couple of years, they were routinely turned away unless they could prove themselves immediately valuable. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Most couldn¡¯t. Elijah wondered how many had died because Roman saw no value in Scholars? Thousands, at the very least. Certainly, overextending the city¡¯s resources might have destroyed everything they had built. But Elijah found it distasteful that they hadn¡¯t even tried to find a solution that didn¡¯t involve turning a bunch of people away to survive in the hostile wilderness. But at the end of the day, Elijah hadn¡¯t come to Valoria to judge the city based on its policies. Instead, as distressing as the situation was, he only really cared about holding Roman ¨C and his comrades ¨C accountable. And that meant he needed to gather some information. So, he found his way to the back of a secluded alley, where he assumed his human form. Regrettably, he donned a pair of boots, largely because, for once, he didn¡¯t want to stand out. In addition, he focused on his Ring of Anonymity:
Ring of Anonymity Equipped. Choose Mode: Anonymous Robert Thane ¨C Level 41 Warrior (Currently Active) Deactivated
Hopefully, no one would be able to see through the subterfuge. Often, he forgot about the Ring of Anonymity, but in this instance, he was totally focused, and he had no room for mistakes. So, once he¡¯d hidden his Sash of the Whirlwind under his shirt, he checked himself over. His disguise wasn¡¯t perfect, but he expected it would be enough. The only issue was that, while wearing the boots, One with Nature winked out. That left Elijah feeling a little blind, but he¡¯d expected it, so he didn¡¯t panic. Regardless, he applied his various buffs, took a deep breath, then headed out of the alley. He kept his staff out, mostly because there were few people who traveled the city completely unarmed. It would have been stranger if he was one of those few. Besides, he didn¡¯t have far to go. He joined the sparse flow of pedestrians, keeping his head down as he made his way to his destination, which turned out to be a tavern called The Swift Hiccup. It was a rowdy place ¨C not quite low-class, but not exactly swanky, either ¨C which was perfect for what Elijah had planned. He stepped into the building, and he was immediately assaulted by a wall of noise. Raucous laughter mingled with a bawdy song sung by a scantily clad woman on the other side of the room, and an undercurrent of conversation filled the air. Elijah staggered a bit as he crossed to the bar, then unsteadily sat on a stool. ¡°What¡¯s your poison?¡± asked a gaunt-faced barman. ¡°Whisky, if ya got it,¡± Elijah slurred dramatically. The bartender nodded, then went to fetch the drink. By the time he returned with a shot glass and a bottle, another man sidled up to sit next to Elijah. The barman filled the glass, then slid it toward Elijah. ¡°You new here, buddy?¡± Elijah downed the drink. ¡°New-ish,¡± he admitted. ¡°Been out in Silverado for the past few months. Just got back this afternoon.¡± ¡°Ah, you work for the government?¡± the man asked. Elijah glanced at the fellow. He was average height, with only a bit of fringe on his head and quite a large paunch around his middle. Elijah nodded, saying, ¡°That obvious?¡± ¡°Not really, in that getup. But most everybody with your level works for the government in some way or the other. Especially Warriors.¡± Elijah saw an opportunity. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth,¡± he said, tapping the bar. As the barman refilled his shot glass, Elijah said, ¡°How¡¯re things ¡®round ¡®ere?¡± The man spat on the floor. ¡°That jumped-up thug is causin¡¯ trouble again,¡± he said. ¡°Actin¡¯ like he runs the joint. He¡¯s holed up in that hotel over on the other side of Justice Square. Some folks say he¡¯s on the verge of rebellion. Uppity asshole. His kind should know their place. King Roman will deal with that, though. Everybody knows what happens to anybody who messes with the king.¡± Elijah raised his glass, ¡°Long live the king.¡± That, more than anything, loosened the man¡¯s lips, and he went on to describe the situation in great detail. Laramie, the warlord who¡¯d betrayed Carmen, had been rewarded with a very important position within the city. At present, he was Roman¡¯s most senior general, and he¡¯d spent the past year fighting Easton¡¯s ¨C or Valoria¡¯s ¨C wars. The rumor was that, as a result of his success, he¡¯d begun to get ideas about his place in everything. ¡°Ain¡¯t like he¡¯s gonna actually rebel, though. He¡¯s just posturin¡¯ so the king¡¯ll give him somethin¡¯ or nother,¡± Elijah¡¯s new ¡°friend¡± said. ¡°You know how it is. He wants ethereum, probably. Natural treasures. That sorta thing.¡± ¡°The rich get richer,¡± Elijah said sagely. ¡°If that ain¡¯t the truth, I don¡¯t know what is!¡± the paunch man exclaimed before clapping Elijah on the shoulder. ¡°You¡¯re built like a brick shithouse, kid. How high is your Strength?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°High enough to survive, not high enough to thrive.¡± That brought a laugh from the increasingly drunk man. For his part, Elijah had already gotten what he wanted. The Swift Hiccup had been chosen for a reason. From what he¡¯d overheard while exploring the city, it was frequented by low-level guards and other government officials. And in Elijah¡¯s experience, those were the sorts of people with the loosest lips. They had enough authority to take pride in it, but they were weak enough to feel a need to prove themselves to strangers. And in a bar, that usually meant spreading gossip and rumors. It just so happened that Elijah had found exactly what he sought from the first person he met. He¡¯d expected to spend most of the night hanging out in the bar, but now, he felt that he had everything he needed to do what was necessary. ¡°Well, it¡¯s gettin¡¯ late,¡± slurred Elijah. ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna get home and see my wife. Maybe we¡¯ll meet again, friend.¡± Elijah followed that up by gripping the drunken man¡¯s shoulder. For his part, the bald fellow asked Elijah to stick around for another drink, but Elijah wasn¡¯t having that. Instead, he paid his bill, then headed out. He didn¡¯t intend to hit Laramie yet. It was too late to start that kind of mission, and he was tired ¨C both mentally and physically ¨C after the day¡¯s travails. So, after wandering around a little more, he found a mid-tier hotel where he rented a bed for the night. Once inside the third-story room, he removed his shoes with a long sight of relief. He could function without One with Nature, but not having it was disconcerting in a way he hadn¡¯t expected. Perhaps he needed to work on that, because he expected it wouldn¡¯t be the last time he¡¯d be forced to travel incognito. Regardless, Elijah cast Soothe on himself, then found the basin on the nightstand. There was no bathroom, so he just used the ceramic bowl to wash his face. He¡¯d just rinsed the soap away when he felt someone in the hall outside. No ¨C not one someone. Many people. Ten, to be exact. Elijah calmly crossed to the window, then looked outside. There were dozens of men standing in the street, but he only had eyes for one of them. Pacing back and forth was a tall, athletic, and armored man who wore his hair in thick dreadlocks. ¡°Laramie,¡± Elijah whispered. Then, he made a decision. He was tired of sneaking around and asking questions like he was some sort of spy. He wanted to get on with the task he¡¯d come to Valoria to accomplish. And the first step was to rid the world of the man who¡¯d betrayed his sister-in-law. So, with fury dancing in his heart, Elijah grabbed his staff, took a deep breath, then strode toward the door. 4-15. Prey For the first time in his human form, Elijah let his fury truly envelope every facet of his mind. It sharpened his focus to a knife¡¯s edge, and as he arranged his enhancements appropriately ¨C using his attribute enhancements and foregoing Essence of the Lion for Shield of Brambles ¨C his grip tightened on his Dragon-Touched Staff. There were two men on the other side of the door, then eight more arrayed across the hall. However, while they had numbers on their side ¨C ten on one was definitely an advantage ¨C they didn¡¯t feel all that strong. Indeed, Elijah had gotten used to inferring people¡¯s attributes by monitoring their movements. And these men were nothing special. So, Elijah didn¡¯t even bother shifting, largely because he didn¡¯t think he needed it. Instead, he wanted to keep that in his back pocket, just in case someone else was watching. With that in mind, he reached out and opened the door. The would-be assailant¡¯s eyes widened in shock, but Elijah didn¡¯t let him react. His hand shot out, faster and more accurately than the man could even track. And in an instant, Elijah¡¯s fingers wrapped around his target¡¯s exposed throat, clamped down, and ripped the man¡¯s windpipe free. Blood spurted as he tried to react, but by that point, it was too late. He hit Elijah with his sword, but the blow lacked the power necessary to bypass his enhanced Constitution. Because, with the Dragon-Touched Staff, his buffs had grown by an extra five points each. With that, plus the extra five points in the attribute he¡¯d gained just be using the weapon, his Constitution had been inflated even further than normal. But Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about that. Instead, before the first man even fell, he was already swinging his staff in wide arc that took the other nearby foe in the hip. When it connected, it did so with the sound of crunching bone. The man howled in agony as his leg collapsed beneath him, and he tipped over. Elijah stomped down on his head. When that didn¡¯t kill him, he did it again, which did the trick by shattering the fellow¡¯s skull. That¡¯s when the other eight people finally reacted. Fortunately, the hall was narrow, only allowing two people to attack him at once. Unfortunately, even that was more than Elijah could handle. His staff work hadn¡¯t had the chance to improve, and so, even with his advantage in attributes, he quickly found himself on the back foot as he desperately attempted to parry one attack after another. The guards were all dressed identically, in blue-and-white uniforms and sturdy, chainmail armor. More, they each wielded swords, and they obviously knew how to use them. Yet, Elijah was surprised that he¡¯d managed to hold his own for as long as he had. They weren¡¯t weaklings, but they didn¡¯t fight like powerful warriors, either. The fact that they hadn¡¯t used any real skills or spells was a good indication that they really didn¡¯t know what they were doing. It was almost as if they¡¯d spent all their time drilling with their weapons, rather than incorporating their class-given abilities into a coherent fighting style. Still, Elijah¡¯s own relative incompetence as well as the sheer disadvantage of numbers eventually bore out, and he felt a blade bite deep into his stomach, only to erupt out the other side. Elijah coughed, coating his bearded chin in bright, red blood. The guard who¡¯d managed to impale him seemed almost surprised at the development. He was even more shocked when Elijah grinned, then pushed him away. The sword slid free, and another spurt of blood came with it. Elijah used Soothe. Then, Healing Rain. Finally, he pulsed Touch of Nature. The sequence played out over the course of only a few seconds ¨C far more quickly than he¡¯d ever cast them before. As he cast, the guards stared at him in horror. That was a mistake. Elijah grinned, his teeth coated in blood as his wound healed. ¡°Nice shot,¡± he growled, his voice low and raspy. Then, he initiated the transformation into the lamellar ape. * * * Laramie paced back and forth, resisting the urge to adjust his restrictive uniform. He¡¯d worn it almost every day for the past year, and he still wasn¡¯t accustomed to the way it fit. He had never been much for formality ¨C before or after the apocalypse ¨C but his station required a certain image. And given that he wanted to keep his position as general of Valoria¡¯s army, he would do whatever was required. Even wear an ill-fitting uniform. ¡°Are you certain he was in there?¡± he demanded, affecting the same sort of speech pattern used by Roman. Ever since he¡¯d altered his manner of speaking, he¡¯d noticed that people gave him the benefit of the doubt. His uniform helped, but his demeanor truly sold the fact that he was a man of power. Eugene ¨C one of the secret police ¨C was a balding, overweight man and a talented actor. No one ever suspected that he was gathering information on everyone he met. Most recently, that included the stranger who¡¯d come into town asking pointed questions about people far beyond him. People like Laramie himself. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. More importantly, the stranger was strong. Even Eugene¡¯s skills were incapable of measuring precisely how powerful he was, which was a red flag in and of itself. That was why Laramie had sent ten men into the hotel to detain the man. ¡°He¡¯s in there. Saw him go in my ownself,¡± the spy said, his words slurred. It was an act, Laramie knew, but a convincing one. ¡°And the clerk was keepin¡¯ a lookout for if he left. He didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± Laramie muttered. Just then, the building shook. And given that it was four-stories tall, that was a quite a feat. A moment later, something came crashing through the wall, scattering bricks and dust into the air. A body thudded into the ground only a few feet from Laramie. He danced backward, but he couldn¡¯t avoid the blood and viscera as it splattered him. ¡°What the ¨C¡± A roar cut him off, and then Laramie heard the screams of terror. He looked up to see a shape flash past the brand-new hole in the wall, and he got the impression of scales and immense size before it disappeared. Even as more screams assailed his ears, Laramie demanded, ¡°What the hell was that?!¡± No one had any answers. So, he turned to Eugene, only to see the fat man sprinting away. Laramie very much considered joining him. Whatever was in there, it was dangerous. Perhaps a powerful Voxx had bypassed the wall¡¯s defenses. Or maybe the man inside had some sort of demonic pet to do his bidding. Even as those thoughts skated through Laramie¡¯s mind, the screams abruptly ceased. For a brief moment, his men stared at the hole in the wall, unsure of what to do. This was his time to step up, to take command. Just like he¡¯d done after the apocalypse when everyone else was gripped by panic. He¡¯d led his people to survival. Just when he was about to do just that, a huge, hulking, and black-scaled creature stepped up to the gaping hole. In the scant light, it was barely visible, but what Laramie saw was enough to send a tremor of fear up his spine. And then it leaped free. People shouted. A few screamed in abject terror. But most stood their ground as the thing landed amidst them, cracking the stone street upon impact. It shot forward, raking its thick, stubby claws across a man¡¯s territory. His armor proved entirely useless against the attack, and chainmail parted before spurts of blood filled the air. The man never even got the chance to scream before the monster snapped out, decapitating him with a single bite. A moment of silence followed the ghastly act before one of the guards let out a roar and attacked. The other forty-plus men followed, burying the creature beneath dozens of hacking attacks. The sound of metal on metal filled the air, accompanied by shouts of surprise. Laramie had no idea what was happening until he added his own attacks to the mix. He thrust his sword forward, but when the tip made contact, it felt like he¡¯d tried to stab a brick wall. The clang of metal assaulted his ears before he felt a sting in his arm. He looked down to see a thick thorn buried in his forearm. When he stabbed again, he felt another. Meanwhile, the creature was not idle. With every passing second, it lashed out with one sweeping attack after another. And where those claws landed, men were torn to bloody tatters. It was a massacre. And what was worse, when Laramie got a look at the creature, he saw that it was entirely unhurt. Even more disturbingly, it seemed to take pleasure in the slaughter. One after another, the men fell before its wrath. Laramie backed away. He couldn¡¯t fight something like that. If he did, he¡¯d end up just like his friends. And then, where would everyone be? His people needed him. It was better if he ran, sacrificing the few for the good of the many. Yes ¨C that was the only answer. It didn¡¯t take him long to convince himself before he was sprinting away, his footsteps accompanied by the sound of dying guards. He turned the corner, continuing to sprint down the center of the street. People watched, perplexed to see one of their defenders ¨C especially one as recognizable as him ¨C running as though his life depended on it. Part of him wanted to warn the residents of the danger the monster¡¯s presence represented, but something in the back of his mind kept him from doing so. Because if he truly wanted to escape, any delay would be beneficial. Even if it meant that each of the residents he passed needed to be sacrificed. So, he ran. He wasn¡¯t certain how long his flight lasted, but eventually, he slowed to a walk. His head whipped back and forth as he searched for any indication that the monster had followed, but there was nothing there. However, in his panicked state, he¡¯d gotten turned around. Valoria was quite large, and though much of the city was laid out in a perfect and easily navigable grid, that wasn¡¯t the case in the less affluent districts like the one in which he¡¯d found himself. That was how he ended up at a dead end. And when he turned, he saw something horrifying walking toward him. It was a reptile, but one that moved like a hunting cat. With black scales and a long snout filled with razor sharp teeth, the creature looked even more intimidating than the scaled horror that had killed his men. It was coming right at him, too. Slowly, and with deadly grace, it padded forward. Laramie drew his sword and held it before him. Belatedly, he remembered to cast his spells, but they were only useful for enhancement. That was part of his class, Fighter. He had a couple of attack skills, but to use them, he needed to satisfy certain requirements that just weren¡¯t possible before the fight began. ¡°Come on, you fucking monster!¡± he growled, waving his sword like he was trying to fend off an aggressive dog. The monster laughed. It actually laughed! The sound was like a chuckling hiss, but it was unmistakable. ¡°Are you¡­are you aware?¡± ¡°Are you?¡± it rasped, stopping ten feet away. Then, it struck. Laramie tried to react, but he was far too slow. His sword clanged against the ground as he missed the retreating creature. It actually took him a moment before he realized that it had wounded him. He didn¡¯t dare take his eyes off his enemy, but he could feel a tiny nick ¨C barely more than a paper cut ¨C on his thigh. Was that the extent of its power? It struck again, raking its claws against the other leg, retreating before he could counterattack. Once it reached the ten-foot mark, it sank down to its haunches. Then, it hissed, ¡°You feel it, don¡¯t you? I¡¯ve never asked if it¡¯s painful, but I suspect it is.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The afflictions,¡± it answered, staring at him with cold, reptilian eyes. ¡°Contagion is pure rot, but Venom Strike causes necrosis. Two instances of each is probably enough to incapacitate you.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Laramie fell to his knees as one of his legs gave out. Then the next followed. ¡°W-what do you want?¡± he spat. ¡°I want to know everything about your¡­king,¡± the monster said. ¡°Give me what I want, and I will spare you quite a lot of pain.¡± With his legs having already become useless, it didn¡¯t take much to convince Laramie to talk. He was a survivor, after all, and he would latch onto any hope that might see him through to another day. So, he spilled his guts, telling the monster everything it wanted to know. When he was done, he coughed, ¡°Now, spare me. I told you what you wanted to know!¡± The monster disappeared. And then, an immense pressure gripped his skull from behind before everything went dark. 4-16. Consequences Fiona strode through the lobby of her apartment building, her heels clicking against the marble tile. She hardly noticed the grand entryway or the stunning artwork. Instead, she took it all for granted, as if it was no less than someone like her deserved. After all, she was the king¡¯s closest advisor and ¨C if she had her way ¨C his soon-to-be lover. Perhaps his queen. That very day, she had taken the first steps along that path by visiting a woman with a very interesting class. Once a plastic surgeon, she¡¯d taken the Healer archetype. However, instead of becoming a Cleric or a Priest like so many others, she had taken a completely different approach by taking a class dependent on her very specific background. Fiona didn¡¯t know the name of the class. Nor did she really need to, really. All she needed to know was that the woman could solve her issue. And after seeing a demonstration, Fiona was certain that she could do just that. Similar to her old profession, the woman¡¯s new class was focused on fixing imperfections. She could mold flesh, shaping it to her desires. Of course, judging by the patient¡¯s screams, it was quite painful, but Fiona could endure that if she could make herself more attractive to the subject of her infatuation. It would have been much easier if Roman¡¯s tastes hadn¡¯t been so specific. His late wife had been a perfect example of what he preferred. The woman had looked like a suburban version of a Playboy bunny, with all the plastic parts that would imply. Fiona, by contrast, had always been petite. But that was going to change, and soon. The doctor would give her the bait she needed to get Roman on the hook. Then, she would reel him in. From there, they would rule Valoria and create an empire that would stand for millennia. It was practically foretold, a fact that had been revealed when Roman had told her about the quest the system had given him. And he¡¯d completed it, cementing her belief that he was special. Certainly, she didn¡¯t believe he was destined to be humanity¡¯s savior, as he often claimed. However, she couldn¡¯t really think of anyone better, either. And besides, savior or not, he was one of the most powerful men in the world. That was all that really mattered. Because she never wanted to feel weak again. If she couldn¡¯t have the power herself ¨C and she didn¡¯t, really ¨C she would find someone strong to protect her. She refused to get into another situation like she¡¯d experienced in the wake of the apocalypse. Back then, her husband had shown his true colors, proving himself too weak to be anything but monster fodder. Sure, David had tried to protect her. He¡¯d fought. And he had died on the very first day, leaving her alone and at the mercy of the world. How she¡¯d managed to claw her way to safety was still a source of bewilderment. But that was the past. Now, she had a real man to protect her. To keep her safe no matter what happened. She just needed him to realize that she was the best partner he could ever find. Thus, the visit to the doctor. Those thoughts occupied her mind as she made her way through the lobby and into the elevator. It was an ingenious contraption powered by ethera, rather than electricity, but she took it for granted. So long as it went up and down without too much fuss, she was content to let the marvel of ethereal engineering fade into the background. It rose from one floor to the next until, at last, she reached the penthouse. The doors opened, and she stepped inside. The moment she was alone and out of the potential public eye, she sighed, removing one shoe after another and padding toward her kitchen, where she poured herself a huge glass of wine. However, she never got to enjoy it, because when she turned around, she saw something truly disturbing. The glass fell from her hand as she reached to her hip, grabbing at the wand at her waist. She was too slow, though. Even as the glass hit the floor, splattering the burgundy liquid across the floor, the stranger in the corner flashed forward. He didn¡¯t use an ability. Instead, he moved under the influence of his attributes. Before she could bring her wand to bear, his hand clamped around her wrist. He squeezed. And her wrist broke. The wand ¨C a twisted rod of some unidentifiable metal ¨C clattered to the floor, and she let out a scream that was cut off when he slapped his other hand over her mouth and shoved her against the wall. ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have to kill you.¡± She tried to scream again, but the sound was muffled by his hand. As tears traced lines of mascara down her cheeks, she stopped struggling. Then, she forced a nod. He cocked his head to the side, studying her face before suddenly removing his hands and backing away. She slumped to the floor with a whimper. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Fiona had thought herself accustomed to pain. She¡¯d been through quite a lot of it since the apocalypse. However, her broken wrist had proven that she wasn¡¯t quite as used to it as she¡¯d thought. ¡°W-what do you want?¡± she sobbed. ¡°I want to show you something,¡± the man said, reaching into the gray purse at his side. That gave her an opportunity to memorize her attacker¡¯s features. He was a short man ¨C maybe an inch or so shy of average ¨C but somewhat stocky. His face was handsome enough, in an unrefined sort of way, though his looks weren¡¯t helped by the scraggly beard and unruly blonde hair. Still, there was something about him that she could at least acknowledge might attract a certain type of woman. Not her, though. The man wore anachronistic and oddly cut clothing, including a large fur coat. In truth, that wasn¡¯t really out of the ordinary in a city like Valoria, which was on the cutting edge of craftsmanship. Those sorts of people were always trying new things, which meant that plenty of strange fashion trends had swept through the city over the past year. However, Fiona¡¯s eyes were drawn to two features more than anything else. First, the man¡¯s feet were unshod, with his pants ending a bit above his ankles. Strange, that, and more than a little remarkable. The second thing ¨C or things, really ¨C that stood out were the scars marring his body. One of his hands bore the evidence of a long-healed burn, while there were plenty of other scars decorating his neck and disappearing beneath his shirt. By the time Fiona had catalogued those features, he¡¯d retrieved something from his bag. And it wasn¡¯t until it thudded onto the floor, then rolled to a stop next to her that she realized what it was. Of course, she screamed. Because that was the only logical reaction to seeing a severed head, especially when it had belonged to someone she knew. Laramie¡¯s long dreadlocks were unmistakable, and when she looked down into the dead general¡¯s cold, lifeless eyes, she couldn¡¯t contain her shock. The intruder slapped her with enough force to nearly dislocate her jaw. ¡°Sorry,¡± he muttered, not seeming as if he meant it as he loomed over her. He straightened to his full height. ¡°Don¡¯t scream.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± she demanded again, forcing some degree of defiance into her voice. ¡°I want to know how to get into the palace,¡± he said simply. ¡°I¡¯m told you can do that.¡± ¡°Told by whom?¡± The man¡¯s eyes flicked toward the severed head. ¡°He was very talkative, there in the end,¡± the intruder said. ¡°Why do you want to get into the palace?¡± she asked, mustering some of her courage. Her wrist was still useless, but if she could get the man talking, perhaps she could hit him with one of her spells. She hadn¡¯t been keeping up with her leveling of late, but that didn¡¯t mean she was completely helpless. ¡°Stop.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Gathering ethera. If you keep going, I¡¯m going to rip your arms off,¡± he said calmly. ¡°If you do that, you won¡¯t get the information you want.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It won¡¯t kill you. I¡¯ve thought about it a lot. I can¡¯t regrow limbs, but I can stop bleeding pretty easily. Especially for someone as low-leveled as you,¡± he said, his voice almost conversational. ¡°And that means you won¡¯t die. I don¡¯t think it would do much for the pain, though.¡± ¡°Y-you would ¨C¡± ¡°Stop stalling,¡± he said. ¡°Your security people are already dead. You will be soon, too.¡± ¡°Unless I give you a way into the palace?¡± He didn¡¯t answer, but she didn¡¯t need him to, either. Fiona could read the situation. The man was dangerous. A killer. He wouldn¡¯t hesitate to murder her if she didn¡¯t provide what he wanted. She took a deep breath, knowing how big of a betrayal she was about to commit. Would Roman forgive her? Maybe. He understood survival better than most. And there was a chance that she could warn him once the intruder left. She had an ethereal construct for just such an occasion. It ran on silver coins, but that was nothing considering the situation. So, Fiona reached up to the delicate chain around her neck, then dragged it over her head. The pendant was a simple ruby in a silver setting, but that necklace was the most meaningful gift she had ever received. Not because it was valuable. It was, but Fiona was more concerned with what it represented ¨C Roman¡¯s trust. With that pendant, she could bypass most of the palace¡¯s security features. The implications of that weren¡¯t lost on her, so she valued the pendant quite highly. She tossed it to the man, who deftly caught it. That¡¯s when Fiona struck, aiming a Greater Ethereal Bolt at his chest.
Greater Ethereal Bolt Conjure a large ball of destructive ethera, casting it at a target. Splashes in a three-yard radius. Briefly stuns on impact. Duration of stun dependent on Ethera attribute. Current: 1.2 Seconds. Victim¡¯s Ethera and Constitution attributes determines resistance.
The blue ball of roiling ethera snapped into being instantly. Then, it was sailing through the air in the intruder¡¯s direction. Fiona was already casting another when it hit him. She knew she would need to pile on the damage if she wanted to defeat the man, and that meant casting as many times as she could before the stun ran its course. However, before she could complete her second spell, the man was only inches away, his clothes smoking but otherwise unharmed. He did look angry, though. His hand snapped out, his fingers wrapping around her throat. Before Fiona could react, he had lifted her off the ground, pinning her against the wall. ¡°I wish you wouldn¡¯t have done that,¡± he said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to kill you. I really wasn¡¯t. I was just going to tie you up, leaving you for someone else to find. But now¡­¡± ¡°N-no!¡± she croaked, trying to cast a spell ¨C anything would do. But as panicked as she was by the situation, she couldn¡¯t focus well enough to do so. She kicked and scratched, writhing as she tried to escape. Eventually, she managed to utter a single word. ¡°Why?¡± she rasped. ¡°Because you helped kill an innocent woman!¡± he spat. Before she could really process it, she muttered, ¡°Which one?¡± It was barely more than a whisper, but it seemed to work. The man¡¯s fingers loosened. Then, he shook his head, echoing her own question, ¡°Which one? Which one?¡± He gave a harsh laugh, then shook his head. ¡°Rotten to the core,¡± he muttered. Then, he reached back, and before Fiona knew what was happening, she saw a fist descending toward her face. It connected with skull-shattering force. The wall cracked behind her, but she was high enough of a level that the blow didn¡¯t kill her. The second one did. Limp, she fell to the floor, unthinking and unseeing. 4-17. Infiltration Shame mingled with guilt to create a confusing miasma of emotions that Elijah struggled to reconcile with the bonfire of rage still blazing within his heart. He hadn¡¯t set out to kill Fiona. Instead, when he¡¯d infiltrated her apartment, he¡¯d only intended to intimidate her into giving him access to the palace. Once that was done, his plan was to tie her up and imprison her within her own home. By the time she worked her way free, his mission would have been finished. But then she had revealed the depths of her own depravity. Of her own complicity in the cesspool that was Easton. Or Valoria, as the locals called it. ¡°Which one?¡± she¡¯d blurted. Which one. Elijah had snapped, letting his rage overwhelm him, and by the time he¡¯d regained control, she was dead. However, as shameful as the act of killing a prisoner was, he didn¡¯t regret it. She had earned her punishment. But even that fact ¨C and it was an indisputable reality ¨C did nothing to assuage his guilt. That emotional confusion accompanied Elijah as he padded out of the apartment building and into the street beyond. There were few pedestrians about, and the ones that were around wore expensive clothing and copious jewelry. To Elijah, they looked like they were cosplaying aristocrats from a bygone era, and after some of what he¡¯d seen in the less affluent areas, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a note of irritation. The wealth inequality was disgusting. Even more infuriating was the regressive attitude that pervaded much of Valoria¡¯s population. They considered Scholars to be second-class citizens, and those people were treated accordingly. Many were not even afforded an opportunity to work in their own fields. Instead, they were used as manual laborers, paid a pittance to do the jobs the other citizens deemed beneath them. That was Roman¡¯s other sin. Certainly, Elijah had come to punish the man for killing Alyssa. Without that act, he would never have considered acting. However, now that he was committed to taking his vengeance, everything Elijah saw seemed to support it. Was there ever a situation where murder ¨C or assassination, he supposed ¨C was moral? Maybe. Maybe not. But Elijah was sure of one thing ¨C the world would be a much better place without Roman taking up space. So, despite the swirl of guilt and shame ¨C and rage ¨C circling his mind, Elijah¡¯s commitment never wavered. In fact, with every person he passed, it felt stronger than ever before. In his draconid form and cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he continued down the street, completely undetected by the pedestrians or the blue-and-white clad guards. A few of the latter seemed to have some inkling of his presence, recognizable when Elijah¡¯s passage elicited an attentive scan of their surroundings. However, it was just as obvious that, despite their suspicions, they couldn¡¯t see him. So, Elijah progressed through the city unmolested, eventually arriving at the palace grounds. They were expansive, with a perfectly coifed lawn, manicured trees, and burbling fountains. However, to Elijah, it was all hollow. The trees felt like they¡¯d been enslaved and pruned into specific and unnatural shapes that had nothing to do with their true forms. They were treated like accessories, rather than living things. Which just added fuel to the fire of Elijah¡¯s fury. He struggled to ignore it as he stalked through the grounds. The palace itself was a ridiculously over-the-top exaggeration of gothic architecture that reminded Elijah of the Magister¡¯s Estate. Which was saying something, considering that the entire vibe of that tower had been meant to be creepy. Tall, aggressive spires, flying buttresses, and pointed arches were in abundance, and Elijah saw dozens of guards patrolling the grounds. The first group he passed gave him a bit of a start, though. ¡°You don¡¯t feel that?¡± asked one of the men. A woman who¡¯d been walking beside him answered, ¡°Yeah. My Guard Sense is going crazy, but I don¡¯t see anything.¡± Elijah quickly vacated the area, interpreting the mentioned Guard Sense to be an ability like One with Nature that would give them extrasensory perception. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but then again, neither was One with Nature. When someone was using some sort of obscuring skill ¨C like the vampire back in the tower ¨C he couldn¡¯t precisely sense them. Instead, he could sense something of an absence that took a certain mindset to notice. The same was probably true of the soldiers¡¯ Guard Sense. And Elijah didn¡¯t want to push his luck by sticking too close to the guards. Gradually, he padded through the grounds, staying to the shadows as often as possible. Only a few times was he forced to veer close to the patrolling guards, and each time, the sentries went on alert. Fortunately, he moved quickly enough that they never had an opportunity to figure out what was going on. Eventually, Elijah found his way to an open door that led beneath the palace. At first, he thought he¡¯d found the outside entrance to a storeroom, but the smells assaulting his nose quickly disabused him of that notion. It was the unmistakable odor of unwashed humanity. Pungent body odor, the acrid scent of human waste, and the smell of blood grew stronger with every step. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. But there was more to it, too. A scent Elijah could only call rot, almost like roadkill, flowed beneath the other smells, hinting that something was amiss. Perhaps they buried their dead beneath the palace, he guessed. But that made no sense. Nobody would design their home to include that sort of thing. A mausoleum or crypt, perhaps, but those usually featured embalmed bodies, so they weren¡¯t pervaded by the smell of rot. Elijah didn¡¯t know what was going on. So, he kept going, looking for a means of ingress into the palace. The other doors he¡¯d found had been guarded by many powerful-feeling sentries. If it came down to a fight, he felt like he could take them, but not without kicking up a fuss. He wasn¡¯t ready to engage in all-out battle though. If he did, he¡¯d bring the entirety of Valoria¡¯s defenses down upon his head. That wouldn¡¯t work for what he had planned, so stealth remained the best way forward. The passage continued to slope downward at an easy decline, doubling back and forth as it progressed ever deeper. Then, it leveled out, ending in a large chamber lit by wall-mounted sconces filled with flickering torches. There were three guards on duty, and they stood sentry before a massive, iron-bound door. Elijah considered simply going back. There had to be another entrance. Yet, he suspected that he would need to kill if he wanted to enter the palace. And given the isolated nature of the chamber ¨C as well as the light guard presence ¨C he expected that this would be the best chance he would get. So, without further hesitation, Elijah slithered forward, circling around the edge of the room until he found himself facing the back of one of the guards. He stood before the door, while the other two sat on a pair of stools nearby, where they were playing cards. Even as the pair bantered back and forth, Elijah embraced Predator Strike and pounced, decapitating the upright guard with a single bite of his powerful jaws. Then, he used Flicker Step, disappearing and reappearing behind one of the other guards. He struck again. This time, there was more resistance ¨C without Predator Strike to augment his attack, he only had his Strength on his side ¨C but it wasn¡¯t enough. The man¡¯s skull shattered beneath his forceful bite. Before he fell, Elijah launched himself forward, attempting to rip into the third man¡¯s face. The sentry scrambled backward, tipping over his stool and letting out a scream that was cut short by Elijah¡¯s attack. The guard used some sort of shield skill, fouling Elijah¡¯s initial strike. However, the second attack ¨C a swipe from his claws ¨C shattered the plane of ethera, allowing Elijah free access to the man¡¯s delicate throat. He ripped it out with a second swipe of his claws, sending an arc of blood to splatter across the wall. Only three seconds had passed, and the guards were all dead. Elijah stood over his final kill, looking down at the man with no emotion. It wasn¡¯t so different a mindset from what he usually adopted in towers. They weren¡¯t people. Just enemies. Obstacles that needed to be overcome. It was a dangerous frame of mind. And he rejected it. They were people. They probably had families. Friends. Hopes and dreams. But they had chosen the wrong side. They had supported Roman. There was an argument that they¡¯d only done what they needed to do to survive, and while accurate, that didn¡¯t excuse the horrors in which they had engaged. Because the guards had done plenty of horrible things, too. During his exploration of the city and the conversation with the man in the tavern, Elijah had learned a bit about the men and women who wore the blue-and-white uniforms. And what he¡¯d learned was enough to assuage any guilt he might¡¯ve felt. They¡¯d engaged in wholesale slaughter during the failed rebellion, an act which most citizens considered excessive. But they hadn¡¯t stopped there, either. They never missed an opportunity to bully the population ¨C especially those who the city¡¯s leaders deemed expendable. Or worthless. As a result, some truly despicable acts ¨C ranging from sexual assault to extortion and murder ¨C had been swept under the table. No ¨C Elijah might¡¯ve felt guilty about killing Fiona, but that was as much to do with the fact that she was a mostly helpless woman as anything else. The soldiers couldn¡¯t claim innocence. The moment they¡¯d donned their uniforms, they¡¯d established themselves as combatants. And with them, anything would go. Elijah shifted into his human form, then searched the guards. Their armor was nothing special, so he didn¡¯t bother taking it. His Ghoul-Hide Satchel held far more than its appearance would suggest, but its capacity wasn¡¯t infinite. So, he needed to be selective about what he looted, and given that the armor didn¡¯t seem valuable, Elijah left it on their bodies. However, he did take a couple of decent daggers that felt more powerful than normal. Both were cool to the touch, suggesting that they had been made from the Cold Iron Carmen had mentioned. Still, they seemed poorly constructed, which probably affected their grade. Whatever the case, he could never have enough knives, and they didn¡¯t take up much room. He also found a ring of keys, which he expected would unlock the gate ¨C and any others past it. So, once he¡¯d ensured that they had nothing else of value, he piled the corpses near the door, unlocked it, then pushed it open, revealing another corridor. However, this one was slightly different in that, only a dozen feet in, there were two doors ¨C one on either side of the hall. Elijah stalked forward, then checked inside the first. It was empty, which gave him a perfect location to stash the bodies. It only took a couple of minutes to carry them to what looked like a jail cell, then deposit them inside before moving on. He did so after having switched back to his draconid form and under Guise of the Unseen. Like that, he continued on until, at last, the torch-lit tunnel terminated in a huge chamber. It was hundreds of yards across and just as deep. But Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with the dimensions. Instead, he was only concerned with the cages, each one containing naked people, that lined the walls. Stacked three high, there must¡¯ve been hundreds of them, and they all held at least a few prisoners. They were all dirty, emaciated, and on the edge of death. That left Elijah with a choice. He could free them, taking precious time to heal them. Given their condition, that might take a while. Or he could ignore the issue and continue on with his task. He glanced toward the center of the room, where he saw a raised circle decorated with chains and a series of square plinths. Each one was stained with blood, telling Elijah that he¡¯d found another execution site. The fires of his rage reignited. Elijah stalked through the prison, ignoring the pitiful people in the cages. He still hadn¡¯t decided what to do with them, but whichever path he chose, he needed to scout things out. After all, who knew what horrors the dungeon held? The answer to that question came soon after, when he found another room. It was much smaller, and inside there was a corpulent man who Elijah¡¯s instincts told him was someone important. Not that it mattered. With what he saw, Elijah¡¯s conscience wouldn¡¯t allow him to ignore the monster in human form. So, without further ado, he stepped through the open door and prepared for battle. 4-18. The Wardens Domain ¡°Don¡¯t struggle,¡± growled Waldo, unbuckling his belt. ¡°You want your parents freed, don¡¯t you?¡± The girl shrank against the wall ¨C as if he was some sort of despicable monster. After everything he¡¯d done for her, she had the audacity to look at him like he was beneath her? The girl ¨C he didn¡¯t even remember her name ¨C was the daughter of one of the prisoners outside. If he remembered correctly, they had been executed a few days before ¨C but that didn¡¯t matter. The girl didn¡¯t know, which was all that was important. He stepped forward, intending to grab her by the hair and show her precisely who was in charge. She needed to be put back in her place. She needed to understand who she was dealing with. So many people regarded the apocalypse as some terrible calamity that had befallen humanity. But Waldo McArthur wasn¡¯t one of them. Before, he¡¯d been a powerless security guard. A loser who couldn¡¯t even be trusted to carry a gun on the job. Now, though? He was a man of consequence and power. He was important. The king himself had said so, and his word was law. Everywhere but in Waldo¡¯s prison, at least. In there, he was the Warden. It was his domain, which meant that, in that expansive facility, even the king couldn¡¯t rival his authority. Which made the little slip of a girl ¨C barely more than sixteen years old ¨C and her revulsion so much more irritating. But that was fine. He would show her. He would show them all. Or that was the plan right up until a monster out of nightmares erupted out of the shadows, burying its claws in his shoulder and aiming a horrifyingly swift bite at Waldo¡¯s head. He shifted far more quickly than a man of his size should¡¯ve been capable of moving, narrowly avoiding the creature¡¯s razor-sharp teeth as they snapped shut with the force of finality. Only then did Waldo remember that, in the prison, his authority was absolute. After all, he was the Warden. The Divine System had given him that class, and he¡¯d used it as it was intended to be used. Utilizing Strength of the Jailer, he wrapped his meaty hands around the monster, then levered it free. It left more than a few wounds behind, but he had potions for that. Ignoring his blood-soaked shirt, he heaved the monster across the room. It hit with bone-crunching force, collapsing to the ground a second later. Waldo advanced, intending to finish the creature off. But then, it shifted, transforming before his very eyes. The thing¡¯s scales melted away, and its body morphed into the last thing he expected. ¡°You¡¯re human?¡± he muttered. Then, as a short, bearded man with blonde hair pushed himself to his feet, Waldo grinned. ¡°You¡¯re human.¡± ¡°Good eye, asshole,¡± the man growled, ethera swirling all around him. That would not do at all. Waldo used Warden¡¯s Shackles:
Warden¡¯s Shackles Create an affliction that rapidly drains a prisoner¡¯s store of ethera. Only usable inside the Warden¡¯s jail. Rate of drain based on caster¡¯s level, Core cultivation, and Ethera attribute.
The man gasped, and Waldo¡¯s grin widened. ¡°You don¡¯t like that one little bit, do you?¡± he taunted. ¡°I¡¯m told it¡¯s quite painful, having the magic sucked right out of you.¡± That¡¯s when someone whacked him in the back of the head. It wasn¡¯t enough to even stagger Waldo, but it did elicit quite a response. He whipped around, aiming a backhanded blow at the girl who dared to attack him. She held a candlestick like a weapon, as if she expected it to do any good. She didn¡¯t even have a class yet. Which meant that, because of Waldo¡¯s enhanced Strength, the chances the girl would survive were precisely zero. Oh well ¨C he would find another one soon enough. He had a lot of prisoners, after all. And many of them had family that were desperate enough to do anything to save them. But then something stopped his hand. He glanced in that direction to see that the man¡¯s fingers wrapped around his wrist. Waldo tried to yank his arm free, but the disheveled man¡¯s grip was like iron. Well, he had something to deal with that, too. He used Fetters of Domination.
Fetters of Domination Create an affliction that weakens a prisoner by 75%. Only usable inside the Warden¡¯s Jail. Affliction is less effective on those with higher effective attributes than the caster. Resistance based on relative Strength. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
The moment the ability fell upon the interloper, Waldo yanked his arm free. Even then, it was difficult, and it threw him off-balance. He tripped and fell, bouncing a little because of his girth. It didn¡¯t hurt, but the embarrassment of it sent him into a rage. He wheeled around, growling, ¡°You¡¯re going to pay for that! I¡¯ll ¨C¡± Something bit him, cutting off his tirade. He looked down to see a tiny millipede latched onto his ankle. Its pincers had gone right through his trousers, drawing blood. More distressingly, it was not alone. A hundred of the little monsters had come from nowhere, and they seemed hell-bent on swarming him. He screamed, slapping the little creatures and splattering their guts across the floor. He got most of them fairly easily ¨C they couldn¡¯t stand before his enhanced attributes ¨C but there were so many that he still picked up a few bites. That was fine, though. Once he was done with the intruder and the girl, he would take a potion ¨C made by the best alchemist in the city, no less ¨C and he would be fine. It was his ace in the hole. For all his powers, especially within his domain, accidents still happened. And he¡¯d never been afforded the use of a Healer. So, he¡¯d made do by contracting the local alchemist. It had saved him no less than three times already, and he expected it would prove to be just as useful in the future. But first, he needed to deal with the man who¡¯d barged into his office and assaulted him. Now that Fetters of Domination was active, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult. He only¡­ He tried to rise, but a wave of dizziness washed over him. * * * Elijah spared one facet of his Quartz mind to look at his status, and he didn¡¯t like what he saw. His physical attributes had been reduced by more than half, which was a debilitating level of weakness that even exceeded what he¡¯d experienced at the hands of Thor. Without that, though, Elijah would never have been prepared for whatever ability the disgusting Warden had cast on him. So, even though he was much weaker, he didn¡¯t let it completely incapacitate him. Instead, he focused on what he could do, rather than what he couldn¡¯t. That had led him to casting Swarm. It was only barely possible. Another of the man¡¯s abilities had drained Elijah¡¯s ethera so quickly that he could only use Soothe and a single cast of Touch of Nature before his Core had been drained. However, even as his body healed, his Quartz Mind and his newly upgraded Novice Soul went to work, restoring what had been lost. It had drained almost as quickly as he could recover ethera, but he¡¯d managed to build just enough to cast Swarm. He couldn¡¯t keep that up, though. So, he knew he¡¯d need to finish the Warden without the advantage of most of his physical attributes or spells. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t entirely weakened. So, as the fat man struggled to rise, Elijah leveled his staff in his foe¡¯s direction. At the same time, he sidestepped to put himself between the Warden and his victim. The girl was young. Very, very young. She wore a simple, white dress and was clearly terrified. Still, she¡¯d distracted the Warden for a precious few seconds that had allowed Elijah to adjust. Not that he was keeping score. The moment he¡¯d recognized the situation, he¡¯d resolved to save her. And that resolution hadn¡¯t changed. The Warden reached into his pocket, though his fingers didn¡¯t seem to work as well as they should, which made him fumble the task. The delay was only a couple of seconds, but that allowed Elijah to close on him just as he pulled a small bottle free. It looked like it would only hold about eight ounces, and it was filled with vibrant green liquid. To Elijah it felt both full of life and somehow artificial, at the same time. Sort of like artificial sweetener, though far fouler. Regardless, he could read the situation ¨C and the Warden¡¯s desperation ¨C well enough to recognize that he didn¡¯t want the man to drink it. Likely, it was a potion not dissimilar from the one Thor had used to prolong their fight. So, Elijah acted quickly, aiming the butt of his staff at the Warden¡¯s wrist. He connected, but as weakened as he was, it did little good, other than once again delay the man¡¯s relief. So, Elijah hit it again. This time, the Warden tried to avoid the blow, but if Elijah was weakened, then the fat man was on his last leg. Elijah intended to keep him there as he continued to aim one blow after another at the bottle. And eventually, he succeeded in loosening the Warden¡¯s grip. However, when the bottle crashed to the ground, cracking at the point of impact and spilling its contents all over the floor, the Warden turned his attention on Elijah. Even in his afflicted state, the man was powerful enough to muster a spell. Immediately, thick, ethereal chains erupted from his bulbous stomach and darted at Elijah. He tried to dodge, but his low attributes failed him. He stumbled, which was all the opening the Warden¡¯s chains needed to wrap around him. They continued to grow, one link at a time as they encircled him a half dozen times. ¡°Cure!¡± the man coughed, clenching his fist. The chains tightened. Elijah struggled, but there was nothing he could do. He could feel his bones creaking under the pressure. He wriggled, straining every muscle in his body. It was useless, though. A hundred thoughts raced through Elijah¡¯s mind, but none were more prevalent than regret. For everything he¡¯d done wrong, for all the times he¡¯d lost track of his priorities ¨C because in that moment, he knew he was going to die. The Warden had robbed him of his attributes as well as his ability to heal. There was no chance he would survive. And yet, there was some solace in knowing that the grotesque man would soon perish as well. Already, the afflictions from Swarm and the Contagion from Elijah¡¯s flurry of attacks that had also been laced with Venom Strike had nearly killed the man. He still had some ways to go, but it was only a matter of time before he succumbed. That was good to know. Elijah¡¯s vision began to darken as the Warden continued his unhinged and panicked demands. And all of his thoughts coalesced into a single one. He was sorry that he hadn¡¯t avenged his sister¡¯s death, but at least he¡¯d fallen trying to save someone else. She would have approved of that, at least. Abruptly, the grip of the chains weakened. Then, they fell away, dissipating into ethereal motes. Elijah collapsed, more than a few of his bones broken. It certainly wasn¡¯t as bad as it had been after his fight with Thor ¨C they were all clean breaks, as far as he could tell ¨C but there was nothing good about having multiple fractures. He gasped for breath, but soon, his recovery was interrupted by a repeated thumping sound. Elijah looked up to see the girl repeatedly beating the Warden over the head with the candlestick. He was already dead, a good portion of his skull having been caved in. And yet, the girl ¨C weeping profusely ¨C continued her assault. That¡¯s when Elijah felt the weakening afflictions ¨C the one that reduced his attributes as well as the one that constantly drained his ethera ¨C fall away. Flexing every aperture in his Mind, Elijah dragged as much ethera through the channels of his Novice Soul and into his Core, keeping going until he had enough energy to fuel Soothe. Then, he kept going until he could use Touch of Nature. And Healing Rain, which affected the girl as well. She¡¯d had quite a few bruises and scratches ¨C the man clearly hadn¡¯t been gentle with her ¨C so the nourishing precipitation had some work to do. Finally, Elijah tried to speak to the girl, but she clearly couldn¡¯t hear him. Instead, she¡¯d collapsed atop the man, and even though she¡¯d exhausted her strength, she continued to weakly rap the candlestick against his skull. Once he was healed, Elijah pushed himself to his feet, then grabbed ahold of her arm. She whipped her head around, glaring at him with wild eyes, and he said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. He¡¯s dead, now. You¡¯re safe.¡± ¡°N-nobody is safe in this city,¡± she breathed, her voice hoarse. ¡°They will be,¡± Elijah said with no small degree of resolve. ¡°They will be.¡± 4-19. The Curse of Empathy ¡°Are you hurt?¡± Elijah asked, releasing the girl¡¯s wrist. ¡°I¡­I twisted my ankle,¡± she mumbled between sobs. ¡°But¡­but it¡¯s fine now. How is it fine now?¡± Elijah pointed to the ceiling, where clouds had gathered, dumping Healing Rain on them both. ¡°Spell,¡± he said. ¡°But how?¡± she asked. ¡°He drains ethera. That¡¯s why nobody can resist once they¡¯re in here.¡± Elijah had certainly felt the bite of that ability, but he¡¯d overcome it ¨C at least temporarily ¨C via his cultivation. However, even that wasn¡¯t enough to resist for long, and he¡¯d only managed a few casts before he¡¯d lost access to his own spells. However, since the Warden had been slain, the detrimental effect had faded away. The same was true of the one that limited his attributes. ¡°I¡¯m special,¡± he said. ¡°Are you here to save us?¡± the girl asked, her eyes wide with hope. The answer to that question was a definitive no. He had come to the city to kill Roman and anyone else who¡¯d had a hand in his sister¡¯s death. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore the plight of so many. He didn¡¯t know if the people in the cages he¡¯d seen were there for legitimate reasons, but he suspected that that wasn¡¯t the case. Valoria was a cesspool of corruption, inequality, and oppression, which didn¡¯t give Elijah any confidence concerning the legitimacy of their actions. And the presence of the disgusting Warden had only sullied Elijah¡¯s opinion of the city even further. It took a truly horrible person to do what that man had intended, so Elijah didn¡¯t feel even remotely guilty about his death. ¡°That wasn¡¯t why I came here, but yes,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll help you escape.¡± ¡°And what about the guards? What about the rest of army?¡± she asked. ¡°I intend to kill them all,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°And the leader, as well as anyone who else tries to stop me. You¡¯re welcome to help. Or you can sit it out. It makes no difference in what I¡¯m going to do, though.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°Just a person who has a bone to pick with Roman Cain,¡± Elijah answered. Then, he sighed, before kneeling beside the Warden¡¯s body. He began to rummage through the man¡¯s pockets. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Leslie,¡± the girl answered. ¡°Leslie Manning. M-my parents are out there. Are you going to free them?¡± At first, Elijah didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he continued looking through the Warden¡¯s pockets. He found a folio, but when he tried to access it, he got no response. Other than that, the Warden only had some mundane clothing, a flask full of some truly foul-smelling alcohol, and a Rolex watch that no longer kept time. Elijah took it all, moving to another pocket. ¡°Jackpot,¡± he said when he found what he was looking for. He hefted the keyring, saying, ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure this will open the cages.¡± He tossed it to Leslie, who caught it after a brief fumble. ¡°Go start unlocking cages. If people are hurt, send them in here. I¡¯ll heal them.¡± After that, Elijah settled in to wait, summoning Healing Rain the second one of the naked prisoners stumbled in. There were no clothes around, and it seemed that the man was accustomed to his own nudity. He didn¡¯t seem self-conscious, which was probably due as much to his poor condition as his mental state. Still, as soon as the regenerative precipitation hit him, the man let out a sigh of relief and gave Elijah a nod. Over the next hour, more people came into the room. When one was healed, another would take their place until, at last, Eljiah had healed nearly a thousand people. And to his surprise, he gained another level, bringing him to seventy-eight. That, more than anything, told him just how close to death the prisoners had been. Finally, a man and a woman approached, introducing themselves. Elijah barely registered their names, but he did notice that they had scrounged up some rags to cover their nudity. Many others had as well. ¡°Thank you,¡± the woman said. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Our daughter said you intend to kill the guards. We want to help,¡± the man said before Elijah could answer. ¡°No.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need your help,¡± Elijah stated. He¡¯d thought about it long and hard, eventually coming to the conclusion that bringing a thousand half-starved prisoners with him would do more harm than good. ¡°But I do intend to kill the guards. And anyone else in my way. Once I¡¯m finished, you can take their gear. In fact, there are three bodies down the hall over that way.¡± Elijah pointed in the direction he¡¯d arrived. ¡°Take their armor and weapons.¡± ¡°What else should we do? If we go back out there, we¡¯ll be captured and imprisoned. The Warden is dead, but they have other means of keeping us powerless.¡± Elijah answered, ¡°I don¡¯t really care what you do. Like I said, I¡¯m here on my own mission. I¡¯ve already deviated by freeing you. I¡¯ve wasted more than an hour healing you. I don¡¯t regret those actions, but if I do anything else, it will interrupt my task. At best, it¡¯ll make it more difficult. At worst, it¡¯ll mean they¡¯re ready for me.¡± With that, he stood. He¡¯d completely healed from the injuries he¡¯d incurred, so he was back to full strength. However, when he made to leave, he felt a wave of guilt. He couldn¡¯t leave them like this. No matter what he said, his empathy wouldn¡¯t allow him to ignore their plight. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. So, before he left, Elijah reached into his bag and retrieved a handful of berries. Each one was around the size of a strawberry, but more importantly, he knew that even a quarter of a grove berry would do wonders for the prisoners¡¯ state. So, he retrieved one of his knives, then started cutting the berries into quarters. It would take almost his entire supply, but that was a small price to pay to help the innocent people. ¡°Here,¡± Elijah said, handing the woman one of the quarter slices. ¡°Eat this. It¡¯ll help.¡± She took it into her dirty fingers, then hesitantly popped it into her mouth. A moment later, she gasped, ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Grove berry,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I have enough for everyone to get a slice like that. So, get people organized while I cut them up.¡± The woman was quick to respond, and Elijah got to work. With his high Dexterity, he accomplished his task quickly, and before he knew it, he was handing out slices of grove berry to each of the prisoners. Within moments of ingesting the magical fruits, each of the prisoners started to look healthier. Color bloomed in their cheeks, and they noticeably filled out. They were all still clearly malnourished, but it helped. More importantly, the grove berries gave a sorely needed burst of energy. Seeing the prisoners smiling was almost enough to distract Elijah from his mission. However, all he had to do was focus on the facet of his Quartz Mind where he¡¯d quarantined his seething anger to reaffirm his attention. Still, he made certain that everyone was as well-recovered as they could be before he told the two leaders that he was moving on. ¡°We don¡¯t know how to thank you,¡± said the man. ¡°We don¡¯t even know your name,¡± the woman added. ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. Then, he turned and left, taking the only other exit he¡¯d found. It sloped upward, so he expected that it would lead to the palace. Once he was out of sight, he shifted into his draconid form and let Guise of the Unseen envelop him. As soon as it did, he let out a subtle sigh of relief. He liked helping people. Probably a little too much, if he was honest. And it had taken every ounce of his willpower to abandon the prisoners. He¡¯d aided them enough that there was some hope for survival, but it was far from guaranteed. That was especially true, given the situation in the city. Without armor or weapons, there was every chance that they would only be recaptured or killed. Elijah pushed those thoughts from his mind as he continued upward, eventually reaching an intersection manned by another trio of guards. Using a similar tactic to the one he¡¯d used against the previous guards, he snuck up behind one, used Predator Strike to ensure an easy kill, then Flicker Step to take out another before they had a chance to react. The final kill came easily enough, largely because the remaining guard never got past fumbling with his sword. It was all the delay Elijah needed to gain the advantage and kill him with a swipe of his claws across the man¡¯s throat. Once they were dead, he dragged the bodies back the way he¡¯d come, depositing them inside the prison. The former captives quickly fell upon the guards looting their gear. But Elijah didn¡¯t see anything else, because he moved on without a word. Four more times, he repeated the actions. At one intersection, he did find something interesting, though. That same odd smell of death wafted out of one passage. Elijah wanted to investigate, but he pulled himself up short. That would almost assuredly prove to be one more distraction that he couldn¡¯t afford. It wouldn¡¯t be long before the missing guards would be discovered, so he needed to get a move on, lest he run the chance of being found. So, as much as his instincts screamed at him to investigate, he refused to acknowledge them. With that in mind, he continued on, climbing ever higher until, at last, he reached the palace proper. The tunnel ended in a heavy door, beyond which was a much more opulent hall. So, Elijah slaughtered the two soldiers on guard, dragged them back to the prison, then returned to the palace entrance. Shifting back to his human form, he opened the door and slipped through it before once again adopting his stealthy draconid shape. After pulling the door closed, he continued on. Vaguely, Elijah acknowledged the rich d¨¦cor. The dungeons had featured bare, utilitarian walls and flickering torches, but the palace corridors were the exact opposite. Everywhere he looked, there was marble, gold, and silver. Masterful paintings decorated the walls, and statues were displayed in alcoves. It was as if someone had seen examples of aristocratic wealth on television and endeavored to copy what they had seen on screen. As a result, everything looked incredibly impressive, so long as it was beheld at a distance. Anyone familiar with the aped styles on display would know the difference the moment they noticed the sloppy details. Elijah was no expert. Nor was he some great appreciator of art. However, he knew enough and cared enough to recognize the mockery such blatantly poor facsimiles represented. If his opinion of Roman could get any worse, it would have at that point. Keeping going, Elijah found a multitude of guards barring his way. However, instead of using his previous strategy, which would leave plenty of evidence behind, he chose a more subtle tactic. Soon enough, he¡¯d found his way to a side room that was close enough that he could sense the collection of men and women guarding what Elijah thought was the entrance to Roman¡¯s personal quarters. He resumed his human form, then cast Swarm, targeting it via One with Nature. The spell manifested in the form of a thousand biting fleas. They descended upon the guards, completely undetected before they started biting. Even then, the guards¡¯ reactions were subdued, and the fleas disappeared before they grew truly distressed. Elijah waited a few minutes, then used Swarm again. And again after that. Without the enhancement provided by his old Staff of Natural Harmony, the afflictions they delivered weren¡¯t nearly as overwhelming as they once had been. That situation was further exacerbated by the fact that the guards had a decent number of levels under their belt. However, they weren¡¯t invulnerable. And three casts of Swarm meant that the sheer weight of afflictions eventually showed their worth. The first guard abruptly fell to her knees. The next followed soon after. By the time the first had fallen to all fours, another three had collapsed. The leader ¨C who was, presumably, the highest level ¨C maintained his feet the longest. While his comrades collapsed all around him, he panicked, demanding to know what was wrong. The others were in no condition to answer, and now that the afflictions had reached a crescendo, there was no stopping what was coming. By the time he finally collapsed, the first two had fallen unconscious. They died only thirty seconds later. The rest followed soon enough until, at last, they were all dead. After that, Elijah took a few minutes to stash the bodies in the side room. He gathered anything he thought was useful, including a few pouches full of ethereum. Most of the coins were copper, but there were a few silver ones in there as well. And one gold ethereum, which was quite a haul, all things considered. He also added a few knives and a sword to his collection, but the armor didn¡¯t seem very high quality, so he left that. Once all of that was finished, he shifted back into his draconid form, used Guise of the Unseen, and entered what he suspected was Roman¡¯s quarters. At last, he¡¯d reached his goal. Soon enough, he would kill the man who¡¯d murdered his sister. That thought, while somewhat disturbing, comforted Elijah in a way nothing else had since he¡¯d discovered Alyssa¡¯s fate. 4-20. Ambush The moment Elijah stepped into the room, his instincts went wild. Without thought, he threw himself to the side. Still, he felt something pierce his scales, embedding in his back hip. Still, he didn¡¯t let a single sound emerge from his mouth. Instead, he skidded to a stop, slipping a little on the now-bloody tile floor before turning to face his attacker. He¡¯d been exploring the wing for what felt like hours, and the whole time, he¡¯d found no inhabitants. So, he was more than a little surprised to see four men on the other side of the room. Each one was wearing black fatigues, reminding Elijah of Isaiah¡¯s men back in Seattle. However, Elijah could tell from their stances alone that these new foes were far more capable than those men and women. More, he suspected that they were all former military. Living in Hawaii, Elijah had encountered plenty of Navy personnel, so he¡¯d learned to identify them just by their bearing. It was similar to how some people could recognize police, even when they were off-duty. Regardless, Elijah felt almost certain that he was facing a quartet of hardened soldiers. One held a crossbow, telling him what he had embedded in his hip. Another had a sword and shield. The third carried a staff. And the fourth was armed with a mace. Elijah didn¡¯t need to see them use any abilities to recognize their identities. The shield-bearer was a protector, the staff-wielder was a Sorcerer, and the man with the mace was probably the Healer. The soldier with the crossbow was a Ranger. As Elijah had learned from the elves as well as his dealings in Seattle and Argos, it was the preferred party composition for those who made a living running towers. ¡°Reloading,¡± the man with the crossbow said, dragging another bolt out of the quiver at his waist. ¡°Advancing,¡± said the defender, stepping forward, his shield held in front of him. Then, he let out a shout that cut right through every facet of Elijah¡¯s mind. Suddenly, all he could think about was attacking the man with the shield. It wasn¡¯t until a second later, when he instinctively shunted that anger to its own facet, where he quarantined it, that he realized what had happened. The man had tried to force him to attack the least vulnerable among them, which was the absolute worst strategy for anyone who wanted to win. Still, it represented an opportunity. So, he stepped toward the man, a low growl emitting from his throat. He could sense the others preparing attacks. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t alter course. Ethera swirled around the Sorcerer, while the Ranger finished reloading. Meanwhile, the protector prepared to meet Elijah. Just as everything reached a crescendo, he used Flicker Step, disappearing at the same moment a ball of fire and another crossbow bolt tore across the room. But Elijah was gone, and less than an instant later, he appeared behind the Healer. Using Venom Strike, he launched himself at the man. He didn¡¯t go for the head, though. Instead, he raked his claws across the man¡¯s leg, amputating it in a single swipe. Then, he bounded away, and it was just in time, too, because the defender hadn¡¯t been idle. Even as the Healer collapsed, the shield-bearer charged. But he was too slow, because Elijah had already changed direction, darting at the Sorcerer. The man swung his staff, but Elijah ducked low, avoiding the attack before throwing himself at the man¡¯s chest. He hit with enough force to knock the Sorcerer from his feet. Elijah ripped through an ethereal shield ¨C all Sorcerers seemed to have that spell ¨C and into his chest, eviscerating his flesh with a half-dozen gouging attacks, each one delivering Contagion and Venom Strike. The defender followed Elijah, though his movements were too clumsy. He let out another shout, but it was just as useless as before. Leaping high into the air, Elijah kicked off the wall to change direction, then descended upon the Ranger. To his credit, the man reacted quickly, throwing out his hand and producing an ethereal net. However, Elijah had the benefit of high Dexterity as well as the Haste from the Sash of the Whirlwind, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to dodge the skill. He hit the ground, then pounced on the Ranger, treating him much the same as he had the Sorcerer. Yet, the new target was much stronger than the spellcaster, and he only staggered a bit, rather than being knocked to his back. Elijah didn¡¯t care; he only needed to scratch the man a few times, and when he did, he kicked away, returning to the door. The defender didn¡¯t follow. That¡¯s when Elijah heard the screams. ¡°Heal me!¡± growled the Ranger through gritted teeth. His face was pale, and it was already wet with sweat. The Healer was worse, but then again, he¡¯d had a leg amputated, and he was trying to reattach it to the stump. Ethera swirled around him as he desperately tried to heal the damage well enough that the loss wasn¡¯t permanent. Because of that, he was too distracted to heal the Ranger or the Sorcerer, both of whom were in dire straits. The defender stomped on the ground, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, a dome of pure ethera bloomed into being. He swiped at it, but he was shocked to find that it remained entirely solid. The defender shouted, ¡°See to the others, Mark!¡± ¡°Trying to reattach my goddamn leg, Bill!¡± ¡°And they¡¯re dying, and my Barrier won¡¯t last forever!¡± ¡°Fine!¡± Mark waved his mace, and immediately, the Sorcerer started to look a bit better. He repeated the motion, and the Ranger began to recover, too. However, Elijah knew from experience that a simple healing spell wouldn¡¯t do much for those afflictions. As far as he¡¯d seen, it was incredibly difficult to remove them. Sure, he¡¯d read a few guides that suggested that such afflictions were removable via specific spells, but otherwise, they would have to run their course. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. The Sorcerer vomited, spewing blood on the floor. ¡°What¡¯s going on with them?!¡± demanded the defender, still facing Elijah. ¡°I thought you could heal anything!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t fucking know! What the hell is that thing?¡± Elijah sighed, then shifted into his human form. That drew a few gasps, but before any of them could say anything, he stated, ¡°I¡¯m not a thing. I¡¯m human, same as you.¡± ¡°What? Is that some kind of shapeshifter?¡± spat the defender. ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah said, pacing back and forth. He was ready to switch to his lamellar ape form the moment the shield went down. ¡°Why are you dressed differently than all the other guards I¡¯ve killed?¡± ¡°We¡¯re not guards,¡± the defender said. He turned his head, checking the others out of the corner of his eye. The healer still hadn¡¯t been successful in reattaching his leg, and though he¡¯d continued to heal the others, the afflictions continued unabated. ¡°Why are you here?¡± ¡°This and that.¡± ¡°You killed the other guards?¡± the defender asked. Elijah nodded. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°They deserved it. So do you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The second this shield drops, I¡¯m going to rip you all to pieces. Your healer¡¯s running low on ethera, right? He won¡¯t have enough to keep you alive through what I¡¯m about to do.¡± ¡°Why? We¡¯ve done nothing to you!¡± ¡°Not directly. But the man in charge of this city took someone very dear to me,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°He¡¯s going to die. And so is everyone who ¨C¡± ¡°Are you talking about that putz who keeps calling himself a king?¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°Kill him, then! We don¡¯t care! We¡¯re just mercenaries, man. He hired us to help him run through some towers. That¡¯s all we¡¯ve done. We haven¡¯t killed any people. We don¡¯t participate in his little schemes. We haven¡¯t fought in his wars. We¡¯ve only killed monsters, man ¨C I swear!¡± To Elijah, that had the ring of truth, but he knew that desperation could drive people to be very convincing in their lies. More, from everything he knew about Roman, it tracked. The stories he¡¯d heard had painted the man as a hands-off sort of leader. A lead-from-the-back type. The only reason it had worked was because of the results. From the very beginning, Easton had been a safe haven for the survivors. People would ignore a lot of character flaws if it meant they were safe from the literal monsters roaming the wilderness. ¡°You attacked me.¡± ¡°We thought you were a Voxx!¡± That took Elijah aback. ¡°How could you think that?¡± ¡°You¡¯re big, scary, and scaley. That sounds like Voxx to me, man.¡± Elijah was about to respond, but he thought better of it. Sure, the Voxx were easily recognizable to him, but much of that was due to the fact that he could sense the wrongness within them. It wasn¡¯t so different from when he encountered monsters, though it was far stronger. However, without that to clue him in, he had to admit that, at a glance, his bestial forms could be mistaken for Voxx. And that irritated him. Still, Elijah took control of himself, asking, ¡°What do you propose?¡± ¡°Let us go. We¡¯ll be out of this city before sunrise. Never looking back. Just gone. You can do what you need to do,¡± Bill, the defender stated. ¡°And I¡¯m just supposed to trust you?¡± Elijah asked. The man cocked his head to the side and raised his hand with two fingers extended. ¡°Scout¡¯s honor?¡± ¡°Wrong salute, Bill,¡± coughed the Ranger. ¡°It¡¯s the thought that counts,¡± Bill insisted. Then, he looked at Elijah, venturing, ¡°Right?¡± It was probably smarter to just kill them. However, Elijah was brought up short by two things. First, they¡¯d actually put up a decent fight, and now that they¡¯d had a chance to regroup, there was a good chance that they¡¯d be even more difficult to dispatch. Second, he actually believed the defender¡¯s story. They weren¡¯t wearing the same gear as all the rest of the guards, which suggested they were outsiders like Bill had claimed. And in the back of Elijah¡¯s mind, there was a thought he didn¡¯t really want to acknowledge. He¡¯d already killed a lot of people. Adding to that body count was inevitable. In addition to killing Roman ¨C which was non-negotiable ¨C he would almost assuredly be forced to fight on his way out. He accepted that, and he¡¯d already painted the blue-and-white clad guards with the same brush he¡¯d used with Roman and his closest allies. But he didn¡¯t want to be the sort of person who¡¯d slaughter people just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There had to be a line. It was only when he examined those thoughts that he realized that he¡¯d already made his choice. Perhaps it would come back to bite him, but that was a risk he intended to accept. Besides, they¡¯d already tried to ambush him and failed miserably. If they tried again, he¡¯d do what was necessary. ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Fine?¡± ¡°I won¡¯t kill you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not now. But if you get in my way¡­¡± The man held up his hand, saying, ¡°I get it. Believe me, we just want out of here. Been wanting that for a while, actually. That guy is insane.¡± ¡°How so?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a believer,¡± said Bill. ¡°A true believer. He thinks he¡¯s going to save the world or some shit.¡± ¡°Fucking lunatic,¡± added the Ranger. ¡°Good goddamn riddance.¡± The others voiced their agreement. Elijah asked, ¡°Where is he?¡± Bill shrugged. ¡°Not sure. But here¡¯s how you get to his rooms,¡± the defender answered. Then, he described the path Elijah would need to take. It was a good thing, too, because it would have taken a while for Elijah to figure it out. The route featured more than a few switchbacks and a couple of half-hidden passages. ¡°He¡¯s paranoid as shit, man. Thinks everyone¡¯s out to get him. They probably are, but still¡­¡± Elijah gave the man a nod of thanks, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t get in my way.¡± Without another word, he shifted back into his draconid form and left the room. The moment he was out of sight, he used Guise of the Unseen. He could still sense the men behind him, so he watched them for long enough to establish that they were going to make good on their promise. As soon as the shield dropped, they started to pack. Or Bill did. The others were too busy trying to counteract Elijah¡¯s ongoing afflictions. With the Wolf Totem, they lasted quite a long time, after all. Satisfied that they would do as they¡¯d said, Elijah followed the man¡¯s directions through the wing until, at last, he arrived in a well-appointed suite. It reminded him a little of the Reaver¡¯s quarters in the second tower he¡¯d conquered, though there were a few modern conveniences that set it apart. In addition, it featured a wide balcony that overlooked the city. That¡¯s where Elijah waited for Roman. It took almost an hour before the man showed up. Elijah watched his sister¡¯s murderer, idly cataloguing his features. He was a tall man, broad-shouldered and with salt-and-pepper hair. He wore the armor Carmen had made, and at his hip was the sword she¡¯d been forced to create. False Dragon Fang, it was called. That both annoyed and amused him. The former because he hated the notion of associating dragons with someone as despicable as Roman. However, his amusement came because the system had intended the name mockingly. Or that was how Elijah saw it, at least. But Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with the man¡¯s equipment, especially once he removed it, hanging the armor on a dressing mannequin in the closet and propping the still-sheathed sword by the bed. Elijah watched as his sister¡¯s murderer entered the bathroom, emerging only twenty minutes later, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. Then, Roman enjoyed a glass of some sort of liquor before, at last, climbing into bed. Elijah waited until, via One with Nature, he sensed that the man¡¯s breathing had evened out, indicating that he was asleep. His first instinct was to kill Roman slowly. To dismember him piece by piece, all the while ignoring the inevitable pleas for mercy. Yet, Elijah pushed that desire aside in favor of expedience. He just wanted Roman dead. He wanted it to be over. Perhaps then he could move on, secure in the knowledge that he¡¯d avenged Alyssa¡¯s murder. Did Roman deserve a clean death? No. Emphatically. However, Elijah knew that, if he went down that road, there was a good chance that he¡¯d regret staining his soul in such a way. Better to simply kill the man and be done. So, he padded into the room, used Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike, then pounced. 4-21. Complications As Elijah descended upon the sleeping man, a thousand emotions flashed through his mind. Guilt. Shame. Regret. But overwhelming them all was the rage that had been simmering within him for weeks since discovering his sister¡¯s fate. He hit the unconscious figure with predictable fury, his jaws clamping down on the man¡¯s head. He squeezed, and it burst like a watermelon. However, Elijah¡¯s first clue that things were not as they seemed came from the taste. For better or worse, he¡¯d become quite acclimated to the way blood played across his tongue. Yet, when Roman¡¯s skull burst, he wasn¡¯t rewarded with the iron-rich taste he expected. Instead, it was a flavorless gel that threw Elijah¡¯s mind into turmoil. A second later, he felt a projectile moving toward him with the speed of a bullet. He leaped, kicking off the nearby wall and landing on the other side of the bed. The projectile had clipped him, but it had done no real damage. Not at first, at least. That didn¡¯t last, though. The moment he landed, he felt a searing pain shooting through his leg, rendering his back claw useless. Elijah responded by crouching behind the bed, shifting into his human form, and casting Soothe before using Touch of Nature. The shooting pain slowed, but it didn¡¯t stop. So, Elijah used Healing Rain as well before chaining Touch of Nature as many times as he could over the course of the next ten seconds. Meanwhile, via another facet of his mind, Elijah felt his attacker cautiously approaching from the other side of the room. By the time he¡¯d managed to corral the venom coursing through his body, the man had winked out of sight. Yet, Elijah could still feel the tiny organisms clinging to his skin. More, he could detect his footfalls as well. If he hadn¡¯t had so much experience with illusions ¨C his fight against Thor and the battle against the vampire in the Magister¡¯s Estate ¨C he never would have noticed. But now? He¡¯d trained himself to recognize it. So, when the man finally rounded the corner of the enormous, four-poster bed, Elijah met him with a sweeping staff strike that knocked him from his feet. Elijah then followed it up with an overhand attack that should have crushed his attacker¡¯s skull. Yet, when the staff descended, it found no target to receive the blow. Instead, it crashed into the floor, the metal cap clapping against the tiles. Then, Elijah felt someone behind him, and he dove forward. Another attack nicked him, and like the other, it delivered another dose of venom. Fortunately, Soothe and Healing Rain persisted, so it was healed before it had the chance to get going. Elijah rolled to his feet, facing his opponent. Predictably, it was Roman. The man looked identical to the one from the bed, save that he was fully dressed and wearing all of his equipment. In addition to the sword in his hand, Roman carried a dagger at his belt. There was a bow nearby as well, explaining the origin of that first projectile. ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said, leveling his staff at the man. ¡°When I hit your clone, I thought you might run. I¡¯m glad you stayed to fight.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± growled the self-styled king. ¡°My name is Elijah Hart.¡± ¡°Is that supposed to mean something to me?¡± Roman asked. Then, recognition dawned in the expression on his face. ¡°You¡¯re number one.¡± ¡°I am.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯ll give you anything,¡± he said, taking a step back. ¡°What do you want? Money? I have thousands of ethereum. I have equipment, too. The best in the empire. Girls, too. As many as you want. Boys, if that¡¯s your preference. I can give you anything you want.¡± ¡°I want my sister back.¡± * * * For the first time since becoming a system-sanctioned Lord, Roman regretted his chosen path of conquest. Not only had it robbed him of the Seal of Authority, which would have doubtless come in handy against the powerful enemy before him, but his choice had also shifted his power away from the city and into his armies. Now, even in his own city, he was only a little more powerful than a normal person of his level. Hart. The name was etched into Roman¡¯s mind. It represented the turning point where he¡¯d gone from a man who was simply reacting to the world¡¯s transformation to one that stood a chance of saving what was left of humanity. ¡°Alyssa,¡± he whispered. But the odd man who¡¯d invaded his bedroom did not respond. Instead, he leveled his staff at Roman, and a second later, a bolt of lightning descended from the ceiling, striking Roman in the chest. It sent him flying across the room, but fortunately, he had Assassin¡¯s Calm to keep him from losing consciousness.
Assassin¡¯s Calm A passive enhancement that allows the caster to maintain cognitive ability even when enduring attacks that would otherwise render them unconscious. Number of charges based on Ethera attribute. Current: 2 (3) This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
When he¡¯d first received the ability, he¡¯d considered it a waste. However, it had since proven to be the difference between life and death, and on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, while Assassin¡¯s Calm kept him conscious, it did nothing to combat the involuntary contractions of his muscles that came with the intense electrical current he¡¯d just endured. So, Roman hit the wall a second later, cracking the plaster and knocking one of the paintings loose. He only remained there for a split second before he saw a beast out of nightmare rushing in his direction. It was like someone had crossed a sasquatch with dinosaur, then packed on a ton of muscle to boot. The monster covered the ground in an instant, and when it came into range, it swung its long arms like siege weapons tipped with massive claws. But by that point, Roman had regained control of his body, and he used Predation again.
Predation Disappear from sight, teleporting behind your foe. Charge based on Dexterity. Current: 1 (2). Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 7 Minutes
He only had two charges, and he¡¯d already wasted one of them after the assassin had destroyed his Decoy. Still, as he teleported behind the monster, he hoped it would be enough. The moment he reappeared, Roman dragged the Dagger of Sundering from its sheath at his belt and used Weaken:
Weaken Inflict your opponent with crippling weakness, cutting their attributes by 60%. Duration based on Dexterity. Current: 3.3 seconds.
The creature tried to respond to the attack, but Roman had surprised it. So, the blade flashed forward. Yet, to his surprise, it didn¡¯t slice through the monster¡¯s thick scales. Instead, the sound of metal on metal echoed through the room, and he was rewarded with only a single scratch. But the ability ¨C both his own as well as the one attached to the Dagger of Sundering ¨C worked. Roman saw the monster stumble as its attributes were ripped away. He permitted himself a grin as he followed it up with his finisher:
Murder Instantly slay anyone weaker than you. Viability based on total power. Cooldown based on cultivation level. Current: 7 Weeks
It was fortunate that he hadn¡¯t had to use it for some time. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been available. If it hadn¡¯t been, he suspected that he¡¯d have no chance of defeating the hulking brute of a monster. Roman¡¯s sword flashed forward in a one-handed attack, biting deep into the off-balance monster¡¯s shoulder. However, instead of the expected influx of kill energy, he received nothing but a backhanded attack that sent him sprawling across the room. Because of Assassin¡¯s Calm, he didn¡¯t lose consciousness when his head hit one of the posts, snapping it in two from the sheer force of his flight. He looked up to see the creature turning to face him. The Dagger of Sundering ¨C the very weapon that had allowed him to kill Alyssa ¨C was sticking out of his side. The monster yanked it free with a spurt of blood. Then, it growled, ¡°Nice try.¡± After that, the ethera in the room swirled, and the monster¡¯s wound completely closed. * * * Elijah felt Guardian¡¯s Renewal fight a war against the raging energy inside him. It was aided by Healing Rain as well as Soothe, but still, it felt like it was on the verge of failure. He had no idea what kind of ability Roman had used on him, but he suspected that it was contingent on the weakness he¡¯d felt at the end of the dagger attack. The moment it had scratched him, his attributes had dropped precipitously, leveling off at only forty percent of their normal values. He knew that if he hadn¡¯t immediately activated Guardian¡¯s Renewal, he would have been slain by the follow-up. But because of the powerful healing spell ¨C as well as his other two spells ¨C he¡¯d barely managed to last long enough for his attributes to return to normal. Then, Guardian¡¯s Renewal had finished its job, returning him to perfect health. He stepped forward, and Roman tried to scramble away. Elijah didn¡¯t rush. He didn¡¯t need to. He felt certain that he¡¯d just taken the man¡¯s best shot and survived. Likely, Roman didn¡¯t have anything left. Of course, the man wasn¡¯t going to simply surrender. Instead, he finally pushed himself to his feet and aimed his sword at Elijah. As he did, he exasperatedly spat, ¡°What are you?¡± ¡°An angry brother,¡± Elijah growled, stepping toward Roman. He didn¡¯t intend to finish the fight just yet, so he didn¡¯t throw himself at his foe. Instead, he approached slowly. Almost gently. And Roman responded by trying to skewer him with his sword. The weapon moved blisteringly fast, suggesting that it was under the influence of some other ability. And its edge glistened with red light, confirming the presence of another. However, Elijah didn¡¯t bother trying to dodge. Instead, he only embraced Iron Scales, which resulted in the satisfying clink of metal against metal. The attack also elicited a response from Shield of Brambles, piercing Roman¡¯s chest with a sharp thorn. The man danced back, then attempted to flee. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to allow that, though. So, he rushed sideways, planting himself in front of the door. Roman surprised him by diving onto the bed, where he¡¯d dropped his bow, and in less than a second, he¡¯d conjured an arrow from nothing and fired it at Elijah. It hit him in the shoulder, digging through Elijah¡¯s scales despite his active ability. But it was no real use. It didn¡¯t bear any afflictions. Nor did it go deeper than the muscle. It was a flesh wound, nothing more. Elijah continued toward his sister¡¯s murderer, vengeance gripping his heart and mind. He saw the fear dancing on Roman¡¯s face. The terror. The knowledge that he couldn¡¯t escape what was coming. Elijah drank it in, savoring the man¡¯s psychological turmoil. Roman tried to dart around Elijah, but his attributes were too low, and he was caught in mid-stride as Elijah clamped his giant claw around the man¡¯s neck. Then, he raised him high into the air. Roman¡¯s legs kicked like he was in the middle of a child¡¯s tantrum, which Elijah thought was appropriate. From everything he had seen, Roman was a small, selfish man. A child who could only see things from his own distorted perspective. A nuisance that needed to be destroyed. Roman tried to speak, but it only came out in an unintelligible rasp as Elijah calmly strode toward the balcony. Once they were there, he let his transformation drop away. For what he was going to do, he wanted to be in his human form. He¡¯d taken the man¡¯s measure, and he knew that his natural shape was more than enough to deal with Roman. In a way, it was slightly disappointing. He¡¯d come into the palace expecting a grand fight. A true battle to shake the heavens. But, aside from that one sequence, all Elijah had gotten was the weak attacks of an overconfident man who thought his position and authority could save him. But it couldn¡¯t. Not from Elijah. Not from a brother¡¯s fury. 4-22. Closing a Door The night air was pleasant, playing against Elijah¡¯s skin with the cool breath of impending autumn. Yet, he didn¡¯t really allow himself to feel it. Instead, he focused on the city laid out before him. Even in the depths of night, there were plenty of people out and about. The city itself was lit by a thousand torches and ethereal lamps. But there were a few other fires, too. Great blazes that swept across the city, devouring everything Roman had built. ¡°You know it¡¯s all doomed, don¡¯t you?¡± Elijah whispered. ¡°This whole city is going to burn, and everyone who ever pledged loyalty to you will fall.¡± ¡°I¡­am¡­humanity¡¯s only¡­hope¡­¡± It took Elijah a moment to comprehend what the man had said, but when he finally wrapped his mind around it, he barked a harsh laugh. ¡°You?¡± he spat with no small degree of incredulity. ¡°You¡¯re barely in the top ten, and it doesn¡¯t feel like you spent any time working on your cultivation. You¡¯re too weak to be anyone¡¯s hope.¡± Roman tried to argue, but Elijah had no interest in hearing it. So, he squeezed Roman¡¯s throat with a little more force, then, at last, slammed him against the ground. The force shook the balcony, and Elijah knelt atop the self-styled king. He leaned close, whispering, ¡°You are a small, pathetic, little man who murdered his only friend for nothing. If there is a hell, that¡¯s where you¡¯re going. No one will ever remember you, and if they do, it will only be to curse your name. I promise you that much.¡± Then, Elijah picked the man up by his neck before once again slamming him against the floor. He did it again after that. And another four times. By that point, the back of Roman¡¯s head was a mass of blood and shattered skull, but that didn¡¯t stop Elijah from keeping going. Again and again, he bashed Roman¡¯s head against the ground, not even stopping when he felt the experience from the man¡¯s death entering his body. Over and over, he continued to batter the skull of his sister¡¯s murderer against the ground until, at last, he was holding nothing but a handful of skin. He hadn¡¯t just decapitated the man. He¡¯d removed his head by way of blunt force trauma. For a long moment, Elijah just stared ahead, and for once, his mind was blank. He was empty. Exhausted. He¡¯d achieved his goal, but rather than feeling a sense of accomplishment, he just felt nothing. Then, suddenly, there came an onslaught of grief and anger. Frustration. Guilt. A thousand other, subtler emotions contributed to his state of mind, and before he could get ahold of himself, he had begun to weep. He knew he was behind enemy lines, and that he should leave the area. However, in his current mindset, he couldn¡¯t force himself to move. He¡¯d expected to feel better about it all once he killed Roman. But he didn¡¯t. The pain he¡¯d felt upon hearing the news of Alyssa¡¯s death was even stronger now. And Elijah couldn¡¯t take it. He wanted to lash out, to go on a rampage that wouldn¡¯t be sated until he¡¯d killed everyone and everything. Or retreat to a cave in the middle of nowhere. Or return to the grove and take comfort in his family¡¯s presence. A hundred other plans flitted through his mind, but he knew that none would help. Only time would do that. After a few minutes, he mechanically pushed himself to his feet and took notice of his latest notification. He¡¯d gained another level. Not surprising, given that Roman had been in the top ten. That, plus all the others he¡¯d killed since coming into Valoria, had been quite a boon to his levels, pushing him to seventy-nine. One more, and he¡¯d get a new spell. But at the moment, he didn¡¯t really care about that. Indeed, he found it difficult to care about anything, with all the emotions flowing through him. Still, he went about the process of collecting loot with all the efficiency he could muster. He gave Roman¡¯s dignity no consideration, stripping him down to his underwear and shoving anything that seemed worthwhile into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. That included his armor as well as his sword and dagger. But there were also a couple of rings and a curious pendant that seemed to emit a decent amount of ethera. When Elijah touched it, he received a notificatiton:
You have slain a sanctioned city Lord (Valoria). Bond the Seal of Authority to embark on a quest to replace him.
Elijah stared down at the item in his hand. But it didn¡¯t take even a moment for him to reject the offer. The last thing he wanted was to rule over a city, and even if the position did appeal to him, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have chosen Valoria. So, without giving it any more thought, he shoved it into his satchel next to all the rest of his loot. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Beyond that, the former Lord had nothing of consequence, so Elijah moved to the rest of the room, looking for something very specific. It wasn¡¯t long before he found a display case featuring a half-dozen weapons. Each one had a plaque, identifying them as belonging to warriors Roman had conquered. And then, there was the one at the top. An elaborately carved spear that he recognized from Carmen¡¯s descriptions. He didn¡¯t need to read the plaque beneath it, but he did. Spear of the Dragon Lancer, wielded by the hero Alyssa Hart, it said. Elijah broke the glass door, shattering it with a single blow. Then, he threw the other weapons into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel before hefting his sister¡¯s weapon. It was light, but then again, it had been made for someone without the benefit of his cultivation or levels. Still, he felt a connection to it, and not one based on the system. Instead, it was like looking upon the last remnant of his sister. He stared at it, taking in each detail as he studied every inch of the spear. It was a good weapon, and he knew Alyssa had used it well. She¡¯d tried to save people. She¡¯d stood up for innocents. And it had gotten her killed. Perhaps there was a lesson there, but it was one Elijah refused to learn. After all, he and Alyssa had come from the same place. They¡¯d been raised by the same parents. And they were more alike ¨C at least regarding morals ¨C than they weren¡¯t. As a result, Elijah knew that, if they had switched places, he would have made many of the same choices. Perhaps, in that case, Alyssa would have been the one avenging him. But that wasn¡¯t how things had worked out. Elijah sighed, then pushed the spear into his satchel as well. It had gotten quite full, so he was glad that he¡¯d be going home soon. Still, as he stood there in Roman¡¯s quarters, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel that he hadn¡¯t done enough, that his vengeance had been cut short. He¡¯d accomplished his mission, but it had just felt so unsatisfying. More of an extermination than a dispensation of justice. Then, he remembered the fires he¡¯d seen in the city, and it didn¡¯t take him long to connect their presence with the people he¡¯d set free. Maybe they had chosen to rebel against their former captors. If that was the case, then they would need help. The thought only had to cross Elijah¡¯s mind before he shifted into his draconid form, adopted Guise of the Unseen, then left Roman¡¯s rooms behind. As he moved through the palace, he found that, like an anthill that had been kicked, it had erupted into activity. Guards and governmental officials raced through the halls. Some were clearly on their way into the city, but many others had begun to muster inside a large chamber. Elijah saw his opportunity. So, once he¡¯d found his way to an adjacent and abandoned hall, he once again embraced Swarm, aiming it with One with Nature. Because of how the ability worked, it could easily bypass walls. That meant that Elijah could remain in relative safety while he inflicted his Swarm upon the gathered soldiers. Biting flies flew across the chamber, delivering their afflictions unto the unsuspecting crowd, and when those flies dissipated into motes of ethera, Elijah summoned another set. And another after that. By the third, half the guards had already begun to show signs of sickness, but Eliijah refused to stop. Indeed, he kept going until his entire store of ethera had been used. By that point, everyone inside had felt the effects of his afflictions. Of course, they¡¯d begun to panic, as well. But they¡¯d already grown too weak. In fact, they were already dead ¨C they just didn¡¯t know it yet. Elijah focused on recovering his ethera as he watched the soldiers die. None of them managed to resist for long. They were laughably weak, and Swarm, when used properly, was incredibly powerful ¨C so long as it had plenty of time to work. Still, it left Elijah with a bad taste in his mouth. Killing needed to be more difficult than that. But then again, would the result have been any different if he¡¯d gone in there in his guardian form? No. With his attributes alone, he was all but untouchable against people like that. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t let that stop him from doing what was necessary. These soldiers were tools of oppression, and even though he hadn¡¯t, until that very moment, realized that he¡¯d committed himself to freeing the city from their clutches, he¡¯d already chosen not to disregard their plight. So, the moment Elijah recovered his ethera, he moved on to the next gathering point, where he repeated his actions from before. As he did, he paced himself better, letting Swarm¡¯s afflictions work rather than rushing to pile them on as quickly as possible. It was much more efficient, and by the time they succumbed, he had only used half of his ethera. Over the course of the rest of the night, Elijah kept going, killing thousands of people. Along the way, he gained level eighty, but he didn¡¯t bother checking his notifications. Even though he knew he had gotten another spell, he didn¡¯t intend to use it yet. After all, trying out a new ability without testing it extensively was a good way to get killed. Besides, what he was doing was working. By the time morning came around, Elijah had slaughtered everyone in the palace. Some might have been relatively innocent. He couldn¡¯t know one way or the other. However, the moment he had chosen a side, they had all become enemy combatants. And there was only one way to deal with those. Elijah wasn¡¯t interested in keeping his enemies alive, after all. Once he¡¯d finished his deadly trek through the palace, he progressed into the grounds. Along the way, he killed any guards he found, though it was much more difficult because, out in the open, he couldn¡¯t rely entirely on Swarm. Instead, he was forced to use his bestial forms, which were just as effective, but required more effort. With his battle experience, high attributes, advanced cultivation, and powerful spells, he was never in any true danger, though. Not unless he made some serious mistakes, which he did not. Eventually he reached the city proper, where he had an even easier time. Troops were everywhere, arranged in groups of five. Most had the benefit of a Healer, defender, and a trio of damage-dealing classes including Sorcerers and Rangers. But so long as Elijah took out the Healers quickly, the rest went down without much difficulty. Each of the archetypes were good at what they did. The defenders were difficult to permanently put down, the Rangers and Sorcerers could output quite a lot of damage, and the Healers could keep a group alive through all manner of attacks. Yet, they were incapable of dealing with someone like Elijah ¨C an intelligent and superior opponent who could fill all roles at once. The results were predictable. And Elijah slowly made his way through the city until he was brought up short by a surprising development. He stopped in his tracks as he studied the scene, the anger and grief that had faded into the background returning tenfold. 4-23. Crossing Lines A bonfire blazed, casting the entire square in flickering light as the amassed people ¨C each attired in high-quality clothing that marked them as members of the upper class ¨C roared their approval. In the center of the plaza were a group of soldiers, each clad in blue-and-white, and at their feet were dozens of corpses. The autumn pre-dawn morning was cool enough that Elijah could see steam rising from their still-warm bodies. ¡°The traitor does not deserve a statue!¡± yelled a man in a slightly more elaborate uniform. ¡°She fostered rebellion in our midst, undermining the king and putting us all in danger!¡± That brought another cheer from the gathered aristocrats and soldiers. Each and every one of them bore the signs of battle. Or slaughter, given the clear number disparity. It wasn¡¯t surprising. As Elijah had made his way through the city, he¡¯d seen guards and their wealthy supporters ganging up on much weaker and less numerous groups of people they clearly marked as inferior. Though he¡¯d noticed that they only did so when they had an advantage, either in power or numbers. In any even battle ¨C which were rare, given the soldiers¡¯ obviously higher level of progression ¨C they were far less aggressive, often fleeing to join one of the larger groups. Retreat was not a bad strategy. Indeed, it was intelligent. Still, it struck Elijah as cowardly, though that could have been the result of the opinions he¡¯d formed in his short time within the city. Of course, he¡¯d killed many such groups, but he couldn¡¯t get them all. None of that was on his mind, though. Instead, he only had eyes for the situation at the center of the square. Dozens of guards had thrown ropes over the statue of a heroic woman clad in heavy armor and carrying a spear. It wasn¡¯t a perfect likeness, but the artist had been talented enough to capture Alyssa¡¯s spirit. So, Elijah had no trouble recognizing his sister. More, Carmen had told him of the existence of such a statue, which had been built after she¡¯d heroically sacrificed her life in the tower. Or at least that was the story Roman and his flunkies had told the population. Carmen had a different impression, though. Once she¡¯d learned the truth, she had come to the opinion that the monument¡¯s construction had been rooted in Roman¡¯s guilt. Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure that was the case. For a man who could murder his own friend, and for no reason but to increase his own power, guilt was assuredly an alien concept. Either way, Elijah didn¡¯t care about the origin of the statue. Instead, he was far more concerned with the fact that the aristocrats and guards seemed hellbent on tearing it down. In the corner of one facet of Elijah¡¯s Quartz Mind, he could see the logic that had led them to that action. Before her death, Alyssa had been a rallying point for those who didn¡¯t like the way Roman had run the city, and afterwards, she had become a martyr. Even though most never knew the truth of how she¡¯d died, her opinions had continued to hold sway among the downtrodden, and she had become a symbol of the rebellion. Even putting that insurrection down hadn¡¯t changed how they saw her. That was why the aristocrats and guards wanted to destroy the statue. The action was as much a symbol as a representation of aristocratic frustration that had come to a head in the ongoing unrest Elijah had begun by freeing the prisoners. He¡¯d seen plenty of familiar faces during the fighting, so it was no secret what had started the latest revolt. But all of that meant nothing to Elijah when he saw what those people were going to do to his sister. His mind went white with rage, and before he knew what he was doing, he¡¯d dropped his draconid form ¨C it was terrible for dealing with multiple opponents, anyway ¨C and resumed his natural shape. Then, he cast Calamity. The spell was unique in that, originally, he¡¯d thought it had a cooldown. However, as his store of ethera grew, he discovered the truth. That was reflected in the spell¡¯s description:
Spell: Calamity Bury your enemies beneath the power of nature. Conjure a natural disaster appropriate to your environment. Only usable in caster forms. Each cast requires more ethera than the last. Reset based on Regeneration attribute. Current: 2.3 hours.
When he had first gotten access to the spell, it had taken more than half of his ethera, so he could only use it a single time. However, as his pool of energy grew, the system¡¯s description had elaborated on the soft cooldown. The end result was that, now that he had the ethera to support it, Elijah could cast the spell a handful of times before he ran dry of energy. It was a little frustrating that the system had waited so long to reveal that to him, but in retrospect, it didn¡¯t matter that much. By the time it became relevant back in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel, he¡¯d already seen the difference, and he¡¯d long since adjusted his expectations. All of that flitted through one, isolated facet of Eliijah¡¯s mind as he leveled his most devastating spell at the crowd. There were no innocents there. To him, they all deserved precisely what was coming to them. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. And given that most of them were low-level, what was coming was a degree of destruction they¡¯d never experienced and were ill-equipped to endure. Even over the howling winds and thunder, Elijah could hear their collected screams. That only spurred him on, and the moment the spell played out, he cast it again. Then, a third time, draining his ethera by a significant amount. One part of Elijah simply didn¡¯t care about those sorts of details. With so much anger coursing through him, he couldn¡¯t be bothered with simple details like the amount of ethera in his core. However, he retained enough capability for rational thought that he cut himself off from casting a fourth instance of the spell. By that point, the guards had mustered their response. Some had fallen, but they possessed enough Constitution to endure Calamity, albeit not without some injuries. There were a few Healers that had begun the recovery process, though. The healthy guards quickly sighted in on Elijah as the originator of their suffering, and they charged ¨C defenders in the front, with the melee damage dealers following soon after. Only a few Sorcerers had made it through the barrage of Calamity unscathed, but they were the most powerful among the group. And they quickly leveled their power at Eliijah. He welcomed the challenge by shifting into his lamellar ape form. The transformation caught the charging defenders by surprise, and a few stumbled to a stop. That only stoked the fires of Elijah¡¯s bestial instincts, and he let loose with a massive roar that shook every loose stone in the square. Then, he charged, catching them by surprise. The first swipe of Elijah¡¯s claws was rebuffed by stalwart armor that, upon impact, sent a jolt of cold up his arm. It was uncomfortable, but it did very little damage. More importantly, while the armor negated the slicing attack of his claws, it did nothing for the immense momentum he could bring to bear. The impact sent his first victim rocketing into another guard, and the pair ended up getting tangled with a third. Elijah leaped upon them, smashing his fists against their armored forms. That armor protected them for a few moments, but eventually, Elijah¡¯s assault found the limits of whatever protection it could provide. First, it only dented, but soon enough, those dents became cracks. And before long, Elijah had completely destroyed the metal plates. Once that happened, the guards were defenseless before his fury. In only a handful of seconds, he crushed them beneath his fists, shattering bones and rupturing organs. That¡¯s when the others finally fell upon him, pelting him with a hundred different attacks. A few managed to bypass the defenses offered by his thick scales. Fireballs burned him, ice missiles tore into him, as did arrows and blades. Most were rebuffed by Iron Scales, which cut their damage by ninety percent. Still, the sheer volume of attacks meant that some were going to get through, and even the ones that didn¡¯t bypass his defenses added to the aggregate damage he was forced to endure. But Elijah had been through it all before. If nothing else, he could withstand pain like few others on Earth. And even as he was buried beneath a barrage of attacks, Elijah didn¡¯t remain still. Instead, he marked his first target with Brand of the Stalker before gathering himself and leaping across the square.
Brand of the Stalker Sear a brand on an enemy, preventing all forms of stealth and increasing your damage against them by fourteen (14) percent.
Often, he used the ability without thought, marking his foes simply to get the boost to his damage. However, there were also times when he used it to keep tabs on his intended prey. Most recently, he¡¯d done so while tracking Laramie. Otherwise, he would never have found the man. In the middle of a battle, it served a similar ¨C albeit still different ¨C purpose, letting him keep tabs on a single individual who needed to die before all the others. Elijah landed atop the woman, crushing her to the ground. She¡¯d used some sort of shielding ability at the last second, but the plane of ethera had shattered under Elijah¡¯s massive weight. That exposed her to his ensuing attacks. She died after only two swipes of his claws. The first ripped into her face, but the second tore out her throat. A few healing spells landed upon her after the first, but Elijah knew she would bleed out before they could finish the job. Still, he took a moment to crush her skull, just to make sure. Then, he turned his attention to the other Healers. What followed was a massacre, both bloody and horrifying, as Elijah let the full weight of his savage instincts take over. Usually, he kept them in check, shunting them off to their own facet. Yet, that was impossible when every part of his mind shuddered under the effects of his unbridled rage. He leaned into it, letting it envelope him as it never had before. No longer was he a man inhabiting the body of a beast. Instead, he was fully an enraged animal. Suddenly, his body moved with coordination it had never before possessed, his attacks becoming both more brutal and graceful at the same time. Elijah reveled in the bloodlust as well as the power, creating a level of carnage most people could scarcely imagine, much less endure. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. His ire could not be sated. His hunger for death could never be satisfied. Yet, he kept going, moving from the Healers to the Sorcerers and Rangers in turn. The defenders attempted to redirect him, using a few skills and abilities to hem him in and block his efforts. Elijah barely noticed them, barreling through each attempt with unfathomable fury. A few times, they managed to draw his focus via one ability or another. Some were similar to the one the mercenary had used in Roman¡¯s quarters, but others were more subtle. The most effective was an ability that incited an obsession within Elijah. His every thought centered on one man, and everything else seemed inconsequential. As a result, Elijah rushed him, feeling as if there was no one else on the battlefield. Even as a hundred other attacks fell upon his back, Elijah kept going. He never escaped that ability. Instead, it only ended when he killed the defender. If Elijah hadn¡¯t already killed all the Healers, he might¡¯ve been in trouble, but without their influence, the defender couldn¡¯t keep up with the level of damage Elijah could bring to bear. After Eliijah broke free of that ability, his fury mounted to unprecedented levels, and any subsequent attempts to manipulate him broke upon the bulwark of his unfettered rage. In the end, he found himself alone amidst a sea of corpses. With his breath coming in ragged gasps, Elijah took a few minutes to regain his tenuous grip on his sanity. When he did, he saw that his hide had been torn to tatters. Even with copious use of Iron Scales, he¡¯d taken enough damage that, without significant healing, he would be incapable of going on. But he wasn¡¯t concerned with that at the moment. Instead, he only had eyes for the state of his sister¡¯s statue. Because the efforts to topple it had been successful. Alyssa¡¯s stone form had fallen, and upon impact, it had shattered into four distinct pieces. Elijah let the form of the lamellar ape fall away, and he knelt beside her dislodged head, tears of frustration, pain, and grief once again falling down his cheeks. 4-24. Demon Core The smell of rot pervaded Benedict¡¯s nostrils, cloaking him in a blanket of death from which there was no escape. It was difficult to remember a time when that smell didn¡¯t cling to everything he touched. Even before the world had transformed, he was familiar with it, and he¡¯d become even more so since everything had changed. However, there was a part of him that tired of that cloying, sickly sweet smell, making him regret the class he¡¯d chosen. It gave him power, and it had allowed him to steadily progress, especially since that lunatic king had locked him in the dungeon that had been his home for more than a year. It may have been even longer; time was difficult to gauge when one never saw the sun, after all. Benedict could have escaped. His minions were strong enough to rip his shackles from their anchors on the wall. But then what? The men who routinely slaughtered his minions were strong enough to give him trouble, which was an untenable risk that he refused to take. After all, why would he, aside from the ability to live somewhere more comfortable? He had everything he needed in the labyrinthine dungeon, and he¡¯d reaped the benefits of his situation, progressing to level fifty-nine, which had put him into the top ten. It was during his most recent inspection of the power rankings that he¡¯d discovered something incredibly interesting, though:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 81 2. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 77 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 75 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 73 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 72 6. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 68 7. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 65 8. Benedict Emerson ¨C Level 59 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 59 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 59 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­
In a raspy voice, he croaked, ¡°It seems our dear king has run afoul of something he couldn¡¯t handle.¡± His chains clinked as he reached out to stroke the cheek of his latest creation ¨C a mostly intact woman whose only real flaw was a deeply bruised throat. ¡°What do you think, my beauty?¡± he asked. ¡°Is it time?¡± Predictably, she didn¡¯t answer. But then again, she never did. Even though she had a body, there was nothing in her mind. He controlled her every movement. Not down to the last twitch, but rather the general shape of her actions. It was the same with all his other minions, and he had the ability to either micro- or macro-manage them. Even as he considered it, two things happened. First, he achieved level sixty, but before he could check his new ability, another notification shifted before his inner eye:
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: Obejctive: Escape Reward: Blessing of the Archdemon, Thakon Kilzean Do you accept?
¡°What?¡± rasped Benedict, his voice still unused to speaking. Then, something flickered into being a second later. Before the image coalesced into anything recognizable, a silky voice echoed in Benedict¡¯s ears. ¡°Apologies,¡± it said. ¡°Normally, there is an order to these sorts of things, but your world is so weak that my projection was delayed. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me.¡± By the time the voice finished, the shimmering flicker had resolved itself into a tall, slim man. He wore a simple, black toga that had been clasped into place by a golden pin in the shape of a fist. On his feet were delicate sandals that laced up to his knees, but there was nothing else to his outfit. Not that he needed clothing to be impressive. The man was nearly six-and-a-half feet tall, with glistening black curls and a pale complexion unmarred by a single blemish. The only oddity ¨C aside from his striking beauty ¨C was a pair of glittering green horns standing out from his forehead. And despite the incongruity they represented, Benedict couldn¡¯t help but feel that they only added to the man ¨C no, the creature¡¯s ¨C perfect appearance. This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°You are a demon?¡± Benedict asked, marshalling his composure. ¡°Archdemon. But yes, I am a member of the demonic race. As you can become, as well,¡± the demon said, turning and giving Benedict a view of the leathery wings folded against his back. ¡°Your low birth need not hold you back. All elder races can induct worthy candidates.¡± ¡°And you wish to¡­induct me? Why?¡± asked Benedict. ¡°Why else? War.¡± ¡°With whom?¡± ¡°The angels, of course,¡± said Thakon Kilzean as he circled the room. He reached out, running a finger along the shoulder of one of Benedict¡¯s minions. And to the Warlock¡¯s surprise, he felt it. That meant that the demon was no mere illusion. Nor was he a figment of Benedict¡¯s imagination. It had been some time since he¡¯d experienced hallucinations, but even in the depths of his¡­delusions, he¡¯d never once felt their touch. ¡°May I ask why?¡± he asked. ¡°They are self-righteous hypocrites who deserve to be wiped from memory,¡± Thakon said with a note of amusement. ¡°More importantly, they have chosen to meddle in this world. As have the dragons. Even the mechaniques have their eyes on this unremarkable place. So, of course we demons must have our piece of the pie as well.¡± He cocked his head to the side. ¡°That is an expression here, correct? Piece of the pie.¡± Benedict had no idea what the archdemon was talking about, though he could infer that angels, dragons, and mechaniques were powerful races of people. Demons, as well. ¡°What does¡­becoming a demon entail?¡± ¡°Do you accept the quest?¡± ¡°Not until I get an explanation.¡± ¡°Smart. Very demonic of you. Cunning and unfettered self-reliance. That is why I chose you,¡± Thakon stated. ¡°And ruthlessness, of course. That is a trait held in high esteem by all of the elder races, though. Even those self-righteous hypocrites, the angels. They may pretend otherwise. The dragons go on and on about the balance, while the mechaniques only care for their self-mutilation. And the angels pretend they are driven by morality. It¡¯s all a smokescreen, though. A disguise for their true motivations. They are no better than us, even if they pretend otherwise.¡± ¡°That does not answer my question,¡± Benedict stated evenly. His voice was still raspy, but even that small amount of speaking had loosened his vocal cords. ¡°What does becoming a demon entail?¡± ¡°Nothing, as of now. You get a fancy new core that¡¯s better than anything you could achieve on your own. There are only a handful of people on this world who could rival its power,¡± said Thakon. ¡°Other than increasing your power, you will see no real transformation until you reach the fourth stage.¡± ¡°And after that?¡± ¡°You will grow closer to the ideal form until you attain perfection in the seventh stage.¡± ¡°By perfection, you mean¡­¡± ¡°Wings, tail, horns ¨C I believe your legends are quite clear on what to expect,¡± the archdemon stated. ¡°Of course, you can suppress those features if you wish, though I can¡¯t fathom why anyone would.¡± ¡°What are the detriments?¡± ¡°Why would those exist?¡± ¡°Nothing is free. If something seems too good to be true, then it is likely a lie.¡± Thakon rolled his eyes, then let out a dramatic sigh. ¡°I¡¯m trying to pull you up from the mud, and you keep slapping my hand away. Do you want to play with corpses for the rest of your life? If so, refuse. If not, then I offer you the means to change your circumstances. Make no mistake ¨C I will not beg. I have other candidates. Do not test my patience, mortal.¡± ¡°So there are detriments.¡± ¡°I did not say that!¡± Thakon rumbled. The dungeon shook, albeit barely noticeably and for only an instant. In addition, Thakon¡¯s form flickered until he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, ¡°Apologies. It has been an eternity since I¡¯ve had to control my power so firmly. The only detriment is that you will make an enemy of the angels. Traveling to their worlds will prove deadly for anyone with a Demon Core. But you don¡¯t want to go there, anyway. So boring. Sure, it¡¯s technically paradise, but at what cost? They have plenty of skeletons in their closets as well. Oh, that¡¯s a delightful turn of phrase. It loses a bit of impact when translated to my native tongue, but it¡¯s still quite colorful.¡± The archdemon pointedly looked Benedict up and down, then said, ¡°It will also do wonders for your complexion.¡± Benedict frowned. He tried not to think about it, but because his Regeneration had been so terribly affected by maintaining such a large horde of minions, he had struggled to maintain his health. Most of the damage was cosmetic, but he currently had seeping sores all over his body. At times, he could ignore it, but at others, he thought that he had begun to look like his unliving minions. He was not a particularly vain man. Indeed, he¡¯d rarely given much thought to his appearance, other than to make certain that he was at least presentable. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore his plague-stricken skin. That, as well as the promise of power, made his choice an easy one. To date, he¡¯d not seen any information on how to increase his Core cultivation, so the value of the demon¡¯s offer was undeniable. With that in mind, Benedict mentally gave his confirmation of the quest. Then, without further discussion, he directed his strongest minions to break his chains free. The moment they succeeded, he received a notification that he¡¯d completed the quest:
Congratulations! You have completed a Task. Standby for reward¡­
He tapped his foot impatiently, which elicited another dramatic roll of Thakon¡¯s eyes. A moment later, he received another notification:
Blessing of the Archdemon received. Please choose which form it takes: Core Advancement Item (Heart of the Demon) Spell (Hell¡¯s Fury)
¡°Pick the core advancement,¡± Thakon stated. ¡°The other options are powerful. They had to be to be included as a reward for completing the task. However, as strong as they are, none will bear the continued power of advancing your core.¡± Benedict was of a mind to agree, though he was intrigued by the other two options. Any item that could rival core advancement in power would surely be useful. By that same logic, the spell would surely be formidable as well. Still, not only would core advancement impact every other facet of his power, but it also had the potential to continue growing stronger. So, he followed the archdemon¡¯s advice and chose the first option without any regret. The moment he made the choice, power erupted inside him. He was used to pain ¨C after all, he felt every blow leveled against his minions ¨C but even he couldn¡¯t stand before the onslaught of agony that came with his core advancement. ¡°It actually isn¡¯t the advancement that you¡¯re feeling. Everyone receives a rudimentary core when they choose an archetype, but it is a tiny, pitiful thing,¡± said Thakon, suddenly looming over Benedict. ¡°This is a proper core. But forming such a thing does not come without pain. Normally, that would be spread across years. We don¡¯t have time for that, though. The only solace I can offer you is to grant you unconsciousness until the process completes.¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Leave me be,¡± Benedict growled, having fallen to his knees. His fingers dug into the dirty floor as power raged through him. He could feel his core shattering, then reforming, then shattering once again. At the center of it burned an everlasting flame that constantly pulsed, over and over. Pain didn¡¯t begin to describe it. Not adequately, at least. But Benedict was set on enduring the process without succumbing to unconsciousness. He wanted to feel it. He wanted to know what was happening. All so, when the time came, he could replicate it. So, he held on through the agony until, what felt like an eternity later, it settled. A notification soon followed:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Demon Core. Current stage: Imp
As sweat dripped from his forehead to puddle beneath him, he let out a sigh of relief. Another notification followed the last:
You have reached the first threshold. Current stage: Cultivator
Then, Thakon¡¯s silky voice echoed in his ears, ¡°Rise, brother. Welcome to the Legion.¡± Benedict felt a smile spread across his face as he looked up to see the archdemon¡¯s extended hand. He took it, once again surprised to feel that Thakon was not an illusion, and allowed himself to be dragged to his feet. Already, he could feel the power coursing through him. However, he was disturbed to note that his minions ¨C every last one ¨C had fallen. He could no longer feel them, either. ¡°My minions¡­¡± Thakon said, ¡°Your class remains the same, but the expression of it has now been altered. Warlock, you remain, but you no longer need to muck about with corpses. Let me show you¡­¡± 4-25. Exodus Tears fell upon the upturned stone face, then traced lines down the misshapen cheeks to disappear from Elijah¡¯s sight. He knew it wasn¡¯t his sister. In truth, it barely even resembled her. But in his fragile state, it felt like he was holding the real thing. Like he¡¯d never left home. Like he¡¯d never let her die. ¡°It should have been me,¡± he muttered, guilt washing over him. With grief ¨C fresh and hot ¨C twisting his thoughts, it felt like he¡¯d traded his death for hers, all those months ago. And he desperately wished it were otherwise. She was the better person. She was stronger, more empathetic. She¡¯d tried to change the world for the better. Meanwhile, Elijah had spent years playing with fish. Perhaps it would have been different if he¡¯d done so in an effort to achieve some goal, but with the benefit of hindsight, he knew that was never the case. Back then, he was just passing the time, riding the wave of momentum as he waited for something to happen. For something to change. And it had. He¡¯d managed to not only survive, but also thrive. But at the same time, Alyssa had done what she¡¯d always done ¨C stand up for people who couldn¡¯t stand up for themselves. And she¡¯d been killed for it. It just wasn¡¯t fair. For a long time, those thoughts gripped Elijah as he knelt in the center of that square, surrounded by the ghastly fruits of his labor. Dead bodies ¨C ripped and torn and dismembered ¨C carpeted the paving stones, proof of his lost restraint. He¡¯d always intended to kill them. They deserved it, as far as he was concerned. However, he hadn¡¯t meant to lose himself in the process. But with his roiling emotions, his savage instincts had taken over, and he hadn¡¯t even tried to hold them back. The results were obvious. Finally, Elijah picked himself up. Suddenly, he didn¡¯t care about Valoria¡¯s fate. Even as dawn approached, the battle still raged. Despite his efforts, thousands of soldiers remained at large, and they were stronger and better equipped than the rebels. More, they were accompanied by the aristocratic sycophants who¡¯d enabled the entire government. Maybe they would fend off the rebels. Or perhaps those insurrectionists would win the day. Elijah simply didn¡¯t care anymore. His battle lust had been sated, and now, he only wanted to leave the cesspool that represented everything that was wrong with humanity behind. But he didn¡¯t intend to abandon his sister. So, he gathered the ropes that had been used to topple the statue, then spent a little more than an hour weaving together a net. He¡¯d done much the same hundreds of times back on his island, both with nets and baskets, so he had plenty of experience to see him through to the end. And with his high Dexterity, the task was trivial. Once he¡¯d finished the process, he laid it out and lined it with clothes he stripped from the bodies all around him. All were soaked in blood, but Elijah didn¡¯t care. As he worked, plenty of people stumbled upon the site, but they kept their distance. No one ¨C be they rebels or soldiers ¨C wanted anything to do with what had happened in that square. There was nothing to suggest that Elijah was the author of so much carnage, but none were willing to chance it. So, he was left alone to finish his work. After the net had been lined with clothes, Elijah embarked upon the task of gathering the remains of the statue and loading the pieces onto the net. Then, when that was finished, he tied it all together before hefting it onto his shoulder. The entire thing weighed more than a ton, which wouldn¡¯t have been so arduous a weight in his Guardian form. Yet, he refused to shift. Partially, that was because he was afraid of revisiting the savage fury that had engulfed him, but it was also a self-imposed penance. Deserved it or not, Elijah still felt guilty for everything that had happened, and in the back of his mind, he felt that the hardship represented by remaining in his human form would somehow atone for his perceived failures. Of course, Elijah knew ¨C somewhere deep down ¨C that it was not warranted. Yet, he was in no frame of mind to acknowledge that reality. So, once he¡¯d hefted the makeshift bundle onto his back, he began his journey out of the city. As he walked the streets, he passed many ongoing battles. Most ignored him, but every now and then, someone would try to attack. Elijah was ruthless in his responses, aiming Storm¡¯s Fury at anyone he drew close. It was the very first spell he¡¯d ever gotten, and often, he neglected its use because, against anything that was near his level, the damage it could do was negligible. But when aimed at people less than half his level, and without the benefit of strong cultivation? It was deadly. More importantly, he could cast it hundreds of times before running low on ethera, and even then, he could nearly keep up with that strain if he flexed his Mind. So, as he traversed the streets of the city, Elijah became a walking thunderstorm of death. Often, he took hits, but he ignored them as he used Healing Rain and Sooth to mend his injuries. That, as much as the lightning, deterred most would-be assailants. Elijah knew from experience how disorienting it was to see someone¡¯s mortal wounds mend in seconds. All the while, he never stopped moving forward. At some point, he left the city behind. He wasn¡¯t certain when he¡¯d made the choice not to use any of his unique advantages, but he was more than five miles outside of Valoria when he realized that he had no intention of flying, teleporting, or shifting into his other forms that might ease the burden of travel. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Instead, Elijah¡¯s penance had become something of a pilgrimage. An exodus meant to assuage his guilt while honoring his sister. More of the former than the latter, if he was honest with himself. Alyssa would have likely called him a dramatic idiot. She was always more level-headed than he was, anyway. Practical in a way that he could never match. And the world was a worse place now that she was gone. As Elijah trudged through the wilderness, he ignored all distractions. He also refused to stop, even for a moment, to rest. Instead, he continued to put one foot in front of the other, and when he grew too fatigued to take another step, he ate one of his grove berries to recover his energy. With every step, Elijah conjured a new memory of his sister. Some were good, like when she¡¯d helped him choose an outfit for his first date with Lucy. He¡¯d never been particularly adept when it came to style, so she¡¯d taken pity on him, ensuring that he put his best foot forward in his first forays into love. Some were bad, like one of the many times they¡¯d argued over some triviality that, in retrospect, hadn¡¯t mattered at all. But they were all part of who Alyssa had been. A part of the relationship they¡¯d shared. For most of their childhood, they¡¯d been close, and Elijah had a wealth of memories to draw upon. And as he strode across the wilderness, he sank into an almost meditative trance, remembering everything in the most vivid details. As the days went by, he often found tears streaming down his cheeks. They seemed appropriate. At times, he encountered a few Voxx trails that he expected would either lead to spontaneously manifesting invaders or even interdimensional rifts. Yet, for the first time ever, he ignored them. As usual, the wildlife left him alone. He even sensed a few nearby monsters at one point, but they were content to let him continue on his way. Days turned into a week, and eventually, Eliijah lost track of time. Passing time blended together until he could barely discern one from the next. He never stopped ¨C even at night ¨C and more than once, he was forced to cross rivers or canyons. Those were difficult, though with his high attributes and equipment like the Ring of Aquatic Travel, he managed it just the same. Until, at last, he reached the destination he didn¡¯t even know he was traveling toward. The Circle of Spears loomed before him, surrounding a verdant oasis that teemed with the sense of nature. He¡¯d been in the desert for a while, though he barely took notice of the arid landscape. The only concession he made to the terrain was that he was forced to slake his thirst a little more often. Fortunately, the Everlasting Canteen held hundreds of gallons of water, which meant that he had plenty. When he reached the dolmen, passing between the monuments he¡¯d built, he finally let his burden fall away. It thudded to the ground, and Elijah fell soon after. After weeks on his feet, he could no longer stand. Even with his inflated attributes, his body had distinct limits, and he¡¯d far exceeded them. Now that he¡¯d found his destination, though, he let the impact of the journey fall upon his shoulders. He didn¡¯t precisely pass into unconsciousness. Instead, for the longest time, his state stood somewhere between wakefulness and sleep, daydreaming about the memories he¡¯d examined along the way. In addition, an idea began to take shape. A way to honor his sister¡¯s memory and her intent at the same time. It was only the seed of a notion, but as Elijah lay there, it began to sprout into something far more substantial. In a lot of ways, it was a fever dream brought on by extreme exhaustion and borderline malnutrition. But there was inspiration there, too. A desire to get things right. To make up for all the things he¡¯d gotten wrong in his life. For a while, he dipped in and out of unconsciousness. In a lot of ways, he was lucky he hadn¡¯t collapsed sooner. If he had, he probably would not have survived. However, the thick ethera ¨C and vitality ¨C of the oasis nourished him. It didn¡¯t precisely heal him, but it was distinctly better than anywhere else outside of his island. At one point, he imagined Alyssa there with him, comforting him as she always had. He tried to return the favor, but she dissipated the moment he attempted to focus on her. Even at the height of his exhaustion-based delusion, Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t real. But there was a chance, wasn¡¯t there? Magic existed. So, why couldn¡¯t ghosts? Perhaps she had even ended up as one of the tower denizens? What if she could earn her way to resurrection? A thousand possibilities ¨C each less likely than the next ¨C flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind. And even though he knew none of them were real ¨C dead was dead, even with the existence of magic; every guide he¡¯d read was adamant about that reality ¨C he clung to those dreams. Then, at last, he regained his full faculties. Sitting up, he looked around the oasis. It was even more verdant than it had been when he and Carmen had built the dolmen, and it was packed full of so much life that it almost seemed a tangible thing. That had attracted plenty of animals as well. From fat insects to reptiles, and everything in between. And of course, Snappy remained in the pond at its center, happily living his life, completely uncomprehending of the internal crisis Elijah had just experienced. In a way, it was comforting, knowing that no matter what hardships or tragedies he went through, nature would continue on. Over the next few minutes, Elijiah took stock of his body. He¡¯d lost weight. Maybe fifteen pounds, which didn¡¯t seem like a lot, but considering that he hadn¡¯t exactly been heavy to begin with, it made quite a difference in his body. More, he was covered in the consequences of his trek across hundreds of miles, with half-healed wounds from his time in Valoria marring his form. There were sores along his shoulders where the ropes had dug into his flesh, too. So, Elijah cast Soothe on himself before summoning Healing Rain. Then, for good measure, he flared Nature¡¯s Bounty as he undressed. The clothes were ruined. Despite being Simple-Grade, their materials weren¡¯t up to the rigors he¡¯d endured, so he¡¯d decided to exchange them for a different set. After that, he retrieved his homemade restorative soap from his satchel and began to bathe. Where the soap went, healthy skin followed until, nearly twenty minutes later, Elijah was more refreshed than he¡¯d been since leaving his grove. Once he was clean and in much better condition, Elijah once again took up his burden, then used Roots of the World Tree to teleport to the Dragon Circle. Of all the cities he¡¯d visited, Argos was the only place that deserved what he had planned. Elijah knew that he could have simply teleported straight from Valoria to his ultimate destination. However, the journey had been important. A necessary thing meant for self-reflection and remembrance. And penance. It was a pilgrimage, though not in service of any god. Instead, it was meant to honor the sister he¡¯d lost. Now, he intended to create a more lasting monument to the person she had been. So, after adjusting the awkward burden he¡¯d carried for countless miles, he set off for Argos, hoping that he could find what he needed in the city. 4-26. Easing the Burden The last few miles of Elijah¡¯s journey were the most difficult. Despite having traveled beneath his burden for weeks, once again resuming the weight of the statue left his back bent. Still, as he had from the very beginning, Elijah continued to put one foot in front of the other without delay or dissent. But he didn¡¯t go into that same trance that had carried him so far. Instead, he was painfully aware of his surroundings. During his self-imposed pilgrimage, autumn had tightened its grip on the region. The leaves had begun to change colors, painting the forest in deep browns and vivid oranges. In addition, the wildlife had started preparing for winter, hoarding food and storing fat for hibernation. Finally, the air had taken on a chilly bite, hinting that a frigid winter was just around the corner. Hopefully, Argos was ready for what was coming, because Elijah suspected it would be far colder than normal. Still, despite his task, now that Elijah had submersed himself in nature¡¯s influence, he couldn¡¯t deny that it was comforting in a way nothing else could be. He basked in it, letting it soothe his soul. After a few hours, he arrived at the city¡¯s gates. The two guards recognized him, and what¡¯s more, they could see the size of his burden. So, they didn¡¯t delay him. Instead, they just waved him through, and from there, Elijah made his way to Atticus shop. As he walked through the city, he saw a host of familiar sights. They were almost as comforting as being inundated by the aura of nature that had accompanied him from the Dragon Circle. It only took Elijah about twenty minutes to reach Atticus¡¯ shop, and when he did, he gently dropped his burden. Then, he stepped inside. Atticus looked up from where he¡¯d been cleaning one of the glass cases, and when he saw Elijah, his smiling face turned serious. ¡°What happened to you, my friend?¡± he asked. ¡°Is it that bad?¡± Elijah asked in response. He¡¯d known that the journey had taken its toll, but he had thought his experience in the oasis had reversed some of that damage. Clearly, that wasn¡¯t the case. ¡°You look like you haven¡¯t eaten in weeks,¡± Atticus said, rushing over. ¡°What happened?¡± As the merchant asked the question, he reached out as if he intended to help steady Elijah. But it was unnecessary, which he quickly made clear. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, backing away. ¡°Just had a long journey.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not really. Not yet,¡± he admitted. ¡°I really came here for two reasons. First, I have a lot of equipment I need identified. I¡¯ll probably sell some of it, assuming you¡¯re buying.¡± Despite his obvious concern, Atticus flashed a bright smile. It was forced, and they both knew it, but Elijah appreciated that his friend had chosen to approach the situation like it was a normal transaction. That helped. Atticus spread his long arms, saying, ¡°Of course, my friend. Atticus¡¯ Arsenal is always in the market for high-quality items.¡± With that, he led Elijah to the back where they commenced with the appraisal process. Atticus¡¯ particular ability required the use of the table, so Elijah first placed the series of weapons he¡¯d taken from the various guards in Valoria atop the surface. ¡°Nothing special. Mostly Middle Crude Grade. One is High Crude,¡± Atticus said. ¡°The materials are good, though. Poorly constructed. If I sell these, it will be to someone who has a disassembly skill. The materials are worth more than the weapons, I¡¯m sorry to say.¡± ¡°Disassembly skill?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Yes. Some Tradesmen have an ability where they can salvage the materials from crafted items. Some of the efficacy of those materials is lost in the process, and there are conditions that must be met, but it is a very useful skill for those who wish to waste as little as possible.¡± ¡°Do you think my sister-in-law might have that kind of skill? She¡¯s a Blacksmith.¡± ¡°And on the power rankings, if I remember correctly?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°She is.¡± ¡°Then almost definitely. I don¡¯t know any real Blacksmiths. Just a couple of Tinkerers. But if they have that kind of skill, then she will as well.¡± ¡°Then, I probably shouldn¡¯t sell these,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That would be my advice. However, if she cannot use the materials, then I will by them, of course.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Even so, Elijah did end up selling the few higher-grade pieces to Atticus. Those, he judged were worth more in their current form than they would be after being broken down into their base parts. After that, Elijah got to the pieces he¡¯d taken from Roman¡¯s display case. Those were all a little disappointing. Each piece was at least Simple-Grade, but their traits and abilities were nothing useful for Elijah. Besides, he liked using staves, and as far as he could tell, the swords weren¡¯t in the style Colt or Miguel preferred. So, he was better served just selling them. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. However, he did keep the suit of armor ¨C which was composed of multiple pieces that included a long duster with built-in bracers, a chainmail coat, and greaves. After all, it had been created for Colt, and as far as Elijah was concerned, it would be most useful in the Samurai¡¯s possession. Next, they moved on to Roman¡¯s Bow, which was called Blindeye. ¡°Adds five to Dexterity and Strength,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°The Trait increases the effectiveness of all ambush skills by five percent. It also has an ability called Conjure Arrow which is pretty self-explanatory. A very good weapon, my friend. I know of a dozen Rangers who would kill for such a weapon.¡± ¡°I think I¡¯ll keep that one,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Miguel hasn¡¯t gotten his archetype yet, so if he gets Ranger, this would come in handy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot of weapon for someone without a class,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°Heavy draw. I suspect it takes at least thirty Strength just to draw the string.¡± ¡°He¡¯ll grow into it,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°But if he doesn¡¯t, I¡¯ll be back.¡± ¡°Fair enough, my friend. Anything else?¡± ¡°A sword,¡± Elijah said, reaching into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieving the False Dragon Fang. He set it on Atticus¡¯ table, which immediately drew a reaction. Yet, it was not the one Elijah had expected. Instead of being awed by the admittedly impressive weapon, Atticus took a step back, demanding, ¡°You haven¡¯t bonded that thing, have you?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t use swords.¡± ¡°Good. Very good.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? It¡¯s a Complex-Grade weapon. My sister-in-law made it.¡± ¡°Did she do so under duress?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I guess. Why does that matter?¡± he asked. Carmen had created the weapon in order to avoid having her people killed. If that didn¡¯t count as duress, he didn¡¯t know what would. ¡°It is cursed.¡± ¡°Cursed? What does that mean?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I mean, I understand the definition of the word. But what does it mean in the context of this item?¡± ¡°A cursed item has a hidden ability. In this case, it¡¯s called Arrogance of the False Dragon. Here,¡± Atticus said, waving his hand. Above the table, a box similar to the ones containing the notifications appeared:
Arrogance of the False Dragon Positive: Assert influence over a captive population more easily. Negative: Become overconfident to the point of ruin. May include delusions of grandeur.
¡°Every curse will have two sides,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°A positive and a negative. Normally, the negative will outweigh the positive, but from what I¡¯ve read, that is not always the case. Some cursed items are so powerful that people willingly accept the cost. That normally only happens with much higher-grade items, though. The example I read about in the guide was a scepter taken up by a temple priestess. Its ability was an aura that ensured prosperity for those in the city surrounding her. However, the negative aspect was that it caused rapid aging. She accepted it willingly, and over the millennia, her successors have as well.¡± Elijah said, ¡°I see.¡± But even as he spoke, he wondered if the curse was the cause of the state of Valoria. Perhaps, but he reminded himself that Roman¡¯s crimes preceded the creation of the False Dragon Fang. That assuaged any crisis of conscience he might have experienced. ¡°I would destroy it,¡± Atticus advised. ¡°The weapon is a nice piece, but that curse will doubtless prove to be insidious, my friend. You are lucky that you had it appraised before using it. Otherwise, you might never have known.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t use swords,¡± Elijah reiterated. However, in the past, he had bonded items before getting them appraised. That would have to stop. Regardless, now that he¡¯d had all of his loot appraised, Elijah could get to the true reason he¡¯d come to Argos. So, he asked, ¡°Do you know any architects? Perhaps a sculptor?¡± ¡°For what purpose, my friend?¡± Elijah told him what he had in mind, then said, ¡°I¡¯m willing to pay whatever it takes. I guess I also need to finally meet whoever¡¯s in charge of this town so I can work out where to put it. My first instinct is to put it near the statue of Heracles, but¡­I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t think it matters so much where it is. I just want it to be accessible.¡± After that, Atticus explained that Argos was ruled by a council, and as it turned out, Elijah was actually acquainted with one of the six members. ¡°Agatha¡¯s a councilor?¡± he asked, thinking of the once-surly innkeeper who¡¯d eventually taken a liking to Elijah. ¡°Likely the most important member,¡± Atticus revealed. ¡°She tends to browbeat anyone who doesn¡¯t get in line behind her.¡± ¡°Interesting. Do you think she¡¯ll have an issue with my plans?¡± Atticus was adamant that no one would have a problem with it, which was reassuring. After that came a whirlwind of activity. First, Atticus led Elijah to a woman he claimed was the best Architect in town. It only took a few minutes to get her onboard, largely because Elijah didn¡¯t haggle on the price. Next, Elijah was introduced to Argos¡¯ highest-level Builder. Because of his efforts during Argos¡¯ rebuild in the wake of the tempest that had swept through the area months before, Elijah already knew of the great bear of a man. However, he¡¯d never met him. As it turned out, Dion ¨C the Builder¡¯s name ¨C took to the idea with great fervor, promising to put his best crew on the project the moment everything was ready. The following step was to get the project approved by the council, which turned out to be even easier than Elijah could have expected. When he told Agatha what he wanted to do, she said, ¡°Then we will accommodate you. There is a plot only three blocks away that will be perfect.¡± As it turned out, the plot, which stood atop a low hill overlooking the city, had once held a large mosque that had collapsed soon after the world¡¯s transformation. Since then, it had been empty, save for the foundations. Elijah first thought it would be a little too big, but Atticus insisted, ¡°Larger is better, my friend. Remember that always.¡± Once Elijah had bought the lot from the city, the final item on his to-do list was to meet with a sculptor. Oddly enough, the best artist in town was not a single person, but rather a pair of siblings ¨C Penelope and Iason ¨C who worked in tandem. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t seem to like one another very much, so, even though they had enthusiastically embraced the project, talking to them proved to be quite a labor. Yet, Elijah endured, and after leaving Alyssa¡¯s statue with them and explaining what he wanted, he set off toward the mountains. For one, he had a few days before the plans could be finalized, and for another, he had a very specific material he wanted to use for the project. So, Elijah once again found himself trekking across the wilderness. However, his psychological burden felt much lighter than it had during his previous travels, largely because he felt secure in the knowledge that he was finally doing something worthwhile. And he was eager to complete the project that he hoped would adequately honor his sister¡¯s memory. 4-27. First Steps A cool rain fell upon Elijah¡¯s shoulders as he trekked toward the mountains. Without the multi-ton burden of his sister¡¯s statue on his back, he felt physically unburdened. However, the weight of his own expectations for his chosen task still weighed heavily upon him. He wasn¡¯t certain when he had chosen to remain in his human form, but it felt appropriate. After all, using his bestial forms, he could have satisfied the terms of his self-imposed quest much more quickly and far more easily. Yet, that facilitation would have robbed it of much of its meaning. Or that was his justification. In reality, Elijah could acknowledge that part of his reasoning came down to a simple fact. He thought he needed to suffer in order to give the act more significance. In a lot of ways, it truly was a self-inflicted penance. But by that point, Elijah had grown accustomed to it, so he let purpose fuel his journey as he trudged through the forest. As he did, he refused to let himself slip back into the trance-like state that had seen him through from Valoria to the Circle of Spears. Instead, he focused on three things. First, he continuously pushed his cultivation exercises, constantly cycling ethera through his core in order to expand his capacity. It wasn¡¯t very effective, but he felt it was good ¨C and necessary ¨C practice. After all, he couldn¡¯t afford to just sit around his grove, or in his cultivation cave, for months while he worked on the process. Nor could he let himself neglect his progression. The battles in Valoria had pushed him past level eighty, but he knew that levels were not the only facet of progression. The next subject of his focus concerned his plans for his sister¡¯s memorial. The Architect would take care of the building, and the Sculptor siblings would do their part as well. But Elijah was more concerned with what came after the project was completed. And finally, he let himself feel his surroundings in a deep and meaningful way. Every tiny organism. Every rock and tree. Every animal, small and large. He immersed himself in nature, once again letting it soothe him. It didn¡¯t banish his grief. It did nothing to rid him of the guilt he still carried. Nor did it assuage his pain. However, it did bolster his ability to deal with all the issues he¡¯d taken upon his shoulders. Every now and again, Elijah would check his Domain as well. He observed as Colt continued to train Miguel, incorporating grueling physical activities as well as constant weapons instruction. But it didn¡¯t end there. Every other day saw Kurik landing on the island and taking Miguel with him, presumably to venture out into the wilderness and train him as a scout. On those days, the boy¡¯s enthusiasm was difficult to miss. Elijah also saw something that had initially worried him. At long last, Miguel had finally met the island¡¯s other guardians, stumbling onto the family of deer during one of his forest runs. It was alarming enough that Elijiah almost abandoned his task altogether and returned to the island. After all, those deer were incredibly dangerous. If he made the wrong move, the stag would disintegrate him with those powerful beams of light it could create. Yet, Elijah¡¯s alarm seemed unwarranted. The two adult deer were a bit skittish around him, but the pair of juveniles ¨C they¡¯d grown slightly larger ¨C were more than eager to approach. It wasn¡¯t long before they were chasing one another through the meadow where the deer had made their home. It reminded Elijah of how easily Miguel had befriended the giant turtle, Snappy. Or how quickly Artemis had taken to him. Perhaps the young man had a gift for such things. Or maybe the creatures could sense that he was no threat to them. One way or another, it was nice to see that, after everything Miguel had been through, he was still capable of having fun. The other facets of Elijah¡¯s mind drifted through his memories. Most centered around his sister, but he also thought of other people he¡¯d lost. Like his parents. Or his ex-girlfriend back in Hawaii. He rarely thought of Nina anymore, largely because, with the benefit of space, he¡¯d come to realize that their relationship had never been anything truly special. Just a pair of people who¡¯d gotten together out of shared loneliness, then stayed together because they actually enjoyed one another¡¯s company. But it wasn¡¯t love. There had never been a spark. Not like with Lucy. More than once, Elijah had regretted how his first real relationship had ended. And he was ashamed of how he¡¯d treated Lucy back then. In the summer after their breakup, he¡¯d found comfort with other women ¨C a few of which had treated him extremely poorly ¨C so it was a miracle that she would even tolerate his presence anymore. Yet, when they¡¯d reunited only a few months past, she¡¯d given her support without hesitation. Perhaps he needed to take that relationship ¨C be it friendship or something more ¨C more seriously. That reminded him of his obligation regarding Seattle. He still intended to help, just on his own terms and timeline. Eventually, Elijah reached the mountains, where he embarked on a quest to find the perfect stone. He¡¯d felt it once before ¨C or its aura of ethera, at least ¨C but back then, he¡¯d had no need or ability to quarry it. This time, though, he was prepared. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Slowly, Elijah scoured the mountains until, after three more days, he found what he was looking for. The cliff face was tall. Perhaps two hundred feet, and extending for a quarter of a mile in either direction. The size of the cliff was immaterial, though. What truly drew Elijah¡¯s eye was the composition. In most ways, it looked like marble, predominantly white, but with highlights of deep green. Even just looking at it, Elijah knew it was special ¨C a supposition supported by the dense aura of ethera it emitted as well. It was almost as strong as a natural treasure, though without the sense of vitality that came with them. It reminded Elijah of the ore that came from Ironshore¡¯s mine. That prompted a thread of thought questioning what really made a natural treasure. Was it the life they tended to emit? Or was it something else? Elijah could feel the difference, though he wasn¡¯t capable of pinpointing exactly what separated natural treasures from other powerful resources. In any case, while Elijah wouldn¡¯t have harvested a natural treasure, he had no issues with taking the stone. So, without further hesitation, he drew a large pickaxe from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, climbed to the top of the cliff, and got to work. He¡¯d acquired the tool from Dion, the Builder he¡¯d contracted, and it was reputed to be a Simple-Grade item. However, when Elijah swung the pickaxe at the cliff, he was surprised to find that it didn¡¯t even chip the durable stone. So, after a few more attempts, Elijah shifted into his lamellar ape form and brought his claws to bear. That was better, giving him some insight into how his claws compared to high-grade items. Over the next few hours, Elijah worked to carve a huge block from the stone. Then, once it had been cut completely free, he laboriously wrapped it in rope he¡¯d bought in Argos before lowering it to the ground. There were complications, of course. The process was awkward, made even more difficult by the fact that Elijah really didn¡¯t know much about quarrying stone. Yet, he was a quick study with incredible attributes that were perfectly suited to the task. So, he pushed through, managing to set the stone at the bottom of the cliff before moving on to the next block. That one went much more quickly, and after that, Elijah settled into a groove. The process was labor-intensive, but by that point, Elijah was well accustomed to such hardship. So, he persisted, and over the next few days, he harvested nearly a hundred such blocks. On the trip back to Argos, by necessity, he was forced to abandon his pervious decision to remain in his human form. Instead, he used his lamellar ape form, balancing one block on each shoulder as he set off toward Argos. It was still a ridiculous amount of weight to carry, far exceeding that of the heel stones he¡¯d used in his dolmens. However, because his Strength had increased ¨C both by virtue of his levels and because of his equipment ¨C he managed it. Still, when he reached Argos and deposited the blocks just outside the city, he was exhausted. But he didn¡¯t stop to rest. Instead, he shifted to the Shape of the Sky and set off toward his makeshift quarry. When he landed, he ate one of his few remaining grove berries, slept for a couple of hours, then continued his task. Each trip took about twelve hours, which meant that he could only make a couple a day. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t forced to do everything himself, because, on the fifth such day, Dios and his crew arrived with a pair of huge wagons. The barrel-chested Builder and his team quickly got to work, stacking twenty blocks onto each wagon. Once they were fully loaded, Elijah asked, ¡°Is that going to hold? It looks like it¡¯s going to topple over.¡± Dion clapped Elijah on his shoulder and let out an abrupt laugh. ¡°Ah, so you have never worked with a true Builder, eh?¡± the man asked. ¡°It is a skill called Teamster¡¯s Balance. We¡¯ll keep those blocks in the wagons, don¡¯t you worry.¡± Elijah took the man at his word, though he still eyed the precariously piled blocks with some unease. Still, he chose to trust Dion, largely because he¡¯d come so highly recommended by Atticus. In either case, the addition of the Builders¡¯ efforts turned a project that should have taken six weeks into one that they managed to complete in only two. Even as they drove their wagons ¨C which were pulled by the crew ¨C across the terrain, Elijah continued with his own efforts, trudging across the landscape and carrying two at a time. When they finally finished, Elijah once again met with the people he¡¯d contracted. The two sculptors had finalized their plans, while the architect gave Elijah three options from which to choose. To him, the decision seemed obvious, and he picked the one that called to him mostly strongly. Then, at last, everyone got to work. As they did, Elijah finally took the time to rest, though he didn¡¯t head to an inn to sleep. Instead, he planted himself in the center of the build site, where he continuously flared Nature¡¯s Bounty as well as One with Nature. However, because there were no plants around, the former ability didn¡¯t really result in much in the way of growth. That wasn¡¯t Elijah¡¯s purpose. Instead, he wanted to suffuse the intended memorial with his power. Because, if the construction of the dolmens had proven anything, it was that construction wasn¡¯t just about piling materials into a recognizable shape. There was far more to it than that. Ethera changed everything, after all. More days passed, and the workers continued with their task. Often, they took advantage of Elijah¡¯s healing abilities, as well, and after that first day, he¡¯d resigned himself to continuously keeping Healing Rain active. That attracted many of Argos¡¯ residents, too. There were quite a few Healers in the city, though they were often overworked. So, most people only visited a Healer when their lives were in danger. That was where Healing Rain came in. It was an easy spell to maintain, and it worked wonders on minor ailments. So, most days saw Elijah surrounded by a dozen or so people. That was fine with him, too. He didn¡¯t get much in the way of experience for healing them, but they often brought him food, which seemed a good trade. More importantly, doing good and helping people nourished him in an entirely different way. That was the first of many steps toward healing his wounded psyche. It would be a long journey, but to Elijah, it felt that the first part of any voyage was always the most difficult. In any case, it took a little more than a week before the building took shape. There was still quite a lot of detail work to be done, but Elijah was more than happy with the results so far. And now that he had verified that everything was coming together, he felt free to embark on the final addition for the project. So, after letting everyone know that he would be back in a couple of weeks, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree and, for the first time in more than two months, returned to his grove. 4-28. The Nature of Restraint The dense ethera of the grove washed over Elijah as he reappeared on his island. Sometimes, it was easy to forget just how thick it was compared to the rest of the world. When he was elsewhere, he barely even noticed the lack. However, the moment he returned to the grove, it was like swimming in a soothing ocean of vital energy. He let out a sigh as he looked around the grove. Much of it was the same, though his eyes were drawn to the area dedicated to his coffee trees. They¡¯d continued to grow, reaching a height of almost fifty feet, which was enormous for that species of tree. That didn¡¯t seem out of the ordinary, though. Elijah¡¯s grove berries had started off as bunchberries, but the thick ethera and both his and Nerthus¡¯ ministrations had transformed them into something else entirely. The same was true of all the other plants in the grove as well. Some had simply grown much larger than normal, but others had mutated even more than the berries. Either way, it all felt appropriate. Natural. And that was what truly mattered. Sensing Nerthus on the other side of the grove, Elijah crossed the intervening space to find the spryggent tending to a dozen artificial beehives. They resembled the hives he¡¯d seen before Earth¡¯s transformation, though instead of being made of unimaginative particle board or the like, these new hives had been grown much like Elijah¡¯s treehouse. Shaped like acorns, they looked like functional works of art, especially with tens of thousands of fat honeybees swarming the area. One landed on Elijah¡¯s outstretched hand, and he was surprised to see that it was around fifty percent larger than a normal honeybee, which meant it was about an inch-and-a-half long. In fact, with its fuzzy body and curious nature, it looked almost like a cartoon version of the familiar insects. ¡°They are quite friendly,¡± Nerthus said without looking up. ¡°I chose these hives specifically for that reason.¡± ¡°Nerthus, this is amazing,¡± Elijah responded with no small degree of awe. ¡°You¡¯ve outdone yourself. Really.¡± ¡°The child likes the bees as well,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°He has an incredible affinity for animals.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve noticed that they tolerate him a lot more than they do with most people,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I thought it had to do with him not having an archetype yet. Maybe they can sense that he isn¡¯t a threat to them or something.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Nerthus conceded. ¡°Yet, I think it is more than that. It will be interesting to see what archetypes and classes he is offered. He may even have the chance to become a Druid as well.¡± ¡°Do you think that would be wise?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Nerthus said, finally looking back at Elijah. ¡°Druids are the most powerful archetype in existence.¡± ¡°Uh¡­not everybody thinks that,¡± Elijah said, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve met a few people who think the opposite. Well, that¡¯s not exactly true. Nobody thinks Druids aren¡¯t strong. It¡¯s just that I get the impression that most Druids are borderline non-combatants.¡± ¡°Ah. That is true. Strength comes in many forms, though. There are whole worlds tended to by Druids. Beautiful places where everything exists in perfect harmony. Anything that threatens that balance is eradicated. Is that not power?¡± Elijah nodded. He knew that his archetype was not meant to be the strongest in combat. Even his attribute bonuses were not on par with some others, and his repertoire of spells lacked focus. That wasn¡¯t difficult to understand, given that a good portion of the archetype seemed focused on non-combat abilities like healing, Nature¡¯s Bounty, or One with Nature. Though the third had some combat applications, it was clearly meant to help a Druid to connect with the source of his power. Or the balance he was meant to protect. Regardless, Elijah had circumvented many of those inadequacies by choosing a distinctly combat-focused class. And he¡¯d managed to shore up his attribute deficiencies with cultivation. However, he did realize that those were only band-aids that didn¡¯t truly fix the problem. So, he asked, ¡°What does progression look like for me? I know that I¡¯ll have a chance for specialization in a few levels. Then, I¡¯ll get to evolve my class, too. But what does that mean?¡± ¡°It means that you will be able to correct your path to better align with your goals,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°If you wish for more combat power, that will be available via an evolution. Or if you want to focus more on the grove, that will be as well. The system will provide options based on your actions as well as how it interprets your suitability.¡± ¡°Will I lose any of my current abilities?¡± ¡°No. When those abilities evolve, the options will align with your new direction, though. For instance, if you were to choose to focus on healing, then some of your combat spells might develop an additional effect that assists in that function,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°Though it should be said that no spell, even after many evolutions, will completely change its nature. A damaging spell will always be a damaging spell.¡± ¡°Sounds complicated.¡± ¡°Of course. The system was created by the twelve most powerful beings to have ever existed, all working in concert to ease the burden of progression. It is not self-aware, but it is reactive and complex beyond our comprehension,¡± Nerthus stated. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°What was it like before?¡± ¡°Those days are lost in darkness. Only vague stories remain, and the truth is obscured by time.¡± Elijah nodded. Even humanity lacked a true vision of the past, and that history was far shorter than the scale of what Nerthus had described. Elijah asked, ¡°And this system is benevolent?¡± ¡°It is neutral. It does not judge. Instead, it only guides. The purpose is benevolent, though.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said, though he had difficulty wrapping his thoughts around the sheer scope of it all. Regardless, he didn¡¯t have the free time to spend contemplating the nature of the multi-verse or the system. Instead, he had more grounded issues to worry about. So, after only a few more minutes, during which he let Nerthus explain the progress of the rest of the grove, Elijah explained what he wanted from Nerthus. ¡°Has the tree produced any other seeds?¡± he asked. ¡°Three others. Though more should grow over the next few years,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I need one.¡± Then, Elijah explained why he wanted one of the ancestral tree¡¯s seeds. Once he understood what Elijah had planned, Nerthus gave his approval and gathered the seed in question. After that, Elijah set off for Ironshore, using Shape of the Sky to cover the distance in a little more than a minute. He landed in Druid¡¯s Park, startling a few children. Oddly enough, though, they did not fear him. Rather, they were simply shocked by his sudden landing. Apparently, news of his new form had spread through the town. Elijah took a few minutes to ensure that the tree was healthy, and once he was satisfied, he started toward Carmen¡¯s forge, arriving after only a few more minutes. When he stepped inside, he saw her hammering away at a bar of glowing metal. For the first time since their reunion, she wore a genuine smile upon her face. There were a few other people around. Most were dwarves, but Elijah saw a couple of gnomes and a single goblin as well. The smithy itself was quite impressive, with enough room to accommodate a few dozen Blacksmiths. However, Elijah quickly noticed a couple of things about the workers. First, they were all incredibly young, probably having only attained their archetypes recently. Second, none of them were actually forging anything. Instead, they were helping with the smelting process, working bellows, or doing other grunt work. ¡°You can¡¯t be in here, fella,¡± said one of the dwarves. His red beard was only an inch long, but his shoulders were wide and muscular. ¡°If you¡¯re wantin¡¯ ta commission somethin¡¯, you¡¯ll have to talk to Miss Corie down at the shop.¡± Elijah just stared at the young dwarf, then shook his head before continuing into the building. ¡°Hey! I said you can¡¯t ¨C¡± Someone reached over to grab the would-be smith, whispering something rendered unintelligible by the activity within the smithy. Elijah was both pleased and a little saddened when the dwarf¡¯s face paled before he took a step back. Apparently, Elijah¡¯s reputation had preceded him. With a sigh, he continued on until he reached Carmen. ¡°Whatcha makin¡¯?¡± he asked, leaning forward. She started, clearly surprised to find Elijah standing next to her. Patting her chest, she breathed, ¡°You scared the hell out of me. What are you doing here? Is it done?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°It¡¯s done. Do you want to hear the whole story?¡± he asked. Carmen said that she did, and after that, they retreated to the small office she¡¯d attached to the smithy. Once there, Elijah laid out the whole story, including running into the harpies, finding the records, and killing both Laramie and Fiona. When he described the fight with Roman, he only hit the high points, ending with, ¡°After that, I¡­I went on a rampage. I killed hundreds of guards.¡± That was a bit of a lie. In reality, he¡¯d slaughtered more than a thousand. But Carmen didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°When I left the city, the battle was still going on. I don¡¯t know who won.¡± ¡°Nobody,¡± Carmen said with a shake of her head. She slumped in her chair, adding, ¡°So, it¡¯s over?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯m done killing, but there¡¯s one more thing we need to do.¡± Then, he told her about the project he¡¯d begun. For the most part, Carmen took to the idea pretty well, though it clearly made her a little uncomfortable. Still, when Elijiah asked her to come with him back to Argos, she agreed. ¡°I need to go find Miguel,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you know where he is?¡± ¡°Off in the wilderness with Kurik,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°Colt¡¯s with them, too. He said he wanted to shore up his own woodcraft, but I think he just wants to make sure Miguel doesn¡¯t forget his sword training. If you ask me, he and the dwarf are competing to see who can pass more knowledge onto my son.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good thing, right?¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I worry about him being stretched too thin. But he enjoys all of it. You should hear him going on and on about all the things he¡¯s seen,¡± she said. ¡°Or about sword forms. God. If I have to hear him explain the minute differences between stances one more time¡­¡± Elijah forced a laugh. That was one of the more relatable aspects of Miguel¡¯s training. ¡°When I used to box, I¡¯d talk my dad¡¯s ear off about everything I learned,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing. It means he¡¯s engaged.¡± ¡°I hope so. I still don¡¯t know what to think about all of this,¡± she admitted. ¡°I know he needs to be able to take care of himself. I know he wants power. And I know why. But every time I see him learning how to kill, I feel like a failure as a parent. I mean, it really wasn¡¯t that long ago that we were telling him that violence never solved anything. So na?ve.¡± ¡°It was a different world, Carmen,¡± Elijah said, reaching out to grip her shoulder. She flinched a little at his touch, evidence that she hadn¡¯t completely recovered from her own ordeal. ¡°But just because he can kill doesn¡¯t mean he will. Restraint is what separates the good ones from the bad.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± she asked. ¡°Does that apply to you?¡± ¡°It does,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Which side do you fall on?¡± she persisted. Clearly, she thought she knew the answer. ¡°You didn¡¯t practice much restraint in Easton, did you?¡± ¡°I asked myself that same question,¡± Elijah admitted, pulling away and pacing to the other side of the room. ¡°And the only answer I came up with was that yes, I restrained myself. Do you know how I know that?¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°Because there were survivors,¡± Elijah stated. Indeed, he¡¯d wanted to kill every person in the city. His instincts screamed at him to do so. And failing that, at least everyone associated with the corrupt government Roman had created. But he hadn¡¯t. Sure, he¡¯d killed thousands, but if he¡¯d given in to his instincts, that number would have been in the tens of thousands. To him, that felt like restraint. Still, that did nothing to assuage his guilt. So, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to find Miguel. I hope to leave tomorrow morning, if that¡¯s okay with you.¡± Then, without another word, he strode toward the door. He could feel Carmen¡¯s gaze following him the whole way, though. 4-29. A Fitting Memorial That night, Elijah didn¡¯t sleep much. Instead, he lay awake in his incredibly comfortable bed of moss, just staring up at the gently glowing flowers on his ceiling. Bioluminescence had always fascinated Elijah, but he knew that these particular flowers were powered not by a biological process, but rather, by ethera. Still, they were an interesting case that reminded him of just how magical his world had become. But he wasn¡¯t thinking about that. Instead, he found himself contemplating the future. Soon, he would completely lay Alyssa to rest. Her memory would remain with him always, but he expected that the project¡¯s completion would feel like shutting a door. After that, he would need to move on, both because he had other obligations as well as for his own mental well-being. It wouldn¡¯t do to dwell any longer. What did the future hold, though? Would he immediately set off for Seattle to uphold his end of the bargain he¡¯d struck with Isaiah? Perhaps. Already, he¡¯d delayed it for months, so there was no telling what he¡¯d find when he returned to the embattled city. Hopefully, Lucy wouldn¡¯t pay the price for his procrastination. In addition, he had other goals on his mind. First, he¡¯d already resolved to investigate the storm that still persisted far out to sea. Something told him that it was important, though he didn¡¯t know precisely what form that importance might take. Then, he also needed to take care of his coffee, the cherries of which would ripen soon enough. That was probably the project he most looked forward to, but he also wanted to begin work on a new staff sometime in the near future. The Dragon-Touched Staff was a powerful piece of equipment, but it was incredibly one-dimensional. He expected he could do better, so long as he approached the project with the right attitude. After that, he needed to test out his latest ability:
Debilitating Roar Let out an enraged bellow that sends all nearby targets fleeing in fear, decreasing their damage by 15%. Increases caster¡¯s footspeed by 10%. Only usable when caster is under the influence of Shape of the Guardian. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 9.2 seconds. Resistance based on target¡¯s Constitution attribute.
It was the ability he¡¯d received at level eighty, and if Elijah was honest, he found the description a little disappointing. It was easy to conjure situations where it would be useful, but he¡¯d hoped for something direct. Perhaps that would come at level eighty-five. He also hoped to start receiving some upgrades to his current spells sometime soon, because abilities like Calamity and Storm¡¯s Fury had started to lose some of their efficacy, especially against anything his level. Even the attribute bonuses of his bestial transformations had begun to feel underwhelming. Whatever the case, he needed a low-danger situation in which to test the new ability. Finally, he knew that Miguel was quickly approaching the point where he would need to choose an archetype. When his nephew reached that stage, Elijah intended to make certain that the young man had every advantage he could provide, including help with his cultivation, high-grade equipment, and whatever guidance he could offer. But underlying everything else was the knowledge that he needed to continue to progress. Lying in bed, he looked at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 81
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 94
Dexterity 84
Constitution 93
Ethera 90
Regeneration 84
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Novice
In addition to the normal attributes he gained with each level, Elijah¡¯s arduous journey had also resulted in an additional two-point gain in both Strength and Constitution. That was a testament to what he¡¯d put himself through. Given his already-high attributes, gaining anything outside of his automatic level allocation was incredibly difficult. ¡°Carrying tons of rock across hundreds of miles has its benefits, I guess,¡± he muttered to himself before checking the power rankings:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 81 2. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 79 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 76 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 74 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 74 6. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 69 7. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 67 8. Benedict Emerson ¨C Level 61 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 60 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 59 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 100. Khadija Yatib ¨C Level 51
Already, the other people at the top of the list had begun to close in on him, but that wasn¡¯t unexpected. They were all clearly driven, and just as obviously, they¡¯d found favorable circumstances for leveling. However, what worried Elijah was the rest of the list. The person at the hundredth spot was level fifty-one, which was only eight levels from the top ten. Over the past couple of months, the average level of the top one hundred had risen quite a bit, indicating that the gap was beginning to close between those at the top and the ones at the bottom. If Elijah didn¡¯t continue to progress, he could easily find himself in the bottom half of the list by the time the Trial of Primacy came. He still didn¡¯t know much about what it represented, but, given that name, he suspected it would be competitive. As such, he needed to take his own progression seriously, lest he pay for it when ¨C or if ¨C he participated in that event. He made a mental note to investigate the Trial of Primacy as soon as he found an available Librarian who could guide his research. It joined a few other questions he intended to ask at some point. With everything going on, he didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d get the opportunity to do what needed to be done. He was owed questions in Seattle and the elven city of Arvandor, so he just needed to take the time to travel to those locations and ask. Another item to add to his list, he supposed. Regardless, he had a full plate, and that wouldn¡¯t soon change. So, with that in mind, Elijah rose before the sun had even risen and went through his normal training routine. By the time he¡¯d finished, morning had dawned, and he returned to the grove to find that Miguel, Carmen, and Colt were already prepared for the coming day. All three wore packs not dissimilar from the first one he¡¯d gotten back in Ironshore. ¡°All packed?¡± Elijah asked, using his staff as a walking stick as he approached. ¡°How long do you expect we¡¯ll be gone?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°At least a week. Probably closer to a month,¡± he admitted. ¡°You¡¯re all free to skip this part, but I thought it would be best if Carmen and Miguel had a hand in it.¡± Nobody even questioned why Colt would come along. He rarely ventured far from either Carmen or Miguel¡¯s side. Likely, part of that was for protection, but Elijah could tell that the man considered them family. ¡°We¡¯re going,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Alright. Give me a few minutes to shower and change. Then, we¡¯ll head out,¡± he said. After that, he did as he¡¯d said, going to his treehouse to shower, change, and grab everything he thought he might need. Once he¡¯d stuffed it all into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, he called out for Nerthus. ¡°You have those seeds we talked about earlier?¡± he asked. Nerthus handed over a pouch, saying, ¡°There is no guarantee that these will take root. The vines are a finnicky sort.¡± ¡°All I can do is try. This is important, though.¡± And it was. Once the seed was nestled safely in his satchel, Elijah returned to collect his family before once again asking if they were ready to go. Of course, Miguel had forgotten something, which he rushed off to gather, eliciting a groan from Carmen. When he returned, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree, opening a gate to the Dragon Circle outside of Argos. After that, they made their way to the city. Miguel and Colt were both familiar enough with Argos, but Carmen had never been. As a result, she was suitably impressed by what she saw. ¡°Everyone here is so friendly¡­¡± ¡°Part of that is because of me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ve spent a lot of time here, so most everyone recognizes me. But I also think it¡¯s because they¡¯re just good people.¡± ¡°I was beginning to think that places like this couldn¡¯t survive in this new world,¡± she said as they walked through the city. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s true. I visited another couple of places that were mostly okay,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I think that, for the most part, people are good. It¡¯s just that sometimes they run into a bad apple like Roman. Or those rich, water-hoarding assholes in Seattle.¡± ¡°So you think those places are the exception to the rule? Or is this the exception?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted, running his hand through his hair. ¡°Maybe the answer is that there isn¡¯t a rule. Maybe it¡¯s just a take-it-as-you-find-it sort of situation. Either way, Argos is a good place full of good people. That¡¯s why I chose to put the memorial here.¡± ¡°Why not Ironshore?¡± ¡°We¡¯re human. Alyssa deserves to be remembered in a human settlement.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not because they tried to kill you?¡± asked Carmen. Elijah stopped. ¡°You heard about that, huh?¡± he asked. ¡°Which time?¡± ¡°Both. I¡¯m surprised you didn¡¯t burn it all down,¡± she said. ¡°So were most of the people who live there.¡± ¡°I thought about it,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But both times it was an isolated thing. I trust Ramik, but I still wonder what will happen when they figure out what¡¯s on my island. It¡¯s a tempting target.¡± ¡°It is. But for what it¡¯s worth, I don¡¯t think any of them will invade your grove anytime soon. They¡¯re terrified.¡± ¡°They should be.¡± After that, they continued on, and after Elijah rented rooms for them at Agatha¡¯s hotel, they headed to the site of the monument. And it looked much as it had when Elijah had left it. ¡°It¡¯s huge,¡± Carmen breathed. Indeed, it was the size of a full-blown mansion, and it was made almost entirely from the stone Elijah had quarried. To him, it looked a lot like the Temple of Athena Nike in Athens, though with a few caveats. For one, the columns were carved in a spiral shape, with unadorned capitals. That would change as Elijah, Carmen, and the twin sculptors went to work, but even now, the effect was elegant and straightforward in its simplicity. The other major difference was the statue at the top of the building. Based on and incorporating pieces of the statue Elijah had carried out of Valoria, it was meant to depict and idealized version of Alyssa. The figure stood in a heroic pose, with her spear raised high and pointing toward the sky. The final difference between the monument to Alyssa¡¯s memory and the ancient Athenian temple was that the new version had an expansive, open-air courtyard in its center. That was where Elijah intended to plant the ancestral tree seed. ¡°Are you ready to get to work?¡± Elijah asked. Carmen nodded. ¡°I am.¡± To Miguel and Colt, Elijah said, ¡°You¡¯re welcome to stick around, but you may get bored. Maybe explore the town a little. Meet some people. Eat some good food. I¡¯m sure if you ask nicely, Isaak would show you around.¡± ¡°I want to watch,¡± Miguel said. ¡°At least for today.¡± ¡°Fine by me,¡± Elijah said. Then, he and the others climbed the steps ¨C also made of that same white-and-green marble ¨C to the monument. Once inside, Elijah spoke to Dion, the builder, who told him that everything went exactly as planned. He eagerly took Elijah on a short tour, narrating as he went. ¡°The temple is a true marvel. Do you feel the ethera wafting off the Dragonstone?¡± ¡°Is that what it¡¯s called?¡± Elijah asked, surprised. ¡°Indeed. Very rare, the guides say. That we have a vein nearby bodes well for the city¡¯s future prosperity,¡± Dion answered. ¡°Ah ¨C here are the rooms you asked for.¡± There were seven rooms in the building, all meant for housing. Other than that, there was another large chamber housing the unused remnants of Alyssa¡¯s statue. But Elijah didn¡¯t need to see that again, so he forewent visiting. Instead, he made his way to the central courtyard, where he planted the ancestral tree seed. Once he¡¯d covered it up and summoned Healing Rain, he used Nature¡¯s Bounty. Then, to Carmen, he said, ¡°You should go find the Sculptors. Penelope and Iason. Just look for two siblings who won¡¯t stop arguing, and you¡¯ll find them.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°Grow a very special tree,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Then, we¡¯re going to have a party.¡± 4-30. The Importance of a Good Hat ¡°Come on! Why can¡¯t I go with you?¡± demanded Miguel. ¡°You always said that having someone to watch your back is important.¡± ¡°This ain¡¯t that kinda city, kid,¡± Colt said, running his hand through his short hair. He¡¯d had the barber back in Ironshore cut it down to little more than a fringe, which was his preferred style. Easier to handle, that way. ¡°You heard your uncle. It¡¯s ¡®bout as safe a spot as there is. ¡®sides ¨C you need to venture out on your own a bit. Havin¡¯ me or your uncle hoverin¡¯ over your shoulder won¡¯t do you a bit of good. A boy needs his independence as much as he needs guidance.¡± Miguel looked like he was going to argue, but then the boy thought better of it. That was as expected. When Colt had first taken the young man under his wing, he¡¯d been a bit unruly and very undisciplined. But he¡¯d latched onto the structure Colt provided, his grip tightening even more after their exile. That wasn¡¯t to say that Miguel never acted like the teenage boy he was. He certainly did, and often. But he¡¯d learned that when Colt gave instructions, he expected them to be followed, and without complaint. ¡°Fine. Whatever,¡± Miguel said. ¡°Maybe Isaak can show me around.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Colt allowed. ¡°But that ain¡¯t much different than havin¡¯ me or your uncle ¡®round.¡± Miguel glared at him. Colt didn¡¯t waver, though. ¡°And don¡¯t leave the city.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°No buts, kid. It¡¯s dangerous out there. I heard stories about some kinda maneater from a while back. Nobody ever killed it, either. It ain¡¯t hit nobody in a while, but that don¡¯t mean it ain¡¯t still out there. And somebody like you? Without levels? You make a juicy target for a monster like that.¡± ¡°We should go back to the swamp,¡± Miguel said. His cheeks reddened. ¡°To check on the kids. You know, to make sure they¡¯re okay.¡± ¡°The kids, huh.¡± ¡°Yeah. I thought we should¡¯ve stayed until they had everything they needed. But Uncle Elijah said that he didn¡¯t want to influence their decision,¡± the young man persisted. ¡°By now, they had to¡¯ve made a choice, though.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the only reason you wanna go? To check on the kids.¡± ¡°Uh¡­no. I think the swamp is¡­uh¡­cool. With all the mud and¡­leeches¡­¡± ¡°Right. Leeches. That¡¯s what all the kids¡¯re into these days, eh?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a kid,¡± Miguel insisted. ¡°I¡¯ll get my archetype any day now.¡± ¡°Well, ¡®til you do, you¡¯re a kid,¡± he said. Then, he shook his head and said, ¡°Now go on. Git. Don¡¯t wanna see you ¡®til sunset at least. Go get into some trouble. Have a rock fight. Explore. Just be a kid. You ain¡¯t had much opportunity for that kinda thing since¡­well, since forever.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Miguel huffed. ¡°Can I at least take a sword, though?¡± ¡°Spear.¡± ¡°But I don¡¯t like the spear!¡± ¡°That¡¯s all you get ¡®til you prove you can handle the sword,¡± Colt said. In truth, Miguel had progressed exceedingly well with his swordsmanship, but Colt had high standards that the young man had yet to meet. After that, Miguel only argued for a little longer before taking up the spear they¡¯d brought with them, then leaving the hotel¡¯s common room behind. For his part, Colt glanced at the innkeeper, Agatha, and shrugged, saying, ¡°Kids, right?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t have to tell me. My boys were a lot worse. At least he listens.¡± ¡°Most of the time,¡± Colt said with a chuckle as he leaned against the bar. Then, he reached up, intending to tip his hat to the elderly woman, but brought himself up short when he remembered that he still hadn¡¯t replaced the one he¡¯d lost back in Easton. ¡°Say, you don¡¯t know of a decent haberdasher ¡®round here, do you?¡± ¡°Haberdasher?¡± ¡°Hat maker,¡± Colt explained. He gave her a tight smile, adding, ¡°I seem to¡¯ve misplaced my bonnet.¡± She answered, ¡°Old Markakis is your best bet. He¡¯s got a fair few hats. Not sure if he makes them, but he¡¯s a Tailor.¡± After she gave him directions, Colt said, ¡°Much obliged, ma¡¯am.¡± Then, he left the hotel behind. Vaguely, he was aware of Miguel following him for a bit, but eventually, he left the boy behind. As he walked through the town, Colt was amazed at how normal it all seemed. There were plenty of cultural differences from any other place he¡¯d ever been, but aside from those, it was remarkably similar to his hometown back in Oklahoma. Or, presumably, hundreds of other mid-sized towns throughout the world. Argos was too big to be considered a town, though. If he¡¯d had to guess, he would have said that it played host to at least a hundred thousand people. Maybe more. That was how most towns were, from what he could tell. Anywhere that offered a modicum of safety attracted refugees like moths to a flame. The settlements that didn¡¯t grow usually ended up getting overrun. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Colt had seen plenty of evidence of that during their exile. And he suspected that more would fall everyday until everything normalized. But one thing was certain ¨C the world wasn¡¯t getting any safer, and humanity needed to take its own progression seriously or there would be another culling not dissimilar from what had happened directly after Earth experienced the touch of the World Tree. For his part, Colt was lucky. He¡¯d always been a man of action. As a former soldier, he felt he was well-suited to the new world, and his lifelong fascination with the art of Bushido had served him well with his Warrior archetype and the Samurai class that had followed. However, he hadn¡¯t had a purpose until he¡¯d reached Easton and found Alyssa. She¡¯d shown him the good people were capable of, and he¡¯d followed her willingly. After her death, he¡¯d pledged himself to Carmen. And now, she¡¯d become something of a little sister to him. After everything they¡¯d experienced together, they were practically family. But Colt knew that he needed to keep pushing forward. He was just outside the top one-hundred, but that could be said for thousands of people. Maybe tens of thousands. It was especially necessary because, like everyone else, he¡¯d gotten a notification a couple of months before:
Four years have passed since your planet (Earth) felt the transformative touch of the World Tree. In one year, the top five-thousand (5000) humans and top five-hundred (500) settlers will be afforded the opportunity to endure the Trial of Primacy. Participation is not mandatory, though it is encouraged. In one (1) year, present yourself at any Branch of the World Tree, and you will be teleported to the Trial Grounds. Prepare yourselves accordingly.
He had a little less than ten more months to ensure that he would be eligible to go, and he intended to use every day to accomplish that goal. But first, he needed a proper hat. So, he followed Agatha¡¯s directions, eventually arriving at a small shop faced by large windows that displayed a series of mannequins dressed in all the latest fashions. Colt wasn¡¯t in the market for clothes, but he could admire the cut of the two suits on display. He adjusted his coat, then stepped inside, his entry announced by the tinkling of a bell. The interior of the shop was much as he would have expected. There were dozens of mannequins lining the wall, each one displaying the Tailor¡¯s wares. Colt also saw a few tables upon which were folded cheaper, less formal clothing like tee-shirts and blue jeans. Though his senses told him that, despite their modern appearance, the pieces were not mundane. ¡°How might I help you?¡± came a nasally voice from the back of the room. Colt¡¯s eyes quickly found the owner, who was a short, thin, and bespectacled man with a mop of brown hair. ¡°I¡¯d be much obliged if you¡¯d point me to your finest hats,¡± Colt said with a crooked smile that he hoped was charming. ¡°Hats? I don¡¯t sell hats. Do you see any hats?¡± ¡°I do not,¡± Colt admitted. ¡°Bit new in town, if I¡¯m honest. I was told you were my best bet.¡± ¡°Well, I don¡¯t have any hats. Please leave.¡± ¡°Surely the finest Tailor in the city could make one, measly hat.¡± ¡°I said I don¡¯t¡­wait, who said I was the finest Tailor in the city?¡± ¡°Everyone says so,¡± Colt stated. ¡°Perhaps I could be persuaded to take on a custom job,¡± Markakis said. Colt gave the man his warmest smile. Then, he retrieved a few silver coins from his pouch, saying, ¡°Will this be persuasion enough?¡± Markakis cleared his throat, then said, ¡°Yes. I believe it will. Tell me, Mr¡­¡± ¡°Colt.¡± ¡°Mr. Colt, tell me ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s just Colt. Ain¡¯t no Mister attached.¡± ¡°Right. Colt. Tell me what you require.¡± * * * Miguel sat on the stoop, idly petting Artemis. The cat had found him the moment he¡¯d left the inn, and she had followed him all the way to Isaak¡¯s house. Of course, the other young man wasn¡¯t around, which had thrown a bit of a wet blanket on Miguel¡¯s plans to enlist Isaak¡¯s help in finding something interesting to do. So, without any other ideas, Miguel had sat on the stoop in an effort to figure things out. ¡°He lost me on purpose,¡± he said to the purring cat. The thing was the size of a Siberian husky, which made it the biggest cat Miguel had ever seen. However, the beast acted just like every other cat he¡¯d ever met. ¡°I know he did.¡± The cat purred in solidarity. Or probably because she enjoyed the attention. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have been able to if I had an archetype,¡± he went on. ¡°I saw the stuff Uncle Elijah could do, too. If I had those kinds of abilities, nobody would stop me from doing what I wanted.¡± But what did he want? That was a question that had plagued him ever since he had met his uncle. Sure ¨C Elijah had visited years ago, but those memories were hazy. By contrast, everything that had happened since Seattle was extremely vivid. Elijah was one of the most powerful people in the world. Everyone said that he was at the top of the power rankings that Miguel had never seen. And he¡¯d gone to Easton and killed Roman. Nobody had said it outright, but Miguel could read between the lines. Elijah had set out to get revenge, and when he¡¯d returned, the results were obvious. That had robbed Miguel of purpose. For the entirety of their voyage across the wilderness, he¡¯d imagined himself making Roman pay for what he¡¯d done. He had dreamed of doing so in a thousand different ways, too. But now? That door was closed to him. So, where did that leave him? What purpose did he have? Colt always said that a man needed a purpose, and now, Miguel had none. He sighed, leaning back on the stoop, propping himself up with one elbow as he looked at the spear he held in his other hand. It wasn¡¯t even a Crude-Grade weapon, which meant that it was next to useless against anything with any degree of power. However, it did have a durability enchantment on it, so at least it wouldn¡¯t snap at the first sign of strain. ¡°Mom used a spear,¡± he said to the cat. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s a good weapon. That¡¯s what Colt says. Better reach than a sword. Easier to use, too. It¡¯s what most armies used before guns and stuff. But it just doesn¡¯t feel right.¡± Or not completely right, he had to amend. He enjoyed training with all sorts of weapons, but none of them had really grabbed ahold of him. Miguel was at least self-aware enough to recognize that much of the reason he wanted to use a sword was because Colt used one. Otherwise, he felt no real connection to the weapon. The same was true of spears and axes, daggers and bows. But he needed to learn to focus. Otherwise, he would never become a master with any particular weapon. Just as he was starting to get lost in thought, he heard a scream from nearby. Instinctively, he shot to his feet and looked around for the source. He saw nothing, but another shout gave him some direction. So, without further thought, he grabbed his spear and sprinted toward the sound. 4-31. Alyssas Son Miguel raced down the empty street, spear in hand, as he heard another scream emanate from within the alley ahead. He skidded to a stop, turning to see three burly young men surrounding a small figure curled on the ground. The largest of the attackers aimed a kick at the victim, but he never had the chance to connect. Instead, Miguel barreled into him. To Miguel, it felt like he¡¯d just collided with a brick wall, but he was moving fast enough that he managed to send the unsuspecting young man stumbling into a nearby trash can. The impact sent garbage scattering across the alley. The would-be attacker tripped over the can, ending up sprawled on the trash strewn ground. Meanwhile, Miguel planted, then swept his spear around to trip the next nearest young man. Once again, it felt like he¡¯d hit a telephone pole, but the inertia of his swing knocked the feet out from under the young man. Finally, Miguel aimed a front-kick at the final assailant, who turned out to be tall, rangy girl. The blow took her in the stomach, and she stumbled backward, gasping for air. Miguel set his feet over the fallen figure, then leveled his spear, shifting it from one opponent to the next. ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± he spat, the deadly blade hovering only a few inches from the first bully¡¯s face. ¡°I swear to God, if you do what I think you¡¯re about to do, I¡¯ll rip out your throat. You¡¯re a Warrior, right? That means you probably have Heavy Blow active. That means you¡¯re getting ready to activate Shockwave. Don¡¯t. I¡¯ll kill you before it charges up.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t get us all,¡± said the girl. ¡°I¡¯ll roast you before you ¨C¡± ¡°That makes you a Sorcerer, then. Ethereal Bolt, right? You know how quickly I can impale you with this spear? Less than a second. I know because it wouldn¡¯t be my first time. Your little spell won¡¯t mean much when you¡¯ve got a foot of steel in your belly,¡± Miguel stated, his voice calm despite the hammering of his heartbeat. He flicked his eyes toward the young man who¡¯d been his second victim. He¡¯d landed hard, banging his head on the ground. It hadn¡¯t knocked him unconscious, but it had clearly dazed him. That meant he was a low-Constitution archetype. Probably a Ranger, but he could just as easily have been a non-combatant. Maybe one of the rare ones. Miguel didn¡¯t think he was a Healer, though. If he was, then he¡¯d have already mended his budding concussion. ¡°This doesn¡¯t have anything to do with you!¡± growled the Warrior. ¡°Seems like it has plenty to do with me,¡± Miguel said, staying on the balls of his feet, just like he¡¯d been taught. It wasn¡¯t so different from when he¡¯d played soccer before Earth had been touched by the World Tree. He needed to be ready to move at the slightest provocation. ¡°I can¡¯t stand by and let you beat someone up three-on-one.¡± ¡°We got a hero over here,¡± said the girl with a snort. ¡°You think you¡¯re some kind of fairy tale knight? Prince Charming, maybe?¡± Miguel didn¡¯t rise to the taunt, instead keeping himself ready for battle. He didn¡¯t want to kill anyone, but if it came down to it, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate. While some of his sharp edges had been filed down over the past few months of relative peace, the mindset that had seen him through the journey across the wilderness wasn¡¯t buried so deep that it wouldn¡¯t return at the slightest provocation. ¡°Just leave,¡± he said after a moment. ¡°Call it a draw. You go your way, I¡¯ll go mine.¡± ¡°That little bitch deserves to ¨C¡± Just then, a loud meow came from the head of the alley. Miguel¡¯s eyes flicked in that direction, and he almost grinned when he saw Artemis standing there. She didn¡¯t look particularly intimidating ¨C not to Miguel at least ¨C but he knew she was a deadly predator. Clearly, the trio of bullies knew that as well, because the moment they laid eyes on the giant Maine coon, they paled. ¡°W-what¡­the¡­is that your cat?¡± ¡°She¡¯s a friend,¡± Miguel said. ¡°Just leave. She won¡¯t attack. Not unless she has to.¡± That did the trick. The three bullies quickly regained their feet and raced out of the alley. Miguel found it amusing how they pressed their backs against the wall so they wouldn¡¯t have to get any closer to Artemis than absolutely necessary. Once they were gone, the cat sat and started grooming herself. She¡¯d never even made a threatening move, but the danger she represented was enough to send those bullies running. Elijah could do the same when he wanted. Sure ¨C he usually didn¡¯t, instead preferring to wear a friendly mask. But Miguel had seen a few flashes of the man beneath. The same was true of Colt. And his mother. Both of them, really. Carmen was only a Blacksmith, but she was made of sterner stuff than most Warriors. That was what Miguel wanted. Not because he intended to bully people into submission, but rather because he knew he¡¯d need the power it represented. If he was strong enough, then nobody would dare mess with him or his family. Once he was sure the bullies were gone, Miguel finally turned around to get a good luck at the person he¡¯d saved. She was tiny ¨C well under a hundred pounds ¨C and looked like she was made of skin and bones. What¡¯s more, a good chunk of her black hair had been ripped out, leaving only a bloody scalp behind, and most of the skin Miguel could see was purpled with bruising. He knelt beside her, saying, ¡°It¡¯s okay. They¡¯re gone.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Suddenly, her eyes opened, and she lunged at him. Miguel managed to fend her off, mostly because her outburst only lasted a second before her strength gave out. But even as she collapsed to the ground, he knew he needed to help her. So, he tossed his spear aside, scooped her in his arms, and lifted. After that, Miguel turned and strode out of the alley. His burden wasn¡¯t particularly heavy, so he managed a decent enough pace as he headed toward the temple ¨C or monument ¨C Elijah had built for Alyssa. As he did, he got more than a few odd looks from the few people he passed along the way. He had no idea why none of them bothered to help, but he couldn¡¯t let that distract him. * * * With her eyes closed, Carmen ran her hand over the surface of the column, feeling for any imperfections. She didn¡¯t particularly care for working with stone, but she¡¯d taken to the project with gusto. After all, the entire building was meant to honor her wife. What sort of person would she be if she didn¡¯t give it her all? Idly, she glanced toward the courtyard. There, Elijah sat cross-legged beside a sapling. It looked little different from any other juvenile oak tree she¡¯d ever seen. However, even she could feel the deeply powerful ethera coursing through its thin branches. Would it end up being a natural treasure? Or was it something else entirely? She had seen the other tree in Druid¡¯s Park, and she was very familiar with their progenitor in Elijah¡¯s grove. Yet, she still had difficulty understanding how they were all connected. But she knew they were. She could feel it as well as she could feel the enchantments in her own creations. And then there was the stone Elijah had found. Fittingly, given his core, it was called Dragonstone, and it seemed just as perfect for a monument meant to commemorate Alyssa¡¯s life. Sighing, she focused on the structure itself. The inner courtyard was lined with columns, which she had spent the past day carving. The two sculptors, Penelope and Iason, had initially objected to her participation, but then they had discovered her level. They¡¯d come around pretty quickly after that, and Carmen had endeavored to justify their acquiescence ever since. She leaned in with her summoned chisel, continuing her work. The design was simple enough, meant to represent a dragon coiled around each column, but that simplicity didn¡¯t make it any easier to carve. Everything needed to be perfect, which necessitated a certain degree of focus. On top of that, she had to continuously flare her technique, Imbue Enchantment the entire time. Otherwise, the product would suffer. More than once, she¡¯d wished the columns had been made of some sort of high-quality metal. It would have made for an inferior building, but it would have been much easier for her to work. ¡°Can¡¯t have everything, I suppose,¡± she mumbled to herself, continuing her exhausting work. Just as she¡¯d finished carving the scales on one coil, Carmen heard a disturbance near the entrance of the temple. Immediately, she cut off the ability and summoned her hammer. It wasn¡¯t meant to be a weapon of war, but her summoned blacksmithing hammer did the job well enough that she hadn¡¯t bothered creating another weapon. After it manifested, she used Augment Weapons, and it burst into flame. ¡°Just let me through!¡± she heard Miguel¡¯s voice. ¡°Uncle Elijah! I need your help!¡± Before Carmen could even respond, Elijah was moving. He raced across the courtyard, and when he hit the steps leading to the exit, his feet slapped against the Dragonstone floor. Carmen followed close behind him, and when she saw her son, she let out a sigh of relief. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Carmen demanded as she closed in on the young man. He was holding a child in his arms. ¡°Set her down,¡± Elijah said, noticing what it took Carmen another moment to recognize. The child was battered and malnourished, and to a degree that pulled at Carmen¡¯s heartstrings. Elijah knelt beside her, then laid his hand on her shoulder. A second later, she gasped, bolting upright. Or she tried to. Elijah¡¯s hand kept her in place as he said, ¡°Stay still. I¡¯m not done healing you.¡± ¡°W-what¡­where am I? What is this place?¡± she gasped in a surprisingly deep voice. It was still feminine, but the raspy sound seemed out of place for such a young girl. ¡°Never mind that. How about you tell me what happened?¡± Elijah coaxed. ¡°She was getting beaten up by three people who had archetypes,¡± Miguel provided. ¡°I saw¡­and¡­well, I couldn¡¯t just let them keep going.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. Carmen focused on the girl and asked, ¡°Why did they attack you?¡± ¡°It¡¯s nothing,¡± the girl said, trying to rise. ¡°I just ¨C¡± ¡°Answer the question,¡± Elijah stated. He reached into his satchel and retrieved one of his miraculous berries. ¡°And I¡¯ll give you one of these.¡± ¡°But don¡¯t eat it all at once, or it¡¯ll knock you out,¡± Miguel supplied. ¡°Right. Low attributes,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Better make it a half, then. That should be enough.¡± The girl clearly didn¡¯t know what to do, and her eyes flicked back and forth from Elijah to Miguel, then to Carmen and the pair of men who¡¯d been tasked with standing guard at the entrance. They were part of Dion¡¯s Builder crew, and they were meant to prevent any of the local population from walking off with the valuable Dragonstone. ¡°I¡­I tried to take¡­uh¡­something that wasn¡¯t quite mine,¡± the girl admitted with a defeated sigh. ¡°But it wasn¡¯t my fault. They took it first.¡± ¡°Took what?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°My dad¡¯s ring. I told them it wasn¡¯t valuable, but they didn¡¯t care. They took everything else, too,¡± the girl breathed. ¡°It wasn¡¯t much. But if it¡¯s gone when my brother gets back¡­¡± ¡°Where is your brother?¡± ¡°Running the tower,¡± she said. ¡°He¡¯s an adventurer. He keeps saying that he¡¯s going to strike it rich, but I think he¡¯s just looking for a way out of Argos. He wants to get strong enough to go to a bigger city and¡­and¡­every time he leaves, people like Nikolas and Gabby come around. I tried to fight them, but¡­but I don¡¯t have an archetype yet. And¡­and¡­¡± By that point, she¡¯d started sobbing. Elijah awkwardly patted her on the head, saying, ¡°There, there.¡± ¡°Elijah.¡± ¡°What?¡± Carmen shook her head, saying, ¡°You¡¯re terrible at this. Are you done healing her?¡± ¡°Sure. She¡¯s pretty malnourished, though.¡± ¡°Well, give her the berry, then,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Then let me take over.¡± Elijah shrugged, saying, ¡°Be my guest. I have a tree to tend to anyway.¡± Then, he muttered something about trees being easier. Whatever the case, he handed the berry over, then left the area. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Carmen asked, helping the girl to her feet. She was skin and bones, evidence of the hard life she had led. Whoever her brother was, he had failed to do his job of providing for his sister. ¡°And where are your parents?¡± ¡°Dead.¡± ¡°Oh. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Carmen said with a shake of her head. ¡°Happened a while ago,¡± the girl answered, her shoulders drooping dramatically. Then, without warning, she disappeared. It actually took Carmen a moment to recognize that she¡¯d used some sort of ability. And that the coin purse she kept tied to her belt was missing. ¡°What the¡­what the hell just happened?¡± she muttered. ¡°That was so cool,¡± Miguel breathed, looking around as if he was going to find the girl. But Carmen felt certain that she was long gone. How she¡¯d done it was a bit of a mystery ¨C clearly, she was a little more developed than she seemed ¨C but beyond that, Carmen had no idea what had happened. She sighed. ¡°That was definitely not cool,¡± she said. ¡°Not cool at all.¡± 4-32. Completion ¡°Better hope he doesn¡¯t find that little girl,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. ¡°That¡¯s trouble if I¡¯ve ever seen it.¡± ¡°Not really a little girl, is she? She¡¯s old enough to have an archetype. And a class. None of the archetypes I know of have skills that help people steal,¡± Carmen said. ¡°She couldn¡¯t have been more than fourteen or fifteen,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°Plus, you saw her, right? I think little girl is an appropriate description.¡± After the thief had disappeared, Miguel had left the build site to hunt the girl down. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if he was driven by admiration, attraction, or anger ¨C all three were valid emotions for the boy ¨C but he could tell that Miguel wasn¡¯t going to give up until he¡¯d searched every corner of Argos. It was almost endearing, how enthusiastically he¡¯d taken to his chosen task. ¡°Do you think there¡¯s a Thief class?¡± Carmen asked, standing beside Elijah and staring down the small hill upon which the would-be temple sat. ¡°That¡¯s kind of scary, if you think about it. People who specialize in taking things that don¡¯t belong to them? What if someone chose that class just because it was the best they had available? Are they doomed to go down that path?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. Everything I¡¯ve heard says that we get multiple chances to correct our progression,¡± he said. ¡°Like you, for instance. I¡¯d be willing to bet that you¡¯ll get a chance to evolve your Blacksmith class into something else. Maybe a more generic crafter. You don¡¯t have to take it. There¡¯ll be more direct evolutions, too. But those are all meant to help you refine and customize your class to something that fits what you want to become.¡± ¡°Interesting. You know, when we first started, I thought this system was kind of simple. But then I started to see just how many classes there were,¡± Carmen mused. ¡°Now, even those seemingly infinite classes will have multiple off-shoots. And I¡¯m guessing even more than that the higher people go.¡± ¡°And that¡¯s not even considering Specializations,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t really know much about them, but I think that¡¯s what I¡¯m going to ask about the next time I get to a Branch.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one here,¡± Carmen reminded him. ¡°But no Librarian. Looking for information in that Knowledge Base without any guidance is like¡­¡± ¡°Finding a needle in a haystack while blindfolded.¡± ¡°And wearing gloves,¡± Elijah added. ¡°With a time limit.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± he said with a chuckle. It felt good, just having a normal conversation that didn¡¯t revolve around Alyssa¡¯s death or what he¡¯d done in Valoria. It was almost normal. But in the back of his mind, his guilt continued to roil. Hopefully, completing the temple ¨C because that was what it had turned out to be, regardless of his initial intention ¨C would help him move on. Because he knew just how unhealthy it was to constantly dwell on the past. ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll be okay?¡± Carmen asked. Elijah didn¡¯t need her to specify the subject. In truth, he didn¡¯t know the answer to her question. The world was a dangerous place, and one where even the competent could fall at any given moment. Elijah intended to give his nephew every opportunity he could, though. ¡°I hope so,¡± he answered. ¡°I¡¯ve already talked to Nerthus about guiding Miggy¡¯s cultivation, at least for the first step. It¡¯ll take a lot of energy, especially if he¡¯s not Nature attuned. But he¡¯ll reach the first step in Body, Mind, and Soul cultivation before he gets a single level. The Core will be more difficult, and it¡¯ll take a lot of time.¡± Indeed, Elijah had skipped a step by having his Core advanced by the quest to rescue Sara the dragon. Most people had to engage in some variant of his current cycling. The first step was much easier than the second, but it was still a process that usually took months. On top of that, its efficacy would be much lower than his own Dragon Core ¨C unless a member of some other elder race descended and gave Miguel a similar opportunity, which didn¡¯t seem likely. He asked, ¡°How are you doing with cultivation?¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°Poorly. My attunement is Creation. I haven¡¯t found an appropriate environment yet.¡± ¡°Have you thought about making one?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I mean, take this temple, for instance,¡± he said. ¡°You feel how thick the ethera is in here, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Yeah. It feels a lot like your island. Or more like Druid¡¯s Park.¡± ¡°But what if it didn¡¯t?¡± ¡°Not following.¡± ¡°Imagine this. You get a bunch of this Dragonstone. Like, enough to build a whole smithy. You gather a ton of that metal Carissa and her dwarves are pulling out of that mine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Then, you refine it all before building that forge. Something big and impressive, with all the best materials you can find. Put your stamp on everything. Enchant every block. Make it yours. I¡¯m willing to bet that will give you the environment you need to advance your cultivation.¡± Then, he added, ¡°Probably your apprentices, too.¡± He gestured to the half-finished building behind them. ¡°This place is meant to be a monument to Alyssa. But what if it was dedicated to smithing? Crafting? I¡¯ve thought a lot about this, and I think that¡¯s how people normally do it. Like, if your attunement is Conflict, maybe you go to a battlefield. If it¡¯s Nature, you go to a natural treasure or something like my grove. That sort of thing.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Carmen was silent for a moment before she said, ¡°That makes a lot of sense.¡± Elijah grinned. ¡°I do that sometimes. Make sense, I mean. It¡¯s not just all crazy ramblings all the time for me,¡± he said. ¡°I can be serious, too. Once upon a time, I was a scientist, you know.¡± ¡°A bad one, from what I hear.¡± ¡°Well, yes. But I did do science. That has to count for something.¡± She shook her head. ¡°Do science? I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the right way to say it.¡± He shrugged. ¡°It gets the point across. Anyway ¨C I need to get back to the tree. It¡¯s not quite at the point where it can thrive on its own,¡± he said. ¡°Plus, I want to make sure everything grows the way I want it to grow.¡± ¡°Can you guide it like that?¡± Carmen asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Sort of. I¡¯m getting better at controlling things,¡± he said. Indeed, his time spent in the courtyard hadn¡¯t been idly spent. In the past, he¡¯d simply sat in the middle of his grove and flared Nature¡¯s Bounty as well as One with Nature. However, with the temple courtyard, he¡¯d chosen to experiment a little while he tried to encourage some aspects of growth while discouraging others. His inspiration was, of course, Nerthus. The spyrggen could guide growth in the grove right down to the last detail. It wasn¡¯t artificial like a man-made garden, but it certainly wasn¡¯t wild, either. Elijah felt that figuring all of that out was the key to understanding the nurturing aspect of his archetype. So far, his efforts in the temple had felt clumsy, but they had borne some small fruit as well. Of course, he knew he still had a long way to go, but so long as he made some progress, he was happy. With that in mind, he completed his conversation with Carmen and returned to the courtyard. It looked very different than it had in the beginning. Instead of bare ground, it now sported thick grass, juvenile bushes, and vines ¨C which had sprouted from the seeds Elijah had gotten from Nerthus ¨C that had begun to snake around the finished columns. However, instead of hiding the results of Carmen¡¯s efforts, those vines accentuated the serpentine nature of her carved dragons, making them look alive. But that was only the beginning. Elijah had taken more than a few cues from Nerthus¡¯ design sensibilities, and he¡¯d incorporated them into the project. Hopefully, it would turn out like the picture he held in his imagination. Or failing that, at least it would come close. The tree in the center of the courtyard was only a sapling, but he knew from experience just how quickly it could grow to maturity. Eventually, it would tower above the building, covering the roof with its branches. But that would take months. Perhaps years. The ancestral tree in his grove hadn¡¯t reached that point until after he¡¯d made contact with Ironshore, and that was with the benefit of the thick ethera in the grove. The off-shoots would take longer. That was okay, though. Trees functioned on their own timelines, after all. So, Elijah paced around the courtyard, constantly flaring his abilities as he physically guided the growth of the vines. In the past, he might have considered it tedious, but there was a certain comfort in gardening that he¡¯d never before felt. Perhaps that was his archetype at work. Or his attunement. But it could just as easily be the personality changes he¡¯d experienced over the past few years. Some of that was prompted by Earth¡¯s transformation, but a lot could be chalked up to simple maturity. Back in Hawaii, he¡¯d yet to fully embrace adulthood. But he¡¯d grown quite a lot since then. ¡°Over thirty years old, and I¡¯m just now considering myself an adult,¡± he muttered to himself with a shake of his head. Like that, days passed. When he needed rest, Elijah slept. When he needed to eat, he descended into the city and found something delicious. At times, he reminisced with Carmen or spoke with Miguel about his future. He even got to know Colt, who seemed to have, at some point, picked up a truly impressive cowboy hat. It fit him well, especially with the armor Elijah had returned to him. But most of all, Elijah focused on guiding the courtyard¡¯s and the tree¡¯s growth. Meanwhile, Carmen bent the whole of her focus toward carving each of the columns. Sometimes, Elijah heard her muttering about enchantments and intent, but he only understood about half of what she said. And even that didn¡¯t make a lot of sense to him. Regardless, she seemed completely engrossed in the project, which he considered a very good thing. And finally, Miguel continued to search for the little thief. On a few occasions, Elijah noticed that the young man had picked up a few scrapes or bruises, but he¡¯d pointedly looked the other way on those occasions. So did Carmen, recognizing that Miguel wasn¡¯t truly injured. More, she clearly knew that the search was good for him, even if she and Elijah both knew that it would likely end in frustration. Still, Elijah would only worry about that if it proved necessary. For now, Miguel wasn¡¯t in any real danger, so Elijah focused on his task. And slowly, things took shape. Even as Elijah and Carmen worked on courtyard, the Builders and Sculptors hammered the rest of the temple into shape. Once the structure itself was finished, they started working on the hill, creating a terraced slope through which a set of broad steps cut. Those terraces bore more flora, though not of the sort that Elijah would grow. Instead, the landscaping was mostly mundane, though Elijah did take a day or two to ensure that everything took root before returning to his true project. And after almost three weeks of work, once Carmen had finished her carvings, Elijah deemed the courtyard to be finished. With a sigh, he took a step back and looked everything over. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s done?¡± asked Carmen, standing next to him. Elijah closed his eyes and felt the ambient ethera. It was thick, though not nearly as dense as what he¡¯d find even in Ironshore. But that was predictable. Once the ancestral tree sapling connected to its progenitor, the ethera would grow denser. Either way, Elijah was more concerned with how it felt. There was plenty of nature there. But there was something else that he couldn¡¯t quite identify. Something that felt, for lack of a better way to put it, like Alyssa. He couldn¡¯t put his finger on exactly what that meant, but he knew it to be true. ¡°I think so,¡± he said, opening his eyes. The moment the words left his mouth, a new notification flashed before his inner eye. When he read it, he couldn¡¯t stop the sad smile from turning up the corners of his mouth. ¡°You got it, too, didn¡¯t you?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°This is what you had in mind, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°It is. She deserves it,¡± Elijah said. ¡°There¡¯s more to it, though. Now that the temple is finished, I intend to make an announcement to the people of Argos.¡± ¡°We should throw a party,¡± Carmen said. ¡°A feast. A huge banquet.¡± ¡°That was kind of what I had in mind,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Alyssa always hated parties, though.¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°You didn¡¯t know her as well as you thought you did. Or maybe she just grew up.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­fair. I wish I had spent more time with her. But ¨C¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the time for regrets,¡± Carmen said. ¡°This is a time for celebration. Of her life. Of what she stood for. That¡¯s what this is all about, right? Honoring the person she was. Don¡¯t let your regrets stain it.¡± Elijah wanted to argue that he had every right to give voice to his issues. However, it only took one look at the notification for him to swallow his selfish words. Instead, he just said, ¡°You¡¯re right. A party would be nice.¡± 4-33. Dedication Elijah stepped up to the edge of the stairs and looked down at the crowd that had gathered at the base of the terraced hill. There were more than a thousand people present, many of whom were Argos¡¯ most influential leaders. The council was there, as were the most prominent merchants, tradespeople, and farmers. He cleared his throat, then once again glanced at the notification he¡¯d received upon the temple¡¯s completion:
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Temple of Virtue] Overall Grade: Complex Enchantment Grade: D
Temple of Virtue. A fitting name if Elijah had ever seen one. Certainly, that exemplified the life Alyssa had tried to lead. She was as moral a person as any Elijah had ever met, and she¡¯d died because she had refused to remain quiet while others suffered. She had stood for justice and compassion, which made the monument they¡¯d created in her honor feel appropriate. Finally, Elijah raised his voice, using his immense attributes to augment his voice, ¡°Thank you all for coming. It means a lot to see so many people here.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°I know none of you knew Alyssa, but I chose Argos for this temple because, in my experience, the people of this city exemplify the same traits she held dear. You treated me well even though I was a stranger, and when disaster struck, you banded together to help one another. My sister would have felt at home here, and so do I.¡± He looked from one face to another. Each and every person there had lost people. Everyone on Earth had. Whether it was family, friends, neighbors, or coworkers, few had managed to pass through the crucible that was Earth¡¯s transformation unscathed. So, they could all sympathize with his loss. As such, Elijah saw more than a few wet cheeks. ¡°But this temple isn¡¯t just about Alyssa. It¡¯s about everyone we¡¯ve lost. A celebration of their lives that will endure long after we¡¯re all gone,¡± Elijah went on. ¡°For now, though, let it be a place of healing. From now on, I¡¯ll do everything I can to visit every four weeks, and I¡¯ll remain here for a day while I heal anyone who comes to this temple. I invite other Healers to do the same. There will be no charge. No donations accepted. This is a service provided so that we can honor the friends and family we¡¯ve all lost.¡± Elijah pointed to the temple, adding, ¡°In there, we¡¯re all equal. I don¡¯t care about status, strength, or social standing. I won¡¯t ask questions how you were injured. I will simply heal you, and with a smile on my face. ¡°But for now, I will be hosting a celebration of my sister¡¯s life. Food. Music. A good time,¡± he went on. ¡°That¡¯s it. Let¡¯s have a party.¡± For a moment, no one responded, but thankfully, someone took pity on him and started clapping. That turned into a smattering of applause, which in turn fostered cheers. For his part, Elijah just sighed and glanced at Carmen. ¡°Good speech,¡± she said. ¡°Up until the end, at least. How did you screw up telling people that you were paying for an enormous banquet? Usually, announcing that you¡¯re giving away food and alcohol for free gets a better response.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t like public speaking,¡± he said, which was true. The only reason he¡¯d agreed to speak at all was because he felt that he owed it to his sister. And because the people of Argos knew him. ¡°Was it really that bad?¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t good,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°But it¡¯s fine. By the time people get into that alcohol you brought, nobody will remember your horrible speech.¡± ¡°Horrible? I thought you said it just wasn¡¯t good.¡± ¡°Horrible isn¡¯t good.¡± ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s implied that ¨C¡± ¡°It was acceptable. Just leave it at that, Elijah.¡± Elijah sighed, but he chose not to press the point. Instead, he scanned the crowd. A few people had stepped forward to be healed, so he wasted no time before tending to them. Meanwhile, the rest of the crowd descended upon the town¡¯s central square, where all the food and alcohol Elijah had furnished had been set up. The food wasn¡¯t difficult. All he¡¯d had to do was spend a couple of days hunting, and he had enough meat to feed the entire town. It was amazing just how efficiently he could stalk and kill large prey animals, and in fact, it was so easy that he almost felt guilty about the act. The only solace was that he knew that nothing would go to waste. The alcohol had been a bit more difficult to source, and it had required him to teleport to the Moon Glade and meet with the Distiller in Valosta. He¡¯d proceeded to overpay for the man¡¯s entire stock of beer and whiskey. It had cost Elijah far more than he wanted to think about, but he knew better than most just how essential a little booze was for a decent party. Even with those efforts, it hadn¡¯t been enough, so he¡¯d also bought everything he could from Argos¡¯ local Brewers. They were low-level, and their products weren¡¯t great, but Elijah didn¡¯t think anyone would care so much, considering it was free. In addition, the locals chose to pitch in with a host of vegetables that rounded out the food offerings. A handful of people with cooking skills had offered their services as well, which held no small degree of importance. After all, without those skills, even the highest quality ingredients would be largely tasteless to anyone with a class. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Finally, Elijah had hired some people with Entertainer archetypes to play music in the square. It wasn¡¯t really to his taste, trending more toward twangy acoustic sets, but the upbeat music definitely gave the event a festive atmosphere. After healing the petitioners, Elijah and Carmen led a few of Argos¡¯ leaders through the temple, showing them the highlights. The first one they saw was the building itself, which still bore the signs of its inspiration. At the most basic level, it looked like an enlarged version of the Temple of Athena Nike, though the exterior columns had been decorated with fanciful carvings of noble warrior women. In addition, the pediment bore a relief sculpture of a winged angel fighting against a host of demons. The exterior carvings were all the products of Iason and Penelope, and though they¡¯d gone in a different direction than Elijah would have chosen, he couldn¡¯t argue with the effectiveness of their work. Bringing it all together was the huge statue at the peak of the roof. In a lot of ways, it looked like Alyssa. Or perhaps the idealized version of her that Elijah remembered. It had been based on the broken statue he¡¯d brought back from Valoria, though every aspect had been improved. From the material ¨C it was made of Dragonstone ¨C to the workmanship itself, it was a far superior piece, depicting an armored woman, armed with a spear and standing vigil over everything beneath her. ¡°It doesn¡¯t really look like her,¡± Carmen said. ¡°But it still feels like her.¡± ¡°I know. I was just thinking the same thing,¡± Elijah said, looking up at the statue. ¡°Do you think she would have approved?¡± Carmen snorted. ¡°God, no. She would have been embarrassed by the kind of adulation that statue implies.¡± Elijah¡¯s heart briefly jumped into his throat, but then he let out a chuckle himself. ¡°Yeah. She would have been, wouldn¡¯t she?¡± he agreed. After that, they continued into the building, showing the Argos natives the series of rooms arranged throughout the temple. They were intended for healing, but they could be used for other purposes as well. Elijah hadn¡¯t thought too much about what those other purposes might end up being, but thankfully, no one put him on the spot by asking that most obvious of questions. Finally, they reached the open-air courtyard, which drew quite a few gasps. That was definitely satisfying, especially given how much work had gone into the project. The centerpiece was the ancestral tree, which had grown to a little over ten feet tall. It was barely more than a sapling, but even then, it radiated a sense of calm and power that could not be denied. Even if that was the end of the wonders, it would have been quite effective. However, it was only the beginning. Surrounding that juvenile tree was a carpet of clovers, broken up by periodic bushes from which blossomed aromatic flowers that gave the whole courtyard an exceedingly sweet smell. Elijah had intended to put a fountain in, but he hadn¡¯t really thought about it until the Builders had already finalized the structure. So, instead of forcing them to re-do their work, he¡¯d adjusted his plans. And the results were just as stunning as he¡¯d hoped, with the courtyard radiating unmatched serenity. However, what made the whole thing seem truly magical were the columns lining the square space. They were around twenty feet tall, and Carmen had carved each one with subtly different coiling dragons. More, Elijah had guided a series of vines to grow along the same pattern, giving the columns depth they otherwise would have lacked. The final detail, though, was the one that pushed it to another level. From those vines sprouted gently glowing flowers ¨C the same kind that provided illumination in his and his sister-in-law¡¯s treehouse ¨C casting the whole courtyard in ethereal light that made the Dragonstone columns look alive. ¡°This is unlike anything I have ever witnessed, my friend,¡± said Atticus. ¡°Beautiful,¡± agreed Agatha, and a chorus of similar comments followed. ¡°Thank you. The Temple of Virtue will be open to anyone who wants to use it,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°But I¡¯ll say this ¨C if I come back here and find that it has been vandalized in any way, I won¡¯t spare the perpetrators my wrath. I don¡¯t want to have to do that, so please, try to protect this place when I¡¯m not here.¡± After that, the group of leaders all agreed to do just that. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how they all knew just how dangerous he was, but they seemed to take his words very seriously. Either way, it wasn¡¯t long after that that everyone descended from the temple and headed to the town¡¯s large square to take part in the party. For a while, Elijah walked among them. He ate a little, drank a bit, and even danced. But as much as he wanted the festival to be a celebration of his sister¡¯s life ¨C and it was ¨C his heart wasn¡¯t really in it. He wanted to be happy, to remember all the good times he¡¯d shared with his sister, but the reality of it was that grief didn¡¯t always cooperate with those sorts of desires. So, he eventually found himself sitting on an isolated bench, well away from all the rowdy merrymakers, and thinking about the past, the present, and the future. Until, via One with Nature, he felt a familiar presence nearby. He didn¡¯t even look up as he said, ¡°Hey there, Delilah.¡± She didn¡¯t immediately respond. Instead, she just sat beside him, and for a while, remained silent. Out of the corner of his eye, Elijah saw that she¡¯d foregone her normal armor. Instead, she wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a tee-shirt. He wasn¡¯t sure which one he preferred. Perhaps the answer was that it didn¡¯t matter what she was wearing. She made anything look good. ¡°Are you okay?¡± she asked. Elijah considered making a joke. Or going off on some tangent-laden response. But for once, he marshaled his self-control and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe. Probably not.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Elijah leaned against the bench, tilting his head back with a sigh. ¡°Not really,¡± he admitted. ¡°There¡¯s not much to say. I¡¯m sad, and I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything I can do to change that. And I don¡¯t really want to, either. That¡¯s normal, right? I should be upset that my sister¡¯s dead.¡± The last word was difficult to force out. It was like saying it aloud made it feel more real. Of course, he knew Alyssa wasn¡¯t just going to magically show up and tell everyone that she¡¯d never really been dead. But that wasn¡¯t how the world worked. Dead was dead. But grief and reason didn¡¯t always play well together. ¡°Being sad is normal, yes,¡± Delilah said. ¡°But you don¡¯t have to go through it alone.¡± ¡°You know ¨C I kind of hoped that building that temple would make me feel better,¡± he said. ¡°Like, it would let me turn a corner and go back to normal. That¡¯s not how it works, though. I look at that thing, and even though I still believe in its purpose, it¡¯s just a reminder of what I¡¯ve lost. Of what Carmen has lost. And Miggy. ¡°What¡¯s even worse is that I¡¯ve been through all this before,¡± he went on, finally turning to face Delilah. ¡°Like, I lost my parents a while back. I didn¡¯t react well to that, either. I hoped that maybe I learned my lesson. Practice is supposed to make perfect, right? I guess it just doesn¡¯t work that way with grief.¡± For her part, Delilah could read the situation well enough that she didn¡¯t respond. Elijah didn¡¯t want someone to rationalize his feelings. He didn¡¯t want someone to make it better. He just needed someone to listen to it all. And Delilah did. For more than an hour, Elijah just let off a stream-of-consciousness style rundown of everything on his mind. It ranged from grief to depression and back to hope, with everything in between. And to her credit, Delilah listened. Eventually, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and said, ¡°I think I¡¯m going to go for a long walk.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to come back to my place?¡± she asked. Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not that kind of night,¡± he said. Then, he flashed a smile and added, ¡°Rain check, though. If you¡¯re lucky, I might even take you back to my magic island one day.¡± Without another word, he padded away, his thoughts swirling with a myriad of emotions he didn¡¯t know what to do with. 4-34. Become Useful Miguel slipped between two revelers, keeping his hand on his dagger. He really wished he¡¯d brought his spear, but according to his mother, that wasn¡¯t appropriate for a festival. As if half the people in the square weren¡¯t armed. Even Colt had his sword in the scabbard at his hip, and nobody had tried to convince him to leave the weapon back in the hotel room. As those thoughts shifted through his mind, Miguel¡¯s eyes flicked back and forth at the merrymakers. Most of Argos had turned out for the festival, which wasn¡¯t surprising, given the fact that there was free food available. And alcohol, though Miguel didn¡¯t care about that. He¡¯d tasted beer a couple of times, and the taste had left him wondering why adults seemed so enamored with the stuff. The food did smell amazing, though, and Miguel¡¯s feet followed his nose to a table where a bunch of skewers were on offer. He took one, thanking the woman behind the table, and wandered away before she could make conversation. However, after taking his first bite, he very nearly turned around and went back for seconds. The skewer featured roasted pork and peppers, and it was one of the tastiest things he¡¯d ever eaten. The meat was juicy, the peppers were crisp, and everything had that something extra that Miguel could identify as the result of someone¡¯s use of a cooking skill. Still, he kept going, eating his meal as he went. Along the way, he watched the crowd of Argos residents. They all looked so happy. So content. Meanwhile, Miguel felt the opposite. He¡¯d thought that he¡¯d gotten over his mother¡¯s death, but the reality was that he¡¯d simply distracted himself from those feelings. Now, though, he had plenty of opportunity to examine his emotions, and that act had pushed him into a melancholy mood. He had to admit that part of it was due to the revelers themselves. He was old enough to recognize his mother¡¯s and uncle¡¯s intent. They wanted to celebrate Alyssa¡¯s life. Yet, Miguel found the party somewhat offensive, and he felt ¨C erroneously, he knew ¨C that the people were celebrating his mother¡¯s death. That was a big distinction, and one he couldn¡¯t really ignore, even if he knew it was an unfair assessment. After he¡¯d finished the skewer, Miguel found another table manned by the old innkeeper, Agatha. She waved him over and said, ¡°I have something special for you. Just wait.¡± Then, she reached under the table ¨C which was laden with fruit ¨C and retrieved a small, wrapped package. She handed it to Miguel. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Open,¡± Agatha answered with an impatient gesture. She grinned. ¡°It is good.¡± Miguel did as she asked, revealing a small, rectangular pastry. Upon inspection, he saw that it featured many flaky layers, and it smelled of chocolate. ¡°This looks amazing. What is it called?¡± he asked, genuinely interested. He hadn¡¯t had many opportunities lately to eat sweets, so he wasn¡¯t going to waste one that presented itself so willingly. ¡°Chocolate mascarpone baklava,¡± she answered with a grin. ¡°Very rich. Very good. Eat.¡± Miguel nodded, then took a bite. Immediately, flavors he thought he¡¯d forgotten burst in his mouth. It had been years since he¡¯d had chocolate, but even then, he¡¯d never had anything like the baklava. ¡°Oh my God,¡± he mumbled around the mouthful of flakey goodness. ¡°So good.¡± ¡°Yes. Very good,¡± she said, her grin widening. ¡°Send your uncle to me. I have more.¡± Miguel promised that he would, though he had no idea where Elijah was. Even if he did know of his uncle¡¯s whereabouts, he wasn¡¯t willing to go hunt him down ¨C largely because, as he ate the baklava, he saw a familiar figure slipping through the crowd. She was even shorter than him, and because of how thin she was, the girl looked even younger than he was. But she already had access to her archetype, which meant that she was probably at least a year or so older. More importantly, Miguel had become a little obsessed with her, mostly due to the fact that he¡¯d saved her from being beaten, and she¡¯d repaid that kindness by stealing his mother¡¯s coin purse and disappearing. At the very least, Miguel thought he deserved an explanation. So, he bade farewell to Agatha, then started following the girl. As he did, he was careful to stay well back so as to keep her from noticing his presence. A few times, she glanced in his direction, but he¡¯d managed to avoid her searching gaze by slipping behind one reveler or another. In the chaos of the festival, remaining unseen wasn¡¯t that difficult. So, over the next few minutes, he watched the girl as she made her way through the crowd, bumping into people every few steps. At first, Miguel didn¡¯t recognize what she was doing, but then he caught sight of a darting hand, and it dawned on him. She was working the crowd, stealing from people even as they celebrated his mother¡¯s life. It was galling. But it was also a little impressive. She was stealing from people, and right out in the open. That had to be difficult. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. A few times, Miguel thought he noticed her use a skill or spell, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. He had no idea what archetype she was, and it was obvious that she had a class he¡¯d never encountered as well. Still, it was clear that she was using something to remain undetected. It was fascinating, watching her. And before he realized what he was doing, he¡¯d followed her from the square. The surrounding streets had plenty of traffic, which he used to his advantage as he continued to tail the girl. However, after around fifteen minutes, she led him into what was plainly a bad part of town. Nowhere in Argos could truly be classified as a slum. Yet, human nature seemed to dictate that some people would have it better than others, and those prosperous few didn¡¯t like to live next to the ones who struggled a little more. In Argos, the poorer part of town was characterized by less elaborate buildings that were far closer together. The streets were a little narrower, and the pedestrians were more shabbily dressed. Still, no one looked malnourished or overly dirty. Well, nobody but the girl Miguel was following. However, he¡¯d begun to suspect that she looked the way she did by design. Maybe she used her small stature to make people believe she was younger ¨C and less powerful ¨C than she was. Either way, Miguel continued to follow her until, at last, she entered an old warehouse that looked long abandoned. The building abutted the town¡¯s wall, and it was around fifty yards wide. Perhaps it had once been a true warehouse or a department store. Miguel had no idea, because it bore no signage or any other indication as to its nature, current or former. As Miguel leaned out from behind a building, studying the warehouse, he felt something press against his back. ¡°Don¡¯t move, kid,¡± came a gruff voice. Of course, Miguel moved. He dove forward, yanking his dagger from its sheath at his waist as he rolled to his feet. That¡¯s when he realized he was surrounded. Three figures, all of which were larger than he was, encircled him. Each one had weapons drawn. One wielded a sword, another a staff, and a third had leveled a wand in his direction. ¡°What do you want?¡± Miguel demanded. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Is this private property? I didn¡¯t see any signs.¡± ¡°Signs?¡± ¡°Like ¡®Beware of petty thugs¡¯ or something,¡± Miguel said. It took the sword-wielder a moment to wrap his mind around the obvious insult, and when he did, he snarled and stepped forward. ¡°Stop!¡± said the girl with the wand. ¡°We¡¯re not here to beat up little kids, no matter how smart their mouths are.¡± ¡°What do you want to do?¡± asked the fellow with the staff. ¡°Not our call. Let Zoe decide.¡± ¡°Zoe¡¯s not our leader,¡± said the one with the sword. ¡°You could just let me go.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Nobody¡¯s crossed any lines yet,¡± Miguel stated with some degree of false bravado. If it came down to a fight, he intended to put everything into an all-out attack so he might have a shot at escape. Because from the way these three moved, they had the benefit of enhanced attributes. That meant he had no chance in a fair fight. ¡°Come with us. I promise, nobody will hurt you, kid,¡± said the girl. Miguel bristled at being referred to as if he was a child, but he suppressed his anger. Did they know what he¡¯d been through? That he¡¯d killed monsters? That he had crossed the wilderness? No. If they did, they wouldn¡¯t dismiss him so easily. He held up his hands. ¡°Fine,¡± he said with forced affability. ¡°But I¡¯ll warn you right now. If you do anything to me, someone will make sure you pay.¡± ¡°Think you¡¯re some kind of big shot?¡± snorted the young man with the sword. He stepped forward, and before Miguel could react, he¡¯d snatched the dagger away. The sword-wielder only looked to be a couple of years older than Miguel, but those were important years. He was at least a foot taller, with a wispy mustache decorating his upper lip. Miguel glanced at the other two. The one with the staff was a little shorter, though he looked to be at least fifty pounds heavier. And not with muscle. The girl was somewhere in between, though with a pleasant look about her. Whatever the case, they didn¡¯t look like hardened criminals. Hopefully, that impression would prove accurate. Soon enough, they were escorting Miguel into the warehouse. Once inside, he saw that it was a large, open space, though there were a few crates piled on the other side of the expansive room. There, a familiar figure sat next to an ethereal lamp. As the trio guided Miguel closer, he saw a pile of coins scattered across a makeshift table made from an old door that stood atop a barrel. She looked up, then frowned. ¡°Seriously? Him? What are you doing here, kid?¡± she demanded. ¡°You know him?¡± asked the wand-wielding girl. ¡°He¡¯s the one who saved me from those idiots that jumped me the other day,¡± she answered. ¡°Him? He doesn¡¯t even have an archetype.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know how he did it, but ¨C¡± ¡°Attributes aren¡¯t everything,¡± Miguel said. ¡°And you just disappeared. Are you a thief? Why did those guys attack you?¡± ¡°Just get him out of here,¡± said the thief. At her order, the two boys grabbed Miguel¡¯s arms. ¡°What? After I saved you? Come on!¡± Miguel demanded, fruitlessly attempting to escape. But their attributes were too high. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what,¡± she said, standing. ¡°Get an archetype. Maybe a class. Then come back here, and I¡¯ll tell you everything you want to know. But until then, you¡¯re just an annoying kid who happened to be in the right place at the wrong time.¡± ¡°I saved you,¡± he spat. ¡°Thanks for that. But every good deed doesn¡¯t deserve a reward,¡± she said. Then, she nodded toward the door. As the two boys dragged Miguel away, he shouted, ¡°At least tell me your name!¡± ¡°Stop.¡± The two did. The girl approached. She still looked painfully thin, but at least she wasn¡¯t covered in bruises. ¡°Name¡¯s Zoe. Best thief in Argos. Probably the world,¡± she boasted. Then, she kissed her fingers before placing them on his lips. ¡°Come back and see me when you¡¯re useful.¡± Without another word, she turned on her heel and returned to her seat. As she did, the two boys dragged Miguel away. He¡¯d stopped resisting, stunned by her brazen actions. Even when they pushed him out the door and told him not to come back, he just stood there, staring forward. Eventually, though, he let out a long sigh and returned to the square. As he traversed the city, though, he could only think of the fact that he now had a goal. ¡°Become useful,¡± she¡¯d said. And Miguel intended to do just that. 4-35. Moving On Elijah lay on his back atop the temple, his head resting against the statue of his sister as he stared up at the night sky. When he¡¯d set the festival into motion, he¡¯d hoped it would help him move on. A celebration of Alyssa¡¯s life had seemed like such a good idea at the time. Yet, when the time came to actually participate in the party, the situation had left him sick to his stomach. The conversation with Delilah had helped a little, but he¡¯d been in no mood to be comforted. So, he¡¯d spent the last few hours wandering through the town. Most of the residents recognized him, so he¡¯d been forced to endure condolences, well-wishes, and overzealous invitations alike. It had gotten so onerous that he¡¯d had no choice but to return to the temple and retreat to where nobody else would find him. That was how he¡¯d found himself next to the Alyssa¡¯s statue. Up close, it didn¡¯t really look like her. Without any real examples, the sculptors had done what they could. But the resemblance was limited, though to Elijah, the tone of the piece was what was truly important. It felt like Alyssa, which was all he really cared about. As he lay there, he felt someone standing below. When he realized who it was, Elijah levered himself upright, then leaped down to the ground. His attributes were high enough that such a fall wouldn¡¯t permanently hurt him, but the sudden stop he experienced upon landing was still a little jarring. He played it off, asking, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you down there celebrating? I saw a few girls your age when I was walking through town. I¡¯m sure one of them would agree to dance if you asked.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t respond. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah asked. The boy shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m just ready to get my archetype, I guess,¡± he admitted. That surprised Elijah. He¡¯d expected the issue to revolve around Alyssa¡¯s death, so the answer offered by Miguel left him a little disconcerted. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± Miguel badly lied. ¡°I¡¯m just tired of being weak. If a level five attacked me right now, I couldn¡¯t do anything to stop them. I don¡¯t like that.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯d be surprised. You could probably hold your own.¡± ¡°You know what I mean,¡± Miguel said, sitting on the top step of the stairs leading down to the town. ¡°Nobody messes with you. You walk around like you own the whole world. You can go places even Colt is afraid to go. Like that swamp. Or the desert. Do you know how often we were attacked before we got to Seattle? Every day. Sometimes, every hour. But you just walk around without a care in the world.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not because I¡¯m strong. It¡¯s because¡­¡± Elijah trailed off. He¡¯d rarely considered how his archetype ¨C or perhaps his attunement ¨C affected his surroundings. But looking back, it was so obvious that being attuned to nature made the wildlife more amenable to his presence. Most of the time, they ignored him. Others clearly didn¡¯t have that benefit. ¡°I want to be like you,¡± Miguel said. ¡°No, you don¡¯t.¡± ¡°You said that before. You said that your archetype is weak. But do you know how crazy that sounds? You¡¯re the strongest person in the world, and ¨C¡± ¡°I have the highest level. That doesn¡¯t make me the strongest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± ¡°Levels aren¡¯t a gauge of power. They¡¯re a mark of progression, and not even the only one,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°There are three pillars of power. The first is levels. The second is cultivation. And the third is equipment. One isn¡¯t more important than the others.¡± ¡°So, a level one with great gear could beat you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°But you said ¨C¡± ¡°Great gear is a part of the equation. I have good equipment. I have better cultivation than most. And I have high levels. You can¡¯t neglect one if you expect to be the best you can be.¡± That was a reminder that Elijah had done just that. He had a few good items, but he knew he could have been more diligent with his equipment. He didn¡¯t even have any proper armor. And while he didn¡¯t think he would ever run around in a full set of plate mail, he knew that his oversight had put him at a disadvantage. The same was true with his staff, which was decent, but not ideal. He would have preferred to use something he made himself, but that was a time-consuming process that he¡¯d neglected because his priority was to kill Roman as quickly as possible. Now that his sister¡¯s murderer had paid for his crimes, Elijah needed to rethink his strategy. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. But first, he wanted to do something else. So, he reached out, offering his hand to Miguel. The young man took it, and Elijah helped his nephew to his feet. ¡°Come on. I want to show you something,¡± he said. ¡°Right now? At night?¡± ¡°Night isn¡¯t so scary, so long as you know what to expect,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, there was a certain peace that could only be experienced in the deepest part of the night. For Elijah, the darkness held no mystery. He could feel everything around him. But for others who had to worry about nocturnal predators ¨C of which there were plenty ¨C it was probably horrifying. ¡°Just trust me.¡± Then, Elijah led his nephew down the steps and through the city. Soon enough, they¡¯d passed through the gate and entered the forest. Elijah continued on for more than an hour until he reached a familiar spot. ¡°Here it is.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Miguel, his voice low. ¡°You don¡¯t have to whisper.¡± ¡°O-oh. Yeah. So¡­uh¡­what is this place?¡± he asked. Elijah looked around. The area didn¡¯t look much different than anywhere else in the forest. However, for Elijah, it held special meaning. It was there that he¡¯d chosen to help Isaak. It felt like a turning point for him. At the time, he¡¯d been warring with his actions against the hunters, and he knew that if he¡¯d taken a different route, if he hadn¡¯t healed Isaak and helped him in the Rift, he likely would have gone down a completely different road. It was one he didn¡¯t want to consider. Still, he explained what had happened, pulling no punches. He didn¡¯t sugarcoat what he¡¯d done to those hunters. Nor did he downplay how conflicted he was about helping Isaak. ¡°I think I would¡¯ve become a monster,¡± he mused. ¡°I would have killed people without thought, and for no other reason than because they violated my personal code of ethics. I still might. That¡¯s what being me is like. I don¡¯t know if it was always in me, that violence. Or maybe it¡¯s my archetype influencing me. I think that¡¯s something that happens, but it could just as easily be my personality. My point is that once you get power, you need to use it responsibly. You can¡¯t just kill everyone you disagree with.¡± ¡°You do.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t. I¡¯ve restrained my instincts more often than you could know.¡± ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°Honestly? Because you¡¯re a good listener who can¡¯t run away,¡± Elijah admitted with a chuckle. ¡°Plus, I think we¡¯re more alike than either of us knows. You feel it, don¡¯t you? That connection? It¡¯s why animals like you so much. I¡¯d be surprised if you didn¡¯t have a nature attunement, just like me.¡± ¡°You think so? Could I be a Druid, too?¡± ¡°Maybe. If that¡¯s what you want. But I¡¯ll only say this one more time ¨C most Druids aren¡¯t fighters. They tend to their groves, kind of like Nerthus. Or they heal people. Some help Farmers. I¡¯m the black sheep of Druids, I think,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I¡¯m constantly working against that unsuitability for combat. My class helps. And I¡¯ll keep shifting my path toward battle. But it¡¯s a long journey, and if you¡¯re the fighter I think you are, you may want to consider a different route.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Miguel said, incapable of hiding his disappointment. ¡°You know what? How about I get a guide about classes available for people with nature attunements?¡± he suggested. There were a thousand other things he would have preferred to research, but they were of much less importance compared to preparing Miguel for the most important decision in his life. ¡°We could figure out what to expect. That way, you can go into it with your eyes wide open.¡± ¡°I¡­I would like that,¡± Miguel said. ¡°That settles it. I¡¯ll fly to Arvandor soon. They owe me a question,¡± he said. After that, he and Miguel continued to discuss the topic, and though it was entirely speculative in nature, it was an interesting conversation. Finally, Miguel asked, ¡°What are you going to do now?¡± ¡°I need to get some more levels,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°And I need to familiarize myself with an ability I got recently. The Trial of Primacy is coming up, and I feel pretty sure that I¡¯ll need to be at my best if I want to survive.¡± ¡°What then?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I have no idea. I want to keep exploring the world. Helping people is nice, too,¡± he said. ¡°I want to keep progressing. Maybe visit other worlds.¡± He let out a small chuckle and shook his head. ¡°Visit other worlds. That would¡¯ve sounded crazy even a few years ago. But now? It¡¯s a real possibility. Did you know there¡¯s a place called the Empire of Scale? It¡¯s ruled by dragons. Do you realize how insane that is?¡± ¡°You can transform into a giant scaled sasquatch monster. Dragons doesn¡¯t seem that weird.¡± Elijah was about to refute that claim, but then he realized that Miguel was right. He¡¯d internalized his ability to transform to such an extent that it didn¡¯t even seem odd anymore. However, upon a few seconds¡¯ worth of introspection, he recognized just how magical it must have seemed from everyone else¡¯s perspective. After all, he¡¯d yet to find anyone else who could shapeshift. That didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t out there, but it did suggest that it was an uncommon ability, at least at their current stage. Perhaps it would grow more common in the future, though. ¡°What about us?¡± asked Miguel. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Are you just going to leave us behind?¡± ¡°What? No!¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°I intend to help you find your path. And your mom and I have been talking about her next project. She¡¯s about to set down roots in Ironshore. I don¡¯t know what comes next, but whatever it is, we¡¯ll confront it as a family.¡± ¡°Except for the Trial of Primacy. That requires you to leave, right? I heard mom talking about it¡­¡± ¡°Nerthus will be here to take care of you and your mom.¡± Elijah had already spoken to Carmen about it, and she had been adamant that, despite the fact that she¡¯d earned a spot, she had no intention of participating in the Trial. She¡¯d had enough adventure for two lifetimes. ¡°I guess,¡± Miguel said. ¡°Well, let¡¯s get started, then,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Sit down.¡± ¡°Here?¡± asked Miguel, looking around nervously. He clearly wasn¡¯t comfortable in the woods at night. That was probably a good attitude to have, given the inherently dangerous wilderness. ¡°Yes, here. Sit.¡± Miguel did, crossing his legs. ¡°Now, close your eyes. Good. Listen. Feel. Have you ever meditated before?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Colt¡¯s been teaching me a little.¡± ¡°That¡¯s good. Focus on that, then,¡± Elijah said. As he sat in front of his nephew, he flared One with Nature and Nature¡¯s Bounty. ¡°Do you feel anything different?¡± Migue didn¡¯t speak for a moment, but then, he let out a disappointed sigh. ¡°No. Nothing. Just a little cold.¡± ¡°Keep trying,¡± Elijah ordered. He had no idea if it was even possible for someone without an archetype to sense the underlying structure of nature, but if it was, he intended for Miguel to do it. Perhaps then he¡¯d be a step ahead once he began the path of his own progression. 4-36. The Tower Elijah ducked under the long arm of the sasquatch, following that up with a vicious uppercut from his staff. The blow connected with the monster¡¯s chin, and the impact sent the huge creature flipping backward. Elijah spun, and before the first sasquatch hit the ground, he¡¯d already aimed Storm¡¯s Fury at the last monster in the pack. It was busy trying to extricate itself from the thorny vines that had encased its legs, so it never got the chance to react to the thick bolt of blue lightning that descended from above. It hit the monster square in the chest, sending it into convulsions. Meanwhile, Elijah could sense the first creature picking itself up from the ground, so he wheeled around, leaped high into the air, and brought the Dragon-Touched Staff down on the thing¡¯s overlarge head. The sound of cracking bone filled the air as Elijah brough his enhanced Strength to bear, shattering the monster¡¯s skull. It spasmed, but it didn¡¯t immediately die. Instead, a seizure gripped the creature, and it windmilled its arms. That took Elijah by surprise, and one of its thick limbs knocked his feet out from under him. As he fell, he tried to right himself, but it was useless. He ended up collapsing atop the monster¡¯s bulging chest, and the smell of wet fur filled his nostrils. But more distressingly, the other sasquatch had recovered from the lightning-induced spasm and was well on its way to freeing itself from Elijah¡¯s Snaring Roots. He rolled free of the dying sasquatch just in time to see the other dashing in his direction. Elijah had very little leverage, but still, he managed to throw himself across the ground and avoid the worst of the monster¡¯s charge. Even so, he took a vicious kick in the leg that sent him spinning around like a top. His motion only ceased when he rammed into the maze¡¯s wall with a thud. His head spun, but he kept his wits about him enough to remember to cast Soothe. Then, as his thoughts sharpened, he kicked off the wall and charged the remaining sasquatch. Once again, his staff arced out, this time, colliding with the monster¡¯s shin. The creature saw it coming, so the blow didn¡¯t sweep its leg out from under it, but it still elicited a slight stumble. Elijah pounced on that small opening, jabbing the other end of his staff into the monster¡¯s stomach, then following that up with a blisteringly fast combo that cracked bones in its ribs. The monster howled in pain, lashing out. However, with Soothe coursing through him, Elijah didn¡¯t bother playing it safe. Instead, he bulled his way into the sasquatch, knocking it further off-balance with a shoulder tackle. Then, he stomped on the thing¡¯s instep before dipping low, grabbing its plant leg, then lifting. The move sent the monster toppling over his back, where it landed in a heaping sprawl of too-long arms and legs. Elijah leaped upon the opportunity that represented, pelting the creature with one attack after another until he landed a series of attacks on its skull, cracking it just like he had the previous creature¡¯s. Then, at last, the area went quiet, save for Elijah¡¯s panting breaths. Despite his success, it had not gone nearly as well as he¡¯d hoped. For one, he¡¯d been forced to heal, which was one of the restrictions he¡¯d imposed upon himself. For another, his staff-work was sloppy, and he still failed to truly incorporate his spells into his fighting style. His casting speed was just too slow to be instant, which meant that each time he wanted to use a spell, he was forced to pause for at least a second or two. ¡°Still a long way to go,¡± he muttered to himself, looking around at the fallen sasquatches. He¡¯d been in the tower for a little more than a week, and in that time, he¡¯d quickly discovered that it was too easy to challenge him. The first level was easy enough the first time through, and it was even easier now that he knew precisely how to get the most out of it. Even killing the goblins hadn¡¯t taxed him, though he¡¯d noticed that they were a far higher level than the last time he¡¯d come through the tower. The Sea of Sorrows had been the most challenging, but it wasn¡¯t even as difficult as his first time through. However, traversing the seafloor had given him an idea of how to make things even more difficult. A handicap meant to even the odds and push him to his limits. So, since then, he¡¯d remained in his human form, only using his healing spells when absolutely necessary. And his growth had been incredible. Not in terms of levels, though he¡¯d made some progress there as well. Rather, his true gains had to do with his fighting style. For some time, he¡¯d made a concerted effort in learning to use his staves properly, but that had just been training. Real fighting had forced those lessons to coalesce into a practical fighting style. Yet, as he¡¯d just said, he still had a long way to go. That was one of the reasons he¡¯d entered the tower in the first place, and in that endeavor, it had been a success. The other reason was less productive. He had hoped that challenging the tower would give him an opportunity to determine his path going forward, but he still had no idea what to do next. After spending another week in Argos, he and his family had returned to the island. There, Elijah had spent a few days doing next to nothing before finally deciding to enter the tower. He told himself it was so that he could continue to progress, but in reality, it was a stalling tactic. He had plenty on his plate. He knew that. But after Valoria and Argos, he was having difficulty mustering the motivation to do any of the things he knew he needed to do. It was easy enough to say that he wanted to prepare for the Trial of Primacy, but it was something else altogether to actually do so. He¡¯d hoped the run through the Keledge Tower would put him on the right track. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. But now that he was close to completing it ¨C he¡¯d already killed the root raptors, and after taking care of the sasquatch camp, there was nothing really left ¨C he was back at square one. At least he¡¯d gotten a few rewards along the way. The first was a wicked looking axe called a Polished Obsidian Hatchet that felt like it was at least Simple-Grade. The second was a pair of Sealskin Slippers that were decently graded as well. He hoped that his performance would net him something good when he finally left the tower behind. However, the most overtly beneficial aspect of the tower run was the fact that he¡¯d gained two more levels, pushing him to level eighty-three. He knew it should have been more, but apparently, running the same towers over and over again netted less experience each time. Eventually, the amount of experience would level out ¨C at least according to Kurik ¨C but that wasn¡¯t until at least the twentieth run. That told Elijah just how difficult leveling was going to be. The whole system seemed to reward exploration, and it was easy to imagine going from one tower to another just to keep the experience rewards high. Perhaps that would be an advantage for him. After all, he was more mobile than most, what with Shape of the Sky as well as his ability to teleport across great distances. With that in mind, Elijah progressed through the maze. The various tower challengers from Ironshore had gone to great lengths in order to map it out, and Elijah had acquired one of those maps before heading inside. It was invaluable, and it had made the level much easier than either of the other two times he¡¯d challenged it. Still, there were a few stray root raptors out and about, so Elijah dealt with them along the way. Eventually, though, he reached the exit.
Congratulations! You have completed Level Three of Keledge Tower. Grade: A To exit the tower, step through the portal.
Satisfied with his grade, he reached down and retrieved his reward from the silver box that had manifested at his feet. And for a long moment, he just stared at the item, which turned out to be a slab of rough wood. He glanced at the notification:
Reward for completing Level Three of Keledge Tower: Bark of the Mother Tree
Unsure of what to do with it, Elijah shoved it into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and stepped through the exit. A moment later, he found himself swimming toward the surface. When he crested the waves, he leaped free, transforming via Shape of the Sky, and flew toward the grove. He still hadn¡¯t quite gotten the hang of landing, but at least he didn¡¯t break anything this time. Predictably, no one else was around. Miguel was off traipsing through the wilderness with Kurik, while Carmen and Colt were in Ironshore. That left him all alone in the grove. Except for Nerthus, of course. So, Elijah crossed the grove and found the spryggent tending to a stand of bushes. Once he reached Nerthus, Elijah asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± That elicited an excited explanation from the spryggent about how those particular bushes would increase the ethera density in the grove by as much as three-tenths of a percent while also emitting a pleasant smell. It was nice to see Nerthus so happy that it almost made Elijah forget his own issues. Finally, he retrieved the slab of wood from his satchel and showed it to his friend. ¡°Any idea what this is for? It¡¯s called Bark of the Mother Tree.¡± ¡°Where did you get this?¡± demanded Nerthus. ¡°Uh¡­reward from the tower. Why?¡± ¡°A mother tree is nearly as sacred as an ancestral tree,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°They grow much larger, though they are not nearly as spiritual. Their bark is prized for its durability, though. In most places, that piece of bark is as good as a natural treasure. Perhaps better, for some applications.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Elijah looked at the piece. It was perhaps three feet wide, and maybe a foot longer than that. So, he couldn¡¯t use it for a staff. And even if he could, it just felt wrong in a way he couldn¡¯t quite articulate. Perhaps it was because it hadn¡¯t come from his grove. Whatever the case, he expected that Carmen could give him some advice on what to do with it. Next, he showed Nerthus the other rewards he¡¯d gotten, but the spryggent wasn¡¯t terribly interested in them. If it didn¡¯t have to do with the grove or trees, Nerthus just couldn¡¯t be bothered to care. So, once he¡¯d finished catching up with the keeper of his grove, Elijah once again adopted Shape of the Sky, then launched himself toward the clouds above. In seconds, he was hundreds of feet into the air and staring toward the open ocean. Without Eyes of the Eagle active, he could only barely see the dark smudge on the horizon, but he knew it was there all the same. For a moment, he circled his island, hesitant to give in to his adventurous spirit. He had so many other things he should have been doing that simple exploration felt like a bit of a waste. However, most of his best memories had come on the heels of wanderlust, and he was desperately curious what sort of storm would be visible from so far away. So, without further hesitation, he flapped his wings and sped toward the tempest. He raced across the sky, keeping an eye on his destination as well as the waves below. Down there, he could see shadows of enormous sea creatures, though their true nature was obscured by the ocean water. Were they whales? Sea monsters from myth? Perhaps there was even a kraken down there. But for now, Elijah was more concerned with what was in front of him. As he sped toward the storm, he became increasingly worried. The clouds roiled, dark and ominous, and lightning flashed. The height of the waves beneath him steadily increased until it was like Elijah was looking down at an oceanic mountain range with towering peaks and deep valleys. And by his estimation, the storm was still more than a hundred miles away. He pushed on, both eager and more than a little frightened. And in his mental state, where he¡¯d felt more than a little apathetic ever since he¡¯d left Argos, that jolt of adrenaline only served to spur him forward. 4-37. The Storm Wind whipped against Elijah¡¯s wings, threatening to send him plummeting to the roiling sea below. However, he¡¯d spent enough time practicing flight to adjust accordingly. Still, he knew that if he got much closer, he¡¯d be in danger of being tossed from the sky. But he kept going. The enormous storm was still at least fifty miles away, but it stretched from one end of the horizon to another, looking like an enormous, black wall. Periodically, lightning arced through it, illuminating those swirling clouds, but that only made the sight that much more ominous. Because there were things in there. Elijah could only see shapes and shadows, but what he could see was enough to make any sane person turn around. Huge forms slithered from one end to another, putting him in mind of flying serpents. But there were other, much smaller shapes as well ¨C and those were even more concerning, because they didn¡¯t confine their movements to the clouds. More importantly, as Elijah drew closer, he recognized them. It had been more than four years since his plane had been ripped to pieces by some sort of giant bird, but Elijah knew he¡¯d never forget that brief glimpse he¡¯d experienced as he fell toward the ocean. And that memory confirmed that he now beheld the same species. And there were hundreds of them, all riding the wind like fish swimming through the ocean. Elijah could only hope that, one day, he could emulate their grace. At least that was the most pervasive thought in his mind right up until he felt something rocket into range of One with Nature. That brief warning was barely enough to allow him to tuck his wings close to his body and begin a dive that narrowly let him avoid the outstretched talons of one of those immense birds. Elijah glanced up to see a mass of slate grey feathers. The thing¡¯s wingspan was more than twice Elijah¡¯s own, and its talons were larger than his entire torso. More importantly, he could see light glinting off those feathers, implying that they were metallic. So were its claws and beak, though that was as much as Elijah saw before the thing wheeled around and began another attack. He dove, gaining speed with every foot of lost altitude, but the huge raptor had gravity on its side as well. The towering waves drew ever closer, and the wind threatened to rip Elijah to pieces. Yet, he waited until the very last second ¨C when he was only a few feet above the water ¨C to throw his wings out wide and level out. He glided through the trough between two waves, and over the wind, he heard a loud splash as his pursuer hit the water. But Elijah¡¯s victory was short-lived, as a moment later, with a few furious flaps of its great wings, the creature threw itself back into the air. Thankfully, though, Elijah¡¯s maneuver had bought him a little time, and he used that to great advantage as he stuck dangerously close to the sea¡¯s surface. He kept just ahead of the giant bird, though the thing was clearly bigger, faster, and more coordinated than he was, so it was only a matter of time before it caught him. So, Elijah reluctantly pushed his adventurous spirit aside and turned his thoughts toward escape. He¡¯d just begun to speed back toward his island when another bird appeared. Then another. Before Elijah knew what was going on, he was surrounded by a flock of those feathery monsters. Desperately, he dodged one while flapping his wings to gain altitude in order to avoid another darting attack that would have ripped him to pieces. He used every point of his Dexterity attribute to his advantage, and for the first time, he truly let his instincts take over. And it was glorious. For a few scant seconds, Elijah was untouchable. Even as a dozen birds the size of fighter jets attacked, he twirled, climbed, and dodged. But it couldn¡¯t last. There were too many. And they were far too skilled. Elijah knew that, but he was too caught up in the high brought on by his avian instincts to heed the warning in his mind. And in the end, it cost him. It was a small mistake ¨C barely a few inches off in one of his maneuvers ¨C but it was enough to allow one of the raptors to clip Elijah¡¯s wing. That, in turn, slowed him just enough that he couldn¡¯t avoid the next attack. Or the next one after that. Even as they ripped him to shreds, Elijah shifted back into his human form, intending to use Roots of the World Tree to teleport back to his island. However, two things prevented that. First, the concentration necessary to cast that spell was impossible in his current situation. And second, he didn¡¯t have time, because the moment his body completed the transformation, he was whisked away by a strong gust of wind. Then another took him in the opposite direction. Over and over, the swirling winds pushed him back and forth. The erratic nature of his fall was the only thing that saved him from the birds, though they still got in a few good hits, even if they failed to snatch him up into their enormous talons. The wind also served to slow his fall just enough that when he hit the water, he didn¡¯t do so with terminal velocity. It still hurt, but he managed to avoid breaking anything terribly important. Only a few ribs and what felt like a small fracture in his ankle. More distressingly, just because he¡¯d fallen into the sea didn¡¯t mean he was out of the proverbial woods. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Indeed, there were three issues with his current predicament. First, the birds had already proven they had precisely zero problems with diving into the ocean to get to their prey, and it was only a matter of seconds before they resumed their assault. Second, the rolling waves were the size of skyscrapers, which was enough to strike fear even into his heart. Facing down monsters was one thing. But looking up at a wall of seawater was something else entirely. And finally, he could sense gargantuan beasts swimming beneath him as well. Elijah didn¡¯t think he was lucky enough that they would prove peaceful. So, he furiously cast Roots of the World Tree, hoping to complete it before the myriad dangers of his circumstances asserted their claim on his life. But as he¡¯d expected, he just didn¡¯t have enough time to finish the cast before one of the birds came screaming down out of the sky. Elijah dove, twisting and pushing himself through the water as quickly as he could manage. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. The bird hit the water like a missile, the shockwave alone enough to stun him. And when its talons wrapped around his waist, Elijah knew he had no choice but to act, and decisively so. He initiated the much quicker transformation into the lamellar ape form, and the second it completed, he let out a roar and slammed his fists into the bird¡¯s talons. It screeched, and by reflex ¨C or perhaps because Elijah¡¯s blow had broken some bones ¨C it released him. By that point, the creature had already climbed dozens of feet into the air, and when Elijah fell, he did so in such a way that he was slammed by one of the massive waves as it rolled past. It was like getting hit by a moving brick wall, and for a moment, Elijah was disoriented. However, because he still had the Ring of Aquatic Travel equipped, at least he didn¡¯t have to breathe. More importantly, the birds seemed to have either written him off or decided he wasn¡¯t worth the trouble, because when he finally surfaced, they¡¯d begun to fly away. For Elijah¡¯s part, he had more important issues on his mind. Because there was something speeding toward him from the depths. And it was enormous. Elijah braced himself for another fight, but it was one that never manifested. A dolphin the size of a mini-van burst through the water, did a somersault, then dove back into the side of the wave. Then, it returned and, before Elijah could react, started nudging him away from the storm. It wasn¡¯t until a few moments later that Elijah made the connection. There were many instances of dolphins having saved humans in the pre-World Tree past, and it seemed that this mutated version hadn¡¯t completely discarded those instincts. On top of that, Elijah¡¯s experiences suggested an explanation for how he¡¯d survived the plane crash four-plus years before. After all, he¡¯d fallen from an altitude of thousands of feet. There was no way that, in his condition at the time, he should have lived through such a fall. Yet he had. That led him to believe that, perhaps, his fall had been arrested by the chaotic gusts of wind. Then, maybe he¡¯d been saved by a dolphin or some other helpful beast. Strange things had happened, and given his nature attunement, that seemed a far better explanation than a one-in-a-billion chance that he¡¯d fallen in just such a way to avoid having all of his bones broken and then miraculously drifted hundreds of miles to the island. Or maybe he was just grasping at straws. Either way, the explanation was good enough for him. Not that it mattered overmuch. The past was the past, and though he was grateful for his own survival, he didn¡¯t have the leeway to give it much thought. Once the dolphin had guided him a couple of miles away from where he¡¯d been attacked, Elijah managed to say, ¡°You probably can¡¯t even understand me, can you? Well, on the off chance that you can, thank you.¡± The dolphin did not answer. Because it was a dolphin. In any case, the creature seemed to sense that Elijah was out of danger, so it gave him one last nudge, then dove beneath the waves. After that, Elijah finally completed his cast of Roots of the World Tree, teleporting back to his grove. Once he was back on solid ground, he fell to his knees and vomited a gallon of seawater. Of course, that brought Nerthus¡¯ ire as well as an explanation for how bad saltwater was for plants. Elijah didn¡¯t need the spryggent¡¯s admonishment, but as he collapsed onto his back, he gratefully endured it. Because his brush with death had banished the thread of apathy from his heart. He had a lot to do before the Trial of Primacy, and he couldn¡¯t afford to waste more time challenging the tower. So, after lying there for a few minutes, Elijah pushed himself to a sitting position and looked inward. For the past months, each time he¡¯d had a few extra minutes, he¡¯d spent it cycling his core. However, just because he had plenty of practice didn¡¯t make the process any easier. At times in the past, he¡¯d likened it to having his spirit waterboarded. But he persisted, and he managed three cycles ¨C each one like trying to stir molasses ¨C before he felt Carmen arrive on the island. More and more, she spent her nights in Ironshore, presumably working. When she returned to the grove, Elijah opened his eyes and said, ¡°You¡¯re quite a workaholic. Working on a new project?¡± ¡°Sort of,¡± she admitted, holding out her hand. Elijah took it, and she hauled him to his feet. ¡°I¡¯m preparing to start that project you suggested back in Argos. Right now, I¡¯m just calling it The Forge. A bit early to start naming things, considering we haven¡¯t even laid the foundation yet. But it feels right.¡± ¡°What kind of preparations do you have to make?¡± Elijah asked. To answer that question, Carmen eagerly explained that they were currently gathering enough blood tin ¨C which was the ore they¡¯d found in the mines ¨C for the structure, but also for any tools they might need. ¡°It¡¯s all going to work together,¡± Carmen said. ¡°It has to. I¡¯m also going to need some help getting enough of that Dragonstone back here. It¡¯s the most powerful stone I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± ¡°Just let me know when, and I¡¯ll help. It just needs to be done soon, because I have a promise to keep back in Seattle,¡± he said. Then, after a second, he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and pulled the Bark of the Mother Tree out. As he did, he said, ¡°Oh ¨C I also got this from the tower.¡± ¡°Whoa.¡± ¡°That good?¡± he asked as Carmen took it. ¡°Can I buy this from you?¡± she asked without answering his question. ¡°You can have it. What do you have planned?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± she answered. ¡°Something for Miggy, though. It feels like him. Like you, too, but you don¡¯t need anything I can make.¡± Elijah said, ¡°That¡¯s probably true.¡± He¡¯d rather Miguel have something special than to take it for himself. After that, he discussed his plans with Carmen. She only made a few comments, but she did ask a couple of poignant questions that helped him solidify his intentions. So, once the conversation was over, Elijah felt a lot better about the future. 4-38. An Issue of Transportation For the first time since completing the Temple of Virtue in Argos, Elijah awoke with a sense of purpose. Nearly dying to a few overgrown birds was enough to cement his need to grow stronger. After all, if he couldn¡¯t protect his family and his grove ¨C or guide Miguel ¨C then what did his position atop the power rankings really mean? It was just a number on a list. Power was meaningless if it didn¡¯t have a purpose. So, Elijah pushed himself out of his mossy bed and thrust his arms toward the flowery ceiling as he stretched. He didn¡¯t really need it. His Regeneration was so high that his every muscle was in peak condition at all times. Yet, old habits tended to a die a slow death, and he¡¯d yet to move so far from his humanity that he could neglect something as simple loosening tight muscles. Nor could he neglect his bladder, so after he took care of that, he headed to his kitchen and gathered the ingredients for tea. As he did, he turned his attention to the coffee trees within his grove. They were finally ready for harvest, but there were many steps he needed to take before he could enjoy the fruits of their growth. At the same time, he was aware that Carmen had risen as well, so he gathered enough ingredients for a second mug of tea. By the time it was ready, Carmen had descended from her own treehouse and was crossing the grove. That¡¯s where Elijah met her. As he offered her the steaming mug, he said, ¡°Good morning.¡± She let out a sigh, then shook her head. ¡°Sometimes I wonder how we made it,¡± she admitted. ¡°It wasn¡¯t so long ago that we were being picked off, one by one, by those sidhe monsters. And now I¡¯m in paradise enjoying a cup of tea that has no business being this good. I have friends again. A job. It almost feels like all that horribleness never even happened.¡± She took a sip, then continued, ¡°But I know better. Just because this place is safe, it doesn¡¯t mean everywhere is.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t know how to respond to that, save to assure her that he would do everything he could to protect her. That just elicited a small smile as she said, ¡°You¡¯re a lot like Alyssa. She wanted to protect everyone, too.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t care about everyone. I care about you and Miggy. A few others, too. But everybody else can ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lie, and you know it,¡± Carmen definitively stated. ¡°From everything you¡¯ve said, and based on what I saw in Argos, you care as much as anyone can. You¡¯re pathologically incapable of not helping people. Like I said ¨C just like Alyssa. The difference is that you don¡¯t trust as easily as she did.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t bother disputing that assertion. Instead, he changed the subject, saying, ¡°I¡¯m going to investigate ways to get the Dragonstone you need back here. I¡¯m not sure what the answer is, but I intend to ask Ramik. If he doesn¡¯t know ¨C or if there¡¯s no easy way to do it ¨C I¡¯ll just tote it myself. It¡¯ll take a few trips, but I¡¯ll do what needs to be done.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that. There¡¯s some decent stone nearby. I can make do.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not as good as Dragonstone, though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. Like you just said, I¡¯m incapable of not helping, right? You and Miggy deserve the best. Otherwise, what¡¯s the point of having the most powerful person in the world as your patron?¡± he asked. ¡°Patron? Ugh. Don¡¯t ever refer to yourself that way again.¡± ¡°Sponsor?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Benefactor?¡± ¡°Still no,¡± she said with a tight smile. ¡°Well, there¡¯s just no pleasing you,¡± he replied with a grin of his own. After that, the pair drank their tea and discussed less serious things. Carmen spoke of her plans for her forge, while Elijah talked about his coffee. It was a decidedly normal conversation, given the circumstances, and as such, Elijah found it extremely comforting. Still, all good things inevitably come to an end, and so it was with his pleasant conversation with Carmen. She needed to get to Ironshore for work, while Elijah needed to speak to Ramik. The only difference was that Carmen had a bit of a commute ahead of her, while Elijah simply had to shift into Shape of the Sky and launch himself into the air. Only a couple of minutes later, he landed just outside of town and strode past the wall. As he did so, he gave the guards a small wave, which they nervously returned. Upon entering the city, it became immediately apparent that Ironshore was growing. He¡¯d been back a few times in the previous few months, but he¡¯d not paid much attention to the state of the city. Now, though, he let himself take it all in, and he was incredibly impressed by the progress on display. The overall tone of the architecture remained the same as always, reminding Elijah of Victorian London, but everything was bigger, grander, and more solid. In addition, Elijah saw a few humans here and there, none of which he recognized. Clearly, the trade alliance with Norcastle had continued to bear fruit. A good thing, so long as Ramik and his people kept an eye on the newcomers. Elijah was well-acquainted with human curiosity, and ignorance was no excuse for anyone trespassing on his island. He took his time as he strode through the city, greeting those he knew while politely nodding at those he didn¡¯t. The residents of the city seemed a lot less overtly hostile, but there were still plenty of nervous glances following him around. Perhaps that was a good thing, though. After all, if they were frightened, then they wouldn¡¯t dare invade his grove. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Soon, Elijah reached his destination, which had received quite an upgrade over the past few months. The government building had been completely overhauled, and it looked more like a palace than it resembled the old, mostly unadorned building that had been its previous incarnation. Looking upon it, Elijah got the impression of wealth, power, and, most of all, authority. Hopefully, that would keep any newcomers under control. Elijah climbed the steps that ran along the entire front of the building, entering through a pair of enormous, brass double doors. The two guards ¨C a goblin and a dwarf ¨C watched him, but they didn¡¯t even considering barring his way. Upon entering the building, Elijah was confronted with a huge lobby that wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in the Imperium. In the center was a massive desk manned by a trio of figures. A goblin, a gnome, and a dwarf ¨C each one wore the sort of clothes Elijah usually associated with Ramik, which meant that they were dressed in dark, tailored suits. Elijah approached. ¡°Looks like you¡¯ve done some renovations,¡± he remarked. ¡°Is Ramik around?¡± ¡°Do you have an appointment?¡± asked the goblin, her voice conveying both boredom and annoyance. ¡°Nope!¡± Elijah said cheerfully. ¡°Then the mayor is unavailable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll find him myself,¡± Elijah said, still smiling as he walked past the kiosk. The goblin tried to object, but her coworkers quickly stepped in, whispering his identity. Her green skin went pale, but by that point, Elijah was already a few feet away. He wasn¡¯t sure where Ramik¡¯s office was, but given the layout of the building, he expected that the huge set of stairs in the center of the lobby probably led in the right direction. So, that¡¯s where he went, his bare feet slapping against the cold tile of the floor. Upon mounting the steps, Elijah became aware of a panting figure running in his direction. At first, he thought the little gnome meant to attack, but his true intention became apparent as he slowed to a stop. ¡°Let me lead you to the mayor¡¯s office, honored Druid,¡± he said, still trying to catch his breath. Elijah glanced at him, taking in his appearance in the space of an instant. And he was more than a little unimpressed. The gnome was a little taller than normal ¨C almost dwarf-sized ¨C but he had quite a paunch around his middle. More importantly, he looked incredibly young. ¡°Alright,¡± Elijah said. Then, the young gnome led him up the stairs ¨C laboring the whole way ¨C before circling along a balcony toward what looked like a normal and nondescript office door. He knocked, and Ramik¡¯s familiar voice bade him enter. The office on the other side was neither opulent nor unadorned, though there were a few nods to Ramik¡¯s tastes. A few tasteful paintings decorated the walls, and the same monstrosity of a desk dominated the room. A few leather chairs completed the d¨¦cor. ¡°Hey, Ramik,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What¡¯s new?¡± Ramik smiled, saying, ¡°Good to see you, Elijah. The city is booming, just like I predicted.¡± After that, he dismissed the young gnome before excitedly detailing Ironshore¡¯s progress. The trade alliance with Norcastle had brought in a nice trickle of wealth, and there were even plans to branch out to other cities like Argos. More importantly, the increased ethera density had given his people quite a boon in terms of cultivation, which allowed them to take advantage of Biggle¡¯s powerful potions. That, combined with the influx of levels they¡¯d received after the failed orc invasion, and they were in much better shape than they could have reasonable expected. ¡°And Carissa¡¯s people are strong enough to push deeper into the earth,¡± he finished. ¡°That mine could be our ticket to true prosperity.¡± ¡°That¡¯s awesome, Ramik. I¡¯m glad everything is going well,¡± he said. ¡°But there are two things I wanted to discuss. The first is just that I feel the need to reiterate that no one should set foot on my island without my permission. I know there are some new people here. I trust that you¡¯ve let them all know the rules.¡± ¡°It is part of our orientation,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Combined with the stories of what happened to the Cabbot and his people, that¡¯s enough to keep them all away. Most people aren¡¯t terribly brave when certain death is on offer.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Now ¨C the real issue is that I need a way to transport a few dozen tons of rock.¡± Then, he described his issue, letting Ramik know that the stone was intended for Carmen¡¯s forge. ¡°Do you know a way around the problem?¡± he asked. Ramik tapped this pointed chin. After a moment, he answered, ¡°There are two options. The first is to commission one of our Carpenters ¨C we have three that could manage the job ¨C to create a series of crates. So long as they are limited to stone, they will accommodate up to five times their normal volume. However, weight would only be cut in half, which could prove to be an issue, even with your Strength.¡± Elijah had tested it extensively, and he was only capable of carrying two blocks at a time. That meant that, regardless of the crates¡¯ capacity, his limitations would dictate that he could only carry four. In turn, that would necessitate multiple trips, so that was not an ideal solution. ¡°What¡¯s the other option?¡± ¡°It is extremely expensive.¡± ¡°I have money,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, he barely used his funds anyway, so he¡¯d amassed a small fortune in coins. He knew that wouldn¡¯t count much in the wider multi-verse, but on Earth, he was considered quite wealthy, even after the expenditure with the Temple of Virtue. After that, Ramik explained the other solution. It was actually a system that, due to its cost, was not very popular except in very specific circumstances. The first part was a ring that acted as a key to an interdimensional space that could hold a vast volume of goods. However, the only way to withdraw those goods was to combine the ring with the second part, which was a stationary anchor. ¡°So, what makes it so expensive?¡± ¡°The rings are single-use,¡± Ramik explained. ¡°They become useless after that. Even the materials are impossible to recycle. But the ring-storage system can hold more than ten times what the crates can hold.¡± He went on to explain that even the anchor had limitations ¨C chiefly that it could only be used once a month. ¡°It¡¯s almost as expensive as transporting goods via the Branch,¡± Ramik said. ¡°Most people just use one of the Teamster¡¯s guilds. That is not an option here, though.¡± In the end, Elijah¡¯s decision was an easy one. After all, what was money for if not to be spent? So, armed with Ramik¡¯s explanation, he headed to the Branch and bought the system for fifteen gold ethereum, which was nearly three-quarters of his total wealth. The only solace to such an expenditure was that if he wanted to purchase another ring, he could do so for a little less than five gold. However, even then, he could easily see why it wasn¡¯t a popular method of transporting goods. Still, he felt good about the purchase. Before he teleported to the Dragon Circle, though, he had a couple more tasks to complete. 4-39. Sun Copper ¡°I need a wok,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What?¡± asked Carmen, looking up from her anvil. She¡¯d spent the past hour trying to hammer a piece of armor into shape, and despite her best efforts, the sheet of metal was not cooperating. Part of the problem was that it was mundane steel, and as such, it could only be pushed so far, but the bigger issue was that her attention kept wandering to much more interesting projects. Like the forge she was going to build, which was such a huge project that anytime she thought about it, she felt more than a little overwhelmed. Or the armor she wanted to forge for when Miguel finally gained his archetype. She also wanted to do something special for Elijah, though she¡¯d yet to think of anything he might need. Either way, by comparison, her normal work that would end up being sold to people in Norcastle or equipping the Ironshore¡¯s fighters was downright boring. Still, she endeavored to give each piece the entirety of her focus. That was one of the things she¡¯d learned during her exile. Every project deserved her best efforts. It didn¡¯t matter if she was working with mundane steel or some magical alloy ¨C none of her creations would be shortchanged. Easier said than done, but she was determined to do her best. ¡°A wok. Like, this big around,¡± Elijah said, holding his hands around two feet apart. ¡°Maybe smaller. I don¡¯t know. The point is that I need a wok.¡± ¡°And why do you need a wok?¡± ¡°I feel like we¡¯re saying ¡®wok¡¯ a lot,¡± he said, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°But it¡¯s for my coffee.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t make coffee in a wok.¡± ¡°No ¨C the wok is for the roasting. I shoplifted a French press in a Wal-Mart I visited a couple of months ago. I also got, like, an entire buggy full of underwear. And toothpaste. My breath is minty fresh now,¡± Elijah explained. He clapped his hand over his mouth and exhaled, sniffing the result a second later. ¡°Well, sort of. Did you know that toothpaste has an expiration date? It doesn¡¯t, like, become poisonous or anything, but it loses quite a lot of its minty goodness. I should probably make my own. You wouldn¡¯t know how to make toothpaste, would you?¡± ¡°Baking soda, salt, essential oils, and water.¡± ¡°Wait, really? That seems easy.¡± Carmen shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s the basic recipe. You could add other things like turmeric or ¨C¡± ¡°Never mind. I¡¯m sure somebody else has figured it out,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re getting off topic. The wok. I want it to be made from as high-quality material as you can find. I can pay whatever.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to charge you, and you know it,¡± Carmen said, shaking her head at his slightly manic demeanor. She¡¯d heard enough stories from Alyssa to know that meant that he had latched onto something he thought was important. Maybe multiple things. But that didn¡¯t matter for the time being, because his request had sparked her imagination. A wok wasn¡¯t particularly difficult to make, and it didn¡¯t require a lot of material. That opened up a lot of possibilities, but one in particular was more exciting than all the rest. ¡°I think I have an idea. When do you need this wok?¡± ¡°Uh¡­as soon as possible? I still need to pick the cherries and begin the process of separating the pulp from the bean,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m going to use the wet method, which involves¡­¡± Carmen only half listened to Elijah¡¯s explanation of the practice. She was already vaguely familiar with it, and much less excited about the process than he clearly was. Regardless, it would take at least a week, and probably a bit more than that, before the beans were ready to be roasted. So, Carmen had plenty of time for her own part, which was to forge a wok. ¡°So, can you do it?¡± he asked. ¡°Way ahead of you,¡± she answered. Then, she tapped her temple, saying, ¡°Already planning it. It¡¯ll be ready in a couple of days.¡± ¡°Really? What are you going to use as the base? And ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see. But I do need some wood from the grove. I¡¯m sure Nerthus could find something,¡± she said. ¡°Now go. You¡¯re in the way.¡± ¡°Wow. Rude,¡± Elijah muttered in a dramatic stage whisper that he certainly meant for her to hear. Carmen ignored it because she was already wholly focused on the new project. The first step was to gather materials, and for that, she needed to visit Carissa. So, she left the now-temporary smithy behind and headed toward the offices on the outskirts of town. It was the middle of the day, so the mine was a hive of activity, and rightly so. Not only had they tapped into a large vein of blood tin, but they¡¯d also found a few other decent-quality sources of ore. However, Carmen was only really interested in one. So, with that in mind, she found her way to Carissa¡¯s office. The door was open, but Carmen still knocked, eliciting a grunted, ¡°Come in.¡± Carmen did just that, stepping inside to see the dwarven foreman hunched over her desk and studying a map of the mine. It was far more elaborate than the one in Silverado, and it was already almost a mile deep in some places. But Carissa had plans for expansion. ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Carmen asked. She and the dwarven woman had become quite friendly over the past few months, largely because they shared a love of all things metal. ¡°Follow the ore,¡± Carissa said, looking up. ¡°That¡¯s what my pa used ta tell me. Always follow the ore. Meant to remind me ta keep my mind focused on what¡¯s important, but in this case, it¡¯s literal. Got to follow that ore, no matter where it goes. And it¡¯s goin¡¯ deep, too. Gettin¡¯ thicker as we go. I think we¡¯re on the verge of findin¡¯ somethin¡¯ big.¡± ¡°Watch out for critters,¡± Carmen said. ¡°What in the hells are critters?¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Carmen explained what she meant, describing the monsters she and the other people from Silverado had fought in its mine. ¡°We called them critters because they looked like movie monsters. Movies are ¨C¡± ¡°I know what movies are. Got me a player a few weeks ago from one of them Norcastle lads. It¡¯s interestin¡¯, that¡¯s for sure. Not too certain what the purple lizard monster is meant to represent, but I find it very unsettlin¡¯.¡± ¡°Purple lizard¡­oh. That,¡± Carmen said, realizing that Carissa had been watching programs intended for children. It was all she could do not to chuckle. ¡°Anyway. I want some of that sun copper you found last week.¡± ¡°There ain¡¯t much of it.¡± ¡°I know. I don¡¯t need much. I intend to mix it with that blood tin. Before the World Tree, copper and tin made bronze. I¡¯m hoping for something like that.¡± ¡°Interesting. I think I can spare a few pounds, provided you can make a coupla more of them pickaxes you made for me last week. They¡¯re better¡¯n anything we have,¡± Carissa said. ¡°Deal. I¡¯ll get on that as soon as I¡¯m done with the project for Elijah,¡± Carmen said with a grin. ¡°For¡­Elijah¡­you know what, no charge. Just ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Carissa. He¡¯s not as scary as you think he is,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Tell that to the fifty people he killed. Or the orcs he slaughtered.¡± Carmen had heard the story already, and from both sides. Elijah had revealed his sins as some sort of self-imposed penance ¨C or maybe he just wanted Carmen to know what she was dealing with. Meanwhile, Carissa hadn¡¯t spoken of it until she¡¯d gotten drunk a few nights after Carmen had gotten to Ironshore. ¡°Fair enough,¡± she said. Sometimes, it was hard to reconcile the Elijah she knew with the sort of man who could so easily kill people. But everyone had changed after the world¡¯s transformation, and he was no exception. After that, she collected the ore and headed back to the forge. Technically, the ore wasn¡¯t called sun copper. It was solar malachite. However, it was colloquially referred to as the former. Carmen didn¡¯t care one way or the other, so she quickly got down to the business at hand. The first part was to crush the ore into a powder ¨C the finer the better ¨C which she accomplished by running it through a crusher she¡¯d gotten from the mining operation. They had plenty of people who specialized in smelting, so they had all the proper equipment. That meant that Carmen did as well. Once the ore had been crushed into powder, she poured it into a giant crucible along with a load of infused charcoal she¡¯d already prepared. Then, it was a simple process of heating the crucible. Normally, copper melted at around a thousand degrees, but apparently, sun copper was a different story altogether, and it took quite a bit more before it melted. Once it did, Carmen dumped the crucible into a nearby pan before separating the copper from the charcoal. Then, it went back into the crucible to be rendered into a liquid. That took infused coal as well as Carmen¡¯s ability, Melt, and even then, it was only barely enough. Still, she managed it, then poured the contents of the crucible into a series of molds. If she was working with normal copper, without the addition of ethera, she would¡¯ve skipped that step, jumping right to the final mold. However, she had plans for the ingots. Once they¡¯d cooled, she did the same with a much smaller amount of blood tin. The ratio was meant to be around ninety percent copper and ten percent tin, a formula to which she intended to adhere as closely as possible. Finally, she had her ingots ready. It was at that point that Elijah returned with a large branch that he said came from his grove, but aside from waving him to put it aside, she couldn¡¯t afford to pay him any attention. Instead, she was entirely focused on using her various abilities to reduce impurities and infuse the resulting ingots with as much as ethera as they could handle. It was a long and tedious process, but one that Carmen refused to shortchange. She knew precisely how important it was to the final product, so she swallowed her frustrations and committed to the work. Eventually, she¡¯d finished. That was when she threw all the copper ingots into the crucible and melted it. Once it had liquified, she added the tin, and when it had all mixed together, she poured it into a different, much larger mold. As it cooled, she took a short break, during which she went to a nearby restaurant where she ate a meal that she barely paid attention to. Instead, her mind was entirely on the project. Perhaps Elijah wasn¡¯t the only one to get a little manic when he was working on something he cared about. In any case, Carmen finished her meal, then returned to the smithy. Once there, she inspected the cooled bar, and once she found nothing amiss, used Refine Material as well as Decontaminate, reducing the bar as she removed impurities. It wasn¡¯t strictly necessary ¨C surely, a wok made of that material would suffice to roast a few coffee beans ¨C but Carmen had always believed that if something was worth doing, it was worth doing to the best of her abilities. And in this case, that meant refining the metal until it was absolutely pure. Of course, that meant that she had a lot less to work with, which in turn necessitated the creation of another few bars. At each juncture, she used Ethereal Infusion to ensure that it was absolutely saturated with energy. And after two days, she had achieved a product as close to perfection as her skills and the materials allowed. That was supported by the notification she received:
Faythium Ingot Overall Grade: Complex (Low)
¡°Yes!¡± she shouted, only then realizing that she was absolutely alone in the smithy. She glanced at the nearby window, seeing that it was the dead of night. Perhaps she¡¯d grown a little too focused on the project. At least she hadn¡¯t neglected Miguel, though. He was traipsing through the wilderness with Colt and Kurik, so he wouldn¡¯t even know that she was pushing herself so hard. For a moment, she considered returning to the grove ¨C or at least to the bed she kept in her office near the forge ¨C but she ultimately decided against it. After her success, there was almost no chance that she could sleep anyway. Not until the project was finished, at least. So, Carmen looked down at the ingot. It looked like bronze, but there was a blue shimmer to it that marked it as magical. Plus, she could feel the energy coursing through it. That was as befitted a Complex-Grade material. She reluctantly set it aside, knowing that the metal behaved similarly to bronze. That meant it wasn¡¯t meant to be forged. Instead, it was more suited to casting. So, Carmen found a piece of wood meant for the creation of molds, then got to work carving the basic shape of a wok. The idea was to create a wooden facsimile of the intended product, then place that piece into a receptacle filled with packed sand. Once the wooden piece was removed, then the resulting cavity would be in the appropriate shape. After that, molten metal would be poured into the cast, and when it cooled, a rough piece would be created. Or that was what was supposed to happen. In reality, the process was finnicky, and Carmen found it even more tedious than it really was. Getting the sand packed just right was the worst part, and it made her long for the moments when she could simply pound metal into shape. Yet, she persisted, adjusting along the way until she got the result she wanted. It took nearly ten tries before that happened, and by that point, she was absolutely exhausted. Even so, she couldn¡¯t help but smile as she held the rough version of the wok aloft. It was a little more than two feet across, with steeply sloped sides and a rounded bottom. She hadn¡¯t affixed a handle yet ¨C that was what the grove wood was for ¨C and the piece needed a lot of refinement. But the hours¡¯ worth of tedious work had pushed her past the mania associated with success and into exhaustion. So, she set the wok aside and retreated to her office, where she collapsed onto the cot she kept for just that purpose. When she fell asleep, she dreamed of uncooperative sand and blended metals. 4-40. Wok ¡°Okay, so this is a problem,¡± Elijah said, looking at the spatial anchor, then across the grove and to the dense forest surrounding it. The anchor itself was just a rod that had been driven into the ground, though now that it had been activated, it was impossible to move without ruining his previous efforts. He¡¯d spent the past few days loading the ring with fifty multi-ton rocks. Hopefully, that would be enough for Carmen¡¯s project. However, his current issue was that he couldn¡¯t unload the ring without crushing a quarter of his grove. It just highlighted the fact that he hadn¡¯t quite thought things through when he¡¯d placed the anchor, but if he deactivated and tried to move it now, he¡¯d lose the attached interdimensional space and all the stone in it. ¡°Uh¡­Nerthus? Little help here?¡± he called. ¡°You around, man?¡± ¡°I am not a man,¡± Nerthus stated, having climbed out of a nearby tree. He leaped down. ¡°I am a spryggent.¡± ¡°Right. It¡¯s a colloquialism. So, here¡¯s the deal,¡± Elijah started before explaining the situation. He ended it with, ¡°And now I need to get the blocks from here to at least the beach without tearing anything up.¡± ¡°You have two issues. First, you need a path.¡± ¡°But what about emptying the ring?¡± ¡°One at a time.¡± Elijah started to say something, then stopped. ¡°I¡¯m so stupid,¡± he muttered. Indeed, he¡¯d lost the forest for the trees as he focused on the problem. He¡¯d never even considered not emptying the ring all at once. But there was nothing stopping him from withdrawing each stone individually and carrying it to where it was supposed to go. As Nerthus had said, though, he needed a path through the forest. So, that was task number one on his list. ¡°What¡¯s the second thing?¡± he asked. ¡°Getting the blocks across the strait,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The people of Ironshore have ships, but you have no apparatus through which to load them. The shallows cannot accommodate such large ships, either. So, you need to build a dock.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± That was something Elijah very much wanted to avoid. However, he didn¡¯t really see any way around it. That didn¡¯t mean he needed to build it himself, though, so without emptying the ring, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Sky and flew to Ironshore, where he met with Ramik and enlisted the goblin¡¯s help to hire a couple of Builders who would be willing to construct a dock. As it turned out, the process was easy enough, and before long, the group of goblins, gnomes, and dwarves had sailed across the strait armed with a bevy of materials from which they began to build the requested dock. Elijah didn¡¯t miss the fact that they were all terrified, but that was unavoidable. So long as they did the job, he wouldn¡¯t interfere. Meanwhile, he left them to their task and got to work clearing a viable path through the forest. At first, he tried to work with the landscape, but soon enough, he grew too frustrated with the process and just started ripping trees out of the ground. It wasn¡¯t exactly druidic of him, but it was his island. He would do what he wanted, regardless of how loudly his instincts screamed at him to stop. Eventually, he¡¯d ripped his way across the island until, at last, he reached the beach, where he saw that the Builder crew had nearly completed his new dock. It was an impressive wooden structure that jutted out from the beach for nearly two-hundred feet. ¡°Maybe I need to get a yacht,¡± Elijah said to himself. Or at least something better than a rowboat so that Miguel and Carmen could cross the strait more easily. Whatever the case, he only had to wait another hour before the Builder foreman approached and announced that they were finished. As Elijah paid the goblin, he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at how productive people could be, given the right skills. In addition to the dock, the Builders had cleared a large area of the beach that would serve perfectly for his blocks. So, once they were gone, Elijah wasted no more time before returning to the grove, where he began the process of transporting the blocks to the dock, one giant hunk of stone at a time. Even though Elijah¡¯s attributes were more than up to the task, the whole ordeal took far longer than he would have liked, and it was well into night before he¡¯d finished. Still, he was no stranger to work, and there was a certain satisfaction he experienced upon seeing the white-and-green Dragonstone stacked upon his beach. But he didn¡¯t intend to move it until morning. While he had no issues personally crossing the strait at night, something told him that it would be inadvisable for Ironshore¡¯s boats. So, with that in mind, he retreated to his grove, where he checked on his coffee. The cherries were currently soaking in a vat of water, where they would ferment over the course of the next week before he removed the pulp and set the beans out to dry. It was one of two methods of processing coffee cherries, but from what he understood from his limited knowledge of coffee, it was the one that resulted in the highest-quality coffee beans. It also took advantage of the dense ethera in his grove, which created all sorts of interesting situations when it came to bacterial growth. Regardless, it would be another couple of days before it was read for the next step, so Elijah spent the next few hours cycling the ethera in his Core. Then, he went to bed, where, for the first time in a while, he slept completely soundly all through the night. The next morning, he awoke feeling refreshed and ready for the coming day. So, after engaging in his normal morning routine, he flew across the strait and hired one of the ships to bring the Dragonstone across. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Once he¡¯d taken care of that, he headed to Carmen¡¯s forge, hoping that she had completed work on his wok. When he reached the building, he was a little surprised to find that Miguel was there, and he was actually engaged in an argument with his mother. ¡°You can¡¯t keep doing this, mom,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m your mother. You don¡¯t get to tell me ¨C¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on, guys?¡± Elijah asked on approach. That earned him a glare from Carmen and a pleading expression from Miguel. His nephew said, ¡°You need to tell her to stop, Uncle Elijah. She hasn¡¯t been home in three days. I don¡¯t think she¡¯s slept more than a few hours in that time, either.¡± ¡°I slept,¡± she argued with a roll of her eyes. ¡°Please, mom ¨C¡± As they continued their discussion, Elijah backed away and pretended he couldn¡¯t hear them. The last thing he wanted was to get involved in that sort of argument, so he busied himself by engaging in a thorough inspection of a nearby furnace. His head was deep inside the apparatus when he heard Carmen clear her throat behind him. ¡°Uh¡­sorry? I¡¯m just really into furnaces,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You have soot on your face.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­how I like it?¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°Go ahead. Say it.¡± ¡°Say what? You have a nice furnace. A little cold right now, but I¡¯m sure it gets really hot when you ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to tell me that Miggy is right and that I¡¯m working too hard,¡± she said. ¡°Well, you¡¯re right. I get so obsessed when I get into a project that I sort of just lose track of time.¡± ¡°What project?¡± Elijah asked, neglecting to point out that he hadn¡¯t actually said anything about her work habits. In his experience, it was better to just stay out of it. ¡°Your wok, of course.¡± ¡°You¡¯ve been working on the wok for four days?¡± he asked. ¡°Sort of,¡± she said with a slight shrug. ¡°Most of the first day was spent creating the alloy. It¡¯s called faythium, by the way.¡± ¡°Sounds fancy.¡± ¡°Fancy?¡± ¡°Yes?¡± She shook her head. ¡°But it has to be cast instead of forged. No beating it with a hammer, you know? Instead, it works off molds. Anyway, I don¡¯t have as much experience with that, so I screwed up the first try. I thought it was pretty good when I first saw it, but¡­well, it wasn¡¯t. I was half asleep at the time, and I made a lot of mistakes. So, I had to melt it all down, make a new mold, then try again. And another ten times after that.¡± ¡°It¡¯s just a wok.¡± ¡°It¡¯s never just a wok,¡± Carmen said. ¡°If I¡¯m going to make something, I¡¯m going to do it to the best of my abilities. Nobody tells you how to tend to your grove, right? So, I¡¯d appreciate it if you didn¡¯t remark on my process.¡± Elijah nodded earnestly, knowing that he had no interest in getting on Carmen¡¯s bad side. So, he said, ¡°Sure. But you¡¯re finished?¡± ¡°Just,¡± she admitted. ¡°I was just polishing it when Miggy came by.¡± After that, she headed to the back of the smithy. Elijah followed, his eyes locking onto what looked like a bundle of rags. Carmen reached it, then uncovered a huge wok. It was bronze in color, though with an azure shimmer. There were two wooden handles ¨C one on each side ¨C as well. ¡°Looks nice,¡± Elijah said. ¡°May I?¡± Carmen handed it to him, and he nearly dropped it. ¡°Wow. Heavy.¡± ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s the issue I¡¯ve been working on. The first attempt was at least five times as heavy, and each version after that was the result of me trying to lighten the load,¡± Carmen said. ¡°It¡¯s way thinner than any normal wok, but that material is functionally indestructible unless you¡¯re trying to wear it as armor. Even then, it would take quite a shot to even scratch it.¡± ¡°Are you thinking of making armor out of it? For Miggy, maybe?¡± Carmen shook her head again. ¡°Not a chance. He¡¯s getting something better than this,¡± she said. ¡°Plus, a full set of this stuff would be too heavy for him until he gained quite a few attributes. And I hate working with it.¡± ¡°That bad?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It was a fun experiment, but it¡¯s not my thing,¡± she said. ¡°I prefer banging metals with my hammer, not creating casts and molds.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, what¡¯s the end result? Is it Simple-Grade, at least?¡± ¡°Mid-Complex.¡± ¡°What? Seriously?¡± Elijah asked, looking at the wok in a new light. ¡°The alloy alone was Low-Complex. The end result is actually a little disappointing, given that. But I¡¯m going to chalk it up to my inexperience with the process,¡± she said. ¡°I bet if I started over, I could get it to High-Complex.¡± ¡°No need,¡± Elijah said, stepping back when he saw the gleam in Carmen¡¯s eye. Her perfectionist nature was probably why she¡¯d had so many sleepless nights since he¡¯d given her the project. ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± ¡°Other than being almost indestructible? It has a trait called Savory. Helps preserve flavors and provides a constant stream of ethera to anything cooked in that little pan,¡± she said. ¡°Amazing. This is exactly what I was hoping for. But it does bring to mind something I forgot,¡± he said, setting the wok down. Then, he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and, over the next minute or so, retrieved the collection of low-quality weapons he¡¯d looted back in Valoria. ¡°Atticus said that some crafters have a skill that lets them disassemble finished products. So, as the highest-level crafter I know, these are probably best in your hands.¡± Carmen let him know that she had access to just such an ability, but added, ¡°It¡¯s not as good as it would be for someone who specializes in that kind of thing, but I can get something out of these, assuming you don¡¯t want to just sell them or give them away.¡± Elijah said, ¡°Do what you want with them. Also, I have this.¡± Then, he pulled the cursed False Dragon Fang out of his satchel. He hadn¡¯t forgotten about it. Rather, he¡¯d hesitated to give it back to Carmen because he knew it would elicit an emotional reaction. And he was right to expect that. Carmen¡¯s eyes went wide, and he could see her muscles trembling as she said, ¡°I hoped to never see that again.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cursed, you know,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Anyone who binds it will experience delusions of grandeur, according to Atticus¡¯ appraisal.¡± Then, he went on to explain that curses were something of a safeguard against forcing crafters into servitude against their will. ¡°If you do that, you might get a cursed item,¡± he finished. ¡°Kind of keeps people from being taken advantage of.¡± ¡°What are you going to do with it?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°That¡¯s up to you. It¡¯s yours, as far as I¡¯m concerned.¡± ¡°Get rid of it.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to ¨C¡± ¡°Just bury it. Or toss it into the ocean. Or a volcano. I never want to see it again,¡± she said. Elijah agreed, shoving the sword back into his satchel. Finally, in an attempt to change the subject, he said, ¡°I got the Dragonstone back. I hired a boat to bring it over from the island. They¡¯re going to deposit it near the town, so you can do what you want with it.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, her voice subdued. Clearly, she was still wrestling with what had happened. ¡°I¡­uh¡­I was thinking. I have a couple of days before my coffee is ready for roasting,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you mind if I take Miguel somewhere? Just out into the wilderness a little. I think he¡¯s got a nature attunement, just like me, and I think it¡¯ll be good for him to connect, you know? I wanted to show him something.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s fine,¡± she said. ¡°Just¡­be careful.¡± ¡°Are you okay? I didn¡¯t mean to upset you¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just a lot of emotions right now. But go ahead. Miguel would probably love to go on an adventure with you,¡± she said. After that, Elijah backed out of the forge and went in search of his nephew. 4-41. Classes ¡°Where are we going?¡± asked Miguel, following Elijah through the woods outside Ironshore. ¡°Does it matter? The journey is more important than the destination,¡± Elijah said, doing his best to seem wise. ¡°Worry less about where we¡¯re going and more about how we¡¯re going to get there. Or why we continue on.¡± Miguel rolled his eyes, and Elijah¡¯s aura of stoic pseud-intellectualism broke as he gave a little chuckle. ¡°Seriously, though ¨C where are we going?¡± the young man asked. ¡°A place called Arvandor,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°It¡¯s a city populated by elves. Then, we¡¯re going to cross the desert to the Circle of Spears.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Because I said so.¡± That elicited a narrowing of Miguel¡¯s eyes. ¡°C¡¯mon. Be serious.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Elijah said with a long-suffering sigh. ¡°What do you know about the Branches of the World Tree? Or the Knowledge Base, more specifically.¡± ¡°Uh¡­it has guides. Kind of like Wikipedia.¡± ¡°Except there¡¯s no way to really search it,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°All the information in the multi-verse, but no way to find what you¡¯re really looking for. Sometimes, it¡¯s easy to hunt answers down. I think that¡¯s one of the benefits of being recently touched by the World Tree. We need to know the basics, so it puts those front-and-center. But what do you think we do when we need to find more specific information?¡± ¡°Somebody could search it. Make a job out of it, like a professor or something.¡± ¡°Kind of. But it¡¯s more than that. There¡¯s a class called Librarian that can find things. They¡¯re like personified search engines. You give them a question, and they find the answer via one of their abilities. But like a lot of abilities and spells, those skills have cooldowns. So, they can only answer questions so often, which makes it valuable.¡± ¡°Supply and demand. We learned about it in school,¡± Miguel revealed. ¡°In school? You were in what? Fourth grade? Seems a little early to learn about that kind of thing.¡± That¡¯s when Miguel revealed that he¡¯d been enrolled in something of a special school meant for advanced students. ¡°Your mom was a gifted student, too,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Both of them, I expect. But our parents wanted Alyssa to skip grades, she was so smart.¡± ¡°What about you?¡± Elijah chuckled. ¡°I was above average,¡± he said. ¡°Never really had a drive for academics, if I¡¯m honest. I liked the idea of learning all those wonderful things, but the reality turned out to be too tedious for my taste. Probably why I made for a terrible biologist.¡± ¡°What does that have to do with this place we¡¯re going?¡± ¡°They have a Librarian there that owes me a question,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And I¡¯m going to use it for you. Also, elves.¡± ¡°Elves? Like, real elves? Kurik said there was one in Ironshore, but ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯ve met her. Nice lady. But no ¨C these are sand elves. I helped them out once before, so like I said, they owe me. Plus, I¡¯m on a bit of a diplomatic mission,¡± he said. Then, he explained what he meant to Miguel. The young man had already latched onto the idea of a city filled with elves, which meant he only barely listened to Elijah¡¯s explanation. In any case, when Elijah asked him if he wanted to come, Miguel gave an enthusiastic agreement. So, only a couple of hours later, they returned to the grove, where Elijah made sure his nephew had everything he needed ¨C including his weapons ¨C before opening a gate to the Moon Glade. The two stepped through a moment later. The pond, the dolmen, and the surrounding glade was much the same as the last time Elijah had been there, though he did notice that the ambient ethera had experienced an uptick in density. It wasn¡¯t as noticeable as in the areas where he¡¯d planted the ancestral tree saplings, but it was still hard to miss. ¡°This is where Trevor and his family lived?¡± ¡°Trevor?¡± ¡°The moon deer. There¡¯s Trevor and Susan, then their parents Bubba and Annabelle,¡± Miguel said. ¡°Those are some¡­interesting names.¡± ¡°They like them,¡± Miguel said with a shrug. ¡°Right. But yes, this is where I found them,¡± Elijah said. Then, he explained that the deer had been injured. ¡°I healed them, and then when I saw they were still in danger, I brought them back to the island.¡± ¡°You should do that more. We could have a whole bunch of powerful animals living there,¡± Miguel suggested. ¡°The island is too small for that,¡± Elijah replied. ¡°The ecosystem won¡¯t handle it. Besides, most guardians are predators. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they started fighting one another.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. That makes sense, I guess. But can you imagine a lion guardian? Or a walrus?¡± Elijah chuckled. ¡°I met a bear guardian once,¡± he said, leading Miguel away from the dolmen. The undergrowth wasn¡¯t very dense, so the way was easy enough. ¡°Really surly character. Only reason he tolerated me was because I fed him a ton of fish.¡± As they traveled, Elijah recounted a few more of his adventures. He tried to veer away from the more harrowing parts, instead focusing on his connection with nature and the miraculous things he¡¯d seen. There were plenty, so he didn¡¯t have any issues finding appropriate topics. For his part, Miguel proved an attentive and enthusiastic listener, asking poignant questions that would have been more appropriate coming from someone much older. It prompted some interesting discussions, mostly about the nature of the world, but also about things Miguel found interesting. Unsurprisingly, most of it had to do with nature. Curiously, though, Miguel didn¡¯t really care much about plant life. Instead, he latched onto animals, growing excited when they saw anything furry, feathery, or scaley. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°I think you might¡¯ve ended up as a zoologist or something,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Maybe a veterinarian.¡± Miguel said, ¡°I like animals, so maybe. But I once read on the internet that a lot of veterinarians ended up having to put a bunch of animals down. I don¡¯t¡¯ know if I could handle that.¡± ¡°Everything dies eventually,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s part of life.¡± After a while, they reached the end of the forest and started across the plains. If it was just Elijah, he would have kept going ¨C or probably have flown ¨C but he wanted Miguel to see the world from a different perspective. His experience during their exodus had not been pleasant, and Elijah thought it was important for the young man to see that their new world wasn¡¯t all danger and death. There was beauty there, too. That seemed like an important distinction, given the shape Elijah expected for Miguel¡¯s development to take. In any case, they continued on, and the landscape slowly transformed from a lowland forest to a prairie, and then to a desert. It wasn¡¯t as arid as the one surrounding Seattle, but aside from a few scrubby bushes and some hardy grass, it was almost entirely devoid of vegetation. There was plenty of animal life, though, and as they trekked through the area, Elijah kept a running commentary on what he sensed via One with Nature. Overall, it took almost three days of travel ¨C stopping each night ¨C before they reached the Twilight Clefts. There, they were met by a troop of elves, one of which was familiar. ¡°Long time no see, Syka,¡± Elijah said, grinning at the golemancer. She was flanked by a pair of other elves on one side and her earth golem on the other. Syka returned his smile with one of her own, saying, ¡°Welcome back! Are you here to challenge the tower again? And who¡¯s this? He¡¯s cute!¡± ¡°He¡¯s thirteen.¡± ¡°Almost fourteen,¡± Miguel interjected, though he did so with a bit of a stammer. ¡°Which is still thirteen,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°Miguel, this is Syka. And her boulder-y buddy there is Gbartik.¡± ¡°Uh¡­actually, this is Jibann. Gbartik was destroyed,¡± Syka said with a shake of her head. ¡°Weird names,¡± Miguel remarked. ¡°Miggy. That¡¯s rude.¡± ¡°They are!¡± ¡°Think nothing of it. They¡¯re randomly named,¡± Syka said. ¡°They¡¯re not real. No soul. No mind. Just hunks of rock.¡± Jibann shifted slightly. After that, Syka introduced the other two elves, then offered to take them to Arvandor. Elijah agreed, and after that, they were led through the huge canyons and to the elven city. Along the way, Miguel kept his eyes firmly trained on Syka, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. The Golemancer was possessed of the same ethereal beauty characteristic of every other elf, which, for a relatively sheltered young man like Miguel, was too much to ignore. Elijah tried to drag the boy¡¯s attention to other sights, but it just didn¡¯t seem to be in the cards. So, he was glad when they finally reached the city, which finally dragged Miguel out of his infatuated stupor. ¡°Wow,¡± he said as they passed through the first tunnel. ¡°You didn¡¯t say it was all underground.¡± In fact, Elijah had. Miguel was just too distracted by elven beauty to hear it. But he didn¡¯t make a big deal out of it, and eventually, they were escorted to the Branch chamber. There, K¡¯hana awaited alongside her little brother the Librarian. ¡°Greetings, Druid,¡± she said with a bow. ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We¡¯re friends, right? Let¡¯s get to the question because I have a proposition I want to discuss with you.¡± ¡°I see.¡± After that, Elijah asked her brother ¨C whose name he¡¯d actually forgotten ¨C his question, ¡°I¡¯m looking for information on potential classes for people with nature attunements.¡± The young elf nodded, then closed his eyes before placing his hand against the Branch. Nearby, the Envoy¡¯s eyes narrowed. From what Elijah understood, the relationship between Envoys and the area around their Branches was something like what existed between the Warden and his jail. They were supposed to be the ultimate power, so long as they remained in that clearly defined area. Of course, as Elijah had proven with the Warden, that wasn¡¯t exactly foolproof, so he didn¡¯t know how the limits were determined. He¡¯d only guessed the nature of the Warden¡¯s power based on a discussion with Nerthus. Either way, he didn¡¯t have any intention of testing those limits with the Envoy. As those thoughts flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind, the Librarian used his skill, resulting in the Branch lighting up with ethereal power. Next, a leaf appeared in his hand. He handed it over to Elijah, saying, ¡°This is called Nature Classes ¨C a Sample. I hope it¡¯s what you wanted.¡± After thanking the Librarian, Elijah set up a meeting with K¡¯hana in a couple of hours, then dragged Miguel back to a set of rooms they were provided. Then, he settled down to read the guide. That¡¯s when he discovered that, because he¡¯d yet to receive an archetype, Miguel couldn¡¯t read the guide. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that, if I¡¯m honest. A little frustrating,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Tell me about it. That¡¯s why I can¡¯t wait to get my archetype.¡± So, Elijah settled in to interpret the information for his nephew. And to his surprise, there were hundreds of class options for each archetype. ¡°How about we narrow it down. What archetypes interest you the most?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Um¡­mostly Warrior, Ranger, and¡­uh¡­Druid,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe Sorcerer, but I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°So, the combat archetypes,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Warrior stuff right now, then we¡¯ll progress through the others.¡± After that, they went through the options associated with the stated archetype. Many were not dependent on attunements, and they fell into three categories. The defender-style classes, which were suited for durability and were often used for protection, were the most numerous. But then, there were the melee-focused damage dealers ¨C one of which was the Berserker class that he recognized from his fight with Cabbot. And finally, there were the hybrids that traded suitability in a single purpose for versatility. Elijah was familiar with that. However, there were dozens of ways each purpose was achieved. Some used a wide variety of weapons, while others focused on a single tool. It was easy to dismiss those differences as mere flavor, but one line stuck out to Elijah more than any other. He read it aloud, ¡°At first glance, class choices may not seem impactful. A Fighter seems little different from a Knight. Yet, despite overlap, progression will always mean differentiation. The gaps between classes grow wider as one gains levels, engages in cultivation, chooses specializations, and evolves. So, choose wisely.¡± ¡°This doesn¡¯t help at all,¡± Miguel said. ¡°I know,¡± was Elijah¡¯s response, sitting on the bed beside his nephew. ¡°Ramik once told me that established societies usually have Scholars that specialize in class information. They¡¯re meant to help people make the perfect choices. We don¡¯t have any of that.¡± ¡°So, what am I supposed to do?¡± Miguel asked, looking over at his uncle. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I didn¡¯t even choose my archetype. The system chose for me.¡± ¡°What? Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. I was on a plane, remember? The lights went out, and before I could wrap my head around what was going on, a giant bird ripped a hole in the fuselage,¡± he explained. ¡°I fell into the ocean, and I didn¡¯t wake up until a while later. By that point, the choice had been made for me. But it was a good thing. If I¡¯d have gotten anything but Druid, I probably wouldn¡¯t have survived. And besides ¨C I had a ridiculous compatibility with the archetype, so it seems pretty clear that I was destined for it.¡± ¡°Is that what I should do? Just pick the one with the best compatibility?¡± ¡°Maybe. Do you trust the system?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Yeah, me neither. It seems like it wants to help, but I like the idea of having choice, too,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°Like, what if it told me I was suited to be a trash collector? Would I have picked whatever archetype led to the Trash Man class?¡± ¡°Is that a thing?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°No clue. My point is that you should take the system¡¯s compatibility rating into account, but ultimately, I think you should go with your heart. I¡¯ve told you that you don¡¯t want to be a Druid, but if that¡¯s where your heart leads you, I¡¯ll do everything I can to help you be the best Druid you can be.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Of course. Now, here¡¯s what I¡¯m going to do ¨C during my meeting with K¡¯hana, I¡¯m going to ask if she has anyone who can transcribe the information in this guide to a book or something. That way, you can look through it yourself. Sound good?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°Alright then. Don¡¯t get into any trouble while I¡¯m gone,¡± Elijah said before pushing himself to his feet and heading out of the room. Hopefully, his conversation with K¡¯hana would be more definitively fruitful than the guide had been. 4-42. A Whole New Warlock Benedict Emerson leaned forward, checking his reflection in the shattered mirror. Even though cracks marred the silvery surface, he could still see his features clearly enough. And the sight was pleasing. In the past, Benedict had never been referred to as handsome. His skin was too sallow, his body was thin to the point of looking malnourished, and his complexion had long been marred by acne scars. Now, though, when he looked upon his own reflection, he could see none of that. His skin was still pale, but rather than looking like a waxy corpse, he resembled a vampire ¨C the sexy sort usually played by a teen heartthrob. That impression was supported by his glistening black hair and sharp cheekbones. Of his acne scars, there was nothing left. Just smooth skin. And his body had filled out quite a bit since he¡¯d escaped that dungeon beneath Easton. Apparently, getting a Demon Core did the body good. He took a step back, adjusting his long, leather coat. Beneath it, he wore a simple, white shirt and a pair of black pants ¨C all Simple-Grade, if he had to guess, and elegantly cut. They were the sort of clothes worn by a young and eligible aristocrat. Like Mr. Darcy in the Pride and Prejudice movie, though without all that English reserve. ¡°Looking good, master,¡± hissed a voice beside him. ¡°Very dapper.¡± Benedict took a deep breath through his nose, then glanced at the imp. It was tiny ¨C barely bigger than a hare ¨C with huge, bat-like ears, a forked tail, and wickedly sharp teeth. At first, Benedict had considered it a poor substitute for the hordes of undead minions he¡¯d once possessed. However, there were two key differences that had convinced him otherwise. First, and perhaps most importantly, the imp didn¡¯t lower his Regeneration. Instead, summoning it and binding it to his service had required certain reagents and reserved a defined portion of his Ethera. One was barely even noticeable, but the more imps ¨C or other demonic entities ¨C he bound to his service, the more onerous the burden would become. The only problem was the talking. Rarely did a moment go by when the stupid thing didn¡¯t have some comment or other. Most were sycophantic, but in the sort of way that Benedict just knew the imp was being sarcastic. Other times, it gave backhanded compliments. Or whispered insults under its breath that were only loud enough for Benedict to hear a word here or there. But what he did hear was enough that he¡¯d actually kicked the little creature across the room on more than one occasion. ¡°Shut up,¡± Benedict said. ¡°Or I¡¯ll kick you again.¡± ¡°Master is the best at kicking,¡± the imp said. ¡°Truly a prodigy of the foot.¡± Benedict kicked the thing, sending it sailing across the room before it hit a mannequin. It toppled over with a clatter, and despite the noise, he smiled with no small degree of satisfaction. Until the stupid imp climbed out of the wreckage and gave him a thumbs up. After that, Benedict had to take a deep breath to keep himself from crossing the room and kicking it again. Once he¡¯d calmed himself, he turned his attention from the imp and looked over the shop. It had once been one of Easton¡¯s most prestigious, and the wares were truly impressive. Or they had been before all the looting. Now, ball gowns, tuxedos, and expensive hats lay trampled on the floor. Most had been burned in the fire that had gutted the place, too. That his current outfit had survived was a minor miracle. So, Benedict straightened his coat, then stepped through the shattered window and into the street beyond. He glanced up at the night sky, and in the moonlight, he could see circling carrion birds. They were high enough level that if their intended prey had yet to die, they were more than capable of correcting that issue. More than once, Benedict had been forced to exercise his power to drive them off. Fortunately, they seemed to have learned to leave him be. The same couldn¡¯t be said for the other survivors. There weren¡¯t many left. Apparently, when people had the power of superheroes ¨C even if they were C- and D-Team superheroes ¨C mortality rates of any conflict went through the roof. Especially for the noncombatants who had so few protections against those with martial classes. Benedict had missed the worst of the fighting, but even what he¡¯d seen had been brutal. Of course, he¡¯d added his own brand of chaos to the mix, using abilities like Heat Blood and Infection to whittle enemies down. By the time they recognized the issue, they were too far gone to recover. That was Benedict¡¯s preference. For all that he was a willing killer, he didn¡¯t like direct confrontation. That was the advantage of his minions. He could send a horde of undead at the problem and never be forced to get his own hands dirty. Yet, with his new Demon Core, that tactic had been taken from him. And he¡¯d gotten an imp instead. Despite the other advantages, he wasn¡¯t certain if it was a good trade. Sure, he was stronger, faster, and more durable than ever before. In addition, his spells were far more potent as well. Yet, the loss of what he considered his class-defining ability was difficult to see as a net positive. According to the demon Thakon, a single imp was more powerful than a hundred undead minions. And it was only the beginning. Eventually, not only would he be able to summon multiple imps, but he would also be able to add other, more powerful demonic creatures to his budding army. For now, though, he was vulnerable. So, when he set out from the ruined clothing shop, he did so with no small degree of caution. As he walked through the city, he was absolutely aghast at how quickly it had fallen. It had been some time since he¡¯d walked the streets of Easton ¨C and even then, it was under guard ¨C but he still remembered the majestic palace, the orderly streets, and the well-built structures. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Most of those had fallen. Many had burned, and plenty of others had been torn to pieces by battles between powerful combatants. Even the wall had been breached, and any protections it offered had been sundered. Every now and then, Benedict saw hints that there were survivors, but he knew that they would be few and far between. Because when the wall had fallen, it had let in the monsters. Without the guards or hunters keeping them at bay, the wildlife had quickly come to reclaim the city as their own. It had been a slaughter of many sides. Some people had made it, but most had already abandoned the city after taking whatever they could. He didn¡¯t know where they intended to go. Nor did Bendict really care. He just wasn¡¯t in the habit of helping the same sort of people who would have bullied him in the past. No ¨C they could fend for themselves. ¡°Well, well, well,¡± a rough voice echoed from behind him. ¡°What¡¯s a pretty boy like you doing in a place like this? Don¡¯t you know it¡¯s dangerous?¡± Benedict stopped in his tracks and turned ¨C just his head ¨C to see a burly man wearing a charred blue-and-white tabard over chainmail armor. He carried a shining, silvery halberd. Bendict¡¯s eyes flicked across the street, where he saw a slender man with a bow. Footsteps from the other direction told him that at least two others had joined them. ¡°You think I¡¯m pretty?¡± he asked. ¡°How kind.¡± ¡°Not a compliment, man,¡± said the thug. ¡°Go on now. Take that coat off. Give us whatever else you got on you, and we¡¯ll let you go.¡± ¡°But boss, you said we would get to ¨C¡± ¡°Shut up, Jerry.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°I said to shut your mouth!¡± growled the leader, gesturing angrily at the archer. ¡°Or I¡¯ll shut it for you!¡± ¡°Fine. Whatever.¡± ¡°I swear to God, Jerry ¨C if you weren¡¯t my brother-in-law¡­¡± The man took a deep breath, then said, ¡°Your stuff, man. Give it over, and you get to go on your merry way. If you ¨C¡± Suddenly a massive column of roiling fire engulfed the man. For a long few seconds, it burned, hot and bright enough to illuminate the entire road. Then, as abruptly as it had appeared, the fire winked out, leaving only a human-shaped pile of ashes behind. A cool breeze swept through, scattering the ashes across the street. Then, someone screamed. ¡°It burns!¡± the imp shouted in glee, clapping its hands like a child. ¡°Did I do good, master? Do you like the fire?¡± ¡°Yes. I believe I do,¡± Benedict admitted. That was the other benefit of the imp. While it was no more durable than a child, the creature had an innate talent for fire that manifested in the form of an ability called Pyre. The results of said ability were obvious as Benedict watched the remainder of the ashes scatter across the cobblestones. ¡°What did you do?!¡± demanded Jerry, aiming an arrow in Benedict¡¯s direction. ¡°I did nothing to him. But you? That is a different story altogether. Do you feel it, Jerry? That burning in your veins? It will get worse,¡± Benedict promised. Then, he finally glanced at the other two bandits. One had already fallen. ¡°Oh, dear. I do believe it¡¯s too late for her.¡± The other fell a second later. That only left Jerry. ¡°Can I burn him, master? Please? I will be good!¡± Benedict glanced at the imp. ¡°No. I have a use for him,¡± he said. By that point, poor Jerry had already collapsed. However, Heat Blood alone didn¡¯t work nearly as quickly as when it was combined with Infection and Empowered Affliction, which he¡¯d used on the other two would-be bandits. So, even if Jerry was on the verge of incapacitation, he would last a while longer. Hopefully, it would be enough time to accomplish his goal. Benedict approached the agonized man, whose entire body had locked up. He knelt beside the trembling figure, then tapped him in the head. ¡°I know it hurts. I can stop it. I can make it end. Do you want that?¡± Jerry summoned his courage and spat, ¡°Fuck you!¡± ¡°No, thank you,¡± he said politely. The very idea of letting anyone touch him in that way was abhorrent. ¡°You will suffer for quite some time. Hours, at least. Your death will not be quick. As I said, I can end it. I can give you solace. I only need your permission.¡± To his credit, Jerry lasted for nearly five minutes before he was begging for mercy. Soon after that, Benedict cast Demonic Pact, and thrust the deal upon the man. ¡°Do you, of free will and without dishonesty, accept my terms?¡± he asked. ¡°The terms being that I will take your spirit in exchange for ending your suffering.¡± Jerry screamed something unintelligible. Apparently, having one¡¯s blood on the verge of boiling was quite painful, even when one took enhanced Constitution and Regeneration into account. ¡°I need your agreement, Jerry. Please. I want to help you.¡± Finally, Jerry shouted, ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Good, good,¡± Benedict breathed, smiling as he felt the spell complete its cast. The moment it did, a blinding light erupted from Jerry¡¯s chest. Benedict blinked, and when his vision cleared, he saw a tiny, purple crystal hovering a few inches above the now-dead bandit. Benedict grabbed it, and when his fingers wrapped around the crystal, he felt a torrent of energy envelope him. He struggled against the power of Jerry¡¯s spirit, using every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep it contained in the gem. His struggle only lasted a few seconds, but to him, it felt like an eternity. Once he¡¯d forced it under his control, he used another ability:
Summon: Ritual Dagger Manifest a dagger used in demonic rituals.
It was a simple but necessary spell, because without it, he would be incapable of casting the second most important spell in his repertoire:
Empower Summoning Circle Use a contracted spirit to empower a ritual circle drawn with the blood of an enemy.
He could have used a normal blade to cut into Jerry¡¯s corpse, but according to Thakon, the ritual circle would be far more powerful ¨C and more likely to be successful ¨C if he used the summoned Ritual Dagger. Not one to gainsay a clear expert in all things demonic, Benedict had taken the powerful archdemon at his word. Over the next few minutes, Benedict hacked into Jerry¡¯s corpse, eliciting a spurt of blood that he used to draw a very precise rune upon the ground. Thakon had cautioned him against making any mistakes, so he drew the circle as perfectly as possible. Fortunately, he had enough Dexterity to steady his hands to a supernatural degree. Once he was finished with the circle, Benedict placed the spirit gem in the center and cast Empower Summoning Circle. The purples crystal once again blazed with light, but it only took a second for that glow to transfer to the circle itself. That¡¯s when he finally cast the final spell:
Summon Demonling Using an empowered summoning circle, summon a Tier-1 fel servant and bind the creature to your will. Cooldown based on Ethera attribute. Current: 18.6 Days.
The circle erupted into flames, and the imp clapped in glee. Then, abruptly, the flames petered out, revealing another imp. ¡°Master,¡± it said in its rough but high-pitched voice. ¡°I serve.¡± ¡°I serve, too!¡± said the first imp. And so, Benedict¡¯s demonic army had begun to take shape. The only question was what he intended to do with it. For now, he only wanted to leave Easton behind. But the future? He wasn¡¯t sure. He supposed he would have to take that as it came. So, he rose to his feet, motioned for the imps to follow him, then strode down the street, silently hoping that someone else might try to rob him. 4-43. Alliances ¡°Why would I do that?¡± asked K¡¯hana, sitting primly on an elaborately colored cushion. ¡°Because you need people,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Your city here is not as isolated as you think. You can¡¯t even run your tower, can you? Or did something change while I was gone?¡± ¡°We feel confident that, with your notes, we can overcome our deficiencies,¡± she claimed. But even Elijah, who sometimes missed social cues, could tell that she was exaggerating. He said as much, which elicited a frown from the beautiful elf before he added, ¡°But if you ally yourselves with Seattle, you will have all the help you could want.¡± ¡°And in return, I will help them find water,¡± she said. To Elijah, it seemed like a perfectly good deal. She had an ability that the people of Seattle sorely needed, and the elves of Arvandor had a need that Seattle¡¯s much larger population could help fill. So, he was a little confused as to why K¡¯hana would object to the proposed alliance. ¡°I don¡¯t get what the issue is,¡± he admitted, leaning back on his own cushion. He looked around. There were a few other elves there, each one sitting on their own unique cushions, but they all clearly deferred to K¡¯hana. Elijah reached down and took a loud, slurping sip of the tea he¡¯d been provided. It was flavorful, with a hint of something fruity, but he couldn¡¯t identify it. ¡°Good tea. Seriously, though ¨C what¡¯s going on? Why wouldn¡¯t you want to form an alliance?¡± ¡°We have heard of this city,¡± she answered with a sigh. ¡°It is a place of chaos. War. Their laws are not followed, and they do not care for their people. It is a shameful place, and I do not wish to associate with the people who would create such a city.¡± ¡°Ouch. Tell me how you really feel,¡± Elijah muttered to himself. ¡°Would it help if I told you that the man I want you to meet is a good guy?¡± ¡°If he was a good person, he would have put a stop to the injustice so prevalent in his city,¡± K¡¯hana pointed out. ¡°That¡¯s kind of what I¡¯m trying to facilitate,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Water is the problem. It¡¯s complicated, but for most people in Seattle, there¡¯s not enough of it. If you can help them solve that issue, it will save a lot of lives. And it will give Isaiah the leverage he needs to take firmer control. Peace is what¡¯s at stake here. You can help with that.¡± There was a chance it would prevent Elijah from having to kill a lot of people on Mercer Mesa, too. After Valoria, his bloodlust had been sated. He would kill if he had to, but if he could avoid it, he would. ¡°More importantly, it helps you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How long until the tower surges? A month? Maybe two? You¡¯ll be overrun by Voxx.¡± ¡°You could help us conquer it,¡± she suggested. ¡°I have other things to do,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And even if I didn¡¯t, relying on me is not a viable long-term solution. I won¡¯t always be around.¡± ¡°You could be,¡± came a voice from nearby. Elijah glanced in that direction, and he saw that the sentence had originated with an older elf. The only real nods to age were a couple of lines at the corners of her eyes and gray hair, but Elijah could tell she was much older than she appeared. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°You are young, fit, and powerful. I propose a joining with our Water Witch,¡± she said. For a second, Elijah struggled to wrap his mind around what the elf had said, but when he did, his eyes flicked toward K¡¯hana. Her expression was stoic, but there was a blush of embarrassment on her cheeks. He coughed. ¡°Uh¡­no, thanks,¡± he said. K¡¯hana blurted, ¡°What?¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked the older elf at the same time. ¡°Um¡­right. That probably sounded rude. In my culture, people¡­um¡­join together as a couple because they¡¯re in love. Not to cement an alliance.¡± Of course, that wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Throughout history, marriage ¨C which was what he assumed they were talking about ¨C had been used as a diplomatic tool. Yet, that had fallen out of favor long ago, and Elijah was anything but comfortable with it. In addition, despite K¡¯hana¡¯s obvious beauty, he just didn¡¯t find her all that appealing. Perhaps it was her personality, which was a little too reserved for his taste, or the alien nature of her looks, but when he looked at her, he just didn¡¯t feel those sorts of feelings. Or maybe he just preferred humans. He didn¡¯t think of himself as that picky regarding looks. However, there was a cultural gulf between them that would almost assuredly be difficult to bridge. But maybe that was just his excuse. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t help his tastes. And that was only considering it from a personal standpoint. It was even less appealing from a political perspective. The elves just didn¡¯t have much that he wanted, so even if he was willing to leave his grove ¨C which he definitely was not ¨C there wasn¡¯t a lot of reason for him to latch himself to Arvandor. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ¡°Well, this is awkward,¡± he muttered as the elves stared at him in disbelief. Clearly, they thought he would fall all over himself to take them up on the offer. He massaged the back of his neck, saying, ¡°It¡¯s¡­um¡­it¡¯s not you. It¡¯s totally me.¡± By that point, they were all staring daggers at him. ¡°Did I just commit a social faux pas? If it makes any difference, I kind of do that a lot. I spent a long time alone, and I still haven¡¯t really recovered my social graces,¡± he babbled. ¡°God. Social graces. I sound like a southern beauty queen or something. My point is that I¡¯m not good with these kinds of things. But I really do think this alliance between Arvandor and Seattle is a good idea. That said, I can see that I¡¯ve overstayed my welcome. So¡­um¡­bye, I guess? Catch you on the flip side.¡± Then, he gave them an awkward finger gun salute, which he immediately regretted. Either way, he pushed himself to his feet and backed away, mumbling to himself, ¡°Finger gun? When is it ever a good idea to unironically give someone the finger gun? And the flip side? Ugh.¡± Thankfully, the elves only stared at him like he¡¯d grown horns. That was better than the alternative, which involved attacking him for his affront to good manners. He didn¡¯t think they were particularly violent, but he also suspected that even elves would react poorly to such a blunt rejection. For better or worse, none of them tried to stop him, and Elijah decided that it was high time he and Miguel left the elven city behind. So, he quickly returned to the rooms they had been given and told his nephew, ¡°Time to go. Get your stuff together, big guy. We need to vamanos.¡± ¡°What did you do?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°Huh? Who said I did anything? It¡¯s just time to leave,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s the middle of the night.¡± ¡°Night walks are the best. Stars and moons and all that. Plus, the best predators come out at night.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound ¨C¡± There was a knock at the door, which cut Miguel off. Elijah sighed. ¡°Okay, so whatever happens here, just don¡¯t freak out,¡± he said. Then, before Miguel could respond, Elijah opened the door to see K¡¯hana standing there. ¡°Hey. Long time, no see.¡± ¡°You saw me ten minutes ago,¡± she said, cocking her head to the side. ¡°Right. Just an expression. What¡¯s up? Please tell me you¡¯re not going to make another marriage proposal. I¡¯m flattered, but ¨C¡± ¡°I am coming with you,¡± she said. Elijah narrowed his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not going to change my mind,¡± he said. ¡°Nor would I want you to. Elder Hama did not ask for my input before suggesting that¡­partnership,¡± K¡¯hana stated. ¡°If she had, I would have refused.¡± ¡°Huh? I¡¯m not good enough for you, then?¡± Elijah asked, slightly offended. ¡°You just said the same thing about me.¡± ¡°I know, but¡­wow. So, that doesn¡¯t feel so great. I know it¡¯s silly, but I still kind of go through life thinking everyone loves me.¡± ¡°They don¡¯t,¡± Miguel said. ¡°In Ironshore especially. Most of them¡­well, hate is a strong word, but ¨C¡± ¡°Zip it.¡± ¡°What does ¡®zip it¡¯ mean?¡± asked K¡¯hana. ¡°That my uncle likes to ignore things he doesn¡¯t like,¡± Miguel supplied cheerfully. With a grin, he added, ¡°I¡¯m Miggy, by the way.¡± ¡°I am K¡¯hana.¡± ¡°Great. We¡¯re all acquainted. Now, what changed?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because back there, you were all like, ¡®No, I won¡¯t ally with a bunch of backwards thugs who can¡¯t keep the peace in their own city.¡¯ And now you¡¯re begging me to take you with me? I need a bit of an explanation here.¡± ¡°Very well. I was always going to go,¡± she said. ¡°The alliance makes sense. My people wished for me extract more benefits before I agreed. I do not wish to do so.¡± ¡°What sort of benefits?¡± ¡°You are a Druid. Your abilities could assist our farming efforts,¡± she said. ¡°We have no food shortages now, but our population has seen a significant increase over the past few years. Soon, our farms will not be enough.¡± ¡°I think I need to introduce you to a friend,¡± Elijah said. Then, he explained how Lucy¡¯s greenhouse worked, finishing with, ¡°I¡¯m sure that if you help them, she¡¯ll be willing to help you. Maybe she could even help you set up a greenhouse of your own. I don¡¯t want to speak for her, but just knowing what¡¯s possible could help. And if not, I¡¯d be happy to assist. You could have just asked, though. No need for the subterfuge.¡± ¡°I see,¡± she said. ¡°I apologize if I offended you.¡± Then, she bowed. Elijah let out another sigh. ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon. Don¡¯t do that. Let¡¯s just¡­let¡¯s just go,¡± he said. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot of ground to cover, and we¡¯re on a timer.¡± Indeed, Elijah hadn¡¯t really thought his little excursion through. For one, while he thought his own presence was necessary, he had no intention of taking Miguel back into Seattle. The whole point was to help the young man to commune with nature, and that part of the journey would be finished once they reached the Circle of Spears, where Elijah intended to send Miguel back home. But he¡¯d forgotten one major thing before setting out. His coffee. The cherries were assuredly ready to be separated from the beans by now, which meant that he needed to do that as soon as possible or he would lose the whole batch. After that, he only needed to wait a day or so for them to dry, then enlist the help of a Cook to roast them. Regardless ¨C the point was that he needed to head back to the island for a few days before continuing on to Seattle. Which presented a problem, if K¡¯hana wanted to tag along. It had been his idea, but one he¡¯d barely thought through. ¡°Also, and don¡¯t freak out, but I¡¯m going to take you to my island for a couple of days. We¡¯ll be back on track soon after that,¡± he said. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Magic.¡± ¡°That¡¯s his answer to everything,¡± Miguel said. ¡°You get used to it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± K¡¯hana said. ¡°It¡¯s simple. Do you trust me?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t expect that answer, did you?¡± Miguel laughed. ¡°I did not,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But I guess we¡¯ve got a few days. Hopefully, I will have earned her trust by then. And if not¡­well, we¡¯ll figure it out. Onward and upward, I always say.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never heard you say that,¡± Miguel pointed out. ¡°Shut up. And respect your elders,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Now finish packing. We¡¯re on the clock here.¡± To drive the point home, he tapped his finger against his wrist. Clearly, K¡¯hana didn¡¯t understand the gesture, which just as obviously had her rethinking her decision to accompany him to Seattle. But at least Miguel made the connection, because he spent the next couple of minutes thrusting his belongings into his pack. ¡°Why did you take all of that out?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because you said we were going to be here for a little while.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Keep things in your pack until you need it,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You should write that down.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a pen or paper.¡± ¡°Then remember it.¡± ¡°I probably won¡¯t,¡± Miguel admitted. Elijah sighed, then glanced at K¡¯hana. ¡°Young people, right? So disrespectful.¡± She didn¡¯t answer, which Elijah chose to take as agreement. In any case, once Miguel was packed, the trio set off through the city, eventually exiting into the Twilight Clefts and beginning their journey to the Circle of Spears. 4-44. Visitor ¡°He¡¯s a cute little guy, right?¡± asked Elijah, which caused K¡¯hana to recoil. That certainly wasn¡¯t the reaction he¡¯d intended to elicit. Though, that was probably due to the creature he held in his hands. ¡°I don¡¯t think she likes Lizardface,¡± Miguel remarked, scratching the creature¡¯s scaley ribs. ¡°They are incredibly venomous!¡± she hissed, taking a step back to put some distance between herself and the giant desert monitor Elijah held in his arms. The thing was as large as a Komodo dragon, so without his enhanced Strength, he never would¡¯ve been capable of holding it aloft. Or at least not easily. ¡°Lizardface?¡± asked Elijah. Miguel shrugged. ¡°He needed a name.¡± ¡°That¡¯s worse than Snappy.¡± ¡°Snappy is a good name!¡± Miguel insisted. ¡°And Trevor? What about Susan, Annabelle, and Bubba?¡± Elijah asked with a small smirk. As he spoke, the desert monitor tasted the air, then closed its eyes and rested its head on Elijah¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Those are good names, too!¡± ¡°Giving animals people names is weird,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Whatever. Talking to you is like talking to a brick wall,¡± Miguel muttered. ¡°Nobody else is ever right.¡± ¡°In this case, I am objectively right.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what objectively means.¡± ¡°It is if I say so,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Respect your elders.¡± ¡°Is¡­that thing coming with us?¡± asked K¡¯hana, cutting in. Elijah suspected she¡¯d done so to put a stop to the bickering. Both he and Miguel knew it didn¡¯t mean anything. It was good-natured. But it was clear that K¡¯hana¡¯s culture didn¡¯t really include things like that. Or perhaps she was just as uptight as she seemed. ¡°Oh, no. I just thought you¡¯d want to meet him,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You know, a lot of people in Seattle eat these fellows. They taste a bit like chicken, especially when they¡¯re fried.¡± With that, he set the monitor down, and it waddled off. Normally, they moved pretty slowly, but when they were threatened, the lizards could move like lightning. Elijah watched it with some admiration as it dipped behind a low rise and disappeared. It wasn¡¯t a skill or anything. Their hides were simply perfect for camouflaging them in the desert. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll get moving again,¡± Elijah said, setting off. The other two followed, with Miguel hurrying to catch up. ¡°You think we¡¯ll get there today?¡± he asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Probably,¡± he said. Only a few days before, they¡¯d passed the copse of Joshua trees he¡¯d planted the first time he¡¯d been in the desert. And to his horror, he¡¯d found that most of them had been chopped down. That had infuriated and saddened Elijah to the point where he¡¯d spent a couple of days replanting the trees and helping them take root. But now, they were closing in on the Circle of Spears, which meant he had a choice to make. To that end, he asked K¡¯hana, ¡°Can I trust you?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± she said without hesitation. Elijah stopped, and the other two stopped as well. ¡°That wasn¡¯t the answer I expected.¡± ¡°I suspected as much,¡± she admitted. ¡°But I feel that I must be honest. If breaking your trust will help my people survive, then I will do so without hesitation. They are my first priority. However, I will not break your trust unless it is absolutely necessary.¡± That elaboration made Elijah feel a little better, but it wasn¡¯t really what he¡¯d wanted to hear. It meant that it would be a little irresponsible to take K¡¯hana to his island. So, that left him with a few choices, none of which were ideal. First, he could simply go straight to Seattle and drop the elf off with Lucy or Isaiah. That ran the risk of taking longer than he could afford, but it was probably the safest option. Yet, it would also necessitate taking Miguel into the city, which he had no intention of doing. It wasn¡¯t the cesspool that Valoria had been, but it was perhaps much more dangerous. And given that Miguel didn¡¯t have an archetype yet, it would be even worse for him. So, he wanted to avoid that route if possible. The other option was to take Miguel home while leaving K¡¯hana in the oasis. But that was just as dangerous for her, because without Elijah around, the wildlife would prove much deadlier. There was every chance that Snappy might react poorly to the intrusion into his territory, and if that happened, either the turtle or K¡¯hana would end up gravely injured. Finally, there was the option that made the most sense, but also played host to the most risk. Taking K¡¯hana back to the island would only delay him a little, but it would be much safer for everyone involved. Yet, it did come with the risk involved in showing anyone ¨C especially someone like K¡¯hana, who knew the value of a place like the grove ¨C his island. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. It seemed like a lose-lose sort of situation, and not for the first time, Elijah wished he¡¯d thought things through before setting off. But the past was the past, and as such, he couldn¡¯t change his circumstances. So, he needed to work with what he had. And looking at his options, everything pointed to taking K¡¯hana to the island. Hopefully, the fact that it was thousands of miles away from her home would keep her from being able to determine the location of his grove. Besides, he knew he couldn¡¯t keep it a secret indefinitely. Eventually, the people of Ironshore would let it be known that something interesting was on his island. Perhaps they already had. The only answer to that sort of threat was to simply be stronger than anyone who might try to invade his domain. So, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve got two choices for you, K¡¯hana.¡± ¡°Does one of them involve killing me?¡± she asked, and Elijah felt ethera swirling around her. ¡°What? No! Jesus¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think she knows who Jesus was,¡± supplied Miguel. ¡°No. The choice is more of an invitation. I was going to ask if you wanted to come back to my island,¡± he said. ¡°The alternative is to hang out in an oasis with an ornery turtle. So¡­up to you.¡± ¡°Snappy isn¡¯t ornery,¡± Miguel said. ¡°He¡¯s just a little shy around strangers.¡± ¡°He tried to eat Colt the first time he wandered near the pond,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°And there¡¯s a reason birds don¡¯t land there anymore.¡± ¡°Just shy, like I said. And he didn¡¯t eat Colt. That has to count for something.¡± Elijah rolled his eyes, then turned his focus back to K¡¯hana, who was clearly having second thoughts about her decision to accompany him. ¡°So, what¡¯s it going to be? We¡¯ll be gone for about a week, then we¡¯ll come back here,¡± he said. ¡°I promise you¡¯ll be unharmed.¡± She took a deep breath, then said, ¡°I will accompany you to this¡­island.¡± Letting out a sigh of relief, Elijah said, ¡°Awesome. Then, on we go as we try to forget this awkward interaction ever happened.¡± After that, he did just as he¡¯d described, marching off across the desert. The other two struggled to keep up at first ¨C he often forgot that others weren¡¯t equipped with his level of physical attributes ¨C so he slowed to what felt like a glacial pace. To distract himself, he occupied one facet of his mind with cycling his Core while with another, he focused on maintaining a steady conversation with Miguel. Throughout their journey, he¡¯d endeavored to help the young man connect with nature, and one of the best ways of doing that was to describe all the different forms of life. And even in the desert, there were plenty of living creatures ranging from spiders to reptiles to large worms that lived below the surface. It may have looked desolate, but that appearance was far from reality. For his part, Miguel soaked in the information like a sponge. He had his mothers¡¯ intellectual curiosity, which told Elijah that his nephew would probably make a fair Scholar, if that was the route he chose. Finally, though, they reached the Circle of Spears. While Miguel dashed toward the pond to reacquaint himself with his favorite turtle, Elijah watched K¡¯hana¡¯s reaction as she circled the dolmen. ¡°Who made this?¡± she asked at last. ¡°Me and my sister-in-law. Pretty awesome, right? Getting those monuments just right was a pain, but the carvings turned out really well, I think,¡± Elijah said. Then, he went on to describe the process, explaining where he¡¯d gotten the stones and how he and Carmen had put everything together. ¡°But it¡¯s more than just a monument. It¡¯s tied to one of my spells. I won¡¯t go into how it all works, but from here, I can open a gate to a few different places. One of those is my island, which is where we¡¯re headed.¡± After that, Elijah yelled for Miguel. Predictably, the boy was loathe to leave the turtle behind, but he came anyway. And then, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree, creating a gate made of vines that snaked up from the ground. Then, the air inside shimmered into a portal to the grove. Elijah gestured, ¡°After you.¡± Miguel was the first to step through. Then, K¡¯hana hesitantly followed. And finally, Elijah brought up the rear, letting the gate fade away the moment he was through. The dense ethera of the island enveloped him like a warm blanket, and he took a deep, relaxing breath before saying, ¡°Ah. That feels good.¡± ¡°W-what is this place?¡± K¡¯hana whispered, looking around in obvious wonder. ¡°My island,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Well, my grove to be more accurate. But the grove is on my island, so I guess I was right the first time. Regardless, welcome ¨C let me show you to where you¡¯ll be staying for the next few days.¡± Elijah had considered sending K¡¯hana to Ironshore, but he¡¯d thought better of letting her wander too far. Instead, he wanted to keep her on the island where he could keep an eye on her. So, with that in mind, he escorted her to his treehouse and showed her to the guest room. Once she was on her way to getting settled in, Elijah turned his attention to the biggest reason he¡¯d returned to the island. His coffee cherries were ready to be removed from the water, then separated from their beans. So, he headed to the large trough where he¡¯d submerged them and got to work plucking them from the liquid. Once that was done, he removed the beans from the flesh, tossing them into a separate basket. It was a tedious process, but Elijah found that it was strangely calming. More, it gave him an opportunity to continue his core cultivation. And at last, he felt that he was finally starting to make progress. Though, even as his core felt like it was expanding, he couldn¡¯t deny that cycling became even more difficult. However, that was as expected, based on everything he¡¯d learned. So, he kept at it, and over the next eight hours, he finished his task. Once the beans had been separated, Nerthus took the discarded flesh away, saying that it would make a great addition to his compost heap. Meanwhile, Elijah laid the beans out to dry. Night had already fallen, but he hoped the process would be complete by the middle of the next day. As he worked, Elijah also kept one facet of his mind trained on K¡¯hana. She didn¡¯t stray far from the treehouse, instead confining her movements to the grove. Yet, it was clear that she was impressed ¨C and a little frightened ¨C by what she saw. Never was that more apparent than when she spent an entire hour standing at the base of the ancestral tree and just staring up at its branches. That¡¯s where Elijah joined her. ¡°This tree is not normal,¡± she said after a few moments. ¡°It¡¯s not. Even among others of its species, it¡¯s special,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I think you can understand why I was hesitant to bring you here. If the wrong sort of person sees this tree ¨C or the rest of this grove ¨C everything will be in danger. I hope you¡¯re not that kind of person.¡± ¡°I would never violate a druid¡¯s grove,¡± she said. ¡°Those of us who came to this planet are not as well-learned as some, but we hold nature¡¯s protectors in high esteem.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t feel like it before when you first found out I was a Druid,¡± Elijah remarked. She glanced at him, saying, ¡°I was merely surprised. Druids are not normally combatants.¡± ¡°Well, I am,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I¡¯m still a Druid, and this grove is everything to me. So, please respect it while you¡¯re here. And I¡¯ll ask that you not reveal anything about this place when you return to your people.¡± ¡°I will not. You have my word.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said. Then, he clapped his hands together and asked, ¡°So, how would you like to see the ocean?¡± 4-45. Seattle Dappled sunlight fell upon Elijah¡¯s face, eliciting a feeling of peace that he¡¯d so seldom experienced. Sometimes, it felt like he was being pulled in a thousand different directions. In most cases, it was his own fault. He¡¯d taken so many things onto his shoulders that the combined weight of his responsibilities ¨C self-imposed or externally motivated ¨C was almost enough to crush him. But he endeavored to persevere, continuing on to the best of his abilities. That wasn¡¯t to say that he hadn¡¯t made mistakes. He had, and plenty of them. So many, in fact, that he had no interest in enumerating them. The most recent was the apathy that had enveloped him after completing the Temple of Virtue, an attitude which had wasted precious time that he couldn¡¯t get back. But there were smaller mistakes as well, like his failure in scheduling that had cost him more time. Now, though, he was on the verge of getting everything back on track. But first, he wanted to taste the fruits of his labor. To that end, he¡¯d spent part of the previous day hiring a Chef in Ironshore to roast his coffee beans. The haughty goblin ¨C Moag was his name ¨C hadn¡¯t come cheaply, but according to Ramik, he was the most effective cook in the city. Luckily, the goblin was as efficient as he was expensive to hiire, and he¡¯d finished the project in only a couple of hours. Before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, roasting coffee beans typically took no more than fifteen minutes, but apparently, things changed once ethera was added to the mix. Elijah wasn¡¯t so bold as to try to tell a Chef how to do his job. So, he¡¯d resolved to trust the goblin to do the task he¡¯d been hired to do. And the moment Elijah had smelled the product ¨C which Moag had ground for him as well ¨C he knew that the goblin had hit a homerun. Even a whiff of the stuff gave him a jolt of energy and vitality, which boded well for the future effects. Still, Elijah had forced himself to wait until the next morning to sample it, largely because he wanted to share the experience with Carmen and K¡¯hana, who remained on the island. After gathering the pair and boiling some water in his kitchen, Elijah put his looted French press to good use. He¡¯d never used one before ¨C all of his coffee had come from electric coffee makers in the past ¨C but it wasn¡¯t a terribly complicated apparatus. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t long before he¡¯d managed to make three cups, which he¡¯d liberally sweetened with honey provided by Nerthus¡¯ apiary. Thus armed, he¡¯d headed out to the balcony, where the two women waited. Carmen and K¡¯hana had taken to one another quite well, which was nice, considering how Elijah had basically ignored the elf since returning to the island. He hadn¡¯t meant to, but he¡¯d been a little preoccupied with his Core cultivation, getting his coffee taken care of, and training with Miguel. As it turned out, both Colt and Kurik had entered the tower the day before Elijah returned to the grove, so he¡¯d taken it upon himself to keep his nephew occupied. He wasn¡¯t the outdoorsman that Kurik was, and he certainly couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Colt¡¯s expertise with weaponry. However, Elijah was light years beyond either one when it came to cultivation. So, with Nerthus¡¯ help, he¡¯d begun to train Miguel so the young man would be ready to take the leap with his Body, Mind, and Soul as soon as he gained his archetype. The spryggent had even offered to help in a similar ¨C if less powerful ¨C way to how he¡¯d assisted Elijah. Apparently, doing so required Nerthus to sacrifice some of his own power. It was a temporary impairment, and when Elijah found out about it, he¡¯d told Nerthus to save his strength. However, the spryggent had insisted, saying that his power was meant to be used in such a way. Doing so would only be possible if Miguel ended up with a nature attunement, though. Even so, Elijah¡¯s lessons would help the young man regardless of his attunement, so the lessons persisted ¨C despite Miguel¡¯s disdain. He was an active young man, and at present, he didn¡¯t have the temperament to enjoy sitting in a glade for hours on end. He¡¯d have much preferred to be practicing his sword skills, traipsing about the wilderness, or playing with whichever animal he¡¯d happened upon that day. Still, he was his mothers¡¯ son, and he possessed the willpower to move past his personal feelings and commit to doing what was necessary. Miguel¡¯s attitude reminded Elijah of Alyssa. At present, the young man was sitting next to the ancestral tree as he attempted to meditate. But Elijah could tell that it wasn¡¯t really working. He was too twitchy. Elijah sighed. He knew it wasn¡¯t the process of a day, teaching Miguel to connect with nature. For his part, Elijah had something of a cheat with One with Nature, which, in addition to letting him feel everything in the effect¡¯s radius, also allowed him to connect with that ephemeral structure that underlay everything. For Elijah, it was like looking at a lake. Most people only ever saw the surface, and even if they appreciated it, didn¡¯t truly perceive everything below. Elijah¡¯s own perception didn¡¯t extend to the bottom ¨C in the analogy, he could barely see a foot past the surface ¨C but even that was impactful on his psyche to the point where he sometimes questioned if he would have taken the same actions if he hadn¡¯t felt that influence. In any case, when Elijah found his way to the balcony, he said, ¡°Ladies. Coffee is served.¡± Then, he handed the steaming mugs to their recipients. K¡¯hana asked, ¡°This coffee - is it like tea? We do not have it on my world.¡± ¡°Better,¡± Carmen said with a grin as she sniffed the mug. Elijah had done the same, verifying that there just wasn¡¯t anything like the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Perhaps it was a learned response, but the smell always brought a smile to his face. ¡°Plus, I¡¯m pretty sure this is going to be special. What quality did Moag say it was?¡± Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°He said, and I quote, ¡®Food and drink is not meant to be graded, only enjoyed.¡¯ I pressed him, too. He wouldn¡¯t give it up,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Don¡¯t you have an identification skill?¡± ¡°Only works to full effect on things I¡¯ve made myself,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°I can usually get a name from stuff related to blacksmithing, but with this? I get nothing.¡± ¡°Pity,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Well, we¡¯ll just have to wing it. Cheers.¡± Elijah brought the cup to his lips, then took a sip. Flavor erupted across his tongue. The normal tastes were all there. It was a bit nutty. Bitter, too. But it was more than that, and in a similar way to how his grove berries differed from normal berries. He took another sip, enjoying the way the flavors played across his tongue. ¡°Yep. That¡¯s the best coffee I¡¯ve ever tasted,¡± he said. The honey gave it a slightly different flavor than if he¡¯d used sugar, but even that was somehow more ¨C and in every way ¨C than typical honey. He took another sip, then asked Carmen, ¡°What do you think? It¡¯s good, right?¡± ¡°You have no idea how much I¡¯ve missed this,¡± she answered. Elijah then asked K¡¯hana the same question. But the elf didn¡¯t have the same reaction. She said, ¡°It is¡­good.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah said, clutching at a mock wound in his chest. ¡°That bad, huh?¡± ¡°Ah¡­no¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay if you don¡¯t like it,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Coffee isn¡¯t for everyone. I wasn¡¯t an immediate convert, but Alyssa¡­well, she always loved the stuff. So, eventually, I did too.¡± Over the next quarter hour, Elijah and Carmen finished their coffee. So did K¡¯hana, who¡¯d asked for more honey so she could choke it down. But it was only after they¡¯d finished the contents of their mugs that they got a shock. ¡°You¡¯re seeing this, right?¡± Elijah breathed, looking at his notification.
You have consumed a Complex-Grade beverage. The following benefits will be applied: +5 Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Ethera. +10 Regeneration. Duration: 24.2 Hours
¡°That¡¯s incredible,¡± Carmen muttered. ¡°I never¡­I thought it would be like your grove berries. But this is so much better.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t disagree. And even K¡¯hana was impressed, claiming that attribute-enhancing food and drink was incredibly rare. She¡¯d never consumed anything with those effects, and she admitted, ¡°I have always thought the stories of such foods were myths. This is a great boon.¡± ¡°I wonder what the limits are. Like, could I feed this to Miggy?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Maybe once he gets his archetype,¡± Carmen said. ¡°But I suspect it¡¯s similar to equipment. He can barely even lift Crude-Grade gear right now. Anything higher, and it¡¯s too much for him. The same is probably true for this coffee.¡± ¡°Do you think I could make something with my berries, then?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°And what happens if you drink two different types in a row? Do you get two buffs? I assume that if you drink a second cup of coffee, it¡¯ll just reset the timer or something.¡± ¡°One drink and one food enhancement at a time,¡± K¡¯hana said. ¡°That is how it was in the stories we were told.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡¯ll have to test it out at some point,¡± Elijah said. Though he knew that, with the amount of effort that had gone into his coffee, there was little chance of stumbling across something similar, at least in the short term. Perhaps as the ambient ethera on Earth continued to climb and those with appropriate skills gained levels, it would become more common. Either way, he was more than satisfied with his choice to use the Miracle Seed to satisfy his long-gestating caffeine addiction. After a little while longer ¨C during which he enjoyed a second cup of coffee, claiming that he wanted to test the resulting buff ¨C he said, ¡°Well, I think this little vacation is done. My spell is going to reset in a couple of hours, so get your things together. I¡¯m going to say goodbye to Miguel, and as soon as the spell¡¯s off cooldown, we¡¯re headed back to the Circle of Spears and then to Seattle.¡± The next two hours went by without incident, except that Miguel expressed ¨C and in quite a fervent manner ¨C that he wished to accompany Elijah to Seattle. However, Elijah¡¯s reasoning remained just as valid as ever, and he refused to take his nephew into such a dangerous city. For all he knew, the situation there had devolved into open warfare, and no matter Miguel¡¯s skills with weapons, he still didn¡¯t have an archetype. As such, he was incredibly vulnerable. Despite that flawless reasoning, Miguel wasn¡¯t happy about Elijiah¡¯s refusal, and he stormed off into the woods. ¡°He¡¯ll get over it,¡± Carmen said when Elijah expressed some concern over the exchange. ¡°He¡¯s a kid. I know he¡¯s been through a lot, and most of the time, he acts more mature than his age. But he¡¯s still a child in a lot of ways.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. But he didn¡¯t enjoy being cast as the bad guy in anyone¡¯s story, much less his nephew¡¯s. Soon, his cooldown was up, and he once again cast Roots of the World Tree. After the gate manifested, he and K¡¯hana stepped through and into the oasis. The heat of the desert hit them both like a solid wall, and in seconds, Elijah felt sweat trickling down his back. ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± he said. The two covered the distance between the Circle of Spears and Seattle much more quickly than they would have if Miguel had come along. K¡¯hana didn¡¯t have high Strength or Dexterity, but she had enough of both to allow her to move through the desert at superhuman speeds. So, it was only half a day before Seattle came into view. As they passed the landlocked ships, K¡¯hana stared at them in awe. She¡¯d only gotten a brief glimpse of the ocean back on Elijah¡¯s island, but even that had been enough to elicit no small degree of anxiety in the elf. And seeing the ships ¨C along with Elijah¡¯s explanation of how they worked ¨C brought some of that back to the fore. She said, ¡°My world has no oceans. Even that oasis would have been considered a great treasure. To see such large vessels that can cross thousands of miles of ocean¡­it is hard to imagine such a world.¡± They only paused for a few minutes so the curious ¨C and anxious ¨C elf could inspect the hulking derelicts before they moved on. As they drew closer to Seattle¡¯s gates, Elijah suggested that K¡¯hana wear a headscarf so that her ears were hidden. Her incredible beauty would still be on display, but without the tapered ears of her race being visible, the hope was that she could avoid undue notice. K¡¯hana consented to follow Elijah¡¯s lead, so when they finally reached the city, she¡¯d covered her head and ears. In addition, she¡¯d wrapped the same scarf around the lower half of her face. However, that proved unnecessary, because the gates were entirely unguarded. Even as they cautiously passed through, Elijah heard a massive explosion coming from the area on the other side of Mercer Mesa. Clearly, the tentative peace of Seattle had already been broken. 4-46. Making an Example ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± asked Elijah, grabbing a pedestrian¡¯s arm. The man tried to jerk free, but he was entirely unsuccessful. ¡°I don¡¯t want any trouble. I just want to know what to expect.¡± ¡°War,¡± the man spat. ¡°Those assholes on Mercer Mesa allied with the Lake City Adventurers and attacked the government. Or what¡¯s left of it. They won¡¯t last long, though. They don¡¯t have the power.¡± ¡°Shit,¡± Elijah breathed, releasing the man. As the fellow ran off, joining the flow of other pedestrians, Elijah turned to K¡¯hana and said, ¡°This visit might be short-lived. If it comes down to it, we¡¯re just going to leave, alright? I don¡¯t want to fight a war if there¡¯s no chance of our side winning.¡± ¡°I understand,¡± she said, though Elijah felt ethera whirling around her. It was subtle, but it was there nonetheless. After that, the pair traversed the city. Along the way, Elijah saw that, in a lot of ways, Seattle was exactly as he¡¯d left it. Most of the residents were clearly trying to go about their lives, the same as always. But periodic explosions from the other side of the city had put everyone on edge. They didn¡¯t know what would happen when the fighting was finished, and they were obviously nervous about what the future might hold. K¡¯hana tried not to gape at the technology on display, but her efforts yielded mixed results. Most of the time, she remained stoic and stone-faced, though there were a few bits of technology ¨C like phones and computers ¨C that elicited a wide-eyed gasp once Elijah explained their nature. ¡°These devices allowed you to access information so easily?¡± she wondered. ¡°Yeah,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°It was a very useful tool, but most of us took it for granted. More often than not, we used it for entertainment, usually the silly sort.¡± Because of how steep the cost of targeted research was in the new world, Elijah had come to value information a lot more than in the past. On quite a few occasions, he¡¯d found himself wishing the internet still worked. If it did, finding information about classes, cultivation, and just about everything else would have been much easier. Even his search for his family would have ended much more quickly. But that was a useless lamentation. The world was the way it was, and all they could do was adjust accordingly to the changed reality. With that in mind, Elijah and K¡¯hana trekked across the city. A few times, they passed old battlegrounds where the local buildings bore the brunt of the destruction. Husks of cars and piles of near-molten slag were in abundance as well. And then there were the bodies. They weren¡¯t that common, but a couple of times, Elijah looked down an alley to see dozens of corpses heaped into large piles. They were all naked, having been stripped of anything even remotely valuable, and they¡¯d been treated with absolutely no dignity. In the past, such blatant disregard for the dead would have transformed Seattle into a hotbed of disease. Yet, most people were hardy enough to withstand those sorts of sicknesses. Elijah did wonder what would happen if microbes started to evolve. Would that result in super-infections? Viruses that even healing spells couldn¡¯t combat? It was a troubling though, especially when he thought about how incredibly deadly some diseases had been even before the world had been transformed. Hopefully, he would never have to deal with that sort of thing. Regardless, they made their way through the eastern half of the city without much issue. It wasn¡¯t until they had passed Mercer Mesa, which acted as something of a dividing line between the peaceful portion and the warzone, that they began to have issues. At first, they were merely watched ¨C and by both sides of the conflict ¨C but inevitably, they found a squad barring their path. There were two men and three women, all wearing an eclectic collection of gear that marked them as Lake City adventurers. The leader, who was a tall, dark-skinned woman with short hair, called out, ¡°You two are going to want to stop right there.¡± Elijah considered simply taking on the Shape of the Guardian and massacring the people. Something told him that route would end up being easier. However, after losing control in Valoria, he¡¯d resolved to avoid killing unless it proved absolutely necessary. It wasn¡¯t guilt, precisely, but rather, an acknowledgement that there was usually a better way to solve issues. Besides, even as misguided as they might be, they were still people. And without his grief-induced rage obscuring his good sense, he held that human life was worth a little inconvenience. So, he slowed to a stop, then leaned on his staff as he asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Is this area off-limits or something?¡± ¡°For you? Absolutely,¡± she answered. Elijah sighed. ¡°Guess we¡¯ll just turn back, then,¡± he said, glancing around. There were a few bodies nearby, most of which wore the black Kevlar armor of the local government. Elijah hadn¡¯t exactly committed to fighting a war, but he had agreed to help Isaiah. That made them, at the very least, temporary allies. Which meant that the people in front of him were probably his enemies. ¡°Not so fast, friend,¡± the woman said. She held a long, wicked-bladed spear and wore chainmail armor that clinked when she stepped forward. ¡°Our time is valuable, you see. And the war effort requires funding. Our soldiers need food. Equipment. Surely, you¡¯d like to donate a bit to a good cause. Ethereum or equipment ¨C it¡¯ll all go to good use.¡± Elijah asked, ¡°And if we don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Ah, you don¡¯t want to go down that road,¡± she answered with a shake of her head. ¡°Nothing good in that direction. You¡¯re not so stingy as to deny us what¡¯s fair, are you?¡± ¡°Seems like what¡¯s fair to you might feel a bit like a boot on my neck,¡± Elijah remarked. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. ¡°You¡¯re looking at this all wrong.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± Elijah asked, shifting slightly. He¡¯d already dedicated one facet of his Quartz Mind to casting Soothe, while another was occupied by an impending transformation into his lamellar ape form. ¡°Enlighten me, then. How should I be looking at this? Because it looks a bit like a shakedown to me.¡± ¡°Ah. Well, I can¡¯t really deny that. A girl¡¯s got to eat, if you know what I mean,¡± she said with an affable smile. ¡°So, since we¡¯re both on the same page here, let¡¯s cut right to it. You hand over your valuables, and we¡¯ll let you leave. Can¡¯t let you come this way, though. Not safe for noncombatants.¡± ¡°Who said we¡¯re noncombatants?¡± asked Elijah, realizing that the woman didn¡¯t intend to let them leave. Even if they paid, they would be attacked. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how he knew that, but he was certain it was the truth. The cast of Soothe he¡¯d held on the cusp of completion finished, and he immediately moved to Shape of the Guardian. Having obviously felt Elijah¡¯s cast, K¡¯hana erupted into motion, summoning her Water Whip. At the same time, she enveloped herself in a thin layer of water that slightly distorted her appearance. Elijah raced forward, transforming a little with each step. It only took a moment or two for the shift to complete, but in that time, he¡¯d already covered most of the ground between him and the woman. She recoiled, but otherwise, reacted quickly, stomping on the ground and manifesting a large, metal shield. Elijah crashed into it, but to his surprise, the thing didn¡¯t shatter. Nor did it move. Instead, it merely dented. At the same time, the rest of the woman¡¯s squad closed in, two of them aiming sword blows at his side. When they connected, they did so with a metallic clang as Elijah used Iron Scales. As their blades rebounded, a roiling ball of shadow slammed into him, splashing across his torso like a wave of tar that restricted his movements, though only slightly. He hit the shield again, deepening the dent. ¡°Take it out!¡± shouted the woman, clearly straining. ¡°We¡¯re trying!¡± came an answering call as an arrow glanced off of Elijah¡¯s scales. Elijah was about to hit the shield again when he recognized that he¡¯d once again been manipulated by a protector-style class. He¡¯d encountered such an ability when he¡¯d fought the team of mercenaries in Valoria, but that variety had been far less subtle. Perhaps it was an inferior version. Or maybe the woman was higher leveled. Yet, Elijah couldn¡¯t be bothered to care. Now that he knew what was going on, he had no difficulty ripping his attention away from the shield and bounding toward one of the less protected members of the group. ¡°Resist!¡± the shielded woman barked. ¡°Adjust-¡± The next man never got the chance to finish his statement, as Elijah barreled into him before he could get the words out. He was a melee fighter, armored in chainmail, but he clearly didn¡¯t have the benefit of much in the way of Constitution. As a result, he practically exploded from Elijah¡¯s charge. Bones crunched, and blood erupted from his every orifice before he went tumbling across the street and into a pile of rubble. He was dead before his momentum was spent. At the same time, K¡¯hana¡¯s Water Whip arced out, severing the arm of a woman who looked like a Sorcerer. The disarmed mage screamed in pain, but it cut off only a second later when Elijah used his newest ability.
Debilitating Roar Let out an enraged bellow that sends all nearby targets fleeing in fear, decreasing their damage by 15%. Increases caster¡¯s footspeed by 10%. Only usable when caster is under the influence of Shape of the Guardian. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 9.2 seconds. Resistance based on target¡¯s Constitution attribute.
He¡¯d tried it out a few times in the tower, so he knew what to expect. Still, he¡¯d only used it against non-sapient creatures, so when he opened his mouth and let out a primal shout, he was a little surprised at the remaining combatants¡¯ reactions. The now one-armed woman cut her agonized scream off, turned, and ran away. The other just stared at Elijah in horror, his face pale, as he dropped his weapon. Then, he too fled, scrambling into the ruins of a building without looking back. The only one who managed to resist was the leader, and Elijiah saw that her resistance wasn¡¯t complete. A puddle of urine collected beneath her feet, and she shook in abject terror. But she held her ground. It only lasted a moment before K¡¯hana¡¯s Water Whip slashed out, decapitating her. She had been frozen in fear, and even though she¡¯d managed to regain control just before the serpentine stream of water connected with her neck, it was far too late to erect any defenses. Her head tumbled free, and as she collapsed, the world went silent, but for the clatter of her chainmail-clad body hitting the ground. ¡°Dammit,¡± Elijah said, shifting back into his human form. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to have to kill them.¡± ¡°They attempted to rob us,¡± K¡¯hana said. ¡°They deserved to die.¡± Elijah wanted to argue, but he held his tongue. Not only did he suspect that it would do little good ¨C cultural differences being what they were ¨C but he also didn¡¯t really disagree. While he wished he could have ended the situation nonviolently, the reality was that if he¡¯d done things differently, there was a chance that he or K¡¯hana would have been injured. Or killed. For better or worse, the world had turned ruthless. There was room for peace, but when someone broke it, the response needed to be swift and merciless. ¡°Check the bodies,¡± he said. ¡°Take anything useful. We¡¯ll get the items appraised later.¡± K¡¯hana knelt beside the leader¡¯s corpse while Elijah searched the rubble for the one he¡¯d crushed. As it turned out, their armor was of decent quality, but their weapons were nothing special. Elijah did find a few vials that K¡¯hana said looked like healing potions. So, he pocketed those as well. Fortunately, the ones who¡¯d run off hadn¡¯t come back, even though the effects of Demoralizing Roar had faded after only a handful of seconds. But that didn¡¯t mean they wouldn¡¯t return, so Elijah and K¡¯hana quickly moved on. As they traversed the city, Elijah sensed that they were being watched, but no one accosted them, and it wasn¡¯t long before they arrived at their destination ¨C the Capitol building. And it was in much worse shape than it had been during Elijah¡¯s last visit. The grounds had been ripped to shreds, and the dry fountain at the center had been reduced to rubble. The building itself was still intact, but there were plenty of signs that it had endured a number of powerful attacks. In all, it looked as if a battle had been fought on Isaiah¡¯s doorstep. The whole area was encircled by a makeshift wall of sandbags and piled rubble, with rough towers jutting above the man-made edifice. Elijah¡¯s and K¡¯hana¡¯s arrival didn¡¯t go unnoticed, either, and he could see that plenty of ranged weapons ¨C from bows to wands ¨C were aimed in their direction. Seeing that, he didn¡¯t bother with a stealthy approach. Instead, he led K¡¯hana to the only gap in the wall, which was manned by a squad of men and women in black fatigues. ¡°Stop there. What do you want?¡± asked a man in the back. He was stocky, with salt-and-pepper hair that had been cut into a military style. ¡°I¡¯m here to see Isaiah. I owe him a favor.¡± ¡°Is that so? I¡¯ll ¨C¡± ¡°Let him in,¡± came a voice over the man¡¯s radio. That reminded Elijah that he still had the radio Isaiah had given him in his pocket. He just hadn¡¯t thought to use it. ¡°Yes, sir,¡± said the guard. After that, his underlings parted, letting Elijah through. However, the man still sent one of the others to escort them to the capitol. 4-47. Seattles Plight ¡°I¡¯m Elijah, by the way,¡± he said to the woman who¡¯d been assigned to escort them. She was pretty, maybe twenty years old if he had to guess. But Elijah acknowledged that his perception of age might be a little off. After all, with high attributes and a Body of Wood, the effects of aging really took a backseat. Even he looked a few years younger than he really was, though much of it was hidden by his lacking grooming habits and scraggly appearance. Perhaps he should have gotten a haircut before heading out on what amounted to a diplomatic mission. When the woman didn¡¯t respond, he said, ¡°Nice to meet you. Hot day today, isn¡¯t it? Oh, yeah ¨C I¡¯m very much enjoying my time in Seattle, thank you for asking.¡± ¡°Abigail,¡± she muttered. ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°My name is Abigail. And I have a boyfriend,¡± she said. ¡°Uh¡­good for you?¡± he responded. Then, he realized what she must¡¯ve thought, and he shook his head. Why did everyone always think the worst of his intentions? ¡°This is K¡¯hana. I don¡¯t know if she has a boyfriend or not.¡± ¡°I do not have a life partner.¡± ¡°Samesies,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s rough going out there, you know? Not like it used to be. But I¡¯ll be completely honest ¨C I¡¯m glad the dating apps are a thing of the past. I didn¡¯t have a lot of experience with Tinder and the like, but what I saw was not good. You¡¯re lucky you didn¡¯t have to go through that, K¡¯hana. Back me up here, Abby. It was terrible, right?¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± ¡°But then again, I don¡¯t think K¡¯hana would¡¯ve had much trouble, all things considered. The pointed ears might turn some people the other way, but I¡¯m sure most would be more than willing to ignore that. Of course, there¡¯s no accounting for cultural differences. I don¡¯t know much about the mating habits of elves.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an elf?¡± asked Abigail. Then, she told Elijah, ¡°And my name is Abigail. Not Abby.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± At the same time, K¡¯hana unfurled her scarf, revealing the rest of her face as well as her tapered ears. That elicited a gasp from their escort, who actually stumbled as she climbed a set of steps leading to the front doors of the capitol building. She caught herself on a handrail, but her cheeks reddened in embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen an elf before. There was a gnome that came through here a few months back, and I¡¯ve heard of dwarves. But no elves.¡± ¡°Well, if all goes well, you¡¯ll see some more in the coming months,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But don¡¯t tell anyone. I¡¯m sure Isaiah will want to take credit.¡± After that, they went silent as they were led through the building and to Isaiah¡¯s office. The interior of the capitol didn¡¯t look any different than it had the last time Elijah had visited, which was a little surprising, given the degree of damage outside. Perhaps the attackers had been rebuffed before reaching the building itself. Regardless, they arrived at the office a few minutes later, where they were handed off to another set of guards ¨C both of which were burly men who seemed a little stronger than the average riffraff ¨C who let them inside. There, Isaiah was sitting behind his desk. ¡°About time,¡± he said. ¡°I was beginning to think you weren¡¯t going to hold up your end of our bargain.¡± Elijah frowned. ¡°I never said when I would help. Just that I would,¡± he stated. ¡°Any assumption otherwise was your fault.¡± ¡°It was implied. Our situation is dire. People died while you were galivanting around doing whatever it is you do. I ¨C¡± ¡°Be careful what you say next. I¡¯m here to help, and in more ways than you expect. But I¡¯m not going to stand here and let you browbeat me because I refuse to operate on your schedule,¡± Elijah said, his tone suddenly icy. And given that he was the highest-level person among humanity¡¯s remaining population, his ire was best avoided. It wasn¡¯t as if Elijah could rip the building down around Isaiah ¨C especially when the man had some levels under his belt ¨C but he could cause a lot of damage if so inclined. Valoria was evidence of that. To his credit, Isaiah took a deep breath and said, ¡°Fine. Tell me what you have in mind.¡± * * * Isaiah tightened his fist as he sat behind his desk. He was already dealing with a crisis that could tear everything down, and now he had to deal with a primadonna like Elijah Hart? The man acted as if the entire world revolved around him. Meanwhile, Isaiah had been fighting tooth and nail to try to preserve as much of Seattle as he could manage. Even while multiple groups had risen to oppose him, he¡¯d kept order, negotiated peace deals, and prevented the weak from succumbing to the dangers of the new world. So, seeing someone like Elijah, who only seemed to care about himself, was galling ¨C a situation that was exacerbated by the fact that Isaiah needed the man¡¯s help. Otherwise, the militants of Lakeshore and the water-hoarders of Mercer Mesa would slowly overwhelm him and his allies. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. But he didn¡¯t have enough power. For what felt like the thousandth time, he wished he¡¯d chosen a different option when he¡¯d achieved Lordship. The quest to do so had been onerous, requiring him to consolidate his power and reach a specific spot on the power rankings. That hadn¡¯t lasted much past attaining his title as a Lord, but it still represented a sizable accomplishment. More, the path he had chosen ¨C that of the Watcher ¨C had worked hand-in-glove with his class¡¯s power set, allowing him to keep an eye on everything in his city. Yet, as powerful as information often was, it usually proved useless in a direct confrontation. The reality of Isaiah¡¯s path was that it was never meant for fighting. He¡¯d hoped to field a force of powerful combatants to fill that void, but Bruce Garret had used his access to the tower to pull most of the truly promising fighters into the Lakeshore faction. It wasn¡¯t difficult to see why they went that way, either. The tower offered a chance to grow stronger via a mostly set path. There were whole books that had been written about the best ways to challenge it. So, there wasn¡¯t much in the way of danger, so long as the challenging party didn¡¯t make any egregious mistakes in their group composition or within the tower itself. So, the strong kept getting stronger, and they¡¯d begun to wonder why they allowed someone like Isaiah to maintain power. And then, the Mercers had stepped in, promising unfettered access to their water source. From there, the two factions had slowly begun to overwhelm Isaiah and his tentative allies, the Hunters of Ranier. The tensions had grown even more onerous until, at last, open battle had erupted. Hundreds had already died, and more deaths would follow unless Isaiah put an end to the conflict. If he could guarantee that it would work, he would have already surrendered his position. He didn¡¯t care about being in charge. However, he¡¯d seen the way the Mercers treated their underlings. He¡¯d watched as the so-called adventurers of Lakeshore took what they wanted, daring anyone to oppose them. No ¨C if he surrendered, not only would he be giving up his own life, but also the lives of many others who depended on him to protect them. Even so, Isaiah had sought a truce, which had been summarily rejected. Bruce had responded with a simple question, ¡°Why would we negotiate with you when we¡¯re winning?¡± It was a good question, and one to which Isaiah had no answers. But now that Elijah Hart had returned to Seattle, there was a chance of turning things around. Isaiah might have once doubted the man¡¯s power, but only that day, he¡¯d watched via one of his drones as Elijah had ripped a group of adventurers to pieces. It was as horrifying as it was hope-inducing. ¡°So, I think I might have a fix for your water problem that doesn¡¯t involve me flying up to Mercer Mesa and slaughtering a bunch of rich assholes,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Fly?¡± ¡°Yeah. I can fly. The point is that this woman is the answer to your problems,¡± Elijah said, gesturing to the woman who¡¯d accompanied him into Seattle. Isaiah had watched her decapitate a seasoned adventurer with a whip that looked like it was made of semi-sold water, so he knew she was dangerous. More, he also knew that she was an elf. Seattle had played host to a few non-humans over the years, and there was even a small community of dwarves ¨C only about two-dozen of them ¨C who ran a traveling caravan that passed through every month or so. But Isaiah had never seen an elf before, and he was unsurprised to see that the myths had gotten it mostly right. The woman ¨C her name was K¡¯hana Tamira ¨C was a level fifty Water Witch, according to Isaiah¡¯s All-Seeing Eye skill, and she was an absolute vision of perfection. ¡°I¡¯m going to need more than that if you expect me to understand what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Isaiah said to the infuriating man. ¡°She¡¯s strong, but she won¡¯t make much of a difference in a pitched battle. Lakeshore has a hundred people that are close to her level. No offense, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°None taken, my lord.¡± Elijah rolled his eyes at that, which only irritated Isaiah even further. Then, he said, ¡°She¡¯s not here to fight. She¡¯s here to help you find water.¡± Then, the elven woman explained that she came from a world even more arid than the Seattle desert, and as such, her people had long leaned on those with classes that could find water in even the dryest deserts. K¡¯hana was one of those people, and she said that, via a series of skills, she could locate enough water to support even a city the size of Seattle. ¡°And you would do this out of the goodness of your heart?¡± he asked in disbelief. ¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°I will not. I wish to ally my people with yours. You gain access to water, while we use your people to help us keep our tower from overflowing. In addition, we would like to create a trade alliance as well as an agreement for mutual defense. Our people do not have a history of battle. We come from a peaceful world. As such, we have only a few combatants.¡± ¡°Pending the details, I think that sounds reasonable,¡± Isaiah said, struggling to believe his good fortune. In one fell swoop, the elf¡¯s arrival had given him hope that two of the city¡¯s most pressing needs would be solved. However, that still left the issue of the ongoing war. ¡°But it won¡¯t mean anything if Mercer and Lakeshore have their way. They¡¯ve already expanded their territories, and they threaten to take the whole city.¡± ¡°Perhaps we should be talking to one of them, then,¡± suggested the elf. ¡°I thought you were the Lord of this city.¡± Isaiah didn¡¯t rise to that comment. Instead, he focused on Elijah, saying, ¡°You agreed to help.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°Are you backing out of that agreement? This helps. I won¡¯t deny that. And I¡¯m grateful. However, you agreed to help us take care of Mercer and Lakeshore,¡± Isaiah stated evenly. ¡°I took you to be a man of honor.¡± Elijah laughed at that. ¡°Honor? Not much use for that. I help people that need it. I protect what I care about,¡± he said. ¡°And I try to maintain the balance of nature. Honor doesn¡¯t come into that equation. But I still intend to help. You seem better than the Mercers, at least. And given that I¡¯ve already been attacked by those others, you¡¯re our best bet.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he said. ¡°Because one of those things ¨C or people, I suppose ¨C that you care about is about to be attacked by Lakeshore. My information tells me that they intend to take the Garden in three days.¡± 4-48. Raid Elijah¡¯s heart nearly stopped as the memory of a hundred little delays came rushing to mind. Perhaps his reaction to Alyssa¡¯s death was understandable, but he¡¯d wasted a lot of time pointlessly trekking across the wilderness. In the aftermath, he¡¯d spent weeks wallowing in apathy that still hadn¡¯t entirely lifted. And as a result, he¡¯d put one of the few people he actually cared about in danger. Lucy wasn¡¯t usually at the forefront of his mind. She wasn¡¯t family. But he¡¯d loved her once, and those feelings hadn¡¯t completely faded. At worst, she was a friend, and at best, she might one day be something more. However, over the years, he¡¯d adopted the habit of pushing her from his thoughts, and because of that, her situation ¨C and that of Seattle ¨C was the last thing on his mind. Now, he was going to have to deal with the consequences. Even as he pushed himself to his feet, his thoughts drifted into a dark place that he¡¯d most recently visited in Valoria. If something had happened to Lucy, he was going to tear the ones responsible to pieces. Isaiah rose, urgently saying, ¡°She¡¯s fine. I should have led with that. They haven¡¯t attacked yet.¡± ¡°But they are, right? How do we stop it? When are they doing it? And ¨C¡± ¡°Right now, they¡¯re holed up in their headquarters,¡± Isaiah answered. ¡°Or the important ones are, at least. They call it the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡± ¡°If you know where they are, then why haven¡¯t you already taken care of it?¡± ¡°They¡¯re too strong,¡± the man answered, standing and placing his hands on the edge of the desk. He leaned forward, continuing, ¡°We¡¯re not all as powerful as you are. We can¡¯t just walk into a city and destroy a group of seasoned adventurers. My people had all they could handle just defending this place. Assaulting their headquarters will be much more difficult.¡± ¡°You know their levels? Do they have anyone on the ladder?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°No. The core group ¨C five people, plus the leader, Bruce Garret ¨C are only a level away, though. They¡¯ve each cultivated their bodies to the first stage as well. Bruce has everything but the core at the first stage,¡± Isaiah explained. ¡°You sure do know a lot about them,¡± Elijah noted. Although, that should not have been terribly surprising. After all, Isaiah had already demonstrated that he could read Elijah¡¯s status like a book. It stood to reason that he could do the same with the other people in the city. ¡°My entire class revolves around information gathering,¡± Isaiah responded. ¡°I have very limited combat capability.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elijah¡¯s initial reaction was to simply head to this Adventurer¡¯s Guild headquarters and start killing people. However, if Isaiah was as good at gathering information as he claimed, perhaps there was an advantage there. So, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the plan, then? Do you have a layout of the building? What about defenses? Detailed information about the enemies?¡± As it turned out, Isaiah had all of that and more. He produced a list of the fighters inside the building ¨C most were in their forties, but there were a few on the verge of entering the power rankings ¨C as well as a map, which detailed potential points of ingress. On top of that, he said, ¡°I can disable their defenses, too.¡± ¡°What kind of defenses are we talking about?¡± ¡°They call it an array,¡± Isaiah explained. ¡°It¡¯s like an artificial domain. If you have the key ¨C one of the pendants they give to members once they satisfy certain requirements ¨C you¡¯ll be unaffected. However, if you don¡¯t, it¡¯ll decrease your physical attributes by as much as twenty-five percent. Less based on the Ethera attribute.¡± That didn¡¯t seem so bad, but Elijah had no interest in losing that many attributes. So, he was more than willing to let Isaiah do his thing. ¡°More importantly, I can guide you,¡± Isaiah stated. ¡°Make sure you don¡¯t step into a situation you can¡¯t control. They have a few stealth operators, and some of their guards can avoid detection as well.¡± ¡°But not from you?¡± ¡°I see everything,¡± Isaiah responded. To Elijah, that sounded a bit like his domain. Perhaps that was the benefit of Isaiah¡¯s class, like he¡¯d claimed, but Elijah expected that there was something else at work. After all, it had taken quite a lot of work before Elijah¡¯s domain had taken hold. Regardless, with what he¡¯d seen, he didn¡¯t have any trouble believing Isaiah¡¯s claims. ¡°Here,¡± Isaiah said, pulling a small device from his pocket. ¡°Put that in your ear, and I¡¯ll be able to talk to you.¡± ¡°Uh¡­there might be a problem with that,¡± Elijah said, noting that, in his bestial forms, he didn¡¯t really have ears ¨C at least not in the shape that could accommodate the tiny earwig Isaiah had offered. Instead, in his draconid form, his ears were nothing more than small pits on the side of his head. In his lamellar ape form, they were much larger. He¡¯d not noticed the orientation of his ears in his Shape of the Sky form. But then again, perhaps it would work like his clothing or other equipment and transform with him, so, he just took the earwig and said, ¡°But let¡¯s hope not.¡± Then, he slipped it into his ear. ¡°Would you like my assistance?¡± asked K¡¯hana. Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. The alliance is too important,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to risk you getting injured.¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. That was only part of the reason. Elijah intended to use Guise of the Unseen, which would be impossible of K¡¯hana was tagging along. Also, when he was inevitably discovered, he didn¡¯t want to have to worry about keeping her safe. For better or worse, he didn¡¯t really fit into most groups. Instead, he was far more comfortable fighting alone. One day, he¡¯d have to work on changing that. At some point, he knew he¡¯d encounter a situation he couldn¡¯t tackle alone. The issue was that his class was built on versatility. What made him special was the fact that he could fill multiple roles at once. Groups, though, were built to take advantage of highly specialized combatants. So, if he ended up in one of those parties, he¡¯d be relegated to being a worse version of whichever role he was assigned. It would take time and training to overcome those issues. But it was neither the time nor the place of that. After getting a brief rundown from Isaiah ¨C and refusing to let one of his teams accompany him ¨C Elijah set off. Most of the journey was undertaken in his human form, but when he approached the territory claimed by the Lakeshore Adventurers, he ducked into an abandoned building, ensured that no one was looking, and shifted into his draconid form. He''d considered simply flying in and dropping onto the roof of the building, but he chose the less bombastic path. As satisfying as it would have been to take that route, stealth was both safer and more tactically sound. Once he was cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, Elijah crept out of the abandoned building and crossed the block or so to the territory controlled by the Adventurers. Once, the region had been on the waterfront, but now that everything was desert, new buildings spilled out into the area that had once been Puget Sound. Encircling the territory was a concrete wall that reached fifteen feet in height. That was new. Elijah had only seen the area from afar, but he felt certain that he would have noticed such an obstacle. Regardless, with his attributes, it was easy enough to vault to the top the edifice, though he did feel a slight tingle as he crossed the wall walk and leaped down to the other side. That was the defensive array, he knew. Thankfully, he was immune to its effects due to the pendant he¡¯d gotten from Isaiah. So, he continued forward, passing between buildings and keeping to the shadows as much as possible. He knew that wasn¡¯t strictly necessary ¨C Guise of the Unseen was more than enough to hide him from most people ¨C but old habits died hard. Like that, he slowly made his way through the district, noticing that there were quite a few noncombatants in the area. Night had already fallen, but it wasn¡¯t so late that the streets had emptied. There were children about as well, suggesting that at least some of the so-called Adventurers had families. What about the men and women he intended to kill? Did they have husbands and wives waiting for them at home? Children? Brothers and sisters? Often, Elijah skated past the implications of all the deaths he¡¯d caused. It was easy to cast them as faceless enemies. But the reality was that the impact of those deaths didn¡¯t end when Elijah had moved on. They all had people that cared about them. People who depended on them. Their lives would be changed, and probably for the worse, because of Elijah¡¯s actions. It cemented the notion that he needed to be more judicious with his power. Killing people was easy. Sometimes incredibly so. Restraining himself would be much more difficult, especially when he felt justified. Of course, reality didn¡¯t care about moral quandaries, and the fact of the matter was that if he didn¡¯t do something about Bruce Garet and his Adventurers ¨C and the people of Mercer Mesa ¨C they would hurt someone he cared about. And Elijah¡¯s brand of ¡°doing something¡± usually involved copious violence. He simply wasn¡¯t equipped for political maneuvering or the like, and even if he was, that had already proven ineffective. After all, that was supposed to be Isaiah¡¯s area of expertise, and he¡¯d already admitted that he couldn¡¯t do what needed to be done. No - Elijah knew he was going to have to kill a lot of people. And as a result, he would create widows, widowers, and orphans. It was an unavoidable aspect of any battle, and as unpalatable as it was to consider, Elijah knew it was necessary. So, it was with a murky conscience that he arrived at the Adventurer Guild¡¯s Headquarters. It was a large, squarish building that was a few blocks away from the old shoreline. At five stories tall, and constructed of brick, it was a remnant of the old world that had somehow survived events that had torn most of the other buildings within the city down. More importantly, it was guarded by dozens of combatants, all arranged in groups of five, with most of them patrolling the surrounding area. Elijah watched from the shadows, observing the patterns. All the while, Isaiah spoke in his ear, ¡°There are two points of ingress you can use. The first is the side door. It is guarded, but only lightly. It¡¯s the riskier of the two options. The second entrance is on the roof, and it would require you to climb the fire escape. That route has been rigged with traps that I can¡¯t deactivate from afar.¡± ¡°What kind of traps?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°They¡¯re called ethereal claymores. Just like claymores from the old world, they explode, sending shrapnel to tear the victim to pieces. However, instead of being powered by combustion, they¡¯re powered by ethera. We think someone in there has a skill to make them deadlier, too,¡± Isaiah explained. ¡°What about the walls?¡± Elijah hissed. He didn¡¯t even know where the device¡¯s microphone was, but Isaiah had already proven that he could hear him just fine. ¡°What about them?¡± ¡°What if I climb them?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Uh¡­one second. Yeah. That should work,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°If you can do it.¡± ¡°It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Elijah said. Like his old mist panther form, the draconid shape was made for climbing, but even as a human, he wouldn¡¯t have had any difficulty. That was the benefit of his high attributes. With that plan in mind, he stalked forward, and with the assistance of Isaiah¡¯s constant input, was able to avoid the patrols. According to him, they each had at least one member with a skill similar to the Guard Sense referenced by the soldiers in Valoria. It wasn¡¯t enough to see through Guise of the Unseen ¨C so long as he was careful, at least ¨C but he didn¡¯t want to push his luck. As a result, covering those hundred-or-so yards took about twenty minutes, but eventually, Elijah reached the building¡¯s far wall. The night was overcast, so it stood in dark shadow that he hoped would keep him concealed. So, without further ado, he leaped, digging his claws into the brick and vaulting from one handhold to the next as he climbed the building. Unfortunately, it made a little noise, but he¡¯d timed his climb so that no one was close enough to hear it. And just like that, he reached the top and climbed onto the flat roof. There were four guards up there, too. Positioned one to a side, each was armed with binoculars and heavy crossbows, but their attention was entirely focused on the area around the building. Elijah stalked forward, and when he approached the first, he used Predator Strike before attacking. However, he didn¡¯t use his normal skull-bite attack. Instead, his claws found the woman¡¯s throat, silently ripping through the tender flesh. He caught her as she fell, then lowered her to the ground before going after the second. That man fell, just like the first sentry. It was the same with the remaining two, though with the last, he indulged his instincts and crushed the man¡¯s skull. ¡°Alright. I¡¯m going in,¡± Elijah said, approaching the door that would lead him into the building below. But just as he opened the door, Isaiah shouted something that was quickly lost in the sound of an explosion. Elijah¡¯s vision turned white as he was hit by a shockwave that sent him tumbling across the roof. 4-49. Cooler Heads Will Prevail Elijah cartwheeled, skipping across the roof as his scales melted from the intense heat of the explosion. However, at least one facet of his Quartz Mind remained aware enough that he initiated a transformation into the Shape of the Sky, which completed as he went over the edge and began a plummet to the ground below. He beat his wings, pain arcing through him with every motion. The membranous material that comprised the appendages was ripped in places, scattering blood across the ground below, but they were still capable of holding him aloft. And in his state, if he¡¯d let himself fall from that roof, he might never have risen. Still, flight was only barely possible, and he ended up expending far more energy than normal before he crashed into another nearby building. The moment he was back on solid ground, he initiated another transformation into his human form. Only then did he look at the state of his body. Groaning, he took in what looked like third-degree burns that covered most of his skin. On top of that, he could feel multiple broken bones as well as what he took to be some sort of affliction coursing through his body and weakening him. But it wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been so grievously injured, and one facet of his Mind had already begun to cast Soothe, Healing Rain, and Touch of Nature. Completely healing would not be a quick process, but he felt confident that he could regain functionality in short order. It wouldn¡¯t be pretty, though. ¡°Elijah!¡± shouted Isaiah through the earpiece. That was when Elijah realized that the man had been yelling for some time. He just hadn¡¯t quite heard it because his eardrums had burst from the cacophonous explosion. ¡°You don¡¯t have to shout.¡± ¡°Are you okay? Do you need an extraction?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Elijah said, having already healed most of the fractures. A few still persisted, but they weren¡¯t so serious that they¡¯d slow him down. More concerning were the burns. And the affliction, which had stubbornly hung on, weakening him. ¡°Just need to heal for a second.¡± ¡°You may not have that long,¡± Isaiah stated. ¡°Every Adventurer in Lakeshore is converging on your location.¡± ¡°What hit me?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°One of the claymores.¡± ¡°And what happened to ¡®I see everything¡¯, huh?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I missed it. I don¡¯t know how,¡± Isaiah admitted. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay? You look¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine. This isn¡¯t as bad as getting digested by a whale,¡± Elijah muttered. Already, the burns had begun to scab over. It would take a few more minutes before it was completely healed, though. ¡°Honestly, it looks worse than it is. And how do you know how I look, anyway?¡± Then, he focused on a gap in his awareness. It was only about six inches wide, but he¡¯d encountered stealth skills on enough occasions that he knew what that absence meant. ¡°Oh. Drones, right? How long do I have?¡± ¡°Six minutes,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°Based on their normal response times, at least. They¡¯re being careful as they surround the building you¡¯re in.¡± ¡°Should be enough,¡± Elijah mumbled to himself. He could have used Guardian¡¯s Renewal to instantly recover, but he wanted to keep that in reserve. It was too powerful, with too long of a cooldown to use when his normal healing spells would suffice. ¡°Just keep me updated on their movements.¡± After that, Elijah focused on healing, flooding his body with Touch of Nature as often as he could. The spell had once been quite powerful, but of late, he¡¯d noticed that its relative potency had really begun to lag behind. As a result, it took more casts to heal from similar amounts of damage. From what he understood, that was normal. Healing spells typically restored a static amount of life ¨C or vitality, as the guides referred to it ¨C but each person gained a larger pool of that life force as they progressed through levels and benefited from increased attributes. Because of that, people were harder to injure, but they were also more difficult to heal, requiring evolved spells to heal the same amount of relative damage. Or in Elijah¡¯s case, more casts. Fortunately, his pool of available ethera had grown quite a bit larger than it had been when he¡¯d first acquired the spell, so he could effectively cast it without ceasing. His potent Regeneration could easily keep pace with any ethera he used. The only issue was that it took more time. Either way, he kept at it until almost ten minutes later, Isaiah said, ¡°They¡¯re coming in. I tried to delay them a little with a couple of my drones, but they didn¡¯t last long.¡± ¡°It¡¯s alright,¡± Elijah said, standing. He wished his Crook of the Serpent Healer hadn¡¯t been damaged. Otherwise, his healing spells would have been far more potent. As it was, his skin was still beet red where the damaged skin had flaked away, but there were a few spots that were still scabbed over. His bones were in better shape, having mended almost completely. His right forearm still bore a fracture, and he suspected that the occipital bone below his right eye was chipped. However, neither injury was so severe that he couldn¡¯t ignore them. He stretched a bit, then said, ¡°Just keep me updated on what to expect. My detection radius is around fifty feet. So, let me know about whatever¡¯s going on outside of that.¡± With that, Elijah went silent and, once again, adopted the Shape of the Predator. Then, he let Guise of the Unseen settle upon him, and he disappeared into stealth. Before he¡¯d transformed, he¡¯d checked his buffs, and for one of the first times ever, he used Ward of the Seasons in a combat situation. There were Sorcerers among the Adventurers, and he wanted as much protection as possible from their spells. To make room, he forewent Aura of Renewal, largely because he intended to remain in his bestial forms, where the enhanced Regeneration attribute was only marginally effective. He stalked forward, ready to slaughter everyone who¡¯d come after him. The building itself was the sort of office complex that were so common in any American city of sufficient size. Ten stories tall, mostly metal and glass, and completely unimaginative in its architecture. Just a giant rectangle that could efficiently and cheaply house all sorts of offices. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Elijah had ended up on the sixth floor, which turned out to be the sort of cubicle farm in which he¡¯d never wanted to find himself. The idea of slaving away in that kind of environment was one of his worst nightmares. The partitions were partially rotted away, and many had fallen, but the overall layout remained in place. All of the electronics were gone, presumably having been scrapped for materials or sold in one of Seattle¡¯s many markets. But the combination of features made the cubicle farm a perfect setting for Elijiah¡¯s preferred style of fighting. As much as he liked Shape of the Guardian or his natural form, Shape of the Predator would always have a special place in his heart. Some of that was due to his relationship with the mist panther that had inspired his class, but it was also because it was the safest way for him to fight. Until it wasn¡¯t. That was where the lamellar ape form came into play, though. In any case, Elijah crept through the area, staying low to the ground like the stalking predator he was. So, when he sensed someone reach the floor, he was ready to pounce. There were five of them ¨C a mostly full group, from what he understood. Six was the maximum that could enter a tower, but most people considered five to be the core of any good group, with the final member being considered ¡°extra¡± ¨C at least in Seattle and Argos. Perhaps things were different in other parts of the world. Their roles were easily identifiable. The defender wore thick plate armor the color of blood and carried a large shield that looked like a repurposed car door. There was a robed Sorcerer carrying a staff, a pair of men in leather armor and wielding daggers, and a woman who lagged behind the rest. That final member carried a scepter made of twisted silver and topped with a giant emerald. Her armor was chainmail, and by process of elimination, Elijah marked her as the group¡¯s Healer. And his first target. ¡°See anything?¡± asked the Sorcerer. The defender said, ¡°Negative. Stay frosty.¡± It was only after she spoke that Elijah could identify her as a woman. Apparently, real armor didn¡¯t make many allowances for feminine shape, and her head was encased by a large helmet that looked like a metal bucket. ¡°What do you think it is?¡± asked one of the dagger wielders. ¡°No idea. Somebody said it looked like a dragon,¡± answered the other. ¡°Dragons aren¡¯t real.¡± ¡°They are so. I read about ¡®em in a guide. Supposed to be really strong, too. God, I hope we¡¯re not fighting a dragon.¡± It was at that moment that Elijah pounced, barreling into the Healer, the momentum enough to throw her back through the door and knocking it from its hinges. Even as it splintered, Elijah bit, though his attack was stymied by a thick, golden, spell-wrought barriier that encased the woman¡¯s entire body. She screamed as his claws raked the plane of solid light, the sound of his talons against the spell like scratching glass. But it didn¡¯t immediately shatter, which told Elijah that she had some power under her belt. That was okay, though, because he wasted no time before biting it again. And when that failed, again after that. Over and over, his jaws snapped shut with enough force to shatter stone. And after only a few seconds, the shield ran out of energy, exposing the woman to his natural weapons. By that point, the others had responded, rushing back through the door. Elijah bit down on her hastily raised arms, crushing the bone before he was forced to flee into the shadows. A second later, the defender lumbered into the hall to stand over the fallen Healer. She shouted, asking the woman if she was okay, but the answer to that question was obvious, considering that both of her arms were only hanging on by a few strips of sinew. Without her shield spell, she¡¯d stood no chance of resisting the power of Elijah¡¯s jaws. She made her discomfort known by screaming in agony. The defender yelled out orders, but Elijah had already rushed around a corner, avoiding a clump of roiling earth that hit the wall with the force of a cannonball. No one immediately followed, which, after a couple of moments, allowed him to slip into a different room and adopt Guise of the Unseen. Then, when he spied a missing ceiling tile, he got the idea to use that to his advantage. After all, people rarely looked up. So, he shifted into his human form ¨C there was no way the flimsy roof could accommodate his huge draconid shape ¨C and pulled himself into the crawl space above the tiles. Once there, it didn¡¯t take him long to creep forward until he felt the five fighters directly below him. That¡¯s when he used Swarm. A bunch of tiny gnats manifested, landing on the men and women who were hunting him. The manifested insects were so small, and their bites were so light that no one in the group even knew they were being loaded with afflictions. Of course, the Healer was still whimpering about her nearly missing arms. She was trying to heal herself, but apparently, the spell took concentration she could not muster. So, it kept fizzling out. Then, the Sorcerer coughed, spitting up blood. One of the melee fighters did the same, while the Healer wept. ¡°Disease! Cure us!¡± shouted the defender. ¡°My arms¡­¡± ¡°Concentrate, woman! If you don¡¯t, we¡¯re going to die!¡± That snapped the Healer out of her misery, and Elijah felt her cast a spell. A golden globe manifested, pulsing once every second. Each one sent a ripple of ethera through their surroundings. It only extended for about ten feet, but that was enough to encompass the entire group. When Elijah saw the Sorcerer¡¯s change in posture, it was confirmation that the Healer had cured Swarm¡¯s afflictions. So, when the globe winked out, he cast the spell again. For now, that was his limit. He had enough ethera to cast it again ¨C a few more times, actually ¨C but he couldn¡¯t afford to use the entire contents of his Core on one group. Because there were more out there. Besides ¨C he had a plan to finish them off. To that end, the moment the group began to once again manifest symptoms, Elijah made his move, shifting into his draconid form, then using Guise of the Unseen before embracing Predator Strike and Venom Strike. Before the ceiling could collapse, he launched himself through the flimsy tile and hit the Healer like a runaway train. She¡¯d used her shield again, which was as expected. So, the moment he hit, he used Flicker Step, teleporting behind the next-most-vulnerable person. The Sorcerer never saw him coming, and his ethereal shield was far thinner than the Healer¡¯s. More importantly, he was already under the effects of Swarm¡¯s afflictions, which meant that he was slow to respond. And finally, the Healer had proven that she was prone to panic, so whatever abilities she might¡¯ve brought to bear in defense of her companion were forgotten after being knocked to the floor. So, Elijah bit through the Sorcerer¡¯s ethereal shield, then clamped his jaws around the man¡¯s head and squeezed. His skull popped like a melon, which only elicited more panic from the Healer. She tried to cast a heal on the sorcerer, but there was no spell that could regrow a head. Her frantic efforts gave Elijah the opportunity to dart toward one of the melee fighters and rake his claws across the man¡¯s leg, delivering Venom Strike as well as Contagion before, once again, rushing down the hall. The frustrated defender followed, shouting for the others to join her, but she was too slow to catch him. Or that¡¯s what Elijah thought until she used some sort of ability and leaped in his direction. He tried to dodge, but his feet were suddenly rooted in place, so he couldn¡¯t avoid her descending shield slam as it crashed into him. What he could do was initiate a transformation into his lamellar ape form, though. It took a second, which meant that the shield hit him mid-transformation, but as he was knocked down the hall, he finished shifting. And when he rose, the defender took an involuntary step back. Elijah could feel that a couple more of his bones had nearly been broken by the attack, but it was nothing vital. He could still exert the majority of his Strength. And now that he was in his guardian form, the pain only fueled his instinctive rage. He didn¡¯t give himself over to it ¨C not completely ¨C but he did use that to numb the effect of the pain on his mind. With a roar, he threw himself at the defender, ready to rip her limb from limb. 4-50. Terrifying Florescent lights flickered as Elijah charged down the hall, intent on tearing through the defender. She held her ground, setting her feet and raising her shield. It did no good. He hit with the force of a runaway train, eliciting a loud clang as the shield split in two. However, Elijah kept his wits about him enough to recognize that she was not his primary target. Instead, unless he was forced to act otherwise, he would focus on that woman last. Others in the group were simultaneously more dangerous and far more vulnerable, and he wanted to take them out before they had a chance to bring their full abilities to bear. So, Elijah continued his charge, using his immense Strength to power a backhand that sent the woman stumbling to the side. The impact dazed the woman, but he didn¡¯t stop to finish her off. No matter how much he overpowered her, she would be a tough nut to crack. The others were far easier targets. With the rage of the Shape of the Guardian rushing through him, Elijah didn¡¯t even think about his comparative lack of Dexterity, so when he reached the corner, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from skidding into the wall and breaking through the drywall. It didn¡¯t slow him down much, though, and soon enough, he launched himself at the pair of melee combatants. The first leather-clad man raised his swords and used some sort of ability, though Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate before crashing into him. He quickly discovered that he should have been far more cautious, though. The fighter¡¯s blades moved like lightning, knocking Elijah¡¯s claws aside and returning a riposte that would have gored him if he hadn¡¯t had Iron Scales active. As it was, he still took a deep gouge that spurted blood. ¡°Riposte down!¡± the man shouted, backpedaling. He turned that into a somersault that played out far more quickly than should have been possible, given his suspected attributes. Clearly, it was another ability. ¡°Heartseeker!¡± shouted the other, throwing a dagger in his direction. The blade glinted with black energy, and before Elijah could react, it hit him in the chest. Once again, Iron Scales saved him, but the weapon still embedded itself more than an inch deep in his hide. ¡°Shit! It didn¡¯t work!¡± ¡°What do we ¨C¡± Elijah finally reached his target. He wrapped his claws around the man¡¯s arms and pulled them in opposite directions. The fighter kicked and screamed as he tried to resist, but his Strength was far inferior to Elijah¡¯s. The results were predictable. Elijah roared as he tore the man¡¯s arms off. They came free with a shower of blood and meat, and the fighter fell to the ground where Elijah stomped on his head with all the might he could muster. That¡¯s when the remaining fighter realized just how outmatched he was. He used some ability, disappearing from Elijah¡¯s sight. But that didn¡¯t matter, because he was still visible via One with Nature. Elijah kicked the dead body near his feet, sending it spinning through the air to collide with the man who¡¯d suddenly gone invisible. That interrupted the ability, and he flickered back into view just in time for Elijah to use Brand of the Stalker and pounce on him. It was just as Elijah snapped out, wrapping his jaws around the unfortunate man¡¯s shoulder, that the defender finally returned. More importantly, the Healer had made it, too, though her arms were still ruined. She cast a heal on Elijah¡¯s current opponent, but there was no way she could keep up with the damage he caused. The man dropped dead a moment later, his chest caved in and his heart destroyed. Just as Elijah whipped around to confront the defender, the woman rammed her shield into his side, sending him skidding backward. When he lashed out a counterattack, he found himself hitting only a familiar golden plane of ethera. It even dissipated the momentum of his strike, allowing the defender to use her sword to strike with absolute impunity. In response, Elijah jerked his attention away from the nearly-impervious defender and threw himself at the Healer. Or at least that was what he tried to do. In reality, his feet remained stuck to the ground, obviously under the effect of some sort of spell. ¡°I can¡¯t hold it long!¡± screamed the Healer. ¡°Immobilize only lasts thirty seconds, and that¡¯s if it¡¯s not partially resisted!¡± ¡°Run!¡± screamed the defender. ¡°I won¡¯t leave you ¨C¡± Elijah let out a roar of frustration as he tried to jerk his feet from the floor. It didn¡¯t work, but the tiles began to break, which spurred on his efforts. ¡°The other team is down a floor!¡± shouted the defender. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine! Just go!¡± Elijah backhanded the defender, and he was rewarded with a slight crack in the ethereal shield. However, the defender remained upright and alive, a fact which infuriated Elijah. Finally convinced, the Healer turned and ran. Her gait was unbalanced ¨C likely because of her useless arms, which were hanging by a few ligaments and a couple of strips of skin ¨C and she stumbled into the wall. Still, she kept going, turning a corner just as Elijah felt the tiles at his feet break free. That was all he needed, and he threw himself down the hall. Yet, he once again found himself stymied when he hit another plane of force. This one shimmered with silver energy, and though he smashed through it only a couple of seconds later, he knew the delay was enough of a headstart to ensure the Healer¡¯s escape. ¡°Just you and me, monster.¡± Elijah turned, his frustration having long since turned to rage. ¡°Monster? Do you want to see how monstrous I can be? Do you? Fine.¡± Then, he used the Silver Bracer of Rage, augmenting his already-monstrous Strength as he bounded toward the defender. So far, he¡¯d only tried to bypass the woman because she didn¡¯t really pose much of a threat. But now? She was the only one left, and so, she drew the entirety of his attention. She took the first blow on her shield, counterattacking with a low sweep of her sword. The blade hit Elijah in the shin, but he ignored it. She didn¡¯t have much in the way of offensive power. Only defense. In a lot of ways, she was similar to what he expected his lamellar ape form should have been. The only difference was that he had quite a few more levels, better cultivation, and much higher Strength. The results of that combination were predictable. His first attack dented her shield, and his second ripped it from her grip. She continued to back away as he pummeled her, but she couldn¡¯t escape his wrath. She also activated one ability after another. Most were variations of shields, but there were a few attacks in there as well. None of them were capable of inflicting serious harm upon Elijah, though one caused a persistent bleeding effect even though it barely pierced his scales. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It didn¡¯t matter. Elijah pummeled the woman until she was battered and broken. He wanted to kill her. With so much rage coursing through him, there was a part of him that actually needed it. But at the last moment, he pulled back and forced himself to return to his human form. Breathing hard ¨C and not because of exertion ¨C Elijah stared at the woman¡¯s twisted form. She had multiple broken bones, more than a few dislocated joints, and she was barely conscious. In short ¨C she was no threat. Not anymore. He didn¡¯t need to kill her. Sure, someone could heal her later. And they probably would. But for now? In order to accomplish his goals? It just wasn¡¯t necessary. And besides, he didn¡¯t want to be the sort of person who resorted to murder at every turn. Often, it was warranted. But in this instance? There was no reason to take that next step. So, without further thought, he turned, shifted into his draconid form, and disappeared around the corner. The moment he did, he used Guise of the Unseen and found the staircase he needed to descend to the next floor down. * * * Bruce Garet paced back and forth, staring at the old office building. Nobody had bothered to disconnect it from the electrical grid, so there were a few flickering lights shining through the windows. Most of it was dark, though. Three full groups of his adventurers surrounded him, each member nearly high enough level to place themselves on the power ladder. He¡¯d sent three more such groups into the building to find and kill the monster that had set off the Guild Hall¡¯s defenses. ¡°Lost contact with Blue Team,¡± said his second-in-command, Mariah. She was much stronger than he was in combat, but she lacked his vision. And besides, his archetype and class weren¡¯t intended to personally fight any battles. He was a Tactician by archetype and a Guild Leader by class. As such, nearly every aspect of his power set was devoted to leading, managing, and augmenting the members of the guild. Certainly, they had to swear an oath to his organization, but for what he had to offer, many were willing to do whatever it took. ¡°Three dead. Two are alive, but one unconscious.¡± Bruce glanced at Mariah, who was looking at a tablet. She had a Warrior archetype, with the War Captain class. It had combat abilities ¨C and solid attribute bonuses as well ¨C but the true value of the class was that it gave her skills that eased the burden of managing battles. She could keep track of up to six teams at once, and each of those were given a buff that increased their Constitution by a significant amount. That, combined with Bruce¡¯s own buffs, had given them a distinct advantage in any conflict. Until now. ¡°What ¨C¡± ¡°Red team disabled. Two dead. Three unconscious.¡± ¡°What the hell is in there?!¡± demanded Bruce. ¡°Unclear,¡± Mariah answered in her characteristically monotone voice. The woman was invaluable, but a people person, she was not. Just then, a figure came running out of the front door, her arms flapping at her sides. It took Bruce a moment to recognize her as the Blue team Healer, though he couldn¡¯t remember her name. Only when she drew closer and he saw the severity of her wounds as well as the sheer panic on her face did he snap back to attention. When she reached the group of men and women, she fell to her knees as she sobbed uncontrollably. ¡°M-monster. Worse than anything I saw in the tower. I¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I don¡¯t know what it is¡­it¡¯s¡­the devil¡­¡± Just then, something crashed through the sixth floor window, landing only a dozen feet in front of the building¡¯s front door. It was a body. ¡°Green team has engaged,¡± Mariah said as two other Healers collapsed onto the fallen woman. But one look was all it took for Bruce to write her off. The damage to her arms was too severe, but even worse was her demeanor. He¡¯d seen it before. She would never willingly fight again. ¡°One dead. Two still fighting. One missing. The last is unconscious.¡± ¡°Stabilize her. We need answers,¡± Bruce said. At that moment, he wished he had more abilities to keep track of his people, but that wasn¡¯t the focus of his class. He could augment them, so long as they were in range, and he could even offer quests, though they were limited both in scope as well as reward. But it was that ability that had given him so much power. After all, running towers was already lucrative. Doing so with a quest resulted in even more wealth. The same was true for mundane tasks associated with running the guild. If someone wanted to hire them as guards, he could offer a quest to his people in order to augment their pay. Or if some monster needed to be hunted. Bruce knew he¡¯d only scratched the surface of what was possible, and he envisioned a day when he had a global network of adventurers working for him. Not only would it help keep the world free from tower surges, but it would be incredibly lucrative for him as well ¨C both in terms of ethereum as well as experience. Because the larger his guild, the more experience he got. If he kept going like he was, he would be at the top of the power ladder in no time. But none of that would happen if he couldn¡¯t take the city. Or if all his people died at the hands ¨C or claws ¨C of whatever monster had tried to invade the headquarters. The two Healers did as they¡¯d been asked, and though the girl was still crippled, she was at least coherent. So, he knelt beside her and asked, ¡°What happened? What was it?¡± ¡°Monster. Man. I don¡¯t know,¡± she said. Then, she went on to describe being attacked by some sort of lizard creature, then another, much larger scaled monster. There was a human somewhere in the mix as well. Bruce didn¡¯t know what to make of it, and he didn¡¯t have time to think it through before Mariah announced, ¡°Green team is down. All dead. Purple team down as well.¡± ¡°Someone¡¯s coming out!¡± shouted one member of the team. Bruce looked up to see a man push through the front door. From a distance, his features were difficult to make out, but Bruce could see the basics well enough. He was short ¨C maybe five and a half feet all ¨C and wiry, with a mop of curly blonde hair and a full beard to match. He carried a staff that was about the same length as he was tall, and his clothes were unremarkable, though he wore a bright red sash, a magnificent fur cloak, and a grey leather purse at his waist. All in all, Bruce recognized the eclectic attire for what it was. The man was wearing a treasure trove of high-quality equipment that had clearly originated in a tower. That meant he was dangerous. ¡°Stop!¡± Bruce shouted. To his surprise, the man did just that. ¡°I guess you¡¯re the big man in charge, huh?¡± came a slightly raspy voice. ¡°I¡¯m going to have to request that you surrender immediately. Otherwise, I¡¯ll end up killing everyone here. I¡¯m trying to be less of a murder-hobo lately, but people keep attacking me, which makes it a lot more difficult. I never was good at self-improvement, though. But it¡¯s not a journey of a day, right? The goal is to be a little less murder-hobo-y each day. And given that I killed a city only a couple of months ago, I think I¡¯m making progress.¡± ¡°Killed a city¡­¡± ¡°Oh, right. You all probably don¡¯t know about that. Forget I said anything. Now, are you going to surrender? Or am I going to have to backslide on the murder-hobo thing?¡± ¡°Kill this clown,¡± Bruce said, embracing Strength in Numbers:
Strength in Numbers Empower your official guild members, increasing each of their physical attributes by twenty (20) points. Range dependent on Ethera attribute. Current: 100 yards. Out of range guild members will be unaffected.
He also used Haste of the Guild:
Haste of the Guild Empower your official guild members, increasing their haste by 3%. Range dependent on Ethera attribute. Current: 100 yards. Out of range guild members will be unaffected.
Finally, he used Tactical Superiority, which was actually an ability from his archetype, rather than his class:
Tactical Superiority Empower your army, lessening damage taken by 5%. Also increases their damage by 3%. Range dependent on Ethera attribute. Current: 50 yards.
Thus empowered, three groups of adventurers attacked the lone figure. And though they had the advantage of numbers, Bruce backed away, ready to use the ace up his sleeve if it looked like they were going to lose. 4-51. Sacrifice Silvery light shone down on the street between the guild headquarters and the abandoned building as Bruce eagerly watched three groups of seasoned adventurers rush toward the lone figure. Their defenders led the way ¨C two of which held shields, while the other was armed only with a massive sword ¨C while the melee fighters fanned out to surround the man. All three Sorcerers began the process of casting their most potent spells, while the Healers lagged behind. Finally, the two Rangers were the furthest away, ready to pepper the man with arrows the moment the defenders engaged. It was a standard formation for fighting through the tower, and even if it wasn¡¯t ideal against an intelligent opponent, it had become habit for the members of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Meanwhile, Bruce and Mariah stayed far enough behind that they would be able to avoid any stray attacks. And if it came down to it, Bruce would have time to do what needed to be done. But he wouldn¡¯t commit to that path just yet. He had faith in his people, especially against a singular opponent. Often, he¡¯d claimed that his adventurers could hold up even against those monsters at the top of the power rankings, so he had every reason to believe they could hold their own against the man standing so nonchalantly in front of the building. ¡°Murder-hobo-ing it is, then,¡± the fellow said. Then, Bruce felt the ambient ethera swirl. ¡°Shields!¡± he shouted. The Healers responded to his order with drilled quickness, and a series of shields sprang up around them. Then, another set enveloped the Sorcerers, who were the second-most-vulnerable members of the force. The next target would be the Rangers, though they never got the chance for that before the sky opened and lightning forked down from suddenly manifested clouds. Blades of wind cut through his people, kicking up dust and debris even as the earth roiled and broke beneath them. Shouts of panic filled the air, but Bruce was happy to see that his people kept their wits about them. A fly bit him in the neck, and he slapped the tiny insect, killing it. ¡°What do you think ¨C¡± Another bite. Then another. It was only after the fourth that he looked inward and shouted, ¡°Watch for afflictions!¡± As the Healers responded, blanketing the area with curing spells, he drank a potion. Mariah did the same, though she still seemed as calm as ever. ¡°The affliction is not initially life-threatening for anyone above fifty Constitution,¡± she intoned, still reading from the tablet she¡¯d somehow linked to her powers. Luckily, they were far enough from the localized storm that she didn¡¯t have to shout. ¡°But it compounds. Each instance will do five percent more damage and be slightly more difficult to cure.¡± ¡°Monstrous flies?¡± ¡°Conjured,¡± Mariah answered. ¡°More powerful than they should be.¡± ¡°Equipment?¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± she acknowledged. ¡°It is difficult to say for sure.¡± Bruce shook his head and focused on the battle. He was horrified to see that the man was gone, and in his place was some sort of scaled monstrosity that looked like someone had crossed a lizard and a sasquatch, with a little bit of gorilla thrown in for good measure. The monster was enormous, and judging by the way it sent his highest-level tanks staggering with every blow, it was ridiculously strong. More distressingly, when the Rangers¡¯ arrows hit its hide ¨C along with the melee fighters weapons ¨C it resulted in very little damage. ¡°What is going on there? Is that some sort of pet? Where did it come from?¡± ¡°That is the man,¡± Mariah said. ¡°He has a transformation ability, likely associated with his class. By my calculations, he is capable of mitigating up to ninety percent of all incoming physical damage ¨C less if his Constitution is lower than his opponent¡¯s highest attribute ¨C at the cost of stamina.¡± A fireball from one of the Sorcerers hit him. ¡°And the damage from elemental spells seems to have been cut significantly as well. That, I believe is due to a buff of some sort, though without further observation, I can not say for certain.¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± growled Bruce, watching the man-creature leap over one of the tanks and grab hold of a Healer. Before anyone could react, the foe spun like a hammer-thrower, then launched the healer down the street. The woman flew for nearly fifty yards before hitting the pavement, bouncing a couple of times, and then rolling to a stop. She didn¡¯t move after that. ¡°What are you orders, sir?¡± asked Mariah. ¡°There is time to retreat. We can bunker down in the Headquarters. Thad¡¯s traps are still active.¡± ¡°The one on the roof was the strongest he could create,¡± Bruce said. Indeed, the Trapper was one of the highest-leveled members of the guild, and his traps were legendary for their potency. ¡°If that couldn¡¯t take this guy out, then what makes you think any of the others will?¡± ¡°We could engage in a fighting retreat,¡± she suggested. ¡°Perhaps we can exhaust him. Stamina is a finite resource, even if it is not as quantifiable as ethera.¡± Bruce ignored her. Instead, he was doing the calculations in his head. Even if they managed to defeat the creature, what good would it do? The guild¡¯s most powerful members would be killed, which would make the guild vulnerable to a takeover by that idealist idiot Isaiah and his lackeys from Ranier. And they would win, too. Sure, the Adventurers had the advantage now, but it was tenuous. Any losses would affect their ability to maintain control. But losses didn¡¯t seem avoidable in this instance. Was it time? If he took the final step, he¡¯d lose everything. However, he would survive. More, he would kill the man who¡¯d ruined everything. And Isaiah, too, if he was lucky. Maybe that stubborn Gardener as well. All of that raced through Bruce¡¯s mind as he watched yet another one of his guild members die ¨C this time, a Sorcerer was crushed to paste by a series of pounding strikes that looked strikingly like a gorilla attack. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. He glanced at Mariah, saying, ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I didn¡¯t want to do this.¡± ¡°What was that, sir?¡± she asked, not looking up from her tablet. ¡°Nothing.¡± Then, he used Dissolution.
Dissolution Sacrifice your entire guild, gaining power according to the number of underlings killed. Gain 5 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution for every sacrifice. Bonus increases by 35% for every minute active. Maximum effect based on Ethera Attribute. Current: 196 Attribute points in each category. Duration based on Regeneration Attribute. Current: 6.2 Minutes
Bruce had more than five thousand guild members ¨C most of which were comparatively low-leveled ¨C under him, but he would only gain power from twenty of them. Yet, the ability had no degrees. It was all or nothing. Either he sacrificed every member of the guild, all at once, or none of them. There was no in-between. No half-measures. And while so many of those deaths would be wasted, the ones who did count toward the buff would give him the power to overcome the enemy. All around him, his people fell. Dissolution didn¡¯t instantly kill, so the monster-man finished a few off before the rest lost their lives. As they did, Bruce stepped forward, an influx of attributes crashing into him like a runaway truck. He staggered under the increased power, but more distressingly, he felt his muscles bulge to ridiculous proportions. His clothes ripped to pieces as he grew, both in bulk as well as height, until he was even larger than his chosen enemy. He flexed his fist. ¡°I could get used to this,¡± he rumbled as his tattered clothing fell away. Then, naked as the day he was born, he stepped forward, his footfall loud in the suddenly silent street. * * * Elijah stared in horror at the transformed man. He was enormous ¨C at least fifteen feet tall, and as muscular as any bodybuilder ¨C but his body was asymmetrical. One arm was almost a foot longer and far bulkier than the other, and he moved with a limp because his legs followed the same pattern. A huge lump of muscle grew from his back, looking like a tumor and giving him the appearance of a hunchback. He was also quite hirsute, putting Elijah in mind of the missing link between humanity and its prehistoric predecessors. But Elijah was more concerned with the fact that the entire group of Adventurers ¨C eleven that were left ¨C had simply keeled over and died. He knew it wasn¡¯t the effect of his Swarm, either. As powerful as his afflictions were, there was no evidence that they¡¯d had a chance to build so effectively. That meant something else had happened. ¡°He used an ability,¡± came Isaiah¡¯s voice. ¡°We knew Bruce had it, but I never thought¡­¡± The man stepped forward, and Elijah asked, ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°Increases his attributes¡­by¡­a lot. According to my surveillance, he sacrificed every single guild member for a temporary boost in power. They¡¯re all dead. Almost five thousand adventurers,¡± Elijah heard through the earpiece. ¡°You should probably run.¡± Elijah had no intention of doing that. He¡¯d fought people with high attributes before, and he knew he¡¯d have to do so again. So, without further hesitation, he charged the transformed man. He hit the monstrosity with a shoulder tackle that knocked him back a few feet. However, for Elijah, it felt like he¡¯d just rammed an immovable rampart. Despite his momentum, size, and incredible Strength, the maneuver was completely ineffective. Bruce shouted something unintelligible, then snapped out a punch that sent Elijah skidding backward. Because he¡¯d had Iron Scales active, it was only marginally effective. Yet, Elijah had discovered a few things about the ability. It was incredible against piercing and slashing attacks, but it was less effective against blunt force. It still stopped plenty of damage, but some of that momentum still went through his hide to wreak havoc on the more vulnerable bits beneath his scales. Regardless, Elijah took the blow in stride, then leaped back into the fray. As he did, he saw that a thorn had pierced Bruce¡¯s forearm. It hadn¡¯t gone more than a quarter of an inch deep, which told him that Bruce¡¯s Constitution was at least as high as his Strength. For the next minute, they traded blows, and Elijah felt confident that they were fairly equal in terms of power ¨C which was frightening enough ¨C but just as the fight passed the one-minute mark, Elijah started to get the worst of each exchange. The fight continued, and the thunderous punches began to take a toll. Finally, a hit landed that sent him tumbling backward into the remnants of a wall. When he crashed into it, he was buried in dislodged bricks and mortar. ¡°What the hell?¡± he muttered, climbing free from the pile of rubble. ¡°Is he getting stronger?¡± ¡°I think so,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°Like I already told you ¨C you should¡¯ve just run.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re right,¡± Elijah said, already initiating a shift into Shape of the Sky. The man was strong, but he couldn¡¯t fly. That gave Elijah the escape route he needed. Once Bruce saw Elijah¡¯s transformation, he charged, but the metamorphosis completed before the giant, misshapen man arrived. So, without hesitation, Elijah leaped into the air. Bruce roared, picked up a giant hunk of cement, and threw it at Elijah. By that point, he was a few dozen feet above the ground, but he was incapable of dodging the boulder that moved at the speed of a bullet. It hit him in the leg, throwing him off balance and sending him plummeting back toward the ground. Where Bruce waited. Eliijah knew he had not chance of survival if the monstrous man managed to get his grubby hands on him while he was using Shape of the Sky. It had no real defenses, and given that even when using Iron Scales in the Shape of the Guardian, he¡¯d taken damage, he knew precisely what would happen. So, he beat his wings to slow his fall, then initiated another shift. Not into the lamellar ape form. Nor did he adopt the draconid form. Instead, he returned to his human shape and cast Storm¡¯s Fury. The lightning bolt descended, hitting the giant man directly in the forehead. It didn¡¯t do much, but it stunned Bruce for just long enough to keep him from latching onto Elijah. He hit the ground hard, his already-injured leg crumpling under him. But he didn¡¯t let that stop him. Using one facet of his Quartz Mind to cast Soothe, he used another to prepare Snaring Roots. One cast followed the other, and even as blessed relief flowed through him, his other spell erupted into being, manifesting a tangle of thorny vines that wrapped around Bruce¡¯s legs. Elijah leaped away ¨C mostly one-legged ¨C and cast Healing Rain. But Bruce was already ripping free. Snaring Roots had rarely functioned as more than a delaying tactic, and with the man¡¯s augmented power, it was barely even that. But it did give Elijah the chance to cast two more spells. Touch of Nature added its effect to Soothe and Healing Rain, while Shape of the Predator transformed him into a draconid. If he couldn¡¯t outmuscle the man, then he hoped to outmaneuver him. Nothing was better for that than Shape of the Predator. Once it took hold, he darted to the side, ready to fight the battle on completely different terms. 4-52. The Weight of Reality Elijah dashed to the side, then immediately changed directions. The transformed Bruce thundered past him, incapable of changing directions so quickly. He tripped over a pile of rubble, and though he managed to right himself only a moment later, it gave Elijah just enough time to dart in, slash his claws across the man¡¯s calf, then retreat. To his horror, though, he barely even made a scratch. By that point, they¡¯d been going back and forth for a couple of minutes, and Elijah could tell that he was outclassed in terms of sheer power. It was an unfamiliar experience ¨C even against Thor, the two had fought on mostly even terms regarding attributes ¨C and it nullified many of Elijah¡¯s normal strategies. However, he¡¯d discovered a couple of things which had kept him from succumbing. First, running was useless. He¡¯d tried on multiple occasions, but Bruce had more than enough Strength to catch him. So, his only real option was to stand and fight ¨C which wasn¡¯t going well ¨C but at least he hadn¡¯t taken more than a few grazing blows along the way. The second thing he¡¯d figured out was that Bruce was incredibly clumsy. That was almost assuredly due to the fact that he was new to his increased attributes. According to Carmen, that was common. After she¡¯d tossed all of her starting attributes into Strength, it had taken her a few minutes to adjust to all the extra power. And that was only couple of handfuls of points. Bruce¡¯s situation was much more extreme. That was the only factor that kept Elijah from being overwhelmed. He was weaker, slower, and far more vulnerable than the transformed man. But he¡¯d come upon his attributes the natural way, and as such, he was far more accustomed to how everything worked. By Isaiah¡¯s estimate, Bruce could only display about seventy percent of his attributes. It would have been higher, but it seemed that each passing minute increased his power, which in turn negated his efforts at adjustment. Still, throwing himself at Elijah wasn¡¯t so difficult, even if controlling that charge was. So, for the past couple of minutes, Elijah had been playing a game of cat and mouse as he attempted to build afflictions in the man. Fortunately, his Soothe and Healing Rain had already mended his damaged leg, so he wasn¡¯t hobbled by any injuries. If he had been, he¡¯d have already lost the battle and his life. Bruce let out a roar, leaping to his feet and throwing an old car door at Elijah. He leaped over it, but even that temporary distraction gave Bruce the opening he needed to hit Elijah with a vicious backhand that sent him bouncing across the road. He came to a rest in a pile of bodies that had once been a group of adventurers. He tried to rise, but his leg collapsed beneath him. It wasn¡¯t broken, but it had been twisted out of joint. And with Bruce bearing down on him, he only had one choice. Elijah shifted back to his human form and cast Soothe, then Touch of Nature. He barely had a chance to shove his dislocated knee back into place before Bruce reached him. The man reached down with one enormous hand. Elijah tried to knock that grabbing fingers away, but they were undeniable. Suddenly, Bruce had his hand around Elijah¡¯s waist. He lifted him. And Elijah shoved his staff into the man¡¯s eye. Garet reeled, loosening his grip only slightly, which Elijah used to wriggle his way free. But his escape was only temporary, because almost as soon as he hit the ground, he felt a large foot connect with his ribs. Abruptly, Elijah found himself sailing through the air like a punted football, and a moment later, he thudded into the side of a building. The impact cracked a couple of ribs and at least one of his vertebrae, but Elijah was more concerned with the upcoming fall. He thrust his hand out, grabbing a metal windowsill, arresting his descent. But his respite only lasted a split second before he felt something rushing in his direction. He turned to see that Bruce had leaped toward him, likely thinking he could finally finish Elijah off. So, Elijah let go. As he did, he shifted back into his Shape of the Sky, and before he hit the ground, the transformation had completed. He beat his wings, leveling off and gliding away. As he did, Bruce kicked off the building and rocketed in Elijah¡¯s direction. To counter, Elijah tried to gain altitude, but he was too slow. Bruce clipped his wing, cracking the delicate bones and sending Elijah twirling back toward the ground. He hit, cartwheeling over a pile of rubble and coming to a rest only a moment later. About thirty yards away, Bruce landed, cracking the pavement with the impact. Then, he picked up another rock and threw it in Elijah¡¯s direction. The Shape of the Sky wasn¡¯t meant for ground travel, so he only barely managed to skitter out of the way. As he did, he initiated another transformation into his human form so he could heal. He never got the chance, because by the time he completely shifted, Bruce was back on top of him. His enormous fist fell with inevitability, and though Elijah tried to escape its path, he was hemmed in by the rubble and his injured arm. Even so, every facet of his Quartz Mind was working on his situation. One was casting Soothe again. Another held Healing Rain just on the edge of activation. And still another was ready to use Touch of Nature. Finally, he had Shape of the Guardian queued up, though he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever get the chance to use it. His Constitution was high, but against the monstrous man¡¯s ever-rising Strength, it was nothing. Even so, Elijah lashed out with his staff, and he was lucky enough to clip Bruce¡¯s most vulnerable bits. It was little more than a graze, but as any man could attest, that was enough to at least foster a distraction. And as it happened, that tiny hitch in Bruce¡¯s attack gave Elijah the time he needed to complete the cast of Soothe. More importantly, it allowed him to scramble backward over the rubble and escape the descending fist. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! It thundered into the pile of cement, crushing it to dust as Elijah rolled free. Healing Rain completed casting at that moment, bathing him rejuvenating precipitation. And finally, he managed to channel Touch of Nature, mending his wounded arm enough that when he sprang to his feet, he did so with much more verve and plenty of vigor. That¡¯s when he caught a front kick to the chest that nearly caved his ribs in. It launched him backward like he¡¯d been launched from the world¡¯s largest slingshot, and he didn¡¯t land for almost an entire second. When he did, he skipped across the ground, narrowly managing to complete the cast of Shape of the Guardian before coming to a stop nearly a hundred-and-fifty yards away from where he¡¯d started. He picked himself up. Even with Soothe and Touch of Nature, he was still very injured. And he was well out of range of Healing Rain. But with every passing second, Soothe helped mend his wounds. The problem was that with all his shapeshifting and casting, he knew he was on the verge of being out of ethera. More troubling, he had no idea how to win the fight. And given how quickly Bruce was covering the ground between them, he couldn¡¯t escape, either. Because not only had the man gotten even stronger and faster, but he seemed to be adjusting to his attributes, too. Soon, Elijah would be outclassed in every department. His mind raced as he tried to think of a plan. He¡¯d tried to fly away, and to no avail. Every time he¡¯d launched himself into the sky, Bruce had brought him down with thrown boulders. He¡¯d tried to escape on foot, but that had been even less effective. And fighting seemed to be a dead end as well. But there had to be a way. Elijah braced for impact, seeing that his Silver Bracer of Rage had come off cooldown. He used the ability, adding more Strength to his total. Then, he met the enraged and enlarged man, Strength to Strength, and he was horrified to find that he wasn¡¯t even close to a match. He was thrown to the ground as if he was nothing more than a child¡¯s toy, and then Bruce started to get serious. Elijah tried to fight back, using his boxing background to parry punches and block kicks. But he was so far outclassed that even those efforts resulted in injuries. In moments, he¡¯d felt more bones break, and he knew he would be forced to use Guardian¡¯s Renewal soon if he wanted to survive. But then what? He couldn¡¯t keep up. And the man was getting stronger all the time. Each facet of Elijah¡¯s mind whirled as it tried to find an answer, but in the end, there was none to be found. Against such superior power, none of his versatility mattered. He just didn¡¯t have the ability to win the fight. He couldn¡¯t give up, though. So, he fought on, eventually using Guardian¡¯s Renewal as a last-ditch gambit to escape. His body mended, and he kicked out. Miraculously, his foot connected with Bruce¡¯s knee, buckling it slightly. That was the opening Elijah needed, and he threw himself to his feet, bowling the off-balance man to the ground. In the past, he would have fallen upon his enemy with a flurry of powerful blows. But in this case, he knew it would do no good. Even catching the man completely off-guard, he¡¯d done no lasting damage. He was too durable. His Constitution was too high. So, Elijah ran. He poured every ounce of Strength he could muster into a straightway spring, and he accelerated with the speed of a sportscar. Yet, he could feel the recovered guild leader hot on his heels. Elijah tried to corner, kicking off a destroyed semi-truck to facilitate a turn. That¡¯s when Bruce caught up, hitting him with a shoulder tackle that knocked him back into the truck. The vehicle flipped three times, and Elijah barely managed to avoid being crushed beneath the thing. Bruce caught him by the neck and lifted him off his feet. ¡°You cost me everything!¡± he rumbled his voice distorted and cracking. Elijah didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he scratched and clawed, but he knew it would do no good. His efforts only left a few red marks on the man¡¯s hirsute skin. But he refused to give in. He refused to go down without fighting to the last moment. One blow after another rained down on Elijah, and eventually, he stopped blocking. Not by choice. But because each one fell with the weight of an industrial power hammer, pushing him to the verge of unconsciousness. Then, just before Elijah¡¯s body reached the end of its endurance, something changed. The sound of gunshots echoed in his ears, but it took a moment for Elijah¡¯s head to clear. When it did, he saw that a swarm of drones hovered nearby, and each one sported a cannon beneath its fuselage. However, instead of shooting bullets, they fired balls of ethera that reminded Elijah of Ethereal Bolt. When they hit Bruce¡¯s giant form, they elicited a brief instant of a stun. Normally, that wouldn¡¯t have mattered. But with more than a hundred of the things firing one after another, it chained into something effective. Elijah stared, dumbfounded by the situation until Isaiah screamed in his ear, ¡°Run! I can¡¯t keep this up much longer! I¡¯m almost out of ethera!¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Whaa¡­¡± Then, the weight of Isaiah¡¯s words hit him, and he awkwardly crawled to his feet. After that, with the backdrop of all of those blue ethereal bolts, he staggered away. His entire body was in agony, but still, he pushed on. Until the drones went quiet. It didn¡¯t take Bruce long to recover after that, and when he did, he let out a roar and quickly caught up to Elijah, knocking him over and sending him skidding across the ground on his stomach. He screamed something Elijah didn¡¯t hear, then rolled him over. Elijah tried to resist, but his body was limp. His energy was gone. And his consciousness was barely hanging on. Bruce towered over him, a menacing glare twisting his misshapen features as he announced his superiority. Then, he reached back, preparing to deliver what they both knew would be the final blow. Elijah closed his eyes, waiting for the proverbial hammer to fall. It never did. But a second later, something else fell atop him. It writhed for a second, then went still. Elijah opened his eyes to see that Bruce¡¯s naked body ¨C which had gone back to his normal size ¨C lying atop him. He pushed it off. The man tried to fend him off, but his hands were weak. Barely better than someone without an archetype. Elijah awkwardly reached out, his claws wrapping around Bruce¡¯s head. The man screamed. Elijah ignored it. And then, at last, he squeezed with all the strength he had left. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was enough that he soon felt brains and skull oozing between his fingers. Then, he fell backward, his breath coming in ragged gasps as he struggled to remain conscious. 4-53. One Down, One to Go Elijah lay there, staring up at the twinkling stars. One thing he¡¯d noticed about the desert was just how clear the nights were. He could see so much, which elicited so many questions about the larger universe. How many of those stars hosted planets? Was K¡¯hana¡¯s home planet up there? What about Ramik¡¯s? Kurik¡¯s? Would he one day visit those places? Not if he ran into another monster like the guild master, Bruce Garet. The man had been much more powerful than Elijah had been led to believe, and because of that, he¡¯d been completely outclassed. If the man¡¯s transformation hadn¡¯t run its course, the battle would have ended much differently. He sighed. It had been a while since he¡¯d been made to feel so weak. So ineffectual. It was like he¡¯d gone back to his first days after washing ashore on his island, when even the crabs were capable of killing him. Despite all the work he¡¯d put into his cultivation, all the levels he¡¯d gained, he was not invincible. Even someone like Garet, in the right situation, could defeat him. It was a lesson he should have learned after his fight with the Warden, but back then, he¡¯d been a little too preoccupied to properly internalize anything of the sort. Now, though, he had that luxury. And the lesson was a simple one: context mattered. The world wasn¡¯t simple. Levels mattered ¨C and so did cultivation ¨C but neither was a guarantee of victory. The most powerful person didn¡¯t always win. There were other factors that contributed to every set of circumstances. One of those was equipment ¨C with the right set of gear, a person could far outperform his level ¨C but even more impactful was context. In a vacuum, Garet couldn¡¯t hold a candle to Elijah. But after whatever ability he¡¯d used? He displayed a level of power that far exceeded anything Elijah had ever fought. That meant that Elijah couldn¡¯t keep going through the world like he was unassailable. He¡¯d gotten a bit cocky after attaining the top spot on the power rankings. But while that was quite an achievement, it wasn¡¯t the guarantee of superiority he¡¯d once thought it would be. After all, there weren¡¯t that many levels separating the ones at the top of the ladder from the people who weren¡¯t even on it. On top of that, he often punched above his weight, and that meant that others could do so as well. All they needed was the right circumstance. It seemed obvious in retrospect, but Elijah had been riding high off of his own successes, and he¡¯d ignored common sense. Just because he had power, it didn¡¯t mean that he was omnipotent. And he would do well to remember that, or he would end up biting off more than he could chew. Again. As those thoughts gripped him, Elijah heard Isaiah¡¯s voice through his earpiece asking, ¡°Do you require a Healer? We don¡¯t have many, but ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just give me a minute,¡± Elijah groaned, sitting up. He¡¯d let his bestial form fall away, and he could see just how much damage he¡¯d taken. It wasn¡¯t pretty, either. Multiple broken bones, but fortunately, none were severe. Many lacerations. A body that was already turning black and blue from all of the contusions. A slight concussion that he¡¯d isolated into one facet of his Mind. And he felt certain that there was at least a little internal bleeding. But the most serious issue was that his sternum had been cracked, which made breathing difficult ¨C to say the least. So, that was his first target for healing. As soon as he¡¯d gained enough ethera to cast, he used Soothe and Healing Rain before channeling Touch of Nature. After his sternum was healed, Elijah stopped focusing on any particular injury. Instead, he let the healing suffuse his entire body. It was slower for specific wounds, but it would bring him to full health much more quickly. In the end, he managed to get back on his feet after only an hour. During that time, he noticed Isaiah¡¯s drones buzzing around and looting the bodies of the adventurers. At first, Elijah had hoped that they¡¯d only been knocked unconscious, but it quickly became clear that Garet¡¯s ability ¨C whatever it was called ¨C had killed them. ¡°Such a waste,¡± he muttered. And it was. All those people dead because they couldn¡¯t coexist with their neighbors. It was more complicated than that ¨C because it always was ¨C but that was the underlying theme. They wanted power and control, and they were willing to take it by force. ¡°Do you know how he did it?¡± ¡°I have my suspicions,¡± Isaiah answered. Then, he described the situation as he understood it. Garet had sacrificed everyone in his guild for temporary power. ¡°I think most of that sacrifice went to waste, or you wouldn¡¯t have survived as long as you did.¡± Elijah sighed. There were an infinite number of abilities out there that he didn¡¯t understand, and he suspected that one day, his lack of knowledge would come back and bite him. In the fight against Garet, it almost had. ¡°You know I¡¯m entitled to that gear,¡± Elijah said. ¡°My kills, my loot.¡± ¡°I am aware,¡± Isaiah stated. ¡°Perhaps we can work out a deal where I can purchase everything. And I think it is fair to split the contents of the guild hall.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Elijah didn¡¯t like that idea. He¡¯d done most of the work, after all. But he wasn¡¯t so greedy that he intended to cut Isaiah off altogether. ¡°Seems more like a seventy-thirty kind of thing.¡± After that, they began their negotiations. It didn¡¯t take long, largely because Elijah wasn¡¯t really all that interested, aside from a desire not to roll over. His funds had taken quite a hit after his most recent expenditures, but he knew he could always earn more ethereum. By the time they were finished, he just said, ¡°How about you just pay me for anything I don¡¯t want to personally use? Give me fifty gold, and you can have it all.¡± ¡°Deal.¡± By that point, Elijah had finished recuperating to the point where he felt confident in flying back to the capitol, where he intended to pick K¡¯hana up and head to Lucy¡¯s. So, he used Shape of the Sky, then launched himself into the air. After flapping his wings a few times, he gained enough altitude that he could glide to his destination. However, even that small amount of movement told him that he wasn¡¯t quite as healed as he¡¯d thought. He would need a little more time before he was back to normal. So, as gingerly as he could, he landed near the capitol¡¯s makeshift wall. He¡¯d made sure not to drop down on top of the guards, but he was still close enough that they were forced to react. Thankfully, Isaiah had already let them know what was going on, so they didn¡¯t launch any attacks, and after Elijah shifted back to his human form, they allowed him inside, albeit with an escort that led him across the grounds and into the building. He didn¡¯t end up back in Isaiah¡¯s office, though. Instead, he was led deeper into the capitol building and to a large chamber that looked like every military command center he¡¯d seen in movies. Large screens decorated the walls, while dozens of people in black fatigues worked at various computers. Isaiah stood in the center, with K¡¯hana primly seated nearby. Elijah approached. ¡°So, this is the heart of your operation, huh?¡± he asked. Hands clutched behind his back, Isaiah didn¡¯t even glance away from the screen as he said, ¡°Not at all. I¡¯m the heart of the operation. Everything here is so others can do their jobs.¡± ¡°I see. So, what¡¯s the plan? I took care of your adventurer problem, and I¡¯m guessing you still want me to do something about Mercer Mesa,¡± Elijah guessed. ¡°I do. A frontal assault on the Mesa is suicide. They have multiple people with classes meant for defense,¡± Isaiah explained as a map of the plateau flashed on the screen. ¡°Anyone who tries to climb those cliffs is going to get a deadly surprise. I¡¯ve seen it happen, and it¡¯s not pretty.¡± ¡°Nature of the defenses?¡± ¡°Traps, mostly. But they also have a small army to protect the settlement,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°They are controlled by someone you know.¡± A photograph of an older man with blindingly white teeth and a boater¡¯s tan replaced the map of Mercer Mesa. ¡°Barry?¡± ¡°He took Administrator as an archetype,¡± Isaiah explained. ¡°That became a class called Demagogue. The people who work for him are loyal to a fault.¡± ¡°He manipulates them with a skill?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more like his arguments are more persuasive,¡± Isaiah answered. ¡°He also has an ability called Incite which will whip them into a frenzy, increasing their attributes.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Why was he stealing when I ran into him in my first time in town? Those people had him cornered. They were going to kill him.¡± ¡°Were they?¡± ¡°Yes. They were. I was there.¡± ¡°But did you see what you thought you saw? This man¡¯s stock and trade is manipulation. He was doing it decades before the world changed, and he certainly didn¡¯t stop afterwards,¡± Isaiah said. That¡¯s when Elijah figured it out. ¡°Those men were never going to hurt him,¡± he guessed. ¡°They probably worked for him. It was all a setup to get me onto the Mesa so he could try to rope me in by dangling his daughter in front of me.¡± ¡°That is my suspicion.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything before?¡± Elijah asked. Isaiah answered, ¡°Because it didn¡¯t matter then. It does now.¡± Elijah gritted his teeth, growling, ¡°I¡¯m going to kill him.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡± After that, Elijah listened as Isaiah went over his proposal for assaulting the Mesa. It wasn¡¯t complex, but it required precise timing and a giant distraction. When they were finished, Elijah excused himself and left the capitol. K¡¯hana stayed behind to work out the details of Arvandor¡¯s alliance with Seattle, though she would join him at Lucy¡¯s when she was done. He didn¡¯t fly to Lucy¡¯s apartment building. Rather, he just walked, which gave him plenty of time to continue healing. So, when he finally reached her building, he was feeling much better than before. Not perfect, but still better. Hopefully, he would be completely healed by morning, because that was when they planned to attack. Still, he hesitated before approaching the building. There were a couple of guards out front ¨C both of whom were wearing crafted gear ¨C so he couldn¡¯t just walk in and knock on the door. But that wasn¡¯t why he hesitated. Instead, he was worried about what Lucy would think of him. For one, despite knowing of Seattle¡¯s situation, he¡¯d ignored it for months. And he¡¯d only barely arrived in time to keep her from being attacked. If the shoe was on the other foot, he¡¯d at least be irritated about that. More than anything, though, he couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious that Lucy would look at him differently once she knew what he¡¯d done in Valoria. Once she knew how many people he¡¯d killed. Would she judge him? Almost certainly. But how harshly was a different question altogether. Oddly, he never considered simply keeping it to himself. He and Lucy had never lied to one another, and he didn¡¯t intend to start now. If that meant she was disgusted by his actions, then so be it. So, with a sigh, he stepped forward and, after getting cleared by the guards, he found his way to Lucy¡¯s apartment. He hesitated for only a few moments before knocking on the door. Lucy ¨C wearing a pair of cotton shorts and a tee-shirt ¨C answered a second later. Her hair was a mess, and her glasses had fallen halfway down her nose, but she still looked just as attractive as ever. ¡°Hey,¡± he said with a forced smile. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°Nothing. Well, not nothing. The adventurers are kind of gone now. But ¨C¡± ¡°I already knew that. Isaiah let me know. I¡¯m talking about the other thing.¡± ¡°What other thing?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Even after all these years, I know you and your looks. And this one,¡± she said, gesturing to his face. ¡°That¡¯s the same as after your parents died. So, what happened?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Can I just come in? It¡¯s kind of a long story.¡± She acquiesced, and after he insisted upon brewing her a cup of his coffee, they settled in. Then, Elijah told her everything. 4-54. Dive Bomb ¡°I couldn¡¯t stop myself,¡± Elijah said, staring at his cup of coffee. He hadn¡¯t taken a single sip, and by now, it had gone completely cold. ¡°I was just so angry. Everywhere I looked, I saw a reminder of how broken that city was. It looked nice. It kept people safe. But it was a cesspool that fed all of humanity¡¯s worst instincts.¡± He looked up. ¡°I killed hundreds of them, Lucy. Thousands, probably. And the worst part of it is that I don¡¯t really regret it,¡± he admitted. ¡°I mean, I feel guilty about losing control. But that guilt ¨C it¡¯s not really strong enough to make me regret it. What I do feel guilty about is that I didn¡¯t do it sooner, that I spent all that time doing nothing, wandering around the world and getting distracted by things that didn¡¯t really matter. I know it wouldn¡¯t have made a difference. If I¡¯d have set out from my island sooner, I probably would have died before I ever got to Easton. And I saved a lot of lives by giving in to those distractions. But still¡­I¡¯d give them all up if it meant I could have saved Alyssa. ¡°Does that make me a bad person? I think that makes me a bad person.¡± ¡°It makes you human,¡± Lucy said, leaning forward as she gripped her own mug in two hands. She¡¯d long since finished her cup of coffee. That wasn¡¯t surprising, though ¨C Elijah had spent the past forty-five minutes rambling about what he¡¯d done after leaving Seattle the last time. Unsurprisingly, the bulk of that had centered on his actions in Valoria, though he did spend a fair amount of time reminiscing with Lucy about fond memories they¡¯d both shared with Alyssa. Elijah had done the same with Carmen, but with Lucy, it was different. Like Elijah, she¡¯d grown up around Alyssa. They had both seen her at her best, at her teenage worst, and everything in between. By comparison, Carmen had only seen the finished product. A fully formed adult woman who knew who she was and what she wanted from the world. ¡°Sometimes, I don¡¯t feel so human anymore,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I mean, I spend a lot of my time running around on four legs. Or flying. I can do that now, by the way. I can actually fly. Do you realize how crazy that sounds?¡± She shook her head, saying, ¡°It wasn¡¯t that long ago that I saw an alligator the size of a passenger plane. In the desert, which doesn¡¯t make sense at all. Oh, and Seattle is now a desert. The world is a crazy place. You flying is the least of it.¡± ¡°I can see down your shirt, by the way. Nice.¡± She sighed, then gave him a small smile. ¡°You always do that.¡± ¡°Look down your shirt? In my defense, it¡¯s like, right there. And I happen to like ¨C¡± ¡°You know that¡¯s not what I mean,¡± she interrupted. ¡°You undercut any emotional moment by diverting the conversation into something else, then make a joke.¡± ¡°What I¡¯m looking at is no joke,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°Do you want to have a real discussion? Or are you going to keep doing this?¡± she asked, obviously frustrated as she set her mug down on the coffee table. Then, she leaned back. ¡°Because if you don¡¯t want to talk about it, all you have to do is say so. I¡¯m not going to push. You don¡¯t have to divert.¡± Elijah let out a long breath, then said, ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t want to talk about it. I know I probably need to, but¡­¡± ¡°But you¡¯re not ready.¡± ¡°Something like that. I¡¯m still working through some things.¡± And he was. It wasn¡¯t at the forefront of his mind, but Elijah did worry about what all the killing was doing to him. It felt easier every time he did it, which was more than a little troubling. As he¡¯d noted in the fight against the adventurers, he was trying to move away from killing as his first response to any conflict, but it seemed that the world was conspiring against that endeavor. Perhaps that was the nature of the multi-verse. Maybe killing was just how problems got solved. But he had no intention of letting those thoughts take over his mind. He had other things that needed his attention. So, he moved the conversation along, explaining what had happened at the guild hall. ¡°He was strong, Lucy. It cost him, though. It¡¯s terrifying, thinking of all the possibilities with certain classes,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I mean, I still don¡¯t know how all of that worked, but he sacrificed those people for a temporary boost in power.¡± ¡°Oaths.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Every member of his adventurer¡¯s guild had to give an oath. It¡¯s why they didn¡¯t have more people,¡± Lucy said. ¡°Lots of the hunters had opportunities to join, but they chose not to because Garet made everyone give some sort of oath. It was backed up by ethera, too. They made a big ceremony out of it as well. I¡¯m willing to bet that part of that oath was an agreement to be sacrificed.¡± ¡°That¡­that makes it a little less frightening,¡± Elijah admitted. If people had to consent to something like that, then its power was limited. However, it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that, in some places, someone with a similar class might force the issue. Roman certainly would have if such a thing had been available to him. But it was good that there were limits. ¡°But we don¡¯t need to worry about them anymore. The entire guild is dead. Now, I just have to deal with Mercer Mesa.¡± ¡°How are you going to do it?¡± she asked. ¡°Violently.¡± ¡°You just said ¨C¡± ¡°Those people are trash,¡± Elijah said. ¡°If they were hoarding a luxury, it would be different. But they¡¯re monopolizing a necessity. Without that water, people die. They already have, from what I understand. This whole thing can be laid at their feet. Am I wrong about that?¡± He¡¯d thought about it a lot, and as far as he could tell, the people of Mercer were responsible for Seattle¡¯s instability. Perhaps there still would have been issues between Isaiah and the adventurers, but Elijah expected that the situation would have been far less volatile if water shortages wouldn¡¯t have been part of the equation. On top of that, he¡¯d learned that the people of Mercer had refused to help with the attack of the giant alligator monster that had destroyed part of the city. They were selfish, and their goals ran counter to a productive, safe society. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°You¡¯re not wrong,¡± Lucy said. ¡°I just wish it was better. I wish people were better.¡± ¡°Some are. It¡¯s not like this everywhere.¡± ¡°Really?¡± she asked. ¡°Argos is mostly peaceful. There¡¯s a place on the other side of the Twilight Clefts that is, too. Same with the elves of Arvandor,¡± he explained. ¡°The town near my island is peaceful, as well. Even Norcastle is better now, and it¡¯s governed by a bit of a dick. I think it¡¯s because even with more power, this system gives people the ability to fight back against oppression if they want to. I mean, if someone tries to mess with my friend in his shop, they¡¯re going to lose. I think a lot of noncombatants are going to get abilities like that.¡± ¡°Is that a rational conclusion? Or just hope?¡± ¡°Maybe a little of both.¡± After that, the two lapsed into silence, but it only lasted a few minutes before K¡¯hana arrived. Elijah introduced the two to one another, and they almost immediately started to discuss all the ways they could help one another. He had little interest in that, so he excused himself and went to the apartment¡¯s guest bedroom. There, he concentrated on healing himself and cycling his core. More of the former than the latter, but he¡¯d taken to working on his cultivation as often as possible. Outside of when he was fighting, he kept it going at all times, and he¡¯d slowly made progress. He still felt that he was a long way from his efforts bearing fruit, but the fact that he had made verifiable progress was encouraging. That night, he didn¡¯t sleep. Instead, he focused entirely on preparing himself for what he expected to be a difficult battle. Part of that was getting himself back to peak condition, but he also pulled out his long-ignored laptop, plugged in a USB drive containing all the information Isaiah had given him, and memorized the map as well as everything else that seemed useful. With his Quartz Mind, it wasn¡¯t even difficult, which prompted him to wish he¡¯d had access to cultivation back in college. It would have trivialized all of the rote memorization required by any advanced degree. But if he¡¯d had those advantages back then, there was no way he¡¯d have followed the path of an academic, so it was a bit of a moot point. Besides, it wasn¡¯t like anyone could change the past. The rest of the night and most of the following morning was busy but tedious, though by mid-afternoon, he felt as prepared as he could be. By that point, K¡¯hana and Lucy had reached an agreement, though Elijah didn¡¯t really concern himself with the details. All he cared about was that they would help one another, and given how friendly they were acting, that seemed to be the case. ¡°Do you wish for me to help?¡± asked K¡¯hana when Elijah let them know that he would be leaving on his mission as soon as the sun set. ¡°If I had been there before, you might not have been so grievously injured.¡± ¡°You¡¯d have probably died,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I am no helpless damsel.¡± ¡°Never said you were. But the fact of the matter is that I¡¯m more durable than you,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°And that guild leader seemed like the kind of guy who¡¯d target the most vulnerable first. Maybe that would have given me the chance to take him out before he grew so strong, but I don¡¯t think you would have survived. With how strong he was¡­¡± ¡°Is that kind of thing common?¡± Lucy asked K¡¯hana. The elven woman didn¡¯t look terribly happy to have her own weakness pointed out. It was an unassailable fact, though, and Elijah didn¡¯t regret saying it, especially if it kept her alive. Tersely, she said, ¡°I do not know. I have heard of classes that form a symbiotic relationship with their people. Most are Tacticians or Administrators. The Noble class is the most common. They increase productivity and experience for non-combat classes, but they have abilities that can enhance their own power at the expense of their citizens¡¯. Some variants even have the ability to control the way their people see them, though that is rare from what I understand. I am no expert, though. On my world, we were too isolated for those sorts of classes to manifest.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± said Elijah. He knew that each archetype had its own purpose, but he¡¯d never really thought about what kind of abilities they might have. Sure, Tacticians would probably get abilities that would help them organize and empower armies, but beyond that, Elijah had never thought about what else they could do. The same was true of Administrators like Barry. Isaiah had given him some information on the man¡¯s suspected capabilities, but Elijah knew that there was a chance that he was walking into another very dangerous set of circumstances. Whatever the case, it was a situation he couldn¡¯t ignore. Even if he didn¡¯t feel a moral obligation to do something about their water hoarding ¨C which he definitely felt ¨C he¡¯d also made a promise to Isaiah, and he intended to keep his word. So, when the sun set, Elijah went to the roof of Lucy¡¯s building, transformed into the Shape of the Sky, then flew to the capitol. He landed inside the walls, then made his way toward Isaiah¡¯s command center. Once he arrived, he was surprised to find that Isaiah had gathered a group of soldiers. ¡°What¡¯s with these guys?¡± he asked. Each of the men wore black fatigues, just like everyone else in Isaiah¡¯s army. However, these soldiers felt far more powerful. If they weren¡¯t on the verge of entering the ranks of top one-hundred, Elijah would have been surprised. ¡°Former SEALs,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°In training, sir,¡± said one of the men. ¡°We never finished.¡± Elijah was aware that the SEALs had a history of training in Washington State Parks, but that had supposedly ended when a judge banned them from doing so. Apparently, they had ignored that ban. Before the world¡¯s transformation, Elijah might¡¯ve found that unconscionable, but right now, he was grateful for their presence. Perhaps there was a lesson there, but it was one Elijah didn¡¯t have time to examine. Isaiah then explained that the former SEALs-in-training were his special operations team. Elijah didn¡¯t know how effective they would be, but he expected that their pre-World Tree training would serve them well. After all, it took quite a lot of grit and determination to become a Navy SEAL, and that would translate well to the new world. Regardless, the plan was for Elijah to attack from the air while the team scaled the cliff. Meanwhile, Isaiah would send use his drones to disarm the traps. He knew he wouldn¡¯t get them all, and without the distraction provided by Elijah and the SEALs, it would be a useless endeavor. They would just replace the traps before anyone could take advantage of the vulnerability. Yet, having to deal with an attack would hopefully prevent that. Elijah agreed to the plan, and once everyone was ready, the SEALs left. An hour later, they were in position. ¡°You¡¯re up. Good luck,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°Yeah. Sure.¡± Then, Elijah left the building, adopted the Shape of the Sky, then took off. He didn¡¯t bother hiding his presence. Instead, when he reached Mercer Mesa, he flew around for a few minutes, ensuring that everyone who lived there saw his rainbow scales. Predictably, they panicked, gathering to deal with what they thought was a monster attack. ¡°Now,¡± Isaiah said through the earpiece Elijah had once again donned. Elijah dove, and when he came within a few hundred yards of the plateau¡¯s surface, he initiated the transformation into Shape of the Guardian. The gathered crowd aimed various spells and projectiles in his direction, but their aim was terrible. Only a few hit him, and those were rendered ineffective by his high Constitution, Ward of the Seasons, and Iron Scales. He hit the crowd with thunderous impact, the shockwave sending three people flying away to land on their backs. ¡°I want to speak to Barry,¡± he growled. ¡°Right now. Or everyone here is going to die a horrible, horrible death.¡± 4-55. Demagogue Elijah¡¯s knees were killing him. It was understandable, too. After falling for a few hundred feet and landing in the middle of Mercer Mesa, he was a little surprised that he hadn¡¯t broken anything. By comparison, a couple of sore joints was a small price to pay for his bombastic entrance. Still, he was continuously surprised by how durable his body was. Sure, he could look at the numbers in his status and recognize that they were high. But that didn¡¯t tell the same story that lifting tons of rock, outrunning a car, or remaining mostly unharmed by a fall that would have easily killed him before the World Tree had transformed Earth. ¡°Barry,¡± he growled again at the stunned crowd. ¡°Now.¡± ¡°You can talk?¡± asked one of the men. To his credit, he¡¯d positioned himself in front of a woman, clearly ready to protect her. It was a reminder that, despite their evil actions, not everyone who lived on the mesa was irredeemable. They were just people, albeit greedy ones whose actions had resulted in a multitude of deaths. Did that make them evil? Or was that just one bad tally mark on the ledger of their actions? Surely, they had good traits as well. Perhaps they¡¯d spent their lives feeding the homeless. Or volunteering at hospitals. Maybe some had even donated organs. There was also the chance that they¡¯d been manipulated. Or they might have chosen to go along in order to protect themselves and their families from the retribution that would surely follow any resistance. But regardless of the philosophy surrounding the perception of good and evil, Elijah knew that his mission was just. The people of Mercer Mesa needed to be stopped. ¡°Of course I can talk. And I want to exercise that ability by speaking to Barry. Now. Or I start killing,¡± Elijah growled. As conflicted as he was, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do what was necessary. Besides ¨C if he didn¡¯t, the team creeping up the sides of the plateau would. According to Isaiah¡¯s voice in his ear, the traps had all been deactivated, and the team of SEALs were already near the top. It wouldn¡¯t be long before they arrived. So, Elijah needed to make his offer before they got there, and for that, he needed to speak to the leader, Barry. ¡°What do you want?¡± asked the man in question, shouldering his way through the crowd. ¡°Come to take your pound of flesh, monster? We know what you did to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild. Killing all of those poor people, and for no other reason than to put the rest of us beneath your boot! Thug, I call you. Criminal! Tyrant!¡± It was almost like looking at ¨C and hearing ¨C a different man, and for a brief moment, Elijah even questioned his own actions. Was he justified in attacking the guild? He¡¯d thought so. After all, he¡¯d seen evidence that they were preparing to mount an attack on the Garden. And yet, a seed of doubt blossomed into a flower of hesitation. ¡°Speechless!¡± Barry bellowed. He wore white linen pants and a colorful shirt that made him look like an upper-class man on vacation in the Caribbean. ¡°Proof of his guilt! Begone, monster! Begone and never return!¡± At that moment, Elijah realized that Barry was using some sort of ability. He had no idea what it was called or how it worked, but he knew that he was being manipulated. So, with all but two facets of his Quartz Mind, he searched for answers. With that much brainpower ¨C or perhaps because of his attributes ¨C he quickly discovered a thread of ethera in his mind. He isolated it, then quarantined it in one facet of his mind. It all happened in the blink of an eye, but to Elijah, it was like suddenly opening a door and letting fresh air into a smokey kitchen. His thoughts focused, and he saw Barry as the man he was. A small and pitiful person who lorded himself over anyone he could dominate. And by virtue of his Demagogue class, that meant everyone on the Mesa. Did that mean they couldn¡¯t be held accountable for their actions? After what Elijah had just felt, he wasn¡¯t so sure. Thankfully, his Mind cultivation helped to mitigate the ability. But what would happen if he met someone who could overcome that defense? Suddenly, Elijah felt very vulnerable. And angry. It was one thing to attack him physically, but trying to manipulate his thoughts was crossing a line he¡¯d never expected anyone to be able to pass. So, without further debate, he leaped forward, shouldering the remaining Mercer Mesa residents out of the way before grabbing Barry around the waist. Everyone gasped. Barry tried to resist, using some sort of ability that created a hazy, gray shield around him, but it only took a slight flex of Elijah¡¯s fist to shatter it. Then came Barry¡¯s bones. The man screamed in agony, ¡°You can¡¯t do this! Do you know who I am?!¡± Elijah growled, ¡°I do.¡± Then, he bashed Barry against the ground. The first blow killed the man, showing just how weak he really was, but Elijah slammed him down again for good measure. Then, he reached back and threw Barry¡¯s corpse as far as he could. And given his Strength as well as the man¡¯s comparatively miniscule weight, the throw ended up sending that body arcing over the surrounding mansions and past the edge of the plateau. Where he landed, Elijah had no idea. Nor did he really care. He turned to the people and said, ¡°You will open the mesa up to ¨C¡± It was at that point that the SEALs arrived, though they didn¡¯t hit with a hail of gunfire, as they might¡¯ve in the old world. Instead, they had adapted just like everyone else. There was a protector, a Sorcerer, a Healer, a melee combatant, and a Ranger. But that was where the similarities between them and any other group Elijah had seen ended. They moved with efficiency and precision, killing four people before anyone could even react. This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. That had always been the plan. As far as Isaiah and the other residents of Seattle were concerned, the people of Mercer Mesa had long since established themselves as the enemy. And for better or worse, military men and women only had one reaction to finding themselves in the company of an enemy. That was what drove Isaiah, and it was definitely the attitude held by the SEALs. They executed three more people before everyone threw their hands up in surrender. To their credit, the SEALs stopped at that point. They weren¡¯t interested in needless slaughter, especially when the enemy had surrendered. After that, Elijah let himself return to his human form. ¡°You!¡± came a feminine voice. Elijah glanced over to see Victoria kneeling on the ground in all her plastic glory. Her hands were on her head, but if looks could have killed, Elijah would have already been dead. ¡°How could you?! We welcomed you into our home, and this is how you repay us? Trash!¡± ¡°You did this to yourself,¡± Eliijah said with a shake of his head. ¡°Hoarding water while the city dies of thirst? What did you think would happen? You call me trash? I say you¡¯re worse than that. You¡¯re actively evil.¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± she insisted. ¡°Your ignorance is not an excuse,¡± Elijah said with a tired sigh. He¡¯d recovered from the previous night¡¯s ordeal, but he was still exhausted. As much as he felt for the people of Seattle, he couldn¡¯t help but realize that he hated the place. There was no sense of community, little in the way of law and order, and everyone in the city felt like they were on edge. That, in turn, left Elijah feeling like an exposed nerve. He watched as the SEALs restrained the gathered people. By the time they¡¯d finished, more of Isaiah¡¯s people had arrived, and they were currently moving from house to house, looking for stragglers. They found a few, but the majority of the residents were already in custody. Some shouted about who they were ¨C or who they used to be. Others offered largely worthless bribes. And still others tried to escape. Yet, none won free. A few fights broke out ¨C there were enough combatants on the mesa to put up a decent resistance ¨C but they were quickly overcome. Without Barry to incite them, their will quickly broke. To Elijah, it felt like he was watching the death of an era. The former elites of the world were finally giving way to new power structures. Would anything really change, though? New wealth would rise. And inevitably, they would eventually come to treat poorer people as lesser. He sighed. Those sorts of issues were beyond him. He just wanted to go back to his grove and rest for a couple of days. After that? He wasn¡¯t sure. All he really knew was that he didn¡¯t want to be in Seattle anymore. First, though, he had a few things to take care of. So, after he made certain that everything was in hand, he used Shape of the Sky, then launched himself into the air. A few moments later, he was flying toward the capitol, where he landed soon after. After that, he made his way to Isaiah¡¯s command center. Notably, no one tried to stop him. Either word of what he¡¯d done the night before had already gotten around, or the fact that he¡¯d arrived in a form that looked curiously like a dragon forced the government employees to keep their distance. For his part, Elijah was happy with that arrangement. He was in no mood to deal with people. However, he couldn¡¯t avoid Isaiah. So, when he reached the command center and found the man, Elijah asked, ¡°Does that satisfy my part of the agreement?¡± ¡°It does,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°And for what it¡¯s worth, you did a good thing. Those people would have run Seattle into the ground.¡± ¡°And you won¡¯t?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°My goal is to make this place into a utopia. With ethera, I think we can do it, too. You¡¯ll see,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°In a couple of years, you won¡¯t be able to recognize this city. Everyone will be safe. They¡¯ll all have what they need. It¡¯ll be paradise.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a noble goal,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I hope you reach it.¡± ¡°You could help.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not my place,¡± he stated. ¡°But before I go, I think you owe me a couple of questions at the Branch. It¡¯s time for you to pay up.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t convince you to stick around?¡± Isaiah asked again. ¡°Not a chance. This place makes me feel dirty,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have come back if it wasn¡¯t for Lucy. Or our agreement, I suppose.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Isaiah said. And it looked for a moment like he was going to say something further. Elijah didn¡¯t miss the fact that everyone in the room was looking at him. But then, the Lord of Seattle let out a sigh. ¡°This world can be so much more than it is. We just need to get over the hump of survival, and we can have paradise on Earth. But I understand.¡± He signaled to one of the guards, saying, ¡°Lead Mr. Hart to the Branch. He is entitled to our Librarian¡¯s help with two topics. And fifty gold from the city¡¯s coffers.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the woman said with a salute. After shaking Isaiah¡¯s hand, Elijah was escorted to the other side of the building, where he saw the city¡¯s Branch. It was slightly larger than the other Branches he¡¯d seen, and it looked like a small sapling with expansive, crystalline limbs. There were three people nearby. One was clearly the Envoy attached to the Branch, but the other two were introduced as Librarians. After that, he asked his questions. First, he requested information on specializations. He knew he was coming up on one, and he wanted to be as prepared as possible for whatever choices he was given. Next, he asked about class evolutions for Animists. The first question yielded results after only a few seconds, but the second took almost five minutes, during which the Librarian ¨C a plump young woman who wore round spectacles ¨C was forced to expend quite a bit of effort. Elijah suspected that she had to use her entire repertoire of abilities to finally get an answer. When the leaf grew, she let out a sigh of relief before handing it to Elijah. ¡°Sorry,¡± she said. ¡°That was difficult to find.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I thought it was as simple as just asking a question and getting an answer.¡± ¡°Some topics are far beyond us,¡± she said. ¡°We get a lot of skills, just like everybody else, but some questions require higher level attributes and evolved skills. That was almost more than I could handle. But I got a ton of experience!¡± ¡°That¡¯s great. And ¨C¡± ¡°Oh, did you get the free leaf?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­not sure what you mean,¡± Elijah said. ¡°About the Trial of Primacy. Everyone who qualifies gets a free information packet explaining what it is, how it works, and what you¡¯re supposed to do when the day comes,¡± she said. ¡°Just touch the Branch, and you¡¯ll get it.¡± Elijah looked at the Branch Envoy questioningly, then got a nod to go ahead. He touched the Branch, and immediately, another leaf grew. He took it, adding it to his collection, and after that, he had no more reason to remain in the capitol. So, he thanked them, bade them farewell, and left to return to Lucy¡¯s so he could see the fruits of the Librarians¡¯ labor. 4-56. Knowledge Elijah lay on the bed, and for a long while, stared at the ceiling. A fan twirled lazily above him, but otherwise, it was blank. It was such a stark difference from the places he usually slept. There were no stars twinkling above him. No subtle sounds of nature. No glowing flowers. Just blank drywall. He sighed, already wishing he was back home. Or out in the forest. Even a tower would have felt more normal, if only because he wouldn¡¯t have time to sit around and think about the unnaturalness of human habitation. People did everything they could to separate themselves from nature, to surround themselves with concrete and steel, all in the pursuit of comfort and safety. They achieved those goals, and yet, they lost something as well. Some ineffable connection with the natural world whose absence few even noticed, let alone lamented. But Elijah felt it, and right down to his bones, and he could only feel that humanity was worse off for how firmly they¡¯d embraced civilization. To distract himself from that depressive feeling, he focused on the first of his guides:
Official Notice: The Trial of Primacy
The Trial of Primacy is a benefit and challenge offered on newly touched worlds. The number of participants depends on the population of the world in question, but it has rarely exceeded ten thousand participants. Normally, it is much lower. The Trial itself can be compared to a tower or Primal Realm. However, it differs in a number of ways. The most obvious is that the space where the Trial takes place is only temporarily connected to these newly touched worlds. In addition, the Trial of Primacy can be held in an Ancestral Realm, Trial Planet, Battle World, or even an excised world. These are much larger than towers or Primal Realms, and they often have unique histories. However, the primary goal of a Trial of Primacy is to help establish a hierarchy on newly touched planets. Secondarily, it will allow for some unique benefits, including prime cultivation environments, leveling opportunities, equipment, and Feats of Strength to be added to your Legacy. Thirdly, at the completion of the Trial of Primacy, many of the system¡¯s latent features, including the World Tree¡¯s communication system, local market, and long-distance (but still global) teleportation network will be unlocked. And finally, when the Trial of Primacy is completed and everyone has returned to their world, ambient levels of ethera will receive a boost, reaching the density necessary for core cultivation. Please note that if, at any time, participants wish to leave, they will be provided the means to do so. All tower surges and Primal Realm advancement will be halted during this time, though they will remain open for anyone who wishes to challenge them. Good luck, and may you take advantage of this opportunity.
Even though it was not terribly complicated, Elijah took the time to read the guide ¨C or notice ¨C thrice. Yet, he saw nothing that he didn¡¯t notice on the first read-through. The idea was simple, he supposed. Anyone who qualified for the Trial of Primacy would be transferred to a special space ¨C not dissimilar from a tower ¨C where they would face challenges. The completion of those challenges would result in advancement. Yet, there were a few new pieces of information that stood out to Elijah. The first was the mention of Feats of Strength, which would be added to his Legacy. When he¡¯d evolved Ancestral Circle into Roots of the World Tree, Feats of Strength had been mentioned, though at the time, Elijah hadn¡¯t considered them to be anything official. However, the notice he¡¯d just read seemed to imply that it was an official ¨C if hidden ¨C aspect of the system. And the Trial of Primacy offered an opportunity to add to that. The second bit of information that seemed important was that, at the conclusion of the Trial, more Branch features would be unlocked, including communication and worldwide teleportation. While searching for his family, Elijah had checked on the latter, but he¡¯d been disappointed to find that, while the teleportation network was technically available, most settlements were out of range from one another. Yet, Elijah wasn¡¯t that excited about that feature, largely because he¡¯d already been told that it was far too pricey to use except in emergencies. But for Elijah, it might be worth it. He could use that system once, then create a dolmen on the other side of the world. That way, he could expand his own network much further than would normally be possible. From what he¡¯d been told, Earth was now the size of Saturn, which meant that, even though its diameter was only ten times its old size, that meant that the surface area was almost a hundred times larger than before the planet had been touched by the World Tree. Covering that much ground, even in his flight form, was not feasible, at least in the short term. It was something to think about, for sure. The most important part of that section concerned the world¡¯s ambient ethera. Elijah had felt its rise over the past four-and-a-half years, and he¡¯d always expected it to eventually reach the point where it could support core cultivation. His grove and especially his cave had long since gotten to that level, but the rest of the world lagged far behind. It was one of the reasons he¡¯d had so much trouble pushing himself to the next stage. Yet, the fact that the system would enhance Earth¡¯s ethera density meant that it wouldn¡¯t be long before others caught up to him. In turn, that meant that if he wanted to maintain his advantages, he had something of a time limit. As he thought about it, Elijah decided to set himself a goal. He would do everything he could to advance his core to the second stage before the Trial of Primacy. Finally, Elijah took note of the last paragraph. If people wanted to leave the Trial of Primacy, they could. However, even as he re-read that statement, he felt that doing so would result in some sort of detriment that exceeded the loss of benefits. The system didn¡¯t like failure, and he expected that wouldn¡¯t cease to be the case in the Trial of Primacy. If there were Feats of Strength attached to his official Legacy, then were there Feats of Weakness, as well? Maybe. In any case, the notice about the Trial of Primacy held quite a lot of useful information. Some of it was explicit, but there was plenty between the lines as well. Hopefully, the other two guides Elijah had gotten would prove just as helpful. He moved on to the first, which was called A Primer on Specializations:
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Guide: A Primer on Specializations
Specializations are available at levels 100, 225, 450, and 900. There are rumors about further Specializations that may be developed in the Transcendent Realm, but they are unconfirmed. Generally, each Specialization opportunity results in three choices, each intended to enhance an aspect of a class¡¯s abilities. For example, a Warmaster may be given the following three choices: ¡¤ Defense ¨C Enhances the Warmaster¡¯s defensive capabilities by a percentage based on Legacy. ¡¤ Damage ¨C Enhances the Warmaster¡¯s damage abilities by a percentage based on Legacy. ¡¤ Balance ¨C Gives a smaller enhancement to all of the Warmaster¡¯s abilities. Also based on Legacy. It should be noted that not all Warmasters will receive the same Specialization choices. Much is determined by Legacy, yet most will see similar options.
After that, the guide gave a few more examples, but they all followed the same pattern. Then, there were hundreds of pages containing other known specializations for various classes. And while Animist was not represented, there were a few for other Druid classes. The first one Elijah saw was called Preserver:
Archetype: Druid Class: Preserver
Common Specialization Options (increases represent the average, individual results will vary based on Legacy)
Growth Healing Connection
Increase the potency of abilities that affect plant growth by 5%. Increase the potency of healing abilities by 10%. Transform One with Nature into a more powerful variant. Future evolutions will be reflected.
Another variant of the Druid archetype seemed to focus on various forms of damage spells, with one branch increasing damage-over-time abilities, another affecting direct damage spells like Storm¡¯s Fury, and the final focusing on slaying unnatural entities with spells like Nature¡¯s Rebuke. It was one of the spells that Elijah often neglected, largely because it wasn¡¯t that damaging against anything the system considered natural. And he¡¯d discovered that that definition was extremely narrow. So far, the only creatures he¡¯d seen that qualified were the vampires ¨C and presumably, the ghouls ¨C in the Magister¡¯s Estate and Voxx. Either way, it was a relatively cheap spell to cast, and he knew he needed to get into the habit of using it as often as possible. Perhaps it would have helped against the monster Bruce Garet had become. It was just another reminder that he was far from perfect. Like most people, he developed habits, and because his class tended to focus on his animal forms, he sometimes neglected his other spells. That needed to change, and soon. He spent another couple of hours perusing A Primer on Specializations, but eventually, he moved on to the final guide he¡¯d acquired, which was called Evolutions of the Animist:
Guide: Evolutions of the Animist
The Animist is a Rare class associated with the Druid archetype, and it focuses on shapeshifting into bestial forms. Shape of the Predator specializes in stealth and assassination, Shape of the Guardian is a fair defender and melee combatant, and Shape of the Sky allows for rapid travel. Shape of Mastery is the final form before evolution, and it focuses on single combat. The evolutions associated with the class generally follow this theme, though most focus on making one form more powerful than the others. In addition, there are evolutions meant to adjust the Animist¡¯s path to one more appropriate for a traditional Druid. Finally, there are evolutions which will permanently transform the Animist into a more powerful bestial form. Availability of evolutions is based on Legacy.
After that, Elijah read a list of fifteen possible class evolutions. As the blurb had suggested, they each had a very specific focus that would shift his class into a narrower focus. For some, it would enhance his lamellar ape form. For others, his predator shape. There was even one that would augment Shape of the Sky. But as interesting as they were, Elijah quickly realized that there was too much variation based on his Legacy for him to make any plans. However, that didn¡¯t mean that the guide was useless. Far from it. It established a pattern for the choices he might be given. Like the Specializations, evolutions served to narrow the focus of his classes. Yet, unlike Specializations, there were a few that would change his direction altogether. Like the evolutions that would effectively turn him into a beast. Or a Guardian, more accurately. What would drive an Animist in that direction? He knew from experience just how easily one could be overwhelmed by the instincts that came with their bestial forms. It had almost happened to him. Elijah knew he¡¯d never allow himself to go down that road, but perhaps others wouldn¡¯t be so reticent. The biggest benefit of that guide also highlighted another oversight. Spells and abilities in the Mortal Realm ¨C which was from level one to one-twenty-five ¨C followed a set path. That meant that his future abilities were predetermined. Every Animist would get the same spells. As such, it would have made sense for Elijah to find a guide that would let him know what was coming. But he was out of questions. Thankfully, Evolutions of the Animist did reveal the existence of one: Shape of the Master. He had no idea what form it would take, but it was said to focus on one-on-one combat. That was interesting, and it would definitely fill a niche. Yet, that wouldn¡¯t come until the peak of the realm, so it would likely be some time before he would know more. Unless he could enlist the services of another Librarian, which didn¡¯t seem likely. Finally, Elijah checked his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 84
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 99
Dexterity 88
Constitution 97
Ethera 93
Regeneration 88
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Novice
He¡¯d only gained one level from the fighting in Seattle, largely because he hadn¡¯t really killed that many people. Most of the Adventurers had been sacrificed by Bruce, and the leader himself wasn¡¯t actually that high of a level. Instead, his incredible power had been temporarily boosted by that sacrifice ability. So, he hadn¡¯t awarded much in the way of experience. The same could be said for killing Barry. He hung his head. He hated thinking of killing people in those terms. They were more than just bags of experience. They were living, breathing human beings, complete with hopes and dreams and people who cared about them. Even Barry, as detestable as he was, had a family. Elijah needed to remember that, or he¡¯d end up going to an extremely dark place. In any case, he focused on his gains, which exceeded the one point per attribute he was awarded for each level. He¡¯d gained extra points in everything but Ethera. Some had come from his efforts constructing the temple. Toting enormous stone blocks was great for building Strength and Constitution, apparently. But he¡¯d also gained a couple of points from other activities, like fighting and cycling his Core. Although, Elijah was less interested in the individual points than he was in the fact that he had a couple of attributes that were on the verge of crossing the one-hundred point threshold. It was an important mark, and not just because he suspected it would be more impactful than normal. Rather, it was a mark of how far Elijah had come. After all, he hadn¡¯t forgotten that, only a little more than four years before, his physical attributes had been pathetic. Back then, his body had been ravaged by chemotherapy and cancer, which had left his strength at a mere three points. His Constitution had been even lower. And now, he was close to reaching triple digits. It was a good reminder of just how far he¡¯d come. And how far he had yet to go. With that in mind, he settled back into the bed and, for once, fell asleep quickly and slept soundly. 4-57. Other Priorities He had won. As Isaiah stared at the huge screen, which was divided into a dozen squares, that simple fact was abundantly apparent. Everywhere he looked, he saw dead bodies. Most of the corpses belonged to members of the Adventurers Guild. Apparently, Bruce Garet had an ability associated with his Guild Leader class that allowed him to magically enforce certain conditions upon people who¡¯d sworn oaths to his guild. Given that one of the requirements to join had been a pledge to defend it unto death gave Garet all the leeway he needed to sacrifice everyone in the guild. From what Isaiah could tell, most of the resultant energy had gone to waste. And as inefficient as the act was, it was also the only reason Elijah Hart had managed to survive. If Garet had absorbed all of the energy, he wouldn¡¯t have simply been unstoppable. He could have squashed the Druid like a bug. But Isaiah couldn¡¯t concern himself with Garet any longer. He and his guild were dead. Mercer was under control, with some of the worst residents having been confined to jail. It wasn¡¯t a lasting solution, but Isaiah hoped something more permanent would present itself soon. Because the alternative was to execute them, and that was a step he didn¡¯t want to take. It was a slippery slope, after all. If he could justify killing imprisoned enemies, where would it stop? He had very few checks on his power, now. And he knew that, if he allowed himself to solve his problems that way, he would end up doing so for every issue he encountered. Before long, he would start killing people for disagreeing with him too vehemently, which would turn him into a tyrant. Isaiah wouldn¡¯t allow himself to descend to those depths, so he¡¯d long since vowed to find other ways. That wasn¡¯t to say that he wouldn¡¯t engage in violence if necessary. It only meant that he would try everything else ¨C as he had with both the Adventurer¡¯s Guild as well as Mercer Mesa ¨C before going down that road. He took a deep breath, then turned to his people. Everyone in the room had the Scholar archetype, which meant they were perfectly suited for gathering and parsing information. But none of them were fighters, and he could see how much the battles had affected them. ¡°We have won a great victory,¡± he said. ¡°Because of the people in this room, Seattle has a chance to once again become the great city it used to be. People will no longer have to worry about whether or not they¡¯ll get a cup of water for the day. Our gardens will flourish, and our people will survive. That¡¯s the first step before we can regain all that we¡¯ve lost, and due to the sacrifices of the people in this room ¨C and our soldiers out there ¨C we have that opportunity. ¡°You should all be proud of what we accomplished. You¡¯ve saved lives today,¡± he said. Someone clapped, but it was clearly premature because nobody else joined in. Finally, Isaiah said, ¡°Thank you, and keep up the good work.¡± After that, he turned away from the screen and fled the command center. Not long after, he reached his office. Only after the door had closed did he let out a long sigh and collapse into his chair. Absently, he rubbed his chest. A wound he¡¯d received shortly after the world had been transformed continued to bother him. Back then, he¡¯d taken a spear to the chest ¨C courtesy of a would-be bandit ¨C and the injury had never fully healed. Even now, years later, his heart regularly skipped a beat, and he sometimes had trouble breathing. Of course, he hid the infirmity from everyone else. A leader needed to project strength. Any perceived weakness would invite challenge and suggest to his followers that he wasn¡¯t the man for the job. The only person who knew of the injury was the Healer he saw once a week, and according to her, it would be years before she progressed to the point where she could completely rid him of the aftereffects. So, Isaiah had resolved himself to simply dealing with it. Increased attributes helped. So did reaching the Body of Wood stage of his cultivation. And yet, there were times when it felt like he was having a heart attack. Stress made it worse, too. Which meant that his chest currently felt like he had an elephant sitting on it. Perhaps it was time to call for the Healer again. That usually alleviated the symptoms for a few days, at least. But before he could do so, Isaiah abruptly realized that he was not alone. There was a statue of a rabbit sitting on his desk. Or he assumed it was a rabbit. The thing was nearly two feet tall, with giant ears that stood straight up, and a body that seemed somewhat sturdier than any hare Isaiah had ever seen. And it was made of what looked like faceted diamond. Not a series of gems, either. Instead, it looked as if it had been carved from a single stone. So, when it moved, turning its head toward Isaiah, he couldn¡¯t help but flinch. It flickered and then, an instant later, projected a beam of light onto the surface of the desk. Over the next few moments, a figure slowly appeared. To Isaiah, it looked a lot like something being 3D printed, but with light instead of plastic. As he watched, Isaiah slowly embraced the couple of combat skills he possessed, and he mentally activated his most powerful combat drone. It was strong, but because it required a ridiculous amount of ethera to operate, he usually kept it in reserve as his personal guard. ¡°There¡¯s no need for that,¡± said the figure, which looked like a man made of the same diamond as the bunny. ¡°Do not waste your ethera, young man.¡± ¡°What is going on?¡± Isaiah asked, embracing Placid Mind to divorce himself from his emotions. Clearly, the figure didn¡¯t mean him harm. And judging by the amount of ethera wafting off the bunny, it could hurt him if it chose to do so. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°Good. Straight to the point. No point in dealing with superfluous emotions and details. I am here to offer you an opportunity, my boy,¡± the figure said, gesturing animatedly. ¡°Here. One second. I think I remember how to do this¡­ah. There it is.¡± At that moment, a notification appeared before Isaiah¡¯s inner eye:
A powerful entity has offered you a Task: Obejctive: Replace a major organ with an artificial version. Reward: Blessing of the Mechanique, Delp Dariq Do you accept?
Isaiah read the notification, then asked, ¡°How did you know?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been watching you, my boy. Ingenious, what you¡¯ve done with so little ethera. That leg of yours is quite an impressive feat of engineering, if I do say so myself! And the heart? You¡¯ve a little way to go before it¡¯s usable, but you are on the right track. It takes me back to when I first started replacing my organic bits. Ah ¨C good times,¡± Delp said. Of course, Isaiah knew about the mechaniques. They were one of the few surviving elder races, though the most reclusive. The guide he¡¯d read said that they were living golems who cared for nothing but their machines and replacing bits of their bodies. When he¡¯d read the description, Isaiah had assumed they would all be emotionless robots, and yet, Delp was quite animated. ¡°Your blessing. What does it entail?¡± ¡°Ah ¨C that. I¡¯m supposed to tell you that you will get three options of equal value,¡± the mechanique said via his projection. ¡°Hogwash! Oh, I like that word. We had a similar word in my original language. No one left who speaks it, though. Just me¡­¡± After a moment of silence, during which the projection hung his head, Isaiah asked, ¡°Three options?¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Only one is worth taking. Core advancement. Not possible on this planet yet, except in very special circumstances. If you had a nature attunement, perhaps you could take advantage of those, but you don¡¯t. In any case, this is no ordinary core. You¡¯ll have a Mechanique Core. Far more powerful than anything you¡¯d get through natural cultivation.¡± Isaiah didn¡¯t need to be told about special cores. He¡¯d already met three people with such advantages. Elijah Hart was one, and according to everything he¡¯d seen, the Druid¡¯s Dragon Core was the most powerful. However, the two visitors he¡¯d received a little more than a month before had both possessed Angel Cores that could, in most ways, rival Elijah¡¯s. ¡°And all I need to do is finish my project,¡± Isaiah stated. The artificial heart he¡¯d been building was not really his project alone. Instead, it was a cooperative effort between himself, a former heart surgeon turned Healer, and an Engineer who¡¯d once built robots for a living. Between them, they¡¯d almost finished the prototype, which used all sorts of rare and powerful materials, though Isaiah was still hesitant to shove that thing into his chest. ¡°If it makes any difference, you won¡¯t live more than six more months without it,¡± the mechanique said via his projection. ¡°There are no Healers on this planet with high enough levels to repair a heart that has been damaged so severely. If you¡¯d had access to a high-level Healer with the right class, perhaps they could have fixed it at the time. But by now, too long has passed. Healing an old injury is far different than mending a fresh one. It should have been a death sentence.¡± ¡°Kind of sounds like that¡¯s exactly what it is,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°Just a delayed one.¡± Delp Dariq let out a booming laugh that rattled the desk. ¡°That it is, my boy. That it is. But as I said, this is an opportunity. Take it,¡± he said. ¡°Implant that heart, and all your problems will be solved.¡± ¡°All of them?¡± ¡°Well, most. Some, probably. One, at the very least!¡± Isaiah didn¡¯t hesitate before accepting the task. In a lot of ways, he didn¡¯t have much choice in the matter, but he also knew that it was an opportunity that most people would not receive. He knew about special cores, and he recognized just how powerful they could be. For instance, Elijah Hart had an archetype that wasn¡¯t exactly suited for combat, and even though his class worked to correct that, he still should have been weaker than even-leveled foes. Yet, because of his core cultivation, he could not only hold his own, but also defeat enemies that would have otherwise killed him with little trouble. Isaiah hoped for similar benefits. ¡°Good!¡± said the mechanique after Isaiah accepted the Task. ¡°I¡¯ll see you again when you start to advance your core!¡± Then, without any warning, the rabbit turned and hopped away. It disappeared into a rift in space before it hit the ground, which left Isaiah with a host of questions that he knew wouldn¡¯t soon be answered. In any case, he had a goal now. All he needed was to shove an artificial heart into his chest ¨C and somehow survive ¨C and he¡¯d gain a significant boon. He was tempted to leave his office right at that moment, but he knew that would be a mistake. Not only did he have a hundred tasks pulling him in as many directions, but he could sense a visitor coming his way. So, he took a few minutes to compose himself before Elijah Hart knocked on his door. ¡°Enter,¡± he announced, standing as he adjusted his shirt. He wore the same black fatigues as his underlings, though his had been made from sterner stuff than the standard issue uniform. There were increased dangers to being the leader, and so, he needed increased protections, too. The door opened, admitting the Druid. The man hadn¡¯t made any concessions to civility. His beard was still wild and untrimmed, his hair was shaggy, and his clothes ¨C while high-quality ¨C looked unremarkable. Most of all, though, Isaiah found himself annoyed by the man¡¯s bare feet. He didn¡¯t care if it was, as his information suggested, tied to an ability. It was just bad manners. Of course, he didn¡¯t expect more from someone like Elijah Hart. The man was powerful, but he was reckless, selfish, and, worst of all, unpredictable. One day, those traits would get the Druid killed, and Isaiah wasn¡¯t certain if he would celebrate or mourn the man¡¯s passing. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± Isaiah asked. ¡°I¡¯m just here to let you know that I¡¯ll be leaving tomorrow,¡± he said, uncharacteristically thinking of how his actions might affect other people. ¡°Just wanted to make sure we¡¯re square before I leave. K¡¯hana is going to stay behind. I guess she wants to get started on the exchange of services.¡± ¡°There¡¯s no reason to wait,¡± Isaiah admitted. Indeed, the elven woman had already started the process of finding water, and the initial results were promising. When she left, she would lead a team of his fighters to her tower. ¡°Right. So, is there anything else we need to discuss? Because I¡¯ll admit that I¡¯m tired of city life.¡± ¡°There¡¯s one more thing,¡± Isaiah said after only a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°There¡¯s a situation in Hong Kong. I promised I would spread the word to any powerful people I might encounter. You qualify.¡± ¡°Alright? Lay it on me.¡± 4-58. Structure As he left Isaiah¡¯s office, Elijah had no idea what to do. The situation in Hong Kong sounded dire, but Elijah was in no position to help. He only had six months before the Trial of Primacy, and he had a lot of work to do before he would feel ready for whatever challenges it would present. On top of that, he only had a vague direction ¨C east ¨C to go on, meaning that finding the city would be incredibly difficult. Perhaps things would be different if he¡¯d personally met the two emissaries, but that just wasn¡¯t the case. They¡¯d left Seattle over a month before he¡¯d arrived, and there was no telling where they¡¯d ended up. Even Isaiah wasn¡¯t sure. So, as concerned as Elijah was ¨C the way it was described, the undead were a grave threat ¨C there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. The rest of the meeting had been productive. Elijah had looked through a report on the items looted from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, and he¡¯d seen nothing that fit him. There were a couple of unarmed weapons, but neither were better than his Weighted Gloves. He saw a couple of Rings of Anonymity, too. And a few pieces of armor that gave minor attribute increases. However, nothing really caught his eye. Besides ¨C Isaiah¡¯s people would need all the help they could get. And while Elijah wasn¡¯t particularly selfless, he felt that it was best if he left that low-quality gear to Isaiah and his army. So, he collected his payment ¨C fifty gold was no small sum ¨C and told Isaiah that he¡¯d return sometime in the future before heading out of the capitol, shifting into Shape of the Sky, and taking off. A few minutes later, he landed outside the giant greenhouse that was the Garden, shifted back to his human form, and headed inside. He found Lucy not long after, where she was busy showing K¡¯hana around. ¡°This place is quite impressive,¡± the elf was saying as Elijah approached. Lucy responded, ¡°And we¡¯re planning an expansion soon, too. Seattle¡¯s population is mostly stable, but we still get a trickle of refugees each month. My dream is to grow enough food that nobody ever has to go without.¡± ¡°You think you can do that?¡± asked Elijah as he approached, his tone a bit skeptic. ¡°There are a lot of people who live here.¡± Lucy gave him a small smile before she answered, ¡°I think so. Eventually. Isaiah¡¯s agreed to subsidize my costs. He wants the same thing I want.¡± ¡°Easier to control people if you¡¯re the one handing out food,¡± Elijah stated. He still didn¡¯t trust Isaiah ¨C not completely. Maybe the man¡¯s heart was in the right place, but from Elijah¡¯s perspective, people in power usually only cared about keeping it. And on top of that, the notion that Isaiah could easily spy on the entire city made him feel violated in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. Benevolent or not, Isaiah¡¯s abilities made Elijah uncomfortable. ¡°He¡¯s a good man, Elijah,¡± Lucy said. ¡°Good men can be corrupted,¡± Elijah said with a shrug. ¡°Lots of dictators start off with the best of intentions.¡± That much was certainly true. History was full of people who¡¯d gained power with the hopes of changing things for the better. But bit by bit, they were corrupted by that power until its pursuit was all that was left. Sure, they had excuses. They believed that whatever moral sacrifices they had to make were justified. Even someone like Roman, who¡¯d killed hundreds, if not thousands of his citizens, had clearly felt that he was doing the right thing. So, how long would it be before Isaiah succumbed to that same way of thinking? The path to Hell was paved with good intentions, after all. When utopia was at stake, was there anything a leader wouldn¡¯t do? If he could remove that one bad apple to save the bunch, would he hesitate? What if there were two bad apples? A hundred? A thousand? Where was the line, when perfection was seen as an achievable goal? Elijah shook his head, saying, ¡°I hope he¡¯s as good of a person as you say. And I hope he maintains perspective. If he doesn¡¯t¡­well, you can always come and live in my island paradise.¡± ¡°Did you just invite me to move in?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe. As friends,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°Open invitation and all that. Did I mention it was an island paradise? I mean, my beaches are infested with giant crabs, but they¡¯re not that strong. I like to think of them as mascots.¡± ¡°You know I¡¯m not going with you, right?¡± Lucy answered. ¡°I have my Garden. There are people here I care about. I can¡¯t just abandon my home.¡± ¡°Oh. Right,¡± Elijah said, running his hand through his hair. ¡°I was only joking.¡± He hadn¡¯t been. If he¡¯d had his way, he would¡¯ve moved everyone he cared about ¨C which was a short list ¨C to his island. Or at least to Ironshore. The rest of the world just seemed far too dangerous, and not just because of the wildlife. Monsters being monsters, Elijah understood, but when people descended into despotism, it just felt worse. Hopefully, Isaiah would prove immune to the temptation of tyranny, but Elijah wasn¡¯t going to bet on it. After all, there was a very famous saying about power and corruption that seemed very appropriate to Elijah¡¯s experiences with civilization in the new version of Earth. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°You weren¡¯t, but that¡¯s okay,¡± Lucy said, reaching out to put her hand on his. ¡°Maybe I can visit someday. You¡¯ve made it sound like a wonderful place.¡± Her familiar touch brought up a host of memories Elijah wasn¡¯t really prepared to confront. Once upon a time, he¡¯d loved Lucy. He still did, even though it had faded from a teenager¡¯s fiery obsession to something far more sustainable. He wasn¡¯t even sure if it was a romantic love anymore. Perhaps they were only meant to be friends. Elijah sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s probably not as great as I make it seem. Like I said, it is infested with giant crabs. And it rains a lot. Plus, we¡¯re pretty isolated. But my treehouse is pretty cool, if I say so myself.¡± ¡°I¡¯d like to see it someday.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a date,¡± Elijah said with a smile. After that, there really wasn¡¯t much else to say. So, after a couple of goodbyes, Elijah left the Garden behind. He didn¡¯t immediately take to the air, but instead walked through Seattle for what he hoped would be the last time for a long while. He didn¡¯t outright hate civilization, but spending any time in a place like Seattle ¨C or Valoria before it ¨C left him feeling like he was coated in slime. He would be glad to leave it behind. But still, he forced himself to walk through some of the more populated areas, just to ensure that things were better than when he¡¯d arrived. That was when he finally caught sight of the city¡¯s tower. It was a twisted structure that looked like a funhouse mirror version of a castle¡¯s parapet. Isaiah had given him a USB drive with all the information they¡¯d gathered on the tower, which was quite a lot, all things considered. With only a few days¡¯ worth of study, he would know everything there was to know about it. From enemies to strategies and layouts, it was everything he would need to challenge the tower in relative safety. On top of that, as part of the deal he¡¯d made with Isaiah, he had the right to do so, even if he¡¯d have to wait until a slot opened up. And yet, he had no interest in running through a tower at the moment. Not only did he have other things he wanted to do, but risking his life for a couple of levels and a few trinkets just wasn¡¯t appealing so soon after everything that had happened in Seattle. For better or worse, Elijah had begun to sour on towers. They were a good way to advance, and he knew he¡¯d have to run them if he wanted to keep up with everyone else. However, they also seemed so pointless ¨C assuming that there were others around who could keep them from overflowing. Using his power to fight in the real world was much more preferable, as far as he was concerned. In any case, he had no intention of challenging the tower at this point. Perhaps he would have time for it later. So, after he¡¯d wandered around Seattle for another couple of hours, he threw himself into the air and flew to the Circle of Spears. His passage didn¡¯t go unnoticed ¨C a huge, rainbow-colored reptile flying across the sky was unignorable ¨C but he was gone before he could cause too much commotion. As soon as he reached the dolmen, he opened a gate to the Dragon Circle and stepped through. Not long after, he returned to Argos ¨C or more specifically, to the Temple of Virtue ¨C to keep his promise of healing. To let everyone know that he was around, he climbed to the roof, then channeled a little ethera into the statue atop the temple. The spear in the warrior¡¯s hand lit up, becoming a beacon that could be seen throughout the town. It was the agreed upon signal that he was around, and soon enough, injured and sick people had begun to climb the steps toward the temple. By the time they reached the top, Elijah had already summoned Healing Rain, and the first person to step into the rejuvenating cascade of precipitation let out a gasp. The same ¨C or similar ¨C scenes presented themselves each time someone arrived. Only a few injuries were bad enough that Elijah needed to use Soothe or Touch of Nature, but one was particularly serious. The woman in question had a wound on her arm that had been so thoroughly infected that, in the old world, it would have necessitated amputation. It fell before nearly a dozen casts of Touch of Nature, and the woman dropped to her knees and thanked him profusely. Elijah didn¡¯t much care for that attention, but he knew it came with the territory. If he was going to help people, then he needed to grow accustomed to praise. He stayed at the temple for the next twelve hours, and in that time, he lost count of how many people he¡¯d healed. It was almost as cathartic for him as it was for his patients. If everything else went to Hell, at least Elijah could always take solace in the act of healing. Finally, he healed the last of them, and once he sent the man on his way, Elijah deactivated the beacon and, at last, headed home via the Roots of the World Tree. Thankfully, using it to teleport himself back to the grove could be activated from anywhere, though it still took quite some time to activate the spell. Regardless, he soon arrived back in his grove, and when he did, he couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath and bask in the dense ethera of his island. After speaking to Nerthus for a few minutes ¨C the spryggent was quite proud of some of his gardening accomplishments ¨C Elijah retired to his treehouse, where he took a long, scalding shower. Even as he relaxed, and his muscles unkinked, he found himself pondering the future. He only had about six months to go before the Trial of Primacy. Six months to push himself as high as he could go. He needed to train, as well. To take his equipment more seriously, too. And he needed to prepare Carmen and Miguel for his absence. Thankfully, six months was a decent span of time, so he felt sure that he could accomplish his goals. After his shower, he pulled his laptop out of his satchel and started making plans. He was capable of keeping it all in his head, but there was something about putting it all down in a word processor that made things so much more concrete. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t have to worry too much about power. With the converter he¡¯d bought in Seattle, as well as the high density of ambient ethera, the laptop had all the electricity it would need. Perhaps that meant he could power all sorts of electronics. Maybe a giant television. Or an electric coffee maker. Any number of small appliances would come in handy. He suspected that obtaining those would require a trip back to Seattle, though, and he didn¡¯t really have any desire to return to that place. So, he focused on the task at hand, making plans not just for himself but for Miguel, too. After all, the boy¡¯s training had been a bit haphazard of late. Elijah aimed to fix that. The key to improvement was consistency, which was a lesson Miguel needed to learn. 4-59. Brick by Brick Carmen¡¯s file scraped against the block of dragonstone, removing only the tiniest bit of material. In a lot of cases, it would have been frustrating, but Carmen had long since fallen into what she referred to as a worker¡¯s trance. It wasn¡¯t a skill or anything ¨C just a tendency to dive so deeply into a task that everything else sort of faded away. She¡¯d done it often enough before the world¡¯s transformation, and it had become more common in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s touch. She could have used her abilities to make it easier, but that would take attention away from Ethereal Infusion, which she¡¯d resolved to maintain at all times while working on what she¡¯d begun referring to as The Great Forge. Even one lapse, and she felt that she¡¯d create a weak link. And while that might not completely ruin the final product ¨C or even be noticeable to most people ¨C when she had taken on the project, she had told herself that she would cut no corners. So, Carmen kept to the original plan, regardless of how tedious it was. Gradually, the carving began to take shape. She¡¯d roughed it out with a chisel, but refining it required a much defter tool, which was where the file came into play. It had been made with sun copper and enchanted to be much harder than even the magical metal would normally be. As a result, it was on the verge of being Complex-Grade, and like all the other tools she''d made over the past few months, it possessed an ability.
Crafter¡¯s Imbuement Using this tool upon raw materials imbues it with a small trickle of ethera.
When she¡¯d created the first tool in the set ¨C which was a hammer ¨C Carmen had been ecstatic. Until that point, she hadn¡¯t been able to focus the ability of any items she¡¯d created. Instead, the system seemed to assign them at random. However, while helping Elijiah with the Circle of Spears and creating the Temple of Virtue, she had learned that her intent while crafting could guide the final product in certain ways. It wasn¡¯t foolproof, and there was still some variance ¨C especially with weapons and armor ¨C but tools were simple enough that she could get the result she wanted. It wasn¡¯t easy, though. One stray thought while crafting, and she might¡¯ve ruined it. Still, throughout all her experiences, Carmen had learned to focus, and the results were precisely what she¡¯d intended. But those were just the tools. A means to an end. The real work came when she¡¯d started to work on the dragonstone. She was no stonemason, but like every other crafter ¨C aside from people like Elijah, whose abilities in the field were very limited ¨C she¡¯d begun her journey as a Tradesman. As such, she could achieve passable results with a wide variety of materials. So, Carmen had spent days carving the huge dragonstone blocks into large bricks. Then, she¡¯d begun the purification cycle, which included using Decontaminate and Refine Materials. Over and over, a dozen times for each brick, she broke those pieces down until they were completely uncontaminated by anything that wasn¡¯t dragonstone. Thankfully, she¡¯d had plenty of help with that ¨C mostly from the town¡¯s Stonemason, who was a dwarf named Boryn. Otherwise, Carmen wouldn¡¯t have completed more than one of the blocks a week. But with Boryn¡¯s ¨C and his apprentices¡¯ ¨C help, they¡¯d managed to purify and shape a third of the dragonstone into usable bricks. The rest was up to Carmen. She could have pawned the carving off on someone else, but she felt in her soul that doing so would weaken the personalized effect of the Great Forge. She¡¯d thought a lot about her conversation with Elijah, about how to create a cultivation environment dedicated to her attunement of Creation. And she¡¯d gotten it into her head that, in order for it to resonate most strongly with her, she needed to be the one to do the bulk of the work. Carmen wasn¡¯t certain why she felt that way, but she did all the same. And she¡¯d learned to trust those instincts. Finally, she finished the carving, then leaned forward to blow the dust away. One of her helpers would come in and sweep the detritus up. It was still useful for other crafters, after all, though Carmen wasn¡¯t sure where it would end up. In any case, the carving was only one more step. There was one more stage to copmlete before she¡¯d count the brick finished. So, without further hesitation, Carmen retrieved a long rod of blood tin. It was silver, but with a slight red shimmer. More importantly, it too had been through multiple rounds of purification, so it practically glowed with ethereal potential. Carmen set the thin rod on the first carving, then placed her finger on the end before activating Smolder. The blood tin melted, filling the carved recess and spilling over the edge. That was perfectly normal, so she ignored it as she slowly moved the rod along, inlaying the ethereal metal into the brick. Without her abilities, it would have been useless. The moment the tin cooled, it would detach from the brock. However, once she¡¯d completed the process, which took almost half the rod, she used Bond to fuse the two materials. It took an incredible amount of ethera, which nearly drained her. However, that was expected. The next step was a lot touchier, and it would require every point of her Dexterity attribute. Thankfully, her class had enhanced it quite a bit, but more importantly, she¡¯d already completed the process a dozen times. So, by that point, she was an expert. Still, it required a steady hand and as much focus as she could manage. Brick in hand, she approached the grinder. It was a contraption she¡¯d built herself, though the belt had been created by a local Tinkerer. Carmen didn¡¯t know what he¡¯d used for the abrasive belt, but it worked well enough to grind even the excess tin ¨C which was unnaturally durable ¨C from the surface of the brick. The only issue was that it would also cut into the dragonstone if Carmen wasn¡¯t careful. And given that the bricks needed to be absolutely identical, any variance created by the grinder would render the brick unusable. Too much effort and too many expensive materials had been used for her to let that happen. The good thing was that using the grinder, which consisted of a series of wheels, around which the belt had been strung, was almost meditative. Sure, she had to operate the thing with a pedal, but with her stamina ¨C and Crafter¡¯s Endurance ¨C it was no great strain. Indeed, it was extremely satisfying, seeing the rough belt grind the metal away, bit by bit. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It was time-consuming, though. So, it was hours later before, at last, Carmen had finished. She held the brick out, inspecting it closely. The designs ¨C which were all symbols associated with enchantments meant to condense ethera. She hoped it would result in much thicker ethera inside the forge, which would simultaneously enhance any item created within and provide an appropriate setting for cultivation.
Congratulations! You have created a unique component [Enchanted Dragonstone Brick]. Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: D
¡°Yes!¡± she breathed, pumping her fist in celebration. It was the thirteenth time she¡¯d created one of the enchanted bricks, but each success came with a burst of experience as well as satisfaction. When she turned to set the block aside, she saw that someone had invaded her smithy and gave a start. ¡°What are you doing here?! How long have you been sitting there?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Elijah asked from where he was sitting on the pile of other, raw blocks that were waiting to be enchanted. ¡°Oh, about two hours or so? I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m guessing you decided to take my advice and run with it, huh? Doing everything yourself?¡± She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s easier for combat classes,¡± she said. ¡°All they need to do is find a battlefield or something. Maybe a dojo? I don¡¯t know. But with crafters, it¡¯s harder. Nerthus¡¯ advice has been helpful.¡± In truth, she probably could have cultivated in her current smithy. It would just take a while, and it would have dubious usefulness after she reached the first stage. Of course, Core cultivation was still largely impossible on Earth ¨C except for people like Elijah, she amended. Perhaps she would be able to clear that hurdle once she¡¯d finished the Great Forge. ¡°Do you need any help?¡± he asked. Setting the completed brick down next to its identical siblings, she answered, ¡°No. I need to do as much of this as possible myself. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be diluted. I think.¡± She wiped the sweat from her brow. ¡°I¡¯m kind of just playing it by ear right now, but my instincts tell me that the more help I get with this, the less it will help me with my cultivation.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± Carmen crossed to where Elijah was sitting, then joined him atop the stacked bricks. With her legs dangling, she asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Are you back? Or is this temporary?¡± Elijah answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. With the Trial of Primacy coming up, I know I have a lot of preparation ahead of me. This can¡¯t just be like a tower run. If I go in unprepared, I¡¯ll end up dead.¡± ¡°What do you need?¡± ¡°Levels. Cultivation. Equipment. I¡¯ve been thinking about armor. I mean, when I¡¯m in my bestial forms, I have scales, but I can¡¯t help but think that I¡¯m missing the boat with armor. Even if it doesn¡¯t make me more durable, a lot of it still has abilities that would help me, right? I don¡¯t know. I have Atticus keeping an eye out for a good Leatherworker, but he hasn¡¯t found anyone yet. So, I might just use that gnome that works across town. I can¡¯t remember his name.¡± ¡°Rikin,¡± Carmen provided. She¡¯d met most of the higher-leveled crafters in Ironshore, largely because most worthwhile projects required cooperation between a wide variety of professions. For instance, when she made armor, it would turn out better if the padding was made by someone used to working with textiles or leather. ¡°Yeah. Him. Is he any good?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°He¡¯s in his forties,¡± she answered, referring to the gnome¡¯s level. It wasn¡¯t as impressive as it sounded. He was more than sixty years old, and he looked it, too. The only reason he¡¯d come to Earth in the first place was because he wanted to help his daughter ¨C who was a farmer ¨C develop. However, his advanced age as well as his low level, which had been under twenty-five before coming to Earth, showed that he wasn¡¯t terribly talented. But he was the highest level leatherworker in the city. ¡°Personally, I¡¯d use Gavina. She¡¯s lower-leveled, but she¡¯s not even twenty-years-old yet. Much more talented. I don¡¯t know if that would translate into the final product, but it¡¯d pay off by helping her gain some levels so that next time you need her, she can do something even better.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Not sure if I can afford to make a choice based on developing someone I don¡¯t even know,¡± he admitted. ¡°This trial is going to be extremely dangerous.¡± ¡°Even for you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not invincible, Carmen. I almost died only a few days ago,¡± he admitted, which surprised her. Then, he told her what had happened in Seattle, ending with, ¡°It just highlights that we can¡¯t rest on our laurels. Even if people are lower-leveled, there are so many different abilities out there that could make them even more dangerous. I mean, I¡¯ve spent most of the past four years punching up. There¡¯s nothing to say that other people can¡¯t do the same thing. Which brings me to Miggy.¡± ¡°What about him?¡± she asked. ¡°I came up with a training program for him,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°He already trains every day.¡± ¡°He does,¡± her brother-in-law agreed. ¡°But it¡¯s not focused. I know he doesn¡¯t have an archetype yet, but it¡¯s coming any day now. He needs to decide what he wants to do. For instance, if he¡¯s going to be a Warrior, then all of his training with Kurik will be useless. And if he wants to be a Druid ¨C¡± ¡°I thought you said that was a bad idea.¡± ¡°It is. Probably. It¡¯s not an archetype meant for fighting. Maybe that¡¯s a good thing, but I think we both know that Miggy will never be happy sitting in the grove and gardening with Nerthus,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°That¡¯s true,¡± she agreed. Even if she wished it was otherwise, Carmen knew her son well enough to recognize that the life Elijah described would be hell for Miguel. ¡°What do you suggest?¡± ¡°I¡¯m going to talk to him. Ask him what he really wants.¡± ¡°Good luck with that.¡± Carmen had tried to talk to her son about his impending archetype choice, and on dozens of occasions. To date, he¡¯d been noncommittal. ¡°But maybe you can get through to him,¡± she conceded. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re going to structure his training based on what he says?¡± ¡°I have a generic schedule, but that¡¯s the plan,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Plus, I think Nerthus might have some methods to prepare him for cultivation. But I didn¡¯t want to overstep, so I thought I¡¯d ask you before I did anything.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± she said. With anyone else ¨C except maybe Colt ¨C she might have refused. But she trusted Elijah, and what¡¯s more, she knew that he had Miguel¡¯s best interests at heart. Besides, he was the most powerful person in the world. If he wasn¡¯t an expert, then nobody was. ¡°Alright then,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What about you? Are you okay?¡± She answered honestly, saying, ¡°This is the most at peace I¡¯ve been since Alyssa died. Maybe since before that. I¡¯m not saying Ironshore is perfect. It¡¯s not. There are still people here who don¡¯t trust humans. But it¡¯s so much better than what I left behind. I think I¡¯ve found a place here.¡± ¡°Good,¡± he said, reaching around and wrapping his arm around her shoulder. He pulled her close, saying, ¡°You and Miggy are the only family I have left. And Nerthus, but he can take care of himself. I need you two to be okay.¡± ¡°You know that goes both ways, right? You¡¯re all we have, too. So don¡¯t go and do anything to get yourself killed. It would break Miggy.¡± ¡°Just Miggy?¡± ¡°Me too, idiot,¡± she said with a smile. Her own family ¨C from before she met Alyssa, at least ¨C had mostly abandoned her after she¡¯d come out. Partially as a result of that, she¡¯d latched onto Elijah as something of a little brother. And though her instincts told her to protect him, she knew that he was so far beyond her in terms of power that such efforts would be useless. All she could do was offer her support, which she wholeheartedly did. Then, she said, ¡°You want to get a drink? Talk things out?¡± ¡°Wish I could,¡± he said, sliding off of the stacked bricks. ¡°But I¡¯ve got a lot to do. Plus, Miggy just got back to the island, and I want to get that done. Tomorrow¡¯s going to be the start of something important, I think.¡± With that, Carmen said goodbye, and he left the smithy behind. After, Carmen went back to work. She¡¯d completed thirteen bricks, and she had thousands more ahead of her. 4-60. Training With the light of a gibbous moon shining down on him, Elijah landed in a clearing near the grove. When he hit the ground, it still sent a shock through his legs and up his spine, but the impact was far less severe than it had been even six weeks before. All of his practice, it seemed, had come in handy. Still, he knew he had a long way to go before he could approach the natural grace of a true avian predator like the birds who inhabited the storm to the west of his island. But where they had reached the peak, Elijah had only begun to glimpse what was possible with Shape of the Sky, so he hoped to one day surpass them. For now, though, he had other things on his mind. Without hesitation, he resumed his human shape, then used Soothe to mend any damage he might have incurred before setting off toward the coast where he knew he¡¯d find Miguel. When the young man had returned to the island, he hadn¡¯t gone straight back to the grove. Instead, he¡¯d meandered through the island¡¯s forest, ending up on the very same promontory where Elijah had first encountered the Voxx. The sight of that rock jutting out over a deep and protected fishing hole brought back quite a few memories. Some of them ¨C like catching fish which were then confiscated by the panther ¨C were good. Others, like the aforementioned encounter with the Voxxian monster that had nearly killed him and the island¡¯s guardian, were decidedly less so. With a sigh, he leaped over a fallen tree, then climbed the angled rock to the flat peak. There, he found Miguel sitting with his legs dangling over the edge. The young man tossed a loose stone into the water. ¡°You know,¡± Elijah said, sitting beside his nephew. ¡°I almost died here once.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. You know about the Voxx, right?¡± Elijah asked. Miguel nodded, and he went on, ¡°Well, this was my favorite fishing spot for the first six months after the world transformed. There are some huge steelhead trout down there. A lot bigger than they were before everything changed. More dangerous, too. I almost lost a fingers on more than one occasion. ¡°But there I was, just minding my own business with this huge Voxxian monster ¨C it was bigger than my lamellar ape form ¨C burst out of the water,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°I was only level two at the time, so I knew there was no chance I could take it.¡± ¡°Only level two? Six months in? How?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°When I first washed ashore, I was barely alive,¡± he said. ¡°Cancer, you know? And chemotherapy. I think my Strength attribute was only at three points. And my Constitution was a one. So, it was all I could do to just survive. Even then, I probably wouldn¡¯t have made it with my buddy.¡± ¡°The guardian.¡± ¡°Yep. He was a mist panther. Or I think that¡¯s what he was called. Either way, I think he took pity on me. So, I gave him some of my food, and he looked out for me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s how I survived the Voxx attack. I managed to delay it for a few seconds, which gave me a chance to run away. Just as it caught up, the panther found me. They fought, going back and forth until, at last, the panther won. I¡¯ll never forget that. No matter what else happens, I¡¯ll always remember that day because it was then that I fully realized how much the world had changed. There¡¯s no room for weakness in this world. Maybe if we¡¯d been born someplace that was touched by the World Tree centuries ago, we could afford a little weakness. I don¡¯t know. But Earth? Right now, it¡¯s a battlefield out there. I think you understand that better than most, after everything you¡¯ve been through. ¡°But that panther saved me. He gave me a chance to survive, and I took it. I¡¯ve been fighting ¨C off and on ¨C ever since then,¡± Elijiah stated. ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± asked Miguel. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe to give you context,¡± he said. ¡°I almost died a few days ago. I was strutting around like I was Earth¡¯s top dog, and I almost got killed by someone thirty levels lower than me.¡± ¡°How?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s unique,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°His class was rare, I¡¯m sure. But something I¡¯ve come to realize is that we¡¯re all vulnerable. Even when we¡¯re stronger than everyone else, we can¡¯t stop. We can¡¯t hold back. If we do, we¡¯ll end up in the ground.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Miguel said. Elijah didn¡¯t doubt it. The young man had been through so much that there was no way he wasn¡¯t just as aware of the world¡¯s dangers as Elijah was. Still, it bore mentioning, if only because returning to the scene of his first brush with the Voxx had brought it to mind. ¡°Have you had a chance to look through the nature-attuned classes?¡± Elijah asked. He¡¯d been gone for a while, which should have given Miguel plenty of opportunity to study the guide. ¡°Yeah. A bunch of times,¡± Miguel answered. ¡°And?¡± ¡°There are a lot of them that sound good,¡± he hedged. ¡°Colt says the class doesn¡¯t matter. It¡¯s the man behind the class that makes the difference.¡± The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation. Elijah nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true enough,¡± he agreed. ¡°But let me tell you another story.¡± Then, he recounted his encounter with Thor. Elijah knew that the other high-ranker hadn¡¯t approached his cultivation level ¨C which had been confirmed by Isaiah, who¡¯d scanned him when he passed through Seattle ¨C but due to his high-grade, combat-focused class, he was able to stand toe-to-toe with Elijah. ¡°Our classes matter,¡± he said. ¡°So does cultivation. Our abilities. Our cores. It¡¯s all part of it. If you want to fight, then you need to pick a class meant for it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think my mom wants that.¡± ¡°Probably not,¡± Elijah allowed. ¡°But it¡¯s not her life. It¡¯s yours. So, I¡¯ll ask you this ¨C who are you? Are you the type of man who can sit in the back and craft? Are you the sort who can spend his life tending to a garden? Can you spend your days running a shop? If so, that¡¯s great. Be the best damned shopkeeper you can be. Or crafter. Or gardener. We will support your choices no matter what.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t want that,¡± Miguel said. ¡°I want to fight.¡± ¡°There you have it, then. This is about you. Not me. Not your mom. Not Colt. You. Going through life making your choices based on whether or not you¡¯ll please everyone else is a good way to end up with a lot of regrets,¡± Elijah advised. ¡°Next question ¨C how do you want to fight? With magic, maybe? Do you want to ¨C¡± ¡°No,¡± Miguel answered. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m going to be a Warrior like mom. Or a Ranger.¡± ¡°Explain why.¡± Without hesitation, Miguel said, ¡°I feel like Sorcerers are too limited. They can do a lot of damage, but the second somebody breaks through their shields, they¡¯re vulnerable.¡± ¡°That¡¯s mostly true. But you remember Isaak, right? You met him in Argos,¡± Elijah said. Miguel nodded. ¡°He has this skill where he basically gets a second life. It has a cooldown, and he¡¯s vulnerable while it¡¯s active. But it¡¯ll let him survive a fatal wound.¡± ¡°Are you supposed to be telling people that?¡± Most people liked to keep the details of their abilities secret, so it was a bit of a faux pas to reveal Isaak¡¯s secrets. That was unimportant next to guiding Miguel forward, though. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Probably not. You won¡¯t tell on me, will you?¡± ¡°No,¡± Miguel said quickly. Then, he went on, ¡°But it¡¯s more than survivability. I just¡­I like fighting with weapons. They¡¯re more solid. They¡¯re dependable. And I want to be able to take a hit if everything goes wrong.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not just saying that because your mom was a Warrior, right?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not,¡± he insisted. ¡°I doubt I¡¯d get her class anyway. I asked Nerthus about it, and he¡¯d never even heard of a Dragon Lancer. I think it was pretty rare.¡± ¡°Maybe. But Nerthus isn¡¯t much older than you, relatively speaking. He doesn¡¯t know everything.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what he said. When I first met him, he was barely more than a foot tall,¡± Eliijah said, glancing at his nephew. The young man had continued to grow, and he expected that it wouldn¡¯t be that long before Miguel was taller than him. Not that that was a huge accomplishment. Elijah was a lot of things, but he¡¯d never been blessed with great height. ¡°If you took Warrior, what kind of class would you hope for?¡± ¡°Some kind of hybrid,¡± Miguel answered, again without hesitation. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a protector. I want to have options.¡± ¡°You know that versatility comes at a cost, right? If you go that route, you¡¯ll never be as good at a particular task as someone who specialized,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°I know. Like I said, I want options. And I want something that will take advantage of my attunement.¡± ¡°What if it isn¡¯t nature?¡± ¡°It is.¡± ¡°You seem sure.¡± ¡°I am,¡± Miguel said. ¡°I feel it sometimes. It took a while before I recognized what it was, but now that Nerthus told me what to look for, I can feel it. Especially when I¡¯m around animals like Trevor and his family.¡± ¡°And if you become a Ranger?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Same thoughts, I guess. Is that wrong?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s fine. But now that we¡¯re sure you want to be a fighter of some sort, we need to start taking your training seriously,¡± he said. ¡°What I have in mind is more geared toward after you get your archetype, but it¡¯ll be fine to get started before.¡± Then, he explained what he¡¯d planned. At first, Miguel seemed eager, but as Elijah went on, detailing every minute of every day, his enthusiasm waned a little. Still, by the time Elijah finished, Miguel maintained the same steely-eyed determination he¡¯d worn like a cloak since the beginning. The next morning, they began his training. For the most part, Elijah accompanied him, but he also enlisted Colt¡¯s help, especially for the weapons training. Finally, he¡¯d asked Nerthus to do everything he could to prepare Miguel to step into the world of cultivation as soon as he obtained an archetype. The training itself was nothing groundbreaking. Lots of running, swimming, and lifting heavy things. The difference was that, with Elijah there, Miguel¡¯s recovery time was cut down to almost nothing. He could train longer and harder before exhaustion finally pushed him over the edge. That was where Nerthus came in, guiding Miguel through hours of meditation that seemed far more effective than Elijah¡¯s attempts at teaching his nephew to connect with nature. Finally, at the end of each day, Elijah gave Miguel a quarter of one of his grove berries. According to Nerthus, they were pseudo natural treasures, and as such, they were capable of ¨C over time ¨C creating a build-up of ethera that would help in Body cultivation. Elijah was counting on the berries helping when the time came to push himself to the next stage, and he hoped that their addition to his nephew¡¯s diet would work toward preparing Miguel for what came next. It was an absolutely brutal regimen, and one that Miguel had no chance of maintaining without Elijah¡¯s help. However, he got quite a surprise when Nerthus revealed that he had limited healing capabilities within the grove. Those abilities manifested similarly to Elijah¡¯s Healing Rain, though Nerthus insisted, ¡°The rain itself is not capable of healing. It is just rain. The interaction between it and the high density of ethera within the grove creates a rejuvenating effect that is approximately a quarter as powerful as your unenhanced spell.¡± That meant that Elijah could afford to leave the island without completely derailing Miguel¡¯s training. That was a definitely a relief, because after a week, he¡¯d begun to grow restless. His natural wanderlust was part of it, but Elijah also had a host of tasks begging for his attention. With one of those tasks, he¡¯d already begun to work toward completion. Though it would be some time before those efforts reached fruition. The rest would require some travel. Still, he put it off, watching as Miguel benefited from the copious training. He¡¯d gained two months¡¯ worth of benefits in only ten days, and they were just getting started. But finally, with the clock steadily ticking down until the Trial of Primacy, Elijah knew he could delay no longer. So, even as he watched Miguel meditate with Nerthus, he decided that the time had come for him to leave. 4-61. Preparation Elijah awoke to the feeling of someone climbing the steps to his treehouse. Even in his drowsy state, it only took a moment for him to focus on that facet of his Quartz Mind and identify Carmen. And she didn¡¯t seem happy, judging by the set of her shoulders and the scowl on her face. ¡°Damn,¡± he muttered, throwing his blanket aside. He pushed himself upright, then ran his hand through his hair before swinging his legs over the side. Then, he staggered across the room and into the short hall, arriving in the entryway as Carmen knocked on the door. He opened it with a smile. ¡°Good morning. Want some coffee?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± she said, pushing past him. ¡°Plus, you can explain to me where you¡¯re going.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t immediately launch into an explanation. Instead, he made good on his promise of glorious caffeine, boiling some water in the kitchen before using his French press to make the coffee. Idly, he wondered if he was losing some of the beverage¡¯s efficacy by preparing the coffee himself. Without any cooking abilities, he knew that some of the ethera would be lost, so it made sense that it would be less powerful than if an actual Cook ¨C or maybe someone who had a Barista class ¨C prepared it. In any case, he didn¡¯t have a Barista handy, so he resolved himself to making do with what he could make. That wasn¡¯t so bad, considering that it was still quite effective. After brewing the coffee, then dousing both cups in honey, he crossed the kitchen and handed Carmen a steaming mug. She took a sip, then let out a sigh of contentment, some of the tension draining out of her. ¡°You could probably sell this,¡± she remarked. ¡°I bet people would pay silvers for it.¡± ¡°And share my coffee? No, thanks,¡± Elijah said with a shudder. ¡°It¡¯s all mine. Except when I have guests, I guess. Besides, it¡¯s not like I need money. I made like fifty gold in Seattle.¡± ¡°Seriously? Just like that?¡± ¡°Yeah. I¡­uh¡­I defeated a lot of enemies,¡± he muttered, preferring not to go into details. It would just upset her. ¡°So, what¡¯s up? You came storming in here like you¡¯re on a mission.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t storm.¡± ¡°Tell that to your face,¡± he said. She rolled her eyes. ¡°You¡¯re leaving,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°I have to,¡± he responded, sitting in one of the chairs. ¡°The Trial of Primacy is coming up, and I¡¯m not even close to prepared. I need supplies. Armor, too. And I need to get stronger. The people in there will be no joke, and that¡¯s not even considering whatever challenges the system¡¯s going to throw at us. It¡¯s going to be more difficult than a tower. Maybe worse than a Primal Realm, which is still more than I can handle. If I¡¯m going to survive that, much less pass the trial, I¡¯m going to need to be at my best.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to participate in the trial, though. Miggy could use your help. Now that he¡¯s got it in his head that he¡¯s going to take one of the direct combat archetypes, he needs to be as strong as possible. His training is a lot more effective when you¡¯re around,¡± she said. Carmen was no stranger to physical training. She hadn¡¯t been a true bodybuilder before the World Tree¡¯s touch, but she¡¯d been an habitual weightlifter since college. As such, she knew just how helpful Elijah¡¯s healing spells really were when it came to recovery. ¡°I know. Nerthus is going to pick up the slack while I¡¯m gone,¡± he said. ¡°His spell isn¡¯t quite as potent, but it¡¯s good enough to maximize Miggy¡¯s gains. But even if that wasn¡¯t the case, I have to go. I recently had a fight that didn¡¯t really go my way. It was a good reminder that being at the top of the power rankings doesn¡¯t really guarantee anything. If we want to be safe ¨C¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t about our safety,¡± Carmen interrupted. She pointed at him, continuing, ¡°This is about you. Alyssa was the same way. She didn¡¯t admit it, but she was driven to be the best. The strongest. And look how that turned out.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not her.¡± ¡°You may as well be,¡± Carmen argued. ¡°You hide it behind all your personality quirks, but you can¡¯t stand coming in second. Which you are, by the way.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Look at the power rankings,¡± Carmen replied. Elijah did.
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 85 2. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 84 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 79 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 76 5. Niko Song ¨C Level 76 6. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 70 7. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 69 8. Benedict Emerson ¨C Level 66 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 63 10. Gunnar Lindstrom ¨C Level 61 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°What the hell? Last I looked, he was a few levels behind,¡± Elijah said. Admittedly, he didn¡¯t typically keep a close eye on the power rankings, but he hadn¡¯t expected Oscar Ramirez ¨C wherever he was ¨C to have jumped him. After all, Elijah hadn¡¯t been idle. Certainly, he hadn¡¯t been actively looking for levels, but he¡¯d still gained a few over the past months. ¡°What is he doing to level so fast?¡± ¡°That¡¯s not my point,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°You¡¯re not going to stay on top forever. You can¡¯t define yourself by being the strongest person in the world.¡± ¡°Highest level.¡± She narrowed her eyes. ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not really a ranking of the most powerful people,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s just levels. That¡¯s only a part of what makes someone strong.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be pedantic. The point is that you¡¯re needed here. This grove is a treasure trove. If you¡¯re not around, who¡¯s going to protect it?¡± ¡°I will,¡± Nerthus stated, stepping out of one of the branches that made up the wall. ¡°I apologize for eavesdropping, but it is difficult for me not to hear everything in the grove. Normally, I ignore it. However, I felt inclined to offer my input. I am now capable of protecting the grove ¨C and the island ¨C from all but the most powerful of intruders. In addition, the family of guardian deer have taken this as their home, and they will defend it. This island is no fortress, but for now, we are more than able to protect it and anyone who resides here. In addition, I am eager to help young master Miguel however I can.¡± ¡°Why?¡± asked Carmen. ¡°Because he¡¯s my nephew, right?¡± Elijah guessed. ¡°No. He has the seed of a nature attunement. That is not so common that it should be ignored,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°It is my duty to nurture that seed just as I tend to the rest of the grove.¡± ¡°Oh. See?¡± Elijah said. ¡°Miggy will be fine.¡± Carmen sighed, then took another sip of her coffee. ¡°Maybe I¡¯m not going to be fine,¡± she said. ¡°I know this is all just a normal day for you, but I can¡¯t help but draw some parallels between Alyssa going to that tower and you participating in this Trial of Primacy.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, he just stared at her for a moment, dumbfounded that he hadn¡¯t made the connection. Of course Carmen would be concerned. Her family had been torn apart by that tower run. And now that she and Miguel were just getting settled, Elijah was going to leave on a similar task. How could she not have reservations? ¡°I¡¯ll be fine,¡± he said, reaching out to put his hand on hers. She flinched at his touch, but it only lasted a moment. ¡°You know that, right? I¡¯ve run multiple towers. I can handle myself.¡± ¡°You just said that you recently lost a fight,¡± Carmen pointed out. ¡°And there are going to be five-thousand people in this trial.¡± ¡°More than that, actually. That¡¯s just the humans. There are spots for the non-humans, too,¡± Elijah corrected her. Then, he saw her face and said, ¡°Which is a totally not the point.¡± ¡°Good save,¡± she said sarcastically. ¡°You know I consistently put my foot in my mouth. It¡¯s part of my charm,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But seriously, Carmen. The whole point of me taking off is so that I can be as prepared as possible for the trial. And besides ¨C this isn¡¯t like a tower. If things get too hairy, I can just leave. That¡¯s what the notice said, at least, and I don¡¯t think the system needs to lie to us.¡± ¡°Just promise you¡¯ll be careful. In your preparations and in the trial.¡± ¡°I promise,¡± he said, though he wasn¡¯t necessarily sure he could commit to that. Progression required a certain amount of risk, so he knew he¡¯d be forced to put his life on the line. Hopefully, he could manage it, though. ¡°What are you going to do? Run some towers?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Probably,¡± he answered. ¡°I need to do some other stuff first, though. I need to talk to Atticus about some of my plans, plus I want to find out if anyone from Argos is planning on participating in the trial. What about you? How is your project coming along?¡± ¡°Slowly,¡± she sighed. ¡°I¡¯m enchanting every single brick, which you can guess is a bit time-consuming.¡± Once Carmen explained the process, Elijah admitted, ¡°Sounds tedious.¡± ¡°It can be, but it¡¯s also satisfying. I¡¯m learning a lot, too. Getting a little experience as well,¡± she said. ¡°But I¡¯ll be glad when it¡¯s finished. Then I can start working on my cultivation. I think it¡¯ll really help me once I start pushing for quality again.¡± After that, their conversation turned to more mundane subjects, like the gossip in Ironshore. Carmen hadn¡¯t been there long, but her knowledge of the goings on in the town was light years beyond Elijah¡¯s. When he pointed that out, she just frowned and said, ¡°Well, you have a habit of threatening everyone every time you come into town. Of course they wouldn¡¯t be comfortable around you. Plus, you¡¯re never around.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair.¡± Then, Carmen went on to explain that the trade alliance with Norcastle had been even more successful than expected, which had brought a flood of ethereum into the town. More, there was a small community of humans that had migrated to Ironshore. Most were Miners, but their families had come as well. ¡°And don¡¯t worry. They know this island is off-limits. Everyone in Ironshore is quick to tell any visitors that everyone who comes here ends up dead,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°It¡¯s a bit silly, honestly. I thought they should downplay the uniqueness, but I was overruled.¡± By the time they finished their second cup of coffee, they¡¯d exhausted most topics of conversation. More, Elijah didn¡¯t think he could put off his departure much longer. So, he bade Carmen goodbye and went to find Miguel. The young man was already deep into his training, which met with Elijah approval. After telling Miguel that he¡¯d be checking back in soon, he used Roots of the World Tree and teleported to Argos. A few minutes later, he arrived at the gates, then made his way to Atticus¡¯ shop. As soon as he entered, the merchant looked up from where he was studying a pair of metal greaves, and when he recognized Elijah, a smile spread across his face. ¡°Welcome back, my friend! I did not expect you so soon,¡± he said. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Time¡¯s ticking away,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m starting to prepare for the Trial of Primacy, and I hoped you¡¯d have some good news for me. Any luck with the search?¡± While building the Temple of Virtue, Elijah had asked Atticus to remain on the lookout for talented Leatherworkers and a Bowyer. At the time, he¡¯d intended to find gear for Miguel, but now it seemed that he might find uses for those crafters himself. ¡°Regrettably, no,¡± Atticus admitted. ¡°But if you¡¯re just looking for armor, I have some decent options.¡± ¡°Only leather,¡± Elijah stated. Indeed, he¡¯d given it a lot of thought, and the idea of using anything else just didn¡¯t feel right to him. Perhaps it was that metal armor was inorganic, or maybe it was all in his head, but he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d get the most out of it unless he confined his choices to leather or cloth ¨C and the latter, only if he couldn¡¯t find the former. ¡°In that case, I have nothing worthwhile,¡± Atticus said. ¡°However, I do have good news!¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°There is an Artificer in Argos. He¡¯s low-leveled. Just got his class a couple of weeks ago. But I¡¯ve seen some of his work, and I¡¯m very impressed,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°What does an Artificer do, exactly?¡± ¡°Think of a Tinkerer, but with a bit more focus on ethereal contraptions. As soon as I heard about young Lars, I looked it up in a guide I bought months ago,¡± he said. Then, he went on, ¡°An Artificer can enchant tools that mimic class abilities. For instance, he made an engraving tool for me that allows me to empower very basic enchantments. I still need to study the designs, and even if I get it right, it will be quite limited. However, it will allow me to do a fair imitation of an Enchanter, which is far more than I would¡¯ve been able to do without that tool.¡± ¡°Interesting.¡± Atticus laughed. ¡°That is an understatement, my friend! I heard that his most popular tools are cooking implements,¡± he stated. ¡°Imagine being able to cook your own food again ¨C and actually enjoy the product! It¡¯s revolutionary.¡± Elijah scratched his chin. ¡°That could be helpful,¡± he said. Indeed, he¡¯d long lamented his inability to cook anything properly, but he was more concerned with coffee at the moment. If his coffee already gave such a fantastic buff, then what would it give if it was brewed by someone with a cooking skill? Or, in this case, by someone with a French press enchanted to mimic one of those skills? The idea was more than intriguing. ¡°Just keep an eye out for a high level Leatherworker,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The level to beat is thirty-five.¡± That was the level of the girl back in Ironshore. Elijah would use her if necessary, but he wanted something better. ¡°Will do, my friend.¡± ¡°What about the nearby tower? Is there anyone running it right now?¡± Elijah asked. That was the problem with the towers to which Elijah had access. With the exception of the Magister¡¯s Estate near Arvandor, they were all in a constant rotation as the local forces took advantage of the leveling opportunities they represented. So, if Elijah wanted to run them, he needed to get in line. ¡°Regrettably, Delilah led her team inside only this morning. They won¡¯t return for a few days,¡± Atticus answered. ¡°But I do know of one that might be abandoned. Here ¨C let me get a map.¡± He did just that, then showed Elijah where it was said to be. The tower was to the south, well past the swamp, and Atticus¡¯ knowledge was based on hearsay. But it seemed like as good an opportunity as any. So, Elijah decided that, once he found the Artificer and commissioned a French Press, he would go check it out. 4-62. Artificers Goods The city of Argos looked much the same as it always did, though Elijah still felt warmed by the general aura of acceptance he felt while walking its streets. Everywhere else he went, it seemed as if everyone was waiting for him to snap and start killing people. They either walked on eggshells around him ¨C as they did in Ironshore ¨C or responded with outright hostility, like in Seattle. He had passed through other places where the population was neutral, but those never really sprang to mind when he thought about his reception in the various locales he¡¯d visited. Either way, every smile he saw, every wave directed in his direction, and each time he saw a group of elderly women excitedly gossiping about him filled Elijah with much-needed joy. It was telling that he¡¯d had to travel hundreds of miles from his home just to be accepted. Of course, the reactions of Ironshore¡¯s residents weren¡¯t unjustified. They¡¯d seen just what he could do if pushed in the wrong direction ¨C not only with the invaders he¡¯d killed, but also in the battle against the orcs. So, their fear was as understandable as it was disappointing. Would the people of Argos react similarly if they saw what he could do? Perhaps. Elijah hoped he¡¯d never find out, though. A gentle but cold rain began to fall as he made his way through the streets. Many of the city¡¯s residents dashed inside at the first few drops, but Elijah enjoyed it. With his Cloak of the Iron Bear, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the temperature. So, he had few reasons not to bask in the impromptu shower. Whatever the case, by the time he reached the Artificer¡¯s shop, his clothes were soaked through ¨C which suggested he should have probably been a bit more cognizant of the weather. He pushed through the door, which resulted in a deafening whistle that echoed through the shop. Elijah clapped his hands over his ears, letting out a gasp. The sound was so loud and shrill that it was physically painful, and with the ringing in his ears that followed in its wake, it took him a moment to recognize that the sound had stopped. He pulled his hand away, half expecting it to be bloody. ¡°Sorry,¡± came a voice from nearby. ¡°I¡¯m still working on the bell.¡± Elijah looked toward the voice, seeing a slight, pale-skinned young man. His face was dusted with freckles, and he wore his hair with the sides shaved clean but a mop of curls on top. Otherwise, the most curious thing about him was that he wore what looked like a pair of welder¡¯s goggles atop his head. ¡°Lars?¡± Elijah asked, glancing around the room. To him, it looked like a pawn shop, with all sorts of items ¨C some of which were recognizable, but others that weren¡¯t ¨C piled onto shelves. Apparently, organization wasn¡¯t Lars¡¯ strongest suit, because there didn¡¯t appear to be any rhyme or reason to how everything had been arranged. Next to an old microwave was a Swiss Army knife, and next to that was a leather apron. There were gloves, various other articles of clothing, and plenty of appliances as well. ¡°I am,¡± said the young man. He certainly didn¡¯t look or sound Greek. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve heard you¡¯re an Artificer. What exactly is that?¡± Elijah asked, picking up an old Gameboy. He flipped the switch, and surprisingly, a surge of ethera passed through it. However, instead of a video game, the screen showed a top-down map that it only took Elijah a second to recognize as the surrounding area. ¡°This is a map¡­¡± ¡°It is!¡± Lars exclaimed. ¡°One of a kind, too. I think the Gameboy screen gives it a kind of retro look that you won¡¯t find anywhere else! Barely requires any charging, either. Super efficient. I¡¯m calling it a Map Boy.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t find the device nearly as exciting as Lars clearly did ¨C largely because, with the size of the screen, it was difficult to make anything out. ¡°How does it work?¡± he asked, turning it over. There was a silver plate covering the backside. ¡°It¡¯s how my class works,¡± Lars answered. ¡°I copy skills ¨C that one is based on an Explorer skill, and it not only maps the area, but also shows points of interest. Then, I add them to devices. The trick is finding the right skills for the job. And getting people to let me copy them. And I guess it¡¯s not so easy making them interface with the item, either. The whole thing is difficult is what I¡¯m getting at. But my prices are very reasonable considering how much work goes into each item!¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said, setting the item down. He liked the notion of the skill, but he didn¡¯t think the Gameboy screen was best suited for it. In any case, he had a couple of other ideas for equipment. The first was obvious. He reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, retrieving his French press. Upon pulling it out, he asked, ¡°Can you put a cooking skill on this? Nothing fancy. Just make it maintain ethera or something when I¡¯m brewing.¡± ¡°Hmm. Give me a second,¡± Lars said, tapping his sharp chin. Then, he held up his finger and said, ¡°Be right back.¡± He turned to rush to the other end of the shop, but before he dipped into the back room, he said, ¡°If you¡¯re going to shoplift, let me know.¡± Before Elijah could respond ¨C he felt like he¡¯d heard that line before ¨C Lars was gone. That left Elijah to peruse the goods, but the problem was that he had no idea where to begin. The items were all clearly enchanted ¨C judging by the ethera wafting off of them, at least ¨C but there was no indication as to what any of them actually did. Did that chainsaw have a logcutting skill? Or was it meant for dismemberment? Or something else entirely? What about that television? Or the vacuum cleaner? To say the selection was eclectic was an understatement, though from Lars¡¯ description of the Gameboy, the possibilities of getting something useful were nearly endless. By the time those thoughts had flitted through Eliijah¡¯s head, Lars returned carrying a giant, three-ring binder. It was decorated with a bunch of semi-anthropomorphic cartoon horses. ¡°Uh¡­My Little Pony?¡± asked Elijah. Lars blushed. ¡°It was the only notebook I could find when I got the Skill Catalogue skill,¡± he said. ¡°Belonged to my little sister. I tried covering it up with something else, but¡­it won¡¯t work. It¡¯s a magical item, so it resists damage. And apparently covering those ponies up with duct tape or marker counts as damage.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Elijah breathed, not willing to extend that topic of conversation. The characteristics of the skill were interesting, but he didn¡¯t want to broach the subject of the young man¡¯s sister. With everything that had happened, talking about people¡¯s loved ones was a touchy subject, largely because so many of them were no longer among the living. It was much safer not to ask questions about that kind of thing. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Lars flipped open the book, turning to a page somewhere in the middle before he said, ¡°Aha! Here it is. Percolate. Tradesman archetype. Cook class. Allows for the infusion of ethera while filtering a liquid through a porous substance or surface. Should work for your little coffee thingy.¡± ¡°French press.¡± ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s what I meant. So, let¡¯s talk about cost. One skill or spell ought to do it,¡± Lars said, stepping forward. ¡°Just put your hand on this and ¨C urk ¨C¡± Elijah had reacted on instinct, his hand snapping out to wrap around the Artificer¡¯s neck. In his defense, he¡¯d felt a swirl of foreign ethera like Lars was activating an ability. Usually ¨C at least in his experience ¨C that meant someone was about to attack him. And given how dangerous people could be, Eliijah wasn¡¯t going to take any chances. It was only after he saw the horrified look on Lars¡¯ face that he realized that he¡¯d made an error. He released the young man, but he also took a step back. Just in case. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve been¡­attacked a lot recently.¡± Lars bent over and coughed a couple of times, and then, with one hand resting on his knee, held up one finger. ¡°Can¡¯t imagine why people would attack you. You seem so nice¡­¡± His binder had completely disappeared. Finally, Lars caught his breath and straightened to his full height. ¡°It¡¯s my fault. I should have warned you,¡± he said. ¡°My price for doing commissions is that I need you to donate one skill.¡± ¡°I¡¯d rather pay ethereum.¡± ¡°No thanks. Only skills.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°My class doesn¡¯t advance unless I make stuff. Now, I could keep making the same things over and over again, which is super boring. Or I could make new stuff. But to do that, I need new skills to add to my Skill Catalogue. I¡¯d rather have that than a few extra coins.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. ¡°How does it work?¡± ¡°You put your hand in the book, I activate a skill, then you consent to having an ability of your choice copied,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not really a big deal.¡± Elijah scratched his chin. ¡°Three items,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll give you two skills.¡± ¡°Deal!¡± Elijah almost groaned at how quickly Lars had agreed. It was just further evidence that negotiation was not one of his strengths. But he¡¯d known that since he¡¯d bought his first car, when the saleswoman had beguiled him with a pretty face, a little flirting, and a whole lot of lying. He¡¯d ended up overpaying by thousands of dollars. His second time buying a car hadn¡¯t gone any better, even if instead of being hoodwinked by a good-looking woman, he¡¯d been ripped off by a fast-talking grifter of a used car salesman. And he hadn¡¯t gotten any better at it in the years since. The transformation of the world hadn¡¯t changed that, either. Whatever the case, he felt certain that he could have gotten all three items for one skill, but it was a little late to change the terms. So, he followed Lars¡¯ instructions and laid his hand on the suddenly-reappeared binder. Even though he knew it was coming, when Lars used his skill, Elijah flinched, but he maintained contact with the binder. Then, a notification flashed before his inner eye:
Lars Aaland would like to copy one of your abilities. Do you consent?
Elijah selected the affirmative option, which resulted in another notification.
Please choose an ability to be copied.
After that, his spellbook opened. It was much longer than the last time he¡¯d looked at the entire thing, but that was to be expected. He hadn¡¯t opened it in years, preferring instead to look at his individual spell descriptions. In any case, he didn¡¯t need to look at it long before he found the one he wished to offer.
Nature¡¯s Bounty Encourage the growth of plants.
¡°This one makes plants grow more quickly,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I figure you could make something that they can put in farms and the like.¡± ¡°Ah, yes. Interesting,¡± Lars said as his ethera surged. Elijah felt nothing, but a moment later, he received confirmation that his spell had been copied. After that, he offered Eyes of the Eagle, which Lars seemed very excited about. ¡°How about I give you one more ability, and you use it for an item specifically for me?¡± he asked. It wasn¡¯t really part of his original plan, but the possibilities of Lars¡¯ abilities were so broad that he kept getting ideas. ¡°That is acceptable,¡± Lars said. Then, Elijah let him copy Healing Rain. The idea was that he could heal himself and others with it if, for whatever reason, he ran out of ethera. It would be like having a free but low-powered heal. ¡°I think I can put that on a sprinkler,¡± Lars stated after studying the spell in his binder. When Elijah got a peek at it, he just saw unintelligible scribbles that looked like they were the product of an unmedicated schizophrenic. If he hadn¡¯t already seen some of the products of Lars¡¯ skills, that might¡¯ve scared him off. ¡°Should work at around half-power compared to the spell. Now, what else do you want? You have three more items.¡± Elijah told him. The first was the enchanted French press that he hoped would make his coffee better, but he also wanted an enchanted pan ¨C he¡¯d left the wok back home because he couldn¡¯t really make use of its special properties ¨C that would make his cooking more edible. Then, he wanted a version of the mapping enchantment he¡¯d seen on the Gameboy, but with a larger screen. Finally, he bought a checkered flag, complete with a pole that was meant to be stuck into the ground, that would increase his Regeneration attribute for a few hours. The buff wasn¡¯t huge ¨C only fifteen points ¨C but it didn¡¯t conflict with his own buffs, so it would be a net benefit. In addition, Elijah¡¯s perusal of the shop gave him a couple more useful items. The first was a skinning knife that borrowed a Hunter¡¯s skill to dress animals more efficiently. The next was a firestarter that would work even underwater. And finally, he bought a small A-frame tent that would discourage detection. ¡°It¡¯s based on a skill I got from an elf that was passing through town a few months ago,¡± Lars stated. ¡°He called the skill Tracker¡¯s Protection.¡± Then, he read the description from his book, ¡°Discourages detection from hostile entities. I thought it fit the tent idea, and it uses so little ethera that it¡¯ll last all night on one charge.¡± ¡°Perfect. How much do I owe you?¡± he asked. That¡¯s when the dickering started. This time, Elijah felt that he got the better of Lars, but he had no real idea of what the enchanted items were worth. If they¡¯d been normal items, he¡¯d have had more of an idea, but Lars¡¯ products differed from those of other Tradesmen in a couple of key ways. First, the copied skills were far less powerful than the originals, and as such, the items Lars could create weren¡¯t on the same tier as something someone like the weapons and armor Carmen could make. The tradeoff was that Lars didn¡¯t have to build anything from scratch. He didn¡¯t need special materials or weeks of work. He just had to have the right copied skill, which he could slap onto an appropriate item. The second issue was that they would need to be recharged. Some lasted longer than others, but they would all run out of ethera after a while. And finally, they were temporary. After a while, they would start to lose efficacy until they stopped working altogether. That wasn¡¯t ideal, but Lars assured Elijah that they would last at least a couple of months¡¯ worth of heavy use. So, once Lars had the details of Elijah¡¯s order, he said, ¡°I can have this done by tomorrow mid-day.¡± That worked for Elijah, so he left the young man behind and headed toward Agatha¡¯s inn where he hoped to get a good meal. 4-63. Khotont Elijah soared through the air above the swamp, his thoughts centered on the items he¡¯d gotten from Lars. To most people, a pan, a mapping tablet, a flag of regeneration, and an enchanted French press wouldn¡¯t be that huge of a deal, but for him, they were absolute game changers. The pan would allow him to cook his meals without losing any of the ethera that gave it taste, and the French press would give his coffee a little ¨C or perhaps a lot of ¨C extra kick. He hadn¡¯t used it yet, but he hoped that it would manifest in a more potent buff. And the mapping tablet would prove invaluable once he was in the Trial of Primacy. To test it out, he¡¯d taken it out into the wilderness around Argos, and to his surprise, it not only gave him a moderately detailed map of an area in a half-mile radius of his location, but for about half that distance, it actually highlighted points of interest. He¡¯d used it to find a weak natural treasure. Even though he¡¯d left the fern where he found it, the fact that the the map showed it was a great sign of things to come. The Firestarter he had bought, which was a converted laser pointer, was less impressive but no less effective. Elijah had tried it underwater, and it had worked fantastically well. The fire it conjured only lasted a couple of minutes, but that was probably enough for his purposes. The memory of dozens of cold, wet nights were enough to make him appreciate the little device. Elijah had yet to try the tent, skinning knife, or flag out, but the other items had performed their functions well enough that he didn¡¯t think it necessary. He trusted that when the time came, each would play its role as well as the others. The only issue with Lars¡¯ products was that they required recharging. That meant that Elijah would need to push his ethera into a small rune the Artificer had drawn on each item, channeling his energy for at least a few minutes for each item. If he completely used their stored ethera, it would take much longer to recharge them. They also didn¡¯t have fancy names like the Cloak of the Iron Bear or any of his other equipment. That highlighted their temporary nature, at least to Elijah. Perhaps as Lars gained levels, he would be able to make longer-lasting items. For now, though, Elijah was glad that he¡¯d stuck around for the extra day, even if he could feel his available time ticking down. Fortunately, there hadn¡¯t been any aerial predators to hinder his path, so as he flew over the swamp, he did so at the speed of a Cessna. He couldn¡¯t quite rival passenger jets or fighter planes, but he expected that, as his attributes grew, so too would his top speed. The only thing that slowed him down was the occasional updraft, which would throw him off course if he wasn¡¯t careful. Gradually, he crossed the immense swamp, and as he did so, he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the sheer scope of the area. Distance was a little hard to judge without much context, but he suspected that the swamp could rival a state like Texas in size ¨C which meant that it was absolutely enormous. However, it only took a day-and-a-half before he found the edge, and when he did, he observed the reemergence of the ruins that dotted the rest of the region. It was so difficult to think of the remnants of pre-transformation Earth¡¯s civilization as such, but given that they were abandoned and crumbling, there really was no other viable term. Still, each time Elijah saw a half-destroyed suburban neighborhood or crumbling store, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a pang of sadness. Accompanying that was a note of satisfaction, though. While he took no joy in the knowledge that so many people had died, nature¡¯s ongoing reclamation of those areas elicited some degree of serenity. Was that his attunement at work? Or was it the simple result of knowing that Earth had been on a collision course with disaster, all at the hands of industrialization? Maybe it was both. Whatever the case, the touch of the World Tree had brought that to a halt, and the wild places of the world had begun to resume their rightful stature. After another day, Elijah spotted something troubling down below, and he landed just outside of what looked like a destroyed town. Unlike the other ruins he¡¯d seen, these fallen buildings had been constructed much more recently. Elijah resumed his human form and strode forward, his Dragon-Touched Staff thudding against the ground with every step. Three large buildings ¨C huge yurts, he thought ¨C had comprised the village, and they looked like they¡¯d been trampled by a herd of elephants. The wood from which they¡¯d been made had been snapped like bundles of twigs, and people¡¯s belongings were scattered across the whole village. Elijah saw old clothes ¨C ripped and torn ¨C leather harnesses, and even a few makeshift children¡¯s dolls in the ruins, but he found no bodies, which garnered hope that the people who¡¯d lived there had managed to survive. However, as he looked at the remains of the settlement, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what had managed to destroy it so thoroughly. A monster, perhaps. It didn¡¯t look like the work of people, largely because nothing had been taken. The leather, at the very least, was valuable enough that it wouldn¡¯t have been left behind. Still, even though Elijah spent a couple of hours investigating the scene, he found no evidence to suggest the cause of the destruction. So, after checking his map tablet and finding nothing of note, he set off in the direction of the tower Atticus had mentioned. The merchant¡¯s directions hadn¡¯t been perfect, but Elijah hoped that they would at least put him in the right area. Finding it after that wouldn¡¯t be terribly difficult. Because of his resolution not to spend too much time in any of his bestial forms, Elijah set off on foot. As he did so, he observed the territory. The swamp had long since given way to an expansive prairie. Parts of the plains were verdant with lush grasses, but the region through which he now passed was more like a savannah with thick clumps of yellow grass, the stark and unforgiving landscape periodically broken up by multicolored flowers and other vegetation. More than once, Elijah just stopped to appreciate the scenery. It was so different from the forests to which he¡¯d grown so accustomed, but there was certainly something about the vast savannah that spoke to him. With all the open space and huge, blue sky, it felt like freedom. As Elijah progressed through the savannah, he saw a half-dozen other trampled settlements, some of which would qualify as small cities. If he¡¯d had to guess, some of them would have held at least a few thousand people, though when Elijah passed through, they were all deserted. Most of those were surrounded by fields that had once held crops, but those too had been trampled, and any evidence of what produce had once grown there was gone amidst the turned earth. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. Finally, Elijah caught sight of a plume of smoke on the horizon. It was miles away, but after taking off at a light jog, he covered enough distance that before nightfall, he saw the source. It was another town, though this one was the largest he¡¯d yet seen in the steppes. As he drew closer, he saw that it was surrounded by a large, sturdy wall that practically glowed with ethera. Otherwise, it looked extremely primitive ¨C more of a huge berm of piled dirt than a wall ¨C and behind that earthen bulwark peeked a few sturdy-looking buildings. Atticus hadn¡¯t known much about the people who lived on the plains, so Elijah didn¡¯t know what to expect as he approached a small opening ¨C it was barely a few feet wide ¨C in the berm. He was greeted by a pair of men, and to his surprise, they were both shorter than him. Moreover, they wore leather armor trimmed in fur and wielded short recurve bows. Both men were of east Asian descent. ¡°Where¡¯d you come from?¡± demanded one, fingering an axe at his waist. ¡°Why are you here? Did you lead the monster to us?¡± ¡°Uh¡­ no?¡± ¡°Do you see a monster, Baatar?¡± asked the other, gesturing with his bow. The other man squinted into the dusky evening. ¡°No?¡± ¡°Believe me ¨C you¡¯d see it if it was here,¡± said the smarter of the two. ¡°Oh. Yeah. Doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s not tracking him, though!¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t track. It just tramples.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see any monster,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I come from Argos, past the swamp. What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°Past the swamp? Nobody crosses the swamp,¡± said Baatar. ¡°I did,¡± Elijah said. ¡°People used to cross. But that was before the monster came,¡± said the smart one. ¡°Why did you travel here?¡± ¡°Exploring. I¡¯m a Cartographer. I get experience for seeing new things and mapping them,¡± he said. ¡°Ouch,¡± said the guard. ¡°You have my sympathies.¡± Elijah had had the presence of mind to use the Ring of Anonymity to create a new identity. This time, he was Abraham Sykes, a level forty-one Explorer. Cartographer was one of the most common classes associated with the archetype, a fact which completed his disguise. ¡°Yeah,¡± Elijah said. ¡°When I chose it, I didn¡¯t expect travel to be so difficult. I have a few abilities that make me less conspicuous in the wilderness, but I¡¯ve had more close calls than I¡¯d like. Still, someone needs to map the world, right? People will thank me one day!¡± ¡°Sure, bud,¡± was the reply to Elijah¡¯s enthusiasm. Left unsaid was the caveat that he needed to survive first, which for most people was a dubious prospect. ¡°Can I enter? I was kind of looking forward to sleeping in a bed tonight,¡± Elijah said. Baatar quickly answered, ¡°No entry. The town¡¯s full, what with all the refugees from the monster.¡± ¡°Oh. Then, a meal? I have money.¡± ¡°Dammit Baatar,¡± said the other guard. ¡°Just keep your lips together, will you?¡± Then, to Elijah, he said, ¡°Of course you can enter. There probably aren¡¯t any beds, but I¡¯m sure somebody¡¯ll let you sleep in the stables.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just want to get a roof over my head. Plus, some decent food. Sometimes, I wish I¡¯d have taken a Cook class.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t I know it,¡± Baatar said, his first reasonable contribution to the conversation. After that, the helpful guard directed Elijah toward a large building at the center of the town, called Khotont, which he discovered was a Mongolian town. That explained the steppes, at least. The first thing Elijah noticed upon entering the town was that there were horses inside. Lots and lots of horses. In fact, he suspected that there were more horses than people, which was a little disconcerting, especially considering that Elijah could feel the power wafting off of the beasts. Clearly, many of them had leveled at least as much as the people of Khotont. The residents wore simple clothing, though in a wide variety of colors ranging from various shades of red to blues and greens and everything in between. Most of the people were of Asian descent, but there were a couple of darker and lighter skinned folks around as well. The architecture was fairly simple, and like Argos, it was a blend of old and new, though there was very little wood in evidence. Instead, they preferred stone and brick, which didn¡¯t surprise Elijah, considering that he¡¯d only seen a few scattered trees since he¡¯d left the swamp behind. Finally, he reached the building that was his destination. It was large ¨C probably fifty yards across ¨C and circular, looking like the world¡¯s biggest yurt. However, it was made of stone, and when Elijah stepped inside, he saw dozens of long tables occupied by hundreds of people. Elijiah followed a line of people to what looked like a cafeteria-style serving table, where he helped himself to as much food as he could heap upon a plate he picked up along the way. In addition, someone that looked like they must¡¯ve worked there shoved a mug of beer into his hand, then demanded two copper. Elijah paid it gladly, then retreated to one of the tables. He got more than a few looks from the locals, but they were far more interested in their food and their own conversations to care about him too much. So, when he sat and started to dig in, he overheard a bit of gossip. ¡°Wait, did you say the monster is a boar?¡± Elijah asked around a mouthful of red meat. The local looked at him and said, ¡°Of course. Have you been living under a rock? My team and I are going to hunt it tomorrow morning.¡± Elijah asked a few more questions of the man, who was happy to brag about how he and his friends were going to slay the great monster and bring peace to the steppes. And he learned that the monster in question was no ordinary pig. Instead, it was a giant boar that was said to be larger than an African elephant. When he asked why they hadn¡¯t killed it yet, he learned that the beast¡¯s hide was said to be impenetrable. ¡°But I just got a new skill,¡± the man boasted. ¡°Armor Piercing. With that on my side, I¡¯ll get through. Might have to hit it a few times, but it¡¯ll eventually bleed out.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± Elijah said, genuinely hoping the man would survive. He hadn¡¯t even learned the hunter¡¯s name, but he was an affable sort who was easy to root for. ¡°If you need help, let me know. I don¡¯t have a lot of combat skills, but I can heal a bit.¡± ¡°Ha! Thank you, but no. Our Healer is more than up to the task,¡± he said with utmost confidence. Elijah hoped he was right. ¡°I have to say, you¡¯re much better than the other stranger who came here the other day. He racked up a huge gambling debt that he couldn¡¯t pay. Poor sap. He¡¯ll be lucky if he isn¡¯t executed.¡± Elijah nodded, barely listening. Instead, he decided to say, ¡°I¡¯m told you have a tower around here. Can you point me in the right direction? I want to add it to my map.¡± ¡°Of course. Northwest. But don¡¯t think about going in there.¡± ¡°Why? Is it more dangerous than normal towers?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s just that the waiting list is a mile long. My team and I are scheduled for three months from now. That¡¯s why we¡¯re hunting the monster. It¡¯ll give us a chance to level a bit without the tower.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said, disappointed. Perhaps he should just go back to Seattle and hope that Isaiah could squeeze him in. With the adventurers dead, there had to be a few open slots. But then again, he didn¡¯t want to do that, largely because he didn¡¯t like the idea of being watched every time he stepped foot into the city. He believed that Isaiah had Seattle¡¯s best interests at heart, but that didn¡¯t make the Big Brother aspect of the man¡¯s powers any easier to endure. But it seemed that he might not have much choice. Elijah finished his meal, said goodbye to his new acquaintance, then headed to find somewhere to sleep. Hopefully, tomorrow would be a little more fruitful. 4-64. The Hunt Elijah awoke to a wet nose in his face. For a brief instant, he panicked. Suddenly, the instincts he¡¯d developed living in the wilderness and running towers came to the fore, and he scrambled backwards through the hay that had been his bed for the night. As he did so, his ethera swirled with Soothe, the preemptive cast having become a necessary habit. However, after only a moment, he realized that he was in no danger. The horse cocked its head to the side, looking at him like he¡¯d grown horns. Elijah let out a nervous chuckle. The black stallion was a beautiful animal, though it differed from most horses he¡¯d ever seen. That was characteristic of the Mongolian breed. They were stocky compared to other equine variants, and rarely exceeded five feet in height. The breed was interesting in that it had largely remained unchanged since the time of Genghis Khan, when they had enabled the Mongolian hordes to conquer much of the known world. During the previous day, Elijah had learned that part of the reason the city of Khotont was so crowded was that they¡¯d had to make room for vast herds of horses. Normally, Mongolian horses were left outdoors, where they were expected to fend for themselves ¨C within reason, at least. But with the stampeding boar trampling everything in its path, the residents had brought their valuable herds within the city¡¯s walls, constructing large paddocks and stables to house them. That was lucky for Elijah, because otherwise, he¡¯d have been forced to bed down under the stars. It was not a new experience for him, but he¡¯d been looking forward to getting out of the weather, which had turned to snow and biting wind. With his Cloak of the Iron Bear, the cold didn¡¯t bother him ¨C in fact, he¡¯d gained a couple of attribute points due to the ability attached to it ¨C but the wet was annoying. In any case, he hadn¡¯t expected to wake up with a snout in his face. He reached out, laying his hand on the animal¡¯s nose. It accepted his touch without issue, and Elijah felt the beast¡¯s strength at his fingertips. He¡¯d known since entering Khotont that the horses were no ordinary creatures. They¡¯d progressed quite a lot, with many reaching levels high enough that they would have been on the power rankings if they¡¯d been human. Or that was what his senses told him. In truth, Elijah wasn¡¯t even sure if beasts had levels. Logic suggested they did, but non-sapient creatures could have completely different systems of progression than their sapient counterparts. Not that it really mattered. Power was power, regardless of how it was quantified, and these horses definitely had plenty. The people of the steppes ¨C who were mostly Mongolian, but included a few African and South American settlements as well ¨C depended on the horses for so much. They not only used them for battle, transportation, and as beasts of burden, but they also milked the mares and, at times, slaughtered them for their meat. The entire Mongolian culture had once revolved around horses, and the touch of the World Tree ¨C or more appropriately, the decline in modernity that came with it ¨C had brought the creatures back to prominence. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if there were classes that revolved around having a companion beast. Did the horses have any say in the matter? Or would such a bond be forced upon them? The stallion that woken him up didn¡¯t seem unhappy, but Elijah couldn¡¯t be certain if that was the result of the creature¡¯s actual feelings or whether it was a state forced upon the beast by the system. Maybe it didn¡¯t really matter when dealing with non-sapient animals. Elijah sighed. No ¨C it definitely mattered. His instincts told him that much. The only real question was whether he¡¯d let those feelings influence him. That was the danger of his attunement, especially considering that he kept One with Nature active at all times. It wasn¡¯t uncommon for him to wonder if his emotions were his or if he¡¯d been influenced by an outside force he didn¡¯t truly understand. Nerthus had referred to it as the Mother, warning against letting the Call overwhelm him. At the time, Elijah had resisted, giving himself a false sense of security. However, since then, he¡¯d learned that he¡¯d only managed to overcome the first wave. Now, the Call was more subtle but no less dangerous, and Elijah needed to be cognizant of the danger it posed to his personality. Being around people helped with that. So, without further ado, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and cast Healing Rain before tilting his head to the stable¡¯s ceiling and letting the rejuvenating shower envelope him. He wasn¡¯t injured, but it did wonders to loosen tight muscles and, most importantly, wash away the stink of sleeping in a stable. On top of that, the water would disappear only a few minutes after the Healing Rain ceased, so he didn¡¯t even have to worry about getting his clothes wet. Once he was fully awake and dry, Elijah ate one of his grove berries, receiving a jolt of energy as soon as he swallowed the miraculous fruit. Then, he gathered his satchel and staff and left the stable behind. When he stepped outside, he saw that the city was even busier than it had been the day before, which meant that the streets were crowded with people and horses. The pedestrians were so tightly packed that the closeness made Elijah uncomfortable. He wasn¡¯t claustrophobic or anti-social, but this crowd was on an entirely different level from anything he¡¯d ever experienced. So, he had to stop himself from shifting into Shape of the Sky and flying away. Thankfully, the pack of pedestrians thinned a bit as he left the city behind. Stolen novel; please report. Originally, he¡¯d intended to wander the town and learn more about it ¨C while perhaps seeing if they had anything worthwhile to purchase ¨C but the crowd had cemented his desire to leave. Still, it had taken almost two hours to cross from the stable to the exit, so by that point, mid-morning had come and gone. There were plenty of other people who were leaving the city as well, though none of them looked like they were prepared for a long journey. Instead, they were heading out to farm, hunt, or gather. With the monstrous boar out there, it was dangerous, but starvation didn¡¯t make any concessions to that sort of thing. People needed to eat, and the presence of a monster wasn¡¯t going to change that simple fact of life. Elijah separated from the group and wandered away. Some people noticed, but they were far too focused on their own tasks to care much about one stranger heading off alone. In any case, he only continued for an hour or so before he settled down to think of his next move. The tower was out for now, which meant that if Elijah wanted to progress, he needed to find another. Perhaps the one next to his island would have to suffice. Or maybe he should return to Seattle and work his way into the rotation. Regardless, it was a disappointing turn of events that cemented the towers as strategic resources that could determine the viability of Earth¡¯s future leaders. Without them, gaining experience was difficult. Certainly, people could just wander off into the wilderness looking for dimensional rifts or powerful beasts ¨C be they guardians, monsters, or just normal animals who¡¯d gained a few levels ¨C but that brought with it significant danger. Unlike towers, the wilderness was unregulated. As such, people never knew what they would encounter. Maybe they¡¯d find a creature like the hydra that would easily kill them. Or they might find nothing but weak beasts that gave miniscule levels of experience. That was the true benefit of the towers. Because they scaled with the level of the challengers, they always offered an appropriate challenge that would give noticeable levels of experience. To a lesser extent, rifts were the same way, but because they were random ¨C and limited, as they disappeared once conquered ¨C they didn¡¯t offer a viable leveling strategy. As he sat there, Elijah realized why people desperate to progress might pick up everything and head to a newly-touched world like Earth. Sure, non-combat classes could gain experience by doing their jobs, but the system didn¡¯t reward repetitive tasks very well. Without danger or novelty, progress was extraordinarily slow. For instance, if a Blacksmith wanted to gain levels, they would need to constantly innovate, either via using rare materials or new methods. They could progress by making the same things over and over, but it would take exponentially longer to do so. But a planet like Earth offered incredible opportunities for novelty and danger, which made it a great environment for progression ¨C at least compared to other, more established worlds where opportunities were closely guarded resources. It wouldn¡¯t last, though. As humanity continued to tame the planet, progression would become more and more difficult. Perhaps it would take a century or more, but eventually, it would be no different than the planets left behind by the dwarves, gnomes, and elves Elijah had met. Elijah was still giving it some thought when he felt a subtle rumble in the earth. At first, it skated past his notice, but he started to pay attention when the wildlife in the area ¨C ranging from snakes to insects to small varmints ¨C started running. That¡¯s when Elijah looked up and saw a cloud of dust in the distance. After close to a minute, he saw the culprit. Or culprits. There were dozens of people on horseback, each one armed with bows or spears. The mounted archers kept up a steady stream of arrows as they raced across the grassland, while the spearmen sliced toward their prey like lancers. It was an impressive display of horsemanship and skill, but Elijah only barely noticed. Instead, his attention was on the creature that had drawn their ire. In the city, Elijah had heard that the monster was a boar the size of an elephant. However, those rumors paled before reality. The creature was a wild pig, with short, bristly fur and sharp tusks, but the reported size was clearly the result of an obvious underestimation. The thing wasn¡¯t the size of an elephant. Instead, it was larger even than the extinct wooly mammoths. Perhaps even twice their size. The distance obscured exact measurements, but based on the comparison between the horses and the creature in question, he estimated that it was at least twenty feet at the shoulder. Maybe even a little bigger. For a long few moments, Elijah just stared at the scene, and he only broke out of his reverie when the great boar swept its head to the side, connecting with a hunter who failed to react in time. The nimble horse attempted to dance aside, but it was too slow. The larger beast¡¯s enormous tusk pierced its side before the momentum of its attack sent the smaller animal ¨C and its rider ¨C rocketing away to tumble across the prairie. It was too much to hope either man or animal had survived. To their credit, the hunters didn¡¯t panic. Instead, they encircled the creature, continuing to pepper it with attacks that, from Elijah¡¯s perspective, did almost no good. Arrows glanced off of its hide, and even the spears ¨C which had the momentum of a horseman¡¯s charge behind them ¨C failed to do any damage. The beast snorted and bucked, never slowing its charge. When it drew closer, Elijah saw that the boar was even larger than he¡¯d first thought. More, its wild, shaggy hide glistened with ethera, and its tusks gleamed with a deadly aura. Foam spewed forth from its gaping maw, and its beady eyes twitched with terror and madness. That was all Elijah saw before disaster once again struck. Despite their clear skill, the hunters were no match for the beast. And on top of that, they had just as obviously been taxed by the pursuit to the point where a mistake was inevitable. When it happened, three more hunters fell. Two of them were ripped to pieces by the boar¡¯s sharp tusks, but the other only took a glancing blow. Even that was enough to send the two ¨C rider and moutn ¨C to ragdoll across the grassland. He ran forward, watching in horror as the creature wheeled on the other hunters and charged. Another two got trampled, and by the time Elijah reached the scene, panic suffused their ranks. So, he shouted, ¡°Scatter!¡± Then, without further thought, cast Storm¡¯s Fury at the enraged beast. Lightning arced down from the cloudless sky, slapping the boar in the head. Despite the fact that the bolt came from above, the beast quickly zeroed in on Elijah and charged him. Getting the creature¡¯s attention had been the goal, but now, Elijah found himself on the wrong end of a furious, multi-ton living tank. 4-65. Unassailable Truth A thousand insects manifested by Swarm descended upon the boar, but to Elijah¡¯s horror, their bites proved entirely incapable of penetrating the creature¡¯s hide. However, he didn¡¯t have the chance to lament the conjured insects¡¯ impotency before he was forced to flee before its thundering charge. Before he turned to flee, he used Snaring Roots, then Brand of the Stalker, and Nature¡¯s Rebuke. The results were mixed. Brand of the Stalker landed, and the creature¡¯s location blossomed in his mind. However, Nature¡¯s Rebuke was entirely resisted, refusing to take hold. Was that because it was a natural beast? Or was it simply too powerful? Perhaps a countering skill was at work. Whatever the case, Snaring Roots was at least effective, the resulting vines snaking out from the earth and wrapping around its hooves. The delay caused by the spell was only temporary, though, and the creature quickly ripped itself free to continue its charge. By that point, Elijah was already running. He could have shifted into Shape of the Sky, but that wouldn¡¯t have accomplished the goal. The moment he lost the creature¡¯s attention, it would turn on the fallen hunters, trampling them beneath its hooves. They couldn¡¯t kill it. And if they were forced to outrun it, they would leave their fallen brethren behind. No ¨C they needed time, and Elijah was the only one who could provide them with the room they required to survive. So, when he was a little less than a hundred yards away, he once again used Storm¡¯s Fury. The spell wasn¡¯t very effective, but it certainly maintained the creature¡¯s attention, which was the overall goal. Could Elijah have fought the beast? Perhaps. But while he didn¡¯t have access to an inspection ability like so many others seemed to possess, he had developed some ability to recognize a foe¡¯s relative power. At the most basic level, he confined those instincts into four categories. First, there were those who were so far below him that their power was trivial to him. Second came the category into which most people fit ¨C strong enough that they could pose a threat, but still below him. Then, there were those who were of a level ¨C or slightly above ¨C him. And finally, he could recognize when something was so far beyond him that fighting the threat would put him at an extreme disadvantage. The boar fell into the final category. He knew it was stronger than him, which meant that fighting it wasn¡¯t really an option ¨C at least not until he got it away from the fallen hunters. So, for now, Elijah only needed to lead it on a chase. For that, he intended to utilize a similar strategy to what he¡¯d employed in the Sea of Sorrows when he¡¯d led the giant isopod into a trap. This time, though, the chase was much more harrowing. Even though his attributes had increased quite a bit, and he had plenty of abilities to help him, the boar was many times stronger than him. The isopod had been as well, but not to the same degree. It was a grim reminder that the world was filled with a wide range of dangers, many of which could stomp him into oblivion. Those thoughts flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he ran, leading the enormous boar away from the hunters. As he did so, he felt the ethera shift as the creature engaged another ability. Instead of swirling all around it like a protective coat, it coalesced around the monster¡¯s legs, spurring it forward in an incredible charge. It barreled toward him with the speed of a bullet train, and Elijah was forced to dodge to the side, narrowly avoiding the monster¡¯s razor sharp tusks and thudding hooves. As he dove aside, he shifted into his draconid form. The increased Dexterity let him quickly regain his feet, and the added Strength that came with the predator shape gave him the power he needed to put some distance between himself and the enraged boar. He raced away, finally outpacing the monster. However, he never let it get so far behind that it would lose interest. Like that, he traveled for dozens of miles until he reached one of the destroyed towns. Once there, he decided to try his luck against the powerful creature. So, he dipped behind a pile of rubble, then used that to hide his retreat. The moment he left combat, Elijah slipped into Guise of the Unseen before doubling back. The boar, having lost track of him, had decided to take out its frustrations on the fallen town, attacking rubble and trampling any structures that remained standing. Not for the first time, Elijah watched it in awe. The creature was incredibly powerful ¨C stronger even than the hydra, if he had to guess ¨C and explosions of debris followed it wherever it went. It was no wonder it had made such easy work of the hunters. However, as Elijah observed the creature, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of loss. This was no monster. He was certain of it. Nor was it an ordinary beast. It was a guardian, not so different from the bear or the panther ¨C or even Snappy the tortoise. And yet, it was clearly mad. There was only one thing that could have driven it to that state. Elijah had long known that guardians were inextricably tied to their natural treasures, and in a way that he couldn¡¯t really understand. When Bessy ¨C the alligator guardian back in the swamp ¨C had lost her natural treasure, she¡¯d been lucky to latch onto Konstantinos, Marcy, and their family of adopted children. Was madness what would have awaited if she hadn¡¯t found something to replace her treasure? The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The more Elijah thought about it, the more he settled into the idea. The boar was a menace. It had killed hundreds of people and destroyed a dozen towns ¨C an act which would likely result in even more deaths before everything was said and done. Yet, could it be held accountable when it had clearly been driven insane? But more importantly, could Elijah save it? He knew it was a lost cause, but still, he had to try. He wouldn¡¯t have been much of a druid if he didn¡¯t. The problem was that the boar hadn¡¯t stopped, not even for a second. Instead, it seemed hellbent on causing as much destruction as possible. Like a child throwing a tantrum. Or a psychopath who only wanted to watch the world burn, to tear apart the world that had failed them. Elijah continued to watch, waiting for an opening until, finally, he saw an opportunity. The creature had gotten one of its tusks hung in the rubble of a large building, and though Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t last long, he chose to use that brief moment of idle distraction to his advantage. He pounced ¨C not to kill, but rather, to simply let him get closer. He leaped upon the monster¡¯s back, and the moment he landed, the thing went wild. Fortunately, with his Dexterity, remaining atop the beast was possible, even with its wild bucking. He shifted into his human form and grabbed hold of the monster¡¯s bristly fur. It felt like it would have been at home on a wire brush, and if Elijah hadn¡¯t possessed significant Constitution, he was certain that his hands would have been cut to pieces. However, as it stood, he only felt a mild discomfort. In any case, he channeled Soothe, then Touch of Nature while flaring One with Nature and Nature¡¯s Bounty. He had no ability to commune with animals, so he used everything at his disposal. At first, it did nothing, but after a moment, Elijah felt everything click together. And a world of madness opened up to him. Loss. Grief. Confusion. A hundred emotions, each one powerful enough to bring tears to Elijah¡¯s eyes, roiled. But over everything else was the fury of one who had been wronged. The impotent rage of someone who¡¯d lost everything they held dear. The potent frustration of a creature who didn¡¯t know what else to do. Elijah had felt such a connection once before, but the mist panther who¡¯d guarded his island had been serene. Accepting. It had known it was dying, and it had made its choice. The boar was the opposite. It would have preferred to die. Perhaps there was a part of it ¨C the only sliver of sanity that remained ¨C that hoped someone would put it out of its misery. When the connection broke only a few seconds later, Elijah nearly fell from the boar¡¯s broad back. But at the last second, he reaffirmed his grip. Tears in his eyes, Elijah knew the guardian was too far gone to save. He could heal physical injuries, but none of his spells could do anything for psychological trauma. Even if they could, he questioned whether or not they would prove effective. The wounds went so deep that they¡¯d destroyed large swathes of the boar¡¯s mind. The guardian was gone. Only a monster remained. And Elijah knew what to do with those. With a sad sigh, he shifted back into his draconid form, then tested the creature¡¯s defenses. To his shock, his claws did no damage at all to the monster¡¯s hide. Just like when he¡¯d used Swarm, it was entirely ineffective. The same was true even when he used Venom Strike; without penetration, the necrotic venom had no way of getting into the beast¡¯s system. Elijah tried a few other attacks, even switching to his lamellar ape form to test blunt force, but the boar was entirely unassailable. However, his attacks were obviously irritating, and with each blow, the monster¡¯s wild bucking grew more pronounced until, at last, Elijah¡¯s grip started to loosen. It was then that he realized he had no other choice but to flee. This time, though, he didn¡¯t need to lead the creature on a chase. So, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky, then launched himself into the sky. The boar didn¡¯t like that, and it whipped around with far more quickness than a beast of its size should have possessed. As Elijah flapped his wings, the monster leaped, aiming to impale him with its sharp tusks. He furiously climbed, but the boar¡¯s Strength was immense, and it shot through the air like a rocket. Elijah beat his wings against the air, climbing higher and higher until, after almost two-hundred feet, the boar reached the apex of its leap. Then, even as Elijah continued to climb, it fell to the ground with the force of a meteor. When it hit, a shockwave spread through the area destroying anything the monster¡¯s rampage hadn¡¯t already claimed. Elijah felt the impact even hundreds of feet toward the sky, and the updraft threw him off course, sending him spinning through the air until he regained control a few seconds later. By that point, the boar had already recovered, and its fury reached new heights. Thankfully, its path took it in the opposite direction of the Khotont, which meant that disaster had been averted. Because even with its enchanted earthen wall, the city could not stand before the boar¡¯s fury. It was too strong. Too durable. The people of Khotont didn¡¯t stand a chance against such a foe. From hundreds of feet in the air, Elijah followed the creature, watching it for any signs of weakness. For a long time, he saw nothing, but after a few more hours, it slowed to a trot, showing that it was not entirely inexhaustible. The beast still randomly tore large furrows in the plains, though its ire had clearly waned. So, after following it for a couple more hours, Elijah decided to head back to the site of the battle. Many of the hunters had been injured, and though it would ruin his disguise as a Cartographer, he was willing to make that sacrifice in the name of saving a few lives. Once he was within a mile or two, he landed and shifted back to his human form before taking off at a trot. He arrived to find that the hunters had established a temporary camp a mile or two away from the scene of the battle. There, they were busy tending to their wounded ¨C who were clearly too injured to move. When Elijah approached, he got more than a few surprised looks, but after he explained that he could heal, they put their shock on the backburner. Not surprisingly, Elijah recognized one of the injured men as the one who¡¯d boasted about his new Armor Piercing ability. He¡¯d lost an arm in the battle. Without delay, Elijah went to work healing the injured, but the whole time, his mind whirled with the events of the day. Not only was it impossible to get the ruined state of the guardian¡¯s mind out of his thoughts, but he couldn¡¯t escape the unassailable fact that something needed to be done about the rampaging creature. Left to its own devices, it would continue to kill, growing stronger with every person ¨C or beast ¨C it trampled. It needed to be put down. Elijah knew that down to his very core. But the question that dominated his thoughts more than any other was how he was going to kill such an invulnerable beast. 4-66. Wilhelm ¡°We can¡¯t thank you enough,¡± said T?m?rbaatar, passing Elijah a cup. One whiff was all it took for him to identify the milky, white liquid as something alcoholic, but it was unlike anything Elijah had ever seen before. So, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± ¡°Airag. Fermented mare¡¯s milk,¡± the short leader of the hunters said. He¡¯d been one of Eliijah¡¯s first patients, and though he¡¯d received the most healing, he still had a long scar across his face. There was another one that stretched from his right shoulder to his left hip, though that was hidden beneath his rough tunic. T?m?rbaatar had been the most injured among the survivors, but three men and one woman had died in the battle. Six horses ¨C including T?m?rbaatar¡¯s own mount ¨C had fallen as well. Not wanting the animals¡¯ sacrifice to go to waste, the remaining hunters had quickly processed the beasts, and Elijah had already eaten some of their flesh. Consuming horsemeat had never been on his bucket list, but he¡¯d expected that if he¡¯d refused, it would have been considered rude. The meat itself wasn¡¯t terrible. A little like extremely lean beef, though with a bit of a sweet undercurrent. Elijah had expected the Mongolian group to accompany the meal with some sort of ceremony ¨C they practically revered their horses ¨C but nothing of the sort happened. They mourned the loss of their companions ¨C both bestial and human ¨C but they hadn¡¯t attached any extra significance to consuming the meat of their mounts. It was just another meal. Elijah brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. The first thing he noticed was the texture, which was surprisingly fizzy. And when it hit his tongue, he was immediately reminded of yoghurt, though with a slight sweetness to it. He could also taste the alcohol, though it wasn¡¯t overwhelming. There was a sourness to it as well, but as with the alcohol, it wasn¡¯t enough to overpower the rest of the flavor. In short, it was unlike anything he¡¯d ever had, and after taking another sip, Elijah decided it would certainly never make it on his list of favorite beverages. It wasn¡¯t bad, but it definitely wasn¡¯t something he intended to seek out in the future. ¡°Good,¡± he lied. T?m?rbaatar laughed heartily, then slapped Elijah¡¯s shoulder. The blow was much more solid than the small man should¡¯ve been capable of producing, which told Elijah that the hunter was a little higher level than most. He¡¯d checked, and T?m?rbaatar wasn¡¯t on the power rankings, but Elijah expected that he wasn¡¯t far off. The other hunters gathered around the fire weren¡¯t much lower, either, which meant that the team had been quite a formidable one. And yet, they hadn¡¯t stood a chance against the boar. If Elijah had needed a reminder of just how dangerous the world was, the existence of the boar definitely satisfied that requirement. ¡°It¡¯s a bit of an acquired taste,¡± admitted T?m?rbaatar, echoing Elijah¡¯s sentiments concerning the beverage. ¡°It¡¯s not bad. Just¡­different,¡± Elijah maintained, forcing himself to take another sip. It was worse than the first, and he nearly choked on the stuff. He gave his new friend a thumbs up. ¡°Tasty. But I don¡¯t want to take it all for myself¡­¡± T?m?rbaatar laughed again as Elijah offered to return the cup. Then, the hunter downed the entire thing in one huge gulp. It stained his voluminous mustache white. Elijah chuckled as well, resting his forearms on his knees as he glanced at the fire. The camp wasn¡¯t large, but it was protected by one of T?m?rbaatar¡¯s skills. The hunter hadn¡¯t revealed the ability¡¯s name, but he had described its effects, which were similar to the one Lars had used to enchant Elijah¡¯s new tent. The basic idea was that it would discourage the wildlife from coming within range of the camp, much like the array around Ironshore that did the same. The difference was that T?m?rbaatar¡¯s skill was completely mobile. If he could build a fire, then he was mostly protected, at least from anything within a certain attribute range. The array around Ironshore was stronger and less dependent on attributes, but it was also stationary. Regardless, the Mongolian hunter seemed to take its efficacy for granted, so Elijah chose to follow his lead. It wasn¡¯t as if he had much to fear from the wilderness, anyway. Over the past few years, he¡¯d slept outdoors more often than he¡¯d had a roof over his head, and he¡¯d had few difficulties. He glanced around at the surviving hunters. Only a couple had been uninjured by the fight, so Elijah had had his work cut out for him when it came to healing. Luckily, Soothe and Healing Rain were both incredibly efficient, and Touch of Nature was good at filling in the gaps. However, he couldn¡¯t help once again notice that his healing spells were far less effective than they¡¯d once been. It took more casts to get the same results he¡¯d once taken for granted. Hopefully, he would get an upgrade sometime soon. If he got the chance to enlist the services of a Librarian, he fully intended to get a full spell list for his class. It would be useless after he reached the first threshold, but for now, it would be nice to know what he could expect. Would he get the chance to upgrade his spells like he had with Ancestral Circle? Or would he just keep getting more abilities? He already struggled to use all the spells he had available, so even if he wanted new toys with which to play, he recognized that more wasn¡¯t necessarily better. It would probably be more beneficial to focus on the spells he already had, empowering them so that they were even more useful. Even if he didn¡¯t receive the opportunity to evolve his spells, Elijah still had another chance to strengthen them. His ongoing Core cultivation had continued to show results, and he suspected that it would only be a couple more months before he reached the point where he would need to make the final push. For that, he had his cultivation cave which, according to his locus, had grown even stronger than before he¡¯d progressed to the Novice tier of Soul cultivation. Still, even as he sat by that campfire, sharing small talk with T?m?rbaatar, Elijah continued to cycle his core, pushing his boundaries with every rotation. Eventually, though, the others retired for the night. In the morning, they would trek back to Khotont and report their failure. For his part, Elijah couldn¡¯t sleep. He was tired, but with his high attributes ¨C and the addition of one of his berries ¨C he had no trouble staying awake. Instead, as he watched over the camp, he continued to cycle his core. More importantly, he thought about the boar. It was a guardian. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He was certain of that much. However, when he asked the hunters about natural treasures, he¡¯d gotten no information. There was a clear link between the power of a guardian and its treasure, and if something strong enough to need the protection of something like the unstoppable boar had been found, then the hunters would have heard about it. So, there was likely a third party at work, though that information didn¡¯t help Elijah solve the problem. More, it brought to mind his judgement of the hunters who¡¯d killed the bear near Norcastle. At the time, he¡¯d considered it pointlessly cruel to have slaughtered the guardian. However, after seeing what had happened to the boar, he wasn¡¯t so sure. Would the bear have gone mad if he¡¯d awoken to find his treasure gone? Perhaps. And in that case, maybe it was mercy to have killed him. In a perfect world, both would have been left alone, but Elijah knew that wasn¡¯t realistic. People craved power. In a lot of cases, they needed it to survive. And they would leave no stone unturned in the pursuit of that strength. It was human nature. Elijah didn¡¯t know the solution. His instincts told him to protect natural treasures and their guardians, but he couldn¡¯t blame people for looking after their own needs. Perhaps the answer was that there was no one-size-fits-all solution and that he¡¯d need to take each situation as it came. For most of the night, he pondered the questions plaguing him, but by dawn, nothing had changed. So, he boiled some water before making some coffee. Using his newly enchanted French press for the first time yielded significant results:
You have consumed a Complex-Grade beverage. The following benefits will be applied: +5 Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Ethera. +10 Regeneration. Duration: 37.1 Hours
At first, Elijah thought it was the same notification he¡¯d received each time he drank a cup of his coffee. However, when his focus settled on the last line, he saw the benefit of Lars¡¯ work. The duration had increased to more than thirty-seven hours, which was half-again as long as it had been before. So, while the benefits were the same ¨C at least in terms of attributes ¨C the fact that they lasted so much longer would be a great boon, especially in the Trial, where he knew he would have to make his supplies stretch a little further than normal. By the time the hunters arose, Elijah had already finished his coffee and was breaking his fast on some rations he¡¯d brought with him from Argos. The dried meat was tough and gamey, but it had been prepared by a real Cook, so it tasted better than most of what he could prepare for himself. Certainly, it was better than leftover horse. After the sun rose, T?m?rbaatar and the hunters efficiently broke camp, so only an hour later, they were already on their way back to the city. Most rode the remaining horses, but Elijah had no issues keeping up on foot. So, by mid-afternoon, they found themselves striding back into Khotont. At first, people looked at them with no small degree of expectation. However, it only took a glance before they realized that the hunt had been unsuccessful. For his part, T?m?rbaatar took the attention stoically, asking Eliijah to accompany him to the town hall, which T?m?rbaatar referred to as the zahiral ger. As it turned out, the building looked little different from any of the others in the city, save that it was slightly larger and stood at five stories tall. It was there that the hunter reported the results of their expedition to a council made up of three women and two men. They took the news calmly, but when T?m?rbaatar explained that he didn¡¯t think it was possible to kill the boar, they showed some desperation. That¡¯s when Elijah spoke up. He said, ¡°I think I might have a solution, but I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯ll work or not.¡± That much was true. Elijah had pondered the issue for hours, and though he thought his plan would work, there were no guarantees that he¡¯d read the situation correctly. Still, as he laid out the details of his idea, it was met with some degree of enthusiasm. He ended the explanation with, ¡°And that¡¯s pretty much it. I think it will work, but there are no guarantees.¡± ¡°Do you truly believe you can do this? An Explorer?¡± one of the women asked. She was old. Probably close to seventy, if Elijah had to guess, with white hair and a face creased with wrinkles. ¡°Oh. Sorry,¡± Elijah said, remembering he¡¯d left his Ring of Anonymity active. The moment he¡¯d chosen to heal the hunters, he¡¯d thrown aside any notion of keeping his disguise. So, he deactivated it. ¡°My real name is Elijah Hart, and I¡¯m a Druid. You might see my name on the power rankings. Sorry about the deception, but I¡¯ve found that it¡¯s a lot easier to keep my identity secret when I¡¯m traveling.¡± There was a gasp, but after a couple of them used their skills to identify him, they accepted that his identity was genuine. It helped that T?m?rbaatar vouched for his abilities, recounting how he¡¯d already saved lives with his healing spells. In the end, though, Elijah didn¡¯t need their permission or help. His plan only relied on his own abilities. Finally, he asked if there was anyone in town that needed healing. He had ethera to spare, and he¡¯d chosen to balance some of the terrible things he¡¯d done with helping people. And it was rare that nobody needed healing. ¡°Khotont has been blessed with a number of Healers, but if you would like to take some of that burden, you may do so in our jail,¡± she said. ¡°There are a few dursamj there that most of our people avoid.¡± Elijiah interpreted that word as outcast, but there seemed to be other connotations there as well. However, the translation feature that came with the system sometimes lacked nuance, so it didn¡¯t give him a firm idea of what to expect. Given that she had used the word to refer to prisoners connected some dots, though. In any case, Elijah didn¡¯t care about social status. So, he agreed to heal the prisoners and was quickly escorted to another nearby building. There, he found a few strong-looking guards who let him and T?m?rbaatar inside. The first thing Elijah noticed was the antiseptic smell. It reminded him of a hospital, where all sorts of horrible odors were covered up by harsh cleaners. The floors were cheap, white tile, and the walls were made of painted cinder blocks. But at least everything was clean. If he was honest with himself, Elijah had expected much worse conditions, but maybe that was his bias showing itself. Regardless, he was soon led down a hall and to the first holding cell. There, he announced his intentions before summoning Healing Rain that covered the entire cell. The prisoners were morose, but they didn¡¯t look as if they¡¯d been ill-treated, though quite a few seemed to be suffering from one ailment or another. Elijah¡¯s spell took care of that, and when it completed, he moved on to the next, where he repeated the cast. Finally, he came to the third and final cell, which only held one prisoner. And unlike the majority of people in the Mongolian town, this man was pale-skinned, with thin blonde hair and a short, slender frame. That¡¯s when Elijah remembered being told about another stranger that had come to town and racked up a gambling debt. ¡°Oh! Did the Conclave send you to rescue me?¡± the man asked, his voice brimming with hope. Elijah also heard a German accent. ¡°I assure you, I have executed my duties faithfully! This is just a little hiccup, I swear it.¡± ¡°Conclave? What¡¯s that?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°And what¡¯s your name?¡± The man deflated. ¡°Ah. I see. Just leave me here to rot, then. I¡¯ll not be bullied!¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not here to bully you. I¡¯m here to heal you.¡± ¡°I have no ailments,¡± he said. ¡°But my name is Wilhelm. Perhaps we can come to some accommodation? I can guarantee that if you help me, the Conclave will pay you back tenfold!¡± ¡°Wilhelm, huh?¡± Elijah echoed. ¡°Well, Will ¨C I¡¯ve got a lot on my plate, here. But if you¡¯re still around when I get done with my current task, I just might take you up on that.¡± Having said what he needed to say, Elijah let the guard escort him back outside. As much as the mention of a Conclave intrigued him, he had no intention of letting himself get distracted. He had a boar to deal with, after all. 4-67. The Boar ¡°That guy¡¯s not going to get executed or anything, is he?¡± asked Elijah, sitting at one of the long tables in the communal dining area. After his first visit, he¡¯d learned that the locals referred to it as zuushny gazar, which fittingly translated to ¡°eating place.¡± However, he¡¯d also heard the word ¡°xopxor¡± thrown around, which he¡¯d also learned referred to more of a dining experience, rather than a place. In this case, the experience centered around cooking various meats ¨C usually involving hot stones ¨C in a communal setting. That description certainly fit what Elijah had experienced, though he was still a little fuzzy about the details. How the system¡¯s translation feature worked was still a bit of a mystery. In some cases, it would translate everything, but in others, it was quite selective, allowing for certain words to come through. The only thing Elijah could think was that the terms it left untranslated had some sort of cultural significance beyond the English meaning, though he wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if there was more to it than that. Regardless, he¡¯d resolved to simply take things as they went. ¡°The gambler? No,¡± replied T?m?rbaatar as he speared a hunk of meat with his dagger and dragged it out of the central platter. He took a huge bite, adding, ¡°He will likely be required to work off his debt. It is a shame his class is not physically gifted, or he would be capable of paying it off much more quickly.¡± ¡°How much does he owe?¡± asked Elijah. His initial thought was to simply break the man out ¨C assuming his plan with the boar worked out ¨C but that was needlessly confrontational. Instead, he wondered if he could pay the man¡¯s debts, then recoup that investment ¨C and then some ¨C when his so-called Conclave paid him back ¡°ten-fold¡±. He knew there was risk in that, but something about the pasty man told Elijah that he was important. Or that he could be, given the right circumstances. Plus, he wanted to know more about the organization to which he belonged. ¡°No more than a gold,¡± T?m?rbaatar answered. ¡°Enough to matter, but not enough to kill over. For most people.¡± Elijah nodded and ate his meal. Upon leaving the jail, he¡¯d fully intended to head out right then, but he¡¯d been persuaded by the grateful hunter to join him for a meal. Mostly, the supper was composed of meat, but there were a few vegetables and mushrooms here and there. More importantly, it had clearly been prepared by someone with a cooking ability, which meant that it tasted much better than anything Elijah could prepare. Even with his new pan ¨C which he still hadn¡¯t used ¨C he would only be able to mimic the real thing. So, it truly didn¡¯t take much to convince him to share a meal with T?m?rbaatar. However, it wasn¡¯t long before he was stuffed, and after saying goodbye to his new friend, Elijah left the zuushny gazar behind. As he did, he caught a few stray glances that lingered a little longer than he would have preferred, but he knew that was because word of his class and level had already begun to spread. That was precisely the sort of attention he¡¯d hoped to avoid, but that really hadn¡¯t been possible after what he¡¯d done. Perhaps some people would have been slow on the uptake, but for anyone who was paying attention, his disguise would have been useless in the face of his abilities. Regardless, after leaving the building behind, he joined the flow of pedestrians and horse-mounted residents as he made his way out of Khotont. The pace was glacial but consistent, so he made it to the gates before the sun had begun to dip toward the horizon. He got more looks ¨C most of concern ¨C as he separated from the parade of pedestrians, left the safety of the city behind and set off into the grassland alone. After a couple of miles, when he was out of sight, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and took to the air. The hunters had seen his flight form, so it wouldn¡¯t be long before the entire city knew about the colorful, reptilian shape. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to flaunt his abilities. Rumors were one thing, but seeing it with their own two eyes would bring more attention than Elijah wanted to endure. He glided through the air, reveling in the freedom flight gave him. In his other forms ¨C even as a human ¨C he could go most places without issue. But there was something about being capable of flight that felt less restrictive than anything else. In that form, with his wings outstretched, he felt that he could go anywhere, that he could do anything. At times, that freedom made it difficult to focus, but with a mission in mind, Elijah managed it all the same. After a little less than an hour of flight, during which he kept an eye out for the boar, Elijah reached the site of his previous encounter. The town was no less ruined than when he¡¯d left it behind, but there were a few areas where the destruction was far more recent. It would have been nice if Brand of the Stalker had remained active, but after he¡¯d gotten a couple of miles away from the creature, it deactivated. So, he followed the trail of destruction to the outer reaches of the town, where he found a distinct path through the grassland. Mostly, the trail was characterized by trampled grass, but there were also areas where the boar had attacked the ground, ripping through the earth with its tusks and hooves. It was such pointless destruction, but ultimately, it was unsurprising. Elijah had already established that the boar was mad, that it would turn its ire on the prairie itself was well within Elijah¡¯s expectations. Fortunately, that also resulted in an easily followed trail, so Elijah had no issues tracking the mad boar. Gradually, he covered the ground, marveling at how far the beast had gone in such a short amount of time. The miles melted beneath him until, at last, just as the sun had begun to peek over the horizon, he caught sight of the creature. It had slowed down a little, but periodically, it would randomly charge in one direction, dip its head, and drag its tusks through the soft earth. In those cases, dirt and grass would erupt into a cloud dozens of feet high, and the beast would jerk around, looking this way and that before continuing on its way. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Each time that scene repeated, Elijah felt his heart break. Certainly, the beast was powerful. And deadly. It needed to be stopped. Yet, seeing that its mind had been so thoroughly broken was nauseating. Even as he watched, Elijah¡¯s resolve to end the boar¡¯s suffering reestablished itself. He knew it needed to be done, and what¡¯s more, he suspected that he was the only person who could make it happen. As a Druid, it was his responsibility. However, he also knew that making good on that responsibility would not be easy. The creature was largely invulnerable. He had seen that the first time he¡¯d attacked the beast. So, given that he couldn¡¯t even penetrate its hide ¨C much less deal with its immense Strength ¨C he¡¯d had to get creative with his plans. At first, he¡¯d considered a trap. It was a simple enough idea, and he had a little experience with using traps against creatures more powerful than him. He¡¯d employed that strategy in the Sea of Sorrows as well as against the horde of orcs that had assaulted Ironshore. But he didn¡¯t believe he could build a trap the boar couldn¡¯t break out of. It might take the creature days or weeks to do so, but it would eventually dig its way out, putting him right back at square one. So, he considered the trap to be Plan B. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t need it. Plan A was a little different, and it hinged on his observations having been accurate. Or perhaps the assumptions that followed those observations. Whatever the case, because of the swirling ethera that surrounded the creature, Elijah suspected that its impenetrable hide wasn¡¯t the result of an incredibly high Constitution attribute. Certainly, the creature was naturally durable. But Elijah was banking the viability of Plan A on the suspicion that much of its invulnerability was based on a skill. And the thing about skills was that they needed fuel. Whether it consumed ethera or stamina, no ability was free. That was an unassailable fact of the multiverse, and one Elijah was reminded of every time he used Iron Scales. As his attributes increased, he could use the ability more often, but even with that increased power, there were limits. He was banking on the boar¡¯s ability functioning according to the same paradigm. But he couldn¡¯t just slap the creature with one of his spells, then lead it on a merry chase. The moment the creature realized that it wasn¡¯t in any danger, it would stop using the ability and recover its stamina or ethera. No ¨C Elijah needed to put it in a heightened state. Fortunately, he had the perfect ability to do just that:
Debilitating Roar Let out an enraged bellow that sends all nearby targets fleeing in fear, decreasing their damage by 15%. Increases caster¡¯s footspeed by 10%. Only usable when caster is under the influence of Shape of the Guardian. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 9.2 seconds. Resistance based on target¡¯s Constitution attribute.
When he¡¯d first gotten the skill, Elijah had been a little disappointed with it. However, after using it in Seattle, he¡¯d come around to how useful it was. And in his current situation, he knew it would be ideal. Assuming that it took hold, at least. If it did, Elijah would only need to keep the effect active ¨C which would necessitate using quite a lot of his own stamina ¨C until the monster ran out of fuel. Then, it would be vulnerable. With that plan in mind, Elijah circled until the boar started attacking a lonely tree in the middle of the plain. It rammed the thing, over and over without any hesitation between. Elijah saw his opportunity, so as he dropped from the sky, he shifted into his lamellar ape form, hitting the ground only a few dozen feet away from the creature. His arrival didn¡¯t go unnoticed, and the boar whipped around. For a moment, it was like time slowed. Elijah saw madness in the beast¡¯s wild eyes. In the thick foam coating its mouth. In the tension in its every bunched muscle. Then, the moment passed, and the boar¡¯s hooves dug into the soft soil, propelling it forward in a reckless charge. Elijah let out a bellow, embracing Debilitating Roar. The sound hit the creature like a sledgehammer, and it skidded to a stop before its charge could truly begin. Elijah beat his chest, then charged the beast. For a moment, it looked confused, but only a second after the effects of the ability hit it, the boar whipped around and fled. It moved with the jittery abruptness of a terrified animal, and with its clearly superior Strength, it could cover some serious ground. Fortunately, Elijah¡¯s hesitation to follow only lasted an instant before he loped forward in pursuit. Even more thankfully, the ability included an increase to his footspeed, which was more than valuable against the hard-charging beast. Seven seconds after he¡¯d used the ability the first time, Elijah let loose with another instance of the ability. As he did, he felt himself weaken by a miniscule amount. That was his stamina draining away. It was barely noticeable, but he knew the exhaustible, yet hidden resource was the key to whether or not his plan would work. If his store of stamina held up, then he would win. If not, then he¡¯d be forced to retreat. So, Elijah remained hot on the creature¡¯s heels, bellowing his ability every seven or eight seconds. Eventually, he realized that he wouldn¡¯t be capable of keeping it up if he used it that often, so he started to experiment. While the ability-induced fear only lasted a little more than nine seconds, it still took longer for the echoes to fade. For a sane and sapient enemy, it wouldn¡¯t have mattered. They would see through it. But with the mad boar? It could scarcely distinguish reality, much less whether its fear was genuine or not. So, even after Elijah let the ability fade, the creature continued to flee, flaring its own protective ability the whole time. It was a domino effect. Every instance of Debilitating Roar sent it careening further into fearful madness. It went on for hours, and eventually, Elijah only had to reapply the effect every ten minutes or so. The boar¡¯s madness took care of the rest. Then, suddenly, when most of the day was gone, the ethera swirling around the beast winked out. A few steps later, it collapsed in a cloud of dust. The sudden stop shocked Elijah, and he very nearly ran into the fallen boar. Yet, he stopped just in time. As he circled around, the creature continued to shudder, though it was entirely incapable of rising. It had run itself to exhaustion. Elijah¡¯s plan had worked. Now, he only needed to follow through with the final act. 4-68. A Druids Duty The mighty boar lay on its side, its chest heaving with panic. Eyes bigger than volleyballs twitched back and forth, evidence of the animal¡¯s ongoing terror. Foam collected at the corner of its gaping mouth as it hyperventilated, letting out rumbling snorts with every breath. Laying his hand on the enormous beast¡¯s side, Elijah felt its knotted and cramped muscles. But within the oppressive grip of exhaustion, it couldn¡¯t move more than a few inches. Every second or two, tiny collections of diffuse ethera swirled as it attempted to reactivate its protective ability. But there wasn¡¯t enough to fuel the skill. That had always been the plan, but there was a distinct difference between what he¡¯d imagined and what he now saw before him. The terrified and terrifying beast was helpless. And when Elijah looked at it, he couldn¡¯t prevent tears from gathering at the corners of his eyes as his thoughts surrendered to pity and guilt. The first, because of how far the creature had fallen. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that, before it had lost its treasure, the guardian had been a noble and mighty protector not unlike the panther that had saved Eliijah¡¯s life so many times. That one event could send it careening into madness, subverting its nature so thoroughly that it was indistinguishable from a monster, was horrifying. It was also a grim reminder of Elijah¡¯s own past. He hadn¡¯t been so different after discovering his sister¡¯s death. He¡¯d slaughtered hundreds. Perhaps thousands. And he didn¡¯t even have the excuse of madness. He had been fully in control. Or he should have been. Yet, he¡¯d let his anger and grief drive him forward until he became a monster in human ¨C or draconic, given the nature of his transformative shapes ¨C form. Would someone have been justified in putting him out of his misery? Maybe. Valoria was a cesspool of all the worst facets of humanity, but did that give him the right to slaughter so many? He wasn¡¯t sure. And that retrospective uncertainty fueled his doubts that had given way to shame. He was too strong to give in to those sorts of impulses. He needed to be better. Under more control. Otherwise, he would end up just like the boar. The shame of his past mingled with the guilt he felt for effectively torturing the beast before him. Elijah didn¡¯t know what people felt under the influence of Debilitating Roar. Was it a formless fear? Or was it more specific? Did it dredge up memories? Or was it completely arcane in nature? He wasn¡¯t sure, but regardless of how it presented its effects, the ability had pushed the boar into a place of undiluted terror so potent that, in trying to escape, it had run itself to exhaustion. He sighed. There was nothing else to be done. There hadn¡¯t been much of a choice. If the beast had been allowed to continue its rampage, thousands of people would have died. What¡¯s more, animals ¨C be they guardians, monsters, or normal beasts ¨C could gain experience as well. So, with every death, it would have grown stronger, making it even more invulnerable. On top of that, putting the boar out of its misery was the right thing to do. It was necessary. It was just. It was mercy. Yet, it was a joyless act. A necessary but repulsive action that could not be avoided. ¡°I¡¯m sorry it had to be this way,¡± he said. The creature flinched at the sound of his words, but it was too exhausted to do more than tremble a bit. Still, Elijah tensed as well, ready to spring away at the first sign of recovery. He knew he was on a timer. With every passing moment, the boar would recover some of its energy. But more than that, Elijah didn¡¯t want to prolong the beast¡¯s suffering any longer than necessary. So, without further hesitation, he drew the knife he¡¯d gotten from Lars and leaped upon the creature¡¯s shoulder. The weapon had been enchanted with a Hunter¡¯s skill that was supposed to make it better for dressing animals. Elijah hoped that would be enough to allow it to get through the beast¡¯s thick hide. When he reached the boar¡¯s thick neck, Elijah knelt. And without further delay, he reared back and plunged the blade into the creature¡¯s bristly hide. It parted the skin, but only went an inch deep. That was within Elijah¡¯s expectations, and he once again stabbed into the same wound. The dagger bit a little deeper, this time, eliciting a trickle of blood. That trickle became a river with the next stab, though Elijah knew it was nothing compared to what flowed through the beast¡¯s enormous body. So, he kept at it. The process was not pretty. Nor was it heroic. It was messy and traumatizing, eliciting a stream of tears and coating Elijah in dark red blood. Yet, he continued. Even if he wanted to, he couldn¡¯t stop. Once begun, he had no choice but to keep going. And he did. Over and over, he hacked into the creature¡¯s neck until, at last, he found an artery. It spurted pressurized blood in a fountain of red, the intensity of the flood increasing with each pump of the boar¡¯s enormous heart. Only then did Elijah stop. The mighty boar was already dead. It just hadn¡¯t realized it yet. Elijah stood, his cheeks stained with blood and tears. Even then, he could have saved the beast. A few casts of Touch of Nature, and the bleeding would slow. He could have healed the rest of the damage, though he suspected it would take almost all of his ethera. And for a brief moment, he considered it. Perhaps he could heal its mind, too. Maybe he could banish the madness that had gripped it. But he knew that was a pipe dream. The beast was too far gone. And the price of failure was too high. So, climbing down, he circled the boar until he reached its head. Once there, he laid his hand between its eyes and used flared One with Nature. Just as had happened with the panther, he formed a connection with the beast. However, unlike the island¡¯s guardian, the boar¡¯s thoughts ¨C which Elijah could only feel in the form of impressions ¨C had been shattered into a million pieces. None of them were pleasant. Instead, there was loss. Confusion. Fear that had nothing to do with Debilitating Roar. And anger. It all coalesced into something Elijah could only call madness. There would be no recovery for this beast. Touching its mind was just confirmation of what he had known from the very beginning. But Elijah still maintained the connection, trying to convey calm thoughts to the animal as blood gushed from the wound in its neck. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°It¡¯s going to be alright,¡± he said in a soothing voice. ¡°It¡¯s over. You can rest now.¡± The boar didn¡¯t hear him. It was too far gone, its mind too broken. The words were as much for Elijah¡¯s benefit as to comfort the beast. Minutes passed, and the creature¡¯s stamina returned enough for it to briefly resume its shielding ability. However, it lasted only a few moments, and it did nothing for the continued blood loss. Finally, after half an hour, the boar¡¯s eyes glazed over. Its muscles went slack, and its jaw fell open. At last, its struggle was over. With dried boar¡¯s blood covering him, Elijah collapsed to the trampled grassland and spent the next few minutes just staring at the ground. He¡¯d killed so often that he thought himself accustomed to taking lives. That was true in the heat of battle, but executing the boar was different. He knew it would stick with him for years to come. After a little while, Elijah pushed himself back to his feet and steeled himself for the next step in the process. The boar was the highest-level creature he¡¯d ever seen, which meant that it was a treasure trove of usable materials. Its meat alone was enough to feed a village for months, and that was saying nothing for its durable hide, dense bones, and useful organs. Some people might¡¯ve considered harvesting the animal to be distasteful, but Elijah saw it as the height of respect. The Mongolian hunters had reaffirmed that when they¡¯d done the same with their fallen horses. Killing a creature and not using it was wasteful. Honoring the beast by putting its body to use was better. So, armed with his skinning knife, Elijah went to work. Now that the boar was dead, its hide was a little easier to cut, though he wasn¡¯t certain if that was because the effect of the boar¡¯s Constitution was less efficacious or if the knife, being put to its intended use, was more effective. Either way, easier didn¡¯t mean easy, and skinning the beast proved to be the work of an entire day. Then, he started to butcher the body. Thankfully, Elijah had plenty of experience processing various animals, so his work was efficient, with large hunks of meat being piled onto the overturned hide. Still, the beast was so large that the process took another day. Being in the middle of winter, it was well below freezing, so there was no chance of spoilage. Next came the bones. Elijah didn¡¯t take all of those. Instead, he only took the largest pieces. He didn¡¯t know what good they would do, but he felt certain that a crafter like Carmen could make use of the powerfully dense material. And finally, Elijah took the brains and fat. The process had taken nearly four days, but at last, he was finished. The carcass that was left was a pitiful thing. There was still some meat left. The same was true of some of the less useful organs. Looking upon it once again made Elijah¡¯s eyes water, but he quickly dried them. The deed was finished, and there was nothing else to be done. So, he tied the hide into a huge sack he could carry ¨C the bundle was comically large, but it didn¡¯t weigh as much as some of the stones he¡¯d toted. Then, Elijah stripped off his soiled clothes, sprinkled them with some cleansing powder and set them aside. After that, he summoned Healing Rain, and, using his soap, washed the dried blood away. The shower was cathartic, though without his Cloak of the Iron Bear, he keenly felt the bite of the winter morning. That felt appropriate as well, almost as if he didn¡¯t deserve comfort after such a distasteful act. The idea that he needed to endure a penance was ridiculous. He¡¯d only done what was necessary. Yet, reason and emotions rarely mixed, so he reveled in his tiny punishment. He didn¡¯t wallow in it, though, and once he was clean, Elijah gathered his bundle and heaved the burden upon his back. It was almost enough to overbalance him, but he managed it well enough, using some rope he had in his satchel to facilitate it. Then, he began the long walk back to Khotont. As he did, he finally allowed himself to acknowledge his reward for killing such a powerful beast.
Congratulations! You have reached level eighty-seven. Attribute points allocated according to class.
He¡¯d gained three levels, which was confirmation of the boar¡¯s might. However, despite the fact that those levels had allowed him to reclaim his place at the top of the power rankings ¨C one level higher than Oscar Ramirez ¨C he had difficulty taking joy in his progress. To distract himself from his guilt, Elijah looked at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 87
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 140 (102)
Dexterity 122 (91)
Constitution 123 (100)
Ethera 99 (96)
Regeneration 124 (91)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Hatchling Quartz Novice
With his gear and buffs, Elijah¡¯s attributes had gotten pretty impressive. However, he was a little annoyed that his ethera attribute was only one point from reaching triple digits. That was because only one piece of his equipment ¨C the Wolf Totem he¡¯d looted from Thor ¨C added any extra points. By comparison, the rest of his attributes were inflated by buffs and equipment. He could further enhance those with his forms, but at present, that was unnecessary. So, he remained in his human shape as he trudged across the prairie. As satisfied as he was with his improved attributes, Elijah was more concerned with the other benefit of passing level eighty-five. He¡¯d gained another opportunity to upgrade an ability, and it was one he¡¯d been waiting on for quite some time. 4-69. A Question of Priorities The winter sun hung high in the expansive blue sky, unobscured by even the wisp of a cloud. A hawk cried overhead, and a cold breeze cut across the grasslands. Elijah didn¡¯t feel it. Even without his Cloak of the Iron Bear, which protected him from the cold, he wouldn¡¯t have paid much attention to his surroundings. Instead, the whole of his focus was on the notification he¡¯d received after killing the guardian boar. Not only had he reached level eighty-seven, but he¡¯d also gained the opportunity to evolve one of his spells. He''d done so once before, so he¡¯d been looking forward to upgrading the rest of his spellbook. Still, it wasn¡¯t as simple as gaining more power. It would be that. But it also represented a choice, and one that he knew would prove difficult. It was that decision which occupied the bulk of his attention. He focused on the notification:
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements for the evolution of the spell Touch of Nature. Please choose a path:
Mother¡¯s Embrace Nature¡¯s Bloom Spreading Roots
Through the Mother¡¯s embrace, heal yourself far more efficiently than you heal others. Each cast will plant the seed of regrowth. When that seed sprouts, additional healing will follow. Each cast will cause an ethereal root to spread to an ally, casting a wide net of rejuvenation.
The options seemed pretty straightforward to Elijah. The first choice would make Touch of Nature more powerful when he cast it on himself, while Nature¡¯s Bloom and Spreading Roots would give his heal extra effects. In the case of Nature¡¯s Bloom, it seemed like each heal would have a secondary heal associated with it. By contrast, Spreading Roots would have an area of effect component. The question was what sort of power increase he should expect. Each evolution meant that the primary effect of the spell would grow stronger. Every guide he¡¯d read was adamant about that. However, the additional effects were based on his Legacy, which was something of a record of his actions. Some people would only receive one choice, and in those cases, it was almost always just a mundane increase in power. Often, the name of the spell didn¡¯t even change, and it gained no extra effects. Three choices was the maximum number the system would offer, which meant that Elijah had been doing something right in his progression. He¡¯d never made choices based on augmenting his Legacy ¨C in fact, he¡¯d never even heard the word, at least in reference to the system, until quite recently ¨C but it seemed that he¡¯d done so anyway. Regardless, he had an interesting choice before him. The first option was clearly the best, so long as he only considered his own needs. Having a potent self-heal would help him survive against tough opponents. Elijah only had to think about Guardian¡¯s Renewal to recognize that as a fact. However, it felt wrong to only think of himself. What would happen if Miguel was injured and, because he¡¯d taken Mother¡¯s Embrace over the other two options, she perished? What about Carmen or Nerthus? The others he cared about? He would be emotionally destroyed. Was a better chance at survival the right decision? Maybe. Then again, without knowing exactly what the difference was, he couldn¡¯t be certain. What if it was only ten percent better than the other two? Logic suggested that, because it was more limited, it would be far better, but he simply couldn¡¯t be sure. The other two choices were assuredly better for healing other people, but in different ways. The second, called Nature¡¯s Bloom, seemed to specialize in healing a single target, while the third¡¯s description implied that it would be good for a large group. As Elijah trudged through the plains, he discarded the third option. He had yet to encounter a situation where he needed to heal a large group of people quickly. Normally, when he was responsible for that kind of healing, there was no time limit. So, as much as he liked the idea behind the Spreading Roots evolution, he didn¡¯t see very many situations where it would be required. That left the first two. Mother¡¯s Embrace was more than tempting. Normally, he fought alone, and an ability to heal himself more quickly was very attractive. However, he¡¯d survived as long as he had with the old version of Touch of Nature, hadn¡¯t he? And he had Guardian¡¯s Renewal to pick up the slack. Besides, couldn¡¯t Nature¡¯s Bloom serve a similar function, but without the drawback of only really helping himself? Looking at it completely logically ¨C or from his perspective, at least ¨C Elijah¡¯s choice seemed clear. After all, his archetype ¨C and to a lesser extent, his class ¨C was based on versatility. So, pigeonholing himself by limiting his options was antithetical to the idea behind his archetype. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. Plus, he kept thinking of situations where the lives of his loved ones might hinge on his ability to heal them, and in those cases, failure simply wasn¡¯t an option. He¡¯d rather put himself in a little more danger than fall short when his family or friends needed him most. So, without further hesitation, he made his decision. When he chose Nature¡¯s Bloom, another notification appeared before his inner eye:
Congratulations! You have chosen to evolve Touch of Nature into Nature¡¯s Bloom. Complete the following quest to finalize the evolution: Accomplish Three Feats of Strength (COMPLETE) Heal 1000 People (COMPLETE) Self-Heal From the Edge of Death (COMPLETTE)
Elijah felt the quest complete, which was something of a surprise. Obviously, his previous actions had already satisfied the requirements, which shouldn¡¯t have been that shocking. Yet, he had expected to have at least one task to complete, much as he had when he¡¯d evolved Ancestral Circle into Roots of the World Tree. In any case, he checked the new spell¡¯s description:
Nature¡¯s Bloom Harness the power of nature to heal yourself or an ally. Upon the completion of the cast, plant the seed of renewal. After twenty seconds, the Seed of Renewal will sprout, resulting in another, less powerful heal. Relative potency of Seed of Renewal is based on Ethera attribute. Current: 35.2% of original cast.
It was better than Elijah had hoped, especially if the base spell ¨C even without Seed of Renewal ¨C had improved as much as he expected. He wouldn¡¯t know for sure until he tested it out, though. That made him a bit nervous ¨C testing a new spell in a tense situation always left him wrought with anxiety ¨C but he couldn¡¯t properly gauge the efficacy of the spell until he tried to heal some damage. Perhaps he should find some more people in town to test it on. Or head back to Argos. Regardless, Elijah was happy with his choice. As he continued his trek, Elijah used his spell, but considering he was entirely undamaged, it was difficult to determine its potency. It did help to stave off his fatigue, so that was helpful. It was near sunset when Khotont came into view, and by the time he reached the formerly Mongolian city, darkness had fallen. Still, he was allowed through the gap in the berm, which actually took a bit of doing, since his bundle was so enormous. With the help of the two guards, he managed to squeeze through, though they were amazed that he was able to carry such a huge burden. The streets were still packed with people, but the crowd of pedestrians parted easily before him. Some even recognized the hide for what it was, and gasps followed Elijah all the way to the zahiral ger, where he found that only a few administrators were present. When he announced that he had killed the boar that had terrorized the region for weeks, he got their attention. And when he asked to make a deal, someone hurried off to fetch a member of the council. Soon enough, two council members arrived. Both bore the signs of enormous stress, but they still looked hardy enough. Elijah told them that he¡¯d killed the boar, then proved it by setting his burden down and untying the rope that had kept the collection of meat, bones, and other pieces of the boar together. Thankfully, the cold climate had kept it all preserved. ¡°I can¡¯t use all this meat,¡± he said. ¡°Nor do I want all the bones. So, here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. I¡¯ll take what I want, then you can buy the rest.¡± Elijah had done a little window shopping the last time he¡¯d been in town, so he knew roughly what that much high-quality meat would be worth. The bones, though, were a mystery, so he decided to treat those like other natural resources he¡¯d seen in his travels. Bones were probably not quite as popular of a material for creating weapons as high-grade metals, but given the power of the boar, it would be very useful for the right crafters. The negotiation went far better than Elijah expected, and he ended up accepting sixty gold for the materials. In addition, they¡¯d chosen to throw in a bag where he could store his portion of the meat and brains. ¡°It will keep everything fresh for at least a month,¡± the councilman said. ¡°Up to five-hundred pounds. After that, the bag will be no more useful than a normal bag of its size.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± Elijah answered. It clearly worked similarly to the bags he¡¯d used before the orc invasion, so he was familiar enough with what to expect. ¡°Do you need someone to prepare the hide? We have a couple of good Leatherworkers here,¡± the other councilwoman said. She was the same older woman Elijah had seen the first time. ¡°Tsas is nearly strong enough to reach the power rankings.¡± That was true of half the population, it seemed. There were so many people on the verge of reaching the ladder that the distinction only meant that they were competent. Still, that meant that this Tsas ¨C which the system translated to mean Snow ¨C was a viable option for his project. However, Elijah intended to prepare the hide himself, much as he had with the bear hide that had become his Cloak of the Iron Bear. ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± he said. ¡°I would also like to free the gambler in your custody.¡± That decision wasn¡¯t made on a whim. Elijah wanted to know more about the man¡¯s organization. Was it a powerful group? Or was it only the possessor of an ostentatious name? He intended to find out. ¡°That¡­can be arranged,¡± she agreed. Likely, her quick agreement meant that he¡¯d accepted less than the meat and bones were worth, but Elijah couldn¡¯t take them all with him. So, he¡¯d resolved to only take the best pieces, including most of the fat, the choicest cuts of meat, and the most intact bones. And, of course, the hide, which was the most useful part for him. In any case, once the deal was done, he accepted a transfer to his folio, and someone fetched the pack that would keep his portion of the meat fresh. After that, he supervised the loading of the pack while a small army of workers descended upon the rest of the pile of pork. They¡¯d finished loading it in only a few minutes, and Elijah started rolling the hide up. It only barely fit into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, but that was alright. He intended to take it back to the grove soon enough. Finally, the gambler ¨C Wilhelm ¨C arrived. Elijah shoved the Preservation Pack into the man¡¯s hands, saying, ¡°Carry this. You¡¯re coming with me.¡± The pack was filled with five-hundred pounds of meat and fat, and even though it cut that weight by a significant amount, it was still quite heavy. And Wilhelm clearly hadn¡¯t worked on his physical attributes. He tipped over, with the pack landing on his chest. Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°Seriously? Come on, man¡­¡± Wilhelm grunted, kicking his legs as he tried to push the pack aside. Elijah took pity on him, reaching down to lift the pack himself. When he was freed, Wilhelm gasped for breath, saying, ¡°I¡­I do not have much Strength¡­¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Follow me.¡± ¡°Perhaps you didn¡¯t see, but night has already fallen,¡± Wilhelm said, pushing himself to his feet. Though he held himself with prim propriety, his stay in the jail had clearly taken its toll. His clothes were torn and dirty, and judging by the odor wafting Elijah¡¯s way, his clothes weren¡¯t the only thing in need of a good cleaning. Finally, his thin blonde hair was in disarray, and he bore a wisp of facial hair that made him look like a teenager who had yet to be taught to shave. ¡°We should stay here. I know a fantastic inn next to the best gambling hall in town. And ¨C¡± ¡°No. Come with me, or you can go back to jail.¡± ¡°Um¡­¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°I swear I won¡¯t hurt you. In fact, I just want to know more about your organization.¡± ¡°Ah. I see,¡± the man said. Then, he looked at the two guards who¡¯d brought him to the zahiral ger, and his complexion paled. ¡°Right. I think I will take you up on your generous offer.¡± ¡°Great. Let¡¯s go,¡± Elijah said. Then, he bade goodbye to the councilors before striding out of the building. Wilhelm hurried to follow. 4-70. Ley Lines and Conclaves The night was cold, and Wilhelm definitely wasn¡¯t dressed for it. So, Elijah only led him a couple miles out of town before he stopped and made camp. There weren¡¯t many trees in the steppes, so wood was at a premium. That meant that he was forced to use alternate fuel for his fire. Thankfully, he¡¯d stocked up on coal and dried grass during his previous stint in Khotont. And with his laser pointer firestarter, it was a breeze to get a nice flame going. Elijah even dragged a couple of collapsable camp chairs from his satchel, completing the cozy scene. ¡°What happened to your clothes?¡± he asked as Wilhelm leaned close to the flickering flames. ¡°I¡¯m sure you didn¡¯t come here wearing that.¡± ¡°I¡­I regret to say that I experienced a bit of bad luck,¡± the German man said. His accent wasn¡¯t thick, but Elijah had recognized it all the same. ¡°Ah, I miss my coat. It was Simple-Grade, you know. Waterproof. Very durable. Practically armor in and of itself. Now, who knows where it ended up? If they had just given me a little more credit, I could have won it back. I¡¯m certain of it.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t miss the hint in that statement, but he had no intention of giving Wilhelm any money with which he could gamble. Clearly, the man had a problem, and Elijah wasn¡¯t going to contribute to it. ¡°Here,¡± he said, reaching into his satchel and retrieving a set of warmer clothing and a thick coat he¡¯d used before getting his Cloak of the Iron Bear. They¡¯d been sitting in the bottom of his Ghoul-Hide Satchel since then, forgotten and unused. Wilhelm took the offering with no small degree of gratitude, layering the clothes over his own pitiful outfit ¨C which consisted of a pair of thin pants, a cotton shirt, and a pair of cheap sandals. Elijah also gave him a blanket, admitting, ¡°Probably should have stayed in town.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not too late to return,¡± ventured Wilhelm, clutching the blanket around his shoulders. It was cold enough that his breath misted with each word. Elijah considered it for a moment, but then he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a good idea,¡± he stated. Part of it was that he just didn¡¯t like staying in cities anymore. It was a bit of an odd situation. Usually, he looked forward to visiting new settlements, and he loved the idea of sleeping in a bed or enjoying novel foods while meeting new people. However, he¡¯d become increasingly uncomfortable with dense civilization, meaning that after the initial burst of excitement that came with new experiences, he usually found himself wanting to head back into the wilderness where he was much more comfortable. But the other reason Elijah didn¡¯t want to go back into Khotont came down to Wilhelm. The man clearly had a potent gambling problem, and the city¡¯s residents were more than willing to take advantage of that. He¡¯d even gambled away his clothing. So, it wasn¡¯t a big stretch to think that if Elijah let Wilhelm stay in Khotont for even a day more that the man would end up on the wrong side of more gambling debt. Elijah didn¡¯t so much care about the man¡¯s well-being ¨C outside of what normal human compassion dictated ¨C but he did want to know about the so-called Conclave. And if it was an organization of import, perhaps he could garner some goodwill by helping their member. There were a lot of assumptions at play, but it wasn¡¯t as if Elijah had gone out of his way to help the man. His release hadn¡¯t cost much, and Elijah hadn¡¯t really changed his plans to cater to Wilhelm¡¯s comfort. So, if the Conclave turned out to be a grandiose name for a weak organization ¨C or worse, a fabrication on the part of Wilhelm ¨C Elijah wouldn¡¯t have lost much. Still, he was eager to know more, so he broached the subject, saying, ¡°You mentioned a Conclave. What is it? And why are you in the steppes? Are you an Explorer?¡± ¡°Sort of,¡± Wilhelm answered noncommittally. ¡°Do you have any food? Water, perhaps? They didn¡¯t treat me poorly while I was in custody, but they were not terribly considerate of my needs, either.¡± Elijah sighed, then reached into his satchel and retrieved a strip of dried meat ¨C it had come from one of the lizards around Seattle ¨C as well as a large tin cup, into which he poured some water from his Everlasting Canteen. He handed both to the slight man, who took it with no small amount of gratitude. Wilhelm ate with gusto, tearing into his meal with a fervor that suggested he hadn¡¯t eaten well in days. Maybe the Mongolians hadn¡¯t treated him as well as Elijah had expected. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t long before Wilhelm answered ¨C around a mouthful of food ¨C saying, ¡°The Conclave of Travel is an organization of Scholars, Sorcerers, and Tradesmen who have begun to delve into the secrets of long-distance travel via teleportation. I am one of the founding members, and my job is to find appropriate locations and establish anchors so that our Ethereal Artificers can create portal locations.¡± His explanation was laced with pride, and to Elijah, it seemed well-deserved. There was already a teleportation feature inherent in the system of Branches scattered throughout the world ¨C and the wider multi-verse, he assumed ¨C but those had a significant downside in that using them was incredibly expensive. Elijah was likely one of the richest individuals in the region, and the price of using Branch teleportation even a single time would have bankrupted him a hundred times over. So, the notion that someone would have taken it upon themselves to create their own teleportation network was unsurprising. According to everything Elijah had learned, that was a common response to the terrible expense of the Branch¡¯s version. Still, Elijah hadn¡¯t expected it to have gotten very far. After all, Earth was still in its infancy, so he expected it to be quite some time before it caught up to the rest of the multi-verse¡¯s level of progress. You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. ¡°How does it work?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°How is your grasp of mathematics?¡± was Wilhelm¡¯s responding question. Then, with a grin, he launched into a mathematical explanation that reminded Elijah just how much he hated the subject. Finally, after a few minutes of Wilhelm¡¯s excited recitation of advanced equations, Elijah cut him off, saying, ¡°The basics. I don¡¯t need to know the numbers.¡± ¡°Ah. Right. I sometimes forget that others don¡¯t share my¡­enthusiasm for mathematics,¡± he said with an embarrassed smile. ¡°In the simplest terms I can manage, we tap into the world¡¯s ambient ley lines. Some people call them roots of the World Tree, but we prefer a more neutral term. Regardless, Earth is covered in a dense web of these ley lines, and usually, the locations where they intersect are places of immense power. Normally, that¡¯s where natural treasures appear. My job is to find these places, create an anchor so that our Ethereal Researchers and Tradesmen can travel to those locations and establish a portal apparatus.¡± For a moment, Elijah was speechless. The revelation that they were so close to creating a teleportation network was quite the bombshell, and it left Elijah with a host of questions. But one rose above them all, and he asked, ¡°How many have you found? And how close are you to getting it up and running?¡± ¡°Ah, there¡¯s the rub,¡± answered Wilhelm. ¡°I¡¯m one of the only people capable of traveling through the wilderness with any reliability. Of course, without my bicycle, I will move more slowly, but my feet were, as they say, made for walking. I will manage to find one at some point.¡± ¡°One? So you haven¡¯t found an intersection yet?¡± Elijah asked with disappointment. Then, he continued, ¡°You have a bike?¡± ¡°I do! My pride and joy. When I was young, I would make up all these apocalyptic scenarios in my head,¡± the man eagerly explained, skipping over the first question. That told Elijah the answer. Wilhelm continued, ¡°Zombie invasions and the like. I loved watching those sorts of films. But over time, I came to see all the mistakes they made. For instance, why does everyone go after automobiles? Why do they want to use motorized transport at all? Bicycles are very common, are suitable for all sorts of terrain, relatively easy to maintain, and, most importantly, only require an able-bodied person to operate. So, the moment the world changed, I found a bicycle shop and took my pick.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah mused. It made sense, but for his part, Elijah would always prefer his own two feet ¨C or wings, as it happened ¨C over any wheeled contraption. ¡°And that¡¯s why you can travel through the wilderness? Is it a special bike? Do you have a class that uses it or something?¡± ¡°Oh, no. It is just a normal, albeit high-quality bicycle. I¡¯m an Explorer by archetype, and while my class incorporates some Scholar-type abilities, I remain an Explorer,¡± Wilhelm said. ¡°As I said, my job is to find the ley line intersections. I couldn¡¯t do that very well if I had to worry about monster attacks every few kilometers.¡± ¡°Have you found many intersections, then?¡± Elijah asked, returning to his previous question. Wilhelm sighed. ¡°Regrettably, no. The intersections are difficult for me to perceive, even with my abilities,¡± he admitted. ¡°I can only sense them from a maximum distance of a hundred meters. However, there is hope!¡± the man said, thrusting his finger into the air. ¡°With every point of ethera I gain, my detection radius increases by half a meter! I merely need to gain levels in order to accomplish my mission.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± Elijah said, one facet of his Quartz Mind whirling with the possibilities. Suddenly, a few things clicked into place. Perhaps the feelings he got when he was looking for places to build his dolmens had nothing to do with the natural treasures he usually found, but rather, it was possible that he could sense the intersecting ley lines. His very first dolmen hadn¡¯t been built around a natural treasure, but he had still known precisely where to put it. So, after a moment, he asked, ¡°What if I were to lead you to one of these intersections? What would that be worth to you?¡± Wilhelm¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You know of one?¡± ¡°I feel pretty confident that I can find something like you described. So, what kind of a reward are we looking at? Also, how long does it take for your Conclave to build the portal apparatus? You said you¡¯re the only one who can travel safely, right?¡± ¡°Ah¡­well¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°When I left a few months ago, they had yet to crack the code, so to speak,¡± Wilhelm sighed. ¡°They were close. The math all adds up. However, we are missing the key to bring it all together. If we could see an actual teleportation, I feel certain that we could finish the project. The entire Conclave is working towards earning enough ethereum to pay for a teleportation via the Branch so that we can study the process.¡± Elijah felt a smile spreading across his face. He didn¡¯t know if Roots of the World Tree functioned on the same principles as the Branches¡¯ teleportation feature, but he was willing to bet they were similar enough to give the Conclave some insight into their own research. ¡°And what if I could show you a teleportation? What about multiples? Could you do something then?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Are you so wealthy?¡± ¡°I get by. But that¡¯s not really the point. Do you have the skills necessary to use that information?¡± ¡°I do not. But I do have equipment meant to record any spatial anomalies. I¡¯ve yet to see one, but theoretically, they should exist. With that equipment¡­ah¡­there¡¯s a problem.¡± ¡°You gambled your equipment away.¡± ¡°I did.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get it back,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Now, what do I get if I help you?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes. It was a good question. He was capable of traveling very quickly, but a teleportation network would still be very useful, especially considering that his dolmens were limited in number. Hopefully, that would increase when he upgraded his core ¨C which was still an ongoing process ¨C but he didn¡¯t know by how much. If it was only one extra dolmen, then the teleportation network would be far more valuable to him than if it was ten more. Regardless, it would be helpful. ¡°Free teleportation once you get your network up and running. Also, I want to dictate where the first apparatus goes,¡± Elijah said. ¡°For that, I¡¯ll get your equipment back, and I¡¯ll provide a demonstration of teleportation.¡± Of course, Wilhelm tried to negotiate, but he had no leverage at all. So, he ended up caving to Elijah¡¯s demands. With that, the deal was struck, and Elijah resolved to return to Khotont in the morning so he could recover Wilhelm¡¯s equipment. Then, he would get to work on holding up his end of the bargain. 4-71. Multi-Tasking Surprisingly, getting Wilhelm¡¯s equipment back wasn¡¯t difficult. It helped that word of Elijah¡¯s deeds had already spread throughout the city of Khotont, but he suspected that the gambling den let the items go mostly because they had no use for the esoteric equipment. They were bound to Wilhelm, so even if someone else could figure out what they did, no one else could even use the pieces ¨C at least until he was dead. Because of that, Elijah only had to pay a couple of silver ethereum to obtain the bundle of items. He also recovered the Explorer¡¯s bicycle, which cost a few more coins. The whole ordeal was completed while Wilhelm slept near the fire. To ensure the man¡¯s safety, Elijah had deployed the tent he¡¯d gotten from Lars, and when he got back, he was reassured to find that it had worked as advertised. Only then did Elijah climb inside and allow himself a little rest. He could keep going for quite some time without eating or sleeping, but it was never comfortable. So, the night¡¯s rest ¨C even if it was only for a few hours ¨C was definitely beneficial. The next morning, Elijah awoke just after dawn and quickly boiled some water for his daily cup of coffee. He had no intention of sharing with Wilhelm, though. Coffee was a limited resource, and Elijah knew he¡¯d need the buff it provided when he participated in the Trial of Primacy. Perhaps there would be another harvest before it began, but until he was certain, he intended to preserve his store as much as possible. Thankfully, he finished the cup before Wilhelm even awoke, so there were no awkward conversations about hospitality. When the Explorer finally did wake up, he was more than surprised to find that his equipment ¨C and more importantly to him, his bicycle ¨C were back. He thanked Elijah profusely, and soon enough, they broke camp, smothered the fire, and set off across the prairie. As he had done outside Argos when he was searching for an appropriate place to build his first dolmen, Elijah followed his instincts. He couldn¡¯t perceive ley lines, but he could feel the subtle variations in ambient ethera well enough that, at least subconsciously, he stood a good chance of finding the intersections. Still, it took almost the entire day before he felt something ¨C just a twinge ¨C that guided him toward the east. After that, it was only one more day before he reached the confluence of energy that came from intersecting ley lines. Or the World Tree¡¯s roots, as he preferred to think of them. ¡°What does your skill tell you?¡± Elijah asked, glancing at Wilhelm, who¡¯d been riding his bicycle the whole time. The Explorer closed his eyes, clearly focusing as he said, ¡°This is close. Not ideal, but¡­it is worth marking.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Not here. I¡¯ll help you find another spot,¡± Elijah said. ¡°This one¡¯s mine.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand,¡± Wilhelm admitted. ¡°You will.¡± While it might make some sense for Wilhelm to mark the spot and move on, Elijah had other plans for the location. It might not be strong enough for the Conclave¡¯s purposes, but for Elijah, it was more than adequate to power one of his dolmens. And while it was a bit frustrating that it would leave him with only one more potential dolmen ¨C at least until he upgraded his core ¨C it would give him the ability to bypass the swamp and access Khotont, which was the largest settlement in the expansive steppes. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t regret it. After explaining what he intended to do, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky ¨C which garnered quite a bit of shock from Wilhelm ¨C then set off in search of appropriate materials for the structures. At first, he worried that there would be nothing available. After all, the region wasn¡¯t particularly rocky. However, he only had to fly south for a few hours before the territory became a bit hillier. It wasn¡¯t a huge change, but it wasn¡¯t long after that that Elijah found a lonely butte formation that towered over the surrounding area. Upon further inspection, he found that it was composed of sandstone, limestone, and some sort of igneous rock he didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°Perfect,¡± Elijah said, having shifted back to his human form. He ran a hand along the wall of limestone. It wasn¡¯t a high-grade material like the dragonstone, but he didn¡¯t need it to be, either. The dolmens drew their power from the ley lines, so the materials were far less important than with other important structures. So, while it was mundane, limestone was indeed perfect for his purposes. So, he got to work quarrying appropriately sized blocks. Fortunately, it was a far less difficult process than it had been with the dragonstone, so it only took a couple of days ¨C during which he periodically returned to the camp site to check on Wilhelm, who was perfectly content to monitor the ley line intersection with his equipment. Meanwhile, Elijah quarried the stone he needed, then proceeded to carry them across the plain. That took a further few days, but that couldn¡¯t be helped. The distance between the intended dolmen site and the butte formation was close to a hundred miles, so even with Elijah¡¯s travel speed, which was enhanced by Essence of the Wolf, he could only cover the ground so quickly. Thankfully, as he could carry enough limestone for two pieces at a time, he only needed to make fifteen trips. ¡°How does this work, exactly?¡± asked Wilhelm once all the stones had been gathered. Elijah told him, emphasizing that none of it would function properly without his skill. ¡°But the structure of the dolmen affects the quality, though I¡¯m not sure what the result will be,¡± he admitted. ¡°I haven¡¯t seen any changes to how my spell works.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°Perhaps it will be part of your Legacy. Or maybe it is improving, but at too slow of a rate for you to observe without specialized equipment,¡± Wilhelm suggested. Elijah could already see that the Explorer wanted to start running experiments. Apparently, the man had a background as a scientist, though he was a little cagey about precisely what field of study. Elijah could have probably pushed, but he chose not to. If Wilhelm wanted to reveal details about his past, then he had the right to do so on his own schedule. Regardless, Elijah quickly moved to the next stage of his plan, which had nothing to do with the dolmen. Instead, he intended to multi-task by preparing the boar¡¯s hide to the best of his abilities. Ideally, he would do so in his grove, where the ambient ethera was much higher, but he didn¡¯t want to take the extra couple of weeks that would require. Hopefully, flooding the area with One with Nature, Healing Rain, and Nature¡¯s Bounty would suffice. So, flaring all three skills, Elijah set about fleshing the enormous hide. The boar had been huge, so the hide was nearly thirty feet wide and about half again as long. That meant that working with the piece was extremely time-consuming and more than a little taxing. Thankfully, Elijah¡¯s endurance was nearly inexhaustible, and he filled the time with working on his core cultivation as well. It took an entire day of strenuous work to complete the task of stripping the excess fat, flesh, and membrane from the hide, but when he was done, he felt quite satisfied. The next step was salting the hide in order to dry it out. Fortunately, Elijah had thought ahead and purchased quite a lot of salt in his most recent trip back to Khotont. He put it good use, generously covering the underside of the piece. He knew that it would take a few days for the salt to dry out the hide, so when he¡¯d finished with that step, he shifted his attention back to the dolmen. Elijah fell into the work, roughly carving the intended shapes. He went with a cuboid shape, with the heel stones being about ten feet tall and four feet wide. The capstones were a little narrower, but at least as long. By the time Elijah had finished carving the rough shapes, three days had passed, and the boar¡¯s hide was completely dry. So, leaving the dolmen¡¯s components behind, he started on the next step, which was to remove the hair. With the bear hide, he hadn¡¯t bothered, but for the boar hide, it was necessary for what he intended. Thankfully, he had enough knowledge to manage it well enough. Traditionally, soaking the hide in urine was how people loosened the hair from hides, but for a hide so large, that just wasn¡¯t possible. So, he chose to employ a slightly more modern approach and used some of his discarded limestone to create lime. Doing so required him to heat the rocks to an incredibly high temperature, then mix it with water. That necessitated another trip back to Khotont so he could buy a kiln. Armed with that, the process went off without a hitch, and he soon had enough lime to do the job. So, he mixed the substance with water, then soaked the hide in a large basin he¡¯d dug. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it worked well enough for Elijah¡¯s purposes. While the hide soaked, he went back to the dolmen, arranging the roughly carved stones into a circle he meticulously laid out. As he did so, he paid attention to the ambient flow of ethera, and he was happy to see that it adjusted to the new structure, flowing in and around it. That inspection told him that the layout wasn¡¯t perfect, though, so he spent an extra day arranging the stones in such a way that wouldn¡¯t impede the flow of ethera. Unsurprisingly, that meant that the dolmen was a perfect circle. By that point, the lime solution had done its work loosening the tough hairs, allowing Elijah to remove them. It was monotonous work, but he managed it all the same. And after another day¡¯s worth of work, he had finished. That was when the time came to actually tan the hide. Using the same method he¡¯d used with the bear skin that had become his Cloak of the Iron Bear, Elijah concocted the tanning solution using the boar¡¯s brains and some mineral oil he had acquired in Khotont. As before, it was a tedious process, made even more so by the sheer size of the hide. He¡¯d thought about cutting it to pieces and tanning each one individually, but he felt that would compromise the integrity of the finished product. Perhaps he was only imagining it, but he didn¡¯t want to take any chances. In any case, once he¡¯d applied a generous coating to the huge piece of leather, he went back to the dolmen and started to refine the shapes. Not only did they need to be as perfect as he could manage, but he also intended to add a host of embellishments that, when he got to that step, took the form of relief carvings of the mighty boar. Back and forth Eliijah went, reapplying the tanning solution to the hide and carving the dolmen¡¯s components until, at last, he¡¯d finished. Overall, it had taken him over two weeks to complete the entire project, but he felt that it was time well spent. Wilhelm agreed, and he¡¯d filled the hours by taking hundreds of measurements. He had found the process fascinating, and he was almost as eager for the final product as Elijah was. In the end, Elijah gathered everything he¡¯d used and shoved it in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. It barely fit, which just told him that he needed to return home sooner rather than later. Once everything was accounted for and camp had been broken, he completed the dolmen by using Roots of the World Tree. The cast took quite some time, but when it finished, he got the expected notification.
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Circle of the Boar King] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Complex) Enchantment Grade: D
Then, the next notification came:
Roots of the World Tree Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 3 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 4. Cooldown: 6 Days Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 5 (4 Used)
The name of the circle wasn¡¯t surprising, but he was a little disappointed that the enchantment grade was lower than the Circle of Spears. Obviously, Carmen¡¯s contribution had helped quite a bit. As soon as the circle was completed, Wilhelm let out a yelp and stumbled to his backside. ¡°What was that?!¡± he cried, staring at his equipment. ¡°My spell.¡± ¡°Can you do it again?¡± he demanded. ¡°Not here. Did your equipment get your measurements?¡± ¡°It¡­it will take some time to go through the data, but I think so¡­¡± ¡°Awesome. Now, do you want to try it out?¡± Predictably, Wilhelm¡¯s answer was an enthusiastic affirmative. 4-72. A Thousand Miles in an Instant Before Elijah activated the gate, he inspected the other notification he¡¯d received after completing the preparation of the hide.
Congratulations! You have created a unique item: [Tanned Steelskin Boar Leather] Overall Grade: Complex (mid) Enchantment Grade: n/a
¡°Why are you smiling?¡± asked Wilhelm. ¡°Oh. The hide turned out to be Complex-Grade,¡± he said. ¡°I was worried that it wouldn¡¯t get there because of the low density of ethera around here.¡± ¡°Low?¡± Wilhelm asked. ¡°It is higher than anyplace I¡¯ve ever been.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t been everywhere,¡± Elijah said, clapping the slim man on his shoulder. Despite the fact that Elijah had withheld most of his Strength, Wilhelm still stumbled a little. The man really hadn¡¯t bothered investing in his physical attributes at all. ¡°If you stay out of trouble, I might just show you some new places.¡± After that, they did one last sweep of the area, just to make sure they hadn¡¯t forgotten to gather anything. Elijah had already dismantled the kiln ¨C it was just a clay oven, really ¨C since he didn¡¯t have anywhere to put it, and all of his other possessions remained safely tucked away in his satchel. The Preservation Pack full of meat hadn¡¯t even been opened, save to retrieve the brains Elijah had used to tan the boar¡¯s hide. As far as Wilhelm¡¯s gear, it was in its own box, which the German man wore on his back where it was secured in place by a pair of leather straps. In short, they hadn¡¯t left anything behind other than the large basin Elijah had dug, but that wouldn¡¯t have much of an impact on the environment. So, without further delay, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree, and when he finally finished the cast, a series of vines snaked out of the ground, weaving together until they formed the familiar portal. The interior shimmered with grey light before revealing a view of the Dragon Circle¡¯s surroundings. ¡°After you,¡± Elijah offered, gesturing to the gate. ¡°You wanted to see teleportation? Well, here it is.¡± Wilhelm was speechless and more than a little frightened. However, his curiosity got the better of him, and he cautiously approached. Then, he reached out to touch the portal, but his hand passed through without issue. After Elijah assured him that it was harmless, the man mustered his courage and stepped through. With a roll of his eyes, Elijah followed. Other than a slight tremor through his Soul channels and an increase in the ambient ethera, stepping across a thousand miles was a bit anticlimactic. One moment, he was in the frigid steppes, and the next he found himself in the much more temperate climate surrounding Argos. Wilhelm fell to his knees. Alarmed, Elijah knelt beside him, asking, ¡°Are you alright?¡± ¡°I am¡­I am fine,¡± the man said, looking around in wonder. ¡°This is amazing. It is everything I¡¯ve ever hoped to achieve.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah responded, feeling a little awkward as he stood and stepped back. ¡°I see.¡± After collecting himself, Wilhelm asked, ¡°Where are we?¡± ¡°Near a town called Argos,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Greek?¡± ¡°Used to be, I guess. It mostly still is, but they¡¯ve got a decent population of other nationalities now,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°It¡¯s a nice town. No gambling.¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to ¨C¡± ¡°What you do in this town will reflect on me,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Don¡¯t make me regret bringing you here.¡± He hadn¡¯t intended to threaten the man ¨C not originally, at least. Rather, Elijah had only wanted to make certain that Wilhelm knew the stakes. However, his intentions were irrelevant to what actually came out. He almost apologized, but in the end, thought better of it. If a threatening demeanor kept Wilhelm in line, then results were all that mattered. After Wilhelm assured Elijah that he would be on his best behavior, the two set off for Argos. It was only after a few hundred feet that Elijah sensed something he didn¡¯t expect. ¡°Stay behind me. Don¡¯t speak unless I give you the go-ahead,¡± he ordered, stepping in front of much more vulnerable Wilhelm. There was a camp up ahead. Two people. One heavily armored, and the other ¨C well, Elijah couldn¡¯t get a good sense of the second person, indicating that some skill was at play. He couldn¡¯t sense any details about the second figure. The pair sat on opposite sides of a small fire, with two tents that stood next to one another a few feet away. The area around them indicated that they¡¯d been there for a few days. Maybe as much as a week, judging by the neatly piled refuse nearby. More concerningly, he sensed that the armored figure was quite strong. She ¨C and it was definitely a woman ¨C radiated a decent amount of power. Less than the boar, but enough to put her on the level of someone like Thor. That put Elijiah¡¯s hackles up, because there were only a few reasons someone like that would be camped so close to his dolmen. And none of them were good. For a second, Elijah considered shifting into his draconid form and ambushing them, but in the end, he thought better of it. There was a chance that he was walking into a trap, but he refused to approach every encounter as if the other party intended to attack him. After telling Wilhelm to head back to the dolmen and giving the German man instructions to flee to Argos if there was trouble, Elijah approached the campsite in his natural form. Even as a human, he could move quite stealthily, so when he stepped into the small clearing, the two people reacted with no small degree of surprise. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The woman shot to her feet, drawing a large sword from a nearby scabbard that she tossed aside as soon the blade was bared. The sword was large enough that it was clearly meant to be sheathed on her back, but being in the camp, she¡¯d likely removed it in the name of comfort. That she hadn¡¯t done so with her armor said something about the sort of woman she was. Regardless, the only bit of skin that wasn¡¯t covered by shining metal was her face. She was quite striking with features that marked her as someone of east Asian descent. Her hair was long, though it had been gathered in a bun atop her head, and her complexion was like ivory. In many ways, the man was the woman¡¯s complete opposite. Where she was lithe ¨C even in her armor, which had been made in the European style ¨C the man was quite stocky, with a bit of roundness around the middle. He wore leather armor, a long coat in the same black material, and a matching hat that reminded Elijah of the people from the Magister¡¯s Estate tower. He was armed with a crossbow, with a pair of shortswords at his waist. Elijah suspected that he carried many more weapons, though. His complexion was much darker than that of his companion, though he was of the same general ethnicity. ¡°Hello. Is it presumptuous to think you¡¯re waiting for me?¡± Elijah asked in a mild voice. The assumption was based on the fact that, in all the time he¡¯d spent around Argos, he¡¯d rarely seen other people traipsing about the wilderness, much less camping there for days at a time. Why would they, when Argos was so close? Most people didn¡¯t relish spending the night outside, largely because there were so many dangers in the wilds. So, Elijah had come to the conclusion that they were probably waiting for him. ¡°Are you Elijah Hart?¡± asked the woman, her voice a little deeper than he expected. It was still well within the range of femininity, but there was a breathiness to it that was quite unexpected. The other surprise was that she spoke with a posh British accent. Perhaps it was his America-centric upbringing, but he had expected her to have an American accent. Or failing that, then one of the Asian countries. ¡°Who¡¯s asking?¡± he asked. He¡¯d reengaged his Ring of Anonymity before stepping through the gate, but he didn¡¯t think it would do much good. Still, he didn¡¯t want to volunteer any information. ¡°My name is Sadie Song. This is Dat Bao,¡± she answered, sounding like she¡¯d stepped out of a period drama. ¡°We have come seeking help.¡± ¡°Ah,¡± Elijah said, remembering Isaiah¡¯s description of the emissaries who¡¯d visited Seattle looking for help with some sort of situation in Hong Kong. The word ¡°undead¡± had been thrown around. More, Elijah recognized the woman¡¯s name from the power rankings, and he felt certain that, even though he wasn¡¯t in the top ten, the man was in the top one-hundred. ¡°What¡¯s up, bro? You aren¡¯t wearing any shoes,¡± the leather-clad Dat Bao stated. His accent was much closer to Elijah¡¯s expectations, but it wasn¡¯t very thick. ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Elijah said with a slight smile. ¡°And you¡¯re dressed like a character from one of those vampire-hunting video games.¡± ¡°I know, bro,¡± Dat said, grinning. ¡°I¡¯m a Witch Hunter.¡± ¡°Dat.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s not a secret, bro,¡± he said, shrugging his shoulders at Sadie¡¯s admonishing glare. She just shook her head, then turned back to Elijah asking, ¡°You know about our situation?¡± ¡°Some of it. Isaiah Roberts up in Seattle told me a little. You have a zombie problem, right?¡± ¡°Undead. Zombies¡­are the least of our worries. There are many other types, including vampires. And there are demonic creatures.¡± Elijah frowned. Nerthus had once mentioned that demons were one of the elder races, on par with dragons. ¡°Are there actual demons there?¡± he asked, stepping forward. Pointedly, Sadie hadn¡¯t sheathed her sword. She shook her head. ¡°Just beasts. Or the equivalent. The more intelligent undead summon them from hell,¡± she stated. ¡°We typically manage to interrupt those rituals, but we don¡¯t have the means to find them all.¡± Then, she went on to describe the situation in more detail. They had been fighting the undead almost from the very beginning of what she referred to as the apocalypse. Elijah didn¡¯t correct her terminology, largely because what she described sounded like it qualified for the label. She went on to explain how they¡¯d managed to fight the undead to a standstill, but added, ¡°We know it won¡¯t last. They will keep coming until we conquer the Primal Realm from which they spawn.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t know that much about Primal Realms. Certainly, he was aware that they were like more elaborate versions of towers and that they could affect the surrounding areas. However, he hadn¡¯t realized that that meant creatures could spill out. Did that mean those creatures were real? Or was there some sort of limiter? Elijah vowed not to speculate until he could do some research on the subject. Perhaps Nerthus would know. ¡°And you want my help in the Primal Realm, right?¡± he asked. ¡°We do,¡± she said. ¡°Have you managed to convince anyone else?¡± Sadie¡¯s face remained impassive, but her shoulders slumped slightly. ¡°No,¡± she admitted. ¡°Most are preparing for the upcoming Trials.¡± ¡°So am I,¡± Elijah admitted. There was less than four months until the Trial of Primacy, which meant that he was going to be cutting it close with his preparations. Stepping forward, he said, ¡°But I will help. I don¡¯t know about the timing or how it¡¯s all going to work out, but I can¡¯t ¨C¡± Sadie took a step back, her face abruptly twisting into a grimace. ¡°Stop.¡± The sudden change surprised Elijah. He asked, ¡°Seriously? You came here to ask for my help. That won¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°You stink of murder,¡± she stated. Elijah could feel her disdain cutting through him like a sharp knife. ¡°How many have you killed? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands?¡± Elijah¡¯s expression turned to stone. ¡°It¡¯s complicated.¡± ¡°Answer the question.¡± ¡°Fine. I¡¯m not sure. Multiple thousands. I don¡¯t know after that. It depends on what you¡¯re counting.¡± She took another step back, leveling her sword at him. ¡°It¡¯s going to be like that, then?¡± Elijah asked. He knew his kill count was quite extensive, especially if creatures like the orcs or tower denizens were included. In the old world, he would have been considered a monster. Perhaps in the new world as well. But aside from what he¡¯d done to Easton ¨C which still brought up mixed feelings ¨C Elijah was at peace with his actions. Mostly. In pleading tone, Dat addressed his companion, ¡°Bro¡­¡± ¡°He is a murderer, Dat.¡± ¡°We need murderers, Sadie,¡± Dat responded, the playful tone in his voice gone. ¡°We need killers. He can help us. He wants to help us. Let him.¡± Sadie frowned. ¡°I do not approve,¡± she said. ¡°But we cannot afford to turn down help.¡± ¡°Just the ringing endorsement every man wants to hear when he offers to put his life on the line for perfect strangers,¡± he said. Then, the resentment hit home. He¡¯d agreed to help them, and without hesitation. Yet, the woman had the audacity to judge him without even knowing the circumstances. He didn¡¯t have to deal with that. So, he added, ¡°You know what? Fuck you. Deal with it on your own.¡± He wanted to help, but he wasn¡¯t in the mood to be talked down to our judged. If that was what they wanted to do, then they could combat their undead invasion without him. ¡°Fine,¡± she said. ¡°Dat, we ¨C¡± ¡°No, bro,¡± he said, reaching out to grab her arm. She tried to flinch away, but his hand was a little too quick. He gave her a pointed look. ¡°This isn¡¯t how this was supposed to go.¡± Some unspoken communication passed between the two, and then Sadie pulled away. Her expression softened, and to Elijah, she said, ¡°I apologize. One of my skills affects my¡­judgement. I am still trying to control it properly. When I sensed the number of people you have¡­slain, I overreacted. Please. Forgive me.¡± The apology came through metaphorically gritted teeth, but Elijah could well understand how a person¡¯s perspective could be skewed by an ability. He¡¯d struggled with that ever since he¡¯d started using One with Nature. Still, he wasn¡¯t too keen on helping someone who clearly hated him. The possibility of a betrayal aside, it just didn¡¯t make him feel great. Even so, he forced a smile he didn¡¯t really feel, then said, ¡°No biggy. We all make mistakes and threaten people we just met while accusing them of being murderers without knowing any context. It¡¯s practically a stereotype, right? In any case, I¡¯ve got business to take care of in Argos. Meet me at Agatha¡¯s inn if you want to discuss it further.¡± With that, Elijah turned around and strode away, intent on doing exactly what he¡¯d said. Regardless of what happened with the curious pair, he still had things he needed to do, and they wouldn¡¯t get done until he went into Argos. Before he¡¯d taken more than a few steps, he stopped and turned back to the two companions. He said, ¡°Oh. If you ever threaten me again, you¡¯d better be ready for a fight. I won¡¯t let it slide next time.¡± 4-73. Sins As the infuriating man turned away, Sadie seethed. When she felt ethera start to swirl, she embraced Consecrated Shield. It was an upgrade of the basic Warrior ability, Bulwark, but it was far more powerful.
Consecrated Shield Summon a shield of ethera to protect allies. When it breaks, it releases a wave of healing. In addition, that wave will damage unholy creatures.
When she¡¯d upgraded it, she¡¯d only had two options, and the other choice was a much sturdier shield that was nearly impossible to break ¨C at least under normal circumstances. But Sadie had never lacked for defensive measures, so she¡¯d chosen the option that would allow her to better protect her allies as well as combat the unliving monstrosities that had overrun Hong Kong. Ever since leaving Hong Kong, though, she¡¯d begun to rethink her decision. Against hordes of undead and demonic creatures, Consecrated Shield was a great boon ¨C especially when she was fighting alongside less powerful allies. However, traveling alone in the wider world, it wasn¡¯t all that more useful than its predecessor, Bulwark. Yet, she hoped it would be enough against whatever spell the Druid was casting. The spell completed after a couple of seconds, and the results were shocking. He didn¡¯t direct some deadly ability her way. Instead, he transformed, his body morphing into a winged, reptilian creature with bright, multi-colored scales. That monster launched itself into the air and flew away. ¡°Dragon,¡± she muttered. ¡°More of a wyvern, bro,¡± Dat said. She glanced over to see that her companion was staring at the sky ¨C or rather, the rapidly disappearing shape of the winged monster. ¡°Dragons have four legs. Wyverns are more like birds. Might be an amphiptere, though. Maybe a lindworm. But not a dragon.¡± ¡°What difference does it make?¡± Sadie asked, letting her own ability fall away. She hadn¡¯t completed the cast, so it wouldn¡¯t take much ethera or stamina. That was the problem with her Ardent Crusader class. It was a hybrid, and as such, many of her abilities used a combination of ethera and stamina, which meant that her attribute points were more spread out than typical melee combatants. Even so, she wouldn¡¯t have traded it for anything. Without those abilities ¨C regardless of the cost ¨C they would have already lost Hong Kong to the undead. For years, she¡¯d been fighting tooth and nail against those disgusting creatures, and yet, they¡¯d made no real progress. The best they could do was hold the line, and even that stretched her abilities. Without help, she knew that the creatures pouring out of the Primal Realm would overrun the strongholds Sadie and her family ¨C her clan ¨C had built. ¡°Well, dragons are kind of a big deal, bro,¡± answered Dat. ¡°Elder race, just like the angels. I don¡¯t think we want to start calling wyverns dragons. Seems like it might be offensive.¡± Sadie¡¯s face remained impassive, but her heart skipped a beat. She knew good and well just how powerful the elder races were. The angel Gabriel had revealed that much, as well as the reality that Earth was under the watchful eye of many powerful entities. Was it unrealistic to think that a true dragon was watching? That they might take offense to her mischaracterization of what she had just seen? ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± ¡°I know, bro. What do you think of him?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Never seen a shapeshifter before.¡± ¡°It might be an item,¡± Sadie suggested. ¡°Nah. That¡¯s a spell. Called Shape of the Sky.¡± Sadie shook her head. With a Ranger archetype, Dat was a capable fighter, but he truly excelled in information gathering. He¡¯d saved thousands of lives ¨C and on more than one occasion ¨C by predicting their enemies¡¯ movements. Without him, the defense of Hong Kong would have been doomed before it had even started. ¡°You used Eye of the Chosen?¡± she asked. That particular ability allowed Dat to identify a spell, so long as he saw it being cast. It gave him information on the spell¡¯s strengths and weaknesses, but at the cost of a relatively long cooldown. After nodding, he said, ¡°Shape of the sky. Transforms the caster into an airborne hunter. Not great for combat, but good for travel.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Sadie said. She still didn¡¯t like it. If he could transform into a non-combat form that looked like that, it was possible that he could become something much more terrifying. ¡°What do you want to do, bro?¡± Dat asked. ¡°We should head into town,¡± she answered, finally sheathing her sword. As she buckled the strap that held the scabbard on her back, she thought back to their first visit to Argos. It had only been a week before, but it stuck with her, largely because of how normal the city was. The people there were thriving, and as far as she could tell, they hadn¡¯t had to resort to tyranny to do it. Based on her travels, that was something of a rarity. Most of the leaders she¡¯d met weren¡¯t overtly evil, but in such a dangerous world, personal freedoms were easily sacrificed in the name of security. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Argos hadn¡¯t gone down that road. And what¡¯s more, the stain of sin didn¡¯t pervade the town, much as it had nearly everywhere else.
Sense of Sin A passive enhancement that allows the Crusader to sense misdeeds.
In many ways, the presence of that ability ¨C which she couldn¡¯t just turn off ¨C was the source of her biggest regret. If she¡¯d known that was what awaited her for choosing the Ardent Crusader class, she might have picked something else. It had caused so many problems, and it made being around groups of people especially difficult. After all, who was without sin? Who hadn¡¯t committed some misdeed? It was one thing to know that no person was without sin. Something else entirely to have it shoved in her face every time she met someone new. Normally, it only manifested as a slightly noxious odor, but in some cases, there was a visual component as well. With Elijah Hart, it looked like he was walking around cloaked in a cloud of smog. The only reason she hadn¡¯t immediately attacked him was because the enhancement ¨C or curse, as she sometimes thought of it ¨C wasn¡¯t foolproof. Just because it said that Hart was guilty of murder, that didn¡¯t mean he actually was. All it meant was that he was a killer. And it made no determination as to whether or not he was justified, which made it fundamentally useless, as far as she was concerned. The world wasn¡¯t black and white. Rather, it was composed of shades of gray, whether the ability wanted to acknowledge it or not. Still, Sadie couldn¡¯t help but be influenced by it, and because of her disgust, she had very nearly ruined her chances of getting help from the only person who¡¯d actually agreed to assist her people. Her lapse in self-control was as maddening as it was humiliating. Her parents would have been appalled. ¡°What do you think of him?¡± she asked. ¡°He seems cool,¡± Dat answered with a shrug. ¡°Won¡¯t know anything else ¡®til we get to know him. But I have a good feeling.¡± ¡°You always have a good feeling,¡± Sadie said. And it was true. Dat rarely met anyone he didn¡¯t immediately like, and when he did find someone who drew his ire, the reasons were obvious. ¡°Do you think he will help us? Do you think he can?¡± ¡°That depends on you, bro,¡± Dat responded. ¡°He¡¯s stronger than either of us. I¡¯ve never even met a Druid before, and I think his class is a rare variant. Plus, his cultivation is advanced.¡± That raised an eyebrow. ¡°More than mine?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± There was no hesitation in Dat¡¯s answer, but that didn¡¯t tell the whole story. Dat¡¯s abilities gave him some insight into a person¡¯s cultivation, but it wasn¡¯t as if a person¡¯s entire status was laid bare. ¡°How is that possible?¡± was her next question. She¡¯d thought her cultivation was more advanced than anyone else¡¯s. After all, she¡¯d had the benefit of living most of the past four years in close proximity to a Primal Realm, where ethera density was incredibly thick. ¡°Do you think he has access to another Primal Realm? Maybe natural treasures?¡± ¡°Druids don¡¯t use natural treasures like that.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re an expert?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve done research,¡± he answered. ¡°Druids are a weird archetype. They¡¯re rare, for one. And they don¡¯t consume natural treasures. They protect them. Sure, they¡¯ll cultivate around one if they find it in the wild, but they wouldn¡¯t destroy one.¡± ¡°But that would only be marginally better than not using one at all.¡± ¡°I know, bro. It¡¯s crazy. Druids are crazy. At least that¡¯s what everybody out there thinks,¡± he said, gesturing vaguely toward the sky. Clearly, he meant it to mean the multi-verse. ¡°So, you think he could beat us?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°Maybe. Better to just not pick a fight for no reason,¡± he said. ¡°That way we don¡¯t have to find out.¡± She didn¡¯t respond, but her mind whirled as she tried to get her feelings under control. She hadn¡¯t liked Elijah Hart from the very first moment she had met him, but that was likely due to Sense of Sin, rather than any reasonable judgement. And that disapproval had forced a negative reaction, which had spiraled. Then, he¡¯d threatened her, the implications of which had rankled her pride. But had he truly done anything to warrant her hatred? No. So, she pushed that feeling aside and focused on what was at stake. She couldn¡¯t let her own weakness take over. She needed to be strong, or her people would be consumed by the undead menace that plagued Hong Kong. That meant putting aside her personal feelings and working with the man, even if his very existence made her want to retch. With that in mind, she and Dat broke their camp, packing everything away before heading toward the nearby town. The walk through the wilderness was oddly pleasant, and no wild beasts attacked them. That had been the case since they¡¯d first arrived, though on the second day, Sadie had caught sight of the largest domestic cat she¡¯d ever encountered. When it watched her, she got the feeling that it was at least part of the reason she hadn¡¯t seen any other animal life in the area. In any case, she and Dat soon reached Argos, but when they arrived, she was surprised to see that the odd temple situated atop a hill on the other side of the town had been lit up with ethereal light. ¡°I thought that was just another Greek temple,¡± she said to herself. Once, she¡¯d visited the Parthenon in Athens, so she thought the building up ahead was a recreation of a similar temple. A tourist attraction like the statue of Heracles she¡¯d seen in Argos¡¯ main square. But now, she wasn¡¯t so sure. The statue at the top ¨C which depicted a victorious female warrior ¨C glowed like a beacon. After seeing that, she led Dat through the city, but the streets were far less populated than they had been before. Or at least that was the case until they reached the square at the base of the temple¡¯s hill. There, Sadie saw a crowd of hundreds of people gathered at the base of the stairs. And atop those stairs was a familiar figure. ¡°What is he doing?¡± she asked, taking note of localized rainstorm that extended almost twenty steps from the top of the stairs. To her senses, it glistened with ethera. ¡°Healing, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°I told you ¨C Druids are weird. But they¡¯re usually good guys.¡± ¡°Usually isn¡¯t always.¡± ¡°They can sometimes go full eco-terrorist,¡± said Dat. ¡°I read about one that killed every sapient creature on her planet because they kept killing guardians and stripping the world of natural treasures. So¡­yeah, bro. Not always, I guess.¡± ¡°Every sapient creature? How?¡± ¡°Plants, bro. Plants. They¡¯re everywhere.¡± Sadie felt a shudder of fear flow up her spine. She didn¡¯t think Hart was powerful enough to do that, but it did highlight that, despite not being a full-fledged combat class, Druids were capable of doing a lot of damage. ¡°But he¡¯s healing people. He can¡¯t be all bad, right? Reminds me of Niko.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she agreed. Her brother spent every waking hour healing the people of Hong Kong. Part of that was due to necessity, but Niko¡¯s personality played a big part as well. He¡¯d always been selfless, and that trait had only grown stronger after the world had changed. Channeling a bit of Niko¡¯s personality, she started up the steps. She had to shoulder her way through the crowd, but being as how she was obviously powerful and wearing full armor, the gathering parted before her. ¡°Where are you going?¡± asked Dat as he tried to keep up. ¡°Niko¡¯s not the only one who can heal,¡± she answered. 4-74. A Sleeping Spryggent Nerthus sat on the branch of the juvenile ancestral tree, basking in the potent life coursing through its limbs. The tree wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as its forebear, but then again, Nerthus had never expected it to be. It was still young, and it hadn¡¯t been afforded the same opportunities for growth. Even so, it was maturing well, and now that it had finally connected to its progenitor, Nerthus could at last visit it in person. However, for once, he was less interested in the tree than in the curious creatures scurrying around its base. Nerthus had never had much opportunity to observe other people. Before he¡¯d come to Earth, he had been barely more than a seedling, and his sapience was almost entirely undeveloped. Of his old life, he mostly only remembered emotions. Warmth. Love. Comfort. And of course, safety. He had an image of his progenitors, but it was blurry, and at times, he thought that those memories were a figment of his imagination. So, everything he¡¯d witnessed since awakening inside the ancestral tree that had brought him to Earth had been new for him. More than four-and-a-half years later, the novelty of it all still hadn¡¯t worn off. From Elijah¡¯s stories, Nerthus knew that the planet was a wild, unforgiving, and violent place. He¡¯d lost count of how many times Elijah had nearly been killed ¨C which would have been a disaster, both emotionally as well as from a practical standpoint. Until now, though, Nerthus had only known peace. Certainly, there had been the incident with the Voxx surging out of the tower, but Elijah had dealt with that before it had affected Nerthus or the grove. The same was true with the invaders who¡¯d come from Ironshore, intent on either vengeance or greed. So, given that, as well as the fact that he¡¯d spent his pervious years safe in his progenitors¡¯ embrace, Nerthus had lived quite a sheltered life, short though it had been. Which was why he found the little creatures below him so fascinating. In most ways, they looked a lot like the dwarves and gnomes who¡¯d skirted the island on their way to the tower. They were tiny, with slightly stubbier proportions and an exuberance for life that surprised Nerthus. That was on display as they chased one another through the area known as Druid¡¯s Park. They laughed and screamed as they ran among giant mushrooms and the vibrant flora that had grown amidst the ever-increasingly dense ethera surrounding the juvenile tree. At first, Nerthus thought the little creatures were engaged in a battle, and he¡¯d very nearly intervened. After all, the off-shoot of the grove was no place for fighting. Yet, as he watched, he had come to realize that the aim was not to hurt one another. It was a competition, and one whose rules were nebulous at best. The tiny people shouted at one another, making rules up as they went, and Nerthus found himself smiling at their antics. They were all so innocent, completely unaware of the issues of the wider world. Elijah had given them that. Without him, the entire city would have been overrun with orcs. Or subjected to the dangers of a surging tower. But with his help, they were now safe. The city prospered. And the grove remained safe from outside interference. As he watched, Nerthus channeled Plant Authority:
Plant Authority Manipulate plant life to encourage or discourage growth and cause minor mutations.
It was the signature ability of his class, Forest Prince, though he enjoyed various other spells and abilities as well. Shifting his attention from the playing children ¨C yes, that was the word; he was certain of it ¨C he looked at his list of abilities. Elijah referred to it as a spellbook, which Nerthus thought was an apt label:
Archetype: Administrator A non-combat archetype, proficient with organizational skills that can be used to empower and enhance. Features bonuses to Ethera and Regeneration, as well as memory and calculation speed. Required Aspect: [Scholar], [Memory], [Knowledge]
Abilities
Ethereal Mind Passive ability that organizes thoughts, memories, and new information into an easily searchable database.
Serenity of the Forest Omit all external stimuli in order to improve speed of thought.
Organized Mind Further improve the organization of the mind.
Plant Authority Manipulate plant life to encourage or discourage growth and cause minor mutations.
Plant Prosperity Focus your ethera, creating a perfect environment for plant growth. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.
Germination Improve the speed with which plant life will mature.
Rain of Regeneration Summon a gentle rain that will increase an entity¡¯s Regeneration by one-hundred (100) points. Only usable in areas with high ethera density.
Class: Forest Prince The Forest Prince is a hybrid class derived from the Sorcerer, Druid, and Administrator archetypes. It is meant to protect nature and nurture growth.
Establish Realm Create a bond with the forest over which you will rule. Size of the realm determined by ethera, stage of core cultivation, and time. Current: 20.3 Square Miles.
Animate Plants Within your Realm, command plant life to become your minions. Number based on ethera attribute. Current: 6
Empower Guardian Nurture a guardian beast, empowering them to better protect your forest.
Forest Protector Greatly improve all attributes, dependent on ethera density. Duration based on strength of the bond. Current: 7.9 minutes.
As a spyrggent, Nerthus did not get quite as many abilities as most others. His memories were fuzzy on the subject, but he thought that had something to do with his race¡¯s origins. Though even with abilities like Ethereal Mind and Improved Memory, he couldn¡¯t quite remember why that would have anything to do with it, and it wasn¡¯t as if he could visit a Branch to find out. Not yet, at least. Perhaps one day Elijah¡¯s grove would grow large enough to earn an existing Branch. For most groves, that wasn¡¯t an issue. They were collectives populated by not just Druids, but by nature-attuned Warriors, Rangers, Tradesmen, and every other archetype. But Elijah was something of a loner, and it didn¡¯t seem likely that would change anytime soon. But maybe the very children chasing one another around the park would end up with a nature attunement. Or Miguel would choose to form a bond with his uncle¡¯s grove. The opportunities to expand would present themselves, Nerthus was certain. He need only wait. After a few more minutes of watching the children, Nerthus noticed that the person on whom he¡¯d been waiting had arrived in the park. The gnome stayed to the edges, obviously hesitant, but the entire park was within Nerthus¡¯ purview. So, he had no issues slipping into the tree, following its widespread roots to a location just a few feet away from the gnome, and rising from the ground. ¡°Hello, Biggle,¡± he said. ¡°Have you come to agree to my terms?¡± The little Alchemist whipped around, startled by Nerthus¡¯ sudden appearance. That was gratifying to the spryggent, but Nerthus wasn¡¯t certain why it amused him. ¡°Gods below, you scared me out of my skin!¡± Biggle said in a squeaky voice. ¡°Don¡¯t sneak up on me like that!¡± ¡°My apologies,¡± Nerthus said with an acquiescent bow. However, he did allow himself a slight smile that he was sure Biggle wouldn¡¯t recognize. When he rose to his full height, his face was once again unreadable. ¡°Do you agree?¡± ¡°Nice to see you, too,¡± Biggle grumbled, unshouldering his pack. He reached inside and retrieved a small pouch. ¡°This is what you wanted, right?¡± As he asked the question, Nerthus cast his awareness to the seeds in the pouch. ¡°Cascading briar,¡± Nerthus identified them. ¡°Poor specimens, but that is no matter. What of the others?¡± ¡°All here,¡± Biggle answered, patting the larger pack. And indeed, Nerthus could feel the wide variety of seeds inside. Some were meant to increase the density of the ambient ethera within the grove, but others would be foodstuffs to replace the inefficient berry bushes that took up so much room. As much as Elijah liked those fruits, they used an inordinate amount of ethera, at least compared to the effects they provided. There were many other fruits that would provide similar ¨C or better ¨C results while absorbing a fraction of the ambient ethera. The rest were meant for a project concerning the rest of the island, and they would either provide defensive measures or further raise the density of the local ethera. Nerthus¡¯ instincts told him that he¡¯d only barely managed to scratch the surface of what was possible, and from the guides he¡¯d had Miguel or Carmen purchase, he knew it wasn¡¯t uncommon for a true Druids¡¯ grove to possess an ethera density hundreds of times thicker than the surrounding area. As it was, the island fell far short of that mark, and Nerthus wanted to change that. Part of that determination was based on his instincts. He wanted the area to thrive. However, it was also because his class ¨C as well as his race ¨C was inextricably tied to the grove. As it grew stronger, so too would he. ¡°Good. Then I will allow you to grow your little fungi here,¡± said Nerthus. He had initially planned to destroy the invasive mushrooms, but had instead chosen to use their presence to his advantage. They were even more ethera-hungry than the berry bushes, but it wasn¡¯t such a big deal outside the true grove. He could work around it in Druid¡¯s Park. ¡°You will leave the pack on the beach before tomorrow morning. Until then¡­¡± Nerthus trailed off. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Biggle, for once reading the spryggent¡¯s expression. ¡°I must go,¡± Nerthus answered. Then, without warning, he slipped through the ground and into the ancestral tree¡¯s roots. Without hesitation, he sped along the ethereal connection between it and its progenitor. He moved far more quickly than normal, but he didn¡¯t stop once he reached the grove. Instead, he raced along the roots of the larger ancestral tree, aiming for the edge of the island. Because a watercraft he didn¡¯t recognize had just come into range. * * * Guinevere Mcintosh gripped the aluminum edge of the raft, crouching low as they approached the rocky shore of the island. It looked inhospitable, but it was still better than the island that had been her home for the past four-and-a-half years. The mere fact that the local airspace lacked giant, predatory birds or monsters was enough to make her feel safer than she¡¯d felt since the world had ended. Still, the vegetation only a few feet from the shore was as dense as any jungle she had ever seen, and as such, she was well aware of just how many dangers it could hide. That was how the new world worked. Everything ¨C even the flora ¨C was capable of killing them. She¡¯d learned that lesson the hard way. ¡°What do you think?¡± she asked, glancing at John. The man didn¡¯t look away from the shore. His appearance was nothing like it¡¯d been when she had first met him. Back then, he was clean-cut, with a square jaw and a face that wouldn¡¯t have been out-of-place in a comic book. Now, he wore a great, bushy beard, his hair was long and unkempt, and he bore a large, puckered scar that cut diagonally across his face from his right temple all the way to his jaw. In addition, he was missing all bout four fingers, and she knew for a fact that he walked with a limp. Guinevere had plenty of her own scars to show for their hardships, but none were as visible as his. And she was one of the few survivors who had managed to keep all her digits. ¡°It¡¯s land. We don¡¯t have much of a choice,¡± John said, finally pulling his gaze from the beach. ¡°The others are depending on us to find help, and this is our only chance.¡± Indeed, the raft they¡¯d built was barely holding itself together. That wasn¡¯t surprising, given the punishment it had endured. John and Guinevere weren¡¯t the only ones onboard, but they were the only two in any condition to make decisions. Rajesh, Leo, and Ada had been knocked unconscious by some tentacled nightmare they¡¯d encountered on the open ocean. The only reason they hadn¡¯t been shipwrecked was because of an enormous dolphin that had attacked the monster. Even then, the damage had been done, and the raft they¡¯d spent so long building had been reduced to little more than flotsam. The ones who¡¯d been stung by those tentacles had slipped into comas from which they¡¯d yet to recover even a week later. But if there was one thing they were accustomed to, it was hardship. They had learned to endure well past what could be expected of any reasonable human being. And they would continue to do so because they were survivors. ¡°Nothing else for it,¡± John said, paddling them forward. Once, the raft had been a true boat, with three banks of oars and the benefit of the most powerful enchantments their Tradesmen could imbue into its hull. But the rough seas and the tentacle monster from the deep had changed that. Gwenivere was used to making do, though. It was the same for the rest as well. Soon enough, the raft crunched into the pebbly shore. A few hundred yards away, Guinevere saw a huge crab scuttling along, but it hadn¡¯t noticed them. It looked fearsome, but her Eyes of the Sentinel ability told her that it was far less dangerous than its size would suggest. Durable, sure. And potentially annoying to kill. But it lacked intelligence and offensive prowess. Besides, she and the rest of the survivors were used to much deadlier monsters than an overgrown crab. Still, she kept an eye on it as she dismounted the raft. The moment her feet hit dry ground, she wobbled, then stumbled to her knees. They¡¯d been at sea for too long, and the lack of rocking back and forth made her dizzy. She pulsed Recovery, increasing her Regeneration as she looked around. The forest was thicker than anything she¡¯d ever experienced, but that wasn¡¯t saying anything, really. She wasn¡¯t that well-traveled, and before recently, she¡¯d only ever been to her home country of Ireland. That felt like a lifetime ago, though. She had been so na?ve. So soft. She barely recognized the woman in her memories. Once she¡¯d gotten her feet under her, she reached down and helped John to drag the raft fully ashore. However, they¡¯d only just managed it when a rustle in the nearby forest drew her attention. She whipped around, hefting her axe. By that point, it was too late, though. A creature made of roots and branches burst forth from the trees, roaring in fury. Before Guinevere could react, six ambulatory trees threw themselves from the forest and surrounded them. She shouted, embracing Flowing Blade as she leaped forward, intending to hack the root monster apart with her rough-bladed machete, but before she could do anything, vines erupted from the forest and snaked around her, John, and the three unconscious bodies. They moved so quickly that she hadn¡¯t even had a chance to react. Then, as if being trussed up wasn¡¯t enough, a quartet of deer ¨C one with a giant rack of crystalline antlers ¨C charged through the brush, joining the monstrous trees. It was then that Guinevere realized that her journey had come to an end. She had been through so much, had endured so many hardships ¨C it was galling that when she and the others had finally escaped that terrible atoll, they¡¯d meet such an ignominious fate. 4-75. Survivors ¡°If you keep making that face, it¡¯ll freeze like that,¡± said Elijah, looking up from his meal of seared lamb chops and spanakorizo. The lamb chops were well-seasoned and flavorful, with a hint of lemony zest, but the real star of the meal was the spanakorizo, which was a dish composed of spinach and rice. For Elijah, it was a nice change from the relatively bland dried meat that made up most of the meals he¡¯d eaten while traveling. And while he¡¯d enjoyed the Mongolian fare, he had to admit that there was a special place in his heart ¨C or perhaps his stomach ¨C for Greek food. Especially when it was made by Agatha, who clearly had a potent cooking skill. But the deliciousness of the meal seemingly had no effect on Sadie Song, who sat across from him. Her food remained largely untouched, and her resting expression seemed to be one of mingled disgust and disdain. The only time it had changed was when she had joined him at the Temple of Virtue, where she¡¯d contributed to healing the people of Argos. And there were plenty of takers, too. More than Elijah would have expected, if he was honest. Argos had grown, but they were still afflicted with a dearth of Healers. As such, only the most egregious wounds were treated with any regularity. Beyond that, the population had to rely on mundane cures and tonics made by Tradesmen dedicated to alchemy-related fields. Even those were rare, which meant that unless their illnesses or injuries were life-threatening, the only healing available was what Elijah offered at the Temple. The only issue with that was that he was rapidly becoming something of a folk hero for the people of Argos. It wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why, either. With a backdrop of the grandiose Temple of Virtue, he cured their illnesses and mended their injuries without question or demands. In their eyes, that made him a saint. So, he¡¯d been glad to see that Sadie had chosen to join in, if only because the act shifted some of the attention from him. It was also a little surprising. When Elijah first met her, he¡¯d taken the armor and giant sword to mean that she was a Warrior. However, she was capable of healing as well, which meant that she was, at the very least, some sort of hybrid, just like him. That was where the similarities ended, though. Elijah¡¯s brand of healing was gentle, and in a lot of ways, it functioned by injecting vitality into a person and letting their body take over, healing via its own natural processes. From the outside looking in, it looked miraculous ¨C and it was ¨C but Elijah knew that it was just a sped-up version of what would normally occur. Mostly. But Sadie¡¯s healing was very different, involving beams of light descending from above. Elijah wasn¡¯t capable of tracking it as well as he could his own healing, but Sadie¡¯s spells seemed far closer to miracles than his own. Still, her spells were no more effective than his. In fact, he suspected that they were a little more limited in efficacy, especially after he¡¯d evolved Touch of Nature into Nature¡¯s Bloom, which had performed above expectations. The initial effect was at least twice as powerful as Touch of Nature, and the bloom effect was as advertised, adding a second bout of healing twenty seconds later. However, the best part was that, finally, Elijah could cast the spell from afar. The range was still short ¨C maybe ten feet ¨C but even that small distance was a good deal more convenient than having to lay his hands on someone in order to heal them. It wasn¡¯t all good news, though. With that increased power came an increase in cost as well. Before, he could cast Touch of Nature almost indefinitely without draining his ethera. But now, Nature¡¯s Bloom took so much energy that he could only cast it fifteen times before exhausting the contents of his core. So, he knew he would need to be judicious with his use of the spell going forward. Fortunately, Soothe and Healing Rain were still just as efficient as ever, and for the most part, they were sufficient for his purposes. Having Nature¡¯s Bloom in his back pocket for when he needed rapid healing was nice, though. In any case, as eager as he was to test his new spell a little more, he was more concerned with the pair sitting across from him. Barely a moment passed that Sadie wasn¡¯t glaring at him, but at least Dat seemed amiable enough. ¡°What?¡± she asked, responding to his previous statement. ¡°That¡¯s what my mom used to tell me,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°If you keep making that face, it¡¯ll freeze like that. I¡¯m pretty sure she wasn¡¯t being serious, but I think the sentiment still applies.¡± Her jaw flexed, and it was clear that she was grinding her teeth. Elijah¡¯s mother would¡¯ve had something to say about that, too, but in this instance, he chose discretion. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sadie asked. If Elijah hadn¡¯t already heard her explanation of the situation back in Hong Kong, he might¡¯ve thought that single word was the extent of her vocabulary. ¡°We talked about this,¡± Dat said with a sigh. ¡°Be nice.¡± She glared at him, too. ¡°I once saw a movie where a guy said that massaging his earlobes and saying ¡®woosah¡¯ helped with anger management,¡± Elijah offered. ¡°Maybe do that?¡± ¡°Did you just give her advice from Bad Boys 2?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Bro. That¡¯s my favorite movie, bro!¡± ¡°You are an idiot,¡± Said sighed, dipping her head and massaging her temples. When she looked up, her face was almost completely impassive. There was still a slight wrinkling of her nose when she looked at Elijah that suggested she¡¯d smelled something off-putting, but it was markedly better. ¡°I apologize for my behavior. I will try to do better.¡± Stolen novel; please report. Elijah gave her his best grin. ¡°Water under the bridge. I¡¯m just ¨C¡± Just then, he heard the inn¡¯s door open, and a familiar figure strode in. Delilah wore her adventuring get-up, which meant that she looked a bit like Wonder Woman, but with a bit more muscle than in the movies. She didn¡¯t hesitate to cross the common room, then slide onto the bench next to Elijah. ¡°I heard you were back in town,¡± she said, putting her hand on his back. ¡°But here you are having dinner with another woman. Color me jealous.¡± She said it as a joke, but Elijah knew Delilah well enough to recognize that there was more than a little truth to the remark. ¡°Whoa, bro. Your girlfriend is yoked,¡± Dat said. Then, to Delilah, he asked, ¡°Do you lift? What¡¯s your routine?¡± ¡°Not my girlfriend,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just a friend.¡± ¡°Well, not just a friend,¡± Delilah added, shifting closer. ¡°Right,¡± he said, feeling just how uncomfortable everyone was. ¡°But ¨C¡± Suddenly, the facet of Elijah¡¯s mind that was dedicated to monitoring his locus went off. Normally, he barely even paid attention to it, but he¡¯d long since managed to establish a mindset where he would become aware of any major changes. And strangers landing on the shores of his island definitely qualified for that label. There were five of them. Three men, two women. All but a single man and woman were unconscious, but the two that remained active seemed strong enough to cause trouble. Anger erupted in Elijah¡¯s mind. He had told them. He had made it abundantly clear that no one was allowed on his island without permission. And yet, there they were, acting as if they belonged. As if his commands didn¡¯t matter. They were human, which suggested that they were newcomers to Ironshore. Imports from Norcastle that had come along with the trade deal. He¡¯d expected it to happen eventually, but he¡¯d hoped to avoid what would almost assuredly be an unpleasant situation. ¡°I have to go,¡± he said, already casting Roots of the World Tree. Thankfully, the function that would return him to his island wasn¡¯t on cooldown, which just further emphasized that he needed to be careful with how he used the spell. The worst thing that could happen would be if someone or something invaded his island and he couldn¡¯t immediately teleport back. ¡°What? Why?¡± demanded Sadie. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to offend you!¡± ¡°What¡¯s up, bro?¡± ¡°Is everything okay?¡± asked Delilah, clearly intending to help. It was a nice gesture, but Delilah was barely level fifty. Anything that could hurt Elijah would obliterate her, regardless of how combat-focused her class was. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll be back in a week or so,¡± Elijah said. Then, without further delay, he finished the casting of his spell and disappeared. Only a moment later, he reappeared in the center of his grove. As he did, he saw through his locus that Nerthus had already responded to the intrusion, and in an unexpected way. There were six ambulatory trees already surrounding a makeshift raft, and the people who¡¯d come onshore were wrapped in twisting vines. Elijah¡¯s original plan for a response was to fly to the beach in question, but seeing that Nerthus had the invaders well in hand, he chose to run instead. And given his attributes and Essence of the Wolf, he could cover quite a lot of ground in a hurry. So, he arrived after only a couple of minutes. ¡°Didn¡¯t think you had this in you, buddy,¡± he said, approaching Nerthus. The spryggent had once again grown, reaching a height that exceeded Elijah¡¯s own, if only by an inch or so. He glanced at the ambulatory trees. ¡°You have control of those?¡± ¡°Of the trees, yes. It is a skill. The guardians, no.¡± Elijah had noticed the family of deer nearby, but he¡¯d thought nothing of it. They often roamed across the whole island, so he hadn¡¯t thought that they were responding to a threat. That they had was a great source of comfort. The two adults could pack quite a punch, which would probably help to dissuade any unwanted visitors. ¡°Have you spoken to them?¡± he asked, glancing past the tree line and to the surrounded watercraft. The raft was in an advanced state of disrepair, and it looked like it would fall apart at the first sign of rough seas. The people weren¡¯t in much better condition, with three of them being unconscious and the other two looking like they¡¯d just stepped off the set of the movie Waterworld. The woman did spark some degree of recognition, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain why that would be. As far as he could remember, he¡¯d never seen her before in his life. And with her mane of red hair and striking appearance, he thought he would remember someone like that. Perhaps he was just predisposed to looking at pretty women in a favorable light, because the man who¡¯d accompanied her was completely unfamiliar to Elijah. Aside from looking like he needed a trip to the barbershop ¨C or a nice, hot shower ¨C the only remarkable thing about him was a long scar that ran diagonally across his face. And he was missing quite a few fingers, Elijah noted. There was something else going on. These people didn¡¯t look like they¡¯d come looking for a fight, and if they¡¯d originated in Ironshore, then surely they would have used a proper boat, rather than something that looked like it had been assembled from discarded flotsam. Elijah stepped out of the trees, his staff clicking against the rocky shore as he approached the captive invaders. He asked, ¡°Who are you, and why have you come to my island?¡± The woman¡¯s eyes widened as she declared, ¡°Please, we need your help!¡± The moment she spoke, Elijah remembered a frightened, red-haired woman with an Irish accent. More than four years ago, he¡¯d been seated next to her when the plane had been torn to pieces by a giant bird. He didn¡¯t remember her name, though. ¡°You were on the plane with me, weren¡¯t you?¡± he blurted. Then, he glanced at the scarred man. His memory of that flight was more than a little fuzzy. After all, he¡¯d still been reeling from chemotherapy and preparing himself to die. So, he had missed quite a few details. However, he thought the man tangled in Nerthus¡¯ roots could have been the pilot he¡¯d seen upon boarding. The woman¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Are you another survivor?¡± she asked. ¡°I am. I think¡­I think we need to have a little talk,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Nerthus, let them go.¡± The spryggent didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he simply complied. The roots retracted, and the two conscious survivors collapsed to the ground. Elijah didn¡¯t immediately approach, but he did summon Healing Rain and cast Soothe on each of the castaways. The healing wouldn¡¯t do much for the three unconscious people. They had more issues than a simple heal would fix. Namely, they were starved, dehydrated, and exhausted. But the healing would help. As those heals took effect, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved a handful of his grove berries. Then, he offered the little fruits to the conscious couple. They took them eagerly, ingesting them without hesitation, and immediately, they began to recover their lost energy. Once they looked like they weren¡¯t about to keel over, Elijah said, ¡°Now, I think it¡¯s time you tell me your story. I¡¯ll help however I can.¡± 4-76. A Familiar Face It quickly became apparent that none of the people aboard the boat were in any condition to tell a story. The redheaded woman was mostly healthy, but her demeanor was akin to what Elijah would have expected from a cornered animal. Her eyes darted back and forth, and she tensed at every stray sound. It didn¡¯t help that Nerthus¡¯ trees were still there. Nor did the presence of the stag help. The other deer had already lost interest, but the giant hart, with its crystalline antlers glowing with moonlight, refused to go anywhere. So, Elijah said, ¡°You know what? I think we¡¯d all be more comfortable if I took you somewhere a little more civilized.¡± ¡°W-where?¡± the woman demanded. ¡°There¡¯s a town a couple of miles that way,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We¡¯ll have to go by boat, but¡­well, they¡¯re a lot better equipped to help you and your friends than I am.¡± ¡°A town?¡± ¡°Ironshore. It¡¯s new,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°Nerthus, help me with the unconscious ones.¡± In his absence, Carmen had moved the rowboats to the dock, so that was Elijah¡¯s intended destination. The boat in which the castaways had arrived didn¡¯t look very seaworthy, and the last thing Elijah wanted to do was rescue a bunch of drowning people in the event their makeshift vessel broke apart. ¡°What¡¯s your name, by the way? I¡¯m sorry that I don¡¯t remember, but it was more than four years ago,¡± he said. ¡°A lot has happened since then.¡± ¡°Guinevere,¡± the redheaded woman answered. ¡°And that¡¯s John. The three in the boat are Rajesh, Leo, and Ada.¡± Those three still hadn¡¯t awoken, but Elijah¡¯s efforts in healing had at least dragged them away from the brink of death. He would have settled down to do more, but he was more than eager to get them away from his island. It wasn¡¯t a place for strangers, and the only way he intended to tolerate their presence was if there was absolutely no other option. If it was a choice between revealing his secrets and letting them die, he would certainly do whatever was necessary to keep them from that fate. But now that they weren¡¯t in danger of passing away from exposure ¨C or whatever had knocked them unconscious ¨C he had the option of protecting the knowledge of his grove. Besides, after the reception Nerthus had given them, they didn¡¯t seem particularly comfortable on the island. Still, it took some convincing to get them to follow him. Elijah understood it ¨C they looked like they¡¯d been through a lot ¨C but in the end, his help was contingent on them following his lead. If they chose not to ¨C or if they showed violent tendencies ¨C he would do what needed to be done. Fortunately, they were too exhausted to put up much resistance, and soon enough, they were following him along the shore toward the dock. Elijah had to deal with one of the crabs along the way, but by that point, the crustaceans were so weak ¨C in comparison to him ¨C that he only had to use Snaring Roots to immobilize the creature while they moved on. By the time the spell wore off, the party had gotten far enough away that the intellectually limited crab had forgotten about them. After only half an hour, the group reached the dock Elijah had had built to accommodate the dragonstone blocks. It was a sturdy thing, much larger than he now needed, and the construction certainly suggested a level of development Guinevere and John hadn¡¯t expected. It was surprising enough that it actually took them a few moments to notice Ironshore a couple of miles away. Often, Elijah took the city¡¯s growth for granted. Part of it was that he just didn¡¯t care all that much about a few extra buildings or the wall they¡¯d built for protection. However, that attitude was also the result of how gradually it had expanded. Yet, when he thought back to his first visit, when Ironshore had been only a little better than a mining camp, he couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by the urbanity now on display. The average building hadn¡¯t grown appreciably larger, but there were a few that towered more than ten stories tall. But the largest difference was the architecture, layout, and the density of development. It looked a lot like an idealized version of Victorian London, though with a lot more trees ¨C at Elijah¡¯s insistence ¨C and lacking the pall of smog that such a city might¡¯ve had in the past. One thing Elijah would say about the changed world ¨C with combustion having been so negatively affected, people had been forced to turn to cleaner forms of energy. In some places like Easton or Argos, that meant using solar and wind power, but in Seattle, they¡¯d incorporated ethera into the mix. Ironshore exclusively used ethera to power lights and the few mechanical devices they habitually used. So, the atmosphere surrounding it was much cleaner than any city of its size would have been before Earth had transformed. It took some doing to get everyone back in the boat. Clearly, both John and Guinevere had some serious trauma related to the ocean, and the fact that the strait was mostly protected from the true behemoths of the sea did little to assuage those issues. Regardless, the draw of civilization was too great for them to resist, and eventually, they climbed aboard. Once they did, Elijah started rowing. Which reminded him of how grateful he was that he could now fly. He certainly hadn¡¯t missed paddling across the strait. Regardless, with his attributes, it didn¡¯t take very long to cover the distance and arrive at the Ironshore docks. That¡¯s when the castaways got their next shock. ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± asked John, staring at a goblin fisherman. ¡°Is that a¡­little person?¡± asked Gwenivere. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Oh. Shit. I forgot to tell you that Ironshore was founded by gnomes, dwarves, and goblins,¡± Elijah said. ¡°For the most part, they¡¯re decent people who are just trying to survive.¡± Of course, they didn¡¯t take Elijah at his word, and when they climbed onto the docks, they did so with no small degree of caution. Fortunately, another familiar face was in the area. ¡°Colt!¡± Elijah half shouted. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re here.¡± ¡°What¡¯s up, hoss?¡± asked the cowboy as he sauntered down the dock. He had replaced his missing hand with a solid, metal facsimile. It didn¡¯t move ¨C not like Isaiah¡¯s mechanical leg ¨C but Colt didn¡¯t let that affect him. He was wearing a wide-brimmed hat and his armor, and the dust coating everything suggested that he¡¯d just gotten back to the city. ¡°I was ¡®bout to head over to the island.¡± He tipped his hat to Gwenivere, adding, ¡°Ma¡¯am.¡± Elijah explained what had happened, and Colt helped him gather the still-unconscious people. A few dwarves pitched in, and soon enough, they were nestled snuggly in the healing house, as the locals referred to it. Elijah couldn¡¯t think of it as a hospital, largely because they didn¡¯t practice medicine as he knew it. Instead, they were wholly reliant on magical healing and alchemical solutions provided by Biggle¡¯s operation. Once they were settled in ¨C and Gwenivere and John were satisfied that they were being cared for ¨C Elijah escorted them to the Imperium, where he rented them a multi-bedroom suite. The pair were more than a little impressed with the d¨¦cor, and Elijah wasn¡¯t particularly happy about the cost, but he felt the castaways deserved a little pampering after what they¡¯d been through. When they went upstairs to get cleaned up, Eliijah also went to Mari¡¯s shop and bought them some basic clothes to replace the rags they were wearing. After that, he had one of the Imperium¡¯s employees take the clothes to the suite while Elijah settled in to wait in the lobby. ¡°Where do you think they¡¯ve been?¡± asked Colt, sitting in a chair near Elijah. He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. ¡°They looked like they¡¯ve had a pretty rough go of it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah said truthfully. He hadn¡¯t gotten any details, but there was a suspicion tickling the back of his mind. ¡°They were on the same plane as me, though. Ripped apart like two seconds after Earth was touched by the World Tree. I guess I was the lucky one, even if it didn¡¯t feel like it at the time.¡± ¡°How many survived?¡± Elijah shrugged again. ¡°At least these five, I guess. I don¡¯t know anymore,¡± he admitted. ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah agreed. After that, they fell into a comfortable silence. That was one thing he liked about Colt. The man didn¡¯t speak unless he had something to say. Eventually, a much cleaner pair emerged from upstairs. They¡¯d still clearly been through the wringer, but they seemed much more energetic than before. Elijah hoped that a good meal would help them recover, so he took them to a small restaurant that could offer both privacy and generous portions. It wasn¡¯t as good as the Stuck Pig, and it certainly wasn¡¯t as fancy as what they could¡¯ve gotten in the Imperium, but it was still better than most. At first, Gwenivere and John were a bit reticent, but once the food started flowing, they loosened up. And eventually, they told him of the events they had experienced over the past four years. ¡°The plane crashed in the middle of an island,¡± Gwenivere said after stuffing herself. ¡°It was a volcanic island surrounded by an enormous atoll. That, in turn, is surrounded by an eternal storm that¡¯s larger than any cyclone I¡¯ve ever heard about. We were in the eye of the storm. But so were the harpies.¡± Elijah paled as she went on to describe the creatures and explain that a year before, the harpies had blessedly disappeared, flying through the storm and giving the survivors peace. Until that point, they¡¯d had no choice but to hide in an extensive cave system that was populated by all sorts of dangerous monsters. But compared to the harpies, clashing with the cave monsters was far more preferable. With the harpies gone, though, they had finally gotten up the courage to leave the caves, and they¡¯d even scavenged enough material to build a boat that they hoped could survive the storm. ¡°Then, the harpies came back,¡± John said, his voice grave. ¡°We lost almost half our people before we could get back to the caves. That¡¯s when we knew we had no choice but to leave. They¡¯d never give us peace. The others ¨C about fifty are left, now ¨C are still there, hiding in the caves. We started off with almost two-hundred. I don¡¯t know how so many survived the crash. But it won¡¯t be long until they¡¯re all dead.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why we need help,¡± Gwenivere said. ¡°Otherwise, they¡¯re all going to die.¡± It was not the explanation Elijah had expected, but after having experienced the wrath of the harpies, he knew just how deadly those creatures could be. He was one of the strongest people in the world, and they¡¯d nearly killed him once before, so he expected that they could rip through normal people without issue. That the plane crash survivors had been forced to hide underground was not surprising, given what Elijah knew. He''d wondered where the harpies had come from as well as where they¡¯d ended up. Now he knew. Or at least he hoped that was the case. The alternative ¨C that there were two flocks of those monsters flying around out there ¨C was enough to send a shiver of fear up his spine. But he knew he couldn¡¯t help. Not immediately, at least. Not only was the Trial of Primacy on the horizon, but he¡¯d already committed to assisting Sadie Song in Hong Kong. And between helping tens of thousands of people and saving fifty, he knew which way he¡¯d go. More, Elijah had seen the storm Gwenivere had referenced. He¡¯d experienced the outskirts, and he knew that he wouldn¡¯t easily make it through, even if he chose that route. As the woman looked at him expectantly, he asked, ¡°How long can they survive underground?¡± John was the one to answer. ¡°As long as necessary. They have orders not to go topside unless there¡¯s no other choice,¡± the scarred man said. ¡°The caves are dangerous, but it¡¯s a danger they know.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not going to help,¡± guessed Gwenivere. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not immediately, at least. I¡¯ve encountered those harpies once before. I can¡¯t beat them alone. I barely survived last time. I need to get stronger, or I need help. I have plans for both, but they¡¯re going to take some time.¡± ¡°How long?¡± she demanded. ¡°The Trial of Primacy is in four months,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe a little less ¨C I sometimes lose track of time.¡± ¡°It¡¯s closer to three,¡± supplied Colt. ¡°Right. That,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Then, I¡¯m going to help Hong Kong, which has been overrun by undead and demons. Hopefully, that will solve my issues. I¡¯ll get stronger, and I¡¯ll secure the help of my allies from Hong Kong. Then, we can go after your people.¡± Gwenivere clearly wasn¡¯t happy about that, but she held her tongue. By comparison, John seemed a little more understanding, though disappointment was still etched on his scarred face. However, Elijah had been entirely truthful with them. Even if he could help them ¨C which, given the power of the harpy flock, wasn¡¯t possible ¨C he still had obligations elsewhere. It wasn¡¯t what either of the two castaways wanted to hear, but it was all Elijah had to offer. 4-77. Coming of Age Miguel sat in the center of the grove, his legs crossed as he meditated. A gentle rain fell upon his head, soothing his tired muscles. He had been training for hours, running, swimming, and lifting various rocks before spending even more hours working on his weapons forms. It was an exhausting regimen, but one to which he¡¯d remained committed for weeks. Because he knew the cost of weakness. He had seen it with his own two eyes. He had felt it as he was rendered helpless by the man who¡¯d kidnapped him and as he¡¯d trekked across the wilderness, completely incapable of contributing his fair share. Certainly, he¡¯d made himself as useful as he could, but he had been severely limited by his age and lack of archetype. But he¡¯d also seen how the Scholars had held the group back, and in the end, that experience had been a formative one for the young man. He refused to be weak. And so, without the benefit of his archetype, he¡¯d taken to his uncle¡¯s training regimen with the full weight of his commitment, pushing himself well past the point of exhaustion. The only time he rested was when his body gave out, and even then, while Nerthus used his healing skill to assist recovery, Miguel worked on preparing the more esoteric facets of development for the moment when he would eventually awaken his archetype. At first, meditation had been difficult. When Elijah had tried to guide him, Miguel had only felt a faint whisper from the natural world. However, with Nerthus taking the reins, things had gone much more smoothly. Part of that was the environment. The grove was thick with ethera, to the point where it had initially felt suffocating. Now, though, Miguel used that dense energy to his advantage. He couldn¡¯t really use it ¨C not to fuel abilities or anything. Nor could he guide it the same way that others could. But living in that environment brought him even closer to nature, affirming his attunement in his mind. He didn¡¯t need a line on a status to tell him that he was nature attuned. He knew it in his heart. Perhaps he always had. Even before the world had changed, he¡¯d been fascinated with animals ¨C what young boy wasn¡¯t? ¨C but he¡¯d also spent more time in the wilderness than most of his friends. Both of his mothers thought it was important, and though his experiences hadn¡¯t been quite as extensive as his uncle¡¯s, it had laid the foundation for who he was. And everything he¡¯d been through since then had built upon that framework to become what he hoped was a strong attunement. According to Nerthus, they weren¡¯t all equal. One person¡¯s nature attunement was not the same as another¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t graded by the system, but it was an undeniable truth of the multi-verse. And Miguel¡¯s attunement was very strong. Not quite as powerful as Elijah¡¯s, but that was expected. Again, based on what the spryggent said, the power Elijah¡¯s attunement was at the peak of what was possible, which was one of the reasons he¡¯d been so successful in his chosen archetype. Miguel hoped it would be indicative of his own impending success. Suddenly, he felt a wet nose nudging against his neck. He tried to ignore it, but that only made it more insistent. Finally, he let out a sigh and opened his eyes to see Trevor gazing at him expectantly. The fawn had grown to the size of a normal doe, and his antlers ¨C crystalline, just like his father¡¯s ¨C had begun to grow. At present, they were barely more than a pair of nubs on his head, but one day, they would be just as impressive as Bubba¡¯s. ¡°Fine,¡± Miguel said, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a small pouch that was filled with grove berries. He¡¯d been on a steady diet of the things since coming to live in the grove, but he could still only handle about half a berry before being overwhelmed by ethera and passing out. Still, he¡¯d been told that they were good for him, and because even one bite gave him the nutrients of a full meal, he¡¯d continued to eat them most days. It was much easier than having to prepare food or worry about what he wanted, which gave him even more time to train. He tossed one to the juvenile deer, who snapped it out of the air, then turned a circle in excitement. Sometimes, Trevor reminded Miguel of a puppy, which never failed to bring a smile to his face. The entire family of guardians loved those berries, but Nerthus had wasted no time in training them not to just help themselves. If there was one rule on the island, it was that nobody should encroach on Nerthus¡¯ garden. In a lot of ways, the grove was more his domain than Elijah¡¯s. Miguel took a deep breath and, as he felt the dense ethera permeate his body, he took a moment to appreciate his surroundings. During the journey from Easton to Seattle, he¡¯d often felt that he would never be safe again. Yet, here he was, completely and unequivocally safe from any real danger. And all he wanted was to run off into the real wilderness and regain that feeling of danger that had once pervaded his life. There was something about spending his days balanced on the edge of a knife that made him feel more alive. Training ¨C especially sparring with Colt or Kurik ¨C went a long way toward filling that void, but it just wasn¡¯t the same. He wanted to fight. He wanted to scratch and claw for the smallest advantage that would allow him to survive. It wasn¡¯t the adrenaline he craved. Rather, he wanted to matter. He wanted to make a difference. He wanted power, and not just so he could protect the people he cared about. That was a big part of it, but there was also a need to rise above hardship, to endure what others could not. To stand up against whatever the world could throw at him and come out on top. In short, he wanted to be challenged. To fight for fighting¡¯s sake. And he wanted to win. He needed it, and not just for the confirmation that he was better than the obstacles ¨C be they natural or otherwise ¨C arrayed against him. That was why Miguel trained so much. He never again wanted to be found wanting. To be too weak to overcome adversity. He knew that wasn¡¯t realistic. He couldn¡¯t always win. Everyone lost. But that wasn¡¯t the point. Striving for that goal was all that really mattered. Those thoughts were racing through his mind while he scratched the fawn between his eyes. Then, suddenly, words appeared before his inner eye:
Scanning human [Miguel Rodriguez] for aspects. [Nature] aspect found. [Martial] aspect found. [Faith] aspect found. [Exploration] aspect found. Generating class choices¡­
¡°It¡¯s happening¡­¡± The aspects were not surprising. He¡¯d expected both of the first two, even if he¡¯d hoped to receive the [Sage] aspect as well. If he¡¯d still held out hopes of becoming a Druid like his uncle, they were dashed against the reality of his aspects. Without the [Sage] aspect, it just wasn¡¯t possible. What surprised Miguel was the [Faith] aspect, mostly because he¡¯d never been particularly religious. He knew that his mother had grown up Catholic, but when she¡¯d left southern California, she¡¯d also moved away from that religion. By comparison, his other mother had maintained her faith, but she¡¯d kept it mostly to herself, letting Miguel decide his own path. The world had changed before he¡¯d ever had the chance, and as far as he could see, finding God didn¡¯t make a lot of sense in the new version of Earth. Others, he knew, disagreed. So, the addition of the [Faith] aspect was a little shocking. Perhaps it didn¡¯t refer to a faith in God or religion, but rather in something else. Like family. Or the grove. Whatever the case, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d get a proper explanation anytime soon. The Branch¡¯s Knowledge Base was apparently difficult to navigate, so he¡¯d need to find a Librarian to search out a guide that might explain it. And that just didn¡¯t seem all that important at present. That thought had just crossed his mind when the next notification appeared:
You have been awarded four choices of class archetypes. Choose well, because this decision will forever affect your path.
Miguel had barely finished reading the message when the next appeared:
Archetype: Warrior A versatile melee archetype, proficient with most weaponry. Features bonuses to durability, Strength, and learning martial techniques. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Required Aspect: [Martial] Sample Class Choices: {Berserker}, {Guardian}, {Knight}, {Brawler}, {Gladiator} First Skill: Heavy Strikes Compatibility: 91%
Close on that description was the next:
Archetype: Explorer The Explorer is a hybrid between the Ranger and the Warrior, with some traits of various other archetypes. Focuses on experiencing new things and discovering new places. Features bonuses to travel speed, memory, and stealth. Required Aspects: [Nature], [Martial], [Exploration] Sample Class Choices: {Scout}, {Cartographer}, {Treasure Hunter} First Skill: Wanderlust Compatibility: 74%
Then came:
Archetype: Ranger The ranger is a hybrid between the Explorer and Warrior archetypes, with strong ties to both the martial and natural paths. Gives up true mastery of either path in favor of versatility. Features bonuses to durability, Regeneration, and One With Nature. Required Aspects: [Nature], [Martial] Sample Class Choices: {Predator}, {Tamer}, {Trapper} First Skill: Instincts Compatibility: 91%
And finally, he saw the last option:
Archetype: Priest (H) The Priest is a hidden archetype only available to those of strong Faith. It is a combination of Healer and Tactician, with a focus on leading a group of believers. Required Aspects: [Faith] Sample Class Choices: {Preacher}, {Inquisitor}, {Ritualist} First Skill: Preach Compatibility: 51%
The only surprise was the final option, the Priest, which was apparently a hidden archetype that wasn¡¯t part of the foundational twelve. He¡¯d never heard anything about the existence of such an archetype, but it was right there in the notification. ¡°Did it happen?¡± came Elijah¡¯s voice from behind. ¡°How did you know?¡± asked Miguel, glancing back to see his uncle¡¯s expectant expression. ¡°I felt a surge of ethera. I didn¡¯t know what it was until I realized it was coming from you,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Any surprises?¡± ¡°Warrior, Explorer, Ranger, and Priest,¡± Miguel read. ¡°The last one is¡­special. It says it¡¯s a hidden archetype.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said, striding forward and planting himself directly across from Miguel. ¡°Read me the description?¡± Miguel did, realizing that Nerthus had come to observe as well. When he¡¯d finished, Elijah announced that he was going to get Miguel¡¯s mother and Colt, cautioning him to wait until everyone was there before he made any decisions. As Elijah transformed and flew away, Miguel asked Nerthus, ¡°Do you know anything about hidden archetypes?¡± ¡°No. I only know of the foundational twelve,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°But do not mistake its hidden status for power. No archetype is better than the others. Just different.¡± Miguel wasn¡¯t so sure about that. Scholars were markedly weaker than everyone else, at least from his experience. Sure, he recognized that they had their place in society, but that position was dependent on other people to protect it. Without Warriors and Sorcerers, Scholars were extraordinarily vulnerable. Perhaps that was why he hadn¡¯t been offered the archetype. It was fine for others, but he never would have chosen it. ¡°I won¡¯t choose it,¡± Miguel said after thinking about it for a couple of minutes. He had no interest in leading followers, and he certainly didn¡¯t like the religious connotations of the terminology used in the description of the Priest archetype. Otherwise, he was a bit torn. He¡¯d expected to get the Warrior and Ranger archetypes as choices, but the addition of the Explorer option was a smalls urprise. Certainly, the Treasure Hunter class that was used as an example in the description awakened something in him. The idea of being rewarded for experiencing new places and things was attractive as well. But some of that enthusiasm might¡¯ve been due to the fact that it was new. He¡¯d never even considered it as an option, while he¡¯d been thinking about the Warrior and Ranger archetypes for months. As a result, the novelty certainly contributed to his excitement. As he gave it some thought, the others arrived, and they began a discussion about his future. Miguel knew that it was ultimately his decision, but he would¡¯ve been a fool not to consider their more experienced opinions. Elijah put a lot of stock in how the system interpreted his compatibility, while Carmen was more concerned with how he felt. Meanwhile, Colt mostly kept his input to factual statements about what to expect, clearly not wanting to offer undue influence over whatever choice Miguel might make. For his part, Miguel¡¯s decision came down to two options. The Explorer archetype was interesting and novel, but it only took a few minutes¡¯ worth of thought for him to discard it. The Priest archetype, he¡¯d immediately pushed aside. That left Warrior or Ranger, both of which had extremely high compatibility. So, the choice was one of preference. Did he want to face his enemies head-on? Or did he want to use subterfuge, range, or circumstances? When he thought of it like that, the decision was easy. He chose Warrior. Notably, it was the same archetype his mother had picked. And it wasn¡¯t the one her murderer had chosen. He¡¯d have been a bit deluded to think that those facts hadn¡¯t affected his own decision. He felt an influx of ethera that felt like electricity racing through his body. It wasn¡¯t unpleasant, but he could feel the surge of power. More, because of his extensive efforts in meditation, he immediately felt the flow of ethera that would allow him to use abilities and, one day, cast spells. Then, with a thought, he opened his status for the first ever:
Name Miguel Rodriguez
Level 1
Archetype Warrior
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 8
Dexterity 8
Constitution 10
Ethera 9
Regeneration 7
Attunement Nature
Cultivation
Body Core Mind Soul
Unformed Unformed Unformed Unformed
¡°Which one did you pick?¡± asked his mother. ¡°Warrior,¡± he said. Then, he explained his reasoning before reading his status to everyone. His mother seemed a little disappointed ¨C or saddened, perhaps ¨C but she tried to hide it. So, Miguel pretended not to notice. By comparison, Colt and Elijah ¨C and even Nerthus ¨C were all smiles. ¡°Well, you know what this means, right?¡± asked a grinning Elijah. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Now, you get to start the real work.¡± 4-78. On the Horizon ¡°You know we can¡¯t just babysit him, right?¡± Elijah glanced at Carmen, unsure of how to respond. One thing that had almost immediately become clear after Earth had been touched by the World Tree was that leveling was weird. Some things that seemed like they should have given multiple levels barely gave a trickle of experience, while other actions resulted in a flood of progress. He was aware that there were whole classes dedicated to charting the most efficient leveling path, but he¡¯d never actually met anyone like that. Probably because Scholars, by their very nature, tended to be quite vulnerable, and the situation on Earth wasn¡¯t settled enough to guarantee their safety. As a result, compared to most other archetypes, few Scholars had survived. Whatever the case, he¡¯d learned that watching over Miguel while he tried to level would result in quite a bit less experience than if the young man acted alone or with a group of similarly leveled people. It brought to mind how slowly he had progressed when he¡¯d first been stranded on the island. Over the first few months, he¡¯d killed dozens of crabs, and while they weren¡¯t particularly high-leveled, they should have given much more experience than they had. Except that, the entire time, he¡¯d had the panther watching over him, providing him with a safe environment and ready to step in if it looked like Elijah was going to die. Maybe. Elijah wasn¡¯t entirely certain how it all worked, and he didn¡¯t think that would change anytime soon. All he could do was keep going and hope things became clearer as he gained power. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t as if gaining levels had ever been the goal. Sure, he liked the way progression felt. He liked getting stronger. But the vast majority of his choices were based on other factors, and leveling had usually been a byproduct of seeking out other goals. ¡°I know,¡± he said, knowing that Miguel would never progress if he had Elijah as his guardian angel. ¡°It just sucks.¡± ¡°It does,¡± agreed Carmen, taking a sip of coffee. ¡°I wish he would have chosen something non-combat.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he had the option.¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t, but that¡¯s my fault, too,¡± Carmen said, glancing at Elijah. ¡°Ever since the world changed, I¡¯ve let him pursue a future as a fighter. At first, I just looked at it like it was a new sport, like he¡¯d taken up football or something, but with the added bonus of letting him protect himself. Then, everything with Alyssa happened¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It really is,¡± she argued. ¡°I could have brought him into the forge with me. He might have enjoyed making things. But I was so scared. So focused on everything else. And I just pushed him off to Colt. That sealed it.¡± ¡°I could see that,¡± Elijah contributed. For better or worse, Colt was invariably cool. He wasn¡¯t the most powerful person in the world ¨C far from it ¨C but few children could look at a cowboy samurai and not want to emulate him. That was compounded by the fact that Colt was a good, loyal person who took to the mentor role quite well. It was inevitable that Miguel would end up idolizing him. Carmen leaned back in the chair and gazed across the grove toward where Miguel was going through guided meditation with Nerthus. It was the first step in preparing the young man for cultivation, which would take up the next month of his life. Only then would Miguel step out into the world and start leveling. Thankfully, there was a large enough population of children in Ironshore who¡¯d recently come of age that there was an opportunity to form parties. Once they did, they would venture out into the local wilderness and hunt the relatively weak beasts in the region. Then, after they¡¯d gained their classes and established teamwork with a static team, they would be given a slot to run the local tower. Elijah wished he could just take Miguel in and escort him through the tower, but the level difference was far too great, and as a result, Miguel would never survive the run. ¡°It really is frustrating, isn¡¯t it?¡± he said. The system seemed to want people to rise or fall on their own merits. Sure, there were exceptions. They could load Miguel up with high-grade equipment, but even that wasn¡¯t foolproof. If the gear was too powerful, he wouldn¡¯t be able to support it. So, the help they could offer was limited, mostly to training and preparation, but that could only go so far. ¡°More than you can know.¡± ¡°Are you going to make him some armor? A weapon, maybe?¡± he asked. Thinking that Miguel would eventually choose to become a Ranger, Elijah had been on the lookout for a good bowyer, but those plans seemed a bit silly now that the young man had chosen to become a Warrior. ¡°You know I still have the spear you made for Alyssa.¡± It had been incorporated into the statue back in Argos, but it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to replace it. ¡°No. Leave it where it is. I intend to make something special.¡± ¡°How¡¯s your forge project going?¡± he asked, changing the subject. They would get nowhere by going in circles about their impotency concerning Miguel¡¯s development. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Carmen answered, ¡°It¡¯s going. I¡¯m about a third of the way finished with the bricks, but there¡¯s a lot more to it than something like the Temple of Virtue.¡± Then, she went on to describe the process, which involved incorporating the high-grade sun copper and blood tin, as well as their alloys ¨C into the entire building. Moreover, the structure would take on the shape of a series of enchanting runes Carmen had learned via a guide. And finally, she intended to make every smithing tool from those high-grade metals. The project wasn¡¯t something that could be finished in a few weeks, so Carmen expected to be working on it for quite some time. Months, at the very least. However, given the high density of the ethera in Ironshore ¨C due to the ancestral tree in Druid¡¯s Park ¨C Carmen thought the final result would be quite powerful for both cultivation and for crafting purposes. ¡°What about you?¡± she asked. Elijah just leaned back with a sigh. Sitting on his balcony overlooking the grove, it was easy to forget how much work he had ahead of him. Three issues demanded his attention, and he didn¡¯t know which one he¡¯d focus on first. First, there was the situation in Hong Kong. Elijah still intended to help rid the city of undead, but given that the source was a Primal Realm, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be the work of a few days. Instead, it would likely take weeks just to fight their way to the Primal Realm, then an unpredictable amount of time to conquer it. Likely, it would be a dangerous and deadly months-long endeavor. Then, he needed to help the survivors of the plane crash, though that presented a host of issues as well. The largest problem was reaching the atoll, but Elijah had fought ¨C or run from ¨C the harpies, so he knew precisely how much danger their presence added to the mix. Exterminating those monsters would be at least as difficult as conquering the Primal Realm in Hong Kong. And finally, he needed to prepare for the Trial of Primacy. He¡¯d never considered not going, though he suspected that eschewing the Trial was probably the most prudent course. But Elijah knew it was important. He wasn¡¯t sure exactly how, but he was certain that it would be a formative experience for Earth¡¯s future elites. Not going would cripple his position. Fortunately, the only time-sensitive issue was the Trial, largely because the most recent visit to a Branch resulted in yet another announcement from the system. It read:
The Trial of Primacy is ninety-six days away. To assist with preparation and to offer peace of mind for the participants, surges from towers will be halted until the Trial is completed. In addition, forces from Primal Realms will be quarantined during that time frame. Prepare yourselves in peace.
That solved the Hong Kong problem, at least for the time being. And according to John and Gwenivere, the crash survivors could survive indefinitely. They¡¯d have to do so underground, but they¡¯d managed it for more than four years, which meant that their plight wasn¡¯t nearly as urgent as it seemed at first glance. ¡°I think I need to get ready for the Trial,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It feels important.¡± Carmen agreed, though she still refused to participate. According to her, she had more than enough on her plate, what with the construction of the Great Forge, equipping her son with as high-grade gear as he could handle, and satisfying the terms of her obligations to Ironshore. But Elijah knew that much of her reticence was due to simple fatigue. She¡¯d had enough danger for a lifetime, and she wanted nothing more than to remain safe and sound in her smithy. Elijah understood that sentiment. For many people, challenging towers and fighting powerful monsters seemed like an adventure, but that only lasted until they actually had to confront those dangerous situations. That was usually when they started to see the value in a safer existence. He wasn¡¯t like that, but he recognized that his attitude probably made him a bit of an anomaly. Sure, there were plenty of other people like him, but they were the clear minority. Normal people didn¡¯t relish repeatedly risking their lives, even when that path had the potential to lead to immense power. Regardless, Elijah understood Carmen¡¯s perspective. He even agreed that it was probably best for her. But it didn¡¯t apply to him. With that in mind, he itemized his plans for his preparation. The first step was one he¡¯d been working on for quite some time. He knew he was close to progressing his Core to the next stage of development, and the ambient ethera in his cultivation cave had grown so dense that he thought it would be enough to push him over the edge. That was the first ¨C and by far, the most important ¨C step, but it wasn¡¯t the only one. He wanted to prepare some more soap. He also needed to commission a cook to make rations out of the meat he¡¯d gotten from the boar. In addition, he intended to hire a leatherworker to create some armor. And finally, his preparations for creating a new staff had reached an acceptable point, so he needed to do that as well. Once he¡¯d explained all of that to Carmen, she asked, ¡°Have you told the castaways yet?¡± Elijah shook his head. He also needed to let Sadie Song know about his plans, and he wanted to help Wilhelm find a powerful intersection of ley lines so the German Explorer ¨C who he¡¯d left in Argos without an explanation ¨C could take the first steps toward building a teleportation apparatus near Argos. That wasn¡¯t quite as important as the other tasks on his list of priorities, but he knew just how beneficial it would be for the city. Perhaps it would one day become something of a trade hub. A crossroads, so to speak. That was a long way down the road, though. But the first step was easy enough to take, and if Elijah planned everything properly, it would only be the work of a day or so. That was a small price to pay to ensure the prosperity of the people of Argos who¡¯d been so welcoming to him. And finally, there was a party on the horizon. After all, a young man only came of age one time in his life, and it was an event worthy of celebration. So, with that in mind, Elijah headed to Ironshore to buy some supplies. He didn¡¯t intend it to be a city-wide carnival like what had happened in Argos at the completion of the Temple of Virtue; instead, he knew Miguel would prefer something with just family and close friends. Elijah could handle that, but afterwards, it would be time to get to work. 4-79. Over the Edge ¡°I¡¯m never drinking again,¡± Elijah muttered to himself as he lay in his bed of moss. Massaging his temples, he refused to open his eyes. He¡¯d made that mistake once already, and even the gentle light from the glowing flowers on the ceiling was enough to send spikes through his hungover brain. Taking a deep breath, he used Soothe, but even that was only marginally effective. So, he cast Nature¡¯s Bloom, and, at last, his roiling stomach and the pounding pain behind his eyes subsided. He took a deep breath, then sat up. He felt gross. And lethargic, despite his efforts at healing himself. That was the problem with drinking high-grade liquor. It cut right through his enhanced Constitution, even resisting his healing spells. By any measure, it was a poison ¨C just one whose effects were slightly more enjoyable than most. At least in the moment. The aftereffects were markedly less pleasant. If most people drank what he¡¯d drunk, they would¡¯ve had to deal with more than simple inebriation. Someone like Miguel would have died in minutes. Smacking his dry mouth, he reached over to his Endless Canteen and took a sip ¨C an effort to wash the disgusting taste out of his mouth. He was unsuccessful, but with every pulse of Soothe, Elijah felt a bit better. So, he dragged himself out of bed and immediately went to his shower, where he let the scalding water as well as his rejuvenating soap do its work. When he finally stepped from the bathroom, he almost felt human again. After dressing, he headed into the kitchen, where he immediately got to work on the most important cure for his hangover ¨C coffee. By the time he planted himself in his favorite chair on the balcony and took the first sip, most of the aftereffects of the party had faded. In their place was mingled determination and embarrassment at the night¡¯s antics. There was a reason that, after college, he¡¯d mostly given up on serious drinking. Multiple reasons, in fact. The first was the simple knowledge that it wasn¡¯t good for him. Back then, he¡¯d used alcohol ¨C and other inebriants ¨C to mask the lingering issues that had cropped up from his parents¡¯ deaths. The responsible and oft-ignored well-adjusted part of him knew that wasn¡¯t healthy, so he¡¯d moved on from that phase of his life. But more importantly, drinking always brought out the worst parts of his personality. Even in the best of times, Elijah was a quirky and acquired taste. When he drank, though? He was much worse, and more than anything, embarrassment loomed large in his memories of those days. So, it was a bit surprising that he¡¯d gone so hard during Miguel¡¯s coming-of-age celebration. He¡¯d refrained from drinking too much while his nephew was still around, but the moment Miguel had wandered off ¨C either to train or sleep ¨C Elijah had started drinking far more heavily. Thankfully, the rest was a blur. Hopefully, he hadn¡¯t made too much of an ass of himself, though he didn¡¯t much stock in that hope. Over the next half hour, Elijah enjoyed two cups of coffee as he sat back and appreciated the early morning atmosphere of the grove. Nerthus was already up and about, working on the garden. He¡¯d expressed to Elijah his plans to rework the grove, and while Elijah would miss the rows of bushes he¡¯d planted in the very beginning, he¡¯d been convinced of the potential benefits the change could bring. The same was true of the rest of the island, which would be far less cultivated, but still be structured according to Nerthus¡¯ plan. According to the spryggent, that would hasten the process of increasing the ethereal density ¨C which Elijah could certainly get behind. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of loss when he considered the planned changes. Perhaps Nerthus would manage to retain the place¡¯s wild aura. In any case, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to add micromanagement of the grove to his list of tasks. He already had plenty on his plate as it was, so he¡¯d decided to give Nerthus free rein when it came to the grove and the surrounding island. He trusted the spryggent, after all. By the time Elijah had finished his coffee, the other residents of the grove were up and about, though, thankfully, no one was in the mood for socializing. That wasn¡¯t surprising, given that, aside from Miguel, they¡¯d all had far too much to drink. Even Nerthus had tried a sip of some sort of liquor Colt had acquired. It had not gone well, with the spyrggent immediately passing out. More distressingly, quite a few of the plants in the area had reacted to the event by quivering out of control. Fortunately, that had only lasted a couple of minutes until Elijah had healed Nerthus ¨C which sort of defeated the purpose of drinking, but in that situation, he thought that was a good thing. With those memories in mind, Elijah started on his errands. The first stop was to start the process of creating lye, which only took about half an hour before he was forced to wait while the ash soaked. After that, Elijah flew to Ironshore, where he took Carmen¡¯s advice and hired the goblin Leatherworker, Gavina. She¡¯d actually gained a few levels since his last conversation with his sister-in-law, so Gavina was the same level as the other Leatherworker in town. ¡°Are you sure you want me to work with this?¡± Gavina asked, her voice a bit raspy due to her goblin heritage. She was short, even for her race, with huge, bat-like ears and a surprisingly dainty nose. Unlike most goblins, her complexion trended more toward blue than green. She ran her hand along the rolled-up boar hide, adding, ¡°This is better than any material I¡¯ve ever worked with. I might ruin it.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a lot of leather there,¡± Elijah said. The boar had been enormous, after all. ¡°I¡¯m not saying you should waste it, but maybe you should start with armor padding. I think Carmen¡¯s going to be coming to you in the next day or so. Use the excess for that.¡± ¡°I still don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°And there¡¯s enough material for a few attempts. Don¡¯t sweat it,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I believe in you.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t even know me.¡± ¡°Right. Well¡­that¡¯s true. But I still believe you can do the job!¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard good things. You¡¯re an up-and-comer.¡± She sighed. ¡°This is a lot of pressure.¡± ¡°Pressure makes diamonds.¡± ¡°Actually, it¡¯s heat and pressure and ¨C¡± ¡°My point is that you¡¯ve got this,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re not going to kill me if I fail, right?¡± she asked. ¡°I mean to say ¨C I appreciate the work. It¡¯s a great opportunity. But there¡¯s a chance I¡¯ll fail, and I don¡¯t want you to eat me if I do. Respectfully. I¡¯d rather just not take the job. But then again, maybe refusing the commission will also get me eaten. I¡¯m in a tight spot, I guess is what I¡¯m saying.¡± ¡°Eat you?¡± Elijah asked, his jaw dropping. ¡°I don¡¯t eat people!¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what I heard. Respectfully.¡± ¡°Respectfully,¡± he echoed, annoyed. ¡°You heard wrong.¡± He shook his head. It almost felt like his hangover was coming back, even though he knew that wasn¡¯t possible. ¡°I swear to you ¨C I don¡¯t just kill people for that kind of thing. And I don¡¯t eat people.¡± ¡°If you say so¡­¡± After that, Elijah managed to persuade the goblin Leatherworker to take on the job, paying her far more than he probably should have. Was it a negotiation tactic, then? Or was she truly frightened? Elijah had no idea, but if it meant being done with the uncomfortable conversation, he had no issues with throwing money at the problem. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. In any case, he¡¯d managed to accomplish the first goal. He knew the next step was going to be even more uncomfortable. Still, it had to be done, so he returned to the Imperium and let Gwenivere and John know that he wasn¡¯t going to be able to help their people anytime soon. He¡¯d already said as much, but he wanted there to be no confusion about his priorities going forward. Surprisingly, though they were obviously disappointed, they took the news well enough. So, once all of that was finished, Elijah headed for the next item on his to-do list. He needed to get stronger, and there was only one way to accomplish that goal. He had access to a tower ¨C and it just so happened that there was no one inside at the moment, so it was time he used it. With that in mind, he headed into the Keledge Tower. Fortunately, he was intimately aware of the tower¡¯s ins and outs, and given that he didn¡¯t care about his grade, the run was both brutal and efficient. He killed everything, soaking in the experience as he slaughtered his way through the tower. The tower still scaled to his level, so the enemies inside were powerful enough to give him a challenging fight. However, he knew precisely how to attack each level, so he had few issues with finishing it in only a few days. And though the combination of escalating experience requirements and the decreasing rewards for running a tower multiple times minimized his gains, Elijah still managed to reach his goal. Level ninety. Which gave him a new ability:
Bestial Charge Charge an opponent. Shielded from harm while charging. Maximum distance based on Strength. Current: 138 feet. Shield efficacy based on Constitution. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of the Guardian.
It wasn¡¯t a flashy ability, but it was useful. He¡¯d long hoped for some way to close distance with his opponents ¨C especially in his lamellar ape form ¨C so it definitely filled a gap in his toolkit. Upon testing Bestial Charge, Elijah had found that it worked precisely as he¡¯d hoped, and though it was a little difficult to control, he felt confident that once he got the hang of it, it would become a vital part of his tactics. After he left the tower, he was happy to find that Miguel¡¯s efforts in cultivation had proceeded well. The young man still hadn¡¯t actually taken the first steps, but according to Nerthus, he was close to that point. Elijah spent a bit of time making more lye for his soap before using Roots of the World Tree to head back to Argos. Once there, he found a very irritated Sadie Song waiting for him at the Temple of Virtue, where he quickly learned she¡¯d spent most of the past week healing anyone who visited. Upon retreating into one of the rooms they¡¯d set up for more intense healing sessions, he apologized for leaving on such short notice. ¡°I had some issues at home that I needed to take care of,¡± he said. ¡°I panicked a little, and I¡¯m sorry. I hope you¡¯ll forgive me.¡± She responded, ¡°Do I have a choice? We need your help. There¡¯s not much we won¡¯t put up with if it means you¡¯ll assist us in saving Hong Kong.¡± ¡°About that¡­¡± Elijah went on to explain that he wouldn¡¯t be able to help until after the Trial of Primacy, which was met with exactly the sort of response he¡¯d expected. Sadie was not happy with him, but given that the situation would get no worse until after the Trial, she wasn¡¯t as upset as she might have been. So, she accepted his excuses, saying that she intended to participate in the Trial as well. ¡°You seem surprised.¡± Elijah admitted that he was, adding, ¡°I thought you¡¯d be¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I guess I¡¯m not sure what I thought.¡± ¡°The Trial of Primacy will be a good place to make contact with powerful people,¡± she explained. ¡°Also, I need to be stronger. Already, I feel like I¡¯m being left behind, now that I¡¯m not fighting zombies every day.¡± It was a surprisingly open moment from her, and Elijah didn¡¯t know how to respond to the lack of overt animosity. So, he just nodded, saying, ¡°We all need to get stronger. I don¡¯t know what comes after this Trial of Primacy, but I¡¯d be willing to bet things are going to get worse before they get better. We¡¯re building toward something. I just don¡¯t know what. In any case, I¡¯ll do everything I can to help you and Dat during the Trial.¡± She promised to do the same, and after that, the conversation petered out into awkward silence. Elijah excused himself soon after that and went in search of two people. First was Agatha, who he hired to prepare his rations. She was the best cook he knew, and what¡¯s more, she seemed to like him. So, he wasn¡¯t averse to paying her quite a lot of money to create pork jerky from the boar¡¯s meat. She was happy to do it, too, saying that it would help her level. Elijah found his next target in a nearby gambling establishment. Predictably, Wilhelm had used his newfound freedom to embark on a quest to lose whatever money he¡¯d managed to stash away. Elijah had seen the man pocketing a few bits and pieces from the boar, which he¡¯d presumably sold as soon as Elijah¡¯s back was turned. Surprisingly, Wilhelm had actually hit a bit of a winning streak, multiplying those few silvers into quite a stockpile of gold. So, he was very upset when Elijah dragged him from the gambling hall and into the wilderness. He was less upset when they found a powerful intersection of ley lines that would serve as an appropriate location for a teleportation apparatus. So, Wilhelm marked it with an anchor, then activated some sort of ethereal beacon that would guide the construction team there. They couldn¡¯t actually build the apparatus yet ¨C they didn¡¯t have everything worked out ¨C but Wilhelm hadn¡¯t gambled all his time away. Instead, he¡¯d been working on a report based on watching Elijah¡¯s Roots of the World Tree spell that he hoped would be the missing link for the teleportation process. Elijah hoped so, too. His plans to position Argos as a trade hub depended on it. Either way, that satisfied the last item on his to-do list, so Elijah returned to the grove so he could embark on the next ¨C and most time intensive ¨C part of his preparations. He needed to push his core to the next level of advancement. That would require him to be at his best, so he spent the next day secluded in his treehouse, cycling his core while eating as many grove berries as he could handle. That influx of ethera pushed his core to unprecedented density, which he held in place as he headed toward the cultivation cave. It wasn¡¯t easy. In fact, holding that much ethera in place was incredibly painful, and it made him feel like he was on the verge of bursting like an overfilled balloon. Yet, Elijah hoped it would make the next part more effective, so he endured the bloated agony as he swam through the underwater cave. Along the way, he noticed the steadily rising ethereal density until, when he reached the cave itself, it felt almost suffocating. Even though he didn¡¯t need to breathe ¨C courtesy of the Ring of Aquatic Travel ¨C Elijah still felt like he was drowning. It was precisely what he needed, though. For the past couple of weeks, he had felt like he¡¯d reached the absolute limit of what his core could handle. Cycling in a normal environment wouldn¡¯t do much good anymore. Indeed, even the ethereal density of his grove was insufficient. Thankfully, though, the ambient ethera of the cave was much thicker. Hopefully, it would be enough. So, as he floated in the center of the cave, he closed his eyes and began to cycle. At first, it felt like trying to work out after running a marathon, and it only got more difficult from there. One rotation after another, he stirred his ethera, pulling even more into his core. It was like trying to mix molasses, it was so difficult to move, and in the beginning, he felt that he¡¯d made a mistake, that he wasn¡¯t ready. But Elijah persisted, sinking into the meditative state he¡¯d practiced so often. And though the process didn¡¯t get any easier, his persistence paid off by helping him cope with the hardship. After the first day, Elijah recognized that, as powerfully dense as the ethera in his cultivation cave was, there was a good chance that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The requirements to push his core to the next level were unreal, telling him that it would be quite some time before anyone else on Earth reached the second stage of core cultivation. One day turned into two, and two into three. And by the time the first week had passed, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he¡¯d allocated enough time to complete the process. He couldn¡¯t worry about that, though. Instead, he continued to eat the berries, which wasn¡¯t nearly as appetizing as it normally was, given that he got some saltwater along with each bite. They did provide nourishment and, perhaps more importantly, sent even more ethera surging through him. By the end of the second week, Elijah was nearing the end of his endurance. Or that was what he thought until that week turned into another. Each moment inched him closer to his goal. His core continued to expand, bit by bit, and despite his exhaustion, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to stop. If he did, he would lose most of his progress, and he didn¡¯t relish the notion of starting over. More importantly, he didn¡¯t have that kind of time. So, he continued to cycle his core, drinking in the ambient ethera along the way. Fortunately, the cave had reached the point where it created a perpetuating cycle of ethereal renewal, and it replaced most of the energy he absorbed. Finally, at the beginning of Elijah¡¯s fourth week of cycling his core, he felt it shift. Suddenly, it expanded of its own volition. It felt like he was on the verge of exploding, the energy inside of him was so intense. He screamed in pain as it tried to rip him into a thousand pieces. And then, just as the pain reached a crescendo, everything ¨C his senses as well as his mind ¨C went dark. It only lasted a moment before his perception returned. He fell to the ground, his body slapping against what felt like cold tile. That¡¯s when he opened his eyes. His jaw dropped as he looked around, but he didn¡¯t get a chance to take it all in before a voice drew his attention. ¡°I thought it would take you longer to reach this point,¡± it intoned. ¡°I suppose congratulations are in order. Welcome to the Empire of Scale, whelp.¡± 4-80. The Path Less Traveled Elijah couldn¡¯t speak. Instead, his breath caught in his chest as he stared at the woman in front of him. She was gorgeous, though that was the least impactful characteristic on display. Power, closely controlled, swirled around her, nearly overwhelming Elijah, body, mind, and soul. Even his core went quiet, almost as if it sensed a much greater power and was trying to make itself smaller so it could avoid notice. Golden hair ¨C and he was close enough to recognize that it was actual gold, and not just gold-colored hair ¨C fell upon her slim shoulders. Tiny, gold, and glittering scales surrounded her eyes like makeup, and slightly larger scales patterned her neck, disappearing beneath the white, toga-like garment she wore. Finally, Elijah regained his voice and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± She smiled slightly. ¡°Your patron,¡± she answered, reaching down to stroke his cheek. ¡°You have done well since being granted the dragon core, but it is time for you to take your first step on the path. Until now, you have been aimless. A hatchling without purpose living a life without meaning. That must change, and the first step is one every dragon must take. You will live the tale of the first dragon. If you survive, your core will evolve to the next stage.¡± ¡°If I survive?¡± he asked. Until that moment, he¡¯d expected the evolution of his core to work similarly to the other aspects of his cultivation. Indeed, everything he¡¯d read suggested as much. Clearly, the reality of his situation was quite different, though. Was it because he had the core of an elder race? ¡°A small detail,¡± she said. ¡°We do not have much time. Remember, the dragon endures.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t under-¡± Before Elijah could get the rest of his sentence out, his mind once again went black. This time, it lasted much longer than an instant, but he had difficulty marking time. It might¡¯ve been a minute, but it could have been hours. Regardless, he eventually became aware of his changed surroundings. And his changed body. At first, he thought he¡¯d had one of his forms forced upon him, but it only took a few moments to recognize that he was in a completely different body. He lacked the strength of his guardian form, and he certainly didn¡¯t feel the unmatched coordination of his draconid shape. Then, there was the size to consider. Looking around at his surroundings, Elijah couldn¡¯t avoid the notion that either he was inside a cavern whose size dwarfed any other he¡¯d ever experienced or heard about ¨C not impossible, but unlikely ¨C or he was much smaller than he¡¯d been before. In addition, his mind felt strangely limited, and it only took him a few more seconds to recognize that he lacked cultivation. He only had one strain of thought instead of nine distinct facets. Casting his perception inward, he was distraught to find that his ethereal channels were much thinner and far less extensive than they had been before. And finally, his core was tiny. It was little more than a spark of ethera, barely even noticeable within his torso. A nearby sound jerked his attention to his left, and he saw a skittering bug. Before he could even process what was happening, he pounced, snapping his jaws around the insect and swallowing it whole. In his shock, Elijah took a moment to truly take stock of his changed form. He was small. Very, very small. Maybe a foot long at most, and that was including his tail. Looking down at his forelegs, he saw pebbled red scales and a set of wicked claws. So, at least he wasn¡¯t completely defenseless, though he knew that if he was forced to fight anything truly strong, he¡¯d be better off fleeing than engaging. More, a sense of being exposed gripped his mind, and he followed his instincts that pushed him to find shelter. When he slipped into a crack between a pair of black rocks, the panic in his mind subsided ¨C only a little, but enough to give him leave to investigate his surroundings. The cave was enormous, and his small size made it seem like a world unto itself. Moreover, it wasn¡¯t unpopulated. As Elijah stuck his serpentine head out of the crevice, he saw dozens of other beasts. Some were large ¨C like the turtle-like creature sitting next to a lava flow ¨C while others were even smaller than him. Trees unlike anything he¡¯d ever seen sprouted here and there, alien in their form as well as their coloring. Distressingly, Elijah also lacked One with Nature, and judging by the fact that he felt no connection to the wildlife, his attunement had disappeared as well, replaced by animalistic instinct. Panic once again suffused Elijah¡¯s being until he forced himself to remember his patron¡¯s description, that he would live the tale of the first dragon. Was that what had happened? Was that whose body he inhabited? It wasn¡¯t what he might have expected from his impression of dragons. Every story he¡¯d ever heard ¨C both before and after the World Tree had touched Earth ¨C painted dragons as immensely powerful entities. Clearly, that wasn¡¯t always the case. Humble origins aside, he couldn¡¯t just hide between rocks. His patron ¨C who was obviously a dragon, though in a humanoid form ¨C had said that he needed to live the life of the first dragon. So, he suspected that he would fail this¡­test if he didn¡¯t do something. With that in mind, he crouched low to the ground, then slithered out of the crevice. Almost immediately, a sense of alarm suffused his mind, and he dashed to the side. Something crashed into the rocky ground beside him, and following instincts whose origin he didn¡¯t question, Elijah pounced on his would-be attacker, using his wickedly sharp claws and teeth to rip it to shreds like he was the reptilian equivalent of a honey badger. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. As it turned out, the beast that had attacked him was some sort of odd bird, though not of a sort that Elijah had ever seen. Its wings were too large, its body too sleek. And its beak was far too sharp. Sensing that it wouldn¡¯t be smart to stick around the kill site, Elijah took a few bites of the beast¡¯s flesh, then raced away. Dodging from one rock to the next, he blended into the landscape, while behind him, more beasts descended upon the slain bird. A fight broke out between two heavily armored creatures, but by that point, Elijah was already gone. Still, the sound of their clash ¨C which was characterized by smashing bodies and deafening growls ¨C followed him as he skated along. As he did, he examined the feelings in his body. He didn¡¯t have spells. Nor did he have skills. There was no spellbook, and he didn¡¯t have a status. However, he had enough experience with using ethera that he could recognize the framework of a skill within him. It was unlike anything he¡¯d ever used, though, so he had no idea how it worked. There was something else inside of him, too. A spark of energy he couldn¡¯t identify. It was weak, but it was still there, just powerful to taunt him with his ignorance. Elijah tried to ignore it as he moved on. Soon enough, he reached one of the lava flows. It cut through the underground forest of odd trees like it was a river, but as he approached the flow of molten rock, he felt oddly comforted. Following his instincts ¨C they were so powerful that he could scarcely resist them ¨C he dove into the fiery flow. It was only when he was burrowing through the thick and superheated substance that he realized what he¡¯d done. He¡¯d just dove headfirst into a river of lava. If he¡¯d been back on Earth, perhaps he could have survived by virtue of his high Constitution, but this body didn¡¯t have the benefit of enhanced durability. By all rights, he should have melted the moment he got close. But he didn¡¯t. Instead, he felt empowered, as if the lava was his natural habitat. It was only in retrospect that he realized that, before, he¡¯d been like a fish out of water. Now, he was in his element. Yet, he couldn¡¯t let his guard down, as he discovered when what looked like a giant alligator gar with flames for fins tried to eat him. He dated out of the way just in time to avoid its enormous jaws ¨C or more appropriately, its mouth full of jagged teeth ¨C then burrowed through the lava to hide in the rocks on the riverbed until the thing lost interest. As it happened, a much larger creature that looked like a bulky hybrid between a crocodile and a manatee bit the gar in half. Despite the heat permeating his body, Elijah felt a chill race up his spine. The environment reminded him a little of the Sea of Sorrows or the Primordial Jungle, both of which were floors in the Keledge Tower. They weren¡¯t really all that similar to his current location, but the primordial, survival-of-the-fittest aura was close enough to bring those two to mind. It gave Elijah some more insight into the constant conflict that pervaded any natural environment. Every organism had a drive to survive, and that took precedence over everything else. They didn¡¯t care about morality. They didn¡¯t feel empathy or hate. They battled one another because that was the only way they could meet the conditions of their primary mandate. Survival was the name of the game, and everything else was irrelevant. Elijah remained nestled in the rocks at the bottom of the lava flow until the current took the remains of the gar away. The other beast went with it, swimming away without even realizing ¨C or perhaps caring ¨C that he was there. Finally, Elijah slipped from his hiding spot, then burrowed his way through the flow until he reached the other side. It wasn¡¯t swimming ¨C not really. The substance was far too dense for that, and the ease with which he moved in the substance defied physics in a way Elijah didn¡¯t really want to think about. Either way, he reached the other side easily enough, then climbed free. A few bits of magma clung to his red scales, but they fell away after they cooled. Creeping through the brush ¨C which, to his eyes, was a mixture of purples, blues, and oranges ¨C Elijah kept moving. He ate a few insects here and there, but he¡¯d been moving for more than an hour before he recognized what drove him. The ambient ethera in the cavern was already dense, but with every step he took, that density rose. And his instincts pushed him toward the increasingly thick ethera. Was there a source? Maybe. Elijah needed to find out. Days passed as he continued to live the life of the small lizard whose body he¡¯d come to inhabit, and in that time, a few things became abundantly clear. First, he was far from weak, and he¡¯d often found that he could stand up to creatures much larger than himself. It was never easy, and there had been more than a few close calls, but he¡¯d even managed to take out beasts three times his size. The only issue with that was the fact that, aside from the insects, he was just about the smallest creature in the cavern. From his perspective, it felt as if he¡¯d stepped foot into a world of giants. Everything towered over him, dwarfing his tiny size. That brought with it both advantages and disadvantages. The former, in that he often escaped notice from the much larger beasts. The latter, because if they knew he was there, he had very little defense except running and hiding. It was a valuable learning experience. Of late, Elijah had adopted some bad habits, most stemming from the fact that he was the highest-leveled person in the world. That had led him to believe he was more powerful than anything he encountered. It wasn¡¯t true, as he¡¯d discovered with his recent encounter with the boar, but habits weren¡¯t easy to discard. He¡¯d been in need of a reality check, and his time as a lizard was perfect for that, even if he felt like he was balanced on the edge of a cliff, just waiting for something to splatter him like a bug. Regardless, as he crossed the subterranean jungle, Elijah¡¯s own experiences from his first couple of years after Earth¡¯s transformation combined with the lizard¡¯s natural instincts to keep him out of harm¡¯s way. More than once, he was forced to traverse more lava flows, but those instances were more comforting than not, even if those rivers of molten rock were home to some of the most powerful creatures. Finally, though, Elijah reached his destination when he arrived at the edge of an enormous crater. For the first time, he could look up and see the sky through the huge mouth of the cave. Predictably, it was not a sky he recognized. Instead of seeing a starry expanse populated by a single moon, Elijah saw colorful bands that it took him a moment to recognize as planetary rings. More concerningly, he also saw huge shapes flitting about the sky. Some dwarfed even the massive cave, casting everything in shadow for a few seconds before they flew away. But Elijah was more interested in what lay at the center of the crater. It was a flower the size of a cottage. A lotus, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken, and it was wreathed in orange flame. Clearly, he¡¯d found the source of the increased ethera. Unfortunately, Elijah wasn¡¯t the only one, because the entire surface of the crater was packed full of every sort of beast he¡¯d seen since beginning his trek across the large cavern. He hissed in annoyance as he began to ponder just how he was going to get closer to that flower. 4-81. Cunning Elijah crouched on the tree limb, using his long tail for balance as he watched the creature down below. At the most basic level, it looked a little like a rhinoceros, though with scales instead of a thick, leathery hide. It also had seven horns jutting from its densely armored head and a series of spikes flowing down its spine. So, perhaps it was more like a dinosaur than a rhino. Either way, it didn¡¯t matter. The creature was precisely what he¡¯d been looking for over the past few days. Its suitability for his plan was based on three things. First, it wasn¡¯t just huge. The thing was the size of a brontosaurus, with a stout, low-slung body that would make it a nightmare to fight. Second, it was incredibly territorial, and Elijah had watched it slaughter more than a couple of other beasts that had wandered nearby. It had also chased a sleek, wolf-like creature for more than a mile. And finally, it swirled with ethera strongly enough that Elijah could feel it, even in his much less-sensitive form. That told him that it was powerful ¨C perhaps even more so than all the creatures in the crater, which was perfect for his plan. The idea was simple enough. He wanted to pick a fight with the enormous creature, then lead it on a merry chase into the crater, where he hoped the other beasts would respond to the newcomer with violent intentions. A fight would ensue, and if everything went according to his plans, they would finish each other off. However, simple didn¡¯t mean easy, and the anticipation kept Elijah glued to the branch. That monster was large enough that even a glancing blow would flatten him. There would be no margin of error. No room for mistakes. He would have to be perfect. To that end, he¡¯d already mapped out his path. The crater was more than a mile away, which was an incredible distance for his small form. Still, he¡¯d practiced running back and forth so often that he knew he could make the trip without missing a beat. The only variable was the giant beast¡¯s reaction. In the back of his mind, Elijah knew that he was driven by instinct as much as by his own brain. He was reliving a real event, and as such, the whole experience was on rails. That didn¡¯t remove the danger, though. He could still die. And he could certainly fail. But the path to victory seemed clear. It was an odd feeling, knowing that he was in control, yet not, and rather than trying to grow accustomed to it, Elijah had chosen to simply accept it, then move on. Already, he¡¯d spent days on this endeavor, and aside from not wanting to spend any longer than absolutely necessary, his ever-more-insistent instincts told him that he was on the clock. So, without further hesitation, he leaped from the branch, landing on the rhino-lizard¡¯s armored head. A second later, and he was burying his claws into one of the thing¡¯s many eyes. The orbs were larger even than Elijah¡¯s entire body, but they were curiously vulnerable. His claws bit deep, and an eruption of vitreous gel coated his body. Yet, even as the creature bucked and trumpeted its ire, Elijah moved on to the next eye. Then the next after that. In all, he savaged four eyes before leaping free and racing away. Predictably, the beast followed, driven by the pain of the attack as well as its territorial nature. Elijah leaped from one fallen branch to the next, dipping in and out of various depressions as the beast stomped its way through the forest, plowing through trees, uprooting them as it went. Apparently, Elijah had compromised the beast¡¯s depth perception, and so, it found it difficult to avoid trees it would have otherwise dodged. That was the only reason he stayed ahead of it, confirming that his instincts had put him on the right path. On and on he raced, and the mile or so he had to travel felt like ten times that. Still, when he finally reached the crater, he knew that his task was just beginning. He skidded down the slope, aiming for the hiding place he¡¯d found the day before. Just as Elijah slid under the rock and into the small space underneath, his enormous pursuer thundered out of the forest and, without hesitation, barreled into the mass of beasts surrounding the flower. The enraged creature spared nothing in its path, ripping into them with its horns as it completely forgot about the pest that had started it all. The other animals didn¡¯t go down without a fight, and they dished out hundreds of wounds in the space of a few minutes. But where they could only barely get through its thick armor, the rhino-saur killed with ever twitch of its head. It was a massacre, but not one without cost. Elijah crouched in his hiding place, thankful for his tiny size, as the beast rampaged through the crater. Of course, it was not the only powerful monster in the area. Far from it. The closer it came to the flower, the stronger its opponents were. And given the sheer numbers arrayed against it, its wounds soon grew more numerous and far more grievous. Still, it fought on, well past the point where it would even consider retreat. Besides, it was a king of the forest. Running away had never been an option. The battle raged on for hours as one beast after another fell until, at last, there were only three left. Predictably, the rhino-lizard was one of the survivors. It was barely capable of remaining upright, but as it stood over the other survivor ¨C a beast that looked like a tyrannosaurus rex, but with fur instead of scales ¨C it let out a roar of victory. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Just as it speared its opponent through the chest, the third survivor ¨C Elijah ¨C struck. Once again, he went for the vulnerable eyes, tearing the remaining four orbs to pieces before the creature could even react. Then, he bounded free, feeling ethera gathering in his chest. He had felt the skill since the very beginning, but it had taken him quite some time to figure out how it worked. Now, he knew. He felt it. He only needed to push things a little more before he could activate it. The beast reacted predictably, swinging its great, armored head like a spiked battering ram. Elijah leaped over the first attack, twisting in the air before landing lightly. The power built a little more. But it wasn¡¯t enough. A second attack came whistling toward him. This time, he flattened himself to the ground, then vaulted over a third attack. The fourth came straight at him like a spear intent on piercing his heart. So, Elijah twisted away, narrowly avoiding having his body obliterated. On and on it went. The blinded creature tried to trample him. It attempted to spear him. It kept aiming one sweeping attack after another at him. If Elijah had had a moment to consider it, he would have been impressed by the beast¡¯s unerring aim. However, he had no chance to think about anything but avoiding the next attack. And with each avoided blow, Elijah felt the power build a little more. Then, finally, it was like a switch had flipped inside his mind. The skill was ready. And what¡¯s more, he could feel what it would do. The power of a dragon welled up within him, and when he released it, it was just as devastating as he could have hoped. His mouth yawned open, and a gout of pure, red flame erupted from his throat. It was so hot that it blistered his own forked tongue, and yet, it continued to pour out, hotter with every passing second. The fire gouged into the beast¡¯s face, carving a blistering gash from one side to another. It reeled in obvious agony, but Elijah kept going, embracing the skill to the fullest extent of his abilities. Red turned white, and the flames graduated to a new level of destruction. Instead of blistering and burning, it simply obliterated anything its way. The ability only lasted a few seconds before Elijah¡¯s tiny store of ethera was spent, but in that time, the fire had burned a hole right through the king of the cavern. Elijah had been aiming for its brain, but the stream of fire had gone far past that, melting through its skull and digging through its body, boiling its internal organs along the way. It tried to step forward, but all it could do was collapse. Elijah stared at it for a long few seconds, shocked at the power he¡¯d brought to bear. Before that moment, he¡¯d wondered how such a small lizard could have ever been linked to a dragon. Now, he understood. He swayed drunkenly as he struggled to remain upright. Using the skill had pushed him well past the point of exhaustion. But still, he staggered toward the lotus. It pulsed with thick ethera, promising power and, Elijah hoped, recovery. Besides, it was his prize, wasn¡¯t it? He¡¯d engineered the deaths of every beast in the crater. By all rights, he deserved his reward. Even as those thoughts danced in his mind, Elijah put one foot before the other. Only a hundred or so yards separated him from the lotus, but that short distance felt like a thousand miles. He continued forward, feeling his body breaking down with every step. He¡¯d gone too far. He had pushed himself too much. But he would not be defeated. He couldn¡¯t let himself give in. He would claim his treasure. Gradually, he staggered forward, and after what felt like an eternity, Elijah reached the lotus. He could feel the power wafting off of it, nearly strong enough to destroy him just as surely as the backlash from his skill had. It didn¡¯t matter. It was his. Reward? Trophy? Treasure? Or salvation? Maybe it was all four. Regardless, every one of Elijah¡¯s instincts told him to climb to the top of the lotus. There, he would finally be able to rest. So, he did, using his sharp claws to dig into the plant¡¯s rubbery stalk. His body was tiny. He barely weighed more than a few pounds. But it felt like he had the weight of the world on his back. He could feel his scales sloughing off, revealing blistered flesh. He ignored it. He was in so much pain that it had long since lost meaning. There was power within him, though. A bright sun had bloomed stronger with every step. He¡¯d felt it inside of him, and that feeling drove him just as surely as his instinct. Finally, he reached the blue petals. The fire burned him, yet the pain was nothing compared to the agony already coursing through him. Or that was what he told himself. In reality, he was on the verge of surrendering to unconsciousness. If he¡¯d been in control, he would have. But his instincts had taken over, and he had become a passenger in his own body. It didn¡¯t matter. He wanted the same thing his instincts wanted. He only had to hold on. To endure. To persist. So, that was what he did, and after a few moments, it felt like he was watching himself from afar. He finally saw the lizard¡¯s body. It resembled a salamander, though with a crested mane and fire dancing along its scales. He watched. He felt. The duality of his existence was difficult to track. He was Elijah, a witness. But he was also the salamander, driven forward by instinct and fate as it embarked on a task that would change the multiverse. At last, the little lizard crested the petal and tumbled forth, passing the collection of stamens and coming to rest on the carpal. For a moment, Elijah thought that it ¨C no, he ¨C had died. But with a twitch, it rolled back to its feet. Then, miraculously, it released the power within it. Though it did not send out a large gout of superheated flame. Instead, the power came out the other end, taking the form of a large, golden egg. Only once the egg had pushed free did the lizard finally give in to death. For a few seconds, Elijah felt as if he was hovering over the entire scene, and he watched as the world sped up. His heart caught in his throat when the egg hatched, but instead of another salamander, the first dragon was born. That¡¯s when Elijah¡¯s mind went blank, and after a couple of moments, he once again appeared on the cold tiles within the Empire of Scale. His patron knelt beside him as he wept, her warm hand on his back. He knew he¡¯d just seen something quite profound. The beginning of real power. But all he could think about was the salamander¡¯s sacrifice. Its suffering. Its perseverance. It might not have been a dragon, but it had certainly possessed the spirit of one. Going forward, he could only hope to emulate its example. 4-82. Path of Dragons Elijah lay on the cold floor, overcome with emotion as the memory of what he¡¯d just seen ¨C of what he had just experienced ¨C engulfed his thoughts. ¡°It truly is overwhelming, is it not?¡± came a voice from above. Elijah recognized it as coming from his patron ¨C the beautiful woman who¡¯d greeted him before he¡¯d been thrust into another life. ¡°I sill remember when I saw it. Tens of thousands of years, and that memory is still as fresh as it was when I was a hatchling.¡± Her voice was wistful. Motherly. Comforting in a way Elijah couldn¡¯t quite articulate. After a moment, he felt her standing over him. Heat radiated from her body, far hotter than a person should be. Finally, he looked up to see her smiling face, and he reveled in her approval. In that instant, Elijah wanted nothing more than to please the dragon woman. That feeling passed quickly, but the echoes remained long after, influencing his thoughts like nothing else could. ¡°Arise. We haven¡¯t much time.¡± Elijah pushed himself to all fours, then rose to his feet. Glancing down, he realized that he looked the same as he had before being pushed into that memory. The same could be said of the dragon woman that was his patron, though even if nothing had changed about her appearance, to Elijah, she looked even more striking than ever before. It was as if, until that very moment, he¡¯d never seen true beauty, and now that he had, nothing else could compare. He wanted to drop to his knees and worship her like that goddess she clearly was. And he didn¡¯t like that one bit. ¡°Stop doing that,¡± he muttered. ¡°What?¡± she asked innocently. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re doing to my mind,¡± he answered. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. So, stop.¡± Belatedly, he added, ¡°Please.¡± That brought a studious gaze followed by a tinkling laugh. A second later, the enchantment of her presence faded. After it did, Elijah could still tell that she was gorgeous, and in a way that defied the notion of imperfection. However, it was a distant thing. Alien in its flawlessness. He¡¯d once thought the same about elves, but in comparison, they were warm and approachable. ¡°Most whelps have difficulty seeing through my Presence,¡± she said with another smile. ¡°I am pleased that you managed it. I knew you were special the moment you completed the quest and saved my daughter.¡± ¡°Sara? Wait¡­you¡¯re¡­¡± Elijah was loathe to admit it, but he¡¯d actually forgotten the name of the dragon who¡¯d given him the quest that had changed his life. Saraalinisa was far more memorable in his mind, largely because he¡¯d actually met her. By contrast, her mother who¡¯d given Elijah the quest was just a line on a notification. ¡°I am Kirlissa, third elder of the Golden Flight,¡± she announced. ¡°And your patron.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t understand what¡¯s going on. Why am I here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°You are not here, strictly speaking,¡± she explained. ¡°Your spirit is. Each step you take on the Path of Dragons will be progressively more physical. In addition, you will gain more control over the memories until, in the end, you will write the story yourself.¡± Elijah nodded, though he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what she meant, save that he was having some sort of out-of-body experience. ¡°Was this a test, then?¡± ¡°In a sense,¡± she answered. ¡°It is also necessary for each dragon to understand our history. Without the context of our origin, dragons tend to grow¡­arrogant. When I feel myself becoming overbearing, I remember that my race began with a simple fire salamander.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Eliijah lied. ¡°No. You do not. But you are no true dragon ¨C not yet ¨C so your lack of perspective is forgivable,¡± she said, her smile widening slightly. It was the sort of expression a mother would bestow upon a troublesome child who¡¯d somehow managed to make her proud. It made Elijah want to squirm away. ¡°How did the salamander do it?¡± he asked. He suspected the dragon wouldn¡¯t reveal much more about his circumstances, so he chose to move on to the purpose of the entire vision. ¡°I felt her falling apart after using that fire-breathing ability. She shouldn¡¯t have made it to the top of the lotus. And when she got there, she just laid an egg and died? How was it fertilized? How did the baby dragon survive?¡± ¡°So many questions,¡± Kirlissa said. ¡°The answer to most is that we do not know. The Mother of Dragons was an enigmatic creature, and the Dream was pieced together from thousands of scattered sources. We have no insight into why she sought the Fire Lotus. Nor do we know how the egg was fertilized. The First Dragon¡¯s path is lost to time. The only thing we know for certain is that it survived and thrived, and our race was born. Some of our most talented Scholars suppose that the egg was fertilized by the Fire Lotus itself, giving birth to a creature of mingled magic and flesh, though other factions refute that claim. Wars have been fought over the details.¡± Elijah could understand that. On Earth, people killed one another over religion all the time, and the origin of dragons seemed like the same sort of thing. So, Elijah decided to push his curiosity aside and focus on what really mattered. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°What will happen next?¡± he asked, glancing around at his surroundings. He stood in the center of a grand hall that was lined with white marble pillars capped with gold. In the distance, he saw a massive throne that stood before an even larger pile of treasure. Elijah could feel ethera wafting from the collected mass of gold ethereum, and he even saw quite a few coins that were probably platinum. It was the dragon¡¯s hoard. ¡°In a moment, you will return to your body and complete your cultivation. Most of it is finished, but you still need to push your core to the next stage,¡± she explained. ¡°It will be painful, but if you could endure the Origin of Dragons, you are more than capable of withstanding the transition from the first stage to the second.¡± ¡°And after that?¡± he asked. ¡°Am I going to grow scales or something?¡± She laughed again. ¡°No,¡± she answered. ¡°Not unless you wish to, and not until much later in the cultivation process. You have taken the first step on the Path of Dragons, but you have a long way to go before you can truly call yourself one of us. That is how it is with dragonkin like yourself.¡± Her face turned serious. ¡°I will warn you now. There are those in the Empire of Scale who will treat you as lesser because you are not a natural dragon. These¡­people are wrong. If you reach the right stage of cultivation, you will be as much a dragon as anyone in the empire,¡± she explained. ¡°Perhaps more so. Until then, you will need to remain on guard for those who would look down on you for your humble origins.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Dragon racism,¡± he muttered. ¡°Great.¡± ¡°Do not worry yourself. You will not soon reach the empire, and by the time you do, I will have prepared the way,¡± she said. ¡°You did not hatch from one of my eggs, but you are still one of my children. And I will brook no disrespect against my family. My protection will only go so far, though. You must learn to fly on your own merit.¡± ¡°I will,¡± Elijah said. And he meant it, too. He would take any help he was offered, but he¡¯d been on his own for long enough that he was more than comfortable with that. ¡°I believe you,¡± said Kirlissa, reaching out to stroke his cheek. Her touch felt like being hit my a tiny bolt of lightning. ¡°I am forbidden from giving too much information concerning what is coming. Even I am subordinate to the system. However, I will offer you this advice. Do not underestimate the benefits of conquering Primal Realms. The fate of your world will depend on it.¡± ¡°How ¨C¡± Elijah never got the chance to finish his question. Instead, his mind once again went blank, which lasted for a few moments before he once again found himself within his cultivation cave. All around him, the water roiled with kinetic energy as well as ethera, and his core felt as if it was going to burst. It had grown far larger than before he¡¯d been whisked away, and the ethera inside had become much denser, reaching the point where it felt like he held a bowling ball in his chest. He grabbed the ethera, wresting it under control. Agony erupted inside of him as the core grew larger with every passing second. He clamped down on it, compressing it with every ounce of resolve he possessed. At first, it barely responded, but after a few agonizing moments, it responded to his will. Enduring the pain of so much power rushing through him, Elijah focused on the final step he needed to take before progressing to the next stage. Leveraging every facet of his Quartz Mind, he took hold of the ethera raging throughout his body and forced it all into his core. However, he didn¡¯t do it without direction. Instead, he used that ethera to progressively, layer by layer, reinforce the structure of the core. Adding each layer felt like moving a mountain. But he persisted in his efforts, and he endured the agony. Minute by minute, he shoved more ethera into the core¡¯s structure until he felt like it was on the verge of going supernova. Without the advanced stage of his cultivation, Elijah never would have managed it. His Mind let him control the flows of ethera while quarantining the pain into its own facet. Meanwhile, if his Quartz Mind gave him the ability to control it all, then his Novice Soul provided the means by which that control could be exerted. Without those reinforced channels, the process would have backed up. Ethera was the source of everything, but too much of even a good thing was tantamount to poison. The immense flows of energy racing through him was no different, and it required significant durability to withstand so much ethera. That was where the Body of Stone came into play. Without reaching the second stage of body cultivation, the powerful flows of energy would have dissolved the flesh from his bones. Even with the advantage of his cultivation, Elijah struggled to endure the power of progressing his core. That, he¡¯d learned, was one of the issues with something like a Dragon Core. It was far more powerful than other, more normal cores, but that power came at a cost. One of those was that they often had special requirements attached to their progression. Elijah had just experienced that for himself, and he expected those conditions would only grow more onerous with each step he took on the so-called Path of Dragons. In addition, even when those requirements were met, actually progressing a special core required far more effort and ethera. Doing so before advancing the other aspects of cultivation was generally viewed as suicidal. Fortunately, Elijah¡¯s Body, Mind, and Soul had already reached the second stage, which gave him just enough of an edge to manage his powerful core. Still, it was as exhausting as it was agonizing, but he endured until, at last, his Dragon Core started to absorb every last drop of ethera in the area. At first, he tried to corral it, but it quickly became apparent that the process had progressed far beyond his ability to control it. He could only endure and hope that he¡¯d done enough. Power on a level he¡¯d never experienced raced into the vortexes in his mind, scorching its way through the pathways of his soul, and into his bloated core. Even as the ambient ethera flooded into him, the surrounding water evaporated. As he fell to the cave¡¯s floor, the flora and fauna disintegrated, providing even more fuel for the transition. Elijah barely noticed it. Instead, the whole of his attention was on the expanding globe of power at the center of his being. He leveraged every last ounce of his willpower into compressing it. One heave after another, it shrank, and inch by inch, relief flooded Elijah¡¯s mind, body, and soul. Then, just as his exhaustion bypassed the boundaries of what he could endure, the process completed, and he received a notification:
Congratulations! Your Dragon Core has reached the Whelp Stage.
Just before Elijah¡¯s body gave out, he let out a dry chuckle. Whelp. It sounded almost derogatory, and it didn¡¯t indicate the level of power he¡¯d just felt racing through his body. But before he could contemplate the irony of that name any further, he lost consciousness. 4-83. Final Preparations Elijah awoke to the sensation of something nibbling on his toe. At first, he barely even noticed it, but then consciousness fully took hold, and he jerked his foot away. The moment he moved, the fish darted away, frightened by the sudden motion. Elijah blinked his eyes open, and his memories came flooding back. At some point, seawater had come rushing back into the cave, so he found himself floating just above the cave¡¯s floor. The last phase of pushing his Dragon Core to the Whelp stage had killed everything within the cavern, but enough time had passed that a few fish had come to investigate. In addition, a couple of tiny strands of kelp had managed to take hold, telling Elijah that at least a few days had passed while he was unconscious. Otherwise, he had no idea how much time had elapsed since he¡¯d begun the process of taking the next step in his core cultivation. He remembered that, even before reliving the tale of the birth of the first dragon, he¡¯d spent almost a month cycling. So, given that he¡¯d spent at least a few more days unconscious, he felt impatient to determine precisely how much time had passed. With that in mind, he swam to the cave¡¯s exit and pushed himself through the tunnel until he reached open water. Normally, he would have taken a few hours to repopulate the cave, but for now, he needed to take stock of his situation. Before isolating himself in the cultivation cave, he¡¯d had about three months left before the Trial of Primacy began, so he knew he didn¡¯t have much room for error. Kicking to the surface, he leaped free of the water, then cast Shape of the Sky, transforming in mid-air. He flapped his wings, gaining altitude before racing across the sky toward his grove. He landed in a small open space Nerthus had created as a bit of a landing pad, then called out for his spyggent friend. Nerthus appeared after only a few moments, and Elijah asked, ¡°How long have I been gone?¡± ¡°Forty-eight days,¡± Nerthus answered. Elijah frowned. That meant he only had about six weeks left before the Trial of Primacy. He thought that would be enough time, but there was a small chance that he¡¯d have to make some cuts to his schedule. Originally, he¡¯d intended to run the tower a few more times in the hopes of gaining a couple more levels. However, with how much time his core cultivation had required, that just wouldn¡¯t be possible. So, he¡¯d have to be satisfied with being level ninety. After having reached the second stage in every aspect of his cultivation, he hoped that would be enough. ¡°You reached the second stage,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Congratulations. Many people consider that the true beginning of cultivation.¡± That made some sense. It had certainly been much more difficult than taking the first step, though Elijah had no real context for what that first stage of core cultivation usually looked like. After all, he¡¯d accomplished it via the completion of a Kirlissa¡¯s quest, so he¡¯d never experienced doing it on his own. However, he expected that it would have been much easier than what he¡¯d just put himself through. ¡°I think I have enough time,¡± he said, rubbing his bearded chin. ¡°It¡¯s going to be close, though.¡± ¡°If I may offer a suggestion?¡± Nerthus ventured. ¡°Sure.¡± ¡°Perhaps a nice meal and a shower will help,¡± he said. ¡°Are you saying that I stink?¡± ¡°Like a dead fish,¡± Nerthus answered without hesitation. ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Message received.¡± After that, he asked about Miguel¡¯s progress, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, he discovered that his nephew had already reached the first stage in everything but his core cultivation. On top of that, he was well on his way to preparing himself to take that step as well. Most of it was due to Nerthus¡¯ help. Much as he¡¯d done for Elijah, Nerthus had sacrificed a good deal of his own power to ease Miguel¡¯s cultivation. It wouldn¡¯t have been possible if the young man hadn¡¯t possessed a strong nature attunement, and according to the spryggent, his race ¨C or others like them ¨C often performed similar functions in the communities that grew around Druid groves. Seemingly, Nerthus regarded it as part of his duty, and though Elijah worried about the spyrggent overextending himself, he elected to trust his judgement. Other than that, Nerthus let him know that his plans for the garden were well underway. Soon, he would replace the grove berry bushes with better alternatives, and the defenses he¡¯d begun to grow had already taken root and were thriving. In short, everything was going according to plan. So, it was with a slightly lighter heart that Elijah retreated to his treehouse to follow Nerthus¡¯ advice. He wasn¡¯t certain which was more beneficial ¨C the shower or the meal ¨C but when he finally emerged, he was ready to finish his preparations for the Trial of Primacy. The first step was to complete his soap-making project. He wasn¡¯t sure if it truly had lasting effects, but he¡¯d grown used to the jolt of energy he received when using it. The notion of going without while he was in the Trial was an unattractive one, so he made enough soap to last him for more than a year. After that, he headed into Ironshore and visited a couple of shops. His first stop was Biggle¡¯s laboratory, where he picked up a few sacks of cleansing powder. Then, he visited the Tailor Mari, who sold him a few new outfits. They were cut in the same style he was used to, but they had the benefit of having a durability enchantment that would hopefully preserve them during the Trial. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. He also visited the general store, where he stocked up on odds and ends that he thought might prove useful. None of it was of graded quality, but things like rope, bandages, and waterproof bedding didn¡¯t need to be, either. Finally, he found himself in Gavina¡¯s workshop. To his surprise, the little goblin Leatherworker was actually happy to see him, which was a huge departure from their previous meeting. ¡°Thank goodness you came back,¡± she greeted him, relief in her voice. ¡°Having that armor here put a target on my back.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°It¡¯s mid-Complex!¡± she practically shouted. ¡°Do you know what people would do for that kind of armor? And it¡¯s the whole set, too! I¡¯m surprised someone hasn¡¯t already killed me for it!¡± ¡°Do you really think somebody would do that?¡± Elijah asked skeptically. Ironshore probably had some criminal element ¨C every settlement of any size did ¨C but he¡¯d heard nothing of open murder. ¡°I don¡¯t know! Maybe,¡± Gavina answered with exasperation. ¡°I¡¯m not strong enough to fight them if they did, though. Better that you take it now.¡± After that, she shoved a large bundle into his hands. It was heavier than Elijiah had expected, though given the materials, that was expected. ¡°I need a description of what it does.¡± The goblin Leatherworker rolled her eyes and massaged her forehead. ¡°Ugh. Of course you do. Here,¡± she said, handing him a piece of paper. ¡°That¡¯s what it is. Now go! Before someone attacks!¡± Elijah didn¡¯t think it was reasonable to expect an attack, but he got the sense that Gavina was the paranoid sort. She¡¯d been worried about him killing her during their first meeting, but it seemed she¡¯d graduated to suspecting an external threat. Still, there might¡¯ve been some merit to her suspicions, especially if the armor was as high-quality as she¡¯d said. Before he left, Elijah took a look at the description on the piece of paper:
Armor of the Boar King (set) Composed of eight pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Chestguard, Pants, Footwraps x2, Headband). Total attribute bonuses (from individual pieces): +15 Strength +25 Dexterity +15 Constitution +10 Ethera +20 Regeneration When wearing the entire set, gain the ability Bulwark of the Boar King: Wrap the wearer in an impenetrable shield. Duration: 3 seconds. Single Use.
¡°This is¡­this is amazing,¡± Elijah said. But then he saw a problem. ¡°These footwraps¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I noticed that you walk around barefoot like a savage, so I figured there must be some reason,¡± Gavina said. ¡°Those footwraps don¡¯t really cover much of the foot. I think they should be fine for your¡­whatever it is that keeps you from wearing shoes. And don¡¯t tell me. Nobody can torture information out of me if I don¡¯t know it!¡± Elijah just shook his head at the little Leatherworker¡¯s enthusiastic paranoia. There was nothing he could do about it, though, so he just paid what he owed and left the shop behind. However, he did stop by Ramik¡¯s office to ask the mayor if he could periodically send someone by Gavina¡¯s shop to ensure that she was okay. ¡°I will, but you should know that this is nothing new for Gavina,¡± Ramik said, sipping a cup of tea while he sat behind his desk. ¡°She is a talented Leatherworker, but she came from a city ruled by an authoritarian regime. Her paranoia is well-earned, and despite my insistence that she doesn¡¯t have to worry about those things anymore, old habits are difficult to discard.¡± ¡°It would still give me some peace of mind if you¡¯d keep an eye on her. If you can¡¯t, I understand. I¡¯ll just get Colt to do it.¡± ¡°No ¨C it¡¯s fine. It will be no trouble to send someone by every few days,¡± Ramik stated. After that, Elijah asked if anyone else from Ironshore intended to participate in the Trial of Primacy, and Ramik answered, ¡°We are sending one team. Kurik is leading it.¡± ¡°Can you afford to lose him? Or anyone else, for that matter?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°He¡¯s the only combatant. The others are Tradesmen or Merchants. We intend to use this Trial to make some trade alliances,¡± Ramik announced. ¡°Our mine has proven quite productive, but that potential is being squandered by the fact that we only have one trading partner. Hopefully, this Trial will give us a chance to make some connections.¡± That was a bit of a surprise for Elijah, but he supposed it made sense. So far, he¡¯d thought of the Trial of Primacy as a test of combat potential, but there was nothing to suggest that it wouldn¡¯t offer opportunities for non-combat archetypes as well. With that in mind, he offered to help the team from Ironshore in whatever way he could, though he wasn¡¯t certain what form that help might take. After that, his meeting with Ramik ended, and he returned to his grove. By that point, night had fallen, and with it came Carmen, who let him know everything that had been going on during his time in the cultivation cave. Apparently, Miguel was itching to level, but he¡¯d so far agreed to forego doing so until he¡¯d reached the first stage of every aspect of cultivation. ¡°He doesn¡¯t like it, though,¡± Carmen admitted. ¡°Have you finished his equipment?¡± She shook her head. ¡°Still a work in progress. The problem is that he can¡¯t really use Complex-Grade items. They¡¯re too powerful. So, I have to find a way to make something weaker, which means that I can¡¯t use the best materials. I¡¯ll figure it out before he starts leveling, though.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Is there anything I can do?¡± ¡°No,¡± she admitted. ¡°What about you? Is everything ready?¡± ¡°Not yet. I still have one project left before I go, and it¡¯s going to take a while. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll have enough time to finish.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯d better get started, right?¡± she asked. ¡°What¡¯s the project?¡± ¡°New staff,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The Dragon-Touched Staff is nice, and I¡¯ll keep it as a backup, but it doesn¡¯t really do much for my damage or healing.¡± The staff gave him a lot of attributes, including increasing the efficacy of his buffs by five points each, but he was more interested in direct enhancements to his abilities. And besides, he had the freedom to swing for the fences. If he failed, he still had the Dragon-Touched Staff to fall back on. ¡°Can I help?¡± Carmen asked. Elijah shook his head. ¡°I think I get better results if I do it all myself,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯ll let you know if that changes.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± With that, the conversation moved on to other things ¨C like local gossip. None of it was really all that interesting to Elijah, but he listened as Carmen explained who was courting whom, which families were feuding, and what she expected to come from the Norcastle alliance going forward. The discussion seemed comfortably normal, which was all Elijah really wanted. Because tomorrow, he would start the final project before he embarked upon the Trial of Primacy. Given that, a little normalcy was precisely what he needed. 4-84. Masterpiece Elijah stood in front of the tree, unsure about his plan. In his head, it all made sense, but now that he was looking at the thing, he doubted it. Not the viability of the intended product ¨C he felt certain he could do something worthwhile ¨C but rather, his doubts centered on whether or not he had the right to destroy something so vibrant. He wasn¡¯t so deluded that he equated killing a tree to murdering a person, but there were notes of that line of thinking in his mind. It would be so easy to ignore them, but he was a Druid, wasn¡¯t he? Didn¡¯t that mean he had a duty not to do that? ¡°This is acceptable,¡± said Nerthus. ¡°Huh?¡± asked Elijah turning to see the spryggent standing behind him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I can sense your doubt. These trees were created for this purpose. There is no shame in using them,¡± he stated. Indeed, Elijah had asked Nerthus to grow the trees to his specifications, using acorns from the trees that ringed the grove. They¡¯d marked the original boundaries of his Ancestral Circle, and as such, they were infused with more potential than any other trees on his island ¨C excepting the ancestral tree itself. And their progeny was almost as special. ¡°If it still worries you, know that this will not kill them. So long as their roots remain, they will grow once again.¡± Elijah sighed. That was true, too. Still, his doubts remained. He¡¯d once grown angry just looking at the deforestation associated with Ironshore, and now he couldn¡¯t help but feel like he was on the verge of doing the same thing. It should have disgusted him. And yet, it didn¡¯t. And that was worrying, largely because it signified that he wasn¡¯t really sure what being a Druid meant. Maybe the answer was that it didn¡¯t mean anything. Perhaps all the influences he thought he¡¯d felt in the past few years were in his head. That frightened him. But the reality was that the moment he¡¯d asked Nerthus to nurture the trees, he¡¯d become committed to using them. Because if he didn¡¯t, Nerthus would doubtless rip them up by the roots just because they didn¡¯t follow the pattern he wanted the grove to follow. So, without further delay, he knelt before the trees and got to work cutting them down. The trio had grown around one another, their white-barked trunks inextricably intertwined and nurtured on a steady diet of ethera. As a result, they pulsed with energy that exceeded that of any other tree in his grove ¨C again, excepting the ancestral tree at its center. The trunks themselves weren¡¯t large, only reaching a diameter of a few inches. Yet, they were harder than they had any right to be, so it took Elijah nearly an hour to fell them. When he finally did, he saw the thin, blue veins running through them, linking each of the three trunks in a way he didn¡¯t truly understand. But he knew enough that he could work with it. The trees were somewhere between being saplings and reaching maturity, so they were around eight feet tall. That would be enough for Elijah to work with. So, once he had them in hand, he headed to a spot within the grove that Nerthus had made for him. The spryggent was nothing if not anal about what grew within the grove, so given that Elijah meant to consistently flare One with Nature as well as Nature¡¯s Bounty, he¡¯d made a place just for that. Settling in, Elijah got to work. The first step was to remove the limbs, which he set aside for later. One day, he¡¯d use them to create lye, which he hoped would make for better soap. But for now, he only wanted them out of the way. Gradually, Elijah kept working, stripping the bark, then sanding the intertwined trees smooth. Altogether, they were more than six inches in diameter, so he had a lot of work ahead of him to pare it down to size. Days passed as Elijah sanded and whittled, eventually coming up with a straight, white staff that was about two inches thick and six feet long. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have to go through the effort of straightening the shaft, so the next step was carving it. Using a series of small knives and files he¡¯d bought for just that purpose, Elijah did just that. Along the way, he lost track of time, though on more than one occasion, he took breaks to either repopulate the cultivation cave or help Miguel with his training. Eventually, Miguel took the next step in cultivation, attaining what Nerthus referred to as a Guardian Core. It wasn¡¯t as powerful as Elijah¡¯s Dragon Core, but it was one of the best paths Miguel could hope to take without getting outside help from an elder race. After that, Miguel headed to the mainland to begin his leveling process. Meanwhile, Carmen kept at it with the Great Forge, throwing herself into her work in order to distract herself from the fact that Miguel was going off into the wilderness where he would be forced to risk his life. That wasn¡¯t what any mother wanted to deal with, but knowing that she couldn¡¯t stop it, she had chosen to focus on her work. Judging by the conversations she and Elijah shared during that time, it didn¡¯t work. Day by day, Eliijah¡¯s staff took shape. He didn¡¯t dare think too much about what he was carving, but he couldn¡¯t ignore the designs that took hold at the end of his knives. Still, he did everything he could to keep his influence out of it. It was better to let the process dictate what it would be. In the end, it took five weeks for Elijah to finish the carving, and even then, he thought he¡¯d rushed it. If he¡¯d had another couple of months, he would have not only been much more meticulous in his efforts, but he would have further infused it with his ethera. Still, he was happy with the design. The staff was straight, ending up at a little less than two inches thick. The design made it look like a Celtic weave, which bared the glowing ethereal veins. At the top was a coiled dragon, with an intricately carved head that was as detailed a piece as any Elijah had ever created. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. But the staff wasn¡¯t finished. He still needed to seal it. Fortunately, he had plenty of wax from Nerthus¡¯ apiary, so after cutting it with some mineral oil he¡¯d bought in Ironshore, he went to work sealing the staff. The process wasn¡¯t a short one, and it required him to leave the staff for as much as twenty-four hours while each coat of the sealant soaked in and dried. During those times, he finalized his preparations for the Trial. He visited Argos to collect his pork jerky, and while he was there, he met with Sadie and Dat. They both had been occupied with their own preparations, but Elijah was surprised to find that Sadie had spent quite a lot of time healing people at the Temple of Virtue. He also stopped by to talk to Delilah, where he learned that both she and Isaak intended to participate in the Trial as well. Elijah didn¡¯t much care for that, but he knew better than to try to talk them out of it. As it turned out, Atticus was going, too, though he made it clear that he had no intention of fighting. ¡°If things get rough, I¡¯ll be out of there in a hurry, my friend,¡± he assured Elijah, clapping him on the shoulder with a laugh. Soon enough, though, Elijah had done all there was to do. He had all the supplies he could carry, and he¡¯d even broken in his new armor. All that was left was to complete the staff, but even as the day of the Trial crept closer, Elijah refused to shortchange the project. It was only on the day before the Trial was supposed to commence that he finally finished it, getting the following notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Staff of the First Dragon]. This item will serve to enhance all spells by significant degree. Overall Grade: Complex (High) Enchantment Grade: C
Elijah pumped his fist in celebration. The staff had turned out better than he could have hoped, though he still wasn¡¯t certain what it would do, exactly. He¡¯d need someone to analyze it for that. Thankfully, he knew a dwarven Tailor who had an item that would allow for just that. So, he took on the Shape of the Sky and flew to Ironshore. He landed in the middle of the street outside Mari¡¯s shop, which caused a bit of a ruckus. He was too excited to worry about that, though, and he quickly hurried inside. Of course, Mari wasn¡¯t one to be rushed, and she glared at him with disapproval before agreeing to let him borrow her analysis apparatus. Once she did, Elijah wasted no time before holding up the small piece of what looked like ordinary glass and channeling some ethera through it. That was when he got a little more information:
[Staff of the First Dragon] A staff created by the Druid Elijah Hart from the trunk of a juvenile ancestral tree. It is infused with his ethera, binding it to him the moment it was created. +20 Strengh, Dexterity, Constitution, Ethera, and Reneration Effect: Enhances all spells by 25% Effect: Increases the effective radius of One with Nature by 70% Ability: Rejuvenation ¨C Use stored ethera to fuel a single cast of Soothe. Cooldown: 1 day. Usable in all forms.
It was beyond anything Elijah could¡¯ve hoped to create, and as he read one benefit after another, he very nearly dropped Mari¡¯s analysis glass. The attribute bonuses alone were extremely powerful, but then it also increased the effect of all of his spells by twenty-five percent? And it nearly doubled the radius of One with Nature? And that ability? It was a perfect addition to his toolkit. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said to Mari, handing the glass back to her. ¡°I hope you got good news. That Trial sounds a bit dodgy. Mark my words ¨C people are going to die in there,¡± she said. ¡°And for what it¡¯s worth, I hope it isn¡¯t you.¡± ¡°Really? I didn¡¯t think you cared about me at all.¡± ¡°Of course I do. You¡¯re my best customer,¡± she said. ¡°Now, get out of my shop. You¡¯re scaring everyone off.¡± ¡°Awww. I¡¯m touched,¡± he replied with a grin. But at her glare, he quickly ducked out of the shop. After that, Elijah made the rounds, saying goodbye to everyone he was close to in town. That included Ramik, Carissa, Biggle, and even Gavina ¨C who wouldn¡¯t even answer her door. Instead, she just pretended like she didn¡¯t hear his knock, even going so far as to innocently whistle. Finally, he bought a veritable feast from the Stuck Pig, which he brought back to the grove for the evening meal. That night, he and his family ¨C including Nerthus and Colt ¨C had something of a going away party. Miguel had already progressed to level eight, so he would be getting his class within a couple of weeks, which was the source of some excitement. The possibilities dominated their discussion for quite some time as Miguel animatedly detailed everything he¡¯d been doing since being let off his leash. He clearly took quite a bit of joy in the retelling, though Carmen didn¡¯t seem too enthused to hear that her son had been risking his life. In Elijah¡¯s case, he wasn¡¯t certain how he felt. On the one hand, it was good that Miguel was gaining enough power to protect himself, but Elijah would have been lying if he said he wasn¡¯t worried about his nephew. In the end, he could only trust that the young man would be smart about the risks he took. Before Elijah knew it, everyone had gone to bed, leaving only him and Nerthus sitting in the grove. ¡°You¡¯ll take care of things while I¡¯m gone, right?¡± he asked. ¡°I will,¡± Nerthus assured him. ¡°Anyone who comes to this island with malice in their hearts will rue the day they chose their path.¡± Elijah believed the spryggent. So, without further ado, he retreated to his treehouse, where he checked and rechecked his supplies. He didn¡¯t intend to leave anything behind, so he spent hours going through his lists. He didn¡¯t bother sleeping that night. Instead, when dawn came, he gathered his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, said his final goodbyes to Carmen, Miguel, and Nerthus, then headed toward the Branch in Ironshore. There, he waited alongside Kurik, a few Tradesmen and Merchants he didn¡¯t know, as well as Nia and Robolo. The latter two couldn¡¯t meet Elijah¡¯s gaze, probably because they remembered what had happened the last time they had grouped up with him. Hopefully, this time would be better. The timer ticked down until, at last, the Branch began to glow. Then, a notification flashed before Elijah¡¯s inner eye:
You have been invited to attend the Trial of Primacy. Please report to your local Branch of the World Tree if you would like to participate. Invite expires in twelve minutes.
Elijah wasted no time before placing his hand on the Branch. The moment his fingers made contact, his senses went dark as he was whisked away to the Trial of Primacy. 4-85. The Best of the Best Sadie Song stared at the Branch, waiting for the seconds to tick away until she could enter the Trial of Primacy. Even though everything pointed to it being the right choice, she still felt guilty about her choice to attend. There was a niggling thought in the back of her mind that she should have simply gone home. After all, with the corrupted forces of the Primal Realm having been quarantined, the survivors of Hong Kong would have a perfect opportunity to solidify their grip on the region and retake lost territory. She should have been spearheading that instead of preparing to participate in some sort of contest. ¡°You okay, bro?¡± asked Dat, standing on her right side. She glanced toward her friend, seeing that he¡¯d taken the impending Trial very seriously. He¡¯d spent weeks in preparation, buying useful items and plenty of supplies. Most of those supplies were nestled snuggly inside the backpack he¡¯d been awarded for conquering the local tower with a few friends he¡¯d made in town. That was the thing about Dat, and the trait that made Sadie more than a little envious. He¡¯d always been good at making friends. Part of that was due to his easygoing demeanor, but it could also be chalked up to his nonjudgemental nature. He accepted people as they were, even going so far as to show enthusiasm about their interests. Sadie had never been able to do that. Charitably, she could have been called cold, but there were less generous labels that had been thrown her way, many of which were quite vulgar. It had been that way since childhood, and things had only gotten worse after she¡¯d grown up and acquired her class. She wanted to be different. She¡¯d tried to be like Dat. But her attempts at connecting with other people usually came off awkward or condescending, neither of which were endearing qualities But at least she had Dat. And her family, though she wasn¡¯t sure how much the latter actually liked her. Her family loved her, certainly, but even Niko avoided her unless they pursued mutual goals. Most of all, though, keeping her company were Sadie¡¯s obligations. Others could worry about friendship and being liked. She concerned herself with more important things ¨C like survival. Even if they often called her unflattering names, she would still save as many people as she could. For her part, she¡¯d spent most of her time in Argos at the Temple of Virtue. It was a comforting place with dense ethera ¨C probably due to the natural treasure that grew at its center ¨C but more importantly, it gave her the opportunity to help people. Because, for all of her cold demeanor, that was all she wanted out of life. Every step she¡¯d taken had been in pursuit of that goal, and standing before that temple and healing people was the purest expression of those desires. Unfortunately, she hadn¡¯t received the same sort of adulation as that infuriating Druid. When he visited Argos, it was like a parade. And the worst part was that he didn¡¯t even notice it. Nor did he seem to care. By comparison, she¡¯d only gotten looks of suspicion and begrudging acceptance of the help she offered. And it bothered her more than she wanted to admit. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± she lied, shifting her own pack on her shoulder. It was smaller than Dat¡¯s, but because of the spatial enchantment, it held even more supplies. But even if she lost it, she felt confident that she could survive with nothing but the enormous sword on her back. The weapon ¨C which she¡¯d received as a reward from a system task associated with the Primal Realm ¨C was called the Sword of the Morning, and it had been her constant companion for the past year. By comparison, her armor ¨C called Silverine Battlegear ¨C had been crafted by her clan¡¯s most advanced Blacksmith from the best materials they could find, and the results had been a revelation. Hopefully, it would be enough to protect her. She didn¡¯t fear death, but if she fell, Hong Kong would be destroyed. Thousands of lives would be lost. And the undead scourge would spread across the world. Pushing that pressure from her mind, she glanced back at the others who would participate in the Trial. One of them was a Merchant, while the tall woman who¡¯d latched onto Elijah Hart led a group of fighters. The odd one out was a pretty young man with curly hair. Despite his slight frame and bookish demeanor, he was the only one who felt strong enough to threaten her. Suddenly, the Branch lit up with blue ethera, and she received a notification informing her that the Trial was ready. So, she reached out and touched the closest crystalline limb, and a moment later, her mind went dark. The last thing she thought was that she hoped she had made the right decision. * * * Benedict Emerson tried to ignore the agonized moans of all the people around him. Why couldn¡¯t they simply remain silent and accept their fates? They were already dead. Their fate had been established the moment they had attacked him, and it had been sealed when they had been impaled by Ritual Spike.
Ritual Spike Summon a spear that erupts from the ground to impale a victim. Functions in conjunction with Ritual Circle to channel powerful flows of ethera into a summoning spell.
He glanced up, seeing a perfect circle of black spikes, onto which the bandits had been impaled. Thirteen of them, in fact. An ideal number for his new ritual. One for each of the foundational twelve, then another to represent all the hidden powers of the multi-verse. Ten more bodies lay in a nearby heap, discarded and forgotten. The spikes had been arranged equidistant from one another, and they surrounded four chained imps. They chattered excitedly, completely uncomprehending what was coming. That was the issue with the demonlings. They weren¡¯t completely stupid, but Benedict would describe them more as cunning than intelligent. Whatever the case, the moment he¡¯d evolved Summon Demonling into Summon Malicious Guard, he had chosen to sacrifice them.
Summon Malicious Guard Using an empowered summoning circle, summon a Tier-2 fel servant and bind the creature to your will. Cooldown based on Ethera attribute. Current: 18.6 Days.
The description hadn¡¯t changed much from its previous incarnation, but the ritual¡¯s requirements were quite a bit steeper. Not only did those conditions necessitate using Ritual Spikes, but they also included sacrificing his previously summoned servants. That was okay, though. Imps were useful, but Benedict believed that one powerful servant would be better than four weaker demonlings. He''d been quite upset when he¡¯d discovered that four was his current limit. He had plenty of ethera to support more, but that didn¡¯t seem to matter. More than once, he¡¯d found himself wishing he¡¯d refused Thakon¡¯s offer and continued on as a necromancer. Of course, that only lasted a few moments ¨C long enough for the self-pity to give way to the realization of his increased power ¨C but in his weaker moments, he found himself railing at the circumstances. He had adjusted, though. Where he¡¯d once specialized in controlling a great horde of zombies, he would now focus on enslaving the strongest minions he could summon. Quality over quantity ¨C a tenet he could get behind. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Gradually, Benedict completed his Ritual Circle. After six months, his mastery had become instinctive. He¡¯d always had an eye for detail, and that perfectionism was evident when he stood up and looked at the Ritual Circle he¡¯d drawn with his victims¡¯ blood. He dismissed his Ritual Dagger, then stepped out of the bloody circle. Once he did, he took a moment to glance around at his surroundings. He¡¯d stumbled upon the town while seeking a tower to challenge, and to his dismay, they¡¯d reacted poorly to his arrival. It was the same all over the world. Bandits and malcontents, all. It wasn¡¯t surprising. Benedict had always known that the world was full of bullies. He¡¯d felt their wrath often enough, especially in his youth. The only difference was that now, he had the ability to resist. He¡¯d exercised that ability without hesitation, and the results were all around him. There might¡¯ve been a few survivors hiding in the town, but his imps had been thorough enough in their quest of extermination. The only issue was that, when they killed without his input, Benedict only received a fraction of the experience. A small price to pay, but an annoying one. Regardless, the reward for the imps¡¯ efforts was that they were given the chance to fuel his latest summoning. They should have been happy to serve such an undertaking. They weren¡¯t, though. Instead, as they began to realize what was happening, they filled the air with their inane chatter, begging him to reconsider. Ungrateful creatures. Hopefully, the Malicious Guard would be better. He pulled his attention away from the smoking ruins of the town and focused on the circle. Then, he used Empower Summoning Circle, shoving ethera into the ritual. The blood with which he¡¯d drawn the runes lit up with glimmering power. Then, finally, he cast Summon Malicious Guard. The Ritual Spikes flared with blinding light as they drained not just ethera, but also vital energy, from the thirteen impaled villains. That power rushed into the circle and to the chained imps. They exploded into a rainbow of light, cutting off their incessant screeching. Finally, the atmosphere ripped apart, revealing a world of fire and brimstone. A huge creature stepped through. All glistening black muscle and horns, it looked like a proper demon. It was a quadruped, looking like the unholiest of centaurs, though instead of the body of a horse, the origin of the bottom half was clearly that of a predator, with raking claws, armored plates, and a forked tail. What would have been a human half on a centaur came from a hulking primate, though one with thick, rhinoceros-like skin instead of fur. A crown of six horns decorated its tusked, simian face. It roared, shaking the very foundations of the town¡¯s still smoldering buildings. And Benedict smiled. Yes ¨C quality over quantity was the right strategy. ¡°Master,¡± it rumbled, bowing its head. Before Benedict could respond, he received a notification:
You have been invited to attend the Trial of Primacy. Please report to your local Branch of the World Tree if you would like to participate. Invite expires in twelve minutes.
¡°Oh,¡± he mused. ¡°That was today?¡± He¡¯d totally forgotten about the system¡¯s little competition. Though he had to admit that such a Trial might be a perfect proving ground for his newly summoned Malicious Guard. And as luck would have it, the town he¡¯d so fortuitously visited played host to a Branch. So, without giving it too much thought, he gestured for his minion to follow as he stepped past the bodies and headed toward the Branch. * * * Oscar Rodriguez was confused. But that was nothing new. He couldn¡¯t count how many times he¡¯d dragged himself out of the struggle to survive and found a new setting. Usually, that meant different variations of the wilderness ¨C or the ruins of civilization ¨C but in this case, he was standing outside of a functional town. Nearby were the companions who¡¯d been with him since the very beginning. One of them ¨C Escobar ¨C barked. ¡°I know,¡± he grunted, glancing at the chihuahua. He wore a spiked collar, but even though Oscar knew just how powerful the little dog was, Escobar looked no different than in the beginning. Of course, that wasn¡¯t the case with all the rest. Seven dogs, mostly stay mutts who¡¯d been brought to the shelter where Oscar had once worked, each one bigger and stronger than any dog had been before the world had changed. Oscar had seen them take down enormous monsters, ripping through them without issue. He''d done plenty of killing as well, using the abilities he¡¯d gained from his Pack Leader class to empower, heal, and direct his companions. But none of them were even close to as strong as little Escobar. Oscar turned his attention back to the town. It was surrounded by a large wall, which was guarded by a trio of sentries. In his experience, towns were places to be avoided. That was why he spent so much time in the wilderness. At least that was what he told himself in his more lucid moments. The forests were wild and dangerous places, but he felt more at home away from so-called civilization. Happier, even though it was usually a difficult life filled with violence. But that was what survival meant. He¡¯d learned that within hours of the world¡¯s transformation, when a giant rat-like creature had invaded the animal shelter where he used to work. He¡¯d narrowly managed to survive with the help of his companions, but most of the other animals ¨C as well as his coworkers ¨C had been killed. Since then, he¡¯d encountered one deadly hardship after another, but with the assistance of his pack, he¡¯d overcome them all. Now, though, he had a choice to make. The nearby town played host to a Branch. Normally, he didn¡¯t care about those curious crystalline trees. He preferred the wilderness, after all. But the Trial of Primacy was important. He wasn¡¯t sure why. He just knew it was. Escobar agreed, an opinion he made known with another serious of yapping barks. Oscar sighed. ¡°I know,¡± he repeated. ¡°We need to go into town.¡± He turned to his other companions and said, ¡°Be on your best behavior.¡± Two of them ¨C Jackson and Sophie, both of whom were rottweiler mixes ¨C snorted. Gabby let out an excited bark. And Jojo ¨C a tiny shih tzu who could move too fast for Oscar to even track ¨C wagged her tail. The rest took the order stoically, just staring at him with undiluted trust. With that, Oscar strode forward. He had to force himself to move like the person he¡¯d once been. In the wilderness, he¡¯d gotten into the habit of moving like a wild predator, and pushing those learned tendencies aside was more difficult than he had expected. Still, he managed all the same. When he reached the guards, they were understandably alarmed by the pack of dogs following him. However, he put on his most soothing voice ¨C the one he used when the members of his pack was upset about something ¨C as he said, ¡°They¡¯re with me. Don¡¯t worry. They don¡¯t bite or anything.¡± Thankfully, his companions were far more amenable to civilization than he was, and they put on quite a show of wagging tails as they charmed the sentries. It was odd, knowing that the animals were better with people than he was. That had probably always been the case, but increasingly, Oscar found it difficult to remember what his life was like before the world¡¯s transformation. That should have been a little alarming, but he found it easier to accept everything that had happened if he didn¡¯t have to think about all of that. Regardless, once the guards had fallen under the dogs¡¯ spell, they let him through, even telling him where to find the Branch. He made his way there without delay, though he did buy his companions some meat from a street vendor. Over the past few years, he¡¯d earned a lot of coins, which he didn¡¯t hesitate to use to make his pack happy. Soon enough, he reached the Branch, and it was just in time too. Almost as soon as he entered the building, he received a notification telling him that the Trial had begun. There were a few people waiting to enter, just like him, and one by one, they touched the Branch and disappeared. When it came to Oscar¡¯s turn, he directed the members of his pack to touch the Branch, and they too disappeared. Escobar was the last to go, and when he did, a deep sense of sorrow enveloped Oscar. He hated being alone. So, he didn¡¯t waste any time before touching the Branch as well. And when he did, he was whisked away to the Trial. * * * Emperor Yloa K¡¯hnam sat on his throne, one set of arms folded in front of his muscular chest as the other gripped the armrests. The ostentatious chair had been carved from the bone of his first Deific conquest ¨C a leviathan that had descended upon his city with ill intent ¨C but it had lost much of its inherent power. It was the same with the entire realm, which the system had dubbed The Last Bastion of the Fallen. It was a fitting name, but when Yloa considered it, cracks spread across the armrest. Even with the shackles imposed by the system, his Strength was monumental, and his anger was even more powerful. Woe be unto those who chose to participate in this sham of a Trial. Primacy? He almost laughed at the ill-fitting word. They were fuel. A means for Yloa to drag his people back to relevance. That was what the system had promised.
Excised world has been temporarily reconnected to the World Tree. To make this connection permanent, slay the participants in the Trial of Primacy before they complete the Trial of Primacy. Acceptance of this Task is contingent on the application of Shackles that will reduce your power to that of a peak Mortal.
Yloa had accepted without question. His world had long since been excised from the World Tree. It was only through his valiant efforts that they¡¯d managed to resist falling under the influence of the abyss. But now, they had a chance to rejoin the World Tree. And he only had to kill a few thousand people to do so. It was a gift. A reward for his long dedication to ensuring the survival of his people. Resisting the Ravener had not been easy. Even now, he could feel the great entity pressing against the quarantine instituted by the system. It would find no weaknesses, but its nature dictated that it would never stop trying. Just as Yloa would never cease in his attempts to save his people. They had already sacrificed so much, and that was before the Excision. Now, they had a chance for redemption. And he wouldn¡¯t let them squander it. As those thoughts flitted through his mind, he felt thousands of surges of power. They were like pinpricks in his mind, each one representing another invader into his world. They were all so pitiful. So weak. If it weren¡¯t for the Shackles, he could have destroyed them without ever leaving his throne. With those system-imposed restraints, he would need to be a little more hands-on, though. Or his people would. Turning to his advisor, he said, ¡°Ready the hunters. Our visitors have arrived.¡± The woman nodded, her ivory skin glistening in the ethereal light of the throne room. ¡°As you say, Emperor.¡± 5-1. Prejudice Elijah only knew peace. He didn¡¯t know how long it lasted. Nor was he in any condition to question it. Instead, he basked in the quiet. For the longest time, he¡¯d been forced to acclimate to a cascade of stimuli ¨C from his enhanced senses to the input from One with Nature ¨C and he hadn¡¯t realized how much that tidal wave of information had weighed on his shoulders. Now, though ¨C he felt only blissful silence, and to such a degree that he could, at last, relax. Then, without warning, his senses screamed at him as he reappeared in an entirely different world. He had expected it. Planned for it. But the notion that he¡¯d crossed untold lightyears ¨C perhaps even dimensions ¨C was almost too much for him to bear, at least in the short term. Still, he¡¯d long since grown accustomed to pushing those distractions aside so he could focus on what was important. Like his surroundings. He didn¡¯t think the system would immediately throw him to the proverbial ¨C or perhaps literal, considering he didn¡¯t know what sort of world played host to the Trial of Primacy ¨C wolves. So, he opened his eyes as well as his senses and inspected the ruins in which he¡¯d found himself. The first thing he noticed was that he was inside what had once been a grand structure with eye-catching architecture. Fluted columns ringed the circular chamber, each one bearing elaborately carved capitols, though they were far too worn for Elijah to determine the subjects of those sculptures. The chamber itself was a little more than a hundred yards across, with a cracked dome overhead. It glimmered with a dull shine, but Elijah couldn¡¯t tell what metal had been used in its construction. A large rift ¨C maybe five feet across at its widest point ¨C stretched from the center of the dome all the way to the edge, allowing a shaft of sunlight into the chamber. It was the only source of light. And then there were the people, none of whom he recognized. He¡¯d hoped that he would enter the Trial alongside the people from Ironshore. He didn¡¯t trust Robolo or Nia, but they were familiar. That was much better than trying to rely on strangers. Besides, Kurik was with them, and over the years, the dwarven scout certainly had earned Elijah¡¯s trust. Before he could say anything to the strangers ¨C none of whom were human ¨C a notification appeared before Elijah¡¯s inner eye:
Welcome to the Trial of Primacy. The Excised world known as Ka¡¯arath has been temporarily reconnected to the World Tree and terraformed for the purpose of this Trial. It will be your home for the next year. To leave, you must reach the Nexus Town, where you will find a World Tree Branch as well as safety from the local dangers. The rules of the Trial are thus: There are ten challenges scattered throughout the Trial Grounds. They represent the nine realms connected to the World Tree, with the tenth representing the Abyss. Defeat them, and you will be rewarded with powerful items. In addition, everything you do within the Trial will carry with it a point total. At the end of the Trial, these points will be added together to determine Primacy. The rewards for Primacy are as follows: First Place ¨C 10 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath) Second Place ¨C 5 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath) Third Place ¨C 3 Levels (plus all rewards earned by those beneath) In addition, there are rewards for the top 100. They are as follows: 1-10 ¨C Will of Iron 1-50 ¨C Minor Potion of Mind 1-100 ¨C Minor Potion of Body Finally, all experience awarded in the Trial will be enhanced. The Trial of Primacy is a sacred opportunity only given to those who will become the leaders of your world. Do not take it lightly, though. The Challenges are not the only dangers. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Good luck.
That was all there was to see, and Elijah had to admit that he was a bit disappointed in the lack of information. He¡¯d hoped to learn something about the challenges mentioned in the notification, but given how lacking information had been since Earth had been touched by the World Tree, he couldn¡¯t say he was surprised. Still, there were some helpful nuggets of information there. Like the nature of the challenges, which were meant to mirror the nine realms connected to the World Tree. It wasn¡¯t something he¡¯d heard before, but it bore a passing resemblance to Norse mythology. So, perhaps that was a hint as to what was to come. Unfortunately, Elijah¡¯s experiences with those stories were limited to watching Marvel movies, so he probably wasn¡¯t the best prepared to make predictions as to what was to come. And besides, it wasn¡¯t as if that commonality was assured. For all he knew, only the terminology was similar. So, he intended to reserve judgement until he had more to go on. Instead, he turned to inspect the people who¡¯d arrived in the domed chamber with him, and what he saw was a little shocking, largely because only about half were human. The rest represented the other races that had come to Earth in search of opportunities. He saw goblins, elves, a couple of dwarves, and even a few creatures he could only classify as ogres. Once, Elijah had been told there were only a handful of races in the known multi-verse, but that characterization was a bit misleading. Due to interbreeding, especially with semi-sapient races like orcs, that handful had become nearly infinite with variations. For instance, Elijah had learned that Nerthus¡¯ race ¨C the spryggents ¨C were the result of ancient cross-breeding with elves and dryads, whose progeny had learned to procreate with sentient trees. It was all a bit confusing, and upon learning of so many possibilities, Elijah had decided to simply take things as they came. But the wide variety of races on display stretched that resolution, especially when a large ogre, accompanied by a goblin that was even taller than Elijah, approached him. He turned to face them, expecting trouble. So, he was a little surprised when the ogre broke into a wide, uneven-toothed grin. ¡°Hey. You strong. Want to group?¡± he asked in a deep, gravelly voice that sounded like it came from a walking mountain. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Dammit, Grod,¡± said the unusually large goblin, massaging his brow in annoyance. He wasn¡¯t just taller than the other members of his race that Elijah knew. He was much more muscular, with thick shoulders and a neck that seemed to disappear into his trapezius muscles. A couple of stumpy tusks stuck out from his bottom lip. ¡°You gotta be more subtle than that.¡± Then, to Elijah, the goblin said, ¡°Name¡¯s Venka. Way I figure it, we got two choices here. We can all go our separate ways and get killed, or we can band together ¡®til we find the Nexus Town. What d¡¯ya say? Grod¡¯s strong. I¡¯m a fair Hunter. We probably stand a better chance together than alone.¡± Elijah glanced around, though One with Nature told a better story. Since upgrading his Core ¨C and with the bonus from his equipment ¨C the effective radius had widened quite a bit. So, he could feel most of the people in the general area. And what he sensed wasn¡¯t encouraging. Most of the humans had separated from the other races, and they glared at them with undisguised enmity. The non-natives of Earth returned those looks with equal distrust and, in some cases, undiluted hatred. Clearly, there were some conflicts back on Earth between the natives and the newcomers. Then, a woman raised her voice, saying, ¡°There¡¯s no reason to battle! We only need to ¨C¡± ¡°She¡¯s using a skill!¡± shouted a short creature with hairy feet. He looked like a blend between a dwarf and an elf. Elijah had recognized the skill as well, and the ability in question reminded him of Barry back in Seattle. Clearly, she had a similar class. And even if she had tried to exercise her abilities in the hopes of avoiding conflict, nobody liked it when someone played with their minds. So, once the skill was discovered, the results were predictable. Some people scattered. Others embraced spells and skills. And a few even threw themselves at their perceived enemies. For Elijah¡¯s part, he backed away, ducking a blow from a nearby elf. He didn¡¯t return the favor. Instead, he was intent on extricating himself from the situation. After all, he didn¡¯t have any reason to fight. Luckily, Venka, Grod, and a few others were thinking the same thing. With a nod from Elijah, they all took off across the chamber toward the only exit, which presented itself as a yawning crack in one of the walls. Elijah led the way, leaping over a pile of rubble, intent on putting as much distance between himself and the battle as he could manage. Behind him, he could hear spells going off, though he didn¡¯t look back to see how things were going. After a few more steps, he stumbled free of the domed chamber and got an eyeful of his surroundings. The area was dominated by the massive ruins of a city. Even crumbling and covered by dense vegetation, it was impressively sized. Here and there, Elijah saw some of the fanciful architecture that had survived what appeared to be thousands of years of erosion, and he was taken aback at the artistry involved. With only a short inspection, Elijah was reminded of Mayan architecture, though it was far more refined, as if that culture had survived and been allowed to evolve over thousands of years. It wasn¡¯t a one-to-one comparison. In addition to a clear preference for stepped pyramids, the builders of the city were also fond of huge domes and stone spires. Further muddling Elijahs impressions was the fact that a jungle was well on its way to overtaking the area. That, in turn, had brought many buildings to ruin. Those thoughts passed through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he ran through the ruins, turning at random until the sounds of the battle faded. Once they¡¯d reached temporary safety, Elijah slowed to a stop. Venka skidded to a halt right behind him, and a few seconds later, a huffing and puffing Grod arrived. Six others ¨C two elves, one portly human man, and a trio of women with feathers instead of hair ¨C followed. ¡°You run too fast,¡± Grod muttered. Once before, Elijah had referred to the residents of the Citadel of the Reaver as ogres, and at the time, he¡¯d thought it an accurate label. Grod looked a lot like them, though, at only seven feet tall, he was a bit shorter and slightly less muscular. However, his features were more refined, and his eyes held a note of intelligence that the tower¡¯s creatures had never possessed. ¡°Grod barely keeps up.¡± ¡°Sorry,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Figured it was best to get out of there as quickly as possible.¡± ¡°Good idea,¡± agreed Venka, his eyes methodically darting around as if he was trying to look everywhere at once. ¡°Don¡¯t want to kill anyone unnecessarily. We might need them later.¡± The other six looked at the goblin a little warily at that justification. ¡°A hill goblin with restraint,¡± said one of the elves. ¡°Never thought I¡¯d see that.¡± ¡°Mai,¡± said one of her companions. ¡°We don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Well, we¡¯ll take our leave, then,¡± Mai stated. ¡°I would appreciate it if you ruffians didn¡¯t follow. Otherwise, things will get very nasty.¡± Then, without hesitation, the elf ¨C she was taller and possessed an even more refined appearance than someone like K¡¯hana ¨C turned and strode off. The two other elves followed, and so did the stragglers. One of the humans gave Elijah an apologetic shrug before leaving. ¡°Wow,¡± Elijah said as they disappeared around a corner. He shook his head. ¡°That¡­I don¡¯t even know what to say about that.¡± Elijah preferred to travel alone, but he had the benefit of a nature attunement, One with Nature, and a host of abilities that let him thrive in the wilderness. Most other people only survived by working together, so it was more than a little surprising that they¡¯d left so readily. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it,¡± said Venka. ¡°Lots of people have prejudices associated with hill goblins. Even more have issues with ogres like Grod.¡± ¡°Grod don¡¯t care. Grod friendsly.¡± ¡°Sure you are, buddy,¡± said Venka. ¡°That¡¯s why we stick together, right? Us against the world, I always say.¡± Before Elijah could respond, he heard screams coming from the direction the others had gone. He glanced at Venka, who shrugged. But Grod was already stomping through the ruins, yelling, ¡°Grod will save you!¡± Elijah had to keep himself from rolling his eyes as he followed. 5-2. Native Dangers Screams of agony and fear echoed off the walls of the ruined buildings, accompanied by the thudding sound of Grod¡¯s heavy boots hitting the remnants of the flagstone street. The big ogre had already disappeared around a corner, heedlessly charging into danger. Elijah and Venka were far more cautious. ¡°He always does this,¡± the hill goblin breathed. ¡°I think he forgets he¡¯s not a Warrior.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Jeweler, believe it or not. I guess some stereotypes are there for a reason, though. He never met a battle he didn¡¯t want to participate in,¡± Venka said as the pair trotted around the corner. What they saw was both expected and not ¨C the former, because the people who¡¯d just broken away from their impromptu party had been attacked and were in the middle of losing a fight. The latter, due to the form of their attackers. There were ten creatures, vaguely humanoid in shape, but with marbled blue-and-white skin, four spindly arms, and skeletally thin bodies. One of them had already wrapped its limbs around the lead elf, but aside from restricting her movement, there was something else going on. Ethera swirled around the two, misting into a visible cloud. The other five weren¡¯t doing much better, though they¡¯d at least managed a token resistance. However, Elijah quickly discovered that they were far from strong, which probably explained why they were so quick to flee the battle that had erupted back in the domed chamber. The avoidance of conflict came from the knowledge that they would¡¯ve probably lost. Not so with Grod, who barreled into a trio of those spindly-armed monsters, swinging his huge fists like battering rams. The first went flying into a nearby wall with enough force that it should¡¯ve toppled the ruined edifice. Yet, it held firm ¨C as did the monster, who rose only a moment later to throw itself around one of the other elves. That was when Venka arrived, suddenly producing a pair of long knives and falling upon the remaining pair of monsters assaulting Grod. Those were far more effective than blunt force, and in the space of only a moment, the air was filled with oddly glowing white blood. Not wanting to show all of his cards, Elijah cast Healing Rain, then started throwing out instances of Soothe. His first target was Grod, who¡¯d already taken some damage from the enraged monsters. Unlike the method of attack they¡¯d employed with the others, they didn¡¯t try to wrap themselves around him. Instead, they fell upon him, biting and clawing like rabid animals. Despite his large size and durable appearance, Grod was a Tradesman, and as such, he didn¡¯t have the Constitution one might expect from a being his size. So, the monsters ripped into him without issue, rending his meaty flesh with every attack. Fortunately, his low Constitution also meant that, comparatively, Elijah¡¯s healing spells did more for him than they would have for a Warrior his level. Because of that, he was able to keep up with the damage, especially with the addition of Nature¡¯s Bloom, as well as the enhancement provided by his new staff. And it was clear that the monsters weren¡¯t entirely unintelligent, because they quickly identified the reason the big ogre remained upright. Two of them raced toward Elijah, reaching him before he could blink. Fortunately, he¡¯d spent quite a lot of time drilling with his chosen weapon, so when he reacted on instinct, his efforts were effective. His staff swept out, cracking one of the monsters in the hip and sending it stumbling away. Then, he thrust the weapon at the other creature, taking it in its emaciated chest and stopping it cold. That¡¯s when he let loose with Storm¡¯s fury at point-blank range. The spell, channeled through his staff, hit the monster with the force of a sledgehammer, scorching its chest before sending it arcing through the air. It landed, digging a groove in the loamy turf that covered most of the street before coming to a stop only a moment later, where it lay twitching as lightning forced its muscles into involuntary convulsions. For Elijah, the sight of the seizing monster was enough evidence of the efficacy of his spells, so he aimed another bolt of lightning at his other attacker as it tried to climb to its feet. It never made it, taking a cast of Storm¡¯s Fury in the face. It flipped, end over end, before coming to a rest at the base of a pile of moss-covered rubble. But none of the creatures had died yet. Venka was busy ripping into his own opponent, each swipe of his blades tearing vicious wounds in the spindly monster¡¯s body. It proved surprisingly durable, though, and despite bearing a dozen deep lacerations, it still managed to put up a decent fight. Meanwhile, Grod laid about him with fists the size of bowling balls, each blow sending a monster flying away. However, his efforts weren¡¯t very effective, and the creatures recovered from the attacks quickly, rejoining the fight in a matter of moments. By comparison, though, the ogre and hill goblin were doing far better than the other six. Elijah suspected the lead elf was already dead, and the portly human man leaned against a wall, his entrails spilling out. Meanwhile, the feather-haired women darted around in an effort to avoid the rest of the monsters. Despite Elijah¡¯s efforts in healing, everyone but Venka and him sported grievous wounds. And though his heals were powerful, Elijah knew that he couldn¡¯t keep up. Not so long as he was trying to heal everyone. Already, casting multiple instances of Nature¡¯s Bloom had taken a bite out of his pool of ethera, and it would only take a few more before he needed to start rationing his energy. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. So, he made a choice. Or rather, a list of priorities. His own health came first, but then came Grod and Venka. A long way after that were the others. They¡¯d made their choice when they had decided to go off on their own, and while Elijah wasn¡¯t quite so petty as to completely refuse to help them, they came in at a distant fourth-place in his list of priorities. As Elijah healed, he defended himself with his staff. Fortunately, Storm¡¯s Fury didn¡¯t take a lot of ethera ¨C comparatively speaking ¨C so he made liberal use of the spell, sending bolts of lightning arcing out each time he saw an opening. The first to die was the portly human. Elijah suspected he possessed a non-combat archetype, because he didn¡¯t seem to have much in the way of defense. Perhaps he¡¯d come with a group, thinking that he could rely on his companions to defend him. However, with the randomness of their entry locations ¨C after all, none of the people from Ironshore had been in that domed chamber with Elijah ¨C the pudgy man¡¯s fate was sealed. After that came two of the feathered women, both of whom died with their throats ripped out. Then, the elven leader finally gave in to the monster wrapped around her. And the final three died just as unceremoniously, leaving only Elijah, Grod, and Venka to battle the remaining monsters. Six of those creatures had already died, but the four that were left were clearly the most powerful. More disturbingly, the one that had killed the elven leader was among them, and it looked stronger than ever, with its spindly arms and legs having grown a bit of muscle since the battle¡¯s beginning. Elijah batted one of the monsters aside, then retreated a few feet. He knew they weren¡¯t going to win if he didn¡¯t show at least one more of his abilities. So, he embraced Swarm, and after a few moments, let loose the spell that manifested hundreds of glowing insects. To Elijah, they looked a little like fireflies, though emitting blue light instead of the more natural bioluminescence he was used to. They did not act like the mundane insects with which Elijah was accustomed, though. Instead of flitting around aimlessly, they immediately targeted the blue-and-white creatures and dove. The little insects didn¡¯t bite or sting. Instead, when they splattered on their targets, they did so with an explosion of caustic goo that delivered their afflictions. In seconds, the swarm was gone, but they left a host of painful damage in their wake. The four-limbed monsters howled in pain, but they didn¡¯t cease their attacks. Yet, with every passing second, they slowed a bit, leaving themselves vulnerable to reprisal. Venka and Grod took advantage of the provided openings, renewing their attacks with even more fervor. Meanwhile, Elijah continued to heal while using his weapon¡¯s advantage in reach to stave off any enemies that targeted him. Like that, the battle shifted, and all but one monster ¨C the most powerful among them ¨C perished. That was when that lone survivor grew desperate and threw itself at Elijah. Of course, he wasn¡¯t taken off guard. Instead, he met it with a baseball swing that hit its surprisingly solid shins. As he made contact with the creature, he used Storm¡¯s Fury, effectively electrifying his blow. Even as the current arced through the creature¡¯s body, its momentum sent it flipping, end-over-end, and into a wall. Elijah followed it up with Snaring Roots. Thorny, white vines erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around the prone monster. It tried to break free, but with the increase in efficacy provided by his Staff of the First Dragon and advanced Core cultivation, Elijah knew the spell would hold for a few seconds longer than normal. That was all the opening Venka needed. He dashed forward, his knives glowing with black luminescence as he fell upon the helpless creature. Even as it thrashed and tried to rip itself free, Venka slashed into its marbled blue-and-white flesh, sending arcs of pale blood to splatter the nearby ruins. Still, it took more than a minute before the monster finally gave in, its death filling the air with unnatural silence. Venka¡¯s chest heaved as white blood dripped from his face. Then, he looked back at Elijah and nodded. Upon scanning the bodies all around, he grinned. ¡°We should take their stuff,¡± the hill goblin said. ¡°Waste not, right?¡± Elijah just shook his head, then ran his hand through his unruly hair, his fingers catching slightly on the headband that was part of his Armor of the Boar King set. He didn¡¯t particularly like the addition, but he¡¯d convinced himself that it made him look a bit like Conan the Barbarian. That was enough to assuage any lingering doubts about wearing the piece. Besides, its inclusion was necessary to complete the set. ¡°I guess,¡± he said, glancing back at the scene of the battle. They¡¯d been in the Trial grounds for less than an hour, and already, six people were dead. Were they just unlucky to have been attacked so quickly? Or was it truly as dangerous as it seemed? Only time would tell. He glanced at Grod, who was just staring at the dead bodies. To Venka, he asked, ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡± ¡°Grod has a complicated relationship with fighting,¡± the hill goblin said, already kneeling beside one of the slain elves. He unceremoniously stripped her of any valuables, which included a pouch at her waist that clinked with coins, as well as a few rings. He held one of those up to the sun, inspecting it as he explained, ¡°Ogres aren¡¯t known as the most peaceful race, and rightly so. They tend to fight first and ask questions later, if you catch my drift. Grod is different, but he¡¯s not that different. He still feels the urge of his instincts, but he usually feels guilty after he gives in to them. I tried to tell him this place wouldn¡¯t be good for him, but he insisted on coming.¡± ¡°You two came here together?¡± Venka nodded. ¡°Been friends for as long as I can remember,¡± the hill goblin said. ¡°We¡¯re a team.¡± Elijah nodded, though he didn¡¯t know how a Jeweler and a Hunter might help one another. More importantly, he wanted to know how the two managed to end up in the same place. So, he asked, and Venka gave a simple shrug before saying, ¡°No idea. This whole Trial of Primacy thing was difficult to research. It¡¯s something of a rite of passage for newly touched worlds, but each one is different. So, we didn¡¯t know what to expect. Just got lucky we ended up together. And with you. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t appreciate all that healing.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I think we need to get this done as quickly as possible, because I can¡¯t imagine we¡¯ll want to be here when more of these creatures come around.¡± ¡°Not going to argue with that,¡± Venka agreed. ¡°We¡¯ll pool all the loot and divide it when we find safety. Agreed?¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Elijah said. Then, he got down to the business of looting the corpses. 5-3. Bearings Elijah closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the sky, basking in the sunlight as he focused on One with Nature. He could feel everything for almost a hundred yards, and he was both awed and disturbed at the results. There were hundreds of the blue-and-white skinned, four-armed creatures all around him, yet most were underground. The ones that weren¡¯t seemed to be in some sort of hibernation, their breathing rapid as they twitched with every passing second. That was the source of his disturbance. By contrast, he was overcome by the breadth of life stretched out all around him. He¡¯d been in a few jungles over the course of his life ¨C especially in Hawaii ¨C and his island could best be described as a temperate rainforest. Yet, he¡¯d never experienced vitality on par with what he sensed in the surrounding jungle. There was so much life, ranging from the tiniest microorganisms to much larger animals, most of which were completely unfamiliar to him. Elijah was nearly overwhelmed by what he felt. Fortunately, he had the benefit of his Quartz Mind to deal with the onslaught of information, so rather than being overcome, he could properly appreciate the novelty of the setting. The remnants of a mighty city were in evidence as well, though the further they¡¯d traveled from the domed building, the more obvious the collapse had become. And after traveling more than ten miles away from the site of the battle, most of the walls had long since been torn down by the combination of erosion and creeping vines. Even the foundations were gone, giving way to dense vegetation that either covered or cracked the sturdy stone. Every now and again, Elijah had caught sight of a standing tower or wall, but those instances had become increasingly rare with every step. Soon, Elijah expected they would completely give way to unbroken jungle. He opened his eyes, and he couldn¡¯t help but appreciate the sky. In a lot of ways, it resembled Earth¡¯s atmosphere. Predominantly, it was still blue, though the clouds were cast in muted hues of the rainbow. He took a deep breath, then let out a sigh as he studied the alien expanse. If he hadn¡¯t already been convinced he¡¯d traveled to a different world, the sight of the sky above certainly drove that reality home. The same was true of the surrounding jungle. The general structures were similar to what might be found on Earth, but all the details were off. For instance, many of the trees¡¯ leaves were the wrong shapes. Or they tended toward blue-green, rather than the verdant vegetation with which Elijah was familiar. The bark was mostly the same, at least, which Elijah found oddly comforting. Still, every now and again, he¡¯d caught sight of glowing plants or he¡¯d sensed vegetation that was clearly a lot more mobile than anything he¡¯d seen on Earth. To put it mildly, the parts were similar, but to Elijah, it felt as if the entire environment had experienced a violent evolutionary shift, creating something wholly unique. To the biologist in him, it was fascinating, but he was more concerned about the unknown dangers that lay ahead. After a few more minutes, he took a deep breath, then descended from his perch atop one of the towering trees. Within seconds, he was mired in darkness created via the shade of the jungle¡¯s dense canopy. Some light peeked through, but it was only enough to establish a twilight-like atmosphere. Fortunately, there were a few glowing plants, moss, and fungi that alleviated some of the gloom. The tree was more than two-hundred yards tall, so Eliijah¡¯s descent took a couple of minutes¡¯ worth of hopping from one knobby branch to another before he finally alighted to the soft ground. Venka looked up at his arrival, asking, ¡°See anything?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Nothing but more jungle,¡± he admitted, taking his tablet from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. He glanced at the map readout, seeing a couple of points-of-interest, but nothing to indicate which direction they needed to travel. ¡°I think this place is a lot bigger than we first thought.¡± Indeed, with Eyes of the Eagle, he could see incredibly far ¨C hundreds of miles, at least ¨C and he¡¯d seen no indication of the Nexus Town mentioned in the initial notification. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. There were more than five thousand participants in the Trial, so without a large enough playing field, they would spend more time fighting one another than attempting to conquer the challenges. Still, Elijah was a bit put off by the fact that, to leave, one had to reach the promised safety of Nexus Town ¨C a fact that would probably trip more than a few people up. Clearly, the system didn¡¯t intend to coddle anyone. ¡°We should probably just keep going east,¡± Elijah added. He and Venka had decided to use Earth¡¯s celestial patterns ¨C meaning that the sun rose in the east and set in the west ¨C to establish directions. That seemed easier than considering that they really didn¡¯t know anything about the planet¡¯s rotation, so it was possible that it rotated on a completely different axis. Venka grunted, then glanced at Grod, who¡¯d remained almost completely silent since the battle. Elijah recognized the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder, though he had no idea how to combat it. The ogre was clearly bothered by what he¡¯d had to do ¨C as well as the deaths of the others ¨C and he didn¡¯t seem capable of dealing with the aftermath. ¡°How¡¯re you doing, Grod?¡± Elijah asked, trying to get through to the ogre. In response, Grod only shook his head and said, ¡°Grod fine.¡± At the same time, he held a small, red gem ¨C made to look even smaller in his large hands ¨C turning it between his fingers as he stared at it. He seemed to take some solace in the depths of the faceted shape, so Elijah left him to it. Instead, he focused on what he could control. Like his own status, which he hadn¡¯t inspected in quite some time. After completing his core cultivation, he¡¯d given it a quick peek, but he¡¯d quickly become distracted by crafting his Staff of the First Dragon. So, he¡¯d not had the opportunity to look at everything now that he was fully equipped and completely buffed. Now that he had a few spare minutes, he decided to do just that. And he was more than a little surprised at what he found:
Name The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Elijah Hart
Level 90
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 171 (105)
Dexterity 170 (94)
Constitution 163 (103)
Ethera 137 (99)
Regeneration 172 (94)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Whelp Quartz Novice
Elijah enjoyed the sight of those massive numbers associated with his attributes. With the combination of his equipment and buffs, they had reached truly impressive proportions, and he¡¯d seen that at play in the fight against the native creatures. He didn¡¯t think he was quite on the same tier as a dedicated fighter of his level, but the equipment, buffs from the coffee as well as the pork jerky, and his essence line of spells would hopefully go a long way toward letting him stand on the same stage. His attributes would have been a good bit higher, too, if it wasn¡¯t for one factor he hadn¡¯t considered. Apparently, there was a limit to how many pieces of equipment a person could wear, and it seemed to be tied to types. For instance, he couldn¡¯t equip the Gauntlets of the Boar King and the Weighted Gloves at the same time. Nor could he pile three pairs of pants on. In addition, he¡¯d recently learned that he could only get the benefits from two rings and one necklace-type item at a time. So, he¡¯d had to discard some of his old equipment in favor of keeping his set bonus from the Armor of the Boar King active. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t feel too upset about the tradeoff. Especially considering that, with his Dragon Core reaching the Whelp stage, his essence buffs had received another boost. So, they were currently three times as effective as they had been in the beginning, which made for a fifty percent increase over their potency at the Hatchling stage. In addition, his shapes had received a similar enhancement, with the draconid shape coming with a thirty-point increase to both Strength and Dexterity, with a much smaller nine point buff to constitution. Similarly, Shape of the Guardian resulted in a massive buff of forty-five points to Strength and forty points to Constitution. Finally, Shape of the Sky gave him a slightly more modest boost of thirty Dexterity. None of those increases were currently evident in his Status, but he knew they would make a huge difference when he decided to go all out. The same was true of his other spells, which, though they were much more difficult to measure, had received similar increases to their potency. Without that, he might not have been capable of keeping up with the damage done to his new allies. Finally, Elijah had also reached the second stage of overall cultivation, progressing from being a Cultivator to an Adept. That, in turn, had served to increase his total power as well, though it wasn¡¯t reflected in his attributes. As a result, he felt stronger and more coordinated than ever before. In addition, his pool of ethera had grown much larger, and it filled far more quickly than it had before reaching the second stage. In short, he was in the best shape of his life, which he expected he would need if he was going to not only survive the Trial of Primacy, but also gain as many benefits as possible. He wasn¡¯t so arrogant that he thought he would walk away with the top spot ¨C there were some true monsters out there, and he had to believe that many would come with the benefit of some sort of support system ¨C but he did think he had a good chance of getting into the top ten. And who knew? Maybe he would climb to the top, just as he¡¯d ascended to the pinnacle of Earth¡¯s progression ladder. He certainly intended to find out, though he wouldn¡¯t make the mistake of tackling the challenges without a good deal of caution. That was how people got killed. Once the trio had gathered their wits about them, they set off toward the east, with Venka leading the way. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, the hill goblin was a terrible outdoorsman, and he failed to live up to the standards Elijah had come to expect during his time traveling with Kurik. When Elijah asked about it, Venka only grinned and stated, ¡°Never said I was a beast hunter. I¡¯ve always made my living as a bounty hunter. More of a rogue by class, though. Hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± Elijah just shrugged. He didn¡¯t care what Venka¡¯s class or occupation was. Instead, he was far more concerned with whether or not the hill goblin was a trustworthy ally. And so far, he¡¯d proven to be just that. So, even if Elijah still planned to keep an eye on Venka ¨C and Grod, come to that ¨C it wasn¡¯t so different than how he approached most new relationships. He was willing to trust, but that didn¡¯t mean he was going to drop his guard. With that in mind, they continued along, covering one mile after the next as they carved their way through the dense jungle. Every now and again, Elijah sensed one predator or another stalking them, but none of them chose to attack. Likely, that was because they could tell that the group was more trouble than they were worth. But just as the sun began to set, and the shadows beneath the dense canopy deepened, everything changed. A piercing scream echoed through the jungle, followed by the sound of an explosion in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s not far,¡± Venka said, already drawing his long knives. They quivered with black energy as he embraced a skill. ¡°Investigate? Might be we can find a little more loot.¡± ¡°Save people,¡± Grod rumbled. ¡°Not loot.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Venka said. ¡°We¡¯ll try to save them first. But if they fall¡­loot.¡± Elijah nodded, giving his consent. Then, the three companions took off through the jungle. Venka must¡¯ve used another ability, because his clumsy traversal suddenly smoothed out, and he practically glided through the underbrush. Grod followed, his thick legs clearing the way for Elijah to follow at an easy trot. When they finally reached the site of the explosion, though, Elijah found something he didn¡¯t expect. 5-4. Hunters and Hunted Elijah clutched his staff in a white-knuckled grip as he tried to make sense of what he saw. Dozens of people ¨C most of which were human ¨C stood with their backs against a natural edifice composed of loose dirt held together by massive roots. It was around thirty feet tall, and the top was dominated by a huge tree with red-flecked leaves. At first glance, it was an intriguing specimen that differed greatly from its surroundings. He had no time to appreciate it, though. Because the group had taken a defensive position for a reason. They were surrounded by hulking monsters. Some of them resembled the creatures Elijah and his companions had already fought, though instead of marbled blue-and-white skin, these new foes¡¯ hides were entirely pale to the point of looking chalky. The other differences were even more obvious. Where the previous monsters were so thin as to look extremely malnourished, these new creatures¡¯ physiques were not deficient in any way. Moreover, they actually wore clothing ¨C if embroidered loincloths qualified ¨C and carried long spears. Three of the pale monsters ¨C or people, perhaps ¨C sported burns so serious that Elijah questioned how they were still standing. One dashed in, its spear clanging against a hastily raised shield. The wielder staggered backward, though despite the massive force of the monster¡¯s charge, she didn¡¯t fall. However, the next attack ¨C perpetrated by one of the other monsters ¨C made it through, scraping across her chainmail armor. The third, coming like lightning, impaled her through the stomach. When the monster ripped its spear free, it came with a shower of blood. Still, the woman remained on her feet, and the only signs that she¡¯d been wounded came from the gushing blood and a pained grunt. Someone within the group shot an arrow at the monster as it pulled away, but it glanced off an ethereal shield. ¡°We help?¡± Grod asked. He¡¯d learned his lesson about racing into battle without properly thinking things through, but his huge muscles were tense as he resisted the urge to charge. ¡°Better to leave them be,¡± Venka answered. ¡°We got enough to worry about taking care of ourselves.¡± ¡°We help,¡± Grod growled. This time, it was not a question. Venka looked as if he was going to argue, but then, he just shook his head and said, ¡°Maybe there¡¯ll be a reward. That¡¯s the kind of thing people do, right?¡± Elijah didn¡¯t contribute to the exchange. Instead, he was already casting. Regardless of how his new companions felt about altruism, he had no intention of leaving people to be slaughtered by monsters. He wasn¡¯t the most moral of people ¨C his body count made that clear ¨C but he wasn¡¯t so heartless that he would refuse to help people who needed it so obviously. He completed the cast of Healing Rain only a moment later, then immediately started casting Soothe. The defender wasn¡¯t the only one in the group who¡¯d been wounded, so Elijah made the rounds, casting one spell after another until he felt his ethera begin to dip. That took care of the most egregious wounds, so even as Grod charged in, Elijah cast Calamity. The spell took effect, far more furious than ever before. The step up in Elijah¡¯s core cultivation clearly affected it, though the enhancement provided by his staff added a significant amount of impact as well. The results were explosive, with a huge storm suddenly manifesting above the battle. The surrounding jungle protested as winds exceeding those of the most powerful hurricane whipped through their branches, and the ground trembled with a massive earthquake. The conjured storm wasn¡¯t enough to do much damage on its own ¨C at least not to the clearly powerful creatures attacking the group ¨C but the biting winds whipped debris into the white-skinned foes with significant momentum. The true benefit of the storm was in its ability to provide a distraction, though. Elijah used that opening to cast Swarm. Those same flickering insects manifested a second later, then dive-bombed their targets, spreading their afflictions to the monsters. That¡¯s when Grod crashed into them, swinging his wrecking-ball fists with enough force to send them staggering. Venka was right behind him, too, slashing in with his black-glowing knives. Elijah added a few casts of Storm¡¯s Fury and Snaring Roots, but he didn¡¯t reveal any of his other abilities. After all, he had no clue who the cornered people were. For all he knew, they would prove to be enemies, and he wanted to keep his most powerful advantages hidden until he needed them. It was a balancing act between helping and looking after his own safety, and Elijah found it incredibly difficult to hold back from using the full suite of his capabilities. Perhaps that made him paranoid, but he figured it was better to be unnecessarily cautious than to regret revealing too much when it came back to bite him. Regardless, Elijah kept casting as the fight played out. With the monsters having been taken completely by surprise ¨C and with the backdrop of Calamity offering further confusion ¨C Elijah and his allies quickly turned the tide of the battle. Suddenly, the cornered people surged forward, using the weight of their numbers to press their enemies from the other side. It wasn¡¯t a slaughter, though. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. In fact, the outnumbered creatures put up a fantastic fight, and Elijah suspected that if he hadn¡¯t put his thumb on the scale via another cast of Swarm as well as multiple instances of Storm¡¯s Fury, the battle would have turned out very differently. Still, the first monster¡¯s fall kicked off a chain reaction of death, and it wasn¡¯t long before there was only one creature left. It was clearly the strongest, and it bore multiple wounds ¨C burns and slashes from various skills and spells that had been hurled its way ¨C but it was too stubborn to fall without taking its due recompense. A surge of ethera was the only warning before it suddenly raced forward, faster even than Elijah could track. Then, it hit Grod ¨C who presented the largest target ¨C like a bullet. Suddenly, a blade of pure ethera appeared in its hand. The skill shone even brighter than the sun, casting the entire area in deep azure. It lashed out with a horizontal strike, and its blade flashed with blinding light. Elijah blinked, and at first, he didn¡¯t think anything had changed. Then, with sickening slowness, Grod¡¯s head slid free of his body, thudding against the soft loam an instant later. For a moment, silence reigned through the jungle. It was broken a second later when Venka let out a blood-curdling scream. It was a wordless expression of unadulterated grief, and a preamble to a reckless charge. The hill goblin charged forward, his steps completely devoid of their former smoothness. When he crashed into the white-skinned monster, the thing met him with a contemptuous backhand that sent him crashing into the bushes. Then, it barked a harsh laugh before saying, ¡°Pitiful.¡± As it turned to run away, Elijah snapped. Before he knew what he was doing, he¡¯d embraced Shape of the Guardian. He didn¡¯t care about concealing his abilities anymore. Instead, he only wanted to make the villain pay. One facet of his mind flashed back to how he imagined his sister had died. Another landed on the memory of a remorseful Grod, fiddling with his gem as he attempted to cope with what he¡¯d had to do. But mostly, his thoughts were filled with the monster¡¯s villainous laugh. It was enough to send him into a blind rage that was only enhanced by his transformation into the furious form of the lamellar ape. He used Bestial Charge.
Bestial Charge Charge an opponent. Shielded from harm while charging. Maximum distance based on Strength. Current: 138 feet. Shield efficacy based on Constitution. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of the Guardian.
It was a curious ability in that, while it had been affected by his core advancement, the resulting enhancement wasn¡¯t in the area Elijah had expected. He couldn¡¯t charge any further. Instead, the speed of the dash increased. And given just how close he was to the monster, he hit it with the speed of a bullet train. The shield associated with the ability lasted just long enough to protect him from the impact. The same could not be said for the monster. When he hit the creature, the sound of shattering bones filled the air just before it was launched backward to smash against a tree. That trunk shattered, too, just like the monster. So did the next tree in line. And the next after that. The creature didn¡¯t roll to a stop for another hundred feet. But surprisingly, it was not dead. In fact, when Elijah recovered from the disorientation of the charge, the monster had begun to pick itself up. Or at least it tried. The best it could manage was to drag itself a few feet before Elijah closed the gap and leaped atop it. His fists fell as he battered the monster like an enraged gorilla. The thing attempted to shield itself from his blows. It tried to wriggle away. But it was all for naught. Elijah¡¯s wrath was inescapable. It was unclear when the thing actually died, but by the time the red haze of Elijah¡¯s rage faded, the monster had been reduced to a bloody pulp of pale flesh. He leaned back, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Not from the exertion, but rather, the emotion. He¡¯d only known Grod for a few hours, but he¡¯d liked the ogre. And now he was dead. The mere thought of it was almost enough to send Elijiah careening off an emotional cliff and back into the sea of rage he¡¯d only just escaped. But with an effort of will, he forced that anger aside and shifted back to his human form. He took a deep breath, then ran his hand through his hair. It was drenched in blood. So was the rest of him. Idly, he realized that he might not have brought enough cleansing powder. Killing was often messy, after all. ¡°S-stay back,¡± came a quivering voice. Elijah turned to see the shield-bearing woman ¨C backed up by three men carrying various weapons ¨C standing behind him. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you,¡± he promised. ¡°You¡­you¡¯re Elijah Hart. Number one,¡± she said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°On the power rankings.¡± ¡°Oh. Yeah. I guess I am.¡± That was when he realized that he hadn¡¯t bothered to adjust his identity with his Ring of Anonymity. The thing was more trouble than it was worth, and he¡¯d vowed to replace it as soon as he found something actually useful. Maybe the ability to hide his identity would come in handy for some people, but for him, it was largely useless. His skillset was too distinctive, and the moment he started a fight, his power became clear. ¡°Are you going to kill us?¡± she asked. ¡°I just saved you. Me and Venka and Grod,¡± he stated, pushing himself to his feet. The motion caused everyone to flinch, but Elijah paid that reaction very little mind. The mention of the fallen ogre was enough to elicit another sharp stab of anger, though it felt much more muted than it had while he was in his guardian form. He pushed it aside. ¡°What were those things?¡± ¡°They¡­they were hunters,¡± the woman answered. ¡°Really high level, too. Not as high as you¡­¡± ¡°They were people. Not monsters,¡± he guessed. The fact that the creature had spoken seemed to verify that fact, but the orcs had been capable of rudimentary speech, too. So, the lines were usually a little blurry. She shrugged. ¡°I think so?¡± Elijah said, ¡°You can relax. I¡¯m not going to hurt any of you.¡± Then, he started back toward the scene of the battle. A few moments later, he found Venka kneeling beside the slain ogre. Tears fell down his green-skinned cheeks as he held his hand over Grod¡¯s chest. Elijah knelt on the other side and said, ¡°I¡­he was gone before I could heal. It was instant.¡± Venka sniffed loudly. ¡°I told the big idiot we didn¡¯t belong here,¡± he muttered. ¡°But he thought it would be an adventure. I never could say no to him.¡± He glanced back toward the hunter¡¯s corpse. ¡°You got it?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°It¡¯s dead.¡± ¡°Good.¡± For his part, Elijah didn¡¯t think that word applied to the situation, but he didn¡¯t contradict the hill goblin. Instead, he just knelt there, grieving a fallen companion. 5-5. Answers Elijah crouched, his claws digging into the bark as he balanced atop a tree branch. Far below, he saw a lone hunter. The creature was much like the others he¡¯d already fought ¨C four arms, chalky skin, and with a pseudo-reptilian face ¨C but it had the distinction of being alone. Elijah had been following it for some time after he¡¯d stumbled upon another site of battle, though this one wasn¡¯t between the hunters and the Trial-takers. Instead, the group of natives had been attacked by the marble-skinned monsters. Upon seeing the aftermath, Elijah had gotten a better idea of how it all worked. The monsters drained ethera and life force, as evidenced by the dried husks that were the corpses of their most recent victims. Elijah had tracked the lone survivor of the most recent attack, and he intended to use its solitude to get a few more answers. So, he crept forward, instinctively balancing on the branch until he was directly above the native. Then, he used Predator Strike before leaping free. To its credit, the hunter sensed his presence a moment before impact, but that didn¡¯t give the creature enough time to react appropriately. Elijah hit it in the back, his claws ripping through its flesh and destroying its spine. The momentum of the attack drove it to the ground as its legs collapsed underneath it. It growled in pain as it flailed its four arms, yet Elijah refused to let it regain any semblance of an advantage. His jaws closed around one of its shoulders, and he was rewarded by the sound of crunching bone. And more screams, though he tuned those out. He snapped out again, the force of his bite crushing more bone. Two more times, he repeated the action, disabling the creature¡¯s other two arms. It still tried to wriggle free, but with none of its limbs in working order, its efforts were useless. That¡¯s when Elijah shifted back to his human form, then used his staff as a lever to turn it over. He crouched beside it, saying, ¡°Answer my questions, and I¡¯ll heal you.¡± It hissed and spat, growling, ¡°I would rather die!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t intend to kill you.¡± That caught its attention. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stop the bleeding. Just enough to keep you alive. Then, I¡¯ll leave you here for those other things to find. What they do looks painful,¡± Elijah remarked coldly. ¡°As far as I can tell, they suck the ethera right out of you, right? Life, too. That can¡¯t be fun.¡± ¡°Just¡­just kill me¡­¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Please¡­¡± ¡°I told you the deal. Answer my questions, and you can go traipsing off wherever you came from,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Don¡¯t, and you¡¯ll be food for those things. Now, you should probably make a choice pretty soon, because I¡¯m pretty sure they can sense our presence. There are fifteen of them about thirty yards that way, just sleeping away. I think I could probably wake them up, though¡­¡± The hunter answered, ¡°Ask your questions.¡± ¡°What are those things?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°And why are you here?¡± ¡°This is my home. My world. Where else would I be? You are invaders, slaves to the heartless system, and you deserve to be eradicated,¡± hissed the creature. The answer wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected. Elijah had already figured out that the hunters were natives of what the system called an excised world, though he didn¡¯t know what that meant. So, that was his next question. ¡°Long ago, we faced an invasion from the Abyss. We fought back with everything we had, and the system punished us for it. That punishment took the form of permanent Excisement from the World Tree. We should have fallen to the Abyss, but the Transcendent kept the Ravener at bay. Now, we have earned the opportunity to once again connect to the World Tree, and we will not fail.¡± That was a lot to take in, but Elijah followed the chain of events well enough. ¡°And the other creatures? The blue-and-white monsters?¡± ¡°Wraiths. They are part of our punishment. As you say, they are fiends who live off of stolen ethera and vitality.¡± ¡°And your people? What do you call yourselves?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°We are the chosen ones. The kilari.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. Via One with Nature, he felt the slumbering wraiths stir. It seemed that his interrogation had been detected. So, he said, ¡°Thank you for your cooperation.¡± Then, without further discussion, he shifted back into his draconid form and lashed out with his claws. They sliced through the kilari hunter¡¯s neck, and after only a moment, the native¡¯s neck erupted into a fountain of white blood. As it died, Elijah leaped toward a nearby tree, using his claws to ease his ascent as he made his way toward his previous perch. He¡¯d just embraced Guise of the Unseen when the wraiths closed in on the corpse and fell upon it with ravenous fury. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. Elijah watched as they drained what little life and ethera remained. It only took a few moments before the body was entirely drained. Afterwards, the wraiths milled around for a few minutes, looking entirely confused by the lacking sustenance, then wandered away to settle back into hibernation. In some ways, Elijah felt a bit guilty about lying to the kilari. However, he only had to remember the laughing cruelty of the hunter who¡¯d killed Grod to banish any remorse. The hunters had already established themselves as the enemy, and Elijah refused to give them the benefit of his sympathy. Still, he¡¯d learned what he wanted to know. The previous encounter hadn¡¯t been one of chance. Instead, the kilari had been tasked with hunting them. Probably by the system itself, which promised to reward their whole society with a new connection to the World Tree. With that as the prize, it was no great mystery why they would commit themselves to the task. But Elijah suspected that there was more to the story. He felt that the kilari captive had been truthful enough, but his answers smacked of indoctrination, as if he¡¯d been reciting facts he¡¯d been forced to learn. Or maybe Elijah was just reading into it. They were an alien species, so there was a good chance that his interpretation was completely off base. Either way, the interrogation ¨C short as it was ¨C had given him some context for what to expect going forward. Not only would they need to deal with the local wildlife and the Trial¡¯s challenges, but they would also have to find a way to combat the wraiths as well as the kilari hunters. Were those the only issues they might face? Elijah had no way of knowing. With that in mind, he set off through the jungle. He did so beneath the concealment of Guise of the Unseen, so he wasn¡¯t forced into battle. However, he did sense quite a few deadly predators about. Some seemed similar to those he might find on Earth, but others were wholly alien, with far too many limbs and often brimming with ethera. Oddly, there were few creatures he would classify as herbivores. Instead, the closest the local wildlife came was with the scavengers, most of which seemed vicious in their own right. That made the entire ecosystem feel off-balance, as if there was a giant hole in the so-called circle of life. Elijah reasoned that the wraiths were responsible, though that suggested that the infestation was far more prevalent than he¡¯d first suspected. Certainly, there were thousands of the monsters out there, and fortunately, most were in deep hibernation, but even that high number seemed insufficient to completely derailing the natural order. Was it possible that they¡¯d driven all the prey animals to extinction? Maybe. They certainly seemed voracious enough. However, such a shift ¨C even on a regional scale ¨C carried with it terrifying connotations. Those thoughts flitted through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he carefully picked his way through the trees until, at last, he found his way back to the group. Most of them were still asleep, having taken shelter in a deep cavern that he and Venka had subjected to intense scrutiny to ensure there were no prior claimants to the territory. It was safe, which gave the beleaguered group leave to rest. For his part, Elijah wasn¡¯t very tired, so he¡¯d set off to find some answers while the others rested. He shifted back to his human form, then leaped to the ground, landing lightly. He strode forward, passing through the underbrush for a few dozen yards before arriving at the mouth of the cave. It was guarded by one of the shield-bearers. He gave a start at Elijah¡¯s sudden appearance, but he quickly mastered himself. He asked, ¡°Anything out there?¡± ¡°More than you want to know,¡± Elijah answered, pushing past the man. ¡°Just keep your guard up.¡± ¡°Yes, sir,¡± the shield-bearer said. Elijah hadn¡¯t even bothered to learn any of their names. In fact, he probably would have left them behind if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they had something he needed. One of their number had an Explorer class that gave him some insight into which direction they needed to go in order to find the Nexus Town. And as it turned out, he and his companions had been traveling in the wrong direction, which just highlighted the man¡¯s usefulness. So, in exchange for his services, Elijah had agreed to help protect the group until they reached the Nexus Town. Upon entering the cave, he quickly found Venka. For some reason, Elijah was much more comfortable with the hill goblin than with the humans. Perhaps it was because Venka didn¡¯t look at him like he was some sort of monster. The humans were willing to take his help, but they were clearly terrified of him. ¡°You¡¯ve got blood on you,¡± Venka stated without looking up. He held Grod¡¯s gem, between his long fingers. The rest of the ogre¡¯s equipment had been buried with him ¨C at Venka¡¯s insistence. The humans had been unwilling to argue with his wishes, though Elijah had heard a few people grumbling about good gear going to waste. ¡°I found one of the hunters and asked it a few questions.¡± ¡°Him, I think. They¡¯re all male. It implies that they¡¯re unthinking animals. They aren¡¯t. I could see it in their beady little eyes. They¡¯re malicious and cruel,¡± said Venka. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how much of that assessment was based on the fact that one of those hunters had killed the hill goblin¡¯s friend, but he didn¡¯t really dispute it, either. After all, he¡¯d heard the venom in the captured native¡¯s voice. The hate. And the arrogance. Maybe a hateful heart was warranted, given that their planet had been excised from the World Tree, which, as far as Elijah could tell, was like throwing an entire world to the wolves. After Elijah explained what he¡¯d learned, he said, ¡°I think this Trial is going to be more complicated than we thought. A lot of people are going to die.¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Venka stated. ¡°The second we get to that Nexus Town, I¡¯m going home.¡± ¡°Really?¡± Venka shrugged. ¡°I know when I¡¯m outmatched,¡± the hill goblin said. ¡°Only reason I came was because of Grod, anyway. Now that he¡¯s gone¡­¡± He trailed off as he once again locked his eyes onto the red gem. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t know if I told you that. If I could have stopped it¡­¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t your job to protect him. That was on me.¡± While that statement was, on its surface, true, it didn¡¯t make Elijah feel any better about the situation. Instead, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how the battle might have gone if he¡¯d used the full suite of his abilities sooner. If he¡¯d used Shape of the Guardian in the beginning ¨C rather than holding back ¨C Grod might have survived. ¡°It¡¯s on both of us,¡± Elijah said quietly. Venka said nothing in return. Instead, he continued to stare at the gem, clearly lost in the memories of his friend. So, Elijah left him to it, retreating into his own mind as he considered the way forward. 5-6. Class Miguel tried to dodge the oncoming attack, but he was too slow. Always too slow. The voxxian monster¡¯s claw ripped into his side, glancing off his ribs and showering his surroundings in blood and bits of his flesh. His breastplate had offered no protection, largely because half of it had already been destroyed, leaving a large opening for the voxx to attack. And it had. Repeatedly. As a result, his entire left side looked like minced meat with a generous helping of exposed ribs. However, for all he was injured, Miguel was unfazed by what should have been a serious collection of wounds. After all of his drilling, he¡¯d learned to separate himself from the unavoidable consequences of a life of battle. He¡¯d always known he would get hurt. He would fail. Be knocked down. The measure of a real Warrior was in how he responded. So, as the monster ¨C it was a little larger than him, with a sleek body type that only hinted at its incredible speed ¨C flashed by, he used Enrage.
Enrage Channel Ethera into rage, increasing all physical attributes.
He felt a surge of power, and he used those increased attributes well. His armored hand darted out, grabbing hold of one of the creature¡¯s prominent spines, then wrenched it aside. The thing¡¯s momentum halted, but its legs kept going, overbalancing it to such a degree that its feet went out from under it. Miguel used that to his advantage, hacking down with his hatchet and scoring a brutal wound in the monster¡¯s shoulder. The blade of the small axe cut deep, stopping only when it hit bone. The monster went wild, tearing itself free of Miguel¡¯s grip and rolling along the rocky landscape until it managed to recover its stance. Miguel never let up, though. Instead, he used Champion¡¯s Shout:
Champion¡¯s Shout Strike fear into your enemies¡¯ hearts, weakening their resolve.
The skill staggered the monster, but it didn¡¯t send it scurrying away as one might have expected from the description. Still, Miguel had used the ability often enough to know what would happen. With a wince, he crouched to retrieve what was left of his spear. It had already broken, which left him with a three-foot section of wood capped by a chipped blade. He hoped it would be enough. After hefting the broken weapon, he used Charge.
Charge Dash forward at 200% your normal speed for three seconds. Your next attack will do 30% more damage.
The skill was difficult to control, but since getting it at level two, he¡¯d spent countless hours drilling with the ability. It remained difficult, but with his rising Dexterity, he could harness the ability well enough to get some use out of it. Even so, it still felt like he was going downhill in a car with no brakes. As a result, his aim was a little off, and even though he¡¯d been aiming for the monster¡¯s heaving chest, he hit its right hip. That was the bad news. The good news was that the spear held up, ripping through not only the monster¡¯s durable scales but the flesh beneath, also well. The voxxian monster¡¯s pelvis shattered, visibly collapsing its hip. It hissed in pain, lashing out with a backhand that took Miguel in the shoulder. He went tumbling to the ground, his skid embedding quite a lot of sharp, black rock in his already-injured side. He¡¯d already used Recovery, but its effect would only last so long. The moment it ran its course, his Regeneration would plummet. And when that happened, there was a good chance that he would bleed out. Fortunately, the voxxian monster was even worse off than he was. Early on, Miguel had used Impale, which caused a persistent bleeding effect that took time to really show its worth. That, coupled with the half-dozen smaller wounds as well as the two much larger injuries Miguel had recently inflicted, meant that the creature was on the verge of collapse. Miguel just had to outlast it. No small feat, considering how powerful the vaguely reptilian monsters were. In the past, he¡¯d thought they were just ordinary creatures. Now, though, on the verge of completing his first Rift, Miguel had amended that assessment. They were clearly on a different level, perfectly suited to pushing people to their limits. And Miguel was close to his. The creature knew it, too. It clutched the wound at its hip, shifting the bulk of its weight to its left leg. The other arm hung limp, disabled by Miguel¡¯s hatchet strike. Blood, thick and nearly black, covered its blue-green scales. Miguel wasn¡¯t much better off than the monster. In addition to the wound on his side, he¡¯d twisted his knee all out of shape. He also bore the signs of a concussion, and one of his eyes had swollen shut. After Miguel rose, the pair of combatants ¨C one monster, one Warrior ¨C faced off, both wounded and neither willing to surrender. Even if it had been an option, neither would have been willing to back down. It had always been a fight to the death. He dropped his spear. The head had already been chipped, even before his Charge, and it had fractured completely upon impact with the creature¡¯s durable body. The weapon clattered to the obsidian ground, broken and useless. His hatchet wasn¡¯t much better off. The handle had splintered, and the blade had long since fractured. Both were Crude-Grade weapons, just like his armor, which was all he could handle without putting undue stress on his pool of ethera. That would change when he attained a class. But he had to make it through the rift before he could think about that sort of thing. In any case, Miguel drew his last available weapon ¨C a long dagger, perfect for stabbing ¨C and crouched in a knife-fighting stance. The pain of his wounds screamed at him, but he ignored their cries. His training ¨C as well as the life he¡¯d led before getting to his uncle¡¯s island ¨C had prepared him well. The voxxian monster stepped forward. Miguel sidestepped, never crossing his feet, as he awaited an opening. The creature was smarter than any beast, but even if it was stronger and faster than him, it hadn¡¯t displayed any understanding of strategy. It simply attacked, using its instincts as a guidepost. Miguel was better than that. Colt had drilled it into him so many times that the lesson had become internalized. Battles were not won by muscle. The mind was his greatest weapon, and he¡¯d honed it to a sharp edge. But there was no great strategy to employ. No fancy plans to think up. There were just two enemies, both at the end of their ropes. And only one would leave the fight alive. It had become a battle of wills. The monster staggered forward in a fast, but uncoordinated charge. Miguel danced backward, his knee screeching at him the moment he put weight on it. It held, though. Barely. He avoided the creature¡¯s ungainly charge, rewarding it with a thrust of his dagger. The blade bit deep, slipping between its ribs and hitting its lungs. He withdrew it in the same motion, stumbling to the side as his leg buckled. He fell, the sharp obsidian cutting into his back as he hit the ground. The monster followed, its claws glancing off of Miguel¡¯s hastily raised arm. His bracer held, filling the air with the unholy screech of scratching metal. Miguel thrust his dagger forward again, the movement short and rapid. Once. Twice. Three times, all in the space of a second. It was like a sewing machine needle, puncturing the creature¡¯s scales with ease. The monster couldn¡¯t avoid Miguel¡¯s attacks. It didn¡¯t even try. Instead, it snapped with its jaws, biting down on Miguel¡¯s head. It squeezed. And Miguel kept stabbing. The pair rolled along the ground, their blood mingling and pooling on the ground as they tried to end one another. Monster. Man. Claws and teeth and a dagger. Miguel screamed as he felt his skull being compressed. The pain pushed his efforts to new heights, and yet, he could only stab so quickly. He rammed that dagger into the creature¡¯s side, into its chest, and through its arms. All the while, the thing clawed and scratched and clamped its jaws shut with enough force to crumple steel. But Miguel was strong. He was durable. And most of all, he was persistent. He lost track of how many times he stabbed the monster, but he felt every single gouge of its claws. Every extra pound of force it employed as it tried to crush his skull. Every bruise. Every drop of blood that fell from his body. And yet, he endured. At some point, he realized that he was stabbing a corpse, the sound of his hoarse screaming accompanying the wet squelch of the many wounds he inflicted. With great difficulty, he pushed the creature off, and for a few moments, simply lay there, his breath coming in ragged, painful gasps. A notification appeared before him:
Congratulations! You have reached level ten, earning two free attribute points. Would you like to allocate free attribute points? This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The next notification was the one he¡¯d awaited since well before he¡¯d even picked his archetype:
Congratulations! Upon reaching level ten, you are eligible to choose a class. Keep in mind that this decision will define your future. Choose wisely.
He knew he couldn¡¯t take the time to choose his class just yet, though. He was in the middle of a rift, and if he didn¡¯t get some sort of treatment soon, he would bleed out. So, he didn¡¯t acknowledge the choice before him. Instead, he arduously climbed to his feet and took stock of his body. It was both better and worse than he¡¯d expected. He was not in good shape. In fact, he looked like he¡¯d just been through a car crash before meeting an angry grizzly bear. But he was alive, and he didn¡¯t think his condition was critical. Bad, certainly. He wouldn¡¯t die within the next day or so, provided he received some treatment. To do that, though, he needed to exit the Rift. With that in mind, Miguel glanced around, quickly finding the exit, which presented itself as a floating white crystal. He limped toward it, placing his hand on its smooth surface. That resulted in another notification:
Congratulations! By closing a Minor Dimensional Rift, you have done a great service to your world. Thus, you have earned a reward. Lesser Attribute Potion awarded.
If he¡¯d had the energy, he would have celebrated, but he was too fatigued to do anything but smile. Still, it was the best reward possible. Sure, there were a few others that would prove useful ¨C especially in his current situation ¨C but permanent benefits were always better than temporary effects. The only issue was that there was a limit to how many attributes he could gain via potions. It was different for every person, and it reset upon reaching the next realm of development, but he couldn¡¯t just go around conquering rifts and push his attributes to obscene levels. Still, every point would help for now, so when he reappeared on the other side of the dimensional rift, he found a blue potion in his hand. He uncorked the vial, then downed the liquid, receiving another notification asking him to allocate the three free points. That made for five gained from the rift, though he kept them in the same pool as all the rest he¡¯d been saving. The idea behind it was simple. He had no idea what class he would get, and he wanted to save his free points until he could devise the best strategy. Instead, he¡¯d relied only on his training to push him to the peak of what was possible without the points awarded by the system. It had been difficult, though. With all those points, he could¡¯ve increased his attributes by a significant degree. But he¡¯d stayed strong and stuck to his proverbial guns. Hopefully, it would prove the right choice. For now, though, he was struggling to stay on his feet, so, after exiting the rift, he staggered forward. Or at least, that was what he tried to do. Instead, his knee finally gave out, and he fell, only to be caught by Colt. ¡°Whoa there,¡± the man said. ¡°That rift tore you up good, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Miguel groaned. ¡°I won, though.¡± Colt didn¡¯t respond to the statement of the obvious. Of course he¡¯d won. If he hadn¡¯t, he would never have left the rift at all. Colt lowered him to the forest floor, then retrieved a potion from the pouch at his belt before pouring it into Miguel¡¯s mouth. The young Warrior swallowed on instinct, barely tasting the mint-flavored Recovery Potion. Instantly, he felt the effects. Most potions ¨C at least the ones available in Ironshore ¨C were fairly weak, and as such, they were not the miraculous healing potions Miguel had once imagined. Instead, they simply provided a boost to the Regeneration attribute and let the body take care of its own healing. In this case, the Recovery Potion was the highest-grade Miguel could handle, and it increased his Regeneration by almost sixty points. It wouldn¡¯t do much to mend his wounds ¨C at least not in the short term ¨C but it would keep him alive until they returned to the island, where Nerthus would take over. Still, even after Miguel had regained his feet, the pain was nearly overwhelming. That made the trek through the forest excruciatingly difficult. Fortunately, they only needed to travel around ten miles before they reached Ironshore, and in that time, Miguel distracted himself by studying his class choices. There were five of them, and the first was:
Class: Vanguard Specializing in defense, the Vanguard is the front line of any battle. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Achievements: Become proficient with heavy armor while showing expertise with weapons. First Ability: Hold the Line Attribute Allocation: Constitution, Strength Compatibility: 91%
It was a disappointingly generic option, though Miguel didn¡¯t necessarily consider that a bad thing. From his research, he knew that Vanguards were well-respected, especially among the sorts who routinely challenged towers. In addition, at higher levels ¨C or with the right class evolution ¨C they could become unmatched leaders on any battlefield. So, as simple of a class as it was, Miguel didn¡¯t look down on it. There was only one major problem ¨C it didn¡¯t say anything about his nature attunement. Certainly, that wouldn¡¯t prevent him from using it to his advantage ¨C especially when it came to cultivation, specializations, or evolutions, but he¡¯d hoped for a class that took his attunement into account. So, it was with some anticipation that he moved on to the next option:
Class: Man-at-Arms Versatility is its own reward. The Man-at-Arms is proficient with any weapon or armor type and can function well in nearly any situation. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Achievements: Become proficient with heavy armor while showing expertise with a wide variety of weapons. Attain at least one Feat of Strength before gaining a class. First Ability: Battleborn Attribute Allocation: Strength, Constitution, Dexterity Compatibility: 94%
Miguel liked the look of Man-at-Arms a lot more than Vanguard, largely because of the mention of a Feat of Strength. From his research, he knew that the system kept a record of everyone¡¯s achievements, and even if those were normally hidden from anyone without the proper class, they affected the quality of classes and specializations ¨C even skill evolutions ¨C a person would receive. Because of thatm Miguel expected that Man-at-Arms was a higher quality class than Vanguard. More, he liked the idea of versatility, and Man-at-Arms just felt like it fit his personality better. He¡¯d started off training with the sword, but he¡¯d become more than familiar with a multitude of weapons. That had proved invaluable in the rift, when he¡¯d been forced to go through all four weapons in his main arsenal before falling back on his dagger. Still, he was disappointed at the lacking mention of his attunement. So, while he put Man-at-Arms far ahead of Vanguard, he was still hoping for something better among his next three choices. He moved on to the third notification:
Class: Green Warden The Green Warden is a Knight that specializes in using wooden weapons and armor while employing nature spells. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Achievements: Proficiency with weapons and heavy armor. Three Feats of Strength before choosing a class. Nature Attunement. First Ability: Wood Armor Affinity Attribute Allocation: Strength, Constitution, Ethera, Regeneration Compatibility: 99%
Miguel very nearly chose the Green Warden class without even looking at the final two options. It seemed like a blend between a Druid and Warrior, which was everything he¡¯d hoped for. The only issue was the mention of wooden armor. Until that point, Miguel had been banking on using his mother¡¯s expertise as a Blacksmith to give him a leg up. But she had no skill with woodcrafting, and so, he¡¯d have to find an alternate means of arming and armoring himself. Even so, it seemed perfect, a factor that was reflected in the high compatibility. Still, he reluctantly put it aside so he could inspect his other options. The fourth class available to him was called a Sentinel, though it sounded quite similar to Vanguard. The biggest difference was that it seemed to focus a little more on guarding things, rather than leading the way in battle. It also required two Feats of Strength, which told him that it was a high-grade class. Either way, it was not the choice for him, and for the same reasons he¡¯d already moved away from Vanguard. Finally, he was confronted with his fifth choice:
Class: Champion The Champion is the pinnacle of first-realm Warrior classes. Proficient with weapons as well as the use of armor, the Champion is a versatile class that can hold its own in any situation. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Achievements: One Feat of Strength before awakening an Archetype. Three total Feats of Strength. Reach the first stage of overall cultivation before attaining a class. Proficiency with weapons. First Ability: Virtuous Strike Attribute Allocation: Balanced Compatibility: 99%
It was not what Miguel had expected, though he was familiar with the class. In fact, it was the one at the top of every list he¡¯d read. ¡°You alright, hoss?¡± Miguel looked up at Colt, who was walking beside him along one of the trails that led to Ironshore. ¡°I was offered the Champion class.¡± Colt let out a low whistle. ¡°Damn. Guess you¡¯re takin¡¯ it, then?¡± Miguel wanted to say that he was. The class featured incredible attribute bonuses, and its abilities were quite potent as well. However, there was one glaring issue with it. ¡°It¡¯ll mean abandoning the nature attunement,¡± he said. It was one of the few classes that required such a sacrifice. In reality, it shouldn¡¯t have been a huge issue. Anyone who was offered the Champion class would have at least a secondary battle attunement, and Miguel was certain that, even though his nature attunement was more prominent, it couldn¡¯t have been much better than the battle attunement. Yet, the idea of moving away from nature just felt wrong. Perhaps that was the attunement itself speaking to him. Or maybe he was caught up in emulating his uncle. It was also possible that he didn¡¯t want to abandon the advantages of the grove, which were mostly contingent on his retaining his nature attunement. ¡°What¡¯re your other options?¡± Colt asked. As he hobbled along, using an extra spear as a walking stick, Miguel described his class choices. He explained the suspected benefits and weaknesses, ending with, ¡°I think it¡¯s down to Green Warden or Champion, but I¡¯m not sure how I can turn down the second one.¡± ¡°Is that the only reason it¡¯s still in the runnin¡¯?¡± asked Colt. Miguel shrugged, which sent a wave of agony through his side. ¡°Maybe? I don¡¯t know. I just want to be strong,¡± he said. ¡°You already are, kid, and neither of those choices is gonna change that overmuch,¡± Colt stated. ¡°The next step is to choose the one that feels right. The one that will make you happy. Which one do you think that is?¡± Miguel responded, ¡°The Green Warden.¡± That answer wasn¡¯t a flippant one. He¡¯d never been happier than when traveling through the wilderness with his uncle. In addition, Nerthus had often spoken of building a community dependent on the grove, and Miguel expected that a Green Warden would fit right into those plans. But was that reason enough to choose a class? Especially if it was inferior to the other choice? Once, Miguel would have answered in the negative. Before coming to the grove, he was entirely wrapped up in becoming as strong as possible. And he still wanted that. But he wanted more, too. ¡°We should always strive to be the best we can be,¡± Colt said. ¡°Work hard. Become strong. But don¡¯t forget to be happy, too.¡± Miguel nodded. Then, he chose Green Warden. 5-7. Escort Elijah ran his hand along the frieze, feeling the subtle rise and fall of the surface of the eroded sculpture. It belonged to one of the few standing structures he¡¯d seen over the past two days, and it was surprisingly intact. That wasn¡¯t to say that it hadn¡¯t borne the effects of the passage of time. It had. However, due to some unknown reason, the temple ¨C as he¡¯d decided to think of it ¨C was mostly unbroken. The frieze itself was a different story. Due to its nature, any erosion it had endured was bound to sully the sculpture, and large swathes of the piece had been worn entirely smooth. It was not surprising, but Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think that if he found a better-preserved sculpture, he might learn something new about the civilization that had once dominated the excised world. But that was a question for another day. So, without further inspection, Elijah leaped free of the entablature, landing lightly on the soft turf a second later. After glancing at the stone building, he marveled at the distance he¡¯d just fallen. Forty feet, and he hadn¡¯t even jarred his knees. He¡¯d long since considered himself superhuman, but after the recent influx of attributes and the effects of his cultivation reaching the Adept stage, he truly felt it. He hadn¡¯t measured his Strength, but he suspected that the next time he built a dolmen, toting the stones would prove trivial. He shook his head in disbelief, wondering how much more he would change. It had been five years since Earth had been connected to the World Tree, and already, he was considering the triviality of lifting multi-ton rocks. What would happen in another five? Or ten? A hundred? His lifespan had already been extended a considerable amount, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t be out of the question for him to count it in terms of millennia. If he made it that far. Those five years had been filled with one deadly hardship after another, and though he felt like he was starting to get his bearings, Elijah still had very little idea of what to expect. Case in point ¨C the excised world which played host to the Trial of Primacy. What if something like that happened to Earth? It was not a situation he really wanted to consider, but still, as he returned to the latest camp site, he couldn¡¯t help but give it some thought. The others had chosen to rest in a small dell where they¡¯d used some sort of boundary formation to dissuade intruders. Of course, Elijah knew from experience how fallible those were, so he¡¯d taken to keeping watch as the others rested. He could handle going without, after all. They could not. So, the responsibility fell to him. However, as he approached, he couldn¡¯t help but hear a heated exchange between the two factions that had formed. Apparently, there was some enmity stemming from a conflict on Earth, though Elijah hadn¡¯t bothered to learn the details. They didn¡¯t matter, so long as the group kept the issues in the background. Upon his approach, Venka stepped out from behind a pile of moss-covered rubble, saying, ¡°They¡¯re at it again.¡± ¡°I heard,¡± Elijah said with a sigh. ¡°The whole jungle probably heard,¡± the hill goblin remarked, referring to all the shouting. Ever since Grod¡¯s death, Venka had adopted a subdued demeanor. Thankfully, his grief had only sharpened his instincts, making him an invaluable resource when it came to protecting the others. Not that they appreciated it. Even in times of peace, humans had a tendency toward prejudice. Some of it was based on evolutionary instincts ¨C after all, not trusting things that didn¡¯t look like you was, at one point, a perfectly logical practice ¨C but the majority was just learned bigotry. So, when confronted by a creature that looked as alien as Venka, the possibility of trust went out the window. They treated him with grudging respect ¨C likely born of fear ¨C but they certainly hadn¡¯t warmed to his presence. Thankfully, everyone shut up when Elijah strolled into camp. They were well aware of his placement on the power rankings, so they knew precisely how strong he was. It wasn¡¯t as if Elijah intended to hurt any of them ¨C regardless of how much they annoyed him ¨C but that didn¡¯t mean he wouldn¡¯t use his reputation as a shield against the annoyances they represented. With a sigh, he sat down at the edge of the camp. He didn¡¯t need to face outward to know what was going on all around them. One with Nature took care of that. So, he just stared at the ground as he pulled a hunk of pork jerky from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. It gave him a similar buff to his coffee, though it didn¡¯t last quite as long. Regardless, it made for satisfying rations. ¡°Mr. Hart?¡± came a timid voice. Elijah looked up to see the Cartographer. He was a small man, and his appearance was reminiscent of Rick Moranis¡¯ character in Ghostbusters. The same glasses. Similar short stature. And his demeanor wasn¡¯t all that far off, either. There were only two major differences, as far as Elijah could tell. For one, the man was of South Asian descent, and for another, he bore some of the signs of once being quite heavy. Elijah expected that the man had lost a lot of weight after the world had changed. ¡°What¡¯s up, Sanjay?¡± He adjusted his glasses. ¡°Can you spare some food? Some of the others were ill-prepared for this expedition,¡± Sanjay answered. ¡°Most expected something more civilized, and if they encountered anything else, they intended to leave. That is not possible, as you know. Not until we reach the Nexus Town. I came prepared, of course, but others did not.¡± Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Elijah understood the issue well enough. He hadn¡¯t expected such a harsh situation, either. However, he was accustomed to living in the wilderness and surviving alone in dangerous towers. So, his perspective wasn¡¯t shared by most of the impromptu party. He took another bite. ¡°Fine,¡± he said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°I¡¯ll go hunting.¡± ¡°W-what? Alone?¡± Sanjay asked. ¡°What about¡­you know¡­the meat in your purse?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± Elijah didn¡¯t bother explaining himself. He didn¡¯t dislike Sanjay, but he wasn¡¯t particularly attached to him, either. Moreover, he didn¡¯t see anything to be gained by furthering the conversation. It reminded him that he only really enjoyed company in small doses. For better or worse, he¡¯d become something of a solitary creature, and while he didn¡¯t overtly avoid companionship, he¡¯d begun to find people exhausting. ¡°Maybe I need to work on that,¡± he muttered to himself as he stepped outside the boundary formation. Notably, Sanjay stopped a few feet short, completely unwilling to brave the wilderness. As he passed Venka, Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯m going to hunt a little. Keep an eye on things?¡± ¡°Always,¡± the hill goblin said from his place beside the pile of rubble. It didn¡¯t take long before Elijah was back in the jungle, and the pressures of company faded away the moment he felt the humid embrace of the alien forest. He shifted into his draconid form, adopting Guise of the Unseen as soon as the transformation took hold. Then, he put the well-named Shape of the Predator to its intended use, stalking through the dense wilderness in search of prey. There were myriad smells in the area, most of which were entirely unfamiliar. Yet, he¡¯d come to recognize a few that were best avoided. Like jungles back on Earth, the excised world¡¯s forest played host to plenty of dangerous predators. Many were venomous, and Elijah had no intention of testing his Constitution and Regeneration against alien afflictions. So, even though he was well-camouflaged by Guise of the Unseen ¨C which had reached new levels of effectiveness after he¡¯d taken the second step in Core cultivation ¨C he moved cautiously. All around him, he could feel hibernating wraiths. Most were buried dozens of feet beneath the surface, but there were a few that were much closer. Elijah took great pains not to disturb them. For hundreds of yards, he stalked through the jungle, enjoying the freedom the wilderness represented. It was no simple place, with more dangers than he could count, but it was far less complicated than dealing with the people back in camp. But after a little more than half a mile, Elijah caught a whiff of something he hoped would prove the subject of a fruitful hunt. He followed the scent, though the trail the massive beast had carved through the forest could have been followed by a novice woodsman. It wasn¡¯t particularly surprising. Such a large animal would have few natural predators, so it simply wasn¡¯t built for stealth. Instead, it was the sort of creature that went where it pleased, challenging any would-be predators to take their shot. Like an elephant or giraffe. Elijah intended to take up that challenge, as much for novelty as because he knew that the creature¡¯s large size meant it would provide all the meat the people back in camp could ever eat. Gradually, he closed in on the animal, and its musky scent grew progressively stronger. Then, finally, he caught sight of the beast. It was huge ¨C at least the size of rhinoceros ¨C with great, floppy ears and a snout like an aardvark. Its hide was bright red and slick with moisture, while a quartet of horns grew from its head. Spines flowed down its back, ending in a tail not unlike a stegosaurus. It was obviously herbivorous, judging by its flat teeth and the fact that it was happily munching on a blue-leafed fern. Elijah watched, looking for obvious weaknesses. The beast¡¯s hide was thick, meaning that it would likely take more than one blow to reach anything vital. Moreover, those spikes on its tail were clearly dangerous. Finally, the beast¡¯s enormous size would likely prove an issue. Fortunately, the creature didn¡¯t feel like it was a higher level than Elijah. If it had, he might¡¯ve been forced to employ similar tactics to what he¡¯d used against the boar. Or more likely, given that he didn¡¯t have time to chase the creature around the jungle ¨C let alone deal with the attention that would invariably bring ¨C he would simply leave it be and choose different prey. Still, because of what he felt, Elijah expected that he could dispatch the creature in short order. He only needed to approach it cautiously. With that in mind, he continued to observe until he thought he saw an opening. A small bit of vulnerability that he hoped to exploit. So, without further hesitation, he stalked forward, used Predator Strike, then pounced. Upon latching onto the base of the creature¡¯s skull, Elijah realized two things. First, the beast was extremely slow, likely depending on its high durability instead of speed to stave off predators. The second thing he discovered was that taking the next step in his core cultivation had done wonders for his draconid form. Not only had it enhanced the attribute bonuses he received while using Shape of the Predator, but it had also subtly transformed the form itself. His teeth were longer and sharper, his claws much more lethal, and his scales both more durable as well as more capable of blending into his environment. But in that moment, as his jaws clamped down, Elijah was far more concerned with the traits that had increased his lethality. The crunch of shattering bone filled the air as his long fangs pierced the beast¡¯s skull and ravaged its brain. For a moment, it bucked ¨C or at least it tried to ¨C but that quickly became a seizure that then transformed into a drunken stumble. It fell only a moment later, leaving Elijah stunned. Before Earth had been transformed by the touch of the World Tree, jaguars had been known to hunt by using their sizable canines to pierce their prey¡¯s skulls. Elijah had copied that, largely because of the mist panther upon which his original Shape of the Predator had been based. But he¡¯d never had such an easy kill before. Clearly, there were quite a few more benefits to attaining the Whelp stage of Core Cultivation. Once Elijah had wrapped his brain around the ease of his kill, he took stock of the situation. And he quickly discarded the notion of dressing the corpse himself. Instead, he shifted to his lamellar ape form, noting that it had become a little larger and, likely, deadlier as well, and heaved the body onto his back. Then, he began the trek back to the campsite. Before he arrived, he resumed his human form, which made carrying the large beast much more difficult. The weight wasn¡¯t an issue, but rather, it made for an awkward burden. Still, he managed well enough, and when he reached camp, he did so to the accompaniment of shocked gasps. He tossed the giant corpse into the center of camp and said, ¡°Dinner is served.¡± 5-8. Nexus Town Sadie Song stood stiffly, her back against the wall as she scanned her surroundings. The so-called Nexus Town was not what she had expected, and the people who¡¯d steadily trickled into the settlement were disappointments as well. Many of them were ragged, clearly having been unprepared for the dangers represented by the Trial of Primacy. ¡°Did they think this would be easy?¡± she asked, not bothering to glance at the man by her side. Fortunately, she and Dat had taken the possibility of being separated into account during their own preparations, and she¡¯d purchased a pair of items from Argos¡¯ Artificer that would allow them to find one another. The range was only a few hundred miles, but it had proved sufficient to guide her to her companion. Clearly, others had not thought so far ahead. ¡°I don¡¯t think they knew what to expect,¡± Dat answered, his voice carrying with it a tone of pity. He¡¯d already seen a few people die, and though it wasn¡¯t the first time, he never took such things well. Neither did Sadie. She keenly felt every innocent death. Even the ones who died due to their own stupidity earned her compassion. Yet, she hid it much better, mostly behind a mask of learned frigidity. Dat had led a group of forty back to the Nexus Town, and many of those followers had immediately gone to the Branch at the center of the settlement, going home the moment they were given the opportunity. It had been less than a week, and already, hundreds had done the same. For her part, Sadie had arrived amidst a group of non-humans who had no interest in her help. So, she¡¯d set off across the jungle alone, braving the dangers without the benefit of anyone to watch her back. More importantly, she¡¯d had no one to slow her down, so she¡¯d made good time as she had searched for the Nexus Town. Finding the right path had been the most difficult part of the journey, but fortunately, she had Path of the Faithful to guide her.
Path of the Faithful Increase non-combat movement speed by 5%. Also, provides direction in times of need.
On the surface, it seemed like such a simple ability, and in the beginning, she was far more concerned with the ability to move through the wilderness a little more quickly. However, ever since being granted the ability at level seventy, she¡¯d learned that the second function was far more important. When active, Path of the Faithful gave her direction, usually towards some location she would be needed. It was how she had found the Druid¡¯s ring of stones, and it had given her some insight into how to reach the Nexus Town. That insight was frustrating, though. She couldn¡¯t control it. Nor was it always apparent. Instead, it manifested in the form of a subtle feeling that if she wasn¡¯t attentive, would completely escape her notice. Ever since gaining the ability, she¡¯d learned to pay attention to those feelings, but the situation was still far from ideal. Truthfully, as grateful as she was for the ability, she was also frustrated by it. As a financial analyst, Sadie had come from a world of numbers and concrete facts, and so it was quite difficult for her to rely on ephemeral feelings that she couldn¡¯t quite quantify. Flexing her jaw, she glanced around at the town. Unlike most of the ruins she¡¯d encountered, the small city was well-preserved and mostly intact. It would have no difficulty housing the Trial of Primacy¡¯s participants. ¡°Don¡¯t grind your teeth, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Okay,¡± he said, refusing to dispute her claim. She relaxed her jaw, repeating, ¡°I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°I believe you, bro,¡± he said. ¡°Oh ¨C look who¡¯s here.¡± For a moment, Sadie thought he was just trying to change the subject, but when she looked in the direction of his pointed finger, she saw something she hadn¡¯t expected. That Elijah Hart had survived and reached the Nexus Town was not surprising. He was an extremely resourceful and quite powerful individual who¡¯d spent years traveling alone through the wilderness. If anyone was capable of trekking across the jungle, it was him. However, she had not expected him to be leading a group of a dozen people into town. In fact, that was the exact opposite of what she would¡¯ve anticipated from him. Outside of healing people in Argos ¨C which Sadie suspected was motivated by some ulterior goal ¨C he¡¯d established himself as entirely rude and extremely self-interested. After all, he¡¯d disappeared in the middle of an important meeting, only to return a week later without so much as a proper apology. Sure ¨C he¡¯d claimed to be sorry, but it was a hollow gesture meant to assuage her ire. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the results of their first meeting, when he¡¯d thrown foul language her way. Maybe his anger was warranted, but civilized people didn¡¯t speak to one another in such a manner. But Elijah Hart was not civilized. He was a wild creature living in a man¡¯s skin, and she¡¯d resolved to treat him as such. So, it was difficult to imagine a scenario where Hart would save anyone. Perhaps they offered him some sort of reward. Or maybe he¡¯d intended to use them as human shields. That seemed the sort of thing he might do, and the wilderness was certainly dangerous enough to warrant the thought. No ¨C he couldn¡¯t have helped those people out of kindness. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Because that wasn¡¯t the sort of thing someone like him would do. Not with the stink of death billowing off of him like he was a smokestack. ¡°He got new armor,¡± said Dat. Indeed, the Druid was wearing a set of leather equipment that he hadn¡¯t been wearing before. It was difficult to judge its quality, but Sadie had difficulty imagining it wouldn¡¯t be top-tier. He¡¯d probably hunted some ultra-powerful beast just to get the materials. The cut was utilitarian, with the only ornamentation being on the chestpiece. There were two etchings that looked like intersecting crescent moons stretching from the center toward the shoulders. Otherwise, the rust-colored leather was simple to the point of austerity, though it did make him look a bit bulkier than normal. Of course, he also wore that ridiculous fur cloak, even despite the hot and humid weather of the jungle. In his hand was a white staff, around six feet in length and with a subtle ethereal glow coming from beneath a carved representation of a Celtic braid. The top was carved with some sort of reptile ¨C perhaps a dragon ¨C though she couldn¡¯t be certain without closer inspection. Finally, the man had taken the time to visit a barber, cleaning up his curly head of hair and trimming some of the bushiness from his beard. She could acknowledge ¨C at least in her mind ¨C that it was a definite improvement. If it wasn¡¯t for the effects of Sense of Sin, she might¡¯ve found him quite attractive, in a rugged, mountain-man sort of way. Beside him strode some sort of goblinoid creature, and a dozen humans followed behind. When he inevitably caught sight of Sadie and Dat, a smile spread across his face and he adjusted his route. With his staff clacking against the flagstone street, he approached, and when he arrived, his grin widened. ¡°Sadie. Dat. Fancy meeting you here,¡± he said. * * * ¡°You look good,¡± Elijah said, looking the pair up and down. They both wore the same armor they¡¯d worn when he first met them, which meant that Sadie was clad in an elaborate suit of heavy plate, while Dat looked like he¡¯d stepped out of an anime about vampire hunters. Notably, Sadie had added a pair of new weapons to her arsenal. In addition to the greatsword on her back, she carried a much shorter blade at her right hip and a hatchet on the other. Likely, she had a couple of daggers secreted across her body as well. He asked, ¡°Any trouble reaching town?¡± Sadie shook her head. ¡°No. There were monsters, but I was able to avoid the worst of their wrath,¡± she stated. Dat said, ¡°We had it worse. Those blue-and-white creature were freaky.¡± ¡°They¡¯re called wraiths. And I can¡¯t really argue with that,¡± Elijah agreed. Then, he gestured toward Venka and introduced the hill goblin. ¡°You¡¯re a big goblin, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°You work out?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Lift weights.¡± ¡°No?¡± ¡°You should, bro. You¡¯d get yoked,¡± Dat stated. Before a confused Venka could respond, Sadie scrunched her nose and said, ¡°Dat. Not the time.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Not. The. Time.¡± Dat deflated, mumbling something about crossfit and weightlifting under his breath. Without Elijah¡¯s enhanced senses, he wouldn¡¯t have heard any of it, so he decided to pretend that it escaped his notice. ¡°What¡¯s the situation here?¡± he asked, pushing past the exchange. ¡°Not great, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°What¡¯s the issue?¡± It was Sadie who answered, ¡°Three things. First, everyone is terrified. A quarter of the people who¡¯ve made it here immediately found the Branch and went home. A lot more would have left if they weren¡¯t waiting on allies to reach town. Based on that, I expect only half the original number will be left when the dust settles.¡± ¡°That few?¡± Elijah asked, disappointed. It should not have been surprising. With what he¡¯d seen from the people who¡¯d followed him into town, Sadie¡¯s estimate might¡¯ve even been quite conservative. After he¡¯d hunted the beast, those followers had grown even more frightened than before. Not of the dangers living in the wilderness, but of him. It had made the journey that much more annoying, and he was hopeful that they would go their own way. Perhaps it would be better for everyone involved if they just left. Dat nodded, echoing Elijah¡¯s thoughts by saying, ¡°It¡¯s probably for the best.¡± Then, Sadie described the second issue, which was the clear divisions between some of the factions represented. Mostly, that divisiveness was based on race. Humans and the settlers who¡¯d come to Earth from other planets often found themselves at odds, and much of that enmity came with them to the Trial of Primacy. ¡°The worst is this group of half-elves. They¡¯re bigger and stronger than most elves, and they¡¯re a lot more aggressive. They¡¯ve been waging war against what used to be Moscow,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°What kind of half-elves?¡± asked Venka, his first contribution to the conversation. ¡°They¡¯re tall, with slightly grey skin,¡± she answered. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they call themselves, though.¡± ¡°War elves,¡± Venka stated. ¡°They have orc blood in them.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s not good,¡± he said. ¡°Good soldiers. Bad for everything else,¡± Venka responded. ¡°Wherever this Moscow is, they¡¯re lucky they haven¡¯t already been overrun. Must be a small settlement of war elves.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know. But they¡¯re walking around like they own the place. It¡¯ll make Nexus Town a lot more dangerous.¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes, saying, ¡°I thought it was supposed to be safe here.¡± ¡°From the natives,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°We can kill one another as much as we like.¡± Finally, Sadie described the third problem ¨C that there was another group vying for supremacy within Nexus Town. Nobody knew who they were or where they came from, but they were instantly recognizable by their black clothes as well as the demonic masks they wore. ¡°They look like ninjas, bro,¡± Dat provided. He had some sort of inspection ability, so he had more insight into who they really were. ¡°No race. No names. Just one identifier. Immortal. The only way I can tell them apart is by looking at their levels.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all,¡± Elijah said. So, there were two major players vying for control of the town ¨C the Immortals and the war elves. On top of that, the surrounding jungle was incredibly dangerous to the point that it had already driven the unprepared to leave what would undoubtedly prove to be a great opportunity to grow stronger. And finally, there were the challenges to consider. Ten of them, all representing the various realms attached to the World Tree. Or in the case of the Abyss, surrounding it. ¡°This is going to be a lot more complicated than I expected,¡± Elijah acknowledged. ¡°It¡¯s not all bad, bro. At least we¡¯ll only be gone from Earth for a few months,¡± Dat said. ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. The Trial was supposed to last a year, and he¡¯d prepared accordingly. If its duration was only a few months, then he needed to become a lot more focused in his efforts to conquer the challenges. ¡°Time dilation,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°A year passes on this planet, but only eighty-eight days on Earth. Give or take a few hours.¡± ¡°And we know this how?¡± ¡°The Branch, bro. There¡¯s a Guide explaining it,¡± Dat responded with a grin. ¡°Well, that¡¯s my first stop, then. Plus, I think these guys are ready to get out of here,¡± Elijah said, hiking his thumb behind him. The others were about ten feet away in a tightly clumped group, as if they were terrified of being alone, but too afraid to come any closer. ¡°I¡¯ll talk to you in a bit. I want to see if any of my friends have shown up.¡± ¡°You? Friends?¡± asked Sadie, clearly surprised. ¡°Yes. I have friends. A lot of them. I¡¯m very popular.¡± The words had spilled out, almost as if he was trying to justify himself to the armored woman. ¡°Anyway. Off I go. To see my friends. That totally exist.¡± Then, before he could embarrass himself any further, he turned and strode toward the Branch. It stood in the center of a huge, open plaza, and it was far larger than any Branch he¡¯d ever seen. He focused on that, rather than the tightening knot in his stomach. 5-9. Immortals Elijah slipped the crystalline leaf into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and shook his head. The guide hadn¡¯t been particularly informative, merely confirming what Dat had already told him. However, it had given him a little more insight into how everything was meant to work. The ten challenges were not permanent obstacles. Instead, they would periodically repopulate, giving everyone the opportunity to earn their places. So, while it was comforting to know that he wouldn¡¯t have to race against everyone else in order to get the most out of the Trial, it still struck him as contrived. Yet, the guide had made it clear that the challenges were based on the history of the host planet, so even with their manufactured nature, Elijah reasoned that, perhaps, some additional information could be gleaned from the details. Because as he¡¯d crossed the jungle and inspected the ruins, he had become increasingly interested in how a world could fall. The notion was so fascinating that he¡¯d often found himself using his scouting expeditions as an excuse to inspect the ruins, all the while hoping he could gain some nugget of information that would make it all make sense. He had yet to find anything of the sort, but there was a chance the challenges would provide where the ruins had not. Most of the people who¡¯d followed him to the Nexus Town had used the Branch to go home the moment they reached it. Elijah understood it, too. Not only were they traumatized by the trek across the jungle, but they¡¯d also discovered that they were in no way prepared for what the Trial of Primacy entailed. A few had remained, though. Sanjay had decided to stick around, as had Venka, though the latter claimed he had no intention of venturing back out into the wilderness anytime soon. Before he¡¯d wandered off the explore the Nexus Town, Venka gave Elijah the details of the settlement where he lived. It was apparently nestled amongst the Himalayas ¨C which were even larger and more imposing than they had been before Earth had been transformed ¨C so Elijah wasn¡¯t certain when he¡¯d get the chance to visit. Pointedly, he did not reveal Ironshore¡¯s location. Once Elijah was alone, he set off in search of his friends. Atticus, Delilah, and Isaak had entered the Trial from Argos, while Kurik, Robolo, and Nia had come from Ironshore. Both groups had been accompanied by a few others Elijah didn¡¯t know, and he hoped that everyone had survived. However, after the first couple of hours, he found no trace of his friends, which definitely didn¡¯t help his mood. As he explored the Nexus Town, he saw that it followed many of the same architectural patterns he¡¯d come to expect after his investigation of the ruins. Yet, there was something off about it, as well. It took him an embarrassingly long time to figure out that the issue was with how new everything was. Sure, it looked weathered, but it was more like set dressing than the true results of age and erosion. That suggested that the Nexus Town had been created specifically for the Trial. On the other side of the Branch, a sprawling market had sprung up. There were only a couple hundred tents, but Elijah suspected that there would be far more in the near future. After all, five thousand humans had been offered the opportunity to enter the Trial of Primacy ¨C not even considering the other races ¨C so, even if many of them chose to return to Earth, there would still be a sizable population remaining. Many of those were likely to be non-combat classes who saw the Trial as a way to make money, advance their crafts, or to progress their classes. While he walked around, Elijah saw merchants and crafters, as well as a few fighters who were looking to augment their arsenals. It made sense. Most people didn¡¯t have access to the best craftsmanship, and given that the Trial only invited the highest level people, it stood to reason that the crafters who¡¯d chosen to participate would be capable of producing high-tier wares. So, those fighters had chosen to take advantage of the opportunity so they could get things they couldn¡¯t back on Earth. Hopefully, everyone would find what they were looking for. As Elijah was inspecting a Chandler¡¯s wares, he felt two black-clad figures enter into range of One with Nature. It only took a moment for him to recognize that they were the Immortals Dat had described, especially when they swaggered up to a Cobbler¡¯s tent and started to harass the poor woman. There were a few fighters nearby, but they quickly vacated the area. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was due to fear or if they simply didn¡¯t want to get involved with other people¡¯s problems, but the moment one of them pulled a machete from his belt and started waving it around, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t afford not to step in. But he didn¡¯t intend to do so with his identity bare for anyone with the right skills to see. Instead, as he ducked into an alley, he activated his Ring of Anonymity, establishing his fake persona as a level sixty-one named Draconid. He hoped that anyone who inspected him would see that and assume he was a beast. Once he¡¯d taken care of his identity, he used Shape of the Predator, then let Guise of the Unseen fall upon him. Only then did Elijah leave the alley and stalk toward the pair of Immortals. He intended to put their name to the test. After all, he had seen the entire exchange. They were bullies and petty criminals who would prey on anyone they deemed weaker. As far as he was concerned, they had no place in the Trial. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Weaving through the sparse crowd wasn¡¯t difficult, though Elijah did notice that a few of the stronger-looking people could clearly sense his presence. It wasn¡¯t enough to put them on guard, but they knew something was amiss. So, he wasted no time in pushing through to his destination, not giving those people any time to figure things out. As Dat had described, the two Immortals looked nearly identical, with pitch-black clothing and black, metallic masks that concealed any identifying features. Though, via One with Nature, Elijah could tell that one was male, while the other was female. Both had short hair beneath their demonic masks, and their features were similar enough to mark them as related, and perhaps of Middle Eastern descent. Brother and sister, perhaps. Otherwise, they were of average size. Was that their origin, then? Maybe. Elijah would need to find other Immortals to be certain one way or another. In any case, he wasn¡¯t there to play detective with their genealogy. Instead, he only needed to solve the problem. And with the female Immortal erratically waving her knife around, Elijah would need to act soon, or things would get bloody. So, without further ado, Elijah embraced Predator Strike. Then, for good measure, he used Venom Strike, too. He pounced. Since his core advancement, Elijah¡¯s draconid form had grown by at least ten percent. So, when he pounced on the comparatively small woman, his jaws completely enveloped her skull. He bit down, his long incisors piercing through the bone with a disgustingly wet crunch. Then, the pressure of his bite shattered her head altogether. Brain and other viscera splattered his tongue, but by that point, Elijah had moved far past any disgust he might¡¯ve once felt. Instead, he focused on the next move. To his credit, the shocked Immortal reacted quickly, and for a brief moment, ethera swirled. But Elijah was too fast. Having once again embraced Venom Strike, he lashed out with his claws, raking them across the black-clad man¡¯s chest. The Immortal went tumbling backward through the flimsy wall of the tent, taking the cloth with him. The Cobbler screamed. The man thrashed about, crying in pain as he tangled himself in the tent. It collapsed, and Elijah pounced once again. His claws arced out. Once. Twice. Three times. Each attack eviscerated the Immortal, eliciting renewed cries of agony. But before Elijah could finish the man off, he felt a dozen powerful fighters descending upon the area. It was time to go. So, he ripped his way through what remained of the tent, then raced away, leaving a few splatters of blood to mark his passage. Even that ceased after only a few more feet, and Elijah ducked into an alley. After another fifteen feet, he turned again. Then again, as soon as he could. Before long, he¡¯d left the budding market ¨C and his stalkers ¨C behind. The moment he felt that he was safe from pursuit, he shifted back into his human form and deactivated his Ring of Anonymity. To completely overcome any suspicion, Elijah took another few seconds to summon Healing Rain and use his soap to wash the blood from his mouth and hands. It was just after he¡¯d finished that job that a few fighters with decent levels under their belts thundered into the alley, weapons bared. ¡°You there ¨C did you see a reptilian monster?!¡± the first demanded. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Nothing came this way,¡± he said. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± asked the second. He carried an axe and looked like he knew how to use it. Still, Elijah was far from frightened of the man, who seemed more lumberjack than combatant. ¡°Exploring,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°This architecture is fascinating. Did you notice the Mayan influences? And some of the friezes tell a story that I think will be incredibly impactful on the ¨C¡± ¡°Friezes? What are you talking about? There¡¯s a monster on the loose, man!¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t make any sense. This place is supposed to be safe, right?¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Are you sure you weren¡¯t seeing things? I had a friend who ate some magic mushrooms in college. He spent the next forty-eight hours convinced he was being chased by a demon. Well, a succubus, I guess, but that¡¯s a demon, right? Anyway, as it turned out, it was just his girlfriend. And he was running through the quad naked when she found him. A chase ensued and¡­well, never mind that. My point is that people often think they see things that aren¡¯t really there. Like you and your monsters. You didn¡¯t eat any bad mushrooms, did you? ¡°Because I¡¯ll tell you right now ¨C you should not eat anything from that jungle without proper inspection,¡± Elijah went on. ¡°I counted forty-seven poisonous varieties of fungi, and that was just in the time it took me to get here. Fascinating subjects that ¨C¡± ¡°What the hell are you talking about?¡± demanded the lumberjack. ¡°Mushrooms, man. Were you not listening at all?¡± Elijah said with enthusiasm. ¡°Look ¨C I¡¯m not saying don¡¯t eat them. I¡¯m definitely the last guy to tell anyone what kind of drugs to take. But I am saying that you should use caution. So, just show me what you took, and I¡¯ll tell you if you should immediately seek healing. Hint ¨C you probably should, though. You¡¯re looking a little pale.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Confusion. That¡¯s the first sign that you took something toxic. Here, let me get my kit out¡­¡± With that, Elijah started pulling things out of his satchel. He only got the second item ¨C which was a bar of soap ¨C out before the first fighter said, ¡°This guy¡¯s insane. Come on, Josh. The trail¡¯s getting cold.¡± ¡°But he said I look pale. What if I did eat something toxic?¡± ¡°You probably did,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you feel nauseous? Do you remember your name? Do you see any fiendishly attractive succubi around?¡± ¡°Uh¡­I think I¡¯m a little nauseous.¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s not good. Not good at all. Better get you all sorted out. I have to warn you, though, flushing your system won¡¯t be pleasant. You¡¯re going to be leaking at both ends. But it¡¯s all for the best. I have just the thing to ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re fine, Josh!¡± said the first fighter. ¡°Come on!¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Now.¡± Then, he dragged the lumberjack away. Josh certainly didn¡¯t seem eager to go. Regardless, Elijah¡¯s strategy of confusion had worked like a charm, though he suspected that if he kept it up, he might develop a bit of a reputation. Whatever the case, he was more concerned with two things. First, he¡¯d clearly gotten away with the attack, which was the more pleasant of the two. Second ¨C and far more distressingly ¨C he hadn¡¯t gotten any experience. That meant one of two things. Either killing the Immortals didn¡¯t garner any rewards. Or more likely, Elijah hadn¡¯t killed either of the two he¡¯d attacked. And considering that he¡¯d crushed the female Immortal¡¯s skull in his jaws, that was an incredibly disturbing thing to consider. 5-10. Scars When Elijah returned to the market, he found an odd combination of chaos and business as usual. Clearly, the elites of the world ¨C which, for all that many of them had come unprepared, was precisely who¡¯d been invited to participate in the Trial of Primacy ¨C were accustomed to death, and in a way that few people had experienced before Earth¡¯s transformation. Most had assuredly seen loved ones die horrible deaths, and more than a few had witnessed whole cities being destroyed. So, an attack in a temporary market was not something to get worked up over. However, for all that they were accustomed to the dangers that had haunted their steps ever since the World Tree had touched their planet, those people still had to deal with the aftermath. That¡¯s where the chaos came in, with quite a few people working to find the monster in their midst. Oddly, no one seemed to care overly much about the pair of Immortals who¡¯d started it all. Nobody but Eliijah, at least. He approached the Cobbler¡¯s tent to find her sitting on a crate and staring at the bloodstained ground. That was where Eliijah had crushed the Immortal¡¯s skull. The woman herself was a little past middle aged, though fit enough that she seemed more than capable of taking care of herself. That was the thing about the influx of attributes that had come with levels. The detriments of age were no match for enhanced Constitution or high levels of Regeneration. Still, the signs of her years remained in the crow¡¯s feet at the corners of her eyes. ¡°I thought it would be an adventure,¡± she muttered without looking up. ¡°It said we could leave at any time, so I figured I could test the waters, get some benefits while making a little money. I didn¡¯t think it would be like this, though.¡± Then, she looked up and wiped some tears from her eyes before offering him a fake smile. ¡°You look like you could use some shoes,¡± she said in an entirely different tone. ¡°Let me tell you, walking around barefoot like that is a bad idea. Who knows what you might step on?¡± Elijah glanced down at his feet. The Footwraps of the Boar King covered very little of his foot, leaving his heels and toes completely bare. That was necessary for One with Nature to remain effective, and even though he¡¯d grown accustomed to walking around without shoes, there had been plenty of times he¡¯d lamented the lack. But if that was the only price he had to pay for such a powerful ability, he was more than willing to do so. ¡°I just came to check on you,¡± he said. ¡°Some people tried to attack you, right?¡± ¡°Attack is a strong word,¡± she said. ¡°Those people were just going to rob me. Don¡¯t think I haven¡¯t dealt with that kind of thing before.¡± ¡°Really?¡± She nodded. ¡°I¡¯m a non-combat class. Do you think that¡¯s the first time someone with a fancy martial class tried to shake me down and steal my stuff? I have ways of dealing with that,¡± she stated, seeming a little annoyed that he would assume that she was helpless. ¡°I can take care of myself just fine. I¡¯m just a little shaken up because there¡¯s a monster loose in the city. It¡¯s not supposed to be like that.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°What happened to the people it killed?¡± he asked. She snorted. ¡°Those Immortals don¡¯t get killed,¡± she said. ¡°Some sort of ability or something. I don¡¯t know much about that kind of thing. But I saw that girl¡¯s skull piece itself back together before she picked herself back up and walked off. Don¡¯t think that¡¯s something somebody¡¯s supposed to be able to do. Seems a bit like a cheat to me, but what do I know? Maybe you fighters know better what¡¯s possible and what¡¯s not.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know. I¡¯m more of a Healer myself. It¡¯s why I came in here. I wanted to make sure you weren¡¯t hurt.¡± ¡°Oh. Bless your heart,¡± she breathed. ¡°But I¡¯m fine. Nothing a few drinks won¡¯t fix, at least. I¡¯ve seen worse than that.¡± Elijah nodded before asking a couple more questions. However, it quickly became apparent that the woman didn¡¯t know anything else. So, after making sure that she didn¡¯t need any healing, he excused himself. For a few minutes, he wandered around the market, and he was surprised to find that things had already settled down. People ¨C especially ones who¡¯d survived Earth¡¯s transformation ¨C were resilient, and they displayed that adaptability in their response to Elijah¡¯s fight against the Immortals. Fortunately, no one seemed to suspect that the monster was actually a shapeshifted Druid, so it looked like he was in the clear. After confirming that, Elijah focused on One with Nature and looked for the Immortals. Some of it was born of pure curiosity ¨C after all, he¡¯d killed enough people to recognize what should have been a fatal blow ¨C but there was responsibility driving him as well. Those people were up to no good, and as the highest leveled person in the world, he had a duty to investigate the situation. That didn¡¯t necessarily mean he would do anything about it. In fact, he probably wouldn¡¯t, so long as they didn¡¯t repeat their actions. He was no white knight looking to protect the innocent and slay the evildoers. But he suspected he would need stability in Nexus Town going forward, and the Immortals threatened that. So, Elijah searched the market for them. As he did so, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that even more tents had sprung up. How many non-combat classes had entered the Trial, anyway? In the beginning, he¡¯d expected that most of the top five-thousand would be fighters, but it seemed that his estimate was quite a bit off. Perhaps that was a good thing. While he walked around, Elijah gave it some thought, and he soon came to the realization that it made perfect sense. After all, combatants had a tendency to throw themselves into dangerous situations. In most cases, that was the only way they could level, and as such, their rates of attrition were probably much higher than those associated with noncombatants, who could progress much more safely. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Sure, that was probably mitigated somewhat by the fact that, in the beginning, non-fighters were at an extreme disadvantage when it came to survival. However, once things had settled down and some semblance of security was achieved, those noncombatants were probably in a much better position to safely progress than those who needed to venture out into the wilderness or into towers to gain levels. Those thoughts occupied one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he searched the area for the Immortals, but even though his range with One with Nature had increased to a ridiculous degree, it still took almost an hour before he found his prey. And it was incredibly disturbing. There were thirteen Immortals, all wearing identical clothing, gathered in one of the empty buildings that comprised Nexus Town. The structure in question was far away from any other occupation ¨C almost to the edge of the town¡¯s boundaries ¨C and it seemed that the Immortals had taken that isolation as an opportunity to let their guard down. As such, they¡¯d all removed their masks as they went about strikingly normal tasks associated with building a camp. One was cooking a meal in the fireplace, another was washing her clothing, and a couple were playing cards. One man was reading a book, while a couple were having a conversation. Sound didn¡¯t translate to One with Nature, so Elijah had no idea what they were talking about, but he judged by their relaxed postures that it wasn¡¯t anything serious. In short, it seemed like a normal camp. Yet, there was one thing that sullied that impression. Every single one of the Immortals bore brutal scars that made it look like they¡¯d been ripped to pieces, then hastily put back together. Some of those scars were old and faded, but others were new, red, and puffy. None were fresher than those marking two familiar Immortals. The young woman whose skull he had crushed was missing half of her hair, revealing a misshapen cranium bearing twin depressions where his fangs had pierced the bone. The man ¨C who might¡¯ve once been handsome ¨C was missing half of his nose, one of his eyes, and wore a host of puckered scars across his torso where Elijah had savaged him. They crossed dozens of others, making it clear that the man was no stranger to evisceration. Elijah crept closer, shifting into his draconid form and using Guise of the Unseen. Clearly, the people inside that building were more complex than he had expected, and he didn¡¯t want to be noticed. When he drew within range, he heard some snippets of their conversations, and the theme mostly boiled down to questions about the ¡°monster¡± in the city. There were other topics, but they were mundane and completely inconsequential, though Elijah did learn that the group had originated in Iran. After half an hour, Elijah sensed a newcomer heading toward the building. He was tall, with an athletic build, and a well-trimmed beard decorating his handsome face. His confidence was clear from his gait, and he didn¡¯t hesitate upon reaching the building. Instead, he strode in like he owned the place. However, when Elijah tried to focus on further details, his mind frustratingly slid away from the topic. Perhaps there was some sort of ability at work. The Immortals shot to their feet, abandoning their tasks as they bowed to the newcomer. ¡°Welcome back, master,¡± said the woman whose skull Elijah had crushed. The leader sighed, stepping closer. Reaching out, he grabbed her jaw and tilted her head so he could inspect the angry scars. ¡°Disgusting,¡± he said, releasing her. His voice was deep and authoritative. ¡°This is what you do with the gifts I have given you? How will we rule if you cannot go a single day without being maimed? I should cut ties now and find disciples who will make appropriate use of my guidance.¡± ¡°C-can you fix it?¡± she asked. He tilted his head to the side, then asked, ¡°Why would I? Every scar makes you stronger. Perhaps this one will push you over the edge and into becoming something worthwhile. Take pride in your scars. Use them to your advantage.¡± ¡°I¡­I will.¡± After that, the man glanced in Elijah¡¯s direction and said, ¡°Perhaps we should greet our visitor, then. There is something watching us.¡± He raised his finger. Elijah¡¯s heart jumped into his throat as the man commanded, ¡°Kill it.¡± The Immortals reacted instantly, gathering weapons Elijah had barely noticed ¨C after all, they were inanimate, and as such, were largely invisible to One with Nature, save for any microbial life that clung to them ¨C and raced out of the building. For his part, Elijah had seen enough to tell him that a battle was inadvisable. So, he turned and ran, quickly outpacing the Immortals before returning to the market. There, he found an out-of-the-way alley and shifted back into his natural form. A moment later, he strode back into the scattered crowd of people. That¡¯s when he noticed a familiar figure on the other side of the market. It seemed that Atticus had arrived. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t immediately approach his friend. Instead, he stayed back for a few more minutes as he waited to see if the Immortals would be able to find him. He didn¡¯t think so, but then again, he hadn¡¯t expected the leader to sense his presence, either. So, caution was warranted. After a couple more minutes, a pair of Immortals arrived. They¡¯d once again clad themselves in the same concealing black outfits, casting their presence with an intimidating pall. The crowd sensed it, giving the two a wide berth. However, from Elijah¡¯s standpoint, he could immediately tell that they had no idea who ¨C or what ¨C they were looking for, and after sweeping through the Market, the two Immortals left it behind. Leaning against one of the buildings, Elijah let out a small sigh of relief. He knew he could defeat the pair, but were they truly immortal? If so, they represented a dangerous threat that he needed to understand before their next confrontation. With that in mind, he shook his head, then set off across the market plaza to where Atticus was setting up a tent. When the Merchant recognized him, a broad smile spread across his face. ¡°My friend! I knew that if anyone could survive that jungle, it was you,¡± he said. Elijah returned the smile with one of his own, responding, ¡°Glad you made it. Did you have any issues?¡± ¡°A few,¡± Atticus admitted. ¡°But I survived, which is all that truly matters. And look at what I find ¨C a new world of customers, waiting to be served. It is heaven!¡± ¡°I guess,¡± Elijah said, massaging the back of his neck. Then, he asked about the others from Argos. That was when things turned sour. Apparently, Delilah and her team had miraculously appeared at the same entry point. However, when they were attacked by a group of wraiths, everyone but Delilah and Isaak had fallen. ¡°She was injured, too. Nearly lost her leg,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Where is she?¡± he asked. ¡°There¡¯s an infirmary set up a few blocks away,¡± Atticus answered. ¡°But I¡¯ll warn you, my friend ¨C she is in no mood for friendly faces.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll just heal her, then,¡± Elijah said. And perhaps there were others that needed it as well. ¡°Good. Before you go, you should know that there is a meeting scheduled for later today. By then, most of the participants should have made it to Nexus Town.¡± ¡°A meeting about what?¡± ¡°An exchange of information. Some people have classes that give them insight. Others bought more specific guides. Regardless, I think the extra information will be worthwhile,¡± Atticus said. ¡°You should be there.¡± Elijah nodded. That made perfect sense, though he wondered who had arranged such a meeting. Still, he had more important things on his mind, what with Delilah being injured. So, after telling Atticus that they would catch up later, he headed toward the infirmary where he hoped to do whatever he could to help. What he found was even more depressing than he¡¯d expected. 5-11. Playing a Role Elijah stood in the doorway, staring ahead at a mass of human misery. Dozens of people lay on the ground, being tended to by a harried man wearing a sparkly robe. He rushed from one person to the next, barely stopping long enough to cast a spell before moving on. It was clear that the man was the only Healer around. What was less clear was why he¡¯d chosen to wear a sparkly robe that would¡¯ve made most sequined dresses look mundane by comparison. He also carried a small wand, which was topped by a blue gem that had been cut to resemble a star. After taking a moment to assess the situation, Elijah stepped inside and approached the busy Healer. The man was so distracted that he didn¡¯t even notice he had company until Elijah reached out and grabbed his arm. The Healer¡¯s bicep was surprisingly firm, and when he tried to jerk away, he displayed a decent degree of Strength. But Elijah¡¯s own grip was far stronger. ¡°Let me go!¡± growled the bearded fellow as he glared at Elijah. Upon closer inspection, the sequined robe was even more out-of-place than Elijah had first judged, largely because the Healer was big and burly, towering at least a head taller than Elijah, with enough muscles to make a professional athlete jealous. He also wore a great, bushy beard, with eyebrows like caterpillars and a flattop hairstyle that reminded Elijah of Ivan Drago. In short, he didn¡¯t look like the sort of man who habitually wore sequins. Instead, he seemed like the kind of guy who would¡¯ve habitually wore flannel and carried a sizable axe. ¡°I¡¯m here to help,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°You a Healer?¡± ¡°Close enough,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I just don¡¯t want to step on anyone¡¯s toes.¡± ¡°Need all the help I can get,¡± the man said with a shake of his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have enough ethera to keep up. Blew it all healing some lady with a busted leg. Didn¡¯t expect there to be a flood of injured people only thirty minutes later. So, if you have ethera, heal as much as you want. I¡¯ve been doing everything I can to keep people stable, healing as I waited for enough juice to do something worthwhile.¡± ¡°All I needed to know,¡± Elijah said. One good thing about his brand of healing was that it was incredibly efficient. He couldn¡¯t do some of the things dedicated Healers could do. Until recently, that included the bursty sort of healing that most groups required. When a teammate was getting ripped to shreds by a monster, something like Healing Rain or Soothe just wasn¡¯t going to cut it. Sure, he made up for that with his core cultivation and equipment ¨C his new staff enhanced all of his spells, after all ¨C but if all things were equal, he was just a pale imitation of a true healer. But one thing he had in his favor as efficiency, which was precisely what the situation required. So, he immediately cast Healing Rain, which covered most of the infirmary, dumping regenerative precipitation on the patients. Then, he went, one by one, and cast Soothe. The sparkly-robed healer cautioned him to take it easy and to not make the same mistake he¡¯d made himself, but Elijah just waved his concerns away. Once Soothe had settled onto everyone, Elijah¡¯s pool of ethera had dipped below the halfway mark. So, he settled in to regenerate, using his cultivated Mind to funnel great quantities of ethera through the vortexes and into his Soul. Then, it went to his Core, where it worked to regenerate his supply of ethera. It was the first time he¡¯d really taxed his system since upgrading his core ¨C and subsequently, his tier of cultivation ¨C and the results were impressive. The pieces were the same as always, but now that the core had caught up, everything just fit together so perfectly that the whole of his regenerative capability had taken a huge step forward. Because of that, he regained his ethera at a frighteningly quick pace, allowing him to keep casting Soothe as soon as the spells ran their course. For the next hour, wounds mended, and people regained consciousness. The Healer turned his focus to the more grievously injured, using his more focused spells to mend the serious maladies that persisted even with Soothe and Healing Rain working against them. And like that, the pair worked together for hours until, at last, they¡¯d done all they could. One patient passed away under the influence of some sort of ailment neither Elijah nor the other Healer could counteract. It was a combination of the poison¡¯s strength and the woman¡¯s comparatively weak resistances that made the situation impossible to recover. Elijah knew he¡¯d done nothing wrong ¨C in fact, he¡¯d used far more ethera repeatedly casting Nature¡¯s Bloom than he probably should have ¨C but that woman¡¯s death still hit him harder than he expected. ¡°It happens,¡± said the Healer. ¡°God knows I¡¯ve had to watch too many people die over the past few years.¡± Elijah ran his hand through his rain-slick hair, saying, ¡°Seems wrong. This is magical healing, right? How does it fail?¡± ¡°Do you want to know the real answer? Or do you want the bullshit I tell patients?¡± the Healer asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Give me both, and I¡¯ll decide which one I want to believe.¡± ¡°Our spells aren¡¯t miracles,¡± the Healer stated. ¡°They have limits, same as anything else. Sometimes, it just doesn¡¯t work out. It isn¡¯t like a video game where you just have to refill a health bar.¡± This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Is that the bullshit answer? Or the real one?¡± The man shrugged his heavy shoulders, saying, ¡°Sometimes, it¡¯s just someone¡¯s time.¡± ¡°That sounds like the bullshit one.¡± The Healer shook his head. ¡°Just telling you what I¡¯ve learned after thirty years as a surgeon,¡± the man said. ¡°And five years as a magical Healer. Not sure which one was more valuable, if I¡¯m honest. But one thing is certain, you did good here. Thank you. A lot of people would¡¯ve died without your help.¡± ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m sure someone else would¡¯ve come along,¡± Elijah responded. The man barked a humorless laugh. ¡°Fat chance of that. You think there¡¯s a shortage of Healers out there? Of course not. Every team brought one along,¡± he said. ¡°The problem is that they¡¯re all selfish assholes. Or they¡¯re controlled by selfish assholes. Either way, none of them wanted to come help. But you did. That says a lot about you.¡± Elijah extended his hand, ¡°Name¡¯s Elijah.¡± The Healer took it, introducing himself, ¡°Ron.¡± ¡°Well, Ron ¨C any chance you¡¯d like to explain why you¡¯re wearing sequins? I didn¡¯t ask before because there were more important issues afoot¡­¡± ¡°Right,¡± Ron said a bit sheepishly. He pinched the sparkly robe between his thumb and forefinger. ¡°Sometimes I forget about this thing. Truth is, it¡¯s the best damn piece of equipment I could find. Same with the wand. It¡¯s my little girl, you see? She always loved playing dress-up with her dolls, and so did I. We used to have these tea parties, even after the world changed. So, when she got her archetype, then her class, she chose to be a Tailor. This was the first thing she made after getting her class.¡± ¡°And the wand?¡± ¡°The first thing she made when she took the Tradesman archetype,¡± Ron answered. ¡°I bet there¡¯s not a better set for healing in this entire Trial. But, you know, sparkles. So, it¡¯s a tradeoff. I don¡¯t mind though. Every time I see the shimmer, I think of her back home.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­sweet.¡± Ron shrugged his sizable shoulders. ¡°Maybe the world needs a little more sweetness these days.¡± ¡°That reminds me. There was a woman here,¡± Elijah said before describing Delilah. ¡°Any idea where she went?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one I spent all my ethera healing. She just wandered off,¡± Ron said. ¡°Was in a bit of a daze, if I had to guess. I don¡¯t think things went well for her when she arrived.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Seems to be going around.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Elijah said. So many people had come to the Trial expecting it to be like a tower, but so far, it had proved much more dangerous. After a moment, Elijah looked around at the empty room, then asked, ¡°You think you got this? Not trying to be selfish or anything, but I¡¯m not really a Healer. If I want to get anything out of this Trial, I can¡¯t spend too much of my time here.¡± Ron understood, though he did profess to a little disappointment. Elijah felt bad enough that he promised to come by as often as he could so he could lend a head, and that seemed to satisfy the man. With that, Elijah took his leave and went in search of Delilah. As it turned out, he didn¡¯t find her before the time of the meeting dawned, and Elijah soon found himself sitting next to Atticus in a large amphitheater. It seemed that when the system created the Nexus Town, it had thought of everything. As people filtered into the area, Elijah was once again reminded of why he tended to avoid dense crowds. With so many people around, One with Nature was practically useless ¨C especially after it had recently expanded. He could have focused a few more facets of his mind on interpreting the tidal wave of data he received, but he just didn¡¯t think it was worth it at the moment. So, he mostly just ignored the skill, instead turning the bulk of his attention to the small stage at the center of the arena. There were a few men standing there, locked in conversation, though one stood out above all the others. He was tall and slim, with elegant features that made Elijah think of the aristocracy. Or maybe that was his well-cut suit that would have seemed entirely out of place in the jungle, but was oddly appropriate for standing in the center of an amphitheater. Elijah kept his eyes on the man as people slowly filed into the arena until, at last, the time for the commencement of the meeting had come. Predictably, the man who¡¯d drawn Elijah¡¯s attention was the one to call for silence before launching into what sounded like a rehearsed speech. ¡°You are the best Earth has to offer,¡± he said. ¡°I see elves sitting next to humans. Goblins and dwarves. I even see a few kysar. And everything in between. However, if any of us are to be the future of our shared planet, we must learn to work together. I am not so presumptuous as to ask any of you to leave your ancestral enmity behind. I do request that you not fight within the Nexus Town. Should you do so, you will incur my wrath.¡± Elijah felt a chill travel up his spine, telling him that the man had used some sort of skill. So, was he like Barry, back in Seattle? Or was he something else? Elijah wasn¡¯t sure, but if all the man wanted was to keep the peace, he could get behind that. Still, he didn¡¯t like the idea of anyone messing with his mind, so he vowed to keep an eye on the man, who then introduced himself as Nasir. Something about him seemed familiar, though Elijah couldn¡¯t quite place it. Regardless, the rest of the meeting was occupied by the man revealing everything they knew about the challenges associated with the Trial. As the notification had indicated, they were representative of the nine realms attached to the World Tree. The first was Aesira, which was colloquially known as the Realm of Air. The second was Silvara, which was known as The Forest. The Mortal Realm ¨C or Mortalum ¨C was the third, with Alta Terra being the fourth. The former also played host to Earth and most of the universes Elijah could ever want to visit, including the Empire of Scale. Fifth came Niflara, or the Sea. Ignis came sixth, and as the name implied, it was the Realm of Fire. The Umbra was the Plane of Shadows, and the Ethereum was the Realm of Magic. Finally, there was Pruina, or the Ice Fortress. ¡°And there is a tenth realm, though it is not connected to the World Tree at all. The Abbys, from which the Voxx originate. It is the realm of the Ravener, and the tenth and final challenge is representative of that plane,¡± Nasir explained. ¡°We have not mapped out the entire Trial, but we do know the location of the first challenge. So, if you wish to purchase a map, copies will be made available to all, starting tomorrow. My only wish is to avoid conflict and to usher Earth into a golden age of development. I hope you all share my goals.¡± With that, the man opened the floor for questions. Mostly, people asked about the nature of the Trial, but Nasir was unable to provide many answers he hadn¡¯t already covered. So, the meeting ended on a bit of a sour note. However, Elijah did finally catch sight of some familiar faces, which was the primary reason he¡¯d agreed to attend the meeting in the first place. So, once everyone filed out, Elijah made his way toward Kurik. But when he drew within a few feet, he saw the grave sadness on the dwarf¡¯s face. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked when he got close enough. ¡°Nothing good,¡± Kurik answered in his gravelly voice. ¡°This place is cursed. I¡¯m thinkin¡¯ ¡®bout goin¡¯ home, and you should too.¡± 5-12. Packs and Demons Benedict was nervous, and rightly so. For whatever reason, when he¡¯d been transported into the Trial of Primacy, his newly summoned Malicious Guard had been left behind. He had no idea why that was the case, and he feared what such a creature would do, having been freed of his control. However, he¡¯d had very little time to worry about such things, mostly because he¡¯d been plopped down in the middle of a godforsaken jungle. And deprived of the focus of his class, he¡¯d been at a disadvantage from the very beginning. The people who¡¯d come with him hadn¡¯t helped. They¡¯d taken one look at him, judged him to be too weak to matter, then attacked. Of course, they had screamed about vanquishing evil, but Benedict¡¯s experiences had taught him that those were just excuses. He could recognize bullies when he saw them. Unfortunately, he was not equipped to face those men and women in a straight-on fight. After all, they had the benefit of shining armor and high-quality weapons, while, because of his overreliance on his minions, Benedict had neglected his equipment. Of course, that wasn¡¯t that surprising, either. He¡¯d spent the bulk of the years after the world¡¯s transformation locked in a dungeon. Other people had leveled by conquering towers and gaining the rewards that came from that. Benedict had progressed by virtue of his undead horde, and then, after he¡¯d received the Demon Core, by killing the opportunistic survivors of the unrest in Easton. So, even though he wasn¡¯t as well-equipped as his attackers, Benedict had enough experience with fighting people that he¡¯d managed to survive their first salvo. That was the only opening he¡¯d needed, and for days, he¡¯d played a game of cat-and-mouse, stalking the would-be bullies as they trekked through the jungle. They tried to hunt him in return, but their efforts were laughable. None of them were suited to guerrilla warfare. Benedict was, though. He only had a few abilities that weren¡¯t associated with summoning, controlling, and empowering demons, and even those involved slow-acting afflictions. Against the rabble in Easton, they¡¯d killed quite quickly, but these were ¨C for better or worse ¨C the elites of the world. They had Constitution enough to withstand spells like Heat Blood and Infection, at least for a while. Thankfully, Benedict had always been a patient man, and one-by-one, the bullies had fallen. There were only two issues. Well, three, if he considered his own unsuitability for his current situation. First, they were not alone in the wilderness. Gangly, spindle-limbed creatures with marbled, blue-and-white skin were everywhere, and they reacted to any disturbance with single-minded rage. They either killed their prey, draining them of life and ethera, or they were slain. There was no in-between. In addition, there were plenty of wild predators that could attack at any moment, making traversal through the jungle a nightmare. More than a few of the armored bullies fell to the native threats. Second, the environment itself seemed intent on killing them. The jungle was full of pitfalls, canyons disguised by the dense underbrush, and raging rivers that were home to a host of dangers. The terrain went further than simply slowing them down. It often proved deadly of its own accord. And the final problem was that, for all that Benedict was well-accustomed to hunting humans, he had no skills or abilities to aid him. So, it was inevitable that he would make some mistakes, some of which had proved extremely problematic. For instance, when he¡¯d gotten too close to one of the group¡¯s sentries, he¡¯d very nearly lost a leg before the woman had succumbed to his afflictions. And that was only one incident. Over the course of that week, Benedict had taken a half-dozen injuries that, if he wasn¡¯t as high of a level as he was, would have killed him outright. That wasn¡¯t even considering the infection, either. Or his stupid lack of preparation. He¡¯d entered the Trial almost on a whim, and as such, he¡¯d carried with him nothing but the most basic supplies. He¡¯d only had enough food or water for a couple of days, so upon arriving in the jungle, he had been forced to ration. That left him in less than his best condition. But the infection was what almost did him in. Even after he¡¯d finished the bullies off and taken their supplies as his own, he¡¯d contracted a fever that only escalated as he wandered toward a destination marked on a map one of the armored men had carried. Those few days had been the worst, and Benedict grew delirious before finally stumbling into the Nexus Town. How he¡¯d ended up in the infirmary, he had no idea, but when he finally came to, he was surprised to find that he¡¯d been healed by a man in impressive leather armor. Another man stood nearby, wearing what looked like a sequined dress. Benedict was not one to judge a man¡¯s fashion sense, but he did question the suitability of the man¡¯s attire. After all, a sequined gown that looked like someone¡¯s best-forgotten prom dress was not the best option for jungle survival. But at least the man wore a pair of sturdy hiking boots. Regardless, when Benedict had asked what had happened, he was informed that he¡¯d been found wandering around Nexus Town, lost and in a daze. Someone had brought him to the infirmary, though it had taken quite a lot of ethera to heal him. The bedazzled man gave most of the credit to the other one, who introduced himself as Elijah. The name sounded vaguely familiar to the Warlock, but he was in no condition to investigate that familiarity. Because he was overwhelmed with gratitude. He couldn¡¯t remember the last time someone had actually helped him, and not out of some concept of reciprocity. These people ¨C and the nameless person who¡¯d dragged him into the infirmary ¨C had saved him. And it threw his entire worldview into chaos. Three people, without whom he would have been dead. What did that mean for his philosophy that people were inherently selfish creatures? Was that single event enough to derail his entire worldview? No. But it did tell him that there were good people out there. They were just rare. Once he¡¯d recovered, Benedict thanked them, and like all the others who¡¯d been healed, he left the infirmary. As he wandered around, he took stock of his belongings, and he was unsurprised to find that, at some point, he¡¯d been robbed. Obviously, the healers ¨C or the good Samaritan who¡¯d brought him to the infirmary ¨C weren¡¯t thieves, but the notion that someone had robbed him during his time of weakness comforted him with the reaffirmation of his outlook on the human condition. But that was fine. Now that he had some time to safely take stock, he could make the preparations he should¡¯ve taken care of before being transported into the Trial. The real issue was his power, which was tied to his minions. However, that was easy to take care of, too. There were plenty of bad people out there, after all. He wouldn¡¯t sacrifice the few good ones, but he had no issues using the others to fuel his summons. The big question was whether he would summon a quartet of imps or a single Malicious Guard. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The demonlings were less powerful, even in aggregate. However, they had something the Malicious Guard did not ¨C subtlety. While imps were tiny and easily hidden, the other demonic creature was enormous and extremely obvious. And he knew it would invite challenge. So, even if summoning imps was not ideal, he decided that discretion was the better path. With that in mind, the only thing left to do was to find some appropriate fuel, then cast the rituals. As Benedict set off in search of just that, he felt a lot better about his situation. * * * Oscar stalked through the jungle, his mind going in worrisome circles. He could feel the last of his companions out there, and he knew the little chihuahua was safe. But he also knew just how dangerous the environment was. It was no place for such a small dog. Fanning out all around him were the rest of his family. Sophie and Jackson led the way, with Jojo racing all around, killing any of the smaller threats that might impede their path. Meanwhile, the other four stayed close, forming a protective ring around their Pack Leader. It was a strategy they¡¯d developed early on, and it hinged on the two bigger dogs using their size, Strength, and Constitution to occupy the attention of powerful enemies, while Oscar worked to empower and protect his packmates. At the same time, the other five dogs would surround and whittle down the foe. But as well as the strategy worked ¨C and it had from the very beginning ¨C Oscar was far more concerned with Escobar¡¯s fate. He¡¯d been fortunate enough to have arrived with Jackson and Jojo, and he¡¯d found Maymay and Digby only a few hours later. Sophie came next, then Rey and Freddy. The only one left was Escobar, and he was still hours away. Who knew what kind of trouble the little chihuahua would get up to before Oscar could find him? It was enough to drive him insane with worry. Fortunately, he had little difficulty moving through the jungle. The terrain was harsh, but it was nothing he hadn¡¯t grown accustomed to. Besides, he had Canine Senses and Wild Steps to assist him. His companions had similar ¨C or in some cases, far superior ¨C abilities, which meant that they swept through the region with unsurpassed ease. That wasn¡¯t to say that they met no resistance. They certainly did ¨C in the form of those strange and unnatural creatures with too many arms and mottled blue-and-white skin ¨C but Oscar and his pack knew how to deal with hostile entities. Though without Escobar there, the victories rang hollow, even when they managed to take down a giant bird that ended up tasting a bit like turkey. Oscar ate alongside his pack, but he took no joy in it. Not with one of their number still alone and in danger. Dogs weren¡¯t meant to be alone, after all. They needed their pack. Their companions. And not just for hunting efficacy. They were social animals, and without their family, they were prone to despondency. Or in Escobar¡¯s case, near-suicidal recklessness. With that in mind, Oscar raced through the jungle, pushing himself as hard as his attributes would allow. The dogs easily kept up. After all, they were stronger and more coordinated than he could ever be. It was a symbiotic relationship that benefited them all. Without him, they would never have survived, but the same could be said for Oscar ¨C and not just in the death-defying sense. Certainly, they had protected one another. They¡¯d helped each other hunt down dangerous prey, and they had all grown strong because of that. However, the true value in their relationship lay in the companionship they shared. And no one cherished that more than Oscar, who knew the dangers of loneliness more than most. Finally, after two more hours, Oscar heard an explosion from up ahead. He poured on the speed, leaping over a rotten tree trunk that was at least five feet thick. His feet hit the spongey ground, and he rolled to alleviate the momentum before springing upright at a dead sprint. Then, only a minute later, he skidded to a stop amidst a collection of ruins not unlike many others he¡¯d passed ¨C and ignored ¨C over the past couple of days. It took a moment to find Escobar amidst the collection of charred bodies, but when he did so, Oscar let out a sigh of relief. The little dog was perfectly healthy, though Oscar could sense that Escobar was running low on ethera. And rightly so, considering the sheer amount of fiery destruction he¡¯d caused. Dozens of corpses surrounded him, each one scorched and smoking. And those were just the ones who were dead. Almost a dozen others had somehow survived Escobar¡¯s explosive spells, and they were closing in on the little dog. That¡¯s when the rest of the pack arrived. Jackson and Sophie led the way, barreling into the mass of blue-and-white creatures without regard for their own safety. Meanwhile, Jojo whipped around, nipping at their most vulnerable spots. Against weaker enemies, the shih tzu would simply leap at her enemies, piercing them through by virtue of her momentum. Yet, that just wasn¡¯t possible with these foes, so she focused on slowing them down. Finally, the others ¨C Meymey, Digby, Freddy, and Rey ¨C fell upon the creatures with characteristic ferocity. Oscar knew there were abilities and skills at work, but he¡¯d never bothered to name them. He just accepted that the dogs had grown far deadlier than even their inflated attributes would suggest. As the dogs fought, Oscar focused on his own abilities. He only had a couple of directly damaging skills of his own. Instead, as befitted his Tactician archetype, his own skillset tended toward providing buffs and healing his pack. Still, he was not entirely without combat abilities of his own, and he utilized just such a skill when one of the monsters raced in his direction. Drawing his Polished Flint Hatchet from the loop at his belt, he leaped forward, embracing his unnaturally high Strength as he used Wolf¡¯s Bite.
Wolf¡¯s Bite Enhance a single attack with the power of your pack, increasing damage by 250%. Cooldown based on Ethera attribute. Current: 211 seconds.
The small axe hit the blue-and-white creature in the sternum, and the results were predictable. The blade bit deep, shattering the bone and carving a giant cavity in the thing¡¯s chest. Oscar had no notion of the monster¡¯s anatomy, but he suspected he destroyed quite a few important organs with the attack. It flew backwards, its momentum entirely reversed by Oscar¡¯s powerful strike. But it was dead before it hit the ground. The rest of the battle went mostly according to expectation, though Jackson managed to take a few serious wounds that Oscar was forced to heal with Compassion of the Pack. The spell was limited to members of Oscar¡¯s pack, but it was also restricted by his ethera attribute. Early on, he¡¯d used every free attribute point he had to enhance it, and since then, he¡¯d found a few items as well as a couple of minor attribute potions to further those efforts. As a result, it was just enough to keep up with the damage his pack incurred. And in the end, they won. As they always did. Oscar had spent almost every waking moment fighting various monsters in the wilderness. He¡¯d even wandered into a gloomy forest with extremely thick ethera that played host to powerful monsters that seemed to flit from shadow to shadow. Thankfully, Canine Senses as well as his pack¡¯s natural abilities allowed them to survive ¨C and even thrive ¨C for a while. Though the danger eventually reached a level Oscar had deemed untenable, so he and his pack had moved on to easier challenges ¨C like the few towers he¡¯d stumbled upon. Regardless, the moment the battle had ended, he raced toward Escobar. The little chihuahua let out his yapping bark as he leaped into Oscar¡¯s arms. He hugged the dog close to his chest, tears in his eyes as he muttered, ¡°I was so worried.¡± Escobar barked. ¡°I know you can take care of yourself,¡± Oscar said. ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean you don¡¯t need us.¡± Predictably, Escobar didn¡¯t acknowledge that he needed anyone else. However, Oscar could feel the relief flooding through the bond they shared. It was the same with all the dogs. Because, after all, a pack was meant to be together. The reunion only lasted for a few more minutes ¨C during which the dogs sniffed the corpses of the fallen monsters, then disdainfully turned their noses up at the toxic stuff ¨C before Oscar announced that it was time they set off to find the Nexus Town mentioned in the system notification. As much as he usually disdained human society, he knew his pack would not survive for much longer without information. He and his pack were perfectly suited to living in the wilderness, but if they wanted to get the most out of this Trial, they needed direction. Thankfully, he¡¯d stumbled upon a few groups of people during his trek through the jungle, and he¡¯d spent some time eavesdropping on them. That had given him a little insight into the Nexus Town¡¯s location. So, without further ado, they set off through the jungle, once again a complete pack. 5-13. Meetings and Plans As Elijah followed Kurik from the amphitheater, he caught sight of one of the men he¡¯d healed in the infirmary. Normally, when he engaged in mass healing as he had alongside Rob, the patients¡¯ identities tended to devolve into blurs. However, he remembered this man for two reasons. First, he was painfully handsome, with almost pale, elven features framed by black ringlets that spilled down to his shoulders. Upon seeing him, Elijah¡¯s first thought was that he would have been perfectly at home in an Anne Rice vampire story. His attire did nothing to mitigate that impression, either. Though his clothing was torn and dirty, he¡¯d clearly played into that stereotype. Most notably, with his long, leather coat, flowing, blouse-like shirt, and black leather pants. That appearance definitely made him stand out from the crowd. But the second reason factored more into Elijah¡¯s notice than the first. He was strong. Very, very strong. Elijah was incapable of perfectly gauging someone¡¯s level, but he had noted that the more powerful someone was, the more effort it took to heal them. And the dark-haired man had required more casts than any other three people combined. Part of that was due to a nasty infection he¡¯d incurred, but that only supported Elijah¡¯s supposition that he was strong. Most other people would have succumbed well before even reaching the Nexus. The pair exchanged a nod before the man disappeared into the crowd. However, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that quite a few people gave the man a wide berth as well as more than couple of suspicious looks. Elijah pushed that out of mind as he followed Kurik out of the arena and to a building nearby. As was the case with every other structure in the Nexus, it was entirely devoid of furnishings, save for what the group of people inside had brought with them. Elijah recognized some of them as people from Ironshore, but there were a couple that he didn¡¯t know, even in passing. However, he couldn¡¯t help but notice a few missing faces. ¡°Robolo? Nia?¡± he asked. Kurik shook his head. ¡°The girl didn¡¯t make it,¡± he said. ¡°She appeared with a group of noncombatants. Only one made it to the Nexus. Robolo made it back, but he was¡­he decided to go home. I¡¯m strongly considerin¡¯ it, too. We all are.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Elijah said. In truth, he understood the reasoning behind it. The Trial was far more dangerous than any of them had expected. Even Elijah had underestimated it, and he¡¯d spent months specifically preparing. So, for those people who lacked his power, it probably seemed like a hellish risk to remain. The Nexus wasn¡¯t completely safe, either. The natives weren¡¯t supposed to threaten them within the town, but that said nothing about the Trial-takers. As proven by the presence of the Immortals and war elves, there were plenty of people in the Trial who wouldn¡¯t think twice about asserting their dominance over others. ¡°What if we teamed up?¡± Elijah asked. Normally, he went solo, but the dangers of the Trial had made him rethink that policy. Already, he¡¯d promised cooperation with Sadie and Dat, so bringing Kurik along made some sense. Besides, he wanted to help his friend get stronger, partially due to that relationship, but also because he was the strongest fighter in Ironshore ¨C other than Colt, at least. His power would help protect the city and, in turn, the grove as well. Kurik tapped his bearded chin. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted. ¡°You ain¡¯t exactly known for bein¡¯ a team player.¡± ¡°What? I did fine during the orc invasion!¡± ¡°Orc invasion?¡± asked Atticus, who¡¯d tagged along. ¡°You never mentioned that.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a big deal.¡± ¡°It was,¡± said Kurik. ¡°Could¡¯ve been a planet killer.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have come to that,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°They were a long way from getting to that point.¡± ¡°Not that long of a way,¡± Kurik deadpanned. ¡°But that ain¡¯t the point. The point is that you tend to go off traipsin¡¯ through the wilderness all alone, doin¡¯ whatever takes your fancy.¡± ¡°Uh¡­and?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t do that if you¡¯re with other folks,¡± Kurik pointed out. ¡°You gotta be part of a team. That means we¡¯ll probably slow you down. You good with that?¡± Elijah hadn¡¯t thought of it like that. Instead, he¡¯d only considered the benefits, chiefly that he could have someone to watch his back while he helped them improve. But looking back, he¡¯d only really teamed up with other people a pair of times. First, in the aforementioned orc invasion, which wasn¡¯t so much functioning as a group as it was him doing his own thing in conjunction with others going their own way. The second time was when he¡¯d tried to help the elves in their tower. That had not ended well, though in his defense, he¡¯d been saddled with an idiot of a sand elf who didn¡¯t know how to stick to his job. Elijah had tried to play his own role, but he¡¯d had to go off alone when all the others were incapacitated. Regardless of the reasons, Elijah¡¯s experiences with grouping had not gone well, so he understood Kurik¡¯s hesitation. He said, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine with it. I promise.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Kurik nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll have to talk to my people about it. They came expectin¡¯ my protection,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t want to abandon them.¡± ¡°Ah ¨C I might be able to help with that, my new friend,¡± Atticus piped up. ¡°Before embarking on this Trial, I was toying with creating an alliance of Merchants and Tradesmen. For our protection, of course. I¡¯ve made some headway in doing just that, but the addition of your people will surely go a long way to solidifying the arrangement. I¡¯ve already picked out a venue, and now, we just need to populate it with likeminded individuals.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Kurik said. ¡°That just might work.¡± Then, the pair descended into negotiations concerning the particulars of the alliance. That bored Elijah to tears, so he excused himself and went in search of the other two members of his potential party. Along the way, he saw a curious man surrounded by dogs. The man wandered through town, looking both lost and as if he was on a mission. It was a curious mixture, characterized by a distracted expression and a purposeful gait. The fellow was also dressed in what looked like rags, with a few odds and ends that pulsed with powerful ethera. More importantly, Elijah felt something of an affinity with the man ¨C or more accurately, with his dogs. So, when he saw the group stop for a few moments, Elijah approached, then knelt next to the largest dog. He was huge and rippling with muscle, with markings reminiscent of a rottweiler, though with a slightly shaggier coat. Elijah held out his hand to the animal, saying, ¡°Aren¡¯t you a big boy. There we go. Who¡¯s a good boy?¡± The dog was very excited to see Elijah, and he turned a couple of circles before letting out an enthusiastic bark. ¡°You¡¯re a good boy,¡± Elijah said. The man just stared at Elijah like he¡¯d grown a third eye. The other dogs reacted just like the rottweiler mix, and they quickly surrounded Elijah as they vied for his attention. Elijah couldn¡¯t contain his own glee, and he grinned as he let out a relieved laugh. There was nothing quite like a dog¡¯s attention to improve a person¡¯s mood. Finally, the man asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°Uh¡­sorry,¡± Elijah said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°I¡¯ve always loved dogs, I guess. And I couldn¡¯t resist. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± ¡°I¡­no. It¡¯s not¡­we need to go,¡± the fellow stated awkwardly. Then, without further discussion, he strode away. The dogs did not follow ¨C not until the man let out a low growl. That got their attention, and they sunk their heads to the ground and, somewhat regretfully, padded after the man. The curious group disappeared around a corner a couple of seconds later, though Elijah kept track of them via One with Nature for almost another minute. ¡°What a weird guy,¡± he said to himself before continuing on his way. ¡°Nice dogs, though.¡± Eventually, he found Sadie and Dat in a restaurant that had sprung up seemingly overnight. Judging by the ethera wafting off of the food on offer, there was at least one Cook who¡¯d decided to participate in the Trials. Elijah grabbed a chair from a nearby table ¨C where the furniture had come from, he didn¡¯t know, but he didn¡¯t question it too much ¨C and sat down perpendicular to the pair. ¡°So, what¡¯s up?¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Ouch. I thought we were past the animosity. But that¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll grow on you eventually,¡± he said without pause. ¡°Anyway, I thought we could team up. You know, support one another.¡± ¡°Sounds good, bro.¡± ¡°It does not sound good, Dat,¡± Sadie interjected. Then, to Elijah, she asked, ¡°Why would we want to group up with you? We¡¯re perfectly capable of tackling the challenges of this Trial alone.¡± ¡°I doubt it,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Think about it. This place was designed to push the best of the best to their limits. Even if you¡¯re strong enough to tackle it alone, why would you chance it? I think if we¡¯re going to stand any chance of getting the top spots, we need to work together. But that¡¯s only one of the reasons.¡± ¡°And the others?¡± ¡°Well, if I¡¯m going to help you in Hong Kong when we get back, I want to be at my best. That means we need to get to know one another. Our strengths and weaknesses,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°And there¡¯s no better way to do that than to fight together.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, bro. It¡¯s like when we first started,¡± Dat said. ¡°You remember how that went.¡± Sadie clearly didn¡¯t like hearing that, but after a moment, she said, ¡°Fine.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Elijah said, reaching out to pluck a steaming vegetable from her plate. He popped it into his mouth before she could object. ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. Let me get my own plate. Meal¡¯s on me.¡± Before either Sadie or Dat could say anything, he was up and crossing the room. A moment later, he was in deep conversation with the Cook, who turned out to be a huge Russian man who clearly knew his way around the cleaver he waved around as he spoke. Elijah almost took a blade to the face, but he just laughed it off as he complimented the man¡¯s cooking. When he returned to the table, he saw the dichotomy of a frowning Sadie and a grinning Dat. So, he turned his attention to the one who seemed far more amenable to his presence. As they ate, their conversation wandered in a host of different directions ¨C from their adventures since the world¡¯s transformation to life before everything had changed. ¡°I was a music minor,¡± Dat said. ¡°I wanted to be a producer, but my mom put the stop to that. Wanted me to take over the family seafood business. But I had feelers out. My dad always supported me, though. After he died, mom was a little more accepting of my goals. When I took my archetype, I hoped I would get a Bard class. But Witch Hunter¡¯s almost as good.¡± ¡°I was a biologist,¡± Elijah said, popping a fried mushroom into his mouth. He recognized it as a variety he¡¯d seen during his time in the jungle, and it had a pleasant earthy flavor that mingled perfectly with whatever the Russian cook had used for the breading. ¡°Not a good one, mind you. Kind of apathetic about it all, if I¡¯m honest. I guess I expected it to be more like a National Geographic documentary than me sitting in a lab and looking at microbes.¡± ¡°The Indiana Jones effect,¡± supplied Sadie, primly pushing her own food around with a silver fork. It was her first contribution to the conversation. ¡°Huh?¡± asked Dat. ¡°After Indiana Jones came out in the eighties, there was an influx of archeology majors,¡± she said. ¡°But they expected it to be something it never was ¨C like the movies. In reality, it¡¯s a lot more boring.¡± ¡°Ah. Less whips, too. I think I¡¯d like a whip. That seems like it would fit the Witch Hunter thing, right?¡± Dat remarked. ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Anyway, what do you guys think? You want to be on my team?¡± Sadie sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have a choice.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the enthusiasm I wanted to hear,¡± Elijah said. Then, he told them where to find him and Kurik before adding, ¡°I¡¯ll see you there.¡± Finally, he paid their bill before heading back into the Nexus town. Along the way, he once again saw the man with the dogs, but he restrained his impulse to go and pet the good boys and girls. Instead, he headed back to where Kurik and the others had set up camp. Fortunately, he and his charges had reached an agreement with Atticus, so Kurik was free to join the team as well. ¡°It¡¯s all set, then. I have a good feeling about this,¡± he said with a grin. 5-14. Guard Duty As Miguel walked beside the laden wagon, he couldn¡¯t keep himself from gaping at his surroundings. Mountains, larger than any had been before the world¡¯s transformation, towered all around, reaching toward the blue sky and piercing the clouds. A gentle wind blew, carrying with it the unmistakable chill of late winter, which was exacerbated by the heightened elevation. A few dwarves sat on the wagon, which was pulled by beasts of burden that before his recent stint as a caravan guard, Miguel had only seen from afar. The creatures ¨C which were called carak and were native to one clan of the Ironshore dwarves¡¯ homeworld ¨C looked like a cross between oxen and bears, with shaggy coats that tickled the ground. They were incredibly strong, though, and they displayed that power by pulling wagons that each weighed as much as a fully loaded trailer from an eighteen-wheeler. The wagons were spatially enchanted, which meant that they mitigated the weight and space of the goods they carried, though Miguel had been told that they weren¡¯t even close to perfectly efficient. Thus, the immense weight, which was only about half of what it would¡¯ve been outside the wagons. Either way, there was an enormous number of processed ingots of high-quality ore in there. Enough to make quite a lot of profit, according to the Teamster in charge of the procession of six such wagons. They were bound for Norcastle, which meant that the trip was meant to take about three weeks. According to everyone involved, it was normally a quick and easy trip. The well-traveled trail wasn¡¯t completely devoid of danger ¨C nowhere in the world was, Miguel knew ¨C but most of the beasts in the area preferred to avoid people rather than attack them. So, there was a good chance that Miguel and the other guards ¨C mostly young fighters without much experience ¨C wouldn¡¯t be needed. Still, Miguel was well aware of just how dangerous the wilderness could be, so he focused on the task at hand, scanning his surroundings with as much attention as he could manage. And eventually, as the sun began to set, they reached the highest point of the pass through the mountains. Once, it had been the site of a battle between Miguel¡¯s uncle and some sort of fearsome spider monster, though any evidence of that fight had long since faded. Now, it just looked like a bare strip of mountainous terrain populated only by a few lonely trees. The Teamsters circled the wagons, then activated an enchantment meant to dissuade the wildlife from coming near during the night. Meanwhile, Miguel and the other young fighters stood guard. It usually proved unnecessary, because throughout the first leg of their journey, nothing had ever attacked. Miguel almost wished that weren¡¯t the case. He was itching to test out his new class and increased attributes. But he only had to delve into his own memories to retract that flippant thought. If something attacked, there was a good chance that people would die. He¡¯d lived through that sort of thing, and though he was prepared for it, he didn¡¯t want to see the consequences. Once the wagons had been circled and the enchantment had been activated, the captain of the guards ¨C a dwarf named Beni ¨C established the schedule for the night¡¯s watch. Miguel took the first one, which turned out to be entirely uneventful, and a few hours after nightfall, he was relieved by another member of the guard. One glance at the others, some of whom were playing cards or conversing around the fire at the center of the camp, and Miguel felt like more of an outsider than ever before. He was the only human in the entire caravan, and as such, he knew he didn¡¯t really belong. On top of that, everyone was painfully aware of whose nephew he was, and Elijah¡¯s reputation went a long way toward keeping Miguel separate from the people of Ironshore. So, rather than join the other off-duty guards or Teamsters, Miguel found a spot under one of the wagons, retrieved his bedding from his pack, then removed his armor. It was crude-grade stuff ¨C the same set he¡¯d worn before choosing his class ¨C but it was good enough for now. His mother had offered him a new set, but he¡¯d refused. The same was true of weapons. It just seemed like such a waste, largely because of two abilities he¡¯d received from his class. The first was called Wood Armor Affinity:
Wood Armor Affinity Increase the benefits gained from wearing armor made of wood by 200%. Any other armor will only have 75% effectiveness.
The second was fittingly called Wood Weapon Affinity:
Wood Weapon Affinity Increase the benefits gained from using weapons made of wood by 200%. Any other weapons will only have 75% effectiveness.
It was obvious from those two abilities which direction his class was meant to take, and that was confirmed by Nerthus. The spryggent was not familiar with Green Warden specifically, but from the class¡¯s description, he¡¯d helped Miguel to figure out the basics. In essence, the idea was that it would be a sort of nature knight, which apparently included eschewing weapons and armor made from anything but wood. At first, Miguel had been a bit disappointed with that, but after asking around in Ironshore, he¡¯d discovered that there were quite a few types of wood that matched or exceeded the characteristics of metal. They just took specialized classes ¨C or circumstances ¨C to work. The biggest detriment was that his mother¡¯s expertise as a Blacksmith was now useless for him. Still, he hoped to find someone with a Woodworker or Carpenter class who could help him figure things out. Until then, though, metal equipment would be wasted on him. Fortunately, his old armor and weapons were high enough quality that they wouldn¡¯t break anytime soon. Nor did they grant any benefits like attribute gains or abilities, so their effectiveness hadn¡¯t been affected by the detriments of his abilities. Either way, he still looked forward to rounding out his equipment sometime soon. In the meantime, though, he took a moment to look at his status:
Name Miguel Rodriguez The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Level 13
Archetype Warrior
Class Green Warden
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 21
Dexterity 21
Constitution 28 (21)
Ethera 17
Regeneration 16
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Recruit Opal Neophyte
Miguel knew that his class was extremely rare, and when he¡¯d revealed to Nerthus that he gained eight total attribute points for each level, the spryggent was briefly struck dumb. That was an unheard-of number of attributes, especially for a base class, and, as he leveled, it would put him on an entirely different tier than most people. The allocation was balanced, with two points each to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution being awarded for each level. With Ethera and Regeneration, only one point was given, though even that was more than most. It was just further evidence that the multi-verse was never meant to be a fair place. Some classes were simply better than others. However, Nerthus had pointed out that attributes weren¡¯t everything. There were some classes that granted incredible attributes for each level, but severely lacked in terms of abilities. By contrast, there were many classes with low attributes but powerful skills. Then there was cultivation to consider, which, with every subsequent stage, would be more and more important. Finally, good equipment could change everything. So, even if Miguel had something of a head start on other people his level, his class would not be enough to set him apart. That was especially true if he didn¡¯t put the work in to push himself to master his weapons and the abilities that came with his class. The other skill he¡¯d received ¨C at level twelve ¨C was called Woodsman¡¯s Constitution:
Woodsman¡¯s Constitution Increase Constitution attribute by 6 points. Bonus increases by 1 point for every consecutive day spent in a forest, up to 12 total.
It was a powerful buff, and one that he did not take for granted. However, he knew that some of its efficacy was due to his Guardian Core¡¯s advancement to the first stage. It wasn¡¯t as powerful of a core as his uncle¡¯s, but according to Nerthus, it was still close to the peak of what was possible without getting into Elder Cores. At present, it provided something like a forty percent increase to his abilities, which was a huge boon. It was difficult to know for certain without finding a Librarian who could direct him to the right guide, but he didn¡¯t need exact numbers to know it would be very helpful going forward. And besides, it wasn¡¯t as if he could change it now. Regardless, Miguel was happy with his progress so far, but he also craved progression in a way that bordered on obsession. Some of it was based on the need to grow stronger in order to protect himself, but as his uncle had once hinted to him, it was also addictive, seeing the quantifiable progress of his training. Watching those numbers go up ¨C and feeling stronger with each added attribute point ¨C was more satisfying than anything Miguel had ever experienced. But he also had other motives. Like protecting the people he cared about. And being useful, as the thief back in Argos had charged him to become. Or the simple satisfaction of meeting goals he¡¯d set for himself. Finally, he knew the world wouldn¡¯t soon stop its own progression, and if he wanted to carve out a place for himself, he needed to keep moving forward. Otherwise, he¡¯d be left behind, and he¡¯d end up ordinary like so many others. That just wasn¡¯t the path he wanted for himself. Because Miguel knew that he wouldn¡¯t be happy with a normal life. He was lost in such thoughts when he heard a shout from one of the guards. Without skipping a beat, Miguel grabbed his spear and rolled out from under the wagon. A dozen other guards were already moving to their assigned positions, and even the Teamsters had taken up weapons. For his part, Miguel tossed his spear atop one of the wagons, then leaped, grabbing hold of the edge and dragging himself to the top. It was twelve feet off the ground, so from that position, he could see the reason the alarm had been raised. Dozens of monsters surrounded the circled wagons. They were vaguely humanoid, with the right number of arms and legs. But that was where the similarities ended. The creatures sported hyena-like heads, spotted, fur-covered bodies, and wicked claws that looked perfect for slicing through flesh. ¡°Gnolls!¡± shouted one of the Teamsters. One of the monsters let out a cackling howl that sent a shiver of fear up Miguel¡¯s spine. And when the other monsters responded with howls of their own, his chest tightened in mingled anticipation and terror. He pushed the latter aside, gripping his spear in both hands as he planted his feet. More than anything, he wished he¡¯d thought to bring his bow. Or that he hadn¡¯t removed his armor. That was a mistake he didn¡¯t intend to repeat in the future. Miguel didn¡¯t have long to regret his choices before the creatures surged forward with frightening speed. He and his companions were outnumbered ten to one, but they had the advantage of skills as well as the defensive position provided by the circled wagons. Still, he knew it would be a tough fight. However, he was still more than a little surprised when the first monster leaped against the wagon, dug its claws into the sides, and vaulted to the top. The thing moved like a gymnast on steroids, so Miguel was shocked when he found himself suddenly facing off against the fur-covered creature. But his training hadn¡¯t been for nothing, and his learned instincts took over as the battle commenced. He thrust forward with the spear, but the monster nimbly danced to the side, darting in to eviscerate Miguel¡¯s torso. Yet, it clearly hadn¡¯t expected to face off against someone with the young Green Warden¡¯s effective stats, because it let out a bark of surprise when it found nothing but air. That turned into a pained help as Miguel plunged his rapidly drawn dagger into the creature¡¯s back. He wrenched it out, sheathing it in the same motion before regaining his two-handed grip on his spear. He followed that up with a powerful kick that sent the monster back the way it had come. It crashed into another gnoll, sending them both toppling to the ground. But there were more to take their place, and before Miguel knew it, he was surrounded by gnashing teeth, sharp claws, and spotted fur. With the sound of cackling howls in his ears, Miguel fought, using every ounce of training he¡¯d received. His attributes stood him in good stead, and he took quite a few wounds during the course of battle. They were mitigated by his comparatively high Constitution, though that did little to stop the pain. Even so, he managed to fight on, eventually clearing his side of the circled wagons before moving from one wagon to the next as he lent his efforts to help his companions. When the dust settled, he¡¯d lost count of how many gnolls he¡¯d killed. He was covered in blood, sported a half-dozen shallow wounds, and was more fatigued than he¡¯d ever been in his life. Yet, Miguel was far more worried about the two guards they¡¯d lost in the battle. He¡¯d not bothered to learn their names, but he would forever remember their faces. With the moon still bright in the night sky, another set of howling cackles filled the air as the second wave of gnolls descended upon the circled wagons. From his perch, he could see them coming. He could almost feel them. The wrongness of their very existence. But Miguel ignored that. As the battle recommenced, there was no room for such extraneous thoughts. 5-15. A Life of Battle ¡°How did you find me?¡± asked Delilah, sitting atop one of the buildings within the Nexus. Her toned legs dangled off the edge as she peered out at the people gathered around the market. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice the long, puckered scar that ran from beneath her armored skirt ¨C called a pteruges, if Elijah remembered his history ¨C past her knee, and well into her calf. ¡°I found Isaak first,¡± he said, settling in beside her. He glanced up at the night sky, seeing that it was just as alien as it had been during the day. It was filled with a kaleidoscope of colors, reminding Elijah of the aurora borealis, but far more expansive than the northern lights back on Earth. Finally, after a few moments, he said, ¡°He¡¯s worried about you, you know.¡± ¡°He shouldn¡¯t be. I¡¯m fine. Great, even. This is an opportunity that only the strongest people on the planet get,¡± she said. ¡°Why would anyone worry about me?¡± Elijah sighed. According to Isaak, Delilah and her team had been hit hard only moments after arriving on the excised planet, and they¡¯d been forced to battle their way through the jungle, with little rest between fights. Two of her companions had died, and she¡¯d been grievously injured. Her leg was the worst of it, but she had taken quite a few other wounds as well. ¡°I cried after my first tower,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just tears of relief. Did I ever tell you about it?¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t told me anything about yourself,¡± she pointed out. Elijah realized that was true. He hadn¡¯t treated her like a potential partner. He hadn¡¯t even approached her like she was a friend. Instead, they¡¯d used one another, without thought for anything but immediate release. She¡¯d tried to be there for him after he¡¯d built the Temple of Virtue, but he¡¯d refused that connection. Now, there was a wide gulf between them that had become all but impossible to bridge. ¡°I haven¡¯t been a very good friend to you, have I?¡± he asked. She let out a harsh and humorless laugh. ¡°We¡¯re not friends, Elijah,¡± she said. ¡°Acquaintances at best.¡± She glanced at him. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know you were at the top of the power rankings until like two months ago. Everyone else did, but not me. Do you know how that made me feel? Do you know how people must¡¯ve looked at me when I talked about you?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s like we¡¯re strangers,¡± she answered her own question. ¡°Which I guess we are. Then, you disappear without warning, and you only come back for a few minutes before leaving again? You barely offered an explanation before you were gone.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I can¡­I can be pretty selfish sometimes.¡± That much was true. It always had been, too. He¡¯d never really been a great partner to any of the women in his life. Even with his search for his sister, it had often felt less like a purpose and more like a side quest. Sure, he loved his sister. He also loved Lucy and Nina, his ex-girlfriend back in Hawaii, as well. He liked Delilah, too. But as wrapped up as he always was in his own issues, he rarely gave anyone else the attention they deserved. Did that make him a bad person? Seeing the way Delilah looked at him certainly made him feel like it. ¡°What do you want to know about me?¡± he asked, hoping to make up for his mistakes. She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s not always about you, Elijah.¡± ¡°What can I do, then? I want to help.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t. Not unless you can bring people back from the dead. You can¡¯t do that, can you? No. Nobody can. We run around acting like we can all perform miracles. That¡¯s not true, though. We¡¯re just strong enough to make us feel like we¡¯re invincible. We¡¯re not. We¡¯re so, so far from that. I just got reminded of how the world works. So, I know your heart¡¯s in the right place. I know you want to help. But you can¡¯t. So, please ¨C just stop. We¡¯re not close enough to start having heart-to-hearts about dead friends.¡± Elijah¡¯s first impulse was to argue that she needed to talk about what had happened in the jungle. He knew she had lost people, and probably in horrifying circumstances, and he had been to therapy often enough to recognize the need to talk that sort of thing out. However, he could tell that if he kept pushing, she was going to run off. Or hit him. Maybe both. So, he just sighed and nodded, saying, ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m still going to sit here with you.¡± ¡°Suit yourself. Just shut up for once.¡± Elijah did, though he had some difficulty, knowing that Delilah was in pain and that there was nothing he could do about it. Still, he pushed his own desire to help aside and just sat next to her. Eventually, he ventured out and took hold of her hand. She flinched slightly at his touch, but she didn¡¯t pull away. Neither did she tell him off. Instead, she just returned his grip with her own. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. Like that they sat for hours until, at last, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if I should stay.¡± ¡°Do you want my opinion?¡± he asked. She shrugged, which Elijah took as the go-ahead to offer his thoughts. So, he continued, ¡°You should stick around. You came here for a reason, right? You wanted to get stronger. So, this place will offer you the opportunity to do just that. Even if you¡¯re not going to work on the challenges, the jungle offers plenty of chances to gain experience, and at a better pace than anywhere you have access to back home.¡± She sighed and slumped her shoulders. ¡°You know, for the first time since all this started, I¡¯ve started to regret my decision to be a fighter,¡± she said. ¡°When I first chose my archetype, Warrior sounded so awesome. I thought it would be like a game, that I would rise to the top. Same when I picked my class. But I¡¯m barely in my sixties now. I¡¯ve got a long road ahead of me. I¡¯m looking at it, and all I can see is endless fighting. I lost Theresa and Gil a couple of days ago. Micah right after. It hurt, Elijah. Like, really hurt. They¡¯re not the first people I¡¯ve seen die, either. But they did everything right. They were strong. We thought¡­we thought we were all invincible.¡± ¡°Nobody is.¡± ¡°I know. That¡¯s my point. Even if I make it, and I get to be level five-hundred or some ridiculous thing, how many of my friends am I going to watch die? How many people am I going to have to kill? It¡¯s¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± she said with a shake of her head. ¡°Right now, I wish I would have picked that Tradesman archetype I was offered. Or even the Scholar. I could progress without having to put my life in danger. Without having to watch my friends die.¡± After that, a long silence stretched between them before Elijah finally said, ¡°You know you can steer your class away from that, right? That¡¯s what evolutions are for.¡± ¡°I¡¯m barely halfway to that point. And I have no idea what else I want,¡± she said. She ran her hand through her thick, black hair. ¡°I don¡¯t know. There is a chance that I¡¯ll feel differently in a few days. It¡¯s all just a little raw right now.¡± ¡°I definitely understand that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But for what it¡¯s worth, I¡¯m here, you know. Maybe I¡¯m not the best person in the world. I¡¯m selfish, rude, and more antisocial than I care to admit on my most days. I do care about you, though, and I want to help as much as I can.¡± ¡°Thanks,¡± she said. ¡°But I think I need to work this out on my own.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± In the end, the rendezvous did not go as Elijah had expected it to play out. He¡¯d wanted to give Delilah some measure of hope. He¡¯d even intended to invite her to join the team he¡¯d formed with Sadie, Dat, and Kurik. However, that idea went out the window the moment he¡¯d seen her mental state. She was in the wrong frame of mind to make an attempt at conquering the Trial¡¯s first challenge. If she went out there right then, she¡¯d likely end up dead or grievously wounded. No ¨C she needed time to find her own path, and until she did, taking her into a fight meant bringing a liability along. She wouldn¡¯t thank him for that, so he¡¯d abandoned that notion the moment he found her. Finally, just as the sun was beginning to peek above the horizon, Elijah bade Delilah goodbye, then slipped from the roof. He landed with barely a sound before heading off toward the infirmary. Once he arrived, he unsurprisingly found the sparkly-robed Rob healing a few new patients. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to lend his assistance, relieving some of the man¡¯s burden for around an hour before heading back to the building Atticus and his alliance of Merchants and Tradesmen had set up shop. That¡¯s where he found Sadie, already up and about and eating a bowl full of what looked like gruel. There wasn¡¯t much in terms of furnishings ¨C just a couple of wooden tables and a handful of chairs ¨C but Eliijah expected that Atticus and his alliance would change that soon enough. Wanting to bridge the wide gulf that had sprung up between Sadie and himself, Elijah offered, ¡°I¡¯m going to make some coffee. You want some?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t drink coffee.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± he asked, his jaw dropping. Obviously, Elijah was aware that there existed people who didn¡¯t enjoy the most perfect beverage in existence, but he was still more than a little shocked every time he met one. ¡°I don¡¯t like it. It¡¯s too bitter.¡± ¡°It¡­uh¡­gives a long-lasting buff,¡± he said, unsure why he wanted to convince her to try his coffee. ¡°Extra attributes.¡± ¡°Pass.¡± Deciding to switch gears, he asked, ¡°Pork jerky? It might go well with your¡­uh¡­gruel?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a vegetarian,¡± she said. ¡°And it¡¯s not gruel. It¡¯s porridge.¡± ¡°Fun fact ¨C technically, porridge is classified as gruel. So are oatmeal, grits ¨C it¡¯s a thing in the southern U.S. ¨C and most other ground oat slop.¡± ¡°Slop?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules.¡± ¡°First of all, what you just said is not true at all,¡± she said. ¡°Gruel is distinguished by being thinner than porridge and oatmeal. And¡­you know what? I¡¯m not justifying my food to you. I won¡¯t criticize your carnivorous tendencies, and I would appreciate if you didn¡¯t judge my diet.¡± Elijah knew he¡¯d messed up, so he just nodded and went back to making his coffee. Fortunately, there was a fireplace nearby where he could boil water for his coffee, and he did just that before making the beverage in his French press. Secretly, he expected that Sadie would come over to the right side of the coffee divide when she smelled it, but to his immense shock, she just turned her nose up and pretended like he ¨C and the delicious coffee ¨C didn¡¯t exist. Finally, he offered her a bit of his honey, saying, ¡°It¡¯s ethically sourced. The bees in my apiary are perfectly happy and very healthy.¡± ¡°You have an apiary?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. I have a whole island. Kind of a paradise, if I say so myself. It wasn¡¯t always like that, but it¡¯s definitely my happy place,¡± he said with a smile. ¡°My friend Nerthus is taking care of it right now.¡± She just stared at him. ¡°You live in paradise?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Pretty much,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°Most of the time, I¡¯m not even there, though. Like I said, it¡¯s as much Nerthus¡¯ island as it is mine.¡± That¡¯s when he noticed her dark expression. ¡°What? How did I offend you this time?¡± Sadie just shook her head. ¡°Nothing.¡± Then, she quickly ate the last bite of her porridge, pushed away from the table, and strode away. ¡°What did I say?¡± Elijah muttered to himself. 5-16. Very Different Circumstances ¡°Paradise. That¡¯s what he said,¡± Sadie spat. ¡°He¡¯s been living on some island sipping mojitos while we¡¯ve been fighting for our lives against nightmare monsters!¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the whole story, bro,¡± said Dat, adjusting a harness that held a brace of throwing knives. Concealed beneath his long, leather coat was an arsenal of weapons for every occasion, and impressively, he knew how to employ each and every one of them to great effect. Sadie had seen him training, but more importantly, she had seen him in a fight. Despite his easygoing demeanor, he was as ruthless a combatant as anyone she¡¯d known. Which had been more than necessary back home. ¡°It¡¯s what he said, Dat,¡± she insisted, seeing to her own preparations. They were set to leave as soon as the Druid returned from the infirmary, where he said he was once again healing people. But Sadie had seen his true nature, and so, she knew he had to have ulterior motives. Perhaps that was how he had progressed. Maybe that was the source of all his levels. Either way, she knew it was no selfless act. Someone like him was incapable of that. Not with that cloud of sin that followed him around. Dat shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say, except that nobody had it easy,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Especially someone his level. Maybe you¡¯re being too hard on him, bro. He seems like a good guy.¡± ¡°Looks often deceive.¡± That was a popular axiom even before the world had transformed, but Sadie had never realized how factual it was. With Sense of Sin, she was exposed to the truth every single minute of each day. If anything, the common adage understated the situation. Human beings were, at their very core, evil. There was so much filth clinging to even the most innocent-looking person that it was difficult to look past. Sadie tried. And often, she failed. Thankfully, her closest companion wasn¡¯t as stained as most others, which gave her a little peace. Dat was no innocent, but he was a better man than anyone else she¡¯d met. The conversation lapsed as the pair continued their preparations. Sadie had an enchanted backpack that would hold about a month¡¯s worth of supplies, and she¡¯d spent a few hours of the previous day restocking what she¡¯d used on her trek to the Nexus. So, she had plenty of food and water, a couple of camping implements, and the tools necessary to maintain her armor and weapons. Because of their high grade, they didn¡¯t need much maintenance, but out of habit, she still went through the motions. It did little good, but she found some comfort in the daily task of polishing her armor and sharpening her blades. When there were no more preparations, they were forced to wait almost half an hour until the Druid returned. When he finally did, he did so in the company of the dwarf who would be the last member of their party. Like all dwarves, he was short, stout, and bearded. He was clad in worn leather armor, and he carried a couple of hatchets at his belt. In addition, he had quite a few other knives sheathed across his body. And finally, he carried a bow, with a quiver or arrows at his hip. Surprisingly, Sense of Sin was mostly quiet concerning the dwarf. His misdeeds caused a slight haze that clung to him, but it was far more diffuse than anyone else she¡¯d met, save for Dat. Instantly, Sadie liked him. ¡°This is Kurik,¡± Elijah said, gripping the dwarf¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Hunter extraordinaire.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know nothin¡¯ ¡®bout no ¡®extraordinaire¡¯,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°But I¡¯m a fair trapper, a decent woodsman, and a good tracker. Hope that makes me useful to this expedition.¡± ¡°He¡¯s being modest,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°I ain¡¯t. Don¡¯t even know why I¡¯m here. ¡®Tween you three, you can do anythin¡¯ I can do and probably better,¡± the dwarf grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m Dat, bro. You look pretty swole. You work out? What¡¯s your routine?¡± ¡°Routine?¡± ¡°Lifting, bro,¡± Dat said, miming doing an overhead press. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he works out, Dat,¡± Elijah pointed out with an infuriating grin. ¡°Ah. All natural, then. Farm strong.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t never worked on no farm.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not what that means,¡± Elijah said. ¡°He¡¯s saying ¨C¡± ¡°Can we please move on?¡± interjected Sadie, tiring of the exchange. ¡°We have a long way to go, and though it seems like we have a lot of time to accomplish our goals, I suspect that we will need every hour.¡± Elijah said, ¡°She¡¯s right. Best that we hit the ol¡¯ dusty trail.¡± Sadie glared at him, but she didn¡¯t respond to his ridiculously hokey idiom. Instead, she just grabbed her backpack and the Sword of Morning from where it was leaning against the wall before she turned on her heel and marched out the door. In the background, she heard the Druid ask, ¡°What did I say?¡± She didn¡¯t stick around long enough to listen to anyone¡¯s answer. It was early enough that the streets of the Nexus were mostly empty, which meant that she had a clear path all the way to the edge of town. Sadie didn¡¯t break her stride. Nor did she look back. But soon enough, the others joined her, lagging only a little behind. Once they were at the edge of the jungle, Elijah caught up to her and said, ¡°You need to let us do our job.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡± she asked. ¡°It means that if you go marching into the jungle without letting us scout the way, you¡¯re going to end up fighting for every step you take,¡± he pointed out. ¡°You can probably handle it, but like you said, we¡¯re on the clock here.¡± Sadie very much wanted to argue, but not because of what he said. Rather, it was that annoying tone of voice that suggested he took nothing seriously. And of course, the cloud of sin billowing off of him, filling her nostrils with its stink. ¡°Very well,¡± she said. After that, they established a pattern. For the most part, they would rely on Dat and Kurik as scouts, leaving Sadie and Elijah together. That strategy made sense, too, what with Elijah being the strongest healer and Sadie having no skill in stealth or wilderness traversal. But that didn¡¯t mean she liked it. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Oddly, though, it was Elijah who objected, saying that he could cover more ground than any of them. Eventually, he was overruled, which clearly affected his mood. The strategy worked well, though, and over the first day of travel, they weren¡¯t forced to fight anything they couldn¡¯t handle. They all played their parts, with Sadie taking on the role of the defender, with Kurik and Dat adding damage while Elijah focused on healing and controlling the battlefield with his restrictive roots spell. On the second day, they seemed to cross a line into much more dangerous territory. And on the third, they found themselves embroiled in a battle against almost two dozen wraiths. Sadie rushed forward, using Call of the Crusader to capture the horde¡¯s attention. They abandoned any notion of attacking anyone else, and instead, rushed toward her. She activated Consecrated Shield, then Bulwark of the Faithful. The first was an ethereal shield meant for allies, which she placed on Dat, while the second was a similar concept that was only usable on herself.
Bulwark of the Faithful Create a barrier of faith to shield yourself from damage. When it is broken, it empowers the Crusader, increasing physical attributes by a significant amount. Damage absorbed dependent on Ethera attribute.
It was her bread-and-butter ability, and the one that allowed her to effectively do her job. She had a host of offensive skills she could use against undead and demons, but they were entirely ineffective against the living. But with Bulwark of the Faithful, combined with Call of the Crusader and Consecrated Shield, she could effectively play the role of a frontline defender. She also brought non-insignificant healing abilities to the table, as well as a couple of buffs that would enhance her allies¡¯ durability. But for now, she could only rely on her attributes, equipment, and expertise to see her through. Fortunately, Sadie was well-versed in battle, and she swept the Sword of Morning out in a wide arc, slicing through the first line of wraiths. It wasn¡¯t enough to kill them, but it did send a spray of white blood to splatter her immediate surroundings. More importantly, it maintained her advantage of reach. For their part, the monsters were still under the influence of Call of the Crusader, and they never even considered employing anything but swarm tactics. Unfortunately, there were enough of them to make that an effective strategy. They rushed past her guard, taking quite a few wounds along the way, before piling atop her. Bulwark of the Faithful proved a perfect shield against their attacks, but Sadie was forced to abandon her greatsword in favor of much smaller blades. Even as they bit and clawed at the shield, her arm pumped, repeatedly stabbing into the mass of monsters with her dagger. The slim blade easily pierced their skin, but they were durable enough that it would take hundreds of such attacks to finish them off. Thankfully, she was not alone. Even as she was buried beneath a veritable mountain of blue-and-white monsters, her allies fell upon them. Dat employed his own skills, ripping into the creatures¡¯ backs with characteristic brutality. Most of his abilities were focused on scouting, but he was far from defenseless. More importantly, from an offensive standpoint, he wasn¡¯t nearly as limited as she was, and he could kill living creatures just as easily as he could tear through undead. Kurik was less effective, though that was expected, given his focus as a trapper. He had a few abilities that made him a passable hunter, but they were far from powerful. Still, he was a solid combatant who could hold his own. It was not enough, though, and after only a few more moments, Bulwark of the Faithful shattered. When it did, Sadie felt an influx of Strength and Dexterity. She heaved, and the pile of monsters shifted. Pushing even harder, she exploded from the pile, her breath coming in ragged gasps. The creatures recovered quickly, bounding off the surrounding trees and resuming their swarming tactics. However, Call of the Crusader ran its course a second later, releasing them from its ethereal pull. At first, the monsters didn¡¯t alter their course. However, after only a couple more seconds, the echoes of the skill faded and they began to turn their attention on the more vulnerable members of the party. Sadie roared, lashing out with her sword. But the monsters were quick and coordinated, and one leaped upon Kurik, wrapping the dwarf in its deadly and draining embrace. She used Consecrated Shield upon him, but it burst after only a second. And to Sadie¡¯s horror, the ethera that should have converted into a wave of healing was absorbed by the wraith, nullifying the ability. She stumbled in shock, which was all the opening her enemies needed. Three more wraiths charged, and before she could respond, they wrapped themselves around her. Without Bulwark of the Faithful protecting her, the monsters could finally employ their most devastating ability against her. Sadie gasped as she felt an unholy pull on her core. Ethera rushed out of her in a torrent, seeping through her pores and filling the air with a blue cloud. The wraiths chittered in glee while she screamed. Her Strength faded a little with every passing second. There was only one choice. One option loomed large in her mind. If she was to win the battle, she would be forced to employ her most powerful ability. She needed a Miracle. But would it be enough? Even if it was, using it so soon after arrival did not bode well for the rest of the Trial. As she felt her power draining away, Sadie continued to fight, using every tool at her disposal. She stabbed and kicked, and she even used her healing abilities. But it was all useless. Just as she was on the verge of using her Miracle, everything changed. Suddenly, there was another monster in their midst, and this one was much larger, stronger, and more savage than the wraiths. Vaguely, it was shaped like a primate, but instead of fur, it was covered in thick, black-and-red scales. Jagged spikes grew from its shoulders and formed a crown upon its reptilian head. The thing was absolutely enormous and densely packed with bulging muscles. If it weighed less than a thousand kilograms, Sadie would have been incredibly surprised. She could feel the primal power wafting off of the beast as it ripped one of the wraiths away from her body and heaved it into a tree. It shattered the trunk, and when the monster fell to the ground, broken and bleeding, it did not rise. It was the opening Sadie needed, and she managed to stab down at the wraith clinging to her leg. Meanwhile, the scaled creature shimmered with ethera, then transformed into another horrifying monster. This one was much sleeker, quadruped, and with a long snout that resembled a crocodile¡¯s. And when it moved, it did so with feline grace, snapping its jaws around the final wraith clinging to Sadie¡¯s body and ripping an enormous chunk from its torso. Sadie followed the monster¡¯s attack up with a stab from her dagger. The blade pierced the wraith¡¯s head, and as it seized, she kicked it away. Free from the drain, she was free to lay into the remaining wraiths with all her might. More, Call of the Crusader came off cooldown, and she once again let it loose. The wraiths responded, and the others tore through them without further issue. But the shapeshifting monster was nowhere to be seen. Instead, Elijah had taken its place, casting out heals with every passing second. Even though she hadn¡¯t seen it for herself, the implications were clear. The shapeshifting monster hadn¡¯t disappeared. Indeed ¨C it remained in their midst, having only taken on a different form. Finally, Sadie ended the final wraith¡¯s life by hacking through its neck and sending its head rolling free. Then, there was only silence. Elijah approached, asking, ¡°Are you injured?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Never mind,¡± he said, casting a spell. A moment later, she felt it fall upon her, sending a pulsing jolt of healing through her. Twenty seconds after that, she felt another. ¡°Feel better?¡± ¡°I¡­I do.¡± ¡°Great. That was a pretty close call. Those things are like ethera vampires. If you let them in, they¡¯re going to drain you,¡± he said. ¡°Alone, they¡¯re not that dangerous, but they also tend to come in packs. So, keep an eye out for that.¡± ¡°You saved me,¡± she said. He shrugged. ¡°Surprising, I know,¡± he said, giving her that same infuriating grin he seemed to wear so often. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯d do the same for me, though.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t respond, mostly because she wasn¡¯t entirely certain that his statement was true. On the surface, she wanted to believe she would do whatever she had to do to keep her allies alive. But her disdain for the Druid was so powerful that she wasn¡¯t certain what she would do if she was the only thing standing between his life and death. Sighing, she said, ¡°Let us see to the others.¡± 5-17. The Singing Cliffs Elijah slammed the butt of his staff into a wraith¡¯s skull, using Storm¡¯s Fury to finish it off. The creature absorbed some of the ethera from the spell, but it was incapable of completely negating it. Because, as with all things, their ability to drain ethera had limits. The key to beating them ¨C aside from physical damage, at least ¨C was to overload them to the point where they could no longer take any more energy. After that, any spells aimed in their direction hit them with close to full power. For his part, Elijah preferred just ripping them to pieces, but he couldn¡¯t abandon his healing responsibilities and shift into one of his other forms. Instead, he was forced to remain in his natural shape and use his other abilities to supplement and support, rather than take center stage. It reminded him a little of his time in the Sea of Sorrows. There, he¡¯d been forced to employ a similar strategy. However, in the jungles of the excised world, he had to worry about a lot more than his own safety. To that end, he cast Nature¡¯s Bloom, letting the healing ability settle onto Sadie. She used the rejuvenation to good effect, lashing out with her massive sword and nearly cutting a wraith in two. But she didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, she moved like a whirlwind, slicing through any wraith dumb enough to get in her way. Fortunately, the creatures were not known for their intelligence, and as a result, she mowed them down with little issue. Meanwhile, the others used their own abilities to dispatch the remaining wraiths. Dat flitted around the battlefield, riddling the creatures with stab wounds as he moved among them with impunity. For his part, Kurik was obviously the weakest of them, but he¡¯d proved his worth before the battle had even begun, using his traps to separate the horde into more manageable groups, wounding them along the way. That strategy required forethought, but fortunately, he and Dat had established themselves as capable scouts. So, aside from that first encounter with one of the larger groups of wraiths, they had yet to be caught unaware. Regardless, even with how effective the strategy was, Elijah found the whole battle a little tedious. After spending much of the past five years fighting alone, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a bit disappointed with his limited role. Sure, he could heal passably well ¨C especially when his companions were as capable as they had shown themselves to be. However, that didn¡¯t mean he preferred that role in a fight. Instead, he wanted to use his full suite of abilities, including his various shapes, to put his thumb on the scale of battle. But if he did that, people might die. And as much as he wished the situation was otherwise, he¡¯d taken the role of the group¡¯s healer, and he intended to fulfill those responsibilities regardless of how tedious he found it to be. So, he healed. And he defended himself with his staff, augmenting his damage with Storm¡¯s Fury. He didn¡¯t even dare to use Swarm or Calamity for fear that they would take too much of the ethera he needed to reserve for healing. Finally, they finished the battle off, and the best Elijah could say about it was that he¡¯d kept everyone alive, he¡¯d gotten a bit of experience, and best of all, it was over. Afterwards, they regrouped, and he healed any remaining damage before they set off once again. Over the previous week, they had learned not to linger after a fight. If they did, they¡¯d soon find themselves embroiled in another conflict. ¡°How close are we, Dat?¡± asked Sadie, following the Witch Hunter. ¡°A few miles,¡± he answered. ¡°Maybe a little more.¡± He¡¯d been saying the same thing for the past few hours. It wasn¡¯t his failure, but rather, the map¡¯s shortcoming. The thing was not even close to scale, so they had been forced to rely on the changing terrain for hints as to their relative position. More than once, Elijah had offered to fly above the jungle¡¯s canopy and scout things out properly, but he¡¯d been refused. And he understood why, too. The skies were certainly not safe, as he¡¯d discovered on the third day of their journey. Fed up with the lack of information, he¡¯d used Shape of the Sky and thrown himself into the air. He was immediately attacked by a flock of birds that tried to rip him to shreds, forcing him to land. He¡¯d tried twice more, but with the same results, proving that taking to the sky was not an option. Which left him frustratingly bound to the ground, playing a stifling role, and in the company of a woman who clearly hated him. She even resented when he healed her, as if the touch of his spells was somehow unclean. It was nearly enough to make him go his own way, and if Kurik hadn¡¯t been part of the group, he might have done just that and damn the consequences. But he had decided to be the bigger person, to turn the other cheek when it came to Sadie¡¯s open hostility. He was just congratulating himself on his maturity when he heard a whistling sound. ¡°What is that?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°You hear it, too?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°I think we all do,¡± Elijah pointed out. That earned him another glare. They continued forward, and Dat returned from his most recent scouting expedition. He said, ¡°I think we¡¯re here. Only a two-hundred meters up ahead.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Sadie asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± With that, they followed him through the jungle. The vegetation quickly turned much sparser until, finally, they reached a barren stretch that had been scoured clean by high winds. But that wasn¡¯t the first thing Elijah noticed. Instead, his eyes were locked on the enormous butte formation looming over them. Aside from a few hardy bushes that dotted the surface of its cliffs, it was entirely free of flora. Around the summit, thousands of birds not unlike the ones that had previously torn him from the sky circled, filling the air with their raucous cries. ¡°How tall do you think it is?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°A few thousand feet,¡± Kurik answered from beside him. ¡°Maybe as much as ten. Depth perception gets a bit tricky at that kind of elevation.¡± The wind picked up, filling the air with a whistling sound. That¡¯s when Elijah noticed that the cliffs were pocked with holes, through which danced ethera. He could only barely see it, even with Eyes of the Eagle active, but he knew there was something there he was missing. He took an inadvertent step forward, and a notification appeared before his inner eye:
You have reached the Singing Cliffs. To conquer the Challenge of Aesira, reach the top of the cliffs, find the Ivory Egg, and destroy it. Reward: Seed of the Whistling Wind
Elijah read the notification a second time. On the surface, it seemed a simple enough task, but he reasoned that there would be far more to it than he saw at first glance. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he might be able to mitigate some of the challenge by using his unique capabilities. ¡°Should I try to fly up there?¡± he asked, glancing back to see his companions¡¯ glassy-eyed expressions. It was rare that he¡¯d gotten the opportunity to see someone reading a system notification, but he recognized it nonetheless. Sadie was the first to refocus, but the others followed suit fairly quickly. ¡°What¡¯d you say, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°You all know I can fly. Should I change and try to reach the top?¡± he asked. ¡°Those birds ain¡¯t gonna let you do that,¡± said Kurik. ¡°I say we should let him try,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Let me?¡± Elijah asked, narrowing his eyes. He didn¡¯t like the implication of that. No one let him do anything. ¡°You know what I meant.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t start with the bickerin¡¯ again,¡± said Kurik. Then, to Elijah, he said, ¡°If you think you can make it, go ahead. I still don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, but I ain¡¯t here to tell you what to do.¡± When Elijah looked at Dat, the Witch Hunter just shrugged and said, ¡°You do you, bro.¡± Sighing, Elijah glanced up at the cliffs. He didn¡¯t think he could make it all the way to the top. Those birds certainly wouldn¡¯t allow it. However, he did believe he could probably make it a few hundred yards up. Maybe as far as halfway before the birds even noticed him. That would make things far easier. So, without further debate, Elijah transformed via Shape of the Sky, and as soon as his wings had fully developed, he launched himself into the air. At first, he made great progress, beating his wings to gain altitude. And then the wind started up. The first gust hit him like a cannon ball, sending him cartwheeling across the sky. The next gust didn¡¯t give him a chance to recover before it smashed into him. Then, the next came. And the next after that. The gusts ¨C which were more like bursts of air ¨C kept coming, pushing his Constitution to its limit. More, he was thrown further and further off course until he found himself plummeting into the jungle. He righted himself just in time to slow his fall, and he managed to tuck his wings close to his body as he tore through the canopy. He hit dozens of limbs on his way down, then slammed into the ground hard enough to fracture one of his ankles. He transformed immediately, casting Soothe the second he regained his human form. But even as his ankle ¨C and a couple of other injuries he¡¯d incurred ¨C healed, he examined what had happened. Those wind gusts carried with them an intense flare of ethera that felt vaguely familiar. He lay there as his wounds mended, using every available facet of his mind to search his memories for anything relevant. And then it hit him. Just after finishing the Temple of Virtue, he¡¯d flown high above his island, where he felt something flitting about the clouds. At the time, he hadn¡¯t truly understood what it was that he¡¯d felt, but as he lay there in the jungle, he began to understand it. ¡°Air spirits,¡± he said to himself. Or perhaps they were spirits. He wasn¡¯t sure what to call them, but their nature seemed obvious now that he¡¯d been exposed to them on two different occasions. And they packed quite a punch, making it impossible to fly in the vicinity of the cliffs. Moreover, he suspected that they would complicate any potential climb as well. Elijah was still considering it when Kurik found him lying on the ground. The dwarf helped him to his feet, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to be the sorta dwarf to say I told you so, but¡­¡± ¡°Just say it.¡± ¡°I did tell you it wasn¡¯t gonna end well.¡± ¡°You did.¡± ¡°Good thing you¡¯re so durable.¡± ¡°Yeah. But I did find something out,¡± Elijah added. ¡°Maybe it¡¯ll make it worth it.¡± Kurik shrugged, reaching out to help Elijah to his feet. ¡°Whatever you need to tell yourself. C¡¯mon. The others¡¯re waitin¡¯.¡± With that, Elijah and Kurik returned to the rest of the group, where he went on to tell them what he felt. ¡°I think they¡¯re spirit spirits that represent air or wind,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve felt them before, but they weren¡¯t so hostile then.¡± ¡°How does this change things?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I have no idea. Knowing our enemy can¡¯t be a bad thing, right?¡± ¡°Even if that enemy is incorporeal and probably immune to physical attacks?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re probably less of an enemy we¡¯re supposed to fight, and more of an obstacle we¡¯re meant to overcome,¡± she suggested. ¡°That makes sense,¡± Kurik said. Dat remained silent, tilting his head to the side as he listened to the whistling of the wind. ¡°It seems that we only have one way forward,¡± Sadie said, looking at the cliffs. ¡°We must climb.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure it¡¯s going to get more complicated than that,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Then we will overcome,¡± she countered. ¡°We have no other choice, unless you wish to turn back.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Good. Let¡¯s go,¡± she said, striding forward across the wind-stripped land and toward the butte formation. The others followed. Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about himself. He was a survivor in every sense of the word. Even if he failed to conquer the challenge, he would probably be fine. The others, he wasn¡¯t so sure about. But they were all adults, and they¡¯d chosen their paths. Now, they all had to walk them. 5-18. The Climb ¡°It occurs to me that I¡¯m not invincible,¡± said Elijah, looking up at the massive Singing Cliffs. Then, he glanced at Kurik and asked, ¡°Do you ever feel that way?¡± ¡°All the damn time. Like a normal person,¡± the dwarf grumbled. ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you dare tell me you ain¡¯t never considered it,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I mean, obviously I have,¡± Elijah admitted. He¡¯d spent far too much time ¨C especially right before the world had changed ¨C thinking about his inevitable death. However, of late, he¡¯d lost sight of the notion that he might pay the price for his overconfidence. Even after seeing how many people had already died in the Trial, he¡¯d lacked a certain context. Instead, he¡¯d kept going, thinking that there was no way he could possibly bite the bucket. ¡°It¡¯s just that lately I¡¯ve been thinking more about how these death-defying circumstances can benefit me. That doesn¡¯t leave much room for thoughts on mortality.¡± ¡°Level-blind,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we called it back home. Level-blind. You get so focused on progression that you forget about everything else,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°Sometimes, it¡¯s just that people don¡¯t see the mine for all the rocks. They miss important details. That sort of thing. Other times, they forget about the people that care about them. Loved ones and such. And then there are the ones like you.¡± ¡°What is that supposed to mean?¡± Elijah asked, glad that neither Sadie nor Dat were close enough to hear the answer he expected from Kurik. Dat would probably just laugh it off, but that damnable woman would use it as fuel for her inexplicable hatred for him. She already loathed him, so it was best if he didn¡¯t do anything to make it worse. ¡°You forget you can die, same as anybody else,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Now sure ¨C you think about it, you know you ain¡¯t immortal. But in the heat of the moment, in a battle or some such, you don¡¯t act like you really think you¡¯re in danger. Lots of people have died for thinkin¡¯ like that. You gotta be careful you don¡¯t end up lettin¡¯ it get too far.¡± Elijah wanted to argue, but then he thought better of it. Largely because Kurik was right. Ever since coming into the Trial, he¡¯d treated it as nothing more than a means to an end. It was his opportunity to progress. And he was right to think of it in those terms. However, he also needed to remember that it was a deadly challenge meant to push the most powerful people on Earth past their limits. Hundreds had already discovered that for themselves. Elijah was just a little slower on the uptake, apparently. He sighed, then ran his hand through his hair. His fingers snagged on his headband, reminding him just how ridiculous he must¡¯ve looked. No wonder Sadie didn¡¯t take him seriously. Finally, he said, ¡°You¡¯re probably right. Going forward, I need to remember that.¡± ¡°See that you do. I don¡¯t think Carmen or Miggy can take it if you don¡¯t make it back,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Anyone ever tell you you¡¯re pretty insightful for a surly dwarf?¡± Elijah asked with a sideways look and a crooked grin. ¡°All the time,¡± Kurik stated with a perfectly straight face. ¡°Now, we gonna climb this mountain? Or are we gonna just stare at it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s actually a mountain. More like a butte formation. Or a mesa, maybe. A plateau, definitely,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Don¡¯t none of that matter. It¡¯s an overgrown rock.¡± ¡°It does to me,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°Words matter, right?¡± ¡°Not when they all mean the same damn thing.¡± Elijah just shook his head in disbelief and said, ¡°Whatever. I think it matters. If they weren¡¯t any different, then ¨C¡± ¡°You coming, bro?¡± called Dat from a few dozen feet away. He slapped his hands together in anticipation. ¡°I think I see a way up. There are ladders about a hundred meters up.¡± Elijah glanced at Sadie, who was staring up at the cliff in intense concentration. Was she avoiding looking at him? Or was she just that interested in the cliff¡¯s face? He chose to ignore the display of hostility, and instead, offered Dat his most winning smile as he said, ¡°I¡¯m ready when you are.¡± After his resolution to take the situation a little more seriously, Elijah forced himself to study the cliff face in earnest. To do so, he used Eyes of the Eagle, and sure enough, he saw the series of rope ladders Dat described. They were around a hundred yards up, and they extended as far as he could see. The reason no one had noticed them before was because they were almost identical in color to the rest of the cliff face. More, they were irregularly spaced, which made them even more difficult to see. Seeing that, Elijah started to see the issue in greater detail. The ladders might help them ¨C assuming they were stable ¨C but to go from one ladder to the next, they would need to traverse the cliff face horizontally. It would be quite precarious, especially considering the howling winds, the spirits, and whatever other dangers the system had in store for them. Still, they¡¯d all chosen to challenge the Trial for valid reasons. In Elijah¡¯s case, he wanted to both satisfy his own adventurous spirit as well as take the opportunity to grow stronger. But Dat¡¯s and Sadie¡¯s situations were far more serious. They wanted to grow more powerful as well, but their reasons were less about personal strength and more to do with saving their people from inevitable death. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. That left Kurik, whose reasons for participating were his own. Though Elijah suspected that the dwarf had come to the Trial of Primacy because he¡¯d experienced true weakness back on his own planet, and he wanted to avoid that if he could. Or maybe there was something else going on. Elijah counted Kurik as one of his few friends, but that didn¡¯t mean he had any true insight into the dwarf¡¯s innermost thoughts. His own mortality wasn¡¯t the only thing he¡¯d begun to ignore of late. He¡¯d also neglected his relationships with his friends and loved ones. Aside from Miguel and Carmen, he¡¯d rarely given much thought to anyone else¡¯s goals. Or their plight. That included Kurik, who Elijah had begun to think of as more of a prop than an actual person with hopes, insecurities, and dreams, along with everything else that came with life. But that was nothing new. Elijah had always been a little self-interested and very much obsessive. Those two traits intersected with his pursuit of power. Now was not the time to start making overtures of friendship, though. The Singing Cliffs would no doubt prove to be quite dangerous, and Elijah needed to be at the top of his game if he wanted to survive. They all did. So, he pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the task at hand. The others did as well, and they spent the next few minutes discussing the most obvious path. There were two issues with that, though. First, they could only see so far, and as such, their plans would end after a couple hundred yards. The second problem was that they all knew the Trial would throw them a few curveballs before they managed to defeat the challenge. Nobody expected it to be easy, either. ¡°Nothing for it but to do it,¡± Elijah said, stepping forward with the intention of getting things started. However, Sadie cut him off with a glare. ¡°I go first.¡± Elijah wanted to argue, if only because the woman truly got under his skin. However, in this instance, he chose to be the bigger person. So, he gave her his best smile, gestured at the cliff, and said, ¡°After you, then.¡± That was obviously the wrong thing to have said, because her glare only intensified. But she didn¡¯t say anything else, instead choosing to take a deep breath, exhaling through her nose before turning back to face the cliff. Then, without further hesitation, she grabbed hold of a rocky protrusion, and began her climb. ¡°Ain¡¯t gonna be easy, climbin¡¯ in armor,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I know, bro. She said she wanted to be ready for a fight,¡± Dat stated. Elijah chose to remain silent, largely because he knew Sadie was more than capable of hearing everything they said. He had no intention of prostrating himself before her ¨C as she seemed to obviously want ¨C but he didn¡¯t want to antagonize the woman either. With that in mind, he thought silence was the best policy. Once Sadie had made it about ten feet up, she dropped a rope that she¡¯d tied around her hips and legs. It hit the ground, and Elijah stepped forward to leash himself to her before beginning his own ascent. For all their preparations, they hadn¡¯t expected to have to climb mountains. So, aside from bringing plenty of rope, none of them were prepared for the task at hand. That meant they had to make do, creating a makeshift harness to distribute the weight properly. For real mountaineers, the whole thing would¡¯ve been made of nylon and clipped together with heavy duty carabiners, but they had to work with the supplies they¡¯d brought. Still, everyone there possessed superhuman ¨C or in Kurik¡¯s case, superdwarven ¨C physiology, so they had good reason to hope that it would work. Over the next fifteen minutes, the process repeated itself until they were all clinging to the cliff. The wind wasn¡¯t pleasant, but so long as they were careful, it was manageable enough. However, the constant whistling was more than a little annoying, and not only because the sound gave him a headache. Also, it made communication with the others almost impossible. Still, they reached the first ledge after a little more than half an hour. The ridge was only a couple of feet deep and around ten feet wide, but that was enough to give them a little respite. To ease their nascent fatigue, Elijah cast Healing Rain as they rested. Both the pause and the healing were largely unnecessary so early in the climb, but they had no idea how far they still had to go. And so, they¡¯d chosen to take every precaution on their way up. As it turned out, that was a good idea, because after that short rest, things got significantly more difficult. Not only did the wind pick up, with the gusts reaching a velocity usually reserved for tropical storms, but the handholds they relied upon became more infrequent and much more difficult to grasp. But the real problem was the spirits. The invisible bullies never missed a chance to cannonball into the members of the party. The first time had taken them completely unaware, and the only reason Dat didn¡¯t end up plummeting to his death was their use of the connecting rope. Even with the Witch Hunter¡¯s weight spread between them all, it was a close thing. Still, they managed to recover. More importantly, they were much more conscious of the dangerous wind spirits after that. So long as they maintained their focus, the spirits¡¯ attacks weren¡¯t enough to dislodge them. However, the constant threat left them all feeling quite harried. At last, they reached the first rope ladder. It did not give them the respite they¡¯d hoped to find, though. The material was sturdy enough, but the ladder itself only extended a few dozen feet before ending at another ledge. This one was even narrower than the last, and the group was forced to shuffle sideways for another hundred feet before ascending an even shorter ladder that ended in yet another ledge that was only six inches deep. Further complicating matters was the continuous wind, which, once they reached the fifth ledge, climbed past hurricane velocities. And always, the spirits were there, hitting them at the most inopportune times. The moment any of them looked vulnerable, the ephemeral creatures would strike. More than once, they were all knocked free of their precarious positions. Except Elijah. Over time, he¡¯d learned to feel them coming via One with Nature. Even that powerful skill didn¡¯t offer much in the way of warning, but it was enough to keep him from being taken entirely unaware. The others weren¡¯t so lucky. On and on, they went, and after a thousand feet, they were all exhausted. It wasn¡¯t just physical, though that was part of it ¨C especially for the physically weaker Dat and Kurik. Instead, their fatigue was more mental than anything else. For his part, Elijah tried to help via copious use of his various healing spells. But there was only so much he could do. Sadie yelled, ¡°Ledge up ahead! There¡¯s a cave, I think!¡± That was all any of them needed to hear. At their wits¡¯ end, they all clambered over the ledge and, sure enough, there was a shallow cave. From below, they¡¯d all seen the cavities that pockmarked the cliff¡¯s face. However, they hadn¡¯t expected the first they encountered to be so deep. Kurik sagged to the ground, panting with exhaustion. Dat joined him, but both Elijah and Sadie remained alert. ¡°This cave isn¡¯t empty,¡± Elijah said, gripping his staff. ¡°I know,¡± Sadie muttered. Just then, a screech echoed from the back of the cave, confirming what Elijah had already felt via One with Nature. 5-19. Creature of the Wind Elijah¡¯s sense of danger, born from One with Nature as well as other, more mundane senses, screamed at him, and he¡¯d experienced enough that he wouldn¡¯t even considering ignoring them. So, even as the screech echoed off the cave walls, he used Shape of the Guardian. As he transformed, something hit him like a bullet, carving a hole right through his thick scales and burying itself in his shoulder. It would have been his chest, but he¡¯d flinched away at the last instant, probably saving his life. Pain shot through him, racing down his arm and spreading numbness in its wake. Then, something else came screaming in his direction, moving even more quickly than the last attack. However, this time, Elijah was ready for it. He couldn¡¯t avoid the damage, but he could activate Iron Scales at the speed of thought. But even that powerful ability, which could mitigate up to ninety percent of the damage from any attack, wasn¡¯t enough to completely save him. The projectile hit him in the ribs, bouncing away with a clatter of stone on metal. But even though it didn¡¯t penetrate, it did leave a wicked gash along Elijah¡¯s ribs. By that point, though, Elijah recognized the situation for what it was. His first clue was the haft of the short, bone-handled spear jutting out of his shoulder, but that turned out to be of secondary importance to the sudden appearance of the creature who¡¯d thrown it. It was shaped like a human, with the right number of limbs, a torso, and a head. However, the details were all wrong. For instance, its legs ¨C which ended in wicked talons not unlike those usually associated with birds ¨C were short, stubby, and covered in mottled, white-and-brown feathers. The rest of its body was similarly plumy, and its arms doubled as large wings, which were equipped with three-taloned claws. Somewhat predictably, given the rest of its appearance, the creature¡¯s head was entirely avian, with a sharp beak and predatory, raptor-like features. And it was carrying two more spears in one hand, while the other drew back as if to throw another. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to allow that. He threw himself forward, intending to crush the creature beneath the massive fists of his lamellar ape form. However, he¡¯d entirely forgotten about the numbness spreading through his body, so his charge turned into a stumble, and he ended up pitching forward to hit the cave floor. And to his horror, he couldn¡¯t move more than a few inches. He strained, but his muscles were entirely unresponsive. Another spear hit him, but Iron Scales turned it away. Elijah barely heard the clatter as it fell to the ground. Instead, the whole of his attention was on trying to force his body to obey his commands. It would not. Another spear hit him, though this one wasn¡¯t thrown. Instead, the avian monster fell upon him, lancing the weapon into his thick scales. It was more forceful than a throw, but even then, it only made it an inch or two into his body before losing its momentum. The monster let out another screech, but Elijah didn¡¯t hear it. Because he was currently on the verge of activating Guardian¡¯s Renewal. It was a shame to use it so soon into their quest, but with his current options, it was probably the only way he was going to recover from the paralytic poison. Perhaps he could have healed it with Nature¡¯s Bloom, but that would have required him to shift back into his human form. In turn, that would mean that he would lose the protection of Iron Scales, which was the only thing preventing the avian monster from tearing him to pieces. As those thoughts raced through one facet of his mind, he felt the warm embrace of some power that he couldn¡¯t quite describe. It was like someone had blended hope and courage and goodness, distilled the result into pure energy, and poured it into his body. More importantly, as that feeling washed over him, he felt the tingle of feeling return to his limbs. It wasn¡¯t a powerful heal. Elijah suspected that it was far inferior to what he could accomplish with Soothe and Nature¡¯s Bloom. However, it was enough to counteract the paralytic ¨C after a few seconds, at least ¨C and allow him to move. He used that returned ability to throw himself upward with all of his might. The avian creature was caught entirely unaware, and when Elijah¡¯s back hit the cave¡¯s ceiling, the sound of crunching bones filled the air. More importantly, an influx of experience announced that he¡¯d killed the creature. However, when he cast his attention back to his surroundings, he saw that the battle had just begun. There were six more avian monsters attacking the others, though his companions had fared quite a bit better than he had, largely because they depended on one another, rather than rushing out to meet the threat as individuals. Dat and Kurik sheltered behind Sadie, who occupied the bulk of the monsters¡¯ attention. That allowed them to pepper the creatures with ranged attacks. Kurik used his bow, while Dat fired his crossbow with more speed and precision than Elijah would have thought possible. The comparatively fragile monsters countered by harnessing the wind to knock the projectiles off course while throwing their own spears at the others. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Sadie intercepted those. Sometimes, she physically threw herself in their paths, but others, she conjured ethereal barriers to shield her allies. At the same time, she summoned a pillar of golden light that shined down on Elijah, banishing the paralytic and healing the wounds that had been inflicted upon him. In short, she was doing her job while filling in for Elijah, who was supposed to be their Healer. Meanwhile, he¡¯d entirely forgotten that he was part of a team, throwing himself into battle as if he only had himself to worry about. As a result, he¡¯d put everyone else in danger and made the fight far more difficult than it should have been. In fact, he was reminded of the reckless elf who¡¯d very nearly gotten Elijah and the rest of his team killed back in the Magister¡¯s Estate tower. He¡¯d tried to do everything himself, too, and everyone else had paid the price. Now that Elijah was mostly out of danger, he raced back to the group, then shifted into his human form. After that, he cast Healing Rain, using Soothe on Sadie, who¡¯d taken a couple of wounds from the venomous spears. So far, she¡¯d kept herself alive, but Elijah knew that healing was not her strong suit. Once he was back with the group, the fight went like clockwork. Everyone did their jobs, and after only a couple more minutes ¨C most of which was due to trying to pin down the final monster ¨C they won the battle. Elijah looked around at the carnage, and he said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Then, he glanced from one member of his group to another. ¡°I¡¯ve mostly fought alone for the past few years, and I guess I got caught up in old habits. Thank you for picking up the slack. Especially you, Sadie. For the healing.¡± She narrowed her eyes, then opened her mouth as if she was going to say something biting. Then, she closed it, took a deep breath through her nose, then said, ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± That, as far as he was concerned, was progress. Certainly, Elijah felt confident that he could have figured out how to win the battle alone ¨C probably on the back of Guardian¡¯s Renewal ¨C but if the way it had worked out meant that Sadie warmed up to him, even a little, it was a good tradeoff. ¡°What were those things?¡± asked Kurik, breaking the awkward tension. ¡°Called aviaks, bro,¡± Dat answered. ¡°Low Constitution. High Dexterity. Middling Strength.¡± ¡°Skirmishers,¡± Sadie provided. ¡°Fast and deadly, especially with that poison, but they¡¯re fragile.¡± ¡°Reminds me of the harpies,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Harpies?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Yeah. Just like the creatures out of mythology. They¡¯re similar to these things, but less humanoid. Like birds with hideously ugly human faces. I got caught in a flock of them a little west of Seattle. Millions of the things. It took me a week or so to get through them. Almost died the first time I saw them, so I was forced to sneak past.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t tell me ¡®bout that,¡± said Kurik. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I meant to,¡± he responded. ¡°Especially considering they happen to roost near Ironshore. Going to have to deal with that sooner or later. Plus, there are people there. And ¨C¡± ¡°This is not relevant,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°Does this new threat change anyone¡¯s intentions?¡± Elijah shook his head, and Kurik shrugged. Dat stated that he¡¯d always expected complications, so it was ¡°all good, bro.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± the armored woman said. ¡°We need to rest and regain our ethera. Once we are at full strength, we will resume our climb.¡± That sounded good to Elijah, who was craving a cup of coffee anyway. So, he made a small fire, over which he boiled some water before using his enchanted French press to brew a batch. Unlike Sadie, his other two companions had good taste, so he made them cups as well. Like that, they passed the next couple of hours, with the three men drinking coffee and discussing mundane subjects. As it turned out, Dat had been quite a gamer before Earth¡¯s transformation, and he¡¯d used some of that knowledge to get a leg up on the system. It didn¡¯t offer a huge advantage, but it was better than going in blind. Kurik was a little more reticent to share stories of his own past, but he did reveal that his clan had been the subject of banishment, which was why he¡¯d chosen to brave the dangers of a newly touched world and settle on Earth. Sadie remained silent through the entire conversation, but at least she accepted one of Elijah¡¯s grove berries. He had hundreds of them in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, so he didn¡¯t mind sharing ¨C at least for now. With almost a year left in the Trial, he knew his supply wouldn¡¯t last forever. The same was true of his coffee, though he¡¯d brought enough that he didn¡¯t feel the need to ration. Regardless, those few hours were almost pleasant ¨C or they would have been if it hadn¡¯t been for Sadie, who seemed to hate him regardless of what he did or said. At least she hadn¡¯t judged him too harshly for his previous mistake, though. ¡°Silver linings,¡± he mumbled to himself as he smothered the fire. After that, he stowed his staff in his satchel, before returning to the cliffs, where the group resumed their journey up the series of ladders and ledges. The whistling continued, as did the attacks from the spirits. The wind picked up, reaching new velocities that would rival even the most powerful tornado back on Earth. It made communication almost impossible, not to mention the more obvious issue that each gust threatened to rip them from the cliff¡¯s face. So, it wasn¡¯t until hours later that Elijah realized that the spirits¡¯ attacks had ceased. A few moments after that, he glanced back and saw that Dat¡¯s lips were pursed. He couldn¡¯t quite understand what was going on until, at last, it dawned on him. He was whistling. Not long after that, they found another cave that was, predictably, occupied by even more of the aviaks. This time, though, they were ready for the threat the bird-people represented, and the group took care of the monsters without much issue. That was when Elijah asked Dat about the whistling. The Witch Hunter massaged the back of his neck, then said, ¡°Sorry, bro. Been doing that since I was little, you know? When I get nervous, I make noise. When I was a kid, I used to drum my fingers against my desk, making a beat. So, when I heard the whistling from the cliffs, I just sort of mimicked the pitch. I didn¡¯t know anyone could hear me, though.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t. But I think you might¡¯ve figured out this challenge,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Or at least part of it. I think the whistling is helping to keep the wind spirits at bay. So, keep it up, and we might have a much easier time getting to the top.¡± 5-20. Dangling Desperately hanging by his fingertips, Elijah looked down, where he saw Kurik and Dat dangling in the air. The rope barely held, swaying back and forth as a giant, golden-feathered eagle swooped in, raking its talons across Dat¡¯s hastily upraised arm. The Witch Hunter let out a scream as the razor-sharp claws tore through his leather sleeve, biting deep into his forearm and sending a spray of blood misting into the air. Elijah clenched his free hand into a fist, casting Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning lanced down from a cloudless sky, hitting the bird directly in its feathered back. The thing convulsed, its every muscle locking up as it dropped like a rock. But there were so many more to take its place. For the first time in a while, Elijah used Nature¡¯s Rebuke. The spell was quick-casting and very efficient, but he often neglected it for one simple reason. The damage it could do was extremely limited, except in very specific circumstances.
Nature¡¯s Rebuke Curse an entity to endure the power of nature, doing damage over time. Triple damage against unnatural creatures. Lasts two minutes.
As it turned out, very few creatures qualified as unnatural, and to date, the only ones he¡¯d found that met whatever criteria the system had assigned to the label were the vampires back in the Magister¡¯s Estate. He¡¯d harbored some hope that the wraiths would count as unnatural, but he had been disappointed to find that they assuredly did not. Perhaps there was a lesson there about the scope of the natural world, but Elijah was far too distracted by his and his allies¡¯ precarious position to give the thought its due. Instead, he focused on the fight at hand. Normally, the unenhanced version of Nature¡¯s Rebuke was nearly useless against natural creatures. However, there were two things working in its favor. The first was the effect of his twice-evolved Dragon Core, which nearly tripled its normal effectiveness. That was enough to give it at least a little kick. But the real reason Elijah had bothered to cast it at all was the fact that the birds ¨C not unlike his own Shape of the Sky ¨C were quite fragile. Certainly, they were dangerous and deadly, largely because of their mobility and the superiority of being able to maneuver in three dimensions. In addition, there were so many of them that even if a couple didn¡¯t make it, the flock were more than capable of ripping their prey to shreds. Elijah couldn¡¯t let that happen. So, he cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke, over and over again, hitting as many of the eagles with the spell as he could manage. At the same time, he utilized another facet of his mind to maintain Soothe on his allies. And finally, he applied Shield of Brambles ¨C another oft-neglected ability ¨C so that when the birds did attack, they would feel the quick reprisal of Elijah¡¯s thorns. At the same time, he fended off any birds that chose to target him rather than the other, more vulnerable members of his party. It wasn¡¯t easy while holding onto the ledge, but with his attributes, he managed to make do. Still, in his human form, he was far less capable in a melee, especially one suspended thousands of feet above the ground. Making matters even more difficult was the fact that he was unarmed, having secured his staff to his back via a bit of rope so that he could free his hands for climbing. One eagle swooped in, ready to take advantage of his seeming vulnerability. But Elijah reacted far more quickly than it could have expected, and when it drew near, he lashed out with a fist that crushed one of its fragile wings. Like the ones he¡¯d electrocuted with Storm¡¯s Fury, the latest avian assailant fell, twirling and lopsided until it passed out of the radius of One with Nature. Just then, a particularly clever eagle recognized the party¡¯s true vulnerability ¨C the tenuous connection provided by the already-frayed rope. It darted in, raking its unfathomably sharp claws through the mundane material, slicing it apart with ease. It felt like time had stopped as Elijah felt the weight of his allies suddenly disappear from the rope. He watched as the severed end snapped back, and more importantly, he saw Dat¡¯s shocked face as he and Kurik began the long plummet to the earth far, far below. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate. He cast Shape of the Predator, snapping out his claws before he even finished the transformation. The rope connecting him to Sadie parted even more easily beneath his efforts than it had from the bird¡¯s. And in only a moment, he too was plummeting toward the ground. However, there was one key difference between him and his companions. He could fly. Even as he used Shape of the Sky, Elijah felt another bird swoop in, raking its claws across his back. Caught mid-transformation, he didn¡¯t have the natural protection of his draconid scales, but the Breastplate of the Boar King held up remarkably well. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. And then, his arms grew into wings, his body slimmed out, and his neck elongated into the familiar serpentine shape. He snapped out his wings turning his fall into a dive as he zeroed in on Dat and Kurik. For his part, the Witch Hunter had kept his wits about him, throwing his own arms out wide to increase his air resistance. Meanwhile, Kurik flailed in terror, paying no attention to the continuing attacks from opportunistic eagles. Elijah dove, extending his own massive-in-comparison talons. They ripped through one eagle, while he snapped out with his jaws. Two more birds fell, but there were many more to take their place, and he felt more claws raking across his vulnerable wings and biting into his back. He ignored them, gaining on Dat and Kurik until, after another thousand feet, he clamped one claw around Dat¡¯s middle. But he didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, he kept going, and only a hundred feet later, found his jaws closing around Kurik¡¯s leather jerkin. The dwarf panicked, stabbing out with a hunting knife that glanced off Elijah¡¯s scales. But it was the distraction the flock of birds had been waiting on. The creatures struck en masse, ripping into Elijah¡¯s most fragile places. His scales tore free beneath their beaks and talons, but he didn¡¯t cry out. Nor did he try to fight back. He couldn¡¯t afford to panic. Not with Dat in his talons and Kurik hanging from his mouth. Knowing he had no chance of winning the lopsided fight, Elijah beat his wings and, out of the side of his mouth, growled, ¡°Keep them off me!¡± To his credit, that got through to the panicked dwarf. Dat, presumably, was already on the same page. And together, the pair brought their weapons to bear on the fight. Dat had somehow managed to hold onto his crossbow as well as his quiver of bolts. Kurik hadn¡¯t had the chance to unlimber his bow, but he did have a pair of hatchets with which he could do quite a lot of damage. More importantly, he managed to vault himself to the top of Elijah¡¯s head, then climb onto his back. With his clearly high Dexterity, Kurik was able to balance just fine, even as Elijah climbed. And from there, the trapper showed the eagles a prime example dwarven fury, lashing out with those hatchets with reckless abandon. The dwarf took plenty of hits along the way, but that only seemed to fuel his rage. Meanwhile, Dat, dangling from Elijah¡¯s talons, loaded and shot his crossbow with ruthless efficiency, taking out an eagle with every loosed bolt. The slain creatures fell, presumably to litter the ground with their corpses far below. Elijah couldn¡¯t spare any attention for that, though. He had all he could handle simply remaining aloft, much less fighting back. However, he did manage to snap out at an eagle or two, though it was clear that the Shape of the Sky was not meant for combat. Perhaps if he ever had the opportunity to evolve it, he would take it in that direction. Though, at the moment, he would trade any amount of combat ability if he could simply move faster and fly more smoothly. He didn¡¯t get his wish, and eventually, the sheer weight of the eagles¡¯ numbers overwhelmed him and his companions. And when they did, it was all Elijah could manage to aim them at one of the many caves hosted by the cliffs. They crashed into it, and Elijah felt delicate bones breaking as he, Kurik, and Dat tumbled deep within the shelter of the cave. A few eagles followed, but Dat and Kurik quickly recovered, sprang to their feet, and made easy work of the birds. It was amazing what having their feet planted on solid ground could do for their combat ability. Elijah wasn¡¯t so quick to recover, though. When he shifted back into his human form, he was horrified to see that one of his shoulders had been dislocated and that his arm and both his legs had been broken. And that was saying nothing about the myriad lacerations decorating his body. The only thing that had saved his life was the Armor of the Boar King, the defensive properties of which had translated to the durability of his scales. ¡°You okay, bro?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± Elijah asked, realizing that he¡¯d been staring at his misshapen leg for a little too long. It was odd, how detached he¡¯d grown from pain. He felt it, but he automatically shunted the results of his injuries into their own facet of his Mind. He wasn¡¯t even sure how he did it, but quarantining the pain was possible. Mostly. ¡°It¡¯s just that your leg¡¯s probably not supposed to go that way,¡± Dat helpfully supplied. ¡°Yeah. Kind of figured that out on my own,¡± Elijah muttered sarcastically. Just because he¡¯d pushed that pain into its own little corner of his mind didn¡¯t mean he could completely ignore it. He took hold of his shoulder, then wrenched it back into socket. Before Dat or Kurik could say anything else, grabbed of the shattered pieces of his leg and set the first break. ¡°Bro. That¡¯s hardcore,¡± Dat said in awe. ¡°I break a lot of bones,¡± Elijah replied through gritted teeth. ¡°I had to get used to this kind of thing.¡± Then, he did the same to the other leg before casting Nature¡¯s Bloom. As the spell washed over him, he used Soothe on himself, Dat, and Kurik before, at last, casting Healing Rain. ¡°What about Sadie?¡± he asked after his wounds had begun to heal. It would take a few hours at least until his bones had mended, and that was an optimistic estimate. There was every chance that they would heal wrong, and he¡¯d be forced to break them again and put himself back together properly. It had happened before, and he suspected that it would happen again. If he kept going as he was, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he became as proficient at setting bones as an actual doctor. ¡°We passed her, bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°She¡¯s below us. Maybe a few hundred feet,¡± Kurik said. Alarmed, Elijah tried to push himself upright, but the moment he put any weight on his leg, it collapsed beneath him. He hissed in pain. ¡°I¡¯ll go, bro. Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll get her,¡± Dat said. He glanced at Kurik. ¡°Right?¡± Kurik swallowed hard, but said, ¡°Right. Ain¡¯t gonna let one of my teammates fight those demon birds alone, am I? Course not.¡± Satisfied with that, Elijah cast a couple more heals on the pair before they climbed free of the cave. Outside, the steady cry of the circling flock of eagles sounded, overwhelming even the whistling wind. It had all been going so well before they crossed some ephemeral line into the eagles¡¯ territory. Up until that point, Dat¡¯s whistling had kept the wind spirits at bay, but the moment they drew within a thousand feet of the summit, they¡¯d drawn the ire of the birds. After that, it had been one long battle until, at last, Dat and Kurik had been torn free of the tether. And now Elijah was alone and feeling useless while the rest of his team went to assist Sadie. It was not a great feeling, so to distract himself, he focused on healing himself. It didn¡¯t really work, but being as how he was incapable of walking, he had little choice in the matter. Finally, after almost twenty minutes, he saw someone crawl into the cave. Then, a second figure followed. And at last, Sadie brought up the rear. She marched toward Elijah, and he braced for one of her disdainful tirades. So, when she knelt beside him and put her hand on his shoulder, he couldn¡¯t help but flinch a little. She ignored it as she locked her eyes on his and said, ¡°Thank you. I can¡¯t tell you how much Dat means to me. If I¡¯d lost him¡­¡± Her eyes went glassy. ¡°I just can¡¯t. I won¡¯t lose anyone again. Thank you for saving him.¡± ¡°Uh¡­you¡¯re welcome,¡± was all Elijah could think to say. 5-21. Good Things Sadie stared at the Druid with unbelieving eyes. That disbelief was partially clouded by the man¡¯s gruesome injuries. Despite spending more than an hour constantly healing, one of Elijah¡¯s legs had still been quite crooked, so he¡¯d had to re-break it before setting it properly. That had not been a pretty scene, and Sadie was certain that the sound of the man¡¯s bones breaking would haunt her nightmares. In addition, he¡¯d been forced to remove his armor in order to treat his wounds ¨C or to remove the blood and gore beneath ¨C and when he¡¯d bared his torso, Sadie had gotten a glimpse of the full extent of his previous injuries. Not only was his right arm covered in rippling burn scars, but his chest and back were crisscrossed with fainter, paler evidence of old wounds. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t spent the past few years strolling across a paradisical island, as she had imagined. In fact, the scars were so extensive that she couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he¡¯d gotten them. With magical healing, most injuries were mended before they had a chance to mar a person¡¯s body. So, he¡¯d have had to have experienced some truly horrific wounds to disfigure his body so thoroughly. They were badges of his struggle, and Sadie knew she would be stupid to dismiss what they signified. The matter-of-fact way he endured his most recent injuries said a lot about him as well. He was not some untested fighter who¡¯d lucked out and found a cheap and easy means of progression. Indeed, his scars, as well as his stoicism told an entirely different story altogether. But most of all, Sadie remembered seeing how unhesitantly he had acted, severing the rope connecting them together, then throwing himself after Dat and Kurik. That was not the action of the selfish man his aura of sin suggested him to be. A man with that cloud of darkness clinging to him should have taken one look at his falling companions, then moved on with seeing to his own safety. Instead, Elijah had leaped after them, and what¡¯s more, he¡¯d managed to save them ¨C at great risk to himself no less. That risk had been borne out via a series of gruesome injuries. But he had succeeded. He had saved them both, even climbing higher so they didn¡¯t lose any ground. It was maddening. From where he sat beside her, Dat nudged her with his shoulder. It was a gesture of familiarity that highlighted how close she had come to losing the only true friend she¡¯d ever had. Optimistically, Sadie knew that she was an acquired taste. She didn¡¯t want to be cold. She didn¡¯t try to be judgemental. But that was how she came off. Even when she attempted kindness, her abrupt nature tended to turn people away. But not Dat. Maybe it was due to their similar circumstances. He was Vietnamese, and she was Chinese, though most westerners looked at them the same. That had created a bond between them that was only strengthened by homesickness, isolation, and shared difficulties with fitting into a world that marked them as different. That relationship had been further fortified when the world had been transformed. Since then, Sadie had lost count of how many times they¡¯d saved one another¡¯s lives. How many cold nights they¡¯d shared behind enemy lines. He was more of a brother to her even than Niko. So, if she¡¯d lost Dat ¨C like she¡¯d lost her sister, Lisa ¨C Sadie knew she would have spiraled down a destructive path. But Elijah had saved Dat, and in turn, he had saved her, too. For that, she would be eternally grateful. ¡°You okay, bro?¡± Dat asked when she just continued to stare ahead, pointedly trying not to look at the still mending Druid. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ¡°You aren¡¯t.¡± She sighed. ¡°Do you know what it feels like to figure out you¡¯ve been an idiot?¡± Sadie asked, finally glancing at Dat. He bore no signs of his own struggles, instead looking just as content as always. It was a gift that she greatly admired, but could not emulate. ¡°All the time, bro. Did I tell you about the time I mixed up Star Wars and Star Trek? I was only four, but it still haunts ¨C¡± ¡°This is a little more serious than science fiction stories,¡± she said with a small smile. ¡°Tell that to Trekkies, bro. Or Star Wars nerds.¡± ¡°You are a Star Wars nerd,¡± she pointed out. Indeed, he¡¯d dragged her to every single one of the most recent films, much to her distress. ¡°Trekkie, too. I¡¯m playing both sides so I always come out on top,¡± he said, tapping his temple with his index finger. ¡°Smart.¡± Sadie sighed, then leaned back against the cave wall. For only the third time since they¡¯d set out, she had removed her armor, and she had finally allowed herself to luxuriate in the lack. She could wear it without much issue, but no armor was made for comfort. She had gotten used to it, but she could at least admit that it had probably contributed to her frequently foul mood. ¡°I¡¯m talking about him,¡± she said, gesturing across the cave. Elijah had finished setting his bones, so he sat on the floor, his eyes closed as ethera ¨C and rain ¨C swirled all around him. Frustratingly, he was still shirtless. Either way, he was far enough from where she sat that she was confident he couldn¡¯t overhear. ¡°Do you know what I see when I look at him?¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°A dashingly handsome murderhobo?¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°I mean, the beard and the uneven hair don¡¯t do him any favors. He¡¯s kind of weird, too. But he reminds me a little of that actor. The one that married the actress from that movie you like so much,¡± he said. ¡°The one with the woman from the American south who pretends she¡¯s a fashion designer or something.¡± Sadie blushed. She knew that liking romantic comedies was no source of shame, but she couldn¡¯t help but feel a little embarrassment about her movie tastes. They just seemed so stereotypical ¨C something she¡¯d always struggled to avoid ¨C that she felt as if she was betraying her principles by enjoying them. But she couldn¡¯t help what she liked, and the movie in question ¨C Sweet Home Alabama ¨C was, hands-down, her favorite. However, she drew the line at following celebrity relationships, so she had no idea who Dat was talking about. Though there was enough context to infer that the actor in question was considered quite handsome. ¡°That is definitely not what I see,¡± she countered. In fact, she¡¯d barely noticed Elijah¡¯s appearance. Instead, Sadie had trouble looking past the cloud of sin that clung to him like a black, foul-smelling aura. ¡°You know about my ability, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, bro. You see all the bad stuff people do.¡± ¡°That¡¯s one way to put it,¡± she admitted, running her hand through her admittedly greasy hair. She hadn¡¯t had a proper shower in what felt like ages, and she felt absolutely disgusting. ¡°With most people, I can ignore it. It¡¯s just a vague stench. But with him? It¡¯s hard to see anything but that cloud. And I can smell him from here. I know he¡¯s killed hundreds. Perhaps thousands.¡± ¡°Maybe they were justified,¡± Dat suggested. Sadie shook her head. ¡°Sense of Sin wouldn¡¯t react so strongly if that were the case,¡± she said, though she wasn¡¯t certain of that. ¡°I know all the terrible things he¡¯s done. Not the details, perhaps, but ¨C¡± ¡°But you don¡¯t know anything about the good stuff,¡± Dat pointed out. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The good things. Does your ability give equal weight to good deeds? Or is it just about the bad stuff? Like, it¡¯s not a scale, right? It only measures sin,¡± he said. ¡°I mean, we won¡¯t even get into what constitutes sin, but seeing only the bad¡­I don¡¯t like that, bro. Seems like the ability is trying to push you into fanaticism.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how the system works.¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°You don¡¯t know that, bro. But you have to admit that it doesn¡¯t show you anything about the good people do. Like, he saved me. He¡¯s been a good guy this whole time,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying to give you the benefit of the doubt so that you could come to your own conclusions, but what you¡¯re doing ¨C how you¡¯re treating him ¨C it isn¡¯t right.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve never been personable.¡± Dat gave her another small smile. ¡°That¡¯s true, but this is worse. Even you have to know that.¡± Sadie did, and she also recognized that Dat was right. In her experience, he usually was ¨C at last so long as one ignored the man¡¯s idiosyncrasies. Yet, it was so difficult to look past what her Sense of Sin told her about Elijah. It wasn¡¯t just the stench. Nor was it only limited to the cloud of evil surrounding him. She felt in her bones ¨C perhaps even in her very soul ¨C the surety that that aura was the sum total of who he was. And yet, her rational mind told her that Dat was probably right, that her own ability was manipulating her, driving her toward becoming someone she wouldn¡¯t even recognize. There was potential for true evil there. She was certain of it, which terrified her as much as anything. Because Sadie was well aware that real wickedness didn¡¯t come from people who knew they were wrong. Instead, it was characteristic of those who knew ¨C beyond the shadow of any doubt or question ¨C that they were in the right. Sense of Sin gave her that, and in a tangible way that was almost impossible to ignore. If she wasn¡¯t careful, she would descend into uncompromising zealotry. Sadie refused to let that happen, and her resistance would begin with the way she treated Elijah. Despite the cloud of sin clinging to him, she resolved to judge him based on what she saw with her own two eyes, rather than an ability that may very well be compromised. Tilting her head back, she said, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to make it up to him, aren¡¯t I?¡± ¡°Probably, bro. But maybe not. He seems like a reasonable guy,¡± Dat said. ¡°You¡¯re just saying that because he saved your life,¡± Sadie muttered. ¡°That¡¯s true. Hard to hate someone who does stuff like that.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± she agreed. It truly was difficult to aim her ire at the person who was responsible for saving her best friend¡¯s life, and in a way she couldn¡¯t ignore. After that, they both settled in to rest and recover from the climb. There wasn¡¯t much further to go, and Sadie found herself dreading whatever she might find at the peak. It wouldn¡¯t be as simple as the task made it about to be. There would be complications, and if the climb had been as difficult as it had, then she fully expected the completion of the task to be far more difficult than any of them expected. The hours passed peacefully until, a day later, Elijah opened his eyes and tested his mended limbs. ¡°Not bad. Still a bit of a twinge,¡± he said. ¡°But not bad. I can work with this.¡± ¡°You can take more time if you need it,¡± Sadie offered. ¡°It is no problem.¡± He cocked his head to the side, not unlike a curious bird, then said, ¡°No. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ve walked on worse. We¡¯ve already wasted enough time waiting for me to recover.¡± Sadie looked around, and seeing that the other two had retreated out of earshot, she decided that now was as good a time as any to offer her apology. So, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and said, ¡°I apologize for my demeanor. I¡¯ve treated you unfairly, and for that, I am sorry. From now on, I will endeavor to do better.¡± She¡¯d rehearsed the short speech in her head dozens of times, and it had come off far more smoothly than she could have hoped. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry. Just unexpected is all. But it¡¯s cool,¡± he said, reaching out to pat her on the shoulder. She resisted the urge to flinch away from his touch. ¡°We¡¯re all good.¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± she asked, confused. She¡¯d expected indignation. Or anger. Or some other reaction. What she hadn¡¯t anticipated was borderline indifference. And that definitely annoyed her. ¡°That¡¯s it. I try not to dwell on these kinds of things,¡± he said. ¡°Anyway, I think it¡¯s past time we got out of this cave. It¡¯s starting to smell, if you know what I mean. Small space. Unwashed people. You get it.¡± With that, he held up his hand, a gesture that took Sadie a few seconds to understand. When she did, she reluctantly raised her own hand, slapping her palm against his. ¡°Awesome. Everything¡¯s better with a crisp high-five,¡± he said. Then, he strode toward the entrance, his staff clacking against the ground with every step. ¡°That was brutally awkward, bro.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t even look at Dat before she said, ¡°Shut up.¡± Then, she followed Elijah, grateful for the increasingly loud wind and the distraction provided by the deadly cliffs. Without it, she might¡¯ve had to consider how embarrassed she was. 5-22. The Peak The wind whipped against Elijah¡¯s body, threatening to rip him from the cliff face and send him sailing to the ground far, far below. Only an hour or so before, he¡¯d made the mistake of looking down, which resulted in a wave of vertigo that nearly caused him to lose his grip. Their initial impression ¨C that the peak was a mile or so up ¨C had been a gross underestimation, and when Elijah looked down, he was reminded of those videos he¡¯d once seen where people skydived from a position in the upper atmosphere. In short, it made him nervous in a way that had nothing to do with the consequences of such a fall. It didn¡¯t matter that he could simply shift into the Shape of the Sky ¨C not to the most primitive parts of his brain, at least. That was the thing with fear ¨C it was often irrational, and in this case, it took Elijah nearly half an hour before the pace of his heart rate decreased to normal levels. He glanced up at Sadie¡¯s armored from. Since her apology a couple of days before, her treatment of him had bordered on cordiality, which was a huge improvement over the open hostility she¡¯d harbored in the past. Still, it was clear that she didn¡¯t like him much. Elijah didn¡¯t miss the slight crinkling of her nose ¨C as if she smelled something horrible ¨C or the narrowing of her eyes that often accompanied any glance his way. Yet, if it meant that she didn¡¯t glare at him in undisguised hatred, he was satisfied. He continued his climb, pulling himself up to the latest ridge. It was barely a couple of inches deep, and even though the howling wind, which far exceeded tornado velocities, was an issue, it was one to which he¡¯d grown accustomed. After spending more than a week climbing the Singing Cliffs, that was inevitable. As had been the case with every other ridge, he shuffled sideways until, almost a hundred yards later, he reached another rope ladder. This one was constructed slightly differently than the rest, and it was composed of a single rope to which a series of horizontal rods had been attached at various intervals. The thing strained against the wind, but Elijah paid it no heed. The rope ladders had been sturdy enough throughout their climb, and he didn¡¯t think that would change. But then again, he hadn¡¯t expected any of the other complications, either. From the birds that so often harassed them to the increasingly powerful aviaks that made their homes in the shallow caves pockmarking the cliff¡¯s face, Elijah had been surprised at every turn. The only reason they¡¯d survived was by leaning on one another¡¯s strengths and covering for each other¡¯s weaknesses. Still, the climb had been incredibly taxing, both mentally and physically, and Elijah had often found himself wondering if any of the less powerful people back in the Nexus would have any chance at conquering the challenge. Perhaps. People had a wide variety of skills, and if they worked together properly, the limits of what they could accomplish were far less restrictive. That had been an issue for Elijah and his companions. For all that they could each hold their own, they were not an established team. As such, they often under- or overestimated one another, which had created a host of problems along the way. Regardless, Elijah and his companions had persisted and endured, and now, they found themselves approaching the peak. And whatever dangers they would find at the culmination of the challenge. They had discussed it a few hours before, when they¡¯d gained a degree of respite within the final cave, but without more information, they could only make the most basic of plans. So, as was often the case, Elijah knew they would simply have to wing it and hope to adapt to the changing nature of the dangers they faced. Following Sadie, he continued to climb hand-over-hand until he reached the end of the ladder. However, in this instance, there was no ridge. Instead, there was just an unbroken expanse of rock. The wind had worn it mostly smooth, so it offered few usable handholds. But they would have to make do. After a few feet, two things became abundantly clear. First, the task would best be undertaken in the form of the lamellar ape. As the name implied, the shape ¨C with its disproportionately long arms ¨C was built for climbing. So far, Elijah had used it sparingly, largely because it clashed with the nature of his role. He was the group¡¯s healer, and as such, he needed to be ready to do his job at a moment¡¯s notice. Often, that meant he wouldn¡¯t have time to wait for his transformation to complete. But as they¡¯d climbed, the bird attacks had tapered off, and so, he felt confident that he could afford the transformation. The second and more pressing issue was that Kurik¡¯s small size worked against him. He simply couldn¡¯t reach the handholds, and so, without help, he would be stuck. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain, but he suspected that the same would be true for Sadie as well, though Dat was quite a bit taller than anyone else in the group ¨C save Elijah when he was in his guardian form ¨C so he would likely have the easiest time. Regardless, Kurik was the first to fall prey to the obvious problem of his size. So, Elijah called back for the dwarf to jump on his back. For his part, Kurik obviously didn¡¯t like the idea, but he liked the notion of going back without conquering the challenge even less. With a grimace, he climbed past Dat, stepping on the Witch Hunter¡¯s head along the way, and shimmied up the replacement rope and onto Elijah¡¯s spiny back. Then, he wrapped the remnants of the old rope around Elijah¡¯s shoulder, affixing himself in place. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± he called. Elijah nodded, then continued on. With his long arms and incredible Strength, the way was much easier. Even the howling wind was less impactful, making him wish he¡¯d let himself use the transformation sooner. Yet, he comforted himself with the knowledge that it would never have worked. For all the versatility of his class, when he shifted into one of his forms, the scope of its power was very limited. With Kurik on his back, Elijah ascended, and eventually, it became clear that even Dat was struggling. So, the Witch Hunter followed Kurik¡¯s example and climbed onto Elijah¡¯s back. For his part, the Druid barely noticed the extra weight. Disaster struck when Sadie, attempting to reach a distant and tiny outcropping of rock, was hit by a particularly powerful gust of wind. Normally, she could endure something like that with ease, but it hit at exactly the wrong time. Already unbalanced, she was thrown free of cliff. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Fortunately, Elijah had already noticed her struggles, and he was quick to react. One of his long arms darted out, grabbing her around her leg as she fell past him. She jerked to a stop, her arms still flailing as she dangled from his grasp. Then, he pulled her close. From such an awkward position, it took a few seconds for her to join the others on Elijah¡¯s back, but she managed all the same. After that, Elijah continued his climb, and for the last thousand feet, he was forced to leap from one outcropping to the next in a series of maneuvers he knew none of the others could have managed. It wasn¡¯t just that he was stronger than them ¨C which, in his lamellar ape form, he certainly was ¨C but rather, that his instincts seemed perfectly suited to the task. If his draconid form was good for stalking prey, then the Shape of the Guardian seemed built for climbing rock walls. Perhaps that had been the creature¡¯s native habitat. Throughout the last stretch of the climb, it became clear that Sadie was not happy with the situation. Not surprising, given her personality. Elijah suspected that she didn¡¯t deal well with anything out of her control. He knew because he recognized that trait in himself. In any case, with the help of the lamellar ape form, Elijah managed the climb well enough, though he would never have categorized it as easy. And the very last step ¨C which required him to leap almost thirty feet straight up ¨C was more than a little harrowing. Dat let out a curiously high-pitched scream as they sailed through the air, and he felt more than one set of fingers digging into his scales. He grabbed hold of the ledge, and despite the powerful wind, managed to pull himself ¨C and his passengers ¨C over the lip. Finally, they had reached the peak. Elijah flopped onto his belly, the fatigue that had come from their week-long climb having finally pushed him over the edge. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t let himself acknowledge it, but more than anything, he needed a good, long rest. As he lay there, luxuriating in the few moments of respite, the others extricated themselves from his back. It wasn¡¯t until Dat said something ¨C Elijah wasn¡¯t paying much attention ¨C that he realized what else had changed. ¡°The wind,¡± he muttered, his voice coming out in a low growl. ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡± Indeed, he¡¯d grown so used to it that the sudden silence of the peak seemed odd in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. Elijah finally pushed his exhaustion aside and focused on the facet of his mind associated with One with Nature. During their moments of rest, he¡¯d begun to work on the next phase of his cultivation. And as he had in the previous step, he chose to work on his Mind first. He knew he wasn¡¯t getting the most out of One with Nature or his Domain back home, and his Mind was the weak link. He wanted to shore up that weakness, and he¡¯d begun working towards that goal. His efforts hadn¡¯t been terribly impactful so far, but he had noticed a minute difference in how quickly he could interpret the wealth of information available to him. So, he was satisfied with his progress. In any case, when he focused on One with Nature, he came to realize that instead of the barren expanse he¡¯d expected at the top of the plateau, he¡¯d found a paradisical ¨C if small ¨C stretch of forest. It reminded him of the oasis surrounding the Circle of Spears, though this one was obviously quite a bit larger. The plateau itself was around five miles wide, and the forest extended almost to the edge. But thankfully, there were no dangers afoot. After a few minutes, Elijah let himself return to his human form, then cast Healing Rain. He rolled over, basking in the rejuvenating precipitation. His companions did the same, and slowly, their fatigue washed away. It wasn¡¯t a perfect solution. The only true cure for exhaustion was rest. However, it did allow them to return to fighting shape far more quickly than would have otherwise been possible. Eventually, Elijah sat up, taking stock of his allies¡¯ conditions. Everyone looked fine, but then again, they hadn¡¯t been forced to carry the load for the last leg of the trip, either. Once it was clear that Elijah was well on his way to recovery, Dat and Kurik took up their mantle as scouts and disappeared into the forest. It was no jungle like below, and instead of the dense tangle of vegetation, the trees were well spaced, with minimal underbrush. Still, there was plenty of opportunity for a stealthy predator to lurk, so the caution of the two scouts was warranted. Unfortunately, their departure left Elijah alone with Sadie, who wore a complicated expression. Finally, she took a deep breath, looked Elijah in the eye, and said, ¡°You have saved my life again.¡± He shrugged, nervously reaching down to toy with a tuft of grass. ¡°Kind of comes with the territory,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯d have done the same for me. You have done the same.¡± ¡°That¡¯s different.¡± ¡°How?¡± he asked, cocking his head to the side. ¡°It¡¯s you.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s so wrong with me?¡± She looked away, then said in a low voice, ¡°Everything.¡± ¡°Damn. I guess I should¡¯ve expected it, given the way you look at me. But still, that hits me right where it hurts. What makes you so sure I¡¯m such a terrible person? Why do you hate me so much? I know my personality can be a little grating. I say all the wrong things at all the wrong times. But this is much deeper than that. Did I wrong you in another life? Do I look like a cheating ex or something? The guy who bullied you in school, maybe? I¡¯m really trying to understand this, and I¡¯m coming up empty.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t immediately answer, and for a few seconds, Elijah thought she wouldn¡¯t. But then, she finally said, ¡°I can see the weight of your sins. I can smell the stench of evil on you, like the rotting carcass of your misdeeds. That is what I see when I look at you. That is what I feel when I¡¯m in your presence. It¡¯s like maggots crawling all over my skin.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah said, trying to wrap his mind around how her ability must have made her feel. The closest comparison he¡¯d felt was when his shapes accentuated certain emotions. Or the subtle influence he felt from One with Nature. ¡°You can¡¯t turn it off?¡± ¡°I cannot.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ve made mistakes. A lot of them, and I have more guilt than you can imagine. I don¡¯t regret most of my actions. I was justified in¡­most of the things I did, I think. But I¡¯m sorry you have to feel the aftermath. You shouldn¡¯t have to deal with the consequences of the things I¡¯ve done. When we get back to the Nexus, we can go our separate ways.¡± ¡°Perhaps that is best,¡± she said. ¡°For what it is worth, I don¡¯t think you are as evil as Sense of Sin says you are. You¡¯ve saved my life on multiple occasions. Dat¡¯s too. And while the cynical side of me says that you did so for your own reasons, I choose to believe that there is good buried beneath that cloud of evil.¡± ¡°You make me sound like a monster.¡± She shrugged and looked way. ¡°That is what you feel like to me.¡± After that, Elijah just shook his head, and the conversation ended. Instead of dwelling on her perception of him, he focused on the things he could control. Like his Mind cultivation. Or his surroundings. But despite his efforts, his thoughts kept wandering back to her situation. To live with that every day? It must have been hellish, especially for someone who seemed to value logic and reasoning over emotions. All power came with a cost, though. How they went about paying that price was what truly mattered. 5-23. Cenote ¡°You have to see this, bro.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t look up from the hunk of wood he¡¯d been whittling. It had yet to take shape, and even though he¡¯d originally set out to carve a facsimile of his old dog, it had turned out looking more like a child¡¯s depiction of a camel. Since leaving Earth, he¡¯d discovered that the carving skills he¡¯d developed had now deserted him. He still knew his way around a knife and a block of wood, but there was no artistry or depth to his creations. There was no explanation for his regression. ¡°He ain¡¯t lyin¡¯,¡± said Kurik. Finally, Elijah sighed, then tossed the misbegotten creation aside. He looked up to see that both scouts wore the same beleaguered expressions they¡¯d adopted since reaching the summit three days before. In that time, they¡¯d endeavored to explore the entire forested plateau, but they had yet to accomplish that goal. Their failure grated on Elijah¡¯s mind, largely because he knew he could have done a better job. Probably. Maybe. Even if it wasn¡¯t strictly true, he would never know, because he¡¯d resolved not to step on anyone else¡¯s toes. That meant letting the trapper and Witch Hunter do the jobs for which they were best suited. Included in that category was being the party¡¯s primary damage dealers while also functioning as scouts. In addition, Kurik had deployed a host of traps around their camp that would hopefully deter any would be predators from descending upon their place of safety. In addition, Elijah had unpacked his tent, and once it was set up, its enchantment ¨C created by the artificer back in Argos ¨C would dissuade beasts and monsters from straying too close. That made their camp about as safe as the Nexus. And in turn, that was why Elijah was so annoyed. Or bored, rather. He could appreciate a little rest and relaxation as much as the next guy, but doing so while others took on a more active role in the completion of their quest was enough to put him on edge. The only solace was that Sadie obviously felt the same way, as evidenced by a recent screaming match between her and Dat. That had happened on the first day, and since then, the two had only communicated when absolutely necessary, and even then, only in terse sentences. For his part, Elijah wanted nothing to do with their spat. He¡¯d seen enough from the both of them to recognize that they had a bond not unlike a pair of siblings, and his own relationship with his sister told him not to get in between them. He and Alyssa had loved one another, but that didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t fight like cats and dogs. Indeed, some of the worst battles of his life had been with Alyssa. They always made amends, but it had never been quick or easy. Regardless, his own feelings mirrored Sadie¡¯s, though he hadn¡¯t gone so far as to berate their teammates over it. It was one of the few times in his life that Elijah had been the reasonable member of a group, and he had to admit that he didn¡¯t like it. But he knew he needed to be a team player. To that end, Elijah pushed himself to his feet, dusted off his pants, then said, ¡°Fine. Is Sadie coming?¡± Dat nodded. ¡°Soon as she finishes her meditation,¡± he said. The woman had been aghast to discover just how far ahead Elijah was in terms of cultivation, and she¡¯d spent every spare moment working toward remedying that situation. And she had not been happy with her progress. Pointedly, she also refused Elijah¡¯s help. After a few minutes, the knight emerged from her own tent, already armored and ready for battle. By comparison, Elijah felt entirely undergeared. Though he had to admit that, with all the equipment he¡¯d gotten in various towers, he likely had better gear than the rest of the party combined. Once Sadie had joined them, Dat and Kurik led the way into the forest. They¡¯d made camp only a few hundred feet from the edge of the plateau, but since their arrival, the two scouts had explored most of the forest. However, they¡¯d yet to find an egg. Or any wildlife, really. The largest animal they¡¯d discovered was something like a squirrel, and even those were fairly rare. And Elijah was quick to figure out why. ¡°You know they¡¯re there, don¡¯t you?¡± he whispered. ¡°What?¡± asked Dat. ¡°About ten feet down, there are thousands of wraiths. Maybe tens of thousands. They¡¯re stacked ten and fifteen deep in places,¡± he said. Indeed, he had felt the creatures the moment One with Nature brushed against the mass of mottled white-and-blue monsters. Everyone froze. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Hibernating, just like all the rest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s not that uncommon. We passed tons of them on our way here. The difference is that down there, they¡¯re in pockets. Clumps, you know? But here? They¡¯re almost literally everywhere. They¡¯re just buried far enough down that it would take something really big to wake them up.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°So, we¡¯re not in any danger?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°I definitely didn¡¯t say that,¡± he answered. ¡°This whole place makes my skin crawl.¡± ¡°The plateau?¡± Dat asked. ¡°No. The planet. It feels so disconnected. I mean, it¡¯s still nature, but it¡¯s not really natural. Like a photograph taken with a fish-eye lens.¡± That was the best description Elijah could come up with, but it was still insufficient. He¡¯d felt distinctly uncomfortable since starting the Trial of Primacy, and it had only gotten worse when they¡¯d arrived at the Singing Cliffs. That discomfort had climbed to a new height when they had reached the summit. ¡°Don¡¯t mind me,¡± he said, massaging the back of his neck. ¡°I think it¡¯s a Druid thing.¡± ¡°No ¨C I feel it too,¡± Sadie countered. ¡°Maybe not as strongly, but I do feel it.¡± The others agreed, but then Kurik asked, ¡°So, what do we do about them wraiths down there?¡± ¡°Do? We can¡¯t really do anything,¡± Elijah said. ¡°If those things wake up, we¡¯re going to die.¡± He frowned. ¡°Well, probably not me. I¡¯ll fly away. But definitely you three.¡± ¡°You would abandon us?¡± asked Sadie, narrowing her eyes. Elijah shrugged. ¡°If it was hopeless? Probably. And there are so many of those things piled underneath us that that¡¯s exactly what it would be. Make no mistake, guys ¨C I like you all. I want to be friends, and I want to be successful. But I¡¯m not going to needlessly throw my life away. Nor do I expect any of you to sacrifice yourselves for me.¡± Kurik nodded, Dat looked a little confused, and Sadie just looked on impassively. It was a better reaction than he might¡¯ve expected, though he¡¯d never intended to mince words with the group. They weren¡¯t really friends. They were just allies of circumstance. Maybe that would change, but as far as plans went, Elijah fully intended to leave the group once they got back to Nexus. He and Sadie had come to a sort of truce, but they would never really get along. So, it was better that they minimize their exposure to one another, lest they do or say things they¡¯d both regret. ¡°Are we in immediate danger from the wraiths?¡± Sadie asked. Elijah shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. But there¡¯s a reason we haven¡¯t seen much wildlife up here,¡± he said. ¡°My guess? They only wake up at certain times. Otherwise, they hibernate.¡± ¡°And if we¡¯re here when one of those times comes?¡± Elijah fixed Sadie with his most uncompromising stare. ¡°Run. As fast and as far as you can.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± she said. ¡°This changes nothing about our task.¡± Then, to Dat, she continued, ¡°Lead on.¡± No one seemed deterred by Elijah¡¯s revelation, so they continued to follow Dat and Kurik through the forest. As they did, Elijah once again marveled at the differences between the arboreal landscape and the jungle miles below. The trees were well spaced apart, and the undergrowth was minimal. Seeing that, Elijah might¡¯ve thought he was back on Earth in the forests north of Norcastle. However, there were enough differences ¨C a glowing bit of moss, trees he didn¡¯t recognize, and, most of all, a set of ephemeral details he couldn¡¯t quite identify ¨C that he could see the alien terrain for what it was. So, the trek was easy going, but wrought with enough tension that no one there was able to enjoy it. Then, a half hour later, Dat signaled for everyone to go silent. After that, they crept forward, moving in the shadows of the enormous oak-like trees. Only a few minutes later, they arrived at their destination. Predictably, it was a cave. Or more accurately, a cenote, and via One with Nature, Elijah could feel just how deep it went. More importantly, he could sense an entire nest of aviaks inside. There were hundreds ¨C maybe thousands ¨C of the bird-like humanoids, all nestled in their own cubbies inside the cenote. Elijah couldn¡¯t sense the bottom of the pit, the opening of which was only around a hundred feet wide and obscured by a layer of vines, but he imagined it was quite deep. He signaled to the others, then shifted into his draconid form before adopting Guise of the Unseen. Once he was camouflaged by his ability, he crept forward, stopping at the edge of the cenote. Then, he ducked his head through a small gap in the vines. That¡¯s when he saw their goal. A large, ivory egg the size of an NFL lineman, it glistened with vitality so strong that, for a moment, Elijah didn¡¯t even see its guardian. But when he did, he nearly let out a gasp. The aviak lurking in the shadow of the egg was huge, and unlike its brethren, it wore clothing. Clad in a simple leather kilt, it also wielded a pair of long javelins. Elijah pulled away slowly, then retreated to his companions¡¯ position. After resuming his human form, he and the others backed away to a safe distance. ¡°Do you know its level?¡± Elijah asked Dat. ¡°What did you see?¡± asked before Dat could answer. ¡°Higher than yours, bro. Maybe as high as a hundred,¡± Dat said. ¡°The others in there aren¡¯t much lower, either. I don¡¯t think we want to pick a fight with them.¡± Sadie opened her mouth to ask again what he¡¯d seen, but Elijah preempted the question by explaining everything. ¡°And I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if it¡¯s not the only one down there,¡± he said. ¡°The big aviak is dangerous, though. I could sense that much from up here.¡± ¡°What do you suggest?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d just sneak down there and play it by ear,¡± he said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think that would work in this situation. You saw how sensitive those aviaks are. The moment we set one foot into their caves, they went nuts. I¡¯d be willing to bet that they¡¯ll do the same if we try to climb down into that cenote.¡± ¡°Full frontal assault?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°The bird-people ain¡¯t that strong. I could rig up some traps that would make getting¡¯ outta that hole mighty hard.¡± ¡°I could keep the attention of a few dozen at most,¡± Sadie offered. ¡°But more than that, and we¡¯d be in trouble.¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°I think that¡¯s a bad plan, bro. We need to be smarter.¡± ¡°Any suggestions?¡± she asked her friend. He shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re the brains of this operation. I¡¯m just here to look cool.¡± Elijah chuckled, which earned a glare from Sadie, so he cut it off. ¡°Sorry. Serious face.¡± ¡°Did you just say ¡®serious face¡¯ out loud?¡± she asked incredulously. ¡°Did I? I thought that was in my head.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t.¡± Elijah glanced at Dat, who just shook his head. ¡°Damn. Okay, so my point is that I¡¯m taking this super seriously. And that we need a plan. Mostly the second part, given the way you¡¯re all looking at me.¡± Ignoring his rambling, Sadie asked, ¡°Do you have any ideas?¡± ¡°I was kind of hoping you would,¡± he admitted. ¡°I mean, I came up with the plan to make a plan, right? That¡¯s half the battle right there.¡± ¡°I thought knowing was half the battle, bro.¡± ¡°Really? G.I. Joe?¡± ¡°I loved that cartoon when I was little. My uncle had all of the episodes recorded,¡± Dat said. ¡°Dat.¡± ¡°What, bro?¡± ¡°I have a serious question for you.¡± ¡°Okay.¡± ¡°Did we just become best friends? Because it seems like we just became best friends,¡± Elijah said. 5-24. Killin Field ¡°I want to go on record as saying that this is a stupid plan,¡± Sadie said, looking up at Elijah. ¡°You¡¯re going to end up dead.¡± ¡°Aww. I didn¡¯t know you cared,¡± he said, stretching like he was getting ready to run a marathon. He didn¡¯t really need it. As far as he could tell, he physically couldn¡¯t pull a muscle. But it was more the principle of the thing. ¡°If you die, it will make completing the task more difficult,¡± she said without hesitation. ¡°That¡¯s¡­very pragmatic.¡± ¡°I care, bro,¡± Dat said, ducking under one of Elijah¡¯s outstretched arms. ¡°But she is kind of right. If this goes wrong, we¡¯re going to need to find a new healer.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a Healer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re our healer,¡± Dat said with a grin. ¡°Little ¡®h¡¯.¡± Elijah ruefully shook his head, but he didn¡¯t bother arguing ¨C largely because they were right. There was every chance that his plan would go wrong, and if it did, it wasn¡¯t out of the question that he¡¯d end up dead. But in his defense, he truly believed he could pull it off. ¡°If I do die, Kurik gets my stuff,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°That¡¯s a bit grim,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Give it to Carmen. She¡¯ll know what to do with it,¡± he insisted. ¡°Not that I intend on dying.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think most people intend to die, bro.¡± ¡°Technically, everyone intends to die eventually. That¡¯s kind of a constant,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I get what you mean. If it makes you feel any better, I¡¯m pretty hard to kill. I once got digested by a whale, and I¡¯m still here. So, I think I can handle this.¡± And he truly did. However, he was self-aware enough to recognize the role bravado played in that assessment. He needed to believe his plan would work, mostly because, after spending the past couple of days trying to figure out a plan, it was the best they could come up with. Which probably said more about their available options than about the plan itself. Regardless, Elijah felt confident that he could at least escape if things went sideways. And that would have to do. To move the conversation away from his possible death, he asked, ¡°Does everyone know their roles?¡± ¡°Everything¡¯s set up,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking. I should be the one to do it, bro. I¡¯m fast, especially with your speed buff. And you might be needed back here,¡± Dat said. ¡°What if they catch you?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°You know they¡¯d rip you to shreds. Same with Kurik. The only one who would stand a chance against them is Sadie, and ¨C¡± ¡°She¡¯s too slow,¡± Dat said. ¡°I was going to say that we need her to play a different role. I think she has a perfect amount of speed,¡± Elijah said diplomatically. Sadie rolled her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m not so fragile that I need you to stroke my ego. I can move quickly when necessary, but evading a multitude of enemies is not my forte,¡± she said. ¡°I know my limits.¡± That was more than a little surprising to Elijah, but he wasn¡¯t going to argue. Regardless, the plan had already been made, and everyone had agreed to it. So, there was no point in discussing it further. With that in mind, Elijah said, ¡°We all believed this to be our best plan, and so long as everyone does what they¡¯re supposed to do, we¡¯ll be fine.¡± Of course, there was quite a bit more pressure on Elijah than on anyone else, but that seemed fitting, considering he was the party¡¯s highest level. More importantly, he had plenty of experience engaging in plans precisely like the one laid out before them. But at least this time he had a little backup and the expert assistance of a dwarf who really enjoyed his traps. A little too much, if Elijah was honest. After only a few more minutes, Elijah finished his preparations, then shifted into his draconid form. The transformation still brought a gasp from Dat, though Sadie and Kurik maintained stoic expressions. ¡°So cool, bro.¡± Elijah ignored him. Instead, he took a deep breath before setting off across the forest. The first leg took a few minutes to traverse, largely because if he stepped off the established path, his plan would have been over before it even began. In any case, Elijah took his time, and eventually, he reached the safety of the untouched forest. That¡¯s when he engaged Guise of the Unseen, and a few minutes later, the reason became obvious when he passed the cenote full of aviaks. The creatures were still blissfully unaware that Elijah and his party were so close. That would soon change. But not yet. Elijah passed the huge sinkhole without pausing to investigate. He knew what was down there, as he¡¯d spent a good portion of the last couple of days observing the creatures. They weren¡¯t quite to the point where Elijah would have called them civilized, but they were communal. If he¡¯d had to place their level of societal development, he would have said they were somewhere between primates like gorillas and the earliest ancestors of humanity. But he knew they were monsters. He¡¯d felt that back in the caves, and looking into the cenote had served to confirm that impression. If they¡¯d been beasts ¨C or worse, a collection of guardians ¨C he might¡¯ve hesitated before killing them. Knowing that they were monsters freed his conscience, even if he wasn¡¯t entirely sure what differentiated between them and natural beasts. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Back on Earth, he¡¯d learned that the creatures he referred to as monsters ¨C like the swamp hydra or the harpies ¨C were never intended to end up there. They were like guardians without a natural treasure to protect, though everything Elijah had learned felt like an incomplete explanation. Perhaps the difference was simply that they weren¡¯t natural creatures. Be that because they weren¡¯t supposed to be there ¨C like on Earth ¨C or some other reason, what Elijah felt was the discordance between what they were and what was natural. It was also possible that Elijah was missing something obvious. There was so much out there that he didn¡¯t understand, so he was used to carrying on in ignorance. Besides, he couldn¡¯t afford to think too hard on it, and definitely not for very long. The fact was that the aviaks just felt wrong, they were in his way, and they¡¯d already tried to kill him. Those factors made his path pretty clear, so far as he was concerned. He¡¯d already selected the spot where he would kick the plan off, and now, he just needed to get there, then set everything into motion. With that in mind, he gradually crossed the plateau until, at last, he reached his destination. It was a seemingly inconspicuous dell, barely thirty feet across, but it was distinguished by one, simple trait ¨C the wraiths were particularly close to the surface. They were only about five feet down, which meant that they wouldn¡¯t be difficult to awaken. In fact, one of the big reasons Elijah had chosen to employ Guise of the Unseen was so that he could avoid just that. At least until it was time to get things going. For a few moments, Elijah remained in the center of that clearing, where he forced himself to reconsider his plan. Because once he made his move, there would be no going back. He would need to keep moving until he saw it through to the end. But they¡¯d been over it. They¡¯d considered a hundred different plans, and none of them stood even the slightest chance of success. Perhaps things would be different if they had a different skillset available. Maybe if he had been a proper Healer, or if Dat had been a dedicated damage dealer rather than a scout. The same was true of Kurik, whose skillset was key to the plan¡¯s success. The only one who seemed to fit into a traditional role was Sadie. In any case, there wasn¡¯t another viable option ¨C at least not that they could think of. So, Elijah reaffirmed his commitment to the plan, then shifted into his lamellar ape form. After taking a deep breath, he clasped his claws above his head, then brought them down with every point of Strength he possessed. And considering he could easily lift multi-ton boulders, that was quite a lot of force indeed. His fists hit the ground like a meteor, digging a huge crater into the ground and absolutely destroying the first few wraiths slumbering below. But there were a lot more to take their place. The monsters awoke immediately, then started digging their way out of the ground. Elijah was already moving, though. He¡¯d launched himself away from the point of impact, transforming into a draconid along the way. He didn¡¯t pause long ¨C just enough to recognize the chain reaction that came from disturbing the wraiths ¨C before he raced away. Normally, he would have found a safe spot to drop out of combat, then reengage Guise of the Unseen. However, that was the furthest thing from what he wanted, and he made just enough noise, digging into the ground along the way, so that the wraiths would know precisely who was responsible for disturbing their hibernation. Predictably, the creatures erupted from the ground in a wave that expanded from the original point of impact. Dozens of the monsters hurled themselves after Elijah, waking more with every step they took. Soon, those dozens became hundreds, and in turn, those hundreds became thousands. Elijah lost count after that. Even with One with Nature, he could scarcely differentiate between individuals among the mass of bodies following him. He only knew there were a lot, and that if they caught him out in the open, he¡¯d be done for. So, he ran, pushing his quadruped body to the limit as he raced between the trees. For their part, the wraiths moved less like a group of individuals and more like a tidal wave of spindly, blue-and-white limbs. More than once, they uprooted trees in their fervor to catch Elijah. However, in his draconid form, he could move extremely swiftly, so he had no issues staying ahead of them. Though the situation still unnerved him, and rightly so. One wrong step, and they would wash over him. If that happened, he would die. He dashed among the trees until, at last, he reached his first destination. The cenote. Without skipping a beat, he launched himself high into the air. As he ascended, the first of the wraiths followed suit, leaping after him. But Elijah had already begun another transformation ¨C this time, using Shape of the Sky ¨C and the moment his wings developed, he beat them against the air, climbing even higher. Predictably, the wingless wraiths plummeted, crashing through the flimsy weave of grass and vines covering the pit. They fell gracelessly, alerting the entire settlement of aviaks along the way. It didn¡¯t end there, though. The wraiths were so determined to catch Elijah that the mass couldn¡¯t halt its momentum in time. And they too plunged into the depths. But Elijah had his own issues to worry about, because even if he had wings, the sky was not his territory. The eagles had left them alone for the final part of the climb, but Elijah had soon learned that they roosted at the tops of those tall trees. And the moment anything went higher than a few dozen feet, the golden raptors reacted with characteristic violence. Eagles swooped in, tearing into his vulnerable body. Not wanting a repeat of his last encounter with those murderous birds, he quickly dove, hitting the ground on the other side of the cenote. Once he hit, all but one of the eagles broke off the chase. The lone holdout found death at the end of Elijah¡¯s snapping jaws. After that, he didn¡¯t hesitate to shift back into his draconid form and begin the final phase of his plan. He ran away from the pit, his ears filled with the sound of aviaks battling against wraiths, with a number of the smarter ¨C or perhaps luckier ¨C blue-and-white creatures in hot pursuit. That was part of the plan, though there were quite a few more than he¡¯d expected. At least a couple hundred. Maybe as many as a thousand. An intimidating force, though one he had some confidence they could handle. Soon enough, Elijah reached what Kurik affectionately called the Killin¡¯ Field. It had been chosen because it was the only place on the entire plateau that wasn¡¯t littered with wraiths beneath the surface. And because of that, the group had been free to spend the past two days digging dozens of trenches, and at the bottom of each one were plenty of sharpened stakes, upon which Kurik had used his skills. Optimisticaly, they¡¯d hoped to thin the herd of wraiths, but more realistically, they knew the traps would at the very least slow them down. More importantly, assuming the creatures wised up to the presence of the situation, the traps would serve to funnel the monsters into a narrow corridor where their numbers would count for very little. To aid that, they¡¯d also built a series of earthen bulwarks, each one lined with more sharpened stakes and bearing the power of Kurik¡¯s skills. Any monster that came into contact with those would end up having a very bad day. Or that was the idea. As Elijah picked his way through Kurik¡¯s Killin¡¯ Field, he heard the monsters¡¯ gleeful yells turn into agonized screams. Then, finally, he caught sight of Sadie, who had planted herself between two earthworks, her sword gleaming with power. Elijah barreled past her, then immediately shifted into his caster form. He whipped around, staff at the ready, just in time for the first monsters to crash into Sadie. She met them with her sword, and like that, the battle was on. 5-25. The Protector A wraith bounced off Sadie¡¯s ethereal barrier, its forward momentum sending it skipping off the surface. It landed just past her, and though the gangly creature was dazed, Elijah and his other companions recognized the danger it still represented. So, they all focused their fire ¨C Dat with his crossbow, Kurik leaping onto the thing with his hatchets, and Elijah with a hastily cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Miraculously, the durable monster survived that first volley of attacks, but a second later, Kurik ended the wraith¡¯s life by hacking through its spindly neck. No one could afford to rest, though. Not with hundreds more only a few feet away, held back by the earthworks they¡¯d built as well as Sadie¡¯s efforts. The monsters could have easily leaped over the mounds of dirt. Yet, they were single-minded creatures who only had eyes for the four companions. And they seemingly were incapable of considering any other route but the straightest line. That meant rushing at Sadie in a frontal assault. It was a fortunate weakness, though one of which they were all aware. That was the key to their strategy, after all. For all that they were incredibly dangerous, the wraiths lacked even the most basic animalistic cunning. They only knew how to attack, and usually in the most obvious way. Elijah¡¯s plan aimed to take advantage of that. After leading them to the cenote, where the bulk of the wraiths were still clashing with the aviaks, he¡¯d led the remainder into a series of traps. Hundreds had already died, but there were dozens who¡¯d made it through ¨C likely through sheer luck ¨C which put Elijah and the others in quite a precarious position. The only solution was to fight it out, and though they¡¯d done everything they could to tip the odds in their favor, the reality was that any fight, no matter how well-prepared the battlefield, could go wrong at a moment¡¯s notice. If Sadie made a mistake, they would likely fall. If Elijah failed to heal, they would die. If Dat and Kurik employed the wrong skills at the wrong time, the group would be overwhelmed. And if there was one thing Elijah knew, it was that no one was perfect. Everyone made mistakes ¨C a truism that was even more appropriate in battle. The only solution was to work together. When one member faltered, everyone else needed to pick up the slack. That was how being part of a team worked. Which was why Elijah had always preferred being alone. Even going back to when he was choosing athletic activities as a child, he had picked boxing, largely because it didn¡¯t force him to rely on other people. Perhaps there was a reason he¡¯d fared so well after being stranded alone on the island. He¡¯d gone a bit weird, but most people would have descended into madness. But Elijah, as a habitual loner in the first place, took to it quite well. Regardless, the fact remained that he was not well-suited to fighting alongside others. With every passing moment, he wanted to shift into one of his forms and take the battle to the wraiths. His every instinct screamed at him to abandon their makeshift fortification and fight the way he¡¯d always fought. He could use hit-and-run tactics, whittling them down until there was nothing left. If he¡¯d been alone, that was precisely what he would have done. And if things got a little too hairy? He¡¯d just fly away. Sure, he¡¯d take some damage from the eagles ¨C and maybe from the wind spirits ¨C but that wouldn¡¯t last long. And besides, that was what healing was for, wasn¡¯t it? But he¡¯d committed to working with the others, and as much as he would¡¯ve preferred to fight alone, he wouldn¡¯t abandon them. So, with that in mind, Elijah cast Soothe on Sadie, then focused on running interference on the other monsters. To that end, he conjured a Swarm of biting insects that descended upon the horde of wraiths, where they delivered their dangerous afflictions. Ever since upgrading his Core ¨C and finishing the Staff of the First Dragon ¨C the spell had truly taken a step forward in terms of potency. It wasn¡¯t enough to down the wraiths on its own, but it definitely slowed them down. He kept Calamity in his back pocket, though. The spell still took a load of ethera, and he wanted to keep it in reserve until it could make the most difference. Besides, it didn¡¯t seem necessary. With Sadie blocking the narrow gap between the two earthen bulwarks, the situation was well in hand. Every now and again, one would slip past her, but Elijah and the two others reacted to any such incursion with no small degree of alacrity. Dat acquitted himself well, cycling between using his crossbow and his long daggers, while Kurik performed admirably, considering that his class was mostly meant to focus on trapping his foes. Still, he managed to employ his skills to good effect, even throwing a couple of grenades he¡¯d built himself. They weren¡¯t really intended to do damage, but rather, they exploded into a mass of stick webbing that held the wraiths in place. The monsters could tear free, given enough time, but for the situation, the grenades were a perfect addition to the dwarf¡¯s arsenal. For his part, Elijah focused on healing. Sadie was well-armored, and she was extremely skilled with her sword. However, the wraiths were so numerous that some injuries were inevitable. That¡¯s where Elijah stepped in, making liberal use of Soothe and Healing Rain. Only when Sadie took grievous wounds did he use the much more powerful ¨C and costly ¨C Nature¡¯s Bloom. It was not a sprint, after all. The battle was a marathon, and he knew that even with most facets of his Mind focusing on regenerating his ethera as quickly as possible, his Core would quickly run dry if he wasn¡¯t careful. So, he measured his casts, only using the bare minimum to keep everyone upright. Meanwhile, he employed Storm¡¯s Fury sparingly, and only when the others needed an extra second or two to respond. The same was true of Snaring Roots, which took more ethera, but delayed the wraiths for far longer. Playing at being a pure caster was a balancing act, Elijah realized. He could flood the area with spells, draining his ethera in a couple of heartbeats. And in that time, he would do immense damage. Yet, once he was spent, everything would grind to a halt. So, knowing that the battle would be ongoing for quite some time, he elected a conservative approach. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. But all the while, he wished he could simply shift into his guardian form and lay waste to the detestable monsters. That would have been a mistake, though. Not only would it have put his allies in danger ¨C after all, they were dependent on his healing, as well as the control he offered via Storm¡¯s Fury and Snaring Roots ¨C but it would have gotten him killed as well. Because as much as he wanted to believe he could take them, he¡¯d received enough reminders of his own fallibility that he knew how acting on his overconfidence would end up. So, he healed while the others fought the wraiths, and he was a little surprised to see how well the strategy worked. Maybe there was a reason most people fought in groups. Sadie laid about her with her greatsword, and periodically, pillars of light would erupt amidst the wraiths a dozen feet away, searing the monsters. Meanwhile, Elijah got a good look at a few of Dat¡¯s abilities as well. His projectiles carried with them a distinct air of ethera, glowing slightly red in the process, but the most overt skill he used was an ability that multiplied each bolt he fired. When they hit, they did so with a localized explosion of ethera that dug huge craters in the monsters¡¯ torsos. Not to be outdone, Kurik¡¯s attacks were equally devastating. When he used his bow, his arrows also exploded upon impact, but they didn¡¯t tear holes in the creatures. Instead, they cast out a fine mist that made the monsters stumble, clearly weakening them. And when he hacked into the wraiths with his hatchets, the attacks cut far deeper than they should have. Once everyone found a rhythm, the fight went like clockwork, and as it progressed, Elijah found that his efforts were less and less necessary. Still, he forced himself not to overreach by using too many offensive spells. Otherwise, he might not have enough ethera to respond to a shift in the battle. But after an hour, the tide of wraiths showed no sign of stopping. They¡¯d already killed far more than the hundred or so Elijah had anticipated. He¡¯d underestimated the number of enemies, but because of his constant diligence with his ethera, he was still in good shape. That was not the case with the others. Sadie seemed fine, but Elijah had difficulty reading her. For all he knew, she was on the verge of collapsing from ethera deprivation. But what he did know was that Kurik and Dat had both stopped using their abilities so much, instead relying on their naked weapons to do damage. It was markedly less effective, and because of that, the monsters started pushing them back ¨C only a few inches at first, but soon enough, they¡¯d been shoved backward more than a foot. That was when Elijah stepped up. He wasn¡¯t fresh, but compared to the others, he might as well have been. And even as Dat and Kurik struggled to empower even a single ability, Elijah let loose with Calamity. It drained a distressing amount of his ethera, but the conjured storm ¨C or the confusion that came with the cutting winds and shaking earth ¨C was enough to allow Sadie to push against the swell of monsters and recover her former position. Elijah yelled, ¡°Dat. Kurik. Rest and recover. Sadie and I will hold the line!¡± The two scouts looked as if they wanted to argue, but with their shoulders lumped in exhaustion, they had little choice in the matter. Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to shift into one of his other forms, but that didn¡¯t mean he was completely without fangs. He stepped forward, aimed his staff at the nearest monster, and let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning erupted from the Staff of the First Dragon, hitting one of the wraiths in the chest. The creatures were so closely packed together that the electrical current leaped from one to the next, losing only a little of its punch along the way. The spell did only marginal damage, but that was never the goal. Instead, he used it like a taser, stunning the creatures so that Sadie could bring her white-glowing sword to bear. She sliced through the seizing monsters with a massive, horizontal strike that left the smell of cooked flesh in its wake. Normally, she wouldn¡¯t have employed such a wide swing, largely because it would have left her open for reprisal. However, with the monsters having been stunned by Elijah¡¯s Storm¡¯s Fury, she needn¡¯t fear dropping her guard. Elijah aimed another instance of the spell, and when it hit, it did so with similar results. This one was less effective, which told Elijah something he¡¯d suspected from the very beginning. The wraiths were unique in that they absorbed ethera, but he¡¯d witnessed something else during his encounters with the creatures. They acclimated to any spells thrown their way, and eventually, with enough exposure, they would surely become immune. So far, it hadn¡¯t been a problem, largely because no individual monster lasted long enough for it to matter. Yet, with Storm¡¯s Fury lacking in the lethality department, the monsters were well equipped to resist its effects. Which meant that he couldn¡¯t just keep shocking them ¨C not unless he was certain it would open them up for one of Sadie¡¯s attacks. So, frustrated, he stepped forward, ready to use his attributes and his staff to fill in for the sidelined damage dealers. It was an inelegant solution to the problem at hand, but as he brained one of the monsters that slipped past Sadie¡¯s guard, he couldn¡¯t argue with its effectiveness. Over the next half hour, he swung his staff like a club, only occasionally using spells like Storm¡¯s Fury to supplement his damage. Meanwhile, he continued to heal ¨C both Sadie and himself ¨C as they incurred one injury after another. But they held the line until, at last, Dat and Kurik had recovered enough to retake their own positions. That let Elijah take a step back and focus on healing. Pointedly, Sadie never stopped hacking and slashing, as she made copious use of her own abilities. They were meant mostly to protect her and others, and in that endeavor, they excelled. For offense, she relied on her glowing sword. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if the illumination was the result of a spell or if the weapon itself was responsible, but whichever was the case, he couldn¡¯t argue with its effectiveness. So it went, and soon enough, minutes became hours, but still the monsters kept coming. Until, at last, after nearly five hours of fighting, the last wraith fell. The moment the threat had ended, Sadie looked around, panting and wild eyed. And once she was satisfied there were no more enemies, she collapsed into a heap. Elijah rushed forward, casting Nature¡¯s Bloom. ¡°She¡¯s fine, bro¡± a panting Dat said. ¡°She just pushed herself too far. Again. She¡¯ll be okay in a few hours.¡± No sooner had those words left the Witch Hunter¡¯s mouth than the sound of a bird call swept across their defensive position. Then another came in answer, though the second was slightly different from the first. ¡°What was that, bro?¡± asked Dat, looking around, his eyes wide. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kurik answered. Before Elijah could say something similar, he felt something enter into range of One with Nature. It was only a few dozen feet away and coming fast. Then, a second something, even larger and more menacing, came from above. Elijah couldn¡¯t react before an eagle ¨C at least five times the size of any of the other monsters ¨C burst through the trees, latched onto Sadie¡¯s prone form, and launched itself back into the sky. Elijah only took a moment to watch its path before he whipped around and said, ¡°Hold the line. Something big is coming from that direction.¡± After gesturing in the direction of the cenote, he initiated a transformation into Shape of the Sky, and as soon as his wings developed, he threw himself after Sadie. 5-26. Aerial Battle Elijah broke through the canopy and into bright sunlight, only to see a dozen golden eagles barreling toward him. But he only had eyes for the one flying in the other direction. The huge bird had Sadie¡¯s unconscious form clutched in its talons, and it flew further away with every passing second. He tilted his wings, banking just out of reach of one of the smaller oncoming creatures, snapping out with his long neck and crushing its delicate wing bones. That opened him for reprisal ¨C not from that foe, which plummeted toward the forest below, but instead, to the other vengeful members of its flock. Elijah tucked his own wings close, protecting them as he dove, which saved him from the worst of the attacks. However, nothing could keep them from raking their wicked talons across his back. He stifled a scream as he fell through the canopy, hitting multiple branches along the way. His pursuers pulled up short, unwilling to brave the injuries that would come from following. That gave Elijah a moment to take stock, which he used to latch onto a particularly thick branch, then initiate another transformation. This time, he took on his natural form, which he used to immediately cast Soothe on himself. The gashes across his back mended, but he didn¡¯t dare wait any longer. Because with every passing second, Sadie was getting further away. So, even as his flesh knitted back together, he once again adopted his flight form, then threw himself into the sky. For a while, he¡¯d lamented the shape¡¯s combat inadequacies, most of which stemmed from the fact that it wasn¡¯t very durable. Like most creatures of the air, the Shape of the Sky was a fragile thing, and it sometimes felt that his Constitution counted for less in that form. With that in mind, Elijah chose to shore up that weakness with one of his other advantages. That decision took the form of Soothe, which was still singing through his body as he broke through the canopy, ready to do engage in an aerial battle. The eagles responded immediately, descending upon him with all the grace their natural instincts could dictate. By comparison, Elijah was still a novice flier, though he made up for that deficiency in skill by relying on two things. First, he was much larger than the eagles, with a long neck that only accentuated his advantage in reach. He displayed this by snapping out and crushing the first avian body that came into range. When the rest of the flock attacked, Elijah¡¯s second advantage came to the fore. He might not have been durable, but who needed toughness when he had Soothe on his side? The wounds inflicted by his airborne foes were painful, and they didn¡¯t immediately mend, but Elijah had taken worse. And what¡¯s more, the ongoing heal kept him in the sky long enough to engage in the otherwise foolhardy tactic that left his body ripped to ribbons. But he gave as good as he got, returning the flurry of attacks with much deadlier reprisal. He raked with his talons, bit with his serpentine jaws, and even managed to destroy one of the eagles with a kamikaze dive that was rewarded with a burst of blood and feathers. He also incurred a couple of broken bones from the maneuver, which wasn¡¯t surprising, considering that he suspected the shape¡¯s skeleton was comprised of hollow bones, much like the hated birds. He took more injuries from the rest of the battle, but those were healed almost as soon as they were incurred. Elijah knew he was going at it all wrong. He should have been fast, graceful, and nimble. Instead, he went at the fight like he was a flying version of his guardian form. Perhaps that was what it meant to be a dragon. But even as he latched onto the final eagle with his talons, then ripped its wings from its body, Elijah¡¯s thoughts were elsewhere. Only a minute or so had passed ¨C long enough for Soothe to run its course ¨C but even then, the giant eagle that had taken Sadie had reached the edge of the plateau. Fortunately, he¡¯d had the forethought to use Eyes of the Eagle, so he could keep track of where it had landed. Even though he still felt the urgency of the situation, Elijah took a moment to land amidst the branches, casting Soothe to take care of any injuries that had persisted before he once again took to the skies in pursuit of the eagle. Or rather, Sadie. He tore through the sky, moving faster than he¡¯d ever flown before as he skimmed just over the canopy. If the stakes hadn¡¯t been so dire, he might¡¯ve enjoyed the feeling. It had been so infrequent that he¡¯d had the opportunity to simply let loose and push himself to the limits. But the situation being what it was, he couldn¡¯t enjoy it properly. Instead, the entirety of his thoughts centered on rescuing Sadie. He couldn¡¯t say why he¡¯d latched onto to that task so strongly. Maybe it was as simple as one human being helping another. He wasn¡¯t above that sort of thing. Yet, he knew ¨C at least in the back of his mind ¨C that it went deeper than that. Although he wouldn¡¯t allow himself to consider just how much he wanted to prove her assessment of him as a monster wrong. In any case, he covered the couple of miles in what felt like an instant, and when he flew over the edge of the plateau, he saw his quarry. The giant eagle had made its roost on a particularly large ledge, and it was only by happenstance that Elijah and his companions had chosen to ascend on the other side of the butte formation. If they had done so on this side, their way would have been much more difficult, because it was absolutely lousy with birds. None were as large as the eagle that had taken Sadie, though, and its purpose seemed clear, because there were a bunch of younger birds in its nest. It meant to feed its young. And Elijah¡¯s job was to stop that. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. With that endeavor in mind, he tucked his wings close to his body and dove. The eagle saw him coming from a mile away, and it dropped Sadie before throwing itself into the air, clearly intending to meet Elijah on its own terms. They hit with a mighty clash, but Elijah wasn¡¯t so deluded as to think he could win against such a mighty foe ¨C especially on its own turf. So, just before they hit, he initiated a transformation into his guardian form. That clearly surprised the eagle, but it was far too late to avoid his now-falling form. Lamellar ape met eagle, and the latter clearly lost the exchange. Elijah hit it with all the momentum of a runaway train, but he was surprised to find that it didn¡¯t crumple like the others. Instead, it used some sort of ability, shielding itself from the worst of the impact. Yet, even if it was protected from the collision itself, it could do nothing about two other factors. First, momentum still existed, and given that Elijah¡¯s guardian form¡¯s weight exceeded a ton, the raptor was forced to absorb quite a lot of force. Second, Elijah really, really hated birds. His ire had steadily mounted during the climb, but it had reached a rousing crescendo the moment he¡¯d taken on his most volatile form. And a pissed-off ape-lizard could do no small degree of damage. Elijah latched onto the bird, wrapping his long arms around it, and digging into its surprisingly tough skin. Then, he started biting, ripping through the eagle¡¯s feathers with every ounce of ferocity he could muster. From his position on its back, Elijah was safe from reprisal, but that said nothing about the rest of the flock. Hundreds of birds went wild, taking to the air and raking their talons across his body. Fortunately, he¡¯d had the presence of mind to employ Shield of Brambles before engaging. And of course, he was protected by Iron Scales, though he could feel his energy draining with every passing second. He couldn¡¯t keep it up indefinitely, and already, the sheer volume of attacks had begun to affect him. Even ten percent of their damage tended to add up, and as a result, his inflated Constitution was put to the test. Meanwhile, Elijah focused on dismantling the giant eagle. His momentum had already sent it plummeting from the sky, and fortunately, they¡¯d ended up on the surface of the plateau, rather than falling for miles to the ground far, far below. However, if he¡¯d expected the creature to be defenseless on the ground, he had another thing coming. It erupted with enough force to throw Elijah from its back, and it wasn¡¯t until he landed a few dozen yards away that he realized that he had a hundred golden feathers sticking out of his torso. They¡¯d only penetrated an inch or so, but that was enough to enact their true purpose. Elijah felt his energy draining out of him with every passing second. And it was only a few moments until he could no longer keep Iron Scales active. He levered himself to his feet, raking his arm across his chest and dislodging the golden feathers. They fell to the ground, dissipating into motes of ethera. He slapped his chest in pain-filled rage, and the eagle climbed to its feet. It cawed with similar fury, then threw itself into the air. However, it had no intention of abandoning the fight. Instead, it swooped in, attempting to rake its talons across Elijah¡¯s face. He took it without consideration for the injury, using the opportunity to snap out his jaws and bite into one of its feet. The creature tried to rip the limb free, beating its wings furiously along the way. But Elijah¡¯s bite strength was absolute, and he refused to let go, even as the bird clawed him with its other foot. When that didn¡¯t work, it brought its sharp beak to bear, tearing chunks out of Elijah¡¯s shoulders. But he didn¡¯t let that go without retaliation. The bird was more durable than most of its kind, and it was quite a bit larger, as well. Yet, it was still just a bird. And what was a bird without its wings? Elijah intended to find out. So, ignoring the monster¡¯s screeching attempts at dislodging itself from Elijah¡¯s uncompromising jaws, he reached up, grabbed ahold of those wing joints, then yanked his arms apart. At first, nothing happened. The monster was strong enough to resist his pull, if only for a moment. And in that instant, Elijah felt a seed of doubt. Had he bitten off more than he could chew? Maybe. But then, the eagle¡¯s strength gave way to the superior might of the guardian form, and its wings jerked wide. That wasn¡¯t enough, though. He didn¡¯t just want the thing¡¯s wings spread. He wanted them to break. And as the monster let out a cacophonous cry, those wings did just that. They snapped like wishbones, and once they lost that stability, it was only a matter of moments before the flesh gave way. Elijah ripped its wings off, showering the area in avian blood. He exulted in it. But he couldn¡¯t enjoy it, because there were a hundred other eagles ready to pick up where the best among them left off. And though individual might was important, quantity had a power all its own, and Elijah was forced to deal with that as dozens of the birds flocked to him. He lashed out, attacking as much as he could, but with so many strikes coming from so many different sources, there was nothing left but to endure and hope that the thorny counterattacks from Shield of Brambles could wear them down. Long minutes passed, with eagles raking through his thick scales and getting pierced by thorns in turn. Elijah swept his arms, and every now and again, he would catch one of the monsters with his claws. However, the guardian form had never been very dexterous, and with his stamina having been drained, he wasn¡¯t at his best. He did manage to kill a few, though. And once, he even chomped down on one. But air superiority was a thing for a reason, and Elijah¡¯s efforts were hampered by his ground-bound state. Still, he didn¡¯t dare switch to Shape of the Sky. Given that he was being steadily whittled down in his much more durable guardian form, assuming his flight form would have gotten him ripped to shreds. Even so, Shield of Brambles put in great work, and eventually ¨C what felt like an eternity of pain ¨C the last of the birds flew away, having been pierced through a by a hundred thorns. Many more lay dead, but more than a few had fled. Regardless, it gave Elijah an opportunity to switch into his caster form and start the process of healing. More importantly, he could now rescue Sadie. So, once he¡¯d cast a few heals on himself, he shifted back into Shape of the Sky, then flew to the nest. Once there, he was horrified to see that the juvenile eagles had already started trying to eat her. The only thing preventing that was her armor, which had so far stymied the little birds¡¯ efforts. So, Elijah descended upon them, and though he hadn¡¯t intended to kill the creatures ¨C as he had their mother ¨C the things immediately proved that notion hopeless. Like all the other eagles, they attacked the second he came into range of their blunted beaks, and he was forced to exterminate the pests. They probably wouldn¡¯t have lived much longer anyway. Not without someone to take care of them. Still, it was not a joyful occasion, but, rather, a necessary one. With the threats dealt with, Elijah snatched the still-unconscious Sadie into his talons and took off. Hopefully, Dat and Kurik were okay, though he had good reason to think that they would be. His choice to go after Sadie had not been undertaken without thought. Dat and Kurik had the benefit of a defensible position, and they were more than capable of holding their own. Still, Elijah¡¯s stomach remained clenched with worry as he soared over the forest canopy. 5-27. Battle of the Beasts Even at the best of times, landing was the most difficult part of flying, and Elijah had still yet to master it. So, trying to land with Sadie clutched in his talons was a recipe for disaster. That was why he didn¡¯t even bother. Instead, when he reached Kurik¡¯s Killin¡¯ Field, he used Shape of the Guardian, shifting his form in mid-air while transferring Sadie¡¯s unconscious form from his talons to his arms. By the time he hit the ground in an eruption of dirt, she was safe. And just as importantly, the durable form was more than capable of taking the impact of the fall. Setting her down, Elijah turned his attention to his other companions, who were still fighting against an onslaught of aviaks. The flood Elijah had expected had slowed a little, and the bodies were piled high, but both Dat and Kurik were still standing. Though Elijah couldn¡¯t help but note that they both bore the evidence of multiple injuries. Kurik in particular had taken the worst of it, and his entire body was coated in blood. That wasn¡¯t surprising, given that his was the lowest level. But the dwarf still fought with characteristic stoicism. Elijah ran to them, already having transformed back into his caster form. In seconds, he¡¯d summoned a Healing Rain, and as it dumped its rejuvenating payload on the pair of combatants, he also cast Soothe on them both. He had plenty of ethera, too, so he made liberal use of Nature¡¯s Bloom as well, and before long, they¡¯d recovered. It would take a lot more to get them back to peak fighting strength, but for now, they were as close as they would get. And it showed. Suddenly, they surged forward, regaining their lost ground and plugging the gap between the two earthen bulwarks. Dat in particular displayed fighting prowess Elijah hadn¡¯t expected, using his long daggers ¨C or were they shortswords? ¨C with ruthless efficiency. In addition, he¡¯d activated some sort of ability that allowed him to counter every single attack. At first, Elijah didn¡¯t even recognize it as a class technique, thinking that Dat was just more skilled than the bestial wraiths. However, after only a few moments, he sensed the swirl of ethera and saw the slight halo of green light surrounding the Witch Hunter. Then, after another few moments, that shroud of energy winked out, and Dat returned to his normal level of prowess. Predictably, that¡¯s when he started taking more wounds, but that was what Elijah was there for. He continued to heal, resuming the role he¡¯d abandoned to rescue Sadie. This time, though, things were a little more precarious. The enemies were fewer, but without Sadie standing between the enemy and the much less durable members of the party, things frequently got dicey. But Elijah poured ethera out, keeping his allies as healthy as the situation would allow, and at the same time, set his Quartz Mind to working overtime. Nine distinct apertures swirled, drawing ethera in, pushing it through his Soul and into his Core. Elijah couldn¡¯t quantify just how much it affected his ability to replenish his ethereal stores, but he knew it was significant. It was also the only way he could keep up. Never before was he more grateful for his advantages in cultivation and levels, because there was no chance he could have effectively filled his role without the additional power they gave him. As it was, even Elijah¡¯s power was taxed by the task at hand, and he went to the well a few too many times. His pool of ethera dipped to dangerous levels, and at times, he struggled to cast even Soothe, much less the much more powerful Nature¡¯s Bloom. But at least Healing Rain was there to fill in the gaps. Eventually, even the trickle of aviaks slowed to a much slower pace. Then, in what felt like a sudden turn after spending so long engaged in constant battle, the world went silent. It was over. There were hundreds of corpses before the group. Most were wraiths, having withered to almost nothing after their deaths. But there were plenty of aviaks as well. As for Dat and Kurik, they were both on their last legs. Their shoulders drooped in fatigue, and Elijah could see the signs of ethereal exhaustion. If they had more than a few more skills in them, Elijah would have been incredibly surprised. Which was why, when a final foe emerged from the forest, Elijah knew that he would need to shoulder the bulk of the burden. ¡°Aviak champion,¡± Dat said, his hands trembling as he gripped his weapons. His leather coat had been ripped to shreds, and he didn¡¯t even have the energy to smile. ¡°Not sure on the level, but it¡¯s high. Higher than me.¡± The aviak champion, which was the one Elijah had seen guarding the egg at the bottom of the cenote, lived up to its name. The creature looked similar to the others, though it was more than twice their height. It was also quite a bit bulkier, with sharper talons, a more aggressive beak, and much longer spears. It also wore a leather kilt, the only instance of the creatures wearing any sort of clothing. It stopped a few dozen feet from the bulwark, raised its spears, and let loose a challenging screech. It clacked the two wooden poles together and screeched again. ¡°What do you want to do?¡± asked an exhausted Kurik. ¡°I got this,¡± Elijah said, stepping forward. ¡°Alone?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m not stupid. If you see an opening, take it. But neither of you are in any condition for a prolonged fight,¡± he explained. ¡°I am.¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°Can you take it?¡± Dat asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°No clue. It feels¡­it¡¯s strong. I can tell you that. But I¡¯ve killed strong enemies before,¡± he said. And that was true. There had been quite a few of his foes that were, at least at the time, stronger than him. The spider that had set up its nest in the pass through the mountain range next to Ironshore, for one. The hydra, for another. And many of the monsters he¡¯d fought in various towers, too. Even Thor had been stronger than him. Yet, he¡¯d always come out on top. Regardless, he had a couple of tricks up his sleeve that he hoped would make all the difference. After all, Guardian¡¯s Renewal was a powerful ability that could turn the tide of any battle. So, without further deliberation, Elijah used Shape of the Guardian. It lacked Dexterity, which meant that it wasn¡¯t an ideal form. Yet, it was much better for one-on-one fighting than Shape of the Predator, which was far better suited to ambush or hit-and-run tactics. Besides, after the long battle, he¡¯d gotten low on ethera, so shifting back and forth probably wouldn¡¯t be possible. His body transformed, his arms lengthening as his postured changed. Black and red scales sprouted across his body, and Strength suffused his limbs. He had a feeling he would need it, going by the aviak champion¡¯s rippling muscles. The monster screeched at him, its fury evident. Elijah roared back, his own boundless rage singing through his mind. And then, as if they¡¯d both heard the same starting bell, they charged. The two hulking combatants thundered toward one another, covering the ground between them in an instant. And when they clashed, a shockwave spread across the area, sending withered wraith corpses rolling away. Elijah hit the creature in a shoulder tackle, wrapping his arms around its waist and driving it backward. As he did, he activated Iron Scales, but even that powerfully defensive ability was incapable of stopping the aviak¡¯s spear from stabbing through the scales on his back. Numbing poison spread from the wound, telling Elijah he was on a timer. But even as the monster continuously stabbed him, he lifted and twisted, body slamming the thing into the ground. It tried to cushion its fall with an outstretched wing, but that limb was inferior to the task at hand. Perhaps if it had been a proper arm, it might have worked. But wings were fragile by nature, and even though the aviak was clearly far more durable than its counterparts, it was still bird-like enough that it shared that weakness with other avian creatures. Bones shattered, erupting into an explosion of feathers, flesh, and blood. Once again filling the air with its screeching, the creature repeatedly stabbed Elijah¡¯s back. It received quite a few small, thorny injuries in reprisal, but those were no match for the thing¡¯s constitution. More importantly, the numbness continued to spread through Elijah¡¯s body, already affecting his lungs. But he kept going, snapping out with his jaws and taking a chunk out of the aviak¡¯s shoulder. It returned the favor by stabbing its beak into his face. Fortunately, his brow ridge took the brunt of the impact, preventing him from losing the eye. Yet, it was enough to blur his vision on that side. Like that, the two sides continued the battle, with Elijah snapping out and wrapping his jaws around the haft of the aviak¡¯s spear. He bit down, shattering it into splinters. The bird-like humanoid responded by jabbing the broken shaft into Elijah¡¯s side. The second spear was broken only a few moments later, leaving both combatants unarmed. So, they fought. Tooth and claw. Beak and talon. There was no grace to it. Perhaps if the aviak had been in better shape ¨C it had clearly been injured and drained by its own battle against the wraiths Elijah had led into the cenote ¨C it may have gone differently. Despite its size, the creature was clearly built for speed. And it likely had access to at least one skill to accentuate it. But it barely had enough ethera to keep from collapsing, much less enough to power any skills. So, they fought like beasts, tearing into one another with no thought for defense, save for Elijah¡¯s Iron Scales. The results were horrific, with both combatants taking a dozen wounds before the first thirty seconds were gone. Elijah¡¯s attacks were more savage, but the aviak champion had already given itself an advantage with the progressive effect of its poisoned spears. The weapons themselves had been destroyed, but the paralytic remained. Elijah labored, struggling to breathe as his muscles refused to cooperate. Meanwhile, the aviak recognized his weakness and renewed the fury of its attacks, eviscerating Elijah with every swipe of its talons. He tried to block. He attempted to fight back. And his Iron Scales continued to show their worth. However, with the paralytic coursing through his veins, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed. The solution was simple, though he didn¡¯t activate Guardian¡¯s Renewal straight away. Instead, he took every bit of punishment the monster could dish out. With every landed attack, pain lanced through his body ¨C apparently, the paralytic didn¡¯t shield him from that, which meant that it was likely magical in nature ¨C but still, Elijah held out. Then, suddenly, there was a dagger sticking out of the thing¡¯s side. An arrow followed, taking it in its beady eye. The monster screeched, but if Dat and Kurik expected a couple of small wounds to take the creature out, they were sorely mistaken. It responded with predictable alacrity, throwing its lone working wing out wide. Its legs bunched as it readied itself to pounce. But Elijah hadn¡¯t remained idle during the brief distraction. Instead, he¡¯d finally used Guardian¡¯s Renewal, and even as the powerful ability beat back the paralytic, he shot to his feet and threw his repaired body at the distracted creature. The results were predictable. The aviak champion hadn¡¯t been in peak condition when it had arrived, and that had only gotten worse as it traded blows with Elijah. So, as his ability finally banished the paralytic and his body mended itself, the creature was at a distinct disadvantage. Elijah took that and ran with it, tackling the weakened and injured monster to the ground. It tried to fend him off, but due to its injuries and the lack of its weapons, it couldn¡¯t stand up to Elijah¡¯s fury. He rained one blow after another down on the monster, breaking bones with each falling fist. It screeched in pain, but after only a few seconds, those sounds turned to warbling whimpers. A couple of moments later, they became gurgling gasps. And finally, only the sound of Elijah¡¯s fists hammering into its increasingly ruptured body filled the air. He didn¡¯t stop until it had been pulverized beyond all recognition, and a flood of experience flowed into him. Even then, his rage-fueled thoughts spurred him to continue, to make an example of any creature dumb enough to challenge him. With some effort, Elijah pushed those thoughts aside and forced himself to return to his caster form. Like that, he straddled the fallen monster. Covered in blood and panting from the effort, he looked back to see his wide-eyed companions. ¡°I think it¡¯s dead, bro.¡± Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°Yeah. I think so, too.¡± 5-28. The Egg ¡°Is this true?¡± Sadie asked. Elijah looked away and rubbed the back of his neck. The sight of the battlefield didn¡¯t make him feel any better. There were hundreds of corpses littering that stretch of the forest, and there were even more that had fallen prey to Kurik¡¯s traps. The dwarf had revealed that he¡¯d gotten four levels during the fight, which was an unheard-of degree of progression. Everyone else had leveled at least once, including Elijah, who was on the verge of reaching level ninety-three. Only seven more, and he would get to choose his initial specialization ¨C an exciting and somewhat daunting prospect. The first, because it represented an increase in power that wasn¡¯t measured by levels. Elijah only had the most basic information on how it would work, but from what he¡¯d discovered, he would receive the opportunity to enhance one aspect of his class¡¯s abilities, the degree of which would be based on his accumulated Feats of Strength. The example he¡¯d seen would give him a boost to various categories of power. Whatever form the specialization took, Elijah felt confident that it would be a huge step forward. He didn¡¯t possess a list of his Feats of Strength ¨C apparently, it took a very specialized class to do that ¨C but he felt certain that his were impressive enough to earn a very favorable set of options. But that opportunity came with a degree of anxiety. Often, Elijah had lamented the fact that he couldn¡¯t guide the abilities associated with his class. Nor could he allocate his own attributes, as he had for the first ten levels. Indeed, it sometimes felt like he was living his life ¨C at least in terms of his progression ¨C on rails. Of course, he¡¯d gotten a couple of chances to evolve his spells and abilities, so there was some personalization there. Yet, at times, he¡¯d found himself wishing he could have made a few more choices. Now, though, he worried about picking the wrong path. What if he chose a specialization, and later, found that he needed a different one to overcome some obstacle? Or worse yet, what if he picked an inferior option? He didn¡¯t know everything about the world or how his class worked, so making a bad decision was a distinct possibility. Perhaps a near certainty, given the breadth of his ignorance. However, that was a problem for another day. At the moment, he was a little more concerned with the fact that Dat had just regaled a recently awakened Sadie with a tale of Elijah¡¯s daring rescue. The Witch Hunter¡¯s story had been quite embellished, and it made Elijah sound a lot more heroic than he really was. Indeed, he wasn¡¯t even sure why he¡¯d reacted so immediately, abandoning Kurik and Dat to take care of themselves. Fortunately, they both agreed that he¡¯d made the right choice, with Kurik even saying that he would have done the same if he¡¯d reacted a little more quickly. So, at least they didn¡¯t blame him for leaving them in the middle of a battle. ¡°He got the basics right,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But I definitely didn¡¯t challenge the eagle to a duel or stand over it in heroic victory ¨C whatever Dat might claim.¡± ¡°It¡¯s called creative license, bro. Everyone loves a hero.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a hero.¡± ¡°Sure, bro. I know that. And you do, too. But when I tell this story, that¡¯s what they¡¯ll want to hear,¡± Dat said with an aura of sagacity. ¡°Is there any chance of you not telling the story?¡± Elijah ventured. ¡°I agree that this is not something people need to hear,¡± Sadie said. ¡°It makes me sound like a fainting damsel in distress.¡± ¡°You kind of were, bro. A damsel, I mean. And you did faint. You were definitely in distress, too. That big bird was going to feed you to its babies.¡± ¡°I would have awoken the moment they ¨C¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t getting us anywhere,¡± Elijah interrupted, which earned him a glare from Sadie. It didn¡¯t faze him, though. He already knew she hated him, and besides ¨C he agreed with Dat. If Sadie hadn¡¯t woken up during the battle, then a few young eagles gnawing on her wasn¡¯t going to do the trick either. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t productive to point that out, so he kept it to himself. Like a responsible adult. ¡°We need to go to that cenote and destroy the egg so we can put this challenge behind us.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Sadie stated. Kurik asked, ¡°What do you think the reward will be? Seed of the Whistling Wind sounds fancy.¡± ¡°It does,¡± Elijah admitted, and the others agreed. But for Elijah, whose stock and trade was dealing with trees and forests, any sort of seed seemed like a great boon. At least that was the case until Kurik pointed out that it might not be an actual seed, but rather a metaphorical name. ¡°You ought to see how some o¡¯ these sects and guilds and other organizations name their treasures. Heaven¡¯s Path Rejuvenation Pill and other such ridiculousness. It¡¯s more than silly,¡± Kurik said. ¡°So who knows what this Seed of the Whistling Wind is?¡± ¡°I feel like for what we just did, it¡¯ll probably be pretty good, bro. The question is who gets it,¡± Dat pointed out. ¡°We get one reward, and there are four of us.¡± ¡°Well spotted, Dat,¡± Sadie said with a roll of her eyes. ¡°I¡¯m just saying.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a valid concern,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How about if someone can use it for an immediate power-up, then that person gets it? Otherwise, Sadie can hold onto everything until we get done here, and then we can divvy everything up.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Why me?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. The reality was that it was intended as a bit of flattery. She clearly fancied herself an honest person, so in an effort to bridge the gap between them, he¡¯d chosen to play off of her self-perception. In any case, he said, ¡°Because, of the four of us, you¡¯re probably the most trustworthy.¡± ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Sorry, Dat. You have a shifty look about you.¡± ¡°And Kurik?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Good guy, but he¡¯ll run away if he thinks that¡¯s his best chance of survival.¡± ¡°He ain¡¯t lyin¡¯,¡± the dwarf stated. He¡¯d mentioned as much during their first extended period together. Back then, they¡¯d been facing down an orc invasion, and Kurik had made no bones about abandoning Ironshore if the situation called for it. He was a pragmatic sort who wouldn¡¯t risk his life without good reason. And while that didn¡¯t make him particularly untrustworthy, it definitely made his morals a little clearer. If he thought he would come out better by taking everything for himself, then that was what he¡¯d do. Within reason. Of course, he also knew better than anyone else just the sort of person Elijah was, which would hopefully keep him in check. ¡°Fine,¡± Dat said. ¡°Regardless, we need to actually complete the challenge before we start dividing the rewards,¡± Elijah said. They all agreed, and to that end, the group set off through the forest. On their way back to the cenote, they saw Kurik¡¯s handiwork. His traps had been incredibly effective, and to the point where the wraiths had used the dead bodies of their fellow monsters to traverse the various pits. ¡°Remind me never to get on your bad side,¡± Elijah muttered to the dwarf, who took the comment with some equanimity. Despite gaining quite a few levels, Kurik didn¡¯t seem to revel in the slaughter. Instead, he looked a little conflicted. When Elijah asked about that, Kurik said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just feels wrong, killin¡¯ so many. My class has a history that I¡¯m just startin¡¯ to understand.¡± Elijah had at least enough social skills to not ask for an elaboration. If the dwarf wanted to talk about it, he would. And if not, he would keep it all to himself. In any case, they traversed the Killin¡¯ Field, then passed through the forest to get to the cenote where the aviaks rested. There, they found an absolute massacre on both sides. Hundreds of withered wraith corpses littered the area around the pit, and there were even more that had thrown themselves into the cenote. And judging by the number of aviak corpses, plenty had lived through the fall long enough to wreak havoc on the occupants. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Sadie, standing beside him as they looked over the edge and at the devastation below. ¡°Your plan worked, right?¡± ¡°It did,¡± Elijah admitted. None of the aviaks had survived, but they¡¯d taken their pound of flesh from the wraiths. It was only because of their efforts that Elijah and his companions had survived. If they¡¯d have had to deal with any more enemies, they would have been pushed past their limits. ¡°And yet, you¡¯re not happy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Want to elaborate on why that would be?¡± asked Sadie. She¡¯d made some efforts to be, if not pleasant, then not overly hostile. Apparently, that strategy included asking him to explain why he wasn¡¯t happy about indirectly killing hundreds of near-sapient creatures. And that wasn¡¯t even considering whatever the wraiths were. ¡°Not especially.¡± ¡°It might help,¡± she said. Elijah sighed, then turned to face the woman. ¡°What do you want me to say? That I regret that this was necessary? I do. For all we know, these creatures aren¡¯t even real. They might be like the things we fight in towers. But I don¡¯t think so. Contrary to what you might think of me, I don¡¯t enjoy killing things. If it was up to me, I¡¯d just sit on my island and tend to my grove. But it¡¯s not. There are so many things out there trying to kill us. And I think we¡¯ve only scratched the surface of what¡¯s coming to Earth. So, I¡¯ll do what needs to be done, but that doesn¡¯t mean I have to enjoy it.¡± It was the most Elijah had said on that subject since the world had changed, but he meant every word of it, even if he knew it wasn¡¯t entirely true. He wasn¡¯t so self-deluded as to think that he didn¡¯t enjoy fighting. He always had, even going back to his boxing days, and the touch of the World Tree hadn¡¯t changed that. However, there was a distinct difference between enjoying a good fight, as well as the progression that came with it, and killing an entire colony of semi-sapient creatures. But it was necessary. ¡°Do you want me to do it?¡± Elijah asked. He could see the egg down below, and it made sense for him to destroy it. After all, he could easily fly back to the top. ¡°I think we should all go,¡± Sadie answered, staring intently at the carnage they had caused. For someone like her, it had to be even more difficult to see than it was for Elijah. Everyone began the climb down. By that point, they were all seasoned climbers, and that expertise, coupled with their high attributes, made the way easy enough. Still, they were forced to go around a host of bodies during the climb, so it took a little longer than it probably should have. In the end, though, they reached the bottom of the cenote with little trouble. That¡¯s when they found themselves staring at the object of the challenge. In a lot of ways, it looked just like any other egg, though it was at least eight feet tall and half as wide. ¡°It¡¯s too big to be an aviak,¡± Elijah said. Even the champion wouldn¡¯t have needed an egg that size, especially as an infant. ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± said Dat. ¡°Well? What is it?¡± ¡°I¡­I¡¯m not sure,¡± Dat said. ¡°But I do know the aviaks aren¡¯t natural.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± asked Sadie. He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but they¡¯re not meant to be here. They¡¯re monsters.¡± ¡°I feel the same thing,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°One of my abilities gives me hints as to something¡¯s nature,¡± Dat said. ¡°And the notification I got when I used it on the aviaks was that they¡¯re hybrids. Not people. Not animals. But something in between.¡± ¡°Like Druids who abandoned their humanity? Or whatever. I know this planet wasn¡¯t populated by humans.¡± ¡°Is that possible?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Apparently so. I read it in a guide. Something to do with giving in to your attunement.¡± ¡°Does that affect¡­other attunements?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°No idea,¡± he admitted. Then, he asked Dat, ¡°So is that what this is?¡± ¡°No. This was more¡­they were created via magic. I don¡¯t know anything else, but the word abomination came up in the notification. I think this egg is the next step.¡± ¡°Then we have to destroy it,¡± Elijah stated, unsure if his attunement drove him to say as much or if it was his own thought. He reached out to touch it. ¡°That¡¯s what the challenge said to do,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°I can whack it if you¡­oh. That definitely changes things.¡± When Elijah had touched the surface of the egg, a series of cracks spread from that point all the way across the egg. He knew he¡¯d barely grazed it, so he expected that it had been damaged during the battle. It just hadn¡¯t succumbed until Elijah touched it. The thing broke apart, the shell shattering into a thousand pieces. Thick, clear mucus spilled out, spreading across the cenote floor and revealing a vaguely humanoid shape. Whatever it was ¨C or was going to be ¨C it had yet to take its form, save for a vaguely humanoid appearance. And it was very clearly dead. More importantly, Elijah ¨C as well as the others, going by their glassy-eyed expressions ¨C received a notification saying that they had completed the challenge. 5-29. Complications Elijah looked at the silver box hovering over the remains of the egg and asked, ¡°Who wants to do the honors?¡± Dat glanced at Sadie. So did Kurik. It made sense, given that she was the one who¡¯d hold onto the reward, at least until they could have it identified. Hopefully, Atticus could take care of that. Either way, Elijah gave the armored woman a nod before saying, ¡°Go ahead.¡± Sadie squared her shoulders, then approached the box. Or chest, really. In the old version of Earth, it would¡¯ve been considered an artistic masterpiece. The design was simple enough, with only a little decorative trim on the lid, but it was large enough that the sheer amount of silver used in the chest¡¯s construction would have been quite valuable. She reached out, her fingers briefly brushing against the surface, and where they touched, a trail of blue light followed. It was teeming with dense ethera, a fact that set it apart from the reward boxes Elijah had gotten in various towers. Sadie unhooked the delicate latch before pushing the lid open, laying bare the contents with a flash of blue light. It was a white pill, albeit a large one that looked like it was streaked through with blue lightning. When Sadie touched it, Elijah received a notification:
Congratulations for conquering the Challenge of the Singing Cliffs. Progress: 1/9 Reward: Seed of the Whistling Wind
¡°One out of nine,¡± said Kurik. ¡°This Trial ain¡¯t jokin¡¯ around, is it? Completin¡¯ eight more of those won¡¯t be easy.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Won¡¯t be so bad, bro. We got through this one, didn¡¯t we?¡± Dat added. Elijah didn¡¯t respond, and pointedly, neither did Sadie. After all, they¡¯d already decided to go their separate ways once they reached the Nexus Town. So, making plans for future challenges seemed pointless. Elijah was very interested in the Seed of the Whistling Wind, though. He¡¯d expected it to be an actual seed, so he was surprised when they¡¯d gotten a pill. What it would do was anyone¡¯s guess, though he suspected that it was something like the alchemical cultivation aids he¡¯d heard about from Biggle. Those often took the form of pills. Or maybe he was completely off-base. As he was so often reminded, he had a lot to learn about the multi-verse, so there was every chance that it would do something that countered all of his expectations. One thing was certain, though ¨C it would almost assuredly be powerful. The Trial was intended to help them grow, and at an accelerated pace from what was possible on Earth. As such, it stood to reason that the rewards would be quite useful. The nature of the pill was still a mystery, though one Elijah was eager to solve. That would have to wait, considering that they still needed to descend from the plateau and cross a week¡¯s worth of jungle before they could have someone identify its properties. First, though, they all needed a good rest. To that end, after collecting their reward and climbing free of the cenote, they made their way to the edge of the plateau where they made camp. What followed was two days of peace and quiet, with everyone taking the time to sleep and regain their various energies. For his part, Elijah spent much of the time in meditation and healing. His injuries hadn¡¯t been quite as severe as they had been after his some of his more harrowing fights, some of which had required him to reset his broken bones multiple times, but he was far from unscathed. Fortunately, healing didn¡¯t require much input, save to re-cast Healing Rain or Soothe when they¡¯d played themselves out. The rest of his attention was spent on meditation. Because he¡¯d once again been reminded of the benefits of advanced cultivation, and he knew that if he let up, he would fall behind. So, he spent most of his time exploring the limits of his Quartz Mind and using that information to develop a plan to take the next step. There were two obstacles in his way, though. First, while the density of the ethera in the Trial was much higher than anywhere on Earth ¨C save for his grove or the cultivation cave ¨C it was still insufficient for his purposes. The method for advancing each category of cultivation varied, but there was one throughline between them all. Whether it was his Mind, Body, Soul, or Core, they all required exceedingly thick ethera, and the density on the plateau just didn¡¯t meet those requirements. Second, he wasn¡¯t entirely certain how to push his Mind to the next tier. The guides he¡¯d purchased were very vague, especially after the first step. So, Elijah was almost entirely on his own, save for the most basic information. Apparently, the third step was the final stage of what was considered the mortal realm of cultivation, and it was intended to allow the Mind to function at a higher level. If progressing to Quartz gave him the ability to process multiple threads of thought at any given time, then reaching Jade would deepen those thoughts, improving the quality. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain about that. He didn¡¯t think it would make him any more intelligent, so he wasn¡¯t really sure how it would really work. But he supposed he would eventually find out. In any case, Elijah had no expectation of taking large strides forward ¨C at least not in the space of a day or two, especially given the distraction of having to use some of that time casting his various heals. Regardless, he hoped that his efforts would add up over time so that when he finally did find an appropriate environment, he could make the leap with some confidence. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. After two days, everyone had returned to full health, and so, they returned the way they¡¯d originally come. Climbing down the Singing Cliffs was simultaneously more difficult and, in some ways, easier. The climb itself was a little more precarious, but the pesky birds and wind spirits mostly left them alone. Still, climbing down a miles-long vertical cliff was no easy feat, even with their inflated attributes, and it ended up taking most of a day to reach the ground. When they did, Dat said, ¡°I used to think rock climbing was cool. No more, bro. No more.¡± Everyone wholeheartedly agreed with that assessment. After resting for the night, the group set off through the jungle. At first, the going was easy enough, with no real threats presenting themselves. But soon, the dangers of the excised world showed themselves. Not only were they accosted by awakened wraiths, but they also had to deal with the local wildlife, which proved to be almost as dangerous as the ethera-draining and four-armed humanoids. Still, by that point, the group had learned one another¡¯s strengths and weaknesses, so while the battles still held some degree of difficulty, they fought though them without any major setbacks. Until, on the third day, Elijah sensed something he hadn¡¯t expected. From where Elijah sat next to the campfire, he could feel them closing in. They moved like shadows, flitting from one instance of cover to the next. What¡¯s more, he recognized them. ¡°We¡¯re surrounded,¡± Elijah said, his voice casual. ¡°Wraiths?¡± asked Kurik, tossing a stick into the flames. Elijah shook his head. Dat¡¯s eyes flicked from one shadow to the next. ¡°Immortals,¡± he said. ¡°Coming in fast.¡± ¡°Kill them?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°If we can,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Agreed,¡± Dat said. Kurik nodded. Sadie¡¯s face remained impassive, but it was clear that she had no objections. Just then, the Immortals struck like lightning. If Elijah hadn¡¯t already felt them, the attack would have been devastating, but readiness was a perfect counter to an ambush. Elijah aimed his staff at the first one to appear, then cast Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning lanced out from the end of the Staff of the First Dragon, briefly banishing the darkness of night and stripping the other Immortals of their concealment. There were ten of them, all predictably wearing the same black outfits they¡¯d worn back in Nexus Town, and they wielded identical swords. In that moment of visibility, Elijah couldn¡¯t identify any more before the lightning faded. However, he did see Storm¡¯s Fury slam into an Immortal¡¯s chest, sending the slim figure crashing into a tree. As that Immortal slumped to the ground, the others closed in. But Elijah¡¯s allies hadn¡¯t been idle, and already, they had used a variety of abilities. Sadie enveloped herself in white light, while Dat raised his crossbow, sending a volley of bolts to slam into a pair of Immortals. Meanwhile, another fell prey to one of Kurik¡¯s cleverly concealed traps, their foot crashing through a thin covering and into a small hole filled with venomous caltrops. Sadie used what Dat referred to as her taunting ability, and the Immortals all turned their attention in her direction. One of them managed to pull away, but most of them rushed her. Surrounded by a bulwark of white light, she was well positioned to take their attacks head-on. One thing became immediately clear. The Immortals were not great fighters. Certainly, they had some skill with their blades, which they used to great effect. However, either their classes didn¡¯t give them many active abilities, or they weren¡¯t accustomed to using them. Either way, the result was the same. Judging by the way they moved, they had decent attributes, but without skills to back them up, they were clearly inferior. They fell upon Sadie¡¯s barrier with a barrage of rapid strikes. However, those attacks did nothing to shatter the sturdy ethereal shield. And her counterattacks were vicious and efficient. In one case, she nearly cut one Immortal in half with a brutal horizontal strike that hit the figure¡¯s waist with explosive might. But miraculously, aside from a single, high-pitched cry, the Immortal gave no indication that she¡¯d been nearly bisected. In fact, she continued to fight with a gaping wound in her side that exposed quite a few ruptured organs. The other Immortals fought with similar single-minded fervor, and though Elijah and his companions were clearly superior, in terms of both attributes and skills, the fact that the Immortals refused to die made the fight far more even than it probably should have been. After realizing that they couldn¡¯t win, the Immortals turned their attention to flight. As one, they turned to flee. But Elijah had other plans. So, he singled one of them out, then cast Snaring Roots. Thick and thorny vines erupted from the ground wrapping around the Immortal¡¯s legs. Mid-stride, they fell, hitting the ground face-first. One of their fellows briefly tried to hack through the vines, but they were incapable of cutting through them. More importantly, the vines kept coming, wrapping the prone figure in a cocoon. Seeing that, the other Immortals abandoned their companion. And in seconds, they passed out of range of One with Nature, disappearing into the forest. Elijah could have pursued, but given their incapability of killing the Immortals, it seemed a fruitless endeavor. Besides, he had a prisoner to interrogate. ¡°You saw that, right?¡± Sadie asked, her armor splattered with blood. Similar gore dripped from her greatsword. ¡°Immortal, bro. It¡¯s right there in the name.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t believe anyone is truly immortal,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Me neither,¡± Elijiah admitted. ¡°But let¡¯s put that to the test.¡± When Snaring Roots ran its course, the vines retreated, revealing a slight figure. In the heat of battle, it was easy to see the Immortals as identical. However, with peace came a greater attention to detail, and it immediately became apparent that the Immortal they¡¯d captured was a woman. In fact, she was the same woman whose head Elijah had crushed back in Nexus Town. Elijah reached down, grabbed her silver mask, and yanked it away. That revealed her scarred face and the haughty expression she wore. ¡°You will pay for this,¡± she said. ¡°Our Lord will see to it.¡± ¡°Who are you? And why did you attack us?¡± ¡°It is our right as the Immortals chosen by God Himself. He shields us from death, and in turn, we serve Him.¡± ¡°You are a murderer wreathed in sin,¡± Sadie growled. ¡°So I am.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t deny it?¡± ¡°My actions are righteous. I am justified by His command.¡± ¡°How does this immortality thing work?¡± asked Elijah, squatting next to her. ¡°What if I hacked you to pieces? Would you still be alive? Decapitation might work, too.¡± That got through to her. ¡°I live as long as our Lord deems me useful.¡± Dat cleared his throat. ¡°It¡¯s a skill, bro. Or a spell. I¡¯m not sure about how it all works, but it¡¯s tied to this Lord of theirs.¡± ¡°He is your Lord too,¡± the Immortal, her eyes shining with zealotry. ¡°You just don¡¯t know it yet.¡± ¡°What do we do?¡± asked Kurik, glancing from Elijah to Dat, and then to Sadie. Elijah answered immediately, ¡°Experiment.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°It means that this is going to get really unpleasant,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I understand if you don¡¯t approve. I don¡¯t like it either. But this is the best way to figure out what we¡¯re up against.¡± Then, Sadie surprised Elijah by saying, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°The Lord will shelter me,¡± the prone woman said. After that, he looked at the Immortal and responded, ¡°You say that now, but I¡¯m thinking you¡¯ll change your tune in a few minutes.¡± 5-30. In Service of the Greater Good Elijah forced himself to watch, but all the while, he found himself wishing he hadn¡¯t. Still, he didn¡¯t look away while Sadie cut the woman to pieces. She started small, just removing a single finger, but over the course of the next few hours, the wounds grew steadily worse until the woman had become a mass of wounds, the sight of which finally forced Elijah to look away. ¡°Interesting,¡± Sadie said. ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked, feeling sick to his stomach. He had few issues with killing, but torture was something altogether different. Unlike most instances of torture, at least this had a viable purpose, though. They had never intended to enhance an interrogation, but rather, to see how the Immortals¡¯ power worked. And in that endeavor, they were successful. ¡°As far as I can tell, they truly are immortal. When I cut pieces off, they just come back. She¡¯s scarred by it, and there¡¯s a component of pain as well, but we can¡¯t dismantle them,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna be sick, bro,¡± Dat said from nearby. He¡¯d watched the whole thing too, growing increasingly pale the entire time. Elijah sympathized with how the Witch Hunter clearly felt, largely because he¡¯d experienced similar discomfort. ¡°Do you think I enjoy this?¡± Sadie demanded. ¡°I don¡¯t. It is necessary, and I will not shy away from that.¡± ¡°I know.¡± For his part, Elijah didn¡¯t intend to contribute to that conversation. He¡¯d thought he was as committed as anyone else, but seeing what he¡¯d just seen had put the lie to that way of thinking. He had lines he wouldn¡¯t cross, and he had just found one. Making it worse that it had been done at his suggestion, though he suspected that Sadie would have come to a similar conclusion. Still, he was grateful that Sadie could do the deed because, as she¡¯d just said, it had needed to be done. ¡°What about drowning them?¡± he asked. ¡°I suspect it wouldn¡¯t work,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°I¡¯m certain it wouldn¡¯t be pleasant. Like water boarding. But ¨C¡± ¡°What ¡®bout tyin¡¯ ¡®em up and throwin¡¯ ¡®em in a barrel before tossin¡¯ ¡®em into the deepest part of the sea?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°Might not kill ¡®em, but it¡¯d put ¡®em outta commission, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s cold, bro.¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t say I¡¯d like it,¡± Kurik countered. ¡°Just sayin¡¯ I¡¯d like that a fair bit more than gettin¡¯ killed by unkillable assassins.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fair,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Sadie? Would it work?¡± She shrugged. ¡°I¡¯d just encase them in cement,¡± she said. ¡°But yeah.¡± Throughout the frank discussion, the scarred Immortal¡¯s eyes had widened in horror. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t considered the implications of being incapable of dying. Would she starve to death? Or perish due to dehydration? Both were terrible ways to go, but living through that without end would assuredly be quite traumatizing. And the woman knew it. Still, she¡¯d refused to say a single word throughout Sadie¡¯s experiments in dismemberment. That wasn¡¯t to say that she was silent. She most certainly had not been, filling the air with a cacophony of agonized screams. Sadie had calmly remarked that it proved they were capable of feeling pain, at least. But in the end, they¡¯d discovered what they could, and it came time to make some hard choices. Elijah gave that predicament voice when he asked, ¡°What do we do with her?¡± ¡°Feed ¡®er to something nasty,¡± suggested Kurik without hesitation. When everyone looked at him, he just shrugged. ¡°Won¡¯t kill ¡®er, but it might put ¡®er outta the fight for a bit. Added bonus, she suffers a little more.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a bonus?¡± asked Dat. ¡°When somebody tries to kill me? Sure. I ain¡¯t in the business of forgivin¡¯ that kinda thing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not about punishment, bro. It¡¯s only about ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s not relevant,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°We¡¯re not here to debate the merits of vengeance. We need her out of the way. That¡¯s it. So, what can we do to make sure she stays gone for as long as possible?¡± ¡°Kurik¡¯s idea is probably best. And we passed plenty of beasts along the way who could make a quick meal out of her,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not that I wish being digested on anyone. It¡¯s probably the most effective way to get what we want, though.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Dat said with a shake of his head. Then, he ran his hand through his hair. ¡°But I don¡¯t know any other way. We can¡¯t take her prisoner, right?¡± ¡°Where would we keep her? And if we had a jail, what¡¯s to keep her friends from rescuing her? This is the best way, Dat. I don¡¯t like it any more than you do, but I don¡¯t want to put anyone else in danger,¡± Elijah said. No one else had any objections. Well, no one but the Immortal woman, who finally voiced her own opinions by alternating between begging them not to do it and vowing eternal vengeance at the hands of her Lord if they did. Elijah ignored her pleas as well as her promises of reprisal. The reality was that the Immortals ¨C presumably at the insistence of their Lord ¨C had made the first move. So, if anyone was to blame for what was about to happen, it was her. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Elijah shifted into the lamellar ape form, then grabbed the woman around the waist, and took off across the jungle. Without the others around, the beasts were unlikely to bother him, an expectation that remained true as he made his way to where he¡¯d last seen a large, reptilian animal that looked big enough to swallow the Immortal whole. As it turned out, the creature ¨C which looked like a giant toad crossed with a lizard the size of a pickup truck ¨C took a little coaxing to eat the Immortal, but Elijah solved that issue by drawing blood. That perked the beast right up, and it gulped her down in the space of a moment. She didn¡¯t stop screaming the entire time. Unsettled, Elijah returned to the group, and with the weight of what they had just done settling on their shoulders, they set off for Nexus Town. The next couple of days were filled with silence as they all wrestled with their actions. They¡¯d just sentenced a woman to a life of torture. Even if she was rescued, it would still be a traumatizing experience that no one truly deserved. But as they kept telling themselves, it had been necessary. Finally, Elijah found the distraction he needed when they stumbled upon a raised aqueduct. Standing upon pillars hundreds of feet tall, it cut through the jungle for miles in both directions. Pieces of it had been torn down by creeping undergrowth, but what was left over had been fairly well preserved, revealing the architecture as well as the artistry of the structure. ¡°You find this so interesting?¡± asked Sadie, interrupting Elijah¡¯s study of the ruined aqueduct. Elijah glanced back and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you? I mean, this is evidence of an entirely different civilization. What I find really fascinating is that it actually resembles Roman aqueducts. Not exactly. Obviously. But there are enough similarities that you have to wonder if there¡¯s a connection.¡± ¡°There can¡¯t be that many ways to build raised ditches.¡± ¡°You¡¯d be surprised.¡± ¡°So, what are you saying? That this place and Earth are connected?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I have no idea. But it¡¯s definitely neat.¡± ¡°Neat?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a valid word.¡± ¡°Sure it is,¡± she said, glancing back to where Dat and Kurik were resting. They¡¯d decided to make camp near the aqueduct, mostly because Elijah had insisted. ¡°You really get into this sort of thing, don¡¯t you? Were you an architect or something?¡± ¡°What? No. And you say that like being interested is bad.¡± ¡°Not bad. Useless,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re here to do a job, lest you forget. I have thousands of people depending on me. I must grow stronger, or people will die.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Elijah acknowledged. ¡°You say that, and yet, you¡¯re here admiring pretty architecture. We don¡¯t have time for this.¡± ¡°And what else should I be doing?¡± ¡°Cultivating. We could have kept going for another hour or two as well.¡± ¡°I am cultivating,¡± Elijah stated. Indeed, three facets were working on a technique he hoped would work for taking the next step toward a Jade Mind. He hadn¡¯t gotten any results yet, but he had good reason to think that he soon would. ¡°And life is about more than obligations.¡± ¡°That¡¯s easy for you to say when your people aren¡¯t dying.¡± Elijah was about to respond, but then he thought better of it. The fact was that he had no room to judge her. She was dealing with problems that he¡¯d never had to consider, much less solve. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t his place to tell her how to live her life. Especially when it came to responsibility, which Elijah had been trying to avoid for quite some time. Even before the world had been transformed, he¡¯d put more stock in doing what he wanted than in achieving goals. Of course, he¡¯d changed a little over the years since Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree. But perhaps not as much as he¡¯d thought. At least he wasn¡¯t just going through the motions anymore, though. ¡°You¡¯re right. I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said. He sighed. ¡°Sometimes it feels like we live in completely different worlds. Maybe we do.¡± He shook his head, then after a few moments, announced, ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk.¡± With that, he turned and left her behind. It wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d gone about a hundred feet that he realized that he was following the aqueduct. That seemed as good a direction as any, and he spent the next hour ¨C in the dead of night, no less ¨C strolling through the jungle. After a couple of miles, the structure hit a sharp decline, and a hundred yards later, the trough disappeared underground. ¡°Should I do it?¡± Elijah asked the jungle, looking at the gaping hole in the ground. He didn¡¯t sense anything dangerous about it, but that didn¡¯t mean it was safe. ¡°Oh, who am I asking. Of course I¡¯m going to do it.¡± Then, without further thought, he leaped into the huge, stone trough and descended into the darkness. The first thing he noticed once he was completely underground was the musty smell. It was mildew and algae and rot, all rolled into one. The trough had become a tunnel, dark and dank. A trickle of water flowed down the center, hinting at its former majesty. Elijah shifted into his draconid form, largely because its night vision was superior to that of his natural shape, and he spent the next few minutes padding down the tunnel. Some of it had partially collapsed, though there was still plenty of room for Elijah to squeeze through, and eventually, he reached a giant cistern that was filled with sparkling water. And miraculously, it was illuminated by a series of torches mounted on the walls. At first, Elijah thought that it hadn¡¯t been as abandoned as he¡¯d expected, but when he tried ¨C and failed ¨C to extinguish one of the torches, he reasoned that they were magical in nature. The circular space was at least two hundred feet wide and likely twice as tall, with a coffered ceiling that reminded Elijah of Renaissance architecture. Moreover, there existed a series of frescoes that had been painted between the richly carved edges. To get a better look, Elijah transformed into the Shape of the Sky, then flew toward the ceiling. When he got there, he latched onto the raised edges, then leaned closer. For a couple of hours, he studied the paintings, which depicted a battle between three mighty warlords, each with their own sizable army. The species reminded Elijah of the wraiths, with their four arms and ivory skin, though the ones in the frescoes were far more muscular. Many of the details had been lost to time, but Elijah was still awed by the ruins of what had once been a mighty civilization. He¡¯d already seen plenty of evidence to suggest as much, but every new experience in the excised world hammered it home. The natives had been quite advanced, which made him wonder just what had happened to result in their separation from the World Tree. Perhaps he would find out before the Trial was finished. As much as he wished he could stay and study the frescoes, Elijah knew he needed to get back to his companions. So, he reluctantly returned the way he came, with musings on the fall of mighty worlds dancing through his mind. 5-31. Sticking It Out ¡°This is a great treasure, my friends,¡± said Atticus, staring at the Seed of the Whistling Wind with an awestruck expression. ¡°Truly a miraculous reward. Where did you get it?¡± Elijah answered, ¡°It was the reward for defeating one of the challenges.¡± Briefly, he had considered keeping that information to himself ¨C and clearly, Sadie preferred that route, judging by the look on her face ¨C but he trusted Atticus as much as anyone else in the Trial. So, he¡¯d chosen the path of honesty. ¡°What¡¯s it do, bro?¡± asked Dat, standing beside Elijah. ¡°Twenty-five Dexterity. Permanent. Here,¡± Atticus continued, holding out a pane of glass. It looked similar to the one used by Mari the Tailor back in Ironshore, but it was framed with elaborately worked silver. Displayed upon it was a notification that looked like it had been ripped from Elijah¡¯s inner eye.
Seed of the Whistling Wind Grade: Complex (high) An alchemical concoction created with a variety of Complex ingredients, then aged in a location teeming with Wind-attuned ethera. When consumed, permanently increases Dexterity attribute by 15-25 points, depending on compatibility of attunement.
¡°That¡¯s¡­I don¡¯t know what to say about that,¡± Elijah stated truthfully. The attribute bonus was both over- and underwhelming. The first, because it was currently an incredible increase that nearly doubled the efficacy of his own buffs like Essence of the Monkey. That was an impressive feat, given that those enhancements had seen quite an increase from his twice-advanced Core cultivation. However, there was also some disappointment there, and from two sources. For one, an increase of twenty-five points to any attribute was a life-changing boon for the current population of Earth. But would that still be the case in a year? Or ten? At some point, it would become a negligible amount. So, while the permanent increase was impressive, it would soon be no more than a drop in a very large bucket of attributes. For another, Elijah had hoped for a more exciting effect. Maybe a special ability. Or seeing the name, a unique plant he could cultivate within his grove. So, seeing that it only gave a few attribute points was a bit of a letdown. It did bring an issue to the forefront, though. When they¡¯d first gotten together, the group had decided to hoard the rewards and split them up once the Trial was finished or they reached the end of what they could conquer. Yet, there were a couple of issues with that plan. Not only had the first challenge opened their eyes to how difficult the Trial would be, which meant that they couldn¡¯t afford to leave any advantage unused, but Elijah and Sadie had already agreed to go their separate ways. So, the previous plan simply wouldn¡¯t work anymore. After everyone got to see the item¡¯s description, they thanked Atticus and headed out of the premises he¡¯d set up for the various crafters and merchants he¡¯d allied himself with. Already, their efforts had yielded quite a brisk business, but more importantly, they¡¯d established relationships that would hopefully carry them past the Trial and into Earth¡¯s future. They were the best and brightest, after all, and Elijah suspected that if the planet was going to survive, Tradesmen and Merchants would prove to be extremely important. The rest of Nexus Town was largely unchanged. The market was still there, as was the huge Branch at its center. However, many of the larger and more elaborate buildings had been claimed by various groups who¡¯d come to the Trial together. For their part, Elijah and his companions were happy setting up in one of the buildings on the outskirts of town where they would be left to themselves. Once there, Elijah took one of the rooms for himself, then made a pallet on the ground. Some of the crafters back in the market had already begun making furniture, but for someone who was accustomed to sleeping on the ground, a pallet was more than enough. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but miss his mossy bed back in the grove. After he¡¯d set everything up, Elijah headed downstairs to what they¡¯d designated as their kitchen. As they¡¯d passed through the market, Elijah had purchased a few slabs of meat that looked a lot like beef. The seller claimed that it had come from a beast that resembled an ox, so Elijah hoped it would taste similar. Regardless, he quickly sparked a fire in the cooking pit at the center of the room, then got to work preparing the meat as best he could. Fortunately, he had a stash of spices as well as a pan he¡¯d purchased from the Artificer that was supposed to mimic a cooking skill. He didn¡¯t do anything fancy, though. Just seared steaks, seasoned with salt and pepper. But simple was often better in those situations, so he hoped the results tracked with his expectations. Once he¡¯d finished, Elijah called, ¡°Dinner is served!¡± If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Everyone had their own plates and utensils, so he slapped the slabs of meat onto their tin plates and told them to dig in. And everyone did. To Elijah¡¯s enormous satisfaction, they all seemed to enjoy the meal quite a bit. Except Sadie, who looked at the meat with undisguised disgust. Around a mouthful of food, Elijah asked, ¡°So, is it an environmental thing? Or is it just that you don¡¯t like meat? I tried vegetarianism myself a couple of times. You know, before, raising livestock was terrible for the environment. A lot of people don¡¯t realize it, but we actually had to grow more crops to feed the ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s a combination of things,¡± Sadie admitted, picking at a plate full of wild greens she¡¯d harvested along the way. Some of them looked a bit dicey to Elijah, but she didn¡¯t seem to fear that any of them were poisonous, so he kept his objections to himself. ¡°But mostly, it¡¯s just habit now. I stopped eating meat when I was a child, so I suppose my tastes changed. I was forced to eat meat after the world transformed, and it was terrible.¡± ¡°It was bad meat, bro.¡± ¡°No one else got sick, Dat,¡± she said. ¡°The meat was fine. It was my system that didn¡¯t agree with it.¡± ¡°You could probably train yourself to enjoy it if you wanted to,¡± Elijah offered. ¡°Who says I want to? I¡¯m perfectly happy with my dietary choices,¡± she said. ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said, cutting another piece of his steak and popping it into his mouth. It was a little tougher than beef, and it had a bit of a tangy aftertaste, but it was still quite good. Not the best he¡¯d ever had, but not the worst, either. In any case, the pan had worked exceedingly well, evidenced by the fact that he could taste the meat at all. Without the proper skill, his meals were often quite bland. ¡°So,¡± he continued. ¡°I think we need to talk about the elephant in the room.¡± ¡°What is an elephant?¡± asked Kurik. He¡¯d already finished his first steak, and he¡¯d started in on his second. ¡°Huge animal native to Earth. But it¡¯s an expression,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Meant to refer to an issue that nobody can really ignore. In this case, what are we going to do about this group?¡± ¡°What do you mean, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°He means that we decided to go our separate ways,¡± Sadie answered. Before the other two could respond, she continued, ¡°But in light of recent events, I think it prudent that we reconsider.¡± ¡°Recent events?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°You may not be the person I thought you were,¡± she admitted. ¡°That is my fault, and I am sorry. My only excuse is that my ability colors my perception in ways I didn¡¯t expect. It is a fairly new addition, and I am still learning how to mitigate the effects. As I said, you have my apology. I should not have judged you based on a skill I neither understood nor could properly control.¡± That was not what Elijah had expected. Indeed, he¡¯d have put money on Sadie being the sort of person who would cling to her original judgement out of pride, regardless of any new evidence she might find. So, clearly, he was just as guilty as she was, at least when it came to making snap judgements concerning someone¡¯s character. ¡°You want to stick together?¡± he asked. ¡°I do. And I think everyone else does as well,¡± Sadie answered. The other two agreed. Elijah grinned. ¡°Then I guess that¡¯s what we¡¯ll do.¡± Realistically, he¡¯d already had second thoughts about the idea of going it alone. His pride told him that he could accomplish just as much without the others as with them, but he wasn¡¯t so deluded that he completely believed that. If he hadn¡¯t had them during the first challenge, things would have turned out a lot differently. Maybe he would have emerged victorious, but there was just as much of a chance that he¡¯d have been overwhelmed and killed. Or injured so badly that it would have taken weeks to recover. Besides, he liked the idea having other people around. Most of the time, at least. And often, the reality of having company fell short of what was in his mind. But as they shared a meal, he decided that his current situation definitely qualified as one of the former. ¡°So, what are we going to do about the Seed?¡± he asked. ¡°It would be dumb to just leave it unused. It could help us going forward.¡± ¡°I suppose you want it, then?¡± Sadie asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°If nobody else does, sure. But it¡¯s not ideal for me,¡± he said. That wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Because of the versatility of his class, he used every attribute, and he could only imagine the benefit of having an extra twenty-five points added to his Dexterity attribute. It would be especially helpful for the lamellar ape form, which had a distinct weakness when it came to coordination, but it would be impactful for the others as well. However, as far as he knew, both Kurik and Dat used Dexterity as their primary attribute and they had multiple skills that depended on it. As such, the Seed would be far more immediately beneficial for them. Besides, there were eight more rewards out there, and he didn¡¯t want to waste his chance on something that was only marginally beneficial. ¡°I think it should go to Kurik or Dat,¡± Elijah said. Sadie agreed, though the Witch Hunter and trapper insisted that it should go to one of the two most powerful members of the group. Apparently, that was how it was done on other worlds. The strong got stronger, all in the hopes that they would protect everyone else. In the end, Dat was the one who got the Seed of the Whistling Wind, and though he was happy for the boost, he still grumbled a bit about how things had worked out. When he took the pill, it gave him twenty-six additional Dexterity, which just proved that it was the right choice. Later, Dat revealed, ¡°I used to dream about this, you know.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. The pair were the only members of the group who were still awake. Sadie had retired first, but Kurik hadn¡¯t been far behind. For his part, Elijah couldn¡¯t sleep, and Dat claimed to be a night owl. ¡°About being magically transported into a game world. I read books about it. It all seemed so cool,¡± he said. ¡°I didn¡¯t think about the downsides, though. I¡¯ve watched thousands die. Tens of thousands. And I¡¯m here, getting excited about gaining a little extra Dexterity while everyone back in Hong Kong is struggling to survive. I don¡¯t even know what happened to my parents. My little brothers. My aunts and uncles.¡± ¡°Where were they when it happened?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°All over,¡± he answered. ¡°My parents and brothers moved to Seoul when I was young. My uncle lives in New Orleans, and I have a bunch of cousins scattered across Europe.¡± ¡°Nobody still in Vietnam?¡± ¡°A few. I lived there until I was nine, but after that, we moved a lot. Then, I went to boarding school. You?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Grew up in Washington state, then moved to Hawaii for college. Ended up on an island in what used to be the Pacific Northwest when the world changed. It was pretty rough for the first year or so, but I survived. My¡­my sister didn¡¯t. She was killed. But my sister-in-law and nephew made it.¡± He ran his fingers through his hair, adding, ¡°My point is that just because you don¡¯t know what happened to them doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re gone. There are a lot of survivors out there. Plenty of places where people banded together and protected one another.¡± Dat nodded, and for a long few moments, neither of them said anything. Finally, Dat said, ¡°I think I¡¯m going to get some sleep. Good night.¡± ¡°Night.¡± Dat rose, but before he left the room, he said, ¡°Thanks, bro.¡± 5-32. Ice ¡°How the hell¡¯re you not cold?¡± demanded Kurik as he rubbed his arms. He was wearing a thick leather coat, gloves, and sturdy boots, but he clearly wished he¡¯d packed something even warmer. Elijah grinned. ¡°A guy needs his secrets, right?¡± he replied with a wink. ¡°He ain¡¯t even wearin¡¯ any shoes!¡± the dwarf growled, gesturing at Elijah¡¯s bare feet. Indeed, Elijah hadn¡¯t made any concessions to the inexplicably cold weather they¡¯d encountered about a week after setting out for the recently discovered second challenge. One moment, they¡¯d been trekking through a sweltering jungle, and the next, the temperature had dropped to something more appropriate for a Canadian winter. That had happened two days ago, and it had grown progressively colder since. In addition, the jungle had given way to a barren tundra only populated by giant mammoths with blue skin, dangerous-looking walrus creatures that hung out near frozen ponds and streams, and a species of winged snake that spewed what appeared to be blue fire. It had the opposite effect, though. Instead of burning, it froze whatever it touched. Clearly there was a theme that hinted at what they might expect in the next challenge. Aside from Elijah, everyone in the party was miserable. Even the ever-stoic Sadie had complained about the cold on a couple of occasions, and every passing minute saw Kurik grumbling about the weather. ¡°I thought dwarves were supposed to be cold-weather creatures. You know, mountaineers and all that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Where¡¯d you hear a fool thing like that? We stay underground, where it¡¯s cozy and warm,¡± Kurik insisted. ¡°Lot of trapping to be done underground?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Ain¡¯t nowhere that trappin¡¯ ain¡¯t a useful skill to have,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Whole ecosystems down there. Not sure ¡®bout this planet, but back home, we had entire societies that ain¡¯t never saw the light of day.¡± ¡°Mole men, bro.¡± ¡°They weren¡¯t no mole men!¡± ¡°Mole people. I¡¯m sure there were women, too,¡± Elijah provided. ¡°Weren¡¯t no moles!¡± ¡°If you say so, bro,¡± Dat muttered. Elijah only grinned. The lone benefit of the conversation was that it had distracted Kurik from his complaints, if only for a few moments. But the second the conversation lapsed, the dwarf started mumbling under his breath. For Elijah¡¯s part, he took a moment to look around, and he saw precisely the same thing he¡¯d seen every day since coming upon the tundra. It was a flat, white expanse of ice and snow. Every now and then, they¡¯d pass a lone, scraggly evergeen, but for the most part, it was as empty as any desert. In the distance, though, Elijah saw something looming on the horizon. ¡°Are those mountains?¡± he wondered, pointing. He used Eyes of the Eagle, and his vision telescoped. It was always an odd feeling, though one he¡¯d forced himself to acclimate to. Regardless, it gave him a good look at a range of mountains. They were still at least a hundred miles away, but with the enhancement to his vision, he could just make out some of the details. ¡°Maybe,¡± Dat answered. ¡°It is,¡± Elijah confirmed. ¡°If you already knew, why¡¯d you ask?¡± grumbled the dwarf, barely loudly enough for Elijah to hear. ¡°The report mentioned mountains,¡± Sadie pointed out. Elijah had read the same report, though it had been extremely light on details. Apparently, the scout who¡¯d made it had barely survived, and he¡¯d only given the most basic details before he had used the Branch to return to Earth. No one had had a chance to investigate further, which meant that, aside from a direction, Elijah and his companions were going in mostly blind. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I believe these reports,¡± Elijah said. The scout had returned to Nexus Town only a few days after Elijah and his party had set out for the Singing Cliffs. So, there had been plenty of time for someone to have discovered more details. Yet, there was nothing, which suggested one of two things. Either no one had survived ¨C an unlikely explanation ¨C or people were hoarding information. Whichever was the case, it didn¡¯t bode well for their chances. ¡°Trust but verify, right?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± Elijah agreed. It truly didn¡¯t need to be said. They were already on edge, and they all knew better than to take the situation for granted. The second challenge ¨C which seemed to be associated with Pruina, the realm of ice ¨C would assuredly prove to be just as dangerous as the Singing Cliffs. Perhaps more so. So, every member of the party progressed with due caution. Over the next two days, they drew closer to the mountains. As it turned out, they were even further away than Elijah had estimated. But in his defense, that mistake was due to the sheer size of the range. Each mountain was thousands of feet tall, and the range itself stretched along the horizon for as far as Elijah could see. By the time they reached the foothills nearly four days later, the mountains loomed over them, casting them in shadow and filling all of their hearts with unease. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The cold climate remained the same, though the flat tundra had given way to something much rockier. As they progressed into the foothills, Elijah noticed a few different species of mountain goat, which he found odd. ¡°There are always goats in the mountains, bro.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand. Have you seen any other animals that looked exactly like a species on Earth?¡± he asked. ¡°We¡¯ve seen a few that were close. But there¡¯s always something off about them. Or they¡¯re completely different in so many ways they don¡¯t resemble anything back home. These goats, though ¨C they look exactly like the ones we¡¯d find on Earth.¡± ¡°We had goats on my planet, too,¡± Kurik said. ¡°They breathe fire, though. They¡¯re cute.¡± ¡°Fire-breathing goats are cute?¡± Sadie asked incredulously. ¡°When they¡¯re little, sure. I ain¡¯t talkin¡¯ ¡®bout a full-grown goat. Them things are ornery.¡± ¡°The Universal Goat Principal, bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Every world has goats. It ties everything together,¡± Dat said sagely. ¡°Like a good rug.¡± ¡°A rug?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Bro. I thought you¡¯d get that joke.¡± ¡°I¡¯m so lost,¡± she said. ¡°Uncultured.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you have any idea what they¡¯re talking about?¡± Sadie asked Kurik. ¡°I don¡¯t ever know what anyone¡¯s talkin¡¯ ¡®bout on this world. You Earth humans are crazy.¡± ¡°Or maybe the rest of the multi-verse is crazy,¡± Elijah suggested with a waggle of his frost-covered eyebrows. ¡°At the very least, they don¡¯t have our vast collection of movies to reference. Which reminds me ¨C when we get home, I¡¯m having Nerthus build a theater room on the island. I bet I can find a projector somewhere in Seattle, and then it¡¯s movie night, every night.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know what to say about that,¡± Kurik admitted. Elijah ignored him. Instead, he glanced at Sadie and said, ¡°You¡¯re invited, of course. Once we deal with your little undead problem, I mean. You¡¯d probably get along with Nerthus, and you¡¯d definitely like Carmen. Her glare of disapproval is almost as good as yours. And Dat, you know you¡¯re invited. I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll enjoy ¨C¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s enough,¡± Sadie said, though there was a hint of a smile on her face. Elijah counted that as a win, even if he¡¯d had to lean into his manic side to get it. Then, to Dat, she asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you found a cave nearby?¡± The Witch Hunter nodded, saying, ¡°But don¡¯t get too excited. It¡¯s pretty shallow, so it won¡¯t do much for the cold.¡± Elijah glanced at the sky and when he saw that the sun was almost below the horizon, he said, ¡°Better than nothing.¡± Indeed, they¡¯d spent the past week sleeping on the tundra, where they¡¯d had no protection from the wind. And while the cold didn¡¯t affect Elijah, courtesy of his Cloak of the Iron Bear, he couldn¡¯t say the same for the biting gusts that routinely swept across the expanse. It was even less pleasant than Elijah would have anticipated, and for reasons that he hadn¡¯t expected. The cold wasn¡¯t an issue, but the persistent howling of the wind had kept him awake at night. So, hopefully a nice night in a cave would be just what they all needed. So, they followed Dat as he led them past one of the larger foothills and to a boulder-strewn valley. The ground was covered in shale that made traversal incredibly treacherous, and even with their inflated Dexterity attributes, they slipped and fell more than once. Elijah was tempted to simply shift into one of his other forms ¨C like Shape of the Sky or the draconid ¨C but he wanted to be ready in case they were attacked. Because as uninviting as the area was, what wildlife existed in the area was sparse. Even the wraiths that were so prevalent elsewhere were nowhere to be seen or felt, making the entire region feel even more desolate. After crossing the shale-covered valley, they reached the cave, and it was just as inadequate as Dat had described. Barely ten feet deep and half as wide, it was more of a depression in the side of a hill than it was a cave. However, it was positioned in such a way as to provide some solace from the wind, which was the most important thing. So, after building a fire and deploying their defenses ¨C which centered on Elijah¡¯s beast-dissuading tent ¨C they settled in for a cold night. To perk everyone up, Elijah offered to make coffee, and miraculously, even Sadie-the-coffee-hater decided to partake. ¡°It¡¯s¡­uh¡­it¡¯s good,¡± she said, cradling a mug in both hands and holding the steaming beverage as close to her face as she could manage. She forced a smile that looked more like a grimace before adding, ¡°Very warm.¡± ¡°You hate it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t!¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. I just thought¡­¡± ¡°What? That I¡¯d only had bad coffee before and that was why I didn¡¯t like it? If only I tried your special coffee, I¡¯d ¨C wait, what is that?¡± she gasped. Elijah whipped around to stare at the mouth of the cave, but there was nothing there. ¡°What is it? Did you sense something?¡± ¡°No¡­¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah asked, confused. ¡°This coffee gives a buff.¡± ¡°Um¡­yeah? I told you that before.¡± ¡°You did? I must not have heard.¡± Or she probably hadn¡¯t been listening to a word Elijah had said back then. He knew she had an ability that made him unappealing to be around, but that was just rude. ¡°It¡¯s quite a good buff, too. Did you make this yourself?¡± she asked, clearly trying to move on. Fortunately, Elijah was more than willing to describe ¨C in detail ¨C his coffee-making process. He even told her about Carmen¡¯s work on the wok. ¡°Aren¡¯t woks usually made from iron?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°It sounds like bronze, but these are magical metals here. Who knows what properties they have? Carmen¡¯s probably the highest-level Blacksmith in the world, so I trust that she knows what she¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°Does anyone really?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s easy to trust Carmen. She¡¯s had a rough go of it, but she¡¯s one of the strongest people I¡¯ve ever known.¡± Sadie nodded. ¡°Sounds like my sister.¡± Elijah recognized the name as the lone Song that had disappeared from the power rankings. That implied that the woman had died. ¡°Wait, so you did all of that just for coffee?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°You used something called a Miracle Seed. And that¡¯s what you did with it? Why not food? Or ¨C¡± ¡°I really wanted coffee, and I didn¡¯t think there was any other way I was going to get it anytime soon. It was probably a waste. I get that. But it seemed like a good idea at the time.¡± It really had, and like all his other projects, it had given him something to distract him from the realities of life on their transformed planet. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t worth much to someone like Sadie, but it was incredibly important to Elijah. Small pleasures like a good cup of coffee made everything easier. ¡°At least it gives a good buff,¡± Sadie said in what was probably as close to a ringing endorsement as she was likely to give. Elijah was just about to respond when he heard something that sent a chill up his spine. He¡¯d heard the same noise a hundred times as they¡¯d traversed the valley, so he easily recognized the sound of cascading shale. ¡°Something is out there,¡± he said, setting his own mug down and taking up his staff. Just then, there was an explosion of rock and gravel that nearly burst Elijah¡¯s eardrums. 5-33. Down Below ¡°Behind me!¡± shouted Sadie, planting herself at the mouth of the cave. As the words left her mouth, she used her shielding ability, wrapping a glowing bulwark around her form. Her greatsword and armor gleamed in the light, though the illumination dissipated after only a few feet. Beyond that, only oppressive darkness lay. Dat and Kurik shot to their feet and took up their positions, ready to deal ranged damage to whatever had caused the eruption. For his part, Elijah readied his staff and prepared a couple of heals. Meanwhile, he focused on the facet of his mind dedicated to One with Nature. However, despite feeling the site of the explosion, there was no culprit in evidence. All he felt was inanimate rock and ice. Then, what he¡¯d assumed was inanimate moved. Coils of ice and stone shifted, and a great worm burst forth from the ground. The explosion sent a shockwave tearing across the valley and into the cave, with sharp shards of shale riding alongside the ripple of air. Elijah flinched, hiding his exposed face from the projectiles, saving him from a few minor wounds. The same couldn¡¯t be said of Dat and Kurik, who were caught completely unaware. Sadie was predictably fine, with the rocks clanging off her armor without causing any harm. Elijah cast Healing Rain, not willing to waste ethera on anything more powerful. ¡°It¡¯s a worm!¡± he yelled. ¡°Made of rock and ice.¡± That¡¯s when it struck, crashing into the cave with enough force to crack boulders. However, they were saved by the comparatively small size of the cave. The rock worm¡¯s mouth was at least twenty feet across, so it couldn¡¯t get to them. Yet. But judging by the way the cave had shaken, it was only a matter of time before the monster tore through the suddenly flimsy-seeming rock. Moreover, Elijah finally got a good look at their assailant. Or its circular mouth, at least. Lined with teeth that glittered like gemstones, it was quite an imposing sight. ¡°I am not getting digested again!¡± he growled, aiming his staff at the deepest part of the creature¡¯s mouth. Then, he let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury, sending a bolt of lightning out. It hit with the sound of cracking stone, showering Elijah and his companions with a cascade of pebbles. But when the dust settled, his efforts had done little good. As far as he could tell, the worm¡¯s craggy mouth was entirely unharmed. The same was true after Dat and Kurik employed their own attacks, shooting crossbow bolts and arrows its way. They did less than Elijah¡¯s lightning, clattering off the rocky surface of the inside of the monster¡¯s mouth with no discernible effect. Sadie¡¯s sword did a little more damage, dislodging one of the glittering teeth, but that wasn¡¯t nearly as encouraging as it probably should have been. Because the monster had not remained idle. Instead, its teeth began to rotate, chipping the rock of the cave mouth away like the world¡¯s largest saw. ¡°This isn¡¯t working!¡± Elijah shouted after a couple of seconds of similarly terrible results. No one seemed to hear him over the cacophonous sound of rock grating against rock, but they¡¯d all seen the same thing. None of their abilities were suited to destroying stone. Perhaps if they¡¯d had access to someone with fire abilities, they might¡¯ve melted the ice that seemed to hold the whole thing together. But they didn¡¯t, one of the downsides of having a less well-rounded group. The moment that realization hit him was when things got immeasurably worse. It exhaled, peppering them with a cloud of icicles that hit like bullets, digging into their flesh. Dat gasped in pain as one glanced off his skull, while Kurik took a few in the chest. The sturdy dwarf remained on his feet, but Elijah could see blood gushing from the wounds. He used Soothe on the less-protected members of the party, ignoring the cuts he¡¯d sustained on his own face. Sadie had escaped mostly unscathed, though her armor bore a dozen new dents and scratches, hinting that it wouldn¡¯t hold up indefinitely. By comparison, Elijah¡¯s Armor of the Boar King was almost entirely unmarred, save for a couple of shallow grooves along the chest. Seeing that Soothe wasn¡¯t going to cut it, Elijah cast Nature¡¯s Bloom on Dat and Kurik, bringing them closer to full healthiness. Yet, the problem persisted. The worm hadn¡¯t gone anywhere, and judging by the increased fury of its efforts at sawing through the hill, it wasn¡¯t going to give up. So, Elijah cycled through his abilities, one by one. First, he used Swarm, but to no effect. The little tick-like insects he conjured were incapable of piercing through the monster¡¯s rocky flesh. Similarly, Calamity was ineffective, save for a spreading a few tiny cracks, similar to the results of Sadie¡¯s attacks. But then he used Nature¡¯s Rebuke.
Nature¡¯s Rebuke Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Curse an entity to endure the power of nature, doing damage over time. Triple damage against unnatural creatures. Lasts two minutes.
The monster shuddered as the spell hit it, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, it let out a screeching scream that spoke of pure agony. As the spell ripped through the apparently-unnatural creature, the ice holding it together melted. The rocks that formed the bulk of its body loosened, and bits stared to fall off. Obviously troubled by that ¨C at least inasmuch as something like that could be troubled ¨C the monster tried to retreat, pulling away from the cave and sliding beneath the ground. A few moments later, Elijah felt the telltale influx of experience that told him that they¡¯d managed to kill it. Elijah let out a deep breath. ¡°What happened? Why did it leave? How did it die?¡± demanded Sadie. ¡°That was me,¡± he answered. ¡°You killed that thing? Nothing we were doing even scratched it,¡± she countered. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Specialized spell.¡± Her eyes narrowed, clearly indicating that she wanted a more elaborate explanation. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to give her one. She¡¯d gotten better of late, but Elijah hadn¡¯t forgotten the way she had treated him in the beginning. Revealing all of his secrets to someone whose abilities screamed at her to hate him seemed like a stupid idea. ¡°What was that thing?¡± asked Dat. ¡°It seemed ¨C¡± At that moment, the cost of their victory became apparent when the ground collapsed beneath them. One second, it was there, and the next, it all went tumbling down. If Elijah had had even a moment¡¯s warning, he would have shifted into Shape of the Sky, but as it was, he found himself falling before he could process what was happening. As it turned out, it was probably for the best that he didn¡¯t try to use his flight form, because even as he fell, the entire hill fell with him. For a second, Elijah fell through open air, but after only a few moments, he hit a sloped surface. As he skidded down the steep decline, huge rocks and clumps of dirt hit all around him. It was only by the grace of sheer luck that he wasn¡¯t immediately crushed. The same couldn¡¯t be said for his companions. Sadie took a boulder head-on, and for the briefest of instants, Elijah thought she¡¯d died. But relief flooded through one facet of his mind as he realized ¨C via One with Nature ¨C that she¡¯d managed to activate a skill to protect her. Dat was clipped by a few rocks, but he seemed okay. Strangely, the one who was least impacted by the landslide was Kurik, who seemed to dance between the rocks as if he was a balletic geomancer. The awareness of his allies flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he fell down the slope. He could have stopped himself, but that would have let the wave of earth and rock catch up to him. So, he rode the momentum until he reached a yawning crevice, which he slipped through. That crack in the earth narrowed significantly, funneling him into a vertical shaft that eventually led to an expansive cave. Elijah fell through open air for a handful of seconds before, at last, he hit solid ground. He rolled, trying to avoid the landslide, but the funnel had prevented all but the smallest rocks. So, while getting hit by those shards of rock hurt, it wasn¡¯t life-threatening. Picking himself up from the ground, Elijah looked around for his companions. He¡¯d felt them with One with Nature, but he wanted to see with his own two eyes that they were okay. Sadie was the first one he saw, but she was clearly the least injured. Her class seemed to focus on Strength and Constitution, so if anyone was going to survive, it was her. By comparison, Dat was the worst off, having sustained a broken leg, a couple of shattered ribs, and a lung that had been punctured three times. Kurik had a couple of scrapes and some serious contusions, but he¡¯d survived intact as well. ¡°We¡¯re lucky,¡± Elijah said when the dust settled. He¡¯d gathered everyone into a tight clump so they could benefit from Healing Rain while he saw to Dat¡¯s more severe injuries. ¡°Do we know what happened?¡± ¡°Cave-in,¡± Kurik said. ¡°My planet has these big, burrowing insects. And every now and then, their tunnels get out of hand. Nobody knows they¡¯re even there until the ground falls out from under ¡®em. Looks like that¡¯s what happened here. That big worm¡¯s been digging ¡®round here for years. But when it came up to try to eat us, it probably upset the balance. Then, it tried to go down too quick and everything fell apart.¡± That explanation made as much sense as anything else, though when Elijah looked around, he couldn¡¯t help but frown. The cave they¡¯d fallen into just didn¡¯t look right to him. too many straight lines. ¡°This isn¡¯t natural,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Something built this cave.¡± ¡°It may be the monsters the report spoke of,¡± Sadie pointed out. That was a distinct possibility. The scout had mentioned some giant, hairy bipeds, but from what Elijah had gathered, they were not sophisticated enough to have built any infrastructure. At best, they were like the orcs, who used tools and had a basic idea of a society, but were not advanced in any way. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but I don¡¯t have any other explanations.¡± While Elijah focused on healing, Sadie stood guard. Meanwhile, Kurik set out to scout the area. When he returned a few hours later, he looked troubled. ¡°It ain¡¯t good. It ain¡¯t good at all.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on? What is it?¡± ¡°More of them worms, for one. Yetis, too, all marchin¡¯ ¡®round like they ain¡¯t monsters. Some of ¡®em are even wearin¡¯ armor and such. But that ain¡¯t the worst of it.¡± ¡°What is it? More monsters?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°It gets gods bedamned colder down there.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t natural! It ought not be cold underground! It¡¯s a place of fire and coziness!¡± Elijah grinned as he shook his head, and Dat let out a chuckle. Even Sadie snorted, though she tried to cover it up with a cough. ¡°You surface people don¡¯t know how it¡¯s s¡¯posed to work. That¡¯s all I¡¯ll say about that,¡± he growled, crossing his arms. After that, they continued to recuperate until, at last, Dat was entirely healed. That was when Elijah suggested that he check things out himself, saying that he had some experience with that sort of thing. ¡°In my second tower, I had to sneak around and kill a bunch of ogres. This might be similar.¡± The reality was that he wanted to get a better look at things so he could determine how to combat the situation. ¡°What about us?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Trap up. Use my tent. Just stay safe for a couple of hours while I check things out.¡± ¡°You are not a scout,¡± Sadie stated. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m close enough. Remember ¨C I mostly fight alone. I¡¯ve been doing everything for a while now. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± She obviously wasn¡¯t thrilled about it, but for whatever reason, she chose not to make a big deal out of it. Elijah told himself that it was because she trusted his judgement. Whatever the case, when he got no further pushback, Elijah shifted into his draconid form and took off across the cavern. Once he was out of sight for a few seconds, he used Guise of the Unseen, then headed down the connecting tunnel. 5-34. The Consequences of Hubris For Elijah, being underground was always a unique experience. He¡¯d visited a few caves before the World Tree had connected with Earth, and he¡¯d found that each time had filled him with a formless sense of unease. Mostly, his discomfort came from generalized claustrophobia, but it went a little deeper than that. More than once, Elijah had heard about people ¨C usually divers ¨C getting lost in caves and dying. Spelunking was a dangerous pastime, and one that Elijah had tried but never really latched onto. Certainly, he¡¯d given it a try with his cultivation cave back home, but that was because Roots of the World Tree gave him a way out. If he hadn¡¯t had that teleportation spell at his disposal, he would have been far more cautious, and to the point where he likely wouldn¡¯t have tried it at all. There was more to it than simple fear of enclosed spaces, though. It was the isolation of it all. The echoing sounds. The alien nature of the wildlife that called any cave home. That all coalesced into a general sense of foreboding that, with every step that separated him from the others, sent a new tremor of unease racing down his spine. Yet, he continued on, at least in part to prove to himself that he wasn¡¯t afraid. He also wanted to show the others that he was more than capable of doing things on his own. He was no Healer that needed to be protected. He was the highest-level person on Earth, and he desperately wanted to remind himself that he was more than just his team. That desire hadn¡¯t come out of nowhere, either. He¡¯d felt it building ¨C alongside his frustration ¨C as he played Healer. For a man who was accustomed to doing things on his own, being tied to a group and forced to pretend he was less capable than he was, pushed him into recklessness. So, even though it probably made more tactical sense for him to stay behind and let the dedicated scouts ¨C or rather, the less integral members of the party ¨C do their job, he¡¯d pushed to do it himself. Which was how Elijah had found himself trekking through an enormous cavern with no backup. He¡¯d already gone a couple of miles, but he had no intention of returning until he had something vital to report, some direction to provide. The caves beneath the tundra were even more frigid than the surface, but where it had been tantamount to a desert, the system of tunnels and caverns held a vibrant, if alien ecosystem that any biologist would find intriguing. Even Elijah, whose scientific curiosity was usually overcome by the apathy toward the minutiae associated with the profession, was incredibly interested. With that at the forefront of his mind, he leaned close to a delicate, blue-petaled flower that had a series of ice crystals at its center. It smelled like wintergreen, though with a tingling bite to the odor that was far stronger than the artificial scents with which Elijah was accustomed. There were hundreds of the flowers dotting the cavern he¡¯d only recently entered, and the trees ¨C as well as giant mushrooms ¨C were made primarily of ice. One with Nature told Elijah that they weren¡¯t actually trees, as he knew them. Rather, they were a series of vines that had formed a symbiotic relationship with what he could only call living ice. Like that, they grew together to resemble the trees on the surface. Elijah had no idea how it all worked. There was no chance of photosynthesis, so he knew it was a wholly unique situation that would probably take years to fully understand. But one thing that was immediately apparent was that the forest of ice was absolutely breathtaking, and in a way few sights ever could be. The local beasts were odd, too. Most seemed to have formed similar relationships with the living ice, giving the creatures a crystalline armor that gave off an aura of absolute cold. If he hadn¡¯t been wearing his Cloak of the Iron Bear, Elijah felt certain that he would have been driven to hypothermia, regardless of his high Constitution. So, perhaps it was best that the others hadn¡¯t accompanied him on the scouting expedition. Gradually, he traversed the cavern, stopping more than once to inspect some marvel or another more closely. He didn¡¯t dare take too long, though. After all, he knew that the others were waiting on him. And if he didn¡¯t return in a reasonable amount of time, they would either write him off or come looking for him. Either one would assuredly result in someone getting hurt. Once he¡¯d satisfied his own curiosity, Elijah moved on, and for the next few hours, he saw similar sights as he explored the series of caves. In his draconid shape and with Essence of the Wolf spurring him on, he moved incredibly quickly. Even so, it took quite some time before he finally reached what looked like civilization. And he got his first look at the yeti. The creatures were tall ¨C averaging around nine feet, but ranging all the way up to fifteen ¨C with long limbs and gangly bodies that reminded Elijah of people with extreme cases of Marfan syndrome. They were also covered in shaggy white fur, with faces somewhere between what one would expect of a bear and a monkey. Most carried large clubs and wore poorly made chainmail shirts, coupled with kilts of thick leather. And they didn¡¯t look comfortable with it, either. But that might¡¯ve been their task at play, which included guarding a massive gate barring the mouth of another tunnel. As they stood before those huge, stone doors, which were carved with fanciful designs Elijah didn¡¯t recognize, the yetis fidgeted, scratched, and barked at one another. In short, they acted like easily distractible children who¡¯d been given a job they neither wanted nor cared about. The ones who came through that gate were far more troubling, though. They were the same species, though they held themselves with far more discipline. Their armor was higher quality, too, and it reminded Elijah of the ogre guards back in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel. However, where the ogres¡¯ equipment was made of lusterless black metal that looked like cast iron, the yetis wore silvery gear that shone with white light. They carried no weapons, though. Elijah followed the silver-armored yetis through the cavern abutting the gate, but he quickly surmised that they were tasked with patrolling the area, which was far more extensive than he could have guessed. The patrol eventually led Elijah to the most expansive cavern yet, and when he beheld it, he couldn¡¯t help but let out a small gasp of awe. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Fields stretched as far as he could see. He didn¡¯t recognize the crops, but they followed the same theme he¡¯d seen in the subterranean forests. Because of that, the fields glittered blue and white, and what¡¯s more, the ambient ethera in the area was the densest he¡¯d felt since leaving the grove. The crops were natural treasures, each and every one of them. Not high-grade, to be sure. In fact, they were similar to his grove berries. However, Elijah would never mistake the way they made him feel. Yet, they still lacked some ineffable something that he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on. It was like they were natural treasures, and yet, they weren¡¯t at the same time. Regardless, the fields were an absolute gold mine, and one that, by its artificial nature, Elijah had no issues in stripping bare. He would leave naturally occurring treasures alone, save to cultivate in their presence. But these? They had clearly been planted, and so, he had no qualms with using them for his own purposes. Complicating that resolution was the presence of dozens of armed and armored yetis, not including the patrol. So, he couldn¡¯t do it alone. Nor would it be an easy project, even with the others. Still, it was a grand discovery, and one he was eager to exploit for his own gain. So, it was a little difficult to tear himself away and return to what he was certain was the true goal of the challenge. The gate. Getting through there was the first task, he was sure. After that, who knew what the challenge would entail? For a moment, Elijah considered going back and making a plan of attack. There were only four guards, and they weren¡¯t the most intimidating sort. Sure, they were powerful enough. Elijah could see that much. But they could be manipulated and overcome. So, getting past them didn¡¯t seem all that difficult. Which meant that it was only a few seconds before Elijah decided that if it wasn¡¯t that hard, then he should just do it himself. The more information he brought back to his allies, the better. He crept closer, moving an inch at a time. Even though he trusted his draconid form¡¯s camouflaging trait as well as Guise of the Unseen, he stayed low to the ground. Slithering ever closer, he strained his senses to keep track of the yetis. They didn¡¯t even seem to be paying attention, but that didn¡¯t mean they were entirely unaware. So, he took every caution as he positioned himself to dart through the gate the next time it opened. He only had to wait about thirty more minutes until one of the patrols returned. Elijah had counted four that had left, but he couldn¡¯t distinguish well enough between the yetis to recognize if it was one of the groups he¡¯d seen or if it was one that had already been out and about. Regardless, their return represented a perfect chance to slip inside. So, once they passed him by, Elijah followed. That was his first mistake, though he didn¡¯t know it. His second was forgetting a lesson he¡¯d learned in the Reaver¡¯s Citadel. Just because there were no defenses he could see didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t there. And finally, he made the error of overconfidence. All three mistakes coalesced into a single moment as he crossed the threshold of the gate and Guise of the Unseen was stripped away. More distressingly, the patrol reacted with what had to be a practiced maneuver, spreading out and surrounding him even as the gate clanged shut to Elijah¡¯s rear. He was trapped. Exposed. And staring at a half-dozen armored yetis. Elijah reacted instantly, and in a way he hoped would surprise the patrol. He rushed forward, pushing himself to speeds he rarely reached. He was on the closest yeti in an instant, and after activating Venom Strike, he raked his claws across the creature¡¯s exposed face. The attack landed, and even as his weight bore the yeti to the ground, he dashed past it. Or at least he tried to. The yetis had something to say about that, as evidenced by the enormous icicles that erupted from the ground and pierced Elijah through the stomach. He hissed in agony as it ripped through his organs, but if a little pain ¨C or grievous injury ¨C was enough to stop him, he¡¯d have long since died. He tore himself free, injuring himself further along the way, and sprinted down the spacious hall. Blood flowed freely as more icicles sprouted in his wake. But as surprised as they clearly were, the yetis were unprepared for his speed. He barreled down the hall, then, as he turned a corner, he slid across the floor and crashed into the wall. Quickly righting himself, he used his claws for traction as he continued to flee. The yetis clambered after him, their footsteps heavy and the rattle of their armor echoing through the hall. Elijah paid it no heed as he continued to sprint away. He was losing a lot of blood, though. And he knew he was leaving a trail a child could follow. So, the first task on his to-do list was to find somewhere he shift into his human form and heal. After that, he could slip back into Guise of the Unseen and, hopefully, find a way to escape. Plan in mind, he continued down the hall, barely seeing the plain, brutalist architecture. He turned at random, trusting his faceted mind to keep track of the area. But for the longest time, he found nothing. Just an endless labyrinth of identical halls. However, when he outpaced the yeti patrol, he took a moment to stop, shift back into his caster form, and mend the wounds he¡¯d sustained. Or at least stop the bleeding. Full healing would take a little more time than he could afford. For now, getting rid of the blood trail was the most important aspect. Once that was done, he resumed his flight, sprinting down the halls until, at last, he felt Essence of the Wolf kick in. That told him that Guise of the Unseen was once again available, so he embraced it. But nothing happened. It was only the third time the ability had failed him, and it was a perfect example of just how much he didn¡¯t know about the multi-verse. Clearly, some ability or enchantment was at play, though he had no idea which. Nor did he know how it must have worked. The only thing he knew for sure was that he was absolutely out of his depth. Not for the first time, he came to realize just how dangerous hubris could be. Such thoughts were not productive, though. He would remember them in the future, but for now, he needed to figure out how to survive his current situation. With that goal in mind, he came to the conclusion that he only had two options, neither of which were optimal. First, he could try to find somewhere to hide. Eventually, the patrol would lose interest, and he¡¯d be free to explore a little more freely. That came with the obvious issue that he¡¯d have to do so without Guise of the Unseen to mask his presence. Which led him to the second option ¨C fighting his way free, then returning to the gate with his companions and mounting a full, frontal assault. Because one thing was made clear by the notification he¡¯d received the moment he¡¯d crossed the threshold:
You have reached the The Frozen Fortress. To conquer the Challenge of Pruina, destroy the betrayer. Reward: Trunk of the Frozen Oak
Elijah glanced around, then shifted back into his human form before completing the healing process. After that, he rolled his shoulders and braced himself to meet the yeti patrol. 5-35. Yeti Patrol Elijah loped through the halls without even attempting to conceal his presence. With the restrictions upon Guise of the Unseen, it wouldn¡¯t have done any good, which meant that he had no choice but to meet the challenge head-on. However, that didn¡¯t mean he intended to rampage through the lower levels of the Ice Fortress like some mad beast. No ¨C his goal was simple. He needed to escape through the gate, and once he was outside the fortress, reestablish his stealth before returning to his companions. Because as strong as he thought he was, Elijah¡¯s situation made him well aware of his own limitations. He¡¯d fought ¨C and lost ¨C enough battles to recognize that he couldn¡¯t face off against an army of armored yetis. He could make a good showing, and he¡¯d definitely take his pound of flesh along the way. But he would eventually lose. That was one of his issues. He was self-sustaining enough for most situations, and if he was free to use all of his abilities, he could accomplish miraculous things. However, he couldn¡¯t do everything at once. For instance, he could take quite a lot of damage ¨C and dish it out ¨C in his lamellar ape form, but outside of Guardian¡¯s Renewal, with its oppressive cooldown, he was completely incapable of healing himself. Similar limitations plagued his other forms, like the draconid¡¯s inability to take a hit or the Shape of the Sky¡¯s general lack of combat ability. Ironically, his most well-rounded form was his natural one. As a human, he could cast damaging spells, heal, and help control the battlefield. Yet, it lacked the punch of more focused purpose. All of that was a long way of saying that, with proper preparation, Elijah could meet a wide variety of needs. However, that didn¡¯t make him invincible ¨C a fact of which he had become very much aware. So, as he stomped through the halls in his lamellar ape form, his intentions were not to fight. Rather, his plan came down to the simple strategy of rushing his enemies and relying on surprise, ferocity, and his immense durability so he could burst through their lines and escape. If his plan failed, he would readjust and adapt to whatever situation presented itself. With that in mind, he ran down the wide hall, barely noticing the ice gathered where wall met ceiling. There wasn¡¯t much to say about the architecture. It was square and brutal, with little attention paid to artistic flourish. It was fitting for a facility with the word fortress in its name. Even though Elijah made no further attempts at stealth, he didn¡¯t run headlong into danger. Instead, he kept an eye on One with Nature, hoping that he would get a small warning before he clashed with the enemy. That caution played out well when he sensed the patrol coming from around a corner hundreds of feet away. Elijah stopped, shifted back into his human form, then cast Swarm. One thing he¡¯d discovered over the years was that One with Nature gave him a distinct advantage when it came to casting. He didn¡¯t need to see his enemies in order to aim, instead relying on the sense granted by that ability to guide his spells. Even as Swarm manifested a horde of small, glittering insects that looked like wasps, Elijah cast Calamity. Wind rushed down the hall, howling like a freight train. The yetis braced for impact, but their footing was entirely spoiled by the shaking earth. They clashed and clanged against one another, and Elijah added to that confusion by casting a couple of instances of Storm¡¯s Fury. He didn¡¯t channel it through his staff, which was impossible from his position of concealment, so it lacked the punch it usually did. However, with the creatures all wearing silvery metal ¨C which turned out to be a great conductor ¨C the lightning pushed the yetis¡¯ panic to new levels. That was when Elijah cast Soothe before returning to his lamellar ape form. The moment the transformation completed, he bunched his legs, extended his long arms, then sprang into an easy, four-limbed lope. As soon as he turned the corner, he employed every point of Strength he had at his disposal, charging forward with all the speed he could muster. Distracted by Elijah¡¯s other spells, the yetis never had a chance to prepare for the collision. He crashed into the first, hitting it with a shoulder tackle that slammed it against a wall. It was a great start, and Elijah followed it up with a vicious overhand blow that managed to dent the creature¡¯s silver helmet. But that was when his luck ran out. The second he made contact, the creature sprouted a thousand jagged ridges of ice that were sharp enough to cut through even Elijah¡¯s durable scales. The resultant lacerations were shallow, and they certainly wouldn¡¯t slow Elijah down. But the implications were clear. The yetis were powerful enough to hurt him, even in his lamellar ape form. That fact became even more apparent when something ¨C he belatedly realized it was a club ¨C crashed into his ribs. More, he felt something else digging into him. Something that spread numbing cold wherever it touched. And given that Elijah had made sure to keep Ward of the Elements active, the fact that he could feel that much of an effect told him just how powerful his opponents were. If he had lacked that increased resistance, he had no doubts that it would have been crippling. Even with it, the numbing cold made him feel lethargic and slow, which was far more concerning than a couple of bruised ribs. He lashed out with a backhand that smashed into the ice-covered club that had hit him, sending it wide and knocking its owner off-balance. Elijah used that momentum to whip around and throw himself into the line of yetis that had recovered enough to surround him. They howled as one, closing in for an attack. A second later, ice erupted from the ground, slamming into Elijah¡¯s feet and lower legs. However, his lamellar ape form was far more durable than the draconid shape, so the jagged shards of ice only scratched his scales. He was more concerned with the series of clubs screaming at him from every direction. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Elijah¡¯s mind cleared. He¡¯d once again let his bestial instincts take over, and because of that, he¡¯d almost forgotten his plan, abandoning it in favor of battling it out with the yeti patrol. It was a losing strategy, even with Guardian¡¯s Renewal. Making that absolutely clear was the fact that, despite his first attack harnessing every ounce of power he could muster, he¡¯d done little more than stun the armored yeti. Even after only a second, it had already begun to recover. That, coupled with the fact that there were five other creatures howling for his blood, and Elijah knew he¡¯d worn out his welcome. More, he¡¯d lost the element of surprise, which would make his escape that much more difficult. Pushing his boiling rage to its own facet, Elijah focused on what mattered. And that wasn¡¯t the fury that came from being challenged. Quarantined in that facet, his anger mounted, railing against the audacity of any creature who challenged his dominance. Elijah ignored it. Instead, he let loose a mighty roar, then leaped toward the ceiling, avoiding the clubs coming his way. Thirty feet up, he slammed his claw into the icy stone, carving a tenuous handhold. It wouldn¡¯t last for very long. Instantly, the stone beneath his grip had begun to crumble. Yet, that was enough. Elijah used Shape of the Sky. The hall was only barely wide enough to accommodate his wingspan, but that was all he needed. The idea was simple, and it was based on the lesson in air superiority he¡¯d learned from those nasty birds who lived around the Singing Cliffs. Besides, the Shape of the Sky was his fastest form, and he needed to beat a quick retreat if he intended to survive. With that in mind, he felt his body shift its shape, and just before the transformation completed, he let go of his precarious handhold. He dropped only a couple of inches before he let loose a powerful beat of his wings, keeping him aloft. The yetis were too stunned to react quickly, and so, Elijah had a moment to slam his talons into the wall and launch himself down the hall. It was close. But the hall was just wide and tall enough to let him use flight to his advantage, and he screamed down the corridor, quickly leaving the stunned yeti patrol behind. When he reached a corner, the only way he could turn without losing too much speed was to slam into the wall, talons-first, then use it to redirect. The maneuver was painful, but no more so than landing. Over the next few minutes, he sped through the halls, passing three more patrols along the way. But thanks to his studious mapping of his route, which he¡¯d pushed into one facet of his mind, Elijah had no issues finding the right path. And the last thing any of the patrols expected was an enormous dragon-bird flying through their halls. So, Elijah soon found himself approaching the gate. But that presented its own problem, chiefly that the aforementioned dragon-bird probably wouldn¡¯t be able to open a gate the normal way. And indeed, there were assuredly guards in place to prevent him from simply walking up and leaving the fortress behind. So, in characteristically bombastic fashion, Elijah pushed himself to speeds that, if his body wasn¡¯t perfectly equipped for the stress, would have turned his stomach. Fortunately, the final stretch of hall featured a long straightaway, which allowed Elijah to reach something approaching his top velocity. And as he¡¯d expected, there were guards there. He¡¯d noticed a few on his way in, but it seemed that they¡¯d increased the number to an even dozen. Two squads. Fortunately, they weren¡¯t the heavily armored yetis that comprised the patrols. Instead, they were the chainmail-wearing variants, which suggested that they were both lower level and far less durable. Elijah meant to put that to the test. Mid-air, and moving faster than he wanted to consider, Elijah initiated the transformation into his lamellar ape form. He lost a bit of speed, but that was to be expected. Regardless, inertia existed even on an excised world, and Elijah¡¯s velocity only dipped a little before he hit the gate with all the force a couple thousands pounds of dragon-ape-lizard moving at more than a hundred miles an hour could bring to bear. One of the guards was unlucky enough to find himself in Elijah¡¯s path, and its eyes widened only slightly before it was crushed. Bones shattered, and blood spurted from a hundred spontaneously appearing wounds. But Elijah didn¡¯t have any time to notice that. Instead, the whole of his attention was occupied by the horrendous pain of slamming into the gate. A cacophonous sound erupted from the point of impact as the heavy stone doors were wrenched from their hinges. But it was a testament to their construction that they didn¡¯t shatter. Nor did they explode into a million shards of stone. Instead, they only moved a few feet, and even that was like shoving against a mountain. Elijah, by comparison, was in much worse shape. Perhaps he¡¯d been going much faster than he¡¯d thought. Or maybe his lamellar ape from wasn¡¯t quite as durable as he¡¯d been led to believe. Whatever the case, even with Iron Scales active, he felt his shoulder wrench out of socket and his collar bone shatter. More importantly, he felt a couple of his internal organs rupture under the immense impact. But that should have been the expectation, given that he¡¯d just turned himself into a living wrecking ball. That had also resulted in quite the concussion, and his mind struggled to catch up to the situation. Even as Elijah rolled to a stop outside the gate, the yetis recovered their wits and closed in on him. And there were even more outside. Knowing that there was no chance of outrunning them if he didn¡¯t take advantage of the brief surprise of his exit, Elijah used Guardian¡¯s Renewal. It wasn¡¯t ideal. As his body repaired itself, he knew that much. However, he just didn¡¯t have time to shift into his human form and wait for his healing spells to take effect. Even Nature¡¯s Bloom wouldn¡¯t be instant, and anything less than that would probably get him killed. Hammering that home was another eruption of icy spikes that managed to pierce his scales from below. The slight injuries they left behind were quickly taken care of by the ongoing healing from Guardian¡¯s Renewal, and a moment later, Elijah was as good as new. He used that to fuel a great leap that took him over the yetis¡¯ heads and saw him landing a dozen feet behind the closing ring of guards. He hit the ground running, and given that he only had to go in a straight line, the incredibly strong guardian form could propel him to great speeds. Not as fast as the Shape of the Sky, which moved even more quickly than its attributes would suggest, but still very fast. Elijah left the yetis behind, racing through the tunnels and caverns as he made his way back to where he¡¯d left his companions. Once he was out of sight, he shifted into his draconid form and adopted Guise of the Unseen. It had worked perfectly well outside of the fortress, so he had every reason to once again rely upon it. And his faith in the skill was well-founded, because he remained undetected as he crossed miles of tunnels until, at last, he reached their campsite. So, even though he appeared unharmed, Elijah returned with his tail tucked between his legs. He¡¯d made a fool of himself. He¡¯d been far too confident, and that had nearly gotten him killed. What¡¯s worse, he¡¯d been forced to use the ace up his sleeve, and as a result, Guardian¡¯s Renewal wouldn¡¯t be available again for almost a week. But he was alive. And he¡¯d learned a lesson about humility. Hopefully, it would stick. 5-36. A More Measured Approach ¡°Yeti patrol sounds like a sick band name, bro,¡± Dat said, his eyes gleaming with excitement. ¡°Like death metal or something.¡± ¡°After everything I just said, that¡¯s your takeaway? I just admitted to doing something incredibly stupid,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I could have gotten everyone here killed. And you¡¯re talking about band names?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°Seems like the most important part,¡± he answered. ¡°Besides, we¡¯re friends. When friends make mistakes, we don¡¯t browbeat them into submission. We listen. We acknowledge it. And if that friend doesn¡¯t take steps to mitigate those mistakes in the future, then we start getting a little more insistent.¡± Coming from Dat, it was a surprisingly insightful comment. Though Elijah had begun to suspect that Dat wasn¡¯t quite as simple as he seemed at first glance. From his conversations, he knew that the Witch Hunter had gone to a fairly prestigious university, getting great marks along the way. Perhaps he should have refrained from judging the proverbial book by its cover. ¡°And you?¡± Elijah asked, looking at Sadie. ¡°People make mistakes. Just don¡¯t make the same ones over and over again.¡± ¡°To err is human, bro.¡± ¡°Bein¡¯ damn stupid is human too, apparently,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Don¡¯t do that again.¡± Elijah sighed, then rubbed the back of his neck. He had expected them to be a lot angrier ¨C or at least less forgiving of his blunder. Yet, they¡¯d all chosen to take the high road. It was more surprising than he expected it to be. Maybe it was because they truly did need him, and they didn¡¯t want to compromise their chances of gaining more rewards from the challenges. After all, they probably couldn¡¯t overcome the obstacles in their way without his help. But maybe they truly were developing a friendship. Given the way things had started, Elijah wouldn¡¯t have thought it was possible. Clearly, they were far more understanding than most would have been in their situation. In any case, Elijah had neither the time nor the inclination to examine it further. Instead, he wanted to concentrate on the task at hand. Getting into the fortress would doubtless prove incredibly difficult, and that was nothing compared to what he expected to encounter once they were inside. ¡°There are hundreds of yetis in there,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And they¡¯re powerful, too. The lower-level ones are dangerous, but the ones we¡¯re really going to have to worry about are the ones wearing plate armor. They¡¯re strong enough to do some real damage, and they can take my best shot and keep on going. On top of that, they have this ability that spreads cold on every attack. I could handle it, but I think Ward of the Seasons and my equipment helped mitigate the effect.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have fancy equipment like that,¡± said Kurik. ¡°I¡¯m more durable than you are,¡± Sadie said. ¡°So, I can take whatever they have to dish out. For the others, we¡¯ll just have to play our roles and avoid getting hit.¡± With that, she fixed her gaze on Dat, of all people. ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that, bro. I don¡¯t pull aggro.¡± ¡°I hate it when you use those gaming terms,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Even if they are appropriate. And yes, you do. Did you forget about that time with the rot abomination?¡± ¡°Uh¡­that was a one-time thing.¡± ¡°And the spindle golem?¡± ¡°A two-time thing?¡± She sighed. ¡°My point is that you need to watch it. That¡¯s it. Be careful. You know my abilities only go so far, and Elijah¡¯s healing isn¡¯t instant. One wrong move, and¡­I just¡­just be careful, okay? Don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Dat said. ¡°I think we might have another option,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d been thinking about their predicament quite a lot, and he thought he¡¯d stumbled upon an approach that would prove a lot safer than a frontal assault. ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°It¡¯s pretty simple, really,¡± Elijah began. Then, he went on to explain everything he¡¯d found along the way. Most importantly, he focused on the fields of natural treasures he¡¯d stumbled upon. ¡°I think they¡¯re pretty valuable ¨C enough so that if we start messing with them, the yetis will be forced to respond.¡± That supposition was based on two things. First was the feeling Elijah got from the treasures, which were strong enough to suggest immense cumulative value. Anyone who had gone to all the trouble of cultivating such crops would surely go to great lengths to protect them. That brought Elijah to the second reason, which was based on a more observable fact. The yetis routinely sent their most powerful warriors to patrol the area surrounding the fields, a fact which supported the idea that they wanted to keep those crops safe. So, putting them in danger would surely elicit a strong response. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°That seems logical,¡± Sadie said. ¡°But what do you want to do?¡± ¡°Traps,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Lots and lots of traps. I think we should kill all the yetis in the area, then put traps at all the entrances. And in the fields. Everywhere we can, actually. When those armored yetis come to investigate, they¡¯ll get a big surprise.¡± ¡°This ain¡¯t what bein¡¯ a trapper is s¡¯posed to be about,¡± Kurik grumbled. ¡°What? This is exactly what it¡¯s about,¡± Elijah said. Dat agreed, adding, ¡°It might be the only way, bro.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t like it. Not one bit,¡± Kurik said, rolling a pebble between his fingers. ¡°You all don¡¯t know it, but my class has a bit of a history to it.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t even know the name of your class,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°I¡¯ve just been thinking of you as a trapper.¡± Kurik let out a harsh laugh. ¡°Would that was true,¡± he said with a shake of his head. ¡°But no. I ain¡¯t no true trapper. My class is called Sapper, and it ain¡¯t meant for huntin¡¯ and wilderness survival. It¡¯s meant for war, and not the noble sort. When a Sapper comes ¡®round, that¡¯s when things start gettin¡¯ messy. Which is why I don¡¯t go ¡®round crowin¡¯ about it. We ain¡¯t got the best reputations.¡± ¡°Then why¡¯d you take it?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Best option I had. Sappers ain¡¯t well-liked, but they are respected. If my clan hadn¡¯t been banished, I would¡¯ve had a good life. Lots of opportunities. Lots of death. I was okay with that when I picked the class, but after comin¡¯ here, I thought I¡¯d get the chance to do somethin¡¯ else. Maybe move my class away from the war part and into somethin¡¯¡­I don¡¯t know. Guess that pit¡¯s been dug, though.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference between what your class does and a trapper?¡± ¡°Trappers ain¡¯t tryin¡¯ to kill so much as catch. Some of ¡®em are even gentle ¡®bout it. They want the pelts intact, right? So they trap. Then, they kill without leavin¡¯ a mark. Don¡¯t work so well on smart creatures like dwarves and such. But a Sapper? We ain¡¯t s¡¯posed to care ¡®bout none of that. We kill in as efficient a way as possible, no matter how gruesome. We¡¯re there to slaughter whole armies,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°And if there ain¡¯t another Sapper ¨C or worse, a gods bedamned War Engineer ¨C to counter us, we¡¯ll do just that. The only problem is that we need protection. We ain¡¯t built for fightin¡¯ as such.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen you fight, bro.¡± ¡°That¡¯s ¡®cause I¡¯m special,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°I don¡¯t get to just sit back and let an army protect me, do I? No I don¡¯t. I got to get in there and play Ranger, too.¡± He scratched his beard. ¡°The point is that I ain¡¯t too happy ¡®bout this plan. But I don¡¯t see no other way, either. We¡¯re here, and we ain¡¯t gettin¡¯ back topside without goin¡¯ through that fortress. So, if killin¡¯ is what we need, then that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. Just don¡¯t come cryin¡¯ at me when you see what that means.¡± Elijah nodded, and though Dat clearly wanted to know more, he remained silent as well. Sadie just narrowed her eyes, though she didn¡¯t voice her disapproval. Despite Kurik¡¯s mixed feelings about his class ¨C or the sort of carnage it could create ¨C Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think that the Sapper sounded like precisely what they needed. What¡¯s more, Kurik had gained more levels than anyone else since the Trial began, so he had a couple of new abilities he could bring to bear. Regardless, as Kurik had pointed out, moral quandaries aside, they didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. They couldn¡¯t fight an army head-on, especially when said force was composed of such powerful members. They needed to use every tool at their disposal, and it just so happened that Kurik¡¯s skillset was exactly what they required. But even then, it was no easy task ahead of them. Simple, sure. But easy? Definitely not. Still, it was nice to have some notion of how they were going to overcome the challenges ahead of them. So, they resolved to rest for another day ¨C letting the commotion Elijah had already caused fade from the yetis¡¯ minds ¨C while they prepared for the task at hand. Kurik, in particular, spent a lot of time sketching traps in a small notebook he kept with him. All the while, he kept muttering about a lack of proper tools. Even so, when the next day dawned ¨C at least as far as they could tell without a means of telling time ¨C they were all as prepared as they were going to get. For his part, Elijah spent most of the time cultivating ¨C because, after feeling the dense ethera surrounding those natural treasures, he felt positive that he could use them to create something akin to his cultivation cave back home. Perhaps it would even be better, though he doubted that much. In any case, he was eager to get started, and he hoped that by the time he finished making a proper space, he would have some insight into how to push himself to the next tier of Mind cultivation. Soon enough, they found themselves trekking through the various tunnels and caverns. When the others saw the forests of ice trees and other vegetation, they were suitably impressed. However, tempering that excitement was the biting cold for which none of them had any real defense, aside from Ward of the Seasons, which only served to somewhat mitigate it. It slowed their reflexes and made them lethargic, but a steady dose of Soothe helped to keep the worst of it at bay. Regardless, everyone in the party was eager to finish the challenge and move on to the next. Except Elijah, of course. He could have spent weeks in those caves trying to figure out how the various pieces of the ecosystem fit together. The ice that suffused everything was a curious material. It wasn¡¯t alive, and yet, it had some characteristics that said it was. It didn¡¯t make sense, but Elijah didn¡¯t have time to study it. And even if he had, he was self-aware enough to recognize that he didn¡¯t have the patience for true experimentation or observation. He¡¯d inevitably lose interest after a short while, so it was probably best that there were more pressing concerns. Eventually, they reached the fields and, predictably, had their first clash with the armored yeti patrols. It went much better than Elijah¡¯s first encounter, but that wasn¡¯t to say that it was entirely smooth, either. If anything, the creatures were even stronger than he¡¯d first suspected, and the patrol pushed Elijah and his group to the brink of what they could handle. But they emerged victorious, and once the threat had been seen to, they got to work implementing the plan. Kurik was the key component, but everyone pitched in, digging pits and gathering materials meant to construct the traps. Along the way, they were forced to fight two more patrols. ¡°It¡¯s getting shorter,¡± Elijah said, wiping his arm across his forehead. ¡°The intervals between patrols, I mean. I think they know something¡¯s wrong.¡± ¡°Then work faster,¡± Kurik growled. Sadie added, ¡°He¡¯s right. We need to get this done far more quickly.¡± ¡°I think they¡¯re telling you to shut up and work, bro.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Yeah. I caught that.¡± Then, he went back to digging a trench, a process that was complicated by the fact that the ground was mostly composed of stone. Fortunately, his Strength was up to the task, even if the pickaxe Kurik had given him was wearing out at a rapid pace. In any case, they¡¯d accomplished so much already, and they only had a little more to go before they created yet another Killin¡¯ Field. Hopefully, they¡¯d get everything done before the yetis truly descended upon them. 5-37. A Sappers Burden ¡°I wish it didn¡¯t have to be this way,¡± said Kurik, his eyes downcast. Elijah understood the dwarf¡¯s emotions, largely because he had a complicated relationship with killing as well. He¡¯d wrestled with the realities of his own actions often enough to know that he couldn¡¯t really say much that Kurik probably hadn¡¯t told himself a hundred times over. Still, he owed it to the dwarf to try. After all, they were companions, weren¡¯t they? On the verge of becoming friends. That came with certain responsibilities. ¡°It¡¯s necessary,¡± he said, gazing out over the fields. It was easy to see those crops as commodities ¨C which they were ¨C but Elijah saw them as more than that. They¡¯d been grown with the purpose of being consumed, but that didn¡¯t make them any less deserving of life than any other natural creature. It reminded him a bit of how livestock was treated before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, save that he knew those plants were incapable of feeling pain. If they had been, he might have found himself unable to go through with his plan of harvesting every last crop. ¡°We came here,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Not the other way ¡®round. We¡¯re the aggressors. They was just sittin¡¯ here mindin¡¯ their own business until we came along.¡± ¡°I¡­I know.¡± Elijah wanted to believe they were in the right, and in that desire, his mind kept playing tricks on him. There was a sliver of thought telling him that the yetis had made the first move, but that just wasn¡¯t true, was it? He¡¯d come barreling into their fortress, and they¡¯d reacted. Would things have turned out differently if he¡¯d approached in peace? Probably not. They didn¡¯t seem like the welcoming types, and what¡¯s more, the challenge assigned to them was very clear about the terms of completion.
You have reached the The Frozen Fortress. To conquer the Challenge of Pruina, destroy the betrayer. Reward: Trunk of the Frozen Oak
As he hadn¡¯t gotten the notification until entering the fortress, Elijah was the only one to have seen that they were tasked with destroying the betrayer. That didn¡¯t seem like a peaceful mission to him. ¡°I ain¡¯t losin¡¯ my nerve,¡± Kurik said. ¡°But just ¡®cause I know it¡¯s necessary don¡¯t mean I have to be happy ¡®bout it.¡± Elijah nodded, though he didn¡¯t say anything. Instead, he remembered that when they¡¯d first met, Kurik was fairly low-leveled. That wasn¡¯t uncommon in Ironshore, which was home to a bunch of desperate castoffs who had, for various reasons, been denied opportunities elsewhere. But with Kurik¡¯s skills, he should have had a comparatively easy time leveling. It would have been difficult getting started, but with the skills he had displayed since coming to the Trial, he could have engaged in mass slaughter. That he hadn¡¯t said a lot about who he was. ¡°Do you regret taking that class?¡± Elijah asked. Kurik shrugged his broad shoulders. ¡°Dunno. Sometimes,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°A lot of times, if I¡¯m honest with myself. Killin¡¯ shouldn¡¯t be so easy.¡± ¡°I know.¡± The dwarf let out a rumbling sigh. ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna dwell on it, though. I got a strong class. Ain¡¯t everybody can say as much. And I can do some good, too. Me ¡®n some of the crafters back in Ironshore are workin¡¯ together to make sure nothin¡¯ like the battle with the orcs ever happens again. I can save folks. That¡¯s better¡¯n most can say.¡± ¡°And I don¡¯t think we¡¯d have a chance here without you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That ain¡¯t true. You three are different. You¡¯d have found a way,¡± Kurik responded with a shake of his head. ¡°And ¡®sides, who else gets to see stuff like this, eh? How much do ya think it¡¯s all worth?¡± Elijah glanced around. ¡°I have no idea. My concept of prices is shaky at best,¡± he admitted. ¡°But a lot. I¡¯m not thinking about it like that, though. I want to create a cultivation cave here. Maybe I can take a few home, too. Nerthus can probably do some amazing things with these plants.¡± ¡°That¡¯s probably true.¡± After that, the two went silent. Presumably, Kurik was still wrestling with what was about to happen, while Elijah was focused on his plans for future cultivation. He still hadn¡¯t figured out how to push his Mind to Jade, but he felt like he was getting closer. It was just a matter of trying different methods ¨C like splitting his Mind into even more facets, which had predictably resulted in a blinding headache ¨C before he came upon one with promise. Idly, he found himself wondering if the people in other parts of the multi-verse had similar issues. Or was their cultivation guided every step of the way? A little information went a long way, and even a hint or two would have made all the difference for Elijah. However, because of the dearth of Librarians back on Earth ¨C as well as their low level ¨C information was at a premium. Maybe it was a good thing, though. Finding his own way gave him a level of insight he never would have gotten if someone had just mapped it out for him. He felt that he knew his Mind better now than he had even a few weeks before, which he hoped would prove invaluable going forward. ¡°Know thyself,¡± he muttered under his breath. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After a few more minutes, Dat jogged to their position at the center of the fields. They¡¯d killed the handful of yeti farmers that had been tasked with tending to the crops ¨C only after the creatures had proved too dangerous to simply restrain ¨C and Dat had been sent to scout the locations of the inevitable yeti patrols. ¡°They¡¯re coming,¡± he said, slowing to a stop. Despite being such a big guy, Dat was incredibly light on his feet, and he¡¯d become even more so after taking the Seed of the Whistling Wind. The increase in Dexterity had definitely gone to good use. ¡°A lot of them, too. I stopped counting after the tenth group.¡± That meant there were more than sixty powerful yetis, each one armored in extremely durable plate, coming their way. If Kurik¡¯s traps didn¡¯t thin their numbers ¨C or at least injure them ¨C then they would be in big trouble. Sadie, who¡¯d been meditating nearby, suddenly rose and said, ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I agree with Elijah. This is necessary. There is no evil in what we plan to do.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need nobody to tell me what¡¯s evil and what ain¡¯t,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I¡¯ve squared it with myself. Just a bit of complainin¡¯ is all. Pay it no mind.¡± That wasn¡¯t necessarily true. It wasn¡¯t as simple as Kurik claimed, and Elijah knew that the dwarf was in the middle of an existential criss. But Elijah had no intentions of arguing about someone else¡¯s feelings. If Kurik wanted to minimize it, then that was his prerogative. Regardless, the others accepted the Sapper¡¯s explanation at face value, and the group moved to the prepared position. They didn¡¯t have the numbers to guard every entrance to the cavern, so after building enough traps to kill an army, they¡¯d prepared a location where they would make their last stand. If everything went well, then only a few yetis would ever make it there, but that didn¡¯t mean they¡¯d skimped on the preparations. As they¡¯d done atop the Singing Cliffs, they¡¯d built a series of earthen bulwarks. This time, though, they¡¯d also created a raised position within that ring of piled dirt, all with the hopes of maintaining the high ground. And given the size of the yetis, they¡¯d had to build their defenses to match. The result was a thirty-foot-high pyramid standing in the middle of the fields. It was rough, and it certainly wouldn¡¯t rival the pyramids of Giza, but they all hoped that the crude structure would provide the defense they needed to come out on top. Of course, Kurik had prepared traps all around, further fortifying the position. After that, it was down to waiting. In a perfect world, they would have had people positioned at each of the six entrances. From there, they could rain destruction upon their enemies even as the yetis had to deal with the traps, which were, once again, mostly comprised of a series of pit traps and ditches, each one lined with stakes bearing the power of Kurik¡¯s skills. That would hopefully make them deadly, but even if none of the yetis died, the traps would at least weaken them. Regardless, instead of an army ¨C or even a full group ¨C they only had four people. So, the plan had been made according to that weakness. Even as the enemy approached, that left Elijah and his companions with only one thing to do ¨C wait. If he¡¯d been alone, Elijah would have spent the time engaging in hit-and-run tactics. He still thought that would have been better than just sitting and waiting. However, his previous clash with his own hubris told him that he was better off depending on his group. They¡¯d gone to all the trouble of building their defenses, after all, and it would have been silly not to use them. Still, the waiting definitely rubbed Elijah the wrong way. ¡°You get used to it,¡± Sadie said, standing tall, her armor gleaming. She didn¡¯t look back at Elijah as she spoke. Instead, she kept her gaze in the direction of the enemy¡¯s approach as she said, ¡°The waiting, I mean. That¡¯s what war is. Hours and hours of waiting just for a few minutes of horror.¡± ¡°It was like this when the orcs came,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Worse. And better,¡± Kurik added. ¡°We all thought we were done for. Weren¡¯t none of us prepared for that.¡± With his crossbow out, Dat added, ¡°My first battle was bad. I was on a first date. Drinks and everything, you know? It wasn¡¯t going well, and ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you used to date nothing but Instagram models,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m sure some of them are perfectly good people, but there¡¯s a reason they¡¯re not doctors and lawyers.¡± Dat rolled his eyes. ¡°I told you, bro. That¡¯s classist or something. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s wrong to judge people like that. But anyway ¨C she was a good person, just boring. We holed up in this restaurant because we didn¡¯t know what else to do. A few days later, the undead came out. I thought it was a zombie apocalypse, you know? We put up a good fight. Barricaded the doors and windows. But they got through, and¡­¡± Before Dat could continue his story, the sound of an explosion echoed through the cavern. It was loud enough that, for a moment, the only sound Elijah could hear was a ringing in his ears. Then, a moment later, his hearing returned courtesy of a quick cast of Healing Rain. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± he demanded. ¡°New trap,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Called a Combustion Mine. Figured it¡¯d be good against monsters with ice attunements. Killed three of ¡®em by the way.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t see you lay those traps.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t see everything.¡± Elijah was about to respond when another explosion echoed through the cave. This one had come from a completely different entrance. ¡°Two more.¡± ¡°Did you put those at all the entrances?¡± asked Sadie, her voice much louder than it needed to be. ¡°I did,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Figured they¡¯d try ¡®em all once they felt the first one. But there¡¯s a few more right after the trenches. I want ¡®em to think they got through it, only to step on another Combustion Mine when they think they¡¯re safe.¡± After that, a couple of long minutes passed before another series of explosions echoed through the cavern. Before Elijah and the others caught sight of the first group of armored yetis, fifteen more had died, giving them all some hints at the kind of power Kurik could bring to the table. He was only a passable scout, but when he was allowed to use his class the way it was meant to be used, he could be an absolute game changer. But as dozens of yetis amassed before the pyramid, it became clear that Kurik¡¯s time to shine had passed. The enemy had been weakened. Even the ones that hadn¡¯t been killed bore plenty of injuries, and that was just what Elijah could see. Some of the effects of Kurik¡¯s traps weren¡¯t quite as overt as giant explosions, though. Instead, he also dealt with poisons that sapped an enemy¡¯s strengths and restricted the flow of ethera within their bodies. Still, even knowing that the yetis were weakened, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a tinge of nervousness when the creatures surged forward into a charge. The moment they came into range, Dat and Kurik let loose with their ranged attacks. The latter¡¯s arrows clanged off the yetis¡¯ durable armor, but Dat¡¯s crossbow bolts pierced through. Meanwhile, Elijah cast Swarm, then Calamity, then leveraged his Quartz Mind to regenerate the spent ethera. The spells were effective, with the confusion of Calamity slowing the creatures down and the delicate mosquito-like insects conjured by Swarm delivering their afflictions. At the same time, Dat and Kurik continued to fire as quickly as they could, while Sadie planted herself at the forefront, waiting for the monsters to mount the sloped sides of the pyramid. Of course, Kurik¡¯s traps continued to be an issue for the charging yetis. Instead of ditches lined with spikes, he¡¯d opted for a series of small, foot-sized holes in the ground. When the yetis stepped in them, they were not only slowed by twisted joints, but they also were subjected to yet more spikes that would deliver whatever poisons Kurik¡¯s skills could conjure. In short, everything went according to plan. But there were so many yetis that, eventually, they made it to the top of the slope. That was when Sadie met them with her gleaming blade. And just like that, the battle had begun. 5-38. King of the Hill Sadie ducked beneath a horizontal club strike, then kicked out, crumpling the yeti¡¯s leg at the knee. It howled in pain, collapsing sideways and directly into the path of her oncoming blade. The silvery metal of its armor ¨C now dented and scratched ¨C screeched as the Sword of the Morning bit into it, cutting through flesh and erupting in a spurt of pale blood. But the monster did not die. Despite Sadie¡¯s exceptional Strength ¨C it was the secondary focus of her class, after all ¨C she found cutting into the yetis similar to hacking at a block of wood. It was possible to cut through, but only with great effort and proper technique. After drilling with the sword every day for the past five years ¨C and learning jianshu as a child ¨C she had the second part covered. And spending effort had never been a question for her. She turned her latest attack into a shoulder tackle that sent the off-balance monster tumbling down the slope of their pyramid of gathered dirt. It hit one of its fellows, creating a domino effect that took another two temporarily out of the fight. But Sadie couldn¡¯t afford to watch them fall. Instead, the whole of her attention was occupied by the horde of yetis howling for her ¨C and her charges¡¯ ¨C blood. It wasn¡¯t like the fight against the wraiths. There was no convenient funnel to minimize the yetis¡¯ advantage in numbers. Having the high ground helped, but with the monsters¡¯ superior intelligence ¨C to the wraiths, at least ¨C the groups¡¯ previous tactics simply would not work. If they created a funnel, the yetis would simply go around or over. The wraiths, bestial as they were, hadn¡¯t been capable of even that level of adjustment. So, different enemies required different tactics, but no matter how they¡¯d adapted their plans, Sadie knew that the yetis were a different level of threat altogether. Making that clear was that her companions ¨C specifically Dat ¨C had been forced to step up to the front lines and protect the others. He was a capable melee fighter, having spent some time training in vovinam before being sent to boarding school as a child, but he only had a couple of appropriate skills to back him up. Seeing that her friend was on the verge of being overwhelmed, Sadie used Consecrated Shield.
Consecrated Shield Create a barrier of faith to shield an ally from damage. When it is broken, the ally¡¯s Constitution attribute will be increased by forty (40) points. Duration based on caster¡¯s Ethera attribute. Current duration of shield: 48.3 seconds. Current duration of enhancement: 68.1 seconds.
It was the first spell she¡¯d attained after gaining her Ardent Crusader class, and it had saved the lives of friends, family, and allies on multiple occasions. However, given their ballooning attributes, the forty-point increase in Constitution was beginning to become outdated. Perhaps if she could once again upgrade her Core ¨C or evolve the spell ¨C it would solve the issue. But for now, that wasn¡¯t a possibility, so, as she had since the very beginning of the apocalypse, she used the tools she had at her disposal. The shield she¡¯d conjured around Dat manifested in a flash of golden light, blocking a club-strike a moment later. Ripples of ethera spread from the point of impact, but Consecrated Shield held, absorbing the momentum of the blow. Stunned by the ineffectiveness of its attack, the yeti was completely caught off-guard when Dat returned the blow with a lightning-fast series of strikes at the ends of his twin shortswords. Sadie knew a skill was at play, but she didn¡¯t know the name. In any case, the results were immediate. Where Sadie¡¯s attacks were met with plenty of resistance, Dat¡¯s swift sword strikes sliced through the yeti¡¯s armor with ease, eviscerating the creature¡¯s armor as well as its flesh, spilling its intestines along the way. The Witch Hunter ducked beneath a blow from another yeti attacker, but he couldn¡¯t avoid the next one. It was a solid hit, and the club shattered Consecrated Shield, proving just how strong the creatures were. However, by that point, Sadie had reached Dat¡¯s position, and she parried the next blow intended for her friend. Still another came only a moment later, and this time, Sadie could only interpose herself between the Dat and the Yeti. The club hit her in the shoulder, flaring Bulwark of the Faithful.
Bulwark of the Faithful Create a barrier of faith to shield yourself from damage. When it is broken, it empowers the Crusader, increasing physical attributes by a significant amount. Damage absorbed dependent on Ethera attribute.
Her personal shield held, but she knew it wouldn¡¯t be long before it shattered as well. She almost welcomed it, looking forward to the increase in attributes that would hopefully put her on equal footing with the yetis. For now, though, her only recourse was to protect her companions at all costs. Her most recent attacker took an arrow to the eye, courtesy of the dwarven Sapper, before being hit by a bolt of lightning. A second later, she felt raindrops ¨C a curious sensation, considering they were underground ¨C that sent jolts of rejuvenation through her body. Clearly, the Druid had not remained idle. Not wanting to be seen to slack, Sadie dipped into her own Core and activated her second most powerful ability.
Blade of the Avenger Summon an ethereal blade beneath an enemy, piercing them through and searing them with the power of Faith. Potency dependent on relative Ethera attribute and Core cultivation level.
This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. It was a new ability ¨C earned after the fight with the wraiths ¨C and she¡¯d only tested it on a few occasions, and not against any powerful foes. Instead, she¡¯d used it on a few stray beasts that were clearly too low of a level to threaten her. So, she was eager to learn how effective it would be against real enemies. Her eagerness was not misplaced. She¡¯d aimed the ability at one of the nearest yetis, so she had a great view of the enormous blade ¨C it was at lest three feet across and, when it completely emerged from the ground, three times as long ¨C as it tore completely through one of the yetis. The monster never even had a chance to dodge before it was bisected. Its two sides slid apart a second later, flopping to the ground with a wet and disgusting sound. For a moment, Sadie was stunned, and if she hadn¡¯t had Bulwark of the Faithful active, she might¡¯ve been clubbed to death. But it only took a flash of light from her most important skill to banish her shock. She returned the attack with another cast of Blade of the Avenger, and to similar results. She almost laughed at how easily she¡¯d killed the powerful monsters. But when she used it again, she realized that no skill came without a cost. The first two had dragged the exact same amount of ethera from her Core, and though it was not a negligible sum, it was one she could endure. However, the third time through tripled the combined amount of both of the previous casts. The meaning was clear. The spell didn¡¯t have a cooldown, per se. But using it over and over again without ceasing would continue to escalate the cost, draining her Core quickly and completely. Sadie had heard of such soft cooldowns, and she knew that it would eventually reset. But how long would it take? Without experimentation, she had no idea. So, she resolved to only use the ability in emergencies, at least until she had a better handle on how it all worked. Yet, the three she¡¯d killed ¨C one with each cast of Blade of the Avenger ¨C had shifted the momentum of the battle, allowing Dat and Kurik to use the brief period of shock to slay two other yetis. That was enough for Sadie to regain her footing and turn the tide of battle. Even so, there were still dozens of the monsters left, and each one was capable of laying waste to her entire party. The yetis fought savagely, and without much in the way of technique. But where their expertise fell short, their armor picked up the slack. It protected them from attacks that would have otherwise killed them, shoring up their weaknesses without affecting their strengths. For her part, Sadie continued to fight, using most of her toolkit to shield her allies and put down her enemies. However, her own deficiencies soon became apparent. Despite the name of her most recently acquired ability, she wasn¡¯t meant to be some avenging angel. Instead, she was an ideal defender, and though she could leverage her high Strength to do some degree of damage, that definitely didn¡¯t allow her to veer out of her lane. If only Lisa had survived, then she would have the purest sort of damage dealer on her side. But her sister¡¯s own deficiencies had been just as prominent as Sadie¡¯s own, and they¡¯d gotten her killed before anyone ¨C even Nico ¨C could save her. Not even Miracles could have helped. Because that was the reality with most classes. Power came at a price. For her, it meant that her highly defensive abilities and powerful Constitution were balanced by the general lack of high damage spells. For Lisa, it had been the opposite. She could output an enormous amount of damage, but aside from the basic Ethereal Shield spell awarded to most mages, she lacked even the most basic defenses. But for better or worse, everyone had to work with the tools they¡¯d been given. Perhaps one day she could repair some of the glaring weaknesses in her skillset, but for now, she had few choices but to lean into her strengths and hope that everyone else did their jobs. Fortunately, her companions had learned that same lesson. Even Elijah played his role, repairing any wounds the group incurred. He¡¯d done the same during the battle atop the Singing Cliffs, but Sadie had wrongly assumed that it had been a one-time thing. Because if there was one thing she knew, it was that the Druid was no team player. With his situation, which included being stranded alone on a deserted island, he¡¯d likely never had to be. Or maybe that was his personality. Regardless, he¡¯d clearly resolved to stay in his defined lane, keeping everyone as close to peak health as he could manage. It was far from perfect, owing to the general weakness of his healing abilities ¨C after all, Nico could do with one spell what it took Elijah three to accomplish ¨C but he got the job done. That, in turn, allowed Sadie to forego using her own healing abilities, which were incredibly inefficient. And of course, she didn¡¯t have to tap into the well of power that was her Miracle. She would use it if necessary, but the insanely long cooldown meant that she wouldn¡¯t get another chance anytime soon. So, she had resolved to hold it in reserve as a last resort. The battle wore on, growing more hectic by the passing minute. Yet, there was an order to it, as well. To Sadie, it made sense. She saw the patterns of the yetis¡¯ preferred attacks, as well as the flow of the battle. And as she fought, she subtly applied her thumb to the scale. A Consecrated Shield here. A shoulder charge there. A vicious rush, where she fought like a berserk barbarian. She varied her attacks, adopting different tactics to manipulate the battlefield to her whims. And for a while, it worked. The yetis remained off-balance, stymied at every turn by Sadie¡¯s efforts. What wounds they inflicted were quickly healed by the Druid, and through it all, they incurred heavy damage from Kurik¡¯s and Dat¡¯s attacks. They¡¯d already been weakened by the traps ¨C as well as Elijah¡¯s conjured insect swarm ¨C so, for a while, Sadie thought the battle would go their way without complications. But that was never possible. There were too many yetis, and they were far too strong. Gradually, the group got pushed back until they were fighting shoulder to shoulder as the monsters closed in. Dat was the first to fall. Having been forced into a melee where he could only use a third of his skills, he was ill-equipped for protracted hand-to-hand fighting. When a club took him in the head, he crumpled to the ground, unmoving. Sadie¡¯s heart seized, but she couldn¡¯t spare any attention for her friend. Whether he was alive or dead wouldn¡¯t make any difference. She didn¡¯t have the ethera to heal him, and even if she did, the line had been broken. As a result, Kurik fell only a second later, his leg snapped in two by a vicious club strike he couldn¡¯t dodge. From the ground, he fought on, but it was useless. Sadie was just about to use her Miracle when Elijah shouted, ¡°Sadie ¨C I know you can heal. Keep me alive.¡± She didn¡¯t have a chance to respond before she felt ethera stir, and the Druid shifted into that hulking lizard-ape monstrosity he seemed to favor. She knew it was a last-ditch effort, but still, she resented that he would so blatantly deviate from the plan. Even so, Sadie prided herself on her adaptability ¨C something that, when she said as much, always drew a laugh from Dat ¨C so she used another of her long-cooldown abilities.
Bell of Faith Let your Faith echo across any battlefield, stunning enemies and empowering allies. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 6 seconds.
An image of a bell ¨C barely visible ¨C appeared above Sadie¡¯s head. A moment later, it rang, the sound carrying with it more meaning than she could fathom. It was as if the cry of the gods themselves ¨C if they existed ¨C had fallen upon the mortal world. Sadie felt a jolt of energy, but more importantly, the yetis fell backward as if struck. Six seconds. That was how long it would last. After that, the creatures would recover. Sadie was about to use her Miracle ¨C it would doubtless turn the tide ¨C but before she could, she felt a giant hand wrap around her waist. Something lifted her from her feet, and just like that, she found herself sailing through the air. A second later, she realized that Elijah ¨C in his huge form ¨C had picked her up and bounded away. Glancing to the side, she saw that Dat¡¯s limp form had been thrown over the Druid¡¯s shoulder, and Kurik was gripped in Elijah¡¯s other hand. They landed a moment later, but they didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, Elijah raced across the fields, aiming for their fallback location. It was a cave Dat had found, unsuitable for any extended defense, but good enough for a last stand. They¡¯d hoped not to be forced to use it, but in the end, they¡¯d all known it was more than a possibility. The trip took only a couple of minutes, and in that time, Elijah clearly pushed himself to the peak of his capabilities, racing across the fields faster than she thought possible. When they finally reached the last bastion of their defense, he gently set his burden down and said, ¡°Hold the line. Heal them if you can. I¡¯ve already got Soothe on Dat, so he¡¯s out of the woods. I can¡¯t fix Kurik¡¯s leg until we have time to set the bone. So, they¡¯re both out of the fight.¡± ¡°What? You¡¯re supposed to be the Healer.¡± ¡°Not anymore,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m going back out there to try to thin the pack. If I don¡¯t come back¡­well, it was good knowing you, Sadie Song.¡± With that, he left the cave behind, already shifting into a completely different form. This one looked like someone had crossed a great hunting cat with a chameleon, with a little bit of dragon thrown in for good measure. To call it an intimidating creature would have been a vast understatement. Then, Elijah was gone. She wondered if he intended to abandon them. Perhaps, but as irritating as the Druid was, she didn¡¯t think he would do that. Regardless, it couldn¡¯t change anything about what she needed to do. So, without further thought, she turned to her wounded companions and used Blessing of Light, healing them as much as she could. 5-39. Guerrilla Tactics As Elijah stalked through the fields, he was tempted to believe he was repeating the mistakes of the past. Only recently, he¡¯d nearly been killed because, in his hubris, he¡¯d tried to take on too much responsibility. But was that true? Or had the incident in the ice fortress happened as a result of ignorance? Perhaps the answer was tied to both. In any case, there was a key difference between the two situations. Before, he¡¯d had no real reason to enter the fortress alone. Now, circumstances had pushed him to act, to use the versatility of his class to make the difference his group needed in order to survive. Because what they¡¯d been doing was not working. That was the hard truth that had become clear almost from the moment they had engaged the enemy. As many yetis as they¡¯d killed, they had still been overwhelmed. Retreat had been the only option. But it was not the answer. Elijah had known that even as he¡¯d grabbed his unconscious and dying companions and taken them to the final bastion they¡¯d prepared. Its defenses were temporary, though. They couldn¡¯t simply hole up and wait out the threat. Instead, Elijah knew that, if they were going to win the battle, he would need to change the paradigm. It had always been in the back of his mind, even from the very beginning. He knew that, by playing the good little healer, he was neglecting most of what made him special. But realistically, he had so little experience fighting as part of a group that he¡¯d hesitated to pull his attention from his primary task. In a perfect world, he would have healed, cast damaging spells, and used his forms to fill in for his companions¡¯ deficiencies. He had the skillset to be a secondary defender, a decent scout, and a damage dealer, but he¡¯d limited himself to healing. It was all because shifting between his various forms and playing a host of different roles was an incredibly difficult undertaking. If he made one little mistake, people would die. They were depending on him to keep them alive, and if he lingered in one of his other forms for even a second too long, everything would fall apart. And given that he could still scarcely control the rage of his lamellar ape form, it was almost inevitable that he¡¯d get carried away. No ¨C trying to play every role at once would lead him down the rocky path of defeat. All that flitted through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he stalked through the fields. He usually trusted Guise of the Unseen as well as his draconid form¡¯s chameleon-like ability to adopt the colors of its environment, but he¡¯d learned the error of that habit. So, he stayed low, slinking among the icy crops as he stalked toward the yetis. He met them only a minute or so later, and he was unsurprised to see that none of them had escaped the battle ¨C or Kurik¡¯s traps ¨C unscathed. In many cases, their armor had been all but destroyed. Most bore great gashes in the silvery metal, and there were plenty of dents as well. In addition, they had clearly been affected by the various afflictions ¨C from the aforementioned traps as well as Elijah¡¯s Swarm ¨C as large clumps of white fur had fallen out, revealing discolored blue skin beneath. They were weakened, but they were not defeated. Moreover, every passing moment saw the progression of their recovery. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if they had powerfully regenerative skills or were entirely reliant on their attributes, but the implications were clear. If they were allowed a few hours to rest, the yetis would be well on their way to a full recovery. Elijah refused to allow that. So, tapping into the instincts of his predator form, he stalked among the monsters, taking note of their numbers along the way. There were more than thirty left, and a couple had clearly been left in reserve, as they bore very few injuries or other signs of participation in the battle. Elijah intended to leave them for last, and not just because they would be the most difficult to take down. They also led the way, with the weakened members of the horde stretching out behind them in a long line. Which was perfect for what Elijah had in mind. He circled around, staying low and remaining cloaked in Guise of the Unseen until he zeroed in on a group of three stragglers. The trio of yetis were the most injured among the entire horde, representing the easiest targets. Elijah took advantage of that, embracing Venom Strike and Predator Strike before pouncing on the healthiest of the three, targeting its bloody right leg. His claws ripped through the back of the monster¡¯s knee, shredding tendons and collapsing the joint. Even as it fell, Elijah once again embraced Venom Strike and hit the next one in line, leaping upon its back and biting into its neck. He¡¯d have bitten down on its skull, but that was protected by a dented helmet. Whatever the case, there was nothing protecting the creature¡¯s neck, and Elijah bit into without issue. The damage caused by his fangs wasn¡¯t ineffective, sending spurts of cold and pale blood gushing into his mouth. But as satisfying as the successful attack was, Elijah only cared about delivering the neurotoxin of Venom Strike. And once that was done, he forewent the opportunity to finish his enemy off ¨C it would take too long ¨C and leaped away. In the space of two seconds, he¡¯d injured two yetis before disappearing into the fields. A moment later, he was out of sight and once again cloaked in Guise of the Unseen. Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. Meanwhile, the yetis ¨C especially the ones he¡¯d attacked ¨C panicked, yowling in pain as Venom Strike took hold. Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t put them entirely out of commission, but that was never his goal. While he felt confident that he could kill the yetis if he¡¯d stuck around for a few more attacks, that would have put him in quite a precarious position. So, he¡¯d resolved to use guerilla tactics to whittle the monsters down. Hopefully, by the time they reached the cave where Sadie and the others had taken refuge, the yetis would be weak enough for the group to finish them off. It was a good plan, but its success hinged on Elijah¡¯s restraint. If he overstepped and tried to do too much damage, he would be defenseless against the rest of the responding yetis. Hammering that fact home was the next sequence of events. Even as Elijah doubled back under a cloak of stealth, he saw the yetis¡¯ reactions. All thirty of them circled the wounded members, each one howling for blood. Yet, with Elijah hidden, there was no enemy to fight. Importantly, he knew that every minute he could delay the yetis¡¯ pursuit, his companions would have that much more time to recover. So, even if he felt impatient to continue the fight, Elijah remained among the crops as he watched the yetis¡¯ impotent rage play out. Eventually, even the limited intelligence of the monsters made the uselessness of their angry vigil apparent. That moment was characterized by a few of the healthier monsters growling and shouting at the others before, at last, they moved on. Pointedly, they left the grievously wounded behind. Once he knew they were out of range, Elijah pounced, finally finishing the two stragglers off. He targeted the healthiest of the two, using Predator Strike to rip through its neck and sever its spine. The more injured of the pair fell only a moment later when Elijah gutted it. Within twenty seconds, he¡¯d resumed his hunt. Over the next half hour, he repeated his actions, even summoning a Swarm to hasten the group¡¯s demise, and by the time they reached the cave, only fifteen were left. His tactics weren¡¯t as successful as he¡¯d hoped, but if he was honest with himself, he didn¡¯t think he could have done any better. Killing half the remaining yetis was a great victory, especially considering that he¡¯d wounded a handful of others. If he¡¯d had a few more miles to work with, he could have finished them off entirely. Perhaps. But toward the end, he¡¯d noticed that the yetis had begun to adjust. Losing half their number had made them far more wary, and the ones that had survived were the healthiest among them. So, assuming that it would just keep going the same way was likely an error in judgement. At least that was what Elijah told himself. Regardless, when the remaining yetis reached the cave, they found a surprise they could never have anticipated. About a hundred feet from the cave¡¯s entrance, a conflagration of fire and rock erupted, engulfing two yetis and burning them to a crisp. Elijah was far enough away that he only felt a slight buffeting of air, but the other yetis were thrown from their feet. Elijah took that as an opportunity to pounce. This time, though, he didn¡¯t intend to break off and run away. Instead, he savaged one of the fallen yetis, ripping through its compromised armor and into the blue meat beneath. Then, he dashed to another and clamped his jaws around the monster¡¯s exposed skull. Its helmet had been thrown off during the blast of Kurik¡¯s trap, which meant that the monster was vulnerable to Elijah¡¯s favored means of attack. He savored the feel of crunching bone, but only for a moment before one of the yetis recovered enough to swing its club in his direction. He didn¡¯t see it coming until the last second, so he could only twist a little to avoid the full weight of the attack. It still hammered into his ribs with enough force to send him skipping across the open field for almost twenty yards. He came to a stop, wincing at the pain lancing through his side. But he didn¡¯t dare remain stationary for long. His draconid form was very effective in a wide variety of situations, but it was not meant to take hits. So, when he was in his predator shape, Elijah¡¯s only real defense was evasion. And sitting still ¨C regardless of how much pain he felt ¨C was a good way to get killed. With that knowledge in hand, he sprang to his feet and launched himself way from the rushing yetis. Fortunately, he had no issues evading their pursuit, and he raced into the surrounding crops, leading them away from the main group. At the same time, the others had begun to recover, and the moment they noticed the shallow cave ¨C or more importantly, Sadie¡¯s shining and armored figure ¨C they let out a cacophony of howls before charging. The cave¡¯s mouth was too wide to defend, so it was only a matter of time before they overwhelmed the lone defender. However, clearly, Kurik hadn¡¯t remained idle, because he¡¯d created a series of traps that forced the charging yetis into a much narrower corridor. It was not a perfect solution, but for the time being, it allowed Sadie to make her stand with a reasonable expectation of success. Temporarily, at least, but that would have to be enough. For his part, Elijah led the splintered group away from the main battle. There were four of them, and predictably, they were among the weakest. He ached to return to his companions and pitch in, but he knew that his abilities were best suited to keeping the group from being overwhelmed. So, he led them on a fruitless chase, doubling back more than once to repeat his previous tactics. They were on guard, though, and his efforts were largely useless, save as distractions. At the same time, Elijah kept a portion of his attention on the battle at the cave. Against only a handful of yetis, Sadie and the others ¨C who had recovered from their previous injuries ¨C made a fantastic stand, holding the yetis at bay and slowly whittling them down. Meanwhile, Elijah continued his own efforts, and by the time Sadie used that curious summoned-blade ability to finish the last of their opponents off, he¡¯d managed to whittle his own pursuit down to only two remaining yetis. He led them to the others, and after a few more minutes of battle, the cavern went silent. Elijah collapsed, letting himself resume his natural form. His strategy had been more successful than he¡¯d had any right to expect, but that didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d escaped unscathed. In addition to the bruised ribs he¡¯d sustained after Kurik¡¯s trap had exploded, he¡¯d picked up a few other nicks and contusions along the way. And the fight atop their pyramid had left them all injured, at least to some degree. But more than that, he was exhausted. Lying there, his breath coming in ragged gasps, he said, ¡°Great job. Go team. Anyone else need some healing?¡± As he spoke, he shifted his staff in his hand and summoned Healing Rain. Wet drops of icy precipitation fell upon his upturned face, and he reveled in the fact that, for once, his plan had been successful. 5-40. Into the Fortress Cold pinpricks spread across Elijah¡¯s face as he looked up at the sleet falling from above. It was such a curious thing, experiencing natural rain in the middle of a subterranean cavern, and he couldn¡¯t explain it. His scientific mind tried, but nothing he considered really made sense. It wasn¡¯t that difficult to create weather in an enclosed space, but scaling it to the size of the cavern was where his rationalizations fell short. That left him with the same explanation he¡¯d used to explain hundreds of other experiences he¡¯d encountered since the world had changed. Magic. ¡°You¡¯re really weird, bro.¡± Elijah glanced back to the shallow cave, where he saw Dat staring at him. The others were huddled around a campfire, their eyes locked onto him. They¡¯d been resting and healing for some time, but even so, everyone still looked exhausted. ¡°What?¡± ¡°That rain is freezing,¡± Sadie said. ¡°And you¡¯re staring at it with this odd expression like it¡¯s the most fascinating thing in the world.¡± ¡°I mean¡­it¡¯s a subterranean storm,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s pretty interesting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s weird, bro.¡± Elijah frowned, then glanced at Kurik. The dwarf just shook his head and said, ¡°Can¡¯t disagree with ¡®em.¡± ¡°You all don¡¯t think this is cool? Come on. It¡¯s raining underground! And these plants are amazing. They¡¯re actually two organisms living in symbiosis. Or the ice is more like millions of tiny organisms mixed with inorganic material that form a network ¨C¡± ¡°Wait ¨C the ice is alive? That¡¯s awesome, bro.¡± ¡°Right? I thought I was going crazy there for a second,¡± Elijah replied, feeling some level of vindication. ¡°You probably still are,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Dat¡¯s just being nice.¡± ¡°Seriously?¡± he asked, fixing his eyes on the Witch Hunter¡¯s pudgy-looking face. Dat wasn¡¯t fat ¨C not precisely ¨C but his face had a roundness to it that made him look that way. Dat shrugged. ¡°Nothing wrong with being nice, bro. And it is interesting, the way you described it.¡± Elijah sighed, recognizing pandering when he heard it. ¡°You¡¯re all missing out. Don¡¯t you ever look around and just appreciate the world for what it is? The setting of my first tower ¨C at least part of it ¨C was underwater, and you wouldn¡¯t believe how beautiful the bottom of the sea was. I mean, it was really deadly, too. And I couldn¡¯t cook my food for the whole time I was in there¡­¡± ¡°How long?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Uh¡­a month or two, maybe? I don¡¯t know. It all blurred together, especially after I got digested by the whale. Tracking time is kind of difficult in towers.¡± ¡°You spent months inside of a tower?¡± ¡°Uh¡­yeah. But that was just my first time through,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I was a lot quicker in my second one, and I got through the third in like a day. But that was because the elves I was with got bitten by vampires, and there was a timer before they were converted. So, I had to do a speed run.¡± ¡°How many towers have you conquered?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°A few? I also ran the first one multiple times,¡± he answered. ¡°It was the hardest, but I¡¯ve gotten it down to a science. I can get through it in a day if I don¡¯t get too sidetracked. But it doesn¡¯t give as much experience as it did the first time, and the rewards kind of suck now.¡± ¡°The Sea of Sorrows ain¡¯t beautiful. That place is a death trap,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty.¡± ¡°Everything there is tryin¡¯ to kill you!¡± ¡°Yeah, but how many people get to say they¡¯ve seen a monstrous orca the size of a blue whale? Or a forest of kelp and coral? I swear, it¡¯s like I¡¯m the only one in the whole world who can look at what happened to Earth and feel a sense of awe,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Easy to say when you live in paradise,¡± Sadie said quietly. ¡°Our experiences since the world changed are very different.¡± ¡°I was in Mongolia recently. Or what used to be Mongolia, I guess. And you know what I found? A bunch of people living and working together. They struggled, sure. They had to fight for what they had. But there was peace there, too. I tried a bunch of new foods and met some interesting people. The same in Argos,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°You¡¯ve been there. You know what they have. That¡¯s the model of what¡¯s possible in this new version of the world.¡± ¡°You only like Argos because they practically worship you there,¡± Sadie said. ¡°They do not.¡± ¡°They kind of do, bro.¡± ¡°Okay ¨C so what if they do treat me well? I¡¯ve helped them a lot over the past couple of years. I¡¯m part of that community.¡± If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°And what if something happens to them? What if, suddenly, there¡¯s an apocalyptic threat that kills half the population in that city?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°That¡¯s what happened to Hong Kong in the early days. We were all fighting an invasion of zombies. We worked together, but we also saw our families killed. Our friends and neighbors eaten alive, then converted into undead. So pardon me if I can¡¯t really see the beauty in a little subterranean rainstorm.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not connected,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You can¡¯t go through life hating the world.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t hate it,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I resent it. There¡¯s a difference.¡± Elijah was about to respond when he thought better of it. Their experiences since the world had changed were too different for them to find common ground. Maybe Sadie would come around, but given what he knew of the threats facing the population of Earth, Elijah thought there was a better chance that he¡¯d become just as cynical as she clearly was. It was a rational response to the trauma she¡¯d experienced. By comparison ¨C at least from a psychological perspective ¨C Elijah had had it easy. Regardless, he chose the high road of keeping his contradictory opinions to himself. Instead, he focused on the next step in conquering the challenge ahead. They would soon infiltrate the Ice Fortress, where they would presumably need to confront the so-called Betrayer as well as any remaining foes. It would doubtless be just as harrowing as what they¡¯d experienced so far. Perhaps more so. But there was something else on his mind, too. ¡°I want to harvest these plants before we go back. As many as we can hold. And I want to try to keep some of them alive,¡± he said. ¡°At least for a day or so until I can plant them somewhere else.¡± ¡°Why? What do you have in mind?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Back home, I have this underwater cave where I¡¯ve been growing a lot of ethera-rich sea plants,¡± he answered. ¡°And you know how cultivation requires increasingly dense ethera? That¡¯s what the cave is for. And I was thinking about trying to create something like that here, except with these instead of kelp and stuff. The only problem is that I can¡¯t put it inside the boundaries of the challenge. Even if we could do it again ¨C which I don¡¯t think will be possible ¨C it¡¯s not feasible to have to go through all that just to cultivate a little. So, if I can¡¯t come back to the plants, I want to take the plants with me. But I guess that all can wait until after we complete the challenge. I just wanted to give you all a heads up.¡± Still, Elijah did gather a couple of plants, stuffing them into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel before the group set off for the fortress¡¯ gates. Unsurprisingly, it was manned only by the chainmail-wearing, lower-leveled yetis, and the group had no issues with dispatching the guards. After that, they used their combined strength to lever open the gates, and just like that, they were inside. ¡°This place is huge, bro.¡± Elijah said, ¡°I know. It¡¯s positively labyrinthine.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t need no fancy words to know it¡¯s big and complicated,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°That¡¯s what labyrinthine means.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± the dwarf growled. He¡¯d been in a surly mood ever since he¡¯d revealed the nature of his class, and it didn¡¯t seem that anything but time would lighten that load. Still, Elijah resolved to offer his ear to the Sapper once the challenge was complete. He might not be able to come up with any real solutions to the dwarf¡¯s unease, but he could at least listen. Sometimes, that was the best anyone could do. Regardless, the group spent the next few hours exploring the halls. As Eliijah had noted the first time through, the architecture was about as simple as it could get, with nothing but straight lines and sharp edges. There was a utilitarian appeal to it that he couldn¡¯t deny. Gradually, they mapped the area, encountering more guards along the way. After fighting the elite yeti patrols, the weaker versions were comparatively easy to deal with ¨C at least so long as they all kept their wits about them. If they lost focus even for a moment, that would change. Normally, it wouldn¡¯t result in immediate injury, but one mistake usually caused a cascade of errors as everyone tried to adjust. So, by the time they reached another set of gates ¨C this pair was far more elaborately carved ¨C no one was in a great mood. ¡°Open it now?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Might be risky, bro,¡± Dat said, reaching out to touch the giant stone doors. They were at least twenty feet tall, and the carvings along the surface depicted more of the muscular, four-armed creatures Elijah had seen in the frescoes that decorated the cistern he¡¯d recently visited. As soon as Dat touched the doors, a heavy grinding sound emerged from the edges, and they began to swing inward. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything!¡± On the other side, a trio of yetis ¨C each one larger and more heavily armored than any they¡¯d faced before ¨C stood. They seemed very much surprised to see the newcomers, but that lasted only a moment before they hefted their weapons and charged. Unsurprised, Sadie leaped forward to meet them head-on. At the same time, Dat did the opposite, retreating while bringing his crossbow up. It was a move they¡¯d practiced dozens ¨C if not hundreds ¨C of times, and that experience stood them in good stead. Meanwhile, Elijah and Kurik enacted their own well-learned strategies. Even as a glowing Sadie met the trio of yetis ¨C each one almost twenty feet tall, and with enough muscle to make them look bulky ¨C with a furious horizontal slash from her sword, Kurik and Dat peppered the enemy with arrows and crossbow bolts. At the same time, Elijah aimed for the rear-most monster and cast Snaring Roots. Vines of organic ice erupted from the ground, snaking around the creature¡¯s feet. Those tendrils weren¡¯t strong enough to resist the yeti¡¯s strength, but were more than capable of tripping the monster. As Sadie clashed with the other two, the third fell on its face, where even more roots snaked around its body and wrapped it in a cocoon of icy vines. Elijah cast Healing Rain, then Soothe, on Sadie. It was just in time, too, because only a second later, she took a vicious club-strike to the head. Elijah winced at how quickly her body whipped around from the momentum of the attack. But Sadie was made from strong stuff, and she shouldered the blow with only a stumble. Whatever aftereffects she might¡¯ve been forced to endure were mitigated by Elijah¡¯s healing. Meanwhile, Kurik and Dat utilized every ability in their arsenal, piling the damage onto the nearest yeti. Its armor was durable enough, but it could only stand up for so long against such a barrage. For the other, Sadie used Blade of the Avenger, and a giant sword burst forth from the ground, slicing into the yeti with contemptuous ease. However, unlike the other instances where Elijah had seen her use the spell, this one didn¡¯t result in a yeti¡¯s immediate death. Instead, it only injured the huge creature, slicing off one of its legs. Elijah cast Snaring Roots on the now one-legged monster, and it fell to the ground just like the other. So, for a few seconds at least, the group only had to deal with a single opponent, and they overwhelmed the thing in short order. The next to die was the one Sadie had injured. It put up a decent fight, but being unable to stand made its position quite precarious. The third ended up being the most difficult to kill, and it took almost five minutes of combined attacks to finish it off. They managed, but not without some difficulty. And in the aftermath, as Elijah healed the wounds they¡¯d incurred, Sadie fixed Dat with a glare and said, ¡°From now on, don¡¯t touch anything.¡± He opened his mouth as if to offer a retort, but then looked at the dead yetis before saying, ¡°Good idea, bro. No more touching.¡± 5-41. Extermination ¡°This place is amazing,¡± Elijah said, leaning close to inspect the wall. Like the rest of the fortress, it was made of mostly featureless stone. However, it had the distinction of being run through with geometric patterns of white ice. ¡°These look like snowflakes, right?¡± ¡°They look cold is what they look,¡± Kurik growled, rubbing his own arms with a thick blanket thrown over his shoulders. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad,¡± Elijah responded, looking from one member of his party to the next. Dat had a blanket over his shoulders as well, and Sadie had donned a heavy and hooded cloak, the edges as well as the inside of which was lined with thick, white fur. Still, he could see that her lips had turned slightly blue. The same could be said for the other two, though aside from Kurik, they¡¯d borne their obvious discomfort silently. ¡°How cold do you think it is here?¡± ¡°I went to Siberia in the middle of Winter once,¡± said Sadie. ¡°I was volunteering to help the natives ¨C called Nenets ¨C with addiction issues. Alcohol wasn¡¯t introduced into their culture until fairly recently, so the theory is that they don¡¯t have the generational defenses built up to combat addiction. Couple that with their way of life ¨C which was built around a nomadic existence herding reindeer ¨C having been snatched away from them, and they had serious issues. My partner at the time was a sociologist, so¡­anyway, this is a lot colder.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a long way of sayin¡¯ the obvious. It¡¯s cold. Don¡¯t need no fancy story to know that much,¡± Kurik said. ¡°You humans get so obsessed with numbers and such. Cold¡¯s cold. Hot¡¯s hot. Don¡¯t need no arbitrary numbers to tell you that.¡± ¡°Kurik,¡± Elijah groaned. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± the dwarf demanded. ¡°It¡¯s too damn cold to lollygag ¡®round here. We got Mr. Distracted Druid over there inspectin¡¯ the wall art, little Miss Shining Knight talkin¡¯ about reindeer herders, and¡­and meanwhile, I¡¯m sittin¡¯ here freezin¡¯ my damn beard off. I got a right to be a little annoyed.¡± Elijah was about to respond, but then he thought better of it. Often, he forgot that, because of the Cloak of the Iron Bear, he didn¡¯t have to worry too much about extreme temperatures. Certainly, its Temperate effect likely had a limit, but he¡¯d yet to find it. But if the buff he got from it was any indication, the temperature in the lower reaches of the Ice Fortress were predictably severe. If it wasn¡¯t at least twenty or thirty degrees below zero, he would have been incredibly surprised. The only reason the others hadn¡¯t already succumbed to frost bite was because of a combination of three factors. First, even the least enduring among them ¨C Dat ¨C had the benefit of a superhuman Constitution, so they were all shielded, at least somewhat, from the biting cold. Second, there was Ward of the Seasons, which normally wouldn¡¯t do much to protect someone from environmental factors.
Ward of the Seasons Harness the power of the seasons, increasing resistance to elemental damage.
It was clearly intended to shield someone from hostile spells, and the fact that it helped against the biting cold within the Ice Fortress suggested that was what they were dealing with. It was an artificial environment, and as such, Ward of the Seasons helped quite a bit. Without it, things would have been much more difficult. The final reason no one had frozen to death was Elijah¡¯s efforts healing them. Throughout their time in the Ice Fortress, he¡¯d cycled Soothe on them, one after another. When one cast of the spell ran its course, he¡¯d use it on the next person in line, returning them to perfect condition. However, the fact that their bodies degraded at all under the effect of the cold told him that it was much more serious than even they knew. Thankfully, using Soothe was not very ethera-intensive, and he was able to keep the cycle going indefinitely. Largely, that was due to his Quartz Mind, which allowed him to refill his core at an alarmingly fast pace ¨C at least compared to the rate at which he spent it. Would that change as he evolved his spells into more powerful versions? That was what had happened when Touch of Nature had become Nature¡¯s Bloom. That spell was now much more potent than its predecessor, but at a far higher cost. Regardless, Elijah¡¯s spells were thankfully quite efficient ¨C at least at the moment. Hopefully, that would continue to be the case. ¡°He¡¯s right. Sorry,¡± he said, glancing from one companion to the next. ¡°I¡¯ll try not to get distracted.¡± ¡°And I will refrain from telling superfluous stories,¡± Sadie added, her voice flat and emotionless. ¡°Ah, don¡¯t be like that. I¡¯m just ornery ¡®cause of the cold. It ain¡¯t natural.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± she responded. At least Kurik had the grace to look a bit embarrassed for making her feel bad after she¡¯d opened up a little. Sadie wasn¡¯t precisely closed-off, but she also didn¡¯t go out of her way to share stories from her old life. So, being berated after doing just that probably meant that, at least in terms of their relationship as a team, they¡¯d taken a bit of a step backwards. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Elijah vowed to correct that course when they had a little time. Sadie wasn¡¯t the most likeable person in the world, but she was still a human being with emotions and insecurities. And given that he wanted the group to remain as cohesive as possible, soothing her hurt feelings was probably a necessity. But not when they were slowly freezing to death in a hostile fortress. So, without any more conversation or distraction, they moved on. Eventually, they reached a set of stairs that led upward, and after killing the pair of chainmail-wearing yetis that guarded the entrance to the stairwell, they ascended to the next level. That was when things began to change. For one, the enemies they encountered were different. There were still yetis about, but they were smaller and thinner than the ones in the lower levels. More, they wore actual clothing and moved with a level of grace that simply wasn¡¯t present among the warriors. Finally, when Elijah and his companions encountered these yetis, it became clear that they were part of a domestic staff. ¡°He hit me with a broom, bro,¡± said Dat, rubbing his head after their latest engagement with the enemy. ¡°Pretty hard, too.¡± ¡°I saw,¡± Elijah acknowledged. For his part, he¡¯d had to evade a yeti wielding a silver platter as a bludgeoning tool. The creatures weren¡¯t really that dangerous, but they were just as vicious as their war-like counterparts down below. The real danger was letting any of them escape. Surely, there were more warriors in the upper levels, and if one of the domestic yetis escaped, they would doubtless bring the proverbial cavalry down on the group¡¯s collective head. It represented a different challenge, and though chasing yetis through the halls wasn¡¯t as immediately dangerous as fighting for their lives, it certainly was no easier. That was when One with Nature showed its worth. Elijah could sense everything within a hundred-yard diameter, so when the yetis inevitably tried to hide, he knew precisely where they were. Though the outer reaches of the ability¡¯s effect were a lot blurrier than the area closest to him, Elijah could still easily recognize the shape of a hiding yeti. As they swept through the fortress, it felt a bit like extermination. Necessary. Easy. And ultimately distasteful. Yet, they couldn¡¯t simply refuse the task set before them. If they did, their lives would be at risk. So, they did what they had to do, one slaughtered yeti at a time. For the most part, they all took it well. None of them were strangers to killing, after all. However, there were differences in their reactions. Sadie maintained a stoic demeanor, but Elijah had come to know her well enough to recognize her strained expressions for what they were. She didn¡¯t like killing, even when doing so was absolutely necessary. Yet, she would not shirk her duty on the basis of emotions alone. Kurik was the most visibly frustrated, which he took out on the unfortunate creatures, growling and muttering curses along the way. He clearly blamed the monsters themselves for pushing him into the situation. As for Dat, he seemed the least affected, but Elijah suspected that was a mask the Witch Hunter wore for everyone else¡¯s sake. Elijah was somewhere in the middle, regarding his own demeanor. He hated that so much killing was necessary, but he wasn¡¯t in the habit of complaining about doing what he had to do. He just did it, taking no pleasure in the act. However, there was more than a little guilt sitting in the back of his mind, largely because every kill was at his direction. Still, they kept at it for most of that day until, at last, they had killed every last yeti on that level. As they¡¯d expected, there was a contingent of warriors headquartered in one corner of the facility, but when Elijah and his companions found the creatures, the yetis were asleep. Their slaughter went off without a hitch, mostly because of repeated castings of Elijah¡¯s Swarm. A few died in their sleep, and the ones that did wake up were so weakened by the afflictions delivered by the summoned insects that they were incapable of putting up a fight. And just like that, the level was cleared. Then, the next after that. On the third level up, they encountered yet another change. Instead of yetis, they found themselves facing off against the very same creatures Elijah had seen depicted in the murals and frescoes he¡¯d encountered within various ruins. They were similar to the wraiths, at least in terms of basic shape. They were equipped with four arms, a slender torso, and smooth-skinned but oddly reptilian features. Yet, they were far more muscular than the wraiths. ¡°They¡¯re naga,¡± Dat said after severing one of the creatures¡¯ heads. They¡¯d just finished a battle ¨C more of an ambush, really ¨C in which they slaughtered six of the monsters. ¡°See the tails? No feet.¡± Indeed, they didn¡¯t even have legs. Instead, from the waist down, they were entirely serpentine. ¡°They ain¡¯t naga,¡± Kurik argued. ¡°Naga are aquatic. These are land-based monsters.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think they¡¯re monsters at all,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°Me neither,¡± Elijah agreed. That wasn¡¯t what they felt like, at least. Even the domesticated yetis, which displayed human-like mannerisms, had carried with them a monstrous aura. ¡°They bear the weight of sin,¡± said Sadie. ¡°Monsters do not.¡± ¡°Does that mean they¡¯re people?¡± asked Dat. ¡°I think so,¡± she answered. Dat¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°I don¡¯t like killing people, bro. Monsters are fine. Same with undead. But people¡­that¡¯s not cool.¡± ¡°I know, Dat. But we don¡¯t have a choice,¡± Sadie said. ¡°These creatures, they¡¯re clouded in sin like no one I have ever seen. I could smell it before I even saw them. They¡¯re not just murderers. They have committed atrocities the likes of which none of us have seen.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve seen some pretty bad things,¡± Elijah said, remembering the dungeons below Easton. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sure you have,¡± Sadie responded. ¡°These creatures are evil.¡± ¡°Like I¡¯m evil?¡± he asked softly. ¡°That¡¯s different.¡± ¡°Is it?¡± She didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she turned her attention to the fallen group of serpentine people. Kneeling beside them, she rifled through their clothing, clearly looking for anything of worth. They had no valuables, though. No weapons. Just the clothes on their backs. Elijah searched one as well, and though he found the act of looting corpses detestable, and for a variety of reasons, he refused to shy away from it. He discovered nothing of note, aside from a more thorough examination of the creatures¡¯ bodies. They were androgynous, and though they had similar features, they were as distinct from one another as human beings were from each other. In addition, despite their serpentine appearance, they lacked scales. Instead, their skin was pliable and rubbery, not unlike what one would expect from an amphibian. ¡°That¡¯s gross, bro,¡± Dat said as Elijah opened one of the creatures¡¯ mouths to inspect its teeth. They were sharp, but there were no discernible fangs. ¡°We need to know what we¡¯re dealing with,¡± Elijah responded without looking up. ¡°What have you found?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°They¡¯re warm-blooded. Not venomous. They¡¯re unlike anything I¡¯ve seen,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯d have to cut them open to find out more.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t,¡± Dat pleaded. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to, but I think these might be the natives of this world,¡± he explained. ¡°At least one group. Just after arriving in the Trial, we encountered some others with similar characteristics, though they had legs. I don¡¯t know what that means just yet, but my working theory is divergent evolutionary paths. That¡¯s just a guess, though. I¡¯d need a lot more information before I could turn it into a proper theory.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Yeah. Really interesting,¡± Dat agreed. Kurik rolled his eyes and blurted, ¡°Don¡¯t matter what they are or where they came from, does it? We still gotta kill ¡®em. So, can we move on from this little science experiment and get to the real job at hand. There¡¯s stairs up ahead, and I think that¡¯s the obvious way we¡¯re s¡¯posed to go.¡± The others agreed, and soon enough, they mounted the stairs leading them to the next level. 5-42. Frozen Elijah swung his staff, connecting with the little creature and sending it flying across the room. After sailing through the air for almost twenty feet, it hit the wall with a dull thud before falling to the floor in a boneless heap. But Elijah didn¡¯t have time to admire the results of his attack. Instead, the whole of his attention was required elsewhere ¨C most presently, the fact that there were hundreds more of the monsters attacking his companions. If it had only been one or two, it wouldn¡¯t have been an issue. The creatures¡¯ small size ¨C they were only about three feet tall ¨C was a good indicator of their relative level of power. However, there were just so many of them that their collective strength rivaled the most powerful yetis the group had encountered. In terms of general shape, the four-armed humanoids resembled the others Elijah and the group had found, though they differed in more ways than just size. If Elijah was pressed, he would have compared them to goblins, though they were far more vicious than anyone he¡¯d met from that race. Certainly, they were a long way from people like Ramik or any of the other goblins back in Ironshore. Instead, they were feral monsters that slithered along on snake-like lower halves, swarming like piranha and tearing into any enemy in their path. Even their handlers ¨C more of the larger naga-like creatures they¡¯d begun to see three floors down from their current location ¨C were wary of the small, bestial creatures. Thankfully, when it came to combatting groups of small and relatively fragile threats, Elijah had a fantastic tool he could bring to bear. Shield of Brambles not only provided a small increase in his allies¡¯ durability, but it also gave them a means of easy retaliation. That became apparent when one of the creatures bit into Elijah¡¯s leg, only to be pierced through by a long, sharp thorn. It yelped in pain, but it wasn¡¯t intelligent enough to recognize the cause and effect at play. So, it bit him again, getting another thorn through its belly for its trouble. Four more rapid but ultimately shallow bites, and the creature started to weaken from blood loss. Elijah targeted the slowed monster with a golf swing that sent it sailing through the air to hit the joining of the wall and the ceiling. As was the case with the last monster he¡¯d hit, the thing fell to the ground lifelessly. But there were plenty more to take its place. Sadie had already used Call of the Crusader, but it had long since run its course, and well before they¡¯d made an appreciable dent in the swarm of monsters. Because of its cooldown, Sadie wouldn¡¯t be able to use it again for a few more minutes. That meant that the swarm was completely uncontrolled, and each member of the group was forced to defend themselves from the threat. For Elijah, that was fine. He had enough Constitution to keep the monsters ¨C called noglyns, according to Dat ¨C from doing too much damage. Dat was a little worse off, but his Dexterity gave him enough coordination to fend them off without incurring too many injuries. And with her armor as well as a Constitution attribute that exceeded even Elijah¡¯s, Sadie was perfectly fine. The problem was Kurik. None of his attributes were particularly high. Instead, he relied on his abilities, preparation, and staying out of the line of fire to keep him safe. That just wasn¡¯t possible now, and he found himself paying the price with every passing moment. The noglyns ripped into him, and though Kurik made a good showing with his hatchets, the realities of his class quickly became apparent. Dwarven blood flowed from a hundred vicious bites, but Kurik continued to fight, courtesy of the bulk of Elijah¡¯s healing attention. With Soothe, Nature¡¯s Bloom, and Healing Rain on his side, he was barely able to keep up with the damage. But he knew that was only a temporary solution. If he tried to keep up that pace ¨C even with his Quartz Mind rapidly refilling his Core ¨C he would quickly run out of ethera. When that happened, people would die. Starting with Kurik. Sadie used Blade of the Avenger, slicing two of the monsters in half, but the spell was unsuited to the task. Instead, the mighty ability was better used against powerful singular opponents. The same was true of Dat¡¯s abilities, which were mostly intended for scouting and slaying his targets. He was a hunter, after all, and as powerful as he was ¨C being in the top twenty-five in the world meant that he could hold his own ¨C his class was not ideal for fighting in a melee. Fortunately, Elijah could pick up the slack. He only needed a few moments of peace before he could use the spells he knew would turn the tide of battle. However, the noglyns were not cooperative, and they just kept coming. It felt like no matter how many they killed, there was always another to take the place of the slain. Finally, when Elijah¡¯s stores of ethera dipped below the halfway mark, things changed. Sadie shouted a challenge as she released Call of the Crusader, and the noglyns responded as one, rushing toward her with single-minded ferocity. Elijah took that as an opportunity to turn the tide of battle, and even as the things swarmed over her, biting into Bulwark of the Faithful, he let loose with Swarm. Then, as the shield broke, he used Calamity. Hundreds of tiny fleas, each one glittering with ethera, descended upon the horde of little monsters. At the same time, the swarm of noglyns were hit by hurricane-force winds that sent them flying into the walls. Lightning lanced down from the ceiling, and the earth all around them rumbled. Elijah used the confusion to cast Nature¡¯s Bloom on Sadie, who¡¯d finally taken noticeable damage. Blood pooled beneath her feet, freely flowing from the seams in her armor. Meanwhile, Dat and Kurik leaped at the stunned noglyns. Their weapons descended upon the weakened monsters, cutting the creatures into pieces. It was not an elegant strategy, and in the end, it descended into base slaughter. Yet, it was effective, and by the time the effects of Calamity faded, the monsters¡¯ numbers had been cut down to nothing. From there, it was only a matter of a few more seconds before they finished the things off. And then, everything went quiet. ¡°Damn,¡± Elijah muttered, still cycling through his spells to heal his companions. After bearing the full weight of the monsters¡¯ attacks, Sadie was the worst off, but both Dat and Kurik had been grievously injured as well. ¡°Those things were vicious.¡± Looking at their corpses, they didn¡¯t seem capable of doing the sort of damage they¡¯d wrought. But Elijah¡¯s comparison to piranha was apt. Ironically, if he¡¯d been alone, he could have dealt with them a lot more easily. All it would have taken was for him to shift into his lamellar ape form, use Iron Scales, and wait for them to kill themselves on Shield of Brambles¡¯ thorns. He¡¯d employed a similar tactic in his second tower when a swarm of rats had attacked him, and he felt certain that it would have worked the same against the noglyns. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. But he wasn¡¯t alone. He had others depending on him, and he knew he needed to move past constantly comparing his current situation with a fictitious one where he only needed to worry about himself. That wasn¡¯t how the world worked, and the sooner he adapted his mindset to his present circumstances, the easier he would grow accustomed to the change in attitude required by it. One thing was certain, though ¨C he wasn¡¯t meant to be pigeonholed into one role. In an ideal world, he would be the group¡¯s wildcard, filling any gaps created by their enemies. If the group needed a second defender, then he could do that. Or an extra caster. Another scout. A flanker. He could play all of those roles, but with his responsibilities as the group¡¯s only healer ¨C Sadie could heal a bit, but her spells were wildly inefficient and inadequate to the task ¨C he couldn¡¯t afford to freelance. Because if he made one wrong move, people would die. That had been made abundantly clear over the course of the previous day-and-a-half, during which they¡¯d ascended three more floors. Mostly, they¡¯d fought against the naga-like residents that Dat had referred to as the Ka¡¯alaki. According to him, the hunters some of the groups had encountered in the jungles were called Ta¡¯alaki. There was a clear connection, and not just because, aside from the fact that the Ka¡¯alaki had serpentine lower halves while the Ta¡¯alaki had legs, of the similarity in names. They were different, but they also seemed to share enough characteristics that they were obviously related in some way. Whatever the case, they were clearly hostile ¨C likely because Elijah and his companions had invaded their home ¨C and the group had spent quite some time battling against them. Like other sapient races, the Ka¡¯alaki were equipped with a wide variety of classes, which made fighting them a pain. However, it hadn¡¯t taken the group long to recognize and implement appropriate strategies. When a healer was present, that was the first target. Then the casters that could, if left to their own devices, bring devastating spells to bear. After that came the other damage dealers, and finally, the defenders. Of course, those battles were complicated by the fact that the enemy was capable of devising similar strategies. But given that Elijah was their healer, and that he was incredibly hard to kill, he and his allies had so far come out on top. Would that always be the case? Perhaps not. But Elijah was fine with being the enemies¡¯ primary target, largely because it let him use his higher-than-normal durability to his advantage. It also made him feel like the lynchpin of his group¡¯s success. Which felt good and confining, both at the same time. ¡°Might as well see if the handler has anything on him,¡± said Dat, kneeling next to the fallen Ka¡¯alaki. ¡°I think they¡¯re agender,¡± Elijah pointed out. He¡¯d done a thorough examination of a couple of their bodies, and he hadn¡¯t found anything but androgyny. Dat shrugged. ¡°I think you¡¯re right, bro.¡± Sadie said, ¡°They probably don¡¯t have anything. None of the others did.¡± After rifling through the Ka¡¯alaki¡¯s clothing, Dat confirmed that that was the case. Over the next half hour, the group recovered as well as they could, then moved on. Each time they¡¯d ascended a level, the temperature had plummeted, and by that point, it had reached well below the lowest temperatures ever recorded on Earth. Without their enhanced Constitutions ¨C or Ward of the Seasons ¨C they would not have survived more than a few minutes. As it was, they were in no real danger of dying from exposure, but they certainly weren¡¯t comfortable. And it only got worse when they ascended to the next floor. Even Elijah, with the benefit of Temperate¡¯s protection, began to feel the effects. Apparently, the Cloak of the Iron Bear had limitations, and he¡¯d finally begun to approach that line. Gradually, they progressed through that level, fighting against all the same foes along the way. The noglyns represented the largest individual danger, but now that Elijah knew how vulnerable they were to Swarm and Calamity, they knew the best strategy to dispatch them. The most difficult fights came when they were forced to battle mixed groups of Ka¡¯alaki and noglyns, and on more than one occasion, the group was pushed to their absolute limits. The aftermath of those victories saw them spending more and more time in recovery. To Elijah, it was clear that the party was approaching its limits in terms of what they could handle. If things kept going in the same manner, they¡¯d soon be forced to retreat. It wasn¡¯t ideal. No one wanted to leave and come back when they were stronger. Yet, if the choice was between that or dying, it was an easy one to make. Unfortunately, the choice was taken out of their hands when, after ascending to the sixth level, the door to the stairwell sealed shut behind them. And no matter what anyone did ¨C and they tried everything, including Elijah shifting into his guardian form and hammering into it with his not inconsiderable Strength ¨C it wouldn¡¯t budge. They had no way to go but forward. Oddly, though, they didn¡¯t encounter any more foes on that level. Nor did they see anyone on the seventh. ¡°This is very disconcerting,¡± remarked Elijah as they traversed the latest empty hall. The side rooms were just as deserted, even lacking furniture. But at least the temperature was no longer dropping. It wasn¡¯t until they reached the tenth floor that things changed, and in an unexpected way. Elijah looked at the gate with his eyes narrowed in suspicion. There it was. The way out. All they needed to do was walk through that open gate, and they could return to the Nexus Town. Finally, they could once again be warm. It was tempting. ¡°I want to go on,¡± he told the others. Sadie nodded, and Dat added, ¡°I don¡¯t give up, bro.¡± Kurik groaned. ¡°S¡¯pose I¡¯m outnumbered, then. Let¡¯s get to it. The sooner we finish this thing, the sooner we can get warm.¡± With that, they turned away from the exit and headed deeper into the ice fortress. Soon enough, they recognized that they¡¯d finally reached the castle proper, and with it came a few changes. For one, the architecture had taken on a bit more detail. It was still plainly utilitarian, but there were a few artistic flourishes that gave it a little more character. For another, they were once again surrounded by foes, which necessitated quite a lot of fighting. At some point, Elijah passed the threshold to level ninety-four, putting him on the verge of getting a new spell. However, he wasn¡¯t afforded the opportunity to dwell on the excitement that usually came with gaining another ability. Instead, it was everything he could do to keep everyone alive. Mostly, they fought more Ka¡¯alaki, but there were plenty of noglyns as well. In addition, progressing into the upper levels of the fortress saw them once again facing off against the armored yetis. And when they found themselves fighting a mixed group of all three types of combatants, things became quite dire. Each of those battles took perfect coordination, and even then, the members of the group were usually left with grievous wounds that took some time to mend. Like that, days passed, and there were only two good things to come of it. First, everyone¡¯s progression reflected the difficulties they¡¯d overcome, with Elijah getting ever closer to level ninety-five. The others experienced similar gains, though it had become abundantly clear that the days of gaining quick levels were a thing of the past. Even in an ideal situation where they were killing droves of powerful enemies, progression was glacial. And Elijah suspected that it would only get worse as they reached new heights. Finally, after nearly a week of fighting through the enormous complex, they found something novel. ¡°They¡¯re so lifelike,¡± Sadie said, leaning closer to an ice sculpture depicting a man in a robe. ¡°I can even see the pores.¡± The sculpture was not the only one, either. There were nearly a hundred of them scattered throughout the enormous chamber. With no rhyme or reason to the layout, the setting looked both chaotic and beautiful, if only for the artistry it would have taken to carve such detailed sculptures. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Those aren¡¯t sculptures,¡± Dat answered. ¡°What? Of course they are.¡± ¡°They¡¯re people,¡± Elijah guessed. It had taken him a few moments to recognize the same thing Dat had found. ¡°Or they used to be. It¡¯s¡­the ice is the same stuff we saw with the crops and the trees, but weaponized. This¡­this is a very bad place. We need to go. Now.¡± Just then, the doors through which they¡¯d just come clanged shut, and the ambient ethera in the chamber began to stir. 5-43. Nature Through a Different Lens Elijah immediately cast Healing Rain, then cycled Soothe onto each of his companions. At the same time, he whipped around, searching for the source of so much movement in the ambient ethera. Yet, he found nothing, even when he focused all of his attention on One with Nature. ¡°I have a really bad feeling about this, bro,¡± Dat said, holding his crossbow to his shoulder as he scanned their surroundings. ¡°A really bad feeling.¡± ¡°You jinxed it,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Now something terrible is going to happen.¡± Just then, the sound of cracking ice filled the air, drawing their attention to the statues all around them. Elijah peered closer, looking even deeper into the sense granted by One with Nature. And when he saw what was happening, his complexion turned pale. But before he could warn his companions, the first ice sculpture moved. ¡°What the ¨C¡± Kurik never got the chance to finish the exclamation, because the closest statue hit him with a backhanded blow that sent him flying across the chamber. He slammed into the ground, then slid to a stop a few feet later. Thankfully, Elijah¡¯s quick thinking with Soothe kept the dwarf from losing consciousness, but none of them could afford to pay any attention to his fate. Instead, they were busy reacting to the suddenly mobile statues all around them. Elijah had some insight into what was going on. As had been the case with the trees and crops, the ice in the sculptures wasn¡¯t really ice at all. Or not completely. Instead, it was a collection of microorganisms that used ethera to bond with their host. The ice was simply a byproduct of that process. However, unlike was the case with the flora, the frost bacteria in the statues had been weaponized and mobilized into something wholly different. Something extremely dangerous. ¡°Don¡¯t let it get on you!¡± he screamed. ¡°What? Why?¡± demanded Sadie, already embracing her personal shield. She also used Consecrated Shield on Dat, leaving Elijah and Kurik to fend for themselves. It was a bad move, considering that the dwarf was the most vulnerable among them, but Elijah wasn¡¯t going to tell her how to use her own abilities. Backing away from the statues, Elijah answered, ¡°The ice is like those fungi that take over insects. I don¡¯t know how I didn¡¯t immediately see it. It¡¯s not symbiotic. It¡¯s parasitic. Or viral, maybe.¡± Indeed, the ice-based microorganisms had more in common with a virus than with fungi, but old, Earth-based classifications were wholly ineffective in describing their new world. It would take someone much more intelligent ¨C and diligent ¨C than Elijah to understand it all. But for now, he only needed to destroy it. So, as the rest of the statues came alive, Elijah leveled his staff at one, then used Storm¡¯s Fury. A bolt of lightning arced out, slamming into the nearest statue¡¯s chest. Oddly, Elijah recognized the shape as a human, and in a moment of clarity just before the thing went stumbling backward, he realized that the sculptures almost assuredly had once been other Trial-takers who hadn¡¯t had the misfortune of running into an ice worm. Instead, they¡¯d entered the challenge through the front door. It was a clear warning, and one they could not ignore. ¡°Retreat! Go full defensive,¡± he shouted. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Sadie yelled over the sound of grating ice. She kicked out, connecting with one of the statues. Thankfully, they moved slowly and were quite light, so the result of her kick sent the thing crashing backward into the other ice sculptures. However, when she pulled her foot back, she nearly stumbled as her leg collapsed under her. Elijah sent a cast of Nature¡¯s Bloom her way, and she recovered. ¡°I have an idea.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°No time to explain! Just do what I asked! Please!¡± Sadie clearly didn¡¯t like the notion of following his orders, but she wasn¡¯t willing to argue in the middle of a battle. So, she and Dat retreated to where Kurik was struggling to rise, collected the dwarf, then carved a path to one of the chamber¡¯s corners. Without a means of escape ¨C the doors had already sealed behind them ¨C the most they could hope for was a defensible position. That was what the corner represented, though it was far from ideal. As Sadie used her skills to defend the others, Elijah leaped as high as he could manage, then shifted into the Shape of the Sky. He flew to the vaulted ceiling, latching onto one of the beams before adopting his human form. Clutching the stone buttress with one hand, he extended his staff, pointed it at one of the statues, and used Nature¡¯s Rebuke. He had good reason to expect it to work. After all, the creatures were made of the same stuff that had suffused the ice worm, and he suspected that that was the reason his spell ¨C or the system ¨C had classified it as unnatural. Because that was what the living ice was. It had taken him some time to come to that conclusion, but now that he had, it seemed so obvious. Ice wasn¡¯t supposed to be alive, but even if it was, it certainly wasn¡¯t meant to be weaponized. And he prayed that his spell would recognize that fact. Nature¡¯s Rebuke blasted into the statue, and for a moment, there was no indication that it had done a thing. The spell didn¡¯t come with any fancy lights or outward effects. Instead, it was entirely invisible, completely silent, and wholly unimpressive looking. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Until the ice sculpture started to melt. At first, it was represented by a sheen of moisture on its exterior, but then, it started to look like someone had shoved an ice cube into a microwave. It melted, leaving a puddle of water on the ground. That was all the encouragement Elijah needed before he got to work, casting the spell on every ice sculpture in the chamber. As one statue after the next melted, the air filled with more swirling ethera. Moreover, the puddles tried to coalesce and reform into ice crystals, but Elijah¡¯s spell prevented them from amalgamating. Meanwhile, Sadie and the others fought for their lives, defending themselves as Elijah clambered to cast his spell, over and over, as quickly as possible. Then, at last, the final sculpture melted, leaving a floor covered in a sheen of water. The puddles were not inert, though. Indeed, they continued to pull themselves back together. Elijah refused to allow that, continuously casting Nature¡¯s Rebuke until, minutes later, the water evaporated. The ambient ethera stilled, and Elijah finally resumed his flight form before gliding down to join his companions. He spent a few more moments healing them until a voice echoed through the chamber. ¡°How dare you?¡± it demanded in a hiss. Elijah searched for the voice¡¯s owner, yet he found nothing. ¡°You come into my domain, kill my servants, then destroy my work? Who do you think you are?¡± ¡°Show yourself!¡± Sadie shouted, having fully recovered. She¡¯d only taken a few hits during the fight, though things would have been much worse if Elijah hadn¡¯t destroyed the sculptures so efficiently. Finally, Elijah found the culprit. They were one of the Ka¡¯alaki, though a larger and more muscular example of the race. More importantly, they were entirely invisible. The only reason Elijah found them was because of One with Nature, and even that sense was barely adequate to the task. There was no void, as there had been with previously encountered invisible opponents like the vampire he¡¯d killed in the Magister¡¯s Estate. Instead, he could only sense a slight agitation in the ambient ethera. Elijah aimed his staff at the spot and let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning tore across the chamber, scorching into the invisible Ka¡¯alaki. They flashed into visibility, though seemed entirely unhurt. ¡°You will regret that, intruder.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not nice to hide from your guests,¡± Elijah quipped, his own ethera stirring as he prepared a number of spells. ¡°Guests? Invaders. How many have you killed, then? Hundreds of my loyal subjects. It is bad enough that we have been exiled, that our planet has been excised, but then you slaughter my innocent retainers?¡± the creature demanded. ¡°Have you no shame? No morality?¡± ¡°They¡¯re stalling,¡± Elijah said, feeling tendrils of living ice creeping across the chamber¡¯s floor. ¡°On it,¡± said Dat. Then, miraculously, he disappeared even from Elijah¡¯s perception. At the same time, Sadie stepped forward, and Kurik drew an arrow from his quiver. For his part, Elijah focused on what he was feeling, and he didn¡¯t like it. Not one bit. There was something familiar, yet corrupted about the Ka¡¯alaki and those tendrils of ice. Something disturbing. Something unavoidable. ¡°You¡¯re a Druid,¡± he said. That surprised the creature, and they cocked their head to the side in confusion. Then, their shoulders sagged. ¡°Once upon a time, that was true,¡± they said. ¡°So long ago¡­¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Elijah asked, stepping past Sadie. He was disgusted by what he felt, but there was still a undefinable kinship stretching between him and the other Druid. He wanted answers. He needed to fix the horror of what he felt, to remove the pulsating tumor marring what should have been a beautiful thing. Because it was obvious that the Druid had been corrupted, that they no longer served nature. Elijah needed to know why. ¡°What did not?¡± sighed the Druid. ¡°Do you know what happens to nature on an excised world?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Cut off from the world tree, it becomes something else. Something wild and free, but also debased. The taint infects everything, though those of us closest to it feel it most keenly.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve felt the world out there,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. A little different, but¡­¡± ¡°Silly child. Nature cannot be denied, even without the input of the mighty World Tree. But we are not so enduring. Nor are our domains. Once, I was the steward of a magnificent grove of ice. The living ice you¡¯ve encountered was once benign. Beneficial, even. But now, it is all I can do to control it. The perversion of the excisement made it so,¡± the Druid said. ¡°That is why you must surrender.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°You are not the only one participating in a Trial,¡± the creature said. ¡°Ours is simpler. More dire. We need only kill your people, down to the last individual, and we will be reconnected to the World Tree. That will save this planet. Otherwise¡­we are doomed. Even with the protection of the Corruptor, we will succumb. One deity ¨C even one as powerful as the Lightning Emperor ¨C cannot hold back the Ravener for all eternity. He will fall, and with him, the rest of us will be consumed. It is inevitable.¡± ¡°Inevitable,¡± Elijah echoed. ¡°Why was this planet excised.¡± ¡°That is not important,¡± said the Ka¡¯alaki Druid. ¡°The only thing you should be asking yourself is if you believe the lives of a few thousand of your people are more important than an entire planet.¡± ¡°We can leave,¡± Elijah suggested. ¡°The system has given us that option.¡± ¡°For now.¡± ¡°Are you saying that we¡¯ll be cut off?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°I am. The system is only there to help those who help themselves. It does not care. It is incapable of taking pity. If you do not give it the results it is designed to seek, then it will change the entire paradigm. It is a machine, and one with a purpose. To it, nothing else matters.¡± ¡°Who did you betray?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The system notification we received after entering this challenge called you the Betrayer,¡± Elijah explained, assuming that the Druid was the object of their task. ¡°Who did you betray that it gets you that label from the system?¡± ¡°Everyone,¡± the Druid answered. Then, they added in a quiet voice, ¡°And everything.¡± Just then, the floor exploded as vines of ice and corruption erupted through the tiles. Elijah was ready for it, though, and he shoved Sadie and Kurik out of the way. The tendrils themselves were as thick as Elijah¡¯s waist, so when they hit the ground, they did so with enough force to crack stone. The shockwave of the impact sent Elijah and his companions tumbling to the side. But his quick action only gave them a moment¡¯s respite, because a dozen other icy vines were coming their way. Elijah readied himself, letting loose with his various spells. Precipitation began to fall, bathing them in healing as he cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke on one of the vines. It took hold, and Elijah sensed that its damage was accelerated and enhanced by the unnaturalness of the icy vines. However, they were so large and powerful that he knew that their dissolution wouldn¡¯t come quickly enough to save them. Then, suddenly, the vines quivered and fell inert, crashing to the floor before they¡¯d even had a chance to get started with the devastation they were intended to bring forth. And when the dust settled, Elijah saw that the Druid had fallen. Standing over him was Dat, his shortsword covered in blood. ¡°Good job keeping him distracted, bro,¡± the Witch Hunter said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I could¡¯ve snuck up on him otherwise.¡± 5-44. A Constant Threat An arrow whistled past Miguel¡¯s face, barely nicking his cheek before thudding into the wooden frame of the wagon. He couldn¡¯t spare even a second to ruminate on how close he¡¯d come to being killed, because it was all he could do to sweep his sword out and knock an oncoming spear to the side. Even when he used all of his Strength, he barely managed to redirect the weapon before using Impale. As the skill took effect, he skewered the spear-wielder in the gut, then ripped his sword free. The motion tore a gaping hole in the man¡¯s midsection, spilling his foul-smelling intestines onto the ground a second later. The bandit screamed, abandoning his spear in an effort to corral his innards. He was unsuccessful, and they slipped between his fingers to snake their way to the ground. More importantly, the distraction gave Miguel the opportunity he needed to end the threat. The bandit died with half his neck severed, freeing Miguel to focus on the rest of the caravan¡¯s defenses. And things were not going well. Surrounded by the screams of the wounded and dying, the battlefield had become a hellish example of how quickly civilization could dissolve. The bandits had come in the dead of night, and the darkness only added to the confusion. Fortunately, the encircled wagons maintained a few of their ethereal lamps; otherwise, the battle might¡¯ve been over before it even started. Soon enough, Miguel found his next target. Or targets, given that there were two of them. A pair of tall, thin figures wearing leather armor had cornered one of the teamsters ¨C old Hammond, if Miguel wasn¡¯t mistaken. The dwarf was trying to fend them off with his quarterstaff, but their movements showed the difference between a combat class and someone who¡¯d chosen the route of the noncombatant. Miguel raced forward, abandoning his previous position. However, he did retrieve his spear from where he¡¯d previously dropped it. He didn¡¯t sheathe his sword, though. Instead, he hefted the spear like a javelin, took a crow hop, then let it loose. It flew through the air like a ballistae bolt, hitting one of the bandits in the ribs and launching her off her feet. Wincing at the sound of the woman¡¯s high-pitched scream, Miguel forced his mind to remain on task. He didn¡¯t like killing anyone, let alone a woman, but she had chosen her path. She had become a bandit, preying on what she thought was a defenseless caravan. So, she deserved the spear she¡¯d gotten through the ribs. Or that was what he would later tell himself in a vain attempt to remove the guilt from the situation. The fact was that he¡¯d been raised not to hit women, and even though the justification for that distinction had disappeared the moment the World Tree¡¯s touch had removed gender from the equation of physical power, old lessons were difficult to completely discard. In either case, that was an issue for later. For the moment, he was wholly focused on the teamster and his remaining attacker. The bandit was a swordsman, and he clearly had some sort of skills that enhanced his physical prowess. Hammond did his best, but he just wasn¡¯t a combatant, and he quickly took a blade to the chest. As he closed on the bandit, Miguel prayed that the wound wasn¡¯t mortal. He liked the old dwarf. Keeping his mind on track, he used Charge, increasing his movement speed by three-hundred percent. As he covered the distance between him and his target in a blink, he used Enrage. It was the only thing that kept him from being ripped apart. How the bandit had gotten turned around so quickly, Miguel had no idea. What he did know, however, was that the maneuver had nearly spelled his doom. As it was, he took a sword slash to his hip. Though it was partially deflected by his armor, it still carved a gaping wound that was deep enough to expose bone. More troublingly, it carried with it enough momentum to stagger Miguel. That told him two things. First, that he was in big trouble. Losing his footing was one of the worst things that could happen in any battle, and as such, he was suddenly extremely vulnerable. The second thing he realized was that he was in a much worse situation than he¡¯d first thought, because the swordsman was clearly stronger and faster than him. The only thing he had on his side was technique. ¡°You killed her!¡± screamed the bandit in a deep voice filled with rage and sorrow. ¡°You fucking killed her!¡± Miguel barely managed to keep himself from falling to the ground, which was likely the only reason he wasn¡¯t immediately beheaded. As it was, he parried the oncoming blade at the last second, and even though he absorbed some of the swing¡¯s momentum, his own sword was nearly ripped out of his hands. He maintained his grip, though, if only just, and after stymying the man¡¯s first attack, Miguel followed the parry with a thrust that took the other swordsman in the side. The weapon skated off the bandit¡¯s ribs, doing very little damage. More distressingly, the blade splintered. It was at that moment that Miguel wished he¡¯d chosen a different class. While in Norcastle, he¡¯d had a couple of days to look around, and he¡¯d found himself drawn to the district known as Crafter¡¯s Circle. It was there that he met a Woodcarver who Miguel had commissioned to carve a series of weapons and a set of armor. He¡¯d only been able to afford low-grade wood, but he¡¯d hoped that his skills, Natural Armor Affinity and Weapons of Wood might make the difference. And in the early parts of the battle, they had performed admirably. The armor had even deflected a couple of arrows and, only a few moments before, saved him from near-certain death. And the weapons had done well enough to get the job done. Now, though, he was beginning to see the downsides of using wooden weapons. He didn¡¯t have time to dwell on it, though. Instead, he ducked beneath another blow meant to decapitate him, then kicked the man¡¯s knee. It buckled inward, and Miguel dashed forward in a shoulder charge that took the unbalanced bandit in the chest. The man toppled over, hitting the ground with a thud. Knowing he didn¡¯t have any leeway to hesitate, Miguel pounced, using the broken splinters of his sword as a short dagger. He fell upon the man, aiming his ruined blade for the most vulnerable bits he could find. The attack took the bandit in the eye, the jagged remnants of his sword plunging deep into the socket and piercing the man¡¯s brain. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. He went limp a moment later. Miguel looked up to see that the battle had ended, and the handful of other guards were staring at him in mingled shock and awe. ¡°Damn, kid,¡± said one of the older guards. Her name was Meredith, and she was even older than his mother. Though, like most of the people who¡¯d survived the world¡¯s transformation, she was as physically fit as someone half her age. More so, when attributes were taken into account. She was also one of the new additions from Norcastle, and she¡¯d chosen to guard the caravan in hopes of going to Ironshore and visiting the tower off the coast of his uncle¡¯s island. ¡°You did a number on him. You know who that was?¡± Miguel pushed the long strands of bloody hair from his eyes and shook his head. ¡°No. Should I?¡± he asked. ¡°That was Slim. Steven Rooker. Was a bad guy even before the world went to shit,¡± she said, her Irish brogue becoming even more pronounced. ¡°He took to banditry back when Norcastle was still just a collection of families who¡¯d taken refuge in the church. Been a thorn in everyone¡¯s side ever since.¡± Miguel glanced at the corpse beneath him, then said, ¡°Not anymore.¡± As he picked himself up, Meredith laughed. And when he was finally standing, she slapped him on the shoulder, saying, ¡°That¡¯s the spirit. I always thought your generation was doomed, what with all the Tiks and Toks and whatnot. Most of what I saw in Norcastle confirmed that. But this¡­this gives me a little hope.¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± Miguel said with a shake of his head. ¡°Glad for your approval.¡± Meredith laughed, then threw her arm around him. ¡°I like you, kid. Reminds me of my idiot son,¡± she said. ¡°He was a smartass, too.¡± ¡°What happened to him?¡± ¡°Smarted off to the wrong bloke,¡± she answered. ¡°Oh¡­sorry.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be. He didn¡¯t get killed or anything. Just put in the hospital. He straightened up that smart mouth in a hurry after that,¡± she explained. ¡°Went to school, met a girl, moved to France. That last part¡¯s the only mistake he made after getting set straight. The girl¡¯s good for him, though.¡± ¡°Have you seen him since the world changed?¡± Miguel asked, trying ¨C and failing ¨C to pull himself away from the woman. ¡°Nope. But I¡¯m sure he¡¯s okay,¡± she said. Miguel didn¡¯t ask how she knew such a thing. More people than any of them could count had died when the World Tree had touched Earth, so simply assuming that a loved one had made it was quite a stretch. However, he¡¯d also learned not to ask too many questions about that sort of thing. People didn¡¯t appreciate being reminded ¨C by perfect strangers, no less ¨C of their missing families or friends. Instead, he let himself be dragged along as she explained how she¡¯d been making a living as an adventurer, running towers whenever she could find a new one. Finally, she said, ¡°Lost most of my team up north. Nasty tower, that one. Only two survivors. Me and our Healer. And he decided to settle down. Leave the adventuring life behind, so to speak. Opened up a tavern, of all things. Such a waste. Good beer, though. Anyway, my point is that I¡¯ve got an eye for talent, you see? And boy, you¡¯ve got it. Talent, I mean.¡± ¡°Thanks?¡± ¡°I¡¯m prepared to extend an offer to you. You join my team, and you¡¯ll get an equal share of the loot. Minus expenses, of course,¡± she said. ¡°For a young adventurer like yourself, you won¡¯t find a better deal.¡± ¡°I¡¯m half your level.¡± ¡°Not a problem. You¡¯ll catch up in no time,¡± she said. ¡°Call it an investment.¡± Miguel shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ll have to think about it,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t think too long,¡± she said, pulling her arm away. ¡°I¡¯ll want an answer as soon as we get to this Irontown or whatever. I plan to hit that tower as soon as possible, and I don¡¯t want to spend weeks lounging around.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll let you know before then,¡± he said. They were still almost a week away from Ironshore, and though his initial reaction was to refuse Meredith¡¯s offer, he chose to give it its due in terms of consideration. But then again, she was all alone, which meant that she didn¡¯t really have a team to begin with so maybe he would have longer than expected to make a decision. Regardless, he had other things begging for his attention. The first was the clean-up, which was necessary if they wanted to avoid being overrun by hungry monsters. So, he and the rest of the teamsters and guards pooled their efforts to gather the dead. Most of them were bandits, but there were a couple of members of the caravan who hadn¡¯t made it. Those, they wrapped in preserving cloth and sealed into coffins. A trek of any distance was inevitably dangerous, and the caravan¡¯s provisioner had come prepared. The bandits got no such consideration, and they were dragged away and dumped unceremoniously into a mass grave. After their possessions were looted, at least. What little they had was thrown together into the caravan¡¯s stockpile, and the items would be sold when they reached their destination, with the proceeds divided amongst the survivors. It was all so routine that Miguel almost forgot that they¡¯d killed more than a dozen people. But he had one reminder of just that, and he couldn¡¯t even begin to ignore it. Congratulations! You have reached level 20! Attributes have been automatically assigned based on class. He liked the idea of gaining more attributes, but he was far more interested in the fact that level twenty should have netted him a new ability. He¡¯d already gotten Woodsman¡¯s Constitution, Wood Armor Affinity, and Wood Weapon Affinity. And at level sixteen, he¡¯d gained Natural Focus:
Natural Focus Sharpen your senses, perceiving things you otherwise would not. Effectiveness dependent on potency of Nature attunement.
For Miguel, it meant that, when he had the buff active, his senses were doubly effective. That worked hand-in-hand with his level eighteen skill:
Tracking Find and follow trails. Effectiveness dependent Ethera attribute, senses, and experience.
It wasn¡¯t as simple as the description made it seem. He¡¯d only had a few opportunities to test it, but when he had, he¡¯d been incredibly impressed. So long as he knew what he was looking for, he could discern trails that no one else could see. Even experienced trackers couldn¡¯t compete with the skill. He could even use it in the middle of a city like Norcastle, which shouldn¡¯t have been possible. But now, he¡¯d earned a new spell, and he was hoping that it was something more active. So, with bated breath, he sat atop one of the wagons and looked at the latest addition to his spellbook:
Pledge of the Green Warden Pledge yourself to a grove. When you do so, you will gain power in relation to the grove¡¯s strength. If it falls, so too shall you fall.
It was not what he¡¯d expected, but he sensed that this new ability was the core of the Green Warden¡¯s purpose. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t need to search for a grove to which to pledge himself. However, he was a little worried about the last line of the spell¡¯s description. In any case, he was excited to see just what sort of power the Pledge of the Green Warden would give him. First, he needed to make it back to Ironshore, though. So, Miguel pushed those thoughts out of mind and continued his watch. After one unsuccessful bandit attack, there was little chance of another, but he didn¡¯t intend to be surprised if one did come. 5-45. The Aftermath ¡°What the hell?¡± Elijah demanded, glaring at the Witch Hunter. ¡°What?¡± asked Dat, an expression of wide-eyed innocence on his face as he stood over the Ka¡¯alaki Druid¡¯s body. ¡°He¡¯s not dead.¡± Elijah looked closer, concentrating on One with Nature. It had gone wild during the previous encounter, obscuring his senses to a large degree. But now everything was back to normal, which let him confirm Dat¡¯s claim. The Druid was still alive, though his body was entirely devoid of ethera. There was still some in his Core, but the pathways of the Soul were blocked, sealing it away. ¡°What did you do?¡± Elijah demanded. ¡°I¡¯m a Witch Hunter, bro. Killing and disabling powerful magic users is my thing,¡± Dat answered. ¡°Uh¡­in the opposite order, though.¡± Until that point, Elijah had begun to look at Dat as something like moral support. Sure, the man was strong enough to contribute in battle, and he made for a passable scout. However, he didn¡¯t really excel at anything. Now, Elijah could see what made the Witch Hunter special. The Druid was powerful. Not only was he a higher level than Elijah, but his cultivation was far superior. Just one look at the Ka¡¯alaki¡¯s soul was enough to confirm that he¡¯d progressed much further down his path than Elijah had traversed his own. The network of pathways were dizzyingly complex, weaving together in a maze that Elijah could scarcely comprehend, much less copy. But it represented an opportunity he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d ever get again. And even if he was afforded a similar chance, it wouldn¡¯t be for a long, long time. So, he asked, ¡°How long can you hold him?¡± ¡°They have genders now?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I think so. I was just following Dat¡¯s lead.¡± Indeed, Dat had referred to the Druid via male pronouns, and given that the Witch Hunter had access to more information than anyone else, Elijah had assumed that there was a reason for the shift. ¡°He¡¯s male,¡± Dat said. ¡°At least according to my skill. I guess there¡¯s always a question of whether or not it¡¯s talking about gender. It might refer to sex. And I don¡¯t know if it responds to someone who ¨C¡± ¡°Not the time, Dat,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Oh. Right.¡± ¡°Can you hold him there?¡± Elijah asked again. ¡°For about an hour,¡± Dat answered. ¡°Using that skill drained me, though. He¡¯ll recover after that, and I won¡¯t be able to do anything about it.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I need to study him. Just let me know when he¡¯s about to break free.¡± Then, he mentally dove into the task of memorizing the Druid¡¯s pathways. He knew that those complex patterns represented quite a hurdle, and he¡¯d been incapable of progressing to the second stage of Soul cultivation until he¡¯d cleared it. And even though he¡¯d been concentrating on reaching the Jade stage of Mind cultivation, he wasn¡¯t going to pass up an opportunity to ease his future path. So, he spent the next half hour meticulously studying the Druid¡¯s pathways and committing them to memory. But he quickly discovered that he was incapable of understanding even a small portion of that network. It didn¡¯t even resemble a tree, as he¡¯d expected. Instead, it was comprised of billions of tiny nodes, each one connected via a series of thin threads that Elijah likened to the human nervous system. Though that description was woefully insufficient to describe the sheer complexity on display. Then it hit him. What he was looking at was closer to a fungal colony ¨C as represented via those ethereal pathways ¨C than anything resembling a plant. However, it was far more complicated than any colony Elijah had ever seen, which suggested that the Druid was further along the path of cultivation than he¡¯d thought. ¡°You are a rodent staring up at the stars and pretending to understand the complexities of the cosmos,¡± rasped the fallen Druid, his mouth unmoving. He swallowed, ¡°It took me centuries to reach this point. You will learn nothing from studying me.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I will not be judged by the likes of you. I did what I thought necessary. The World Tree turned its back on us, and in my search for the power to save my people, I found new sources. Better sources. The system will turn on you, just as it turned on us.¡± ¡°This¡­this is a perversion of nature,¡± Elijah said, gesturing to the chamber. The once-living ice had frozen over, completely inert after it had been destroyed by Elijah¡¯s Nature¡¯s Rebuke spell. ¡°There is no such thing. If it exists, it is nature. I ¨C¡± One of his fingers twitched. Elijah barely noticed it before Sadie¡¯s sword descended, hacking through the Ka¡¯alaki¡¯s neck and severing his head. It rolled free with a disgusting squelch, spilling pale blood into a puddle on the floor. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°It recovered faster than normal,¡± she said, already wiping the blood from her blade. ¡°We couldn¡¯t risk it recovering.¡± ¡°Him.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Not ¡®it¡¯. Him. He was a person,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I know. That¡­thing was cloaked in evil stronger than anything I¡¯ve ever sensed,¡± she said. ¡°It lingers, even now.¡± Elijah shook his head. He wanted to understand the Druid, to discover how any servant of nature could have ever fallen so far. But the answer was simpler than he wanted to admit. It came down to priorities. Their world had been excised and cast adrift, and the Druid did what he thought he had to do to protect his people. He¡¯d sacrificed his principles, twisting them to fit a narrative that let him sleep at night, all in service of what sounded like an impossible goal. Had it driven him mad? Maybe. Or perhaps he¡¯d epitomized sanity and made the only viable choice he¡¯d seen. Elijah would never know. But what he did know was that the Trial was far more complicated than he¡¯d first thought. Not only were there still seven challenges out there, as well as the Immortals and their enigmatic leader, but two separate factions of natives as well. Added to that were the wraiths and the world¡¯s hostile wildlife, creating a perfect storm of danger that would likely kill more people than anyone expected. Elijah sighed. He¡¯d come into the Trial knowing it would be difficult, and he was fine with that. To him, it had seemed like a more elaborate tower. Yet, it was clear that it was far more than that. Sure, there was a possibility that the entire planet was populated the same way towers were, but Elijah didn¡¯t believe that was true. This was a real planet, with real people, all with real problems. And they¡¯d been pitted against one another ¨C natives against Trial-takers from Earth. There was no script to follow. No secret passageways to discover. No easy ways to defeat the powerful. In fact, Elijah only had to remember the dizzying complexity of the Druid¡¯s pathways to recognize that each and every one of the beings on the planet was far stronger than anyone on Earth. Not surprising, given that it had been scarcely more than five years since the World Tree had touched humanity. But it was a grim reminder that the challenges could very well end up far too dangerous to conquer. ¡°It¡¯s the Shackles, bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked, looking back. He¡¯d been staring at the Druid¡¯s headless corpse for some time. ¡°That¡¯s why he didn¡¯t obliterate us,¡± Dat explained. ¡°My skill says that it restricts them to the first realm. He was almost level five-hundred, but he didn¡¯t feel too much stronger than you.¡± ¡°He was.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Stronger,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°A lot stronger. His cultivation alone put him on a higher tier of power.¡± ¡°I think the bosses are supposed to be at the peak of the Mortal Realm,¡± Dat said, using another gaming term to describe the leaders. ¡°That makes sense, I guess,¡± Elijah said, still feeling a bit melancholy about everything he¡¯d witnessed. But one thing was absolutely clear ¨C if they wanted to conquer the challenges and overcome the Trial, they would need to get a lot stronger. They were all among the most powerful people on Earth, but they still had a ways to go before they reached the peak of the realm. He looked up at Dat, then shifted his gaze to Sadie and Kurik before saying, ¡°I think we need to get serious about progression.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t what we been doin¡¯?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°We¡¯ve been going through the motions,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I¡¯m talking about really focusing on cultivation, on pushing for more levels. This planet is going to kill us if we¡¯re not at our absolute best.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Starting with the reward.¡± The moment she¡¯d decapitated the Ka¡¯alaki Druid, a familiar white box had appeared nearby. It looked identical to the one that had contained the Seed of the Whistling Wind, though, at nearly ten feet wide and almost as tall, it was far larger. Because of the chest¡¯s size, Elijah was forced to adopt his guardian form, then let Dat climb onto his shoulders just to open it. And when they did, they all received appropriate notifications:
Congratulations for conquering the Challenge of the Ice Fortress. Progress: 2/9 Reward: Trunk of the Frozen Oak
When Elijah climbed to the lip of the open chest, he looked down to see that the reward was precisely what the name suggested. ¡°I was expecting a trunk, like a treasure chest,¡± Dat said. ¡°Maybe filled with jewels and coins. Not¡­a tree.¡± The trunk resembled those Elijah had seen in the subterranean forests, especially in regards to its crystalline structure. However, where those trees had been an amalgamation of roots and living ice, the trunk inside the chest was clearly a single organism. It didn¡¯t look all that dissimilar from the ice sculptures ¨C or frozen people, Elijah amended ¨C they¡¯d just fought. Though when he peered at it via the senses granted by One with Nature, he was comforted to find that it felt like a normal ¨C if powerful ¨C tree. ¡°What does it do?¡± Sadie asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but it¡¯s still alive,¡± he said. ¡°I bet if Nerthus got ahold of it, he could create an entire forest of ice trees.¡± ¡°Nerthus is your tree friend, right?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Spryggent. Kind of a tree spirit made of twisted branches and roots.¡± ¡°Cool, bro.¡± ¡°What do you mean when you say that we need to take progression more seriously? Do you have a plan?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I mean that I¡¯m going to build my cultivation cave, and everyone here is going to take advantage of it,¡± he said. ¡°Plus, I think we need to find a real Healer. I¡¯ve been doing okay with it, but we¡¯re not taking advantage of my full skillset.¡± ¡°We should grind, too,¡± Dat suggested. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Set up somewhere, kill everything we find,¡± he replied. ¡°Boring, but it¡¯s the best way to get experience.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know how I feel about that,¡± Elijah admitted. Killing was part of life, but the only time he¡¯d gone a quest of extermination ¨C at least outside of towers ¨C was when he and the hunters of Ironshore had tried to starve the orcs by killing all the prey animals in the area. That hadn¡¯t left him feeling particularly good about himself, and he never intended to repeat those actions. ¡°We¡¯ll focus on wraiths,¡± Sadie said. ¡°They¡¯re not strong, and individually, they don¡¯t give a lot of experience. But we can kill a lot of them, especially with Kurik¡¯s traps and your area abilities.¡± ¡°Fine. But first, we need to get this hunk of tree back to the Nexus Town so we can figure out what to do with it,¡± Elijah said. Then, a notion occurred to him. ¡°Wait¡­scratch that. I think I have a better idea.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°You¡¯ll see. But I¡¯m going to need everyone¡¯s help here. It¡¯ll be a pain, but you¡¯ll thank me when I¡¯m done,¡± he said. 5-46. Version Two ¡°Gods bedamned cold,¡± grumbled Kurik as he knelt beside one of the crops beneath the fortress. He cupped his hands, shoving his fingers beneath the frozen soil. From experience, Elijah knew that it took a fair bit of force to penetrate the ground, and in doing so, one would need to expose themselves to sub-freezing temperatures. He likened it to thrusting his fingers into a pool of liquid nitrogen, though with their inflated Constitutions and Ward of the Seasons, they were in no danger of snapping off any digits. Still, it was not comfortable, and even less so for someone like Kurik, who was quite sensitive to temperature changes. ¡°I ain¡¯t sensitive,¡± the dwarf growled, gently cupping the plant¡¯s roots and lifting it from the soil. ¡°I just don¡¯t like it s¡¯all. It ain¡¯t natural, this kinda cold.¡± ¡°Did I say that out loud?¡± asked Elijah, knowing the answer to that question. ¡°Could¡¯ve sworn I was only thinking it.¡± ¡°I hate you,¡± Kurik said. ¡°With the molten heart of the mountain.¡± ¡°Ouch. I thought we were buds,¡± Elijah said with a grin and a shake of his head as he harvested his own plant. Once he had it in hand ¨C roots and all ¨C he transferred it to a hastily built wooden trough. There were already fifteen plants in there, but there was room for nearly a dozen more. The plants themselves looked like crystalline flowers, but their stems and roots were far more mundane. However, instead of the parasitic living ice he¡¯d encountered in the fortress, this version felt far more natural. Perhaps the Druid had promoted their growth, but it seemed clear that they were native to the area. But Elijah wasn¡¯t sure that he would ever know for certain how much the so-called Betrayer had meddled with his environment. All he knew for sure was that the natural treasures felt right when he examined them via One with Nature, and he was experienced enough to trust that sense. Gradually, Elijah and the others filled the trough. Throughout, Kurik grumbled, but he didn¡¯t let that affect his work. Indeed, he took great care with the plants, demonstrating an eye for detail and a gentleness that said he¡¯d worked with delicate flora in the past. But then again, he was used to building often-intricate traps. That required a steady hand. Neither Dat nor Sadie were particularly happy with the task, either, though they didn¡¯t give voice to their displeasure. Whether that was because of some effort at stoicism or that their irritation was mitigated by the potential gains that awaited at the end of their labors, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure. But he was grateful that they kept their complaints to themselves. Soon, the trough was loaded, and Elijah combined his efforts with that of the others as they carried it through the labyrinthine system of tunnels until they reached a flight of rough steps that had been carved into the stone. It led to the surface, where they found a cluster of stone buildings that had once played host to a squad of yetis. They were dead now, killed when Elijah and his companions had stumbled upon them three days before. They didn¡¯t stop in the tiny settlement, and instead, trekked across the landscape for another two hours before coming to a stop at the entrance to a cave. Only then did they set the trough down, and everyone but Elijah retreated to a fire pit they¡¯d established on the day they¡¯d found the cave. But Elijah¡¯s labor had just begun, and he started the process of arduously transplanting the natural treasures into the cave, then planting them according to his instincts. The cave itself was large and cylindrical, with a ceiling that extended a hundred feet above the surface. But at only thirty feet across, it was narrow. More importantly, tendrils of living ice ¨C the uncorrupted sort that seemed entirely natural ¨C flowed along the walls, emitting bitter cold and dense ethera. Already, Elijah had planted the Trunk of the Frozen Oak in the center of the cave, and to his immense relief, the hunk of wood ¨C it truly did just look like a giant, crystalline log ¨C had begun to sprout branches. They were short, stubby things with prickly leaves of pure ice, but they proved that his plan had a good chance of working. Around that oak, Elijah had already planted three troughs¡¯ worth of treasure flowers. A few had taken quite a while to take root, even with him flaring Nature¡¯s Bounty the entire time, but at present, they were just as healthy ¨C if not moreso ¨C than they had been in their original fields. But he was only half done. So, after spending a few more hours laboriously planting the small flowers, he gathered the others and embarked upon another gathering expedition. This time, even Sadie and Dat complained about leaving the fire, but they went along anyway. If they couldn¡¯t handle the gathering process, then there was no way they could withstand the biting cold of Elijah¡¯s new cultivation cave. Over the next week, they worked tirelessly to fill the cave with plants. In addition, Elijah had found a couple of other varieties of icy flora that gave the cave a slightly different flavor, enhancing the ethera. More importantly, it brought balance and, of course, beauty to the cave. Once the cavern was populated, Elijah settled in to enhance its growth and infuse the area with his essence via Nature¡¯s Bounty, One with Nature, and Healing Rain. It was not a pleasant experience, spending each subsequent day being bathed in sleet while surrounded by sub-zero temperatures. However, for Elijah, it felt more like a cold shower than the debilitating and deadly environment it would have been without his distinct advantages. It was fortunate, because it granted him the ability to truly appreciate what he¡¯d built. Of what he had grown. Stepping back, he stared at it in awe. The cave floor was entirely covered in life, with each one glittering with ethereal light. A slight breeze flowed through, rustling the frozen oak¡¯s prickly leaves, and the rivers of icy growth flowing through the walls shone with ethereal power. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The air was dense with ethera, thick enough to rival ¨C or even surpass ¨C his cultivation cave back home. At first, he¡¯d been a bit disappointed with how easily he¡¯d managed to create such a powerful environment ¨C after all, back on his island, it had taken months of growth to achieve similar results ¨C but he comforted himself with the knowledge that the excised world¡¯s ambient ethera was much denser than it was on Earth. It wasn¡¯t quite at the level of his island, but it was close enough that the ability to build such a powerful cultivation environment should not have been surprising. Especially considering the sheer number of natural treasures he¡¯d used in its creation. Even when he¡¯d first harvested them, they had shown great power, but after weeks of his attention, they¡¯d grown even stronger. But now, he had a slight problem and a choice to make. The first concerned his own cultivation. Now that he had a suitable environment, he needed to confront the fact that none of his methods of advancing his Mind had proven fruitful. He still had a few things he wanted to try, but without a proper technique, the environment would be wasted. In short, he couldn¡¯t do anything with the masterpiece that was his cultivation cave until he knew how to advance. So, the choice was simple ¨C did he spend who knew how long focusing on trying one method after another in a quest to advance to the Jade stage of Mind cultivation, or did he and his companions continue on with the rest of their plans? They¡¯d spoken of it quite a bit, and they¡¯d resolved to continue focusing on the challenges, just like before. However, if they found somewhere that represented what Dat called a ¡°premium grinding spot¡±, they would take full advantage of it. What qualified an area for that label was anyone¡¯s guess, though. Regardless, it was not Elijah¡¯s choice to make alone. So, after taking one last look at his creation, he left the cave and joined his companions around the fire. They didn¡¯t look so miserable as before, but the cold was obviously still affecting them. Kurik in particular had moved so close to the fire pit that his clothes had begun to smolder. He didn¡¯t seem to care, though. Elijah sat down and, without ceremony, announced, ¡°It¡¯s done. It¡¯s ready if any of you want to give it a shot. I¡¯ll warn you that advancing your cultivation is rarely a painless process. And it usually takes weeks to do it properly. I think it¡¯ll be better once the cave has a chance to marinate a bit, so we may want to wait. You¡¯re also going to need to be prepared for the technique. I¡¯ve already told you all what worked for me, but I can¡¯t say it¡¯ll be the same for you. And if you¡¯re advancing your Core, I can guarantee your experience will be a lot different from what I went through.¡± Indeed, what he¡¯d gone through to take his first steps into the Whelp stage of Core cultivation had been unique to those following the Path of the Dragon. As such, there was no chance any of the others would experience something similar. ¡°Can we see it?¡± asked Dat. Elijah shrugged. ¡°If you want, but it¡¯s extremely cold in there,¡± he said. ¡°Like, if it¡¯s warmer than a hundred below zero¡­¡± ¡°Fahrenheit or Celsius?¡± ¡°He¡¯s American, Dat,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I¡¯ll have you know that I was a scientist before the world changed, and I used the metric system way more than the imperial system,¡± Elijah said. It was a lie. He¡¯d grown up with imperial measurements, so that was automatically how he categorized things. At work, he¡¯d had to convert measurements in his mind. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Cold is cold.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth. You humans and your fascination with exact numbers. You¡¯re practically goblins.¡± ¡°Do you want to see it or not?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°We also need to think about what we¡¯re going to do when we leave.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°If someone else comes here, they¡¯re going to tear everything apart, harvest all the plants, and chop down my tree,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Those are all natural treasures. Do you have any idea what that¡¯s worth?¡± ¡°A lot?¡± Dat guessed. ¡°More than a lot. Natural treasures aren¡¯t exactly rare on Earth ¨C or here, really ¨C but they¡¯re almost always protected by a powerful guardian. Fighting them is a bad idea unless you¡¯re pretty strong, and even then, it can be a death sentence. For instance, there was this boar terrorizing the plains south of Argos. No weapons could penetrate its hide, and it was maddened by the loss of its natural treasure. It ¨C¡± ¡°Wait, how does that work?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Guardians are here because the World Tree wants them here. They¡¯re tied to their treasures, and usually, they¡¯ll die before they let anyone harvest them. But sometimes, people figure out a way to steal them out from under a guardian. And it drives them crazy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ve seen some that recovered, but it¡¯s just as likely that they¡¯ll go on a rampage. At that point, they¡¯re no better than monsters.¡± ¡°Is there a difference between monsters and guardians?¡± she followed up. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Fundamentally? No. They all have similar origins, from what I understand. But monsters aren¡¯t supposed to be here. Or on Earth, I guess. They kind of got picked up by accident when the World Tree was integrating the planet. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve been told, at least. I don¡¯t know how true it is, but it seemed right to me. My point is that natural treasures are hard to come by, and because of that, they¡¯re extremely valuable. They¡¯re also used in various tradeskills.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Saide said, tapping her lip. ¡°Then we should seal the cave and camouflage it until we¡¯re ready to use it.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Even then, I just hope nobody stumbles on it.¡± ¡°I could trap it.¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah replied to Kurik¡¯s suggestion. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill someone just for stumbling onto our cave. If it comes to that, I¡¯d rather they just use it.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no shame in protectin¡¯ what¡¯s yours,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°I said no, Kurik.¡± ¡°Fine. If it keeps us from havin¡¯ to come back here to this gods bedamned cold, I¡¯ll do whatever you say.¡± ¡°You know you¡¯re going to have to use the cave, right?¡± ¡°I know! Don¡¯t mean I¡¯m happy ¡®bout it!¡± That drew a chuckle at the dwarf¡¯s expense before Elijah led everyone to the cave. They were suitably awed by it, but no one wanted to stick around for more than a few minutes. It was one thing to steel oneself against such torturous cold in the name of advancing cultivation, but something else altogether to do so with no discernible benefit. In the end, no one was ready to use the cave for its intended purpose, so they spent another few days piling rocks in front of the entrance, then arranging the local flora to disguise their work. By the time they¡¯d finished, it was indiscernible from any other pile of rocks, so they left the area hoping that they¡¯d done enough to protect their investment. Only time would tell, though. And just like that, they left the second challenge and headed back to the Nexus Town to find the next step. 5-47. Leaderboards ¡°I¡¯ll meet you guys later,¡± Elijah said as he zeroed in on a familiar figure. ¡°Same place we stayed last time, right?¡± Kurik said, ¡°I need to restock on some trap supplies anyway.¡± ¡°I wanted to see if there was any news on the other challenges. We have seven more to go,¡± Sadie added. Dat shrugged, ¡°Guess I¡¯ll just go hang out with Atticus.¡± With that decided, Elijah focused on his surroundings. They¡¯d just returned to the Nexus Town to find that very little had changed about the settlement itself. The buildings were all the same, but there were still a couple of key differences. First, there were far fewer people around, prompting Elijah to wonder if that was because more Trial-takers had died or if they were merely away from the safe zone at the moment. He hoped for the latter, but he fully expected to discover that the former was to blame for the lower population. The second difference was even more obvious. The market square surrounding the Branch was entirely empty, lacking the temporary stalls that had occupied the space the last time Elijah had been in town. It only took him a few moments to recognize that those merchants and tradespeople hadn¡¯t gone back to Earth. Instead, they¡¯d established premises in the abandoned buildings surrounding the square. There was plenty of space, so it only made sense that they¡¯d exchanged their tents for more permanent structures. Still, it made the square look like a ghost town, which was the only reason Elijah had noticed the presence of someone he hadn¡¯t thought about since leaving on his latest expedition. In fact, he¡¯d almost forgotten him completely, but the man¡¯s companions still loomed large in his mind. He¡¯d always liked dogs, after all. As Elijah approached, he knew he¡¯d been noticed. But unlike the last time he¡¯d encountered the pack of dogs, their human handler ¨C or leader, perhaps ¨C didn¡¯t scurry away. Instead, he stood his ground, allowing Elijah to reacquaint himself with the man¡¯s appearance. The first thing Elijah noticed was the man¡¯s dirty and disheveled state. His beard was matted, and his hair hung greasily to his shoulders. Like Elijah himself, he was barefoot, but his clothing was ripped and torn, looking as if he hadn¡¯t changed his outfit since the world had transformed. If it had been new and in a better state of repair, the attire wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in a big box electronics store. Khaki pants, a blue, polo-style shirt ¨C it was deceptively normal. But with everything ripped and torn, the man looked like he¡¯d been living in the wilderness for years. Perhaps he had. ¡°Hey,¡± Elijah said upon approach. He lifted his hand in greeting, continuing, ¡°I didn¡¯t get a chance to introduce myself last time. I¡¯m Elijah.¡± One of the dogs ¨C a tiny shih tzu ¨C raced in his direction, then leaped into his arms. He caught the little ball of fluff, and it immediately climbed his chest to enthusiastically lick his face. That was when the rest of the dogs rushed him, barking excitedly as they danced around, impatient for their turn at his attention. The only outlier was a chihuahua who looked at him suspiciously. ¡°Oscar,¡± the man rasped, his voice rough with obvious disuse. ¡°Ramirez?¡± The man nodded, and Elijah took a deep breath. ¡°You¡¯re one of the top names on the list,¡± he said. Ever since seeing the first power rankings, he¡¯d been fascinated by those at the top. And even from the very beginning, Oscar Ramirez had occupied one of the first three spots. Aside from when Thor or Elijah himself had taken the top position, Oscar had been number one. That meant he was exceedingly powerful. Elijah set the dog down, then knelt to give some attention to the others. As he scratched a rottweiler mix¡¯s ears, he said, ¡°You have a nature attunement, don¡¯t you? No ¨C you don¡¯t have to answer. I can feel it.¡± ¡°I¡­I do,¡± Oscar said. ¡°You don¡¯t have to answer now, but I have this grove,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s very beneficial to people like us. You¡¯re welcome to visit.¡± ¡°Thank you for the offer,¡± the man answered. ¡°But we must go.¡± Miraculously, the entire pack of dogs all looked back at him, then let out a collective whine. He countered with a low growl, and the animals meekly returned to his side. Elijah persisted, ¡°How about a meal, then? I have plenty of supplies.¡± ¡°We ate recently.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± Oscar and his pack of dogs had already started walking away. The little shih tzu gave Elijah a last, regretful look before letting loose a dramatic huff and following. The group disappeared around a corner a moment later, leaving Elijah a little confused. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have made such an overt attempt at befriending someone, but he hadn¡¯t been lying when he said he¡¯d felt Oscar¡¯s attunement. There was a kinship there that he could scarcely quantify, like he¡¯d found a long-lost brother. It wasn¡¯t truly a familial connection ¨C rationally, he knew that ¨C but it felt like he¡¯d found a close friend that had fallen on hard times. And he desperately wanted, perhaps even needed, to help. Of course, helping someone required their consent, and Oscar clearly didn¡¯t want that. But he just as obviously needed it. The man was lost. Elijah didn¡¯t know what was going on there, but after having been through something similar, he thought he had some notion. Oscar hadn¡¯t gone completely feral, but Elijah wouldn¡¯t have been surprised to learn that he¡¯d spent long periods of time living as an animal. After all, Elijah had come close to doing just that, and he could recognize the signs. More, he saw it in Oscar¡¯s eyes, and he could read it in the man¡¯s demeanor. Once, Elijah had read that some Druids were given the chance to evolve their class in such a way as to permanently take an animal form. At the time, he¡¯d wondered what could push a person in that direction, but now, after seeing Oscar, he knew how such a thing could happen. If given that sort of chance, Oscar would almost assuredly join his pack in truth. Was it Elijah¡¯s place to step in? Would his help even be welcome? And if it was what he wanted, would it be so bad if Oscar let his bestial side take over? Maybe. Maybe not. But in the wake of the meeting, Elijah certainly had a lot on his mind. For a while, he wandered aimlessly, visiting various shops, and if he¡¯d stopped to pay attention to any of it, he might have marveled at how well-established some of them were. If he hadn¡¯t known better, he would have thought that some of those stores had been there for decades. Idly, he inspected some of the wares on offer, and he even bought some dried fruit that he hoped would supplement his rations, but the bulk of his attention remained on Oscar and his pack of companions. Or more accurately, on how he might help them come to terms with their nature. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. But he couldn¡¯t think of anything that might help ¨C especially considering Oscar¡¯s reticence to accept even a meal, much less a more focused attempt at providing assistance. Soon enough, Elijah found himself stepping into the familiar confines of the infirmary. It wasn¡¯t as crowded as it had been in those first few days, but there were still plenty of patients. And as had been the case every other time Elijah had visited, Ron was there, tending to those patients. Without a word exchanged between them, Elijah leveraged his spells to pitch in. In so many ways, the act had a calming effect on Elijah. Not only did it soothe his soul, but it also gave him time to think. After all, healing in that setting didn¡¯t really require much thought. He simply needed to keep spells like Soothe and Healing Rain active, while using Nature¡¯s Bloom on the more dire cases. However, even that didn¡¯t give him the answers he sought, and by the time everyone in the hospital had been healed, Elijah was no closer to finding a solution to the Oscar situation than he had been before he¡¯d started. But he did feel better. ¡°Thanks,¡± Ron said, resting his huge hand on Elijah¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Would¡¯ve taken me all day to finish if you hadn¡¯t come around.¡± ¡°No problem. It needed to be done, right?¡± Elijah responded. ¡°That it did,¡± Ron answered. ¡°Wish everyone else would figure that out. You¡¯d think these idiots would be more careful if they didn¡¯t have a healer around, but they keep throwing themselves into one dangerous situation after another. Lost three of them yesterday. Poison. Didn¡¯t get here in time for me to counteract it. I did what I could¡­but well, you know the limits we have to deal with.¡± ¡°I do,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s kind of why I¡¯m here.¡± He hadn¡¯t realized it until then, but there was a reason Elijah had wandered into the infirmary. After all, he¡¯d told his companions that they needed to find a proper healer, so it only made sense to ask the only one he personally knew. Sure, there were others out there ¨C more than Elijah would have thought ¨C but they were all part of teams and usually kept to themselves. As such, he¡¯d not had any opportunity to meet them, and even if he had, they were already spoken for. ¡°Oh?¡± Elijah launched into an explanation of the situation, citing his limitations as a healer and pointing out that his class was better suited for a more varied role. Then, he asked the question he needed to ask. ¡°Do you know any other healers that might want to join a team?¡± Ron¡¯s eyes briefly widened in surprise before he let out a brief chuckle. ¡°Ah. I see what you did there.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You came to ask me to join you,¡± Ron stated. ¡°But I won¡¯t do it. You know I¡¯m here to help people, and not just one group.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°I asked for a recommendation.¡± ¡°Bah.¡± ¡°Bah?¡± ¡°You heard me.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I didn¡¯t really come here to ask you to join my group. I just kind of wandered in. But I¡¯ll admit that I do want you. We¡¯re probably the highest level group in the whole Trial, and we¡¯ve already conquered two challenges. If you can¡¯t see that this is a good opportunity, then I don¡¯t know what else to tell you. But I¡¯ll sweeten the deal. You come with us, and I¡¯ll help you advance your cultivation.¡± ¡°Who says I need help?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I can feel it. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re stuck at a bottleneck, but I can absolutely guarantee that I can help you take the next step. On top of that, you¡¯ll get an equal share of whatever loot we get. And finally, I¡¯ll owe you one.¡± ¡°And owing you is a big deal?¡± ¡°I¡¯m on top of the power rankings. Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m the strongest person in the world or anything, but it does mean I¡¯m in the mix for that label. I don¡¯t know about where you¡¯re from, but most places have some problem or another to worry about, right? And if not, my sister-in-law is one of, if not the highest-level Blacksmith in the world. I have access to resources most people don¡¯t. I can help you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And in turn, you can help me. I don¡¯t see how that doesn¡¯t make sense to you.¡± Ron adjusted his sparkly robe, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. But if I decide not to do it, I¡¯ll try to find someone to fill the role.¡± ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re a good kid. You came here and helped even when you didn¡¯t need to. And maybe that was so you could get in my good graces and get a healer for your team, but I don¡¯t think so,¡± Ron explained. ¡°So, I¡¯ll help, even if I¡¯m not willing to go personally.¡± ¡°And what would do that? Make you turn it down, I mean.¡± ¡°Maybe I¡¯m a coward.¡± Elijah laughed. ¡°I don¡¯t believe that for a second,¡± he said. ¡°Come on.¡± ¡°I told my daughter I¡¯d come back,¡± the Healer answered. ¡°And traipsing off into the wilderness to fight God knows what isn¡¯t the best way to do that.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Maybe not. But I don¡¯t think I need to remind you that there are still plenty of threats back on Earth. And here, even in Nexus Town. You¡¯re going to need to get stronger. Everyone is, or we¡¯ll end up losing our planet to monsters. That¡¯s the truth of it. If you want to survive this Trial, it¡¯s probably smart to stay here and keep healing people. You¡¯ll progress a little, and you¡¯ll help everyone else. But if you want to survive what¡¯s coming to Earth, I think you need to get a lot stronger, and fast. We all do.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Ron said. Then, he massaged the back of his neck before saying, ¡°I still need to think on it. I¡¯ll let you know in the next couple of days. You going to be around?¡± ¡°I will,¡± Elijah answered. After that, they didn¡¯t have anything else to talk about. And given that all the patients had been healed, there was no reason for Elijah to stick around. So, he left the Healer to his thoughts and headed to the Branch at the center of the former market square. There, he accessed his account and was awarded quite a sum of ethereum for his efforts in the Trial. More, when he looked at the Knowledge Base, he found a new guide waiting for him. When he looked at it, however, he found that it wasn¡¯t like any of the other guides he¡¯d seen. Instead, it was a simple list, not unlike the one displaying the power rankings back on Earth.
Primacy Rankings 1. Elijah Hart ¨C 7,301 2. Analese Leafstrider ¨C 6,109 3. Benedict Emerson ¨C 6,056 4. Sadie Song ¨C 5,998 5. Kurik Magmadon ¨C 5,901 6. Oscar Ramirez ¨C 5,899 7. Ramul Totenka ¨C 5,831 8. Dat Bao ¨C 5,825 9. Abdul Nasir ¨C 5,821 10. Hu Shui ¨C 5,410 11. Breeze ¨C 5,391 12. Da¡¯jin Silver ¨C 5,303 13. ¡­ 14. ¡­ 15. ¡­
On and on the list went, but Elijah only saw a few names he recognized outside the top ten. Ron Dawson held a place in the mid-two hundreds, which, considering that he¡¯d only healed since coming to the Trial, was quite impressive. However, the most surprising thing he saw was the lead he held over everyone else. More than a thousand points separated him from the person in second place, and there was an even wider gap between him and his companions. And he had no idea why that would be. Were the few times he¡¯d healed people in the infirmary worth so much, then? Or were there other factors at play? He had no idea. But he was happy to see that his entire team was in the top ten. Now, he just had to keep them there. It was with those thoughts dancing in his mind that he returned to the building they¡¯d taken as their headquarters. Hopefully, the Primacy Rankings was a sign that they were on the right track. 5-48. Specks of Dust ¡°I¡¯m doing this for two reasons,¡± Ron said when he arrived a week later. As always, he wore his sparkly robe, but he¡¯d covered it with a leather overcoat that fell almost to his ankles. Beneath it, he¡¯d donned a sturdy pair of hiking boots, completing his odd appearance with the fairy godmother style wand he¡¯d tucked into a specially made holster on his hip. Given his big and bearded lumberjack appearance, he was a study in contrasts. Though when Elijah looked at him, all he saw was a reliable man who could make what they needed to do so much easier. ¡°First, you two have shown that you¡¯re good people, healing in the infirmary without asking for anything in return,¡± he said, looking at Elijah, then Sadie. ¡°You never told me you were healing people in your spare time,¡± Elijah said, glancing at Sadie. She shifted nervously under his gaze, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t tell you everything. People needed help, so I helped.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah responded. Then, he asked the new arrival, ¡°That can¡¯t be so rare, right? I¡¯ve met plenty of selfless people who would do anything in their power to help others.¡± Ron shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re lucky, then. From my experience, most people tend to help only when they can get something out of it,¡± he said. ¡°And it¡¯s worse somewhere like here. These people didn¡¯t get to the top by looking after everyone else.¡± ¡°I did, bro,¡± Dat said from where he was leaning against the wall. With his long, black coat and his hat tipped forward to conceal most of his face, he was clearly going for mysterious stranger. A bit silly, considering the man¡¯s demeanor. He couldn¡¯t hide a grin before he said, ¡°Nice dress. I like the sparkles.¡± For a moment, an expression of irritation crossed Ron¡¯s face, but then Dat¡¯s earnestness washed it away. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. ¡°My daughter made it.¡± ¡°My little cousin is a fashion designer,¡± Dat said. ¡°He was just getting into that world when everything¡­changed. I wonder if he became a Tailor or something. He liked sequins too.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know how to respond to that,¡± Ron admitted. ¡°It¡¯s okay, bro. No response necessary. Welcome to the team,¡± Dat said. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m going to get my things.¡± Then, he disappeared up the unadorned stone stairs that led to the rooms they¡¯d established as their sleeping quarters. ¡°Was it something I said?¡± asked Ron. Elijah shrugged, but Sadie said, ¡°It¡¯s not a good day. Dat usually tries to remain upbeat, but he can¡¯t keep it up all the time. Today is a bad day for both of us.¡± ¡°You seem fine.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯m better at keeping it hidden,¡± Sadie responded. ¡°I think you know how that goes.¡± Elijah was about to respond, but then he shut his mouth. The reality was that he¡¯d taken Dat¡¯s optimism for granted, forgetting that, just like everyone else, the man had experienced quite a lot of trauma. It was natural that it would affect him from time to time. He didn¡¯t know what had happened to darken Dat¡¯s and Sadie¡¯s moods, but he wasn¡¯t so socially inept that he would start asking about something they both clearly wanted to keep to themselves. ¡°This is awkward,¡± Ron said. ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth. You humans and your fluctuatin¡¯ emotions,¡± Kurik agreed with a shake of his head. He¡¯d been sitting in the corner, mostly ignored as he packed various things into a large sack. Apparently, it had been created by a high-level tailor who¡¯d been working with Atticus, and it was at least on par with Elijah¡¯s first spatial pack. Perhaps even better. Everyone else in the group ¨C even Elijah ¨C had purchased one. The dwarf looked up at Ron, adding, ¡°Name¡¯s Kurik, by the way. Only sane one in the group, if you ask me, but nobody ever does. Just be glad you weren¡¯t with us in the last challenge. That sparkly robe of yours don¡¯t look like it offers much protection from the cold. You¡¯d have frozen your ¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t mind Kurik. He¡¯s the group¡¯s grump,¡± Elijah said, which earned him a glare. ¡°Welcome to the team, Ron.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you want to hear the second reason?¡± asked the Healer. ¡°Oh, right. Proceed.¡± Ron sighed. ¡°You know what? Never mind. Are we leaving now?¡± he asked. ¡°As good a time as any,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Oh. I got something for you.¡± Then, he headed upstairs to gather his things. Behind him, he heard Ron ask Sadie, ¡°Is he always like this?¡± ¡°Sometimes he¡¯s worse,¡± she answered. Elijah ignored them, instead grabbing his own pack, his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, and his staff. In addition, he picked up a second pack he¡¯d stashed in his room ¨C which was stark, save for the new addition of a bed he¡¯d gotten from another one of Atticus¡¯ crafters ¨C before returning to the ground floor. When he got there, he saw that Dat was back as well, and he carried a new longsword at his hip. Everyone in the group had purchased some supplies or equipment from the crafting consortium, which Eiljah hoped would make the difference when they encountered the third challenge. It had been a week well spent, but still, Elijah had regretted the break. After all, they¡¯d spent the better part of a month building the cultivation cave, so it had been quite some time since they¡¯d made any progress. But at least everyone had used the time wisely, gearing up and gathering information on the next challenge, which was tied to Mortalum. Apparently, it was the realm housing the bulk of the multi-verse¡¯s sapient population. The further one traveled in either direction ¨C up or down along the World Tree¡¯s trunk ¨C the weirder and more alien things became. There were people who lived in most of those other realms, but there were few natives, and they were far outnumbered by each realm¡¯s natural wildlife. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. In any case, the sheer variety of environments associated with Mortalum meant that they¡¯d had no idea what to really expect from the challenge. So, the dossier Elijah had purchased on the subject would doubtless prove extremely valuable. Even if the description had been lacking and a little confusing. Still, he hoped the preparations would help them all survive. After making certain that no one had forgotten anything, the group set out from Nexus Town. Along the way, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of anticipation. Some of that was due to their mission. Conquering the third challenge would mean that they were nearly a third of the way to completing the Trial. So, not only would it represent a great accomplishment in and of itself, but it would offer great rewards. But mostly, Elijah¡¯s enthusiasm came from the simple fact that he was extremely close to crossing the threshold into level ninety-five. It had been a while since he¡¯d received a new ability, and he couldn¡¯t help but nurture a sense of excitement at the prospect. As they trekked through the jungle, he thought back to his initial runs through towers. Back then, he¡¯d gained multiple levels incredibly quickly, but now, it felt as if he needed to kill thousands of creatures ¨C or heal tens of thousands of people ¨C if he wanted to progress. That gave Elijah some insight into the scale of his new reality. If things kept going at his current rate, he wouldn¡¯t reach demigod status ¨C which came at level two-hundred-and-fifty ¨C for decades. And never mind deification or transcendence. Idly, he remembered the guide explaining the different stages of progression:
Whether they are warriors or crafters, scholars or mages, each person is subject to the Divine System, which eases the burden of progression and provides an easily quantifiable means of tracking and guiding an individual¡¯s strength. The generally accepted tiers of power are as follows:
Level 1-125 Mortal
Level 126-250 Ascendent
Level 251-500 Demigod
Level 501-1000 Deity
Level 1000+ Transcendent
It wouldn¡¯t be crazy to expect his path to take multiple millennia. Perhaps tens of thousands of years. It was an insane timescale, and yet, it was also exciting. Life spans varied too much to be standardized ¨C for instance, dwarves and elves, even without cultivation or levels, lived more than twice as long as the average human ¨C but Elijah knew that his own life expectancy could now be counted in centuries. And each step he took on his path ¨C be it cultivation or levels, not to mention potions and natural treasures ¨C would lengthen it. ¡°Does anyone else think it¡¯s insane that everyone here is going to live for centuries?¡± he asked, ducking under a low-hanging branch, then sliding down a rain-slick berm. His feet splashed into a small stream as he continued, ¡°I mean, I was expecting to be dead by now, and even without the cancer, I would¡¯ve probably died in fifty years or so. Sixty or seventy if I was lucky. Now, there¡¯s every chance of living for a thousand years.¡± ¡°It makes you wonder what the world will look like then,¡± Sadie agreed, thudding down beside him. She pushed a stray lock of hair out of her eyes. ¡°Think about Earth a thousand years ago. How much progress will we make in our new and extended life spans?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m saying!¡± Elijah agreed enthusiastically. Ron said, ¡°I¡¯m older than both of you, and I remember how much the world changed in my lifetime.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Not sure if I want to see what we¡¯ll do with our planet with a thousand years to screw it up.¡± ¡°At least we¡¯ll be here to keep it from getting too bad,¡± Elijah said. It was an interesting concept. Before, the rich and powerful didn¡¯t really care about the environment they left behind because it didn¡¯t directly affect them. But now, they would have to personally experience the repercussions of their actions. Maybe that would curtail some of their worst tendencies. As they traversed the sweltering jungle, the three continued to discuss Earth¡¯s future and their places in it. Meanwhile, Dat and Kurik scouted the way, returning only periodically to give them directions. For hours more, they kept going until, as the sun set, they made camp. That night passed easily enough, though they were attacked by a small group of wraiths. The creatures were weak enough that they didn¡¯t pose much of a threat, but it gave the group time to integrate Ron into their tactics. He¡¯d clearly been in plenty of combat situations, and he adapted quickly to their strengths and weaknesses, doing his job more efficiently than Elijah could ever hope to match. There was a benefit to having a real Healer in the group, and one everyone in the party appreciated. For his part, Ron was the least powerful among them, so he actually gained a level from the small skirmish. Hopefully, he would progress rapidly as they fought more dangerous foes. After that, their journey adopted a pattern. Elijah and Sadie remained behind with Ron, while Dat and Kurik took turns scouting their route. Sometimes, they were directed to small groups of wraiths, and they were even attacked by a group of ta¡¯alaki hunters. That fight proved far more dangerous than their clashes with wraiths or the wildlife, but by that point, the group had become a well-oiled machine. They only killed one of the two-legged ta¡¯alaki, but they did manage to drive the others into retreat. That was when Elijah showed the worth of his predator form. Not only did it allow him to move swiftly, silently, and undetected in the jungle, but the instincts that came with the form enabled him to track the remaining hunters and put them down. It took the better part of a day, but his hunt was successful. It ended with a cat-and-mouse chase through the jungle as the final hunter evaded him. As concerned as he was with the monster pursuing him, the hunter ran headlong into a hastily built trap, impaling himself on a series of pre-built spikes Kurik had bought from Atticus¡¯ people. The ta¡¯alaki died moments later when Sadie severed their head, concluding the conflict. Only a day later, Dat returned from his most recent scouting expedition and said, ¡°I think I¡¯ve found the next challenge.¡± ¡°Were the descriptions accurate?¡± Sadie asked, looking in the direction Dat had indicated. With the thick jungle, she could see nothing. Neither could Elijah, but he¡¯d felt the density of the ambient ethera increasing of late. Dat shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s worse. A lot worse. You need to see it to believe it,¡± he said. After that, the group followed the Witch Hunter for a few more miles until, at last, the area came into focus. ¡°Damn,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I concur,¡± Ron agreed. ¡°Told you, bro.¡± 5-49. Detritus The smell was the first thing that hit Elijah, and he was reminded of the few times he¡¯d visited a local landfill back home. Thankfully, those trips had been infrequent ¨C just when he¡¯d had to help his parents clean out their storage shed or garage ¨C but the memories had stuck with him. And they came flooding back into his mind as he beheld the challenge of Mortalum. ¡°Is this what the system thinks of civilization?¡± he muttered, staring at mountains of discarded trash. Even from a distance, he could recognize bits and pieces ¨C like what appeared to be a fully intact ship built in an unfamiliar style ¨C but for the most part, the composition of those trash mountains trended more towards stray parts, each one rusted or rotting. He saw giant gears, wooden beams that were as big around as redwoods, and millions of other items he couldn¡¯t even begin to recognize. The message was clear, though. The first challenge had represented Aesira, the realm of air. The second had similarly been tied to Pruina, the realm of ice. And the mountains of trash were meant to symbolize Mortalum. The implication was a slap in the face for anyone who called that realm home. But once Elijah got past the shock of it, he couldn¡¯t help but acknowledge its accuracy. He had no experience with other worlds, but on Earth, humanity had destroyed its environment, wasting countless resources in the pursuit of progress. Theirs was a legacy of detritus, a trail of trash they¡¯d left behind as they reached for ever higher peaks. Elijah was no environmental warrior. Despite his status as a Druid ¨C and as a biologist before that ¨C he¡¯d never been blind to the benefits that came from humanity¡¯s constant pursuit of progress. Millions of lives had been saved by technological advances that ruined their environments. However, when he looked at what the system clearly thought of civilization ¨C and not just that of humans, obviously ¨C he was forced to wonder if the universe might have been better off without it. Maybe that was the point. Or perhaps there was no point, except the one he created in his own mind. After all, according the corrupted ka¡¯alaki Druid, the system was merely a machine. It hadn¡¯t been created to make points, but to achieve a specific goal. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure which way he preferred. A system with an accusatory agenda meant that, perhaps, civilization wasn¡¯t so bad as the biased system portrayed them. But a completely neutral system? That would mean the impact of various societies was probably worse than the mountain of trash suggested. ¡°I don¡¯t know, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°I read the dossier, but I didn¡¯t expect this,¡± Sadie breathed. ¡°Where do you think it all came from?¡± ¡°Every civilization has trash,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s what this is.¡± ¡°One dwarf¡¯s trash is another dwarf¡¯s treasure,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Might we can find somethin¡¯ useful in there. Even apart from the reward, I mean.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Sadie agreed with a neutral expression. Clearly, she didn¡¯t savor the notion of digging through mountains of trash. Elijah wholeheartedly agreed. ¡°Well, the sooner we get to it, the sooner we¡¯re finished,¡± Ron pointed out. Everyone echoed his statement, and after double-checking that they were all as prepared as possible, they pushed through the last vestiges of the jungle and into the no-man¡¯s-land surrounding the mountains of trash. Upon approach, Elijah saw that the majority of it was inorganic and often metallic. He couldn¡¯t begin to guess where most of it had come from, but he likened it to seeing piles of old and discarded refrigerators and washing machines. Or maybe that was due to his memories of visiting landfills back on Earth. Regardless, they soon passed the ephemeral line that quarantined the challenge, resulting in a notification that flashed before Elijah¡¯s eyes. Presumably, the others saw a similar message:
You have reached the Citadel of Innovation. To conquer the Challenge of Mortalum, destroy the Engineer. Reward: Ingot of Celestial Truegold
Kurik gasped, mouthing the name of the reward. ¡°Celestial Truegold?¡± Elijah asked his dwarven friend. ¡°Is that good?¡± ¡°It¡­it¡­good doesn¡¯t begin to describe it,¡± the Sapper responded. ¡°It is too much. Way too much. Even late-stage Ascendents would be lucky to see such a powerful material, much less own an entire ingot. I am no Miner or Metallurgist, but every dwarf worth his beard knows about Celestial Truegold. It¡¯s practically a myth. I¡¯ve only seen it once, and that was when my clan was banished. The King wields a scepter made of the stuff as a symbol of his authority.¡± ¡°What are its properties?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°I don¡¯t even know if its an alloy or a pure metal. All I know for sure is that it¡¯s priceless.¡± ¡°So, this is a good reward. Probably means the challenge will be even worse than ¨C¡± This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. ¡°Look!¡± Dat exclaimed, pointing at the nearest mountain of detritus. That characterization was not an exaggeration. The pile was literally the size of a mountain, which meant that it took Elijah a moment to recognize what Dat had seen. At first, Elijah thought he was looking at a nest of spiders not unlike the one he¡¯d found in the pass connecting the Ironshore region to the area north of Norcastle. But the glint of metal prompted him to use Eyes of the Eagle, and when he zoomed in, he saw that each of those spider-like creatures was actually a multi-legged machine. Moreover, with his new perspective, he saw that the spider-like robot ¨C if that was the proper characterization ¨C wasn¡¯t the only type. Indeed, there were dozens of other variations crawling across the mountain of trash. Some looked like other insects ¨C the ones that resembled millipedes were particularly disturbing ¨C but there were plenty of others that were nothing like any natural creature Elijah had ever beheld. ¡°They¡¯re eating the trash,¡± Dat said. ¡°No. They¡¯re destroying it,¡± Elijah argued, recognizing the acrid scent of burning rubber. It wasn¡¯t strong ¨C not as far away as they were ¨C but it was powerful enough that Elijah had no trouble identifying the smell. ¡°I don¡¯t think machines eat.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t matter none,¡± Kurik said. ¡°What¡¯re we gonna do about ¡®em? ¡®cause I don¡¯t think they¡¯ll let us just stroll up there and kill some Engineer.¡± ¡°You¡¯re probably right,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°Do we have much of a choice? We need to get in there.¡± Sadie said. Then, she looked around, ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s enough room here for traps.¡± ¡°I can whip something up,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Might can build some fortifications, too.¡± Before the dwarf could make good on that plan, the entire mountain came alive. More of those metallic creatures skittered out of unseen holes, making the pile of trash look like someone had kicked an anthill. The robots swarmed all around, then charged down the slope. It was only then that Elijah ¨C still with Eyes of the Eagle active ¨C saw the robots¡¯ target. Three people were running down the valley between two mountains, and they were being pursued by a giant demonic monstrosity. The creature was four-legged, horned, and looked like some edgy teenage artist¡¯s depiction of a centaur from hell. Fire danced across its broad shoulders, and despite how quickly it could obviously cover ground, the trio of humans managed to stay just ahead of the demon. Sadie let out a low growl before dashing forward, her armor and sword already blazing with power. Dat wasn¡¯t far behind, hefting his crossbow and loosing a bolt that flashed across the mile separating him from the demon. It slammed into the creature¡¯s chest, staggering it for a brief moment. ¡°I guess we¡¯re saving them,¡± Elijah muttered. It had never really been a question, but he didn¡¯t like that Sadie had made the decision without consulting the rest of the group. That wasn¡¯t like her. And it was even less like the usually-cautious Dat. Regardless, the die had been cast, and if Elijah wanted to keep his team together, he had no choice but to follow. The same was true of Kurik and Ron, and even as Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Predator, the others kept pace. He¡¯d already made a habit of bestowing his various enhancements onto his allies, so, courtesy of Essence of the Wolf, they managed to keep up. Still, Sadie and Dat hadn¡¯t bothered to wait for their allies. Instead, they blazed past the fleeing trio of humans, and Sadie leapt at the demon, her sword blazing with more power than ever before. The blade fell, slicing through the creature¡¯s thick arm, but even as the limb flopped to the ground, it leveled a backhanded blow at the leaping Crusader. Suspended in mid-air, she was entirely incapable of dodging, so she took the hit on the shoulder. It sent her flying through the air until she collided with an overturned object that looked curiously like a discarded dishwasher. She didn¡¯t stop there, but instead, cartwheeled across the landscape for another fifty feet before skidding to a stop. That was when Dat let loose with a barrage of crossbow bolts. It was a new ability, and though Elijah hadn¡¯t learned its name, he¡¯d seen it in action. The bolts hit with the velocity and rapidity of machine gun fire, thudding into the demon¡¯s thickly muscled frame. The first few were deflected by the creature¡¯s thick scales, but the sheer number of projectiles ¨C each one glowing with ethereal light ¨C took their toll, carving a deep crater into the demon¡¯s chest. Then, it raised its remaining arm, and a whip of fire blazed into being. Its arm fell, and the whip snapped. An instant later, Dat dove to the side. However, the weapon still took a chunk of flesh out of the Witch Hunter¡¯s shoulder. He shouted in anger and pain, but he turned his dive into a roll, coming up firing once again. By that point, Elijah had already passed the trio, who kept running without so much as a glance at their saviors. He did see the terror writ large on their faces, though. In any case, Elijah dipped into Guise of the Unseen as he raced past Dat. At the same time, Ron pointed his sparkly star-tipped wand at Dat, loosing a healing spell that mended the man¡¯s wounded shoulder. For his part, Elijah trusted the Healer to do his job. He knew he had one shot to end the fight, and he didn¡¯t intend on letting himself become distracted. As he stalked toward the monster ¨C moving much faster than he normally would ¨C he saw Sadie picking herself up. She was clearly stunned, but he didn¡¯t think she¡¯d incurred any major injuries. But the Crusader was too far away to affect the fight ¨C at least for a few more seconds. By the time she recovered and rejoined the battle, the demon would have brought that terrible whip to bear, and Elijah had already seen how powerful it could be. Without any hesitation, Elijah circled around the creature. It didn¡¯t notice him. Whether that was due to Guise of the Unseen or because it seemed just as enraged by Dat¡¯s and Sadie¡¯s presences as they were by its existence, he didn¡¯t know. But Elijah was more than willing to take advantage of the distraction. It raised its arm once again, ready to level another attack with that devastating weapon. But before it could snap it forward, Elijah leapt. As he did, he used both Venom Strike as well as Predator Strike, and when he landed, he wasted no time before closing his maw around the creature¡¯s neck. He flexed his jaws, embracing the power of his skills as well as the natural structure of his form. At first, the thing¡¯s scales and dense flesh resisted, but that only lasted for an instant before he tore through. Bone snapped a second later, and the monster went limp. Just as it did, another barrage of crossbow bolts slammed into its chest, and a glowing white sword hacked into its foreleg. It let out a gurgling but weak scream as its balance was ruined. The demon fell with a loud thud, kicking up mud and stagnant water with the impact. Sadie buried her blade in its massive head. And just like that, the monster was slain, and the air was filled with the smell of charred flesh. However, one look at the surrounding slopes told Elijah that the battle had only begun. Thousands of robotic monsters had taken note of the battle, and they clearly intended to participate. What was worse was that they didn¡¯t have the benefit of a defensive position or Kurik¡¯s traps to protect them. They were exposed, Sadie was injured ¨C even if slightly ¨C and they were still separated from the other three members of their group by a couple hundred feet. ¡°Dammit,¡± he growled, angry at his companions for acting without a plan. But the damage had been done, so now they could only play the hand they¡¯d been dealt. ¡°Sadie!¡± She stared at the demon¡¯s corpse, her sword dripping black blood that sizzled when it hit the ground. Elijah shouted her name again, and she gave a start. Whipping toward him, she demanded, ¡°What?¡± ¡°We need to retreat!¡± he yelled. That was when she fully climbed free of her dazed state, and she gave him a nod. It preceded a veritable tidal wave of robotic monsters that fell upon them a moment later. 5-50. Regrouping A flood of insectile machines skittered toward the pair of companions, sending an avalanche of detritus bouncing down the slopes of the mountain of trash. Elijah¡¯s thoughts raced with various plans, though he discarded each as quickly as they came to mind. But one stood tall above all the others, and he latched onto it as the only hope of escape. ¡°Clench up!¡± he spat, already shifting out of his Draconid form. His posture changed, and his forelegs lengthened into arms that, in turn, became wings. At the same time, his back legs transformed into mighty talons, and as soon as the Shape of the Sky took complete hold, he used those claws to latch onto Sadie before launching himself into the air. He made it all of twenty feet before something singed his wing, ripping a huge gash in the thin membrane. Another came an instant later, heralding the arrival of a barrage that tore his wings to shreds. The Shape of the Sky was magical in nature, but it still functioned according to the laws of physics. And with huge, gaping holes in his wings, he could not remain aloft. He - and his cargo ¨C plummeted toward the ground a moment later. Elijah managed to arrest his momentum a little before releasing Sadie, but he still hit the ground with a thud that, a few levels before, would have broken his hollow bones. As it was, he only twisted a few joints, which was a vast improvement over many of his less graceful landings. Elijah rolled, already taking on a different form. Normally, he would have returned to his natural shape so he could heal his injuries, but he forewent that strategy, choosing instead to trust that Ron would do his job. Besides, a few holes might be enough to ruin his flight form, but those same injuries were little more than annoyances to a lamellar ape. His transformation into the hulking lizard-primate came with a mighty roar that was cut off only a second later when the wave of robots finally reached him. A giant, metal cockroach reared on its hind legs, latching onto his shoulder with a pair of huge pincers that tore through his scales. Elijah grunted in pain, using Iron Scales as he grabbed the thing¡¯s exoskeleton and ripped it free. A chunk of his flesh came with it as the thing¡¯s legs went wild, stabbing into his torso like spears. The sound of metal on metal filled the air as Iron Scales prevented any major injuries, but Elijah felt his stamina dip noticeably with every fouled attack. So, he spun in place before throwing the creature as far as he could manage. And given his high Strength, which was further enhanced by his various equipment, the form itself, and Essence of the Lion, that meant that the monster flew hundreds of feet before crashing into the side of the trash mountain. A moment later, it was buried beneath a huge, rusted cube of metal that crushed it flat. Elijah had no time to celebrate, though, because there were hundreds more robotic insects bearing down on him. And what¡¯s more, they weren¡¯t all melee-focused, as quite a few were equipped with what looked like guns mounted on their backs. They fired hunks of molten metal that hit his body with a familiar sizzle that told him what had knocked him from the sky. Thankfully, the combination of his high Constitution, durable hide, Iron Scales, and Ward of the Seasons kept them from doing too much damage. After all, the lamellar ape was far more enduring than the Shape of the Sky. Even so, the sheer weight of those attacks was enough to drive him backward, and their combined damage quickly began to add up. Then, he felt a warm power flow through him. His wounds started to heal, and what¡¯s more, a corona of white light enveloped his body. It shielded him from further attacks, allowing him to go all out in his reprisal. He ripped into the nearest robot ¨C a millipede-like machine that spat fire ¨C tearing its legs off and using its body as a flexible club. He battered another cockroach robot to the side, then tossed the millipede into a mass of other insects. The force of the projectile knocked them aside, giving him room to breathe. More importantly, that brief moment of peace let Elijah take stock of his situation, and he was unsurprised to find that Kurik, Dat, and Ron had joined Sadie. They were backed against the demon¡¯s body, using it to protect their backs. Meanwhile, Sadie guarded the other three as they each fought according to their role. Dat continued to fire his crossbow, while Kurik fought in a melee, darting in and hacking into the robots with his hatchet. At the same time, Ron waved his sparkly wand, bestowing his healing spells upon anyone who¡¯d taken damage. From experience, Elijah knew that one of Ron¡¯s spells actually helped them recover stamina as well, which kept everyone fighting at peak condition. For his part, Elijah¡¯s enraged battle had taken him almost a hundred feet away from his companions. That was at the edge of Ron¡¯s range. Any further, and he¡¯d be on his own. Wanting to avoid that, Elijah used the brief respite to shift back into his draconid form and dash towards the rest of the party. Of course, the mass of insectoid robots were unwilling to let him go, and they fell upon him with mechanical fury. However, using the high Dexterity of his predator shape, he was able to dodge the onslaught of attacks. Dashing and ducking, slithering to the side, then racing forward, he reached the party a couple of seconds later. Once there, he shifted back into his caster form and let loose with his own spells. Healing Rain came first, but he followed it up with Swarm and Calamity. Only a moment later, he realized just how useless they both were. Swarm had conjured a mass of glittering metal flies, but they were incapable of delivering their afflictions. Belatedly, he recognized how much sense it made. Robots couldn¡¯t be diseased, after all. Calamity was slightly more effective, though the creatures were heavy enough to withstand the winds without losing their footing. More importantly, it seemed that they were incapable of being distracted, rendering the spell¡¯s usual purpose moot. Elijah shifted his focus to his other spells, casting Nature¡¯s Rebuke and, when it failed to do anything, Storm¡¯s Fury. The latter was slightly more effective, especially when it arced from one metallic monster to the next, but its usefulness was still only marginal at best. At least it stunned them, though, if only for a second. Either way, the message was clear. The robots were either resistant to his spells in particular or, more likely, nearly immune to spells in general. That led Elijah to once again shift back into his lamellar ape form and join Sadie on the front line. Once there, he leveraged his immense Strength and Constitution to wreak havoc on the monsters. Stolen story; please report. Smashing robotic millipedes, kicking metallic cockroaches, and even snatching smaller but no less dangerous mechanical grasshoppers out of the air, he fought like a possessed beast. Along the way, Elijah took dozens of wounds. Particularly damaging were the blasts of superheated metal that slammed into him from afar, but he nearly lost a leg to a beetle-like robot with enormous pincers that cut through even his Iron Scales-protected limb with ease. The only thing that saved him was when Sadie slashed her greatsword through the appendages, and they lost their driving force. A moment later, one of Ron¡¯s healing spells settled onto him, mending the damage over the next thirty seconds. Elijah fought on, slamming his great fists into one enemy after another, but each time he slew one of the monsters, another took its place. And on the few occasions when he had a spare moment to look around, he was forced to realize that, despite their efforts, the tide of robotic death was no closer to ebbing. They¡¯d destroyed hundreds, and yet, there were always more. To Elijah, the meaning was clear. ¡°We can¡¯t keep this up!¡± he shouted as one of the smaller robots dashed past Sadie and latched onto Dat. The Witch Hunter responded mechanically, ripping the tick-like robot ¨C it even had a rubber bladder to house the blood it sucked ¨C from his flesh. Blood splattered as he tossed it to the ground, then viciously stomped it before resuming his ranged attacks. Where he was getting all those crossbow bolts, Elijah had no idea, but he¡¯d continued to fire throughout the battle. The weak link was Kurik. No matter how skilled he was with those hatchets, his class just wasn¡¯t suited to the task. As a result, the injuries he sustained due to that lack of suitability began to mount, requiring more attention from Ron. In turn, the burden wore on the Healer until he shouted, ¡°I can¡¯t keep going like this! There¡¯s too much damage going around!¡± Sadie responded by using Call of the Crusader, and the robotic monsters all turned their attention to her. Elijah used that to rip into them, and without fear of reprisal, he finally managed to make some progress. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. With thousands of robotic monsters pouring down the slopes, it never would be, either. It was just when that realization arrived that everything changed. And not for the better. Suddenly, a shadow fell upon the group. At first, Elijah thought that they¡¯d been fighting so long that night had fallen. However, a brief glance at the sky showed him the error of that assumption. A giant wasp with glittering wings and a metallic body hovered over them. If its wingspan was less than a hundred feet, Elijah would have been surprised, and when it swooped low to attack, he was nearly knocked from his feet by the downforce of those enormous wings. It stopped only a hundred feet above them, but any relief Elijah might¡¯ve felt was quickly thrown aside when it pointed its stinger at the group. Ethera gathered at the tip, and Elijah shouted, ¡°Defensives!¡± A beam of pure fire, at least fifteen feet wide, descended upon their position. Elijah screamed as he felt his scales melting under the onslaught. He was on the verge of using Guardian¡¯s Renewal when a similarly powerful wave of ethera erupted from Sadie. White light swept through the group, pushing the fire back. In addition, it threw the insectoid robots away, tossing them hundreds of feet back. And finally, a wave of healing ¨C unlike anything Elijah had ever felt ¨C raced through everyone. Instantly, Elijah¡¯s wounds mended, and his core returned to full strength. His fatigue washed away, and he felt his attributes increase by dozens of points. In that moment, Elijah felt like he could fight a god. But then, the light faded, and though the attribute increase remained, it quickly became clear that the situation hadn¡¯t really changed. The robots took a moment to recover, and the giant mechanical wasp gathered itself for another shot that Elijah knew they couldn¡¯t endure. More troublingly, Sadie sagged to the ground, exhausted. She caught herself before she completely collapsed, but even as she picked herself back up, it was obvious that she couldn¡¯t continue the fight. ¡°We need to retreat!¡± he yelled, whipping around to search for a way out. However, he was dismayed to see that there were hundreds, if not thousands, of monsters standing between them and the jungle. There were markedly fewer in the direction of the trash mountains. Dat saw the same thing Elijah had, and he pointed toward the narrow valley. ¡°That way!¡± he shouted. It was the path of least resistance, so no one in the group argued with his direction. For his part, Elijah picked Sadie up and led the way, bulling through any monsters that barred their path. Meanwhile, Sadie wasn¡¯t down for the count, and she protected his back, slashing the creatures that tried to attack from the rear. Ron, Kurik, and Dat followed, fighting their own battles to the best of their abilities. Even Ron used a few offensive spells, which were simple balls of kinetic force that did little more than stun his attackers. They charged ahead, beating back the waves of monsters as they forged deeper into the landfill. Their way was slowed by the uneven terrain, but fortunately, their attributes were high enough that they managed to stay just ahead of the pursuing insectoids. Over the next few minutes, they sprinted and leapt, dashed and dove, and all the while, they were forced to fend off their attackers. Elijah was particularly hampered by the fact that he had to fight one-armed, but the only other option was to drop Sadie. She could still fight, but there was no way that, in her weakened state, she could ever hope to keep up with their rapid retreat. Thankfully, she made herself useful by using her own abilities and skills ¨C particularly the one that shielded allies ¨C to keep the others as safe as possible. Along the way, it became clear that without the renewal they¡¯d experienced, none of them would have survived. Ron¡¯s store of ethera had been running dry, but now, he was able to use his full arsenal of spells to heal and protect the group. Meanwhile, everyone else¡¯s fatigue had been cast aside, giving them the energy they needed to flee. With every step they took, the monsters fell further behind, and the ones ahead grew more diffuse. Still, it wasn¡¯t until almost an hour later that they managed to gain a moment of respite. They were just trying to figure out what to do when Elijah heard a voice from nearby. ¡°Over here! I know where to hide!¡± shouted a man. Elijah recognized him, too. How could he not? With his boy band-turned-vampire looks, the man was quite memorable. In any case, Elijah wasn¡¯t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so he and his companions quickly followed the beckoning man down a path and through a narrow crevice between two piles of trash. After a few minutes of twists and turns, they found themselves in a small vale. For the first time since leaving the jungle, Elijah saw vegetation. A twisted tree that looked like it was barely hanging onto life sprouted in the center of the vale, casting the area in an aura of peace and protection. Instantly, Elijah knew that it would shield them from the insectoid robots, and he finally let himself relax. Setting Sadie down, he let himself return to his human form. It was only then that the enhanced attributes from Sadie¡¯s ability faded, and he realized just how exhausted he was. He collapsed, the last bit of energy fading before he lost consciousness. The last thing he saw was a handsome man looking down on him. Hopefully, he didn¡¯t have any nefarious purposes up his sleeve. 5-51. Trying Benedict was trying. He truly was. Throughout his time in the Trial, he¡¯d done everything possible to mind his own business and leave everyone else alone. And for the most part, he¡¯d succeeded. Certainly, he¡¯d sacrificed a few people so he could summon another Malicious Guard, but they¡¯d practically begged him to kill them. Not in so many words, but he¡¯d seen the way they looked at him. He¡¯d heard the way they spoke of him. And he could tell which way the wind was blowing. It was only a matter of time before they attacked him. So, in a sense, he¡¯d acted in self-defense. Of course, Benedict only partially believed the pretty, little lies he¡¯d told himself. He knew he was a murderer, and the only true justification for his actions was that he¡¯d needed a minion if he wanted to survive the Trial of Primacy. His experiences on the journey to Nexus Town had made that abundantly clear. So, he¡¯d done what he had to do. But once he¡¯d had his Malicious Guard in tow, he¡¯d resolved to pick his targets more judiciously. No more wanton murder. No more ritual sacrifices. There were plenty of monsters in the jungle, so he didn¡¯t need to prey on humans. And when he¡¯d conquered the first challenge, he¡¯d made the mistake of believing that everything would work out. After all, he no longer looked like a pallid and pockmarked shut-in. He was handsome and powerful, and it should have been easy for everyone to accept the person he¡¯d become. Yet, when he¡¯d come to the so-called Citadel of Innovation ¨C more like a Citadel of Trash ¨C he¡¯d only fought for a few hours before someone tried to kill him. Sure, they¡¯d shouted something indignant, accusing him of consorting with abominable demons, but just like his own justifications, they were hollow. The reality was that those people had seen a single traveler, all alone and with his focus on the group of robotic insects he was fighting at the time. That made him an easy target. Or so they¡¯d thought. The Malicious Guard had another opinion on the subject, and it had slaughtered two of them before they¡¯d even had a chance to recognize the danger they¡¯d put themselves in. The others had fought for only a few moments before they saw what should have been obvious and fled. For his part, Benedict had attempted to stop the Malicious Guard from pursuing, but his hold on such a newly summoned creature was tenuous. And as he¡¯d discovered, Malicious Guards were particularly stubborn and difficult to control. As a result, the thing had gone out of range before Benedict had a chance to corral it. It wasn¡¯t a huge loss. Sure, he had expected it to kill the remainder of the group that had attacked him, but that wasn¡¯t a big deal. Like all opportunistic bullies, they deserved what was coming to them. And eventually, the Malicious Guard would have come back. Benedict only had to retreat to the safe zone he¡¯d found and wait for the creature to return. But then, the connection had been severed, and the guard had died. Or perhaps it was the other way around. For a few minutes, Benedict had been stunned, his ethera drained down to nothing. More troublingly, he hadn¡¯t recovered any of his reserved attributes, and for a while, he¡¯d despaired that he never would. It was an hour before his ethera had begun to return, and another twenty minutes before the reserved portion of his attributes recovered. A wave of relief had swept through him, then, but the meaning was clear. His summoned demonic creatures were powerful, but there were consequences if he let them die. He hadn¡¯t noticed that with the imps, but then again, they were much weaker than the Malicious Guard. So, losing one of them wasn¡¯t nearly as impactful. The implication was that the more powerful a summoned creature, the more impactful the consequences if he allowed one to be slain. In the wake of that, he¡¯d been a little out of it, and so, when he¡¯d ventured out to investigate, only to see the man who¡¯d healed him fleeing from a horde of machine-like insects, he¡¯d acted without thought, showing him and his companions to the safe zone he¡¯d found. That had been a mistake. Certainly, he had nothing against the wild, shoeless healer. Nor did he have a problem with the other Healer in a sparkly robe. Similarly, he was ambivalent about the dwarf, though he did find the presence of other races fascinating. Not that he was currently thinking about that. Instead, the whole of his attention was on the other two members of the healers¡¯ party. One man and one woman. They were both fighters, judging by their weapons and the woman¡¯s armor. She was quite attractive, with pale skin and jet-black hair. The man was good-looking as well, though in a heavier set sort of way that suggested joviality. But Benedict wasn¡¯t concerned with their appearances so much as he was distressed by the way they made him feel. Every glance carried with it an accusation. A judgement. Even from the obviously good-natured man, he felt nothing but disdain. And what¡¯s worse, he felt something similar for them. It hadn¡¯t taken long for him to recognize the culprit, especially when his Demon Core roiled angrily every second he found himself in their presence. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Thankfully, he¡¯d recently gained a new ability which he expected was the only reason he was still alive:
Demonic Shroud Hide your power from enemies and allies alike. Effectiveness dependent on relative stage of Core cultivation.
When he¡¯d gotten the ability, he hadn¡¯t thought much of it. He¡¯d hoped for something he could use in battle, so he hadn¡¯t truly appreciated Demonic Shroud. However, that didn¡¯t mean he hadn¡¯t kept it active. After all, he wasn¡¯t the sort of man to eschew anything that might give him an advantage. And the moment he¡¯d seen those two, he¡¯d thanked his cautious nature because he had no illusions about how they would have reacted to his Demon Core. And given that he didn¡¯t have a Malicious Guard to protect him, staying out of a fight was immensely important. Especially with how powerful they obviously were. ¡°You¡¯re looking at me funny, bro,¡± said the man in the wide-brimmed hat. He had a longsword at his hip and a brace of knives in a shoulder holster beneath his coat. There were two other blades on his back. ¡°Do I have something on my face?¡± ¡°Ah¡­no. You don¡¯t. I was just admiring your look. Very¡­Van Helsing.¡± ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Oh, God,¡± said the woman. ¡°Now you¡¯ve done it.¡± ¡°That¡¯s, like, my favorite movie!¡± the man said with a wide grin. ¡°Hugh Jackman fighting vampires? What¡¯s not to like? I watched it a thousand times when I was a kid.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about,¡± Benedict admitted. ¡°You¡¯re the one who brought it up,¡± the man said. ¡°Dat. You do know that Van Helsing didn¡¯t originate with a crappy Hugh Jackman movie, right?¡± asked the woman. ¡°That character predates cinema by ¨C¡± ¡°Nobody cares about books, bro. Not when there¡¯s an awesome movie where Wolverine hunts vampires.¡± She shook her head wearily. Then, she focused on Benedict. ¡°My name is Sadie Song, and we are in your debt. If it wasn¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t have made it,¡± she said. ¡°So, thank you. If you ever need my assistance, you only have to ask.¡± ¡°Same here,¡± grunted the dwarf, who¡¯d plopped down to the ground the moment they¡¯d entered the safe zone. ¡°But not now. Too tired.¡± After that, he lay back and let out a long-suffering sigh. Benedict turned his attention to the man in the sparkly dress, recognizing him as the Healer who ran the infirmary in Nexus Town. That was another mark in the group¡¯s favor, though it was hard for him to think straight with those other two around. He had no idea why his Core had reacted so strongly to them, but he trusted it enough to interpret it as danger. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯ll admit that the only reason I helped you was because of him.¡± He pointed at the unconscious man. ¡°You know each other?¡± asked Sadie Song. Benedict shook his head. ¡°Not really. He healed me when I first got to Nexus Town. Probably saved my life. That¡¯s not something I intend to forget.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± she said. ¡°Now, do you want to tell us what¡¯s going on here? Do you know anything about that demon?¡± ¡°Demon?¡± ¡°Yeah, bro. Huge demon. It was chasing some people when ¨C¡± ¡°They summoned it,¡± Benedict lied. ¡°I saw them, and they attacked me. I think¡­I don¡¯t really know much about this kind of thing, but I think the distraction might have allowed it to break free. I ran away before I could see what happened to it.¡± ¡°We took care of it,¡± Sadie stated. Then, with a shake of her head, she added, ¡°This is bad news. We may have to hunt them down.¡± ¡°Why? They failed,¡± Benedict said. ¡°Demons are bad news, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°Really bad. We¡¯ve been dealing with them for a while.¡± ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know.¡± ¡°You look like Lestat,¡± came a groaning voice from the ground. Benedict looked down to see that the shoeless man was awake. His eyes were still closed, but his mouth was moving as he added, ¡°And not like the movie version. I¡¯m talking book Lestat.¡± ¡°You¡¯re an Anne Rice fan?¡± Sadie asked incredulously. He opened his eyes. ¡°Fan is kind of a strong word. I read the books because my sister wouldn¡¯t shut up about them. I¡¯m more surprised that you even knew what I was talking about.¡± The woman blushed. ¡°It was a phase.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not judging. Besides, we¡¯re talking about our savior here. Thanks for the assist. I think we¡¯d have been done for without your help,¡± the man said. Then, he narrowed his eyes. ¡°I don¡¯t think I actually introduced myself before. I¡¯m Elijah. The blushing crusader for all that is good and holy is Sadie. Asian Van Helsing is Dat. The surly one is Kurik. And the man with the impeccable fashion sense is Ron.¡± He turned his head. ¡°Did I miss anyone? No. Good. And just so we¡¯re clear, I¡¯m not passing out. I¡¯m just resting my eyes. Deeply.¡± Then, with that, he closed his eyes and in moments, was very much unconscious. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°You get used to him,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Sort of.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Benedict,¡± was the response. ¡°Emerson? You¡¯re in the top ten of the power ladder, right? And the primacy rankings, too,¡± Sadie added. ¡°Where¡¯s your team?¡± ¡°No team. And don¡¯t pay attention to those rankings. I just got lucky a few times,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all far more powerful than I am.¡± Indeed, he¡¯d recognized most of their names. The dwarf was a mystery, and he didn¡¯t remember seeing the Healer¡¯s name, but Benedict was certain that the others were all elites. Briefly, he wondered what sort of creature he could summon by sacrificing their power, but he pushed those thoughts aside. Two of the party had proven themselves to be good people, so he was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, without his Malicious Guard, there was little chance of him surviving the current challenge. So, he addressed Sadie, saying, ¡°I know this might be a bit presumptuous, but perhaps we could team up. I think we could help one another.¡± ¡°Sure, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°Dat.¡± ¡°What? It¡¯s not like we¡¯re going to leave him here all alone. That¡¯s a dick move, bro, and you know it.¡± Sadie rolled her eyes. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to suggest that.¡± ¡°Then he¡¯s with us, right?¡± Dat asked. Sadie glanced at Ron, then Kurik. The Healer shrugged and said, ¡°No objections here.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t make a bit of difference to me. You¡¯re all odder than a two-armed golem.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that mean?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Golems are meant to have six arms. That¡¯s common sense,¡± the dwarf muttered. ¡°Golems notwithstanding,¡± Sadie said, sighing before she continued. ¡°I think we¡¯re all fine with you sticking with us.¡± ¡°Oh. Good,¡± Benedict said. ¡°Because I think I know where to find the Engineer.¡± 5-52. Rising Tensions The tree was twisted, with gnarly branches and lacking any leaves. To most casual observers, it would have seemed dead. But as Elijah laid his hand on the trunk, feeling the rough bark beneath his fingers, he couldn¡¯t deny the sense of vitality it exuded. It was alive, and in the truest sense of the word. Its existence was clearly characterized by struggle ¨C against its environment, against circumstances, and against its very nature ¨C and defying all odds, it was winning. There was a powerful lesson there, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how to put words to it. It was more of a feeling, an idea that, even amidst so much lifeless junk, nature could persist. It could even thrive, so long as sacrifices were made. The tree was not aesthetically beautiful. No one would call it that. But the scene it set, of a lone holdout among so much waste and destruction, was striking in a way that very few others could match. ¡°That¡¯s an ugly tree, bro.¡± Elijah opened his eyes and glanced back at Dat. ¡°It¡¯s remarkable,¡± he said. ¡°I wish you could feel how much life is flowing through its trunk. And it¡¯s all going toward keeping it alive. It doesn¡¯t care about pretty leaves or flowers. Its only concern is survival.¡± ¡°Aren¡¯t those things part of survival, though? Leaves are for photosynthesis, right?¡± Dat asked. ¡°With ethera, I don¡¯t think photosynthesis is really necessary for most plants. Sure, they do it,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But it¡¯s not the only way for them to survive.¡± ¡°Is it sentient?¡± came another voice. Elijah shifted his eyes to see Benedict looking up at the tree. ¡°Can you communicate with it?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. I think it¡¯s aware, though. I¡¯m not sure how that works, and I can¡¯t talk to trees or anything. But maybe one day,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s a consciousness in there that I can only barely sense. It¡¯s like neurons firing, but at a pace so slow that it¡¯s easy to miss. It¡¯s there, though.¡± ¡°Cool, bro.¡± ¡°It¡¯s also the reason the robots can¡¯t come here,¡± Elijah said. ¡°They can¡¯t abide so much life. I think that¡¯s why they attacked us in the first place.¡± ¡°Because we¡¯re alive?¡± asked Sadie, who¡¯d just taken notice of their conversation. They¡¯d all huddled next to the tree, unconsciously basking in the protective aura of life. ¡°I think so. I¡¯m not sure what the system is trying to tell us with this challenge, but ¨C¡± ¡°Who says it¡¯s trying to tell us anything? Aren¡¯t these real places? Like, it¡¯s not a tower, is it? This isn¡¯t manufactured,¡± she pointed out. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I think it¡¯s a little bit of both,¡± he said. He¡¯d been thinking about it quite a bit, and he¡¯d come to the conclusion that the Trial had taken real situations and settings, then integrated them into something a little more akin to what they would find in a tower. ¡°I mean, you all did read that the challenges repopulate, right? Once a week.¡± ¡°So those aviaks are back?¡± ¡°They were when I conquered the challenge,¡± Benedict said. Then, he went on to describe his experiences regarding the Singing Cliffs. They were similar to what Elijah and his companions had been through, but some of the details were different. For instance, the nest of aviaks had been located in a giant cave atop the plateau rather than in a sinkhole. ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°I think I know what¡¯s goin¡¯ on,¡± said Kurik, who¡¯d been filing a steel rod into a wicked point, presumably for one of his traps. He looked up. ¡°I don¡¯t come from a well-informed clan, but we have legends ¡®bout this kinda thing. I think the first time through a challenge is real. After that, the system just repopulates ¡®em, changin¡¯ things a little to keep it fresh.¡± ¡°So, we could go back and do it all again?¡± asked Elijah. Kurik shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know ¡®bout that, but my guess would be no.¡± ¡°Based on what?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Intuition. The system¡¯s got no reason to let us conquer the same challenges over and over again,¡± the dwarf pointed out. ¡°I tend to agree, but we won¡¯t know for sure unless we tried to repeat a challenge,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And even if we can do it, I¡¯d be willing to bet that it won¡¯t be nearly as useful. Maybe it¡¯ll give less experience. I don¡¯t know. But like Kurik said, the idea that the system would reward that kind of thing doesn¡¯t fit. Even with towers, you get diminishing returns for running them over and over again.¡± ¡°This is all well and good,¡± Ron said. ¡°But none of that helps us with those bug-bots out there.¡± ¡°Bug-bots?¡± asked Sadie, raising her eyebrow. ¡°Seemed to fit,¡± the Healer responded. ¡°But I¡¯m open to any other labels.¡± Dat said, ¡°Benny said he knows where the Engineer is.¡± ¡°My name is Benedict.¡± ¡°Same difference, bro.¡± ¡°It really isn¡¯t,¡± the man said. ¡°But yes. I found a complex at the center of the junkyard. I believe that¡¯s where we¡¯ll find the Engineer mentioned in the original notification.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡°But?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°But it is well-guarded, and not just by more¡­bug-bots,¡± Benedict explained. ¡°There are three wasps, each one the size of an airplane. I saw one group get obliterated by them.¡± ¡°We ran into one,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And you survived?¡± ¡°Barely,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°Thanks to Sadie, I think. That was some ability you used.¡± She nodded, though she didn¡¯t elaborate on the ability¡¯s nature. She didn¡¯t need to, though. Dat had mentioned miracles on a few occasions, and Elijah expected that that was what she¡¯d used. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to press ¨C not about that, at least. He did have something else he needed to discuss with the Crusader, though. So, once everyone had recovered their strength, they decided to set off through the junkyard, using Benedict¡¯s directions as a guide. Before they left, Elijah pulled Sadie to the side and asked, ¡°Do you want to explain what happened back there?¡± ¡°I will not reveal the nature of my ¨C¡± ¡°Not the miracle. The other thing. You know, where you and Dat left the rest of us behind and charged a giant demon, thereby putting everyone at risk. You put us into a terrible situation, Sadie. And I¡¯m not usually the type to criticize that kind of thing, but it was out of character enough that I think we need to address it.¡± She opened her mouth as if to offer an angry retort, but then thought better of it. After a moment, she took a deep breath, then said, ¡°It¡¯s my core.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°It means that when I see a demon ¨C or an undead ¨C I experience this white-hot anger that drives me forward,¡± she said. ¡°The¡­the angel who granted me this core said that I¡¯d learn to control it over time. And usually I can. But I have to be focused, and that demon came out of nowhere. I wasn¡¯t ready for it, and my body was moving before I could wrangle the rage. It won¡¯t happen again.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I have some experience with ¨C¡± ¡°I said it won¡¯t happen again,¡± she interrupted. ¡°Is there anything else you wanted to discuss?¡± Elijah shook his head, wishing he¡¯d spoken to Dat instead. But of the two, Sadie was clearly the leader, and he¡¯d thought she was the best option. He regretted listening to those thoughts. Regardless, he and Sadie soon joined the group, and they left the safety provided by the gnarled tree. Thankfully, the chaos had died down, and there were no bug-bots in sight. However, the group quickly shifted back into their previous patterns, letting Dat and Kurik scout the way while the others remained together. Like that, they progressed through the mountains. Every now and again, they were forced to fight ¨C usually, the cockroach robots ¨C but there were no expansive hordes barring their way. Like that, hours passed, and eventually, night fell. Under the cover of darkness, the bug-bots became more active and far more aggressive, but so long as they kept their wits about them, the way was safe enough. Then, just before morning, Elijah sensed a vital aura that led them to another gnarled tree. This one was even larger than the last, with a trunk at least twenty feet wide. It was still squat and twisted, though, with the same naked branches that characterized the last one they¡¯d encountered. It did provide another safe zone, though, and after nearly twenty-four hours of battle, they were all eager to take advantage of the respite. ¡°So, I notice you use damage over time spells,¡± said Elijah, glancing at Benedict. The man had been a bit of a disappointment, and though he hadn¡¯t proven to be a burden, it was difficult to imagine that he would be able to survive on his own, much less conquer the Singing Cliffs without help. But perhaps his spells were just unsuited to fighting inorganic creatures like the bug-bots. ¡°Mostly,¡± Benedict acknowledged. ¡°I have a couple of direct-damage spells, but they¡¯re not quite as effective as I¡¯d like. Not here, at least.¡± The only saving grace was that he could summon a wicked-looking dagger that cut through metal like it was butter. He obviously wasn¡¯t a melee fighter, but that at least had allowed the man to contribute. ¡°So, what¡¯s your story? What¡¯d you do before all of this?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I was a marine biologist, but if I¡¯m honest, kind of an apathetic one. I still don¡¯t know why I chose that field. I¡¯ve been told I don¡¯t even think like a scientist. The curiosity is there, just not the follow-through, if that makes any sense.¡± ¡°I¡­suppose,¡± Benedict said. ¡°I was a medical examiner.¡± ¡°Oh? That¡¯s a cool job. Surprised you didn¡¯t end up as a necromancer or something,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What? Why would you say that?¡± Benedict asked. ¡°Necromancers aren¡¯t cool, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°Really? I think it¡¯d be kind of neat. You know, having your own army of undead to fight your battles for you? What¡¯s not to like?¡± ¡°The smell and the disease,¡± Benedict said, focusing on something in the middle distance. ¡°Corpses are not sanitary.¡± ¡°And necromancers have a tendency to take a forceful hand in building their armies,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°We had a problem with that in Hong Kong. With all the deathly energy coming from the Primal Realm, a few people ended up going down that path. They had power, but ultimately, it always took over. There was one guy who was fighting on our side for a while. He had the best intentions. But then, something happened, and he turned on us. We still don¡¯t know why, but he ended up killing nearly a hundred people ¨C all experienced fighters ¨C before we could defeat him.¡± ¡°He still got away, though,¡± Dat added. ¡°Maybe he had a good reason?¡± suggested Elijah. ¡°I mean, people suck, right? It¡¯s not unthinkable that they attacked him first.¡± ¡°They didn¡¯t,¡± Sadie said. ¡°But ¨C¡± Dat interjected, ¡°Just drop it, bro.¡± Elijah sighed, but he didn¡¯t persist. However, in his experience, people brought a lot of prejudices with them, and the word necromancer came with a host of preconceived notions. He obviously didn¡¯t know what had happened back in Hong Kong, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Sadie¡¯s people were really as innocent as she¡¯d made them seem. After all, her own attitude suggested that she would attack first and ask questions later if she was confronted with someone she deemed evil. It wasn¡¯t out of the question that others might hold similar attitudes toward the sort of person who could raise the dead. Regardless, that conversation put a damper on the mood, and the rest of the night passed without much interaction between the members of the group. So, when they rose the next morning, there was a pervasive and sour mood hanging over them all. Elijah offered everyone coffee, which helped a little, but only for a while. Thankfully, they had the challenge to distract them. For the next few days, the group gradually made their way through the mountains of trash. At times, they could keep to the valleys, but there were plenty of situations that required them to scale cliffs of rubbish. Fortunately, there didn¡¯t seem to be any organic waste, which meant that it was a little more sanitary than one might expect. Still, it was not a pleasant experience, and it was one that Elijah ¨C as well as all the others ¨C would have preferred to avoid. So, when they finally reached their destination, they experienced a wave of relief. However, that only lasted long enough for them to truly take stock of the situation. When they did, their annoyance was replaced by despair. Ron said it best when he asked, ¡°How the hell are we supposed to do get in there?¡± 5-53. A Little Attention Goes a Long Way ¡°Here¡¯s how I see it,¡± said Elijah. As he spoke, he pointed to a rough diagram he¡¯d scratched into the mud. It had begun to rain, so the lines he¡¯d drawn had started to fill with water, but everything was still visible. ¡°Three wasps patrol the area here. They¡¯re evenly spaced, so they¡¯ve got the whole facility covered.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I saw, too,¡± Dat said. Kurik agreed. The three of them had spent the past three days scouting the compound¡¯s defenses, and what they¡¯d found was not encouraging. ¡°Those sensors are the real problem, though.¡± ¡°Sensors?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°All around the perimeter, there are these small bugs that look like fireflies,¡± Elijah said. ¡°They remove all stealth abilities and will raise the alarm if they detect anything.¡± ¡°Can we just destroy them?¡± Benedict asked. ¡°Kill ¡®em, and the whole facility responds,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°All three wasps, hundreds of them cockroach bots, and the two beetles.¡± ¡°Beetles?¡± Ron asked, raising an eyebrow. ¡°I think they look more like ninja turtles, bro.¡± The characterization wasn¡¯t inaccurate. The robots were bipedal, with huge, armored shells on their backs. However, instead of mutated, pizza-loving turtles, they resembled upright beetles with enormous pincers that could cut through steel like it was nothing. According to Dat, they were the highest-level creatures guarding the facility ¨C aside from the wasps, which defied his attempts to inspect them ¨C and they represented the final hurdle. ¡°Whatever they are, they¡¯re strong,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Round about the power of that top aviak, unless I miss my guess.¡± ¡°How likely is that?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Not likely. I know how to assess a threat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I thought,¡± she said. ¡°So, do we have a plan?¡± ¡°I think we should kick the hornet¡¯s nest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Or more accurately, I should. Then, you all head inside while I deal with the aftermath.¡± ¡°That¡¯s too dangerous, bro.¡± ¡°Absolutely out of the question,¡± Sadie said. Ron added, ¡°I can¡¯t heal dead.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s a great idea,¡± Benedict said. Everyone looked at him like he¡¯d gone crazy. ¡°Not like that. I¡¯m just saying that it looks like what you¡¯re all saying is that we can¡¯t beat these things in a straight fight, right? But we don¡¯t have to, either. The task didn¡¯t say to kill all of these robots. It only wants us to beat the Engineer. So, the next best thing to killing everything is sneaking past them. We can¡¯t do that because of the stealth-sensing fireflies, so the only option is misdirection. And he¡¯s at the top of the power rankings. He¡¯s the best suited to survival.¡± It was the most Benedict had said since he¡¯d joined the group, and he¡¯d broken it down precisely how Elijah would have. ¡°I knew I liked you,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°All in favor of Elijah-gets-chased-by-a-bunch-of-bug-bots?¡± No one raised their hands. What they did do was erupt into a series of arguments as to why he should not, under any circumstances, go through with that plan. That left Elijah incredibly annoyed, but listening to others ¨C even when they were wrong ¨C was part of being on a team. ¡°I¡¯m still waiting to hear someone else¡¯s brilliant plan,¡± he said, making a show of stretching. He added a yawn. ¡°I guess we could just give up. No shame in quitting, right?¡± ¡°Shut up,¡± Sadie groaned. ¡°Just shut up.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking!¡± ¡°Well, here¡¯s a little nugget to add to your thought process. I¡¯m pretty sure we get bonus points for being the first to conquer a challenge. So, no rush. Winning isn¡¯t important, right? Someone has to lose ¨C I mean, lots of people will lose ¨C so who says it can¡¯t be us?¡± She threw a rock at him. Elijah easily dodged it, but he wasn¡¯t able to duck beneath the next one, which hit him square in the forehead. It didn¡¯t hurt ¨C not with his Constitution ¨C but he very much didn¡¯t care for having things thrown at his head. ¡°Seriously, bro. Just stop.¡± Elijah was about to respond ¨C and angrily ¨C when he thought better of it. Then, he sighed and sagged his shoulders. ¡°Sorry,¡± he muttered. ¡°I just don¡¯t like sitting still. I¡¯m pretty sure I can make that plan work, though.¡± ¡°Too much risk,¡± Sadie said, her irritation still coating her voice. ¡°And I apologize, too. I shouldn¡¯t throw things at you, regardless of how annoying you¡¯re being.¡± ¡°Apology accepted.¡± After that, their discussion was a little more civil. However, it was no more productive, which meant that no one could figure out a better plan for infiltrating the facility. Eventually, even Sadie had to admit that his idea gave them the best shot at success, so they built around it, establishing a few extra steps. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Once they¡¯d finalized the plan, everyone began their preparations. Mostly, Elijah just helped Kurik, and a little less than a day later, everything was ready. So, he spent another hour centering himself and preparing for what was to come. If he failed, not only would he die, but everyone would be caught out in the open. And that just wasn¡¯t acceptable. ¡°Are you ready?¡± asked Sadie, standing over him. Elijah looked up and gave her his best smile as he said, ¡°I was born ready.¡± She groaned. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t get you sometimes,¡± she said. ¡°One minute, you¡¯re making cracks about cheesy vampire books, and the next, you¡¯re talking about the majesty of nature. Who are you, really?¡± ¡°Not sure what you mean.¡± ¡°Are you the weird jokester? Or are you a serious person?¡± she asked. Elijah thought for a moment, then said, ¡°Guess I¡¯m a little bit of both. I¡¯m serious when I need to be. Like right now. Total game face on.¡± She just rolled her eyes. After that, the group split up. The plan called for them to hide in a particularly dense pile of garbage about a hundred yards from the facility¡¯s perimeter, while Elijah went to the other side to prepare for his feigned assault. So, as they went to their assigned location, Elijah slipped into Shape of the Predator, then adopted Guise of the Unseen before circling around. Along the way, he passed dozens of insectile robots, each one destroying a piece of the trash mountain. Ethera was involved somehow, but Elijah had no idea what the process really entailed. All he knew was that the acrid odor of burning rubber filled the air, and the metal monsters looked like they were eating trash. Regardless, Elijah had no issues evading them as he circled around to where he intended to begin his part of the plan. As he did, he studied the facility itself. There was a low wall encircling the compound, but it was far too flimsy to hold anything out. Instead, it seemed more symbolic than anything else. Either way, it was absolutely lousy with the firefly robots, which buzzed around in swarms of a hundred. They blinked away merrily, looking as if they didn¡¯t have a care in the world. Beyond that perimeter fence, there was an open area filled with dormant cockroach robots. From their tests, Elijah knew that they would awaken the moment anyone came into range ¨C or when the fireflies alerted on an intruder ¨C which meant that any potential invader would need to fight a horde not dissimilar from the one Elijah and his group had battled when they¡¯d first entered the Citadel of Innovation. Finally, Elijah looked up to see the giant wasps hovering around a thousand feet overhead. They circled the compound lazily, though he¡¯d seen how quickly they would respond to any threat. Elijah didn¡¯t see the beetles, but he knew they were there. Once he was in position, Elijah settled in to wait for around an hour, just to make sure that his companions were in place. During that time, he focused on his cultivation. His latest experiment was to loop ethera around the various facets, then drag them closer together. Doing it gave him a headache, but he felt like he was on the right track. When everything came together ¨C brief as those moments were ¨C he felt a slight increase in his cognition speed. At first, he¡¯d thought it was a mirage, but after a few tests, he¡¯d confirmed that it was, in fact, real. So, he reasoned that he was going in the right direction. There needed to be some adjustments, he was well aware, but he felt he¡¯d finally cleared a huge hurdle. Now, he just needed to put in the right amount of effort, and everything would work out. Maybe. Or he might just as easily cripple his Mind cultivation by going down the wrong path. Whatever the case, it wasn¡¯t as if he could simply ask a mentor for advice. When he got back to Earth, he fully intended to seek out a Librarian, but he knew the chances that one would be powerful enough to find that particular answer were pretty slim. In any case, the cultivation, while a little painful, helped with the stress of what he was about to do. But eventually, the time came to act, and given that Elijah was not one to shirk his duty ¨C especially when it was his plan in the first place ¨C he refused to let his trepidation dictate his actions. So, without further ado, he crept forward and planted himself just on the other side of the wall. Then, he shifted into his caster form, and before he was detected, he cast two spells. First came Calamity, which swept through the courtyard of the facility with typical fury. Hundreds of cockroach creatures came online, and dozens of other types revealed themselves as well. Some of them were the ranged variants that could sling molten slag at their enemies, but the millipede and normal beetle monsters were there, too. In short, there were so many variations of enormous bug-bots that Elijah had a little trouble distinguishing between them. But that was fine. In this case, he didn¡¯t need to know his enemies. He just needed to get their attention. And Calamity was the perfect tool for that job. He also cast Swarm, though he didn¡¯t direct it at the mass of huge bug-bots. Rather, he targeted the fireflies. The glittering swarm was incapable of affecting the bigger robots, but the conjured insects were the perfect size to take out the fireflies. So, that was what they did, dive bombing the flashing creatures with ruthless efficiency. But Elijah didn¡¯t stick around to watch. Instead, he was already running along the fence, sprinting as quickly as his legs would carry him. He knew he couldn¡¯t outrun the creatures in his human form, but he hoped it would be enough for him to finish the rest of his plan. He circled the facility, aiming more spells at the fireflies. Storm¡¯s Fury proved particularly effective at taking them out, as the little creatures were so clumped together that the current had no trouble leaping from one to the next. Thankfully, it was a cheap spell, too. Just when Elijah was patting himself on the back, two problems showed themselves. The first was expected, and it took the form of the wasps aiming their giant stingers at him and letting loose with three columns of fire. But this time, Elijah wasn¡¯t sitting still, and he managed to evade them. However, he did feel his back blister from the sheer heat of the trio of attacks. That distraction ¨C if getting third-degree burns on his back could be categorized as such ¨C was probably why he never saw the teenage mutant ninja beetles bearing down on him. One hit him like a truck, sending him tumbling across the junk-filled landscape for more than thirty yards. Knowing that he only had a moment to act, Elijah immediately initiated the transformation into his lamellar ape form, completing it before he came to a stop. It was still barely in time to protect him from the next hit, which came in the form of a leaping beetle-bot that brought its claws down on him with enough force to completely dislodge a few of his scales. But Elijah was prepared for the attack, and so, he responded with one of his own, hammering into the robot with all the strength he could muster. The two-handed attack staggered the beetle, and Elijah knew he had an opening to follow-up with something even more devastating. But he wrangled his instincts under control, turned, and then fled. And hundreds of robots, three enormous, fire-spewing wasps, and a pair of powerful bipedal beetles followed in hot pursuit. As he ran, Elijah could only hope that he¡¯d gotten them all. 5-54. Beetle Power The noise was deafening. Hundreds of metal creatures, all clanking together as they chased Elijah away from the facility, created a cacophony of sound that Sadie would never forget. It was overwhelming, especially when she knew what it represented. If he made one simple mistake, if he tripped or had overestimated his own speed, they would devour him. Which was why she¡¯d argued so vehemently against the plan. It was too dangerous. Too many things could go wrong. And yet, she¡¯d lost the argument based on one, simple and inescapable fact ¨C they had no other choice. Certainly, they could retreat. They could spend the next month grinding away on wraiths or the local wildlife. But even if the each managed to gain five or ten levels ¨C a near impossibility in such a short time frame, regardless of how many monsters they exterminated ¨C they would¡¯ve still found themselves at a distinct disadvantage against such a monumental force. The volume of the pursuit continued to mount until, at last, it was time, as announced by Dat. ¡°It¡¯s clear,¡± he said. ¡°We don¡¯t have much of an opening.¡± Even though Sadie harbored extreme reservations about the plan, she and the others were already committed. The moment Elijah had gotten the horde¡¯s attention, the group¡¯s path was set. Now, they were obligated to do their part, lest his efforts become wasted. So, Sadie, Dat, Kurik, Benedict, and Ron set out from the shallow depression in which they¡¯d been hiding and raced down the slope of the trash mountain. Without their inflated attributes, they would¡¯ve been forced to take it slow. The terrain was too uneven, the incline too steep, and the footing too treacherous for even experienced climbers to quickly traverse. Yet, because of their physical abilities, they managed it at a sprint, reaching the mountain¡¯s nadir after only a few seconds. During that time, the cacophonous noise of the robots¡¯ pursuit of Elijah had faded somewhat as the Druid led them away. ¡°He got them all, that crazy bastard,¡± Ron breathed as the facility came into full view. Indeed, the compound looked deserted. There were still a few scattered fireflies on the far side, but their point of ingress was entirely clear. Importantly, so were the skies, though Sadie could see the enormous wasps in the distance, firing one pillar of flame after another as they attempted to fry the Druid who¡¯d gotten their attention. The fact that they didn¡¯t stop was a good sign for his survival. If he¡¯d made it so far, perhaps he really would make it the rest of the way. But Sadie remembered how devastating those beams of fire were. They hadn¡¯t just burned in a physical sense. No ¨C they were mixed with ethera, and they had scorched her very soul. If it hadn¡¯t been for the use of her Miracle, none of them would have survived. And even if they¡¯d managed to endure the flames, it would have left them all crippled. But now, even a week later, she wondered if she had made the right choice. Miracles were not like other abilities, with distinct parameters and effects. She had no idea when she¡¯d be able to use it again, and it was only through experience that she knew what it did. Even as she dashed across the clearing and leaped over the fence, Sadie remembered its description:
Eruption of Faith Call upon your angelic heritage and enact a Miracle. Cooldown based on accumulation of Faith.
Faith, she¡¯d been told by Gabriel ¨C the angel who¡¯d granted her core ¨C was a more ephemeral form of power than ethera, and it was entirely unquantifiable. It wouldn¡¯t be found on any status readout, and there were no numbers associated with it. However, she could feel it at all times, and though she couldn¡¯t tell how much of it she had accumulated, she knew when there was enough to fuel the miracle. As far as she could tell, that accumulation was based on her deeds, though she¡¯d been completely unable to work out which actions were the most beneficial. For instance, she¡¯d gained more Faith from giving food to a starving child than she¡¯d gotten for saving hundreds during battle. For someone as analytically-minded as Sadie, it was frustratingly inexact, though the two times she had used Eruption of Faith, it had made the difference between life and death. Not just for her, but for her companions as well. So, she was grateful for it, even if she found the mechanics a little irritating. But she didn¡¯t have time to think about that, aside from acknowledging that she didn¡¯t have a Miracle to save them if something went wrong. So, she focused on the task at hand, and as she sprinted across the courtyard, that attention was the only thing that saved her life. She ducked, falling into a slide that allowed her to narrowly avoid a sweeping claw. As she skidded across the muddy ground, it felt like the world had slowed. She could see her attacker so clearly, could feel the subtle wind generated by the claw as it passed only inches from her face. Then, she sprang to her feet and swept the Sword of the Morning in a backhanded attack that found nothing but air. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The bipedal beetle had already sprung away, flipping backwards to avoid the gleaming sword. It landed in a mud puddle, sending a splash of disgusting water to hit Sadie¡¯s breastplate. She took a guard position and let out a wordless shout that carried with it the Call of the Crusader. The robotic monster didn¡¯t hesitate before it initiated its second attack, falling upon Sadie with the skill of an expert martial artist, though one armed with supernatural strength, inhuman dexterity, and claws that could surely cut through good steel. Sadie ducked, avoiding one attack, but she took a front kick to the stomach that sent her staggering backward. She recovered quickly enough to avoid the monster¡¯s follow-up round kick, then thrust her sword forward. She hadn¡¯t meant for it to connect. Instead, it was an exploratory attack to establish range and force the creature to react. It didn¡¯t work out like that, though. Instead, the robotic monster took the attack on its black and corroded carapace, and as the blade skittered off, barely leaving a scratch, it dove forward and latched its claws around Sadie¡¯s head. Or that was what it tried to do. Instead, it only caught the ethereal shield of Bulwark of the Faithful, but to Sadie¡¯s horror, the sturdy barrier popped only a second after the beetle flexed its claws. Fortunately, that came with an influx of power as her attributes shot up. Knowing it wouldn¡¯t last, she used that surge of strength to shove the beetle away. Then, with an overhand slash that her jianshu tutors would have called a barbaric hack, she sheered through the monster¡¯s left elbow joint. Before she could follow up on that, she felt something pierce through her armor and impale her through the stomach. Looking down, Sadie saw a rusted and jagged blade extending from the beetle¡¯s other arm and disappearing into her torso. It ripped it free, dragging a gaping gash in her stomach. She gasped, but she wouldn¡¯t let the injury ¨C which, in the back of her mind, she recognized as a mortal wound ¨C keep her from doing her job. Even as she saw Kurik leaping through the air, his hatchets raised, she reached out and grabbed the beetle¡¯s remaining arm. That earned her another stab wound, but when the creature tried to respond to the arrival of the new threat, it was slowed by only an instant. That allowed Kurik to descend upon it with all the strength he could bring to the fight. His hatchets fell with inevitable weight, burying their blades in its shoulders and sending a wrenching sound of twisted metal to echo across the courtyard. Then, Dat arrived, his new longsword glowing with red power as he slashed at its legs. The blade bit deep, severing what passed for connective tissue and fouling the joint. The beetle stumbled, but it managed to remain upright long enough to offer a reprisal. As it tossed Sadie aside and aimed a backhanded blow at the defenseless Dat, she used Consecrated Shield, enveloping him in a glowing white barrier of ethera. The attack landed, and the shield shattered. However, when it did, a wave of destructive power swept over it, melting the bits of rubber and plastic ¨C or whatever other magical material composed the more flexible parts on its body. In addition, that wave sent a jolt of vitality through her, which was likely the only reason she didn¡¯t immediately bleed out. Then, another wave of warmth washed over her as one of Ron¡¯s heals landed. It wasn¡¯t enough to mend the gaping wound in her stomach, but it did allow her to regain her feet just in time to see that the beetle had recovered from the shattering of Consecrated Shield. She slapped a reaching claw aside, then dodged a leaping kick that would have sent her flying across the courtyard. Even one-legged and one-armed, the beetle was more agile than any foe she¡¯d ever fought. It used that speed to launch a flurry of attacks that very nearly overwhelmed her. But Sadie was no novice to battle, and she¡¯d fought powerful opponents before. So, she tapped into her experiences and stayed just ahead of the creature¡¯s outburst of attacks. She wove in and out, and as she narrowly avoided most of the blows, another heal hit her, further mending her wounds. She took the hits she couldn¡¯t dodge, turning aside at the last moment so that her armor could do its job. It was clear that it wasn¡¯t good enough to completely blunt the full weight of the monster¡¯s power, so she focused less on blocking and more on parrying. And for a while, it worked. A normal opponent would have found it frustrating, but the robotic creature seemed above that sort of emotion. So, even though Sadie struggled to stymie its efforts, it never forgot about Dat or Kurik, who¡¯d retreated to pepper the thing with ranged attacks. Kurik¡¯s were mostly useless, though he did manage to wedge a few of his arrows in the thing¡¯s remaining joints. Dat¡¯s efforts were more damaging to the monster, but even his powerful crossbow bolts usually just clanged off of its powerfully armored carapace. Eventually, even Ron joined in, using his kinetic force spell to distract the monster. Benedict, mostly forgotten, swirled with ethera as he cast one spell after another, and though they were invisible, Sadie knew that those spells were likely responsible for weakening the monster enough that their attacks did anything at all. Through it all, Sadie used Call of the Crusader as often as she could. If the monster was allowed to turn its full attention on the more vulnerable members of her party, they would be ripped to pieces. So, she focused most of her efforts on either keeping the beetle¡¯s attention or planting herself between it and her group. Gradually, they wore the thing down, one nick at a time, until at last, Sadie managed to hack through its remaining leg. It flopped to the ground, and for a second, she relaxed. That was when it used its lone arm to propel itself forward in an attack meant to take her head off. She dodged to the side, bringing the white blade of the Sword of Morning down on the thing¡¯s back. It only scratched the bulging carapace, but the sheer weight of her attack buried it in the mud. Sadie followed that up by attacking its remaining shoulder joint with a series of sledgehammer attacks that eventually dislodged its arm. But the thing still wasn¡¯t dead. In fact, it was still dangerous, as it proved when it nearly severed her foot by clamping down on her ankle with its oversized pincers. Thankfully, she narrowly managed to jerk her leg back before it could finish the last-ditch attack. Then, she and Dat took turns hacking at the monster¡¯s neck until, at last, its head rolled free. Only then did Sadie feel a wave of experience announcing the creature¡¯s death. She looked down, her breath coming in ragged gasps as another heal settled onto her. Now that the battle was over, the influx of vitality could fully mend her wounds, though it would take some time before she was completely recovered. In any case, the fight ¨C which hadn¡¯t lasted more than a few minutes, despite how it had felt ¨C had hammered home one, simple fact. Even if they¡¯d retreated to level a little before attacking the robots in the courtyard, there was absolutely no way they could have survived. One beetle had nearly killed them, so it wasn¡¯t unreasonable to expect that the entire horde would have ripped them apart without issue. ¡°I hope they don¡¯t catch him,¡± she said, gazing across the courtyard in the direction Elijah had led the rest of the robotic monsters. In the distance, she could see the flashing lights of descending pillars of fire, but the wasps themselves were hidden by one of the trash mountains. ¡°We can¡¯t worry about that right now,¡± Ron said. ¡°We have a job to do, right? Let¡¯s do it.¡± Sadie nodded, and then she led the group toward the door. Still, as it slid open, she fervently prayed for Elijah¡¯s safety. 5-55. Scrambling Elijah was on fire, and he regretted ever volunteering to lead the horde of robotic insects away. He dove aside as a roach-bot descend upon him from above ¨C who knew they were capable of flight? ¨C and rolled across the muddy ground to put out the flames ruining his scaled back. He never stopped moving before he sprang to his feet, grabbed a handful of mud, and vaulted himself to even greater speeds. He vacated the area just in time to avoid another pillar of flame that melted everything in its fiery radius. That included huge hunks of metal that might¡¯ve once been gears for some gargantuan machine, a half-dozen robots of various insectile design, and if he had been only a little slower, a Druid who¡¯d bitten off more than he could chew. Fortunately, his lamellar ape form was particularly good at traveling over uneven terrain, so he managed to stay just ahead of the pursuit. The wasps were more difficult to evade, as evidenced by the mass of burns that his back had become. But he was still alive, and the plan was still just as viable as when he¡¯d begun. Or that was what he wanted to believe. The fact was that he had no idea if he had the strength to survive. The robots were far more powerful than he¡¯d expected, and their pursuit came a lot more quickly than he had anticipated. More, even though he¡¯d felt the wasps¡¯ fury once before, he¡¯d underestimated just how deadly those flames could be. Still, he told himself that if he could just reach the line of traps laid by Kurik, he would have a chance of survival. So, he raced ahead, bounding from one hunk of trash to another. Along the way, he was forced to fend off dozens of robots. Some were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but a few were particularly quick-footed members of the horde chasing him. Either way, Elijah knocked them aside with predictably bestial fury, never stopping long enough to finish them off. The wasps did that for him. Pillars of flame periodically hit behind him, and Elijah knew that if he stopped even for a moment, he would be cooked. He kept going, darting one way or another at random so that the monsters couldn¡¯t predict his path. It was marginally effective, though on more than one occasion, he felt the sting of their fiery attacks. But he couldn¡¯t stop to heal. One little delay, and he¡¯d be broiled alive. On and on he went, covering close to three miles before he saw a few familiar landmarks. He remembered where every trap was supposed to be, but even so, he was forced to slow his pace in order to avoid tripping them himself. That gave the horde an opportunity to catch up. Thankfully, that¡¯s when Kurik¡¯s traps came into play. The first was a simple series of tripwires rigged to set off a set of spring-loaded stakes that hit with enough force to impale the metallic monsters. After that came the expected trenches and pit traps, each lined with various spikes and other methods of delivering Kurik¡¯s power. When asked if his traps would affect the robots, the dwarf had only scoffed and shook his head. As it turned out, Kurik¡¯s confidence was well-placed, and the robots fell in droves. Unfortunately, there were plenty more where they¡¯d come from. Elijah kept going, and as he went, the traps grew more magical in nature. There was one that exploded into a lightning storm whose fury put Calamity to shame, while another resulted in a conflagration that melted the robots down to slag. And there were plenty of others whose effects Elijah didn¡¯t see because he was too busy trying to stay alive. Because there were always more to take the places of the ones killed by Kurik¡¯s traps. What¡¯s more, they were ahead as well as behind, which forced him to fight his way through the newcomers just so he could stay ahead of the ones who¡¯d been chasing him for miles. But eventually, he knew that his time would run out. So, after clearing the field of traps, Elijah started searching for an appropriate spot to enact the remainder of his plan. Briefly, he¡¯d considered leading the robots all the way back to the safe zone where he and the others had spent a few days in recovery. However, he¡¯d discarded that notion for two reasons. First, it was a long way off, and though he could move much faster alone than he could when saddled with the rest of his group, it would still take him a couple of days¡¯ worth of steady travel just to get to that destination. Second, he had no intention of leading such a force back to the gnarled tree. He didn¡¯t think the robots could bypass the protective field of vitality it radiated, but he didn¡¯t want to take the chance of being wrong. So, he¡¯d come up with a different, far simpler plan. The first part saw him racing up one of the trash mountains. Along the way, he saw more insectile robots, and with every foot he traveled above the surface, the ethera thickened and the monsters grew more powerful. By the time he reached the peak, Elijah was having to fight for every inch, and against creatures that could nearly match him in strength. The only saving grace was that those robots seemed very territorial, and they clearly didn¡¯t see the horde as allies. Instead, they fought against the other insectoid monsters, which kept Elijah from being immediately overwhelmed. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Still, when he found himself close to the top, he was assaulted by an enormous praying mantis with what appeared to be huge circular saws for arms. It pounced on him with those rotating blades, cutting through Iron Scales with ease. The spindly thing was light, though, and before the cuts went too deep, Elijah lashed out, sending it toppling backwards. Without another moment of hesitation, he transformed into the Shape of the Sky and launched himself skyward. Immediately, a hail of molten slag shot up at him, but Elijah was ready for the bombardment, and the second he¡¯d gained enough altitude, he tucked his wings close to his body and dove. That threw the monsters¡¯ aim off, and after he¡¯d plummeted close to the ground, he threw his wings out wide, arresting his fall before once again climbing. The ground-bound monsters couldn¡¯t keep up with his erratic movement, so as long as he kept it up, he was relatively safe from their fire. The same could not be said for the airborne creatures, including the roaches who he¡¯d recently learned could fly. He lashed out with his serpentine head, snapping his jaws around one that tried to dive-bomb him, and he was satisfied with the crunch of twisting metal. Even as he killed that one, three more fell upon his back and started gnawing on his spine. A quick barrel roll dislodged them, but they managed to stop their plummet with furiously beating wings. Elijah put that to a stop a second later when he swooped back in and destroyed the delicate appendages with his talons. Because there was one thing he¡¯d discovered ¨C while the monsters could fly, they were not nearly as agile or as fast as his flight form. He used that to his advantage as a swarm of the flying roaches ascended with the intention of tearing him to pieces. Elijah fought back, and for a few moments, he thought he could turn his superior flying abilities into a distinct advantage that would win the day. Yet, his expectations were quickly dashed when the fireflies joined the battle. At one point, he¡¯d thought they were merely early-warning sensors, but that was proven wrong when a swarm of the flashing monsters kamikazed into him, ripping his wings to shreds. That slowed him down just enough that he was hit by a few of the molten projectiles fired from below. And that, in turn, loosened his grip on the battle, spelling his doom when the cockroaches could finally keep up. With no other choice, he pushed himself higher and higher. With his tattered wings, it felt like he was once again climbing the Singing Cliffs. Though this time, he had to deal with a host of projectiles, swarms of suicidal and exploding fireflies, and a few dozen monstrous flying cockroaches. Oh, and there was a cargo plane-sized wasp turning in his direction, too. Elijah knew he was in trouble, and the way he saw it, there was only one way out. So, as soon as he reached the limit of his capabilities ¨C which was thousands of feet from the surface but markedly less from the peak of the closest trash mountain ¨C he initiated a dive. Tucking his shredded wings close to his body, he pulled his head back and plummeted toward the ground. Accelerating to terminal velocity in only a few seconds, he used his tail to subtly guide his path. He zoomed past the cockroaches who, only a moment before, had been in hot pursuit. Then, he tore through a swarm of fireflies, and they exploded against his body, doing far less damage than they had against his wings. Finally, just before he reached his destination, he used Shape of the Guardian. By the time he hit the wasp¡¯s back, Elijah had taken on the form of a lamellar ape. He thudded into its back, denting the steel paneling and throwing off its flight path. The enormous metal insect hit the side of a trash mountain, filling the air with the screech of metal on metal, but the huge monster managed to right itself before it fell all the way to the ground. As expected. Meanwhile, Elijah let loose his inner enraged beast, latching onto one of the panels and ripping it free. That exposed a mass of wires and tubes that looked extremely important. So, he dove in, tearing through them with characteristic ferocity. The monster dipped and rolled, and Elijah was very nearly thrown free. However, before he fell, he clamped onto the edge of the neighboring panel, where he hung as the monster remained inverted. Fortunately, his ape-like form seemed perfectly suited to hanging from a precipice, so it was only a moment before he once again ripped into those important-looking wires and tubes. With a roar, he tore through the mass of mechanical innards, throwing the pieces out to join the rest of the refuse below. But the wasp remained aloft, its enormous wings creating a downdraft to rival any helicopter. Elijah didn¡¯t care. Cockroaches descended upon him, nipping at his scales. Yet, his guardian form was far more durable than Shape of the Sky, and so long as he kept Iron Scales active, it would be a long time before they could bring him down. Each bite earned the creatures a thorn in reprisal, but their metal exoskeletons protected them from too much damage. Still, every now and again, one of the thorns of Shield of Brambles would find a vulnerable spot ¨C like a wing joint ¨C and when it fell, Elijah would have one less insectile robot to deal with. Still, he was eventually ripped to shreds, his scales having been pried away by persistent mandibles. But Elijah finished his task when, four feet deep, he destroyed a whirring hunk of machinery. Suddenly, one of the wasp¡¯s wings went still, and it fell from the sky. Elijah only had a moment to brace himself before it hit the ground, kicking up mud and sending detritus tumbling across the junkyard. It also crushed a couple of bugs, but the vast majority of the horde had been left behind as the wasp tried to dislodge him. So, for the moment, he was safe. Or that was what he thought until he felt a familiar stirring of ethera, and he looked up to see the second wasp aiming its fiery stinger in his direction. Elijah could only watch as it lit up, ready to send a pillar of flame down to melt him where he stood. 5-56. Taking Hits Sadie slammed into the wall, her pauldron crumpling as the impact sent a web of cracks spreading across the concrete surface. But the armor ¨C as well as Bulwark of the Faithful ¨C did its job, preventing her bones from shattering. It was a good thing, too, because if she¡¯d been stunned, even for a moment, she would have had her head taken off by the scything claws of the latest monster. As it was, she narrowly managed to duck beneath the corroded blade, which bit into the concrete, slashing more than a foot deep into the wall. She sprang away, rolling to the side as another claw sliced into the floor. When she regained her feet, she was forced to leap backward, and another oncoming blade skittered off her armor. The weight of the blow still staggered her, but she maintained her footing well enough to offer a counterattack. Her own blade arced out, hitting the mantis-like robot in the torso. The attack sliced deep, and sparks of ethera flew, but the creature was far from disabled. It responded with a downward attack that speared through her shoulder. Knowing that she didn¡¯t have a choice, she grabbed hold of the monster¡¯s other scythe and pulled it close. The creature went wild, kicking at her with its multitude of sharp legs. The flurry ripped through her armor like paper, tearing into her flesh and sending blood flying with every passing second. But she¡¯d accomplished her goal. At last, the monster was still. ¡°Hit it with everything you¡¯ve got!¡± she shouted hoarsely. And her companions did just that. Dat fired his red-glowing crossbow bolts, Kurik leaped from the wall with his hatchets in hand, falling upon the monster¡¯s back with the power of some sort of skill, and Benedict hit it with a bolt of pure darkness. Despite his boy-band good looks, it was easy to forget the man. His spells weren¡¯t flashy, and most of the time, they were entirely undetectable. However, without his efforts, the fight against the beetle would have been far more difficult. It was only in the wake of that battle that she¡¯d recognized the corrosion affecting the thing¡¯s softer parts. When Sadie had asked about it, Benedict had revealed that his spells were slow-acting but powerful, causing escalating levels of rot and corrosion. He''d used those powers at the start of the current fight, and Sadie suspected that without them, there was absolutely no way her attacks would have done anything but annoy the powerful mantis robot. Benedict¡¯s beam of darkness hit alongside everyone else¡¯s attacks, and the effects were explosive. The first volley didn¡¯t kill the thing. Nor did the second. But the third tore through its damaged carapace and destroyed the vital machinery beneath. By the fifth volley, the creature staggered drunkenly away, and Sadie finished it off with a massive overhand strike that sheered it nearly in two. Throughout the fight, Ron had never stopped healing, so by the time it was finished, Sadie¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t nearly as dire as they should have been. They still hurt, but that was the life of a defender. No matter how potent her abilities, she felt the pain of each landed attack. ¡°That was it, right? There aren¡¯t any more of those, are there?¡± she asked. ¡°Your armor is kind of messed up, bro.¡± Sadie looked down. The armor had been with her for years, and now, it was mostly ruined. It could still be effective, but it wouldn¡¯t be long before she needed to think about replacing it. ¡°It happens,¡± she said, trying not to feel the sense of nostalgia racing through her mind. Or was that grief? After all, she¡¯d gotten the armor just after her first tower run, back before she¡¯d known anything about the undead threat. Back when Lisa was still alive. It had been two years since she¡¯d died, and there wasn¡¯t a day that went by that she didn¡¯t replay those events. It was worse for Dat, especially when the anniversary of Lisa¡¯s death had just passed. But she couldn¡¯t allow the tragedy of her sister¡¯s death to distract her. The living depended on her to remain focused. So, she asked again, ¡°Are there any more of them?¡± Kurik shook his head. ¡°Not that I saw,¡± he answered. ¡°But some of them things can use stealth.¡± They¡¯d been inside the compound for almost an hour by that point, and they¡¯d had to fight every step of the way. There weren¡¯t nearly as many enemies as there had been in the courtyard, but each one they found was almost as strong as the beetle. Just surviving had required every ounce of teamwork they could muster, and even then, it was barely enough. ¡°I think this is the way,¡± Dat said, pointing down an adjacent hall. Sadie knew better than to distrust his directions. There was an ability at play, though it was one she didn¡¯t understand. Dat was full of surprises, but he was as reliable as they came. So, after ensuring that everyone was in as good of condition as they could manage, she set off down the hall. The others followed. ¡°Stop.¡± Sadie turned to Kurik and asked, ¡°What?¡± ¡°You take one more step, you¡¯re gonna lose that leg,¡± he said, pointing at a slightly discolored bit of concrete on the floor. The whole area reminded Sadie of a vast warehouse, though one that had been inexplicably divided into hundreds of rooms and a labyrinth of hallways. Along the way, they¡¯d passed what were clearly manufacturing lines, with robots building robots, but they¡¯d done nothing to disrupt the process. They had one goal ¨C to kill the Engineer ¨C and they wouldn¡¯t be distracted from it. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°There¡¯s a trap there?¡± ¡°More like a security feature. Give me a minute,¡± he said, stepping forward. In seconds, he¡¯d removed that bit of floor and was tinkering with a set of wires beneath. After a few moments, he pulled a small crystal from within the tangle of machinery and let out a sigh. ¡°She¡¯s a beauty, ain¡¯t she? High-quality power crystal. Ain¡¯t seen one of these since I left home.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± asked Benedict, leaning closer. Kurik went on to explain that it was essentially a battery, and one with a multitude of uses. ¡°Back home, they use these to power lights and such. But this one, it could¡¯ve powered my clan¡¯s whole compound. This powerful of a crystal is military grade. Meanin¡¯ that the trap it was runnin¡¯ would¡¯ve turned you to ash.¡± ¡°Damn, bro. Good thing we have you here.¡± The dwarf didn¡¯t respond, save to give Dat a nod. After that, the group moved more cautiously, but all the while, Sadie was thinking of Elijah. There was no guarantee that killing the Engineer would help him, but she had to believe that it couldn¡¯t hurt the Druid¡¯s chances of survival. If he was even still alive. It had been so long, and there had been so many robots following him. That wasn¡¯t a productive line of thought, though. So, she focused on the task at hand. Fortunately, they weren¡¯t attacked by any other robots, but they were slowed by a multitude of traps. Each one took Kurik a little while to dismantle, which slowed them down. But at least he seemed excited to acquire so many power crystals. Finally, they reached a large hallway that ended in a pair of immense double doors. Beyond those doors, Sadie could feel a powerful wave of ethera. ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all,¡± Dat said. ¡°It¡¯s practically burning my nose hairs.¡± Indeed, Sadie felt the hairs on the back of her neck standing straight up. It wasn¡¯t just dense; it felt like it had been charged with a potent current of electricity. But that told her they were on the right track. So, without any further hesitation, she strode forward and pushed the doors open. Inside was a huge chamber, at the center of which was the largest power crystal they¡¯d yet seen. It was at least four feet tall and half as wide, and it emitted a startling amount of ethera. It was embedded in a metallic column, from which flowed hundreds of wires in every direction. Every couple of seconds, a wave of electricity raced around the room in a circle. But Sadie was focused on two other details. One ¨C what looked like a console was set into the pillar, and, though it might¡¯ve been a leap of intuition, she believed that it might hold the key to conquering the challenge. Even if it didn¡¯t provide a direct benefit, the presence of such a console suggested that it might at least give them a hint as to how to proceed. The second detail was even more concerning. Hundreds of mechanical spiders ¨C each one about two feet wide ¨C crawled over the wires like they were part of a web. She wasn¡¯t sure of their purpose, but every now and again, the spiders would shoot a beam of molten plasma into various parts of the web of wires. What made their presence even more concerning was the fact that, when Sadie opened the door, the spiders had clearly taken notice. Now, they were all staring at her. ¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°Not good at all.¡± * * * Elijah was about to die. He knew that down to the very core of his being. And yet, he refused to give in. So, as much as he recognized it as a bad idea, he threw himself upward and directly into the wasp¡¯s flaming stinger. It erupted before his leap reached its apex, bathing him in fiery agony. Yet, his momentum was great enough that he managed to reach the stinger, and with charred hands, latch on. Despite his actions suggesting otherwise, Elijah was not suicidal, though. And even as he yanked himself above the wasp¡¯s eruption of fire, he used Guardian¡¯s Renewal. But to his horror, it met with significant resistance. Once before, in the fight against Thor, the ability had struggled to live up to its description, so he knew it wasn¡¯t foolproof. And yet, the fact that it didn¡¯t immediately prompt a complete recovery was more than a little surprising. Within, the burst of vitality that came with the ability warred against the flames, mending his scorched body even as the fire raged through him. Back and forth, the two forces battled until, at last, one began to wane. Guardian¡¯s Renewal ¨C as stalwart as it had been ¨C was pushed back, steadily and surely giving ground to the fire. Elijah roared in agony, and nearly lost his grip on the monster¡¯s stinger. In the past, he might have scoffed at the notion that someone could will themselves to survival. That they could simply dig a little deeper and fend off certain death. Yet, that was precisely what Elijah did. He didn¡¯t know where he got the strength to yank himself up that stinger and to relative safety, but he soon found himself clinging to life only a few feet above the still-ongoing flames. His body was more than scorched. He¡¯d moved past pain as his body¡¯s nerve-endings had been burned to nothing. With his grip failing, he dug his claws into the metal stinger and climbed, one inch at a time, until he reached the wasp¡¯s abdomen. Once there, he used the uneven ridges of its exoskeleton as handholds, eventually finding his way to its back. Only then did he let himself rest. Transforming back into his human form, Elijah went through the motions of healing. He could scarcely think. He barely knew where he was. Instead, he acted on autopilot, casting one spell after another as his flesh reformed. Eventually, he managed to recover his wits, and it was just in time for his nerves to reform and send wave after wave of burning pain throughout his body. He endured, hanging on for dear life as the wasp searched for more threats. And he healed, one agonizing second at a time. The good thing about burns was that the body knew precisely what to do with them. He didn¡¯t have to set or reset any bones. Instead, he only needed to give his body the fuel it needed to do its job. However, even as he healed, he knew that he¡¯d assuredly picked up a few new scars. More troubling was the fact that Guardian¡¯s Renewal, which was his personal get-out-of-jail-free card, had failed. Clearly, he¡¯d reached the point where the combination of his body outgrowing the ability and the sheer damage output of some of his enemies could overwhelm the skill. So, he¡¯d have to be a little more careful in the future. The ridiculousness that he had that thought while lying on the back of a plane-sized wasp, after being literally melted by a beam of fiery death was not lost on him. 5-57. The Engineer Electricity arced from one wire to the next, never stopping even for a moment. Somehow, Dat managed to tiptoe through them, his feet never touching a single wire as he made his way to the console. Meanwhile, Sadie fended off the veritable horde of spiders that had descended upon her when she¡¯d used Call of the Crusader. ¡°Hurry up, Dat!¡± she shouted, kicking one of the spiders. She struck it so hard that it actually stung her foot, but the tactic proved successful when the creature was launched across the room and into one of the concrete walls. Behind her, she could hear Benedict mumbling nonsense, and every couple of seconds, she felt a surge of ethera that announced he¡¯d cast another one of his damage-over-time spells. Nearby, Kurik had scattered a host of parts across the floor, and he was busy building some sort of contraption. And finally, Ron had everything he could handle, keeping Sadie upright. Every couple of seconds, one of the spiders would latch onto whatever exposed piece of skin it could find and sink its fangs into her flesh. She didn¡¯t know what sort of venom they injected with each bite, but she knew it was one of the most painful things she¡¯d ever experienced. It felt like she was melting from the inside out, though when she looked down at her leg, it looked no different than before. Except for the giant mechanical spider steadily trying to gnaw through her limb. Up close, she could see that each spider¡¯s abdomen was slightly translucent, and she could see some sort of green liquid sloshing around inside. She hammered the hilt of her sword against what looked like cloudy glass, and she was rewarded with a loud crack. A second later, she screamed as the thing burst open, burying a hundred shards of glass-like material into her leg and bathing her in that green liquid. It turned out to be acid. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t immediately melt her skin. She was capable of resisting that much, but that did nothing for the pain. Thankfully, Ron was on top of things and quickly used his most powerful healing spell to mend the damage. But Sadie had no time to relax, because a dozen more spiders were already bearing down on her. She whipped her sword out, severing a few legs and knocking one of the spiders aside. That attack fouled her guard, and another spider leaped onto her chest. It reared back, its metal fangs glistening with green liquid as it prepared to savage her face. And then something hit the thing, smashing it away from her and sending it skipping across the electrified room. Sadie looked over to see that Benedict had used one of the other spiders as a many-legged club. Just then, Dat stepped in the wrong spot, and he let out a scream of agony as untold number of volts of electricity cascaded through his body. Ron cocked his arm and threw it forward like he was throwing a football. However, instead of an oblong pigskin, he only had a sparkly, star-tipped wand in his hand. Still, a huge ball of light ¨C at least the size of a beachball ¨C sailed across the room and hit the convulsing Dat in the chest. It broke apart, splashing light in all directions. Miraculously, Dat¡¯s screams immediately disappeared, and his seizure ceased. ¡°Be careful!¡± Sadie shouted. She couldn¡¯t lose Dat. Not after everything else. ¡°Great idea, bro! I didn¡¯t even think of that!¡± he screamed back, uncharacteristically sarcastic after having recovered from his misstep. ¡°I got this!¡± Sadie didn¡¯t have anymore time for conversation, because the rest of the spiders had finally reached her. As they leaped upon her, she had to fight off the urge to panic; she¡¯d never liked arachnids, and her experiences since coming to the Citadel of Innovation hadn¡¯t changed any of her opinions. What followed was not pretty. In fact, if Sadie¡¯s childhood instructors had seen what she¡¯d done with all their training, they would have shaken their heads in disappointment. But there was a time for tournament-ready tactics, and there was a time for survival via pure savagery. This was one of the latter. She kicked, she screamed, she wielded the priceless Sword of Morning like a bludgeoning weapon. The sound of screeching metal filled the air accompanied the constant buzz of electricity, and Sadie fought on with a ferocity that would have impressed even the wild Druid. Along the way, she picked up dozens of wounds. The spiders¡¯ sharp fangs had no difficulty punching through her armor, and her Constitution couldn¡¯t keep her safe from the wicked acid they injected with every bite. Nor was it possible to keep Bulwark of the Faithful active at all times. The only good thing was that, because she used it as often as possible, she spent much of the fight with the inflated attributes that came every time it shattered. She grabbed a spider by its legs and flexed, yanking it apart like it was made of paper. Then, she used the two halves as a weapons, hammering them into their companions and sending them skidding away. At some point, she¡¯d dropped her sword, and she hadn¡¯t had the chance to retrieve it. So, she¡¯d used what she had available. Like two halves of a mechanical spider. Sadie knew she hadn¡¯t grown any stronger. Instead, the only reason she¡¯d been able to rip the thing apart was because of Benedict¡¯s spells, which had weakened the creatures enough that she could do what she needed to do. When everything was over, she¡¯d have to thank him. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. But for now, the spiders just kept coming, and Sadie responded the only way she knew how. There was no retreat. No surrender. She could only fight until the bitter end. She was just gearing up for a last stand when, suddenly, the spiders went limp and fell to the floor. It was only then that she realized that the electrified wires had gone eerily silent. ¡°Told you I had it covered, bro,¡± said Dat, looking back at her from the console. A few destroyed spiders lay all around him, and his body was smoking from electrocution. Yet, he couldn¡¯t hide the wide grin that had spread across his round face. So, he never saw the thing coming from the other side of the room. ¡°Dat, look out!¡± she cried. But it was too late. A hulking monstrosity and already speared him through the chest. Sadie screamed and raced forward, but another sharpened shaft of metal shot out of the ground and impaled her through the leg. ¡°How dare you come into my shop and destroy all of my work? Do you know how long it took me to build those?¡± asked the Engineer. From the waist up, he looked just like any other ta¡¯alaki, but that was where the resemblance stopped. Instead of a tail or a pair of legs, like the other two species native to the excised planet, he had a set of four metallic legs. He sighed dramatically. ¡°No matter. I am not familiar with your species, so you will make for quite interesting test subjects.¡± * * * The cold rain of Elijah¡¯s spell was soothing, though he couldn¡¯t escape the chill that came from the wind blowing on his wet body. Or maybe that was just the natural result of having his skin burned off. Mostly. There¡¯d still been a few bits left, though even that had sloughed off during the healing process. Miraculously, his Armor of the Boar King had survived, though the clothes he¡¯d worn beneath the set of leather equipment had been burned to ash. Along with all his hair. Again. If he was honest, his state took him back to some of his earliest days after the world¡¯s transformation, like when he¡¯d been digested inside the monstrous orca¡¯s stomach or when he¡¯d stripped down to avoid having his clothes burned away by fire ogres. ¡°Those were the days,¡± he said nostalgically. He didn¡¯t worry that the mechanical wasp could hear him. He wasn¡¯t proud of it, but he¡¯d spent quite a while screaming in agony as his healing spells mended his burned flesh. So, if the wasp hadn¡¯t responded to that, then it wouldn¡¯t notice a sarcastic comment. ¡°Waspy, you¡¯re a perfect companion. You don¡¯t say much, but you¡¯re a great listener. And I might be a little delirious from the pain, so you¡¯ll have to forgive me for¡­wait, what am I doing? You¡¯re a robotic wasp. Even if you could hear me ¨C¡± Just then, Elijah¡¯s stomach jumped into his throat as his ride plummeted toward the ground. He barely had time to shift into Shape of the Sky and throw himself free before the thing smashed into the side of a trash mountain. He circled for a moment, then landed. The thing hadn¡¯t even slowed before colliding with the ground, and it certainly wasn¡¯t moving now. ¡°Was it something I said?¡± he muttered, having landed and transformed back into his human form. He ran his hand over the wasp¡¯s fuselage, but it lacked the constant hum of machinery that had become so familiar to him. It had been deactivated ¨C that much was certain ¨C but Elijah had no idea how or why that would be the case. More importantly, the crash landing had jerked him back to reality. After being burned alive, he¡¯d been a little out of it, and he¡¯d let his mind wander to all sorts of odd places. Yet, now that he was back on the ground, he recognized two critical details he¡¯d so far ignored. First, his companions were likely still in that compound, and they needed his help. The solution to that was simple, and he ran toward the facility at a light jog. He¡¯d only taken a few steps before he saw a few dormant cockroaches that had tumbled free of the closest trash mountain. It didn¡¯t take him long to put two and two together, and he quickly surmised that all the robots in the area had been deactivated. That was too much of a coincidence for him to dismiss, and he reasoned that his friends were responsible. That spurred him on even more quickly. As he ran, he addressed the second thing he¡¯d missed during his brief convalescence. He had reached level ninety-five, and it had resulted in an unexpected choice:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Shape of the Predator. Please choose a path:
Shape of Venom Shape of Pursuit Shape of the Hunter
Evolve your Predator form by incorporating powerful venom into your attacks. Evolve your Predator form by focusing on overwhelming physicality. Evolve your Predator form without focus, improving in all facets.
The choices were not difficult to understand. The first, Shape of Venom, would likely enhance Contagion to a significant degree. And as someone who¡¯d made copious use of Swarm¡¯s afflictions, he knew just how powerful that could be. By comparison, Shape of Pursuit would enhance his draconid form by augmenting his physical attributes. And finally, Shape of the Hunter seemed like the balance between the two, with less focused improvement. As he ran, he considered the problem. Between the first two, it was like comparing a cobra to a crocodile. They were both very effective hunters, but in very different ways. The third would just be more of the same, which Elijah very much did not want. Aside from how attractive novelty could be, he knew the value of specialization, and if he ever wanted to be more than just the guy who could do a little bit of everything, he needed focus in his forms. That meant ruling out the generic, jack-of-all-trades option. But of the remaining two, Elijah was absolutely uncertain. Not that it mattered, of course. If it was anything like his other spell evolutions, there would be additional requirements associated with each choice. So, it wasn¡¯t something that could help him in the immediate future. As he reached the facility ¨C and saw that the few robots that had returned were now dormant ¨C Elijah pushed the choice out of mind and focused on the task at hand. Because he could feel, via One with Nature, that his companions were in trouble. With that driving him forward, he shifted into the unevolved Shape of the Predator and stalked into the facility under the Guise of the Unseen. 5-58. Mad Scientist ¡°Tell me,¡± said the four-legged amalgamation of flesh and metal as he loomed over Sadie. A huge circular saw whirred to life, its blade glistening with ethera. ¡°Does your world know the value of technology? Mine did not. Does not. I was mocked. Derided. Exiled to the far reaches of my planet, and for what? Because I wanted to solve our problems through science. Meanwhile, those idiots fought against one another, and our doom drew ever nearer.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Sadie spat, glancing to her left and right. Her companions had already been caught, and everyone else but Benedict had been rendered unconscious. At present, they¡¯d all been lashed to vertical slabs of metal. But at least Ron had managed to get a last heal off on Dat, which was the only reason the Witch Hunter wasn¡¯t already dead. For her part, Sadie had been dragged into the center of the room so that she could receive the full attention of the Engineer. ¡°This and that. I have such a lack of biological mass with which to work. No one comes here anymore,¡± he lamented with a sigh. His metallic legs clacked against the floor. ¡°I don¡¯t blame them, of course. Not after I was forced to kill so many. But then you and your little friends come in, and I just can¡¯t believe my luck. It¡¯s too bad you destroyed so many of my experiments. I can rebuild them, of course, but it will take time. Oh, so much time. I don¡¯t know if it will be enough.¡± ¡°For what?¡± Sadie asked, trying to stall for time. She didn¡¯t really care about the Engineer¡¯s answer. Instead, she only wanted to keep him talking. ¡°To save us, of course,¡± he said. Then, he gestured vaguely toward the ceiling and asked, ¡°Do you know what¡¯s out there? It¡¯s not just the Ravener. She is a looming threat, but even the most powerful entity to have ever existed can¡¯t be everywhere at once. She wouldn¡¯t care about this little planet anyway. We¡¯re not even a snack for someone that can devour whole universes. But her underlings? They would love to consume even her crumbs.¡± ¡°The Voxx?¡± ¡°The Voxx?¡± he scoffed. ¡°What do you know of the Voxx? Not those little beings the system lets through. They¡¯re barely powerful enough to exist, much less become a threat. They are a curated danger, nothing more. I speak of the real thing. They won¡¯t come through rifts or towers. They will descend upon this planet like a swarm of locusts and devour everything they see.¡± ¡°And you want to fight them?¡± ¡°I want to destroy them!¡± he announced, gesturing with his saw. ¡°Because I know the truth. Do you want to hear it? Most don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Uh¡­sure.¡± ¡°The Ravener feeds off life,¡± he said. ¡°She and her minions don¡¯t care about anything that doesn¡¯t incorporate ethera into their being. Do you know what that means?¡± Sadie didn¡¯t answer. The Engineer said, ¡°In theory, if we can separate from ethera, they will leave us alone! That¡¯s what my experiments are meant to do. Machines are the answer! Technology will see us through!¡± Sadie just stared at him. He was obviously mad, but could he be right? She didn¡¯t think so. After all, she¡¯d seen Voxx destroying machines the same as they tried to devour people. It was more likely that the Engineer had been driven insane and latched onto an invalid and unsupported conclusion. And besides, he was obviously a long way from removing ethera from the equation. Every machine she¡¯d seen since coming to the Citadel of Innovation had been magical in nature. Even the electricity that had arced across the web of wires in the previous chamber had been laced with ethera. Once a planet was touched by the World Tree, perhaps there was no escaping the magical energy that seemed to suffuse everything. Sadie was about to say as much when something flashed behind the Engineer. At first, he didn¡¯t respond, but then he let out a roar and wheeled around. That was when Sadie saw something clinging to the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s back. At first, she had no idea what she was looking at. It was scaled, like a lizard, but it was shaped more like a hunting cat. Her first thought was that Elijah had come, but this new arrival was very different than his predator form. At only around four feet long and slim, it was much smaller than Elijah¡¯s form, and instead of black-and-russet scales, it was mostly green, with ocher highlights. No ¨C it was something wholly different. It bounded away, skittering up the wall and racing away from the monstrous blend of ka¡¯alaki and machine. At the same time, the Engineer¡¯s arm broke apart, taking the unmistakable shape of a cannon. A second later, it fired, sending a pulsating globe of ethera-laced fire at the retreating beast. But the creature was too fast, and the discharge splattered against the concrete wall, carving a huge divot that spoke of its destructive power. The Engineer didn¡¯t let his miss slow him down, and he fired another three balls of fire in quick succession. They all missed, though only narrowly. Finally, the beast reached her companions, but to Sadie¡¯s immense surprise, it didn¡¯t attack them. Instead, it raked its claws across their bindings, slashing through them with ease before leaping away. But Sadie immediately saw the problem. There were two fireballs racing across the room; they¡¯d been intended for the beast, but her friends were going to be caught in the line of fire. So, she pushed through her muddled state and used Consecrated Shield. Once. Twice. Three times, all in the space of a second. So, when the fireballs hit, her allies were as protected as they could be. It wasn¡¯t enough. Her shields shattered instantly, one after another and releasing a wave of intense healing that she could only hope would keep them from burning alive. The Engineer didn¡¯t care at all, and he continued to scream wordlessly as he pelted the area in fireballs. Soon enough, the temperature had risen past the boiling point, igniting the very air itself. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Sadie worked against it, using her abilities to shield her companions as well as herself. She knew her efforts would fall short, though. Already, her core was running dry, and if the fight went on for much longer, she would be spent. Fortunately, the healing from her shields had driven away her allies¡¯ unconsciousness. And given the situation, it didn¡¯t take them long to recover their wits. At the same time, the curious beast raced past her, slicing through her bonds the same as it had with the others. Sadie knew what was coming, so just before another barrage of fireballs hit her, she used Bulwark of Faith. As had been the case with her other shields, it was not enough. It burst like a bubble, and a moment later, she was bathed in intense flame. She screamed, but this time, she had no Miracle to bail her out. Her skin blistered, but then, a potent wave of healing descended upon her. When the fires faded, she blinked and saw that Elijah had finally arrived. More, Ron had recovered his sparkly wand and was aiming it in her direction. There was a subtle difference between the way their respective heals felt, and she could tell that she¡¯d been subjected to both variants. Indeed ¨C that was the only reason she had survived. Which infuriated the Engineer. He erupted into a corona of flames that enveloped his whole body. His metallic legs glowed with red heat, and his serpentine torso erupted into black veins. Then, he stumbled. Elijah pointed his staff at the figure, conjuring a swarm of tiny insects that immediately descended upon the monster. From the other side of the room, Benedict¡¯s ethera stirred, and he cast one spell after another. They were invisible, but even Sadie could feel their potency as they settled onto the Engineer. Dat added a glowing barrage of crossbow bolts to the mix, but even as they thudded into the fiery Engineer¡¯s chest, Sadie could tell that they weren¡¯t doing much good. As strong as the Witch Hunter could be, his power was very situational. Still, just because the circumstances weren¡¯t optimal didn¡¯t mean that he was going to just sit it out. Sadie rushed forward, drawing her sidearm. It was just a dagger, meant to pierce openings in armor, but the Engineer had taken her sword, so it was all she had available. She leaped, trusting that Ron would keep her from burning to death, and buried her dagger into the Engineer¡¯s chest. It bit deep, plunging up to the hilt precisely where the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s heart should have been. But he showed no signs of slowing down as he grabbed her with one molten hand and crushed her upper arm. She cried out as she felt the bones break. But then, Elijah ¨C in the familiar ape-lizard form ¨C crashed into the creature. The immense Strength behind the charge staggered the Engineer, and he released Sadie. As the two grappled, Sadie crashed to the floor in a clatter of metal. When she threw herself upright, her arm hung limp, but she had no intention of retreat. Not when she finally saw the Sword of Morning a few feet behind her foe. She dove between the creature¡¯s spindly-by-comparison legs, rolling across the room and coming to a stop with the fingers of her good hand closing around the hilt. As she rose, she cast Consecrated Shield on Elijah, hoping that it would help him survive even a moment longer. It settled onto him, and miraculously, it held for a few moments before bursting. By that point, Sadie had closed the gap. The intense heat was enough to blister her skin, but Ron¡¯s spells worked overtime to heal them almost as quickly as they appeared. Sadie couldn¡¯t worry about that as she formed a very simple plan, then executed it. Her sword whistled through the air, connecting with one of the Engineer¡¯s segmented legs. She¡¯d meant to hit the joint, but the creature¡¯s erratic movements fouled her aim. However, she was surprised to see that the blade opened a wide gash in the metal. That spurred her forward, and she hacked at it again. That first attack had gotten the Engineer¡¯s attention, though, and she was forced to duck beneath a backhanded blow that would have sent her flying across the room. As it happened, she narrowly avoided that fate, but the ka¡¯alaki still clipped her. She went spinning to the ground, and he followed up with a spearing stomp that impaled her thigh on one of his legs. She cried out, swinging her sword on instinct, but she didn¡¯t have the leverage to put much power behind the blow. Still, the blade carved a deep grove in the metal ¨C which should not have been possible. Taking an instant to look a little closer, Sadie focused on the surface of the metal beneath the corona of flames. And she saw splotches of corrosion. Flicking her eyes upward, Sadie couldn¡¯t ignore the black veins that had continued to spread cross the Engineer¡¯s torso. Originally, she¡¯d thought they were part of the skill that had summoned the cloak of fire, but now, she thought differently. Even so, Elijah was clearly losing his own struggle. But he was successful in occupying the creature. Every couple of seconds, a barrage of crossbow bolts hammered into the Engineer¡¯s chest, and even Kurik had found his bow and added his own projectiles to the bombardment. And to Sadie¡¯s surprise, she saw that the once-ineffective attacks had begun to extract a toll. All that flitted through her mind as she made her choice. She used Blade of the Avenger. An enormous sword erupted from the ground, but the Engineer flinched away at the swirl of ethera. So, the blade that should have ended the fight only managed to slice through two of the creature¡¯s legs. They flopped free, sending him stumbling to the side. That loss of balance gave Elijah the upper hand, and he used it to pummel the Engineer to the ground. Sadie summoned a second Blade of the Avenger, but this one was far more effective than the last. It hit her foe in the shoulder, very nearly separating an arm. Pale blood splashed on the floor, and the creature cried out as its flames guttered. Elijah grabbed two of his remaining arms, forcing them out wide. It hammered its lone remaining fist into the Druid¡¯s durable side, cracking scales with each blow. But he ignored it. Instead, he struck like a crocodile, clamping his powerful jaws around the Engineer¡¯s serpentine head. The creature screamed, his attacks reaching a new level of fury. But Elijah didn¡¯t let go. Sadie added her third and final Blade of the Avenger, cutting through his lone free arm. She would have gone for the stomach or chest, but with the blade¡¯s size, that would have gotten Elijah too. So, she opted for something less lethal but hopefully just as impactful. Elijah let out a low growl, and Sadie saw the muscles of his jaw tremble. Then, suddenly, the Engineer¡¯s skull gave way. It burst like an overripe melon, erupting into an explosion of blood, skull, flesh, and brains. And just like that, the fires winked out. But Elijah didn¡¯t stop. He hammered the creature a few more times, slamming his fists into the corpse before letting out a triumphant roar. Only then did he seem to come back to his senses and look around. He shifted back to his human form, and Sadie was shocked to see that he was entirely hairless. In fact, even his clothes had disappeared, revealing the scarred skin beneath. Oddly, the first thought that crossed her mind was that she was grateful that his armored pants remained. Following that came a wave of embarrassment that quickly faded in the wake of the pain racing through her body. Elijah raced to her side, already casting spells. As she felt her consciousness slipping ¨C had she lost that much blood? ¨C she said, ¡°You look terrible. I hope those scars aren¡¯t permanent.¡± Then, she passed out, letting the peace of unconsciousness overwhelm her. 5-59. A Viable Choice Elijah lay on the floor, his breath coming deep and slow, as he came to grips with the previous battle. In the beginning, he¡¯d thought that his new abilities hadn¡¯t been effective, but as the battle wore on, he¡¯d come to realize that the Engineer was just that powerful. He didn¡¯t know what the ka¡¯alaki had done to himself ¨C aside from the obvious ¨C but whatever it was, it had made him insanely durable. And the firepower he had at his disposal was absolutely incredible. Was that really possible at the peak of the Mortal Realm? If so, Elijah needed to get there sooner rather than later. He glanced toward where Sadie lay unconscious. Ron was busy trying to yank the Engineer¡¯s leg out of her thigh, but it had gone so deep into the floor that it wasn¡¯t budging under the Healer¡¯s efforts. Sighing, Elijah pushed himself upright but Ron said, ¡°Don¡¯t. You¡¯re in no condition to move.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Elijah lied. His skin felt like it would burst into flames at any moment. That wasn¡¯t terribly surprising, given what he¡¯d been through. Even though he¡¯d used Guardian¡¯s Renewal to survive the wasp¡¯s attack, he hadn¡¯t made it through unscathed. Nor had he had enough time to completely heal via his other spells. He¡¯d fought the Engineer before he¡¯d had that chance. He didn¡¯t think it was any coincidence that the ka¡¯alaki had used fire as well. ¡°Seriously, bro,¡± said Dat. ¡°You look like Deadpool right now.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah muttered, bringing to mind the image of the famously scarred antihero. ¡°Let¡¯s hope I have better luck healing.¡± He had good reason to believe that he would, though he was just as positive that he would still bear some degree of scarring. There was no way the system was going to let him escape completely unmarked. In any case, as he approached Sadie¡¯s prone form, he cast Healing Rain and Soothe, then added Nature¡¯s Bloom. In addition, he already had three different heals ¨C two that would work over time, and another that worked far more quickly ¨C from Ron active. Hopefully, it would be enough to let him quickly set aside the consequences of his most recent battles. He grabbed the leg, but even with his Strength, it wouldn¡¯t budge. In the end, it required everyone in the group to yank it free, and it took a good portion of Sadie¡¯s thigh with it. Looking concerned, Dat asked, ¡°Is she going to be okay?¡± ¡°She¡¯ll be fine in a few hours,¡± Ron promised, already working on Sadie. He¡¯d begun cleaning the wound, and he¡¯d taken a few bandages from his pack. Apparently, he¡¯d had them treated by an Alchemist that was part of Atticus consortium, and as such, they would promote quicker healing. Elijah checked everyone else for injuries, but aside from being a bit groggy from whatever the Engineer had done to knock them unconscious, they were all perfectly fine. Dat had a half-healed wound in his chest, but he wasn¡¯t in any danger of succumbing to the wound. So, after he re-cast Healing Rain and Soothe on himself, Dat, and Sadie, he settled down to let his body recuperate. While he did, he went over the events of the battle. Or directly preceding it, at least. The moment he saw the situation, he¡¯d made a snap decision to evolve Shape of the Predator. The Engineer¡¯s power was palpable, so he knew he would need to use everything at his disposal. With that in mind, he had chosen Shape of Venom. It wasn¡¯t just a spur-of-the-moment thing, either. Certainly, he¡¯d thought it was the best choice for the situation, but the decision was based on previous experiences as well. The draconid form was strong, but when it came to powerful opponents ¨C which was the only situation where his choice would matter ¨C he¡¯d found that a simple ambush was not sufficient to do what needed to be done. Often, he¡¯d attacked from under the Guise of the Unseen and only wounded his most powerful enemies. But his afflictions ¨C both via Swarm, Contagion, and Venom Strike ¨C had proven that they could wear down a strong foe. And in the battle against the Engineer, it had been even more effective than he¡¯d expected. Largely, that was because of two abilities:
Insidious Malady Physical attacks made while Shape of Venom is active will infect enemies with a debilitating disease.
Insidious Malady had replaced Contagion, and aside from being an upgrade in terms of damage, it also seemed to carry with it a weakening effect that had clearly slowed the Engineer down. That had allowed them to fight on something closer to even terms. However, the real star of the show ¨C at least as far as Elijah was concerned ¨C was called Envenom.
Envenom Bite an enemy, injecting a potent toxin into their system. Strength of the toxin is based on relative Core cultivation. Duration is based on relative Ethera attribute. Current: 72 seconds. Only usable in conjunction with Shape of Venom.
From what Elijah could tell, the toxin associated with Envenom was strong enough that it was his single most damaging ability. It was especially effective when paired with Insidious Malady, Venom Strike, and Predator Strike. He couldn¡¯t be certain, but he thought that the last actually enhanced Envenom. If so, that would mean that the Engineer was even more powerful than any of them had expected. Another thing Elijah hadn¡¯t expected was to have already satisfied the terms of the spell¡¯s evolution. All it had required was three Feats of Strength and for him to have killed fifty non-trivial foes with only afflictions. Considering that he¡¯d made such copious use of Swarm during his rampage through Easton, he¡¯d likely satisfied those requirements ten times over. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He didn¡¯t know what to feel about that, so he just pushed it out of mind. As a distraction, he focused on Shape of Venom¡¯s description:
Shape of Venom Take on the shape of a venomous predator, vastly increasing your Dexterity and Strength. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of Venom is active.
Upon his first transformation using the newly evolved spell, he had discerned that it wasn¡¯t all good news. The new shape increased his Strength and Dexterity by fifty points apiece, which was twenty points more than the unevolved version. However, it did nothing for his Constitution ¨C a tradeoff that, in retrospect, was one he¡¯d make a thousand times over. At least until he took a mortal wound that would have been stopped by nine more points of Constitution. But that told him that the point of Shape of Venom was to avoid being hit, and given the extra Strength and Dexterity, it would be easier than ever to do just that. More, it represented a choice he¡¯d made the moment he¡¯d eschewed the Shape of the Hunter evolution. He wanted to specialize his forms, and that was precisely what Shape of Venom gave him. ¡°Was that you?¡± came Sadie¡¯s voice. Elijah opened his eyes to see that her gaze had locked onto him. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°The small creature that attacked the Engineer,¡± she said. ¡°The green-and-yellow one.¡± ¡°Oh, is that what color it is?¡± he asked. She started to ask again, and he interrupted her by saying, ¡°It was.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think you had any other transformations.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That was an evolution.¡± ¡°Evolutions require you to complete a quest.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I already met the requirements,¡± Elijah said. ¡°In fact, that was the case with my last two evolutions.¡± She narrowed her eyes, but didn¡¯t immediately respond. ¡°Why are you red?¡± Elijah glanced down at his arm, which was unblemished, though it looked like he had the worst sunburn imaginable. ¡°Too long in the sun?¡± When she frowned, he added, ¡°Oh, come on. It¡¯s just a joke. I was nearly burned alive. Twice. You should¡¯ve seen me a few minutes ago. I was ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s been three hours, bro,¡± said Dat, who¡¯d just approached and handed Sadie a canteen. ¡°But you look good compared to before. Bald¡­uh¡­suits you.¡± Elijah shook his head and sighed. ¡°You could¡¯ve tried to make that a little more believable,¡± he muttered. ¡°It was so much easier when I was by myself. I didn¡¯t have to worry about my looks.¡± After that, the others caught him up on what had happened, explaining that the entire facility had been riddled with traps. When they¡¯d finally reached the main chamber, Dat had used the console to disable all of the robots in the area, but that act had gotten the attention of the Engineer. He¡¯d quickly overpowered the group, and according to Sadie, he¡¯d been on the verge of launching a series of experiments on them when Elijah had arrived and kicked off the battle. ¡°You¡¯re a lot smaller in that form than the other one,¡± Dat said. ¡°Deadlier,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°You recognize it?¡± Elijah asked. The dwarf nodded. ¡°Yeah. Never seen one in person, but I read about ¡®em when I was a young¡¯un. Don¡¯t know the proper name, but we all called ¡®em blight dragons. They ain¡¯t dragons ¨C not really ¨C but they are native to the jungles of the Empire of Scale. Stories say that a full-grown blight dragon can bring down an equal level Warrior with one bite. Some of ¡®em are even said to blur the line ¡®tween beast and person, and the most powerful of ¡®em have venom for every situation.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lot of information for someone who¡¯s never seen one, bro,¡± Dat stated. Kurik shrugged, then shoved a piece of dried fruit into his mouth. As he chewed, he said, ¡°There¡¯s a myth about a powerful blight dragon. Three warriors were sent to kill it, one by one, and each one had different strengths and weaknesses. The blight dragon killed ¡®em all in different ways.¡± Elijah waited for the rest of the story, but when Kurik didn¡¯t continue, he asked, ¡°Is that it? It just killed them? What kind of story is that?¡± ¡°An effective one. It was meant to teach kids that some monsters ain¡¯t meant to be killed. Sometimes, you just can¡¯t win,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Not alone, at least. Back home, when someone was bitin¡¯ off more than they could chew, we¡¯d call it ¡®chasin¡¯ the blight dragon¡¯.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± Perhaps his new form was even more powerful than he¡¯d given it credit for. Or even if it wasn¡¯t in its current state, the potential was there. ¡°That¡¯s all you have to say ¡®bout takin¡¯ the form of a famously deadly monster?¡± Kurik asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I mean, I don¡¯t think much about it,¡± he said. ¡°Plus, I¡¯m part dragon, so¡­¡± Kurik¡¯s eyes widened and he looked around like he expected another attack. When one didn¡¯t come, he took on a low voice, leaned forward, and said, ¡°Don¡¯t ever say nothin¡¯ like that again. They ain¡¯t around, and they probably ain¡¯t listenin¡¯, but they don¡¯t take too kindly to people makin¡¯ claims like that.¡± ¡°Who? Dragons? The two I¡¯ve met were super reasonable,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Of course, one was a kid. I¡¯m not sure how old, now that I think about it. How old does a dragon have to be not to still be considered a child? I don¡¯t know, but Sara was definitely young. And a bit uppity. But she wasn¡¯t really in the right frame of mind to be courteous, what with that gnome trying to consume her essence. But her mom was really nice. Gave me a spiffy new core for services rendered.¡± ¡°W-what¡­¡± ¡°He¡¯s saying he has a Dragon Core,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Which makes sense.¡± ¡°How does that make sense?!¡± shouted Kurik. ¡°Dragons are practically myths! We know they¡¯re out there, but they don¡¯t mingle with the likes of us!¡± ¡°These do,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Why are you telling us this?¡± asked Sadie, ignoring Kurik¡¯s nearly apoplectic state. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Elijah asked. The woman pushed her hair out of her eyes and focused intently on him. It made him feel like a bug that was about to be dissected. ¡°You just revealed something that, so far as I can tell, you¡¯ve kept secret for quite some time. You had no reason to do this,¡± she stated. ¡°And when someone does something without reason, I start to think that I have failed to see the whole picture. So, why did you tell us?¡± ¡°Call it a gesture of goodwill,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I know you don¡¯t particularly like me, and that¡¯s fine. But I want you to trust me. We¡¯ve fought together long enough that I think some of the barriers should start to come down. So, this is me taking the first step.¡± ¡°And you expect us to reveal all of our secrets?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not really,¡± he answered. ¡°Not yet, at least. I hope you¡¯ll be comfortable enough to open up a bit, but no pressure. I don¡¯t expect anything in return.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t miss the glance she exchanged with Dat. Nor could he ignore the subtle shake of her head. Apparently, his gesture wasn¡¯t going to be reciprocated. ¡°I have an angel core, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Dat!¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, Sadie,¡± Dat said. ¡°We owe him honesty. How many times has he saved our lives?¡± ¡°But¡­fine.¡± Then, she revealed that they both had been blessed with Angel Cores, which Elijah already knew. Clearly, neither Ron nor Kurik did, though. After Sadie had explained the circumstances that led the angel Gabriel to contact them, Elijah said, ¡°So, we have two elder races represented on Earth. I wonder if there are others. We¡¯re missing mechaniques and demons, I think.¡± ¡°Gabriel claimed that there are other elder races out there, too. Thirteen total, though he said that most are practically extinct,¡± Dat said. ¡°So, maybe the chances that they¡¯ll make an appearance aren¡¯t high. Wait, where is Benedict?¡± Elijah blinked in confusion, then looked around. Sure enough, the newest member of the group had disappeared. ¡°Last time I remember seeing him is just before we started talking about cores,¡± he said. ¡°You scared ¡®im off!¡± Kurik exclaimed. ¡°Damn near did the same to me. Dragons and angels. It ain¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be such a wimp. Nothing has changed,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We¡¯re still the same people you¡¯ve been fighting with ¨C and holding your own, by the way ¨C for almost two months.¡± ¡°It still ain¡¯t right.¡± ¡°Should we follow Benedict?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. He made his choice. We helped one another out for a while, so I don¡¯t see any reason to hold a grudge. He just got a bit spooked,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, it doesn¡¯t really affect us, right? It¡¯s not like he took the reward and ran.¡± With that, everyone turned toward the silver chest hovering in the center of the room. It was unopened, and suddenly, Elijah wanted to change that. So, he picked himself up and crossed the room to crack it open. 5-60. Ruins ¡°That¡¯s the biggest damn ingot I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± Kurik said. He tore his eyes away from the bar of celestial gold and asked, ¡°Can I touch it? Just once, so I can tell my clan I actually laid a finger on a bar of celestial gold.¡± ¡°Of course you can touch it,¡± Sadie said. ¡°You earned it, just like the rest of us. By rights, it¡¯s as much yours as it is ours.¡± ¡°Not me,¡± Dat said. ¡°I already got mine, bro.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how it works, Dat,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just because you got something already doesn¡¯t mean we¡¯ll eliminate you from getting another reward. This is all about who gets the most benefit out of it. And that¡¯s obviously Sadie, right?¡± ¡°What? Why me?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯ll damn well take it if you¡¯re gonna argue ¡®bout it,¡± Kurik said, his tone leaving no question that he was serious. ¡°That bar right there would be enough to set me up for a coupla decades. I could buy more cultivation potions than I knew what to do with.¡± ¡°Is that the right play?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°We could sell it, then split the ¨C¡± ¡°Look at your armor,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What?¡± Elijah rolled his eyes. ¡°It¡¯s barely holding together,¡± he said. ¡°I know it¡¯s got some kind of self-repair function, right? But it looks like each time it has to do that still weakens it. I¡¯d be willing to bet that it¡¯s on the verge of losing its power. I don¡¯t know how item degradation works, but I can guarantee that it¡¯s not working as well as it used to. Even from when we first met to now, it¡¯s been seriously weakened.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s right, bro. You can use it more than we can.¡± Sadie looked away, then said, ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± ¡°We should do a vote,¡± Elijah said. ¡°All in favor of Sadie getting the celestial gold so she can have some armor made?¡± Everyone agreed. ¡°Well, that settles it,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s all yours. And I have something that¡¯ll make it even better.¡± ¡°Getting a priceless ingot isn¡¯t enough?¡± she asked, a little surly. Elijah had never seen anyone so adamant that they didn¡¯t deserve a reward, but from what he knew of Sadie, it made sense. She had a lot of flaws, but selfishness certainly wasn¡¯t one of them. That was something he admired about her, even if it was frustrating to deal with at times. ¡°You know my sister-in-law is one of the highest-level Blacksmiths in the world, right?¡± ¡°And you¡¯re comfortable volunteering her for this?¡± ¡°If I know Carmen, she¡¯d kill me if I didn¡¯t,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s how crafters work, right? They get more experience for working with rare materials and creating powerful items. Letting Carmen work with this would benefit her almost as much as it would help you. I guarantee she¡¯d jump at the chance to do this.¡± ¡°I insist on paying.¡± At that, Elijah laughed. ¡°What?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t saying she¡¯d do it for free,¡± he said between chuckles. ¡°You¡¯re going to pay through the nose for it.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve always wondered where that phrase comes from,¡± said Dat, a pensive look on his face. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Pay through the nose, bro. It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°It is,¡± Kurik agreed. Ron, who¡¯d so far been silent, said, ¡°It¡¯s derived from a policy surrounding a Danish poll tax imposed on the Irish in the ninth century. When someone failed to pay, they would slit that person¡¯s nose. Therefore, they paid their tax through the nose.¡± ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s gruesome.¡± ¡°You humans are crazier than a tall gnome,¡± Kurik said. ¡°S¡¯pose it ain¡¯t any better than my people, though. If someone didn¡¯t pay their taxes, they were thrown in the pit.¡± ¡°The pit?¡± ¡°Of lava.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Yeah. It was s¡¯posed to be an opportunity. You know, for cultivation and such. Make ¡®em useful to society and whatnot. But most times, it was just a roundabout way of executin¡¯ somebody. If they had any cultivation to speak of, they wouldn¡¯t have failed to pay their taxes.¡± ¡°Brutal.¡± Kurik shrugged. ¡°Clan can¡¯t support everybody.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ve gotten a little off track here,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I¡¯ll take the bar of gold, but in doing so, I remove myself from consideration for any of the other rewards, at least until everyone else gets something.¡± Elijah opened his mouth to offer a counterargument, but Sadie spoke over him. ¡°That¡¯s the deal, Elijah.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s insane that you¡¯re making a deal to get less stuff, but whatever. So long as you take the ingot, I¡¯m fine,¡± Elijah said. The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. After that, Sadie shoved the bar of gold into her spatial pack. It was at least two feet long and half as wide, so the ingot weighed more than a thousand pounds. How much more, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure, but he knew it was significantly heavier than a normal gold bar would have been. Whatever the case, neither Sadie nor Elijah had any trouble lifting it, but the others, all of which had much lower Strength, struggled. So, maybe it was even heavier than Elijah thought. Regardless, once that was taken care of, everyone settled in to recover from the fight. It took the better part of a day before they were ready to move, but before they left the Citadel of Innovation, Elijah wanted to ensure that they weren¡¯t leaving anything behind. ¡°There¡¯s probably more of them power crystals around, too,¡± Kurik said. The dwarf already had a nice collection of them, including the large one that seemed to power the whole horde of robots, but he claimed that having more of them would take his traps to the next level. He even talked about building siege weapons. So, as Kurik searched the compound for crystals, everyone else looked for other useful items or materials. It wasn¡¯t very successful. Elijah found a lockbox that, when they managed to pry it open, revealed a collection of silver and gold ethereum, but there wasn¡¯t much else that the group didn¡¯t immediately classify as junk. Still, it took another two days for them to scour the whole facility, so by the time they were finished, they were all eager to leave it behind. It took almost a week to exit the enormous junkyard, and though they kept their guard up, they encountered no other threats. Benedict was nowhere to be seen, suggesting that he very much didn¡¯t want to be found. That left Elijah feeling a little regretful, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about the situation. Even so, he resolved to talk it out with the man if they ran into one another in the future. After leaving the trash heap behind, they once again found themselves in the jungle. The first wraith attack was almost comforting after spending so long traveling among the mountains of garbage. It had been bad enough when every step came with the possibility of an attack from the horde of robotic insects, but without them, it was somehow worse. A stillness had laid over the entire area, and it left everyone feeling extremely uncomfortable. Leaving that behind came with a nearly tangible sense of relief. ¡°Where are you going, bro?¡± asked Dat, poking the campfire with a stick. After a long day of travel, the others were already asleep in their tents, but Dat had been given the first watch. Elijah, meanwhile, was restless. ¡°Last time I climbed one of the trees, I saw a pyramid over that way,¡± he said, pointing to the east. ¡°I want to go check it out.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Call it a sense of adventure,¡± he said. That was part of it, but he also felt that the more he knew about the excised world ¨C and how it had come to its state ¨C the better he and the others would fare during the challenges. So far, it hadn¡¯t really mattered, but his intuition told him that some level of understanding would eventually become necessary. Or maybe that was just an excuse to indulge his inner Indiana Jones. Regardless, after telling Dat that he would return before dawn, he set off into the jungle, shifting into the Shape of Venom along the way. Thankfully, the evolution had done nothing to interfere with Guise of the Unseen, and with the influx of Dexterity and Strength, the ease with which he traveled was unprecedented. In addition, he¡¯d discovered that he could easily stick to just about any surface. On Earth, lizards like geckos used tiny hairs called setae to accomplish that feat, and he expected that if he investigated it, he would find that something similar was responsible for his own ability. He''d also found that his venom was incredibly potent. Using only Envenom, he¡¯d taken down a beast the size of a rhinoceros only the day before, and it had taken less than a minute for the creature to keel over. He could have done it more quickly before ¨C ripping out its throat or crushing the base of its skull only took seconds ¨C but Elijah was still impressed by the strength of the venom. More experimentation told him that Predator Strike did indeed increase the potency of Envenom, which made the already-powerful toxin even deadlier. Overall, he was impressed with the increased lethality of his evolved form. He¡¯d also used a mirror he kept in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel to inspect the visual differences. The form was mostly bright green, with yellow streaks along the torso and slashing just under the eyes. It was also far more serpentine, almost like a salamander, though with a head shape that definitely resembled a viper¡¯s. Thankfully, the new form had retained the previous one¡¯s color-changing ability to blend into its environment. In all, Elijah was pleased with the evolved shape, though he did take the time to wonder what form the other variants would have taken. Whatever the case, in most ways that mattered, the evolution was a vast upgrade, though he did think he¡¯d miss the frighteningly powerful jaws that had accompanied the draconid form. The blight dragon was no slouch in that department, but Elijah didn¡¯t think he¡¯d be using it to crush skulls anytime soon. Which meant that he would need to learn new tactics if he wanted to get the most out of his new abilities. All of that played through his mind as he made his way to the pyramid he¡¯d seen from afar. From miles away, he¡¯d only seen a few details, but he knew it was abandoned and overgrown. Without Eyes of the Eagle, he probably would have mistaken it for another hill. After a little more than an hour, he stumbled upon the outskirts of what he suspected had once been a small settlement. Other than the foundations, there wasn¡¯t much left, and even those had been covered by dirt, debris, and vegetation. Still, there were a few crumbling walls that still stood, though they were under assault from the steadily growing vines that were so ubiquitous in the jungle. In a few years, those creeping tendrils would collapse the walls entirely, and a few years after that, there would be nothing left of the settlement. That made Elijah wonder just how much history was buried beneath the soil. The civilization that called the excised world home had clearly been quite advanced. Maybe not in a technological sense, but at least in terms of its place within the rest of the multi-verse. And now, there was so little left. A wave of regret flashed through Elijah¡¯s mind. He wasn¡¯t responsible for anything that had happened to the natives. He knew that. But he still regretted that he¡¯d never seen them in their prime. It also brought to mind the state of Earth¡¯s once-mighty civilization. Elijah had only seen a tiny fraction of the expanded planet, but he¡¯d traveled through the remnants of the old world enough to recognize that it wouldn¡¯t be long before whole swaths of the planet looked no different than the excised Trial world. Most people might¡¯ve found the setting a bit frightening. Even during the day, very little light penetrated the jungle¡¯s canopy, and it became particularly dark at night. However, for Elijah, who had the benefit of One with Nature, the darkness wasn¡¯t particularly onerous. Indeed, the shifting shadows instilled the area with a forlorn beauty that spoke of great loss. Eventually, he reached the pyramid, and even though he¡¯d seen it from afar, he was still impressed by its construction. Even after what looked like millennia of neglect, it still stood tall and proud. Certainly, the huge stones that had been used in its construction were covered in moss and vines, but the structure didn¡¯t look like it was in any danger of collapse. Perhaps there was a lesson there, Elijah thought. Even amidst so much decay, some aspects of a dying civilization would remain. Elijah only had to search for a few minutes before he found an entrance. It was overgrown with vines, which formed a concealing curtain, but he could feel the open space beyond. So, it was with some excitement that he stepped inside. And he was not disappointed by the sight. 5-61. Elemental Elijah ran his fingers along the damp wall, then pressed his thumb and forefinger together. Because of the algae that covered the stone, they stuck together, though only slightly. In addition, a slightly musty smell hung in the air, suggesting the presence of rot. But he wasn¡¯t put off by that. Instead, he marveled at the sheer amount of life present in the area. Via One with Nature, he could feel everything ¨C right down to collections of single-cell organisms, and the vitality they emitted was nearly overwhelming. It was a different sensation than what he felt out in the jungle, or in his grove, but it was no less potent for it. And for a while, Elijah just stood there, his eyes closed, as he basked in the feel of so much life. He took a deep breath, letting the smell of decay play on his nostrils. It wasn¡¯t like what he¡¯d smelled back in the Citadel of Innovation. That was artificial, composed of rust and corrosion and grease. But the rot inside the pyramid was natural, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but revel in the way it made him feel. At least for a few moments. Then, his adventurous spirit took over, and he pushed further into the entry hall as he looked for something interesting. The interior of the pyramid was so worn that most of the architectural flourishes had been destroyed by erosion, but there were signs ¨C here and there ¨C of what it might have once been. One stretch of wall bore a relief sculpture with deep grooves that seemed like minimalistic representations of fire. There had once been more there, but time had worn the rest away. As Elijah stepped forward, aiming for a gaping hole in the far wall, he looked around like an astonished tourist. Which he sort of was, he reminded himself. Glancing up, he saw that the ceiling was coffered, with glints of gold peeking through the thick algae. For a moment, he considered flying up there ¨C it was only around thirty feet high ¨C and scraping it away. However, that felt oddly disrespectful, so he decided against it. A good thing, too, because when he encountered wall that had been similarly covered, he saw that it wasn¡¯t metal at all, but instead a glittering covering that was less than a tenth of an inch thick. The hole in the wall led to another chamber, which, in turn, led him to a hall. Over the next couple of hours, Elijah found more of the same, but he was no less excited by it. Every time he caught sight of a surviving fragment of art, or a bit of remaining architecture, his excitement was renewed. Then he found the stairs. They led down into impenetrable darkness, which was troubling enough to give him pause. Up would have been fine, but any time he¡¯d descended deep into the earth, he¡¯d been confronted with difficult situations. But they were almost always rewarding. And besides, the stairway¡¯s decorative handrails suggested that it would lead to the reason the pyramid had been constructed in the first place. Eventually, his curiosity began to outweigh his caution, and Elijah descended the steps. Nothing happened. There were no hidden monsters. No ancient and inexplicably enduring traps. Just a grand stairway that led deep beneath the ground. After a few dozen feet, Elijah found that some of the frescoes on the wall had survived. Like previous artwork he¡¯d seen ¨C especially in the aqueduct ¨C it depicted scenes of battle. However, further on, the tone changed. Instead of fighting, it looked as if the ta¡¯alaki in the frescoes were performing some sort of ritual. And there was one that stood larger than any of the others. From the electricity flowing around him and creating a halo over his head, the figure in the painting was clearly meant to represent someone that, until then, Elijah had only heard about. ¡°The Lightning Emperor,¡± he said, repeating the title he¡¯d heard in one of the challenges. The frescoes continued on until the stairway ended in a deep pool of dark water. Elijah was not surprised. The jungle above was subject to a tropical climate, which meant that it rained on more days than it didn¡¯t. All that water had to go somewhere, so the moment he¡¯d gone underground, he¡¯d fully expected to find that part of the facility was submerged. He didn¡¯t hesitate for long before he dove in. With the Ring of Aquatic Travel, he didn¡¯t need to fear suffocation, and he felt positive that he could retreat if he found some obstacle he couldn¡¯t overcome. So, he swam down, following the frescoes until they disappeared, having been worn away by the persistent corrosion of being underwater. However, before they disappeared altogether, Elijah did see one that troubled him immensely. It was the same Lightning Emperor, and he was standing before a giant cask that had been opened to spew forth mingled darkness and rays of light. Nearby, there were thousands of other ka¡¯alaki and ta¡¯alaki struggling against powerful warriors who held them at bay. Elijah didn¡¯t know what it meant, but he didn¡¯t like the implications. He kept going, hoping that he would find more hints as to what had happened after the emperor had opened the cask, but all he saw were more blank walls. Then, just when he was on the verge of turning back, he surfaced in the center of a small room. Elijah squinted into the darkness, hoping that he could get his bearings. The chamber was tiny ¨C maybe ten feet across ¨C but there was an open door on one side. And through that opening ¨C it had clearly once been barred by a stone door that had crumbled into a nearby pile ¨C Elijah saw a glittering stem jutting from the ground. Immediately, he knew it was a Branch of the World Tree, and on that barren branch was a single, glimmering leaf. He almost stepped forward immediately, but he stopped when he saw that one of the walls in the small room where he¡¯d surfaced was decorated with calligraphic writing. To his eye, it appeared to be English, but a little focus told him that it had been written in an entirely different language ¨C whose writing looked more like Sumerian cuneiform than any language Elijah knew. The system was clearly doing some heavy lifting when it came to translation. It read: In the chamber where secrets lie, Elements four, beneath the sky. Fire''s fierce blaze, a guiding light, Illuminates the darkest night. Wind''s soft whisper, swift and free, Carries voices across the sea. Water''s flow, both strong and pure, Heals the wounds and wounds the cure. Earth below, steadfast and true, Gives us ground to start anew. Combine them all, the answer''s near, Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Unlock the door, the path is clear. Remember, seeker, this simple creed: Balance and harmony, the key to succeed. Elijah read the poem three times over, but aside from the literal meaning ¨C that the elements must be in balance ¨C he couldn¡¯t understand what it was trying to tell him. Perhaps it was nothing. Or maybe it was religious in nature ¨C an excerpt from a sacred text. The pyramid certainly had the look of a temple, so that was likely the best answer. In any case, he wasn¡¯t terribly concerned with an old poem. Instead, his attention kept wandering to the next room and the Branch of the World Tree it contained. So, he pushed his most recent discovery out of his mind and stepped into the room. Immediately, a blue tinted shield expanded to encompass the branch. The earth rumbled, and the floor all around that circular shield fell away. Elijah stepped back, but the door through which he¡¯d entered had disappeared, and it had been replaced with a blank stone wall. ¡°Shit, shit, shit¡­¡± Panic suffused his mind as he searched for a way out. But no matter where he looked, he found no more exits. However, what he did see were four stations located ¨C at least as far as he could tell ¨C in each cardinal direction. The one to the north was a simple iron brazier containing a half dozen ancient logs. The west held a fountain and a trio of bowls. The east, a set of tall, brass pipes. And finally, the closest to Elijah¡¯s current position was a bed of dirt. Then, everything went pitch black. What¡¯s more, water somehow started to fill the chamber. Then, something pricked his neck, and Elijah immediately felt dizzy. He fell to his knees with a splash. The water had already risen to a couple of inches deep, and something cold gripped his finger ¨C the one wearing the Ring of Aquatic Travel. He vomited as the familiar feeling of being poisoned coursed through his body. He tried to cast Soothe, but when he attempted to embrace the ethera in his core, nothing happened. It was still there, but there was something keeping him from accessing it. He vomited again, and this time, the irony taste of blood came with the bile. His head swam as fear pervaded his mind. However, Elijah wouldn¡¯t allow that to conquer him. Instead, he forced himself to think, and after a few seconds, he latched onto the poem. ¡°Water. Healing.¡± It was a long shot, but he found himself racing in the direction where he¡¯d seen the fountain and bowls. However, he quickly slammed into the wall, nearly knocking himself unconscious. That was when he realized that the darkness didn¡¯t only hinder his vision. Instead, it also blocked the senses that came along with One with Nature. They were still there, but they were muddled. Unreadable. ¡°Fire¡¯s fierce blaze, a guiding light,¡± he repeated a line from the poem. ¡°Illuminates the darkest night.¡± He needed to get to the brazier. Even as the water level rose, Elijah forced himself to remember the room¡¯s layout. With his Mind cultivation, he had no trouble visualizing it. Then, he put that picture to work and started across the room. A few moments later, he nearly fell through the pit. His foot slipped right through the water and into open air. He would have kept going, but for his high Dexterity that allowed him to balance on one foot. Elijah had no clue how the water didn¡¯t drain into the pit, but he wasn¡¯t keen to figure it out, either. Not with the venom coursing through his body, slowly robbing him of his strength. So, after pulling back, he methodically made his way around the hole and eventually reached the brazier. The water didn¡¯t flow there, either, but he intuitively knew it wouldn¡¯t remain that way indefinitely. If the waters rose to a high enough level, the entire room would be flooded. The iron was cold, but the logs were blessedly dry. There was only one problem ¨C how was he intended to light them? At first, he tried to use Storm¡¯s Fury, but then, he remembered the Firestarter he¡¯d bought from the Artificer back in Argos. Lars. That was his name. With a shaking hand, he searched his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, only finding the item after a few long moments. It took the shape of a laser pointer ¨C the type he¡¯d used when he¡¯d worked as a teacher¡¯s assistant while pursuing his doctorate ¨C and he quickly activated it by pressing the button on the end of the pen-shaped device. The logs caught fire immediately, and in only a second, the entire chamber lit up. More, his senses returned to normal. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t realized how much he¡¯d come to rely on One with Nature. Now, though¡­ Without it, he¡¯d felt blind and deaf. But he didn¡¯t have time to dwell on that. Not only was the water steadily getting deeper ¨C it had reached his knees ¨C but his nausea had increased in its intensity, telling him that he was on two different types of timer. Even if he managed to take care of the poison, he would still run the risk of drowning. He suspected that, like his ability to cast spells, the Ring of Aquatic Travel had been deactivated. So, he lurched across the room, stumbling twice before reaching the fountain. In his muddled state, Elijah found himself wondering how the fountain was still flowing even as it was halfway underwater. But he quickly shook himself out of that and studied what he knew was some sort of puzzle. There were three bowls, all of different sizes. Then, there was the fountain itself and a dry basin set into the ground. After a little trial and error, Elijah figured out the goal of the puzzle ¨C he needed to get the water from the fountain to the basin. The entire thing was so surreal. Even underwater, the bowls and the basin remained empty. None of it made sense ¨C at least from a physics perspective ¨C but he had neither the time nor the inclination to care. So, he focused on what mattered ¨C filling that basin. First, he tried to cup his hands beneath the flow, then splash the water into the basin. However, he was horrified to see that it only drained away. Then, he used the largest bowl, hoping that the extra volume would make a difference as he quickly transferred water from one to the other. But he encountered the same problem. And as he did, the waters around him continued to rise. More troublingly, his mind grew even fuzzier. He knew that if he didn¡¯t figure it out soon, he wouldn¡¯t have the wits to finish the puzzle. He let out a scream of frustration. Then, a line from the poem stood out to him. ¡°Water¡¯s flow¡­¡± That¡¯s when it hit him. He didn¡¯t need to move the water via the bowls. He needed to create a flow. Hastily, he arranged the bowls from largest to smallest, and he was relieved to find that they fit perfectly between the fountain and the basin. As the water flowed, spilling over the lip of one bowl and into the next, all the way to the basin, Elijah vomited again. His hands began to shake as he saw the water level in the basin continue to rise. One inch. Two. Three. It kept going until, at last, it reached the lip of the basin and overflowed. It flashed with ethera, and even in his muddled state, Elijah could feel the intense flow of vitality it contained. He dunked his face in it and drank deep. Instantly, the effects of the poison disappeared. Elijah collapsed backward, his breath coming in ragged gasps as his wits returned alongside his physical well-being. How close had he come to dying, there? When he¡¯d entered the pyramid, he¡¯d done so on a whim. And suddenly, he was in a life-or-death situation? There was nothing quite so humbling as being reminded that, in the scope of the multi-verse, he was little more than a gnat. But he wasn¡¯t out of the woods yet, so Elijah picked himself up and looked across the flooded chamber. The next item on his list was to stop the water, and given that he didn¡¯t think that a bed of dirt represented wind, he zeroed in on the pipes. After wading across the chamber and climbing onto the dais ¨C with his mind muddled, he hadn¡¯t even realized that they were separated from rest of the chamber ¨C and studied the set of pipes. They brought back memories of Dat whistling as they climbed the Singing Cliffs. It didn¡¯t take him long to figure out that he was looking at a crude set of windpipes, so he found the mouthpiece and blew. And nothing happened. Groaning, he said, ¡°I¡¯m not a goddamn musician.¡± But he didn¡¯t give up. After a few moments, he found something approaching a tune ¨C in the same way that idle humming constituted a song ¨C but it was enough. The water stopped rising, and then, drained away. That left only the bed of dirt. Elijah approached it cautiously, fully expecting a surprise. But when he sensed what was inside, he let out a long, relieved sigh. Then, he embraced Nature¡¯s Bounty, and a moment later, a series of plants peeked through the soil. The growth was far faster than anything he¡¯d ever seen, which allowed him to direct the plants a lot more accurately than he normally could have. And soon, he¡¯d arranged the plants into the same symbol he¡¯d seen when he¡¯d first entered the pyramid. That was good enough, because the moment he¡¯d finished, the wide crevasse that had opened around the Branch of the World Tree disappeared. So did the shield. At last, Elijah had a clear path to his goal. He stepped forward, and without fanfare, plucked the crystalline leaf. He only had time to read the name before some invisible force hit him in the stomach and sent him flying all the way across the chamber, through the door, and into the room behind. As he passed through the door, he saw the wall close in. And a moment later, the opening was gone. Elijah lay there for a long time before he shook his head and looked at the title of the guide. It was The Tragedy of War. 5-62. The Tragedy of War In a daze, Elijah left the ruins behind. He still paid attention to his surroundings, but he struggled to pull his thoughts away from contemplation of his recent experiences. The puzzle itself hadn¡¯t been terribly complex. However, his ability to solve it had been compromised by external factors ¨C like the fact that he¡¯d been on the verge of death almost from the very beginning. But now that he was safe, Elijah could look at it more objectively. And when he did, he couldn¡¯t deny the fear creeping up his spine. For so long, he¡¯d gone through life believing that he was invincible. Certainly, he¡¯d had plenty of close calls. Only recently, he¡¯d very nearly been melted by one of the mechanical wasps. Yet, each time, he¡¯d pulled through by virtue of his many advantages. This time was different. His spells had been inaccessible. His cultivation and attributes hadn¡¯t been enough to save him. And even his Mind had very nearly failed. That was terrifying. The only saving grace was that Elijah was almost certain that the system had set the puzzle up. But given that that system had, in turn, been created by people ¨C powerful though they were ¨C it suggested his place in the multi-verse in a way that mere stories and guides couldn¡¯t. So, as he trekked back to the camp, he felt smaller and more inconsequential than ever before. However, with every step, he also felt a sense of purpose. If those people could reach a point where they could do such incredible things, then Elijah could as well. It would obviously take an eternity, but the possibility was there all the same. That was comforting enough to calm his nerves. Soon enough, Elijah reached the camp and settled down next to the embers of the fire. Just looking at it reminded him of the first piece of the puzzle he¡¯d just solved, and a shiver ran up his spine. By that point, Sadie had taken over for Dat, and after a moment, she sat next to him and asked, ¡°What did you find?¡± ¡°Context,¡± he said. ¡°What does that mean?¡± He shrugged, then answered, ¡°It means that we¡¯re tiny, little specks of dust in a universe bigger than any of us can comprehend. There are people out there so powerful that they can crush us with a stray thought.¡± He¡¯d known that almost from the very beginning, but it had always felt so far away. Now, after having his power blocked or completely overwhelmed, it was closer than ever before. ¡°That¡¯s the way it¡¯s always been, Elijah,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Even before all of this, the universe was infinite.¡± ¡°It¡¯s one thing to know that ¨C from an intellectual standpoint ¨C and something altogether different to have it hammered into you by circumstances beyond your control,¡± he said. ¡°What happened?¡± Elijah sighed, then ran his hand over his bald head. The barest hint of stubble had returned, but it would be some time before he once again had a full head of hair. Even his eyebrows were gone, which made him feel like he hadn¡¯t come so far since the worst parts of chemotherapy. He still remembered the looks he¡¯d gotten back then. Disgust. Pity. Compassion. Anger. Nobody liked being reminded that, but for a twist of fate, they could have been in his place. He explained what had happened, starting with finding the pyramid. Then, he went on to describe the frescoes and, finally, the puzzle he¡¯d struggled to solve. ¡°If I¡¯d been playing a game or something, I could¡¯ve done it easily. But with that poison inside me, I couldn¡¯t think straight. Add the rising water and the ¨C¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Sadie said, putting her hand on his shoulder. She gave it a squeeze. ¡°Anybody would have reacted similarly.¡± ¡°Would you?¡± he asked. He¡¯d seen Sadie in battle. For all that her single-minded, black-and-white views of the world were frustrating to deal with, that mindset also gave her a clarity in battle that he envied. If she felt doubts, she never showed them. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe,¡± she said with a shrug. She still wore her beaten and battered armor. ¡°Do you ever take that off?¡± he asked, wanting to change the subject. ¡°Not in the field,¡± she said. Then, in a quieter voice, she added, ¡°Not at home, either.¡± ¡°Is it really as bad as you say?¡± was Elijah¡¯s next question. She¡¯d spoken of the situation in Hong Kong often enough that he had some idea of what was going on there, but neither Sadie nor Dat had elaborated on the details. ¡°Worse. My family has a stronghold that mostly protects us,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re well-defended, with enough food and water to last for years. But there are plenty of others that don¡¯t have that. We took on as many as we could handle, and we¡¯ve built what defenses we could. But the undead just keep coming, tearing everything down almost as quickly as we can build. People aren¡¯t just in danger of being killed by the undead, though. They¡¯re starving. Much of the water is tainted, too. Just keeping everyone from dying from dehydration is a full-time job. Some people had to take classes specifically to counter that.¡± Elijah tried to imagine what she described, but the best he could come up with was a combination of a war zone and something like he¡¯d seen in apocalyptic zombie movies. It probably wasn¡¯t accurate, but even those images were enough to take him aback. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°I still intend to help,¡± he said. ¡°You know that, right? I know we have our differences, Sadie, but¡­¡± She shook her head. ¡°You are so difficult to read. My instincts tell me that you are the worst person I¡¯ve met. You have so much blood on your hands. But¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ve killed a lot of people, Sadie. Thousands, probably. Most of them deserved it, but...but some didn¡¯t. I know that. I have to live with it. At the end of the day, though, I can¡¯t regret my actions because what I did was necessary,¡± he said. He¡¯d thought a lot about what had happened in Easton, and while he knew that he¡¯d been motivated by selfish rage ¨C primarily, at least ¨C he was equally certain that he¡¯d done what needed to be done. The place had been a cesspool of human corruption. Now, it couldn¡¯t spread that disease. ¡°You think you¡¯re an appropriate judge of who deserves to die?¡± Elijah leaned back, his palms digging into the ground as he said, ¡°Nope. Not even close. And that wasn¡¯t my motivation in the first place.¡± ¡°What was?¡± For a moment, Elijah considered withholding the real answer to that question. He and Sadie were not friends ¨C in fact, he was certain that the woman hated everything about him ¨C so pouring his heart out to her wasn¡¯t at the top of his list of things to do. Yet, when he opened his mouth, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from asking, ¡°You had a sister that died, right?¡± ¡°I did. Lisa.¡± ¡°I did too,¡± he said. ¡°Alyssa. We used to be really close, but¡­things happened, and we drifted apart. When the world changed, I was flying home to die. I had terminal cancer, and I wanted to mend our relationship. We never really had any big disagreements or anything. We didn¡¯t dislike one another. It was just that she lived outside of Seattle, and I was in Hawaii. I had my life, and she had hers. But with death knocking on my door, I wanted to reconnect. I wanted to leave her with better memories than an absentee brother who ran away from home.¡± He shook his head. ¡°I never made it. The world changed, and I ended up on a deserted island where I spent the next year just trying to find food and shelter enough to survive. But when I got strong enough, I went searching for her,¡± he said. ¡°Not the easy task you might think. With how the world got redistributed and expanded, I had no idea where to even start. At the time, I fooled myself into believing she was fine. Alyssa was always stronger than me. She was smart. And I could see her wife¡¯s name on the power rankings, so I just knew she was fine.¡± ¡°She wasn¡¯t, though, was she?¡± Sadie asked. Elijah didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, he said, ¡°You remind me of her. I mean, she wasn¡¯t as sanctimonious as you, but I think you two would have been friends.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°She was betrayed by a man she thought was her friend,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°And that man built a city, corrupting everything he touched until they were beyond all hope of redemption. I killed¡­a lot of people. Most of them attacked me first. They were soldiers. But I killed others, too. They deserved it. I know that. But if you think I¡¯m walking around without any guilt, then you¡¯re grossly mistaken.¡± Elijah hadn¡¯t intended to tell the whole story, but in the end, he hadn¡¯t been able to hold back. As he stared at the fire, tears trickled down his cheeks. He didn¡¯t regret his actions, but regret and guilt were two very different things. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Sadie said. ¡°For what? You didn¡¯t kill her.¡± ¡°For the way I judged you.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. You¡¯re dealing with an ability, right? Those can be powerful,¡± he said. She ran a hand through her black hair, then sighed. ¡°I wish that was the only reason,¡± she said. ¡°Truth is that I¡¯ve always been like this. I¡¯ve worked on it, but¡­¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Elijah said. Then, he glanced around, saying, ¡°If you want to get some rest, I¡¯m going to be up for a while. I can take watch.¡± Thankfully, Sadie could recognize the situation for what it was. Sharing was all well and good, but Elijah had a limit to what he could handle in any given day. So, she took the hint and headed to her own tent, where she settled in to sleep. Pointedly, she didn¡¯t even remove her armor. For his part, Elijah dipped his hand into the Ghoul-Hide Satchel and wrapped his fingers around the crystalline leaf he¡¯d gotten as a reward for solving the puzzle. It was a guide just like any other he¡¯d gotten from a Branch of the World Tree, but what made it intriguing was the contents:
The Tragedy of War For eons, the planet of Ka¡¯arath was no different than any other. Powerful entities rose and fell, civilizations prospered and were wiped out, and their people progressed to the brink of establishing themselves as a true power within the multi-verse. One ka¡¯alaki aimed to push them over the edge¡­
As Elijah read on, he discovered that Ka¡¯arath ¨C the name of the excised world on which the Trial was held ¨C had established itself as a powerful C-Grade planet. Yet, that wasn¡¯t enough for Yloa K¡¯hnam, the would-be Lightning Emperor. He knew that if they were going to push to a higher realm, they would need to do two things. First, the planet itself would need to take a leap into the B-Grade, which was no small feat. Second, he would need to take control of his entire world. The first was all but out of his grasp for the time being, but the second ¨C well, that was within reach. So, he built the power of his sect, and when he judged that they were strong enough, went to war against the ta¡¯alaki. At first, his enemies fell easily, but they quickly regrouped and banded together to form a potent opposition that stymied his progress. The war went on for centuries as the two sides ¨C which had predictably been drawn along racial lines between the ta¡¯alaki and the ka¡¯alaki ¨C clashed in one battle after another. Yloa and his forces won as often as they lost, and the death toll mounted into the millions. However, war was a great catalyst for growth, and the survivors made great strides in their levels and cultivation. Eventually, the progressively destructive battles left whole swaths of the planet unlivable. But over time, Yloa and his forces won, enslaving the bulk of the ta¡¯alaki. There were still pockets of resistance, but their impact was extremely limited. That allowed Yloa to establish his planet-wide empire and declare himself the Lightning Emperor. That was where the guide ended, leaving Elijah to wonder about two things. First, how did the planet ¨C which had just been consolidated under one rule ¨C end up getting excised from the World Tree? And second, how did Yloa mean to address the other issue and push the grade of the planet higher? The guide had no more answers, leaving Elijah with more questions than when he¡¯d begun reading. 5-63. Damage Report Ramik was frustrated. After five years of clawing toward prosperity, Ironshore was finally on the verge of turning a profit. He could see it in his mind¡¯s eye, looming just out of reach. Once they crossed that ephemeral line, everything would change. Already, he¡¯d begun to see the effects. Humans made up almost twenty percent of the populace, and that number was climbing by the day. More importantly, they brought with them a number of necessary skills, including the ability to augment the city¡¯s defenses. Certainly, there had been plenty of problems. Like anyone else, those humans had their own goals, and because they had no real loyalty to Ironshore, they put their needs above the requirements of the city. Still, so long as they were paid on time and given what they needed to progress, they played the roles given to them. Balancing that wasn¡¯t the source of Ramik¡¯s frustration, but it certainly was a contributing factor. No ¨C the issue was the mine. He turned to Carissa and asked, ¡°How many have we lost?¡± ¡°Seven Miners in the past two weeks,¡± she said. ¡°We sent some Hunters in there, but there ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ to suggest what happened to ¡®em. It¡¯s like they just up and vanished.¡± Ramik groaned, then removed his hat. It was new, created by the Tailor Mari to help keep him alert. It accomplished that feat via the trait Wakefulness, which sent periodic jolts of vitality through his body. They weren¡¯t powerful enough to heal him, but they did restore some of his stamina, allowing him to keep going for longer without stopping to rest. Still, he was almost as tired as he was frustrated. ¡°We need to shut it down,¡± Carissa said, scratching her chin. She jabbed a stubby finger at the map on her desk as she added, ¡°At least this section here. That¡¯s where they disappeared.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t do that, Carissa.¡± ¡°I know it ain¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s the most profitable section of the mine. If we shut it down, we¡¯ll struggle to keep our heads above water,¡± he explained. ¡°You know what happens if we don¡¯t make those interest payments. The Green Mountain Mining Guild will ¨C¡± ¡°I know what happens if we default, Ramik,¡± she said, losing a bit of her accent. Ever since she¡¯d started hanging around that Blacksmith so much, her speech patterns had begun to subtly shift. Was it intentional? Or just a result of her exposure to a new dialect? Ramik didn¡¯t have enough information to say for sure, and what¡¯s more, he didn¡¯t care. He liked Carmen, and he knew that she and her project would be a great boon for Ironshore. But that was a problem for the future. For now, she was a secondary concern at best. ¡°Then you know why we can¡¯t shut it down,¡± he said. Indeed, the section of the mine where Carissa¡¯s people had disappeared was far and away the most valuable branch. The others only had fairly weak versions of blood tin and some Crude-Grade iron. But that other section ¨C that was where they¡¯d found the veins of sun copper that had finally let them turn a corner toward profitability. ¡°You think they¡¯ll call the debts due?¡± she asked. ¡°I know they will,¡± Ramik stated. The deal they¡¯d made with the Green Mountain Mining Guild was simple. The organization provided the capital they¡¯d needed to establish the city, and in return, Ironshore was required to pay them back with interest. To date, they¡¯d managed to make the escalating interest payments, but Ramik knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before they¡¯d spiral out of control. And if they started missing payments, he would be held accountable. The penalty for the first missed payment was simple enough. Just an extra payment that would be difficult to make, but not impossible. The second sent that number even higher. But the third? His debt ¨C alongside a few of the other key figures in the town ¨C would be converted to indentured servitude. Which was basically legal slavery. Ramik had seen it happen to other members of his family, and he knew just how devastating it could be to crawl his way up from something like that. He¡¯d never recover, and he¡¯d end up being a virtual slave for the rest of his pitiful life. So would Carissa and about thirty others who¡¯d put their lives on the line to get the city up and running. Not to mention what would happen to the city itself. Guild-run mining towns were soulless pits if despair where no one was ever given the opportunity to truly advance. If the Green Mountain Mining Guild took over, that would be Ironshore¡¯s fate. That just was not acceptable. ¡°We need to send a team in there,¡± he said. ¡°People with experience with this sort of thing.¡± ¡°Who?¡± Carissa asked. ¡°We still haven¡¯t recovered from losing our whole security force. We¡¯ve made some progress, but we can¡¯t spare anyone.¡± ¡°What about the Blacksmith? She ran a mine before, right?¡± Ramik asked. ¡°I wasn¡¯t s¡¯posed to tell you that,¡± Carissa countered. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°But you did,¡± he said, pacing back and forth. Carissa had been a little drunk when she¡¯d revealed some of Carmen¡¯s history, but the fact was that the Blacksmith was likely as experienced in dealing with mining problems as anyone else in town. Plus, she was one of the highest-level people in Ironshore, so even if she was a Tradesman, she could handle more than most. ¡°Do you think she would do it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Carissa admitted. ¡°She just wants to build her forge and be left alone.¡± ¡°What if we made it worth her while?¡± Ramik asked. ¡°We don¡¯t have anything she needs. With her skills, she¡¯s been makin¡¯ a killin¡¯. She can buy all the materials she wants,¡± Carissa stated. Ramik tapped his chin as he gave it some thought. ¡°What if we give her a stake in Ironshore?¡± he asked after a moment. ¡°It would tie her to us, and it would help her get what she needs to advance.¡± In truth, he¡¯d been considering doing that anyway. The opportunity represented by such a talented, motivated, and high level crafter was unquantifiable. That was especially true, given her work on the Great Forge. It was just starting to take shape, but in a year or two, it would rival some of the wonders of his own native planet. Perhaps it would even bypass them altogether and become something uniquely powerful. Still, he¡¯d hoped to get some concessions out of her before he took that step. A commitment that would push the city to even greater heights. ¡°She might do that,¡± Carissa said. ¡°She wants somewhere to call home. But don¡¯t you think we should wait for Elijah and the others to get back from the Trial? That¡¯s only a few weeks away.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t afford it,¡± Ramik said. He knew if they got behind, their chances of ever escaping the spiral of debt would be nil. ¡°I¡¯ll ask her, but I think I can already tell you the answer,¡± Carissa said. ¡°Ask anyway,¡± Ramik said, already trying to think of alternatives. If the Blacksmith didn¡¯t want to help, then his options were quite limited. ¡°Is there anything else?¡± Carissa asked. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I¡¯ve got a lot of work to do.¡± Ramik shook his head, then took his leave. After stepping out of Carissa¡¯s office, he headed into the city proper. Along the way, he marveled at how much had changed, and in only a few short years. After everything they had endured ¨C from the first run-in with Elijah to the battle against the orcs ¨C it was a minor miracle that the city had continued to grow and, in its own way, prosper. He¡¯d invested all of the city¡¯s spare resources into the future, and now that his plans were on the verge of reaching fruition, the slow-down in the mine threatened to bring it all tumbling down. He refused to let that happen to his city. Not so long as he still drew breath. Lost in thought, he traveled through the city. Their population had passed the twenty thousand mark, which was quite remarkable, considering how few people they¡¯d had when they first arrived. Most of the city¡¯s industry centered around the mine, but they also had nurtured a reasonably profitable ¨C if very dangerous ¨C fishing operation. In addition, there were hundreds of smaller businesses that had sprung up to see to the population¡¯s needs. And then there was the trade deal with Norcastle. The latest caravan was a little overdue, but that wasn¡¯t too surprising. The way was difficult and fraught with danger, so some delays were inevitable. But if they lost more than a couple of those wagon trains, it would be disastrous. That was true of everything in Ironshore. On the surface, it was a booming frontier city filled with happy, productive people. But Ramik knew better than anyone that the entire operation was balanced on the edge of a knife. One wrong move, and everything would come toppling down. The city¡¯s potential was plain to anyone with eyes, though. The ethera density was higher than anywhere he¡¯d ever been, and it was still thickening as the planet matured. One day, it would surpass even the parts of his home world where people like him weren¡¯t even allowed. He wouldn¡¯t give that up, and not just because of the opportunity it represented. Certainly, that was part of it. He¡¯d fought and bled for Ironshore, and the notion of someone else reaping the rewards for his hard work was abhorrent. However, even that paled in comparison to what he expected would happen if the Green Mountain Mining Guild took over. What would they do when they saw the island across the strait? It was clearly special, and if he knew the guild ¨C or more importantly, the sorts of people they would send to run the city once he was indentured ¨C they wouldn¡¯t be able to resist the call of so much power. And if someone else from Ironshore came to that island with ill intent, Elijah wouldn¡¯t react well. It wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility that he would kill everyone in the city. He had the power to do just that, Ramik knew, and he¡¯d already shown that he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill anyone who crossed him. Most of the time, he was reasonable enough, but when that island was threatened, he became something else. Something wild and uncontrollable. No ¨C there was more than just Ramik¡¯s freedom at stake. The lives of everyone in Ironshore hung in the balance. ¡°You look pensive, chief,¡± came a drawling voice. Ramik turned to see the tall swordsman who¡¯d come to town with Carmen and her son leaning against a nearby wall. ¡°Somethin¡¯ on your mind?¡± Ramik was on the verge of saying something noncommittal when he realized that the answer to his problems was standing right beside him. Colt wasn¡¯t as high of a level as Carmen, but he was a powerful veteran whose combat prowess exceeded that of anyone else in Ironshore. More, he had a combat class that stemmed from the Warrior archetype, which made him even more lethal than most in the city. Ramik had only met him in passing, and then only when he accompanied someone else he¡¯d deemed more important. Like Elijah or Carmen. Or even the child who¡¯d just acquired his archetype. However, in retrospect, the company Colt kept had a lot to do with why he¡¯d faded into the background. He was powerful in his own right, and Ramik felt certain that the man was on the verge of entering the top one-hundred among all humans. ¡°Why is it that you¡¯re still here?¡± Ramik asked. ¡°I¡¯m sure you were offered a spot in the Trial of Primacy.¡± Colt shifted a bit, his hand still on the hilt of his single-edged sword, before saying, ¡°It ain¡¯t that complicated. Way I see it, if all the strong people went to that Trial, it would make everyone that stayed behind uniquely vulnerable. I don¡¯t care so much about personal power, but there are people here that I do care about. So, I stayed.¡± ¡°And what would you do if something threatened the well-being of those people?¡± Ramik asked. ¡°Ah, that¡¯s the kicker, ain¡¯t it? Depends on what that somethin¡¯ is.¡± ¡°For the sake of argument, let¡¯s say that it threatens the entire city,¡± Ramik elaborated. ¡°Well, in that case, I suppose I¡¯d have to do somethin¡¯ about it,¡± Colt answered. ¡°This ain¡¯t a hypothetical, is it? Somethin¡¯ has come up.¡± ¡°It has,¡± Ramik admitted. ¡°And I¡¯m not overstating it when I say that it does indeed threaten everything we¡¯ve built. Including those people you care about.¡± ¡°I guess you oughta go ahead and tell me what¡¯s goin¡¯ on so I can see about fixin¡¯ the problem, then.¡± ¡°I guess I should. Follow me,¡± Ramik said, already heading toward his office. Hopefully, he¡¯d just found an answer to his problems. 5-64. Waterfalls Sadie sat atop what was left of the ruined wall, her head in her hands as she tried to come to grips with everything. It didn¡¯t happen often, but every now and then, she found herself overwhelmed by events. Normally, she pushed those feelings aside, shoving them deep down where nobody could see how much they affected her. But sometimes, she had to deal with them in the only way she knew how. She¡¯d never been a terribly emotional person. Before Earth had been transformed by the touch of the World Tree, she¡¯d been described as an ice queen ¨C or some other variant of that same insult ¨C more times than she could count. And for the most part, those labels didn¡¯t bother her. Or that was what she told herself. In reality, each of those insults cut deep, affecting her self-image in such a way that she sometimes found herself wondering what was wrong with her. She wasn¡¯t some unfeeling robot, but she always endeavored to remain on an even keel. If she had been a man, she might have been called stoic. But as a woman, her lack of emotional display was seen as a negative. Still, it was better than the alternative. She¡¯d seen so many of her female colleagues and classmates subjected to accusations of hysterics. That was just what came with the territory, and she¡¯d long struggled to separate herself from that particular stereotype. If she never reacted emotionally, then no one could accuse her of being hysterical, after all. And with the choice between being seen as a competent ice queen or an emotional liability, Sadie knew precisely which one she would pick every single time. It had gotten worse after the world had been transformed. With her power, she¡¯d been thrust into a position of leadership ¨C or at least into being a figurehead ¨C and she had been forced to temper her own reactions even further. When she saw hundreds of people slaughtered, she couldn¡¯t break down into tears. Her people needed her to be strong. They needed her to be confident. Analytical. They needed her to be a hero, not a weeping and overwhelmed girl. So that was what she¡¯d given them. Her grandfather had made it abundantly clear that was the expectation. He¡¯d also made her understand the stakes, that if she didn¡¯t play her role, people would die. Even after her sister¡¯s death, Sadie had kept those words in mind. She¡¯d become the champion her people needed, internalizing it to such a degree that she couldn¡¯t turn it off. Not even when it was unnecessary. Leaning back, she said, ¡°I know you¡¯re there, Dat.¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t hiding, bro. What are you doing?¡± he asked, climbing onto the wall next to her. It was only a few feet tall, so it only took a few moments before he was sitting beside her. ¡°Thinking.¡± ¡°About what?¡± he asked. ¡°Everything. You know this isn¡¯t going to get any easier, right? These challenges are getting harder.¡± ¡°Yeah. Kurik was talking about it yesterday,¡± Dat said. ¡°He thinks they¡¯re more difficult the first time through.¡± ¡°With rewards to match,¡± she said, thinking about the ingot of celestial gold in her pack. It was so large that it would¡¯ve been better categorized as a block, and from everything she knew about blacksmithing, it would be more than enough to create a new set of armor. The other rewards they had gotten paled in comparison, at least as far as she was concerned. ¡°Have you seen Elijah?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Kurik was looking for him.¡± They¡¯d been camped in the same place for the past couple of days, and they¡¯d all grown restless. However, after everything they¡¯d been through of late, taking a few days to recuperate before finishing the journey back to the Nexus. So, when Elijah had found a secluded glade where they wouldn¡¯t need to worry about wraith attacks, they¡¯d taken that as a sign to get the rest they all plainly needed. And it had helped. They¡¯d all nearly died in the last challenge, and what¡¯s more, they were well aware that they had a long way to go. Seven more challenges, in fact, and Sadie felt certain that they would each be just as harrowing as the last three. ¡°Probably off exploring some ruins or something,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t think he likes sitting still.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not true. He always talks about his island,¡± Dat said. ¡°Sounds pretty sweet, bro. He has a tree-man butler. He¡¯s like Batman, but with nature and stuff.¡± ¡°Spryggent,¡± Sadie corrected her friend. ¡°And actions speak louder than words. You¡¯ll notice that he¡¯s not on his island right now. In fact, from everything he¡¯s said, he doesn¡¯t spend much time there at all.¡± Dat started to say something, but then thought better of it. After a few moments, he said, ¡°Well, if you see him, tell him that Kurik is looking for him.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t expect to see the man, but she agreed to do as Dat asked. After that, the pair just sat in companionable silence. As she sat beside her only true friend, she tried to put herself into the frame of mind necessary to appreciate her surroundings. The climate in the jungle was just as hot and humid as it always was, which worked against those efforts. However, even though she was uncomfortable, Sadie couldn¡¯t deny the area¡¯s beauty. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Sighing, she slipped from the wall and said, ¡°I¡¯m going for a walk.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t go far. Elijah said there are wraiths only a couple of kilometers away,¡± Dat said. ¡°He didn¡¯t use kilometers, did he?¡± ¡°Well, he said miles,¡± Dat admitted. ¡°Of course he did,¡± she muttered. Then, she nodded, thankful that he hadn¡¯t offered to accompany her. Dat was a great friend, but he sometimes neglected to remember that, at heart, she valued her solitude. Not always, but there were times when she just couldn¡¯t muster the energy to be around people ¨C even him. Soon enough, she left him behind, and as she was swallowed by the dense foliage, she was struck by how isolating the setting became. The humidity served to muffle sounds, and the thick foliage felt like it cut her off from everything. In that moment, Sadie could understand why Elijah preferred being surrounded by nature. Over the next few minutes, she walked aimlessly. In the back of her mind, she kept track of her position relative to the camp, so she didn¡¯t run any risk of getting lost. However, she did find herself wondering how things might have turned out differently if she¡¯d been in the wilderness when the world had transformed. Would she have followed a similar path to the one Elijah traveled? No. As much as she could enjoy the natural world, Sadie felt no real connection to it. She¡¯d never even wanted a pet, much less to commune with animals or talk to trees. She was content with being an observer. Often distantly. After a few minutes, Sadie heard running water. That wasn¡¯t so unexpected. There were hundreds of rivers and streams cutting through the jungle, after all. Still, her curiosity got the better of her, and she ended up following the sound to a sizable brook. It was almost large enough to be considered a river. Knowing that bodies of water often played host to dangerous monsters, she initially kept her distance as she followed it upstream. Then, after cresting a rise, she saw a sight that took her breath away. It was a waterfall. Maybe thirty feet tall and ending in a crystal clear basin that flowed into the stream, it could rightly be called paradisical ¨C especially when she looked closer and saw tiny motes of visible ethera dancing in the waterfall¡¯s mist. But that wasn¡¯t what took her breath away. Instead, the sight of Elijah ¨C naked and basking in the falling water ¨C elicited an audible gasp. Then, a blush. But she didn¡¯t look away. She couldn¡¯t. In the back of her mind, she told herself that she was only studying the effects of his healing. After the battle against the Engineer and his mechanical army, Elijah had been grossly scarred. However, only a little of that remained, pebbling his shoulders with puckered burn marks. That did little to disguise just how attractive he was. Even though he was almost entirely hairless, Elijah was, assuredly and regrettably, precisely her type. Did it matter that she disliked him? That even now, she could see the sin wafting off of his form and mixing with the falling motes of ethera, was inconsequential. Perhaps it even enhanced those primal urges within her. She had no idea, and what¡¯s more, she was completely at a loss as to what to do with those feelings. With everything going on, she didn¡¯t have time for that sort of thing. And even if she did, she wouldn¡¯t choose to act on her urges with someone like Elijah. He was everything she loathed, after all. It only took the memory of his often flippant attitude to cement that notion in her mind. And yet, that dislike warred with the attraction flooding her mind. Then, he glanced back at her, and rather than cover himself like any reasonable person, he waved, grinning like the idiot he was. That was when she jerked her eyes away and turned around. For a moment, she shuffled her feet, not sure if she should flee or stubbornly remain, ignoring him. Meanwhile, her stomach tied itself into a thousand knots as she considered the implications of both strategies. On the one hand, if she stayed, she would prove that she didn¡¯t care. Or maybe he would think that she wanted to get a better look? On the other hand, if she fled, he might think she was embarrassed, that she was running away. Would he think that she was interested? She could only imagine the smug smile that would follow that line of thinking. She was busy debating her options when his voice came from behind her. ¡°You should give that waterfall a go. It¡¯s infused with ethera, and it¡¯s great for healing,¡± he said. He was incredibly close. Maybe only a few feet away. But Sadie refused to turn around. After all, what if he was still naked? ¡°I may,¡± she said. ¡°Kurik is looking for you.¡± ¡°Oh? You know what for?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°You can turn around. It¡¯s weird talking to your back,¡± he said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry ¨C I¡¯m decent now.¡± Sadie clutched her fists hard enough that her knuckles turned white. For a moment, she considered just leaving. He would take the hint, right? Nothing said that she disliked him like a rude departure. But she discarded that idea, knowing that it would likely foul the dynamics of their group. With that in mind, she forced herself to face him. It had nothing to do with the fact that she wanted a better look at his¡­scars. Nothing at all. When Sadie finally turned around, she saw that he¡¯d thankfully donned a pair of pants. However, his torso was still as naked as ever, with ethera-laced water glistening on his scarred chest. Belatedly, she realized that her mouth had fallen open, and she immediately snapped it shut. ¡°You look¡­better,¡± she said. ¡°That is good.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, self-consciously running his hand across his mostly bald head. He¡¯d grown a bit of stubble, but it would be some time before his hair came back. ¡°Good thing, too. I really didn¡¯t want to go through life looking like a burn victim. Still, I picked up a couple of new scars. I think the system does that on purpose. Like, there¡¯s no reason that only my back should have been scarred, right? It should¡¯ve been my whole body. It¡¯s barely even noticeable, now. I think. You¡¯d be a better judge of that.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°The scars on my back. How prominent are they?¡± he asked, twisting around. The scars were there, and they were unignorable. However, they looked like they were decades old. ¡°They¡­are¡­fine.¡± ¡°Yeah. I guess. Anyway, I¡¯ll leave you to it. Like I said, you should definitely take advantage of the waterfall. It¡¯s like getting a month worth of rest in an hour,¡± he said. Then, he strode off, leaving Sadie to wonder what had just happened. For nearly ten minutes, she just stared at the waterfall, barely seeing it. Instead, she could only think about the man who¡¯d flustered her so completely. That wasn¡¯t like her. She was an adult with plenty of experience with men. And yet, there she was, acting like a blushing virgin who¡¯d just seen the subject of her first crush. It was maddening, especially because her disdain for the Druid hadn¡¯t faded. She still disliked him just as much as ever. Or that was what she told herself as the memory of him bathing beneath that waterfall cemented itself in her mind. 5-65. Usefulness Gwenivere sat at the bar, staring into the tumbler of whiskey in front of her. It remained untouched, though she wanted nothing more than to take a drink. After everything she and the rest of the others had been through, she felt that she deserved that much. Yet, she refused. Five years of sobriety ¨C forced by circumstances or not ¨C meant too much to her to be discarded just because she was feeling a little down. It was so frustrating. By all rights, she should have been happy. She had managed to escape that hellish island ¨C or more appropriately, the harpies that made it home ¨C and found civilization. She was safe and healthy, which was more than she could have said even a few months before. But she wasn¡¯t happy. Not even a little. ¡°You gonna drink that?¡± came a drawling voice from behind her. She didn¡¯t even look up before she said, ¡°Not interested.¡± ¡°Not that kind of conversation,¡± he said. That was when she glanced in the direction of the voice, and when she saw the speaker, Gwenivere couldn¡¯t help but snort in laughter. ¡°Seriously?¡± she muttered. ¡°What?¡± the man asked, as if his appearance was perfectly normal. Perhaps it was, given the circumstances. However, Gwenivere refused to believe that there were many other people walking around looking like Clint Eastwood had suddenly decided to take up kenjutsu. ¡°This can¡¯t be the only time someone¡¯s questioned your sense of style,¡± she said. It wasn¡¯t the first time she¡¯d seen the man. Ironshore had a sizable population, but in the past few weeks, they¡¯d crossed paths a few times. Still, that didn¡¯t make his outfit any less ridiculous. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my sense of style? It¡¯s the white hat, ain¡¯t it? I knew I shouldn¡¯t have been so bold,¡± he said, removing the item in question. He set it on the bar. ¡°You didn¡¯t answer me, though. Are you going to drink that? Or just stare at it?¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t decided yet,¡± she admitted, tapping the rim of the glass. She could feel a subtle sense of ethera wafting off of the liquor, so she knew it would go a long way to getting her drunk. ¡°Alcoholic?¡± he asked. She just nodded, still tapping her finger on the rim of the glass. It would be so easy to just take a drink. No one would blame her, either. And it wasn¡¯t like it would really hurt her. With her attributes, as well as the availability of healing, she didn¡¯t think liver disease would be an issue. But she knew a slippery slope when she saw one. That single drink would inevitably lead to two. Then three. And before she knew it, she¡¯d be back where she had started, drinking herself into oblivion every night. Before the world¡¯s transformation, she hadn¡¯t even realized how much of a problem she had. She was young and pretty, and she liked to party. There was nothing wrong with that. It was only when she¡¯d had it all snatched away that she had come to realize just how dependent on alcohol she had really become. The first few days were the worst. Even after she¡¯d allocated her starting points appropriately, she¡¯d felt the symptoms of withdrawal, and they hadn¡¯t abated for a week. As terrible as that was, it would have been much worse if she hadn¡¯t had the adrenaline of immediate survival to take the edge off. Gwenivere never wanted to experience that again. Even so, she was sorely tempted to drink the glass of whiskey in front of her. So tempted, in fact, that her hand was shaking. ¡°Been there,¡± the cowboy said with a sigh. ¡°Not alcohol, mind you. That was never my drug of choice.¡± ¡°What was?¡± she asked, glancing in his direction. ¡°Everything else. Cost me my marriage. My kids. More jobs than I can count,¡± he said, his gravelly voice tinged with regret. ¡°I got clean a coupla years before all this, but even with all that, with everything that¡¯s happened, I still crave it. I still need it.¡± ¡°How did you do it?¡± she asked. ¡°A friend introduced me to a new way of lookin¡¯ at life. A new code to live by. Back before the world changed, it felt a little silly,¡± he said. ¡°Tellin¡¯ people I practice Bushido wasn¡¯t real popular at parties and family reunions. Most folks looked at me like I¡¯d gone plum crazy.¡± ¡°Bushido, huh?¡± Gwenivere asked. ¡°What does that mean? I¡¯m not familiar.¡± ¡°Way of the warrior. Think of it like a code of chivalry,¡± the man said. ¡°Righteousness, loyalty, honor, respect, honesty, courage, and consistency. In a nutshell. Now, most folks can get behind those values, but the second you attach a word like Bushido to it, people start backin¡¯ away. Especially in the old world where callin¡¯ yourself a warrior was¡­well, a bit odd.¡± ¡°Not so much anymore,¡± Gwenivere said. ¡°How about you?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t really have a code. Left to my own devices, I probably wouldn¡¯t have stopped drinking. But there¡¯s something about being stranded on an island and struggling to survive that promotes sobriety,¡± she said. ¡°If only because I couldn¡¯t exactly go down to the pub and get a drink.¡± Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°I can see that.¡± She sighed. ¡°So, what do you want? I wasn¡¯t lying when I said I wasn¡¯t interested. And this little conversation hasn¡¯t changed anything,¡± Gwenivere said. He was handsome enough, in a rugged, well-worn, and way-too-old-for-her sort of way, and she had to admit that he was easy to talk to. However, she had no interest in any sort of romantic entanglements. And even though they¡¯d only spoken for a few minutes, Gwenivere could recognize that the cowboy wasn¡¯t a one-night-stand sort of guy. She didn¡¯t want to deal with the inevitable attachment that would come from that. ¡°I got a job for you,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s dangerous, but it could end up bein¡¯ very important to this town¡¯s prospects. Pay¡¯s good, too. Plus, we¡¯ll be helpin¡¯ people.¡± ¡°Two questions,¡± she said. ¡°Shoot.¡± ¡°First ¨C what¡¯s the job? I need specifics.¡± He glanced around, looking as if he wanted to make sure that nobody was listening. The bartender ¨C a dwarf with a truly glorious beard that hung well below his waist ¨C was on the other side of the tavern, cleaning tables, and it being early afternoon, there wasn¡¯t much of a crowd. Sure, a few people were around, but they were well spaced and more interested in their drinks than listening to a conversation between a pair of humans. The residents of Ironshore didn¡¯t exactly look down on Earth¡¯s native species, but they didn¡¯t really respect them, either. Except for the Druid, though Gwenivere wasn¡¯t sure whether that was respect or fear. After ensuring he wouldn¡¯t be overheard, the cowboy said, ¡°There have been some disappearances in the mine. I¡¯m goin¡¯ in there to investigate, but I need somebody to watch my back.¡± ¡°That brings me to my next question,¡± she said. ¡°Why me?¡± ¡°Honestly? The only other person I trust in this town turned me down.¡± ¡°And you trust me?¡± He shrugged. ¡°After a fashion,¡± he admitted. ¡°No reason not to trust you. But that¡¯s not the main reason.¡± ¡°What is?¡± Gwenivere asked. ¡°You¡¯re tough. Almost five years of survivin¡¯ in the wilderness ain¡¯t easy,¡± he said. ¡°You did it. So did your captain, but I can see in his eyes he ain¡¯t up for this kinda thing. He ain¡¯t a coward. He¡¯ll fight if he has to, but he won¡¯t go lookin¡¯ for trouble.¡± ¡°You think I will?¡± He nodded. ¡°I think you¡¯re bored,¡± he said. Then, he tapped his finger on the bar, adding, ¡°I think you¡¯re like me. You need somethin¡¯ to focus on or you¡¯ll start goin¡¯ down a bad road. I know all about self-destructive habits.¡± ¡°Is that it?¡± ¡°You been livin¡¯ underground, right? You probably picked up a few things along the way,¡± he said. ¡°Maybe I could find a few dwarves to come with me. A gnome or two. There are even some other humans around that¡¯d probably jump at this kinda chance. It¡¯s an opportunity, and not just a paycheck. Though that¡¯s generous, too. But no ¨C you do this, and Ironshore¡¯ll remember it later. That¡¯s how these people think. They invest in the sorts of folks who show that, when push comes to shove, they¡¯ll do their part.¡± Gwenivere stared at him for a long moment. The last thing she wanted was to go back underground. She still had nightmares about some of the things she¡¯d seen in the caves where she and the other survivors of the plane crash had taken refuge, and she didn¡¯t think that would stop anytime soon. Perhaps ever. But what the cowboy said made sense, at least from what she had seen. And if the pay was as generous as he claimed, she could outfit herself better for when she went back to the island to rescue her friends. ¡°I¡¯m not bored,¡± she said. ¡°I just don¡¯t like sitting here and doing nothing while, even now, I have people back on that island who are waiting to be rescued. They can survive, but without me and the others, they¡¯ll eventually come face-to-face with something they can¡¯t handle. I know that, but I also know I can¡¯t just go back. Not yet.¡± ¡°You sayin¡¯ you need a distraction?¡± ¡°I am, and this sounds like exactly what the doctor ordered,¡± she said, still eyeing the drink. It was such a struggle not to just down it right then, but she pushed away from the bar and added, ¡°I will need some new equipment, though. Armor and a weapon, at least.¡± ¡°I can do that. It just so happens that I know the best Blacksmith in the world,¡± the man said with a lopsided smile. ¡°What¡¯s your name, by the way?¡± she asked. ¡°Colt.¡± This time, she couldn¡¯t contain her laughter. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Okay, so you¡¯re dressed¡­like that. And your name is Colt?¡± she asked. ¡°I mean, it¡¯s on theme, but¡­is that your real name? Tell me the truth.¡± ¡°Course it¡¯s my real damn name,¡± he replied, the smile gone. ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t it be?¡± ¡°Come on. You can tell me,¡± she said, nudging him with her elbow. It felt like she was rubbing shoulders with a brick wall. How high was the man¡¯s Strength? ¡°It¡¯s my real goddamn name.¡± ¡°Sure, sure. Colt. I believe you,¡± she said with an exaggerated wink. ¡°I bet your real name is like¡­Marion or something.¡± ¡°My name is not Marion,¡± he growled. ¡°Like I said, I totally believe you. Now, how about we go visit your Blacksmith friend? Along the way, you can tell me exactly how much I¡¯m going to get paid for this,¡± she said. Then, she added, ¡°Colt.¡± For a moment, she could see his jaw flex. Then, suddenly, he relaxed, and his crooked smile returned. It was a remarkable turn that impressed Gwenivere, so she let the teasing go. Instead, she followed him out of the bar ¨C after paying for the drink, of course ¨C and across Ironshore to what looked like a construction site. A foundation for a huge building had been laid, but that was the extent of the progress. Only one figure ¨C a stocky woman with dark skin ¨C seemed to be working on the building. Colt greeted her, and after only a few minutes of conversation, the woman led them back to a shop filled with the highest quality equipment Gwenivere had ever seen. The place practically glowed with dense ethera, overwhelming her senses to such a degree that, for a while, she just stood there gaping. ¡°I¡¯m not gonna tell you to take your pick, but find some stuff you like,¡± Colt said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure we¡¯re going to need all the help we can get.¡± Gwenivere didn¡¯t need any encouragement, though she did enlist the Blacksmith¡¯s help in choosing the proper weapon. She wasn¡¯t strong enough to use some of the higher-tier gear, but she ended up finding a very serviceable axe and some chainmail armor that gave quite a boost to her attributes. ¡°I¡¯ll have to adjust the armor a bit,¡± said the Blacksmith. ¡°Come back in the morning, and it¡¯ll fit you like a glove.¡± ¡°How much would this cost if I wanted to buy it?¡± Gwenivere asked. She was still wrapping her head around the currency ¨C she¡¯d never been exposed to ethereum before escaping the island ¨C but she knew that the gear was extremely valuable. ¡°More than you have.¡± ¡°And you¡¯re just giving it to me?¡± ¡°Not to you,¡± the Blacksmith said. Then, her eyes flicked toward the cowboy who was looking through the swords on the other side of the shop. ¡°That man saved my life more times than I can count. I¡¯m doing this for him.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°Watch his back,¡± the stocky woman said. ¡°I¡­I will.¡± ¡°I believe you,¡± the Blacksmith said. ¡°I¡¯m Carmen, by the way. Let me know if you need anything else. Otherwise, come back in the morning, and I¡¯ll have the armor ready to go.¡± Gwenivere just nodded, hoping that she could live up to the promise she¡¯d just made. 5-66. Connections Elijah crept forward, his footsteps barely making a sound as he held his hand outstretched. His fingers trembled slightly as he reached toward the creature. It cringed away, letting out a pitiful whine, but it didn¡¯t run. It couldn¡¯t. ¡°Shh,¡± he breathed. ¡°It¡¯ll be okay.¡± The beast clearly didn¡¯t trust him, but that was the inevitable consequence of its experiences. A large arrow jutted from its shoulder, the head buried deep enough that it had nicked a lung ¨C at least judging by the foamy nature of the blood. Finally, Elijah¡¯s hand grazed its green fur, and he felt the sheer terror coursing through its tense muscles. But they were weak. The animal was dying. And Elijah intended to change that. But first, he needed to ensure that it trusted him because, otherwise, it would bolt the second the arrow came out. Behind him, Elijah could feel the others¡¯ eyes. They were all watching him, their opinions written clearly on their faces. A few were empathetic, hanging on the fate of the animal as keenly as he was. However, they comprised the obvious minority, with most of the others just looking at him like he¡¯d gone crazy. And then came the other end of the spectrum. The ones who wanted nothing more than to kill the beast. ¡°This is stupid,¡± growled one grizzled man carrying a spear. ¡°That thing is worth half a level of experience.¡± He stepped forward, his intentions clear. ¡°Stop,¡± Elijah said, his voice still calm. He didn¡¯t need to do more. No threats were necessary. They had seen his capabilities first-hand, and they knew what it meant to cross him. It should have been enough that he¡¯d saved them. After that, they should have listened to him. But some people just didn¡¯t understand the concept of gratitude. Or empathy. They only knew how to kill. Any other time, Elijah might¡¯ve tried to understand the man¡¯s point of view. But he knew that if he gave him an inch, the man would take a mile. Thankfully, the man stopped. That wasn¡¯t surprising, after what had happened. He¡¯d just watched Elijah tear through a group of ka¡¯alaki hunters that had pinned his whole party down. He wasn¡¯t about to oppose someone so clearly above him. But he still didn¡¯t look happy about it. ¡°Fucking hippy-ass mother fucker,¡± he muttered. Elijah turned his attention back to the animal. In many ways, it looked like a sloth, though with a much stouter frame and a wide snout armed with tusks. It was a powerful animal that would have provided the group standing at bay with a decent enough challenge ¨C assuming that they could even find it. Its natural camouflage would have made it nearly invisible in the jungle, and the only reason they¡¯d found it was because one of the ka¡¯alaki hunters had hit it with a stray arrow. That had knocked it from the tree, where it had fallen and broken a bone in its leg. Finally, Elijah¡¯s fingers closed around the arrow. The shaft was thick enough for a spear, and he knew from experience that the arrowheads were wickedly barbed. That meant that pulling the arrow free would do quite a bit of damage. More distressingly, it would be agonizingly painful for the animal. Not for the first time, Elijah wished he had a spell that could help with that. That lack was one of the things that separated him from true Healers like Ron, though. As he¡¯d often thought, though he could heal, he was not on the same level as someone dedicated to that role. He put his other hand on the animal¡¯s shoulder, feeling the thick fur of its hide. It was so soft that Elijah could easily imagine that it had once been hunted for its fur, much like minks had back on Earth. He pushed that out of his mind, braced himself for what was coming, and yanked the arrow out. The beast screamed. And with every ounce of Strength it possessed, it tried to escape. But Elijah held it down with one hand, already casting Nature¡¯s Bloom. Then, he used Soothe. Finally, he added Healing Rain. The animal¡¯s flesh did not heal quickly, largely because it had no idea what was going on. It clearly wasn¡¯t certain if Elijah was a friend or an enemy, and as a result, its body resisted the healing. To counter that, he spoke to the creature in soothing tones, and as the pain subsided ¨C minutely, but noticeably ¨C the healing took hold. Elijah watched as its flesh knitted back together, but more importantly, he used One with Nature to ensure that its shredded internal organs mended properly. They did, and over the next few minutes ¨C which was just another reminder of how strong the creature was ¨C it healed. As it did, the pain dissipated, and its demeanor grew calmer until it was looking at Elijah with something akin to trust. He pulled his restraining hand from its body. When the beast stood, it towered over Elijah by at least a few feet. In its shadow, he felt incredibly small, but he also felt secure, and not just because he¡¯d felt its power and knew, beyond the shadow of any doubt, that he could defeat it. No ¨C he also felt the connection he¡¯d formed with the beast. It wasn¡¯t some magical thing. Instead, there was a level of trust there. A knowledge that neither of them meant the other harm. It was in moments like those that Elijah felt more in tune with nature than ever. There was power in that, and though he didn¡¯t know what form it would take, he felt certain that it would be the key to his development. Not that that was why he¡¯d chosen to heal the beast. No ¨C that was rooted in something far more deeply embedded in his personality. He might not have made for a good marine biologist, but he still loved nature. And he wouldn¡¯t stand by, letting an animal suffer ¨C not when he could do something about it. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The beast turned around and climbed the giant tree, slowly ascending the trunk until it disappeared into the canopy. Only then did Elijah let out a sigh of relief and turn to the group of people he¡¯d just saved. There were seven of them, and as far as Elijah could tell, they had a decent number of levels between them. Not enough to put them on any lists, but enough to hold their own. That was probably the only reason they¡¯d survived against the five hunters that had fallen upon them. Elijah hadn¡¯t seen much of their tactics before he¡¯d stepped in, but had witnessed enough to see that they had a couple of defenders, two Healers, and the rest were ranged damage dealers. He didn¡¯t recognize any of them, but that wasn¡¯t really a surprise, considering that he usually kept to himself when he was in Nexus Town. ¡°We could¡¯ve gotten levels from that thing,¡± said the spear wielder. He was one of the defenders, and in addition to his spear, he held a large tower shield. One of the damage dealers ¨C a woman with black hair and smile lines on her face ¨C reached out to grab his shoulder as she said, ¡°Bruce, it¡¯s not ¨C¡± He jerked away. ¡°No, Sue. This bastard just stole our kill,¡± he growled. ¡°Maybe we ought to take it outta his hide. What¡¯cha think ¡®bout that, hippy? You gonna hug some trees and ¨C¡± Elijah was in no mood to tolerate the man. So, he stepped forward, already swinging his staff. It hit the man¡¯s shield with enough force to send him tumbling to the side, and he didn¡¯t stop until he hit a tree. He wasn¡¯t hurt, but the impact did leave him a little stunned. ¡°This is the thanks I get?¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°I could¡¯ve just let them kill you.¡± ¡°We were handling it,¡± another member of the group said. ¡°As soon as my Conflagrate spell was off cooldown ¨C¡± ¡°You would have died,¡± Elijah said. He pointed to the slain hunters and said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen what they can do. And I can tell what you can do. Believe me when I say that you wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance.¡± ¡°You beat them easily enough,¡± said yet another. He was a Healer, Elijah had seen, and not a weak one. In fact, he was probably the highest-level member of the group. ¡°And we conquered the first challenge. We¡¯re not powerless.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said. He wanted to argue with them, to make them understand that just because they had a few levels under their belt, the threats of the excised world were probably more than they could handle. And even if they could stand toe to toe with the natives, they couldn¡¯t do so without a significant degree of caution. They just weren¡¯t strong enough to do it the wrong way and still survive. ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave you to it, then.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just going to leave?¡± asked the black-haired woman. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I can tell when I¡¯m not wanted,¡± he said. Then, without further conversation, he headed off into the jungle. In truth, he didn¡¯t care what the people thought of him. Much. Like everyone else in the world ¨C even the ones who claimed not to ¨C he wanted to be liked. But it was far from his top priority. So, he pushed their reaction to his assistance out of his mind, focusing instead on that feeling of connection he¡¯d felt with the unnamed beast. There was something there. Something that he couldn¡¯t quite wrap his mind around. Something important. Something powerful. Yet, as much as he wanted to figure it out, understanding eluded him as he made his way back to his own party. Elijah had adopted the habit of exploring their surroundings each time they made camp ¨C not for threats, but rather, for more hints as to the excised world¡¯s history. When he¡¯d read the Tragedy of War, he¡¯d gotten a few facts, but he knew there was far more to the story than what had been documented in that guide. He''d discovered very little in the days since, but he had seen quite a lot of ruins. The scope of the architecture ¨C even crumbling as it was ¨C suggested a sprawling civilization whose influence had once been even more pervasive than humanity¡¯s back on Earth. The highlight was when he¡¯d found what he¡¯d thought was a large pond, but upon further inspection, he¡¯d discovered that it was a huge amphitheater that once must¡¯ve seated thousands. It had since filled with water, but its presence told Elijah that there had been more to their culture than the conflict detailed in the guide or the various art he¡¯d seen. Upon further reflection, he realized that that fact should have been obvious. If one looked at humanity¡¯s art from the bulk of their history, they would see a pattern of violence and war. Because those events were historic. Few artists ever thought to capture the mundanity of everyday life, and even if they did, those pieces rarely survived long enough to be studied by following generations. The same was likely true of the excised world¡¯s history. There was more to the natives than he¡¯d ever really considered. It was so easy to look at them like he looked at the denizens of towers, like they weren¡¯t truly real. But that wasn¡¯t the case. They were a fallen people with a rich history and a complete culture that he would probably never understand. But that thought brough to mind a simple question. Would the same thing one day happen to Earth? Would some other race be sent there on a Trial and see some of humanity¡¯s wonders ¨C like the Pyramids of Giza, the Eiffel Tower, or the Statue of Liberty ¨C and see them as mere set dressing? Or would they endeavor to understand the meaning behind those landmarks? Would they try to understand humanity? Or would they simply kill Earth¡¯s natives in hopes of gaining experience or some other benefit? Those questions ¨C and many more like it ¨C accompanied Elijah all the way back to the camp. It was still night when he arrived, and everyone but Kurik had retired to their respective tents. Elijah sat next to the dwarf, and after a few minutes, Kurik asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing. Just thinking.¡± ¡°That¡¯s never good,¡± the dwarf said, filing a stake meant for one of his traps. ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± Elijah told him, and when he was finished, he asked, ¡°Is that what¡¯s in store for Earth?¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Maybe not. Depends on you.¡± ¡°Humanity will fight for ¨C¡± ¡°Not humanity. You. You¡¯re the strongest person in the world. There will come a time when people look to you for protection. For answers. For direction. The question is how you intend to respond.¡± ¡°There are other strong people out there. Sadie and ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re fooling yourself if you think they¡¯re on the same path as you. You¡¯ve got the Dragon in you. And Dragons lead. They don¡¯t follow,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°Always have, always will. Because as much as all the other elder races want to pretend they¡¯re on the same level, they aren¡¯t. The others might be elders, and they have more power than most can comprehend. But Dragons? They¡¯re the founders, and deep down, everybody knows it. They all feel it in their bones, and the further you progress down your path, the more you¡¯ll understand just how far above them you are.¡± Just then, Elijah heard a stick snap, and he jerked his attention in that direction. Then, he saw something that caused his breath to catch in his throat. Kurik stepped out of the brush, still buckling his belt. When he saw that Elijah was staring at him, he asked, ¡°What? Can¡¯t a dwarf take a piss without¡­¡± Elijah didn¡¯t hear the rest. Instead, he turned to face the other Kurik he¡¯d just been talking to. But there was nothing visible. Instead, there was only a whisper of power that he recognized as belonging to the Dragon matriarch he¡¯d only met a single time. ¡°Kirlissa,¡± he muttered, both comforted and terrified by what he¡¯d just experienced. 5-67. A Natural Predator A gentle wind rustled the leaves above, and a cacophony of chirps cascaded across the canopy. Twinkling motes of ethera danced in the air, casting the forest floor in a slightly blue glow that, in most situations, Elijah would have found quite comforting. He was distracted, though. Because for once, he¡¯d found a group of ka¡¯alaki hunters before they¡¯d found him. Kurik and the others were around three miles away, tired after an entire day of battle. After their experiences in the Citadel of Innovation, the jungle had come alive in a way it never had before. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if it was seasonal or if something else had prompted the change, but their entire trip back to the Nexus Town had been wrought with danger. Mostly, that had taken the form of the wraiths, who had attacked with a characteristic lack of self-preservation. Elijah and his companions had killed wave after wave of the creatures, and yet, they¡¯d plagued every step the group had taken through the jungle. The creatures were dangerous, but that was mitigated by the fact that they seemed incapable of tactical thinking. That meant that if they couldn¡¯t overwhelm their prey with numbers or strength, then the wraiths were at a distinct disadvantage. Meanwhile, Elijah and the other members of his party had steadily developed and solidified their own strategy for dealing with the vicious creatures. So, the fights weren¡¯t nearly as dangerous as they had been earlier in the Trial. Still, fighting through wave after wave of the monsters was exhausting, which was why the group had decided to take advantage of a hidden position they¡¯d found within a cave. There, they¡¯d set up their camp ¨C including their defenses ¨C so they could get at least a few hours of precious rest. Once Elijah had seen that they were safe for the time being, he¡¯d shifted into the Shape of Venom and set out to scout the area. For whatever reason ¨C maybe because of his advanced cultivation, his levels, or his attributes ¨C fatigue didn¡¯t quite affect him as strongly as it did everyone else. So, he¡¯d taken it upon himself to ensure that no one snuck up on them. He also enjoyed every chance he could get to utilize his newest shape. While he¡¯d expected to have second thoughts, regardless of which choice he¡¯d made with the evolution of Shape of the Predator, he¡¯d been nothing but happy with Shape of Venom. Not only did it come with all the advantages of its predecessor ¨C save for a few points in Constitution ¨C he¡¯d discovered that Envenom was even more powerful than he¡¯d first thought. Certainly, it hadn¡¯t been enough to immediately take out the Engineer, but that was less because of its power than because of the unique nature of the enemy. Elijah couldn¡¯t be certain, but he suspected that, in addition to being at the peak of the Mortal Realm, the Engineer had also altered his body to such a degree that he likely should have been immune to most afflictions. And yet, Envenom ¨C combined with Insidious Malady ¨C had torn through his body, weakening him enough that the combined might of his party could take the monstrous ka¡¯alaki down. Since then, Elijah had seen just how potent his venom could be, but he¡¯d also begun to think of strategies where he could better incorporate all of his forms to get the most out of his abilities. But he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d need them for the hunters camped below him. Like all of the hunters Elijah had encountered, they were ka¡¯alaki, meaning that they had legs instead of thick, serpentine tails. That seemed important, but without more information, Elijah didn¡¯t know what to make of the detail. Regardless, there were a half dozen of the creatures huddled around a smokeless green fire. When Elijah looked at the flames, he sensed swirling ethera that periodically pulsed, sending waves out into the jungle. Was the fire something like his monster-dissuading tent? Perhaps. Or maybe it had some other effect. He couldn¡¯t be sure, but what he did know was that it did nothing to him. Those pulses of energy were entirely ineffective against him, so he¡¯d chosen to ignore them. For a few more moments, Elijah remained on the branch above the group, silently watching and hoping to glean some information from their conversation. He knew they were speaking some language other than English, but that didn¡¯t hinder his understanding. Instead, he knew precisely what they were saying, but unfortunately, they spoke very little, and what they said was nothing of consequence. Eventually, Elijah grew tired of watching, and he chose to act. He dropped from his perch, landing on a hunter¡¯s back. Before the ka¡¯alaki could react, Elijah sank his fangs into the creature¡¯s neck. He didn¡¯t hesitate before leaping away and biting another member of the group. By that point, they¡¯d reacted. Yet, Elijah was too fast, already skittering across the ground to bite another hunter in the leg. Then, knowing he couldn¡¯t stand up to a unified defense, he raced away, ducking through the underbrush with barely a rustle. That was when the first wave of experience settled onto him. Another followed soon after. And another after that. Only a few seconds had passed, and already, three of the hunters were dead. Behind him, the other three panicked, forming a triangle so that they could see him coming. Elijah didn¡¯t care about that. He was already gone, using his gifts to climb a nearby tree faster than he ever could have before his form had evolved. In moments, he was back where he¡¯d started, looking down on the hunters and waiting to make his next move. He could have used Guise of the Unseen, but he¡¯d told himself that he wouldn¡¯t unless absolutely necessary. The blight dragon shape was even better suited to camouflage than the draconid form, and he wanted to grow accustomed to that just in case his stealth ability became unavailable. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. And despite the fact that the hunters kept looking up ¨C after all, they¡¯d seen where he¡¯d come from the first time ¨C they couldn¡¯t detect him. It was a good reminder that, even before the infusion of ethera that had come with the touch of the World Tree, there had been plenty of animals that were capable of becoming practically invisible. Elijah aimed to emulate those beasts. For a while, he remained on that branch, completely motionless and watching the remaining hunters. ¡°Is it gone?¡± asked one in a hissing voice. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the other said. ¡°Did you recognize it?¡± The third shook his head. ¡°It is no species I have ever seen.¡± ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± growled the first. They went on like that for a while until they finally decided that they¡¯d somehow survived the attack. The moment they relaxed, Elijah pounced once again, killing those three much the same as the others. And just like that, the six hunters had become corpses. Those kills, along with all the wraiths they¡¯d slaughtered over the past few days, pushed Elijah to level ninety-six. Extra attributes were always nice ¨C even one point each level tended to add up ¨C but he was far more interested in getting new spells or chances to evolve old ones. ¡°One step at a time,¡± he told himself. It wouldn¡¯t do to become impatient. If he kept reaching for more and more power, there would come a point when he took it too far. The better route ¨C at least as far as he was concerned ¨C was to let it come to him. He wouldn¡¯t refuse opportunities to grow stronger ¨C and in fact, he would seek them out ¨C but he¡¯d come to realize that trying to grow more powerful for its own sake was unappealing to him. He needed other goals. Other priorities. Otherwise, he might fall prey to some serious pitfalls. As those thoughts flitted through his mind, Elijah shifted back into his human form and rifled through the hunters¡¯ belongings. There wasn¡¯t much there ¨C just a few spears, some decent armor, and a bag full of rations ¨C but he took what he could, shoving it all into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel before heading out. He circled his companions¡¯ camp, spending the next hour or so ensuring that they hadn¡¯t inadvertently set up shop right next to a powerful foe. However, other than a few clumps of semi-dormant wraiths, he found no more threats. So, he returned to the camp and, after explaining everything to the others, slipped into his tent and went to sleep. As he lay there, two things kept going through his mind. First, he thought about how absolutely filthy he was. The way the blight dragon killed was far less messy than fighting as a draconid, but he¡¯d been completely unable to avoid a few splashes of blood. Those had stained the clothes he wore beneath his armor, and gotten into what hair had returned to his head. In addition, his armor needed a good cleaning, as the padding beneath smelled like a high school locker room. In short, he looked forward to getting back to the Nexus Town, if only because it would give him the opportunity to clean up a bit. Second, he thought about Sadie. Or more accurately, about the way she kept looking at him. At times, Elijah was admittedly clueless, but he was not a complete fool. He knew what those looks ¨C which had begun when she¡¯d seen him bathing beneath a waterfall ¨C meant. However, despite her obvious attraction to him ¨C and the fact that she was quite attractive herself ¨C he hesitated to make a move. Not because he was afraid of being rejected. That was a distinct possibility, because she obviously didn¡¯t care much for him, despite her clear feelings. In fact, if he did take that route, he fully expected to be shut down. Which was fine. He¡¯d dealt with that kind of thing often enough that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. A blow to his ego, maybe, but that had taken enough of a battering through the years that he barely paid attention to it. No ¨C his hesitation was twofold. For one, Delilah was still in Nexus Town, as far as he knew. And while they weren¡¯t exactly a couple, there was something there. Maybe it was no more than what it had appeared to be at first glance ¨C just a one-night stand between a pair of consenting adults. Sure, it had extended to a couple of nights together, but that didn¡¯t mean it was a real relationship. Still, Elijah had come to look at things a little differently. Was he willing to take that step with Delilah? Maybe. Maybe not. Was she? Almost assuredly, she would refuse. And yet, Elijah felt that pursuing another woman before figuring that out would be a betrayal of a sort. It didn¡¯t make sense. He knew that. And if he¡¯d brought it up with Delilah herself, she likely would have laughed in his face. But one thing was certain ¨C it wasn¡¯t as simple of a situation as it seemed at first glance. That was usually the case when it came to emotions and connections with other people, but knowing that didn¡¯t make it any easier to navigate. But that complexity was nothing compared to the fact that, on a most basic level, Elijah found Sadie¡¯s whole demeanor off-putting. She¡¯d gotten better. She no longer looked at him with naked disgust. Yet, that judgmental nature was still there, and Elijah had no intention of subjecting himself to that, regardless of how pretty she was. Even if she was willing ¨C and he didn¡¯t think she truly was ¨C it was better for both of them if they ignored whatever feelings of attraction they might¡¯ve felt for one another. Still, as he lay there, Elijah¡¯s mind kept turning in her direction. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t have long to dwell on those thoughts before he drifted off to sleep. The next morning came soon enough, and they once again set off across the jungle. Thankfully, the wraith attacks waned, and after another day of travel, they finally caught sight of the Nexus Town. However, when they entered, they discovered a couple of major changes. First, there were a lot less people around. The decrease in the population wasn¡¯t quite as dramatic as it had been during their last visit, but it was still noticeable. Elijah told himself that most of the people were probably out trying to conquer the various challenges or fighting the wildlife, but while he knew that was true in some cases, it wasn¡¯t the whole story. Some people had died. Others had fled. And slowly, the number of challengers in the Trial of Primacy was dwindling down to nothing. By the time it was over, would only a few remain? Would any? It was a valid question, and one to which Elijah had no answers. The other major change was that Elijah saw a lot more Immortals roaming about. Before, there¡¯d been only a dozen, but by the time Elijah had reached the square containing the Branch of the World Tree, he¡¯d counted at least thirty swaggering around in their masks and black outfits. There were even more surrounding the Branch itself, almost as if they were standing guard. So, when they arrived at Atticus¡¯ Consortium, Elijah asked his friend, ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± ¡°A lot has changed over the past month,¡± the slim arms dealer said. ¡°We have a significant problem.¡± 5-68. Deal with the Devil ¡°What kind of a problem?¡± asked Sadie, her tone intense. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°The Immortals.¡± ¡°What about them?¡± Elijah asked before Sadie could cut in. ¡°They¡¯re taking over,¡± Atticus responded with a shake of his head. ¡°They¡¯re multiplying. I don¡¯t know how, but every day, there seems to be more of them out there. And they¡¯re not shy about imposing their will on other people, either. The only reason we¡¯re not completely under their sway is because we paid their price for protection.¡± ¡°What was the price?¡± Sadie asked. Atticus looked away, then sighed before answering, ¡°Equipment. The best we had. My people, they don¡¯t have the best materials to work with here. It¡¯s not as if anyone¡¯s set up a mine, after all. But they¡¯re good at what they do, and they¡¯ve managed to create some High Simple-Grade items. Those have all gone to the Immortals.¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes. His first impulse was to berate Atticus for giving in to the Immortals¡¯ extortive demands. However, on second thought, he understood it. His consortium¡¯s power was more economic than martial, and as such, he couldn¡¯t respond properly to such a blatant threat. He could have fought, and his people probably would have joined him. That would have gotten a lot of people killed, though. ¡°The real issue is that people can¡¯t even leave when they want,¡± Atticus went on. ¡°They¡¯ve got access to the Branch blocked.¡± ¡°How?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Before, there were only a dozen of them.¡± ¡°And we took one of them out,¡± Elijah said, remembering the woman he¡¯d fed to a beast in the jungle. There was no way she could have survived that, even with whatever immortality skill she¡¯d been subjected to. ¡°We know they¡¯re patrolling the wilderness, too.¡± Indeed, they¡¯d encountered a few other groups lately, and they¡¯d all reported running into Immortals. In some cases, the black-clad and unkillable fighters had been repelled, but in others, their targets had been forced to flee. ¡°They have more people than that,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°A lot more. According to everything I¡¯ve seen, at least a hundred. Maybe as many as two.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s too many. How did they ¨C¡± Dat cut Elijah off, saying, ¡°They¡¯re recruiting. I need to go check this out. Give me an hour.¡± ¡°What are you going to do?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Investigate,¡± Dat said. ¡°This is what I do, bro.¡± Elijah was about to offer to help when Sadie said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about him. He knows what¡¯s he¡¯s doing.¡± ¡°I really do,¡± Dat agreed. Elijah sighed. ¡°Fine. Be careful,¡± he said. Then, Dat disappeared ¨C literally. One second, he was there, and the next, he was gone. Elijah could still feel a vague disturbance in the ambient ethera, but he only noticed it because he was looking for it. If he hadn¡¯t been, his senses ¨C including One with Nature ¨C would have been largely useless, and Dat would have been entirely undetectable. ¡°That¡¯s¡­impressive,¡± Elijah said. Sadie responded, ¡°It¡¯s a new skill. He got it at level seventy-five.¡± ¡°When did that happen? Getting to that level, I mean,¡± Elijah asked her. She shrugged. ¡°Back in the junkyard,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ve all leveled significantly over the past few weeks. Not enough to catch up to you, but we¡¯re getting closer.¡± ¡°Any other new abilities I should know about?¡± he asked, looking at her, then Kurik. ¡°I got a few new tricks up my sleeve,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°New ways of buildin¡¯ traps and such. Should be a lot more efficient, assumin¡¯ I can get my mind around it. It requires a lot more input on my end. Not like those spells you all fling around. This is based on skill and technique, almost like a crafter.¡± ¡°Interesting. And you, Sadie?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°I got an enhancement called Verdict,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how it works, though. The description is a little vague, and I haven¡¯t had a chance to try it out. It¡¯s supposed to enhance my attacks, though.¡± ¡°That should help,¡± Elijah said. Inwardly, though, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if his companions were destined to catch him. To comfort himself, he looked at the Planetary Power Rankings:
Planetary Power Rankings (Earth) 1. Elijah Hart ¨C Level 96 2. Oscar Ramirez ¨C Level 89 3. Sadie Song ¨C Level 86 4. Hu Shui ¨C Level 79 5. Davu Adebowale¨C Level 78 6. Anupriya Pandey ¨C Level 77 Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. 7. Benedict Emerson ¨C Level 77 8. Niko Song ¨C Level 76 9. Ram Khandu ¨C Level 76 10. Dat Bao ¨C Level 75 11. ¡­ 12. ¡­ 13. ¡­ 14. ¡­
He let out a small sigh of relief. He still had a sizable lead, which had actually grown even larger since coming to the Trial of Primacy. It shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. After all, he knew that Oscar Ramirez was fighting alone ¨C if hunting with his pack of dogs could be considered alone ¨C which had to be less efficient than what Elijah had been doing with Sadie, Dat, and Kurik. Still, the fact that the man had maintained the second spot was impressive. Idly, he wondered about some of the other names on the list. Were they in the Trial of Primacy, too? One member of the top ten ¨C Niko Song, Sadie¡¯s brother ¨C was still back on Earth, but what about the others? The Trial of Primacy represented a great opportunity, but there was also a good chance that those people had other responsibilities that kept them from coming. There was every possibility that, as the most powerful people around, they were dealing with one crisis or another. Elijah shook his head. There was no way to know what was going on with everyone else. It was better if he just focused on his own issues. So, as he waited for Dat to return, he settled into a secluded corner and focused on his Mind cultivation. The looping strategy seemed to be doing something, but he felt that he was missing a key ingredient. He intended to figure it out, though. * * * Dat slipped out of the building and into the alley between it and its neighbor. He could have left through the front door, and because of Ghost Cloak, he would have remained entirely undetected. Even Elijah, whose senses were far better than anyone else¡¯s Dat had ever encountered, couldn¡¯t see him. It was an incredible ability, but like many of Dat¡¯s skills and spells, it left him feeling a little uneasy. He was a Witch Hunter with an Angel Core, and he strove to be one of the good guys. And yet, he knew the truth ¨C his powers came with a steep cost. In reality, aside from distinctly different motives and a shift in focus, there wasn¡¯t much difference between the powers of a Witch ¨C or one of the other Witch-adjacent classes ¨C and a Witch Hunter. The price of his abilities, many of which were hexes and curses, was much the same. He could feel that cost as Ghost Cloak hugged his body, sending a jolt of frigid cold through his Soul. He tried to ignore the feeling of resentment that came with it, instead focusing on his mission. Ghosts weren¡¯t real, he told himself. He hadn¡¯t truly enslaved a spirit to fuel his spell. It was just another flavor of ethera that he didn¡¯t quite understand. Dat didn¡¯t truly believe that, but his choices had been made. His class had been selected, and the living needed him to do what had to be done. He couldn¡¯t let himself get lost in questions of morality when it came to the ghosts and spirits he used to fuel his most powerful spells. Pushing those concerns out of his mind, he strode forward. When he¡¯d first gotten Stealth, he¡¯d needed to remain cognizant of his stature. It wasn¡¯t perfect, after all, and if he stood in broad daylight, he would be seen. Ghost Cloak was different, though. Better. It rendered him entirely invisible, regardless of environmental concerns. So, even though he wanted to flit from shadow to shadow, he forced himself to walk normally, if only to test its efficacy. Sure enough, no one even glanced in his direction as he covered the ground between Atticus¡¯ Consortium and the Branch of the World Tree. Along the way, he saw that the once-thriving square was nearly deserted, save for a few pedestrians hurrying from one place to the next. And then there was the clump of black-clad Immortals camped out near the Branch itself. Some were sitting beneath a brightly colored tent, while others patrolled the area. Distressingly, Dat recognized a few of them. Singling one out, he used Hex of Scrying on one that looked the least attentive. When the spell hit, the man slapped the side of his neck, muttering, ¡°Damn bugs.¡± Immediately, Dat saw a swirl of spirits buzzing around the man. He knew from experience that no one else could see them, but still, he winced at the flashing display of ephemeral shapes. They looked a bit like people, though their faces were featureless, and their forms lacked detail. A second later, as Hex of Scrying took hold, he received a notification:
Name: Dexter Fallon Level: 52 Archetype: Warrior Class: Fencer (corrupted) Highest Attribute: Strength
Then, a chorus of whispers gripped Dat¡¯s senses. The voices were breathy and high-pitched as it said, ¡°This creature has been corrupted by a fel bargain.¡± ¡°Demons?¡± Dat asked inside his own head. He¡¯d used Hex of Scrying often enough to know that the voice belonged to the spirits he¡¯d summoned to inspect his target. Still, the fact that they could talk sent a shiver up his spine every time he heard their multitudinous voices. ¡°Worse. Humans who know not the forces with which they meddle,¡± the voices responded. ¡°They have given their souls to another in exchange for power.¡± ¡°What kind of power?¡± ¡°Immortality.¡± Dat¡¯s jaw flexed in anger. He¡¯d seen others make a similar choice back in Hong Kong. He¡¯d watched as they embraced demons and undead, taking classes that pushed them into evil. One and all, those people had turned on their former allies. Some claimed that their actions were justified ¨C necromancy and demon worship were more than frowned upon ¨C but others simply wanted more fuel for their own rise to power. And in most cases, it worked, too. Some of those had gathered an incredible amount of strength in a short amount of time, which was one of the reasons Dat and the Songs hadn¡¯t managed to push back the undead threat spilling out of the Primal Realm. ¡°How can we get around it?¡± was his next unspoken question. ¡°You cannot, save to slay the progenitor. Beware the heavily scarred.¡± Then, the spirit disappeared from his mind. ¡°Did you feel that?¡± asked Dexter Fallon, looking around. Dat could only see the man¡¯s eyes, but they were wide with fear. ¡°What¡¯re you talking about?¡± asked another Immortal. ¡°It felt like a cold breeze,¡± Dexter said. ¡°Like I was back home in the middle of winter.¡± ¡°It¡¯s like a thousand degrees out here. You getting sick?¡± the other asked. ¡°I know they said we¡¯re immune to that kind of thing, but I don¡¯t know¡­maybe it was just your imagination.¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± said Dexter. ¡°Maybe. You really think we ought to have done this? It feels¡­wrong.¡± ¡°Feelings don¡¯t matter, Fallon. Just results. You think I wanted to take that asshole¡¯s deal? No. But I want to get back to my family, and with everything that happened, this was the only way. I know it¡¯s the same for you, too.¡± Dat remained there for a few more minutes until he¡¯d gotten a basic idea of what had happened. It seemed that the leader of the Immortals ¨C whoever he was ¨C had been recruiting new underlings. How he¡¯d convinced them to take his deal ¨C which sounded pretty bad, even if Dat didn¡¯t know the details ¨C and now, his army had grown. They were still outnumbered by quite a lot, but that could easily change. After all, there was still more than eight months left in the Trial. A lot could happen in that time. Once Dat had learned all he was going to learn ¨C Hex of Scrying had a significant cooldown ¨C he headed back to the Consortium, where he found Sadie waiting for him. The others had gone to do their own thing. When she asked him what he¡¯d discovered, he said, ¡°I think we need to gather everyone. This is serious.¡± 5-69. More Swamp Life ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Sadie said, her hands clenched into tight fists as she looked back at the town. ¡°I don¡¯t like this at all. We¡¯re supposed to be helping people, not¡­abandoning them.¡± Elijah was inclined to agree. He certainly didn¡¯t support the notion of letting the Immortals ¨C and their enigmatic and unnamed leader ¨C run amok. But despite that, he¡¯d agreed to their current plan of action. Or lack thereof. ¡°You heard Atticus, same as me,¡± he said. ¡°They don¡¯t want our help.¡± That was true. The people who¡¯d thrown their lot in with the Immortals had done so of their own volition. It wasn¡¯t something that had been forced upon them. It had only been offered, and they had taken it. ¡°They don¡¯t know what they¡¯ve done,¡± Sadie said. Ron spoke up, ¡°I should¡¯ve been there. If I had been¡­¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t your fault,¡± Elijah said to the sparkly-robed Healer. However, none of them could escape the reality that, in a lot of ways, that statement simply was not true. Before joining their group, Ron had run the Nexus Town¡¯s only infirmary. He¡¯d saved a lot of lives, especially during the first couple of weeks of the Trial. Because of that, people had grown accustomed to his presence. Many had begun to take risks they otherwise wouldn¡¯t have, secure in the knowledge that they could always return to the Nexus Town and have their wounds mended. And then he suddenly wasn¡¯t there, creating a situation that had resulted in a dozen deaths and quite a few people who¡¯d been crippled. It had also set the stage for the Immortals. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if it had been planned, but with how everything had worked out, it certainly seemed to have been. The Immortals had offered a bunch of desperate people a chance, and many had taken it. Nobody outside of their organization knew precisely what they had to do to fend off death or mend their crippled bodies, but it was undeniably effective. People who¡¯d been on the brink were suddenly healthy and whole, which only improved the efficacy of the offer. Before long, they¡¯d had people lining up ¨C metaphorically ¨C to join their ranks. Would it have happened if Ron had been around? Maybe not. But Elijah suspected that if the Healer hadn¡¯t joined his group and left Nexus Town, there was a good chance that he would have been met with some sort of accident. Whatever the case, the new Immortals seemed content with their choices. Perhaps that wouldn¡¯t always remain the case, but Elijah and his friends couldn¡¯t very well save people who neither wanted nor needed saving. So, as alarming as the Immortals¡¯ recruitment drive had become, there wasn¡¯t much they could do about it. Besides, they¡¯d brought some degree of order to the Nexus Town. Sure, they charged people a handful of ethereum to access the Branch, and they sometimes got a bit rowdy, but none of their offenses were terribly egregious. So, without much reason to intervene, the group had spent a couple of days resting before finally setting out for the fourth challenge. But none of them were happy with that choice, even if they knew it was the best option. ¡°Maybe it wasn¡¯t my fault,¡± Ron said. ¡°But it damn sure feels like it is.¡± ¡°Ron ¨C¡± ¡°Never mind. No sense whining about it,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s get moving. Sooner we get these challenges done, the sooner we can leave this damned place.¡± After that, they set out. Unlike when they¡¯d tackled the other challenges, they actually had a choice of targets. Three new challenges had been discovered ¨C one that seemed to represent Silvara, another the Underrealm, and finally, Ignis ¨C which meant that, for the first time, they had options. The three challenges were all in different directions, and reaching the closest would take at least a couple of weeks of hard travel. In the end, they¡¯d picked Silvara, largely because Elijah hoped that his strong attunement to nature would give him an advantage that might allow them to conquer the challenge more easily than the others. It was a slim hope, but it made the difference between their choices. The next ten days were characterized by nearly constant battle. Most of the time, they fought against the ubiquitous wraiths, but they also had a few clashes with ka¡¯alaki hunters. None of the encounters truly pushed them to their limits, but they each represented different challenges. Most of the hunters seemed to have Ranger archetypes, but there were Healers, Warriors, and Sorcerers among them as well. That made each fight a novel experience that forced Elijah and his group to adapt their tactics to each individual situation. Fortunately, now that they had a proper Healer in Ron, they were an extremely flexible group. With Elijah playing something of a wildcard role, they could adapt to a wide variety of challenges. In turn, that put a lot of pressure on him to be whatever the situation needed him to be. Sometimes, he played the role of a caster, dealing ranged damage via his spells. Other times, he stalked their more vulnerable targets under Guise of the Unseen, bringing them down with his potent venom. Still other times, he used the Shape of the Guardian, helping Sadie shoulder the burden as a pseudo-defender. And finally, there were multiple occasions when he was required to help Ron with the burden of healing. In all, Elijah pushed to utilize every facet of his versatile class, and his efforts were generously rewarded. He gained another level, bringing him to ninety-seven, but he also tested and discarded many of the strategies he¡¯d begun to develop. He kept a few ¨C especially the ones that worked well with his companions ¨C but for the most part, he knew that his strategy would need to constantly evolve. There was no right answer to any particular situation, and even if there was, the threats they faced were constantly evolving to the point that flexibility became the only answer. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. But they all continued to come up with new methods until, at last, they reached their destination. Sadie muttered, ¡°A swamp?¡± ¡°Nobody said nothin¡¯ about no swamps,¡± Kurik growled. Dat just slapped his neck as he was bitten by some sort of flying insect. Immediately, he went pale, but fortunately for him, Ron was there to heal him. ¡°Thanks, bro. Got dizzy there for a second.¡± Just then, a bird ventured out over the swamp, and something threw itself out of the water, latched onto the avian creature, then snatched it below. ¡°Was that a spider?¡± Elijah wondered. ¡°Water bug, maybe?¡± ¡°That bird was a thousand feet up,¡± Elijah said. ¡°At least.¡± ¡°Big water bug?¡± Dat suggested. Whatever the case, it put an end to any thoughts of simply flying over the top of the swamp. If Elijah was honest, he had sort of expected as much. The system wanted them to experience the challenges, not bypass them. ¡°This presents a problem,¡± Sadie said, gazing out at the swamp. ¡°Just the one?¡± asked Elijah with a slight smile. ¡°Be serious.¡± ¡°I am,¡± he said, still grinning. He actually had somewhat fond memories of his time in the last swamp he¡¯d encountered. Certainly, he didn¡¯t enjoy being covered in mud and wading through stagnant, foul-smelling water, but he¡¯d also met Konstantinos and his family there. And Bessy, the tame guardian alligator. However, when he looked out at the landscape stretching before them, he was reminded of all the issues most other people would have to deal with. For one, there were the insects and other pests that congregated in any swamp. If Dat¡¯s reaction was any indication, the ones in this swamp were quite venomous. There were probably leeches in the water, too. Or given that they were on an alien world, something leech-adjacent. Traversal would be a problem, too. Trekking across a swamp would prove treacherous. And when it wasn¡¯t outright dangerous, it would be frustrating. ¡°How do we want to do this?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Should we build a raft or something?¡± ¡°It would need to be a damn big raft,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I could maybe whip somethin¡¯ up, but¡­¡± ¡°It probably won¡¯t stay together long enough for us to reach the challenge,¡± Elijah said. Sadie sighed, then asked, ¡°Any other suggestions?¡± ¡°I have one,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I don¡¯t think any of you are going to like it.¡± ¡°What do you want to do?¡± He massaged the back of his neck, then said, ¡°I want to go in alone.¡± ¡°No. Absolutely not. I knew you were going to suggest something like that,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°She predicted it the other day when we set out for this challenge. She said you¡¯d want to go alone so you could commune with nature or something,¡± Dat said. ¡°Is that why?¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m just better equipped for that swamp life.¡± ¡°Swamp life?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s what I call it. I¡¯ve only done it once, just now, but it¡¯s catchy, right?¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s not catchy, bro.¡± ¡°It¡¯s kind of stupid,¡± Ron agreed. ¡°I don¡¯t get it at all,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°I ain¡¯t got no comment,¡± Kurik muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and pointedly avoiding eye contact. ¡°Wow. Just wow. The betrayal¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s not like that,¡± Sadie said. ¡°We¡¯re just ¨C¡± Elijah grinned again. ¡°I¡¯m just kidding. Seriously, though ¨C it makes sense. I can move through the swamp a lot faster than any of you, and I have an attunement for this challenge¡¯s theme. I bet I can dip in, conquer it, then be gone before you all even have a chance to roast marshmallows.¡± ¡°What are marshmallows?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°Not the point. But I do think this is the best way. Besides, do any of you honestly want to go in there?¡± he asked, gesturing toward the swamp. It didn¡¯t just look inhospitable. It looked downright deadly. And on top of that, Dat¡¯s complexion had once again paled after being bitten by another insect. In the end, it came down to the fact that, so far, Elijah had proven that he could survive all manner of dangerous circumstances. So, the others reluctantly agreed to let him go on his own, albeit with the caveat that he would retreat if he faced any significant opposition. Elijah agreed to those terms, and once they¡¯d backed away to a safe distance, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, used Guise of the Unseen, and slipped into the swamp. Unlike his previous experience with swamps, the trees in the area were quite a bit sparser than he might have expected. Indeed, they were so spaced out that he was unable to employ his original plan, which was to jump from one limb to the next and avoid the water altogether. Instead, he quickly found that the evolved form had another advantage over the Shape of the Predator ¨C it was perfectly capable of swimming. As he cut through the stagnant water, Elijah was well aware of just how many pests, parasites, and predators there were in the area. Not only were there leeches ¨C huge, bulbous things that looked like they could suck someone dry of blood in a matter of minutes ¨C but their enormous mosquito-like insects buzzing around as well. In addition, Elijah saw a host of unfamiliar ¨C but clearly venomous ¨C reptiles, a bunch of rat-like mammals, and even nests of spiders that had woven their webs through the sparse trees. Thankfully, they all ignored Elijah, either because of his archetype or his attunement. Never was he more grateful for that than when a giant serpent ¨C at least a hundred feet long and twenty feet wide ¨C swam past him. A few moments later, Elijah watched in horror as that enormous beast struck a hippo-like creature the size of an African elephant, then killed it via constriction. It happened in the space of moments, proving just how deadly the area was. Seeing that, Elijah was grateful that he¡¯d left the rest of his team behind. There was no way they could have traversed the swamp without being constantly attacked. Perhaps they could have survived, but the terrain was so treacherous that it made for a poor battleground. They¡¯d have had to fight their own inconsistent footing almost as much as the beasts native to the swamp. All of that flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he slowly made his way deeper into the marsh. Along the way, he saw the danger escalate as the native beasts grew larger and deadlier, while the terrain slowly changed to something closer to what Elijah was used to. The trees ¨C which resembled a cross between mangroves and sprawling oaks ¨C became more common until they grew in dense clumps that almost resembled islands. On Elijah went, and eventually, day turned to night, and that night became the next day before, at last, he received confirmation that he was on the right track.
You have reached the Swamp of Ill Omens. To conquer the Challenge of Silvara, collect the three pieces of the Broken Branch of the World Tree. Reward: Shard of Nature¡¯s Might
Elijah narrowed his eyes at the reward. He had no idea what a Shard of Nature¡¯s Might would do, but he definitely wanted it. 5-70. Connected Elijah continuously looped ethera around the facets of his mind. It slowed his regeneration quite significantly, but his instincts told him that he was on the right track concerning the cultivation of his Mind. He wasn¡¯t certain what he was missing, but the moment he found it, he was certain that he would be able to take the next step. Especially in the Swamp of Ill Omens, which featured much higher ethereal density than anywhere else on the planet ¨C that he¡¯d visited, at least. His new cultivation cave would be better ¨C especially after having a few weeks to grow more potent ¨C but he¡¯d yet to experience that inevitable increase. Part of him wanted to return to the edge of the swamp and ferry his companions deeper into the bog so they could bask in the increased power. Perhaps they could take advantage of it and step forward on their respective paths. But he knew just how difficult it would be for anyone without a nature attunement to survive. He had no doubts that they could do it, but the trip that had taken him most of a day would have probably been a journey of weeks for them. Each step they took would have brought with it a serious chance of death ¨C and it was not the sort of danger that was easy to overcome. It was one thing to fight wraiths and hunters, but another thing altogether to battle insect-borne diseases, leeches, and ambush predators. No - the more time he spent in the Swamp of Ill Omens, the more he was certain that he¡¯d made the right choice by insisting on attacking the challenge alone. Plus, if Elijah was being honest with himself, being constantly surrounded by people ¨C even if he liked them ¨C had begun to grate on his nerves. He hadn¡¯t always been like that. Once, he¡¯d enjoyed company as much as the next person. However, spending vast swaths of time alone had left its mark on his personality, and he¡¯d come to value his solitude to a high degree. Elijah didn¡¯t consider himself completely antisocial, but he certainly had his limits for companionship. That, as much as a desire to learn more about the planet and its natives, was probably responsible for his frequent exploratory trips into the ruins dotting the jungle. He could admit that much, at least in his own mind, though he would never have done so aloud. Regardless, Elijah focused on his developing method of Mind cultivation as he traversed the swamp. The Shape of Venom was perfectly at home in the wetlands, and even when he was forced to swim, he did so with ease. His ability to move through the water didn¡¯t rival that of amphibians or aquatic reptiles, but at least the evolved shape was better equipped for the terrain than its predecessor. More than once, Elijah had attempted to use Shape of the Sky to ease the burden of travel, but each time, he¡¯d faced significant obstacles. The jumping spiders were still around, ready to pounce on anything flying through the air, and that threat was only one of many that kept him on the ground. The worst of them were the tiny, flying snakes ¨C they had wings and everything ¨C that spewed lightning at anything that came into their territory. They wouldn¡¯t have been so dangerous if they didn¡¯t have a frustrating ability to completely avoid his senses until he was right on top of them. More than once, he¡¯d retreated to the ground with singed wings. Not for the first time, Elijah considered the notion that the system had put them in place to restrict the mobility of people whose abilities allowed them to fly. Which really annoyed Elijah, considering that he desperately wanted to depend on Shape of the Sky¡¯s abilities more fully. But there was no reason to dwell on those resentful emotions. The system was all-powerful, and railing against it was pointless. Instead, he resolved to simply accept the rules ¨C or restrictions ¨C and work within the confines dictated by the system. That was the only way he¡¯d survive. So, he continued on, traveling ever deeper into the swamp. It covered at least as large of an area as the marshlands south of Argos, which meant that, even with Shape of Venom easing the burden of travel, it was two days before he saw something to point him in the right direction. Until that moment, he¡¯d been progressing deeper into the swamp, following the increasingly dense ethera while hoping that he wouldn¡¯t miss anything important. That led him to a vast hole in the ground. It was at least two-hundred yards wide and, as far as he could tell, perfectly circular. It reminded him of the cenote where they¡¯d found the egg in the first challenge, though when he approached the edge, he saw how wrong that notion was. The edge was worked stone, carved with hundreds of unfamiliar glyphs that somehow kept the murky water at bay. When Elijah looked over the edge, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from letting out a hiss of surprise. And awe. It wasn¡¯t a hole. It was an entrance. A set of stairs spiraled down from the edge, traveling along the outside of the circle until it reached a ledge approximately a hundred yards down. The stonework was far better preserved than any of the ruins Elijah had yet seen, though there were no artful frescoes or other portrayals of the natives. Instead, the carvings depicted snaking vines, expansive trees, and other wild flora. It took Elijah¡¯s breath away, and not just because of the artistry involved. That was certainly a contributing factor, but the true instigator of his quickened pulse was the feeling of belonging he felt when looking at those carvings. It took him a long moment before he realized why it felt so familiar. It was an ancestral circle, not dissimilar from his dolmens. Yet, it was far more powerful than anything he had created. An instant later, something terrible gripped his senses, and he fell to his stomach. A second later, he retched, spewing bile into a puddle. It wasn¡¯t a smell. Nor was it simply a sense of foreboding. It was corruption, and not the sort he¡¯d felt around the Voxx. It was something else. Something much, much worse. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. It was the antithesis of the connection he felt via One with Nature, and it both horrified and disgusted Elijah so much that, for a while, he could think of nothing else. With no small degree of self-control, he shoved those feelings into a quarantined facet of his Mind. They spilled over a second later, infecting another. Then another after that. Elijah warred with that corruption, shoving them back with every ounce of willpower he possessed. By the fourth, he¡¯d managed to thicken the walls of his makeshift quarantine just enough to contain the corruption seeping into his mind. Even then, he knew it wouldn¡¯t last, so he spent the next few minutes piling onto that barrier. At first, he didn¡¯t even realize what he was doing, but after a moment he came to recognize the truth. The looping ethera he¡¯d used to connect the facets during the cultivation process carried with them more than simple energy. They were conduits for his willpower. It was only after that realization that he could predict the purpose of reaching the Jade Mind. Quartz had split it, and in doing so, it had splintered his willpower. It was a necessary step, strengthening him so that he could process all the information to which he had access. Without it, he never could have borne the weight of his domain, the sensory input of One with Nature, and the concentration necessary to cast his spells in battle. Yet, it also made him vulnerable. And now, that weaknesses had left him exposed to the corruption below. He no longer had the luxury of progressing his Mind cultivation at his own pace. If he didn¡¯t get a handle on it soon, he would be corrupted just like the ancestral circle he had yet to even enter. But there was still something missing. Something prevented him from bringing the full weight of his willpower to bear on the problem. He couldn¡¯t take that final step, no matter how tightly he wound those conduits around the facets of his mind. The best he could do was use them to keep the corruption locked away. Mostly. A little continued to leak out, but after a few more minutes ¨C or it might¡¯ve been hours, for all that he could keep track of time in his state ¨C he figured out how to purge those few drops of corruption before they could stain his Mind. Still, they left a slight residue behind that perpetuated the nausea flowing through him. He could function, though, which meant that he could finally take stock of his situation. When the corruption had overcome him, he¡¯d fallen to his stomach, still at the edge of the circle, so he fully expected to have remained there. Yet, when his awareness returned from his impromptu cultivation session, he found that he¡¯d fallen to the ledge below. And he was not alone. A ka¡¯alaki loomed over him, much larger than any Elijah had ever seen. He slithered away, putting his back to the wall. However, he needn¡¯t have reacted so abruptly. The figure remained stationary. It was a statue, though one so lifelike that Elijah had initially mistaken it for the real thing. Supporting that error was a flicker of vitality within the statue. Then, its eyes opened, bathing Elijah in red light. He flinched away. ¡°You are a curious one,¡± came a resonant voice. ¡°A Druid? Yet you are alone? Join our collective, brother. You will be welcomed.¡± ¡°Collective?¡± Elijah asked, casting his senses out. There was something buried in the corruption, though it was so weak that he¡¯d initially missed it. The moment he touched it with his mind, he felt the same pull he¡¯d felt during his first steps on the path of cultivation. It was nature in the most collectivist sense, and there was a part of him that still wanted to surrender, to join his spirit with that of the natural world. He might have done just that if it weren¡¯t for two factors. First, he was ready for it, and he clung to his sense of identity firmly enough that he refused to be dislodged. Second, the corruption was far stronger than the Call, tainting everything so thoroughly that the very notion of giving in brought with it a potent sense of nausea. ¡°Don¡¯t you feel the corruption?¡± Elijah knew the answer to that question before he¡¯d even asked it. That taint enveloped the statue so thoroughly that Elijah could scarcely feel anything else. More, it was visible to the naked eye, taking the form of rust-colored tendrils that enveloped the figure of the ka¡¯alaki. In most places, they¡¯d solidified to the point of resembling reddish stone, but in others, they were still moist and coated in bloody mucus. The entire area was the same, with those tendrils creeping along the walls and sullying everything they touched. ¡°There is no corruption. There is only the Call. We will save them. We will preserve my world. If you will not assist us, then you will be destroyed. Just like all the rest.¡± Then, the thing struck. The mucus-covered tendrils struck out, moving almost too quickly to see. However, Elijah was ready for them, and with the high Dexterity that came with the Shape of Venom, he had no issues dodging the oncoming attack. He twisted around the wet tentacles, unwilling to even let them graze him. They slapped into the wall with a grotesque squelching sound, but by that point, Elijah was already on the statue. His fangs sank into the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s shoulder, injecting his potent venom before he bounded away. A bit of the corruption slid into his mouth, but he had no issue spitting it out. However, it was more than physical, and if he¡¯d failed to get a handle on the taint, it would have added to the corruption of his Mind. As it was, he quarantined it with all the rest, flexing his willpower to such an extent that it felt like he was strangling the facets of his own mind. It gave him a slight headache, but that was far more preferable than letting the taint run rampant. Elijah darted away, the tendrils chasing him until he¡¯d covered more than a dozen feet. That¡¯s when they hit their limit, and they retreated to their previous position, wrapping around the statue like nothing had happened. A few seconds later, the statue-like figure crumbled, and a significant amount of experience flowed into Elijah as the thing died. He barely paid it any mind. Instead, the moment its defeat was assured, the bulk of his attention shifted to his surroundings. Spaced evenly around the ledge which encircled the pit were dozens of statues that looked identical to the one he¡¯d just slain. However, he was more concerned with the red, vine-like tendrils that stretched from one edge to the next, criss-crossing the opening like a spider¡¯s web. As he let Guise of the Unseen envelop him, Elijah remained motionless as he inspected the area. There were three exits, each going in a different direction, and via One with Nature, he could sense hundreds of creatures above, below, and in every direction. Distressingly though, he could not quite make sense of their anatomy. They weren¡¯t entirely hidden from his senses, but they weren¡¯t completely visible, either. What he felt suggested a multitude of legs, but beyond that, he could sense nothing else. Looking up, he saw the same rust-red vines stretched across the opening and obscuring the sky. How he had made it through, he had no idea. Nor did he know how he hadn¡¯t seen it from above. Magic, probably. That was usually the answer to his questions. Whatever the case, this challenge felt far more personal than any of the others. It was like it¡¯d been created just for him. Was it to test him, though? Or was it intended to corrupt ¨C or kill ¨C him? He had a feeling that he¡¯d find out sooner rather than later. 5-71. Cocoons and Corruption Elijah passed into the tunnel, careful to avoid the tendrils of corruption spread across the floor. Fortunately, it was far denser on the walls than the ground, which gave him plenty of room to pass through without touching them ¨C something he wanted to avoid, and not just because he thought that treading on those tendrils would bring unwanted attention. They were also incredibly off-putting, and in a way that turned Elijah¡¯s already-roiling stomach. As soon as he¡¯d made his way inside the hall, darkness enveloped him, completely obscuring the way back. He could still see, but everything was cast in a red hue that sent a shiver up his spine. When he glanced at the entrance to the tunnel, he only saw an opaque wall of black nothingness. Shaking his head, he continued on. With each step, the corruption he¡¯d quarantined in his Mind grew more insistent. More, he could feel it all around him, almost as if it as a swarm of maggots trying to burrow into his skin. It wasn¡¯t pain ¨C not exactly ¨C but rather, something akin to an itch that no amount of scratching could ever hope to relieve. With that feeling of something crawling all over him, Elijah pushed on, shoving his discomfort into its own facet of his mind along the way. That strategy was effective enough, but he couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that he was running out of facets. What would happen when he had nowhere else to put the corruption? He shuddered when he considered where something like that might lead. To distract himself from those thoughts, he studied his surroundings. The moist, red tendrils covering the walls and ceiling were so dense that he couldn¡¯t even see the stonework underneath. However, he could feel it via One with Nature, and what¡¯s more, he could sense the power flowing through those carvings of various flora. It made his own dolmens feel positively inert by comparison. How much power did the Druid who¡¯d created it possess? More than Elijah could comprehend, he was certain. So, how did it become so corrupted? It wasn¡¯t just a corrupted connection he felt, the Call of nature that had somehow been twisted into something terrible. The taint he usually associated with the Voxx was there, as well. It was a triumvirate of wrongness ¨C the tainted Call, the corruption of the Voxx, and a distinct disconnection from the World Tree ¨C that had all blended together into something wholly different and incredibly troublesome. Elijah wanted nothing to do with any of it. And yet, he couldn¡¯t escape it, either. With every step, it seeped into him, and all he could do was quarantine it so it couldn¡¯t affect him. Gradually, he pushed through, following the hall as it twisted and turned, descending ever deeper into the ground. At one point, it doubled back, passing through the main area ¨C albeit much lower than he had been before ¨C before disappearing into the other side. That¡¯s when he started to see the cocoons. Or polyps, he amended. Each bulbous growth was at least five feet tall and about half as wide, though they weren¡¯t uniform in size. They were composed of more snaking vines, between which was a translucent membrane that only hinted at what was inside. But Elijah didn¡¯t need to look to know what they contained. Desiccated ka¡¯alaki and ta¡¯alaki, even thinner than the wraiths on the surface, floated inside each cocoon. Peering closer, Elijah saw two things that made him take a step back. First, there were hundreds of small tentacles growing out of their skin. That was disturbing enough, but it was the second detail that truly horrified him. They were alive. Barely, almost as if they were in deep hibernation, but they were definitely not dead. How long had they remained in those cocoons? Years, surely. Decades? Centuries? It could have been millennia for all he knew. But Elijah couldn¡¯t do anything for them, so he continued on, passing thousands of them as he covered one mile after another. With every progressive step, the nausea churning inside him intensified, though it was solely due to the corruption he¡¯d tried to quarantine in his mind. Instead, it was a natural consequence of his disgust. The tunnels continued to twist and turn, and after a while, Elijah began to wonder if he¡¯d been mistaken when he¡¯d initially felt the monsters. One with Nature had been practically smothered by the corruption, so he could only feel around twenty feet all around him. It was enough to make him wish the ability was even less efficacious. Slowly, the malignant mass in his Mind spilled over into another facet, and Elijah knew he needed to do something about it before it completely overwhelmed him. So, even as he continued his trek, he harnessed his willpower to manipulate the thick ropes of ethera woven between the facets of his mind, squeezing the ones containing the corruption. The magnitude of his headache increased a hundredfold, but he pushed through it. Pain, he could endure. It was a skill he¡¯d developed as a boxer, honed while fighting cancer, and embraced to its fullest extent during his experiences following the touch of the World Tree. Elijah might¡¯ve been found lacking in a wide variety of areas, but regarding the endurance of pain, he felt he was an unsurpassed talent. So, even as his head felt like it was on the verge of exploding, he continued to squeeze. Then, a single drop of corruption seeped out of the skin on his forehead. It was horrible, like the most foul-smelling drop of sweat to have ever existed, but Elijah was only subjected to its filth for a moment before it evaporated into the air. With that, he felt slightly better. Yet, it was only the beginning. The drop had seemed small, but purging that small amount had removed a sizable amount of the corruption in his mind. So, he did it again. This time was no easier than the last, but Elijah tackled the task with characteristic tenacity. The same was true of the next after that. Seven more times, he purged himself of the filth. As he did so, his mind absorbed a little more ¨C like trying to wring out a towel in the rain ¨C but his persistence pushed the danger down the line. The absorption rate would eventually outpace his ability to purge it, but for now, he only needed to hold on long enough to complete his task. That meant he was on a timer. So, without further hesitation, he resumed his journey through the tunnels, stopping every mile or so to purge another drop. The intensity of headache increased with every effort until he couldn¡¯t contain the tears flowing down his cheeks. In those moments, there was only pain, the purge, and his persistence. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Nothing else mattered. So, even though it took him by surprise when he found that he¡¯d reached his destination, it likely should not have. He staggered into the chamber, and very nearly tumbled over the edge of a large sinkhole. Barely stopping himself before he plunged into the abyss, he stepped back and gaped at the sight before him. The hole itself was jagged, like some giant had reached down with its sharp claws and dragged an entire fistful of earth away. The same rust-red tendrils blanketed the area, and in the center of that ragged hole was a pillar, upon which rested a single shard of glittering crystal. But Elijah only spared a second to study what was obviously the Piece of the Broken Branch of the World Tree, because it was exceedingly obvious that he was not alone. Indeed, he¡¯d finally found the many-legged creatures he¡¯d sensed far above. From a distance, he might have thought they were arachnid in nature. Regrettably, Elijah was close enough to see how wrong that assessment was. They were wraiths, though unlike any he¡¯d ever seen before. They had all the same pieces ¨C four arms, spindly frames, and hollow eyes ¨C but they also had a few extras. Sharp, segmented limbs of black chitin sprouted from their backs. From their legs. From their heads. From every patch of exposed skin. The rest of their bodies ¨C save for their mouths ¨C hung limp, as if they were already dead and had been hijacked by some parasitic organism. That would have been Elijah¡¯s guess for what was going on if it weren¡¯t for the screams. Hundreds of them, all piercing Elijah¡¯s ears at the same time, pushed him over the edge. Suddenly, it felt as if his brain had been shattered into a thousand pieces, and he lost his grip on the corruption. The willpower he¡¯d woven in and out of each facet of his mind dissipated into nothing, and suddenly, he felt the tidal wave of filth crashing into his Mind and infusing his Soul. He pushed back. Desperately, he tried to wrangle it back into submission, and after only a few moments, he managed to curtail its spread. However, he couldn¡¯t do more than that because the spider-wraiths had followed their chorus of screeching screams with a charge across the web of rust-red tendrils. For a moment, all Elijah could hear was the squelch of their chitinous legs impacting the webs, but that quickly turned to a clacking sound as they left the pit behind and raced across solid ground, clearly intent on devouring him. Elijah acted on instinct, turning to run. It only took a moment to see that a curtain of wet tendrils had sprung up behind him, though. The way out was blocked. The only way out the situation was through the spider-wraiths. He turned back to the rushing monsters, seeing their limp bodies carried along by the sharp legs. Each one had hundreds of black appendages, and they rolled more than crawled. Elijah didn¡¯t have time to consider just how creepy it was. Instead, he needed to act. He used Flicker Step.
Flicker Step Slip into the shadows, emerging behind your opponent. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of Venom. Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 54.1 Seconds.
Disappearing into the shadows, he felt himself cross the distance between him and one of the monsters. When he emerged, he bit into the nearest creature and used Envenom. It screamed as the powerful affliction took hold, and less than an instant later, its body started to dissolve. Even as clumps of liquified flesh fell from the dying creature, Elijah pounced on another. He sank his fangs into its limp shoulder, only breaking the skin enough to inject his venom before bounding away. He leaped from one monster to the next, repeating the process dozens of times in the space of a minute. But his body felt amazing. He felt stronger than ever, like he¡¯d shed ten pounds and replaced it all with pure muscle. He ripped through the spiders, though not without taking a few wounds here and there. The creatures attacked via conventional methods, stabbing him with their sharp legs. However, they also fought like wraiths, trying to wrap their limbs around him so they could leech his ethera. By that point, though, Elijah knew how to fight wraiths. He¡¯d been doing it for months. Still, the sheer number of monsters was a problem, and one it took every ounce of Elijah¡¯s considerable experience to overcome. Complicating matters was the necessity of keeping the raging tide of corruption at bay. If he could have stopped, even for a moment, he might have wrangled it back into submission. But the wraith-monsters kept the pressure up, forcing him to spend most of his attention combatting the threat they represented. Elijah never stopped moving. When he couldn¡¯t bite the creatures, he used Venom Strike and let Insidious Malady do its job. Meanwhile, he was forced to shift into his caster form from time to time, healing himself and casting Swarm and Storm¡¯s Fury from afar. And like that, Elijah managed to endure until, at last, there were no more monsters left to fight. He settled down, his breath coming in hissing pants as his tongue flicked back and forth. There were no more monsters. He¡¯d killed them all. But he¡¯d paid the price. The corruption had broken through, and once again, he found himself in the same situation that had nearly overwhelmed him in the very beginning. He fought against it, pushing back as hard as he could. But it was no use. He couldn¡¯t get it all. So, Elijah made a choice. A little wasn¡¯t going to immediately kill him. Holding as much of it in place as he could, Elijah focused on rebuilding the ropes of willpower that he¡¯d woven through his mind. As he did so, bits of corruption raged throughout his body, and because he couldn¡¯t spare even an ounce of attention for it, it tore through him unchecked. He could feel its taint. The contamination poisoning him down to his core. It was manageable, though. He just needed to finish his task, and quickly enough that he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed. Slowly, he rebuilt the framework of his Mind, and the second he felt it solidify, he hunted the corruption within him. For that, the instincts that came with the Shape of the Predator ¨C and its newly evolved form ¨C were invaluable. It wasn¡¯t like stalking a rabbit or some other prey animal, but there were enough parallels that he could feel the impact of the instinctual hunter. One mote of corruption after another was corralled until, finally, Elijah managed to shove them all back where they belonged. Then, feeling like he was going to burst, he gradually twisted that malignant mass until the taint seeped from his very pores. One drop at a time, he purged his body. That was when he realized just how potent the ethera in the area was. It exceeded even his cultivation cave back home, and he could feel that it would only grow thicker when he finally reached his goal at the center of the cavern. He didn¡¯t know what that meant, save that the shard that was his goal was incredibly powerful. Once he¡¯d purged what corruption he could, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Sky, then flew across the expanse and to the pillar at the center of the web. At first, he wondered why he didn¡¯t try that in the beginning, but then he flew through a nearly invisible web of tendrils and felt the corruption seep into him. There was no way he could have dealt with that while the monsters were around. No - he¡¯d made the right choice, at least in so much as there was one. He landed gently, then shifted into his human form. On the pillar, the density of the ethera was so potent that he felt like he was swimming. It was also clean. Elijah stood there for a long moment, basking in it until he realized that his very presence had a corrupting effect. In only seconds, the purity of the ethera had become tainted ¨C if only a little. So, knowing his respite couldn¡¯t last forever, Elijah saw no reason to prolong things. Instead, he reached out and grabbed the shard. It was like wrapping his fingers around molten steel, and he could feel his soul sizzling beneath the powerful current of ethera. His actual body was fine, but the shard was so strong that it could eventually burn the channels he¡¯d so arduously carved to ash. He quickly shoved the thing into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, and the burning ceased. ¡°Well,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°That¡¯s one piece gathered. Here¡¯s to two more.¡± 5-72. Whispers You are weak. The whispered words hung in the air, and for a long moment, Elijah didn¡¯t respond. Then, his mind wrapped itself around the fact that he was not alone. Still standing on the pillar at the center of those slimey webs, he whipped around in a circle, searching for the speaker. ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± he called, his voice echoing in the cavernous chamber. No one answered. A shiver went up his spine, and his heartbeat quickened. But Elijah wouldn¡¯t let his fear control him, so he shoved his mounting terror aside to focus on what mattered. He¡¯d found one Piece of the Broken Branch of the World Tree, and now, he needed to collect three more. He took a deep breath, and he nearly choked on the smell of so much corruption in the air. It wasn¡¯t the odor of decay, though that was buried in there. There was the iron-rich aroma of blood, too. The musky smell of unwashed flesh as well ¨C the moist tendrils comprising the webs and covering the tunnels beyond the chamber, no doubt. But there was something worse woven through it all. Something alien. Something that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up straight. And that same odor, only in more ephemeral form, clung to his Mind. Even though it had been isolated, kept there by thick ropes of ethereal willpower he¡¯d woven between the nine facets of his Mind, it had left a disgusting residue behind. He tried once again to purge it, but that film remained behind, mingling with something else more native to his body. You revel in your weakness as if it is a strength, as if it gives your struggle meaning. It does not. Power is all that matters. Morality is a fiction. A lie to convince the strong that weakness is a virtue. You are not one of them. You know you are better. Superior. You deserve to embrace it. Anything less is a betrayal of your own potential. This time, the whispered voice was stronger and more insistent, yet when Elijah once again searched the area, he found no speaker. He was alone. ¡°Who are you?¡± he asked, his voice trembling. It was one thing to fight against terrible monsters, but it was something else altogether to hear disembodied voices. He couldn¡¯t do battle against something he could not sense. Elijah clenched his fists, resolving to ignore the whispers. Even after he spent a few minutes searching the surrounding area ¨C and his own Mind ¨C for any sign of a threat, he found nothing. He was entirely alone, which made the voice all that more disturbing. However, there was nothing he could do except to push on. He still had a task to complete, after all. So, after reaffirming the cage of willpower he¡¯d built around his mind, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and flew across the chasm. The many-legged abominations that had guarded the pillar were all dead and rapidly rotting, so for a while, he was beset by some measure of peace. Yet, the whispers continued, and with every step, they grew more frequent. You could not save your sister because you were weak. You slaughtered an entire city because of your guilt. You killed hundreds. Thousands. All because you were too impotent to find another way. As the voice enumerated Elijah¡¯s misdeeds, scenes and images from his past flashed into his mind. The panther, dying because he didn¡¯t have the power to heal it. The mercenaries that had invaded his island, dead because he couldn¡¯t see any other way to repel their intrusion. If he¡¯d had more power, perhaps he could have simply captured them. Then came the bear. The people of Easton. All those who¡¯d died when that guild leader ¨C Elijah couldn¡¯t even remember the man¡¯s name ¨C had sacrificed his people so he could stand toe-to-toe with Elijah. If he¡¯d been a bit stronger, perhaps none of that would have been necessary. Over and over, Elijah¡¯s shortcomings were made abundantly clear until, after a couple of miles of tunnels, he shouted, ¡°What do you want?!¡± There was no answer. Because the voice wasn¡¯t real. It was all in his head. Elijah knew that, and yet, that did nothing to dilute the message. Perhaps it made it that much more potent. After all, if the thoughts were his, then he could trust that they were telling the truth. He shook his head, pushing forward in the Shape of Venom. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he passed the curious eggs with no small degree of caution, though he could tell that, for all that they maintained the barest spark of life, they were inert. Once, they might have posed some sort of danger, but upon closer inspection, Elijah suspected that they were just what they appeared to be ¨C eggs that had never had the opportunity to hatch. Was the whole place a hatchery? With their semi-reptilian nature, it wasn¡¯t out of the question that the ka¡¯alaki ¨C or the ta¡¯alaki ¨C laid eggs, so it was definitely possible. Perhaps he would never know, though what he did recognize was that they¡¯d been long since coopted by the corruption. Even if they did hatch, they would be just as monstrous as the wraith-creatures he¡¯d recently defeated. Contemplation of that possibility drowned out the whispers for some time, but eventually, the distraction faded, and once again, Elijah was confronted with his many failures. It would have become monotonous if it wasn¡¯t for just how deeply those whispers cut into his mind. And then, just as he reached the main chamber and went down the second tunnel, the voice changed. You can become powerful enough to save those you love. A Broken Branch of the World Tree is a peerless treasure. The whispers faded, but understanding blossomed in Elijah¡¯s mind. The piece of crystal in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel was the key. He only had to consume it, and he would be rewarded with more power than he could comprehend. Elijah had no idea what form that strength might take ¨C attributes or cultivation, maybe even a spell or something he¡¯d never considered ¨C but he knew in his heart that consuming that treasure would push him to an entirely different tier. Before Elijah knew what he was doing, he reached into his satchel and retrieved the crystalline shard. He could feel the power wafting off of it, threatening to consume him. Or to elevate him. Even holding it was intoxicating. His ethera shifted, then flowed faster than it ever had, cycling through his core and sending power coursing through his limbs. When he looked at his status, he saw that his attributes had jumped by almost twenty points. The boost was temporary ¨C he knew that ¨C but that little taste prompted him to wonder if it could become permanent. He hadn¡¯t felt such an influx of power since he¡¯d attained the Dragon Core. Power the likes of which you have never seen, at your fingertips and waiting to be consumed. You can save them. You can be the patron Earth deserves. The hero it needs. You can have everything you have ever wanted. You only need to take it. Elijah blinked. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Power. Heroism. Those weren¡¯t the things he wanted. Certainly, he wanted to protect his planet, to save people if he could. He wasn¡¯t a monster. But all the rest? That just felt¡­wrong. That was when he sensed the bits and pieces of corruption clinging to the framework of his Soul. It was barely noticeable, like a film of dust sticking to a mirror, and yet, it had begun to seep into him in a way he couldn¡¯t have anticipated. He¡¯d thought it was contained, that he had it under control. But he hadn¡¯t. Never was that clearer than when he looked at his arm and saw deep bruising traveling from his fingertips and up his arm, following the branching pattern of his Soul. Were those bruises real? Or were they simply manifestations of the struggle inside? Elijah had no answers to that question, but as he made his way through the tunnels, encountering much of the same, he latched onto two things. First, he had no intention of giving in to the whispers. Not only was he suspicious of any form of easy power ¨C decades of stories about how that tended to work out poorly certainly influenced him ¨C but the whispers¡¯ insistence on consumption felt wrong on the most basic of levels. And given his corrupted surroundings, it didn¡¯t take a leap of logic to make the connection between those whispers and the denizens of the Abyss. Once, Nerthus had warned him of the Devourers, a label for people who took and took from the environment, consuming everything that could offer them even a modicum of power. At the time, Elijah had likened them to greedy corporations who¡¯d stripped Earth of her natural resources. However, now that he¡¯d felt the corruption seeping into him, he knew it went far deeper than that. There was a hunger associated with that corruption, a need that he knew could never be met. Even if he achieved god-like power, it would still drive him to seek more. To consume until there was nothing left of the multi-verse. It was the influence of the Ravener. He could feel it ¨C or her, if the stories he¡¯d heard were to be believed ¨C looming over the corruption, lacing it with her will. Elijah steeled himself against her corruptive influence, forcing himself to move on. For the next mile, nothing changed. The eggs continued to populate the tunnels, but they remained entirely inert. Along the way, the corruption within him ebbed and flowed according to his efforts. If he leveraged the entirety of his Mind toward combating it, he could purge or contain it. However, anything less than the full weight of his willpower was insufficient to keep it at bay. As a result, he was forced into a stop-and-start cadence characterized by long pauses meant to corral the taint threatening to overwhelm him. And all the while, the whispers ¨C ever more insistent ¨C continued, berating him for his weakness while offering him the solution to all of his problems. Elijah did his best to ignore it. He even tried arguing with that insidious voice, but to no avail. He could only endure it. On and on he went, with every second feeling like an eternity until, at last, something changed. A beast whose species he recognized hung from the ceiling. Soft, green fur. Long, sloth-like arms tipped with wicked claws meant for climbing trees. Sharp tusks jutting from its flat face. It was the same type of creature he¡¯d recently saved from a hunter¡¯s arrow. Yet, it had clearly been corrupted, as evidenced by the waving black tentacles jutting from its back and the dead eyes sunk deep into its skull. Unlike the corrupted wraiths, it wasn¡¯t limp-limbed, though. Instead, it was in full control of its body. More, power wafted off the thing, misting into black-laced ethera that surrounded it in a cloud of corruption. Elijah stopped, looking up at the thing hanging from the ceiling, and his heart bled for the poor creature. How long had it been corrupted? Was it still in there, somewhere, screaming for release? Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t cure it. He¡¯d tried that with Artemis what felt like a lifetime ago. But his healing spells were entirely ineffective against the corruption that had woven into the cat, and he knew the same would be true if he tried to fix the sloth-like creature hanging above him. If he¡¯d had a Rejuvenation Potion, as he had before, perhaps things would be different. But he didn¡¯t, so he knew he only had two choices available to him. Either he could put the beast out of its misery, or he could simply sneak past it. In his state, still fighting against the corruption attempting to rampage through his body, Elijah chose the latter. He crept forward, careful not to even graze the red tendrils scattered across the floor. His progress was slow, and more than once, he was forced to take advantage of his superhuman coordination to leap from one open spot to the next. All the while, the corrupted beast loomed over him, the waving tentacles sprouting from its back giving the impression that they were searching, that they were always on the lookout for anything to consume. A shiver ran up Elijah¡¯s spine as he deftly maneuvered across the tunnel. And then, just when he thought he was going to make it through undetected, the entire situation changed. Suddenly, the tendrils on the floor and walls came alive, moving with palpable hunger. The sound of wet squelching filled the air as Elijah¡¯s blood went cold. Mid-leap, he couldn¡¯t avoid the writhing tentacles. He alighted to the floor, his foot barely scraping against a mass of tentacles. But he knew it would be enough to spell his doom. Abandoning any attempts at remaining undetected, he dashed away, and it was just in time to avoid the descending claw of the corrupted sloth-monster. It roared, the sound warbling with throat-bound mucus as it dropped to the floor and launched itself at Elijah. He knew he couldn¡¯t stand up to the creature. He¡¯d felt the power of the one he¡¯d healed, and while he could have beaten it, the one chasing him was at least twice as large, with power that far exceeded the level its size suggested. Whether it was some ethereal instinct or just common sense, Elijah knew that if he fought that creature, he would die. So, he ran, shifting into the Shape of the Sky and flapping his powerful wings in an effort to escape. He sped down the tunnel, banking at every turn. Behind him, the massive monster pursued, slamming into walls anytime it tried to turn. Still, the fact that it kept up despite those delays was enough to reaffirm Elijah¡¯s decision to flee. As he did, all of the progress he¡¯d made with the corruption was torn asunder, and it rampaged through his mind and body unchecked. Elijah tried to corral it, but with most of his mind focused on staying ahead of the monster, he slowly lost ground. But he couldn¡¯t let that distract him. Even a second¡¯s hesitation would see him caught by the monster, and while he didn¡¯t intend give in ¨C to the beast or the corruption flowing through him ¨C he knew how that would end. On he went, flying more precisely than he¡¯d ever managed before. Along the way, he sped past dozens of other monsters. Some were more sloth-beasts like the one still in hot pursuit, but Elijah recognized many other creatures from his travels through the jungles. They¡¯d all been corrupted, sprouting waving tentacles, the sight of which turned Elijah¡¯s stomach. But none of them were fast enough to catch him. Then, suddenly, after miles and miles, the tunnel opened into yet another chamber. This one was even larger than the last, and it sported dozens of pillars, the tops of which were at the same level as the floor. They were evenly spaced, with various runes etched onto the top surfaces. Elijah ignored them, because he was far more concerned with what lay at the bottom of the chamber. Hundreds of yards below, a mass of corruption far more powerful than anything he¡¯d ever felt, writhed. It was composed of those same rust-red tentacles, but Elijah also saw gaping eyes looking up at him with undisguised hatred. The sheer weight of that gaze interrupted the rhythm of Elijah¡¯s wings, and he nearly crashed into one of the pillars. He righted himself just in time to avoid that fate, though he did clip the top of the column, sending him skidding across it. That delay allowed the sloth-monster to catch up to him. The creature sailed through the air, its unnatural tentacles waving hungrily as its claws stretched toward Elijah. He couldn¡¯t escape. So he resolved to take another route. Initiating the shift into the lamellar ape, Elijah threw himself at the beast. The second the transformation completed, he used a skill he¡¯d often neglected:
Bestial Charge Charge an opponent. Shielded from harm while charging. Maximum distance based on Strength. Current: 152 feet. Shield efficacy based on Constitution. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of the Guardian.
He hit the beast like a runaway train. It railed against him, ineffectually scraping against the ethereal shield. Mid-air, Elijah threw the entirety of his considerable Strength behind a simple punch. It hit the monster¡¯s shoulder like a hammer, and because its wicked claws could find no purchase on the shield of Bestial Charge, it was knocked away. It hit one of the pillars, shaking it to its very foundations. Stunned, the sloth-beast fell, and it only took a moment before the tentacles down below ¨C ever hungry ¨C latched onto it. The beast was consumed a second later. Elijah hit the wall, but unlike the monster, he was ready for it. He dug his own claws into the surface, then launched himself away. As he did so, the rest of the beasts he¡¯d passed along the way reached the chamber. They let out a collective roar, and Elijah landed on one of the pillars, skidding to a stop only a few inches from the edge. It was just in time to allow himself to brace for the oncoming charge. 5-73. Two out of Three Elijah thrust his claws through the chest of an oncoming beast, and before it could latch its unnatural tentacles onto his arm, he shook it free. The creature fell, its screeches reaching a crescendo before the sound was cut short by the monster below. Elijah didn¡¯t look down to see the results of his actions. He had neither the time nor the desire to witness that particularly grotesque scene. Instead, he bent his knees and threw himself at another tainted beast, tearing through it with all the savagery he could conjure. Anything less than that, and he would be overwhelmed ¨C either by the corruption flowing through him or by the monsters that had followed him into the chamber. He hit one pillar, then bounded to the next. Fortunately, he had just enough Dexterity to maintain his balance as he tore into the wave of monsters. He couldn¡¯t duck or dodge. There were too many for fancy maneuvers. Instead, Elijah fought like the savage beast he resembled, his claws and teeth ripping through the monsters with animalistic ferocity. There were none in the group that were nearly as powerful as the sloth-beast, so he managed to hold his own. Still, even as he fought, letting his instincts take over, he was well aware of the creeping advance of the corruption. It flowed from his Mind, infecting his Body and Soul, and eventually, it would reach his Core. Common sense told him not to let that happen. So, he pushed back, trying to contain the spread as much as possible. What he couldn¡¯t corral, he purged, and like that, he regained some semblance of an equilibrium. However, seeing the monsters arrayed against him gave him plenty of hints as to his future if he didn¡¯t figure out how to banish the corruption entirely. As he fought, the monsters took a back seat to the real fight raging inside him, and eventually, both battles reached their conclusion. The last monster fell to the writhing tentacles below, marking a decided victory. The fight against the corruption was a draw, though, and Elijah had all he could handle simply holding it in place. However, that did allow him to take stock of his situation. He¡¯d only made it to the second line of pillars, but there were forty more rows, each one spaced almost thirty feet apart, between him and the other side, where yet another shard lay. He settled down on his haunches, narrowing his eyes. The pillars he¡¯d so far touched were bare on the top, but all the others were decorated with various symbols. It didn¡¯t take a genius to recognize that it was a puzzle of some sort, though he wasn¡¯t certain what shape it might take. Shaking his head, Elijah chose not to play the game at all. Instead, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and took to the air, soaring over the first three rows of pillars. Then, something stuck him, lashing through his wing and sheering down to the bone. The force sent him cartwheeling into one of the pillars, and when he crashed atop it, the thing immediately started crumbling. Awkwardly scrambling to his feet, Elijah leaped to the next. Even with one of his wings injured, he managed to glide a bit, but a moment later, another invisible force ¨C heralded by a surge of ethera ¨C slashed into his other wing. He hit a different pillar, but this one didn¡¯t crumble. Instead, a gout of fire burst forth from the center, bathing Elijah and the rest of the area in intense flames. Elijah leaped again, his body blistering as he initiated a transformation into his human form. He landed feet-first on another pillar, already casting Soothe. With only a couple of facets of his Mind available, and in tremendous pain, he struggled to make sense of everything. However, when the pillar exploded into shards of ice, he was ready for it. It wasn¡¯t until two pillars later ¨C one of which had crumbled while the other had buffeted him with powerful winds ¨C that he saw the pattern for what it was. There were five symbols. One denoted fire, another heralded wind, and the third stood for ice. The fourth meant that when he stepped upon the pillar, it would fall apart. But the fifth ¨C Elijah hoped that it would be a safe haven. The only problem was that there were comparatively fewer of those, and they were well spaced across the column-strewn chamber. Still, as he leaped from the latest fire-breathing pillar, Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have any option but to commit totally to his plan. In his human form, he soared through the air, twisting when he felt the pulse of ethera that announced one of the attacks that had ripped through his wings. He narrowly avoided it, but the maneuver meant that he was going to come up short of his destination. Stretching his injured arm out as far as he could, he realized that one wasn¡¯t going to be enough. So, Elijah let go of his staff and grabbed hold of the edge of the pillar with both hands. As he hung by his fingertips, the weapon clattered against the column, then disappeared into the mass of tentacles below. ¡°Shit,¡± he growled. The Staff of the First Dragon had been an incredibly powerful piece of equipment. And now it was gone. But it was better that than falling to that beast. One-armed, Elijah pulled himself up, half expecting the pillar to crumble beneath him. Yet, it held firm, giving him a few moments to get his bearings. He used his healing spells to patch up his injuries, but it was only enough to get him functional. It would take far longer to completely heal, and with the corruption steadily straining against his control, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to take that long. In the back of his mind, Elijah wondered if he¡¯d made a huge mistake by coming alone. It had made sense when he¡¯d made the decision, but the latest challenge had already pushed him to his limits. And he wasn¡¯t even two-thirds of the way through. However, he knew that the others would¡¯ve had no defense against the corruption. Perhaps no one in the entire Trial could stand up to it like Elijah could. After all, while there were a few who could rival ¨C or even surpass ¨C his attributes, he felt certain that no one had reached the same level of cultivation he had. And there weren¡¯t many who could boast the core of an elder race. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. No - if his companions had come with him, they would have died. Or worse, been corrupted. Was it instinct that had prompted that decision? Had he known, deep down on some intuitive level, not to bring them? Maybe. Or perhaps it was hubris once again rearing its ugly head. As much as he wanted to work on that, there was a fine line between being confident enough to do the things he did and letting that confidence push him too far. It was a balancing act that he knew was still a work in progress. Despite his frequent mistakes in that arena. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t begin second-guessing his actions when he was on a timer. He couldn¡¯t keep the corruption at bay indefinitely, so the moment he was well enough to continue, he turned his attention to the other pillars. It didn¡¯t take him long to pick out the glyphs denoting the safe columns, so after taking a couple of deep breaths, he shifted into the lamellar ape form, then threw himself at the closest one. His destination was clear ¨C on the other side was another of the pieces of the Broken Branch of the World Tree ¨C so he only needed to reach it. As he leaped from one pillar to the next, Elijah fully expected something else to go wrong. Perhaps the tentacle monster down below would suddenly climb out of its pit and kill him. Or some other trap would activate. But he reached the other side without encountering any other problems. So, he was incredibly cautious as he approached the dais containing the shattered piece of the Broken Branch. He even activated Iron Scales, just in case something attacked. Nothing did, and he collected the piece without issue. However, the moment he touched it, the whispers went wild, becoming screams in his mind. You let them die! Selfish! Powerless! Weak! Arrogant! The screams cut right through him, causing physical pain that stabbed into his mind. On and on it went, shouting insults that hit far too close to home. Elijah gritted his teeth and focused inward, seeing that the corruption had begun to boil over. He clamped down on it with his not inconsiderable willpower, and the voices dimmed. A little. But he could tell that he wouldn¡¯t be completely rid of them until he completed the challenge. Or that was what he hoped. He returned the way he¡¯d come, leaping from one safe pillar to the next. But when he reached the other side, he very nearly missed the ledge when he saw something he never could have expected. A crowd of people, all ripped and torn, faced him. There were humans, all dressed just as they¡¯d been when he¡¯d killed them back in Easton. Gnomes and dwarves, all glaring at him accusingly. Some individuals, he recognized. Like the red-mohawked gnome. Or the woman who¡¯d been Roman¡¯s second-in-command. A hundred others stood out to him, too, though he couldn¡¯t even remember the details of when he¡¯d killed them. That brought him up short. He¡¯d killed so many people that he couldn¡¯t even recall who they all were. ¡°You killed us,¡± they intoned in a monotonous voice. ¡°You could have saved us. You could have been a hero. You could have¡­¡± Elijah shook his head and, with no small degree of effort, ignored them. They weren¡¯t real. It was all in his mind, as he confirmed when he reached out one hand and saw that his hand passed through them with no resistance. The chorus continued, but Elijah refused to do as they continuously implored him. He would not consume the shards of crystal he had collected. Not for all the power in the world. ¡°Fool!¡± they shouted. He ignored them, pushing on. As he traversed the tunnels, retracing his steps to the main chamber, the shouts reached a crescendo. Each yelled insult and every accusation cut deep into his Mind, shaking the very foundations of who he was. Everything began to unravel. The twisted rope of willpower he¡¯d woven between the facets loosened its grip, and the corruption seeped out. He screamed, falling to the ground and clutching his head. ¡°Stop! Stop!¡± But it wouldn¡¯t. It felt like someone was driving ice picks into his skull while beating him over the head with a sledgehammer of guilt. And then, suddenly, it stopped. Tears streaming down his cheeks, Elijah looked up, and all the figures were gone. Instead, only one remained. ¡°Alyssa¡­¡± His sister looked exactly as he remembered her, wearing blue jeans and an old Nirvana tee-shirt. She was young, too. Early twenties at the latest. Which didn¡¯t make sense. Not until he remembered that he was looking at a memory. A flicker of thought made manifest. ¡°They¡¯re not wrong, you know,¡± she said, kneeling beside him. She gave him a tight smile ¨C the same one he¡¯d grown so used to growing up ¨C and continued, ¡°Those little crystals in your bag could give you a great deal of power. With those, you¡¯d reach the peak of the Mortal Realm in no time at all. Noone on Earth could stand against you.¡± ¡°But?¡± he croaked, his voice nearly gone from all the screaming. ¡°No buts. That¡¯s just the truth, Elijah. You know it. So, the question is ¨C why do you continue to resist?¡± she asked. ¡°Why do you insist on taking the hard road when the other path is so much more convenient?¡± ¡°It¡¯s¡­wrong¡­¡± ¡°Is it? Taking help when it¡¯s offered is wrong? Why?¡± Elijah wanted to answer, but the reality of it was that he had no idea why he felt the way he did. Those pieces of crystal in his satchel were powerful, it was absolutely true. However, they represented something that felt entirely antithetical to who he was. On their own, perhaps they wouldn¡¯t send him down the wrong path, but they would represent the first steps towards¡­something bad. ¡°That is a childish way of looking at it,¡± she said. ¡°You can¡¯t save me. I¡¯m gone. But with enough power, you can help everyone else. Like Miggy. Or Carmen. That pretty knight who¡¯s been following you around. You could save the world, if you had enough power.¡± Elijah¡¯s hand crept toward the satchel. But then he stopped. He couldn¡¯t say why he pulled away. Nor could he articulate what he found so objectionable about the notion of consuming the power in those shards. All he knew was that every instinct he had screamed at him to resist, that if he stepped one foot down that path, he would regret it. ¡°Idiot,¡± Alyssa said. ¡°All that opportunity, and you are too afraid to take the leap.¡± Then, she flickered and disappeared. A moment later, the accusatory memories returned to echo those sentiments. Only then did Elijah recognize that he¡¯d made it back to the main chamber. So, with corruption flooding his Mind and memories screaming insults in his ears, Elijah picked himself up and trudged down the third and final hallway. 5-74. Coming Together Elijah stumbled along, his fingers trailing across the wall as a thousand accusatory voices screamed in his mind. He no longer paid attention to their visual representations, instead simply trudging through them like the figments of his imagination they were. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore the steady spikes of agony stabbing into his brain. He passed a familiar-looking egg containing a particularly large ka¡¯alaki, realizing that he¡¯d seen it before. He had been wandering in circles for hours, too distracted by the pain, the voices, and most of all, the corruption, to think straight. But on and on he went, too afraid to stop, to take even the slightest pause. If he did, he questioned whether or not he could force himself to resume his journey. ¡°Selfish!¡± ¡°Murderer!¡± ¡°Weakling!¡± Over and over, the shades of his slain enemies accused him. At first, it had been easy to ignore, but the longer they remained, the more impactful their words had become. Guilt was not a new emotion for Elijah. He was well-acquainted with regret. But what he felt as he slowly stumbled through one corridor after the next was uniquely powerful, and to the point where he could never hope to brush it aside. Endure, he told himself. That was his only hope of survival. So, that was what he did. If the way had been any more complex than it was, there would have been no chance of him making it. If he¡¯d been attacked, he would have succumbed. But fortunately, the path remained clear, and Elijah sank within himself, deeper and more fully than even the most intense bout of meditation. That¡¯s when he saw it. The corruption had suffused every part of his Mind. On the surface, his efforts at containing or purging it had worked, but the deeper he looked, the more he saw how fully it had rooted itself to the essence of who he was. Like a malignant tumor of filth, it clung to him, spreading with a ravenous need to destroy his very identity. And with every passing moment ¨C with every step he took ¨C it expanded a little more. Greedily. Hungrily. It meant to consume him entirely. The moment Elijah recognized the danger, something inside of him awoke. It was pure in a way Elijah had never seen, and at first, he thought it was his spirit. The ephemeral core of his being that would persist long after his death, that would respond to the Call and join the collective that Nerthus referred to as the Mother. But that wasn¡¯t all it was. His identity was in there, too. The wholly human parts of him that refused to give in, even when every objective truth told him that he stood no chance of survival. The parts that connected with others, the pieces of him capable of love and compassion and hate and anger. His hopes and dreams, fears and nightmares. His strengths. His weaknesses. And everything in between. It was him, laid bare in a way that no level of introspection could ever achieve. Nor could he fully comprehend it ¨C not in any way that mattered. But one thing he recognized straightaway was that it was the source of his willpower, and it connected to those tendrils he¡¯d wrapped around his Mind. Finally, he could feel something bestial, lurking in the dark, waiting to pounce at any moment. It, too, was part of his spirit, though only connected by the thinnest of threads. But more than anything, he saw that it roiled with unspent rage. It wanted to be let loose, to be wild, to ignore everything but the most basic of desires. Three sides. The corruption. His human spirit. And the beast within. One did not belong, and yet, it was far too strong for either of the other parts to overcome, and with every passing moment, the corruption grew stronger. Somewhere deep down, Elijah knew that if he didn¡¯t do something soon, it would overwhelm him. It would consume him, just as it had everything else within the expansive circle. So, Elijah gave in. Not to the taint. Instead, he embraced his human and bestial sides in equal measure, drawing strength from both as he pushed back against the corruption. It worked, but only for a moment before the taint shoved back, spreading with even more rapidity. He let out a roar ¨C both in the physical world as well as in his own Mind ¨C as he struggled against it, and yet, it was not enough. He couldn¡¯t contain it. Nor could he push it away. And even with all his power, he knew he could only endure for a few more moments. For a few seconds, he shoved with every ounce of willpower he possessed. The ropes he¡¯d used to corral the corruption as well as connect the facets of his mind flared brighter and more powerful than ever before. But it was not enough. Elijah could see them fraying with every passing moment. Then, instincts flowed through his bestial side, suffusing his Mind in a way he only felt when giving into the rage that came with the Shape of the Guardian. And those instincts told him that if he could neither contain nor expel the corruption, there was only one other option. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. He needed to destroy it. Elijah surrendered to the beast inside of him, letting it take control as it lashed out at the corruption. The entire thing was in Elijah¡¯s mind, but still, he got the impression of a furious, yet physically outmatched animal defending his territory. It still wasn¡¯t enough, though. After enduring that initial surge of aggression, the corruption shoved back, surrounding the beast and attempting to overwhelm it. Gritting his teeth, Elijah refused to let that happen. With the piece of his human awareness that managed to persist alongside the bestial wrath, he latched onto his spirit and created yet another tendril of willpower, connecting the two. A wave of power swept through the beast, giving it a brief swell of strength that allowed it to rip through a little more of the corruption. That spurred Elijah¡¯s efforts forward, and he shoved as much of his spirit as possible through that narrow space. And for a moment, it worked, but after only a second, he recognized that it wasn¡¯t enough. So, he built more connections. One after another until the ephemeral membrane between the two sides of his Mind shared so many bonds that they very nearly merged. Despite the massive influx of power, the best he could manage was a stalemate. Elijah kept going, his bestial side warring against the corruption even as he funneled power from his human spirit into the fight. He screamed. His bestial side roared. And still, it was not enough. And it never would be, he realized. Even as the two sides grew so close that they began to intermingle, Elijah knew that he was destined to fail. He could not win. The corruption was too powerful. It had been allowed to run rampant for too long. And it was far too ravenous to be denied. Except there was another part of Elijah that he had only barely begun to understand. As he¡¯d recently been told by Kirlissa ¨C in the form of Kurik ¨C he was a dragon, too. And the dragon inside him, straining against the constraints of his Core, wanted to fight, too. He let it loose, just as he had the beast within. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t really considered himself a dragon. Despite what his patron had said, he was still just a human who¡¯d gotten lucky enough to have been granted a powerful Core. But the moment he freed the dragon inside of him, he realized that it, just like the beast, was a part of who he was. Of who he would become. It merged with the other two parts of him ¨C his human spirit and the beast within ¨C seamlessly, using them both to launch itself forward with unmatched fury. And miraculously, the corruption retreated. That wasn¡¯t enough for the dragon, who threw itself into the fight, ripping and tearing with fang and claw. The taint could not stand up to it. And with Elijah pushing to contain it, there was nowhere for it to flee. It was a massacre. The corruption that had, until that moment, seemed so powerful, fell with barely a whimper, and soon enough, the dragon stood victorious in his Mind. Yet, Elijah knew that he wasn¡¯t finished. The entire battle had given him more insight than he could easily process, but one fact stood above all, clear and obvious. There weren¡¯t really three parts of him. Not really. The divisions he saw were fabrications. The walls between them had been manufactured. And if he wanted to step forward, he needed to change the paradigm. He snatched at the thick ethera all around him. It was denser than any he¡¯d ever felt, and after the battle, it was perfectly clean. The corruption had been defeated, inside and all around him. It would return, and the rest of the area was still infected. But for now, Elijah drank in the thick ethera, funneling it into his Mind. He rebuilt the frayed tendrils of will and ethera he¡¯d used to connect each facet of his Mind, though he didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, he wove them into all three sides of his identity ¨C the dragon, the beast, and the human ¨C and when he was done, he tightened the ropes. At first, the three sides didn¡¯t want to move. They wanted to remain separate. Yet, Elijah persisted, leveraging every ounce of willpower he could muster towards the task. Finally, they shifted. One ethereal inch after another, they came closer together. As he pulled, Elijah built hundreds ¨C then thousands ¨C of other connections, but the burden didn¡¯t ease. If anything, it grew more difficult with every passing moment. Still, he pushed. It wasn¡¯t the same sort of battle that he¡¯d fought against the corruption, but it was no less difficult for the differences. And it required every ounce of power within Elijah to move those three sides ever closer until, at last, they started to overlap. That was when the difficulty increased exponentially. Elijah let out a pained gasp, but he barely maintained his grip. In a lot of ways, he felt like Atlas, carrying the world on his shoulders. He knew he couldn¡¯t endure. He knew he was on the verge of failure. And yet, he kept going. Whether it was a simple force of will or he tapped into a hidden well of strength, Elijah had no idea. And with the whole of his Mind focused on the task at hand, he didn¡¯t have the mental capacity to figure it out. For a subjective eternity, Elijah pushed. He shoved. He dragged with all his might. And slowly ¨C ever so slowly ¨C the three pieces of his identity began to mingle. At first, they tried to remain separate, like oil and water. However, the more pressure he applied, the more he saw them merge together. Unsurprisingly, the dragon was the most resistant, but eventually, Elijah wrestled it ¨C or himself, as it were ¨C into submission. He might be a dragon ¨C but he wasn¡¯t just a dragon. He was a human. And, though he¡¯d tried to deny it, he was a beast as well. He was all of them. And together, they became something else. Something stronger than any of them alone. Finally, everything snapped together, and a wave of ethera pulsed through his mind. Then, it exploded outward, sending a fresh spike of pain through him. It faded after an instant, and at last, Elijah felt peace. After a few moments, he realized that he¡¯d collapsed to all fours. His chest heaved as he tried to catch his breath, and his muscles felt simultaneously energized and weak, like he was riding a wave of adrenaline after winning a twelve-round boxing match. He opened his eyes to see a stone floor covered in black gunk. There was a notification begging for his attention, but he didn¡¯t have the opportunity to read it before he heard a voice, and this one wasn¡¯t confined to his mind. ¡°Impressive. I did not think you would survive the corruption,¡± it said. Elijah looked up to see a ta¡¯alaki looming over him. The snake-tailed native of the excised planet gazed down at him, their eyes carrying a note of pity. They turned away and let out a hissing sigh. ¡°I wish I had been strong enough to say the same.¡± 5-75. The Hunger The ta¡¯alaki slithered forward, then miraculously, they extended a hand. Elijah took it, and the native of Ka¡¯arath helped him to his feet. ¡°What is going on?¡± Elijah asked. The snake-tailed creature looked away and sighed. That gave Elijah a moment to truly inspect the creature, and he found himself more than a little intimidated. Like all the other ta¡¯alaki, this one had thick, white skin and four arms. But unlike the others, they wore an elaborate headdress that looked so decayed that it was barely holding itself together. Vaguely, Elijah recognized it as belonging to some sort of animal with golden fur, but beyond that, it was unidentifiable. Otherwise, the ta¡¯alaki wore a golden pendant so large that it covered half of their chest. The gold was dull, though, and if it had been silver, Elijah would have said it looked tarnished. The degradation was so complete that he could barely see the symbol etched on the golden surface. Finally, the creature carried a staff topped with a carving meant to represent a magnificent bird with its wings outstretched. Like everything else the ta¡¯alaki wore, it was worn and degraded, though not so much that Elijah couldn¡¯t recognize it for what it was meant to portray. ¡°I was once like you,¡± they said with a tinge of regret. ¡°I was idealistic. I thought I could save my world. I was wrong, and in my hubris, I set myself against the encroaching taint. I lost that struggle, and because of my actions, my entire grove was corrupted right alongside me. It started with the eggs, but it spread so quickly that the other Druids could not hope to resist. I was the last to fall, though even as I struggled against it, I knew my fate was inevitable.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a Druid.¡± ¡°Archdruid. My grove once stretched for thousands of miles in every direction. Tens of thousands of other Druids followed me. Powerful Wardens protected us as we endeavored to maintain the balance. We were more than just a community. We were a nation unto ourselves, as powerful as the empire Yloa would go on to build.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Elijah asked. He could see the tendrils of corruption flowing up the archdruid¡¯s arms and spreading across their torso. But like the one he¡¯d encountered in the Ice Fortress, it seemed this ta¡¯alaki wanted to talk, to explain themselves. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Takina,¡± the archdruid stated. ¡°My duty tells me that I should mourn them all equally, but I am not strong enough to do so. They were all my children, but there was a special place in my heart for those hatched from my own eggs. Perhaps that is normal for any mother.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s natural,¡± Elijah said. ¡°There is nothing natural about this planet,¡± she responded sadly. ¡°From what I¡¯ve seen ¨C¡± ¡°You have seen a mirage,¡± she interrupted with no small amount of venom in her voice. ¡°A single continent that has managed to remain mostly untainted by the Ravener¡¯s hunger. If you saw the world outside of this little bubble, you would be horrified. I was. I am.¡± ¡°Did the system preserve this¡­continent, then?¡± She shook her head. ¡°For that, we can thank Yloa. The Lightning Emperor. The author of our doom and our lone hope for salvation,¡± she said. ¡°At times, I wonder if I made the right choice of neutrality. We thought we were above it, the petty squabbles that wracked the rest of the world. But we felt the consequences even more keenly than anyone else. We¡­we who were closer to the World Tree than any other¡­we were uniquely vulnerable to the lack of its touch. Excisement. It was a death sentence. We served nature, and yet¡­and yet, we were tossed aside and left to rot, all because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. ¡°I could have escaped. I had the opportunity to flee to another world,¡± she said, the taint writhing under her pale skin. ¡°I could have taken my eggs and started over. But I could not abandon my grove. I could not leave my people. Is that a sin, do you think? To love one¡¯s family more than her purpose, than her calling?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Of course not,¡± she said with a tired sigh. The tendrils of corruption bulged, trying to escape. ¡°You are a child. A mere infant having been thrust into a world you are incapable of understanding. You do not have the capacity to see the truth.¡± ¡°Then tell me.¡± ¡°The touch of the Ravener is inevitable. You fight against it. You just won a battle,¡± she said. ¡°But it will return, and it will consume you. Perhaps it will not be as overt as all of this.¡± She gestured to the wet and fleshy tentacles creeping across the wall. ¡°But it will take you, all the same. Greed. Hunger. Pride. Rage. Every time you make a choice that leads to more power, you will wonder if that was your decision or if it was thrust upon you by the Ravener. She is always out there. Her influence spreads, just like that of the World Tree. It will infect you just as it has infected me.¡± ¡°You seem like you¡¯ve resisted it.¡± ¡°I have thousands of years of practice. I may have been reduced by the Shackles, but my mental discipline is no less developed. Yet, here I am, on the verge of losing control. What chance do you have, then? You can only flee. Run away to the center of the multi-verse so that you may have more time, and when the Ravener comes for you ¨C and she will, make no mistake ¨C take your own life so that you will not be used against those you love,¡± she said. ¡°That is my advice to you, should you survive this encounter. I pray you have a chance to heed it.¡± ¡°What ¨C¡± Even as Elijah uttered that single word, Takina backed away. A second later, the corruption that had been writhing beneath her skin burst forth into a thousand rust-red tentacles. Blood splattered upon the floor and onto the tendrils coating the walls. They wriggled in glee, coming alive and reaching for Elijah. He leaped backward just in time to avoid those grasping tendrils of corruption. At the same time, the archdruid let loose a blood-curdling scream, though Elijah could only make out two words. ¡°Kill me!¡± she screeched, her entire body rigid as she tried to hold the tentacles sprouting from her body at bay. Her staff snapped in two under the immense pressure of her grip, and her words were drowned out when a more primal sound escaped her throat. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Then, like a striking snake, she launched herself at him. There was nothing of the serene archdruid left. Just a vicious and corrupted beast who only knew hunger. Elijah sprang to the side, casting Storm¡¯s Fury mid-leap. The spell activated almost instantly, then slammed into the corrupted archdruid. Her muscles twitched, but her momentum was unchanged. Thankfully, Elijah kicked off the wall, narrowly avoiding her reckless charge. Then, he used Snaring Roots. A thousand corrupted tentacles sprang from the stone floor, wrapping themselves around Takina¡¯s tail. She tried to rip free, but they latched onto her with undeniable strength. Still, Elijah felt nauseous, knowing that his spell had taken control of those tentacles. He couldn¡¯t allow it to impede the fight, though, so he pushed that discomfort aside and summoned Swarm. Before the insects even manifested, he was already casting Calamity. They both hit at the same time, with hundreds of unfamiliar, fly-like creatures descended upon the archdruid while hurricane-force winds tore through the corridor. The archdruid ripped away from the effects of Snaring Roots, but she was incapable of pushing through the winds. Instead, she was shoved backward, those thousands of waving tendrils sprouting from her skin acting as an impromptu sail. Then, she leveled her broken staff at Elijah and cast a familiar spell. Black lightning tore across the corridor and slammed into Elijah¡¯s chest. The moment it made impact, his heart seized, and he was thrown backward. He skidded across the floor, stopping only when he hit a wall and caromed a few more feet before coming to a rest. Tendrils snaked up out of the ground, ready to consume him, but he fended them off with a series of panicked kicks as he initiated a transformation into the Shape of the Guardian. It couldn¡¯t come too soon, though, because the corrupted archdruid was already casting another spell. This time, it was her tainted version of Calamity. Black winds blew, colliding with Elijah¡¯s spell and creating a whirlwind where both spells fed off one another. Even as a lamellar ape, Elijah struggled to fight through it. The archdruid, whose power was subject to the Shackles of the Trial of Primacy, had an even more difficult time with it. She was not a creature of Strength, and she clearly hadn¡¯t chosen a combat path like Elijah. So, she was at a slight disadvantage that he was more than willing to exploit. For the second time in recent memory, he used Bestial Charge, throwing himself across the corridor with renewed fury. His spell took hold just in time to shield him from another bolt of black lightning, and he hit the archdruid with a form tackle that would have made any football coach proud. He drove her to the ground, burying his shoulder in her torso, and he was rewarded by the sound of cracking bone. Then, he ripped into her with his claws. Once, then twice. Three times before she managed to slither out from under him. That¡¯s when her tentacles came into play, striking at him like a thousand venomous snakes. Elijah felt the injection of corruption with every bite, and if it had happened even ten minutes before, he would have succumbed to the sheer volume. However, the triumvirate of his identity ¨C dragon, human, and beast ¨C had honed its edge against much more potent corruption than what those tiny tentacles could produce. They ripped through it with ease, allowing Elijah to focus on his enemy. He grabbed a handful of tentacles and ripped. They came loose in a shower of mucus and blood, and the archdruid screamed. She also lashed out, biting his shoulder with surprising force. He reared back in pain as he felt his collarbone snap, and she used that opportunity to cast a spell. Elijah knew what it was, just by virtue of the way the ethera ¨C and corruption ¨C swirled around her, but as much as he wanted to, he couldn¡¯t stop it. Green light, laced with black and red, fell upon her, and the damage he¡¯d inflicted mended in only a moment. Clearly, she¡¯d taken a more healing-focused path than he had. Renewed by the spell, she attacked again, and with enough ferocity that he couldn¡¯t dodge when she buried the shards of her broken staff in his stomach. He bounded backward, yanking it out and tossing it aside. ¡°Are you in there?¡± he growled. ¡°Please¡­if you¡¯re in there ¨C¡± The archdruid had clearly succumbed to the corruption, though, and she responded to his plea by casting another spell, and it was one with which Elijah had no experience. All around him, the mucus-covered vines twisted together, rising from the ground and extending from the floor until a half-dozen humanoid creatures stood before him. Elijah had no time to wonder what they actually were before they collapsed onto him with surprising strength. Alone, none of them could have threatened him. But together, they were more than enough to overpower him. Elijah fought back. He struggled against them. But over the next few seconds, they latched onto his arms and legs, immobilizing him. Takina attacked again with the corrupted version of Storm¡¯s Fury. More, she conjured a thousand insects ¨C each one sprouting hundreds of tiny cilia and reeking of corruption ¨C that fell upon him to deliver their tainted afflictions. Thankfully, Elijah still had his buffs active, and each of those insects could only deliver one bite before they were speared through by retaliatory thorns. Still, that did nothing to combat their afflictions, and in the space of a few seconds, Elijah felt his strength drifting away. He used Guardian¡¯s Renewal, and to his surprise, when it went to war against the causes of his ravaged body, it was pushed to new heights by his unified spirit. Even so, it did not heal him ¨C not completely, at least. Instead, it only managed to banish the afflictions and mend the worst of his injuries. Some still lingered, but that was much better than dying. So, his strength renewed, Elijah continued to struggle against the vine-creatures. Takina threw more lightning his way ¨C perhaps that was the extent of her offensive capabilities ¨C but it did no more damage than the first casts. Then, the vine-monsters started to lose their strength as the spell that had animated them ran its course. Elijah broke free, but he didn¡¯t immediately attack the archdruid. Instead, he took a gamble and shifted into the Shape of Venom. His reasoning was simple. He needed more damage, and his newly evolved form of the blight dragon was the best he could do. So, the moment he¡¯d shifted into the much smaller shape, he raced forward, dodging more arcs of lightning. He leaped upon the wall, using his sticky feet to climb to the ceiling. That surprised the corrupted archdruid, delaying her reactions enough to allow him to drop down and deliver an Envenomed bite. Then, he did it again. And again after that. With his high Strength and Dexterity, he could strike incredibly quickly, and before she managed to knock him away, he¡¯d bitten her more than half a dozen times. Each one was laced with powerful venom as well as Insidious Malady, which he hoped would be enough. She stumbled, then lashed out, backhanding him hard enough to send him flying across the room. Elijah used Flicker Step while in mid-air and crashed into her back, fangs-first. Still, she would not fall. A second later, she used another healing spell, and Elijah knew he needed to pile on the damage even more. Now that she was under the effects of his potent venom, he shifted back into the lamellar ape form and threw himself at her. She tried to fend him off, but as he¡¯d discovered before, she had never been a creature of great Strength or Constitution. Since then, she¡¯d been weakened by his venom, and because of his continued assault, she was incapable of healing enough to banish that affliction. The writing was already on the wall. Elijah knew it, and if the archdruid had been capable of rational thinking, she would have recognized it as well. Yet, the fight continued, and Elijah¡¯s advantage grew with every passing second. Still, she fought, casting heals that mended her broken bones almost as quickly as he could administer the beating. In the end, it took nearly half an hour before she finally succumbed, but rather than feeling elated at another victory, Elijah only felt exhausted ¨C mentally and physically. So, for a long time, he just sat there, surrounded by corruption and with a broken ta¡¯alaki beneath him. Then, he sighed, shifted back into his human form, and finally remembered the notification he¡¯d had no chance to read before being attacked by the archdruid. 5-76. The Mine Shadows danced against the walls, caused by the flaming torch in Gwenivere¡¯s hand. Thankfully, it emitted no smoke, instead giving off a scattering of ethereal motes that dissipated after only a few moments. She sighed, glancing around. The structure of the mine was precisely what she¡¯d expected, which meant that it was just a series of tunnels supported by a framework of wooden beams. However, as mundane as it seemed at first glanced, she couldn¡¯t deny the presence of the thick ethera hanging in the air. It was even denser than what she¡¯d found in the city far above, which in turn, was far thicker than what she¡¯d grown accustomed to. But as pleasant as being surrounded by much ethera could feel, it was not comforting. ¡°You alright?¡± asked Colt, sitting next to her, his sheathed sword across his lap. He took a bite of his travel rations. Gwenivere shook her head. ¡°This doesn¡¯t put you on edge?¡± she asked. ¡°I feel like my hair should be standing on end. I¡¯ve had goosebumps since we first set foot into this mine.¡± He nodded. ¡°It¡¯s a bit unnervin¡¯, I¡¯ll definitely admit that. But this ain¡¯t my first rodeo. I won¡¯t get too worked up ¡®til we find somethin¡¯ to work me up, if you know what I mean.¡± ¡°I guess,¡± she said with a shake of her head, her grip tightening on the haft of her axe. Her armor clinked a little as she shifted, and though she valued stealth, she knew that the protection it provided was far more important. In addition to her chainmail shirt, which fit her like a glove, she had been provided with a pair of armored leather pants. Steel greaves protected her shins, and her hands were clad in a pair of armored gauntlets. In short, she felt as protected as possible, though they had yet to encounter any enemies. That wasn¡¯t so surprising, though. The people of Ironshore had been working the mines for a few years, and they¡¯d delved deep into the mountains. She and Colt had nearly reached the edge of their explored territory ¨C apparently, the area was riddled with underground tunnels and caverns, some of which were large enough to have accommodated whole cities ¨C so she had good reason to expect the situation to grow much more dangerous. ¡°How did you lose the hand?¡± she asked, nodding to the injury. It had actually taken her a while to even realize that his hand was missing, as he¡¯d replaced it with a fixed, metal prosthetic. He hefted his arm, turning it this way and that. The prosthetic was covered by a black glove, so there was no metal visible. It didn¡¯t move, though, making its nature clear. ¡°Trusted the wrong people,¡± he said. ¡°Betrayal?¡± He shook his head. ¡°Nah. Incompetence, mostly. They weren¡¯t bad folks, just a bit stupid. Too na?ve for a world like this,¡± he explained. ¡°They were still stuck in the old way of thinkin¡¯, where people were equal, more or less. You get enough together, and you could maybe make a difference. That don¡¯t work when your enemy is twice as strong as you.¡± ¡°They died?¡± Colt nodded. ¡°Brutally.¡± He shook his head. ¡°Bad guys got what was comin¡¯ to ¡®em, though. Most of ¡®em are dead now.¡± ¡°You?¡± He gave a harsh laugh. ¡°Nah, girl. I ain¡¯t got that kinda power. It was the Druid. He swept in there and did what a thousand rebels couldn¡¯t. That¡¯s the kinda world we live in, now. Be grateful you ain¡¯t seen that kinda thing.¡± ¡°You¡¯re talking about Elijah?¡± she asked, thinking back to the sickly man she¡¯d sat next to on the plane. Back then, he¡¯d seemed on the edge of death. But then, everything had happened, and somehow, he¡¯d come out of it as one of the strongest people in the world. It didn¡¯t make much sense to Gwenivere, but then again, she and the other survivors had been so isolated that they hadn¡¯t been exposed to much beyond the simple struggle to survive. ¡°He¡¯s not as harmless as he seems. That boy¡¯s got the devil in him,¡± Colt said. ¡°He wants to do the right thing. He tries. But there¡¯s more to ¨C¡± He stopped abruptly mid-sentence, and when Gwenivere made to speak, he raised his prosthetic hand. She understood the gesture and went silent. A second later, the slightest of sounds echoed through the tunnel. It was barely louder than a pin drop, but in the silence, it was obvious. Colt pushed himself to his feet, his movements sure and silent as he drew his sword. She followed his lead, hefting her axe in both hands. As she did so, she embraced Sentinel¡¯s Senses:
Sentinel¡¯s Senses Temporarily increase the efficacy of the Sentinel¡¯s sensory capabilities. Also allows them to see through most forms of stealth. Duration based on Ethera. Current: 39.3 Seconds. Efficacy based on comparative Dexterity.
It was the second ability she¡¯d gotten after choosing her Sentinel class ¨C the first being Eyes of the Sentinel ¨C and it had saved her life more times than she could count. More, it had saved the lives of her friends as well, allowing her to recognize threats well before they¡¯d arrived. Because in the cave system where she and the other crash survivors had taken refuge, many of the dangerous creatures made copious use of stealth. It was not a stretch to say that without Sentinel¡¯s Senses, none of them would have survived more than a few weeks. The moment the ability took hold, a wave of sensory input washed over her. Suddenly, the darkness was no more oppressive than a cloudy afternoon, and she saw the tunnel in more detail than ever before. In addition, the combination of her improved hearing, sense of smell, and touch gave her something she likened to a natural sonar that gave her an idea of what lurked in the area. She blinked. Then, she reached out, tapping Colt on the shoulder. He whipped around, and she held up two fingers before pointing down the tunnel. After that, she held her hand about four feet off the ground, indicating their size. Over the next couple of seconds, she tried to mime the general orientation of the creatures she sensed. They were quadrupedal, covered in hard exoskeletons, and were equipped with large fangs. By the time she¡¯d finished with her warning, her ability wore off, and she lost the sense of the creatures. But that warning was enough to give them the upper hand. Colt stepped forward, his feet silent as he held his sword in his lone hand. The arm with the prosthetic, he held before him like a shield, and as they turned the corner, that was exactly how he used it. The nightmare monster ¨C which looked like a cross between a wolf and an insect ¨C bounded forward, latching onto Colt¡¯s metallic hand and biting down with bone-crushing force. The man responded with a vicious overhand attack that cut deep into the beast¡¯s snout. It retreated with a chittering sound, bounding backwards to put some distance between itself and the man who¡¯d cut it. That was when Gwenivere used Eyes of the Sentinel: Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
Name: Lycosect Level: 48 Archetype: Beast (Tamed) Class: N/A Highest Attribute: Dexterity
¡°Level forty-eight,¡± she said, stepping up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Colt. She used her ability on the second creature, which lurked a little behind the first. It was two levels higher, but otherwise, it was identical. She knew that Colt was level sixty-one, which wasn¡¯t powerful enough to put him in the top one-hundred, but it got him pretty close. By comparison, her own level seemed paltry. She¡¯d been the strongest person among the refugees, but it seemed that being level fifty wasn¡¯t enough to set her apart in Ironshore. And she knew from experience that facing two beasts at the same time without a full group to combat them was a dangerous proposition. Not insurmountable, but no easy battle, either. Colt slashed his sword through the air, and a second later, it looked like one of the lycosects had been put through a woodchipper. Pieces of black-and-purple chitin erupted from its body, and dark blood misted into the air. The thing let out a chittering screech that sounded almost like a whimper. Seeing that, the other monster bolted. After seeing the creature¡¯s details with Eyes of the Sentinel, Gwenivere knew that she couldn¡¯t let it escape. She wasn¡¯t certain what had tamed the beast, but she had no intentions of letting it return to its master. So, she used Halt.
Halt Prevent an enemy from acting. Duration based on relative Strength. Current duration (minimum): 1.2 seconds. Breaks automatically when the enemy takes damage.
The creature froze, its momentum completely gone. Because she knew that the beast focused on Dexterity, she expected Halt to last more than the minimum duration. But from experience, she knew it wouldn¡¯t hold for more than three seconds, even if she outclassed the beast completely. Which she did not. So, she dashed forward, using Charge to increase her movement speed. And in only a moment, she was on top of the thing. She swung her axe in a two-handed attack, augmented by Impale and Disabling Strike. The first would cause it to bleed uncontrollably, and the second would lower its Strength and Dexterity by a significant amount. The axe bit into the monster¡¯s back, digging deep into its hardened exterior until the blade hit something soft. Yet, the natural armor did its job, protecting the creature from the vicious strike. But Gwenivere had expected that. She knew that her class wasn¡¯t built to inflict deadly wounds. Instead, the Sentinel was all about control and confinement. In a more civilized situation, she could easily imagine that it would have been taken by men and women who wanted to guard, protect, and police a settlement. The effect of Disabling Strike was immediately apparent as the creature slumped to the ground. It leaped at her, but it felt like the thing was moving in slow motion. Gwenivere easily fended it off, though it did manage to swipe its sharp claws across her midsection. Thankfully, her chainmail armor protected her from permanent damage, and she responded with another attack that she hoped would help end the battle.
Sunder Defenses Decrease an enemy¡¯s Constitution by twenty points. Resistance based on relative Strength. Each subsequent use decreases Constitution by an additional five points. Maximum: 40.
Cracks spread across the lycosect¡¯s chitinous armor as Sunder Defenses took hold. Gwenivere used it again. Three more times, and the carapace looked as if it was on the verge of crumbling. Only then did she use her most potent attack:
Lethal Force A powerful attack that does additional damage based on the number of negative status effects. Modifier based on Strength attribute. Current: 41% per negative status effect.
Gwenivere had more debuffs she could use ¨C decreasing Ethera and Regeneration, respectively, as well as another that could hinder the enemy¡¯s movement speed ¨C but she felt that Disabling Strike and four iterations of Sunder Defenses was enough. Her axe hit the thing only a few inches from where she¡¯d landed her first attack, and the blade blew through the weakened chitin, easily cutting through the more vulnerable internal organs, and nearly hacking the beast in half. It didn¡¯t immediately die, but it was definitely out of the fight. So, Gwenivere turned her attention to the other, only to see that Colt had already cut it into a hundred pieces. It was entirely unrecognizable. ¡°This is bad,¡± she said, her heart beating wildly. She¡¯d grown accustomed to battle, but there was still a part of her that panicked every time she got into a fight. It was easy enough to ignore, but it was also a grim reminder that she¡¯d never set out to be a warrior. ¡°Really bad. Those things were domesticated.¡± ¡°Like cattle?¡± Colt asked, narrowing his eyes. ¡°More like hunting dogs, I think.¡± She didn¡¯t need to explain the implications of that. They¡¯d come into the mines to search for missing workers, and they had both expected to find a nest of dangerous monsters. However, the fact that there were tamed beasts roaming about said that the culprits were likely sentient. ¡°You think some orcs survived?¡± Colt wondered aloud. ¡°Wormed their way underground somehow?¡± Gwenivere had heard stories about the orc invasion, but she had no context to offer an opinion. So, she shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, but we definitely need to find out.¡± She didn¡¯t care overmuch about Ironshore or its people ¨C aside from the dictates of basic human decency ¨C but if the Druid came back to find the city had been invaded, his promise of helping to rescue the crash survivors would almost definitely be put on the backburner. Knowing that every delay decreased their chances of survival, Gwenivere couldn¡¯t allow that to happen. Thankfully, Colt agreed, and they both set out down the tunnel, looking for a trail. It didn¡¯t take them long to pass beyond the bounds of the mapped area, and still, they continued to descend until, at last, they found an abandoned camp. Gwenivere kicked a disused fire pit. The coals were still slightly warm, telling her that whoever had used the camp hadn¡¯t been gone for that long. Otherwise, there were a few rocks that had been arranged around the fire, suggesting that they¡¯d used them as makeshift chairs. ¡°Bones,¡± Colt said, kneeling a dozen feet away and pushing something around. ¡°Looks like cave rabbit. Gnawed on, too.¡± Cave rabbits were the colloquial name for a small subterranean varmint that populated the caves. There were other creatures that called the tunnels home, but they were the least dangerous prey animals in the area. A little more inspection found a latrine pit, all but confirming they were dealing with intelligent foes. So, going forward, they were far more careful. Their caution paid off when, more than a day later, they finally found their quarry. There were six of them, all gathered around another fire. A pair of lycosects slept nearby, looking for all the world like some macabre version of family pets. But Gwenivere¡¯s attention was on the clearly sentient creatures around the fire. They had blue skin so dark that it was almost black, with stark white hair, pointed ears, and an ethereal beauty Gwenivere had only seen on the few elves that lived in Ironshore. From afar, she used Eyes of the Sentinel on the closest one:
Name: Farin Tar Level: 57 Archetype: Ranger Class: Shade Hunter Highest Attribute: Dexterity
She swallowed hard, and after a moment, she motioned for Colt to back away. ¡°Dark elves,¡± he said once they were well out of hearing range. He shook his head. ¡°I knew they existed, but¡­this ain¡¯t good. This ain¡¯t good at all.¡± ¡°What do you want to do?¡± she asked. ¡°They¡¯re all higher level than me.¡± He took his ridiculous hat off, then wiped his arm across his forehead. Glancing back the way they¡¯d come, then in the direction of the dark elf camp. ¡°We gotta follow ¡®em. I think it¡¯s clear they took the miners. Killed ¡®em, probably. But we won¡¯t know for sure ¡®til we lay eyes on ¡®em.¡± ¡°We need to find out if there¡¯s more out there, too. And where they¡¯re getting into the mines,¡± Gwenivere added, glad that she and Colt were on the same page. ¡°What do we know about¡­dark elves?¡± ¡°Not much. Just that they exist and that most other elves don¡¯t particularly like ¡®em. That don¡¯t mean much, given how uppity most elves seem to be,¡± he said. Then, he shrugged. ¡°We need to find out, though. You in?¡± ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± Then, the pair returned to where they¡¯d seen the dark elves and began their reconnaissance. Hopefully, they would soon discover the answers to all their questions. 5-77. The Shard of Natures Might Elijah collapsed onto the ground, having left the latest challenge far behind. For a long time, he just lay there, his eyes closed as he steadied his breathing. As much as he had gained inside, he never wanted to see anything like it ever again. He didn¡¯t even want to think about the horrors he¡¯d witnessed, though no matter how much he tried, he couldn¡¯t push any of it away. In retrospect, the battle against the ta¡¯alaki archdruid hadn¡¯t been that harrowing. In fact, if he¡¯d had to rank it alongside the other three challenges he¡¯d encountered, he would have placed it at the very bottom. Even the fight against the aviak had been more difficult. Yet, that had never been what the challenge was meant to be about. Rather, the situation itself ¨C of a corrupted circle within a Druid grove ¨C was where the true test lay. Elijah¡¯s mind wandered back to the accusatory shades that had haunted him for the last part of the challenge. Even knowing they were caused by the corruption hadn¡¯t helped him to deal with any of it. It was only when he¡¯d acknowledged and accepted the three parts of his nature that he was strong enough to truly destroy the taint. But that wasn¡¯t all that had happened. As he lay there, on a blessedly dry island in the middle of the swamp, he cycled back to the notification he¡¯d received just before the archdruid had revealed herself.
Congratulations! Your Mind has reached the Jade Stage.
He didn¡¯t really need the notification ¨C or the line in his status ¨C to verify it, either. He could feel it. The facets of his Mind had drawn into a tight cluster, where they were bound together by a dense web of willpower. Each facet was capable of quicker thoughts, and his ability to calculate had improved by leaps and bounds. In a lot of ways, he felt like one of those people who could do complex math problems more quickly than a calculator. But the real benefit of reaching the Jade stage of his Mind cultivation was that his ability to regenerate ethera had once again drastically improved. And because of his improved ability with numbers, he estimated that he¡¯d received a roughly thirty-percent boost. That would doubtless prove to be an incredible benefit, though he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as impactful for him as it would be for someone who relied a little more on casting abilities. The bulk of his power was tied into his various forms, so while he liked the flexibility of being able to cast spells, he didn¡¯t rely as much on his ethera regeneration as someone with a more spell-focused class. Regardless, Elijah could think of multiple instances when he would have benefited from a little more ethera regeneration. So, he didn¡¯t disdain the improvement. Perhaps just as importantly, he¡¯d gained two whole levels during his ordeal, putting him at level ninety-eight. As he lay there, Elijah looked at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 98
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 159 (113)
Dexterity 158 (102)
Constitution 155 (115)
Ethera 128 (110)
Regeneration 160 (102)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Mind Soul
Stone Whelp Jade Novice
The numbers didn¡¯t add up, though. He cycled through his notifications, then found the culprit. While he¡¯d been distracted by the agonizing pain ¨C both physical and psychological ¨C of the corruption trying to infect his body, he¡¯d gained eight whole points in his Ethera attribute and an additional four had been added to his Constitution. Which was insane. Elijah was no stranger to increasing his attributes via alternate means like training or through other feats of endurance. Yet, he¡¯d never gained so much so quickly, which left him in awe. More, he came to realize just how dangerous the challenge had been. One wrong move, and he would have succumbed to the corruption. He had no idea what would have happened at that point, but he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would not have been good. However, he keenly felt the loss of his Staff of the First Dragon, which had increased his attributes by twenty points each, in addition to augmenting his spells by a significant margin. Replacing that weapon would be a difficult and time-consuming task, and one Elijah wasn¡¯t certain would be possible in the short term. At least his armor remained intact, as did the attribute bonuses from his coffee. Idly, he remembered that he¡¯d never even used the Rejuvenation ability tied to his lost staff, which seemed like such an oversight. The same could be said for the ability associated with his armor, Bulwark of the Boar King. More than once, he could have used an impenetrable shield, and even if it had a two-week cooldown, he vowed to make better use of it going forward. The problem was that he had a lot of abilities to juggle, and he didn¡¯t have quite as intuitive of a grasp when it came to the ones granted by items. Even so, he knew that if he was going to survive the rest of the Trial ¨C and get the most out of it ¨C he would need every advantage he could find. Not just the ones that were easy to remember. Hopefully, reaching the Jade stage of his Mind cultivation would help in that department. Elijah knew he wasn¡¯t perfect, though. Far from it, in fact. But now that he had recognized the issue, he would endeavor to fix it. Only time would tell how well that would work out. In any case, Elijah moved on to the next order of business. In order to complete the challenge, he¡¯d had to combine the three pieces of the broken Branch of the World Tree, then place them at the center of the fallen Druid circle. Doing so hadn¡¯t been difficult, largely because once the corrupted archdruid had died, much of the taint had dissipated. Upon completion, the powerful shards of crystal had disappeared, but he¡¯d gained a reward. With an exhausted sigh, he sat up and retrieved the item from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. Just looking at it, the thing didn¡¯t seem all that special, but when he focused on the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might, he was nearly overwhelmed by the dense ethera running through and surrounding it. If it was any weaker than the Ingot of Celestial Gold, he would have been extremely surprised. From a physical perspective, the shard was a foot-long chunk of cloudy crystal with jagged edges. The interior pulsed slightly with ethereal power, but in broad daylight, it wasn¡¯t really visible. More than that, though, Elijah could feel a connection with it. That shouldn¡¯t have been surprising, given the nature of the latest challenge. Though it had been corrupted, the Swamp of Ill Omen ¨C and the grove within ¨C had been tied to nature. So, it made sense that the reward would be as well. Still, Elijah wasn¡¯t ready to claim it as his until he¡¯d had Atticus inspect it. Sure, he¡¯d earned it, fair and square, but if it was something that would benefit one of his teammates more than him, he had no issues with turning it over. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t the cutthroat mentality that many would take, but Elijah knew that he would only go so far as his team. The stronger they were, the better his chances of completing every challenge within the Trial and gaining the real rewards at the end. Of course, it wasn¡¯t lost on him that he¡¯d managed to defeat one challenge on his own, but he expected that was the result of a very specific confluence of events. It wasn¡¯t likely that he would be able to rely on that sort of thing going forward. But mostly, Elijah was willing to share the wealth for one, simple reason. Earth was under siege. The Primal Realm in Hong Kong was unlikely to be the only such situation, and if they were going to overcome the dangers assailing their planet, then humans as a whole would need to grow much stronger. The first step in that direction was helping his companions. Finally, Elijah picked himself up and looked around. Without any more delay, he shifted into the Shape of the Predator and set off across the swamp. The further he got from the challenge, the better he felt. What¡¯s more, he could sense the changes in his Mind even more keenly with every step. One with Nature hadn¡¯t grown any stronger ¨C and in fact, the radius of effect had shrunk when he¡¯d lost his Staff of the First Dragon ¨C but the depth of his understanding had increased by a significant degree. He felt connected to his surroundings in a way he never had before. On top of that, his other senses had grown stronger as well. Was that a side effect of his Mind cultivation increasing to Jade? Or was it due to the acceptance of his bestial side? Elijah wasn¡¯t certain, but he was grateful for the change. The more information he had, the better. Gradually, he crossed the swamp until, nearly two days later, he found an expanse of solid ground stretching before him. That¡¯s when he finally thought it safe to take to the skies, and he circled the area for another couple of hours until, at last, he saw his companions. They were standing in the middle of a battlefield, surrounded by the bodies of hundreds of wraiths and dozens of large beasts. Clearly, the fight had ended only recently, because they still hadn¡¯t completely healed. Elijah landed a little ways away, then resumed his human form before approaching. He made certain to be as obvious as possible as he picked his way between the corpses. ¡°You¡¯re back, eh?¡± said Kurik. ¡°You get it done?¡± ¡°Why were you waving like that, bro?¡± ¡°The last thing I wanted was to surprise you when you¡¯re all geared up for battle,¡± he answered, lowering his hand self-consciously. ¡°And yeah. I finished it.¡± As he said that, he cast Healing Rain, then used Soothe on all of his companions. Once again, he was reminded that his spells weren¡¯t as powerful due to the loss of his Staff of the First Dragon, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about that for the moment. So, he pushed it out of his thoughts and began an explanation of everything that had happened. He skipped over the worst parts of the psychological torture he¡¯d endured, but he ended by saying, ¡°I don¡¯t think you all would have survived. The corruption in there¡­the only reason I wasn¡¯t overwhelmed was because of my cultivation.¡± ¡°Then that¡¯s something we need to address as soon as possible, isn¡¯t it?¡± asked Sadie, using some kind of putty to patch the cracks in her armor. It was almost to the point that even her efforts would be useless in keeping it together, but like his situation with his staff, she didn¡¯t have a good replacement. That¡¯s when he remembered his old Staff of the Serpent Healer. It had been cracked during a previous fight, but as far as he could tell, it still worked. The reason he¡¯d been so adamant about replacing it was because its augmentation was limited to healing spells and because he knew that one good hit would shatter it completely. Still, it was better than nothing for the time being. So, he pulled it out of his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and continued to heal. Meanwhile, he answered Sadie¡¯s question. ¡°I think that should be the next order of business,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s going to take a while to get anywhere, but it will be time well spent.¡± ¡°I need to go back to Nexus Town first,¡± Sadie said. The others voiced their agreement, and she continued, ¡°My armor is shot. It¡¯s not even providing any attributes anymore. So, I want to see if Atticus or his people can do something about it. Either repair or replace. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s more likely.¡± ¡°Sounds like a plan,¡± Elijah said. After that, they all focused on recovery until, once everyone was in good enough shape, they set off to find a better campsite. The next couple of days were spent in recuperation until they were well enough to trek across the jungle toward the Nexus Town. The trip took almost a week, during which they avoided any unnecessary fights. A little experience wouldn¡¯t go amiss, but none of them were in their best shape. Apparently, the group had spent the entire time he¡¯d been engaged with the challenge fighting against the local wildlife. They¡¯d even fought off a hunting party. The result was that they wanted to take a few days to rest before they pushed on. ¡°What is that?¡± asked Dat, pointing ahead. Elijah followed the gesture and saw a column of smoke snaking into the sky. ¡°That¡¯s in Nexus Town,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think they just decided to have a bonfire, either. Something is wrong.¡± Everyone agreed with that assessment, and they quickened their pace, hoping that they wouldn¡¯t find disaster when they reached the settlement. 5-78. Beware the Scarred Halima stared at the destruction, feeling strangely detached from the scene before her. Blood covered everything in her field of vision, and body parts were scattered in all directions. At some point, her clothing had been ripped to shreds, exposing her in every way imaginable, but as shameful as that was, she couldn¡¯t even spare a thought for her humiliation. Instead, she could only wonder one thing, to which she gave voice a moment later. ¡°Did I do this?¡± she asked in a rough voice. There was no one to answer, though, because she had killed them all. Almost a dozen people, dead by her hand, and she¡¯d only picked up a few small scratches, easily ignored. They wouldn¡¯t even leave scars, though even if they did, there was little chance anyone could have noticed. ¡°Halima,¡± came a gentle voice. ¡°Be calm. I am here.¡± She did not need to turn in order to know who had come. So, she said, ¡°I lost control, Al-Abadi. I¡­I did not intend to¡­¡± Halima let the words drift away as she dropped to her knees, tears flowing down her scarred cheeks. A moment later, Al-Abadi draped a cloth over her mostly naked body, and he put his arm around her. As she wept, her lord ¨C the Eternal One ¨C comforted her with his mere presence. She could feel the power wafting off of him, wrapping itself around her, and squeezing her tight. It reminded her of her husband¡¯s embrace. But he was gone, having been slain in the immediate aftermath of the world¡¯s transformation. Halima hated that she missed the coward. He¡¯d abandoned her almost immediately, leaving her to fend for herself as he ran from the monster who¡¯d invaded their home. It should not have been a surprise. Rami was no fighter, and he¡¯d proved his cowardice well before Earth felt the touch of the World Tree. She¡¯d simply been too blinded by love to see it. Now, he was gone, but the memory of their life together ¨C short as it was ¨C remained to taunt her with what might have been. If the world had not changed, perhaps she never would have been made to suffer for her husband¡¯s craven nature. Maybe they could have lived peacefully. Halima would have liked that. She had killed the beast that had slain Rami, and she had reaped the rewards. It was frightening, how quickly she had adapted to the new world. Killing. Fighting. Protecting. She had battled to guard her community against the ever-growing threats of their transformed world, and slowly, she¡¯d grown in power. Until the inevitable happened, and they were overrun by a tribe of feral goblins. These creatures were nothing like their more civilized cousins. Vicious and bestial, they were monsters with only the barest semblance of sapience. They¡¯d killed everyone but Halima, who¡¯d only survived because, once the others fell, she had fled. For miles and miles, she had traveled across the unfamiliar forests until she could run no more. That was when the goblins caught her. Most of the time, Halima didn¡¯t think about what they did to her. At the time, she¡¯d thought that torture was the pinnacle of pain. Now, she knew differently. Now, she had experienced true agony. But back then, she was soft. Weak. Her screams echoed through the forest, delighting those feral creatures. They poked and prodded, stabbed and cut. Bones were broken, and she gained her first scars. Then, her savior arrived. Al-Abadi, though he had not taken that title yet. He saved her. He and his men swept through the goblins like the vermin they were, and when all of those detestable creatures were dead, he made her an offer. Immortality, but at the price of loyalty. She agreed, and he held up his end of the bargain. Ever since, she¡¯d endeavored to give him everything she had. He was her savior. Her king. The Eternal One. And he deserved more than even she could give. ¡°Tell me what happened,¡± he said. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± she admitted. ¡°I was on patrol, and¡­and they attacked me. I think. I don¡¯t know if they struck first, but¡­¡± ¡°You must meditate on this,¡± Al-Abadi said. ¡°Your mind is not capable of handling the power you now wield.¡± ¡°Y-yes, my king,¡± she breathed through the tears. ¡°I will.¡± After that, they remained in place for a long while. That such an important man would stoop so low as to comfort one such as Halima ¨C it was the other reason he¡¯d earned her loyalty. Al-Abadi was not just a leader. He was more than a god. He was everything to Halima. And if he told her to meditate, then that was what she would do. Eventually, he guided her to her feet and escorted her back to the headquarters they had commandeered. No longer did they remain in the shadows, hiding on the outskirts of Nexus Town. Instead, they had established themselves as the rulers, controlling access to the Branch of the World Tree and punishing any who complained. Along the way, Halima saw dozens of new faces. Each one was hidden beneath a black mask, but she had grown accustomed to identifying people by other means. She didn¡¯t like that Al-Abadi had given so many the gift of Immortality. They didn¡¯t deserve it. They had not earned it. Not like her. Not like the brothers and sisters who¡¯d been with Al-Abadi for so long. But she was not one to question her lord¡¯s decisions. He was not perfect. Halima knew that. But she trusted him to do what was necessary, and to date, that faith had not been misplaced. As they passed through the headquarters ¨C which was a walled complex a few blocks away from the main square ¨C Halima couldn¡¯t help but notice the lack of respect Al-Abadi was given by the newcomers. They didn¡¯t even acknowledge his presence. Instead, they simply went about their tasks, as if they did not owe him everything. Her fists tightened. Her muscles locked up, swelling with power. And her teeth ground together with enough force that, even a few months before, they would have shattered under the pressure. Perhaps she would need to educate them as to proper etiquette when in the presence of their superiors. A storm of rage swirled in her mind. ¡°Be calm, Halima,¡± came Al-Abadi¡¯s soothing voice. ¡°Master yourself.¡± Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, pushing the unending current of rage deeper within her. Then, she let it out. In. Out. Over and over. She could feel dozens of eyes on her, though she could not be concerned with their meaningless attention. They didn¡¯t matter. There was only Al-Abadi¡¯s voice, her own willpower, and the eternal rage burning within her. Slowly ¨C ever so slowly ¨C she did as she was commanded and took control of her emotions. Finally, she opened her eyes to find that four other Immortals ¨C veterans who¡¯d been with Al-Abadi at least as long as her ¨C held her down. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. ¡°I am fine,¡± she said. ¡°Release me.¡± ¡°Do it,¡± Al-Abadi said. Halima¡¯s brothers and sisters complied, then backed away. At some point, the cloth covering her had been destroyed, torn to shreds by the sheer power flowing through her. She covered herself as best she could until someone draped another piece of cloth over her. Then, Al-Abadi escorted her through the lobby, up the stairs, and to the room she¡¯d been given as her own. Some of her things were there. A photo of her parents. A bracelet given to her by her late husband. Her wedding ring. They were all reminders of the consequences of weakness. Of what she¡¯d lost. And more, of what she had gained. ¡°Call for me if you need my help,¡± Al-Abadi said as he guided her to the bed. It was a luxurious thing, with a thick mattress and soft blankets made from the hide of some green-furred creature. ¡°I will not trouble you, Al-Abadi,¡± she said. ¡°You will if it is necessary. After everything you have endured, you deserve my undivided attention,¡± he said. An explosion from nearby sounded, and he sighed, ¡°But I cannot give that to you. You must master yourself, Halima. I believe in you.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± she said, her shoulders sagging as he left her to her own devices. Inevitably, her mind drifted to the circumstances that led to her situation. She was now different from all the others. She was more, even if she had the same two skills as all the others. Immortality was the same for everyone, and it was self-explanatory. With that ability, granted by Al-Abadi, she could not die. Recently, it had been put to the test, and despite the horrific circumstances, Immortality had proven itself worthy of the name. Diced up and fed to a monster, Halima had experienced pain unlike anything anyone should have ever been forced to endure. Days had passed. Weeks. And eventually, the skill won the battle. She had reformed, the ragged and digested pieces of her body coming together until, at last, she had clawed her way out of the beast¡¯s stomach. But she had been changed, and all because of her only other skill. Other than loyalty to Al-Abadi, that was the price of Immortality. With her survival, she had forfeited her class and archetype ¨C a trade she¡¯d never expected but had chosen to embrace. The same would eventually happen to all the others. It was only a matter of time. As she meditated, desperately trying to control her breathing, Halima looked at the skill¡¯s description:
Memories of the Past Each time the bearer of the skill takes lethal damage, they will be scarred. Every scar will add to their power, granting physical attributes based on the severity of the wound. Once enough scars have accumulated, class, archetype are forfeit.
For each scar she received, her power escalated, as evidenced by her overbearing status:
Name Halima Al-Zaben
Level N/A
Archetype N/A
Class N/A
Specialization N/A
Alignment M
Strength 439
Dexterity 501
Constitution 409
Ethera 0
Regeneration 0
Attunement N/A
Cultivation Stage: N/A
Body Core Mind Soul
N/A N/A N/A N/A
For some, such a status would have been extremely troubling. Before she¡¯d gained Immortality, Halima had been a Warrior, with a Blademaster class. Losing those had been quite a blow, especially in the wake of such a traumatic event. However, with everything that had happened, she knew that her attributes far exceeded anyone else¡¯s in the Trial. Before being captured and fed to that beast, her attributes had barely been a quarter of what they now were. Yet, Halima knew that her power had come at a great price. Not only had it resulted in the mysterious M that had appeared next to her alignment, but since she¡¯d torn free of that creature¡¯s stomach, she¡¯d struggled to control her rage. And finally, as she saw when she rose and looked at her reflection in the nearby window, the scars she bore were hideous. She was barely even recognizable as a human anymore, and certainly not as the pretty woman she¡¯d once been. Her body was almost entirely androgynous, marred by wicked scars, and completely devoid of anything familiar. But the power was there, coursing just under her hideous skin. And she would use that in service of her lord¡¯s will. Because now that she¡¯d lost everything else ¨C her husband, her friends, and now, her physical identity ¨C loyalty to her savior was the only thing she had left. Her hand lashed out, shattering the window into a thousand pieces. The explosion of force sent the shards far away, and her mind calmed. With another deep breath, she turned and crossed the room to the small chest at the foot of her bed. Opening it, she found one of her spare uniforms. She donned it, wrapping herself in all black before reaching down and grabbing the mask at the bottom. It was silver and molded into a demonic visage. That would mark her as different, Al-Abadi had said. It would mark her as superior. When she held it to her face, it affixed itself to her skin. No straps. No buckles. It was magical. With it came an influx of power as her attributes increased. Halima would have smiled, but her face didn¡¯t really move like that anymore. The best she could manage was a snarl. At the bottom of the chest were two shortswords, both billowing with ethera. She could not identify them, but Al-Abadi had told her they were Complex-Grade weapons. Fitting tools for the strongest among them, he¡¯d said. She took them reverently, as much because of their high quality as because they¡¯d been given by her lord. They were tokens of his affection. Of his commitment. And she treasured them accordingly. Finally, there was a pendant. It was also silver, with a simple word: eternal, written in Arabic. Fitting, because that was what she was. She slipped the chain around her neck, then tucked the pendant beneath her top. She was ready. And it was a good thing, too, because the fighting that had been ongoing for the past two weeks seemed to have reached a climax. It was time she lent her swords to the cause. 5-79. Neighbors Colt rammed his sword through the dark elf¡¯s chest until it burst from his back in a shower of blood. In the flickering light of the camp¡¯s fire, the viscera was dark ¨C almost black ¨C as it sprayed against the side of the cavern. He yanked his blade free and spun into a backhanded attack that sliced right through the figure¡¯s slim neck. His head tumbled free, and Colt ducked just in time to avoid getting a spear through the back of his neck. Without hesitation, he turned that duck into a roll that took him out of the path of a descending blade which struck the ground with enough force to cleave the rock. If he¡¯d been standing, the resulting shockwave would have caused a stumble. His roll terminated with a spring to his feet, and with Blade Sense, he could feel the impending arrival of yet another attack. He couldn¡¯t avoid it, so he raised his prosthetic ¨C it was made of high-grade metal and actually counted as a piece of equipment ¨C to block. The oncoming sword, powered by a slightly stockier dark elf, clanged against the fake hand, but Colt didn¡¯t feel its momentum. He still remembered the hand¡¯s description:
Hand of Might Overall Grade: Complex (Mid) Enchantment Grade: Complex (Low) Attribute Bonus: 5 Strength, 5 Dexterity Trait: Immovable
The attribute bonuses were incredible, but the real value was in its durability and the Immovable Trait:
Immovable When used to block incoming attacks, absorbs momentum.
Colt had tested it extensively, but he¡¯d yet to find any limits. Regardless of how much force was used, if an attack hit the Hand of Might, it stopped, and Colt wouldn¡¯t feel the repercussions. He expected that the only thing that could overcome that Trait was if the attack was strong enough to destroy the prosthetic altogether. The dark elves were a long way from managing that. As the sound of the blade meeting the Hand of Might echoed across the cavern, Colt responded with a vicious thrust that took the surprised elf in the gut. The blade wasn¡¯t really meant for thrusting, but with how much force Colt could bring to bear, it was good enough. And when he ripped the weapon free, dragging it to the side just a little, the single edge sliced a gaping wound in the elf¡¯s stomach. A second later, he was disemboweled. In Colt¡¯s experience, when it came to being gutted, it didn¡¯t matter whether the enemy was an experienced combatant. Once their intestines started hitting the ground, they panicked. Such was the case with this particular enemy, and as the elf tried to gather the slimy bits, Colt decapitated him. That gave him just a second to look around, and he was happy to find that Gwenivere, with her axe, had already taken one of the elves out and was well on her way to dispatching another. That left two more, both of which were racing toward Colt. Just as one reached him, he used Perfect Parry to deal with her attack. With that ability powering his own blade, he had no issue slapping the elf¡¯s blade strike away, and he countered with Light of the Crescent Moon. An ethereal white blade extended from his sweeping strike, bisecting the elf at the waist. Then, Colt used Wind of the Winged Serpent, hastening his steps so he could avoid the final elf¡¯s attack. It brushed past him, missing only by inches before Colt used Storm of the Sword Saint. A thousand attacks hit the elf, all at once. To his credit, he blocked a couple of them, but he could do nothing but try to endure the rest. His Constitution was not up to the task. He was shredded, and when he fell, he did so in meaty and unrecognizable chunks. That was the power of the evolved version of Blade Storm. The path he¡¯d chosen sacrificed breadth for concentration. Before he¡¯d evolved the ability, he could have filled the tunnel with invisible blades, though they were considerably weaker. Now, Storm of the Sword Saint could only affect a singular target, but with incredible potency. He wondered if even someone like Elijah in his guardian form could stand against it. A question he hoped to never have answered. Just as Colt stepped up to help Gwenivere with the final enemy, she dispatched it with a powerful overhand strike that took the dark elf by surprise. But she didn¡¯t kill him. Instead, she opted to sever his arm at the shoulder. The shock of dismemberment opened him up to a brutal kick in the knee, followed by Gwenivere hitting him with a shoulder-charge that sent him to the ground. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. He cried out in pain, but the woman didn¡¯t let that affect her. Instead, she wore an expression of grim determination as she raised her blood-covered axe. ¡°Wait,¡± Colt drawled. To her credit, she did just that, and her hesitation raised her status in Colt¡¯s eyes. He knew that many fighters lost themselves to battle lust, and while he didn¡¯t deride anyone who opted for that route, he had difficulty respecting it. To him, a warrior should be cold. Calculated. Precise. Rage didn¡¯t lend itself to those things. And he was glad to see that Gwenivere remained in control. ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°Need to interrogate ¡®im,¡± he said, sauntering forward. As he did so, he checked to ensure that the others were dead. He¡¯d gotten some experience already, but in the heat of battle, it was sometimes difficult to distinguish between sources. So, not wanting to fall prey to an elf with a powerful regenerative ability, he opted for a manual inspection. But they were all dead, and as Colt slid his sword into each chest, he crossed the room. When he reached the fallen elf, he knelt down, saying, ¡°Can fix that for ya. You won¡¯t grow the arm back, but we could keep ya alive. But we¡¯re gonna need somethin¡¯ in return, hoss. Tell us where you came from, how many others there are, and why you¡¯re kidnappin¡¯ miners, and I¡¯ll make sure you live through this.¡± ¡°I will tell you nothing, human,¡± the elf spat. ¡°Well, damn.¡± Colt didn¡¯t hesitate before whipping his sword toward the elf¡¯s neck and decapitating him. ¡°What? You killed him?¡± Gwenivere half-shouted. ¡°He was a prisoner and ¨C¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no Geneva Convention down here,¡± Colt said. ¡°He wasn¡¯t gonna tell us anything, and we don¡¯t have the ability to take prisoners.¡± ¡°He still might have told us something.¡± ¡°You and I both know that ain¡¯t true. You saw it in his eyes, same as me. We could¡¯ve tortured him for a month, and we wouldn¡¯t have gotten a damn thing out of him.¡± ¡°That might be true, but ¨C¡± ¡°Maybe you think it ain¡¯t right. In a perfect world, we could¡¯ve tied ¡®im up and took him back to Ironshore. Locked him up for a good long while. Maybe given ¡®im a trial. But that ain¡¯t how this has to work, and you know it. You knew it when we came down here,¡± Colt said. While most western codes of honor would frown on the execution of prisoners, Bushido allowed for it in certain contexts. Colt felt certain that he¡¯d acted within the bounds of his code. Gwenivere clearly recognized that she wasn¡¯t going to change his mind, so she asked, ¡°What now?¡± ¡°Search the bodies,¡± Colt said. ¡°Take anything valuable. See if there¡¯s anything on ¡®em that might tell us what¡¯s goin¡¯ on. These people had to come from somewhere, right? This ain¡¯t like those orcs Ironshore fought way back when. These are people, just like us.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re hostile, too. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have taken the miners,¡± Gwenivere pointed out as she knelt beside the prisoner. The girl showed a remarkable ability to simply move on, even if she disagreed with what had happened. ¡°I agree,¡± Colt said. ¡°But we won¡¯t know more ¡®til we find where they came from.¡± With that, they searched the bodies. They found a handful of items that Colt judged might be worth something ¨C a couple of rings, a necklace, and one of the weapons ¨C but otherwise, their equipment was no better than Simple-Grade. Not worth taking, considering their limited carrying capacity. ¡°Found something,¡± Gwenivere announced. She held up a roll of leather. She unfurled it, saying, ¡°I think it¡¯s a map of these tunnels.¡± Colt frowned. From his experiences in the Silverado mine as well as his conversations with Carissa and Carmen, he knew that the world had been changed in more ways than were obvious from the surface. Carissa in particular had explained that her own home world had multiple subterranean levels containing entire biomes, and the underground portion was at least as expansive as the surface. The deeper one got ¨C or closer to the planet¡¯s core ¨C the more dangerous the wildlife. Sometimes, there were even towers or primal realms down there, though their presence was much rarer beneath ground level. Those thoughts flashed through Colt¡¯s mind as he looked at the map with Gwenivere, and after a few moments, he said, ¡°This ain¡¯t good at all. You seein¡¯ what I see?¡± ¡°I am,¡± she said. Indeed, the map confirmed Colt¡¯s fears that the miners had tapped into one of these subterranean biomes. What¡¯s more, the map seemed to suggest that the dark elves had a sizable settlement down there ¨C perhaps one even larger than Ironshore ¨C and they¡¯d created multiple gates to guard the way. ¡°Drustwyn,¡± he said, staring at the settlement on the map. ¡°What do we do?¡± asked Gwenivere. ¡°Should we go back and tell the mayor what we found?¡± ¡°We push on,¡± Colt said. ¡°These dark elves took those miners. I guarantee it. You saw how they attacked the second we showed ourselves. They¡¯d have taken us too if they could¡¯ve. I think we can safely label them the enemy.¡± And that meant that a conflict between them and Ironshore was inevitable. Perhaps if they hadn¡¯t proven themselves so hostile, a truce ¨C or even an alliance ¨C might¡¯ve been possible. But now? ¡°I think this is going to end badly,¡± Gwenivere said. ¡°You ain¡¯t wrong,¡± Colt muttered. ¡°We were hired to do a job, though, and I¡¯m damn well gonna do it. Them miners need to be saved, and we¡¯re gonna save ¡®em.¡± ¡°And if they¡¯re already dead?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Then we do the other thing.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± ¡°Can¡¯t save ¡®em, avenge ¡®em,¡± he stated. ¡°Can¡¯t let ¡®em get away with this.¡± While Colt wholeheartedly supported that notion, he was no fool. He had no intention of simply charging in and hoping he could overcome an entire city¡¯s worth of dark elves. Instead, he only wanted to scout things out and hopefully find the missing miners. Once they accomplished that goal, he intended to reassess the situation and, if rescue was possible, mount a mission to recover them. More likely, he and Gwenivere would retreat once they had all the pertinent information. It was not a great plan, but the situation wasn¡¯t ideal. So, without further ado, he and Gwenivere set off through the tunnels, following the map they¡¯d so fortunately acquired. Along the way, they encountered a few more lycosects and other aggressive beasts, but with every mile they traveled, the wildlife grew sparser. Then, they rounded a corner and saw their quarry. The tunnel had narrowed to only a few dozen feet across, and it was barred by a giant gate that looked like it belonged to a fortress. It was lit by a series of smokeless torches and guarded by a dozen dark elves. And those were just the ones Colt could see. Blade Sense only worked at a distance of about ten feet, so he had to rely on more mundane senses. But even those told Colt that rushing that gate was a bad idea. Gwenivere confirmed that when she whispered, ¡°Those two in front are the lowest level at sixty. The only other one I could inspect was sixty-three.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one with the fancy armor, right?¡± Colt asked, nodding toward the dark elf in question. His armor was silver trimmed in blood red, and he had a massive sword strapped to his back. Gwenivere nodded. Colt indicated that they should retreat, and they did so as quietly as they could manage. Once they were almost a mile away, they stopped, and he said, ¡°This ain¡¯t somethin¡¯ we can handle alone.¡± She let out a relieved sigh. ¡°I was hoping you¡¯d ¨C¡± Just then, a clatter echoed down the tunnel, emanating from the direction they¡¯d just come. Only a moment later, the silver-armored dark elf rounded the corner and shouted, ¡°Fiends!¡± Colt considered running. But he knew that would be impossible. The dark elves knew the tunnels far better than he or Gwenivere, and they seemed much more comfortable beneath the ground. With that in mind, there were only two options ¨C a fighting retreat or a straight-ahead clash. Colt knew which one he preferred, but he wouldn¡¯t put Gwenivere into such a situation. ¡°Run,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯ll hold ¡®em off.¡± ¡°What? No. Don¡¯t be stupid. There¡¯s only¡­ten of them. We got that.¡± Colt was about to argue, but there was no time. So, he unsheathed his sword, shifted his feet, and prepared to meet the dark elf¡¯s charge. 5-80. The Inevitability of Conflict Oscar Ramirez leaped to the side, then slammed his hatchet into the creature¡¯s forehead. It fell, but he knew from experience that it wouldn¡¯t last. Escobar barked, and with each sound came a softball-sized mass of roiling fire that slammed into the fallen creature. The smell of sizzling meat filled the air, mingling with the scent of blood, emptied bowels, and fear. ¡°Burn them all,¡± Oscar commanded. Escobar barked gleefully, and ethera gathered before a giant ball of fire appeared high above. Oscar and his pack knew better than to be there when it fell, so even as it grew, he and the others dashed away. By the time they¡¯d reached the other side of the square, Escobar¡¯s spell had completed. The meteor fell. And everything within a hundred feet of the impact was vaporized. Oscar had seen that spell ¨C only available once a week ¨C destroy even the most powerful monsters. And yet, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The five dead bodies were melted beyond all recognition, but that would not be enough. He called to his pack, and they retreated through Nexus Town. With Canine Senses, he could smell dozens of people hiding within the surrounding buildings, and he saw with his own eyes the aftermath of hundreds of battles. The once-pristine settlement now played host to more than a hundred dead bodies, and many of the buildings surrounding the square were covered in blood. A few had even been destroyed altogether, leaving only piles of rubble behind. That was a testament to just how furious the battles had been. Those buildings were far more durable than they would have been back on Earth ¨C at least from what Oscar had seen ¨C so to see them so thoroughly destroyed was quite a shock. Not that he could concern himself with that. Instead, he guided his pack through the settlement, letting Jojo and Digby scout the way ahead. With Pack Bond, he could communicate with them on the most basic level. They didn¡¯t use words, but rather, did so through mental impressions, scents, and body language. Oscar didn¡¯t know how he interpreted it all so accurately, but he accepted it nonetheless. Jojo zipped in, letting him know that the way was clear, and together, the pack found sanctuary on the outskirts of town. Once they were safe, Oscar settled down to think. As he did so, he used Pack Mending, and his family was encapsulated by an aura of regeneration. It wasn¡¯t as miraculous as what some of the Healers he¡¯d seen in town manage, but it was enough to push everyone back to good condition. ¡°They got you too, huh?¡± came a voice from the door. Oscar was on his feet in a second, and the pack responded just as quickly. Jackson and Sophie took the lead, while Ray and Maymay sank to the back of the room. Oscar could feel ethera swirling around them both, and he knew that they were preparing to depower the intruder via various spells that would negatively affect the man¡¯s attributes or restrict his movement. At the same time, Digby circled around, already embracing stealth, and Freddy let out a long, low growl as he prepared to pounce. Finally, Escobar let out a bark, a tendril of smoke curling up from his mouth. ¡°I come in peace,¡± said the newcomer, raising his hands. That didn¡¯t assuage Oscar¡¯s suspicion. The man looked disheveled, as if he¡¯d recently been in a fight. His flowing white shirt was ripped in multiple places, and he had blood on his cheek. It made him look like a Hollywood actor who¡¯d just finished an action scene. Just enough damage to tell the audience that he¡¯d been in a fight, but not so much as to mar his looks. Oscar immediately distrusted the man. ¡°What do you want?¡± he growled, using Pack Bond to tell his family not to act prematurely. A fight was still on the table, but not until the man proved he was hostile. When that happened, they would destroy him. The one thing that truly held Oscar back was that the newcomer didn¡¯t smell like one of the unkillable monsters. Instead, he smelled like something else. Something sickly sweet, with a tinge of sulfur that put Oscar on edge. He didn¡¯t like it. Not one little bit. ¡°Strength in numbers?¡± the man suggested with a shrug and a small smile. ¡°I know you¡¯ve been fighting them. So have I. Ruined my favorite shirt, in fact. Why don¡¯t we work together?¡± ¡°Why do you smell like that?¡± ¡°Like what?¡± the man asked. He lifted an arm and gave a sniff. ¡°I admit that it¡¯s been a few days since I had the opportunity to shower, but ¨C¡± ¡°Like rotten eggs and fruit that¡¯s been left out too long. It¡¯s a deep smell. It¡¯s¡­part of you.¡± ¡°Oh. That.¡± ¡°Explain or leave.¡± Left unsaid was that Oscar¡¯s pack was more than ready to end the man. It wasn¡¯t a fight Oscar wanted ¨C he tried to avoid killing people if possible ¨C but sometimes it was necessary. And after everything he¡¯d seen over the past two days, he was more willing to trust his nose than his eyes. He didn¡¯t believe the newcomer was one of the monsters-in-human-skin, but he could never be sure, especially when Canine Senses told him to be wary. ¡°It¡¯s my core. I had an opportunity to take a step forward with my cultivation, and I took it,¡± the man said, idly running a hand through his black hair. ¡°I was visited by a member of an elder race. He helped me, but in exchange, it changed some of my abilities. I think it might have changed even more than that, but I can¡¯t be sure.¡± Oscar didn¡¯t know anything about elder races, but he certainly understood the importance of core cultivation. When he¡¯d taken the first step, it had increased his power by a significant degree, so he couldn¡¯t blame anyone for using whatever methods they had available to do the same. Even if it meant they¡¯d have to deal with the stink. ¡°What is your name?¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Benedict,¡± the man said. ¡°I was ¨C¡± Just then, the wall exploded, sending shards of stone flying in every direction. Oscar had already been keyed up for battle, so he quickly embraced Pack Empowerment. It was a simple spell that would increase his family¡¯s attributes by a few points in every category. But that was only the beginning. He also used Feral Speed, increasing their haste. And finally, he let out a Bestial Howl.
Bestial Howl Call to your pack, increasing the potency of their abilities. Increase based on caster¡¯s Ethera attribute. Current, 14.3%.
Jackson and Sophie dashed in, putting themselves between the figure who¡¯d broken through the wall and the rest of the pack. As they did so, they were enveloped by a blue shimmer of an ethereal shield. Even as the enemy ¨C one of the mangled humanoid monsters that called themselves Immortals ¨C let out a roar of anger, the whole of its attention fell on the guardian dogs. It attacked, but the pair of rottweiler mixes held firm, returning its blows with strikes of their own. The whole time, they continued to bark, keeping the monster¡¯s attention on them. Jojo sliced in, biting the creature¡¯s ankles. Digby suddenly appeared from behind, taking a big chunk of its hamstrings before once again disappearing. Ray and Maymay cast spells to hinder its movements and lower its attributes, while Freddy attacked head on, moving with such ferocity that he became a blur. And then, Escobar started to cast. ¡°No!¡± Oscar shouted. If the little chihuahua used his spells in such an enclosed space, everyone would be burned. Escobar let out a yip, then cut off his channeling. A second later, a much weaker ball of fire emerged from his mouth, slamming into the monster a moment later. It screamed in an entirely too-human way, but Oscar knew better than to believe his ears. He had seen enough from the detestable creatures to know that they could not be people. They were monsters, through and through. His eyes told him that, as did his nose. But they were also powerful, with physical abilities that far exceeded what Oscar would expect from them. His senses said they were much lower-leveled than him, and yet, in a contest of pure attributes, they would win every time. It made no sense, but over the past two days, he¡¯d learned to accept that he was missing something. In any case, Oscar and his pack piled on the damage, but not without consequence. The creature lashed out, breaking through Jackson¡¯s shield and sending him crashing backward into a wall. He yelped as he hit hard enough to break bones, but as much as Oscar wished otherwise, there was nothing else he could do for his pack member. Pack Mending was still active, which he hoped would be enough to ensure there was no lasting damage. More troubling was that Jackson¡¯s situation opened a hole in their strategy, exposing the more vulnerable members of the pack to their enemy¡¯s reprisal. Seeing that, Oscar rushed ahead to take Jackson¡¯s place on the front line. He didn¡¯t have the dog¡¯s abilities as a defender, but he did have much higher attributes. He attacked with his hatchets, the thick blades digging into the monster¡¯s body. He did significant damage with each attack ¨C all of which were enhanced by Wolf¡¯s Bite ¨C but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The monster kept coming, battering both Oscar and Sophie with his simple, if effective attacks. Then, there were more fireballs in the air than Escobar could cast. A quick glance back told him that four tiny creatures ¨C no bigger than toddlers, but far uglier ¨C had joined the fight. Every second saw another fireball from each enter the fray, and they all hit the monster with sizzling power. In addition, Benedict hadn¡¯t remained idle, and ethera swirled around him as he cast one spell after another. Oscar had no idea what any of them did ¨C at least until he realized that the monster had slowed considerably. More than Ray or Maymay could cause. Every few moments, the man threw out a beam of darkness that cut into monster, but still, the creature just kept coming. It screamed in rage ¨C or pain, perhaps ¨C its mangled face frozen in an expression that made it even uglier than ever. For long minutes, the battle raged on, and Oscar and his pack ¨C along with their ally ¨C held their own. However, with every passing moment, it became clear that they simply didn¡¯t have the firepower to disable the monster. What¡¯s more, Oscar knew that even if they won, it was only temporary. The monster would rise, regardless of how much damage they did. And it would be even stronger when it did. Just when he was on the verge of calling for a retreat, everything changed. A huge sword cut into the monster¡¯s shoulder, slicing through its torso all the way down to its hip. Then, a reptilian beast appeared on the monster¡¯s back, biting into its neck. A half-dozen crossbow bolts hit it a second later, followed by a larger arrow sprouting from its skull. The beast suddenly transformed, becoming a man who leaped away from it and cast a spell. Rain fell from the ceiling, and when it hit Oscar¡¯s back, he felt rejuvenated. ¡°Hack it to pieces!¡± the man shouted. ¡°What do you think I¡¯m doing?!¡± said the wielder of the sword. She was a beautiful Asian woman in ragged armor, and she smelled as pleasant as Benedict was foul. True to her word, she wrenched her sword free of the now-crippled monster and attacked it again. This time, the blade went all the way through, cutting the creature into two pieces. But she didn¡¯t stop there. Nor did Oscar¡¯s pack, who saw the weakened enemy for what it was. They ripped into it, biting and clawing until its body was no more than a pile of shredded meat and shattered bone. ¡°It¡¯ll be back,¡± Oscar growled as another man ¨C this one was bearded, wearing a sparkly robe and carrying what looked like a fairy wand ¨C stepped into the ruined building. He zeroed in on Jackson, who still lay whimpering on the floor, and cast a spell. Through Pack Sense, Oscar could tell feel the dog¡¯s injuries healing. ¡°We know,¡± said the man who¡¯d once been a reptile. ¡°We¡¯ll be gone by then. And hey Benny. Long time no see. Are those demons? They look like demons.¡± ¡°The unworthy one speaks to master! May we burn him?¡± demanded the foursome of tiny, foul-smelling creatures. ¡°No,¡± said Benedict, running his hand through his hair. ¡°Guess I have some explaining to do.¡± The woman stepped forward, and Oscar could see killing intent in her glare. He stepped backward. He had nothing to do with any of these people, and he had no intention of picking sides in what seemed to be an ongoing conflict. The short man reached out to grab her shoulder. ¡°Not now,¡± he said. ¡°Let him explain.¡± ¡°He consorts with demons,¡± she spat. ¡°Foul and ¨C¡± ¡°Not. Now. We have enough problems without adding to them unnecessarily. If he¡¯s evil, we¡¯ll deal with it, but I think he¡¯s earned the right to explain himself,¡± said the reptile-man. He smelled like power. Strength. Domineering in a way Oscar had never experienced. He wanted nothing more than to tuck his tail between his legs and slink away. So did the rest of his pack, save for Escobar, who seemed to take the man¡¯s presence as a challenge. What¡¯s more, Oscar recognized him, though the last time they¡¯d met, he hadn¡¯t felt quite so¡­overbearing. There must have been a story there. ¡°Fine,¡± said the woman, flipping her hair back. ¡°But the moment he betrays us ¨C and he will because that is the nature of those who would consort with demons ¨C I will destroy him. Of that, you can be sure.¡± The domineering man let out a sigh. ¡°Fine. One big happy family, I guess. Let¡¯s go before this one recovers.¡± And with that, he and his companions left. Benedict looked conflicted before shrugging and following. His¡­demons¡­weren¡¯t far behind. And at last, Oscar went, too. Perhaps they had an answer to the Immortal monsters who¡¯d come to plague Nexus Town. If not, then he would flee. 5-81. People and Monsters ¡°Master, it looks at us with ire!¡± spat one of the little demons as it hopped from one pile of rubble to the next, clearly incapable of standing still. ¡°Make it stop!¡± ¡°Deal with it,¡± muttered Benedict with a shake of his head. He shrugged at Elijah, then apologized before saying, ¡°They¡¯re a little odd.¡± That was definitely true. The four creatures looked similar enough that Elijah had some difficulty telling them apart, especially when they never stopped moving. But as much as they¡¯d tossed glares his way, they didn¡¯t seem terribly hostile ¨C to him, at least. The same could not be said for Sadie or Dat, who were the subject of quite a lot of animosity from the demons. That ire was reciprocated, and Elijah knew that if the circumstances had allowed for it, the two would have slaughtered the demons. And Benedict as well, now that they had seen his nature. Thankfully, they were both capable ¨C Dat more than Sadie ¨C of pushing their feelings aside for the greater good. Even so, Elijah knew it was only a matter of time before they erupted into violence, but he had no idea how to deal with it. Angels and Demons were mortal enemies, to the point where they naturally hated one another even without any other information. But even with all of that, Elijah was far more interested in two other things. First, there was Oscar Ramirez and his dog pack. He¡¯d gotten a glimpse of how they fought, and he was incredibly impressed with how much power and versatility they could bring to bear. Even that small glimpse had made it clear just how Oscar had remained near the top of Earth¡¯s power rankings. It did beg the question of what the system thought of the dogs, though. To Elijah, they didn¡¯t feel quite like guardians, monsters, or beasts. Nor did they seem like people. Instead, they were somewhere in between, and what¡¯s more, they were obviously intelligent. Most of all, though, they were adorable, and Elijah wanted nothing more than to sit on the ground and be buried under a blanket of happy dogs. The situation wouldn¡¯t allow for that, though, which brought him to the other thing that interested him. He¡¯d felt the Immortal that had attacked Oscar and Benedict, and he could say without a shadow of a doubt that they had been a monster on par with the hydra or the spider he¡¯d fought so long ago. But that was impossible, wasn¡¯t it? Not that long ago, they¡¯d all been people. Now¡­now, they were something else. At least some of them were. It just didn¡¯t make sense. After a few more minutes, they found their way out of the Nexus Town and proceeded to travel a couple more miles before Elijah announced that they¡¯d reached a relatively safe area. Once there, they deployed their precautions ¨C including Elijah¡¯s monster-repelling tent ¨C and settled down for a long discussion. Ron asked the most obvious question. ¡°What the hell is going on? What happened?¡± Oscar shook his head, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He spoke with a thick Spanish accent, though Elijah got the impression that the system wasn¡¯t translating. He also had one of the larger dogs draped across his lap, where it was contentedly snoring. The others ¨C all except the chihuahua, who was staring back the way they¡¯d come ¨C were sprawled all around the man. ¡°I think¡­I don¡¯t know how they got the way they are, but they feel¡­wrong.¡± ¡°They are, bro,¡± Dat said, sitting next to Sadie. He¡¯d settled down a little, but the woman was very much on edge. She hadn¡¯t taken her eyes from Benedict, who sat as far away as possible, since they¡¯d stopped. ¡°My skill says they¡¯re monsters. They don¡¯t have classes or levels, either. Just¡­a lot of attributes. It¡¯s something to do with their scars.¡± ¡°Why do you say that?¡± asked Ron. ¡°That¡¯s what my skill said. ¡®Beware the scarred,¡¯ it told me,¡± Dat explained. ¡°I think¡­I think they get stronger each time they survive something that should have killed them.¡± ¡°This ain¡¯t good,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°This is really, really bad.¡± ¡°What? Do you know something?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I¡¯ve heard some stories, but until now, I didn¡¯t think they were true,¡± Kurik said. ¡°But seein¡¯ what I just saw, I think some of our legends might be more historical than they seemed when I was young.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°These Immortals, they bear a strikin¡¯ resemblance to one of our myths. There was this dwarf, she was an outcast even before she got her class. Name of Turi.¡± ¡°Just Turi? No surname?¡± asked Ron. ¡°Not in the story. She had a title, though. Turi the Undying. She took the Tactician archetype, you see? Her parents and the other outcasts, they were tired of bein¡¯ shunned by the rest of the clans. So, they prepared her for war, teachin¡¯ her everything she needed to know ¡®bout battle. But after she got that class, they were raided. Only a few escaped. And then, while she was on the run, she got her class. ¡°It was called Eternal Lord,¡± Kurik went on. ¡°Or that¡¯s what the myth said. Stories have a tendency to twist things around, though. In the story, she had the ability to grant immortality to her people. They had to agree to it. That¡¯s how all Tacticians work. They only have authority over people who¡¯re loyal to ¡®em. ¡°Anyway, after she got that class, she built her forces up, only usin¡¯ her skill on the best of the best. Then, they attacked one of her old clan¡¯s outposts, and let me tell you, when powerful people can¡¯t die, it makes fightin¡¯ a foregone conclusion. They massacred ¡®em, which only brought her more followers. On and on it went for years as she swept across the continent. ¡°But then things started to change, and it became clear why most civilized worlds keep an eye out for that kind of class,¡± the dwarf said with a gruff sigh. ¡°Immortality ain¡¯t cheap. It took a lot of ethera to grant it to her followers, but nobody knew the real cost. Nobody could have, ¡®cause those kinds of classes are shut down the second anyone in charge finds ¡®em.¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°They lose everything,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Every time that blessing keeps ¡®em from dyin¡¯, they lose a little bit of whatever makes ¡®em people. And if it happens enough, they cross the line into bein¡¯ monsters. But they don¡¯t lose their minds. Not altogether. They¡¯re still in there, and they¡¯re still mostly in control, except for the worst of the worst. Those people lose their classes. Their levels. They lose control, becomin¡¯ rabid monsters who only want to do their masters¡¯ bidding. They¡¯re no different from summoned minions, at that point.¡± ¡°How did the story end?¡± Ron asked. ¡°With a whole lot of death. Those monsters might be immortal, but Turi wasn¡¯t. It took an alliance between all the clans, but they eventually fought through her minions and killed her. And that was only possible ¡®cause the minions couldn¡¯t really advance, other than to get stronger each time they should¡¯ve died,¡± he explained. ¡°If this is like that, it ain¡¯t good. We should get out of this Trial as soon as we can.¡± ¡°That sounds like what I saw,¡± Benedict added. ¡°The ones I¡¯ve fought were stronger than they should have been.¡± ¡°Perhaps you were simply too weak. Too craven. Too demonic,¡± Sadie spat. ¡°I should kill you right now, just to rid this jungle of your foul stench.¡± ¡°You are more than welcome to try, Angel. I must warn you that it will not be as easy as you suppose.¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You two don¡¯t like one another. I understand that, even if I think it¡¯s silly, given that before you knew about your cores, you were fine with each other. Maybe you should look into that before you start killing people based on what kind of core they have.¡± Sadie started to say something, but Elijah continued over her, ¡°Regardless, our backs are against the wall here, right? We can¡¯t afford to overlook any potential alliances. So, let¡¯s work together at least long enough to figure out how to deal with this situation.¡± Left unsaid was that if the Angels and Demon couldn¡¯t get along ¨C at least for a while ¨C Elijah would simply walk away. And Kurik and Ron would likely come with him. Sadie had clearly seen enough to recognize just how unlikely she was to survive going it alone, so she went silent. However, Elijah could still hear her teeth grinding together. Meanwhile, Benedict said, ¡°I have no issues working together.¡± ¡°Good. Then, we need to figure out what we¡¯re going to do here. I¡¯m not willing to leave the Trial. So, I think we should just head off into the wilderness and create a base of operations well away from Nexus Town. Then, we can ¨C¡± ¡°They have hostages,¡± Oscar said. ¡°What?¡± ¡°The Immortals took custody of all the crafters and non-combatants, and they¡¯ve been forcing them to work for them,¡± he explained. ¡°That¡¯s what started all of this. They were trying to negotiate something with a group of crafters, and things went wrong. After that, the Immortals took over. There was a lot of fighting, but when the enemy can¡¯t die¡­¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± Elijah muttered, knowing that the crafters in question were probably Atticus¡¯ people. It wasn¡¯t a certainty, but as far as he knew, there was only one organized group of non-combatants in Nexus Town, and they were led by his friend. ¡°Survivors?¡± ¡°Most of them surrendered after their guards were cut down,¡± Oscar stated. At that, Ron shook his head. ¡°Those people chose to stay in Nexus Town because they thought it was safe. Even the guards just wanted an opportunity to make connections and get some decent equipment. This is my fault. I should have stayed in ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re not responsible for this,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°Yeah, bro. You didn¡¯t do anything wrong.¡± ¡°Tell that to all the people I failed,¡± the Healer said. Then, he added, ¡°We have to save them.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t intend on abandoning them, and I don¡¯t think anyone else here is either,¡± Elijah said, looking from one person to the next. Predictably, the rest of his group all wore steely expressions of grim determination. They¡¯d all befriended Atticus, to one extent or another, and they were not the sort of people to leave a friend in need. Even Benedict seemed entirely willing. The only outlier was Oscar, who said, ¡°I don¡¯t know these people. They don¡¯t know me. I want to help, but¡­I will not risk my pack for nothing. Do you have a plan?¡± ¡°Not yet,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But Dat and I are going to go back into town and scout things out. Hopefully, we¡¯ll figure it out by then.¡± After that, no one had much else to say. So, once everyone had a chance to recover from the previous battle ¨C Oscar and Benedict had incurred a few wounds ¨C Elijah approached Sadie and asked, ¡°Can I speak to you in private?¡± She nodded and followed him a few dozen yards away. The spot Elijah had chosen for the conversation was a small clearing that played host to a lightning-struck tree. It was twisted and black, but Elijah could feel a pulse of life deep beneath the surface. It was down ¨C nearly dead ¨C but it refused to give in. Elijah could relate. ¡°What do you want, Elijah?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I want to know that you¡¯re not going to fly off the handle,¡± he said. ¡°I realize that your skill affects you, that you can¡¯t always control it. But ¨C¡± ¡°I can control it just fine.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°It was weeks before you could look at me with anything other than disgust,¡± he said. ¡°Even now, it feels like you¡¯re looking for a reason to hate me. And I get it. I can be difficult to like. But I¡¯ve done nothing to hurt you in any way. This isn¡¯t about me, though. This is about Benny.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t do that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Give him a little nickname to make him seem less dangerous than he is,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Do you know what I see when I look at him?¡± ¡°Something similar to what you see when you look at me?¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s worse. So, so much worse. I don¡¯t know how I missed it before,¡± she explained. ¡°I think he must have an ability that masks his demonic nature. Those things he has with him¡­I have some experience with summoners, and I know something of what¡¯s required to cast those spells. Each is the result of at least one sacrifice. Perhaps more, given their power.¡± ¡°Power? Those little things?¡± ¡°Imps are fragile, but they can cast potent spells. That is beside the point, Elijah. I have spoken to you about Sense of Sin. It tells me that you have killed many people. I have tried to look past it, but¡­¡± ¡°But it¡¯s hard. I¡¯ve had similar issues in the past,¡± Elijah said, thinking back to his reactions to the bear guardian¡¯s death, what felt like a lifetime ago. In addition, his initial impressions of Ironshore had been colored by his biased perspective. The attunement to nature gave him quite a few advantages, but it also influenced him in many unforeseen ways. The same was assuredly true of Sadie¡¯s attunement ¨C whatever it was ¨C and her Angel Core. The Sense of Sin ability just made it more overt. ¡°The fact is that we can¡¯t afford to let our biases influence us here. Benedict is powerful, especially if those imps are as strong as you say. Even without them, he could influence a battle. And he¡¯s already helped us.¡± ¡°While lying through his teeth. You don¡¯t sincerely believe that demon we encountered in the junkyard was unrelated to him, do you? His story was a lie. Likely, he attacked those people first,¡± Sadie guessed. ¡°We don¡¯t know that.¡± ¡°He is a demon. That should speak for itself,¡± Sadie countered. Elijah sighed. ¡°Regardless, I need to know that you¡¯re not going to try to kill him the second my back is turned,¡± he said. ¡°We need as much help as we can get right now. Atticus and his people won¡¯t survive otherwise. Just don¡¯t attack him unless he makes the first move.¡± ¡°You ask much.¡± ¡°I know. Do it for Atticus. For those innocent crafters.¡± ¡°There is no such thing as innocence,¡± she responded. ¡°However, I will agree to this under one condition.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°When the time comes ¨C and it will ¨C you will help me put the demon down,¡± she said. ¡°I will not attack except in retaliation, but I am certain that this alliance will end poorly. When it does, I expect you to be on the right side.¡± ¡°Always,¡± Elijah said, though he wasn¡¯t certain that his interpretation of right and wrong was the same as Sadie¡¯s. Whatever the case, now that he¡¯d ensured that she wouldn¡¯t murder the man outright, he and Dat had a job to do. So, without further ado, Elijah headed back to the temporary camp, gathered the Witch Hunter, and set out for Nexus Town. 5-82. Outmatched Nexus Town had never been densely populated. Even a few weeks after the Trial of Primacy had begun, only a few areas had been occupied. However, as Elijah and Dat entered the settlement, a pall of abandonment hung over everything. That wasn¡¯t helped by the sight of occasional fallen buildings or the plumes of smoke curling toward the sky in the distance. Elijah crept forward, keeping an eye on Dat via One with Nature. According to the Witch Hunter, he had two different stealth abilities. One was the normal sort, which Elijah could bypass ¨C so long as he was paying attention ¨C but the other completely removed Dat from his senses. It was a good reminder that, no matter how powerful he thought he was, there was always the chance that someone would be the perfect counter to his abilities. Regardless, the pair progressed through the town, passing occasional clumps of hiding people. Some were injured, but as much as Elijah wanted to stop and help, he knew his assistance would be counterproductive in the long run. He was on a reconnaissance mission, and he couldn¡¯t allow himself to be distracted by a few wounded people. Still, he knew his resolve wouldn¡¯t last if he stumbled upon someone who would die without his help. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t happen. Unfortunately, he and Dat did find a few dozen corpses along the way. In the beginning of the Trial, there were more than five thousand participants. But so many had died since then that Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if even a thousand remained. Part of him hoped so, but another part hoped that most of them had escaped through the Branch. It was yet another reminder that the system and the event itself were never designed to be fair. In fact, Elijah half-suspected that the Trial was there to weed out the people who lacked the resolve to make a real difference in the world. Or that might have been his bitterness making itself known. In any case, they continued along until they finally encountered a pair of Immortals. The two looked the same as ever, dressed all in black, with similarly colored masks. Elijah didn¡¯t have the benefit of an identification ability, but with his experience, he had developed the ability to judge a creature¡¯s power by its ethereal signature coupled with the way it moved. And these Immortals were far stronger than they should have been. But the alarm he felt upon that realization was nothing compared to what he saw via One with Nature. Because of that ability, the Immortals¡¯ black outfits were no barrier to Elijah¡¯s senses. And those told him that, beneath those black clothes, these people were heavily scarred. Elijah couldn¡¯t suppress a shudder that went up his spine. How much damage must they have endured to look like that? He was no stranger to pain, but even he was aghast as he imagined the sheer agony those Immortals must have been subjected to. Shaking his head, he moved on. He wanted nothing more than to put those Immortals¡¯ name to the test ¨C as much to put them out of their misery as because they were the enemy ¨C but he was not on a mission of vengeance. Not yet, at least. Instead, he and Dat needed to gather as much information as they could so they could come up with a plan for rescuing Atticus and his people. Defeating the Immortals was a secondary concern, though Elijah suspected that it would be a necessary step toward accomplishing the primary goal. As they made their way through the town, Elijah saw signs of the battles Oscar had described. Everyone in the Trial was superhuman ¨C at least in some respects ¨C and as a result of that power, many parts of the settlement had been destroyed. Eventually, they reached the square, where they saw dozens more Immortals, many of whom weren¡¯t even scarred, surrounding the Branch of the World Tree. New recruits, obviously. People who¡¯d been strongarmed into swearing loyalty to the Immortals¡¯ leader, lest they die to their wounds. Seeing them, Elijah wondered what he would do in such a situation. Would he have refused the offer? Or would he have taken any chance to survive? Likely, the Immortals had no idea what was in store for them. They only knew that they¡¯d been offered the power to keep going. Still, when Elijah looked at them, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of disgust. No matter what his rational mind said about them being victims, they felt so unnatural that he wanted nothing more than to expel the rot they represented. It wasn¡¯t so dissimilar from what Sadie felt concerning Benedict, though Elijah had a lot more experience pushing those feelings aside. Finally, after crossing through the square, they found their way to the area the Immortals had commandeered as their headquarters. It was one of the largest complexes in the settlement, comprised of a half-dozen sizable buildings, and they¡¯d added a high wall around it. Or more accurately, the crafters they¡¯d abducted had done so ¨C at least that was Elijah¡¯s suspicions based on the quality of the work. Either way, it presented a barrier in that Elijah could feel the ethera wafting off of it. Seeing that, Dat led Elijah a few blocks away, and they took shelter on the top floor of an abandoned building. ¡°It¡¯s enchanted, bro. Crossing it will strip us of stealth.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°We need to get in there, so what do you suggest?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Can you create a distraction?¡± Elijah smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s my wheelhouse.¡± After that, they established their plan, and once they¡¯d worked out the details, the pair set off back to the headquarters. Once they reached the complex, they split up and went their separate ways. For his part, Elijah circled the compound, cloaked in the Guise of the Unseen, until he reached the entrance. Once there, he settled down to wait so that Dat had a chance to get into position. After a few more minutes, during which Elijah studied his enemies ¨C finding much the same as he had in the square, which was to say that they seemed to be newly converted ¨C the time to act came. He stalked forward, and when he came into range, used Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and then, finally, Envenom before darting in and biting the Immortal guard¡¯s leg. Then, he repeated the action ¨C without the Predator Strike ¨C to unleash his fangs on the second guard. They were both low-level, which meant that they¡¯d normally have no chance of survival. But Elijah knew that, even as they fell, convulsing after only a couple of seconds, they would rise again ¨C and stronger than before. So, he shot through the gate, and just as Dat had predicted, an alarm sounded in the form of a deep, resonant tolling bell. The Immortals inside the compound reacted instantly, and if he¡¯d meant to fight, Elijah would have been forced to use Shape of the Guardian to deal with the sheer number of enemies. Yet, he had no intention of standing his ground. Instead, he was only meant to be a distraction, so after biting a few more Immortals, Elijah raced away, circling along the inside of the compound¡¯s wall, as dozens of foes chased him. Meanwhile, Elijah knew that Dat had already hopped the wall and used his superior Stealth once inside. Hopefully, he could remain undetected to gather the information they needed to establish a rescue plan. Elijah darted back and forth, climbing walls and leaping from one building to the next. The Immortals inside the compound were new enough that they hadn¡¯t lost their classes or abilities, so a host of projectiles, cast spells, and other attacks followed him. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t at the top of the power rankings for nothing, and as voluminous as their volley of attacks were, none of those people could ever hope to catch him. Perhaps they could have overwhelmed him if he¡¯d chosen to fight them in a straight battle. That would have been monumentally stupid on his part, though, negating his advantage in speed. In addition, it wouldn¡¯t have been nearly as effective at keeping the attention off of Dat. So, Elijah spent the next few minutes leading the frustrated Immortals on a merry chase through their own compound. Idly, he realized that it was the first time he¡¯d really let loose with the increased mobility afforded by his evolved shape. With it, he could move in three dimensions, climbing walls and even hanging from ceilings like it was nothing. Moreover, he was treated to a nice display of power every time he managed to use Envenom. Because he¡¯d typically used it against much more powerful enemies, he¡¯d begun to wonder if the ability wasn¡¯t a little underpowered. However, those thoughts were put to rest when the Immortals fell, one after another, usually only seconds after receiving his bite. Certainly, they rose soon enough, but Elijah was quite impressed with his new ability. But one unintended consequence was that each time he brought one of the Immortals down, he inadvertently made them stronger. He had no way of quantifying just how much more powerful they became, but the results were noticeable. They still weren¡¯t fast enough to keep up with him, but they were getting closer with every passing minute. No sooner had that thought crossed Elijah¡¯s mind when he felt something moving through the compound almost too quickly for him to track. It was only when he caught sight of a black blur that he realized that he¡¯d finally gotten the attention of one of the most powerful Immortals. He sprang away just in time to avoid a punch that shattered the compound¡¯s wall. He hit the next building, then scrambled upward. The Immortal behind him let out a roar, and the facet of Elijah¡¯s Jade Mind dedicated to One with Nature took stock of the monster. And monster, it was. The thing was so scarred that Elijah couldn¡¯t discern any recognizable features. It was just a mass of scar tissue in humanoid form. It barreled after him, climbing the building as easily as Elijah. Though it used simple Strength to propel it forward more quickly than Elijah would have believed. He knew his attributes weren¡¯t the best ¨C some classes gave ridiculous bonuses at the expense of lackluster abilities ¨C but the sheer physicality of the pursuing creature was enough to strike fear into his heart. He knew he couldn¡¯t compete with the thing. Even in his lamellar ape form, he would have been far outclassed, and it was gaining on him with every passing second. Hoping that Dat had managed to accomplish his mission, Elijah made a choice and as soon as he reached the top of the building, he threw himself upward, initiating the transformation into Shape of the Sky. A second later, his arms had become wings, and he climbed ever higher. Yet, the monster was not to be evaded, and it leaped, higher and faster than Elijah could believe. And it latched its claws onto his legs. He beat his wings, pushing himself further toward the clouds as the creature squeezed. His bones broke beneath its grip as he rolled, trying to dislodge it. But the monster was not to be denied. Its claws dug into his flesh, ripping chunks out of his broken leg, and it was only due to his experiences in the fallen grove that he managed to maintain any sense of rational thought. One thing he knew more certainly than anything else was that if he didn¡¯t do something soon, the monster was going to rip him to pieces. So, as he reached a height of more than a thousand feet, Elijah shifted back into his human form. The difference in size was dramatic, and briefly, the monster¡¯s grip loosened. Even as they fell, Elijah used Storm¡¯s Fury, and lightning lanced down from the cloudless sky, hitting the monster directly in the chest. He added Nature¡¯s Rebuke, eliciting a howl of pain from the unnatural creature. Its muscles seized, and Elijah kicked free with his uninjured leg. A moment later, he used Shape of the Sky once again, and after the transformation completed, he beat his wings furiously as he made his escape. The monster, predictably, plummeted to the ground below, collapsing the roof of the Immortals¡¯ headquarters. But Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t dead, largely because it let out a roar and tried to leap after him. He¡¯d already climbed too high for it to match, though, and he sped away, his leg hanging limp as he left the thing behind. Hopefully, Dat¡¯s efforts had been fruitful, but for Elijah¡¯s part, he¡¯d discovered one, simple fact ¨C he was woefully outmatched by that monster. 5-83. Drums of War Colt smashed against the wall, the impact rattling his bones and dislodging a cloud of dust and pebbles that fell upon his shoulders. For a moment, he struggled to breathe, but he shoved the resulting panic aside and threw himself into a roll that allowed him to narrowly avoid the descending blade. It hit the ground with furious momentum, cleaving almost a foot into the rock. That gave Colt a brief moment to bring his own blade to the battle. Still under the effect of Wind of the Winged Serpent, he found his feet and danced away. As he did so, he lashed out, his blade biting into an enemy dark elf¡¯s leg. She stumbled ¨C only slightly ¨C just enough to give Gwenivere an opening. Her axe came down, denting the creature¡¯s helm and knocking the enemy senseless. A tight redirection of the blade, and the elf¡¯s head tumbled free. Colt only followed the battle via Blade Sense. His other, more mundane senses were entirely trained on the armored elf with the enormous sword. He watched as his opponent yanked that broad blade free of the stony ground. The elf glanced past Colt, and when he saw that his people had fallen, his eyes narrowed, his perfect features contorting in fury. His silvery sword glowed with black power before he charged. Colt had no intention of standing his ground and receiving that attack. Instead, he used Storm of the Sword Saint. An instant later, a cacophony of metal on metal rung through the tunnel as hundreds of ethereal blades slashed into the elf¡¯s silver and red-trimmed armor. But for the first time, the ability was stymied. When the effect faded ¨C it only took half a second to play out ¨C the elf¡¯s armor was grossly dented and marred by deep grooves, but it had held. Then, the elf was on top of him, swinging that ridiculously enormous sword. The blade was at least five inches across, and it extended more than four feet. However, despite its unwieldy size, the elf had no issues swinging it with ruthless speed and precision. Further complicating matters was that if Colt took the full weight of those attacks on his own blade, it would shatter his sword. Thankfully, he¡¯d trained for just such a situation, and instead of blocking the oncoming blow, he simply slapped it off course. Not a lot ¨C just a few scant inches ¨C but enough that Colt wasn¡¯t cut in two. However, this was not a simple battle between swordsmen ¨C not with skills, spells, and ethera having been thrown into the mix. After Colt parried the first attack, he felt weakness wash over him. He didn¡¯t need to look at his status to know that his Strength had been decreased. More distressingly, the elf let out a roar and redirected his blade far more quickly than he should have been capable of. Colt had read about such spells, and he could recognize that the elf had drained some of his Strength, adding it to his own. But Colt had never been wholly dependent on his Strength. Or his other attributes, if he was honest. His advantage lay in technique and experience. So, it scarcely mattered that he was a little weaker, while his opponent had grown slightly stronger. His blade lashed out, finding the gap between the elf¡¯s bracers and the armor covering his upper arms. It was just a nick, barely penetrating half an inch, but it was enough to slice into the elf¡¯s elbow tendon. Not through, sadly, but that was more than okay. The elf let out a grunt of pain as his arm went slightly limp. Colt didn¡¯t press the matter, though. Instead, he slowly retreated, backhanding another elf whose attention was solely on Gwenivere. Like the experienced warrior she was, she took the provided opening, cutting through the enemy¡¯s leg with a vicious hack. Her opponent fell, and though Colt¡¯s eyes were locked on his own foe, he felt it when her blade descended. The elf tried to fend it off, but he had no leverage. And Gwenivere was stronger. Her blade bit into his chest, destroying his chain-link armor and obliterating the life-giving organs beneath. By that point, Colt¡¯s opponent had recovered enough to once again attack him. His blade came in much more slowly. Surely, the elf had plenty of Strength to wield the giant weapon with one hand, but due to its size, doing so was extremely awkward. So, with his arm weakened, he had difficulty controlling the blade. Colt considered it a rookie mistake. There was a place for large blades, but they had significant weaknesses in one-on-one combat. The elf would have been better served by a much slimmer weapon. Still, the blade¡¯s length put Colt at a disadvantage when it came to reach. So, as the elf predictably shifted into a more defensive stance, the fight reached a stalemate. When Colt used Storm of the Sword Saint, his opponent countered by enacting some sort of defensive ability that blunted the effect. As the pair slowly circled one another, the battle between Gwenivere and the remaining elves raged on. She took plenty of attacks, but her own armor was up to the task of protecting her. Still, she didn¡¯t make it through unwounded, and before long, blood was dripping from a dozen cuts. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Her will never wavered, though, and the sheer weight of her experience meant that the outcome was never in question. For the past five years, she had been fighting long odds for her very survival, and it became immediately clear that the elves had never been through such a crucible. They fell before her axe, one by one, until there were only three combatants left. Colt, the armored elf, and Gwenivere. She circled behind the enemy, an expression of grim determination on her pale face. Blood dripped from the blade of her axe, while her clothes and armor had been stained red. In that moment, she looked like a goddess of war, and not the sanitized sort one might see in popular media. No ¨C she was a brutal combatant who would give her enemy no quarter. Nor did she expect to be given any in return. She was a survivor. And that was why Colt had recruited her in the first place. One-on-one, the elf could fight Colt to a standstill ¨C if only by remaining wholly on the defensive and using his reach to keep up with the Samurai ¨C but now that there were two opponents, he clearly knew his days were numbered. So, he abandoned his defensive strategy and rushed forward, hoping to take Colt off-guard. But Colt had expected the change in tactics, and he ducked under the horizontal slash, then darted forward to bury his blade in the dark elf¡¯s neck. He wrenched it free, ripping out the elf¡¯s throat, then danced away. It was a good thing, too, because a second later, the elf used another spell that made Colt stumble. He fell to his knees, then tumbled onto the ground as his entire body was beset by weakness. It wasn¡¯t a lack of Strength that afflicted him. Instead, it felt as if he was fighting the worst flu imaginable. His body shook, and his stomach roiled. And more importantly, when he realized that the elf hadn¡¯t fallen and was aiming another attack at his back, he was too weak to respond in time. Fortunately, Gwenivere was there. She buried the blade of her axe in the dark elf¡¯s back, cleaving through the armor like it was nothing. There was a skill at play there, though Colt was in no position to consider it. Instead, he pushed himself into a barrel roll that took him out of the elf¡¯s path. The armored foe clattered to the ground, and though he wasn¡¯t dead, he couldn¡¯t defend against Gwenivere¡¯s next attack. Or the next after that. It took five more swings of her axe to get through the armor and kill the elf, but in the end, she managed it. The moment the elf died, the affliction faded from Colt. And after letting out a deep breath, he turned over. Gwenivere stood over him for a long second, her breath coming fast and hard, before finally, she extended a hand. He took it, and she helped him to his feet. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. ¡°That thing hit me some sort of draining ability.¡± ¡°His class was Dread Knight,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what that means in terms of his abilities, but it was different than all the rest. They were simple Guards.¡± Colt nodded. Dread Knight sounded like a much rarer class, which would explain the leader¡¯s increased power. Still, he didn¡¯t like how easily it had bypassed his defenses. It was one thing to lose a sword fight, but something else altogether to have someone yank his attributes away via a spell. He vowed to look into ways of mitigating that sort of attack. ¡°Let¡¯s gather anything of worth,¡± he said. ¡°Starting with this armor. We¡¯ll stash it somewhere close, then head to that gate to see what we can find. Maybe that¡¯s where they took the miners.¡± The first target was the armor worn by the dark elf, followed by the giant sword. It was huge and unwieldy, but it seemed to be high quality. Maybe Carmen could make use of it in some way. Otherwise, they found a few pouches full of copper and silver ethereum, but the other elves¡¯ weapons and armor seemed mostly useless. Still, they stripped the bodies and deposited everything in a small and well-concealed alcove. The bodies were thrown into a pit they¡¯d passed a mile or so back. And just like that, other than a few bloodstains, the evidence of their battle had been concealed. With that done, Colt and Gwenivere marched toward the gate, and when they reached it, they found that it was predictably deserted. Except for the bodies. The miners, naked and bound, had clearly been tortured before someone had slit their throats. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to figure out why the dark elves would do such a thing. ¡°We got us a really big problem here,¡± Colt muttered, untying the miners¡¯ corpses. ¡°They wanted information on Ironshore. That¡¯s the only reason to torture them,¡± Gwenivere reasoned. ¡°Unless they¡¯re just sadistic.¡± ¡°Maybe. Help me gather these bodies,¡± Colt said. ¡°Some of these miners got families back in Ironshore. They deserve to be properly laid to rest.¡± Gwenivere agreed, and after searching the guardhouse ¨C which extended beneath the ground ¨C they found a sizable cloth. Once they¡¯d positioned the bodies atop it, they wrapped the bundle and put it aside for later retrieval. After that, the pair continued down the tunnel, but it was only a few more miles before they found another gate. This one was guarded by an actual fort that had been carved into the stone walls. More importantly, it was populated by at least a hundred dark elves. They both knew they stood no chance of getting through that bulwark, so they retreated to the first gate, gathered the bodies, and returned to where they¡¯d stashed the weapons and armor. What followed was hours¡¯ worth of travel, with each of them weighed down by their burdens. When they finally stopped to rest, Colt said, ¡°I think war¡¯s comin¡¯. You saw it, right?¡± ¡°No civilians,¡± Gwenivere pointed out. Indeed, there hadn¡¯t been anything but armored soldiers at the fortress, which supported what they already knew from the map they¡¯d found. There was a much larger settlement deeper underground, suggesting that what they¡¯d seen in the fortress was a mere fraction off the dark elves¡¯ martial capability. ¡°We¡¯ve got to get back to town, tell the mayor what¡¯s goin¡¯ on down here, then figure out what we¡¯re gonna do,¡± Colt said. ¡°The city ain¡¯t prepared for a fight like what¡¯s comin¡¯.¡± Left unsaid was the fact that killing those guards could very well become an inciting incident for a brutal war. And unless people like Elijah came back soon, it was one Colt didn¡¯t think Ironshore could win. 5-84. How to Kill an Immortal ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Atticus, his hand resting on the woman¡¯s shoulder. She was clearly frightened, but, when she looked up at him, flames of defiance danced in her eyes. ¡°Bah ¨C worry about yourself, child,¡± she spat. ¡°These so-called Immortals won¡¯t break me. Not after everything I¡¯ve been through. Mark my words, they¡¯ll meet a bad end. Meddling with things they don¡¯t understand will get them killed. Or worse.¡± Atticus had his money on the second option. The Immortals lived up to their names, and as far as he could tell, they were completely unkillable. They could be disabled, but only for so long before they rose, stronger than before. But what truly worried the Merchant was the clear insanity that came along with every resurrection. Some of them had grown adept at hiding it, but others could not. The latter could be set off by the smallest thing, and Atticus had seen one of them rip a defiant Woodworker¡¯s head clean off. It was clear that the Immortals wouldn¡¯t maintain their sanity much longer. And when they finally succumbed to complete madness, Atticus and the other captive members of his Consortium wouldn¡¯t last much longer. ¡°Do you need anything?¡± he asked. ¡°Look to your own needs. You¡¯re nothing but skin and bones!¡± she exclaimed. ¡°And don¡¯t go blaming your captivity, either. You were too thin even before all of this. A man ought to have a proper paunch, I always say.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind,¡± he said with a small smile. He wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if the old woman outlasted them all. After that, he made the rounds, checking on the other members of his Consortium. The room where they were kept was expansive, large enough to be called a warehouse. Still, with how many of them had been taken captive, along with all of their equipment, space was at a premium. A Cobbler had set up next to a Tailor, and only a few feet away, a Blacksmith toiled over a smokeless forge. Most were busy, though a few lacked the strength to work nonstop. Hopefully, the leader ¨C known as Al-Abadi, which meant Eternal One in Arabic ¨C would take it easy on them. He¡¯d made it clear that they would be required to meet certain quotas, or there would be dire repercussions. Aside from a spate of the previously mentioned mistakes, none had been executed, but it was only a matter of time before they made some examples. Atticus desperately wanted his people to survive, so he¡¯d taken it upon himself to ensure that they had everything they needed to meet the grueling standards Al-Abadi had set. Still, the going was tough, and he knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before the various Tradesmen started to slip. After a few minutes, he¡¯d met with all fifty crafters in his Consortium. There were a few other Merchants and even an Explorer as well, but Atticus hadn¡¯t seen them since they¡¯d been taken. Sighing as he considered their fate, he thought back to how they¡¯d been taken. At the time, he¡¯d labored under the impression that everyone in the Trial would maintain the peace within the Nexus. Clearly, he had been mistaken. Atticus wasn¡¯t certain what had started the battle, but one minute, everything was peaceful ¨C if tense ¨C and the next, there was fighting in the square. That had escalated into a full-blown battle, and at first, the Immortals had been overwhelmed. However, because of their ability to stave off death ¨C getting stronger each time they were brought back from the brink ¨C the advantage had shifted. When that happened, most of the other combatants had fled. Some retreated into the surrounding wilderness, but others had taken refuge in the many hiding places within the Nexus. Since then, the Immortals had gone to great lengths to root them out ¨C so far unsuccessfully, but it was only a matter of time before that changed. Meanwhile, they¡¯d descended upon the non-combatants, taking them hostage and forcing them to work under threat of death. ¡°I¡¯m stalling,¡± he muttered to himself as he stood in the corner. No one was close enough to hear his confession. In truth, he didn¡¯t believe anyone could have blamed him for his hesitation. The last thing he wanted was to confront Al-Abadi ¨C otherwise known as Abdul Nasir ¨C but it was a grim necessity all the same. If Atticus didn¡¯t do it, no one would. So, he took a few deep breaths to steel himself for the coming confrontation before heading to the room¡¯s exit. There, he found a pair of the newer Immortals. They¡¯d surrendered recently, and as far as Atticus could tell, they were entirely unscarred. That wouldn¡¯t last long, and he knew they would eventually be just as insane as all the rest. Or worse, they¡¯d end up like the monster. ¡°I need to see him,¡± Atticus said. They knew he¡¯d acted as the liaison between the captured crafters and their captors, so they didn¡¯t object. Instead, one of them led him through the facility ¨C it was far larger than he would have expected from the exterior dimensions ¨C until finally reaching their destination. When he entered, Al-Abadi was sitting behind a desk and holding a glittering crystal leaf. He blinked, then focused on Atticus. ¡°Ah. To what do I owe this pleasure, Mr. Ariti? Are the accommodations provided to your crafters to your liking?¡± the man asked. He was tall, with a sharply groomed beard and black hair. His complexion and accent marked him as being of Middle Eastern descent, and from his demeanor, Atticus judged him to have come from wealth. ¡°They need rest. Better food. And somewhere to sleep. With your quotas ¨C¡± If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°Unavoidable,¡± the man said. ¡°If we are to conquer this Trial, we need equipment. My people are durable, but they lack attack power. Your crafters are the answer to that deficiency. We have spoken of this before.¡± ¡°I understand, and I will not dispute the necessity,¡± Atticus said carefully. He hated having to measure his words, but he wasn¡¯t so stupid as to pick a fight with the man who held his life in his hands. Instead, he said, ¡°All I ask is for a few amenities. As I said, the quotas are not the issue. The lack of sleep, food, or downtime is the problem. Solve those, and I believe productivity will increase by a significant degree.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Al-Abadi said. ¡°Then you shall receive it. However, I don¡¯t think I need to remind you that if your people fail to meet my expectations, there will be dire consequences. Do we understand one another?¡± ¡°We do,¡± Atticus said. ¡°Then we have an accord. I will send someone to you later, and your people will get what they require.¡± * * * Elijah landed hard, his leg collapsing beneath him. He knew he¡¯d torn something, but when he looked at the joint, he realized that it was much worse than he¡¯d first thought. With no small degree of discomfort, he shifted back into his human form, then took hold of his lower leg. A second later, he let out a scream of pain as he levered the joint back into its proper position. He looked down to see that it was already swollen to nearly twice its size, and he could recognize the sign of torn ligaments. It was a sobering thought. The monster had very nearly torn his leg off. If it hadn¡¯t lost its grip when it had, there was a distinct possibility that Elijah would have lost a leg. He used Soothe, Healing Rain, and Nature¡¯s Bloom before leaning back, where he lay for a long few minutes as his leg healed. That creature had been terrifyingly powerful, and to the point where he knew he¡¯d have no chance of defeating it alone. Even the strongest creatures he¡¯d fought in the various challenges paled in comparison to the sheer physical power that thing could bring to bear. It took almost thirty minutes for his leg to mend, and even then, it would have been much longer if he¡¯d remained characteristically conservative with his spells. However, because of the supercharged Regeneration that came with his Jade Mind, he was able to stack casts of Nature¡¯s Bloom on top of one another. It was extremely ethera-intensive, but it was also very effective. Once he felt up to it, he climbed to his feet, then started back toward the camp where he and Dat had left the others. All the while, his mind kept circling back to the monster he¡¯d encountered. At some point, it had been a person. Elijah was certain of that. But now? It was a monster, and one that had abandoned any sense of humanity. Eventually, he reached the camp to find that, thankfully, the battle he¡¯d expected between Sadie and Benedict, had not been forthcoming. Those two remained on opposite sides of the camp, but at least they weren¡¯t trying to kill one another. That seemed like progress. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t see Dat anywhere. ¡°What happened?¡± Sadie asked, springing to her feet the moment he came into view. ¡°Where¡¯s Dat?¡± ¡°We had to split up,¡± Elijah stated. Then, as the others ¨C including Oscar and his pack of dogs ¨C gathered around him, he explained what had happened. Elijah ended with, ¡°And that thing was the strongest monster I¡¯ve ever faced. Its attributes had to be at least in the three-hundreds. I don¡¯t know how we¡¯re supposed to fight something like that.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t,¡± came Dat¡¯s voice as he stepped into the clearing. His coat was ripped, and he had a bruise covering half of his face. Otherwise, he looked to be in good health. Still, Ron rushed over to him and immediately cast a heal. ¡°That thing is named Halima, and it used to be the woman we fed to that beast.¡± ¡°The one we took prisoner?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Dat nodded. ¡°I am,¡± he answered. ¡°There are others in that compound that are like that, too. I think¡­I think that¡­we know that every time they die, they get stronger. But eventually, I think it overwhelms them. They lose their classes and¡­they turn into monsters. After enough damage, I think they¡¯ll be completely uncontrollable, and they¡¯ll turn on their master.¡± ¡°What about the crafters?¡± asked Ron. ¡°Are they okay?¡± Dat nodded, then explained that most of them were still there. In addition, he revealed that the death toll wasn¡¯t nearly as high as they¡¯d originally thought. Perhaps a hundred people had been killed ¨C still a tragedy, to be sure, but not the calamity they¡¯d expected ¨C with almost everyone else fleeing to the surrounding jungle. ¡°So, what do we do?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°I can¡¯t fight that¡­monster.¡± He didn¡¯t want to speak her name. Halima. What they¡¯d done to that woman had been cruel, and they all knew it. They hadn¡¯t really hesitated, though. She was the enemy, and they¡¯d thought that feeding her to that beast would end her life. Their role in what she¡¯d been forced to endure ¨C and what it had turned her into ¨C was a difficult pill to swallow. Elijah didn¡¯t regret it ¨C not exactly. Give half a chance, she would have done worse to them. She¡¯d proved that when she had tried to kill them. Yet, he did feel guilty for what he¡¯d done. ¡°I might be able to help,¡± Kurik spoke up. ¡°It ain¡¯t fool-proof, and it won¡¯t do a damn thing if that monster¡¯s as strong as you say. But for the others? I think I can keep them tied up.¡± ¡°A new ability?¡± asked Sadie. The dwarf nodded. ¡°Gettin¡¯ it set up will take some doin¡¯, though,¡± he admitted. While Elijah had been engaged with the last challenge, the rest of the group had gained at least a level apiece. Grinding was an effective strategy, and they were well positioned to take advantage of it. Still, something about killing just for the sake of progression struck Elijah as distasteful. ¡°And even if we get it to work, it doesn¡¯t really solve the problem.¡± ¡°Because we can¡¯t kill them,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We need to destroy the source,¡± Dat pointed out. ¡°We need to kill their leader.¡± ¡°Then it¡¯s settled,¡± Sadie said, standing. ¡°We set up this trap, immobilize as many Immortals as we can, and then go after the leader.¡± ¡°We could just leave,¡± Oscar said. The chihuahua barked insistently, and he turned to the tiny animal and added, ¡°Stop. I know you want to burn them all, but that can¡¯t be the solution to everything.¡± The dog barked again, and Elijah got the distinct impression that the chihuahua didn¡¯t agree with Oscar¡¯s assessment. The man sighed, then said, ¡°If we can¡¯t kill these people, then we should just make our way to the Branch. There¡¯s nothing that says we have to stay, and I feel confident that together, we can break through to access it.¡± ¡°But what happens when they come back to Earth?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°I have friends being held captive,¡± Elijah added. ¡°We don¡¯t run from our problems, bro.¡± Benedict said, ¡°I agree. I don¡¯t like these Immortals. They seem like bullies to me.¡± Ron shrugged. ¡°I just want to get home to my daughter,¡± he said. ¡°This whole Trial was a mistake. But I¡¯m here now, and I don¡¯t think she¡¯d approve if I left those people to fend for themselves.¡± Oscar looked from one to the next, then said, ¡°Fine. I will help.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Now that that¡¯s settled, what do you need, Kurik? Let¡¯s get this thing going. The sooner we take care of these Immortals, the sooner our friends will be free.¡± 5-85. No Plan Lasts As Elijah ran across the wall, he had to wonder why he always seemed to end up as bait. But he knew the answer. He was the fastest and most capable of adjustment, should the plan go awry. Even so, it wasn¡¯t precisely enjoyable, knowing that one little mistake would see him overwhelmed by countless enemies who literally could not be killed. Or maybe he was just worried about one foe in particular. That woman-turned-monster was horrific, and in every way possible. Not only was she terrible to behold, but her mere presence prompted an existential crisis concerning the thin line between humanity and monsterhood. Her situation was unique, though Elijah couldn¡¯t help but draw parallels with his own past. They¡¯d both been digested by powerful beasts, after all. And he¡¯d been changed, just like she had been, albeit in a different direction. And then there was the fear. It wasn¡¯t often that Elijah found an enemy he simply could not fight. Even against the most powerful foes he¡¯d encountered, he¡¯d had at least a chance of winning. This time, though? He knew that if he faced off against Halima, he would be ripped to pieces. She was too strong. Too fast. Too durable, even without the immortality. Even escaping her pursuit had nearly seen his leg ripped off. And that encounter had only lasted a few seconds. What would happen if he actually stood his ground? Nothing good. And here he was, rushing through the Nexus Town on a mission to poke the proverbial bear. The only reason he thought the plan had a chance of success was because, the last time, Halima hadn¡¯t shown up for a few minutes. If that pattern held, he¡¯d be long gone by the time she responded to the threat. They¡¯d spent nearly two whole days helping Kurik set up his traps, but Elijah knew that none of them ¨C even the one they¡¯d deployed specifically to contain her ¨C were remotely strong enough to stop Halima. The others didn¡¯t quite believe his assessment of her power ¨C he could see that much ¨C but Elijah had seen it. He¡¯d felt it. And he knew just how quickly she would rip through them all. But their current plan was the best any of them could conjure, so there wasn¡¯t much choice in the matter. If they wanted to rescue the captive non-combatants, it was the only way. So, Elijah steeled his resolve and continued on. In the shape of the blight dragon, he raced along the walls, leaping from one to the next without ever touching the ground. All the while, he remained cloaked in the Guise of the Unseen, and along the way, he passed one Immortal after another as they patrolled the settlement. None felt even close to as powerful as Halima, but a few seemed to possess at least some strength. However, it was clear that they lacked awareness of their surroundings because they had no inkling that other Trial-takers had taken refuge in many of the nearby buildings. Elijah felt them via One with Nature, but he left them alone. They could possibly help in the coming conflict, but their assistance was not part of the plan. And if everything went right, they wouldn¡¯t be needed. Elijah crossed the settlement, seeing the results of dozens of battles along the way. Some of the buildings ¨C which had seemed so solid before ¨C had fallen, while others bore huge cracks along their walls. It prompted thoughts about human nature and its propensity for destruction. They¡¯d only been in the Trial for a few months, and yet, they¡¯d already destroyed a good portion of the settlement they¡¯d been granted. Was that a sign of things to come? Would Earth share a similar fate? It was an interesting ¨C and troubling ¨C question, but not one Elijah felt qualified to answer. Nor did he have time, because just as it crossed his mind, he arrived at the Immortals¡¯ compound. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, the walls that had been damaged during his distraction had been completely repaired. However, as expected, the number of guards had been increased. There were at least twenty Immortals ¨C all seeming to be newly converted ¨C patrolling the grounds, each one looking extremely wary. Were they afraid of an outside threat? Or did they fear the monster in their midst? It was another good question, but as before, it was one that wouldn¡¯t be soon answered. Perched on the roof of a neighboring building, Elijah took a deep breath, then transitioned into his human form. A second later, he cast Swarm. Then Calamity. And finally, he bombarded the compound with one cast of Storm¡¯s Fury after another. Powerful winds cut through the compound, slicing through some of the weaker Immortals. Blood flew, and the earth rumbled. At the same time, dozens of bolts of lightning descended from the sky, hitting seemingly at random as hundreds of glittering insects manifested in the Immortals¡¯ midst. Against any other foe, the onslaught would have been sufficient to kill at least a few of them. Yet, Elijah knew just how ineffective it would be against enemies who could not be slain. Even the ones who fell would soon rise again, stronger than before. He continued his magical assault until, at last, one of the more attentive guards recognized the source. The figure pointed and screamed, and just like that, the chase began. Even from the very beginning, Elijah had used his enemies¡¯ aggression against them. He¡¯d done so against the isopod back in the Sea of Sorrows, leading it into a trap of his own making, and he¡¯d used a similar strategy against plenty of other enemies in the years since. So, he had no issue staying just ahead of the pursuing Immortals as he gradually made his way across the Nexus Town. Periodically, he circled back, just so he wouldn¡¯t leave them behind. Only a few weeks before, he wouldn¡¯t have been capable of so much casting, but after having progressed his Mind cultivation, his Regeneration counted for more than ever before. The vortexes in each facet of his Mind had grown far stronger with his advancement to the Jade stage, and as a result, he could pull in more Ethera than he would have thought possible. Some of it got caught up in his Soul ¨C the channels simply weren¡¯t capable of handling quite that much energy ¨C but the net result was still incredible. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. So, he had no issues with ethera as he continued to cast on the Immortals chasing him. As he ran, though, he kept one facet of his Mind on One with Nature as he searched for any sign of Halima joining the fight. If she did, he would need to take to the air and flee. Standing and fighting was not an option, especially without the benefit of Kurik¡¯s traps, which he hoped could at least slow her down. Given what he¡¯d seen from her, it was a slim hope. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t appear, and Elijah made it to the first line of traps, which went off without a hitch. Behind him, Elijah sensed a half-dozen Immortals pass through what Kurik referred to as the immobilization zone. The moment they stepped into the traps¡¯ effective radius, thick ropes of white lightning slammed into them. Their muscles seized, stopping them just long enough for the second part of the trap to activate. ¡°Gravity Trap,¡± Kurik had explained. ¡°Anything with less than two-hundred Strength won¡¯t be able to move through it. Won¡¯t kill ¡®em, mind you, but it¡¯ll stop ¡®em cold. Only problem is that it takes it a coupla seconds to activate.¡± Elijah felt the Immortals fall. Beneath their feet, the stone street cracked. Bones snapped, and their flesh purpled. It was as if they¡¯d been flattened by an invisible boulder. Then, the third and final part of the trap activated. Thick ropes of ethera lashed out from the modules hidden in the walls, wrapping around the prone Immortals and draining their energy. That would keep them from activating any skills or casting any spells. It was meant to be a fool-proof system of traps with multiple methods of dealing with enemies, and it showed just how terrifying a Sapper could be. If Elijah was hit with those traps, he would be entirely at the trap-layer¡¯s mercy. However, he felt that his powerful cultivation would make a difference, and with his Jade Mind, he expected that he could outpace the drain. Hopefully, he would never be forced to put that to the test. But for now, he needed to leave the captive group behind and lead the others to the next trap. So, he set off, and over the next fifteen minutes, the plan went perfectly. Four more groups were trapped, and Elijah began to think that everything would work out. Then, disaster struck in the form of a horribly scarred monster. Halima had finally arrived. Elijah barely had a second between when he sensed her enter into range of One with Nature and when she smashed through one of the walls. Doing so shattered one of the trap nodules, but the Gravity Trap was still strong enough to keep the other Immortals down. Elijah knew that if he allowed her to continue her rampage, she would ruin everything. It was a good thing that they had a plan for her as well. And although Elijah questioned whether or not it would work, he didn¡¯t have any other means of dealing with the monster. He could have run, but then what? No ¨C they needed to deal with her, even if it was only temporarily. So, it was with a deep sense of foreboding that Elijah aimed a Storm¡¯s Fury at the figure. Even as lightning lashed down from the sky, he turned and ran. This time, he transformed into Shape of the Guardian. If she caught him ¨C and there was a good chance that she would ¨C it was the only way he stood any chance of surviving her fury. He leaped, bounding across the rooftops, and behind him, Halima let out a furious scream as she followed. She was stronger than him. Faster. More dexterous. But Elijah had the benefit of knowing which way he was going, which gave him a slight advantage that he hoped would be enough to see him through. Besides, he only had a few blocks to go. But even with that short distance to cover, Halima very nearly caught him. She closed with frightening speed, but just as she came within a dozen feet, another of Kurik¡¯s traps activated. Lightning flashed out, briefly stunning her, and Elijah felt the ambient ethera tremble violently as the gravity field slammed Halima to the ground. The street cratered, and the nearby walls crumbled. But to Elijah¡¯s eternal surprise, it worked. Halima let out another frustrated roar as she attempted to climb to her feet. It was ineffective. The trap held. All of Kurik¡¯s traps were fueled by the power crystals they¡¯d gathered in the junkyard, and the one holding Halima down drew its energy from the largest one they¡¯d taken from the center. It held an unfathomable amount of ethera, to the point where Kurik was certain that it would remain effective even against someone with physical attributes in the three-hundreds. At least for a while. He was cagey about how long it would hold against such a powerful opponent, but that was largely due to simple inexperience. Kurik was a great source of information, but much of his knowledge was second-hand or based on myths and legends. It was often helpful, but sometimes, it was important to remember that the dwarf was a member of an exiled clan on a backwater planet. He didn¡¯t know everything. Regardless, Elijah was happy to see that the trap worked against the powerful Immortal. He leaped away, landing where his companions had set up a defensive position. ¡°Told ya it would work,¡± Kurik said with a satisfied expression playing across his face. ¡°She¡¯ll¡­¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah asked. He didn¡¯t need to hear an answer, because a moment later, Halima let out another roar and broke free of the trap. She was more than a hundred yards away, but Elijah felt the ripples in the ambient ethera just as clearly as if he¡¯d been standing next to her. A moment later, the sound of a collapsing building announced that she was on her way. She didn¡¯t bother going around or over the obstacles. Instead, she simply crashed through them. ¡°Activate the other traps!¡± Sadie shouted, stepping forward as the rumbling came closer. ¡°On it!¡± Kurik responded. Dat disappeared. Oscar and his dogs spread out. Ron took a position at the back, and Benedict looked down from the roof of a nearby building. They¡¯d only been in place for a few seconds before Halima burst through a nearby building and rammed into Sadie. Her personal shield flashed, and it was effective enough to absorb some of the shoulder tackle¡¯s momentum. Still, she skidded backward a few yards before she skidded to a stop. That was when everyone opened up on the monstrous woman. ¡°Go!¡± Sadie shouted, narrowly avoiding one of Halima¡¯s arcing swords. ¡°There¡¯s only one way to end this!¡± Elijah knew what he had to do. They¡¯d discussed it as a possibility. Still, he didn¡¯t like the notion of abandoning his companions. But he was the only one who had the skills to do what needed to be done. So, pushing his frustrations aside, he shifted into Shape of the Sky and launched himself into the air. The battle raged below, but ignored it, instead focusing on the task he¡¯d taken upon himself. He flew, his great wings beating with more power than ever before, as he cut across the settlement. A few moments later, he crashed into the mostly abandoned compound, then cast his senses out to locate the man who¡¯d instigated it all. It didn¡¯t take long for One with Nature to pinpoint the location of Al-Abadi. The man was in the center of the compound, enjoying a cup of tea as if nothing was amiss. That he wasn¡¯t even alarmed was a shocking turn of events, but Elijah intended to show him the error of his ways. 5-86. Traps and Plots Elijah could feel the captive crafters deep within the compound, but for now, he ignored them. Even if the ultimate goal was to free them, the others were in the middle of fighting one of the most terrifying foes he¡¯d ever encountered, and the only way to stop her was to remove the head of the snake. So, he¡¯d arranged his priorities according to urgency. Normally, he would have slipped into the Shape of Venom and snuck in, but there were two problems with that. First, it was too slow. It was only a matter of time before the others were overwhelmed by Halima¡¯s sheer power, which put him on the clock. There wasn¡¯t time to slink through the compound. Second, he had a sneaking suspicion that Al-Abadi ¨C or Abdul Nasir ¨C knew he was coming. So, he wasted no time on stealth. Instead, he shifted into his human form, stowed the Staff of the Serpent Healer in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, and raced through the compound. Fortunately, it was a normal-sized building instead of an unending labyrinth of halls, so it only took him about thirty seconds before he arrived at his destination. Without stopping, he rammed through the door, intending to hit Nasir hard and fast. But the second he crossed the threshold, Elijah stumbled and fell on his face as he was enveloped by pervasive weakness. All the ethera rushed out of his core, and his body felt like it had lost every point of his inflated attributes. His chin hit the ground, then he skidded to a stop after only a few feet. That was when he felt a boot connect with his cheek, sending him flipping across the room until he hit the wall with a thud. ¡°Number one,¡± came a slightly accented voice as Elijah struggled to pick himself up. ¡°In both the power and Primacy rankings. Still, you¡¯re no match for proper preparation, are you? Did you truly believe that I would be undefended? That you could simply walk in here and kill me? Please. You insult me.¡± Elijah pulled in as much ethera as his Jade Mind could handle, and for a second, the air trembled. The building shook, and he saw a series of artistic whorls on the walls light up with blue energy. Yet, as hard as he pulled, the ethera drained out of him just as quickly. It was like his Core had a hole in it, and no matter how much ethera he shoved into it, it had no ability to accumulate past a few drops. ¡°How?¡± he growled, pushing himself upright. Then, he shoved himself to his feet, his limbs heavy. A quick check of his status told him that his attributes had been more than halved. The difference was dramatic enough to make him feel even weaker than he actually was. ¡°There are advantages that come with controlling the most powerful crafters Earth could muster,¡± Nasir said. Elijah focused on the man. He was tall, with broad shoulders and the body of a swimmer. ¡°When you went to your barber, did you ask him for the Jafar special? Or was that just a happy accident?¡± Elijah asked, still pulling as much ethera into his Soul as he could manage. He wasn¡¯t successful in giving himself any usable amount, but he hoped to overwhelm the enchantment governing the drain. The man shook his head, a rueful smile playing across his face. ¡°What do you hope to gain by insulting me?¡± ¡°Nothing. I genuinely wanted to know if you were trying to look like a cartoon villain. I mean, good job if that¡¯s the case, but ¨C¡± The man darted forward, then buried his fist in Elijah¡¯s stomach. If his attributes hadn¡¯t been crippled, Elijah would have easily avoided the attack. But at less than half-power? He was entirely incapable of keeping up. His back hit the wall with a thud, and he felt ribs break before he doubled over, gasping for breath. ¡°Pathetic,¡± said Nasir. ¡°Is this the best Earth has to offer? You are too weak to ¨C¡± Elijah didn¡¯t let the man finish. Instead, he erupted into a sudden uppercut that landed solidly on the man¡¯s pointy-bearded chin. The blow hit with enough force to stagger Nasir, but only for a moment. More troublingly, Elijah¡¯s hand felt on the verge of breaking. ¡°You talk too much,¡± he spat, raising his hands. It had been a while since he¡¯d boxed, but he¡¯d spent countless hours in the gym. So, he had no trouble falling back into his old habits. Nasir cocked his head to the side, then rubbed his chin. He spat a glob of blood onto the floor before raising his own hands and saying, ¡°You may regret asking for this.¡± Then, he launched a blisteringly fast combination. Elijah¡¯s instincts snapped into place, and he avoided the first two attacks. The third caught him on his raised forearm, hitting with enough force to push Elijah backward. He ignored the pain in his arm as he hammered a fist into Nasir¡¯s midsection, then followed it up by stomping the man¡¯s instep. It would have gotten him disqualified from any boxing match, but there were no rules in the current conflict. So, after feeling delicate bones crunch beneath his stomping foot, Elijah threw himself forward in an attempted tackle. To his credit, Nasir¡¯s reaction was perfect, and he avoided the tackle, ramming his elbow into Elijah¡¯s back. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. That was when Elijah felt ethera swirl, and something sliced through the flesh of his shoulders. The cut went deep enough to hit the bone, sending blood to splatter across the floor. He lashed out, harnessing what Strength remained to push Nasir away. When he got a little room, he saw that the man was holding a dagger composed of blue energy. ¡°So, that¡¯s how it¡¯s going to be?¡± Elijah asked, his back and shoulder in agony. ¡°Don¡¯t confuse honor with your personal morality.¡± ¡°Is that how you see yourself? Forcing people into subjugation is honorable?¡± Elijah growled. ¡°I think it is necessary. People are incapable of acting according to their own ultimate benefit. Their actions are short-sighed. Their goals are selfish. I am working to unite everyone under the same banner. And what¡¯s more, I offer a solution to the most eternal of fears. No more death. Can you imagine? We could be a true force in this multi-verse!¡± he shouted. Then, in a quieter voice, he added, ¡°But I admit, that is only a secondary concern.¡± ¡°And your primary goal?¡± ¡°Power,¡± he said. ¡°Pure and simple. I am here for me. I will not be ruled by some alien force. I will not be talked down to by those idiots who rush into towers as if they¡¯re in a competition to see who can die more quickly. Selfish, I know, but I am only human.¡± Elijah¡¯s fist tightened and he ground his teeth together. He¡¯d held out hope that the man was simply insane, but now, he knew the truth. He was just selfish, and he¡¯d been given the power to act on the self-interest. And even though Elijah had made plenty of self-interested decisions in the past, he could not condone robbing people of their self-determination. It didn¡¯t matter, though. Elijah just wanted to keep the man occupied so that he could work on a plan to escape the enchantment. The door had shut behind him, and it glistened with a blue shield, so he knew he couldn¡¯t simply run away. What¡¯s more, even if he could, there was no way that the leader of the Immortals would allow him to do so. No ¨C the only option was to stay and fight while he searched for a solution. So, he once again raised his fists and advanced. Nasir did the same, armed with that ethereal dagger. No matter what else happened, Elijah knew that he was in for a good deal of pain. He could only hope he was equipped to endure what was coming. * * * Sadie swung her sword, clipping the monster¡¯s knee. It roared, but gave no other sign that it had been injured. Sadie refused to think of the detestable creature in human terms. It was a monster, though and through, and her every instinct screamed at her to end its pitiful life. To that end, she used Blade of the Avenger, catching the monster before it could recover from the slight stumble. But to Sadie¡¯s horror, her most powerful attack glanced off the creature¡¯s torso, ripping through its black outfit, but otherwise doing no harm. It did reveal the mass of scar tissue beneath, though, and Sadie was beset by a wave of nausea as she considered how much pain the creature had been forced to endure. At her hands. Certainly, Elijah had done the deed. He¡¯d fed the woman to the beast. But Sadie had approved. She was culpable for what had happened. She was responsible for its creation. Now, she only wanted to right that wrong and rid the world of her mistake. However, as she¡¯d just proven, she was entirely incapable of harming it. Suddenly, Dat appeared behind the creature, using his Miracle and ramming a dagger of pure light into the monster¡¯s back. That did some damage, and for a moment, Sadie hoped that the attack would prove effective enough to end the threat. The monster fell, blood spurting from its back as the others piled on. The demon and his imps threw a barrage of spells at the powerful Immortal, and her clothes burst into flame. Her body followed suit, blistering grotesquely. At the same time, Kurik raised his bow and sent one arrow after another to slam into the burning figure. His trap was still active, which was probably the only reason they hadn¡¯t immediately died. But the additional damage he could add was miniscule in comparison to what the others could bring to bear. Even Ron cast his lone offensive spell, pummeling the Immortal with balls of kinetic force. Against most creatures, each of those attacks would become an effective stun, but against this monster, they were entirely ineffective. Sadie shouted, ¡°Don¡¯t waste your ethera! Just focus on healing!¡± Ron complied with her order, and Sadie stepped forward. She aimed another Blade of the Avenger at the monster, and this time, it sliced into its leg. It was barely a flesh wound, but she figured that every little bit would count. Maybe it would add up, and while they knew the monster was unkillable, Sadie also knew that the resurrection wouldn¡¯t be immediate. Keeping that creature down, even for a few minutes, would hopefully give Elijah enough time to slay its master. Sadie swung her sword, but by that point, the monster had flown into a rage. It took her attack on a raised forearm, then punched Sadie in the chest. Her armor ¨C already damaged ¨C crumpled, and her sternum broke as she rocketed backward to hit a building with enough force that she punched right through the wall. A heal hit her, mending her cracked sternum, and she leaped to her feet just in time to see that the monster had latched its gaze onto Ron. Even as it threw itself across the intervening distance, Ron took a step back and used his offensive spell. The ball of kinetic force did nothing, and Sadie dashed through the broken wall, intent on saving the man. But she knew she would be too late. Just before the creature reached the Healer, a black blur flashed across Sadie¡¯s vision. The monster went through the next building like it was paper, but through the cloud of dust, Sadie saw that Ron had avoided its charge. Benedict had come out of nowhere, tackling the man out of the monster¡¯s path. Sadie didn¡¯t have time to wrap her mind around that. Instead, she dashed toward the stunned monster and brought her sword down on its back with every ounce of Strength she could muster. And she managed to draw a trickle of blood before the creature backhanded her. Once again, she was sent flying through the air until she hit the ground in a graceless roll. Another heal washed over her, and she forced herself to her feet just in time to use Bulwark of the Faithful. The monster hit her again, shattering Sadie¡¯s personal shield in a single blow. However, when it burst, she received an influx of attributes that she hoped would allow her to stand toe-to-toe with the creature. But even as she ducked beneath another attack, she knew any defense would be short-lived. The only hope was for Elijah to accomplish his task. Only then would they stand a chance of putting the monster down. 5-87. Dragon, Unyielding Elijah slammed into the wall with enough force to break bones. Thankfully, the impact was spread across most of his torso, so he didn¡¯t shatter his skeleton, but that didn¡¯t mean he wasn¡¯t afflicted with an enormous amount of pain. Agony shot through him as the breath left his body, but he didn¡¯t get a chance to recover before Nasir rammed a fist into his stomach. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, then took a foot to the ribs that sent him flipping over to land on his back. ¡°You disappoint me,¡± the man known as Al-Abadi said, massaging his knuckles as he circled Elijah. ¡°I expected more from the man at the top of the power rankings. Did you merely get lucky? Is that how you gained all those levels? I suspect you never had to work for anything. You simply gained a powerful class and have been coasting along ever since. No talent, just persistence.¡± Nasir aimed another kick at Elijah ¨C this time, at his head ¨C but even though he saw it coming, he was too slow to stop it. The enchantment had robbed him of more than half his attributes, and because of that, he simply didn¡¯t have the power to avoid the oncoming blow. It took him in the jaw, and a mixture of blood and teeth went flying. Elijah didn¡¯t allow himself to feel it. Instead, he continued to pull at the ambient ethera as he tried to drain the area of the energy the enchantment needed to maintain its function. As he pushed his Jade Mind harder than he ever had, he focused the other facets on mitigating the damage aimed in his direction by Nasir. It was a fruitless quest. Nasir was not weakened by the enchantment, and he had the full suite of his own abilities available. The only reason Elijah wasn¡¯t immediately killed was because the man¡¯s class didn¡¯t seem to have much going for it in terms of direct combat ability. Instead, his power was wrapped up in giving his underlings their immortality. He was not a man who normally fought his own battles. He was personally weak, which just made Elijah¡¯s situation all the more frustrating. And painful, given the beating he was forced to endure. Soon enough, that frustration turned to anger. And that anger became an untenable rage that encompassed his own body. However, it wasn¡¯t like what he normally felt when he used Shape of the Guardian. That was bestial. Uncontrollable. It was reactionary. There were elements of that fury coursing through him, but it felt as if it had been used as fuel to create something else. Something stronger. In his state, steadily getting pummeled by the leader of the Immortals, it took Elijah some time before he remembered the breakthrough he¡¯d made in that ruined Druid circle. It had let him progress to the Jade stage of his Mind cultivation, but that was almost a side effect of the real gain, where he¡¯d begun to fuse the three parts of his identity. There was the human, which was the most familiar. He¡¯d been a man his whole life, and he knew himself well enough to recognize his strengths and weaknesses. Humanity wasn¡¯t as strong as the elder races. It wasn¡¯t as focused as some of the other species he¡¯d seen. But what the human race did have was simple endurance. For all of history, humanity had persevered regardless of what stood before them. Some might call it stubbornness, but Elijah preferred to think of it as the result of the human spirit. Then, there was the beast. The primal creature who brought with it a feral intensity that humanity often lacked. The most easily understood example was the rage he felt as a lamellar ape, but that same trait was present in the hunter¡¯s instincts he¡¯d embraced in the Shape of the Predator and later in the Shape of Venom. Then, there was the dragon. In many ways, it was the most powerful of the three, and it encompassed traits associated with the other two. However, above it all was a simple refusal to be dominated. Dragons were not just an elder race. According to Kirlissa, they were the founders. And the notion that such a creature would succumb to any force was an insult that Elijah could not let stand. The three pieces of his identity came together. Human perseverance. Bestial instincts. And draconic dominance. The enchantment never stood a chance. Elijah used that to push his Mind to new heights, straining his Soul with the sheer weight of the ethera he absorbed and filling his Core so rapidly that the drain could not keep up. The glow of the enchantment flickered as it strained to overcome the sudden increase, but after only a moment, tendrils of smoke drifted up from the carved runes. Then, finally, it exploded. Elijah felt the return of his attributes, and when the unsuspecting Nasir kicked him again, he found something far more durable at the end of his foot. Elijah barely felt the attack as he pushed himself to his feet. That was when Nasir figured out that something was wrong. He looked around, panic in his eyes as he realized that the enchantment had gone dark. ¡°What? How?¡± ¡°A dragon does not yield.¡± Elijah stepped forward. Nasir tried to retreat, but he tripped over his own feet. Before he could fall, Elijah snapped out a hand and caught the man¡¯s shirt. Then, his fist descended, destroying the so-called Al-Abadi¡¯s face. The delicate bones of his nose were the first to break, but the rest of his skull soon followed suit. When Elijah pulled his fist back, Nasir¡¯s face was unrecognizable. Yet, he was not dead. So, Elijah hit him again. This time, there was almost no resistance as his fist crashed through Nasir¡¯s skull and destroyed the man¡¯s brain. An influx of experience told him that Nasir was dead. ¡°Eternal One?¡± Elijah spat, using the system¡¯s translation for Nasir¡¯s chosen title. He dropped the limp body and shook his head. ¡°I think not.¡± A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. * * * Dat leaped over the monster¡¯s head, flipping as he let loose a trio of darts at the creature. They thudded into its back, eliciting a howl of pure fury as purifying energy tore through it. The thing wasn¡¯t evil, per se, and so, many of Dat¡¯s most powerful abilities were far less powerful than they would¡¯ve been against the foes he¡¯d fought against in Hong Kong. Yet, they were still strong enough to do some damage. The problem was that even if they managed to bring the creature down, it would simply rise from the dead. Such was the issue with fighting an Immortal. Dat landed in a roll to dissipate his momentum, then wheeled around, his crossbow already in hand. He loosed seven bolts in quick succession, and each one found a home in the creature¡¯s exposed chest. They exploded a moment later, tearing a hole in its torso. However, because the creature was far more durable than any monster Dat had ever seen, the results were less than spectacular. The injury barely qualified as a flesh wound, and it did nothing to slow the monster down. Sadie lashed out, her greatsword glowing with white light, but even with that spell active, the blade barely cut into the creature¡¯s durable skin. Its clothing had been ripped to tatters, exposing its entire body. Dat knew that the monster had once been a person ¨C he¡¯d seen her with his own two eyes ¨C but what was left was entirely unrecognizable as a human being. It wasn¡¯t just the mass of scar tissue, either. Instead, it was the way the creature moved. The sheer disregard it had for its own safety, the ferocity of its attacks. But more than anything, Dat¡¯s perception was influenced by the results of Hex of Scrying, which he¡¯d used the moment the thing came into view:
Name: Undying Minion Level: N/A Archetype: Monster Class: N/A Highest Attribute: Strength
It was a familiar reading, though one he never would have expected to see when using the identification ability on a human being. The entire notification had been troubling, but two things stood out above everything else. First was the fact that it had been reclassified as a monster by the system. Dat had had no idea such a thing was even possible, but seeing the thing in action made it easier to accept. Second, the creature didn¡¯t even have a level, which was quite a shock for Dat. Even the monsters he¡¯d encountered back in Hong Kong had levels. The only things he¡¯d encountered that did not were the wraiths, though Dat had no idea what any of that meant. It wasn¡¯t good, though. He was certain of that much. Even worse were the whispers that came with Hex of Scrying, which had told him that the woman had been altered on such a fundamental level that her spirit had fractured from the strain. The result was the monsterhood displayed in the notification. A tragedy, to be sure, but the situation didn¡¯t allow for pity. Dat continued to fire at the monster, though he knew it would do little good. Even his Miracle had failed to kill the thing, which was a first for Dat.
Avenging Strike Call upon your angelic heritage and enact a Miracle. Cooldown based on accumulation of Faith.
Just like Sadie¡¯s and Nico¡¯s Miracles, the description was vague, but he¡¯d used it often enough to know what it did. When activated, it allowed him to augment a single attack to the point where it did an incredible amount of damage. He¡¯d used it eleven times since acquiring the ability ¨C most recently against the fallen Druid in the second challenge ¨C and each instance had resulted in the immediate death of the target. Until the current fight. In fact, the monster had shrugged off the attack without issue, leaving Dat to wonder if it could even be defeated. Not that they had much of a choice in the matter. It was trying to kill them, and it didn¡¯t seem keen on stopping anytime soon. Dat kept firing until his crossbow clicked:
Endless Quiver Use upon a ranged weapon to create enchanted ammunition. Power of projectiles based on Ethera attribute and Core cultivation.
The name of that ability was a little misleading. Technically, the number of crossbow bolts it could create was endless ¨C so long as he had the Ethera to support the ability. Normally, the drain was low enough that his enemies would die before his Core ran dry. However, in this instance, he¡¯d been firing so often that the ability had no more fuel to create new bolts. So, if he wanted to continue to contribute to the fight, he needed to get closer to the monster. With that in mind, he embraced Ghost Cloak, then dashed into the fight. As he sprinted toward the monster, he drew his shortswords and used Curse Blade before ramming the weapons into the monster¡¯s back. They bit deep, carving into the creature¡¯s scarred flesh. At the same time, the curse took hold, draining some of the monster¡¯s attributes. But Dat could sense that those few points were nothing compared to the total. He also knew that a few of Benedict¡¯s spells had similar ¨C and far more powerful ¨C effects, so if the Warlock¡¯s abilities had been ineffective, then Dat¡¯s weren¡¯t likely to be any better. Still, he had no choice but to do what he could. After all, it wasn¡¯t as if the monster was just going to stop. It was too far gone. Too gripped by rage. The only answer was to somehow put it down. Anything else would result in everyone¡¯s deaths. The monster wheeled around, and with a roar, threw itself at Dat. He used Ghost Clone and dove aside.
Ghost Clone Create an illusion that draws your enemy¡¯s attention. Grants brief invisibility. When contacted, the enemy is afflicted with Curse of Weakness, draining Strength attribute. Potency of illusion based on Ethera attribute. Duration of invisibility based on Dexterity attribute. Current: 2.1 seconds.
Even as the invisibility took hold, Dat dove to the side. The monster hit his illusion, passing through and letting out a roar as it hit a nearby wall. Dat came up, ready to dart back into battle. However, before he could do so, a hulking beast landed between him and the creature. In a vacuum, Dat would have flinched away from the draconic beast, but he¡¯d been fighting with Elijah long enough to recognize his ally¡¯s Guardian form. Elijah shouted, ¡°The leader is dead! We can win this!¡± Then, he sprinted forward to ram his shoulder into the much smaller creature. Even as the wall collapsed around the two figures, Dat knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. As strong as Elijah was in that form, he couldn¡¯t hold up to the monster. If they were going to survive, it would take everyone. So, he braced himself for the ongoing battle. 5-88. Together Elijah tackled the monster, leveraging his greater mass to drive it into the ground. As he did, he used Iron Scales, though even with that ability augmenting his defenses, the creature dug its own claws into his body, ripping his scales free. Elijah ignored it, trusting Ron to heal him. Instead, he hammered his fists into the creature¡¯s body, hitting her with so much force that his blows cratered the ground below. But the advantage afforded by his surprise attack didn¡¯t last, and the creature used its superior Strength to throw him aside. Elijah skipped across the rubble, then hit another building. It collapsed atop him, but he¡¯d long since passed the point where a fallen building could truly damage him. So, a second later, he burst free from the wreckage, sending a shower of rocks in every direction. He was just in time to see Sadie descend upon the monster, her sword glowing with white light. It cut into the creature, but only a few inches. The monster had no abilities or skills ¨C Elijah had seen enough to recognize the lack ¨C but its Constitution was so inflated that even Sadie¡¯s best shot couldn¡¯t do more than graze it. Fortunately, she was not alone. Benedict cast a mass of roiling darkness at the monster, and his imps bombarded the creature with one fireball after another. At the same time, Oscar and his dogs brought their own abilities to bear. The two largest among them darted in on either side of Sadie, nipping at the monster¡¯s legs. Their bites were no more effective than the Crusader¡¯s, but they weren¡¯t there to do damage. Instead, they were a distraction that allowed the rest of the pack to bring their own unique abilities to bear. The shih tzu was a whirlwind of activity as it dashed in and out of combat, ripping one wound after another into the monster¡¯s legs. At the same time, another dog ¨C this one a mix Elijah couldn¡¯t identify ¨C suddenly appeared behind the monster and tore a chunk of its hamstring away before disappearing a second later. However, the real star of the show was the chihuahua, who bathed the monster in dense fire that far exceeded the potency of any flames Elijah had ever seen. They were almost solid, they were so powerful, and they had more effect than any attack anyone else had leveled against the monster. Seeing an opportunity, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Venom, then dashed away. Once he¡¯d turned a corner, he used Guise of the Unseen before returning to the scene of the battle. Embracing Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and Envenom, Elijah jumped atop a pile of rubble, then raced along a still-standing wall, and leaped at the monster¡¯s back. As occupied as it was, it didn¡¯t even know he was there until he bit into its neck and injected the potent venom of the shape into its flesh. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. Even as the creature tried to dislodge him, he jumped away, then darted in and bit the monster again. And again after that. Six times, he hit and run until, finally, the monster had had enough. It wheeled around, ignoring every attack as it tried to catch him. The creature was strong and fast. Elijah couldn¡¯t even begin to guess how high its attributes were. However, he knew they far exceeded his own. Still, he was no slouch, and he was capable of easily moving in three dimensions. So, he managed to remain just ahead of the creature until, at last, Sadie used Call of the Crusader, snatching its attention back. With a little room, Elijah transformed and cast Swarm before rejoining the fight in the form of the lamellar ape. He crashed into the monster, adding his own attacks to the tidal wave of damage his companions had inflicted upon the monster. Yet, the creature endured. The fight had been ongoing for almost fifteen minutes when Elijah felt something change. The monster remained as feral as ever, but the difference was that dozens of new people had arrived to add their own efforts to the fight. The monster didn¡¯t acknowledge the newcomers. Instead, it remained entirely focused on Sadie, who used Call of the Crusader as often as possible. At some point, it was clearly unnecessary. The sheer hatred in the creature¡¯s bloodshot eyes was strong enough that there was no chance of her looking elsewhere. Eventually, the already-unrecognizable monster had lost so much of its scarred skin that it had begun to look like an exposed corpse. Still, it fought on, even as its attacks started to lose their potency. Not because its Strength had given out, but rather because the mechanical connections between its muscles and joints had become so frayed that they began to snap. Finally, it fell, its leg muscles having been shredded. Even then, it flopped around, biting and clawing until it couldn¡¯t move. It took thirty more minutes of constant attacks to wear it down enough that, at last, someone destroyed its brain. More experience washed over Elijah, sending him to level one hundred, but he couldn¡¯t muster any excitement for the achievement. Nor could he pay much attention to the notification that came with it. Instead, he could only stare at the shredded pile of organic matter that had once ¨C long ago ¨C been a human woman. His choices had pushed her down a dark road that had eventually turned her into a monster, but Elijah couldn¡¯t deny his own role in her descent. He told himself that she¡¯d had it coming, but he didn¡¯t really believe it. Nobody deserved to endure the fate that had been foisted upon her. Death? Sure. That was a fitting punishment for her misdeeds. But to lose her humanity entirely? That was something else altogether. Elijah was busy ruminating on that when someone spoke up. ¡°What do we do with the others?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I think you know,¡± Elijah answered without looking back at her. ¡°They¡¯re helpless.¡± ¡°And they won¡¯t be once they¡¯re let loose. I don¡¯t know how it all works,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°For all we know, if we let them live, they¡¯ll be able to take the leader¡¯s place. We need to end the threat, here and now.¡± Finally, he looked back at her and said, ¡°If you¡¯re not up for it, I can take care of it.¡± ¡°No,¡± Sadie said. ¡°We all have a responsibility to do what needs to be done.¡± After that, Elijah and the others all headed to where the remaining Immortals were still bound by Kurik¡¯s traps. None of them were nearly as powerful as the monster, and so, the traps were more than enough to subdue them. It wouldn¡¯t last forever, though, so it was with no small degree of grim determination that they began the extermination. No one sat it out. Elijah and his companions, alongside all of the other Trial-takers who¡¯d joined the battle against the monster, killed the Immortals. Then, they embarked on a mission to scour the city and the surrounding area, just to ensure that none of the Immortals remained. Such was their ire that no one was willing to let a single one escape. A few of the Trial-takers had tracking abilities that facilitated the hunt, and by the end of that first day, none of the Immortals remained among the living. Along the way, Atticus and the other non-combatants were freed, and the man apologized profusely for his Consortium¡¯s role in building the enchantment that had very nearly gotten Elijah killed. For his part, Elijah brushed the apology off, acknowledging that they¡¯d had no choice in the matter. However, it was a good reminder that, just because someone wasn¡¯t built for combat, it didn¡¯t mean they weren¡¯t dangerous. After two more days, the Nexus Town returned to some semblance of normality. No one would forget how close everything had come to disaster, but with the absence of a common enemy, everyone went their own way. That included both Benedict and Oscar, who disappeared sometime during the clean-up. Elijah didn¡¯t blame them, though he wished that Oscar, at the very least, had remained. Elijah and his companions took the opportunity to rest and recover. For his part, he stripped off his bloody armor, doused it with cleaning powder, then retreated to an empty room where he used Healing Rain to take a shower. When he was done, he donned a set of mundane clothes, then lay down on his bed. And finally, he gave his status the attention it deserved:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 100
Archetype Druid
Class Animist Stolen story; please report.
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 115
Dexterity 104
Constitution 117
Ethera 112
Regeneration 104
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Stone Whelp Jade Novice
Upon killing the monster, he¡¯d progressed to level one hundred, which meant that he¡¯d gained one point in each of his attributes. In addition, he¡¯d also been given a new spell called Savage Might:
Savage Might Embrace your bestial nature, temporarily enhancing your physical attributes by 33%. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 31.1 Seconds.
It would be an incredibly useful ability, though the degree to which it would impact his fighting style would depend on two things. First, he hadn¡¯t seen any restrictions based on form, which meant that there was a chance it would be usable in his human form. If that was the case, then it would be an incredible boon that could turn the tide of battle. Second, its usefulness also depended on the cooldown. If he could chain it back-to-back, then it could change everything. He would need to test things out to find out what restrictions, if any, it had. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that he was excited about the ability. He was far more excited by the next notification:
Congratulations! Having reached level 100, you have come upon the first major milestone in your development. At this point, you may choose a Specialization. While not a fundamental alteration of your class, it will serve as a subtle nudge in a particular direction. Choose wisely.
Elijah had read a little about Specializations, and what he¡¯d discovered supported the notification¡¯s assessment. They weren¡¯t as game-changing as class evolutions, but they had the capacity to enhance certain aspects of a class¡¯s toolset, pushing it in one direction or another. The efficacy of each Specialization offered was based on Feats of Strength, which meant that Elijah fully expected his to be more powerful than most. So, it was with no small degree of anticipation that he read his options:
Archetype: Druid Class: Animist
Specialization Options
Preservation Savagery Connection
Permanently increase the potency of all healing abilities by 50%. Also grants an additional point per level to Regeneration and Ethera attributes. Finally, increases the efficacy of Mind Cultivation. Permanently increase the physical traits of all bestial forms by 30%. Also grants an additional point per level to Strength and Dexterity attributes. Finally, increases the efficacy of Body cultivation. Permanently increase the efficacy and range of One with Nature by 100%. Also grants an additional point to Ethera and Regeneration attributes per level. Finally, increases the efficacy of Soul cultivation.
Elijah stared at the options, unsure of how to react. They were all powerful in their own ways, but the moment he¡¯d read them all, he knew which one he preferred. Still, he decided to do his due diligence and go through the pros and cons of each choice. The first option, Preservation, was clearly meant to nudge him in the direction of the Healer. And to do so, it dangled before him an incredibly potent modifier to his healing spells. He could already function as a passable Healer, but an improvement of fifty percent to his spells would put him on par with people like Ron. Perhaps not in diversity of spells, but at least in sheer potency. But as useful as that would be, was it the right choice for his development? If he chose that route, would he regret it later? He loved healing people, but it was more of a side project than a calling. More, he expected it would push his evolution options in that direction, and he couldn¡¯t afford to be shoehorned into that role. So, he pushed that option aside and focused on the next two. Savagery was strong. Very, very strong. And it played to his strengths as well. Yet, he was given pause by one aspect of the description ¨C it specified that it enhanced the physical aspects of his forms. That led him to believe that it would only increase the attribute bonuses, which was slightly limited in scope. If it augmented his bestial abilities as well, it would have been an easy choice, but the fact that it didn¡¯t meant that he needed to consider the third option as well. On the surface, Connection didn¡¯t seem quite as powerful as the other two. One with Nature was not a combat ability, which meant that any benefits he did experience would only have a tertiary effect on his fighting prowess. Yet, the option still called to him, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. Almost since the very beginning, One with Nature had been the core of his archetype. Without it, his attunement to nature would not have been nearly as impactful. It allowed him to connect with the natural world in a way that he never would have thought possible. It was through that lens that he saw his surroundings, and he could only imagine what it would be like if it grew more powerful. The fact that it was the focus of an entire option by itself seemed to support its importance. And yet, he hesitated. ¡°You are on the right track,¡± came a familiar voice. Elijah looked up to see Kirlissa standing before him, appearing the same as she had when he¡¯d advanced his Core. To call her beautiful would have been inadequate to the point of becoming insulting. ¡°How are you here?¡± he asked. ¡°Can a mother not visit her child?¡± she asked, raising one delicately arched eyebrow. ¡°The moment you stepped foot on the Path of Dragons, I took on a responsibility to see that you had enough information to make the right choices. So far, you have exceeded my expectations. As to how I am here, would you believe me if I said magic?¡± ¡°That¡¯s my go-to explanation,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Is that all I¡¯m going to get, though?¡± ¡°The connection between us is special. In most cases, I would be able to appear before you at will. However, because your world is newly touched, there are certain restrictions that will keep me at bay. Those restrictions have been relaxed due to the limited influence of the World Tree on this excised planet.¡± Elijah eyes widened slightly. ¡°You seem surprised. Was that explanation insufficient. I can go in depth as to the ethereal flows and the ¨C¡± ¡°No, no. It¡¯s fine. I just didn¡¯t expect you to be so forthcoming. Usually, any information I¡¯m given is either incomplete, outdated, or only partially applicable,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°I guess it just knocked me for a loop to hear such a straightforward response. Thank you.¡± ¡°You are welcome, child,¡± she said with a smile. ¡°However, I must insist that we move on quickly. My time with you is limited.¡± ¡°I see. You think I should pick Connection, then?¡± he asked, returning to the subject at hand. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°The same reasons you want to choose it,¡± she answered. ¡°I am no Druid, but One with Nature is, indeed, the core of what makes your archetype what it is. Without it, you would be a mere nature mage. So, it stands to reason that the more powerful that singular ability, the stronger you will become. It is the obvious choice, which is why you were instinctively drawn to it.¡± ¡°But Savagery is powerful. I can see that,¡± he said. ¡°Better Body cultivation, stronger forms. It¡¯s¡­¡± Elijah trailed off as he truly considered the option. There was something about it that just felt wrong. Or not quite right, at least. Then, he uttered a single word, ¡°Hollow.¡± ¡°Indeed. Attributes are a tool, but focusing on them is a mistake.¡± He frowned, though he saw where she was coming from. His class granted far fewer attributes than many others, though he was still one of the most powerful people in the world. That alone seemed to support her assertion that attributes weren¡¯t everything. Yet, there was something attractive about seeing that tangible representation of his power, and it was difficult to turn it down. ¡°I should point out that you cannot make a mistake with any of those options. Because of your Feats of Strength, your choices are much more powerful than most I have seen,¡± Kirlissa explained. ¡°Whichever route you choose to take, you will continue to grow, and eventually, I will bring you to the Empire of Scale so that your true education can begin.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°My time runs short,¡± she interrupted. ¡°I trust you to make the most appropriate choice, my young dragon. When in doubt, trust your instincts. They have yet to send you down the wrong path.¡± With that, she disappeared, leaving Elijah with even more questions that would go unanswered. He sighed. ¡°Same as always, then,¡± he said. But the visit from his patron had confirmed that his instincts were valid. So, without further consideration, he chose the Connection specialization. The moment he made the selection, a wave of information slammed into his mind, and it was so overwhelming that he only retained consciousness for two agonizing seconds before he succumbed to the blackness encroaching his vision. 5-89. Looking Forward ¡°They¡¯re comin¡¯, hoss. Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ we can do about that. All we can do is get ready.¡± Ramik gripped the arm of his chair, his knuckles paling as he stared at the map on his desk. The man standing before him looked like he¡¯d been through a war. His clothes were torn and bloodstained. He looked uninjured, though the same couldn¡¯t be said for the pale, red-haired woman beside him. She had a bandage encircling her forehead, and another was wrapped around her leg. ¡°How many?¡± he asked. The map showed the natural subterranean passages beyond the mines, which led to a massive cavern containing a sizable settlement. Ramik was no stranger to the deep places of any world. For miles beneath the surface, his own native planet had been settled for centuries. The wildlife had been tamed, and the treasures harvested. But gnomes were never quite as comfortable underground as some other races. Not like dwarves, who routinely lived beneath large mountains, and certainly not like dark elves who existed in much, much deeper places. Their entire species had adapted to it, and their culture had followed suit. Colt shrugged. ¡°Ain¡¯t no way to tell, ¡®less we send some scouts past that first fort,¡± he answered. ¡°That ain¡¯t happenin¡¯, though. Too many enemies, and I¡¯d bet my hat it¡¯s enchanted.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not the real problem, though,¡± the redhead said. Gwenivere, if Ramik remembered correctly. ¡°What is?¡± the goblin mayor asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know if there are other exits,¡± she said. ¡°For all we know, there are hundreds of ways out of those tunnels. They could surround the city without using the mine.¡± Ramik¡¯s ears drooped. He couldn¡¯t afford to collapse the mine. Ironshore¡¯s independence ¨C not to mention his own freedom ¨C depended on the ore within. Without it¡­well, he didn¡¯t want to think about what would happen if he fell behind on his obligations to the Green Mountain Mining Guild. ¡°What do you two suggest?¡± he asked. They were both humans, and neither was a true resident of Ironshore. However, there was a reason he¡¯d sent them into the mines to investigate the workers¡¯ disappearance. Colt was the strongest combatant in town ¨C at the moment, at least ¨C and together, the pair represented a significant portion of Ironshore¡¯s military power. They still hadn¡¯t had the ethereum or opportunity to truly replace Eason Cabbot and his mercenaries. There were a few promising recruits whose levels had been propped up by frequent tower runs, but the budding force would be completely incapable of defending against the doubtless much more seasoned warriors in the dark elf settlement. Even if they were nothing special, the enemy had been left alone to grow their strength for years, while Ironshore had been forced to start over after the ill-advised clash with Elijah. ¡°We need allies,¡± Colt said. ¡°As many as we can get. Maybe from Norcastle or if we can swing it, from Argos.¡± Ramik frowned. ¡°Argos is a long way from here, and we can¡¯t all travel as easily as you or your friends,¡± he said. Left unsaid was that he didn¡¯t particularly trust the leaders of Norcastle. They were fine trading partners, but a military alliance was something else altogether. He feared trading dark elf invaders for human conquerors. ¡°Way I see it, we don¡¯t have much of a choice. They¡¯re comin¡¯. They¡¯ve already fired the first shot. So, unless you think there¡¯s a diplomatic solution here, we need to prepare for war. Sometimes, that means pickin¡¯ the lesser evil. And ¡®sides, you¡¯re forgettin¡¯ one thing.¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Elijah. When he gets back, none of this matters,¡± Colt answered. ¡°If Norcastle starts somethin¡¯, you can bet he¡¯ll be the one to finish it.¡± ¡°And Argos?¡± ¡°Good folks in Argos. I ain¡¯t worried ¡®bout them.¡± ¡°Okay. Then we need to dispatch a messenger immediately. Someone who can travel through the wilderness without arousing too much attention,¡± Ramik said. Colt nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll go myself.¡± ¡°No,¡± Ramik argued. ¡°We need you here.¡± Colt took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. ¡°Fine. I think I got another idea. Might take a coupla days, though.¡± * * * ¡°You have taken quite an interest in that one,¡± said Mano. ¡°He must be quite unique, as much as such a thing can truly exist in the infinite multi-verse.¡± Kirlissa opened her eyes to see an enormous black dragon blotting out the sky. ¡°Must you appear in that form?¡± she asked. Mano snorted, a small gout of black flames erupting from his nostrils. On another world, he might¡¯ve destroyed a city with such an outburst, but this was her world, and as such, it was subject to her protective embrace. So, for once, the flames of the dragon known as Black Death were entirely ineffectual. ¡°I see no need to hide my splendor,¡± Mano said, still looming over her. He was the size of a small moon, though Kirlissa was not intimidated. How could she be frightened of her own firstborn son? Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Arrogance will be your downfall, child,¡± she said. ¡°Your fascination with lesser races will be yours,¡± he countered. It was an argument stretching back many thousands of years, and Kirlissa knew that a resolution would not be soon forthcoming. For all his admirable traits, the stain of arrogance had spread to every aspect of the black dragon¡¯s being. He was her most powerful child, but in the least-used facets of her Sapphire Mind, Kirlissa considered him her greatest failure. Sometimes, it felt as if those two traits came hand-in-hand. ¡°I disagree. Our kind have needed an injection of new blood for eons,¡± she said. ¡°All of the elders agree.¡± ¡°Elders are just as prone to error as everyone else. Perhaps more so. You should know that most of all, mother,¡± Mano stated. Kirlissa schooled her features, keeping her roiling anger from showing. ¡°None of us are perfect, child.¡± ¡°We could be, and yet, you taint our bloodlines with beasts and¡­humans. Our family has become the laughingstock of the entire ¨C¡± ¡°Enough.¡± The simple command was barely more than a whisper, but it carried with it the power of an Ancestor Soul. As yet, no one else in the entire Empire of Scale ¨C even those who could trace their lives back to the very beginning ¨C could boast of having reached that level. There were dozens of Transcendents on Donusa alone, and that was only one planet among thousands within the Empire of Scale. And yet, she was the only dragon to have achieved the ultimate level of Soul cultivation. That was why she was considered one of the four most powerful dragons in existence. ¡°I will not allow you to insult your siblings, child. They are dragons, just as you are a dragon. Accept it as truth, or I shall be forced to punish you. If you were not my son, you would be dead.¡± ¡°You speak of arrogance as if you are not afflicted with such a sin,¡± Mano forced out. ¡°Yet, you smother any dissent.¡± ¡°That is the prerogative of the strong, child,¡± she said, reaching out to touch her son¡¯s snout. He was large enough that, if she hadn¡¯t been acting against his influence, he would have altered the very laws of physics upon her world. She rested her hand against the black scales, saying, ¡°When you pass me, you will make the rules, my son. I can only hope that you will learn restraint and compassion before that day comes.¡± Mano didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he quivered with unspoken rage, black flames curling up from his nostrils with every breath. And yet, even those fires of destruction were impotent. He was a Transcendent, but he¡¯d yet to progress his cultivation past the Deity stage. At his age, it was remarkable that he¡¯d gotten as far as he had, but he was a long way from becoming a true Elder dragon. Finally, he asked, ¡°Will you bring him here?¡± ¡°Eventually,¡± Kirlissa answered. ¡°He will be a perfect companion for little Saraalinisa as she learns what it means to be a dragon. However, his world is newly touched, and as such, he must endure the challenges set forth by the World Tree before he can leave that planet.¡± ¡°And you believe he will survive? Why? Most do not.¡± ¡°As you said, he is special,¡± Kirlissa said. ¡°In most ways, he is an average talent. He is not overly intelligent. Nor is he a tactical genius. He can fight passably well, but there are countless others who are far more gifted in that respect.¡± ¡°You make him sound like a poor investment of your time,¡± Mano said. ¡°If that was all there was to him, that would be true. However, he shows a remarkable talent for cultivation. Barriers that should have been nearly insurmountable for someone at his level are overcome without issue. He already approaches the first threshold, and I do not believe he will have difficulty surmounting it,¡± Kirlissa said. Indeed, the boy was remarkably talented. Even with the advantages he¡¯d created or nurtured ¨C especially that tree spirit ¨C he had exceeded all expectations. ¡°But there are many cultivation geniuses in this world and beyond.¡± ¡°Then what is it that fascinates you so? You could be helping true¡­¡± Kirlissa narrowed her eyes, and Mano coughed. Such a lapse in control would have destroyed half the planet if she wasn¡¯t keeping his power in check. He needed to work on that. He continued, ¡°You could be helping other dragons progress. Even a few days of your focused attention could help many break the chains for their innate talents and ¨C¡± ¡°There is more to power than cultivation or levels,¡± she said. ¡°His attunement to nature is strong to the point that, by the time he reaches the Deity level, his connection to the natural world will exceed even that of Archdruid Hamehl. Perhaps even before then.¡± ¡°That¡­that is not possible,¡± Mano breathed, once again losing control. ¡°Yet it is true,¡± Kirlissa countered. ¡°The boy is a diamond amidst a world of trash, and I intend to ensure that he achieves his potential.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Mano said, raising his snout to the sky. ¡°I will not question your judgement further, mother. However, I will say that perhaps you should look closer to home for your little projects, rather than training your attention on an unproven child a universe away.¡± ¡°Your concern is noted, my son,¡± she said. ¡°I take it you are leaving? Would you not stay and share tea with me?¡± ¡°This world is too small,¡± he said. ¡°I am uncomfortable with its restrictions.¡± ¡°Very well,¡± Kirlissa said. It would take nothing for him to adopt a smaller form, but Mano had always eschewed such a thing. ¡°Where will you go?¡± ¡°To the front lines,¡± Mano said. ¡°The Ravener¡¯s forces push against us.¡± ¡°They will not break through.¡± ¡°Perhaps, but their endless hordes represent my only chance for growth.¡± Kirlissa said, ¡°Endless pursuit of levels is a mistake. You should be cultivating.¡± Mano shook his great head, which would have caused tidal waves and hurricanes if Kirlissa hadn¡¯t kept the side effects at bay. ¡°That works for you, perhaps, but that has never been my path.¡± ¡°It is everyone¡¯s path, even if they do not know it.¡± Mano said, ¡°I do not wish to revisit this topic.¡± Then, without another word, he flapped his enormous wings and ascended to the heavens. A moment later, he disappeared on his way back to the front lines. Doubtless, he would destroy millions of the Ravener¡¯s minions, but Kirlissa knew that her son¡¯s efforts would prove ultimately pointless. Whatever benefits he might acquire from gaining a few levels would make no true difference ¨C not unless he spent millennia engaged in slaughter ¨C and no matter how many he killed, it would be as a single drop in a rainstorm. Sighing, she released her hold on the world, pulling her protection back. With Mano gone, the shelter she provided was unnecessary. Hopefully, in a couple of centuries, her son¡¯s arrogance would become tempered. But in the meantime, she had more important things to draw her focus. So, without further ado, she sank back into her state of meditation and turned her attention to cultivation. While Kirlissa had reached the ultimate level of Soul cultivation, the same could not be said of the other categories. In particular, her Body cultivation lagged far behind the rest ¨C a problem that, over the next few thousand years, she hoped to rectify. Nothing would ever happen without work, though, so she resolved to expend as much effort as necessary. The stakes required as much. Still, one facet of her Mind remained on Elijah Hart and his progress in the little Trial the system had set up for his world. 6-1. Reciprocal Miguel let out a long sigh as Ironshore came into view. It was still miles away, but the sight definitely elicited a wave of relief. The city wasn¡¯t as large or developed as Easton had been. Nor had he lived there for as long. But even so, it felt like home in a way he hadn¡¯t experienced since his mother had died. His eyes flicked to the west, where he saw the island. Surrounded by ethereal fog, the details of its landscape were hidden, but he could practically feel the grove within. And more importantly, a sense of anticipation came alongside the proximity to his ultimate destination, all because of a skill he¡¯d received at level twenty:
Pledge of the Green Warden Pledge yourself to a grove. When you do so, you will gain power in relation to the grove¡¯s strength. If it falls, so too shall you fall.
He¡¯d gained an additional level on the way back from Norcastle, but it was difficult to get excited about a few extra attribute points when what felt like his class¡¯s defining skill had yet to be realized. Now that he was so close to his uncle¡¯s grove, Miguel¡¯s anticipation had reached new heights. ¡°So, this is where they build monsters,¡± came Meredith¡¯s rough voice from where she was sitting atop one of the wagons in the caravan. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look all that impressive.¡± Miguel glanced back at the older woman. She was just as grizzled as ever, with her gray-streaked brown hair tied back in a tail. Along the way back from Norcastle, she¡¯d picked up a few scrapes, just like everyone else, but none were serious. Not surprising, considering that she was the highest-level guard in the caravan. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked, slowing a little to walk beside the wagon. As he did so, he kept his eyes trained on the wilderness on his side of the trail. An attack wasn¡¯t likely so close to Ironshore, but it wouldn¡¯t have been unheard-of, either. And Miguel knew the cost of letting his attention lapse. ¡°Monsters like you, kid,¡± she said with a chuckle. ¡°Shame you won¡¯t go delving with me. You still won¡¯t reconsider?¡± Miguel shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not saying that I won¡¯t go,¡± he lied. He didn¡¯t intend to run a tower with the woman, no matter what she offered. The fact was that there was something about her he didn¡¯t altogether trust. Maybe it was that she was alone. There was something to be said for survival, but when you¡¯re the last member of your group left alive, it raised a few questions. Plus, he didn¡¯t like the way she looked at him ¨C a mixture of anticipation, eagerness, and predation. He¡¯d seen similar expressions on other faces, but it still put him on edge. ¡°I¡¯m just saying that I need to check in with my mentor.¡± ¡°And your mom.¡± Miguel shrugged. ¡°She deserves a say.¡± ¡°You want my advice, kid?¡± Meredith asked, though Miguel knew it was a rhetorical question. Predictably, the woman went on before Miguel had a chance to answer. ¡°Be your own man. Nobody likes a momma¡¯s boy. You¡¯ve got some power right now, but it won¡¯t ever amount to anything if you keep asking for permission.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t respond, though he very much wanted to. If he¡¯d been on the fence about whether or not to join Meredith¡¯s team, that comment would have pushed him into a firmly negative position. He refused to be derided because he loved his mother and respected her opinion. Besides, as much as he wanted to think of himself as an adult ¨C by multi-versal standards, he was ¨C he knew, at least in the back of his mind, that he was still barely a teenager. And the notion of going it completely alone was daunting in a way he didn¡¯t want to consider. ¡°I¡¯ll keep your advice in mind,¡± he said tersely, then pushed forward a little. Meredith knew she¡¯d overstepped, and she tried to get his attention to apologize ¨C in her laconic sort of way. However, Miguel simply ignored her and focused on the task at hand. Soon enough, the wagon train dipped below the tree line and made its way through the surrounding forest. The local wilderness wasn¡¯t particularly dangerous ¨C not with how thorough the hunters were in culling powerful beasts. Yet, every now and again, something strong would slip through the cracks, and now that they were so close to their destination, Miguel refused to let his guard down. In the end, his diligence was unnecessary, and after an additional day¡¯s worth of travel, they reached the gate. It was an impressive thing, nearly thirty feet tall and built right into the wall surrounding the city. More, Miguel was familiar enough with crafting and enchantment to recognize that it was more than a mere physical barrier. From a structural standpoint, the wall was far sturdier than even its stone construction would suggest, and it had a variety of enchantments meant to dissuade any potential invaders. After the orcish invasion, the people of Ironshore refused to be caught off-guard again. In the years since that battle, they¡¯d worked tirelessly to prepare themselves to repel any intruders, and all of that effort had borne impressive results. That was clear when Meredith let out a gasp from where she sat atop the wagon. ¡°These people don¡¯t mess around,¡± she said almost under her breath. Miguel felt a bit of satisfaction at the grizzled woman¡¯s response. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t quite as worldly as she put on. After checking in with the two guards at the gate, the caravan progressed into the town and made its way to the warehouse belonging to the merchant guild that had financed the whole thing. It was partially paid for by the city itself, but Ironshore¡¯s treasury was insufficient to pay for everything. So, they¡¯d turned to private interests, of which there were plenty of takers. Not that Miguel cared overmuch about that. He only wanted to collect his pay, then leave the wagons behind. The experience had been interesting, and he¡¯d gained a few levels along the way, but he was eager to reunite with his mother. And to finally use his class¡¯s defining skill. So, after being given a pouch of ethereum, Miguel headed to his mother¡¯s forge. Unsurprisingly, she wasn¡¯t there, so he traveled a couple of blocks to the site dedicated to her special project. When he reached it, he saw that the foundation for the building had been laid, but the frame of the structure was still a work in progress. Doubtless, if she¡¯d turned to one of the town¡¯s Builders, the project would have already been done. Yet, she insisted on doing everything herself. Miguel understood his mother¡¯s reasoning, but still, he worried about her obsessive nature. When she latched onto something ¨C especially since his other mother had been killed ¨C Carmen had a tendency toward mania. In a lot of situations, that was a good thing. A crafter needed dedication, or she would never progress. But even a fourteen-year-old could recognize the dangers inherent in that sort of obsessiveness. Never was that clearer than when Miguel saw his mother painstakingly running a lathe over a brick. The act itself wasn¡¯t unusual, though from what he understood, it wasn¡¯t the preferred method of shaping normal bricks. That wasn¡¯t what caught his eye, though. Instead, the thing he noticed more than anything was that his mother had lost weight and looked as if she hadn¡¯t bathed in at least a few days. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°Hey mom,¡± he said when he drew close enough. At first, she didn¡¯t react. Then, as if coming out of a daze, she looked up, blinking before her eyes widened. Then, she threw herself forward, wrapping her arms around him. After that heartfelt reunion, she insisted on hearing the tale of his journey. He told her the story, leaving out the more harrowing battles he¡¯d experienced and ending with, ¡°I got level twenty-one, though. I have this new ability that I can only use on the island.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Miguel explained what he knew, which wasn¡¯t much, and when he finished, she said, ¡°Well, then you need to do that as soon as possible. I¡¯ll cut my day short, then get something special for dinner so we can celebrate once you¡¯re done with whatever it is you¡¯ve got to do. I also have some presents I¡¯ve been working on that might help you going forward.¡± He nodded, and as he followed his mother¡¯s directions and took one of their boats back to the island, he took a few minutes to consider his mother¡¯s perspective. She didn¡¯t like that he¡¯d taken a combat class, and she was even more disappointed when that class prevented him from using the armor and weapons she could create. So, it left him to wonder what she¡¯d been working on. Regardless of his mother¡¯s state, Miguel couldn¡¯t contain his excitement, and when he finally reached the island, he tied the boat off before racing toward the grove. Upon reaching the circle of trees, he felt himself relax as the thick ethera washed over him. ¡°Welcome back,¡± said Nerthus, suddenly stepping out of a tree beside him. ¡°You have grown stronger.¡± ¡°I¡­I have,¡± Miguel said. He¡¯d felt a connection with Nerthus from the very first time they¡¯d met, and that bond had grown much stronger during his training. ¡°And I got a new ability¡­¡± As he explained it, the spryggent¡¯s expression remained placid, but Miguel could feel Nerthus¡¯ ethera roiling in excitement. ¡°I had hoped you would get such an ability. I am not familiar with the Green Warden class, but it clearly has elements of the Grove Guardian class. This is similar to one of their abilities.¡± ¡°What will it do?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°It says it grants power, but it¡¯s not very specific.¡± ¡°It will assuredly give you attributes as well as some measure of authority within the grove. Beyond that, I cannot say. The only way to discover its nature with any certainty is to use the ability.¡± ¡°Now?¡± ¡°I see no reason not to. Fortunately for you, I have the authority to approve the bond. Otherwise, you would have been forced to await your uncle¡¯s return,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°But if I may make a suggestion? Place your hand on the ancestral tree when you use your ability. It will facilitate the process.¡± With that, Miguel approached the obviously magical tree. Not only was the ethera surrounding it much more potent than anywhere else on the island, but its coloring ¨C white with blue leaves ¨C marked it as entirely unique. Still, Miguel almost flinched away when he felt a jolt of power as he laid his palm on the rough bark. He maintained his discipline, though, and remembering his cultivation exercises, he took a deep breath and focused on the sensation itself. There was a connection there, and one that seemed filled with a promise of power. But there was obligation, too. A mandate to dedicate himself to a life as a guardian. He took another breath, then used Pledge of the Green Warden. Immediately, power rushed into him ¨C enough that he felt on the verge of exploding. His attributes swelled, and ethera enveloped him in a nearly solid cocoon of energy. Then, he opened his mouth and words spilled out. ¡°I pledge to defend this hallowed ground with every breath, to protect against every threat, be it the Abyss or greedy mortals,¡± he intoned. ¡°My sacrifice is my honor. My duty, my life. As long as I draw breath, no harm shall befall this Grove. I will uphold this code, conducting myself with honor until the end of my days or such time as my service is no longer required. This is my solemn pledge, sworn before the World Tree, to honor, serve, protect, and preserve this sacred Grove.¡± As soon as the last word passed between Miguel¡¯s lips, the ethera that had coalesced around him rushed into his body, suffusing him with power. He collapsed to his knees, his heart racing out of control as he warred with the sheer magnitude of the energy crashing into him. It enveloped every cell in his body until everything felt on the verge of exploding. Then, slowly, that wave of power receded, leaving him fundamentally changed. When he finally pushed himself back to his feet, Miguel knew that he¡¯d grown taller, his muscles denser. But even more importantly, he sensed that his cultivation had been enhanced as well. Specifically, that energy had bolstered his Core, increasing its potency by a significant degree. At last, a notification appeared before his inner eye:
You have taken a solemn vow to protect a Druid¡¯s grove. Should you fall, the grove shall be bolstered by your power. Should the grove fall, you will be temporarily empowered so that you may reap the lives of those responsible. When that task is complete, you shall fall as well. In exchange, you have been granted power relative to the strength of the grove. Use it well, Green Warden.
Miguel read the notification a few times, but it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand the meaning. He¡¯d known that, by using Pledge of the Green Warden, he¡¯d tied his fate to the grove. He accepted what that meant. Otherwise, he didn¡¯t think his vow would have been accepted. After that, he looked at his status:
Name Miguel Rodriguez
Level 21
Archetype Warrior
Class Green Warden
Specialization N/A
Alignment N/A
Strength 67 (37)
Dexterity 67 (37)
Constitution 64 (37)
Ethera 35 (25)
Regeneration 64 (24)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Recruit Opal Neophyte
He gasped in shock. His attributes had nearly doubled, and in every category. The largest increase came in the Regeneration category, which had been bolstered by forty points. Strength and Dexterity had seen an increase of thirty points, while Constitution was twenty points higher than it had been before he¡¯d used Pledge of the Green Warden. Ethera had seen the smallest increase at only ten points, but even that was an incredible boon. But there was more to it than that. Elijah had once explained how his domain worked. With it, Miguel¡¯s uncle could sense everything on the island, right down to the smallest detail. What Miguel now felt was similar, but instead of knowing everything about the island, he only had a vague idea of where everything was. If he¡¯d had to describe it, he would have said that it felt like a watered-down version of Elijah¡¯s sense. Which was still a little overwhelming, but not quite as taxing on his Mind as what Elijah had once described. It made sense, though. How was he meant to protect the grove if he didn¡¯t know what was going on within its borders? Still, he knew he needed to test things out so he could discover the extent of the enhancement he¡¯d received upon making his vow. He looked forward to seeing how everything would work out. 6-2. Death Toll Elijah heaved a body onto the pile, then took a deep breath that he immediately regretted. His sense of smell had recently taken a step forward ¨C or perhaps his Mind was now capable of parsing the sensory information more completely now that it had progressed to the Jade stage ¨C so getting a nose full of decay was especially disgusting. He turned away and saw that the procession of corpses was still ongoing. ¡°How many, do you think?¡± asked Ron, who¡¯d discarded his sparkly robe in favor of a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt. His boots were stained with old paint. ¡°Atticus said that there were more than a hundred dead, not including the Immortals.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah agreed. The outburst of violence had surprised everyone, so they were lucky the damage hadn¡¯t been more extensive. The only reason the death toll hadn¡¯t been higher was because the Immortals, for all their inability to die, made for terrible and undisciplined soldiers. Despite the muggy heat, Elijah felt a shiver travel up his spine, prompted by the notion of a well-trained army of Immortals. If they¡¯d been a little more capable, there was every chance that they would have killed or converted everyone in the Trial. ¡°Where are the others?¡± Ron asked. He¡¯d spent most of his time healing the injured, and as such, he wasn¡¯t as familiar with the clean-up efforts as Elijah was. ¡°Building a pyre for the Immortals. Everyone agreed that burning them is probably for the best. The others¡­¡± ¡°Mass grave,¡± Ron said, looking at the pile. ¡°Seems almost disrespectful.¡± ¡°Some of the survivors already took their friends¡¯ bodies back to Earth. This is the best we can do with the rest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We can¡¯t spend weeks digging graves.¡± Left unsaid was that it didn¡¯t matter. The dead didn¡¯t care how they were planted in the ground. If there truly was such a thing as the spirit ¨C and Elijah had some evidence that there was ¨C then they¡¯d long since departed. What remained was just rotting meat. ¡°I can¡¯t keep doing this, Elijah.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°I need to get back to Nancy. She needs me,¡± Ron said. ¡°Everyone back home does. My life isn¡¯t just about me. There are people depending on me.¡± ¡°Then why did you come here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Honestly? I don¡¯t know. It almost felt like a compulsion,¡± Ron said. ¡°We spent so long struggling to survive. Working to get stronger. Then this opportunity comes along, and I got an invitation. I had to take it. I needed to see if I could get strong enough to make a difference. Now, though¡­¡± ¡°Nothing has changed, Ron,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I mean, I get it. I¡¯ve got people I care about, too. If you feel like you need to go, I won¡¯t try to convince you otherwise. Just let me know before you do, and I¡¯ll make sure you have directions to Ironshore. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯re close enough to get there, but you¡¯re welcome to bring everyone. I won¡¯t say it¡¯s entirely safe. I don¡¯t think that can be said of anywhere on Earth. But it¡¯s probably safer than wherever you¡¯ve been.¡± Ron narrowed his eyes, then said, ¡°Thanks. I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± After that, the man turned and left Elijah to oversee the rest of the burial process. It went on for a couple more hours until, at last, the bodies had been placed ¨C as respectfully as possible ¨C into the pit, then covered. Most of the remaining corpses had belonged to loners, but there were a few tearful faces as they were finally put to rest. For Elijah¡¯s part, he simply stared at the mound of turned earth, his thoughts squarely centered on how quickly those people¡¯s fates had changed. They¡¯d come to the Trial expecting to grow more powerful, and all they¡¯d found was death. And they weren¡¯t the only ones, either. Elijah had no idea how many had died since the beginning of the Trial of Primacy, but the number had to have reached four digits. His own path had been difficult enough to suggest that the number would continue to climb. The challenges were deadly. From the very beginning, that had been obvious. Even Elijah and his companions, who were among the most powerful people Earth had to offer, had nearly died a dozen times over. More near-death experiences would come, too. Of that, Elijah was certain. Given that indisputable reality, perhaps Ron had the right idea. Once everyone had been buried and the makeshift memorial had concluded, Elijah retreated through the Nexus Town, passing rubble-strewn areas along the way. The battle against the Immortals had taken a heavy toll on the settlement, and that extended to the structures themselves. Fortunately, there were plenty of surviving buildings to accommodate the survivors. Elijah made his way to the premises established by his friend, Atticus Ariti, who was a high-level Merchant. He¡¯d also gathered the crafters and other non-combatants to work together, creating what he called a Consortium. That had made it much easier for the Immortals ¨C and their leader, Nasir ¨C to practically enslave them, but it had also kept most of them from being caught up in the battle. The vast majority had survived, and some had even taken steps forward in their crafting prowess. Like everything else associated with the system, life and death struggle made everything more impactful. Those thoughts skated through Elijah¡¯s mind as he entered the building and found his friend. Atticus was tall, with the broad shoulders and narrow waist of a natural athlete. He also had a large, sharp nose that gave his face the appearance of a bird of prey. He smiled broadly when he saw Elijah. ¡°My friend, our savior!¡± he exclaimed, extending his hand. ¡°Welcome!¡± ¡°Hey,¡± Elijah said, taking his friend¡¯s hand. Then, the man pulled him close in a hug. ¡°What¡¯s this for?¡± ¡°I¡¯m grateful for everything you did.¡± ¡°Other people helped. Sadie and Kurik and ¨C¡± ¡°I know, and I will thank them accordingly,¡± Atticus said, releasing Elijah. ¡°But I believe I know you well enough to recognize that you would have tried, even if no one else had helped.¡± Elijah almost blushed at the praise, but he didn¡¯t dispute it. He would have indeed attempted to save Atticus and the crafters, even if his companions had refused to help. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°What can I do for you, my friend? Or is this a social visit?¡± ¡°Do you and the others intend to repair the rest of the settlement?¡± Atticus shook his head. ¡°Most of it, no. But we will ensure that it¡¯s livable and that the Branch is fully accessible,¡± he said. ¡°How many of your crafters have left?¡± ¡°Four. Two Woodworkers, another Merchant, and a Weaver,¡± he answered. ¡°More than I hoped, but less than anticipated.¡± Elijah nodded. He¡¯d expected more departures as well, but perhaps that was an error in judgement. After all, everyone who¡¯d been given a spot in the Trial was one of the most powerful people in the world, which suggested real dedication, especially for a crafter. There probably weren¡¯t many people in the Trial who were afflicted with a faint heart. ¡°Can you identify something for me?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°It¡¯s a reward from one of the Trials.¡± ¡°Certainly, my friend. Follow me,¡± Atticus said. After that, the Merchant led Elijah away from the building¡¯s lobby ¨C which functioned as a showroom for his Consortium¡¯s wares ¨C and deeper into their headquarters. After a few moments, Elijah followed Atticus into a room populated only by a large, stone table. ¡°This looks a lot like the one in your shop back in Argos,¡± Elijah said, running his hand along the smooth stone. The center had been carved with various runes, but the outside edge was polished smooth. ¡°One of the members of the Consortium is a Stoneworker,¡± Atticus said. ¡°He specializes in buildings, but he can create all sorts of interesting items. Take this for instance¡­¡± A small, stone statue ¨C maybe three inches tall ¨C appeared in Atticus¡¯ hand. ¡°Limited use enchanted item,¡± the Merchant went on. ¡°That one provides temporary invisibility, but he has a few others that can give buffs to various attributes. Those only last around ten minutes, and they¡¯re weaker than even low-level class abilities. They don¡¯t stack either, but for the solo combatant, they might give people an edge.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How long does the invisibility last?¡± ¡°Forty-five seconds,¡± Atticus answered. Then, he tossed the statue ¨C which depicted a flame ¨C to Elijah, who caught it with one hand. ¡°Keep it. Three uses left. After that, it¡¯s worthless.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°Now, what did you want identified?¡± Atticus asked. In response, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might before setting it in the center of the stone table. A second later, ethera swirled around Atticus, then connected to the table. The Merchant¡¯s jaw dropped. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Here,¡± Atticus said, waving his hand. A second later, what looked like a system notification appeared in the air. It said:
Shard of Nature¡¯s Might Overall Grade: Sophisticated (Low) Enchantment Grade: N/A Description: The Shard of Nature¡¯s Might is a sanctioned piece of a Branch of the World Tree. As such, it contains an incredible amount of nature-attuned Ethera, making it a peerless crafting component.
¡°Sophisticated? Have you ever seen anything with that grade?¡± Elijah asked. He knew that items could be separated between nine grades: Unranked, Crude, Simple, Complex, Sophisticated, Miraculous, Sacred, Deific, and Transcendent. Each grade could be further divided into Low, Mid, High, or Peak. ¡°No,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°It¡¯s¡­this is completely unprecedented on Earth. I am certain of it, my friend. This is the single highest-grade item anyone on our planet has ever seen. Given to the right crafter, it could become a truly world-shattering item.¡± ¡°Damn.¡± ¡°Indeed. You wouldn¡¯t be interested in selling it, would you?¡± ¡°Nope,¡± Elijah answered. It was a priceless item, and what¡¯s more, as a raw material, it could be put to any number of uses. And finally, it seemed tailor-made for Elijah¡¯s purposes. ¡°Not a chance.¡± ¡°Then may I suggest that you allow one of my crafters to work with it?¡± Atticus asked. There was a part of Elijah that wanted to do just that. It would give him an immediately useful item that could help to see him through the coming challenges. However, there was something in the back of his mind that told him that would be a mistake. He didn¡¯t know what he wanted to do with the item ¨C not yet ¨C but the more he thought about it, the more certain he was that he would use it himself. Or failing that, let Carmen use it. The notion of letting a stranger use such a treasure just left a bad taste in his mouth. So, he shook his head, then lied, ¡°I have other plans for it. Thanks for the offer, though.¡± Atticus was clearly disappointed, but he didn¡¯t let it show for long. Instead, he invited Elijah to share a meal, as well as some liquor the merchant had found somewhere. For a while, Elijah felt like he¡¯d gone back to the earliest days of his friendship with Atticus. The day they¡¯d met, Atticus had treated him to dinner and a night of drinking and fellowship that gave Elijah something he¡¯d desperately needed at the time. The same was true with the latest instance of companionship. After everything they¡¯d been through of late, a single night where he didn¡¯t have to worry about fighting for his life, desperate challenges, wraiths, or native hunters was precisely what he needed to move on. However, by the end of the night, he found himself looking forward to what was coming. After all, there were still five challenges left, and if the previous four were any indication, the ones remaining would push him and his companions to their limits. As Elijah considered that, a plan for how they would survive the remainder of the Trial of Primacy began to form in his mind. Before long, they were surrounded by other people. Some, like Dat and Kurik, were familiar. Others, like the various crafters, were not. Then, at last, someone Elijah hadn¡¯t seen for quite a while showed up. ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure if you¡¯d left,¡± Elijah said, having been cornered by Delilah. ¡°I searched the bodies¡­¡± ¡°I wasn¡¯t even in town when it all happened,¡± the warrior woman said, shifting uncomfortably. ¡°My brother left, though. He¡¯s not cut out for this kind of thing. He¡¯s fine in a fight, but roughing it in the jungle¡­well, he didn¡¯t care for that.¡± ¡°But you stayed.¡± She nodded. ¡°I can¡¯t just give up,¡± she responded, glancing at the crowd on the other side of the expansive room. Atticus had converted part of his compound into a bar, and it had proven quite popular ¨C before the battle with the Immortals, at least. At present, it mostly played host to Elijah¡¯s companions and members of the Consortium, but soon, the bar¡¯s doors would reopen to the public. It remained to be seen whether or not anyone would take advantage, though Elijah knew enough about people to recognize that it would likely prove to be very popular. ¡°Do you want to join my party?¡± he offered. She shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t belong in that kind of a group,¡± Delilah said. ¡°I¡¯m just a common Spearwoman. Everyone in your group is special. I¡¯d just slow everyone down.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m fine with that.¡± And he was. He didn¡¯t see his relationship with Delilah as more than it was, but that didn¡¯t mean he didn¡¯t care about her. ¡°The safest place in this Trial is next to me.¡± For a moment, she looked at him like he¡¯d gone crazy. Then, she let out a harsh laugh. ¡°What?¡± ¡°You can¡¯t really believe that, can you?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­yeah? I guess.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re an idiot. Most of us will never even attempt those challenges. We¡¯re just farming experience and gathering materials to take home,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve heard stories about the challenges, and I know I would never survive that kind of thing. I¡¯m fine with that, too. We don¡¯t all need to be heroes. I just want to be strong enough to protect the people I care about.¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes. ¡°What happened to looking for adventure?¡± She shrugged. ¡°Adventure isn¡¯t what it¡¯s cracked up to be,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯re not all cut out for it, and I¡¯ve come to terms with that. Doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m giving up. I¡¯ll keep getting stronger. But my goals have changed.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­very mature.¡± ¡°Well, I did just turn twenty-five. I figure it¡¯s time to grow up.¡± Elijah looked away. ¡°I feel like that¡¯s kind a jab against my personality.¡± She raised her hands in surrender. ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± she said. ¡°I know you¡¯re different than most people. Your life is fine.¡± She took a deep breath, then added, ¡°For you. It¡¯s fine for you.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°What does this mean for us?¡± She furrowed her brows. ¡°Nothing?¡± she answered. ¡°I mean, just because I don¡¯t want to go running off into the wilderness with you doesn¡¯t mean we can¡¯t have a little fun, right?¡± Elijah grinned. ¡°I like the way you think.¡± After that, she took his hand and guided him out of the bar and back to his room. 6-3. Coming to a Head ¡°Remove those things from my sight, or they will be removed,¡± Sadie intoned, her voice low but firm as she leveled her sword in Benedict¡¯s direction. For his part, the Warlock seemed surprised by the altercation, and for good reason. He¡¯d clearly taken great pains to avoid Sadie, so being cornered in the middle of the square had taken him aback. However, he quickly recovered his composure and said, ¡°I don¡¯t remember anyone putting you in charge. This is a public place. I can walk through it if I wish.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± Elijah leaped down from where he¡¯d been perched atop a nearby building. As his feet slapped against the ground, he said, ¡°Guys, this isn¡¯t the place. Just go your separate ways, okay? There doesn¡¯t need to be a fight.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t even flinch as she said, ¡°That is debatable, Elijah.¡± ¡°If you keep going like this, I¡¯m going to have to do some unpleasant things,¡± Benedict said. ¡°You¡¯re welcome to try, demon.¡± ¡°Enough!¡± Elijah shouted, stepping between the two. He turned to Sadie and continued, ¡°Just leave it, okay? We¡¯re about to head out of town. You won¡¯t need to see him ever again.¡± For a moment, Elijah thought Sadie was going to attack him as well. Then, she took a deep breath before lowering her sword. ¡°It¡¯s not worth it,¡± she muttered before turning on her heel and marching away. When she was gone, Elijah glanced toward Benedict. ¡°You really need to get better at avoiding people who want to cut you in half,¡± he said. ¡°Who says I need to avoid her?¡± asked the Warlock. ¡°The way I see it, she¡¯s the one with the problem. I¡¯m perfectly capable of coexisting. If anything, she should be the one avoiding me.¡± Elijah frowned. He understood both sides. From Benedict¡¯s perspective, he was just living his life. He¡¯d not done anything to harm Sadie, and so, he expected to be left alone. However, looking at it through Sadie¡¯s eyes, the man was a fiend. He¡¯d clearly killed people ¨C as evidenced by the presence of his imp minions ¨C and Sadie simply couldn¡¯t let that kind of thing stand. Neither her ability nor her nature would tolerate the man¡¯s continued existence. Did she have the authority to punish wrongdoing, though? Did anyone? He wasn¡¯t so sure one way or the other, but at the end of the day, Elijah only wanted to keep the peace. Benedict had proven himself to be a valuable ally. The man had helped in the Citadel of Innovation and fought against the Immortals as well. Was that alliance temporary? Perhaps. But Elijah wanted to maintain the peace for as long as possible. ¡°Just try to stay out of her way,¡± Elijah advised. ¡°If you keep pushing her, she¡¯s going to take the next step. I don¡¯t know if you can beat her, but I can feel that it would be close enough that you probably don¡¯t want to test it out. So, in the interest of self-preservation, I think we should go our separate ways.¡± Benedict looked as if he wanted to argue, but then clearly thought better of it before saying, ¡°Very well.¡± He extended his hand, and Elijah took it. ¡°One day, we might find ourselves on opposite sides, but I won¡¯t forget that you¡¯ve helped me in this place. I don¡¯t have many friends. None, actually. But¡­well, you know. Take care of yourself, Elijah.¡± ¡°You, too,¡± Elijah said. After that, the two parted ways. As he crossed the square, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that the confrontation between Benedict and Sadie wasn¡¯t the only one of its ilk. Everywhere he looked, people were at odds. Some only showed it in the way they looked at their fellow Trial-takers, while others resorted to aggressive posturing ¨C especially between different races. Thankfully, no fights had broken out, but Elijah could tell that it was only a matter of time before that happened. Now that the danger of the Immortals had passed, Nexus Town had become a powder keg. One small spark, and it would all explode. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure what the source of so much enmity was. Perhaps it predated the takeover by the Immortals. Or maybe it was as simple as putting a bunch of dominant personalities in the same place. In that situation, clashes were inevitable. Regardless, Elijah didn¡¯t intend to stick around for much longer. The only reason he and his companions hadn¡¯t already left was because Sadie had commissioned one of the Consortium¡¯s Blacksmiths to repair her armor. The man she¡¯d hired wasn¡¯t capable of bringing the set back to its former power, but he was the best available. Left unused was the block of Celestial Gold; it was far too valuable to allow an inferior craftsman to use. Instead, she¡¯d made it clear that she intended to take Elijah up on his offer of an introduction to Carmen. The crafters in the Nexus Town were high-leveled, but Elijah had found their products wanting. The best any of them could create was Low-Complex, and even that was rare. That was why he hadn¡¯t commissioned one of them to create a new staff for him. The simple fact was that he could do better on his own, though not without a significant time investment. Finally, Elijah reached the building he shared with the rest of his party. Seeing Dat sitting in what amounted to a common room, Elijah planted himself on one of the camp chairs and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°Sketching,¡± Dat answered, then held up a piece of paper. On it was a representation of one of the yetis they¡¯d encountered in the second Challenge. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°That¡¯s really good,¡± Elijah said, impressed by the Witch Hunter¡¯s skill. ¡°I wasn¡¯t always this good,¡± Dat said with a sigh. ¡°Extra Dexterity really helps with pencil control. I heard there are artistic classes that can do amazing things. There was this Guide I bought in Hong Kong that talked about paintings and sculptures that could give buffs just from looking at them. Some even make cultivation easier. They never last long, but imagine putting something like that in a hospital. Or that cultivation cave you built.¡± Elijah had never even considered how art and the system might intertwine, but now that Dat had mentioned it, the notion made perfect sense. In fact, he felt that his dolmens back on Earth took advantage of something similar. Perhaps enchantments worked on related principles. Not that Elijah had any skills or techniques to take advantage of that knowledge. When he created dolmens or his staves, he let his instincts take over. Outside of maintaining focus and taking all the right steps, it was not a conscious effort. ¡°You ever feel like you¡¯re drowning?¡± Elijah asked, leaning back in the chair. He closed his eyes and tilted his head toward the ceiling. Sighing, he continued, ¡°There¡¯s so much we don¡¯t know, and it would take a lifetime to learn it all.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how life works,¡± came Ron¡¯s voice. Elijah opened his eyes to see that the older man had arrived from upstairs. Notably, he wasn¡¯t wearing his sparkly robe. It had been ripped during the battle, and he¡¯d had a new outfit commissioned. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was because he wanted to preserve the item created by his daughter or if the old robe had become so damaged that it lost its functions. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°That¡¯s life, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°Nobody can know everything.¡± Elijah responded, ¡°I know that. But there¡¯s foundational knowledge that we always took for granted. Knowing the way everything works on a basic level is valuable. We¡¯re fighting from behind right now.¡± ¡°How do we change that?¡± Ron asked, sitting on another of the empty chairs. ¡°Education,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We need more Scholars. In most places, they¡¯re seen as the weaker option, right? They can¡¯t craft. They don¡¯t fight. In a survival situation, they¡¯re kind of the odd ones out. But that doesn¡¯t mean they¡¯re not important. We need schools. Teachers. We need researchers who can find all the relevant information, then relay that information to us in a way we can process it. We need scientists to do experiments and find out new things. We need¡­we need a foundation. Otherwise, we¡¯re never going to survive.¡± Dat said, ¡°We have some Scholars in Hong Kong. Not many. Nobody wants to take that archetype when zombies are knocking down your door. Almost everyone took combat archetypes.¡± ¡°Or Healers,¡± Ron pointed out. ¡°There are a fair few Explorers, too. But they¡¯re at least partially combat oriented.¡± ¡°Not to mention that a lot of the people who took non-combat archetypes got killed because they couldn¡¯t defend themselves,¡± Dat added. ¡°So, what do we do about it?¡± asked Elijah. He wasn¡¯t ignorant of his own status, and he knew that, even if he wanted to isolate himself, he would play a prominent role in the world¡¯s future. On top of that, the Trial of Primacy played host to the most powerful people on Earth. Given how large the world had become, there likely wouldn¡¯t be another opportunity to reach such a large audience ¨C at least not anytime soon. Dat shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know, bro. I¡¯m not sure there¡¯s anything we can do. We can¡¯t make people take non-combat classes, especially when they¡¯re fighting for their lives,¡± he said. Elijah sighed. At times, he felt like a superhero. He had plenty of personal power, and he¡¯d proven that he knew how to use it. However, at other times, the sheer size of the transformed world ¨C as well as the problems that came with Earth being touched by the World Tree ¨C felt overwhelming. ¡°What about us?¡± he asked. He had some ideas about how they would use their remaining time in the Trial, but he didn¡¯t want to step on anyone¡¯s toes. ¡°Ron? Are you still planning on going home? There¡¯s no shame in ¨C¡± ¡°No.¡± Elijah¡¯s brows furrowed. Only a couple of days before, the Healer had been adamant about returning to his daughter¡¯s side. So, Elijah asked, ¡°Why not? What changed?¡± ¡°Do you want me to leave?¡± ¡°No, it¡¯s just ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m just fucking with you,¡± Ron said with a slight smirk. ¡°I realized that my reasons for coming here haven¡¯t changed. Do you know how much stronger I¡¯ve gotten since coming here? Since joining this group? If I keep going like this¡­I might be able to¡­¡± ¡°To what, bro?¡± Ron shook his head. ¡°I might be able to cure her,¡± he said. ¡°My daughter¡­is not well. It¡¯s not urgent, but she gets weaker by the day, and when I left, there wasn¡¯t anything I could do to stop it. Some sort of disease. I don¡¯t know what it is, and none of my spells would help. I figured¡­I figured that if I came here and gained a few levels, I might be able to do something. I¡¯ve gotten two new spells and one upgrade since joining this party. And we¡¯ve got a long way to go before we¡¯re done. I want to save my daughter. That¡¯s why I¡¯m staying. Even though it terrifies me to think of what we might see going forward, I¡¯m not going to give up. Not until I¡¯m made to do so.¡± That wasn¡¯t the exact story that Ron had given when they¡¯d met, but Elijah understood why he hadn¡¯t revealed it before. Regardless, he could empathize with the man¡¯s reasoning. ¡°I¡¯ll help,¡± Sadie said, stepping into the room. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and she carried a sack that clinked when she moved, indicating that she¡¯d finally collected her repaired armor. ¡°When we leave here, I¡¯ll help. You know what my Miracle can do. Maybe it will be enough.¡± ¡°I appreciate that, even if I know it¡¯s a hollow promise,¡± Ron said. ¡°We¡¯re pretty isolated, and I don¡¯t even know where we are in relation to everywhere else. I know you¡¯d help if you could find us, but I just don¡¯t think that¡¯s possible.¡± ¡°Anything¡¯s possible if we put our minds to it, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°And if we can¡¯t help directly, we¡¯ll do so by getting you to as high of a level as we can,¡± Elijah added. Ron looked from one person to another. The only one missing was Kurik, but Elijah felt confident that the dwarven Sapper would have agreed with everyone else. He had a crusty exterior, but inside, he was a softy. ¡°Thank you,¡± Ron said. ¡°You have no idea what that means to me. If I fall¡­¡± ¡°Then we¡¯ll keep our promise,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯m pretty good at getting around, and if you don¡¯t make it, I won¡¯t rest until I¡¯ve found your daughter and helped in any way I can.¡± After that, everyone vowed to do the same. Ron thanked them once again, but once the moment passed into an awkward silence, Dat changed the subject by asking, ¡°Which challenge do we want to tackle next? I don¡¯t think we should stay here much longer.¡± ¡°I agree,¡± Sadie said. ¡°So do I, but I don¡¯t think we should hit a challenge yet. I think it¡¯s time to use the cultivation cave,¡± Elijah said. To that, everyone groaned. ¡°What? I thought you¡¯d be excited. Cultivation is ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that,¡± Sadie said. ¡°It¡¯s just that we all hoped we were done with the cold.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said, reflexively pulling his Cloak of the Iron Bear around his shoulders. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t know anything about that. Besides, it¡¯ll be worth it. I promise.¡± 6-4. A Secondary Effect Miguel sat in the center of the grove, his eyes closed as he basked in the dense ethera surrounding the ancestral tree. Now that he¡¯d used Pledge of the Green Warden, everything felt so different. It was like comparing a two-dimensional drawing of a forest to walking among the trees, and for the first few hours, it had been overwhelming. That was why he¡¯d sunk into meditation, cycling through the mental exercises Nerthus had given him what felt like a lifetime ago. ¡°How do you feel?¡± came the spryggent¡¯s familiar voice. Miguel opened his eyes to see Nerthus squatting in front of him, his rough-featured face only inches from Miguel¡¯s. ¡°Have you ever heard of personal space?¡± Miguel asked, leaning backward. ¡°Of course. In the forest, there are ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m saying you¡¯re too close. It¡¯s uncomfortable,¡± Miguel said, massaging the back of his neck. His attributes had increased significantly, but he still couldn¡¯t sit in the same position for hours without getting a little stiff. ¡°And I feel fine, I guess. Better than fine. I gained a ton of attributes, but the biggest difference is that I feel¡­I don¡¯t know¡­a sense of connection that I never felt before.¡± ¡°That is normal for those who are tasked with defending a grove,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°You are the lone member of the martial branch of this grove, so your blessing is even more potent than what one would normally expect. Tell me ¨C how many attributes did you gain?¡± ¡°A lot. Like double.¡± ¡°In which attribute?¡± ¡°All of them? Well, not ethera. And Regeneration was more than double.¡± ¡°That¡­that is too much,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°This grove is powerful, but I did not expect¡­if it keeps going¡­no. It must be the Shard of the World Tree. It was more powerful than even I suspected. The real test will be how it affects you outside the grove.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°Are these buffs only going to be with me while I¡¯m on this island?¡± ¡°To a degree. I suspect that the augmentation will lose some of its efficacy once you leave the grove, but it will still provide a powerful boon to your attributes,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The other benefits will remain, though. I am certain of it.¡± Other benefits. Like the sense of connection to nature he felt and the vague awareness of the grove. In addition, he suspected he would be a little like Elijah in that he would be able to travel through the wilderness largely unmolested. That wasn¡¯t really new, though. He¡¯d always been fascinated by animals, and they¡¯d gravitated towards him as well. ¡°Any advice?¡± he asked. ¡°Advance your Mind cultivation as quickly as possible. It will be invaluable going forward,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Beyond that, I am afraid that I have nothing to offer. You must chart your own path.¡± Miguel nodded, then thanked Nerthus. A moment later, the tree spirit stepped into the ancestral tree, leaving him alone. Or mostly, considering that Trevor, the juvenile stag had come to the grove. Fortunately, he knew better than to eat Nerthus¡¯ plants, which meant that he remained on the outskirts. Miguel rose from his position, then crossed the grove. However, when he saw the deer, he was surprised to see a pair of crystalline spikes jutting from Trevor¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯re growing up, huh?¡± Miguel said, reaching out to scratch the deer¡¯s neck. Trevor had experienced quite a growth spurt, reaching a height of nearly five feet at the shoulder. ¡°Me too, I guess.¡± As he scratched Trevor¡¯s neck, a sensation unlike anything he¡¯d ever felt washed over him. Suddenly, he could sense Trevor¡¯s mood ¨C anxious and excited ¨C as easily he could interpret his own feelings. More, he felt the deer¡¯s mind reaching out in an effort to make a connection. Whether it was simple stupidity or instinct, Miguel accepted it. And the moment their minds touched, he let out a gasp as he nearly lost consciousness. The sheer weight of Trevor¡¯s thoughts almost overwhelmed him, but through the force of his own will, Miguel managed to resist. But then he realized the problem. He wasn¡¯t meant to fight it. Rather, he was meant to surrender. To accept it. To let the bond between them solidify. From a rational perspective, it felt like an intuitive and unsupported leap of logic. However, his every instinct screamed at him to let it happen. He chose to listen. Ethera swirled all around him, moving so quickly that it rustled nearby leaves. It enveloped both figures, suffusing every facet of their being. Their souls intermingled, tangling together until, at last, the energy died down. When it did, Miguel could feel a presence in his Mind that he knew was Trevor. It wasn¡¯t like he could hear the stag¡¯s individual thoughts. Rather, it was more like he could interpret Trevor¡¯s feelings. Upon realizing that, a wave of dizziness washed over him, and he nearly stumbled to the ground. If it wasn¡¯t for Trevor stepping close and offering support, he would have fallen. ¡°What was that?¡± he muttered to himself. Trevor just looked at him like he was stupid. Miguel thought about calling for Nerthus, but then something else occurred to him. Trevor wanted to give him a ride. So, without giving it too much thought, he leaped upon the stag¡¯s back, and the moment he was securely in place, Trevor took off, bounding through the island¡¯s forest. Once, Miguel had gone on a school field trip out to a farm in the country. Once there, he¡¯d ridden a horse ¨C if being led around at a walk by one of the farmhands counted as riding ¨C but what he experienced on Trevor¡¯s back was nothing like that. There was no saddle. No reins. No tack of any kind. And yet, Miguel had no issues staying mounted, even as Trevor leaped and sprinted through the forest. And then, without slowing, he arrived at the beach and leaped into the water. But he didn¡¯t sink into the waves. ¡°You can run on water?!¡± he screamed, a grin stretching across his face. ¡°That¡¯s so cool!¡± ¡°What the ever-lovin¡¯ hell!¡± came a shout from across the water. Miguel looked up just in time to see Trevor leap over a rowboat containing a very shocked Colt, who was struggling to keep the small vessel from capsizing. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Oh¡­crap. Sorry!¡± Miguel yelled as Trevor raced across the waves. He raised his hand, shouting, ¡°My bad!¡± But Trevor had no intentions of stopping. They kept going, and once the shock of what was happening wore off, Miguel realized that the deer wasn¡¯t running across the water. Rather, he ran along a path of moonlight suspended only a few inches above the surface. More, he could tell that, even though every step required some expenditure of the deer¡¯s ethera, it would be hours before he was spent. ¡°How fast can you go?!¡± Miguel shouted. Trevor let out a snort, lowered his head, and then turned it on. Before, Miguel had thought Trevor was sprinting. Compared to their current speed, he hadn¡¯t been. They raced across the surface of the water, covering the distance between the island and Ironshore in only fifteen seconds. Then, they hit the rocky shore and kept going into the woods. As they ran, Miguel couldn¡¯t keep the grin off his face. The combination of speed and the bond he¡¯d forged with Trevor filled him with such joy that he could scarcely imagine stopping. But after an embarrassingly long span of minutes, he remembered Colt¡¯s expression, and he knew he owed his mentor an explanation. So, he asked Trevor to turn around. The deer was reluctant to comply until Miguel reminded him that his own parents likely would not be happy with his jaunt into the wilderness. That convinced the deer to return to the island, and after a few more minutes, they had crossed the strait and passed onto the shore. Not long after, Trevor pulled to a stop just outside the grove. ¡°Thanks,¡± Miguel said, slipping from the deer¡¯s back. He rested his hand on Trevor¡¯s side, then said, ¡°Wait just a second.¡± He dashed into the grove, and before Nerthus could stop him ¨C the spryggent had a habit of popping up at all the wrong times ¨C he picked a fruit from one of the new bushes. He tossed it to Trevor a second later. The deer caught it with his mouth, then swallowed the thing whole. ¡°Nerthus is gonna kill you if you keep pickin¡¯ them fruits. This ain¡¯t like those berries that used to be here,¡± came Colt¡¯s voice. ¡°There¡¯s a delicate balance he¡¯s tryin¡¯ to maintain.¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°But more importantly, what the goddamn hell was that all about? Were you runnin¡¯ on water?¡± Colt demanded, removing his soggy hat. ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°Maybe?¡± ¡°I mean, yeah. Or technically, Trevor was. And if we¡¯re getting super specific, he was running on moonlight,¡± Miguel explained. ¡°Well, that explains everything,¡± Colt said with a shake of his head. ¡°You care to explain a little more? Or am I s¡¯posed to just assume you¡¯re an idiot?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not an idiot!¡± Miguel insisted. ¡°Yeah? At the very least, you¡¯re irresponsible. Jumpin¡¯ over me like that. Ruined my goddamn hat.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll get you another one, okay? And I just got caught up in the moment, I guess. Trevor and me, we bonded. Sort of. I¡¯m not sure exactly what happened, but I have this kind of awareness about him now. And I can feel his emotions. Almost like I can read his mind. I think¡­I think we¡¯re stuck together now, and we both got a little carried away is all,¡± Miguel explained. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°I really don¡¯t mind buying you a new hat. Maybe one that¡¯s not white.¡± ¡°I like white,¡± Colt mumbled. ¡°¡¯sides, that¡¯s enough about all that. I came here to talk to you. I think I¡¯ve got a job for you.¡± ¡°Really? What?¡± ¡°Someone needs to go to Norcastle, then Argos. You¡¯ve been to both, so it might help you get the message to the right set of ears,¡± Colt stated. ¡°And I¡¯ve seen how you are with the wilderness. You¡¯re like your uncle. Things ain¡¯t as hostile toward you as they are with most. And with that deer, you can probably move faster than most. That wasn¡¯t part of the original plan, but it¡¯ll help all the same.¡± ¡°You want me to go all the way to Argos by myself?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°Isn¡¯t there someone older? Or¡­I don¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Might be somebody older, but right now, you¡¯re the best person for the job. I already cleared it with your mom, too. So, if you want it, job¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°I mean¡­I definitely want it. And if mom said it¡¯s okay¡­¡± ¡°She did.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do it.¡± ¡°Good. Then you should go see her,¡± Colt said. ¡°She has somethin¡¯ for ya, and I think she wants to spend a little time with you before you leave again.¡± Miguel almost rolled his eyes. The last thing he wanted was for his mother to smother him, which she was wont to do, given half a chance. His time working the caravan had highlighted that much. Yet, he couldn¡¯t deny that he¡¯d missed her too. So, without further ado, he called for Trevor, who responded without much delay. Then, Miguel mounted his mighty steed and, soon enough, they were racing across the strait. Their arrival in Ironshore caused a slight stir, but most of the residents were accustomed to living in a world of magic, so the excitement died down after only a few minutes. That allowed Miguel to reach the future site of the Great Forge, but for once, his mother wasn¡¯t there. So, he headed to her smithy, where he found her toiling over a breastplate. ¡°You weren¡¯t at the construction site,¡± he shouted over the sound of her hammer strikes. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She looked up and smiled, though there was something missing from the expression. ¡°Hey, mijo.¡± A second later, she had her muscular ¨C and quite sweaty ¨C arms wrapped around him in a crushing hug. Even with his newly augmented attributes, she was much stronger than him. ¡°Lemme go, mom,¡± he pleaded. She gave him one last squeeze before releasing him. Then, her eyes found Trevor, who¡¯d followed Miguel inside. At present the deer looked both eager to explore and terrified of what he might find. ¡°Want to explain?¡± ¡°Uh¡­sure.¡± Then, he told her everything about the vow. He¡¯d explained it before, so he only needed to recount the effects. ¡°I think the buffs will fade some if I get too far away from the grove, but they¡¯ll always be with me.¡± ¡°So long as the grove stands.¡± ¡°Yeah. But Uncle Elijah won¡¯t let it fall,¡± he said. He tightened his hand into a fist. ¡°Neither will I.¡± She shook her head, muttering something about him being infected by Elijah¡¯s nature. Then, she took a deep breath and said, ¡°Did Colt tell you what¡¯s going on?¡± ¡°Just that I¡¯m supposed to act as a messenger. I haven¡¯t gotten the specifics yet,¡± he admitted. ¡°Okay, sit down. I¡¯ll explain everything.¡± And she did, starting with the missing miners and the discovery of the hostile force of dark elves. ¡°We can¡¯t stand up to them alone,¡± she said. ¡°That¡¯s where you come in. We need alliances. The mayor will explain everything else. But for now, there are two things I want to do. I want to have a nice meal with my son, and I want to give you a gift.¡± ¡°Mom, you know I can¡¯t use ¨C¡± ¡°Funny thing about Blacksmithing,¡± she spoke over him as she crossed the smithy. It wasn¡¯t a big building, so she quickly reached her destination. ¡°I¡¯m best with metals, but I still have a solid foundation as a Tradesman. I can still work with wood. Now, I spent most of the time you were gone practicing so that I could make this work. And I¡¯m pretty pleased with the result, even if it¡¯s probably the best I¡¯ll ever do working with that kind of material. Anyway, I hope it works well for you.¡± With that, she handed him a package wrapped in tan paper. Miguel ripped it open to reveal a set of brown-and-green lacquered armor. The largest piece was a segmented breastplate with a carved tree emblem in the center, but there were similarly segmented pauldrons, a pair of bracers, gauntlets, greaves and tassets. There was even a helm. ¡°Mom¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going to let my baby go out into the world without proper protection,¡± she said. ¡°I made it out of a reward Elijah got from a tower. Called Bark of the Mother Tree, which was low-Complex. So, that set is likely the best you¡¯ll see for a long while. I also had some wood left over, so¡­here.¡± She retrieved another bundle from nearby, this one long and slender. When Miguel opened it, he found a wooden katana and a spear. The wood used to construct both blades was so light in color that it almost looked white. He tested both edges, finding that they were razor sharp. ¡°How?¡± he asked. ¡°Had it treated by one of the Carpenters helping with my project,¡± she said. ¡°It should be stronger than steel, though I¡¯ll admit that it¡¯s probably not as durable as magical metals like faythium, but it¡¯ll hold up pretty well, especially with your modifiers.¡± ¡°Mom¡­this is incredible. Like¡­I couldn¡¯t¡­I never expected¡­¡± He threw his arms around her, and she once again hugged him tightly. As she did, she said, ¡°Just use them to stay alive. I can¡¯t lose you, mijo.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be careful, mom. I¡¯ll be okay.¡± She pulled away, then wiped something from her cheeks. Miguel pretended not to notice her tears as she said, ¡°Now, why don¡¯t you introduce me to your friend here. He¡¯s intelligent, isn¡¯t he?¡± She addressed Trevor. ¡°I¡¯m Carmen, and I expect you to take care of my boy.¡± Trevor dipped his head, which seemed a good enough answer for her. ¡°Good. Now, let¡¯s go get something to eat.¡± 6-5. The Frontrunner Problem Elijah opened his eyes, frowning as he looked around his section of the cultivation cave. To say he was disappointed would have been a vast understatement. He¡¯d spent the past three days trying to advance his Body cultivation, but he¡¯d made absolutely no progress. It wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t know what he was doing, either. He was well-versed in the methods, which weren¡¯t terribly complex at his current stage. He knew he was doing it correctly. Instead, the problem was the ethera. It just wasn¡¯t thick enough for his purposes. And the implications of that discovery were troubling, given that the cultivation cave he¡¯d built was almost as powerful as the one back on his island. As a powerful fluctuation swept forth from the other side of the cave, Elijah felt a pang of jealousy. Everyone else was making huge strides, while he was simply sitting still. It would have been different if it was a personal failing. He could work through that and hopefully improve. However, with the issue being external, Elijah had difficulty accepting the limitations foisted upon him by the environment. Upon arriving at the cultivation cave, he¡¯d been so optimistic. He and the others had divided the area into five sections, building walls of piled rocks to keep the areas separated so that they could each cultivate in peace without disturbing everyone else. And it had worked quite well, giving everyone the privacy they needed to advance their paths. The others drew closer to personal breakthroughs with every passing day. Meanwhile, Elijah was stuck in the mud. He¡¯d even removed his Cloak of the Iron Bear, thinking that it had shielded him from the powerful ethera. He knew that wasn¡¯t the case, but by that point, he was grasping at straws. Predictably, it had done nothing but make him uncomfortable. ¡°This is a waste of time,¡± he muttered under his breath before pushing himself to his feet. Then, he left the cave behind, passing Kurik along the way. The dwarf didn¡¯t like cultivating in the cold, but even that hadn¡¯t kept him from taking advantage of the cave Elijah had built. Once he was outside, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved his cloak. Donning it, he basked in the sudden comfort it provided via the Temperate trait. Taking a deep breath, he focused on One with Nature. Ever since advancing his Jade Mind, he was able to process more information than ever before ¨C which was a good thing, considering his choice of specialization. Not for the first time, he wondered if he¡¯d made the right decision. While he knew he¡¯d never have chosen Preservation ¨C after all, healing was less of a calling and more of a hobby for him ¨C Savagery had been a viable possibility. Yet, he¡¯d picked Connection, largely because of some ephemeral feeling he couldn¡¯t explain. Certainly, he¡¯d also taken Kirlissa¡¯s advice into account; he¡¯d have been an idiot not to listen to such a powerful being. Yet, in truth, his choice was based mostly on his own feelings. Which he didn¡¯t like. It was easy to support a choice if it was made on the basis of verifiable logic. But when it was an emotional decision, it was difficult not to doubt the path he¡¯d chosen. The decision was made, though. So, it was past time that he figured out what it might mean for him going forward. With that in mind, he looked at the description of his chosen specialization:
Specialization: Connection Permanently increase the efficacy and range of One with Nature by 100%. Also grants an additional point to Ethera and Regeneration attributes per level. Finally, increases the efficacy of Soul cultivation.
Upon making his choice, Elijah had felt an immediate difference in One with Nature. However, it was not nearly as powerful as indicated by the description. If he¡¯d had to guess, he would have put it closer to twenty percent, though that was just an estimate, albeit one supported by his experiences. Since then, he¡¯d learned that he could push the range much further than the default, indicating that the description referred to the maximum capabilities, rather than the baseline. With that in mind, Elijah pushed on the ability, and the results were immediate. His awareness rippled out, and if he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Jade Mind stage, he knew he would have been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information available to him. It wasn¡¯t quite as detailed as the awareness granted by his domain surrounding his grove, but it wasn¡¯t that far off, either. Before, he¡¯d only really sensed living things. He had learned to interpret that in such a way as to give him a decent picture of his surroundings, but that method had always had its limits. Now, though, he saw everything. Not in perfect detail, as he would with his domain, but enough that he could get a sense of his surroundings without having to filter it through interpretation. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. As he concentrated on the feeling, Elijah kept coming back to the specialization¡¯s name. It was called Connection for a reason, and it was through that lens that he realized what the difference was. Or rather, how One with Nature truly worked. He didn¡¯t merely sense the presence of living things. He connected with them. And now, the increased awareness of his surroundings came because he was sensing the world through nature¡¯s eyes. The ability did some heavy lifting, filtering that awareness into something he could understand, but the implications of what he felt were massive. If he continued along that path, how would it evolve? Would he one day be able to talk to trees? The possibilities were endless. In addition to the potency of his ability, Elijah could tell that it had grown even more expansive than it had been with his lost Staff of the First Dragon. He couldn¡¯t perfectly measure the radius, but he guessed that, if he pushed One with Nature to its limit, it could encompass an area at least a mile wide. Which was incredible, supporting the comparison to his domain. For hours, he simply stood there, basking in his increased awareness. Even in the frozen wilderness, there was plenty of life around. But Elijah wasn¡¯t as interested in the native beasts. Nor did he give much attention to the yeti scout he felt almost a mile away. Instead, he focused on his next task. He¡¯d lost his previous staff, and the Staff of the Serpent Healer was barely holding itself together. Even after using the putty Sadie carried around to repair it, the thing was only one good blow away from shattering. So, while the others worked on their own cultivation, Elijah had decided to create a new staff. At first, he¡¯d considered using the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might to augment the process, but it didn¡¯t take him long to discard that notion. The item was far too powerful to use on what he suspected would be an inferior product. Because Elijah wasn¡¯t a real crafter, his results were dependent on many external factors. He¡¯d only managed to create passable staves because of his grove. Without that, any staff he managed to carve would be limited in its power. Still, he needed to do something, so he focused on One with Nature as he searched for perfect material. It only took an hour of wandering around before he came upon an ancient tree that resembled a black willow. It was situated next to a frozen river, and it had dark blue bark instead of the typical brown Elijah might have expected. In addition, its leaves were white with blue veins, giving it a very distinctive appearance. More importantly, when Elijah connected with it via One with Nature, he felt a surging ferocity deep in its core. For a while, he watched the tree until, at last, he saw something that explained what he felt. A small, rabbit-like creature ventured close to the trunk, but the moment it came within a few feet, a series of thick roots erupted from the frozen ground, wrapped around the fluffy animal, and yanked it underground. Elijah couldn¡¯t see what happened next, though he felt it via One with Nature. The roots acted like boa constrictors, squeezing the creature until it burst like a gore-filled balloon. Its blood seeped into the surrounding soil, only to be absorbed by the roots. Elijah traced the life-giving vitality as it soared through the roots, up the trunk, and to the tips of the tree¡¯s limbs. It all happened over the space of a few moments, leaving Elijah in awe of the efficiency on display. Carnivorous plants weren¡¯t entirely unheard-of, but on Earth, they normally worked more like traps in which animals ¨C like small frogs or insects ¨C would become stuck and be digested. This tree was far more active, leaving Elijah incredibly intrigued. The scientist in him wanted to settle in and study the tree, but he had other goals in mind. So, he set off for another of the rabbit-like creatures, finding one only a hundred yards away. He snatched it up, then returned to the tree¡¯s location. He tossed it toward the trunk, and a second later, the scenario repeated itself. Elijah repeated the experiment three more times before he decided that he had no interest in subjecting himself to those powerful roots. Perhaps he could fight free of them, but there was a non-zero chance that the tree was too strong even for him. So, he found another rabbit, and this time, he tossed it into the tree¡¯s limbs. Where it remained entirely unharmed ¨C at least until it fell from the branch and hit the ground. Only then was it devoured by the tree¡¯s roots. Once again, Elijah repeated his experiment, finding the same scenario repeating itself each time. ¡°So, everything aboveground is like a normal tree,¡± he reasoned aloud. Following that assertion, he reasoned that he should theoretically be able to land on one of the branches and get what he needed without putting himself into any unnecessary danger. The only question was what would happen once he took one of those branches with him. Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to assume the tree wouldn¡¯t have any other defense mechanisms. If it was a normal plant, he wouldn¡¯t have been quite as warry, but the thing had proven itself quite animalistic. And when harmed, animals usually lashed out ¨C especially when they couldn¡¯t retreat. Given that he was dealing with a stationary tree, Elijah fully expected it to respond to any attack. With that in mind, he knew it was probably best if he simply moved on. But he wanted one of those branches. He could feel the power flowing through them. The savage ferocity of a hunter called to him. One day, he might be capable of calling back and coming to some sort of arrangement with the planet, but he hadn¡¯t quite reached that level of One with Nature. Perhaps when he evolved the spell, such communication would become possible. Or when he reached the second specialization at level two hundred. A wry smile spread across Elijah¡¯s face as he shook his head. He¡¯d only just attained his first specialization, and he was already looking forward to the next. He knew that was a mistake. He needed to focus on his current abilities rather than looking ahead, and yet, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what possibilities the future might hold. That, almost as much as the increased power, was what drove him forward. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, instead focusing entirely on the task at hand. His plan wasn¡¯t complex, but he knew that if he overstayed his welcome, bad things would happen. So, he shifted into Shape of the Sky, then took off. Once he¡¯d reached an altitude of around a hundred feet, he dove. From the ground, he had identified a perfect branch, so that was where he aimed. A second later, his talons caught hold, and with a powerful flap of his wings, he once again ascended. The motion came with a loud snapping sound, and the branch came free. That was when the tree erupted into motion. Its branches wove wildly, extending toward Elijah¡¯s winged form so quickly that he nearly lost his rhythm. He¡¯d known there would be a response, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to be so abrupt. More, Elijah could feel the tree¡¯s rage via One with Nature. It was as deeply rooted as any animal¡¯s to the point where it sent a tremor up his spine. Thankfully, his preparations ¨C such as they were ¨C gave him just enough room to escape the tree¡¯s grasping branches. They only came up short by a few inches, telling Elijah just how close he¡¯d come to disaster. However, even as he soared away, he smiled inwardly. He¡¯d gotten precisely what he required, which was the first step in creating a new staff. 6-6. Savagery For what Elijah had planned, he needed as much ethera density as he could find. To that end, he returned to his corner of the cultivation cave, where he settled down to inspect the branch he¡¯d stolen. At first, he felt a little bad about breaking off a piece of the tree and taking it for his own uses. But for some reason, that didn¡¯t bother him as much as he might have expected it to. Would he have felt the same way if he¡¯d torn the leg from a beast? Likely not. The only excuse he could come up with was that animals were incapable of simply regrowing a limb. By contrast, he¡¯d done no permanent damage to the tree. Still, he wasn¡¯t entirely comfortable with the obvious pain he¡¯d caused. Killing was one thing. That was just part of nature. But maiming a creature? That felt different. He didn¡¯t feel guilty about his actions, especially given the sheer savagery he¡¯d sensed within the tree, but even so, Elijah knew he¡¯d need to do some soul-searching before he repeated those actions. Regardless, the damage was done, and given that the others would soon exhaust the cave¡¯s ability to support their advances in cultivation, Elijah knew he was on a timer. So, he quickly got to work. The first step was to familiarize himself with the branch, which was about nine feet long and four inches wide at its thickest. In addition, he could feel the thick flows of ethera still pulsing within, and he was more than a little surprised that it felt so different from what he¡¯d sensed in the trees back on his island. With that as context, the branch was far more wild, eager, and savage. It put Elijah in mind of a predator who took pleasure in the hunt itself. Or in the kill that followed successful predation. Elijah knew that there were plenty of animals like that. The most obvious example was the domesticated housecat, but killing for reasons other than sustenance was common among dolphins, orcas, foxes, and hyenas as well. Those reasons were a hotly debated topic, with some scientists attributing the behavior to a pursuit of pleasure while others likened it to practice or the results of an irresistible predatory drive. What Elijah had felt from the tree ¨C and to a lesser degree, the branch ¨C leaned toward the former. That tree, at least to such an extent as was possible with a tree, enjoyed killing its prey, and not just because of the consequential influx of nutrients. It reveled in the slaughter. That, as much as his previous reasoning, contributed to his lack of guilt at breaking the thing¡¯s branches. If it could engage in such cruelty, then Elijah had fewer compunctions about subjecting it to something similar. What¡¯s more, Elijah intended to tap into that savage cruelty when creating his new staff. To that end, he meditated on One with Nature, delving deeper into those sensations. As he did so, he used Nature¡¯s Bounty as well as Healing Rain, bathing the branch in his own personal ethera. With his new specialization, he could feel the subtle differences between the naturally occurring ethera in the cave and the influx of energy he injected into the ecosystem. It wasn¡¯t as dramatic as it could have been. After all, the cave was his, already suffused with his essence. Not to the same extent as his island, his dolmens, or even Ironshore or Argos, but to a noticeable degree nonetheless. Under the influence of Nature¡¯s Bounty, the vital energy within the broken branch roiled, flowing almost as if it had never been disconnected from the tree. It had nowhere to go, though, so it simply looped back in on itself in an infinite flow that accentuated the branch¡¯s natural strength. Elijah had no idea what grade such a material might be, but he knew it was strong. More, he felt that it grew more powerful with every passing minute ¨C at least until it hit a wall, beyond which it could grow no more potent ¨C at least not in the short term. Perhaps he could have ushered it into a new level of power if he¡¯d kept at it for a year, but the increase would be so minute that he judged that it wasn¡¯t worth it. It did give him some insight into how materials worked, though. Surely, crafters like Carmen already knew as much, but it seemed that every material had a natural limit. One could push it past that point, but not without significant effort and time investment. And even then, the increase would be marginal. It would make far more sense to simply find a more powerful material. Not that Elijah had that option at present, but it was good to know for any future products he might take on. By the time the branch had reached its limit, three days had passed. Elijah had taken a few breaks here and there ¨C mostly to eat ¨C but given that the rest of his party were still engaged with their efforts at breaking through to new levels of cultivation, he had nothing with which to occupy himself but the project at hand. In a lot of ways, it felt like he¡¯d returned to those early days on his island. That first winter had been brutal, which meant that he¡¯d spent the majority of that time in his makeshift shelter. To pass the time, he¡¯d whittled, eventually creating his first staff. He was capable of much deeper levels of concentration now, though, and he applied the full weight of his Jade Mind to the task. There was one key difference, though. When he worked on his various projects on Earth, he often fell into a trance-like state where his actions were driven by instinct. That was not the case on the excised world of Ka¡¯arath. Some vestige of that connection still lingered, but for the most part, he was on his own. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Fortunately, with his high Dexterity, he possessed superhuman coordination, which he used to guide his blade as he began to shape the branch. The first step was to cut it down to size. Ideally, he would have used a tool called a spokeshave for that, but given that he only had a knife and a couple of files, he made do with a normal blade. Thankfully, he had the attributes to make it easier, but even then, the hardness of the wood made him wish that he¡¯d chosen a slimmer branch. But at least it was straight. Otherwise, the process would have been even more tedious. Over the course of the next day, Elijah slowly stripped one layer of wood after another until he arrived at the desired thickness of a little more than two inches wide. The end result would be slightly narrower, but for now, it was perfect for the next step. That was when Elijah started carving. The process was more deliberate than in the past, but thankfully, he had a good idea what he wanted. Gradually, it began to take shape, and all the while, Elijah continued to douse it in his ethera. All around him, the water from Healing Rain froze, then dissipated into motes of ethera only to be replaced by more ice. Without the Cloak of the Iron Bear, he would have long since succumbed to frostbite. But with it, his attributes reached higher than ever before, topping out at a thirty-point increase to his physical stats. It was an incredibly potent buff, but he was happier with the results of the Temperate trait, without which he never could have endured the combination of the cultivation cave¡¯s frigid temperatures and the freezing water from Healing Rain. Elijah eventually lost track of time. He never slipped into a trance ¨C not like he would have back home ¨C but he did lose himself to the task. With every stroke of his blade, he carved a little more wood away, and over time, the intended shape revealed itself. He didn¡¯t acknowledge the overall design, instead focusing on small sections at a time. Like that, the project progressed. Elijah knew what he wanted ¨C in fact, the design harkened back to the Staff of Natural Harmony, at least in the overall shape. There were plenty of differences, but the idea was to carve it into lifelike roots. Part of that decision was based on nostalgia, another part was due to the impact the source tree had had on him, but mostly, he chose that design because it didn¡¯t need to be perfect. He knew he¡¯d make mistakes, so he decided to hide them via a seemingly chaotic design. Gradually, he kept going until almost two weeks after he¡¯d begun the project, he held a new staff before him. Yet, it wasn¡¯t finished. Before he could make that claim, he needed to seal it. To that end, he retrieved some wax from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel ¨C he¡¯d brought it with him just in case ¨C and started working it into the staff. Four coats later, he received a notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Feral Spire]. This item will serve to enhance bestial transformations. Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: C
A pulse of ethera accompanied the notification, and Elijah held the new weapon out before him. It was a little more than six feet long and about an inch-and-a-half wide. The wood itself was a blue so dark that it looked black, and it took the apparent form of twisted roots. However, one aspect of its appearance Elijah had not intended was in the pulsing red veins covering the surface. He looked at the notification with mixed feelings. It wasn¡¯t as high of a grade as his previous staff, but he hoped that its effects would be more impactful. After all, the core of his class was the ability to transform into powerful beasts. So, a staff that specifically enhanced that capability had a chance of being more useful, even if the grade ¨C and overall power ¨C was slightly lower. Regardless, Elijah felt better about his new staff than he did about trying to use the all-but-broken Staff of the Serpent Healer in everyday combat. He gave it a few test swings, but he felt more than a little silly twirling it around. He¡¯d made a little effort to develop his staff-fighting technique, but he¡¯d never really gotten around to serious training. Perhaps he needed to change that when he got back to Earth. Satisfied with his efforts, he used One with Nature to check on the others, and once he found that they were all still engaged in cultivation, he left the cave behind. Judging by the ethereal pulses coming from them, they would be at it for at least another few days, which left Elijah with a little free time. So, as he so often did in those situations, he set off on a quest of exploration. The cultivation cave was situated near the edge of the frozen region, so it wasn¡¯t long before he found himself traveling in a slightly more temperate forest that reminded him of the area north of Norcastle. As he went, he pushed his senses as well as his physical abilities to their limits. In the Shape of Venom, he leaped through trees, climbing their vertical trunks like they were nothing. When he used Shape of the Guardian, he focused on moving rapidly while forcing himself into tight turns that strained his Dexterity. And in Shape of the Sky, he flew among the branches like they were an obstacle course. Like that, he continued on for miles and miles, covering an incredible area in a relatively short amount of time. At the same time, Elijah kept an eye on One with Nature ¨C as much to attune himself to the volume of sensory information as to keep track of his surroundings. It was via that sense that he detected an open area beneath the ground. Beyond that, he could sense nothing inside. Just an absence that raised alarm bells in his mind. After a few minutes more of exploration, Elijah found a small statue of a heroic-looking ka¡¯alaki, beneath which was a sealed door set into the statue¡¯s plinth. Beyond that barrier, Elijah could sense nothing. He knew he should go back to check on his companions, but the chances were that they were still engaged in cultivation. He had time to spare. And what better way to spend a few hours than in exploration? As he looked for a way to open the door, Elijah realized that he could very well be walking into a similarly lethal puzzle as he¡¯d found in the last set of ruins he¡¯d discovered. But he was nothing if not consistent ¨C even to his detriment. On top of that, he¡¯d grown up idolizing a certain movie archeologist, so, given that, the call of adventure was undeniable. 6-7. Cycles It was almost certainly a bad idea. Elijah was well aware that he should have at least gone back to the cultivation cave to let everyone know what he was going to do. Yet, as he stepped past the threshold, he pushed those thoughts aside and focused on the excitement building in his chest. The door itself had been a pain to bypass, and Elijah had been forced to brute force it in his guardian form. Now it lay in pieces. Probably not very scientific of him to destroy it, but that just proved what he already knew about his nature. He might have been trained as a scientist, but he definitely didn¡¯t comport himself as one. Just like a certain whip-wielding archeologist. He smiled as he considered that comparison and stepped through the doorway. The air on the other side had already mingled a bit with the outside atmosphere, but there remained a stale smell to it that hinted at what he might find deeper inside. Elijah pushed One with Nature as hard as he could, but he could sense nothing in the subterranean ruins. So, relying only on his mundane senses, he descended a set of worn and mud-covered steps. He reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved a mundane flashlight. It was a purchase he¡¯d made back in Seattle, and rather than running on batteries, it used a matrix of enchantments to convert ethera into electricity. Elijah didn¡¯t know precisely how it all worked. That it did was all he really cared about. When he flipped the switch, the flashlight cast the narrow stairway in bright, white light. Moisture glistened on the walls, and green algae coated everything. Unlike other ruins Elijah had visited, there were no decorations. Instead, it was just a stairway leading deeper underground. Elijah took one more step, but then he stopped. His heart pounded out of his chest as he realized what he¡¯d missed. He couldn¡¯t feel the algae. There was no life to it. And yet, he could see it. He could smell the musty odor. The scent of decay filled his nostrils, and even so, One with Nature told him that it was all a lie. He backed away, his mind whirling with confusion. His senses ¨C both mundane and ethereal ¨C had never come into conflict, and so, he learned to rely on them, trusting them fully. But now, he found himself questioning everything. Panic born of confusion filled his mind and body, and it didn¡¯t fade even when he once again crossed the threshold. He could still feel it. That distinct lack of life waged war against what he saw with his own two eyes. Even amidst that panic, curiosity rose within him, taunting him with the wanting explanation. Until that moment, he¡¯d thought One with Nature ¨C especially now that it had been enhanced by his specialization ¨C was infallible. But now? He refused to accept that the skill was the problem. The issue had to be with him. So, he pushed against his perceived limitations, focusing not on life, but on ethera. And then, just when he felt on the verge of bursting a blood vessel or two, he felt it. The area beyond the threshold wasn¡¯t entirely empty. There was no life ¨C not as he knew it, at least. Rather, there was something else. A flavor of ethera he¡¯d never encountered. It was cold. Decaying. Lifeless. The only word he could use to adequately describe it was death. But once he discovered it, he could sense it spilling through the doorway he¡¯d unblocked and infecting everything around him. But from what he could tell, it wasn¡¯t harmful. Life. Death. It was all part of the same cycle. Elijah felt a kinship to it, though, at the same time, it was clearly apart. There was something else woven into it. Something unnatural. He didn¡¯t fully understand it, and he knew that it would require a lifetime of study before he came close to comprehension. Still, it felt dangerous to look too deeply, and in a way he couldn¡¯t hope to grasp. Maybe one day. One thing he did understand was that the aura of death wasn¡¯t strong enough to be dangerous to him. Perhaps it would be for some others, but as death was an integral part of nature, he was inoculated against what he strongly suspected was powerful attuned ethera. It could still affect him, but he had the tools to counteract it. Every healer did. With that in mind, he took a deep breath, tasting the decay in the air, then once again crossed the threshold and resumed his descent. As he did, he felt the death-attuned ethera slowly trying to worm its way into him. He counteracted that by casting Soothe, though he knew that if the density of that aura of death continued to progress, the heal-over-time spell wouldn¡¯t be enough to stave off the effects. Still, his curiosity drove him forward, and after a few moments, he reached the bottom of the stairs. There, he saw a long hallway lined with what looked like shelves. Stacked three high, they extended from one end of the hall to the next, each column of shelves only separated by a few inches. Elijah leaned forward, inspecting the contents of one of those ledges. Or cubby hole, more accurately. It was around six feet long and half as tall, extending a few feet into the surrounding stone. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. The skeleton he found made the nature of the ruins obvious. ¡°A crypt,¡± he muttered to himself. From their lack of legs and presence of a long tail, he could tell that the skeletons were ta¡¯alaki. When he leaned closer, he realized that the skeletal structures weren¡¯t similar to snakes as he¡¯d expected. Rather, they more closely resembled aquatic mammals like manatees or seals, though with obvious differences like the absence of lower appendages and the presence of four arms. It was an interesting discovery, though not one that had any real bearing on his situation. So, as intriguing as he found the skeletal structure, he only studied it for a few moments before moving on. With every step down the hall, he felt the density of the deathly ethera increasing, and by the time he reached the end of the corridor, he¡¯d had to add a cast of Healing Rain just to keep up with the decay. And something told him that on the other side of the door before him, it would only grow stronger. For a few moments, Elijah studied the barrier. It was similar to the one he¡¯d crushed to pieces outside, but even without touching it, it felt flimsy to the point that it verged on crumbling without any input from him. He hit it with his new staff, and the thing turned to dust. Elijah coughed, waving his hand in front of him as a thick death aura wafted out of the next chamber, nearly overwhelming him. By reflex, he used Nature¡¯s Bloom. But he knew it wasn¡¯t going to be strong enough, so he exchanged his new Feral Spire for the Staff of the Serpent Healer. The thirty percent increase to the efficacy of his healing spells let him establish an equilibrium, but with each cast using a portion of his finite pool of ethera, he knew it put him on a timer. Without further contemplation, he stepped through the door and when the dust cleared, he found himself looking at a large chamber, at the center of which was a dais. Upon that dais rested a sarcophagus. Made of silver and gold, the upper portion had been molded to resemble a prone ka¡¯alaki with their arms folded across their chest. ¡°It really is a tomb,¡± he said, glancing around. There was nothing else in the room, and though he could see smatterings of color, even the frescoes on the walls had faded so much as to be completely unrecognizable. He stepped forward, and the coffin began to shake as something crunched underfoot. He cast Healing Rain once again, hoping to keep the escalating aura of death at bay. Another step, and he lost ground. The sarcophagus continued to vibrate, more violently with every passing second. The pattern repeated itself as Elijah slowly closed on the dais, and when he¡¯d reached a point only five feet away, the lid of the gaudy coffin lifted from the base. A puff of dust rode a wave of escaped air, and the potency of the deathly aura escalated. Elijah took a stumble backward, and when he lifted his hand, he saw rotting flesh flaking away, only to be replaced by new muscle, over which grew fresh skin. A second later, the cycle repeated. There was a lesson there about the cycle of life and death, but Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t endure it long enough to understand it. In fact, he was on the verge of fleeing when he saw a skeletal hand shove the sarcophagus¡¯ lid to the side. It crashed to the ground, cracking the stone floor and sending a metallic echo to spread through the room. But Elijah only had eyes for what that hand held. A glittering leaf. A guide. Answers. Only then did he glance down to see that the entire floor was covered in bones. Most were so decayed that they were unidentifiable, but Elijah saw a few skulls here and there. ¡°You seek my treasure,¡± a voice echoed through the tomb, so loud that Elijah¡¯s first response was to clutch his ears. ¡°Come and take it, child. My burden may yet be relieved.¡± Elijah wheeled around, searching for the source. But there was nothing there. However, the sense of decay had continued to climb, and it only took him a moment to recognize that it came from the coffin. Knowing that his timeframe had been cut significantly, Elijah pushed forward. As he did so, he continued to heal himself even as his body rotted and was reborn in a vicious and painful cycle that stretched his willpower to the very limit. He leveraged his newly evolved Jade Mind to its maximum capacity, forcing the nine apertures in his Mind as wide as possible. Ethera flooded in, racing through the conduits of his Soul and into his Core, only to be drained by his continued healing. There was an equilibrium there, but one that was beginning to tip in the wrong direction. Elijah lurched forward, his joints creaking with the strain, until he slammed into the open sarcophagus. Clutching the edge, he hung on for dear life as he reached up and wrapped his fingers around the glittering leaf. Or that was his intention. In his state, his aim was a little off, and before he could adjust, his fingers closed around the skeletal hand. His strength gave out, but his grip remained firm, even as he fell free of the sarcophagus. Clutching his prize to his chest, Elijah continued to heal as he dragged himself away from the coffin. One inch at a time, he left a trail of decayed flesh to coat the bone-strewn floor. Yet, with every foot he retreated, the decay dissipated until he finally started making some headway. Then, by the time he reached the door and climbed a few steps toward the surface, he¡¯d managed to leave the worst of it behind. Even so, the impact of the experience stuck with him, weakening him to such a degree that even dragging himself up those steps was a massive chore. Only when he finally tumbled free of the tomb did he start to feel better. Then, he vomited, though when he looked at the resultant puddle, all he saw was a green-and-black sludge that didn¡¯t even begin to resemble any food he¡¯d ever eaten. What¡¯s more, it emitted a dense aura of death that Elijah couldn¡¯t ignore. For a few minutes, he just stared at it before vomiting again. And again after that. For almost an hour, he steadily expelled the run-off from his encounter with that deathly ethera, and even when he finally pushed himself to his feet and stumbled away, he felt it roiling within. It was only when he was more than a mile away from the tomb that he started to feel better, but even then, Elijah knew it would be some time before he was completely recovered. So, he returned to the cultivation cave, where he began to meditate on the experience. Looking back, the decision to keep going had been stupid. He could recognize that much. Yet, at the time, he¡¯d felt something driving him forward. Something integral to his very being, as if his very nature was telling him that he needed to experience what the tomb had to offer. He hadn¡¯t even questioned it. He¡¯d never considered that he should resist, and even after what he¡¯d been through ¨C he knew precisely how close he¡¯d come to dying ¨C he wasn¡¯t sure that he should have fought against those instincts. Because as he meditated, concentrating on the lingering death aura still clinging to him, Elijah could sense that there was a lesson to be learned from the way it interacted with everything else. He just wasn¡¯t sure what form that lesson might take. So, still clutching the skeletal hand that was his prize, he continued to dwell on it. 6-8. Bane ¡°You already understand it,¡± said Sadie, pushing her sweaty hair out of her face. ¡°I don¡¯t think there are any other layers to it.¡± Elijah shook his head, then jabbed the fire with a stick. Sadie was not the person he would have normally chosen for esoteric discussions on the relationship between life and death, but she¡¯d been the first to complete her cultivation, progressing to the Stone Body stage. As the others were still otherwise engaged, she was the only person available for conversation. ¡°I mean, I know that death is part of life and vice versa,¡± he said. ¡°But I feel like there has to be a deeper meaning there.¡± ¡°Why?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Were you expecting to get some sort of reward if you thought about it hard enough? Like, a skill or some extra attributes?¡± she asked. ¡°No,¡± Elijah lied. In truth, he had expected just that. He¡¯d gotten so accustomed to the system quantifying every step forward that he¡¯d begun to expect it from every situation. And the fact that his experiences in the crypt hadn¡¯t been rewarded by the system was more than a little disconcerting. Still, even if it never came, he felt that the subject deserved contemplation. ¡°Sure,¡± she said, looking at her glistening hand. ¡°Ugh. I¡¯m so gross.¡± ¡°I could use Healing Rain so you can take a shower,¡± Elijah suggested. She narrowed her eyes, and he held up his hands, ¡°Not like that. The area of effect is pretty big now. I can summon it here, and you can go over there or something. And when the spell ends, the water disappears. It¡¯s how I shower when I don¡¯t have any other options.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have any soap.¡± Elijah held up a finger, then dug into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. When he withdrew his hand, he was clutching a square of his homemade soap. ¡°Here,¡± he said, tossing it to Sadie. She caught it. ¡°That¡¯s the best soap you¡¯ll ever use. Homemade and naturally sourced.¡± She gave it a sniff, and her expression changed. Quietly, she said, ¡°It smells like you.¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± was her quick reply. She stood and scurried away, disappearing behind a large boulder. A minute or so later, she asked him to use his spell, and Elijah complied. Sighing, he turned his attention away from that whole situation. Ignoring some of the interesting things he felt via One with Nature, he pulled a crystalline leaf from his satchel. The skeletal hand had rotted away the day before, crumbling to dust and drifting away on the breeze. For a moment, Elijah studied the guide. So far, he¡¯d resisted looking inside, lest he become distracted from his meditation on life and death. However, now that he¡¯d exhausted that train of thought, he had no more excuses for delay. So, he extended a thread of ethera into the guide.
Lament of the Fallen I fear my time is short. Soon, the tyrant will find my sanctuary and discover my betrayal. When he does, he will surely exterminate me alongside my entire family and anyone foolish enough to call me a friend. I knew it was coming. I saw it, just as I saw the ruin Yloa will bring to Ka¡¯arath. He has already enslaved the ta¡¯alaki for the impurity of their bloodline. Those who managed to escape his grasp have fled to the ends of the world. Iko, the archmage, remains entrenched within his tower. The necromancer Lordan has her army of undead to protect her. The Druids have already fallen, and the Engineer is limited by his insanity. I am the only one left with the power to prevent what is coming. To that end, I have forged a Bane weapon specifically created to counter Yloa¡¯s abilities. Without it, his invincibility will remain unquestioned. He is the Lightning Emperor, a genius unequaled. He will transcend soon, at which point even the Bane weapon will lose its efficacy. I pray to the Nine that our heroes will use it before he progresses out of our reach. For security, the weapon has been broken into three pieces. If this¡­
That was where it ended. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Sadie, stepping out from behind the boulder with a towel around her head. Otherwise, she wore a thick sweatshirt emblazoned with the Harvard logo on the chest and a pair of worn blue jeans. The whole ensemble looked entirely out of place, considering that Elijah could count on one hand the number of times he¡¯d seen the woman without her armor. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. And he couldn¡¯t deny that he liked what he saw. She wasn¡¯t as statuesque as someone like Delilah. In fact, she looked almost petite, especially in the oversized sweatshirt swallowing most of her torso. But he¡¯d have had to be blind not to recognize her beauty. He swallowed and looked away. Then, he said, ¡°Uh¡­yeah. I¡¯m fine.¡± She sat across from him, then held her hands close to the fire. ¡°That spell is very useful, but I wish the water was warmer,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do on the next evolution,¡± he said, regaining some of his composure. ¡°So, do you want to talk about whatever put that expression on your face? You looked like you were about to throw that guide into the fire,¡± she remarked. Elijah sighed. Then, he told her what he¡¯d read, even letting her take a look herself. She saw exactly the same thing, and when she revealed as much, Elijah asked, ¡°You don¡¯t think it¡¯s important?¡± ¡°No ¨C there¡¯s a lot of good information there,¡± she answered. ¡°I¡¯d be willing to bet that we¡¯ll have to deal with this archmage and necromancer in future challenges. That might¡¯ve been the reason the system put that crypt there in the first place. We were lucky that you¡¯re the one who found it. If it would have been Dat, he never would have survived.¡± ¡°Really? He¡¯s pretty strong.¡± ¡°Of course, he also wouldn¡¯t have kept going, either. You really need to learn some lessons in self-preservation. You can¡¯t just bull through every obstacle,¡± she went on. ¡°You sound like you¡¯re worried about my well-being,¡± he said with a slight smile. ¡°I¡¯m only concerned with keeping you alive long enough to hold up your end of our agreement,¡± Sadie said. ¡°We need you in Hong Kong.¡± ¡°Is that the only reason you want me to survive?¡± She shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s the most important one.¡± Elijah sighed, then leaned back. As he did, he shoved the guide back into his satchel and said, ¡°I don¡¯t get you, Sadie. I mean, I know you hated me the second you saw me. But since then, I¡¯ve done nothing but help you. And what have I gotten for my trouble? Just more distrust, and that¡¯s labeling it generously.¡± ¡°Is that the only reason you help people? For adoration? So they will like you?¡± ¡°I help people because it¡¯s the right thing to do.¡± ¡°Then what does my opinion of you matter?¡± she asked. Elijah started to answer, but then thought better of it. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand,¡± he said. Then, he pulled another item from his satchel. The skeletal hand had turned to dust, but it had been wearing the ring Elijah now held between his thumb and forefinger. The ring itself was made of some unidentifiable metal. He would have labeled it as silver, but for the red streaks marring its surface. There was a single ruby ¨C barely bigger than a pencil eraser ¨C set into the ring. Most importantly, Elijah could feel that it was a high-grade piece of equipment. ¡°You¡¯re not really thinking of putting that on, are you?¡± Elijah shook his head. He¡¯d already endured a lecture from Atticus about using unidentified equipment, and he knew the dangers well enough to avoid it. Still, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder what it did. With as much ethera he felt wafting off of it, there was every chance that it was even more valuable than the guide he¡¯d taken. ¡°I know better than that.¡± ¡°But you have to admit that you have a habit of being a little reckless,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Not this time.¡± With that, the short conversation lapsed into an uncomfortable silence that didn¡¯t end until Elijah got up and started to walk away. Being around Sadie always left him feeling like he was somehow not good enough, as if her every glance was judging him. And he was tired of it. ¡°Wait.¡± Elijah turned to face her. ¡°What?¡± ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry, okay?¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be like this, you know. I don¡¯t want to be. I¡¯m trying to do better, but this¡­this ability just won¡¯t stop. And that demon¡­he just made it all worse.¡± ¡°The ability is an excuse, Sadie. You said it yourself that you were judgemental before any of this even happened. Maybe not to the same extent, but still, you can¡¯t just hide behind some ability you can¡¯t control.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know what it¡¯s like. I ¨C¡± ¡°I know more than you think. Besides, if the problem is that you can¡¯t control that ability, then maybe you should be working on that. You¡¯re the one in charge, not the spell, so stop hiding behind it.¡± With that, Elijah left the campsite, and as soon as he¡¯d dipped out of line of sight, he embraced Shape of Venom. Once the transformation completed, he used Guise of the Unseen and returned to the area where he¡¯d found the tomb. However, even though he knew he was in the right place ¨C with his Jade Mind, that was never in question ¨C there was no tomb to be found. Elijah continued to circle until, finally, he gave up on the quest. Clearly, there was some system interference at play. Given that, continuing the search would be pointless. So, for a while, he just wandered aimlessly through the forest. There were plenty of beasts about, but even if he hadn¡¯t been cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, they would have left him alone. Such was the power of being a Druid. Eventually, the sun began to dip below the horizon, and he decided it was time to return to the campsite. When he arrived, he found that Sadie hadn¡¯t moved. Instead, she simply stared at the fire, which had burned down to embers. Elijah decided to see to that, gathering some fallen branches before joining her. As he squatted by the fire and fed the branches to the flames, Sadie finally spoke up. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I shouldn¡¯t have snapped at you like that.¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s not fine. I keep saying that I¡¯m going to get a handle on Sense of Sin, but every day, I make an excuse for why I can¡¯t. I¡¯m too busy. I have other things that need to be done. I¡¯ll do it when the Trial is over. But I think the reality is that I find comfort in the fact that it tells me what I want to hear,¡± she explained. Then, she turned to look at Elijah. ¡°I¡¯ve never thought much of people, you know.¡± ¡°I can sympathize. People can suck. Yours truly excluded, of course. I¡¯m demonstrably awesome. Everyone says so.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Undercut every serious conversation with an attempt at humor. There¡¯s something to be said for earnestness.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve been told. I¡¯ve also been told that categorizing my comments as humor is¡­generous.¡± She smiled. ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to say that,¡± she said, looking away. ¡°But you were thinking it. It¡¯s okay. I¡¯ve always been a bit odd. I think I convinced myself that I was the cool kind of weird. All that time alone disabused me of that notion,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m awkward and cheesy, but I¡¯m not the monster you want to think I am.¡± ¡°I know. And I will work on Sense of Sin. I promise I¡¯ll get better.¡± Elijah gave her a tight smile. ¡°That¡¯s all any of us can do, right?¡± In truth, he¡¯d seen no evidence that Sadie was capable of adjusting her mindset. She was one of the most rigid people he¡¯d ever met, which meant that the only chance of her getting past Sense of Sin was probably if she somehow managed to evolve the ability. And he knew just how rare those chances were. But he hoped, for her sake, she managed to make good on her promise. 6-9. Spires of the Fallen ¡°It ain¡¯t proper.¡± ¡°You were welcome not to use the cultivation cave, you know. Complaining about it now isn¡¯t going to change anything,¡± Elijah said, striding alongside Kurik. Before, the dwarf would have struggled to keep up ¨C on account of his much shorter legs ¨C but after his bout in the cultivation cave where he¡¯d advanced to Body of Stone, he had no issues maintaining Elijah¡¯s pace. ¡°If my parents could see me now¡­they¡¯d disown me,¡± Kurik went on. ¡°Who ever heard of a dwarf cultivating with ice? Ugh. I feel like I got frozen maggots crawlin¡¯ all over me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be such a drama queen. Advancement is advancement. It doesn¡¯t actually matter how you achieve it,¡± Elijah said. However, he knew that wasn¡¯t necessarily the case, especially in later stages. The information he¡¯d found on cultivation was a bit vague about how it worked later on, but it did mention that the requirements grew more strenuous with every step. On top of that, different environments gave different benefits, though the guide hadn¡¯t mentioned exactly what those benefits were. For now, though, all that mattered was taking each step, and everyone in the party had advanced one aspect of their cultivation. Both Kurik and Sadie had reached the second tier with their Bodies, while Dat had chosen to work on his Mind. Meanwhile, Ron had advanced his Mind, hoping to increase the rate at which he could regenerate ethera. In short, they¡¯d all taken huge strides, and they¡¯d only stopped because the cave¡¯s ethera density needed to recover before they made another push. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that would occur before the end of the Trial, which was only six months away. In that time, they needed to complete six more challenges. To that end, once everyone had taken the next step in their cultivation, they¡¯d immediately set out to do just that. Thankfully, the map they¡¯d discovered in the Immortals¡¯ compound laid out the disposition of the remaining challenges, so they merely had to pick the closest one and cross the wilderness. Still, even knowing the way, the trek had taken an additional week, but now that they had drawn closer, the jungle had begun to give way to a coastal plane. That was within expectations, because the next three challenges ¨C the Underrealm, Niflara, and Ignis ¨C were located near the sea. They¡¯d chosen the one representing the Underrealm because it was the closest, though not by much. The next in line was Niflara ¨C which was the realm tied to the sea ¨C with Ignis being a little inland. That disposition established the order in which the group intended to tackle each challenge. After that, they would be required to cross the entire continent to reach the challenges associated with the Umbra and Ethereum. It was a good plan, though one Elijah expected would necessitate some adjustment as they encountered additional problems. The Immortals were gone, but Elijah knew that further conflict wasn¡¯t out of the question. There were too many people, each one with different goals, to completely avoid future clashes. They could only hope that those disputes wouldn¡¯t affect the rest of the Trial-takers, though Elijah wasn¡¯t too optimistic on that front. Maybe he would be pleasantly surprised. Kurik continued to grumble as they kept going, but eventually, he fell silent. Meanwhile, Elijah concentrated on One with Nature. He still hadn¡¯t grown completely accustomed to the wealth of information available to him, and he expected that it would require another advance in his Mind cultivation to reach that point. Still, he was continuously surprised with just how much he could sense. The effect wasn¡¯t just limited to quantifiable information, either. Sure, One with Nature was the medium through which he felt everything, but the sense of connection he¡¯d developed was the real benefit. Because of that, he felt more immersed in nature than ever before, which he felt could only be a good thing going forward. It was almost as if his attunement had grown stronger. Perhaps it had. Regardless, Elijah no longer felt an ounce of regret concerning his choice of specialization. For one mile after another, he focused on his surroundings, and along the way, vegetation grew less pervasive. Despite the day having barely progressed past noon, the sky became darker as roiling black clouds blocked the sun. And then, they finally reached their destination. After leaving a sparse stand of trees behind, Elijah crested a slight rise, and he saw a forest of a different sort. A collection of towers, many of which were broken, stretched as far as he could see. Even when he used Eyes of the Eagle, he couldn¡¯t discern their endpoint. The spires themselves were tall and composed of black stone. Looking closer, Elijah established some sense of scale. The closest were almost a mile away, and yet, he could tell that each spire was at least a couple hundred feet wide at the base, though they were much narrower toward the top. As he¡¯d previously noted, many of the towers were broken, and aquamarine lightning danced between their peaks. Barren terrain stretched between the towers, and in the distance, Elijah saw black waves crashing against a rocky shore. A few towers extended into the sea, though they stopped after a hundred yards or so. Dark clouds blanketed the sky, casting the entire area in perpetual gloom. The only light came from the teal lightning arcing between the towers. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about this, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°At least you have experience with this kind of thing,¡± Elijah said. According to the reports they¡¯d read, the Underrealm was populated by undead, which was precisely in Dat¡¯s and Sadie¡¯s realm of expertise. They¡¯d spent years fighting the unliving in Hong Kong, and Elijah hoped that their vast experience would give them some advantage going forward. ¡°Is there anything I should know about what we can expect in there?¡± Elijah asked. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. Dat answered, ¡°Zombie rules.¡± ¡°What?¡± Sadie elaborated, ¡°Destroy the brain. Complete dismemberment can sometimes work, but it usually only makes them immobile. It probably won¡¯t kill them unless you destroy the brain.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s just the normal undead,¡± Dat said. ¡°There are tons of other types that are a lot worse.¡± ¡°Like what?¡± Kurik asked. ¡°According to every guide I¡¯ve read, the varieties are nearly as endless as classes,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°And they¡¯re different on each world. Back home, we encountered ambulatory skeletons, wraiths, vampires, and these odd sludges that could envelope people and suck the life out of them.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what they do. They¡¯re driven to eradicate life because it hurts them.¡± ¡°Hurt might be a stretch. There¡¯s no evidence that they feel pain,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Everything feels pain, bro.¡± ¡°The point is that they can¡¯t survive in areas with high vitality. So, they consume it, somehow transforming that energy into death-attuned ethera,¡± Sadie continued. ¡°If it¡¯s like Hong Kong, when we get far enough into their territory, we¡¯ll start taking damage.¡± ¡°Like the tomb I found.¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°But it¡¯s unlikely to be that concentrated, except in pockets.¡± ¡°So, we don¡¯t really know what to expect, except to specify that it¡¯s probably undead monsters who will suck the life right out of you, given half a chance,¡± said Ron. ¡°Oh, and if Elijah¡¯s experiences are any indication, there¡¯s a chance we¡¯ll encounter areas where the flesh will rot right off of our bones.¡± ¡°Basically, bro. It sucks.¡± Ron sighed and shook his head. ¡°Are they sentient?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know that for sure,¡± Sadie admitted. ¡°Some people claim that the ones who¡¯ve been converted maintain some intelligence. The zombies are just what you expect. Completely mindless. But the more powerful ones¡­they can talk. They can reason. So, I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Great,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°I guess we¡¯ll use the normal formation. Dat and I will scout it out, while you hang out here while we figure things out? Once we identify a target, we¡¯ll advance the same way we always do.¡± Everyone agreed that was the best option, so Elijah slipped into the Shape of Venom and used Guise of the Unseen. After that, he and Dat set out for the collection of towers. As Elijah drew closer, he felt the same absence he¡¯d experienced in the tomb, though there were pockets of life here and there. Then, just as he passed the first tower, Elijah received a notification:
You have reached the Spires of the Fallen. To conquer the Challenge of the Underrealm, disable the towers and defeat the Champion. Reward: Pendant of Vitality
Elijah frowned. It was the first time they¡¯d encountered a challenge that would reward a piece of equipment. Before, they¡¯d gotten raw materials or, in the case of the Singing Cliffs, a consumable item that provided attributes. He wasn¡¯t certain what the change signified, expect that he expected the Pendant of Vitality to be quite powerful. Otherwise, the notification made the goal of the challenge clear. Somehow, they were meant to deactivate the towers ¨C which, if he had to guess, were the reason for the deathly aura suffusing the region ¨C then defeat the Conqueror. Could they do it out of order, though? Did they even want to try? If the other challenges were anything to go by, the boss ¨C for lack of a better term ¨C would be incredibly strong, and Elijah had to assume that the towers somehow empowered the Champion, whose nature was still a mystery. Elijah continued forward, even going so far as to climb the outside of one of the broken towers. When he reached the top, he saw a black crystal suspended in the center of the exposed floor. Upon trying to touch it, an explosion of force sent him flying backward. Panicking, he narrowly avoided plummeting to the ground by reaching out to grab the edge. There, he hung for a long moment, his hissing breath coming in gasps. He likely could have survived such a fall, but the moment the force had hit him, Guise of the Unseen had been stripped away. And when he looked down, he saw hundreds of zombies spilling out of the tower. Far too many bodies for the tower to accommodate. In addition, thousands of winged creatures descended from the clouds and started to circle. Before they saw him, Elijah reengaged Guise of the Unseen, but it was clear that his actions had once again resulted in serious consequences. The entire region looked like someone had kicked an anthill as hordes of undead creatures rushed to fill the gaps between the towers. Elijah wanted to kick himself. Trying to touch that crystal had been stupid. And in retrospect, the results were obvious. However, in his defense, he¡¯d hoped that doing so would allow him to simply deactivate the tower. Clearly, he was wrong. There was another piece of the puzzle, and finding it was the first obstacle. He glanced down at the ground, which was roiling with a horde of undead ta¡¯alaki and ka¡¯alaki. Then, he looked around at the flying monsters ¨C they looked like humanoid bats, though with bits of flesh dangling from their bodies and giant holes in their wings. Those wings were so damaged, in fact, that Elijah wondered how they remained in the air. Magic, assuredly. That was almost always the answer when the laws of physics were treated as mere suggestions. In any case, Elijah scampered down the tower, grateful for the efficacy of his stealth skill. When he reached the ground, he spent quite a lot of time observing the zombies. To his surprise, they moved in large clumps, and after half an hour, he figured out why when he saw that one of the zombies had the light of intelligence in their eyes. It wasn¡¯t terribly overt, but he sensed that it was not only smarter but more powerful than the others. Those lesser zombies seemed to understand that as well, and they congregated around the elite undead, almost by instinct. Elijah continued to watch until he saw a similar interaction in another clump. Three more instances of the same phenomenon told him that he was on the right track. Thankfully, after a couple of hours, the zombies returned to their towers. When Elijah followed one group, he saw them step through what looked like a grey square suspended in the wall of one of the towers. Once all the creatures were gone, it winked out of existence. Within twenty minutes, the entire region was once again devoid of undead, leaving Elijah to explore at his leisure. After another couple of hours, he¡¯d discovered nothing of note, so he returned to the camp and told everyone what he¡¯d found. Dat arrived about an hour later and confirmed everything Elijah had revealed, though he did have two other things to add. ¡°Those crystals at the tops of the towers can be neutralized,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how, but Hex of Scrying says that the answers are in the bigger spires.¡± ¡°All of those were sealed,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Even when I climbed to the top, I found nothing but an open area with the crystal.¡± Sadie said, ¡°Then I think that¡¯s the first thing we need to figure out, right? How to get inside.¡± ¡°We only explored a fraction of the area,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s where we should start. I think my next step is to fly over everything to get a sense of what¡¯s going on. Then, we can make a plan.¡± Everyone agreed, though Sadie did caution him to be careful and not touch any other strange crystals. ¡°I¡¯m always careful,¡± he said. Then, he leaped into the air and initiated the transformation into the Shape of the Sky. A second later, he beat his wings and soared high above the towers. 6-10. The Pattern As Elijah circled the tallest tower in the region, he felt a combination of electricity, ethera, and death dancing across his wings. He banked, avoiding a bolt of teal lightning, then latched onto the spire at the top of the tower. Like that, he remained stationary for a few seconds, just surveying the scene below him. From the ground, the forest of towers seemed random, but with the advantage afforded by his current vantage point, Elijah could see a pattern laid out before him. The towers numbered in the hundreds ¨C perhaps even into the thousands ¨C and they stretched for miles along the coast. The ubiquitous aquamarine lightning cast everything in a teal glow as the sea roiled as if it was under the influence of a violent storm. Yet, there was no rain. No wind. It was an eerie setting, and the only comparison Elijah could conjure was the hours before a hurricane came ashore. The atmosphere was calm, but on the edge of bursting with natural fury. Making it worse was the aura of death hanging in the air. It wasn¡¯t strong enough to rot his flesh from his bones ¨C not like in the tomb ¨C but it did leave him feeling even more uncomfortable. Adding to that was the knowledge that, with one wrong move, the entire region would be flooded with various undead creatures that would happily tear him limb from limb. He let out a hissing sigh, pulling his attention away from the environment. He¡¯d been scouting for hours, so none of it was new information. However, as accustomed to the discomfort as he thought he was, the constant barrage of needling fear and pregnant anticipation left him increasingly on edge. It would have been so much easier if he could act, if he had something to fight. A goal to reach. But he could only observe, which made the anxiety induced by the environment so much worse. Closing his eyes, he focused on One with Nature. There was very little life in the area, but thankfully, it wasn¡¯t nearly as devoid of vitality as the tomb. As such, Elijah could get a vague notion of tower¡¯s interior. Unsurprisingly, it was entirely hollow, with one of those floating black crystals at the center of the top floor. Having seen precisely what he¡¯d expected to find ¨C which was exactly like all the other large, sealed towers ¨C he prepared to move on. But as he flared One with Nature to its limits, he felt something slightly different. He focused entirely on his senses, pushing with every facet of his Mind until that tiny detail became clear enough to understand. Since taking the Connection specialization, Elijah had noticed that it had enhanced One with Nature in more ways than set forth in the description. The effective radius and potency of the ability was well-documented ¨C and extremely powerful ¨C but he¡¯d begun to notice that what he could sense had broadened as well. He''d always been able to feel ethera, at least to some degree. At first, he¡¯d only sensed the density of energy in the air, but as he¡¯d grown more powerful, he¡¯d learned to discern between types of ethera. On top of that, he could feel when people were casting spells or using abilities. But as he pushed his focus to new heights, Elijah¡¯s sense for ethera deepened, and as a result, he could feel a thin thread of energy connecting the black crystal at the the top of the tower to something underground. More, he felt something so obvious that he was absolutely shocked he hadn¡¯t noticed it before. The ground beneath the tower was hollow. There was a chamber down there, and with a little more inspection, Elijah felt that a tunnel extended from that chamber, connected to another, then went on to form a dense labyrinth far below the surface. Troublingly, those tunnels were not empty. A few were flooded, but that was to be expected from the proximity to the ocean. No ¨C what worried Elijah was that there were clearly undead monsters down there. He couldn¡¯t feel most of them. Indeed, after only a few dozen feet into the tunnels, the senses afforded by One with Nature went dark. After his experience in the tomb, he could guess why. Finally, Elijah focused on the chamber directly beneath the tower, and he quickly discerned the reason he could feel even as much as he did. There was life down there. It was well-contained, and if he hadn¡¯t recently taken the Connection specialization, it would have been far too faint for him to feel. Yet, now, it blazed like a small star in his senses, so powerful that he wondered how he hadn¡¯t immediately noticed it. Elijah threw himself from the spire, then glided down to the ground. When he landed, he shifted into his human form, then focused on following the tunnels below. The vital energy only extended so far, and after that, the lack blinded him. However, he got a good enough picture to confirm his previous assertion that there was an extensive system of tunnels below the ground. After a few minutes of mapping what he could sense, he shifted back into Shape of the Sky and flew to the next large tower, which was more than a mile away. There were dozens of smaller spires in the intervening space, and many of them were crumbling or broken, but none of the black crystals at their bases were connected to a source of vitality, so the tunnels beneath were completely obscured to Elijah¡¯s senses. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. The next large tower was similar to the last, which was to say that it was entirely sealed and the black crystal on the ground floor shared an ethereal connection with a source of life. That allowed him to map the surrounding tunnels. Elijah kept going after that, hopping from one sealed tower to the next, and he found much the same beneath each one. Hours passed as he explored the area, working his way back to where he¡¯d left the others. So, when he finally reached them, he had a good idea of what they were dealing with. He landed just outside of their camp, then shifted back into his human form before approaching the rest of his group. They all looked anxious, but that wasn¡¯t surprising. The atmosphere ¨C even a little ways away from the towers ¨C was unnerving, and they didn¡¯t even have exploration to distract them from it. ¡°What did you find?¡± asked Sadie, shooting to her feet. Elijah ran his hand through his hair. Thankfully, it had grown back after his experiences in the Citadel of Innovation, but it was still shorter than he liked. Sitting next to the fire, he leaned close and said, ¡°God, it¡¯s cold around those towers.¡± ¡°I thought your cloak kept the cold at bay,¡± Ron remarked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a different kind of cold,¡± he said. ¡°Not physical. It¡¯s more¡­¡± ¡°Lifeless,¡± Dat said. ¡°I felt it, too. It¡¯s the same in certain parts of Hong Kong. It¡¯s a cold that seeps into your bones, even when it¡¯s warm.¡± Sadie said, ¡°Not unexpected. The place stinks of undead. I don¡¯t want to be here any longer than absolutely necessary. So, I¡¯ll ask again ¨C what did you find?¡± ¡°Tunnels. Or maybe crypts, given the scenario. I can¡¯t be certain, but I think they extend across the whole area, connecting the big towers,¡± Elijah explained. Then, he went on to recount everything he¡¯d found during his scouting expedition. He finished by saying, ¡°But I don¡¯t know how to get to the tunnels. Maybe we can just dig our way down, but I feel like that¡¯s the wrong way to go about it.¡± Indeed, Elijah was well aware that his straightforward problem-solving strategies had made already-dangerous situations much deadlier in the past. For instance, he¡¯d discovered that the system had built in methods to overcome the obstacles within each challenge. Elijah ¨C and to a lesser extent, his group ¨C had chosen to simply tackle those issues head-on, effectively running the whole scenario on hard-mode, conquering them through sheer power. So, while digging into the tunnels was probably possible, Elijah expected that it would almost certainly make things much more difficult than they needed to be. The next hour passed in mostly fruitless discussion where the group attempted to brainstorm the problem. However, it soon became clear that they wouldn¡¯t figure it out by sitting in camp. So, Elijah and Dat set off back into the forest of spires and continued their efforts at exploration. For Elijah¡¯s part, he focused on mapping the tunnels as best he could. Thankfully, the area was devoid of all life, so they were given free reign of the entire region. Still, the entire time he was among those spires, Elijah felt a sense of impending dread. It was like he stood on the edge of a fight or flight response, and there was no relief in sight. Fortunately, he was well versed in dealing with stress, so even if it was uncomfortable, Elijah managed to keep his mind on the task. Over the next two days, he acted as a cartographer. The mapping device ¨C which he¡¯d gotten from the Artificer back in Argos ¨C helped, but its range was too short to penetrate the tunnels. Yet, it was not completely useless, as Elijah found when he saw what appeared to be a random spot that was highlighted on the old Gameboy screen. He approached the indicated location, which happened to be at the edge of the challenge area, with no small degree of caution. It turned out to be unnecessary, because he reached the spot without issue. Standing in place, he looked around, but there was nothing in the area. Just more barren landscape, and it was close enough to the challenge¡¯s boundary that the rocky terrain wasn¡¯t even broken up by the ubiquitous towers. So, once again, Elijah sank the entirety of his focus into One with Nature. He found nothing ¨C at least at first. But then, he detected a wisp of vitality flowing into a small crack beneath one of the lifeless, grey rocks. Without hesitation, he hooked his fingers under the boulder and heaved. Only a couple of years before, he would have struggled to lift so much weight. However, because of the strides he¡¯d made with his attributes, he managed the feat without much issue. But he found nothing but bare ground beneath. Frustrated, Elijah kicked a rock. Even as it sailed through the air, he felt an implosion of life draining into the ground. That only lasted a few moments before it ceased, but it was enough to let Elijah home in on a tiny fissure ¨C maybe a quarter of an inch long and half as wide ¨C that descended into the earth. He knelt beside it, then ran his hand over the crack. When he did, he felt a slight difference ¨C almost like the air pressure had subtly dropped. More importantly, via One with Nature, he could feel a thin thread of life energy flowing into that crack. So, he ran his hand over the ground, brushing away smaller rocks and dirt, and to his surprise, found that the crack extended much further than he¡¯d first expected. A little more work, and Elijah discovered that it was perfectly straight until it took a sudden ninety degree turn. A few feet later, it turned again. That was when he realized it formed a square. For the next few minutes, Elijah excitedly uncovered a slab of worked stone, in the center of which was a simple depiction of a flame. More importantly, beyond that slab was an open area that he would have bet connected with the system of tunnels. What was clear was that, at last, he had found an entrance. So, after spending another half hour completely excavating the slab, he returned to the camp to reveal his findings to the rest of the group. However, when he did, he saw that Dat had already returned, and after a bit of discussion, he discovered that the Witch Hunter had found another entrance on the other side of the region. ¡°So, which one do we use?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Flip a coin?¡± Dat suggested. ¡°We are not choosing based on a coin flip,¡± Sadie said with a roll of her eyes. ¡°I suggest we investigate it properly, then make a decision based on our findings.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it matters, bro.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll see,¡± Sadie said, already gathering her things. 6-11. The Crypt ¡°You can handle it, right?¡± asked Elijah, glancing back at Ron. ¡°I can¡¯t understate how damaging it can be.¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Ron said. ¡°I ain¡¯t,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°How ¡®bout I just sit this one out? I can ¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be scared, bro. It¡¯s just a little death and decay. We¡¯ll protect you.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t scared. I just don¡¯t like it. That¡¯s a valid feeling, by the way. Most people avoid death traps,¡± Kurik pointed out. ¡°But you idiots just rush in there like you¡¯re all invincible.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t see you turning back,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Because you won¡¯t let me!¡± Elijah sighed, but before he could form a response, Sadie called the dwarf¡¯s bluff. ¡°If you feel that strongly about it, no one will force you to follow,¡± she argued. ¡°You can go back to the camp and wait for us to finish this thing up.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t what I was tryin¡¯ to say,¡± Kurik grumbled. ¡°I¡¯m just pointin¡¯ out that this ain¡¯t smart.¡± Then, almost under his breath, he added, ¡°If I don¡¯t go, you¡¯ll all probably get yourselves killed.¡± While that might have been true, Elijah suspected that Kurik just liked to complain. He¡¯d done so about the cold, the biting insects that made their home within the jungle, and nearly everything else in the Trial. In fact, the only thing that hadn¡¯t been the subject of his complaints was the influx of levels he¡¯d gained. Still, despite all his grumbling, he wouldn¡¯t let them go on without him. ¡°That goes for everyone,¡± Sadie said, standing over the recently opened passage. It had taken the combined efforts of Sadie, Elijah, and Dat to lever the giant slab of stone out of the way, and when they¡¯d finally shifted it aside, they¡¯d been inundated by powerfully death-attuned ethera. Elijah and Sadie had resisted it, but Dat, having much lower Constitution, had needed Ron¡¯s intervention. And Elijah knew it would just get worse the deeper they went. If he was honest, he wanted to go by himself. After the tomb, he was confident that he could endure, but that confidence didn¡¯t extend to his companions. Sadie would likely be fine, but Dat, Ron, and Kurik were all much more vulnerable. However, when he¡¯d brought that up, they¡¯d all rejected his proposition and insisted upon going into the tunnels. He considered handing off the ruby ring he¡¯d taken from the crypt, but that came with some problems none of them were equipped to confront. First, he had no assurance that it would help with the problem at hand. For all he knew, it would only give them a few extra attribute points. Useful, but not the game-changer they might need. But more importantly, Elijah was well aware of the existence of cursed items. The sword Carmen had forged for Roman had been one such item, and it had slowly driven the tyrant to insanity. Since then, he¡¯d dropped that weapon into the ocean, but the lesson remained. Using an unidentified item was a good way to fall prey to just such a curse. Or something much worse. So, the ring, despite the possibility that it might be useful for their current situation, remained in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. It would stay there until he had an opportunity to return to the Nexus Town and have it identified by Atticus. ¡°Well, if we¡¯re going to go, we need to do it now,¡± Ron said. ¡°I have a lot of ethera, and I¡¯m pretty sure my Regeneration can keep up now that I¡¯ve advanced to the second stage of Mind cultivation. But not if we waste time hanging out here.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with then,¡± Kurik grumbled. Then, he looked at Sadie, adding, ¡°But I ain¡¯t leadin¡¯ the way.¡± She rolled her eyes, then descended the worn steps leading into the crypt. In her hand was the map Elijah had drawn from memory, and she held an ethera-powered flashlight between her teeth. Dat came second, followed by Ron, with Elijah taking up the rear. The chances they might be attacked from behind were low, but it was better to be safe than sorry. The formation had saved them on multiple occasions while trekking through dangerous areas, and Elijah didn¡¯t expect that to change. The steps descended for almost fifty feet before leveling off and ending in a tunnel measuring about ten feet across. To Elijah, it felt extremely claustrophobic, but he kept that discomfort to himself. Instead, he focused on the increasingly dense death-attuned ethera. It wasn¡¯t powerful enough to do any damage ¨C not yet, at least ¨C but it did tighten his stomach into knots. And then there was that same cold that felt so pervasive within the bounds of the Spires of the Fallen. ¡°Incoming!¡± hissed Sadie. Only then did Elijah hear the muffled sound of footsteps. Then, he narrowed his eyes and looked past Sadie, but all he saw was darkness ¨C until a zombie appeared out of the shadows. It moved like lightning ¨C far more quickly than the ones aboveground had ¨C and it was on Sadie in an instant. Fortunately, she was ready for it, and her sword had no issues bisecting the monster. Then, another appeared. And another after that. In seconds, the entire hall was blocked by densely packed undead ¨C all reaching and clawing at Sadie. She¡¯d clearly used Call of the Crusader, keeping their attention locked onto her. Meanwhile, Dat had opened up with his crossbow, sending glowing bolts down the hall to slam into the monsters¡¯ heads. Every shot hit with enough force to burst their skulls like overripe melons. Being in the rear, Elijah had no choice but to use his spells. So, he tossed out one Storm¡¯s Fury after another, adding Healing Rain into the mix so he could ease the burden on Ron¡¯s store of ethera. He¡¯d also held out some hope that the zombies would react poorly to the influx of vital energy, but to his disappointment, they seemed entirely unaffected by Healing Rain. What was effective was Nature¡¯s Rebuke.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Nature¡¯s Rebuke Curse an entity to endure the power of nature, doing damage over time. Triple damage against unnatural creatures. Lasts two minutes.
They were strong enough that the spell didn¡¯t melt them immediately as it had with the vampires back in the Magister¡¯s Estate tower, but it was clear that they were unnatural creatures. As such, they felt the full weight of the enhanced spell. As the seconds ticked by, the creatures¡¯ flesh sloughed off and some of them collapsed. With Sadie and Dat steadily cutting them down, it was only a few minutes before the hall was clear. Elijah watched as the fallen zombies rapidly decomposed until even the bones disintegrated. Focusing on One with Nature, he could barely sense threads of deathly ethera racing down the hall and into the darkness. ¡°Damn,¡± he said. ¡°Is that normal?¡± Sadie shook her head. ¡°No. Body disposal is a big issue in Hong Kong,¡± she answered. ¡°Disease is a problem.¡± ¡°What do we think it means?¡± Ron asked. No one had a response, but they all agreed to keep going. The plan hadn¡¯t changed, just because there were a few zombies in the tunnels. In fact, they¡¯d expected a fight, even if they hadn¡¯t known which form their enemies might take. ¡°Do we think these are the same zombies that come out when someone messes with the crystals?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°There¡¯s no telling, bro.¡± It was an interesting question made even more so because, according to Dat and Sadie, these weren¡¯t normal zombies. ¡°They act the part, but they seem like magical constructs,¡± Kurik said. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe.¡± After that, the group continued on, and they were forced for what felt like every step. The zombies weren¡¯t particularly powerful, but that changed the deeper they went into the complex. As the power of the deathly ethera rose, so too did the strength of the zombies. At the same time, the group was subjected to increasingly degenerative conditions. It never reached the level of the deepest part of the tomb, but Dat and Kurik were particularly affected. Ron took care of it, but Elijah suspected that he couldn¡¯t keep it up indefinitely ¨C especially if it got worse. So, they were on a bit of a timer, even with Elijah using his own healing spells to shoulder some of the burden. On and on they went, and Elijah¡¯s map proved to be invaluable. Without it, they would have quickly become lost. However, the labyrinthine tangle of tunnels did create another issue. Each time they reached an intersection, the possibility of being attacked from the rear increased. So, Elijah had to keep his attention split between the ongoing battles at the front of the procession and the potential for an attack from the rear. His diligence proved warranted when, after a couple of hours, a group of zombies rushed him. He couldn¡¯t afford to shift into his animal forms ¨C not and keep up the healing that was necessary to keep everyone from succumbing to the decay ¨C so he wheeled around and met the zombies in his natural form. But it gave him a perfect opportunity to use his newest ability:
Savage Might Embrace your bestial nature, temporarily enhancing your physical attributes by 33%. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 31.1 Seconds. Cooldown based on Constitution. Current: 68.3 Minutes.
He felt his power soar as he brought the Feral Spire to the fore. As he swung it, he used Nature¡¯s Rebuke, then activated Storm¡¯s Fury just before he made contact with the first zombie. ¡°Attack from the rear!¡± he shouted as he made contact. Lightning arced through the monster, and the sheer strength of the blow sent the zombie crashing into one of the walls, where its bones snapped like twigs. Elijah didn¡¯t pause to watch it, and as he spun, launching another attack at the next attacking zombie, his Jade Mind whirled to cast one spell after another. Nature¡¯s Rebuke cast quickly, and it didn¡¯t even require aiming. However, using Storm¡¯s Fury to augment his physical attacks required precise timing. Thankfully, his powerful cultivation paid off, giving him the ability to think along multiple threads at a time ¨C and with far more brainpower than he would have thought possible. The results were shocking. Elijah had never been a savant with the staff. He felt comfortable enough using it as a weapon, but he knew he was no expert. However, with how quickly he could process information ¨C along with the sometimes forgotten Haste effect of his Sash of the Whirlwind ¨C it felt like the zombies were moving in water. He crushed one skull after another, while the back lines succumbed to Nature¡¯s Rebuke. All the while, he kept Soothe and Healing Rain up on his most vulnerable teammates. For a moment, he wondered why he was fighting alone, but then he realized that even more zombies were attacking from the other direction. They were being pincered, the timing of which suggested that it was no mere coincidence. Still, there was nothing Elijah could do with that information. At present, he had an all-important job ¨C deal with the zombies ¨C so that was what he did. One after another fell before him, and for a while, he felt almost invincible. Then, Savage Might wore off. He stumbled at the sudden weakness, and he caught a claw to the face for his trouble. Another monster latched onto him with its four arms, and yet another wrapped its long, tail around him like a particularly muscular boa constrictor. Elijah had no choice. He shifted into the Shape of the Guardian. The sudden influx of size broke him free of the zombies¡¯ grasp, and Elijah lashed out with his long, ape-like arms. He had to crouch to fit into the tunnel, but with Iron Scales active, the undead creatures couldn¡¯t penetrate his hide. So, he laid into them without fear of reprisal, but even with the extra attributes from his powerful form, the sense weakness persisted. He fought through it, and with the triumvirate of his spirit ¨C dragon, beast, and human ¨C pushing him forward, he could harness his power better than ever before. It wasn¡¯t quantified by attributes or cultivation, but as Elijah let it envelope him, he realized that it was just as impactful. Zombies fell in droves, and vaguely, he was aware that his companions were fighting just as furiously. Yet, Elijah knew that they would all fall if he didn¡¯t protect the rear. So, with his power driven to new heights by a spirit he didn¡¯t fully understand, he bent his will to the task at hand. Over the next few minutes, Elijah lost count of how many zombies he slew. Dozens, at the very least. Maybe hundreds. It was impossible to tell, because each time one fell, the bodies were beset by powerful decay that removed all evidence of their previous existence. With a roar, Elijah shoved his claw through a zombie¡¯s chest, then ripped out its spine. Predictably, the body fell, and he swung the dangling skull at another of the undead. The head shattered, burying hundreds of bone shards in the other creature¡¯s face. Elijah followed that up with a massive backhand that finished the job. And then, everything went silent. He panted, his breath misting in front of him. Suddenly, he felt so cold. So exhausted. He wanted nothing more than to drop to his knees and rest. Warmth enveloped him, and the feeling faded. A second later, he let his bestial form fall away, and he cast his own healing spells. They combined with Ron¡¯s, and in moments, he was back to normal, though with a deep-seated fatigue that no amount of healing could banish. But when he looked to the front of the group, he was happy to see that everyone else was safe. Sadie bisected the final zombie in that direction, and just like that, they¡¯d won the battle. ¡°Shoulda never come here,¡± Kurik grumbled. Then, barely audibly, he added, ¡°But no, I gotta be a hero. A damned idiot, I am, and make no mistake about that.¡± 6-12. The Guardian A paradoxically cold wind drifted through the tunnel, cutting through Elijah¡¯s Cloak of the Iron Bear and seeping into his spirit. He shivered, but after many hours spent fighting through the labyrinth of a crypt, he¡¯d grown accustomed to the discomfort. And crypt it was, as evidenced by the burial chambers dotting the network of underground corridors. Some were elaborate, displaying golden sarcophagi surrounded by lesser coffins. Others were more like mass graves. But unlike the tomb where Elijah had recovered the ring and the guide, there were no rewards for exploring the subterranean burial ground. Just more zombies waiting to rip the intruders to pieces. And troublingly, they¡¯d grown more powerful with every step taken by Elijah and his companions as they made their way through the web of tunnels. The leap in strength hadn¡¯t been dramatic, but it was definitely noticeable ¨C especially when Dat revealed what he saw with Hex of Scrying. The first group the party had encountered had only been level sixty or so. Strong, but not overwhelming. However, after many hours and countless fights, their average level had risen by at least five. That wasn¡¯t enough to push Elijah or the others to their limits, but it did raise a question about what they would encounter moving forward. Oddly, the tunnels themselves were entirely bare of decoration of any kind. No frescoes. No carvings. Just empty walls that weren¡¯t nearly as eroded as he would have expected, given the state of the ruins he¡¯d seen elsewhere in the Trial. That led him to believe the entire thing had been conjured by the system. Perhaps the rest of the challenges had been as well, though Elijah got the impression that explanation was only part of the story. Instead, his personal theory was that the system had taken inspiration from real events, populating the challenges with real people ¨C or copies, perhaps ¨C rather than building them from scratch. Was that an energy-saving measure? Or was there another explanation? Maybe the system was trying to teach the Trial-takers a lesson by including the real history of a world that had gone so wrong that it had been excised by the World Tree. There was no way to know for sure, and Elijah expected he wouldn¡¯t discover the truth until the system chose to reveal it in its entirety. So, he endeavored to push those thoughts out of his mind as he focused on his surroundings ¨C as well as the onslaught of undead plaguing every step. Every now and again, the group paused for a short break, but as they¡¯d discovered a couple of hours after entering the crypts, they couldn¡¯t afford to wait long. Thinking that the appearance of the zombies was tied to a location, they¡¯d thought they were safe enough to rest and recover. However, that assumption was quickly proved false when the waves of zombies continued to assail them. The implications were clear. Like the persistent rot of the increasingly destructive death-attuned ethera, the threat of the zombies was just something that would accompany them throughout their entire time within the tunnels. On top of that, neither Elijah¡¯s nor Dat¡¯s stealth abilities worked properly. The damage caused by the deathly ethera broke their concealing skills, rendering them entirely ineffective. So, they couldn¡¯t even scout the way effectively. But now that they were down there, they were committed. Perhaps that had been the case from the moment they¡¯d accepted the invite into the Trial. There was no backing down now. So, on they went, pushing through the tunnels and laying waste to the endless hordes of zombies. Along the way, Elijah got a good look at just how efficiently Dat and Sadie could handle the undead. Their abilities seemed to do more damage, their defenses were sturdier, and their tactics more effective. In short, their experiences in Hong Kong had prepared them well for the current task, and for the first time since grouping up with the pair, Elijah felt that they were better suited to overcoming the challenge than him. Of course, he didn¡¯t like that one little bit, so he endeavored to mimic their strategies while pushing himself harder than ever before. Gradually, he adjusted to the enemy type, and after a while, he began to truly incorporate his full suite of abilities. As they fought, he learned that Nature¡¯s Rebuke wasn¡¯t strong enough to finish the monsters off on its own. To fill that gap, he alternated between using his staff and shifting into his various forms. The only limiting factor for that strategy was that each transformation took a second or two to complete, which meant that he was vulnerable during that brief window of time. It was just further evidence that he needed to work on his Soul cultivation sooner rather than later. While his Mind was tied to the ability to regenerate ethera, his Soul determined how quickly he could funnel the energy from his Core and into his spells. So, his casting speed ¨C as well as the time needed for his transformations ¨C could be reduced by advancing his Soul to the next grade. Still, Elijah had yet to find an area with dense enough ethera to fuel advances in his cultivation. On top of that, there were two other issues he needed to surmount. First, while he was familiar with the pattern necessary to refine his channels, he would need to learn it far better if he was going to start carving it. At the very least, that would take weeks of constant study before he was comfortable making any major changes. The second problem was that he wasn¡¯t entirely certain that would be his next focus. He still hadn¡¯t forgotten just how outclassed he¡¯d been by Halima ¨C or rather, the monster she had become ¨C and while he knew he couldn¡¯t compete with physical-based classes, he did believe that he could bridge that gap with cultivation. Advancing to the next stage of his Body would go a long way toward accomplishing that goal. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. And what¡¯s more, he had a good idea of how to accomplish it. So, as he and his group continued to progress through the tunnels, Elijah kept his Body cultivation in the back of one facet of his Jade Mind. More than a day passed, and over that time, they had fallen into a comfortable rhythm. Their group was powerful, and though the zombies continued to grow stronger, Elijah and his companions were more than prepared to overcome the obstacles they represented. And the experience was good, too. Not individually, but rather, because there were so many enemies, their overall progression went quickly and smoothly. Elijah even gained an extra level, and for the first time, he saw the advantage of his specialization when he received an extra attribute point in both Ethera and Regeneration. It certainly wasn¡¯t enough to make an immediate impact, but over time ¨C and with every progressive level ¨C it would hopefully make a difference. The real benefit was that he drew one level closer to the Mortal peak, after which he would choose a class evolution. The Animist class had treated him quite well, but at the time of its choosing, he¡¯d accomplished very little ¨C aside from befriending a powerful guardian creature. That would not be the case when he reached level one-twenty-five, and Elijah had high hopes for his potential options. On top of that, he had five more spells ¨C be they evolutions or new additions ¨C between now and then, so the potential for extreme growth was there for the taking. He only needed to keep at it. With that in mind, Elijah continued to do his part as the group progressed through the tunnels. Most of the time, Ron was more than capable of keeping everyone upright, though there were a few instances when the others were injured by particularly vicious waves of zombies, and Elijah was forced to add his own heals into the mix. The role he¡¯d adopted fit like a glove, because he was able to leverage his versatility to maximum effect. He couldn¡¯t defend like Sadie ¨C he simply didn¡¯t have the same durability or tools like Call of the Crusader ¨C and he certainly couldn¡¯t heal as well as Ron. And though Kurik was at a disadvantage in the crypt, he¡¯d already proven that his traps were extremely powerful. Finally, Dat occupied a similar role to Elijah. The Witch Hunter wasn¡¯t the best pure damage-dealer. Nor could he take the sorts of hits Elijah or Sadie could. But he was a great scout, and his Hex of Scrying was extremely useful. On top of that, his Miracle, which he¡¯d used against the fallen Druid in the Frozen Fortress that was the challenge of Pruina, was a potential game-changer. With that ability, he could kill most enemies in a single blow. As such, the Witch Hunter was not to be underestimated. None of them were, which left Elijah with mixed feelings. He¡¯d never have said it aloud, but he liked the notion that he was special. Ego didn¡¯t drive his decision-making process, but he would have been lying if he had made the claim that he wasn¡¯t proud ¨C at least on some level ¨C of his accomplishments. He¡¯d overcome long odds just to survive, and he¡¯d taken it much further than that, becoming one of the most powerful people in the world. By all measurements, he was special. And yet, so were his companions. Even Kurik, who¡¯d fled to Earth to escape the stigma associated with is exiled clan, had a powerful class that allowed him to do some truly extraordinary things. Dat and Sadie had elder cores, just like Elijah, and Ron¡¯s abilities set him apart from any other Healer Elijah had ever encountered. But as much as their presence prompted doubts about his unique power, it was also comforting to know that Earth had such champions. Those thoughts occupied one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind until, suddenly, things changed. ¡°You feel that?¡± he asked. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Sadie, looking back. They¡¯d just defeated a wave of zombies and had taken a few minutes to recover. ¡°Life,¡± he said. ¡°There¡¯s not much, but it¡¯s definitely there. I think we¡¯re getting close to one of the towers.¡± ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll find?¡± asked Ron. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. This doesn¡¯t feel like any other life,¡± he admitted. ¡°It¡¯s almost like it¡¯s partially obscured. It¡¯s just energy. There¡¯s no organisms down here.¡± ¡°Except us, bro.¡± Kurik snorted. ¡°And for good reason. I feel like my skin¡¯s rotting off,¡± he muttered, scratching his forearm. Ron¡¯s ongoing efforts kept the rot from visibly affecting anyone, but that didn¡¯t mean it was comfortable. For Elijah, it felt like he had a vicious rash all over his body, and though he kept that discomfort quarantined in its own facet of his Jade Mind, he knew the others ¨C aside from Ron, who¡¯d reached the Quartz Mind stage ¨C lacked that ability. ¡°It ain¡¯t natural.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t argue with that,¡± Elijah said. Because he could only sense the energy, One with Nature wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as it could have been. The only reason he felt anything at all was because he¡¯d taken the Connection specialization. Otherwise, he¡¯d be just as blind as everyone else. ¡°We move on, right? Nothing has really changed,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I could go ahead and scout it out. I know Guise of the Unseen won¡¯t work, but I¡¯m still the fastest person in the group,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°No. Without you protecting the rear, we¡¯ll be vulnerable,¡± she said. ¡°Plus, you¡¯re not that much faster than us. We move together.¡± ¡°Is that an order? Or a suggestion?¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t do that. I can¡¯t make you do anything you don¡¯t want to do, but someone has to take charge,¡± she said. ¡°And it should be you?¡± ¡°Unless you want that burden, yes,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°I¡¯ll follow you if you want to lead, but ¨C¡± ¡°No thanks. But if you expect me to just blindly follow you, you¡¯ve got another thing coming. If you lead us in the wrong direction, I¡¯ll say something.¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± Sadie said. ¡°This isn¡¯t the military. There¡¯s no court martial waiting for you if you disobey orders. This is merely organizational in nature.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t have too many cooks in the kitchen, bro.¡± Elijah understood that reasoning, even if he didn¡¯t like the notion of taking orders from anyone. He hadn¡¯t always had such an independent streak, but spending years with no one to answer to but himself had shaped him in ways that decades of civilized living hadn¡¯t. ¡°Like I said, we¡¯re following you.¡± With that, they continued on, and with every step, the level of vitality in the ambient ethera continued to increase. Then, at last, they reached their first destination, which was one of the chambers directly beneath a sealed tower. But the interior was not what any of them expected. Indeed, Elijah didn¡¯t know what sort of setting he¡¯d imagined. Perhaps another crystal, except white instead of black. Or some sort of enchanted circle, maybe. Or some other stationary and powerful object. Whatever the case, he did not expect to find himself staring at a twenty-foot-tall skeleton. And the moment they came into the thing¡¯s line of sight, it tilted its head back as if roaring, but no sound escaped its jaws. Then, it charged. 6-13. Invincible The giant skeletal warrior¡¯s steps thundered with incalculable weight that shook the ground beneath Elijah¡¯s feet. It was more than twenty feet tall, and the bones that composed its body were far thicker than they should have been. They were also pitch black, as if they¡¯d been charred, and the joints glowed the same aquamarine as the lightning dancing between the towers aboveground. That same light burned in its eye sockets, somehow conveying extreme hate in those flickering, teal flames. Sadie dashed ahead, using her personal shield as she swung her sword in a horizontal strike. The skeleton ignored her attack, and the reason for its disdain quickly became apparent. Her blade hit its shin, bouncing back as if Sadie had hit a brick wall. Then, the skeleton ¨C who wielded a massive axe ¨C brought its own weapon down on her. Sadie¡¯s shield flashed, but it held against the heavy blow. Still, the sheer momentum of the attack smashed her into the ground, cracking the stones beneath her feet. That¡¯s when everyone else let loose. Dat and Kurik fired their ranged weapons, while Ron leveled his sparkly wand at Sadie and cast a healing spell. Light enveloped her, mending her injuries ¨C which probably included a concussion ¨C so that she could lash out with another attack. Instead of simply swinging her sword, she used Blade of the Avenger. An enormous sword ripped free of the ground, slamming into the skeleton¡¯s thigh bone. This one had much more effect than Sadie¡¯s mundane attack, and cracks spread across its thick femur. Elijah leaped in, swinging his staff, only to take a swift backhand that sent him skipping across the chamber. He slammed into the wall a moment later, causing a cascade of dust and rocks to fell upon him. He ignored the debris, already shifting into the Shape of Venom as Ron hit him with a heal spell. A second later, he was racing up the wall and across the ceiling. At the same time, Sadie aimed another Blade of the Avenger at the creature, but the skeleton didn¡¯t let the sword hit the same spot, which minimized its effect. Dat fired a barrage of glowing crossbow bolts, which caromed ineffectually off the creature¡¯s thick bones. Kurik retreated to the side of the chamber, where he was busy deploying one of his traps. From experience, Elijah knew that would take a few moments. He dropped from the ceiling, landing on the skeleton¡¯s head. He used Venom Strike and Envenom, then bit down as hard as he could manage. His fangs skipped off the hard bone, barely scraping the surface. But that was enough. In the beginning, Elijah had thought Envenom worked like a snake¡¯s bite, injecting caustic venom into his victims. Yet, he¡¯d since learned that it was more like a spell. The liquid that came from his fangs was simply a medium for the swirling ethera the ability used to assault his foes. Even a drop was enough to make the proper connection. Energy swirled and rushed into the skeleton. The moment the skill took hold, the monster tilted its head back and let out a soundless scream. A second later, spikes of bone erupted from the creature¡¯s skeletal body. There were hundreds of them, each one like daggers of bone, and Elijah narrowly managed to avoid being impaled. Still, he took a few wounds, and the force of one of the blows sent him tumbling from his perch atop the skeleton¡¯s skull. He fell, but before he hit the ground, the creature¡¯s skeletal hand darted out, its fingers wrapping around him. It squeezed. Elijah let out a hissing cry as he felt his bones being rearranged. Shape of Venom had a lot going for it. It was quick and lethal, with the invaluable ability to remain unseen. But it was not a durable form by nature. That weakness was on full display as Elijah felt his ribs break under the immense pressure the skeleton brought to bear. To combat it, Elijah used two abilities at once. First, he embraced Savage Might, increasing his physical attributes by more than thirty percent. That kept his bones from shattering as he used Shape of the Guardian. At the same time, one of Ron¡¯s heals landed on him, mending his cracking bones. That afforded him the couple of seconds he needed to complete the transformation. The skeleton¡¯s fingers spread under the influence of his increased mass, and the moment he took on the shape of the lamellar ape, he let out an immense roar and pried the monster¡¯s hand entirely apart. It was strong, but under the influence of Savage Might, he was stronger. He broke away, ripping one of the fingers completely free of its joint. The teal light that functioned as its ligaments spewed deathly energy onto his scales, but he was durable enough to endure it. He fell free, but he didn¡¯t retreat. Instead, he threw himself at the creature, hammering it with one blow after another. Beneath that onslaught, bones cracked and shattered, and for a few moments, it seemed as if he would make progress. Then, it erupted with teal light that quickly enveloped it, looking like aquamarine flames. Suddenly, it moved with more strength and speed than ever before, and before Elijah knew what was happening, he found himself once again flying through the air. He had only enough time to twist before he hit the wall, shoulder first. The stone shattered before the impact, but with Iron Scales active ¨C along with the massive increase in his Constitution ¨C he remained largely unharmed. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. He fell to the ground, rolling to his feet a second later. That was when he saw that the battle wasn¡¯t going well. Sadie held her ground ¨C probably using an ability to keep her comparatively small body from being thrown aside ¨C but there were a few new dents in her armor. It wasn¡¯t as powerful as her old set, but it was Simple-Grade, making it extremely durable. The fact that, after less than thirty seconds, it was already damaged only confirmed how dangerous the giant skeleton truly was. But Sadie kept fighting, and not just because she didn¡¯t have a choice. She was fundamentally incapable of giving up. It was one of the things Elijah admired most about her and likely the biggest reason he¡¯d tolerated her obvious flaws for so long. Not to be outdone, he threw himself at the skeleton, and he got an axe to the side for his trouble. It happened so quickly that he never even saw it coming. One second, he was charging the thing, hoping to take out one of its legs, and the next, he had a blade buried between his ribs. The force of the blow knocked him aside, and, thankfully, Ron hit him with a heal only an instant later. The wound mended, and he bounded off the wall and launched himself at the creature. This time, he didn¡¯t aim for its leg, though. Instead, he targeted its now-spiky skull. Because he¡¯d noticed a couple of interesting things. First, there were white streaks ¨C almost like veins ¨C spreading across its cranium, starting from where he¡¯d bitten the thing as a blight dragon. That suggested that the venom was doing its job, and while it wasn¡¯t strong enough to kill the thing, it clearly weakened that area. Second, Elijah saw something he¡¯d missed up until that point. Around the creature¡¯s neck was a delicate silver chain, from which hung a milky white gem that reminded him of the crystal at the base of the tower above. Via One with Nature, Elijah could sense a thin thread of ethera extending from that gem and to the ceiling, where it disappeared. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that the crystals were linked, and that they were important. Elijah intended to destroy it. Or failing that, dislodge it from the skeleton¡¯s neck. Racing forward, he saw the skeleton shift slightly, and he ducked. The blade sliced through the air only an inch above Elijah¡¯s head. He hadn¡¯t even seen the thing, it moved so quickly. Yet, the skeleton had telegraphed the intended attack, giving Elijah an opportunity to dodge. Then, he leaped, using its ribcage as handholds as he threw himself upward. At the same time, he shifted into the much smaller blight dragon form. The skeleton tried to dislodge him, but with the increased Dexterity, he managed to avoid the grasping bones by skittering to the side. Up and up he went until, less than a second later, he snapped out and clamped his jaws around the white gem. That¡¯s when the battle caught up to him. He saw the blow coming. The incoming fist seemed almost as big as he was, and he knew he was too slow to get away. He couldn¡¯t avoid it. Instead, Elijah could only hope to endure ¨C though that was a tall task, given that he¡¯d shifted into the much less durable Shape of Venom. Just before it hit, he realized how stupid that decision had been. The reasoning was that the smaller and quicker form would allow him to more easily dodge any retaliation, but he¡¯d underestimated the skeleton¡¯s speed. And now, he was about to be squished into paste. Then, a shield bloomed around him, white and roiling with ethera. The fist smashed into it, and for a second, the blow was stopped dead in its tracks. Then, the shield burst, and the fist rammed into Elijah with the force of a runaway locomotive. Yet, even as he felt his bones crunch, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be nearly as bad as it would have been without Sadie¡¯s intervention. More importantly, Elijah managed to keep his jaws locked onto the gem. So, when the monster¡¯s fist retracted, he flexed the muscles of his neck and yanked it free. An explosion of ethera sent Elijah sailing across the chamber, but thankfully, Ron¡¯s aim was true, and a heal settled onto his scales before he hit the wall. Still, bones once again broke ¨C that seemed to be a habit, of late ¨C and he slid down the wall like squashed bug. Another heal hit him a moment later, mending enough damage to keep him from slipping into unconsciousness. That gave Elijah a good view of the skeleton stumbling to its knees, then falling apart as the teal energy coursing through its joints winked out. In only a second, all that was left of the terrifyingly indestructible monster was a pile of black bones. Elijah let out a deep breath as he allowed himself to resume his human shape. Once he was able to, he exchanged his Feral Spire for the Staff of the Serpent Healer and cast his trio of healing spells. Even then, he¡¯d taken so much damage that it would take at least half an hour to completely mend his broken bones. But at least none of them needed to be set. ¡°Small mercies,¡± he muttered to himself. He lay there as his body healed, and vaguely, he was aware of everything going on around him. The others asked about his health, and they discussed what had just happened, coming to similar conclusions that he¡¯d reached mid-battle. Sadie had been injured as well, but Dat, Kurik, and Ron were all perfectly fine. So, they guarded the single entrance into the chamber while Sadie and Elijah convalesced. Thankfully, the area was almost entirely devoid of death-attuned ethera, which gave them a much-needed respite. Like that, a couple of hours passed until, finally, Elijah announced that he was fully healed. He¡¯d come a long way since needing days to mend his broken legs after his fight with Thor, the Nordic hunter who¡¯d attacked him outside of Seattle. But then again, Elijah knew that if he took that level of comparative damage, it would likely take him just as long ¨C or longer ¨C to heal. It was just that a few broken bones wasn¡¯t as big of an injury as it once had been. It still hurt, though, and even if he could shunt that pain off into its own facet of his Mind, that didn¡¯t make it go away. He still felt it, even if he could ignore it far more easily. ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty clear what we need to do,¡± he said, stretching like he was getting ready to run a marathon. ¡°This crystal is tied to the towers, right? This whole thing seems like it¡¯s laid out so we have to gather all the crystals beneath the towers.¡± ¡°What then? Destroy them?¡± asked Ron. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m still working on that part.¡± Indeed, from what he felt, that seemed like a valid option, but it could just as easily require them to bring the two opposing types of crystals together. The fact was they just didn¡¯t have enough information. What seemed absolutely certain, though, was that they needed to visit the chambers beneath all the other towers and gather the white crystals. After that, they¡¯d find the next step. 6-14. Aura Carmen pressed her foot against the pedal, sending a surge of ethera through the machine and activating the grinder. The attached belt had been made from leather covered by ground dragonstone, creating a fine grit that could grind down the most stubborn of metals. Not that such a belt was necessary for her current material. It was called True Steel, which was just a fancy name for a high-carbon steel that had been through so many rounds of Refine Material and Ethereal Infusion that it effectively become a new type of metal. Still, it was only Low-Simple, meaning that while it was many times better than Crude-Grade steel, it wasn¡¯t anything truly special. One thing it did have going for it was its lack of rarity. The mines of Ironshore were predictably littered with ferrite, and it wasn¡¯t that difficult to add some carbon to that ore to create steel. After that, it didn¡¯t take much for the city¡¯s Blacksmiths ¨C all much lower-level than Carmen ¨C to do the necessary work to prepare the resulting ingots. They weren¡¯t good enough that Carmen trusted them with the final product, but they could handle that much at least. Perhaps in the future, they would progress their classes far enough to work on final products. It was more than just levels they lacked, though. Most of them had been unprepared to choose the class in the first place, meaning that they lacked the foundation to put their abilities to good use. One day, maybe. By comparison, Carmen had spent years studying for her doctorate, focusing on ancestral studies. Much of that time had been spent at a forge. Blacksmithing was only a part of a much larger whole, but that experience had given her the foundation that had helped her stay ahead of most other crafters. Was she the best Blacksmith in the world? Probably not. But she felt confident that she was one of the highest levels, and she had the skills to put all that power to work. She leaned forward, and the moment her current project hit the belt, sparks ¨C both orange and blue ¨C flew into the air. More importantly, the rough and durable belt had no issues grinding the forge scale from the piece. Once that was done, she started in on the fine shaping. There was only so much one could do with a hammer, and using skills like Shape had a habit of degrading the quality by contaminating the purity of the metal with the wrong flavor of ethera. So, as much as it would¡¯ve been easier to use the ability, it would likely result in a slight decrease in the piece¡¯s power. And considering that the material was already a little deficient, she didn¡¯t want to take that chance. So, she did it the old-fashioned way, grinding excess metal away and shaping the piece to match her vision. Fortunately, with the high-quality of the dragonstone belt, it didn¡¯t take long before the piece was finished. Mostly, at least. She still needed to sand it, then polish it, and finally, engrave it. But that would wait until all the rest was done. With that goal in mind, Carmen retrieved another billet from where she¡¯d left it in the forge. It glowed white hot ¨C True Steel needed to be a much higher temperature than its mundane cousin ¨C and she immediately went to work with her summoned hammer. With every blow, she used Ethereal Strike:
Ethereal Strike Imbue your hammer with ethera, transferring power to heated metal.
The ability was the codified version of what she¡¯d been doing all along, though with the new skill, the results were much better. In addition to flattening the billet into a sheet, each hammer strike sent a surge of energy into the metal. Slowly, her hammer fell, over and over, filling the air with sparks and the ting of metal on metal, giving the billet shape. Once the basic form had been achieved, she once again headed to the grinder, where she finished the process before setting it aside for later. Over the next few hours, she repeated the process hundreds of times. The rate at which she worked would have been unbelievable back on Earth, but she could have gone even faster if she¡¯d really pushed. Of course, that would have cost her significant ethera, and by the end of the day, she would have been entirely exhausted. It was better, then, to pace herself. Learning that lesson had been difficult, but very necessary. The last thing she wanted was to burn herself out. Once she had more than a hundred plates ¨C divided into a few different shapes ¨C she began the quenching process. Heating them in the forge, she waited until they had reached the proper temperature before dunking them into a basin of heated, ethera-infused oil, which was derived from whale blubber. That hardened the plates into a usable form. After finishing that, she got to work on the hinges and buckles, which she¡¯d already cast from faythium. The end product would have been much better if she¡¯d simply used the Low-Complex metal for the whole project, but there just wasn¡¯t enough of it to satisfy her needs. So, she¡¯d opted to use it as an accent, which would hopefully raise the grade of the end product. Despite knowing that it would slightly degrade the metal, Carmen used Bond to attach the hinges and buckles to the plates, connecting them. Taking the time to do it manually would have put her well behind schedule. She knew that. But still, she regretted every drop of foreign ethera that made its way into the metal. Gradually, she pieced everything together until, at last, she received the notification of completion:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Lorica Segmentata - Chest]. Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: N/A
Stolen novel; please report. It was the expected result, so Carmen didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. Instead, she kept going, carving a series of runes into the inner surface of the largest back plate. The resulting enchantment was intended to increase hardness and durability while giving the piece the ability to self-repair. Doing so would require an injection of ethera ¨C aimed at the appropriate rune ¨C but it would be invaluable for whoever ended up wearing the chest piece. Next, she used her etching tool to create a series of artful patterns on the front segments. There was no real form to the design ¨C just whorls ¨C but the end result was quite attractive, especially when she inlaid those designs with more faythium. Doing so used almost no material, but she hoped it would be worth it, all the same. Finally, when she was finished, she used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal:
Lorica Segmentata (Chest) Segmented chest armor based on the Roman (Earth) design. Primarily made of True Steel, but with Faythium accents. Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: D +7 Strength, +7 Dexterity, +7 Constitution Traits: Self-Repair (Minor)
It was a decent result, especially given the quality of the base material. However, Carmen wasn¡¯t really satisfied with making an inferior product. If she¡¯d had her way, she would only ever work with the best materials, taking her time to truly push her craft to the highest level. But that wasn¡¯t what Ironshore needed. There was a war coming, and the people expected to defend the city from the dark elves needed protection. She couldn¡¯t afford to spend a week or more refining materials and creating something truly extraordinary. Instead, she had to compromise that vision in order to do what was necessary. So, she set the piece down, then rested her hand on the center plate. That was when she activated her latest ability, gained at level seventy.
Mass Produce Copy an existing piece to create a template for mass production. Then, expend ethera to duplicate the item. Results will be inferior to the template.
After experimenting with the ability, Carmen had determined that, while it was extremely useful to her current situation, there were significant caveats to its use. First, she could only create three pieces at a time, and even that completely drained her ethera to the point where she could only repeat the process twice each day. It still significantly outpaced the one-a-day rate it would take to replicate the original¡¯s quality. Second, the copies were a slightly lower overall grade, which meant that the attribute bonuses were significantly reduced. Still, the material maintained most of its protective qualities, which was the most important aspect of any piece of armor. Third, it wasn¡¯t as if the ability created items out of nothing. She still needed the raw materials, which meant that the other Blacksmiths and Tradesmen working under her were still required to infuse the metals. Even with those limitations, Mass Produce increased her productivity by a significant degree. With it, she could pump out pieces more than three times as quickly, which more than made up for the decrease in quality. Once she¡¯d copied the template, she crossed the forge to the pile of ingots with which she¡¯d been provided. That was when she activated the ability once again, and over the next ten minutes, ethera rushed out of her in a wave, enveloped the pile of metals, and slowly formed three identical breastplates. When they were finished, she once again used Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal:
Lorica Segmentata (Chest) ¨C Mass Produced Segmented chest armor based on the Roman (Earth) design. Primarily made of True Steel, but with Faythium accents. Overall Grade: Simple (Peak) Enchantment Grade: E +3 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +3 Constitution Traits: Self-Repair (Minor)
Carmen frowned. She hated the results, even if she knew that using Mass Produce was necessary. The notion of intentionally settling for an inferior product just left a bad taste in her mouth. Even so, she was well aware that the armor was high enough quality that it far exceeded anything the other smiths in the city could create. Some of the tower rewards floating around out there were better, but not by much. And she also knew that the armor was good enough that it could potentially save someone¡¯s life. That had to be enough. As she waited for her ethera to recover, Carmen let her mind wander, and predictably, it settled on the Great Forge project. More than anything, she wished she could head back to the build site and continue its construction, but impending war meant that construction had to take a back seat. Instead, she¡¯d been tasked with helping to equip the city¡¯s fighters as best she could. Meanwhile, her son had been dispatched as a messenger ¨C or emissary, really ¨C to Norcastle, with the hopes of establishing a military alliance. Once he was done there, he was supposed to go to Argos. And while she knew he was well-equipped to do that job ¨C especially after befriending that juvenile stag ¨C Carmen couldn¡¯t help but feel incredibly uneasy about sending her son out into the wilderness. But the new world wasn¡¯t a peaceful one, and if they didn¡¯t contribute to Ironshore¡¯s defense ¨C both in their own ways ¨C the city would likely fall. And given what had happened to those miners, the results of failure wouldn¡¯t be pretty. No ¨C they all had to do their parts, and for Miguel, that meant leveraging his attunement and high attributes to help him traverse the wilderness in relative safety. Carmen pushed her worries aside. Mostly. She was still a mother, after all, and concern for her son¡¯s safety would never be entirely banished. Instead, she could only ignore that persistent worry by focusing on other things. Like the aura her forge had developed. It was a subtle thing. Barely noticeable, even to her. But as she¡¯d grown in levels, she had become more sensitive to ethera, which gave her some insight into what she was trying to build with the Great Forge. She knew that the grove was nature-attuned, which allowed Elijah, Miguel, and Nerthus to cultivate very efficiently. That knowledge ¨C along with the construction of the temple in Argos ¨C had pushed her to create her own attuned space, birthing the idea for the Great Forge. No expense had been spared in its construction, both in terms of time and materials, and though the foundation had barely been completed, it already radiated uncommon power. But it didn¡¯t quite feel right. Now that she¡¯d been spending more time in her normal forge, Carmen had begun to understand why. It wasn¡¯t attuned. Neither was the ethera in her current location, but it was well on its way. That was something she¡¯d only just begun to understand. Ethera was reactive, and it would adapt itself to its environment. Once, Elijah had told her a story of a battlefield where the entire area had been infected with an aura of conflict. He¡¯d worked tirelessly to cleanse it, succeeding after replacing that atmosphere of conflict with one of nature. But Carmen remembered the story ¨C or more appropriately, she couldn¡¯t forget the lesson therein. The adaptive nature of ethera meant that it took on the properties of the actions committed in any area. That was when she realized what she had been missing. The Great Forge was meant to be something akin to a temple of crafting. So, if she wanted it to reach that state, she needed to use it. She¡¯d done so during the building¡¯s construction ¨C as far as it had gone, at least ¨C but she needed to take it further. She needed to move her operation. It would take some time. And it would be quite a pain, especially when it came time to resume construction, but in the end, she knew it would be worth it. So, without further ado, she used the remaining span of time necessary to regain her ethera to start moving her equipment from one forge to another. Hopefully, the effort wouldn¡¯t be wasted. After all, if the war against the dark elves went badly, then she would never get the chance to finish the project. 6-15. Crystals Elijah leaped free of the falling skeleton, flipping through the air until he landed on his feet a few yards away. Black bones clattered to the ground, collecting into a large pile as he clutched the faintly glowing white crystal that had been around its neck. After he skidded to a stop, he let out a deep breath and let his shoulders sag in relief. ¡°How many is that?¡± Sadie asked from the other side of the bone pile. ¡°Fifty,¡± Elijah answered. They¡¯d been at it for almost two weeks, during which time they¡¯d slain countless zombies. After discovering the easiest way to kill the skeletons ¨C which involved removing their source of power from around their necks ¨C the battles against the enormous creatures had become much easier. The things were still incredibly dangerous, but by this point, Elijah had it down to a science. The only variable was that, even with their invincibility having been removed, the skeletons were still quite tough, and bringing them down required a ton of damage. Fortunately, with Elijah¡¯s group, there was plenty of that to go around. ¡°More importantly, this is the last chamber we had mapped out,¡± Ron said. He¡¯d grown more than any of them, gaining enough levels to get two new spells. One was a much more powerful offensive ability, but the other, which he¡¯d called Turn Undead, had been much more useful in their current situation. With it, he could invoke fear in skeletons or zombies, making them flee. The group had quickly incorporated that into their tactics, and it had removed quite a lot of the danger from their subsequent encounters. For his part, Elijah had gained two whole levels, which would put him at one-hundred-and-three. That seemed like paltry progression considering the number of zombies they¡¯d slain, but he wasn¡¯t going to complain about gaining so much experience so quickly. In any case, it seemed that the experience after level one-hundred was certainly more difficult to come by than it had been before that threshold. Or perhaps the pool needed to level was larger. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain, but he knew that it would take a ridiculous amount of killing for him to progress to the peak. ¡°What is the next step?¡± asked Sadie, glancing from one member of the party to the next. Eventually, her gaze settled onto Kurik. So did everyone else¡¯s. ¡°Why¡¯s everybody lookin¡¯ at me?¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯re the one who keeps stepping up to the plate with necessary exposition, bro.¡± Elijah asked, ¡°You have any long-forgotten myths you suddenly remembered? An old legend about undead and white crystals?¡± ¡°A long-lost ancestor, maybe?¡± added Ron. ¡°Anything can help,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I don¡¯t know nothin¡¯ ¡®bout nothin¡¯!¡± Kurik spat. ¡°Just ¡®cause I told a coupla stories don¡¯t mean I have all the answers. I ain¡¯t got a clue ¡®bout how none of this works. No member of normal society does.¡± ¡°That sounds like the start of a story,¡± Dat said. Elijah pointed out, ¡°It really does. So, you know something about undead, right? Spill it.¡± Kurik tugged on his beard, obviously agitated. ¡°Fine. But this don¡¯t mean I know what¡¯s goin¡¯ on here. It¡¯s just that everybody knows that you don¡¯t mess with the cycle of life and death. Once somebody¡¯s dead, they¡¯re s¡¯posed to stay dead. You don¡¯t go reanimating their corpses, or bad things start to happen.¡± ¡°What kind of things?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I don¡¯t damn well know, do I? Ain¡¯t no undead or necromancers on my world ¡®cause if there was, they¡¯d have gotten hunted down. It ain¡¯t the sort of thing any society will tolerate,¡± Kurik stated unequivocally. ¡°Even undead towers get taken seriously.¡± ¡°And Primal Realms?¡± ¡°Grave threats,¡± Kurik said. ¡°But I don¡¯t need to tell you that. You know it first-hand, probably better than I do. We don¡¯t have any Primal Realms like that on my world, but you can damn well bet that if we did, we¡¯d have teams tearin¡¯ through it on a regular basis. Can¡¯t let that kind of thing spill out.¡± ¡°No. You can¡¯t,¡± Sadie said, looking away. Elijah could see the pain behind her faraway expression. He knew that she had lost people ¨C most notably, her sister ¨C which probably contributed to her prickly demeanor. After how he¡¯d reacted to Alyssa¡¯s death, Elijah could certainly relate to that. ¡°Any useful information about all of this?¡± ¡°I told you I don¡¯t know nothin¡¯ ¡®bout any of this,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Just that I don¡¯t like bein¡¯ here. So, all you elites need to figure this thing out so we can move on to the next challenge.¡± Dat narrowed his eyes. ¡°Elites?¡± ¡°That¡¯s what we call people like you,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Or we did back home. Who knows what labels you humans use?¡± The term certainly seemed applicable, even if Elijah thought that Kurik probably qualified for the label as much as anyone else there. The dwarf didn¡¯t seem to grasp his own power, though. ¡°I say we take the crystals up top,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Then, we¡¯ll start experimenting with the black crystals in the towers. If that doesn¡¯t work, we break ¡®em.¡± Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°That¡­doesn¡¯t seem advisable,¡± Sadie responded. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m open to other ideas. You all know just as much as I do about what¡¯s going on here, so if you have a better plan, I¡¯m all ears.¡± No one did, so they began the long journey through the maze of tunnels and back to the surface. Along the way, the zombies continued their endless assault, but by that point, they group had developed effective strategies for dealing with the onslaught of undead. So, even if the way was tedious, it wasn¡¯t nearly as dangerous as when they¡¯d first descended into the crypt. Still, it took almost two days¡¯ worth of constant fighting before they finally reached the exit. The atmosphere outside was still overcast, and teal lightning still branched from the peak of one tower to the next. However, it was far brighter than the tunnels, so it took Elijah a few blinking moments before his vision adjusted. When it did, he saw much the same as when they¡¯d descended into the depths. Over the next few hours, they went ahead with the plan, experimenting with the crystals. At first, he was careful in his approach, but after an hour, he was banging the white crystal against the black one as hard as he could. It did nothing. Even the hordes of zombies failed to manifest, like they had the first time he and Dat had meddled with the black crystals. ¡°What the hell are we supposed to do with this?¡± Elijah wondered as he stood over one of the black crystals. It looked exactly the same as when he¡¯d first encountered it, which was to say that despite his efforts, it wasn¡¯t even scratched. ¡°Not sure, bro. Hex of Scrying isn¡¯t giving me anything useful.¡± ¡°Anything not useful?¡± ¡°Uh¡­the¡­um¡­whispers are very insistent that I should destroy everything in this challenge. Towers. Crystals. Zombies. Everything.¡± ¡°Sounds¡­frustrating. How does that work? I mean, I know that guards have a skill that lets them identify people and monsters,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But Hex of Scrying seems different.¡± ¡°It is, bro. It does what skills like Identify do, giving me names and levels and all of that, but it also comes with some unique insights. Lisa thought it was ghosts, but I think it¡¯s just an effect of the spell,¡± Dat explained. ¡°No idea which one of us was right.¡± ¡°Lisa. That was Sadie¡¯s sister, right? Were you close?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± Elijah wanted to ask for more information, but he wasn¡¯t so socially inept that he could ignore the obvious reality that Dat didn¡¯t want to talk about it. That he¡¯d even mentioned the woman¡¯s name sounded almost like a slip of the tongue. Elijah could sympathize with that. Sometimes, he¡¯d start telling a story and accidentally mention his sister. It was only after he said her name that he remembered that she was gone. ¡°And Hex of Scrying isn¡¯t telling you anything?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s telling me lots, bro. Just none of it is useful. It keeps talking about crypts and clouds and stuff like that. It¡¯s nonsense.¡± Elijah shook his head. He¡¯d studied the sky multiple times, and he¡¯d even gone so far as to fly above the clouds. It wasn¡¯t comfortable, but it had told him that there was nothing up there. ¡°I think we need to come to terms with the fact that we¡¯re going to have to try breaking one of these crystals, just to see what will happen. It¡¯s the only thing we haven¡¯t tried.¡± That much was true, though Elijah¡¯s intuition told him that it was a bad idea. He desperately wanted to do the smart thing. To execute a real plan. He was well aware of just how many mistakes he¡¯d made along the way. He¡¯d had plenty of opportunities to conquer previous challenges in a more controlled way, but he had blundered ahead, trusting himself to simply overpower the obstacles in his way. And he had done just that. It wouldn¡¯t always be possible, though. For a while now, he¡¯d relied too much on his power, but in the beginning, he¡¯d tried to engage challenges intelligently because that was the only way he could survive. He needed to get back to that. But the problem was that he simply didn¡¯t know how, and he¡¯d yet to see any clues that might give him a hint as to which way to proceed. The others weren¡¯t much of a help, either. Sadie was too much like him to offer a different perspective. Dat was a follower down to his core, and given half a chance, Kurik would have just run away. And Ron clearly felt that he was just tagging along. He sighed, then went on, ¡°If we¡¯re going to do this, we need to do it somewhere else. Maybe at the edge of the challenge area. Chances are, there¡¯s going to be some sort of response, and we need to be ready for it.¡± Dat agreed, so they retreated to their camp about half a mile from the closest tower. Once there, they explained their reasoning, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, the others agreed that destroying one of the crystals was the obvious next step. Even if it didn¡¯t work, it would be one more tactic they could scratch off the list. So, Elijah took one of the crystals out of his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then set it atop a mostly flat rock. After that, he shifted into his guardian form, grabbed another rock, then smashed it against the crystal with every ounce of Strength he could muster. Predictably, it shattered. Not the crystal. Rather, the rock broke into a hundred pieces, proving just how durable the white crystal was. So, Elijah hit it again, this time with his bare fist. Thankfully, his hand didn¡¯t break, but neither did the crystal. That elicited a growl of rage ¨C from both the dragon and the beast inside him ¨C and he used Savage Might before hitting it again. This time, the crystal cracked, but only a hairline fracture an inch long. So, Elijah hit it again. And again after that. Each successive blow widened the crack until, after the tenth attack, it broke in half. White energy erupted from the sundered crystal, then raced off into the distance, slamming into one of the nearest towers. Then, the spire exploded, sending a dense column of turquoise energy into the sky above. ¡°Uh¡­that didn¡¯t look good, bro.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t disagree, especially when the clouds began to roil violently. It only lasted a few seconds before it died down, though. Still, it seemed like confirmation to Elijah. They were intended to destroy those black crystals, and it seemed that shattering the paired white crystals was a good way to accomplish that feat. ¡°Forty-nine more,¡± Elijah growled in his deep, draconic voice. The next crystal shattered a little more easily, and the one after that followed soon after. Eventually, Sadie lent a hand, breaking a few with her sword. Each time one shattered, one of the towers exploded, and the clouds roiled every more violently with every successive eruption. But Elijah took that as a sign that they were on the right track, so he kept going. Then, at last, the final crystal shattered, taking with it the last unbroken tower. That was when the clouds parted, revealing a pyramid made of black stone floating in the sky above the Spires of the Fallen. ¡°Any bets on where we¡¯re supposed to go next?¡± joked Ron. ¡°Uh¡­I won¡¯t take that bet,¡± Elijah said, having shifted back into his human form. ¡°The real question is how we¡¯re supposed to get up there.¡± ¡°You can fly, can¡¯t you?¡± Kurik said. ¡°Yeah, but nobody else can.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°I guess I could carry you one at a time¡­¡± ¡°I take it back. We should find a different way,¡± the dwarf stated. ¡°Definitely has to be a set of stairs or a teleporter around here, right?¡± 6-16. Making an Entrance The pyramid hovered in the air, suspended by nothing Elijah could sense, and glowing with aquamarine energy. Even though the clouds had parted, the sun was nowhere to be seen, and the world seemed permanently cast in shades of grey. Elijah couldn¡¯t explain it, but then again, he didn¡¯t need to. His innate curiosity had given way to more practical concerns ¨C like the flock of winged monsters circling the enormous floating structure. Thankfully, the creatures seemed disinterested in descent. Otherwise, Elijah and his companions wouldn¡¯t have been able to enjoy the peace necessary to assess the situation. ¡°You really want me to just fly everyone up there?¡± he asked. To that, Sadie asked, ¡°Do you have a better idea?¡± Elijah shook his head. He was the only member of the party capable of flight, which meant that the burden of reaching the floating pyramid fell on him. They¡¯d already searched the area for other means of ingress, but even after a day, they had found nothing. Just a rubble strewn coast populated by broken towers. If there was another way up to that pyramid, then it was entirely invisible to Elijah or the other members of his group. Perhaps if they had someone with an Explorer archetype, things would have been different. That was something Elijah had considered quite a bit over the past few weeks. Every archetype had a place in their world, and they could each become very useful in a wide variety of situations. So, he¡¯d begun to wonder if the challenges hadn¡¯t been designed with an eye toward forcing the people of Earth to work together and use the abilities of every archetype. That would certainly make sense, at least from a practical standpoint. He''d seen in Easton ¨C and to a lesser extent, elsewhere ¨C that non-combatants were often seen as inferior to their more battle-ready peers. At times, they were exploited for the benefits they could provide, but more frequently, they were simply ignored. Perhaps the entire point of the Trial of Primacy was to force people to work with a wide variety of archetypes so that they could take those lessons back to Earth. It could even explain why the mortality rate had been so high. It wasn¡¯t because they weren¡¯t strong enough. Rather, it was because of humanity¡¯s ¨C at least at the higher echelons of power ¨C inability to work together for the great good. Back on Earth, Elijah had seen plenty of communities band together to ease the burden of survival. That was how humans had evolved to eventually become the planet¡¯s dominant species. However, there were always those who thought themselves above the rest, and the addition of the system ¨C and all the powers it granted ¨C only widened that perceived gap. No doubt, it escalated those people¡¯s sense of superiority to the point where they thought themselves invincible, to where they thought they didn¡¯t need anyone else. Elijah himself had fallen into that trap. So had people like Oscar and Benedict. But the fact remained that, without one another¡¯s help, none of them would have survived the fight against the Immortals. There was a lesson there, though it seemed that most of the Trial-takers had failed to learn it. The moment the threat had been met, everyone had gone their separate ways. ¡°Those monsters are going to attack us,¡± he said. ¡°And I can only carry two of you at a time.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll go with Ron. Dat can help protect Kurik,¡± Sadie said. Then, to Dat, she added, ¡°Can you cover us from down here?¡± Dat shook his head. ¡°Too far, bro. Plus, I think if I attack them, they¡¯ll come down.¡± ¡°We definitely don¡¯t want that,¡± Elijah said. He threw his arms out wide, swinging them back and forth. He didn¡¯t really need the warm-up, but it was a habit he¡¯d developed during his training. And it wasn¡¯t the time to abandon his well-established practices. As he warmed up and stretched, he looked up at the pyramid. There was an opening in the center of the base, which would be his target. ¡°So, are we ready? Once we get started, things are going to get dicey in a hurry.¡± Everyone proclaimed their readiness, and Elijah embraced Shape of the Sky. As he transformed, he prepared himself for the coming flight. He wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to believe that the task before him would be painless. Likely, he was about to get ripped to shreds. The only solace was that Ron was more than capable of keeping him alive, even in his vulnerable flight form. Once he¡¯d finished the transformation, Elijah flexed his wings and said, ¡°Once you¡¯re in position, I¡¯m going hard and fast.¡± ¡°Phrasing, bro.¡± If the form associated with Shape of the Sky was capable of rolling its eyes, Elijah would have done just that. As it was, he just shook his serpentine head. ¡°Don¡¯t get too comfortable in the gutter.¡± ¡°That¡¯s where I live, bro,¡± Dat said with a nervous grin. ¡°Moving on,¡± Sadie said, grabbing hold of Elijah¡¯s leg. Ron took hold of the other, giving Elijah a nod. After that, Sadie added, ¡°Ready.¡± Elijah took a deep breath, exhaling with a hiss before launching himself upward with a powerful leap. He beat his great wings, catching the air and forcing himself into the sky. With his Strength, he had the ability to reach top speed ¨C at least in terms of gaining altitude ¨C very quickly. In only a moment, he was ascending at more than sixty miles an hour. It wasn¡¯t fast enough, though. The second he¡¯d reached an altitude of a hundred feet, the winged creatures ¨C that looked like zombified bats crossed with ta¡¯alaki ¨C took notice. With a collective screech, they cut off their pattern and raced toward Elijah. When the first few drew close, Elijah banked, narrowly avoiding a set of raking claws. With one hand, Sadie slashed her sword across the creature¡¯s torso, sending a spray of blood and rotting guts into the air. The monster fell with another shriek, but Elijah ignored it. Instead, he was entirely focused on dodging the other thirty or so monsters bearing down on him. He tucked his wings close to his body and dove. The monsters swooped in, their claws finding nothing but air as they soared a handful of feet above him. After a few moments, Elijah threw his wings out wide, catching the air and turning his dive into an arcing ascension that took him past the flock of flying undead creatures. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. But there were plenty more between him and the entrance to the pyramid. Over the next few moments, Elijah raced upward, pushing himself harder than ever before. Then, he was among the monsters. They ripped into him with sharp claws and even sharper fangs, and yet, he kept going. He was larger than them, and his wings were much more powerful. So, channeling his inner lamellar ape ¨C and the unstoppable nature of the form ¨C he bowled through them. As he did, Ron continuously cast one heal after another. Sadie defended as best she could, sending more than a few monsters to splatter on the ground below. Yet, there was only so much she could do from her awkward position, and so, her efforts were limited. Elijah couldn¡¯t focus on that, though. Instead, the entirety of his attention was firmly locked onto surviving the deadly flight. He employed a few maneuvers here and there, but the flying monsters were so numerous that he couldn¡¯t hope to avoid them. Everywhere he turned, all he could see were flapping wings, sharp claws, and rotting flesh. So, he tucked his head and flew on. When he finally broke through the flock of monsters, there was no solace to be had in the entrance to the pyramid. But he reached it, which gave Sadie an opportunity to use the full suite of her abilities. More importantly, when Elijah landed ¨C or crashed, more appropriately put ¨C the narrow corridor leading deeper into the pyramid prevented the monsters from attacking en masse. Sadie rolled to a stop, then sprang to her feet, sword in hand. She stepped up, swinging her sword in an inelegant hack. There was no place for practiced swordsmanship in such a melee. It had been the same against the zombies. There were no clever parries. No fancy maneuvers. Just hacking and slashing a horde of monsters that possessed no driving instinct for self-preservation. Such an onslaught came with a price, though. Even through her armor, Sadie took more than a few wounds. In the space of a couple of seconds, she was dripping with gore. She held her ground, though, and Ron switched his healing target from Elijah to the Crusader, mending her injuries. Meanwhile, Elijah shifted out of his flight form and added a few casts of Storm¡¯s Fury and Nature¡¯s Rebuke to the mix. Unfortunately, his spells were a little underpowered for the current situation, and the effects were disappointing. More importantly, Sadie shouted, ¡°Remember the plan!¡± The reminder was unnecessary, and even though Elijah still didn¡¯t like the idea of abandoning the others, he wasted no time before retreating further into the corridor. Fortunately, the slope leading up into the pyramid took him out of view after only a few moments, and he felt Essence of the Wolf kick in. That told him he was out of combat, so he shifted into the Shape of Venom, let Guise of the Unseen settle onto his scaley shoulders, then raced back the way he¡¯d come. Only a few seconds had passed, so the battle still raged, though it looked like Sadie had it well in hand. Elijah sprang onto the wall, then ran across the ceiling, completely unnoticed by his foes. Once outside, he continued along the base of the pyramid until he was well out of range of the undead monsters. Then, he let go, shifting into Shape of the Sky as he fell. He remained entirely unseen by the monsters, who were in a frenzy as they tried to slaughter Sadie and Ron. Elijah wanted to contribute, but he had another task. So, he swooped down, landing only a few feet from Dat and Kurik. The pair didn¡¯t waste time on conversation. Instead, they simply latched onto his legs, signaled they were ready, and held on tight as he threw himself back into the air. This time, Elijah didn¡¯t go straight at the entrance. Instead, he soared to the south, building speed as he circled around. Finally, once he¡¯d reached an appropriate velocity, he turned back toward the entrance and made a beeline toward the mass of attacking monsters. He barreled through the first few layers, his superior Constitution and the speed of his charge turning him into a scaley missile. He tore through them, head-first as he tried to keep Dat and Kurik from feeling the brunt of the impact. He only made it a few more layers ¨C out of dozens ¨C before his momentum petered out. Elijah tried to flap his wings, but by that point, there was no more room. That was when the creatures latched on and started ripping him to pieces. He growled, giving as good as he got, but with Dat and Kurik clinging to his legs, he only had his jaws for weapons. Fortunately, his two passengers were ready for the halt, and they climbed up his legs, across his back, and leaped into the fray. For a mundane person, such a maneuver would have been a death sentence. However, because both were Dexterity-based in their attribute allocation, they had the coordination to use the writhing mass of undead monsters as stepping stones to their destination. The moment they were free, Elijah dove. It took him a moment to get through the gathering of undead enemies, and when he broke free, his rainbow-colored scales were obscured by dark, red blood. Feeling the weight of his numerous injuries, Elijah dove, and a handful of the monsters broke free to follow. But how could so few threaten him? Undead were dangerous, mostly due to their unending numbers. But when that advantage lessened, Elijah was more than a match for a dozen or more. Even in what amounted to a non-combat form meant for travel. He swooped around, banking sharply and reversing direction. He was on his foes in only a second, ripping into them with his claws and teeth. They didn¡¯t stand a chance, and in only a few moments, they were falling rapidly to the ground below. Now that he was free, Elijah beat his powerful wings and climbed to the upper slope of the pyramid. Once he landed, he shifted into his human form, casting three instances of Nature¡¯s Bloom. Then, he used Soothe. His wounds mended, though he knew they wouldn¡¯t completely heal for a few minutes. He didn¡¯t have time to wait, so he shifted into Shape of Venom, then raced across the pyramid, embracing Guise of the Unseen when he reached the bottom of the slope. Using his ability to cling to any surface, Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to cross the lip. Then, after flipping upside down, he ran toward the opening, which was still under assault by a hundred or more of the undead monsters. Elijah ran, skittering across the plane until, at last, he reached his destination. Once the monsters were in range, Elijah leaped into battle, using Envenom with every bite. However, his natural weapons in that form weren¡¯t limited to his fangs. His claws were lethal as well, and he used them to good effect, ripping into the creatures with the ferociousness of an angry badger. He lost track of time as he tried to inflict as much damage as possible before the creatures realized he was there. As he swept through the mass, he leaped from one shifting back to another. With Envenom, it didn¡¯t matter where he bit his foes. So long as he injected his venom, the damage would be done. However, with his claws, he targeted delicate wing joints, hoping to foul the monsters¡¯ ability to fly. Minutes passed, and slowly, the number of monsters was whittled down to nothing. Once there were only a few left, Elijah leaped away, shifted into Shape of the Sky, then flew through the entrance. As he passed the threshold, he shifted into his human form. Hitting the ground, he rolled to a stop. A second later, one of Ron¡¯s healing spells hit him. It was only at that moment that he realized just how much damage he¡¯d taken during the battle. The Shape of Venom was powerful, but it was not incredibly durable. As a result, every attack leveled against him had ripped through his scales, and at present, his flesh hung off him in ragged strips. In a way, he suspected he looked a lot like one of the undead. After augmenting Ron¡¯s healing with his own spells, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and took aim at the remaining monsters. However, the combination of his companions had already finished the final foe. Sadie was covered in blood, with strips of rotting flesh hanging from the seams in her armor. But everyone else seemed unhurt. ¡°Well, that¡¯s step one, I guess,¡± he said. Then, he glanced at the sloped ramp leading into the pyramid¡¯s interior. He could feel the deathly energy billowing down the tunnel from above. To himself, he muttered, ¡°That¡¯s not ominous at all.¡± 6-17. Monument to Death Elijah barreled through a pair of zombies, throwing them aside with so much momentum that when they hit the wall, they splattered like bugs. Still, he knew they weren¡¯t truly dead because their brains remained undestroyed. He didn¡¯t take the time to finish them off, though. Instead, under the influence of Shape of the Guardian, he threw himself toward the giant skeleton on the other side of the chamber. He had one task, and he couldn¡¯t stop for anything. He leaped, kicking off the ground with as much Strength as he could manage, and hit the skeleton with enough force that the massive, thirty-foot-tall creature staggered backward. Elijah didn¡¯t bother with an attack, though he ached to tear it to pieces. Rather, he climbed the thing¡¯s ribcage until he reached the silver-chained crystal around its neck. Latching his claws around the white hunk of rock, he ripped it free. Then, without skipping a beat, he threw himself backward. As he flew through the air, Elijah transformed into his natural shape, and before he hit the ground, he was human once again. He lashed out with his Feral Spire, destroying a zombie¡¯s head, then shoved the crystal into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. After that, he used Shape of Venom, adopting the form of a blight dragon. In the much smaller shape ¨C it was only five feet long and low-slung ¨C he raced among the zombies¡¯ feet, biting them and injecting his potent venom. Thankfully, his sense of taste was almost nonexistent in the form, else he¡¯d have likely vomited from all the rotting flesh. As it was, he could easily ignored the disgusting situation and focus on inflicting as much damage as possible. Meanwhile, the others had formed up behind Sadie, and they were steadily mowing down anything that came near. That was the normal strategy, though the addition of one of the skeletons had necessitated a slight adjustment. That was why Elijah had separated from the group. In truth, he preferred his current role, running around, completely independent from his companions. It let him use his versatility to greatest effect without pigeonholing him into a task for which he was ill-suited. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck behind Sadie and casting Storm¡¯s Fury over and over again. Or worse, healing others while they did the real fighting. There was a chance that he¡¯d become a bit of a battle junky, but was it so wrong that he enjoyed using the full suite of his abilities? Was it such a bad thing that he liked fighting against overwhelming odds and gaining the advantage? There was a primal satisfaction that came along with overcoming an enemy in battle, and Elijah was far from immune to those sorts of feelings. He¡¯d felt them as a boxer back before the world had changed, and they¡¯d grown even more intense as he gained power. And then there was the experience that came with every kill, bolstering those feelings with the positive reinforcement of progression. With that in mind, his preferences were easy to understand. Still, Elijah knew he needed to keep that budding battle mania in check, lest he overreach. Just knowing it was there helped him rein it in. Gradually, the zombies began to drop. That was the good thing about Envenom. The toxin it injected into Elijah¡¯s enemies was magical in nature, and as a result, it could kill creatures that more mundane venom never could have affected, much less slain. The only downside was that it had a slight stamina and ethera cost to create the venom, which meant that theoretically, he could eventually run out of steam. He¡¯d yet to find those limits ¨C and he had definitely tried ¨C but he knew they were there all the same. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t long before his venom did its work and the chamber was littered with the inert and putrefying bodies of his enemies. He wasn¡¯t wholly responsible for the victory. Ron, Dat, Sadie, and Kurik had done their fair share as well ¨C as evidenced by the pile of bodies accumulated in front of the Crusader. However, Elijah was satisfied to see that he¡¯d killed more than all of the others combined. And after a titanic battle, he¡¯d taken out the skeleton as well. He couldn¡¯t help but smile inwardly at his accomplishments. Once everything was dead, Elijah shifted back into his human form. As he did, Sadie shoved her way through the piled bodies, which tumbled down the rotting slope a second later. ¡°That was reckless,¡± she said, sheathing her sword on her back. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to stay out here.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°It seemed like the best strategy. I can¡¯t really do much if I stay behind you,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m better running around out here.¡± At that, she just shook her head. As she did, Dat and the others stepped through the small opening she¡¯d made. The Witch Hunter looked around, then said, ¡°Damn, bro. They really aren¡¯t dissolving like they did down below.¡± ¡°I think this is probably where all of them came from in the first place,¡± Elijah guessed. ¡°When we killed them in the tunnels, they came back.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± asked Ron. ¡°Ain¡¯t no point in tryin¡¯ to figure it out. None of us are necromancers.¡± Elijah just shrugged at Kurik, who looked distinctly uncomfortable. ¡°I was just going to say magic. That¡¯s usually the answer.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t want to go deeper than that?¡± Ron asked. ¡°Weren¡¯t you a scientist before all of this? Where¡¯s your curiosity?¡± ¡°I was a really bad scientist,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Like, I did my job and everything, but I think I liked the idea of doing science-y things better than actually doing them.¡± Before Earth had been touched by the World Tree, Ron had been a surgeon. But even before that, he¡¯d done his undergraduate work in biology, and from the man¡¯s demeanor, he¡¯d been far better suited to scientific work than Elijah had been. As a result, he looked at things from a far different perspective. While Elijah was perfectly fine with using magic as the explanation, Ron had demonstrated an intellectual curiosity that begged him to go much deeper than that. Perhaps he should¡¯ve been a Scholar. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. In any case, a zombie-infested pyramid wasn¡¯t the place to discuss their differences. So, Elijah asked, ¡°Should we destroy the crystal?¡± Over the past few hours, they¡¯d encountered six other skeletons, each of which wore the same crystals around their necks as their ground-bound cousins. The first, Elijah had destroyed, which had elicited a reaction he hadn¡¯t expected. The moment its milky white surface had cracked, a blood-curdling scream had erupted through the corridors within the pyramid. More troublingly, the entire structure had rumbled ominously, as if it was under the effect of a weak and very localized earthquake. Or skyquake, maybe, considering that it was floating thousands of feet above the ground. Whatever the case, it was an alarming event, and since then, they¡¯d been hesitant to destroy the crystals. However, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain that was the best idea. The challenges were clearly based on the planet¡¯s history, but they were also contrived by the system. Nothing was there by mistake. So, he had to believe that they were intended to do something with the crystals. But was the intention destruction? Or was it something else. None of them knew, and even Dat¡¯s Hex of Scrying gave no hints as to how to proceed. For hours, they¡¯d aimlessly walked through the pyramid¡¯s corridors, but none of them knew anything about their eventual destination. ¡°Not yet,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°We don¡¯t know what it will do.¡± ¡°I think we should,¡± Dat countered. ¡°That scream was probably supposed to tell us that destroying the crystal caused the boss pain.¡± ¡°Boss?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Like a video game,¡± Ron said. He shrugged. ¡°Seems to fit. For what it¡¯s worth, I don¡¯t think we should break those crystals until we know what they do. What if it brings the whole pyramid down? Sadie and Elijah might survive that, but I won¡¯t. Neither will Kurik.¡± ¡°I might,¡± the dwarf countered. ¡°I¡¯m hardy.¡± ¡°Your Constitution is the lowest here, bro.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more than my attributes,¡± Kurik insisted. ¡°Quicker you realize that, the better off you¡¯ll be.¡± ¡°Point taken,¡± Ron said, holding up his hands. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to offend.¡± ¡°Aw, don¡¯t be like that. I didn¡¯t mean ¨C¡± ¡°This is beside the point,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°Let¡¯s get back on track. I don¡¯t think we should destroy any other crystals.¡± ¡°I think she¡¯s right,¡± Elijah said. She narrowed her eyes. ¡°You do?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t normally agree with me.¡± He shrugged. ¡°First time for everything, I guess.¡± After that, the group moved on, and within twenty minutes, they found themselves in another chamber containing hundreds of elite zombies and a giant skeleton. Utilizing similar tactics to the previous encounters with such forces, they dispatched their enemies quickly and efficiently before leaving the rotting corpses behind. In the crypts below, Elijah had grown accustomed to the zombies simply disappearing once they died. Now, though, he was reminded of just how grotesque rotting corpses could be. It wasn¡¯t just the smell, either. There was an aura about them that made everything in the pyramid that much worse. He could smell it, sure. But he could also taste it. And being immersed in it made his skin crawl. Not to mention the pervasive, spirit-deep cold. More than anything, though, Elijah¡¯s discomfort could be traced back to the ineffectiveness of One with Nature. He¡¯d grown so accustomed to it that he¡¯d begun to use it as a crutch. So, when the feedback from his more mundane senses didn¡¯t match what he felt via that singular ability, it created a disconnect between the two. Fortunately, his Jade Mind was up to the task of pushing that discomfort to the back of one facet where it couldn¡¯t really affect him. Not too much, at least. Like that, hours passed into multiple days. Every now and then, the group would stop to rest, but the aura of rot, death, and cold prevented any of them from relaxing. Still, they kept going, passing through one corridor after another. Hundreds of giant skeletons fell, and Elijah began to wonder if the pyramid was larger on the inside than it seemed from without. But he discarded that notion as irrelevant. Even if it was, it wouldn¡¯t change anything. Fortunately, there were only so many ways to go, so it wasn¡¯t a maze, as Elijah had originally feared they would need to overcome. Progress was so mind-numbing that he had to consciously force himself to pay full attention. The zombies weren¡¯t quite as deadly as some foes, and the skeletons were fairly easy to deal with so long as one knew how to attack them. Yet, they were all powerful enough to end the group¡¯s journey if Elijah and his companions didn¡¯t take it seriously. Even with that in mind, it was easy to fall into a pattern of mechanically playing their roles. Elijah was in one such a dissociated state when things finally changed. It was so sudden that he just blinked in response to something new. Sadie stepped forward, planting herself at the front of the group. Meanwhile, Elijah shook his head and took in the scene. They¡¯d found themselves in a massive, hexagonally shaped room. On each side was a chamber containing an empty pedestal, and Elijah could feel the roiling ethera contained within each area. However, he was more interested in the figure standing at the center of the room. On the surface, Elijah could recognize a ta¡¯alaki, though this specimen was far taller than normal. Thinner, too. Even with their voluminous ¨C yet degraded ¨C robes, their figure looked almost skeletal. Beneath their hood were hollow features and eyes burning with teal energy. Each of their four hands held a staff, three of which were tipped with giant, black crystals. The fourth was empty, though Elijah could see shards of onyx embedded in the crown of that staff. ¡°At last,¡± came a hissing voice that seemed to emanate from everywhere all at once. ¡°You have come. We have been waiting.¡± Then, the pedestals lit up with teal energy. A second later, the air ripped open, revealing five portals to another world. Elijah had seen something like it before, but instead of leading to the Abyss, this led to a hellscape of pure death. Dense and deathly energy slammed into the sense associated with One with Nature, briefly stunning him with the sheer weight of it. It was the Underrealm. Elijah knew that the second he felt it. And it was the source of the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s power. Those thoughts barely had a chance to flow through one facet of his Mind before skeletons ¨C each one at least thirty feet tall ¨C emerged from the five portals. Then another wave came. And another after that. Elijah could barely make out anything on the other side of the portals, but he could see plenty of shapes waiting to cross over. ¡°You are strong. Perhaps you will be the final step necessary to defeat the tyrant emperor,¡± the voice rasped. ¡°We will see.¡± Elijah and his companions hadn¡¯t remained stationary. Instead, they¡¯d fallen into their normal tactics, letting Sadie take the lead while the others remained in the rear. However, it quickly became apparent that that was not a viable strategy when Elijah heard a squelching sound from behind. He glanced backward and saw a formless wave of rotting flesh ¨C which looked like every last zombie they¡¯d killed within the pyramid had somehow merged into a slurry of decaying meat ¨C was rushing toward them. 6-18. Going off Script Elijah lowered his staff and cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke. It had been incredibly effective against the zombies, so he expected it to do just as much damage against the tidal wave of rotting flesh coming his way. The spell hit the mass, and for a moment, he thought it was going to work. Layers of flesh disintegrated beneath the power of the spell, prompting a wave of hope. Then, rolls of rotting meat surged, closing in around the gaping wounds until, only a moment later, no evidence of Elijah¡¯s efforts remained. ¡°We¡¯ve got a problem here!¡± he shouted. ¡°A big, big problem!¡± Kurik turned, and his eyes widened. The mass filled the entire corridor, and to Elijah, it looked like someone had wrapped decaying silly putty around a bunch of moving ball bearings. Except he could see zombified faces in the mass as well. Reaching limbs, grasping claws, and gnashing teeth were apparent, prompting a wave of nausea that twisted its way through his stomach. So, maybe not like silly putty at all. ¡°What do we do?!¡± the dwarf breathed. ¡°Here,¡± Elijah said, dumping the crystals out of his bag. ¡°We need to destroy these. I¡¯ll protect the rear. Everyone else needs to fight the skeletons.¡± Even as he gave those instructions, the horde of giant skeletons surged forward as one. They didn¡¯t move quickly, but they didn¡¯t really need to, either. Elijah and his companions couldn¡¯t escape ¨C not with the mass of roiling and rotting flesh blocking the only exit ¨C so they didn¡¯t need to waste their energy on a mad rush. But Elijah knew just how quickly those skeletons could move. He¡¯d fought dozens of the things already, and they were a terrifying foe ¨C especially given that none of the new ones had the glaring weakness he¡¯d exploited with the others. No crystals hanging around their necks meant that they were largely invulnerable to any attacks Elijah and his companions could level in their direction. Even Nature¡¯s Rebuke was little more than a slap in the face against such durable foes. Elijah couldn¡¯t concern himself with that, though. His job was to protect the rear, and if he was going to do that, he couldn¡¯t afford to split his focus. So, after discarding the crystals, he shifted into the Shape of the Guardian. By the time the transformation had completed, the mass of zombified flesh had closed to within fifty yards. He used Savage Might. Then, without further delay, he raced forward. A second later, he crashed into the mass, ripping and clawing with every ounce of fury he could muster. Ragged chunks of rotting meat flew into the air, creating a miasmic cloud of blackened gore, unidentifiable fluid, pus, and, most importantly, death-attuned ethera that sent a chill deep into his bones. Elijah roared, ripping and clawing as he tapped into the three aspects of his spirit. The beast in him drove his savagery, the dragon refused to give in to the odds, and the oft-ignored human searched for a method to defeat the mighty foe. Behind him, the skeletons finally reached Sadie and his companions, and the sound of their conflict echoed through the immense chamber. At the same time, the disembodied voice continued to hiss meaningless statements about finally defeating the tyrant. For his part, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to pay any attention to that, because it quickly became apparent that his efforts ¨C for all their fury ¨C were almost entirely ineffective. He¡¯d ripped a wide gash into the amalgam of zombified flesh, but it still surged forward with agonizing inevitability. Eventually, it would reach his companions, and the battle would effectively end. They would fight on. None were the sorts to give up. However, the writing was on the wall. If they let themselves be sandwiched between the two sides of the enemy¡¯s attack, they would fall. Not soon, and not without taking their own proverbial pound of flesh, but their demise seemed almost fated. Elijah refused to surrender to that. So, he sprang backward, and even as he shifted back to his human form, an explosion of force sent him staggering forward. The pyramid shook, and the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s voice erupted into a scream. It took Elijah a second to realize that Kurik had finally destroyed one of the crystals. Fortunately, that caused the mass of zombified flesh to recoil ¨C if only for a moment ¨C which in turn gave Elijah the opportunity to complete his transformation and cast Swarm. Then, he used Nature¡¯s Rebuke and Calamity. The familiar spells swept in, and hundreds of buzzing flies descended upon the mass of flesh. It ignored them, and to its peril. For the duration of the spell, the flies bit the amalgam hundreds ¨C if not thousands ¨C of times, inflicting one affliction after another. Flesh rotted rapidly, disintegrating in seconds as the malicious effects swept through the creature. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. So, Elijah once again shifted. The situation did not call for the brute force of the lamellar ape. That was meeting it on its terms. Instead, he needed the power of the blight dragon. Shape of Venom transformed his body, and he raced back into the fray, climbing the walls and dropping down from the ceiling. Immediately, he started biting. The roiling flesh closed around him, trying to suffocate him with sheer pressure. And it worked. Elijah could feel his bones cracking under the force of so much weight as the rotting flesh enveloped him. Cold death raced through him, strangling the very vitality within him. But Elijah was a Druid. Life was his bread and butter. So, he persisted, his endurance propped up by the triumvirate of his spirit. Within, the dragon roared in defiance, the beast lashed out with every single bite Elijah inflicted, and the human clung to consciousness with an iron grip. He bit. He clawed. And hundreds of instances of Envenom raced through the amalgamated monster. Additionally, each attack carried with it Insidious Malady. Normally, it didn¡¯t have the chance to truly build ¨C it was a slow acting, disease-based skill ¨C but the volume of attacks meant that even that gradual escalation became a truly terrifying amount of damage. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As he fought and clawed, the monster continued its efforts at constriction. Still, Elijah fought on. His Jade Mind helped keep him on track, though eventually, even that wasn¡¯t enough ¨C especially when Savage Might ran its course. Bones cracked beneath the pressure, and Elijah¡¯s body began to fail. The mechanical connections of his joints counted for nothing when they were attached to crushed bones. Pain raced through him until it lost meaning. In his Mind ¨C in his very spirit ¨C there was nothing but the task at hand. Every tiny scratch he inflicted brought with it Insidious Malady. Every bite carried Envenom. And even more than that, every second he continued to fight, his resolve cemented itself even further. He might not win. The creature might end up killing him. But he certainly wasn¡¯t going to give up. However, the more rational part of him took hold, and, realizing that he wasn¡¯t going to survive much longer in his current form, Elijah let the Shape of Venom fall away. As soon as he crossed the threshold into humanity, he loaded himself with all the healing he could muster, then cast Swarm again before using Nature¡¯s Rebuke. Finally, he re-cast Calamity, hoping that it would just stack damage onto the amalgamation of zombified flesh. Once he¡¯d finished casting his suite of spells, he embraced Shape of the Guardian. Tiny mites manifested all around him, and they burrowed into mass of decaying flesh, inflicting a vast array of afflictions. Meanwhile, Sooth, Healing Rain, and the after-effect heal of Nature¡¯s Bloom mended his broken body, staving off death just long enough for the transformation into a lamellar ape to fully complete. And last, the effects of Calamity ¨C blades of wind, rumbling earth, and devastating bolts of lightning ¨C ripped their way through the blob of necrotic flesh from the inside out. The monster writhed as hundreds ¨C perhaps even thousands ¨C of afflictions tore through it. In the form of the lamellar ape, Elijah continued to rip and tear. Biting and clawing, he leveraged his high Strength to great effect, and with his increased Constitution, he managed to stave off the worst of the crushing effect. Still, he couldn¡¯t resist it for long before his bones ¨C already weakened ¨C began to once again break. Elijah could read the situation as well as anyone, but he¡¯d already established a pattern that seemed to be working. So, once he felt the effects of Soothe start to wear off, he once again shifted into his human form, cast a few heals ¨C as well as his offensive spells ¨C before shifting into a blight dragon to inflict as many instances of Insidious Malady and Envenom as he could manage. Then, when he felt his bones giving way to the constriction, he repeated the process, taking on the Shape of the Guardian to tear into the monster via another avenue. The damage ¨C both from and against Elijah ¨C continued to build. The monster quivered, practically melting under his onslaught. Meanwhile, even as Elijah repeated his cycle countless times, his Jade Mind worked overtime, funneling massive amounts of ethera through its nine apertures and into his Soul. Without it, he never could have managed to cast so many spells. He¡¯d have long since run out of energy. But with it, he could keep going for some time yet. The same could not be said for his body. Even in the durable form of the lamellar ape, Elijah could feel his bones breaking with every passing moment. The ongoing heals took care of most of that damage, but he fell behind a little a time. Inevitably, he¡¯d eventually reach a tipping point where he simply couldn¡¯t endure. Vaguely, Elijah was aware of a series of ongoing explosions. Presumably, the others were busy destroying the crystals, but it could just as easily been the result of the battle against the skeletons. He couldn¡¯t worry about that, though. It was all he could do to manage his own affairs, much less concern himself with how everyone else was engaging the enemy. Elijah continuously used Iron Scales when he was in his guardian form, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to allow him to gain any ground. He continued to fight, but even though he made an enormous amount of headway, he knew he was progressively being pulled further and further into what felt like an endless mass of necrotic flesh. Still, he knew that no monster was limitless. Even Halima had been defeated. And he was a dragon. He would not give in. He would not fall before a mindless slurry of zombified remains. So, he continued his cycle, adding more healing to the mix. He also pushed himself to remain in his blight dragon form as long as possible. Ironically, it was not the monster itself that pushed him over the edge. It was the pervasive aura of death that had slowly crept into his body, suffusing his every cell until he could scarcely move without ripping muscles and ligaments. Elijah shifted back into the lamellar ape form, and activated his final hope. Guardian¡¯s Renewal swept through him, healing the damage that had been wrought. However, as had happened on a few other occasions, it was immediately clear that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Vitality fought with death-attuned ethera, creating a stalemate where his body was destroyed and renewed multiple times with every passing second. Elijah knew that the moment Guardian¡¯s Renewal gave out, he would die. He couldn¡¯t do anything about the constriction inflicted by the mass of rotting flesh, but the aura of death reminded him of the corruption he¡¯d endured in the fallen grove. In the beginning, he¡¯d tried to purge it from his body ¨C and with some success ¨C but it had ultimately been an affliction of the mind. Still, it was a lesson he hadn¡¯t forgotten. So, he shoved his resolve behind that same technique, and he squeezed the undead aura with every ounce of willpower he could manifest. At first, it did nothing. Even as the power of life and death warred within him, he hung in limbo. Then, something broke. An explosion erupted all around him, the shockwave tearing through the monster. And then it all imploded. Death rushed into the vacuum, smothering him beneath a mountain of ghastly energy. It seeped through his skin, suffusing his organs and infecting his bones. Elijah screamed as pain wracked his entire body. He was dying. He knew it. Agony tore through him like a wildfire, a herald of what was to come. His fate was knocking on his door. But Elijah hadn¡¯t gotten as far as he had by giving up. The dragon, the beast, and the human all coalesced, and he squeezed with all his might. The result was a single drop of deathly energy, given liquid form by the sheer pressure he brought to bear, that seeped out of his chest. Then another came. And another after that. Even as the monster tried to crush him, Elijah was wholly focused on purging himself of that deathly energy. Along the way, he picked up hundreds of other forms of tainted energy. Leftover corruption. Sickness. Imperfections. Toxins of every kind. It manifested in the form a thick sludge that came from every orifice and leaked from every pore. Elijah pushed. And squeezed. And he was remade, better and more perfectly pure than ever before. A notification flashed before Elijah¡¯s mind¡¯s eye, but he couldn¡¯t spare it any attention. The pressure continued to squeeze, and the deathly energy pushed against him as furiously as ever before. But it could find no purchase. Elijah¡¯s bones refused to break, and his muscles would not give way. He was just too strong. To durable. And he had a monster to kill. He shifted back into the blight dragon, and he tore into the mass of flesh with more savagery than ever before. His body sang with power as he ripped through the monstrous mass of necrotic flesh, inflicting hundreds of instances of afflictions along the way. They built and built until, at last, the amalgam of zombified meat lost cohesion and fell apart. Elijah flopped to the ground, covered in pus and gore. He felt good. Really, really good. But he didn¡¯t have time to revel in it. Never was that made clearer than when he heard a feminine scream echo down the hall. Elijah turned, seeing that he was hundreds of yards away from where he¡¯d started. But he also saw the giant skeleton looming over a fallen Sadie, and he knew that he was too far away to help her. 6-19. Broken Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate. He used Flicker Step.
Flicker Step Slip into the shadows, emerging behind your opponent. Only usable while under the influence of Shape of Venom. Cooldown based on Dexterity. Current: 54.1 Seconds.
In only an instant, he was behind the skeleton, though he didn¡¯t attack it. As a Blight Dragon, he had neither the mass nor the Strength to move something that large. But his true target wasn¡¯t that big. He dashed forward, slipping between the skeleton¡¯s legs, and hitting Sadie with as much momentum as he could muster. She screamed in pain ¨C doubtless, he¡¯d made her injuries much worse ¨C but she did move. Only a couple of feet, but that was enough to take her out of the path of skeleton¡¯s descending strike. Unfortunately, the tactic also put Elijah¡¯s back right in line with its enormous axe. The blade bit into him, severing his spine. His back legs went instantly numb, while a dense wave of pain went up his back and erupted into fiery agony. He let out a hissing cry, but quickly shunted that pain ¨C and the distressing numbness ¨C into its own facet of his mind. Then, he focused on the situation at hand. Sadie had tumbled free, but she was in no condition to continue the battle. In fact, she was barely conscious, which meant that she wouldn¡¯t be any help going forward. The others were still alive, but Ron had been knocked unconscious. Dat, whose leg hung on by a single tendon, had somehow dragged the man to a location made safe by a line of Kurik¡¯s traps. Each one was fueled by a power crystal, so they would likely pack quite a punch, but Elijah knew from experience just how difficult those skeletons were to defeat. The traps would slow their foes down, but the group wouldn¡¯t remain safe for long. That meant that Elijah was alone. And given that the skeleton was already pulling back for another attack, he knew he didn¡¯t have much time to figure out a plan. Realizing that Shape of Venom wouldn¡¯t see him through, Elijah initiated another transformation ¨C this time, into his Shape of the Guardian. Because of his previous actions, his store of ethera was beginning to run low. His Jade-Mind-enhanced Regeneration had gone a long way toward mitigating his expenditure, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to let him keep it up indefinitely. By the time the transformation was complete, the axe fell again. The monster didn¡¯t even bother with Elijah. Instead, it kept its attacks trained on Sadie, who was still completely out of it. So, using his long and powerful arms for locomotion, Elijah threw himself in her direction. His legs dangled uselessly as he flew through the air, landing atop her just in time to intercept the axe¡¯s blade. This time, though, he had the benefit of his inflated Constitution and Iron Scales. The blade bit into him, but only a couple of inches, so it did no lasting damage. As the skeleton pulled back to administer another blow, Elijah wrapped one arm around Sadie and used Bestial Charge. The ability required him to initiate the charge by mundane means, but once he got going, it took over. Elijah threw himself out of the axe¡¯s path, then sailed over Kurik¡¯s traps. A couple activated, but the shield associated with the ability kept him from feeling the effects. A moment later, he hit the ground in a roll that came to a stop when he hit the wall. Without wasting any time, he shifted back into his human form and started healing. His first target wasn¡¯t himself. Nor did he aim Soothe or Nature¡¯s Bloom at Sadie. Instead, he targeted the unconscious Ron, piling as much healing onto the man as was possible. Because while Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have the healing power to push everyone into recovery, Ron certainly did. As he cast, he shouted, ¡°Kurik, get more traps up. Just keep them off of us until everyone¡¯s on their feet.¡± It took four casts of Nature¡¯s Bloom before Ron¡¯s eyes started to flutter open. Even with Soothe and Healing Rain constantly providing vital energy, it was another thirty seconds before awareness returned. And half a minute is an incredible amount of time in the heat of battle. Traps went off, sending ethereal chains of blue energy to wrap around the front line of skeletons and binding them in place. But only a few seconds later, Elijah could see the cracks spreading across each link. ¡°Fifteen seconds!¡± Kurik growled, deploying more traps by throwing them into place. They looked like crystals, albeit with glowing wire wrapped around them. ¡°These ain¡¯t strong enough to hold ¡®em off for much longer.¡± Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Just then, one of the largest black-bone skeletons broke free of its chains and stepped forward. More chains erupted from the recently deployed traps, wrapping around the thing¡¯s legs. The creaking sound of highly-stressed metal echoed through the chamber. Only when Ron began to stir did Elijah focus on himself, casting one spell after another as he tried to mend his severed spine. But to his horror, nothing worked. Elijah was well aware that some injuries were beyond his ability to heal. For instance, no matter how much ethera he pumped into the task, he couldn¡¯t regrow someone¡¯s lost limb. He could reattach one ¨C so long as he had the pieces ¨C but he couldn¡¯t fix it with healing alone. Was a severed spine one of those injuries he couldn¡¯t fix? If only he hadn¡¯t used Guardian¡¯s Renewal, he could have stood a chance. As he healed, he cast Soothe on Dat and Sadie as well. Then, Ron croaked, ¡°What¡­what happened?¡± He blinked again. ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡± He didn¡¯t wait for an answer before he started throwing heals around. In seconds, every member of the group was glowing with white light. Elijah felt his wounds healing, but his legs remained entirely numb. ¡°Elijah¡­¡± The expression on Ron¡¯s face was all he needed to see to know that things didn¡¯t look good. So, he said, ¡°It¡¯s okay. We¡¯ll figure it out once we¡¯re ¨C¡± Just then, the wave of skeletons ¨C there were more than a dozen of them ¨C broke free of one set of traps. ¡°Maybe ten more seconds!¡± Elijah knew better than to dwell on his injury. Not in the heat of battle, at least. After they won, he would have plenty of time for self-pity. For now, there were people depending on him. So, without further consideration for his severed spine, he turned his attention to the problem at hand. The skeletons were too durable. The only reason they¡¯d defeated any of them in the past was because of the link between their existence and the crystals they¡¯d worn around their necks. The newcomers had no such crystals on their bodies. No weaknesses. They weren¡¯t invulnerable, but Elijah didn¡¯t think any of them had the power to defeat the creatures in a fair fight. And if they couldn¡¯t, then nobody in the Trial could. That meant there was something else at play. So, Elijah demanded, ¡°What happened to the crystals?¡± ¡°Destroyed,¡± Kurik said, still tossing out traps. ¡°Better do somethin¡¯ quick, or we¡¯re gonna be in trouble.¡± Elijah looked around, his eyes quickly finding the figure at the center of the chamber. The huge ta¡¯alaki hadn¡¯t moved, but something had changed. It took Elijah a second to realize that the crystals on the creature¡¯s staff had been broken. Only one remained intact, though it bore hundreds of tiny cracks that made it look as if it was barely holding together. He sank his Mind into One with Nature, pushing it harder than ever before. And then, just barely, he sensed a thin thread of ethera emanating from that nearly broken crystal. The string of energy was incredibly small, but it was also denser than anything Elijah had ever felt before. As soon as it left the crystal, it split into dozens of strands that eventually connected to the skeletons. That was enough of a hint for Elijah. Realizing that Ron couldn¡¯t heal him further, Elijah shifted sideways, then initiated a transformation into Shape of the Sky. His arms sprouted wings, and his body elongated. But that didn¡¯t make his lower half any more responsive than before. But he didn¡¯t need his tail or claws to fly. Or that was what he thought as he threw himself upward. With his Strength, he had no issues getting aloft. However, the dead weight of his tail certainly threw him off. More, he could feel that he¡¯d underestimated just how crucial it was to steering. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t need to execute any fine maneuvers. Instead, he pushed himself as high as the chamber would allow. Its ceiling was more than two-hundred feet high, so even with his tail dangling below, he had plenty of room to soar over the skeletons. Then, he took aim at the ta¡¯alaki in the center of the room and dove. As he did so, he transformed into the lamellar ape, using Iron Scales and Bestial Charge as he fell from the sky. He hit with the force of a wrecking ball, but even that was only enough to make the robed figure stumble. He¡¯d never intended to kill the creature, though. Instead, his target was the crystal atop the staff in the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s top left hand. And it was just in reach. Elijah grabbed hold of the creature¡¯s shoulder, then stretched. It was just out of reach, though. And the ta¡¯alaki had begun to recover. Elijah¡¯s legs dangled uselessly as he threw himself at the staff. His fingers closed around it, and through sheer weight and surprise, he managed to rip the weapon free. He tumbled to the ground, forcing himself into an awkward roll. Then, he felt a foot connect with his stomach, launching him a dozen feet away. Barely, Elijah managed to maintain his grip on the staff, but he could feel his organs burst from the magnitude of the blow. The only other attack he¡¯d felt that could even begin to compare to what he¡¯d just experienced was when he¡¯d fought Halima. The results were predictable. Elijah had no idea if he was dying, but in that moment, he just didn¡¯t care. Kurik¡¯s traps were on the verge of failing. Sadie had yet to recover. And even if he was healthy, Dat was incapable of doing what was necessary. ¡°You think to defeat me. But ¨C¡± Elijah had no interest in listening to another monologue. So, he reached back, then swung the staff with every ounce of Strength he possessed. Without the use of his legs, he had trouble getting leverage. However, with his high attributes, even if he just used his arm, he could harness a truly devastating degree of force. And the crystal was already damaged. When it hit the ground, the thing shattered. So did the staff itself, splintering at about the halfway point. The ta¡¯alaki screamed in rage, but Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with their tantrum. Instead, he only had eyes for the line of skeletons, all of which collapsed the second the crystal shattered. Elijah had seen that before, and he couldn¡¯t deny how incredibly satisfying it was to see them fall into a pile of disconnected bones. But then the enraged ta¡¯alaki was on top of him. Elijah used Iron Scales just before the creature grabbed him, but even that wasn¡¯t enough to protect him from their claws. He screamed as his torso was ripped to shreds. However, given the power the thing had already displayed, the wounds weren¡¯t nearly as deep as Elijah might have expected. Still, it was enough to send Elijah¡¯s blood splattering across the floor. Then, in a fury, the creature heaved him across the room. Elijah hit the wall only ten or fifteen feet from his companions, shattering the stone with his impact. Bones broke, and his organs ruptured even further. Blood spurted from his eyes and mouth, and his thoughts became muddled. Blackness crept into his vision as unconsciousness threatened to overwhelm him. In the back of one facet of his Mind, he tried to initiate a transformation into his human form. His ingrained habits told him that he needed to heal himself. And yet, he couldn¡¯t muster the willpower to stir the ethera in his core. So, he lay there, watching as the ta¡¯alaki approached, murder in their eyes. 6-20. Pushing Through With the rhythm of Elijah¡¯s waning heartbeat, blood spurted from a dozen different wounds. He pushed with all of his willpower, trying desperately to stave off the darkness creeping into his field of vision. With his muddled mind, he could focus on nothing else. And yet, his efforts were useless. When the ta¡¯alaki reached him, he tried to fend them off, but he could scarcely lift his arms, much less stop the robed native of the excised world. The creature clamped their claw around Elijah¡¯s thick neck, then lifted him free of the ground. He couldn¡¯t resist. His legs dangled limply, and even when he summoned enough strength to try to pry himself loose, he found himself stymied. Even as he ineffectually clawed at the creature, they said something Elijah was too far gone to hear. The ta¡¯alaki¡¯s grip tightened, and both his windpipe and the bloodflow to his brain were cut down to nothing. Panic suffused his mind as he realized that he was about to lose consciousness. A surge of adrenaline gave him just enough energy to gouge a small wound in the monstrous ta¡¯alaki¡¯s wrist, but the resultant trickle of blood was too miniscule to matter. The creature pulled him close, and at last, Elijah could hear their words as they hissed, ¡°You are a tiny, pitiful creature. Even with my power shackled, you are no more than an insect. You ¨C¡± Just then, a white light flashed, and suddenly, Elijah was falling. The creature¡¯s claws were still around his neck, but they¡¯d lost all strength. His breath left his lungs as he hit the floor, but when he breathed in, his airways were unrestricted. He was no longer suffocating. A second later, warm vitality suffused his body, and, all at once, he realized that someone ¨C or something ¨C was screaming. He blinked, then looked up to see that Sadie had planted herself between the ta¡¯alaki. Glowing with her personal shield, she looked like a fabled white knight. Of course, that perception was slightly marred by the damage to her armor. Once again, it had been ripped to pieces, but the woman beneath held strong. She lashed out with her sword, and the ta¡¯alaki danced backward. The blade still cut deep into the creature¡¯s hastily-raised arm, but even as its white blood sprayed onto the floor, it looked mostly unaffected. Except for the fact that it was missing one hand. Another heal settled onto Elijah, and his mind continued to clear. Sadie aimed another blow at the creature, but it was clearly exploratory. She never intended for it to land. Rather, she was keeping it at a distance while measuring the space between herself and her opponent. With their size, the creature had an advantage of reach, but they seemed much slower than her. Was that due to a lack of Strength? Or an inability to control that explosive power? Elijah couldn¡¯t quite tell if they were physically weak or just uncoordinated, but the results were the same. The thing simply couldn¡¯t keep up with Sadie. The ta¡¯alaki backed away as Sadie advanced. Every few seconds, she aimed Blade of the Avenger at the creature. In each instance, the huge sword erupted from the ground, sheering hunks of flesh from the monstrous creature¡¯s thin body. Then, Dat and Kurik recovered enough to pitch in, shooting crossbow bolts and arrows at them. That was when the necromancer ¨C for that was the best way to describe them ¨C got serious. Waving all three of their remaining hands. A second later, teal lightning arced out, slamming into the three attackers. Sadie stumbled slightly as her shield shattered, and both Dat and Kurik paled as Elijah felt their vitality flee their bodies and race toward the necromancer. When it hit, the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s wounds mended. But by that point, Elijah had completed his transformation back into his caster form. Once he¡¯d returned to his natural shape, he started casting. First came Swarm, then Calamity. After that, he tried Nature¡¯s Rebuke, but it immediately became clear that the necromancer was not considered an unnatural creature. So, he fell back on Storm¡¯s Fury, channeling it through his staff and into the creature. Finally, between lightning strikes, Elijah used his healing spells to help ease the burden on Ron. In the back of one facet of his Mind, Elijah couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that he still had no feeling below the waist. He tried to push those thoughts aside, but even as he fell into a rhythm with his casting, the knowledge that his lower half was paralyzed ¨C likely permanently ¨C twisted his stomach into knots. Even so, he refused to let up. He wouldn¡¯t let it derail his efforts. So, as hundreds of glowing insects descended upon the creature, he did everything he could to assist in the ongoing battle. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. That became immediately clear when deathly beams of teal light descended from above, slamming into each member of Elijah¡¯s party, and draining their life force at an accelerated rate. By itself, it wouldn¡¯t kill them, but the ta¡¯alaki had many more spells up its sleeve. Elijah had difficulty distinguishing between each one, but he could feel himself getting weaker as various afflictions took hold. And he bore the brunt of so many deleterious effects much better than the others. Dat, in particular, staggered around like he was drunk, and his crossbow bolts missed more than they hit. Kurik was slightly better off ¨C at least until he bent over double and vomited a mixture of blood and bile that smelled like charred flesh and garbage. Ron did what he could, throwing out one healing spell after another. The air around him swirled powerfully as he pulled ethera into his Mind, but it was obvious that he couldn¡¯t keep it up indefinitely. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Aside from Elijah, Sadie took the barrage of afflictions better than anyone else, but even then, her movements were markedly slower with every passing moment. Meanwhile, her own ethereal attacks had ceased, and she had begun to rely almost entirely on pure swordplay. There were only two reasons she didn¡¯t immediately succumb. First, she was quite a talented fighter, which had been obvious from the moment Elijah had first seen her in battle. She¡¯d since revealed that she had trained in various martial arts before Earth was touched by the World Tree, and she¡¯d only gotten better in the years since. That allowed her to stand toe-to-toe with a much more powerful opponent. But the second reason she wasn¡¯t overwhelmed by that gap in power was a simple one ¨C she was armed, while the ta¡¯alaki was not. Elijah had broken one of their staves, while the other three had been destroyed when their crystals had exploded. However, even with those advantages, Sadie was slowly losing the fight. Elijah couldn¡¯t allow that. So, without further ado, he initiated the shift into his blight dragon form. In the couple of seconds it took for the transformation to complete, Sadie lost more ground. Elijah gritted his teeth as his body transitioned, and the second it was complete, he used Flicker Step. After slipping into the shadows, he was instantly transported to a position just behind the ta¡¯alaki necromancer. He¡¯d slipped from the creature¡¯s field of vision, so a second later, he was out of combat. The thing never even knew he was there, and once he¡¯d adopted Guise of the Unseen, he faded entirely from visibility. That was when Elijah used Predator Strike, Venom Strike, and Envenom. Ethera swirled within him as the abilities took hold. He dug his front claws into the floor, then threw himself forward. He hit face-first, his gaping jaws clamping down as his fangs pierced the creature¡¯s left leg. A second later, his amplified venom flooded the limb, delivering with it a powerfully destructive affliction. Insidious Malady came with it, and Elijah had a feeling that the necromancer would not prove nearly as durable as the amalgam of merged zombies. The creature howled in pain, then tried to kick him free. However, even with only two claws, Elijah was as stubborn as any badger. He clung to the thing¡¯s calf, administering one bite after another. With his attributes, he could strike incredibly quickly ¨C at least once with every passing second ¨C so the afflictions continued to pile up. Then, the monster did something Elijah never could have expected. The necromancer produced a large knife ¨C seemingly summoning it from nowhere ¨C and lashed out at their own leg. The blade bit deep, and Sadie took that brief distraction to land another blow, cutting into the necromancer¡¯s side. The ta¡¯alaki ignored the wound, continuing to hack at their leg. Elijah saw what was happening, so he scrambled up the creature¡¯s body, dragging himself to the necromancer¡¯s torso with only his front legs. Then, he continued his attacks, reasoning that, while the creature might succeed in cutting off their leg and removing the site of so many afflictions, they could not remove their back. In the back of his mind, Elijah did wonder if such a strategy would be effective. Theoretically, it should work so long as the venom didn¡¯t have a chance to enter the veins and get pumped throughout the body. But Envenom ¨C as well as Insidious Malady and the results of Venom Strike ¨C were magical in nature. So, he suspected that they wouldn¡¯t behave like normal venom. Finally, the ta¡¯alaki managed to succeed in amputating their own leg, but by that point, the combined might of Elijah¡¯s afflictions ¨C with the effects of Swarm not to be forgotten ¨C had begun to take their toll. The necromancer continued to drain vitality from the others, but that was a losing strategy. Eventually, their efforts would be overcome by the sheer weight of so much damage. After all, Sadie hadn¡¯t stopped her own onslaught, and Dat as well as Kurik had continued to fire in the necromancer¡¯s direction. Many of those projectiles went wide, but enough hit that they couldn¡¯t be ignored. And the creature soon seemed to come to that same conclusion, because they stopped trying to mitigate the damage, shifting their strategy to inflicting as many wounds as they could manage. Elijah was the obvious target. With his mobility cut down by his paralyzed lower half, Elijah couldn¡¯t move nearly as quickly as normal. Even if he¡¯d been at full health, he wasn¡¯t fast enough to indefinitely avoid the creature¡¯s efforts at catching him. So, it was inevitable that he would eventually be caught. And when he was, the thing grabbed hold of him with an iron grip ¨C one hand on either side of Elijah¡¯s body ¨C and ripped. Elijah was tough. But the necromancer was far stronger. He let out a primal scream as he felt his entire body ripping in half. His scales protested. His dense flesh resisted. And his bones briefly held fast. But eventually, his body simply gave out. In a shower of gore, Elijah was ripped into two pieces. For the second time that day, he felt the darkness of unconsciousness creeping into his field of vision. One half of his body sailed through the air, while his upper half was used as a weapon as the creature bludgeoned Sadie. Vaguely, he was aware of his vital organs slipping to the ground, but strangely, he felt no more pain. Sadie screamed, the sound so filled with emotion that it cut through even Elijah¡¯s detached thoughts. A second later, she erupted with white light, and Elijah felt a burning that encompassed his body, mind, soul, and spirit. Even his core roiled in agony as he suddenly flopped to the ground. Looking up, he saw Sadie ¨C glowing even brighter than ever before ¨C fall upon the weakened and one-legged necromancer. Her sword moved so swiftly that Elijah couldn¡¯t even track it. He did see the results, though, as the necromancer fell into two pieces. Sadie didn¡¯t stop there, though. She leaped atop the thing¡¯s head, then buried her white blade into their gaping face. Elijah lost consciousness after that, but the blackness only lasted for a couple of seconds before he blinked. Looking down, he saw that he¡¯d returned to his human form, and to his immense surprise, he actually saw a pair of legs. His body was whole. And very naked from the waist down. His hands shot to his groin in an effort to preserve his modesty, but he needn¡¯t have bothered, because Ron was beside him a moment later, covering him with a curiously sparkly piece of cloth. ¡°What happened?¡± he asked. He didn¡¯t need to add a question about the fate of the necromancer. He¡¯d felt the influx of experience that had pushed him up another level. Glancing around, he saw Sadie, gulping air as she stared down at the fallen ta¡¯alaki. A few seconds later, she blinked, then turned to face Elijah. Her eyes went down his body, then settled onto his intact legs. They were covered by the sparkly cloth, but they were evident nonetheless. He wiggled his toes, astounded by their presence as well as the fact that they weren¡¯t numb. Dat, who¡¯d approached alongside Ron, said, ¡°A Miracle, bro. That¡¯s what happened.¡± 6-21. In Pieces With Ron¡¯s sparkly robe wrapped around his waist like a towel, Elijah looked down on his dismembered legs with narrowed eyes. ¡°This is really weird,¡± he said. He¡¯d sometimes wondered what would happen if someone with a powerful enough spell were to mend an amputated limb, but now, it seemed that he knew the results firsthand. His legs had grown from his torso, while the lower half he¡¯d once called a part of his body had become nothing more than a big hunk of lifeless meat. ¡°Tell me about it, bro. I¡¯ve never seen that Miracle heal so much damage before,¡± Dat said, standing beside him with his hands on his hips. ¡°That thing ripped you in half. What did it feel like?¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± Elijah deadpanned. In reality, he had difficulty describing what he¡¯d felt. Part of that was because he was fairly certain that he¡¯d been in shock ever since having his spine severed, but it was also due to the sheer oddness of the situation. Not many people could say they¡¯d been cut in half and lived to tell the tail. And the ones who had were in no condition to look at it objectively. By all rights, Elijah should have been a blubbering mess of a man as he contemplated a life without anything below his legs. But there he was, completely healthy and feeling better than he¡¯d felt since coming into the Trial. It made sense, at least insofar as he applied the logic of the situation. Magic was powerful, but it seemed Miracles were capable of exceeding even his lofty expectations for all things ethereal. He¡¯d heard a few stories about strong healers being able to help someone regrow a limb, but that was a long and difficult process that usually took months. And he¡¯d sprouted a new pair of legs ¨C as well as another all-important appendage ¨C in the space of a couple of seconds. However, whatever reasoning supported what had happened, Elijah couldn¡¯t quite wrap his head around it. The human mind ¨C even enhanced by cultivation ¨C wasn¡¯t meant to deal with that kind of thing, and he was wracked by feelings of confusion, guilt, and gratitude. But if there was one thing Elijah was good at doing, it was burying his feelings in an oft-ignored corner of his mind and hoping it went away. So, that was what he did, though even with that flimsy quarantine in place, he couldn¡¯t quite escape the residual emotions racing through him. ¡°I think I¡¯m still in shock,¡± he said. ¡°The medical term. But I guess the other meaning kind of works, too. I shouldn¡¯t even be alive.¡± ¡°But you are.¡± And he had Sadie to thank for it. ¡°Is it always so¡­powerful? Her Miracle, I mean.¡± Dat shook his head and glanced back to where Sadie was trying to mend her armor. ¡°No. Faith works differently than ethera. In a lot of ways, it¡¯s closer to experience. The more we act according to our nature, the more Faith we accumulate. For me, that means hunting down evil monsters and killing them. But for Sadie, it¡¯s different. She gets faith for becoming an instrument of justice. I know that sounds vague, but that¡¯s how she describes it. Regardless, it¡¯s not quantified in our status, but we can feel it in our Cores. Building and building without letting up. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a limit to how much Faith we can store. ¡°But that¡¯s just quantity. Quality is different. It comes from emotion. From the surety that we¡¯re doing the right thing. Love helps, I guess. So do things like avenging an unjust act. The more intense the emotion, the stronger the Faith is.¡± ¡°So you¡¯re saying that Sadie felt really strongly about¡­what happened to me?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°Maybe. It might have been a reaction to the lich. Or both. I¡¯ve learned not to look too deeply into Sadie¡¯s motivations,¡± he said. It took Elijah a few moments to realize that the Witch Hunter had dropped his affable demeanor in favor of something far more somber. Serious looked odd on Dat¡¯s face. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m glad she did what needed to be done. We don¡¯t stand a chance without you.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯re selling yourself short,¡± Elijah said self-deprecatingly as he ran his hand through his hair. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t been entirely denuded like he had after so many other major battles. Though he did quickly come to realize that something else was wrong. The network of channels he¡¯d so meticulously carved for his ethera to travel throughout his body were riddled with disconnections. More, even the undamaged parts were thinner and more ephemeral than they had been before he¡¯d been bisected. It was almost like those pathways were more memory than real. As a result, his ethera had begun to pool in places, which definitely didn¡¯t seem like a good thing. Moreover, he sensed that if he tried to use any spells that incorporated his legs ¨C like his transformations ¨C he would have more than a few issues. ¡°Damnit,¡± he said, kneeling beside his legs. Thankfully, he still remembered all the patterns, so he felt confident in redrawing his pathways. And fortunately, he didn¡¯t think he¡¯d need particularly thick ethera to do so. The afterimages of his channels would make it easier to rebuild the network, meaning that he felt almost certain that he could do it just about anywhere. Silver linings, he thought bitterly as he thought back to how painful the process of carving those channels had been. But then again, the alternative was that he would have died. Or been forced to live his life without legs. So, perhaps he was looking at things all wrong. Sure, redrawing his pathways would be frustrating, but compared to the alternative, he knew he was lucky. However, with that realization came the surety that he didn¡¯t have any time to waste on the discomforting situation before him. So, he knelt next to his former lower half and began the process of stripping his equipment free. To preserve his modesty ¨C or whatever, considering it wasn¡¯t really part of his body anymore ¨C he retrieved a towel from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and covered the more personal bits. ¡°You okay?¡± asked Kurik, who¡¯d approached while Elijah was busy with his task. The dwarf seemed fully recovered, though he was rattled by what they¡¯d just experienced. That was understandable, considering that, against the necromancer, they¡¯d come closer to death than ever before. Even the battle against the Immortals had been less potentially deadly. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But taking my pants off like this is really weird.¡± He tried to force a smile, but he feared it looked more like a grimace. So, he wiped the expression from his face and focused on the task at hand. After only a few more seconds, he managed the feat and retreated out of sight to once again don his armor. It fit the same as always, but it still felt constricting in a way he couldn¡¯t quite quantify. Like he was wearing someone else¡¯s clothes. In any case, he pushed that discomfort aside, piling it onto all the other feelings he didn¡¯t want to deal with, then returned to the main chamber. There, the others were gathered around a small, silver chest. ¡°Waiting on me?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Of course,¡± said Sadie, who¡¯d completed the repairs on her armor. Even though she¡¯d had an expert forge a new set back in Nexus City, its durability had quickly degraded during the fight against the necromancer. She¡¯d done what she could with her magical putty ¨C Elijah had no idea where she¡¯d gotten it, and she refused to reveal its origin ¨C but the once-impressive set of armor looked like it was only a few good hits from falling to pieces. The woman herself didn¡¯t look much better off. Sadie rarely appeared fragile, but standing there in the center of that chamber ¨C with the body of the necromancer rotting nearby ¨C she seemed somehow less substantial. It was as if a strong breeze might blow her away. Was that because she¡¯d used her entire store of Faith? Or was it something else at work? It was easy to forget that Sadie was a human being, and as such, she was obviously afflicted with all the same issues as everyone else. She wasn¡¯t just an unthinking automaton of justice. She was a twenty-something woman who was just as in over her head as everybody else. In that moment, Elijah wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and just give her a hearty hug. She needed it. He knew that. But just as surely, he recognized that he was the absolute wrong person to provide that comfort. Despite her insistence that she didn¡¯t actually hate him, the evidence that she at least disliked him was too dense to ignore. No - Elijah wouldn¡¯t be going down that road. Even if she was amenable ¨C and maybe she was, given the way she looked at him at times ¨C he knew that any relationship that came between them would be fraught with toxicity. Even simple friendship seemed impossible. The best he felt he could hope for was tolerance. So, he said, ¡°Thanks. Let¡¯s see what a Pendant of Vitality is.¡± As they discovered when Dat opened the chest, the item was precisely what its name suggested. A thin golden chain supported a small emerald, and when Elijah looked closer, he saw a current of dense ethera swirling within the gem¡¯s interior. More importantly, he felt thick vitality emanating from the emerald, suggesting that it was an extremely powerful piece of equipment. Elijah definitely wanted it, but given that he¡¯d taken the last item ¨C the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might that was still sitting in his satchel ¨C he didn¡¯t think it would be fair if he took it for himself. Dat used Hex of Scrying, and though he couldn¡¯t determine the item¡¯s exact effects, he could rule out the possibility that it was cursed. In addition, he said, ¡°It gives strong bonuses to Regeneration and Ethera, and the whispers say it might be good for a Healer. I can¡¯t be any more specific than that, though.¡± ¡°Seems like a pretty easy decision then, right?¡± Elijah said. Sadie agreed, nodding her head as she added, ¡°It¡¯s obviously best for Ron.¡± ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t take ¨C¡± ¡°Just take it, bro,¡± Dat interrupted. ¡°Take care of the Healer, and the Healer¡¯ll take care of you,¡± Kurik said. Ron looked from one person to the next, then let out a sigh. After that, he reached out to take the amulet. He slipped it over his head, then bound it by injecting some ethera into the gem. Immediately, his eyes glazed over, but that only lasted a second as he read the effects of the item. When he did, he let an uncharacteristic whoop, then pumped his fist, saying, ¡°Fifteen points in both Ethera and Regeneration!¡± After a little experimentation, he also revealed that after donning the Pendant of Vitality, he could cast his spells more quickly. ¡°It¡¯s not a huge difference, but it¡¯s noticeable, especially on Wave of Mending. This could be big.¡± Elijah was happy to see that Ron was so satisfied with the item. More, he only felt a tiny twinge of jealousy, largely because his own Snake Totem still put in good work every time he used one of his afflictions. Making those effects last longer didn¡¯t seem immediately impactful, but he¡¯d seen the modifier really shine during their most recent battle. Besides, he wasn¡¯t a Healer. It was more useful sitting around Ron¡¯s neck. Once the loot was taken care of, they looted the pieces of the unnamed necromancer¡¯s staves, then took everything the ta¡¯alaki had been wearing. In addition, they gathered the shattered remnants of the crystals Dat and Kurik had broken while Elijah had been enveloped by the rotting flesh of the zombie amalgam. They didn¡¯t feel like they held any energy, but there was a chance that they could still be useful. After they¡¯d taken everything they could, the group set out for the exit. Crossing through the empty halls came with an eerie feeling that was made even odder by the tiny tendrils of life returning to the atmosphere. It wasn¡¯t enough to make anyone comfortable, but without the influence of the necromancer, the area seemed to be normalizing. That was a relief, though Elijah knew that if another group were to embark upon the challenge, they would find it much the same as when he and his companions had first arrived. He had no idea how such a thing would work ¨C even a quantum physicist would probably struggle to explain it ¨C but he didn¡¯t really care enough to investigate. It was clearly system shenanigans at work, and he was content to let it do its thing without his exploration or interference. After all, if it was a malicious entity, surely Kirlissa would have said something. No ¨C it was a tool, and he intended to treat it as such. After descending from the floating pyramid, they reached the site of their old camp. The only remnant of their previous occupation was the cold fire pit Kurik had dug on the first day. Otherwise, it looked much the same as the rest of the area. ¡°I need to take care of something,¡± Elijah announced. ¡°But before I sink into meditation, I want to thank everyone for having my back. Especially you, Sadie. I know what you did isn¡¯t normal, and I¡¯ll always remember that you saved my life. So, thank you. Everyone. I wouldn¡¯t be alive without any of you.¡± Sadie blushed, mumbling something about him not worrying about it. Kurik said, ¡°And you best not forget it. Especially when it comes time to share out the loot.¡± He waggled his eyebrows as he grinned. Ron said, ¡°Saving people is kind of in the job description. But you¡¯re welcome. It feels good to come out on top.¡± And Dat said, ¡°That¡¯s what friends are for, bro.¡± That brought a smile to Elijah¡¯s face. He could acknowledge that he wasn¡¯t the easiest person to befriend. Social awkwardness aside, he tended to keep people at arm¡¯s length. However, he had to admit that ¨C aside from the taciturn Sadie ¨C the rest of his group had finally passed the line from companion to friend. It was with those good vibes suffusing his thoughts that he settled in to take a look at the notifications begging for his attention. The first one pushed his grin even wider than before. 6-22. Striding Forward A deathly aura lingered in the air, but it was nothing compared to what Elijah had felt in the tomb. Part of that was due to the fact that they¡¯d left the immediate area of the challenge, but mostly, it was because they had defeated the necromancer who was the challenge¡¯s eponymous fallen champion. Killing the thing ¨C and the amalgam of slain zombies ¨C had pushed Elijah closer to death than any fight that had come before, but as seemed to always be the case in his new reality, his survival had been well rewarded. Not with the official prize that came with overcoming the challenge within the Spires of the Fallen. That had gone to Ron, who seemed elated with the powerful Pendant of Vitality. Instead, Elijah had been rewarded with something far more enduring. As potent as a good piece of equipment could be, the reality was that, at his level, gear came and went, but advances in his inherent power would always be there, bolstering his abilities in a lasting way. So, when he finally turned his attention to the notifications he¡¯d received during and after the battle, the slight disappointment he¡¯d felt at ceding the Pendant of Vitality to the Healer washed away. First came the message telling him that he¡¯d gained another level, and he could feel that he was on the verge of reaching the next, which would award him a new spell. He took a look at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 104
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 120
Dexterity 108
Constitution 131
Ethera 124
Regeneration 115
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
There were three things that stood out for him. First, he felt an odd satisfaction every time he saw that the space next to Specialization had been filled. Perhaps it was the completionist in him, but he had to admit that part of that feeling was due to how useful the specialization was. Connection had stood him in good stead so far, and he suspected that it would become a gift that just kept giving. The second thing he couldn¡¯t help but notice was that his attributes had once again risen by one point per level in the physical categories and two points each level for Ethera and Regeneration. If it kept going like that, it wouldn¡¯t be long before those were his most potent attributes. He¡¯d chosen to take a shower before settling in to redraw the channels in his lower body, and he¡¯d yet to don his gear. Even his Feral Spire remained in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, meaning that his attributes lacked augmentation from the equipment or buffs he usually used. And rather than lament the temporary lack, he felt a surge of pride at seeing that everything had naturally hit triple digits. But the numbers did not add up, which led him to the next series of notifications, each of which told him that, due to his extreme circumstances, he¡¯d gained extra attributes ¨C and more than a couple. It was enough to make him wonder if he should throw himself into such situations more often, but it only took the memory of being ripped in half to disabuse him of that notion. More attributes were beneficial, but he couldn¡¯t descend into masochism just for a couple of extra points. And besides, it wasn¡¯t like Sadie would always be there to pull him out of the fire. He didn¡¯t think he could have done anything differently, so he didn¡¯t regret his actions. However, he did notice a pattern of behavior that frequently saw him rushing into deadly situations. Without a series of coincidences or the intervention of his teammates, he would have been slain many times over. That was not sustainable, but given the stakes, Elijah just didn¡¯t know what he could have done differently. If he hadn¡¯t acted the way he had, everyone would have died. He was certain of that much. So, the only other option was to give up and play it safe like so many of the other trial-takers, many of which never intended to attempt to overcome the challenges. They were content with taking what scraps the system gave them. Elijah wouldn¡¯t endure that. He would conquer the challenges or die trying. So far, it felt like he was trending toward the latter path, but he also knew that that was how people progressed. There was a safe path, but given the situation back on Earth, he didn¡¯t think he could afford to take it. Besides, he could admit ¨C at least in his own mind ¨C that a life without danger would have felt at least a little empty. Did that make him a battle maniac? An adrenaline junky? Maybe. Or maybe he was just a man who¡¯d found his calling. One way or the other, Elijah didn¡¯t think he could change. And even if that was possible, he wasn¡¯t certain that he would want to. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. So, as close as he¡¯d come to dying, the rewards he¡¯d gotten cemented the notion that he¡¯d gone down the right road. One thing was certain, though ¨C pain had become a part of his life. Nothing proved that fact more than the next notification:
Congratulations! Your Body has reached the Iron Stage.
It was such a simple statement. He¡¯d gone from Stone to Iron in his Body cultivation. But looking back, he knew that was one more factor in his survival, and it was probably the only reason he hadn¡¯t died the moment the necromancer had torn him in half. And it was certainly why he hadn¡¯t been crushed to death by the zombie amalgam that had so thoroughly enveloped him. A dozen other details from the battle showed him just how much the progression meant, and at present, he felt stronger and healthier than ever before. It remained to be seen just how much stronger he¡¯d become, but he knew it was a significant increase. Going from Stone to Iron represented a larger jump than the one from Wood to Stone, but he wouldn¡¯t know more until he pushed himself to his limits. He was eager to do just that, but first, he had some channels to carve. So, he settled down, summoned his recollection of the pattern he¡¯d memorized, then got to work. Yet, he only got a few minutes in before he realized that he was wasting an opportunity. The channels were more malleable than normal, and the ethera in the area was dense enough to let him get to work on taking the next step in his Soul cultivation. He knew he would only be able to make a little progress, but even if he only extended the channels by a few percent, it would be an invaluable head-start for when he took the next step. With that in mind, Elijah leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind toward reconnecting his ethereal channels. At the same time, he widened them slightly while extending the branches just a little further than before. His memory regarding the pattern was perfect, but in the unlikely event that he forgot something, the slightly out-of-phase ghost of the broken channels functioned as an ideal guide. Moreover, he had also memorized the pattern associated with the next stage, so he had no issues with improving on the old design. Still, just because it wasn¡¯t difficult, that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t both painful and tedious in equal measure. Regardless, Elijah was well accustomed to a little discomfort, and he¡¯d long since established that tedium wasn¡¯t enough to dissuade his efforts. As a result, he leveraged every ounce of his considerable focus into the task, and minute by minute, he made progress. At first, each step forward was miniscule, but as those minutes stretched into hours, which in turn became more than a day, he kept at it. In the end, three days passed before he judged that it was complete enough to test. Tentatively, he circulated ethera through the pathways he¡¯d just carved, and to his relief, the flow was mostly flawless. However, mostly wasn¡¯t the perfection he sought, and he spent another day smoothing out a few problem areas. But when he finished, all that effort seemed worth it. Not only had he accomplished his primary goal of repairing his channels, but he¡¯d gotten a significant jump on the next stage. Finally, he opened his eyes. Squinting at the light, he let One with Nature once again stretch out, and what he felt was more than a little surprising. Nearby, Sadie and the rest of his group were sitting around their camp. But there were newcomers as well. Elijah recognized that one of them was a muscular elf with slightly gray skin, while the rest of the visitors were human. They were far enough away that he was completely ignored, but he didn¡¯t even begin to believe that the newcomers weren¡¯t aware of his presence. So, nestled behind a boulder, Elijah took a few minutes to dress himself. He would have preferred to take another shower ¨C sitting in meditation for four days accumulated more than a little grime ¨C but he didn¡¯t want to delay. So, once he¡¯d donned his equipment, he took a deep breath, then stepped out from behind the rock. Almost two-hundred feet away, the war elf¡¯s eyes flicked in Elijah¡¯s direction, but he didn¡¯t otherwise react. So, Elijah stepped forward and approached the camp like he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. Flaring One with Nature, Elijah could feel three unseen figures surrounding the camp. Their stealth skills were high-quality. On par with Dat¡¯s Ghost Cloak. And if it wasn¡¯t for the improvement to One with Nature, Elijah never would have known they were there. That was troubling. Briefly, he considered attacking them without warning. It wouldn¡¯t have been outside the norm to consider their actions a threat, and Elijah wasn¡¯t one to let threats go unmet. Still, he restrained himself. From what he could feel, only the war elf was strong enough to be a real threat to the group. The other two in the camp were probably dangerous, but not so much that Elijah needed to jump straight to preemptive attack. The stealthy figures were an unknown, but given that they¡¯d yet to attack, Elijah was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. ¡°Character growth,¡± he muttered to himself as he approached. ¡°What was that?¡± asked the war elf when Elijah came into range. ¡°I said I¡¯ve grown as a person. I¡¯ve been on a journey of self-development, and I¡¯m on my way to being a better person because of it,¡± he answered without hesitation. ¡°You should try it. Very gratifying. You really feel it in your gut.¡± Sadie shook her head, saying, ¡°Elijah¡­¡± ¡°So, do you want to tell me why you¡¯ve got three stealthed fighters surrounding our camp?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I mean, some people would consider that a threat. Not me, because of all the character growth. But some people, for sure.¡± ¡°Stealth?¡± blurted Dat. ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything, bro.¡± ¡°Oh, they¡¯re there,¡± Elijah said. Then, he pointed to one, saying, ¡°Right there. And there.¡± He hiked his thumb over his shoulder, adding, ¡°And back there. Oh, they¡¯re moving. Seriously, man ¨C just drop it. This isn¡¯t a parlor trick or a guess. I can see you plain as day.¡± That wasn¡¯t necessarily true. The current incarnation of One with Nature was extremely powerful, but even so, he could only barely feel the life in their bodies. And the atmospheric vitality being so low in such close proximity to the death-attuned challenge made them stand out like a sore thumb. If they¡¯d been in the middle of a forest, it might¡¯ve been a little more difficult. Though Elijah suspected that connecting to the flora would help. It was something to investigate going forward. The war elf made a gesture, and the three stealthy people suddenly appeared. To Elijah, the muscular elf said, ¡°You are as impressive as I¡¯ve heard. It¡¯s one thing to see a name at the top of a list, and it¡¯s something else altogether to meet the most powerful human in the world.¡± ¡°Oh, those lists are just numbers. There are plenty of people more powerful than me out there.¡± ¡°Assuredly,¡± the war elf said. ¡°But not among the humans.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± asked Elijah, not bothering to watch the suddenly visible elves as they stepped into the camp. With their grey skin and the brutish perfection of elven features, they clearly shared an origin with their leader. ¡°Nothing. I just wanted to meet you before we entered the challenge. Your companions have been kind enough to share some insight into how it works,¡± he answered. ¡°I¡¯m glad you conquered it before we made an attempt, even if I would have preferred the better reward.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± Elijah asked. That was when the war elf explained something that Elijah already suspected. The challenges were most deadly before they were conquered for the first time. After that, the danger declined significantly, but the rewards ¨C both in terms of the items awarded upon completion and the points associated with the Primacy rankings ¨C were similarly reduced. In that way, being a forerunner was both incredibly rewarding and extremely dangerous. Elijah wouldn¡¯t have had it any other way. However, it did beg the question of how the system managed it. Apparently, when the war elf looked at the Spires of the Fallen, he saw a scene similar to what Elijah and his companions had encountered upon arrival. By contrast, Elijah now saw a healing landscape devoid of teal lightning and with many of its towers having fallen. Was it all an illusion? Or was it about shifting reality based on certain parameters? Elijah had no idea, and he didn¡¯t think he would discover the truth anytime soon. Regardless, when the war elf finished his explanation, he pushed himself to his feet. That¡¯s when Elijah asked, ¡°Is that it?¡± ¡°What did you expect?¡± Elijah shrugged. His only information about war elves was when Sadie had revealed that a tribe had been waging war against the humans of Moscow. But given that she seemed perfectly fine in their guest¡¯s company, there was probably something else going on. ¡°You know what ¨C I don¡¯t know. Just haven¡¯t heard much good about war elves,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± He frowned. ¡°I don¡¯t like that name.¡± ¡°Oh? I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Some of my kind revel in that label. Others do not,¡± the grey-skinned elf stated. ¡°But I suspect we are no less diverse than humans. Some are warlike. Others are peaceful.¡± ¡°And you?¡± He spread his arms wide. ¡°A little of both, I suppose. But we¡¯ve taken up enough of your time, so we¡¯ll take our leave. I hope you will not think so poorly of my people in the future,¡± the elf said. After that, he turned to leave. Before he could go a step, Elijah asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± ¡°Ikan.¡± ¡°Well, Ikan, I apologize for jumping to conclusions,¡± Elijah said, though he didn¡¯t really mean it. The war elf¡¯s intentions might have been benign, but if that were the case, his stealthed companions wouldn¡¯t have surrounded them. He¡¯d come prepared for a fight. But that wasn¡¯t necessarily an indictment of his intent. It was enough to keep Elijah from relaxing. ¡°I hope our future interactions will be peaceful.¡± ¡°I do as well,¡± said Ikan. Then, his companions rose silently and retreated. The other three waited until they were a few feet away to slip back into stealth. Elijah watched them via One with Nature until they were long gone. Then, he let out a long sigh. ¡°That was tense,¡± he said, looking from one friend to another. ¡°You can¡¯t help but antagonize, can you?¡± asked Sadie. It was only then that Elijah realized that they¡¯d remained mostly silent throughout the conversation. ¡°He was using a skill, wasn¡¯t he?¡± Elijah asked. He hadn¡¯t felt a thing, but he had enough experience with mind abilities to recognize the effects. Besides, even if silence was in character for Sadie or Ron, there was no way Dat or Kurik wouldn¡¯t have had something to add to the conversation. ¡°I think so, bro,¡± Dat said, shaking his head. ¡°Subtle, too. It wasn¡¯t overtly harmful. Just kind of nudge to keep my mouth shut.¡± ¡°I will kill him,¡± Sadie growled. ¡°As much as I wouldn¡¯t mind that, he didn¡¯t actually hurt anyone,¡± Elijah reminded her. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s a killing offense.¡± ¡°I could beat him, then,¡± she seethed. ¡°Just a few broken bones.¡± Dat ignored her and addressed Elijah, ¡°When did you get reasonable, bro?¡± Elijah smiled. ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear? It¡¯s called character growth. I¡¯m practically a new man.¡± Then, he looked down at his legs and said, ¡°At least half of me is.¡± 6-23. A Grim Reminder Miguel bent forward as Trevor raced across the landscape. The young stag never ran in a straight line. Instead, he leaped over obstacles, launching himself even higher on planes of moonlight before crashing to the ground with ever more speed. And rather than grow irritated with the deer¡¯s antics, Miguel reveled in the thrill of speed and unpredictability that came with Trevor¡¯s playful nature. Besides, as time sensitive as their mission was, they were still ahead of schedule, having left the mountain pass behind hours before. The trip so far had only taken three days, which was barely a quarter of what the wagon train had taken to cover the same distance. Miguel¡¯s gauge of Trevor¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t entirely accurate, but he estimated that the stag could reach speed exceeding a hundred miles an hour. Of course, he rarely had an opportunity to move that quickly, but even over rough terrain that required him to go a little more slowly, he was incredibly fast. On top of that, his endurance seemed endless, only matched by the sheer exuberance making its way through the bond he shared with Miguel. It was a joy so pure that Miguel couldn¡¯t help but be affected by it. However, the trip hadn¡¯t been all good. Only a few miles away from the island, he¡¯d discovered that the buffs he had received from Pledge of the Green Warden had been significantly reduced. At present, he only received a five-point boost in his physical attributes and Ethera, while gaining ten points to Regeneration. By all accounts, the increase was still incredible, but it was nothing compared to the influx of power he¡¯d gotten while within the bounds of the grove. The vague knowledge of his environment had also been weakened, cementing in Miguel¡¯s mind that his class, while powerful, would never be as strong as it was in the grove. Still, he had no regrets about his choice, and a large part of that came from his bond with Trevor. He¡¯d always loved animals ¨C even going back to his youngest years ¨C and that had only grown stronger after Earth had been touched by the World Tree. And being able to make an emotional connection with the juvenile stag had firmly etched those feelings into Miguel¡¯s spirit. Especially because he knew that Trevor felt the same way. Miguel couldn¡¯t quite explain it, but the deer felt like the little brother he¡¯d never had and didn¡¯t even know he needed. Those thoughts flitted through Miguel¡¯s mind as he continued on his way, racing across the rocky landscape and into the temperate forests abutting the mountain range. With the trees spaced further apart, Trevor could really let loose, and Miguel couldn¡¯t help but let out a joyous laugh as they covered one mile after another at highway speeds. Then, he caught a whiff of a sour odor just before something leaped from one of the trees, intent on tackling him from the deer¡¯s back. But that warning ¨C feeble though it was ¨C proved to be just enough to allow Miguel to react. Still, even as he ducked beneath a blow that might have decapitated him, he realized that another monster was already coming at him from below. Trevor leaped, bounding off another plane of moonlight. Another monster hit Miguel in a tackle that tore him from Trevor¡¯s back. He hit the ground hard, but he managed to turn the fall into an awkward tumble that absorbed most of the impact. Meanwhile, his attacker ripped into him with sharp claws, but the wooden armor gifted to him by his mother proved more than up to the task of protecting him. The creature¡¯s claws skipped off the lacquered wood without even leaving a scratch. Miguel kicked out, using his enhanced Strength to create a little separation between himself and the monster. Then, he yanked a wooden dagger from his belt and stabbed the thing in the eye. It hissed in pain as it recoiled from the blow, but Miguel knew when to press the advantage. His dagger found its way to the reptilian creature¡¯s chest, digging deep as it sliced between its ribs and pierced its heart. It died a second later, choking on its own black blood. It happened in the space of a couple of seconds, but even that was enough to give the other attackers ¨C Miguel belatedly recognized them as Voxx, and ones with enough power to be a real threat ¨C to recover from their failed ambush and close on him. Fortunately, Miguel wasn¡¯t alone. Trevor barreled into one of the monsters, sending it flying through the air until it hit a pine tree with enough force to crack the trunk. It didn¡¯t put the creature down, but it did give Miguel enough time to draw his sword from the scabbard at his waist. He recovered his feet just before the Voxx closed on him. Preemptively, he used Impale, then Enrage. Outnumbered and against opponents that were probably more powerful than him, Miguel knew better than to hold back. He needed to hit hard and fast, and with everything he could muster. Otherwise, they¡¯d have a chance to overwhelm him. Trevor had given him a chance, but for all his own power, he wasn¡¯t yet a fighter. So, Miguel tried to convey that he wanted the juvenile stag to stay clear of the fray. Despite his frustration, Trevor agreed. Once the two skills took hold, Miguel used Charge, launching himself forward twice as fast as his attributes would normally allow. Then, he buried his sword in the chest of an extremely surprised Voxx. However, unlike the surgical attack he¡¯d inflicted upon the previous opponent, this blow slightly missed the mark. Instead of shredding the creature¡¯s heart, it tore through its lung. Probably fatal, but not immediately. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. And with the attributes a creature like that possessed, anything but an immediate kill put Miguel at a distinct disadvantage ¨C especially in such close proximity. Even as the monster¡¯s jaws clamped down on his shoulder, Miguel used Champion¡¯s Shout. Then, he added Shockwave. Stamina flowed out of him like water as he used so many skills in such quick succession. But it was effective. With the clear level difference, Champion¡¯s Shout was only mildly effective. But it did loosen the creature¡¯s jaws just a little. So, when Shockwave landed, Miguel was able to rip himself free. Then, he whipped around with a backhanded blow that hit the still-stunned monster in the neck. The wooden blade might not have been quite as durable as some of the more magical metals his mother normally worked with, but it was still stronger than steel and twice as sharp. It cut through the Voxx¡¯s scales, slicing into the flesh beneath and only stopping when it hit bone. When Miguel ripped the weapon free, a fountain of black blood erupted from the resultant wound. That was when the brief stun wore off, but by that point, the effects of its wounds ¨C and the increased bleeding caused by Impale ¨C had weakened it enough that it stumbled backward. Miguel didn¡¯t let up, though. He leaped forward, ready to end the fight. He never even saw the monster Trevor had sent flying into a tree. It was clearly injured, likely with multiple broken bones, but it wasn¡¯t so wounded that it was out of the fight. It was a rookie mistake to lose track of the monster, and one Miguel hoped he would have an opportunity to regret later. Because that would mean he¡¯d managed to live through the encounter. Despite looking like vicious beasts, Voxx weren¡¯t stupid. Miguel knew that from the few times he¡¯d fought against them. And they were more than capable of learning, which proved to be a problem when the creature attacked the gaps in Miguel¡¯s armor. In this case, the inner part of his elbow and his right armpit, both of which were entirely unprotected. Fortunately, under the enhancement of Pledge of the Green Warden and Woodsman¡¯s Constitution, his durability was his highest attribute. So, even though he took a few deep gouges, none were immediately disabling. Miguel grappled with the creature, and after only a few moments, they fell to the ground. He¡¯d had some training in wrestling, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as extensive as his weapon¡¯s drills. Still, he held his own, matching the creature¡¯s strength point for point. Then, he heard the uneven staccato of footsteps, and he looked up to see that the other monster still wasn¡¯t dead. It wasn¡¯t long for the world, judging by the copious amount of blood pouring all over the forest floor. But it didn¡¯t look like that was going to stop it from ripping Miguel to pieces. Given that it took all of his power to keep the other one at bay, he was almost entirely defenseless. As the creature drew closer, his mind whirled with possible tactics that might free him. But the reality was that he was doing everything he could to keep from being torn to shreds, so if he tried to switch things up, it would provide an opportunity for his current opponent to do even more damage. Then, his fate would be sealed. As if it wasn¡¯t already. He saw no way out, so he steeled himself to simply taking the pair with him. He was afraid. Certainly, he didn¡¯t want to die. But he was his mothers¡¯ son, and he knew that neither of them would ever surrender without fighting to their very last breath. Neither would Elijah. Or Colt. Or anyone else Miguel idolized. Just as he was getting ready to switch to more aggressive ¨C and ultimately doomed ¨C tactics, he saw a snow white stag rushing toward the Voxx, and with enough speed that there was no way Trevor would survive the impact uninjured. But he wasn¡¯t alone. Miguel had the perfect skill to protect his bound companion. He used Bulwark:
Bulwark Summon a shield of Ethera to protect allies. Strength of shield based on caster¡¯s Constitution.
It was one of the most basic Warrior abilities, but that didn¡¯t mean it was weak. Indeed, it might not have been fancy, but in Miguel¡¯s experience, it got the job done. A blue shield shimmered around Trevor, lasting just long enough for him to hit the staggering Voxx. It was like watching an animal being hit by a car going sixty miles an hour, only the car in question ¨C Trevor, in this case ¨C was entirely protected from damage. The shield shattered upon impact, but by that point, the Voxx was already rocketing backward. Miguel couldn¡¯t hear it, but judging by the way the thing flopped around, he expected that its bones were immediately broken. And if that was the case, they shattered completely when it hit the trunk of a large pine tree. The sound drew the attention of the Voxx atop Miguel, which gave him an opening to slither from its grip and stab it with his dagger. He didn¡¯t stop there, though. He tore into the monster with all the ferocity he could muster, but even then, it held onto life for far longer than he would have expected. Eventually, though, it died. And suddenly, the forest went silent, save for Miguel¡¯s ragged breathing. After a second, Trevor¡¯s wet nose found his neck, and he let himself relax. Three Voxx. That was more than he would have expected, especially so close to Norcastle. As far as he knew, they routinely engaged in patrols, which meant that any spontaneously manifesting Voxx should have been detected and dealt with. Something was wrong. So, it was with a rapidly beating heart that Miguel pushed himself to his feet, leaped upon Trevor¡¯s back, and took off for the city in question. Less than an hour later, he saw his worst fears come to life. Smoke curled up from the smoldering ruins of Norcastle. How long had it been since he¡¯d been there? A few weeks? A month? Everything had been fine back then, but something had clearly changed. And even more disturbing than the state of the city was the realization that there would be no assistance forthcoming from Norcastle. As urgent as his mission was ¨C especially now that the only hope lay with Argos ¨C he knew he owed it to the people of Norcastle to investigate what had happened. So, it was with a heavy heart ¨C and an alert mind ¨C that he descended the slope and entered the devastated city. 6-24. A War of Aggression Miguel ripped his spear from the Voxx, then whipped around to see Trevor trampling one he¡¯d already injured. No matter his preference for swordplay, the spear was a superior weapon against the Voxx. The extra reach it provided was invaluable, and it was much easier to use. No wonder his mother had preferred it. As Trevor finished the fallen Voxx, Miguel searched the area for any additional foes. There were none there, which was a welcome change. For the past hour since entering Norcastle, he¡¯d been fighting almost nonstop. All of his opponents had been Voxx, but he¡¯d also seen plenty of evidence that something else was at play. After all, Voxx weren¡¯t known for burning down buildings. He gestured at Trevor, saying, ¡°Come on. It¡¯s dead.¡± The stag gave the creature one last kick, then followed Miguel as he made his way down the street. There were dead bodies scattered all around, though less than he would have expected, given Norcastle¡¯s population. That gave him hope that some of them had survived whatever had happened. Increasingly, he¡¯d come to the conclusion that the tower had experienced a surge ¨C which didn¡¯t make any sense. According to the notification he¡¯d seen regarding the Trial of Primacy, such mechanics were supposed to have been suspended until the event¡¯s conclusion. But the evidence suggested otherwise. After all, the Voxx had to have come from somewhere, and while it was theoretically possible that they were all the result of spontaneous manifestations, that didn¡¯t seem very likely, given the numbers at play. It was a mystery, and one Miguel didn¡¯t have time to investigate. Instead, he¡¯d resolved to ascertain the fate of the natives of Norcastle, then continue on his way. Anything else would take too long. So, on he searched. Along the way, he looked through some abandoned shops, finding them mostly empty. What he did find seemed worthless, though he did pocket a few scattered ethereum he stumbled across. The owners, whose bodies had been close by, wouldn¡¯t miss them, he reasoned. As he and Trevor made their way through town, the stag grew ever more restless. Every step came with a furtive glance, and Miguel got the impression that his companion only remained within the city because of the bond they shared. Otherwise, the deer would have long since fled. That realization was both troubling and reassuring. The former, because if Trevor was spooked, then there was probably a good reason. But his continued presence was comforting because of the implications. He refused to abandon Miguel, even when every instinct told him to run. Eventually, Miguel found his way to the ancient castle that was the city¡¯s namesake. It looked to him like something out of a movie set in medieval times, though it did bear a few nods to modernity. Like the metal signs out front declaring it the center of the local government. Or the unlit ethereal lamps. Miguel hadn¡¯t seen much of the castle during his previous visit, but he knew that, in addition to being the headquarters of the city¡¯s bureaucracy, it was also home to the Branch of the World Tree. More than that, like most castles, it had originally been built for defense and had served that purpose in the direct aftermath of Earth¡¯s transformation. Because of that, he suspected that if there were any survivors, he would find them within the castle¡¯s walls. So, it was with some hope in his heart that he approached the stone fortress. Unsurprisingly, he found the gates barred. He glanced at Trevor, then at the top of the wall. ¡°Think you can get up there?¡± Trevor looked at him like he¡¯d asked the stupidest question in existence. So, without further hesitation, Miguel climbed atop the stag¡¯s back, then urged him forward. Trevor responded by taking a running leap, bounding off a plane of moonlight, then soaring over the wall. He hit the ground on the other side, then turned an excited circle. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t been quite as confident as he¡¯d pretended. Miguel patted the stag¡¯s neck, then looked around the courtyard. It was deserted, save for a few rapidly decomposing Voxx bodies that filled the air with an acrid scent. ¡°Stop!¡± shouted someone from one of the arrow slits above the main door. Miguel looked up to see an arrow pointed in his direction. Raising his hands in surrender, he announced, ¡°I¡¯m not here to hurt anyone. I¡¯m a messenger from Ironshore, and I¡¯m just trying to figure out what¡¯s going on.¡± ¡°Ironshore? How¡¯d you get through all the Voxx?¡± ¡°I fought them,¡± Miguel said evenly. ¡°Can I put my hands down now?¡± ¡°How do we know you¡¯re not with them?¡± ¡°With the Voxx? I don¡¯t think they have allies,¡± he answered. ¡°No. Them. Those purple-skinned elves.¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± That was one piece of the puzzle that finally slid into place. It seemed that the dark elves beneath the mountain had spread much further than anyone in Ironshore had expected. But there was still one major question that needed to be answered. Before that, though, Miguel had a job to do, and he couldn¡¯t accomplish his task from the courtyard. ¡°Can you let me inside? I came here on a diplomatic mission,¡± he said. ¡°I have a message for whoever¡¯s in charge.¡± This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. There was some discussion inside, but even with his slightly enhanced senses, he couldn¡¯t make out what anyone was saying. So, he had no option but to wait until they came to some sort of decision. Finally, a feminine voice spoke over the others, pointing out that they couldn¡¯t just remain holed up in the castle for all of eternity. ¡°Ironshore has strong fighters. They can help us,¡± she pointed out. No one seemed to have any answer to that, so it was only a few more moments before the heavy doors swung open to reveal a corridor. Miguel crossed the bailey, then entered the keep. Upon stepping inside, it immediately became apparent that the interior had been built with defense in mind. The hall was lined with murder holes and arrow slits, and the residents had further fortified the hall by piling sandbags into a makeshift wall. The only problem was that most of those arrow slits and murder holes were unmanned, indicating that there weren¡¯t that many survivors within the castle. He stepped forward, still atop Trevor¡¯s back. Thankfully, the arched ceiling was tall enough to accommodate his mounted height. When he reached the end of the corridor, he crossed into the keep proper, where he was met by a trio of people. One was a young woman ¨C maybe in her early twenties. Another was a tall, slender man with a military bearing, and the final person was a short, stout man with an elaborate tattoo crawling up his neck. Miguel knew better than to judge a book by its cover, but the last figure¡¯s demeanor ¨C as well as the cauliflower ears ¨C marked him as a man who was no stranger to a fight. ¡°My name is Miguel Rodriguez,¡± he announced, slipping from Trevor¡¯s back. He was unwilling to disarm himself, so his spear remained in his hand. ¡°And as I said, I have a message from Ironshore. Who should I give it to?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take it,¡± said the tall, slim man. At that, Miguel unslung his pack, then retrieved a sealed letter, which he handed to the man. After that, he stepped backward and waited for a response. And as he watched the man¡¯s expression, he knew it wouldn¡¯t be positive. When he finished, he said, ¡°This is not the news we wanted.¡± ¡°What happened?¡± Miguel asked. The trio exchanged glances, then the woman began, ¡°It happened about three weeks ago. They hit us just after the last convoy left.¡± ¡°Before that,¡± the heavyset man grunted, grunted in a cockney accent. ¡°People¡¯ve been goin¡¯ missin¡¯ for weeks, mate. We just thought it was beasts or something. We know better now. It was those damned elves.¡± After that, the woman ¨C who introduced herself as Jess ¨C went on, explaining how the dark elves had attacked the city unprovoked. The raid killed a few hundred people, but they mostly focused on taking anything that wasn¡¯t nailed down. ¡°Then the Voxx came.¡± ¡°Was it a tower surge?¡± Jess shook her head. ¡°We don¡¯t think so. The system wouldn¡¯t lie. Plus¡­¡± ¡°Those bastards let ¡®em loose,¡± the muscular man growled. ¡°We don¡¯t know that, Mr. Barker,¡± said the slim man. ¡°You¡¯re blind, Essex. A dozen people said they saw ¡®em lettin¡¯ those monsters loose.¡± ¡°Frightened people in the dead of night,¡± Essex argued. ¡°No chance of any mistakes there, right? The fact is that we¡¯ve never heard of anyone taming Voxx. As far as we know, it isn¡¯t even possible.¡± ¡°Nothin¡¯ is impossible,¡± said Barker. Miguel chose that moment to interrupt. ¡°What is your plan now?¡± he asked. ¡°I think the way is mostly clear, so you can probably leave the castle and clear out any Voxx that are left. Or¡­¡± ¡°Or what?¡± asked Essex. It seemed that he was in charge, but the others had a say as well. ¡°How many people do you have left?¡± he asked. ¡°A few thousand, most of them packed into this castle like sardines,¡± Barker said. ¡°This place was never meant to hold that many.¡± ¡°Fighters? Or noncombatant?¡± ¡°About thirty-seventy,¡± answered Jess. ¡°Mostly noncombatants.¡± Miguel tapped his chin, but before he could give voice to his idea, Essex said, ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. You want to lead us to Ironshore.¡± ¡°We can¡¯t!¡± Jess said. ¡°We have too many wounded, and ¨C¡± ¡°They won¡¯t get better in this castle, girl,¡± Barker said. ¡°If anything, it¡¯ll just get worse. Especially if the elves come back, which they will. Mark my words, they¡¯ll come back to finish what they started.¡± After that, Miguel listened to the trio argue about the issue, and their desperation quickly became clear. He didn¡¯t have many years under his belt, but even he could see that they were in dire straits. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. The dark elves had taken so much, and the Voxx had descended upon the city, doing what they did best. That so many had survived was a small miracle. What Miguel really wanted to know was how the dark elves had managed to harness the vicious monsters for their own gains. Was it a class? Or had they simply caught the creatures and imprisoned them until it was time to let them loose? Was that even possible? Either situation was frightening, but the former was far more worrying. The conversation went on for a while until, at last, they came to the conclusion that seemed so obvious to Miguel. ¡°We can¡¯t say here,¡± Essex said. ¡°The dark elves will be back. Mr. Barker is right. Will Ironshore welcome us?¡± Miguel nodded. ¡°There is strength in numbers,¡± he said. ¡°When will you leave?¡± ¡°Immediately. We have a few Explorers who can help us avoid the most dangerous parts of the wilderness,¡± Essex explained. ¡°Hopefully, that will be enough to help us survive.¡± That was good enough for Miguel, and it wasn¡¯t long after that when Jess offered him the opportunity to rest. He chose to take her up on it, so long as Trevor could be accommodated. Fortunately, that wasn¡¯t an issue, and he was escorted deeper into the keep. Along the way, he got a glimpse of the aftermath of Norcastle¡¯s fall. True to Barker¡¯s claim, the survivors were packed into the castle, and the vast majority of them looked malnourished, weak, and, in many cases, injured. So, Miguel only stayed for a few hours, taking the opportunity to eat a few of his rations before he¡¯d had enough. He wasn¡¯t as antisocial as his uncle, but he definitely had no interest in submerging himself in the human misery present in that keep. Predictably, he was asked to stay. As young as he was, it was obvious to anyone with eyes that he had some level of power. However, he refused, using the excuse that he still had a mission before him. In truth, he just wanted to get back into the wilderness where things made more sense. So it happened that by nightfall, he was racing through the fields surrounding Norcastle as he made his way toward Argos. As Trevor ran, Miguel could only hope that the refugees could survive the trip to Ironshore. Not only would it be best for them, but the fighters who managed to make it would go a long way toward shoring up the city¡¯s defenses. However, in the back of his mind, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it would be enough. If the dark elves could harness the power of the Voxx, was victory against them even possible? It was with those dark thoughts as company that he continued his journey. 6-25. Masks Elijah leaned back, his arms resting against the granite rim of the hot spring. Despite the slightly sulfuric smell and the rough edge of the rocks under his arms, he couldn¡¯t have been more at ease. Since being transported into the Trial of Primacy, he¡¯d had very few chances to relax. It seemed that each day brought with it a new danger, and even though most of those situations were of his own making, he had to admit that he¡¯d been in desperate need of a break. Fortunately, after traveling for four days toward the next challenge, he¡¯d found the hot springs. They were unlike anything he¡¯d ever seen before, taking the form of a terraced mountain where each tier played host to a huge pool of scalding water. Clearly, it was no natural formation, with the terraces having been carved by the planet¡¯s natives, and it prompted visions of hundreds of those alien creatures lounging about. Perhaps the mountain had once been a tourist attraction. The thought brought with it a slight giggle, then a relaxed sigh as the hot water seeped into his muscles. He¡¯d never had a hot tub, but he¡¯d always imagined that it would be quite an enjoyable amenity to have at his disposal. Perhaps he could get Nerthus to work on one when he returned to the grove. Or maybe it would be his next project when he got home. ¡°God knows I¡¯ve earned a few weeks without something trying to bite my head off,¡± he muttered. It was just as the words left his mouth that he felt someone approaching. It only took a second before he realized it was Sadie. She was still more than a hundred yards away, but she was clearly making her way in his direction. That wasn¡¯t so surprising. The other terraces were difficult to reach, which was why he¡¯d chosen his current location for himself. Because of that, a meeting seemed inevitable. The last thing he wanted was for his relaxing afternoon to be interrupted by someone who clearly hated him, so with an annoyed sigh, he pushed himself out of the water. A few moments later, Sadie arrived just as he was pulling on his shirt. He couldn¡¯t help but notice that she¡¯d taken off her armor, opting for an oversized maroon sweatshirt emblazoned with the Harvard logo. ¡°Oh,¡± she said. ¡°I didn¡¯t know you were using this one. I¡¯ll ¨C¡± ¡°No ¨C it¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah said, waving away her comment. ¡°I was just leaving.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be silly,¡± Sadie replied. ¡°You must¡¯ve just gotten here. The spring is big enough for the both of us.¡± He raised an eyebrow, asking, ¡°Are you sure?¡± ¡°Of course.¡± ¡°Because I¡¯ve gotten the distinct impression that you hate me. Now, I¡¯m not arguing that it¡¯s not deserved. I can be annoying at the best of times,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯m aware of my shortcomings in social situations. So, if ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine, Elijah.¡± To punctuate that statement, she took off her sweatshirt, revealing a black, one-piece swimsuit. Before Elijah could embarrass himself by staring, she slipped into the pool. She looked up and said, ¡°So? Are you going to just stand there gaping like an idiot? Or are you getting in?¡± As a response, Elijah once again undressed down to his underwear, then stepped into the water. Sinking up to his neck, he let out a relieve sigh. ¡°I really need to have Nerthus build one of these when I get home.¡± ¡°You have mentioned this person before. Who is he?¡± ¡°A spryggent,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Kind of a tree spirit. Like a person made of twisting roots and branches. When I met him, he was only about a foot tall and couldn¡¯t even leave his tree. But now, he¡¯s got full run of my island and can even visit Ironshore. Oh, and he¡¯s about five feet tall. Really good guy. I¡¯d be dead without him.¡± ¡°How so?¡± she asked, her voice devoid of the vitriol it usually carried when directed at him. ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ve told you about what I was going through when the world changed, but long story short, I was flying home to die,¡± he said. ¡°Cancer, and not the treatable kind. I felt it from the moment I was diagnosed. The doctors tried. I went through chemotherapy and radiation, but I knew I wasn¡¯t going to make it.¡± ¡°But you did.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t factor magic into my calculations,¡± Elijah said with a half grin. ¡°Maybe I should have. Anyway, the plane crashed ¨C there was this huge bird that tore it to pieces ¨C and I ended up washing ashore on a deserted island. I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Wait,¡± Sadie said, raising a hand. ¡°You survived falling out of crashing plane? How?¡± ¡°There¡¯s this storm off the coast of my island,¡± he explained. ¡°I didn¡¯t know it at the time, but I guess the wind kept me from hitting as hard as I should have. Or that¡¯s my theory for now. Then I was saved by a dolphin and pushed ashore, so ¨C¡± ¡°A dolphin saved you?¡± she asked incredulously. ¡°You¡¯re kidding, right?¡± ¡°There are many documented cases of dolphins saving people.¡± ¡°I guess, but ¨C¡± Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. ¡°Anyway, my dolphin buddy saved me, and then I was briefly eaten by giant crabs. I fought them off, but I was still, you know, dying. I tried to fix it by allocating my attributes into Constitution, but that only bought me a little time. It wasn¡¯t until I found Nerthus, and he helped me with my Body cultivation that I overcame the cancer,¡± Elijah explained. He knew precisely how many coincidences it had taken for him to survive, but he didn¡¯t think he was all that unique. Anyone who made it through the immediate aftermath of Earth¡¯s transformation had likely experienced just as many lucky turns. Many more hadn¡¯t gotten so lucky, but they were no longer around to tell their tales. ¡°That¡¯s not what I imagined when you told me you had your own island,¡± Sadie admitted. Elijah shrugged, saying, ¡°It was pretty rough in the beginning. For months, I only focused on finding food and shelter. Then, I was almost killed by one of the Voxx, and things started snowballing from there. My island was invaded by a gnome with a mohawk. Like a big, red mohawk. He led a group of mercanaries onto the island, and I killed them all. Then ¨C¡± ¡°All? How many?¡± ¡°Forty-nine.¡± ¡°How could you ¨C¡± ¡°They were going to take my grove. I couldn¡¯t let that happen.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­don¡¯t know.¡± That was only partially true. Before he¡¯d become a Druid, Elijah would have taken one look at such an invading force and run. However, after creating the grove, the notion of abandoning it to someone like Eason Cabbot was unthinkable. He would defend that island with his life, and he wouldn¡¯t regret it one bit. For a moment, Sadie just stared at him, but then her expression softened and she looked away. ¡°I feel the same sometimes,¡± she admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve told you about Sense of Sin, but I can¡¯t really explain it fully. It¡¯s more than just cloud of sin around you. It¡¯s a feeling. Something deep in my gut that I can¡¯t explain, telling me that you are¡­evil. I¡¯ve tried to control it. I want to ignore it. I know it doesn¡¯t tell the whole story. But¡­but I feel like I¡¯m being pushed in a direction I don¡¯t want to go.¡± ¡°If it makes any difference to you, your skill isn¡¯t wrong. I¡¯ve done a lot of bad things, Sadie.¡± ¡°Killing people who invade your home isn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°That¡¯s just the tip of the iceberg. I don¡¯t even know how many people I¡¯ve killed. God,¡± he said, running his hand through his wet hair. ¡°Do you know how uncomfortable that makes me to admit? It must be in the thousands at this point. I think most of them deserved it, but¡­but in some cases, I just can¡¯t trust my own judgement. For instance, there was this time I made friends with a guardian bear¡­¡± Then, Elijah told her about killing the hunters. At the time, he¡¯d felt entirely justified in his actions, but since then, he¡¯d come to realize that he¡¯d ceded control to a combination of his attunement, his class, and his own frustration. ¡°That¡¯s when I tipped over the edge,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°That¡¯s when I really became a killer.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t¡­I really don¡¯t know how to respond to that.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to agree with what I did. Like I said, I felt like I was doing the right thing. It felt like justice, and maybe it was, after a fashion. I don¡¯t think they were good people. I saw cruelty in them. But I had no right to kill them,¡± he said. He took a deep breath, then said, ¡°But I think the reason you have such a strong reaction to me is because of what I did in Easton.¡± ¡°Easton?¡± ¡°They were calling it something else when I got there. Valoria, I think. Stupid name thought up by a stupid man,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That was where my sister lived before all of this happened.¡± Then, he told Sadie what he had learned of Alyssa¡¯s contribution to that city¡¯s establishment. He didn¡¯t know everything, but he¡¯d gotten most of the details out of Carmen. He shifted, and a small wave rippled out from his motion. ¡°Roman killed her,¡± he continued. ¡°Betrayed her in a tower and lied to everyone about how she¡¯d died. When I found out, I held it together for a while. I needed to be strong for Carmen and Miggy. I needed to make them safe. But over those weeks, hatred festered in my heart. So, when I finally got to Easton, I couldn¡¯t hold it in. I saw it for the cesspool it was. I hunted down his lieutenants, and then I infiltrated his palace. I executed most of his guards. It was easy. Too easy. Most of the time, they never saw me coming. I don¡¯t know if those people were evil, but in my mind, they were still complicit in everything I saw in that doomed city. ¡°Then, I cornered Roman. In my head, I¡¯d conjured images of some epic battle,¡± he went on. He snorted derisively. ¡°But that¡¯s not what happened. I killed him without even straining. He had a few levels, but he was a weak man. I thought that would be the end of it, but as I was leaving the city, I saw a statue of my sister. They¡¯d torn it down. And¡­and I lost it. From that moment on, I didn¡¯t hold back. I killed hundreds. Maybe thousands. Most of them attacked me first, but not all.¡± He paused for a moment, then repeated, ¡°Not all.¡± He hadn¡¯t intended to confess so much, and it wasn¡¯t until he¡¯d finished that he realized what had happened. ¡°You got another skill, didn¡¯t you?¡± he asked, his voice even. ¡°I¡­I did,¡± Sadie admitted. ¡°What does it do?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she said, hanging her head. ¡°The description is vague. All it says is that in my presence, the guilty shall be unburdened. I¡­I didn¡¯t know it would ¨C¡± Elijah pushed himself out of the water. ¡°It¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t say anything to you that someone else couldn¡¯t have. Kurik knows most of it. So does Atticus. Delilah knows a little, too. But next time you want to know about my past, you should just ask,¡± he said without looking at her. He could practically feel the shame radiating from her. He didn¡¯t want to blame her for it, but at the end of the day, Elijah was still a human being. Sure, he was also a dragon. And a beast. But emotionally, he was the same man he¡¯d always been. And he didn¡¯t like having his mind manipulated. So, he said, ¡°Get a handle on that skill, or you¡¯re going to have an even harder time going forward. Some people might not be quite so forgiving as to let it slide.¡± As Elijah gathered his things and left the hot spring behind, he realized just how isolated Sadie must have felt. Few people in the Trial were without sin, so she was constantly exposed to the worst parts of everyone¡¯s past. Now, she¡¯d gotten another skill that would make being around other people that much more difficult. He hadn¡¯t been lying when he predicted that others might react extremely poorly to the manipulation of her latest ability. At best, it just made people tell the truth. At worst, it was meant to force them to reveal their deepest, darkest secrets. That wasn¡¯t going to end well. With that in mind, he focused on One with Nature, and he was surprised to find that Sadie remained in the hot spring, her face buried in her hands as she wept uncontrollably. It should not have been such a shocking scene ¨C being emotionally distraught was probably the most normal reaction she could¡¯ve had ¨C but for some reason, Elijah would never have imagined her crying. Every instinct told him to turn around and comfort her, but he resisted that impulse, knowing good and well that his presence would only make things worse. As much as he wanted to help ¨C and surprisingly, he very much did ¨C he chose to keep going, climbing to a higher tier to continue his relaxing afternoon in peace. Meanwhile, he kept a close eye on her via One with Nature. She continued to weep for almost an hour until, suddenly, she wiped her eyes and adopted the same stoic expression she normally wore. But Elijah recognized it for the mask it was. 6-26. Fire ¡°I feel like I¡¯ve come home,¡± said Kurik, a twinkle in his blue eyes as he stared at the massive volcano in the distance. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful, ain¡¯t it?¡± Even from miles away, Elijah could feel the oppressive heat emanating from within. They¡¯d been traveling along the coast for a few days, and he¡¯d begun to wonder if the maps had gotten everything wrong. Then, the terrain had begun to change, and far more quickly than should have been geographically possible. Suddenly, instead of walking along a coastal plain abutting a massive sea, they were looking at an enormous mountain range. The earth shook as the sound of a distant explosion echoed through the area. Another volcano had just erupted, filling the sky with ash, fire, and debris. It had been an entire day since Elijah had seen the sun, and every breath came with the thick smell of sulfur. ¡°Bro, I don¡¯t think that word means what you think it means,¡± Dat remarked with a shake of his head. He removed his wide-brimmed hat, wiping his forearm across his sweaty and soot-stained forehead. The entire area was a hellscape of igneous rock, lava flows, and sulfuric springs that would melt the skin from a person¡¯s body. What precipitation they¡¯d experienced was almost as damaging, and it had required healing to keep them from taking injuries. But Kurik seemed like he¡¯d stepped into heaven. ¡°This is a proper environment for a dwarf,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Do you know what people back home would pay just to cultivate here? It¡¯s paradise.¡± Elijah thought it veered in the other direction, but he wasn¡¯t one to put a damper on his friend¡¯s good mood. So, he said, ¡°Maybe we can find somewhere like this on Earth. I¡¯m sure environments like this have to exist, right?¡± ¡°Count me out, bro.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± said Ron. Sadie, predictably, remained silent. She hadn¡¯t spoken much since the incident at the hot springs, and Elijah didn¡¯t think they were close enough for him to try to help her get ahold of her emotions. If he tried, she would doubtless take offense, making their partnership that much more onerous. So, he¡¯d let her suffer in silence as he focused on everything else. Fortunately, the trip hadn¡¯t been terribly eventful. They¡¯d been forced to fight off a couple of groups of hunters, both of which had been composed of fairly high-level fighters, but Elijah and his companions had come out on top. One group had retreated after realizing they were outmatched, while the other had been killed before they could make a similar discovery. Otherwise, they¡¯d had a peaceful journey, which left Elijah feeling a little pent up. He¡¯d tried to explore a little, but the region was almost entirely devoid of any interesting ruins. And the ones he did find gave him no new information as to the fate of the native civilization. So, he was admittedly a little frustrated. As a result, even though he knew it would assuredly prove to be at least as dangerous as the others, he¡¯d begun to look forward to the next challenge, which was tied to Ignis, the Plane of Fire. ¡°Are we taking bets on where the challenge will be? Or are we all fine with the assumption that it¡¯s going to be in that big volcano back there?¡± he asked. ¡°We don¡¯t know that for sure,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°Yeah. But you just know that¡¯s where it¡¯s going to be,¡± Elijah said. Over the next few minutes, they continued on until they reached the banks of a river of lava. It reminded Elijah of the cave where he¡¯d witnessed the birth of the first dragon, though as far as he could tell, there were no beasts swimming in the molten rock. As they traveled along the riverside, the heat continued to mount until it reached truly oppressive levels. Without their superhuman attributes, they would have all passed out after only a few hours. Except for Elijah, whose Cloak of the Iron Bear kept him in comfort. Dat stuffed his cloak in his pack, revealing a sweat-soaked shirt. ¡°This is terrible, bro. Like being in a sauna fully dressed.¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t take your clothes off,¡± Ron said. ¡°What? I wasn¡¯t.¡± ¡°You kind of had that look,¡± Elijah added. Ron said, ¡°I¡¯m happy to be wrong, but¡­¡± ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Sadie said. Then, to Elijah she asked, ¡°Do you see that up ahead?¡± Elijah squinted in the indicated direction, then used Eyes of the Eagle. ¡°A bridge,¡± he said. It was almost a mile away, and the only reason it was visible at all was because it glittered like black glass. ¡°Want me to go check it out?¡± Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. ¡°I¡¯ve got it,¡± said Dat. ¡°Need the distraction.¡± Elijah nodded at that, and Dat slipped into stealth. Pointedly, he did not use Ghost Cloak, instead opting for a more mundane option. Because of that, Elijah had no issues tracking him, at least until he reached the limits of One with Nature¡¯s effect. After a little experimentation, he¡¯d discovered that if Dat used his more powerful concealment spell, he could still remain mostly undetected. It was just further proof that Elijah wasn¡¯t the only human with a little power. After Dat left, the group settled down to wait behind a giant boulder of volcanic rock. When the Witch Hunter returned about ten minutes later, it was with a grim expression. ¡°This isn¡¯t good, guys,¡± he said. ¡°What is it?¡± That¡¯s when Dat launched into an explanation of what he¡¯d seen. First of all, the bridge was the only way across the lava flow, and it connected to a road that seemed to lead into the large volcano Elijah had indicated previously. ¡°That¡¯s the good news,¡± Dat added. ¡°The bad news is that it¡¯s guarded by char goblins.¡± ¡°What the hell is a char goblin?¡± asked Ron. As it turned out, they were precisely what the name implied ¨C goblinoid creatures with cracked black skin that spewed smoke. ¡°They¡¯re only about four feet tall, but Hex of Scrying says they¡¯re dangerous,¡± Dat stated. ¡°That¡¯s all I got out of the spell, but a few goblins isn¡¯t the worst part. Past that bridge, I caught sight of some things called magma golems. I think the goblins either control them or summon them. I don¡¯t know, but I saw one of those golems attack this big dinosaur looking thing and melt it into slurry.¡± ¡°What kind of dinosaur?¡± Elijah asked. There was a big difference if they were facing velociraptors or t-rexes, after all. ¡°You know the ones that look like they have sails on their backs?¡± Dat asked. ¡°Dimetrodon.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the one. Were you into dinosaurs when you were little, too? My favorite was the triceratops.¡± ¡°Every kid is into dinosaurs,¡± Ron said. ¡°My daughter made me watch all the Jurassic Park movies on loop. Even the newest ones.¡± ¡°Sorry, bro.¡± ¡°I never cared about dinosaurs,¡± Sadie muttered. ¡°Anyway,¡± Elijah said after an awkward moment. ¡°So, these golems are pretty dangerous. Okay. Ward of the Seasons should help with that.¡± ¡°But that¡¯s not the worst part, bro. I got a glimpse of where the road led.¡± ¡°And?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°It¡¯s a fortress set into the side of that big volcano. I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve got a really bad feeling about this one,¡± Dat said. ¡°I like it,¡± Kurik stated, his first contribution to the conversation. ¡°If we made it through that crypt, we¡¯ll be fine with this.¡± ¡°You just like the heat,¡± Elijah responded with a roll of his eyes. ¡°Can¡¯t deny that.¡± ¡°As much as I enjoy inane banter, I feel I should be the one to ask what we plan to do? The most prudent course of action is to use the same strategy we¡¯ve used so far. Dat and Elijah can scout the ¨C¡± ¡°Small problem, bro.¡± She flexed her jaw. ¡°What, Dat?¡± ¡°Those golems can see through all kinds of stealth,¡± he said. ¡°Plus, that bridge is enchanted.¡± ¡°Can I just fly in and create a distraction, maybe?¡± Elijah asked. Dat looked up. ¡°There are things up there in the ash.¡± ¡°What¡­sort of things?¡± As it turned out, the answer to that question was both fascinating and disturbing. In those dense clouds of ash lived the fire-attuned equivalent of the spirits they¡¯d encountered in the Whistling Cliffs. Dat claimed that he¡¯d seen a bird venture too close to one, and it was burned to a crisp before it even knew what was going on. That was enough to dissuade Elijah from giving flight a try. Not that he¡¯d expected it to work anyway. Every challenge they¡¯d faced had featured some sort of flight deterrent. Whether that was a feature common among more advanced societies of the multiverse or if it was just the system creating obstacles, Elijah had no idea. But he was certain that he didn¡¯t want to see just how durable Shape of the Sky really was. ¡°What¡¯s the alternative?¡± she asked. ¡°I think we all know the answer to that question,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Full frontal assault.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the dumbest thing I¡¯ve ever heard,¡± said Kurik. I¡¯ll build some traps. We¡¯ll ¨C¡± ¡°I was joking. Obviously,¡± Elijah lied. Kurik frowned. ¡°Didn¡¯t sound like a joke.¡± ¡°You sounded serious, bro.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I heard,¡± Ron added. Elijah glanced at Sadie, who just shrugged. He let out a sigh, then asked, ¡°Is that really what you all think of me? I don¡¯t just go charging into every situation.¡± ¡°Just a couple of weeks ago, you went into an unknown tomb without telling anybody, bro.¡± ¡°That was different.¡± ¡°And you almost died in those ruins you were talking about. The ones with the really simple puzzle,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°How was I supposed to expect it to be booby trapped?¡± ¡°You¡¯ve also told us stories about going into multiple towers without any backup,¡± Ron said. ¡°Even when you didn¡¯t have to.¡± ¡°Right, but ¨C¡± ¡°I think you might need to acknowledge you have a problem,¡± Sadie interrupted. Then, against all odds, she reached out and patted him on the shoulder. ¡°It¡¯s okay. The first step to getting better is admitting that you have an issue. Then, you can ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem,¡± Elijah insisted, pulling away from her touch. ¡°Besides, what none of you want to acknowledge is that I survived all of those encounters. That has to count for something.¡± ¡°Sheer luck?¡± suggested Dat. ¡°The favor of the gods?¡± Kurik said. ¡°Chance?¡± Sadie guessed. ¡°It¡¯s skill!¡± Elijah said exasperatedly. ¡°I take those chances because I know that I can survive. God, I feel like I¡¯m taking crazy pills here. I¡¯m ¨C¡± That¡¯s when Dat cracked a smile and opened the floodgates of laughter. Even Sadie joined in with a couple of giggles. ¡°Oh. I see how it is,¡± Elijah said with exaggerated affront. ¡°Just pick on the poor Druid, right? It¡¯s not like I recently got ripped in half. Literally. In half. You¡¯d think that would get me a little sympathy, but I guess not.¡± Then, he grinned as well. Elijah wasn¡¯t above laughing at himself. In fact, he had learned the value of self-deprecating humor early on in life, and it had really been hammered home during his battle with cancer. Without it, he never would have survived with his mind intact. ¡°You know we¡¯re just teasing you, right?¡± said Dat. ¡°I¡¯m painfully aware that I am now the butt of everyone¡¯s jokes,¡± Elijah said, still smiling. ¡°But seriously ¨C as cathartic as laughter can be, we need to figure out what we¡¯re going to do about this challenge.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯re forgetting somethin¡¯,¡± Kurik said. They all looked his way. ¡°Gettin¡¯ in might be the first problem, but I got a feelin¡¯ it won¡¯t be the hard part. Fightin¡¯ through that fortress ain¡¯t gonna be easy. Mark my words on that¡¯n.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just figure it out as we go, I guess,¡± Elijah said. Though based on everything they¡¯d experienced so far, he knew that Kurik was probably right. Getting in had never been the hard part when it came to the challenges. Surviving whatever was inside was. 6-27. Refining Tactics Elijah perched upon one of the boulders made of black, volcanic rock. Cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, he was entirely undetectable, which gave him a perfect view of the battle a few dozen feet below. Sadie stood at the head of the obsidian bridge, her sword flashing with bright light as she took down one char goblin after another. Each time she hacked into one of them ¨C even if it was only a scratch ¨C red magma erupted from the wound. So, after cutting one in half at the waist ¨C Elijah could sympathize with its plight ¨C she danced backward to avoid the explosion of molten rock. At the same time, six other goblins remained immobilized by one of Kurik¡¯s traps. Despite the desperate heat, their feet were frozen to the ground by huge blocks of ice. They were free to attack, but as had been established in the previous few battles, the creatures lacked any long-range options. They were capable of breathing fire, and the lava that came from their wounds came with a little extra reach, but they were mostly brawlers. The same could not be said for the golem at the end of the bridge. It was at least a dozen feet tall and so thick that its limbs looked almost indistinguishable from its torso. Made of jagged black metal, it cut quite an intimidating figure ¨C even more so because Elijah had seen one in action. In the first fight, he¡¯d found himself on the receiving end of its attacks, and it was an experience he never wanted to repeat. He watched as the thing rumbled forward, its footfalls heavy enough to shake the bridge. Each movement came with a hiss of steam, though Elijah knew that there was no machinery beneath its metallic exterior. Instead, there was just more metal upon which had been etched a delicate framework of enchantments. The thing was not alive in the most general sense, but it was close enough that disabling it gave experience. As the creature approached, its gait steady but unhurried, Elijah held his breath. If it reached Sadie, bad things would happen. The Crusader could probably survive, but in doing so, she would assuredly take quite a few grievous wounds that would take hours, if not days, to heal. That was what had happened the first time they¡¯d tried to cross one of the bridges, and the second one hadn¡¯t been much better. It had forced them to reevaluate their tactics, resulting in their current adjustment. Elijah could only hope that it would be enough to prevent the worst. Just as the golem crossed the halfway point, it stumbled. A second later, a powerful surge of ethera swept over the thing, and it fell face-first onto the bridge. It wasn¡¯t dead ¨C as much as a creature like that could die ¨C but it had been temporarily disabled. Dat, who¡¯d so far remained unseen, leaped atop it, and used one of his daggers to pry a panel off its back. It had taken quite a bit of time to find that spot, but despite the hours of effort spent on the endeavor, Elijah knew there was no guarantee that it would work. Still, after yanking free the black iron paneling, Dat plunged his dagger into the cluster of enchantments beneath. Another explosion of ethera erupted from the fallen golem, and the thing lost all power. It went limp, clanking against the surface of the obsidian bridge. But even then, Elijah didn¡¯t move. His time to act would come soon enough. Gradually, Sadie and the others began to whittle down the small horde of char goblins, though not without a large degree of difficulty. From his vantage point, Elijah got a good look at everyone¡¯s abilities, and he had to admit that he was more than a little impressed. They¡¯d all grown tremendously since the beginning of the Trial, which was a trend he expected to continue. However, as they¡¯d discovered while trying to cross the last bridge, their current level just wasn¡¯t enough. That was why they¡¯d once again been forced to adapt their strategy, employing new tactics in the hopes that they could confront the latest obstacle without nearly dying. A few minutes into the battle, a trio of newcomers approached. Moving with far more finesse, the three figures were much taller than the char goblins. Despite its height, the one in the middle was just as spindly as the ones engaged in battle with Elijah¡¯s companions. However, the two flanking it were far more muscular, and he didn¡¯t need an inspection ability to recognize that they were dealing with hobgoblin variants. Of course, Elijah had already known as much, having encountered a similar trio the day before. That had been a vicious battle that he and his companions had only narrowly survived. And that had only been due to sheer luck, rather than skill or power. He was well aware of just how much damage they could inflict, so he wasted no time in leaping from his position and racing across the rocky ground before he latched onto the side of the bridge. To ensure he wasn¡¯t detected, Elijah flipped around and crawled across the underside until he reached the far side of the bridge. Dat had already abandoned his position atop the golem, retreating to where Sadie and the others continued to fight. So, there was nothing barring the three hobgoblins from reaching the group. At least as far as they knew. Elijah waited until the creatures were a few feet onto the bridge, but the second they passed the spot he¡¯d marked in his mind, he skittered to the topside and used Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and Envenom before leaping at the one in the middle. The second he got close, a red shield bloomed into being, singing Elijah¡¯s face, but it burst only a moment later. Even as he sank his fangs into the hobgoblin¡¯s shoulder, a wave of dense fire erupted from its body, washing over Elijah. If his Constitution attribute had been even a few points shy of its current mark, the fires would have charred his scales. But the combination of his high attributes and Ward of the Seasons kept the damage to a minimum, and he delivered his payload of venom ¨C along with Insidious Malady ¨C before leaping free. It was just in time, too, because he only narrowly avoided the grasping claw of one of the stockier, melee-focused hobgoblin guards. He hit the obsidian ground on the run, and predictably, the trio wheeled around, intending to take care of him before turning their attention to the larger group. Fire, dense and hot enough that Elijah could feel it even a dozen feet away, manifested upon the hobgoblin mage¡¯s hands. However, just as it turned to face Elijah¡¯s retreating form, a barrage of crossbow bolts slammed into the mage at the center. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. They all knew that the spellcaster was by far the most dangerous of the trio, so it wasn¡¯t long before Sadie and Kurik added their own attacks to the mix. The huge Blade of the Avenger burst from the ground, sheering one of the creature¡¯s legs down to the bone, while one of Kurik¡¯s arrows slammed into its slim torso. But those were just distractions for the true attacks. Dat¡¯s crossbow bolts glowed with blue ethera, and when they hit, they did so with enough power to send the creature staggering. More importantly, those bolts carried with them the Hex of Tongues, which Dat claimed would prevent spellcasting for at least three seconds. The mage stumbled to its knees, and the fire encasing its hands winked out. It looked on, panic in its eyes as Elijah¡¯s venom took hold. It seized, and black foam spewed from its mouth. It managed to cling to life for another few moments, but it did no good. The thing died only ten seconds after Elijah¡¯s first attack. However, just because the most dangerous foe had fallen, it didn¡¯t mean they were in the clear. There were a few smaller char goblins remaining, and they were powerful enough to injure his teammates. Of more concern were the pair of hobgoblin guards, both of which were stronger than they had any right to be. And with their companion down, they lost all sense of reason. The moment they realized the mage was dead, the two hobgoblin guards let out a string of indecipherable curses, each one more guttural than the last, then charged the closest enemy. That happened to be Elijah. Knowing he couldn¡¯t outrun them, Elijah initiated the shift into his guardian form. Even as his body took on the shape of the lamellar ape, he used Savage Might. Then, in a move he seldom employed, embraced Venom Strike. Normally, he didn¡¯t use it in anything but his blight dragon form. Yet, he¡¯d recently discovered that that strategy was a mistake. Using it in his guardian form drained his stamina quite a bit ¨C which was a bit troubling, given that he usually used Iron Scales as well ¨C but it was more than capable of adding a bit of extra lethality to his already savage attacks. The transformation completed, and Elijah met the two hobgoblins¡¯ charge with one of his own. And when they collided, they did so with enough force to shake the very foundations of the obsidian bridge. However, Elijah definitely got the worst of the exchange. Part of him blamed the fact that he was fighting two-on-one, but he knew the truth. The hobgoblins were physically stronger than him. More durable, too. He¡¯d discovered that in a previous clash against their ilk. That was why he¡¯d held nothing back, using Savage Might and Venom Strike to augment his attributes and damage. He barely held his own, but inch by inch, he gave up ground. Yet, every wild attack he landed carried with it a little venom. It wasn¡¯t enough to turn the tide of battle on its own ¨C it was quite weak when used outside of the Shape of Venom ¨C but it was more than capable of weakening the creatures over time. Elijah absorbed a hacking slash to his shoulder, then winced when he took a club to the ribs. Even with Iron Scales mitigating some of the damage, enough leaked through that he knew he couldn¡¯t hold up for much longer. Still, he returned those attacks by raking his claws across a hobgoblin¡¯s unprotected face, then snapped out a bite that ended with him clamping down on a forearm. The bone cracked beneath the force of his jaws, but it didn¡¯t break altogether. The hobgoblin ripped the limb free, leaving behind a few chunks of flesh as it kicked out. Elijah took the blow in his chest, which sent him tumbling backward with enough force that, if it weren¡¯t for the bridge¡¯s guardrail, he would¡¯ve ended up in the river of lava below. As it was, when he looked up, he saw an enraged hobgoblin leaping at him through the air. Pure hatred marred the thing¡¯s expression, but Elijah could only focus on how much the thing looked like his friend Venka. Certainly, its skin was coarse and pitch black, just like the char goblins¡¯, but the features were remarkably similar to those of the only other hobgoblin he¡¯d met. He didn¡¯t dwell on the similarity even for a second. He knew the creatures were put there by the system. He didn¡¯t know how. Nor did he want to think about what that meant in terms of their sapience. Instead, he could only focus on the danger they represented. So, he threw himself at the monster, taking another axe-blow to the hip, but he barely managed to use his superior weight to throw it aside. That was when Sadie arrived. She didn¡¯t bother with any skills, other than the one that made her blade glow. Instead, she simply hacked into the creature¡¯s back, breaking ribs with every blow. Meanwhile, Dat took on the other hobgoblin. He fought like a martial artist, but not the fancy sort one might see in a kung fu movie. Rather, he moved like an MMA fighter, though one armed with a pair of shortswords. That was to say that, despite his clear handicap in terms of attributes, he made the hobgoblin look like an untrained amateur. Part of that was because it had been wounded by Elijah, but even if it had been healthy, the thing would have had trouble keeping up with Dat. However, all it would take was one solid blow from the hobgoblin, and the fight would end. It was a fine line to walk, but in that situation, it was necessary. Elijah pushed himself away, then took on his caster form. With Sadie and Dat taking the attention of the hobgoblins, he seized upon the opportunity to heal himself. He needn¡¯t have bothered, because one of Ron¡¯s heals hit him a second before his transformation was complete. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t resume one of his bestial forms. Instead, he added damage to the battle via his spells. The fight wore on for a few more minutes, with the durable hobgoblins stubbornly clinging to life until the last of their endurance faded. When the battle finally ended, it did so anticlimactically, with both of the monstrous humanoids simply collapsing when they no longer had the strength to stand. Sadie took on the task of hacking them to pieces until everyone received a wave of experience. And just like that, the fight was over. Elijah, breathing hard, said, ¡°That went well, right?¡± ¡°It was passable,¡± Sadie agreed. ¡°Only four more bridges to go,¡± Dat said. The day before, Elijah had found a promontory from which he¡¯d gained a little more insight into their intended path. And from what he¡¯d seen, there were indeed a handful of bridges between them and the gate that was their ultimate destination. ¡°Should have plenty of time to refine our techniques, then,¡± Sadie said. Then, she went on to explain every single thing everyone had done wrong. It would have been frustrating if she hadn¡¯t turned her attention to her own performance, and with at least as much criticism as she leveled at everyone else. By the time she was finished, Elijah found himself wondering if they¡¯d really won the fight or if he¡¯d just imagined the whole thing. Regardless, there was plenty of daylight left, and as Dat had pointed out, they needed to cross four more bridges before they even reached the challenge. So, after enduring Sadie¡¯s after-battle criticism, they took what they could from their fallen enemies ¨C there wasn¡¯t much aside from a couple of obsidian daggers and a handful of ethereum ¨C and set out for the next bridge, which was still a few miles away. 6-28. The Gate Sadie was not a stealthy person. Indeed, given her prerogative, she would simply stride toward any obstacle and dare it to stand in her way. But that wasn¡¯t the way the world worked, and more often than not, she was forced to admit that she simply wasn¡¯t strong enough to maintain that sort of attitude. On more than one occasion since entering the Trial, she had been grossly outmatched. The only reason she¡¯d survived so far was because of her teammates. And she found that galling. Not because she didn¡¯t appreciate their efforts. Nor was she jealous. Rather, she hated the creeping suspicion that she was neither as strong or independent as she had been led to believe. When she¡¯d been visited by Gabriel and given an Angel Core, she¡¯d thought herself special. By now, she knew that wasn¡¯t really the case. Sure, she could boast more raw power than most others, but it came with a significant price. Sadie had taken the Crusader class, hoping that it would give her an edge against the undead plaguing Hong Kong. Fighting against such abominations was its specialty, at least according to the description she¡¯d found. And at first, it seemed perfect. Her skills were strong against any opponent, but against the undead ¨C or the demonic creatures that came with them ¨C they were peerless. Then, she¡¯d fallen prey to hubris, and her sister had paid the price. Certainly, no one blamed her. It wasn¡¯t her fault, they¡¯d said. But she knew the truth. She was the strongest. She was always meant to protect Lisa, and she had failed in that all-important endeavor. It was at her lowest point, with the war against the undead having pushed them to their limits, that Gabriel had come. He¡¯d offered salvation in the form of a powerful elder core. None of them could resist. They simply couldn¡¯t afford to refuse, especially with the power on offer. Yet, Gabriel hadn¡¯t explained everything. He¡¯d claimed that doing so would taint their perception. But knowing now what she hadn¡¯t known then, Sadie suspected it was more likely that he¡¯d withheld that information so that they would have no reason to refuse. The problem wasn¡¯t the power. That had been as advertised. Sadie¡¯s core was at least as strong as anyone else¡¯s on Earth. She glanced at Elijah, who was kneeling beside her and amended that assessment. Dragons, apparently, trumped Angels, and even if it wasn¡¯t by much, the difference was noticeable. Regardless, Sadie had no issues with the level of power she¡¯d been given. That had set her apart, and it had given her the tools she¡¯d needed to further resist the onslaught of undead. Because of her efforts, the war had reached something of a stalemate, which was the only reason she¡¯d been given the mission of recruiting allies. No ¨C she was happy with her power. The issue was with how her core had affected her class. At first, she¡¯d thought Sense of Sin was simply a part of the Crusader class. After all, it fit well enough. However, after reading a guide on the subject, she¡¯d learned that it was a vastly more powerful variant of a skill called Sense Truth. Ever since gaining the ability, she¡¯d struggled to control it. Everywhere she looked, she saw sin. It was at its worst in the Trial, where every participant was absolutely drenched in blood. Survival was a brutal prospect in the post-apocalypse, and most people had been forced to do horrible things simply to remain among the living. Sadie had. So had Dat. And they were not unique. Rationally, she knew she had no right to judge anyone. Not with how much blood was on her own hands. Yet, the ability was too powerful to ignore, and it had driven a wedge between her and basically everyone but Dat. She struggled to control it. She wanted to ignore it. But the reality was that she simply wasn¡¯t strong enough. Now, she had another problem in the form of a skill called Confession:
Confession Subtly nudge the guilty to unburden themselves of their sins. Effectiveness based on relative Ethera attribute.
Sadie had tried everything to deactivate the skill, but like Sense of Sin, Confession was always on. She¡¯d spent hours in meditation ¨C especially after advancing her Body to the Stone stage ¨C as she¡¯d attempted to rein it in, but she had been entirely unsuccessful. It seemed that was the point. It begged the question of what the system meant for her class to become. Was she intended to take on the role of some fanatical inquisitor? And if so, was there a way to resist it, to reset her path? So far, she had found that the answer was a resounding no. If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Because of that, she¡¯d begun to pull away from everyone. While traveling together, she couldn¡¯t avoid the others entirely, but she¡¯d discovered that Confession had a fairly short range. That had given her some peace, at least. ¡°Do you see what I see?¡± asked the Druid, his ever-present cloud of sin only a few inches away. It nearly made her retch. ¡°Two golems. Ten hobgoblins. And whatever is on the other side of that gate,¡± she answered succinctly. ¡°And in the guard towers. We¡¯re not close enough for me to really scout it out, but there¡¯s something in there, I¡¯m sure of it,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°Any suggestions?¡± She narrowed her eyes and stared at the gate. They had spent the past few days crossing one bridge after another, and while the volume of kills had been entirely insufficient to push their levels any higher, they had received plenty of experience of a different sort. Their tactics were now much crisper, and they had begun to work together better than ever before. But the force guarding that gate was far too much to handle without significant adjustment in tactics. ¡°We should find another way in,¡± she suggested after a moment. ¡°The other challenges always had alternate routes. I think we need to find one here.¡± ¡°About that¡­I don¡¯t think that makes much sense,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I was talking to Dat, and we both agree that it¡¯s more likely that the first clear of a challenge is the most difficult. There might be other ways in, but I think it¡¯s more probable that those don¡¯t come into play until after a challenge has been cleared the first time.¡± ¡°Is this just conjecture? Or do you have any real evidence this is the case?¡± she asked. ¡°A little of both,¡± he admitted. ¡°Take the last challenge with the undead. Dat and I spent days scouring that whole area, and we didn¡¯t find any other ways into the crypt, much less to defeat the necromancer. Between us, we have better sensory capabilities than just about anybody else in this Trial. So, if we didn¡¯t find anything, it stands to reason that there was nothing to find. But I¡¯ll admit that it¡¯s not much more than a hypothesis at this stage, and not one we can prove.¡± He took a breath, then continued, ¡°My point is that I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s another way into this challenge except to go through the gate. And if that¡¯s the case, then we need to focus on figuring that out rather than looking for a shortcut that probably doesn¡¯t exist.¡± It was a well-reasoned argument, but because it came from a man absolutely teeming with sin, Sadie found herself looking for a reason to shut him down. However, she was self-aware enough to recognize Sense of Sin¡¯s influence. ¡°Dammit,¡± he muttered. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to say half of that out loud. Or that last part. That new skill of yours is incredibly inconvenient.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± she said, her eyes downcast. She hated manipulating people, even if it wasn¡¯t intentional. He sighed. ¡°No real harm done. Any progress on controlling it?¡± She shook her head. ¡°That sucks. Alright, so what do you want to do? You¡¯re in charge.¡± ¡°You only say that when you don¡¯t know what to do,¡± she pointed out. ¡°Guilty. But I¡¯ll remind you that you¡¯re the one who insisted you were best suited for a leadership role. Plus, you¡¯re smarter than me. Or less impulsive at the very least, which often amounts to the same thing.¡± He clamped his mouth shut, telling Sadie that he hadn¡¯t intended to say all of that either. ¡°Sorry,¡± she repeated. But she couldn¡¯t keep the hint of a smile from turning up the corners of her mouth. If it wasn¡¯t for the dense cloud of sin surrounding the man, she might¡¯ve found his inability to keep his mouth shut slightly endearing. ¡°Not a big deal. Just spilling my deepest, darkest secrets. Don¡¯t mind me,¡± he said. Then, he added, ¡°But I do think I¡¯m right. I mean, obviously. I wouldn¡¯t believe what I believe if I didn¡¯t think it was right. But that¡¯s neither ¨C¡± She reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. It felt like touching a maggot-wreathed cadaver. ¡°I agree. And just so you know, Confession doesn¡¯t make you talk. It just nudges you to be honest. You can remain silent if it makes you more comfortable.¡± ¡°Did you just politely tell me to shut up?¡± ¡°Maybe? But it was for your own comfort.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a first,¡± he said. After that, the two backed away, careful to stay low to the ground as they retreated to where the others had set up. It wasn¡¯t a camp per se, but it was the best they could do with the situation being what it was. None of them dared sleep, but even zoning out for a couple of minutes could be invaluable. Once Sadie had gotten everyone¡¯s attention, she went over her plan. There wasn¡¯t much to it, but that was mostly because of their limited resources and the fact that, if they wanted inside that mountain, they had no choice. After discussing it, everyone submitted a few changes to her plan, but in the end, the simplicity of it meant that there were only so many ways it could go. That was how, almost an hour later, Sadie found herself once again staring at the gate. This time, though, she only had Ron and Kurik for company. Both Dat and Elijah had their own missions. Such was the nature of their Angel cores that Sadie could vaguely sense Dat¡¯s location as he cut across the landscape, dodging from one outcropping of obsidian to the next on his way to the gate. Presumably, Elijah was doing the same, though he was probably much less careful about it. Gradually, Dat made his way into position, and fortunately, the hobgoblins and golems on duty were none the wiser. From experience, she knew that they had some limited ability to see through various forms of stealth, but it had such a short range that Dat was in no danger of being detected. Once he was where he was supposed to be, Sadie started counting down from two hundred. As she did so, she studied the forces arrayed against them. A group of ten hobgoblins was an overwhelming force, but adding two golems to that number was absolutely unnecessary. And then there were whatever fighters were stationed inside the guard towers built into the side of the mountain. There was no telling what that entailed. Still, Sadie had reason to expect success. Not only had her companions proven to be up to surmounting whatever obstacles stood in their way, but she felt that her plan, while simple, gave them the best chance of success. Even so, a lot of it hinged on hope. Finally, Sadie reached the end of her countdown and said, ¡°Alright. Everything ready here?¡± Kurik nodded. So did Ron. With that assurance, Sadie stepped out from behind the outcropping of obsidian and charged the guards standing in front of the gate. At first, they didn¡¯t even see her, but when they finally did, Sadie could see the shock in their expressions. And rightly so. What she was doing was absolutely ridiculous. Once she¡¯d drawn within a hundred yards of the hobgoblins, she cocked her arm back and threw the javelin Kurik had made for her. It was just a long, jagged piece of obsidian, but its profile was close enough to a spear that it flew remarkably well. It hit one of the hobgoblins directly in the chest, rocketing it backward until it smashed into the gate. That¡¯s when Sadie came to a stop. ¡°Come on, you ugly mother bitches!¡± she yelled, waving the sword she¡¯d drawn the moment the makeshift javelin was in the air. The hobgoblins glanced at one another, obviously confused by her cutting insult. She took some pride in that. Then, they recovered their wits, gathered their weapons, and charged. Sadie turned tail and ran, hoping that Kurik¡¯s traps were up to the task of slowing the hobgoblins down. 6-29. More than Expected The ground rumbled as the enormous magma golems raced away from the gate. Hobgoblins, each one with skin that looked like the bark on a well-cooked brisket, jogged alongside the huge creatures as they responded to Sadie¡¯s oddly put provocation. Clearly, she was unused to hurling insults, which Elijah found simultaneously adorable and hilarious. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t afford to focus on her. Instead, he had his own task demanding his attention. So, once he saw that the hobgoblins had vacated the area, he skittered up the side of one of the guard towers flanking the gate. As he did, he kept One with Nature trained on everything in range. He knew there were four figures inside the tower ¨C char goblin mages, if he wasn¡¯t mistaken ¨C which meant that he would have his work cut out for him. The creatures were not physically gifted, but the sheer firepower they could bring to bear was as impressive as it was intimidating. It made Elijah wonder if they should find a true Sorcerer to fill out their group. After all, if there was one weakness of the party, it was that they lacked the pure damage dealing capability of a dedicated mage. Sure, they weren¡¯t versatile, but what they lacked in adaptability, they more than made up for in magical potency. It was definitely something to consider, though that line of thought wouldn¡¯t help much with the current predicament. So, Elijah pushed it aside and focused on his job. Once he reached the gap between the wall and the roof ¨C which was called the embrasure, if he remembered correctly ¨C he slipped through. Because the opening was less than a foot tall, he was forced to flatten his body, not unlike a lizard. Thankfully, there were no enchantments to strip him of Guise of the Unseen, so he didn¡¯t raise the alarm. More importantly, it gave him a perfect opportunity to position himself for an attack. However, he held back, knowing that the plan called for him to wait until Dat struck first. The Witch Hunter was no weakling, and his class featured quite a few assassin-like characteristics. But he stood a much higher chance of detection by alert enemies. So, Elijah waited for a full ten seconds until, at last, a clamor erupted from the guard tower on the other side of the gate. It was almost forty feet away, but when Dat struck, he did so with no small degree of bombast. An explosion of ethera raced out in a shockwave that the four goblin mages that were Elijah¡¯s target couldn¡¯t fail to notice. Immediately, they reacted, gathering ethera to lend their aid to the hobgoblin mages in the other tower. They never even knew Elijah was there. Not until he attacked the first, using his full suite of abilities to inflict as much damage as possible before springing at the next in line. Even as the first fell before the might of Elijah¡¯s potent Envenom, he attacked the second, biting it three times before it could even react. But by the time it attempted to fend him off, he was onto the next. However, that was when the advantage of surprise ran out, and Elijah was treated to a hastily cast Fireball to the face. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been hit by such a spell, and even if it charred his scales, the effect of Ward of the Seasons ¨C along with his Constitution ¨C protected him from what should have been a lethal effect. It did nothing for the pain, though, and he let out a hiss of agony as he shunted those feelings into a separate facet where he immediately quarantined them. The real issue was that the fireball carried with it significant momentum, and when it exploded in his face, it knocked him off course. So, it took the full weight of his Dexterity attribute to turn that careening fall into a controlled barrel roll. He quickly found his feet, then leaped toward the wall before springing in the opposite direction. Another fireball ¨C from the fourth Mage ¨C hit the spot he¡¯d just vacated, and this one managed to melt a layer of the durable black stone. Elijah felt more ethera gather, and he immediately changed course. It was just in time, too, because another Fireball slammed into the floor, missing his tail by only an inch. Then, he jerked to the side once again before leaping at the third Mage. His teeth quickly found the creature¡¯s throat, but even as Envenom raced through his fangs, a corona of fire erupted around the hobgoblin, searing its way through him. He tried to jump away, but his muscles spasmed under the effects of so much damage, turning the leap into more of a flop followed by a desperate roll. With the benefit of his Jade Mind, it only took Elijah a moment to recognize what had happened. All Sorcerers had access to a personal shield. Often, it was their first and last line of defense. However, once one took a class and gained some levels, they usually had the opportunity to evolve the spell into something more focused. In this case, it seemed that the Mages ¨C which were likely some sort of fire-based magic casting class ¨C had turned the shield spell into one with a damage reflection characteristic. The only question was whether or not the damage was static or if it was based on the strength of the incoming attack that would be reflected. But Elijah wasn¡¯t in a position to test things out ¨C which became obvious when one of the Mages ran toward an opening in the floor, clearly intending to escape. Without time to measure his attacks, Elijah leaped back into action. This time, though, as he darted across the floor, he initiated a transformation into his guardian form. After all, if he couldn¡¯t avoid damage, he would simply have to endure, and nothing was better for that task than the form of the lamellar ape. His body lengthened, and his limbs thickened. After a second, the transformation had reached the halfway point, but Elijah couldn¡¯t delay any longer. The hobgoblin had reached the ladder, and it would only be a moment before it disappeared to the level below. Elijah refused to allow that, so even before his transition completed, he threw himself into another attack. Latching onto the only thing he could reach, he wrapped his claws around the hobgoblin¡¯s head like he was palming a basketball. Then, he lifted. The creature fought back, tossing another Fireball that hit Elijah¡¯s chest. However, even with his transformation only partially completed, he had enough durability to endure the attack. A few scales were scorched, but that wasn¡¯t much more than an annoyance. Then, finally, the transformation completed, and Elijah let out a roar of anger as he rammed his other hand into the monster¡¯s chest. As expected, the attack elicited a response, and dense flames licked out and slammed into Elijah¡¯s stomach. They scorched through his scales and ripped through his midsection, doing far more extensive damage than a mundane flame could have managed. Yet, the Shape of the Guardian was tailor made to endure far more punishment than the hobgoblin Mage could muster, and the agony of the reciprocal attack only pushed Elijah¡¯s rage to new heights. He used that as fuel as he wrapped his hand around the comparatively small hobgoblin¡¯s waist. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. The creature struggled in his vice-like grip, but it might as well have been fighting against a force of nature for all the good it did. Elijah lifted the creature in one hand, then slammed it down with as much force as he could bring to bear. Bones cracked beneath the blow, and blood spurted from the hobgoblin¡¯s every orifice. But even denser flames erupted from the Mage, wrapping around Elijah and burning him to a crisp. He ignored it, slamming the creature into the floor again. And again after that. Another Fireball hit Elijah in the back, reminding him that the final Mage was still alive, but he felt no urgency in dealing with it. After all, with Elijah standing over the exit, it couldn¡¯t escape. So he took the necessary time to finish the creature off, then turned his attention to the final remaining Mage. The hobgoblin threw a barrage off Fireballs in his direction, and when they hit, they did so with predictable damage. Yet, Elijah¡¯s form was durable enough to withstand the assault. His charge was inevitable. Unstoppable. And effective. He crushed the final creature in his claws, then finally shifted his eyes to the other tower. Dat¡¯s fight was still ongoing, so Elijah wasted no more time before initiating another transformation, this time back into his Shape of Venom. Once he¡¯d taken on the form of the blight dragon, he slipped through the window, then leaped free. He hit the ground at a run, then threw himself at the other tower. A second later, he was skittering up the tower, cloaked in Guise of the Unseen. When he reached the top, he peeked inside to see that Dat had already taken care of two Mages. However, he was struggling with the final pair, who¡¯d taken on a defensive posture. Elijah knew exactly what to do in that situation, and he slid through the window, climbed to the ceiling, then positioned himself above the creature. Once he was satisfied with his approach, he dropped down upon one of the hobgoblins. Predictably, when he bit into the monster, he received quite a backlash. But it wasn¡¯t nearly as potent as expected. Certainly, the flames licking his scales were powerful, but he¡¯d been banking on the nature of his damage-over-time abilities to protect him from the worst of the reciprocal damage. The idea wasn¡¯t complex. Their shield spell reflected damage back on any attacker, and it scaled based on the power leveraged against them. However, the spell only took immediate damage into account. So, while he¡¯d been subjected to extremely potent flames when attacking in the form of a lamellar ape, he only had to deal with the reflection of his bite when in the Shape of Venom. And as the name implied, the blight dragon¡¯s true power came from the potency of its venom, which because of its nature, wasn¡¯t part of the calculation regarding the reflected damage. So, he didn¡¯t run the risk of burning himself to a crisp when he only had to take the proportional damage of a simple bite. Still, it wasn¡¯t exactly pleasant, given the form¡¯s lack of durability. But that was the price he needed to pay to even the odds for Dat. Even as he leaped away, racing up the wall and onto the ceiling, the hobgoblin mage stumbled. That gave the Witch Hunter an opening to dash toward the other remaining Mage. His shortswords flashed, cutting into the creature with ruthless precision. Fire licked out, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, it was blocked by what looked like a ghost. It happened so quickly that he never would have caught it without his recent increases in cultivation. One of the advantages of advancing his Mind was quicker processing speed, and that worked hand-in-hand with reaching the Iron stage of Body cultivation. At times, it felt a lot like the Haste effect associated with his Sash of the Whirlwind, though it was different enough that he could differentiate between the two. Regardless, the ghost faded beneath the onslaught of flames so quickly that Elijah immediately began questioning his own senses. Whatever the case, Dat wasted no time before finishing the now-unprotected Mage, then turned his attention toward the one Elijah had attacked. He needn¡¯t have worried, because the hobgoblin had already fallen to its side, where it had begun to convulse uncontrollably. A few seconds later, Elijah experienced a wave of experience that announced that the creature was dead. The entire assault ¨C from the moment Elijah had entered the first tower until the last Mage was dead ¨C had only taken thirty seconds or so. Even then, he couldn¡¯t help but worry about the others. Ten hobgoblin fighters and a couple of magma golems made for a large enough force to overwhelm Sadie and the others. Even with Kurik¡¯s traps to slow them down. So, Elijah and Dat had no time to waste. With that in mind, they quickly descended from the tower and ran down the road, hoping to hit the others from behind. When the ongoing battle lines came into sight, they both slipped into their versions of stealth before falling upon the enemy¡¯s back with ruthless efficiency. The hobgoblins made for easy targets. They were strong and fast, but without the protection of personal shields like the Mages, they were ill-equipped to deal with the swift and deadly attacks Elijah and Dat could bring to bear. After only a few seconds, Elijah had bitten all ten of them, with the first victim of his attack having already fallen before the combined effects of the Predator Strike-enhanced Envenom and Venom Strike. The others stumbled under the unbuffed version of Envenom, but it would take a while for the potent affliction to tear through their stout Constitutions. Still, it provided enough of a distraction to turn the tide of battle. Soon after, the last hobgoblin fighter fell before Sadie¡¯s Blade of the Avenger, leaving only the magma golems that had been temporarily neutralized by one of Kurik¡¯s traps. That wouldn¡¯t have been possible if they¡¯d been organic creatures, but one of his abilities worked extremely well against things like golems. He couldn¡¯t kill them alone, but he was more than capable of keeping them immobilized for a few minutes. That, as much as anything else, had made dealing with the magma golems possible. Without the dwarven Sapper¡¯s efforts, things would have gotten very dicey extremely quickly. In any case, once they were isolated, Sadie took the lead, keeping the golems¡¯ attention while Ron repaired any damage they inflicted. Without her focus on the Constitution attribute, her personal shield, or Ward of the Seasons, she would have quickly been melted by the streams of molten rock spewed by the golems. Even with all of those advantages, it took Ron¡¯s focused attention to keep her from succumbing to so much damage. But they managed it, giving everyone else the freedom to pelt the creatures with their most potent attacks without fear of reprisal. In that way, Elijah was more than a little grateful that the golems were not thinking creatures. Otherwise, the ensuing battle would have been much less controlled. As it stood, it took about half an hour for the group to whittle the things down. It would have been much easier if Dat could have simply used the previous methods to disable them, but each time he tried, the things erupted into a corona of fire that made that kind of tactic impossible. Curiously, the golems didn¡¯t die like normal creatures. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how it all worked, but when they took damage, they used the magma within to repair any wounds. However, that came with repercussions ¨C chiefly, that they began to overheat. So, when they finally reached the point of no return, they didn¡¯t just flop over like a normal creature. Instead, they exploded. ¡°It¡¯s about to blow!¡± Elijah shouted. Everyone scattered. Elijah and Dat retreated the way they¡¯d approached, which took them closer to the towers. Meanwhile, Sadie, Ron, and Kurik went in the opposite direction. They only got about thirty yards away before the thing erupted like a miniature volcano. Thankfully, that caused a chain reaction as the other one took significant damage from its companion¡¯s explosion, and it fell only a few seconds later. Finally, the battle was finished. Elijah took a deep breath, his lungs burning from the sheer heat of the atmosphere before he said, ¡°If getting into the challenge is this hard, think about what it¡¯s going to take to come out on top.¡± ¡°Yeah, bro. That¡¯s what I¡¯m worried about, too.¡± 6-30. Emberstone Keep Elijah burst through the gate, eliciting an ear-splitting screech as the pivot points were ripped free. The gate itself flew inward, crashing to the ground with a heavy clatter that echoed through the corridor beyond. A second later, the shield associated with Bestial Charge winked out, and Elijah let out a deep but satisfied breath. After resuming his human form, he turned to the others and said, ¡°Told you I could get through it.¡± ¡°Literally no one claimed you couldn¡¯t,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°We just said that you shouldn¡¯t.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± he asked with a grin. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Seriously, Elijah,¡± said Ron. ¡°I thought it was cool,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I did use that word right, didn¡¯t I? Cool used to describe somethin¡¯ good doesn¡¯t sound right.¡± ¡°Your flawed judgement aside, you used the term correctly,¡± Sadie said, stepping past Elijah to take her position at the front of their established formation. ¡°Hopefully, we¡¯re not swarmed by hobgoblins that have been alerted to our presence.¡± ¡°Oh, c¡¯mon,¡± Elijah pleaded. ¡°We looked for another way to get them open, but ¨C¡± ¡°For less than five minutes,¡± she pointed out. Elijah replied, ¡°I was bored.¡± ¡°You need to learn some patience, bro. I can teach you some meditative techniques if you want,¡± Dat offered. ¡°My daughter was the same way,¡± Ron added. ¡°But once she found her calling as a Tailor, she settled down. Now, her biggest issue is that she tends to hyperfocus. I have a therapist friend who could help ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t have a problem,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Can we just go? I feel like everyone¡¯s ganging up on me.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t say nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°Except Kurik. My only true friend.¡± ¡°I wouldn¡¯t go that far,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°I only barely tolerate you, and that¡¯s mostly ¡®cause you get me levels and might kill everyone in my city if I offend you.¡± ¡°What? I wouldn¡¯t do that!¡± ¡°You literally threatened it nine times when you first came to Ironshore,¡± the dwarf said. Then, he adopted what he probably thought was an approximation of Elijah¡¯s voice, raising his fist as he said, ¡°¡¯Don¡¯t mess with me, or I¡¯ll murder everyone in their sleep. Even the kids.¡¯ That¡¯s basically what you said. Nine times. I counted.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­you know what? I¡¯m done with this conversation. Let¡¯s just go,¡± Elijah said before letting out a long-suffering sigh. Then, under his breath, he said, ¡°So unfair.¡± Sure, he had threatened the people of Ironshore, but that had been entirely justified at the time. After all, they¡¯d just sent a fifty-person force to kill him and take his grove. Then, that Rogue ¨C Elijah had forgotten the goblin¡¯s name ¨C had tried to ambush him in the tower. By all accounts, his actions had been completely understandable. ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Sadie said. Then, she gave a slight, barely noticeable smirk of her own before adding, ¡°This time.¡± Elijah rolled his eyes, but as annoyed he was, he was even more grateful that they were moving on. So, in a combined attempt to establish the nature of his surroundings and ignore the unfair criticism leveled in his direction, he focused on the corridor. The gate led to a fairly simple hall whose defining characteristic was that it was made entirely of polished black stone. ¡°Is this onyx?¡± he asked, resting his hand on one of the square pillars carved into the wall. ¡°Or obsidian?¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Obsidian is volcanic glass,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Onyx is a variety of quartz. And saying that, I realize how unnecessary my question was. Given the environment, it¡¯s obviously obsidian. But it¡¯s usually too brittle to use for building material.¡± ¡°Magic, bro.¡± ¡°Touche.¡± The hall itself was mostly unadorned, save for the squared columns. It gave the design aesthetic a brutalist cast that was accentuated by the all-black d¨¦cor. When Elijah looked up, he gave a slight start upon seeing that the ceiling seemed to have been made of slowly flowing lava. Upon further inspection, he saw that it was all contained by ethera. ¡°Definitely magic.¡± Once they¡¯d wrapped their heads around their surroundings, the group set off down the corridor. After only a few steps, Elijah saw a notification flash before his inner eye:
You have reached Emberstone Keep. To conquer the Challenge of Ignis, overcome the invader known as Cinderath. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Reward: Seed of the Ash Lotus
¡°Emberstone Keep. It fits,¡± Sadie said. ¡°And the target is an invader. What do we think that means?¡± ¡°There¡¯s no telling,¡± Ron said. ¡°For all we know, it means that this boss is an invader from a different country. I know we¡¯ve been functioning under the assumption that these people were monolithic, but ¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯re not. The natives, I mean. There¡¯s evidence of three different factions. Obviously, there¡¯s the ta¡¯alaki and the ka¡¯alaki, and I think they were at odds. Like, the ta¡¯alaki were part of a lower caste, probably because they were seen as more bestial in nature. Then there are the wraiths. I¡¯m not sure how they fit into the hierarchy. Maybe they don¡¯t. It¡¯s possible that they are to the ka¡¯alaki as apes are to humans. But I think there¡¯s more to it,¡± Elijah explained. Then, he saw the expressions on everyone else¡¯s faces. ¡°What?¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± Ron asked. ¡°I pay attention. And I explore. There¡¯s a ton of information out there for anyone who wants to find it,¡± he pointed out. ¡°Not that I¡¯ve found anything that can help us. Except for that guide that mentioned some sort of bane weapon for the Lightning Emperor, but just knowing about it isn¡¯t that helpful, especially when the person who made the thing already died. ¡°My point is that we know there were multiple factions on this world. Probably dozens at the very least,¡± Elijah added. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if there weren¡¯t at least as many countries as on Earth. Likely far more, considering that this planet is much larger than our planet. And that¡¯s not even considering historical factions. I mean, I know we¡¯re looking at this as a manufactured and curated set of challenges, and it¡¯s definitely that. But it¡¯s more, too. This is a living, breathing world populated by civilizations with history longer than humanity¡¯s entire existence. Forgetting that seems like a good way to end up dead. Or with inferior gains.¡± That definitely didn¡¯t wipe the expressions of surprise from his friends¡¯ faces, and Sadie seemed particularly shocked. That was somewhat gratifying, but it was extremely annoying as well. While he knew he didn¡¯t always take every situation as seriously as he probably should have, the idea that his companions were shocked that he knew things was more than a little disheartening. ¡°I see,¡± Sadie said after a moment. ¡°Anything else you¡¯d like to add?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. Not right now. But I can¡¯t be the only person who finds the idea that this world was excised from the World Tree interesting. And relevant. I don¡¯t know what happened here, but I do know that I want Earth to avoid this world¡¯s fate.¡± ¡°That is remarkably well put,¡± Ron said. ¡°It is, but for now, we need to focus on surviving this challenge. I don¡¯t think any of us believes it will be easy,¡± Sadie added. Then, to Elijah, she said, ¡°Just let us know if you find anything that¡¯s relevant to the current situation.¡± ¡°Aye, aye, cap¡¯n,¡± he said with a rakish grin and a crisp salute. At that, Sadie rolled her eyes. After that brief discussion, the group continued on. The hall itself was hundreds of yards long and completely without off-shoots, so they didn¡¯t linger. When they reached the end of the corridor a few minutes later, they found themselves facing another gate. Elijah let everyone search for a way inside, but in the end, he was forced to repeat his actions and break through it. Secretly, he loved that. Or given his obvious eagerness, perhaps not so secretly. Regardless, he broke through the gate, revealing a sizable chamber that looked a lot like a lobby. The room was perhaps fifty yards wide, with a multitude of exits. The architecture was similar to what they¡¯d seen in the hall, though with a few extra flourishes that said it was meant to be functional as well as attractive. The most noticeable of those features was the floor, which was covered in patterned tiles that formed a huge, orange flame that seemed to shimmer in the light emanating from the magma that flowed through the ceiling. In the center of that flame was a statue, though none of them could see precisely what it was intended to depict, because it had been so thoroughly melted that the details had been entirely lost. ¡°What do you think it was?¡± asked Ron, his voice echoing in the cavernous space. ¡°Looks humanoid,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Maybe the owner of the keep?¡± suggested Dat. ¡°Ain¡¯t no tellin¡¯,¡± Kurik pointed out. ¡°Best to move on.¡± That seemed like a good course of action, but the question remained regarding which way they were intended to go. There were nine exits, and after a cursory inspection, it wasn¡¯t obvious what differentiated between them. As far as they could tell, one direction was as good as any other. So, they picked one at random, then proceeded down the corresponding hall. It looked similar to the one leading into the Emberstone keep, though it was much narrower. After about an hour, the hall opened up into another chamber, though this one had clearly been the site of a battle. The walls looked wet, though when Elijah inspected them more closely, he saw that the obsidian had actually been melted at some point. As a result, the surface bore ripples where the semi-liquid result had flowed down the walls, then hardened as it cooled. But they were all much more concerned with the bodies. There were dozens of them, all grouped into two clumps. When Elijah reached out to touch one, it crumbled in on itself, starting a chain reaction that filled the air with ash. He coughed, covering his mouth, and when he regained his composure, he said, ¡°They were ta¡¯alaki.¡± ¡°Some ka¡¯alaki over here,¡± Dat said from the other group. He hadn¡¯t touched them, but the movement of his passage had elicited a similar reaction. They crumbled as well, and after a few seconds, nothing remained but piles of grey ash. ¡°What could do something like that?¡± asked Ron. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted, but one thing he knew was that it definitely didn¡¯t bode well. Suddenly, their flippant attitudes from before felt entirely out of place. ¡°This is as much a tomb as the last challenge.¡± That statement proved to be true when they moved on, finding more natives who¡¯d been turned to ash along the way. Elijah lost count of the number of people who¡¯d died, but it had progressed into the hundreds. So, he was more than relieved when they reached the end of the path. Instead of being confronted with another gate, they found a pair of double doors that were more than thirty feet tall and made of dense stone engraved with more depictions of the same flame design that had decorated the lobby¡¯s floor. When Elijah tried the door, it swung open effortlessly. ¡°That¡¯s troubling,¡± he muttered to himself as a blast of intense heat billowed out from the opening. That wasn¡¯t unsurprising. The entire area was hot enough that it would have killed a normal person from Earth within minutes. But with Ward of the Seasons, he didn¡¯t have to worry about heat exhaustion or, as the intensity of that wave of heat suggested was possible, combustion. Still, it wasn¡¯t comfortable. In any case, the heat was only a secondary concern, because Elijah¡¯s full attention was occupied by two things. First, the doors opened into an enormous cavern ¨C it was miles wide, and he suspected many times deeper than that ¨C crisscrossed with glittering black bridges. At various intersections, webworks of crystal lattice enclosed large, castle-sized platforms. By anyone¡¯s measure, it was a beautiful ¨C if imposing ¨C sight. However, in terms of garnering Elijah¡¯s attention, it fell far short of the area¡¯s other feature. ¡°Are those giants?¡± asked Dat in a whisper. ¡°I think so,¡± Elijah answered. 6-31. Fire Giants Despite being more than a mile from the nearest giant, Elijah found himself instinctively crouching in place as he tried to make himself smaller and less noticeable. He would have been embarrassed, but the fact was that the creatures down below warranted such an act. Each one was more than thirty-five feet tall and at least half as wide, with blackened skin similar to what Elijah had seen with the char goblins. Just like the goblins, the giants had mostly humanoid features ¨C meaning that they had all the right parts ¨C but they were all out of proportion. Bulbous noses, broad and prominent brows, and heads that looked a bit too large for even their gargantuan bodies gave the creatures a brutish appearance that reminded Elijah of renderings of cavemen he¡¯d seen during college. At first, Elijah thought the creatures were on fire, but upon looking closer with Eyes of the Eagle, he realized that the flames he saw were what constituted the creatures¡¯ hair and beards. It gave them a wholly alien appearance that completely nullified any similarities to humanity he might¡¯ve otherwise latched onto. They clearly were not native to Ka¡¯arath. Throughout the huge cavern, Elijah saw groups of the monsters congregated around the latticed intersections of the onyx bridges. Miles below, a sea of lava roiled as something swam within. ¡°Can you use Hex of Scrying on them?¡± Elijah whispered. The creatures were so far away that there was no chance they could hear him, but he wasn¡¯t willing to take any chances. He was not easily frightened, but the sheer size of the giants certainly put him on edge. ¡°Too far,¡± Dat said. ¡°But I¡¯ve got a bad feeling about them.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Elijah said. In a way, the giants reminded him of the skeletons they¡¯d fought in the previous challenge. Not in a cosmetic sense. They were completely different in every way but size. Rather, it was the feeling he got when he looked at them, that they were alien creatures who¡¯d invaded somewhere they didn¡¯t belong. They weren¡¯t natural denizens of this world ¨C of that, Elijah was absolutely certain ¨C but instinctively, he knew that something like Nature¡¯s Rebuke wouldn¡¯t prove effective against them. They were simultaneously natural and unnatural, which left Elijah feeling both confused and frustrated at his own ignorance. As Elijah watched the giants, he caught a flicker of movement in the distance. Instantly, he focused on that location, but at first, he saw nothing. Then, he noticed a swirl of ashes before a winged creature came into view. It looked a bit like a pterodactyl, though with a blunter face and wings glowing with fire. Upon its back was a char goblin. ¡°That bad feeling just got a lot worse,¡± Elijah said, backing away. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t been seen, but he knew that wouldn¡¯t last if they remained at their current location. So, without further hesitation, the group returned to the hall and shut the heavy stone door behind them. For a while, no one said anything, but a couple of minutes after they were out of sight, Elijah shattered the silence. ¡°This is going to be really difficult. No flight. Those giants are probably at least as strong as the skeletons in the last challenge, and we¡¯ll be completely exposed on those bridges. Any ideas on how to go about this?¡± Now that the silence had been broken, everyone tried to speak at once. But after only a second or two of them trying to speak over one another, they ceded the floor to Sadie. She said, ¡°I don¡¯t see that there¡¯s much choice here. We¡¯re probably going to have to go straight in. We¡¯ll clear the giants out, then try to focus on those flying creatures. After that¡­we need to find Cinderrath and beat it.¡± ¡°Can we even kill those giants? They look like they¡¯re made of volcanic rock,¡± Ron pointed out. ¡°I think they¡¯re like the char goblins,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But before we charge in, it¡¯s probably best if Dat and I scout things out. The more information we have, the better. For all we know, we won¡¯t even need to face the giants. There might be another way to the boss.¡± While it wasn¡¯t a complex plan, it was a pattern they¡¯d developed over the course of four other challenges and months spent traveling from one corner of the continent to the other. So, once everyone agreed that it represented the best course of action, Elijah and Dat set off on their task. After he¡¯d transformed into the Shape of Venom and adopted Guise of the Unseen, Elijah went back to the door and stepped onto the onyx bridge. It was warm beneath his feet, but it wasn¡¯t uncomfortable. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny the ominous feeling that swept over him the moment he stepped foot onto the bridge. It was with that anxiety settling over his Mind that he proceeded forward. Dat followed, using his less powerful stealth ability to remain unseen. On a whim, Elijah slipped over the elaborate handrail, then climbed onto the bottom of the bridge. Only then did he feel the unease dissipate. That was when he realized what the problem was. Throwing caution to the wind, Elijah shouted, ¡°Dat! Something¡¯s watching ¨C¡± That¡¯s when it struck. A slate-gray entity of vaguely humanoid shape burst into being directly in front of Dat. It reached out to grab him, but the Witch Hunter¡¯s reflexes were well-honed. He leaped backward in a back handspring that belied his size, narrowly avoiding the thing¡¯s outstretched hand. Dat came up firing his crossbow, and soon enough, blue-wreathed bolts filled the air. They hit the creature, and for a moment, the thing burst into localized puffs of ash, revealing a black silhouette that looked like the ashen shadow of slenderman. It let out a hoarse and crackling screech as it lumbered forward. Elijah knew better than to let the opening go to waste. He skittered atop the bridge, then leaped into battle. After using his full suite of abilities, he landed on the creature¡¯s back and sank his fangs into its shoulders. The taste of ash ¨C powerful and acrid ¨C filled his mouth as venom flooded into the monster. Elijah wasted no time before biting again. And again after that. With his high attributes and advanced Body cultivation, he could strike with incredible quickness, and he leveraged that ability to great effect as he filled the monster with potent toxins. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. A loud clicking filled the air. Once. Twice. And then, on the third time, it burst into flames. Elijah leaped free, but not before he felt the sting of serious burns. He ignored the pain, taking on his caster form. The transformation completed as he slid to a stop. Then, he leveled his staff at the monster and let loose with Storm¡¯s Fury. Lightning lanced from the tip of the staff, slamming into the creature and sending it stumbling forward. As it did, Elijah could see bits of its shadowy form flaking off with every passing second. Was that the effect of Envenom? It affected different creatures in different ways, so he suspected that was the case. However, it also reminded him of the uneasiness he¡¯d felt when looking at the giants. They didn¡¯t belong. They were unnatural. Perhaps this creature was the same. So, he cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke, and when the spell¡¯s effect took hold, it let out another hoarse screech before turning its attention on Elijah. It only got one staggering step before another volley of crossbow bolts slammed into it. Elijah cast Storm¡¯s Fury again, and the monster burst into a cloud of ash. But it didn¡¯t die, as evidenced by the fact that he¡¯d received no experience. That supposition was further confirmed when that cloud of ash swept toward him and coalesced into the same shape as before. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to stick around to feel its wrath, so as he cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke once again, he vaulted over the railing and initiated a transformation into the Shape of Venom. It completed a second later, and he skittered across the underside of the bridge. The monster couldn¡¯t follow. Elijah could barely feel it via One with Nature, and he used that awareness to confirm that it had once again turned on Dat. However, when it moved toward him, it did so with an uneven gait that suggested that it was barely holding on. In the interest of finishing it off, Elijah ran along the underside of the bridge, embracing Guise of the Unseen the moment he left combat. Then, he repeated the battle¡¯s first actions, using Envenom and Predator Strike to inflict his potent toxin upon the creature. With every step it took after that, the thing fell apart. First, the ash only flaked off, but soon enough, one of its legs crumbled. It tumbled forward, and when it hit the ground, it burst into a cloud of ash. However, unlike the last time, this one was accompanied by a surge of experience that announced the creature¡¯s death. Elijah took a deep breath, then resumed his human form. ¡°You okay?¡± he asked Dat. ¡°No.¡± ¡°What? Are you hurt?¡± ¡°It¡¯s not that. That¡­thing wasn¡¯t supposed to be here. It¡¯s called an ash assassin, and it¡¯s a native to Ignis,¡± Dat explained. ¡°Creatures like that can¡¯t just cross over to our plane. They function on an entirely different set of rules. We can¡¯t go there, either. Not without significant preparation and a lot of levels.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s here,¡± Elijah said. He glanced back at the giants. Thankfully, they hadn¡¯t responded to the ruckus, probably because they were so far away. So at least the alarm hadn¡¯t been raised. ¡°And I¡¯m going to guess that those giants are similar to the ash assassin.¡± He gestured toward the ceiling a half-dozen miles up above. ¡°Those things flying up there, too.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it has to,¡± Elijah said. Perhaps it was explicable because the world had been excised and used for the Trial. Clearly, the system had done some heavy lifting to create the challenges. So, maybe it had simply imported some denizens of Ignis to give it a little more authenticity. ¡°Besides, those skeletons from the last challenge were from the Underrealm. They didn¡¯t belong here either.¡± ¡°This feels different,¡± Dat said. ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but it just does.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t disagree, but it doesn¡¯t really matter,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Right this second, we need to figure out a new plan, because that thing could see through our stealth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s true. Sorry. I kind of let it get to me. Do you know what those things can do?¡± Dat asked. Elijah shook his head. ¡°Those people we saw in the compound above,¡± the Witch Hunter said with a shiver. ¡°That¡¯s what an ash assassin can do. I don¡¯t know if they¡¯d be effective against us, but¡­¡± He let the thought hang in the air. The idea of a creature being capable of turning people to ash was horrifying, especially considering that Elijah had seen the aftermath with his own two eyes. Of course, with his cultivation and attributes, he hoped he could withstand such an attack, but there were no guarantees. One little touch, and his path could be cut short. ¡°I think they¡¯re shackled just like the natives of this world,¡± he said. ¡°You know, levels reduced by the system. Maybe that will keep them in check.¡± Dat said, ¡°I hope so.¡± It was a slim hope, and they both knew it. Despite the effects of the shackles, the creatures populating the challenges were incredibly powerful. Elijah and the others had barely managed to survive so far, and they weren¡¯t foolish enough to believe their journey would become any easier. With that, the pair returned the way they¡¯d come. However, once Dat was safe, Elijah convinced everyone that he could manage to remain undetected while continuing their mission to scout the situation. His plan was simple ¨C all he had to do was stay on the underside of the bridges, and he¡¯d be fine. So, that was what he did, using the Shape of Venom¡¯s ability to stick to any surface to his advantage. It went precisely as expected, and he avoided detection all the way to the first intersection. When he peeked his head above the railing, he was first struck by the fact that the giants seemed even larger than they had from afar. Even the smallest was more than thirty feet tall, and the others were even bigger. They sat around a device that looked curiously like a hookah, which meant that it was a cylindrical piece from which snaked a half-dozen tubes, each one held by a giant. ¡°Too cold,¡± one growled. ¡°Need home.¡± ¡°No go home. Too dangerous.¡± The smallest said, ¡°We fight. We win. We go home.¡± ¡°Stupid runt. You first die.¡± On and on they went until, once he¡¯d gotten an idea of what was going on, Elijah retreated. It seemed that the giants weren¡¯t there by choice. But was there a way he could use that to his advantage? Fighting them in a straight battle was a mistake. He was certain of that. But he wasn¡¯t sure what other choice there was. Returning to the group, Elijah laid things out, but no one had any bright ideas for how to attack the situation. Finally, Elijah decided to give voice to what he¡¯d been thinking from the very beginning. ¡°Guys, I think I have an idea, but I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll all call me an idiot for even suggesting it.¡± ¡°We won¡¯t judge you, bro.¡± Elijah took a deep breath, then told them what he was thinking. ¡°You¡¯re suicidal,¡± Sadie said. 6-32. Diplomacy Elijah was not entirely convinced that his companions were wrong. Indeed, every ounce of reason within him screamed that he should turn around and flee towards his companions. Certainly, they¡¯d yet to find an alternative route to conquering the challenge, but they¡¯d not explored the entire chamber. They hadn¡¯t even searched the whole fortress above. So, it stood to reason that they¡¯d probably missed something important. Yet, deep in the core of who he was, Elijah felt that he was on the right track. It defied reason. It didn¡¯t bend the knee to logic. And still, he was sure that his actions were the optimal way to attack the challenge. So, hanging from the bottom of the bridge nearest the first intersection, Elijah took a deep breath to steady his nerves. Then, he skittered to the edge, climbed the railing, then slithered into position. Far behind him, he could practically feel his companions¡¯ eyes boring into him. Obviously, they couldn¡¯t see through Guise of the Unseen, but they knew precisely where he was going. And they were understandably worried for his safety. From their perspective, his plan did indeed seem suicidal. He knew that. But they couldn¡¯t feel the things he felt. Even if they could, they wouldn¡¯t know how to interpret them. In truth, Elijah didn¡¯t understand any of it either. But he¡¯d learned to trust his instincts, and those told him that he was on the right track. So, after taking another deep breath, he resumed his human form. Surprisingly, the giants ¨C each one clutching a silvery tube connected to the device in the center of the platform ¨C didn¡¯t even notice him. He stepped forward, his bare soles feeling the heat of the bridge beneath his feet. It wasn¡¯t until he was only twenty feet away from the enormous creatures that one of them looked up and saw him. At first, he just blinked, the fires of his beard and hair dancing in a nonexistent wind. Then, as if the realization had slammed into him like a runaway truck, his eyes widened. ¡°Intruder!¡± he bellowed, his voice gravelly and hoarse. Elijah raised his hands in surrender. ¡°I come in peace!¡± he said with no small degree of urgency. After all, it was difficult to stare up at six thirty-plus-foot-tall giants and not feel at least a twinge of fear. Or more than a twinge, if he was honest with himself. The things moved far more quickly than Elijah would have guessed possible, and the largest among them was on top of him in just a second. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t just squash Elijah as a matter of course. Instead, he stared down at him with black eyes, then growled, ¡°Peace? We know no peace. We are the eldpursar. We only know war.¡± ¡°Wars sometimes necessitate alliances,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That is what I propose.¡± ¡°Alliances require that you have something we need, puny one.¡± Elijah decided to employ his first gamble. He¡¯d expected that giants wouldn¡¯t necessarily respect a human, so he¡¯d decided to use something else. With that in mind, he reached deep down into his spirit and grabbed hold of the dragon. He¡¯d become more familiar with it of late, so he had no issues with embracing that side of himself and pushing it to the forefront. ¡°I am no human, giant. Do you not recognize a dragon when one ventures into your midst?¡± To accentuate his point, Elijah initiated a transformation into his most dragon-like form. He knew Shape of the Sky was a poor substitute for the real thing, but he hoped that the giant wouldn¡¯t know the difference. Perhaps he would simply assume that he was a young dragon like Saraalinisa. In any case, the giant took a step back when Elijah completed his transformation. To drive home the point, he spread his wings wide and said, ¡°I require your assistance. And you need me as well. We can work together to get what we both want.¡± ¡°And what is that¡­dragon?¡± ¡°You want to go home,¡± Elijah stated. Then, he nodded toward the device emitting the smoke they¡¯d all been imbibing. The other giants had remained behind, but they were all on their feet, ready to fight if the situation called for them to do so. ¡°That helps you stay here, right? But it doesn¡¯t completely do the trick, does it? How did you get here? And why do you stay where you so clearly don¡¯t belong?¡± The giant sighed. ¡°We were summoned,¡± he rumbled. ¡°And we are kept here by foul magics. The portal is barred, and Ignis is out of reach.¡± ¡°How is it barred? And where is this portal?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°At the bottom of this cavern,¡± the giant answered, gesturing toward a particularly large platform just above the pit of lava far below. ¡°Guarded by Cinderath, who has been enslaved by a foul master of ill intent and even shoddier control of the flame.¡± ¡°And if I somehow unbar the portal, would you assist me in killing this foul master?¡± Elijah asked, assuming that he would be dealing with yet another of the natives. Like the necromancer, this one would have delved too deeply into their chosen magic. Doubtless, they would be an incredibly difficult opponent, but against a bunch of giants? There was little chance that creature could endure. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. ¡°You must free us.¡± ¡°How?¡± Elijah asked. That¡¯s when the giant explained that the keep itself formed a complex enchantment that accentuated the master¡¯s powers and allowed them to maintain control of the portal as well as the denizens of Ignis they had summoned. ¡°Each point you destroy will weaken his control,¡± the giant said. ¡°Three will allow us to resist our mandate. Five will give us the freedom to assist in the battle against Cinderath. And seven will free us entirely.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure he liked the look in the giant¡¯s eyes. Or the way he seemed to be straining with every passing second. It was as if he was barely able to keep himself from lashing out. ¡°Your mandate? What is it?¡± ¡°Destroy all intruders and protect the master,¡± the giant stated. ¡°I am the strongest among us, and as such, I can resist for a time. The others have not the willpower to do so. I caution you, dragon ¨C do not return unless you have destroyed at least three of the nodes. Otherwise, we will be forced to fight. Now you must leave, lest I lose the battle with the mandate enslaving me to the master¡¯s will.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need to be told twice. So, he immediately turned and, after returning to his human form, sprinted away. Fortunately, there were no ash assassins between him and the door, so after a mile of running along the onyx bridge, he reached the safety of the keep. Only when he ducked out of sight did he let himself relax. He hadn¡¯t realized it until he had a little room to breathe, but he could tell beyond the shadow of a doubt that the giant was much, much stronger than him. That surety was the result of years of experience combined with a subtle sense gained from One with Nature, and it was an instinct he¡¯d learned to trust. While it didn¡¯t give him exact levels like a guard¡¯s inspection skill, it did give him a notion of a person¡¯s general power. With that in mind, the possibility of fighting the giants disappeared. Besides, if he managed to free them, it wouldn¡¯t be necessary. However, he did take issue with the leaders¡¯ wording regarding the destruction of seven nodes. He had claimed that it would free the giants entirely. Elijah wasn¡¯t a suspicious person by nature, but even he could see how that could backfire. If a bunch of fire giants got loose to rampage across the continent, it would make completing the Trial almost impossible. Once he reached the others, he recounted his meeting with the giant, then informed the group of his concerns. Thankfully, they picked up on the same issue. Sadie said, ¡°We should only destroy five nodes. Those giants are too dangerous to let loose.¡± Dat pointed out, ¡°But they just want to go home, right? They can¡¯t survive here.¡± ¡°I think that¡¯s the role of whatever they were smoking,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It keeps the environment from killing them, so they could probably just pick up those canisters and use them like air tanks. Meanwhile, they would tear through the ¨C¡± ¡°We get the picture, Elijah,¡± said Ron. Kurik asked, ¡°You sure we can¡¯t kill ¡®em? It¡¯s bad luck to anger a creature from Ignis, but if you think they¡¯re that dangerous, it might be best to just put ¡®em down.¡± Elijah shook his head and answered, ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand how strong these things are.¡± ¡°Neither do you,¡± Sadie argued. ¡°I know they¡¯re at least as strong as those skeletons, and they¡¯re intelligent. Some more than others,¡± he amended, thinking of the conversation he¡¯d overheard when he¡¯d first spied on them. Those giants hadn¡¯t been much smarter than ogres, but the leader was as eloquent as a human being. ¡°And they¡¯re not wearing convenient weak spots, either. If we fight them, we die. At best, we¡¯re forced to run away. I don¡¯t see any scenario where we win.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Then we go back upstairs and start searching for these nodes.¡± ¡°You know they ain¡¯t gonna be unguarded, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, bro. Probably more of those ashassins.¡± ¡°Please tell me you didn¡¯t just put those two words together,¡± Sadie groaned, massaging the bridge of her nose. ¡°I think it fits. Ashassins. I mean, if you try to say ash assassins too quickly, it gets kind of ¨C¡± Sadie interrupted, ¡°Please just stop.¡± ¡°You take all the joy out of the world, bro.¡± ¡°I thought it was very clever,¡± Ron said in a voice that sounded like the sort he¡¯d probably used to praise his daughter¡¯s kindergarten art projects. ¡°Moving on,¡± Sadie said. ¡°So, those ash assassins are ¨C¡± ¡°Ashassins,¡± Elijah interrupted with a grin. When Sadie glared at him, he said, ¡°C¡¯mon. Get on board the ashassins train. It¡¯s a great ride.¡± She just shook her head. ¡°Those ash assassins are dangerous,¡± she persisted. ¡°I don¡¯t know what they¡¯ll do against us, but I don¡¯t really want to find out.¡± ¡°If they touch us, they¡¯ll turn us to ash, bro.¡± ¡°I touched one when I bit it,¡± Elijah pointed out, magnanimously leaving the ashassins debate aside. ¡°You can touch them. They can¡¯t touch you,¡± Dat said. ¡°The voices were clear on that. It¡¯s a skill, so it¡¯ll activate almost immediately. Maybe Sadie and Elijah can endure it so long as they¡¯re both getting heals, but none of the rest of us can. They also have ranged abilities. I¡¯m not sure what form they take ¨C except for what we saw before ¨C but they¡¯re dangerous even from a distance.¡± ¡°Plus we can¡¯t really see them,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Even with my senses, the most I got was a vague feeling that I was being watched. I¡¯ll have to explore that further to really dial it in.¡± ¡°And don¡¯t forget that they can see through stealth,¡± Dat stated. ¡°Probably not Ghost Cloak, but I wouldn¡¯t rule it out.¡± ¡°So, what do we do here?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°If we just blunder ahead, they¡¯re going to kill us.¡± ¡°I think I have some ideas about that,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°But it¡¯ll be dangerous. Mostly for me, but well¡­¡± ¡°So one of your normal plans,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I mean¡­¡± ¡°You do have a habit of throwing yourself into danger,¡± Ron pointed out. ¡°It¡¯s enough to keep me up at night, wondering if you¡¯ll end up picking a fight you can¡¯t win. My heals aren¡¯t Miracles.¡± It was at that point that Elijah realized that the events of the last challenge hadn¡¯t only affected him. In fact, they¡¯d probably hit Ron just as hard, especially because his healing abilities had been entirely incapable of fixing what had been done to Elijah. ¡°I don¡¯t see another way,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I know it sucks, but unless someone has a different plan ¨C in which case, I¡¯m all ears ¨C this is how we need to attack this problem¡­¡± 6-33. Decisions Despite the certainty he¡¯d displayed with his companions, Elijah was anything but confident that his plan would work. For one, it required him to act in an uncharacteristic manner. Most of the time, he preferred to scout things out and choose the time and location of any battle. However, because of the enemy¡¯s nature, that just wasn¡¯t possible in his current situation. So, instead of approaching in the Shape of Venom, protected from detection beneath Guise of the Unseen, he strode down the hall as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. He even whistled a jaunty tune, settling on Manic Monday by the Bangles. It reminded him of his sister in all the best ways. A few dozen feet behind him, the others followed, each one more than ready to leap into battle and assist him. Not that they would get there in time. He¡¯d seen the ashassins move, and he knew precisely how quickly they could cover ground. No ¨C if he screwed things up, he would need to confront his foe alone, at least for a few moments. And that would almost assuredly spell his doom. ¡°Better not screw up, then,¡± he muttered to himself. They¡¯d scoured the keep for hours before finding what they thought was the location of the first node. It was behind a heavy door inscribed with all sorts of runes, so there was no way to be sure, but Elijah and Dat felt that it was the likeliest location. Either that, or it was a treasure vault, in which case, they intended to rob the place blind. Elijah wasn¡¯t a particularly materialistic person, but he had expenses. And he didn¡¯t think building a hot tub in his grove would come cheap. As a result, he was more than willing to engage in a fair bit of pillage. Besides, the original owners were all dead and turned to ash, so they probably wouldn¡¯t mind. Whatever the case, Elijah approached the door with no small degree of caution. If an ashassin really was on the other side, it would see him the second he opened the door. He almost wished he hadn¡¯t been the one to volunteer to confront the thing. Surely Sadie would take his place if he asked. She was the sort to engage in noble sacrifice, right? She¡¯d probably thank him for the opportunity. But no ¨C Elijah was committed. And if he was even slightly honest with himself, he would have to admit that there was absolutely no chance he would have foisted the responsibility on anyone else. Perhaps he and Sadie had more in common than he¡¯d first thought. Regardless, because Dat and Kurik had already spent half an hour fouling the enchanted lock holding the door closed, Elijah had no excuses for hesitation. So, without further delay, he glanced back at the others to ensure that they were ready, and once he was certain that they were, he reached out, pulled the great door¡¯s handle, then yanked it open. The second the door moved, Elijah felt that creeping sensation of being watched. But he didn¡¯t dare give the ashassin an opportunity to get moving. Instead, he engaged the first spell on his list ¨C Calamity. The interior of the room ¨C which was about a hundred feet wide and decorated with a circle of carved pillars ¨C erupted into a furious windstorm. Lightning forked down from the ceiling, and the earth rumbled. Wind blades sliced through the atmosphere, turning the room into a massive grinder. Predictably, the ashassin was caught in the center of that vortex of destruction. And as Elijah had expected, the damage inflicted by Calamity fouled its stealth. It appeared in the center of the room, being whipped to and fro by the sharp gusts of wind that ripped layers of ash from its elongated body. The moment it was visible, Elijah cast Snaring Roots. The spell took hold, and a thousand orange-glowing vines erupted from the floor. They snaked around the creature¡¯s feet, climbing its legs, and encircling its waist. It tried to free itself, but the ashassin was a creature of Dexterity and magic. It simply didn¡¯t have the strength to break the vines. That¡¯s when the others arrived. Sadie shouldered past, then aimed an instance of Blade of the Avenger at the creature. The enormous sword exploded from beneath the ashassin, sheering one of its legs off. The limb burst into a cloud of ash, but before the substance could reform, the grey particles were swept away by the furious maelstrom. That¡¯s when Elijah cast Swarm, then Nature¡¯s Rebuke. The latter wasn¡¯t that effective ¨C the creature didn¡¯t qualify as an unnatural entity ¨C but still, it added to the damage piled upon the thing. As Elijah cast his spells, Dat and Kurik laid into the ashassin with their ranged attacks. Particularly effective were the Witch Hunter¡¯s crossbow bolts, each of which glowed with blue power that interrupted any ability to cast spells or use abilities. However, Kurik¡¯s own arrows, which exploded with green power upon impact, were more than useful as well. Of course, the ashassin wasn¡¯t going to take the onslaught lying down. It struggled against the vines until it realized it couldn¡¯t escape. Then, it employed its ranged abilities, sending a lance of black ash directly at Sadie. It never reached her, as it was stymied by her personal shield. The ability crashed against the bubble of white light, then exploded into a cloud of ash that was subsequently swept away by Elijah¡¯s still-ongoing Calamity. He added multiple instances of Storm¡¯s Fury, pushing himself to cast the spell as quickly as possible. The recent improvements to his Soul let him push more ethera through his channels than ever before, but he was still limited by the spell¡¯s innate cast time as well as his lagging cultivation. Even as he continued to cast one spell after another, Elijah knew that he would need to work on that sooner rather than later, lest he fall behind. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. His class was strong. His archetype was rare. But at the end of the day, his attributes were lacking compared to some others. His solution to that issue was cultivation, and so far, it had worked well enough. As far as he could tell, in that facet of his development, he was ahead of just about anyone else on Earth. Even the non-natives were incapable of keeping up with him ¨C at least based on what he knew. So, following that, it was necessary that he play to his strengths. But that wasn¡¯t a problem that could be solved in a day. In more than five years since the world¡¯s transformation, he¡¯d only made a handful of advances in cultivation. And while that pace of improvement set him apart from many others, it was still slow. Going forward, it would only get more difficult. According to some of the guides he¡¯d read ¨C and stories he¡¯d heard from non-natives ¨C the higher stages of cultivation often took millennia to conquer. If he wanted to maintain his advantage, he couldn¡¯t let up. But he also needed to be patient. In any case, in the middle of a battle against a monster that could easily turn them all to ash probably wasn¡¯t the best time to think about such things. Even when it seemed entirely confined by Elijah¡¯s roots, the creature was incredibly dangerous. So, he pushed himself to continue casting, adding two more instances of Swarm and Calamity ¨C with dozens of casts of Storm¡¯s Fury in between ¨C before, at last, Dat finished it with a glowing white crossbow bolt to its chest. The thing burst into white flames, and when they winked out a second later, nothing of the monster remained. ¡°Did you just burn ash?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Called Purifying Shot. Kind of like an execute, you know? It gets close to death, and I can finish something like that thing off,¡± Dat said. ¡°Doesn¡¯t work against people, though. Or beasts. Just monsters and creatures from other planes. Like that ashassin.¡± ¡°Undead, too?¡± ¡°Yeah, bro. That¡¯s why I took it as an evolution.¡± ¡°Fair enough.¡± After that, Elijah and Sadie approached the center of the room where a dais rested. Upon that platform flickered a red flame. ¡°How do we put it ¨C¡± Elijah had already summoned Healing Rain. Initially, the drops of precipitation only sizzled in the fire, but after a few seconds, the deluge managed to douse it. That act elicted a slight rumble, but otherwise, there was no sign that the enchantment had been affected. ¡°I guess that works,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Straightforward seemed the best solution,¡± Elijah pointed out. Now that they had proven the viability of their plan, Elijah and his companions set off to find the other nodes. In the end, it wasn¡¯t a difficult task. The keep, while expansive, wasn¡¯t a collection of maze-like halls. Instead, it followed a logical pattern that they had no issues following. Still, it was by far the largest building Elijah had ever seen, and he suspected that it occupied the entire mountain. So, while not terribly difficult, finding the nodes took quite some time. The second ashassin went down just as easily as the first, but the third location played host to two of the creatures. Still, after the initial surprise of facing a pair of opponents wore off, the fight went much the same as the previous battles. The fourth, though, was much more difficult. Dat claimed it was because the lone ashassin guarding that node was of a much higher level, which tracked with what Elijah felt. It wasn¡¯t confined by Elijah¡¯s Snaring Roots, which meant that their questions about whether they could survive its touch were soon answered. Fortunately, it went for Sadie. Anyone else would have died. Even Elijah would have succumbed, but due to the Crusader¡¯s high Constitution, she managed to withstand the creature¡¯s touch long enough for Ron and Elijah to hit her with a barrage of healing energy. Still, she almost lost that battle as her hand turned a sickly gray and bits began to flake away. For a long few moments, the two forces ¨C ash and vital energy ¨C warred to a standstill, but then, Elijah¡¯s Nature¡¯s Bloom spell bloomed, tipping the balance against the ash. It faded soon after. To her credit, Sadie had barely even acknowledged that she was on the verge of, at the very least, losing her arm. Instead, she fought on, which was why the ashassin fell only a few minutes later. Still, it was a close call, and if any of them had needed a reminder of the stakes, that close brush with death definitely served that particular purpose. After that, the fifth node, which ended up being a battle against four of the monsters, didn¡¯t seem so difficult. Certainly, it was dicey, and there were a couple of close calls, but the near-death experience had left them all uniquely focused, which was all that was necessary to overcome the obstacle. However, it also marked the point where they needed to make a decision. In the back of his mind, Elijah had hoped that the choice would be taken out of his hands. It was possible that the ashassins would prove so powerful that defeating more than was absolutely necessary would be out of the question. Yet, that was not the case. The group was more than capable of keeping going until all seven nodes were broken. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea, bro.¡± Elijah was of two minds. Implied in his deal with the giants was that he would free them if he could. But that ignored the danger of doing so, and he found himself agreeing with Dat¡¯s assessment. It wasn¡¯t a good idea. ¡°If we don¡¯t do this, I think it¡¯ll come back and bite us later,¡± Elijah said. Then, he spoke over Sadie¡¯s objection, adding, ¡°Not in this challenge. Probably not in the Trial. But I¡¯ve begun to think about things a little differently than before. Earth is isolated right now, but how long is that going to last? Eventually, we¡¯re going to find ourselves dealing with other planets. And maybe, other planes like Ignis. We need to be conscious of the reputation we cultivate with the rest of the multiverse. To that end, I say we destroy the other two nodes.¡± ¡°I¡¯m with Elijah,¡± Kurik said. ¡°It makes sense to me,¡± Ron agreed. Sadie shook her head. ¡°This is too dangerous.¡± ¡°I already said what I think.¡± ¡°Three against two,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Assuming we¡¯re approaching this democratically. But here¡¯s the thing ¨C I don¡¯t want to do it like this. So, if you two really don¡¯t want to do this, we won¡¯t. I just think you should rethink your stances.¡± Sadie frowned. For a moment, Elijah thought she was going to scream at him. Then, suddenly, her face lost its expression and she muttered, ¡°Why did you have to be reasonable about it? Fine. We destroy the other nodes.¡± Dat, of course, followed her lead. And just like that, they were set on finishing the job. Elijah knew he should have been satisfied with that, but he was more confused than anything. Still, he managed to corral his focus so that they could complete the task they¡¯d been given. The final two nodes proved to be the most difficult so far, with both guarded by a pair of the stronger ashassins. But in the end, Elijah and his companions prevailed. When they finally doused the last flame, the earth gave a slight shake. But otherwise, nothing happened. Until they reached the cavern containing the crisscrossing bridges. That was when they saw that a war had broken out between the giants. 6-34. Staying Focused Every bridge in the cavern shook as if under the influence of an earthquake as hundreds of enormous giants waged war against one another. Magma flew in every direction as the sound of uncountable heavy blows mingled with inarticulate screams of agony and anger. Beasts with wings of fire ¨C Dat called them magma-forged gargoyles ¨C populated the sky, spitting huge balls of destructive fire onto the combatants while their char goblin riders threw spears of obsidian at their enemies. And from the relative safety of the door leading to the keep, Elijah and his companions could only watch in horror. ¡°What do we do?¡± Ron breathed, his voice barely audible over the cacophony coming from below. Just then, Elijah heard the lead giant ¨C he¡¯d never even gotten the creature¡¯s name ¨C let out a massive bellow. Then, the nearly forty-foot-tall figure ripped the arms from another fire giant before battering another group into submission with the detached, rock-like limbs. It was a striking display of bestial savagery that Elijah would never have expected from the calm-seeming giant. Perhaps the lesson to be learned was that creatures from other planes ¨C even ones that looked and sounded human-ish ¨C were not predictable. Humans, especially Earth-bound ones, were ill-equipped to understand such creatures. And the scene below was a good reminder not to make assumptions. ¡°Our task has not changed,¡± said Sadie. ¡°We still must find this Cinderath and kill it. Likely the master who enslaved it, as well.¡± ¡°Where do we find it, though? And how are we going to get through all of that?¡± Dat asked. Elijah answered, ¡°I think Cinderath is in the lava pool below.¡± ¡°Magma, bro.¡± ¡°See, I¡¯m not sure you¡¯re right. I mean, magma refers to molten rock below the Earth¡¯s surface, but when it¡¯s gathered in a pool like that¡­¡± ¡°Not the time, boys,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Right. Sorry,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Anyway, I think Cinderath is down there. In the lava.¡± As he said that, he pointed below. The web of onyx bridges descended to a location only a few feet above the surface of that magma pool. Elijah couldn¡¯t make much out at such a distance, but he could see that the most central platform was besieged by giants. The domed lattice encapsulating it prevented him from seeing what was happening on the platform itself, though. But if he was a betting man, he would have put his money on that being the master¡¯s location. And where it was, Cinderath wouldn¡¯t be far. Elijah relayed that information to the others, then said, ¡°There¡¯s only one question. Do we fly? Or do you all want to take the long way?¡± ¡°You mean fall, bro. There¡¯s no way you¡¯re getting through all of that without those magma-forged gargoyles ripping you to pieces,¡± Dat said. ¡°Much less getting back up here for multiple trips,¡± Ron added. ¡°So little faith,¡± Elijah muttered. In truth, he knew they were right to be skeptical. He¡¯d barely survived against the flying creatures in the last challenge, and they weren¡¯t nearly as powerful looking as the gargoyles. ¡°Just wanted to give you all the option.¡± ¡°We go on foot,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± ¡°I was born ready,¡± Elijah said with a steely glint in his eye. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Ugh,¡± Sadie groaned. ¡°Were you saving that one? And is that your action hero pose?¡± asked Ron. ¡°I don¡¯t get it,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I really need to set up a theater in Ironshore,¡± Elijah said with a shake of his head. ¡°And it was a joke.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t sound like you were joking, bro.¡± ¡°You did sound serious,¡± Ron agreed. Elijah coughed awkwardly, then turned to Sadie and said, ¡°Right. Are we¡­ready? Please say yes.¡± She gave a soft chuckle that Elijah was certain wasn¡¯t meant to be noticed. That made him feel a little better about his group¡¯s blatant derision of his completely normal declaration of readiness. She didn¡¯t smile often, so anything that broke that chilly demeanor was a good thing, as far as he was concerned. After that, the group prepared themselves as best they could. After dealing with the ashassins, they¡¯d taken some time to recover as well as they could, but the intense heat of the environment prevented them from reaching perfect condition. However, they were in as good of shape as they could manage, so the group wasted no more time before setting out across the bridges. The first thing Elijah noticed was the precarious footing. From afar, it wasn¡¯t obvious, but the ongoing battle between multi-ton creatures violently shook the bridges, all of which were connected by one point or another. So, the onyx bridges swayed enough to tax even their enhanced Dexterity. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Still, it only took a few moments before they¡¯d acclimated to the movement, and they wasted no more time before plunging ahead. The first group of clashing giants lay at the initial intersection, where much of the onyx latticework had been completely destroyed by the battle. As Elijah and his group approached, none of them could ignore the sheer impact of those creatures¡¯ blows. None of the giants attempted anything approaching a defensive posture. Instead, they only concerned themselves with offense, meaning that they simply slugged one another back and forth until one fighter broke. And despite the lack of skills on display, the ferocity of the creatures was unmatched. So, it was with no small degree of trepidation that Elijah and his companions dove into the fray. One small mistake could see any of them squashed into paste. Elijah knew that even in his most durable form, he wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance of enduring one of those mighty blows. So, he opted to take on the Shape of Venom instead, if only because it allowed him to present a much smaller ¨C and quicker ¨C target. Dat had the highest Dexterity among them, so he fared the best as they dodged between the giants¡¯ legs. However, Kurik, with his shorter stature, seemed well-suited to the task as well. Even Sadie proved adept at dodging, less because of her attributes and more due to her training as a warrior. She had an ingrained ability to read a battle, and she used that to good effect as she anticipated the giants¡¯ moves in order to avoid them. But Ron had it worst of all. Despite being quite fit, the Healer just didn¡¯t have the attributes to keep up. He made do with wariness, but more than once, one of the others was forced to help out. In one instance, Sadie simply threw him over her shoulder and darted past one of the brawling giants. They didn¡¯t attempt to fight. Not only would it have been largely useless ¨C the giants were far too strong and numerous for them to have any hope of winning ¨C but it just wasn¡¯t necessary. The giants never paid them any attention. Instead, they were far too focused on trying to beat one another to death. And it was clear why, too. ¡°You betray master!¡± ¡°He no master! He evil! We no slaves!¡± On and on it went, the words often slurred beyond recognition. Finally, they made it through the first platform and onto the next stretch of bridge. However, none of them relaxed until they were almost a hundred yards down the slightly sloped surface. ¡°Why are they fighting?¡± Ron wondered. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± Elijah asked in response. ¡°These giants have been here a long time. Some of them don¡¯t know anything but slavery. They probably don¡¯t even know what it means to be free, so they¡¯re fighting against the ones who are intent on killing their master.¡± ¡°That¡¯s so sad,¡± Dat said. And it was, but there wasn¡¯t anything Elijah could do about it. So, he didn¡¯t participate in that conversation any further. Instead, he focused on the bridges around him, mapping a course that would hopefully take them to the bottom of the enormous cavern. It was miles wide and many times deeper, so getting from one point to another took no small investment of time. Further complicating that was the fact that each platform along the way played host to furious fighting between the giants, the gargoyles, and even a few ashassins. The only solace lay in the absence of fighting on the bridges between each platform. On a couple of occasions as they slowly made their way ever downward, they were forced to battle an ashassin or one of the magma-forged gargoyles, but those fights went about as expected. After all, those creatures had been active participants in the battle. So, they were already worn out and often injured. Still, they proved to be formidable opponents that were more than capable of killing Elijah or his companions if they lost focus. They didn¡¯t. And as such, they gradually carved a path down to the bottom level. With every foot they¡¯d descended, the heat grew more intense, and by the time they found their way to the final platform, they were being broiled alive. The only reason they didn¡¯t die was because of Ron¡¯s constant efforts. What the man lacked in physical abilities, he more than made up for in the sheer efficiency he brought to the Healing arts. Elijah was certain there wasn¡¯t another Healer in the Trial who could have kept them all upright without running out of ethera. But Ron managed it all the same. For his part, Elijah felt almost no effects of the extreme temperatures, but he did feel something. That told him that his cloak¡¯s Temperate trait wasn¡¯t entirely foolproof. It had limits, just like everything else, and the Emberstone Keep challenge had found them. ¡°Wait,¡± Elijah said, having shifted back into his human form in order to help Ron with the heals. ¡°What? We can¡¯t stay here much longer,¡± Sadie said, her teeth gritted in pain. Just because they were being healed as soon as the damage was done, it didn¡¯t mean that they could escape the pain of being cooked alive. ¡°Look.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what you want us to see.¡± The platform itself was the largest in the entire cavern, which meant that it was at least a hundred yards across, with the latticework dome of onyx extending around a hundred feet above the surface. Thirty feet below that was the sea of roiling magma. There were a dozen giants ¨C including the leader Elijah had met ¨C banging their fists against the woven web of onyx, but it held firm. Elijah could sense the thick ethera keeping the normally brittle crystal from shattering under their mighty blows. ¡°We need a plan for what we¡¯re going to do here. We still haven¡¯t seen Cinderath, and we have no idea what form the master will take,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°And if those giants can¡¯t get through to the platform, then what chance do we have?¡± ¡°We can¡¯t go back, can we?¡± Ron asked, sweat pouring down his face. His clothes clung to his body like he¡¯d just stepped out of the ocean. Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. I think I need to talk to the leader. See what ¨C¡± Just then, the bridge shook even more violently than ever before. More disturbingly, something shot from the magma below and wrapped around a giant. A second later, the enormous figure was yanked from his feet and dragged from the bridge. He screamed in terror, but that ceased after only a moment when he disappeared beneath the surface of the sea of magma. ¡°What the fuck was that?¡± Ron muttered. Dat, who was closest to the edge of the bridge, just pointed. Elijah crept forward, then looked at the fiery ocean below. Or rather, at the creature half-submerged in its depths. It looked like someone had taken a dinosaur and mashed it together with a giant squid, then thrown in some octopus for good measure. That was to say that it had bright red scales, dozens of thick tentacles, and a shape that looked both familiar and alien at the same time. ¡°Is that a¡­¡± ¡°That¡¯s a lava kraken,¡± Dat said. ¡°Named Cinderath.¡± ¡°I¡¯m out,¡± said Ron. ¡°Me too,¡± Kurik added. ¡°I am not fighting that thing,¡± Sadie agreed. ¡°Do you think it wants to be friends?¡± Elijah asked, largely because, even from so far away, he could recognize that the thing was a guardian. 6-35. The Power of Friendship ¡°I repeat ¨C what the fuck was that?¡± Ron muttered. ¡°Did you just ask if it wanted to be friends?¡± added Kurik. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°It¡¯s kind of cute, right? Like a pug, but instead of a tiny lapdog, it¡¯s a giant tentacle beast.¡± Kurik cut in, ¡°Monster. The word you¡¯re lookin¡¯ for is monster.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not a monster,¡± Elijah argued. ¡°If anything, I think it¡¯s closer to a guardian, and one that¡¯s been kidnapped and enslaved.¡± Indeed, the moment Elijah had laid eyes on the enormous beast, he¡¯d realized two things. First, that it had picked up that giant without breaking a sweat ¨C and with only a single tentacle, too. What¡¯s more, the act seemed perfectly fitting, like watching a lion take down a gazelle. But as impressive as that was, Elijah was far more concerned with the second thought that had come to him. The creature was a guardian. He didn¡¯t know how things worked on the other planes, but he trusted his instincts. He could feel the kraken¡¯s nature, and it felt almost identical to what he¡¯d felt with the panther back on his island. And Snappy the turtle. The guardian bear as well. Elijah had enough experience with guardians to feel entirely secure in labeling the kraken as such. The only question was what he intended to do with it. His first instinct was to save the creature. It had been unjustly harnessed, and its enslavement set Elijah¡¯s blood to boiling. It was one thing to kill a guardian. He didn¡¯t like it, and he would certainly never approve of such action. But he also knew that it was always a distinct possibility, and he had little choice but to accept that, sometimes, it was even necessary. However, there was no excuse for capturing and enslaving such an impressively mighty creature. That someone had was both troubling and infuriating, both in equal measure. But Elijah couldn¡¯t very well explain that to his companions. Not adequately, at least. So, he opted for an abbreviated version. ¡°It¡¯s a Druid thing. I¡¯m not leaving this place until that kraken is free,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t expect any of you to understand, and I get it if you don¡¯t want to ¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯ll help you,¡± Sadie said. ¡°We will?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°I don¡¯t think you understand. That ain¡¯t just some squid down there. It¡¯s a ¨C¡± ¡°I have eyes, Kurik. But Elijah would support us if the situation was turned around, so we owe him the same. Besides, as I understand it, that thing has been enslaved. Even if it is a monster, that is a despicable thing, and I won¡¯t let it stand,¡± Sadie stated. Then, she turned to Elijah and asked, ¡°So, what do you want to do?¡± Elijah blinked in confusion before he finished processing what she¡¯d said. To that, she cocked her head sideways, but before she could ask what the issue was, he said, ¡°Thanks. I didn¡¯t really expect anyone else to understand.¡± ¡°It¡¯s instinctive. If anyone gets that, I do. Yours seems a lot more altruistic than mine, though.¡± ¡°Still, thank you. Now, as to what we¡¯re going to do? I have no idea. I was hoping one of you would have a suggestion,¡± he said. None did, and they didn¡¯t have time to stand around debating various courses of action. Already, they¡¯d garnered the attention of a few of the gargoyles, which were on their way. So, Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯m going down there to talk to it.¡± ¡°You can talk to animals?¡± ¡°Uh¡­no. But I hope I can get through to it,¡± he said. Then, without further discussion, he added, ¡°Just stay alive until I get back.¡± Then, he leaped over the side of the bridge, already having cast Shape of the Sky. Before he hit the pool of magma, he snapped his wings out and glided in the direction of the kraken. It was only partially submerged, so at least it was visible. And what Elijah saw was a truly magnificent creature whose head was the size of a school bus. Elijah landed on its ridged head, which definitely didn¡¯t go unnoticed. In the space of a second, one of the thing¡¯s tentacles was already on its way. So, he wasted no time before digging deep into One with Nature and delving into the creature¡¯s vital essence. Time felt like it slowed down as he dug through all the noise until, at last, he found the guardian¡¯s core, which was teeming with so much life that Elijah almost didn¡¯t notice the fire. He latched onto the former, using the sense granted by One with Nature to give him access. He had done something similar with the guardian panther, though back then, he hadn¡¯t had a clue what he was doing. He¡¯d formed a bond with the creature, which had, in turn, given him access to the Animist class. This time, that was not his goal. Instead, he only wanted to create a temporary alliance based around an exchange of services. Elijah wanted to set the creature free, and in return, the guardian kraken would help them dispatch its master. A win-win if there ever was one, and if Elijah was honest, he expected the goals to be one in the same. Yet, the kraken was horrified at Elijah¡¯s touch and pulled away the second he made contact. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. ¡°YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED!¡± it roared in a voice that shook the entire cavern. ¡°Oh, shit!¡± Elijah exclaimed, stumbling backwards and very nearly sliding from the slick surface of the kraken¡¯s skull and into the magma below. ¡°You can talk!¡± ¡°SO CAN YOU!¡± ¡°Oh¡­uh¡­touche, I guess. Look, Mr. Kraken. I¡¯m a Druid of upstanding moral character, and I want to help free you. In exchange ¨C¡± ¡°YOU ARE NO DRUID.¡± ¡°What? Yes, I am. I don¡¯t have a badge or anything, but my status is pretty clear about my druid-hood.¡± ¡°A DRUID WOULD NOT REQUIRE PAYMENT.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asking for payment!¡± Elijah said. ¡°I just thought I needed to ¨C¡± ¡°LIES!¡± ¡°Look here, buddy. I¡¯m just trying to help you out. You¡¯re not here by choice, are you? I want to get you out of here, and I think the guy who¡¯s keeping you here is the same guy I want to take out. This is a win-win.¡± ¡°WIN-WIN? I DO NOT KNOW THIS TERM.¡± ¡°It means that we both get what we want. I want to help you, and I need to kill the person in charge. The same one the giants are trying to kill. You want to be free.¡± ¡°I WISH TO GO HOME.¡± ¡°Yeah. That. So, what about you help me, and I¡¯ll help you. And please stop waving your tentacles at me. We both know you¡¯re not going to use them. I touched your core. I know what¡¯s in your heart.¡± ¡°WHICH HEART? I HAVE SEVENTEEN.¡± ¡°Metaphor, man. Or woman. Or agender squid-lizard-thing. Whatever. My point is that I¡¯m a Druid, you¡¯re a natural creature in need, and I think we can help one another out. What do you say to that?¡± ¡°YOU WILL KILL THE FIEND? HE IS FORMIDABLE AND PROTECTED.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I came here to do,¡± Elijah said. Sure, the terms of the challenge called for him to overcome Cinderath, but he expected that sending the kraken back to its own world would satisfy those terms. How he would accomplish that feat was anyone¡¯s guess. ¡°THEN WE HAVE AN ACCORD.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°So, what are we dealing with?¡± That¡¯s when the creature explained ¨C in much a much quieter tone ¨C the situation. The master, who was predictably one of the ta¡¯alaki, had used his magic to summon a host of fire spirits from Ignis, then harnessed their power to fuel a much larger portal. That was how he¡¯d brought the first fire giants over, and eventually, he¡¯d enslaved Cinderath, keeping the giant kraken in check by holding its eggs hostage. Once Elijah had all the necessary information, he launched himself back into the air, flapped his wings once, then glided toward where he¡¯d left his companions. After that, he explained the situation before saying, ¡°So, we need to get into that dome, defeat the so-called Master, then send everyone home through the portal. Once that¡¯s done, we can free the fire spirits as well. Simple, right?¡± ¡°What are this Master¡¯s powers?¡± ¡°He¡¯s an Elemental Summoner. He shouldn¡¯t be that strong by himself, but he¡¯ll be guarded by minions he¡¯s summoned from other realms. Probably fire-themed, given the setting.¡± All the while, the battle between the giants had continued without pause. It was only because of the sheer noise of it all that the meeting between Elijah and Cinderath hadn¡¯t been overheard. Instead, it had been lost in the cacophony. However, that short conversation had given Elijah all the information he needed to overcome the challenge. At first, Elijah had considered asking the giants for help, but it only took one look at the ongoing battle to recognize the error in that line of thinking. They were so busy fighting one another that if they even tried to retreat, the other side would doubtless take the advantage. So, once again, the goal became less about slaying the giants ¨C if they were even capable of such a thing ¨C and more about slipping through the cracks. The only reason Elijah suspected it was even possible was because he and his companions were so much smaller than the giants. The only issue was that Elijah had no idea how to get inside the lattice dome. Fortunately, while Elijah had been engaged in pleasant conversation with a kraken, Dat had used that time to study the situation from afar. He¡¯d even used Ghost Cloak to get close enough to come to a few conclusions ¨C chiefly, that he thought he could open the door. When Elijah asked about it, Dat just gave him a wide grin and said, ¡°I¡¯m a Witch Hunter, bro. I can do lots of cool stuff.¡± With that, the group made some final preparations before plunging into the fray. They¡¯d spent the past hours steadily descending through one battle after another, so Elijah thought himself prepared for what to expect. However, this fight was between the biggest giants of the bunch, each one of a size with the leader. So, he felt smaller and less significant than ever before. Fortunately, their prediction that the giants wouldn¡¯t care about their presence proved prescient, and after dodging between so many enormous giants¡¯ legs, they finally reached the door. It was sized to fit a ta¡¯alaki, which meant that the giants had left it alone. Instead, they¡¯d focused their efforts on fighting one another and, when possible, trying to tear through the lattice itself. Because of the giants¡¯ focus, the door was mostly left alone, giving Dat an opportunity work his magic. Ethera swirled around him as he knelt before it, and suddenly, a silver padlock manifested before him. He wasted no time before attacking it with a pair of lockpicks, and a second later, it clicked open. When it did, the door followed suit, swinging inward on unseen hinges. And exposing a scene of horrors on the other side. Elijah had no connection to elemental creatures, but even he could feel the pain radiating from five glass cylinders surrounding the room. In the center was a dais, upon which was a portal that resembled the ones they¡¯d encountered in the Underrealm challenge ¨C though on a much larger scale. Sitting before it on a throne made of onyx and glowing with molten heat was a ta¡¯alaki clad in black armor. Elijah hated the creature the second he laid eyes on him. ¡°So the time has come,¡± the creature said, pushing himself upright. His lower half was exposed, but Elijah could sense a shield of shimmering ethera surround it. The armor was high quality and studded with large, decorative rubies. In its hand was a massive sword with a blade that was at least five inches wide. ¡°The emperor sent you, did he not? I will not surrender. I will fight ¨C¡± ¡°We weren¡¯t sent by your emperor. We have come to free the creatures you have enslaved,¡± Sadie said, stepping forward, her own blade in hand. ¡°You will pay for this injustice, fiend. You wear your sins as armor ¨C a practice I will not abide.¡± ¡°Sins? All necessary. You have ¨C¡± He never got the chance to say more, because he was cut off by a blue crossbow bolt slamming into him. The projectile bypassed the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s shield, piercing through his armor as well. Not much, but just enough to interrupt whatever spell he¡¯d been casting. ¡°No casting for you, bro,¡± Dat announced. And just like that, the battle began. 6-36. Summoners Pact Elijah ignored the ta¡¯alaki summoner¡¯s monologue, instead preferring to focus on the task at hand. He crept forward under the concealment of Guise of the Unseen, covering the ground as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Sadie leveled a scathing insult at the summoner that sent him into a rage. He leaped at her, sword held high, but when the blade fell, her personal shield remained intact. More importantly, she countered with a horizontal slash that gouged his armor. ¡°You dare?!¡± he screamed, spittle flying from his reptilian mouth as he retreated. She kept it up, using Blade of the Avenger to keep him on the back foot. At the same time, Kurik and Dat continued to fire upon him. Crossbow bolts and arrows filled the air. Some, he knocked from the sky with his giant blade, but others reached him. Kurik¡¯s arrows failed to penetrate the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s armor, but Dat¡¯s pierced through the thick metal, eliciting hisses of pain. That was when Elijah leaped upon his back and unleashed the power of the Shape of Venom. The caustic toxin that flowed from his fangs was both physical and ethereal in nature, and it was augmented by Venom Strike, Predator Strike, and, of course, accompanied by Insidious Malady. To his credit, the ta¡¯alaki summoner reacted quickly, slithering bonelessly to somehow dislodge Elijah from his back. For his part, Elijah narrowly avoided being caught. Instead, he bounded away, skittering across the floor before coming to a stop. Just as he recovered his feet, the summoner bellowed, ¡°Strike me down, and you will come to regret your pitiful lives!¡± None of the others paid the statement any mind. Instead, they continued to pile damage upon the ta¡¯alaki by various means. It wasn¡¯t like it mattered, though. The summoner¡¯s fate was sealed the moment Elijah had gotten close enough to bite him. Now, it was only a matter of time before he succumbed. Which didn¡¯t make any sense. Even as the summoner wobbled in place, pelted by a half-dozen projectiles a second, Elijah wondered why he wasn¡¯t putting up more of a fight. He¡¯d felt the power of the archdruids. He had experienced the might of the necromancer. And he¡¯d barely survived fighting the aviak champion in the first challenge. By comparison, the summoner seemed like an afterthought. Had Dat¡¯s Hex of Tongues truly been so effective that it had neutered the summoner¡¯s power entirely? The label implied that the ta¡¯alaki wasn¡¯t a physical fighter, but then again, neither had been the necromancer. No ¨C something was wrong. Elijah just wasn¡¯t sure what that something could be. So, he shifted into his caster form and laid on as much damage as he could. He cast Swarm and Storm¡¯s Fury, adding Calamity for good measure. He even cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke, though it wasn¡¯t the supercharged version he could employ against unnatural creatures like the undead. And over the next ten or fifteen seconds, the ta¡¯alaki was ripped to pieces. He continued to scream nonsense, claiming that they were making a mistake, but they couldn¡¯t afford to let up. So, they kept going until, at last, the creature fell before their combined might. ¡°Is that it?¡± asked Dat, looking around for more enemies. ¡°Uh¡­I don¡¯t think so. I just ¨C¡± Elijah never got that full statement out, because the portal on the dais in the center of the room shimmered, dragging his attention away from what he¡¯d meant to say. Before he could remark, that shimmer turned into a white light so intense that it rendered him briefly blind. His vision recovered a moment later, but by then, it was too late. A claw the size of a Honda Civic gripped the portal. Elijah screamed, ¡°Run!¡± He needn¡¯t have bothered. There were threats they could meet head-on, but the owner of that hand wasn¡¯t one of them. Elijah sprinted toward his companions, and once he saw Ron lagging behind, he took a page out of Sadie¡¯s book and tackled the man around the mid-section. A second later, he heaved the Healer onto one shoulder in a fireman¡¯s carry as he sprinted toward the door. Behind him, the world rumbled. Not just the walls. Or the ground. The very air vibrated and burned. And all the while, Elijah thought he could hear the summoner¡¯s final words. ¡°You and the emperor will come to regret this!¡± That much was already true. Elijah and the others barreled through the door, slamming into the railing. It was fortunate it was there, because they would have otherwise plummeted into the magma below. As it was, the railing allowed them to rapidly change directions and race down the bridge. They only made it a few feet before they realized that, unlike was the case with their entrance, they couldn¡¯t escape unseen. Miraculously, the battle between the giants had ceased as they all focused on the domed platform. Or more accurately, on the monster emerging from the portal. Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author. No one could see it yet, but the giants clearly knew what it was. The leader bellowed, ¡°The master is dead! Leave your enmity aside and focus on the coming cataclysm!¡± It was at that moment that the dome broke, and every eye ¨C human, dwarf, and giant alike ¨C found their way to the monster that had appeared in their midst. Elijah had no words to describe the creature, which was composed of shadow, ash, and fire wrapped around a monstrous figure that defied explanation. It was hundreds of feet tall, and it hadn¡¯t even fully emerged from the portal. ¡°Umbrafyix!¡± the leader of the giants shouted. ¡°MY BOND IS COMPLETE. MY WRATH IS ABSOLUTE. BURN.¡± The creature waved its hand and the giants closest to the platform burst into flames, then burned to ash in the space of a second. ¡°BURN,¡± the umbrafyix echoed. Elijah had no idea what to do. The creature before him didn¡¯t just feel powerful. It was so far beyond him that he couldn¡¯t imagine fighting it. It may as well have been a god, for all he could stand up to it. The only answer was to run, but even that seemed like a fantasy. Never was that more obvious than when the giants¡¯ leader ¨C a creature that, on its own, could have ripped Elijah in half ¨C tried to attack the umbrafyix. And the giant was swatted aside like an insect. He screamed as he plummeted to the sea of magma below. The other giants raced forward, intent on attacking. Perhaps they knew something Elijah didn¡¯t, because their charge proved suicidal. And it wasn¡¯t a long, drawn-out process, either. They were slain in seconds, and the gargoyles as well as ashassins followed soon after. Elijah¡¯s mind whirled as he tried to think of a plan, but as the creature finally leveled its gaze on him and his friends, he found nothing. So, he fell back on the same tactics they¡¯d established in a hundred other fights. He cast Healing Rain, then loaded his companions with Soothe. Meanwhile, Ron started casting his most powerful heal, and Sadie encased everyone in shields. Dat and Kurik used what defensive abilities they possessed while Elijah initiated the shift into his most durable form. They all knew it was useless. It was obvious that they couldn¡¯t stand up to that creature¡¯s attacks, and now that all the giants had been slain, there was nothing else in the cavern to draw its attention. ¡°SLAYERS. DIE NOW.¡± The thing raised its arms, clutched its shadowy claws into fists, and then brought them down upon the remnants of the onyx dome. It shattered, but Elijah was more concerned with the wave of ethera-laced flames racing in his direction. Even as his transformation into a lamellar ape completed, he knew he couldn¡¯t survive their touch. Nor could he dodge. Those flames reached hundreds of feet into the air, so there was no escape. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for ¨C¡± Just as he¡¯d begun his apology, the flames reached them. With a sound like a rushing freight train, they swept past. He closed his eyes, and as he was enveloped by intense fire, Elijah was surprised that he didn¡¯t feel any pain. It was only when he opened his eyes that he realized that he was entirely unharmed. Moreover, he was looking at bright red scales. Only a moment later, he heard Cinderath¡¯s voice say, ¡°SAVE THE EGGS. PRESERVE THE PORTAL. I WILL DEAL WITH THIS ABOMINATION.¡± ¡°ABOMINATION? BURN!¡± Elijah glanced back at his companions, and he saw that they were just as surprised as he was. Sadie said, ¡°Don¡¯t say it.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You were going to point out that making friends with the monster was a good idea,¡± she replied. ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± ¡°But it was?¡± ¡°Bro. Not the time.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± he said. Then, he asked, ¡°How are we going to¡­oh, wait, there we go.¡± The kraken had just lifted its tentacle to reveal that another of its tentacles had formed a ramp that eventually led to the platform. It didn¡¯t take the group long to recognize that it was their only option. ¡°I don¡¯t belong here,¡± Kurik complained as he followed Elijah and Sadie out onto the tentacle. ¡°It ain¡¯t right¡­¡± ¡°You said you like this kind of thing, bro.¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± After that, they all went silent as they raced along the impromptu bridge, which dipped below the onyx path and circled around. Apparently, the kraken¡¯s tentacles were far longer than Elijah had suspected. Meanwhile, a titanic battle raged overhead. The kraken wailed on the umbrafyix, and it scratched and clawed, sending gouts of fire that were hot enough to burn even the creature who lived in a pool of magma. It also kept screaming, ¡°BURN!¡± over and over again. Even from a distance, the heat of it was enough to blister Elijah¡¯s scales. Thankfully, Ron was on top of things, healing the damage as soon as it appeared. The distance they needed to travel wasn¡¯t great, so they quickly found themselves back on the original platform. By that point, the battle between the kraken and the umbrafyix had moved on, with the pair descending into the magma pit. However, the damage was already done. Three of the five glass tubes were cracked. The fire spirits within had gone wild, hammering against the tubes in an effort to escape. The glass held, but the rapidly spreading cracks suggested that wouldn¡¯t remain the case for much longer. So, repairing those became the first order of business. ¡°Sadie, you still have that putty, right? The stuff you use to repair your armor?¡± Elijah asked. She nodded, and he continued, ¡°We need to use it on those tubes. If they fail, the portal goes with them.¡± She didn¡¯t need any other instructions. Instead, she retrieved the can of putty from her pack, then ran to do as he¡¯d suggested. At the same time, Elijah cast his senses out and looked for the eggs. Thankfully, they were just out of sight behind the now-dead summoner¡¯s throne. Elijah ran to inspect them, and when he arrived, he saw that they were entirely unharmed. From a visual standpoint, the eggs looked like freshly blown glass, but to his senses, they screamed with potent vitality. He knew he was looking at future guardians, and as such, his vow to protect them meant that much more. Complicating that resolution was the fact that, while they were all occupied with the tasks at hand, a trio of powerful ashassins had climbed out of the portal. These newcomers were larger and more magically potent than any Elijah and his companions had yet to encounter. What¡¯s more, the biggest of the three took one look at him and smiled before saying, ¡°Little Druid, give us those eggs, and your death will be quick and painless. Resist, and you will die suffering.¡± Elijah¡¯s answer was as predictable as the rage suddenly blooming within his heart. He let out a roar and threw himself at the large creature, never even considering what the thing¡¯s touch might do to him. 6-37. Righteous Agony coursed through Elijah¡¯s veins as the monster wrapped its unnaturally long arms around him. He flexed his every muscle, pushing against it with every ounce of Strength he possessed, but it was no good. The ashassin¡¯s grip was like iron, and Elijah simply wasn¡¯t powerful enough to escape. So, he did the next best thing. His head darted out, and he clamped his jaws around the monster¡¯s slim neck. Then, once he had a mouthful of ash, he ripped free. Of course, the nature of the ashassins dictated that they were more than capable of reforming from such an attack, but to do so, they were forced to dissipate into a more nebulous form. And that allowed Elijah to break free of the thing¡¯s grip. A second after he hit the ground, a powerful heal settled onto him, soothing the pain and repairing the damage wrought by the powerful monster. With that buoying Elijah¡¯s confidence, he threw himself back into the fray the moment the creature reformed. His claws lashed out, ripping into the ashassin¡¯s slender body. Every now and again, he¡¯d hit something a little more solid than the rest, which elicited soundless howls of pain. That told him he was on the right track, which spurred him ever forward. After all, he had his mission ¨C to protect the eggs ¨C and he refused to fail. Those little orbs of what appeared to be molten glass represented nascent life, and Elijah refused to let them be destroyed. Fortunately, his companions were onboard as well, and Sadie battled the two smaller ashassins on her own terms. Meanwhile, Dat and Kurik added their own contributions, with the former sending a volley of powerful arrows to tear through the trio of monsters while the latter busied himself with deploying one of his traps. Elijah didn¡¯t recognize it as one of the dwarf¡¯s usual designs, but he could feel the power radiating from the crystals he used to power it. Hopefully, it would be strong enough to make a difference. Elijah continued his battle against the ashassin, and all the while, the fight between the two titans below set the entire mountain to shaking. Those two creatures were so far beyond Elijah that the fact that they were both from a different world seemed secondary. If he had ever thought himself powerful, their strength would have served as a wakeup call. Thankfully, his occasional meetings with Kirlissa had disabused him of the notion that he was anything more than an insect in a world of gods. But talking with a friendly dragon ¨C no matter how powerful ¨C was far different than seeing that pair of creatures battle it out. It wasn¡¯t out of the question that one wrong move would see him become collateral damage. Still, Elijah knew that to progress was to put himself in danger. He only hoped that he could survive long enough to see the fruits of his labor. To that end, he levered the enhanced Strength of the lamellar ape to his advantage. And while he wasn¡¯t quite as powerful ¨C on the whole ¨C as the ashassin, he quickly discovered that he could stand toe to toe with the thing in a physical confrontation. The only downside was that, for every second the thing touched him, his flesh was turned to ash. Thankfully, Ron was there to mend the damage, but healed or not, that didn¡¯t make it any easier to endure. Sadie had it easier, if only because the two other ashassins weren¡¯t quite as strong as the one Elijah faced. Quantity often had a quality all its own, but when it came to sheer power, fighting one strong opponent was far more difficult than fighting a pair of comparatively weaker foes. Especially when her personal shield kept them from touching her. Constitution played a role in helping them resist the effects of the ashassins¡¯ touch, but they were both a long way from being able to endure it without issue. So, aside from having Ron there to reverse the effects, simply not being touched was the best defense they could muster. Unfortunately, that just wasn¡¯t possible for Elijah. So, he marshaled his willpower and pushed the pain aside as he steadily ripped through the monster before him. It did little good, aside from prolonging what Elijah was beginning to think of as the inevitable. They¡¯d learned that the ashassins¡¯ ability to reform after taking damage wasn¡¯t infinite. It depended on ethera, and eventually, it would run out. However, it seemed that Elijah¡¯s foe was a long way off from that mark. It made him wonder which would run dry first ¨C Ron¡¯s or the ashassin¡¯s supply of ethera. Still, the pain Elijah experienced from being repeatedly turned to ash was nothing compared to what he¡¯d endured within the amalgam of necrotized flesh he¡¯d battled in the Underrealm challenge, and it certainly didn¡¯t compare to being ripped in half. Silver linings, he supposed. The battle itself wasn¡¯t technically impressive. Nor was it as satisfying as many Elijah had fought. There was something so inherently disappointing about ripping into his enemy and getting nothing but a cloud of ash for his trouble. The beast within him wanted to rend flesh and see splattered blood, and the dragon was frustrated with the ashassin¡¯s stubborn refusal to submit to the dominant force Elijah represented. His human side was no less annoyed, but more because he could read the writing on the wall. He knew that, unless something changed, and soon, he would begin to wear down. Winning, it seemed, just wasn¡¯t possible. No sooner had that morose thought settled onto Elijah¡¯s mind that Kurik shouted, ¡°Done! Bring it this way!¡± Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to comply, and a second later, he¡¯d wrapped his arms around the monster¡¯s slim waist. He twisted like a wrestler, yanking it from the ground and launching himself backward. A second later, he released the surprisingly light creature, and it flew in Kurik¡¯s direction. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. The dwarf¡¯s eyes widened, but he held his ground. Just before the ashassin reached him, a bright, blue light flashed, and fingers of ice erupted from the floor. They wrapped around the ashassin in mid-air, then squeezed. It tried to diffuse into a cloud of ash, but the icy claw pulsed with enough ethera to foil that effort. Then, Kurik pulled back his bow string and let loose a white arrow bristling with power. It hit the icy fingers, and for a second, nothing happened. Just when Elijah was wondering what the point of it all was, an explosion of ethera rippled through the area. However, that shockwave of pure energy never reached him. Instead, it stopped after only a few feet, then imploded. Like a black hole of ethera, it collapsed onto the ashassin, pelting the creature with shards of ice. The thing tried to fight free. It attempted to disperse into ash. But its every attempt was fouled by the sheer potency of the magic at play. Finally, its efforts slowed, and the pressure of the imploding energies folded in on it. Then, after only a second more, the energies disappeared, leaving only a tiny sphere of dirty ice behind. It clinked to the ground, then rolled to a stop only a foot or so later. Then, it rapidly melted before evaporating into nothing. ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Elijah breathed, not even noticing the still-ongoing battle between Sadie and the other two ashassins. What he¡¯d just witnessed defied everything he understood. ¡°Counter trap,¡± Kurik grunted. ¡°Not gonna get into the technicals of it, but it takes creatures of ethera and counters ¡®em. New skill evolution, and a good¡¯n.¡± ¡°Damn right,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Can you do that to the others?¡± Kurik shook his head. ¡°Cooldown¡¯s too long,¡± he said. ¡°But I can cook somethin¡¯ else up. Gimme a sec.¡± With that, he started pulling things out of the pack he¡¯d deposited onto the ground. As he did that, Elijah turned his attention to the other fight and quickly surmised that he was best served by the Shape of Venom. So, he initiated the transformation and raced across the intervening distance and leaped upon the back of one of the creatures. It was so focused on Sadie that it never even reacted until Elijah delivered an Envenom. Before it could respond, he leaped free and did the same to the other creature. However, he quickly discovered that it was the wrong move. The ashassins immediately burst into a giant cloud of ash that soon began swirling around the room like a tornado. Elijah countered it by shifting back into his human form and casting Calamity, but as powerful as that spell was, it could do nothing to neutralize the storm of ash. And where that cloud touched, it bored into them and tried to convert them to ash. It wasn¡¯t as powerful as the concentrated touch of one of the fully formed ashassins, but it made up for that with sheer pervasiveness. It didn¡¯t impact only one person. Instead, it affected them all. Ron worked overtime in an attempt to mend the damage they all suffered, but it quickly became clear that his spells ¨C as powerful as they were ¨C just weren¡¯t up to the task. So, Elijah shifted into his human form and threw out as many heals as he could. Still, they barely kept up. Fortunately, Sadie was mostly protected because of her shield, and she¡¯d also used her other shield spell to protect Ron. However, that still left Elijah, Dat, and Kurik fully exposed. And it was at least as agonizing as enduring the touch of the most powerful ashassin. That was when Dat said, ¡°Get down!¡± Everyone dropped to their bellies, and a second later, a burst of purple light ripped through the area. The windstorm ceased, and the ash drifted to the ground. Elijah had no idea if the reprieve was temporary, but he was more than grateful for the chance to catch up on the healing. A few seconds later, he saw that the news was both good and bad. Dat¡¯s ability ¨C whatever it was ¨C had brought an end to the storm of ash, but it hadn¡¯t killed the creatures, as evidenced by the fact that the ash had slowly started clumping together. Soon enough, the creatures would reform. Thankfully, they had Kurik on their side. He retrieved a contraption he¡¯d just pieced together and threw it at the largest gathering of ash. But it didn¡¯t do anything. ¡°Kurik¡­¡± ¡°Wait for it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think ¨C¡± ¡°I said to wait for it!¡± A second passed. Then two. Until finally, just as Elijah was about to say something else, the contraption lit up. At first, it didn¡¯t seem that anything had happened, but then, the air shimmered, and a hundred beams of pure ethera slammed into the various clumps of ash. After only a second, they froze into blocks of ice, and Kurik shouted, ¡°Break them!¡± Elijah was more than happy to comply. So was Sadie. Together, they raced around the room, shattering ice ¨C Elijah in his lamellar ape form, and Sadie with her sword ¨C until, at last, they all received a wave of experience that announced that the creatures were dead. It was only then that Elijah realized that the sounds of battle from outside had ceased. Fearing the worst, he ran to the door and craned his neck to peer at the lava. There was nothing there. ¡°What the¡­¡± Only then did a tentacle emerge, followed by a dozen more, and then, the kraken appeared. Its enormous and bony head was deeply scarred, and one of its six eyes had been ruptured. But it was alive. Clearly, the umbrafyix was not. ¡°DRUID. ARE THE EGGS SAFE? IS THE PORTAL STILL OPEN?¡± ¡°Yes on both counts,¡± he answered. ¡°But there might be a problem. The portal¡¯s only so big, and you¡¯re¡­uh¡­you probably won¡¯t fit¡­¡± As it turned out, that was not an issue. Elijah had no idea what kind of spatial shenanigans were at play, but when Cinderath pulled itself up to the platform, gathered the eggs, and went through the portal, it just disappeared inside. His Mind whirled to try to make sense of it, but nothing he saw followed the laws of physics. ¡°Magic, I guess.¡± That was his go-to answer, it seemed applicable to the current situation. ¡°THANK YOU, DRUID. YOU ARE AN HONORABLE ENTITY. IF YOU EVER COME TO IGNIS, SEEK ME OUT.¡± ¡°Uh, sure,¡± Elijah said to the creature as it slowly disappeared into the portal. It was missing nearly half its tentacles, and many of its wounds were even more severe than normal. So, he attempted to cast a heal on it, and though the spell landed without issue, it was nothing compared to the thing¡¯s sheer vitality. That, as much as anything, told Elijah just how far above him Cinderath was. The creature didn¡¯t say anything else. Instead, it wrapped a tentacle around the eggs and, only a few moments later, completely passed through the portal. That left Elijah and the others to deal with the aftermath of the battle. ¡°You guys feel that?¡± Elijah asked as the earth rumbled. ¡°I think we should run, bro.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t dispute that supposition, and together, everyone raced across the platform and to the nearest bridge. 6-38. Eruption ¡°Just grab the reward, and let¡¯s go!¡± shouted Elijah, struggling to maintain his balance. It wasn¡¯t just an earthquake. Nor was it simply a volcanic eruption, though in one facet of his Mind, Elijah wondered how he could be so dismissive of one of the most destructive forces in existence. However, he felt confident that, with his Dexterity making him more coordinated than anyone in pre-World Tree human existence, he should have had no trouble keeping his feet. Yet, there he was, stumbling around like a drunken idiot after a long bar crawl. That, along with the dense ethera racing in every direction, told him that something else was at play. Not that there was much he could do about it at the moment. The only avenue was to escape, so, even as Dat opened the silver reward box, Elijah ignored the notification that he¡¯d completed the challenge of Ignis and turned his attention to the problem at hand. Chiefly, the issue centered around the fact that they had miles upon miles of bridges to cover, and judging by the steadily increasing potency of the rumbling below, they didn¡¯t have much time to do so. No one wasted time on conversation. Instead, they all sprinted from the platform, which collapsed only seconds after they¡¯d departed. Elijah didn¡¯t spare a glance backward, but he felt the onyx structure disappear beneath the pool of magma. He was only grateful that it didn¡¯t take the entire network of bridges down with it. As they sprinted along the black crystal surface, they passed dozens of corpses. Some belonged to giants, others to the magma-forged gargoyles, and Elijah even saw a few piles of ashes he knew had once been ashassins. He paid them no heed, knowing that they didn¡¯t have the luxury of inspecting the bodies and taking loot. Instead, he and the others dodged around or vaulted over the often-massive corpses. What Elijah belatedly recognized as a volcano rumbled far more powerfully than ever before, and he nearly lost his feet. Sadie did stumble, but Elijah was there to catch her on the way down. A second later, she was upright and sprinting. Ron fell next, a particularly vicious quake sending him careening out of control until he rammed into one of the railings. It cracked under the stress, though Dat reached out to grab the man before it collapsed entirely. After that, they all experienced similar falls or stumbles as they continued running, but together, they managed to avoid any disasters. However, when Elijah glanced back, he saw that the bridges had continued to collapse behind them. And seeing the rate at which they fell into the magma, he knew they wouldn¡¯t have time to escape. Not if they kept going the way they were. ¡°This isn¡¯t working!¡± he shouted. ¡°We¡¯re not going to make it!¡± ¡°Don¡¯t see any other options!¡± Kurik exasperatedly spat in return. But Elijah did. While he knew that there was normally no way he could carry all four of his companions while in the Shape of Sky, he thought he had a trick up his sleeve that might give him the Strength necessary to accomplish that feat. So, he yelled, ¡°Everyone latch on once I transform! Kurik and Ron, legs. Sadie on my back. Dat, wrap your arms around my chest. Back when they¡¯d been faced with the problem of how to get up to the undead pyramid, Elijah had considered an optimal weight distribution in case he needed to fly everyone up at once. Ultimately, he¡¯d realized that doing so just wasn¡¯t possible, but he put those plans to good use as he shifted into his winged form. Despite knowing all the problems with Elijah¡¯s plan, the situation was desperate enough that no one questioned it. Even as he completed the transformation, everyone obeyed his commands, piling on in the directed order. The Shape of the Sky was not a creature of Strength, and because of that, Elijah felt every extra pound as his companions latched onto him. He ignored the strain, and the second they were in place, he used Savage Might. Not wasting any time, he beat his wings more powerfully than ever before, and despite the weight, he managed to lift off. It was just in time, too, because only a moment later, the bridge collapsed beneath him. In the past few months, Elijah had been through a lot. He¡¯d been tested in myriad ways, from mental to physical and everything in between. However, fighting against gravity was a new kind of challenge, and one he strained to overcome with every flap of his multi-colored wings. Gradually, he climbed, using every point of his Savage Might-enhanced Strength to propel him upward. All around him, the collapse of the webwork of bridges outpaced his ascent, and he was forced to focus more than one facet of his mind on dodging falling debris. Sadie, upon his back, lent her assistance by shielding him when he was incapable of avoiding the falling shards of onyx, but each impact set him back. Her shield protected him from damage, but it did nothing to mitigate the lost momentum. For that, Elijah could only rely on himself. He strained with every muscle, using every ounce of hard-won flying experience he¡¯d acquired since his first transformation into the dragon-like creature. Yet, it was obvious that it wasn¡¯t enough. Far below, the volcano continued to rumble and bubble. It was on the verge of eruption, and if Elijah didn¡¯t get well clear, he and his companions would perish. But all he could do was continue to push. To keep flapping his wings as powerfully as he could manage. Then, when he was only halfway to the entrance to the keep, the volcano finally erupted. The oxygen in the air ignited, with Elijah and the others along with it. As he was burned alive, every facet of his Jade Mind screamed in agony. It wasn¡¯t just fire, either. Nor was it limited to suffocation. Instead, he was assaulted by dense fire-attuned ethera that tore through his limited defenses with ease. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. The only thing that kept him from succumbing immediately was Ward of the Seasons, which managed to block the worst of magical fire. Still, the mundane flames that came with it were more than enough to turn him to ash. Yet, he didn¡¯t die. Even though there was a part of him that wished it were otherwise, if only to stop the pain. It took Elijah a few moments to recognize that Ron was steadily pouring ethera into his most powerful healing spell, delaying what was seemed, more and more, like inevitability. Sadie tried to mitigate some more of the damage by using her shields, but as rapidly as she cast them, there was only so much she could do. The ignition of the air was only the preamble to the real event, though, and a moment later, a shockwave of immense proportions tore through the cavern. Elijah¡¯s delicate wings broke under the onslaught, but by that point, they weren¡¯t that important. One way or another, they were getting out of the volcano. Without their attributes, which made them superhuman, as well as the constant attention of Sadie and Ron, they all would have been pulverized into jelly. However, because of those factors, they held themselves together long enough to ride the shockwave ever higher. The top of the mountain exploded only moments before they reached the cavern¡¯s ceiling, and briefly, Elijah saw open sky. A second later, that was obscured by a cloud of ash that seemed to pervade everything. He and the people clinging to his body like it was a life raft soared ever upward, and if Elijah had been capable of rational thought amidst all the pain, he would have come to the inevitable conclusion that he¡¯d reached the end of his path. But then, the worst of it passed. Ron¡¯s healing ¨C which was still ongoing ¨C began to outpace the damage, and Sadie¡¯s shields held for a split second longer. All the while, Elijah¡¯s body seemed like it was unmade and reconfigured again and again with every passing moment. It came as something of a surprise when they flew clear of the eruption, and it took Elijah a few seconds to remember to fly. But by that point, Savage Might had run its course, and his tattered wings were in no condition to hold them aloft. So, they fell more than they flew, hitting the ground and tumbling across the rocky landscape until they came to a rest only a few feet from a river of lava. For almost a minute, no one said anything. Elijah could feel that everyone was still alive, and what¡¯s more, Ron¡¯s efforts had ensured that no one was in danger of dying. Yet, that didn¡¯t mean they were in good condition. Indeed ¨C everyone was more broken and battered than at any time that had come before. Except Elijah. He was just as injured as the rest, but he¡¯d endured much worse. So, he kept his wits about him enough to shift back into his human form and cast Healing Rain. That helped ease Ron¡¯s burden, but there was no escaping the fact that the Healer had his work cut out for him. Finally, after Elijah had a chance to gather his thoughts, he said, ¡°That certainly was an explosive situation.¡± Sadie groaned. Dat laughed. And Kurik just lay there, suffering in silence. Whether the source of that suffering was Elijah¡¯s bad joke or the situation they¡¯d just endured, Elijah had no idea. ¡°Seriously, is everyone still intact?¡± he asked. Sadie said, ¡°I never want to do that again.¡± ¡°Which part?¡± Elijah asked. The challenge of Ignis had certainly been different than all the rest, and it had ended with a bang none of the other challenges could match. ¡°Look on the bright side. If we ever actually go to Ignis, we have a friend waiting for us. All in all Cinderath wasn¡¯t a bad guy. Or girl. Or agender behemoth from a different reality.¡± ¡°Says you,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°That thing woulda eaten me in a second if you weren¡¯t there. You ever think about bonding a creature like that, you best not bring it back to Earth.¡± ¡°No thanks. It was a guardian and a sapient creature. That would be like bonding another human.¡± ¡°You think that don¡¯t happen?¡± Kurik asked. Elijah was about to say that such a thing was impossible, but then he thought about the Immortals. Or the guild leader back in Seattle. It looked different, with contracts and such, but those people had been bonded to their leaders just as surely as a beast to its tamer. Of course, Elijah didn¡¯t approve of the notion of a tamer in the first place. Instinctively, he felt it implied an unequal partnership, as if the beast in question was subservient to its master. If Elijah were to ever bond a creature ¨C other than the mist panther that had protected him during the first part of his journey ¨C he would only do so on equal terms. Otherwise, considering the intelligence displayed by the guardians he¡¯d encountered, it would be no better than slavery. Those thoughts and more flickered through Elijah¡¯s mind as he continued to convalesce. It only took a few more minutes before he progressed to the point where he was no longer in danger of keeling over, but still, he didn¡¯t move. Instead, he focused on the notifications he¡¯d received in the wake of the conclusion of the challenge. The first was predictable:
You have conquered the Challenge of Ignis, Emberstone Keep. Reward: Seed of the Ash Lotus
Of course, Elijah hadn¡¯t actually taken possession of the item in question. Dat still held onto it, but Elijah would have been lying if he didn¡¯t admit that he was curious as to what the item did. Was it similar to the Seed of the Whistling Wind, which had given Dat a permanent boost to Dexterity? Or was it an actual seed that could be planted? If it was the former, Elijah had no intention of claiming it, but if it was the latter, he wanted it for his grove. Who knew what sorts of miracles Nerthus could create with a seed powerful enough to have been a reward for one of the challenges? The next notification was far more exciting, though. At some point during the battle, he¡¯d progressed his level, as denoted by the system message floating before his inner eye:
Congratulations! You have reached level 105. Attribute points allocated according to class and specialization.
Elijah wasn¡¯t terribly interested in the level itself or the attributes that came with it. Sure, he liked getting stronger, but he was far more concerned with what it meant. At level one-hundred and five, he would get a new spell or an evolution. With that in mind, he eagerly shifted his attention to the next notification. 6-39. Spell Evolution It should have been an expected turn of events, but Elijah was still a little surprised when he saw that an evolution was available for one of his spells. From the guides he¡¯d read ¨C as well as conversations with those few people he¡¯d met who were willing to discuss their spells and skills ¨C he knew that his class and archetype combination was blessed with a glut of abilities. It made sense, after a fashion. After all, he had four distinct forms, three of which ¨C human, blight dragon, and guardian ¨C had defining abilities associated with them. On top of that, he needed healing spells, damage spells, and control abilities. As a result, he had almost double the number of abilities that were given to most. Because of that, he received far fewer opportunities for ability evolution. It was just another factor supporting the notion that the Druid ¨C and subsequently, the Animist class ¨C was based on versatility. So, when Elijah received the opportunity to evolve one of his spells, it was a huge deal. With that in mind, he looked at the notification with great interest:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Calamity. Please choose a path:
Typhoon Volcano Stormborn
Evolve Calamity by focusing on the breadth of the effect, harnessing the power of a true natural disaster. Evolve Calamity by focusing on the intensity of the effect, incorporating the unfettered fury of the earth. Evolve Calamity by taking an entirely different path. Wreathe your body in the power of the storm.
As had been the case with other spell evolutions, the wording was a little vague. However, upon looking over the options, Elijah thought he had some notion of what was in store with each choice. Typhoon felt like a straight upgrade over the current spell, and while it wasn¡¯t the exciting option, it was probably the safest. Calamity was already one of his most powerful spells, but of late, its effects had been outpaced by the strength of his opponents. So, he usually used it more as a distraction than as the devastating area spell it was probably intended to be. Likely, it would have already been upgraded if he¡¯d chosen a different class. However, with this new option, there was a good chance that it would become far more useful as a pure damage spell. That definitely filled a hole in his toolkit, because the only other area spell he had was Swarm, which barely even qualified for that label. Still, when Elijah looked at the option, he got the feeling that the evolution focused more on the size of the area of effect, rather than the potency. The second option seemed like the opposite. It was also a clear deviation from the current form of Calamity, focusing on the titular volcano rather than the power of a storm. And given what he¡¯d just experienced, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of excitement at harnessing even a fraction of the power he¡¯d endured during the recent eruption. But the third choice truly called to him, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. Since he¡¯d gained his Animist class, Elijah had focused on close-quarters fighting. Every time he was forced to act the role of a Mage or Healer, he¡¯d found himself extraordinarily frustrated. He did it when necessary, but his every instinct screamed at him to use his powerful bestial forms in battle. So, the Stormborn option seemed like a perfect fit. It also bore the least descriptive explanation, which made it a bit of a gamble. He had no idea what it meant to wreathe his body in the power of the storm, and he wouldn¡¯t unless he took the evolution. Or found a guide that mentioned it, which was a faraway hope at the best of times and even less likely within the Trial, where there weren¡¯t even any Librarians to hire. The question was whether or not he wanted to rob himself of the one facet of versatility Calamity provided. Perhaps the evolution would still give him some of that, but based on the description as well as his instincts, it would send that line of spells down an entirely different path. So, it was a choice between versatility and specialization. On the one hand, he¡¯d relied on the former ever since he¡¯d attained his archetype, responding to every situation with an appropriate ability. He could heal, cast damaging spells, and fight in melee via his two most prominent transformations. On the other hand, he knew that specialization was the path to more potent abilities. He was already powerful, so what could he do with a bit more focus on his preferred method of fighting? It was an interesting debate, but Elijah knew that he¡¯d made his decision the moment he¡¯d understood what was on offer. With that in mind, he picked Stormborn, eliciting another notification detailing his newly evolved spell:
The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Stormborn Harness the power of the storm, granting increased damage from every attack. In addition, each form gains a new ability: Shape of the Guardian: Thunderclap Shape of Venom: Stormbind Shape of the Sky: Lightning Rush Human: Lightning Domain Each ability requires an expenditure of stamina and Ethera. Potency based on Core Cultivation.
The pace of Elijah¡¯s heartbeat quickened as he looked at the description. What he saw was even better than he¡¯d dared to hope, but he wouldn¡¯t know for sure whether he¡¯d chosen correctly until he saw the individual ability descriptions. So, he opened the one for Thunderclap:
Thunderclap Erupt into a brief fury of lightning, damaging and briefly stunning opponents. Potency based on Core Cultivation. Cooldown based on Constitution Attribute. Current: 7.9 Minutes. Only usable when under the effects of Shape of the Guardian.
¡°Damn,¡± he muttered before moving on to the next.
Stormbind Attack unseen, binding your opponent in place and preventing all spellcasting or ability use. Duration based on Core Cultivation. Current: 2.4 Seconds. Cooldown based on Dexterity Attribute. Current: 10.3 Minutes. Only usable when under the effects of Stormborn.
That was even more interesting, and Elijah¡¯s Mind whirled as he considered all the past situations where such an ability would have proved useful. He was immediately reminded of Dat¡¯s Hex of Tongues, though the immobilization component was just as important. To say he was satisfied would be a complete understatement. He moved on to the penultimate ability granted by Stormborn:
Lightning Rush Transform into a bolt of lightning, increasing speed accordingly. Duration (and subsequently, distance) dependent on Core Cultivation. Current: 1.9 Seconds. Cooldown based on Ethera. Current: 2.3 Hours.
It only took a few moments¡¯ worth of calculation for Elijah to let out a gasp as understanding washed over him. Given the speed of lightning, he could cover around seventy-five miles in that amount of time. The Shape of the Sky was already fast, but the ability to basically teleport seventy-five miles away would assuredly become quite a boon, and not just regarding travel. If he¡¯d had Lightning Rush even a few hours before, he and the others never would have had to deal with being inside a volcano while it erupted. Finally, Elijah moved on to the last ability ¨C the one associated with his natural form:
Lightning Domain Become a conduit for the power of the storm, sending arcs of lightning to assail your enemies. Caster must remain stationary while Lightning Domain is active. Maximum Duration dependent on Ethera Attribute. Current: 7.2 seconds.
Lying flat on his back, Elijah pumped his fist and let out a ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± asked Kurik, who¡¯d propped himself up on bit of volcanic rock. The others were similarly arranged, though they weren¡¯t paying much attention to Elijah. Not surprising, given what they¡¯d all been through. Ron was busy healing everyone back to full viability, and the other two were likely going over their own gains. ¡°Nothing,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just a new ability.¡± It was more than that. The one thing he was afraid of about choosing the Stormborn evolution was losing the area-of-effect damage that Calamity provided. Now, he had something similar. However, it wasn¡¯t all good news. Lightning Domain was almost assuredly smaller in terms of effective radius, and it wouldn¡¯t result in the atmosphere of confusion that Calamity had forged. Still, given that he¡¯d effectively gained four new abilities ¨C five if he counted the passive buff ¨C in exchange for one, he was pretty happy with the tradeoff. More importantly, he was incredibly eager to give everything a try. Before that, there were a couple of things they needed to take care of. Because of his advancement to the Iron stage of Body Cultivation, Elijah¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t nearly as severe as they should have been. In addition, he had noticed that his natural ability to regenerate had taken a step forward. So, because of that, he was the least injured of his companions. Ron and Kurik had gotten the worst of it, experiencing severe burns across their bodies as well as multiple broken bones. But Dat wasn¡¯t much better off. Sadie had come through it reasonably intact, but even she was in worse shape than Elijah. Still, he needed some time to recover, so he remained where he was, lying as still as possible while he healed. To occupy his Mind, he worked on his Soul Cultivation patterns. He¡¯d already memorized the network of channels, including the changes he would have to make before he could move on to the next stage. However, he¡¯d also come to realize that the established pattern wasn¡¯t set in stone. The possibility of variance remained, and he had a feeling that, if he tailored the channels to his own needs, he could gain a bit more from the advancement. So, he studied his channels ¨C or more importantly, the way the ethera moved through them ¨C so that he could note the spots where the flow became clogged. It never stopped, but he¡¯d found multiple points of lacking efficiency. Maybe those were meant to be fixed with future tiers of Soul cultivation, but Elijah felt that he could do better than the guides suggested. With that in mind, he continued to study and plot the future course he intended to take. Like that, hours passed until he felt well enough to rise to his feet. The others were still deep in the throes of convalescence, so he didn¡¯t dare abandon them. Instead, he stretched a little, then headed a few dozen yards away. He could still feel his companions via One with Nature, but they were far enough away that he could activate his new abilities without fear of disturbing their recovery. With that goal in mind, Elijah used Stormborn. The moment the cast completed ¨C it took almost four seconds ¨C his body was enveloped in subtle arcs of lightning. For a few moments, he twirled his staff, going through the motions of the pseudo-kata he¡¯d developed back on his island. At the culmination of each strike, electricity swirled, eliciting a crack of thunder. He had no idea how strong those lightning strikes would be, but it reminded him of when he used Storm¡¯s Fury in close quarters. Once he¡¯d familiarized himself with that, he shifted into his guardian form, finding that when he shadowboxed, he saw a similar effect at the end of each punch. However, he was far more interested in Thunderclap. When he used it, the eruption of lightning was secondary to the sheer auditory sensation of the accompanying thunder. The drain in stamina was fairly steep, but with his Constitution, he had plenty to spare. Next, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, but to his dismay, there were no enemies on which to try Stormbind. Still, he was happy to note that the lightning encircling his body was much more subdued in his blight dragon form. He couldn¡¯t very well use Lightning Rush at the moment, so he forewent the Shape of the Sky, instead using Lightning Domain in his human form. And it was even more impressive than he expected, causing three distinct pulses of lightning to lash out from his position. He sensed that if he pushed the duration to eight seconds, a fourth would be added. But that would take a massive influx to his Ethera attribute, so he wouldn¡¯t need to think about that for quite some time. There was no telling how much damage it would cause, but judging by the amount of Ethera it cost to maintain, Elijah expected it to be quite deadly. All in all, he was incredibly satisfied with his choice of evolution, and he was eager to see how his new abilities worked against enemies. 6-40. Harried and Harassed The arrow whistled past as it narrowly missed Miguel¡¯s head, but the next projectile had much better aim. It slammed into the segmented plate of his helmet, skipping off the lacquered wood before spinning off into the underbrush. Meanwhile, Trevor leaped to avoid a Voxx that tried to disembowel him. The stag¡¯s hooves came down hard, digging into the monster¡¯s thick scales. But Trevor knew better than to linger. There were six pursuers and five more Voxx in the area, and if they hesitated even for a moment, the enemy would catch them. And given the four Miguel had already killed, they likely wouldn¡¯t treat them with respect or dignity. No, getting caught was more than a death sentence. Instead, it was assuredly a path toward torture and long captivity. Miguel refused to allow that for himself, let alone Trevor. So, he bent close to the stag¡¯s neck and urged him to greater speed. The deer responded, embracing his moonlight powers until he glowed with ethereal light. Using that ability to push him his speed to new heights, he soon began to outpace their pursuers. Trevor leaped over a dry ravine, then darted to the left just in time to avoid a descending spear. Miguel repaid the owner of that weapon with a quick slash of his sword. It wasn¡¯t a weapon meant for mounted use ¨C it was far too short for that ¨C but he made do. The wooden blade sliced through the dark elf¡¯s forearm, stopping only when it hit the bone. To the elf¡¯s credit, she didn¡¯t even cry out. Instead, she clutched at the wound as she fell behind. Miguel didn¡¯t see any other reaction. Another arrow missed him by a wide mark, thudding into a nearby pine tree. ¡°Faster,¡± Miguel coaxed the stag, and Trevor responded. The sprint was enough to outrun their pursuers, but Trevor couldn¡¯t keep it up indefinitely. Eventually, he¡¯d find the limits of his stamina ¨C especially after making such copious use of his lunar abilities. They allowed him to run faster than even his attributes would normally allow, and he could also use them to create planes of moonlight so he could travel over water or bound high into the air. However, he was still a very young deer, and as such, he¡¯d not had the time to build his reserves. That was one thing Miguel had learned about guardian beasts. They were powerful creatures, but they were not infallible. From what he could tell about Trevor, the deer only had one ability, and if he pushed it, he could quickly run himself out of stamina. So, it was up to Miguel to rein him in, lest he push himself too far and make himself vulnerable. Of course, if that happened, Miguel would protect his friend, and he knew that if their situations were reversed, Trevor would do the same for him. For the next few minutes, they continued their mad dash through the forest, but it soon became clear that they wouldn¡¯t escape so easily. The dark elves were everywhere, and even if Miguel and Trevor managed to leave a few behind, their path soon took them into another group. That pattern repeated often enough that Miguel began to wonder just how many dark elves had come to Earth, and how far they¡¯d managed to spread. More troublingly, he started to realize that if he was going to survive, he only had three options. And none of them were good. The first was to simply keep going, but as Trevor¡¯s heaving chest told him, that plan¡¯s viability had a distinct expiration date. Soon, Trevor¡¯s stamina would give out. Maybe it would take hours more, but the stag simply couldn¡¯t keep going indefinitely ¨C not at full speed, at least. Making that even worse was the notion that they weren¡¯t just being chased. The dark elves were everywhere, and even as they left one group behind, their path took them into another group. So, outrunning them wasn¡¯t really a good plan. That brought him to the second option ¨C hiding. There were a few caves here and there throughout the area, but he questioned whether or not hunkering down in the dark elves¡¯ native territory would be a good thing. They were subterranean creatures, so trying to hole up in a cave seemed like a very bad idea. That made the second choice even worse than the first. Finally, there was the third option, but it was one that Miguel didn¡¯t really want to choose. He just wasn¡¯t sure he had much of a choice but to fight back. He had no idea how many elves there were, and from what he¡¯d seen, they were powerful enough to push him to his limits. Perhaps well beyond. If he fought, there was a distinct possibility that he¡¯d die. But wasn¡¯t that true of every time he went into a battle? He couldn¡¯t go through life avoiding danger ¨C especially when there was no other viable choice but to fight. It was a simple concept, but the realization was still profound. With that gripping his mind, Miguel shifted his focus from lamenting his lack of choices to making the most out of the one path that had a chance of survival. The first order of business was to find a properly defensive position. As he¡¯d previously established, caves wouldn¡¯t do, and for obvious reasons. He didn¡¯t know which ones might lead further underground, and he didn¡¯t have time to explore them thoroughly. A cliff face might work, but with their advantage in range and likely attributes as well, there was a good chance that the elves would simply climb the cliff and attack him from above. So, natural formations were probably out. That left the possibility of finding a defensible building. It had only been a little more than five years since the world had been transformed by the touch of the World Tree, and that amount of time wasn¡¯t enough to tear down all of the buildings. Sure, some ¨C like the prefabricated houses that had populated much of suburban America ¨C had fallen, but there were plenty of others that had survived intact. And Miguel had seen enough of them during his journey to recognize that he stood a good chance of stumbling upon one during his flight from the elves. He just needed to keep an eye out. Over the next half hour, Trevor bore him through the forest. Elves attacked frequently enough, and more than once, Miguel was forced to counter their ambushes with vicious attacks of his own. He even managed to kill one. However, his previous conclusions held firm, supported by the fact that, in all that time, he didn¡¯t break away. Then, finally, he and Trevor stumbled upon a gold mine of a location. It was a container yard next to an enormous warehouse that Miguel expected had once been a distribution center for a shipping company. The collection of buildings was so damaged that the structures were useless for his purposes, but Miguel was far more interested in the shipping containers themselves. They were made of solid steel, and while that didn¡¯t make them quite as fortified as it would have before Earth had changed, it was still enough to stymie the elves¡¯ pursuit and hopefully force them into a bottleneck. So, with a plan in place, Miguel urged Trevor to greater speed, and the stag responding with a burst of acceleration that took them into the forest of stacked containers. Many of those stacks had been overturned, spilling their contents onto the ground, and most of the others remained locked. Miguel and Trevor raced past those, looking for one that met their requirements. After only a minute or so ¨C with the dark elves still in hot pursuit ¨C Miguel found the perfect one. It was positioned on the ground level and surrounded by a half dozen other containers on each side. There were three stacked atop it as well, which meant that if the dark elves wanted to get to him, they¡¯d need to go through quite a lot of steel ¨C and whatever was contained within the huge, metal boxes ¨C to do so. The final advantage was that it stood open, and it was clear that someone had looted most of what had been inside. Miguel saw a couple of mostly rotted boxes that suggested it had once contained electronics, which told him that it had been empty for quite some time. Regardless, the emptiness gave him plenty of room with which to work. So, he ushered Trevor inside, and the moment Miguel dismounted, the stag¡¯s stamina finally gave out. Trevor collapsed, his breathing labored as his emotions went wild with fatigue, a desire to help, and shame that he couldn¡¯t do so. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± Miguel soothed. ¡°You did a great job. It¡¯s my turn to protect you.¡± With that, Miguel closed one of the container doors, then jammed a wooden dagger through the ground to keep it shut. That was all the preparation he could make before the first pair of dark elves came into view. They did so warily, both carrying bows with nocked arrows. One had a slash across her cheek, which Miguel vaguely remembered giving her. At the time, he hadn¡¯t known she was a woman, but in retrospect, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to care. An enemy was an enemy, regardless of gender. ¡°Surrender!¡± she called from afar, her melodious voice sounding like a song on the wind. ¡°We will treat you fairly!¡± Miguel remained silent. He had no intentions of giving up. Even if he trusted that they wouldn¡¯t kill him ¨C which he didn¡¯t ¨C he couldn¡¯t afford to fail his mission. The people he¡¯d sent back to Ironshore from Norcastle represented a good start, but most of those refugees had been noncombatants. If his city was going to survive the coming war, they needed a lot more fighters. The dark elven woman, with her purplish-blue skin and white hair, shook her head, then raised her bow. A second later, an arrow was in the air. Miguel slapped the projectile aside with his sword. He didn¡¯t need to use any skills or spells. His swordsmanship and attributes were more than enough to accomplish a feat that was possible, albeit rare, even before the world had transformed. The dark elf frowned. Then, she rapidly fired six more arrows. Miguel could scarcely see how she had drawn so many so quickly, but he didn¡¯t have time to worry about that. Instead, he used his latest ability, Protection of the Wind.
Protection of the Wind Surround yourself with gusting wind, protecting you from ranged attacks and spells. Power determined by relative Constitution.
A gust of wind swirled around Miguel, and the arrows went wide. As they clattered against the walls of the steel container, the elven woman raised an eyebrow and said, ¡°I see.¡± Even as she spoke, ten more elves stepped into view. Thunder rolled before a few drops of rain splattered against the concrete ground, but otherwise, the atmosphere was one of pregnant silence. Miguel steadied his breath, but in his chest, his heartbeat had reached a crescendo of anticipation, excitement, and fear. Then, they rushed him. Miguel reacted immediately, using Enrage to improve his attributes before activating Impale even as he lunged toward the first elf in line. His wooden sword slashed through the fighter¡¯s armor like it was nothing, slicing into the elf¡¯s vitals before Miguel ripped his blade free. Blood spurted, but Miguel paid it no mind. He kicked out, sending the elf staggering backward and into the other charging fighters. In a split second, Miguel sheathed his sword and drew his spear from its harness on his back. Because of its extended reach, it was a much better weapon for the situation. The elves were all armed with axes or swords, so he hoped to exploit that particular advantage. The group recovered, then rushed him again. This time, he didn¡¯t bother with any abilities. With his armor and Protection of the Wind, he was as well-defended as he could manage. And over the next few minutes, he used every ounce of skill he possessed in order to keep the elven warriors at bay. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t get the chance to inflict any other easy wounds. That first elf was still out of the fight, so it wasn¡¯t a waste. However, that attack had driven the others to wariness, and their approach reflected their increased caution. They darted in, attacking in coordinated, back-to-back strikes. Miguel¡¯s work with the spear wasn¡¯t as deft as his sword techniques, but he had enough experience ¨C and the attributes to back it up ¨C to keep them at bay. And in the space of the next thirty seconds, he even managed to take another elf out via a spear blade to the throat. But then he lost himself to the flow of battle. Often, when he sparred with Colt or one of the other Warriors back in Ironshore, he found himself thinking of them like a dance. Or a boxing match that went back and forth, perhaps. True battle, especially against multiple foes, wasn¡¯t like that. It was brutal and vicious. Within the confines of the container, there was no space for fancy maneuvers. Not time for planning. Just reflexive blocks, counters, and attacks. Miguel sank into that state, relying on his extensive training, relatively high attributes ¨C alongside his cultivation ¨C and some ephemeral battle sense that he¡¯d always taken for granted. He had always understood fighting. Some might call it talent. Others would attribute it to hard work and repetition. Still others would see his latent battle-related attunement in there. Whatever it was, it allowed Miguel to instinctively anticipate his opponents¡¯ moves and counter them efficiently, and without conscious thought. Gradually, the fight wore on. Despite the fact that they¡¯d scored a few hits, Miguel¡¯s armor and attributes kept those injuries¡¯ severity to a minimum. The elves weren¡¯t so fortunate, and within twenty minutes, half were already dead. Most of the others were injured, with only two ¨C including the elven woman who¡¯d first attacked him ¨C remaining largely unharmed. At some point, more elves joined the fight, but because of his efforts at finding a defensive position, they could only approach one or two at a time. Still, at some point, his spear broke beneath an axe blade that he didn¡¯t parry properly, and his armor took more than one serious gouge. The plates held, but every set of armor was beset with plenty of gaps. And the elves were adept at finding them, which meant that with every minute of battle, Miguel picked up another wound. Fortunately, none were serious on their own, and because of his Constitution ¨C enhanced by Pledge of the Green Warden and Woodsman¡¯s Constitution, as well as the bonuses from his armor ¨C the lasting effects were kept to a minimum. Still, the sheer accumulation of injuries took their toll. The elves had it much worse. Miguel lost track of how many he killed, but he could see the piles of bodies that further restricted their approach. On top of that, he knew he was gaining levels. He didn¡¯t know how many, and he didn¡¯t dare spare the attention necessary to check his notifications. However, he didn¡¯t have such a large pool of attributes that he didn¡¯t feel the effects of each gained level. But the elves just kept coming. Dozens fell before him, and he paid the price for each one. After thirty minutes, his body was a collection of wounds, his armor was scored in a hundred different places, and his available stamina had dwindled to nothing. With weariness dragging him down like a tangible weight, he fought on. His technique grew sloppier, and his blows lacked the strength driving them in the beginning. Still, he refused to fall. In the end, when all but two of the elves had perished, Miguel could barely stand. Even so, he forced his shoulders back and glared at them as he asked, ¡°Why?¡± The female elf who¡¯d begun the fight had stayed back the entire time, and she¡¯d actually managed to land a few arrows. Thankfully, his armor had protected him from the worst of it, but a handful of his wounds could be traced back to her efforts. ¡°Resources are finite. The world knows no kindness. Only the strongest are fit to survive.¡± With that, she drew her sword and attacked. The other remaining dark elf did the same, though he was clearly her inferior in terms of attributes and technique. She moved like liquid, and because she¡¯d mostly sat the fight out, she was fresh. Meanwhile, Miguel was exhausted. But he¡¯d kept something in reserve.
Recover Focus your Ethera, tripling your Regeneration.
It was not a high-level ability, and often, Recover wasn¡¯t enough to truly make the difference in battle. With his Regeneration, even tripling it wouldn¡¯t heal his wounds quickly. However, what it did do ¨C and the purpose of the ability, as far as he could tell ¨C was to give him a second wind. The influx of Regeneration did just that, and his fatigue faded in mere seconds. So, when the elf made contact, she found that her opponent was as fresh as when the battle had begun. Because of that, he managed to surprise her with a wicked riposte that took her in the throat. Even as she clutched her profusely bleeding neck, the other elf attempted to stop, but his momentum was such that he had no defense when Miguel turned his attention in his direction. The outcome was predictable. And yet, as the leader collapsed due to blood loss, the lone remaining elf fought with every ounce of ferocity he could muster. It wasn¡¯t enough, and Miguel dispatched him soon after. The moment that elf fell, Miguel¡¯s shoulders slumped. His physical exhaustion had faded, but mentally, he was a mess. However, he knew that his efforts had only bought him a little time. So, he took the leader¡¯s bow, gathered the few arrows he could find, then took everyone¡¯s ethereum pouches before taking off in Argos¡¯ direction. The threat posed by the dark elves had always been dire, but given the numbers he¡¯d faced ¨C and so far from Ironshore ¨C Miguel knew that the situation was even worse than anyone had expected. So, his mission was even more necessary now than ever before. And he refused to fail. Too much depended on him. With that driving him forward, he led the still-recovering Trevor from the shipping container and left the site of the battle behind. 6-41. The Spire It took three days for him to recover. But in the wake of the challenge of Ignis, Elijah felt better than ever before. For one, he had a brand-new spell ¨C or five of them, if he wanted to get technical ¨C and for another, he¡¯d taken one more step toward reaching his class evolution. On top of that, everyone in his group had progressed significantly as well. So, as he soared through the air in his Shape of the Sky, he had reason to feel optimistic about his situation. He banked, reveling in the feel of the air as it rippled past his wings. There was ethera at play, though it was so subtle that without Connection, he¡¯d never have felt it. It was comforting, after a fashion, because according to the laws of physics with which he was familiar, there was no way he should have been capable of flying as easily as he did. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than he saw something glinting in the distance. He''d left the volcanic landscape of the challenge of Ignis behind, and the terrain had returned to its jungle-like roots. From his vantage, it looked like a carpet of green spread out below him. As he sped toward the metallic glint in the distance, it resolved into a silver spire jutting from the jungle. At first, he thought it was an obelisk like the Washington Monument, but as he drew closer, he realized that it was actually a tower. The highest point flared into a platform not unlike the Space Needle in Seattle, though entirely silver and flat on the top. At the speed he could travel, it didn¡¯t take Elijah long to reach the spire, and on closer inspection, he could see that it wasn¡¯t in great shape. The silver exterior was terribly tarnished, with huge gashes running down the otherwise sleek sides, and a good chunk of the platform at the top was missing entirely. Elijah descended through the jungle canopy, and only a moment later, he found the missing piece half-buried beneath the local soil. Barely anything was visible above the surface, but via One with Nature, he could feel it well enough. Elijah didn¡¯t land on the ground. Instead, he latched onto the branch of an enormous tree, where he settled in to take stock of the situation. There was nothing alarming about the area. Sure, there were some wraiths hibernating beneath the ground, but not in abnormal numbers. Otherwise, the local wildlife was the same as he¡¯d come to expect in the other parts of the jungle. Still, it was difficult not to get lost in the sheer tide of vitality that came with such verdant terrain. There weren¡¯t just thousands of organisms in the area. There were millions. Perhaps even billions. Some were microscopic ¨C barely discernible even with his Connection-enhanced senses ¨C but there were plenty of rodent-sized, stealth-based animals in the region. Normally, those would remain entirely unseen, but there was no hiding from One with Nature. Then there were some larger animals. They were rarer, but no less impressive for it. Their little world shook with their every step. They were tyrants in their own right. Alpha predators who faced few challenges to their unquestioned authority. To Elijah, it was beautiful. Everything coexisting. Not peacefully. Never that, but still, they all played their own little part in the ecosystem. For a long time, he just watched. He listened. He felt. And it soothed his Mind in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. More than anything, he wanted to descend upon that jungle and become a part of that ecosystem. However, he knew that he didn¡¯t belong. He was an outsider in a strange land, and the moment he took a part in that world, it would be irrevocably changed. Maybe for the better, but more likely, it would be worse. He let out a hissing sigh, then threw himself back into the air. A couple of flaps of his wings sent him soaring above the canopy. After a few times circling the spire, he realized that he could feel nothing inside. It wasn¡¯t like the tomb he¡¯d visited, where life simply didn¡¯t exist within the confines of the crypt. Rather, it was as if something was blocking his senses. That definitely didn¡¯t bode well for whatever was inside, but Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder what he might find in there. So, after seeing a door in the center of the platform, he landed and decided to give it a look. Upon setting down, he returned to his human form, then decided to check his status before descending into the spire:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 106
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 188 (122)
Dexterity 176 (110)
Constitution 193 (133)
Ethera 166 (128) This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
Regeneration 197 (119)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
With all of his equipment on and his buffs active, his attributes were enormously enhanced. His Regeneration was on the verge of passing the two-hundred mark, and he expected that it wouldn¡¯t be too long before all the rest of his attributes followed suit. It wasn¡¯t often that he wasn¡¯t under the influences of those powerful bonuses, but on the rare occasions when he took off his armor and let the buffs fall away, the difference was more than noticeable. More impactful was his progression to the Iron Body stage. It seemed that every day was accompanied by a little better acclimation to the new tier of cultivation. He¡¯d felt a difference immediately upon achieving that mark, but he¡¯d felt himself growing stronger with every passing day. He knew it would eventually level out as he grew more used to the influx of power, but for now, he found himself reveling in the ever-increasing strength of his body. He hadn¡¯t expected the acclimation process, but in retrospect, it made sense that he wouldn¡¯t immediately be able to push his body to its limits. It took time to adjust to the other categories of cultivation ¨C especially his Soul and Mind ¨C so the Body being similar wasn¡¯t terribly surprising. That step forward was probably the reason that the others hadn¡¯t fully recovered from the challenge of Ignis. There were still some lingering injuries that took even Ron¡¯s powerful heals some extra time to mend. Elijah, on the other hand, was in perfect condition, which was why he¡¯d gotten restless and chose to explore a little. He approached the door, which was set into the top of the platform. The entire structure was made of some sort of silvery metal, but Elijah felt fairly certain that it wasn¡¯t actually silver. More importantly, a note of ethera ran through it, suggesting that it was far more magical than it appeared at first glance. After a little effort, he managed to lever the door open, letting loose a burst of stale air and revealing a stairway that led deeper into the spire. Elijah descended the steps, and to his surprise, the moment he crossed the threshold, his senses were unmasked. However, he could only feel the corkscrew passage that led down into the tower. He produced an ethera-powered flashlight he¡¯d bought back in Seattle from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and proceeded deeper. It only took a moment before he found the first cell. After a single glance inside, he identified the building¡¯s purpose. It was a prison, and oddly, the cell he was looking at was remarkably similar to those back on Earth. The bars maintained a spiral pattern as opposed to the vertical orientation of the cages back home, but the purpose seemed identical. Especially considering that Elijah could see the remains of the former resident. The skeleton was bare of any flesh, and only a few ragged strips of cloth remained of their attire. He shifted the flashlight, and he saw claw marks upon the wall, suggesting that the ta¡¯alaki had attempted to tear their way through the silvery metal. When Elijah touched the bars, he felt a low hum of ethera coursing through the material. It was weak, but still noticeable enough. Beside the cell, set into the wall, was a small depression that looked like a sunburst with seven rays extending from the central circle. He shook his head and continued his exploration, finding dozens of such cells on his way to the bottom. There was no indication as to what had happened, but at the lowest level, he did find a cell that seemed far more isolated than the rest. Inside was the skeleton of a large ka¡¯alaki, the distinction between the two native species made clear by the presence of legs. Nestled within the confines of its ribcage glinted something crystalline. Elijah tried to bypass the bars, but his efforts proved insufficient. He couldn¡¯t even rattle the cage, much less get inside. So, after a few minutes of trying, he moved on, eventually discovering a collection of mundane rooms. They¡¯d all been deserted, but judging by the presence of furniture like beds, desks, and cabinets ¨C inside of which were some low-quality and degraded weapons ¨C it wasn¡¯t difficult to ascertain that he¡¯d found the living quarters of the guard staff. Finally, he stumbled upon an apartment that was a little larger and better furnished than all the rest. For quite some time, he searched the collection of rooms ¨C there was a bedroom, an office, a sitting room, and what Elijah suspected was a bathroom ¨C until he had to acknowledge that there was nothing there. Anything that wasn¡¯t made of metal or stone had succumbed to the ravages of time. He did find a gold dagger that he stuffed into his satchel, though. Just as he was going to chalk it up to an interesting but ultimately useless expedition, he felt something via One with Nature. Crossing the room, he knelt beside one of the tiles on the floor. There was something below it. A cavity that he suspected contained something interesting. So, without further ado, he smacked it with his fist. Surprisingly, the tile didn¡¯t shatter. He hit it again, but to a similar lack of results. ¡°Alright, then. Bringing out the big guns.¡± In this case, the big guns in question happened to belong to a giant ape-lizard monster with way too much Strength. After shifting into his guardian form, he reared back and smashed the tile with a double-fisted, two-handed blow that should have been enough to pulverize rocks. But the result was only a hairline fracture in the surface of the tile. ¡°Damn,¡± he muttered to himself, seeing how much damage it could take. Still, now that it was cracked, it wouldn¡¯t take much to shatter it completely. So, he repeated his actions and, after three more blows, it broke. Unfortunately, when it did, it released a wave of ethera-laced force that sent him flying backwards until he collided with the wall hard enough to dent it. He also received a severe concussion for his trouble. Thankfully, his Regeneration helped him shake off the cobwebs ¨C at least enough that he remembered to shift back into his human form and cast a couple of heals that mended his bruised brain and, he suspected, cracked skull. Once he was back to normal, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and approached the brand-new hole in the ground. Upon first glance, he only saw the remnants of rotted cloth inside. However, peering closer, he found something solid. He reached down and wrapped his fingers around the object in question, and when he pulled it free and dusted it off, he saw that he held a key. Of course, it didn¡¯t really look like keys back on Earth. Instead of a toothed hunk of metal, it was a crystal cylinder with seven prongs spreading from its tip. Yet, Elijah recognized it the moment he saw it, because he¡¯d seen similarly shaped receptacles beside each of the cells on his way down. It didn¡¯t take a genius to make the connection. What¡¯s more, there was one cell that begged for his attention. So, without further delay, he retreated to the cell in question, and to his surprise, he found that the key worked its magic without issue. So, after the door swung open, he stepped inside and dug through the skeleton to retrieve the glinting item from its confines within its ribcage. Once he wrapped his fingers around it, he pulled it free and held it aloft. It was a fluted cylinder with a bulbous piece at one end and a slot in the other. Elijah stared at it for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t identify its purpose. However, what he could feel was the dense ethera swirling within. It was obvious that the item was valuable ¨C perhaps it was a weapon ¨C so Elijah tucked it into his satchel and continued his search. None of the other cells held anything that seemed important. That wasn¡¯t surprising, considering that the spire was a prison. It probably would have defeated the entire purpose if the prisoners were allowed to bring valuables with them. Still, Elijah searched every single cell within the spire, finding nothing as he slowly worked his way back to the top. When he once again found his way to the platform at the tip of the tower, he saw that night had fallen. So, after a quick glance at the site of his latest exploratory adventure, he shifted back into the Shape of the Sky and flew toward where he¡¯d left his companions. It was time to move on to the next challenge, and it was one for which he had high hopes. He¡¯d spent quite some time underwater in the Sea of Sorrows level of his local tower, so he felt that he was uniquely qualified to attack the challenge associated with Niflara, the realm of the sea. 6-42. The Difference Between First and Second Elijah stood on the beach, staring out into the surf and feeling a wave of nostalgia for home. Not because it looked all that similar. Indeed, it looked more like what he¡¯d seen in various equatorial climates, specifically in South America. The trees lining the coast weren¡¯t mangroves, but they looked close enough that Elijah thought the comparison apt. The odor ¨C like a pervasive scent of rotting eggs ¨C was similar as well. Still, even though it wasn¡¯t really comparable to his island, it put him in mind of home. ¡°It¡¯s out there, right?¡± he asked. Dat, who stood beside him, consulted the map they¡¯d gotten back in the Nexus Town. On it, three challenges were marked, two of which they¡¯d already conquered. That left only the one associated with Niflara, the realm of the sea. And according to the notes they¡¯d received, it was located more than a mile off the coast and deep beneath the waves. ¡°That¡¯s what it says, bro.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°And you really think those potions are going to be enough?¡± ¡°They have to be. They¡¯re all we have,¡± said Sadie, who was sitting nearby and patching her armor. She was running low on her magical putty, but she didn¡¯t dare hold back in its use. That armor had saved her life more than once, and she likely knew that pattern would continue. Each challenge had pushed them to their limits, and they still had a few more to go. First, they had the closest challenge. Niflara. Clearly, it was a water-based setting. After that, they needed to find the Umbra, which was sometimes referred to as the Plane of Shadows. And then, finally, they would need to confront the challenge associated with the Ethereum, or the Realm of Magic. Then there was the final challenge, which was somehow themed around the Abyss. Although, Elijah thought that there was something missing from the equation, and it didn¡¯t take him long to figure out what that was. The excised world itself ¨C called Ka¡¯arath ¨C clearly had a role to play. They¡¯d heard enough about the Lightning Emperor Yloa that he fully expected to be forced into a confrontation at some point. Whether that would be woven into one of the challenges or if it would necessitate an addendum to their current task, Elijah had no idea. But he wouldn¡¯t be surprised at either. And he intended to be prepared when that situation was thrust upon them. Still, he was getting ahead of himself, so he glanced back at Sadie and said, ¡°I think we should rethink this. Maybe go back to the Nexus Town where we can find items that will let everyone breathe underwater. Those potions only work for around eighteen hours. That¡¯s not going to be enough.¡± Indeed, potions had a lot of strange rules around them. They could do wondrous things like bringing a person back from near-death ¨C or let someone breathe underwater for nearly an entire day ¨C but one could not imbibe them without restriction. Those same healing potions were less effective with each dose ¨C at least until enough time had passed for the soft cooldown to reset ¨C and the Aqualung potions they¡¯d bought back in Nexus Town could only be used a single time. After that, the user would need to wait a week before getting any effect out of another one. That meant that if they didn¡¯t complete the challenge in eighteen hours, everyone but Elijah would drown. Of course, he still wore his Ring of Aquatic Travel, so he didn¡¯t need to worry about that. ¡°What choice do we have? If we want to ¨C¡± Just then, Elijah felt something via One with Nature. He held up a hand, silencing Sadie by saying, ¡°Someone¡¯s coming.¡± Everyone in the group immediately reacted. Dat disappeared from view, and judging by how vague Elijah¡¯s sense of the man was, he used Ghost Cloak to do it. Kurik threw out a couple of tiny crystals that briefly flared with ethera. Sadie was probably the least prepared for battle. She couldn¡¯t very well patch her armor while she was still wearing it, so she was only clad in the yoga pants and compression shirt she normally wore beneath. Still, with her enormous sword in hand, she definitely looked ready for anything. Ron pushed himself to his feet and, gripping his staff, prepared to cast his most powerful healing spells. For his part, Elijah just stared in the direction of the people he¡¯d sensed. There were six of them, and judging by what he felt, they weren¡¯t in great shape. One was missing an arm, while two others looked as if they¡¯d been digested by some great beast. Only one man remained uninjured, probably because of the thick armor he wore as he led the group through the thick clumps of semi-aquatic trees and toward the shore. Then, they came into view and, oddly enough, visibly relaxed. ¡°Hey ¨C you got heals?¡± shouted the armored man. He was huge ¨C probably six-and-a-half feet tall and built like he lived in the gym ¨C but his bearded face looked friendly enough. Ron rushed forward, already casting. Elijah followed soon after, tossing out Soothe, Nature¡¯s Bloom, and Healing Rain. However, unlike his group¡¯s Healer, he did so cloaked in a significant degree of wariness. He hated having to remain on guard for betrayal, but he¡¯d experienced enough since the world had transformed ¨C or really, even before the World Tree had made contact with Earth ¨C to know just how quickly people could turn sour. Sadie came next, using her comparatively tiny heals ¨C they were really only good enough for minor injuries or to stave off fatigue ¨C to add what she could. Almost instantly, the injured people¡¯s condition began to improve, and they visibly relaxed. ¡°Thanks,¡± said the big man once he saw that his companions were no longer on death¡¯s door. ¡°Don¡¯t know how much longer Helen and Billy could have stuck with us. Didn¡¯t expect to run up on three Healers, though.¡± ¡°Only one Healer here,¡± Elijah said, nodding toward Ron. ¡°Sadie and I just dabble.¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Dabble, huh? Feels like more than that,¡± the man said. Then, he stuck out a meaty hand and introduced himself, ¡°Name¡¯s Lamar Sims. Tank by trade. Even before the apocalypse, I guess.¡± This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. There was something familiar about the man, but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on when they might¡¯ve met. As he wracked his brain for an answer to that question, Ron asked, ¡°Wait ¨C you¡¯re the Lamar Sims? Linebacker for the Eagles?¡± The man grinned. ¡°Once upon a time. Been a while since I played football, though. Not much call for games when the world¡¯s gone to shit, right?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the truth,¡± Ron said with a genuine smile. ¡°You were my daughter¡¯s favorite player. We had to move away from Philly, but she never stopped being a fan. She even donated her birthday money to your charity for three straight years.¡± Lamar frowned sadly. ¡°It was a good cause. Not much use for leukemia research anymore, though.¡± After that, the short conversation died. Nobody liked to be reminded that, in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s touch, many people who were already fighting for their lives ¨C be it the result of cancer or other serious illnesses ¨C fell by the wayside. Sure, by now, there were Healers who could treat those diseases, but that didn¡¯t help the people who¡¯d already died. Elijah should have been one of them, but for a chance meeting with a certain tree spirit who¡¯d ushered him forward on the path of Body cultivation. Sometimes, he forgot just how lucky he¡¯d been, but then he¡¯d meet someone like Lamar who hammered home his good fortune. Clearly sensing the awkwardness of the silence, Sadie asked, ¡°Did you and your group conquer the challenge?¡± At that Lamar perked up. ¡°We did. First clear, I think. We got a lot more out of it than the other challenge we conquered,¡± he said. ¡°Not that it didn¡¯t come with a cost¡­¡± As he spoke, he looked back at the man who¡¯d lost his arm. So far, Ron hadn¡¯t reached the level he would need to regrow a limb ¨C if he ever would ¨C which meant that the man would be permanently disabled. And he obviously knew it, too, as even after he¡¯d been healed, he just stared at the ground, a vacant look on his face. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah, by the way. That¡¯s Ron. Sadie and Kurik,¡± he said, going through the group. Despite the pleasant tone of the meeting, Dat had chosen not to reveal himself. The encounter with the war elf Ikan had left a mark on the group, and they wouldn¡¯t take anyone¡¯s good intentions for granted. ¡°I knew who you were the second Helen sensed you,¡± Lamar responded. ¡°Really?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Of course. You¡¯re famous. Even if you weren¡¯t, I was at the battle in Nexus Town against those Immortals assholes. We all saw what your group did,¡± Lamar stated. ¡°A lot of people wouldn¡¯t be here without y¡¯all.¡± ¡°Oh. Uh¡­thanks,¡± Elijah said, massaging the back of his neck. After that, the conversation turned to more pleasant things. Apparently, Lamar and his group had come from what was left of Philadelphia, and he wasn¡¯t the only former football player. The now one-armed man ¨C Derrick ¨C had been the backup quarterback for the team before the apocalypse, and the others were former staff members at the organization¡¯s facility. ¡°Most of them were idiots,¡± Lamar said of his former teammates. ¡°God bless ¡®em, but they all approached it like it was a game. It worked for a while. I mean, they were all elite athletes who¡¯d made it to the peak of their professions, so of course they would have a physical advantage. But it made them cocky, and most of them made a lot of bad choices. By the end of that first year, more than half were dead. The second year saw more than half of those killed. After that, everyone sort of drifted their own ways. Most of the ones who survived ended up latching onto Vinnie, though.¡± The last, he said with more than a little anger. ¡°Vinnie?¡± ¡°He was a nobody,¡± Lamar said. ¡°Some people say he was homeless before all of this. I don¡¯t know about that, but within a year, he¡¯d built his own little fiefdom. He calls it the Heaven¡¯s Chosen Sect. There¡¯s been a war going on for the past six months. People rose up against him, but it isn¡¯t going well. He¡¯s too strong, and that¡¯s not counting the people around him. That¡¯s what he does. He gives them whatever they want, and because of that, they stay loyal. He also has this might-is-right mentality where if you¡¯re not in his sect, you don¡¯t deserve rights. Even the people who¡¯ve sworn allegiance to him have to adhere to a strict social hierarchy. And if you run afoul of someone above you? Well, you¡¯d better hope for mercy because that¡¯s the only thing that¡¯s going to protect you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s horrible,¡± Sadie said. Elijah agreed, but he also recognized a sales pitch when he heard one. It wasn¡¯t that he distrusted Lamar¡¯s version of events, but rather, that he could predict what was coming next. ¡°I know we just met,¡± the big man said. ¡°But we could really use your help.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Sadie responded without a second¡¯s hesitation. ¡°If things are as you say, then I can promise that we will do everything in our power to help. However, you should know that your situation is not unique. Moreover, my people are dealing with dire circumstances as well. So, I will propose a deal: if we help with your problem, then you will assist in Hong Kong. An alliance benefits everyone.¡± Lamar said, ¡°I think I can live with that. But I won¡¯t abandon my city. I¡¯ll help, but not at the expense of my own people.¡± ¡°I think we have a deal.¡± ¡°An alliance,¡± Lamar said. ¡°I should warn you that I can only speak for myself and my other companion. Elijah, Ron, and Kurik are their own people,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re not all together?¡± ¡°We¡¯re allies,¡± she answered. ¡°Elijah has agreed to help in Hong Kong, but¡­¡± ¡°I have responsibilities in Ironshore,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I can¡¯t abandon my daughter,¡± Ron stated. ¡°But once I can ensure her safety, I will help in any way I can.¡± All eyes turned to Elijah. ¡°I¡¯ve got a lot on my plate right now,¡± he admitted. ¡°But yeah. I¡¯ll help if I can.¡± But there was only so much time in any given day, and Elijah knew that if he stretched himself too thin, everyone would suffer. He was only one man, after all. Still, he saw opportunity there as well. Not only was helping people its own reward, but he still sensed that humanity would need to come together if it wanted to survive whatever the system had in store. Whether that would take the form in another structured challenge or simply be the problems associated with exposure to the wider multi-verse, he didn¡¯t know. But what he did know was that they couldn¡¯t survive if they fought amongst themselves. So, making inroads with other surviving population centers only made sense. For now, though, he was more focused on the trial. ¡°What can you tell me about this challenge?¡± he asked. That¡¯s when Lamar launched into an explanation of what they¡¯d been through. The other members of his group chimed in with details here or there, but for the most part, they ceded the floor to the big defender. As Lamar described the obstacles they¡¯d faced, Elijah found himself beset by mingled excitement and horror. The former, because, even with how terrible the challenges were, he could acknowledge that he craved the sense of accomplishment that came with overcoming them. Not to mention his well-developed need for adventure. However, on the other hand, Lamar¡¯s group had been through the wringer. One man had lost his arm, while the others had been on the verge of death until Elijah¡¯s group had begun to heal them. So, the challenge was clearly a difficult one. Yet, one thing stood out above all others. It had taken Lamar¡¯s group more than a week to defeat the challenge. Even if Elijah and his group could halve that time ¨C which wasn¡¯t out of the question ¨C they still wouldn¡¯t be capable of staying underwater that long. The other party was only capable of it because of a unique ability from Helen, who was an Explorer, that let them endure the airless environment. It was just further confirmation of what Elijah had suspected from the very beginning. He needed to tackle the challenge of Niflara alone. 6-43. Alone Again Elijah floated only a few dozen feet below the surface, but his attention remained fixed on the scene below. As Lamar had described, there was a city down there, but it looked nothing like what he might have expected on the surface. Constructed of coral and decorated with various sea plants, it was unlike anything he¡¯d ever seen. Adding to that impression were the denizens, which the former linebacker had described as mermaids. In the most basic sense, they lived up to that label. They were clearly hybrids between the planet¡¯s native ta¡¯alaki and fish, which gave them a reptilian cast that more resembled eels with arms than what Elijah had been led to expect by popular movies. Each one carried a trident, and on more than one occasion, Elijah had seen ¨C from afar via Eyes of the Eagle ¨C the creatures tearing into one another. That they¡¯d managed to build a city at all, given their obviously warlike nature, was quite a surprise. That was part of the scenario, according to Lamar. The aquatic humanoids were known as alaken, and they considered themselves the true natives of Ka¡¯arith. As was the case with Earth, the planet was predominantly covered in water, and in the sea, alaken were the undisputed masters. What¡¯s more, they had been hit even harder by Ka¡¯arith¡¯s excisement from the World Tree, and the vast majority of their civilization had fallen. Only their most prominent city, led by the most powerful among them, had survived. However, with the fall of their entire society came a regression in their mindset. They¡¯d always been warlike, but after many of their leaders had been slain ¨C or in some cases, fled before the excisement was finalized ¨C they became even more aggressive. Now, they had become at least as savage as orcs, and the only reason they hadn¡¯t spread was because they were confined to the sea. It was yet another cautionary tale, and one that seemed to have been repeated throughout Ka¡¯arith. Excisement from the World Tree hadn¡¯t simply cut them off from the rest of the multi-verse and set them adrift in the Abyss. It had brought out the worst of their natures, sending them back to more primitive times. Yet, even as those thoughts skittered through Elijah¡¯s mind, he found himself wondering why, if the world had indeed been cursed to existence in the Abyss, they hadn¡¯t found any Voxx. Sure, there was corruption here and there ¨C like in the fallen grove where Elijah had been confronted by the whispers of his own failures ¨C but he¡¯d yet to see a single Voxx. That didn¡¯t make much sense. Still, in the Shape of Venom, he looked down on the city and wondered how much had changed after Lamar and his team had managed the first clear. He¡¯d long suspected that the first time through a challenge would be far and away the most difficult, but he¡¯d never had the opportunity to experience the difference himself. And he was eager to do so. With that in mind, Elijah cloaked himself in Guise of the Unseen, then swam downward. After a few hundred feet, he started to feel the pressure of the depths, but because of his Iron Body and his attributes, he had no difficulty enduring it. Perhaps he could visit the Mariana Trench when he returned to Earth. If it still existed, which was far from guaranteed. Once Elijah came within a half mile of the city ¨C which stretched at least five miles in every direction ¨C he received the notification he had expected:
You have reached the City of Toh. In order to conquer the Challenge of the Niflara, slay the King and Queen. Reward: Drop of the Ocean
His heart fell. Lamar and his group had been a bit cagey about the reward they¡¯d received, but after they¡¯d grown a little more comfortable, Helen the Explorer had let slip that it was a powerful staff they¡¯d given to their Sorcerer, Kent. Elijah had hoped to receive the same reward, but clearly, his suspicions about being the forerunner was true. Being first meant getting better rewards. Still, he hoped that the Drop of the Ocean would prove valuable in its own right. Besides, there was the Primacy Ranking to worry about. Even if he wasn¡¯t the first to clear the challenge, it would still net him quite a few points that would hopefully allow him to maintain his lead. The rewards for the overall Trial far exceeded anything available from a single challenge. So, with that in mind, he continued his descent, following the directions Lamar had given him. The hulking defender had looked at him like he was insane when he¡¯d voiced his decision to attempt the challenge alone, and he¡¯d spent more than an hour trying to talk Elijah out of it. His voice was only one of many, with everyone ganging up on him. However, he had one factor on his side ¨C the others simply couldn¡¯t survive underwater without their potions. And given that those were finite, it just didn¡¯t make sense for them to go along. Of course, there were workarounds. Elijah knew that as well as anyone. But he was self-aware enough to recognize his own nature, and that nature dictated that, of late, he¡¯d felt a little stifled by constant companionship. In any case, the others had eventually acquiesced, in no small part because the idea of spending days underwater left them all a little uneasy. People weren¡¯t meant for that kind of existence, and it didn¡¯t take much for Elijah to convince them to adhere to their own natures. For his part, he¡¯d long since gotten over any uneasiness he might¡¯ve felt with that particular environment, so he had few issues with enduring it. In fact, he quite enjoyed being underwater and exploring wondrous seascapes full of interesting life. Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Lamar and the others had spent quite some time exploring Toh, and they¡¯d been forced to fight for every inch they traveled. The alaken were extremely territorial, so they had more of an attack-first mentality when it came to visitors. Or each other. Or native wildlife. Elijah, however, had the benefit of foreknowledge ¨C as provided by Helen ¨C so, he made straight for one of the larger palaces near the center of the city. At first, he¡¯d wondered why someone like the King and Queen would be so difficult to find, but the moment he came into range of the appropriate district, he recognized the issue. The region was absolutely lousy with enormous palaces made of coral. There were hundreds of them, and it seemed that each one was larger and more elaborate than the last. Thankfully, Helen¡¯s description was more than adequate for the purpose of picking the royal palace out of the bunch. So, Elijah had no issues finding his destination. According to Lamar¡¯s story, getting into the royal wing of the palace required a set of five keys, each one held by a different guard captain who presided over a different wing of the palace. It was a silly and overcomplicated system, which meant that it was probably set up by the challenge itself ¨C not unlike the entirely manufactured towers with which Elijah was very familiar. Even so, it was nice to have a clear goal and a means of accomplishing it, so he wasted no time before making his way to the first guard captain. Elijah was eager to test his new skill, so he¡¯d already used Stormborn ¨C along with all of his other buffs ¨C before even descending into the city. The lightning coursing through him tingled, but it didn¡¯t really behave like natural electricity. Probably a good thing, considering he was entirely submerged in water. Regardless, he¡¯d chosen his first target so he could test Stormbind. After progressing through the wing ¨C the interior of the structure seemed more organic than constructed, with rough walls made of red coral and lit by glowing bubbles ¨C Elijah found himself in a room with his target. Up close, the alaken looked even more alien than before, with ridged fins, slimy-looking skin, and a face that resembled a catfish. In most cases, Elijah would have had difficulty telling the creatures apart, but thankfully, he had One with Nature on his side, and the difference between the one hovering over a crystal in the center of the room was obviously different than all the rest. Not only was it more powerful, but it was also slightly larger. It carried a staff tipped with flowing seaweed rather than the typical tridents he¡¯d seen. That was all Elijah needed to see in order to mark the creature as the first guard ¨C a powerful mage that had very nearly killed Lamar with its first attack. Considering the man was in his low-eighties, and with a powerful defender class to boot, that was quite a feat. So, Elijah had no intention of taking the alaken¡¯s defeat for granted. He stalked forward, embracing the full suite of his abilities. Predator Strike. Venom Strike. Envenom. And finally, Stormbind. The creature never saw him coming, and when Elijah sank his fangs into the thing¡¯s slimy flesh, lightning flowed through him and into the creature. It froze as even more lightning lashed out, binding its tail. Elijah slithered away, grateful that the blight dragon was just as at home in the water as it was on land. Normally, he would have bitten the thing again, but he wanted to test his new ability and see how much weaker the creatures in the second clear would be. So, he focused on the mage, and he felt the thing attempt to cast a spell. However, the moment its ethera gathered, a shock tore through it, and the magical energy dissipated. If it was possible in his blight dragon shape, Elijah would have grinned. And that expression would have widened when, only a second later, the thing started to convulse. Black veins pulsed beneath its grey-green skin as it was rocked by a powerful seizure. Even when the effects of Stormbind faded, the alaken couldn¡¯t muster the strength to cast a spell. It died within five more seconds, practically dissolving beneath Elijah¡¯s potent venom. When it was all said and done, barely more than fifteen seconds had passed, and in that time, Elijah¡¯s venom had eaten through the thing¡¯s flesh to the point where it had become unrecognizable. That, he¡¯d expected. Maybe not as quickly as it had happened, but he¡¯d seen his venom at work often enough to know what it could do when augmented by Predator Strike. However, what he¡¯d really wanted to test was Stormbind, and Elijah was more pleased than he¡¯d expected to be concerning the ability¡¯s performance. The mage had been entirely incapable of casting, which was precisely what the description had promised. Still, he¡¯d been a bit skeptical about its viability, so he was very happy with the results. After gathering the key ¨C it looked like an ordinary key, though it was made from a seashell ¨C Elijah headed to his next destination, where he decided to test Thunderclap. And he was just as happy with the results as he had been with Stormbind. When he activated the ability, dozens of lightning tendrils lashed out, burning the alaken fighter that was his second target. More importantly, the ability also stunned the creature long enough for Elijah to rip its arms off before tearing it in half. Being on the other end of that kind of an attack felt surprisingly cathartic. One word that could not be used to describe the fight was challenging, though. Against Lamar and his party, the guard in question had been the reason Derrick had ended up without one of his arms. But against Elijah in his guardian form? The thing was weaker than most of the hunters he¡¯d encountered in the wild. That was just further confirmation that there was a sharp decline in difficulty that came with coming in second. The third and fourth guard captains fell just as easily as the first two, and Elijah collected the keys. However, the fifth was the one he was really looking forward to tackling, largely because the captain had an entire squad accompanying it. So, Elijah chose to use the third ability that had come along with Stormborn. He planted himself in the center of the room, dropped Shape of the Predator, and cast Lightning Domain. Whips of electricity exploded from his body, lashing all five opponents with potent magic. Immediately, Elijah understood that this ability had a different flavor than the others. Thunderclap and Stormbind were both powerful in their own right, but any damage they inflicted was a secondary effect. Instead, they were intended to help him control the battlefield, stunning and silencing opponents rather than killing them outright. Lightning Domain had the opposite focus. Certainly, it stunned the guard captain and its retainers, but that was just a side effect. The primary impact was far deadlier, with each whip of lightning severely burning the alaken fighters. Two died on first contact, but the others managed to survive. However, all but the guard captain itself were so injured that they posed no more threat. And the primary target? It was wounded, but it still attempted to fight back. Elijah ended that with a furious burst of staff strikes that crushed its bones and sent even more lightning to lash its injured flesh. When the slaughter concluded, it left Elijah feeling a bit like a bully. The alaken had stood no chance against him, and his new abilities were far too much for them to handle. As he collected the final key, he could only hope that the King and Queen would prove more challenging. Otherwise, it would start to feel like pointless slaughter. 6-44. A Different Kind of Call Elijah was bored. And considering he was in the middle of a challenge in the Trial of Primacy, surrounded by potential enemies that wouldn¡¯t hesitate to slaughter him, given half a chance, he should not have been. Yet, he¡¯d grown accustomed to a certain level of danger, and when that simply wasn¡¯t present, he found his mind straying to more interesting situations. He stopped in his tracks, only a few feet from one of the alaken. By all rights, it should have been capable of detecting him, if only because of the swaying currents he sent out with every flick of his tail. Yet, it was entirely oblivious. If he¡¯d ever needed confirmation that Guise of the Unseen used ethera to achieve the stealth it provided, that would have been sufficient. But did it affect the environment? Or the minds of those who fell under its effect? Elijah expected it was the former, but with the things he¡¯d seen concerning mind control ¨C both with Barry the would-be demagogue back in Seattle and his recent brush with the war elf ¨C he wouldn¡¯t rule out the latter. Regardless, he needed to focus on the task at hand. The aquatic humanoid had been tasked ¨C alongside another of its ilk ¨C with guarding the Royal quarters. According to Lamar¡¯s explanation of the challenge, they¡¯d both be found within. The battle between the former linebacker¡¯s party and the pair of rulers had been long and involved, and most of them had barely escaped with their lives. After conquering the challenge, they¡¯d been beset by wave after wave of guards ¨C after all, such a battle couldn¡¯t go unnoticed ¨C and they¡¯d been forced to carve a path through a veritable army. It had not ended well, which was why they¡¯d all been so close to death. Elijah hoped to do things a little more efficiently. And given the ease with which he¡¯d killed the guard captains, he expected success in that endeavor. So, without further ado, he embraced his suite of abilities, swished his tail to propel him forward, and struck the first guard. He trusted his venom to do its job, so he used the nearby wall to his advantage, kicking off the solid surface and throwing himself through the water. He hit the second guard before the creature could even respond to his appearance. This time, though, he didn¡¯t use Envenom. Nor did he have the advantage of Predator Strike. Instead, he only used his momentum and sharp fangs. The results were different than the last encounter, but no less deadly for the deviation. His teeth found purchase in the creature¡¯s neck, sinking deep before Elijah flexed his powerful neck muscles, ripping them free. A slight gurgling sound escaped the alaken¡¯s throat, sending a stream of bubbles and blood to erupt into the water. It dropped its trident, which drifted toward the floor even as the creature clutched its ruined neck. Elijah dug his claws into the alaken¡¯s body, then thrust forward with another bite. The creature¡¯s alien eyes had only a moment to widen before Elijah¡¯s jaws closed around his face. A second later, the alaken¡¯s skull was crushed. By that point, the other guard had already fallen, its flesh so ruined by Elijah¡¯s potent venom that it was barely recognizable. Blood clouded the water, staining it red. But rather than be disgusted by it, Elijah could only feel pleased. It was easy to forget just how strong he really was, especially when he constantly challenged himself against such powerful opponents. The denizens that populated the first-clear challenges weren¡¯t scaled ¨C not exactly. In fact, Elijah suspected that they were close to, if not at, the peak of the mortal tier of progression. Yet, he¡¯d also noticed that, as the Trial went on, they grew stronger. The why behind it all was a mystery, and one he wasn¡¯t certain he would ever solve. But one thing he was comfortable with confirming was that engaging challenges subsequent to that first clear was much, much easier. Instead of feeling a sense of relief ¨C as would be the case with most sane people ¨C Elijah only found himself disappointed. And as he¡¯d already noted, a little bored. Still, he was happy to see that he was stronger than ever, even if the relative power of the creatures within the previous challenges made it sometimes seem otherwise. Regardless, he didn¡¯t intend to dwell on it. Rather, he focused on his task, intending to defeat the challenge as quickly as possible so he could get the reward and move on to the next. Because if Lamar¡¯s group had proven anything, it was that the other people in the Trial were there for a reason. They were all strong enough to defeat the challenges within, and if Elijah and his friends were going to get the most out of the whole ordeal, they had to beat the others to the punch. In short, there was no time to waste. Even so, there was another thought in the back of his mind that he couldn¡¯t bring himself to ignore. The challenge wasn¡¯t difficult ¨C at least not to him, and presumably, not to his group, either ¨C but each kill gave a little more experience than the level of the difficulty suggested it should. Alone, those kills weren¡¯t enough to move the needle, but there were a lot of alaken in the City of Toh. What¡¯s more, they weren¡¯t real creatures. Like denizens of towers, they were created by the system, and as such, Elijah felt no guilt at putting them down. In short, it represented a perfect opportunity to grind out a few levels ¨C provided they could solve the water-breathing problem. But time was the issue. As he¡¯d already noted, the other Trial-takers had not remained idle, and Elijah and his group would need to weigh the benefits of a first clear against what they would gain from attaining a few extra levels. It was something to think about, but for now, Elijah needed to focus on the task at hand. With that in mind, he shifted back to his human form ¨C and immediately regretted it. He would never disdain his natural shape, but there was something to be said for scales ¨C chiefly that blood and other viscera tended to wash right off. Hair didn¡¯t have that characteristic. Neither did his armor. Or the clothes beneath. In short, he found himself in a cloud of diluted blood, and it was just as disgusting as that descriptor implied. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. But that was what showers and soap were for, and he intended on making copious use of both the moment he got back onshore. For now, though, he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel ¨C which thankfully kept everything dry, even when he opened it ¨C and retrieved the five keys. Then, he thrust them into place, all the while thinking it was a bit of a silly setup. Only when he started turning those keys did he see that they each unlocked different mechanisms. One was the physical door, but the others were tied to various enchantments. One, in particular, hissed with familiar electricity that Elijah thought would have been quite painful to endure. Whatever the case, the keys worked to deactivate each of those security features, and soon enough, the door opened. And Elijah saw a dozen alaken hovering a foot above the floor in the room on the other side. Each one looked strong ¨C a bit larger even than the guard captains he¡¯d fought earlier ¨C and, oddly enough, the first thought that went through Elijah¡¯s mind was that, just maybe, he¡¯d finally found an opportunity to test himself. Without hesitation, he threw himself into the room, swimming forward with powerful kicks. The alaken, though, were natives to the ocean, and they were far more maneuverable. So, to mitigate that, Elijah embraced Swarm. Immediately, hundreds of tiny minnows manifested, each one with overly large jaws that put him in mind of piranha. Even as that cloud of tiny fish descended upon the stunned alaken, Elijah forced himself to a halt. Then, he used Lightning Domain. Whips of electricity lashed out, covering the entire room as they cut into and through the creatures. Bubbling screams erupted from catfish-like mouths as the painful arcs of lightning burned them. But they didn¡¯t immediately die. Elijah suppressed a grin as he embraced the form of the lamellar ape. One of the biggest alaken endured the effects of Lightning Domain well enough to launch its trident in Elijah¡¯s direction. It hit while he was in mid-transformation, sinking deep into his side. Thankfully, the three prongs hit his ribs, preventing any serious damage. And when Elijah¡¯s transformation completed, he wasted no time before ripping it free and letting out a gurgling roar of his own. He threw it back where it had come. However, he¡¯d never really thrown a javelin before, and even if he had, the guardian shape wasn¡¯t suited for such a meticulous movement. Instead, he simply whipped it out like a frisbee. It whirled, spinning like a saw before it hit one of the stunned alaken. The creature collapsed, its ribcage broken. The trident bent in two from the sheer velocity, ruining the weapon. Elijah didn¡¯t care about any of that. The beast within him came to the fore, with the dragon pushing from behind. The human part of his spirit took a backseat. The coming battle didn¡¯t need it. He let out another gurgling roar, then used Thunderclap. A web of thin lightning bolts erupted from his body, further damaging the gathered alaken, but despite how flashy that web of electricity looked, it was only the preamble to the real effect. Similar to what would happen when a grenade exploded underwater, the shockwave of Thunderclap was much more intense than it otherwise would have been. A few of the closest alaken were entirely pulverized, their bodies purpling before blood erupted from their every orifice. The ones that were further away weren¡¯t as strongly affected, but they didn¡¯t escape unscathed, either. Via One with Nature, Elijah could feel their bones shattering under the impact of the shockwave. Only one survived mostly unharmed, but even the largest and most powerful among the group was stunned by the sudden onslaught of Lightning Domain, followed by Swarm, and ending with Thunderclap. So, it never even saw Elijah coming. He hit the thing with all the force his nearly two-hundred-point Strength attribute could wield, and when he made contact, he felt the creature¡¯s bones break under his driving shoulder. He could have stopped at that point, and the thing wouldn¡¯t have fought back. But the beast within wasn¡¯t satisfied with merely disabling its opponent. It didn¡¯t care that he¡¯d just killed nearly a dozen alaken with his abilities. It wanted blood. It wanted to rend and tear, to rip its foe apart with its own two claws. Elijah gave in to those impulses, grabbing the limp alaken by the arms and flexing. The creature was strong. Probably on par with a normal Trial-taker. But Elijah wasn¡¯t normal. On paper, he was the most powerful man on Earth, and, at least as far as the beast was concerned, it was time he started to act the part. The dragon agreed. And in that moment, the human part of Elijah¡¯s spirit reveled in that feeling of dominating his enemy. The first thing to give were the creature¡¯s joints, but the ligaments and muscles followed soon after. The alaken¡¯s arms ripped free of its body in a cloud of blood. It regained its wits enough to scream, but the sound was muffled by the water and easily ignored. Elijah lashed out, clamping his jaws on the agonized creature¡¯s head. He flexed his jaws. The alaken¡¯s skull shattered, and viscera flooded Elijah¡¯s mouth. For a moment, he reveled in the taste. After all, none of his forms were herbivores, and his instincts screamed at him to savor the flavor of meat and blood. But then, his human side regained control. Elijah didn¡¯t recoil. He¡¯d eaten raw meat often enough ¨C usually in his draconid, or subsequently, the blight dragon form ¨C so he was no longer disgusted by it. It wasn¡¯t as if he would run around eating raw flesh in his human form. Not unless it was absolutely necessary, at least. But he wasn¡¯t entirely turned off by the notion, either. Regardless, when Elijah pulled back and looked down at the alaken¡¯s headless corpse, he had to admit that he was a little ashamed of losing control. The beast was always there, waiting to be unleashed. It was most prevalent in the guardian form, but it was present when he took on the Shape of Venom, too. And Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t allow it to become the dominant force in his mind. Once, he¡¯d nearly succumbed to the Call ¨C that ephemeral pull that would have seen him merge with nature in a way he still didn¡¯t really understand. But just because he¡¯d not felt anything like that again didn¡¯t mean he¡¯d escaped its grasp. The beast was just another facet of the same thing, and if he gave in, he would descend into a wild frame of mind that would completely overwhelm the other parts of him. He shook his head, grabbing hold of the idea that despite his ability to take on other shapes, he was still a human being. At that assertion, the dragon seemed smugly amused. Regardless, Elijah had come to the challenge for a reason, and now that the guards were all dead, he needed to kill the King and Queen. So, without further ruminations on the nature of his very spirit, Elijah turned his attention to the door on the other side of the room. Upon entering the royal quarters, he¡¯d stepped into an anteroom of sorts, and he knew that on the other side of that door waited the object of the challenge. Elijah stepped forward, ready to get it over with as quickly as possible. 6-45. Royalty Elijah didn¡¯t bother with stealth. It wouldn¡¯t have done much good, given that he needed hands ¨C or more importantly, opposable thumbs ¨C to open the door. Besides, it wasn¡¯t as if the royals on the other side could have missed the commotion of his previous battle. So, if the door suddenly opened and nothing stepped through, the likelihood that he would be detected skyrocketed. It was better to simply push through while prepared for whatever lay on the other side. With that in mind, he entered in his guardian form, using Iron Scales to mitigate the effects of any attack he might be forced to endure. His preparation was fortunate, because the moment he stepped into the next room, he was beset with a flurry of invisible attacks coming from every direction. It took him a moment to recognize that they were blades of pressurized water, and they cut right through his defenses, gouging shallow grooves in his scales. That told him his opponents ¨C which he spied across the room ¨C had at least a little power. However, it would take a lot more of that to actually hurt him. His scales were thick, his Constitution attribute was massive, and Iron Scales was scarcely taxed. No ¨C he¡¯d come looking for a challenge, but it seemed that he would be leaving the royal quarters unsatisfied. The pair of alaken were almost identical in appearance, with the only nod to gender being that one of them had a few rainbow stripes along its shoulders. Elijah had no idea as to their genders, so he had no way of differentiating between which one was the king or queen. Not that it mattered. He was tasked with killing them both. So, still in his lamellar ape form, Elijah bounded forward, the near weightlessness giving his gait an odd feeling. More, the water worked against him, slowing his not-very-aquadynamic form slightly. Even though it wasn¡¯t as useless underwater as his old mist panther form, the guardian shape was never meant to fight in such an environment. Still, Elijah decided to make do by relying on his incredible attributes to make up the difference. Bubbles churned as he rocketed forward, and the pair of alaken scrambled to react. They both held tridents, but they were so surprised by the ineffectiveness of their previous attack that they were slow to bring them to bear. Unfortunately, Elijah could only hit one at a time, so he chose the colorful one as his first target. He hit the creature like a torpedo, but to his surprise, just before he made contact, the water condensed into something akin to gelatin, shielding the creature from the brunt of the impact. Momentum dictated that it still went flying backward, but when it hit the wall on the other side of the room, it bounced rather than broke. Unfortunately, the second alaken used Elijah¡¯s brief focus on its mate to enable a viciously quick stab with its trident. The weapon¡¯s tines dug deep, bypassing Elijah¡¯s thick scales and ignoring his defensive ability. It scored one of his ribs, then exploded with power. Blades of water swirled beneath Elijah¡¯s flesh, ripping the muscles on his side to ribbons. He¡¯d been through worse. But that didn¡¯t mean he could simply ignore the gaping hole in his side. Nor did he want to. Instead, he tore free of the trident, then used Bestial Charge. The ability was powered by ethera and stamina, so it didn¡¯t concern itself with the environment. The laws of physics weren¡¯t really applicable, which meant that Elijah launched himself through the water ¨C trialing blood and flesh the whole way ¨C with blistering speed. He hit the alaken with his shoulder, and this time, he didn¡¯t have to worry about some odd shield to block the impact. The creature crumpled beneath his charge as it was slammed into the wall. A second later, a wave of water followed, slamming into Elijah¡¯s back and shoving him against his foe. Elijah¡¯s side screamed in protest, but he ignored it. Instead, the second he recovered from the disorienting feeling of being battered by the wave, he brought his claws to bear. He ripped and tore, and to his immense surprise, the creature resisted. Its rubbery skin fouled Elijah¡¯s every lacerating blow. So, he switched tactics and started battering the creature with blunt force. Whatever ability it used reduced the effectiveness of each attack, but Elijah knew it couldn¡¯t keep it up for long. Every ability had a cost, and he was determined to find the limits of the creature¡¯s reserves. So, he continued his barrage until, a few seconds later, he felt something lance into his back. It only pierced his flesh by three or four inches, but it wasn¡¯t alone. An instant after the first attack landed, ten more needled into him. Elijah let out a roar of frustration, grabbed the battered but unbroken creature beneath him, whipped around, and tossed it through the water. With so much Strength at his disposal, Elijah managed to do so with quite a bit of velocity. The living projectile bubbled with its passage before slamming into the now-recovered second alaken. Seeing that his guardian form wasn¡¯t doing the trick, Elijah let it fall away. Even as his human shape reasserted itself, the creatures untangled themselves from one another. But it gave him a moment to cast Soothe and Nature¡¯s Bloom before using Shape of Venom. As the comparatively small ¨C to the guardian form, at least ¨C shape took over, Elijah threw himself to the side in an attempt to avoid the latest barrage of water blades. His body transformed, and he became a blight dragon. The Shape of Venom was far more adept than the lamellar ape at moving through the water. In that way, it was capable of cutting through the water like a caiman, and Elijah used his thick tail to propel him forward with unprecedented speed. The changing scope of the battle clearly shocked the two alaken, which allowed him to close the distance. Without the protection of concealment afforded by Guise of the Unseen, he was vulnerable to attack, but he was also much more dexterous. That translated to an ability to move quickly, contorting his body to avoid the alaken pair¡¯s increasingly desperate attempts to kill him. He twisted and changed direction before darting in to bite the rainbow-scaled creature. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. His fangs sank deep, and his venom went even deeper. It screamed, the sound coming out high-pitched and bubbling. Elijah ignored it, slithering through the water and latching his fangs onto the other alaken. The creature lashed out, spearing him through with its trident. And without the durable hide ¨C or Iron Scales ¨C that came with the Shape of the Guardian, Elijah only had his Constitution to mitigate the damage. It wasn¡¯t enough. The weapon¡¯s tines went through his side, shattering ribs and piercing his vital organs. The alaken ripped it free with a bubbling snarl, but its eyes widened when, suddenly, Elijah¡¯s wounds closed. Nature¡¯s Bloom had just bloomed, sending a wave of vitality through him. Accompanied by Soothe, it was enough to mend the damage wrought by the fancy pitchfork. By that point, the first alaken Elijah had bitten began to wilt. Its flesh around the wound blackened with necrotizing flesh, and blood started to leak from the corners of its eyes. It threw another desperate flurry of water blades his way, but a recovered Elijah had no issues dodging around the vaguely defined forms. He felt them via One with Nature, rather than seeing them, which gave him just enough of an impression to avoid the spell. Only a few seconds later, it fell backward. Its tail went limp, and convulsions rolled through its body. Even as that creature seized, its death throes were mirrored by the other alaken, only a few seconds later. The battle was won. Elijah knew it. He only had to avoid any last-minute attacks they might throw his way. So, he retreated, never stopping moving as the first creature succumbed, sending a wave of experience through Elijah. The second weakly attempted to pursue him, but even though it was in its native environment, the venom coursing through its veins prevented it from keeping up with him. Still, it proved far more durable than he would have expected, suggesting that it had a Constitution-based class. Perhaps a Warrior variant. Or something akin to that. As far as Elijah knew, the system didn¡¯t treat monsters, guardians, or beasts the same as it approached sapient races. The alaken seemed to qualify for the later treatment, but he knew the line between them tended to grow blurrier with progression. For all he knew, they¡¯d begun as something akin to dolphins. Intelligent, but lacking true sapience. But then again, Elijah wasn¡¯t even sure how true his old assumptions about the difference even applied anymore. Maybe there was nothing to truly separate any of the categories he used to describe the various creatures of the multi-verse. Just reactions to different circumstances. Those musings flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he watched the alaken die. It held on for almost a full minute before it collapsed. Even then, it didn¡¯t succumb to death until Elijah approached and ripped its throat out. After that, it surrendered to the inevitable, leaving Elijah to sort through the confused feelings that came after every battle. He liked fighting. And in a lot of ways, he enjoyed killing, too. There was something so visceral about overcoming an opponent in a life-or-death battle, and Elijah wasn¡¯t immune to the influx of adrenaline that came with that situation. Those feelings were augmented by the bestial and draconic sides of his spirit, making them difficult to ignore. So, Elijah had given up on even trying. He understood that, if he was going to survive in the multi-verse, killing would need to be a part of his life. He had no choice but to accept and embrace it, lest he go insane with guilt. Which was the other facet of the emotional aftermath of any battle. Killing might be necessary. He knew that. It was the natural order of the universe. Yet, more than thirty years of learned morality clashed with that assertion, lacing everything with a thin tendril of remorse. He didn¡¯t ignore that, either. It was part and parcel to being a human being, and to push it aside was to deny that part of his identity. Neither did he dwell on it. Instead, he acknowledged it, felt it fully, then moved on. He used the same strategy with the elation associated with that other, more savage part of his being. And like that, he would keep an even keel. He hoped. In the meantime, he was more interested in the silver box floating in the center of the room. After returning to his human form and casting his full suite of healing spells, Elijah approached the box and opened, receiving the expected notification:
You have conquered the Challenge of Niflara, The City of Toh. Reward: Drop of the Ocean
As he¡¯d already surmised, the reward was different than what Lamar and his group had been awarded. They¡¯d gotten a powerful staff, and inside the box before Elijah was a simple blue gem the size of his thumb. It swirled with ethera, but otherwise, there was no indication what it was intended to do. He slipped it into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then waited a few minutes to heal from his injuries. Despite the gruesome nature of having a hole ripped into his side, the wound wasn¡¯t as severe as he¡¯d first anticipated. Even without healing spells, he would have survived and recovered ¨C albeit over the course of a few weeks ¨C so it wasn¡¯t exactly life-threatening. However, it seemed that the alarm hadn¡¯t been raised, so he took the opportunity presented by the period of peace so he could convalesce. After fifteen minutes, he was back to normal. So, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, adopted Guise of the Unseen, and swam out the way he¡¯d come. His caution was warranted, because the palace was crawling with guards. Part of him wanted to kill them just for the experience, but he held back. As he¡¯d previous noted, time was of the essence. With that in mind, he avoided battle by remaining cloaked in Guise of the Unseen. Eventually, he left the palace behind and swam above the city. No one followed, and after a few more minutes, he exited the area associated with the challenge. He didn¡¯t relax until he reached the beach, though. When he was around a hundred yards out, he shifted back into his human form and approached his friends¡¯ camp. As expected, Lamar and his people were still there taking advantage of Ron¡¯s healing. As Elijah stepped from the ocean, everyone looked up. ¡°So? You¡¯re already done?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Yeah. Kind of disappointing. We definitely need to make sure we get to the next ones first, though, because that was entirely unsatisfying,¡± he said. Lamar and his group just stared at Elijah. Sadie shook her head in resignation, and Dat grinned. Kurik pretended he was napping, while Ron didn¡¯t even look up from his work. ¡°Monster,¡± Lamar muttered under his breath in a ton Elijah felt certain he wasn¡¯t meant to hear. 6-46. Purpose As Sadie saw Elijah standing there, wearing an innocent expression on his face, she just shook her head. Even after he¡¯d explained his theory of how the challenges work, the notion that he¡¯d stepped into the ocean and, after less than a day, emerged having defeated one of the Trial¡¯s challenges, marked him as an absolute monster. And he¡¯d done it alone, proving that he was a true anomaly. Most classes in their new world were focused on filling a very specific role. Even her Crusader class was geared toward defending others while taking damage exceptionally well. She wasn¡¯t the quintessential tank that Lamar claimed to be ¨C the man seemed absolutely indestructible ¨C but she had a few other tricks up her sleeve that allowed her to assist in a variety of roles. She could heal a little. She had a buff she could give to her companions. And she had abilities like Sense of Sin and Confession that were purely non-combat in nature. Even so, if she¡¯d tried to conquer one of the challenges on her own ¨C even one that had already been defeated and was thus less dangerous ¨C she would have died. Or if not that, then it would have taken her ages to defeat. The same was true of Dat, whose power was most comparable to Elijah¡¯s. Or one facet of the Druid¡¯s skillset, at least. But while they could both move around undetected, Dat couldn¡¯t heal. And he certainly couldn¡¯t survive the sorts of things she¡¯d seen Elijah endure. Were there other people out there like Elijah, who were capable of doing everything alone? Maybe. The demon seemed like one. Sadie could grudgingly accept that the man was powerful, and the presence of his demonic minions ¨C which he saw as mostly disposable ¨C meant that he didn¡¯t have to put himself in the line of fire. As despicable as he was, that made him uniquely suited to going alone. Which was probably for the best, because she couldn¡¯t imagine anyone enduring his loathsome presence. Then there was Oscar, the Pack Leader. Unlike the grotesque demon, he seemed to care deeply about his dogs. They were like a family, and as such, he wouldn¡¯t throw them to the proverbial wolves. Still, the fact that he¡¯d spent much of the time since Earth had been touched by the World Tree at the very top of the power rankings said volumes about his capabilities. Perhaps there were a few other anomalies who could survive ¨C and thrive ¨C alone, but Sadie didn¡¯t think any of them could compare to someone like Elijah. ¡°What?¡± he asked, running his hand through his still-wet hair. ¡°Is there something in my hair? It got kind of bloody down there, so¡­I mean, if I¡¯m honest, I usually don¡¯t have to worry about that kind of thing. Most of the time, I end up having my hair singed off. Or dissolved, I guess. Did I tell you about that time I was digested by a whale monster? Yeah ¨C I went for the full Jonah experience, minus the God stuff, I guess. I never thought to pray while I was in there, but ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯ve told that story a million times, bro,¡± Dat said, cutting Elijah¡¯s babbling short. ¡°Oh. I guess I need new stories,¡± he said, obviously a little disappointed. ¡°But we¡¯ve been together for a few months now, and that¡¯s a lot of nights around the campfire. Plus, you¡¯ve all been there for my latest adventures.¡± ¡°Is that what you call getting ripped in half?¡± Ron asked. Elijah winced. ¡°Misadventures, then?¡± he suggested. ¡°To put it mildly,¡± Ron agreed. Meanwhile, Lamar and his team just stared silently at the exchange, and Sadie knew precisely what was going through their minds. She hadn¡¯t developed the ability to read thoughts, but she expected that everyone who met Elijah felt something similar. The man was infuriatingly flippant about the most serious of topics, and he seemed to regard his own death-defying stunts with something akin to amusement. Maybe it was a coping mechanism. But even so, the newcomers had been struck dumb by his demeanor. ¡°What¡¯d ya get?¡± asked Kurik, who¡¯d been engaged with building his traps since they¡¯d stopped outside of the Niflara challenge. Sadie respected his work ethic, even if she found his demeanor a little off-putting. He wasn¡¯t particularly rude, but he definitely hadn¡¯t made any overtures of friendship ¨C not with her at least. And Sadie didn¡¯t know how to bridge that gap, which she attributed to their different cultures. ¡°Please tell me you found some power crystals. My supplies¡¯re runnin¡¯ low.¡± ¡°No such luck, bud. But I did get this,¡± Elijah said, reaching into that grotesque-looking satchel he always wore. It looked like someone had skinned Frankenstein¡¯s monster, then turned the resultant grey leather ¨C which had been crudely stitched together ¨C into the world¡¯s most macabre purse. He pulled a blue gem out and tossed it to the dwarf. ¡°Not sure what it does, but if it helps your traps, you can have it.¡± Kurik caught it, but before he could inspect it, Dat said, ¡°Let me see, bro.¡± A second later, what Sadie suspected was the reward for defeating the challenge was flying through the air. Dat caught it deftly, then used Hex of Scrying. He cocked his head to the side as he listened to the voices that came with the skill, then said, ¡°It¡¯s called A Drop of the Ocean. Not much use for any of us, but the ghosts tell me it could be used to make a water-breathing treasure like that ring of Elijah¡¯s.¡± ¡°A bit late for that, ain¡¯t it? He already beat it.¡± ¡°I think ¨C¡± ¡°Wait. I have an idea,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, the Nexus Town is what? About a thousand miles that way, right?¡± ¡°Uh, roughly, yeah,¡± said Helen, who was the Explorer who¡¯d latched onto Lamar¡¯s group. Her class was some sort of hybrid that afforded her a few combat abilities, but she still maintained the advantages of her archetype. One of those was an impeccable sense of direction. Another, which was the reason Lamar and the others had managed to find their way through the challenge at all, was geared toward sensing what she called points of interest. Those abilities, along with the one that let her party survive underwater, made Explorers and their variants a highly sought-after archetype. It didn¡¯t matter that they weren¡¯t really capable of filling the other group roles. They didn¡¯t need to defend, heal, or do damage if they could help the party avoid unwanted dangers while pointing them toward important areas. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°So, what if I go back to the city real quick?¡± he asked. ¡°I take any of the other stuff we¡¯ve picked up along the way, and I¡¯ll see if Atticus can¡¯t hook us up with a crafter who can make these water-breathing rings? I can farm those little gems pretty quickly, and if we all have rings like mine, we won¡¯t have to worry about running into this problem again. Plus, we can use this challenge to push our levels a little. There are thousands of those alaken down there, and all together, they represent a lot of experience.¡± ¡°We have been looking for a place to farm, bro.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my point exactly,¡± Elijah said, grinning as he pointed at Dat. ¡°It might take a couple of days to set it all up, but we can devote a week or two to this, and I think we¡¯ll all gain a level or three.¡± Sadie asked what she thought was the obvious question. ¡°What are we supposed to be doing while you¡¯re flying back and forth and killing mermaids?¡± ¡°Merpeople, bro.¡± ¡°Not important, Dat.¡± ¡°I just call them alaken. It¡¯s more accurate, and if you saw them, you probably wouldn¡¯t call them mer-anything. More like eels with arms and carrying fancy pitchforks.¡± ¡°Tridents, bro.¡± ¡°Again, not important, Dat,¡± Sadie persisted. Then, she looked at Elijah. ¡°So? My armor has been completely repaired, and I don¡¯t feel like wasting more time just sitting around. I can¡¯t afford to be lazy.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the last word I¡¯d use to describe you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I¡¯m not talking about a few days. I¡¯m talking a day. Maybe two at most. I can slip in there and kill the appropriate targets without issue. Honestly, I think the going back and forth to town will take the longest, even if I use Lightning Rush. Which has a cooldown and only covers about seventy miles.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t know the full breadth of Elijah¡¯s new ability, but from what she¡¯d discovered, it seemed wholly unfair. Rather than feeling envious, though, it made her look forward to her own spell evolutions even more. If she could upgrade Consecrated Shield, for instance, she could better protect her allies. ¡°In the meantime,¡± Elijah continued. ¡°There¡¯s a horde of wraiths about ten miles from here. I sensed them on the way in. You could set up a defensive position and grind a little until I have enough rings for everyone. Then, we go down to the City of Toh and get some levels.¡± ¡°Can I say something?¡± asked Lamar, who¡¯d remained silent the entire time. ¡°You don¡¯t need to raise your hand, bro.¡± ¡°Right,¡± the former linebacker said. He shrugged his massive shoulders, continuing, ¡°You people are crazy. You know that, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah, again with that innocent look on his face. ¡°We¡¯ve done a few of these challenges,¡± he said. ¡°None were first clears like this one, but it¡¯s safe to say that we know a thing or two about how dangerous they are, even after monsters like you all sweep through.¡± ¡°And?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°They¡¯re not to be taken lightly,¡± Lamar said. ¡°We¡¯ve come close to dying a hundred times since this Trial started. Most of those came in those challenges. I had an aviak almost rip me in two ¨C¡± ¡°Been there. Don¡¯t recommend it.¡± ¡°Not the time, Elijah,¡± Sadie said with a shake of her head. Dat added, ¡°Read the room, bro.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no room. We¡¯re outside.¡± ¡°It¡¯s an expression, Kurik,¡± Ron provided. ¡°Guys¡­¡± They all looked at Sadie. ¡°Let him finish.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Proceed,¡± Elijah said, gesturing for Lamar to do just that. ¡°My point is that you¡¯re talking about going in there and grinding? Do you know how insane that sounds?¡± the big man asked. ¡°I¡¯m no stranger to hard work. Or danger. I¡¯ve risked my life hundreds of times since all of this started. But I just don¡¯t¡­I can¡¯t imagine going back in there and¡­¡± He sighed, looking down at the fire they¡¯d built. ¡°I¡¯m beginning to think that I¡¯m not built for this,¡± he admitted. ¡°You¡¯re built like a brick house, bro.¡± Sadie said, ¡°Not what he¡¯s talking about, Dat.¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said. Then, he looked at Lamar and went on, ¡°You¡¯ve got the tools. You¡¯re strong. Seems like you have a good class, right? But nobody is ¡®built for this¡¯. You have to change your mindset. You need to inoculate yourself to danger. My uncle was a Gurkha. He ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯re Vietnamese. Aren¡¯t Gurkha¡¯s Indian?¡± ¡°Uncle by marriage. Do you want to let me finish?¡± asked Dat. ¡°And they¡¯re Nepalese.¡± Elijah held up his hands, saying, ¡°Sorry.¡± ¡°Right. Anyway, Gurkhas are famous for their bravery and battle prowess, but my uncle said they aren¡¯t just born that way. They¡¯re trained. They¡¯re forced to endure far more than they should be able to handle. Then, they¡¯re put into terrible situations, over and over again until it becomes routine,¡± Dat explained. ¡°I think about him a lot, about some of his stories. That¡¯s the mindset we all have to adopt. It¡¯s the only way any of us are going to survive. We can¡¯t run from danger anymore. We can¡¯t fear death. We can¡¯t walk around expecting to live a life of safety, because I don¡¯t think that exists anymore. And it won¡¯t return for a long, long time. So, the way I look at it is that I¡¯m fighting for the future. Every time I risk my life, I¡¯m doing so because that contribution might bring safety back a little bit quicker. So, you say you aren¡¯t built for this, right? Well, I say you are. You have the physical abilities. A good class. People to support you. The rest of it is up to you, bro. You have to turn yourself into the sort of person who can do what needs to be done.¡± It was one of the longest statements Sadie had ever heard from her friend, and probably the most earnest. Many times, it was easy to see him as an unserious person. His demeanor supported that. But beneath that exterior was a thoughtful, fiercely loyal, and, above all, good man who truly wanted to do what was best for everyone. Seeing the insightful side of him ¨C as rare as it was ¨C usually left Sadie in awe of just how much lurked beneath his affable surface identity. More importantly, Dat¡¯s speech seemed to affect Lamar as well as the rest of his group. Even the one-armed Derrick adopted an expression of resolve. ¡°I guess that¡¯s what we¡¯ll have to do, then,¡± Lamar said after a few moments of silence. It was a simple statement, but one carrying a mountain¡¯s worth of meaning. ¡°I just want to say that this is a nice moment,¡± Elijah said, reaching out to grip the former football player¡¯s massive shoulder. ¡°Humanity coming together.¡± ¡°What am I? Crushed rocks over here?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°And dwarfanity. Is that a word?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°No.¡± ¡°Is there a better ¨C¡± ¡°Just stop,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°And for what it¡¯s worth, I agree with him. This is a good opportunity to grind.¡± ¡°What about what I said, bro?¡± asked Dat, switching back to his normal demeanor. ¡°That was good too. A bit obvious to anybody with half a brain, but I guess it needed to be said.¡± In the end, everyone agreed that Elijah¡¯s plan was probably the best course of action. So, after resting for a few minutes and taking a shower, he transformed into that great, dragon-like beast and took to the skies. For their part, Lamar and the rest of his group decided to stick around long enough to recover, then head toward their next target ¨C the challenge of Ignis. Even as Lamar gave voice to that plan, Sadie hoped that it turned out better than her own experience within that volcano. But after everything she had endured since the World Tree had touched Earth, she agreed with Dat. Anything that didn¡¯t kill or permanently maim her would only make her stronger, both in mind and body. With that in mind, she turned her attention to the horde of wraiths Elijah had mentioned. 6-47. A Catalogue of Treasures The first time Elijah used Lightning Rush was one of the most exhilarating things he¡¯d ever experienced. One second, he was soaring above the jungle, and the next, he was a bolt of lightning ripping across the sky. Time seemed to slow, and even though it only lasted a couple of seconds, it felt like an hour or more. And in that time, Elijah knew what it was to be a bolt of electricity. It wasn¡¯t painful. In truth, it was only mildly tingling. Yet, when he burst back into his Shape of the Sky ¨C followed by an extremely loud crack of thunder ¨C a wave of adrenaline unlike anything he¡¯d ever felt before swept through his serpentine body, infusing every cell until it seemed like he was going to be ripped into pieces. But in a good way. He couldn¡¯t quite explain it, but the closest he could come to a valid description was to say that it made him feel alive and on the precipice of being unmade, both at the same time. It was terrifying and thrilling, both in equal measure. It also covered a little more ground than expected, which gave some credence to the notion that magical lightning was different than what might be found in nature. Because obviously. The addition of ethera changed everything, so why would lightning ¨C especially if it was the result of a spell ¨C be any different? Regardless, Elijah judged that he¡¯d covered closer to a hundred miles with one Lightning Rush, and because the momentum didn¡¯t immediately dissipate, he traveled another fifty miles before he returned to his normal flight speed. A hundred-and-fifty miles in the space of a few seconds ¨C that was definitely something to write home about. Still, he had quite some ways to go, so he beat his wings and pushed himself to top speed. Back on Earth, he¡¯d judged that to be around two-hundred miles an hour, but with the influx of Strength that had come with his recent levels, he could push that much harder. That didn¡¯t translate to a different category of speed altogether, but it was noticeably faster. As he flew, a dozen feet above the canopy, he kept a proverbial eye on his surroundings via One with Nature. The breadth of the effect was expansive enough that he could keep track of the surface, so it wasn¡¯t surprising when he felt something interesting. It was an overgrown plaza populated by hundreds of stone statues, reminding Elijah of the famous terracotta warriors in China. Though these were obviously not shaped like humans, but rather were modeled upon ka¡¯alaki. Elijah wanted nothing more than to descend upon that plaza, overgrown by the jungle as it was, and explore. He didn¡¯t need the mapping device provided by the Artificer back in Argos to know that the area was somehow important. However, he resisted the call to adventure, recognizing that he was on a schedule. His previous resolution to stop wasting time ¨C lest others get the first-clear credit in the remaining challenges ¨C notwithstanding, the rest of his group was waiting on him. So, he marked the location in his mind and continued on. As it turned out, reaching the Nexus Town took a little more than three hours, which meant that it was probably close to nine-hundred miles from the challenge of Niflara. That tracked with Elijah¡¯s previous estimates, and it further underlined just how large the Trial area was. If it was smaller than Australia, he would have been extremely surprised, and he suspected that it was probably more comparable to the continental United States. Thankfully, with their superhuman attributes, everyone could travel much more quickly than before. They couldn¡¯t achieve highway speeds ¨C except for special cases like Elijah¡¯s, at least ¨C but they could certainly cover ground on foot at a much faster rate than would have been possible on a pre-World Tree Earth. And if the terrain hadn¡¯t been so difficult and populated with threats, they could have gone much faster. In any case, Elijah pushed those thoughts aside as he set down a few miles outside of Nexus Town. Many people in the settlement had seen him shapeshifting during the battle with the Immortals, but he didn¡¯t want to advertise his full capabilities to anyone who wasn¡¯t aware of what he could do. So, he approached the city on foot. Predictably, his arrival caused a bit of a stir. As Lamar had already indicated, he¡¯d become a bit famous, and when he strode into town, people noticed. No one approached him, but most people stopped whatever they were doing and watched him. Some, warily. Others, with open admiration. But mostly, they were just interested. Elijah wanted nothing more than to shift into his blight dragon form and slink away under the Guise of the Unseen. He wasn¡¯t averse to attention, but there was a distinct difference between what he¡¯d experienced in the past and being famous. The scrutiny that came with the latter was more than a little off-putting, and his first instinct was to escape. He didn¡¯t give in, though. Instead, he simply went on like everything was normal, and eventually, he arrived at Atticus¡¯ Consortium. The moment he stepped inside the building, he closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh of relief. ¡°That bad, huh?¡± came his friend¡¯s familiar voice. Elijah looked up to see Atticus, with his slim build and hawk-nosed features smiling back at him. ¡°When I come back, I¡¯m using stealth.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll get used to it,¡± Atticus predicted. ¡°Or more accurately, they¡¯ll get used to your presence.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah allowed. ¡°So, how did you know I was here?¡± ¡°New skill,¡± Atticus answered. ¡°It lets me set up a temporary shop. It¡¯s not as strong as my premises back home, but it gives me a few benefits. Not the least, that everyone working in this building gets extra experience. It also lets me know when someone arrives.¡± Elijah nodded, ¡°Seems useful.¡± ¡°Would¡¯ve been much more useful before,¡± Atticus pointed out. Elijah knew he still carried some guilt over how everything had worked out with the Immortals. He blamed himself for losing a few of the non-combatants who¡¯d put their trust in him and his Consortium. Of course, without his influence, many more would have died, but Atticus didn¡¯t want to hear that. Elijah sympathized with his friend¡¯s feelings, because he knew better than most that guilt was rarely rational. He was interested in the new skill, though. He¡¯d learned from his friend that many Merchants possessed powerful skills that were tied to their shops. Inside their chosen premises, they were as close to all-powerful as one could be. Of course, there were limitations. If the difference in levels or cultivation was too large, then no skills could ever hope to bridge the gap. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Yeah. That¡¯s always how it is, though. Just have to keep moving forward,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Truer words have never been spoken, my friend. What brings you back to town?¡± he asked. Elijah had two goals in mind. The first was the one he¡¯d revealed to his companions, so he told Atticus what he needed. Fortunately, one of the crafters who¡¯d latched onto the Consortium was an accomplished Jeweler, which boded well for Elijah¡¯s plans. It also put him in mind of poor Grod, who¡¯d died before the Trial had ever really begun. How many others had ended up like the altruistic ogre? How many more would follow that path going forward? Quite a few, Elijah expected. But he couldn¡¯t protect everyone. He didn¡¯t even think he¡¯d want to, considering that they¡¯d all come to the Trial seeking progression. Certainly, he would help where he could, but trying to shield them all would just be a waste of time and counterproductive to boot. After being introduced to the Jeweler ¨C whose name was Ezra ¨C Elijah explained what he needed, and thankfully, Ezra claimed that he could make it work, given that he was provided with the right materials. The Drop of the Ocean, along with a hunk of silver Elijah had looted at some point along the way ¨C he couldn¡¯t even remember where ¨C turned out to be sufficient. Along with a godly sum of ethereum. ¡°Good work doesn¡¯t come cheap, Mr. Hart,¡± Ezra said. ¡°And you won¡¯t find anyone else in the Trial who can do this job.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± he said, rolling his eyes and transferring the funds via his folio. ¡°But if I find out you¡¯re gouging me, we¡¯re going to have some issues.¡± ¡°I would never.¡± He let out a sigh. ¡°Sorry,¡± he said, remembering the accusations Kurik had recently leveled his way. He¡¯d gotten into the nasty habit of threatening people when he was irritated, and he wanted to get over that. ¡°Just trying to make sure I¡¯m not getting ripped off. How long will it take?¡± As it turned out, the Jeweler could get it done in only a couple of hours, but he cautioned Elijah that such quick work wouldn¡¯t be as aesthetically pleasing as it would be if he took his time. Of course, Elijah didn¡¯t care about that kind of thing, so he said, ¡°Just get it done as quickly as you can. I only care about the effect.¡± Muttering about his client¡¯s lack of taste, the Jeweler went to work, which left Elijah with some time to accomplish his other goal. He had looted quite a lot of equipment over the previous weeks, and he wanted to get it all appraised. Hopefully, Atticus would take some of it off his hands, too, because his Ghoul-Hide Satchel was getting to be a bit overfull. The first wave of items were largely mundane weapons and other things he¡¯d looted from various enemies along the way. None were remarkable, but Atticus offered to buy them anyway, saying, ¡°Not everyone can afford the best, my friend. Besides, many of these items are made from decent materials, so they¡¯re useful to my crafters. And this gold one is Low-Complex. Only marginal attribute bonuses and no real Traits, but it¡¯s pretty. Someone will definitely overpay for it.¡± After adding the dagger¡¯s value to the tally, Elijah brought out the reward from the most recent challenge. The Seed of the Ash Lotus turned out to be a natural treasure that could be used as the core component of another powerful item. Or an alchemist¡¯s potion, perhaps. ¡°But will it function as an actual seed? Like, if I plant it somewhere, will it grow?¡± he asked. ¡°I believe so, but I¡¯m not horticulturist. It would require a favorable environment in order to flourish, though,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°Or perhaps it will create its own environment. As I said, I can only tell you what my appraisal skill tells me, and it doesn¡¯t mention anything about that.¡± ¡°What if I ate it?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Atticus answered without skipping a beat. ¡°That thing would likely kill you if ingested.¡± ¡°I¡¯m pretty durable.¡± ¡°Not that durable. Raw natural treasures contain too much power to be consumed without significant preparation. That¡¯s why we have Alchemists. Well, one of the reasons, but probably the most important.¡± Elijah was a bit disappointed to hear that, but he accepted it nonetheless. ¡°Oh, I made this, too,¡± Elijah said, pulling out his Feral Spire. He laid it on the stone table Atticus used to assist with his appraisal. ¡°Mind telling me what it does? It¡¯s supposed to increase the potency of some of my abilities, but I¡¯d like to know specifics.¡± The results were quite informative:
Feral Spire Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: C Description: The Feral Spire was made by and is bound to the Druid, Elijah Hart. Made from the savage blood oak, it is a formidable weapon. Attribute Bonuses: +15 Strength, Dexterity, Constitution Traits: Bestial Wrath ¨C Potency of all bestial abilities increased by 10%.
¡°That explains a few things,¡± Elijah said. Most of the abilities associated with his shapeshifted forms were a bit amorphous and difficult to quantify, but the increase in potency explained why Lightning Rush was stronger than expected. ¡°It is a powerful weapon,¡± Atticus agreed. ¡°Too bad your products are bound to you, else we could make quite a fortune.¡± ¡°We?¡± ¡°Of course, my friend,¡± Atticus said, throwing his arm around Elijah¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You wouldn¡¯t want to worry about all those stuffy negotiations, would you? That¡¯s what I¡¯m here for. And I would, of course, take a modest fee for my invaluable services. That¡¯s only fair.¡± ¡°I suppose,¡± Elijah said. Finally, he retrieved another item he¡¯d had in his satchel for quite some time. The ring he¡¯d taken from the tomb ¨C alongside the guide mentioning the bane weapon that had been created to counter Yloa, the Lightning Emperor ¨C had still yet to be identified. However, when Atticus set it on the table, the resulting notification left Elijah more than a little disappointed:
Keystone Ring Overall Grade: ?? Enchantment Grade: ?? Description: A seemingly simple ring with a ruby set into silver. It has no discernible purpose. Attribute Bonuses: -15 to all Attributes Traits: Restriction: Slows the flow of ethera.
¡°It seems cursed,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not,¡± Atticus assured him. ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s a training tool. I¡¯ve heard about such things.¡± ¡°Sort of like weights for your ethereal system?¡± ¡°Just so.¡± Elijah just shook his head. He¡¯d had high hopes for the ring, but it seemed mostly useless in the short term. So, he slipped the item back into his satchel. At the very least, he could give it to Carmen when he returned to Earth. The materials seemed to be high quality, so perhaps she could disassemble it and use those components to make something useful. ¡°Now, for the other reason for my existence ¨C good food and even better company. I¡¯ve managed to attract an actual Chef to the Consortium. She¡¯s a bit standoffish, and she spends most of her time out in the wilderness hunting ingredients, most of which are the bestial sort. But she¡¯s very talented,¡± Atticus said, leading Elijah deeper into the building. ¡°That sounds good. I haven¡¯t had a good meal in a while.¡± And given that Ezra wouldn¡¯t complete the ring for another hour or two, they had some time to kill. So, it was with some anticipation that Elijah followed Atticus deeper into the compound. 6-48. The Grind Sadie rammed a shoulder into a particularly large wraith, sending it stumbling backward across the ground before it hit a clump of its fellows. In the same motion, she spun, bringing her blade in a sweeping, horizontal strike that sheered through four other wraiths. That left her open to attack from another set of monsters, but even as they collapsed onto her, she ignored their efforts. They clawed and bit at Bulwark of the Faithful, and even with the sheer volume of their onslaught, they were entirely incapable of penetrating her personal shield. Vaguely, she could feel Consecrated Shield on her companions, which gave her an idea of their positioning. It was a good thing, too, because surrounded as she was, there was no chance she could visually keep track of their locations. An explosion of fire erupted from somewhere to the rear, telling her that Kurik had utilized another one of his traps. This one was far more destructive than the slowing traps he¡¯d used to control the flow of wraiths, telling her that the dwarven Sapper had been forced to get serious. Her every instinct told her to retreat to the secondary location they had prepared, but it was far too early for that. Instead, she chose to trust her group to do their respective jobs, at least until they showed themselves incapable of doing so. So far, they had done just that. Even through multiple challenges that should have killed everyone in the party, they¡¯d kept their heads and overcome all obstacles. If anyone had earned her trust, it was them. Still, in the back of her mind, she felt a need to protect them. After all, that drive to defend others was one of the reasons she¡¯d chosen her initial archetype. And after that, her Crusader class. So, she desperately wanted to personally ensure their safety, rather than allow them to take responsibility for their own well-being. Another explosion sent a shockwave across their chosen battlefield, and Sadie used that brief distraction to dislodge her attackers, throwing the comparatively light wraiths aside like they weighed nothing at all. That was her Strength at play, though after seeing Lamar, she wondered how strong she really was. The man had invested almost exclusively in Strength, Constitution, and Dexterity, and the automatic allocation that came with his class furthered that path. He¡¯d also managed to achieve the Stone Body stage ¨C apparently, access to powerful alchemists was one of the advantages of being in the Trial ¨C which augmented that path of progression. He¡¯d neglected his Mind, Soul, and Core, but when he was a physical juggernaut who relied almost entirely on his body and stamina-based skills, those facets of cultivation seemed a little less necessary. By comparison, Sadie¡¯s class allocated points into Ethera and Regeneration ¨C a necessary accommodation for her reliance on spells. The result was that she could do more than him, and she was far less reliant on a team, but in his chosen role, Lamar was an absolute beast. Unfortunately, he and his team had chosen to head back to Nexus Town to mentally recover from their ordeal before engaging the challenge of Ignis. Sadie expected that they wouldn¡¯t seek out any more first-clears for the duration of the Trial. However, the experience would hopefully give them the power they needed to succeed when they went back to Earth. That was the point, after all. Accumulation of power without purpose wasn¡¯t the goal. Instead, they progressed because that was what the situation required. For her part, that meant growing strong enough to beat back the undead threat and conquer the Primal Realm. Until she did that, she couldn¡¯t rest. She couldn¡¯t consider a real future until she took care of her people. After that, she would worry about everything else. But at the moment, she had to focus on the fight. Labeling the process grinding implied that it was easy, and in a lot of ways, it was. They¡¯d long since achieved the power and skill levels necessary to deal with a horde of wraiths. After fighting them so often, her group was well-equipped to do just that. However, the four-armed creatures were savage fighters who would seize upon any opening. So, if Sadie or her companions made a mistake, the horde was more than capable of ripping them limb from limb. Or worse, draining their ethera until they were nothing but husks. So, Sadie narrowed her focus, pushing all superfluous thoughts out of mind as she destroyed one wraith after another. At the same time, she continuously cycled Bulwark of the Faithful, keeping it fresh so it wouldn¡¯t burst and go into cooldown. It was ethera-intensive, but she had enough energy in her core to do that much. She also kept Consecrated Shield on her companions ¨C paying special attention to Ron ¨C so that they could endure the attacks of any wraiths that made it past her position. Because they¡¯d chosen and prepared their ground appropriately, funneling the wraiths through a small gap between two earthen berms, very few got through. And those were met with furious assaults from both Kurik and Dat. Between those few instances, the two damage-dealers aimed their attacks at the horde of wraiths confronting Sadie. She kept them bottled up, and the others cleared them out. It was a good strategy. And yet, the weight of their endless numbers was irresistible. After hours of steady fighting, Sadie called for a retreat. To ease that burden, Dat and Kurik stepped up. The dwarf tossed out a few clumps of power crystals ¨C grumbling at the cost the whole time ¨C while Dat took aim with his crossbow. When the crystals hit, they erupted into a whirlwind of frigid ice, freezing the front few lines of wraiths into place. Meanwhile, Dat unleashed a barrage of blue arrows that exploded upon impact, adding a green cloud of mist to the atmosphere. The wraiths stopped moving. They slumped their shoulders, looking around as if they¡¯d forgotten what they were doing or why. Dat said his new ability was called Curse of Delirium. ¡°Now!¡± Sadie called. Everyone knew the plan of retreat, so they didn¡¯t need her orders. For her part, she backed away, keeping her white-glowing sword at the ready. Some of the wraiths blinked, clearly regaining their wits ¨C such as they were. Sadie knew they wouldn¡¯t have time to reach the secondary defensive position. The wraiths would recover more quickly than Dat had hoped ¨C probably because they had better attributes than he had expected. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. But they had a plan for that, too. So, even as her companions sprinted back to the fallback position, Sadie continued her methodical retreat. The wraiths recovered a little with every passing moment until, after seven seconds, the strongest among them pushed the confusion aside in favor of their characteristic savagery. They screeched, waking others from their delirium, and just like that, they surged. Sadie used her minor Miracle, Bell of Faith:
Bell of Faith Let your Faith echo across any battlefield, stunning enemies and empowering allies. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 6 seconds.
It didn¡¯t drain her Faith as powerfully as Touch of the Divine, which she¡¯d used to heal Elijah. That drained every ounce of Faith she¡¯d managed to accumulate, so she barely had enough to power Bell of Faith. Even that wouldn¡¯t have been possible without the events within the challenge of Ignis. Their actions in that volcano, saving the eggs and attempting a peaceful solution with the giants, had been quite a boon for her Faith. Otherwise, it would have taken months to collect enough to power even the relatively inexpensive Bell of Faith. An illusory bell manifested above Sadie¡¯s head. It swung, sending a cold, clear tone across the battlefield. It carried with it unfathomable meaning, feeling as if it was laced with the divine will of gods. When it swept over the wraiths, they looked as if they¡¯d been physically struck by someone with the Strength of a giant. They fell, stunned and incapable of thinking, much less moving. A little less than seven seconds. That was all Sadie and her companions had before the wraiths would recover. And when they did, they would not be happy. There was something about Miracles ¨C even minor ones ¨C that tended to remind people of their place in the world. They were made to feel small and inconsequential, as if, regardless of any accumulated power, they were no more significant than insects. Sapient beings tended to grow introspective at that, but creatures like the wraiths ¨C or zombies ¨C reacted with increased savagery. So, even as she sprinted past Kurik¡¯s traps, stepping around them with all the care she could manage, she knew that the battle was far from finished. With that in mind, she reached the fallback fortifications they¡¯d built ahead of time. The berms were steeper and taller, and they were lined with stakes to prevent the wraiths from climbing over. Many of those makeshift spears were laced with Kurik¡¯s abilities, which he claimed would slow down even the most powerful among the wraiths. Most that ran afoul of those fortifications would die. When Sadie had asked why he didn¡¯t use those more often, he explained that the ability that governed those traps was incredibly resource intensive. Once Sadie reached her position, she wheeled around and readied herself for the onslaught. She needn¡¯t have been so hasty, because the wraiths had reached another one of Kurik¡¯s ¡°Killin¡¯ Fields¡±. Explosions of fire and ice tore wraiths ¨C as well as the ground ¨C apart like the area had been subjected to artillery fire. Hundreds of the creatures died in seconds, and more followed as they surged through the trap-strewn ground, entirely unfazed by the deaths of their comrades. Finally, a much thinner horde reached Sadie, and she resumed the fight. The opening she defended was even narrower, and behind her, Kurik and Dat had placed themselves upon a hill that gave them an unfettered view of the wraiths. They used that to their advantage, cutting the creatures apart with repeated use of their ranged skills. For her part, Sadie acted to plug the gap between the two berms, rendering the vast majority of the horde completely incapable of reaching the pair of ranged attackers. The wraiths piled atop one another in their furor, but Sadie continuously hacked into the creatures that acted as the base, subduing their attempts to overwhelm her. After that, it was just slaughter. Over and over, she chopped the creatures apart until the bodies were piled so high that she was forced to ram them with her shoulder just to topple the tower of dead flesh. On and on, the fight went until, at last, the battlefield went silent. According to Elijah, there had been thousands of wraiths nearby. And those creatures, by their very natures, were incapable of retreat, so the only explanation was that she and her group had killed them all. More importantly, Sadie had reached level one hundred. And in doing so, she¡¯d received a new spell as well as the ability to choose a specialization. She looked at the spell first:
Judgement Embrace the pursuit of justice, significantly enhancing your physical attributes. All offensive spells used during Judgement¡¯s duration will be subject to increased damage. Potency based on Core cultivation. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 3.2 seconds. Cooldown: 1 Day.
The description was a bit vague, though based on the cooldown and some of the wording, she expected the effect to be incredibly potent. It was clearly meant to be a difference-maker in battle ¨C a kind of mini-Miracle ¨C that could turn the tide in a hurry. However, she couldn¡¯t deny that she was eager to try it out. It also established something she¡¯d long suspected: her class seemed prone to intense bursts of power. Between her Miracles as well as spells like Judgement, she could become a true terror. Yet, that didn¡¯t come without a cost. Those abilities all had extremely onerous cooldowns, and what¡¯s more, their durations were short. It hinted at the future of her class, especially when she finally achieved her first evolution at level one-twenty-five. She knew that Elijah was still ahead of her by a few levels, but the gap seemed even larger, considering how much experience it took to surpass each level. And he¡¯d claimed it only got worse after level one hundred. That told her that reaching that first evolution would take quite some time ¨C or at the very least, a lot of killing. She was ready for it, though. Because her people back in Hong Kong needed her to be as strong as possible. Otherwise, they¡¯d all die. So, she had high hopes for her specialization, which she knew had the potential to shift the direction of her path. Hopefully, it would do so in a direction that would make saving the people she loved a little easier. Before she could address it, Sadie needed to ensure the safety of her group. With that in mind, she spent a few minutes making certain that all the wraiths were dead, and the thread had ended. Once that was done, she checked on the others, and after they told her they were fine, she led everyone back to their camp. It was miles away, and the anticipation of what was coming almost made her check her notification prematurely. Recognizing the distraction it represented, she resisted the urge until, at last, they reached camp. A few minutes later, she had retreated to a secluded area so she could clean away the blood and viscera she¡¯d accumulated during the battle. After that, she realized that she was stalling. So, without further ado, Sadie settled in next to the shallow stream she¡¯d used during her impromptu bath and turned her attention to the notification that she could choose a specialization. The moment she opened the notification, she heard a melodic voice. ¡°I hope you choose wisely, young Crusader,¡± said Gabriel, the angel who was responsible for her elder core. 6-49. Sense Gabriel was beautiful. His skin shimmered golden over perfectly sculpted features that would have been entirely at home on a statue of a Greek god, while his hair ¨C which seemed like it was composed of strands of pure, white light ¨C danced in a nonexistent wind. But his eyes, bearing incomprehensible symbols instead of irises, drew more attention than any of his other traits. If he¡¯d claimed to be a god, Sadie would have believed him. ¡°How are you here?¡± she asked breathlessly. ¡°I am not,¡± he said, his voice ringing with the tone of resonant bells. ¡°This form is but an illusion. It is the tiniest sliver of my spirit given a shape of light and sound.¡± ¡°I¡­I see,¡± she said. ¡°You do not, but I do not expect you to. Your perception is too limited to fully understand the scope of my words,¡± he said. There was no arrogance in the statement. Only fact. ¡°However, I did not attend you in order to speak of things you have no hope of comprehending. Instead, I have come to offer advice. Perhaps incentive, as well.¡± ¡°I¡¯m listening,¡± Sadie stated, struggling to gather her wits. The man before her had a human shape, and though he wore simple robes of white, she knew that he was a prominent fighter. She could feel that much in her very spirit. His mere presence was overwhelming, and to every one of her senses, both mundane and magical. ¡°Do you trust me?¡± ¡°No.¡± His eyes widened, but the expression was gone well before Sadie could decipher whether it came from surprise or anger. ¡°Why not?¡± he asked, his voice betraying none of his feelings. In fact, it sounded so innocent that Sadie almost forgot her own grievances. It only took another moment before they all came rushing back to her. But one stood out above all others. ¡°Your core changed my class,¡± she said. ¡°Of course. All elder cores will alter your abilities.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t know what I was getting into,¡± she stated. ¡°Some of these abilities¡­they¡¯re too much. Every day, I have to live with seeing the worst of everyone I meet. And there isn¡¯t a human being out there who¡¯s completely without sin. It¡¯s too much. It¡¯s overwhelming. I feel entirely isolated, like I don¡¯t belong. Like I never will.¡± ¡°That is by design.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± ¡°Do you know why I chose you?¡± Gabriel asked. Up until that moment, Sadie had thought she knew the answer to that question. She was fighting against a force of undead that seemed to consort with demons, the natural enemies of angels. But the angel¡¯s demeanor suggested that there was more to the decision than she had previously suspected. ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± she admitted. ¡°Good. Acknowledging your ignorance is a necessary step toward enlightenment,¡± he said with a tight smile that never touched his runic eyes. ¡°I chose you for a variety of reasons. I looked into your heart, and I saw a kindred spirit who valued justice and order. Likely, you already know the second reason. The enemy of my enemy is a potential ally. You fought the undead and the demonic trash with whom they cooperate. Yet, we do not grant elder cores to all who fight our enemies. Even if that was our wish, we simply do not possess power on that scale.¡± ¡°You seem strong enough to do whatever you want,¡± Sadie said. It wasn¡¯t a flippant comment, either. Even the illusory version of the angel ¨C which was apparently barely a fraction of his real self ¨C put pressure on her spirit in a way nothing else ever had. By comparison, even the lava kraken or the umbrafyix were nothing. And both of those creatures could have squashed her like an insect. ¡°Would that were the case,¡± he acknowledged, a wistful note to his voice. ¡°I am not here to discuss the power necessary to grant an elder core. Suffice it to say that it is a very rare occurrence, reserved only for those who meet strenuous requirements. One of those necessary factors is your class.¡± Sadie didn¡¯t respond, but she was more than a little skeptical. The Crusader class wasn¡¯t common, but she¡¯d done a little research and found that it was barely considered rare. Surely, there were plenty of people out there who¡¯d taken the class. ¡°While the class itself is not considered rare, most who are offered the chance to become a Crusader end up taking less focused classes,¡± Gabriel stated. ¡°So, there are not many who take it. Most are like you ¨C people who are protecting their worlds from incursions of evil origin.¡± ¡°I can see that,¡± Sadie acknowledged. ¡°So, it¡¯s rarer than it seems.¡± ¡°Indeed it is,¡± the angel agreed. ¡°Yet, even that is not enough to garner our attention. The fact that you are on a newly touched world sets you apart. You will be afforded opportunities for growth that few others can boast. In addition, you have established yourself as extraordinary. From the very beginning, you have been near the pinnacle of your race. All of that together is why you were chosen.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Sadie said. ¡°So, what does this mean?¡± ¡°It means that you must be tested. You must endure a crucible.¡± Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. At that, she nearly laughed. It seemed that everything she¡¯d been through since the world had transformed had been a test. She¡¯d been fighting for her life since the very beginning, and participating in the Trial had forced even more danger upon her. She had lost count of how many times she¡¯d nearly died. So, if a crucible was necessary, she felt secure in the notion that she¡¯d already been through one. ¡°Not of physical danger,¡± he added, obviously seeing her skepticism. ¡°That skill of yours, Sense of Sin ¨C do you know what its original form was?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t even certain that it had been changed.¡± ¡°Your core has changed many of your abilities,¡± Gabriel revealed. ¡°Most have to do with the Miracles available to you, but Sense of Sin and Confession are both far more powerful now that they are powered by an angel core. For instance, for most Crusaders, Sense of Sin is a much weaker ability called Pursuit of Justice. It only gives them a minor sense of misdeeds, and it is easily ignored.¡± Sadie had already suspected as much, but having it confirmed only cemented her distrust of the angel. He¡¯d given her power, but that action had also doomed her to pay a cost she¡¯d never agreed to pay. If she had known what the angel core would do to her class¡­ She still would have taken it. The stakes were too high to worry about her personal discomfort. If saving her people meant that she had to endure abilities like Sense of Sin, then that was something she would just have to live with. ¡°Good. Your priorities are well ordered.¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± she asked. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Gabriel answered, ¡°I want to ensure that you do not make a mistake in your choice of specialization.¡± Sadie still hadn¡¯t even looked at her choices, but it seemed as good a time as any to do just that:
Archetype: Warrior Class: Crusader
Specialization Options
Inquisition Sanctuary Vengeance
Permanently increase the potency of all non-combat abilities by 25%. Also grants an additional point per level in the Ethera and Regeneration attributes. Counts as a Feat of Strength for class evolution. Permanently increase the potency of defensive abilities by 15%. Also grants an additional two points per level in the Constitution attribute. Increases the efficacy of Body cultivation. Permanently increase the potency of all offensive abilities by 15%. Also grants an additional two points per level in the Strength attribute. Increases the efficacy of Body cultivation.
The options were powerful. Sadie could see that much, if only by looking at the additional attributes and the modifiers on the efficacy of her cultivation. However, as she read the descriptions, she saw a pattern. Sanctuary was intended to push her more toward being a true defender, while Vengeance was meant to lean into the offensive side of her powers. The odd one out was Inquisition, which seemed to focus on the other aspects of her class. But there was one factor that would determine whether or not she would even consider Inquisition as a potential path. ¡°Do you know what options I have been offered?¡± she asked. ¡°I do.¡± ¡°Does Inquisition include Sense of Sin and Confession?¡± He hesitated for only a moment before answering, ¡°Yes. It also improves your healing spells as well as Path of the Faithful.¡± ¡°So, that one is out,¡± she said. ¡°You said you¡¯re here to advise me, and judging by your expression, you don¡¯t like that I¡¯ve already ruled out Inquisition. Why should I consider it when it¡¯s only made my life that much more difficult?¡± ¡°It is the primary reason we watch Crusaders. That specialization is incredibly rare, especially at the potency you have been offered,¡± Gabriel explained. ¡°Okay? It¡¯s still not a path I want to follow,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve spent the past few months struggling to connect with ¨C¡± ¡°That is the point,¡± Gabriel stated. ¡°Do you recall when I said you needed to go through a crucible? This is that test. Enduring the Inquisition specialization is recognized by the system as a potent Feat of Strength.¡± ¡°Okay? So, I might get a better class evolution,¡± she said. ¡°What does that matter if I can¡¯t stand to be near other people?¡± ¡°A true judge is meant to stand apart. Impartial. Implacable. Unfettered by personal relationships. Only truth matters. This is training for the life you could lead, for the warrior for justice you could become. That is who you are. If you take the Inquisition specialization, you will not only achieve a more powerful class evolution, but you will also begin to work toward taking the next step in the cultivation of your core.¡± ¡°And?¡± she asked. ¡°I can do that already. I¡¯ve begun to research ¨C¡± ¡°This will ease your path,¡± he said. ¡°You crave power, but not for yourself. You need the strength to save your people, do you not? That is a noble goal. I am here to tell you that the Inquisition Specialization will unequivocally grant more power than the other two combined. You merely must endure a little discomfort if you wish to seize the strength to do what must be done.¡± ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t,¡± she said. What she felt in the presence of other people wasn¡¯t just discomfort. It was psychological torture, plain and simple. ¡°You must.¡± ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± ¡°My time here is limited,¡± Gabriel stated. ¡°I have said what I came here to say. I trust that you will do the right thing.¡± Then, without further conversation, he disappeared, leaving Sadie to wonder what she was supposed to do. On the one hand, Gabriel was right. She needed as much power as she could gather, and Inquisition offered to meet that need. However, it also felt like she was on the verge of stepping off a cliff and hoping that she would suddenly sprout wings. The other two options were obviously safer, especially in terms of her sanity. But she kept going back to one simple fact: no one ever did anything worthwhile by taking the easier route. Making a difference ¨C especially on the scale of saving an entire city ¨C took sacrifice. But in the end, it came down to one factor. Or rather, a memory. In her mind, she saw Lisa, her sister, being obliterated because Sadie wasn¡¯t strong enough to save her. If she¡¯d had more power at the time, she could have stepped in. She could have shielded her. And now, if she could simply put her own fate ¨C and mental well-being ¨C aside, she could save everyone else. It was the same choice, just on a different scale. Even so, Sadie hesitated. She stared at the notification in her mind¡¯s eye, wishing that, somehow, the facts would change. They did not. If her companions had been privy to her thoughts, they might have advised her to take one of the other specializations. But she was alone. And she made the only choice that made sense. She picked Inquisition. 6-50. Rotten Fruit Elijah landed just outside of camp, where he found the others gathered around the fire. The only one who was missing was Sadie, but he sensed her sitting just a dozen or so yards away. Far enough that she probably wasn¡¯t burdened by the conversation between the rest of the group, but not so distant that she couldn¡¯t respond to an emergency. Judging by her position, he assumed she was meditating. Perhaps she¡¯d decided to push her core to the next stage, which was a change that would inevitably make future challenges much easier to conquer. Either way, he chose not to disturb her. Instead, he approached the campsite, which had taken on a more permanent air. Elijah couldn¡¯t quite pinpoint what had changed, but the area felt lived-in in a way that it hadn¡¯t when he¡¯d begun his quest to provide his companions with water-breathing rings. But now that quest was finished, which he punctuated by tossing one of the silver rings to Kurik. The dwarf didn¡¯t even look up as he caught it. ¡°Guess there ain¡¯t no delayin¡¯ it now,¡± he muttered, throwing his cards on the stump they were using as a table. ¡°I don¡¯t like this game.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t like anything, bro.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t true. I like a good cave. Comin¡¯ home to a cozy fire and a short-bearded woman is nice, too.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C dwarven women have beards?¡± Elijah asked. The ones he¡¯d met lacked facial hair. ¡°The good ones do. Not a great bushy beard like mine. Somethin¡¯ dainty. Wispy. The sort you can curl your fingers around. Sign of nobility, it is,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°Weird, bro,¡± Dat responded with a shake of his head. He grinned as he added, ¡°But I never turn down a new experience.¡± At that, Kurik let out a guffaw. ¡°You? Ain¡¯t a dwarven woman would give you the time of day, bearded or not.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m attractive, bro.¡± ¡°Not to dwarves. Too tall. Too round. Too¡­you.¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± Elijah sat in one of the empty camp chairs they¡¯d brought along. ¡°Dat¡¯s attractiveness to dwarven women notwithstanding, is there anything we need to do before we get this plan moving? We¡¯ve got a lot of levels in front of us,¡± he said. ¡°You want to go in at night?¡± asked Ron, glancing at the starry sky. ¡°I thought we¡¯d wait until morning.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°It really shouldn¡¯t make a difference. Toh is well-lit, and I don¡¯t think the alaken sleep much. So, night or day, I don¡¯t think we should waste any time,¡± he said, feeling the urgency of the Trial pressing down on him. They¡¯d begun with a year to conquer all of the challenges, which had seemed like quite a lot at the time. However, with more than half of that span having passed, Elijah felt like they didn¡¯t have enough time to accomplish all of their goals. ¡°I¡¯m ready to go when you are,¡± said Dat, who still wore an injured expression. ¡°And for what it¡¯s worth, I plan to prove you wrong, Kurik. Mark my words ¨C I¡¯m going to find a dwarven woman who likes me.¡± ¡°Good luck,¡± Kurik said with an uncharacteristic grin. It looked a little sadistic on the normally grumpy dwarf. In an attempt to steer the conversation back on track, Elijah said, ¡°Anyway¡­¡± ¡°I agree with him,¡± said Sadie, who¡¯d ceased her meditation to approach the campsite. ¡°We need to use our time wisely, and that doesn¡¯t include lazing about and playing cards.¡± In the couple of days it had taken Elijah to collect enough Drops of the Ocean to provide rings for everyone, the rest of the group had cleared the immediate area of any threats. And they¡¯d reaped the rewards of so much fighting, with Sadie having reached level one-hundred, Dat attaining level ninety-two, and Kurik getting level eighty-nine. Bringing up the rear was Ron, whose progression lagged a few levels behind the dwarf¡¯s. Elijah suspected that by the time the Trial was finished, their group would become the most powerful on Earth. Part of that was due to the rewards for achieving primacy, which included a bunch of free levels. But the challenges themselves ¨C as well as the planned grinding in the City of Toh ¨C would net them significant progression as well. But at the moment, Elijah was concerned with something else. He addressed Sadie, asking, ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± the woman said. That certainly didn¡¯t look to be the case. She had dark circles beneath her eyes, and her hair was more disheveled than normal. In addition, it was clear that she hadn¡¯t showered in some time. Normally, Elijah wouldn¡¯t have cared, but as far as he knew, the group had been idling for the past day. She should have had plenty of time to clean up. He didn¡¯t particularly care about anyone¡¯s hygiene, but what he did care about was a deviation from her established patterns of behavior. Something had changed, though he had no notion of what that might be. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Perhaps she¡¯d finally begun to crack under the pressure of her own class. Or maybe she¡¯d grown moody from the tension inherent in fighting through so many dangerous situations. Or it could have been the result of past trauma, of which they all had plenty. Regardless, Elijah knew he wasn¡¯t the one to address the issue. He and Sadie had grown a little friendlier over the months since they¡¯d arrived in the Trial of Primacy, but they certainly weren¡¯t friends. If he pushed, she would only grow annoyed. So, Elijah resolved to ask Dat to look into his friend¡¯s psychological well-being. After that short exchange, everyone prepared for the coming challenge. Even though it wasn¡¯t a first-clear, and they had the advantage of Elijah¡¯s repeated runs through the city, the dangers were not to be underestimated. One wrong move, and they could be overwhelmed. So, everyone took their preparations seriously, checking and double-checking their weapons, armor, and other supplies. Elijah did the same, and after about fifteen minutes, they all set off into the nearby surf. The group had spent some time acclimating to not needing to breathe underwater, so they didn¡¯t hesitate to forge ahead and begin the long swim to the challenge of Niflara. Thankfully, with their attributes, they could move through the water at incredible speeds that would have put an Olympic swimmer to shame, so they reached their destination after only a few minutes. They all knew the plan, which they¡¯d reviewed a dozen times over the past couple of days, so no one hesitated before heading down into the city. The idea was to clear the thing out as efficiently as possible, so the first order of business was to establish a beachhead. To that end, Elijah had chosen what looked to be a small park populated by various sea vegetation. Waving stalks of seaweed would provide cover while Kurik went to work building traps. Once that was finished, Dat set out into the city to start pulling the population to their deaths. Everyone already knew their roles, so communication wasn¡¯t really necessary. Still, they¡¯d established a set of simple hand signals. Thus prepared, everyone fell into their places. Sadie took the front, while Kurik remained at the rear with Elijah and Ron. When Dat returned, Sadie attacked with a viciousness that was normally absent from her fighting style. Her technique was still flawless ¨C even underwater ¨C but beneath her helmet, she wore an expression of fury that seemed out-of-place. For his part, Elijah started off only using his spells. That was the first phase of their plan. In his caster form, Elijah could respond to any deviation in strategy. More, he always had his heals at his fingertips, so he was ready to help Ron at a moment¡¯s notice. If the situation called for it, he would shift into one of his bestial forms, but for now, they opted for a more cautious approach. Everyone else played their part, with Kurik¡¯s traps ¨C weaker variants that he could deploy quickly and without much in the way of cost ¨C hampering and harming the oncoming alaken. Dat used his own abilities sparingly, relying on his mundane crossbow bolts unless absolutely necessary. Still, he was forced to use Hex of Tongues on the rare occasion that they found themselves facing off against a mage. Otherwise, everyone held back their most powerful abilities, knowing that they needed to pace themselves for the long haul. After all, there were thousands of alaken in the City of Toh, and it would be disastrous if they suddenly ran out of ethera or stamina when confronted with a strong foe. The set-up was a meat grinder, and soon enough, they were all swimming in diluted blood. A cloud of alaken flesh covered the immediate area, and bodies drifted only a foot or so above the ground. But on and on the residents of the city came, and they were subjected to a slaughter of epic proportions. Elijah was forced to shift into his lamellar ape form on a few occasions when it looked like Sadie was on the verge of being overwhelmed, and he even used Lightning Domain when the onslaught reached its peak. The spell worked extremely well, with the whips of electricity snaking around his companions so that only enemies were affected. It was a good thing, too, because Elijah had been worried about friendly fire. Normally, his spells functioned off his perception of other people. For instance, Healing Rain only affected those he deemed allies. However, with every new spell, he worried that he would discover that it was different. So far, that hadn¡¯t been the case, but he knew better than to bank on that always being true. Aside from that bit of tension, the battle progressed according to their plans. After months spent fighting wraiths, the members of the group were well versed in fighting hordes of creatures, and they put that expertise to good use. The bodies continued to pile up ¨C or float around, as it happened ¨C until, eventually, the flow slowed to a trickle. Then, it stopped altogether. Elijah held up his hand, then raised two fingers. It was the signal for the group to shift to the second location. They wasted no time before swimming off, and unlike Elijah¡¯s previous experiences within the challenge, that area of the City of Toh was entirely deserted. They¡¯d killed thousands of alaken in only a couple of hours, but it was just the beginning. They still had six other battle sites, then the palace itself to conquer before they could retreat to the beach and let the challenge reset. That would take a couple of hours after they left, and then they¡¯d be free to head right back in. That was precisely how it went, and with each site, the battles quickened. Everyone knew better than to relax, so they pushed themselves to become more efficient. They¡¯d agreed to spend a week grinding ¨C anything else would put them in jeopardy of missing out on the other challenges ¨C and they intended to get as much experience in that time as was possible. So, that was what they did, eventually slaying the king and queen in an anticlimactic fight that lasted only half a minute. Once they¡¯d grabbed the reward ¨C another Drop of the Ocean ¨C they retreated through the now-deserted palace and swam out of the city. Along the way, Elijah marveled at the sheer level of carnage they¡¯d authored. He¡¯d been there, right in the middle of it all, but it was still shocking to see the number of bodies in the city below. As he beheld the fruits of their labor, he tried to remind himself that the population of the city wasn¡¯t real. They were manufactured by the system to challenge them. However, even though he rationally knew that was the case, there was a distinct difference between latching onto that fact and experiencing a tidal wave of what constituted murder. Still, as he¡¯d done in the past, he pushed the seeds of guilt aside and focused on his gains. He hadn¡¯t progressed to the next level, but he¡¯d made significant progress. That alone was enough to justify their actions, because Elijah suspected that unless they improved significantly, future challenges would result in their deaths. After reaching the shore, everyone mechanically went about the post-battle preparations. They ate. They tried to sleep. But all the while, they were focused on a week of unfettered carnage. Hopefully, it would all prove to be worth it. 6-51. Golems Elijah¡¯s shoulders slumped in exhaustion ¨C both mental and physical ¨C as he took a long, deep breath. The salty air tasted almost sweet after spending so much time beneath the ocean, fighting against wave after wave of alaken. He waded forward until he reached the beach, then dropped to his knees before rolling over and collapsing onto his back. One deep breath followed the last as he closed his eyes. ¡°That was pretty rough, bro.¡± Elijah opened one eye to see Dat sitting beside him. The Witch Hunter was staring off into the middle distance, his gaze entirely unfocused as he clearly considered their actions over the past week. ¡°To say the least,¡± Elijah agreed. And it was true, too. While grinding against the alaken hadn¡¯t been as dangerous as enduring the other challenges, it had come with a few other issues none of them had anticipated. Chiefly, the weight of killing tens of thousands of clearly sapient beings pressed heavily upon their minds. Certainly, everyone knew the creatures weren¡¯t real ¨C not in the traditional sense. That fact was confirmed when the entire challenge reset after they¡¯d left. However, that line between real and conjured tended to blur when you were surrounded by floating entrails, submerged in the blood of those purportedly fake enemies, and listening to their muffled and bubbling screams of agony. Perhaps things would have been different if they¡¯d given themselves a break between iterations of the challenge. However, with time being of the essence, they¡¯d chosen to chain grinding sessions after only a couple of hours in between each one. That had turned the past week into a tidal wave of death, blood, and other viscera that none of them could endure unscathed. Apparently, post-traumatic stress was still a thing, even after the world¡¯s transformation. It didn¡¯t cripple anyone. Nobody was going to wake up screaming in the middle of the night, and they certainly weren¡¯t going to descend into panic at loud noises. However, the other signs were still there. ¡°I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I never want to do that again,¡± Ron stated. Elijah felt him nearby, lying on the pebbled shore only a few feet away. Sadie was still standing, but her posture mirrored Dat¡¯s. By comparison, Kurik busied himself by grumbling under his breath and cataloguing his remaining traps. Everyone coped differently, and Elijah knew the dwarf well enough to recognize the stress within him. ¡°We can¡¯t avoid killing,¡± Sadie said. ¡°That¡¯s our world, now.¡± Of late, there hadn¡¯t been much time for anything but slaughtering the eel-like alaken, but Elijah could recognize that something had changed with Sadie. She¡¯d never been particularly personable, but she¡¯d grown even more standoff-ish than ever before. He worried that he¡¯d done something to offend her, yet he knew that broaching that subject would only make her angry. Or angrier. So, he¡¯d kept his concerns to himself, choosing to address it with Dat when they had a little privacy. ¡°I¡¯m going to rest my eyes a bit,¡± he muttered. He was dirty, covered in blood and salty water, with bits of gore and seaweed in his hair, so he knew he needed to take a shower. But at the moment, his goals were much simpler. After casting Healing Rain and Soothe on everyone, he promptly fell asleep. When he awoke a few hours later, he regretted that. ¡°Gross,¡± he muttered, looking down at his armor. He could only hope that his cleaning powder would take care of all the blood and other nastiness that had seemingly seeped into the leather. So, after telling the others what he was doing, he retreated to a secluded area surrounded by boulders and began the arduous process of removing the grime from his armor, clothing, and most importantly, himself. The armor, he doused in cleaning powder before setting it aside. However, when he looked at the clothing he wore underneath, he realized that, regrettably, it represented a lost cause. There were so many rips and tears ¨C not to mention stains ¨C that it had become unsalvageable. Better to simply destroy it than to spend time and resources patching the clothes. Once that decision was made, he tossed the bundle of cloth aside to be burned later, then embarked on an epic quest of self-cleaning. That¡¯s when his decision to immediately fall asleep came back to bite him. The blood and salt had dried on his body, forming a truly grotesque crust that took quite a lot of vigorous scrubbing before it came off. Thankfully, his homemade soap was up to the task, and it left him feeling invigorated in a way that he couldn¡¯t quite explain. According to Nerthus, the soap was capable of slowly inching him forward in regards to his body cultivation. It would take decades for it to do so on its own, but the fact that it could even do that much made it extremely valuable. Still, he used it because of the way it made him feel, rather than some far-off benefits that wouldn¡¯t come to fruition for years. But it was a nice side-benefit, nonetheless. In any case, it took almost half an hour of vigorous scrubbing before Elijah felt clean. By that point, the cleaning powder had already done its work on his armor, so after donning one of his last outfits, he strapped the leather set into place. With it ¨C along with all his other equipment ¨C came an influx of attributes that only accentuated his refreshment. Finally, when he returned to their camp, he pulled out his French press, boiled some water, then made some coffee. Everyone else ¨C aside from Sadie, who maintained her inexplicable disdain for the miraculous beverage ¨C partook, following it up with a meal of dried pork that restored the last of Elijah¡¯s buffs. And just like that, he felt normal enough to check his gains:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 109
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 191 (125)
Dexterity 179 (113)
Constitution 196 (136)
Ethera 172 (134)
Regeneration 203 (125)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
During their grinding session, he¡¯d gained three levels. At one point, that wouldn¡¯t have seemed like such a big deal, but after he¡¯d reached level one hundred, Elijah had discovered just how difficult it was to progress. Each level, even from the very beginning, took more experience than the last, but after passing the century mark, the amount required to reach the next level increased at a much higher rate. If he¡¯d had to quantify it, he would have said that it took half again more experience to go from level one hundred to one-oh-one than it had to progress from level ninety-nine to the hundredth level. And that increase seemed to hold, with each level taking fifty percent more than the last, with every subsequent step of progression. As a result, his march toward his class evolution had all but stalled. So, gaining three levels in a week was an incredible amount of progression. Even so, Elijah was a bit disappointed that he hadn¡¯t quite tipped over to one-ten, which would have given him a new spell. The others had all experienced significant gains as well. Elijiah knew that Sadie had passed the century mark even before the session, but Dat, Ron, and Kurik still hadn¡¯t. Because of that, they¡¯d gained more levels, which Elijah had to admit, made him a little jealous. More, it made the gap between them seem a bit less impressive than it really was. Regardless, he was happy for his companions. ¡°Should we go back in?¡± asked Ron, still enjoying his steaming cup of coffee. ¡°I feel like there¡¯s still a lot of experience to be gained.¡± ¡°We agreed on a week,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to see another alaken for as long as I live, bro.¡± ¡°I just got my beard dry,¡± Kurik added. Sadie said, ¡°We need to move on. They¡¯ve already started to give diminishing returns.¡± That was true, and to Elijah, it made sense. The same thing happened with towers, and though the rule seemed to have been relaxed with the challenges, the system clearly didn¡¯t want them to spend the entire Trial running the same challenge over and over again. ¡°I agree. I¡¯m ready to go to the next challenge,¡± he said. In his trips back to the Nexus Town, he¡¯d asked around, and he had found that two other challenges had already been discovered. The one associated with the Umbra ¨C or the Shadow Realm ¨C was located far to the north within a forest that was eternally cast in shadow. The Explorer who¡¯d found it lost his entire group, and there were a few others who¡¯d gone in and failed to return. Not surprising. First clears were always rough. Then, there was the challenge dedicated to the Ethereum, or the Plane of Magic. It took the form of a massive tower that stood sentry over an enormous chasm that was described as radiating corruption. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain what that meant, but he was relieved to find that it was contained by a wall of ethera that kept the worst of it at bay. Those were the last two challenges, but there was one that he expected would be different than all the rest. The Abyss was represented within the Trial, though no one had discovered that challenge¡¯s location. Still, crossing the entire continent and overcoming the other two challenges would take at least a couple more months. So, they didn¡¯t have time to dawdle. Even so, the others needed a little more time to recover ¨C both mentally and physically ¨C from the grinding session, which left Elijah a bit fidgety. That was why, after enjoying his coffee and meal, he found himself gliding over the forest¡¯s canopy. There was one location that stood out in his mind, and it was one he¡¯d been itching to investigate since its discovery. That was how he found himself landing just on the outskirts of the overgrown plaza which contained hundreds of stone statues. Some had been destroyed, crushed to pieces by wildlife or pulled down by creeping vines. The effects of erosion, felt over what looked to be hundreds of years, likely played a part as well, and many of the statues were half-buried beneath the jungle¡¯s rich soil. Elijah approached in his Shape of Venom, hidden beneath the Guise of the Unseen. He didn¡¯t sense any hostile creatures nearby, and his Connection-boosted One with Nature gave him significant insight into any hidden dangers associated with the environment. It wasn¡¯t foolproof ¨C as he¡¯d learned during previous adventures ¨C but it was enough to tell him that there were no booby traps or other hidden mechanisms. The area was just as it appeared to be ¨C an abandoned ruin begging for exploration and hopefully yielding some explanation. With that in mind, Elijah padded forward, and soon enough, he was among the hulking statues. Each one boasted a core of weak ethera that Elijah could only barely sense, though he had no notion of what that meant. Those little balls of energy, nestled deep within the huge statues¡¯ chests, flickered and periodically faded, almost as if they struggled to maintain ignition. What little of the plaza remained uncovered put Elijah in mind of a chessboard. The tiles alternated between light and dark, but that gave him no notion of their ¨C or the plaza¡¯s ¨C nature. Was it simply an art installation? Or was something else at play? Elijah couldn¡¯t fathom the answers to those questions. So, he continued his exploration, eventually finding two interesting characteristics. First, ringing the plaza were the remnants of great columns that he¡¯d initially mistaken for boulders. Only when he saw the fluting ¨C weathered by the elements and time ¨C that he recognized their nature. Soon after, he saw a piece of white rock with incredibly straight lines that he quickly surmised had been the pediment that rested atop those columns. Following that, he found other remains of what he eventually came to think of as an open-air temple boasting hundreds of tall columns and a sloped roof. The second major discovery he made was in the center of the temple¡¯s remains. Surrounded by hundreds of statues was a tall plinth, at the foot of which was a fallen and broken sculpture that was so weathered that it looked like nothing more than a collection of rocks. It didn¡¯t take much to recognize that it had once stood upon that central pedestal. But more interestingly, there was something buried beneath all the rubble. Elijah could scarcely discern its shape, it was filled with so much ethera, but if something was that powerfully magical, then he definitely wanted to look at it with his own two eyes. And take it. Because no adventurer worth his salt turned down loot. So, after shifting back into his human form, he dug through the rubble, tossing aside hunks of stone that weighed more than a ton until he finally laid eyes on the item. It was a long, tapered shaft of blue-white crystal. Down the center of that shaft was a yellow core. Elijah reached out, barely touching it with the tip of his finger, but when nothing happened, he wrapped his hand around it and pulled. At first, nothing happened. It was stuck fast, and regardless of how much he yanked, the thing wouldn¡¯t come free. So, he took on the Shape of the Guardian and put some real muscle to the task. Even then, it resisted mightily until, at last, the sound of breaking rock heralded the shaft¡¯s freedom. Elijah went tumbling backward, but he was less concerned with his loss of balance than the wave of ethera that swept through the plaza. A second later, the sound of grating rock drew his attention. When he looked out across the plaza, he realized that he¡¯d made a huge mistake. ¡°Oh, shit,¡± he muttered to himself as hundreds of stone statues came to life. 6-52. Scope The first of the stone statues ¨C or golems, Elijah realized ¨C was on him in less than a second. The thing moved so quickly that Elijah couldn¡¯t even react before it slammed a fist into his chest. He flew backward, hitting another group of golems with so much force that the impact toppled the multi-ton things over. Elijah¡¯s mind whirled as he struggled to wrap his mind around the situation. He should have expected something. Even though he¡¯d spent more than an hour scouring the site of the ruined temple, he should have anticipated that there would be some sort of response to his intrusion. It had happened in other ruins, and it wasn¡¯t surprising that it had happened again. This time, though, he had a plan for his escape. The only complication was how quickly everything had gone wrong. The golems were too fast for their bulk, and as he¡¯d already discovered, they were far too strong to fight. Before he could enact his plan, he needed to extract himself from the pile of living statues. So, he pushed one aside ¨C it took all of his strength ¨C before using Thunderclap. Lightning hit the creatures, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, the resultant stun was almost entirely ineffective. So was Debilitating Roar. The creatures were either too powerful to be affected or, more likely, they were simply resistant to lightning and fear. That they were obviously creatures of earth probably explained the former, and it didn¡¯t take a genius to realize that statues ¨C no matter how mobile ¨C were incapable of feeling fear. In any case, Elijah was only afforded an instant of peace before the stun wore off. In that time, he¡¯d already initiated his transformation into the Shape of the Sky. He¡¯d also thrown himself into a roll that he hoped would free him from their clutches. Even as he changed shape, the ground rumbled with heavy footsteps, and when he came to a stop, he saw that every golem in the area had come alive. They charged, moving far more quickly than their bulk should have allowed. Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have any chance in a fight. They were made of solid stone, and even in the Shape of Venom, he had no hope of matching their speed. His only hope was escape, and for that, he would rely on flight. His transformation completed just as the next golem reached him. With a mighty flap of his wings, he threw himself into the sky, but he just wasn¡¯t quick enough. The creature had latched onto his leg with a grip that felt like iron. It pulled against him, and even with his powerful wings, he couldn¡¯t extricate himself. It pulled. Elijah beat his wings with every ounce of Strength he could muster. He even activated Savage Might, but it was no good. Recognizing the dire situation for what it was, his mind spun with potential avenues of escape. Yet, they all hinged on him getting free of the creature¡¯s powerful grip. He had two choices before him. One meant activating the ability associated with his Armor of the Boar King. It would grant him three seconds of invulnerability, but it was a one-time thing. After that, he could never use the ability again. And what would happen after three seconds? He would still be in the same situation. A shield wouldn¡¯t free him from the creature¡¯s grip. The second option was worse, and he had no idea if it would even work. But given his lack of options ¨C and time constraints, considering that it would be only a second until the other golems arrived and killed him ¨C he knew he didn¡¯t have a choice. So, he used Lightning Rush. As he¡¯d hoped, the ability activated without issue, and he became a bolt of lightning streaking through the air towards the upper atmosphere. Unfortunately, the presence of the golem deactivated it only a moment later. It sputtered before reengaging, then came to a stop almost seventy miles above the surface of the planet. Which was alarming for three reasons. First, people just weren¡¯t meant to survive on the edge of space. Elijah felt his blood begin to boil and the air in his lungs started to expand. Fortunately, his Constitution seemed high enough that he didn¡¯t immediately die. That, along with the clarity of thought that came with his Jade Mind, gave him enough time to enact a plan for survival. He shifted out of the Shape of the Sky, pausing only long enough to cast Soothe and Nature¡¯s Bloom before transforming into the Shape of the Guardian. That eased the burden on his tortured body and took care of the first issue. More importantly, it let him deal with the second problem. The golem was still there, though in the near weightlessness of the current environment, it seemed to have lost some of its power. That allowed him to lever himself free and kick the thing away. It spun as it drifted downward, but Elijah couldn¡¯t afford the attention to track its path. Because he could finally see the true scope of Ka¡¯arath¡¯s excisement. Above him, there was a dome of pure ethera, on the other side of which was the Abyss. Elijah had difficulty processing the horrors he witnessed. His previous experiences with the Abyss were limited to when he challenged Rifts, which had led him to the impression that it was something like a twisted version of the familiar. Yet, what he saw on the other side of that shield was so alien that he had no context through which he could understand it. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. It was easy to imagine that some people might have gone mad at the sight. Elijah jerked his attention away, focusing on the world below. The shield stretched on, but it did not encompass the entire planet. Far from it. Instead, it only surrounded a single continent. The rest of Ka¡¯arath had been overcome by the Abyss. Hulking monstrosities loomed larger than mountains, steadily slamming themselves against the dome of energy. And yet, it held. Until that moment, Elijah had considered excisement a terrible but manageable turn of events. The world he¡¯d found was dangerous, wild, and mostly unsettled, and yet, he and his companions had no trouble surviving the rigors it represented. However, getting a glimpse of the Abyss ¨C and the monsters that came with it ¨C elicited a fear unlike anything he¡¯d ever experienced. If something like that happened to Earth, it wouldn¡¯t only kill him. It would spell the extinction of everything on the planet, and replacing it all with those nightmarish creatures Elijah could only scarcely comprehend. Then, he was falling. As the atmosphere thickened, the only thing keeping Elijah from burning to a crisp was his enhanced durability that came from nearly two hundred Constitution and the vitality still singing through his veins. Even that only got him through the worst of it, though. He fell, and Soothe ran its course. A few seconds later, Nature¡¯s Bloom did as well. The jolt of healing helped with the burns, but it was a temporary measure. If he was going to survive, he needed two things. There was only one chance to repair the damage he knew he would endure before it was all said and done. He held his breath, ready to activate Guardian¡¯s Renewal the second he passed the point where the very atmosphere would stop trying to kill him. It came sooner rather than later, and he activated the ability. The ability warred with the damage wrought upon his body by his brief exposure to the mesosphere while struggling against the burns he¡¯d endured. A few times in the past, Guardian¡¯s Renewal had proven insufficient to the task of living up to its description. Elijah¡¯s only explanation was that, like many other abilities, its potency was based on a variety of factors that weren¡¯t mentioned in the spell¡¯s explanation. Perhaps it could only heal so much damage before it ran out of steam. Or maybe it was percentage based. It could¡¯ve even had something to do with him possessing a higher Constitution attribute than normal ¨C at least in relation to other Animists. Whatever the case, Elijah knew that it wasn¡¯t infallible. Still, even though it wasn¡¯t entirely effective, it did pull him through the worst of his injuries and allow him to enact the second part of his plan. He shifted back into the Shape of the Sky, then snapped his wings out before leveling off into a glide. He found himself at a greater altitude than he¡¯d ever experienced, which meant that he was exposed to greater dangers. There were no large airborne predators on Ka¡¯arath, but there were plenty of wind spirits. They didn¡¯t immediately attack. Instead, they seemed almost curious. But then, they reacted to the intruder in their midst, cutting into him with vicious blades of air. Thankfully, he was moving so quickly that he soon began to outpace them. Not before they ripped him to shreds, but quickly enough that he didn¡¯t think he was in danger of dying. Still, a rain of blood accompanied his flight as he made his way to the jungle below, and he was grateful when, after only a few more minutes, he set down in a clearing he¡¯d spied from above. Immediately, Elijah shifted back to his human form and cast a series of heals that mended his lacerated body. There was still plenty of damage from his brief bout of space exploration as well, so it took a few hours before he found himself returned to full health. In that time, he considered what he¡¯d witnessed. And he merged that first-hand experience with the accounts he¡¯d read since coming to the Trial. That allowed him to piece together a general idea of what had happened to Ka¡¯arath. He still didn¡¯t know why the planet had been excised, but he now knew that one continent had been shielded from the Abyss, probably through the Lightning Emperor¡¯s efforts. How powerful was Yloa that he could keep the Abyss at bay? Elijah expected that he was a Transcendent, just like Kirlissa, though probably not quite on her level. But that assumption was likely based on personal bias rather than any verifiable facts. Either way, Yloa the Lightning Emperor was a fearsome being who Elijah very much hoped he would never have to face in person. While he sat there, he looked at the shaft of crystal in his hand. Somehow, he¡¯d managed to maintain his grip on the prize he¡¯d earned. However, as he studied it, he couldn¡¯t figure out a purpose. The hunk of crystal had clearly been made by a skilled crafter, with sharp edges and tapered tip that suggested it might¡¯ve once been a blade. Remembering the Lament of the Fallen he¡¯d read, he immediately thought of the weapon that had been broken into three pieces. Perhaps he¡¯d found the first part. Then, he remembered the fluted cylinder of crystal he¡¯d recovered from the prison. It could have been a sword hilt. With trembling hands, he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved the piece. There was a space in the center that he thought might fit the blade¡¯s tang. So, without further hesitation, he slotted it into place. And nothing happened. More, it clearly didn¡¯t fit, because the blade just fell out the second he relieved the pressure holding it in place. ¡°Well, that¡¯s disappointing,¡± he muttered to himself. Still, both items glowed with ethera, so they had to be valuable. Belatedly, he realized that he should¡¯ve had Atticus identify the cylinder during one of his trips back to Nexus Town, but for whatever reason, he¡¯d forgotten to do so. He¡¯d just have to remember to do that next time he was in the area. For now, though, he placed both items into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and completed his convalescence. After another hour, he felt well enough to return to his companions. Which presented a bit of a problem. During his brief time in space, the planet had continued to rotate. Meanwhile, he¡¯d remained stationary, which meant that in the space of a handful of seconds, he¡¯d been thrown far off-course. So, it took him another hour of flying around before he saw something familiar. That led him back to the site of the temple, and he was relieved to find that the golems had once again returned to their inert state. Once he¡¯d established that they wouldn¡¯t pose any danger to anyone else ¨C so long as they weren¡¯t disturbed by a thoughtless Druid ¨C he retraced his original flight path and returned to camp. ¡°You look pretty bad, bro. Is that blood?¡± Elijah shook his head. His face was entirely covered in blood that had leaked from his eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. More, he still wasn¡¯t completely healed, so his entire body was covered in one huge bruise. ¡°You did something stupid again, didn¡¯t you?¡± asked Sadie with a glare. ¡°Uh¡­no?¡± Nobody believed him. So, after receiving Ron¡¯s healing attentions, he once again retreated to a secluded area so he could clean himself up. 6-53. The Umbra ¡°I remember going to an amusement park a few years before the world changed,¡± Ron remarked as they trekked through the jungle. ¡°My daughter always loved roller coasters, and with everything going on, I decided to treat her. Anyway, when we got there, I saw this woman who¡¯d attached leashes to her children. The kids kept trying to get away, and they almost ran into a restricted area where they would¡¯ve definitely been injured. I think about that a lot these days. Leashes, I mean.¡± He spoke as though he wasn¡¯t directing the statement at anyone in particular, but everyone knew he was really talking to Elijah. After he¡¯d regaled his companions with the story of his most recent adventure, he¡¯d expected them to be awed by his knack for survival ¨C or at least intrigued by what he¡¯d discovered. Yet, they¡¯d all piled on to berate him for taking unnecessary risks. Even Dat had criticized him for going at it alone. And now Ron was likening him to a child who was so unruly that he needed a leash to keep him out of trouble. It was maddening. ¡°For the record, I am not an out-of-control child. Just wanted to throw that out there before people got the wrong idea,¡± he said with a long-suffering sigh. ¡°I¡¯d never imply that you were,¡± Ron stated. ¡°But those kids, they probably thought much the same thing. They probably never considered that running into an area with heavy machinery was even dangerous. Not that that has any bearing on our current situation. I¡¯m only telling an amusing anecdote from my past.¡± Elijah was about to respond, but instead chose to take the high road. He could acknowledge that his actions probably looked reckless from afar, but he also knew that if he¡¯d taken anyone else along, they¡¯d probably be dead. There was no standing up to those golems. No fighting back. He was the only member of the group capable of escape. Of course, he could have simply chosen not to poke the proverbial bear, but that just went against his every instinct. For better or worse, he was a curious person, and because he had the tools to extricate himself from a wide variety of dangerous situations, he probably wasn¡¯t nearly as cautious as others expected him to be. Still, he had survived, and he¡¯d picked up an interesting artifact along the way. In addition, he¡¯d discovered the truth about the excised world, which he fully expected to become important sometime in the future. If not in the Trial itself, then as a cautionary tale that could influence how they approached Earth¡¯s future. In short, though he understood where Ron ¨C and the others ¨C were coming from when it came to their evaluation of his actions, he rejected the premise they espoused. The reality was that he¡¯d survived, and he¡¯d gained valuable insight along the way. That was worth the risk, so far as he was concerned. And if he was entirely honest with himself, he didn¡¯t intend to change his ways. With that in mind, it was much easier to ignore Ron¡¯s pointed jabs at his lack of instincts for self-preservation ¨C which continued as they traveled through the jungle on the way toward the challenge associated with the Umbra. Over the next two weeks, the group traveled across the continent with unprecedented speed. Their recent influx of levels brought with it a wave of increased attributes that made traversal of the terrain easier than ever before. The few times they encountered wraiths, they tore through the wretched creatures without slowing for more than a few minutes. On a couple of occasions, they were stalked by ta¡¯alaki hunters, but the creatures were wholly incapable of keeping pace. One instance saw them being ambushed by more hunters, though that ended with a wholesale slaughter that Elijah hoped would dissuade further attempts at a similar tactic. He didn¡¯t expect that would be the case, though. The hunters, for better or worse, seemed entirely dedicated to their task. Certainly, they would retreat if they thought it necessary, but that just meant that they would come back at a more advantageous time. Or if they were too badly outclassed, they would seek out other prey. Giving up just wasn¡¯t in their nature. With what Elijah suspected about the Lightning Emperor¡¯s role in keeping the Abyss at bay, he understood their dedication. What remained of their society owed their continued existence to Yloa, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that they would be fanatical about following his orders. The only question was why they had been instructed to hunt the Trial-takers. By all rights, they could have simply sat it out and let the people from Earth tackle the challenges unmolested. Instead, Elijah and the other participants in the Trial of Primacy had been hunted from the very beginning. It just didn¡¯t make much sense. Then again, that wasn¡¯t surprising. There were so many other factors at play that Elijah would have been shocked if he understood even half of the situation. Not only was the system toying with everyone and everything, but there were planetary politics to consider. Class warfare, too. From everything Elijah had seen, the native species didn¡¯t get along, so there was racism in there as well. In short, trying to understand how it all fit together was a fool¡¯s errand, and he suspected that it was meant to distract the participants in the Trial from what truly mattered ¨C at least to them. Conquering challenges and gaining advantages that they would take with them back to Earth was more important than trying to understand the situation on ka¡¯arath. Along the way, his companions mostly kept to themselves. Traveling across the continent was a dangerous prospect, and though they were among the strongest people from Earth, they knew that if they let down their guard, they could get injured or killed almost as easily as anyone else. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Because, as Elijah had discovered many times, the world of ka¡¯arath had plenty of dangers that were far stronger than they were. But even among the mostly silent group, Sadie¡¯s demeanor stood out. She rarely spoke to anyone, and when she did, it was in clipped sentences. She didn¡¯t even confide in Dat anymore, which left Elijah worried for her mental well-being. If they¡¯d been a little closer, he would have taken her aside and inquired as to her psychological state. Or maybe offered a friendly ear so she could unload her problems. Yet, each time he drew close to her, her complexion paled, and she looked as if she was about to vomit. That was as good a hint as any that his presence wasn¡¯t wanted. Which was a little disappointing. He¡¯d thought that they¡¯d gotten over the proverbial hump with their relationship. He knew she was still under the influence of her skill, but they had been making progress. Elijah didn¡¯t know what had changed, but he wished things would go back to normal. Grudging acceptance was better than outright disdain. Or as seemed to be the case of late, disgust. Regardless, she didn¡¯t do anything overtly hostile, so Elijah kept his thoughts to himself. His previous resolution to ask Dat to intervene seemed like it would just make things worse, so he decided to shelve the idea until they reached a safer and more peaceful environment. Given that their time in the Trial was steadily growing shorter, Elijah expected that wouldn¡¯t come until they returned to Earth. And even then, there would be other issues that he knew would take precedence. It was a depressing realization, but it occurred to Elijah that they may never get the chance to figure things out between them. After all, they lived on different sides of the world, and once their interests no longer aligned ¨C meaning that the Trial was finished and Hong Kong was safe ¨C they would have little reason to endure one another¡¯s company. It was far more likely that they¡¯d simply go their separate ways. That had happened with many of Elijah¡¯s friends from high school, and he¡¯d rarely even considered the fate of his acquaintances or coworkers from his life in Hawaii. And he¡¯d known some of them for years. It was just the nature of human relationships that as paths diverged, relationships wilted until even the memories faded to almost nothing. Such morose thoughts accompanied Elijah as they traveled across the continent. At some point, the sweltering jungle gave way to a more temperate climate, and the nature of the vegetation and local wildlife followed suit. Clearly, their evolutionary paths had pushed them to adapt to the much cooler temperatures, with many of the animals having thick coats of fur. Of course, thanks to his cloak, Elijah felt no difference. The others couldn¡¯t say the same, and both Dat and Ron voiced their appreciation for the improved climate. Eventually, they reached their destination, and predictably, given the gloomy nature of the challenge, it came with a thunderstorm. Dense sheets of rain fell, and thunder rolled across the landscape as Elijah and his companions stood on a bluff overlooking the challenge associated with the Umbra. ¡°Say whatever else, but at least it¡¯s consistent,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°It does fit,¡± agreed Ron. ¡°It looks interesting,¡± Dat said. ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ interestin¡¯ about that,¡± Kurik stated, nodding toward the shadow strewn valley in the distance. Very little of the forest itself was visible, but from what they could see, the trees were gnarled, with grey leaves and twisted branches. To Elijah, they looked like they were in pain. ¡°What do we know about it?¡± Elijah asked. In a terse voice, Sadie answered, ¡°Nothing. Just that two groups went in a couple of months ago, but no one ever came out.¡± That wasn¡¯t surprising. Unless they were well-prepared and extremely powerful, any group that attempted a first clear was bound to have issues. It wasn¡¯t a pretty thought, but the groups that went in were likely dead. ¡°What¡¯s it called?¡± asked Ron. ¡°There¡¯s no information other than the location,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°Do we want to go in now? Or rest a little before we try it?¡± ¡°I vote for rest,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We want to be at our best.¡± Everyone else agreed, and they decided to make camp a few miles from the shadowy valley. Once there, Elijah hunted down a beast that seemed very similar to a feral pig, though with a thick coat that reminded him of a yak. It was also the size of a bull, so there was plenty of meat. After butchering it and setting the hide aside to dry overnight, Elijah presided over a good, old-fashioned barbecue. He''d obtained some sauce from the Consortium¡¯s Chef, so he used that along with some seasoning he¡¯d gotten back on Earth to help with the cooking. It wasn¡¯t a substitute for someone with a cooking skill, but because those ingredients had been prepared by someone with just such an ability, they helped maintain the taste. ¡°This isn¡¯t bad,¡± said Ron, having taken a bite. ¡°Not great, either. Just better than normal.¡± ¡°I miss the Stuck Pig. It¡¯s a restaurant back in Ironshore, and it reminds me of so many of the best barbecue places from before the world¡¯s transformation,¡± Elijah said. ¡°They even made orc ribs taste good.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ wrong with orc,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Tender meat. Lots of flavor. You just got to kill the orcs first, which makes it a bit dicey.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t have anything like that back home,¡± Ron admitted. ¡°We have a few Cooks and such, but no restaurants. It¡¯s more of a community cafeteria setup.¡± ¡°I bet it¡¯s good, though.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not bad,¡± Ron said with a grin. Dat cut in, ¡°I miss pizza so much.¡± ¡°There¡¯s a pizza place in Norcastle,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It¡¯s not bad.¡± ¡°I haven¡¯t had pizza in years,¡± Dat said with no small degree of wistfulness. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll treat you when all this is over. Norcastle isn¡¯t far from Argos. We can hit that restaurant then head to Hong Kong. I¡¯ll even introduce you to Jess. You two will get along great,¡± Elijah said. Dat went red in the face, but he mumbled something that sounded like, ¡°Okay.¡± After that, the group enjoyed the meal as well as the affable companionship as they spoke of the things they missed from before the world¡¯s transformation. Pointedly, Sadie remained silent, and as soon as she finished eating, she mumbled her thanks then said she was going to stand lookout. Before Elijah could point out how unnecessary that was ¨C One with Nature¡¯s effective radius was large enough for him to keep watch without leaving the campfire ¨C Sadie was gone. ¡°Is she okay?¡± asked Ron, proving that Elijah wasn¡¯t the only one to have noticed the change. ¡°It¡¯s a long story, bro. But she¡¯s going through some stuff. Just try to be understanding,¡± Dat said. ¡°She¡¯ll be fine in the long run. I think.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure. No one could tackle every issue alone. However, as he¡¯d previously noted, he was not in a position to offer help. With that in mind, he remained silent until everyone had finished eating. He retreated to his monster-dissuading tent and fell asleep. He knew that the coming challenge would likely prove as difficult ¨C or probably more so, given the pattern of escalation they¡¯d already experienced ¨C as any other. 6-54. The Vale of Whispers ¡°I really don¡¯t like this,¡± Elijah said, focusing on the sense granted by One with Nature. So close to the forest, he could feel its atmosphere so intensely that it verged on overwhelming. His previous supposition that the forest was in pain was only partially accurate. Nature didn¡¯t cry out, but strangled by shadow, it did whimper slightly. It was like looking at an abused animal. A beaten dog that cringed at every turn. ¡°This place is evil.¡± ¡°Worse than the Spires of Fallen?¡± asked Dat. Elijah nodded. Bad things had happened within the challenge of the Underrealm. But the very nature of the world around it hadn¡¯t been changed. That was not the case with the forest laid out before them. Perhaps in another frame of mind, Elijah would have marveled at the endurance of nature, that it could persist through such a torturous existence. However, with the metaphysical whimpers of a ruined forest filling his mind, he could only feel sadness. It was tinged with anger, though. ¡°Do you want to sit this out?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°We should be capable of ¨C¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah said, his tone firm. He didn¡¯t want to turn away and flee. Instead, he wanted nothing more than to find the culprit who¡¯d corrupted nature so thoroughly that it felt like an enslaved and abused animal. And when he did track them down ¨C whoever they were ¨C he would unleash the full fury of nature¡¯s vengeance upon them. As a Druid, his role was often to protect. To nurture. To heal. But there was another side to who he was, and one that he¡¯d only let loose a handful of times. It harkened back to when he¡¯d stalked those hunters and slaughtered them for their indiscriminate murder of the guardian bear. Or when he chose to kill the people who¡¯d invaded his island. Looking at that shadowy forest and seeing the twisted shapes of the trees within, Elijah was driven to avenge the injustice imposed upon nature. In that, all three parts of his spirit were aligned. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Let¡¯s just do this,¡± he stated. By that point, their pattern of exploration and travel was well established. So, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Venom and slipped into stealth. Dat did the same, and together, they set off into the shadowy forest. Since coming into range of the challenge of the Umbra, the rain had been pervasive. As a result, the atmosphere was overcast, with very little sunlight peeking through the clouds. Every now and then, lightning lanced down from the clouds, briefly illuminating the area, but even that was insufficient to truly pierce the gloom. And it got worse the second Elijah stepped into the forest itself. The darkness behaved like fog, drifting between the gnarled trees and obscuring everything outside of a three-foot radius. Ten feet away, Elijah could see nothing but black mist. Then there was the cold. It was similar to what he¡¯d felt around the Spires of the Fallen, but different, too. The amorphous chill of fear versus the rigid cold of a corpse. It was as if the warmth of the sun had entirely faded, giving way to the chill of eternal night. To call it uncomfortable would have been a vast understatement. Normally, Elijah wasn¡¯t prone to intense fear. He felt it from time to time, but it was usually fleeting ¨C the result of an extremely dangerous situation. However, the note of terror wafting through his Mind was ubiquitous and enduring. It was like stepping foot into an alien world where nothing made sense, and the resulting feeling twisted his stomach into knots of anxiety. He shunted that discomfort aside, quarantining it in its own facet of his Jade Mind. Although he quickly discovered that that strategy, which he usually used to deal with intense pain, was insufficient in dealing with the shadowy fear. It stretched out its tendrils, infecting every other facet of his Mind with formless anxiety. It was weaker, but still there, ubiquitous and undeniable. With a subtle shiver, he continued on. The others would soon follow, and he needed to do his job as a scout. Gradually, he covered ground until, at last, he received the notification he¡¯d expected:
You have reached the Vale of Whispers. To conquer the challenge of the Umbra, illuminate the Shadows. Reward: Umbral Shroud
No sooner had Elijah read the notification than he felt something via One with Nature. He jerked his head in that direction, expecting to see the vaguely humanoid shape he¡¯d sensed, but instead, he saw nothing. Another darted past on the other side. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. Then another. Elijah could barely feel them. Likely, the only reason he could sense them at all was due to his specialization. Without it, they would have been just as undetectable as Dat had once been when under the effects of Ghost Cloak. However, as he remained rooted in place, Elijah knew the shadowy figures had not used a stealth skill. Instead, they were perfectly suited to their environment, seemingly made of similar stuff. Elijah focused every facet of his mind until he got a vague sense of their nature. The creatures were shaped like ka¡¯alaki, though it was difficult to sense enough details to determine their ultimate origin. More interestingly ¨C or terrifyingly ¨C they seemed to emanate the same shadowy energy that pervaded the environment. That was the source of their near invisibility. And it was a serious issue. As far as Elijah knew, none of his companions possessed any significant sensory abilities. Dat might have something that helped him out, but the rest of the group would be blind and deaf to the presence of their enemies. And they were clearly enemies. Elijah could sense the demeanor of a predator in their every gliding step. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine one of them stalking and slaughtering someone like Ron or Kurik before either even knew it was there. With that in mind, Elijah retreated, finding the others on the verge of entering the Vale of Whispers. He stopped them just in time, dropping Guise of the Unseen and saying, ¡°Retreat. I think it¡¯s too ¨C ¡± Just then, a grey limb cloaked in darkness reached out and grabbed hold of Elijah¡¯s tail. He reacted instantly, jerking away just as a dagger wrought of pure shadow descended. It grazed him, tearing through his scales with ease before hitting the ground and kicking up a spray of loamy turf. Thankfully, Sadie was on her guard, and she moved the instant the creature¡¯s arm darted out of the shadowy mist. Her glowing white sword arced out, hitting the shadow monster in the torso. Sparks flew, and the sound of sizzling meat filled the air, followed by an unholy scream of pure agony. It pulled away, disappearing into the shadows, though the echoes of its pain remained, bouncing here and there for a couple of seconds before fading away. Elijah let out a hissing breath, then dropped the Shape of Venom. As soon as he returned to his human form, he inspected his wound. It was just a scratch, but he could already feel cold tendrils of some sort of foreign ethera spreading from the point of impact. He used Soothe, then Nature¡¯s Bloom. Ron added his own heals to the mix, but that cold, ethereal infection resisted. It took a few more moments before it retreated, then disappeared. The wound healed only a second later. ¡°That was¡­¡± ¡°It was too strong,¡± Ron said. ¡°Poison?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t feel like it,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°It was more like¡­¡± ¡°Shadows, bro,¡± said Dat, who¡¯d just exited the forest. He made a point to plant himself just out of reach of any monsters that might reach out. ¡°I can feel it. It resonated with my attunement.¡± ¡°Which is?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°Darkness,¡± Dat stated. ¡°Really?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°How does that work with having an angel core? I mean, it¡¯s not like ¨C¡± ¡°There are all kinds of angels, bro.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the time to discuss it,¡± Sadie reminded them, never taking her eyes from the dark forest. ¡°Let¡¯s get somewhere safe, then we can figure out how to proceed.¡± Everyone agreed with that plan of action, so they headed back to their previous camp, where Elijah laid out what he¡¯d felt. Dat added a few details, like the fact that the shadow creatures weren¡¯t actually monsters. Instead, they were ka¡¯alaki who¡¯d completely embraced their shadow-related attunements. That Elijah hadn¡¯t sensed as much was a little troubling, but he reasoned that he needed to accept that the ability ¨C even bolstered by Connection ¨C wasn¡¯t entirely foolproof. Or maybe he just needed it to evolve. His other spells had progressively grown comparatively weaker to the increasingly powerful enemies he often faced, so it wasn¡¯t out of the question that One with Nature would follow that same trajectory. It was still an incredibly powerful ability, but Elijah expected that factor was at least as much due to Connection and his Core cultivation as it could be credited to the ability itself. Regardless, the situation they¡¯d been presented with was enough to derail their normal plans. It wasn¡¯t until Ron spoke up that they were able to pivot. He said, ¡°The way I see it, all of these challenges have ways you¡¯re supposed to overcome them, right? There¡¯s probably something like that here. A path we can follow. We just need to find it.¡± That was how Elijah found himself once again cloaked in Guise of the Unseen while he explored the Vale of Whispers. Thankfully, if he narrowed the focus of One with Nature ¨C a trick he¡¯d been working on of late ¨C he could get a better sense of the shadowy ka¡¯alaki that populated the forest. What he felt was still fleeting, but it was enough to guide him along. So he went, exploring the area. The creatures still couldn¡¯t see through Guise of the Unseen, but Elijah expected that if he lingered for long enough, that would change. He kept moving, steadily weaving between the gnarled trees as he tried to simultaneously keep an eye on the shadow creatures while attempting to ignore the feeling of wrongness that pervaded the area. He was moderately ¨C but not entirely ¨C successful on both counts. But he found nothing. The area seemed devoid of any important points of interest, though he did find a collapsing wall that looked like it would have been more at home in a fancy garden than as a defensive fortification. He followed the wall for a few hundred yards until it ended abruptly, leaving him a little unsure of where he should go next. In the end, he opted for a search grid that saw him crisscrossing the same areas over and over as he looked for anything of note. That netted a few discoveries ¨C like a couple of dry fountains and small, abandoned buildings ¨C but there were no hints as to how the challenge was meant to be conquered. Like that, hours passed until night began to fall. Thinking it would be best if he wasn¡¯t within the challenge after dark, he retreated to the camp where he¡¯d left the others. Surprisingly, Dat had already returned after searching his own side of the forest. Once he was in the circle of flickering light provided by the campfire, Elijah let Shape of Venom drop away and returned to visibility. ¡°I didn¡¯t find anything,¡± he said before the others could respond to his sudden appearance. ¡°But I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve only searched a tiny fraction of the challenge area. So, this might end up taking longer than we thought.¡± The last was said with a significant degree of disappointment. Dat grinned. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I found the way through,¡± he said. Before Elijah could respond, Dat explained what he¡¯d found. Most of it was similar to what Elijah had discovered over the course of his own search, but he¡¯d found something that would hopefully change everything. ¡°Are we sure about this?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I mean¡­no offense, but that feels like a leap of logic, there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Dat said with complete confidence. ¡°This is the way.¡± He glanced from one face to another, and he saw that everyone else seemed to feel the same. So, Elijah said, ¡°Then I guess it¡¯s settled. We¡¯ll go back in at sunrise.¡± 6-55. Candles It was difficult to gauge when the sun had truly risen. Even though the pitch black of night had faded, the effect was not nearly as plain as Elijah would have normally anticipated. It was just further evidence ¨C as if he needed any ¨C that the world of magic didn¡¯t necessarily follow the thread of his expectations. Thankfully, Dat had a keen sense of such things, which meant that when he said it was time to go in, Elijah trusted the man¡¯s judgement. So it happened that the pair headed back into the forest. Under the scrutiny of One with Nature, Dat¡¯s Ghost Cloak was never infallible. Within the forest, its effectiveness clearly changed, though. The shadows seemed to augment the ability, making Dat all but undetectable, even when Elijah narrowed his focus. Still, One with Nature provided enough feedback that Elijah could follow his companion¡¯s path, which went on for more than an hour until, at last, something changed. Elijah slowed his steps as an eerie glow came into his field of vision. The source was still obscured by the tortured trees, but that didn¡¯t seem to bother Dat, who kept going without skipping a step. The glow steadily grew stronger as they progressed closer to the origin, but it was much further away than Elijah had expected. So, it took almost fifteen more minutes before, at last, they reached their destination. A single candle stood upon a pedestal, casting everything within a twenty-foot radius in pale, flickering light. Dat stepped inside, and he immediately appeared. Elijah followed, and panic gripped his heart as Guise of the Unseen was ripped from him. In the immediate aftermath, he felt more exposed than he had in his entire life. It was like he¡¯d been stripped naked and made to parade in front of everyone he¡¯d ever met. That sensation faded after only a few moments, but the echoes lingered, leaving him almost as uncomfortable than the pervasive chill of the shadow-twisted forest. ¡°That was¡­unpleasant,¡± Elijah whispered, his voice hoarse as he let Shape of Venom dissipate. ¡°You didn¡¯t mention that.¡± ¡°Sorry, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°This is it, then? You think it¡¯ll keep the shadows at bay?¡± Elijah asked, pointing to the candle. The object in question was about as big around as a baseball bat and approximately a foot long. The wax comprising it was also pitch black, giving the item an odd look that still somehow seemed appropriate. Perhaps it was the setting, which was a stone pedestal carved with sculptures of writhing creatures. ¡°I know it will, bro. You felt it cancel your stealth, right?¡± he asked. It was a rhetorical question, made unnecessary by Elijah¡¯s previous reaction. ¡°Besides, Hex of Scrying made it pretty clear. The ghosts tell me that it¡¯ll only last a few hours, though. After that, we need to find another.¡± ¡°And if we don¡¯t?¡± ¡°Bad things, bro. Really bad things. Those creatures are deadly,¡± Dat said. ¡°They¡¯re called shadow slayers. I don¡¯t know much else about them, but¡­they don¡¯t feel right, bro. They¡¯re like people, but¡­but wrong. Like they¡¯ve got one foot in each of two worlds. It¡¯s not natural.¡± ¡°Nothing in this place is,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°Okay, so here¡¯s what we should do. Now that we have an idea of how to get through this, we need to find more of these candles so we can find a path to the goal. Which we still don¡¯t know what it is.¡± The challenge was to illuminate the shadows, whatever that meant. And Elijah suspected that it would take some time to figure it out. There was only one problem, and it was one they hadn¡¯t anticipated. ¡°Uh¡­I can¡¯t use Guise of the Unseen while in the light,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°And those things¡­¡± Indeed, there were a half dozen shadow slayers flitting around just outside the ring of illumination. The moment Elijah stepped out of the light, he would be attacked. And given what he¡¯d felt the last time through, he wasn¡¯t sure he¡¯d survive a fight against one, let alone all six. There was also no guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t call more. ¡°Leave it to me, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°What are you going to do?¡± ¡°You¡¯re not the only one who got some levels. I have two new abilities that I think will help here,¡± he said. ¡°One is called Ghost Step, and it lets me move really fast. Like, Usain Bolt fast.¡± ¡°I can jog faster than that, Dat. So can you.¡± His face fell. ¡°I know that. I¡¯m just¡­it was just a good¡­never mind. My point is that I can outrun them.¡± ¡°Are you going to leave the forest, because ¨C¡± ¡°No. That¡¯s where my other new ability comes in. Reaper¡¯s Escape. It lets me use Ghost Cloak even if something¡¯s staring right at me,¡± he said. So long as his abilities worked as advertised, Dat¡¯s plan made sense. He¡¯d go first, leaving the safety of candle¡¯s light and using Ghost Step. Then, once he¡¯d led them away, he would utilize Reaper¡¯s Escape. By that point, Elijah would have already left the circle and cloaked himself in Guise of the Unseen. ¡°Okay. But one issue,¡± Elijah said. Then, he gestured toward the forest. ¡°Those things are sapient, right?¡± The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Maybe? I don¡¯t know.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t they hear us?¡± ¡°Uh¡­maybe?¡± Dat admitted. ¡°What if they don¡¯t follow you?¡± Elijah asked. Dat didn¡¯t have an answer for that eventuality, which wasn¡¯t unexpected. In the end, though, his plan was the best they could conjure. If it didn¡¯t work out like Dat hoped, then Elijah would simply shift into the form of the lamellar ape, then throw himself towards the forest¡¯s edge with as much speed as he could muster. And given his inflated Strength, he could move incredibly quickly, so long as he didn¡¯t have to turn. In addition, he hoped that his guardian shape would allow him to endure the shadow slayers¡¯ attacks. If that failed, he would chance a transformation into the Shape of the sky, though his every instinct told him that there was something waiting for him to do just that. All the other challenges had featured some limiting factor that kept him out of the sky, so he felt that it was a good assumption that the shadows hid something that would make flying a very bad idea. In any case, it didn¡¯t appear that they had much of a choice. So, once Elijah said he was ready, Dat enacted his plan. When he used Ghost Step, the effect was obvious. His body turned ephemeral, and when he moved, a series of afterimages followed. More importantly, even the smallest twitch seemed to happen at triple speed. And when he took off at a dead sprint, he was gone in an instant. Predictably, the shadow slayers followed in a swirl of shadow that made them briefly visible to the naked eye. Then, they were gone, racing after Dat as quickly as they could move. Once he felt certain that they¡¯d vacated the area, Elijah, who¡¯d already shifted back into the Shape of Venom, stepped out of the circle of light. And he was immediately attacked. The shadow slayer had remained hidden even from One with Nature ¨C a first, since he¡¯d taken Connection as a specialization ¨C and it had planned its ambush well. However, as keyed up as he was, Elijah was ready for it. He darted to the side, dodging a descending dagger of unadulterated darkness. Then, he leaped at the creature, baring his fangs as he sailed through the air. He hit the shadow-wreathed ka¡¯alaki, then clamped down on the thing¡¯s shoulder. Envenom activated, sending a dose of venom to course through the shadow slayer¡¯s clammy flesh. But as Elijah tried to leap free, the shadows surrounding the creature wrapped around him like dark tentacles of somehow-solid mist. Then, they squeezed. Elijah tried to slither away, but every second came with further constriction. He felt his bones creak under the pressure, but squirm as he might, there was no escape. Not so long as he confined himself to conventional movements. He used Flicker Step. Until that moment, Elijah had never used the ability on anything but a humanoid enemy. However, he¡¯d long suspected that sentience wasn¡¯t really necessary for it to activate properly. Just life and the right mindset. So, firming his perception of the skill, he targeted one of the nearby trees. And the ability activated, sending him through the shadows and depositing him on the other side of the twisted tree. Slightly surprised that it had worked, he dashed up the trunk, climbing it as quickly as he could manage as the shadow slayer went wild. Its shadowy tendrils whipped out in obvious fury as it flitted back and forth. But it couldn¡¯t find him. What¡¯s more, every passing moment let Envenom work its terrible magic. At first, the effect was barely noticeable, but after a few moments, the creature visibly slowed. What¡¯s more, it seemed incapable of melting into the shadows. So, Elijah shifted into his human form and, perched on a branch, cast Swarm. Then, he used Storm¡¯s Fury. Instead of channeling it through his staff ¨C which was his preferred method of aiming ¨C he let the lightning lance down from the sky. Hopefully, that would keep the creature from pinpointing his location. An onslaught of tiny gnats with wings of darkness descended upon the shadow slayer, delivering their afflictions with implacable reliability. And then, at last, the creature stumbled. It fell, convulsing on the turf. Elijah cast Storm¡¯s Fury again, then shifted into the Shape of Venom. The shadow slayer died a few moments later, and just in time. Even as Elijah left combat and used Guise of the Unseen, a wave of darkness announced the return of the other shadow slayers. However, Elijah¡¯s attention remained locked on the body of the creature he¡¯d managed to kill. It hadn¡¯t been incredibly durable, though the combination of its powers meant that it would be a deadly foe. On top of that, the fact that the thing had been alone was probably the only reason Elijah had managed to survive. The body itself, which had been exposed by the dissipating shadows, was disgusting. Pale gray, with unfeeling eyes of shadow, it was thinner than most ka¡¯alaki Elijah had seen. What¡¯s more, it was visibly wet, as if it was in the throes of a powerful fever. Finally, black claws extended nearly six inches from its fingers, making it look less like the sapient ka¡¯alaki and more like the monster it seemed to be. It was also naked, eschewing the clothing that every other ka¡¯alaki ¨C or their ta¡¯alaki counterparts ¨C wore. Fortunately, the rest of the shadow slayers had no clue he was there. So, still hidden by Guise of the Unseen, he descended from his perch and headed off in the direction of his search. He and Dat had decided that splitting up was the best course of action ¨C largely so they could cover more ground, but also because, once they¡¯d been separated, there was little chance of finding one another. They could have picked a landmark to facilitate a meeting, but Dat had no way of detecting Elijah. So, it would have done no good. With that in mind, Elijah set out to the west, while Dat was assigned to the east. After about an hour of searching, Elijah found another candle. Another hour, and there was a third. Over and over, at regular intervals, he discovered more and more candles until, at last, he saw their destination. It was an enormous building that could only be described as a palace, though one that had fallen into gross disrepair. The parapets were crumbling, while the walls had long since succumbed to erosion and the forest¡¯s creeping vines. Elijah was no expert in architecture, but it reminded him of the Duomo di Milano, though without that cathedral¡¯s symmetry. It was just as jagged, designed with a more is better mentality, but far more chaotic. Spires rose from all the wrong places, the layout was mismatched and off-balance, and with far too many statues. Yet, there was an anarchic beauty to it as well, an impression that was only supported by the vortex of shadows swirling just above it. In the center of that cyclone of darkness was a level of blackness that defied description. Until that moment, Elijah had assumed that he understood what an absence of light was. However, the sight before him put that the lie to that assumption. He knew he was looking into the Umbra. And it left him feeling small, chilled to the bone, and afraid in a way he could not quite explain. It took Elijah a few minutes to pull his attention from the portal to another plane, and another few moments before he jerked his gaze from the palace beneath. Only then did he realize that the place was crawling with hundreds of shadow slayers. They didn¡¯t bother cloaking themselves in shadow. Instead, they clung, naked and completely motionless, from the palace¡¯s every edge. That made one thing absolutely clear. Trying to get into that palace ¨C which was obviously the goal ¨C would be a fool¡¯s errand. 6-56. Webs ¡°This is unnerving,¡± Ron said, his eyes flicking back and forth at every hint of movement. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if the Healer could actually see the shadow slayers surrounding them, or if he felt them via some latent intuition. Perhaps it was like feeling someone¡¯s eyes on you. Whatever the case, he agreed with Ron¡¯s statement. If the man knew just how many of the creatures were out there, he probably would have gone from discomforted to outright terrified. ¡°Eyes on the prize, bro,¡± said Dat, holding the candle aloft as they moved through the forest. The first leg of the journey, which had required them to grab the candle closest to the edge of the forest, head back to the others, and escort them forward, was the most difficult part. The candles could only burn for so long, and they were clearly meant to last only so long as it took to get from one candle to the next. The detour back to the edge of the forest had taken far too much time, and as a result, they were in very real danger of being stranded in the middle of the Vale of Whispers without the light to protect them. As a result, Dat had wasted no time, setting a pace that Ron ¨C being the person with the lowest attributes in the group ¨C struggled to maintain. Fortunately, they still had the benefit of Essence of the Wolf, which increased their movement speed by quite a bit. That was probably the only reason they stood any chance of making it to the next candle location. Even though the group wasn¡¯t forced into battle, the journey was just as nerve-wracking as the trek through the crypt-like tunnels beneath the Spires of the Fallen. Elijah did wonder if they would have any chance against the shadow slayers, though. The creatures weren¡¯t incredibly durable, but they were extremely fast and absolutely deadly. On top of that, the forest was awash with the monstrous things, meaning that they would almost assuredly be overwhelmed. Perhaps if they found a bottleneck, they would stand a chance, but the forest seemed to lack naturally defensible positions. They could build some, but that would require time, which the steadily burning candles would not provide. In addition, the shadow slayers seemed capable of moving in three dimensions, meaning that even if they couldn¡¯t necessarily fly, they could do a decent imitation by flitting from one tree to the next, which would render most defenses moot. The result was that the group needed to proceed through the challenge according to the rules it had set up. That meant going from candle to candle until they found a way to illuminate the shadows. Fortunately, he and Dat had explored the forest well enough that they had a good idea where they would find the answers to that challenge. The only issue was the finite protection of the candles, so they knew they couldn¡¯t afford to tarry. The group¡¯s passage seemed to enrage the shadow slayers. The creatures churned the ubiquitous darkness, furious in their impotence. Elijah did his best to ignore them, but it was difficult when he knew just how lethal those creatures could be. The first leg of the journey took a little less than an hour, and in that time, the candle had burned down to almost nothing. Dat held it aloft, with barely a quarter of an inch worth of wax remaining. The used portions had simply dissolved the moment it had melted. So, when they reached the next candle, their arrival came with no small degree of intense relief. Elijah let out a sigh. Then, he said, ¡°Three more to go before we get to the temple.¡± ¡°Are we sure about this?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°It¡¯s the best option we¡¯ve found,¡± Dat stated. ¡°We¡¯re not getting into that palace. It¡¯s too well-guarded. Besides, I don¡¯t think we¡¯re meant to just barge in. This is a puzzle, bro.¡± ¡°An easy one,¡± Elijah said. The idea was simple. There were five temples scattered across the forest, which surrounded the palace at the center. Dat had suggested that they formed a pentagram, which had been confirmed by Elijah¡¯s artificed map that marked each location when he visited them. More importantly, each temple contained two features that suggested they were incredibly important. The first was the presence of a series of braziers that stood at positions of prominence within the temples. That suggested that they were the entire point of the structures. Second, they were well-guarded by shadow slayers, who surrounded those areas in numbers previously unsen ¨C a detail that seemed to indicate vital significance. But those were the facts. Elijah was more interested in his instincts, though. Nothing in the challenges was there by chance. That meant that if there were five intact temples within the Vale of Whispers, then they were important. The braziers and the guards simply supported that notion. So, their goal was to reach each temple, ascertain their purpose, and use them to overcome the challenge. It wasn¡¯t a complex plan, but it was the best any of them could conjure. As Dat had indicated, the palace was too well-guarded to infiltrate. The place was also sealed tight, meaning that going in under the cover of stealth wasn¡¯t an option. The temples represented their only clue as to how to overcome the challenge of the Umbra. The second leg went much better, with the candle only burning down halfway before they reached the next one. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t wasted, and through some incomprehensible magic that Elijah couldn¡¯t track, the leftover wax was added to the new candle. That gave them a little leeway which turned out to be necessary to allow them to reach the next candle. And then, finally, they arrived at the first temple. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s a lot of skulls,¡± Ron said, staring at the structure. The entire building seemed to have been made of ka¡¯alaki skulls that had been used like bricks. The Healer added, ¡°And webs.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like spiders,¡± Kurik muttered. ¡°Don¡¯t like ¡®em one little bit. Got webbed by a drachnid when I was a wee one. Was stuck to a tree for three days ¡®fore they came and got me.¡± ¡°What¡¯s a drachnid, bro?¡± ¡°Spider people. Mostly peaceful, but this one was an asshole.¡± ¡°You had a spider-bully?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Leave it, Elijah,¡± Sadie chided. ¡°We have other things to worry about.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. Like the giant shadow spider guarding that temple,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°It¡¯s actually called a shadespinner, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°And they¡¯re kind of interesting. The ghosts said that they aren¡¯t actually shadow attuned. They feed off creatures that are, and they use sources of light for protection.¡± Elijah nodded. The spider inside the temple didn¡¯t feel the same as the shadow slayers, which supported Dat¡¯s explanation. However, it was also clearly a monster. Otherwise, he might¡¯ve tried to commune with it as he had with Cinderath. That wasn¡¯t possible with monsters, though ¨C at least as far as Elijah could tell. Perhaps someone with more experience would fare better. Regardless, his inability to get through to monsters meant that they had little choice but to fight the creature. Shadespinners were extremely territorial and quite aggressive, according to Dat¡¯s Hex of Scrying, which only reaffirmed what Elijah felt via One with Nature. ¡°So, same plan as always?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Bear in mind that I can¡¯t use stealth, so my opening won¡¯t be quite as damaging as it usually is.¡± ¡°I think we¡¯ll manage,¡± Sadie said, her face expressionless. She wasn¡¯t the most demonstrative of people at the best of times, but of late, she seemed almost robotic in her demeanor. Like she was wearing a mask. After establishing that no one had any addendums to their plan, Sadie advanced. She¡¯d kept her sword drawn the entire time, so she was already prepared for battle. The same was true of everyone else. Dat held his crossbow to his shoulder, while Kurik kept an arrow nocked, but the string undrawn. Meanwhile, Elijah had shifted into Shape of Venom. The idea was to pile on the damage as quickly as possible and in a burst of attacks, bring the shadespinner down before it had a chance to fight back. Not very sporting, but the best way to fight a creature with potent venom of its own. Ron could offer a cure to most afflictions ¨C one of his newest spells ¨C but no one was eager to test it. Sadie took the lead, with Dat, then Kurik, and Elijah following close on her heels. Ron was in the rear, holding the candle so that Dat had the use of both of his hands. The second Sadie stepped inside, she used her personal shield. And it was just in the nick of time, too, because less than an instant after Bulwark of the Faithful sprang into being, a glob of sticky webbing splattered against it. Sadie charged through the projectile, but she stumbled to a stop after only a few steps. She had unwittingly charged right into a dense patch of webbing, and her feet had become stuck to the ground. But Elijah wasn¡¯t worried about her. She could protect herself better than anyone he¡¯d ever met. Instead, he was more concerned with the hulking example of arachnophobia looming on the other side of the room. The spider was shaped like a black widow, with spindly legs and a shiny carapace. However, instead of black coloring, it was a white so pale that it was nearly translucent. That feature was only magnified by the flickering flames of the bonfire burning in the center of the room. Its body measured nearly fifteen feet long, with its legs spreading far wider. It was a nightmare given form, and one Elijah wasn¡¯t eager to combat. Especially in his comparatively fragile Shape of Venom, which had been stripped of the protection provided by stealth ¨C its only real defense mechanism. So, as soon as he followed Sadie into the temple, he used his Dexterity to great advantage, darting to the right. In seconds, he was skittering up the inner wall until he reached the ceiling. Once there, he flipped upside down and shot across the surface until he was directly over the shadespinner. It gave no indication that it had seen him, and he¡¯d avoided the patches of webbing covering most of the interior. He dropped, but just as he let go, the monster turned its bulbous abdomen in his direction and let loose with another shot of webbing. Elijah twisted in mid-air, though he knew there was nothing he could do to avoid that glob of white webbing. He used Flicker Step. He hated employing the ability so early in battle, but if he didn¡¯t use it, he knew he¡¯d end up mired in webbing. That could prove fatal. He slipped through the shadows, emerging atop the spider. Then, he bit down. His fangs, even powered by his prodigious Strength, barely penetrated its chitinous exoskeleton. But that was enough to deliver Envenom. More importantly, it also came alongside Stormbind, which interrupted the creature¡¯s ability to shoot webs. It was just as Elijah bit the creature again that Kurik¡¯s and Dat¡¯s projectiles landed. The shadespinner reared on its back legs, screeching in pain as one of Dat¡¯s crossbow bolts exploded. Meanwhile, Sadie ¨C who was still stuck to the floor ¨C used Blade of the Avenger. As the enormous sword exploded from the floor, accompanied by a metallic hiss, the shadespinner attempted to dodge. However, it couldn¡¯t move nearly quickly enough to entirely avoid the blade, and a second later, one of its legs flopped to the floor, completely severed. Elijah bit the creature again, injecting even more venom. The shadespinner bucked, trying to dislodge him, but the blight dragon form was capable of clinging to any surface. And that included spider carapaces. So, he was nearly impossible to dislodge. Over the next few minutes, he bit the creature one time after another while the rest of his team continued to attack. And it wasn¡¯t long before the shadespinner started to fade. Familiar black tendrils spread from where Elijah had bitten it, though the creature persisted far longer than expected. Before it fell, three more of its legs had been severed, while it bore a gaping hole in its abdomen where Dat had shot it with one of his crossbow bolts. Meanwhile, Sadie had taken a few hits herself, though she had the advantage of having a powerful Healer in her pocket. Predictably, Elijah¡¯s venom proved the creature¡¯s end. By that point, a web of black tendrils had spread across most of its body, and it had weakened so much that it could barely move more than a few twitches at a time. Then, anticlimactically, it simply flopped to the ground. All in all, it had taken almost thirty minutes to kill the creature, but no one had been seriously injured. It was a nice change of pace for the challenges, though Elijah knew enough to expect it to grow much, much more difficult. But more importantly, they needed to figure out what to do with the brazier at the center of the temple. It was the key to the whole challenge, and Elijah didn¡¯t think they were meant to carry it like one of the candles. ¡°Well, any ideas?¡± he asked, having shifted back to his human form as he stood atop the fallen shadespinner. 6-57. Illumination It almost felt routine. Until it didn¡¯t. They were already on the fifth temple, and Elijah had just watched his companions dismantle the latest shadespinner. He¡¯d contributed, of course, but only in his human form, which he thought needed some work. He relied so much on his bestial forms that he often neglected his natural shape. So, for that fight, he¡¯d acted the part of a mage, peppering the giant spider with lightning bolts and tiny, affliction-delivering insects. He hadn¡¯t bothered with Lightning Domain, largely because it wasn¡¯t really necessary. The creature died with a chittering whimper that sent a pang of regret through Elijah¡¯s heart, but he steeled himself against the monster¡¯s suffering. It was an obstacle, and he needed to remember to treat it as such. But in the back of his mind, he knew that wasn¡¯t all the creature had been. Monsters were like mistreated dogs or rabid beasts ¨C products of their environments who only knew how to lash out. Or were they? Elijah didn¡¯t know. But he desperately wished he could somehow cure the shadespinners of their ultra-aggressive nature. He also knew that they were what they were, though. He could feel that down to his very bones. Those creatures weren¡¯t just out of place. They were irredeemable, and in ways he didn¡¯t quite understand. He felt the difference between them, guardians, and beasts. Indeed, it was plain as day. Yet, there were enough similarities that Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder what they might have been, had things turned out a little differently. It was a moot point, though. Monsters were not capable of holding back. They were creatures of pure instinct, and their nature dictated that they attack first, without even the capability of asking why. Still, the situation was regrettable. Once the creature had died, they took a few minutes to inspect the temple. Like all the others, it was made entirely of bone ¨C mostly skulls ¨C and featured a large, stone brazier at the center. It had taken them close to half a day to figure out what they were supposed to do with the fire, but once they had, things had gone smoothly. ¡°You want to do the honors?¡± he asked Sadie. ¡°Dat can do it,¡± she said. ¡°I want to remain on guard. This is the last one, and we don¡¯t know what will happen when the lights merge.¡± Dat grinned, then headed to one of the room¡¯s corners. There, he uncovered a cleverly concealed lever, which he pulled. A grating sound echoed through the temple, and the ceiling began to move. Webs came loose as the surface retracted into the walls. Where it went, Elijah had no idea, and One with Nature was no help in discovering the answer to that question. It simply disappeared. What was left behind was a series of mirrors that suddenly dangled from the ceiling. ¡°You¡¯re up,¡± Ron said, nodding toward the ceiling. Elijah suppressed a groan, but he shifted into his blight dragon form without hesitation. Then, he climbed the wall and skittered across the ceiling. As he did so, the others directed him to reposition the mirrors so that they caught the light at the proper angles, reflecting them across the temple. Soon enough, the air was alive with glimmering illumination, but it still took close to an hour before the job was done. That state was announced when the flames suddenly exploded in height, and the light bounced around until, at last, it shot through a tiny window in the center of the ceiling. A moment later, it joined the other four beams, and when they joined just above the palace, the much larger shaft of light slammed into the huge structure. ¡°Do we think that did it?¡± Elijah asked, dropping from the ceiling. He shifted back to his human form. ¡°Because ¨C¡± He was cut off by an explosion of epic proportions. The ground shook with the impact, and a shockwave threatened to tear the temple apart. At the same time, a wave of dense ethera swept through them, burning his channels and searing his core. He collapsed in agony, convulsing so violently that he briefly lost control of his own thoughts. He came back to himself a second later, only to hear a cacophonous roar, followed by the loudest voice he¡¯d ever experienced. ¡°Agony!¡± it screamed. ¡°The light!¡± It kept screaming, but Elijah¡¯s eardrums burst after only a few moments. That came with the blessed relief of silence. He cast Soothe, then Healing Rain, followed by Nature¡¯s Bloom, hoping to recover from whatever had burned its way through his channels. It was a mistake, which he discovered in no uncertain terms when his eardrums healed before promptly bursting once again. It was a salve to his aching body, though. More importantly, it gave Elijah a second to take stock of the situation, and it was definitely not good. The temple was gone. He had no idea when that had happened, but all that remained of the building was its foundation and a few scattered skulls. The brazier had gone out, and with it, the safety of the light it had provided. Fortunately, the entire area had been stripped of shadows, exposing the slayers¡¯ unnaturally thin and pale bodies. The explosion had obviously affected them as well, which meant that they had been just as stunned as Elijah and his companions. However, he could see that they¡¯d already begun to recover, likely because of the shadows flooding back into the area. Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have much time to act. Robbed of their shadows, the creatures were vulnerable, so he needed to take advantage of that fact. So, without further ado, he cast Swarm, then Lightning Domain. Tiny, glowing wasps manifested before descending onto the dozens of shadow slayers, but the creatures ignored the danger they represented. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Because they had other issues. Namely, the whips of lightning lashing out to stun and burn them. Elijah didn¡¯t dare rely solely on that, though. The spell was powerful, but it was not strong enough to finish the creatures off. Not by a long shot. So, he initiated a shift in the Shape of the Guardian, and the second he took on the form of the lamellar ape, he threw himself into the fray. There were dozens of shadow slayers in the area, but without their shadows to protect them, they were incapable of standing up to the bestial fury he brought to bear. The second he was among them, Elijah used Thunderclap, sending a peal of thunder and arcing lightning out to once again stun the creatures. Then, after using Savage Might, he fell upon them, ripping and tearing, bashing and throwing. He was a whirlwind of bestial power, and his efforts were rewarded with a wave of experience that announced his enemies¡¯ demise. But there were so many of them, and the shadows were soon to return. Thankfully, the rest of the group had begun to recover. Elijah had used Nature¡¯s Bloom on Ron in the hopes that the Healer could bring everyone back. That strategy¡¯s success was made clear when Sadie charged into battle right next to Elijah. Her sword lashed out, hacking through the still-lethargic creatures and sending sprays of white blood with every stroke. Dat added his own brand of damage, peppering the horde with steady crossbow fire. Meanwhile, Kurik threw out bundles of crystals that, when they made contact with the uncloaked shadow slayers, erupted into various elemental effects. Spears of ice, rings of fire, and bursts of blinding light assailed the monsters. None of those effects were extremely powerful, and they were all short-lived, but they served to thrust an aura of chaos onto the battle that played to the group¡¯s advantage. Elijah lost count of the number they managed to kill before the shadows returned, but he could only hope that it would prove to be enough. Because the second that wave of darkness swept over the area, the battle changed shape. Suddenly, the creatures grew faster. Stronger. More durable. Despite the ongoing onslaught, the remaining shadow slayers quickly recovered. Claws raked across Elijah¡¯s side, and even though he¡¯d activated Iron Scales, they bit deep into his flesh, sending jolts of cold through his body. Behind him, he felt Sadie¡¯s personal shield shatter, and a wave of dense ethera coursed through her. She used that brief burst of attributes to cut down another one of the shadow slayers, but another five quickly replaced it. They were naught but swirling darkness, and though Elijah¡¯s fury never waned, they stubbornly flitted aside from his every attack. He managed to hit a few more of them, but even with the sense granted by One with Nature, he struggled to keep track of their fleeting forms. Frustration bubbled within him. The beast railed against its own inadequacies. The dragon roared mightily as it tried to assert its dominance. And the human searched for a way to turn the tide of the battle. In the end, it was the human side of Elijah¡¯s spirit that settled upon a viable strategy. He couldn¡¯t track the creatures well enough. And even if he could, they were too fast. Too slippery. So, he needed to change the paradigm. Without further hesitation, he shifted back into his human form and shouted, ¡°Keep me alive!¡± Before the transformation was completed, his body was ripped to shreds by the opportunistic shadow slayers. However, when he managed to reestablish his human side, he applied Shield of Brambles ¨C which he often forgot ¨C then once again embraced Lightning Domain. The cost of the spell was nearly doubled when used so quickly after the first incarnation. Yet, Elijah¡¯s core was large enough to handle it. He poured ethera into the spell, and the now-familiar lightning whips lashed out in a wide circle. The shadow slayers attempted to dodge, and in many cases, were successful in that endeavor. However, as Elijah continued to funnel ethera into the ability, those bolts of electricity multiplied. Until that moment, Elijah had yet to push the spell to its limits ¨C either in terms of duration or intensity ¨C and he was surprised to see just how devastating it could be. Barely an inch of the area within fifteen yards of his stationary form was spared from the lightning whips. And given the fury with which the shadow slayers had rushed them, that meant that quite a few of those creatures were subjected to the spell¡¯s effects. However, Elijah didn¡¯t make it through unscathed. The creatures continued to rip into him. Even as Lightning Domain sent untold amounts of electricity to burn through their bodies, they maintained their assault. Chunks of flesh flew. His armor proved insufficient to stopping their sharp claws, and it was torn to shreds as well. Yet, with every attack ¨C large or small ¨C the thorns of Shield Brambles answered the call. In most cases, it would never result in an overwhelming amount of damage. However, with the unfettered rage racing through the shadow slayers, they seemed entirely incapable of measuring their attacks. So, they fell upon Elijah without regard for their own safety. That was a mistake. Hundreds of thorns sprouted with every passing second, shoving their way through the shadow slayers. Meanwhile, Elijah¡¯s wounds were mended by Ron¡¯s ongoing efforts. The man was healing everyone all at once, but due to his recent strides forward ¨C both in terms of levels and cultivation ¨C he managed to keep everyone alive. Indeed, even as the shadow slayers impaled themselves on Elijah¡¯s thorns and were torn to pieces by his ongoing Lightning Domain, they began to lose ground. Elijah was forced to recast Lightning Domain, and once again, the cost was doubled. His ethera drained at a record pace, but he kept it up. The third cast only got through half its duration before he ran entirely dry. He collapsed as a wave of exhaustion raced through his limbs. Using the entirety of his store of ethera didn¡¯t just prevent him from casting any other spells. Instead, it resulted in a level of fatigue that went far deeper than his muscles. He was helpless. But he also had allies to step in. Sadie stood over him, defending his fallen form as stoically as she¡¯d ever fought for anything before. The others did their parts as well, and because of Elijah¡¯s previous efforts, the shadow slayers had slowed considerably. The group was quick to take advantage, and they cut the creatures down until, at last, the surge of ceased. Only then did Elijah realize that his hearing had returned. However, it seemed that the voice had faded as well. There were still rumbles in the distance, but the sound was no longer powerful enough to burst his eardrums. Looking up, he asked, ¡°Did we do it? Is it over?¡± He knew it wasn¡¯t. He had received no notification. ¡°I think we¡¯ll have to go to the palace after all,¡± Sadie said. That was what Elijah had feared. He collapsed backward and closed his eyes. ¡°Just give me a minute to rest my eyes. Then we¡¯ll go fight whatever eldritch monstrosity could make that kind of a sound.¡± ¡°What sound, bro?¡± Dat asked. ¡°The voice. It was screaming about the light burning,¡± Elijah said, suddenly more alert. He looked from one concerned face to another, asking, ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear it?¡± Sadie shook her head. ¡°All we heard was the earthquake,¡± she said. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± ¡°Uh¡­no. No, I¡¯m not,¡± he said. ¡°But what¡¯s new, right? I¡¯ll figure it out. First, though¡­give me a few minutes to rest.¡± 6-58. The Nature of Shadows ¡°Wake up, bro.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not asleep. I¡¯m just resting my eyes,¡± Elijah muttered. He would have already passed out, but for the rumbling emanating in the distance. It wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful a quake as what they¡¯d felt in the immediate aftermath of their previous actions, but it was more than enough to distract him from descending into blessed unconsciousness. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t drain your whole core,¡± Dat responded. ¡°It¡¯s super bad for you.¡± ¡°You think?¡± Elijah groaned. The exhaustion he felt in the wake of using all the ethera in his core was more complete than any he¡¯d ever experienced. He could move, but it was like he¡¯d gone back to the first few days after Earth was touched by the World Tree, when he was still suffering from cancer and the results of chemotherapy and radiation. In short, it was as if none of his attributes mattered anymore. Which gave him some hints as to how those attributes worked. A good part of his power was clearly dependent on ethera. He didn¡¯t know if it created a constant drain on the ethera in his core or if the core, once its contents had been exhausted, drained the ethera from the rest of his body. But the consequences were obvious. As Dat had said, completely draining his core was super bad for him. As he lay there, Elijah focused on his Jade Mind. The vortexes in each facet swirled sluggishly, but with every passing moment, their speed picked up. And after a minute or so, they managed to funnel a trickle of ethera into his channels, which flowed down to his parched core. It was like a rainstorm in the middle of a drought. Slowly, Elijah felt his power return until, after ten minutes, he felt like he¡¯d returned to normal. His core was still mostly empty, but now that his body had been sated, it was free to refill. And with his Regeneration, powered by his powerful Jade Mind, it wouldn¡¯t take that long before it was full. Maybe an hour, but that would depend on how hard he wanted to push his Mind. That was one thing he¡¯d learned about the system. It functioned according to basic parameters, but of late, he had discovered that it was more a system of ranges, rather than absolute values. For instance, his most recent use of Lightning Domain was far more powerful than it had ever been before. He likened it to running. He could maintain a moderate jog almost indefinitely, but if he really pushed himself to sprint as fast as possible, he would quickly run out of energy. The difference was that when spells ¨C or cultivation ¨C were pushed, they drew their energy from multiple sources. Ethera was always a factor. So was stamina. But just as important as either of those other aspects was willpower. So, in that way, it really wasn¡¯t so different from intense exercise. Just because someone¡¯s muscles were capable of great feats didn¡¯t mean they had the will to push their bodies to that extent. It was one of the elements that set elite athletes apart from everyone else. Thankfully, Elijah had a long history ¨C going back to his days spent in the boxing gym, but not unaffected by his fight with cancer ¨C of pushing himself harder and longer than most. It was probably the single biggest reason he¡¯d managed to survive so long. Once he felt better, Elijah opened his eyes to find that the area was entirely covered in shadow. It was deeper than ever before, and if he hadn¡¯t had the benefit of One with Nature, he would have been almost entirely blind. ¡°Uh¡­can any of you see?¡± he asked. ¡°No. The shadows have grown deeper with ever passing second,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°Oh. Good thing I have this,¡± Elijah said, pulling out his ethera-powered flashlight. When he flicked the switch, it sent a beam of light out to pierce the darkness. However, it was far weaker than it should have been, and it only traveled a few scant feet before completely dissipating. Disappointed, he complained, ¡°Come on. This is a police-issue Maglite.¡± ¡°Magic darkness, bro.¡± Elijah just shook his head. ¡°Does anyone have anything that can burn?¡± he asked. As it turned out, Ron carried some bandages in his pack, which they wrapped around gnarled sticks they found on the ground. Once they¡¯d built torches, Elijah retrieved his firestarter ¨C which took the form of a laser pointer ¨C and set one of them ablaze. The flickering light it provided was meager, but it was better than nothing. It also showed the extent of the damage the area had experienced. Many of the trees had been completely uprooted, and the ones that had managed to survive the quake had had their limbs sheared off. It looked like a combination of an earthquake and a hurricane had fallen upon the area. ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± Ron asked. ¡°I vote for runnin¡¯ away,¡± Kurik answered. Under his breath, he added, ¡°Not that nobody¡¯ll listen to good sense.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not leaving. We¡¯re already halfway through the challenge. The hard part¡¯s done,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You don¡¯t believe that, do you?¡± the dwarf asked. ¡°Uh¡­depends on what you consider the hard part? I mean, trying to figure things out is harder than just fighting a monster, isn¡¯t it?¡± he suggested. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. ¡°I thought you used to be a scientist,¡± Ron remarked. ¡°I was. Not a good one, mind you, but¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯re not leaving,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°And I think it¡¯s clear what our destination should be. Whatever we¡¯re supposed to do, it¡¯s in that palace.¡± They all agreed with that assessment, so it wasn¡¯t long before they set off in that direction. Dat and Elijah, both of whom were equipped with extrasensory capabilities and stealth, scouted the way, while the other three used their makeshift torches and Elijah¡¯s flashlight to pick through the decimated forest. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t encounter any other shadow slayers. Not living ones, at least. There were plenty of dead bodies, suggesting that the disaster hadn¡¯t been picky about its victims. What that meant, Elijah had no idea, but he filed that information away in the back of one facet of his mind nonetheless. Perhaps it would be important later. In any case, they slowly made their way through the Vale of Whispers, eventually finding that all of the unused candles had been snuffed out. To stretch the duration of their torches, Elijah coated the bandages in some of the fat he¡¯d rendered from the boar guardian. He only had a little in a jar ¨C there was much more stored back home ¨C but when he lit the fat-coated strips of cloth, he found that they burned much longer. On top of that, the light went much further. In retrospect, it made some sense. After all, that fat had come from a powerful creature that Elijah had only managed to kill by running it to exhaustion. It was also quite a boon to the progress of their exploration. Elijah had no issues sensing his environment well enough to make his way quickly and efficiently, but Sadie and the others had nothing like One with Nature. Except Dat, of course, who seemed completely unbothered by the shadows. Obviously, that was due to his attunement. In any case, the new, fat-burning torches allowed them to move much more quickly, so it was only a few more hours before they came into range of the palace. And to everyone¡¯s surprise, it was completely devoid of shadows. A shaft of sunlight shone down on the jagged and asymmetrical building. There were no glimmering reflections of that light, though. Instead, the whole thing looked matte black, as if it absorbed the sun¡¯s rays. After everyone else had made it to his position, he shifted back into his human form and asked, ¡°That¡¯s weird, right?¡± Ron answered Elijah¡¯s question with one of his own, ¡°Can¡¯t that word be used to describe everything we¡¯ve been through since coming to this Trial?¡± ¡°Fair,¡± Elijah acknowledged. Then, he glanced at the others, asking, ¡°Do we just go in the front door? Or¡­¡± Indeed, the front gate to the palace was wide open. Or more accurately, the doors had been shattered and torn free of their hinges. A few splinters remained, but not enough to bar their view of the shadows within. One thing was certain ¨C that gaping door filled with darkness did not look inviting. ¡°I think you know the answer to that question,¡± Sadie said in a monotone voice. Elijah sighed, then shifted back into the Shape of Venom, but before he left, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in a little while. If there¡¯s another way in, I¡¯ll find it.¡± The moment he was out of sight, he used Guise of the Unseen and approached the palace. However, when he passed into the miles-wide beam of sunlight, his stealth was stripped away, leaving him entirely exposed. Looking up, he saw that the vortex of darkness that had once swirled above the palace had disappeared. Fortunately, there were no enemies around to take advantage. Which was both comforting and troubling. The first, for obvious reasons. He didn¡¯t want to get torn to pieces. But the latter was true as well, because he knew that they hadn¡¯t killed nearly enough shadow slayers to depopulate the entire challenge. There were thousands of the things hanging on or around the palace, and the fact that they were no longer there filled Elijah with anxiety. After all, if they weren¡¯t there, and they hadn¡¯t been killed, then where had they gone? It was with those discomforting thoughts flowing through his mind that Elijah approached the palace. Without the availability of stealth, he shifted back into his human form. It was his most versatile, which he expected might be necessary going forward. The shaft of sunlight was wide enough to encompass the entire palace as well as the grounds for hundreds of yards all around. Elijah couldn¡¯t make an estimate as to how broad it truly was, but he knew it was at least a couple of miles wide. He took his time on his way to his destination, focusing multiple facets of his Jade Mind on One with Nature. But he felt nothing. There were no enemies lying in wait. No traps meant to trip him up. Just a bunch of splintered trees and churned earth. To call it unnerving would have been a vast understatement. The fact that his senses didn¡¯t extend into the palace itself made it especially uncomfortable. Even worse was the sense of the palace itself. It didn¡¯t feel like a building. Instead, it was almost like a living thing, though one so alien that he could scarcely comprehend it. It was also big. Powerful in a way he¡¯d not felt since the umbrafyix. But it was also inert, almost like a creature on the edge of death. The challenge of the Umbra was unnerving in a number of ways, but that left him chilled to the bone. Gradually, Elijah circled the structure, and he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at the architecture. As he¡¯d previously noted, there were characteristics similar to what could be found in buildings on Earth. Like the cathedral in Milan, with its jagged, cluttered, and wholly gothic design that still somehow worked. However, there were alien details as well, like curious overhangs featuring lace-like stonework that shouldn¡¯t have been structurally sound. To Elijah¡¯s eye, it looked like the designer had tried to cram hundreds of concepts into a single building, and rather than creating a unified aesthetic, they¡¯d only achieved chaos. Beautiful chaos, but the nature remained the same. Maybe that was the point. Or maybe the architect had been mad. But they were obviously talented, as were the craftsmen who¡¯d created it. As Elijah circled the building, using One with Nature to search every nook and cranny, those thoughts echoed in his mind. He didn¡¯t have any answers to the resultant questions, which left him frustrated. He wanted to know the world¡¯s history. He wanted to experience their culture. Because after all, what was the point in coming to an entirely new planet if one didn¡¯t see the full breadth of who the natives were? The fruitless search ¨C both for answers and another entrance ¨C left Elijah irritated, so when he returned to his companions, his statement that there was no other way in came with none of his usually affable tone. ¡°I guess we don¡¯t have a choice, then,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I guess not,¡± Elijah agreed. The pair exchanged a pointed look, but Sadie broke her gaze after only a second. Then, she stated, ¡°Then we should get it over with. I¡¯ll take the lead. Elijah, in the rear. Everyone else knows their roles. Let¡¯s move.¡± Elijah wanted to make some petty remark about not needing her orders, but he restrained himself. There was something in her eyes that told him that doing so would be a big mistake. So, unsatisfied with his own silence ¨C as well as the situation ¨C Elijah fell into line as they trekked toward the shadowy entrance to the alien palace. 6-59. Shining a Light on Failure Darkness pressed in on Elijah, so powerful that it verged on suffocating. His pulse quickened, his skin grew clammy, and his breathing became shallow. It felt like he was on the precipice of a panic attack, though he¡¯d never been prone to that particular problem in the past. ¡°We ain¡¯t meant to be here,¡± Kurik said, his voice quavering. ¡°That¡¯s obvious, bro. Just put your big boy pants on and deal with it,¡± Dat responded. ¡°I ain¡¯t never said I wasn¡¯t dealin¡¯ with it,¡± the dwarf argued. ¡°Just pointin¡¯ out that the atmosphere in here is all wrong.¡± Elijah was inclined to agree. It wasn¡¯t just the darkness, either. There was something cold and threatening about it, though he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on it. Then, it dawned on him. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m a little kid whose nightlight just went out,¡± he said. It was like going back to when the dark held the promise of monsters and danger, even in his own childhood bedroom. ¡°It¡¯s not pleasant. We all acknowledge it. So, let¡¯s stop talking about it and get this challenge over with,¡± Sadie stated. Her voice was mostly emotionless, but there was a hint of frustration there as well. Of late, he¡¯d hoped that she had gotten the better of Sense of Sin, but it seemed like she had begun to backslide. Elijah couldn¡¯t imagine living with something like that. It had to leave her feeling isolated, exhausted, and alone, even amongst people who could have been friends. But she was right. So, when no one objected, they pushed forward into the anteroom. That¡¯s when they found the bodies. A carpet of shadow slayer corpses obscured the floor. Each one had been broken and burned almost beyond recognition. The burns were easily explained by the shaft of sunlight bathing the palace, but the twisted and broken bodies were a little more difficult to understand. Kneeling beside one, Ron said, ¡°This wasn¡¯t done by an earthquake.¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± asked Dat. ¡°I¡¯m a trained physician, remember? These things were subjected to multi-directional forces. The explosion and the resultant earthquake wouldn¡¯t have done that. At most, they would have been slammed against walls,¡± the Healer explained. ¡°But these¡­they look like something toyed with them.¡± ¡°What could do that?¡± asked Sadie. It was a good question. The shadow slayers weren¡¯t quite as durable as some of the creatures they¡¯d encountered in the Trial, but any creature ¨C or force ¨C that could twist them into knots was clearly powerful on a scale they¡¯d only seen from things like the lava kraken and the umbrafyix. Perhaps even stronger. ¡°Nothin¡¯ we want to mess with,¡± Kurik answered, saying what they¡¯d all been thinking. The escalating nature of the challenges meant that they could very well be facing a threat that they couldn¡¯t handle. Sadie didn¡¯t respond, instead leading the group further into the palace. The flickering torchlight didn¡¯t do much to illuminate the immediate area, but Elijah caught sight of a few tapestries that depicted shadowy figures preying upon unaware prey. Were those shadow slayers? Or something else? The d¨¦cor was opulent, though many of the interior design choices were just as alien as the architecture. Pillars where there should have been walls, ceilings comprised of multiple domes that made Elijah feel as if he was looking up at the interior of a cluster of bubbles, and golden statues of a serene-looking ka¡¯alaki were the most prominent characteristics, but there plenty of others that made certain that Elijah felt entirely out of place. Then there were the bodies. The collection of corpses in the anteroom was the largest, but as they progressed through the palace, they saw plenty of others. And they¡¯d all been similarly twisted out of shape. It was enough to make Elijah nauseous, especially when he saw their expressions. The natives of Ka¡¯arath were not always the easiest creatures to read, but Elijah could recognize the results of extreme pain when he saw them. But despite the admittedly creepy atmosphere, there were no living enemies to assail them. In a way, the anticipation was almost worse than having to fight their way through the halls. Making a tense situation worse was the fact that, from time to time, a cold breeze would inexplicably flow through the halls. Each time they felt the tickle of frigid air, their stress levels skyrocketed. And still, no threats presented themselves. They had free rein of the area, which allowed them to explore to their hearts¡¯ content. However, even Elijah found himself too distracted to do so. Instead, he and the others hurried through the halls, noting only that the palace remained empty ¨C both of living creatures and furnishings. There was no furniture or anything else to suggest that it had ever played host to any occupants. ¡°It¡¯s like it was built but nobody ever moved in,¡± Dat remarked. ¡°And they hired the world¡¯s creepiest decorator,¡± Elijah added. ¡°I mean, you all see these tapestries, right? Who reveres death like this?¡± Ron asked, ¡°Do they have death cults on Ka¡¯arath?¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure there are death cults everywhere,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°But I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s what this is. If it was, I¡¯d expect the tapestries to depict sacrifices or something. But none of these actually show any killing. It¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°It¡¯s irrelevant,¡± Sadie cut in.¡± ¡°Maybe,¡± Elijah acknowledged. ¡°But maybe not. Figuring out what¡¯s going on is usually a good idea.¡± She flexed her jaw. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s just not tarry.¡± ¡°No arguments there,¡± Elijah said, holding up his hands in surrender. He certainly didn¡¯t want to antagonize her, even if he had no idea why she¡¯d suddenly turned the hostility up. Still, he wasn¡¯t going to ignore obvious clues to their situation, especially if going that route would put them in greater danger. So, even though Sadie clearly wanted to move more quickly, he spent extra time inspecting each area in its entirety. Only when he was satisfied that he hadn¡¯t missed anything did they move on. Fortunately, the torches lasted quite well, and they didn¡¯t run any risk of running out. Hours passed while they moved from through the halls, exploring each room in turn. But they only found more of the same. Until that changed. Ron breathed, ¡°What the¡­¡± It was a large stone plaque, upon which had been engraved what Elijah belatedly realized was a poem:
In the veil of night, where the silence grows, The shadows dance, and no one knows, Silent whispers, a breath, a sigh, Where light fades out, the dark draws nigh. Beneath the moon''s cold, silvered gleam, The penitent move like a deadly dream, No footfall sounds, no blade does sing, Yet death arrives on unseen wing. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. They dwell where shadows fold and creep, In alley¡¯s crook, where the city sleeps, Cloaked in shadows, they wear the dark, Eyes like embers, and frigid hearts. A fleeting flicker, a darting hand, A life is stolen, a fate is planned. Their deeds are whispers in the night, A fleeting glimpse, gone with the light. For shadows keep their secrets well, And in them, silent assassins dwell. No dawn can chase their steps away¡ª They fade like myths with the birth of day. Our vows in darkness, permanent, We are the subjects of the Shadeborn Covenant.
¡°Assassins,¡± Elijah said aloud after reading the poem. ¡°That¡¯s what this is. This is the headquarters of hired killers.¡± ¡°Almost sounds religious,¡± added Ron. ¡°It¡¯s super creepy, bro,¡± Dat stated. ¡°Does this change anything?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I¡¯m as interested as anyone else, but isn¡¯t this just a distraction? We need to kill whatever is at the center of this palace.¡± Even as she spoke, the ground shook. ¡°I agree,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Just file that information away. Maybe it¡¯s relevant, but maybe it¡¯s not. Either way, we need to move on. Just¡­wait¡­¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if it had happened due to the quake, or if it had always been the case, but one of the stones near the base of that plaque had shifted. It was only enough to create a tiny crack, but that gap, small as it was, allowed Elijah¡¯s senses to penetrate the walls. Until that moment, he¡¯d felt nothing in there, but now, he could feel a crawlspace. Fortunately, there were no monsters in there. However, he did feel something else. Something peculiar. ¡°What is it?¡± Ron asked as Elijah stepped closer. ¡°Just a minute,¡± he answered. Then, he retrieved a spare dagger from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and rammed it in the tiny crack. The space was so small that even the slim dagger could only penetrate an inch or so. However, he hoped that was enough to give him the leverage required to pry the stone free. He pushed, but the thing remained stubbornly intact. ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Sadie. Frustrated, Elijah shook his head and turned to answer. He told the group what he¡¯d felt inside the wall, adding, ¡°It can change everything. It might be the clue we need to figure this challenge out.¡± ¡°I think I might be able to do somethin¡¯,¡± Kurik said, unshouldering his own pack. The thing was huge ¨C almost as big as his torso ¨C and it contained all manner of trap-making materials. Kurik opened it, then practically dove inside. Over the next few moments, he muttered to himself as he rummaged in the pack. Finally, he announced, ¡°Got it!¡± When he pulled free, he held a small tube that reminded Elijah of toothpaste. ¡°Uh¡­what is it?¡± Elijah asked as Kurik tossed it to him. ¡°Explosive paste. Just spread it where you want it, and the second it interacts with ethera, it¡¯ll blow,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°You have about a quarter of a second to get clear. Good luck.¡± ¡°Sounds dangerous, bro.¡± ¡°Well, it is. And I can¡¯t use it yet.¡± ¡°Why do you have it, then?¡± asked Ron. Kurik shrugged. ¡°Best to always be prepared.¡± Elijah shook his head, then crossed the room ¨C which was around forty feet wide ¨C and crouched next to the opposite wall. He put his hands over the back of his head and bent down. Finally, he announced, ¡°Alright. I¡¯m ready. The rest of you best get clear, too. Don¡¯t want to go pickin¡¯ up pieces of you.¡± Elijah looked at the tube in question, then back at Kurik. He¡¯d seen the dwarf fiddling with traps that could stop powerful creatures like the Immortal Halima in their tracks. If he was suddenly cautious, then there was a good chance that the explosive paste was far more potent than Elijah had first suspected. But could it do the job? More, could he get clear in time to avoid being blown to bits? Both were good questions, but he reasoned that there was only one way to find out for sure. So, once everyone had planted themselves in the next hall ¨C Kurik decided that the other side of the room wasn¡¯t quite far enough away ¨C Elijah shifted into his guardian shape. Then, he knelt next to the crack and, after taking a deep breath, opened the tube. Without hesitation, he squeezed it, depositing a dollop in the crack. Then, he wheeled around, used Bestial Charge, and raced away. He made it one step before a powerful explosion erupted behind him. Most of the shockwave was directed elsewhere, but even so, Elijah was sent rocketing across the room until he rammed into the opposite wall. He hit with enough force that, if he hadn¡¯t just upgraded his Body cultivation, he might have broken bones. As it was, he only jarred a few teeth loose. ¡°Ow,¡± he muttered, thankful he¡¯d had the presence of mind to use Bestial Charge. The shield had protected him from the worst of the impact, but the sudden start and stop had definitely hurt. He glanced back at the wall, and as the shadows swirled, he saw that the crack had only barely widened. The walls of the building were just that strong. He lumbered forward, his gaid one appropriate to a drunkard, until he felt one of Ron¡¯s healing spells land. His thoughts cleared, and his mind came back into focus. It seemed that even as powerful as he was, he wasn¡¯t immune to concussions. When he reached the crack, he bent down to inspect it. It was now about an inch wide, which was far from enough. However, further inspection told him that it had loosened quite a bit. So, he shifted back into his human form ¨C because his claws were far too large to fit ¨C shoved his fingers into the gap, and pulled. It moved a little, but it took another few minutes of tugging before, at last, it came free. Finally, his prize was within reach. He eagerly grabbed the crystalline leaf and pumped his fist in celebration. ¡°So? What is it?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah pushed some ethera into the guide, and a notification appeared before his inner eye:
The Shadeborn Sect Established in the second century of the thirty-fourth age, the Shadeborn were a sect of powerful shadow-attuned assassins. They did not work for money or power. Rather, they employed their talents for more important reasons. First among those motivators was the pursuit of the ideal form of their craft. Perfection was not attainable, and yet, they were driven to strive for just that. Their methods were ever-evolving, and their results were peerless. The second reason was more complex. They thought of themselves as arbiters of justice. Like the mythical Angel Inquisitors, they took it upon themselves to police the powerful, killing any who went too far in their own pursuit of progression. However, all sapient beings are prone to corruption, and the Shadeborn Sect was no different. Soon enough, the two primary reasons for their existence came to odds. Standards of justice relaxed, and for the right price, they became much more flexible. Innocents were killed, and over the centuries, the sect¡¯s power grew until they were one of the preeminent forces on Ka¡¯arath. Then the man who would become Lightning Emperor appeared. At that time, Yloa was only a promising prospect ¨C barely a demigod who¡¯d still garnered the support of those who wished to usher Ka¡¯arath into a new age ¨C and yet, he refused to bow. He would not acknowledge their power. And as a result, they attempted to kill him. They failed, but they slaughtered much of his family, sending him down a dark road of revenge. The Shadeborn Sect and their allies fought back, but they were a whetstone for the blade that Yloa became. His ruthlessness in the pursuit of vengeance is one of the primary reasons for the rebellion that followed. Only one elder of the Shadeborn Sect survived the culling. Even the mighty Lightning Emperor was incapable of killing her, for she had truly embraced the shadow, forging a connection with the Umbra itself. To keep her contained, Yloa ordered his most prominent Tradesmen to build a counter to her power, which would not only confine her to the Vale of Whispers, but also serve to weaken her if she ever stepped out of bounds. However, in her desperation, she opened a portal to the Umbra, allowing a host of shadowy parasites through. They infected the outer members of her sect, infusing them with great power that allowed them to slaughter the Tradesmen as well as their guards. The mechanism was complete, but none aside from the Lightning Emperor himself was strong enough to enter the Vale of Whispers and survive. So, it remained unused, save to quarantine them from the rest of the world. Thus is the tragedy of the Shadeborn Sect. They began with the noblest of intentions, but fell to corruption that, in the end, transformed them into monsters. Learn this lesson well, for it is a tale that has been repeated on nearly every world throughout known history.
Elijah finished reading the guide. ¡°Well, there¡¯s good news and bad news,¡± he said, looking up at his companions. ¡°Which one do you want first?¡± ¡°The bad news, bro. Always start there so we have something to look forward to.¡± ¡°Well, I think I know what caused all this damage,¡± he said before describing the last surviving elder of the Shadeborn Sect. ¡°She¡¯s ultra powerful, and she¡¯s probably not happy with us.¡± ¡°And the good news?¡± ¡°Well, she should be weakened,¡± he said, reasoning that the weapon mentioned in the guide described the braziers they¡¯d lit. ¡°So, we might have a chance of survival.¡± 6-60. Absolution ¡°So, what do we do?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Um¡­we need to kill her,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I think. The quest just says to illuminate the shadows, so I¡¯m not sure what it¡¯s supposed to mean.¡± Sadie barely heard the discussion. Standing so close to her companions was a special kind of torture. Even Ron and Dat, both of whom had barely triggered Sense of Sin before she¡¯d made the wrong choice of specialization, were nauseating to look at. Not only were they surrounded by a cloud of murky sin, but they¡¯d also begun to look like monsters. Waxy skin. Pockmarked cheeks. Thin hair. Their every flaw was magnified until they became, by anyone¡¯s measure, ugly. But none of that compared to what she saw when she looked at Elijah. To her eyes, he was truly evil, and in a way that exceeded anything she¡¯d ever witnessed. Even the zombies and other undead back in Hong Kong couldn¡¯t measure up to what she saw when she turned her gaze on Elijah. He had all the same characteristics as Ron and Dat, but far more exaggerated. He was like something out of a horror movie, the sort of person who, when they stepped into frame, the audience immediately knew that they were the villain. And to make it all worse, Sadie knew it was Sense of Sin at work. She knew Elijah didn¡¯t really look like that. And what¡¯s more, she knew the story behind his sins. Did she believe he was entirely justified? No. But she also didn¡¯t think she would have acted that much differently. Sense of Sin didn¡¯t care about any of that, and neither did her perception of the world around her. The thoughts and feelings swirling through her mind elicited no small degree of guilt, but she didn¡¯t have the time to figure out how to live with it. Instead, she¡¯d thrust herself into another challenge, partially because she hoped it would be a distraction. And it worked, after a fashion. So long as she had a threat in front of her ¨C or a task to be completed ¨C she could ignore the results of her most troubling ability. Yet, in moments of peace, she could not push it aside. ¡°What do you think, Sadie?¡± Elijah asked, his voice dripping with venom she knew wasn¡¯t really there. Even his smile, meant to be reassuring, carried with it a note of cunning dishonesty ¨C like the world¡¯s sleeziest used car salesman. ¡°We move on,¡± she said. ¡°We¡¯ll figure it out when we get there.¡± Her tone was curt as she added, ¡°Unless someone else has a better idea.¡± She found herself glaring at them all in turn. Even Kurik, whose only real crime was surliness, earned her ire. No matter what she¡¯d tried, she just couldn¡¯t help it. The best she could come up with was to forego all expression, but even that carried with it a significant aura of disdain. Thankfully, no one else had anything to add, so they soon set off through the halls. Due to the ubiquitous shadows, she couldn¡¯t see anything outside of the ring of flickering light cast by the torch, but it felt like there were hordes of monsters waiting in the wings. She had never really been afraid of the dark, but her experiences in the challenge of the Umbra made her rethink that position. The palace was huge. Easily a mile wide and featuring multiple levels that required exploration. And Elijah insisted that they needed to inspect every last inch, leading them to the tops of tall towers and into scarily spotless dungeons. But aside from the intended purposes of such areas, nothing really changed. The d¨¦cor remained similar, following the same chaotic theme, while each hall blended together until Sadie lost track of where they really were. But slowly, they progressed toward the center. The only indicator that they were getting closer to their destination was the thickness of the shadows, which grew so dense that the radius of their torches shrank to almost nothing. The group huddled closer together so as to take advantage of light, which only exacerbated the effects of Sadie¡¯s skill. She didn¡¯t just see their sins. She smelled them. She tasted them with every breath. And what was even worse, she felt those sins burrowing into her skin and threatening to corrupt her. Over and over, she reminded herself that it wasn¡¯t real, that she¡¯d seen her companions¡¯ nature and found them to be good people. Yet, with the weight of so much sensory input bearing down on her, she couldn¡¯t stop herself from being affected. It was almost enough to elicit tears. Yet, Sadie was tougher than that. She wouldn¡¯t allow the skill to defeat her. She refused to give in. So, while it was overwhelming, she¡¯d been dealing with overbearing odds ever since the world¡¯s transformation. She was used to it, and she applied the willpower, earned over years¡¯ of fighting against an endless tide of undead, to her situation. That helped. Marginally. Though any stride forward was one for which she would be appreciative. Besides, it was the only way she managed to maintain her sanity while in such close proximity to so much sin. And then, it all came crashing down when they finally reached their destination. There, sat a ka¡¯alaki woman. Normally, Sadie had trouble distinguishing between the genders of the natives of Ka¡¯arath, but in this instance, she was certain. There was something about the way she held herself. The way she moved. Graceful, yet with distinct purpose. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. However, Sadie could only focus on the cloud of disgusting sin surrounding her. In a split second, that grace became something else entirely. Until that moment, Sadie had never seen anyone with an aura of sin as thick as Elijah¡¯s. However, this ka¡¯alaki woman put the Druid to shame. If Elijah had killed thousands, she was responsible for the deaths of millions. Perhaps the count was innumerable. Clearly, she was the lone surviving elder of the sect of assassins, and she wore that evil like a cloak of pure sin. Sadie¡¯s hand tightened around her sword¡¯s grip, but she held back. Because she knew just how powerful that creature was. She could feel it, and not just because of the pulsing ethera. Shadows swirled around her like a typhoon, angry and ready to become a raging storm. ¡°You have arrived,¡± the assassin said, looking up. She stood, and through the cloud of sin, Sadie could see that she was wearing a hooded robe of pure shadow. However, in her hand was a small ball of light. It was no bigger than a marble, and it gave off no more light than a flickering candle. But she held it close, as if it was an item of great reverence. ¡°I have been waiting.¡± * * * Elijah knew they were in trouble. The surviving sect elder was part of it. She was extremely powerful, though when she rose from her throne ¨C and that was the only way to describe her massive chair ¨C Elijah saw a slight hitch. Moreover, he could sense that her ethera wasn¡¯t quite focused. It was similar to the effect of Stormbind, though not nearly as absolute. In short, as the guide had suggested, she¡¯d been weakened by the activation of the weapon. But Elijah was less worried about her than he was about Sadie. The Crusader¡¯s entire body was tense, her every muscle contracted. She was practically shaking with hatred and rage, as if she could barely control herself. It was confirmation that something had changed. Sadie had never been particularly accepting, but she¡¯d never let her nature or her Sense of Sin ability affect her in a battle. But Elijah knew that if he didn¡¯t step in soon, that would change. So, he did just that. Raising his voice, he said, ¡°I take it you¡¯re the last surviving member of the Shadeborn Sect.¡± The ka¡¯alaki cocked her head to the side. ¡°So I am,¡± she said. ¡°Woe unto me, for I have seen the fall of everything I deemed important. Come. Kill me, if you can. My most potent remaining regret is that my pride will not stand aside and let you win. I will fight back. I will kill you. But on the off chance that you are capable of putting me out of my misery, please know that I never meant to become what I became. I ¨C¡± ¡°Liar,¡± Sadie rasped. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Sadie, don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°I called you a liar,¡± she insisted, brushing off Elijah¡¯s hand as she stepped forward. Her jaw flexed, and she held herself ramrod straight as she leveled her sword at the powerful elder. ¡°You hide behind circumstances. You say that they pushed you into corruption. Yet, you had every opportunity to right the ship. You set out to do the right thing, didn¡¯t you? You wanted to protect those who couldn¡¯t protect themselves. Then, you became the very thing you were meant to fight. Now, you want us to pity you? You expect us to believe that you had no chance to stop the fall? Well, I don¡¯t. And if you claim to believe otherwise, you are a liar.¡± The ka¡¯alaki assassin rolled the little, glowing marble in her hand. Elijah could sense it burning her fingers as she stared at the floor. Then, she looked up and said, ¡°You speak of a subject you cannot understand.¡± ¡°I understand honor. I understand being true to yourself. And you failed on both counts,¡± Sadie said. ¡°How many innocents have you killed? Thousands? Do they outnumber the guilty who fell before you?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°And yet, you still see yourself as you were. As a noble warrior who was willing to rid the world of filth. You were never that. You believed it, but not deeply enough to matter. Otherwise, you would not have fallen.¡± ¡°You do not know me. You are but a child,¡± came the reply, but only in a rasping whisper. ¡°I am your judge. If you truly believed your own lies, then you will not fight my verdict,¡± Sadie said, her eyes practically glowing with purpose. ¡°Admit your sins.¡± It was only then that Elijah felt ethera swirling around her. But there was more than that. Something he couldn¡¯t really perceive. It only took a second for him to realize that it was Faith. When the elder assassin answered, Elijah knew that Confession was in play. ¡°I never cared about the powerless,¡± the ka¡¯alaki said, her eyes downcast. She collapsed to her knees. ¡°The only thing I truly cared about was growing stronger than my sister. She was the golden child. Our parents saw that she was better than me, and they supported her every endeavor. Meanwhile, I was fed scraps. ¡°That was when I found him. The Father of my sect. He showed me the way. He gave me the tools to overcome my weakness and surpass Iami. I killed her a few years after I joined the sect. She¡¯d beaten a maid to death. I was so happy to hear her name whispered by the shadows. I did not kill her quickly, either. She suffered for a long time before I finally ended it. After that, it was easier to use our mandate as an excuse. I started manufacturing names,¡± she explained. Raising her eyes, she admitted, ¡°They were all people who wronged me as a child. My parents were among them. Their friends, too. Schoolmasters. Trainers. Former lovers. I killed them all, and the shadow grew. ¡°Thousand of years. I continued to progress, becoming one of the most powerful members of the sect. And we became¡­we were an institution. An open secret. A true power. The records show that Yloa authored our fall, but in reality, it was me. The moment I corrupted our purpose for personal gain, we were doomed. Those are my sins. You asked me how many people I killed. I do not know how many lives I took with my own blade, but millions died because of my actions,¡± she said, her shoulders sagging. ¡°I thought I could¡­I thought I could punish myself with this,¡± she said, holding up the glowing marble. ¡°It corrodes the shadows. But it is only an annoyance, and it is less than what I deserve.¡± As the ka¡¯alaki assassin¡¯s head fell in shame, Sadie strode forward, sword in hand. When she was looming over the broken creature, she said, ¡°I will give you what you deserve. What, in your heart, you truly believe you deserve. I will release you from your sins.¡± ¡°Can you do such a thing?¡± asked the surviving elder, looking up with glistening and somehow hopeful eyes. ¡°I can,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I offer absolution. Do you accept?¡± ¡°I¡­I do.¡± ¡°Then bow your head and accept your fate.¡± Miraculously, the creature did just that. Even as her body shook with fear and sadness, Sadie¡¯s sword erupted into bright light. Faith and ethera continued to swirl as she brought the blade down. The ka¡¯alaki¡¯s head rolled free, and a notification appeared before Elijah¡¯s inner eye. ¡°What just happened?¡± whispered Ron. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I really don¡¯t know.¡± 6-61. Inevitability of Mortality It was only a whisper. But in Miguel¡¯s ears, it was as loud as any shout. He shot to his feet, a layer of dirt and dried blood cracking with his every motion as he erupted from his hiding place in the hollow beneath a huge, exposed root. His sword lashed out in a backhanded swing that met flesh after only an instant. A moment later, the dark elf¡¯s head flew free with a spray of blood. It went to the right, while the rest of the would-be assassin¡¯s body went to the right. He didn¡¯t stop moving, though. To stop was to die, as evidenced when a trio of arrows thudded into the muddy turf he¡¯d just vacated. He skidded across the wet ground, bending backward to avoid a spear thrust that would have impaled him. His momentum took him past the dark elf wielder, but Miguel managed to slice his blade across the back of his foe¡¯s ankles. Supernatural durability or not, joints and tendons were still mechanical things. And if the Achilles tendon was severed, a person couldn¡¯t walk properly. If at all. It was simple physics. Adding to the attractiveness of that particular tendon as a target was the fact that it was rarely armored, meaning that Miguel¡¯s blade bit deep, cutting through the stringy bit of flesh with ease. As the owner of said tendons flopped forward, Miguel continued his skid before using an exposed root to halt his slide. He popped up, wheeling around to parry an oncoming sword strike. He knocked the other blade aside, then kicked its owner in the knee. The attack would have crippled a normal person ¨C especially with Miguel¡¯s Strength ¨C but the elven woman only grunted before throwing a punch that connected with his jaw. He¡¯d long since lost his helmet, so he had no protection. And the woman was strong. Much stronger than him, as he discovered when his jaw cracked. Pain lanced through the side of his face and down his neck, but Miguel couldn¡¯t allow himself to really feel it. Instead, he countered with a shoulder tackle that knocked her comparatively slimmer body aside. That was when Trevor thundered forward, ramming his tiny antlers into her back. They were no longer than six inches, but that was enough to pierce the elf¡¯s vital organs. The momentum of his charge sent the enemy flying forward. Miguel, who¡¯d seen Trevor coming, used that distraction to disguise his next attack. He whipped a dagger out of its sheath at his waist, throwing it in one smooth motion. Hitting a moving target with a thrown blade wasn¡¯t easy, even with his Dexterity, but Miguel had had plenty of practice. The dagger¡¯s trajectory was a little off-target. He had intended to bury it in her throat. But the throw was accurate enough that the blade ripped through the side of her neck, cutting through her jugular artery and sending a spray of red blood into the air. She wasn¡¯t finished, though. What¡¯s more, she wasn¡¯t alone. Two more dark elves charged Miguel, while one tried to corner the staggered Trevor. The stag had used almost all of his energy on the previous charge, so after weeks of hard travel through enemy-infested territory, he could barely stand. Miguel wasn¡¯t much better off, and he¡¯d taken dozens of wounds during that time. Some had healed, scabbing over quickly, but a couple were far more serious. He ignored his injuries, digging deep to power another mad dash. This one ended with him ramming his sword into the back of the elf who¡¯d intended to attack Trevor. That left Miguel open for reprisal from his enemy¡¯s allies, and he hunched his back to take the blows he knew were coming. Blades dug deep into his armor, sending chips of lacquered wood flying. The momentum of those attacks sent him staggering into Trevor, and the stag fell, his chest heaving with pain and exhaustion. Miguel managed to maintain his feet, and seeing his companion¡¯s plight ignited the fires of rage in his heart. With a growl that was more feral than human, he whipped around so quickly that he managed to take the next elf by surprise. He rammed his blade into his opponent¡¯s exposed chin, and it ripped its way upward and into his brain. The elf died instantly, and Miguel tore his sword free with a savage fury that dislodged most of the fighter¡¯s jaw. He couldn¡¯t spare the gruesome sight a moment¡¯s notice. Instead, he pushed close to the other attacker, grabbing him with his free hand and pulling. The surprised elf staggered slightly, which allowed Miguel to once again bring his blade to bear, stabbing his foe in the stomach. He ripped the blade away, disemboweling the unfortunate elf. By that point, the final two elves had recovered. The woman led the way, unleashing a furious barrage of sword attacks that pushed Miguel to the absolute limit of his skills. She was stronger and faster than him ¨C likely due to a much higher level ¨C but he was better with the blade. As a result, they were evenly matched. Unfortunately, she was not alone. The second elf kept his distance, using a spear to take opportunistic shots whenever Miguel was distracted by the swordswoman. That put him at a distinct disadvantage, and he struggled to maintain the equilibrium of the fight. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. He tried everything he could, but he was hamstrung by three factors. First, he was wounded, and with every passing moment, his power waned. Soon, he¡¯d collapse from sheer exhaustion. Second, the aforementioned disadvantage of numbers. He could fight against multiple opponents, but it was exceedingly difficult, especially when said foes were accustomed to working together. And finally, he couldn¡¯t use the entire battlefield. Trevor still hadn¡¯t risen, which meant that if Miguel tried to move away, it would expose the stag. Likely, the spearman would kill him. And while that might ensure Miguel¡¯s escape ¨C or allow him to win the battle ¨C it was not a sacrifice he was willing to make. So, as had been the case so many times over the past couple of weeks, Miguel had no choice but to stand his ground and outlast his enemies. It was a losing battle, though. Somewhere in the back of his mind, beneath all the strategic thinking, fear, and anger, he knew that he couldn¡¯t win. Not with so many factors stacked against him. But he wouldn¡¯t give up. He refused to give in. For his own sake as much as Trevor¡¯s, he fought on. The sound of metal against wood accompanied grunts of pain and exertion as the battle wore on. Miguel fought valiantly and with all the skill he¡¯d learned from Colt. Victory was not in the cards, though. After a few minutes that felt like an eternity, he took a wicked slash across his thigh. It hacked apart the already-damaged armor, biting deep into his flesh. That wound spelled the end. It slowed him down just enough that the next serious wound came soon after. And that facilitated a stab to his exposed side. The elven woman seized upon the advantage, going in for a strike that would have decapatiated him if he hadn¡¯t tilted his head down. Still, the wound went deep into his scalp, staggering him even as blood flowed down his forehead. The spearmen used that brief moment to stab him again. Trevor stirred behind him, but the stag was incapable of rising. He wasn¡¯t going to contribute further to the battle. And Miguel was on his last leg. That was okay, though. He¡¯d killed dozens of elves. He¡¯d done everything he could. The numbers just weren¡¯t in his favor. Only a couple of years after the world had changed, he¡¯d made peace with his own mortality. He¡¯d had to, with all the people he had been forced to watch die. Friends¡¯ parents went out to scavenge or patrol the area around Easton, and they¡¯d never come back. His own mother had been killed in the tower. Death was just part of life, and he was okay with it. His only regret was that he hadn¡¯t ensured Trevor¡¯s survival. The stag was terrified. Miguel could feel it through their bond. And it wasn¡¯t surprising, either. Trevor wasn¡¯t old enough to understand how the world worked. He hadn¡¯t had a chance to make peace with the realities of life and death. So, even as he fought an unwinnable battle, Miguel tried to send calm and reassuring thoughts through their bond. It was only marginally effective. They couldn¡¯t read one another¡¯s minds. Yet, he hoped that it would help ¨C even if only a little ¨C so that Trevor¡¯s last moments wouldn¡¯t be full of panic. The minutes stretched on, and Miguel took more and more hits. He managed to inflict a few wounds of his own, but normally those came at the expense of his own defenses. Because of that, he latched onto the idea of taking his opponents down with him. Certainly, he knew he wasn¡¯t going to win. That ship had sailed. However, he did think he could bring them down with him. Or at least one of them. So, he switched tactics, adopting a far more aggressive style that he usually only used when he outmatched his opponents. It was great for dispatching weaker foes very quickly, but it came with a cost, opening him up to easy reprisal for anyone with the skill to seize upon the opportunity. And the elves were just such opponents. He rushed forward, taking another stab wound to his hip. Still, he managed to get inside the spearman¡¯s guard and batter him across the head with the hilt of his sword. That staggered the elf, which allowed Miguel to headbutt him. Just as he brought his blade down, shearing through the spearman¡¯s neck, the swordswoman stabbed him in the back. Her blade went between his ribs, piercing his lung and coming out the other side. It didn¡¯t have enough momentum to get through the front of his segmented chest armor, but that didn¡¯t really matter. The damage had already been done. Miguel threw himself forward, feeling every inch of the blade as it pulled free. He collapsed to the ground, already coughing up blood. A foot connected to his side, flipping him over so he could see his enemy. She loomed over him, a snarl on her face. ¡°You have killed hundreds, child,¡± she spat, leveling her sword at him. He responded by trying to kick her shin, but the attack was weak. Slow. Ineffectual. He coughed, splattering blood all over his chin. ¡°For that, you will pay.¡± It didn¡¯t seem to matter that the elves were the ones who¡¯d first attacked him. Obviously, she didn¡¯t care that they¡¯d harassed him for weeks as he raced toward Argos. He¡¯d been forced to fight a running battle, burying himself beneath exposed roots just so he could get a little rest. He¡¯d barley eaten. He hadn¡¯t really slept. And he¡¯d been pushed to his absolute limits. And from her skewed perspective, he was the bad guy. It was madness. He tried to say as much, but his voice simply wouldn¡¯t cooperate. All that came out was another blood-filled cough. She smirked down at him, then raised her sword. It glinted in the sunlight as time seemed to stand still. And all Miguel could think was that he hoped she would spare Trevor. Then, the blade fell. Miguel somehow managed to bring his own sword up and slap the elf¡¯s weapon just off target. It skipped off his shoulder guard, shaving a bit of wood from the armor. The elf snarled, then kicked him in the side. Pain lanced through Miguel¡¯s entire torso, distracting him just enough to allow the elf to kick his blade away from his hand. ¡°Die with dignity, human,¡± she hissed. Then, once again, she raised her sword. It descended with all the finality of a headsman¡¯s axe. Miguel raised his arms, knowing good and well that they wouldn¡¯t do much to stop what was coming. It was just an instinctive reaction. But even if he managed to block the first attack, his survival wouldn¡¯t last long. Sometimes, the odds were just too long. Sometimes, death was inevitable. 6-62. Solace Miguel greeted his impending death with a snarl. The sword fell, glinting in the faint light of a setting sun, and his stomach twisted into a thousand knots as he considered all the things he¡¯d intended to do with his life. Now, none of that would be possible. Like his mother, he would go too soon. He only hoped that his family would understand, that they would be able to ascertain his fate. Even as he made amends with the end of his life, the blade continued its inexorable fall. He closed his eyes, finally surrendering to the end he could no longer deny. It didn¡¯t come. Even after a few seconds, he remained among the living. So, he opened his eyes to see the elven swordswoman looking down on him. Instead of the disdain she¡¯d worn like a mask, her eyes were wide with surprise. A thin, red line appeared on her neck, and a moment later, it began to gush blood. As Miguel¡¯s mind reeled, her head toppled free, and her body collapsed into a heap. He blinked, confused at the turn of events. He couldn¡¯t make sense of it. He was alone in the forest ¨C save for the elves ¨C and he certainly didn¡¯t have any allies in the area. Argos was still days away, and there were no settlements nearby. Finally, as his vision blurred, a hulking shape stepped into view. Miguel couldn¡¯t see precisely what it was, but it seemed too large to be human. He struggled to stave off unconsciousness, but the black spots gathering at the corners of his unfocused vision told him that he only had a few seconds before it overwhelmed him. ¡°What¡­¡± The word came out as a croak and was quickly cut short by a bloody cough. Just before he lost consciousness, the blurry figure knelt beside him, and he felt an enormous hand clamp down on his shoulder. He couldn¡¯t discern anything else about his savior ¨C if that was an accurate description ¨C before he passed out. He didn¡¯t dream, and his rest was over in an instant. He only awoke for a few seconds, but he saw that he¡¯d been moved to an unfamiliar location. Judging by the ceiling, it was a house ¨C or some other sort of building ¨C with rough-hewn beams crossing the ceiling. ¡°Trevor,¡± he groaned, but that was all he got out before he was forced to once again surrender to unconsciousness. After that, he went in and out a dozen or more times. For some brief bouts of wakefulness, he was barely lucid, but for others, he managed to stay awake long enough to get a decent idea of his location. As he¡¯d first suspected, it was a house, though it looked more like a log cabin, with various herbs hanging from the rough beams. He also got a glimpse of his savior, who was the biggest man Miguel had ever seen. If the man was less than seven-and-a-half feet tall, Miguel would have been incredibly surprised. His body was also heavy with muscle, with wide shoulders and a thick, trunk-like torso. However, unlike his hulking size might have indicated, the man had a kind, if plain, face that, for whatever reason, put Miguel in mind of a caring father. Some indeterminate amount of time later, Miguel finally awoke for good. Sunlight filtered through one of the windows, and when he took a deep breath, he smelled mint, garlic, and a host of other less recognizable scents that all mingled together into a weird cacophony of odors that felt oddly comforting. ¡°Awake at last, eh?¡± came a rough voice from nearby. Miguel followed the sound, seeing that it had come from a tiny woman with a hunched back and white hair that had been gathered into a neat bun. She stood on a stepstool which allowed her to stir an enormous cauldron that was at least as large as she was. Probably much bigger. ¡°Good. Didn¡¯t think you¡¯d make it, hmm. Going around and getting holes put in you ¨C that¡¯s bad for your health. Didn¡¯t your mother ever tell you to stay away from dark elves?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Or are you one of those boys who won¡¯t listen to his mother, hmm?¡± she asked, never looking up from her cauldron. ¡°I have a grandson like that. Never listened to me, and he¡¯s worse off for it. Come to think of it, most of my family are the strong-willed type. They need to touch the fire before they believe it¡¯s hot. I wonder where they get that, hmm.¡± Only then did she turn to look at Miguel. She tilted her head and cut her eyes in his direction, but even that glance was more than enough for him to establish that she was not human. She had pointed ears like an elf, but it was her eyes that really drew Miguel¡¯s attention. They didn¡¯t look overtly different than any other set of eyes he¡¯d ever seen, but there was something about them that made him feel so tiny that he wanted nothing more than to skitter away like an insect. ¡°Where am I? Who are you?¡± he asked, mustering his courage. She hadn¡¯t killed him yet, which meant that she probably didn¡¯t want to. ¡°So many questions, hmm. What makes you think you¡¯re entitled to answers?¡± she asked. He opened his mouth to answer, but she cut him off. ¡°Rhetorical question, boy. Just like my grandson. So rigid. I sent Birk to save you because you needed saving. And because I don¡¯t like dark elves. Nasty, warlike creatures that are perfectly happy to live a might-makes-right philosophy. Right up until someone stronger comes along. Then, they¡¯re quick to beg for mercy so their planet doesn¡¯t get blown up, hmm.¡± Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. She turned, pulling a wooden spoon from the cauldron. She shook it at Miguel, saying, ¡°Let that be a lesson to you, boy. If you¡¯re going to believe something, believe it wholeheartedly, even if it¡¯s going to get you killed. Otherwise, you¡¯re just a pretender. And we tolerate those even less than we tolerate dark elves.¡± ¡°I¡­um¡­okay?¡± ¡°Not very talkative are you? I suppose that¡¯s normal, given how many holes you had in you. Did I mention that you should try to avoid that, hmm?¡± ¡°You did. But you¡­you didn¡¯t answer my questions.¡± ¡°I suppose I didn¡¯t.¡± ¡°Are you going to?¡± ¡°Maybe. In the meantime, you need to regain your strength,¡± she said, grabbing a ladle from a nearby rack. A cabinet also opened completely of its own accord, and a clay bowl floated out. ¡°Nearly dying will take it out of you, hmm.¡± She dipped the ladle into the cauldron, pulling it out a second later. She poured the contents into the bowl, then added another ladle-full on top of that. After that, the old woman descended from her perch atop the stepstool and shuffled across the room. Upon offering the bowl to Miguel, she said, ¡°You need to eat.¡± With trembling hands, he took the bowl, and to his surprise, he found that it contained only a hearty soup filled with chunks of meat and plenty of vegetables. She¡¯d already provided a spoon, so he dipped it in, taking a bite. And he was more than a little shocked at what he tasted. ¡°This is amazing¡­¡± The old woman smiled slightly, her wrinkles becoming even more prominent as Miguel dug in. It felt like every spoonful came with a dose of vitality that rivaled his uncle¡¯s healing spells. After a few short minutes, he¡¯d drained the entire bowl, and already, he¡¯d begun to feel better. ¡°Alright, up and out of bed,¡± she said. ¡°You need to pay for that.¡± ¡°What?¡± he asked, suddenly suspicious. ¡°I need firewood. And I need someone to gather some herbs. Birk will show you the ropes. Now go on, hmm. Get out of my house. You can have some more stew in a couple of hours.¡± Miguel was feeling better, and he certainly didn¡¯t begrudge the woman payment for her services. In fact, he felt certain that he couldn¡¯t do anything to repay her for saving his life. So, he slipped out of bed, but the moment his feet touched the dirt floor, he remembered two things. ¡°Where¡¯s Trevor?¡± he asked. ¡°The baby guardian beast? He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s helping Birk outside.¡± ¡°And my armor?¡± was his next question. She hooked her thumb over her shoulder, indicating a pile of lacquered wood he hadn¡¯t seen from the bed. His sword was there, too. The armor had a self-repair function, but it required an influx of ethera to activate. While fleeing the dark elves, he hadn¡¯t had any chance to do that, so it was in truly sorry shape. Hopefully, it wasn¡¯t so far gone that the repair function wouldn¡¯t activate. After gathering his sword and strapping it to his waist, he decided to do as the woman had asked and go outside where he could repay her and check on Trevor at the same time. He padded across the single-room cottage on bare feet, then stepped outside. He squinted in the bright light, recognizing that it was around noon. The exterior of the house was as he¡¯d expected. It was just as rough-hewn as the interior, made of untreated logs and featuring a thatch roof. Still, it looked very sturdy and cozy enough, especially with a curl of smoke rising from the chimney. A grunt drew his attention, and he turned to see the enormous Birk nearby. The man was carrying a bundle of firewood, but Miguel was more interested in the sight of Trevor, who had a huge sack strapped to his back, not unlike a pack mule. Before he knew what he was doing, Miguel tried to run to his companion. However, he only got one step before his legs wobbled, and he pitched forward onto his face. ¡°Ow,¡± he muttered as Trevor¡¯s wet nose found the back of his neck. He flipped over, and promptly received a snort from the young stag. He reached up and patted the side of Trevor¡¯s neck. ¡°I¡¯m fine. Just didn¡¯t realize how weak I still was.¡± ¡°Hmm.¡± Miguel glanced at the door to the house to see the old woman just shaking her head. She said, ¡°Fool children.¡± A moment later, Birk was helping him back to his feet. The giant man was surprisingly gentle. Once Miguel was standing, Birk deposited his bag of herbs next to the house, then set off back into the nearby woods. He got to the edge of the forest, then looked back at Miguel and gestured for him to follow. ¡°Guess he¡¯s not a big talker,¡± Miguel remarked, following Birk as the giant stepped into the forest. Over the next couple of hours, Miguel was escorted through the woods, where Birk pointed out various herbs meant to be gathered. He also indicated the ones that should be avoided, though he never spoke. Instead, he communicated via grunts, nods, and hand signals. Miguel didn¡¯t mind, because it gave him an opportunity to take stock of his situation. He wasn¡¯t far removed from making peace with his own demise, so it was a little surprising to find that he was alive and seemingly well on his way to recovery. As he quickly discovered, it would still take some time before he was well enough to travel, though. After only fifteen minutes, he felt fatigued, and after two hours, he was absolutely exhausted. Thankfully, Birk understood his condition, and he¡¯d timed the gathering expedition to coincide with Miguel¡¯s exhaustion. When they returned to the cottage, he deposited the herbs and mushrooms where he¡¯d seen Birk leave the previous sack, then collapsed. Miguel was no stranger to fatigue, but he¡¯d never felt quite as bone tired as he did just then. To his good fortune, the old woman soon appeared with another bowl of soup, which he scarfed down like a starving wolf. That sent another jolt of vitality coursing through him, though not so much as to completely banish his fatigue. The next task was to gather firewood, which was even more tiring. After that, he and Birk set about splitting and stacking what they¡¯d collected. Only when night came was he allowed to rest, though not in the cottage. Rather, he and Birk were relegated to a small shack to the rear of the main house. The big man barely fit, though there was just enough room for the pair. So, after another meal, they both retired for the night. The next morning, Birk woke him up, and for the first time, he spoke. ¡°You can follow directions. That is good. Now, training.¡± 6-63. Terrifying Power ¡°Uh¡­should we loot?¡± asked Ron. ¡°No,¡± Elijah said, still staring at Sadie. The woman had just displayed a terrifying amount of power, effectively forcing a powerful enemy to surrender without a fight. That, among other things, needed to be addressed. ¡°We need some answers first. I¡¯m not going another step until I¡¯m satisfied with the explanation of what just happened.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s right,¡± Dat said. His gaze hadn¡¯t wavered from his longtime companion, either. ¡°We need to know what¡¯s going on.¡± With that, they approached Sadie, who hadn¡¯t moved from her position standing over the ka¡¯alaki woman she had just beheaded. By all rights, it should not have been possible. Elijah had felt the elder assassin¡¯s power, and he knew that it should have taken dozens of attacks just to get through her neck, much less sever her head. ¡°I know what you want,¡± Sadie said without looking back. Her sword had stopped glowing, and its tip rested on the floor. When the Crusader looked back at them, her cheeks were wet with tears. ¡°I just don¡¯t know if I can give it to you.¡± ¡°Just tell us what you did,¡± Dat coaxed. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. I was looking at her, and I saw so much¡­so much sin. Then, something came over me. It was like I had finally found my purpose. I knew exactly what to do,¡± she said. ¡°It was Confession. I poured so much ethera into it. I used Faith, too. It didn¡¯t just make her tell the truth. It made her confront her own sins. She already regretted it, I think. She knew she had gone astray. She was guilty and¡­and it was too much. So, when I offered to end it for her, she accepted it.¡± Sadie looked away. ¡°I think I¡¯m going to be sick,¡± she muttered only a second before bending double and retching. Black sludge erupted from her mouth, then puddled at her feet. When Elijah looked at it, he felt pure evil. All power had a cost. Most of the time, it was counted in ethera or stamina, but Faith seemed to muddle some of those lines. And clearly, part of the price of Sadie¡¯s actions was that she¡¯d been forced to take on the sin of that ancient assassin. And given the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s confession, there was quite a lot of evil in there. However, seeing what had happened, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but draw parallels between her fate and what Sadie could potentially do to him. He thought he¡¯d made peace with the guilt over what he¡¯d done in Easton, but the weight of so much death still pressed down on him at times. What if Sadie caught him at a weak moment? Would he then beg her to put him out of his misery? What of the others? None of the hands in their party were clean. They¡¯d all killed. They¡¯d even tortured a woman into becoming a monster. Would Sadie decide to absolve them in the same way she¡¯d relieved the ka¡¯alaki assassin of her guilt? Those were all good questions, but in the end, it all boiled down to whether or not Elijah trusted Sadie. If he did, then none of them needed to worry about her. If not, then he knew what needed to be done. Because if he didn¡¯t trust her, she was far too dangerous to let live. ¡°I know what you¡¯re all thinking,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Because I would be thinking the same thing.¡± She shook her head, adding in a quieter voice, ¡°I am thinking it. I¡¯m too dangerous.¡± ¡°You¡¯re not ¨C¡± She cut Dat off, saying, ¡°You know I¡¯m right, Dat. There are only two choices. You kill me now before I have a chance to turn my powers onto you. Or I go my own way. That¡¯s the only way any of you will be safe.¡± ¡°I go where you go,¡± Dat stated firmly. ¡°And what happens when I decide you¡¯re guilty, too? What if I decide to absolve you of your sins?¡± ¡°You won¡¯t.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know that, Dat. You can¡¯t. Because I don¡¯t. When I started talking, I had no idea what I was going to do. It was like my instincts took over,¡± she said. ¡°I could¡¯ve fought them. I think. But it wouldn¡¯t have been easy, and in my heart, I didn¡¯t really want to, either. Not with her. She deserved it. I think she wanted it,¡± Sadie said. In Elijah¡¯s experience, there were two distinct brands of evil. There were those people who were simply born wrong. They possessed no conscience. They felt no distinction between right and wrong. They simply did what they wanted to do. Sometimes, that manifested in small evils like theft or dishonesty, but other times, it took the form of monstrous actions. There was an aura about being in the presence of someone like that. They could usually hide it, but the moment they took off their masks, it was obvious that something about them was just wrong. Elijah had seen documentaries about serial killers who¡¯d been caught and imprisoned, and after that, he couldn¡¯t deny the existence of true evil of the most primal sort. He didn¡¯t see how anyone could. But the other form of evil was situational. The result of a steady decline where each decision resulted in moving further away from morality. Until one day, those people looked around and saw what they¡¯d become. By then, it was too late to turn back. Too late to right the wrongs. A lot of politicians were like that. They began their journeys with the best intentions, but one compromise after another ¨C all in the name of the greater good ¨C would lead them down a dark road of corruption. Before it was all said and done, they were even more dangerous than the other sort. More troubling, too, because it was a path that anyone could follow. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure which version of evil the assassin had been, but in the end, it didn¡¯t matter. She¡¯d gone too far, and the only way out was to give up. Sadie¡¯s ability gave her the nudge she needed to do just that. ¡°Is it mind control?¡± he asked. She shook her head. ¡°No. It just¡­it just forces honesty,¡± she said. ¡°With oneself as much as with other people. She couldn¡¯t stand up to her own scrutiny, and so, she surrendered. There¡¯s no way I could have killed her otherwise. Even weakened as she was¡­¡± ¡°Do you really think we should fear you?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. Maybe.¡± ¡°Then there¡¯s only one answer,¡± he stated, stepping forward. When he put his hand on her armored shoulder, she flinched slightly. ¡°Just do it,¡± she said. ¡°What? I¡¯m not going to kill you, Sadie,¡± he said. ¡°Nobody here is. The problem is your ability, right? It¡¯s always affecting you. The way I see it, we need to deal with the source of your issues. So, that¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°How?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Cultivation,¡± he said. ¡°Specifically, of your Mind. If we get you to Quartz, you¡¯ll be able to quarantine Sense of Sin in its own facet. I do it with my domain and One with Nature. And pain. It makes it infinitely easier to ignore them.¡± ¡°And how am I supposed to do that? We don¡¯t have time to ¨C¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take the time, Sadie. I can fly us to the cultivation cave in a few hours. After that, I can guide you through the process,¡± Elijah offered. ¡°If we¡¯re attacked in the air?¡± ¡°You can protect me.¡± ¡°You¡¯re putting a lot of trust in someone who just ¨C¡± ¡°Is there a reason I shouldn¡¯t trust you?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re not planning on absolving me of my sins, are you? If you are, I should tell you that I¡¯m completely at peace with the things I¡¯ve done. I regret some of them, but I¡¯m not really one to dwell on the past.¡± That wasn¡¯t entirely true. More often than Elijah liked, he found himself ruminating on his previous actions. It would take a true monster to be able to completely move on from some of the things he¡¯d done. Still, he felt that, because of his superior cultivation, he expected that he would fare better than most against Sadie¡¯s influence. Or maybe it was due to the dragon within him, which seemed to look upon Sadie¡¯s abilities with no small degree of dismissiveness. Elijah trusted himself far more than he trusted Sadie¡¯s restraint, but she didn¡¯t need to know that. ¡°I¡­¡± Dat said, ¡°You need to do it, because we¡¯re not going to kill or abandon you. You¡¯re family.¡± Ron added, ¡°I think this is the only way, and if Elijah thinks it¡¯ll work, I believe it too.¡± All eyes turned to Kurik, who seemed surprised at the scrutiny. ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°I ain¡¯t part of this conversation. From the beginning, I¡¯ve just been along for the ride.¡± ¡°Bro. You¡¯re part of the group.¡± Kurik groaned. ¡°Fine. Go with the Druid. He¡¯ll set you straight.¡± After everyone had voiced their part, Sadie let out a long sigh that contained no small amount of relief. ¡°Okay. But first, we need to collect our reward, loot what there is to loot, then get out of this challenge.¡± ¡°We should probably get to the next challenge so that the others can start scouting things out,¡± Elijah said. ¡°No. I mean, the others can start the journey, but I don¡¯t think I can relax until I take care of this,¡± she said. ¡°I don¡¯t trust myself, Elijah.¡± ¡°If you say so,¡± he agreed, realizing that the situation was far more dire than he¡¯d first suspected. Was she so close to losing control that she couldn¡¯t wait a week or two before fixing the issue? It seemed so. Once they¡¯d agreed to a plan that would see Dat, Ron, and Kurik heading toward the challenge of the Etherum, everyone started scouring the room for treasures. However, aside from the tiny ball of light and the reward for defeating the challenge, there was nothing to take. Even the ka¡¯alaki assassin¡¯s robes of shadow had dissipated the moment she¡¯d lost her head. The Umbral Shroud turned out to be a cloak that looked as if it had been made of shifting shadows. Given that Elijah already had a cloak ¨C with which he was very happy ¨C he didn¡¯t see any reason to disagree when everyone else decided that it should go to Dat. After insisting that someone else should get it, the Witch Hunter finally agreed to take it. Despite his protests, he was obviously happy with the turn of events, as indicated by his wide grin. ¡°Looks cool, right?¡± he asked, turning back and forth. ¡°Thirty points to Dexterity, too. And I can see in the dark now.¡± ¡°No active abilities?¡± Elijah asked. Dat shook his head. ¡°No. Not that I¡¯m complaining, bro. This is awesome.¡± ¡°You¡¯re just happy because it matches your outfit,¡± Ron pointed out. Dat neither confirmed nor denied that assertion, though Elijah thought that the lack of a denial was confirmation all its own. Regardless, once that was taken care of, they had nothing else keeping them in the Vale of Whispers, and none of them wanted to delay their departure. With Dat leading the way, they had no issues navigating the forest on their way out, which allowed Elijah to check his own notifications. Aside from the system¡¯s declaration that they¡¯d defeated another challenge, he also saw that he¡¯d finally reached level one-ten. That came with the normal increase in his attributes, which were displayed in his updated status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 110
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 192 (126)
Dexterity 180 (114)
Constitution 197 (137)
Ethera 174(136)
Regeneration 205 (127)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
While Elijah was happy to see the state of his ever-rising attributes, he was far more interested in the next notification:
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements for the evolution of the essence line of spells. Please choose a path:
Wild Infusion Savage Spirit Feline Agility
Combine all of the essence line of spells into a single augmentation that provides an equal benefit to all attributes. Combine all of the essence line of spells into a single augmentation that provides a benefit to all attributes, but with an emphasis on Strength. Combine all of the essence line of spells into a single augmentation that provides a benefit to all attributes, but with an emphasis on Dexterity.
Elijah stumbled over a fallen tree. ¡°You okay, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Uh. Sure. Just¡­distracted,¡± Elijah said in a vast understatement. He had hoped for a spell evolution, but he hadn¡¯t expected to evolve multiple spells at once. However, it seemed he had a big choice ahead of him, and he didn¡¯t see a lot of specific information on how to do that. 6-64. A Little Help ¡°Attacks have increased in frequency,¡± said Rasana, the gnomish scout. She was one of Kurik¡¯s team of hunters, though instead of her class coming from a Ranger archetype, she¡¯d begun her journey as an Explorer. And while her class had given her a few combat abilities, her origin could not be ignored. Once an Explorer, always an Explorer, Ramik thought. Even so, she was the best scout in the city, even if she didn¡¯t always conduct herself with the decorum one might expect. ¡°Those dark elves have gotten bolder. They¡¯ve pushed past the second gate, and they look like they¡¯re going to move on the first.¡± Ramik removed his hat, then wiped his forearm across his brow. After Colt and Gwenivere had discovered the first gate, they¡¯d soon led another mission down to the tunnels. Due to their efforts, they¡¯d managed to take the gate, which gave them a foothold from which to defend the city. So far, they¡¯d managed to keep the dark elves at bay, but no one had ever expected it to last. The numbers were too unfavorable for Ironshore¡¯s defenders, and the only reason they¡¯d managed to hold the line so long was because of the gate itself, which served to even the odds a bit. Ramik was no general, but he knew that a soldier holding a wall was worth ten assailants. But it was only a delaying tactic. At some point, the dark elves would get serious, and the moment that happened, the gate would fall. That was why Ramik had directed his most powerful Tradesmen to work on defenses closer to home. He¡¯d even considered collapsing the tunnels altogether, though that came with a host of issues that made him hesitate. For one, if he took that route, it would likely mean the end of Ironshore as they knew it. Digging through the rubble after the threat had ended would take too much time, which would mean that he¡¯d default on his contract with the Green Mountain Mining Company. Indenture would be his only future. Not to mention that the town itself would fall under their complete control. If that happened, things would get much worse for the residents, many of whom would end up just like Ramik ¨C virtually enslaved, with no hope of crawling out. But that wasn¡¯t what truly worried him. Instead, what really frightened the goblin mayor was that the representatives of the Green Mountain Mining Company would almost assuredly fail to honor the truce Ramik had negotiated with Elijah Hart. They would see the Druid¡¯s island as a resource to be exploited, and they would immediately set out to do just that. Ramik knew how that would work out. And given Elijah¡¯s proclivity toward violent defense of his home, it was a near certainty that the people of Ironshore would get caught up in his wrath. The human had slaughtered fifty people just for setting foot on his island. So, what would he do if it happened again? And given that years had passed since that fateful day, he would be much better at slaughtering anyone in his way. Ramik shuddered to consider Ironshore¡¯s fate if Elijah returned from the Trial of Primacy only to discover that someone had defiled his grove. It was difficult to imagine that he wouldn¡¯t hold the entire city accountable, and if that happened¡­ It would not be good. Besides, collapsing the mines wouldn¡¯t be an effective deterrent. At best, it would slow the dark elves. At worst, the enemy would abandon its half-hearted efforts at waging a war and embark on a true mission of conquest. That seemed inevitable, but the longer Ramik could delay that turning point, the better prepared Ironshore would be. Because he knew that the mines weren¡¯t the only means of reaching the surface. Other scouts had found signs that the dark elves were already topside, and Ramik had heard enough stories of the race to know that there were probably many more they hadn¡¯t discovered. No ¨C war was definitely coming, and Ironshore wasn¡¯t ready to meet it head-on. He needed time, but complicating matters was that he couldn¡¯t go all-out and force the dark elves to respond with the full force of their might. He was trying to walk a knife¡¯s edge until young Miguel ¨C and the handful of other scouts he could afford to send out ¨C found help. After Rasana finished her report, Ramik thanked her. Upon her departure, he let out a groan. ¡°That bad, eh?¡± came a voice from the door. ¡°You don¡¯t knock anymore?¡± he asked, his head tilted toward the ceiling. He didn¡¯t need to open his eyes to know that Carissa had come to visit. The chair on the other side of his desk scraped against the floor as she flipped it around. ¡°Nope. No reason. You met with little Rasana, right?¡± she asked, staddling the chair. ¡°I did.¡± ¡°The verdict?¡± ¡°It¡¯s hopeless,¡± Ramik stated with a sigh. Then, he finally opened his eyes and focused on the mine¡¯s foreman. The dwarven woman looked just as stout and solid as ever, though her face was covered in dust. ¡°Rough day?¡± The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°It ain¡¯t so bad, is it?¡± she asked, lifting one of her arms and smelling. ¡°Ugh. Maybe I shoulda taken a shower.¡± ¡°Why are you here, Carissa?¡± ¡°Two reasons,¡± she said. ¡°First, me and my miners been hard at work over the past few weeks. If them dark elves come through, they ain¡¯t gonna have a happy day.¡± ¡°Traps?¡± She nodded. ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ compared to what Kurik can do, but we don¡¯t need skills to build a proper trap. Sure, they might not stop ¡®em cold, but they¡¯ll damn sure be distractin¡¯. That might make the difference,¡± she said. ¡°Maybe,¡± Ramik agreed, though he didn¡¯t have high hopes. If the dark elves were as high-leveled as he¡¯d been led to believe, a few trenches and stakes weren¡¯t going to do much. ¡°Got ol¡¯ Biggle to help out, too.¡± ¡°Oh? He finally ¨C¡± ¡°Got off his ass?¡± she provided. ¡°He did. Alchemists are a funny bunch. They get their noses in their vials and such, and they don¡¯t see what¡¯s goin¡¯ on in the rest of the world. But I made ¡®im understand just what¡¯ll happen if the dark elves come. They¡¯re not known for takin¡¯ captives, as I understand. Once he understood that, he got onboard pretty quick.¡± ¡°It won¡¯t be enough.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Carissa said. ¡°How long do we think it¡¯ll be before the Trial ends? Elijah ¨C¡± ¡°Too long. We can¡¯t just expect him to solve all of our problems. He¡¯s not even a citizen of Ironshore,¡± Ramik stated. Sure, they had an agreement, but he knew just how easily things could turn. And he also knew the dangers of being weak while depending on the powerful for protection. Sometimes, it worked out, but more often than not, the weak ended up getting exploited. Would Elijah do that? Probably not. He seemed more inclined to simply kill them all than to try to enslave them. But Ramik would never claim to know the man¡¯s mind, so he couldn¡¯t be sure. ¡°Then I think you¡¯ll be happy with the other news.¡± ¡°What other news?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s the reason I came to talk to you,¡± she said with a pleased grin that stretched across her broad face. She waggled a bushy eyebrow, adding, ¡°Not that I don¡¯t enjoy your company, mind. You¡¯re a bit gloomy for my taste, but ¨C¡± ¡°Just spit it out, Carissa.¡± ¡°Fine,¡± she said, crossing her arms across her chest. ¡°Miguel was successful in his mission.¡± ¡°What? Why didn¡¯t you lead with that? How many soldiers have come?¡± Ramik demanded. It was too soon for the aid to have come from Argos, so he reasoned that they must¡¯ve come from Norcastle. ¡°Well, not as many as we might like,¡± Carissa said. ¡°That¡¯s the other reason I didn¡¯t start with that.¡± Then, she launched into a tale that chilled Ramik to the bone. She told him how Norcastle had been invaded by the dark elves. As bad as that was, it wasn¡¯t the worst part, though. ¡°They¡¯ve tamed the Voxx?¡± he breathed. ¡°Is that possible?¡± ¡°Tame might be a bit of an overstatement. The way it was described sounded more like they captured some of ¡®em, then just let ¡®em loose when the time came to make use of ¡®em. But we know they¡¯ve got real Tamer classes in their ranks. Disgusting stuff, that. I ain¡¯t a Druid, but¡­¡± Ramik understood her feelings. The last thing he would call himself was an environmentalist. He didn¡¯t particularly care about nature, save to make a point not to ruin the environment around him. But even that would take a backseat to his goals. However, the goblin mayor still felt a particular disdain for true Tamers. The class¡¯s bad reputation was well-earned, because they enforced their will on often sentient creatures, enslaving beasts, monsters, and guardians alike. That was different from those who created reciprocal bonds with powerful beasts. Those relationships went both ways, with neither party having an upper hand. With Tamers, the power was one-sided. ¡°Can a Tamer enslave a Voxx?¡± Carissa shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I don¡¯t know. But the refugees from Norcastle brought someone with them that might help,¡± she said. ¡°A Librarian. He only just got his class, but the kid could help us figure some things out.¡± ¡°But what about fighters?¡± ¡°Maybe a hundred,¡± she said. ¡°Some of ¡®em are already injured, though. Most are gonna take some time to recover, too.¡± ¡°How many could fight right now?¡± ¡°Fifteen, but that number will probably double in a week,¡± she answered. ¡°And how many refugees?¡± ¡°A little over a thousand. Mostly children, but there are a few valuable non-combatants in there, too,¡± she responded. ¡°I know it ain¡¯t the army you wanted, but it¡¯s better than nothin¡¯. And the scouts are still out there, lookin¡¯ for more help. I don¡¯t imagine the dark elves have reached Argos yet.¡± Ramik suppressed a groan. Norcastle had been a city with a population in the tens of thousands, and only a thousand had survived? The threat posed by the dark elves grew graver with every passing day. Still, having another hundred fighters at his disposal would be a great boon, especially if they were deployed correctly. However, the spread of the enemy posed another problem. ¡°We need to bolster our defenses,¡± he said. ¡°We don¡¯t have a lot of soldiers, but we have plenty of Tradesmen. Let¡¯s use them. I want the wall heightened, with war towers. I¡¯ll dip into the city coffers for the designs.¡± ¡°Is that necessary? They¡¯re going to attack from below, and towers ain¡¯t gonna do much in those tunnels.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not just coming from down there,¡± Ramik said. ¡°They¡¯ll come from every direction.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t like dark elves,¡± Carissa stated. None of them had much first-hand experience with the reclusive race, but they¡¯d purchased a couple of guides that gave them a decent impression of the tactics they typically employed in war. And everything they¡¯d read told them that dark elves rarely fought on the surface, preferring to target other subterranean targets or mining towns. But these dark elves seemed different. Perhaps they¡¯d adopted new tactics when they¡¯d come to Earth. Or maybe the guides weren¡¯t entirely accurate. It was even possible that the differences could be chalked up to individual variance. Regardless, the fact that they¡¯d attacked Norcastle, which didn¡¯t follow their normal pattern of behavior, was enough to tell Ramik that the guides weren¡¯t accurate enough to completely trust. ¡°I need to speak to whoever¡¯s in charge of the refugees,¡± Ramik said, climbing to his feet. Carissa nodded and said, ¡°That would be Essex. He¡¯s the closest thing to a leader they¡¯ve got. Seems like a good man with military experience.¡± ¡°Good. We need all of that we can find.¡± And it was true. One of the many problems that had come with Elijah¡¯s slaughter of Eason Cabbot and his Black Sun mercenaries was that Ironshore simply didn¡¯t have any fighters suitable for command. There were people like Colt and Gwenivere, but neither were strategic thinkers. Other than them, most of the remaining combatants were too young and inexperienced to shoulder the burden of command. ¡°Let¡¯s go meet this human, then,¡± he said. 6-65. Talent Sadie erupted into motion, letting out snarl as she slammed her fist into the frost-covered boulder. It cracked beneath the blow, but due to being bathed in dense ethera for months, the rock was durable enough to withstand the unwarranted attack. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s helpful,¡± Elijah said from his position across the cultivation chamber. He¡¯d been pondering the shape of his soul while trying to usher a plant back to health. He didn¡¯t know what it was called, but the plant was a prickly ball of thorns. He could feel the beauty within the nascent buds that he hoped would bloom into beautiful flowers. ¡°This is useless,¡± she groaned, flopping back on her back. ¡°We¡¯ve been at it for days, and I¡¯m no closer to partitioning my mind than I was when we started.¡± The complaint was warranted. For Elijah, it hadn¡¯t been that difficult to break his mind into multiple facets. The biggest issue for him was getting enough ethera to fuel his cultivation, so he¡¯d expected Sadie to knock it out in a day or two. But the attempt had proven to be much more difficult that he could have anticipated, with Sadie struggling to even conceptualize the process, much less put it into practice. ¡°You¡¯re holding back,¡± she accused. ¡°You don¡¯t want me to surpass you.¡± ¡°Wow,¡± he said, shaking his head. ¡°Just wow. First of all, you¡¯re not going to pass me. I¡¯m two stages higher than you right now, and I¡¯ve already got some ideas on how to take the next step. And second, I¡¯m literally trying to help you here. That¡¯s the whole reason I brought you back to the cave. Which I built for you all, by the way. I get nothing out of this.¡± ¡°Except you get to watch me fail over and over again. You probably enjoy that kind of thing,¡± she spat. ¡°It¡¯s the beratement, really. That¡¯s my goal. I just want to hear you insult me over and over again. It¡¯s kind of my thing,¡± he said. ¡°W-what ¨C¡± ¡°Jokes, Sadie. It¡¯s a joke. Jesus ¨C you really are worked up,¡± he said. ¡°Can¡¯t you just trust that I¡¯m here to help you? Why won¡¯t you believe that?¡± ¡°Other than the fact that none of your ¡®advice¡¯ has worked?¡± ¡°Did you just air-quote me?¡± ¡°It seems appropriate.¡± He let out another sigh. ¡°Seriously. That¡¯s how it all worked for me,¡± he said. He¡¯d already explained ¨C numerous times ¨C how he¡¯d broken his own Mind into multiple facets and achieved the Quartz stage of his development. Either she hadn¡¯t listened, or she refused to follow his instructions. Or maybe she just didn¡¯t have the talent for it. Elijah knew that cultivation wasn¡¯t a hard science. But with the amount of research people had done into the subject, there were a few accepted facts. One of them was that, like most other elements of a person¡¯s development, success depended at least a little on talent. One could overcome that requirement through work or, as was the case with most people, sheer investment of time, but talent made it easier for some people to cultivate than others. His own experiences supported that notion. Cultivation wasn¡¯t easy for him, but he¡¯d yet to hit any walls. Meanwhile, people like Sadie struggled to move past even the first stage. That did not bode well for her future, considering that each subsequent improvement was even more difficult than the last. Easing that burden was the fact that the way grew easier if one¡¯s cultivation lagged behind their level. For instance, levels one to one-twenty-five were generally considered the Mortal Realm of progression, and the first few stages of cultivation coincided with that. So, for a mortal, progressing through those stages was at peak difficulty. Once they reached the ascendent levels, it grew marginally easier. So, most people who attained a significant number of levels would have at least some advancements in cultivation to back them up. What really set elites apart was when, like Elijah, their cultivation kept pace with their levels. Or in some cases, even exceeded it. When he¡¯d learned that bit of information, that had immediately become his goal. Yet, saying that was what he wanted to do and putting it into practice were two different things, and he knew he had a difficult road ahead of him. Sadie¡¯s would probably be even harder to travel. ¡°I know that,¡± she said, her expression softening. ¡°It¡¯s just that being cooped up in here with you is not¡­not conducive to concentration.¡± ¡°Are you asking me to leave?¡± ¡°I¡¯m telling you that if you stay here for much longer, I¡¯m going to give in to my instincts.¡± ¡°Good instincts or bad instincts?¡± ¡°I think you know the answer to that question,¡± she said with a dangerous glint in her eye. Elijah didn¡¯t think she would actually attack him, but then again, he had no idea how strong Sense of Sin had become. She¡¯d talked a powerful ka¡¯alaki into surrendering to execution, so there was no telling what capabilities Sadie might possess. With that in mind, Elijah decided that it was better to be safe than sorry. So, he quickly excused himself, exiting the cave and planting himself far enough away that she couldn¡¯t hope to sense his presence. Then, he sighed, his breath misting as he looked around the area. The terrain was just as frozen as it had been during their first visit, but it was far more populated. It seemed that word had gotten out that the challenge had already been conquered once, and the rest of the Trial-takers had decided to test their mettle upon the frozen fortress. Elijah wished them luck, but there was a bit of resentment there as well. A good bit of his pride was wrapped up in the notion that he and his companions were special. That they¡¯d accomplished things others couldn¡¯t. And while that was still true, the idea that other people might experience ¨C and defeat ¨C the challenge of Pruina was enough to leave a sour taste in his mouth. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Did it matter that they were facing a much weaker version? Not really. Whatever the case, he¡¯d noticed more than a few groups trekking through the area. A couple had even stopped by his camp, though the moment they recognized him, they hurried along. Apparently, he had a bit of a reputation. After a few minutes, Elijah tried to focus on other tasks. Outside of the cultivation cave, he couldn¡¯t really work on his soul. So, that was out. He tried to whittle some, but he lacked inspiration. Then, he started working out, but his body had outgrown his attempts. If he wanted to push himself in any meaningful way, he would need specialized equipment. Finally, he thought back to his decision about his latest spell evolution. He¡¯d chosen the Wild Infusion option, largely because it offered the most balanced benefits. The other two would push him in one direction or the other, which wasn¡¯t what he wanted. He used Shape of Venom and the Shape of the Guardian equally, depending on the situation, and as far as he was concerned, their governing attributes carried the same import. Still, upon glancing at the new spell description, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder just how powerful the other versions might have been:
Wild Infusion Harness the power of nature, increasing all physical attributes by sixty-five points. Also increases resistances by a small amount determined by Core cultivation.
It was an incredible increase in his attributes, though if he thought about it, the amount shouldn¡¯t have been that surprising. When he¡¯d first gotten access to his essence line of spells, the resulting buffs had nearly double his attributes. The new version didn¡¯t quite go that far, but in order to avoid becoming useless, Wild Infusion needed to offer a significant increase to his attributes. Bolstering his resistances was just icing on the cake, and he hoped that the new spell would help him overcome the remainder of the Trial. For now, though, he was incredibly bored, and his mind wandered across a hundred different subjects. It was just when he was contemplating trying to build a chair that he sensed someone coming. Or many someones, as it turned out. More, he recognized the newcomers. So, when Oscar and his pack of furry friends appeared out of the forest, he was not surprised. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± he asked with a grin as the two biggest dogs bounded toward him. He¡¯d seen them ripping apart Immortals with ease, so he knew just how terrifying they could be. But to him, they just felt like balls of friendly fluff. And there was just something cathartic about petting a dog. It made everything better. ¡°I thought it was you.¡± ¡°Hungry?¡± he asked. He¡¯d saved quite a lot of the wild pig-beast he¡¯d killed only a week or so before, and it had remained well-preserved in his pack. ¡°I¡¯m not much of a cook, but I can make it taste decent at least.¡± ¡°Sure,¡± Oscar said, dropping to his haunches. ¡°But the dogs will take it raw.¡± The chihuahua yapped at him, and one of the big ones whined. ¡°No. Spices are bad for you. You don¡¯t want a repeat of the chocolate situation, do you?¡± he chided. That shut them up, though the big one ¨C it looked like a rottweiler, but mixed with a labrador ¨C dropped dramatically to the ground. The huff he let out sounded so pitiful that Elijah almost found himself trying to convince Oscar that it wouldn¡¯t be so bad. ¡°Are you going to attempt the challenge?¡± Elijah asked, already pulling meat out of his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. There was around forty pounds of the stuff left, but he worried that wouldn¡¯t be enough. Something told him that the dogs would eat far more than they would have before Earth¡¯s transformation. Oscar nodded. ¡°It is good training,¡± he said. Then, he looked at the dogs. ¡°They need it.¡± The chihuahua barked. ¡°Yes, you. We¡¯ve talked about this.¡± ¡°Can you understand them?¡± Elijah asked, retrieving a spit from his satchel. He¡¯d gotten it from one of the crafters in Atticus¡¯ consortium. It wasn¡¯t artificed, but it was enchanted. That made it slightly better than normal. ¡°Mostly,¡± Oscar admitted. ¡°No words, though. Just feelings. Where is your team?¡± ¡°Sadie¡¯s back there,¡± Elijah answered, hiking his thumb of his shoulder to indicate the opening that led to the cave. It was barely visible even though he knew it was there. ¡°The rest of them are headed to the Ethereum challenge.¡± ¡°Did you split up?¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Sadie and I just needed to get away for a little while.¡± ¡°Oh. I didn¡¯t know you were together.¡± ¡°I just told you she¡¯s right back there. I don¡¯t¡­oh,¡± Elijah said, feeling his cheeks flush. ¡°No. It¡¯s not like that. She hates me. We built a cultivation cave here, and she¡¯s trying to take advantage of it right now.¡± At that, two of the dogs perked up. The little shih tzu and the chihuahua sprang to their feet, barking their high-pitched barks. ¡°A cultivation cave,¡± Oscar mused. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± ¡°If you¡¯re thinking that it¡¯s a cave with extremely high ethera density that¡¯s perfect for advancing your cultivation, then yes,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Why?¡± ¡°Jojo and Escobar would like to take advantage of it,¡± he said. ¡°They¡¯re both close to advancing to the third stage of their specialization. Jojo focuses on Body, while Escobar¡¯s specialty is his core. The others would like to as well, so long as there is enough ethera to go around.¡± Elijah asked, ¡°What about you?¡± ¡°My pack comes first,¡± Oscar answered. ¡°I can get behind that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But sure. So long as they don¡¯t bother Sadie, it should be fine. I built the cave so that it could accommodate my whole group, so it shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡± ¡°Thank you,¡± he said with an earnest nod. Then, he turned to the dogs and said, ¡°Eat first. No, that¡¯s not negotiable.¡± After that, they fell into a companionable silence as the dogs ate a few hunks of raw meat he tossed in their direction. Unlike most dogs ¨C at least in Elijah¡¯s experience ¨C they didn¡¯t all wolf down their meals. The two smallest dogs ¨C Jojo and Escobar ¨C picked at their meals daintily, while the big rottweiler-mixes attacked their meals with gusto. The others were all somewhere in between. Once Escobar and Jojo had finished their meals, Oscar gave them permission to go into the cave. They shot off ¨C Jojo going almost too fast for Elijah to track ¨C eagerly entering the cave and beginning their cultivation. Meanwhile, Elijah asked, ¡°So, how did all of this come about? I think you¡¯re the only other person I¡¯ve seen bonded to animals.¡± ¡°There was another?¡± ¡°Yeah. Me,¡± he said before explaining what had happened with the mist panther back on his island. ¡°I think about him a lot.¡± ¡°There were cats in the shelter where I used to work, but when¡­everything changed, they all went their own ways,¡± Oscar explained. ¡°Some of the dogs did, too. But my pack, they stuck close, and we learned to work together. Now, we¡¯re inseparable.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not surprising. Dogs and humans, we¡¯re social animals. We need one another,¡± Elijah said. He could survive on his own, but his experiences had told him that if he wanted to thrive, he needed at least some social interaction. ¡°Where are you from?¡± ¡°Originally, Miami. Now¡­a little bit of everywhere.¡± Then, he went on to explain how he¡¯d become something of a wanderer, spending most of his time in the wilderness. ¡°Coming here reminds me why I¡¯ve avoided civilization. It¡¯s dirty and unpredictable. The forest is easier.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t really argue with that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But if you ever need somewhere to rest, I want to reiterate that you¡¯re welcome in my grove. I¡¯ll have Nerthus grow you a house and everything.¡± Oscar only nodded, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder what the man was thinking. Was he hesitant to make plans for the future because he didn¡¯t know how the Trial was going to work out? Or was it because he had no idea how to reach the grove? Maybe a little of both. But Elijah suspected that Oscar¡¯s issues went a lot deeper than that. He didn¡¯t know what the man had experienced before or after the world¡¯s transformation, but there was trauma there, he was certain. However, he didn¡¯t know how to help the man, save to offer his friendship. Maybe that would end up being enough. 6-66. As It Seems It should have bothered him more. As Miguel looked at the shimmering wall of ethera, he reached out and touched it. The surface was permeable, but not so diffuse that it wouldn¡¯t take significant effort to bypass. However, what should have alarmed him was that on the other side of that translucent barrier, time looked like it was standing still. At first, he hadn¡¯t really noticed it, but after a while of staring at the forest, he saw a bird hanging in the air, its posture making it clear that it was in mid-flight. After that, he saw dozens of other signs. A squirrel sitting on a tree branch, eternally gnawing on an acorn. The forest itself, frozen in place, without even the slightest breeze to rustle the trees¡¯ leaves. It all added up to something truly distressing. And yet, he wasn¡¯t alarmed. That frightened him more than anything else, because it represented the notion that his mind was not wholly his own. ¡°I knew you¡¯d find it eventually, hmm.¡± Miguel glanced back at the old woman who¡¯d suddenly appeared behind him. As the days had worn on, and he¡¯d recovered, her inhumanness became that much more apparent. She was only a little larger than a dwarf, and she shared their slightly tapered ears. However, that was where the similarities ended. Instead of the overly broad shoulders of a dwarf, she possessed a human-like stature. But most of his attention fell upon the old woman¡¯s skin. Back in the cottage, he¡¯d not noticed it, but the texture was reminiscent of bark, with tiny green tendrils glowing from within her deep wrinkles. More importantly, to his more ethereal senses, she felt similar to the trees all around. Not as much as Nerthus, but enough that Miguel had to wonder what she was. ¡°Are you a spryggent?¡± Her eyes widened slightly, but then she let out a deep guffaw. Bending double, she slapped her knee as her body shook with laughter. Miguel ground his teeth in frustration, but he endured her amusement silently. Finally, she recovered enough to say, ¡°I apologize, hmm. I forget how little of the multi-verse you know. Your ignorance is not your fault. To answer your question, no ¨C I am not a spryggent.¡± ¡°Then what are you?¡± he asked. Miguel hadn¡¯t even been treated to the woman¡¯s name, though until that moment, he¡¯d not thought anything of it. It was as if being in her presence made him forget otherwise important things. ¡°Are you messing with my mind?¡± ¡°Of course I am,¡± she answered. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t, you would have already gone mad.¡± ¡°Wha-¡± She laughed again, though this time, it was slightly more subdued. ¡°So gullible, hmm. I altered your perception so you wouldn¡¯t discover the time bubble sooner. Couldn¡¯t let you panic and leave before you were ready.¡± ¡°And I¡¯m ready now?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°Then why have you ¨C¡± ¡°I¡¯m not all powerful, boy. You have a keen mind, and it takes a lot of energy to keep it corralled. But now we need to have a conversation,¡± she said. Suddenly, her tone became much more serious. ¡°You are unprepared for what awaits you.¡± ¡°And what¡¯s that?¡± ¡°Your life. You are family to the most powerful man on Earth. A dragon who will one day become relevant on a multi-versal scale. Worse, if you were to die out here in the woods, it would send him down a very dark road,¡± she stated. ¡°I was sent here to help avoid that fate.¡± ¡°You¡¯re going to help in Ironshore?¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°But you said ¨C¡± ¡°There are rules associated with a newly touched world,¡± she said. ¡°One of those is that someone like me or Birk cannot participate in conflicts. The most I can offer is training. Not that it would matter. In this form, I can barely channel ethera at all.¡± ¡°But Birk killed that dark elf.¡± ¡°Killing one little elf doesn¡¯t constitute participation. Not in the eyes of the system, at least,¡± she reponded. ¡°Are you a dragon?¡± She smiled. ¡°No. Drake, actually. Think of me as a lesser dragon.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°Draconic society is a complex thing. There are dragons and drakes, serpentors and wyrms. There are also more humanoid beings from worlds within the Empire of Scale. Comparatively, dragons are incredibly rare. Drakes like me less so. Serpentors form the core of dragonic society, though they take many different forms depending on their world of origin.¡± ¡°And wyrms?¡± ¡°Pitiful creatures who rejected the path of dragons in favor of a more savage existence.¡± ¡°What¡¯s the difference? I mean ¨C¡± ¡°We are not here to speak on such things,¡± she stated. ¡°We are here to train you to confront the dangerous circumstances in which you find yourself.¡± ¡°What kind of training?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°The sort that takes more time than we have,¡± she answered. ¡°Thus, the chrono-bubble. I made it myself, hmm.¡± ¡°Are you a time mage, then?¡± he asked. ¡°Bah ¨C so many questions!¡± she replied with a wave of her gnarled hand. ¡°No. I¡¯m no mage. I only dabble a bit in crafting. Most Druids do.¡± The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°You¡¯re a ¨C¡± ¡°Of course I am, boy. Don¡¯t you trust your senses?¡± ¡°I¡­I thought I felt something, but¡­¡± ¡°That is your problem, hmm. You have so much power at your fingertips. So much potential. Yet, you do not know how to use it. That¡¯s where Birk comes in. His class is similar to yours, though even he would say that you could be so much more. He is a simple Grove Guardian. Strong. Loyal. And fiercely protective of our grove, but he is no Green Warden.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s rare?¡± ¡°Only one per grove, and that¡¯s only if a suitable candidate can be found. Few groves are so lucky. Very, very few. You are not unique, young Miguel, but you are certainly rare. I say this to emphasize just how much you¡¯ve been screwing it all up.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯ve been training as ¨C¡± ¡°You have created a solid foundation, but you are far behind where you should be. Children in the Empire of Scale are trained from a very young age so that no potential is wasted,¡± she said. ¡°You are years behind. That is why I am here.¡± Miguel narrowed his eyes. ¡°Wait. What about dragons? My uncle told me about a young dragon who ¨C¡± ¡°True dragons are different. You are not one of them, hmm. Don¡¯t go looking at one of them and thinking that you should approach life the same way,¡± she said. ¡°Now, do you accept my help? Or will you insist upon continuing your quest before you¡¯re ready.¡± ¡°How long?¡± ¡°No more than six months,¡± she said. ¡°In that time, less than a day will pass out there. When you emerge, you will be far better suited to complete your task. However, I caution you that it will be quite difficult. You¡¯ve already experienced some of Birk¡¯s methods, but know that he¡¯s been taking it easy on you. If you accept this offer, he will train you as he was trained. The moment you slack off or complain, we will be done. Do you understand well enough to make a decision?¡± Miguel¡¯s mind whirled. He knew he was looking at an unprecedented opportunity. As he¡¯d discovered while fleeing through the forest, he wasn¡¯t powerful enough to fight the dark elves. Sure, he¡¯d been outnumbered, which contributed to his defeat. However, the reality of it was that they were almost all stronger than him. The only reason he¡¯d survived was via tactical thinking and, more importantly, his partnership with Trevor. With the stag on his side, he could move so much more quickly than the dark elves. And Miguel wasn¡¯t so na?ve that he thought he would have made it even a few miles without his companion¡¯s help. He needed to get stronger. So did Trevor. Otherwise, they¡¯d never live through what was coming. ¡°You can make me stronger, right?¡± he asked. She nodded. ¡°No levels. No cultivation. That¡¯s the problem with time magic like this,¡± she said. ¡°But we can work on your technique. We can help you gain a few attribute points, too. In six months, we can turn you into an entirely new person.¡± That wasn¡¯t what he¡¯d hoped for. After all, if he could gain even a handful of levels in what amounted to a day outside the time bubble, he would stand a much better chance of survival. Advancement with his cultivation would be even more impactful. Yet, with the situation being what it was, Miguel couldn¡¯t even consider refusal. The consequences of failing his mission were too dire. Too many people depended on him to get to Argos and find help. It was just a shame that neither Birk nor the old woman could directly assist. But providing training was the next best thing. And besides, Miguel had always enjoyed that kind of thing. So, he said, ¡°I¡¯m in.¡± The woman grinned, the expression carrying with it a host of meaning. ¡°Good, good. Now, let¡¯s get you started.¡± After that, Birk appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Miguel hadn¡¯t sensed him at all. The big man ¨C or whatever he was ¨C simply said, ¡°Sprint back to the cabin. If you do not run as fast as you can, you will regret it.¡± Miguel hesitated for only a second, which earned him a punch to the back of his head. He fell on his face, his world spinning for a moment before a wave of ethera fell upon him. He recovered in a second, but judging by Birk¡¯s stance, he couldn¡¯t afford to tarry. So, he immediately scrambled to his feet and took off at a dead sprint. He leaped over fallen logs and shallow ravines, pushing himself to his limits. That was a rarity. Normally, he paced himself, conserving energy so he could run for a longer duration. His lungs burned, and after a quarter of a mile, his legs had turned to jelly. However, he covered that distance in under forty seconds, which meant that he did so faster than anyone in recorded history. At least before the World Tree touched Earth. Still, he struggled to push himself harder. To go faster. Because if he didn¡¯t force himself to his limits, then the training would be rendered useless. As Colt was fond of saying, he was free to slack off, but if he did, it only hurt himself. Miguel had taken that to heart, and so, he pushed through the burning in his lungs, reaching an entirely new pace that took him back to the cottage even more quickly than before. To his shock, Birk was already there waiting on him. ¡°Acceptable level of effort,¡± the huge man said, tossing him a hunk of wood shaped like a blade. Unlike his sword, it was clearly not meant to be a real weapon. ¡°Defend yourself.¡± Then, Birk threw himself forward. Miguel tried to react, but before he could even move, the practice sword hit him in the neck. He collapsed, but a wave of healing brought him back to normal in only a second. ¡°Too slow. Again.¡± The second time, Miguel managed a twitch before he was sent back to the ground. On the third iteration, he raised his fake blade to block, but it was quickly knocked aside. An instant later, he was back on the ground, his chest feeling as if he had a boulder lying atop it. He hadn¡¯t even seen his trainer¡¯s foot lash out, but he¡¯d certainly felt the impact. Birk healed his broken sternum, and their ¡°training¡± session continued. Over and over, Miguel was beaten to a pulp. Each time, he was healed, but by the end of the first hour, he¡¯d begun to regret his choice to endure the training. The second hour had him cursing Birk in his mind. And the third ignited his fury. But he did improve, if only slightly. More and more often, he managed to get his blade up, but it was useless against Birk¡¯s superior strength and speed. Never did he even get the chance to counterattack, the session was so lopsided. Finally, after four hours, Birk ordered him to sprint around the edge of the bubble six times. Thankfully, Trevor joined him, though by the third lap, the stag was just as ragged as Miguel. They both continued, pushing themselves well past the point where they should have collapsed. At one point, Miguel considered simply slipping through the bubble and leaving the sadistic giant behind. Yet, he refused. Partially, that was because he didn¡¯t want to give Birk the satisfaction of giving up. Mostly, it was that. But in addition to sheer stubbornness was the surety that it would work. He wouldn¡¯t enjoy getting stronger. Not this time. But if it gave him the tools to accomplish his mission and, in turn, help to save Ironshore, then he was more than willing to suffer. So, he continued on. Periodically, he received a jolt of healing that refreshed him ¨C if only slightly ¨C but for the most part, he and Trevor were on their own. Finally, they completed their run and returned to the cottage. By that point, the sun had begun to set, so Miguel hoped that he would get a slight break. However, Birk shoved a bowl of soup into his hand, saying, ¡°Eat. You have five minutes. Then, training continues.¡± Miguel knew better than to argue. He dug in, and the hearty soup sent continuous jolts of vitality through his body. It wasn¡¯t enough to fully recover, but he knew it would allow him to keep going for hours yet. Trevor got a similar treatment, though his meal consisted of a basket full of vegetables and mushrooms. The moment they were finished, Birk subjected them both to another round of ¡°training¡±. And the results were similar. So it went for the next week. During that time, Miguel didn¡¯t sleep a wink, and if it wasn¡¯t for the day-night cycle, he would have lost track of time entirely. He lost count of how many laps he¡¯d run. He couldn¡¯t remember how many times he¡¯d been beaten by Birk. Though there were plenty of times when, instead of running, he was forced to lift progressively heavy rocks. Those were worse. Finally, at the end of that first week, Birk announced. ¡°Acceptable. Tomorrow, real training begins. Sleep now.¡± Miguel immediately collapsed, snuggling close to Trevor and falling asleep. 6-67. Justice Elijah¡¯s advice was useless. He went on and on about facets and partitions, as if any of that made sense to Sadie. He might as well have gone on another of his soliloquies on nature, for all the good it did. Normally, she could appreciate that side of him ¨C even through the disgusting cloud of sin he usually wore ¨C but since she¡¯d taken her specialization, his presence had become unbearable. And yet, he was the only person who could help her. He was the only person who¡¯d offered. In the wake of what she¡¯d done to that assassin, even her closest friend had looked upon her with undisguised horror. She understood it, too. She felt it as well. If she could take it all back¡­ No. She still wouldn¡¯t. Regardless of the consequences to her personal relationships, Sadie was absolutely rigid in her belief that she¡¯d done the right thing. People like that ka¡¯alaki assassin needed to be held accountable. Otherwise, sin would run rampant. And worse, chaos would reign. Sadie didn¡¯t want to see herself as an arbiter of morality. If asked, she would say that she had no interest in judging others. Yet, that was the path she had chosen ¨C if not consciously, then through her actions. In the beginning, she¡¯d only wanted to defend her city from the undead threat, but the events with the Immortals had opened her eyes to just how unjust the world could become if it was left unchecked. She knew she could never stand back and allow the powerful to oppress the weak. But was that enough? If she had the strength to change things, to hold such people accountable, didn¡¯t she have a responsibility to seek them out and do just that? It needed to be done, and if not her, then who would shoulder such a burden? Who else could? Elijah was strong enough, but he seemed, at best, disinterested. Certainly, he would react if such injustices were brought to his attention ¨C and it was convenient to act ¨C but he would never be the sort to actively work toward a more egalitarian world. In fact, he was much more likely to go the other direction, so long as it suited his needs. Dat had the right moral compass, but he possessed the wrong demeanor. He was a follower, and what¡¯s more, he simply wasn¡¯t strong enough to do what needed to be done. Not in terms of raw power or in the strength of his convictions. In short, he was too soft-hearted to make the hard decisions. The other powerful people she had met had similar issues. Disinterest. Unsuitability. Untrustworthiness. None of them could do what she could. She sighed, her breath misting in the frigid cold of the cultivation cave. None of that mattered if she couldn¡¯t learn to control her own mind. Isolated as she was, it was easy to forget just how powerful Sense of Sin had become. But after what she¡¯d experienced since choosing her specialization, she knew well enough that she couldn¡¯t keep going the way she¡¯d been. Something had to change, and if it wasn¡¯t the cultivation of her Mind, then it would have to be something else. It was while she was pondering those things that she realized that she was going about things all wrong. With the ambient ethera so dense that it almost felt like she was beginning to suffocate, Sadie realized that she was following the wrong path. Elijah¡¯s method worked for him because of who he was. By contrast, it couldn¡¯t work for her because they were very different people. Cultivation was not one-size-fits-all. The first step was mostly the same for everyone, but after that, one had to take into account their personality, goals, class, and a thousand other factors that could influence their path. In that respect, Elijah had an advantage. He knew what he wanted, and he knew what he would do to get it. That wasn¡¯t to say that he was always certain of himself, but he seemed to instinctively know his own path. Sadie didn¡¯t have that going for her. Nor would she want it. Instead, she needed to choose every step, and as carefully as she could manage. It was much slower, but it gave her control over her destination. And that was the most important factor, because she knew how quickly things could spiral out of control. With that in mind, she focused on what she wanted, on who she needed to be. Her class and Angelic Core pushed her toward becoming an arbiter of justice, and while a part of her resented being led around by the nose by Gabriel, she couldn¡¯t deny that such a role fit her. She might not become what he expected her to be, but she could get behind the notion of protecting the weak and innocent from the powerful and amoral. But what was justice? Was it simply obeying laws? Or some moral strictures accepted by society? Or was it something more ephemeral? The first was balance. Any arbiter of justice sought to create harmony between all parties, ensuring decisions maintained equilibrium within society. Imbalances had to be corrected to prevent greater discord. Next was truth. Uncovering and acknowledging undeniable truth was a cornerstone of justice. Facts held weight, and as an arbiter, she would focus on verifiable and objective truths. Without them, the world would sink into a mire of misinformation, where right could become wrong, and, more disturbingly, the reverse could also happen. The third element was intent, one of the most nuanced. A crime of passion differed from premeditation, and the key distinction lay in intent. Someone who knowingly and willingly harmed society was far more dangerous than someone who acted impulsively. Both were threats, but the former was far more severe. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Then came mercy¡ªcompassion, empathy. To truly serve justice, Sadie knew she would have to consider context. Some crimes were unforgivable, no matter the circumstances, yet even then, mercy had its place. For lesser crimes, too, understanding and compassion were what set true justice apart. Alongside mercy was proportionality. "The punishment must fit the crime," she muttered, shivering in the cold she¡¯d been ignoring. The sixth element was restoration. Justice wasn¡¯t just about punishment; it was about making amends. Whether it was restoring stolen property, mending relationships, or healing the damage caused, restoration was integral to justice. Honor followed. Sadie knew that holding herself to a higher standard of conduct was crucial. Though she had always lived by her own code, she had never formalized it. Now, she intended to create a personal code, much like the knights¡¯ chivalry or the samurai¡¯s bushido. But her code would extend beyond her own conduct¡ªit would encompass how she treated both victims and offenders. Everyone deserved dignity and respect. Without it, she would become no better than the very people she sought to oppose. The penultimate element was knowledge. She could never stop learning. Although she didn¡¯t plan to become a lawyer, searching for loopholes, she recognized that ignorance could derail her efforts. To pursue justice, she would need deep understanding. Finally, Sadie considered legacy. Justice wasn¡¯t just about the present; it was about the future. Her decisions would ripple outward, affecting the broader fabric of Earth¡¯s future¡ªperhaps even beyond. The fate of the world might one day rest on her judgment. And she refused to fail. Even as the multi-faceted concept of justice coalesced in her mind, the ethera within her surged. It raced through her Soul and into her Mind. At the same time, the vortex she¡¯d formed upon reaching the Opal stage of Mind cultivation whirled faster than ever before. Ethera rushed into her, flooding her Mind and pushing the limits of her Core. All the while, she kept the nine facets of justice firm in her thoughts, and to her immense surprise, crystalline structures began to form around them. Sadie had no idea how it all worked together, but she knew that each crystal represented a piece of that concept. Even as Sadie felt her Mind take shape, she also felt her purpose solidify. Perhaps her concept of justice wasn¡¯t all-encompassing, but it was a good start. There was something else hovering over everything. A throughline connecting it all together, and one she couldn¡¯t ignore. Sacrifice. If she was going to walk her path, it would be a thankless road. People would fear her. Certainly, the powerful would oppose her efforts. She would make plenty of enemies, and most people would only see her as the person telling them what they can and cannot do. It would not make her popular. At best, she would be respected, but she would always be aloof. Apart from everyone else. Alone. The process came to a screeching halt. Was that what she wanted? No. Of course not. Who would? But on the heels of that admission came the certainty that it was absolutely necessary. It wasn¡¯t meant to be enjoyed. It was meant to be endured. The greater good demanded as much. Her progression to the next step of Mind cultivation teetered on the edge of completion, but it refused to budge further. She was missing something. Then, Sadie spoke: ¡°I will become an avatar of justice, an arbiter of integrity. I will maintain the balance, revere the truth, and pay heed to intent. I will be merciful, meting out justice with regard to proportionality. When punishment is necessary, it will be appropriate and focused on restoring what was lost. Or removing what cannot be allowed to exist. I will hold myself to the highest standards of honor, setting an example above reproach. I will endeavor to learn, so that ignorance may never become an excuse for injustice. And I will forever take future generations into account, so that my legacy does not put an undue burden upon their shoulders. This is my vow. This is my path.¡± She took a breath. ¡°This is who I am.¡± Finally, the process solidified, and she received a notification:
Congratulations! Your Mind has reached the Quartz Stage.
The first thing she noticed was one of the benefits that Elijah had described. With only a little effort, she managed to shove the effects granted by Sense of Sin into one of the facets. It was only after it settled into place that she realized that it was the one associated with Truth. Was that intentional? Or just chance? It would bear consideration going forward. However, one thing Sadie knew for certain was that it felt like taking a weight from her shoulders. Springing to her feet, she immediately set out to confirm that it had worked. Excitement built as she exited the cave, but to her disappointment, Elijah was nowhere to be found. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± came his familiar voice from behind. She whipped around, demanding, ¡°Where did you come from?¡± ¡°I was practicing with Guise of the Unseen. Fun fact ¨C I don¡¯t think spells and abilities are fixed. I think they¡¯re more like a range of effect. Like¡­wait, why are you smiling?¡± ¡°It worked,¡± she said. Vaguely, she could still see the cloud of sin clinging to Elijah, but it was so diffuse that she had to focus to see it. ¡°It worked!¡± Without hesitation, she lurched forward and threw her arms around him. It was only when she realized just how awkward the situation was that she pulled away. She could feel her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± Sadie said, her eyes downcast. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to do that. I was just¡­you have no idea how relieved I am.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You give a good hug. So, tell me how it went. Did my advice work?¡± ¡°Not at all!¡± she admitted excitedly. ¡°But I figured some things out. About myself and about my future. I think that¡¯s the only way it would have worked.¡± ¡°Huh. Weird,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That wasn¡¯t at all how it happened for me. Either way, I¡¯m glad you were successful. Now, I don¡¯t have to worry about you shanking me in the middle of the night.¡± ¡°What? I would never!¡± ¡°I mean, did you see the way you were looking at me before?¡± he asked. ¡°I mean, obviously not. But I¡¯ve had people who tried to murder me look at me with more kindness. So, I think a midnight shanking was a distinct possibility.¡± ¡°Oh, that wasn¡¯t what I was talking about. If I was going to execute you, it wouldn¡¯t be in the middle of the night. You would definitely see me coming.¡± ¡°Uh¡­that doesn¡¯t make me feel better.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t supposed to.¡± Elijah rubbed the back of his neck. ¡°I thought we¡¯d made progress, but ¨C¡± That¡¯s when Sadie broke into a wide grin, followed by a manic chuckle. ¡°Wait¡­was that a joke? You don¡¯t joke.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve had other things on my mind,¡± she said, still smiling broadly. ¡°Touche, I guess. So, you need to rest or something? Or should we go ahead and go? You missed Oscar by the way. Or maybe you saw the dogs. I don¡¯t know. But I should point out that the chihuahua managed to cultivate faster than you. He was in and out in like a day. Anyway, they¡¯re going to stop by on their way out of the challenge, so if you want to see them, we can stick around for another day or so.¡± ¡°No. Let¡¯s go. The others are counting on us.¡± Elijah nodded and said, ¡°I hope this flight is a little more pleasant than the last one.¡± 6-68. The Footfalls of Giants Kurik slammed the blade of his hatchet into the wraith¡¯s skull, and the thing¡¯s head exploded from the impact. He paid it no mind. Instead, he moved on to the next creature that had been subjected to one of his traps, dispatching it in the same manner. Then, he found the next. And the next after that. Over and over, he slaughtered the helpless things like the pests they were. Before he¡¯d come to the Trial of Primacy, he might¡¯ve felt sorry for such pitiful creatures. In the intervening months, he¡¯d killed so many of them that he¡¯d grown inured to such emotions. Mostly. At times, all the killing still left him feeling nauseous. Despite his class ¨C and the expectations that came with it ¨C Kurik just wasn¡¯t built for the slaughter. He had no issues trapping and killing game. That felt different. Nor did he have problems with defending himself, either. But wholesale butchery ¨C like what he¡¯d done in the City of Toh ¨C was something else entirely. ¡°Is it so wrong that I just want a cabin in the woods, a good dwarven woman with a silky beard to keep me company, and a job that don¡¯t include killin¡¯ hundreds of these sorry creatures each day?¡± he groused. He answered himself, ¡°Course it is. That damn Druid is to blame. He dragged me here, and now I¡¯m stuck as a butcher.¡± His axe fell again, and another head exploded. ¡°Bro. You don¡¯t have to hit them so hard. They¡¯re already trapped,¡± Dat said in his annoyingly affable way. Just once, Kurik wished the man would get drunk on bad beer and get in a fight. But no. He couldn¡¯t even do that. He got drunk and made friends. As if that was something a proper dwarf would do! ¡°I know that!¡± Kurik growled, hitting the next one even harder. The results were the same, save that he got a bit more brain and skull on his good trousers. Why had he worn them, anyway? Oh ¨C right. It was because all his others had been destroyed. Nobody even offered to reimburse him for the loss, either. Finally, he killed the last wraith, then gazed out over the latest version of his killin¡¯ field. He¡¯d used less traps, but he¡¯d gotten better results than ever, killing hundreds of wraiths. His skills were growing, and soon, he¡¯d need to address a decision looming in his near future. By all rights, he should¡¯ve already made it. It wasn¡¯t as if the choices were going to change. But with level one hundred fast approaching, he¡¯d still not made a choice as to his specialization. Unlike his companions, he didn¡¯t have some weird, rarely seen class. He was a Sapper, and as such, he knew what choices he would be offered. He¡¯d memorized them the moment he took the class. Tinkerer, Siegesmith, and Combat Engineer. The long and short of it was that the Tinkerer specialization would enhance his temporary trapping skills. Usually, someone who took that option would focus on creating traps and weapons on the fly, steering into the versatility of the specialization so they were better in personal combat. It was a great option, especially considering his current needs, but Kurik didn¡¯t like what that meant for his future. After all, he¡¯d only come to the Trial of Primacy because it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. In the beginning, he¡¯d thought he would simply follow Elijah around and soak up excess experience. That hadn¡¯t been the case, and he¡¯d been pushed much harder than he could have ever imagined possible. But that wasn¡¯t necessarily the life he wanted to live. However, there was a distinct possibility that it was the best chance he had of ever making it through the Trial. So, it bore consideration. Next came the Siegesmith specialization, which was the preferred route for those Sappers who wanted to make powerful weapons meant to knock down walls and sunder defenses. Considering that he didn¡¯t intend on engaging in a war of conquest, Kurik didn¡¯t think that was the best option. Though if his time on Earth had taught him anything, it was that his intentions rarely affected the sorts of trouble he found himself in. So, Siegesmith could very well be a powerful addition to his already potent arsenal. Finally, there was the Combat Engineer specialization, which focused on building permanent traps and other fortifications meant for defense. Often, Combat Engineers worked closely with Architects, Builders, and Ethereal Engineers to create truly terrifying bastions of defense. That certainly appealed to Kurik. The notion of hunkering down and building his defenses was every proper dwarf¡¯s dream. The only thing that would make it better was if it all took place in a mountain fortress. The degree to which each of those specializations would affect his class varied based on one¡¯s Legacy, but Kurik expected that he had enough Feats of Strength to get a decent result. If his younger self ¨C even from five years before ¨C could have seen how far he¡¯d already climbed, he would have been aghast at his progress. Yet, there was a cost for everything, and Kurik worried that his sanity might be the price he was forced to pay. Never was that clearer than when he gazed across the ghastly killin¡¯ field and saw hundreds ¨C if not close to a thousand ¨C mutilated bodies. They all belonged to wraiths, but even those pitiful creatures deserved better than that fate. He let out a sigh that sounded more like a grunt. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°What¡¯s up, bro?¡± ¡°Nothin¡¯.¡± ¡°Something is wrong,¡± Ron said, wiping his own hands on his shirt. How he¡¯d gotten them bloody was a mystery. He¡¯d been in the back the whole time. Never in danger. And yet, he¡¯d managed to get his hands dirty. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk ¡®bout it, alrigh¡¯?¡± Kurik growled. When both men continued to stare at him, he let out a dramatic groan. ¡°Fine. I don¡¯t like killin¡¯ like this. It ain¡¯t natural or normal.¡± ¡°There¡¯s nothing normal about this place, bro.¡± ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I¡¯m not comfortable with it, either,¡± said Ron, running his freshly cleaned hand through his short hair. At least he had a proper beard. ¡°I set out to heal people. Even before all this, I was a surgeon. I saved lives. But this¡­I don¡¯t know. It feels more like extermination, doesn¡¯t it? These things are just pests.¡± ¡°They ain¡¯t.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Pests. They¡¯re more¡¯n that. I feel it in my bones,¡± Kurik said. And it was true. He didn¡¯t know why he felt the way he did, but he was certain that there was more to the wraiths than they¡¯d yet discovered. He wouldn¡¯t go so far as to put them on par with sapient races, but they were intelligent enough to feel fear. To react to pain. To feel glee, albeit only when they were ripping their prey apart. Kurik had seen all of that and more from the wraiths throughout his time in the Trial. ¡°I hope not,¡± Dat said with a shake of his head. Kurik understood that. If the things really were more than the rabid beasts they seemed to be, then their group had a lot to answer for. Maybe Sadie would come back and absolve them of their sins. That thought sent a shiver up his spine, and there was a part of him that wished Elijah would simply remove the problem. And the other part ¨C a bigger one, he hoped ¨C hated that he¡¯d ever had that thought. Still, what she¡¯d done was terrifying on so many levels, bringing to mind the legends he¡¯d heard as a child. In those stories, dragons and angels were mere myths. Sure, he knew they¡¯d existed at some point, but not for people like him. Now, he was looking at that sort of power first-hand. Every eye was focused on Sadie and Elijah, but Kurik knew there was another angel in their midst. If Sadie could force a powerful, millennia-old assassin to surrender to execution, what could Dat do? It was difficult to see the man as a danger to anyone but their enemies, but Kurik knew as well as anyone just how silly that notion was. He¡¯d watched Dat kill a powerful fallen Druid in a single blow. Even Elijah couldn¡¯t have done that. No ¨C Kurik found himself in the company of giants, and all he could think of was how to avoid being stepped on. In the meantime, with all of his traps spent, they needed to move on as quickly as possible before they attracted attention they couldn¡¯t handle. ¡°Ain¡¯t got time for maudlin chit-chat,¡± he said. ¡°We need to move.¡± The other two agreed, and they set off for the rendezvous point they¡¯d established before splitting up. Hopefully, they wouldn¡¯t have to wait there long before Elijah and Sadie arrived, though Kurik expected that would not be the case. One couldn¡¯t simply decide to advance to the next cultivation phase. It took hard work, dedication, study, and preparation. And even then, it wasn¡¯t a sure bet. But then again, those two weren¡¯t normal people. It was easy to forget that. Sure, they might¡¯ve been normal before everything changed about their world. Kurik didn¡¯t know one way or another. But their success couldn¡¯t just be chalked up to an ability to adapt. Everyone in the Trial had that going for them. Instead, Sadie and Elijah were a cut above the rest. Apart from their elder cores, it wasn¡¯t clear what set them apart. But it didn¡¯t really matter, either. Not in a practical sense. Instead, the only thing that Kurik needed to know was that they were both on a trajectory that would take them much further than Earth. So, he had two choices ¨C latch on and hope to get whatever scraps they left behind or get out of their way. So far, he¡¯d taken the former route, but eventually, he knew he¡¯d have to resort to the latter. He wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up. He just wasn¡¯t talented enough. Oddly enough, if he¡¯d have stayed on his home world, he would have already garnered plenty of attention and been marked as one with potential. Some organization or guild would have snatched him up and showered him with resources in the hopes of developing him into a potent weapon of war. But among people like Elijah and Sadie, he was just a tag-along. With that in mind, it wasn¡¯t really a surprise when, a few days later, they reached the rendezvous point to find Elijah and Sadie waiting on them. ¡°What took you guys so long?¡± asked the Druid, that annoying smirk on his face. Kurik liked Elijah. He really did. But the man could also be infuriating when he forgot that everyone didn¡¯t have it quite as easy as him. ¡°Success?¡± asked Dat, already racing toward Sadie. She nodded. ¡°Success.¡± He threw his arms around her and picked her up, eliciting a squeal that definitely didn¡¯t sound right, coming from her. He narrowed his eyes, stepping closer to Elijah. ¡°Did you replace her with a shapeshifter?¡± he asked out of the corner of his mouth. ¡°Blink twice if you did. I won¡¯t tell nobody.¡± ¡°What? No. Is that a thing?¡± asked Elijah. Kurik shrugged. ¡°My cousins used to tell me stories about it,¡± he muttered. Those had terrified him for longer than he wanted to remember. The idea of someone in his life being replaced by a shapeshifter? Horrific. ¡°So, that¡¯s really her? It looks like her, but it don¡¯t act like her. Are we sure it¡¯s not ¨C¡± ¡°I can hear you, you know,¡± said Sadie. ¡°Oh. Sorry. Unless you¡¯re a shapeshifter,¡± he said, already rummaging in his pack. After only a second, he found what he was looking for ¨C an iron rod. After pulling it out of his pack, he extended it toward ¡°Sadie. ¡°Touch it.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not touching your rod.¡± Dat giggled. ¡°Get your mind out of the gutter,¡± she chided. ¡°Sorry, bro.¡± ¡°It¡¯s iron,¡± Kurik said. ¡°To prove you¡¯re not a shapeshifter. They can¡¯t abide the touch of iron.¡± ¡°I thought that was fae,¡± Elijah said. ¡°No, it¡¯s shapeshifters,¡± Kurik said. ¡°My cousins were clear about that.¡± ¡°I am not a shapeshifter!¡± Sadie insisted. ¡°Just what a shapeshifter would say,¡± Elijah remarked with a smirk. At least he was taking it seriously. ¡°Pointedly, while avoiding touching Kurik¡¯s rod.¡± Sadie once again rolled her eyes, then took the hunk of metal. ¡°There. Happy? I¡¯m not a shapeshifter!¡± Kurik crossed his arms. ¡°Hmm.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not definitive,¡± Elijah said, mimicking Kurik¡¯s posture. ¡°I think we need more tests. I heard that ¨C¡± ¡°Guys,¡± Ron chided. ¡°That¡¯s enough. She¡¯s not a shapeshifter.¡± ¡°She might be,¡± Elijah persisted. ¡°You¡¯ve been with me the whole time!¡± Sadie exclaimed. ¡°But shapeshifters are known for being tricky, right? Wily, one might say. Who knows what they might do?¡± Elijah wondered. ¡°I hate you,¡± Sadie groaned, throwing Kurik¡¯s testing rod on the ground. She glanced around, adding, ¡°I hate you all.¡± ¡°What¡¯d I do, bro?¡± ¡°And I was on your side,¡± Ron said. But by then, Sadie had already stalked off. Elijah clapped his hands together and said, ¡°That went well. I¡¯ve had a long flight, and I¡¯m starving. Anyone else hungry?¡± 6-69. Academy Arcana Elijah was content. Part of it was the setting, which was a stretch of ancient forest that radiated vitality and history. It reminded him of the Redwood Forest back in California, though with far larger trees and alien wildlife. In any case, the region left him feeling satisfied in a way he couldn¡¯t quite articulate. More impactful on his mood was Sadie¡¯s demeanor. Since progressing to the next step of cultivation of her Mind, she¡¯d been an entirely different version of herself. Sure, she was still the same person, but she actually smiled now. Not often, but even once or twice was a vast improvement. She no longer shunned company, and she wasn¡¯t giving him the silent treatment anymore. And most of all, she didn¡¯t look at him like he was a steaming pile of trash. Until recently, he hadn¡¯t even realized how much that had affected him. But with the benefit of hindsight, he could now see the obvious. For months, her visible reaction to his presence had soured his mood. Perhaps that was even one of the reasons he¡¯d so often taken to exploring the wilderness. And finally, his mood had been buoyed by the fact that they only had one challenge to go before the completion of the Trial. Elijah didn¡¯t just miss his grove. He missed Earth itself. He missed Carmen and Miguel and everyone else in Ironshore. He missed traveling around and meeting new people while experiencing different cultures. That had been sorely missing during the Trial, and no amount of exploration could fill that gap. But before he could go back, he needed to conquer the last Trial. The guide explaining the nature of the Trial of Primacy had said there were ten, but the final challenge had yet to be found. And Explorers had scoured every inch of the continent, so they¡¯d all just given up on looking for the challenge associated with the Abyss. Elijah was fine with that, though. As much as he wanted to cater to his inner completionist, it was probably better that the tenth site remained hidden. So long as it did, no one else would have a hope of passing him on the Primacy Rankings, which meant that he would gain the largest rewards. Even if one of his teammates passed him ¨C which was unlikely, based on the last time he¡¯d checked the points total ¨C it would be fine. ¡°What¡¯re you grinnin¡¯ at?¡± asked Kurik, who was striding beside him. ¡°Just happy to walk beside my surly friend,¡± he answered with a grin. ¡°I ain¡¯t surly.¡± ¡°Sure you¡¯re not, bud,¡± Elijah said. Kurik just grunted in response, and they continued on. Dat had taken scouting duties for the day, so Elijah didn¡¯t have any responsibilities except to keep a lookout for trouble. Nothing had attacked them since entering the ancient forest, so he didn¡¯t think that would change anytime soon. There weren¡¯t even any wraiths around. Gradually, they completed the last leg of their journey, and when the site of the final challenge came into view, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but let out a slight gasp. ¡°Does that look like a college campus to anyone else?¡± he asked, flanked by the other members of his group. ¡°Except that huge tower in the middle, of course. I don¡¯t think anywhere on Earth has anything like that.¡± ¡°I¡¯m more worried about the other side,¡± Ron remarked. From their perch on a slight rise, they could see the entire city stretched out before them. However, a third of it had been cut off by the same translucent dome of ethera Elijah had witnessed from the low reaches of space. There was nothing they could see on the other side, but with what he¡¯d witnessed before, he knew those abyssal giants couldn¡¯t be that far. Otherwise, the area on the other side of that barrier was monochromatic, populated by slightly blurry shapes that made it look like a black-and-white impressionist painting. The shield stretched across the horizon as far as Elijah could see, though he could barely perceive a slight curve that confirmed it¡¯s circular, dome-like nature. ¡°I don¡¯t think anything can get through,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Until the bubble pops, bro,¡± Dat added. ¡°It hasn¡¯t yet,¡± Sadie pointed out. Kurik countered, ¡°Yet. That word ain¡¯t very comforting.¡± Elijah understood the dwarf¡¯s unease, because he felt something similar. Indeed, it was probably worse for him because he was the only member of the group to have truly seen what was on the other side. Those giant monsters weren¡¯t just terrifying. They defied logic or description, both in size and form. Hopefully, the others wouldn¡¯t be forced to see what he had seen. Otherwise, their discomfort would turn to terror in a second. With that shield ¨C or rather, the implications of why it had been erected ¨C looming over everything, it was difficult to focus on the city itself. However, what Elijah saw supported the comparison to a college campus. The form itself wasn¡¯t that similar. The buildings followed the same alien architectural standards with which Elijah had become familiar. He¡¯d seen the same in dozens of ruined structures all across the continent. Yet, it had the right aura. Or maybe that was the result of the name of the challenge, which was one of the few things they knew about the place. According to the Explorer who¡¯d discovered it, the place was called Academy Arcana, and upon first impression, it certainly seemed to live up to that moniker. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Predominantly, the buildings had been built from white stone, but there were plenty of red accents that gave it a uniform look. Otherwise, the place was sprawling, spanning many miles in every direction. If it had been something similar to a university, it was many times larger than any place of learning hosted by Earth. ¡°How many people do you think lived and worked here?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Tens of thousands, at least,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°Maybe more, depending on the population density.¡± ¡°Seems spread out,¡± Ron said. ¡°And the buildings are mostly only a couple of stories tall.¡± ¡°Lots of trees,¡± Dat pointed out. ¡°And fountains.¡± Even in a state of disrepair ¨C from afar, it seemed entirely abandoned ¨C the academy was a beautiful place. ¡°Do we know anything about this place?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°We all read the same report,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°The Explorer went in, but she didn¡¯t see anything.¡± ¡°Bad feelings, bro.¡± ¡°And she was frightened,¡± Sadie amended. ¡°That wasn¡¯t what the report said,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°Pervasive feelings of unease.¡± ¡°That sounds like another way to say she was afraid,¡± Ron agreed with Sadie. ¡°She was right to be scared,¡± Kurik added. ¡°With that loomin¡¯ over everything¡­¡± He didn¡¯t need to specify what he meant. The shield ¨C or rather, what was on the other side ¨C practically radiated mysterious menace. One would have to be insane not to be afraid of such a thing. ¡°Anyway, she ran,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°As far as I know, we¡¯re the first in. If anybody else has tried, they didn¡¯t tell anyone about it. So, we¡¯re going in mostly blind. Same strategy as always?¡± ¡°Seems appropriate,¡± Sadie responded. The rest of the group agreed. So, they advanced as a party, but when they reached the edge of the sprawling campus, everyone but Dat and Elijah made camp. Meanwhile, the pair set out to explore the area. After shifting into the Shape of Venom and adopting the Guise of the Unseen, Elijah entered. After only a few steps, he felt the sense of unease described by the Explorer. The difference was that he recognized it for what it was. After all, he¡¯d felt something similar within the challenge of Ignis, when the ashassins had stalked him. He let Guise of the Unseen fall away, then shifted back into his human form. The feeling of being watched didn¡¯t abate, but it didn¡¯t intensify, either. The implications were clear. Stealth wasn¡¯t going to be very effective within the academy grounds. Dat appeared beside him only a few moments later, confirming Elijah¡¯s suspicions. ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s watching us, but we¡¯re definitely being observed,¡± the Witch Hunter stated, his eyes darting around. Even only a few steps within the sprawling campus, there were plenty of places to hide. ¡°Go back and get the others?¡± ¡°Probably smart.¡± Upon their return, Elijah saw that the others had barely progressed in setting up the camp. Kurik asked, ¡°Back so soon? Let me guess ¨C monsters that see through stealth?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Might be some kind of detection enchantment,¡± he answered. ¡°But something in there¡¯s watching us. We think it¡¯s best if we stick together.¡± They all agreed, then packed up the pieces of the camp they¡¯d already deployed. After that, they adopted the same formation they normally used. Sadie in the front, Elijah in the back, with the others in between. They advanced, everyone alert for any potential dangers. At first, there was nothing, but the sense that they were being watched steadily intensified until Elijah felt like there were thousands of spectators following his every move. That, coupled with the looming presence of the Abyss on the other side of the shield, left Elijah tense and jumpy. Then, at last, they crossed the invisible threshold of the challenge, initiating the expected notification:
You have reached Academy Arcana. To conquer the Challenge of the Etherum, breach the tower and slay the First Mage. Reward: Key of Twisted Ethera
The moment the notification flashed before Elijah¡¯s inner eye, he heard a clanking sound coming from a nearby alley. More distressing was what he felt via One with Nature ¨C the presence of a dozen creatures. They weren¡¯t alive, though. He knew that the moment he sensed them, and when the first one came into view only a second later, that notion was confirmed. It was a moving suit of armor, though of alien design. Four-armed and two-legged, just like a ka¡¯alaki, it moved with an unhurried but purposeful gait. In each hand was a wickedly curved sword, and the armor itself featured gracefully curved ridges that looked like fins. The helmet followed the same theme, with a large crest running down the center like a mohawk that extended down its back. A second exited the alley a moment later. Then a third came. Elijah stopped counting by the fifth, because another set had suddenly appeared in the opposite alley. And another after that a hundred feet down the street. ¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± he muttered. ¡°Not good at all.¡± The most concerning thing Elijah felt wasn¡¯t that each set of armor lacked a person to motivate it. Instead, he was far more interested in the ethera within. It was so dense that it was nearly solid. Normally, ethereal density translated to power, and if that remained the case, these things were incredibly strong. Everyone reacted at the same time. Sadie stepped forward, and her personal shield bloomed into being. At the same time, Dat and Kurik raised their weapons, ready to let loose the second Sadie gave the order. Finally, Elijah and Ron readied their healing spells. They had no idea how much damage these suits of armor could inflict, so they resolved that it was better to overheal than to go in the opposite direction. It was a good thing, too, because when Sadie met the first creature, its swords sliced through her shield like it wasn¡¯t even there. Fortunately, her armor held up against the cutting edge, though it was incapable of stopping the momentum of the blade. With a loud wrenching sound, the armor protecting her upper arm crumpled, and Elijah felt certain that the bone broke under the impact. But she was already under the effect of Soothe, and Ron¡¯s powerful healing spell landed a second later, mending the damage. She bore the pain stoically, returning the thing¡¯s attack with one of her own. Her sword clanged against its armor, denting it with a single blow. However, the creature paid the damage no mind, already aiming one of its other swords in her direction. How Sadie managed to parry the attack, Elijah couldn¡¯t tell. But she slapped the blade aside, then immediately switched directions to do the same to the next. ¡°Fire!¡± she shouted. And everyone complied. A stream of glowing bolts rocketed from Dat¡¯s crossbow, with Kurik¡¯s arrows not far behind. At the same time, Elijah lashed out with Storm¡¯s Fury, channeling it through his Feral Spire to ensure he wouldn¡¯t miss. The barrage of attacks slammed into the suit of armor with enough force to send it staggering backward. But when the dust settled, it was entirely unharmed. Indeed, from what Elijah felt within that suit, it had grown stronger. That supposition was borne out when it attacked Sadie much more quickly than before. ¡°Don¡¯t use magic!¡± he shouted. ¡°We need to take it apart with physical attacks!¡± Even as the words left his mouth, the rest of the suits of armor converged on their location. As Elijah shifted into his Shape of the Guardian, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if they might not have finally bitten off more than they could chew. 6-70. Boomstick ¡°We should retreat and regroup!¡± shouted Sadie, holding off the small army of armor. She used her greatsword more like a club than a blade, but with how large and heavy it was, it did a passable impression of a blunt weapon. However, it was obviously less effective than normal, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. Spells ¨C like the one that Sadie used to enhance her attacks ¨C were useless against the things. ¡°Not yet!¡± Elijah growled, his transformation into the form of the lamellar ape completing. Under the effects of that spell, he was more than a match ¨C at least in terms of size ¨C for the creatures. Even as Elijah shoulder tackled the nearest suit of armor, an explosion erupted among their ranks. Via One with Nature, Elijah felt Kurik lighting what seemed like a stick of dynamite and tossing it into the mass of metal. Another explosion sent them tumbling away, the metal of their armor twisted out of place. The one Elijah had tackled went to the ground without issue, though when he brought his fists down, he found that the thing was incredibly durable. Fortunately, he was also incredibly strong. Scaly fists rained down on the thing, sending the sound of ringing metal out to join the cacophony of Kurik¡¯s ongoing explosions and Sadie¡¯s attempts to batter one of the suits of armor into submission. ¡°Go for their cores!¡± Kurik yelled. ¡°And where are those?¡± Elijah roared in response. ¡°In their chests, ya idjit!¡± That made sense, especially considering that that was where the creatures¡¯ armor was the thickest. Elijah battered the thing, and after the fourth blow, the damage was enough that he could hook his claws under one of the seams. He did just that, and once his grip was firm enough, he ripped the breastplate away, revealing a rotating sphere of solid ethera. Elijah didn¡¯t waste any time before reaching into the chest cavity of the flailing suit of armor, wrap his claws around the ball of ethera, and yank it free. He regretted it immediately. The second he touched the roiling sphere of energy, his scales blistered, melting through his Constitution instantly. Thankfully, a heal hit him just as he pulled the core free. ¡°Toss it!¡± shouted Kurik. Elijah trusted the dwarf enough not to hesitate. He heaved it away, but it only got about six feet before it exploded. Everything on the street felt the shockwave. The suits of armor went sprawling, but Sadie managed to maintain her feet ¨C that had to be a skill. Dat, Kurik, and Ron were the furthest away from the explosion, but even they were thrown aside by the shockwave. As for Elijah, he went flying backward. More distressingly, he couldn¡¯t feel anything on the entire front of his body ¨C a sure sign of severe burns if there ever was one. He hit the ground, then tumbled into one of the buildings. It survived the impact unscathed, which was something that Elijah couldn¡¯t say for himself. A wave of dizziness and nausea swept through him as he tried to stand. He stumbled back into the wall, and he didn¡¯t recover until a few seconds later when another of Ron¡¯s heals suffused him with vitality. His mind cleared, and the burns covering most of his body began to mend. ¡°Ow,¡± he muttered to himself. ¡°You idjit!¡± Kurik shouted. ¡°You don¡¯t just go and grab an ethereal core with your bare hands!¡± Elijah just looked at the dwarf, then shrugged. How in the world was he supposed to have known that? Sure, a roiling ball of magical energy probably didn¡¯t scream that it wanted to be touched, but he never could have expected it to be quite so volatile. In truth, he hadn¡¯t stopped to think at all. Perhaps that was the problem. Before he could give that issue the attention it deserved, he saw that the armor monsters had already recovered to swarm Sadie¡¯s position. Her sword whirled as she defended herself, but with how many foes she faced, she could do little more than keep herself from being overwhelmed. She battered the creatures away, but each one she attacked was soon replaced by another. What¡¯s more, she was quickly becoming surrounded. ¡°Retreat!¡± Dat yelled, thinking the same thing Elijah was. They¡¯d discovered what they could about the creatures. Now, they needed to regroup and plan. Sadie glanced backward, which was a mistake. That brief instant of inattention was all the creatures needed to overwhelm her defenses. They piled onto her, pummeling her with their swords. She disappeared beneath a pile of armor. Elijah activated Savage Might as he shot forward, covering the ground between them in barely a second before he rammed into the pile. A few went flying before the force of his momentum, and he lashed out with a backhand that took another out of the equation. Then, he latched onto a fifth and heaved. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After that, the fight descended into a primal melee. He couldn¡¯t concern himself with fancy techniques or plans. Instead, the whole of his attention was occupied by two things, both in an effort to rescue Sadie. First, trying his best to avoid taking a blow head-on. With Iron Scales being useless, that was likely the only reason the armor creatures¡¯ swords hadn¡¯t already hacked him to pieces, and if he let it drop for even a second, that would change. Second, he focused on pushing himself as hard as possible. Lately, he¡¯d discovered that his spells and skills represented a range rather than a precise outcome. That, as well as how he¡¯d felt when his core had completely drained, suggested that he wasn¡¯t getting the most out of his attributes. If the strength of his abilities was variable, then could he push his body further as well? The real question wasn¡¯t whether or not he was living up to his potential. He knew he wasn¡¯t. Rather, the thing that he needed to discover was just how far he could go. So, he flooded his Soul with ethera ¨C but not to fuel a specific spell. Rather, he held it there, hoping the saturation would translate to more power. And briefly, it did. In that time, he threw the armored creatures aside like they were lighter than feathers. But his increased power was short-lived, and after only a dozen seconds, the ethera in his body went crazy. His blood vessels burst from the strain, and his muscles went slack as energy gushed from his every pore. Fortunately, Ron hadn¡¯t remained idle, and one of his healing spells slammed into Elijah only a moment later. That was probably the only reason he didn¡¯t immediately black out. Even then, he couldn¡¯t stop himself from collapsing. Again, one of his teammates came to the rescue. It was only when he was being dragged away that he realized what was happening. ¡°Heavy,¡± grunted Kurik. Elijah let Shape of the Guardian fall away, and he returned to his human form. That eased the dwarf¡¯s burden, but it only exacerbated Elijah¡¯s condition. Without the increased Constitution of his lamellar ape form, his body couldn¡¯t hold up to the damage he¡¯d done to himself. He got a brief look at his arms, and he saw that they were already swollen and badly bruised. He was barely conscious, but he did see that Dat was dragging Sadie away as well. After only a few seconds, they crossed the invisible line of the challenge. The pursuing suits of armor stopped and stared. Then, after a few more moments, they turned around and retreated the way they¡¯d come. Finally, Elijah relaxed. And realized just how much damage he¡¯d done. It wasn¡¯t catastrophic. He could already feel Ron¡¯s healing spells working to fix what he¡¯d broken. But it certainly wasn¡¯t pleasant, either, and what¡¯s more, he knew just how close he¡¯d come to making things much worse. Perhaps there was a reason he hadn¡¯t heard anything about anyone trying to use ethera to push themselves harder. ¡°What the hell happened?¡± demanded Kurik. Elijah coughed up a little blood, then haltingly explained his actions. He ended it by saying, ¡°I wasn¡¯t strong enough to get to her without help. Not before¡­how is she?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± came Sadie¡¯s voice. ¡°Mostly.¡± Elijah glanced in her direction, and he once again saw that her armor was damaged seemingly beyond repair. This time, it might just be true, too, because as far as he knew, she didn¡¯t have any more of her magical putty. Beyond that, she looked almost as bruised as he did. And that was saying something, considering that his skin was almost entirely purple. ¡°Bro. You need to be more careful.¡± ¡°And less stupid,¡± Kurik added. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about me,¡± Elijah responded haltingly. ¡°I ain¡¯t worried ¡®bout you. I¡¯m worried about my home. And about what your sister-in-law would do to me if I let you die.¡± ¡°Aww. So sweet,¡± Elijah muttered through bloody lips. ¡°Give me, like, five minutes. I think I need a bit of a rest. In the meantime, figure out how to beat those things without blowing up. Oh, and also ¨C were you using freaking dynamite? When did you get dynamite?¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t got a clue what that is,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Those bombs, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°They looked a lot like dynamite.¡± ¡°You keep sayin¡¯ that word like I should know what it means. Last time we was in Nexus, I got with an alchemist and we worked together to make some boomsticks. They¡¯re made of ¨C wait. Why¡¯re you laughin¡¯? These things ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ to ¨C¡± ¡°Boomsticks,¡± Elijah wheezed between chuckles. ¡°God. Please don¡¯t make me laugh like that when my body¡¯s just one huge bruise.¡± ¡°What in all the hell¡¯s the matter with you?¡± Kurik demanded. ¡°That¡¯s the best name you could come up with?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Bro. You know what that¡¯s from, right?¡± ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Shop smart. Shop S-Mart, bro.¡± ¡°Come on, Elijah. Even I know this one,¡± Sadie said. ¡°I¡¯m drawing a complete blank,¡± he admitted. ¡°No class at all,¡± Sadie stated primly. Then, she promptly coughed up a little more blood. ¡°I think I punctured both lungs.¡± ¡°Can you all stop treating this all like it¡¯s a joke? Elijah nearly killed himself back there, and Sadie¡­well, those things are dangerous,¡± Ron chided. Elijah couldn¡¯t have agreed more, but a few jokes went a long way toward relieving the tension of a near-death experience. What¡¯s more, there would never be a situation where he would pass up an opportunity to rile Kurik up. The dwarf clearly had no idea what they were talking about, which was precisely the point of it all. Of course, he didn¡¯t understand the reference either. He just thought boomstick was a silly name. ¡°Well, are you going to keep me in suspense?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I thought you were cool, bro.¡± ¡°Clearly not,¡± Sadie muttered. ¡°How could he be if he¡¯s never seen Army of Darkness?¡± ¡°Is that a move? Or a ¨C¡± ¡°Bro!¡± ¡°Seriously, Elijah. It¡¯s a classic,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Couldn¡¯t be that much of a classic if I haven¡¯t even heard of it,¡± he maintained. ¡°What¡¯s it about?¡± Dat grinned, then excitedly explained how it was a sequel to Evil Dead ¨C which Elijah had heard of, but never seen ¨C where the protagonist was transported through time to the middle ages. Apparently, it was a horror comedy. ¡°I don¡¯t really do scary movies,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°My sister made me watch Creature of the Black Lagoon when I was really young, and I¡¯ve had an aversion to horror movies ever since. I didn¡¯t sleep right for a week.¡± ¡°That one¡¯s not even scary, bro.¡± ¡°It was to a six-year-old,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯m going to rest my eyes a little. Then, once you all figure out how to kill those suits of armor ¨C¡± ¡°Sentry golems,¡± Dat said. ¡°That¡¯s what they¡¯re called.¡± ¡°Oh. Right. That makes sense,¡± Elijah responded, though by that point, his eyelids had begun to droop. He gave one last chuckle before he said, ¡°Boomstick.¡± After that, he descended into blessed unconsciousness while his companions presumably made a plan. 6-71. Practice Makes Perfect ¡°We could just not do it,¡± suggested Kurik in his typically gruff manner. ¡°Ain¡¯t that an option?¡± ¡°No,¡± Dat, Ron, and Sadie said in unison, all having heard the same suggestion a couple of times before. For his part, Elijah remained silent, and for the first time, actually considered the dwarf¡¯s idea. Given what they¡¯d already seen, it was unlikely that anyone else would conquer the challenge of the Ethereum. Without false modesty, Elijah could say that his group was the most powerful in the Trial, and if they found the obstacles too steep to overcome, then the same would be true for everyone else. Following that line of logic, no one would have an opportunity to beat them in the Primacy Rankings. Their victory was assured. Yet, Elijah couldn¡¯t stop himself from rejecting the notion of turning back. Was it the completionist in him? Or a stubborn refusal to give up, perhaps? Pride? Maybe it was just momentum pushing him forward. Whatever the case, even if Kurik¡¯s suggestion was, on the surface, a valid one, Elijah couldn¡¯t bring himself to truly consider committing to it. The others clearly felt the same way. The only problem was that, in the few hours it had taken Elijah to recover, no one had come up with any solutions. The sentry golems were powerful in their own right, but the true issue they¡¯d yet to solve was that none of the group¡¯s spells seemed to work on the ambulatory suits of armor. ¡°How do they work?¡± Elijah wondered for what felt like the hundredth time. ¡°It seems overpowered that they¡¯re immune to spells.¡± ¡°They ain¡¯t immune,¡± Kurik said. ¡°They absorb the ethera. There¡¯s a difference.¡± ¡°Functionally, it sounds pretty much the same,¡± Ron remarked. ¡°It ain¡¯t. Immunity would mean we ain¡¯t got a chance,¡± Kurik said. ¡°My grandpa told me a story once when I was a kid. About an elf they called the Null Mage. Class called a Magestalker. Or that was the original. No tellin¡¯ what it evolved into.¡± He shook his head and continued. ¡°The Null Mage didn¡¯t have spells or abilities. Just a unique body with resistances so high that he couldn¡¯t be touched by spells or abilities. He had incredible attributes, too. He was a political assassin.¡± ¡°What happened in the story?¡± Dat asked. Kurik shrugged. ¡°He killed everyone.¡± ¡°Well, that¡¯s depressing. Are all of your fairy tales like that?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Was a brutal world,¡± Kurik acknowledged. ¡°Ain¡¯t no point in tellin¡¯ pretty stories in that kinda place. The Null Mage¡¯s tale was meant to represent an unstoppable force. Like fate or some such. If the Null Mage¡¯s comin¡¯ for you, you best start makin¡¯ peace with your end. Ain¡¯t no runnin¡¯. Ain¡¯t no beatin¡¯ him. All you can do is die on your own terms.¡± ¡°Damn, bro.¡± ¡°They told that story to children?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah understood it, though. It was probably paired with some sort of admonishment to live a good life so as to avoid being targeted by the vicious Null Mage. Still, the idea of a person with high attributes who was effectively immune to spells was a terrifying one. Clearly, there had to be limits, though. There always were. Someone like that could assuredly be overwhelmed by a large enough power discrepancy. But for someone on the same tier? They would be almost impossible to stop. Elijah asked, ¡°But these sentry golems aren¡¯t like that?¡± Kurik shook his head. ¡°We¡¯d be dead if they were,¡± he answered. ¡°They absorb ethera, like I said. Important distinction.¡± Elijah noted that the dwarf still hadn¡¯t answered the most pertinent question. ¡°What does it mean, though?¡± ¡°It means you should eat Spree,¡± Sadie said quietly, though not so quiet that she couldn¡¯t be heard. Everyone stared at her, and she went red in the face. ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s something my sister used to say all the time. There were these commercials years ago¡­¡± ¡°I remember those,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not important, guys,¡± Ron stated, clearly wanting to get things back on track. They all looked at Kurik, who explained, ¡°My point is that those cores can¡¯t absorb it all. You can overwhelm them. They probably have an automatic shut-off so when they overload they don¡¯t explode. It¡¯s basic ethereal engineering.¡± ¡°Those things didn¡¯t seem basic to me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s ¡®cause you opened one up and exposed the core.¡± ¡°You told me to!¡± ¡°I did no such thing. You musta heard me wrong.¡± ¡°Go for the core,¡± Elijah echoed, using his closest approximation of the dwarf¡¯s voice. It wasn¡¯t a good impression, but it got the point across. ¡°That¡¯s what you screamed at me.¡± ¡°That don¡¯t sound like me.¡± ¡°I think it ¨C¡± ¡°Boys,¡± Sadie said, cutting them off. ¡°I don¡¯t think this is very productive. We need to figure out an approach that gets us through there without getting overwhelmed.¡± That got through to them, and the discussion as to how to combat the problem truly commenced. There were a lot of suggestions, including using Elijah as bait while everyone else attacked the things from range, but in the end, it came down to a similar strategy they¡¯d employed in other challenges. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. ¡°I can¡¯t just throw my traps down,¡± Kurik said, referring to a specific type that he claimed would overwhelm the sentry golems¡¯ ability to absorb ethera. ¡°I need time to build a killin¡¯ field.¡± ¡°How long do you need?¡± Elijah asked. The dwarf shrugged and answered, ¡°Maybe an hour? Two? Hard to say. But I get the cores when we take ¡®em out. I want that made clear.¡± ¡°Literally no one else wants them.¡± ¡°Good, ¡®cause they¡¯re mine,¡± Kurik reiterated. After that, the group finished their final preparations before once again setting off to infiltrate the latest challenge. As before, the moment they stepped a foot onto the campus, the sentry golems appeared. Now that he was ready for their arrival, Elijah could detect that they¡¯d come through a series of black portals. Which made sense, though he didn¡¯t like the implications. Regardless, he didn¡¯t have much time to dwell on it. Instead, he and Sadie established a front line, with Dat, Ron, and Kurik behind. The first two were ready to contribute to the fight, while Kurik had already begun to deploy his traps. The latest iteration was a power crystal atop a tripod, though Elijah could vaguely feel that each one was connected by a strand of ethera that ran from one to the other. But he didn¡¯t have the mental bandwidth to process anything else before the first line of sentry golems crashed into him and Sadie. In the Shape of the Guardian, he managed to hold his ground, and he was surprised at how much of a difference a shift in strategy made. In the previous battle, they¡¯d been scrambling from the very beginning, but now that they knew what to expect ¨C and had a much clearer goal ¨C the sentry golems weren¡¯t nearly as overwhelming. This time, Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with trying to defeat the things. Rather, he only wanted to hold his ground and delay them for as long as possible. To that end, he met them on equal terms, matching them strength for strength. Certainly, easier didn¡¯t mean easy, and it took all of his focus to maintain his footing while protecting the others. Sadie did the same, though with the sentry golems¡¯ ability to effortlessly slice through her shields, she struggled to keep pace. Thankfully, she had other abilities to assist her. First among them was the skill that let her hold her ground even as the golems hammered her with heavy blows. Simple physics suggested that she should have easily been dislodged from her position, and yet, she maintained her footing. Second, she had a couple of self-heals she could employ, which served to ease the burden on Ron, who was forced to continuously cast in order to repair the damage she and Elijah took. Finally, Dat formed a second line of defense. His crossbow bolts depended on spells and hexes to do any real damage, so given their ineffectiveness, he¡¯d shifted to a melee focus. Still, he clearly knew his own weaknesses, so he didn¡¯t step up unless one of the golems managed to break through the line. When that happened, he attacked without hesitation, using his pair of shortswords to plug the gap until Sadie or Elijah could respond. Like that, they fought, and over the course of the next thirty minutes, Elijah discovered a couple of things about his opponents. The first was that they were absolutely inexhaustible. They didn¡¯t tire. They didn¡¯t slow. And their blows did not weaken. Instead, they kept coming like the inexorable machines they were. Second, the things kept pouring out of the unseen portals, flooding the street until they were stacked a dozen deep. Elijah and the others managed to down more than a few, but the fallen were quickly replaced by more of the same. And finally, the lone saving grace was that they weren¡¯t quite as strong as the previous encounter suggested. That was the only reason Elijah and Sadie managed to hold their own. If the sentry golems would have been even slightly more powerful, that would not have been the case. Fortunately, the group was well used to fighting against seemingly innumerable enemies, and they made a good showing as the minutes wore into hours. Finally, Kurik shouted, ¡°It¡¯s done! Let the first wave through!¡± At that, Elijah stepped aside just enough to allow a few through. Sadie did the same, and the sentry golems took the bait, rushing past to attack the others. At the same time, Dat sprang backward to join Ron and Kurik just past the line of tripods. If the Sapper¡¯s traps didn¡¯t work as advertised, then they would be almost entirely defenseless. They¡¯d established a plan for that eventuality, but it wasn¡¯t without risks. So, Elijah held his breath as he closed the gap and waited for the trap line to activate. The first golem crashed between them, its heavy footsteps clanking on the stone street. And nothing happened. The second came on the heels of the first, followed closely by the third. Then, the fourth. Finally, the fifth. Elijah was about to shout for everyone to switch to the backup plan when the local ethera went wild, whipping around like a loose garden hose at full blast. Then, those ethereal strands latched onto each golem in turn, and even Elijah could feel the power draining into them. The idea was a simple one, but Kurik had been forced to adapt one of his existing traps to accommodate a new goal. The fact that he could do that without much preparation just showed how valuable he was. Elijah didn¡¯t know any other Sappers, but he suspected that Kurik was an extraordinarily talented example of the class. Or maybe that was the only way he could sleep at night, because if they all had Kurik¡¯s abilities, they were an extremely dangerous bunch. In any case, the golems that had been subjected to the traps quickly absorbed so much ethera that they began to spark. That continued until, only seconds later, they toppled over, entirely inert. Kurik yelled, ¡°Twenty minutes, then let the next wave through!¡± Elijah and Sadie acknowledged the timeframe, then went back to work holding the horde of sentry golems at bay while Kurik exchanged the power crystals fueling his traps for fresh ones. When the time came, they let another wave through, and to similar results. According to Kurik¡¯s estimates, he had enough crystals ¨C acquired by Elijah the last time he was in Nexus Town ¨C to take out more than a hundred of the golems. Hopefully, that would be enough to turn the tide. What Elijah knew, though, was that it wouldn¡¯t take out the entire force. So, their success rested on everyone else doing their part. So, he bent his focus toward keeping the line of golems at bay, battering them into submission when possible. Like that, the battle wore on. Because Iron Scales was useless against the golems, Elijah took so many wounds that he lost count. Sadie was worse off, largely because she¡¯d grown accustomed to depending on her armor for protection. It had been ruined in the last battle, so she¡¯d had to make do with whatever she could cobble together with the scraps. Because of that ¨C and her inability to rely on her shielding spell ¨C she took a lot of damage. Thankfully, she had the high Constitution to deal with it. They both did. After a while, the flow of golems abated. Then, the new arrivals ceased altogether. And at last, they finished the remainder off. Altogether, the fight took most of a day, and in that time, they¡¯d managed to exceed even their wildest expectations. Kurik¡¯s traps had performed better than he¡¯d anticipated, and the others ¨C even Dat ¨C had adjusted well to the fight. But they all knew that if any of them had failed to do their part, things would have quickly gotten out of hand. ¡°I guess practice makes perfect, huh?¡± Elijah said, his chest heaving with exertion. ¡°Far from perfect,¡± Sadie said, inspecting what was left of her bracer. It was so damaged that it looked like scrap metal. ¡°We still have a lot of mistakes to clean up.¡± After that, they spent a few minutes in recovery before setting about gathering the inert cores. Kurik claimed he¡¯d find a use for them, so no one objected when they all went into his overstuffed pack. Otherwise, there was nothing to loot, so they gathered Kurik¡¯s traps, then headed deeper into the final challenge. 6-72. The Library ¡°This is eerie,¡± Elijah remarked, craning his neck this way and that as he beheld the state of the campus. He¡¯d spent most of a decade of his life in college ¨C getting a doctorate took a lot of time ¨C so the academy felt extremely familiar. And yet, it was also alien in the most obvious of ways. For one, the structure of the buildings was unfamiliar, with things like doors and windows in all the wrong places. In some ways, the style was reminiscent of the Sydney Opera House, with prominent edifices that looked a little huge fins. However, the differences ¨C like an attention to symmetry ¨C were prevalent enough to make it look like something entirely new and different. Which it was, given that it was an alien world with its own history and influences. However, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but focus on the similarities, which were numerous enough to make him wonder if there was some sort of architectural throughline stretching throughout the multiverse. Or maybe there were only so many ways to design a building, and some parallels were inevitable. Still, for Elijah, who¡¯d spent so much time exploring the ruins of Ka¡¯arath, it was a revelation. Suddenly, the half-fallen buildings that had been mostly reclaimed by nature made sense in a way that they never had before. It was just another reminder of what had been lost with the world¡¯s excisement from the World Tree. They had been a flourishing world, and now? Only a single continent remained, and even that had become a shadow of its former glory. Adding to that sense of loss was the emptiness on display. Unlike the ruins Elijah had visited, the Academy Arcana was entirely intact and untouched by time. It looked almost new, which made its abandonment feel all the more impactful. At any moment, Elijah expected to see groups of academics ¨C in his imagination, they looked like ka¡¯alaki version of college students ¨C to round a corner. But was that how it had been? It struck Elijah that he knew very little of the planet¡¯s culture. What¡¯s more, he felt certain that even if he¡¯d had some evidence as to who the natives really were, he¡¯d only get a tiny picture. After all, Ka¡¯arath was a large planet, and with only a single continent having been preserved, it was almost impossible that he could learn even a small portion about who they truly were. With that standing firmly in the front of his mind, Elijah¡¯s mood was melancholic as they trekked across the sprawling campus. They had a plan to deal with any future attacks by sentry golems, but those plans were proven unnecessary by the ambulatory armor suits¡¯ continued absence. Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to believe they¡¯d deactivated them all. No ¨C the challenge was one of the largest they¡¯d encountered, and he knew there were assuredly more sentry golems ¨C or worse ¨C waiting in the wings. So, he and the others maintained caution as they crossed the campus. Eventually, they reached a large building that looked extremely important. Until that moment, they¡¯d only given the other buildings a series of brief inspections. After finding nothing in the first few, they¡¯d reasoned that the campus was as empty of loot as it was of inhabitants. But this new building was unique in a couple of major ways. First was its size. While it wasn¡¯t much taller than the surrounding structures ¨C maybe seventy-five feet tall at its peak ¨C it sprawled across an area covering hundreds of yards in every direction. To Elijah, it was like if someone had shoved a handful of superstores together ¨C at least in terms of size, if not design. The fa?ade was also entirely made of crystal which had been etched with a multitude of fanciful whorls that glowed with ethera. ¡°It¡¯s enchanted,¡± Dat said. ¡°Which part?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°The whole thing, bro.¡± That prompted a question from Elijah. ¡°What do the enchantments do?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Hex of Scrying doesn¡¯t tell me, and the ghosts have been silent since I came into this city,¡± he said. That was a bit ominous, but if Elijah really thought about it, it made some sense. The entire campus was obviously magical in nature, so the idea that it was restrictive on skills like Hex of Scrying wasn¡¯t terribly surprising. Still, it didn¡¯t fill Elijah with confidence. Then again, nothing they¡¯d encountered since entering the challenge had left him feeling comfortable. ¡°Do we go inside?¡± Ron asked. It was a good question, but one without an easy answer. They needed as much information as they could get, which was why they¡¯d explored most of the buildings along the way. However, the uniqueness of the building before them practically screamed that it was both important and assuredly well-defended. It wasn¡¯t out of the question that they might find themselves facing off against more sentry golems, though without the easy defense of leaving the challenge to lean against. If they were attacked again, they would have no choice but to fight ¨C either for victory or escape. And while Elijah felt confident that they could win such a battle, he wasn¡¯t so hubristic as to believe a win was assured. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. In the end, though, they¡¯d come to the challenge for a reason, and none of them expected to conquer it without a fight. That established, they decided to explore the building. However, they wouldn¡¯t do so without making significant preparations beforehand. With that in mind, they helped Kurik set up another line of traps, this one even more expansive than the last. ¡°Where¡¯d you get all those crystals?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°The Citadel of Innovation is a pretty popular hunting ground. Mostly, people grab those power crystals thinking they¡¯re useful, but without the right skills, they¡¯re mostly junk. So, I¡¯ve been buying them for basically nothing. I think most of the sellers think I¡¯m kind of crazy,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°Not so crazy that they won¡¯t take my ethereum, mind you. But still a little off. No idea where they got that notion.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure,¡± Sadie said with a slight grin. ¡°You¡¯ve been doing that more lately. Smiling I mean. That¡¯s good.¡± She frowned. ¡°If you tell me to smile more ¨C¡± ¡°Not what I meant, and you know it,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°But you trying to pick a fight kind of feels like old times.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. Old habits and all that. I¡¯m just saying that you seem a lot happier now. I know how much it was weighing on you, and I¡¯m glad that you seem to have had some of that lifted from your shoulders.¡± She clearly wanted to defend herself, but at that moment, Dat said, ¡°I think everything¡¯s ready.¡± Seeing that there was no further reason to delay their plan, they made their way across the street and down the steps that led to the entrance. Everyone remained on pins and needles as they approached. Then, just as they reached the door ¨C which was circular ¨C a surge of ethera swept through the area. Everyone reacted instantly, with Sadie and Dat drawing their weapons while Elijah shifted into his guardian form. At the same time, Ron channeled a new spell that sent an ongoing stream of vitality to everyone in a five-yard circle around him. As it turned out, the reaction was unnecessary, because the wave of ethera only caused the door to open. The crystal surface split apart into seven equal slices that rotated and retracted at the same time, laying bare the interior of the building. Dat let out a nervous giggle. Ron sighed in relief. Sadie said, ¡°Good job being ready. Keep that up.¡± Then, she led them inside. Elijah was the last to enter, and when he caught sight of the building¡¯s contents, he couldn¡¯t help but gasp. Hundreds of shelves stretched from one end of the building to another. Stacked a dozen high, they were arrayed with prisms that reflected rainbow light throughout the space. With a sound like glass scraping together, the door slid shut behind Elijah. He barely noticed it. ¡°No sentry golems,¡± Dat remarked. ¡°So far,¡± Kurik added. ¡°We ain¡¯t two steps inside yet.¡± ¡°Keep your heads on a swivel,¡± Elijah cautioned. ¡°That¡¯s a weird saying, bro.¡± ¡°Not now, Dat,¡± Sadie chided. No one really needed to be reminded to remain cautious. The interior of the building was so unfamiliar that none of them could forget that they were on an entirely alien world. The crystals notwithstanding, the shelves themselves were made of some sort of silvery metal beset by pearlescent shimmers that highlighted the intricate engravings covering every surface. ¡°Welcome to the Library Arcanum,¡± came a disembodied voice. ¡°Please state your area of study so that I may direct your efforts.¡± ¡°What in all the hells¡­¡± Elijah and the others whirled around, but they couldn¡¯t find the speaker. So, Sadie asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± ¡°I am the proprietor of the Library Arcanum. I regret that I do not have the ethera necessary to meet your needs individually. Unfortunately, my reserves are quite low.¡± ¡°Are all of these prisms guides? Like what we can get from the World Tree?¡± ¡°I detect that you do not mean that question as an insult. The answer is twofold. In the most basic sense, yes. Our guides serve much the same function as those you might find in the World Tree¡¯s Knowledge Base. However, the collection of guides you see before you has been curated by deific Librarians for generations. They guarantee that our students are only exposed to the highest quality information, paying special attention to the accuracy of the content.¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes. ¡°Are you saying that the information in the World Tree¡¯s guides might not be accurate?¡± ¡°Of course not. Anyone with the right skill may contribute to the Knowledge Base, but the World Tree only ensures accuracy at the most basic level. You will find no outright lies within the Knowledge Base, but there are many levels between lies and truth,¡± said the disembodied voice. Elijah¡¯s eyes widened in realization. What the proprietor had said made perfect sense, but he¡¯d never considered the possibility that the guides available in the Knowledge Base were incomplete or lacking in quality. And that wasn¡¯t even considering that he¡¯d witnessed it himself with the insufficient information he¡¯d been provided on his class, archetype, and cultivation. Perhaps that was one of the ways higher level Librarians set themselves apart. Not only could they find specific information, but it was possible that they could determine quality as well. It didn¡¯t take a genius to determine that they¡¯d stumbled upon a treasure trove. ¡°I need to know about classes, skills, spells, cultivation, and ¨C¡± ¡°Certainly. Please display your identification crystal, and I will direct you to the proper section.¡± ¡°Uh¡­why, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Attending the Academy Arcana is a prestigious privilege only afforded to a select few,¡± the voice intoned. ¡°As is the wealth of information in this library.¡± ¡°And if we are not students?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Then you can not access restricted information. However, the following sections are still available for your perusal. Science, Technology, Agriculture, History ¨C¡± ¡°Screw this,¡± Elijah said, striding forward. He had no intention of allowing a disembodied voice to dictate his actions. It would take a while to find the appropriate information, but he and the others had enough time on their hands. ¡°Hostility detected,¡± the voice said. At that moment, Elijah felt every ounce of ethera sucked out of his channels and core. He dropped to the ground, barely conscious. ¡°Please be advised that any intentions of rule-breaking will be swiftly curtailed. You will be released only when you intend to leave.¡± ¡°What?¡± Elijah groaned. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°Dammit, Elijah,¡± Sadie muttered. ¡°None of the rest of us intend to break the rules.¡± ¡°That has been detected. Please reveal the subjects you wish to study, and you will be directed to the appropriate information.¡± ¡°What about Elijah?¡± ¡°As stated, he will be released upon your departure. Please reveal the subjects you wish to study, or you will be assumed to be loitering.¡± Sadie sighed. ¡°Fine. We need to know about the First Mage, the nature of the academy¡¯s defenses, and any other information pertinent to the challenge.¡± Then, she glanced at Elijah, who could barely maintain consciousness as he lay on the ground in an extremely uncomfortable position. ¡°Sorry. We can¡¯t afford to pass this up.¡± ¡°S¡¯okay,¡± he mumbled, incapable of even moving his jaw. ¡°S¡¯fine. Don¡¯ worry ¡®bou me.¡± 6-73. Laid Out ¡°He looks so pitiful,¡± Sadie said. ¡°Are you sure we can¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°There¡¯s an ethereal cage around him,¡± Dat said. ¡°If any of us try to breach it, we¡¯ll end up just like him.¡± ¡°I know. I just want to put him into a more¡­dignified position.¡± ¡°I ¡®an ¡®ear ¡®ou,¡± Elijah muttered, though his speech was rendered almost unintelligible by two factors. First, he couldn¡¯t actually move his mouth, making hard consonants very difficult to enunciate. Second, his cheek was practically glued to the floor, which really wasn¡¯t conducive to clear communication. But to Sadie, the worst part was that his body was folded in on itself. Bent at the waist, with his knees and cheek in contact with the floor, he looked like a toddler sleeping in a particularly awkward position. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t seem like he was in any danger of lasting harm. With his high Constitution and Regeneration, along with Ron¡¯s healing, he would be fine in the long run. Still, Sadie couldn¡¯t help but feel a little sorry for him, even if he had brought it on himself. Elijah mumbled something that no one could understand, so Dat knelt beside him and, after a moment, said, ¡°He says not to worry about him. Just do what we came here to do.¡± He leaned in again, then grinned. ¡°He also says that Dat is the most awesome bro in the group. His words. Thanks, bro.¡± Sadie shook her head and smiled. Leaving him where he was was probably the best option. After all, they had a great opportunity before them ¨C better than anyone could have anticipated. So, they couldn¡¯t let Elijah¡¯s issues derail them. With that in mind, Sadie said, ¡°Does someone want to¡­um¡­keep him company while we search for information pertinent to the challenge?¡± Kurik sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll stay with the idjit,¡± he stated with a shake of his head. ¡°Gives me a chance to collect my traps anyway.¡± Once that was established, the group reestablished their intended topics of research. The first was obviously about the challenge itself ¨C chiefly anything concerning the First Mage ¨C but at the last moment, Sadie added something else. ¡°What can you tell me about the Shadeborne Sect?¡± she asked the disembodied voice of the Librarian. That had been on her mind ever since she¡¯d forced the surviving elder into absolution. The rest of the group labored under the assumption that she¡¯d used some new skill to push the elder into surrendering to execution, but Sadie knew the truth. She hadn¡¯t used any new abilities. It was the result of Confession and Sense of Sin, both of which had been temporarily augmented by a strand of Faith. Even then, none of it would have been possible if the elder hadn¡¯t been beset by crippling guilt. Sadie had only forced her to confront those feelings, and the result had overwhelmed whatever sense of self-preservation the elder had possessed. Such a strategy wouldn¡¯t be viable in every situation, but it had been the perfect way to confront the circumstances of that challenge. Still, Sadie¡¯s actions had left an indelible mark on her own mind, and she wanted to know more about the surrounding details. Fortunately, the Librarian was quite accommodating on both counts. She ¨C and the voice definitely sounded distinctly feminine to Sadie ¨C led the members of the group in two separate directions. The method of her guidance was interesting. Without a corporeal ¨C or visible ¨C body, the Librarian instead created a trail of blinking lights for her to follow. As Sadie made her way through the library, she was awestruck by the wealth of information available. If they¡¯d had the time, she could have spent weeks among those shelves, just reading through the contents of one crystal after another. However, she quickly discovered that doing so would be quite counterproductive. Most contained completely irrelevant information about the societal structure of Ka¡¯arath, detailing the history of various organizations, countries, and even a few empires. The Librarian was perfectly happy ¨C bordering on giddy ¨C to explain as much. That led Sadie to ask a question that had been on her mind since she¡¯d first heard the disembodied voice. ¡°What are you?¡± she asked. ¡°I am the Librarian.¡± ¡°No ¨C I understand that,¡± Sadie stated as they entered a new section. ¡°But what is your nature? Are you a spirit? A construct? Were you ¨C¡± ¡°You are not authorized for that information.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°This section is quite fascinating, as it concerns pre-system history. We were quite primitive at that time, so details are very limited. However, through rigorous study, historians have discovered many interesting details. Does this interest you?¡± the Librarian asked, completely moving on from Sadie¡¯s previous question. That was more than a hint that Sadie should do the same. It took a few minutes before, at last, one of the blinking lights flared brighter than all the rest. ¡°We have arrived in the appropriate section,¡± the Librarian stated. ¡°Modern history. Please follow me as I direct you to the shelf dedicated to the Shadeborn Sect.¡± Sadie turned down the aisle, following it for nearly fifty meters before she reached a shelf that glowed with solid light. When she retrieved one of the crystals, she discovered that it worked identically to the guides purchased from the World Tree. The first in the row of crystals revealed much the same information they already knew from the guide Elijah had discovered in the challenge itself. The second went into more detail about the sect¡¯s formation, but the third was far more interesting:
The War Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. In the year 331 RTE, in the twenty-seventh age, the Shadeborn Sect targeted a young Sorcerer named Yloa of the K¡¯hnam clan. At that point, the one who would become the Lightning Emperor was only recently advanced to Demigod status, and yet, he had already been marked as one with great potential. No one knows for certain why he was targeted for assassination. Some believe it was due to his family¡¯s long opposition to the systemic oppression against ta¡¯alaki. Other Scholars postulate that he made powerful enemies in his rise as a Demigod. Still others have suggested that the assassination order was the result of a personal vendetta. Regardless of the reasons, the Shadeborn Sect attempted to kill him during a family gathering. It immediately went wrong, and a battle ensued. Young Yloa managed to survive, but his entire family was killed. He blamed his ta¡¯alaki allies as well as the established ruling class of ka¡¯alaki. He eventually published the famous Ir-kan, a scathing rebuttal of the current social order that, in turn, launched a rebellion that would eventually become the War that raged across the entirety of Ka¡¯arath. As to the Shadeborn Sect, all but one of their elders was held accountable for their crimes. Most were killed by agents of Yloa, but many were captured by other authorities. The lesser members of the sect were largely spared, though not out of choice. They were infected by a disease native to the Umbra, which transformed them into creatures of shadow. Yloa¡¯s path needs no explanation. His vendetta enveloped the entire planet, and at present, he rules with an iron fist. There are hints of rebellion, though. His former allies waver, and even the Druids have called for resistance. In this Researcher¡¯s opinion, it is all too little and far too late. Yloa is too powerful. He is on the verge of Transcendence. More troublingly, he is also fully committed to his own philosophy. He is an idealist who truly believes that his way is the only path to salvation. If he is pushed to the brink, he will do whatever it takes to win. Outside of mutual destruction, there is no stopping that combination of power and commitment. We can only endure and hope he tires of our planet and moves on. Only then will we be allowed to recover.
The text didn¡¯t end there, but Sadie had no interest in what followed. It was a mixture of historic details and philosophy, neither of which had any bearing on her or her mission. By contrast, the introduction was interesting, even if it didn¡¯t contain much new information. The next few crystals were mostly useless, detailing the fallen sect¡¯s philosophy. It all sounded very noble, focusing on ridding the world of those people who¡¯d both established themselves as evil as well as too powerful to be held accountable by most normal means. However, Sadie knew just how hollow that philosophy was. In the end, the Shadeborn Sect had been no better than any other group of murderers. They killed not for the greater good they claimed to espouse, but rather for the same reasons everyone else killed. In some cases, assassination was the result of personal vendetta. In others, it was transactional. But despite what they claimed, they were rarely motivated by the plight of the oppressed. Their philosophical treatises did mention Angels quite often, though. Specifically, they seemed to emulate mythical Angel Inquisitors, though none of the texts explained much more about them. When she asked the Librarian about the subject, she received no response. So, Sadie continued on, reading more about the Shadeborn Sect. It wasn¡¯t until she reached the very last crystal that she discovered something else interesting:
The Castle of Whispers The fabled Castle of Whispers was not built. It was grown. Using the soul of an Umbral Spirit as fuel, the sole surviving elder of the Shadeborn Sect grew the castle via a forbidden ritual. It is said that those with powerful sensory capabilities can hear its pleas for an end to its captivity.
It went on to explain the suspected method used in the ritual, but even the author admitted that it was only speculation, noting that information on such processes was very difficult to come by. Sadie understood why, too. The idea of trapping a sentient creature¡¯s soul just to create a stronghold ¨C it was abominable. That knowledge also served to soothe Sadie¡¯s conscience somewhat. Executing the elder had been the right thing. Perhaps that was the point of her research. After reading only a little more, Sadie decided that she¡¯d learned enough. With that, she returned to the library¡¯s lobby, where Elijah remained in his awkward position. His eyes were closed, so she assumed that he¡¯d somehow fallen asleep. However, when she drew closer, she could feel the fluctuations in the ethera around him. ¡°What are you doing?¡± He mumbled a response, but it took Sadie a few seconds to understand what he meant. ¡°You¡¯re cultivating?¡± He grunted, though he didn¡¯t open his eyes. Sadie could only wish she had the sort of dedication he possessed. He wasn¡¯t always working on something ¨C he spent plenty of time just exploring with no real aim ¨C but he worked as hard or harder than anyone she¡¯d ever seen. That was an admirable quality that, until very recently, she¡¯d not really noticed. Before Sadie could say anything else, Dat returned. ¡°I think I found the answer,¡± he announced, holding up a crystal. ¡°Or the Librarian found it. I just read it.¡± Sadie took the offered crystal, and when she read it, her eyes widened. ¡°This isn¡¯t going to be easy,¡± she said. ¡°What¡¯s new?¡± Dat responded. That was true. Each of the challenges ¨C save for the City of Toh, which didn¡¯t count because it wasn¡¯t a first-clear ¨C had been impossibly difficult. It was easy to think that the only reason they¡¯d survived was due to luck, which was likely accurate, at least to some degree. However, it was mostly because each member of the group knew how to play their roles. If anyone had been missing ¨C or lacked the skill to do their job ¨C everyone would have already died. She re-read the text:
The Tower of the First Mage Traditionally, the Tower of the First Mage has played host to the senior-most faculty of the Academy Arcanum, which is the preeminent institution of learning on all of Ka¡¯arath. Due to that reputation, the First Mage has historically been regarded as one of the most powerful people in the world ¨C both politically and in terms of progression. So, when the final First Mage set himself against the Lightning Emperor, it required a response. For his own safety, the First Mage activated the Tower¡¯s defenses, which were among the most powerful in the world.
The rest of the essay described the defenses in great detail, though due to a change in tone, Sadie expected that it had been altered by the challenge. That made sense, because there was absolutely no way they would ever gain access to the Tower of the First Mage if it was strong enough to hold a Transcendent at bay. Even so, Dat¡¯s supposition that they had a difficult road to travel was spot on. Hopefully, they would be up to the task ahead. But the way was clear, which was all she could really ask for. 6-74. The Wisdom of No Distractions Elijah had made a lot of progress. Or at least that was what he told himself after spending hours entirely immobile in the most uncomfortable position he could have imagined. After he¡¯d given up on getting out of it without leaving the library, he¡¯d turned his attention to the cultivation of his Soul. He¡¯d been working on it for a while, mapping and planning for when he found appropriately dense ethera to fuel the final push. However, the draining of his energy had given him new insight into everything. So, instead of blindly following the pattern he¡¯d read in the guide he had bought so long ago, he chose to follow his intuition. It was only after hours of sending tiny amounts of ethera ¨C barely enough to even track ¨C to trace its way through his system of channels that he realized how inefficient the old pattern really was. Now, the only question was whether or not he wanted to start over or simply adapt the old plans to accommodate the new information. Regardless of which way he went, it was a good reminder of two major factors. First, the guides were not foolproof. As the Librarian had confirmed, they were all factually correct. However, that didn¡¯t prevent the authors from omitting certain information or espousing opinions as fact. With his training as a scientist, Elijah felt confident that he could distinguish between the two, but he wasn¡¯t without biases of his own. And those biases would lead him down false paths. The second aspect that he needed to be reminded of was that cultivation ¨C or any progression, for that matter ¨C was never one-size-fits-all. What worked for him wouldn¡¯t work for someone like Sadie, and vice versa. So, while the guides were sometimes helpful to point him in the right direction, they couldn¡¯t tell him exactly what path to take. The answers he sought required deep introspection, time, and quite a lot of effort. Because of that, his most recent step forward in the cultivation of his Soul had been woefully inefficient, and it hadn¡¯t taken him nearly as far as he might have hoped. He could keep going down that road and reach the next tier, but he knew it would negatively affect his future. No ¨C if he wanted to reach his potential, he needed to forge his own path. Certainly, he wouldn¡¯t turn down assistance or more information. Everything was helpful. But it was only part of the whole, and not even the most important piece. Instead, the bulk of his progression needed to come from within. Otherwise, it would be far weaker than it should have been. The draining of his ethera had laid that bare, so he chose to look at it as an opportunity rather than the humiliating experience it should have been. He also didn¡¯t like the implication that the Librarian could interpret his intent so clearly. It wasn¡¯t precisely mind reading, but it was close enough that it became a huge red flag. All of that flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as the others discussed the plan. Apparently, the tower was virtually impregnable ¨C it had been built to stymie Transcendents, after all ¨C which meant that to get in, they needed to jump through the system¡¯s hoops. The challenges really weren¡¯t so different from towers. There were bits of history in there, and Elijah knew that some of the people inside had been ¨C or were ¨C real. However, the structure of the challenges seemed almost wholly manufactured. In this case, that meant that to get into the tower, they needed to repair three runes on opposite sides of the academy. Once those were intact, the locking mechanism of the tower would be exposed, allowing them access. There were a couple of problems, though. First, each one of those runes was guarded by a powerful automaton specializing in potent magic. So, before they could repair the runes, they would need to defeat the defenders. And according to the information Dat had found, that would be quite the difficult task, largely because those automatons had been created by the First Mage himself. That brought up the second issue. The First Mage was a legendary Sorcerer who was capable of destroying whole cities on his own. And that wasn¡¯t hyperbole, either. He¡¯d done just that during the War, and on multiple occasions. His exact status was unknown, but many speculated that he¡¯d crossed the threshold into Transcendence. Obviously, he would be brought down to their level, but anyone with that kind of experience would doubtless be a deadly opponent. Before they even had to worry about the First Mage, they would need to address the other problem. ¡°We¡¯re not crafters, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°How are we supposed to fix these runes?¡± It was a valid issue. The information the others had found made it absolutely clear that repairing the runes would require specialized expertise. It was a reminder that defeating the challenges necessitated a wide variety of archetypes to complete. While Elijah and his companions had managed to get by so far ¨C most of them were extremely versatile ¨C it was almost surprising that they hadn¡¯t encountered such an issue before. ¡°Do we have anything else we need to figure out before we leave the library?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Because I would really like to get Elijah¡¯s opinion on this before we make plans.¡± ¡°Aww,¡± Elijah tried to say. It came out sounding more like a particularly rude and juvenile noise. ¡°This place is a treasure trove of information,¡± Ron pointed out. ¡°By all rights, we should spend the rest of our time here, challenge be damned.¡± Sadie shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s quite as valuable as it seems,¡± she stated. ¡°Most of it is interesting enough, but only for a historian. From a practical standpoint, there¡¯s not a lot of useful information here.¡± From Elijah¡¯s standpoint, that made some sense. The system was extremely helpful, but it guarded information quite fiercely. Elijah expected the reasoning behind that was twofold. First, it wanted to ensure the basic veracity of information, so even if the guides in the World Tree¡¯s Knowledge Base didn¡¯t always tell the whole truth, there were no outright lies in there. Second, it wanted control, and for a variety of reasons Elijah could only begin to fathom. The most prevalent of those was that some information was not meant for inexperienced minds. It was better that people earned that knowledge on their own terms ¨C either through gaining ethereum or through their own experiences. Otherwise, things could go very wrong very quickly. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Their current situation was almost certainly a case of the system curating what knowledge was available in the library, which meant that they were unlikely to find anything useful, regardless of how much they searched. Elijah only wished he could say as much, but with his current condition, that was impossible. Thankfully, the others seemed to understand the situation just as well as he did, and they came to a similar conclusion. However, they did resolve to spend another day in the library, just to make sure that they didn¡¯t miss anything important. It was unlikely, but that didn¡¯t mean it was impossible. In the meantime, Elijah refocused on his Soul, tracing a new pattern that incorporated some of the lessons he¡¯d learned. The idea wasn¡¯t only to get the ethera to his spells more quickly. It was meant to do that, but Elijah felt certain that his ill-fated experience with trying to flood his body with ethera had him facing the right direction. So, as the hours passed, he worked on a new design that took that idea and ran with it. Perhaps he was on the wrong track. Maybe he was wasting his time. But his every instinct told him that he was moving down the proper road. With that on his mind, he didn¡¯t even acknowledge the passage of time. Instead, he focused wholly on the task at hand. So, he was a little surprised when the Librarian finally allowed his companions to remove him from the knowledge repository. Once outside, ethera flooded into his body, and thankfully, he experienced none of the side effects that had beset him when he¡¯d drained his own core. His eyes fluttered open, and he finally stretched his arms out wide. His joints popped, and his muscles protested. But it felt amazing to finally have the freedom of movement available to him. ¡°God, that feels good. I always say that you never appreciate the ability to move until you¡¯re paralyzed,¡± he said. ¡°You¡¯ve never said that, bro.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve thought it once or twice,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°You¡¯ve got marks on the side of your face. I can still see the outline of the tiles,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°Call it a fashion statement,¡± Elijah replied, still stretching. ¡°So, find anything new? Or are we still on the same mission?¡± ¡°Nothing pertinent,¡± Ron stated. ¡°But there¡¯s another problem,¡± Dat added. ¡°Isn¡¯t there always?¡± Just then, a trio of sentry golems turned a corner and caught sight of them. The ambulatory armor immediately launched into a sprint. Sadie stepped forward to meet them, though with a hundred yards separating the creatures from the group, it still took a moment for them to arrive. In that time, Dat said, ¡°We won¡¯t get flooded with golems again, but the city¡¯s in lockdown protocol. That means there are going to be patrols.¡± ¡°Fantastic,¡± Elijah said, already shifting into his guardian form. ¡°At least they give experience, right?¡± As he completed his transformation, the three golems arrived. The clash echoed through the streets as he and Sadie stymied their charge. What followed was a brutal melee that reminded everyone just how dangerous the sentry golems could be. The group was capable of dealing with hordes of the things, but not without Kurik¡¯s traps. Minus those, the only way to put the things down was through sheer physical violence. Sadie and Elijah were well suited to that, but the other three were largely out of their element. Ron could still offer his heals ¨C and he did ¨C but his few offensive spells were useless. The same was true of Dat¡¯s and Kurik¡¯s abilities. Even most of the latter¡¯s traps were ineffective. So, the bulk of the responsibility fell on Elijah and Sadie. They responded to it with characteristic vigor. Sadie employed a measured approach that took advantage of her superior technique, while Elijah barreled into the enemy with animalistic savagery. Both were effective, though Elijah took far more wounds along the way. Thankfully, that¡¯s where Ron stepped up, keeping them both going. Dat and Kurik did what they could, using hit and run tactics to inflict as much damage as they could manage. It wasn¡¯t much, but every little bit helped. The first fell pretty quickly when Sadie and Elijah attacked it in unison, though it took a good bit longer to take down the second. They finished the third off within a minute of downing the second. ¡°How far do we have to go?¡± Elijah asked. He hadn¡¯t been privy to their planning session, so he wasn¡¯t as familiar with the city¡¯s layout. ¡°Four miles that way,¡± Dat said, pointing to the east. ¡°The second is about eight miles to the north. The third is opposite the first. And the tower¡¯s in the middle.¡± ¡°This is going to suck, isn¡¯t it?¡± Elijah wondered. It was a rhetorical question. They all knew the path they¡¯d chosen would be a difficult one. The only question was whether or not it would all be worth it in the end. They set off without much delay, and after only a couple hundred yards, they encountered another patrol of sentry golems. The group attacked it using a similar strategy, though with slightly better results. When they were finished, Elijah remarked, ¡°At least it¡¯s good experience. I Just got one-eleven.¡± ¡°I got a level too, bro.¡± ¡°I did as well,¡± Sadie said. Kurik grumbled that he didn¡¯t, while Ron revealed that he¡¯d gained a level too. So, it seemed that the rewards would be commiserate with the annoyance of the challenge. Seeing that, they attacked the journey with a little more enthusiasm, and on their way to the first rune, they were forced to fight against seven more patrols. Each one went down, but with varying degrees of difficulty. For their part, Elijah and his group took their fair share of wounds. Not for the first time, he appreciated having a powerful Healer on his side. Ron made all the difference, and if they¡¯d been forced to fight without him, things would have turned out very differently. Elijah shuddered as he imagined having to play the role of the group¡¯s Healer. In the beginning, he¡¯d done just that, and he knew that if that had continued, he¡¯d have long since abandoned the challenges altogether. But with Ron taking on that burden, he was free to play to his own strengths. It was just one more reason they¡¯d managed so much success. No sooner had that thought passed his mind than they finally reached the site of the first rune. Elijah muttered, ¡°A temple?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think so, bro.¡± ¡°It looks like one,¡± Sadie countered. ¡°But nothing I read suggests they paid much attention to religion. I think it¡¯s just supposed to look important.¡± ¡°That¡¯s kind of dumb, isn¡¯t it?¡± Ron asked. When everyone looked at him, he just shrugged and said, ¡°If these runes are the only way to get into that tower, then it makes more sense to hide them, right?¡± ¡°Unless the defenders are so strong you ain¡¯t gotta worry ¡®bout that kinda thing,¡± Kurik remarked. Elijah hoped that wasn¡¯t the case, but he felt fairly certain that his hopes would be dashed. 6-75. Runes Like the library itself, the site of the first rune was made of engraved crystal. However, instead of a mostly clean design featuring straight lines and sharp edges, the new building was all curves and fin-like protrusions. As Elijah looked upon the glittering structure, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of awe. On Earth, there were plenty of predominantly glass buildings, and many of them were artistically impressive. None of them were surrounded by the same aura of majesty as what lay before him. ¡°It¡¯s easy to forget, sometimes.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Sadie, glancing his way. ¡°That these were real people. That there was a fully realized culture here,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I get caught up in all the challenges ¨C the manufactured parts of it, I mean ¨C but this building really existed. Someone built it. Someone designed it. It was probably some architect¡¯s life¡¯s work, the defining achievement of their professional life. And look at how detailed it is. The level of artistry involved is staggering. It makes me wonder¡­¡± He trailed off, casting his eyes toward the surface of the street. ¡°What is it, bro?¡± ¡°What are we going to leave behind?¡± he asked. ¡°I¡¯ve done a lot of traveling, you know. Thousands of miles. And I¡¯ve seen some wondrous things along the way. But one thing I couldn¡¯t fail to notice is that, even though we¡¯re only five years removed from Earth¡¯s transformation, so little of humanity¡¯s influence has managed to survive. And it¡¯s going to get worse. Thousands of years of history, just gone.¡± He ran his hand through his hair. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess I just hope we don¡¯t forget the people who came before. Building something like the Eiffel Tower isn¡¯t as impressive as that¡­¡± He gestured to the crystal building. ¡°But in a way, it¡¯s just as great an accomplishment. Maybe greater, because we didn¡¯t have fancy abilities or magic. It was built by human skill and human ingenuity. Will all of that be forgotten? How much have we already lost?¡± No one had anything to say to that, because they all knew just how valid a question it was. Humanity¡¯s tale wasn¡¯t finished ¨C far from it, if any of them had anything to say about it ¨C but so much had been lost that it was difficult not to feel a sense of melancholy concerning the soon-to-be-forgotten past. How long would it take before humanity¡¯s greatest accomplishments faded from memory? A generation? Two? Hopefully, someone would work toward keeping it alive. Looking at that crystal building, Elijah was also reminded of just how close to the ledge they really were. Thousands of years of history with the system hadn¡¯t helped the natives of Ka¡¯arath survive. Even with all their power, they¡¯d fallen. ¡°I sometimes think that this whole Trial is just a huge cautionary tale,¡± he remarked. ¡°Don¡¯t do what these people did, you know? I just don¡¯t know how many of the participants have gotten the message.¡± ¡°Not many,¡± Sadie said. That was probably true. Even with his group¡¯s accomplishments, they wouldn¡¯t have known much if it hadn¡¯t been for Elijah¡¯s curiosity. And they were on the cutting edge. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to undercut this poignant moment, but we don¡¯t have time to just stand around and contemplate humanity¡¯s past or our future,¡± Ron pointed out. ¡°It won¡¯t be long before more patrols come by.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°You¡¯re right. Sorry. I just get into weird moods when I stop to think about the implications of everything I¡¯ve seen,¡± he admitted. ¡°I¡¯ll keep it to myself from now on.¡± Sadie reached out and gripped his upper arm. ¡°No. It¡¯s important that we work through it. Just table it for right now,¡± she said. ¡°Yeah. I guess.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t like this version of you,¡± said Kurik. ¡°Kurik!¡± ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± the dwarf asked. ¡°All thoughtful and maudlin? Who likes that? He needs to run off and challenge a giant or somethin¡¯ equally reckless.¡± Elijah chuckled. ¡°I¡¯ll get right on that,¡± he said. He took a deep breath, then said, ¡°We ready to go in?¡± Everyone agreed, and they stepped forward. One of the oddities of Ka¡¯arathian architecture was that most of the buildings were set into the ground. So, instead of climbing steps to reach the entrance, they were forced to descend almost ten feet before they reached the massive door. Like the entrance to the library, the temple-like building was equipped with a circular door that, when they approached, split into seven equal pieces that retracted and rotated until the entrance was open. ¡°I guess we¡¯re expected,¡± Ron said. Elijah didn¡¯t think so. Rather, from the tiny swirl of ethera he¡¯d felt, he expected that the doors worked on a similar principle as the automatic entrances so common on Earth. When someone got close, they would open automatically. In any case, they didn¡¯t hesitate much longer before stepping inside. The interior was almost entirely bare, though Elijah immediately took note of a few key details. First, the crystalline structure allowed for the passage of light, which cast the entire chamber in rainbow light. Clearly, it had been designed with that feature in mind, because the resulting patterns were oddly soothing. Second, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but note the whorls etched upon the floor tiles. But the third detail was the most important. In the center of the room was a small mountain of jagged rock. Within the elegant confines of the crystal building, it looked completely out of place. More distressingly, it pulsed with powerful ethera that told Elijah that they¡¯d found the first runic defender. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The second everyone had passed through the doors, they slammed shut with enough force to send a tremor through the entire structure. Nobody had an opportunity to react before the pile of rocks shifted. Tiny pebbles cascaded down the slope as the rocks shook. Over the next few seconds, that pile of rocks resolved itself into a rough, bipedal, and four-armed shaped. ¡°It¡¯s called a manifested rock spirit,¡± Dat breathed in awe. The thing was at least thirty feet tall and must have weighed hundreds of tons. ¡°How do we kill something like that?¡± Ron wondered. Elijah, already shifting into the Shape of Venom, answered, ¡°The same way we kill any other powerful creature. One bite at a time.¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrible,¡± Sadie muttered, almost too low for Elijah to hear. He ignored her. Just because she couldn¡¯t appreciate a good line didn¡¯t invalidate it. In any case, he scurried to the side as the rock monster spread its arms and let out a roar that shook the very foundations of the crystalline building. Elijah was still incapable of using Guise of the Unseen, but that didn¡¯t mean Shape of Venom¡¯s other abilities were inactive. And as far as he knew, the rock monster wasn¡¯t equipped with the same ethera-nullifying trait that made the sentry golems so difficult to fight. And there was one thing he¡¯d noticed about overly large creatures. Often, enormous size turned out to be more of a detriment than a benefit. He likened it to how he dealt with insects. Sure, he could kill them easily, but not if he never noticed them. And there was also the issue of reach to consider. If an ant was crawling on his back, there really wasn¡¯t much Elijah could do about it. He intended to channel the spirit of an ant. But first, he needed to reach the rock creature, so even as it thundered forward ¨C making a beeline toward Sadie because she¡¯d used Call of the Crusader ¨C Elijah scurried to the right. Dat opened up with his crossbow, and when the glowing bolts hit the rock spirit, they exploded with force that gouged craters into the thing¡¯s chest. ¡°Spells work!¡± he shouted. Even as Elijah circled around, Kurik took off in the opposite direction. As he did so, he tossed out a half-dozen traps ¨C in the form of tiny spikes decorated with gem-like crystals ¨C into the rock spirit¡¯s path. When its foot landed, the floor quaked and those traps activated. Ropes of water exploded, wrapping around the creature¡¯s foot, and lashing it to the ground as they froze. It roared, trying to tug the limb free. At the same time, Sadie let loose with an instance of Blade of the Avenger. The sword that exploded from the ground seemed small compared to the enormous earth spirit, but it erupted with enough force that it easily sliced into the thing¡¯s other foot. It teetered in place, and for a moment, Elijah thought it was going to fall. But then, a pillar of stone exploded from its chest, slamming into the ground and preventing the creature¡¯s fall. It didn¡¯t last long, crumbling only a moment later, but that was enough to let it rip its trapped foot free and regain its stability. Still, it wasn¡¯t happy about the chain of events, and it rumbled forward with ill intent. Elijah tried not to let the progression of the battle affect him. Instead, he chose to trust his companions to do their jobs while he focused on his own. To that end, as soon as he found himself to the creature¡¯s rear, he raced forward and leaped upon the back of its leg. At the same time, its fist ¨C which was more of a rocky club ¨C descended upon Sadie. She activated her shield at the last second, but with how much force ¨C and sheer weight ¨C the thing could bring to bear, Elijah was convinced it wouldn¡¯t be enough. He couldn¡¯t save her, though. If her shield had shattered, and she¡¯d been crushed, he needed to maintain faith that her Constitution could hold up, at least enough that Ron could bring her back. In the meantime, he had a job to do. To that end, Elijah rushed up the rock spirit¡¯s leg, and when he reached the middle of the thing¡¯s back ¨C hoping that such a position would be inaccessible to the thing ¨C he used Envenom and bit it. Elijah had bitten a lot of things since the world¡¯s transformation. But to date, nothing had been quite as hard as the rock spirit¡¯s flesh ¨C such as it was. Still, Elijah only needed to lightly score the surface to inflict Envenom upon it ¨C which was lucky, because his fangs barely managed to penetrate an eighth of an inch into the rock. It was enough, though, and immediately, Elijah felt ethera and stamina flow into the ability and out through his fangs. He pushed more into it, willing the skill closer to its maximum capability. As he did, he discovered two things. For one, the ability didn¡¯t have near the range that something like his Lightning Domain possessed. It wasn¡¯t static, but the span of its effect was so narrow that it might as well have been. For another, the venom had to be pretty painful, because it was at that moment that the rock spirit finally noticed him. As the caustic stuff flowed through it, spreading out from the bite, the monster went wild. It flailed and roared in an attempt to dislodge him, but the nature of Shape of Venom stood him in good stead as he clung to the creature¡¯s rocky body. Its reaction was the distraction that Sadie and the others needed, and soon enough, they had aimed a barrage of attacks its way. Each one chipped a little of its rocky body away, sending a cascade of rocks and to fall upon the floor as clouds of dust filled the air. But the creature wasn¡¯t done. Elijah found that out when he felt the thing¡¯s ethera churn, and a second later, spikes of rock erupted from its body. He twisted, avoiding the first, but the second clipped his side, gouging him down to his ribcage. The third took him in the hind leg, while a fourth barely missed skewering his brain. Instead, it hit him just above the eye, skating across his skull and ripping the flesh from his head. Elijah used Stormbind with his next bite, and lightning lanced out from his fangs, twisting around his venom and spreading through the monster¡¯s rocky body. It stumbled, and the bombardment of rocky spears ceased. More importantly, the venom continued to snake its way through the creature¡¯s form. He bit it, once again using Envenom. After that, he shouted, ¡°Interrupt it when it uses the rock spears!¡± ¡°On it!¡± he vaguely heard Dat yell. Unfortunately, Stormbind wouldn¡¯t be available again for another ten minutes, so he needed to depend on Dat. Thankfully, the Witch Hunter was as reliable as they came, and as the battle wore on, he continued to fire crossbow bolts laced with Hex of Tongues in the creature¡¯s direction. They did almost no damage, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Instead, they were meant to ensure that Elijah wasn¡¯t speared while he continued to inflict his venom upon the monster. At the same time, Sadie maintained Call of the Crusader, keeping it distracted while Kurik continued to throw out traps meant to restrict its movement. And over it all loomed Ron¡¯s healing spells, keeping everyone healthy enough to continue the fight. In the end, killing the rock monster was more of an exercise in focus and persistence than sheer power. None of them were strong enough to take it down alone, but working together, they managed to slowly whittle it down until, at last, it succumbed to Elijah¡¯s venom. He¡¯d lost count of how many times he¡¯d bitten the thing, but he knew it had to at least be in the hundreds. So, when it fell, and he finally allowed himself to slip out of the Shape of Venom, he was absolutely exhausted. He plopped down, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. ¡°Great job everyone,¡± Sadie said. Her patched-together armor was hanging on by a few threads, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if it actually offered any protection anymore. Probably not, meaning that she was likely wearing it more out of habit than for its effectiveness. Once they¡¯d all caught their breath, Elijah broached the subject that had to have been on everyone¡¯s minds. ¡°So, what now? I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s become an expert on runes, have they?¡± 6-76. The Gravity of the Situation The moment Kurik laid eyes on the complex pattern of runes, he knew which specialization he wanted to choose. Which was a good thing, because during the battle through the campus of the Academy Arcana, he¡¯d finally managed to reach level one hundred. Since then, the choice had hovered in the back of his mind, waiting to be made. As the others inspected the runes, looking for a way to activate the mechanism, he settled in at the edge of the room and looked at his options:
Archetype: Ranger Class: Sapper
Specialization Options
Arcane Tinkerer Runic Siegemaster Combat Wardsmith
Permanently increase the potency of all traps by 10%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Dexterity attribute. Expands the effects of Arcane Threading. Permanently increase the potency of all permanent traps and other instruments of war by 25%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Strength attribute. Permanently increase the potency of all temporary traps by 25%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Ethera attribute.
Before he¡¯d reached the appropriate level, he¡¯d already chosen his route. However, he¡¯d been thrown for a loop when the options were not what he¡¯d been led to expect. Everything he¡¯d read about his class said that his choices were immutable. There wasn¡¯t supposed to be variance. And yet, all of his options were different from what he had expected. That was why he¡¯d yet to choose a route. Clearly, his options were much more potent than what was normally given to Sappers. No doubt, his Legacy was far more extensive than most, and his choices reflected that. Any of them would be a great boon, but there were obvious differences between them. The first, called Arcane Tinkerer, seemed to cover the same ground as the less impressive Tinkerer specialization he¡¯d expected. Yet, it wasn¡¯t just more powerful. It was more expansive, as well, increasing the effects of Arcane Threading.
Arcane Threading Passive ability that allows the Sapper to perceive and manipulate small amounts of ethera. Potency dependent on Soul Cultivation.
It was one of the core abilities of his class, and it was responsible for the escalation of his power. Without it, he¡¯d never have been able to make so many different varieties of traps, especially on the fly. The second specialization option, Runic Siegemaster, appealed to his dwarven instincts, and he could easily imagine living out his dream of hunkering down in a massive fortress while his enemies fell to his masterful traps. In that fantasy, he had a bevy of properly silken-bearded women with him. And no pesky Druid dragging him away to alien planets. The final option was appealing for an entirely different reason. Rare was the opportunity that he actually got to plan things out. As a result, he was often forced to rely on short-lived and easily created traps to see him through. The Combat Wardsmith specialization would doubtless assist in that, and given his recent propensity for getting into dangerous situations, it would come in very handy. Still, there was really only one choice he could rightly make, and it seemed the obvious one to him. Especially considering their current predicament. Even as he made his choice of Arcane Tinkerer, Elijah and Sadie were deep in the throes of an argument concerning how they intended to deal with the runes. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°I can fly back, snag a crafter, and be back here in less than a day,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°Assuming you don¡¯t get distracted,¡± Sadie admonished. ¡°What? I never get distracted!¡± ¡°You¡¯re like a squirrel with an attention disorder, bro,¡± Dat pointed out. ¡°Oo, a ruin. Oo, a welcoming crypt. How did I get into space?¡± ¡°That is reductive and you know it, man.¡± ¡°Bro. Be honest.¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s like a puzzle,¡± Ron interjected. ¡°Maybe we just need to figure it out.¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t no puzzle,¡± Kurik said, already having made his choice. He immediately felt the difference. What¡¯s more, he saw how everything was supposed to fit together. ¡°Or not the way you¡¯re thinkin¡¯. You could fiddle with all these tiles for days, and you wouldn¡¯t get no further than you are right now.¡± ¡°Uh¡­welcome back?¡± Elijah said. ¡°I ain¡¯t went nowhere.¡± ¡°Sure. Not physically. But you¡¯ve been sitting in that corner sulking for like an hour,¡± he persisted. ¡°If this is about me teasing you, I didn¡¯t mean ¨C¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t that. But don¡¯t. I don¡¯t like it when you tug my beard.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± ¡°Elijah,¡± Sadie sighed. ¡°Just stop. For once in your life, just stop.¡± ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m playing this game under protest.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no game, you daft Druid,¡± Kurik said, studying the floor. The runes stretched across the entire chamber, and to the untrained ¨C or unskilled ¨C eye, it looked like a chaotic mess. However, with his newly enhanced Arcane Threading assisting him, Kurik could see how everything was supposed to fit together. Of course, it wasn¡¯t just his ability at work. He¡¯d been dealing with threads of ethera for years ¨C and even more so lately ¨C so he had the weight of experience on his side as well. Still, the pattern was complex, so it took him a moment to figure out exactly where everything was meant to go. With his experience and the improved Arcane Threading working in his favor, he soon saw how it all fit together. After that, it was a simple task of solving the puzzle, which required him to shift tiles around until the proper pattern emerged. Inevitably, the others peppered him with questions, to which he responded by grunting. He didn¡¯t appreciate the distractions, and once he¡¯d found his rhythm, he wasn¡¯t going to interrupt the process. ¡°I think he¡¯s gone crazy,¡± Elijah muttered to Sadie. It was just loud enough for Kurik to hear, which was probably the point. ¡°Shut up, Elijah. He¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°He¡¯s in the zone, bro.¡± ¡°He¡¯s just shifting tiles around like an insane person. Dwarf. Whatever. And¡­oh¡­oh, that¡¯s clever. I think I see it now.¡± ¡°It¡¯s ¡®bout time, ya idjit,¡± Kurik said out of the side of his mouth. ¡°I still don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on,¡± Ron admitted, his hands on his hips as he tried to figure out the answers to his conundrum. ¡°And¡­there,¡± Kurik announced, finally shifting the final tile into place. The moment he did, the threads that only he could see lit up, revealing the pattern. ¡°I knew it,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°You didn¡¯t know nothin¡¯. You didn¡¯t see it ¡®til I was almost done.¡± ¡°I was just kidding. You know, making a joke for the others. I totally saw it the whole time,¡± the fool Druid said. ¡°You didn¡¯t, bro. I saw.¡± ¡°Well, not the whole thing. Kurik figured it out first, for sure. But I saw it, too!¡± Elijah claimed, still grinning like an idiot. It was obvious he wasn¡¯t serious, but it still irritated Kurik. But that could be said about just about everything Elijah did. The only question was why Kurik felt the need to grin right along with him. It made no sense. ¡°You are such a liar,¡± Sadie stated, shaking her head. ¡°Is that your professional opinion? Does Sense of Sin pick up lies? Or is it just ¨C¡± She cut him off with a glare. ¡°Fine. Shutting up. Good job, Kurik. That¡¯s one down!¡± ¡°Whatever. Let¡¯s just get this thing done so we can face down another too-powerful monster,¡± Kurik said with a shrug. ¡°But I get all the cores! That was our deal. Any magical power source goes to me.¡± ¡°Nobody else wants ¨C¡± ¡°Of course, Kurik,¡± Sadie interrupted Elijah. With that decided, the group moved on. Of course, the second they left the crystal building ¨C which was suffused with so much ethera that Kurik was surprised it wasn¡¯t glowing ¨C they were accosted by a sentry golem patrol. And as always, Kurik was absolutely astounded by the magical engineering that had gone into creating the things. It was an accomplishment just to put something like that together, much less one that moved as smoothly as the sentry golems. However, what really impressed Kurik was how perfectly the ethera flowed through them. If he hadn¡¯t known better, he would have said they had the benefit of a Novice Soul. But he did know better, which meant that someone had possessed the artistry to mimic the natural system of channels, integrating it so completely that it was nearly indistinguishable from the real thing. He wished he had the time or resources to arrange a full examination of one, but the things were so hostile ¨C and durable ¨C that he didn¡¯t think that very likely. Still, it was a good goal. Gradually, they made their way across the campus. The three rune sites formed a triangle that encompassed most of the academy, so they were around seven miles apart. That didn¡¯t sound like a long way, but when they had to fight for every yard they traveled, it seemed quite a lot longer. In the end, it took them nearly ten hours to reach the next site. From the outside, it appeared much the same as the rest. Elijah claimed that the structure looked like it had fins, though Kurik thought it was closer to a seashell. Whatever the case, entry proved no more difficult than with the last site. However, the guardian was quite different. ¡°It looks like a tornado of magic, bro.¡± That was a surprisingly apt description, but still wholly inadequate. To Kurik, especially with the benefit of the sense afforded by the enhanced Arcane Threading, the creature ¨C which Dat identified as an arcane spirit ¨C was the densest collection of woven ethera that he¡¯d ever seen. If he¡¯d been fascinated by the sentry golems, then the arcane spirit was worthy of obsession. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t share Kurik¡¯s fascination, because it opened with an attack, peppering them with missiles of ethera that sent jolts of the disruptive energy to interrupt their spells and abilities. Then, Dat announced that he could handle it and cranked the mechanism of his crossbow. Before anyone could object, he used some sort of ability and launched a green-glowing crossbow bolt so large that it looked like a spear. When it hit the arcane spirit, the thing¡¯s ethera went wild before winking out altogether. Kurik was ready for it to recover, but after a few seconds, nothing happened. It had simply disappeared. ¡°That was a lot of experience, bro. Almost a whole level,¡± said a grinning Dat. ¡°Did you just kill that thing alone?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°New skill, bro. Seemed to work pretty well.¡± ¡°I¡¯d say so,¡± Elijah muttered, no small degree of jealousy evident in his expression. The Druid never seemed to take it well when someone else upstaged him. Or told him what to do. Or forbade him from anything. In fact, he became a bit sulky anytime he didn¡¯t get his way. Maybe it was the dragon in him. Those lofty existences probably didn¡¯t get told what to do very often. Or maybe he¡¯d always been like that. Kurik hadn¡¯t known him before his world had changed, so he couldn¡¯t say for sure. But at least he got over it quickly, a fact characterized by the quick grin that spread across his face as he slapped Dat on his back. After that, he went on and on about how impressive of a kill it was. Once Kurik solved the latest puzzle ¨C which was satisfying in all sorts of ways ¨C they moved on to the final site. After spending most of another day fighting through one patrol of sentry golems after another, they reached their destination. From the outside, it looked no different from the ones that had come before. But when they entered, Kurik immediately felt the difference. He was forced to his knees as an enormous weight settled onto his body. Dat and Ron were beset by a similar effect, with the Healer ending up flat on his face, where he remained. For his part, Kurik felt like his bones were cracking under the pressure, but he looked up to see that Sadie and Elijah remained upright, though both were clearly straining. More importantly, a pulsing mass of darkness floated in the center of the room. Making things worse, Kurik didn¡¯t need Dat to identify the creature. ¡°Gravity spirit,¡± he whispered. 6-77. Bearing the Weight of Sacrifice Once upon a time, Ron had thought of himself as steady and unflappable in a crisis. After all, he¡¯d completed his residency in the emergency room, where urgent situations were the defining characteristic of his job. He¡¯d parlayed that cool-headed nature into survival after the world had changed. It was the only reason he or Hope had survived, and dozens of other people in their community owed him their lives. Yet, as he looked at the swirling mass of darkness ¨C there was a vaguely humanoid shape in there, though he could barely perceive it ¨C he couldn¡¯t help but lock up in fear. Not that he could move anyway. The moment he and the others had stepped into the chamber, he¡¯d been forced to his knees. A second later, he was on his stomach with his cheek practically glued to the tile floor. After Kurik had identified the creature, it all made sense. Gravity spirit. Never had Ron wished he¡¯d invested a few points into his Strength attribute more than at that very moment. His body was heavy, and in a way that rendered him entirely immobile. The same was true of Dat, whose attribute allocation made him almost as vulnerable as Ron. Kurik fared a little better, having only fallen to his knees. Thankfully, Elijah and Sadie remained upright. If they hadn¡¯t¡­ Ron didn¡¯t want to dwell on that line of thinking. He¡¯d faced death hundreds of times since the world had changed, and he¡¯d found that it was better just not to think about it. Anything else, and he¡¯d go insane with worry. Not for himself. He¡¯d made peace with his own mortality well before the apocalypse. Rather, he feared for his daughter¡¯s fate. After all, Hope wasn¡¯t well. She hadn¡¯t been for a long time, either. And if something didn¡¯t change, her disease was going to kill her. That was why he¡¯d come to the Trial in the first place. Initially, he¡¯d hoped to meet a proper alchemist who could replicate Hope¡¯s medication ¨C which, after five years, supplies had all but dwindled. But now, with all the levels he¡¯d gotten, he hoped to become powerful enough to cure her himself. Which had once seemed like a pipe dream. After all, leukemia ¨C especially the chronic sort ¨C didn¡¯t really behave like most cancers. To date, medical science hadn¡¯t figured out how to cure it. Instead, it was treated via constant medication. Fortunately, Ron knew where that medication was produced, so shortly after the world¡¯s transformation, he and his neighbor had set out on a quest to gather as much as they could so that Hope would have a chance of survival. Jack hadn¡¯t survived that trip, but Ron had managed to acquire enough of Hope¡¯s medication to see her through for years. Now, the supply was almost gone. If she¡¯d been a little older, she might have been able to fix the issue herself. Constitution and Regeneration were powerful factors. However, she¡¯d only managed to unlock the system a year before, and she¡¯d not had time to make appreciable gains. What¡¯s more, she hadn¡¯t been offered a combat archetype at all, which meant that her class options offered meager increases to the attributes pertinent to her survival. The problem was the nature of her disorder. It went down to her chromosomes, which made it particularly tricky to treat, much less cure. Her medication worked, and remarkably well, but the limited supply meant that her continued survival was on a timer. That was a difficult thing for a father to accept. He could deal with the idea of his own death. He¡¯d even endured his wife¡¯s demise remarkably well ¨C at least publicly, mostly for Hope¡¯s sake ¨C but he was self-aware enough to know he¡¯d never make it if his daughter died. He wouldn¡¯t want to. He¡¯d already made arrangements with Dat for if he did pass. The affable man had promised to do everything he could to ensure Hope¡¯s survival. And Ron trusted that Dat would move mountains if necessary. He was just that kind of person ¨C the sort who¡¯d sacrifice everything to help someone in need. But Ron suspected it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Of late, he¡¯d latched onto the notion that the only way Hope would make it was if he cured her disease himself. That was why he was so looking forward to his upcoming choice of Specialization, though his level ninety-five spell had given him some hope.
Healer¡¯s Burden A powerful heal that far exceeds the effect of any previous spells, both in terms of scope and potency. Use of this spell requires the Healer to take on the wounds of his patient. Potency based on Core Cultivation and Ethera attribute. Will not result in the Healer¡¯s death.
He¡¯d yet to use the spell, but the description wasn¡¯t difficult to decipher. It was an extremely powerful healing ability that came with a cost that wasn¡¯t measured in ethera. Instead, it would require him to make a personal sacrifice where he would incur his patients¡¯ wounds. And it gave him hope for his daughter¡¯s future. If he could use it to heal Hope, effectively transferring her disease to his own body, he felt certain that he could overcome it with superior cultivation and levels. And if not? Well, that was a trade he was more than willing to make. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t think about any of that at the moment, because even as he lay on the floor, completely immobile, Sadie and Elijah faced off against the gravity spirit. Fortunately, while he couldn¡¯t move, he could still cast his spells ¨C albeit sluggishly ¨C so he focused on keeping his friends alive as they battled the monster. * * * Dat regretted not working more on his Strength attribute. Or his Body cultivation. If he¡¯d gone that route, perhaps he would have been able to do more than wiggle about a little. But in his defense, other attributes were far more important than Strength. The same could be said for the other categories of cultivation. As much as he wished he could have it all, it just didn¡¯t make sense to turn his focus from the things that actually affected his ability to do his job. This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source. Despite the fact that a battle was going on not fifty feet away, Dat could do nothing. All of his skills required some physical component ¨C usually shooting his crossbow or swinging his shortswords ¨C so he was entirely impotent. He focused on the one thing that might make a difference. During the trek from the last rune site to their current location, he¡¯d finally reached level one hundred. That meant that he had a choice in front of him, and one he¡¯d only given a cursory glance on their way to the last site.
Archetype: Ranger Class: Witch Hunter
Specialization Options
The Stalker The Killer The Dreaded
Permanently increase the potency of all non-combat abilities, with a special emphasis on stealth and tracking, by 21%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Dexterity attribute. Permanently increase the potency of all attack skills by 15%. Also grants an additional point per level to the Strength attribute. Permanently increase the effectiveness of all faith-based abilities by 10%. Additionally, increases the potency of abilities that apply status effects.
There was something to be said for each option. The Stalker would help him fill his role as the group¡¯s scout. The Killer specialization would obviously make him more lethal. And the Dreaded option would make abilities like Hex of Tongues more effective. In addition, the last choice would affect the sorts of abilities that could turn the tide of a battle. In short, it was a choice between enhancing his non-combat abilities, offensive skills, or buffing the skills that had been affected by his Angel Core. On balance, it was not a difficult choice. The additional Dexterity would always be welcome, but the reason he was special wasn¡¯t his class or his attributes. He was different because of his core. So, it only made sense to choose the third specialization option. He did just that, though it didn¡¯t have any outward effect. He didn¡¯t feel any different, either. No influx of power. No new knowledge. That was as expected, he supposed, but it was still a little anticlimactic. So, even as Sadie and Elijah fought the monster ¨C the latter had changed into his smaller form and was currently savaging the creature¡¯s back ¨C Dat focused on the other order of business. He¡¯d gotten an ability at level one hundred as well.
Curse of the Greater Good Make a sacrifice for a worthy cause.
And Dat had no idea what it meant. The first thing that came to mind was the Warlock, Benedict. The man used sacrifices to empower ritual circles, which in turn summoned various demonic entities. The notion that he might have a similar ability terrified him. Dat¡¯s class was odd, dabbling in the very things he was supposed to fight. When he¡¯d first taken it, he¡¯d thought that he¡¯d be hunting Witches and other evil creatures. However, when he¡¯d gotten his first curse spell, he¡¯d come to the conclusion that the class had a dual meaning. He was intended to hunt Witches and other powerful magic users. But he was also a Witch ¨C or something like it ¨C who hunted. That had resulted in an existential crisis that he¡¯d only gotten through because of Lisa. She¡¯d helped him see that he wasn¡¯t his class, that the power itself wasn¡¯t evil. Rather, that would be determined by his actions. And then she¡¯d died not long after. Dat still hadn¡¯t gotten over it. Perhaps he never would. There were days when he thought he saw her out of the corner of his eye, just as beautiful as ever. At times, he would wake up and expect to find her lying beside him. He often dreamed of her. Of the future they¡¯d never get to have. More than once, he¡¯d wished he could change places with her, that he¡¯d been the one to die while she got to live. She was a better person. The best person he¡¯d ever known, in fact. The world was a worse place for her absence. Perhaps that was the meaning of his new skill. Maybe he could sacrifice himself so that someone better might survive. Or it might mean that he could sacrifice someone else for the same purpose. It might even mean giving something up. The reality was that he simply didn¡¯t know, and unless he managed to find information on the ability in the World Tree¡¯s Knowledge Base, he questioned whether he ever would. That had to be a priority when he reached a Branch. But for now, he could only watch as his companions fought against the gravity spirit. * * * Sadie pushed ethera into Bulwark of the Faithful, shielding herself while simultaneously activating Consecrated Shield to protect Elijah, who¡¯d shifted into the Shape of Venom once he¡¯d reached the creature¡¯s back. However, like the earth spirit, the gravity spirit was equipped to handle smaller attackers. Instead of spears of rock, it did so with a field of much increased gravity that pressed down on Elijah so hard that it was a miracle that he¡¯d managed to hold on. She wasn¡¯t sure if the shield helped at all, but aside from her paltry healing ¨C Light of Eskar was never intended as a game-changing spell, but rather as a stop gap that could keep her or an ally alive until someone better equipped to help could step in ¨C it was all she could do for him. In the meantime, she used Call of the Crusader, hoping to keep the monster¡¯s attention on her. And it worked. The swirling darkness solidified into a massive fist that fell upon her with endless weight. She met the fist with an upraised blade, but the Sword of Morning did nothing to stop the inevitability of the attack. Bulwark of the Faithful shattered, infusing her with increased attributes. It didn¡¯t matter. With the weight of the gravity spirit¡¯s aura pressing down her, she was entirely incapable of standing up to the creature¡¯s attack. She crumpled. Thankfully, even as she felt bones breaking, Ron¡¯s heals joined her own hastily cast Light¡¯s Embrace. Unlike Light of Eskar, the effect of her personal heal was self-only, but it traded versatility for power. That, in combination with Ron¡¯s spells, allowed her to survive the blow. As the creature¡¯s fist retracted ¨C shrinking back into itself ¨C her bones mended and she used Blade of the Avenger to exact revenge. The enormous sword exploded from the ground, slicing into the mass of darkness. It must have hit something solid ¨C which she couldn¡¯t really see ¨C because the thing let out a scream that was less of a sound and more of a subaudible thump that immediately burst her eardrums and turned her insides to jelly. Or that¡¯s what it felt like. Fortunately, Ron¡¯s healing spells were still ongoing, so she recovered quickly. In the meantime, Elijah continued his own assault as he feebly bit the monster. It was a good thing that his abilities ¨C at least in that form ¨C didn¡¯t require him to bite deep, because he could scarcely move, much less get much force behind his attacks. On and on it went, and Sadie was reminded that being a defender was often a study in simple endurance. Not of the physical sort ¨C that came with the territory ¨C but rather, regarding pain tolerance and mental fortitude. It wasn¡¯t easy to take so much punishment. And yet, that was the role she had chosen. That was who she was. For better or worse, she¡¯d much rather be the one taking the hits than allow someone else to shoulder that burden. It was a sacrifice she was willing to make for the greater good ¨C a decision she would make a thousand times out of a thousand. If her pain meant that someone else would be spared, then she would gladly choose that path. Over the next hour, the monster slowly lost its fury as it succumbed to Elijah¡¯s venom. It was a powerful toxin, but against powerful creatures like the gravity spirit, it was not fast-acting. Either way, it was effective and, eventually, the cloud of darkness dissipated to reveal a large, slender, and humanoid shape that, only a second or two later, collapsed in on itself. It broke apart moments later, and the aura of gravity gradually faded until it was gone altogether. Elijah shifted back into his human form, looked down at the gravity spirit, and said what they were all thinking. ¡°Fuck this thing.¡± 6-78. Familiarity Running his hand along the banister, Elijah remarked, ¡°This is not what I expected.¡± The interior of the tower, which had opened after Kurik had solved the puzzle of the last rune, reminded Elijah of a Gilded Age smoking room ¨C the ones with leather, rich wood, and the sort of subdued opulence characteristic of the truly rich. Of course, that was just the general atmosphere. The details were obviously alien and very different. There was wood, but it was bone white. There was leather, but instead of a rich brown, it was green ¨C doubtless from one of the predominantly reptilian creatures native to the jungles. The general design was different, too, with way too many curves and unnecessary protrusions. However, the feel of the place fit the comparison. Or maybe it was the smell of leather and smoke. Did it matter that the smoke came from censers hanging from the wall, rather than overpriced cigars made in a third-world country? Not really. ¡°Yeah,¡± agreed Dat, leaning over the same banister and looking down the staircase that spiraled into darkness. There was clearly an extensive part of the tower that had been built underground. ¡°It reminds me of university,¡± Sadie said. Then, she quietly added, ¡°And all the places I was never allowed to go.¡± Elijah knew that Sadie¡¯s educational background included Ivy League schools, which were typically hotbeds for exclusionary practices. Had she been left out because of her gender? Or her race? Maybe both, but Elijah had heard enough stories about that sort of thing to know that it was probably worse than she would ever admit aloud. ¡°Which way should we go? Up or down?¡± asked Ron, interrupting the awkward silence that Elijah immediately wished he¡¯d filled. But as much as he wanted to offer Sadie his support, he didn¡¯t think she would appreciate it. Not from him, at least. She had begun to tolerate him, but they definitely hadn¡¯t become friends. There was too much baggage there. ¡°Both, I think,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But if you¡¯re asking me where I think we¡¯ll find the First Mage, it¡¯s got to be the top.¡± ¡°Why do you think that?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Mostly because it seems like the longer path. The system doesn¡¯t seem interested in shortening these challenges,¡± he answered. Indeed, it always put goals at the end of the road, even if it didn¡¯t make much sense. ¡°But it¡¯s also because if I was an ultra-powerful wizard, I¡¯d definitely take the penthouse.¡± ¡°They might not think like us,¡± she pointed out. ¡°I think there are a lot more commonalities than differences,¡± he argued. Was that the result of a genuine picture of the fallen civilization? Or was it due to the system¡¯s interference? Maybe a little of both. ¡°In any case, I agree,¡± she said. ¡°Down, then up.¡± After that had been established, the group fell into their normal formation. Sadie led the way, followed by the others, with Elijah taking the rear-guard position. Descending the staircase, which was around fifteen feet wide, with steps that were a little too steep to be comfortable, was a bit awkward. To make it a little easier, Elijah shifted into Shape of the Guardian. ¡°Jealous, bro,¡± remarked Dat as he saw the ease of Elijah¡¯s descent. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± said Ron. ¡°Before the apocalypse, my knees couldn¡¯t have handled this.¡± ¡°Shh,¡± chided Sadie. ¡°Pay attention.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need her reminder. Ever since they¡¯d entered the tower, he¡¯d kept his focus on the sense he gained from One with Nature. He¡¯d learned that it wasn¡¯t perfect ¨C and in the challenge of the Ethereum, it was slightly muted ¨C but it still kept him apprised of any nearby threats. As it turned out, his vigilance proved unnecessary. Like the campus surrounding the tower, the interior was entirely unoccupied. They quickly reached the next level down, which contained a variety of rooms that had the aura of study halls. There were no desks or anything, but there were a multitude of stands supporting prisms that looked the same as what they¡¯d found in the library. When Elijah touched one, he got nothing, though. ¡°Empty,¡± he said. ¡°What do you think they were used for?¡± ¡°Maybe they used them to take notes,¡± Dat suggested with a shrug. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°Stay focused. We have no idea what threats we¡¯ll face in here.¡± It was a good reminder that, despite the fact that they had yet to encounter enemies, it was a bit na?ve to think that situation would persist. After all, it was still a challenge, which meant that the ultimate goal was to kill them. After moving on, they discovered that almost every room on that level was much the same as the first they¡¯d found. There were a couple of aberrations, though nobody could ascertain the purpose of the other chambers. ¡°Maybe they¡¯re bathrooms,¡± said Elijah. ¡°Or storage closets. There¡¯s no telling.¡± ¡°Let¡¯s move on,¡± Ron suggested. ¡°There¡¯s nothing here.¡± Elijah disagreed. When confronted with the remnants of an alien civilization, he wanted to know all the details. The minutiae. The mundane characteristics that would solidify the natives of Ka¡¯arath as a real people. He¡¯d already missed one opportunity to do just that when he offended the curator of the library, and he didn¡¯t want to lose out any other chances. But he was clearly in the minority, so after only a little more inspection, they continued their efforts at exploration. The next few levels were much the same, but when they reached the fifth, they found something far more interesting. ¡°Those¡¯re runes,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Depowered, but similar to the puzzles we found before.¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Indeed, there were twenty squares ¨C maybe a hundred square feet each ¨C containing tiles that looked almost identical to the ones they¡¯d found at the rune sites that had unlocked the tower. ¡°They¡¯re probably for practice,¡± Elijah guessed, having shifted back to his human form each time they entered a new room. The Shape of the Guardian was useful for making the steps easier to traverse, but he preferred to inspect the rooms in his natural shape. ¡°Do you want to stick around and see what you can learn?¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t much to learn from inert tiles,¡± Kurik said, leaning over to inspect a depression next to one of the squares. ¡°This is where the power source goes. I ain¡¯t wastin¡¯ my crystals on this.¡± ¡°Fair enough,¡± Elijah said. Sadie added, ¡°We should inspect this area closely. It feels like it might be important.¡± ¡°Might be some spare parts ¡®round here, too,¡± Kurik stated. Everyone spread out to search the area, but to their disappointment, they found nothing. Everything of note was part of the infrastructure, and any attempts to dislodge the tiles was met with failure. So, they continued on. The next level down was much the same, though the tiles were arranged in a circular pattern. Kurik claimed that was significant, but he didn¡¯t know why that might be. What was clear was that there was nothing to keep them there. Ten more levels saw increasingly complex shapes and patterns until, at last, they reached the bottom floor. That¡¯s where they found the cages. The creatures inside were all long dead, their flesh rotted away until only skeletons remained. Elijah recognized some of them as animals he¡¯d seen ¨C or killed ¨C during the Trial, so it didn¡¯t take him long before he came to what, in retrospect, should have been the obvious conclusion. ¡°Animals for testing,¡± he said, his jaw flexing as he clenched his fists. He¡¯d never been a staunch environmentalist. He knew that, back on Earth, animal testing was a necessary part of advancing a number of incredibly important fields of study. For example, many people owed their lives to drugs that had been tested and refined via animal studies. And he could admit that human lives would always be more important than those animals¡¯ continued existence. However, seeing the aftermath of such testing was enough to push him toward his boiling point. Reason gave way to passion, and his fury raged through his mind. Sadie¡¯s voice interrupted his building rage. ¡°Elijah¡­¡± He blinked, then realized that he was shaking. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he grunted. But he wasn¡¯t. If he¡¯d had an enemy to attack, he would have without even considering the implications. Because in that moment, he didn¡¯t care about justification. He didn¡¯t care about consequences. He just wanted to hurt something he could hold responsible for the tragedy before him. He took a deep breath, then repeated, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± He looked around. ¡°I can¡¯t be here.¡± Then, he retreated to the steps, where he sat heavily. In his human form, the steps were almost a perfect height for brooding. A few moments later, Sadie followed and sat next to him. After a couple of seconds of awkward silence, she asked, ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°It¡¯s your archetype, isn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe.¡± The reality was that there was no way to determine the origin of the rage still flowing through him. It was easy to blame his Druidic nature. It was certainly powerful enough to influence his reactions. However, there was part of him that knew that was too simple of an answer. That it was a copout. It was difficult to hold humanity ¨C or other sapient races like elves and dwarves ¨C above animals when he knew what they could become. He¡¯d felt them, too. Despite how he usually used it, One with Nature wasn¡¯t just some magical radar that gave him a picture of his surroundings. It forced him to connect with every living thing in his general vicinity, to feel what they felt, to give him insight into their lives that no human could experience without having it affect them. So, was it his archetype that had pushed the anger onto him? In a way, yes. But in another way, it was just a natural reaction to his expanded perspective. In either case, he couldn¡¯t afford to lose control. ¡°I know how you feel,¡± she said, laying her hand over his. It was cold but comforting. ¡°You told me once that I was in control of my skill, not the other way around. It was good advice.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he simply sat there seething as images of dying animals flashed in his mind. He took one deep breath after another, but the rage continued to rampage through him. Sadie¡¯s touch helped a little, but even with that, it took him a long few minutes before he managed to wrestle his emotions into submission. They didn¡¯t go away. Perhaps they never would. But when he shoved them into one facet of his Mind, he felt a little calmer. ¡°I¡¯m okay.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± she asked. ¡°No.¡± And he didn¡¯t. Maybe it was necessary. It was probably a good idea to work through things. But at the moment, it was much easier to keep it all bottled up and out of the way. After all, they were in the middle of a deadly challenge, and no one had time to let him unburden himself of emotions he should never have let take control. ¡°I¡¯m fine now. Just a brief lapse,¡± he added. ¡°Elijah¡­¡± Thankfully, it was at that moment that the others left the prison behind. Dat said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing in there. We should move on.¡± No one argued, and they did as he¡¯d suggested. For his part, Elijah had lost all enthusiasm to uncover the culture of the people who¡¯d built and lived in the tower. He still did his job and kept an eye out for danger, but otherwise, he moved like he was on autopilot. Even so, he couldn¡¯t ignore the changing nature of the levels. The first few above-ground levels were dedicated to what he would categorize as lecture halls. The next few were workspaces. And after that came the personal quarters of faculty. The last category was dedicated to apartments, each one containing multiple rooms. Some were opulently decorated, while others were as sparse as any prison cell. Oddly, there were some commonalities between the living conditions on Earth and what they witnessed in the tower. Instead of beds, those rooms were equipped with elaborate hammocks, and Elijah recognized couches and divans as well. He even found a tea set, not so dissimilar from what might have been found back on Earth. It seemed so out of place that Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder what cultural branch had led two isolated cultures separated by an unfathomable distance to the same destination. The speculation acted as a calming force, and at last, he began to move past the rage that had enveloped him so completely. So, when they finally reached the top level, he felt as clear-headed as was possible. ¡°Do we have a plan of attack?¡± he asked, standing on the other side of an opulently etched door of cloudy crystal. He could vaguely see a few shapes on the other side, but One with Nature couldn¡¯t penetrate further than the door. ¡°We have no idea what we¡¯ll face,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°So, general strategy,¡± Ron stated. That meant that Sadie would lead the way, with the others hanging back for ranged attacks and healing. Elijah would be the wildcard, using whichever form he thought was best for the situation. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Sadie asked, glancing at each of them in turn. They indicated that they were as prepared as they were going to get. So, she put her hand on the door, activating the same locking mechanism they¡¯d found on many other doors throughout the facility. Ethera raced out from that point, creating a spiderweb of energy that quickly covered the entire door. Then, it disappeared altogether, revealing a wizened old ta¡¯alaki sitting upon an elaborate, crystal throne. He looked too exhausted to even stand, but there were crackling orbs of pure ethera dancing a foot or so above his head. He was also encased by a shimmering, blue shield that looked thick enough to absorb whatever damage they threw at him. Even as Elijah¡¯s mind whirled with potential strategies to bypass that shield, the ta¡¯alaki lifted his head and opened his eyes. ¡°Good,¡± he rasped in a voice rubbed raw by innumerable years. ¡°You have finally arrived. I have been watching you for some time. Listen closely, because I only have a few minutes before I can no longer resist the system¡¯s dictate.¡± 6-79. Scope Sadie leveled her sword at the old ta¡¯alaki. He didn¡¯t even twitch, though the balls of arcane power continued to crackle as they swirled above him. ¡°We do not have time for this,¡± he sighed. ¡°What do you want?¡± Elijah asked, stepping forward to stand next to Sadie. He gripped his staff with white knuckles as fear flowed through him. Because he felt that the ta¡¯alaki was entirely unrestrained. The power circulating through the First Mage¡¯s body ¨C and all around him ¨C reminded Elijah of Kirlissa, though somehow more restrained. It was markedly weaker, but to Elijah, it was still overwhelming. If Elijah or his companions tried to fight, they would die. And the ta¡¯alaki would barely have to shift a finger. ¡°I have sacrificed everything to hold the shackles at bay,¡± he said. ¡°But I do not have much time. The system will not tolerate my rebellion for long.¡± He took a deep breath, and the orbs of ethera swirled a little faster. ¡°You ask what I want, and I give you the only answer that matters. Yloa must die, and you must do it now, while he is weakened. Or he will destroy an untold number of lives. He may even join the Ravener.¡± ¡°Why? Tell us what¡¯s going on,¡± Sadie said. Elijah added, ¡°We know a little about the war.¡± ¡°You know nothing. Do you have any notion of how many people die in a war that lasts hundreds of years? Do you have any concept of the sheer weight of the lives that have been lost? That Yloa has taken? He did not start like that. He ¨C¡± ¡°The Shadeborn Sect. We know what they did,¡± Sadie said. ¡°That little assassination attempt was only the end of a very long road,¡± the First Mage stated. ¡°He had begun to radicalize long before that ill-timed mistake. He used it, though. He framed himself as a martyr, and my people rallied behind him. He promised so much. Not just equality. Supremacy. He told us he would turn the tables, that we would no longer occupy the lowest rungs of our society. We would be the rulers, and the supposedly superior ka¡¯alaki, our slaves. ¡°That turned it into a war or survival. Would-be allies among the ka¡¯alaki refused to help us,¡± he went on. ¡°I do not blame them, either. It was a matter of simple preservation. Some, like the Druids, tried to stay neutral, as was their mandate. Yet, in the end, even they chose sides. ¡°The wrong one, as it turned out.¡± The tower rumbled, but the First Mage continued, ¡°Eventually, he won, and he delivered precisely what he¡¯d promised. It was a golden age for the ta¡¯alaki, but it came at a terrible cost. I shudder at the memory of how our cousins were treated. Many became no more than slaves. Many, many more were simply killed. Justice for centuries of mistreatment, it was called. In reality, it was simple vengeance. Justice had nothing to do with what we did. With what we allowed to happen.¡± He paused for a long moment before saying, ¡°History is cyclical. If you manage to live long enough, you will see it. What happens today will be repeated in the future. So it was after the war. Even as Yloa presided over a gilded age of ta¡¯alaki dominance, unrest began to brew. A powerful resistance was born, and yet another war began. This time, the ka¡¯alaki had the edge. ¡°Yloa had yet to reach transcendence, but even then, he could match anyone on Ka¡¯arath. The slight edge was not enough to result in a decisive victory, so the war dragged on. Once, his empire stretched across the entire planet, but eventually, it was confined to a single continent. Then, it shrank further until he barricaded himself in his fortress. ¡°Desperate, he crossed a line that no one should ever cross. He opened a connection to the Abyss. We do not know how he managed it, but at first, he only captured Voxx to be released on his enemies. The chaos that ensued allowed him to regain some lost ground. Yet, it was not enough. By that point, most of the planet was against him. Ka¡¯alaki and ta¡¯alaki alike fought against his tyranny. ¡°Yloa¡¯s desperation grew, and he delved deeper into the Abyss. Too deep. It is unknown if the Abyss¡¯ influence changed him or if he simply lost all context for what he was doing. What is known is that, through some forbidden ritual, he infected his closest followers with Abyssal power. They swept out from the Seat of Thunder, slaughtering any who stood against them. At last, Yloa had his enemies at a disadvantage. He was winning. ¡°But the system¡¯s original purpose was to curtail and control the influence of the Abyss. It would not let such an infection stand. Yloa was given a choice. Cut off the Abyss, destroy his connection, and surrender his power. The alternative was Ka¡¯arath¡¯s excisement from the World Tree. ¡°He tried to escape, but his way was barred. He attempted to draw more power from the Abyss, and for a while, it worked. He finally passed the threshold to become a Transcendent. ¡°It was not enough.¡± The First Mage sighed and went silent. It only lasted for a moment, but in that time, Elijah understood what had happened. Still, he didn¡¯t say anything as the ta¡¯alaki continued his tale. ¡°The excisement occurred only a year after Yloa reached transcendence. He fought against it, but what hope could a new Transcendent have against a system built by nine of the most powerful entities to have ever existed? He was as a child to any of them. And together? The system they built far exceeded even their combined power. It is a masterpiece with dominion over everything in the nine realms. Even the Abyss, driven by its terrible hunger, cannot stand against it. What hope did Yloa have? If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. ¡°The planet was excised from the World Tree. Some managed to escape, but only a few. ¡°Those first few years were¡­difficult. I died fighting one of the most powerful fiends to descend upon our planet,¡± the First Mage stated, casting his eyes downward. ¡°A sliver of my soul remained, harvested by the system to be used in Towers and Trials.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you try to escape?¡± asked Dat. The First Mage blinked. ¡°I was old. Even before the planet¡¯s excisement, I was close to my end. I stayed so that I could protect others. Perhaps I could even help some escape. I failed on both counts. ¡°But Yloa, for all his faults, was always powerful. And he knew the Abyss better than anyone. Through a great number of sacrifices, he managed to erect a shield around this continent. Again, he did not consider the consequences. Cut off from the Abyss, his corrupted followers withered. Many went into hibernation. ¡°It did not end there, though. The Abyss is corruptive. It burrows into you like an addictive drug until you can no longer live without it. The other survivors discovered that soon after Yloa erected his shield. They shared a fate with the Lightning Emperor¡¯s chosen followers. I believe you call them wraiths.¡± Elijah¡¯s stomach twisted into knots. Since the beginning, they¡¯d been hunting the wraiths like they were pests. But all that time, they were Ka¡¯arath¡¯s fallen people. Behind him, Dat bent over and vomited. Sadie paled. Kurik clenched his fists. Only Ron remained stoic. ¡°What do you want from us? Why are you telling us this?¡± asked Sadie. ¡°Because I need your help,¡± the First Mage said. That did not surprise Elijah. ¡°Yloa is not like me. He is not a sliver of a soul. Neither are the people in his stronghold. They are all real, mostly descendants of his closest allies. He protected them. Nurtured them. And if they managed to defeat your people, they will be unleashed upon the multi-verse. Yloa¡¯s growth has stagnated here, but if he is allowed off this planet, his progression will resume. He will kill millions. Billions. He no longer bothers with justifications. He doesn¡¯t care about oppression. He is cursed with an Abyssal hunger that will drive him forward until he consumes everything in his path. ¡°You can stop him. He is shackled. Brought down to the level of a mortal and forced to play his role. He has never been more vulnerable. You must take advantage of that. You must kill him and his followers. ¡°Won¡¯t that doom your planet, though? The ones left, I mean,¡± Elijah said. ¡°They are already lost. It is a necessary sacrifice. Only a few thousand remain. When weighed against the number Yloa will kill, that is nothing,¡± said the wizened ta¡¯alaki. ¡°I beseech you, please remove this stain from our proud history. Do not let Yloa ¨C and his actions ¨C be what defines us.¡± Elijah ¨C nor any of his companions, from he could tell ¨C knew how to respond to the First Mage¡¯s request. They¡¯d come into the challenge expecting a fight, and they¡¯d gotten a terrifying history lesson instead. And the First Mage¡¯s story served to cement a thought in Elijah¡¯s mind. The Trial wasn¡¯t just about getting stronger. It was that, certainly. But as he¡¯d long suspected, it was also a cautionary tale. And an execution. At first, he¡¯d thought the First Mage had managed to escape the system¡¯s influence and gone off-script. Maybe that was the case. But with everything he knew about the system¡¯s power ¨C and it seemed as close to absolute as was possible ¨C he expected that it was just another layer of deception. It was all part of the act. ¡°Now, I must ask that you end my life before the system brings me back under its control,¡± the First Mage said, the ethera surging around him. ¡°I assure you that you do not want to face me as an enemy. I understand if you do not ¨C¡± Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate, springing forward, using Shape of the Guardian. By the time he reached the First Mage, the transformation was complete, and he had just enough time to activate Savage Might. So, when his claws fell upon the frail creature, they ripped through him without hesitation. Sadie hadn¡¯t hesitated, either, and she had used Blade of the Avenger. Dat had fired a stream of crossbow bolts, and Kurik had shot an arrow bound for the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s eye. Even Ron had used one of his kinetic force spells. The barrage ripped the creature apart, and he died after only a couple of seconds. Oddly, after a brief moment of surprise, he smiled ¨C as much as a snake-lizard man can, at least ¨C which told Elijah that they¡¯d made the right decision. The moment the ta¡¯alaki died, they each got a notification that they¡¯d completed the challenge, and a familiar-looking chest appeared hovering over the First Mage¡¯s corpse. Dat opened it, revealing an old-fashioned brass key on a thick, iron chain that looked like the sort used to bind a gate closed. Dat picked it up, obviously using Hex of Scrying. His eyes widened at the results, and he said, ¡°This is so awesome.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± Elijah asked, still reeling from the First Mage¡¯s revelations. He wasn¡¯t sure, but it seemed to him that Dat¡¯s enthusiasm was meant to undercut what they¡¯d learned. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting on something like this since the beginning of the apocalypse, bro,¡± Dat answered. Or non-answered, given that he still hadn¡¯t revealed what it was. ¡°Dat,¡± Sadie said firmly. ¡°Tell us what it is.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± She glared at him, not unlike an elementary school teacher might look at a class full of unruly students. He deflated. ¡°Fine. It¡¯s a dimensional space,¡± Dat said. ¡°Or the key to one, at least. You know, you carry the key around, and when you want your stuff, you use it. So, no backpacks or anything. Just a key on a chain. I don¡¯t know how big the space is, but I want it. I¡¯ll give anything ¨C¡± Elijah could see why anyone would want such a thing. It would make travel immeasurably easier. Even Elijah, who tended to travel pretty light ¨C especially with his Ghoul-Hide Satchel ¨C would like to have access to something like that. But he wasn¡¯t nearly as excited as Dat. As far as he was concerned, the Witch Hunter could have it if it would make him that happy. But Sadie stepped in, saying, ¡°Dat. You know you don¡¯t need it as much as someone else.¡± ¡°But all my stuff ¨C¡± ¡°Admit that you only want it because it reminds you of that game you used to play.¡± Dat didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he shoved the key into Kurik¡¯s hands, muttering, ¡°You can use this more than me.¡± ¡°What? I ain¡¯t even asked for it.¡± ¡°We were talking about this the other day,¡± Sadie said. ¡°You haven¡¯t gotten any of the rewards. You deserve this.¡± ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked. ¡°We are,¡± Elijah said. He hadn¡¯t been privy to said conversation, but he wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment. While it would have been nice to have such an item, it definitely wasn¡¯t a game-changer for him. It very well could be for Kurik, though. ¡°Aren¡¯t we, Dat?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to rub it in. I just wanted a Bag of Holding, bro.¡± ¡°You can have the next one,¡± Ron said. Dat sighed. ¡°Fine.¡± Then he forced a smile, telling Kurik that he hoped he got a lot of use out of it. Kurik quickly bound the item, then slipped the enormous chain around his neck. It looked ridiculous, but it turned out to be much larger than any of them expected. ¡°¡¯Bout ten by ten by ten, by my estimate,¡± the dwarf said. He took the key and mimed opening a lock. A second later, a small, fist-sized portal opened. He removed his pack and shoved it against the black hole in reality. The pack disappeared, and Kurik grinned. ¡°Oh, I can fit so many power crystals in there.¡± 6-80. Thorn Elijah couldn¡¯t stop grinning, and for a variety of reasons. The first was the most obvious ¨C they were finished. The Trial was done. Sure, they still had to decide whether they wanted to embark on a quest to slay the Lightning Emperor ¨C which seemed like an issue that was well above his paygrade. He was all for fighting for truth, justice, and all that, but going up against Yloa seemed a lot like a suicide mission. Someone else could worry about Transcendent threats to the multi-verse. He had all he could handle with Earth¡¯s problems. So, functionally, they had no other challenges before them. Now, all they had to do was wait until the end, collect their rewards, and go home. With how much Elijah missed Earth ¨C and everyone in it ¨C the notion of a homecoming definitely came with all sorts of good vibes. The second reason for the smile on his face was a little closer. Kurik kept muttering about piles of crystals while fiddling with his key. It was a decidedly human ¨C or dwarven ¨C moment that reminded Elijah just how close he¡¯d come to his companions. They¡¯d spent months together, and he¡¯d learned most of his friends¡¯ quirks. And they¡¯d accepted his as well. It left him feeling warm and fuzzy in a way that very little had since the world¡¯s transformation. Finally, Elijah¡¯s happiness could be attributed to the fact that he¡¯d made significant progress regarding his progression:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 115
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 247 (131)
Dexterity 135 (119)
Constitution 252 (142)
Ethera 184 (146)
Regeneration 215 (137)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
Looking at his status left Elijah with a sense of serious accomplishment. The Wild Infusion upgrade hadn¡¯t just combined three buffs into one, but it had also increased their potency by a significant degree. It was a long time coming ¨C the previous Essence line of buffs had become almost negligible in their effect ¨C but that didn¡¯t mean an additional fifty points in Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution wasn¡¯t an enormous boon. He only wished his Regeneration and Ethera had experienced similar growth. Of course, his Connection specialization continued to show benefits in that he received two points every level to each of those last attributes. So, in the past five levels, he¡¯d gained ten points to Ethera and Regeneration. In all, his attributes had reached a very acceptable level, though he wasn¡¯t certain just how much of a benefit they offered. That was largely because, as he¡¯d established before, it took time to acclimate to the infusion of power. Ethera, Regeneration, and Constitution were pretty static, and Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if he could control them at all. However, getting the most out of his Strength and Dexterity would require a lot of practice. That factor meant that his effective attributes were probably lower than the numerical value, just because his continued progression meant he never quite had an opportunity to settle into his new power. He intended to change that when he got back to Earth. But then again, he expected that he¡¯d be even busier then than he was within the Trial. Not only did he have responsibilities at home, but he¡¯d also promised to help in Hong Kong. And he hadn¡¯t forgotten that most of the world¡¯s population was still balanced on the edge of a knife. No ¨C he probably wouldn¡¯t have much time to train and acclimate to his attributes. Instead, he¡¯d have to get used to adjusting on the fly. In any case, as happy as he was with his updated status, Elijah was far more interested in the next notification:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Shape of the Guardian. Please choose a path:
Shape of Thorn Shape of Eden Shape of the Ravager
Evolve the Guardian form by incorporating powerful aspects of control. Evolve the Guardian form by focusing on defensive capabilities. Evolve the Guardian form by embracing primal rage and focusing on bestial strength.
Caution: Some existing spells may be absorbed into the new form.
Elijah¡¯s smile fell away ¨C mostly due to the last warning, but also because he had no idea which path he wanted to follow. The choices seemed pretty self-explanatory. Shape of Thorn would probably still be very defensive in nature, but with a lot more attention paid to controlling his enemies. He had no idea what form that additional control might take, though. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The second option, Shape of Nature¡¯s Bastion, would lean hard into the defensive abilities. And Shape of the Ravager would focus a little more on offense. Beyond the basics, he was a bit lost, save that he didn¡¯t particularly care for the wording of Shape of the Ravager. He wanted to control his rage, not embrace it. Still, he had to admit that it probably fit his fighting style a little better than the others, if only because the lamellar ape was less of a defender and more of a durable offensive fighter. And finally, the warning at the end worried Elijah. He didn¡¯t have enough information to know what spells might be merged into the new form, but if it was something he relied upon in other situations, things might get a bit dicey. ¡°What¡¯s up, bro?¡± asked Dat. The group had chosen to rest a bit before leaving the challenge and heading back to the Nexus Town. None of them were injured, but they were all worn out by the constant fighting while they¡¯d crossed the Academy Aracana. A few hours of rest would help with that. ¡°Spell evolution,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°And I¡¯m not sure exactly which way I want to go. I want to make the choice before we leave here, though.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll still have to do a quest, right?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Mine usually auto-complete,¡± he answered. ¡°I barely notice them.¡± ¡°You must have a lot of Feats of Strength.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Elijah admitted. In truth, he¡¯d kind of taken it for granted that he would immediately complete the quest. The only time that hadn¡¯t happened was when he¡¯d upgraded Ancestral Circle to Roots of the World Tree, and he suspected that was only because the spell simply wouldn¡¯t work without his dolmens. ¡°What are your options?¡± Elijah briefly considered keeping that information to himself, but he was surprised to find that he¡¯d grown to trust the other members of his group. Not only with his life, but with the details of his class as well. He¡¯d never been particularly secretive, but even he could predict that he didn¡¯t want to go shouting that kind of information from the rooftops. Regardless, he trusted Dat. Sadie, Ron, and Kurik. So, he read the details of his evolution to Dat, adding his own commentary before ending with, ¡°I¡¯m just not sure. If I had a little more data, I could make a more informed choice. But I feel almost like I¡¯m flying blind here.¡± ¡°When I make choices like that, I usually just trust my gut,¡± Dat stated. ¡°I think that¡¯s how some of this works. Intuition isn¡¯t just some vague, poorly defined thing anymore. It¡¯s a real sense of what fits you best. At least that¡¯s what I think. It¡¯s probably based on our attunements and aspects. Actions too, maybe.¡± That made sense, after a fashion. So, he looked inward and tried to determine which one of the options best fit him. That¡¯s when he realized something important. Each evolution of his spells ¨C like his specialization and the upcoming evolution of his class ¨C represented an opportunity to steer his development in a specific direction. In the past, he¡¯d only considered that fact in the broadest sense, as it affected his overall progression. The Druid archetype was a slightly non-combat skewed jack-of-all-trades that had a wide variety of abilities at its disposal. He¡¯d long since resolved to push it toward more of a combat role. Yet, the choices weren¡¯t as black-and-white as all that. Sure, he could take the Shape of the Ravager, and it would probably be powerful. But that could be said for all of the options, he was certain. The problem was that Shape of the Ravager would steer him into territory he¡¯d actively tried to avoid so far. It had been quite a while since he¡¯d lost control of himself and fully embraced his animalistic tendencies, but the memory loomed large in his mind. And Shape of the Ravager would almost assuredly make that more difficult. So, despite his instincts nudging him in that direction, he ruled it out. So, it was a choice between Shape of Thorn and Shape of Nature¡¯s Bastion. ¡°I wish I knew what they¡¯d look like,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That makes a difference.¡± ¡°Do you want to know what the ghosts say?¡± Dat asked. ¡°They can help with that?¡± Dat shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s a weird spell. I¡¯ve gotten more control over it lately, so I think it would work.¡± ¡°Go nuts, then,¡± Elijah responded. Any additional information would be welcome, and Dat had proven multiple times that the ghosts associated with Hex of Scrying were accurate enough to trust. A slight surge of ethera announced the activation of the spell, and Dat¡¯s brow furrowed. He didn¡¯t say anything for almost ten seconds, but finally, his expression relaxed before he said, ¡°The first one is some kind of lizard-like creature covered in roots and thorns. The ghosts called it the thorned sentry.¡± ¡°Bipedal?¡± Dat shrugged again. ¡°Didn¡¯t say. The other one is called a groveshell titan. I got the impression that it was kind of like a turtle, but the ghosts didn¡¯t say anything else about it.¡± That was enough information to decidedly skew Elijah¡¯s choice. He had no problem moving on all fours ¨C both his draconid and blight dragon forms were quadrupedal ¨C but he¡¯d gotten used to being upright in his guardian shape. On top of that, he had to admit that the notion of being a turtle wasn¡¯t really appealing, and for a variety of reasons. The first was associated with that option¡¯s general description. Being devoted to pure defense sounded great on paper. But the more he thought about it, the less it made sense. After all, his group already had a defender. And once he and the others parted ways, all defense with no offense seemed like a bad combination for self-sufficiency. He made his choice, resulting in another notification:
Congratulations! You have chosen to evolve Shape of the Guardian into Shape of Thorn. Complete the following quest to finalize the evolution: Accomplish Seven Feats of Strength (COMPLETE) Conquer Three Towers (COMPLETE) Absorb Five Thousand Blows (COMPLETE)
As was the case with his last few spell evolutions, he¡¯d already completed the requirements. That notification was soon followed by another:
Shape of Thorn Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 115 Take on the form of nature¡¯s sentry, vastly increasing your Strength and Constitution attributes. Also provides moderate increases to Dexterity and Regeneration. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of Thorn is Active.
Unchecked Growth Embrace nature, increasing Regeneration by 1000%. Duration based on Constitution attribute. Current: 39.1 Seconds. Cooldown based on stage of Core Cultivation. Current: 26.3 hours. Only usable while under the effects of Shape of Thorn.
Natural Thorns Attackers will be damaged. Only active while under the effects of Shape of Thorn.
Scales of Bark Scales block up to 50% of incoming damage. Efficacy based on relative Core Cultivation. Only active while under the effects of Shape of Thorn.
Domain of Vines Create a domain of snaring roots with venomous thorns. Venom causes lethargy and restricts the flow of Ethera. Potency based on Regeneration attribute. Only usable while under the effects of Shape of Thorn. Duration of domain based on Regeneration attribute. Current: 56 Seconds (while remaining under the effects of Shape of Thorn) or 28 Seconds (if Shape of Thorn is canceled while domain is active).
But that wasn¡¯t all. He quickly saw another notification that undercut some of what he¡¯d just read:
Warning: the following spells/abilities have been absorbed by Shape of Thorn: Guardian¡¯s Renewal Shield of Brambles Snaring Roots Iron Scales
¡°Damnit,¡± he muttered. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Some of my spells were just absorbed into the new one,¡± he stated. It seemed that Shield of Brambles and Snaring roots had been replaced by Natural Thorns and Domain of Vines, and he had to admit that the new versions sounded better ¨C assuming they were just as strong. Often, he forgot to even use Snaring Roots because his enemies had outpaced the effects. The same was true of Shield of Brambles, which he always had active, but rarely had an effect. So those being absorbed wasn¡¯t a huge loss. Nor was Iron Scales, which had become progressively less effective as his opponents grew more powerful, a huge loss. Besides, Scales of Bark sounded like a straight upgrade, considering that it would always be active. The big loss was Guardian¡¯s Renewal, which had saved his life more times than he cared to count. Sure, Unchecked Growth seemed like it might be an upgrade, but it was difficult to tell for sure because of the different terminology. Guardian¡¯s Renewal had ¨C falsely, as it turned out ¨C claimed complete healing. The new version would increase his Regeneration by a significant margin. But it was too late to toss around regrets or second guesses. Every evolution of a spell was supposed to be an upgrade, so he had to trust that Shape of Thorn would follow that general rule. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he said. ¡°Let¡¯s see what this looks like.¡± With that, he embraced his new spell. As was the case with Shape of the Guardian, Elijah felt himself growing. His arms and legs lengthened, and his musculature became more pronounced. When he looked at his attributes, he was more than pleased to see that his Strength and Constitution had increased by an additional fifty points compared to Shape of the Guardian. In addition, his Dexterity and Regeneration had grown by twenty-five each. He couldn¡¯t stop himself from looking at his new status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 115
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 342 (131)
Dexterity 160 (119)
Constitution 342 (142)
Ethera 184 (146)
Regeneration 250 (137)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
Before, the Shape of the Guardian resulted in an increase of forty-five points to Strength and forty points to Constitution. Shape of Thorn sent that number skyrocketing to ninety-five and ninety points respectively, adding the bonuses to Dexterity and Regeneration on top of that. It was an incredible amount of attributes, and Elijah immediately felt the difference. ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Elijah, his voice rumbling. ¡°You look¡­awesome.¡± 6-81. The Tenth Challenge After Dat failed to adequately describe what he saw, Elijah shifted back into his human form and retrieved a mirror from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. Then, he activated Shape of Thorn and, once his transformation was complete, took a look for himself. The mirror was only eight-inches tall and about half as wide, but it was large enough for him to get an idea why Dat couldn¡¯t give him a good description. The first thing that came to Elijah¡¯s mind was the root raptors he¡¯d encountered toward the end of his first tower. Like them, his new form was reptilian in shape ¨C the frame was like a slimmed down version of the lamellar ape ¨C but his arms and shoulders were covered in roots and vines that grew out of his bark-like scales. In addition, large thorns formed a crest upon his head that flowed down his back and to his tail. Now he understood why Dat kept saying he looked like a thorny lizard-chimp. In retrospect, that seemed accurate enough, though at nearly twelve feet tall, the comparison to the small-ish primates was more about shape than size. More importantly, as he stretched and moved, he discovered a few things about his new form. First, it was strong. Very, very strong. For some time, he had felt that he lagged a little behind everyone else in terms of raw attributes. He¡¯d made up for it in variety and core cultivation, but knowing that most people his level were stronger and faster than him was a bit of a sore spot. He suspected he didn¡¯t have to worry about that anymore. The second thing Elijah realized was that those extra points in his Dexterity attribute were more than necessary. The gap between it and Strength had only widened, and he felt even clumsier than before. A lot more powerful, sure. But he knew that if he hadn¡¯t spent so much time in his lamellar ape form, training himself to get the most out of his Dexterity, the evolution would have been virtually unusable. Fortunately, he had spent that time, and as a result, he was just able to keep himself under control. Still, he wasn¡¯t quite comfortable yet. After familiarizing himself with his new form ¨C and enduring the group¡¯s questions about it ¨C he also discovered that, despite their appearance, his scales weren¡¯t actually made of bark. Instead, they were made of the same keratin that comprised all scales. For some reason, that made him feel a little better. Finally, after toying with the vines on his shoulders and arms, he found that they were, indeed, plant-like. He could feel them, too, just like any other part of his body. His first thought was that, like the scales, they were cleverly disguised as something they weren¡¯t. However, One with Nature ¨C as well as the simple feel of them ¨C told him otherwise. He really did have vines growing out of him. Dat summed it up best when he said, ¡°Nature¡¯s weird, bro.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t disagree with that assessment. There were plenty of animals that had evolved to look like plants ¨C the leafy sea dragon, stick insects, and many others ¨C but none that actually were part plant. So, the only real explanation was, as seemed so often the case, magic. Or maybe he just had incomplete knowledge of how plants and animals fit together. It was something that he intended to investigate going forward, but for now, he needed to focus on more important things. In the time that he¡¯d spent making his choices and inspecting the results of his newly evolved spell, the time to move on had come. Making that clear was Sadie, who stood nearby with his arms crossed and a frown upon her face. The only thing missing was a tapping foot. ¡°Fine,¡± he announced before she could say anything. Because he wasn¡¯t quite as comfortable as he should have been in the Shape of Thorn, Elijah shifted back into his human form. ¡°I guess it¡¯s time to go, right? Sorry about the delay.¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay. Your new form is¡­interesting.¡± ¡°It¡¯s cool is what it is, bro,¡± added Dat. Kurik grunted, ¡°I don¡¯t like it. Plants and animals shouldn¡¯t mix.¡± ¡°It seems powerful,¡± Ron stated. Elijah ignored Kurik¡¯s response. Instead, he said, ¡°I think it will be. Not quite used to all that Strength, though. Are we ready?¡± Everyone was, so they began the trek back the way they¡¯d initially come. The interior of the tower was much the same as it had been on the way in, which was to say that it was entirely deserted. So, aside from taking basic precautions to curtail the impact of any potential ambush, they didn¡¯t linger. Soon enough, the group reached the door leading outside, and when Sadie led them through, she immediately launched into an attack. When Elijah followed, already shifting into his new form, he saw something curious. There were hundreds of sentry golems around, but aside from the one Sadie had just cut in half from shoulder to hip, none of them were moving. In addition, Elijah could feel that their cores were entirely bereft of ethera. ¡°They¡¯re not active,¡± he said, stating the obvious. ¡°But those cores ain¡¯t damaged at all,¡± Kurik said with a gleam of greed in his eyes. After that, he enlisted their help to get at the potentially valuable components. Sadie and Elijah worked to crack the things open ¨C easier now that they were inactive ¨C while Dat and Ron dragged them closer. Neither could move the huge things alone, but together, they could manage the task well enough. Kurik, of course, pried the inert cores free and threw them into his new storage space. He clearly intended to get plenty of use out of the Key of Twisted Ethera. Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. The process didn¡¯t take nearly as long as Elijah might have expected, and after only a couple of hours, they¡¯d harvested everything they could from the golems. Elijah himself took a decent amount of the metal from which they were constructed, hoping to give it to Carmen when he got home. He wouldn¡¯t get much use out of a ton of metal, but she probably would. Kurik grumbled about having to use his storage space to hold Elijah¡¯s scrap metal, but he did it nonetheless. Once that was finished, they took one last look around and headed away from the tower. When they stopped by the library, they found that it was completely sealed shut. So, there would be no exploiting it for information they shouldn¡¯t have had. That only left the trek to the edge of the campus, which they completed in less than an hour. Without having to fight their way through sentry golems, they probably could have gone a little faster. But no one was in a hurry, so they simply strolled along as if they didn¡¯t have a care in the world. At first, Elijah tried to talk to Sadie about plans for the future ¨C after all, there was still a city to save from a Primal Realm once they got back to Earth ¨C but she was too focused on their surroundings to carry on a conversation. Because of that, the journey to the edge of the challenge was undertaken in relative silence. Finally, they reached it, but the second Sadie led them across the line, Elijah knew something was wrong. Part of it was the notification he ¨C and everyone else ¨C received:
Congratulations! One (or more) individuals have completed the challenges associated with the nine realms connected to the World Tree. This is an extraordinary feat and unlocks the tenth challenge. For the duration of this challenge, all travel via the Branch of the World Tree will be suspended. The challenge will persist until it is conquered. At that time, travel will resume. The Nexus Town will remain a safe zone.
¡°What the ¨C¡± Dat never got the rest of his exclamation out, because at that moment, a few things happened. The world shook violently as if under the effects of a massive earthquake. Alone, that was bad enough, but even as some of the buildings gave way before the tremors, another notification loomed large in Elijah¡¯s mind.
You have reached Excised Fate. In order to conquer the Challenge of the Abyss, slay Yloa K¡¯hnam, the Lightning Emperor. Reward: Equipment, Resource, or Natural Treasure
Elijah didn¡¯t have time to appreciate the gravity of the notification. Instead, he was more concerned with the third occurrence. Up until then, the barrier holding back the Abyss had loomed over everything. But suddenly, something ripped through. It took Elijah a second to marry what he saw to something he could understand, and even then, he was a little hesitant to call it a claw. For one, it was the size of a suburban house, only hinting at the size of its owner. For another, everything about it was just wrong. It had scales, but they weren¡¯t stationary. Instead, they moved like the world¡¯s most ghastly feathers. And beneath those feathers glowed eyes that flickered back and forth. The claw itself was just as odd. One second, the scythe-like appendage was rigid, and the next, it seemed to move like a tentacle. The combination made Elijah¡¯s stomach twist, and every instinct told him that he was looking at some thing that should not have existed. It was so far beyond the scope of nature that it went past offensive and into the realm of pure terror. It was only a moment later that he felt Sadie¡¯s hand clamp down on his upper arm and drag him away while she shouted, ¡°Run!¡± Elijah stumbled as he felt that sense of wrongness pervade the atmosphere and flood his senses. It seeped into everything, infecting it with an artificial hunger ¨C an oily greed ¨C that he couldn¡¯t ignore. Fortunately, or perhaps sadly, he recognized it. After all, he¡¯d felt something similar, albeit weaker, in the fallen grove. He shoved it aside, locking it away as he jerked his attention from the creature that seemed to rip its way into his reality. To their credit, none of his companions seemed to have succumbed to the corruption. Instead, they ran from the sight of the monster they knew none of them could ever hope to fight. They sprinted away, leaving the Academy Arcana behind and entering the forest. With the corruption seeping in, the once-majestic trees had taken on a sinister aspect that Elijah couldn¡¯t quite place. They resisted. They refused to succumb. But he almost wept for their eventual fall. There was nothing he could do about it, though. Instead, he ran. Ron tripped over an exposed root, but Elijah was right there to keep him from falling. Sadie led them away for miles and miles until the corruption started to fade. It didn¡¯t dissipate entirely, but the effect was far less prevalent. They¡¯d left the monster behind, but none of them expected that to last. ¡°What the hell was that thing?¡± Ron demanded when they stopped for a brief rest. He was bent over, hands on his knees, as he tried to catch his breath. ¡°I¡­it felt all¡­wrong.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the Voxx, I think. Or that¡¯s what they look like when they¡¯re not filtered through the system,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Give me a minute. I need to check something.¡± Without further hesitation, he shifted into Shape of the Sky and, before anyone could object, threw himself into the air. A couple of flaps of his wings took him above the canopy, and he got his first good look at what the challenge had done. For a long moment, he just gaped at the aftermath. Then, he dipped back into the forest, landed, and after transforming, said, ¡°We have a huge problem. The good news is that the shield holding back the Abyss isn¡¯t completely broken. The bad news is that there are holes. And¡­and there are more of those giants. A lot more.¡± Elijah had stopped counting at twenty, but that seemed like more than enough. They all seemed focused on their consuming their immediate surroundings, but Elijah didn¡¯t think for a second that that would last. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s not so bad. At least we can get away from them,¡± Dat said. ¡°That¡¯s ¨C¡± At that very moment, Elijah felt the earth stir as every wraith within the effective radius of One with Nature awoke and began to dig themselves out of their subterranean hibernation. And they did so with far more vigor than they¡¯d ever before displayed. It didn¡¯t take long to figure out why. The wraiths were natives who¡¯d been infected by the Abyss. The only reason they¡¯d become relatively weak was because they¡¯d been deprived of that source of power. But now? They¡¯d just gotten an influx of that corrupted energy. ¡°Everyone get ready,¡± Elijah said. ¡°This is going to get really bad.¡± The first surge of wraiths erupted from the ground and immediately homed in on any living thing in the area. They ripped into majestic trees, pounced on any wildlife they could find, and even tore through the underbrush. But it only took a second or two before one felt Elijah and his companions. An instant later, the first wave crashed through the forest, intent on consuming the invaders in their midst. 6-82. A Mad Dash Elijah was very tempted to simply grab his friends, shift into Shape of the Sky, and use Lightning Rush. But he knew that wouldn¡¯t work. For all his advancement, he knew he couldn¡¯t carry them all for very long ¨C maybe a few miles at most. No sooner had that thought crossed his mind than the entire forest was cast into shadow as something the size of a cargo jet passed overhead. No - flying wasn¡¯t an option. Instead, he shifted into Shape of Thorn and braced himself for the oncoming monsters. As he did, Sadie took up a position on the other side, with Dat completing the triangle. In the center was Ron and Kurik. ¡°Efficiency!¡± shouted Sadie. ¡°That¡¯s the ¨C¡± A wraith crashed into her, and instead of being repelled like normal, it shattered her shield and bit down on her shoulder. She grunted, then rammed her blade between the creature¡¯s ribs. It let out a screech, and she threw it aside. Even with its gaping wound, it didn¡¯t stay down, but Elijah had to trust his companions to take care of themselves. He couldn¡¯t spare the attention to keep track. Because it was at that moment that a trio of wraiths rushed out of the underbrush and threw themselves at him. After seeing what had happened to Sadie, Elijah reacted better than his companion. He used Thunderclap, sending a pulse of pealing thunder to slam into his assailants. They faltered, stumbling to a stop, and he took that opportunity to lash out with his long, thorn-like claws. His arms moved so quickly that he was briefly thrown off-balance, but it didn¡¯t matter. The monsters had no opportunity to dodge, and with one swipe, the stunned creatures were ripped to shreds. His claws tore a quartet of gaping wounds in their emaciated torsos, shattering bone and bursting organs along the way. Sadie¡¯s strike had merely injured her attacker, but Elijah¡¯s blow had completely eviscerated three foes. The only downside was that he almost spun himself around with the sheer weight of the attack, and it took every point of his Dexterity attribute to keep himself from falling. That brief opening was all the next wave ¨C which came on the heels of the first ¨C needed. They fell upon him with bestial fury, biting and clawing as they tried to get through his bark-like scales. Elijah didn¡¯t feel any of it. More importantly, each attack was answered by a long, thick thorn the size of a dagger that pierced their bodies. And given the sheer volume of their attacks ¨C as well as Elijah¡¯s high attributes ¨C the wraiths definitely got the worst of the exchange. Blood flowed, white and disgusting, as they threw self-preservation to the wind. Dozens of attacks fell upon Elijah as they clung to his body. Each one was mirrored by a thorn, turning the gangly monsters into meaty pincushions. But as many wounds as they inflicted, the thorns were far from lethal. However, Elijah quickly discovered that they came with an added benefit. It took a lot longer than he would ever want to admit before he realized it, but with every passing second, the wraiths slowed considerably. And it was far more than simple blood loss could explain. What¡¯s more, he was familiar enough with venom to recognize the toxic effects for what they were. Even if it wasn¡¯t listed as one of the effects that came with Natural Thorns, it seemed that they were toxic. He still needed to do some experiments before he knew exactly what they did, though, and it certainly wasn¡¯t the time to investigate further, given that more wraiths were already on their way. And they weren¡¯t likely to be very accommodating to testing. The lethargy of his foes did give him some time to acclimate to his increased attributes. His body wouldn¡¯t allow him to fully tap into his Strength, but such a huge influx of power was bound to come with some complications. He forced himself to concentrate as he fought, using short, quick movements that could take advantage of his new Strength without resulting in a loss of balance. It worked, allowing Elijah to both take care of the wraiths and accustom himself to his increased power. But as soon as those went down, more took their place. It wasn¡¯t long before he was facing a wall of wraiths, with dozens having leaped upon him in an effort to bring him down via sheer weight of numbers. In the past, it might have worked, but the timely evolution of his most defensive form allowed him to endure their attacks while giving as good as he got. His companions weren¡¯t so lucky, though. Sadie held her own as well as she could, but she was taking a lot of damage along the way. Given the numbers they faced, the constant healing she required just to stay upright was going to take its toll. Dat fared slightly better, dodging in and out of battle and inflicting deadly attacks with his shortswords. However, it was clear that he wasn¡¯t going to last any longer than Sadie. Judging by the amount of ethera flowing through his body, he was probably using some sort of short duration buff that let him keep up. When it faded, he would die. Kurik hadn¡¯t moved. Instead, he continued to yank things out of his new storage space, using the components to build some sort of contraption that looked less like a trap and more like a homemade satellite dish made out of a sawblade. In short, the battle was already on the verge of being lost. Elijah felt certain that he would make it. And he would ensure Kurik¡¯s survival as well. But the others? He couldn¡¯t protect them all. So, he decided to use the other ability that had come with his new Shape of Thorn: The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Domain of Vines Create a domain of snaring roots with toxic thorns. Toxin causes lethargy and restricts the flow of Ethera. Potency based on Regeneration attribute.
He embraced it, and at first, nothing happened. Ethera swirled and flowed out of him, but to no outward effect. Then, suddenly, hundreds of vines burst from the ground in a shower of earth. Each one wrapped around a wraith, sawing into them with inch-long thorns. They howled and screeched, attempting to extricate themselves. They failed in that endeavor. The effects of the spell were exactly what its explanation described, and yet, it was still surprising. Because the domain of vines extended almost a hundred feet in every direction, encompassing a truly staggering area of effect. That¡¯s when Elijah took a chance. He shifted into his human form, then as soon as he could, cast Swarm. Hundreds of biting insects with glittering wings descended upon the still-immobile monsters, but Elijah paid them no attention. Instead, he was already casting Lightning Domain. Arcs of electricity burst forth from his body, whipping around and burning through the wraiths. He pushed the spell as hard as he could, and ethera flooded out of him. The electricity burned hotter, the range went further, and the whips were more plentiful. Yet, he wanted more. He screamed as more and more ethera burned through him. Hundreds of whips came to his command, spreading for dozens of yards in every direction. The empowered wraiths never stood a chance, and when Elijah finally let the spell fade, his core was down to a third of its normal capacity. But the job was done. The wraiths were dead. Many had been reduced to ash, but most had been burned down to blackened and smoking husks. He whipped around, searching for more enemies, but there was nothing. As far as One with Nature could reach, he felt no wraiths. ¡°Elijah, I ¨C¡± He didn¡¯t hear the rest of Sadie¡¯s statement because his heart jumped into his throat a second before a tremor shook the earth. Then, another came only a moment later. And another after that. The abyssal giant had noticed his fancy light show, and it clearly intended to investigate. ¡°Run,¡± he breathed. ¡°We need to run right fucking now!¡± Even as he said as much, the sound of cracking tree trunks swept over the area. He turned and shouted, ¡°Now!¡± Fortunately, no one questioned him, though Kurik did pause to fiddle with his trap ¨C or more of a machine, really ¨C before he obeyed Elijah¡¯s order. It didn¡¯t matter. Elijah shifted into his new Shape of Thorn, grabbed Ron, then the Dwarf ¨C one in each arm ¨C and took off. When he glanced back, he saw that both Sadie and Dat were keeping up, but that was not unexpected. What he¡¯d not expected, however, was the enormous foot that fell upon the previous location only a few seconds after they¡¯d vacated the area. Nor did he expect the massive explosion that came only seconds after. Instead of fire and a shockwave, it did so with pure light, sending a kaleidoscope of color into the air. The giant staggered backward, splintering another group of the redwood-sized trees. But Elijah hoped that the delay would be enough to see them to safety. Because if not, that thing would utterly destroy them. No tricks would save them. No fancy maneuvers. No new evolutions. It would crush them without skipping a beat. Elijah knew that down to his bones. Because the giants were clearly ascended. How that was true, he had no idea, but they¡¯d left the mortal realm far behind. The only solution was escape. So they ran. For miles and miles, they sprinted across the landscape until they exchanged the forest for the more familiar jungles, though Elijah didn¡¯t let it slow him down. Dat began to flag, and Elijah practically forced him to climb onto his back. When Sadie followed ¨C nearly two days later ¨C he had her cling to his chest. It was not a comfortable way to travel, but it had the advantage of speed. Elijah didn¡¯t have the Dexterity to dodge obstacles, but he was capable of leaping over anything in his way. That included trees, ravines, rivers, and masses of wraiths. The only thing he couldn¡¯t simply go over or through was the abyssal giants, of which there were more than a few. He lost count of their numbers. He might¡¯ve even seen the same ones multiple times. But it was clear to him that there had been multiple rips in the shield surrounding the continent. Even if the giants didn¡¯t act as evidence of that fact, the increasing corruption in the atmosphere did. That, in turn, empowered the wraiths, turning what had once been pests into very real threats. But the journey wasn¡¯t without benefits. For one, it forced him to acclimate to his new form, and as he unlocked its potential, pushing it to heights he never would have dared in almost any other situation, he found himself awed by the increased power at his disposal. He wasn¡¯t just strong. He was herculean. And that translated to the ability to reach speeds that never would have been possible before. The form moved slightly differently than the lamellar ape as well, with a smoother gait. He struggled to think of an adequate comparison, though in his head, he likened it to the difference between a charging rhinoceros and a wolf. The other benefit was that the journey necessitated his use of Unchecked Growth, which pushed his Regeneration to such ridiculous levels that it completely banished any fatigue and healed him entirely over the course of its duration. Feeling the surge of vitality coursing through him, he had no doubts that it would be just as powerful as Guardian¡¯s Renewal. Perhaps far more effective, given that it scaled with his Regeneration attribute. More importantly, that burst of healing was the primary reason he never had to stop. If he¡¯d been alone, he certainly would have shifted into his blight dragon form, used Guise of the Unseen, and made his way more carefully. But that just wasn¡¯t possible if he wanted his companions to survive. The others helped, of course. When a fight was unavoidable, they did what they could to protect him. Sadie used her shields, Ron healed, Dat fired his crossbow, and Kurk threw out traps. Yet, their efforts were largely unnecessary, because he normally left any threats far behind before they could truly hurt anyone. So, in the Shape of Thorn, he sprinted through the forest until, days later, he finally saw the Nexus Town. It was encased in a durable shield and surrounded by thousands of wraiths, but they clearly couldn¡¯t get through the dome of energy. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to leap over the mass of creatures and crash through the permeable bubble. And just like that, he reached safety. No sooner did that realization come to mind than his energy reserves finally gave out. He collapsed, his breathing ragged as he lost consciousness. He had the presence of mind to embrace his human form before he was overwhelmed by the blackness. 6-83. The Carrot and the Stick Yloa released his underling, letting the pitiful creature fall to the floor. He had given them so much. He had sacrificed everything for the future of Ka¡¯arath, and yet, none of them were grateful. They spat in his face, naming him tyrant. Dictator. Villain. He was all of those things and more, but most of all, he was their savior. Without him, no one on his planet would have survived. So, when the system had announced that it was giving them a chance to escape their ruined planet, he¡¯d thought his diligence was finally being rewarded. If ever there was a Feat of Strength, then shielding an entire continent from the Abyss should have qualified. So, it was with some optimism that he had sent his hunters out to satisfy the requirements of the task set before him. However, the participants in the Trial of Primacy had proven to be much more powerful than he ever could have expected. Or the Shackles were far more restrictive. He¡¯d forgotten what it felt like to be a mortal, and so had many of his most powerful followers. Certainly, they were all much stronger than they had been when they were true mortals, but that didn¡¯t seem to matter. The Hunters had killed a few, but mostly, their efforts had been stymied. At first, Yloa had blamed them. He had punished quite a few. But as the invaders had toppled one challenge after another, he had come to realize that the participants were much more capable than he could have anticipated. And he was far more limited. If he or his champions had been permitted to leave the Seat of Thunder, things would have turned out differently. If the system hadn¡¯t given the participants in the Trial a safe zone at the center of the continent, the Hunters could have overwhelmed them. If. It was such an insidious word that brought with it too many excuses. A hundred factors contributed to the situation, but knowing the reasons didn¡¯t change the circumstances. Now, the system, in all its hatred for true innovation, had ripped his greatest achievement to shreds. The shield he¡¯d erected around the continent was in tatters, and he could feel it as keenly as if his actual body had been wounded. He took a deep, hissing breath before looking up. They were all there. The Houndmaster. The Captain. The General. Even Boss K¡¯nok and his Enforcer, Barag, had come when he¡¯d called. They all had proper names, but he preferred to think of them in terms of their titles. Those were far more important, after all. The Mage lay at his feet, having paid for his cowardice. ¡°Does anyone else suggest treating with these people?¡± he asked, his voice echoing throughout the chamber. Once, his throne room had seemed so opulent. So comfortable. Now, he saw it for the gilded prison it had become. He could not leave the Seat of Thunder. The moment he¡¯d taken the task upon himself, he¡¯d consented to playing the role the system demanded of him. He could still act as he pleased, but he was prevented from taking the battle to the invaders. ¡°We will fight,¡± announced the General. He was a veteran of thousands of battles, having climbed from nothing to take command of Yloa¡¯s armies. Now, he only had a few thousand soldiers under him, but his powers as a Tactician remained. ¡°I have already given the order to activate the Seat of Thunder¡¯s defenses.¡± The Guard Captain echoed the General¡¯s plan, pledging his own guards to the task. The Houndmaster was characteristically silent. Despite the failure of her Hunters, she was still an asset Yloa could not afford to lose. So, he ordered her to patrol the grounds. She consented with a curt nod. Finally, there was Boss K¡¯nok. ¡°The way I see it, you need me a lot more than I need you,¡± the brutish criminal said. Yloa had enlisted the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s help thousands of years before. And his assistance had been instrumental in winning the war. As a result, he¡¯d been among the first who¡¯d taken up residence in the Seat of Thunder, where he¡¯d taken advantage of his position to create an empire of criminality. Of course, most of that had fallen with Ka¡¯arath¡¯s excisement, but K¡¯nok¡¯s nature hadn¡¯t changed. He still broke Yloa¡¯s laws when he wanted to. ¡°What do I get when we repel these invaders and escape this cursed planet?¡± Yloa wanted to kill the impertinent criminal. But he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to lose him. Not when he was so close to getting away from Ka¡¯arath. There was an entire multi-verse out there for him to exploit. He would not die in exile. He refused. And Boss K¡¯nok had hundreds of cunning fighters at his disposal. Once the criminal had served his purpose, Yloa would do what he¡¯d wanted to do for centuries. Not before, though. ¡°What do you want?¡± Yloa asked. ¡°Ethereum, to start. Resources for me and mine. That means natural treasures. The kind only a transcendent can get.¡± ¡°Very well. You will have your¡­trinkets.¡± ¡°Then I¡¯ll do my job,¡± K¡¯nok said. ¡°They won¡¯t get through the Underseat.¡± Yloa hated that name, largely because it was so literal. Beneath the Seat of Thunder was a maze of slums where many of the servants¡¯ families lived. Most were pitifully inbred abominations, and if he could have afforded to slaughter them, he would have. But he and his immediate underlings liked having servants. So, they¡¯d let the creatures continue their woeful existences where they wouldn¡¯t be seen by their betters. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Good,¡± Yloa said. Then, he took a final look at his latest notification:
The participants of the Trial of Primacy have been tasked with your demise. Survive and earn your escape. Reward: Passage to a Connected Planet
Yloa knew that the others had not been given the same opportunity. The task was his alone, meaning that even if they succeeded, he would be the only one to leave their world behind. The other task still existed, though. If they managed to kill all of the invaders, Ka¡¯arath would be purged of the Abyss and reconnected to the World Tree. But Yloa knew that wasn¡¯t going to happen. He no longer cared. So long as he escaped, that was all that mattered. He was the best of them. A lasting mark for their planet that would survive the Excisement. He owed it to everyone who¡¯d come before him. All the brave people who¡¯d died for the cause, who¡¯d put their trust in him. He would be their legacy, and in a very real way, he would immortalize his people. But first, he needed to survive the swarm of insects the system had set upon him. * * * Elijah awoke slowly, and without opening his eyes, he focused on One with Nature. He was surrounded by people, most of which were injured to varying degrees. There were even a few that had very recently succumbed to their deaths. Their bodies were still warm, but there was nothing left of the people they¡¯d once been. He forced his eyes open, then sat up. Sensing so much human misery was one thing, but seeing it with his own two eyes was something else entirely. There was so much blood, and he could feel the seething corruption within. He immediately reached for the ethera in his core and cast Healing Rain. Those nearest to him flinched at the first couple of rain drops, but they quickly realized that it was restorative and relaxed. ¡°You¡¯re up,¡± came Sadie¡¯s voice. He glanced over to see her sitting beside him. Dark circles stood beneath her eyes, and it almost looked as if she¡¯d been crying. No doubt, the sight of so many injured people had hit her hard, probably reminding her of what she¡¯d left behind on Earth. His senses told him that her own core was almost entirely spent, and it didn¡¯t take him long to determine that she¡¯d assuredly spent it healing the injured. Because of course she had. The woman was often cold, but she truly cared about the well-being of others, and she never thought twice about the personal sacrifice involved in helping them. It was a noble thing, and a characteristic that Elijah greatly admired. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said, running his hand through his sweat-slick hair. ¡°How long was I out?¡± ¡°Almost a day,¡± she stated. ¡°People have been trickling in ever since. Most of them end up coming through here.¡± It was then that Elijah recognized the room as the infirmary where he¡¯d first found Ron. He also saw the Healer himself working among a group of patients. ¡°How bad is it?¡± ¡°Very.¡± He sighed and hung his head. The past version of him might have felt guilty. After all, if he and the others hadn¡¯t been quite as hard-charging, they never would have unlocked the tenth challenge. But with everything he¡¯d been through, he knew it wasn¡¯t his fault. If anything, the system was to blame, but even that wasn¡¯t entirely accurate. It was just doing what its nature dictated. ¡°How many have died?¡± Sadie shook her head. ¡°We¡¯re not sure. There are a lot of people still unaccounted for,¡± she answered. ¡°But general consensus is that at least half of the people who were outside the Nexus are dead. The only silver lining is that there weren¡¯t that many people out there. Most of them were inside the town when it happened.¡± ¡°Hard numbers?¡± ¡°At least a hundred. Almost a dozen made it back here but were too far gone to save,¡± Sadie explained. Elijah didn¡¯t know how to respond to that. He wanted to a list so that he could ensure that the few people with whom he was acquainted weren¡¯t among the casualties, but asking for that kind of thing seemed a little callous. He did it anyway, and he discovered that Delilah and Lamar¡¯s team were okay. The same couldn¡¯t be said for a few others Elijah had met along the way, and both Oscar and Benedict were still missing. He wanted to believe they¡¯d both be fine, but he¡¯d seen those giants. He¡¯d felt the increased power of the wraiths. If Shape of the Guardian hadn¡¯t recently been upgraded to Shape of Thorn, he might not have survived. And none of his companions ¨C save for Dat, perhaps ¨C would have. ¡°So, is there a plan?¡± he asked. She shook her head. ¡°It seems like most people are content with staying in the Nexus Town until the Trial is over,¡± she answered. ¡°What about the task?¡± he asked. ¡°With what¡¯s out there, I don¡¯t think many people are going to want to risk it.¡± Elijah shook his head. He could understand their reticence, but he knew enough to expect that the system wasn¡¯t going to let them just hole up without some consequences. There was going to be more to it. Now that Elijah was awake, they both lent their efforts to healing the injured people, and after a few more hours, they¡¯d done what they could. Ron chose to stick around in case other patients showed up, but he shooed Elijah and Sadie away. The pair went their separate ways, and Elijah eventually ended up at the Consortium headquarters, where he found Atticus and asked how they¡¯d fared. ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± he said. ¡°But I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s going to last.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°You don¡¯t feel it?¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°The atmosphere. The corruption. It¡¯s subtle, but the levels are rising,¡± Atticus explained, holding up a glass prism. ¡°One of my people built this to track it. When it turns black, it¡¯s too toxic for us to survive without being¡­changed.¡± Elijah looked at the curio held by the Merchant. It was a cloudy gray, which he didn¡¯t really know how to interpret. However, now that he knew what to look for, he could feel the subtle corruption in the air. What¡¯s more, it didn¡¯t take a leap of logic to understand just how bad things could get. After all, he¡¯d just heard the story of what had happened to the natives who¡¯d been infected by the abyssal corruption. Would that happen to the people in the Nexus? He had no idea if it would get that bad, but he could recognize the issue at hand. While everyone wanted to just wait the Trial out, he¡¯d just discovered that they were on a timer. Either they conquered the final challenge, or the corruption would grow powerful enough to irreparably change them. At best, they would simply die, but at worst¡­ ¡°We need to call a meeting,¡± he said. ¡°Everyone needs to know about this.¡± 6-84. A Call to Action ¡°I¡¯m not going back out there,¡± announced one woman, her voice rising above the din of conversation. ¡°Have you seen those things out there?¡± someone else asked. ¡°I saw something flying through the air that was bigger than a cargo jet.¡± ¡°It¡¯s suicide!¡± On and on it went, with hundreds of people all trying to talk at once. On the bright side, there seemed to be more survivors than Elijah had expected, but the relatively small group was just a reminder of how difficult the Trial had been. Originally, there were more than five thousand participants. Now, approximately a quarter of that number remained, and that estimate was generous. Many had used the Branch to go back to Earth, but a good many had died. Whatever the case, the former was no longer an option. The Branch had been deactivated, leaving them all stranded. Sadie raised her voice and shouted, ¡°I understand that most of you have no interest in trying to complete the final challenge. That is as expected. If that¡¯s the case for you, please vacate the square. For everyone else, we need to plan how we¡¯re going to proceed.¡± Elijah¡¯s stomach dropped as he saw the vast majority of the gathered Trial participants leave. There were a couple of groups that chose to stay, though. Lamar led one, while the other was the group led by Ikan, the war elf with the mental powers. There was a third group of mixed origin, consisting of a couple of normal elves, a few humans, and a woman with feathers for hair. Elijah knew he¡¯d been told the race of the latter at one time, but he couldn¡¯t remember it. In all, there were less than twenty people who remained behind. They all gathered around Sadie, who¡¯d taken the lead on addressing the Trial participants. Elijah and the rest of the group remained behind her, with Atticus lending his weight to the proceedings as well. The Merchant was ill equipped to accompany them on their quest, but his word carried quite a lot of cache in Nexus Town. ¡°Is this it?¡± muttered Kurik. ¡°Thought these people were made of sterner stuff. Ain¡¯t the first time I¡¯ve been wrong, though.¡± ¡°Bro.¡± ¡°What? They just got told they were gonna be infected by the Abyss, and they want to curl up and hide? Cowards, every one of ¡®em.¡± ¡°They¡¯re not cowards, Kurik. They¡¯re afraid. And when humans are scared, we latch onto anything that alleviates that fear. In this case, they¡¯ve chosen not to believe that they¡¯re in danger. They think the town¡¯s safe,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Stupid. Ain¡¯t nowhere safe. They gotta feel it.¡± ¡°They do, but¡­denial is a powerful thing,¡± Elijah said. As they were speaking, the other groups converged on their position. After exchanging greetings with the people they knew and introductions with the ones they didn¡¯t, they launched into a discussion on how they were meant to tackle the problem at hand. Fortunately, Helen revealed something that would help them out quite a lot. ¡°I was talking with a couple of the other Explorers,¡± she said. ¡°And we think we know where the Seat of Thunder is.¡± After that, she described an island located just past the Ice Fortress, which had been described as being under the effects of a perpetual storm. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how Explorer abilities worked, but Helen seemed to trust the information she¡¯d been given, saying, ¡°We know when we¡¯re looking at something important.¡± She wouldn¡¯t elaborate on that statement, but Elijah chose to take her word for it. That left them with one huge problem ¨C it was more than a week away by foot, and that was based on old travel times. Now, the entire continent was beset by millions of empowered wraiths who¡¯d been awakened by the influx of abyssal energy. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the giants or the other creatures that had crawled through the rips in the shield. In short, they would need to fight across half the continent, which would assuredly take them much longer. And that wasn¡¯t even considering whether or not they could even manage it. Eventually, though, they all came to the same conclusion. Despite the complications before them, they didn¡¯t have any choice in the matter. If they didn¡¯t act, people were either going to die or be corrupted just like the wraiths. Aside from everyone¡¯s desire for self-preservation, they also knew that Earth couldn¡¯t afford to lose so many strong people, so the way forward was clear. Sadie said it best when she stated, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how difficult it will be. We need to get it done. So, unless someone has a better option, I intend to set out tomorrow morning. I¡¯ll fight my way through millions of wraiths if I have to, and when I get to that island, I¡¯m going to kill the Lightning Emperor. I hope you¡¯ll all come with me.¡± Then, she left. Elijah looked from one stunned person to another, then said, ¡°Sorry about that. You get used to her.¡± ¡°She¡¯s right,¡± Lamar stated. ¡°I¡¯m going to prepare, and I suggest everyone else does the same. We¡¯ll meet back here in the morning.¡± With that decided, there wasn¡¯t much else to discuss. So, the group dispersed, and Elijah headed to the Consortium to consult with Atticus. And to get a decent meal. Unfortunately, the Chef had departed just before the lockdown, so the second part of Elijah¡¯s plan proved impossible to complete. So, he settled for sharing a cup of coffee with his friend. Eventually, their conversation led to a discussion of odd items they¡¯d found. Elijah detailed some of his adventures in the ruins, to which Atticus said, ¡°I think I have something you might find interesting. Hold on.¡± With that, he disappeared into his office, only to reappear a couple of minutes holding what looked like rectangular piece of crystal. ¡°Give me those other crystal pieces you found. The ring too,¡± Atticus said. Elijah narrowed his eyes, but he complied. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn¡¯t have done it, but he trusted the Merchant at least as much as he trusted anyone else in the Trial. Probably more. You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. As he handed over the crystal pieces he¡¯d looted throughout the Trial, Elijah asked, ¡°Where did you get that?¡± ¡°One of the other groups found it, and once they realized that it wasn¡¯t all that useful, they sold it to me,¡± Atticus said. ¡°I have a lot of stuff like that. Most of it will end up being recycled for materials when we get back to Earth, but I think someone with a more focused inspection ability can find at least a couple of useful items.¡± ¡°All inspection abilities aren¡¯t equal?¡± ¡°Far from it. I¡¯ve heard about people with Appraiser classes that can tell exactly what was used to create an item. Some will eventually be able to recreate a record of the crafting process,¡± Atticus explained. ¡°One day, those sorts of people will end up making all kinds of money, my friend.¡± ¡°You think?¡± Elijah asked as he tried to fit the thing together. ¡°Of course. Crafting secrets will one day be very lucrative,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°Here it goes?¡± Atticus had fitted everything together, but even though it looked like it should have worked, the entire thing came apart the second he removed the pressure. Elijah sighed, saying, ¡°Oh well, it doesn¡¯t look like it. Maybe we¡¯re missing something.¡± He didn¡¯t see where another part could fit ¨C the weapon had come together into a sword ¨C but he was no expert. ¡°Wait¡­that ring you found? What was it called?¡± Atticus muttered. Then, he snapped his fingers and said, ¡°Keystone Ring! You still have it?¡± Elijah did. ¡°Put it on and put everything back together.¡± Elijah felt silly, but he followed Atticus¡¯ directions, exchanging his oft-forgotten Ring of Anonymity with the Keystone Ring. Then, he gathered the crystal pieces before fitting them back together. There was a click. Then, ethera flooded out of him and into the hilt. The crystalline piece erupted into a blinding light that forced Elijah to shield his eyes. Before he knew it, Atticus was dragging him to the back room, where he guided the sword to the table he used for inspection. ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± shouted Atticus. ¡°Uh¡­can we turn this thing off?¡± Elijah wondered. ¡°Just let it go.¡± He did, and the thing fell apart. The light ceased. ¡°What the hell?¡± he wondered. ¡°Here. Look,¡± Atticus said. Then, a notification appeared floating above the table:
Yloa¡¯s Bane Overall Grade: Sophisticated (Transcendent) Enchantment Grade: S+ Description: A weapon forged for a singular purpose ¨C to kill Yloa K¡¯hnam. Attribute Bonuses: None Traits: Bane: Drains target¡¯s ethera and vitality, effectively bringing their power down an entire tier. User¡¯s ethera and vitality will be drained as well.
¡°Atticus¡­¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°Did you know this kind of thing was even possible?¡± Elijah asked, suddenly feeling very vulnerable. Atticus said, ¡°I¡¯ve read a few accounts that hinted at it, but the requirements to craft such a weapon are prohibitive. Not only would the materials be almost impossible to source, but it could only be created by a true genius. And it would need something to connect the weapon to the bane target. Blood would be the most common. It might even be the system at work.¡± ¡°But it will work?¡± ¡°Probably. I¡¯ve never seen a false notification.¡± It was a terrifying prospect, that someone might be capable of creating a weapon specifically to counter a person¡¯s power. It was just another reminder that there were any number of ways to even the playing field with a superior opponent. Elijah had already encountered domains ¨C like the one associated with the Warden back in Easton ¨C and it seemed that he would need to keep an eye out for bane weapons as well. Over the next few minutes, Elijah discovered that the Keystone Ring was required in order to keep the thing from falling apart. In addition, he read and re-read the last line of the description, noting that it basically promised that using the weapon would render the user helpless. There was a chance that it would even kill them. The implications were troubling. In the end, Elijah thanked Atticus for his help, then headed to the building he and his group had taken as their own base of operations. There, he found the others, and he told them about his discovery. ¡°Obviously, I¡¯ll use it,¡± Sadie offered. ¡°I¡¯m the only one here who knows how to use a sword.¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t require much expertise to stab someone, bro.¡± ¡°I could probably survive it so long as I have a few heals going,¡± Ron said. ¡°I could do it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re all idjits. You can keep your self-sacrifices. I ain¡¯t doin¡¯ it, that¡¯s for damn sure,¡± Kurik contributed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter right now,¡± Elijah said, knowing that the dwarf would do what was necessary given half a chance. He talked a big game, but he was no less noble than anyone else in the group. ¡°When the time comes, we¡¯ll all be ready to do what¡¯s necessary. Until then, we just do our jobs. In the meantime, I think we should all take as much time to rest as we can, because the upcoming trip is going to take everything we have.¡± No one disputed that supposition. For his part, Elijah had everything he needed, and he¡¯d just spent an entire day resting. Or recovering, which he regarded as the same thing. So, he decided to go for a walk instead. And as he strolled through the Nexus Town, he was struck by just how much it had changed from when he¡¯d first arrived. Back then, there had been so much hope. Sure, people had already been lost, but everyone that remained knew they were going to make significant gains. And many had. Many more had died or been forced to retreat. Now, most of the remainder were hiding, and the worst part was that Elijah couldn¡¯t really blame them. Outside of a few, most of them would die if they left the city. Those thoughts danced through his head as he felt a familiar figure approaching. When she arrived, he said, ¡°Hey there, Delilah.¡± ¡°I was worried about you,¡± she said, standing before him. She had a few new scars, the most noticeable of which cut across her neck and descended beneath her shirt. ¡°Are you okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine. You?¡± ¡°Not really.¡± Then, she sat down on one of the stoops and unburdened herself, revealing that she¡¯d watched most of her team get slaughtered by the sudden surge of empowered wraiths. ¡°I couldn¡¯t do anything about it. None of us could. They came so fast and hit so hard that Nia and Faruq were dead before we even knew what was going on. The rest of us ran. Only David and I made it, and neither of us did so unscathed.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t know who any of those people were, but he was capable of connecting the dots well enough to assume they were the team with whom she¡¯d been working. He put his arm around her and said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Is there¡­is there anything I can do?¡± She didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she just leaned into him and wept. It was such a departure from his first impression of the woman. Back then, she¡¯d seemed so confident. So strong. But now, something inside of her had broken. Maybe it was a good thing. At least now she could move forward knowing that she wasn¡¯t invincible. So long as she didn¡¯t shatter completely. ¡°I just want to go home,¡± she said quietly. Elijah remained silent because he didn¡¯t know what to say. Maybe that was a good thing, too. Instead, he just held her and hoped that he could grant her wish sooner rather than later. 6-85. Strides Miguel leaped from the branch, bringing his weapon down in a vicious hack that should have split Birk in two. Instead, the huge man shifted only slightly, and Miguel¡¯s attack found only air. He thudded into the loamy turf, immediately launching himself forward into a roll that ended with him on his feet and sprinting away. Birk followed, his feet slamming into the ground with the inevitable gait of a man who knew he didn¡¯t need to rush. It reminded Miguel of all those slasher movies he wasn¡¯t supposed to have watched ¨C the ones where the big, bad, and often supernatural killer just kept coming. Though he knew Birk could move with incredible quickness if he chose to do so, he also knew that would have broken the rules of engagement. Birk was supposed to confine himself to a level of power Miguel could theoretically match. To date, he¡¯d never managed to accomplish that feat, but he knew he was getting close to beating the man. He had to be. Plus, he had a plan to topple the giant. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d tried to use cleverness to take his tormenter down, but he hoped it would be the last. For almost six months, he¡¯d been put through his paces. The first few weeks were the worst, at least in terms of stress and strain, but every day since he¡¯d agreed to the training had left him exhausted, both mentally and physically. He wasn¡¯t just expected to do the work, he also had to understand why. To that end, he¡¯d endured hundreds of hours of weapons training that made his time with Colt seem like a game. On top of that, he¡¯d been forced to learn more woodlore than he ever could have with someone like Kurik. And most of all, he¡¯d learned to connect with the forest in a way that he hoped would make his uncle proud. For that, he¡¯d been forced to spend time with his other teacher ¨C the old woman who¡¯d claimed to be a drake. When he¡¯d said that last bit aloud, the old woman had laughed, telling him that he had a long, long way to go before he¡¯d ever match Elijah. ¡°That man isn¡¯t normal, even for a Druid,¡± she¡¯d said. ¡°Aim lower.¡± Then, she¡¯d hit him with a stick and told him to concentrate on the forest. Despite her primitive methods, Miguel had made incredible progress in that arena, and he felt more in tune with nature than ever before. It wasn¡¯t outright awareness of his surroundings ¨C aside from normal sensory input ¨C but he did vaguely feel the world around him. He knew when danger was afoot, and he could tell when he was in friendly territory. It was kind of like his very own spider-sense, and he used it to great effect when Birk somehow caught up to him. The giant aimed a wicked slash at his hamstrings, but because of his improved senses, Miguel sensed it coming. He altered his own gait, high-stepping like a celebratory football player, to avoid the practice blade. It missed by barely more than half an inch. But it did miss. That was the most important lesson he¡¯d learned. He didn¡¯t need long, dramatic movements to win a fight. Instead, he focused on control, on doing just enough to avoid otherwise debilitating blows. Birk was stronger and faster than him by a mile, but if he stayed in control, he could close that gap considerably. By now, it was almost instinctive, the way he¡¯d begun to move. The way he¡¯d started to fight. He didn¡¯t even have to think about it, which freed his mind to focus on other things. Like his plan. He led Birk through the forest, dodging between trees in order to foul the man¡¯s excessive reach. More than once, he was nearly hit, but on every occasion, he narrowly managed to dodge the faux blade. He used the environment to his advantage, and a couple of times, he was rewarded with the sound of Birk¡¯s blade clacking against a tree trunk. Miguel ignored it. He was too focused on the task at hand. To that end, he raced through the forest, aiming for a particular area. He reached it after only a minute, and though he didn¡¯t alter his stride at all, he managed to avoid the dozens of tripwires he¡¯d laid in advance. Despite their near invisibility and the fact that he¡¯d given no indication that they were there, his pursuer didn¡¯t trip a single one. Birk didn¡¯t change his own gait. Instead, his feet just seemed to fall in all the right places. Miguel was ready for that, too, and after a few more seconds, he heard the sound he¡¯d been waiting for. Just past the latest tripwire, he¡¯d dug a shallow trench, placed a few wooden spikes, and covered the whole thing with leaves. Birk either didn¡¯t see it, or by the time he did, he couldn¡¯t avoid it. So, his foot fell upon those spikes ¨C which really wouldn¡¯t do any damage to the man, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Birk stumbled slightly. And that was when Trevor struck, ramming into him from behind and sending him tipping over. Miguel pivoted, bringing his own practice sword around in a wicked arc that came within an inch of Birk¡¯s face. And then, the man was gone, leaving only a swirl of wind in his wake. A moment later, Miguel found himself sprawling on the turf, his head spinning with the familiar feeling of a concussion. It faded after a few seconds, and when it did, that brief bout of confusion was replaced with seething anger. ¡°You cheated!¡± he shouted, wheeling around to face the man who¡¯d tormented him for the better part of six months. ¡°I had you! You said you wouldn¡¯t use attributes beyond the mortal tier!¡± Birk just grunted, ¡°People cheat. They lie. Get used to it.¡± ¡°But¡­¡± He had nothing to say to that, largely because with his experiences being what they were, Miguel knew that the big man was right. He only had to remember the hardships his family had been forced to endure in order to recognize the truth of it. ¡°Is that the lesson, then?¡± ¡°Playing by the rules only works when everyone¡¯s agreed to follow them,¡± Birk stated. ¡°And when your enemy¡¯s back is against the wall, they will abandon everything they should have held dear, if only it gives them another moment of survival. Expecting your enemies to be honorable will see you dead. Even your allies will abandon you in your moment of need if they believe it will be beneficial.¡± Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original. ¡°So, what? Don¡¯t trust anyone?¡± ¡°Trust your grove. Trust those you consider family. Beyond that, trust others to do what¡¯s in their own best interest,¡± Birk advised. Then, he added, ¡°Get up. We are not finished.¡± Miguel had heard that so often that he didn¡¯t even hesitate before rising to his feet. He got no chance to dust himself off before the fight resumed. This time, there were no tricks. No fancy strategies. Only the clacking of their practice swords and the occasional grunt of pain from Miguel. He never got close to hitting Birk, but it wasn¡¯t for lack of trying. The man was just too fast for him. His technique was too perfect. Even when Miguel used skills ¨C which he did sparingly ¨C it didn¡¯t matter. That wasn¡¯t to say that he hadn¡¯t improved since his training had begun. He certainly had, and by leaps and bounds. Yet, it wasn¡¯t enough to bring him up to Birk¡¯s level. It would take decades to get there. Perhaps centuries, if what he suspected about the man¡¯s age was true. Miguel also knew that, like the old woman, Birk wasn¡¯t human. Far from it, in fact. Over the next few hours, they went back and forth, and Miguel picked up a host of bruises. So did Trevor, who¡¯d been trained just as hard. But despite their clear inferiority to their teacher, they both made incremental progress until, at last, Birk pulled away and announced, ¡°Run back to the cottage.¡± He didn¡¯t need to add that there would be consequences for dawdling. They¡¯d both felt that sting, and neither wanted to repeat it. So, without delay, Miguel sprinted away with Trevor by his side. Soon, they reached the cottage to find that Birk was already there. And the old woman was standing next to him, her short arms crossed and with a scowl on her face. ¡°You took your time, hmm?¡± Miguel slowed to a stop. He no longer lost his wind after such a short run, but he¡¯d been going for days without stopping, and he was exhausted. ¡°Came as quick as I could,¡± he muttered. That drew a glare from Birk, but the big man remained silent. He didn¡¯t like it when Miguel talked back to the old woman, even when it was warranted. ¡°So you did,¡± she said. ¡°Here. Eat.¡± She handed him a bowl of soup. Miguel dug in without hesitation, knowing that it had restorative properties that would help him recover. Without it, he never could have pushed himself so hard. ¡°Tell me, boy. What do you think of your training?¡± she asked. ¡°It¡¯s¡­difficult, but it¡¯s also effective,¡± he said. Indeed, he¡¯d gained attribute points in everything but Ethera, which was quite an accomplishment at his level. Even more importantly, he¡¯d sharpened his technique to a fine edge. As the old woman had promised, he was an entirely different fighter now than when he¡¯d begun. The gap between his past self and the current version of him was so wide that Miguel didn¡¯t even feel like the same person. It was as if he¡¯d crammed a decade¡¯s worth of instruction into half a year. But it went deeper than a mere measure of time. If he¡¯d never been saved by Birk at the old woman¡¯s behest, it would have been nearly impossible for him to improve his understanding of combat to such a degree. He hadn¡¯t gained any levels. Nor had his cultivation improved. But he was twice the fighter he¡¯d been before. At least. ¡°Hmm. Effective, he says,¡± the old woman grunted. ¡°Do you know how many young ones would kill to be trained by Birk?¡± ¡°You know I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Hmm,¡± she said. Then, she uncrossed her arms and grabbed his upper arm. Her grip was like iron, but it wasn¡¯t threatening. Rather, it was exploratory. As if she was testing him. After she released him, she circled him. Once that revolution was complete, she did the same to Trevor. Finally, when she was done, she announced, ¡°Acceptable. Not good, mind you, but acceptable given the constraints.¡± Planting herself in front of him, she went on, ¡°My name is Tura, and in a way, you are my nephew. If you ever come to the Empire of Scale, find me, and we will continue your training. In the meantime, I expect you to do our family proud, hmm.¡± Then, before Miguel could respond, she snapped her fingers, and the world shifted. Miguel almost lost his balance, but luckily, it was over in the space of an instant. And when he recovered, the cottage was gone. So were Birk and Tura. In fact, any evidence that the small glade had ever held anything but animals and vegetation had disappeared. It took him a few minutes to get his bearings, but when he did, he accepted that his training was over. He¡¯d have preferred a proper goodbye ¨C and more soup ¨C but he chalked the rude departure up to system constraints. Or maybe Tura was just rude. Whatever the case, he felt that the time bubble had become inactive. So, he didn¡¯t have time to linger. He still had a job to do. So, without further hesitation, he gathered his things ¨C Tura had left his armor and weapons in a bundle at his feet ¨C Miguel set off in the direction of Argos. As he went, he was shocked at how easily he managed to move through the forest. It was like, without even thinking, he knew precisely where to put his feet. That manifested in a speed of travel he never could have matched before. On top of that, he could move far more stealthily, which was how he snuck up on the first group of dark elves. ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± said one of the five. ¡°Two groups have gone missing already.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If we fail, D¡¯vix will kill us,¡± another responded, her eyes darting all around. ¡°If we don¡¯t ¨C¡± Miguel struck, severing her head in a single stroke. He killed another with a backhanded blow that ripped his enemy¡¯s throat out, then kicked the legs out from under a third. That one was further incapacitated by a stomp that crushed his neck. In the space of only a few seconds, he¡¯d taken out three of the five enemies. But to their credit, the remaining two didn¡¯t run. They attacked, but after fighting Birk for the past few months, the dark elves were like children playing with sharp implements. Miguel dispatched the first in only a few seconds, but the last persisted for half a minute before he managed to spear her through the chest. And just like that, he¡¯d killed the group. He hadn¡¯t needed Trevor¡¯s help. Nor was a clever trap necessary. He¡¯d simply overwhelmed them with skill. He only stopped long enough to take anything of value he could find. There wasn¡¯t much ¨C just a few ethereum ¨C so it was only a few moments before he was once again on his way. The next few days told Miguel that his success hadn¡¯t been an aberration. The dark elves were still stronger and faster ¨C though the gap had closed a little with the attributes he¡¯d gained from his training ¨C but his skill more than made up for it. However, it did not make him invincible, and all dark elves were not created equal. So, on a few occasions, he was forced to retreat. Maybe he could have won those fights, but not without cost. And his job wasn¡¯t to kill dark elves. It was to get to Argos. So, he kept that firmly at the front of his mind as he carved his way through the wilderness. He did pause when he saw a group of dark elves running in the wrong direction, though. They didn¡¯t see him at all, so he and Trevor followed them for a mile or two before they finally ran out of steam. The three dropped to their knees, with one gasping, ¡°What was that thing?¡± ¡°It¡­it moved so quickly.¡± ¡°I think there was more than one.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t ¨C¡± At that moment, a blurry shape dashed into the small clearing, eviscerating one of the kneeling elves. A second later, another fell. The last managed a scream before he, too, died. But Miguel saw the attacker well enough to recognize her. ¡°Artemis,¡± he breathed. The cat ¨C which had grown to the size of a rottweiler ¨C looked up from where she was licking her claws and let out a purr. Miguel couldn¡¯t help but smile, and not just because he¡¯d found a friendly face. If Artemis was here, that meant he was very close to Argos. He¡¯d finally reached his destination. 6-86. Monster For the first time in his life, Lamar Sims felt inferior. It wasn¡¯t some great revelation that he¡¯d lived a charmed life. As a child, he¡¯d separated himself from his peers by virtue of immense athletic ability. All he had to do was keep his nose clean, train when he was told to train, and play the game he loved to the best of his ability. And he did, even going above and beyond with his work ethic, which had netted him a scholarship to an elite college football program. Back then, people had told him that he would have a ¡°come-to-Jesus moment¡± when he attended his first practice, that his new teammates were all the best of the best, and that he¡¯d have to work hard to stand out. That hadn¡¯t really happened. Sure, the competition was better, and there were a few players just as talented as him. But even in that first practice, he knew he was the best player on the field. The cycle continued when he got the NFL, and while the gap closed, his combination of athleticism and dedication meant that he was still an elite among elites. That hadn¡¯t changed throughout his career, and he had earned the label of a future Hall-of-Famer. Then the apocalypse happened, and though the world had changed, his place in it had not. He¡¯d even established himself as one of the top hundred people in the entire world, at one point climbing all the way to the number fifteen spot on the power ladder. So, when the opportunity to enter the Trial of Primacy presented itself, he¡¯d had every reason to think his superiority would continue. He¡¯d even harbored some thoughts about pushing up to the top spot. He had his reasons for wanting power. Some were altruistic ¨C there were bad people out there who needed to be stopped, after all. But a lot of it was wrapped up in his own view of himself. He was Lamar Sims, and he was the best at whatever he did. But that perception of himself was shaken when, after spending a horrific two weeks battling predatory fish people, he¡¯d met Elijah Hart. On the surface, the man didn¡¯t seem special. He looked like a Hollywood actor cosplaying as a hobo ¨C an impression supported by his eccentric personality that made it seem like he rarely took anything truly seriously. It was not an accurate impression. The man had gone into the same challenge that had very nearly killed Lamar and the group that had put their trust in him, and he¡¯d conquered it in only a couple of hours. He didn¡¯t even seem like it had taxed him. Of course, Lamar knew that the challenges were much easier the second time around. He¡¯d experienced that himself as he and his companions attacked other challenges. Yet, the difference wasn¡¯t so great as to trivialize the endeavors. By all rights, Elijah shouldn¡¯t have been capable of doing what he did. The fact that he could was a reminder that Lamar could no longer call himself one of the true elites. He was strong. He knew that much, at least. He could stand up to most foes and come out of it with his life. Yet, he knew that Elijah ¨C as well as the man¡¯s companions ¨C were on an entirely different level. Never was that clearer than at that very moment, when Elijah, in the form of some plant-dinosaur-chimp monstrosity, laid waste to the wraiths around them. Vines, thick and thorny, erupted from the ground, wrapping themselves around dozens of creatures at once, and holding them in place. While they were immobilized, Elijah raced forward and ripped them to shreds. It wasn¡¯t even difficult for him. What¡¯s more, according to the man¡¯s own words, he was still getting used to some new abilities. He would only grow stronger with every battle. Of course, Elijah¡¯s efforts weren¡¯t the only thing that stood out. His companions were almost as impressive ¨C especially Sadie Song. In armor that had been cobbled together from scrap metal, she was a whirlwind of sword strikes. At the same time, she threw protective shields on a half-dozen people all at once, guarding them from the creatures that hadn¡¯t been affected by the vines. Ron was equally as skilled, using wide-area healing spells that filled the gaps that the other Healers were incapable of filling. Even Dat, as affable and seemingly harmless as he sometimes seemed, flashed among the wraiths, killing them almost as effortlessly as Elijah. Then there was the dwarf, who tossed out devices he called traps. To Lamar, they seemed more like bombs that spewed all sorts of elemental effects, but Kurik seemed adamant that there was a distinct difference. In short, the group was terrifying. They were, as he¡¯d often found himself muttering, monsters. But Lamar refused to give in to those nascent feelings of inferiority. He might not be as powerful as some, but that didn¡¯t mean he intended to lay down and die. He had people to protect, both in the Trial as well as back home in what was left of Philadelphia. So, he hefted his massive tower shield and used Shield Slam.
Shield Slam Ram your shield into an opponent with unmatched force. Potency dependent on Strength attribute. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
Lamar had always been stronger than most, and most of the attributes he¡¯d gained since the world¡¯s transformation had ended up in Strength, Constitution, or Regeneration. So when he hit something with Shield Slam, it moved. Or it broke. The wraith that was his target did a little of both. It crumpled under the attack, then flew backward into a slavering horde of its brethren. A second later, it was swallowed by the surging group, but Lamar had gotten a little room to swing his axe. More importantly, it gave him the opportunity to use Beratement.
Beratement Decreases enemy Dexterity attribute while forcing them to attack. Potency based on Strength attribute. Limit: 6 enemies.
Even as he let out a string of inflammatory curses, he used Concussive Blow:
Concussive Blow Stun all enemies within range. Effective radius based on Strength attribute. Current: 7.3 Feet.
To activate it, he simply needed to hit something with his shield. There were plenty of enemies around, so he rammed the barrier into a wraith¡¯s snarling face. An instant later, a shockwave spread out all around him, and the wraiths stumbled to a stop. He shouted, ¡°Now!¡± Derek, his former teammate and current one-armed man, raised his staff into the air and called down a wave of fire that swept through the wraiths. The first few lines were so badly burned that they nearly died right then and there, but from experience, Lamar knew that Circle of Flames dissipated with every additional foot it traveled. Fortunately, Maya stepped up, raised her bow, and shot an arrow into the sky. When it reached the peak of its flight, it multiplied into a hundred copies before descending into the surrounding wraiths. Each duplicate carried with it the force of a cannon ball, finishing off many of the surviving wraiths. But there were always more. Over the next few minutes, he and the others continued to fight. On the other side of Elijah and his group were the elf¡¯s group. They employed a slightly different strategy that utilized high mobility, but in Lamar¡¯s professional opinion, the strategy seemed extremely inefficient. By comparison, his preferred tactics hinged on him taking the hits while his companions were free to dish out the damage. It was a thankless job that resulted in far more pain than he ever would have thought himself capable of enduring, but it kept his people safe. It also worked. And eventually, with all three groups playing their roles, they managed to finish the swarm of wraiths. It wasn¡¯t the first, and they all knew it wouldn¡¯t be the last. They¡¯d barely traveled a hundred miles from the Nexus Town, and already, they¡¯d killed thousands. There were always more, which was why they recovered as quickly as possible before resuming the trail. They barely even stopped to let the Healers finish their jobs. The oddest thing about the experience was that Elijah, who¡¯d proven he could fight on the front lines at least as well as anyone else in the group, could also heal as well as anyone but Ron. It just didn¡¯t seem fair, but Lamar cared less about that than how glad he was that Elijah was on their side. Soon enough, they were once again trekking through the jungle. Dat, Helen, and the other scouts tried to guide their path to avoid as many of the wraiths as possible, but there were so many that it wasn¡¯t always possible. In addition, there were the abyssal monsters, including the giants as well as the airborne creatures. The members of the group had only gotten brief glimpses of those, but what they¡¯d seen was enough. Over the next week, they rushed across the continent. Luckily, there weren¡¯t many major obstacles in their way, and once they¡¯d established a set of tactics to deal with the wraiths, they weren¡¯t in too much danger. Certainly, if they lost focus for even a moment, they would be overwhelmed, but no one was there by accident. They¡¯d all established themselves as the cream of the crop, and as such, they were well used to life-and-death battles. Still, day after day of fighting for every step wore on them all. Except Elijah and Sadie, who both seemed entirely at peace with it. Then, finally, they reached an area everyone deemed safe, though with the caveat that it wouldn¡¯t remain so for long. Lamar collapsed, throwing his shield aside as he said, ¡°This is definitely harder than I expected.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not far,¡± Helen stated, sitting beside him. He was jealous of the ability that allowed her to maintain her energy. ¡°Maybe two or three more days. It¡¯ll be worse inside, though. This guy we¡¯re supposed to kill is a transcendent. That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s more than a god, at least compared to us. I don¡¯t care if he¡¯s Shackled. He¡¯s going to be much more dangerous than anything we¡¯ve seen before.¡± ¡°You sound like you don¡¯t think we have a chance,¡± Lamar responded, his eyes closed. ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± ¡°Then why are you here?¡± he asked. ¡°I followed you, you idiot,¡± she answered, putting her hand on his forearm. She gave it a squeeze. ¡°We stick together, right? That¡¯s what we said in the beginning.¡± Only five years had passed, but the beginning of the apocalypse seemed like a lifetime ago. Back then, his teammates ¨C mostly good men ¨C had all looked at it like a game. He¡¯d known it was different. He had taken it seriously, and when everything had started to break down, he and a few others had raided a police station, where he¡¯d found the riot shield that would put him onto the path of a defender. Without that path, he would have died a hundred times over. And so would Helen. All the others, too, but he had to admit that he cared more about protecting her than anything else. If she would¡¯ve stood for it, he would have left her back home. He knew her well enough to know that she¡¯d never allow that, though. He opened his eyes. There was a time he never would have looked twice at a woman like her. By no stretch was she unattractive, but he was used to dating models and actresses. By comparison, she was plain-looking. Yet, he didn¡¯t care. She was everything he wanted. Everything he needed. She was his world, and more than anything else, he just wanted to protect her. So, when he caught sight of the creature descending upon them, he reacted the only way he knew how. Without hesitation, he sprang to his feet, shoved Helen aside, and raised his shield. Just before it hit, he managed to activate Hold the Line. But he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The creature bearing down on him was no ordinary monster. It was one of the abyssal creatures they¡¯d barely even seen, and he could feel its power bearing down on him. None of that mattered, though. So long as Helen was out of the line of fire, he could die happy. 6-87. Abomination Elijah resisted the impulse to recoil. It wasn¡¯t easy. The creature descending upon them was like the abyssal giants he¡¯d seen, though wholly different as well. And not in a good way. Everything about it was wrong, and when he looked upon the thing, he struggled not to vomit. Seven wings sprouted from its back, all of differing sizes and bearing black-and-purple tentacles that twitched and waved in every direction. Its body made even less sense, with parts looking bulbous, fat, and moist, with other pieces looking as if they were covered in a sleek exoskeleton. But the head was the most disturbing part. Nine gaping maws, each filled with jagged teeth of various sizes and sharpness. Multiple tongues sprouted from each open mouth. Some waved in the air, spraying sizzling drool all around. Others were short and fat, while still others reminded Elijah of sea anemones. Between those mouths of madness were the thing¡¯s eyes. Hundreds of them. Perhaps even thousands, arranged in a starburst pattern whose geometric shape looked entirely out of place on such an incongruous monster. It slammed into Lamar, eliciting a flash of light and sending a powerful shockwave across the battlefield. Those nearest to the former linebacker were sent flying away from the point of impact, but it didn¡¯t end there. A wave of force tore across the area, throwing tons of dirt and debris aside. Elijah fought against the current, already shifting into his blight dragon form. The abomination was obviously mighty. Probably more so than anything he¡¯d yet fought. However, it wasn¡¯t like the abyssal giants, who all felt like they were on an entirely different tier of development. Regardless, for all its power, the Shape of Thorn wasn¡¯t meant for that kind of battle. If he fought the thing Strength-to-Strength, he would lose. In truth, the Shape of Venom wasn¡¯t great for that, either. It was much better suited for stealth and assassination, and his venom, as powerful as it was, usually took an incredible amount of time to work on truly strong opponents ¨C without the multiplier of Predator Strike, at least. But it was the best option he had at the moment. A second later, he¡¯d adopted the shape and, before the abomination recovered from its dive, he used Flicker Step, teleporting onto the thing¡¯s back. He regretted it immediately. It was one thing to see from afar how unnatural the thing was, but it was something else altogether to feel it. To touch its wet, clammy hide. To experience the wave of wrongness that came with such close proximity. If a blight dragon was capable of vomiting, he would have, then and there. Fortunately, the shape had no such mechanism to distract him from his purpose, and before he could second-guess his course of action, Elijah opened his mouth and bit the creature. Once again, he immediately regretted that action. Fiery pain tore through the delicate tissue of his mouth as the very flesh melted beneath a combination of heat and acidity. Oddly, somewhere beneath all the pain, he thought of the xenomorphs from the Alien franchise, though instead of just being caustic, the blood was boiling as well. Still, he managed to inject his venom before pulling away. Fortunately, Ron hit him with a heal only a second later, and the damage crawled to a halt. His mouth still felt like a slurry of melted and half-dissolved flesh, but over the next couple of seconds, it didn¡¯t get any worse. Then, the damage began to reverse. In the meantime, the rest of the party responded to the abomination¡¯s sudden arrival. Sadie charged it, sword held aloft as she hit it with one Blade of the Avenger after another. Elijah knew it had an escalating cost with each instance of the spell, but Sadie had clearly rejected the idea of holding back against this creature. She went all out, all at once. So did Kurik and Dat, both of whom peppered the creature from afar. Dat fired a steady stream of glowing bolts from his crossbow, while Kurik yanked some pre-constructed traps from the storage space associated with the Key of Twisted Ethera. The dwarf threw them with unerring accuracy, and when they hit, they exploded with a wide variety of effects. Some were meant to restrain the monster, but others were all about doing as much damage as possible. At the same time, the other groups responded as well, but in very different ways. The war elf¡¯s group maintained their distance, and to Elijah, they seemed like they were hedging their bets. They still threw attacks out, but from so far away, they weren¡¯t terribly effective. It was just enough that they could say they were doing something while being far enough away that they could conceivably flee if the battle proved unwinnable. The party led by the feather-haired woman ¨C Elijah still hadn¡¯t learned her name ¨C took a similar tactic, though they weren¡¯t nearly as blatant about their intentions. And finally, Lamar¡¯s group responded. The one-armed mage aimed one fireball after another at the enormous creature, while one of their melee fighters sprang into battle with a pair of axes, ready to deal damage. Elijah took all of that in in the space of a few seconds before he once again bit the monster. The damage was just as debilitating as it had been the first time, but in this instance, Elijah had the benefit of one of Ron¡¯s ongoing heals to keep his mouth from completely dissolving. It still hurt, though, and quite a bit. Though Elijah couldn¡¯t allow that to dissuade him. Not with what was at stake. Unlike the war elf¡¯s party, Elijah knew that no one ever won a fight against long odds by hedging their bets. In that kind of fight, there were only two options ¨C go all-in or retreat ¨C and with nothing in between. But he wasn¡¯t stupid enough that he refused to adjust. Instead, he bit the thing as lightly as possible, barely scraping his fangs against the thing¡¯s rough, moist hide. He still took damage, but it wasn¡¯t enough to dissuade him from continuing. Fortunately, when Elijah went all out, he could move incredibly fast. Because of that, he managed to bite the thing dozens of times in the space of a couple of seconds, inflicting an instance of Insidious Malady and Envenom with each one. But as the seconds wore on, he knew it couldn¡¯t last. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Fifteen seconds. That was how long he was free to attack the creature with no retaliation, and in that span, he absolutely flooded it with venom. But with its size ¨C as well as its presumably high Constitution, if such attributes even applied to creatures outside of the system ¨C it was little more than a drop in the bucket. At the end of those fifteen seconds, the monster finally responded. It was too large to dislodge him by normal means, but the thing¡¯s odd anatomy once again reared its ugly head when a tentacle ¨C bloody and segmented ¨C burst free of its bulbous torso. Before Elijah could react, it wrapped itself around him and ripped him away. But it didn¡¯t throw him free. Instead, it retracted, and after seeing what was coming, Elijah had just enough time to initiate a transformation into his new Shape of Thorn before he was dragged into the creature¡¯s body. Pressure enveloped him as the wound through which the tentacle had emerged closed, trapping him inside. That was the least of his issues, though, because he now found himself completely submerged in the same caustic and boiling blood that had very nearly destroyed his mouth after only one bite. The moment it took for his transformation to complete was one of the most agonizing of Elijah¡¯s life. And that was saying something, considering that he¡¯d once spent an untold amount of time being digested by a whale. Since then, he¡¯d been battered, ripped in half, melted, and subjected to a wide variety of damage that should have killed him. The inside of the abomination was worse. Much, much worse. Fortunately, that unmatched agony was short-lived, because after only a moment, he had taken on the form of the thorned sentry. Strength roared through him as hundreds of thorns erupted from his body, piercing the abomination¡¯s insides. At the same time, he activated Unchecked Growth.
Unchecked Growth Embrace nature, increasing Regeneration by 1000%. Duration based on Constitution attribute. Current: 39.1 Seconds. Cooldown based on stage of Core Cultivation. Current: 26.3 hours. Only usable while under the effects of Shape of Thorn.
At present, his Regeneration was two-fifty, so a thousand percent increase sent it soaring into quadruple digits. At one point, he¡¯d wondered if he had lost ground when Guardian¡¯s Renewal had evolved alongside the upgrade to Shape of Thorn. As the surge of Regeneration swept through him, he no longer had those thoughts. Immediately, he knew that the increase wasn¡¯t linear. Under the effects of Unchecked Growth, his recovery was far more than ten times more potent. It was qualitatively different, with his body immediately regenerating back to perfect condition. His thoughts cleared, giving him the mental space to come up with a plan. And he remembered something incredibly interesting about the description of Domain of Vines:
Domain of Vines Create a domain of snaring roots with venomous thorns. Venom causes lethargy and restricts the flow of Ethera. Potency based on Regeneration attribute. Only usable while under the effects of Shape of Thorn. Duration of domain based on Regeneration attribute. Current: 56 Seconds (while remaining under the effects of Shape of Thorn) or 28 Seconds (if Shape of Thorn is canceled while domain is active).
Potency based on Regeneration attribute. It was a simple line, but if that was the case, then there was a good deal of synergy between Domain of Vines and Unchecked Growth. Eagerly, he embraced the ability, and the vines on his shoulders and arms burst forth, ripping through the inside of the monster with ease. Meanwhile, he could feel via One with Nature that the ground below the creature was alive with thick and thorny roots that snaked up and around it, wrapping it in a cocoon of vegetation. Of course, the abomination didn¡¯t take that lying down. It ripped free of the first wave, but Elijah¡¯s vines were far too numerous to be denied. Over the next few seconds, the creature lost ground. Panicked, it attempted to fly away, but the vines refused to allow its escape. In the meantime, Elijah went wild, ripping and slashing as he used his incredible Strength to great effect. At the same time, the others piled on their own damage, and because the creature had been rendered mostly immobile, they did so without the fear of reprisal. Finally, Elijah¡¯s initial flurry of afflictions raged through the abomination, and his venom dissolved more flesh than most of the other attacks combined. Still, the thing was incredibly durable. Ten seconds passed. Then twenty. Elijah began to worry that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Then, just before Unchecked Growth ran its course, he took another gamble by switching into his caster form. His Regeneration plummeted, and he was immediately beset by burns, both chemical and mundane. He used Soothe, then Nature¡¯s Bloom, and finally, Healing Rain. That barely managed to halt his dissolution. He didn¡¯t have much time. The vines had already loosened their grip, and in the next couple of seconds, they would fall inert. He needed to do something, and quick. So, he cast Swarm. Then, when a horde of burrowing maggots ripped into the monster, he used Nature¡¯s Rebuke. In retrospect, he should have used it in the very beginning. But as was often the case, his initial reaction to any threat was to use his forms. They were his most powerful abilities ¨C and the focus of his class ¨C so he often leaned on them. But he needed to remember that he had other abilities, too. Even as he cast one instance of Nature¡¯s Rebuke after another. Due to the creature being entirely unnatural, the spell did triple damage, but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The thing was fading. He could feel that much. But its regeneration was so powerful that even amidst all the afflictions he¡¯d inflicted upon it ¨C as well as everyone else¡¯s attacks ¨C it would be capable of outlasting their attacks. So, after piling Nature¡¯s Rebuke upon it, he cast another instance of Nature¡¯s Bloom before using Lightning Domain. Whips of electricity lashed out, and due to how weakened the creature was ¨C after all, every thorn, both from Domain of Vines and Natural Thorns, had slowed and drained its power ¨C those strands of arcing lightning ripped through its flesh with ease. As they spun around him, Elijah could suddenly see daylight. But he pushed it harder, pouring Ethera into the spell until he dipped well below the halfway mark of his reserves. Still, the creature persisted. For all of five more seconds. And then, as suddenly as the thing had arrived, it fell apart. Elijah tumbled to the ground, still coated in what amounted to viscous, boiling acid, and barely hanging onto consciousness. Fortunately, Healing Rain was still ongoing, and the second he was visible, one of Ron¡¯s most powerful healing spells fell upon him. As Healing Rain washed the caustic goo away, Elijah pushed himself to his feet and looked around. The first thing he noticed was that Lamar had somehow survived, though not without breaking a few bones. It was a testament to the man¡¯s Constitution that he hadn¡¯t been entirely destroyed by the thing¡¯s initial attack. The second thing he noticed was that Ikan and his party had closed on the creature, but not until the last second. But they had contributed at least. Suddenly, Sadie was beside him. Her hand found his upper arm, and it was only then that he realized that he was wobbling in place. He could remain standing, and he wasn¡¯t going to lose consciousness, but he definitely wasn¡¯t in the best shape. Sadie helped steady him. ¡°You¡¯ve always got to be the hero, don¡¯t you?¡± she muttered with a shake of his head. ¡°It¡¯s in my nature, I guess¡± he said, trying to grin. That was ruined by the fact that most of his skin was bright red from the healing chemical burns. 6-88. Need ¡°You saw that, didn¡¯t you?¡± said one of the members of Lamar¡¯s team. Another shook her head, adding, ¡°I got some of that blood on me. It almost ate through my whole arm.¡± ¡°He was inside that thing for a long time, and¡­¡± Elijah pretended not to hear them. Or see the furtive glances cast in his direction. It had been an entire day since the encounter with the abomination, and in that time, he¡¯d discovered that he had become something of a celebrity among the other participants in the raid on the Seat of Thunder. Everyone that wasn¡¯t in his group looked at him with a mixture of awe and fear that made him supremely uncomfortable. Once he was out of hearing range of the group, he plopped down next to Dat and let out a long sigh as he stared at the flickering fire. It had been a while since they¡¯d permitted themselves such a luxury, and even now, it was only possible because they¡¯d reached the cultivation cave. For whatever reason, the entire area was devoid of wraiths or abominations, which meant that he¡¯d taken a little detour to collect the Trunk of the Frozen Oak. Or rather, the tree, considering that it had set down roots and grown a fair few branches. Thankfully, after digging the thing up, it had fit in Kurik¡¯s spatial storage. How that was possible, Elijah had no idea, but he wasn¡¯t going to question it. Nor was he going to overlook the other opportunity to gather what amounted to a bunch of other natural treasures. Normally, he would¡¯ve left all the plants he¡¯d cultivated alone, but as far as he knew, Ka¡¯arath was going to be swallowed by the Abyss. So, in a way, he was saving the plants. They weren¡¯t that powerful, but he hoped that he¡¯d find a use for them back in the grove. If not, he knew an alchemist who could. Once his Ghoul-Hide Satchel was practically bulging with plants ¨C and he¡¯d used all the room Kurik was willing to spare ¨C he and the Dwarf had returned to the camp the group had established in a separate cave. ¡°You want some coffee?¡± he asked, poking the fire with his staff. ¡°I always want coffee, bro. But you don¡¯t want to waste it, do you? My buff is good for another day.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯re going to be here much longer,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, the year wasn¡¯t quite up, but he expected that killing Yloa would bring the Trial to a close. Or that was what he hoped. He had no real interest in remaining on Ka¡¯arath any longer than that. The only reason he might even consider it was for the experience. The wraiths were practically worthless for someone at his level, but the abomination had given him such a huge influx of experience that he¡¯d briefly considered hunting a few more. The last one had sent him rocketing past the one-sixteen mark, and at present, he was on the verge of getting another level. It was an unprecedented amount of experience, but he supposed that was only fitting, given the difficulty involved. After all, if he¡¯d lacked a single one of his advantages, he probably would have died. And if that had happened, everyone else would have perished as well. They all knew it, too. Some had reacted like the pair from Lamar¡¯s team ¨C with awe and a little fear. But Ikan had looked at him like he was a puzzle to be solved. The worst was Sadie, who had berated him for acting recklessly. She was right, too. He¡¯d thrown himself at the thing without thought for how he was going to win the fight ¨C which had become a bit of a habit for him. The problem was that he didn¡¯t fight like her. He was no strategist. He fought by feel, leaning on his instincts and reactions to see him through. Certainly, he¡¯d never endorse anyone else going that route, but it worked for him. So far. Sadie was right to point out that it was only a matter of time before he bit off more than he could chew. But when she¡¯d said that, his pride had forced him to respond in the worst way possible. ¡°Is Sadie still angry with me?¡± he asked, scooping ground coffee beans into the French press. He added some water he¡¯d set to boil a few moments later, then sealed it to let it steep. ¡°I don¡¯t know if that¡¯s the right word,¡± Dat admitted, removing his wide-brimmed hat and running his hand through his black hair. ¡°Exasperated might be better.¡± ¡°To be fair, I didn¡¯t think she cared all that much if I live or die,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You know she does, bro.¡± ¡°Right. Sorry. I still need to help in Hong Kong. And with this last challenge, I guess,¡± Elijah amended. ¡°But let¡¯s be honest ¨C she doesn¡¯t really like me for me. She only cares insomuch as what I can do for her.¡± Dat said, ¡°That¡¯s not true.¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t that long ago that she looked like she was going to vomit every time she looked at me, man. I can read a room. I know when I¡¯m not wanted,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And it¡¯s cool. I get it. We got off on the wrong foot, and my whole philosophy is antithetical to her general outlook on life. So, what I said was accurate. Maybe a little harsh, but it definitely wasn¡¯t wrong.¡± ¡°Do you really think she only cares about you because of what you can do for us?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have said it if I didn¡¯t.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. That was only partially true. He¡¯d been annoyed, in pain, and covered in some of the foulest stuff he¡¯d ever encountered. On top of that, his stomach was still twisting from how wrong the abomination had felt. So, when she¡¯d started lecturing him, he¡¯d said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll stay alive long enough to help you save Hong Kong.¡± And then he¡¯d marched off. She hadn¡¯t followed, but he¡¯d felt her reaction via One with Nature. And her expression was anything but pleasant. If it had been anyone else, he might have expected an attack. But Sadie, for all her faults, was not the sort to stab him in the back. From the front was a different story, and he was just waiting on the other shoe to drop. ¡°You¡¯re wrong. Dead wrong. She cares about you,¡± Dat said. ¡°Like she cares about everyone, right? Because she¡¯s so righteous. Isn¡¯t that the angels¡¯ company line? Love and justice, or whatever,¡± Elijah described as the coffee finished steeping. He pushed the press¡¯ plunger down, separating the grounds from the water before pouring a cup. He handed it to Dat, then poured one of his own. ¡°Honey?¡± Dat refused, but Elijah gave his own cup a generous helping. ¡°That wasn¡¯t fair,¡± Elijah said after taking a sip. ¡°I know I¡¯m in the wrong. I was just frustrated and annoyed. She brings that out in me, I guess. I¡¯ll apologize as soon as I get a chance.¡± ¡°Now seems like a good opportunity.¡± Elijah sighed, then said, ¡°You¡¯re probably right. We¡¯re on the verge of going to battle with a transcendent. I don¡¯t think we have the context to understand what that even means, but I know it¡¯s not going to be safe.¡± After that, he pushed himself to his feet, then went deeper into the cave. He¡¯d known Sadie was back there all along, though she was far enough away from everyone else that her privacy was relatively guaranteed. After a couple hundred feet, he rounded a corner to see her meditating in the center of a small chamber. For a long few moments, he just watched her. She wore one of her college sweatshirts and a pair of black leggings, which made her seem so much smaller than normal. That was probably due to the armor she almost always wore. The cobbled-together version was even bulkier than her original set. But the attire also made her seem strangely normal. In another life, he might have considered asking her out. She¡¯d have turned him down ¨C he knew when someone was out of his league, and in every way possible ¨C but no one ever got the girl by failing to shoot his shot. ¡°Why are you staring at me?¡± she asked without opening her eyes. ¡°Your senses are getting better,¡± Elijah said, not moving from where he¡¯d been leaning against the rough cave wall. ¡°I smelled you.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I took a shower, but I guess the abomination¡¯s hard to get out of ¨C¡± ¡°No. It¡¯s the soap. It¡¯s not¡­bad,¡± she said, finally opening her eyes. ¡°What do you want?¡± Elijah took a deep breath. ¡°Look ¨C about what I said before,¡± he said, stepping into the small cave. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I know you were just concerned, and not because you expect something from me. That was unfair of me to suggest.¡± She didn¡¯t immediately respond. Instead, her eyes found the ground, where they remained for a long few moments. ¡°You know, it wasn¡¯t entirely inaccurate,¡± she said. ¡°We do need you. What you did to that abomination¡­none of us could have done that. Even if everyone did everything perfectly, we would have struggled to take that thing down. You could have done it alone.¡± Elijah massaged the back of his neck. ¡°I think you¡¯re overestimating me,¡± he said. ¡°I almost died. It was really close there for a while.¡± ¡°You would have figured something out. Or you would have attacked it differently if we weren¡¯t all there,¡± she said. ¡°I¡¯ve watched you fight for months now, Elijah. I know what you can do. Believe me, you could probably conquer most of these challenges on your own.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not ¨C¡± She cut him off with a glare. ¡°I know we make things easier for you,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°And we¡¯ve even saved your life a few times, but I think that the only reason you ever needed saving was because we were there with you. At first, I resented that. You¡¯re clearly powerful. Some people can do some things better than you, but if we¡¯re talking about overall effectiveness in a variety of situations? You¡¯re the one, Elijah. You¡¯re the only one. ¡°So, yes. I¡­we need you. Probably more than we need anyone or anything else.¡± Elijah had no idea what to do with that information, so he just sat beside her and remained silent. Finally, he breathed, ¡°You know I¡¯m going to help, right?¡± ¡°I do. But I also know that you¡¯re reckless,¡± she answered. ¡°That¡¯s what terrifies me. I feel like we¡¯re so close to fixing the problem, and it would just be devastating if something happened now. I don¡¯t know if I could keep going if we suddenly lost hope.¡± She looked up at him and gave him a weak smile. ¡°That¡¯s you. You¡¯re hope in this scenario.¡± ¡°I kind of got that.¡± ¡°I guess what I¡¯m trying to say is that I¡¯m sorry, too. I shouldn¡¯t try to boss you around just because I¡¯m scared to lose you,¡± she admitted. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I don¡¯t always mind being bossed around so much. You¡¯re good at it,¡± he said. What he didn¡¯t say was that it reminded him of his sister. It didn¡¯t take a leap to make the connection and imagine that Alyssa might have turned out just like Sadie. There were obvious differences ¨C Alyssa had been a lot less uptight ¨C but they had the same spirit. It was one of the things he respected about Sadie. And one of the reasons they clashed so easily. After all, if there was one thing Elijah accepted about himself, it was not a great follower. He wanted to go his own way, to be free. And Sadie represented the antithesis of that idea. For a long time, they just sat there, shoulder to shoulder and enjoying one another¡¯s presence. Elijah didn¡¯t say anything, and neither did she. Instead, they basked in the comfortable silence of two people who understood one another. But all good things were destined to end, and so it was with their little moment. In this case, it came to a halt when Dat appeared at the cave¡¯s opening to tell them that it was time to get going. So, they both collected themselves and headed outside where they joined the others. After that, they broke camp, collected any evidence of their presence, and set out in the direction dictated by Helen, the Explorer from Lamar¡¯s group. They proceeded deeper into the frigid mountains, eventually coming to a mountain pass that was marked by steps that had been carved into the rocky ground. In addition, every few hundred yards, there were statues depicting a heroic-looking ta¡¯alaki. Elijah didn¡¯t need to see the stylized lightning bolt in one of the creature¡¯s four hands to know that it depicted the Lightning Emperor. He did wonder if Yloa possessed an actual weapon in that shape or if it was meant to be representative of his spellcasting abilities. Either way, it did not bode well for the group. Over the next two days, the group crossed the mountains, which gradually gave way to a flatter region that eventually ended at the coast. In the distance, he saw flashing lights, but it wasn¡¯t until he used Eyes of the Eagle that he got his first glimpse of the Seat of Thunder. ¡°That¡¯s definitely an ominous location,¡± he muttered to himself. 6-89. The Seat of Thunder ¡°This is weird,¡± Elijah said. He turned to Kurik and added, ¡°It¡¯s weird right? It¡¯s not just me, is it?¡± ¡°¡¯Course it¡¯s weird. Everything ¡®bout this place and you people is weird,¡± the dwarf grumbled. ¡°But Explorers have weird abilities. Everybody knows that.¡± Elijah muttered, ¡°I¡¯m part of everybody.¡± ¡°You know what I mean. Don¡¯t linger,¡± Kurik said. ¡°These kinds of spells have limited range.¡± With that, the dwarf hurried across the waves in an effort to keep up with Helen. Elijah looked down at his own feet, marveling at the fact that he was standing atop the surface of the sea. The Explorer had used an ability to allow them to walk across the water, but as Kurik had mentioned, the spell didn¡¯t have an infinite range, and its effect faded the further from Helen a person was. Already, Elijah¡¯s feet had begun to sink into the water. Not trusting that, he initiated the transformation into Shape of the Sky, then flapped his wings. He knew better than to fly too high, so he skimmed across the surface of the sea. As he did so, he circled around the others in an effort to ensure they weren¡¯t attacked by anything ¨C either from the air or from below. One with Nature found no significant impending threats, and the beasts below ignored the group of people jogging across the surface. That would have probably changed if they¡¯d actually become submerged. Regardless, a group of what amounted to superhumans could cover a couple of miles in quite a hurry, so it wasn¡¯t long before they reached the shore of the island known as the Seat of Thunder. Elijah landed next to Sadie, saying, ¡°Flight won¡¯t be possible here, I don¡¯t think.¡± To punctuate his statement, a bolt of lightning slammed into the ground only a few hundred feet away. An instant later, a wave of booming thunder rolled across the group. It wasn¡¯t long before another lightning bolt hit on the other side of the party. It was much worse up above, where lightning arced amongst the heavy clouds. Even the atmosphere felt charged with electricity. After they found shelter beneath a rocky overhang, the group decided to send out scouts so they could get the lay of the land. For that task, Dat, Elijah, Helen, and a Ranger from Ikan¡¯s group volunteered. Soon enough, Elijah had shifted into Shape of Venom, then set out toward the north under the guise of the unseen. It wasn¡¯t long before he found the evidence of a dock. It wasn¡¯t massive, which Elijah interpreted as meaning that it had never been meant for commercial purposes. Rather, it reminded him of the sorts of docks where rich people back in Hawaii kept their superyachts moored. Of course, it was mostly destroyed. Largely, time and erosion were to blame for the worn stone columns and missing pieces, but he recognized enough scorch marks to conclude that the ubiquitous lightning had done plenty of damage as well. After a little inspection, he saw a fallen pillar into which a power crystal had been embedded. The few runes that had survived told him that it was magical in nature, but he didn¡¯t have the skillset to determine its purpose. It was interesting, though ¨C especially to Elijah¡¯s inner Indiana Jones. Sadly, he didn¡¯t have time to investigate it properly. Instead, he was tasked with a simple mission. The first step was to get the lay of the land, which he could do in the process of doing his primary job ¨C discovering a way into the palace in the distance. It loomed large and menacing, perfectly symmetrical in every way. If Elijah had been back on Earth, he would have said that it was clearly built upon an eastern aesthetic. There were elements of the style that strongly reminded him of Chinese temples, though he saw enough differences to mark it as wholly alien. The color helped with that. The building had been made almost entirely of deep blue stone, featuring flecks of gold that pulsed in rhythm with each lightning strike. It was almost like those stones drew power from the storm raging overhead. The Seat of Thunder occupied more than a third of the island, which meant that it was miles wide and tall enough that it didn¡¯t look squat. Rather than a compound of buildings ¨C as one might expect ¨C it was comprised of a singular, enormous structure that defied Elijah¡¯s sense of scale. To call it an impressive sight was a vast understatement, and the moment it had come fully into view, Elijah spent a long few moments just staring at it in awe. He was no student of architecture, but he could recognize a work of art when he saw one. Clearly, Yloa had put a lot of thought, time, and effort into the creation of his home ¨C as befit a ta¡¯alaki who¡¯d once ruled the entire world of Ka¡¯arath. In a way, he still did. Or what was left of it, at least. The Abyss had claimed most of the planet, but the parts that remained habitable by his people were held in Yloa¡¯s charged grip. And Elijah was going to kill him. In doing so, he would sentence the last vestiges of a once-proud race to death. It was justice, he told himself. After everything the Lightning Emperor had done, he¡¯d earned plenty of retribution. It was also necessary. There was no choice in the matter. If Elijah and the rest of humanity¡¯s most powerful people wanted to get back to Earth before succumbing to the corrupting influence of the Abyss, they had to do so by going through Yloa. That was the system¡¯s dictate. Still, that didn¡¯t mean he was okay with what it meant. Yloa could die a thousand deaths, and Elijah wouldn¡¯t spare him a thought of compassion. Sure, the ta¡¯alaki had probably felt justified in the beginning, but he¡¯d become a monster in the process of his rebellion. He¡¯d earned his fate. What gave Elijah pause was the dissolution of an entire world¡¯s worth of history, development, and culture. The only comfort he could offer himself was that he hadn¡¯t made that decision. In a way, the system hadn¡¯t either. It was all Yloa¡¯s fault. He¡¯d crossed a line, and his people were forced to pay the price. It was a simple equation, and one with which Elijah couldn¡¯t really argue. However, he was still regretful that the path to which he had committed was so necessary. As Elijah crept closer to the palace itself, he saw that the surroundings had fallen into gross disrepair. The ground was scorched and strewn with boulders, though there were remnants of what it once been. Dry fountains, cracked and featuring fallen statues, were the most prominent features, but there were also lone trees, expertly manicured and perfectly placed, that had somehow managed to survive the storm¡¯s onslaught. Elijah even found and subsequently steered clear of a mostly intact temple ¨C not unlike the one where he''d been assaulted by a horde of golems. If the ruins he¡¯d seen back then were impressive ¨C and they were, regardless of the site¡¯s obvious degradation ¨C then the new one was absolutely awe-inspiring. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. The golems he saw were much the same, but lightning arced between them, hinting that their natures were somewhat different than the other ones he¡¯d encountered. Elijah had no intention of finding out if they were more powerful, so he moved on soon after discovering the area. The path he followed oscillated between barely detectable and perfectly preserved. In his mind¡¯s eye, it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine what it might have been. He envisioned it being used by parades of powerful natives, not unlike the propagandic displays back on Earth where totalitarian states displayed their military might. The intact parts of the path certainly supported the notion that the builders¡¯ primary goal was to show just how powerful and wealthy the owner was. For Elijah¡¯s part, he was impressed, but some of that was undercut by his knowledge of how everything had ended. It was difficult to put much stock in a regime¡¯s power when one knew that they¡¯d not only been defeated by a rebellion, but doomed their entire world in an attempt to cling to said power. Still, he could appreciate it for what it was ¨C a representation of the artisans¡¯ skills. Gradually, he made his way up the path until, and along the way, he saw multiple enemies. Some were native hunting parties, but he also saw hulking creatures that looked like someone had pumped ka¡¯akali full of growth hormones and forced them into incessant training. Their muscles bulged with power, and they were half again taller than the other natives. They also seemed a little deficient in terms of intelligence, as they followed a well-prescribed path through the grounds. They never veered away, and they didn¡¯t even flinch when lightning struck nearby. If Elijah had lacked the benefit of One with Nature, he might have wondered if they were monsters or automatons. But he could feel their nature well enough to recognize that they were fundamentally no different from the other natives. Regardless, they were easy enough for him to avoid. Guise of the Unseen made him virtually undetectable, so he had no issue passing them by. The rest of the group would not be so fortunate, though, and Elijah had no interest in fighting those hulking creatures just to enter the Seat of Thunder. Eventually, he reached the palace itself. Or rather, the gate, which was a massive thing that perfectly fit the proportions of the city-sized palace it guarded. The gate itself was at least fifty feet tall, and it was set into a wall that towered over it by no small degree. It was also flanked by two temples, much like the one Elijah had seen before, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that the golems within the space defined by those carved columns would come alive at the first hint of a threat. At first, Elijah considered climbing the dark blue walls, but now that he was close, he saw that the flashing gold was not just for show. They pulsed with electricity that he knew would make any attempt to climb the wall an exercise in pain. Even if a potential intruder could endure such a thing, it would be quite difficult. And finally, there were more guards patrolling the top of that wall, eliminating that line of thinking. Elijah studied the area for quite some time ¨C both with his mundane senses as well as One with Nature ¨C and he found no gaps in the Seat of Thunder¡¯s first line of defense. So, it was with some frustration that he retreated and resumed his search for an alternate route. The last thing they wanted was a full frontal assault. Perhaps that was a winnable strategy ¨C which he very much doubted ¨C but even if they managed to come out on top, it would not be without cost. Which was how he eventually found himself on the coast, where he circled the island in search of a back door. He found more than a few entrances along the way, but they were all well-guarded by defenses that seemed largely impenetrable. So, he continued on, and he was just starting to prepare himself for the notion that they might not have a choice in the matter when he felt something far below. It was just on the edge of One with Nature¡¯s effective radius, but he felt it clear as day. Buried within the bedrock was a tunnel. It was small ¨C barely more than three-feet in diameter ¨C and he felt all sorts of disgusting things within, but it was an avenue of entry that bore investigation. So, he followed it outward, periodically losing it due to changes in elevation, until he reached the coast. He didn¡¯t hesitate to dive off a cliff and into the churning waves before swimming ever deeper. It wasn¡¯t until he reached a depth of almost two-hundred feet that he discovered the opening. After that, Elijah swam through water of questionable cleanliness until he reached the entrance ¨C or exit, given the nature of what he suspected was a draining pipe ¨C where he found his way blocked by a set of sturdy bars. But like almost everything on the island ¨C and across the whole continent ¨C the bars were subject to an incredible amount of degradation. Still, when Elijah shifted into the Shape of Thorn and set about dislodging them, it took the entirety of his Strength, augmented by Savage Might, to bend them even an inch. He kept at it, levering them apart until, at last, the gap was wide enough for a human being to slither through. Once that was done, he shifted back into his blight dragon form, adopted Guise of the Unseen, and swam inside. He used his ability to stick to any surface to ease his passage ¨C while trying not to think about what, precisely, he was swimming through ¨C and eventually, he made his way up the pipe and to a cistern. Only a little more searching, and he found a grate leading to what seemed like an underground city. And just like that, he¡¯d infiltrated the Seat of Thunder. However, it only took a little concentration on One with Nature before he saw a host of issues they would need to overcome if they intended to use the pipe to enter the city-palace. For one, it was anything but unpopulated. Hundreds ¨C if not thousands ¨C of ka¡¯alaki roamed the area. Some seemed like combatants, but most were obviously downtrodden laborers. It was too much to hope that they wouldn¡¯t fight any intrusion, but Elijah was less worried about them than the fighters, some of whom seemed reasonably strong, that he felt among the populace. From within the drainage pipe, Elijah observed the area for quite some time, but he didn¡¯t find anything new. So, armed with that information, he retreated the way he¡¯d come, braving the questionable contents of the pipe until he reached the open ocean. After that, it didn¡¯t take him long to circle back around to where he¡¯d left the rest of the party. However, when he got there, he found that strife had inevitably struck the group. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you idiots and your try-hard behavior, none of us would even be in this situation,¡± growled one of the war elf¡¯s party. He was a human, though one wearing attire with a distinctly elven cut. He shoved his finger at Ron, adding, ¡°So pardon me if I don¡¯t worship at your altar, man. I¡¯ll work with you, but don¡¯t expect me to be happy about it. You¡¯re the whole reason we¡¯re in this mess. If it wasn¡¯t for that freak you all follow, you¡¯d be dead. So don¡¯t even think about acting all superior with me.¡± Ron held his hands up, saying, ¡°I wasn¡¯t ¨C¡± Elijah chose that moment to let Shape of Venom ¨C and Guise of the Unseen ¨C fall away. ¡°Is there an issue here?¡± he asked, staring daggers at the man he¡¯d decided was a wannabe elf. The man paled. ¡°No. Just¡­stressed is all.¡± ¡°I can understand that,¡± Elijah said, choosing de-escalation when every instinct told him to rip the man in two for daring to try to bully the Healer. ¡°We¡¯re all wound up. Not the time to argue amongst ourselves, though. I¡¯ve found a way into the Seat of Thunder.¡± 6-90. Slums ¡°That was the grosses thing I¡¯ve ever experienced,¡± mumbled Sadie, squeezing the water out of her hair. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, entry into the Seat of Thunder had gone off without a hitch, and all four groups had managed to squeeze into a vacant building. The way had been wracked with stress, but Elijah¡¯s initial impression of the city beneath the palace was erroneous in one respect ¨C it was far less populated than he¡¯d first thought. Due to that, it wasn¡¯t difficult to usher everyone out of the drainage pipe and into a nearby building. But categorizing it as not difficult didn¡¯t make it any easier to endure. Everyone had made that abundantly clear when they¡¯d practically demanded that Elijah summon Healing Rain so they could wash the muck off. For his part, he hadn¡¯t enjoyed it, but his scales made it much easier to endure. ¡°We¡¯re inside. That¡¯s all that matters,¡± he pointed out. ¡°I feel like what we just went through matters. I think it matters quite a bit,¡± she said with a grimace. He could only shrug at that. Once everyone was reasonably clean ¨C or at least to the extent possible without undressing, using a metric ton of cleansing powder, and going through his entire store of soap ¨C they gathered in one corner of the building¡¯s ground floor. Elijah broached the most pressing subject, saying, ¡°Okay. I got us in. What¡¯s the plan now?¡± ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡± asked Ikan. ¡°I presumed that you already had a list of orders for us. We were all prepared to concede your obvious superiority and follow you.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need the war elf¡¯s tone to detect the obvious sarcasm. It seemed that his hopes for a smooth operation were destined to hit a wall. Clearly, Ikan wasn¡¯t happy with his place in the established hierarchy. Such as it was, at least. Nobody had outright labeled Elijah¡¯s party as the leaders of the expedition, but that was just how it had worked out. And Ikan wasn¡¯t happy about it. Neither was Brika, the feather-headed leader of the other group. Only Lamar seemed neutral, having taken a whatever-works sort of attitude. To say that they were headed toward disfunction was an understatement, though Elijah had no idea how to cut it off. One thing he knew was that he had no intention of blindly following Ikan or his ilk. He didn¡¯t trust the war elf, and there was nothing Ikan could do ¨C at least in the short-term ¨C to change that. ¡°And what do you suggest?¡± asked Sadie. Her voice was calm, but Elijah could feel the frigid anger beneath. She clearly didn¡¯t care much for the war elf, either, and rightly so. The first time they¡¯d met, he¡¯d used an ability to manipulate her and the rest of Elijah¡¯s team. ¡°I would not be so presumptuous as to overstep my status, my lady,¡± Ikan said, bowing. It made Elijah want to punch him. Or worse. ¡°I am ever your humble servant. I can read the hierarchy as well as anyone.¡± Sadie rolled her eyes, but before she could speak, Brika cut in. Despite an overly long and sharp nose, she was beautiful, with a mane of multi-colored feathers and perfect bone structure. She said, ¡°Kill them all. More kill energy.¡± ¡°We call it experience, bro.¡± ¡°And we¡¯re not killing a bunch of people just because they¡¯re in the way,¡± Sadie said. ¡°That¡¯s what Dat meant to say.¡± He looked like a deer in headlights as he said, ¡°Oh. Yeah. That.¡± ¡°They¡¯re already dead,¡± argued one of Brika¡¯s group members. A human woman. ¡°We can¡¯t take them with us, right? They¡¯re just going to get swallowed up by the Abyss, aren¡¯t they? There¡¯s no reason to restrain ourselves.¡± ¡°Except that I refuse to be the sort of person who kills people just because they¡¯re inconvenient and there are no consequences,¡± Sadie said, fixing the woman with an icy glare. ¡°And I will not stand by while others do the same.¡± ¡°Is that a threat?¡± the woman asked, stepping forward, her hand on the hilt of a sword. ¡°A promise.¡± ¡°You uppity little ¨C¡± ¡°Enough,¡± Elijah said, stepping between them. ¡°We¡¯re not killing people unless we need to. Here¡¯s what I suggest ¨C I¡¯ll go and scout things out. I can see if there¡¯s a way to avoid killing these people. Anyone else with stealth abilities can go as well.¡± ¡°We do not have time for this,¡± said Ikan. ¡°Every moment we spend in this city, we risk discovery. If that happens¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ll be quick. Just try not to kill one another in the meantime.¡± After that, he, Dat, and Helen all set out under the cover of their various versions of stealth. Elijah didn¡¯t like leaving the group like that. They were a powder keg waiting for a spark. As much as everyone had the same ultimate goal ¨C to kill Yloa and get home ¨C they all possessed different motivations, philosophies, and demeanors. It wasn¡¯t a matter of if a fight broke out, but rather when. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Elijah only hoped that they could hold off for now. If he was truthful with himself, he knew that sparing the ka¡¯alaki peasants ¨C because that was what they clearly were ¨C was a pointless proposition. As had already been pointed out, they were doomed one way or the other. Still, Elijah felt that if they didn¡¯t make every effort to avoid the slaughter, he and his group would be adversely affected. Perhaps it would only manifest psychologically, but he expected that the system would take that into account as well. Or maybe not. Perhaps it was just blind hope that the system wouldn¡¯t reward such actions. Whatever the case, Elijah had long since vowed to control the things he could control while accepting what he could not. The system was certainly one of the latter, while the decision to spare the ka¡¯alaki peasants was obviously among the former. As he searched the town, he came to a few conclusions. First, the area was almost entirely deserted, with most of the population congregating on the western portion of the complex. The subterranean facility seemed to have been built to accommodate as many as fifty thousand people, complete with residences and buildings meant for commerce. However, if there was even a tenth of that remaining, Elijah would have been incredibly surprised. In addition, he noticed that a large portion of them seemed malformed. Given what he knew about the history of Ka¡¯arath and the isolated nature of the Seat of Thunder, it didn¡¯t take a leap of logic to determine that they were inbred, with all the consequences that entailed. When they came into range of One with Nature, he confirmed that fact. They didn¡¯t feel unnatural, but they weren¡¯t quite right, either. It was a bit pitiful, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Elijah wondered if it wasn¡¯t mercy to simply kill them. Consciously, he rejected that notion, but the thought continued to needle him. As Elijah observed them, he found that they weren¡¯t without organization. Not surprising, really. Any group of people needed structure and leadership in order to survive. It didn¡¯t take him long before he found someone who seemed like he was in charge. Part of that was because he didn¡¯t appear to be inbred, but it was also because he was far more powerful than any of the others. It wasn¡¯t long before Elijah followed the ka¡¯alaki into a building. ¡°You can drop that stealth ability,¡± the ka¡¯alaki said in a deep voice. He turned to look at Elijah, saying, ¡°I¡¯ve known you were here since you first crawled out of that drainage pipe.¡± Elijah¡¯s heart jumped into his throat, but he quickly suppressed his panic. He let Shape of Venom fall way, resuming his human form. ¡°You knew?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a neat trick,¡± the ka¡¯alaki said, leaning against a wall and picking at his teeth. The other set of arms were crossed before his chest. ¡°Don¡¯t know many shapeshifters. Is that your only form?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s something you need to know,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Just curious is all. So, here¡¯s the deal. You¡¯re here to kill Yloa. Do you have the bane weapon?¡± ¡°Also not your business.¡± ¡°You won¡¯t succeed unless you have that weapon. People have tried to kill him before, and he¡¯s come out of it every time,¡± the ka¡¯alaki stated. ¡°If you do have it ¨C and I¡¯ll assume that you do ¨C I can help you reach him. If not¡­well, I¡¯ve got a few thousand people who might want to taste whatever it is that you are.¡± Elijah took a chance. ¡°I have it.¡± ¡°Figured as much. The system probably wouldn¡¯t have sent you here if you didn¡¯t. So, I¡¯m guessing you want free passage, right? I can do that. You¡¯re still going to have to deal with the Guard Captain, the General, and the Houndmaster. And Yloa himself, but you probably expected that,¡± said the big ka¡¯alaki. ¡°It won¡¯t be easy, but I suppose if it was ¨C¡± Just then, a clatter, followed by a series of screams erupted outside. Elijah felt ethera stir a second before the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s demeanor change. Because of that, he was able to dodge a blade of pure energy that very nearly bisected him. ¡°Trickery?! I was prepared to help you!¡± he bellowed, holding a scimitar of pure ethera in each of his four hands. Elijah danced backward, already shifting into the Shape of Thorn. He considered trying to reason with the ka¡¯alaki, but he knew it would do no good. After all, he could feel what was going on outside, and it was an unmitigated disaster. A certain war elf and his party were gleefully hacking through one malformed ka¡¯alaki after another. He tried to explain as much, but the big leader was clearly beyond reason, and Elijah didn¡¯t blame him. From his perspective, Elijah had orchestrated a betrayal under the assumption of a truce. It was despicable. And though Elijah hadn¡¯t had anything to do with the attack, he wasn¡¯t going to simply stand by and let the ka¡¯alaki finish him off. So, he fought back. The enemy was fast, and those energy scimitars were deadly. Or they should have been. Against Elijah¡¯s recently upgraded form, it was decidedly less lethal. What¡¯s more, every attack the ka¡¯alaki landed got a toxin-bearing thorn as a response. And he didn¡¯t have the Constitution to resist it. Soon enough, he had slowed considerably, which allowed Elijah to land a single blow that caved the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s chest in. He lay there, his face a mask of agony, as he struggled to rise. But by that point, as much as Elijah sympathized with the creature¡¯s plight, he wasn¡¯t in a position to allow him to live. So, without further ado, he crushed the ka¡¯alaki¡¯s head beneath his foot. A wave of experience nearly let him cross over to the next level, but it wasn¡¯t quite enough to tip him over the edge. It did tell Elijah that the creature had been strong, though. The matchup was just bad for the ka¡¯alaki. The Shape of Thorn was strong against most enemies ¨C at least from what Elijah could tell ¨C but it seemed particularly baneful against those who relied on speed. In any case, he didn¡¯t have time to consider it, because Ikan was busy hacking his way through the other peasants. Elijah barely had a chance to step toward the door before two things happened. First, Sadie, Lamar, and their respective groups arrived. Elijah could feel their horrified expressions, even from so far away. But he was far more concerned with the arrival of a creature that somehow looked like a stronger version of the hulking ka¡¯alaki he¡¯d seen outside. And it was not happy, as a surprised Ikan discovered only a moment later when the thing rammed into him. He went flying through the air, skipped across the ground, and came to a rest, broken and unmoving, almost a hundred yards away. Silence reigned for a brief second before Ikan¡¯s allies rushed the monster. It responded with a bellowing roar and met their charge. 6-91. Good Riddance The ka¡¯alaki hulk lashed out, backhanding one attacker while grabbing another. Then, in a move that brought a terrible memory to mind, it ripped the woman apart before throwing one half at one of her party members. The other half went sailing across the square until it splattered against the wall of a building. Elijah had survived something similar, but he didn¡¯t need to investigate to know she wouldn¡¯t duplicate that feat. The remaining members of the war elf¡¯s party skidded to a stop, but their defender didn¡¯t have the dexterity to fully halt his charge. The hulk¡¯s foot collided with his shield a second later, which reversed his momentum and sent him tumbling backward. When he came to a stop, he didn¡¯t rise. Someone screamed at the grisly turn of events. Only a few seconds had passed, and already, Ikan was out of the fight, another member of the group had been ripped in two, and their defender was likely unconscious, if not dead. That¡¯s when Sadie made her presence known, sending out a Blade of the Avenger as she approached cautiously. The hulk reared back as the massive sword sliced into its muscled torso. Blood ¨C white and milky ¨C misted into the air as a hunk of flesh fell free. The creature let out a roar of pain and anger as it recovered from the attack, but when it brought its fist down on Sadie, she met it with her personal shield. It flared upon impact, but it didn¡¯t shatter. As Elijah rushed forward, he saw the rest of the party let loose. The air filled with various spells and abilities. Some ¨C like an enormous fireball that descended from above ¨C were quite bombastic, but others like Dat¡¯s subtly glowing crossbow bolts were more subdued. However, when they landed, it was clear which ones were more powerful. Dat¡¯s projectiles exploded on impact, digging deep craters into the thing¡¯s flesh, while fireballs and ice lances were decidedly less effective ¨C at least individually. Together, they sent the creature reeling. Then, Elijah, in the Shape of Thorn, arrived. Without bothering with any abilities, he hit the creature with all the force his triple-digit Strength could manifest. But to his surprise, the hulk managed to hold its ground, even lashing out with a punch that sent Elijah stumbling backward. Fortunately, as much as he relied on Strength, he wasn¡¯t wholly dependent on his attributes to ensure victory. So, even as that attack was answered by a toxic thorn, Elijah activated Domain of Vines. Roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around the hulk¡¯s legs as the thorny vines on Elijah¡¯s shoulders and arms writhed hungrily. He threw himself at the thing, but he didn¡¯t do so with the intention of trading punches. Rather, he shifted to the mindset of a wrestler, wrapping his arms and legs around the hulk and letting his thorns do their job. As his vines encircled the hulk, sharp thorns sawed into its flesh like the teeth of a chainsaw. Of course, it didn¡¯t take the attack lying down. It twisted and grabbed, attempting to dislodge the thorny vines as much as it tried to throw Elijah free. It was successful in the first task, its Strength more than enough to rip those vines apart. However, due to Elijah¡¯s high Regeneration, they continued to manifest ang grow until the thing was wrapped in a cocoon of thorny green tendrils. Then, Elijah squeezed. The vines reacted to his muscles¡¯ demands. The hulk attempted to escape. It tried to break free. But as strong as it was, it couldn¡¯t stand up to the unique combination of Elijah¡¯s own Strength and the regenerating nature of the vines. Even as one was torn in half, another took its place. The creature was incapable of making any headway, and Elijah didn¡¯t release it until the Domain of Vines ran its course. By then, the thing had been inflicted with so much toxin that it could barely stand. When Elijah pushed free, the creature tried to follow, but it quickly stumbled, falling to its knees. That¡¯s when Sadie stepped forward and lopped its head off. Just before her blade passed through the thing¡¯s thick neck, Elijah caught its expression. It looked at him, confused, as if to ask, ¡°Why?¡± Elijah had no answer. So, even as it died, and the remaining peasants scattered, he turned his attention to the crumpled form of Ikan. The war elf was still alive. Elijah could feel it via One with Nature. A burst of ethera drew his attention to that group¡¯s Healer. He wasn¡¯t as proficient as Ron ¨C or even Elijah himself ¨C but he was competent enough to bring Ikan back to relative health. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to stand for that. ¡°Stop,¡± he growled, pointing a claw at the man. ¡°If you cast one more heal, I¡¯m going to tear you in half.¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to ¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s going to answer some goddamn questions before I decide if he gets to live,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°If you¡¯ve got an issue with that¡­well, too bad.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. With that, Elijah advanced, his heavy footsteps thudding against the stone floor. At the same time, his companions took up positions opposite what was left of Ikan¡¯s group, weapons at the ready. Lamar¡¯s party did the same, clearly picking a side. The other group led by Brika wasn¡¯t so decisive. They wavered in place, obviously hesitant to choose which side they wanted to support. Elijah didn¡¯t care. He might not have been stronger than all of them combined, but with the support of his group, he knew just how easily he could kill each and every one of them. And after seeing what had happened, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to give anyone the benefit of the doubt. After all, they hadn¡¯t afforded the peasants that leeway, attacking them for no other reason than because they could. Or that was Elijah¡¯s assumption, which he intended to confirm with the fallen Ikan. He knelt beside the broken war elf, and the second he opened his mouth, he felt a wave of indecision pass over him. The fires of his anger weren¡¯t extinguished, but they were certainly weakened. Elijah leaned in close and growled, ¡°Stop doing that or I¡¯m going to rip your head off.¡± Ikan coughed up some blood. ¡°Can¡¯t blame me for trying,¡± he managed weakly. A second later, the effects of the mental ability faded. Elijah nearly killed him, then and there, but he restrained himself. Not that Ikan deserved it. ¡°Why did you attack them?¡± he asked. ¡°It is the way of the world,¡± the war elf answered, coughing. ¡°You of all people should understand that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t kill defenseless people.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you? Against you, I am defenseless. And ¨C¡± At that moment, Elijah saw a flash of light out of the corner of his eye. A second later, a dagger rammed into his side, and Ikan hit him with the most potent attempt at mental coercion yet. The combination of the pain and the sledgehammer of a skill sent Elijah reeling, but only for a moment. He recovered enough to reach out, but it was like moving through quicksand. His claw inched forward, then latched onto Ikan¡¯s head. Once again, he squeezed. The war elf¡¯s skull cracked like an egg. Brain, bone, and unidentifiable viscera oozed through Elijah¡¯s fingers as Ikan perished. A scream tore through the air and slammed into his ears as the owner of the dagger retracted the blade and tried to stab him again. Elijah backhanded the figure, almost nonchalantly sending them staggering away. He looked up to see a small elven woman, her face having been broken by Elijah¡¯s blow. She opened her mouth, but no words ever escaped her throat. Instead, whatever she meant to say was lost as Sadie decapitated her. The elf¡¯s head remained in place for only a second before the body toppled, and the two pieces went in separate directions. Elijah looked up to see that all but one of Ikan¡¯s party had been killed by other members of the group. They had attempted an attack meant to save their leader ¨C an obvious failure on their part. The only member remaining alive was the Healer, who was being held at the end of Dat¡¯s shortsword. ¡°Dammit,¡± Elijah muttered, glancing back at Ikan as he let Shape of Thorn fall away. If the war elf had simply restrained himself, things wouldn¡¯t have gone so poorly. ¡°What did he think was going to happen here? That I was just going to stand aside and let this go?¡± ¡°Probably,¡± Sadie answered, stepping closer. She extended her hand, and though Elijah didn¡¯t need any help rising, he let her pull him upright. ¡°He must have thought you would weigh this against his group¡¯s help and put our fate ahead of the deaths of those natives.¡± ¡°They were innocent.¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter to people like him,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°They don¡¯t care about things like that. It¡¯s why the angels have people like the Inquisitors. Unrestrained by consequences, innocence ceases to matter. For some, the only thing they care about is getting stronger. Ikan was like that. So were the people following him.¡± ¡°Do you think they were coerced?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t work like that, I don¡¯t think. Maybe if the power disparity is too much, but I think his class just made people more susceptible. I can¡¯t know for certain, though,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°I guess,¡± Elijah said, looking around. In addition to the dead members of Ikan¡¯s party, there were dozens of slain ka¡¯alaki peasants strewn across the area. And the bulky pile of flesh that had been the hulk was the most prominent. ¡°Such a mess.¡± After that, Elijah and Sadie headed back to the group. There was a needling thought in the back of his mind telling him to loot the war elf, but he wasn¡¯t so disrespectful as to start rifling through Ikan¡¯s belongings. Yet. He intended to do so before they left, though. Returning to the group came with another issue. Brika and her group had disappeared at some point. No one had seen them go, but a quick search of their immediate surroundings didn¡¯t yield any results. However, it did reveal a passage that was clearly meant as the main exit. After only a little discussion ¨C and some surreptitious looting ¨C the remaining two groups chose the only route they¡¯d found and continued on their way. As much as they wanted to take time to process the betrayal, there just wasn¡¯t time. Not only were they on the clock in terms of the abyssal corruption infecting everyone remaining back in Nexus Town, but it was probably too much to hope that their arrival was entirely unnoticed. So, they continued on. After only twenty minutes or so, a clatter from up ahead brought the two groups up short. Elijah and Dat both adopted their respective forms of stealth, then took the lead. Soon enough, they encountered some dead ta¡¯alaki. Some had been burned so badly that they¡¯d been reduced to charred husks, while others had more mundane wounds. Either way, there were no survivors. And that was only the first group of corpses they found. As they progressed up the tunnel, which had slowly changed from roughly carved and utilitarian to something a good deal more decorative, they found a half-dozen other dead ta¡¯alaki. Eventually, they found a few that were still alive but unconscious. ¡°What do you think did this?¡± asked Dat, kneeling beside one such group. He looked up at Elijah, and added, ¡°Some sort of monster? A rebellion? Brika¡¯s group wasn¡¯t strong enough to do this.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah answered, though he had his suspicions. He didn¡¯t give them voice because it really wasn¡¯t supported by evidence. Over the next hour, they were continuously confronted by similar scenes. At some point, Dat returned to the group to let them know what to expect. Meanwhile, Elijah kept on, and then, at last, he reached the end of the hall. It terminated in a sizable chamber that seemed a bit like a lobby to him. However, he was less concerned with the room¡¯s purpose ¨C or its d¨¦cor ¨C than he was with the battle raging before him. 6-92. Loss and Fury Oscar didn¡¯t think. He didn¡¯t feel anything but rage. He and his pack only cared about one thing ¨C vengeance. He leaped atop the snake-man and, with a roar, buried his hatchet in the creature¡¯s face. Then, his other hatchet came around to join the first. He wrenched them both free before hacking into the monster¡¯s destroyed head once again. Blood misted as he kept going until nothing but a ruined hunk of meat and bone remained. His head whipped around, sending out a spray of blood and sweat as he searched for another victim. He found one close enough. Another snake-man, though one with legs instead of a thick tail, attacked with a spear. Oscar knocked the weapon aside, then sprinted forward in an all-fours gait that resembled an ape. He only had a few feet to go before he once again leaped at his would-be foe. Instead of hacking into it with the blades of his hatchets, he went straight for the creature¡¯s throat. Without hesitation, he sank his teeth into the thing¡¯s neck, bit deep, then jerked free. Blood spurted, and the monster stumbled. Oscar used that small opening to his advantage, bringing his hatchets back into the fight. In the space of a few seconds, the creature shared the other snake-man¡¯s fate. He sprang to his feet, then looked around. His pack had already taken care of most of the other enemies, though a few remained. How many had they killed? Dozens, certainly. Hundreds, perhaps. The monsters¡¯ number had seemed unending, and after what had happened, Oscar was in no state to count. Everyone could die, as far as he was concerned. That was what losing a member of his family did to a man. It was like a piece of his soul had been ripped to pieces, and he was left with whatever was left. He was broken and reeling, and he didn¡¯t care about anything but killing whoever he deemed responsible. And that included every single native of Ka¡¯arath he could find. ¡°Enough!¡± shouted a powerful voice. Oscar immediately jerked around to face a newcomer. Another snake-man, though larger and more formidable than any of the others. It was flanked by ten others, all armed and armored for war. ¡°Stand down, and you shall be ¨C¡± An enormous ball of fire fell upon the creature, bathing it and its allies in dense flames before the entire chamber was rocked by a huge explosion that tore a crater into the floor. Monsters went flying ¨C some intact, while others had been ripped to pieces by the impact ¨C but the leader stood its ground. That was fine. Oscar would have been disappointed if the fight finished before he ever got the chance to participate. From what he felt through Pack Sense, the rest of his family felt similarly. Escobar was already dialing up another spell, while Jackson and Sophie rushed in. Digby suddenly appeared behind the snake-man, ripping into the back of its disgusting tail. Meanwhile, Ray and Maymay used their spells to hinder its movements. They wanted to dash in and use their teeth, though. The entire pack felt the same. Freddie flanked Oscar, pacing him as they closed in on the reeling snake-man. The enemy recovered enough to lash out at Jackson, but the rottweiler mix¡¯s shield held firm before the thing¡¯s attack. Escobar barked, sending one fireball after another at the creature. They splashed over its scales, one after another, before Oscar and Freddie arrived. They wasted no time with feints or special tactics. Their enemy was off-balance, and every instinct told them to go for the kill. They listened. Oscar went high, while Freddie took the low track. The snake-man managed to fend Freddie off with a swipe of its spear, but it was entirely unprepared for Oscar¡¯s assault. He used no abilities. Instead, he attacked with Tooth and Claw ¨C the name of the hatchets he¡¯d gotten as a reward for defeating one of the challenges. The blades bit deep, parting scales and hacking into the creature¡¯s flesh. Oscar¡¯s attacks came in a furious flurry as he bellowed a primal scream of rage and loss. The monster never had a chance. It tried to fight back. They all had. But the combination of Oscar¡¯s reckless disregard for his own safety and the pack¡¯s versatile abilities rendered any resistance futile. Still, it took a few moments to hit anything vital, and in that time, more of the snake-monsters had arrived. The pack knew how to deal with them. Sophie and Jackson peeled off, while Ray and Maymay crippled their advance. That left Digby, Oscar, and Freddie to finish the big one off. Shouting from the other direction warred for his attention, but it couldn¡¯t stand up to the fury in his heart. He and the remaining members of his pack kept going, and soon enough, the thing fell. It lived for almost thirty seconds after that, its Regeneration working overtime to keep it alive. Oscar and his dogs overcame it. At last, he finished the monster by finally tearing its head free and tossing it aside. With a snarl, he whipped around to see that the rest of his pack had already finished the snake-men that had arrived mid-battle. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. But they weren¡¯t alone. * * * Elijah held out his hand as he cautiously approached. He didn¡¯t like the notion of treating Oscar like a wild animal, but with the turmoil he felt within the man¡¯s spirit, he felt it was a prudent course of action. Especially after what he¡¯d just seen. Battle was often a messy business, and it wasn¡¯t uncommon for someone to lose themselves in it. But what he saw from Oscar went far beyond that. Better than most, Elijah knew the dangers of losing control. And Oscar had definitely lost any sense of restraint. ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± he said softly. ¡°They¡¯re all dead.¡± Oscar grunted as his eyes darted around, clearly searching for someone else to fight. There was no one left, though. ¡°What happened?¡± Elijah asked when he got close. ¡°Are you okay? Do you need healing?¡± It was difficult to tell, what with all the blood. Oscar was absolutely covered in gore, with his hair plastered to his head and his clothes having been ripped to pieces. He looked like a man who¡¯d been stranded in the wilderness for years, then forced to fight a war. Perhaps that wasn¡¯t so far from the truth. At last, Oscar¡¯s shoulders slumped, and he sank to his knees. When he looked up, there were tears carving tracks through the blood on his cheeks. ¡°They killed him,¡± he said, choking on the words. ¡°Who?¡± Elijah asked, kneeling beside the man. ¡°Jojo,¡± Oscar answered. ¡°Hunted him down, trapped him, and murdered him like a pest. Benedict tried to help. I don¡¯t know what happened to him¡­he¡¯s probably dead, too.¡± After that, Oscar haltingly explained that he and Benedict had teamed up a month or so before, and they were fighting their way through a challenge when everything had changed. They found the Seat of Thunder soon after, and they¡¯d been fighting on the island or in the palace itself ever since. Until Jojo ¨C the tiny shih tzu who¡¯d specialized in speed ¨C had been caught in some sort of trap. After the dog¡¯s death at the hands of a ta¡¯alaki who called itself the Houndmaster, Oscar and Benedict had attempted to take their vengeance. At some point, Benedict had been separated. ¡°I just¡­I just kept killing,¡± Oscar said. ¡°I should have looked for him. He wasn¡¯t part of the pack, but¡­¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Elijah said, patting the man¡¯s back. ¡°I¡­I can¡¯t lose anymore of them,¡± Oscar said. The dogs had surrounded him, with one of them ¨C Jackson, Elijah thought ¨C laying his head in Oscar¡¯s lap. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You can sit this out.¡± ¡°No. I¡¯m coming with you. I intend to kill every last one of them.¡± Elijah was about to object, but then he considered the situation. There really wasn¡¯t much of a choice in the matter. They couldn¡¯t exactly leave Oscar behind ¨C not in his condition ¨C and escaping probably wasn¡¯t possible, either. So, as far as Elijah could tell, the only option was to bring him along. ¡°Fine,¡± Elijah announced. Then, he summoned Healing Rain and pulled a bar of soap from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. He tossed it to Oscar, saying, ¡°Clean yourself up. We¡¯ll figure out which way we¡¯re meant to go.¡± After that, he left Oscar in the center of the room and returned to his companions. Once he¡¯d explained everything, Sadie just shook her head and said, ¡°Poor man. Those dogs aren¡¯t just pets to him, are they? They¡¯re family.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°I imagine it feels like losing a limb or something like that.¡± ¡°Is he stable?¡± ¡°Not at all,¡± Elijah answered. Lamar cleared his throat. ¡°We need to figure out our next steps. This place is huge, and we don¡¯t know where else we¡¯re meant to go,¡± he said. ¡°And there¡¯s this Houndmaster to worry about,¡± Dat added. ¡°Traps are concerning.¡± ¡°We¡¯ll just have to be careful,¡± Elijah said. ¡°In the meantime, this is probably as good a place as any for everyone to stick around while the rest of us check things out.¡± After that, the group retreated to the edge of the room, where Kurik deployed some traps. If anyone attacked, they¡¯d get quite a shock. Then, Elijah, Dat, and Helen set off in different directions. Along the way, Elijah confirmed his suspicion that they¡¯d reached the palace proper. The d¨¦cor wasn¡¯t quite as opulent as he might have expected, but the lightning pulsing through the walls made other decorations largely superfluous. On he went, covering miles of hallways and seeing one unused room after another. Once, they might¡¯ve seen use, but now, they were entirely empty. There wasn¡¯t even any furniture. That made his search much quicker, and, aided by One with Nature, he covered quite a lot of ground in a short amount of time. And then, he sensed something up ahead. Remembering the trap described by Oscar, he took to the walls, and then the ceiling before continuing on under Guise of the Unseen. Soon enough, the hall ended in another empty chamber. Or that was Elijah¡¯s first impression. However, via One with Nature, he recognized it for the trap it was. There were ten creatures circling the room¡¯s perimeter, and though he couldn¡¯t see them, he could sense enough about their nature to categorize them as creatures he¡¯d dubbed scaled wolves. He¡¯d seen beasts of that sort elsewhere, though these were bigger and somehow sleeker than their wild counterparts. But Elijah¡¯s attention was focused on the room¡¯s other occupant. The creature was tall and slim and moved with a grace that suggested its build was Dexterity focused. Not surprising, given what Elijah knew of the Houndmaster. It was also encouraging. In most cases, it probably would have been smarter to go back and fetch the others, but Elijah had reason to think that was a bad idea. For one, he had no idea what traps lay within that chamber, and the majority of his companions had no ability to mitigate or detect those kinds of things. So, they would likely blunder into the same sort of trap that had killed Jojo. On top of that, the thing was a Dexterity-focused class. That meant that it would almost assuredly be light on Constitution. As such, Elijah felt sure that he could kill it off before it had a chance to react. With that plan intact, Elijah crept across the ceiling until he was directly above the Houndmaster. It was using some form of stealth, but he could feel the thing clearly enough to aim properly. He let go, twisting in the air before landing on the creature¡¯s shoulder. He¡¯d already embraced both Envenom and Predator Strike, so when he bit, it was with the full weight of the blight dragon¡¯s power. He only got one attack in before he was thrown free. He hit the floor, skidding across the room until he hit the wall. As he did so, he felt something begin to suck the ethera out of him. So, knowing what was coming, he initiated the shift into the Shape of Thorn just before his core was all-but emptied. It wasn¡¯t enough to completely disable him ¨C probably because of his high Regeneration attribute ¨C but it was enough to make any spellcasting impossible. He had just enough time to complete the transformation before all of the scaled wolves charged. 6-93. A Helping Hand An unidentifiable stench washed over Elijah only a moment before the scaled wolves hit him. He braced himself, catching one only seconds before its jaws snapped shut on his face. The thing was big, and it was strong enough to cause real issues as it raked its back claws into his torso. Each attack was answered by a thorn, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, they proved ineffective and incapable of penetrating the creature¡¯s scales. Without any ethera to power other abilities ¨C like Domain of Vines ¨C he had no choice but to fight with sheer Strength. Fortunately, he had plenty of that, which he employed to great effect when he heaved the scaled wolf across the room. It hit the wall a second later, but it was only briefly stunned. At the same time, the rest of the wolves reached him. If he¡¯d been in a state to appreciate it, he might have been impressed with their fighting style. The creatures were clearly pack animals, and they likely had a history of cooperative hunting. They were well-suited to working together, and they used their instincts well when fighting against an individually superior and much larger opponent. They never stopped moving, dashing in and ripping chunks of flesh from his legs. Meanwhile, others attacked from the front while their companions circled Elijah like the pack of wolves they resembled. And finally, the Houndmaster itself brought its abilities to bear, attacking with thrown javelins that seemed to come from nowhere. The last attacks were decidedly weak, and Elijah could see the effects of his venom spreading through the Houndmaster¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t long for the world, which meant that Elijah only needed to hold on for a little while longer before the drain on his ethera ¨C which he assumed was based on one of its skills ¨C disappeared. That was easier said than done, though. The scaled wolves weren¡¯t much faster than him, but they were incredibly tough. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if that was just a characteristic of their scales or if they possessed incredibly high Constitution attributes. What he did know was that his thorns were entirely incapable of delivering their toxic payload. Blunt force worked a little better, and he battered the wolves with heavy blows that sent them skipping away across the room. They always recovered, though, and when they did, they returned to join their packmates that were, slowly but surely, tearing Elijah apart piece by piece. The only good fortune he experienced was when the Houndmaster finally collapsed. He felt a wave of experience a moment later, but the drain on his ethera didn¡¯t halt. Nor did the scaled wolves cease their assault. If anything, they came at him harder than ever before. Elijah was just considering retreat, with an eye toward leading the pack back to the group, when everything changed. A giant, bull-headed demon rushed into the room, let out a fiery roar, and immediately and repeatedly slammed its head into the wall. Elijah had no clue what it was doing or why, but it certainly went about its task with incredible fury. It wasn¡¯t until a few seconds later that Elijah discovered the truth, announced by a small, localized explosion. The shockwave sent the demon stumbling backward, but it quickly recovered, shook its head, then attacked a different section of the wall. More importantly, Elijah suddenly felt the drain on his ethera weaken. It wasn¡¯t enough to activate any of his abilities, but the change highlighted what was going on. Clearly, the room was riddled with traps ¨C not unlike the ones Kurik had deployed against the sentry golems ¨C and the demon was on a quest to destroy them. Despite the feeling he got from the creature ¨C which was far from pleasant ¨C Elijah was more than willing to accept it as an ally. So, he maintained his defenses against the scaled wolves as the demon rammed into another part of the wall. It was then that Elijah felt the trap. It was just a pinprick of increased ethera, but when he focused on it, he felt a powerful pull that reminded him of an ethereal black hole. A little more focus, and he could barely sense the threads of ethera flowing into it. They were so thin that, even with all of his focus, it was still easy to lose track of them. But with the amount of energy flowing through those threads, they should have been much, much bigger ¨C at least according to his understanding. That they existed forced him to question his comprehension of how ethera worked. Unfortunately, with every passing moment, the scaled wolves became more and more ferocious. They didn¡¯t get any stronger or faster. Rather, they were enveloped by a level of rage Elijah could feel pulsing within them. It far exceeded anything he¡¯d felt while in the Shape of the Guardian, reminding him of animals afflicted with rabies. Or people who¡¯d experienced a psychotic break. One thing was certain was that they were a problem, and even with all his power, Elijah struggled to stop them. As a result, they ripped him to shreds, cutting through his Scales of Bark like it wasn¡¯t even active. What, then, would those creatures be capable of against someone who couldn¡¯t mitigate half the damage they caused? It was a sobering thought. Still, Elijah persisted, and gradually, he regained his ethera. Once he had enough, he activated Domain of Vines. The effect wasn¡¯t as powerful as he¡¯d hoped. These scaled wolves were much stronger than even the empowered wraiths, and they were capable of ripping free of the vines, so long as they gave it a little effort. However, it did slow them down, which was all Elijah needed to tip the balance in his direction. The bull-headed demon rammed into the walls over and over until it had circled the entire room. At the same time, Elijah dispatched one scaled wolf after another. Each kill came at the end of monumental effort, but he managed it all the same. By the time the drain on his ethera completely ceased, he¡¯d killed all but three of the creatures. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. A normal pack would have long since retreated. He¡¯d seen scaled wolves in the wild do just that when faced with defeat. However, these beasts continued to fight just as ferociously as in the very beginning. It was only when he¡¯d torn the pack down to a single member did he investigate what he felt within the creature. He held it at bay, using all but three facets of his Mind to bore into the sense granted by One with Nature. He felt it, then. Like someone had bored a hole through the animal¡¯s spirit. Something vital was missing. But he saw enough ragged edges to recognize that it wasn¡¯t something natural. If anything, it looked like an infection that had been cut out of a gangrenous wound. It was then that it all clicked together. That Houndmaster wasn¡¯t like Oscar, with his Pack Leader class. With the latter, the dogs were equal and consensual partners. With the former, the alliance had been forced upon the scaled wolves. Elijah was disgusted, and he wanted to pull the creature back, to repair the damage that had been done. But despite the depth of his pity, he knew the damage was done. The scaled wolf was irrevocably changed, and there was nothing he could do but put it out of its rage-filled misery. So, when the opportunity presented itself, he didn¡¯t hesitate to grab it around the neck and twist. Its neck snapped, and, after only a brief struggle for life, it died. Afterward, Elijah just stared down at the creature, unsure of what he should have felt. The wave of experience from the scaled wolves and the Houndmaster had pushed him into the next level, but he couldn¡¯t feel good about it. ¡°That was pretty close,¡± came an expected voice. Elijah didn¡¯t have to look up to know that Benedict had come. The demon wasn¡¯t the same as the one he¡¯d seen back in the Citadel of Innovation, and it certainly wasn¡¯t an imp. But Elijah had known from the very beginning who held its leash. It did beg the question of whether or not Benedict¡¯s abilities put him into a similar position to the one enjoyed by the Houndmaster. The answer wasn¡¯t difficult to discover. It only took a little focus on One with Nature for him to determine that the demon wasn¡¯t a true beast. Rather, it was, for lack of a better word, a manifestation. In short, it hadn¡¯t existed before Benedict had summoned it. Elijah finally looked up and what he saw took him aback. Benedict was in rough shape. One arm hung limp, while a coat of blood covered his hip. His hair clung to his scalp, and a ragged wound stretched from his ear, down his jaw, and almost to the corner of his mouth. After Elijah let Shape of Thorn fall away, he cast Soothe, then asked, ¡°What happened to you?¡± As Elijah¡¯s healing spell hit, Benedict visibly relaxed. ¡°So glad that was you,¡± he said. ¡°I felt like it was, but there was no telling for sure. Is that a new form?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°You were with Oscar, right?¡± ¡°For a while. We got separated,¡± Benedict answered. ¡°How do you know that? Did you find him? Is he okay?¡± It was odd, seeing concern from Benedict. In previous interactions, he¡¯d seemed mostly self-interested. But Elijah would be the first to acknowledge that people could be complicated. ¡°He lost one of the dogs.¡± Benedict¡¯s shoulders sagged. ¡°Oh. I¡­I thought that maybe¡­but I wasn¡¯t sure. It broke him, didn¡¯t it?¡± ¡°Something like that. I think he can get better, but¡­¡± ¡°But probably not in here,¡± the Warlock said. He pushed a strand of blood-soaked hair out of his eyes, saying, ¡°I suppose we don¡¯t have much of a choice, do we? What happened to the Nexus?¡± As Elijah explained everything he knew, he continued to heal Benedict. He did keep an eye on the demon, though. The thing was enormous ¨C even more so from his human-sized perspective ¨C with great, sweeping horns that made it look like a demonic minotaur. The red coloring probably reinforced that notion. ¡°So we don¡¯t know how many survived?¡± asked Benedict. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m sure they have a good idea by now. But honestly, I didn¡¯t think you cared so much. I know how you summon those demons.¡± ¡°You think you have a right to judge me?¡± ¡°It depends on whether or not you sacrificed innocents.¡± ¡°Honestly? Probably,¡± Benedict acknowledged. ¡°This big guy came from sacrificing wraiths. I¡¯m sure some of them didn¡¯t ask for what happened to them. But if you¡¯re talking about humans, I only kill people who threaten me. Bullies, mostly. People who think they can dominate me.¡± ¡°As long as you keep it that way, we can coexist.¡± ¡°And if not?¡± Elijah shrugged, saying, ¡°Usually, this is when I threaten people. Do what I say, or we¡¯ll have a problem. That sort of thing.¡± ¡°But not this time?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, man,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I think you know the answer to that question. You can¡¯t go around killing innocent people and expect me not to respond. I¡¯m not here to police the world, but if I catch wind ¨C¡± ¡°I get it,¡± Benedict said, holding up his bloody hands. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I don¡¯t want a fight. I just want to live my life. So long as people leave me alone, I¡¯m content with coexistence. But if not¡­¡± ¡°Hopefully it won¡¯t come to that. As far as the others are concerned, I don¡¯t know how they¡¯ll react to your presence. Sadie, at the very least, will be a problem.¡± ¡°Not much to be done about that. I¡¯m not so na?ve as to believe I can survive much longer on my own. This place is crawling with enemies, and they¡¯re not all weak. Some are real soldiers. A few that I¡¯ve¡­interrogated spoke of a General. And there¡¯s the Lightning Emperor to worry about as well. I think we need to work together,¡± Benedict said. Elijah believed that as well. The group was already weaker after what had happened with Ikan and his people, and Benedict would go a long way to filling that gap. Elijah had seen what the Warlock could do, and he had to admit that he wanted the man on his side. It wasn¡¯t just for the benefits he offered, either. Something in the back of Elijah¡¯s mind told him that, left to his own devices, Benedict could go down a very bad path. In the interest of public safety, he wanted to prevent that. There were only two ways to accomplish that feat. He could kill the man, then and there, or he could try to usher him towards a better outcome. Elijah didn¡¯t even have to think about it to choose the latter. To that end, he asked Benedict to come back with him so they could regroup with the others. ¡°I¡¯ll make sure Sadie doesn¡¯t cross any lines,¡± he added. Benedict nodded and said, ¡°I trust you.¡± So, with that in mind, they spent the next hour heading back to the chamber where the others had taken up a defensive position. Along the way, they were forced to fight a few times. The ta¡¯alaki soldiers usually came in groups of ten, and they probably would have been quite a challenge against most people. But Elijah and Benedict were among the most powerful people on Earth, and as such, they simply overwhelmed the patrols. They¡¯d only just returned to the chamber when Elijah felt something extremely troubling. Dat sprinted down one of the other halls, running as fast as he could while holding Helen in his arms. He shouted, ¡°They¡¯re coming! A whole army! Get ready!¡± The whole group took notice and erupted into motion. They barely had a chance to move before something hit Dat in the back, sending him tumbling across the floor. ¡°No!¡± Sadie screamed, running toward that entrance. She¡¯d only taken a few steps before a veritable horde of ta¡¯alaki rushed out to meet her. 6-94. Armies and Individuals Elijah was only a step behind Sadie when he shouted, ¡°Get Dat and Helen! I¡¯ll hold them off until you get them to safety!¡± He didn¡¯t wait for her confirmation before he initiated a shift into the Shape of Thorn. Meanwhile, Benedict¡¯s bull-demon charged the front line of the ta¡¯alaki army, ramming through them and planting itself in the center of the hall from which they¡¯d come. Seeing the opportunity ¨C and the danger ¨C the bull-demon¡¯s positioning represented, the fighters on the flanks folded in on the creature, stabbing it with their long spears. At the same time, the rest of the army repositioned itself to meet Elijah¡¯s charge. The bull-demon¡¯s charge was enough to give Elijah time to complete his transformation, so when he hit them, it was in the form of the thorned sentry. Unfortunately, the army was well-trained, and by interlocking their shields, they erected a bubble of rippling ethera. Elijah crashed into it, thinking it would shatter before the weight of his charge, but to his shock, it held firm. Even worse, he quickly received a dozen stab wounds as spears snaked out, piercing his scales. None of the blades went deep, but like his thorns, they carried with them a debilitating effect that, if it was allowed to pile up, would sap his strength. Elijah couldn¡¯t let that happen, so he rode the natural rebound of his charge, letting it take him out of range. But giving ground was the worst thing he could have done, because it allowed them to collectively take a slithering step forward. Then another. They advanced as one, reminding Elijah of Roman legionnaires. They¡¯d even adopted a phalanx formation. It would have been surprising, but there was a reason the Romans had used it so broadly. It was just an effective deployment. From what Elijah remembered ¨C he¡¯d gone down quite a few Youtube rabbit holes in his time, and often, they involved military history ¨C the phalanx had a few glaring weaknesses. The first was that it was adversely affected by rough terrain, which seemed to be an issue for any rigid formation. In any case, that wasn¡¯t really applicable when they were fighting on even ground. The second tactic typically used to overcome such a formation was also a mostly universal truth. Any formation ¨C the phalanx included ¨C was weak to flanking maneuvers. Elijah couldn¡¯t really swing that, either. Perhaps if he¡¯d had a chance to coordinate with the others, it would have been possible, but they¡¯d been caught on the back foot. So, flanking just didn¡¯t seem all that useful ¨C especially considering that, as far as he could tell, the ethereal shield they¡¯d erected wrapped all the way around them. But the most universally effective tactic for dealing with a phalanx was a simple one ¨C break the front line, which in this case, was the shield, and the formation would collapse in on itself. It seemed especially true because the line had already been weakened by the bull-demon¡¯s charge. They¡¯d displayed remarkable agility by redeploying the formation to contain it, but Elijah was banking on their inability to repeat the feat. So, he used Savage Might, then Bestial Charge as he hurled himself toward the shield. The combination of his increased Strength and the two abilities meant that he moved so quickly that, to an outside observer, it would appear almost like teleportation. For Elijah, he felt the stone floor crack beneath his feet as he accelerated to speeds normally only achievable by jets. Less than an instant later, he rammed into the shield. It shattered. But so did he. Fortunately, he had Ron backing him up. A heal landed on him a moment before he made contact, and that injection of vitality repaired the bones he broke upon impact. For their part, the soldiers were thrown backward and into their fellows, creating a domino effect that didn¡¯t end until the ones facing the bull-demon were tossed into their enemy. The demon took that opportunity to lash out with a whip of fire that cut through the suddenly unprotected ta¡¯alaki fighters. Screams of rage and pain erupted as Elijah rolled free of the pile-up he¡¯d caused. He activated Domain of Vines, and the already destabilized formation was further thrust into chaos. But these soldiers were not without abilities of their own, and Elijah felt a stirring of ethera before the enemy¡¯s wounds began to heal. ¡°They have Healers!¡± Elijah shouted, his voice echoing through the confines of the chamber. A second later, he felt Sadie plunge through the gap he¡¯d created, and she was followed by Lamar and the other melee fighters. Dat was not among them. At the same time, the ranged attackers opened up, with Kurik tossing his traps in from the flank and sowing more chaos. When Sadie reached Elijah, he growled, ¡°I have to get to the Healers. Cover me.¡± Sadie nodded, then activated the ability she called Bell of Faith. The eponymous bell ¨C something between an illusion and reality ¨C manifested above her head, then let out a ringing tone that sent a wave of energy into her allies while briefly stunning her foes. Elijah, who¡¯d already begun another transformation, leaped high into the air. His arms became wings, and his body slimmed into a serpentine form as he assumed the Shape of the Sky. He beat his wings, gaining altitude as the enemies recovered. Some threw javelins at him, but his recent levels had given him enough Dexterity to put his well-earned flying experience to good use. He dodged the projectiles, only taking a few small wounds as he fled to the other side of the chamber. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Meanwhile, the battle progressed. There were hundreds of fighters against Elijah¡¯s companions, and despite the disparity in individual power ¨C his allies were stronger ¨C the weight of numbers and cooperation was undeniable. It didn¡¯t take a genius to recognize the writing on the wall. Unless something changed, he and his friends were bound to lose. That, more than anything, was why he¡¯d flown away. Even as he dove through one of the connecting hallways, he wasn¡¯t focused on survival. Rather, he wanted to change the paradigm of the fight. And to do that, Shape of Thorn, for all its strengths, was not ideal. With that in mind, as soon as he was out of sight, he shifted into the form of the blight dragon. Still, it took another two-hundred yards of scampering through the hall before he dropped combat. The second Essence of the Wolf kicked in, he reversed course and embraced Guise of the Unseen. He pushed himself to maximum speed, but even then, he couldn¡¯t cover ground instantly. So, when he finally arrived back to the site of battle, he saw that things weren¡¯t going well. Fortunately, everyone was still alive ¨C thanks mostly to Ron, who was doing the work of three men ¨C but that wasn¡¯t going to remain the case for long. The bull-demon was on its last legs, and the army had surrounded Sadie and Lamar. Both were holding out well, but due to the thick shields of the ta¡¯alaki fighters, the other melee fighters were incapable of doing much damage. The only really good news was that Dat was on his feet and had joined Kurik on the right flank. How much good either of them were doing was debatable, but Elijah was glad to see that the Witch Hunter had survived. In any case, Elijah quickly climbed the wall and flipped upside down to crawl across the ceiling. A few seconds later, he found himself approaching the hall through which the army had approached. The ethereal shield was nowhere to be seen, so he was able to slip past their front line. He¡¯d expected some sort of stealth countermeasures, but he didn¡¯t find any issues as he sighted in on the Healers. Unlike the armored soldiers, they wore blue robes with gold trim, and most carried etched metal staves. Elijah watched as they cast one spell after another. After only a second, he saw that they didn¡¯t cast all at once. Instead, they took turns, maximizing their efficiency. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to use Envenom and Predator Strike before dropping onto the one he deemed most powerful. Just a graze, and he was onto the next. The Healers didn¡¯t even know he was there until he¡¯d bitten the fourth in line, which was when he used Flicker Step to teleport to the furthest one away. That was the thing about Shape of Venom. It wasn¡¯t meant to fight toe-to-toe with his enemies. The blight dragon was an ambush predator that relied on speed when stealth failed. His tactics reflected that as he raced from one place to another, biting as many Healers as he could find. Of course, they healed themselves, but they quickly discovered that his venom was not as easily countered as they might have expected. They could overwhelm it, but it took the concentrated casting of three Healers to completely banish it. And if they were focused on healing one another, they couldn¡¯t heal the front lines. Via One with Nature, Elijah felt the tide of the battle turning. To speed it on its way, he shifted into his human form, ducked beneath a thrusting spear from one of the soldiers, and conjured a Swarm. Even as thousands of dragonflies manifested and descended onto his enemies, Elijah used Lightning Domain. He didn¡¯t push it to maximum power. His goal wasn¡¯t to kill everything within the radius of its effect. Even if that was possible, which he doubted, that wouldn¡¯t be enough to win the battle. It would also drain his ethera, which he knew would be a bad idea. The fight wasn¡¯t necessarily one of attrition, but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be won or lost in the space of a few minutes. That meant he had to fight like he was in it for the long haul. Still, Lightning Domain was a powerful ability, and the whips of lightning that swirled all around him stunned everything in its effective radius. That further disrupted the chain of healing, which had always been his goal. The second Lightning Domain ended, Elijah cast Healing Rain and Soothe on himself before shifting into the Shape of Thorn. He took a few hits during the process of transformation, but they were quickly healed by his preemptive casting. And once he was in his most durable shape, he let loose with all the fury he could muster. The already-weakened Healers had no defense against him. The procession of healing had also been disrupted, which meant that their efforts fell into disarray. Sure, they still threw out plenty of healing, but it was haphazard, with far more overlap than they intended. Most importantly, it was inefficient. The first signs that proved that inefficiency was when one of the ta¡¯alaki Healers simply collapsed from ethereal exhaustion. Elijah could certainly sympathize with that, but he also knew that it meant his tactics were working. Emboldened by that success, he redoubled his efforts, wreaking havoc among the back lines. Many of the spear-wielding soldiers tried to respond, but with them being pushed from both sides, their formation had been broken. Now, it was a fight of individuals, rather than a clash against a unified army. That played right into Elijah¡¯s hands. At least until everything changed. A wave of ethera swept across the battlefield, but surprisingly, it didn¡¯t affect Elijah or his allies. Instead, it emboldened and empowered the native army. Healers on the verge of passing out experienced an injection of power, and suddenly, they were throwing out heals as if they were entirely recovered. Something similar affected the soldiers, who became so energized that they started to recover ground they¡¯d already ceded. The most affected by this was the bull-demon, who finally succumbed when dozens of spears pierced its hide. It fell with nary a whimper, telling Elijah that it lacked the energy to even cry out. For his part, Elijah sprang away, shifting into his blight dragon form before clinging to the wall and skittering out of reach of the soldiers¡¯ spears. That didn¡¯t make him safe, because a volley of javelins soon followed. He juked back and forth in a zig-zag pattern, moving so quickly that he avoided getting hit. However, he had no intention of regrouping with his companions and making a final stand. They needed help, but he knew that, as much power as he could bring to bear on the situation, he didn¡¯t have enough strength to turn the tide of the battle. Not from the front lines, at least. Instead, he went deeper into the tunnel, abandoning the recovered ¨C but still depleted, in terms of numbers ¨C Healers as he searched for the origin of the wave of replenishment. It didn¡¯t take him long to find it. Until that moment, Elijah had only encountered a few people with the Tactician archetype, but one of those meetings had very nearly killed him. It didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out that he¡¯d found the General, who was characterized by more elaborate armor and a scepter that looked more symbolic than practical. Similarly, it wasn¡¯t difficult to come to the conclusion that this leader of ta¡¯alaki likely possessed such an archetype. So, it was with some caution that he approached the slightly larger native. 6-95. Strengths and Weaknesses A volley of thrown javelins hit the ceiling, carving a line of destruction in Elijah¡¯s wake. Rocks and tiles erupted into dust upon impact, but he barely managed to outpace them. Finally, he reached his destination and leaped, fangs bared. He never reached his goal, because an enormous ka¡¯alaki hulk swatted him out of the air. His bones creaked under the blow, but nothing broke. Using every point of Dexterity at his disposal, he twisted so that he hit the other wall feet-first. His reptilian body absorbed the impact, and he sprang away only a second before another volley of javelins would have hit him. At the same time, a half-dozen soldiers planted themselves in front of their leader, barring Elijah¡¯s way. The way he saw it, he had two choices. He could shift into his Shape of Thorn and simply power his way through the line ¨C and probably gain quite a few wounds on the way ¨C or he could use the speed of his blight dragon form to slip between them. The latter plan was complicated by the fact that only a second later, the soldiers slammed their shields into the ground and created another ethereal barrier not unlike the one he¡¯d encountered when they¡¯d first rushed into the chamber. He''d broken that with Bestial Charge, but he didn¡¯t think he could repeat that feat. For one, they would be ready for it, meaning that there were dozens of other soldiers ready to respond to such a tactic. And for another, he sensed that the new shield was empowered, probably by the Tactician leader in the back lines. Just as Elijah was considering his options, another presented itself when he felt that Flicker Step had come off cooldown. He skittered forward until the leader was in range, then used it. As he teleported through the air, he was beset by significant turbulence that felt like it was trying to rip his body in two. Normally, the skill was instant, but this time, it took an agonizing couple of seconds before he popped out on the other side of the shield. He flopped to the ground, bloody and grossly wounded. Fortunately, the soldiers didn¡¯t respond to the tactic as quickly as they probably should have. Elijah was no expert in ta¡¯alaki facial expressions, but he thought he saw surprise decorating the few faces he could make out. Clearly, they hadn¡¯t expected him to bypass their shield, and because of that, it took them a few seconds to react. Elijah recovered from his own shock far more quickly, and he immediately initiated a shift to his human form. Just as it completed, the ta¡¯alaki fighters finally reacted and rushed him. The closest rammed a spear into his side, but Elijah ignored it, already focusing on casting Soothe. The heal-over-time spell hit him a moment later, and he jerked free of the spearhead. After slapping another away, he used Healing Rain. As the expected precipitation fell, he lashed out with his staff, clapping one of the soldiers across the neck. With his Strength, the attack carried quite a bit of weight, as evidenced by the sound of cracking bone that came a second later. He wheeled around, dipping low and sweeping the tail-like lower half out from under another ta¡¯alaki, then conjured a Swarm of tiny gnats that immediately descended upon the enemy. Elijah leaped high into the air, using Storm¡¯s Fury a second before bringing his staff down on yet another fighter. The spell flashed out, stunning the creature. Finally, Elijah embraced Lightning Domain, and whips of lightning spun around him. He never stopped moving, battering the ta¡¯alaki with his staff as he let his body heal. Then, it all came to an end when the hulk arrived, ramming into him with a dipped shoulder that sent him flying across the corridor. He hit the wall with enough force that it would have turned a normal human to jelly. For his part, he only experienced a couple of fractures that were healed a second later. But he knew he couldn¡¯t stand up to that hulk in his human form. In truth, he couldn¡¯t even kill off the normal soldiers. Not unexpected, given that his class was built around his bestial forms, but still a sobering thought. This was not a fight he could easily win. It was good thing he had plenty of other tools at his disposal. With that in mind, he rolled away from a stabbing spear, then used Shape of Thorn. Even as he threw himself upright, the transformation completed, and he let loose with one of his oft-ignored abilities:
Debilitating Roar Let out an enraged bellow that sends all nearby targets fleeing in fear, decreasing their damage by 15%. Increases caster¡¯s footspeed by 10%. Only usable when caster is under the influence of Shape of the Guardian. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 12.9 seconds. Resistance based on target¡¯s Constitution attribute.
The nearby ta¡¯alaki soldiers dropped their weapons and fled in terror. With the increased speed granted by the ability, he dashed forward in a shoulder charge that sent the hulk stumbling backward. He didn¡¯t let up, either. Instead, he leaped upon the creature and wrapped his arms around its thick neck before activating Domain of Vines. With all his Strength, he squeezed, and his vines responded to his body¡¯s command. They wrapped around the creature, inflicting dozens of instances of toxin upon the creature. It struggled, ripping at Elijah¡¯s arms and vines with predictably fury. However, it soon weakened until its efforts were barely even noticeable. For his part, Elijah continued to squeeze even after the hulk collapsed to its knees, then pitched forward face-first. It hit the ground with a thud as all tension left its body. Elijah only squeezed harder. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. His goal wasn¡¯t to knock the thing out. He was there to kill it. Complicating that quest was the recovery of the ta¡¯alaki soldiers. The second Debilitating Roar faded, they rushed in and stabbed him. Even as those spears pierced his scales, Elijah refused to relinquish his grip on the hulk. Finally, he felt a wave of experience that announced the monster¡¯s demise. His Soothe had long since run its course, but his natural durability was enough to keep him from taking too many major wounds. His Regeneration kept him from succumbing to the worst of those. He pushed himself to his feet and the surrounding ta¡¯alaki soldiers took a step back, raising their shields at the same time. Everyone there recognized it as a useless gesture. There were dozens of them there, but Elijah had already killed the strongest of them. It was only a matter of time before they all fell. And they knew it. Elijah could read that in their eyes. But what else could they do but fight? After all, their survival depended on killing him and everyone else in the Trial. Their backs were against the wall, and as it turned out, rational thought fled before the sheer necessity of survival. They rushed him. Elijah let out a mundane roar and met their charge with one of his own. He crashed into the shield wall, shattering their line and grabbing the nearest head he could reach. He crushed it in his grip only a second later. After that, he lost himself in the throes of battle. There was no great strategy to his efforts. No plans. He matched them Strength for Strength, and one by one, they fell before him. That wasn¡¯t to say that he didn¡¯t take plenty of hits along the way. By the time he stood over the final soldier in the vicinity, he was riddled with hundreds of stab wounds. Most barely made it through his scales, but a few had found their way to more delicate flesh. Elijah ignored the wounds and, dripping blood, turned his attention to his true target. Only a few dozen feet away was the leader. The creature stood ¨C or whatever the equivalent was when the thing had a thick, snakelike tail rather than legs ¨C proud and unbowed. Its shoulders were back, and its stance was one of extreme confidence. But Elijah could see beneath the surface. He could feel the creature¡¯s racing heartbeat. The tiny trembles of fear that weren¡¯t quite visible to the naked eye. It was afraid. A reasonable state, considering what it had just seen. Still, Elijah approached cautiously. The last time he¡¯d dealt with a Tactician, the guild leader back in Seattle had used some sort of ability that had turned him into a monstrously powerful creature. Back then, Elijah had nearly died, and he wasn¡¯t going to repeat the mistakes of that day. So, when he drew within fifteen feet, he spoke. ¡°Are you going to sacrifice your people in a bid to save yourself?¡± he asked. ¡°You think so little of me?¡± the leader asked. ¡°I have led these people for centuries. I would never do such a thing. We will fight, and we will win. If not, then¡­we will die with honor. That is all we have left.¡± At that moment, the General tossed its scepter to the ground and threw itself forward. Like its underlings, it possessed a spear and shield, and it clearly knew how to use them. But ultimately, it was a Tactician, not a Warrior, and it lacked the attributes or abilities to truly threaten Elijah. Elijah slapped the creature aside, then thrust his hand through the creature¡¯s segmented breastplate and into its chest. He squeezed, grabbing something that seemed important, and ripped it free. The General collapsed, dead before it even hit the ground. That was when Elijah turned his attention to the rest of the battle. To his surprise, Sadie and the others had made incredible progress, and they¡¯d already reached the Healers. Elijah pushed from the other side, and after a long, drawn-out battle where the ta¡¯alaki soldiers resisted until the bitter end, the Trial-takers finally executed the last one. Elijah¡¯s shoulders sagged as he looked upon the scene of death and carnage. It had been absolutely necessary, but that didn¡¯t mean it was any easier to stomach. The gains he¡¯d made felt almost mocking, given the emotions rushing through his mind. He¡¯d pushed all the way to level one-nineteen, and he wasn¡¯t far from the next level. Not only would that push him to within five levels of the peak of the mortal tier, but it would also give him a new spell ¨C or evolution. As happy as that normally would have made him, Elijah couldn¡¯t quite bring himself to enjoy his progress. Not amidst so many dead bodies. ¡°It seems so useless,¡± Sadie said, standing next to him. ¡°We didn¡¯t have a choice.¡± ¡°I know. I¡¯ve already noticed the abyssal influence getting stronger. If we waited around for the end of the Trial¡­¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± Elijah agreed. If they¡¯d done that, everyone would have ended up corrupted. Elijah himself probably would have been fine, but he had no idea how high the levels of abyssal corruption would go. ¡°If it makes you feel any better, this is justice of a sort. The system told Yloa to stop. This is the punishment.¡± ¡°That doesn¡¯t help.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry. I thought¡­I don¡¯t know what I thought,¡± he admitted. She¡¯d revealed some of her revelations concerning her cultivation and the role the concept of justice had played, but Elijah really didn¡¯t know what it all meant. He¡¯d taken it to mean that she would pursue justice at all costs, like some automaton. But he was constantly reminded that she was still a person, with all the emotions, flaws, and strengths that came with that. That usually meant he ended up putting his foot in his mouth, which probably wasn¡¯t great for their relationship. Or lack thereof. To change the subject, he asked, ¡°What now? Were there any casualties on our side?¡± As it turned out, there weren¡¯t any, largely due to Ron¡¯s efforts. Dat was already back on his feet as well, but everyone needed some time to recover. So, they spent the next few hours doing just that. Nobody really relaxed, though. After all, they had no idea when the next attack might come. So, the period of rest was short-lived and wholly ineffective in its intended purpose. A few hours later, Elijah found himself once again scouting the way. The palace wasn¡¯t entirely empty, but the residents were scattered. In addition, there were no remaining soldiers Elijah could see. Because of that, he progressed quickly, helping to lead the others through the maze of hallways that eventually ended before a large set of doors. Elijah could feel what was inside, but even though he probably should have felt a large degree of fear, he was beset by two other distinct emotions. First was anticipation. While he didn¡¯t enjoy slaughtering a bunch of soldiers, he definitely didn¡¯t have any compunctions about killing the one responsible for it all. In fact, he looked forward to holding Yloa K¡¯hnam accountable. But there was also a significant degree of fear. He had no idea what to expect, but he knew it would be a fight that tested them all. He glanced toward Sadie, who stood beside him. Then, he looked past her and saw the others. Oscar. Lamar. Dat and Ron. Kurik. Even Benedict, looking like he was doing everything he could to stay as far away from Sadie as possible. His demon ¨C a new one he¡¯d summoned by sacrificing a few ta¡¯alaki soldiers they¡¯d found ¨C looked like an overgrown imp with two heads, and it hovered a few feet behind Lamar¡¯s group. They were among the most powerful people Earth could muster, but even then, Elijah worried it wouldn¡¯t be enough. He wished Brika and her group hadn¡¯t run off. They¡¯d seen neither hide nor hair of them since being separated. None of them were particularly strong, but there was something to be said for the weight of numbers. It didn¡¯t matter. They had the people they had. ¡°Everyone ready?¡± Elijah asked. He got a few nods of affirmation. ¡°Here we go.¡± He pushed the huge, carved doors open, revealing a massive chamber. Upon a dark blue throne in the distance sat Yloa K¡¯hnam. The Lightning Emperor. The ta¡¯alaki who¡¯d doomed his entire planet. He rose, his massive, white tail uncoiling as his voice echoed through the throne room. ¡°Good. You have come. I have been waiting.¡± 6-96. Siege Colt leaned back in the chair, his feet on the table as he looked at the still-unfamiliar cards. He barely understood the game, but somehow, he was currently in the middle of an inexplicable hot streak. He didn¡¯t believe in luck ¨C a man made his own fortune, as far as he was concerned ¨C but his winning ways definitely stretched that notion to its limits. Finally, he laid his cards on the table. ¡°Believe that means I win. Again.¡± One of the dwarves groaned, throwing his own cards on the rough-hewn table. Another just stared at the multi-colored cards Colt had just revealed. The third member of the group ¨C a goblin named Myskix ¨C snarled, ¡°Doesn¡¯t make sense. You didn¡¯t even know the rules before tonight.¡± Colt shrugged, then tipped his hat back a little. ¡°S¡¯pose I¡¯m just lucky,¡± he said. ¡°Nobody¡¯s that lucky,¡± Myskix slurred. Despite their situation, he was more than a little inebriated, which probably led to his consistent losses. It also made him far more volatile, and Colt recognized an impending fight when one presented itself. ¡°Don¡¯t go gettin¡¯ riled up. You want a fight, I¡¯ll give ya one. But it ain¡¯t gonna end well for you,¡± Colt said. ¡°Best you save it for the real enemy. Or did ya forget ¡®bout them?¡± Myskix blinked his beady eyes, and his ears twitched before he threw himself across the table. The little goblin was quick, but Colt was quicker. Even as the small, green figure scattered the table¡¯s contents ¨C ethereum, drinks, and cards ¨C off the table, Colt reacted. He barely moved, but somehow, he ended up wrapping his fingers around the goblin¡¯s neck, twisting, and slamming him against the nearby wall. He squeezed. ¡°Told ya it wouldn¡¯t end well,¡± Colt said, leaning close to Myskix¡¯s long nose. Then, he released the goblin, who clattered to the floor, gasping for air. ¡°Now, I think we¡¯re done playin¡¯ cards for now. We need to ¨C¡± Just then, an unholy screech filled the air. Through the windows of the guard house, Colt saw flashing, red lights. And he knew what they both meant. He quickly grabbed his sheathed sword and shouted, ¡°Attack! To your positions, boys!¡± The two dwarves and Myskix knew the drill. They¡¯d had plenty of practice runs, so they too had recognized the alarm when they saw it. They gathered their weapons and followed Colt as he sprinted outside and onto the top of the wall encircling Ironshore. Behind him, a huge ball of blinking, red light illuminated the entire city, while the caterwauling alarm echoed throughout the region. Colt tuned it out as he searched the area on the other side of the wall. It had all been cleared, and it was riddled with traps and trenches that went on for more than a hundred yards. He¡¯d helped dig those ditches, and he¡¯d watched those with pertinent skills set the traps, so he knew the area like the back of his hand. Because of that, aside from a quick scan, he didn¡¯t pay much attention to the defenses. Instead, he focused on the stretch of land on the other side. And as he saw the enemy army arrayed before him, he couldn¡¯t keep a deep frown from creasing his face. There were thousands of them. Perhaps tens of thousands. Far more than he or the leaders of Ironshore ever could have expected. And they were all armed and armored for battle. Until that point, it had been quite rare to find a dark elf wearing anything but leather gear, but now, Colt saw plenty of fighters in full plate armor. ¡°This ain¡¯t¡­this ain¡¯t good,¡± said one of the dwarves as he absently adjusted the armor Carmen had made for the entire city. The dwarf was a Miner, if Colt remembered correctly. By no means was he prepared for what was coming. And yet, none of them had a choice. The elves had made it absolutely clear that they didn¡¯t intend to give anyone quarter. At best, they would make slaves out of any of the survivors. At worst¡­ Colt didn¡¯t want to think about that. The bottom line was that none of them could avoid a fight. They¡¯d known that from the moment the dark elves had begun the conflict, and they¡¯d made preparations accordingly. Still, despite all the countermeasures they¡¯d built, Colt was far from convinced they had enough firepower to deal with so many dark elves. Another light ¨C this one blue ¨C exploded above the city, and Colt¡¯s heart sank. The red alarm meant that enemies had been spotted coming from the forest. Colt was looking at those. But the blue was more disturbing. It meant that the dark elves were coming from below as well. It meant that their last resort had failed. They were supposed to collapse the tunnels in the hopes of killing a large swath of dark elves. It wasn¡¯t what anyone wanted, considering how much work it would take to get the mine up and running again, but even the consequences of falling behind were better than giving the dark elves a free path to the surface. But obviously, that had failed. Had the dark elves counteracted it? Colt didn¡¯t know, and for his current task, it didn¡¯t really matter. His job was to hold the wall, and he needed to trust that the rest of the makeshift militia could do the same on the other side of the city. For a few minutes, the people of Ironshore scrambled into position. It didn¡¯t matter if they were fighters or noncombatants. Everyone was expected to contribute to the coming battle. So, as Colt and the others watched the opposing army, they were joined by hundreds of people. Many were Miners ¨C that was the city¡¯s stock and trade, after all ¨C but there were other classes in there as well. Colt even caught sight of Carmen, decked from head to toe in heavy plate armor and wielding her new hammer. It was larger and more devastating than any other weapon she¡¯d created. With her enormous Strength, the quality of her equipment, and the experience she¡¯d gained as a fighter, Carmen was not to be underestimated just because she didn¡¯t possess a combat class. He also saw Gwenivere and the other castaways. Aside from her, they all wore grim and haunted expressions. None wanted to be there. They¡¯d fought too many battles. They¡¯d faced death too many times. And it had broken any will to fight they might¡¯ve once possessed. Trauma was like that. However, they still showed up because, as well as anyone, they knew the stakes. Colt respected them even more for that. Still, all in all, Ironshore only had a population of around fifteen thousand people. And of those fifteen thousand, only around half would be capable of truly contributing to the city¡¯s defense. Given what he saw arrayed against them ¨C if there were less than fifty thousand dark elves surrounding the city, he would have been extremely surprised. And he expected the number was closer to six figures, given that he hadn¡¯t even seen the force coming from below. In short, they were woefully outnumbered, even when taking into account the advantage of being the defenders. Before he could dwell on that for too long, the dark elves wheeled a series of war machines out. They were simple cylinders on wheels, and to his eye, they looked a lot like cannons. However, instead of being forged from iron or brass, they were made from some silvery metal that glinted red in the light. They were also covered in elaborate etchings that made them look more like works of art than weapons of war. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Once the things were in place, the cylinders tipped forward, and, all at once, they fired. They didn¡¯t use projectiles, but rather, balls of pure ethera that roiled and hissed as they sailed through the air. Just before they collided with the wall, they hit a shield of energy that stopped them cold. The ethera splashed across the barrier, looking almost like a fireworks show. Then came the next volley. And the next after that. On and on it went as the dark elves bombarded the shield with artillery. It was useless because, while Ironshore may have lacked fighters, it certainly didn¡¯t have a deficiency of crafters. Those Tradesmen also had had plenty of time to work on the defenses, and so, they¡¯d instilled the wall with a powerful enchantment that they¡¯d said would protect the city for days if necessary. Probably indefinitely, given the high density of ambient ethera. For that, they could thank Elijah¡¯s grove and the arboreal natural treasure he¡¯d planted in what was now Druid¡¯s Park. They had ethera to spare. The problem was that the same ethereal density affected the cannons, giving them nearly infinite energy. It was thinner further from the city, but at a distance of a few hundred yards, it wasn¡¯t a big enough difference to cripple their ability to bombard the city. But a stalemate favored the city, because it gave them time to get everyone into position before the elves inevitably concluded that, if they wanted to take the city, they needed to get their hands dirty. It took nearly two hours before the cannons ceased their fire, and though the shield remained as strong as ever, the effect on the defenders was far more dire. Most of the combat classes were fine, but the others were clearly rattled. And Colt understood it, too. Sometimes, the anticipation of battle was much worse than the fight itself. In this instance, that likely wouldn¡¯t be the case, but that didn¡¯t rob the bombardment of its psychological impact. It was a difficult thing to endure, even when they knew the shield wouldn¡¯t break. At the cessation of the cannon barrage, Colt let out a sigh of relief that was echoed by most of the people nearby. ¡°Get ready,¡± he announced. ¡°Ain¡¯t gonna be long ¡®til they charge.¡± He didn¡¯t really need to say it. Everyone knew what was coming. But knowing someone was in charge ¨C at least as much as Colt was ¨C gave people comfort. It bolstered their confidence and pushed them to do things they normally wouldn¡¯t have been capable of doing. Sure enough, after only a few more minutes, the dark elves sent the first wave of attackers. They rushed across the field, leaping over traps and ditches along the way. Or at least that was true for the first few feet. Then, Ironshore let loose with its own cannons. Balls of roiling ethera landed amongst the charging fighters, exploding with enough force to completely dismember the ones in the immediate point of impact. Body parts, clouds of dirt, and misting blood filled the air, accompanied by screams of purest agony. Dozens died to the first volley, and even more fell before the second. The third, though, was stymied by the dark elves¡¯ reaction. Suddenly, a portable version of the same shield that had protected the city manifested above the charging dark elves. It wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as the one around Ironshore, but it was strong enough to take a couple of direct hits before shattering. That allowed the charging fighters to push inside the effective range. That was the problem with those cannons. They were powerful weapons of war, but they were difficult to aim. The angles at play made it even more difficult, meaning that, while the last leg of the dark elves charge wasn¡¯t entirely free of cannon fire, it was a lot less prevalent than the first stretch. So, the force reached the wall with minimal casualties. Normally, the wall was only a few dozen feet tall, but the city¡¯s Tradesmen had been hard at work ever since they¡¯d discovered the close proximity of the hostile dark elves. Since then, they¡¯d extended its height to nearly a hundred feet. The dark elves scaled it with ease. They didn¡¯t need ladders, instead relying on thrown grappling hooks that seemed to be guided by magic. They dug deep into the crenellations atop the wall, and when Colt tried to dislodge one, he found that it was stuck fast. Even the rope, which had a metallic sheen to it, took four hacks from his katana before it was severed. That sent a few dark elves plummeting back to the ground, but he knew it was far too much to hope that such a fall would stop them. ¡°Get ready!¡± he shouted. Along the wall, a line of dwarves, humans, gnomes, and goblins stood poised to meet the ascending force. And when that first head popped over the wall, it was met with the stout blade of a pickaxe wielded by one of the Miners. The next took a sword to the throat. And the next, a blade that hacked a hunk of skull away. When one appeared before Colt, he decapitated the elf. But even as her body disappeared over the side, another took its place. He swung his sword again, and with similar results. But he could only attack so quickly, and another came on the second¡¯s heels. Then another. The dark elves swarmed, surmounting the wall far too quickly for the defenders to deal with them all. And the second one of them planted his feet on solid ground, the battle shifted. The dark elves paid their price in blood, but even as Colt fought to defend the wall, he knew it was a losing battle. There were too many enemies, and they were too durable. Their armor wasn¡¯t quite as stout as what Carmen had created for the defenders, but it was enough to keep them alive. On and on Colt fought, slaying dozens of elves. He didn¡¯t use any active skills, opting instead to save his stamina. Still, he hacked and slashed, reaping lives with almost every attack. As he battled, he felt experience pour in. The elves had some levels on them, and as such, they gave quite a lot of energy when they died. Soon enough, he passed the threshold into the next. And the next after that. But he didn¡¯t have time to check his gains. Instead, he could only focus on the fight before him. Then, the signal he¡¯d long expected appeared. An orange burst of light announced the second phase of the city¡¯s defense, and Colt shouted, ¡°Down!¡± All of his people obeyed his order, and he let loose with Cut of a Thousand Blades, one of his newest skills:
Cut of a Thousand Blades Conjure a thousand blades to swirl around you. Each will issue a single cut. Potency dependent on relative Strength attribute. Accuracy based on Dexterity attribute. Cooldown: 24 hours.
Instantly, a thousand ethereal, blue blades manifested around him. Colt¡¯s brow creased as they spread out, each one aiming for a different dark elf. The ones closest to him hit with surgical precision, and many decapitated his enemies. However, as the blades spread out in a hundred foot radius, his aim grew sloppier. They still cut, but few of those wounds were lethal. It didn¡¯t matter, because he immediately followed it up with Rain of Blades:
Rain of Blades Conjure a deluge of spectral blades, hindering your opponents¡¯ movements. Potency based on Dexterity attribute. Cooldown: 24 hours
The sky broke open, revealing a cascade of falling blades. They fell upon the wall, slamming into the army of dark elves. They didn¡¯t actually harm the enemy. Instead, they merely pinned them in place. ¡°Retreat!¡± he ordered. His fellow defenders followed that command, each one leaping to their feet and racing to the ladders that had been propped on the inner side of the wall. They shimmied down with well-practiced technique. Meanwhile, Colt simply leaped down. All across the wall, the other defenders did the same. And when everyone was down, they dragged the ladders with them. At the same time, the Tradesmen activated a series of traps at the bottom of the inner wall. As everyone raced into the city, a few dark elves recovered from the various abilities used to hinder their movements and leaped off. They were immediately subjected to the deadly traps at the bottom. None were lethal ¨C that was beyond the skills of the city¡¯s Tradesmen ¨C but they did inflict serious injuries upon the ones unlucky enough to lead the way. The dark elves, of course, recognized that, so they spent precious time spreading across the wall and finding the guard houses which contained the stairs that would lead them down. Those, too, were heavily trapped, and in that confined space, these traps were far more lethal. They killed hundreds of elves before the enemy gave up on that route. As they remained stranded on the wall ¨C albeit temporarily ¨C the defenders took up new positions in the city. For Colt¡¯s part, he set up in an alley and prepared himself for urban warfare. Even though everything had gone mostly to plan, he knew that they¡¯d barely even bloodied the nose of the dark elf army. They were still largely outnumbered, and Colt knew that their position was untenable. But even so, he intended to fight until the last breath. 6-97. Villain ¡°I have watched your progress,¡± said Yloa, pushing himself upright. He crossed one set of arms, while the other set met behind his back as he slithered down from the throne. He didn¡¯t shout, but his words echoed like thunder through the throne room. ¡°I am impressed.¡± His eyes went from Elijah, to Sadie, and then to Lamar. ¡°With some more than others.¡± ¡°We¡¯re not here to talk,¡± Elijah announced, his eyes flicking towards the charred bodies he suspected belonged to Brika and her group. Had they attacked, thinking they could conquer the challenge and gain the rewards? Or had they stumbled upon the Lightning Emperor, ignorant of what they were getting into? It didn¡¯t matter. They¡¯d made their choice to go it alone. ¡°If you have any decency in you, you¡¯ll go quietly.¡± ¡°Decency?¡± scoffed the ta¡¯alaki. ¡°Speak to me of decency when your people have been practically enslaved for millennia. When the oppressors fight, fang and claw, to reinstitute the status quo they miss so dearly. Tell me, Druid ¨C do you think you would have done any differently? What if your grove was threatened? Would you not kill the aggressors? Have you not done so in the past? I sense the stink of vengeance upon you. You, as much as anyone present, should understand why I chose my path.¡± Elijah nearly took a step back. It was true. He¡¯d killed people just for setting foot on his island. At the time, he¡¯d assumed they were all there to consume the natural treasures at its center, but he¡¯d never really stopped to question it. Given what he now knew, he thought himself justified, but Yloa¡¯s question still dug deep into his mind. What if the stakes were even higher? What if he had been presented with a problem similar to the one Yloa had been forced to confront? He knew the answer, though he didn¡¯t want to think about it. He would have fought, and with everything at his disposal. But there were some lines he¡¯d never cross. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have doomed my entire planet. I would have killed people. Thousands, if it was necessary. But I would have drawn the line,¡± Elijah stated confidently. ¡°Ah, but what if you fail to recognize the line? What if that arbitrary line is not as clear as you think it is?¡± asked Yloa, the lightning in the walls flashing with every syllable. ¡°What if, by the time you realize your folly, it is too late? I did what I did because it was necessary. The end result is regrettable, but I do not regret my actions. Nor should you when the time comes for you to make a similar choice.¡± It was not a claim without teeth, for Elijah knew that, by going forward with the task before him, he would author an entire planet¡¯s demise. If Elijah and his companions were to succeed, then Ka¡¯arath would be lost to the abyss. But if they failed, he and every other of the Trial-takers would perish. It wasn¡¯t a difficult choice to make. Yet, it didn¡¯t come without some guilt. Before Elijah could say anything else, Sadie stepped forward. Elijah could barely sense the ethera swirling around her as she accused, ¡°You are a self-deluded liar.¡± Yloa cocked his head to the side and asked, ¡°Am I? Do enlighten me, baby Inquisitor.¡± ¡°You are selfish.¡± ¡°Of course, as are we all.¡± ¡°A coward.¡± ¡°We all experience moments of cowardice. I am no different,¡± Yloa countered, spreading one set of arms. ¡°There is no bravery without cowardice. I have pushed through my fear, ever seeking freedom for my people.¡± ¡°You are a murderer.¡± ¡°Guilty.¡± ¡°You only care for yourself. You have done everything for power, and you hide your lust for more, claiming that you only wish to save your people. Look around you ¨C your people are all dead, dying, or doomed to anguish,¡± she accused, her voice strong. It echoed almost as loudly as the Lightning Emperor¡¯s thunderous words. ¡°You care for nothing but yourself.¡± ¡°Also true,¡± Yloa said. ¡°Tell me, child ¨C do you understand what it means to live with guilt for thousands of years? I have been imprisoned here for millennia. For a few centuries, I wallowed in guilt. I reflected on my actions, and I came to the same conclusions your quaint, little skill has shown you. Do you know what I found? An epiphany.¡± ¡°And what did that epiphany tell you?¡± ¡°That none of it matters. You do not matter. My people do not matter. In the grand scheme of the system, I do not matter. We are all pawns. Little game pieces following a set of arbitrary rules we are not privileged enough to understand,¡± Yloa stated. ¡°This world, as dear to me as it once was, is a speck of nothing. I reached transcendence millennia ago, and even I am barely worthy of its notice. The system does not care about any of us, so why should I care for those beneath me? Why should I trust the almighty system that anything it says is true?¡± ¡°The abyss is evil,¡± Sadie said, ethera swirling even more strongly around her. Elijah knew that she was trying to absolve the Lightning Emperor, just as she¡¯d done so in the challenge of the Umbra. ¡°Surely you can feel that.¡± ¡°Perhaps,¡± Yloa acknowledged. ¡°But evil is subjective. For all we know, the abyss is fighting a war against the oppressor that is the system. Maybe it represents the natural order. We do not know. Everything we feel, everything we see ¨C it is governed by the system. We could be fighting on the wrong side of a war that has spanned eons. I intend to discover the truth on my own.¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Evil is not subjective,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°A matter of opinion, little Inquisitor. I was once hailed as a hero. Only a thousand years later, I was called a villain. Do you know how I respond to that, child?¡± asked Yloa. Sadie shook her head, the ethera swirling around her coming to a screeching halt. ¡°I embrace the label. Villain, I am called. So villain, I shall be. The system wishes me to play a role, and so I shall. Come, little challengers,¡± he said, spreading all four of his arms out wide. ¡°Slay the villain and win your trinkets. I welcome your pitiful attempts.¡± Sadie stumbled backward. It was clear that her attempts had failed, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. At its most basic level, Confession only forced someone to speak the truth. If they didn¡¯t believe they were in the wrong ¨C not even deep down in a place they¡¯d buried beneath a mountain of specious justifications ¨C then there was nothing to confess. And Yloa was clearly a true believer. In his mind, his actions were justified. Perhaps if they¡¯d met the ta¡¯alaki Lightning Emperor during the guilty phase to which he¡¯d alluded, things might have turned out differently. However, it was clear that he was long past questioning himself. As a result, a fight was inevitable. Maybe it always had been. Never was that clearer than when a bolt of lightning lanced down from the ceiling and hit Sadie directly in the chest. Her personal shield exploded into a thousand ethereal shards. She flew backward, and even as Elijah leaped to catch her, two heals enveloped Sadie¡¯s body. He caught her in his arms, then landed a second later. ¡°I¡¯m okay,¡± she muttered, pulling herself away. Even as she said that, another bolt of lightning erupted from Yloa¡¯s outstretched hand. This one tore across the intervening distance, targeting Ron. Clearly, the Lightning Emperor understood the most important rule of fighting a group ¨C kill or disrupt the Healer first. Fortunately, Lamar was ready for the attempt. He dashed in front of the bolt of lightning, slammed his tower shield into the ground, and activated some sort of ability. Yloa¡¯s spell hit that shield and exploded, splashing electricity in every direction. Lamar skidded backward a foot or two, but he took the hit with characteristic stoicism. More importantly, only a moment later, that same spell reflected from his shield, tore across the floor, then slammed into Yloa. ¡°Give me the sword, bro.¡± Elijah looked up to see Dat standing over him. His first instinct was to argue, but as Yloa cast another lightning bolt at the group ¨C which Lamar blocked ¨C he knew he didn¡¯t have time. So, he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, grabbed the pieces of Yloa¡¯s Bane, including the Keystone Ring, then handed them over to Dat. The Witch Hunter assembled the pieces expertly, then disappeared from view. And unlike was usually the case, Elijah couldn¡¯t feel anything of Dat¡¯s presence. Even when he focused everything on One with Nature, the man was entirely invisible. A second later, Elijah realized that he must have passed a threshold and gained an evolution. Even as that thought passed through Elijah¡¯s mind, Yloa let out a primal roar, spread all four arms out wide, and gathered an immense amount of ethera. Elijah shouted, ¡°He¡¯s casting something big!¡± As the words left his mouth, he cast Healing Rain. The spell completed just before the ceiling came alive with arcing lightning. It gathered for a second before a barrage of electricity lanced down. Where it hit, the tiles on the floor exploded into charred dust. Lamar raised his tower shield, creating a dome of ethera around the bulk of the group. And when the lightning hit, it miraculously held. Elijah and Sadie were outside that area, though. Sadie used a shield on Elijah, then refreshed her own. At the same time, Elijah initiated a shift into Shape of Thorn. If there was any way he was going to survive the onslaught, then it was with the extra durability that came with the form. Sadie¡¯s shield held against the first wave of lightning, which allowed Elijah to complete the transformation. It shattered only a moment after he took on the Shape of Thorn, and it was just in time, because he was hit by a barrage of lightning only a second later. One bolt after another slammed into him, and he could feel his body practically melting beneath the onslaught. Fortunately, Ron and the Healer from Lamar¡¯s group were hard at work casting spells to keep him and Sadie alive. The storm of lightning ended after ten seconds, but in that time, Ron and the other Healer had been forced to output a truly stupendous amount of ethera. It had kept everyone alive, but it was not sustainable. On top of that, Elijah knew that the dome-shield Lamar had erected was not something he could repeat indefinitely. It had a significant cooldown, which meant that if Yloa summoned another lightning storm, it would spell their doom. But they were all alive for now, and the group answered the storm with a host of ranged attacks. The one-armed Derek summoned a giant fireball that he threw at the Lightning Emperor, while Sadie conjured a Blade of the Avenger. Kurik and Helen fired their bows, and another Mage tossed out a frozen spear. Benedict cast his invisible curses, while Escobar let out a string of fireballs with every yapping bark. The two-headed imp charged the Lightning Emperor, spitting twin pillars of black flames that twined around one another. The barrage of attacks slammed into Yloa. Or they would have, but he summoned four whips of lightning ¨C reminding Elijah of his Domain of Lightning ¨C which he spun in a protective circle. In a feat of pure Dexterity, the Lightning Emperor slapped the oncoming bombardment aside, one spell at a time. It was a truly awe-inspiring display of ability. ¡°Impressive! You are ¨C¡± Yloa¡¯s booming voice cut off mid-sentence when Dat suddenly appeared behind him. A glittering blade erupted from the Lightning Emperor¡¯s chest, splattering milky white blood onto the floor. The imposing ta¡¯alaki screamed as ethera swirled all around him. When it coalesced, the energy had become so dense that it was visible to the naked eye. It presented as a blue mist, but when Elijah looked upon it, he couldn¡¯t help but flinch. He could feel the power of it as it contracted around Yloa, squeezing so tightly that it seeped into the Lightning Emperor¡¯s pores. Then, it was gone. Yloa withered, somehow looking smaller and less imposing. It was such a distinct change that it took Elijah a moment to notice two extremely troubling things. First, the sword was gone, and the wound it had inflicted was gone. Second, Dat had collapsed, completely unmoving. Via One with Nature, Elijah felt the barest hint of life within the Witch Hunter, but it was so slight that it nearly escaped his notice. Dat was as close to death as was possible without completely succumbing. And as Yloa straightened, Elijah saw fury in the Lightning Emperor¡¯s eyes. He whipped around, screaming, ¡°You dare use such a cursed weapon on me?! I will make you pay, foul insect!¡± Then, he raised his hands, ready to sever Dat¡¯s tenuous connection on life. 6-98. The Nature of Sacrifice Elijah raced forward, already shifting into the Shape of Thorn, but he knew he wouldn¡¯t get there soon enough to save Dat. Even as a huge, lightning bolt-shaped staff appeared in Yloa¡¯s hand, Elijah¡¯s body twisted and transformed. As the staff fell toward Dat¡¯s head, Elijah let out a scream of primal frustration. The world felt like it was moving in slow motion, yet as strong as he was, Elijah couldn¡¯t force himself to go any faster. He was destined to fail. The staff ¨C which, with its sharp end, functioned more like a spear ¨C connected. A bright light flashed, nearly blinding Elijah, but when he blinked free of the dark spots in his vision, he realized two things. First, his transformation was complete, and the additional Strength drove him forward with vastly increased speed. Second, Dat was unharmed. He still wasn¡¯t moving, but he showed no wounds from the attack. It only took a moment for Elijah to recognize that both Sadie and Lamar had thrown their respective shields on the Witch Hunter, and that had been just enough to protect Dat from Yloa¡¯s blow. The Lightning Emperor was not deterred. With a look of annoyance twisting his expression, he reared back, ready to repeat the attack. But now that Elijah had adopted the form of the Thorned Sentry, he had more options available to him. He used Bestial Charge. Before the second blow could fall, Elijah rammed into the Lightning Emperor. It felt like running headfirst into a wall. And though Yloa didn¡¯t move more than a few scant inches, he did move. More importantly, his attack was once again fouled, and the bladed end of his staff tore into the floor, plunging almost a foot deep. At the same time, Ron shouted, ¡°Heals aren¡¯t working!¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need to be told what was coming. Ron was extremely open with his capabilities ¨C he claimed that it was necessary so his companions knew his limits ¨C and so, Elijah knew what the Healer would do as a last resort. He recalled the description of the man¡¯s most potent heal:
Healer¡¯s Burden A powerful heal that far exceeds the effect of any previous spells, both in terms of scope and potency. Use of this spell requires the Healer to take on the wounds of his patient. Potency based on Core Cultivation and Ethera attribute. Will not result in the Healer¡¯s death.
As noble as that potential sacrifice was, Elijah would not have advised its use. For better or worse, Ron was far more valuable ¨C from a tactical standpoint ¨C than Dat. In fact, if Ron went down, as the description of Healer¡¯s Burden suggested he would, then the group would have little chance of winning the battle. The only potential benefit was that it might get Dat out of the immediate line of fire so that the rest of their allies could figure out how to combat the situation. But as much as Elijah wanted to scream at Ron to hold it back, he knew it would fall on deaf ears. It took a very specific sort of person to dedicate his life to healing others, and Ron had done so twice. Once, as a surgeon before the world had changed, and then again when he¡¯d chosen the Healer archetype. If there was one person in the entire world who would sacrifice himself to save a patient, it was Ron. Regardless, Elijah¡¯s opinion on the situation didn¡¯t matter. His inability to get through to Ron aside, he had other things to worry about. Like a four-armed ta¡¯alaki he¡¯d just tried ¨C unsuccessfully ¨C to tackle. Even as a ridiculous amount of ethera surged around Ron, Elijah grappled with the Lightning Emperor. As he did, he discovered that, despite the clear weakening effect of the bane weapon, his attributes were far inferior to those possessed by the Lightning Emperor. Elijah hammered his foe with punches, tried to rip the ta¡¯alaki to shreds with his sharp, thorn-like claws, and even attempted a few bites. Some of them drew blood, but they were no more than flesh wounds. By comparison, Yloa¡¯s every attack hit like a freight train. If Elijah hadn¡¯t evolved Shape of the Guardian into Shape of Thorn, he never could have stood up to the barrage of blows. Even with his increased Constitution and the ability to cut all damage by fifty percent, Elijah felt his bones creak with every attack. Soon enough, they would start breaking. However, he did manage to endure those blows for a long enough period that one of Oscar¡¯s dogs seized upon the opportunity to drag the recovering Dat free. At the same time, Elijah sensed that something was happening with Ron. Predictably, the man had collapsed the second he¡¯d cast Healer¡¯s Burden, but he was still alive. Sadie and the other Healer were both hard at work trying to help him recover. But even from so far away, Elijah could sense ¨C via One with Nature ¨C that they were fighting a losing battle. Their paltry heals were like pouring a bucket of water into a drought-stricken lake. As noble as their intentions were, it wasn¡¯t going to refill the metaphorical reservoir anytime soon. But Elijah couldn¡¯t focus on that. Instead, the fight against the Lightning Emperor demanded every ounce of his attention. So, he leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind to the task at hand. And for a while, he gave as good as he got. Then, tendrils of electricity snaked around the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s limbs, and suddenly, Elijah could no longer keep up. With two hands, Yloa pinned Elijah¡¯s arms to his body while he raised his other set of arms, clenched his fists together, then brought them down in a devastating blow that sent the sound of cracking bone echoing through the chamber. Pain lanced through Elijah¡¯s shoulder as he felt his collarbone snap and the shards of bone tear through the delicate flesh surrounding it. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. He tried to wriggle free, but nothing he did seemed to matter. At least until Dat rejoined the battle. He fired a familiar glowing bolt from his crossbow, which slammed into Yloa¡¯s back and disrupted the flow of ethera within the Lightning Emperor. The ta¡¯alaki seized, which gave Elijah an opportunity to break free of his grip. It didn¡¯t last, though. Yloa lashed out with a backhand that hit with so much force that it sent Elijah sailing across the chamber. His arcing flight didn¡¯t stop until he hit the wall. The impact tore a crater into the sturdy stone, which subjected him to even more lightning. As electricity coursed through his body, his muscles locked up, and he briefly lost consciousness. He regained it only a moment later when he fell free of the divot, and he hit the floor cheek-first soon after. His entire body ached, but aside from his broken collarbone, he had no debilitating injuries. That obviously wouldn¡¯t have been the case if he¡¯d had even a few less points in his Constitution attribute. Once Elijah regained consciousness, he rolled over to see that the rest of the group had let loose with a barrage of attacks. Sadie led the charge ¨C flanked by a couple of dogs ¨C while Derek and Escobar buried the Lightning Emperor in fire. Dat continued to fire his crossbow, while the other members of the group added what damage they could. Even Helen, who had no real combat abilities, fired arrows at the ta¡¯alaki. It was a truly awe-inspiring display of might. And yet, Elijah could feel that it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Yloa was too durable. And soon enough, he was going to recover from Dat¡¯s Hex of Tongues. Once that happened, he would retaliate. Before that came to pass, Elijah needed to change the paradigm. To that end, he staggered to his feet and loped in the direction of his group. As he did, he shifted back into his human form, and when he reached the others, he started healing. In the past, he¡¯d resented being thrust into the role of the healer, but in that moment, he appreciated all the practice he¡¯d gotten before Ron had joined the group. His spells flew out, fast and accurate, as he kept the melee fighters alive amidst Yloa¡¯s hampered retaliation. The Lightning Emperor¡¯s spellcasting ability had been interrupted, but that did nothing against his physical might. Fortunately, Sadie, Lamar, and the two defender dogs ¨C Jackson and Sophie ¨C formed a stout wall to protect their more vulnerable teammates. But they were forced to sacrifice their own safety to do so. Such was the life of a true defender. Elijah healed them, pumping out huge amounts of ethera to keep them alive. Meanwhile, he added his efforts to healing Ron. He could pump out a lot of vitality when he wanted to, and, for the first time since the Healer had used Healer¡¯s Burden, Elijah felt Ron¡¯s situation change. Suddenly, he began to stir. He didn¡¯t recover ¨C not completely ¨C but even that small movement gave Elijah hope that he might do just that. Unfortunately, Hex of Tongues had a limited duration, and the second it ended, Yloa burst forth with fury and lightning. In the blink of an eye, Lamar was sent flying backward while Sadie was pounded into the ground. Another blow sent her skipping across the floor, her personal shield having burst and much of her makeshift armor twisted out of shape. Elijah hit them both with Nature¡¯s Bloom and Soothe, while the other Healer used her abilities as well. But even so, their injuries were significant. Lamar rose, his shield fractured and his arm hanging limp by his side. Sadie was better off, but her face was covered in bright red blood. As for the barrage of attacks aimed at the Lightning Emperor ¨C they were rendered entirely ineffective when Yloa once again activated his lightning whips, spinning them around so quickly that they slapped the spells away before they could land. Elijah knew that things needed to change, or the battle would end in disaster. So, he made a choice. ¡°I need everyone to shield me!¡± he shouted. ¡°Heals, too.¡± Even as he uttered those words, two things happened. First, he once again began a transformation into the Shape of the Sky. Second, Lamar and Sadie recovered enough to hit him with two layers of shields. Dat added some sort of ability ¨C Elijah didn¡¯t know what it was, but he suspected it was meant to protect him from spells ¨C while Derek used a spell that enveloped Elijah with fire. It burned, but with his own heals ¨C as well as those from the other Healer ¨C he wasn¡¯t in much danger of taking significant damage. Once his transformation began, he said, ¡°Try to keep me alive.¡± ¡°Elijah ¨C¡± Sadie didn¡¯t get a chance to finish before Elijah flapped his wings and launched himself into the air. He knew he didn¡¯t have much time before the heals started to wear off, so he gained altitude as quickly as possible. The Lightning Emperor could obviously see something was going on, but with the continued onslaught of spells bearing down on him, he couldn¡¯t stop his lighting-whip shield tactic long enough to do anything about it. Besides, Yloa could obviously see that, for all its impressive looks, the Shape of the Sky was not a combat form. It was meant for travel, which he likely interpreted as Elijah looking for a means of escape. But that was the opposite of Elijah¡¯s intention. Once he¡¯d built up a little speed and established the right angle, he dove directly at the embattled ta¡¯alaki. When he was only fifty feet away, he did three things. The first was the only reason he¡¯d chanced the tactic in the first place. For months, he¡¯d kept an ability in his pocket, and rightly so. It was single-use, and once it was gone, it was gone. Still, having a few seconds of invulnerability was incredibly useful. With a flick of his mind, he activated the ability associated with the Armor of the Boar King.
Armor of the Boar King (set) Composed of eight pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Chestguard, Pants, Footwraps x2, Headband). Total attribute bonuses (from individual pieces): +15 Strength +25 Dexterity +15 Constitution +10 Ethera +20 Regeneration When wearing the entire set, gain the ability, Bulwark of the Boar King: Wrap the wearer in an impenetrable shield. Duration: 3 seconds. Single Use.
Three seconds of invulnerability. He knew good and well that the system¡¯s interpretation of invulnerability was just as flawed as its description of his old Guardian¡¯s Renewal ability. Just like the aforementioned spell, it could best be described as meaning what it meant in normal circumstances. So, against the sorts of things he should have been fighting, invulnerability could be taken at face value. However, with what he had planned, he knew it would fall short of that literal definition. It didn¡¯t matter. It would just have to do. And if not, then it could maybe give his companions the opening they needed to finish Yloa off. Those thoughts flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he felt his scales harden and take on a metallic sheen. Even his wings looked like they¡¯d been cast from particolored steel. The second he felt the ability take hold, Elijah embraced another ability.
Lightning Rush Transform into a bolt of lightning, increasing speed accordingly. Duration (and subsequently, distance) dependent on Core Cultivation. Current: 1.9 Seconds. Cooldown based on Ethera. Current: 2.21 Hours.
His body became a bolt of lightning, but that was the last thing he felt before everything went black. 6-99. Mass Times Acceleration Sadie watched in horror as Elijah, in his flight form, dove. There was a glint of metal right before he became a bolt of lightning. An instant later, everything went dark. Sadie¡¯s mind went blank until, only a moment later, she found herself flying through the air. She hit something a second later, and with enough force that she felt a few bones break. Given her Constitution, that was a little troubling. She forced her eyes open, blinked, then saw a scene of burning destruction. A wall of fire stood for only a moment before winking out. Vaguely, she noticed the two-headed imp that was Benedict¡¯s minion collapse in exhaustion. It dissipated into flakes of ash only a second later. But most of her attention was locked on the scene all around her. The walls of the throne room were cracked and broken, and the ceiling was entirely gone. In the center, where the throne itself had once stood, there was only a crater. Two figures stirred at its nadir. All around, people groaned in pain, but a quick inspection told Sadie that none of them were dead. And she didn¡¯t need long to reason out what had happened. Elijah¡¯s dive had come with significant kinetic energy. After all, that form weighed close to a thousand pounds, and he¡¯d hit the ground at the speed of lightning. She was no expert, but something like that had to produce an impact rivaling a tactical nuclear warhead. A small one, to be sure, but far exceeding a normal bomb. There were only two reasons they hadn¡¯t all died. First, everyone there possessed a Constitution attribute ¨C either via their own allocation or from the various buffs active ¨C that put them on a superhuman level. Second, that wall of fire had clearly cut some of that force of impact. The combination meant that everyone had survived, though not without injuries. Fortunately, Ron had recovered enough that, even when he couldn¡¯t muster the strength to regain his feet, he was already casting heals. The man was an example of true dedication, and one everyone else could only hope to emulate. As the dust settled, the group stirred. Dat pushed himself to all fours, shaking his head as Sadie regained her feet. Somehow, she¡¯d maintained her grip on her sword¡¯s hilt, but much of her armor had been ripped away. It wasn¡¯t a huge loss, she knew. The makeshift set barely offered any protection. However, the lack of weight left her uneasy. She shoved those thoughts into the back of her mind as she embraced her latest spell:
Wave of Light Pulse with a powerful wave of healing that affects all allies in your immediate vicinity. Effective radius based on Ethera attribute. Current: 19 feet. Cooldown: 60 minutes.
The healing spread out in a ring of light that swept over her companions. It was her most powerful heal, rivaling that of a true Healer, and it swept through her allies like a soothing balm. Bones were mended, contusions were healed, and bodies were put back together. It wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as a Miracle, but it was still one of her strongest assets. It was too bad that it was only usable once an hour. As the spell¡¯s effect manifested, she took a second to look around. She and the others had come to rest nearly two-hundred yards from the point of impact, and that was only because they¡¯d smashed through enough walls to halt their momentum. Nearby was a pile of rocks, beneath which she could see a familiar arm. For only a second, she experienced a crisis of conscience. Every fiber of her being told her to leave Benedict where he lay. She fully believed that the world would be a better place without his demonic influence. However, it only took a moment before her humanity reasserted itself. For all that he¡¯d made bad choices, Benedict had proven himself an ally. Without him and his imp, they¡¯d have all died. But more than anything, Sadie didn¡¯t want to be the sort of person who let her enemies die. That wasn¡¯t justice. That was murder. She would happily kill the man after a fair assessment of his guilt, but to simply turn the other way while he was crushed to death under a pile of rubble? That wasn¡¯t who she was. And it certainly wasn¡¯t who she wanted to be going forward. With that in mind, she stepped forward, and, with Dat¡¯s help, removed the largest pieces of blue stone. Lamar joined a moment later, and, together, they uncovered the fallen Warlock. He was unconscious, but clearly alive. A heal hit him a second later, and he twitched. Satisfied, Sadie turned her attention back to the crater to see that the two figures at its center had finally risen. * * * Elijah could barely stand. Both of his arms were broken. He could scarcely breathe due to multiple punctures in his lungs. And there was a burning in his stomach that he recognized as burst organs. Blood leaked from a multitude of scalp wounds, and his Mind struggled to latch onto a single thought. That one thought was clear, though. He was alive. Clearly, that would not have been the case if he¡¯d lacked even one of his countermeasures. As his Mind cleared, he saw that Yloa was similarly alive. And he wasn¡¯t happy about what had just happened. Elijah didn¡¯t blame him, either. The Lightning Emperor looked like he¡¯d just been hit by a bomb. The skin on his upper set of arms was entirely gone, revealing white blood and exposed muscle. Similarly, his face was a mask of gore, with multiple broken bones twisting it all out of shape. The tip of his tail had been severed, and his ribs on one side looked like they¡¯d been caved in. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. But just like Elijah, he was a long way from being down for the count. And he didn¡¯t appreciate what Elijah had done. He opened his mouth to speak, but his jaw refused to cooperate. When his words came out, they were entirely unintelligible. Elijah wasn¡¯t listening anyway. Nothing the Lightning Emperor could say would change what he needed to do. The moment he¡¯d regained consciousness, he had used Shape of Thorn. Not for the durability it offered, but rather, so he could activate Unchecked Growth. He¡¯d held it in reserve for just such a situation, and the moment his transformation completed, Elijah used the ability. It was just in time, too, because Yloa threw himself at him a second later. Even as Elijah¡¯s body mended, the Lightning Emperor endeavored to undo his efforts. There was little technique to the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s attacks. No grand strategy. He attacked Elijah with the furor of a wild animal. Or a person who¡¯d been pushed to his limits and backed against a wall. Elijah tried to fight back, but after only a few seconds, he knew that was counterproductive. So, as he sensed his companions reach the edge of the crater he¡¯d created with his kamikaze Lightning Rush attack, Elijah activated Domain of Vines and leaped at the furious ta¡¯alaki. He didn¡¯t do so with an eye toward trading blows. Instead, he only wanted to restrict the hateful villain. To that end, he wrapped his arms around the ta¡¯alaki, pinning his arms in place and letting the roots and vines encircle Yloa in a cocoon. Elijah shouted, ¡°Give him everything! Don¡¯t hold back!¡± His companions complied, which probably should have been a little worrisome. Did they know he was under the effect of massive Regeneration? Or did they simply think that the goal was worthy of his sacrifice? He didn¡¯t have time to answer that question. Instead, Elijah could only hold on as a dozen attacks fell upon the Lightning Emperor all at once. Elijah was shredded, but so was Yloa. And for all the imposing ta¡¯alaki¡¯s power, he was not invincible. Nor was he capable of any miraculous feats of healing. More, Elijah¡¯s thorns could finally find purchase in Yloa¡¯s flesh. With even the tiniest puncture, he was subjected to the weakening toxin that was their defining characteristic. And for a moment, even as Elijah felt himself being torn to ribbons by his own allies¡¯ attacks ¨C only to be rebuilt by his ongoing Unchecked Growth ¨C he permitted himself to believe they were on the verge of winning. The thought was entirely misplaced. Not only did Yloa manage to endure the onslaught, but the fury with which he tore free of Elijah¡¯s vines was so potent that he slowly gained ground. And about ten seconds before Unchecked Growth ran its course, he latched onto Elijah¡¯s arms and twisted. Elijah screamed as his bones broke. But more troublingly, he was forced to relinquish his grip. A moment later, he was flying through the air. He hit the side of the crater, skipped across the ground, and came to rest at the lip. His vines, which were tied to his current location, fell limp, and suddenly, the Lightning Emperor was freed. Yloa flashed with electricity, then practically teleported to where the group had set up shop. Lamar met him with his shield, but the defender was entirely outclassed. So, while he managed to briefly protect his companions, Lamar was sent ragdolling across the devastated landscape. Yloa raised his good arms, and the world broke apart. Dark and angry clouds manifested as a crack of thunder announced the arrival of a storm. Elijah had often wondered what it would have looked like if he¡¯d taken Typhoon instead of Stormborn when evolving Calamity. He knew the actual spell would have fallen short, but he¡¯d imagined hurricanes and tornadoes that could level whole cities. But even in his wildest dreams, he never could have imagined anything like the storm Yloa summoned. It was less a weather event than the wrath of god. Wind with speeds far exceeding even the most powerful hurricane to have ever existed on Earth ripped through the area. Multi-ton stones shifted in place as thick bolts of lighting filled the air and monstrous peals of thunder echoed across the region. Dat tried to fire another instance of Hex of Tongues, but the wind was so strong that the crossbow bolt went wide by nearly thirty feet. The others attempted to attack the Lightning Emperor, but that same wind shoved them away with so much force that the only reason they weren¡¯t thrown miles away was because they hit various walls. The lightning was the worst of it, though. Sadie tried to protect everyone, but her shields were poor barriers against their fury. She was the first to take a full hit, but even though she possessed the highest Constitution in the group ¨C save for Lamar, who still hadn¡¯t risen ¨C she was knocked entirely unconscious. The others were soon to follow. Elijah knew it. But he also knew he couldn¡¯t stand up to the Lightning Emperor. As damaged as he was, Yloa was still going strong. But Elijah had a plan. As much of a beating as he¡¯d taken, Unchecked Growth was enough to bring him back to full health. It wouldn¡¯t last long ¨C not under the barrage of Yloa¡¯s storm. So, he dragged himself over the edge of crater, then rolled down the slope. As he did so, he embraced Shape of Venom. It was a gamble. The blight dragon was incredibly vulnerable, and he didn¡¯t have the protection afforded by his companions¡¯ shields or the now-spent invulnerability granted by his armor. If he was hit, he would be crushed. Still, it was his only chance. Even as he took on that shape, he dodged lightning for just long enough to let himself dip out of combat. Then, he used Guise of the Unseen and headed back into the fray. As he raced forward, he was forced to use One with Nature to the fullest extent of its focus just to recognize when lightning was about to strike. That was the only reason he managed to avoid being cooked. Using his low profile to avoid the worst of the wind, he clung to the ground and circled the crater before finally coming into range. He used Strike of the Predator, then Envenom before activating Flicker Step. He appeared on the Lightning Emperor¡¯s back, then used Stormbind. He didn¡¯t necessarily think the last would work against a creature so attuned to lightning, but he had to take the chance. And to his surprise, it worked. The second his fangs broke Yloa¡¯s skin, the clouds ceased to exist. Even as the storm faded, Elijah¡¯s potent venom coursed through the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s flesh. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. He bit a half-dozen more times before Yloa even had a chance to react. And when the Lighting Emperor finally did, Elijah used his smaller size to great effect, skittering across Yloa¡¯s body and narrowly avoiding being dislodged. For long seconds, that continued, and Elijah inflicted one instance of his venom after another. He lost count of how many times he bit the Lightning Emperor, but it had to be in the hundreds. He didn¡¯t care about biting deep. He only needed to break the skin. So that¡¯s what he did. Until his luck ran out. Finally, Yloa managed to grab him by the tail and, using him like a club, slammed Elijah against the ground. Then, Yloa screamed, ¡°Pest!¡± before spinning around and throwing Elijah on a trajectory that might have taken him miles away. But by that point, Flicker Step had come off cooldown, and he used it before he¡¯d traveled even a dozen feet. He slammed back into the Lightning Emperor, but he could feel that he¡¯d reached saturation with his venom-based attacks. That was incredibly difficult to do, but there was always a limit. So, Elijah initiated the shift into the Shape of Thorn. As he transformed, he wrapped his growing arms around the Lightning Emperor and once again activated Domain of Vines. His roots hungrily erupted from the ground, wrapping around Yloa¡¯s tail and encircling his waist. Vines sprouted from Elijah¡¯s arms and shoulders, and as they enveloped Yloa, thorns sawed into the ta¡¯alaki¡¯s body. Yloa tried to fight, but hundreds of instances of thorn toxin and Envenom ¨C as well as the effects of the Bane weapon and Elijah¡¯s kamikaze dive ¨C had finally taken their toll. No creature in existence was without limits, after all. In his mind, Elijah might have expected a last, defiant speech. Or maybe an insult or two. But in the end, the mighty Lightning Emperor died without uttering a single word. 6-100. Picking Up the Pieces Elijah let Shape of Thorn slide away, returning to his human form. Like that, he knelt atop the slain Lightning Emperor. He barely remembered the details of the last leg of the fight. It was all lost amid so much ripping and tearing. And squeezing. Milky white blood covered most of his upper toros, and even more formed a pool all around the site of the battle. He just stared off at nothing, covered in sweat and blood ¨C some of it his own, but a good deal of it belonging to the slain Yloa ¨C as he tried to come to terms with everything that had happened. With what he had done. Elijah was no stranger to brutal fights. No powerful enemy went down quietly, so those battles usually ended in savagery. Even so, the death of the Lightning Emperor hit him harder than any that had come before. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why that was the case, either. Yloa had been a transcendent. The absolute peak of power within the multi-verse. And yet, he¡¯d fallen to a relative infant. It should have been sad. Or maybe just unfair. In the end, though, most of what Elijah felt was relief. It was finally over. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t really acknowledged just how much the Trial of Primacy had weighed upon him. It was like carrying around a mountain of responsibility on his shoulders. He was not unused to that feeling, but never before had he been forced to endure it for such a long stretch. Usually, he saw a problem, then took care of it. But the Trial had been different. It had been exhausting. In the back of his mind, though, Elijah had to admit that it was exciting, too. Even amidst the death and chaos, there was a certain level of exhilaration that came with victory. In persistence. Guilt was there, too ¨C after all, many hadn¡¯t made it ¨C but survival was intoxicating in a way he didn¡¯t usually acknowledge. That was reinforced by the thrill of conquest, which was reward enough for Elijah. However, he couldn¡¯t deny that he was looking forward to how the system would compensate him and his companions. Already, he¡¯d passed the threshold to level one-twenty, which came with another spell or upgrade. He hadn¡¯t looked at it yet, but he could feel it begging for his attention. And that meant that, once he officially finished the Trial, he would gain another. And the ability to evolve his class, which, from what he understood, was a leap in power that far exceeded anything that had come before. So, even though he wanted to check on the rest of the party, it was difficult not to check his notifications first. But Elijah wasn¡¯t without significant willpower, so he shoved that desire aside and focused on what was really important. His companions had been forced to endure significant injuries, and he needed to ensure that they were all alive. So, he pushed himself upright, focusing on One with Nature. What he found was not encouraging. After climbing to his feet, Elijah tripped over the Lightning Emperor¡¯s remains, righted himself, then climbed the slope of the crater to check on his companions. Everyone in his group was alive, but Ron and Kurik were both unconscious. Sadie and Dat were both wobbly, but they managed to remain standing. Lamar¡¯s group was decidedly worse off. The former linebacker was unconscious as well, but he was still breathing. Elijah threw a couple of heals his way, then added Healing Rain. However, Helen was the only other survivor. She knelt, weeping, beside Derek¡¯s dead body. Their healer ¨C Elijah regretted that he still hadn¡¯t learned her name ¨C had been killed as well. Both looked badly burned, with their bodies twisted out of shape ¨C probably from the wind throwing them around. In most cases, Elijah would have considered a couple of casualties to be a great tragedy. And it was. But he also knew they were lucky it wasn¡¯t much, much worse. He didn¡¯t know how so many had survived. After a few seconds, he knelt beside Ron and started healing. As he did so, he asked Sadie the question most prominent in his mind. ¡°How?¡± was his simple question. ¡°Kurik. He spent most of the fight deploying some sort of device that threw up a temporary shield,¡± Sadie said, pointing to what looked like scattered debris. When Elijah looked closer, he saw a dozen spent power crystals. ¡°It protected us from the worst of it, but¡­Derek and Moira were out of range.¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± he muttered, shaking his head in regret. If only those two had been a little closer, then everyone would have made it. Such was the nature of battle, though. Too often, survival came down to simple chance. A few scant feet was the difference between life and death. Those thoughts accompanied him as he continued to heal Ron. The Healer¡¯s issue wasn¡¯t one of vitality, though. His sacrifice had emptied his entire reserve of ethera, and it would take more than a few healing spells to get him back to normal. He did regain consciousness after a few minutes, though. In the meantime, Elijah worked on the others as well. Of the survivors, Lamar had taken the worst of it ¨C which was fortunate, considering he likely possessed a Constitution that exceeded even Elijah¡¯s in Shape of Thorn. His other attributes lagged behind, but for his chosen role, he was well-equipped for success. Otherwise, he¡¯d have never survived as long as he had, much less against Yloa¡¯s potent attacks. Predictably, he didn¡¯t take the deaths of his teammates very well. He and Helen knelt beside their bodies, just staring at them for quite some time. They spoke to one another, but Elijah forced himself to ignore their conversation. They deserved privacy in their grief. Everyone who¡¯d participated in the Trial knew they were in for a rough time. That was especially true for those who¡¯d chosen to stay after their initial arrival, and no one could claim that the people who had decided to participate in the raid on the Seat of Thunder were ignorant of the danger. They¡¯d known what they were getting into. Yet, that didn¡¯t make it any easier to accept the deaths of friends. For his part, Elijah knew just how lucky he was that none of his companions had perished. But perhaps it wasn¡¯t all luck. They¡¯d spent the entire Trial pushing the envelope and developing their teamwork. And it had paid off when it mattered the most. That just highlighted the brutality of trying to be one of the best. So many people had come into the Trial expecting it to be a reward. And in some ways, it was. Its true nature was right there in the name, though. It wasn¡¯t meant to be easy. It was a test. A challenge. A deadly trial in every possible way. He shook his head, thinking of how many people had made the ultimate sacrifice. Most hadn¡¯t come in pursuit of personal power. Not for themselves, at least. Rather, they¡¯d chosen to participate because their situations back on Earth were dire. They were the only hope of those they¡¯d left behind. And now they were gone. The casualties of the Trial of Primacy wouldn¡¯t be limited to those who¡¯d died while trying to conquer various challenges. Instead, they would extend all the way back to Earth and the people who no longer had their champions to protect them. ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Sadie. Elijah shrugged as he continued healing. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just thinking about what this all cost.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said, sitting beside him. She leaned close. ¡°I was thinking about Ron. If he¡¯d died¡­¡± ¡°We¡¯ll take care of one another,¡± Elijah stated. It was one of the things to which they¡¯d all agreed. Everyone had people they wanted to protect, and at some point during the Trial, they¡¯d all agreed to step in if one of them was slain. For Ron, that meant finding his daughter and dealing with her illness. For Dat and Sadie, it meant ensuring that Hong Kong survived its proximity to the Primal Realm. And for Elijah, it meant taking care of his family, including Nerthus and the grove. Kurik was the only one who didn¡¯t have anyone back home. Elijah hadn¡¯t even realized it at the time, but the bonds he¡¯d formed with his companions felt so much more real than any friendships he¡¯d cultivated before Earth had felt the touch of the World Tree. Part of that was a product of the time they¡¯d spent together. Being with a group of people for an entire year didn¡¯t sound like much, but it definitely felt like a long time. However, more impactful was the shared dangers they¡¯d faced. As it turned out, collectively defying death was a great bonding exercise. ¡°What now?¡± she asked. ¡°Once everyone¡¯s recovered, I guess we check our notifications and go home,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Finishing the Trial is supposed to open up the Teleportation Network, so I¡¯ll be in Hong Kong in a couple of weeks. When we take care of that¡­¡± This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Elijah trailed off. He¡¯d made a lot of promises during his time in the Trial. Not only would he need to help in Hong Kong, but he also needed to find Ron¡¯s location and help him heal his daughter. If he had his way, he would also bring them back to Ironshore, but that was up to Ron. Then there was Philadelphia, where a warlord had taken up residence. Elijah had promised to help Lamar deal with that. And finally, Elijah hadn¡¯t forgotten about the refugees from the plane crash. He needed to figure out a way to rescue them as well. Somewhere in the middle of all that, he had plans for his grove, his own cultivation, and a few side projects he had in mind. In short, he expected that the frantic pace of the Trial wasn¡¯t going to end when he returned to Earth. Hopefully, his recent gains ¨C as well as the ones pending the completion of the Trial ¨C would help him meet those challenges head-on. To that end, he finally glanced at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 122
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 254 (140)
Dexterity 142 (126)
Constitution 244 (149)
Ethera 198 (160)
Regeneration 239 (151)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
He had to admit that he was happy to see the numbers displayed before his inner eye. Not only had his attributes continued to climb ¨C with his base Ethera and Regeneration starting to really pull ahead ¨C but the progression itself was satisfying in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. Only three more levels, and he¡¯d reach the peak of the Mortal Tier. That alone was a great accomplishment, but the reward for that was, to put it mildly, exciting. If the effects of his Specialization and the upgrades to his spells were any indication of what was in store, evolving his class would be an incredibly potent boost to his overall power. But that would have to wait until he officially completed the Trial, as specified by the first notification he inspected:
Congratulations! You have completed the Trial of Primacy. You have finished with the following rank: 1. Rewards will be distributed after return to home planet.
That was as expected, though he was a little disappointed that he couldn¡¯t immediately get his rewards. He glanced at Sadie and asked, ¡°What rank did you get?¡± ¡°Three,¡± she answered. ¡°Ron was fourth, and Dat was fifth.¡± ¡°Who got second?¡± ¡°Kurik,¡± she said. ¡°Guess all those traps paid off.¡± ¡°I guess so,¡± Elijah agreed. It should not have been surprising. Kurik was responsible for more kills than anyone else in the group. If Elijah hadn¡¯t spent so much time on extracurriculars like exploring various ruins and healing strangers every time he went back to Nexus Town, the dwarf might have passed even him. It was just further evidence of how powerful his class could be. In any case, now that Elijah had gotten level one-twenty, he had something very important ahead of him. To that end, he opened the next notification:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Essence of the Wolf. Please choose a path:
Lone Wolf Speed of the Pack Lupine Reflexes
Evolve Essence of the Wolf by embracing solitude, vastly increasing the effect but limiting it to yourself. Evolve Essence of the Wolf by embracing community, increasing the effect by a small amount but maintaining the ability to cast it on others. Evolve Essence of the Wolf by embracing permanence. Primary effect remains the same, but adds a secondary effect, increasing speed in combat.
In a way, it felt a little disappointing. He¡¯d hoped for an upgrade to Healing Rain or Nature¡¯s Bounty, but the more he thought about it, the more excited he became. Essence of the Wolf, while often forgotten, had saved his life on multiple occasions. Being able to move faster was always a great advantage, after all. So, it only took him a few moments before he felt a smile cross his face. Then, he started looking at the descriptions. They were a lot more specific than with previous spell upgrades, which made the choices extremely clear. The first ¨C Lone Wolf ¨C would be a great benefit so long as he was alone, but it would prevent him from assisting his companions. Before the Trial, he would have chosen that without hesitation. But now, he questioned whether that was the right option. After all, an increase to movement speed was probably one of the reasons he and his companions had achieved so many first-clears. Obviously, they were the strongest group in the Trial, but they weren¡¯t the only ones capable of accomplishing that feat. But they had gotten to most of them first, which was an extreme advantage. That led him to the second option ¨C Speed of the Pack. It felt like a straight upgrade of the current Essence of the Wolf. It would still allow him to cast the spell on others, and it would be more powerful than before. So, it would maintain the status quo, but the increase in effectiveness would likely be small. A safe choice, but not an exciting one, then. Finally, he looked at the third choice. Like the first option, it seemed like it was self-only. However, instead of simply making him move a little faster out of combat, it sounded like the effect would extend to in-combat speed. After giving it some thought, Elijah eliminated the first option. He liked the idea of being able to move even faster on foot, but if he really needed to get somewhere in a hurry, he had Shape of the Sky. That left him with the other two alternatives. In the end, it came down to one factor. Both seemed like good options to improve the spell, but only one offered something new. More importantly, Lupine Reflexes gave him more power in situations where he would need it most. Being faster out-of-combat was convenient, but extending that effect to while he was fighting could potentially save his life. And as much as he liked the idea of helping his teammates, he wouldn¡¯t always have a group. The choice was clear. He chose Lupine Reflexes, which prompted another notification:
Lupine Reflexes Passively increase base movement speed by 10%. Improves reaction time by 5%.
Elijah felt it immediately after casting the spell, and what¡¯s more, he recognized the feeling as well. His Sash of the Whirlwind was equipped with a trait called Haste, which Elijah had once likened to time dilation. The moment he chose Lupine Reflexes, he felt the potency of that sensation increase. It wasn¡¯t a game-changing ability or anything, but the Haste from Sash of the Whirlwind had definitely saved his life a couple of times. The upgrade to Essence of the Wolf doubled that effect. In addition, it would make him move faster even in combat. The tradeoff was that he wouldn¡¯t be able to extend those effects to his companions. Not a life and death detriment, but definitely something to remember going forward. Either way, he was happy with the upgrade, and he had a feeling that he would be even happier once he got back to Earth and attained level one-twenty-five. But first, everyone needed to recover, so he settled in and forced himself to work on his Soul cultivation while the others continued to recuperate from the battle. 6-101. The Second Battle of Ironshore Colt rammed his sword into the dark elf¡¯s gut before wrenching it free. Blood and intestines followed, filling the air with the smell of iron and human waste. To his nose, it was barely even noticeable. Not only had he been immersed in that smell for countless hours, but he had other things on his mind ¨C like the arrow tearing through the air in his direction. He whipped around, slicing the projectile out of the air. But there were dozens more on their way. ¡°Retreat!¡± he shouted as he used Shield of Blades. His sword became a blur as he stood his ground, deflecting one arrow after another. The skill wasn¡¯t perfect, and a couple of arrows made it through. Those slammed into his chest, but they were stopped by his armor. He knew it couldn¡¯t last, though. He¡¯d taken so many hits that even Carmen¡¯s best work wouldn¡¯t remain effective. Blood dripped from a dozen wounds, and his long coat had been torn in a hundred different places. Even his sword, which was his second strongest piece of equipment, was chipped. The only piece of gear that remained unblemished by the battle was the Hand of Might, which had proved invaluable over the course of the battle. As the archers in the street nocked more arrows, Colt backed down the alley, disappearing around the corner just as they unleashed another volley. Stone shattered upon impact, telling him just how powerful those projectiles were. If he was hit again, he would be severely wounded. And that was saying nothing of his small group of fighters ¨C mostly Miners and other non-combatants. They would be obliterated, regardless of their comparatively high-quality armor. So, as they¡¯d been doing for the last day, they retreated, using their knowledge of Ironshore¡¯s layout to their advantage. The second Colt turned the corner, he sprinted, turning at preordained intervals. He¡¯d memorized the city¡¯s layout, so he didn¡¯t even need to think as he followed the prescribed path. The pursuing dark elves had no such advantage, and they were forced to follow much more slowly. So, when Colt and his people reached their destination, they had plenty of time to climb the ladders, pulling them up behind them, and take up their positions. It was a tactic they¡¯d repeated a dozen times over the past twenty-four hours, and when the dark elves rounded the last corner, it proved just as effective as all the other times. The only reason it wasn¡¯t even more devastating was because, when the militia members let loose with a volley of arrows of their own, they didn¡¯t have the benefit of skills to back them up. What they did have was high-grade bows and arrows, which sent those projectiles out with enough force to punch through the dark elves¡¯ armor and inflict devastating wounds. Colt didn¡¯t bother with a bow. Instead, he picked out the dark elf he deemed the strongest and let loose with Storm of the Sword Saint. A thousand blades manifested all at once, and they sliced through the dark elf¡¯s heavy armor like it was no thicker than paper. Blood misted into the air, followed by the sound of a dozen arrows falling upon the small troop of dark elves. Aside from the leader Colt had already slain, they were equipped only with leather armor. The result was predictable, and by the time the militia members let loose with the second volley, most of the dark elves had already fallen. Colt leaped down, shouting, ¡°Hold!¡± His people were not well-trained, but two-dozen hours of constant fighting had given them plenty of experience. As a result, they obeyed his orders without hesitation. Colt lashed out, decapitating one of the few unblemished elves. Then, he descended upon the wounded, dispatching them with ruthless efficiency. At one point, he might have considered taking prisoners, but the battle was far too desperate to worry about that. It was kill or be killed, and Colt had adapted his morals to suit that kind of battle. So, he ignored the pleas for mercy as he brutally executed the rest of the elves. Once that distasteful task was finished, he led his militia members through the maze of alleys and to the next destination. Upon reaching it, they settled in to wait for another troop of dark elves to arrive. It didn¡¯t take long before a large group turned a corner and came into view. There were at least twenty of them, and at their head was a larger elf wearing the most elaborate armor Colt had yet seen. It was black, trimmed in silver, and bearing enough runes that even Colt, who was not a crafter, could recognize it as high-grade. He shook his head at his people, then motioned for them to back away. He wanted to challenge the powerful elf, but his job wasn¡¯t to satisfy his cravings for a good fight. He was on a mission of extermination. And if he engaged that larger group, there was a good chance that he¡¯d lose some people. That risk was unacceptable, so after retreating deep into the alley, they settled in to wait for the troop of dark elves to pass. It was not to be. After a couple of minutes, an elven scout appeared at the head of the alley. Before Colt could close the distance, she let out a shout. He decapitated her a second later, but by then, the damage was done. ¡°Shit,¡± he growled. ¡°Position three. Move!¡± His group sprang into motion just before the heavy stomp of footsteps announced the impending arrival of the squad of dark elves. By the time they entered the alley, the militia members had rounded a corner and were sprinting away. Colt held his ground, though. He knew precisely how long it would take his people to reach safety, which meant that he needed to delay the dark elves for at least a few seconds. To that end, he raised his sword in one hand, while holding the Hand of Might in front of him like a shield. It was not his preferred fighting method ¨C he liked fighting with two hands ¨C but given his infirmity, he¡¯d been forced to adapt. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. The well-armored dark elf didn¡¯t lead the way. Instead, he followed a wave of melee fighters that swarmed Colt after only a couple of seconds. Just like that, the battle was engaged, and the Samurai accounted himself well, killing two in the blink of an eye. A few seconds later, and the first wave was down. Injured, but not dead. ¡°Leave this upstart to me!¡± announced the armored elf as a large spear suddenly appeared in his gauntleted hands. He stepped forward and adopted a fighting stance. ¡°Attack me if you dare, weakling.¡± Colt had no intention of doing that, and not just because his goal had nothing to do with winning a fight. He was just buying time, so the longer he delayed the elves, the better chance there would be for his people to get to safety. In addition, a swordsman fighting against a spearman was a match-up that definitely didn¡¯t favor him. Sure, there were ways to get through, but the additional reach of the weapon meant that he would be at a distinct disadvantage. So, he held his ground, silently waiting for the elf to make the first move. ¡°Are you a coward, then? Slinking in the shadows? You ¨C¡± Just then, something big and metal rammed into the back lines of the elven troop. The second Colt recognized how effective that distraction was, he sprang forward. The dark elf leader had only glanced backward for a brief second, but that was enough to allow Colt to advance to within its guard. After that, the dark elf was scrambling to regain his advantage. Colt didn¡¯t allow it, keeping up the pressure until, at last, he found paydirt when he slashed into the elf¡¯s elbow joint. The gap between the armored plates was small, but Colt was more than dexterous enough to guide his blade into that tiny opening. He nearly severed the elf¡¯s arm, but was forced to pull back before he completed the job. It was either that or catch a hastily drawn dagger to the face. He danced back, pleased to see that the dark elf¡¯s arm had gone limp. In the meantime, he recognized the identity of the new arrival. Carmen was an unstoppable force as she battered the dark elves with her great hammer. They couldn¡¯t stand up to her momentous barrage, and their weapons were entirely incapable of penetrating her armor. The results were as predictable as they were satisfying. The leader saw that as well. ¡°Quarter! I surr-¡± Carmen¡¯s hammer crunched into his side, caving in his high-quality armor with a single blow. Meanwhile, Colt stepped forward and thrust his blade into the gap beneath the elf¡¯s helmet. Like all the others, he died only a moment later. ¡°Status?¡± Colt asked, stabbing the other fallen elves. They begged for mercy, just like their leader, but he paid their pleas no mind. ¡°Retreat to the stronghold. The battle in the rest of the city is not going well,¡± Carmen said, mimicking Colt¡¯s actions. The thud of her hammer was far more disturbing than the relatively silent blade. ¡°We¡¯re makin¡¯ a last stand?¡± ¡°There are tens of thousands of them out here. It won¡¯t be long before they occupy the whole city,¡± Carmen said. ¡°The only chance is to hold out long enough that they will negotiate the surrender of the city. For that, we need a position of strength. The stronghold is the best option.¡± Colt shook his head. The stronghold in question was the refitted government building. The city¡¯s Tradesmen had spent quite a lot of time and effort bolstering its defenses. The results were impressive ¨C almost as strong as the walls ¨C but he knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. Still, they didn¡¯t have a choice. The elves were everywhere out there. Perhaps he and Carmen could punch through and escape, but neither had even considered abandoning the city. ¡°Last stand, then,¡± he said. ¡°S¡¯pose that¡¯s as good a way to go as any other.¡± * * * General Rham D¡¯vix stood atop the wall, glaring at the city below. ¡°Report,¡± he ordered the soldier standing behind him. ¡°Over ten thousand dead, my lord,¡± the scout replied. ¡°Nearly twice that wounded. The Healers are working to get them back into battle. The natives have retreated to the fortress at the center of the city. Its defenses are all but impregnable, at least I the short term.¡± D¡¯vix clenched his fist, but he let his frustrations show as he said, ¡°Very well. Dismissed.¡± Taking the city known as Ironshore was supposed to have been an easy chance for glory as well as his people¡¯s foothold on the surface. From there, they would spread out across the region, conquering one city after another as they established themselves as the preeminent force on Earth. It should not have been necessary. The original plan when they¡¯d come to the recently-touched world was to take control of the Hollow Depths, where they could gather strength for a few decades before venturing topside. That had proven impossible, forcing the colonizers to seek other options. D¡¯vix frowned ¨C it was only a slight change of expression, but for anyone that knew him, it spoke volumes. How were they to know that the Hollow Depths would be so dangerous? If the humans and other surface dwellers thought that life in the sun was difficult, then they would have been horrified to see what lurked below. Even the Illythiri, who others referred to by the crude label of dark elf, were incapable of anything but holding their ground. Venturing topside was the only answer. And now, they struggled to take a city of crafters. It was galling. From the very beginning of the assault, when they¡¯d encountered that nearly impregnable wall, D¡¯vix knew they had a fight on their hands. However, he could not have expected that every step would be plagued by traps and fighters engaging in guerilla tactics. Thousands were dead, and he suspected it would take quite a few more sacrifices before they accomplished their goal. The only solace was that the city¡¯s residents had been forced to retreat. Certainly, taking that stronghold would be difficult. It would take some time to drown out the rats. But at last, victory was almost assured. Once they had the city, they would enslave the residents ¨C after making a few examples, of course ¨C then put them to work. Their equipment was surprisingly high-quality, so at least they could make armor and weapons to assist with the Illythiri¡¯s rise to prominence. More importantly, the rest of the Illythiri nation could finally emerge. Hundreds of thousands of people would finally be safe from the threats of the Hollow Depths. Just as D¡¯vix was on the verge of giving another set of orders to his nearby officers, he received a notification that twisted his stomach into knots:
The Trial of Primacy is complete. As you welcome home your heroes, please be advised that the following systems are now active: Communication System Local Market Global Teleportation Network To opt into these systems, please visit your local Branch and pay the appropriate fees before establishing your settings with your local Envoy of the World Tree.
D¡¯vix¡¯s heart jumped into his throat. By everyone¡¯s calculations, they still had a few days before the Trial was supposed to have completed. It was why they¡¯d chosen to launch their attack so soon ¨C even though they could have used a little more preparation. But it didn¡¯t matter. Even if the Trial-takers returned, they wouldn¡¯t be powerful enough to defeat an army of thousands. No one was that strong. 6-102. Defying Expectations General Rham D¡¯vix stood atop a roof overlooking the square where his army had gathered. The casualties of the street-to-street advance had been extensive, but he had soldiers to spare. At last count, he still had nearly thirty thousand good fighters at his disposal. The vast majority weren¡¯t terribly powerful, but that was no surprise. Prodigies were not easily cultivated. Still, they were a formidable fighting force, and it was only a matter of time until the fortress fell. The building itself did not look terribly impressive. It was large, reaching almost ten stories, but with its square construction, it had the appearance of a bunker. Curious, considering that Ironshore was a city of craftsmen. The rest of the city was, even by his standards, quite beautiful, which made the fortress stand out like sunlight in the Hollow Depths. ¡°No communication?¡± he asked his second-in-command. The woman was one of his most impressive lieutenants, worth a dozen of his other soldiers. It was a pity, then, that her appearance didn¡¯t live up to her ability. If it had, there was every chance that she would have been the one in charge. As it stood, her status was held back by her slightly square face, stout figure, and, most importantly, the scar that decorated her cheek. The pale, white line was only an inch long, but it was a glaring imperfection that any elf would notice. Judgement would inevitably follow. D''vix tried to look past it, but he felt no shortage of disgust when he looked upon the hideous woman. If he¡¯d been afflicted with such a mark, he would have had the good grace to resign his commission and take up a life among the peasants with whom such things were distressingly common. The only reason he¡¯d allowed her to climb to such lofty heights was because she was his half-sister. Otherwise, he¡¯d never have let such an abomination mar his army¡¯s reputation. ¡°We have received a message from Eldrath?n,¡± N¡¯yix said, slapping her fist across her breastplate in the customary salute. ¡°Only three of the ten people we sent to the Trial of Primacy have returned. The others were killed.¡± ¡°May their sacrifice serve the Empress.¡± ¡°May their sacrifice serve the Empress,¡± she echoed, bowing her head. Then, she continued, ¡°Our forces on the other side of the mountains have experienced extensive losses. We still do not know how they were killed, but initial findings suggest a large force of Rangers and Mages were responsible. We will know more when our Investigators return.¡± D¡¯vix schooled his expression, resisting the urge to smile. Of the ten generals in Eldrath?n, he was the least accomplished. That was why he¡¯d been given such an inglorious task as taking a city of crafters. Most of the others were busy defending Eldrath?n from the horrors of the Hollow Depths, but his rival, Esek Kilara, had been tasked with subduing any settlements on the other side of the mountains. She had led a very successful siege of the city known as Norcastle, but since then, she had experienced nothing but hardship. Her scouts kept going missing, and many had been found dead around the city known as Argos. ¡°They will discover the truth,¡± D¡¯vix said. ¡°What of Ironshore¡¯s leaders? Have they given terms for their surrender?¡± He was no fool. Reports suggested that nearly ten thousand people had crammed themselves into the fortress. It was large enough to accommodate such a population, but not comfortably. In addition, there was little chance that they had sufficient supplies to hold out for long. The only answer was to treat for peace. D¡¯vix would listen to their demands, and there was a chance that he might even acquiesce to a few. For now. He could use their Miners, at least. The Tradesmen were valuable as well. However, if a city of dwarves, gnomes, and goblins ¨C he sneered at the thought of the grotesque creatures ¨C thought they would be afforded any measure of status under his rule, then they were vastly mistaken. They would quickly learn their places ¨C well below even the Illythiri peasants ¨C and perhaps prove themselves worthy of his mercy. The only thing worse would be if they were other elves. If it had been a city populated by those hateful creatures, there would have been no chance at peace. The city would have been razed to the ground, and the monstrous inhabitants would have been sacrificed to the Empress. Even thinking about the possibility made D¡¯vix¡¯s heart beat a little faster. ¡°There has been no communication, General.¡± That was troubling for D¡¯vix. It had been nearly an hour since he and the rest of the world had been notified of the end of the Trial of Primacy. At first, he had expected something to change, but in that time, nothing had happened. So, he had concluded that any champions the city had sent ¨C if there were any ¨C had died during the Trial. A good thing, too. Otherwise, taking the city would have been much more difficult. Still possible, of course. But the number of casualties would have been far higher. That thought had just crossed his mind when he heard a clatter from the front lines. Using Tactician¡¯s Sight, he focused on the source of the noise, and he saw that two soldiers had collapsed. Before he could ask what was going on, another fell. Then another. In only a few moments, a hundred soldiers hit the ground. They weren¡¯t dead, but they weren¡¯t moving, either. ¡°What is happening?¡± he asked aloud. ¡°Healers!¡± As the white-robed Healers sprang into motion at his order, even more soldiers fell. Panic struck D¡¯vix as he imagined that one of horrors of the Hollow Deeps had somehow made it to the surface. Many of those creatures could render themselves entirely invisible, and they could kill an unsuspecting fighter in the space of a few moments. Certainly, only the strongest among them could bear the light of day, but night had long since fallen. After only a few seconds, he realized that such a thing wasn¡¯t possible. They¡¯d enacted plenty of countermeasures against those creatures traveling to the surface. And if nothing else, D¡¯vix trusted the systems his people had developed over millennia living underground. Without them, the Illythiri would have long since gone extinct. Dozens more soldiers fell before the Healers arrived. Even as they cast one spell after another, the frontline soldiers summoned shields to protect the people keeping them alive. Only after D¡¯vix saw tiny ripples in those shields did he home in on the culprits. Tiny insects ¨C barely bigger than his thumbnail ¨C swarmed the area. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. Someone shouted, then fell. The Healers attempted to keep him alive, but via Tactician¡¯s Instincts, D¡¯vix knew the fighter was already dead. Another went down a second later. D¡¯vix caught sight of a dark blur before yet another fell. The entire army started to panic as more and more went down. D¡¯vix lost count of the number of dead. His mind whirled with the possibilities, and he once again wondered if one of the horrors had followed them to the surface. He knew it wasn¡¯t possible. He knew he was wrong to even consider it. But he couldn¡¯t help his thoughts. What he could do was protect his people, though. He didn¡¯t like using Immunity under such circumstances. After all, the battle was won. But he knew that if he didn¡¯t do something, and soon, he wouldn¡¯t have an army left. So, with some regret, he used one of his most powerful abilities:
Immunity Grant your soldiers immunity to all damage-over-time effects. Duration dependent on Ethera attribute. Current: 32.1 Seconds. Cooldown: 31 Days.
Immediately, his soldiers began to recover from the damage wrought by the unknown toxin. But many had already died. Hundreds, at least. A small number compared to the entire army, but still, not an insignificant amount. D¡¯vix had just started to relax when another shout alerted him of a change. He quickly focused on that area, and he was surprised to see a bearded human standing in the center of his army. The figure wore leather armor, carried a staff, and looked altogether unimpressive, even by human standards ¨C though D¡¯vix could admit that he was no great judge of such things. To him, all humans looked a little alike. The only thing that set the man apart was that, even from such a distance, D¡¯vix could feel the power radiating off of him. It didn¡¯t take him long to realize the truth of the matter. Apparently, one of Ironshore¡¯s champions had returned after all. Despite the surprise, D¡¯vix very nearly let out a sigh of relief. The human was clearly audacious, but he was just one man. Not a monster from the Hollow Depths. He was just about to say something when he saw strands of electricity arcing through the man¡¯s body. D¡¯vix never had the chance to even wonder what it was before lightning erupted from the human¡¯s body. Four distinct bolts tore through the army, affecting everyone in a ten-foot radius. Then, the whips of lightning expanded to fifteen feet. Then twenty. Fifty. A hundred. After the initial surprise, the members of the army fell back on their training and tried to end the threat. Anyone who got close was absolutely burned to ash by the intense bolts of electricity, and most ranged attacks were fouled by the ability. Even spells couldn¡¯t stand before it. Some got through, but the man didn¡¯t even flinch when arrows and spells hit him. Was his armor so strong? Or did he possess such a high Constitution that D¡¯vix¡¯s soldiers couldn¡¯t penetrate his defenses? The first wasn¡¯t outside of the realm of possibility, considering that the man originated from a city of crafters. The second possibility seemed almost silly in comparison. D¡¯vix knew his people weren¡¯t the best Eldrath?n could offer ¨C far from it ¨C but they were no weaklings, either. D''vix only had a few seconds to consider that before the lightning suddenly ceased. Hundreds ¨C most of which were close to the leather-clad man ¨C had died, and dozens more were injured. The Healers were already hard at work mending the damage, meaning that, despite the losses, a crisis had been averted. The spell was devastating and impressive ¨C in an unnecessarily flashy sort of way ¨C but it was not enough to change the outcome. Now that his most powerful ability was spent, the mage would be an easy kill. What hubris had prompted him to attack on his own, D¡¯vix didn¡¯t know, but the man had to have known it wouldn¡¯t end well for him. Still, D¡¯vix could respect the idea. It was the height of honor to die for a cause. He didn¡¯t even need to give the order to attack. His soldiers knew their business, and they quickly collapsed onto the spent mage. ¡°That was¡­interesting,¡± he said. ¡°I think that ¨C¡± He didn¡¯t get the chance to finish that thought before two things happened, cutting him off. The first was that, where the man had once stood, there was now a hulking monster that looked like nothing D¡¯vix had ever seen before. It was a twelve-foot mixture of reptile and plant, and when it lashed out at his soldiers, the Illythiri fighters went down like they were defenseless peasants. What was even worse was that vines and roots ¨C originating from the paved ground as well as the creature¡¯s body ¨C erupted, immobilizing everyone within a hundred feet. That creature¡¯s sudden appearance ¨C it had to be a summoned monster ¨C was troubling enough without the second complication. From one of the side streets charged a white stag with glittering, crystalline antlers that it used to rip through the elven soldiers. A man leaped from its back, killing three soldiers in the space of a second. D¡¯vix had never seen a human move so quickly, but from what he observed, the man¡¯s technique was as flawless as a Kintari Blademaster¡¯s. But as impressed ¨C and intimidated ¨C by the man¡¯s ability as D¡¯vix was, he was far more concerned with the hundreds of people following in his wake. The Illythari general watched as a figure in powerful armor and wielding a massive hammer swept through his soldiers like they weren¡¯t even there. Another swordsman ¨C this one, he recognized by the broad-brimmed hat he wore ¨C threw out a variety of skills that left the soldiers in tatters. But they were only the highlights. With the army¡¯s attention split two ways ¨C one on the monster, and the other on the opposing army ¨C the battle went sour in a hurry. Then, from the opposite flank, came a series of explosions. Fire, ice, and even spears of earth erupted amidst the army. At first, D¡¯vix thought the city must have been hiding a cadre of powerful mages, but he soon traced the explosions back to a single dwarf standing atop one of the other buildings. The disgustingly bearded creature cackled as he threw various devices at the army. Those bombs exploded with a level of force that shouldn¡¯t have been possible coming from a single person. D''vix activated various abilities meant to turn the tide, but after spending so many of his long-cooldown skills to take the wall and progress through the city, he only had a few minor abilities left. As devastating as the others were, the real problem was the monster in the center of his army. Gone was the mage ¨C probably trampled beneath the soldiers trying to fight the creature ¨C but it didn¡¯t matter. The monster he¡¯d unleashed was so powerful that D¡¯vix had to wonder if it had reached ascendence level. Its vines didn¡¯t just restrict the soldiers. Many of them were crushed entirely. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the creature itself, which possessed the Strength of a Berserker. It ripped his people apart like they were unclassed. In the space of ten minutes, the battle D¡¯vix had thought was won had turned on its head. There was only one option left. ¡°Sound the retreat,¡± he ordered his lieutenant. Then, without further discussion, he and his closest advisors turned and ran. D¡¯vix leaped from one roof to the next until he reached the gate leading out of the city. However, he found the way barred by a pair of figures. The swordsman was waiting on him alongside the white stag. D¡¯vix puffed out his chest and commanded, ¡°Stand aside, and we shall ¨C¡± The man flashed forward, moving with perfect balance. D¡¯vix didn¡¯t even have time to realize what had happened before he was falling. He blinked as he rolled across the ground, and it wasn¡¯t until a second later when he saw his actual body falling beside him that he realized that he had been beheaded. He blinked again before his world ended. 6-103. The Future When Elijah arrived at the gate, he found his nephew ¨C with his armor so damaged that it likely offered no protection at all ¨C standing over a decapitated body. A handful of other dark elves knelt at his feet, having been disarmed. One of the lunar deer from the island stood guard, his small antlers glittering in the moonlight. ¡°Miggy? Are you okay?¡± Elijah asked on approach. The young man looked up, then, with a wooden sword, pointed at the body as he said, ¡°That¡¯s their General. He was trying to escape, so Trevor and I broke away from the battle to cut him off.¡± ¡°Where did you come from? The island?¡± Elijah asked. When he¡¯d returned from the Trial, he¡¯d been shocked to learn that Ironshore was under siege by an army of dark elves. Until then, Elijah had never encountered that particular brand of elves, but after his experiences with Ikan, he was not surprised to find that they were hostile. The elves themselves were, as their name suggested, dark complected, with mostly white hair. Other than that, they looked like every other species of elf he¡¯d met. Sharp, almost delicate features, pointed ears, and relatively slight stature were common characteristics, but there were a few outliers as well. Like one of the prisoners kneeling nearby. She was gorgeous, with a tiny scar on her cheek, but she was noticeably more muscular than many of her fellows. The others characterized the exact features he¡¯d been led to expect. ¡°I came from Argos. I wanted to bring more, but the Teleportation Network is really expensive. I could only afford to bring two other people,¡± Miguel answered, jerking Elijah¡¯s attention away from the prisoners. ¡°Including Trevor. Not that Argos could give us many people. They¡¯ve got problems of their own.¡± Elijah listened as Miguel explained that the assault on Ironshore was not an isolated incident. Norcastle had already fallen, and Argos seemed to be next on their list. The only reason it hadn¡¯t already happened was because Isaak and Artemis had killed most of their forward scouts. Still, that was only sufficient to delay the inevitable, meaning that war was coming to the Greek city sooner rather than later. ¡°You got your class, didn¡¯t you?¡± Elijah guessed. He felt a connection to Miguel that far exceeded anything he¡¯d experienced before. In some ways, it was similar to what he felt with Nerthus, but somehow more expansive. ¡°Green Warden,¡± Miguel answered. ¡°It¡¯s tied to the grove.¡± He glanced at the prisoners, adding, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea to say more when they¡¯re here.¡± ¡°Right. We should get back to the fight,¡± Elijah said. Then, he went about restraining the prisoners. It would have been much easier to just kill them, but after everything that had happened, he¡¯d seen enough death. Already, he¡¯d killed hundreds ¨C if not thousands ¨C of dark elves, and he didn¡¯t want to keep that going unless absolutely necessary. Once the prisoners were restrained, Elijah and Miguel headed back to the site of the battle. When they arrived, they found that the dark elves had surrendered. It seemed that being abandoned by their general had taken the wind out of their sails. There were still a couple of pockets of fighting, but after letting Ramik know about the prisoners, Elijah added his weight to the conflict. The end of the battle came less than an hour later when the rest of the attackers had been killed or captured. A few managed to escape into the mines, but that was inevitable. Ironshore simply didn¡¯t possess the numbers to stop them. When Elijah approached Ramik, he asked, ¡°How many prisoners?¡± ¡°Less than a thousand,¡± the goblin mayor answered. He took off his hat and sighed, ¡°This is going to be a mess.¡± ¡°Better than dying,¡± Elijah reminded him. When he¡¯d arrived at the Branch, Ramik and the other leaders had been putting together terms for their own surrender. His return had changed everything. ¡°Or being captured. I don¡¯t know if they do that, though.¡± ¡°Capture would have been worse,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Dark elves ¨C they call themselves Illythari ¨C are generally known to be xenophobic racists. They also adhere quite strictly to a caste system, treating anyone weaker quite harshly. They hold quite a particular hatred for goblins.¡± The implication didn¡¯t need to be spoken aloud. If Ramik or Ironshore¡¯s other goblins had been captured, they wouldn¡¯t have lived much longer. ¡°Do you need anything else from me?¡± Elijah asked. Ramik didn¡¯t, which gave him the chance to reunite with his sister-in-law and nephew. Both were quite busy with the aftermath of the battle, so aside from a quick greeting, Elijah spent the next few hours healing the injured. That included the dark elves who¡¯d been taken prisoner, many of whom had been wounded by his attacks. Elijah didn¡¯t miss the irony of that, though he refused to focus on it. After he got into a rhythm, he zoned out, turning his mind to recent events. He certainly hadn¡¯t expected to enter a battle the moment he returned from the Trial, so he hadn¡¯t had the chance to go over his gains. As expected, getting first place in the Trial of Primacy had pushed him to level one-twenty-five, though his progress had stalled there. Not unexpected, given what had happened so long ago when he¡¯d reached level ten. Back then, much of his experience had been lost, though he still held out some hope that this time would be a little different. With that in mind, he returned to the grove, took off his bloody equipment, and took a long shower. Nerthus was there waiting for him when he finished, but aside from exchanging a few basic pleasantries, he didn¡¯t spend much time with the spryggent. It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t happy to see his friend, but he had other things to worry about. To that end, he settled down his bed and opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 125
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 143
Dexterity 129 The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
Constitution 152
Ethera 166
Regeneration 157
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
As he¡¯d already noticed, he had progressed to level one-twenty-five, and he¡¯d received the appropriate attribute bonuses. Without his buffs or equipment, his numbers looked a little paltry, but when put into context, he knew they represented a significant accomplishment. It wasn¡¯t so long ago ¨C in the grand scheme of things ¨C that every attribute had been in the single digits, with Constitution coming in at asingle point. So much had happened since then, and Elijah knew that he had become an entirely new person. Not only was he superhuman in every way that mattered, but he felt like he¡¯d taken the first step into a much larger multi-verse. After all, even on established worlds, not everyone made it to the peak of the mortal tier. Most did ¨C eventually, at least ¨C but not everyone. That he¡¯d done so after only five years ¨C or six, if he counted the time spent in the Trial of Primacy ¨C filled him with a sense of pride. In some ways, it reminded him of the day he¡¯d gotten his doctorate, but with the obvious caveat that, in this case, he actually felt enjoyment beyond the simple accomplishment of a goal. The life of an adventurer was difficult, but it was one that filled him with purpose. And excitement. He had now seen things no one else on Earth had seen, and despite having reached a significant milestone, he didn¡¯t intend to stop. Sure, he¡¯d already committed to dealing with the various problems throughout the world. That was a given. But he vowed, then and there, not to let that dominate his life. He needed more than just war and fighting. He needed fulfilment and adventure. ¡°Maybe I should¡¯ve been an Explorer,¡± he muttered to himself, though that option had never been presented to him. If it had, his life might have turned out quite differently. Regardless, once he was finished admiring his status, he turned his inner eye toward the next notification. Instead of gaining an opportunity to evolve one of his existing spells, he¡¯d acquired an entirely new one. And it was something he¡¯d been expecting for quite some time:
Shape of the Master Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 125 Take on the form of the master, moderately increasing all attributes. Also improves reaction times significantly. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Master is active.
Evasion Each dodged attack builds a charge of Heart of Fire.
Incinerate Consume all charges of Heart of Fire at once, releasing an intense conflagration.
It was not what Elijah had expected from something called Shape of the Master. However, he couldn¡¯t deny that it held a certain appeal. After spending so long with the benefit of Haste from his Sash of the Whirlwind as well as the effect of his latest spell evolution ¨C Lupine Reflexes ¨C Elijah could definitely get onboard with further improvements in that category. Clearly, Evasion and Incinerate were meant to work together. Though how effective it was would depend on the power of each charge of Heart of Fire. He wanted to test it out ¨C or at least look at the form ¨C but given the sheer size of his other shapes, he wouldn¡¯t chance doing it inside his treehouse. He also didn¡¯t want to go outside at the moment. So, he tabled that for now and focused on the most exciting result of having reached the peak of the mortal tier. He could finally evolve his class, which was something he¡¯d been looking forward to ever since he discovered the nature of progression. The Animist class was powerful, but he knew it wasn¡¯t nearly as strong as some others. Until now, his power had been propped up on his versatility and his potent Dragon Core. But with the number of Feats of Strength attached to him, he knew the evolutions on offer would be impressive and would increase his power by a significant margin. So, it was with that in mind that he moved on to the final notification available to him. Before he could even read the first line, he heard a voice. ¡°This is a momentous occasion for any young one,¡± it said. Elijah looked up to see Kirlissa standing at the foot of his bed. She looked as beautiful as ever, with hair of gold, tiny glittering scales around her eyes and much larger scales upon her neck. She seemed somehow more solid than at any other time, though Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if that was because of his vastly improved One with Nature or if she truly was there more solidly than before. Regardless, he could feel the weight of her power pushing down on him like someone had increased the local gravity by a thousand times. ¡°Breathe, child.¡± Elijah did, and with every deep breath, he felt a little more at ease. Though looking at his patron brought some of that discomfort back, he eventually managed to speak. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Are you not glad to see me?¡± she asked with a small smile. Before Elijah could answer, she went on, ¡°I come with advice and an invitation. The advice is simple, though it is not something you will wish to hear. Children the multi-verse over lack patience. They prefer to blunder forward without considering how their hasty decisions affect their future.¡± ¡°What is the advice?¡± ¡°Do not choose your class evolution at this time,¡± she stated simply. Before Elijah could object, she went on, ¡°You are on the verge of progressing to the next stage of Soul cultivation, are you not?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I still need to work some things out, but I think so.¡± ¡°Do that first. Once that is done, you should evolve your core. Rest assured, this will be the last chance for easy progression. Going forward, each stage will require extensive preparation, perfect circumstances, and monumental effort,¡± she stated. ¡°However, pushing forward to the Expert tier of cultivation will put you in a position of true dominance.¡± ¡°How?¡± Elijah asked, though he already suspected the answer. ¡°You know of Legacy, do you not?¡± she asked. He nodded. ¡°The first class evolution is extremely important for your future. It is the foundation upon which your entire life will be built. The initial class selection is important because it is the first step. However, it is only that ¨C the first step ¨C and there is very little variation in terms of quality. The second evolution is where that changes. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Legacy. With more than a hundred levels to progress, there¡¯s a lot more variance.¡± ¡°Just so,¡± she said, smiling down at him. ¡°Attaining the Expert tier of cultivation will count towards your Legacy almost as much as your previous Feats combined. Together, they will put you on the path to Supremacy. It only takes a little patience.¡± Elijah sighed. He¡¯d been looking forward to his class evolution, but he supposed it could wait a little while longer. After all, he¡¯d already told his companions that he intended to rest for at least a few weeks before assisting them with their various problems. Sadie hadn¡¯t liked that idea, but she¡¯d understood the reasoning behind it. More importantly, she had grudgingly admitted that it was unlikely for the undead to push forward immediately after the Trial of Primacy. So, he had a little time. ¡°Fine. Can I at least look at my options?¡± he asked. ¡°I would not, were I you,¡± she answered. ¡°The temptation to choose one would be too great for you. Besides, you cannot do so here. You need to access a Branch.¡± Elijah confirmed that was the case by looking at the notification he¡¯d thought was his class evolution choices:
You have reached the peak of the Mortal Tier of power. To continue to progress, please report to your nearest Branch, where you will be afforded the opportunity to choose your first class evolution.
Elijah shook his head in disappointment. ¡°Alright. I won¡¯t do it until I reach the next stage of my Soul and Core cultivation,¡± he agreed. ¡°You said you had an invitation, too?¡± ¡°Indeed, child. Once you have ensured your planet¡¯s safety from excisement, I would like for you to visit the Empire of Scale so that we can begin your education in earnest,¡± she said. ¡°What? Excisement?¡± ¡°I can say no more. Remember my previous advice. Do not ignore the dangers of Primal Realms,¡± she said. ¡°When you are ready, report to the Branch and access the Teleportation Network. Your passage has already been paid. You merely have to accept it. For now, though, I trust you to keep doing what you are doing. Your progress is quite pleasing to me, and I look forward to what you might one day become. Goodbye, my son.¡± With that, she disappeared, leaving Elijah confused, a little irritated, and, despite that, excited for the future. 7-1. Loneliness and Desolation Avara, the Queen of Desolation blinked awake. Confused, she looked around, and all she saw was a frigid expanse teeming with deathly ethera and demonic influence. The stench of rot and death wafted into her nose, but even that was overpowered by the smell ¨C acidic and sickly sweet ¨C of the demons arrayed before her. Five of them, all with enough power to topple mountains and destroy whole civilizations. Lurking behind them was a curious figure. No less demonic, but tortured and twisted into something less. Something more dangerous. The demon was thin to the point of emaciation, with characteristic hooves and horns that marked his race. Yet, that was where commonalities with the others ended. Around his eyes was a spiked collar teeming with dense ethera that made even Avara flinch away, lest she risk madness. Chains encircled his arms and legs, which rattled with every manic twitch. Chainspeaker. The name wrapped around her mind as if she¡¯d always known it, and his history unfolded before her. She shivered in pity and disgust, and if she was honest, she felt no small degree of fear. Avara knew the demon couldn¡¯t even begin to rival her in terms of raw power, but there was just something about him ¨C be it his pervasive grin, clinking chains, or the incessant twitching ¨C that filled her heart with dread. She knew the others, too. The Lancer, with her long spear and tattered wings. The Bladesinger, with a dozen swords and knives secreted across his body. The Wall, built like an ogre and carrying a massive slab of metal he called a shield. Then there was the Corrupted, a healer who¡¯d fallen to foul magics. She could still heal well enough, but she also carried an air of pestilence that only hinted at her corrupted power. Finally, there was Filos. Beautiful, beautiful Filos. He was everything a demon could hope to be, with elegant horns and a face that spoke of arrogance and superiority. He was her most powerful underling, and as such, he had established himself as their general. The Black Blade of Despair remained strapped to his back, practically screaming to reap the lives of anyone who stood before its master. Avara could not argue with its effectiveness. The weapon was deadly, and in the most insidious way. But she never would have stooped so low as to use a cursed blade. There were safer ways to attain power. However, she knew her lieutenants were all misfits, cast-offs from the Kingdom of Netherhold. Just like her, they were the worst sorts of demons. Too odd to tolerate, but too dangerous to entirely dismiss. But above all, Avara knew it was all a farce. Even as she trained her eyes upon her supposed dominion, she recognized it for what it was ¨C an illusion. A solid one, to be sure, and of a quality that could mean only one thing ¨C she was within a Primal Realm. The ethera was too thick, and her lands far too expansive to be a tower, and the system had no need to populate Ancestral Realms with illusions. But the nature of her environment meant that she was not who she thought she was. Her memories swirled as she tried ¨C and failed ¨C to poke holes in her own past, but she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that none of it was real. Even if she felt the effects of her past so keenly that the memories brought tears to her eyes. After all, anything that led a woman down a path that would end with her taking the title of the Queen of Desolation was not a pretty tale. Apparently, the system enjoyed tragic backstories, and even though Avara knew those memories were false, she couldn¡¯t entirely escape their influence. Just as that thought crossed her mind, she received a notification:
Primal Realm will re-open in 45 Days. Build your forces, and escape The Desolate Reaches. Spread your influence, and earn a Feat of Strength to add to your Legacy. Quality of Feat depends on performance.
Avara had no memory of why she had sacrificed a piece of her spirit to populate the sadistic system¡¯s need for minds to occupy its various trials. She didn¡¯t even know if she was a true demon, or if she¡¯d simply been forced to adopt its visage. However, what she did know was that she was there for a purpose. No one volunteered for Soul Shearing without good reason. Most did so only because they had hit a wall in their progression. For some, progressing from one realm to the next was as easy as gaining enough levels, but it became far more difficult the higher one climbed. And starting with progression from the Demigod to the Deity stage, a seamless transition was nearly unprecedented. That was why people who reached that stage often threw themselves into increasingly deadly situations, searching for the Feat of Strength that would make all the difference. For those who wanted a safer route ¨C or for whom such opportunities were non-existent ¨C Soul Shearing was the only alternative. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Giving up a piece of one¡¯s spirit was not pleasant, and it often resulted in decades of weakness. In some cases, people were completely debilitated. Yet, service to the system was a top-quality Feat of Strength that could ¨C and often did ¨C make the difference between toiling away as a mere Demigod and ascending to the level of a Deity. After that, functional immortality ¨C at least regarding the ravages of time ¨C was the largest benefit. Immediate power was all well and good, but with enough time, a person could do anything. Avara could only assume that was her true self¡¯s motivation. Even if her participation in the Soul Shearing process was just a grab for power, she knew enough to recognize just how big of an opportunity the system had just presented. Normally, one only earned a Feat of Strength after the contract was finished. Usually, that meant centuries of toiling away in a tower. But to earn one from a system quest? That was more than she could have ever hoped to achieve. Even if her memories as the Queen of Desolation didn¡¯t push her to accomplish the task given to her, she owed it to her true self to do everything she could to meet the parameters set before her. ¡°We have forty-five days,¡± she rasped. ¡°Summon your minions. Gather your Ritualists. The moment the portal is open, we will go forth and conquer the other world.¡± At that, she saw her other lieutenants grin. In a high-pitched voice rife with amusement, the Chainspeaker asked, ¡°What of my pretty, little prisoners? May I play with them as I like?¡± ¡°No,¡± she answered, reeling in disgust. Avara was no stranger to torture, but the Chainspeaker¡¯s nightmarish actions took things much further than necessary. He didn¡¯t care about extracting information. Indeed, he only craved the tortured screams of his victims. He wilted dramatically, muttering about a lack of fun. Avara nearly let herself flinch at that. ¡°We have a use for those prisoners. Do not harm them,¡± she ordered in an imperious tone. As powerful as her lieutenants were, they could feel that she was far stronger. That was why she was in charge. Was that because her true self was so much mightier? Or was that merely an illusion propagated by the Primal Realm? There was no way to tell, but the very notion of weakness filled her with dread and anger. The nature of those feelings was a mystery as well, and Avara had no idea if they came from her persona within the Primal Realm or if it originated from her true self. The idea that she could not even trust her own feelings was so frustrating that she very nearly lashed out. One attack, and she could kill her lieutenants. And what¡¯s more, they would simply regenerate ¨C perhaps not quickly, but the nature of Primal Realms was that no one ever truly died. Flexing her jaw, she restrained her childish impulses, focusing on what truly mattered. Pointedly, she never even considered the fate of those outside the Primal Realm. Such was life in the multi-verse that if a world was incapable of defending itself from something as comparatively benign as a Primal Realm, then they deserved to fall. Theirs was a multi-verse of conflict, and pity and compassion were not worthy of consideration. If those primitives fell, then the fault lay with their lack of power. ¡°May I play with them? Just a little. I shan¡¯t harm them permanently,¡± hissed the Chainspeaker, twitching with every uttered syllable. His level of power was far lower than Avara¡¯s, but still, she could not help but feel wary in his presence. Had he always been insane? Or was that simply the role he had been given? So much about Soul Shearing was a mystery, and those who¡¯d dedicated their lives to the system ¨C usually former Envoys of the World Tree who¡¯d shown themselves to be particularly competent ¨C would never tell their secrets. Perhaps Avara would know more if she could remember her old life. Even a sliver of information might give her enough hints to find a few conclusions. But that was not how it worked. Not only did the process rob her of her memories, but it took her very identity, replacing it with whatever the system required. And in this case, it required Avara to be the Queen of Desolation. ¡°I have already answered that question,¡± she intoned. ¡°No torture, physical or psychological. If they break, they will need to be replaced.¡± In truth, she wasn¡¯t even certain where the prisoners had come from. Had they been Sheared as well? Or had they come from outside? She knew that the Primal Realm had been going for some time, and the minions she now claimed as her own had been hard at work spreading her influence. But so far, they had been uncoordinated and disorganized. That would change, and soon. ¡°You take all the fun out of it,¡± said the Chainspeaker, wilting. Even the other lieutenants glanced at him in mingled disgust and confusion. He quickly righted himself, then gave an elaborate bow. Functionally, there was nothing wrong with the gesture, but the combination of his odd attire and jittery movements left Avara feeling unsettled. ¡°But as you wish, my dear, dear queen.¡± Every word came out as if it was adoring, sarcastic, and somehow respectful ¨C an odd combination at the best of times but made immeasurably worse by the source. ¡°Go,¡± she said, flicking her hand at her underlings. The other lieutenants bowed or saluted, then left to do her bidding. Notably, the Chainspeaker¡¯s gait was just as odd as everything else about him, and it reminded Avara of a child skipping through a meadow. It was both sinuous and awkward, and she was glad when the unsettling demon disappeared alongside the others. Alone, she settled onto her throne. Briefly, she tried to remember her old life, but it was impossible. So, she began to make plans for the inevitable invasion she would face. As she thought about what was coming, she gazed out across her realm. The Barren Throne was surrounded by the mountains of the Desolate Reaches, with winged creatures of death and decay circling their peaks. Was there anything beyond those mountains? Or did the Primal Realm simply stop? Avara had no idea. Some Primal Realms spanned entire continents, while others were only a few miles wide. One thing was certain, though ¨C the world on the other side of the portal in those mountains was a real place with infinite possibilities. Out there, nothing would constrain her. And if she did her job, the sliver of spirit at her core might rejoin her true self. The idea of completion was appealing in its own right, but true freedom was even more attractive. She would also get some answers. And finally, she could discard the false identity she¡¯d been forced to adopt. Having memories she knew weren¡¯t real ¨C an entire history of war and conquest, lovers and family ¨C was torturous in its own way, and already, she wished for ignorance. But that was not to be. So, without further thought, she focused on what truly mattered ¨C escaping the Primal Realm and spreading her influence as far as she could manage. Only then could she be whole. 7-2. A Celebration of Life A silvery moon hung high in the sky as Elijah sat atop one of Ironshore¡¯s buildings, watching the proceedings below. The residents were in a celebratory mood, and rightly so. By the time he had returned from the Trial of Primacy, those people had already made peace with their own demise. Some had held out hope of survival, but everyone knew the cost of surrender. After all, dark elves were not known for their fair treatment of other races, and they were especially hateful of goblins, dwarves, and gnomes. The only people they found more detestable were other sorts of elves. Because of that, Elijah¡¯s arrival had been met with no small amount of pessimism. Certainly, most of them remembered what he¡¯d done in the first Battle of Ironshore against the orcs, but the numbers arrayed against the defenders were far more daunting this time around. What they hadn¡¯t expected was how much Elijah had grown during the Trial of Primacy. In truth, Elijah sometimes skated past that improvement as well. Back then, he¡¯d struggled to tip the balance in Ironshore¡¯s favor, and even then, he¡¯d nearly died. That wasn¡¯t a new occurrence for him ¨C he had made a habit of courting death, especially of late. So, he¡¯d expected something similar this time around, especially considering that there were a few actual powerhouses among the dark elves. That wasn¡¯t what had happened. He¡¯d had help from Kurik and, unexpectedly, from Miguel. However, in hindsight, he knew he hadn¡¯t really needed it. With enough time, he could have killed every single dark elf invader, and he doubted that it would have even been that straining. The fact was that Elijah had become an entirely new person. From the moment he¡¯d washed ashore in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s touch, he¡¯d fought countless life-or-death battles. From the time he was digested in the stomach of a monstrous orca to being ripped in half by a powerful necromancer, Elijah had experienced more in the space of the last five-plus years than any human had a right to endure. In terms of power, he¡¯d taken commensurately huge strides forward. Most recently, he¡¯d reached the end of the mortal realm, and with only a little effort, he could take his largest step yet. Class evolution beckoned, taunting him with the sheer weight of increased power he could have at his fingertips. He only had to visit the Branch of the World Tree, and he could once again transform himself. He didn¡¯t know how ¨C he¡¯d yet to even look at his options ¨C but everything he¡¯d read told him that it would be an absolute game-changer. That made it incredibly difficult to resist evolving his class, even if he had good reasons to do just that. When a dragon of godly power tells you to wait, it¡¯s probably a good idea to follow that advice ¨C especially when she supported her command with basic logic. If he waited until he¡¯d taken the next step in Soul and Core cultivation, his potential evolution would be far more powerful than it otherwise would be. And considering that was the foundation upon which his entire future would be built, it didn¡¯t take a genius to recognize that waiting was the right move. Still, it wasn¡¯t easy, and it left him feeling unsatisfied despite everything he¡¯d accomplished. By all rights, he had just as much ¨C if not more ¨C reason to celebrate as any of those people below. After all, he¡¯d not only survived the Trial of Primacy when so many others had not, but his friends had made it as well. In addition, he¡¯d gotten the top spot, which was a balm to his competitive spirit and a confirmation that he was on the right track. He¡¯d even gotten good news only a few hours before when he¡¯d received a very pertinent notification:
Due to reaching a threshold, level rewards earned via the Trial of Primacy will be awarded after class evolution. All experience gained will be banked until after class evolution. Diminishing returns will apply.
It was quite a relief, especially considering that he¡¯d half expected those levels to have been lost entirely. It was even more encouraging that any experience gained in the interim would still provide some benefit. The mention of diminishing returns would prevent him from exploiting that system, though. Basically, he had no reason ¨C aside from impatience ¨C not to stick to Kirlissa¡¯s advice. That didn¡¯t make it any easier, especially given Elijah¡¯s impulsive nature. He didn¡¯t enjoy following directions, and his first instinct was to simply do the opposite just to prove he could. He pushed those childish thoughts aside, though. Kirlissa had changed his life when she¡¯d granted him the Dragon Core, and she¡¯d given him good advice ¨C infrequent as it was ¨C so far. He had no reason to think she would steer him wrong. ¡°Not celebratin¡¯?¡± came a familiar voice. Elijah had felt Kurik coming, so he wasn¡¯t surprised when the dwarven Sapper sat beside him. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I know I probably should be,¡± he said. ¡°It was an important victory. But I just can¡¯t help but think about everything else we need to do.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± the dwarf responded, drinking from a mug of beer he¡¯d brought with him. Or maybe it had been inside his Key of Twisted Ether. Regardless, he hadn¡¯t brought one for Elijah. ¡°That¡¯s life for important folks. Always someone clamoring for your attention. Glad I ain¡¯t important.¡± Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. ¡°You¡¯re selling yourself short,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°You took out as many of those dark elves as I did. Probably more, when everything was said and done. Something tells me you¡¯re going to be just as busy as I am.¡± ¡°Hope not,¡± Kurik stated. ¡°But I think we both know why you¡¯re really up here.¡± ¡°Oh?¡± ¡°You feel apart,¡± the dwarf answered. ¡°I feel it too. Ever since I got back. Those people down there, they ain¡¯t seen the things we¡¯ve seen. And I think there¡¯s somethin¡¯ about gettin¡¯ to a certain level. You start to see normal folks as¡­less solid. Every one of them down there, they¡¯ll be dead in a couple hundred years. Maybe a couple will push past the Mortal Realm. Maybe all of ¡®em. I don¡¯t know. But it¡¯ll take ¡®em forever, and the longer it takes, the less it impacts their longevity. Me and you, though? You¡¯re already at the peak, right?¡± ¡°Yeah. Not choosing my evolution, though. Not until I finish a couple of things.¡± ¡°Cultivation?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°You¡¯re close?¡± ¡°I think so. I know the steps. I just need time to put it all to work. I might not have time, though,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Forty-five days. That¡¯s what the notification said. That¡¯s how long we have until the Primal Realms are active again. I need to get to Hong Kong before that.¡± ¡°My advice ¨C don¡¯t cut yourself short,¡± Kurik said. ¡°Short-term gains ain¡¯t worth hurtin¡¯ your future.¡± ¡°Even if those short-terms gains might be the difference between living and dying? What if evolving my class is the only way I can save Hong Kong?¡± Elijah wondered. ¡°I mean, maybe it won¡¯t come to that. Maybe I can do it all in forty-five days. But if it comes down to it, do I go in at less than maximum power? Or do I just take what I can get and hope to improve later?¡± Kurik took another swig that went on for long enough for the dwarf to drain the entire mug. When he finished, he let out a sigh, saying, ¡°I missed good beer. As to your question, I don¡¯t know. Glad it ain¡¯t me as has to answer it.¡± ¡°You¡¯re a huge help,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Especially since you didn¡¯t bother getting ¨C¡± Before he could finish that sentence, Kurik reached into a portal associated with his Key of Twisted Ethera and retrieved a small keg. ¡°Here,¡± he said, shoving another mug into Elijah¡¯s hand. After that, the pair spent a long while just sitting on the roof and finishing the contents of the keg. It wasn¡¯t enough to inebriate Elijah, but it definitely helped him relax a little. By contrast, Kurik had clearly imbibed quite a bit already, and it wasn¡¯t long before he was passed out and drooling on Elijah¡¯s shoulder. After sitting there for a while, Elijah gathered his friend and leaped from the roof. He landed lightly, startling a couple of celebratory townspeople. When they saw it was him, they quickly looked the other way. Clearly, his reputation hadn¡¯t gotten much better, and they were all still terrified of him. Not unreasonable, given the things they¡¯d seen him do. Slaughtering orcs and island invaders was one thing, but killing so many dark elves without incurring any injuries of his own put him on an entirely different tier. As regrettable as that was, Elijah considered that reputation a good thing. If nothing else, it would keep them away from his island, which was more important than being accepted in town. Carrying Kurik over his shoulder, Elijah set off through town, eventually arriving at the Imperium. The hotel hadn¡¯t incurred any damage during the battle, which meant that it looked just as ritzy as ever. More importantly, Elijah already knew the proprietor, so it only took a few minutes before a hotel worker took Kurik off his hands. It cost Elijah a bit of ethereum, but he had plenty to spare. Once that was done, Elijah stepped outside with the intention of joining the merrymaking. However, as he looked at the crowds of people, he thought better of that notion. Instead, he used Shape of Sky, and as soon as his transformation was complete, he launched himself into the air. Even as he felt the cool wind race across his multi-colored scales, he heard a few screams of alarm coming from below. Apparently, the sight of a giant dragon-like creature was enough to incite at least a little panic. Hopefully, they would remember that it was just Elijah. Though, after only a moment¡¯s worth of thought, he found himself wondering if that was a good thing or not. Chances were, they knew precisely who he was, and that was why they¡¯d screamed. Regardless, Elijah flapped his wings, gaining a little altitude before banking around the town and making his way toward his island. He could have just used Roots of the World Tree to teleport directly to the grove, but that seemed like such a waste. It took less than a minute to cross the strait between the coast and his island, but he remained in the air, circling the region for almost twenty minutes. It was so infrequent that he had the chance to revel in the fact that he could fly. It had never been one of his main fantasies, but anyone who grew up on comics and cartoons had considered it. Elijah was no different, and the notion that he could fly brought with it a sense of freedom and power that he could scarcely describe. But that lasted only so long before he caught sight of something that, if the Shape of Sky was capable of smiling, would have had him grinning. As it was, he quickly landed in a dell of dappled moonlight, where he found a family of lunar deer waiting. Briefly, they were startled, but the guardians were intelligent enough to recognize Elijah when they saw him. They remained in place as he regained his human form. The two juveniles had grown quite a lot, but the parents looked much the same. However, Elijah was gratified to see that they were healthier than ever before ¨C probably due to the grove¡¯s influence. Elijah didn¡¯t approach. The creatures were not pets, after all. They were still wild animals, and they deserved to live their lives without some handsy Druid groping them. Still, he found their presence ¨C as well as the dell itself ¨C soothing. So, he didn¡¯t waste any time before sitting upon a bed of soft moss, closing his eyes, and focusing on his core. He¡¯d spent only a little time working on his core cultivation, but he¡¯d discovered a few things over the past few months. The first came from a guide he¡¯d bought long ago, and it specified that progressing to the next stage required very particular preparation. Specifically, he needed to develop a technique to both thicken his store of ethera while expanding his core. The latter was easy enough, and it required him to cycle foreign ethera into his core and hold it there. Most of it would dissipate, but the little bit that remained would, over time, expand the bounds of his core. The second factor he had discovered was that it would be much easier to take that next step once everything else had already advanced. It wasn¡¯t an out-and-out requirement, but the guides he¡¯d read treated it as almost the same thing. So, he would see much better results once he advanced his Soul. For now, though, he was just experimenting. Before he made any real attempts, he would advance his Soul, which was far closer to reaching the next stage. And finally, Elijah had found that the process was facilitated when he could visualize the process. The images themselves didn¡¯t matter so much. Rather, what really counted was that it helped him to understand concepts that, even with nine facets of his Mind working overtime, would have been impossible for him to comprehend. So, as he cycled foreign ethera into his core, Elijah experimented with different visualization techniques. He didn¡¯t expect to make any huge strides, but that was fine. He was more interested in distracting himself than with real improvement. Tomorrow, that would need to change, though. He only had so much time, and he didn¡¯t have the luxury of wasting it. 7-3. Alone Again Oscar squatted at the tree line, his hand on the trunk of a massive oak as he studied the glade. His face remained impassive, but his mind roiled with the events of the past few days. The end of the Trial had taken more from him than he ever could have expected, and upon his return to Earth, he¡¯d found himself suddenly alone. Sophie nudged him with her snout, reminding him that he would always have his pack. But was that enough to survive? No matter how much he pretended otherwise, he needed human companionship. He¡¯d thought he was accustomed to that loneliness ¨C he kept telling himself that he was happy with his pack ¨C but the events of the Trial had reminded him that, regardless of what he told himself, he was still a human being. And humans were social creatures. Never had that been clearer than during the time he¡¯d spent among the other participants. Only a few had truly accepted him for who he was, but even that much had felt undeniably pleasant. Almost necessary, if he was honest with himself. Returning to Earth had robbed him of that. Sure, there were people in the town where he¡¯d first departed, and they hadn¡¯t gone anywhere during the Trial. However, the way they looked at him ¨C with a mixture of fear, distrust, and a little opportunism ¨C left him feeling uneasy. So, he¡¯d fled without a word, and he¡¯d kept running for hours. Only now, when he¡¯d seen the glade, did he stop to take stock of his situation. Escobar let out a little bark, and after glancing in the chihuahua¡¯s direction. Oscar responded, ¡°I know. It¡¯s just the sort of place Jojo would have liked.¡± The other dogs twitched their tails in agreement, and with that, Oscar¡¯s task solidified in his mind. Once his way was decided, he wasted no time before unshouldering his pack ¨C it had been given to him by Elijah ¨C and reached inside. A moment later, he felt the cold cloth he¡¯d used to wrap Jojo¡¯s remains. He¡¯d found the shih tzu only a little after reuniting with the other humans, though he hadn¡¯t made a big fuss of it. Aside from the Druid, none of them had shown any care for the dogs. Besides, Oscar didn¡¯t like sharing those kinds of moments. His pack was his, and letting others see its inner workings made him feel dangerously vulnerable. So, he¡¯d quickly wrapped the dog¡¯s body in a spare shirt before gently placing it in the bag. That¡¯s where it had remained until, at last, Oscar retrieved all that was left of his friend. No ¨C his family member. The bundle was so small. Barely a few pounds. And when Oscar unwrapped the body, he just stared at it. He never should have let Jojo have so much freedom. He¡¯d always been prone to biting off more than he could chew. But he¡¯d idolized Escobar ¨C even from the very beginning ¨C and he took his cues from the much more powerful dog. And in the end, it had gotten him killed. There wasn¡¯t a mark on the small dog. Instead, he¡¯d been slain by some sort of spell that had drained his life. Even that wouldn¡¯t have been possible if he hadn¡¯t been snared by an ethereal trap. In his more lucid moments, Oscar had come to realize that it was a warning. The world was not a simple place, and there was a myriad of abilities that could easily overwhelm him and his pack. They possessed plenty of power ¨C especially when they worked together ¨C but they certainly weren¡¯t the only ones who could claim as much. One wrong move, and they would all be caught and killed. It was enough to make Oscar wonder why he bothered with people in the first place. His species was filled dangerous and unpredictable people, and he knew he and his pack would be better off sticking to the wilderness. Certainly, the beasts and monsters were potentially deadly as well, but they represented dangers he understood. And that understanding had allowed him to guide his pack in the right direction. Until he¡¯d failed. That guilt infested his mind as he and the other dogs spent the next hour digging a deep hole. It was much larger than necessary, but everyone wanted to participate in the labor. Their dedication to the task felt ritualistic in nature, though Oscar knew it was just their way of paying homage to their fallen brother. Once the grave had been dug, Oscar climbed down and laid Jojo to rest. He tried to do so stoically, but he couldn¡¯t stop the tears from tracing lines down his dirty cheeks. He sniffed, wiping his nose with his tattered sleeve before climbing free of the grave. After that, he and the rest of the pack pushed the mounds of dirt back into the hole they¡¯d dug. Nausea twisted Oscar¡¯s stomach into knots as the first layer of soil covered the white bundle of fur. He was so small. In a normal world, Jojo would never have survived the wild. And yet, by finding his own path, he had thrived. And the world was worse off for his absence. Oscar remembered the playful dog, bouncing around like a puppy as he pestered the larger members of the pack. The harrowing battles where they¡¯d all found their niche. Jojo curling up in the crook of Oscar¡¯s neck as they slept. A hundred other memories flashed through the Pack Leader¡¯s mind as he buried his beloved brother. He could feel the other dogs¡¯ emotions surging with every cascade of dirt. They didn¡¯t know how to deal with those feelings, and it wasn¡¯t long before their pitiful whimpers filled the air. Oscar wanted to comfort them, but he didn¡¯t know how. Besides, he needed to complete the task at hand. So, even as their keening cries echoed through the picturesque dell, Oscar continued his labor of love and remembrance. Eventually, the last pile of dirt joined the rest, and all that was left of Jojo was a slightly raised mound of freshly turned earth. He sank to his knees, his breath even. He didn¡¯t wail like the other members of the pack. As their leader, he owed them more than to scream at nothing and beat his chest with the senselessness of it all. Yet, regardless of his attempts at stoicism, the flow of tears continued. More troublingly, that was when the guilt truly set in. He¡¯d tried to protect Jojo, but the rambunctious dog was strong-willed. He¡¯d made a habit of throwing caution to the wind, regardless of Oscar¡¯s warnings against carelessness. What had happened seemed almost inevitable, at least in retrospect. And Oscar vowed to be a better leader going forward. The lives of his family depended on it. If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. To that end, he recalled the guide he¡¯d bought the last time he was in the Nexus Town. He wasn¡¯t at the point where his class evolution was impending, but he was close enough that he felt it prudent to start thinking about it. Thus, the purchase of the guide. He retrieved the glittering leaf from his pocket, but before he re-read it, he looked at his status:
Name Oscar Ramirez
Level 116
Archetype Tactician
Class Pack Leader
Specialization Development
Alignment N/A
Strength 91
Dexterity 101
Constitution 102
Ethera 198
Regeneration 91
Attunement Wild
Cultivation Stage: Cultivator
Body Core Mind Soul
Wood Hunter Opal Neophyte
Oscar knew his development wasn¡¯t as advanced as with some people. He¡¯d muddled his way through cultivation, but he lacked the talent of someone like Elijah, for whom cultivation was a mere speedbump on the road to power. He¡¯d made plenty of progress, especially with his Core cultivation, which had reached the third stage, but he lagged behind in the other categories. Still, he¡¯d made plenty of gains during the Trial, and he knew that he would soon need to address the issue of his class evolution. That was why he¡¯d purchased the guide. He wanted to be prepared for that eventuality, if not for his own good, then the well-being of his pack. His family depended on his leadership as well as his abilities to enhance their power. He¡¯d even chosen the Development specialization to hasten their progression. It would take some time to bear fruit, but he would much rather invest in his pack as a whole than gain power for himself. Jackson nudged him with his snout, and Oscar lifted his arm for the dog to get closer. A few moments later, the others ¨C all but Escobar ¨C surrounded him. They crowded close, as if they all wanted to touch him. And like that, they remained while Oscar finally opened the guide:
Potential Evolutions For: Pack Leader (and other similar Nature-Based Tactician Classes)
The Pack Leader is categorized as an equal-partner bond class. Classes such as this carry with them a host of advantages and a few potential disadvantages. Included among them is that bonded creatures will perform better on average than with Tamer-type classes. With the right evolutions, specializations, and Legacy, a Pack Leader can instill true sapience in his bond-mates. However, as mentioned, this can be seen as a disadvantage due to the lack of control and irreplaceability of the bond-mates. It is a rare class that requires very specific circumstances and a nature attunement to even qualify. As such, information on potential evolutions is thin, with only a few recorded possibilities. They are as follows (names and relative power may vary):
Den Father (or mother) Develop new abilities to empower and strengthen the pack as a whole.
Pack Champion Focuses on empowering the pack leader in order to protect the other members.
Pack Ascendent Allows the Pack Leader to truly join the pack as one of them. Warning: This is a permanent shapeshift, and there is no recovering your old form until the next evolution.
It was far more information than he¡¯d ever gotten regarding his class, and it had cost him quite a lot of ethereum for the Librarian to hunt it down. Even finding the Librarian, who was hiding among the Consortium, had been difficult, and Oscar was certain that few others in the Trial of Primacy had even known of her existence. Still, he wasn¡¯t certain what he was supposed to do with the information in the guide. He knew each evolution would be powerful in its own way, and he could easily imagine how they could help him protect his pack. Beyond that, though, he wasn¡¯t certain which way he would go. But his first impressions had him looking very carefully at the final option. The notion of taking on a canine form would have once horrified him, but after spending years away from humanity, he found the idea far more palatable. He could also sense that the Pack Ascendent option was the most powerful of the three. How he knew that, he wasn¡¯t sure, but he felt certain of it all the same. For a long time, Oscar just knelt beside Jojo¡¯s grave, his mind flitting back and forth between his grief, his upcoming evolution, and his plans for the immediate future. Coping with the first was difficult, but he managed to stave some of those feelings off by focusing on the good times with Jojo. Those memories were all tinged with sadness, but that felt natural enough. However, he had no answers concerning where he was going, either in the long or short term. Part of him wanted to hunt down Elijah and take the Druid up on his offer of shelter within his grove. However, he didn¡¯t know how to manage that, considering he had no inkling of where Elijah¡¯s island might be located. For all he knew, it was on the other side of the world, and he didn¡¯t even know which direction to go. In addition, as much as he wanted to trust Elijah, he couldn¡¯t help but remember that the man was human. And Oscar¡¯s experiences with his own species were not positive, especially of late. So, he shied away from going to the Druid¡¯s island. ¡°I think we should go back to that frozen tundra,¡± Oscar said, as much to himself as to the other dogs. ¡°It was good experience, and I want to find whatever is at the center.¡± The dogs all agreed, and just like that, Oscar had a plan ¨C at least for now. He would address issues like his evolution when the time came. 7-4. Catching Up Elijah let out a sigh as he sat in his favorite chair and looked out across the grove. As much as he enjoyed a bit of adventure, he couldn¡¯t deny the contentment of home. It was hard to believe that, only a few short years before, the best the island could offer ¨C in terms of creature comforts ¨C was a mostly collapsed shack. Now, his treehouse was as luxurious as any place he¡¯d ever lived, and it came with the added benefit of feeling more like home than any of his old apartments. Even his childhood home couldn¡¯t compete. He sipped from his cup of coffee as Carmen sat next to him. She¡¯d let herself inside and helped herself to a cup of coffee. ¡°Didn¡¯t see you at the celebration last night,¡± she mentioned. ¡°People were asking about you.¡± He asked, ¡°Were they asking because they were afraid of what I might do? Or was I genuinely missed?¡± ¡°Probably a little of both,¡± she admitted, leaning forward, with her elbows on her knees. ¡°It wouldn¡¯t kill you to make a few more appearances in the city, though. I think it would help them accept you.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not really looking for acceptance,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°If they¡¯re not afraid of me, they¡¯ll start wondering about what I¡¯m hiding on this island. Maybe only one or two would actually cross the strait, but even that¡¯s too many. I don¡¯t want to have to kill anyone else unnecessarily.¡± ¡°Not everyone is out to get you or your grove.¡± ¡°I disagree. Or at least that¡¯s how I have to approach it,¡± he countered. ¡°Most people are probably fine, but it only takes one to screw it up. I can¡¯t risk that ¨C especially not with all the people from Norcastle coming here. I met some of them, and I definitely don¡¯t trust them to keep away. A little fear will keep them away, at least for now.¡± Elijah knew that most groves were practically cities unto themselves. They hosted people of every archetype, from Tradesmen to Warriors, and many were tasked with defending the grove as their primary purpose. He didn¡¯t have that luxury. For now, there was only Nerthus, Miguel, and him. Maybe a few of the townspeople from Ironshore would come to his aid if the grove were threatened, but he couldn¡¯t say he was ready to trust its defense to that hope. ¡°That¡¯s a lonely path, Elijah.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Maybe. I think that might be my lot in life, though. I mean, for example, I like it in Argos. I think I could be happy there. But they¡¯ve started treating me more like a¡­I don¡¯t know¡­but after constructing the temple there, I¡¯ve noticed that they definitely don¡¯t treat me like a normal person,¡± he explained. ¡°Because for better or worse, that¡¯s not what I am. Not anymore, at least. I¡¯m not sure how to deal with it, either.¡± For a few moments, Carmen was silent. Then, after taking another sip of her coffee, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to help with that. You¡¯re one of the most powerful people in the world now. Like a living weapon of mass destruction. People are going to treat you differently. I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything you can do about it, either.¡± Elijah frowned. He¡¯d never set out to attain such a status. Indeed, in his old life, he¡¯d always made life choices based on a combination of apathy, momentum, and a desire to do what everyone expected him to do. In the pre-World Tree Earth, power was usually either political or financial, and he¡¯d never even considered seeking either. And even if so many people in his generation sought fame online, that had never been appealing to him, either. In short, he was wholly unprepared for the position he currently occupied. The only solace was that, apparently, the power rankings were a thing of the past. They had only existed as a lead-up to the Trial of Primacy, and now that it was over, the rankings had disappeared. However, his name had sat atop that list for quite some time, so, as far as he knew, he was globally famous. His exploits in the Trial had probably exacerbated that. It was an odd thing to consider, knowing that people on the other side of the world knew who he was. Calling it unsettling barely scratched the surface of how he felt about it all. ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about me. What have you been up to?¡± he asked. Aside from a brief exchange in the aftermath of the battle, they hadn¡¯t had a chance to catch up. As it turned out, Carmen had been hard at work on the Great Forge project, but she¡¯d spent quite a lot of time and effort forging weapons and armor for the city¡¯s defenders. ¡°They turned out better than expected,¡± she said appraisingly. ¡°I think that¡¯s one of the reasons we didn¡¯t lose more people. The dark elves were pretty well equipped, but either they don¡¯t have anyone at my level, or they didn¡¯t care enough about this army to give them proper equipment. Either way, that¡¯s our benefit.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C this army? There are more?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Oh,¡± she said. ¡°I guess nobody told you, huh? You know about Norcastle, right?¡± He nodded, and she continued, ¡°Well, they¡¯re spreading out from there. Argos is fine for now, but we¡¯re not sure how long that¡¯ll last. That¡¯s what Miggy said, at least. I still don¡¯t know how he managed to get through. From what he said, there were hundreds of dark elves between Norcastle and Argos.¡± This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. ¡°He has a strong class,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d gotten a little information from Miguel, and what¡¯s more, he could feel a connection to his nephew that hadn¡¯t existed before. It wasn¡¯t a bond, but he could tell that Miguel was tied to the grove. ¡°It¡¯s more than that. He was visited by some¡­outsiders,¡± Carmen explained. Then, she went on to elaborate about an old lady and her manservant, who¡¯d somehow stopped time so that they could train him. ¡°They claimed to be dragons, and the only reason they helped him was because he¡¯s your nephew. So, I guess I owe you another thanks. Without you¡­¡± ¡°You never have to thank me for that kind of thing, Carmen. We¡¯re family. Besides, I didn¡¯t do anything. Not really.¡± She sighed, leaning back in her chair. She sipped her coffee again, but she didn¡¯t respond to that statement. He knew how she felt, though. If there was any certainty in the entire world, it was that Carmen had his back, and he had hers. Miguel obviously fell under that same umbrella. Elijah didn¡¯t have any other family, and he would leave no stone unturned when it came to helping them. Curiously, the same felt true about his companions from the Trial of Primacy. They weren¡¯t family ¨C not quite ¨C but he felt no compunctions about dropping everything to help them. So, after the battle, he¡¯d used the Communications System attached to the Branch and left messages for everyone. That included Sadie and Dat, Ron, Lamar, Oscar, and Benedict. The system as a whole reminded Elijah of texting, but he knew that people would need to access the Branch to even know they had a message waiting for them. Perhaps some enterprising Tradesman would figure out how to make smartphones work again, because the Communications System was extremely clunky. Still, it was better than nothing. Elijah and Carmen sat on his balcony, enjoying a couple of cups of coffee together. Eventually, they moved on to lighter subjects, and Carmen explained what she¡¯d been doing with the Great Forge. It all sounded extremely tedious to him, but Elijah supposed that that was the nature of any crafting of note. Greatness lay in the monotonous execution of detail work. That had been true with his various staves, and it was the same with Carmen¡¯s efforts ¨C except on a much larger scale. After a while, Miguel arrived in the grove. He soon found an open space, where he engaged his training routine. After only a little stretching, he began a sword kata, escalating in speed with every passing second. ¡°Impressive,¡± Elijah said, watching his nephew. ¡°He¡¯s grown, right? I¡¯m not just imagining that.¡± ¡°He¡¯s taller than you, now.¡± ¡°Broader shoulders, too,¡± Elijah remarked. He grinned at Carmen, saying, ¡°Gets that from his mom, I guess.¡± ¡°Not really,¡± she said. ¡°I have muscles, sure, but that¡¯s years of hard work. When I was his age, I was a petite little thing.¡± ¡°You?¡± asked Elijah. It was difficult to believe, given that Carmen looked like one, big slab of muscle. Sure, she was short ¨C only a little taller than a dwarf, really ¨C but she was stout enough that that never seemed to matter. ¡°I was a gymnast when I was little,¡± she said. ¡°Parlayed that into cheerleading, if you can believe it. I cringe a bit when I think about that phase. Once I moved away from home, I got into lifting, and the rest is history.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. It was still a little difficult imagining Carmen as a cheerleader, but he supposed anything was possible. People tended to change quite a bit after getting out into the world on their own. ¡°You think you could take him? Miggy, I mean. He seems pretty skilled.¡± ¡°Depends. In a spar? He¡¯d probably beat me.¡± ¡°But?¡± ¡°If it was a real fight, I win every time,¡± Carmen said. ¡°He¡¯s come a long way, but he still tries to fight too pretty. Too controlled. It¡¯s like Colt. That man is extremely skilled, but it wasn¡¯t until after he lost his hand that he realized that fights were about more than just abilities or technique. Real battle is about pushing your self-preservation into the back of your mind and ignoring it. That¡¯s the only way to do what you¡¯ve got to do. Colt figured it out, and so will Miggy ¨C eventually.¡± Elijah could hear the warring emotions in her voice. On the one hand, she was trying to assess her son like she would anyone else, and in that respect, her explanation was entirely accurate. But she was still a mother, and she couldn¡¯t look at Miguel objectively, even if she wanted to pretend otherwise. She wasn¡¯t wrong, though. In Elijah¡¯s experience, winning real battles required a certain lack of caution. ¡°What about you?¡± Carmen asked, clearly wanting to change the subject. ¡°What was the Trial of Primacy like?¡± Elijah shook his head, then gave her the short and dirty explanation of everything he had endured. He left out some of the worst parts, but he did regale her with some of his highlights. ¡°Wait, you were literally ripped in half?¡± she asked, incredulous. Nodding, Elijah said, ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t even get a scar out of it, either. I also dive-bombed a snake-man transcendent at the speed of lightning. I¡¯m no mathematician, but I think that was about the same amount of force as a tactical nuke. Fun fact, though ¨C if you see the word ¡®invulnerable¡¯ in an item description, it is not meant to be taken literally. It¡¯s comparative. I can tell you that from experience.¡± Carmen opened her mouth to respond, but then thought better of it. After a second or two, she just shook her head and said, ¡°You live a weird life. You know that, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware. I was thinking about that recently. How much things have changed, I mean. If you¡¯d have told me a few years ago that I¡¯d end up doing half the stuff I¡¯ve done, I would¡¯ve said you were crazy,¡± he admitted. ¡°But that¡¯s my life now, I guess. Like you said, it¡¯s weird.¡± ¡°What about this Sadie? Is there anything there?¡± ¡°Huh?¡± ¡°Romantically, I mean.¡± ¡°What? No. Of course not. She hates me.¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t sound like she hates you. Coming from a woman¡¯s perspective, it sounds a lot like she wanted to hate you, but couldn¡¯t quite get there. Plus, you said she got over the effects of her skill there at the end. And you mentioned her a lot in your little story,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I¡¯m just saying ¨C it sounds like you like her.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t a soap opera, Carmen.¡± ¡°Kind of sounds like one. The hate-to-love thing is a well-worn trope that ¨C¡± ¡°Anyway,¡± Elijah interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m going to go have a little spar with Miguel.¡± ¡°You just don¡¯t want to talk about relationship stuff.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t argue with that assessment. Instead, he set down his empty mug, then leaped over the twisted-vine railing and strode toward his still-practicing nephew. 7-5. Decompression Elijah¡¯s staff clacked against Miguel¡¯s sword, and even though he¡¯d barely put any strength behind it, the blade went flying backward. He followed that up with a gentle tap to his nephew¡¯s chest. ¡°Too slow,¡± he said. Miguel¡¯s fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword as he took a step back and grunted, ¡°Again.¡± ¡°I think you¡¯ve had enough for ¨C¡± Elijah didn¡¯t get the chance to finish his sentence before he saw the thrown dagger Miguel had whipped in his direction. He sidestepped, but that put him a little off-balance when his nephew followed the distraction with a thrust. Elijah twisted, using his increased reaction speed from Lupine Reflexes to narrowly avoid the sword strike. He dipped low, slapping the Feral Spire against Miguel¡¯s ankle and sweeping his legs out from underneath him. Miguel hung in the air for a subjective instant before falling to the ground. His back hit with an audible thud, and the air flew from his lungs in a sharp exhale. Elijah placed the butt of his staff against the young man¡¯s chest, pinning him in place. ¡°I said I think you¡¯ve had enough for now,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I get it,¡± Miguel spat through gritted teeth. Cocking his head to the side, Elijah asked, ¡°If I let you up, are you going to attack me again?¡± ¡°Maybe.¡± ¡°At least you¡¯re honest,¡± Elijah muttered before removing the staff. As it turned out, Miguel didn¡¯t attack him, but it was plain to see that the young man did not enjoy losing. Elijah could empathize with that. ¡°How do you move so fast? I read about Druids. You¡¯re not supposed to be able to do that,¡± remarked Miguel as he rubbed the back of his head. ¡°First of all, I¡¯m more than my archetype,¡± Elijah said, casting Soothe upon his nephew. That would be more than enough to bring him back to perfect condition. ¡°Everyone is. Mostly, I can punch above my weight class because of my cultivation. Every attribute point I have does more because of that. Also, my reaction speed is increased by five percent. It¡¯s a self-only buff.¡± ¡°Seems overpowered,¡± Miguel stated. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I hope so. With my Legacy, most of my spell evolutions are pretty powerful,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s another reason I¡¯ve managed to survive. If you don¡¯t take anything else from this, remember one thing. Levels are only one measure of progress. They do not tell the full story of anyone¡¯s power. The same is true of attributes. Those numbers are great for giving you a sense of your own relative progress, but the second you start comparing yourself to others, things get a little murky. Take Strength, for instance. The higher a number is, the better. We know that much. But your hundred points in Strength are worth less than mine because I¡¯ve reached a higher tier of body and overall cultivation.¡± ¡°I¡­I see.¡± ¡°But you¡¯ve done well,¡± Elijah said, reaching out to grip his nephew¡¯s shoulder. ¡°What level are you, anyway?¡± ¡°Thirty-nine,¡± he answered. ¡°Damn. I¡¯ve got more than eight-five levels on you,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°That you can keep up with me even for a few seconds is an accomplishment. When you get to my level, you¡¯re going to be an absolute beast.¡± Miguel still didn¡¯t look happy, but he nodded, saying, ¡°I need to get back to training. Thank you for sparring with me. I learned¡­a lot.¡± After an awkward moment of silence, Elijah gave his nephew a nod. Miguel turned on his heel and sprinted away. For the next few minutes, Elijah watched ¨C via his domain ¨C as Miguel made good on his professed need to train. The young man worked as hard as anyone Elijah had ever seen, which was saying something. If that was all it took to be successful, then Miguel would definitely go a long way. It was too bad, then, that it took far more than simple training. Miguel would need to endure quite a lot of hardship if he was going to reach his potential. ¡°He¡¯s quite committed, is he not?¡± came Nerthus¡¯ voice. ¡°Driven, one might say.¡± ¡°Hey, Nerthus. How are things?¡± Elijah asked, turning to see the spryggent standing nearby. Nerthus had grown a few extra inches, which meant that he was taller than Elijah, if only by a little. It wouldn¡¯t be long before he had to look up at the tree spirit. ¡°I am well,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°The grove flourishes. Do you feel the increased density of the ambient ethera? Once you become an ascendent, it will take an enormous step forward, both in quality as well as breadth. I look forward to it.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Why have you not evolved your class? I sense that you have satisfied the requirements.¡± ¡°Long story short, a dragon told me to do some other things first.¡± ¡°Then you should heed that advice. Dragons are known throughout the multi-verse for their wisdom.¡± ¡°Technically, I¡¯m a dragon,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°Most dragons. Not all.¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± Nerthus just stood there with his wooden face. Elijah knew him well enough to recognize a slight smirk. Apparently, spryggents were fully capable of making jokes at his expense. ¡°So unappreciated,¡± Elijah said, shaking his head from side to side. ¡°I¡¯m going to visit Ironshore for a little while, but when I get back, we need to get together and go over my rewards from the Trial. I think some of them could really benefit the grove. Or failing that, then the island in general.¡± Nerthus definitely perked up at that, but Elijah cut him off before he could speak. ¡°But I need to check some things before we get into all that.¡± Indeed, he had a few items to check off his to-do list, and he knew that if he didn¡¯t address them sooner rather than later, he would get distracted by more interesting things. Like the aforementioned rewards. Or inspecting his new shape, which he¡¯d so far resisted because he didn¡¯t want to go down that rabbit hole until he was ready to give it the attention it deserved. ¡°Very well,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°I shall continue to tend the grove until your eventual return.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t pout, man. I¡¯ll be back before you know it,¡± Elijah said. With that, he embraced the Shape of Sky, then launched himself into the air. In seconds, he was flying past the trees and over the placid waters between his island and the shore. For a few moments, he just enjoyed the feeling of the wind in his face, but he soon remembered just how much he needed to do. So, he regretfully landed just outside the city, then walked to the gate. As it turned out, there were a couple of humans on guard, and neither of them recognized him. ¡°Who¡¯re you supposed to be, huh?¡± asked one of the guards. She was a middle-aged woman with a stout form. ¡°You think we just let anyone in?¡± ¡°Sorry ¨C I should probably introduce myself. I¡¯m Elijah. I live over there,¡± he said, pointing vaguely toward the island. ¡°You might have heard of me.¡± She paled and stammered some response that never actually reached the level of clarity necessary for intelligibility. More importantly, she stepped aside and allowed Elijah entry. Perhaps his reputation wasn¡¯t so onerous after all. Whatever the case, neither of the guards made any further attempt to bar his way, and Elijah entered without issue. The city itself was in remarkably good shape, though there were a few signs of battle here and there. Mostly, that was confined to some persistent blood stains on the walls of various buildings, but Elijah saw some structural damage here and there as well. He couldn¡¯t help but wonder how the situation might have differed if it weren¡¯t for the huge, hundred-plus foot wall they¡¯d built around the city. Either way, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but think that the dark elves had held back quite a bit. They seemed to have had no interest in taking a destroyed city. Otherwise, they would have obliterated it from afar. After all, the concept of a catapult wasn¡¯t all that complex. Surely, the dark elves had something similar. No, from what Elijah could tell, they¡¯d wanted to take the city ¨C and its population ¨C intact. What that meant about their plans, Elijah didn¡¯t know, but he expected that Ramik would figure it out after his people had the chance to interrogate the many prisoners they¡¯d taken. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. Regardless, Elijah wasn¡¯t in a position to concern himself with dark elves. They were an issue, sure, but the dangers they represented were pretty far down his list of problems. So, with that in mind, he quickly traversed the city ¨C trying to ignore the furtive glances that followed him through the streets ¨C until he reached the fortress at the center of town. It was an impressive structure, if only because of how impregnable it had proven to be. From an aesthetic standpoint, it was less remarkable, and to Elijah, it looked like nothing so much as a concrete cube. Imposing, maybe, but far from beautiful. That was especially evident because the rest of the city had clearly been built with an eye toward cosmetic appeal. He climbed the steps, which encircled the entire building, before proceeding inside. Thankfully, everything he needed to do could be accomplished in the same place, so he quickly made his way toward the Branch. He¡¯d arrived there only a couple of days before, so he remembered the way well enough. However, this time, the interior of the building wasn¡¯t packed with thousands of frightened, beaten, and battered people. Instead, the halls were clear, so he made it to the chamber containing the Branch quickly enough. There, he met the Envoy of the World Tree. The dwarven woman wore an elaborate, green robe decorated with golden scrollwork. Technically, those who safeguarded the Branches of the World Tree were considered neutral, and they certainly weren¡¯t in much danger so long as they remained within their limited domain around the Branch itself. However, they were also part of their communities, and their friends and loved ones were no safer than anyone else. Some cultures considered targeting the Envoys by proxy to be beyond the pale, but that wasn¡¯t true for everyone. No one knew what approach the dark elves would have taken, but Ironshore¡¯s Envoy ¨C named Genia ¨C was clearly appreciative of Elijah¡¯s efforts. She still confined her gratitude to a single nod of respect, then pointed towards the end of the line. Elijah took his place, then waited until the three people ahead of him had finished with their business before stepping forward to access the Branch. Once he had his hand on the crystalline trunk, he accessed the Bank and looked at his account:
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
321 676 923,212 1
It was quite a lot of money, though Elijah had difficult equating it to familiar terms. However, considering that it only cost ten silver to rent a room at the most luxurious hotel in Ironshore, he expected that he had quite a fortune to his name. He did know that the Imperium¡¯s prices ¨C as well as those for other goods in Ironshore ¨C would rise as more outsiders came to town. But for now, it was a mostly closed economy, so the value of goods and services was quite skewed. Still, Elijah expected that he was one of the richest people on Earth, which made him feel all sorts of odd about the state of his life. He¡¯d never really been poor, but back before Earth¡¯s transformation, he certainly hadn¡¯t had a ton of money to spare. After making sure that his folio reflected that balance, Elijah withdrew a few coins before moving on to the Communications Hub. There, he found two messages waiting for him. The first was from Sadie:
Sender Recipient
Sadie Song Elijah Hart
Hello Elijah, I hope this message finds you well. I have departed Argos for Hong Kong, though I was forced to spend a significant portion of my wealth to utilize the Global Teleportation Network at such a vast distance. I fear I will be unable to repeat that feat in the future. Upon arrival in Hong Kong, I found our stronghold much as I left it. In my absence, my brother has consolidated power and completed preparations for a push into the Primal Realm, which opens in forty-three days. Take what time you need to accomplish your goals, though do not tarry too long, for I do not know how much time it will require to conquer the Primal Realm. Regards, Sadie Song P.S. Dat says, ¡°Hey, bro.¡±
The message had an oddly formal tone, which, if Elijah thought about it, made sense. Sadie had been trained as a pseudo-aristocrat and businesswoman, so in that context, the wording of the message fit perfectly. It still brought a slight smile to Elijah¡¯s face. More important was the content, though. Chiefly, that the situation wasn¡¯t so dire that he needed to abandon his plans for cultivation. However, he was still on a bit of a timer, so he knew he needed to get a move on if he wanted to finish everything. So, he moved on to the next message he saw in the Communication Hub:
Sender Recipient
Ron Latham Elijah Hart
Elijah, Things have taken a turn for the worst. We will take you up on the offer, but I can¡¯t afford transportation. Please come to the attached location. It¡¯s not urgent, but don¡¯t take your sweet time, either. Thanks. Ron
That message was less pleasant to read. Ron wasn¡¯t really the kind of guy to ask for help unless he really needed it, so Elijah expected that the situation was slightly more urgent than the Healer wanted to admit. Perhaps the circumstances weren¡¯t life-threatening, but he definitely needed help. So, Elijah decided to accelerate some of his plans, though there were some things he definitely needed to accomplish before he started galivanting across the globe. Once Elijah had recorded the location ¨C a town called Forest Hills that was thousands of miles away, considering the cost of transportation ¨C he moved on to the final order of business he needed to accomplish at the Branch. While he was on Ka¡¯arath, the city of Ironshore had managed to find a Librarian. The girl in question was one of the refugees from Norcastle, but according to Carmen, she had found the situation in Ironshore far more palatable. It wasn¡¯t surprising, either. Ironshore had been trying to cultivate a Librarian for as long as Elijah could remember. She was a mousey, timid girl, and she was clearly aware of Elijah¡¯s reputation. That meant that she filled his request in only a few minutes. Once the leaf had grown, Elijah collected his guide, thanked the Librarian, and bade farewell to Genia. He only glanced at the guide, which was titled ¡°Cycling Techniques¡±, before departing. After that, he went upstairs to meet with Ramik, who somehow managed to drag him to lunch at the Stuck Pig. However, before Elijah dug in, he had to ask one, simple question. ¡°This isn¡¯t dark elf, is it?¡± Ramik¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Of course not! We¡¯re not savages!¡± ¡°You ate orc, man. I think it¡¯s a valid question.¡± ¡°I seem to recall you ate some as well, good sir,¡± the goblin mayor stated defensively. ¡°Besides, there¡¯s a difference between eating monster meat and eating a person.¡± Elijah¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°I assure you that we are not eating dark elf. This is boar.¡± ¡°Okay. Just had to ask,¡± Elijah said. After that, the two enjoyed a very pleasant meal. For the longest time, Elijah had been surviving on dried meat and whatever he could cook himself. So, to his practically dormant taste buds, the succulent barbecue was one of the best meals he¡¯d ever eaten. And it definitely tasted like pork, so he was reasonably sure the goblin wasn¡¯t trying to pull the wool over his eyes. Over the course of the meal, Ramik relayed the state of Ironshore. The mines weren¡¯t in great shape, but the city itself was much better off than expected. ¡°We should be able to get the mines open with only a few days¡¯ worth of delay. Then, it¡¯s back to work,¡± Ramik said. ¡°Remarkable recovery, I must say. I was preparing to surrender myself to the Green Mountain Mining Guild, but now, I think we might just make our quota.¡± ¡°Quota?¡± That¡¯s when Ramik revealed the nature of Ironshore¡¯s situation. From what Elijah could tell, they sounded a lot like sharecroppers, only instead of farming, they plundered the depths for valuable metals. ¡°How much until you¡¯re free?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°About fifty platinum,¡± the goblin revealed. ¡°Either in goods or ethereum.¡± ¡°Damn,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s¡­a daunting amount.¡± ¡°We¡¯re on a fifty-year plan,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°With the quality of ore we¡¯ve found, I think we can cut that in half, so long as we don¡¯t see any more work stoppages. Things should go much more smoothly now that the Global Transportation Network is available. Of course, I hope that Wilhelm fellow can come through with his little Conclave of Wizards or whatever nonsense they call themselves. The Communications Hub is even more helpful because it allows us to negotiate trade deals. Regardless, things are looking up.¡± Elijah nodded, though he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if he might be able to speed up Ironshore¡¯s quest for independence. He only had a little less than two platinum at the moment, but he¡¯d barely even paid attention to money so far. Plus, he knew a very good Merchant and an even better Blacksmith. Maybe together they could figure something out. Truthfully, Elijah wasn¡¯t terribly concerned with money. He had everything he needed in his grove. But what he didn¡¯t want was a bunch of strangers coming into Ironshore and taking over the city. He liked Ramik, and more importantly, they had an understanding. It just made sense to keep him in power. Elijah wasn¡¯t quite there yet, though, so he finished his meal with Ramik, then headed back to the island. He had a lot to do before he could go get Ron or head to Hong Kong, and it was high time he got started. 7-6. Isolation Benedict sat at the somehow still-intact table, his legs crossed as he sipped his tea. The cup was chipped, and the tea itself was of poor quality, but it was a moment of normalcy amidst a whirlwind of a return to Earth. Seven imps ¨C the lowest of the low ¨C were there too, though they sat upon the table itself. Benedict had claimed the only chair for himself. ¡°Burn?¡± asked one, pointing to the kettle. ¡°Not now,¡± Benedict responded. ¡°Behave.¡± ¡°Behaving is not fun,¡± the imp pouted. Another asked, ¡°What about a small fire? Just a little one, right in the market square? A tiny inferno?¡± It held a cup as well, and as it spoke, hot water splashed over the rim. Benedict sighed. He¡¯d already had a half-dozen similar conversations, and he hated having to repeat himself. ¡°No infernos. Tiny or otherwise.¡± That was the problem with imps. They weren¡¯t quite as powerful as his bull demon or the two-headed arch-imp he¡¯d summoned back in the Trial, but they packed plenty of punch. Some of that was courtesy of Infernal Empowerment, but the little demonlings also possessed a talent for destruction and chaos that Benedict had found unmatched in any of the other demonic creatures he¡¯d summoned. But they definitely lacked intellect or the ability to focus on anything for more than a few moments. They were fine so long as they had something to destroy, but with a few seconds of peace, they went a little mad. It was like someone had taken unruly child with attention-deficit disorder added a healthy dose of pyromania, and given them a debilitating methamphetamine addiction. Wrangling the little monsters was a full-time job, and one he¡¯d come to loathe. Benedict sipped his tea. ¡°But master! What if someone accidentally drops a candle on a bundle of oil-soaked rags? Someone could just give it a teensy push and¡­¡± The creature mimicked a giant explosion, and the other imps went wild. Some cheered. Others leaped and twisted in the air. But they were all grinning at the prospect. ¡°There are so many issues with that little scenario,¡± Benedict said. ¡°First of all, we¡¯re the only ones who could drop a hypothetical candle on a hypothetical bundle of oil-soaked rags.¡± He glanced at the captives in the corner. Eyes wide and trembling in fear, they were a pitiful sight. ¡°Second, no. Just no. Drink your ¡®tea¡¯.¡± ¡°No fun,¡± muttered one. Another agreed, ¡°Need to burn.¡± ¡°Like that big tower. Boom. Lit up like a¡­like a¡­¡± ¡°Like a big burny thing!¡± crowed another imp. That got them excited again. One even dropped its teacup, which shattered when it hit the floor. The captives flinched away at the sudden sound. The movement caught the attention of one of the imps. ¡°People burn too,¡± it said, suddenly stopping. ¡°Gooey and scream-y and ¨C¡± ¡°No,¡± Benedict said. ¡°But master!¡± ¡°I said no!¡± he shouted, slamming his hand on the table. It collapsed beneath the blow, and the teacups and kettle crashed to the floor of the dusty inn. He still wasn¡¯t accustomed to his increased physical might, which had come from his latest spell, Theft of Strength. It weakened his enemies, transferring their power to him. It only lasted a couple of hours, but he was still riding high from the recent battle. If he could even call it that, given the townspeople¡¯s weakness. In the aftermath of the destroyed table, one of the imps nudged another, and in a stage whisper, said, ¡°Master mad.¡± ¡°He needs to burn something,¡± the other imp stated sagely, trying to cross its pudgy arms. The thing was built like a demonic toddler, so the limbs were far too short, which meant that it only managed to pat its belly. ¡°Burning solves everything.¡± Benedict was about to respond ¨C kicking them usually helped with his frustrations ¨C but he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and mastered his emotions. When he finally opened his eyes, he said, ¡°Go. You can burn anything you want, so long as it doesn¡¯t touch this inn.¡± ¡°Thank you, master!¡± they all shouted in unison before scurrying outside. That left Benedict alone and with no distractions from the events of the past couple of days. Inevitably, his thoughts settled on how everything had gone wrong. It was his own fault. His time in the Trial had forced him to forget how things were back on Earth. Sure, he¡¯d found some friends while fighting for Primacy, but that was only possible because they respected him enough not to resort to bullying. And he¡¯d even found a kindred spirit in Oscar. Now, though, his friends and companions were gone. And they¡¯d been replaced by the small-minded bullies of Earth. Immediately before entering the Trial of Primacy, Benedict had been forced to defend himself against an entire town¡¯s worth of people. They¡¯d failed in their attempt to murder him, and he¡¯d returned the favor by using them to fuel a demonic summoning ritual. However, while he was gone, other people had settled in the ruins, and not unexpectedly, they were no more tolerant than the previous residents. Predictably, they¡¯d attacked because that was what small-minded people were wont to do when they were confronted by someone they neither understood nor accepted. But just as inevitably, they were unprepared for the power he could wield. After all, he¡¯d finished in the top ten of the Trial of Primacy, and as such, he was one of the most powerful people in the world. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. By comparison, they were just fodder. The first few, he killed within a few seconds. Their comrades cried out, screaming insults and calling him a monster. All the while, they tried to gang up on him ¨C because of course they would. That was how bullies always did things. If they couldn¡¯t overwhelm someone on an individual level, they turned to their sycophants. It was the post-apocalyptic version of getting a friend to hold his arms while pummeling him into submission. But what they hadn¡¯t counted on was Benedict¡¯s power. After only a few more seconds, he¡¯d completely incapacitated a third of the attackers. The others ran, which gave him all the time he needed to summon a cadre of imps to do his bidding. Letting them loose had been a bit of a mistake, he had to admit. They¡¯d swept through the hastily repaired town, burning everything in sight. Meanwhile, Benedict had settled down to go over his gains. Once again, he looked at his status. He didn¡¯t so much care about his attributes. They had seen plenty of growth, and he¡¯d even managed to upgrade his cultivation a couple of times during the Trial. However, he was far more interested in his level. One-ten. Only fifteen more levels until he gained the ability to evolve his class. He had no idea what choices he might get, but he did know that whatever decision he made, his power would increase by a significant amount. More than anything, though, he wished he had someone other than demons for company. That was why he had yet to kill the captives he¡¯d taken. Obviously, they¡¯d never be friends ¨C he didn¡¯t consort with those sorts of people ¨C but the simple pleasure of human companionship was enticing enough that he hesitated in putting them down. Even insults and accusations were better than loneliness. ¡°What are you going to do with us?¡± spat a terrified man. Benedict looked up to see the captives cowering in a corner. It would be justice to kill them all. The world would be a better place with less people like that in it. After all, today¡¯s bullies might be tomorrow¡¯s dictatorial oppressors. If they were okay with attacking someone that was obviously more powerful than them, then what would they do to those they deemed inferior? He hesitated, though. ¡°What would you do to me if our positions were reversed?¡± he asked with as controlled a tone as he could manage. ¡°I¡­I would let you go.¡± ¡°Liar.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not¡­I¡¯m not lying. I would banish you. Send you off into the wilderness. Y-you could do the same,¡± the man said. He was exactly the sort of person Benedict had learned to hate. Tall, broad-shouldered, and square-jawed, he had probably bullied hundreds of people over the course of his life. Maybe he¡¯d convinced himself that he had changed. Perhaps he¡¯d expressed regret. But once a bully, always a bully, and he¡¯d shown his true colors when he met Benedict. They all had. ¡°Tell the truth. The moment I appeared, you attacked me. I had done nothing to you, and yet, you thought to murder me where I stood,¡± Bendict stated. ¡°Am I to believe that you would suddenly show mercy? Of course not. You are a bully of the worst sort, and by all rights, I should put you down. It¡¯s practically a public service.¡± ¡°You slaughtered the whole town!¡± screeched a woman from the rear of the gathered prisoners. ¡°Of course we attacked! You murdered dozens of people and ¨C¡± Benedict raised his eyes, casting a spell. Her words died in her throat, and she collapsed only a second later. She wasn¡¯t dead, just drained by Curse of Enfeeblement. Eventually, she would regain enough Strength to recover. In most cases, it wouldn¡¯t have been capable of completely incapacitating an enemy, but the woman was so weak that the single spell was more than enough to knock her out of commission. Benedict paid her no mind as she fell to the floor, so limp that she couldn¡¯t even brace herself as her cheek hit the ground. Instead, he stated, ¡°I came in peace. They attacked me first. Am I to allow that to go unpunished? You likely believe as much, don¡¯t you? A man defending himself is somehow in the wrong. I should bend my back and take whatever punishment you deem appropriate? For the crime of stepping foot into your little world, I should just surrender to your chastisement? If I had even a little less power, they would have killed me within seconds of entering town. Would you then attack the men you entrusted with your precious safety? Would you congratulate them for a job well done? Would you pat them on the back for keeping out the undesirables? I think we both know the answer to that question.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°You attacked them first!¡± shouted one. ¡°I was there. I know what happened,¡± Benedict stated. Indeed, he remembered it perfectly. He¡¯d only walked into town, and they¡¯d immediately tried to bar his way, demanding payment for mere entry. He¡¯d objected ¨C and quite vociferously ¨C and things had escalated from there. The guards had gone from extortion to attack in the space of a few seconds, and Benedict had responded in kind. It was no different from when schoolyard bullies had stolen his lunch money long, long ago, and he refused to stand for that sort of thing. He didn¡¯t have to be a victim anymore. ¡°We have to protect ourselves!¡± the first man declared, finally finding his spine. He was bound by Demon Chains, but he could still move a little. He used that limited freedom to shake his fists at Benedict. The Warlock recognized that gesture for what it was. The man might have been cowed, but he was no less a bully than all the rest. Given half a chance, he would attack Benedict. That was why he couldn¡¯t be released. None of them could. They were too dangerous. Killing them was a public service. ¡°I wish you had made better choices,¡± he said, rising to his feet. He ran his hand through his silky hair. He still remembered when it had been perpetually greasy, but those days were long behind, just like his vulnerability to bullies was a thing of the past. He no longer needed to endure their hateful attacks. With that in mind, Benedict turned and left the inn. The captives all screamed in terror, begging for release. They could sense what was coming. They knew what his departure meant. Outside, the imps had already set fire to three buildings. The flames danced with unnatural vigor, burning far hotter than any conventional conflagration. Such was their talent, and Benedict sensed that they¡¯d only realized a sliver of their potential. It was his responsibility to usher them forth and help them become the best versions of themselves. They were disposable minions, sure, but they were still his companions. He called for the imps, and a second later, they came running. And skipping. And bouncing. They moved so chaotically that, at times, Benedict likened them to freestyle gymnasts. Whatever the case, they arrived soon after his call, and he asked a question to which he already knew the answer, ¡°You want to burn something?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± they all shouted in their high-pitched voices. A few drew out the word longer than others, creating a weird cacophony of sound that sounded a bit like reverberation. ¡°Burn that building. I want it hot enough to melt their bones,¡± Benedict commanded. The imps needed no more prodding, and they immediately conjured dense balls of flame that they threw at the building in question. The inn had been the largest structure in town, but like all the rest, it had been predominantly constructed of wood. And it quickly became a raging inferno. At first, the captives screamed, but that only lasted a little while before it faded. Unconscious from smoke inhalation, he reasoned, given that he¡¯d yet to gain any experience. Soon enough, though, paltry sums of energy added to his total, signifying the deaths of his enemies. In another life, he might have felt guilty for the actions of his minions. However, in this instance, he knew he¡¯d done the right thing. They were bullies. Future oppressors. They deserved their fate, just like all the others Benedict had slain. Still, he did regret that he was, once again, entirely alone. 7-7. Rewards Elijah knew the grove had grown, both in terms of literal size as well as density. His domain was about ten feet wider than when he¡¯d left, which according to Nerthus, was due to his increasing levels as well as the steady spread of the ancestral tree¡¯s roots. That was cause for celebration on its own, but what was even more interesting was that the heightened ethereal density had finally started to change the island. Never was that clearer than when he knelt beside a rabbit the size of a golden retriever. He¡¯d seen plenty of enlarged animals before, and he¡¯d even encountered a few hares that were at least as big as the fluffy grey-furred creature in front of him. What made it unique, though, was that it was clearly much more intelligent than any normal rabbit. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how he knew that, but he could sense it with every fiber of his being. The beast hadn¡¯t reached the level of intelligence of a guardian, but he could easily imagine that, in a few generations, its descendants might cross that threshold. Tentatively, he reached out and laid his hand on the beast¡¯s soft fur. It didn¡¯t even flinch at his touch. Indeed, after only a second, it hopped closer and flopped onto his lap. Like that, Elijah remained, stroking the rabbit¡¯s back until he felt Nerthus approaching from behind. The tree spirit was a creature of the forest, and so, he didn¡¯t alarm the rabbit. However, the beast took Nerthus¡¯ arrival as a sign that it needed to get back to what was important ¨C chiefly, its quest to consume as much vegetation as possible. The thing hopped off, disappearing into the brush a moment later. ¡°They¡¯re getting stronger,¡± Elijah remarked. ¡°I guess that¡¯s the density of the ethera?¡± ¡°In part,¡± Nerthus answered, standing over Elijah¡¯s still-seated form. ¡°It is also the grove¡¯s influence. It elevates all things attuned to nature, including resident beasts.¡± ¡°Will it become a guardian?¡± Elijah asked before elaborating his previous thoughts. ¡°In a few generations, I mean.¡± ¡°Unlikely. It takes more than that for a beast to become a guardian. However, the animals on this island may develop unique characteristics,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°They will always fit into the ecosystem, though.¡± That last seemed perfectly timed to answer the question most prevalent on his mind. Rabbits were sometimes seen as an invasive species ¨C he remembered the story of Thomas Austin, who brought thirteen European rabbits to Australia; it only took fifty years for the species to spread across the entire continent. He¡¯d often thought about the crabs moving inland, though their numbers seemed to regulate themselves as they increased in size. There were countless other examples of populations growing out of control, so he sometimes worried about mutated creatures taking over. He voiced his concerns to Nerthus, who reiterated, ¡°There is always a balance enforced by the Mother. It is stronger near the grove. Do not trouble yourself about such things.¡± Elijah nodded. He trusted Nerthus¡¯ assessment, but it was in his nature to worry about those sorts of issues. He¡¯d keep an eye on it, one way or another. After another moment, he pushed himself to his feet and asked, ¡°You want to show me what you¡¯ve been up to since I left?¡± He could sense most of it, but he knew just how much Nerthus enjoyed his work. And everyone liked talking about things that excited them, regardless of whether they were human or spryggent. Predictably, Nerthus brightened at the notion, and what followed was a lengthy tour of the grove that included a check-in with the coffee trees, which were thriving, the new fruits Nerthus had begun to cultivate, and a little update on the status of the ancestral tree. ¡°It has grown a few more seeds. I don¡¯t suggest you remove them from the grove until you are sure where you wish to plant them,¡± Nerthus advised. ¡°These will be far more powerful than the one you planted in Ironshore, and they will connect much more quickly. They will become even more potent once you evolve your class.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve felt the density of the ambient ethera rising lately,¡± Elijah remarked, looking at the seeds. They were nearly thirty feet up, but he could see them clear as day. They looked a lot like walnuts, save that they were white in color and featured blue veins of ethera running through them. ¡°It will continue to rise over the next forty days,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°It will settle there.¡± ¡°I¡¯m guessing the timeframe of the Primal Realms isn¡¯t a coincidence, then,¡± Elijah posited. ¡°Indeed not,¡± Nerthus responded. ¡°The ambient ethera of the world will continue to increase, and as such, so will the levels in and around the grove. In addition, my efforts to promote more harmonized growth have born fruit, further separating our home from the rest of the world. By the time Earth settles into its grade, this grove will be at least three times as ethera-dense as the average levels on this planet. More, if you have reached the ascendent level.¡± That made sense. As Elijah¡¯s level rose, so too did the power of his grove progress. So long as he kept going, its growth potential would be nearly infinite. In most cases, the increases would be slow, but that was fine. ¡°I think it¡¯s time we go over some things,¡± he said once Nerthus had guided him to an open area near the ancestral tree. ¡°I got a lot of rewards in the Trial, and most of them seem like they might be of some benefit to the grove.¡± ¡°Let us not do it here,¡± Nerthus advised. ¡°The balance within the grove is a delicate thing, and I do not want to upset the equilibrium by introducing powerful sources of foreign ethera.¡± After that, they left the grove behind and headed to the other side of the island. For Elijah¡¯s part, he shifted into the blight dragon form and leaped from one tree to the next as he raced through the forest. Once, that was his preferred method of traversing the island, but of late, he¡¯d begun to lean on Shape of Sky for travel. However, he had to admit that there was a certain joy to be found in sticking to foot travel ¨C especially within the familiar confines of his island. It wasn¡¯t just home. It went far deeper than that, and with that connection singing in his veins, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a profound sense of belonging as he ran through the forest. Meanwhile, Nerthus flitted from tree to tree, traveling through the roots and branches. In the past, Elijah could have never felt him, but now that he¡¯d chosen Connection as his first Specialization, One with Nature was powerful enough to detect the tree spirit¡¯s mode of travel. Idly, Elijah found himself wondering if Nerthus even thought about it, or if the spryggent just did it instinctively. Perhaps he would need to ask at some point. Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on. Eventually, he reached the small clearing that was his destination, and he slowed to a stop. As soon as he shifted back to his human form, Nerthus stepped out of a tree trunk and said, ¡°You have evolved that shape, have you not? It feels powerful.¡± Elijah answered, ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ll show you the others when we¡¯re done here. I have a new form that I need to test out anyway.¡± Indeed, the Shape of the Master was begging for his attention, but he¡¯d so far resisted trying it. Some of that was because he had other things that required his focus, but he had to admit that part of it was because a little delay would make the final reveal all the sweeter. It was like denying himself a cookie until after he¡¯d done his chores. Sure, it wouldn¡¯t really make a difference one way or the other, but it did increase his enjoyment of the reward. In any case, he¡¯d brought Nerthus out into the middle of the island for a reason, so he wasted no more time before he reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and pulled the first item free. It was the Trunk of the Frozen Oak, and with its size, it had barely fit into his satchel. He plopped it down and launched into an explanation of how he¡¯d gotten it as well as a description of how it had taken root in his temporary cultivation cave. Nerthus, of course, didn¡¯t approve of the tree¡¯s rough treatment ¨C planting and uprooting it was apparently quite traumatic for trees ¨C but given the circumstances, even he had to admit that Elijah had done the only reasonable thing. After all, if he¡¯d left it in place, the tree would have been lost to the void. ¡°I¡¯ve got a bunch of other plants, too. They feel like minor natural treasures,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Do you think we can do something with this?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Nerthus said. Then, he detailed plans to create a small dell where the ice-attuned plants might flourish. ¡°I cannot regulate the temperature, but if we plant these during the winter, they will have time to take root before the weather changes. Until then, I will keep them in storage.¡± In the blink of an eye, all of the plants were gone. ¡°What just happened? Where¡¯d they go?¡± Elijah asked. He couldn¡¯t sense anything. ¡°I can store plants. It is a recently acquired ability native to my people,¡± the spryggent stated. ¡°We are grovetenders at the core of who we are, and we are well-equipped to meet those responsibilities.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t think he was going to get much more of an explanation than that. Maybe it was because Nerthus didn¡¯t want to reveal too much, but he suspected that the tree spirit simply didn¡¯t know how it all worked. Much of what he did was governed by instinct, which didn¡¯t work well with explanations. Regardless, the idea of a secluded area with the powerful ice-attuned natural treasure at its center was an appealing one. In the back of his mind, he imagined different parts of the island being devoted to various elemental attunements. He didn¡¯t know how that would benefit him, but it was, for lack of a better word, cool to contemplate. That led him to the next item on his list, which was the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might. He already knew it was an extremely potent natural treasure, but seeing Nerthus¡¯ reverent expression opened his eyes to how truly powerful it could be. ¡°I was thinking about using this as a core for a new staff,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t know how, but ¨C¡± ¡°I have some ideas,¡± Nerthus said, his eyes never wavering from the jagged crystal. ¡°I believe I can incorporate it into a cutting of the ancestral tree. It will likely be absorbed during the tree¡¯s growth, but that will give it unique properties that make the final plant far more powerful than it normally would be.¡± ¡°And you think it would be okay to use that for a staff?¡± ¡°If it is a cutting, yes. I would not dare to use a seeded plant in such a way,¡± Nerthus stated. That didn¡¯t really make much sense to Elijah, but he didn¡¯t argue with his tree spirit friend. He had no compunctions about taking what he needed from the grove, so long as he didn¡¯t ruin it in the process. Instead, he likened it to hunting animals ¨C it was just a necessary part of existence. He handed the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might over to Nerthus, then moved on to the Seed of the Ash Lotus, which drew a similar reaction from the spryggent. ¡°What did you do in that Trial to earn such treasures? The Ash Lotus is a well-known fire-attuned natural treasure. It requires an ample water supply to grow to its potential, but ¨C¡± ¡°What about an artificial pool? I was thinking about building a hot tub, but I had no idea how to heat the water,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Would this Ash Lotus do that?¡± ¡°Of course. Most people would be incapable of withstanding such heat, but you would have no issues,¡± Nerthus answered. That was the best news Elijah had gotten so far. The notion of having his own hot tub was something he¡¯d latched onto long ago, and his mind whirled as he pondered ways of making it more than just a place to relax. Perhaps Carmen even had some leftover dragonstone he could use in its construction. Maybe she would even help with it. ¡°You seem quite enthusiastic about this,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Everyone wants a hot tub, man,¡± Elijah said, grinning as his plans came together in his mind. ¡°But for now, take the seed, and we¡¯ll move on. I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯ve figured out how to make it work.¡± ¡°And I will find a suitable location within the grove,¡± promised Nerthus. ¡°Yes. Such a pool could provide many benefits to the balance.¡± ¡°Glad you¡¯re onboard,¡± Elijah said. Then, he retrieved the Will of Iron that he¡¯d received from completing the Trial in one of the top spots. As it turned out, it was a pill, and Nerthus had no idea as to its purpose. The same was true of the Minor Potion of Body and the Minor Potion of Mind. They were both contained within finger-sized vials, with the first being a red liquid and the second taking on a blue hue. Judging by the amount of ethera they contained, Elijah expected that, whatever their effect, it would be powerful. Finally, Elijah asked, ¡°I still haven¡¯t chosen my final reward. I have a choice between equipment, a resource, or a natural treasure. I was leaning toward a resource, but seeing how excited you¡¯ve gotten about these natural treasures has be rethinking it. What do you think?¡± Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, Nerthus answered, ¡°A natural treasure.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your reasoning?¡± ¡°There are two factors,¡± Nerthus said, holding up a four-fingered hand of gnarled roots. He extended one finger, saying, ¡°First, nurturing any natural treasure near this grove will make it a good deal more powerful. Even if all you do is leave it here for a few months, it will be far more potent than when you acquired it.¡± He extended another finger. ¡°Second, natural treasures have the potential for multiple uses. For that reason, I advise you to choose the natural treasure option.¡± Nerthus was right. A resource could be as potentially valuable as a natural treasure, and it could benefit from the grove as well. However, it would only provide a one-time benefit. The only issue was that it would take a little while for a natural treasure to bear fruit. Still, Elijah wasn¡¯t averse to taking the long-term approach, so he took Nerthus¡¯ advice and chose the option he¡¯d suggested. Immediately, a small chest appeared before him. Constructed of silver, the box bore intricate engravings and pulsed with powerful ethera. He knelt beside it and flipped the lid open, revealing a small jar of what looked like water.
You have chosen the Natural Treasure as your reward for completing the task (Excised Fate) and delivering the system¡¯s punishment upon Yloa K¡¯hnam. Reward: Leviathan¡¯s Bones
Elijah took the jar and, for a moment, stared at it in confusion. By the amount of ethera contained within, it was clear that it was more than just water. However, it was difficult to marry the name of the reward to what he saw. Or didn¡¯t see. At least until he looked a little closer via One with Nature. The water was absolutely teeming with life, and it only took him a further moment to recognize them as spores. And what¡¯s more, he could tell what they would one day become. ¡°They¡¯re maerl spores,¡± he breathed. Indeed, they seemed almost identical to a specific type of red algae that formed beds of hard, calcified, and branching structures. Elijah had studied it during a brief stint off the coast of Scotland, and he¡¯d always found it fascinating. And given its nature, it wasn¡¯t long before he knew precisely where to put it. 7-8. Shape of the Master Elijah lay back, drifting lazily as he rode the subtle rise and fall of the waves. He knew he had things to do and obligations to meet, but there was value in immersing himself in the moment. Not only was it relaxing, but with the benefit of a Connection-boosted One with Nature, he felt more connected with his surroundings than ever before. He sank into that, feeling every microorganism suspended in the water. But there was more to it than that. Ethera was part of it, but those connections went much deeper. Though he couldn¡¯t sense it directly, he knew the force binding everything together was nature itself, what Nerthus often referred to as the Mother¡¯s influence. He was a distinct entity, but he was also a part of a larger whole. Everyone was. The implications were simultaneously reassuring, daunting, and infinitely profound. Elijah drifted ¨C on the waves as well as the sea of connection ¨C until, at last, he felt a weight lift off his shoulders. His responsibilities didn¡¯t disappear. He knew he was still on a timer, and he had a host of things he needed to accomplish. However, it felt as if the surrounding connections allowed nature to shoulder some of that burden. He let out a sigh and opened his eyes. A vivid blue sky greeted him warmly. He¡¯d spent the last few hours in his cultivation cave, and he was still riding high from the dense ethera with which he¡¯d surrounded himself. It was almost intoxicating, the energies were so strong, and he knew that it would be enough to meet his immediate cultivation needs. He only had to suspend himself in that environment and his Soul would practically jump to the next tier. Of course, it would still require focused work, but the environment was more than up to the task of supporting his efforts. However, doing so would drain the entire cave. It would recover, just as it always did, but that would take time he didn¡¯t have. Because he didn¡¯t just need to take one step forward regarding his cultivation. He had his Core to worry about as well. Thankfully, the Leviathan¡¯s Bones would help with that. His supposition that the spores would grow into a maerl bed had proven to be accurate, and it only took a couple of hours of use for Nature¡¯s Bounty to prompt its growth. At this point, it had covered the entire floor within the cave with a tangle of red, bone-like structures that, in a lot of ways, resembled coral. He''d always been fascinated by the corraline red algae, but he was even more interested in the differences between the mundane version and the Leviathan¡¯s Bones. It had taken him a little examination to figure it out, but the stuff had a stabilizing effect on the other organisms within the cave. It also increased the ethereal levels significantly, and Elijah hoped that it would serve to help everything recover much more quickly than it otherwise would. Still, he was no expert, and Nerthus had been unable to provide any insight. He was great with landbound plants, but marine vegetation was outside his purview. Even submerging himself in salt water was enough to cause him significant distress. So, Elijah was on his own when it came to his cultivation cave. Regardless, he felt like he was on the right track. For now, though, he had two other things to check off his to-do list. One was a bit tedious, but it was necessary. The other was something he¡¯d been waiting on for what felt like weeks, even though it had only been a couple of days. In any case, he didn¡¯t really have time to just relax as he drifted in the ocean. With that in mind, he regrettably flipped over and swam the couple hundred yards back to shore, where he gathered his things and headed back to his treehouse. Once he arrived, he took a shower, then donned a set of clean clothes before going back outside and shifting into the Shape of Sky. A few moments later, he was soaring across the strait to Ironshore. Because of how much the city had changed ¨C it was constantly growing, both in terms of density, but also in terms of its cosmetic appeal ¨C it took him a few moments to home in on his destination. He landed next to Biggle¡¯s gate only a few seconds later. As he regained his human form, he saw that the alchemist¡¯s home-slash-laboratory hadn¡¯t changed much, even if the surroundings had. It was still perched atop a hill, which played host to various forms of plants and fungi, but the area just outside the gate had given way to well-built structures that put Elijah in mind of upscale apartments. He stepped through the modest gate, then followed the winding path to Biggle¡¯s cottage. Even before Elijah approached the door, he was assaulted by an amalgamation of a hundred different odors. Some were sweet, others were decidedly sour, while still others reminded him of an open sewer. Somehow, the combination was tolerable, even though Elijah knew the fumes probably should have given him a pounding headache. Even more interestingly, he could sense that the ambient ethera within the cottage was a notch higher than it was outside, suggesting that Biggle had made some upgrades. Whether that was due to a new ability or just a better laboratory, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure. But it was encouraging. He liked Biggle, and he only hoped for the gnome¡¯s continued success. He knocked on the door, which elicited an irritated, ¡°Go away!¡± as a reaction. ¡°Open the door, Biggle. I need your help,¡± Elijah called through the door. There was a clatter inside before the door opened, revealing the gnome himself. His hair was all out of place, and the tips of his mustache looked like they¡¯d been charred off. But otherwise, the gnome looked the same as ever, which meant that he definitely had a mad scientist vibe hanging over him. ¡°Hrmph,¡± grunted Biggle. ¡°Suppose you want to throw more problems on my plate, huh? Well, I¡¯m too busy. Far, far too busy!¡± ¡°Won¡¯t take long,¡± Elijah said, pushing inside without waiting for an invitation. When he looked around, he saw the same scene he had felt via One with Nature. Bundles of herbs hung from the ceiling, while jars and vials filled every shelf on the walls. A giant cauldron full of cold but inexplicably bubbling liquid stood in the center of the room. ¡°Just need you to identify a couple of potions.¡± Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°I am not an Appraiser! I¡¯m far too ¨C¡± He stopped mid-sentence when he saw what Elijah had pulled from his satchel. The two vials didn¡¯t look overtly magical, but they pulsed with enough energy that the Alchemist couldn¡¯t fail to notice. ¡°What are those?¡± he demanded. ¡°Where did you get them? There isn¡¯t an Alchemist on this world who could create something like that.¡± Elijah explained, ¡°Minor Potion of Body. Minor Potion of Mind. They were rewards from the Trial. Same as this.¡± He pulled the Will of Iron from his satchel. It was just an ordinary-looking pill, but it held more energy even than the potions. ¡°This one is called the Will of Iron. I was hoping you could tell me what they do.¡± For a long few seconds, Biggle just stared at the items, his big eyes flicking back and forth between Elijah¡¯s hands. Then, he sighed and said, ¡°You would get something like that. Here I am, slaving away to create body cultivation potions for the town, and you come in here with high-grade cultivation potions.¡± Then, he went on to explain something Elijah had already suspected. The potions were meant for cultivation, though they weren¡¯t necessarily tied to the categories the names implied. There was no reason that the Body potion couldn¡¯t be used to enhance Soul cultivation, for instance. It just wouldn¡¯t be quite as effective. ¡°And don¡¯t let the ¡®minor¡¯ in the name fool you,¡± Biggle stated. ¡°Those are powerful potions that would probably kill most of the people in town. Well, not me, of course. If you¡¯re selling, I could offer you a good price.¡± ¡°Not selling,¡± Elijah said. He had plans for both of them. ¡°What about this?¡± ¡°Will of Iron,¡± Biggle answered after studying it for a moment. ¡°Meant for cultivation too, but only of the core. You use that, and it¡¯ll make your cycling that much more effective. It¡¯s meant as a long-term benefit, maybe lasting a few weeks. It¡¯s higher quality, but it¡¯s not something I could use. Nobody around here is at any stage to use it properly, so they wouldn¡¯t get much benefit. If I was you, I¡¯d just sell it on the Marketplace. That¡¯ll reach out to other worlds, and some young scion would probably pay a fortune for it.¡± ¡°And you don¡¯t think I can use it?¡± ¡°You¡¯d have to be on the verge of passing into the third tier of core cultivation to get much use out of it,¡± Biggle said. Elijah brightened at that, but he quickly tried to hide his reaction. Biggle obviously saw it. ¡°You¡¯re already there, aren¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Uh¡­close?¡± Biggle groaned, then let out a string of curses. ¡°How in the hells are you already there? You shouldn¡¯t even be flirting with that level of cultivation for a decade or more. If ever! The world won¡¯t even support that!¡± ¡°I guess I¡¯m just¡­I don¡¯t know. Talented?¡± ¡°I hate you.¡± ¡°No you don¡¯t. You know why? Because I have something new for you.¡± Elijah then retrieved a handful of berries he¡¯d picked that very morning. They were far larger and much denser regarding ethera than the mutated bunch berries he¡¯d once cultivated in his grove. After laying eyes on them, Biggle¡¯s attitude changed, but he came back down to Earth when Elijah told him that they wouldn¡¯t be free. After that, they started negotiating, with Biggle proclaiming loudly that he should have charged Elijah for the appraisal. For his part, Elijah took it easy on the gnome, taking less than he really thought the berries were worth. Mostly, that was because he wanted to keep a good relationship with the Alchemist. After all, who knew when he would need his services? Once business was completed, Biggle revealed that he¡¯d already been in contact with his fellow alchemist Konstantino, and that the children were doing quite well. They were still a ways off from gaining archetypes of their own, but the treatment program Biggle had helped develop was doing wonders to keep them from showing any symptoms. That was quite the relief. Elijah didn¡¯t think about those kids very often, but when he did, he descended into a pit of worry. So, hearing that they were doing well definitely eased his mind. After that, he and Biggle didn¡¯t have much to talk about, so Elijah took his leave and headed back to his island. The appraisal of the three Trial rewards was not entirely unexpected, but it had given him some hope that he could accomplish his goals before going to Hong Kong or to pick up Ron. But now that he¡¯d taken care of his chores, he could finally get to something he¡¯d been looking forward to ever since he¡¯d gotten level one-twenty-five. It was finally time to take a look at Shape of the Master. As he landed in the grove, he once again glanced at the spell¡¯s description:
Shape of the Master Archetype: Druid Class: Animist Level: 125 Take on the form of the master, moderately increasing all attributes. Also improves reaction times significantly. Spellcasting is suspended while Shape of the Master is active.
Evasion Each dodged attack builds a charge of Heart of Fire.
Incinerate Consume all charges of Heart of Fire at once, releasing an intense conflagration.
The description of the shape and its abilities seemed pretty thorough, though Elijah was still eager to discover three things. First, he wanted to know what fantastical creature it would be based upon. Second, he needed to establish the effects on his attributes. And finally, he wanted to test the abilities, which he suspected would take some practice before he mastered them. The first was the easiest, and it would only require casting the spell. The second was a little more complicated, largely because the effects weren¡¯t limited to his attributes. There was no line on his status for reaction time, after all. He did have Lupine Reflexes and the effects of his Sash of the Whirlwind for context, though, so he hoped to establish an idea of how much of an effect Shape of the Master had on his reaction times. The last was the most complicated, and largely because the entire form seemed reactive in nature. The description implied that Heart of Fire did nothing unless he built it through Evasion, which meant that he would need some help for that. To that end, he asked Nerthus for some assistance, and the spryggent was more than happy to summon a few ambulatory trees. ¡°I rarely get the opportunity to practice,¡± he said. ¡°But I must request that we test this away from the grove proper. The beach, perhaps.¡± Elijah agreed, and a few minutes later, he found himself on the rocky shore of his island, surrounded by three walking trees. The things were impressive-looking, though Elijah knew they weren¡¯t terribly powerful. Maybe they could give someone like Miguel trouble, but for him, they were little more than annoyances. But as practice dummies, they would do. Finally, Elijah took a deep breath, then cast Shape of the Master. As always when he cast his shapeshifting spells, Elijah felt his perspective change. At first, he thought it was something like Shape of Venom, which dropped him to all fours and left him hugging the ground. However, he quickly surmised that he remained on two feet. What was more interesting was that his staff hadn¡¯t transformed with him. But the characteristic he found most interesting ¨C and a little distressing ¨C was that, from he could tell, he¡¯d obviously shrunk by a significant degree. So, when he turned toward the upright mirror he¡¯d previously handed to Nerthus, he should have been prepared for what he saw. Still, his mouth hung open, and he muttered, ¡°Is this a joke?¡± 7-9. Tiny But Fierce Elijah certainly didn¡¯t recognize his reflection in the mirror, which was probably understandable, given that it was an entirely new form. If he was forced to come up with a comparison, he would have likened it to a salamander, though one that walked on two feet and featured a pair of crests starting above his eyes, extending down his back and to his tail. The impression of the shape¡¯s amphibious nature was also supported by the presence of moist skin as opposed to scales. It was only after he saw the coloring ¨C predominantly deep red, with black highlights ¨C that he realized where he¡¯d seen something similar. It had been a while since he¡¯d experienced his vision of the first dragon, but the memory was still fresh in his mind. There was no chance he¡¯d ever forget it ¨C especially the last bit, when he¡¯d gotten a glimpse of the creature he¡¯d inhabited. There were differences, of course, but he could recognize a common ancestry with the ancestral fire salamander. Most troubling, though, was that the form was no more than four-feet tall, which left Elijah feeling incredibly vulnerable. To assuage some of those feelings, he glanced at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 125
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 198 (143)
Dexterity 184 (129)
Constitution 207 (152)
Ethera 206 (166)
Regeneration 197 (157)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Adept
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Whelp Jade Novice
He had purposefully neglected his various buffs, and he¡¯d left his equipment ¨C aside from his staff ¨C back in his treehouse. The reasoning behind that was so that he could get a good gauge of the form¡¯s attribute bonuses. And he was unsurprised to find that they were significant. The Feral Spire gave him a fifteen-point bonus to his physical attributes, so it didn¡¯t take much arithmetic to determine that the Shape of the Master increased every attribute by forty points. It didn¡¯t provide as many total points as Shape of Thorn, but it was still very respectable in that department, even if the points were split evenly between all of his attributes. More interesting was the promise of increased reaction speeds. At present, it didn¡¯t feel like anything had changed, so he turned to Nerthus and said, ¡°Do you want to tell them to attack? I¡¯m not going to hurt anyone, am I?¡± ¡°They are only animate minions,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°They feel nothing.¡± ¡°What about you? You¡¯re not going to feel pain when I hit them, right?¡± Nerthus confirmed that he wouldn¡¯t, then sent the tree minions to attack. That was when Elijah saw the true effects of his increased reaction speeds. The creatures looked as if they were moving in slow-motion, and when the first one aimed a branch in his direction, Elijah felt like he had at least a couple of seconds to dodge. He slipped to the side, and as he did, he felt something catch fire within his chest. It was only a spark, but it was surprisingly similar to what he¡¯d felt during his vision of the first dragon. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. A few attacks came soon after, and Elijah dodged those easily as well. As he¡¯d previously noted, the minions were not powerful enough to truly challenge him. However, with every passing second, it felt almost like they were level one. He knew that wasn¡¯t true, but that didn¡¯t affect how easily he dodged their blows. With each avoided attack, the spark in his chest grew in intensity until, after about fifty, it ignited into a blaze. Another fifteen, and that blaze became an inferno. And by the hundredth, he felt as if he were on the verge of bursting into flames. After that, it didn¡¯t matter how many blows he managed to dodge ¨C the Heart of Flame seemed entirely saturated. ¡°A hundred dodges,¡± he said, still easily avoiding the tree minions¡¯ attacks. To Nerthus, he said, ¡°You should probably stand back. I don¡¯t know what this is going to do.¡± Nerthus took his advice, slipping into an unseen root and reappearing a few hundred feet away. When he felt Nerthus was safe, Elijah repositioned himself to get the trees lined up in front of him. Then, facing the sea, he let loose with Incinerate. Predictably, the fire came from his mouth, which he¡¯d opened instinctively. But unpredictably, it erupted with so much voluminous fire that it took almost three full seconds before the stream cut off. And when it did, he could only blink at the damage he¡¯d wrought. Everything within a ten-foot-wide strip in front of him ¨C and extending into the ocean ¨C was entirely destroyed. Of the tree minions, only ashes remained, and the rocky beach had been turned into a slurry of melted earth. Even the water had been set to boiling, and after a few seconds, it was still spewing mist. Elijah could feel that everything in his line of fire was dead. ¡°Damn,¡± he muttered. He stared at it for a long while before he felt Nerthus¡¯ approach. ¡°Impressive. Do you think you could control it better?¡± the tree spirit asked. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain of the answer to that question. So, over the next couple of hours, Nerthus provided a steady stream of minions for Elijah to spar. And over that time, he discovered a few things about his new spell. First of all, the form itself could do plenty of damage on its own. Despite its small size, nearly two-hundred Strength could output some serious force. However, he found it strangely odd, using a staff instead of teeth or claws, which the Shape of the Master lacked. Its fingers were soft, and there weren¡¯t even any teeth in its mouth. Still, he found that he could bite with some measure of force, though it wasn¡¯t nearly on par with any of his other forms. So, the staff made sense. Fortunately, Elijah had a little experience with staff-fighting, so he could hold his own, especially with the effects of his increased reaction speeds. It did take a little adjustment to get used to losing nearly two feet and a hundred pounds in weight, but Elijah¡¯s Dexterity helped a lot with that. Even so, he knew he would need to spend quite some time training before he could hope to live up to the form¡¯s name. Now, though, he had a good reason to truly dedicate himself to practicing fighting with his staff. Secondly, Elijah discovered that he could regulate the expression of Incinerate¡¯s flames. The default seemed to be the ten-foot-wide stream he¡¯d used the first time, but he could also narrow it significantly, which resulted in a much hotter and denser flame. By contrast, he could also fan it out into a cone, widening the area of effect to nearly thirty feet. That weakened the flames, and they only went about fifteen feet before they petered out, but it was still strong enough to burn the tree minions to ash. That probably wouldn¡¯t be the case with anything Elijah¡¯s level, but it was difficult to tell for sure without going out and picking a fight with a powerful monster. The extra control was nice, though, and he suspected that he would eventually gain more flexibility with the shape¡¯s defining skill. Finally, Elijah was able to estimate the level to which his reaction times had been improved, and from what he could tell, it was somewhere between forty and sixty percent. Narrowing it down any further would necessitate quite a bit more testing, but Elijah was happy with what he¡¯d found. Nerthus, however, definitely looked a little worse for wear. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± Elijah asked. Nerthus shook his head. ¡°That required a lot of ethera. I will be fine after a little rest. If you will excuse me¡­¡± After that, he ambled away, disappearing into the brush. Notably, he did not merge with the trees like normal, which Elijah took to mean that he was truly exhausted. Once Nerthus was gone, Elijah decided to put his new form through its paces in a more thorough way. He didn¡¯t focus on the give and take of Evasion and Incinerate, but instead, tried to get a handle on his attributes. As he¡¯d expected, his physical abilities were much higher than they had been before, and even though he was barely four feet tall ¨C if that ¨C he had no issues lifting multi-ton rocks. The only thing holding him back from doing more was the awkwardness of the burdens. In addition, he found that he had a limited ability to stick to surfaces, almost like a watered-down version of the similar characteristic native to Shape of Venom. He wouldn¡¯t be walking up sheer walls or sticking to ceilings, but he could definitely climb very well. The same was true of swimming, and when he dove into the water, he found himself cutting through the waves with ease. In a moment of inspiration, he removed the Ring of Aquatic Travel, and he found that the new form was indeed amphibious, meaning that he was just as at home in the water as he was on land. Indeed, he felt certain that he could hold his breath nearly indefinitely, which was reassuring, considering how often he found himself submerged. Sure, he always had his ring, but he¡¯d envisioned many scenarios where it might stop working. After all, he¡¯d been ripped in half fairly recently, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine having his hand cut off. If that happened, he¡¯d lose the ring and its effect. So, having a backup was nice, even if he didn¡¯t really want to think about the situation that might make it necessary. Regardless, Elijah found that the Shape of the Master was incredibly well-rounded, which was probably something he should have expected, given the name. Still, he suspected that what it was really meant for was single combat. Shape of Thorn was intended for defense and control. Shape of Venom was nice for ambush and stealth. And Shape of Sky was really only useful as a travel tool. They could all do other things, but it seemed clear what niche each form was meant to fill. And now, Elijah had Shape of the Master to fight powerful, singular opponents. But like all the others, it could stray outside its niche. In short, Elijah was extremely happy with what he¡¯d found, and he looked forward to trying it out against the sort of enemy it was meant to counter. He continued to test the form for a couple more hours before he found himself straying towards the cultivation cave. He could feel the dense ethera even from half a mile away, and as he slipped through the tunnel, he almost felt like he was swimming through something semi-solid. Even though he didn¡¯t need to breathe, the closer he got to the cave, the more he felt significant constriction in his narrow chest. When he finally arrived at the cave, his eyes widened at the sight. The Leviathan¡¯s Bones covered the entire floor in a thick bed of coralline structures. More importantly, the bed emitted dense pulses of vitality that were almost as strong as Nature¡¯s Bounty had been when he¡¯d first gained the spell. No wonder it had been the reward for such a difficult task. Importantly, Elijah felt sure that the cave was ready for what he had planned. However, he had a few other things he needed to do before he went down that road. It was an important first step, but it was one he needed to delay. So, once he¡¯d confirmed that it was ready, Elijah swam back the way he¡¯d come, then headed inland. He didn¡¯t bother shifting back to his human form, largely because he wanted to continue acclimating to the size of the Shape of the Master. His high Dexterity made that easier, but it would still be some time before he was completely comfortable in the new form. When he did reach the grove, shifting back into his human form came with a brief wave of dizziness that came with the sudden decrease in his reaction times, but it wasn¡¯t debilitating. Still, it was one more factor he needed to consider. Even a second¡¯s distraction could be devastating in battle. But for now, Elijah was more focused on other things. Chiefly, he needed to find Nerthus and continue to make plans for his cultivation blitz and, subsequently, the evolution of his class. 7-10. Adjusting Plans As she leaned back in her chair, Carmen let out a long sigh before downing the last contents of her mug. The beer was bitter, with a hint of ethera and an undercurrent of roasted caramel that set it apart from anything she¡¯d drunk before Earth¡¯s transition into a post-World Tree era. Her chair tipped back, and if it wasn¡¯t for a recent influx in levels that gave her a few extra points in Dexterity, she would have fallen. As it was, she managed to hook her foot under the table¡¯s support, which arrested her momentum and helped her avoid a disastrous spill. ¡°Good catch,¡± said Carissa, sipping her own beer almost daintily. It was an oddly feminine sight, given the dwarven woman¡¯s rugged appearance, which included heavy shoulders, a face smudged with dirt, and a silky wisp of a beard that was usually only visible in the full light of day. ¡°But if I¡¯m honest, I was kinda hopin¡¯ you¡¯d fall. Woulda been a good story.¡± ¡°Drunk woman tips over,¡± Carmen responded, pulling herself back to a normal position. ¡°An epic tale of lost balance.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get all sarcastic. You¡¯re better when you¡¯re earnest,¡± Carissa stated. Carmen sighed again, then glanced around for the pub¡¯s server. The buxom girl arrived only a few moments later, her chest heaving as she scurried to refill Carmen¡¯s mug. When she caught Carmen staring, the waitress offered a shy, insincere smile before heading off to meet the demands of the other patrons. The pub was absolutely packed, and rightly so ¨C the city had yet to overcome the shock of nearly being conquered, and people were still in the throes of soothing their tensions with copious amounts of alcohol and revelry. Thus the packed pub, full of merrymakers who all laughed a little too loudly and much too frequently, while drowning themselves in low-quality beer. LIke the waitress¡¯ forced smile, it all rang a little hollow. Because the threat was still out there. The mayor¡¯s people had already spent quite some time interrogating the dark elves, and while they hadn¡¯t learned any operational secrets, they had found plenty of cause for distress. Like the fact that the attacking army, as numerous as they¡¯d been, had only represented a fraction of the dark elves¡¯ force. They were the least of their armies ¨C of which there were nine remaining ¨C both in terms of levels and raw numbers. From what the captives had said, there was an entire nation of Illythiri ¨C that was what the dark elves called themselves ¨C who¡¯d settled far below the surface. There was also the distressing news that the bulk of that force was engaged in their city¡¯s ¨C called Eldrath?n ¨C defense. They hadn¡¯t revealed the nature of that threat, only claiming that it was far more terrifying than anything on the surface. That was the only reason they¡¯d chanced emergence so soon. Without that threat, they would have remained below, gathering their strength until such time as they could overwhelm anyone who stood in their way. Carmen did find it quite interesting to learn that the world was, essentially, hollow. Sure, there was a core at its center, and from what she understood, it would be somewhere close to the size of old Earth. However, the intervening distance to the surface was filled with massive caverns that played host to entire ecosystems. From what Carissa had told her, most worlds followed that same pattern, and the dwarf¡¯s home planet was no different. She¡¯d only visited the depths a few times in her life ¨C after all, she was quite young for a dwarf ¨C but her recollections suggested that those caverns could cover thousands of miles, with ceilings so high that they were virtually indistinguishable from open air. ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t stare like that,¡± Carissa said. ¡°Might make the poor girl uncomfortable.¡± Carmen blinked, her inebriated mind struggling to catch up with Carissa¡¯s meaning. Then, understanding pushed her drunkenness aside and she realized that, even though her mind had been miles away, her eyes had followed the waitress across the pub. She quickly averted her eyes and sputtered an explanation, but Carissa only laughed. Eventually, Carmen decided to change the subject, asking, ¡°What about your little plan? How¡¯s that going?¡± Carissa frowned. ¡°Can¡¯t corner that stubborn dwarf for nothin¡¯,¡± she admitted. ¡°You know he don¡¯t even have a house in town? He used to live mostly in the wilderness, but now he¡¯s stayin¡¯ at that gaudy hellhole, the Imperium. Can thank your brother for that.¡± ¡°Elijah? He¡¯s my brother-in-law.¡± ¡°Same difference,¡± said Carissa, taking another swig of her recently-filled beer. She smacked her lips. ¡°But that Kurik ¨C that is one fine dwarf.¡± Her words were wistful, which definitely didn¡¯t fit her appearance. ¡°I¡¯ll have to take your word for it,¡± Carmen responded with a slight smile. ¡°You¡¯ve seen his beard, right? So long and coarse. Mmm.¡± Carmen laughed. Dwarven attraction was a strange thing, and it usually centered around beards. Of course, Carissa¡¯s feelings ran a bit deeper than that. Even before the Trial, Kurik had been one of the most powerful dwarves in Ironshore, but in its wake, he¡¯d become a bonafide hero. Regardless of culture, that was a recipe for popularity. ¡°What ¡®bout you? You makin¡¯ any progress on that front? You find a pretty little thing to ¨C¡± Carmen shook her head. ¡°I don¡¯t have time for that kind of thing. Plus, the pickings are pretty slim. No offense, I definitely prefer humans, and there aren¡¯t that many of us around.¡± ¡°You¡¯re missin¡¯ out. You ain¡¯t lived ¡®til you¡¯ve had an eager gnome ¨C¡± ¡°Please stop,¡± Carmen groaned. ¡°It¡¯s the tiny hands and natural dexterity. They ¨C¡± ¡°Not listening.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just sayin¡¯ ¨C¡± ¡°Nope. Moving on,¡± Carmen interrupted again. The last thing she needed was another one of Carissa¡¯s bawdy stories. ¡°Did you think about what I asked you yesterday?¡± This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. ¡°¡¯Bout participatin¡¯ in the Great Forge?¡± ¡°I¡¯m thinking of changing the name to something more inclusive of other tradeskills. But yeah,¡± Carmen answered. ¡°Not sure what place Miners and our like could have in that sorta endeavor,¡± Carissa stated. ¡°We don¡¯t mind helpin¡¯. We make fair laborers, so long as the pay is right. We¡¯ll be workin¡¯ overtime to get the mine back up and runnin¡¯, but I¡¯ll put the word out to th¡¯others. Might be a few as¡¯ll take y¡¯up on th¡¯offer.¡± Carmen nodded, wondering if Carissa would even remember the conversation in the morning. She¡¯d imbibed quite a lot of alcohol over the course of the night, as evidenced by the thickening of her accent. Soon, Carmen wouldn¡¯t be able to understand her at all. Regardless, the subject bore some thought. To date, Carmen had been trying to build the Great Forge all by herself, and she¡¯d accomplished quite a lot like that. The foundations had been laid, and she was almost ready to start building the frame. However, she had recently come to the realization that she was going about things all wrong. Doing it all alone was all well and good when all she wanted was a nice forge. But for what she wanted to accomplish, the whole idea seemed woefully narrow-minded. In the beginning, she¡¯d taken some inspiration from the temple in Argos, but at some point, she¡¯d lost that thread. Now, she needed to adjust, but as her plans expanded, she had come to the conclusion that she couldn¡¯t do it alone. Those thoughts flitted through Carmen¡¯s increasingly drunken mind as Carissa¡¯s comments devolved ¨C both in terms of clarity as well as appropriateness ¨C until, eventually, Carmen found herself stumbling back to her old forge. There, she collapsed into her cot ¨C she often found it tedious to go back to the island ¨C where she quickly fell unconscious. The next morning, she awoke feeling the previous night¡¯s overindulgence. Her mouth was caked with dried drool, her body was sore, and her eyes felt like someone had shoved sand beneath her lids. On top of that, her stomach roiled with nausea, and the second she rolled out of her cot and planted her feet on the floor, she experienced a wave of dizziness. Carmen was not usually a heavy drinker. Most of the time, she cut herself off well before she reached the point of inebriation. And now she remembered why. As much as she might enjoy a night of celebratory drunkenness, she¡¯d long since decided that the morning after was not worth it. ¡°Carissa¡¯s a bad influence,¡± she muttered before pushing herself upright and staggering across the forge to a bathroom she¡¯d installed shortly after building the smithy. After that, she used every trick in the book to recover, taking a cold shower, brushing her teeth, and drinking a foul concoction that crazy alchemist claimed was a hangover cure. It settled her stomach, but it did nothing for the lethargy she felt. So, she decided it was best to just muscle through it, get some breakfast, and hopefully run into Elijah so she could beg a little healing. Of course, she could have just gone to the new clinic, but her pride wouldn¡¯t allow that. After all, there were still plenty of people who hadn¡¯t recovered from the wounds they¡¯d incurred during the battle. Taking a Healer¡¯s time when other people needed it more just didn¡¯t sit right with Carmen. So, she resolved to suffer through it. To that end, she dressed and, after lighting the forge, headed to The Roasted Goat ¨C a restaurant that had sprung up in recent months. When she arrived, she was greeted by the smell of smoking meat and grease, the din of conversation, and the sight of an area that looked like someone had mixed a Waffle House with an Irish pub. It was an odd look, but it somehow worked. Perhaps that was because of just how varied the clientele was. Every race that called Ironshore home was represented among the diners, with gnomes sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with dwarves, humans, and goblins. It cast the whole scene in a surreal aura that seemed both appropriate and like something out of a movie that didn¡¯t quite know what it wanted to be. Carmen probably should have been used to it, but every now and again, she found herself amazed at what life on Earth had become. She lived in a world with a wide variety of sapient species, monsters, and magic. Her brother-in-law was one of the most powerful people in the world, and her son was following in his footsteps. It didn¡¯t make sense, even if she could easily trace the chain of events that had led them to those places. It all fit together, but that didn¡¯t make her incredulity at the current state of the world any easier to accept. Thankfully, that feeling passed pretty quickly, and she shuffled inside and dropped onto a barstool. A dwarven server plopped a plate of greasy breakfast foods ¨C sausage, eggs, and gravy-covered biscuits ¨C in front of her. He even gave her a cup of hot tea, for which she muttered a hearty thanks. It wasn¡¯t quite coffee, but it would do. ¡°You look like you¡¯ve seen better days,¡± came a familiar and refined voice. Carmen glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw the mayor sitting next to her. To the proprietor, Ramik said, ¡°My usual, please.¡± The dwarf grunted, then headed off to fill the order. Meanwhile, Carmen asked, ¡°Is this just a chance meeting? Or did you need something from me? Because I have to be honest with you, I¡¯m not in any state to talk business.¡± ¡°I heard you¡¯ve begun to rethink your plans for the Great Forge.¡± ¡°Oh? Who told you that?¡± ¡°Carissa. I met with her this morning,¡± Ramik said. ¡°She claimed you were going on and on about needing more help. As I understand it, you want to incorporate other crafters into the process. Tell me what you need, and maybe I can facilitate it.¡± Carmen almost groaned. If the goblin had approached her even a few minutes before, she might¡¯ve ignored him. But with a little caffeine coursing through her veins, she felt a bit more human. So, she spent the next few minutes explaining what she wanted out of the project and how that would change her plans. For one, she needed a much larger plot of land with which to work, and on top of that, she would require quite a bit more material. Finally, she said, ¡°And I need help. This is too big of a project for me, and not just in terms of work. If this is going to be what I want it to be, I need representatives of every sort of crafter. It¡¯s not just a forge. It¡¯s¡­¡± ¡°A temple devoted to crafting.¡± ¡°Something like that,¡± Carmen said. ¡°I think we can make something like that work,¡± Ramik said. ¡°Of course, we¡¯ll have to work out the details. You can¡¯t expect us to facilitate something like this, providing land and materials, and you take all the benefits. There will be taxes.¡± ¡°Of course. We¡¯ll go with stadium rules.¡± ¡°I beg your pardon?¡± Then, Carmen explained how, in the pre-World Tree version of Earth, city governments had often subsidized the construction of stadiums meant for professional sports teams. On the surface, it seemed a bit silly to spend so much money on what amounted to entertainment that served no governmental purpose, but the idea went a bit deeper than that. Those sports teams brought a lot of money into their respective cities ¨C both directly and indirectly ¨C and that was meant to recoup the city¡¯s investment. A similar idea prompted many other cities to give tax breaks and other monetary benefits to large manufacturing plants that would bring both revenue and jobs to the locals. Whether or not things actually worked out like that was a matter of intense debate, with both sides having points. However, Carmen wasn¡¯t necessarily concerned with whether or not a similar arrangement would help Ironshore. She was far more worried about seeing her plans bear fruit. She did have reason to believe that her project would end up being extremely beneficial to the city, though. ¡°I think we can come to a similar arrangement,¡± Ramik said after listening to Carmen¡¯s explanation. ¡°Good,¡± she said. ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to eat this greasy food, then head to my forge where I hope to work off this hangover. Stay if you want, but please¡­just stop talking.¡± ¡°I can do that,¡± Ramik said with a genuine smile. Then, they both dug into their meals, enjoying them in silence. 7-11. Projects ¡°Don¡¯t talk to me,¡± Carmen groaned the moment Elijah walked in. His first stop had been the build-site for the Great Forge, but when he¡¯d found it vacant, he¡¯d rightly assumed he could find his sister-in-law working in her original smithy. He stepped inside, watching her bang on what looked like it would one day become a sword. After only a few minutes, she let out a sigh, then shoved the cooling blade back into the forge. Then, she turned around, put her hands on her hips, and said, ¡°Just standing there and watching me is even worse. What do you want?¡± Elijah verged on complaining about her tone, but after only a glance, he thought better of it. With her pallid skin, the flexion of her jaw, and the bags beneath her eyes, he assumed that she¡¯d had a rough night. So, he cast Soothe, channeling it through his Crook of the Serpent Healer. The staff he held was still damaged, but because he¡¯d been so careful about when he used it, it was still functional. Which brought to mind another task that required Carmen¡¯s input. ¡°Better?¡± he asked. ¡°God. I envy you so much sometimes,¡± she said, already perking up. ¡°Just a little spell, and no hangover.¡± ¡°If it makes any difference, most of the alcohol around here won¡¯t do much for me anyway. I¡¯d have to drink a dozen gallons of the local beer before I actually got drunk,¡± he said. ¡°And even then, it¡¯d fade pretty quickly. Best I can hope for is a brief buzz.¡± ¡°There¡¯s always stronger alcohol out there.¡± That was true. He could always return to Valosta and find that Distiller if he wanted something that would knock him on his back. In addition, Ironshore probably had a few people who could make something potent enough to affect him. Thankfully, he¡¯d never been anything but a social drinker, so he didn¡¯t feel the need to seek them out. ¡°So, what do you want?¡± she asked. ¡°I can¡¯t just be here to check on my sister-in-law?¡± ¡°No. You always want something. Spit it out. You¡¯ve got until that blade finishes reheating.¡± ¡°Wow. Okay,¡± Elijah said, running his hand through his hair. It had gotten a little longer of late, and he needed to get it cut. Another task to add to his to-do list. Before he could fall down that rabbit hole, he focused on the reason he¡¯d come to Carmen. ¡°I want your help. Mostly with building a hot tub.¡± ¡°What? Seriously?¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s a special hot tub.¡± ¡°You came to me because you want a hot tub,¡± she remarked. ¡°You can use it too. Miggy as well. Nerthus probably wouldn¡¯t want to ¨C I don¡¯t know how spryggents react to that kind of thing, but I¡¯m sure he¡¯d be fine. And I guess if you want to invite a friend, it would be okay. But not ¨C¡± ¡°Elijah. Focus.¡± ¡°Oh. Right,¡± he said. ¡°So, I got this natural treasure during the Trial. Seed of the Ash Lotus. According to Nerthus, it needs water. Like, well, a lotus. He says that it¡¯ll create a lot of heat, too. So, the idea is to build a hot tub that will help with cultivation and stuff. Probably. But mostly, it¡¯ll just be relaxing.¡± Then, before Carmen could interject, he told her what he needed. He¡¯d thought a lot about it, and if he was going to build a hot tub, he wanted to do it right. That meant lining the thing with dragonstone, which was the most potent building material he¡¯d found so far. ¡°It won¡¯t take much of it. Just a few dozen paving stones. I¡¯ll get you some more to replace it when ¨C¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Ramik has already agreed to set up a quarry,¡± she said. After that, she explained her expanded plans for the Great Forge and how the city of Ironshore intended to subsidize it. Establishing the quarry would take a little bit of an investment, but the potential gains from such a ready source of high-quality stone, not to mention the Great Forge itself, were too high to ignore. Complicating matters was the dark elf threat ¨C after all, they were still out there between Argos and the abandoned city of Norcastle ¨C but they had plans to combat that as well. ¡°Why the look of surprise?¡± Carmen asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I guess in the back of my mind, I kind of expected to have to deal with that myself,¡± he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°Other people are competent, too, Elijah.¡± ¡°I know. I just¡­well, I guess I feel a little dumb now. Anyway, will you help?¡± he asked. ¡°And let me remind you that I just cured your hangover. Out of the goodness of my heart. I¡¯ll also provide transportation.¡± ¡°Okay, so ¨C first of all? I¡¯m not letting you drag me through the sky. I¡¯ll take a boat like a sensible person. And second, I didn¡¯t ask you to cure my hangover.¡± ¡°C¡¯mon, Carmen. We¡¯re family. You wouldn¡¯t refuse to help family, would you?¡± he asked, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. It clearly didn¡¯t work, but then again, it almost never did. ¡°Also, can you fix this staff? I have a friend who had some magic putty that she kept using on her armor ¨C I kind of volunteered you to make her a new set, by the way, but that won¡¯t be for a while because she¡¯s halfway across the world and ¨C¡± ¡°Elijah. Breathe.¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry. So, the staff?¡± As it turned out, she had no issues mending it with one of her abilities, but she did caution him that if he broke it again, it would probably be a total loss. That was fine with Elijah, because he didn¡¯t intend to use it during battle. Just for healing. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°So, the hot tub?¡± he asked after she handed staff back to him. She sighed. ¡°Fine. Just give me about two hours to finish forging this blade into shape, and then I¡¯ll head over. Take the stone you need from the build-site.¡± Elijah grinned and threw his arms around his sweaty sister-in-law, thanking her profusely before she made it clear that the longer he spent professing his gratitude, the longer it would be before she could help him. After that, he headed out and gathered the stone he needed. The pile was much diminished from when he¡¯d gathered it for her, but there was still a significant amount left. So, he collected what he needed, shifted into the Shape of Sky, and headed back to the island. It was a bit awkward, flying with so much weight, but after using Savage Might, he managed it all the same. Transporting it via boat would have probably made a lot more sense, but Elijah¡¯s well-worn hatred for that form of travel kept him from even considering it. It would¡¯ve been so much easier if he could have just used the anchor, but he didn¡¯t want to buy another ring for such a short trip. He dropped his burden just outside of the grove, then landed with a heavy thud. After that, he shifted back into his human form, then headed inside the circle of trees to find Nerthus. Thankfully, the spryggent had recovered from the previous day¡¯s exertions, and what¡¯s more, he¡¯d already found a spot for the hot tub. He called it a hot spring, but Elijah was under no false impressions as to the intended nature. Regardless, once the site had been identified, Elijah got to work digging. He did so in the form of the thorned sentry, using his Domain of Vines to assist in the process. Nerthus busied himself by redistributing the soil elsewhere, keeping the area tidier than any dig site Elijah had ever seen. What¡¯s more, he helped to ensure that everything fell within the exact parameters he¡¯d established in his plans. Elijah was impressed with how precise Nerthus was, but he wasn¡¯t really surprised. The spryggent was nothing if not anal about the arrangement of the grove, so planning new features fell within his wheelhouse. He¡¯d even worked to reroute a portion of the nearby stream to provide the water. How he¡¯d managed that, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain ¨C he could see it via One with Nature, but he couldn¡¯t determine precisely how it all worked ¨C but when it came to that kind of thing, he was more than willing to trust Nerthus. Finally, once the hole had been dug and refined, Nerthus used one of his powers to seed a bed of moss that was meant to filter impurities out of the water. It grew rapidly, especially when Elijah pulsed Nature¡¯s Bounty for a few seconds, and just like that, it was ready for the stone. Thankfully, they finished only a few minutes before Carmen arrived, and together, they hauled the stones into place, and she used her crafting skills to shape the stones into tiles. ¡°We want to enchant these, right?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah. Just durability, I guess,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Do you know the runes for purity and fire?¡± Nerthus interjected. Carmen said that she did, adding that she wasn¡¯t as proficient with such complex designs. Given the size of the hot tub, it turned out that she didn¡¯t need to be quite as precise as she usually was with armor or weapons. So, over the next hour, Elijah acted as manual labor as Carmen worked on the tiles, carving a complex design that, when everything was assembled, looked like a glittering flame. She even used some blood tin for the inlay, which Elijah knew would make the final product that much more powerful. Finally, Nerthus guided Carmen as they set up the rest of the filtration system, which would allow for a steadily cycled flow of pure water. Once that was done, Carmen used her abilities to bond the tiles together into a water-tight whole. She stepped back, her hands on her hips as she admired her work. ¡°That was actually kind of fun,¡± she said. ¡°And it gives me some ideas for the Great Forge. Ugh. I still don¡¯t like that name. It¡¯s too specific. With our new plans, we need something a little more inclusive.¡± ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll figure something out,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I hope so,¡± she agreed. Then, she turned to Nerthus, asking, ¡°Ready to see if it all works?¡± Nerthus answered, ¡°I am already working on completing the feeder system.¡± Only a few seconds later, the small hole at the bottom of the tub bubbled with cold, clear water. Over the next few minutes, it filled until, at last, the water leveled off at around five inches before the lip. ¡°How do you control the flow?¡± Elijah asked, still focusing on what was going on below the surface. ¡°Magic,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Very informative,¡± Elijah grumbled while Carmen let out a chuckle. ¡°For the record, you were better at this when you didn¡¯t have a sense of humor. Seriously ¨C you¡¯re not going to tell me?¡± The answer to that question was a definitive no. ¡°Fine. Is there anything else I need to do with the Seed of the Ash Lotus?¡± he asked, giving up on understanding Nerthus¡¯ system. ¡°Yes, of course. Give it to me, and I will ensure that it has a proper environment,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°Come back tomorrow morning, and spend eight hours nurturing it via Nature¡¯s Bounty and Healing Rain. After that, it will be capable of supporting itself. However, the spring will not be truly functional for at least a month. Perhaps as long as two.¡± That was a bit disappointing, but Elijah accepted it. After thanking Carmen and offering to fly her back to Ironshore, which she refused, Elijah returned to the center of the grove. Now that the hot tub project was all but complete ¨C except for his task tomorrow ¨C Elijah felt he could finally focus on other, arguably more important plans. The first was his staff, which he couldn¡¯t really work on until the sapling had finished growing. Nerthus had planted it the day Elijah had revealed the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might, but it would be some time before it was ready. Notably, Nerthus had refused his help in nurturing its growth, claiming that it needed a delicate touch rather than a hammer blow. So, with that, Elijah headed to the glade they¡¯d selected for the Frozen Oak, which Nerthus had planted the day beore. It was on the other side of the island, and when he arrived, he felt that the temperature had already begun to drop. For a while, he remained in the clearing, using his spells to promote the growth of the tree. It would be a few months until winter, so the rest of the plants would need to wait until then, but Elijah was still excited by the project. As he nurtured the Frozen Glade, which was what he¡¯d begun to call it, Elijah sank within himself and focused on his Soul Cultivation. He didn¡¯t carve any new channels, but instead, he set his mind to establishing the pattern he¡¯d already learned. In addition, he veered a little off the prescribed course, following his instincts almost as much as he stuck to the pattern. It required intense concentration, but over time, he put the finishing touches on his theory regarding Soul cultivation. The patterns espoused by the guides would work perfectly well, but if he wanted optimal results, he had to put a little of himself into it as well. In addition, he remembered his previous theories about where Soul cultivation would eventually go, and he incorporated those into his pattern as well. Finally, by the end of the day, he realized that he was almost ready ¨C at least from a mental perspective ¨C to take that next step. For that, though, he needed to complete his preparations in the cave, then make certain that all of his other plans were ready to grow into fruition as he spent the time necessary to push his Soul to the next tier. To that end, he returned to the grove, ready to continue his work. All the while, his time constraints continued to weigh on his mind. If everything went according to plan, he would have more than enough time, but there wasn¡¯t a minute to waste. 7-12. Final Preparations In the Shape of Venom and cloaked in Guise of the Unseen, Elijah perched in the branches, watching his nephew training with Trevor. The two moved in sync, fighting invisible opponents as they raced through the forest. Elijah focused on One with nature, and as the two practiced, ethera fluctuated within them. After a few moments, he recognized it for what it was. They were working on their cultivation. That simple realization opened the door in his mind to how varied cultivation methods could be. For him, the process usually required calm, quiet, and enough ethera to kill most other people. However, for Miguel and Trevor, physical training seemed to be a key component. It wasn¡¯t the only piece of the puzzle ¨C obviously ¨C but watching them work was eye-opening. It also reminded Elijah that, for all of his progress, he¡¯d still only barely scratched the surface of his new world. Every time he thought he understood things, he¡¯d find a new piece of information that turned his comprehension on its head. He kept watching for a little while longer until he felt satisfied with their progress. Their growth would never be as explosive as Elijah¡¯s. With cultivation, he tended to take huge jumps, with long stretches of nothing in between. By contrast, Miguel¡¯s path seemed steadier. So long as he kept working, the sky would be the limit. It was a reassuring thought, and soon enough, Elijah left them to their own devices, scampering through the branches until he was far enough away that they wouldn¡¯t sense his presence. Only then did he take on the Shape of the Master and race through the forest. After stopping off at the grove to check on his various projects, he continued on until he reached the ocean. He shifted back into his human form, undressed and stashed his things near a rock, then regained the Shape of the Master. In that form, he waded into the water before diving through the waves. Once again, he was amazed at how at home in the water he was. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t like a true salamander, which couldn¡¯t survive prolonged exposure to high-salinity water. For those mundane creatures, diving into the ocean would have caused an osmotic imbalance, which in turn would result in dehydration, cellular damage, and eventually, death. His current form had no such issues, which made him wonder about its evolutionary history. Maybe the most appropriate answer to that query was the one word that seemed to apply to almost everything he didn¡¯t really understand: magic. Those thoughts accompanied him as he took a brief detour into deeper water. Elijah couldn¡¯t quite quantify how quickly he could move underwater, but he knew it was pretty fast. Before long, he was miles out to sea and swimming among the splendid seascape beneath the waves. Despite his apathy toward marine biology, he¡¯d always appreciated the beauty that seemed so common to ocean life. And the injection of ethera into the equation had only magnified everything. Just like on land, everything in the sea was bigger, more vibrant, and teeming with so much vitality that it was almost overwhelming. For a while, Elijah just swam there, treading water as he appreciated everything appropriately. Not only were there huge stands of waving kelp and massive formations of coral, but the fish and other sea life had grown in both size and splendor. Elijah saw trout the size of sharks, an enormous octopus crawling its way among the forest of seaweed, and colorful shrimp bigger than his head. It wasn¡¯t a scene without conflict, though. Far from it. Everywhere he turned, he saw small battles playing out. Fish hunting one another was a staple, but Elijah could also sense the war between various forms of vegetation. It happened in slow-motion, as they all vied for the same valuable nutrients and sunlight, but it was no less vicious for it. That was nature, though. Even if, at first glance, it seemed peaceful, any observation told a tale of conflict. Elijah soaked it all in until, after about an hour, he felt ready to take the next step. For he hadn¡¯t undertaken the short bout of observation without reason. He¡¯d had a purpose. As a Druid, he knew that an understanding of nature was at his core. So, if he wanted to put himself into the right frame of mind for something as important as pushing to the next stage of cultivation, Elijah knew he needed to immerse himself in the natural world. And there was nothing as wild as the sea floor, where humans had such limited effect. It put him in the appropriate mindset for what was coming, and as Elijah embraced it, he swam back the way he¡¯d come. However, when he arrived at the tunnel, he was surprised to find that there was a significant current of ethera flowing from the mouth. That, in turn, had promoted the growth of sea life around the tunnel, creating a ring of ethera-dense vegetation that spread for approximately ten feet all around it. More importantly, when Elijah swam through the flora and entered the tunnel, he sensed that the current wasn¡¯t limited to energy. The water was moving as well. Not with any significant speed, but it was definitely noticeable. Elijah swam against the flow, and for the first time, wasn¡¯t forced to drag himself through. Instead, he slithered along, cutting through the opposing current like it was nothing until, at last, he found the cave. And it was entirely changed from the last time he¡¯d visited. Indeed, when he thought of the barren, spherical cave he¡¯d found years before, he had difficulty even believing it was the same place. The green crystals were the same, but the cave was so densely packed with life that Elijah found it difficult to find the center. Beneath it all were the Leviathan¡¯s Bones, which had done more than simply stabilize the area as he¡¯d expected. Instead, they functioned like millions of tiny natural treasures, each of which emitted an aura of ethera that twisted together into a total that far exceeded the sum of its parts. Adding to that was the other vegetation, which fed off the increased ethera in a self-propagating cycle of energy that pushed it even further. And finally, it was all augmented by the grove¡¯s influence, which had created an environment of dense ethera that far exceeded anywhere else on Earth. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! In short, it was a perfect cultivation environment. Elijah was tempted to down the Will of Iron and start cycling energy through his core in an effort to expand its bounds. However, he knew that would be a mistake. Core cultivation was, in a lot of ways, dependent on the other categories, and it was exceedingly difficult to push it to a next stage before all the others had preceded it. Possible, sure. But not optimal. He knew he would get better results if he took things in their proper order. That meant that he needed to work on his Soul first. Fortunately, he had two potions to aid in that effort. So, after he floated in the cave for about an hour, soaking in the ethera and going over the patterns he¡¯d memorized, Elijah opened his palm to reveal the pair of potions he¡¯d brought with him. The Minor Potions of Mind and Body were more than their names suggested. At first, he¡¯d expected them to only aid in the categories of cultivation their names implied, but Biggle had confirmed that they were applicable to any efforts in cultivation. How, Elijah didn¡¯t know, but he knew he would take any help he could get. So, without further ado, Elijah put the first vial to his mouth and worked the cork free with his tongue so he wouldn¡¯t lose even a drop of the valuable potion. He swallowed the concoction ¨C which tasted a bit like flat Pepsi ¨C before repeating the action with the second potion. This one had a minty taste that Elijah couldn¡¯t identify. He wasn¡¯t really in any position to concentrate on that, though, because the effects kicked in within a few seconds. The first thing he noticed was that every facet of his Mind immediately came into focus. It was like all superfluous thoughts had been banished, and what¡¯s more, his thoughts sped up. If he¡¯d had the wherewithal to consider it, he might¡¯ve wondered what precisely was going on. But that unnatural degree of focus worked against him in that respect, and he only had a mind for the task at hand. Then, the Minor Potion of Body took hold, and his entire form went limp. Everything felt malleable in a way he couldn¡¯t really articulate, but with his enhanced focus, he knew just how helpful that state could be. So, he pushed his thoughts forward, and he dragged ethera into his body. He held it in his Core, increasing the pressure until he thought he was going to explode. Then, he created a tiny pinprick of an opening. Under such pressure, the ethera tore free, rocketing through his channels with such speed that he could barely control it. When it hit the terminus of the channel, Elijah leveraged every ounce of control he could muster, guiding it along the pattern he¡¯d already memorized. He only dug a few millimeters of channel before the flow dissipated, and doing so caused his body to erupt in pain. However, that was the first step. He had thousands, if not millions, more to go. He repeated the process, gathering ethera, pressurizing it, then releasing a stream that he used to tunnel through his body in order to create a denser collection of channels. If pushing himself to the Neophyte stage had established his arteries, then this step created veins and capillaries. But Elijah pushed it even further. Minute by minute, he created one off-shoot after off-shoot, each one smaller than the last, until his arm was finished. When he beheld it with his senses, he saw that the most minute of them were no wider than an atom. He wanted to go smaller. He pushed and pushed, and slowly, the ethereal density in the cave began to dissipate. Fortunately, the Leviathan Bones rose to the challenge, outputting even more ethera than ever before. It was like they recognized the drain on the ambient ethera, and they struggled to maintain the balance they¡¯d created. It was beautiful. And yet, Elijah had no mental bandwidth to notice. Instead, he continuously narrowed the off-shoots until, at last, they broke through his skin. He let out a gurgling scream as his channels very nearly imploded from the decreased pressure. But with a mighty heave, Elijah gathered enough ethera through the apertures in his Mind that he normalized the pressure before establishing a tiny and temporary seal, cutting that part of his body off from his core. If he hadn¡¯t been underwater, he might¡¯ve sighed in relief. But he knew that he was on a timer, so he didn¡¯t let himself lose even a second before he focused on his other arm, repeating the actions he¡¯d taken. This time, when he reached the end, he was ready for the implosion, and he slapped a similar seal onto the hole he¡¯d punched through the walls of his core. Next came his left leg. Then his right. He could feel the ethereal density in the cave waning. More, the potions had begun to wear off. He needed to push harder. To go faster. He needed to finish. So, Elijah continued on, shoving every ounce of his willpower into the task as he dug an even denser collection of channels through his torso. It was more painful than ever before, but he managed to finish just before the potions¡¯ effects dissipated. But there was only one problem. He still had one more body part that remained untouched. By comparison to the rest of his body, the channels in his head looked woefully underdeveloped and painfully weak. Elijah couldn¡¯t stop now. Not only would doing so come with a host of problems, but his sense of completion would not allow him to cease his efforts. He knew it would be incredibly painful, though. It turned out much worse than he ever could have expected. The first bit felt like someone had taken a pickaxe to his head. As it went on, a burning sensation was added to the mix. And finally, when he was on the final stretch, his entire Mind was twisted into submission. He only managed to keep going through sheer willpower and the pain tolerance he¡¯d learned throughout his adventures. But then he broke through. The following implosion, which managed to take him by surprise due to the distraction of so much pain, nearly killed him before his sluggish mind could apply the patch. Even so, he lost consciousness for the briefest of moments, which very nearly robbed him of the momentum he needed to complete the task. In the second following his brief bout of unconsciousness, Elijah¡¯s instincts took over. He¡¯d gone over his plan a thousand times, so he acted without conscious thought, simultaneously ripping each patch away. Ethera surged within him, and the second the energy filled his channels, Elijah became aware of a notification:
Congratulations! Your Soul has reached the Student Stage.
He only had a moment to read that message before a wealth of information flooded his mind. The cascade was so intense that it nearly broke the Jade facets of his Mind. They managed to hold, albeit only barely. However, with so much strain, Elijah finally lost consciousness completely. 7-13. Overstepping A cacophony of noise washed over Elijah, forcing him awake. He clamped his hands over his ears, though the gesture did nothing to protect him from the avalanche of formless sound. That was when he realized that the noise ¨C if that was even the right word ¨C was no audible thing. Rather, it was in his own Mind, the result of being overwhelmed by the weight of near-infinite feedback from the world around him. If taking the Connection specialization had given him a whisper of insight into the natural world, then what he currently felt was like being beaten over the head with a club. Repeatedly and without end. His Mind was like jelly, and his body hung limp, suspended in the center of the cave. He could feel everything around him, and to a boundless degree that completely engulfed his every thought. For what felt like an eternity ¨C but was likely only a few minutes ¨C Elijah couldn¡¯t move. He couldn¡¯t think. And he had no hope of recovery. However, with every passing second, he began to instinctively acclimate. At some point, he regained enough consciousness to take control, and he used every trick he¡¯d learned in recent years. He siphoned some of the stimuli into its own facet, sorting it in such a way as to disregard all but the broadest strokes. And that was when he realized something truly daunting. It didn¡¯t come from One with Nature or his domain. Instead, the stimuli originated from a tiny area only a few inches from his skin. It was like his Soul had breached the bounds of his body ¨C which, given what he¡¯d done during his cultivation, sounded precisely what was happening ¨C and it remained exposed, like a raw nerve. Only, there were thousands of them, and they gave him so much insight into his surroundings that it made him question his understanding of the world. The volume of such a space was barely more than three cubic feet, but to Elijah, it felt like he had an entire world laid out before inner eye. Not only could he perceive subatomic particles like electrons and neutrons, but he couldn¡¯t help but peer far deeper. Quarks, if he remembered his physics correctly, though he was in no mental state to make that distinction. There were much smaller particles, too, though Elijah had only a passing knowledge of what those might be. In any case, he was far more concerned with the ethera. Tiny threads of energy lay beneath everything, connecting it all with a web of power. It was denser in some places, but far more diffuse in others. Elijah¡¯s focus strayed to the space between. Because there was something else there. He couldn¡¯t truly perceive it, but something ¨C maybe just basic intuition ¨C told him that he¡¯d only barely scratched the surface. Then, it all disappeared as a notification appeared before his inner eye:
For your protection, your Soul has been shielded from the outside world. Due to your extraordinary efforts, you have been granted an early evolution to the spell, One with Nature.
As Elijah¡¯s mind cleared, he lost a grasp on everything he¡¯d just felt. What had all been so clear only a moment before now felt like a half-forgotten childhood memory. He knew the broad strokes of it ¨C that he¡¯d explored some of the deeper truths of the multi-verse ¨C but the details of it all were extremely foggy. He spent a few minutes trying to hold onto it, though. What he¡¯d seen was incredibly important, and even if he couldn¡¯t currently understand it, there would one day come a time when he could make sense of it all. So, he leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind to cataloguing everything he¡¯d felt. He was only marginally successful. In a lot of ways, it felt like trying to carry loose sand in a spoon. Sure, he could do it, but the size of the tool had never been meant for that task. He needed a shovel, but all he had was a tiny kitchen utensil. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Regardless, he managed to salvage some information, locking it away in a facet of his Mind so he could call upon it when things became a little clearer. In the meantime, he took stock of his Soul, and he was unsurprised to see that the channels of coursing through him no longer extended outside of his body. Instead, they were blocked by a thin ¨C but seemingly indestructible ¨C layer of ethera. Doubtless, that was the system¡¯s interference, and though the restriction rankled Elijah, he knew it was necessary. He just wasn¡¯t ready to handle the consequences of his overreach. Though it wasn¡¯t all bad news, as specified by the next notification:
One with Nature has evolved into Soul of the Wild. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
That was not how evolutions normally worked. Usually, he was afforded the opportunity to choose between three options. The fact that the upgrade was automatic left Elijah feeling even more constrained than the shield on his Soul. However, he couldn¡¯t very well fight the system ¨C and what¡¯s more, he didn¡¯t think it would be prudent to do so, given that it had only ever functioned to assist him ¨C so he just moved on to the spell¡¯s new description:
Soul of the Wild Connect to and draw power from nature.
As had been the case with the original description, it was frustratingly vague. But that only meant that it would take some time to figure everything out. He did sense that the size and depth of the area he could sense with the ability had grown, though it was far too soon to determine the breadth of that improvement. The same was the case with the augmentation to his physical attributes that came with the spell. That feature had never been reflected on his status, instead working almost like a less powerful version of his Body cultivation. So, it would take some testing to determine how much more powerful this new version of the spell was. Still, he¡¯d accomplished his primary goal, reaching the next stage of his Soul cultivation. Now, he only needed to work on his Core, and he¡¯d be free to evolve his class. It was a huge step forward, and, if he was honest, it had gone far better than expected. With that in mind, he finally opened his eyes, and to his surprise, he saw that the cave had not been completely destroyed. Every other time he¡¯d used it for cultivation, he¡¯d been forced to sacrifice all the life that called it home. In this instance, not only did the Leviathan¡¯s Bones remain unchanged, but some of the kelp had survived as well. It was not much, but that simple factor left Elijah feeling that much better about everything. He wasn¡¯t averse to killing when necessary, and he¡¯d even squared himself with the impact of his cultivation on the environment. But that didn¡¯t mean he liked killing the vegetation. So, the survival of even a few strands of kelp was a good thing, and he took it as a sign that he might one day accomplish his goals without destroying the environment. Still, Elijah took a long while to bathe the area in Nature¡¯s Bounty so he could jumpstart the regrowth. Via his newly evolved Soul of the Wild, he could feel that much of the vegetation hadn¡¯t truly died. Instead, their spores were buried beneath the Leviathan¡¯s Bones, almost as if they¡¯d taken shelter from the drain of his cultivation on the environment. So, it didn¡¯t take long before they began to grow. After a couple of hours, he¡¯d fully recovered, and the ecosystem had begun the process of repopulating the cave. Already, the density of the ethera had risen significantly, suggesting that it would only take a few more weeks ¨C at most ¨C to regain its former glory. That was a huge difference from how it had worked before he¡¯d deployed the Leviathan¡¯s Bones, and Elijah had high hopes for the future. In any case, he wasted no more time before he swam free of the cave and returned to the grove. Upon arrival, he asked Nerthus how long he¡¯d been gone. ¡°Three days,¡± the spryggent answered. ¡°I sense¡­you feel more connected to the world. What happened?¡± Elijah explained it, trying and failing to articulate what he¡¯d felt before the system had stepped in. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± he admitted. ¡°It was like I could see the building blocks of the universe, but it was more than that. There was so much more than I expected. Too much for me to truly comprehend. I think it¡¯s a good thing the system did what it did. Otherwise, I would have gone a little crazy.¡± ¡°That is probable,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°I have heard of those who merged their consciousness with the Mother. We spoke of this.¡± ¡°The Call.¡± ¡°Indeed. For those with very little power, it only manifests as a rejoining of nature. A subversion of the self in favor of a connection with everything else,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°But for those with true power, it is expected. Archdruids connect with nature on a fundamental level, even harnessing that power for their own ends.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah stated, though it all seemed incredibly vague to him. ¡°So, I briefly held the power of an Archdruid?¡± Nerthus let out a chuckle. ¡°No,¡± the spyrggent answered. ¡°From what you describe, you only brushed against that power. Imagine what you went through, then expand that to the size of your domain. Or an entire world. That is the power of an Archdruid. You merely endured a glimpse, and it nearly drove you mad.¡± ¡°So, what you¡¯re saying is that I¡¯m a little ways from getting back to that point, but that I¡¯ve got a chance,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You have barely taken a step on your path, and you¡¯re talking about a destination that is a world away.¡± ¡°Still closer than I was a few days ago. That¡¯s good progress.¡± ¡°Do not overstep. The system might save you once, but it will not do so again. Actions have consequences.¡± Elijah took that as he was currently still in the ¡°training wheels¡± stage of his development. Soon, he¡¯d have only himself for support, and when that happened, the system wouldn¡¯t step in to save him from his own hubris. Still, he had a fancy and newly evolved spell for his trouble, and he¡¯d gotten a glimpse at the future. That seemed like it was worth it. Of course, he wouldn¡¯t have been thinking that if the system hadn¡¯t saved him. In fact, he wouldn¡¯t have been thinking anything, because he got the distinct impression that his mind would have been shattered if he¡¯d been forced to endure it any longer. It was a chilling feeling, knowing that one wrong step, and everything could end. He¡¯d survived contact with so many powerful enemies that he could only look on in bemusement at the realization that he¡¯d come close to authoring his own demise. But what was done was done. Not only did he have other plans begging for his attention, but he also needed to test out his newly evolved spell. During the trip back from the cultivation cave, he¡¯d felt slightly more powerful, but it would take a lot more testing before he could determine the true extent of the improvements. On top of that, he needed to check on the progress of his various plans ¨C like the hot tub and the sapling bearing the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might. So, he didn¡¯t have time to ponder his place in the multi-verse. He had other things to do. With that in mind, he returned to his treehouse, where he immediately took a shower. Cultivating in a submerged cave was nasty work, apparently, and it took quite a lot of scrubbing before he felt even remotely clean. Once he¡¯d accomplished that small miracle, he dressed, then headed outside, where he shifted into the Shape of Sky and crossed the strait to arrive in Ironshore. For now, he had two goals in mind, and he didn¡¯t have time for the niceties of going through the gate. So, he landed in Druid¡¯s Park, where he saw something he found quite surprising. 7-14. Seeds Elijah sat upon the tree limb, high enough that no one could see him, and closed his eyes. Placing his hand on the rough bark, he pushed his awareness through his expanded channels and into the tree. Only the thinnest tendril of ethera ¨C barely perceptible even to his trained and powerful senses ¨C extended from his fingertip, but the moment it passed through the outermost layer of the tree¡¯s bark, a wealth of information flooded his unprepared mind. He let out a silent gasp as he nearly toppled from his perch, but it only took a second for him to clamp down on the cascade of input. When he did, he managed to regain his balance and, after only a few more moments, he¡¯d tamed the tidal wave. Not through his own efforts, but rather through a web of ethera that originated with Soul of the Wild. It was only through the system¡¯s assistance that he could even begin to parse the immense weight of the tree¡¯s essence. Even then, it was nearly overwhelming, and not only because it was his first time using the expanded capabilities of the newly evolved Soul of the Wild. If One with Nature had granted him awareness, then its evolution gave him understanding. The only issue was that his mind simply wasn¡¯t prepared to deal with that intense of a connection. However, he did manage to sort a few basic impressions out of what he felt. The tree was healthy, but he already knew that. As far as he could tell, it was as much an entity of magic as it was a natural being, so it wasn¡¯t really beholden to mundane problems like drought or lack of nutrients in the soil. And given the density of the ethera in Druid¡¯s Park, it didn¡¯t lack for magical energy either. He could also feel a strong desire for connection. That was part of the reason Elijah had been so overwhelmed. It was like trying to talk to an eager child who only wanted to hug you and tell you about her day. In that sort of a situation, it was impossible to get a word in, and the best course of action was to simply smile and listen. That characterization was probably even better than Elijah had first realized, because the tree definitely gave the impression of youth. And exuberance, at least as far as her nature would allow. It was only after a few moments that Elijah recognized that he¡¯d been thinking of it in feminine terms, but even if it didn¡¯t fit perfectly, he felt that it was appropriate. For a while, he just basked in the tree¡¯s presence until, at last, his store of ethera began to dip into dangerous levels. So, he retracted that tendril, surprised that connecting to other creatures via Soul of the Wild was so energy intensive. It was almost as draining as using Domain of Lightning at full blast, so he knew he wouldn¡¯t be making a habit of it. Still, the fact that it was possible at all was absolutely mind-blowing, and it hinted at something he''d long hoped would lay in his future. After all, what kind of Druid would he be if he hadn¡¯t dreamed of communicating with trees and other animals? That seemed like the natural progression of Soul of the Wild, and he couldn¡¯t wait until he was capable of carrying on conversations with various animals. As for the rest of Soul of the Wild, it was a bit of a mixed bag. The evolution of One with Nature had made the ability much more powerful, but being able to sense things for another fifty feet wasn¡¯t really a game-changer. He did like that he could peer deeper, though, even if that depth hadn¡¯t given him any more insight. ¡°Rome wasn¡¯t built in a day, though,¡± he muttered to himself. Indeed, he knew that reaching the abilities of an Archdruid would take decades. Maybe centuries. There was even a chance that it would require millennia of constant and incremental improvements. His days of enormous leaps forward were probably in the past. All except two. He still needed to take the next step with his Core cultivation, which, aside from being a huge deal on its own, would mean that he could finally evolve his class. It hadn¡¯t been that long since he¡¯d decided to delay, but it felt like years had passed since then. His willpower was strong, but he wasn¡¯t immune to the effects of anticipation. In some ways, that was kind of the point. As he withdrew from the tree, those thoughts raced through his mind, but with some effort, he pushed them away. It wasn¡¯t the time to think about the future. Instead, he needed to focus on the present. To that end, he cast his attention toward the other side of Druid¡¯s Park, where a strange scene had unfolded. When he¡¯d first arrived, he¡¯d found Miguel sparring against Colt. Neither had noticed his arrival, so he¡¯d quickly climbed the tree so he wouldn¡¯t disturb them. That was when he¡¯d decided ¨C on a whim ¨C to try out Soul of the Wild. But now that that was done, there were no distractions from his nephew¡¯s progress. The clack of practice swords filled the air, almost like a solid wall of sound. Colt and Miguel were both expert swordsmen, and their efforts made that absolutely apparent. But there were two things that surprised Elijah. One was what he¡¯d first noticed upon arrival in the Druid¡¯s Park, but the other hadn¡¯t become obvious until he¡¯d watched the pair of swordsmen for a few minutes. Miguel was far, far stronger than Colt. Maybe not in terms of levels ¨C Elijah still got the impression that Colt had a quite a few on Miguel ¨C but it was obvious that the younger fighter could have overwhelmed the one-armed Samurai if he truly wanted to. Instead, he was holding back, constraining himself to something close to equal footing. That showed that Miguel was much more skilled than Elijah had expected. Clearly, his experiences ¨C and likely, his determination ¨C had pushed him further along that path than anyone could have expected. He wasn¡¯t even sixteen yet, and already, he was a master with the blade. But Elijah also got the impression that his nephew had a long way to go yet. His potential seemed endless, and he appeared dedicated enough to reach it someday. He had talent, a good class, and the will to get the most out of both. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The other, more obvious thing Elijah had noticed was that the two swordsmen had gained an audience. They were all young, and Elijah knew that none of them had gained an archetype yet. However, most of them carried homemade versions of their own practice swords. In a few cases, those makeshift weapons were just long sticks, but in others, they¡¯d clearly been made by someone with a little talent. A couple of them even had their swords in hand. Was it because they were inspired by Miguel and Colt? Or was it a natural reaction to the war? After all, those kids had lived through two major battles, one of which had made it clear that their city was woefully outmanned. Perhaps they wanted to skew that balance and protect themselves as well as their families. Elijah continued to watch for a while until, at last, Colt called for a halt. Only then did Elijah leap down from his perch and approach the two. The children scattered as soon as they realized who he was. Except one familiar gnome girl. ¡°Hello Rosabella,¡± Elijah said. ¡°How are things?¡± She¡¯d grown a little since the last time he¡¯d seen her, but she was still only about a foot and a half tall. He didn¡¯t know how old she was, but the little girl still had a lot of growing up to do. ¡°Why did you scare everyone off?¡± she asked, her tiny hands on her hips. She¡¯d exchanged her dress for pants, and she had a wooden dagger strapped to her back. She was so small that it looked like a sword. ¡°Now I don¡¯t have anybody to spar with.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to,¡± he said. ¡°Besides, I thought you were going to apprentice with Mari as a Tailor.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a little girl anymore,¡± she huffed in her squeaky voice. ¡°Things change.¡± ¡°Right. Obviously,¡± he agreed. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± asked Miguel, who¡¯d noticed Elijah¡¯s arrival. ¡°Is something wrong?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. I just came here for two reasons. I need to get my armor repaired,¡± he said. ¡°And I want to teach you a little something about woodworking. If you want to take me up on that ¨C totally understand if that¡¯s not something you¡¯re interested in ¨C I¡¯ll be back in the grove in about an hour.¡± As expected, Miguel chose to take whatever lessons he could get. Not only was he seemingly obsessed with improvement, but he also clearly idolized Elijah. So, the opportunity to learn something from his uncle was too great to refuse. After that, Elijah explained pleasantries with Colt, who took the time to remind him about the refugees from the plane crash. For his part, Elijah hadn¡¯t forgotten them, but the way he saw it, those people had survived for more than half a decade, and as far as he knew, their situation wasn¡¯t urgent. Dire, certainly. They needed help. But it probably wouldn¡¯t make much difference if they were rescued in a week or six months. So, given that his time was not infinite, Elijah had to make choices as to his priorities. For better or worse, the refugees were not at the top of his list, even if he intended to take care of it eventually. He didn¡¯t say as much to Colt, instead opting for a generic, ¡°I¡¯m working on it.¡± That wasn¡¯t what the Samurai wanted to hear, but it was the best Elijah could offer. Once that unpleasant interaction had finished, Elijah left Miguel to his own devices while he headed into town to hunt down the Leatherworker who¡¯d created his Armor of the Boar King. He found the little goblin holed up in her shop, which featured boarded windows and looked more than a little worse for wear. If Elijah hadn¡¯t been able to feel her presence inside the structure, he might have thought the place was abandoned. As it was, he knocked on the door, and predictably received no answer. When he called out her name, Gavina finally answered, ¡°I am not taking new customers! Go away!¡± Elijah rolled his eyes and pushed through the door. The second he did, he was forced to dodge to the side to avoid a thrown knife that thudded into the doorframe. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Oh. It¡¯s you. What do you want?¡± she demanded, holding two other knives. ¡°You just threw a knife at me!¡± ¡°I thought you were a dark elf.¡± Elijah just stared at her for a second before saying, ¡°I look nothing like a dark elf¡­¡± ¡°Whatever. You¡¯re tall and dangerous. What do you want?¡± she asked. Elijah pulled his armor from the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then handed it over. In addition to being damaged during the final fight of the Trial of Primacy, the ability was spent. When he asked if she could restore it to normal, she told him to stop being stupid. ¡°Everyone knows that¡¯s not possible. I can mend the tears, but it won¡¯t provide as much protection as it did before.¡± ¡°That¡¯s fine,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Wasn¡¯t asking for your approval. Now go. Leave me be.¡± Elijah left the taciturn and paranoid goblin¡¯s shop, then returned to his island, where he quickly found Miguel in the grove. After that, he led his nephew through the forest on a quest to select a perfect branch for the planned crafting project. The idea was simple ¨C Miguel needed to be a little more self-sufficient. Having armor and weapons made was all well and good, but there was no substitute for the ability to do it himself. Sure, the final product might not be quite as good as if it was made by someone with a woodworking class, but even if Miguel only used the crafting techniques Elijah meant to pass on for a back-up, it would still be a valuable lesson. So, after finding an appropriate branch ¨C to Elijah, it felt like precision and durability ¨C they settled in to carve it into an appropriate shape. ¡°Slow and steady,¡± he advised his nephew. ¡°Use your Dexterity. This isn¡¯t a task that can be accomplished in a day. You need to feel the wood. You need to understand it and what you want it to become. Let yourself sink into it.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t quite feel it the way Elijah did, but that was not unexpected. Still, over the course of the rest of the day ¨C which was all Elijah could spare ¨C the young Green Warden managed to rough out the shape. As he did, Elijah used Nature¡¯s Bounty and Healing Rain to bathe it in ethera in the hopes that it would improve the quality. Along the way, Elijah gave Miguel step-by-step instructions on how to keep going. The method would be similar to the one he used for his staves, but altered slightly to accommodate a different shape as well as Miguel¡¯s different set of skills. For his part, Miguel absorbed Elijah¡¯s advice, which was both a little scary and extremely gratifying. The first because Elijah felt pretty certain that he shouldn¡¯t be anyone¡¯s example, but the second because he truly wanted to be seen that way. Regardless, it was a rewarding experience that Elijah felt was necessary for him to reset his mind after what he¡¯d experienced while cultivating his Soul. That had given him a look that told him just how deep the world went, but his time with Miguel told him that just because reality was far more complex and overwhelming than he could have expected, it didn¡¯t negate the actuality of his everyday existence. But he could only focus on those things for so long. He had other things to do, after all. So, when the sun set, he left Miguel to his own devices and headed back to the center of the grove, where he resumed work on his core. As he¡¯d expected, cycling ethera through his newly expanded system of channels and into his core was far easier than it had been before he¡¯d progressed his Soul to the Student tier, which gave him hope that he would be finished with that portion of his development sooner rather than later. Regardless, he still needed to put in the work, so he leveraged the entirety of his focus to that end, and like that, the night passed. 7-15. Spires Elijah opened his eyes, and though he hadn¡¯t slept a wink, he felt just as refreshed as if he¡¯d had a full night¡¯s rest. However, he also felt sore ¨C almost like he¡¯d run a marathon the day before ¨C but in a way that went deeper than his muscles. More importantly, he felt that his core had expanded by a miniscule amount. It was far from enough to prepare him to make the jump to the next tier, but it was a good sign for the near future. After all, according to Biggle, the Will of Iron was supposed to increase the efficacy of his core cultivation by a significant degree, so he hoped that it would help push him over the edge. Still, he worried that it wouldn¡¯t be enough, which was why he intended to wait until the cultivation cave had returned to peak ethereal density before he gave it a try. Even if he couldn¡¯t make enough progress with the Will of Iron, it wasn¡¯t like it would be for naught. The benefits would remain, and he¡¯d be that much closer to his goal. Even so, he hoped to finish it in one go. Not only was he impatient for whatever gains awaited him, but he could also feel his time ticking away. Already, it had been a week since his return from the Trial of Primacy, and he knew just how quickly the remaining days would pass. He needed to remain focused, or he¡¯d never do the things he needed to do. For now, though, he needed to devote as much time as possible to core cycling. So, he sank back into meditation, letting the blanket of nature¡¯s presence wrap around him as he slowly drew ethera into his core. Once it was there, he leveraged his willpower upon the cloud of swirling energy within him, compacting it as much as possible. Then, he drew more in. And more after that. He continued to repeat the same process until his core was full to bursting with ethera so dense that it was practically solid. Then, bit by bit, he released his hold, letting it expand. It pushed against the bounds of his core, widening it ever so slightly with every passing second. It was like a balloon that had been filled to bursting, and he knew just how careful he needed to be in order to keep it from doing just that. He didn¡¯t know the consequences for a broken core, but he expected it would not be pleasant. Likely not deadly, given that none of his guides had mentioned it, but he knew it would be detrimental. At best, he¡¯d have to rebuild it bit by bit. At worst, the guides had neglected to mention deadly consequences because the writers had simply assumed that no one would be stupid enough to push things that far. Either way, Elijah had no intention of finding out. With as much care as he could muster, he continued to cycle, and when the core was as full as it could be, he pushed the excess ethera away. Doing so was painful, and it felt like every pore was spewing boiling acid, but Elijah endured it without even a grimace. One moment of lost control would be catastrophic. Minute by minute, he continued the process until, at last, he¡¯d exhausted his willpower. When he let his focus lapse and opened his eyes, he was assaulted by bright sunlight and a foul stench that smelled like mingled sweat and burning rubber. To call it unpleasant would have been a massive understatement. Elijah had expected it, though. Because the process of cycling wasn¡¯t only meant to train his core, but also to purify it. Apparently, metaphysical gunk tended to build up within a core ¨C kind of like a drainage pipe ¨C and each stage was meant to be a fresh start. The stuff covering his body ¨C which resembled nothing so much as orange-tinted petroleum jelly ¨C was the physical representation of those contaminants. ¡°Gross,¡± he muttered. He knew it was a necessary part of cultivation, but that didn¡¯t mean he was looking forward to enduring it hundreds of times before he was ready to move forward. In any event, with his willpower wrung out, he headed to his treehouse where he spent quite some time scrubbing himself clean. Thankfully, his homemade soap was more than up to the task, though he did see that he was running distressingly low on the stuff. Soon, he¡¯d need to make more, though doing so would necessitate finding more fat to render. And if he wanted the best results, it would need to come from a powerful creature. He¡¯d tried to take some fat from the abyssal monster he¡¯d killed back in the Trial of Primacy, but it had been far too tainted for his uses. And the beasts of ka¡¯arath weren¡¯t powerful enough. So, he expected he¡¯d need to spend some time on the hunt. Maybe now that the Communication Network was available, someone could point him in the right direction. For now, though, he just needed to keep an eye out. As he showered, he paid attention to his domain, and he noticed that Carmen had once again foregone sleeping in the house Nerthus had grown for her. That was another thing he needed to monitor. His sister-in-law was almost as prone to obsessiveness as he was, and that meant she would work herself to death if someone didn¡¯t remind her to take a step back and breathe. But he had no intention of doing that himself. A quick word to Miguel would suffice. Let him brave his mother¡¯s ire. As for that young man, he was still hard at work carving his new blade. He¡¯d made a little progress, but it would likely take him weeks to complete it. Thankfully, Nerthus had taken an interest, and the spryggent was currently hovering over Miguel and using his powers to enhance the wood. It wouldn¡¯t be quite as strong as if Elijah did it, but it would still be more powerful than anything Miguel could create without help. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Whatever the case, the new sword wasn¡¯t meant to be perfect. It was just a first attempt, and each iteration that followed would improve upon that effort. One day, he might even make something truly wondrous. After ensuring that Miguel was on the right track, Elijah turned his attention to the cultivation cave. His sense of his domain wasn¡¯t perfect in determining ethereal density, but he suspected that it would be at least another week before the cave reached a level that could accommodate his core cultivation plans. That wasn¡¯t so terrible, though. Elijah still had a ways to go before his core was ready to take that step. In fact, he wasn¡¯t sure he could meet that mark before the cave was ready. He certainly intended to try, though. But he had something else he needed to see to while he recovered from his recent bout of cycling. So, once he¡¯d finished showering, Elijah dressed in one of his simple outfits, grabbed his Feral Spire and his other equipment, then headed outside. After a quick check of the hot tub ¨C it was really starting to heat up, though the seed had barely even sprouted ¨C Elijah used Shape of Sky and headed over to the mainland. However, this time, he didn¡¯t bother going into town. Instead, his destination was about a mile outside Ironshore¡¯s walls. He landed in the clearing, startling a group of nearby workers. They clearly recognized him ¨C because they didn¡¯t immediately run away from the multi-colored dragon-like creature that had dropped out of the sky ¨C but they were just as obviously uneasy in his presence. Elijah was used to that, so he ignored their furtive glances and embraced his human form. The transformation occurred faster than ever before, which was proof of just how much more efficient his Soul¡¯s channels had become. If before his shapeshifting had taken a little less than two seconds, his transformations could now be completed in only a bit more than a second. Though he suspected that the next step would see some diminishing returns, he also expected that his other spells would have also been affected. He¡¯d yet to test everything out, but with an increased amount of ethera flowing through him, it was hard to believe spells like Lightning Domain wouldn¡¯t be positively impacted. He wasn¡¯t concerned with that right now, largely because he intended to do some extensive testing once he¡¯d upgraded his core and evolved his class. Instead, he was far more interested in the construction laid out before him. And the weedy man who was at its center. ¡°Wilhelm!¡± Elijah shouted, raising his hand. ¡°Buddy! Friend! How have you been?¡± Wilhelm went pale. He was dressed like he was ready for a safari, with khaki shorts, heavy boots, and a matching shirt. He even wore a pith helmet, which made him look a little like a cartoon character. ¡°Mr. Hart,¡± he said, his German accent a little less prevalent than the last time Elijah had seen him. ¡°I am well. What¡­what brings you here? You aren¡¯t going to take me away, are you? Your nephew ¨C¡± ¡°Miguel told me everything,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You tagged along, paying your own way. I came to see how your little project is going.¡± ¡°The Spires are progressing quite well,¡± Wilhelm said, still a little standoffish, but warming up a bit. ¡°As you can see. The opening of the Communications Network has made it much easier. The Researchers back in the Conclave have sent their latest designs, and I have good reason to believe that, with the incredible ethereal density here, we will be able to connect to the main Spires.¡± ¡°And you¡¯ll be able to create your own teleportation network then?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Yes!¡± Wilhelm answered excitedly. ¡°Of course, one of the Spatial Wizards will need to come here to operate it, but that is no problem for such a large and powerful organization. Why are you here, if I may ask?¡± ¡°Just checking up on you,¡± Elijah answered. The truth was that he was incredibly interested in the notion of a non-Branch teleportation network. Other worlds had them, and he knew that most people preferred to travel by those means, largely because of the incredible cost of using the Branch¡¯s Teleportation Network. Even Elijah needed to be careful about that large of an expenditure. In short, the so-called Conclave was a big deal, and if they could do what they planned, it would absolutely change the face of the world. And Elijah wanted to get in on the ground floor. Not as an investor, but rather as a guide of sorts. ¡°Once you finish here, I want to take you back to Argos,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You¡¯re going to build one of these Spires there. I want it to become a trade hub.¡± ¡°You believe you can dictate such things?¡± Wilhelm asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°Dictate? No. But I can make suggestions,¡± he stated. ¡°And given that I saved your life, as well as gave you the insight you needed to make this work, I think I¡¯m entitled to some influence within your organization. Besides, this is for your good. I happen to know that there¡¯s a Consortium of Crafters and Merchants that will probably be based in that city. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re not going to transport people out of a sense of public good, right?¡± ¡°We will charge a nominal fee. Much less than the Branch¡¯s service, but enough to assist with upkeep and ¨C¡± ¡°People will want to visit Argos for business. Lots of them. You¡¯d be silly not to take advantage of that,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°I can promise you won¡¯t regret it. Pass that on to your people.¡± That sort of ended the conversation then and there. Elijah didn¡¯t like being so blunt about things, but at least he hadn¡¯t threatened the man. That was progress as far as he was concerned. After that, Elijah inspected the site. His presence clearly made everyone uncomfortable, so he kept it short and sweet ¨C not that there was much to see. The structure itself consisted of four curved prongs, each intended to be about fifty feet tall and made from a mixture of stone and metal. To Elijah, it looked almost like someone had intended to build two crossed arches, but removed the intersection. The ground was a little more normal, and Elijah recognized dragonstone pavers that he assumed would be carved with various enchantments. Via Soul of the Wild, he could sense a complex set of magical machinery beneath those paving stones. Even with everything laid about before him, Elijah couldn¡¯t make much sense of it. But that was probably appropriate, considering he¡¯d never made a study of the subject of teleportation. Presumably, the spatial wizards of the Conclave would know more. Once Wilhelm assured Elijah that he would speak to his superiors, Elijah headed back to the island, where he settled into the center of the grove ¨C right next to the ancestral tree ¨C and resumed his efforts at core cycling. He had a long way to go, and not much time to get there. So, he didn¡¯t have a minute to spare. To help his efforts, he swallowed the Will of Iron, which made every aspect of cycling that much more efficient. In a single cycle ¨C much like the one he¡¯d engaged the night before ¨C he covered almost three times as much ground. Hopefully, it would be enough. But only time would tell. For now, he could only concentrate on the task at hand, so he sank deep within himself and focused every bit of his willpower on pushing as far as possible in the time he had left. 7-16. Benefits of the Grove Miguel hunched over his project, his face only a few inches away from the blade he¡¯d spent the last couple of days carving. He didn¡¯t have the patience of his uncle, and what little he did possess had long since worn thin. As much as he valued the end product, crafting just wasn¡¯t something he enjoyed. So, instead of sinking into what Elijah had described as a crafting trance, Miguel had been fighting against his own nature since the very beginning. Still, he was too stubborn to give up, especially when he was so close to completion. With that in mind, he pushed even closer, digging the tiny awl into the spine. For the weapon¡¯s shape, he¡¯d chosen a single-edged blade, much like Colt¡¯s old katana. However, Miguel had decided to take inspiration from Chinese blades, rather than the iconic Japanese weapons. Because of his mother¡¯s obsession with blacksmithing, he¡¯d been exposed to all sorts of weaponry. She¡¯d even made him memorize their names and general characteristics, so he knew enough to categorize his new weapon as a liuyedao, or a willow-leaf saber. It was about forty inches long, with a curved blade, and a straight hilt, and it was just as suitable for mounted combat as it was for fighting on foot. Given his partnership with Trevor, that seemed appropriate to him. There were a few issues with carving the weapon from wood as opposed to forging it from metal, but in general, it was a much simpler process. Moreover, it had allowed for the integration of more details, especially on the blade itself. Elijah had been adamant that such embellishments were vital to the overall quality, and he¡¯d advised Miguel to just let the crafting process dictate what shape those adornments took. But Miguel felt nothing. So, he¡¯d decided to cover the spine with swirling lines that looked a little like the decoration that had adorned Sting in the Lord of the Rings movies. Due to his lacking skill, as well as the fact that he was working from years-old memories, Miguel was only partially successful. However, his Dexterity made up for many of his shortcomings, and he was mostly satisfied with the progression of the carving. Finally, when his patience had finally been exhausted, he made one final notch, completing the design. A second later, he let out a relieved sigh and set the awl down, where it joined the other carving tools within the leather case. The set belonged to his uncle, and it contained a half-dozen tools Miguel thought were redundant. Elijah had tried to explain their individualized purposes, but to Miguel, a file was a file, and a knife was a knife. He¡¯d only used three tools during the entire process. The rest remained in their little pockets. He blinked up at the sky, surprised to see weak beams of morning sunlight through the trees. Across the grove, he saw his uncle sitting where he¡¯d been for the past few days. A localized rainstorm stood over him, and even Miguel could sense the wild fluctuations of ethera and life that surrounded the Druid. Beside Elijah was a pool that, apparently, would become a hot tub sometime in the future. For now, the water was only lukewarm, so Miguel was a little skeptical about its future. Not that it mattered. He didn¡¯t so much care about leisurely soaking in a pool of warm water. He had too much to do. But first, he needed to put the finishing touches on his new weapon. Otherwise, it would remain no more than an oddly shaped hunk of wood. So, he pushed himself to his feet and, sword in hand, crossed the grove. His intended destination was the beach, where he planned to build a fire where he could harden the blade. However, before he¡¯d even left the grove, his uncle called out. ¡°You¡¯re about to fire harden that thing, right?¡± Elijah asked when Miguel came into range. Before he had a chance to answer, the Druid ¨C who still hadn¡¯t moved or opened his eyes ¨C said, ¡°Do it here. The fire will help nurture the Ash Lotus.¡± Miguel looked around. Nerthus definitely wouldn¡¯t approve of an open flame in his grove. Plus, the rainstorm might make it more difficult to keep a fire going. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked. ¡°I am. Do it. I¡¯ll get you some wax to seal it when you¡¯re done. And I think Nerthus might be able to help as well.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t really have an argument to disobey his uncle¡¯s suggestion ¨C or order, really ¨C so he dug a small pit near the pool, then headed outside the grove¡¯s bounds to gather firewood. After spending a good deal of time in the wilderness, he was an old hand at the onerous task, so he returned quickly and carefully piled the sticks inside the pit. That was when his uncle surprised him once again by dragging what looked like an old laser pointer from his pack and using it to spark a flame. ¡°That¡¯s so cool,¡± Miguel muttered. He couldn¡¯t remember how many times he¡¯d struggled to get a flame going. In a dry environment, it was simple enough, but when the weather didn¡¯t cooperate, it was usually quite a pain. ¡°Where did you get that?¡± ¡°There¡¯s an Artificer in Argos. I¡¯ll introduce you when we can spare the time to visit.¡± After that, Elijah went silent while Miguel tended the flame. Once it was ready, he placed the blade a few inches over the fire. The idea behind flame hardening was pretty simple, but it needed a steady hand at the proverbial tiller. If he did it right, the moisture in the blade would evaporate, and it would harden according to his intentions. But if he left it over the flame too long, the whole thing would char and be ruined. Thankfully, while Miguel might¡¯ve had a deficiency in patience, he did possess a powerful ability to focus. So, there was never much danger of him letting the process go too far. It only took a little less than an hour before it had finished, and when he tested it, he was satisfied with the results. That¡¯s when he realized that Nerthus was watching him. ¡°Oh. Hey,¡± Miguel said, trying to hide how much the tree spirit¡¯s sudden appearance had startled him. He¡¯d spent a lot of time trying to work on his situational awareness, and it was more than a little disheartening how easily Nerthus could sneak up on him. It was a good thing, then, that the spryggent intended him no harm. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°I have two things that should help you finish your project, though I hope I can trust you to mend the damage you have done to the grove,¡± Nerthus said, his voice unquestioning. Miguel assured the tree spirit that he would take care of the fire pit appropriately, which brought a nod of approval. ¡°Then hand me your blade.¡± Miguel followed Nerthus¡¯ command. For a moment, Nerthus held the weapon by the hilt and inspected it closely. Finally, he said, ¡°This is an acceptable first effort, though I expect you to improve with your next attempt. You are this grove¡¯s protector. A defense against all who might covet its power. As such, you must wield weapons appropriate for your station.¡± Nerthus raised the sword, then used the blade to nick his finger. After that, he smeared his blood ¨C which resembled black sap ¨C along the entire edge. When he was done, he said, ¡°I have consecrated this blade as a symbol of your authority and duty, Green Warden. Accept this gift in the spirit it was given.¡± He held the blade out, and Miguel took it as reverently as he could. After giving Nerthus a bow, he said, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°You are welcome, young Green Warden. Now, you must sharpen that blade. The resin will enhance the wood and hold an edge much better than even the most durable wood.¡± Miguel looked at the blade. The area up to the primary bevel was entirely black, just like Nerthus¡¯ sap, though the additional material had thrown off the blade¡¯s geometry. So, Miguel followed Nerthus¡¯ instructions and retrieved a file to remove some of the material. After that, he used some homemade sandpaper to give it a fine edge that, when tested, proved incredibly sharp. Throughout the whole process, Elijah continued to use his plant-growing spell, which flooded the entire area in extreme vitality. Miguel wasn¡¯t certain if that would help, but he knew it couldn¡¯t hurt. Thankfully, his uncle had let the rainstorm stop. Otherwise, it would have made things a little more difficult. Not impossible, but definitely messier. In any case, once Miguel was satisfied with the edge, he found that Nerthus had once again appeared out of nowhere. This time, he held a large jar, which he said was a sealant Elijah had developed for his various staves. It was made of beeswax gathered from the grove¡¯s apiary and homemade linseed oil. Because all of the ingredients had been sourced on the island, the final product was absolutely teeming with ethera. That reminded Miguel just how lucky he was to have such resources available to him. Certainly, he could have made do with other, lesser ingredients. He knew that much. But it wasn¡¯t out of the question that the grove would push anything he made within its bounds to a much higher tier than his meager skill would normally dictate. It also made him wonder what a true crafter could do in such an environment. When he asked Nerthus, the tree spirit said, ¡°Many groves are widely renowned for their crafters. I remember very little of my home planet, but at times, I can still hear the song of the Treesingers. However, you must be wary of any Tradesman who appears too eager to join a grove. Many have no real connection to nature, and thus, only wish to use the grove¡¯s resources for their own ends.¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that how it works with most people?¡± Miguel asked. He was not well-experienced in the ways of the world, but he knew enough about human nature to know that people were often self-interested, sometimes to the detriment of everyone else. ¡°It is,¡± Nerthus agreed. ¡°That is why we must be selective in who we allow within the grove. Your uncle has no interest in such things. Left to his own devices, he would never allow anyone into his home.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right here,¡± muttered Elijah without opening his eyes. He was around ten feet away, but he was more than close enough to hear Nerthus¡¯ assessment. ¡°I am aware,¡± the tree spirit said, which elicited a dramatic groan from the Druid. Then, to Miguel, he continued, ¡°A person must be of very specific character to serve the grove. Remember that before inviting others. But do not be too selective, lest we become vulnerable in our stagnation.¡± ¡°You talk about it like I¡¯m going to be out there recruiting people.¡± ¡°So I do. Now, finish your weapon. I am eager to see the results,¡± Nerthus said. Miguel sat, and though he was tempted to let his mind wander to Nerthus¡¯ statement, he focused his attention on the task at hand. The sealant went on easily, and he spent quite a lot of time massaging it into the wood, including the simple hilt and guard. He¡¯d been tempted to go with something more elaborate, but in the end, he neither had the skill nor the desire to carve anything too fancy. It was a weapon of war, not art. He spent a few hours covering every inch of the weapon, using his awl to help him get it into the carved embellishments. Once he was finished, he again found Nerthus waiting for him with a few strips of leather. ¡°This is from the mightiest guardian your uncle has encountered,¡± Nerthus stated, handing it over. ¡°The boar king was at the peak of the mortal realm, and if it had been in its right mind, it would have ascended long before meeting Elijah.¡± ¡°And he killed it?¡± ¡°It gave it the merciful death it deserved,¡± Elijah announced, his eyes finally open. He didn¡¯t move from where he sat, but he continued, ¡°The guardian had been robbed of its natural treasure but left alive. It was panicked and distraught, and it had begun to rampage across the plains, killing hundreds of people. I stopped it, but there was no victory in it. Just a tragedy. Using its hide to help protect this grove honors it.¡± Then, Elijah once again closed his eyes. For his part, Nerthus provided more sap to act as an adhesive, which Miguel used to affix the leather to the hilt. As he wrapped the strips around the handle, he felt a surge of ethera emanating from the blade, and once he¡¯d finished, that surge became an explosion of energy that felt powerful enough to physically burn him. It didn¡¯t. But when he finally looked upon the weapon, he saw that the product was far better than he could have expected. The curved blade was perfectly shaped, and the carved embellishments stood out just enough to give it character. When he hefted it, he found that it was well-balanced, and the hilt was comfortable in his hand. The blade was finished, and the second he acknowledged that, a notification flashed across his inner eye:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item: [Blade of the Green Warden] Overall Grade: Complex (low) Enchantment Grade: C
¡°It¡¯s¡­Complex-grade,¡± he whispered to himself. ¡°I shouldn¡¯t be able to make something like this. It¡¯s not¡­it just shouldn¡¯t be this good.¡± Elijah smiled in his direction. ¡°That¡¯s part of being connected to the grove,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how it works ¨C not exactly ¨C but the power of the grove tends to fill in gaps and helps us get more out of the materials than we otherwise would. Sadly, as non-crafters, everything we make is already bound.¡± ¡°That would not be the case for any Tradesmen we recruit,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Remember what I said.¡± Then, the tree spirit disappeared, flowing into a nearby root. Meanwhile, Elijah closed his eyes, and the pulse of the Druid¡¯s ethera told Miguel that his uncle was in the middle of a powerful bout of cultivation. ¡°I guess I need a scabbard now,¡± he said. That was true, but now that his task was complete, all the sleep he¡¯d missed over the past few days had begun to tell on him. So, he retreated to the treehouse that he shared with his mother, then collapsed onto the bed of moss and fell asleep. The moment he drifted into unconsciousness, he dreamed of the community Nerthus wanted him to recruit. 7-17. Ready for the Final Step Elijah watched via Soul of the Wild as Miguel completed his sword. The weapon itself was nothing particularly special, and Elijah had difficulty not jumping in to help with the carving. However, because of the advantages associated with working in the grove ¨C and of being tied to it as strongly as Miguel was ¨C the final product had turned out quite well. ¡°It is not so different from your first staff,¡± Nerthus said as Miguel fell asleep. After staying up for three days, he¡¯d fallen quickly into unconsciousness. Nerthus asked, ¡°What was it called?¡± ¡°Staff of Natural Harmony,¡± Elijah answered at once. He¡¯d been so impressed with himself after carving it, and for good reason. Not because it was a masterful piece of equipment, but rather, because of the ingenuity it had represented. Stuck on a deserted island, he¡¯d managed to overcome a host of problems to create something truly unique. In a lot of ways, he missed it. His later attempts were better in nearly every way, with the Feral Spire being the best yet, but that first staff would always have a special place in his heart. ¡°A fitting name,¡± Nerthus agreed. ¡°What was all that about recruiting people for the grove? You made it sound like Miguel is going to venture out into the world and start handing out brochures or something.¡± ¡°He is most likely to recruit new talent,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°You certainly have showed no signs of doing so.¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± It was mostly true, though. The only people he¡¯d even invited to Ironshore were his companions during the Trial of Primacy, and even then, he¡¯d only offered a permanent place to Oscar. And that wasn¡¯t because he thought he could get something from the man, but rather because he thought Oscar could use the help. He still hadn¡¯t answered Elijah¡¯s messages. Neither had Benedict, but at least Lamar had responded, saying that things were peaceful for now. He cautioned that that would change soon, though, and he¡¯d once again asked for help dealing with his former teammate-turned-warlord. Ron had reiterated that he needed help as well, though he¡¯d made a point to tell Elijah that it wasn¡¯t as urgent as he¡¯d first thought. Something needed to be done sooner rather than later, but it could wait a few weeks. That was a good thing, too, because Elijah wanted to finish his cultivation and achieve his class evolution before he left the grove. Largely, that was because he knew that if he cut that particular corner, it would likely be months before he got the chance to finish things properly. But that timer weighed on Elijah. As much as he trusted Ron, the man had a habit of understating danger. He also wasn¡¯t great at estimating how things might escalate, so it wouldn¡¯t be terribly surprising if things unexpectedly got out of hand. No ¨C sooner would be better than later, so Elijah resolved to take care of that the moment he¡¯d finished his cultivation and chose his class evolution. ¡°So much to do, so little time,¡± he muttered to himself. It was an ironic sentiment, considering that his potential lifespan had never been longer. And the moment he reached the Ascendent tier, it would become even longer. In any case, Elijah spent a few minutes centering his mind before taking stock of the grove. The hot tub was progressing well, with the ash lotus on the verge of sprouting. The amount of time that had taken was telling, given that he¡¯d been steadily inundating the entire area with life from Nature¡¯s Bounty and Healing Rain. That it still hadn¡¯t sprouted was a testament to how long its life cycle generally was. The cultivation cave, by comparison, was already teeming with so much life that Elijah expected that it was already prepared for another attempt. According to Nerthus, using it a second time so quickly after taking the next step with his Soul cultivation would probably set the ecosystem back by a significant degree. And because of that, it would take much, much longer to recover. However, he did make it a point to note that it would not cause any irreparable damage. So, now that the cave was ready, Elijah only needed to ensure that he was as well. To that end, he focused on cycling energy through his core, compacted its contents, then slowly letting it expand until his core stretched to its limits. After that, he vented the excess, and it deflated. Although, when it did, it was infinitesimally larger than before. Then, he repeated the cycle. Over and over, he kept going, just as he¡¯d been doing for days. It was not a pleasant experience, and packing more and more ethera into his core was quite painful. Yet, Elijah refused to let himself waver before the pain. Instead, it drove him to push even harder, to go even further. Days passed, and he didn¡¯t move a muscle. Vaguely, even as he continued cycling, he was aware of his surroundings. After having finished his weapon and gotten some rest, Miguel headed to the city. Carmen came and went a couple of times, only sleeping in her own bed a single time. Nerthus tended to the grove, and as the weather broke, an autumn chill swept over the island. Elijah had known it was coming, but he still found it surprising for some reason. Probably because, after spending a subjective year on Ka¡¯arath, his sense of the seasons had gotten a little out of whack. Regardless, the cooling weather meant that Nerthus finally planted the cold-attuned natural treasures in the Frozen Glade. Hopefully, they would take root and help support the Frozen Oak. But Elijah wasn¡¯t nearly as concerned with that as he was with his steadily growing core. Strangely, even as it expanded, the walls ¨C ephemeral as they were ¨C grew thicker as well. That meant that it took that much more energy to push it to its limits, and each cycle ended up taking longer and longer with every passing sequence. Gradually, he began to feel spiritually bloated. It wasn¡¯t a physical sensation, though it did cause some discomfort. Rather, it was a feeling that his core approached the limits of what it could handle. He kept pushing, though, hoping to simply endure the pain. And for a while, it worked. He continued on, cycle after cycle, and with each one, pain slowly progressed toward agony. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. And finally, he reached the end of his endurance. Tears streamed down his face as he tried to pack one more bit of ethera into his core. ¡°Stop. You have gone as far as you can,¡± Nerthus advised, hovering over him like a concerned parent. ¡°I can go a little further,¡± Elijah grunted. ¡°You cannot,¡± Nerthus argued. Elijah ignored him, getting one more cycle until he felt something beginning to tear. ¡°Stop. I beg you,¡± Nerthus pleaded, putting his hand on Elijah¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Everyone has limits. You have reached yours. If you do not advance your core within the next few days, you run the risk of being crippled. Remember what happened with your Soul.¡± There was something to be said for pushing those limits aside. After all, going too far with his Soul had been a net benefit, upgrading One with Nature to Soul of the Wild. However, he¡¯d only survived intact because of the system¡¯s interference. And he knew that wouldn¡¯t be on offer a second time around. So, against his nature, which dictated that he keep pushing as long and as hard as possible, he took Nerthus¡¯ advice. Slowly, he vented that ethera, and with every passing minute, gained a little relief. The tear mended itself, but a tiny scar remained. It was only barely perceptible, but he could see it nonetheless. A reminder of just how close he¡¯d come to giving in to his hubris and, perhaps, dooming himself. Eventually, the core shrank back to normal. Its walls were thick and fortified ¨C almost calloused ¨C while the size had clearly grown much larger than it had been even a week before. Unfortunately, he could feel the effects of the Will of Iron waning. According to everything Biggle had told him, he still had another couple of days before it faded altogether, but he wanted to use it for that final push. The cycling he¡¯d been doing so far was only preparation for the next step, which would require an entirely different technique. He understood it well enough, but it just wasn¡¯t possible to even practice it until his core was ready. Now it was. He still needed to wait a few hours before he could go down to the cultivation cave and cross the proverbial finish line, though. So, as eager as he was to do just that, he needed to waste a bit of time. With that in mind, he inspected the Ash Lotus, which had finally managed to sprout. It was only a tendril, but he hoped that it would develop rapidly from there on out. If not, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take advantage before he left on his various tasks. Next he looked in on the Frozen Glade, where the Frozen Oak had taken firm root. It still had a long way to go, but Nerthus¡¯ efforts planting the lesser natural treasures had already had an effect. The entire area around it was at least ten degrees cooler than anywhere else on the island, and judging by the amount of ethera in the air, he suspected it would rapidly drop over the next few weeks. The rest of the island was fairly normal. The family of deer were happy enough, while all the other animals and vegetation seemed to be thriving. And most of all, the cultivation cave was absolutely teeming with both life and ethera. It was just as ready as his core. Seeing that, Elijah knew that as soon as he felt his core had normalized ¨C and it would be entirely recovered in only a few hours, by his estimate ¨C he would have no more excuses not to push forward. With that in mind, he went into his treehouse and took a long shower. The amount of gunk covering his body was absolutely atrocious, and the clothes he¡¯d been wearing were ruined. In the end, it took almost half an hour before he felt entirely clean, and once he was, he dressed and headed outside. After that, he shifted into the Shape of Sky and headed toward Ironshore. It didn¡¯t take him long to find Carmen, who was in her smithy working on what looked like a shield. He landed outside the building, regained his human form, then went inside. She looked up after only a couple of minutes, then held up a hand to tell him to wait. Ten minutes of banging on that shield later, and she dunked it into a vat of steaming oil before yanking it free. She inspected it ¨C for what, Elijah wasn¡¯t sure ¨C then set it aside once she was satisfied with what she saw. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± she asked, walking his way. ¡°You look different.¡± Elijah answered, ¡°I¡¯m going to be unavailable for the next week or so. Maybe a bit longer. I don¡¯t know. And I just wanted to see if you might want to have coffee or lunch or something before I get started.¡± She answered, ¡°Sure. I need a break.¡± ¡°And you want to spend some time with me before I¡¯m potentially away for a couple of weeks?¡± ¡°Uh¡­sure. That too,¡± she said before grinning. She punched him in the shoulder. ¡°I¡¯m just joking. Come on. There¡¯s this sandwich shop that just opened up a couple of days ago. I¡¯ve been wanting to give it a try.¡± After that, he and his sister-in-law headed down the street a few blocks until they reached a quaint bistro that reminded Elijah of something he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on. The two-story structure was fairly narrow, with the business occupying the entire bottom floor. According to Carmen, the owner lived above, where Elijah saw a balcony with intricate, wrought iron bannisters. ¡°It¡¯s like the French Quarter in New Orleans,¡± Elijah said, remembering visiting the iconic city a couple of times in his wilder youth. ¡°Good eye,¡± Carmen responded. ¡°That¡¯s where the owner originally came from. Come on. I¡¯ve heard the food is amazing.¡± Elijah followed his sister-in-law inside, and he was surprised to find that the interior was much like any other deli he¡¯d ever visited. The owners ¨C a tall, rangy woman and her much stouter husband ¨C stood behind a counter, with the rest of the space dedicated to seating. After looking at the chalkboard menu, Elijah ordered a Cubano, while Carmen chose a muffalata. And the moment Elijah took his first bite, he was absolutely in love with the place. After savoring that bite, he finally swallowed and said, ¡°I¡¯ve had a lot of Cubanos in my life, but that is the single best sandwich I¡¯ve ever tasted.¡± ¡°Here,¡± Carmen said, cutting a piece of her muffalata for him to try. ¡°You might not say that after you¡¯ve tried this.¡± Elijah eagerly took the small sliver of sandwich, then stuffed it into his mouth. Ham and olive oil, provolone and mozzarella, multiple types of salami, and of course, olives ¨C the taste burst in his mouth, and Elijah had to stop himself from stealing the rest of the New Orleans staple and fleeing the scene. He restrained himself, returning to his own sandwich. It was similar in construction, but entirely different in taste. He knew which one he preferred, and it wasn¡¯t the one he¡¯d chosen. The Cubano was a decent consolation prize, especially considering it was one of the best examples of that particular type of sandwich he¡¯d ever eaten. Maybe the best, considering that he could feel the tingle of a significant amount of ethera with every bite. After that, he and his sister-in-law enjoyed a pleasant meal. She explained her current project ¨C a shield for one of the adventurers who¡¯d come to town from Norcastle ¨C and Elijah talked to her about the ingot of Celestial Gold Sadie had taken as her reward. She didn¡¯t really resent the fact that he¡¯d volunteered her to forge a set of armor for the woman, and instead seemed eager to get started once she had the materials in hand. But eventually, their meal came to an end, and more importantly, Elijah felt that his core had recovered from his previous strain. So, he took his leave, telling Carmen where he could be found in the event that there was an emergency. Then, he returned to his island, where he completed his final preparations ¨C stripping down and eating a couple of his grove fruits ¨C before heading to the cave. He didn¡¯t waste any more time before diving into the ocean and tracing his way back to the cave. When he arrived, it felt like he¡¯d run head-first into a wall of pure ethera, but he forged ahead, dodging between huge strands of kelp until he reached the absolute center. Then, he closed his eyes, spread his arms, and began the final stretch of his journey toward a new stage of core cultivation. 7-18. Density Controlling the ethera in his body was no easy feat, but everything leading up to that moment had prepared Elijah for it. That was part of the reason core cultivation became easier when the other aspects of cultivation had already reached that next level. Making those leaps had forced him to understand ethera in a way that, otherwise, never would have been possible. It had also driven him to develop his willpower. Despite that not being a verifiable or trackable ability, it was one of the primary determinants of success in cultivation. Going through the motions would get a person only so far before sheer pain tolerance and the will to keep going became important. Even so, when Elijah sank within himself and began the final step required to push his core to the next tier, he found that the task was much more difficult than he ever could have imagined. At first, he felt like he was shoving against a mountain, for all the good it did. As he acclimated to the strain, he saw some progress, but he likened it to the effects of erosion. Sure, the wind couldn¡¯t actually move a mountain on its own. Not all at once, at least. But it could wear it down, one grain of sand at a time, and eons later, the mountain would be gone. Or rendered unrecognizable. That was Elijah¡¯s task, though the first mechanism of his labor was a familiar one. The final step of cultivation began much like his previous efforts with cycling. He once again bent his will toward drawing in as much ethera as his core could handle, packing it tightly, then pulling even more in. He endured it stoically, having acclimated himself to that level of strain. Still, he kept pushing himself until he¡¯d far exceeded his previous efforts. The few hours it had taken for his core to completely heal had done wonders for its malleability, and though he knew he couldn¡¯t get much more out of continued cycling, he took the time to do just that. One cycle after another, he pushed himself to his absolute limits. Then, on what would become the final cycle, he shoved an unprecedented amount of ethera into his bloated core. It strained against the confines of his spirit, but he continued to push until, at last, he remembered Nerthus¡¯ caution against letting his hubris take over. But he still kept going. Not because he didn¡¯t trust his friend. Rather, because he¡¯d chosen to trust himself. He knew he could go further. He knew he could do more. And in the back of his mind, he sensed that if he didn¡¯t, he would one day regret it. However, more than anything else, he recognized that there was no way to reach the top without braving the dangers of overreach. Pain blossomed within him as he kept going. Tears formed and were washed away by the salty water of the underwater cave, and the ethera all around him swirled with unprecedented power. Yet, he refused to stop. Over and over, he continued to reach further. To push harder. He kept going until, at last, he was satisfied that even a single drop more of ethera would cause a massive explosion that would, in turn, rip him to pieces. And that was just the first step. He still had one more to go, and it would doubtless prove much more difficult to endure. Once his core had been saturated, Elijah leveraged his willpower in a different direction. It was a little like flexing a muscle, but instead of that effort being represented on a physical level, it was a spiritual strain. His visualization exercises helped, and he imagined the energy in his core swirling like a typhoon. In a distracted moment, he realized that he¡¯d based it on the persistent, seaborne storm he¡¯d only briefly touched what felt like a lifetime ago. And rightly so ¨C it was a force of nature so powerful that he couldn¡¯t hope to endure its effects. If anything could move the densely packed ethera in his core, it could. Still, even with the storm raging within him, that nearly solid ball of energy refused to budge. He pushed even harder, fanning the proverbial flames with every ounce of willpower he could muster. If he could have spared even a little of his concentration, he might have screamed with the effort, but as it was, his entire body hung limp and unused. The battle was not a physical one. Rather, it was entirely spiritual. Thankfully, Elijah¡¯s efforts had prepared him well for such a task. Even in the face of failure ¨C and he did fail to get it moving ¨C he kept going. Part of that came from his previous experiences with cultivation. None of it was easy, and yet, he¡¯d continuously risen to the task. Some of it was the result of his attunement, which helped provide perspective as well as comfort. However, more than anything else, it came from the fact that he had stared death in the eye, and on multiple occasions, chose to keep going. He had persisted through terminal cancer. He had survived being stranded alone on a deserted island, with no food, water, or shelter. He had been so grievously injured that, even with his healing abilities, he¡¯d been left irreparably scarred. He had been burned and digested, ripped in half and paralyzed. And yet, he¡¯d always kept going. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Compared to that, what was moving a little energy? Willpower was like any other muscle, he¡¯d found. The more it was exercised, the stronger it became. And he¡¯d pushed his will to its limit so many times that he¡¯d lost count. With the weight of those efforts behind him, Elijah finally managed to move the ethera in his core. It was only a metaphorical millimeter, but just getting it started was half the battle. Not only did it create a little momentum, but the proof that he could do it, that he could be successful, gave him the motivation he needed to reach deep down and find those tiny vestiges of willpower that had, so far, remained unused. A millimeter became an inch, and that inch became a foot. Gradually, he pushed the ethera in his core to its first revolution. That spurred him on. Faster and faster, it spun. One revolution turned into two as it continued to pick up speed. He willed it to spin faster and faster until he could scarcely track it. But he couldn¡¯t stop there. With the weight of his will shoving against it, he forced it to swirl so quickly that it began to scour the calloused bounds of his core. Layer by layer, it dissipated, and Elijah felt more than a little panic. He knew that was what was supposed to happen, but he also knew that if he screwed it up ¨C even a little ¨C he would probably kill himself. Because cultivation was not without danger, especially now that so much energy was involved. He¡¯d learned that lesson well enough when pushing to the Student tier of his Soul cultivation. Yet, he also knew that life in his new reality was built on balancing danger and progress. The higher one was, the more potent the potential rewards. So, even as his fear spiked, Elijah continued, and the storm of ethera within him scraped away one layer of his core wall after another. With every passing second, the power of the energy inside of him climbed. Elijah had no context for just how strong the surging ethera was, but he knew it was far more powerful than anything he¡¯d ever experienced. It was like having a reactor inside of him, and his task was to push it as far as he could before it melted down. That was what he did until, at last, the walls of his core were completely ripped apart. The energy within him should have gone wild. Elijah had expected as much. However, the swirling power of the storm of ethera was so intense that it remained contained. Moreover, it created a whirlpool that pulled all of the energy within the cave inside of him. It was like a black hole, and he was at its center. Ethera rushed into him, subjected to an inexorable pull that piled more and more energy into what had once been his core. For a moment, Elijah was entirely overwhelmed by it, and that brief bout of uncertainty was almost enough to rip him apart. However, he quickly clamped down on it, and, following the directions he¡¯d read in his guides, he squeezed. More and more ethera packed into that small space, but Elijah barely managed to keep it contained within him. It swirled, faster and faster until, at last, he felt it begin to contract. Partially, that was due to his efforts, but mostly, it was because of the singularity the whirlpool of ethera had created. It folded in on itself, little by little, until it had returned to its normal size. Then, it shrank even smaller. The energy inside of it was hundreds of times more potent than it had been before, but because of the increased density, it took up far less space. Just as the whirlpool began to ebb, Elijah gave it another nudge. His willpower had been well taxed, but he had plenty to spare. And one step would not take him where he wanted to go. He intended to climb the entire stairway. So, he continued to push it faster and faster, and eventually, the process repeated itself. When it slowed, the core had grown ever so slightly, but with how densely the ethera had been packed into it, it was exponentially more powerful. Still, he had a long way to go. Without hesitation, he repeated the process a third time. That was when his store of willpower began to dip, but Elijah knew he had enough to keep going. So, he continued for a fourth step. Then a fifth. Six. Seventh. On and on he went until he lost count somewhere between fifty and a hundred. By that point, any willpower he¡¯d possessed had been wholly spent. He was just going on momentum. But he had just enough to clamp down a final time, compressing the results a little more before it finally came to a stop. For a moment, the world lay still. The water no longer moved, and the ambient ethera was entirely gone. Not a drop remained. Then, suddenly, Elijah¡¯s core erupted like a miniature sun. He felt like his entire body was on fire, even though he knew it was only the sheer power of the ethera within him. If he¡¯d tried to advance his core before upgrading his Body cultivation, he would have died, then and there. But as well prepared as he was, he survived. Even though he tried to hold on to his consciousness for as long as possible, he could not stave off the blackness for more than a couple of seconds. For a few subjective seconds, he hung suspended in darkness. None of his senses functioned, but he could feel something all around him. Tiny tendrils of ethera, far too minute to fully perceive, enveloped him. They wrapped around him in a dense cocoon before, suddenly, he was yanked back into consciousness. He fell, his naked body slapping against a familiar set of tiles. When he looked up, he saw another expected sight. ¡°Kirlissa,¡± he muttered, studying his patron. She looked the same as always ¨C hair of gold, scales around her eyes and running down her neck, and a beauty so potent that he could scarcely comprehend it ¨C but in addition to those familiar characteristics, he saw a web of ethera extending from her body and stretching as far as he could perceive. ¡°You have come a long way,¡± she said, and those threads suddenly disappeared. ¡°Most at your level fail to see those.¡± ¡°Am I back in the Empire of Scale?¡± ¡°You are, and I suspect you already know what is coming,¡± she said, extending her hand. He took it, nearly flinching away when their skin touched. A surge of ethera passed into his fingertips, infusing him with an intoxicating degree of power. It was both invigorating and disorienting. It passed after only a moment, and he let her help him to his feet. ¡°Another vision.¡± ¡°If that is what you wish to call it,¡± the dragon agreed. ¡°In reality, it is a memory made real. Do not dismiss it as inconsequential. The dangers within are valid.¡± ¡°I can die?¡± ¡°Of course. It would not be effective otherwise. Now, go, my child. Understanding awaits.¡± Elijah nodded, and the second he agreed, he once again blacked out. It lasted less than a second, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a landscape that struck him with awe. 7-19. The First City of Dragons Elijah stared at the fantastic scene before him, unsure of how he was intended to react. He was perched upon a tall spire overlooking an enormous city of ivory towers, marble platforms, and domed palaces. Delicate bridges stretched between them, bearing countless tiny figures. A green haze hung in the air, while a half-dozen moons hung in the sky, each with a subtly different hue and brightness. The air practically buzzed with atmospheric ethera so dense that it put even the ambient energy of his cultivation cave to shame. An enormous shadow enveloped miles across the city, and when Elijah looked up, he could only gape at its owner. The figure was truly magnificent, with glittering sapphire scales and wings that stretched for a dozen miles in every direction. It was a dragon. From its long, sinuous neck, claws the size of skyscrapers, and undeniable majesty, it was unmistakable. Before, Elijah had seen only two other dragons. Kirlissa had always appeared to him in a bipedal shape that resembled a human being, albeit one with intermittent scales and hair made of literal gold. Then there was Saraalinisa, the young dragon he¡¯d rescued what felt like a lifetime ago. Ironically, even though he knew that Saraalinisa was far less powerful, she was closer in form to the majestic creature overhead. Yet, even that felt like comparing a lemur to a Greek god. Sure, some of the parts were the same, and there was a chance that they shared a common ancestry. But the difference in power was so vast that any similarities were lost amongst the magnitude of the disparity. When Elijah was buffeted by the wind from the dragon¡¯s passage, he realized that he was no longer in a familiar form. With four legs, it was easy to assume that he¡¯d somehow been pushed into the Shape of Venom, but he also felt wings like he was using his flight form. Only a second later, he realized the truth. Like the creature far above, he was a dragon. It should have been obvious ¨C especially considering the power he felt coursing through his body ¨C but it still took him a few moments to wrap his head around it. Once he did, it began to make a little more sense. His first core vision had centered on the origin of the first dragon, so this one would surely focus on another piece of draconic history. No sooner had that realization struck him than two things happened in quick succession. First, the dragon overhead disappeared entirely, only to reappear as a speck in the vast and hazy distance. Second, the sound of heavy footsteps announced that Elijah was not alone. ¡°The universe will be ours!¡± came a guttural shout, and even as Elijah whipped his sinuous neck around, the din of thousands of responses washed over him. A second later, he saw the owners of those voices racing in his direction. There were thousands of them. Millions, maybe. And they were angry, each and every one. In some cases, it was difficult to tell ¨C Elijah was no expert in draconic expressions ¨C but there was a universal language to unrelenting anger that he could read well enough. He had just enough time to recognize that they came in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and, apparently, races, before they swept past him. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t seem intent on attacking him. Instead, as they pushed past him, they leaped into the air, spread their wings, and flew toward the nearest bridge. For Elijah¡¯s part, he tried to make himself as small as possible, but his actual size ¨C in comparison to the others ¨C made that virtually impossible. Inevitably, he found himself being jostled and pushed forward until he tipped over the side. For the briefest of moments, Elijah felt panic grip his heart. Then, his long experience in the Shape of Sky as well as natural instincts of which he hadn¡¯t even been aware took hold. His wings snapped out, glittering perfectly white in the green atmosphere, arresting his fall. He swooped down, the wind playing over his wings as he flew a few dozen yards below what he now saw was a horde of draconic beings. Each of them had wings, though some were bipedal, while others went on four legs like him. They ranged from serpentine to lizard-like, with hundreds of variations in between. Scales were predominant, but there were also plenty of creatures with soft, moist skin like the amphibious Shape of the Master. But what truly impressed Elijah was the sheer diversity of color. It almost felt like he was looking at a rainbow, though one with hundreds of non-primary hues represented as well. There were even a few creatures whose skin glittered like diamonds or precious metals. Soon enough, he turned his attention to his own form, and he saw that his scales were alabaster, and his wings were almost metallic in texture. They didn¡¯t feel any different than his wings in Shape of Sky, so he suspected they were still organic, regardless of how they looked. Whatever the case, they still held him aloft, working far more smoothly than the wings he was used to. As Elijah watched, the last of the dragon-like creatures leaped free of the platform and followed the others, many of which had already landed on the bridge in the distance. Letting his curiosity get the best of him, Elijah drifted closer, and he saw a battle erupt among the people upon the bridge. Many of the first victims were wingless, and they went down in a heartbeat. However, it only took a moment before other dragons ¨C for that was all they could be ¨C rose up to oppose the attackers. Soon enough, the battle encompassed the entire length of the bridge, which stretched for nearly two miles in both directions. Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! More hordes of dragons soared in from above, while others came from below. Elijah looked down to see that the city¡¯s orientation was just as vertical as it was horizontal, and he couldn¡¯t even see the ground below. Instead, he only saw crisscrossing bridges and shorter towers. Importantly, the battle wasn¡¯t confined to the single bridge before him. Instead, it raged across the entire city. Millions of dragons fought and died in the space of a few moments, and Elijah knew that it was only beginning. Suddenly, as the realization of what he was looking at swept over his mind, something collided with him. For a second, he spun out of control, but his instincts and experience served him well, and he quickly righted himself to find a half-dozen black figures circling him. They were all bipedal and much smaller than him, with wingspans measuring only a dozen feet each, and from his perspective, they were no larger than dwarves. However, each one held a glittering silver trident. ¡°You do not fight. Why?¡± asked one, gently bobbing as its wings flapped. ¡°Are you a Conqueror? Or a Caretaker?¡± Elijah instantly knew two things. First, he had no clue what either of those terms meant, at least in the context of his current situation. And second, he was very well aware of which the black dragon preferred. Based on its tone, it belonged to the former group and clearly looked upon the Caretakers with some degree of disdain. ¡°Answer, White.¡± Elijah opened his mouth, but before he could utter a word, a swarm of smaller creatures descended upon them all. The little things glittered with insectile wings, but they had the bodies of lizards. High-pitched screeches filled the air as they attacked the black dragons, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, the little dragon-flies were obviously winning. At least for a few moments until the black dragons recovered from their surprise, and suddenly, the air was full of swirling black energy. ¡°Miskar!¡± came a hissing voice. ¡°Come!¡± Elijah looked down and saw another white dragon circling from below. His instincts told him to trust the newcomer, and in the absence of any other information, he chose to listen. Without a backward glance, he tucked his wings close to his body and dove. As soon as the other white dragon saw that he was on his way, they turned and dove as well. Soon enough, they¡¯d left the black dragons behind. Elijah followed as his guide led him among the lower towers, and they wove between them, dipping ever lower. Along the way, Elijah saw that his previous observation about how widespread the battle had become proved truer than ever could have expected. Everywhere he turned, there was fighting. Some of it was contained to the bridges, but much of it had spilled over into the skies. Like him, more than a few singular dragons had been cornered by gangs of enemies, and many of the fights he saw proved to be particularly brutal. In one instance, Elijah thought he¡¯d passed into a localized rainstorm, but when he looked up, he saw that a pair of building-sized dragons were fighting far above. And the rain was the blood from their many wounds. As horrifying as that was, Elijah was more concerned with his own well-being, so he renewed his focus on following his guide. Hours passed, and the truly expansive nature of the city was laid bare. The green mist never dissipated, and the lower they flew, the denser the ethera became. But with that climbing density came a deep sense of foreboding that Elijah could not explain. Finally, after what felt like an entire day, they left the battle behind. The condition of the towers and platforms had long since begun to decline, and his guide soon led him to a particularly shabby example of the local architecture. They landed upon a rickety platform, and Elijah followed suit. Until that moment, Elijah hadn¡¯t even realized just how tired he was, but the moment his feet were on solid ground, he very nearly collapsed from exhaustion. The other dragon wrapped their wing around him, sheltering him as they said, ¡°Be still. Rest. We are safe now.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t have moved if he¡¯d wanted to. His muscles simply wouldn¡¯t work, so he had no choice but to do as he was told. Hours more passed, and Elijah dipped in and out of consciousness. At some point, he was moved inside ¨C he didn¡¯t even know how ¨C and at some point, he overheard a conversation. ¡°We cannot!¡± hissed one voice. ¡°It is not right. The Caretaker ¨C¡± ¡°Will soon be challenged, and when she is, she will fall,¡± said the other. Elijah couldn¡¯t open his eyes, so he just listened as that voice continued, ¡°You know this. The Eldertalon is too powerful. He will defeat her. When that happens, everything will change. The Caretakers¡¯ followers will be forced to surrender.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t know that. Unless¡­oh, Ashar. No. Tell me you haven¡¯t fallen for those lies.¡± There was a pregnant silence before the other voice ¨C presumably Ashar ¨C said, ¡°I do not believe they are lies. There is an entire universe out there. Multiple universes. We are the most powerful creatures in existence. As such, it is only right that we rule. We are born conquerors. We are dragons.¡± ¡°Our power is a responsibility. We are here to preserve the ¨C¡± ¡°Enough. I have heard the Caretaker¡¯s propaganda often enough. I reject it, as have most of our people. Or have you forgotten why we are out here in the abandoned reaches of the First City? Do you not feel the saturation? Your brother can barely stand it. Think of his ¨C¡± ¡°I am thinking of Miskar. I hoped you would too.¡± ¡°Am I not? The Eldertalon will lead us to glory and prominence. All of the Empire of Scale will benefit, including Miskar.¡± ¡°This is the path of ruin.¡± ¡°I love you, Zaka. Please, see reason.¡± ¡°I love you too, but I cannot sanction your mistaken path. You must leave.¡± ¡°Zaka¡­¡± ¡°Go. Before my love gives way to disgust at what you have become.¡± After that, silence stretched on. Vaguely, Elijah was aware of Zaka¡¯s comforting presence, but he couldn¡¯t hang onto consciousness for long enough to discover more. For some indiscernible amount of time, he dipped in and out of unconsciousness until, at last, he felt something around his neck. That was when he began to recover. And finally, he regained full awareness to find the other white dragon looking down on him. ¡°I feared you would succumb to the saturation,¡± Zaka stated. ¡°I am glad you held on long enough for me to acquire a talisman. But I am afraid we can no longer stay. The population of the entire city has been summoned. The Eldertalon has challenged the Caretaker. They will duel for control of the flight. We must go.¡± Elijah blinked. He still wasn¡¯t sure what was going on, but he felt an inexorable pull in a distinct direction. His instincts told him that he needed to heed that call, regardless of the consequences. So, he bobbed his head, then pushed himself to his feet. ¡°I am ready. Let us go.¡± 7-20. The Eldertalons Hunger Elijah had almost forgotten how strange the core visions were. Not only was he surrounded by unfamiliar sights on an entirely alien world that, as far as he could tell, was comprised of an unfathomably large city of innumerable towers, but he also wasn¡¯t entirely in control of his own actions. Certainly, it felt like he was in charge. When he wanted to move his wings, they did what he told them to. However, he knew that the entire vision was on rails, that it was meant to show him something very specific. He had a will of his own, but it just happened to coincide with what he was supposed to do. Only when he tried to veer off course ¨C at the end of quite a lot of mental struggle ¨C did he begin to see behind the curtain. Even then, he couldn¡¯t truly stray, even if, in the back of his mind, he desperately wanted to explore the fantastic cityscape. Immediately after his arrival, Elijah hadn¡¯t had much of an opportunity to study the area, and his following flight had been fraught with so much danger that he couldn¡¯t really focus on anything but avoiding being killed. That wasn¡¯t terribly surprising, considering he¡¯d been dropped into the middle of a war between dragons. He still wasn¡¯t entirely sure what the crux of the conflict was, and when he tried to ask Zaka, the words died in his throat. Over time, he had come to a couple of other conclusions, though. It seemed that Zaka was his older sister ¨C a position to which he was already accustomed ¨C and she was quite protective of him. In addition, the situation in the city had died down, and the war had come to a halt. That allowed him to truly study the architecture, which he found both fascinating and alien. The building materials looked vaguely familiar, and they tended toward ivory and jade. However, the designs of the towers were absolutely novel, with various architectural flourishes that defied his expectations. But overall, the entire cityscape brought to mind elegance and grace. Much like the dragons he saw. Whether they were large or small, every one of them moved with a perfect unity of purpose. Like balletic, airborne dinosaurs, though with a nobility no beast could ever possess. It took Elijah a while before he realized that it reminded him of Kirlissa. Though she had only ever appeared to him as a demi-human, she still possessed a certain aura of sophistication and perfection that he found undeniably powerful. The other dragons laid claim to a similar characteristic, though to varying degrees. By comparison, he felt like a lumbering oaf. The dragon whose body he¡¯d inhabited was young, but he got the impression of powerful potential within his chest. That sense was supported by the reactions of the other dragons they passed. Now that the chaos of war had faded, they all gave Elijah and Zaka a wide berth, and he even saw quite a few looking at them in awe. They held positions of power within draconic society, though Elijah had no idea what that truly meant. The other thing he saw was that everyone seemed to be heading in the same direction. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that some of the dragons flying wing-to-wing with other dragons had been fighting one another fairly recently, and many of them still sported grievous wounds. Every now and then, much larger dragons flew by far above. The size of those creatures was truly daunting. Some were as big as houses, while others were even larger. However, none were nearly the size of the one that had blotted out the sky upon Elijah¡¯s arrival. They were headed in the same direction as everyone else, though. After a few hours, Zaka started gaining altitude, and the ascent continued for another few hours. It was saying something that they never really left the towers behind. Many were so tall that their height could be counted in hundreds of miles, which prompted dozens of questions about the nature of their construction. He wondered how they¡¯d been built and by whom, but most of all, he couldn¡¯t help but question the scale of everything. It beggared belief and skewed Elijah¡¯s senses. Finally, their destination came into view. The first thing Elijah noticed was the gathered dragons. There were far too many to count, and they represented every draconic variation he¡¯d so far witnessed. Billions were present, forming a rough sphere beyond which hovered a pair of enormous figures. One was as white as snow. The other was as black as the darkest night. Both radiated a level of power Elijah could never hope to comprehend, and they were larger even than the blue dragon he had seen at the beginning of his vision. Their size distorted his perception to such a degree that he had difficulty making sense of it all. They were the size of planets, though if that were truly the case, there was no way Elijah could have perceived them fully. But he could, which meant that some sort of magic was at play. A spatial distortion that allowed him ¨C and everyone else ¨C to see. Soon enough, he and Zaka closed with the sphere of dragons, joining another group of white-scaled creatures. As was the case with all the other variants Elijah had seen, their sizes were diverse, ranging from no larger than a horse all the way to the largest, which was at least the size of an office building. That wasn¡¯t uncommon, but what stood out to Elijah was that there were quite a few of them. They weren¡¯t the only group with so many clearly powerful members ¨C after all, Elijah got the impression that size was tied to might ¨C but they were one of only a few. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. Across the sphere, there was a contingent of red dragons. Nearby were the greens. Blues were present as well. And, of course, there were the black dragons. Elijah saw a few other colors represented, and some mixed groups as well. However, it was easy to pinpoint the hierarchy of power. Before Elijah could study them further, a booming voice cut through the din. The moment it swept over the gathered dragons, they all fell silent. It said, ¡°At the heart of Akar, the First City of Dragons lies the birthplace of our entire race. Far below us, the Mother of Dragons fought for our very existence, and she ushered our people to prominence. Bless the Mother.¡± ¡°Bless the Mother,¡± every dragon echoed. Even Elijah found the words spilling from his mouth. When the sound faded, the speaker continued, ¡°We have gathered here today to settle a grievance.¡± Only then did Elijah see what looked to be a tiny, golden dragon hovering between the two planet-sized figures at the center of the sphere. After a moment, he realized that wasn¡¯t true at all. The speaker was at least as large as any of the other gathered dragons, but looked so small only in comparison to those other two. ¡°The Eldertalon has challenged The Caretaker to a duel of honor, as is his right. Yet, peace is always an option. Is there no chance of a peaceful resolution?¡± That was when the black dragon spoke. ¡°My sister refuses to listen to reason. She cowers here in Akar while the rest of the universe laughs at our inaction. Whole planets have been snatched from our claws. The Mother would cringe at how far we have fallen.¡± ¡°Fear is not respect, brother,¡± said the white dragon. The Caretaker, Elijah realized. Her voice was undeniably feminine. ¡°We need not fight the rest of the universe. We are custodians. We are meant to ¨C¡± ¡°You espouse weakness!¡± the Eldertalon shouted, and Elijah felt his bones turn to jelly at the sound. For a moment, he went entirely weak, but a second later, a wave of healing swept over him. ¡°You invite challenge. You are weak. Vulnerable. You are a disgrace to the Mother¡¯s memory. She fought for us. She was a conqueror.¡± ¡°She endured,¡± the Caretaker stated evenly. ¡°Because there was no other way to survive.¡± ¡°Lies!¡± ¡°Your entire philosophy is built on half-truths and distortion of reality,¡± the Caretaker said. ¡°You believe it because it gives you leave to act on the worst parts of your nature. You are greedy. Selfish. Your hunger never fades. You can never have enough. And you have twisted the Mother¡¯s tale to justify your own desires. For that, I accept your challenge. For that, I name you an enemy of the Empire of Scale. Prove me wrong, Nyar. Brother. Abandon this madness and let us live in peace. Do that, and we can ¨C¡± ¡°Madness?¡± the black dragon roared, flapping his wings angrily. ¡°You hunker down in your palace and have the audacity to call me mad? I have seen dragons die due to your inaction! They starved. They were killed by our enemies. They were displaced. You have abandoned your duty. You promised protection, and all you have given them is neglect. I take no pleasure in what is to happen here. I do not want to kill you, sister. But for the good of our people, I will. Your apathy to the plight of our people is a cancer that must be excised, and I am the instrument of healing the Empire of Scale needs. Prepare yourself, Caretaker. Defend yourself with the same fervor with which you refuse to defend those who have put their trust in you.¡± ¡°If I must,¡± was the Caretaker¡¯s response. ¡°I will ask one more time if there is no other way to resolve this conflict,¡± said the golden dragon, though even Elijah could hear the pessimism in his voice. ¡°Is this unavoidable?¡± ¡°It is,¡± said the Eldertalon. ¡°I wish it were otherwise, but no,¡± the white dragon responded. Then, she said, ¡°Let us do this, Speaker.¡± ¡°So it is,¡± the Speaker said resignedly. ¡°Honor the Mother. Protect the Scale. Resolve your differences.¡± After that, the gold dragon disappeared. For a long moment, the two massive dragons faced one another, a study in contrasts. Not only were they opposite colors ¨C black and white ¨C but their demeanors conflicted as well. Where the Caretaker was calm, flapping her wings almost lazily, the black dragon seemed almost to vibrate with unrestrained aggression. Or hunger, Elijah realized. Reality shifted as the two dragons threw themselves at one another. The clash sent ripples through the whole world. The sky split apart, and the towers beneath the pair shattered before crashing to the ground. The two dragons didn¡¯t fight with spells or other ethera-based abilities. Instead, they tried to rip one another to pieces via tooth and claw. Blood flew for miles, but somehow, none the impact affected Elijah. Clearly, some sort of magic was at play, though Elijah had no interest in figuring it out. He was too entranced by the scene unfolding before him to care. The other dragons let out roars of encouragement or anguish as those two massive creatures tore into one another. None were louder than the contingents of black or white dragons, though some of the others made a good showing. The battle raged, and even though hours passed without a victor, Elijah remained transfixed. He could no more look away than he could simply cease to breathe. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could feel his host¡¯s emotions. Fear. Anger. Despair. And a hundred other feelings rushed through his mind. Thankfully, he was able to maintain some sense of detachment. Otherwise, he would have been entirely overwhelmed. Some of the other dragons were not so lucky, and they raged and screamed at the situation. It was only after a few more minutes that Elijah realized what was happening. They weren¡¯t just watching a pair of leaders fight a duel. They were watching the end of an era. A battle between gods. Their world, at least as they knew it, was coming to an end. Suddenly, the white dragon snapped out, wrapping her jaws around the Eldertalon¡¯s sinuous neck. He tried to pull away, but she clamped down with such power that Elijah could hear shattering scales even from outside the distortion in reality. That was when the black dragon finally used a spell. Until that moment, the two combatants had only used physical attacks, so the sudden blaze of ethera that came next was more than a little surprising. Elijah couldn¡¯t even see what had happened, but one second, the Caretaker had her jaws around the Eldertalon¡¯s neck, and the next, he was free. She reeled, a gaping wound in her side. An ocean of blood poured from the injury, staining her white scales as it fell upon the city below. ¡°Treachery, brother?¡± she growled. ¡°Why am I not surprised?¡± ¡°There is no such thing. Victory is all that matters.¡± ¡°If you truly believe that, then you are lost,¡± she stated unequivocally. Elijah saw that the wound had begun to heal, though with its size, it would take some time before it mended entirely. ¡°The fact that you do not says the same thing of you, sister,¡± he responded. Then, he raised his voice, ¡°This farce is finished, but the battle is not! Attack!¡± At his command, millions of dragons sprang into motion, intent on resuming the war they¡¯d been fighting when Elijah had arrived. 7-21. Splinter Millions of dragons waged war all around Elijah, and for the first time in recent memory, he froze. He could scarcely think, much less move. The scope of the conflict was just too much to process, especially when the Eldertalon reached the mass of other dragons, snapped out, and devoured thousands in a single bite. At the same time, countless black dragons descended upon the Caretaker, burying her under a mass of onyx scales. ¡°We must flee!¡± screamed Zaka, latching onto Elijah¡¯s torso with her claws and yanking him backward. It was just in time, too, because only a second later, a swarm of small, black dragons with glittering wings swept through the area he¡¯d just forcefully vacated. ¡°I will ¨C¡± She never got the chance to finish, because a black claw erupted from her chest in a shower of gore. Elijah fell, his wings frozen as he watched a large dragon yank his claw back. Zaka tried to twist, but her body fell limp. A second later, gravity yanked her past the stunned Elijah. In a familiar voice that somehow carried over the din of battle, the black dragon said, ¡°I am sorry, my love. You have made your choice. I have made mine.¡± It was the same dragon Elijah had heard during his recovery. Even as he saw the white form of Zaka disappear into the green mist below, Elijah¡¯s mind flashed back to his sister¡¯s death. He¡¯d never seen what had happened, but he¡¯d imagined it so often that the image came to mind in only a second. Zaka was not Alyssa. He knew that. But in that moment, they might as well have been one in the same. And it broke him. Elijah thought he¡¯d gotten past Alyssa¡¯s death, but the reality of it was that it would likely stick with him for the rest of his life. As much as he wanted to move on, it tended to sneak up on him at the strangest times. Sometimes, it was when he was alone and saw something that reminded him of an old memory. Or when his mind wandered. But in this instance, the fact that Zaka was his host¡¯s sister cut through his emotional defenses. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was still on the same autopilot-like effect of the vision or if he was fully in control, but at that moment, he didn¡¯t care. He flapped his wings, then gathered a dense collection of ethera in his chest, then opened his mouth. A stream of glittering white power erupted from his throat. It was like liquified diamonds, flashing like millions of microscopic prisms, and when it hit the black dragon, part of his body just disappeared. There was no smell of burning flesh. No blood or viscera. One wing and a good portion of the black dragon¡¯s torso was just gone, as if it had never existed. He locked his eyes on Elijah as if he was confused by what had happened. And then, he too fell. Meanwhile, Elijah came back to himself, though he had no idea what he¡¯d just done. The power he¡¯d conjured now seemed infinitely far away, and he knew he couldn¡¯t summon it again, even if he tried. Instead, he only had claws and teeth as weapons. And given that he was in the middle of a battle of epic proportions, he knew he would need to use them. Never was that clearer than when a red dragon swooped in, ready to rip him to pieces. Elijah tucked his wings and dove, narrowly avoiding those flashing claws. But the thing was both larger and faster than him. His only hope of survival lay in escape, and he kept his wings tucked as he plummeted toward the towers below. At the same time, the red dragon followed, clearly intent on ending Elijah¡¯s life. Behind and above them, the battle continued to rage, with the Caretaker having thrown her attackers aside as she pursued the Eldertalon. He didn¡¯t flee before her. Instead, he reversed course and, flanked by hundreds of smaller dragons, attacked. Their clash sent shockwaves across the entire planet, and even Elijah was thrown so far off course that he hit one of towers. The balcony he hit only a second later crumbled beneath his weight, and he felt a couple of delicate wing bones break. The red dragon descended upon him a second later, and Elijah felt claws ripping his delicate, white scales to shreds. He tried to fight back, to slither free, but the red dragon was too big. It was too strong. Elijah attempted to summon the same power he¡¯d used to kill the black dragon, but he failed to touch that strange ability. He couldn¡¯t even feel the ethera in his core. Elijah bit. He clawed. He fought like a cornered wolverine. But nothing he did worked. Until that moment, he hadn¡¯t realized just how much he¡¯d always relied on his healing powers, but as he fought and took one wound after another, he definitely felt the lack. Every wound ¨C even the small ones ¨C weakened him a little more until he could scarcely resist. The red dragon threw Elijah into another tower. He bounced off in a shower of blood and bricks before hitting a platform. He skidded across the surface until he came to a rest. The enemy landed with a thud. It was bleeding, but the wounds he¡¯d sustained were paltry next to how ravaged Elijah¡¯s body had become. It stalked forward, its movements sinuous and lethal. Elijah tried to back away, but the tendons in his legs had been severed. He could only wriggle a few feet before the red dragon reached him. Then, it spoke, ¡°You dare use the power of the White on a fellow dragon?! You are a disgrace! You have broken the compact!¡± ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t¡­¡± It reared back and struck like a snake, but the second before his gaping jaws clamped down, a shadow fell over them. Or rather, something blotted out the entire sky. ¡°Enough!¡± came a world-ending shout. Everything froze. Not just Elijah and the other dragon. It wasn¡¯t even limited to the battle raging overhead. Even the Caretaker and the Eldertalon froze as if time itself had ended. Far above everything loomed a dragon¡¯s face. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. Sapphire scales glittered in the world¡¯s light, somehow overwhelming even the pervasive green mist. ¡°We are not beasts,¡± the inconceivably large dragon stated. ¡°This war is at an end. If you cannot make peace, then I shall enforce it myself.¡± Even as the sapphire dragon spoke, a name manifested in Elijah¡¯s mind. The Stormbreaker. Even if he couldn¡¯t feel it in every fiber of his being, Elijah knew that this newcomer was infinitely more powerful than any other creature he had ever imagined. It was as far above the Eldertalon and the Caretaker as they were above the rest of the dragons. However, Elijah didn¡¯t feel any fear when he looked upon those sapphire scales. Instead, he only felt a deep sense of comfort. ¡°Do not make me return.¡± And then, suddenly, the blue dragon disappeared, and the world resumed. The red dragon stopped mid-strike, blinked, then pulled away. Unfortunately, the damage had already been done. Elijah felt his vitality draining away with every second, and unconsciousness threatened to still his mind. Darkness crept into his eyes, and even as the red dragon flapped his wings and made his way toward the others far above, Elijah finally succumbed. For the briefest of moments, he knew nothing. He was nothing. And then, suddenly, his mind came rushing back, followed closely by his senses. He was surprised to find that he was once again in his human body. It took a few seconds before he felt some semblance of normality, and when he did, he pushed himself upright. Kneeling naked on the elaborately tiled floor, he looked around. He was back where he¡¯d begun, with Kirlissa tending to something in the distance. Upon a closer look, he saw that she was working on an abstract painting of pure light. Three-dimensional and multi-colored, it didn¡¯t look like anything he¡¯d ever seen. However, it elicited a feeling of deep sadness that echoed the phantom emotions from watching Zaka die. The dragon was no one to him, but to his host, she had been family. With the added parallel of his own sister¡¯s death, he felt more emotionally vulnerable than he had in years. ¡°What you are feeling is normal,¡± Kirlissa said without looking over. She gave a minor flourish, causing another streak of pink light before cocking her head to the side. She didn¡¯t look pleased with the result, so she sighed and waved her hand through the collection of painted light. It scattered, and she finally turned to face Elijah. As she approached, her bare feet barely making a whisper on the tiles, she said, ¡°I experienced similar emotions when I went through that memory. Partially because of the deaths of Zaka and Miskar, but also because it was one of the lowest points in the history of my people. Millions of dragons dead, and only because of the Eldertalon¡¯s greed.¡± ¡°Can you explain?¡± Elijah asked, rising unsteadily to his feet. Now that he was back in some variation of his own body, he felt oddly light, but also weak. Clearly, despite lacking in power compared to other dragons, his host ¨C Miskar ¨C had been far stronger than his current form. ¡°What do you think happened?¡± she asked, approaching with her stereotypically elegant gait. He took a deep breath. ¡°It was a civil war,¡± he answered. ¡°The Eldertalon was warlike, while the Caretaker wanted peace.¡± ¡°An accurate assessment, but missing some key pieces,¡± Kirlissa said. Then, she went on to explain that the event he¡¯d lived had occurred after draconic society had begun to wane. Some dragons ¨C like the Caretaker ¨C chose isolation and a focus inward as the solution, while the Eldertalon espoused expansion. ¡°Tensions continued to mount for centuries until it exploded into war. What you saw was the last battle, but it had been ongoing for nearly a millennia at that point. Both sides had seen countless casualties, which was the only reason the Eldertalon and the Caretaker agreed to the duel. It should have ended there, but the Eldertalon used magic upon his sister, nullifying the duel. That was why the Stormbreaker intervened.¡± ¡°What happened afterwards?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°The war ended, and the Eldertalon as well as his followers splintered from the Empire of Scale,¡± she explained. ¡°They settled in the Umbra, where they spread across the entire realm. It took eons before they returned, but that is a tale for another day. Tell me, young one ¨C what did you learn?¡± Elijah didn¡¯t know how to answer. A thousand small details swirled through his mind. The glimpse of the First City of Dragons was eye-opening in a hundred different ways. The alien cityscape was awe-inspiring, and seeing so many dragons ¨C some of whom were more powerful than he could imagine ¨C definitely reaffirmed his place in the multi-verse. He¡¯d only taken the first steps on his path, and despite his achievements, he had a long way to go. But there was more. The conflict between the two sides had seemed clear before he¡¯d gotten an explanation from Kirlissa. In that same situation, what would he do? If he truly believed that his people were doomed ¨C as he assumed the Eldertalon had ¨C would he choose the path of war? Humans throughout history had made that choice, both on societal and personal scales. Hungry men stole bread. Kingdoms who couldn¡¯t support their people attacked their neighbors. And an empire of dragons used their natural might to take what they needed from other societies. ¡°It¡¯s complicated,¡± he said at last. ¡°It¡¯s not about good and evil. It¡¯s about survival.¡± ¡°So it was,¡± Kirlissa agreed. ¡°Despite their differences, the goal was the same for both sides. Until it was not. Greed is insidious, not because it is powerful, but because it rides on the back of necessity. Sometimes, it is difficult distinguishing between needs and wants. Sometimes, we do not even try to tell the difference. Dragons are no less susceptible to greed than any other, and the Eldertalon¡¯s path was destined to end in ruin.¡± ¡°Why was I shown this?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Multiple reasons. Some are simple. Every dragon needs to know our history,¡± she answered. ¡°Other reasons are more complex and will only become evident as you age and progress. Mostly, it is meant as a warning.¡± ¡°About what?¡± ¡°That is for you to decide, little one,¡± she said with a motherly smile. ¡°The Path of Dragons is not a journey of a single step. It is ongoing and ever evolving. It is up to you to decide where it takes you.¡± ¡°That¡¯s frustratingly vague,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But I suppose it wouldn¡¯t mean as much if you gave me the answers.¡± ¡°This is true,¡± she agreed. He sighed and considered what he¡¯d experienced. Everything was too wrapped up in emotion ¨C both lingering from his host and from his own life ¨C to figure things out. But that was okay. For now, just having gone through it was enough. ¡°Anything else I need to know before you zap me back?¡± he asked. She let out a small laugh and shook her head. The metallic strands of her golden hair tinkled with the movement. ¡°No, child. I did not expect you to return to me so soon,¡± she stated. ¡°My only advice is to keep going. You have potential, but that will only take you so far. You must work if you are to become a dragon of consequence.¡± ¡°So, same shit, different ¨C¡± Elijah was cut off by a lazy wave of the dragon¡¯s hand. His consciousness immediately went black, and just as before, he hovered in nothingness for an indeterminate amount of time before suddenly springing back to awareness. As expected, he was back in the cultivation cave, which was all but barren, both of ethera and life. The Leviathan¡¯s Bones remained, but everything else was gone. More importantly, he received a notification as soon as he came back to himself:
Congratulations! Your Core has reached the Drakyn Stage.
He couldn¡¯t help but smile at that. 7-22. A Persistent Threat ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ ¡®round here to get all worked up about,¡± Kurik grunted, kneeling next to the tunnel wall. ¡°Don¡¯t know why you decided to tag along.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t immediately say anything. Instead, he focused on the darkness just outside the circle of light created by their lanterns. He didn¡¯t sense anything down there, but that wasn¡¯t a guarantee that they were safe. Since his return to Ironshore, he¡¯d grown accustomed to the increased senses that came with being so close to the grove, but in the tunnels far beneath the city, their potency had faded significantly. He was still better off than he had been around Norcastle, but there was something oppressive about the subterranean tunnels that made his senses feel less effective than normal. Perhaps it had something to do with being underground. Or maybe it was just the dearth of life. Living things still existed beneath the surface of the Earth, but they were far less prevalent than in the forests with which he was accustomed. The solution to his weakened senses was to pay more attention. The problem, of course, was that a person could only remain on high alert for so long before their attention began to wane. And Miguel was no different. Despite his extensive training, and though he could keep it up for far longer than most, he was still only human. And he would eventually lose focus. When that happened, bad things were bound to happen. ¡°You listenin¡¯ to me, boy?¡± ¡°I heard you, Kurik,¡± he said, wishing that Trevor was with him. However, the stag was a bit claustrophobic, so he¡¯d remained on the surface while Miguel had followed Kurik into the mining tunnels. ¡°How much longer will this take?¡± asked the woman who¡¯d insisted on coming with them. She was about his uncle¡¯s age, with long red hair and a host of scars. ¡°I feel like every second might bring more of those dark elves after us.¡± ¡°It takes as long as it takes,¡± Kurik stated, reaching into a small hole in reality and retrieving a tiny crystal, which he fit into a depression he¡¯d dug into the wall. A small surge of ethera came a second later, then disappeared entirely. ¡°There. That¡¯n¡¯s done. Let¡¯s move on.¡± Miguel and the woman ¨C Gwenivere was her name ¨C set off down the tunnel with Kurik following behind. The idea behind their mission was simple enough ¨C they were tasked with deploying a host of traps throughout the mines and into the tunnels below. If the dark elves decided to once again ascend and attack Ironshore, they¡¯d doubtless lose many people along the way. Miguel had seen Kurik¡¯s traps in action, but that was before the Trial of Primacy. The dwarf had gained a lot of levels since then, so Miguel suspected that his new traps would pack quite a punch. Or maybe that was hope at play. Regardless, the mission was a valid one, and what¡¯s more, it gave Miguel an opportunity to do something useful while he tried to figure out his next steps. He¡¯d been training extremely hard since returning, and he¡¯d taken a big step by creating the Blade of the Green Warden. However, he was itching to get back out into the wilderness, where he could challenge himself and truly progress. ¡°You¡¯re related the Druid, right?¡± asked Gwenivere. Miguel nodded, answering, ¡°He¡¯s my uncle.¡± ¡°Has he said anything to you about when he¡¯s going to make good on his promise to help my people?¡± she asked. It took Miguel a moment to realize what she was talking about, but then it hit him. She was from the group of refugees that had been stranded in the middle of that storm far out to sea. ¡°I don¡¯t know anything about that,¡± he admitted. ¡°He doesn¡¯t really tell me much about his plans.¡± That was mostly true. Elijah kept most of that to himself, though he had mentioned that he would be going on a trip soon after completing his cultivation. He¡¯d been at it for most of a week, so Miguel had no idea when he¡¯d be finished. Still, he had a sneaking suspicion that rescuing a few refugees wasn¡¯t high on Elijah¡¯s list of things to do. He¡¯d hinted that he had other important tasks in front of him. If Miguel could manage it, he¡¯d have offered his own help. Yet, Gwenivere was a higher level than him, and if she couldn¡¯t save her people, then he certainly couldn¡¯t do much to alleviate their problems. Besides, he didn¡¯t think he could cross the ocean, pierce the storm, and survive the harpies he¡¯d heard made their home within. ¡°My people are dying, and he¡¯s just lounging about on his little island,¡± she muttered to herself. ¡°By the time we go back, we¡¯ll find nothing but corpses. And it¡¯ll be his fault, too.¡± ¡°That ain¡¯t true,¡± Kurik cut in. ¡°That man¡¯s got more on his plate than you know. He¡¯s got everyone pullin¡¯ him in different directions. You think he should sacrifice a city of thousands just so as to help your people? It ain¡¯t as simple as you make it out to be. Besides, it ain¡¯t like he¡¯s obligated to do anything. Most people in the wider multi-verse wouldn¡¯t even think ¡®bout doin¡¯ that kinda thing unless they thought it¡¯d help them in some way. Or unless they got paid. Mostly that last one. So, you actin¡¯ all offended-like just ¡®cause he ain¡¯t jumpin¡¯ at your every word ¨C that¡¯s ¡®bout as entitled as it gets, and I won¡¯t stand for it.¡± Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. It was the most Miguel had ever heard Kurik say in one stretch, and he was a little surprised at what he¡¯d heard. He knew that the multi-verse was an unforgiving thing. That much was obvious. But it sounded a lot harsher than what he might have expected. Still, it made sense. People needed to pick and choose how they risked their lives, or they¡¯d end up getting killed for nothing. ¡°You think I don¡¯t know that?¡± Gwenivere asked, a little fire in her voice. ¡°He promised he¡¯d help, and I¡¯m going to hold him to it.¡± ¡°You do that,¡± Kurik stated. For his part, Miguel didn¡¯t pay them much attention. In addition to keeping his focus on his surroundings, he found himself pondering his own path. His initial instincts told him to help people that needed helping. That was the right thing to do. However, if he went through life with that attitude, he would doubtless end up dead. Maybe he¡¯d bite off more than he could chew. Or perhaps he¡¯d run himself ragged until he was too exhausted to put forth his best effort. Or the law of averages might just catch up to him. After all, one could only challenge death so many times before it won. Regardless, if he wasn¡¯t selective about how he risked his life, he would end up on the wrong side of a bad situation. With that in mind, he knew he¡¯d need to be more selective about who he helped and how. Obviously, his family came first. Not far after was the grove. Then Ironshore. But after that? He wasn¡¯t sure. Perhaps those three things would be more than enough to keep him busy, but the moral issues of deciding who to help and who to ignore haunted his thoughts. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t last long. ¡°Something is coming,¡± Miguel said, drawing the Blade of the Green Warden from the scabbard he¡¯d had made. Instantly, a surge of attributes washed over him, and a moment later, the sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the tunnel. An armored figure rushed out of the darkness, aiming a spear at Miguel. He batted it aside, following it up with a compact slash at the wielder¡¯s elbow. Meanwhile, Gwenivere battered the figure with her two-handed axe. The blade didn¡¯t penetrate the armor, but the force transferred all the same, launching the enemy to the side. Miguel wasted no time before executing a leaping thrust, and the Blade of the Green Warden easily punctured the breastplate and destroyed the fighter¡¯s heart. As the dark elf fell limp, Miguel said, ¡°More coming. At least five.¡± ¡°Seven,¡± Gwenivere corrected. ¡°Gods-bedamned dark elves,¡± Kurik grunted, already reaching into the hole in reality he¡¯d just summoned. It was tied to an item the dwarf had gotten in the Trial of Primacy, though Miguel wasn¡¯t sure as to its nature. Whatever the case, Kurik yanked a handful of small devices free, then tossed them into the air. When they hit the ceiling, they latched on, then cast the entire area in a blue light. ¡°Slowin¡¯ trap. Won¡¯t affect allies.¡± Even as he spoke, a handful of warriors stepped into the area of illumination . And sure enough, they stumbled the second the blue light hit them. Miguel didn¡¯t hesitate to take advantage, aiming one precise slash after another. His saber was fine for stabbing, but its single edge was perfectly suited for cutting. And given its quality, it cut through the armor like it wasn¡¯t even there. Gwenivere¡¯s weapon was far less effective at getting through the armor, but as was the case when she used it against the first dark elf, it made for an adequate bludgeoning weapon. Meanwhile, Kurik leaped into battle with his hatchets. The weapons were well-made but low-grade, and yet, Kurik¡¯s attributes and skill more than made up for his inadequate equipment. He was a terror as he ripped into the enemy fighters. But it only took Miguel a few seconds to recognize that something was wrong. By the time he figured out what it was, all but one of the dark elves was dead. ¡°Stop!¡± he shouted, but Gwenivere¡¯s axe collapsed the elf¡¯s skull an instant later. And just like that, the enemy was dead. The result wasn¡¯t unexpected. Between them, they had plenty of power to take on just about any threat they might find in the tunnels. Yet, Miguel was far more interested in the condition of the dark elves¡¯ armor. He knelt beside one and, after a second, said, ¡°This isn¡¯t good.¡± ¡°What¡¯s not good? We weren¡¯t even injured,¡± Gwenivere stated. ¡°Look,¡± Miguel said, gesturing toward the dead body before him. ¡°What do you see?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not here to play twenty questions, kid,¡± Gwenivere answered. ¡°Just tell me what you want me to know.¡± ¡°The armor is in poor condition,¡± he responded, pointing to a few scratches and dents in the dark elf¡¯s greaves. ¡°We didn¡¯t make those. And look at this.¡± He lifted the fighter¡¯s arm. ¡°That wound is old. A few days. Maybe a week, depending on his Regeneration. Hollow cheeks, too. Maybe dehydration. This dark elf was not in good shape even before he found us.¡± ¡°They were runnin¡¯ from somethin¡¯,¡± Kurik guessed. Miguel shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°That¡¯s why I wanted to keep one alive. I should have seen it sooner. If I had, maybe we could have questioned them to find out what was really going on.¡± Gwenivere frowned. ¡°What do we think happened?¡± ¡°Some of the prisoners said things ain¡¯t good down below. Most of their people¡¯re fightin¡¯ some threat they won¡¯t even talk about. That army that hit Ironshore was just a fraction of their total population,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Maybe they lost a fight. They might¡¯ve been overrun. Ain¡¯t no tellin¡¯.¡± ¡°Maybe they deserted,¡± Miguel guessed. ¡°Think about it. One squad, this far up? If things are as bad down there as we¡¯ve been led to believe, then there¡¯s a chance that some of the dark elves decided to take their chances by heading topside.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think it matters,¡± Gwenivere said. ¡°Of course it matters,¡± Miguel argued. ¡°We need to know what¡¯s going on so we can pass that on to everyone in Ironshore. If we get hit again without warning ¨C¡± ¡°Not my point, kid.¡± ¡°Stop calling me that.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You know what. It¡¯s condescending,¡± Miguel stated. ¡°I¡¯m younger than you by what? Ten years? Fifteen? That¡¯s not as big of a gap as it used to be.¡± She sighed, then ran her hand through her red hair. ¡°Fine. Just call it stress. I¡¯m sorry,¡± was her response. It was not what Miguel expected. ¡°But my point was that it doesn¡¯t change anything about our mission. We¡¯re here to set traps, right? Then that¡¯s what we do. Maybe we find out more as we go, but I say we just keep doing what we came here to do.¡± Miguel didn¡¯t have much of an argument for that suggestion, so he just nodded. ¡°Then let¡¯s get to it.¡± ¡°First things first, kid,¡± Kurik said with a grin. ¡°And don¡¯t be tellin¡¯ me not to call you that, ¡®cause it ain¡¯t gonna work. I¡¯ll damn well call you what I want to call you, and there ain¡¯t a damn thing you can do about it. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Why?¡± Miguel asked. ¡°¡¯Cause without me, you won¡¯t have nowhere to put all the loot. Now, let¡¯s strip these bastards down, take everything they have, and then get back to work.¡± 7-23. The Only Constant Elijah drifted in the center of the cave, hovering only a few feet from the bottom. The Leviathan Bones remained, though he could feel that they were far less dense than they had been before his bout of cultivation. As for the rest of the vegetation, it had been absorbed by his efforts. Apparently, reaching the third stage of Core cultivation required quite a lot of energy, both vital and magical, and he¡¯d taxed the cave to the extent of its capabilities. That the coralline structures of the Leviathan Bones had survived was a minor miracle, though one for which he was extremely grateful. The natural treasure had been a once-in-a-lifetime reward, and most of his reasoning for choosing it had hinged upon it being a multi-use tool, so Elijah was more than glad to see that it remained. It had been weakened, but he sensed that it would recover soon enough. However, he wasn¡¯t above giving it a little help, so after shifting into the Shape of the Master, he swam through the tunnel connecting the cave to the open ocean. Soon enough, he was engaged in the familiar task of repopulating the cave with local sea vegetation, including red algae, kelp, and various other plants. Even a few fish followed him back to the cave, probably curious as to his presence and attracted to the trickle of ethera leaking out of the tunnel. Once he was done, he spent a few hours meditating as he flared Nature¡¯s Bounty. Some might have considered it an onerous task ¨C akin to cleaning up after work ¨C but Elijah found it to be both cathartic and rewarding. Feeling the surge of vitality as the transplanted marine life took hold centered him in a way nothing else really could. So, rather than feeling annoyed by the delay ¨C after all, he still wanted to inspect his gains ¨C he appreciated the opportunity for what it was. Most people would never feel what he felt. Instead, they would go through life never connecting with anything, except maybe on a superficial level. He had both the responsibility and the privilege to truly bond with the natural world in a much more complete way, and he felt incredibly fortunate that he got to do so. Still, as he floated in the center of the cave, he found his mind wandering to arguably more immediately important factors. Like the fact that, even in that short amount of time since he¡¯d awoken, he could feel just how much stronger he was. Elijah knew his attributes hadn¡¯t risen. He didn¡¯t need to look at his status to know that much. However, he could feel the difference all the same. But it did beg the question of just how much more powerful he¡¯d become. He could easily cast his various buffs and check his status to figure out how much more potentl his spells had become, but he¡¯d also passed to the next stage of overall cultivation, which meant that the quality of his attributes had increased. Because of his cultivation, each point in each of his attributes counted for more than they ever had before. To figure out just how much, he¡¯d need to do some serious testing. Which he intended to do, of course. But first, he needed to complete his task so that the cultivation cave had every opportunity to recover, and in as short a time as possible. He didn¡¯t know when he¡¯d get the chance to work on his cultivation again ¨C he had a ton of things on his to-do list, and most of those would take a significant investment of time ¨C but when he did get around to taking the next steps, he wanted everything to be ready. Eventually, though, he couldn¡¯t help himself. He opened his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 125
Archetype Druid
Class Animist
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 143
Dexterity 129
Constitution 152
Ethera 166
Regeneration 157
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
Since the last time he checked his status, there were only two changes. First, as expected, his Core cultivation had reached the next stage, which was labeled Drakyn. From what he remembered from a guide he¡¯d read just after the orc invasion, a Drakyn usually referred to an adolescent dragon, which fit with his perception of his stage of cultivation. As much as he wanted to believe he was powerful, he knew that he was only a little better than a child, at least in the grand scheme of the multi-verse. He only needed to remember the vision of the Akar, the First City of Dragons to know that as fact. Not only had his host, Miskar, been far more powerful than him, but there were creatures like the Eldertalon and the Caretaker that absolutely skewed his entire perception of the scale of power within the multi-verse. And that wasn¡¯t even considering the unfathomably mighty Stormbreaker, who¡¯d made even those god-like beings look inconsequential. No - Elijah knew that likening him to an adolescent was probably accurate, if not a little generous. In any case, the second thing he noticed was that his Cultivation Stage had climbed from Adept to Expert, which was more gratifying than he¡¯d expected. Sure, it was just a line on his status, but it definitely meant a lot to him. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t be disappointed in the effects of that leap forward on the expression of his power. And after acknowledging the changes in his status, Elijah knew he didn¡¯t have any further reason to delay. So, he soon left the cultivation cave behind and headed to shore. Once there, he shifted into Shape of the Master and made his way to the grove. Along the way, he couldn¡¯t help but notice that his grove had expanded, and not by a small amount. If he¡¯d had to estimate it, he would have said that it had grown by at least a hundred feet in every direction. Consequently, his domain had become larger as well, with the boundaries extending far into the ocean. When Elijah focused on the facet of his Jade Mind where he¡¯d sequestered those related senses, he found the deluge of information both comforting and a little overwhelming. The same was true of the senses granted by Soul of the Wild, which had both grown larger and deepened. He had difficulty saying precisely how much, but it was definitely noticeable. In any case, after acknowledging that spending days cultivating underwater had left him in need of a shower, he headed into his treehouse and gave himself a thorough scrubbing. Once he was finished, Elijah finally decided to do a little testing. The first thing he wanted to check was probably the least consequential. As much as he was interested in increased attributes and more powerful spells, he was even more interested to see how reaching the Drakyn stage of Core cultivation had affected his various forms¡¯ appearance. It definitely wasn¡¯t due to vanity, he told himself, and he almost believed it. Regardless of his not-so-subtle attempts at convincing himself that his choice was driven by utilitarianism, he quickly found his mirror ¨C which was full-length ¨C and shifted into the Shape of the Master. The changes were subtle. The general features were the same, but his lizard-like fingers and toes were a little longer, as were the ridges above his eyes. The form was also slightly more muscular, as if he¡¯d been on a strenuous workout program for about a year. The shape still wasn¡¯t intimidating at all ¨C in fact, it veered far closer to cute than anything else ¨C but Elijah could feel the power pulsing through him. And it only took another look at his status to figure out why. The attribute bonuses from the shape had increased by fifty percent, plus a single point that he attributed to rounding. That meant that his Shape of the Master now gave him a whopping sixty points in every single category, which was just insane in context with the rest of his attributes. Switching to the Shape of Thorn came with the realization that his ceilings were a little too low to fully accommodate the shape, and he ended up having to crouch in order to take a look at it. The attribute increases were identical ¨C at least in terms of percentage ¨C to Shape of the Master, which meant that it maintained a lead in pure points over the other shape. The form had also grown more than two feet in height, gaining muscle and increasing the density of the vines encircling his arms and growing from his shoulders. Shape of Venom followed that same pattern, though it hadn¡¯t grown any larger. Rather, it became sleeker and more feline, with slightly longer legs, sharper claws, and much larger fangs. It was an incredibly intimidating form, though in a different way than Shape of Thorn. Checking Shape of Sky required a trip outside, so he toted the mirror out into the grove and initiated the transformation. As expected, his flight form had become more of what it already was, with even more vibrant scales, a much larger wingspan, and an even more graceful neck. However, Elijah did notice that his claws had grown as well, and he could easily imagine swooping in and capturing something as large as a cow if he so desired. In short, his shapes hadn¡¯t really changed in terms of their overall appearance, but they had all grown much better at filling their niche. That was mostly as expected, but it was still a very exciting turn of events. Finally, Elijah headed to a familiar beach so he could test out the effects of his overall Cultivation on his abilities. Unsurprisingly, he found that he was much stronger than before, and he struggled to find a rock heavy enough to tax his physical might. Even before, he¡¯d been capable of hefting multi-ton boulders with ease, but now, his only real constraint was getting a proper grip. That meant that the Shape of Thorn was far better at lifting heavy things, if for no other reason than because of its much longer arms. And he discovered another change that he hadn¡¯t expected. He now had control over the vines covering his arms. They didn¡¯t function like extra limbs, but he found that, with enough concentration, he could use them almost like a monkey would use his tail. He could wrap them around objects, and when he wanted, he could squeeze with about half the strength of his normal limbs. How much stronger, then, would Domain of Vines be? As it turned out, the answer was hard to quantify. His control was far better, and the vines were much more numerous. However, without a target, he couldn¡¯t be sure. After crushing a boulder with nothing but that spell, he decided that exact measurements weren¡¯t really useful. All he needed to know was that it had become far more powerful. The same was true of all his other spells, as well. He couldn¡¯t really put them through their paces, but when he used Lightning Domain, he scoured an entire beach. In short, he was more than happy with his advancement. Progressing his Core wasn¡¯t the be-all, end-all of cultivation, but it was clearly the most powerful aspect. ¡°Your progression is admirable,¡± said Nerthus, who¡¯d suddenly appeared out of the forest. Elijah had felt him coming, so he wasn¡¯t surprised. ¡°Most people do not reach such heights before taking the first steps into ascendency.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what Kirlissa said,¡± Elijah admitted, running his hand through his hair as he turned to face his friend. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve reached this point, I¡¯m kind of wondering if I should keep going. I mean, if getting to Expert is considered a valuable Feat of Strength for my Legacy, then shouldn¡¯t reaching the next step be better? Think of how powerful a class evolution I could get then.¡± ¡°It would be a waste,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°There is only so high you can climb before you need to move on to the next peak.¡± Even though Elijah had considered just forging ahead with his cultivation without getting his evolution, he was relieved to hear Nerthus¡¯s advice. For all that he wanted to maximize his growth, he was eager to finally push ahead to his evolution. After all, from everything he¡¯d read, doing so would be a huge boon. And he had a notion that, going forward, he would need all the help he could get. So, he asked Nerthus, ¡°Can you think of anything else I need to do before I pick an evolution?¡± Nerthus said, ¡°No. You are as ready as you can hope to be.¡± ¡°Alright then. I guess¡­I guess I¡¯m going to head to the Branch and get it done. When you see me again, I¡¯ll be a new man.¡± With that, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Sky, threw himself into the air, and began the short flight to Ironshore so he could, at last, evolve his class. 7-24. The Moment of Truth Elijah landed lightly in Druid¡¯s Park. Concerning his flight technique, he¡¯d made a ton of progress since he¡¯d gained the spell just outside of Seattle, and though he wasn¡¯t quite at the level of a native flyer like a bird, he at least didn¡¯t disturb the ground upon landing. He was eager to head to the Branch so he could select his class evolution, but he hesitated when he felt the density of ethera surrounding the ancestral tree. It had never been as powerful as the one in the grove, but as it had grown to maturity, it had become far more potent. And the energy in the atmosphere local to Druid¡¯s Park was alive with vitality and ethera. It almost felt like an oncoming storm, the air was so charged with energy. Since the last time he¡¯d been there, it had grown noticeably more powerful, and it wasn¡¯t a secret why. It was somehow tied to his cultivation, which wasn¡¯t really supposed to happen. From everything he¡¯d read, a grove¡¯s power coincided with its founding Druid¡¯s level. The tier of Core cultivation wasn¡¯t supposed to come into it. And yet, in this case, it had. Perhaps the Shard of the World Tree was responsible. Or maybe it was because he had the Core of an Elder race. Regardless of the reason, he found that he wanted to investigate further. Yet, the pull of his class evolution was far more powerful. So, after noticing that the group of children who¡¯d been watching Miguel a week or so before had once again gathered to practice their swordsmanship, he left Druid¡¯s Park behind and headed into the city. Along the way, he noticed the same glances he usually got. Most of the dwarves, goblins, and gnomes looked upon him with fear, but he also saw that many of the humans had a different emotion writ large on their faces. Greed. It was as plain as day, and Elijah knew what it meant. Clearly, those humans ¨C mostly from Norcastle ¨C knew who he was. More importantly, they knew where he lived. Perhaps they believed his grove was the reason he¡¯d grown so powerful. Or maybe they just sensed the dense ethera across the strait. Regardless, they knew he was attached to that grove, and as such, it had painted a target on his back. Because if there was any constant concerning human nature, it was covetousness. It wasn¡¯t universal ¨C far from it ¨C but there were always a few people that wanted whatever someone else possessed. And it only took a little nudge for them to decide they deserved it. After that, they would choose to take it for themselves, and they usually wouldn¡¯t do so alone. In short, the way they were looking at him was a problem, and one for which he had no solution. He could kill them, sure. They weren¡¯t strong, and even if every human in the city banded together, they would struggle to take him down. It would be even more lopsided once he evolved his class. And yet, Elijah didn¡¯t want to combat every problem with killing. Not only was it distasteful to him, but it wasn¡¯t a long-term solution. After all, most people had family. Friends. And if he killed enough people, he would create the sorts of enemies he couldn¡¯t simply dismiss. No - his old mainstay of threatening to kill anyone who crossed him wasn¡¯t really a sustainable tactic. Besides, he had no interest in remaining sequestered in his grove and guarding it against intrusion. So, he needed to find a better way. He just wasn¡¯t sure what shape that way might take, so pondering that gave him a brief distraction as he strode through town on his way to the Branch. He arrived at the huge, fortress-like building where the Branch was housed. To his surprise, someone had raised an elaborate scaffolding system, and Elijah saw a few dwarves working on the structure¡¯s fa?ade. On approach, Elijah studied them for a few moments before he realized that the building had never been meant as a finished product. Instead, it had been hastily constructed as a last bastion to shield them from the dark elf threat. It had already served that purpose, so clearly, Ramik had commissioned some specialized workers to bring the building¡¯s appearance up to the standard of the rest of the city. It was just further proof that the only constant in the world was change. With the area¡¯s incredible ethereal density, the richness of the mine, and Carmen¡¯s plans for her Great Forge, Ironshore was destined for continued growth. One day, it would become a hub ¨C not like what he wanted Argos to be, but still a commercial juggernaut. And unless he changed his approach, he wouldn¡¯t be ready to combat the problems that came with close proximity to such a place. As he entered the building, passing by a pair of guards he vaguely recognized, Elijah decided that he needed to be more involved in Ironshore¡¯s plan. He refused to let it descend into unthinking urbanity, and what¡¯s more, he needed to head off any potential intruders before they actually set foot on his island. In short, he needed to meet with Ramik, and sooner rather than later. For now, though, he wouldn¡¯t be dissuaded from his current path. Ironshore¡¯s future was important, but not nearly as vital as his class evolution. So, he continued on until he reached the chamber housing the Branch of the World Tree. Fortunately, there were only two people in line, so he didn¡¯t expect a long wait. While he stood there, he studied the Branch itself. Like the city, it had grown quite a lot over the years. When he¡¯d first encountered it, it had looked like nothing so much as a crystalline sapling, but now, it was a full-fledged tree. Not a large one, but a tree nonetheless. In structure, it resembled a maple, with spreading branches. Looking at it, Elijah felt a sense of connection that most closely reminded him of what he experienced with the ancestral tree at the center of his grove. It wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful, but still, it was quite comforting nonetheless. So, by the time it was his turn, he felt no hesitation when he embraced the new ability associated with Soul of the Wild and touched the Branch. Immediately, he blacked out, but instead of his mind going blank, it was as if he was buried beneath a deluge of information so thick that it cast his entire spirit in shadow. For that brief instant, he felt nothing. And at the same time, he felt everything. He glimpsed worlds whose nature he couldn¡¯t even fathom. He sensed a well of power that dwarfed even the mighty Stormbreaker. And he felt a loving ¨C if alien ¨C embrace that dragged him forward with such implacability that he couldn¡¯t even consider resisting. Thankfully, it only lasted an instant before the Envoy of the World Tree snatched him away. ¡°What are you doing?!¡± she screamed. ¡°Uh¡­¡± That was all Elijah could muster as the memory of that experience began to fade. It wasn¡¯t hyperbolic to say that he¡¯d been on the verge of madness, and when the touch of the World Tree slowly dissipated, he finally mustered the will to use actual words. ¡°It was a new ability. I didn¡¯t¡­I don¡¯t know¡­it lets me connect to nature, and I felt this insane pull to use it on the Branch,¡± he explained, shaking his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know why. I¡­I shouldn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay,¡± the Envoy said, patting his arm. Only then did Elijah realize he was on his back about ten feet from the Branch. ¡°The Branch is connected to the World Tree in a very real way. You are not to use abilities here, lest the World Tree¡¯s reaction become unpredictable.¡± ¡°Oh.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not your fault,¡± she continued. ¡°The World Tree loves Druids. You could not have resisted, even if you¡¯d tried.¡± ¡°I see. Is¡­is it safe to do what I came here to do?¡± he asked, eyeing the beautiful, crystalline tree with no small degree of suspicion. ¡°It should be. I have blocked your abilities for now,¡± she said. ¡°So, as soon as you¡¯re able, you may proceed.¡± Elijah took a deep breath, then nodded. Once he was back on his feet, he hesitated a moment before stepping forward and resuming the touch. But in the back of his mind, he was curious, as well. That had been the most potent feeling of connection he¡¯d ever experienced, and there was a part of him that wanted to feel it again. More strongly, he also knew just how dangerous that feeling was. The Call had nearly overwhelmed him on multiple occasions, and he knew that the World Tree¡¯s influence was just as powerfully enticing. And it was likely even more detrimental, at least to his sense of identity. So, as he reached out to touch the Branch of the World Tree, Elijah steeled himself against its influence. Fortunately, he felt nothing. He did, however, receive an immediate notification:
Congratulations! You have satisfied the requirements to evolve your class [Animist]. You have 792 paths available to you.
Almost eight hundred? That was an overwhelming number that Elijah certainly had not expected. Was that normal? Or was it due to his Legacy? He had no idea how to answer that question. Whatever the case, the first notification was soon followed by another, and this one was far more complex, featuring a list of every evolution possibility.
Evolution Pathways for [Animist]
Class Name Rarity
Primalist Common This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
Mystic Uncommon
¡­ ¡­
Moonclaw Exotic
On and on it went for almost eight hundred lines. However, it only took Elijah a moment to recognize that he could sort them by rarity. He knew from the guides he¡¯d read that, in most cases, higher rarities were associated with more power. It wasn¡¯t always the case, but it was generally accepted as the rule of thumb. So, once he¡¯d sorted them, he saw that five choices stood out from all the rest:
Evolution Pathways for [Animist]
Class Name Rarity
Primal Lord Mythic
Windcaller Legendary
Savage Stalker Legendary
Stormbound Mystic Legendary
Bloomwarden Mythic
From his reading, Elijah knew that there were nine class rarities. In order, they were: Common, Uncommon, Exotic, Legendary, Mythic, Arcane, Celestial, Primeval, and Eldritch. He didn¡¯t have much context for how much of a gap there was between each one ¨C or what those names meant ¨C but he did know that the first class evolution could not exceed Mythic rarity. He wasn¡¯t so arrogant as to think that his Legacy was entirely unique or unprecedented ¨C it was a wide multi-verse out there, after all, and he¡¯d be surprised if there was anything that had never been done ¨C but the guide he¡¯d read on the subject made even one such option seem like a rare occurrence. So, having two such choices ¨C and three at Legendary rarity ¨C seemed pretty good to Elijah. Fortunately, he had a lot more information at his fingertips than a single line on a notification, so he drilled down into the first option:
Class: Primal Lord (M) The Primal Lord is an apex shapeshifter who can take on the forms and characteristics of various beasts. This is a direct upgrade of [Animist], further establishing the Druid in a combat role. Required Archetype: Druid Required Class: Animist Required Legacy: Peerless (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
7 7 7 5 6
Elijah¡¯s jaw dropped. He¡¯d had a notion of the evolution¡¯s nature, just from the name alone. However, what he had not anticipated were the attribute gains. thirty-two points each level? That was insane, and it was far more than he¡¯d been led to expect. As for the choice, he couldn¡¯t have been more pleased. The Primal Lord was a direct upgrade to his current class, though one with far more power at its disposal. It was exactly what he¡¯d hoped to achieve, given that those extra attributes would go a long way toward pushing him into a more combat role. He wasn¡¯t an action junkie or anything, but he¡¯d be lying to himself if he didn¡¯t admit that he had no intention of sitting in his grove and nurturing plants. Still, as happy as he was with the description of the Primal Lord, he intended to look at all of his top-tier options, giving them all due consideration before making his final choice. But for now, Primal Lord seemed like a great option. With that in mind, he moved on to the Windcaller¡¯s description:
Class: Windcaller (L) A master of weather, the Windcaller can perform equally well in combat and non-combat roles. This is a deviation of the [Animist] class, redirecting it away from shapeshifting. Required Archetype: Druid Required Class: Animist Required Legacy: Peerless (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
1 1 3 12 12
Elijah was not impressed until he saw the weight of the attribute bonuses. It only gave a couple fewer points than Primal Lord, which suggested that it was almost as powerful. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t imagine giving up his shapeshifting abilities. Certainly, from what he understood, he wouldn¡¯t lose any of his current spells. However, they would become less and less viable as he leveled, and eventually, they would be replaced by spells more appropriate to that class. Even so, the power of the option meant that he couldn¡¯t really ignore it. Next, he moved on to the third choice:
Class: Savage Stalker (L) The Savage Stalker is a peerless hunter focusing on stealth, ambush, and tracking. It is a direct upgrade of the [Animist] class, though specializing in one form above all others. Required Archetype: Druid Required Class: Animist Required Legacy: Peerless (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
5 12 1 3 5
The Savage Stalker class offered the fewest attribute points yet, but most of those were focused on Dexterity. That wasn¡¯t really a terrible thing, though Elijah found himself pulling away from the class simply because it would rob him of some of the versatility that was one of the primary reasons he¡¯d managed to survive. He looked at the next listing:
Class: Stormbound Mystic (L) A hybrid who is equally adept at manipulating storms as it is suited to healing, the Stormbound Mystic is a terrifying and versatile adversary or ally. It is a deviation of [Animist], focusing on spellcasting as opposed to shapeshifting. Required Archetype: Druid Required Class: Animist Required Legacy: Peerless (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
0 0 7 10 10
The Stormbound Mystic had some of the same problems as the Windcaller, though it was a bit better because it was slightly more versatile. Taking it would mean moving away from his shapeshifting, but he couldn¡¯t deny the appeal of a lightning-wielding sorcerer who could also heal. Finally, he looked at the second Mythic rarity class evolution:
Class: Bloomwarden (M) A master of plantlife, the Bloomwarden can harness the power of nature to heal, nurture a powerful grove, or slaughter any intruders of ill-intent. It is a deviation of the [Animist] class, focusing on empowering a Druid¡¯s grove. It is only available to those who have founded a grove themselves. Required Archetype: Druid Required Class: Animist Required Legacy: Peerless (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
0 0 10 10 25
Seeing that the class offered twenty-five points per level in a single category was jaw-dropping. On paper, it was far and away the most powerful class available to him, though Elijah had trouble latching onto it. Still, he could not ignore it as an option, just because of the power it offered. He sighed, realizing that he had a difficult decision ahead of him. 7-25. The Evolution On the surface, there were only two choices that mattered. Both the Primal Lord and the Bloomwarden lived up to their Mythic rarities, offering far more power than their Legendary counterparts. Objectively, they were just better, so it was easy to discard the other three options. Fortunately, now that he had unlocked his choices, he didn¡¯t need to maintain contact with the Branch of the World Tree. So, he pulled away, thanked the Envoy of the World Tree, then left the building behind. For a while, he just wandered Ironshore¡¯s streets, lost in thought as he considered the implications of the choice before him. By any metric, Primal Lord and Bloomwarden were the only viable options, but he couldn¡¯t help but consider the Legendary evolutions available to him. If nothing else, they gave him some insight into what kinds of things were possible, which left him awestruck at the potential. Certainly, his options were likely far more powerful than most, but it seemed obvious that becoming an Ascendent would be a game-changer. Even if he chose one of the lower-rarity class evolutions, like the Uncommon variants, his attribute gains would be double what they currently were. In short, as more people reached that level, the world would irreversibly change. People would grow more powerful, and the gap between the elites and the rest of humanity would become even wider. Clearly, there would need to be some safeguards to prevent exploitation. But Elijah had no interest in filling that role. Sure, he would fight against oppression whenever he encountered it, but he had no intention of making that his primary goal. He wasn¡¯t quite that selfless. Eventually, Elijah found himself standing outside a small tea shop that had popped up sometime while he was in the Trial of Primacy. It was a quaint place with plenty of outdoor seating where a few people were taking advantage of the nice weather. With autumn having taken hold, there was a slight chill in the air, but most people who lived in Ironshore had enough Constitution to withstand it. After only a moment, Elijah saw Ramik sitting alone and enjoying a cup of tea. The goblin mayor was dressed much as usual, in his crisp suit and bowler hat, but he seemed to have added a decorative cane to his accoutrements. Sensing that someone was looking his way, Ramik glanced up, and when he saw Elijah, he smiled fondly and gestured for him to join. Elijah still hadn¡¯t made a decision on his evolution, so he saw no reason to refuse. A moment later, he¡¯d covered the ground between them, and he asked, ¡°Mind if I join you?¡± ¡°Of course! I always have time for Ironshore¡¯s savior,¡± Ramik answered. As Elijah sat in the wrought iron chair across from the goblin, Ramik went on to ask, ¡°What brings you to the city? We haven¡¯t seen you around here much since you returned from the Trial of Primacy.¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been working on some things,¡± Elijah admitted. He trusted Ramik, but not so much that he wanted the goblin to know the extent of his cultivation efforts. Still, much like Kurik, Ramik had lived in the multi-verse his whole life, and he could prove to be a valuable resource. Especially since the town¡¯s only Librarian was only capable of so much, and Elijah had yet to schedule an appointment. A bit of an oversight, but one that could easily be explained by the number of things on Elijah¡¯s plate. With everything else going on ¨C and all the other demands on his time ¨C some things were bound to be lost in the shuffle. Regardless, as a gnomish server took his tea order, Elijah asked, ¡°Do you know anything about class evolutions? Specifically, rarities? How much difference is there between each one? In terms of power, I mean.¡± Ramik¡¯s sizable eyes narrowed slightly. ¡°You are on the verge of ascendence, aren¡¯t you?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°More or less,¡± he admitted. Then, he decided to reveal a bit more. ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got the choices in front of me right now. I just need to decide.¡± ¡°Choices? Plural?¡± ¡°Yeah. Is that not normal?¡± ¡°Ah¡­most people only have one option. A few at most,¡± Ramik answered. He nodded, continuing, ¡°I suppose it makes sense that you would have more. People on newly touched worlds generally have an advantage there. May I ask how many choices you have?¡± ¡°A few,¡± Elijah lied. If he told the goblin that he¡¯d been given nearly eight hundred choices, it might give him a heart attack. ¡°What about rarities? Relatively speaking, what¡¯s the power difference between them?¡± Ramik responded, ¡°It¡¯s hard to quantify. There are some general guides regarding attribute bonuses, but that¡¯s only one factor. About half of the people that reach ascendence will get at least one Uncommon class. Few are afforded the opportunity to choose higher rarities like Exotic.¡± ¡°What about the higher rarities?¡± ¡°Nearly unheard-of,¡± Ramik answered without hesitation. ¡°Even then, the first evolution is cut off at Mythic. It is impossible to go higher until the next evolution. I don¡¯t know anything else about that, though.¡± ¡°But each rarity means more power, right?¡± Elijah asked. Ramik nodded. ¡°Yes. There is some overlap, but in general, that¡¯s the accepted rule.¡± ¡°And when an option grants more attribute points, it¡¯s generally stronger?¡± ¡°There are exceptions, but yes.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said as his tea arrived. He transferred the payment to the server, thanked her, then asked Ramik, ¡°So, what about you? How is the city recovering?¡± Apparently, the answer to that question was quite a bright spot for Ramik. They¡¯d repaired most of the damage done to the city, and they¡¯d even begun a few expansion projects. Already, Kurik and a few others ¨C including Miguel ¨C were hard at work setting up defenses in the mines, where work had already resumed. Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings. ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been holding onto something for a couple of years now,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And it¡¯s just occurred to me that you might be able to use it.¡± Reaching into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, Elijah retrieved something he¡¯d very nearly forgotten about ¨C at least until he¡¯d spent some time cataloguing his loot from the Trial of Primacy. He set it down on the table, which elicited quite a reaction from Ramik. ¡°Is that what I think it is?¡± he asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s called a Seal of Authority,¡± he answered, removing his hand from the coin-shaped object. It didn¡¯t look like much, but he knew it was quite powerful ¨C at least to some people. It was basically worthless for him, considering he had no interest in ruling a city, but for someone like Ramik, it could change everything. And Elijah hoped it would help solve his problems concerning the security of the grove. ¡°Where did you get it?¡± asked Ramik, his large ears twitching in excitement. ¡°Killed the owner and destroyed his city.¡± ¡°W-what? How?¡± ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t remember the mechanics of it,¡± Elijah admitted. He¡¯d been in a grief-fueled rage when he¡¯d killed Roman, which meant that the memory was a little hazy. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have been able to kill someone with this. Not in their city,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Either the owner was stupid or¡­but no, the system wouldn¡¯t give this out to an idiot. It¡¯s a reward for people that display the characteristics necessary to lead a city. On established worlds, Seals of Authority would be passed down across generations. On my home planet, they are tied to elections, but it is not unheard-of for them to remain in the same families for eons.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s a pretty good item?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°That is an understatement. No city can ever reach its potential without it. With something like this, the possibilities for growth are endless. Not only would defending Ironshore become far easier, but our people would be much more productive. More experience for the same actions, less failures from our Tradesmen, and better results from training our fighters,¡± Ramik explained, excitement evident in his voice. ¡°It would change everything.¡± ¡°Oh. So, I guess you want it, huh?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± ¡°Relax, Ramik. I¡¯m going to give it to you. I wouldn¡¯t have revealed it otherwise,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I want some assurances, mostly concerning my ongoing privacy. If you can swear to me that you¡¯ll keep people away from my island, I¡¯ll hand it over.¡± He thought about it for a moment more. ¡°Oh, and I want you to help Carmen as much as possible with her project.¡± ¡°I can do that,¡± Ramik agreed. ¡°In fact, those are things I¡¯m already doing. The last thing we want is another incident like what happened with Eason Cabbot, and Carmen¡¯s Great Forge is instrumental in our plans to set Ironshore apart from every other city on Earth.¡± He took a deep breath, then gulped his tea. ¡°But this is too much. You could sell that Seal of Authority on the Branch Marketplace for a hundred platinum ethereum. Maybe more, if you don¡¯t sell it immediately. It would make you rich beyond measure.¡± ¡°Is that what you would do? I know you have money problems,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That would be enough to get you out debt. Ironshore could have its independence.¡± ¡°No. It is far more valuable than simple ethereum. I could use it to improve the lives of everyone in Ironshore,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°But as I said, I can¡¯t take it without paying you. It wouldn¡¯t be fair, and I fear you would resent me for my greed.¡± Elijah took a sip of his tea, then nearly spit it out. He definitely preferred coffee. Still, he schooled his reaction, then tapped his chin. ¡°How about this? I get five percent of the city¡¯s revenue over the next¡­I don¡¯t know¡­twenty years.¡± ¡°Two percent over ten,¡± Ramik countered immediately. ¡°Four percent over fifteen.¡± Back and forth they went for the next few minutes until they came to an agreement. Elijah would get three-and-a-half percent of Ironshore¡¯s revenue over the next twelve years, and Ramik would get the Seal of Authority. As they shook, Elijah reminded Ramik, ¡°Obviously, this is in addition to the other two conditions. I¡¯m serious about this, Ramik. I¡¯ve seen some of those newcomers eyeing my island. If they come over there, bad things are going to happen. Even if I¡¯m not around, there are defenses in place. This is about public safety.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take every precaution,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Deal?¡± ¡°Deal.¡± Ramik took the Seal of Authority, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll have a contract prepared officializing the agreement. Will you be around tomorrow?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll stop by,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I hope you use that Seal of Authority better than the last owner.¡± ¡°I will.¡± After that, Elijah nodded at the goblin, then strode away. Eventually, he decided to stop stalling and return to his grove. He always thought better in familiar places, and there was nowhere more attuned to him than his island. So, he shifted into the Shape of Sky, leaped into the air, and flew across the strait. Once he was back on his island, he planted himself at the center of his grove, settled into the lotus position, then turned his mind to the choice before him. The Bloomwarden was obviously more powerful than the Primal Lord, but that strength came with significant limitations. If he was reading the description right, that class was geared toward keeping him in his grove. For someone like Nerthus, it would have been perfect. But for Elijah and his undeniable sense of adventure, it seemed like an ill fit. With that in mind, his decision seemed clear. He chose Primal Lord.
Congratulations! You have chosen to evolve your [Animist] class into [Primal Lord]. Stand by while appropriate changes are made.
No sooner had Elijah read that notification than he felt something stirring with him. It wasn¡¯t located in his core, but rather, it emanated from his chest. After only a moment, that feeling morphed into an uncomfortable burning sensation, which soon spread across his entire body. Moment by moment, the potency of that burn increased until he felt like his every cell had been set aflame. He bore it stoically at first, but soon enough, he couldn¡¯t contain himself. He let out a slight grunt that soon became a scream. As that sound erupted from his throat, the ethera in the area went wild, fluctuating with every pulse of his heart. Vitality came next, riding the wave of the rippling ethera and soothing his burning body. That relief only lasted for a second before another wave of fire and ethera swept through him. Elijah had known it was coming. He thought he was prepared for what the guides had described. Yet, it was more pain than he¡¯d ever experienced, which, considering everything he¡¯d been through, was saying quite a lot. Still, he took it as best he could. Time lost meaning. He might¡¯ve been there for a few seconds, or days could have passed. He had no context by which to measure it. What he did know was that everything about him was being broken down and remade. He just had to endure it. Gradually, he lost himself in the agony, so when it finally began to wane, he barely even noticed it. By the time it ceased entirely, Elijah was still forced to endure the echoes for what felt like an eternity. Then, they faded as well, leaving him entirely remade.
Congratulations! You have reached the Ascendent tier. All banked experience will now be applied.
7-26. An Important Milestone Elijah watched as he received one notification after another, each informing him that he¡¯d attained another level. And with every notification came an influx in attributes that, as they flooded his body, gave him an odd feeling of power, jitteriness, and a healthy dose of nausea. When it finally settled, he hesitantly looked at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 136
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 220
Dexterity 206
Constitution 229
Ethera 232
Regeneration 234
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
A little quick math told him that the bonus from his specialization of one extra point per level to the Ethera and Regeneration attributes was still in effect, which meant that he was one point of Ethera ¨C per level, of course ¨C away from a perfectly balanced spread. That was gratifying, if not terribly exciting. What did qualify for that last descriptor was the fact that he¡¯d gained eleven levels in the space of a few seconds. That sudden increase in attributes made him feel incredibly powerful, though he was far more interested in the next notification:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Healing Rain. Please choose a path:
Primal Storm Blessing of the Grove Tempest of Renewal
Evolve Healing Rain by increasing its size and potency. Evolve Healing Rain by increasing the potency and adding a nature-based blessing. Evolve Healing Rain by adding an Ethera regeneration component to the spell.
That was expected. From the guides he¡¯d read, he would continue to gain new spells or evolutions every five levels until he reached one-fifty. After that, new abilities would become far more infrequent. For some classes, the interval was every ten levels, but it wasn¡¯t uncommon for the gap between new spells to be quite a bit larger. According to those guides, all of which were written by Scholars who¡¯d made studying classes and progression their life¡¯s work, it made perfect sense. The Mortal Realm was when people established their habits and laid the foundations for who they would be. As such, acquiring new spells was a frequent occurrence. But as people gained levels and climbed the tiers, it became far less common. And at higher levels, there were strict requirements that included crafted items and difficult Feats of Strength. At present, Elijah automatically satisfied most requirements for Feats of Strength, but he suspected that eventually, his current Legacy would start to fall short. When that happened, he¡¯d need to throw himself into increasingly difficult situations until he met those conditions. Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. But that was in the future. For now, he had a spell evolution to choose. The first option was a straight upgrade to the current spell. Healing Rain was already an extremely useful spell, largely because it was his only means of healing multiple targets at once. In addition, he¡¯d often paired it with Nature¡¯s Bounty when trying to nurture plant life. So, he had to admit that adding more of the same was an attractive, if a little boring, option. So, he moved on to the next choice, which varied things up a bit. He expected that the spell¡¯s outward expression would be the same ¨C a localized storm ¨C but the added blessing definitely intrigued Elijah. He wished it was more specific, but his intuition told him that it would be quite potent. The final option was just as interesting, adding Ethera regeneration to the mix. He¡¯d only seen a single spell that affected that category, so he knew it was a bit rare. ¡°You have reached the Ascendent tier,¡± came Nerthus¡¯ voice from behind him. Elijah had been so distracted that he hadn¡¯t even noticed his approach. He turned, saying, ¡°Yeah. How can you tell?¡± ¡°How could I not?¡± asked Nerthus. ¡°The density of Ethera in the grove has already begun to climb.¡± Indeed, now that Elijah was paying attention, he could feel it. He had no context for how much it had risen, but it was not an insignificant amount. In addition, his domain had grown as well, and as far as he could tell, it was at least a hundred feet wider than it had been only a few hours before. When he asked Nerthus about it, the spryggent answered, ¡°I do not know. Your grove is more powerful than it should be at this stage. Partly, that is because of your attunement to nature, which is exceptional. However, it is also due to other factors. Rarely does a Druid ¨C especially a founder of a grove ¨C achieve so many Feats of Strength. I assume your evolution was of exceptional quality?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°Mythic rarity.¡± ¡°W-what?¡± asked Nerthus, his voice quivering. ¡°Are you certain?¡± ¡°Pretty sure. It was right there in the notification. Primal Lord.¡± ¡°That is it¡¯s name? It has ¡®Lord¡¯ in the title?¡± ¡°Yeah. Is that significant?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°It means that it is an extremely powerful variant.¡± Then, Nerthus went on to explain how classes worked. His actions and class had dictated the options, while his Legacy determined the rarity. Apparently, the first option he¡¯d been offered ¨C the Primalist ¨C was the Uncommon-rarity version of the Primal Lord. Further, his attribute bonuses followed a similar pattern as they had when he was only an Animist, which meant that the versatility of the evolution would normally prevent him from keeping up with specialists. However, the fact that he¡¯d achieved a Mythic-rarity class went a long way toward closing that gap. In terms of raw Strength, he might not be able to keep up with a Warrior evolution of decent rarity, but anything below Exotic would likely struggle to match him. In short, he¡¯d just improved relative to everyone else on Earth. ¡°What do you think about this evolution?¡± Elijah asked after explaining the differences. ¡°What do you want out of the spell?¡± asked Nerthus in response. ¡°Do you need to spread your branches terms of healing? Pick the first option. Do you find yourself running short of ethera? Pick the third. If I were to choose for you, I would pick Blessing of the Grove. The name suggests that it will tap into the power of this grove, which is one of your greatest assets.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah said, nodding. It made sense, and more than that, he¡¯d been leaning in that direction anyway, though for a different reason. In his experience, vaguely worded spell descriptions usually held great power. Adding to that was the fact that the spell would continue to work similarly to its current incarnation, and he was sold. So, he chose Blessing of the Grove.
Blessing of the Grove Conjure a regenerative storm that bathes the area in dense vitality, healing and shielding allies while cleansing negative effects. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 139.3 seconds.
It wasn¡¯t precisely what Elijah had hoped for, but he¡¯d need to try it out before he made any real determinations. He did find it interesting that the new version quantified the duration, which was something that had never been listed on Healing Rain¡¯s description. It was less than thirty seconds, but he¡¯d never really timed it before. Whatever the case, Elijah had another notification begging for his attention:
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Nature¡¯s Bounty. Please choose a path:
Burst of Vitality Nature¡¯s Design Arsenal of Thorns
Evolve Nature¡¯s Bounty by focusing on rapid growth. Evolve Nature¡¯s Bounty by directing and shaping plant growth. Evolve Nature¡¯s Bounty by focusing on the weaponization of plant life.
¡°I¡¯ve got one more for you, man,¡± Elijah said before describing the options. ¡°They all seem pretty useful to me, but I have to admit that I like the idea of Arsenal of Thorns. It would finally make the spell combat effective.¡± ¡°That is likely true,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°However, I must ask ¨C is that something you truly need?¡± ¡°I can always use more combat effectiveness.¡± ¡°Also true, but you must understand that you will also lose some of its old effectiveness,¡± Nerthus advised. ¡°Perhaps Arsenal of Thorns will be just as strong as Nature¡¯s Bounty. In fact, I would be surprised if it was not. Yet, the other two will be more powerful when it comes to the primary effect of the root spell.¡± ¡°So you don¡¯t think I should choose it?¡± Elijah asked, massaging the back of his neck. ¡°I cannot say,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°The choice is yours. I would not pick that option, though.¡± ¡°Which one would you pick?¡± ¡°Not the third,¡± Nerthus reiterated. ¡°The others will both have their uses. My advice is to take the one that seems more unique. Do you believe rapid growth to be a rarer ability than the ability to guide the evolution of plant life?¡± ¡°I honestly don¡¯t really know what that last one means.¡± ¡°I have a similar ability. It is how I tend to this grove so well,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°Take the grove fruits. They began their lives as mere berries, but through my efforts, I have slowly guided them to evolve into their current form. The fruits are much larger, better tasting, and far more nutritious. Indeed, they are on par with many natural treasures.¡± ¡°And the plant growth one? Do you have something like that?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I do.¡± After answering, he waved his hand, and a small, nearby plant bloomed into something much larger. Over the next ten seconds, it grew to almost waist height for Elijah. ¡°It does not work on plants with too much ethera, so no natural treasures. But for mundane food or herbs, it would be quite invaluable. More importantly, the next evolution will likely allow you to manipulate magical plant life to a much larger degree. One day, you would be able to do that to a natural treasure. I don¡¯t believe I need to tell you how valuable such an ability would be. Indeed, in groves on other planets, there are many Druids who focus exclusively on such spells, and through their efforts, the groves and their people often want for nothing.¡± Even as Nerthus explained the knock-on effect of taking the Burst of Vitality evolution, Elijah recognized two things. First, its potential was obvious. Natural treasures were extremely valuable, and an effectively endless supply would be a great source of wealth. So, the benefits were plain to see. However, the second realization felt far more important to him. He wasn¡¯t a farmer. He didn¡¯t want to spend his days growing herbs in the grove. He was, for lack of a better term, an adventurer. That invariably affected his decision. He chose Nature¡¯s Design:
Nature¡¯s Design Encourage and support the growth of plants. Channel ethera into specific plants to enhance specific traits.
The spell, by its very nature, was only marginally useful for his goals. Sure, he¡¯d definitely benefited from Nature¡¯s Bounty over the years, and he likely would not have survived without it. However, the way he saw it, the choice was one of quality versus quantity, and he chose the latter. The potential of directed growth was obscene, and he¡¯d much rather develop an ultra-powerful plant that was useful for his specific situation than to focus on quantity. Elijah was certain that there were perspectives on the choice that he hadn¡¯t considered. In addition, there was a part of him that still wished he¡¯d taken Arsenal of Thorns. Yet, he trusted Nerthus¡¯ opinion, and what¡¯s more, the spryggent¡¯s reasoning made perfect sense. So, all in all, he was happy with his choices. More importantly, he was eager to see if his ascendance had affected his shapes and to test out the newly evolved spells. But first, he had a couple more questions for Nerthus. ¡°You know, I don¡¯t really know that much about you,¡± he said to his friend. Indeed, some of his questions kind of got lost during the first part of their friendship, when Nerthus had disappeared for long stretches. But now, the spyrggent was around far more often. ¡°What would you like to know?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. What planet are you from? You¡¯ve talked a little about it, but you¡¯ve never really specified the name.¡± ¡°Because I do not know. Spryggents are not like humans. Our childhood is beset by very limited awareness. We know certain things, and we learn what our parents choose to teach us. However, much of that must be discovered after we reach adolescence. That is when I came here, presumably because my parents wanted to give me a better life. I can never know for certain why I am here.¡± ¡°Do you miss them?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I miss the idea of them,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°I never truly knew them, but since coming here, I have come to understand the role of family in a way I did not before. And at times¡­at times, I wish for that sort of relationship.¡± ¡°I see. Do you ¨C¡± ¡°I do not wish to speak further on that subject.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. Emotions were difficult to read with Nerthus, largely because his facial expression rarely changed much. So, it wasn¡¯t easy to know when he was overstepping, so he just took his cues from Nerthus¡¯ request, changing the subject. ¡°Do you want to see how these new spells work, then?¡± ¡°I¡­I do not,¡± Nerthus admitted. ¡°My only request is that you use them away from the grove. I don¡¯t want you to ruin my work.¡± That was in line with Nerthus¡¯ normal attitude. So, Elijah just reached out and patted the tree spirit on the shoulder before saying, ¡°If it makes you feel any better, you¡¯re family to me.¡± Then, before Nerthus could respond, he headed away from the grove, intent on putting his new abilities to the test. 7-27. More than Expected Elijah leaped from his balcony, his large, full-size mirror under his arm. He landed in the grove, reveling in his increased attributes. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d gotten them over two-hundred, but there was a difference between getting there with the benefit of buffs, equipment, and his various forms and attaining those heights as a human. He felt lighter, stronger, and more coordinated, almost to the point where it affected his balance. But thankfully, his attributes were so evenly distributed that he adjusted quickly. Soon enough, he was strolling through the forest surrounding the grove. It truly was a perfect environment, with trees growing to nearly twice their normal height, and the rest of the vegetation being far lusher than would have been possible in the old world. And that was with fall tightening its grip on the region. In summer, it would be truly magnificent. The wildlife was just as impressively developed. Some ¨C like the population of hares ¨C were much larger than normal, but others hadn¡¯t grown physically bigger. To the senses associated with Soul of the Wild, Elijah could feel just how densely packed they were with vitality and ethera, though. It was odd, knowing that if he¡¯d met the current version of his island¡¯s squirrels in his first year, he would have been grossly outmatched. But that was just the reality of his chosen environment. Sure, there were powerful creatures and areas with incredibly dense ethera in the rest of the world. He¡¯d encountered a few during his travels. But nothing could even begin to compare to his island. For better or worse, the thickness of the atmospheric ethera had transformed everything around his grove, and to the point where it scarcely resembled the forest of the past. But even more impactful was the sense of harmony hanging over everything. Some animals hunted the other beasts on the island. Others would happily tear through as much vegetation as they could eat. There was conflict even among the trees as they fought in a slow-motion war for sunlight. Yet, it was all connected, and there was a sense of belonging that permeated everything on the island. In short, it was a perfect ecosystem, and the effect of that was more than even that descriptor implied. That was why Elijah didn¡¯t bother hurrying across the island. Certainly, he had a hundred different tasks threatening to pull him in just as many directions. Yet, he knew that his time on the island was coming to an end. He¡¯d accomplished his primary goals, and as such, he was very aware that he would soon leave. For how long, he had no idea, but he recognized that it would not be a short trip. So, with that in mind, he resolved to appreciate the island while he could. Barefoot and carrying his mirror, he probably looked a bit odd as he strolled across the island. Certainly, the animals all looked at him with more than a little curiosity. They didn¡¯t scatter or run from him, though. Instead, they simply noted his existence, then went on about their day. It was a glimpse into the natural world that was rarely afforded to human beings, and Elijah did not take it for granted. Eventually, he reached his destination, which was a clearing where he¡¯d often practiced yoga while in his guardian form. Back then, the disparity between its high Strength and middling Dexterity had caused a lot of problems. Some of those issues were still present ¨C especially when he was forced to rapidly shift between one form or the other ¨C but he¡¯d slowly grown accustomed to it. Even now, he periodically needed to spend time adjusting, especially as he grew more and more powerful. During the Trial of Primacy, his frequent forays into the wilderness helped with that, but it had been quite some time since he¡¯d really buckled down and put his forms through their paces. And what¡¯s more, he knew that if he kept going like that, he would develop some bad habits. It was so easy to just do whatever came naturally, but that was how people grew stagnant. If he truly wanted to maximize his potential, he needed to train hard enough and in such a way that felt uncomfortable. The clearing was perfect for that. At one point or another, he¡¯d toted a handful of the largest boulders he could find into the dell, and it was large enough to allow him to reach full speed at a sprint. Still, Elijah knew that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he outgrew the makeshift training grounds of his island. In all likelihood, he already had ¨C especially considering his latest surge in power. Even so, it would prove useful, because it provided a baseline from before the Trial of Primacy. However outdated that information was, it could still give him some context for how much he¡¯d grown. To that end, after placing the mirror in one corner of the dell and propping it on a tree, Elijah shifted into the Shape of the Master. Once he had, he took a look at his reflection. The shape was largely unchanged, though he could see a certain iridescence in his skin that had not been there before. When he moved, it looked like tiny waves of flame traveling up and down his limbs. The Shape of Thorn was similarly affected, though instead of flames, the vines and thorns around his arms and shoulders had simply grown thicker. In addition, he found that his control over them felt more intuitive than they had before he¡¯d reached the level of an Ascendent. It wasn¡¯t a groundbreaking change, but it was definitely noticeable. When he shifted into the Shape of Venom, he saw that it was the same size and general shape as before. However, like the other two forms, it had changed in subtle ways. In the case of the blight dragon, his scales were much darker than before. Though the biggest change was that his form looked almost like the shadows around it had grown unnaturally deep. It wasn¡¯t immediately noticeable, but Elijah recognized it after only a few seconds. The Shape of Sky remained largely unchanged, though Elijah did notice that his scales held a luster that they hadn¡¯t before. What that meant, he wasn¡¯t sure, but it fit the theme established by his other forms. After shifting back to his human form, he cast Wild Infusion, then Aura of Renewal before taking on the Shape of the Master once again. Once he¡¯d regained his shape, he checked his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 136
Archetype A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 378 (220)
Dexterity 364 (206)
Constitution 387(229)
Ethera 292 (232)
Regeneration 324 (234)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
Fully buffed, his attributes were a little insane. He knew that his Strength and Constitution would grow even more potent in Shape of Thorn, as well. But the Shape of the Master gave him a nice baseline. In any case, Elijah had come to his makeshift training grounds to put his new attributes through their paces, so he quickly got to work doing just that. And he was incredibly impressed. The boulders that would have taxed his Strength in the guardian form were now simple to lift. But it went further than that. He could move faster, and with far more coordination than ever before. It was more than just the attributes, though. More than his cultivation, even. He felt that progressing to the Ascendent tier had given him a level of power that exceeded his expectations. Not by a lot. Probably not more than fifteen or twenty percent, if he knew his body and attributes. But still, it was significant. It also meant that reaching that point was more than just getting a few extra attribute points with each level. Not only would it give him access to more and varied spells, but everything about him had become qualitatively better. That just told him how much further above him high-level ascendents, demi-gods, and deities really were. He felt like a superhero now, but next to them, he might as well have been a toddler. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that the increase in power was both addictive and intoxicating. As such, he spent quite some time training, and in various forms. He didn¡¯t really accomplish a goal. He didn¡¯t push himself hard enough to make any real strides forward. Indeed, if he was honest with himself, it was more like playing than anything else. For hours, he switched back and forth between various forms as he leaped across the training grounds, lifted multi-ton boulders, and wove between the trees surrounding the clearing. Eventually, though, he couldn¡¯t contain his anticipation for testing out his newly evolved spells. So, Elijah shifted into his human form, then planted himself in the center of the clearing. Once there, he took a deep breath before casting Blessing of the Grove. At first, it manifested almost identically its predecessor, Healing Rain. However, it only took a quick look into the senses granted by Soul of the Wild for him to recognize that it was far more powerful. He couldn¡¯t be sure, but if it wasn¡¯t half-again stronger, he would have been surprised. But it didn¡¯t stop there. After only a few seconds, a flower sprouted at his feet. At first, it looked no different from a run-of-the-mill sunflower, but within a couple of moments, it had grown to the size of a basketball. A few seconds later, it was four feet across. That¡¯s where it settled, and when its growth stopped, Elijah felt a pulse of ethera as the entire area for almost thirty feet in every direction was bathed in dense energy. Some of it congregated around his body, and when Elijah looked at his arm, he saw a thin and ephemeral green barrier. It was a shield, not unlike he¡¯d seen used by Sadie and Lamar, though he could sense that it wasn¡¯t as strong. After a little testing ¨C which involved him banging his arm against one of the boulders until it cracked ¨C Elijah managed to burst the shield, and to his surprise, it renewed after only fifteen more seconds. In fact, after another cast of the spell, he determined that the shield would continuously renew, adding an extra fifteen seconds to the cooldown, each time it was broken. So, it wouldn¡¯t be persistent, and if it was broken a few times in quick succession, it would take quite a while to return, but that didn¡¯t really matter to Elijah. The spell had far outperformed his expectations, and he was already thinking of instances where that shield ¨C weak as it was ¨C could have made a huge difference for him and his allies. Because after all, it wasn¡¯t just on one person. It would affect every one of his friends as well, so long as they were within range of the sunflower. So, with that success fresh in his mind, Elijah was more than excited about testing out Nature¡¯s Design. After letting Blessing of the Grove run its course, he sat in the center of the clearing, closed his eyes, and embraced his new spell. And immediately, he was disappointed because it didn¡¯t feel any different than its predecessor, Nature¡¯s Bounty. Sure, it was a little stronger, he supposed, but there wasn¡¯t anything to truly differentiate it from the old version from which it had evolved. He took a deep breath. Then, Elijah looked a little deeper. That was when he sensed it. There was another level to the spell, and if he only pushed a little, he could unlock it. So, that was what he did, and only a second later, his mind blossomed with information. If he hadn¡¯t experienced the effects of Soul of the Wild, he might have been overwhelmed, but in comparison, it was nothing. All around him, he could feel the plant life, right down to the individual blades of grass. He focused, homing in on one particular bundle of vitality, and when he did, he felt something he couldn¡¯t really explain. He understood it, but he definitely could never hope to make sense of the mechanisms that he knew would allow him to guide that blade of grass¡¯ development. If he wanted to enhance its fire affinity, he could. Or cold. Or wind. He even felt that he could nudge it toward earth. Elijah focused on that, and slowly, he felt the ethera flowing out of his core, into the channels of his soul, and into that blade of grass. The stream wasn¡¯t debilitatingly fast, but it wasn¡¯t slow, either. In any case, it took almost an hour before he started to dip below the halfway point of his store of ethera. So, he cut off the flow and opened his eyes. There it was, sitting amidst all the normal ¨C if much larger ¨C grass blades. He¡¯d focused on earth, and that had affected it in an odd way. Specifically, the grass blade now had a metallic sheen. When he felt it, it was like running his fingers along the surface of an aluminum can. It was absolutely fascinating. However, he quickly surmised that there was an unexpected problem with using his new spell ¨C at least to change a plant¡¯s affinity like that. The blade of grass didn¡¯t look all that different from all the others around it, but when he focused on it with Soul of the Wild, he immediately realized that it was entirely out of place. If he left it there, it would have detrimental effects on the ecosystem. So, without hesitation, he plucked it from the ground and crumpled it into a little ball before tucking it into one of his pockets. Suddenly, he understood why Nerthus hated when Elijah messed with the grove. There was a delicate balance between everything on the island, and it only took a little carelessness ¨C or in his case, a lot of it ¨C to foul the entire thing. One thing was certain ¨C he needed to be careful if he was going to use his new spell. 7-28. An Important Meeting ¡°Does he look different to you?¡± asked Carmen, her eyes trained on the multi-colored creature flying through the sky. ¡°He looks different.¡± ¡°Looks terrifyin¡¯ is what he looks,¡± said Carissa with a shiver. ¡°How you spend so much time with ¡®im, I¡¯ll never know. I¡¯d be ¡®fraid he¡¯d eat me.¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t eat people,¡± Carmen sighed. ¡°You know that. He¡¯s saved this town twice now.¡± ¡°And I ¡®preciate it. I really do. But that don¡¯t mean I want to hang out with ¡®im,¡± the dwarven woman responded. ¡°You heard what he did, right? About Ramik?¡± Carmen had. She wasn¡¯t sure what exactly a Seal of Authority did, but according to Carissa, it had the capacity to change everything about Ironshore. Everyone¡¯s lives stood to improve, and all because Elijah had given Ramik a nearly priceless treasure. What¡¯s more, Carmen knew where he¡¯d gotten it, too. So, her feelings about the whole situation were complicated by the fact that it had once belonged to a man she hated more than any other. That Roman was dead didn¡¯t really do anything to assuage her enmity, and she wanted nothing more than to simply move on and never think of him again. Most of the time, she was successful, but Carmen wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d ever truly reach that lofty goal. She nodded, saying, ¡°I hope it works out. From what I understand, it could be really helpful.¡± ¡°That¡¯s an understatement,¡± Carissa stated definitively. ¡°With it, Ironshore could be one of the most important cities on this planet.¡± ¡°Those are high expectations.¡± ¡°And they¡¯re warranted.¡± Carmen shrugged, saying, ¡°If you say so.¡± She glanced back at the restaurant she¡¯d reserved for her meeting. It wasn¡¯t her favorite place, but it was run by a dwarven woman who specialized in their particular brand of food. Heavy in meats, starches, and spicy sauces, it was like a mixture of her mother¡¯s cooking and American country cuisine. She liked it well enough, but it was Carissa¡¯s ¨C and most of the dwarves in Ironshore ¨C favorite dining spot. By comparison, goblins preferred places like the Stuck Pig, with what could only be described as barbecue, while the gnomish and human residents of the city sampled all of the options. In any case, she expected that everyone had arrived, which meant that it was time to head inside. ¡°You ready?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the one doin¡¯ all the talkin¡¯,¡± Carissa stated with a slight smile. ¡°I just get to eat. You are payin¡¯ right? That¡¯s what I told everyone.¡± Carmen sighed again. ¡°That¡¯s the deal,¡± she answered. Indeed, that was the only way she could get everyone to show up. Even among alien races, the promise of a free meal was all it took attract a crowd. ¡°Come on.¡± Carmen then led Carissa inside. The interior of the building had been designed according to the preferred dwarven aesthetic, which meant that it featured lots of hard edges and stone. Those were softened slightly by the paintings hanging on the wall, most of which depicted scenes of various underground caverns. The landscapes were fantastic, with glowing plants, thick rivers of glittering ore cutting through the walls, and tall mushrooms that resembled trees. They evoked the same sense of awe Carmen might have felt when looking at paintings created by human masters. More importantly, they manifested a certain aura that, apparently, could be traced back to the fact that they had been created by people with Painter classes. Since starting the Great Forge project, Carmen had been paying close attention to such things, and because of that, she had begun to notice just how much ethera inundated even the mundane in a place like Ironshore. The paintings on the wall weren¡¯t powerful enough to have truly magical effects, but they did promote a sense of calm and happiness that reminded Carmen of what she might feel after treating herself to a spa day. Not something she¡¯d felt since the apocalypse came, but she and Alyssa had enjoyed that kind of thing every couple of months back before everything had changed. But what would change if those pieces of art had been created by a higher-level Painter? Or in more applicable terms, how would a true Sculptor affect the Great Forge? Carmen had started the project wanting to emulate the temple back in Argos, though with a theme of creation instead of healing. However, she had lately begun to realize just how narrow-minded she had become. That was why she had invited the city¡¯s most revered crafters and professionals to this meeting. The restaurant was empty except for a single table, at which sat a group of people. Some, like Biggle, she knew reasonably well. But there were some she¡¯d only met in passing. And finally, there were a couple she¡¯d never seen before. Regardless of her familiarity with them, they were the best Ironshore had to offer. Biggle, with his wild hair and singed mustache, sat at the head of the table. Next to him was Gavina, wringing her hands and casting furtive glances all around, as if she was trying to look everywhere at once. Carissa took her seat at the other end of the table, and Carmen didn¡¯t miss the disappointed expression Donagal ¨C the city¡¯s head Builder ¨C adopted when she didn¡¯t sit next him. There was a goblin Jeweler named Eskeki, Mari the Tailor, as well as a human Engineer Carmen had only met a single time. Finally, there were a few others she didn¡¯t know at all, but each one held themselves with a certain confidence that only came from reasonably high attributes. Clearly, everyone present possessed decent levels, which meant that they were experienced, dedicated crafters. Carmen knew from experience that gaining levels as a Tradesman was very different than it was for most combat classes. At its core, it functioned on the same principles. However, instead of going out and hunting monsters, a crafter gained experience by practicing their trade. And while it was steady, it was no quick process. While someone like Elijah could go out and slaughter a few hundred beasts and gain a level, Carmen would need to craft for weeks to get the same benefits. The tradeoff was that she didn¡¯t have to risk her life for her levels. Slow but safe and steady was the crafter¡¯s mantra. Carmen had earned plenty of experience in the other way, but she hoped that her fighting days were far behind her. Most of the time, at least. Sometimes, she wanted nothing more than to head out into the wilderness and pummel a monster to death, though. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. She took a deep breath, then said, ¡°Thank you all for coming. It means a lot that you took time out of your busy schedules to ¨C¡± ¡°Why¡¯re we ¡®ere?¡± asked Donagal, his accent thicker than it was with most dwarves. Carmen didn¡¯t know what that meant ¨C societally or culturally ¨C but it was definitely noticeable. ¡°Let ¡®er talk, Donny. Ain¡¯t nobody like gettin¡¯ interrupted,¡± Carissa admonished. ¡°Don¡¯t call me Donny. That ain¡¯t my name, wench.¡± ¡°Use ta like it when I called ya Donny, eh? Especially when I was tuggin¡¯ yer beard.¡± Donagal went red in the face, though Carmen wasn¡¯t certain if it was embarrassment or anger coloring his expression. Regardless, she knew she needed to step in before things got rowdy. Culturally speaking, dwarves weren¡¯t exactly quick to anger, but once they got going, it was hard to stop them. ¡°Carissa.¡± ¡°What? He ¨C¡± ¡°Leave it alone. Please. We¡¯re all friends here.¡± Carissa sighed, then agreed. As Carmen sat in an empty chair, a dwarven server approached and set the meal upon the table. The dwarven manner of dining was extremely informal, with everyone picking food from the same platters. Carmen didn¡¯t particularly like that part of it, largely because it seemed unhygienic to her, but she figured that playing by their rules would probably make the meeting go a little better. The food itself was exactly what she¡¯d expected, featuring huge platters of roasted meats, bread, and potatoes. Everyone was given bowls of sauces into which they were intended to dip the various meats. Carmen thought she recognized venison in there, but there were a few types she couldn¡¯t identify. However, even as she dug in, she couldn¡¯t deny how tasty everything was. Her favorite was a tangy orange sauce that reminded her of Carolina barbecue sauce, but with a little extra kick to it. There were also sweet sauces, bitter sauces, and a bunch that combined a variety of tastes. More importantly, it had all clearly been prepared by a passable Cook, so there was plenty of ethera laced through the entire meal. Carmen also had to admit that the meal was a pleasant experience. She spent so much time sequestered in her smithy that she rarely had a chance to just commune with other people. And even if she¡¯d never been a social butterfly, she was still human. And that meant that she needed connection to other people as much as anyone else. So, even if it wasn¡¯t the point of the meeting, just hanging out with like-minded people was something she¡¯d sorely needed. ¡°We should do this more,¡± said Eskeki, echoing Carmen¡¯s thoughts. ¡°I get so focused on my work that I often forget there is an entire world outside my shop.¡± ¡°I was just thinking the same thing,¡± Carmen admitted, licking some of that delectable orange sauce from her fingers. At the other end of the table, Biggle had just told an off-color joke about a gnomish man and an ogre paramour, eliciting a guffaw from Donagal and a blush from Mari. The rest of the meeting¡¯s attendees were deep in their own conversations. ¡°This is nice, right?¡± Eskeki nodded, her huge ears flapping slightly at the motion. ¡°Most non-Tradesmen don¡¯t understand us,¡± she stated. ¡°They just see the product. They never think about the countless hours of work necessary to even reach the point where you can attempt something worthwhile. But we all know that feeling when you truly tap into your materials¡¯ potential.¡± ¡°I remember the first time I made something I thought was special,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°My wife¡­it was spear for her. Given what I can do now, it wasn¡¯t really powerful. I could hammer something like that out in an hour. But¡­but it still meant so much back then. It was proof that I could help the people I love, that I hadn¡¯t chosen the wrong path.¡± ¡°Is that what drives you? Helping people?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t that why we all do what we do?¡± Carmen asked. Eskeki shrugged. ¡°Not really. For my own part, I am far more concerned with the process itself. Donagal over there cares more about the final product. Mari just likes seeing people in pretty dresses. And Biggle¡­well, he¡¯s just a little crazy. In a good way, mind you, but that gnome has no sense of danger. My point is that we¡¯re all here for different reasons, and that¡¯s okay.¡± Carmen nodded. It made sense, even if she had never acknowledged it before. Sure, she felt all of those things to a certain extent. Every crafter did. However, some felt different aspects more keenly than others, and that seemed like an important distinction, though she wasn¡¯t sure how. After that, the conversation shifted to less esoteric matters. Eskeki described some of her current projects, while Carmen explained how she¡¯d created the armor that had protected most of city¡¯s fighters during the second Battle of Ironshore. Eventually, the meal wound down, and the conversation began to peter out. That was a sign that Carmen¡¯s time to reveal the purpose of the meeting had finally come. She cleared her throat and pushed herself upright. Carissa told everyone to quiet down, then added, ¡°Floor¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°¡¯Bout time,¡± Donagal muttered to himself, clearly annoyed that his previous question had been ignored in favor of the meal. It hadn¡¯t kept him from eating his weight in tasty food, but he seemed like a grumpy sort. Carmen had never been much for public speaking. It didn¡¯t leave her shaking in fear or anything, but she definitely wasn¡¯t comfortable with it. Her anxiety made her thoughts that much more difficult to grasp. Still, she¡¯d been going over everything in her mind for the past couple of days, so after taking another deep breath, she launched into it. ¡°Thank you all for coming,¡± she said. ¡°As many of you know, I¡¯ve been working on building a special forge. Donagal and his Builders have helped immensely with that endeavor.¡± ¡°Would¡¯ve already been done if you¡¯d let us build it,¡± he said, puffing out his chest. ¡°But you¡¯ve been doin¡¯ a fair job of it all the same.¡± ¡°Right. So, of late, I¡¯ve been thinking that my plans are too small. Too short-sighted,¡± she revealed. ¡°As such, I¡¯ve adjusted my vision. Instead of just building a forge, I want to build a complex that can cater to every sort of crafter. I intend to use all the best materials. Dragonstone. Blood tin. Sun rubies. Whatever we can find that¡¯s powerful. But more than that, I want to make it a place of power. ¡°In Argos, we built a temple not that long ago, and even though we didn¡¯t put quite the level of effort into it as what I¡¯m talking about, it¡¯s already starting to have an effect on the city. From what I¡¯ve seen in the messages I¡¯ve received lately, it has developed an aura of healing. It¡¯s not strong, but it¡¯s still growing more powerful,¡± she explained. ¡°I want that for us. Not with healing, but with crafting. I want to build a temple dedicated to creation.¡± ¡°And what do you want from us?¡± asked one of the humans she didn¡¯t recognize. ¡°I¡¯m a Woodworker, not a Builder. I don¡¯t know anything about construction.¡± ¡°Right now? I need money. Support. Guidance for your spaces. Tell me how you would set up your ideal workspace,¡± she answered. ¡°Help me plan it, and when the time comes, you would need to participate in the creation of your particular section. When it all comes together, I think it will create an aura of creation that will make everything we do that much better. Together, we can make Ironshore a powerhouse of crafting. We have access to some of the best materials in the world. The mine is rich, there¡¯s a quarry for dragonstone nearby, and we have better ethereal density than anywhere on Earth. We have everything we need to be this world¡¯s leader in crafting. We just have to give it a little push.¡± For a moment, everyone remained silent, but then, Biggle said, ¡°I¡¯m in. So long as I get to specify the features of the lab in this crafting chimera of a facility, I¡¯ll give you what you need. And I expect everyone else¡¯ll do the same.¡± As it turned out, almost everyone loved the idea. At least outwardly. There were a few that were less enthusiastic than the others, but they came around when Carmen revealed that she¡¯d already negotiated the project¡¯s subsidization by the city. That brought the detractors around, even if they still seemed a little skeptical. In the end, though, they all came to an agreement, and they even started planning for the project. ¡°And just like that, it begins,¡± said Eskeki as the various crafters discussed their plans. ¡°I have a good feeling about this.¡± ¡°Me too,¡± Carmen admitted. 7-29. No More Excuses Elijah landed just outside the grove, then initiated his transformation back into his human form. He¡¯d admittedly gotten a little carried away while testing out his flight form, and he had spent the past few hours flying faster and with more agility than ever before. The influx of attributes along with the enhancements of reaching the Ascendent tier and pushing into the Expert tier of overall cultivation had left him feeling like a man remade. Flying had always been exhilarating, but doing so with so much more power at his disposal was absolutely intoxicating and wholly addictive. He couldn¡¯t quite quantify just how much faster he could fly, but it was a significant increase. But now he¡¯d returned to the grove, and he had a few things to do before finally getting started on all the things he¡¯d been putting off since returning from the Trial of Primacy. He¡¯d already sent out a bunch of messages letting his friends know what was going on, and now, he only needed to check on his projects and make some last-minute preparations before he got back to work. In reality, his feelings on it were mixed. On the one hand, he¡¯d very much enjoyed taking a step back from the life-and-death struggles associated with the Trial of Primacy. It had been a stressful period, especially there at the end, and he¡¯d needed a long break. Certainly, he hadn¡¯t been idle during his time in the grove, but aside from a few close calls with his cultivation, he¡¯d not been in any danger of dying. However, on the other hand, he couldn¡¯t deny a certain degree of eagerness when he considered venturing out into the world. He¡¯d never been to Hong Kong, and even though it had been overrun by undead as well as the occasional demonic creature, he was looking forward to seeing the sights. After all, it couldn¡¯t be much more dangerous than the Trial of Primacy, and if he could spend so much time exploring Ka¡¯arath, he could certainly do the same in Hong Kong. He was also excited to see Sadie and Dat again as well. He¡¯d grown so accustomed to their company that he¡¯d often found himself wondering about their well-being. He missed Dat¡¯s affable demeanor and Sadie¡¯s even-keeled presence. They were his friends, and he looked forward to a reunion. But it was more than just a simple desire to see his friends or explore a new place. Just as flight was addictive, so too was the idea of risking his life in battle against powerful foes. Part of it was the adrenaline. Some of it was the challenge. The feeling of progression contributed, too. For better or worse, Elijah was never happier than when confronted with a life-or-death challenge. ¡°What the hell is even wrong with me?¡± he wondered aloud. Indeed, if he¡¯d had those thoughts before the world had changed, he would have immediately called a therapist to make an urgent appointment. But now, it seemed perfectly normal. Natural, even. Was that the dragon in him? Or was it nothing more than a conditioned response? Might it even be the result of his nature attunement? After all, there were plenty of animals that seemed to enjoy conflict. Whatever the truth of the matter, Elijah wasn¡¯t in a position of self-reflection. Largely, that was because that particular attitude was useful. It allowed him to keep a grip on his sanity as the world changed all around him, and he was in no position to discard it, even if he wanted to. Which he did not. However else Elijah might have changed over the years since Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree, that might have been the most profound. Gone was the apathetic scientist. The underachieving academic. The cancer-stricken walking corpse. Instead, he had come to appreciate life, adventure, and the wonders of the world ¨C of the multi-verse ¨C in a way no one could have ever predicted. It was with that in mind that he strolled through the grove, admiring all of Nerthus¡¯ work. In a lot of ways, it looked a lot like the botanical gardens he had visited in his youth ¨C a combination of the curated and the wild ¨C though everything was far more vibrant than it should have been. It was as if someone had turned up the saturation of the world, though not in an overbearing way. Colors were just brighter. Deeper. Everything felt more real. ¡°I remember when there was nothing in this clearing but the tree,¡± Elijah said when he felt Nerthus slip out of a nearby root. ¡°You were only a foot tall back then. I planted these bushes. Do you remember? I spent so long just willing them to sprout. I knew that was the key to survival. I couldn¡¯t just depend on gathering wild berries. I needed to grow my own food.¡± ¡°I remember,¡± the spryggent stated. Elijah smiled slightly. ¡°I got so tired of those berries. God, so tired,¡± he admitted. ¡°Crab, too. I kept thinking that if I¡¯d just had a slightly bigger pot, I could have boiled them properly.¡± He let out a slight chuckle. ¡°I¡¯d have probably screwed that up, too. Can¡¯t even boil crab right. My dad would have been ashamed.¡± ¡°You are leaving, aren¡¯t you?¡± Nerthus guessed. ¡°Soon. Probably later today. Tomorrow at the latest,¡± he answered. ¡°My friends need my help, so that¡¯s where I¡¯m headed. You can keep things going here, right?¡± ¡°Of course. It is my purpose,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°It will likely be even easier without your interference.¡± ¡°Ouch,¡± Elijah said, glancing back at the tree spirit. Nerthus wore a slight grin of his own. It was barely noticeable, but Elijah saw it for what it was. ¡°The coffee cherries ready yet?¡± Elijah had taken a little time when he¡¯d first gotten home to begin the process of preparing the cherries, and it was only the day before he¡¯d upgraded his core that he had de-pulped the beans. Of late, he¡¯d only been waiting for them to dry out. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°They are,¡± Nerthus answered. He¡¯d been monitoring them for Elijah. ¡°They need only to be gathered.¡± ¡°Good,¡± Elijah said. Then, he and Nerthus began a final tour of the grove. They visited the hot tub, which was still a long way from being ready. The water was lukewarm, but the ash lotus hadn¡¯t even begun to bloom yet. That would take some time, even with Nerthus¡¯ influence. After that, they visited the Frozen Hollow, where the frozen oak had taken firm root, and the minor natural treasures had begun to follow suit. As with the ash lotus, it would take a while before they were ready, but Elijah could already feel the drop in temperature. Finally, he inspected the sapling that Nerthus had coaxed into absorbing the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might. To Elijah¡¯s shock, it had barely grown at all. It was only about two feet tall, which meant that it had only grown by a few inches. That was an absolutely glacial pace compared to the rest of the grove. When asked about it, Nerthus explained, ¡°It is a powerful natural treasure, almost on the level of a seeded ancestral tree. It is only a cutting, but it is supported and enhanced by the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might. As such, it requires a great deal of energy ¨C both ethereal and vital ¨C to grow. When it reaches the point of maturity suitable for harvesting, it will be quite powerful. If you are here, I will allow you to do it. However, if you are not, I shall do it myself.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. Often, Nerthus acted as if the grove were his, and that Elijah was just a guest. Or an unruly child. It probably wasn¡¯t such a bad assessment, given how much more skilled with directing plant life Nerthus was. ¡°Well, that makes sense.¡± Finally, after establishing that the coffee beans had dried, Elijah gathered them up and headed to the treehouse to make final preparations. His Ghoul-Hide Satchel was already mostly empty, so he didn¡¯t really need to do any purging. Instead, he gathered a few changes of clothes, his essentials like soap and expired toothpaste, then shoved everything inside. Already there were his two staves, his gear, and the various useful odds and ends he¡¯d picked up during his various adventures. Included in that group were the artificed items like his laser-pointer firestarter and his Gameboy mapping device. Once that was done, he took a long, soothing shower, giving himself a good and thorough scrubbing that left him feeling both invigorated and a little regretful. He only had a couple more bars of soap left, and he knew from experience just how short of a time they would last. Sure, he could probably replace it in Hong Kong. Obviously, they would have soap. But it wouldn¡¯t be his soap, which made all the difference, and not only because it would almost assuredly lack the rejuvenating power he was used to. Also because he took pride in that soap. He¡¯d made it with his own two hands, after all. There was something to be said for that. But there wasn¡¯t much he could do, so he pushed it out of mind. He had two more tasks he needed to accomplish before getting started, so he quickly dressed and, after grabbing his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, left his island behind. He landed outside Gavina¡¯s shop. Fortunately, she answered quickly, then shoved a bundle containing his armor into his arms. He paid her fee, then took the coffee beans across town to the Imperium hotel, where he met with the cook and hired him to roast the beans. Doing so would only take a few hours, which was just about perfect for Elijah. So, after dipping into Carmen¡¯s forge, he donned his armor and his gear, then stepped outside to find her waiting for him, smithing hammer in hand. ¡°You¡¯re leaving?¡± she asked. ¡°Just a short trip at first,¡± he answered. ¡°Then a much longer one. Want to get lunch before I go?¡± ¡°I¡¯m still stuffed from that new dwarven restaurant down the street,¡± she admitted. Then, she eagerly explained how she¡¯d recently met with the city¡¯s top crafters, and they had an agreement in place for everyone to contribute to her new vision for the Great Forge project. ¡°I think it¡¯s going to be great. A lot of work, but isn¡¯t that how it always works? No work, no reward.¡± ¡°I¡¯m happy for you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And if you need me for anything, just let me know. I¡¯ll check the local Branch¡¯s Communication System as often as I can.¡± She nodded, but then she said, ¡°We really need to get cell phones working again. Can you believe we used to take that for granted?¡± Elijah agreed, and after that, spent a few minutes lamenting everything that had been lost in the world¡¯s transformation. Top on the list was the internet, but there were a host of other things they both missed as well. Eventually, though, Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯d love to stay and keep this going, but¡­yeah, I¡¯ve got to go.¡± ¡°Stay safe,¡± she said, giving him a hug. He returned it, responding, ¡°You too. And keep Miggy out of trouble. Also, try to check in on Kurik from time to time. He¡¯s not careful enough.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± she agreed. After they broke their embrace, Elijah left Carmen¡¯s smithy behind and, completely decked out in all his familiar gear, headed toward the Branch. Once there, he waited in line, and when it was his turn, he approached the crystalline tree. Upon laying his hand on it, he navigated to the Teleportation Network. Once he¡¯d found the appropriate menu, he selected the listing labeled Forest Hills, Ohio and checked the price of travel:
You have chosen to teleport to the location labeled: Forest Hills, Ohio
Cost
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
1 76 3 1
Proceed: [Yes] or [No]
¡°Damn, that¡¯s expensive,¡± Elijah muttered to himself. He¡¯d already expected it, but there really wasn¡¯t any way around it. As far as he could tell, Forest Hills ¨C which was where Ron was located ¨C was on the other side of the world. If he wanted to get there in any sort of hurry, he¡¯d need to use the Teleportation Network. And that wasn¡¯t even considering that he wasn¡¯t really sure exactly where it was. No ¨C he only had one option. And it would take a little more than half his accumulated wealth to get there. Still, he selected the affirmative option without any real hesitation because his friend needed him. What was a little money next to that? 7-30. Forest Hills For Elijah, teleportation was not an unfamiliar process. He¡¯d experienced it on more than one occasion ¨C first, with Roots of the World Tree and its predecessor, and then when he¡¯d been transported to Ka¡¯arath for the Trial of Primacy ¨C but this instance felt subtly different. It was characterized by a similar darkness and suspension in nothingness, but it felt smoother than ever before. It was like piloting a speedboat across a placid lake as opposed to sailing on the open ocean. Regardless, it only lasted a split second before Elijah appeared in an unfamiliar place. Upon arrival, the first thing he noticed was the Branch of the World Tree, which was far less developed than the one back in Ironshore. It was like comparing a sprout to a sapling, though when Elijah accounted for the differences in the ambient ethera, the contrast felt significantly more substantial. ¡°H-hello?¡± came a timid voice. Elijah looked up to see a mousey girl with straw-colored hair. She didn¡¯t quite look malnourished, but it was clear that food wasn¡¯t plentiful enough to put any real meat on her bones. He gave her his best smile and said, ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Elijah. Would you like something to eat? I have some extra fruits in my bag.¡± ¡°Uh¡­where did you come from?¡± she asked. ¡°And why are you here?¡± ¡°I¡¯m here to see my friend Ron. He asked me to come by,¡± Elijah answered, recognizing that he was on thin ice. ¡°He¡¯s a Healer, and ¨C¡± ¡°I know him. Everyone here does.¡± ¡°What¡¯s going on here? Are you okay? Like I said, I have food.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not supposed to take anything from strangers,¡± the girl said. Only then did Elijah realize just how young she was. He¡¯d assumed she was the Envoy of the World Tree, but if she was more than eleven or twelve, he would have been incredibly surprised. ¡°That¡¯s fine. I certainly won¡¯t force you to do anything,¡± Elijah responded evenly. He¡¯d never been great with kids, and his long isolation hadn¡¯t helped. He could barely get along with adults, much less children. ¡°Can you tell me where to find Ron, then? I¡¯m here to help.¡± She bit her lip, then glanced back at the door. Vaguely, Elijah realized that he was in a classroom, not unlike what one might find in an elementary school. There was a chalkboard on one wall, and in the corner, he saw an old metal desk. There were even a few computers lining one wall, though he saw no school desks around. ¡°I¡­um¡­okay. Stay here, though. I¡¯ll¡­uh¡­I¡¯ll go get somebody.¡± Then, she hurried toward the door, leaving Elijah behind. Obviously, he could have simply gone wherever he wanted. It wasn¡¯t as if anyone could stop him. However, he didn¡¯t think that would help their impression of him. So, he focused on Soul of the Wild, and he was surprised to find that his senses didn¡¯t extend past the classroom. He had no idea what was going on, but until then, he didn¡¯t think there was anything on Earth powerful enough to curtail the effects of what he usually considered to be his most powerful spell. It was odd. He usually depended on it so much that the lack left him feeling almost blind. He wasn¡¯t in danger. He felt that down to his core. Yet, he still took appropriate precautions, shifting into the Shape of Venom and slipping into Guise of the Unseen. A second later, he climbed the wall of the classroom and skittered across the ceiling. The cheap fiberboard tiles were barely able to support his weight, so he was forced to grip the grid of the suspended ceiling to keep from fouling the entire system. There, he waited until only a few minutes later, he saw a familiar face. When Ron entered the room, he did so with no small degree of wariness, and when he didn¡¯t see anyone inside, he called out, ¡°Elijah? Are you here?¡± At that, Elijah dropped to the floor and shifted back into his human form. Doing so forced Guise of the Unseen to cancel, so to Ron, he probably appeared out of nowhere. The Healer flinched away, leveling his wand in Elijah¡¯s direction, but the second he recognized him, Ron¡¯s shoulders relaxed. ¡°Did you really need to do that?¡± he asked, relieved. ¡°I mean, yeah. Kind of. I get here, and my senses are all blocked. I wanted to be prepared for an ambush,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why do you have a little girl guarding the Branch? And where¡¯s your Envoy?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Ron said sadly. ¡°Come with me. We don¡¯t usually stay around here for very long. It¡¯s too dangerous.¡± ¡°But not too dangerous for a little girl?¡± Ron shook his head. ¡°Iris wasn¡¯t supposed to be here, either. Come on. I know you¡¯re probably not in any danger, but the last thing we want is attention.¡± Elijah nodded, then followed Ron out of the classroom. He¡¯d expected to exit into a school hallway, and that was mostly what happened. However, said hall was missing its roof and one of its walls, exposing it to the open and frigid air. ¡°What the hell happened here, man?¡± Elijah asked, looking around. Finally, Soul of the Wild had been unveiled, so he¡¯d instantly gotten a good picture of his surroundings. And it wasn¡¯t promising. The school was almost entirely destroyed, with only the classroom and its immediate area having survived. The rest had been reduced to rubble, and even the playground ¨C with a jungle gym and swing set ¨C had been twisted all out of shape. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. ¡°That¡¯s part of why we¡¯re in trouble. This isn¡¯t the place to talk about it, though.¡± Ron led Elijah from the ruins and into what remained of a small town. As they strode down what looked similar to the main street of thousands of American towns across the country, Elijah was reminded of a similar setting he¡¯d encountered years before. Back then, he¡¯d met a bear guardian who¡¯d been standing sentry over a powerful natural treasure. But Elijah felt nothing of the sort this time around. The entire place was deserted, and rightly so. Most of the buildings had sustained significant damage, and because the whole area was covered in a thick blanket of snow, it looked much more forlorn than most places Elijah had visited. ¡°Kind of cold for autumn,¡± he muttered to himself, thankful for his Cloak of the Iron Bear. It kept him comfortable, but he was still aware that the temperature was well below freezing. ¡°It¡¯s always cold here,¡± Ron stated. Then, he added, ¡°But it¡¯s getting worse.¡± He went on to say that the area was growing far colder with every day after the Trial of Primacy. The obvious conclusion was that the rise in the density of the world¡¯s ethera was responsible, though he did make a point that it was in no way a scientific observation. Either way, it made sense to Elijah. From his experience, thicker ethera tended to create more extreme climates. In any case, he followed Ron through the town for another few minutes until they reached a large, fortified building that appeared to have once been a hardware store. Along the way, they¡¯d passed a few carefully concealed people that Elijah never would have known were there if he hadn¡¯t had Soul of the Wild on his side. When Ron led him inside, Elijah was surprised to find that the hardware store had been divided into a bunch of rooms. The inside of the building had no true walls, just old shelves and curtains. However, the interior of those spaces had been arranged into home-like areas. ¡°Home sweet home,¡± Ron said with a note of bitterness. ¡°Makes me wish for the Nexus Town. At least we had good, sturdy walls back there.¡± A few moments later, Elijah found himself in what appeared to be a common area. It was in the center of the hardware store, and there were a dozen or so people going about everyday chores like washing clothes, crafting various things, and just congregating with one another. They all looked up at his arrival. ¡°Take a seat,¡± Ron offered, gesturing to a pair of old metal chairs in the corner. ¡°I¡¯d offer you something to eat or drink, but we¡¯re on short rations for now.¡± ¡°I have some fruit from my grove,¡± Elijah said, already dipping his hand into his satchel. Ron was well acquainted with what was on offer. He¡¯d eaten plenty of grove berries back in the Trial. So, he accepted the offer with gratitude, calling for someone to act as a distributor. As it turned out, the person who answered was Ron¡¯s daughter, Hope. She was a pretty girl, maybe sixteen at most, with brown hair and wide, expressive eyes. However, just like the girl who¡¯d met him by the Branch, she looked a little malnourished. She accepted the offered fruits ¨C they were like overgrown strawberries ¨C then set about passing them around. As she did, Elijah asked Ron, ¡°So, what¡¯s going on here? You didn¡¯t say it was this bad.¡± Ron ran his hand through his hair, answering, ¡°It wasn¡¯t this bad when I left. Not as cold, at least. But things have been getting worse and worse over the past couple of weeks.¡± ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that in your message?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t want to worry you. We¡¯re surviving, even if it¡¯s not easy.¡± Elijah felt like that was up for debate. Everyone he sensed had clearly suffered from what Ron called short rations. They weren¡¯t starving ¨C not exactly ¨C but they weren¡¯t far away from that mark. In addition, most of them felt weak. ¡°Where are the fighters?¡± he asked. Ron frowned. ¡°They¡¯re¡­they¡¯re gone,¡± he said. ¡°Some split away and went off on their own. Others died well before the Trial. It¡¯s been just us for a while now. Most of these people are too weak to travel far. We have kids here. Elderly. But like I said, things are getting worse. Even if we survive the winter, there¡¯s something else we need to worry about.¡± Then, he went on to explain that in the nearby forest, there was a settlement of goblins, though he made certain to make a distinction between the ones like Ramik and the others in Ironshore and the savage, territorial creatures in the forest. ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is, but they¡¯re extremely violent,¡± Ron stated. ¡°They¡¯re sapient, I think. They have a Branch, too. Mostly, they keep to the forest, but that means we can¡¯t really hunt. The weather¡¯s too cold to grow crops, so¡­¡± He gestured to the people who¡¯d already begun to devour the fruits. Most ate in tiny nibbles, as if they wanted to preserve the experience of eating for as long as possible, but a few had already finished their meals. ¡°What about the Branch?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Where is the Envoy?¡± ¡°Dead,¡± Ron stated. ¡°They¡¯re pretty much all-powerful around the Branches, but away from their domains, they¡¯re no stronger than anyone else. Jack stepped up to help defend the school ¨C that¡¯s where we originally settled ¨C but the monsters were too powerful. We ended up killing them eventually, but he didn¡¯t make it. Neither did the school, which was why we moved here. The goblins keep the area mostly safe from monsters, but they¡¯ll kill anyone who wanders into what they consider their territory. Which is just about everywhere in the forest.¡± Elijah frowned. The way he saw it, there were only two viable outcomes for the situation Ron had described. The first was to simply evacuate the population to a better area. That came with a host of issues on its own, which led him to consider the second solution ¨C he needed to deal with the goblins. If those goblins either weren¡¯t around or if he could negotiate some sort of truce, then the humans of Forest Hills would be able to hunt in the nearby wilderness. They¡¯d still have to deal with the cold, which wasn¡¯t ideal, and supporting a population with hunting alone wasn¡¯t really all that viable, but for now, it seemed like it was probably the best answer. But he still wasn¡¯t sure, so he said, ¡°Okay. I¡¯m going to go check things out for myself. Maybe I can talk to these goblins or something. I don¡¯t know. But I need to see what¡¯s going on with my own two eyes.¡± ¡°They won¡¯t talk to you,¡± Ron predicted. ¡°I can guarantee that. We¡¯ve tried to negotiate before, and they attacked our messengers.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I get that. I do. But I might be successful where they weren¡¯t. If it¡¯s like you say, then we¡¯ll consider another option.¡± ¡°I guess that makes sense,¡± Ron agreed. ¡°Just act quickly. These people are at the end of their ropes. We¡¯re not going to start keeling over in the next few days, but they¡¯re losing hope.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can,¡± Elijah said, rising from his chair. He didn¡¯t have anything else to offer, so he wasted no more time before leaving the makeshift community behind and striding away from town. 7-31. Grimlings As Elijah soared through the sky, he was entirely amazed at the landscape laid out below him. Enormous, snow-covered evergreens stretched as far as he could see, the carpet of white and green broken up only by a few remnants of the civilization that had once called the area home. There were patches of road, overgrown and covered in ice, buildings half-buried beneath the snow, and tall, faded billboards advertising legal services. Elijah even saw a stretch of highway, complete with an overpass, that led nowhere in either direction. On the surface, none of that seemed all that surprising. However, when he looked closer, he saw plenty of disparities. Most notable was that the trees were at least five times taller than they should have been. Elijah had seen a lot of pine trees in his day, but he felt certain that they shouldn¡¯t have been able to grow to heights bordering on a thousand feet. The things were absolutely glorious, and he ached to land on those spreading branches and connect with one, just to see how it differed from the ancestral tree in Druid¡¯s Park. He resisted that temptation, though he felt that he would eventually find the time to satisfy his curiosity. Just not until Ron and his people were safe. The other curiosity was that the density of the ethera was quite a bit higher than he¡¯d expected. It wasn¡¯t nearly as thick as it was around Ironshore, much less in his grove, but it could definitely give Norcastle a run for its money. That perked Elijah¡¯s interest, because he knew that there were only a couple of explanations for that kind of spike in ethera. One was the presence of a tower, which was the most likely candidate, but he expected that powerful enough natural treasures could create a similar boost. It was also possible that they were within the range of a Primal Realm. That last option was less likely than the others, largely because if that was the case, then surely Ron and the other residents of Forest Hills would have seen something similar to Hong Kong. Not zombies and the like, but some sort of powerful enemies intent on spreading their influence. In any case, Elijah wished he had the time to figure it all out, but he remained on a timer. He only had a few days to spare before he needed to get to Hong Kong. Sure, the resumption of the Primal Realm¡¯s functions wouldn¡¯t occur for another few weeks, but Elijah had no intention of showing up the day before that happened. Instead, he wanted to get there, take stock of the situation, then solve the problem before the undead had a chance to once again attempt to take over the world. So, he didn¡¯t have time to satisfy his curiosity, as much as that constraint irked him. Finally, the other characteristic that intrigued him was that the entire region was absolutely lousy with goblins. However, they were definitely not the sorts of goblins he was accustomed to seeing. They only barely resembled people like Ramik, and they didn¡¯t even look like the goblins he¡¯d encountered in the first tower he¡¯d conquered. Instead, they were far leaner, with slightly larger heads, small tapered ears, and enormous hands and feet. In addition, instead of green or yellow ¨C or even blue ¨C skin, their complexions were so white that they blended into the snow. Without Eyes of the Eagle, he never would¡¯ve even seen them from above. The other problem was that when he got too close to the treetops, he discovered that they had no trouble climbing. And that they were incredibly territorial. Before he even knew what was happening, there were a hundred arrows streaking toward him. He beat his wings, using Savage Strength to augment his attributes, and he climbed out of range. Even as the flight of arrows passed beneath him, the little creatures shot at him again. That was when Elijah decided to turn around and return to the settlement. Once there, he landed near the destroyed school and went inside to the Branch, where he immediately accessed the Communications System and sent a message to Ramik. Thankfully, the goblin was quick to respond, and within five minutes, Elijah got an answer:
Sender Recipient
Ramik Orlox Elijah Hart
The creatures you have encountered sound like grimlings. They are extremely territorial gnome-goblin hybrids that are generally accepted to have inherited only the negative traits of the forebears. You are unlikely to be able to negotiate with them, as they are known to kill any non-grimling that comes into their territory. They also practice cannibalism. In fact, they will eat just about anything. Proceed with caution, for they also breed like agots. Good luck.
Elijah had no idea what an agot was, but from context, he could tell that it was not good news, though that wasn¡¯t particularly surprising. Interbreeding between the various races in the multi-verse had resulted in innumerable variants, and it seemed that grimlings were just the latest for him to discover. Still, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if Ramik¡¯s obvious disdain came from facts or from racial discrimination. After all, most of the ¡°pure¡± races tended to look down on the hybrids. Ramik had given no indication of that kind of thinking, but that didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t present. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. So, Elijah decided to check for himself, though this time, while using Guise of the Unseen. So, he shifted into the form of the Blight Dragon, then adopted stealth before heading back into the forest. Stalking among the trees was even more awe-inspiring than flying above, and Elijah quickly found himself slightly distracted by it. The trees were well spaced apart, and there wasn¡¯t much underbrush, so it almost felt like he was strolling through those old, English forests he used to see on television. The only thing spoiling it was the presence of the grimlings. The things were ubiquitous, often clinging to branches or stalking through the forest in clumps of a dozen or so individuals. Most were obviously on the hunt for local game, though some were gatherers as well. Elijah followed one of those groups as they stalked a large elk that had grown to the size of an elephant. The beast was a majestic creature, but the grimlings took it down without issue. More impressively, they dressed the animal in minutes, and soon enough, they were all carrying comically large bundles on their backs as they made their way deeper into the forest. He followed them, though he did venture close enough to get a better look at them. Doing so verified their dual heritage, though he did notice a little more variance in size than he had from afar. Some were almost as large as dwarves, while others were nearly as small as little Rosabella. They did seem capable, though. Even more importantly than that, their numbers were absolutely daunting. Thousands of the creatures were present, and when the pack of hunters finally reached their destination, Elijah was surprised to find an entire city of the creatures. Though at second glance, Elijah hesitated to label it a true city. Certainly, it was a settlement, and not a small one. However, the layout was haphazard, with the only true organization to it being that everything roughly surrounded a huge fire pit at the center. Otherwise, the buildings ¨C if some of them could even be called that ¨C were incredibly primitive. Some looked like igloos, though with a conical shape rather than the familiar structures created by the Inuit. In addition, there were buildings that were basically lean-tos made of rough lumber, some tents created by draping thick hides over an A-Frame, and even a couple of primitive treehouses up above. Those were little more than rickety platforms hanging from the sides of massive trees with only a hide for a roof. In a lot of ways, the place was incredibly impressive. If less than a million grimlings lived there, Elijah would have been very surprised. However, what made it even more remarkable was that the little creatures always seemed to be doing something. Often, he¡¯d considered humanity to be quite productive, but Earth¡¯s natives couldn¡¯t hold a candle to the grimlings. It was like looking at an anthill that had recently been kicked, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of excitement. And a little dread. What if these creatures spread? Sure, they had never left their forest, but what if they did? They could probably sweep across the entire continent in a few months. What¡¯s more, it only took one look for Elijah to understand that he couldn¡¯t just kill the creatures. He didn¡¯t even dare try to make contact, because every warning he¡¯d received had made it abundantly clear that they would attack first and ask questions later. Maybe he¡¯d survive. Probably, even. But he¡¯d be forced to slaughter untold numbers of the grimlings to escape. He didn¡¯t want that on his conscience. Killing an entire species ¨C which was probably what it would take to ensure the safety of Ron and the others back in Forest Hills ¨C was not something that interested him. So, with that off the table, Elijah turned his mind to another option. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but given some of his recent advancements, he thought it was viable. Without his recent efforts at core cultivation, he never would have done it, but now that he¡¯d taken the next step, he¡¯d increased the number of dolmens he could attach to Roots of the World Tree.
Roots of the World Tree Empower a dolmen, connecting it to your grove. Teleport to any circle in your network. Cooldown: 1 Days Additional Effect: When inside any circle, create a persistent gateway to any other circle. Duration: 1 Minute. Maximum Capacity: 20. Cooldown: 1 Day Possible number of circles dependent on core cultivation. Current: 10 (4 Used)
Pushing forward with his core cultivation had added five more opportunities to create a dolmen. He wasn¡¯t certain if that meant that it would double with each tier of core cultivation or if it just added five with each one, but he suspected it was the latter. Doubling every time would grow out of control in a hurry. Not that it mattered right now. He¡¯d only just reached the Drakyn stage, and it was far too soon to start working toward the next ¨C especially when that was supposed to be orders of magnitude more difficult. Tiers one-through-three were still in the Mortal Realm, and the fourth marked true entrance into ascendence. That wasn¡¯t just a label, either. It was incredibly meaningful, and from the guides he¡¯d read, it was generally regarded as the first step in true cultivation. So, he wouldn¡¯t be getting answers about Roots of the World Tree and its relationship with his level of core cultivation anytime soon. What he did find interesting was that the cooldown for the spell had decreased significantly, dropping all the way to a single day. In addition, the capacity of the additional effect had increased as well. Being able to transport twenty people was far more useful than the old threshold, which was capped at four individuals. In any case, Elijah soon retreated from the grimling city, and he followed his instincts as he roamed through the forest. He knew now that those instincts were a nascent expression of his connection to the natural world, and since he¡¯d upgraded both his Soul as well as taken the Connection specialization, it was much stronger than it had been when he¡¯d built his last dolmen. As such, it didn¡¯t take Elijah long before he found a trail. It didn¡¯t manifest in tracks or smells, but rather, he sensed it like a tickle in the back of his mind. He followed it through the forest, and as expected, as he did so, he felt the ethereal density rise with every step. The grimlings began to thin out until, at last, the forest was free of their influence. Only a mile later, Elijah found his destination. It was a tree that absolutely dwarfed all the others. Not in size. In that respect, it was diminutive. Indeed, from a visual perspective, it looked like a perfect example of a cherry tree in full bloom. Untouched by snow, the pink and white blossoms dripped with ice, casting the entire clearing in an ethereal glow. But as awestruck as Elijah was by the beautiful tree, he was a little more interested in the snow-white fox curled up at the base of its trunk. 7-32. Kitsune For a moment, the scene looked like it was frozen in time. Tiny icicles dripped from pink and white blossoms as snow cradled its roots. Nestled among those snowy berms was a white fox with nine tails. Ethera swirled around the guardian like gusting wind that sent ripples of energy in every direction. Transfixed, Elijah stepped forward, and the fox stirred. It rose to its feet, tails twitching as it focused its attention on the intruder in its midst. For his part, Elijah held out a hand in an attempt to avoid startling the beautiful creature. Aside from its swaying tails, it didn¡¯t even twitch, and as he drew closer, Elijah realized why. The guardian had clearly reached the ascendent tier, just like him. He had no idea how guardians might attain that sort of power, but in that moment, he didn¡¯t care about such mundane issues. He was far too captivated by the sheer perfection of the creature. If the greatest artist in existence had been tasked with painting the perfect picture of a fox, they would have fallen short of the majesty of the guardian before him. It wasn¡¯t just perfect. It was an idealized version of a snow-white vixen, a form unattainable in mundane nature. There was a nobility to it, an awareness that was neither overtly evident nor easily defined. If god was a fox, then it would have looked like the nine-tailed creature beneath the equally majestic cherry tree. And Elijah approached it just as reverently as if that were the case. Each step was deliberate and well-placed as he covered the ground between him and the magnificent creature. He could feel her through Soul of the Wild, and the vixen blazed in his awareness like a bonfire. She was far and away the most powerful guardian he¡¯d ever encountered, and yet, Elijah felt no fear in her presence. She stared at him as he approached, hand outstretched and his breath slow. Even so, his heart was beating out of his chest with excitement. That ceased when he passed beneath the outstretched branches of the cherry tree. A sense of calm swept over him, and his shoulders dipped in relaxation. Finally, he reached the fox. His fingers grazed her snow-white coat, and on instinct, he pushed Soul of the Wild to its limit. Tiny tendrils of his soul peeked out of his hand and latched onto the fox. Elijah gasped. Images and emotions flooded his mind. Memories swept through him, enveloping his entire body as understanding bloomed in his very soul. The creature was a kistune, a guardian who had, for years, protected the cherry tree much as the panther had guarded the ancestral tree back on his island. But it was not alone. Dozens of kits roamed the forest. They were all mundane foxes, but they carried with them the potential of guardians. If they found an appropriate treasure ¨C or if enough time passed ¨C they would naturally grow just as powerful as their mother. Perhaps even more so. Suddenly, the connection ended, and the fox disappeared. It took Elijah a second of focusing on Soul of the Wild before he found the creature a few dozen feet away. Blinking, he turned to see an entire hunting party of grimlings fall to the ground. Or pieces of them, at least. In the center of that pile of parts sat the fox, licking her bloody paw. A shiver went up his spine. As strong as he was ¨C and he could safely consider himself the most powerful person on the planet ¨C Elijah knew that if that fox wanted to kill him, she could. If he survived the initial attack, he might have a chance, but for now, he was very glad that she was not his enemy. After licking her paw clean, the vixen rose to her feet and padded back to her position beneath the cherry tree, where she once again curled into a ball and lowered her chin to the snowy ground. Elijah took a deep breath, then retrieved a bit of dried meat from his satchel. He tossed the hunk of meat to the fox, then backed away. She gobbled it up in only a moment, proving what Elijah had long known. Guardians were still animals. As intelligent and powerful as they were, they were still driven by natural instincts. So, if he wanted to make inroads with them, the easiest route to an alliance was through their stomachs. However, Elijah only had so much food on him. Fortunately, foxes were well-known omnivores who often ate berries, nuts, and seeds. With that in mind, he retrieved another item from his satchel. The moment the grove fruit came into view, the vixen¡¯s ears perked up, and she let out the slightest of sniffs. Elijah tossed the strawberry-like fruit toward the vixen, and she eagerly snatched it out of the air. He hoped that would be enough to foster a positive disposition, because if he was going to build another dolmen, he¡¯d found the perfect spot. Now, he just needed to gain the trust of the vixen, then gather appropriate building materials. Fortunately, the area had clearly come from southeastern Ohio, judging by its mountainous nature. Elijah had never visited the area before the world¡¯s transformation, but he knew enough about geography to know that the state had once played host to the Appalachians ¨C or at least the foothills. Clearly, the touch of the World Tree and the reshaping Earth had experienced in its wake had enhanced those mountains, and now, they were at least as imposing as the Rocky Mountains had been before everything had changed. That was fortunate, because where there were mountains, there were building materials. And in an ethera-dense region, those raw materials would likely be quite strong. So, after tossing another grove fruit to the nine-tailed fox, Elijah set off in search of some stone to quarry. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Again, fortune was on his side, because the grimlings had no presence past the cherry tree. Once he¡¯d established that, he took on the Shape of Sky and began his search. Only a couple of hours later, he found what he was looking for. Most of the area was limestone, though Elijah¡¯s interest was piqued by a seam of white stone that stood in stark contrast to the surrounding grey. When he looked closer, he noticed that it was shot through with pearlescent crystals that practically glowed in the weak sunlight. Importantly, Elijah could feel that the stone was at least as high of a grade as the dragonstone. Perhaps even better, though he couldn¡¯t really make that judgement because the two types of stone felt so different to his senses. Where dragonstone was overwhelming in its might, this new material felt far calmer and much more subtle. A lot like the fox. To learn more, he¡¯d need to have it appraised. However, for his purposes, it seemed perfect. So, after shifting into the Shape of Thorn, Elijah got to work. His newly enhanced attributes served him well as he put his claws to good use. With his high Strength, he could easily cut through mundane stone. However, he was happy to see that even the surrounding limestone proved resistant to his efforts. If it was that durable, then the much more valuable white stone would be perfect. Gradually, Elijah worked to quarry the stone. At first, he used his fists to shatter the surrounding limestone, but eventually, he was forced to carve it free with his claws. He¡¯d have preferred the precision of a high-grade pickaxe and a chisel, but he had to work with the tools he had at his disposal. He hadn¡¯t come to Forest Hills with the expectation of building a dolmen, which was a mistake on his part. Next time he went home, he would get Carmen to forge him a set of tools. After all, he¡¯d just gained five extra dolmen slots, and he had a feeling he would need to quarry more stone in the future. It took Elijah an entire day to cut loose twenty-seven suitable blocks. Each one was about ten feet tall and half as wide. By his calculations, each one likely weighed somewhere between fifteen and twenty tons. However, due to his increased attributes, Elijah found that he could lift two of them at a time ¨C one on each shoulder ¨C so long as he remained in Shape of Thorn. Which didn¡¯t make a lot of sense. At its base, each point of Strength counted for somewhere around twenty extra pounds of lifting capacity. So, given that his Strength in the form of the thorned sentry, with all of his equipment on and buffs active, was currently over five-hundred, he should have topped out at around five tons. That was a lot of lifting capacity, but it certainly wasn¡¯t consistent with his real capabilities. But then again, Elijah had the advantages associated with his Body cultivation, the effects of reaching the third tier of overall cultivation, and Soul of the Wild working in his favor. On top of that, he suspected that tipping over into the ascendent tier regarding his levels had an effect as well. In short, he was somewhere between six and eight times stronger than his raw attributes would suggest. And Elijah didn¡¯t even think he¡¯d fully acclimated to his attributes yet. He was still hampered by the mindset of human limitations, which held him back from reaching his true potential. Going forward, he needed to push that attitude aside. A difficult task, but one he deemed necessary unless he wanted to cripple his capabilities. All of that went through his mind as he trekked back to the cherry tree, which was nearly thirty miles away. Fortunately, the trees were spaced far enough apart that he didn¡¯t need to alter his route, and what¡¯s more, some of the awkwardness of carrying such large burdens was mitigated by his command of the vines on his arms and shoulders. He wrapped them around the blocks, stabilizing them. Like that, he made his way back, covering the ground in a little over an hour. Once he reached the right area ¨C pointedly a little less than a hundred yards from the fox ¨C he deposited his haul, shifted back into his human form, and approached the tree. When he drew near, he saw that a veritable horde of kits were busy devouring the bodies of the grimlings killed by the vixen. Elijah ignored the gruesome sight, then fed another grove fruit to the fox. She was a bit more eager this time around ¨C or that was how Elijah interpreted the couple of quick flicks of her tails ¨C which he thought showed that his efforts were working. Over the rest of the day, Elijah made thirteen more trips to his makeshift quarry, carrying the rest of the stone blocks back to the site he intended for his dolmen. However, when he made the final trip, he returned to find a single grimling waiting for him. The creature was plainly ancient, and he wore an elaborate headdress featuring a wolf¡¯s skull. His open vest was made of small bones that had been stitched together by animal sinew, and his pants were inexpertly sewn from patched hides. A staff topped with feathers and dangling bones completed the image. Elijah deposited his stone blocks. ¡°What do you want?¡± he asked as the huge hunks of stone thudded to the ground. ¡°Not true form. Disrespect. Not good start.¡± After a moment, Elijah shifted back to his human shape. He was wary, but he was not afraid, and for three reasons. First, the ancient grimling was strong, but not nearly as powerful as him. That was obvious from the way the ethera shifted around him. Second, he¡¯d come alone. If he intended to attack, he¡¯d have brought plenty of friends along. But most of all, Elijah could sense that the vixen was watching. If things went sideways, he had no questions about whose side she would take. ¡°There. This is me. What do you want?¡± ¡°Why you here? Fight?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not really my intention,¡± he admitted. ¡°Do you know of the human settlement?¡± ¡°Yes. Bad. Not welcome.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m here to take them away,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°Once I build a stone ring here, I¡¯m going to evacuate them. They won¡¯t bother you anymore.¡± ¡°No bother. Kill easy. No more problem.¡± ¡°If you attack them or harm them in any way, I¡¯m going to respond. That won¡¯t be good for you,¡± Elijah said. The grimling took a step back at Elijah¡¯s tone. He¡¯d been trying to get past his propensity to threaten people, but sometimes, it was warranted. And he wanted to make it absolutely clear that there would be consequences if the grimlings chose to attack the people of Forest Hills. ¡°They stay away. No problem.¡± Elijah said, ¡°I¡¯m going to have to bring them here sometime soon. That means cutting through the forest. Will you or your people attack them?¡± ¡°Yes. Intruder bad.¡± ¡°Is there anything I can do to stop that?¡± Elijah asked. He really didn¡¯t want to go to war with them. ¡°You take away? No more human?¡± ¡°Not from this settlement,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I can¡¯t say anything about people that might wander in later.¡± ¡°Take away. Safe passage. No more human. Grimling free.¡± Then, without another word, the ancient grimling turned and strode away. That left Elijah with a little more faith in the world. Maybe he didn¡¯t always have to resort to violence to get what he wanted. With that in mind, he turned his attention to the blocks and began to plan his new dolmen. Meanwhile, a half-dozen white kits frolicked in his direction. Most of their muzzles were covered in the blood of grimlings. 7-33. Hope Claws were not meant for stonecarving. Elijah knew that, and yet, they were a much better option than the couple of knives he kept in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. Still, after roughly shaping the blocks and placing them into position, Elijah had been forced to give up on the Shape of Thorn. It was great for tasks involving brute strength, but it had a clear deficiency when it came to coordination. That factor did highlight the reality of how attributes worked together, though. While his Dexterity was much higher than it had ever been, even in the form of the thorned sentry, he still didn¡¯t feel any more coordinated than he had six months before. To Elijah, that showed that the relationship between the attributes were more important ¨C at least in terms of raw performance ¨C than the numerical value of the attributes. As such, if his Dexterity was higher than his Strength, he would feel more coordinated than if the opposite was true. That was why, when it came down to detailed carvings, Elijah had resorted to using the Shape of Venom. And as it turned out, it was a far more successful endeavor, and not only because of the high Dexterity associated with the form. In addition, the ability to stick to any surface proved invaluable as he clambered over the stone pillars and carved them appropriately. At first, he began with only an abstract concept, but over time, he let the setting influence every grating swipe of his claws. It would have been easy to focus on the foxes, which never really left him alone, but instead, Elijah concentrated on the cherry tree. Moreover, he quickly discovered that if he dug deep enough into the stone, something about it changed. The pearlescent crystals that were only vaguely present in the block as a whole suddenly came to the fore. In the old reality, it never would have made sense, but in a world full of ethera, Elijah just accepted it. Once he discovered that characteristic, Elijah incorporated that into his plans, and once he pulled back from the first pillar, he could only appreciate his work. The glittering representation of the cherry blossoms weren¡¯t perfect. He was no artist, after all. However, they were evocative and expressive, and through that, beauty was uncovered. His effort wasn¡¯t as technically proficient as what he and Carmen had done in the Circle of Spears, but in a lot of ways, it was more beautiful. Throughout the process, he¡¯d kept Nature¡¯s Design and Blessing of the Grove going, which he knew infused the entire area with his particular brand of ethera. Once he¡¯d managed the first monolith, he moved on to the second. The entire design had been arranged in a circle, with each ten-foot arch spaced a foot from the next. Overall, the circle was a bit more than thirty feet across, which still felt small compared to the towering pines nearby. Gradually, he completed one monolith after another until, at last, he¡¯d finished that phase of the project. When he stepped back, he saw a circle of white stones. The carvings upon which he¡¯d spent the past couple of days glittered like cloudy crystals, and the whole area felt thick with potent ethera. But he wasn¡¯t finished. Elijah knew he needed something else to truly set it apart. So, he approached the cherry tree. The nine-tailed vixen perked up upon his arrival, and he produced one of his last grove fruits. After tossing it to her, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if you understand me or not, but I need to take one of the cherries from this tree. I¡¯ll only take one, so don¡¯t attack me, okay?¡± She cocked her head to the side, staring at him for a long second before turning a circle and settling back into place. Elijah took that as a sign to keep going, so he continued forward, then climbed the tree. Obviously, with it being the middle of autumn, such a tree had no business bearing flowers or fruit, but as a powerful natural treasure, it didn¡¯t really follow the normal cycle. Even so, there were only a few cherries on the tree, so it took Elijah a few minutes to find the perfect candidate. When he felt it, though, he knew it was the one. So, he plucked it from the tree, then leaped free of his position near the top of the tree. He sailed through the air, reveling in the feeling of air whipping across his face, before landing just outside the circle. A second or two later, he was in the center of his dolmen and digging a shallow hole. There, he planted the seeds he¡¯d found inside the cherry. Normally, it would have never had a chance to take root. It was the wrong time of year, and even if it wasn¡¯t, seeds didn¡¯t always sprout. However, Elijah had magic on his side. Not only would the dense ethera help it out, but he bathed the entire area in Nature¡¯s Design and Blessing of the Grove. The combination ¨C along with the plant¡¯s already magical nature ¨C made all the difference. Within a few hours, a sprout had pushed free of the earth, and a little while later, it had become a seedling. That¡¯s when its growth stalled. It would take days more to push it to the next stage, but Elijah didn¡¯t have time to wait for that. Instead, he needed to be finished with the dolmen sooner rather than later. So, after checking his work one last time ¨C and making a few minor adjustments to the carvings ¨C Elijah used Roots of the World Tree to connect the dolmen to his spell. The spell took quite some time to cast, but that was no surprise. It was not a spell meant for quick or flippant use. When the spell finished, Elijah received the expected notification: Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Circle of Hope] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Complex) Enchantment Grade: D
Then, another notification popped up, telling him that he¡¯d used one of his ten possible dolmens. Five more to go. He knew he was going to use one in Hong Kong, but other than that, he had no concrete plans. The idea was to establish a teleportation network across the entire planet so that he could quickly and easily ¨C and more importantly, cheaply ¨C travel anywhere he wanted to go. The problem with that was that he had no real context for it. He didn¡¯t even know where he currently was, much less the state of the rest of the planet. He needed a map before he started throwing down more dolmens. The circle itself was as expected, though Elijah had to admit that he was a little disappointed. The grade remained the same as the Circle of Boars, which was the last dolmen he¡¯d built, so he hadn¡¯t really improved. But at least it had worked. Now, he needed to go collect the people of Forest Hills, then lead them through the forest before he started ferrying them to his island. He¡¯d considered taking them to the Dragon Circle, and then to Argos, but he preferred to keep Ron closer than that. For better or worse, his fate was tied to Ironshore¡¯s, and he knew that Ron¡¯s presence would go a long way toward solidifying its safety. Besides, Elijah didn¡¯t have a lot of friends, and having Ron as a neighbor was a nice and comforting idea. With that notion at the forefront of his mind, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Sky and threw himself into the air. A few moments later, he¡¯d gained enough altitude that even if the grimlings chose to attack, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hit him. Then, he flew to the east until the remnants of Forest Hills came into view. From above, the small town was a sad-looking thing. It didn¡¯t just appear deserted. Rather, it forlorn in its apparent abandonment. There were countless such towns just like it across the world. How many other people were still struggling to survive? For Elijah, it was easy to look at Ironshore or Argos ¨C or even a place like Valosta or Seattle ¨C and think that everywhere was like that. But the state of Forest Hills was proof of the opposite. So, as much as he enjoyed nature and everything the World Tree had brought with its touch, he also had to acknowledge that humanity had experienced a near-extinction level event. There were survivors, but very few people had managed to thrive amidst the chaos. There had been a little over eight billion people on Earth, but how many had survived the touch of the World Tree? How many were still on the brink of disaster? Elijah didn¡¯t know, but he expected that the number was quite high. He landed just outside of town, then trekked down Main Street to the hardware store. Once inside, he found Ron and Hope waiting for him. He explained the situation, detailing the meeting he¡¯d had with the grimling elder. ¡°You think they¡¯ll stick to that promise?¡± Ron asked. ¡°It doesn¡¯t fit with what we know of them. They usually attack first and never ask questions.¡± ¡°This one seemed more communicative. I think he was one of their most powerful people,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Stronger than you?¡± ¡°No. Not even close, really. But strong enough not to ignore,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But I think they¡¯ll let us pass. If not, we¡¯ll just have to deal with it.¡± After that, Ron passed the plan onto the others, and it was met with mixed feelings. Most of them knew that if they stayed, they were doomed, but few were eager about abandoning their home. Even if they were living inside a reclaimed hardware store, Forest Hills was still their town. For Elijah¡¯s part, he stayed out of the discussion. He didn¡¯t have much to add, and what¡¯s more, he didn¡¯t really think it was his place. So, he remained in the corner, where he enjoyed a cup of coffee. ¡°Can I have some?¡± asked Hope. Even though she didn¡¯t really look like Ron, aside from the color of her hair, the teenager definitely had the same demeanor as the Healer. Still, she had that slightly gangly appearance of immaturity, as if she hadn¡¯t grown into herself yet. Her barely managed illness was also evident in the way she moved, as if her muscles just didn¡¯t want to cooperate with her demands. ¡°Sure,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d boiled a little extra water, so it only took a bit of work with the French press before he handed her a steaming cup. ¡°Honey?¡± She shook her head. ¡°I like it like this.¡± Then she took a sip and almost choked. ¡°You sure about that?¡± asked Elijah, holding up a jar of honey. ¡°Uh¡­um¡­yeah.¡± She took a sip, and her face twisted at the bitterness. ¡°Maybe a little honey¡­¡± As it turned out, it took quite a lot of honey before the girl found the coffee palatable. Which was probably an indicator that she wasn¡¯t a habitual enjoyer of the bitter beverage. ¡°Dad talks about you a lot,¡± she said. ¡°I thought you¡¯d be taller.¡± ¡°Ouch.¡± ¡°Not that you¡¯re short! It¡¯s just¡­well, the way he described some of the things you¡¯ve done¡­¡± ¡°I had a lot of help. From him and the rest of our group,¡± Elijah admitted, sipping his coffee. ¡°What about you? I heard you¡¯re a Tailor?¡± She nodded. ¡°I wanted to take a combat class because of my¡­uh¡­my situation,¡± she said. ¡°But I didn¡¯t have anything like that available. So I took the Tradesman archetype, then the class that I thought would help everyone the most. With how cold it is here, keeping everyone warm is a big deal.¡± ¡°I can see how that would be the case,¡± Elijah said. He hefted the hem of his Cloak of the Iron Bear. ¡°That¡¯s why I love this thing. I keep comfortable no matter what.¡± ¡°Is that¡­where did you get the material?¡± Elijah explained what had happened to the bear. He tried to be as gentle with it as possible, but he didn¡¯t lie. He did skate over what he did to the hunters, though. That wasn¡¯t something a teenager should have to hear. ¡°Do you find stuff like that a lot?¡± ¡°A fair amount,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I don¡¯t kill guardians, but there are still monsters around.¡± After that, the discussion turned to all the sorts of animals Elijah had seen. When he described the fox, the girl¡¯s eyes went wide ¨C especially when he talked about the playful kits. Pointedly, he didn¡¯t say anything about their feast of grimling parts. Eventually, Ron approached and said, ¡°They¡¯re not particularly happy about it, but everyone¡¯s onboard with leaving. They¡¯ll be packed in a few hours. We can set out then.¡± The fact that they could be ready to move so quickly said a lot about how difficult their lives had been. Elijah could only hope that he could help provide them with a little safety amidst the dangers of the new world. 7-34. New Additions Elijah was frustrated. Resting his hand on the trunk of a massive pine tree, he watched the line of refugees as they snaked their way through the forest. There had been thirty-four people living in Forest Hills, and thankfully, they¡¯d all decided to follow Elijah. Unfortunately though, aside from Ron and a couple of Ranger archetypes, they were all low-leveled and woefully weak. Elijah had no issues with protecting them, but his patience at their slow progress had begun to wear thin. The trip that had only taken him a few minutes¡¯ worth of flight was now on its second day, and Elijah expected that they wouldn¡¯t reach the dolmen for at least another four or five hours. If he could have been assured of their safety, Elijah would have had them start the journey while he was still working on the dolmen, but a quick look at Soul of the Wild told him just how bad of an idea that was. Not only were they being shadowed by multiple groups of grimlings, but the forest also played host to quite a few dangerous beasts. Without Elijah there, the refugees would have had to fight their way through the forest. And given their collective weakness, at least some of them would have failed to survive such a journey. Even now, they suffered from the cold that, courtesy of his Cloak of the Iron Bear, didn¡¯t touch Elijah. He¡¯d not realized it, but the air temperature was well below zero. To mitigate it, everyone wore multiple layers, including thick coats trimmed in fur, but aside from Ron and the Rangers, they still weren¡¯t equipped to deal with the extreme climate. ¡°Is it always this cold here?¡± Elijah asked as Ron approached. He had no trouble keeping up, so just like Elijah, he was often forced to stop and wait as the others struggled to keep pace. ¡°It¡¯s gotten colder after the Trial,¡± Ron answered. ¡°But it¡¯s been wintery since a month or so after the world changed. At first, we thought it was because we¡¯d been shifted into Antarctica or something, but now that I¡¯ve seen how much ethera can affect the environment, I¡¯m not sure.¡± ¡°Did you ever try to talk to the grimlings?¡± Ron shook his head. ¡°Not really. They attacked us on sight, so there wasn¡¯t much chance for a conversation,¡± he replied. ¡°I still don¡¯t know why they would talk to you, except maybe they felt how strong you are.¡± ¡°You know we¡¯re going to have to camp out here for a bit, right?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°A day. I can only teleport so many people at a time.¡± ¡°That you can do anything at all is more than any of us could have hoped for,¡± Ron stated. ¡°Even if we all pooled our money together, we couldn¡¯t have afforded to send more than a single person out via the Branch¡¯s Teleportation Network. And even if we¡¯d managed to scrounge enough ethereum, we¡¯d have been stepping into the unknown.¡± The Teleportation Network¡¯s fees were not static, so if Ron and his people had taken the cheapest option, they would have ended up somewhere called Arsk, which sounded Russian to Elijah. Perhaps the people there were welcoming, but there was an equal chance that they would have been hostile. Nobody would risk that unless they had no other choice. ¡°Well, once we get your people to Ironshore, they¡¯ll be safe,¡± Elijah said. Then, he amended, ¡°Mostly. We do have that dark elf problem I told you about, but I don¡¯t think anyone¡¯s completely safe in this world. Whatever the case, at least they won¡¯t starve. The climate¡¯s pretty mild, too. Even in the middle of winter, it¡¯s not nearly as cold as this.¡± ¡°That will be nice,¡± Ron responded wistfully. ¡°After spending months in the Trial, coming back was a shock to my system.¡± ¡°I can imagine.¡± After that, the conversation petered out and they continued along. As the procession of refugees wove between the massive trees, Elijah kept a close eye on their surroundings. The grimling elder had promised safe passage, but Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve as to blindly trust that pledge. If the grimlings attacked, he intended to be ready. However, that caution proved to be unnecessary, and a few hours later, the group reached the dolmen. The first sight of the circle of standing stones drew more than a couple of gasps, and rightly so. The cherry tree at its center hadn¡¯t grown, but like its progenitor, it had already bloomed. The monoliths themselves were just as Elijah remembered, and though he still wasn¡¯t entirely happy with the carvings, the overall effect of the glittering relief sculptures was more than impressive. Fortunately, the vixen was far enough away that she didn¡¯t feel threatened by the group¡¯s sudden arrival, but Elijah decided to head that off by offering her another grove fruit. He¡¯d thought he was already out, but he¡¯d found a couple at the bottom of his satchel ¨C which was a good thing, considering that the way to a guardian¡¯s heart seemed to go through her stomach. The white, nine-tailed fox accepted Elijah¡¯s tribute, then settled down to watch as Elijah returned to the dolmen, and, after a little discussion about the order of entry and what they would find on the other side, he cast Roots of the World Tree. The spell took almost five minutes to cast, but when he was finished, a sizable arch made of roots and vines grew from the snowy ground. When the two ends connected, the interior of the gate shimmered, then became a blurry window into the grove. ¡°Alright. Everyone through. Remember not to panic when the walking tree man confronts you,¡± Elijah told the twenty people who were going to be the first entrants. ¡°Just tell him what I told you, and you¡¯ll be fine. And don¡¯t touch anything or he might take offense.¡± ¡°W-what? Offense?¡± asked one of the men. ¡°It¡¯s safe, isn¡¯t it? You said it was safe.¡± ¡°Of course it¡¯s safe. He¡¯s harmless. Unless you mess with his horticultural pursuits, so don¡¯t do that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°And don¡¯t worry so much. You¡¯ll be fine.¡± Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. After that, those twenty people stepped through, and when the last one disappeared to the other side, the gate wilted and disappeared. ¡°Alright. We¡¯ve got a day until I can send the rest of you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So, let¡¯s make camp.¡± The Rangers led the way in that respect, and before long, they¡¯d erected a large tent and built a decent-sized fire. It was an impressive effort, but given the frigid climate, probably necessary. For his part, Elijah retreated to the center of the dolmen, where he embarked on a quest to usher the cherry tree sapling to greater maturity. To do this, he used both Blessing of the Grove as well as Nature¡¯s Design. The former only required the repeated reapplication of the spell, though he was far more interested in the expression of the latter. He¡¯d only experimented with it a few times, and never for very long. So, he wanted to truly explore the spell so he could hopefully one day use it to elicit unique results. As he channeled it, he focused on the cherry tree sapling. It was full of what he could only call generic nature-attuned ethera, which was teeming with potent vitality and laced with the whispers of something larger. The Call, if he was reading it correctly. However, woven into that overall attunement were bits of ice, earth, and oddly enough, fire. The first was far and away the most prominent, but to Elijah¡¯s surprise, the last was almost as strong. The middle was the weakest, and Elijah expected that it was only meant as connective tissue between the other energies within the tree. He watched as Nature¡¯s Design went to work, and he discovered that if he didn¡¯t focus on any particular affinity, it simply injected vitality into the plant. That, in turn, trickled down into the other affinities, bolstering everything equally. The result was that nothing about the tree changed, save for its overall potency. By contrast, Elijah could augment the other affinities, though in doing so, he would tip the balance one way or another, thus changing the fundamental nature of the tree. And that was dangerous. Elijah knew the transformation would be incremental, but as he¡¯d discovered with the blade of grass on which he¡¯d first experimented, trying to change the nature of plant life would invariably tip the balance one way or another. And that was dangerous, especially considering that the cherry tree was part of one of his dolmens. Sort of. It wasn¡¯t technically part of the structure itself, but the structure couldn¡¯t really exist ¨C not in its current form ¨C without the cherry tree at its center. If Elijah changed its nature, then by necessity, the dolmen would need to change as well. And considering that Elijah didn¡¯t really know what he was doing, the results of that transformation would be unpredictable. So, with that in mind, he only watched the different strands of affinity, noting how they responded to the influx of vitality. Like that, hours passed until he felt a presence hovering at the edge of the dolmen. ¡°Do you need something?¡± he asked, opening his eyes to see Hope standing nearby. She was half hidden behind one of the pillars, though she pointedly kept from touching the stone. ¡°Um¡­I was just watching,¡± she said. ¡°What are you doing?¡± Elijah answered, ¡°You can step inside the circle. It¡¯s not dangerous.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°You do?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°How?¡± ¡°It doesn¡¯t feel dangerous,¡± she said. ¡°It feels¡­I don¡¯t know¡­I want to say natural, but that isn¡¯t quite right, either. Balanced. That¡¯s the word.¡± Elijah narrowed his eyes. ¡°So, why are you staying on that side of the circle if it¡¯s not dangerous?¡± ¡°You are.¡± ¡°What? I¡¯m not dangerous.¡± Elijah insisted, though even he was self-aware enough to recognize that lie. There was a good argument to be made that he was the most dangerous person on the planet. Or if he wasn¡¯t at the top spot, then he was definitely close enough that it wouldn¡¯t matter to someone like Hope. ¡°Okay, so I am dangerous, but not to you. I swear on my grove.¡± Clearly, Hope didn¡¯t know the implications of that pledge. Until that moment, neither did Elijah. But the moment he said it, a wave of ethera washed over the area, settling onto both Elijah and Hope. It wasn¡¯t onerous. Nor did it feel terribly powerful. But it was something that both of them felt, and apparently, it was enough to reassure Hope. She stepped into the circle. When nothing bad happened, she let out a sigh of relief. ¡°You know this dolmen is called the Circle of Hope, right?¡± ¡°What?¡± she asked. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah. The system named it that,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°It wasn¡¯t really named after you, of course. I barely know you. But when I was building it, I was thinking about the world and where it¡¯s going.¡± ¡°And that made you hopeful?¡± ¡°It did,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I think that¡¯s important. Don¡¯t you?¡± She shrugged, stepping closer. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± was her response. ¡°I want to, but it¡¯s hard.¡± ¡°That¡¯s how you know it¡¯s worthwhile. Nothing worth doing is ever easy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s what you have to remember.¡± She didn¡¯t have a reply to that statement, and for a few moments, she was silent. To break that silence, Elijah asked her about her class. She seemed eager enough to talk about tailoring, though she remained guarded. Right up until a familiar group of kits came bounding into the circle. There were four of them, and they weren¡¯t shy at all about rushing both Elijah and Hope and excitedly clambering for attention. Hope was defenseless to their weaponized cuteness, and she let out a little squeal of excitement as she picked one up. Elijah tried to stop her ¨C they could be dangerous, after all ¨C but the little fox seemed entirely happy with the turn of events. That was when Elijah realized something extremely important. Hope was attuned to nature. Probably not as strongly as Miguel, and definitely nowhere near the level of Elijah¡¯s own attunement, but it was definitely there. He¡¯d felt it from the very beginning, and it seemed that she had as well. That was probably why she¡¯d come to the circle in the first place. Elijah watched as the teenage girl played with the baby foxes, a smile playing across his face. It reminded him of Miguel with Snappy. Or with Trevor and the rest of the lunar deer. More importantly, with those fuzzy distractions, she completely forgot about Elijah. So, keeping an eye on her via Soul of the Wild, Elijah continued his task. Eventually, the kits scampered away ¨C much to the disappointment of Hope ¨C and she didn¡¯t stay much longer after that. The rest of Roots of the World Tree¡¯s cooldown passed without incident, and soon enough, the time came to open another gate. However, just before he cast the spell, he was confronted with another surprise. The vixen had approached the dolmen, and four of her kits followed. She gestured with her tails from those small foxes, then to the center of the dolmen, and after only a moment, Elijah realized what she wanted. ¡°Are you sure?¡± he asked. The vixen nodded, then let out a little yip. The kits returned that with higher-pitched versions of the same before they bounded forward. Then, their mother turned around and pranced back to her spot beneath the tree. When Elijah glanced back at the gathered refugees ¨C including Hope and Ron ¨C he saw a group of terrified people. As he cast Roots of the World Tree, he said, ¡°I guess we¡¯ve got a few stowaways, then. Everyone ready to leave this forest behind?¡± There was a murmur of agreement. And soon enough, Elijah had opened another gate. The kits were the first through, followed by Hope, and then the rest of the refugees. Aside from Elijah, Ron was the last one to enter the portal. Elijah turned and waved at the vixen, who studiously ignored him as he took a step and returned to his grove. 7-35. Unexpected Hope stepped through the odd portal, and the second she set foot on the other side, she stumbled. Some of her lost footing could be chalked up to simple surprise. After all, suddenly finding herself in paradise ¨C especially after spending years in the frozen grip of winter ¨C was quite a shock to her system. However, in terms of causing a brief bout of lost balance, the real culprit was the sheer weight of ethera on the other side of that gate. And she wasn¡¯t alone, either. The others from Forest Hills were clearly struggling with similar feelings concerning the setting. For her part, Hope felt like she was enveloped in a wet blanket ¨C sort of like thick humidity but encompassing her very spirit ¨C and she knew it would take some time to acclimate. It was not unpleasant, though. Not for her, at least. Instead of feeling confining, it was comforting. Like a hug from her father, though less personal and far more profound. She could feel the power in the air. It tingled against her skin and enveloped her on a spiritual level, but it also felt invigorating in a way she had never experienced and she couldn¡¯t adequately explain. Those conflicting feelings ¨C of shock and comfort ¨C warred for a brief moment until her father stepped through the gate behind her. A second later, the Druid followed, and the gate of roots wilted, disappearing into the surrounding soil. Immediately, Hope felt his presence behind her. Like a coming storm, he loomed over everyone, as if he was a natural disaster in the making. Intimidating didn¡¯t quite cover his demeanor. It went deeper than that. If gods truly existed, then she had to believe that being in their presence would make her feel something similar. Elijah was just a man. Clearly. But he was more than that, too. She didn¡¯t need her father¡¯s stories ¨C which lacked details, probably to maintain whatever was left of her innocence ¨C to know that he was dangerous and powerful in a way that she¡¯d never experienced before. Even if his aura wasn¡¯t so domineering, the man had just transported her settlement¡¯s entire population across the world in a single day. That kind of power couldn¡¯t have been common. And on top of that, he¡¯d somehow brokered an agreement with the grimlings. Those little creatures had proved incredibly vicious over the years, and Hope personally knew dozens of people they¡¯d killed for no other reason than that they¡¯d set foot in the forest. And Elijah had scared even them. Then there was the majestic, nine-tailed fox. That creature had felt similarly oppressive, and all of Hope¡¯s instincts ¨C nascent though they were ¨C told her that the creature was incredibly powerful. If it had wanted to, it could have killed everyone there. Except maybe Elijah, who had somehow befriended the beast so thoroughly that she had entrusted him with the safety of her children. No ¨C every detail suggested that Elijah was not just a man. He was something else, though Hope had no clue what that something might be. Fortunately, his actions ¨C as well as her father¡¯s friendship ¨C had proven that the Druid was an ally. So, Hope pushed her misgivings aside and focused on her surroundings. That was when she let out a little gasp. ¡°It¡¯s paradise,¡± she murmured. It was an understatement of the highest order. At first, she thought she was in a jungle, but after only a moment, Hope saw the order amidst the chaos. Everything was meticulously laid out, each plant exactly where it was supposed to be. Fat bees that made her feel a little wary drifted through the area, while butterflies with colorful wings fluttered here and there, often alighting on fruit-bearing bushes that glistened with both ethera and moisture. And in the center of it all, a mighty tree stood sentry over everything. With pristine white bark and blue leaves, it looked entirely alien, but it also seemed perfectly at home within the environment. Moreover, it emitted an aura of power that rivaled even Elijah¡¯s. Perhaps it even exceeded it. After a few seconds of looking around, Hope saw what seemed like a treehouse that had been so thoroughly incorporated into its tree base that she wasn¡¯t sure whether it had been grown or built. Given everything else she saw within the grove, she didn¡¯t rule out the former. Finally, she saw a thoroughly incomprehensible scene. At first, she thought it was just another tree, though an oddly shaped one. But then it moved, and not in a way that suggested it was being rustled by the wind. Instead, it was a bipedal tree, with two arms, two legs, and a distinctly humanoid appearance. Much to its chagrin, the little kits ¨C snow white and even more excited than they had been back in the forest ¨C danced around it, letting out little high-pitched yips that sounded like a mixture of a dog¡¯s bark and a chirp reminiscent of a birdcall. ¡°Calm down, Nerthus. They¡¯re just excited,¡± said Elijah, stepping forward. ¡°Here. I¡¯ll gather them. I think they¡¯ll love it in the Frozen Glade.¡± The tree ¨C Nerthus, it seemed ¨C responded by fixing the Druid with a withering glare. ¡°Why do you hate me? First, the lunar deer, and now these¡­pests?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so dramatic,¡± Elijah sighed, rolling his eyes. Then, he knelt, and the kits all raced toward him. They leaped into his arms, where they quickly proceeded to sniff and lick everything while they climbed all over him. He let out a joyous laugh as he tried to corral the little beasts. ¡°Can you show our guests to the dock while I take care of these?¡± ¡°If you remove them from the grove, I will do anything,¡± said Nerthus in a dignified and long-suffering tone. After that, Elijah left everyone behind while the tree creature asked the Forest Hill natives to follow him away from the grove. Hope and the others did just that, passing a ring of trees that looked strikingly similar to the massive, white tree at the center of the grove. They were markedly less developed and far less powerful, though. What followed was a trek through a jungle-like forest that spanned at least a couple of miles. Along the way, Hope was absolutely astounded by the density of the vegetation as well as the ethera. The air was cool enough ¨C it felt like autumn ¨C but the flora and humidity was suggestive of a rainforest. Hope also saw plenty of animals. From happy birds flying from tree to tree to squirrels that felt oddly oppressive, a wide variety of beasts were represented. And she sensed that there were even more creatures that she couldn¡¯t see. In short, it was as thickly populated as any nature reserve. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. Gradually, they snaked their way through the forest until, at last, reaching a rocky beach. That¡¯s when someone let out a scream. It took Hope a few seconds until she saw why. It was an enormous crab ¨C at least the size of a mini-van ¨C and it was scuttling in their direction. Only a moment later, Nerthus disappeared, and Hope¡¯s heart leaped into her throat as she saw their guide ¨C and presumed guardian ¨C leave them behind. Memories from the beginning of the apocalypse flashed into her mind, of dozens of scenes of death and carnage, and in that moment, she knew she was going to die. But then, Nerthus reappeared next to the vehicle-sized crab, and a series of thick roots burst free of his body. In the space of a second, they wrapped around the crab, and only a moment later, he spun. The crab¡¯s legs waved, and its claws snapped, but it could do nothing to stop the tree-man from tossing it like a discus. It hit the surf more than a hundred yards down the beach. Nerthus disappeared again, only to reemerge right next to the group. ¡°My apologies. The crabs rarely come this close to the dock,¡± he said. ¡°Nuisances, all, but Elijah has a fondness for them. If you will follow me?¡± Without any further acknowledgement of what he¡¯d just done, the tree-man led them forward. Only then did Hope see the sturdy dock stretching a couple dozen yards out into the ocean. It wasn¡¯t a complex structure, but it looked ¨C and more importantly, felt ¨C extremely sturdy. There were a couple of large rowboats moored on either side of the far end of the dock. ¡°Hope,¡± said her father, breaking her out of her reverie. Then, he asked, ¡°Are you coming?¡± ¡°Oh. Sorry,¡± she responded. ¡°Just a little thrown off guard by all of this.¡± ¡°It is a little much, isn¡¯t it? Do you feel the ethera?¡± he asked. ¡°It¡¯s much higher than back home,¡± she answered. ¡°I guess this is supposed to be our new home, though.¡± ¡°Well, not here specifically,¡± he said. Then, he pointed across a narrow strait to a settlement a few miles away. Or city, more accurately. None of the buildings were more than ten stories tall, but there were enough of them to suggest that the settlement played host to thousands of people. A huge wall surrounded it on three sides, with two stretches extending far enough into the ocean that they reached deeper water. It was so surprising that, for a few moments, Hope was struck speechless. They¡¯d been struggling to survive all that time, and here was a real city. She had only been ten years old when the world had ended, but even then, she¡¯d visited larger cities nearby on a few occasions. She¡¯d gone to Columbus on a couple of field trips, and her father had taken her to visit Cincinnati a few times to see her Aunt Renee, so she was vaguely familiar with cities. Still, she had never expected to find anything like that in the new world. It was unexpectedly overwhelming, and she found tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± she said, wiping her tears away. ¡°Just happy, I guess.¡± For the first time in a long time, her attitude lived up to her name. * * * Ron put his arm around his daughter¡¯s shoulders, hugging her tight as the rowboat slid across the glassy surface of the sea. Like a bay, the strait was protected from the effects of the open ocean, so there were few waves. However, he¡¯d heard enough stories from Elijah to recognize that they weren¡¯t entirely out of danger. Oceans played host to some of the most powerful creatures in existence, and he knew he needed to remain on guard just in case they were attacked. Still, it was difficult. Elijah had often spoken of his home, but hearing those stories and actually seeing it were two very different things. The density of the ethera alone was enough to throw him off guard, and that wasn¡¯t even considering everything else. It was all so overwhelming. And then there was the city in the distance, which was growing every closer by the minute as the rowers ¨C all steadfast Rangers who¡¯d taken the protection of Forest Hills as their personal calling ¨C steadily guided the boats toward the docks. Like the grove itself, Ironshore had been the subject of plenty of Elijah¡¯s stories. The Druid wasn¡¯t exactly a social butterfly, often disappearing for hours ¨C or even days ¨C to explore ruins or crypts or whatever else took his fancy. However, it was difficult to spend more than half a year around someone without hearing at least a few tales. And most of Elijah¡¯s centered around his grove or the nearby city of alien races. From those, Ron had expected to find something akin to an old-west frontier town. A bunch of wooden buildings, mud streets, and barely-surviving people. But what Ron saw across that strait was closer to an old European city like Paris. As they came closer, he saw that the buildings were mostly new ¨C or new-ish ¨C but they each held a certain dignity that modern American construction generally lacked. Sure, modern ¨C or at least in terms of the world before everything had changed ¨C architecture was often pleasing enough to look at, and he would never have denigrated their efforts. However, most of the newer buildings exhibited a certain soulless aesthetic that depended on shininess instead of creativity to set them apart. In Ron¡¯s admittedly uneducated-on-the-subject opinion, older buildings had far more going for them. He hesitated to call them more beautiful, but as a layman, he definitely considered the older examples far more creative. Ironshore was like that, with interesting lines, carvings, and other details that put him in mind of a style supported by more than just sleekness and modern minimalism. Such thoughts accompanied him as the boat gradually came closer to the extensive docks that abutted the strait. There were huge ships docked there, some reaching hundreds of feet in length, that suggested that at least part of the city¡¯s economy was tied to harvesting the treasures of the open ocean. But there were smaller boats there as well, and their approach was closely monitored by the fishermen who manned them. That was when Ron got his first good look at the residents. The fishermen were mostly goblins, with huge, bat-like ears and skin tones ranging from green to yellow, but there were also stout and bearded dwarves as well as diminutive gnomes among them. Ron even saw a few humans, suggesting that the city had truly become a haven for diversity. Eventually, they arrived, and they were met by a goblin in a crisp, pinstripe suit who wore a bowler hat and carried an elaborately carved cane. ¡°Welcome!¡± the goblin announced excitedly as dockworkers ¨C mostly dwarves ¨C raced to tie off the boat. ¡°Nerthus told me to expect some new citizens. I am Ramik, the mayor of Ironshore.¡± Ron had no idea how the tree-man had warned the goblin of their arrival, but that wasn¡¯t really something he was that worried about. In a world of magic, such things were easily explainable. As the de facto leader of the refugees, Ron introduced himself, and he quickly discovered that he very much liked the goblin. He seemed quite urbane, polite, and more accommodating than anyone could have expected. Soon enough, the refugees were led to a residential area featuring a handful of buildings that contained apartments. They were told that they would be able to stay rent-free in those dwellings for sixty days or until they got on their feet. That was more than any of them had expected. No one in Forest Hills had been lazy. They¡¯d all worked extremely hard for their survival, and not a one of them wanted a hand-out. But a hand up was a different story altogether, and they all accepted the gift in the spirit it was presumably given. In addition, Ramik handed every individual a sheaf of papers, each one containing a map of the city and its surroundings, information on where to find work in various fields, and the location of the public dining hall where people could get good, if fairly bland, food each day. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to thank you,¡± Ron said. ¡°No need for thanks. This city is only as good as its people,¡± Ramik said proudly. ¡°We have worked extremely hard to make it what it is. People have died defending Ironshore. We desperately want to be great, and to do that, we need to ensure that its citizens are well cared for so they can focus on being the best they can be. This is your home now. Perhaps only a few of you will stay, but while you¡¯re here, you are one of us.¡± It was an admirable sentiment, and one Ron wholeheartedly hoped was sincere. Whatever the case, he felt that he could finally relax ¨C at least a little ¨C because at long last, his people were safe. Now, he could focus on curing his daughter¡¯s illness. 7-36. Treatment After getting Hope settled in their new ¨C likely temporary ¨C apartment, Ron decided to explore the city, and for a couple of reasons. First, he was genuinely curious, and that was supported by the little he¡¯d seen while traveling from the dock to the apartment building. His initial impressions were supported by that short inspection, and he was eager to see more. However, before he left the apartment, he gave the complex a good once-over, and he was surprised to find that it was not only nice, clean, and spacious, but also that it featured quite a verdant courtyard. That acknowledgement of nature seemed to be a theme throughout the city ¨C at least what he¡¯d seen of it ¨C with trees, bushes, and other vegetation taking prominent spaces. In retrospect, that made perfect sense, given the extreme ethera density as well as the city¡¯s proximity to Elijah¡¯s island. The Druid probably hadn¡¯t forced any changes, but the city¡¯s management would probably do whatever they had to do to keep him happy and make him feel at home. Or maybe that was just multi-versal standard. Ron simply didn¡¯t know, which made him feel incredibly ignorant. After all, people like Elijah had visited multiple places across Earth¡¯s new surface, while Ron had been limited to the area immediately surrounding Forest Hills. Before the Trial of Primacy, he¡¯d only once traveled more than a couple of miles away from his settlement, and that was in the immediate aftermath of the world¡¯s transformation. Assuredly, quite a lot had changed in the intervening years. So, he was eager to cure his lack of perspective. He¡¯d asked Hope to come with him to explore the city, but the events of the past few days had left her exhausted. She tried to don a brave fa?ade ¨C and she succeeded most of the time ¨C but Ron was well-acquainted with his daughter¡¯s mannerisms, so he could see the strain even when she tried to hide it. That was the other reason he was eager to explore the city. Elijah had told him that if there was a cure for Hope¡¯s illness, it would likely be found in Ironshore. He¡¯d even mentioned an Alchemist who¡¯d proven himself capable of solving similar problems in the past. So, it was with some pep in his step that Ron merged with the flow of traffic. There were hundreds of people walking from one place to another, which gave the city a very different vibe. For an American, cities usually meant cars and heavy traffic. But given that most of the city¡¯s population had at least decent attributes, there was no barrier to walking wherever they needed to go. Of course, Ron¡¯s attributes were much, much better than decent, so he had no issues keeping up with the crowd of pedestrians. Another benefit came from his height, which left him standing head and shoulders over the vast majority of the city¡¯s population, which tended toward dwarves, gnomes, and goblins, all of which were much shorter than humans. For a while, he just wandered around, and he was more than a little dumbstruck by how vibrant and varied the commercial pursuits of the citizenry were. He saw dozens of small businesses, ranging from all sorts of restaurants to sellers of a wide diversity of goods. In addition, he passed by various Tradesmen¡¯s premises, a couple of tea shops, and even a massive foundation that fairly radiated power. When he stopped to inspect the last one, he saw that someone had taken great care to inscribe each individual brick of green stone with runic designs. ¡°Impressive, eh?¡± came a voice. Ron looked up to see a dwarf with a massive beard that he¡¯d tucked into his belt. ¡°This is just the tip o¡¯ the stalagmite, too. When we¡¯re done, ain¡¯t another buildin¡¯ in the entire world gonna compete with the Great Forge.¡± ¡°This whole thing is going to be a smithy?¡± asked Ron, surprised. The foundation suggested the building would be the size of a Wal-Mart when it was done. ¡°Nah. Don¡¯t nobody need that kinda space for metalworkin¡¯,¡± the dwarf said, crossing his burly arms. ¡°We¡¯re makin¡¯ a temple to craftin¡¯. Everybody¡¯ll be represented, from ol¡¯ Biggle and his potions to Mari the Tailor. Not sure how it¡¯s s¡¯posed to work out, but Miss Carmen seems to know what she¡¯s talkin¡¯ ¡®bout. And she¡¯s the best crafter in the world, so when she says somethin¡¯, we listen.¡± ¡°Is she really?¡± asked Ron. The dwarf shrugged his large shoulders, saying, ¡°That¡¯s what the humans say. She was on the power rankins, which ain¡¯t easy for crafter. She¡¯s th¡¯only reason half of us survived the Second Battle of Ironshore. Still got my armor back ¡®ome, just in case we need to step up again.¡± After that, Ron asked a few more questions before moving on. And he was impressed with the stated plans. If Ironshore could establish itself as a center for crafting, it would be well positioned to become one of the wealthiest places on Earth. But if that happened, they would need a strong defensive force to keep greedy people from trying to take what they had. As he continued through the city, Ron saw an older, dignified man leading a group through military training exercises. That gave him hope that Ironshore was taking its defenses seriously. Not unsurprising, given that the city had already been forced to defend itself from two separate forces. The latest had been against dark elves, while the first had been against creatures called orcs. The day wore on, and Ron continued his exploration, but eventually, he found his way to a building marked by a sign bearing a big, red cross. From what he understood, the aliens didn¡¯t feature the same iconography, so he had to assume that a human had established the hospital. He stepped inside, and sure enough, he found a clean and organized space featuring a dozen beds separated by curtains. Only a couple were occupied. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Be right with you!¡± came a feminine voice from the back. A moment later, a woman stepped through one of the curtains. She wore purple scrubs and sensible sneakers, which set her apart from most other Healers he¡¯d met. She was also quite pretty, though she was at least ten years his junior. ¡°What can I do for you?¡± she asked on approach as she removed a pair of latex gloves. ¡°Sickness, injury, or poison?¡± ¡°None of the above, actually,¡± he answered. ¡°I¡¯m a Healer, newly arrived, and I just noticed the sign outside. I figured I¡¯d check it out, see if there¡¯s something I can do to help.¡± ¡°Ah. I¡¯m Jess,¡± she said, extending her hand. Ron took it, noting that she had a firm grip. ¡°Ron,¡± he introduced himself. ¡°What level are you?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­one-oh-six,¡± he said. ¡°Wait. You¡¯re over a hundred? Seriously?¡± she demanded. ¡°Yeah,¡± he answered, checking his status just to be sure. ¡°Got lucky with a few extra levels recently.¡± After that, she launched into a string of questions. At first, Ron felt like he was being interrogated, but soon enough, it became clear that she was just excited to learn what he could do. As it turned out, she was a former medical school student who¡¯d taken the Healer archetype as soon as it was offered. Since then, she¡¯d been healing in a place called Norcastle, and had only moved to Ironshore recently. When Ron told her the abbreviated version of his story, ending with how he¡¯d ended up in Ironshore, she asked, ¡°Wait ¨C you know Elijah?¡± ¡°I do. We became friends in the Trial,¡± he answered. ¡°Why? Do you?¡± She nodded. ¡°Met him a long while back. He actually helped save Norcastle. For a while, at least, until the dark elves hit us,¡± she explained. That seemed to be a bit of a sore spot, so Ron changed the subject, asking if it would be okay if he worked in the hospital. ¡°I don¡¯t expect to be paid or anything. I just want to help.¡± ¡°I¡¯m the only one here, so the more hands the better,¡± she answered. ¡°And the city keeps the lights on, so to speak. They gave me this building, and they pay my salary. It¡¯s not enough to get rich or anything, but I¡¯m pretty well off. I guess they see providing healing as the city¡¯s responsibility.¡± What followed was a long conversation about how she ran the hospital and his role going forward, but it wasn¡¯t that long before she said something that got his attention. ¡°Biggle? That¡¯s the Alchemist, right?¡± Jess answered, ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s a little weird, but from what I understand, he¡¯s really talented. Not that I know much on the subject, of course. At first, I thought alchemy was just like pharmaceuticals with magic, but it¡¯s supposed to be more than that. Most crafters need a good Alchemist to make the most of their profession.¡± ¡°Do you know where his shop is?¡± Ron asked. Elijah had told him a little about Biggle, and he hoped that the Alchemist could help him with Hope¡¯s illness. As it turned out, Jess did know, and she soon gave him directions. So, soon after, he took his leave and headed toward the Alchemist¡¯s shop. That was how, around twenty minutes later, he found himself looking up a slight hill at a quaint house that looked like it had been built by a mad botanist. There were odd-looking plants all around, many of which were moving in strange ways, and the house itself was a small cottage with a few too many chimneys. Ron opened the wrought iron gate, then stepped onto the path. Immediately, a vine snaked out, and if Ron hadn¡¯t spent so much time fighting in the Trial of Primacy, the thing would have captured him immediately. However, because he¡¯d been forced to develop his reflexes, he saw it coming from a mile away, and he reacted accordingly. Dancing aside, he soon found another vine ready to attack him. And another after that. He dodged each one in turn until, at last, he tired of the charade. With that, he cast Word of Force, and a bubble of kinetic energy swept around him, stunning the moving vegetation. ¡°What in the name of the Tinkerer is going on out here?!¡± came a squeaky shout from up the hill. Ron looked up to see a tiny figure with wild, white hair and improbably bushy eyebrows glaring down at him. ¡°Do you know how valuable those twisting vines are? I brought them from ¨C¡± ¡°I apologize,¡± Ron said, unhurriedly approaching. ¡°They seemed dangerous.¡± ¡°Of course they¡¯re dangerous! That¡¯s the point!¡± ¡°Again, I apologize for stunning your plants. If it¡¯s any consolation, they should recover. If not, I¡¯ll ask my friend to come by and help them along.¡± ¡°Your friend?¡± ¡°Elijah. I think you know him.¡± ¡°You¡¯re friends with that damned Druid?¡± muttered the gnome, hands on his hips as he looked up at Ron. ¡°Of course you are. Seems that causing problems for me isn¡¯t just limited to him. It extends to his friends as well.¡± Then, without warning, he turned and stomped away in a huff. Before he got to the door, he turned and asked, ¡°Well? Are you coming? Presumably, you¡¯re here for a reason.¡± ¡°Right. Coming.¡± Ron quickly followed the Alchemist, ducking inside the building. Thankfully, while the door was a lot lower than normal, the ceiling was high enough to accommodate Ron¡¯s height. Looking around, he saw strings of herbs hanging from the beams, while shelves full of various jars lined the walls. What looked like a cartoon chemistry set stood in the center of the room. ¡°So? What do you want?¡± asked Biggle. Deciding not to delay the explanation with niceties, Ron took a deep breath and immediately launched into his reason for coming around. For his part, Biggle listened as Ron explained Hope¡¯s condition, even grabbing a book to take notes. Ron finished by saying, ¡°Healing doesn¡¯t work. I¡¯ve tried everything.¡± That was true. He¡¯d even tried Healer¡¯s Burden when he¡¯d gotten home after the Trial, and it hadn¡¯t done anything to fix the issue. ¡°The way I see it, you¡¯ve got one option,¡± Biggle said. ¡°I¡¯d have to examine her to be sure, but I believe I could brew a potion that could arrest the progression of her condition.¡± That was basically what her medication did. There was no cure for the particular type of leukemia with which she was afflicted, only drugs meant to manage it. Given that they were out of said drug, having Biggle replace it was quite a boon. However, he couldn¡¯t hide his disappointment, largely because he¡¯d allowed himself to believe that the Alchemist would offer a cure. ¡°That might give us a chance to create a proper Body cultivation potion that will allow her to progress enough that it will cure itself,¡± Biggle went on. ¡°It¡¯s a tricky project, mostly because her condition weakens her considerably, but with the right ingredients, I believe I can get it done.¡± Ron was struck speechless. It was the first time in a long time that he¡¯d allowed himself to truly hope. ¡°But of course, we¡¯ll have to talk about the cost. I don¡¯t work for free,¡± Biggle said. ¡°I¡¯ll pay whatever fee you require,¡± Ron stated evenly. ¡°So long as I have it, it¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°I like your willingness to give me money, but I want something else. You say you¡¯re friends with Elijah, yes?¡± Biggle asked. Ron nodded. ¡°Time to put that friendship to the test. Here¡¯s what I need¡­¡± 7-37. Long Overdue ¡°That sneaky little¡­¡± ¡°Is it a problem?¡± Ron asked. ¡°If it is, I¡¯m sure we can ¨C¡± ¡°No,¡± Elijah said, running his hand through his hair. ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. And obviously I¡¯m going to do it. Your daughter¡¯s health is worth way more than my feelings about his demands. I just don¡¯t like being backed into a corner.¡± And he definitely didn¡¯t like Biggle¡¯s price for brewing a potion to curtail the effects of Hope¡¯s disease. He would have given any amount of ethereum to save the girl, but letting the Alchemist use a plot of land on the island was upsetting in ways Elijah hadn¡¯t expected. The only solace was that Nerthus didn¡¯t seem angry about it. In fact, the spryggent wavered between indifference and subdued excitement. But the fact was that Elijah would never even consider refusing ¨C not when Hope¡¯s health was at stake. ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± he added, looking around the grove. The fox kits were still rampaging through the area, having taken up residence at the base of the ancestral tree. Given their mother¡¯s preferred sleeping spot, that wasn¡¯t really surprising. However, unlike the vixen, the kits were a lot more rambunctious, and when they weren¡¯t resting beneath the tree, they were racing all across the island and harassing the other wildlife. They hunted a few of the local animals, but mostly, they were just playful. ¡°Really. I¡¯m just glad Biggle can do something for her.¡± ¡°I just hope he can come through with his promises,¡± Ron said. He¡¯d come to visit the island immediately after his meeting with Biggle, and when he¡¯d arrived, Elijah had been making final preparations for a much longer trip. The deadline to solve the problem with the Primal Realm near Hong Kong was fast approaching, and he didn¡¯t have much time to waste. ¡°He will. I¡¯m not always the greatest judge of character, but Biggle seems like a good person,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°A little greedy and singularly focused on his craft above all else, but an honest person nonetheless. He¡¯ll do what he says he¡¯ll do.¡± Left unsaid was that Biggle¡¯s experimentation regarding Hope¡¯s condition would almost assuredly result in quite a lot of experience as well as an increased understanding of cultivation in relatively weak bodies. Potions that could do that were out there, Elijah was certain, but Earth¡¯s Alchemists ¨C as far as he could tell ¨C had yet to progress far enough to make them. And buying such things via the Branch Market just wasn¡¯t viable, even in one-off cases. They were too expensive, even for Elijah. To Nerthus, who was standing nearby, Elijah asked, ¡°Can you set a plot of land aside for him? Something near the beach. I don¡¯t want him to have free rein of the island.¡± ¡°I have already selected an appropriate location. An acre on the cliff overlooking the tower is perfect for such use,¡± Nerthus said. ¡°The people of Ironshore already use the area when they complete their runs of the tower, so they will not discover anything they don¡¯t already know.¡± Elijah knew the area. Often, when Ironshore¡¯s adventurers finished with their tower runs ¨C which were still ongoing ¨C they would camp on the nearby beach to rest, recover, and, most importantly, go over their loot. They never strayed far inland, so he¡¯d never had much of an objection. ¡°I think we need to take steps to isolate that area, though,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I know we don¡¯t build walls, but ¨C¡± ¡°I know precisely how to attack the problem,¡± Nerthus stated. Elijah thought he saw a manic gleam in the spryggent¡¯s eyes. It made sense. If there were two things about which Nerthus was truly passionate, they could be boiled down to the defense of the island and the development of its plants. This project seemed to combine both. ¡°Well, whatever happens, just give Ron and Hope whatever they need,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Treat them like they¡¯re family.¡± Nerthus nodded gravely, while Ron said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to do that, Elijah. We¡¯ll be just fine by ¨C¡± Elijah cut him off by saying, ¡°It¡¯s fine, Ron. We¡¯ve been through a lot together. Just let us help.¡± After that, Ron just nodded, though Elijah expected that the man wouldn¡¯t ask for anything unless it concerned his daughter¡¯s safety. He was a proud man, but not so much that his pride could outweigh Hope¡¯s well-being. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°I won¡¯t forget this, Elijah. If you need me for anything, just let me know.¡± ¡°Will do,¡± Elijah said. He¡¯d considered asking Ron to accompany him to Hong Kong, but he didn¡¯t want to put the Healer into that kind of position. Once the conversation petered out, Ron excused himself and started making his way toward the island¡¯s dock. In the interim, Elijah made certain that he had enough supplies for a long trip. That meant gathering quite a few grove fruits, shoving his remaining stock of cleansing powder into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, and spending a few minutes ensuring that he hadn¡¯t forgotten anything. Finally, after he was certain that he was as prepared as he was going to get, he found Nerthus tending to the sapling that had absorbed the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might. The young tree looked a lot like the ancestral tree, meaning that it had white bark and blue leaves, but laced through the trunk was a line of glittering crystal. It felt incredibly powerful. ¡°Should we just let it grow? It might be even more powerful than the trees in Argos or Ironshore,¡± Elijah remarked, kneeling beside it. ¡°The power will normalize over time. If it reaches maturity, it will only be slightly stronger than it would have been without it,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°We must time harvesting quite precisely, or we will waste the power of the shard.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. That made sense to Elijah. Or maybe it didn¡¯t, and he just trusted Nerthus¡¯ expertise. Whatever the case, he was content to let it play out according to the spryggent¡¯s plans. After saying goodbye to Nerthus, Elijah headed back into Ironshore and visited the Imperium to collect his roasted coffee beans from the Chef. It seemed even more powerful than before ¨C probably because of the rise in ethera or the Chef¡¯s levels ¨C but he couldn¡¯t quantify exactly how much stronger the end product had become. Not until he drank a cup, and he didn¡¯t have time for that. He¡¯d already put his departure off for long enough, and now that everything was done, he couldn¡¯t tolerate further delays. With that in mind, he went to say his final goodbyes to his family, and he was surprised to find that both Kurik and Miguel had returned from their expedition into the mines. Everyone was gathered inside Carmen¡¯s smithy, clearly indicating that Kurik and Miguel had only just returned. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Elijah asked, noting that Kurik looked a little more dour than usual. ¡°Dark elves is what¡¯s goin¡¯ on.¡± Then, Kurik and Miguel went on to describe the situation below. While deploying traps throughout the mines and the tunnels below, they¡¯d encountered a half dozen groups of dark elves. ¡°They weren¡¯t attacking, either,¡± Miguel said. ¡°We think they were running from something.¡± ¡°Did you take any prisoners?¡± ¡°Tried,¡± Kurik acknowledged. ¡°Unsuccessfully.¡± ¡°They wouldn¡¯t stop fighting until they were dead,¡± Miguel interjected. ¡°Woulda been easier if that girl weren¡¯t so damned bloodthirsty,¡± Kurik added. ¡°She¡¯s on ¡®er way to a Berserker class evolution. Yank my beard if she ain¡¯t.¡± Carmen admonished, ¡°Language, Kurik.¡± ¡°Just a turn o¡¯ phrase,¡± the dwarf said. ¡°Don¡¯t mean nothin¡¯ by it.¡± ¡°Be that as it may¡­¡± ¡°Anyway ¨C what¡¯s the plan with the dark elves? It doesn¡¯t sound like another invasion,¡± Elijah said. That would definitely put a damper on his plans. The last thing he wanted was to have to stick around Ironshore for much longer. ¡°Don¡¯t seem that way,¡± Kurik agreed. ¡°But now that I¡¯m ¡®ere, takin¡¯ this city won¡¯t be near as easy as last time. They¡¯ll pay for it a hundred times over ¡®fore they make it outta them tunnels. Might be good if they come. Get the fighters some experience an¡¯ all. This city¡¯s too soft and too weak. If we¡¯re gonna be what Miss Carmen ¡®ere wants us to be, we¡¯ll need strength to defend ourselves. That won¡¯t come from runnin¡¯ the occasional tower, if you know what I mean. We need numbers and levels, and ain¡¯t no mistake ¡®bout that.¡± ¡°We¡¯re working on it,¡± Miguel said. ¡°We found that passage leading further down. Probably where the dark elves came from. There are strong creatures down there, and they¡¯re not all natural.¡± ¡°Monsters?¡± Elijah asked. He shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t know. They don¡¯t feel like Trevor or regular animals, but I¡¯d have to get closer to tell.¡± Elijah massaged the back of his neck. He desperately wanted to investigate his nephew¡¯s claims, but doing so would invariably take quite some time. And for better or worse, he had a lot of other tasks he needed to complete before he added another to his to-do list. So, he regrettably shook his head, saying, ¡°I¡¯ll let you take care of it. Just be careful.¡± He¡¯d intended to ask Kurik and Miguel to go with him to Hong Kong, but with the ongoing threat from below, he decided to forego that option. Division of labor made a lot more sense. Even so, he had to offer. So, he said, ¡°I¡¯m going to Hong Kong. Soon, too. Like as soon as I leave here. Do either of you want to come?¡± Miguel looked like he very much did. Elijah had long since figured out that his nephew was afflicted with a wanderlust similar to his own. However, he quickly adopted a stoic expression and gravely said, ¡°My place is here for now.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t no need to be so serious, kid. Just say no and move on,¡± Kurik grunted. ¡°As for me, the answer¡¯s the same. Tell Sadie and Dat I said hello, though.¡± Elijah accepted their answers, then turned to Carmen before giving her a grin. ¡°I¡¯ll bring you a souvenir. Maybe a collectible spoon or something.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Be careful. I know you think you¡¯re invincible, but you¡¯re not. Remember that.¡± ¡°Try not to die. Good advice.¡± With that, he doled out a couple of hugs ¨C Kurik¡¯s expression told him that if he tried to throw one his way, the dwarf would punch him in the gut ¨C then headed out. With all of his supplies nestled firmly in his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, Elijah finally made his way to the Branch. He¡¯d have preferred to travel overland, but considering he had no clue how far away ¨C or in which direction ¨C Hong Kong lay, he had no choice but to once again use the Branch¡¯s overpriced Teleportation Network. While waiting in line, Elijah had a pleasant conversation with the Branch Envoy, Thara. She was on the verge of gaining a level, which she hoped would open a new function with the Branch. It was interesting. Envoys didn¡¯t really gain spells like most people did. Instead, their levels were tied to the Branch¡¯s available features as well as an expansion of the ones already unlocked. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure how that worked, but he figured that any improvement on that front would be welcome. Eventually, his turn came, and after touching the Branch, he navigated to the Teleportation Network and searched for Hong Kong. When he selected it, a notification popped up:
You have chosen to teleport to the location labeled: Hong Kong (Heaven¡¯s Bastion)
Cost
Copper Silver Gold Platinum
1 76 361,309 0
Proceed: [Yes] or [No]
Elijah let out a sigh of relief when he saw the cost. It would still take a little more than a third of his remaining ethereum, but it was still affordable. That suggested that Hong Kong wasn¡¯t nearly as far away as Forest Hills had been. If he¡¯d lacked the funds to pay for the trip, he¡¯d have had to go to Kurik or Carmen to borrow a little. That was a less than desirable outcome, so he was glad that it wasn¡¯t necessary. Without further delay, he selected the affirmative option and was whisked away to Hong Kong. At long last, he was ready to fulfill his promise to help his friends. However, the second he rematerialized, he realized that things might not be exactly as they¡¯d seemed. His first hint was that his power was immediately locked down by the Branch Envoy. The second was that he was surrounded by more than a dozen fighters, all of which were aiming weapons in his direction. 7-38. Heavens Bastion ¡°Whoa, now. I¡¯m not ¨C¡± As Elijah tried to defuse the situation, a fighter stepped forward holding a pair of handcuffs. ¡°Do not move. Do not resist. You will be ¨C¡± Elijah had no interest in letting anyone bind him. However, with the Envoy clearly having activated some ability meant to suppress his power ¨C both in terms of his spellcasting ability and his attributes ¨C he didn¡¯t really have much choice. Still, if there was one thing Elijah knew about the world, it was that everything was relative. Sure, Envoys were extremely powerful within range of their Branch, but there was nothing that could overcome an enormous disparity in levels or cultivation. And Elijah had both on his side. When the fighter drew close enough, Elijah rammed through the restrictions imposed by the Envoy. Whatever ability they¡¯d used resisted his efforts for only a moment before it shattered entirely. The Envoy ¨C a petite, black-haired woman in the back ¨C let out a scream before collapsing to the floor. She immediately curled into a ball, clutching her head and screaming in pain. Meanwhile, now that Elijah was free, he acted. His staff swept out, shattering the knee of the handcuff-bearing fighter. The man¡¯s broken leg collapsed beneath him as he let out a pained grunt. Elijah snapped out a kick that hit him square in the chest before dashing to the side. Even as the fighter flew backward into his fellows, Elijah took stock of his situation. The Branch ¨C which was larger than any he¡¯d yet seen ¨C stood in the center of the vaguely circular room. The entire place had a futuristic look ¨C as if Elijah was inside of a spaceship ¨C with three floors surrounding an expansive lobby. Toward the outer edges, he got a glimpse of enormous windows, through which he could see the open sky. That was all he got the chance to see before he was on top of the next fighter in line. This one was armed with a spear, and she wasn¡¯t shy about trying to skewer him with it. However, his unconstrained attributes were so much higher than hers that he had no issue dodging to the side and caving in her ribs with a short jab of his Feral Spire. She didn¡¯t collapse, though. Instead, she activated some sort of ability meant to restrain him, but Elijah tore through it with ease before smashing his fist into her jaw. The sound of cracking bone joined shouts of alarm as she dropped to the ground. Elijah stepped over her, avoiding her weakly grasping hands as he targeted another enemy. Just then, an arrow very nearly clipped him, and he decided to end the farce, then and there. So, he activated Shape of Thorn. Power flooded into him as he dodged another arrow, and when the transformation completed a second later, he activated Domain of Vines. Vines erupted from the pristine tiles below his feet, snaking out to wrap around the stunned fighters. They tried to resist, but they were all far too weak to even begin to fight them off. All but one, at least. This one had to be the leader, judging by the slightly fancier equipment, which looked like modern riot gear mixed with traditional Chinese armor. He also felt like the strongest among them, an assumption supported by the fact that he managed to rip through the vines trying to encircle him in a cocoon of vegetation. When he reached Elijah, he led with a well-controlled thrust of his straight sword. It found nothing but air. Even in his clumsiest form, Elijah had no trouble avoiding the man¡¯s attack. And soon enough, he had his massive claws wrapped around the leader¡¯s neck. ¡°Why?¡± he growled, pulling him close. ¡°Monster,¡± the man spat, choking on the word. ¡°Enough!¡± came a shout from the other side of the room. It was more than a hundred feet away, but Elijah heard it clearly enough. More importantly, when he focused on the owner of that voice, he felt true power. The man wasn¡¯t as strong as him, but he was no pushover, either. And given his resemblance to a certain Crusader, it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah identified him. ¡°Are you Nico Song?¡± Elijah asked, his voice echoing through the space and easily overwhelming the muffled screams of the fighters he¡¯d captured with his vines. ¡°I am,¡± the man announced. He was taller than his sister, but his features were almost identical. Not so much that he¡¯d have called them twins, but enough to label them siblings at a glance. He also wore a fitted top with a high collar and wide-legged trousers that, at first, Elijah thought was a voluminous skirt. The entire ensemble was white with gold embroidery. More interestingly, Elijah could feel the man¡¯s core via Soul of the Wild. It flickered like a tiny sun, and when Elijah focused on it, he felt an odd sensation. It felt like the attention of a loving, if extremely strict, parent, though to such a degree that the description felt woefully inadequate. ¡°Please release my people.¡± ¡°Are they going to attack me again?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Because if they do, I¡¯m going to start throwing them out those windows.¡± ¡°You have my word that you will not be attacked unless you make the first move,¡± Nico stated evenly. ¡°We only want peace.¡± ¡°Funny way of showing it,¡± Elijah remarked, letting Domain of Vines wilt. The roots and vines fell limp, and a second later, they dissipated into ethera. The once-captured fighters fell to the floor, gasping for air. Perhaps he¡¯d been a little too vigorous in his constriction. Stolen story; please report. ¡°Who are you? Why are you here?¡± Elijah let himself resume his human shape. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah. I¡¯m friends with your sister,¡± he said with a little wave. ¡°I heard you have a Primal Realm problem, so I¡¯m here to help.¡± He glanced around at the fighters. ¡°Probably not the best start to an alliance, I¡¯ll admit. But in my defense, your people tried to suppress and bind me. That¡¯s not something I will allow.¡± ¡°That¡­is standard operating procedure in Heaven¡¯s Bastion,¡± Nico said, stepping forward. He moved with incredible grace, and it almost looked like he was gliding. ¡°An unfortunate side effect of having been attacked from within only three days ago. We were on high alert.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if that was an excuse or a reason, but he was in no position to figure it out. At present, he lacked the information necessary to assess the situation, an issue he hoped to alleviate when he reunited with Sadie. ¡°Can I see Sadie? Or Dat?¡± Elijah asked, noticing the flicker of irritation at the Witch Hunter¡¯s name. ¡°Or should I just leave? If I¡¯m not welcome¡­¡± ¡°No. Your assistance will be most welcome. Please, follow me,¡± Nico said. Without another word, he turned and strode away. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re not going to heal these people?¡± asked Elijah. But by that point, Nico had already disappeared through the door by which he¡¯d entered. ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± With that, he cast Blessing of the Grove, then Soothe on the most injured of them. To his surprise, the effect of the first was almost as potent as if he¡¯d used Nature¡¯s Bloom, and in only a couple of seconds, the damage had been mended. The fighters all looked shocked ¨C and more than a little terrified ¨C though Elijah tried his best to ignore that last part. Only then did he realize just how much of a step forward he¡¯d taken. He¡¯d known that his recent improvements were powerful, but he hadn¡¯t expected them to take such a leap. It made sense, though. Tiers were important, and just as he¡¯d easily torn through the Envoy¡¯s attempt at suppression, his healing spells were that much stronger when used on those of a lower tier. Would the same be true if he¡¯d used something like Lightning Domain? If that was the case, he¡¯d have killed them outright, and without even meaning to. One thing was certain, though. Going forward, he needed to be more careful. Thankfully, the slight delay was only a few seconds before he was following Nico¡¯s path into what turned out to be an elevator. The man himself narrowed his eyes at Elijah, but he didn¡¯t say anything about the healing. For his part, Elijah¡¯s first impression of Sadie¡¯s brother was not a good one. Sure, the circumstances weren¡¯t ideal, but as far as he knew, Nico was a Healer, and a powerful one at that. There was no excuse for him not to use his powers to mend his people¡¯s injuries. ¡°You have electricity?¡± asked Elijah as the elevator hummed to life. A moment later, it was descending at a rapid pace, which made it difficult to feel the passing floors. However, what he did notice was that the building ¨C which seemed to be a skyscraper ¨C had been divided into domiciles where thousands of people currently resided. That had to have taken quite a lot of work, but with the right classes and a few years, almost anything was possible. ¡°We do,¡± Nico answered crisply. His British accent wasn¡¯t as pronounced as Sadie¡¯s, but Elijah could hear notes of it all the same. Clearly, his life had followed a similar pattern as his sister¡¯s. ¡°This was once the International Commerce Center, though we have made significant alterations since the world¡¯s transformation. It is far sturdier, and our electricity is provided by ethereal power converters in the basement.¡± ¡°Lots of people living here, too.¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Nico stated. ¡°Heaven¡¯s Bastion is our stronghold. Too many continue to refuse our protection, but we are the largest population center in Hong Kong.¡± Elijah nodded, but before he could respond, the doors slid open to reveal a luxurious apartment. The style put Elijah in mind of antiseptic modernity, with clean lines and lacking any color. There were a few plants here and there, and a couple of nods to Chinese heritage peppered the space. But for the most part, it was wholly uninspiring, and Elijah found it entirely discomforting. And it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why, either. It was a nice enough place, and it had clearly cost a fortune to build. But it was hollow, an artifact of a world long past. And it lacked a certain beauty that Elijah had begun to take for granted. ¡°Nice place,¡± he said politely. ¡°This is our family¡¯s quarters. Please wait here while I fetch my sister,¡± Nico responded. After that, Nico strode through the lobby ¨C for that was the only way Elijah could describe it ¨C and disappeared down a nearby hall. With the Healer gone, Elijah stepped from the elevator and began to inspect the d¨¦cor. After only a few seconds, he found a golden statue of a Chinese style dragon. It was a nice piece, and clearly, the artist had spent quite some time on it. However, to Elijah, it was no more substantive than anything else in the room. Hollow. He kept going back to that word, but it wasn¡¯t adequate to describe what he felt. Part of it was the much lower levels of ethera, which he¡¯d expected. His grove played host to the highest density of ethera on the planet, so anywhere he went would assuredly be inferior in that respect. However, the biggest problem was that almost everything in the lobby had been made before Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree. As such, it just felt empty. Elijah was wrestling with those thoughts and what they meant when he felt a familiar figure come into range. Sadie was still a hundred or so feet away, but he was familiar enough with her presence to immediately recognize her. In that moment, he felt a pang of relief ¨C and a healthy dose of anticipation ¨C at their reunion. Until those feelings gripped his mind, Elijah hadn¡¯t realized just how much he¡¯d missed her. And Dat, he added a moment later. Soon enough, Sadie appeared in the lobby. She wore a simple pair of sweatpants and a tank top, and she was covered in a sheen of sweat. The moment she laid eyes on Elijah, she gave a broad smile. For someone with her reserved demeanor, that was tantamount to throwing herself across the room and wrapping her arms around him. Or at least that was how it made Elijah feel, which had definitely not been part of his plan. Apparently, the old adage that absence made the heart grow fonder was truer than he¡¯d ever expected. ¡°Hey,¡± he said, returning her smile with one of his own. ¡°How have you been?¡± ¡°Took you long enough,¡± she stated. ¡°I had some things I needed to do first. Ron and his daughter are safe now, by the way,¡± he responded. ¡°Good. I¡¯d have gone for them myself, but¡­¡± ¡°I know,¡± he said as they closed with one another. Pointedly, Nico didn¡¯t look happy. He wasn¡¯t overtly angry ¨C indeed, his face was mostly placid ¨C but Elijah could feel the slight twitches of irritation around the man¡¯s eyes. ¡°So, what¡¯s the situation here? We¡¯ve still got a couple of weeks before the Primal Realm goes active, right?¡± ¡°We do,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°But there are complications. Some, we¡¯re actively taking care of, but there are others that may make this much more complicated.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯d better fill me in, then.¡± 7-39. Communing with the Grove Sitting in the center of the grove, Miguel focused on his surroundings. Because of his class, he¡¯d been afforded the ability to perceive the grove in a way that exceeded the effects of his mundane senses. From what he understood, his uncle had a similar ability, though Elijah¡¯s version was far more powerful and offered significantly increased detail. Yet, for Miguel, even his watered-down version was almost too much for him to fully comprehend. The volume of information was nearly overwhelming, but even more disconcerting was the change in mindset it took to understand it all. It was one thing to see a tree and to know that it had thousands of leaves, but it was something else altogether to feel each one of them fluttering in the breeze. Even with his Mind cultivation, he had difficulty dealing with that much awareness ¨C especially when it was multiplied by the entire grove. The best he could usually do was to push it into the back of his mind ¨C a partition, according to Nerthus ¨C where he could mostly ignore it. But he wasn¡¯t worried about that for now. Instead, he wanted to make a stride forward in his cultivation. Specifically, his Soul, which he hoped would allow him to use his abilities more quickly. There were supposed to be other benefits as well, but those seemed to be dependent on the quality of said cultivation. That was the thing about progression ¨C at least as far as he could tell. At the most basic level, everything seemed to follow a similar pattern. However, the more one advanced, the more their path would diverge from everyone else¡¯s. In terms of levels, that was represented by Specializations, spell evolutions, and class evolutions, and with cultivation, what someone put into it ¨C in terms of work, preparation, and execution ¨C determined the quality. Eventually, everyone would become wholly unique, even if they started with identical classes. ¡°You do realize this won¡¯t work for you, do you not?¡± came a familiar voice. Miguel opened his eyes and blinked at the sudden brightness before glancing toward Nerthus. ¡°What do you mean?¡± he asked the tree spirit. ¡°This is how Elijah does it.¡± ¡°First of all, he doesn¡¯t do it here in the middle of the grove where the act of cultivation could foul the balance,¡± Nerthus answered, positioning himself in front of Miguel. He knelt, adding, ¡°He uses his cultivation cave. Partially, this is because the ethereal density is much higher down there, but it is also because he wishes to protect this ecosystem from his meddling.¡± ¡°Well, I can¡¯t go down there. I can¡¯t breathe underwater,¡± Miguel said. He¡¯d yet to get an item that would let him do that, though he¡¯d run the tower a couple of times for that very reason. To bypass the Sea of Sorrows, he was forced to use potions, which had limited durations and always left him feeling queasy. ¡°Nor should you try. The cave is currently in recovery,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Then what should I do? What am I doing wrong?¡± ¡°In a word ¨C everything.¡± Frustrated, Miguel asked, ¡°What is that supposed to mean? Just tell me.¡± ¡°You are a Green Warden. Do you know what that means?¡± Nerthus asked. ¡°It¡¯s just a class.¡± ¡°So you do not,¡± the spryggent stated. ¡°You are this grove¡¯s primary protector. A shield against any who would attempt to exploit it. That is a martial class. Do you understand how that changes things?¡± Miguel shook his head. ¡°You must act. You must train. You must interact with this grove. If you attempt to follow your uncle¡¯s example, you will, at best, experience inferior results. At worst, you will stagnate,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°And how do I do it right? I¡¯ve been training here for a while.¡± That much was true. Every morning since he¡¯d returned to Ironshore was spent pushing himself regarding both his physical fitness as well as his combat skills. He¡¯d lost count of the number of times he¡¯d raced Trevor around the circumference of the island, or how many huge rocks he¡¯d lifted. He¡¯d done thousands of sword and spear katas, and he¡¯d even incorporated gymnastics into his regimen. He usually spent at least five or six hours a day in training, which pushed him to the limits of his stamina. Perhaps if he had access to some of his uncle¡¯s healing spells, he could have gone further, faster, or harder, but that just wasn¡¯t the case. ¡°You have been training your body, but you have not been training your Mind. Or your Soul. Certainly not your spirit,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°To do that, you need to focus on your intent. You must concentrate on your purpose.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± ¡°Only you know, young Green Warden,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°It is personal to you, just as the Pledge of the Green Warden was wholly your creation.¡± The Pledge of the Green Warden. It hadn¡¯t been that long since he¡¯d made it, and it was still just as fresh in his mind as ever. ¡°I pledge to defend this hallowed ground with every breath, to protect against every threat, be it the Abyss or greedy mortals,¡± he repeated in a whisper. ¡°My sacrifice is my honor. My duty, my life. As long as I draw breath, no harm shall befall this Grove. I will uphold this code, conducting myself with honor until the end of my days or such time as my service is no longer required. This is my solemn pledge, sworn before the World Tree, to honor, serve, protect, and preserve this sacred Grove.¡± The words were far more elaborate than he normally would have used, but the gist of his vow was uncomplicated enough to distill into three facets. First, his charge was to protect the grove. A simple purpose, but one that covered so much ground. The second was to serve the grove¡¯s interests. Whatever it needed from him, he would give. If that meant tending to a garden or recruiting an army, then that was what he would do. The grove¡¯s well-being came first, his own interests well after. But there was more to it than that. Something that encompassed every other part of the vow. Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. Suddenly, he felt Trevor¡¯s approach. Miguel looked up to see the lunar stag at the edge of the grove. He wasn¡¯t quite as majestic as his father ¨C his antlers were barely even developed ¨C but he was getting there. Soon, he would pass into adulthood, just like Miguel himself. However, as he locked eyes with his companion, Miguel experienced a realization. ¡°Embody the spirit of a guardian,¡± he muttered to himself. It made so much sense. Miguel was human, but at the core of what the Green Warden was meant to be was encapsulated by a guardian¡¯s natural role. They were tied to natural treasures, and their charge was to protect them at all costs. And what was the grove if not the most potent natural treasure on Earth? Certainly, Miguel had not visited even a tiny fraction of the planet, but he suspected that there were no other challengers on that front. Without further discussion with Nerthus, Miguel pushed himself to his feet and drew the Blade of the Green Warden. It was not the best weapon he¡¯d ever seen, but it was infused with the very essence of the grove. As such, it felt more appropriate than ever as he began one of his most complex katas. He¡¯d learned Dance of the Dragon from Birk, and it was far more intricate than the exercises he¡¯d gotten from Colt. Within it were some moves that simply weren¡¯t possible without superhuman control and Strength. According to the big man who¡¯d tormented Miguel for months, it was intended to force him to adapt to his increasing attributes, and in that respect, it was extremely effective. To date, Miguel had only mastered a small portion of the Dance of the Dragon. He simply didn¡¯t have the attributes to go further. However, Birk had promised that as he progressed, he would unlock more and more of it until, in the end, he could call himself an adept. There were other katas to learn after that, but Miguel knew it would take years ¨C perhaps decades ¨C to fully master the Dance of the Dragon. So, he didn¡¯t give much thought to what might come afterwards. Regardless, he wasn¡¯t concerned with the nature of the kata itself. Instead, he found himself focusing on the intricate movements, the sudden shifts of momentum, and the control required by the Dance of the Dragon. As he did so, his mind settled onto the vow he¡¯d taken to activate Pledge of the Green Warden. At first, it did nothing. He pushed harder. He moved his blade faster. Stopped it more suddenly. His every movement was under perfect control, and the results were spectacular. It was like a mixture of ballet and combat, but with absolute, machine-like precision. And through it all, Miguel continuously repeated his Pledge of the Green Warden ¨C at least in his mind. Aloud, he only said, ¡°Protect the grove. Serve the grove. Embody the guardian spirit.¡± Over and over, he repeated that mantra until, at last, he felt a spark within his core. His ethera moved, swirling slightly before igniting. Suddenly, he could see the potential pattern of his soul. It only burned briefly in his mind¡¯s eye, but that was enough to tell him he was on the right track. Gradually, as he kept going, the day wore on, and the process continued. The glimpses into his soul were brief ¨C barely lasting more than an instant ¨C but each time he saw them, he cemented a portion of the pattern into his memory. Eventually, he would get the whole picture memorized. But that would have to wait, because he simply didn¡¯t have the stamina to finish. In fact, after almost two entire days, he only had committed a tiny fraction of the pattern to memory. Sweating profusely, he suddenly stopped, then opened his eyes, only to see an unfamiliar person sitting near the tree. The girl was thin ¨C unnaturally so ¨C suggesting that she wasn¡¯t entirely well, but there was something about her wide-eyed appearance that awakened something in Miguel. He was no stranger to attraction to the opposite sex. He was a teenaged boy, after all. However, what he felt when he saw the girl was something different. Something more. Something he didn¡¯t fully understand. It was connection and attraction rolled into one feeling, then combined with something ephemeral that he could only scarcely comprehend. But more importantly, she wasn¡¯t supposed to be in the grove. ¡°Who are you?¡± he demanded, noticing that she was cradling a tiny, snow-white fox kit in her lap. ¡°And what are you doing here?¡± ¡°Um¡­Elijah said I could come here when I wanted,¡± she answered without a hint of fear. That was abnormal, considering how most people in Ironshore usually looked at him. Not only was he associated with Elijah, of whom they were terrified, but many of them had seen him during the battle against the dark elves. They knew what he could do, and that elicited a good deal of fear. ¡°I didn¡¯t know anyone would be here. Except Nerthus, of course. I just wanted to visit the foxes ¨C they¡¯re really cute, right? ¨C but I saw you dancing, and¡­¡± ¡°It wasn¡¯t a dance,¡± Miguel argued, even though the kata was literally called Dance of the Dragon. ¡°It¡¯s a kata.¡± ¡°Oh. Like karate? I had a friend who did karate. She was a yellow belt.¡± ¡°It¡¯s not¡­I mean, yeah. It¡¯s kind of like karate, I guess. Who are you?¡± Miguel asked, a little discomfited, and not just because of the feelings racing through his mind. The conversation had thrown him off guard. ¡°Oh. I¡¯m Hope. You?¡± ¡°Miguel.¡± ¡°You¡¯re Elijah¡¯s nephew, right? I¡¯ve heard about you around town. People are kind of scared of you,¡± she stated. ¡°But you seem alright to me. Kind of sweaty, but¡­well, you didn¡¯t kill me, so that¡¯s better than what they¡¯re saying about you, I guess.¡± Miguel blinked, a little stunned by her candidness. He obviously had some inkling of his reputation, but no one had outright said that everyone was afraid of him. ¡°I¡­uh¡­thanks, I guess,¡± he managed to say, lifting his shirt to wipe the sweat from his face. ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I try not to kill people unless I have to.¡± ¡°Probably a good start,¡± she acknowledged with a small smile as she scratched behind the kit¡¯s ears. ¡°So what were you really doing? That kata looked serious.¡± ¡°Training,¡± he answered. ¡°Working on my cultivation.¡± ¡°My dad does that sometimes, but not like that. He usually just sits around and thinks about it really hard,¡± she explained. ¡°No dancing involved.¡± ¡°Well, it¡¯s kind of different for everybody,¡± Miguel said, crossing the intervening distance and sitting next to her. ¡°It¡¯s important because of what I am.¡± ¡°And what are you?¡± He was tempted to lie or conceal his class, but at the end of the day, he knew she wouldn¡¯t have been there unless she was friendly. Nerthus never would have allowed it. Besides, there was something about her earnest nature that just elicited trust. So, he said, ¡°A Green Warden. Kind of like a guardian of this grove.¡± ¡°I thought that was Elijah¡¯s job. Or Nerthus¡¯.¡± ¡°Nerthus is the caretaker,¡± Miguel said, sitting near her. ¡°And my uncle is¡­I don¡¯t know¡­he founded the place, and it¡¯s tied to him, but his role is different. I¡¯m not really sure how yet.¡± He massaged the back of his neck. ¡°I¡¯m kind of new to all of this.¡± ¡°And you take it seriously, huh?¡± He shrugged. ¡°It¡¯s my duty.¡± She looked up from the fox and locked her eyes on his. ¡°Sounds kind of lonely.¡± The words hit harder than Miguel expected. He shifted in place, unsure of how he was meant to respond. Was it lonely? He hadn¡¯t really thought of it in those terms, but now that he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t deny that there was some truth to her assertion. It wasn¡¯t the whole truth, though. He had his family. He had Trevor. Colt and Kurik, too. And just across the strait was an entire city. ¡°I¡¯m not lonely,¡± he said a little more defensively than he intended. He sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± ¡°Well, you don¡¯t have to be,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯ve got this little cutie and his brother and sisters. Plus, all the other animals here. I saw this white deer prancing around about an hour ago, too. Plus the trees. And now me.¡± ¡°You?¡± ¡°Sure,¡± she said. ¡°I like it here, and Elijah told me I¡¯m welcome to hang out whenever. It¡¯s much better than the city.¡± ¡°Well¡­I guess that could be okay. The grove could always use more friends.¡± ¡°Exactly,¡± she said. Then, she pushed herself to her feet ¨C not without some degree of difficulty ¨C and said, ¡°But I need to go home. My dad¡¯s going to start worrying if I¡¯m gone too long. Do you want to come with me?¡± Miguel felt a flutter in his stomach. ¡°Sure,¡± he said. ¡°Just let me clean up a little first.¡± After that, he headed back to the treehouse he shared with his mother, his stomach twisting into knots of nervousness. 7-40. The Affable One Sitting on the bench, Dat stared at the floor. But he didn¡¯t see the pristine white tiles. Instead, he was entirely focused inward, on the memories dancing in his mind. Some were comforting, but others ¨C like the hours he¡¯d spent carrying Lisa¡¯s body back to Heaven¡¯s Bastion ¨C were decidedly less so. He didn¡¯t weep at those memories, though. He didn¡¯t have any tears left. He looked up, running his hand through his hair. He¡¯d let it get too long, lately. That fact was representative of a common trend. It was just so difficult to maintain normalcy when Lisa was gone. When he wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d ever truly be happy. With his levels and cultivation, he stood to live for centuries. Maybe much longer. But without Lisa, it all seemed so meaningless. Years and years of loneliness held little appeal, after all. He glanced around, then sighed. He had no right to be as sad as he was. Not when so many others were dead. Row after row of urns, all sealed behind thick stone plaques displaying the names and likenesses of the deceased, was a testament to that. Millions had died in the immediate aftermath of the world¡¯s transformation, and thousands more had perished since then. By any measure, the world had become a wonderous place, but that had not come without a significant price. How many others had died across the world? The death toll had to be in the billions. How many had survived? How many were barely hanging on? And why did they cling to existence so firmly? If Dat was being honest with himself, the question was less about the rest of Earth¡¯s population and more concerned with his own continued existence. Even before Lisa¡¯s death, he¡¯d dedicated himself to helping as many people as he could. He liked to believe that was why he¡¯d been given an elder core. But in the back of his mind, he knew he was no angel. His class was a testament to that. He had a darkness inside of him, and one that couldn¡¯t be banished regardless of the illumination from his core. He was meant to be a killer. The ghosts ¨C when he let himself hear them ¨C made that absolutely clear. So far, he¡¯d managed to harness his nature in service of the greater good, but how long would that last? At some point, Dat knew he¡¯d go down that dark and ever-so-beckoning road. The only question was who would be made to suffer for his choices. The worst part was that he didn¡¯t have anyone to confide in. There was no one to listen ¨C without judgement ¨C to his fears. No one to assure him that he was a good person and that no class could ever change that. No one to tell him that he was not beholden to his nature. Once, Lisa had filled that role. She had done so much else for him, but at present, her undiluted support was what he missed most. Maybe that was because he couldn¡¯t remember what her embrace felt like. Until his return from the Trial, even her face had become blurry in his memories. That struck him as a terrible tragedy, and one which brought with it significant guilt. He knew it wasn¡¯t fair. He knew that down to his bones, but as he¡¯d discovered so often of late, guilt rarely concerned itself with reason. He sighed, looking at the image of Lisa. It was the work of a talented Artist, and it resembled the holographic displays from some of Dat¡¯s favorite science fiction movies and television shows. Still, it was a little blurry, and though the Artist had used a photograph as reference, it didn¡¯t really capture her beauty. On the surface, she¡¯d looked a lot like Sadie. A little shorter. A little less graceful. She¡¯d often referred to herself as the lesser sister, though only to Dat. He¡¯d refuted that claim, and not just because he¡¯d loved her. Objectively, she¡¯d possessed a warmness that Sadie could never emulate. And more importantly, she and Dat had fit together so perfectly that he¡¯d often thought of their first meeting as love-at-first-sight. They¡¯d been forced to hide their romance, though. Her family ¨C aside from Sadie ¨C never would have approved, and what¡¯s more, the time had never seemed right to tell everyone that they were in love. After all, they were in the midst of an undead invasion. Compared to that, everything else just seemed inconsequential. But that hadn¡¯t affected the fierceness of their feelings for one another, so when she¡¯d died, it had devastated Dat more than he ever could have anticipated. Until that moment, they¡¯d all thought they were invincible. And for good reason, too. For all his judgmental nature, Nico was one of the most accomplished Healers in the world. Sadie was Sadie, and Dat had established his power in his own right. And Lisa could devastate entire city blocks with the snap of her fingers. They were like superheroes, and in those sorts of stories, the heroes never died. Except, the apocalypse was no story, and super though Dat and his companions were, they didn¡¯t strut around with the plot armor of a lucrative comic book character. Never was that clearer than when Lisa had died. It happened so suddenly that no one even had a chance to react. One second, she was alive and well, and the next, she was dead. Of course, everyone reacted the way they were supposed to react. They slew her killers, and even stopped the ritual that would have doomed Heaven¡¯s Bastion. When the dust settled, though, she was still dead. Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon. That expression of surprise as her cold, lifeless eyes stared up at nothing would never leave Dat¡¯s memories. It was indelibly etched into his very spirit. Often, he thought about all the things he could have done differently. He¡¯d known she wasn¡¯t as durable as everyone else. A glass cannon, she¡¯d always called herself. He knew he should have protected her. He should have been there to take the hit, to sacrifice himself like a true hero. Instead, he¡¯d been a half mile away killing the demonic summoner that had been in charge of the ritual. It was a perfect use of his talents, and yet, he still questioned his actions. But he knew regret didn¡¯t change anything. It couldn¡¯t. Though, there were times when he looked around at all the magical aspects of the transformed world, and he wondered if there was some spell or skill that might allow him to go back in time and right the wrong that was Lisa¡¯s death. If only he¡¯d had a little more time with her. If only he had told her one more time that he loved her. If they¡¯d bickered a little less. Or just watched the sun rise over Hong Kong one more time. ¡°Dat?¡± came a voice both familiar and unexpected. Dat looked up to see Elijah standing at the end of the row of plaques. Even from so far away, he felt stronger than before, and it was more than just a few levels. To Dat, it felt like Elijah was a walking storm. A promise of disaster. Or perhaps nature¡¯s vengeance. It was difficult to parse, though it was obvious that Elijah had ascended. ¡°Hey, bro,¡± Dat said, forcing a smile. ¡°When did you get here?¡± Elijah stepped closer, his footsteps echoing through the Shrine of the Fallen. The Druid sat next to Dat and answered, ¡°Only a couple of hours ago. Sadie¡¯s been filling me in on the situation here. It¡¯s not really what I expected.¡± Dat shook his head, but he didn¡¯t answer. He didn¡¯t have the energy, even if he knew he should once again don his mask of affability. That usually made it easier to deal with his grief, which still felt fresh even after all that time. ¡°That¡¯s Lisa, right? Sadie¡¯s sister?¡± Elijah asked, clearly indicating the flickering collection of light that represented Lisa¡¯s visage. ¡°She was pretty.¡± ¡°She was,¡± Dat responded. In some ways, he wanted to open up to Elijah, but something held him back. He felt certain that the Druid would be empathetic and try to help, but there was a piece of Dat that didn¡¯t want help. As if unburdening himself was somehow a betrayal of Lisa¡¯s memory. ¡°We were together, you know. I don¡¯t think anyone else really knew.¡± ¡°I gathered as much.¡± Dat glanced at Elijah, but he saw no judgement. Not surprising. He had no reason to judge, unlike Lisa¡¯s family. Sadie might have understood, but the rest of them? There was no chance that they would have accepted a foreigner like Dat. ¡°How did you meet?¡± Elijah asked. Dat shrugged. ¡°I came here for Sadie. We were friends from college, and she¡¯d invited me to visit Hong Kong. But I was on the other side of the city when everything happened,¡± he explained. ¡°I¡­well, it didn¡¯t go well. Chaos and zombies and everything else, you know. I was with someone then, but she¡­she died.¡± He¡¯d already explained that to Elijah, so he skipped over the gory details. Instead, he said, ¡°After that, I led some people across the city. It¡¯s so much bigger than it looks, especially without cars or public transportation. And along the way, I got pretty badly injured. Not enough to stop us, but enough that I had pretty much resigned myself to dying when we reached the International Commerce Center. That¡¯s what this was before it was renamed Heaven¡¯s Bastion. I got almost everyone here alive, but¡­but there I was, bleeding out and sure I was going to die. Then, Lisa shows up like an angel¡­¡± He shook his head. ¡°She saved me. Brought me back here so I could be healed. But even then, even with a miracle happening, all I could think of was how perfect she was,¡± he said. ¡°It took me a little while to talk to her again, but¡­but after that, I knew she was the only person for me.¡± ¡°That sounds nice,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not many people ever experience that.¡± ¡°I know,¡± Dat stated. ¡°We were lucky. Until we weren¡¯t.¡± ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± ¡°No.¡± Elijah took a deep breath, then said, ¡°Well, if you change your mind, I¡¯m here. It¡¯s important to talk these things out.¡± Dat didn¡¯t respond until, a few seconds later, he asked, ¡°Why are you here, Elijah?¡± ¡°After Sadie explained the situation with the Primal Realm, I decided I needed to check it all out for myself. On my way out, I sensed you sitting here by yourself, and I thought you seemed like you needed a friend,¡± he explained. ¡°So, here I am. Being a friend, even if you¡¯d obviously prefer I just left you alone.¡± Dat didn¡¯t want to think about the last part, so he focused on the more important ¨C at least to everyone else ¨C matter of the Primal Realm. ¡°Thirteen days. That¡¯s how long we have until we can unlock access. Then, we have to go in.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the gist of it,¡± Elijah agreed. ¡°Anything I should know about the area before I go investigate?¡± ¡°Nothing you don¡¯t already know,¡± Dat answered. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have any issues with the zombies. Even if they find you, you¡¯re strong enough to kill most types. Watch out for the flyers, though. They¡¯re strong and fast. I¡¯ve seen them dive and kill people before anyone could react.¡± ¡°Good to know. Anything else?¡± Dat shook his head. ¡°That¡¯s about it.¡± Elijah clearly wanted more from him, but in that moment, Dat didn¡¯t possess the emotional fortitude to wear his mask. Instead, he just stared at Lisa¡¯s smiling face, alternatively wishing she was there with him and that he¡¯d been the one to die in her place. The world would have certainly been a better place with her still in it. ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re okay?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°I¡¯m fine, Elijah. Trust me, I¡¯ll be back to normal next time you see me. Then, we can get down to the business of dealing with the Primal Realm. Until then, just leave me to this,¡± he said. ¡°I appreciate what you¡¯re trying to do. I truly do. But I don¡¯t need to be rescued. I don¡¯t need to be comforted. Sometimes, people just need to suffer for a little while.¡± ¡°I¡­I understand,¡± Elijah said, pushing himself back to his feet. He reached out and gripped Dat¡¯s shoulder, adding, ¡°Just take care of yourself, okay?¡± Dat looked up at him, then, for a second, resumed his mask. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, bro.¡± He added another broad smile for good measure. Elijah looked like he wanted to say more, but he was obviously aware that there was nothing left to say. So, he just nodded, then left Dat to his grief. When Elijah was gone, Dat once again dropped his eyes to the tiles and felt the tears streaming down his cheeks. Apparently, he wasn¡¯t done crying after all. 7-41. Dragon Tiger Mountain Elijah¡¯s heart broke for his friend. Dat made such an effort to maintain his appearance ¨C to provide a thread of optimism to everyone else ¨C that it was often difficult to see that mask fall away. Elijah had only seen it a couple of times, but each time had been eye-opening. He desperately wanted to help, but he was well aware of his social deficiencies. He¡¯d offered, and he had no idea what else to do. After all, helping someone was predicated on their cooperation. If Dat wasn¡¯t ready to accept help, then there was nothing else that Elijah could do. For now, at least. Going forward, he would keep an eye out for opportunities to assist his friend. Still, once Elijah was out of sight, he spent a long time just watching Dat via Soul of the Wild as he scoured his mind for strategies. He found none, and eventually, he just accepted his own inadequacies for what they were. After that, he took a deep breath, then refocused his mind on the arguably more important ¨C at least in the grand scheme of things ¨C matters. For instance, he couldn¡¯t ignore the reality of the situation in Hong Kong, which he¡¯d discovered was far more complex than he¡¯d initially been led to believe. He didn¡¯t blame Sadie for that, but it definitely irritated him. If he¡¯d known things were so complicated, he would have come sooner. But now, his timeframe had become both truncated and slightly more forgiving. As far as Elijah could see, there were two major problems. The first was that Sadie and her people didn¡¯t know precisely where the entrance to the Primal Realm was located. The knew the area ¨C Lung Fu Shan ¨C which was located on the northwestern side of Hong Kong Island, but beyond that, they were unsure. Before Earth had experienced the touch of the World Tree, exploring the entire region wouldn¡¯t have been difficult, but the expansion of Hong Kong Island ¨C especially outside the city ¨C meant that the terrain had been merged with other areas. So, what had once been a modest hill had become a mountain whose height was closer to Everest than to its former peak. The rest of the area had been expanded accordingly. So, it would likely take some time to properly explore it. At least for most people. Elijah hoped that, with his senses, he could find it a little more quickly than most. But finding the entrance to the Primal Realm was only the first issue. The second was that, even once it had been discovered, entering the Primal Realm was not as simple as walking into a tower. Instead, the entrants were required to have completed a set of challenges meant to prove their worthiness. In some cases, this mechanic was represented by assembling the pieces of a key. In others, it was akin to flipping a bunch of switches to ¡°unlock¡± the door, so to speak. No one was certain what form the challenges associated with the Primal Realm might take. Largely, this was because their scouts were incapable of scouring the region without running afoul of the huge masses of undead in the area. Elijah didn¡¯t think he would have the same issues. Before his core advancement, Guise of the Unseen wasn¡¯t as potent as Dat¡¯s Ghost Cloak, but he expected it would be up to the task now. On top of that, if a horde of zombies wanted to attack him, he was more than capable of dealing with them. In fact, there was a part of him that wanted nothing more than to let loose without having to think about how his actions might affect others. Nobody cared about a bunch of zombies, after all. ¡°Well, barely anyone does,¡± he amended under his breath. Further complicating the situation in Hong Kong was the fact that the city played host to at least three enclaves of necromancy. None of them were huge ¨C maybe a few thousand people at most ¨C but almost all of the residents were attuned to death, which hung over the city like a dense fog. That meant they were more powerful than they otherwise would have been, and, on top of that, they¡¯d been at war with the people of Heaven¡¯s Bastion since the very beginning. That was why security had been so tight around the Branch. They¡¯d been infiltrated on a couple of occasions ¨C apparently, the Teleportation Network was far cheaper in such close proximity ¨C and the necromancers who¡¯d done so had been strong enough to wreak havoc within the settlement. Given that, he didn¡¯t blame their response to his arrival. But now, Elijah wanted to check things out for himself. Being inside Heaven¡¯s Bastion had left him feeling uncomfortable, and in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. It felt like a cage, and one he was eager to escape. So, after leaving Dat behind, he headed to the elevator and rode it to its terminus. The bottom four floors were kept empty, save for a martial presence meant to deal with any zombies or other undead creatures that made it that far. So, once he exited the elevator, he was forced to pass through four checkpoints on his way to the ground floor. Like the people he¡¯d defeated around the Branch, these fighters all wore modified riot gear with Kevlar armor that had been molded to fit a more traditional aesthetic. It gave each set of gear a bastardized look that left a bad taste in Elijah¡¯s mouth. But he wasn¡¯t there to critique their fashion sense, and he could tell that each of them was strong enough to give an enemy a hard time. For his part, Elijah felt certain that he could destroy the lot of them without issue, but he was beginning to understand that he was the exception, rather than the rule. Normal people just couldn¡¯t hope to stand up to him. That had been true before the Trial of Primacy, and the gap had only widened since its completion. Compared to him, those fighters were barely better than vanilla humans ¨C a difficult thing for Elijah to accept. He didn¡¯t like thinking of them in those terms. They were obviously proud and accomplished people who¡¯d worked extremely hard to gain the levels they had. But reality was reality, and it didn¡¯t really care about how he felt about the situation. From a structural perspective, the bottom floors of the building were a little more daunting than the people who manned them. They were riddled with fortifications, both active and passive, and Elijah suspected that any force that made it through would have to pay a significant price for every step they took. ¡°Are you going to be okay out there?¡± asked the man in charge of the last checkpoint. He glanced toward the doors, adding, ¡°It¡¯s pretty dangerous.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be alright,¡± he answered. ¡°I¡¯ve been through worse.¡± After that, Elijah stepped past the man ¨C and his twenty subordinates ¨C and waited on them to unlock the heavy, steel doors that looked like they would have been at home guarding a bank vault. The huge doors swung open, revealing an urban hellscape. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. Elijah stopped in the doorway, gaping at the scene before him. For the first few hundred yards all around him, there was nothing. The residents of Heaven¡¯s Bastion had cleared the plaza for defensive reasons. However, beyond that was an abandoned and deteriorated city. Far to his left was a dock populated by piled-high storage containers, each one rusted and broken open, with a crane having fallen across the area. To his right was the sea. But ahead, he could see nothing but deteriorating buildings, many of which had experienced visible damage. One had even fallen entirely. He stepped forward, and the door clanged shut behind him. The echoing sound put Elijah in mind of finality. He was cut off from the safety of the fortress-like building. Or, from another perspective, he was finally free of its oppressive aura. He let out a sigh of relief, knowing which viewpoint he felt more strongly characterized his own. With his staff clicking against the concrete ground, he covered the distance to the edge of the cleared area and onto a wide street that cut between the buildings. There were hundreds of abandoned cars clogging the street, though many had been dismantled for salvage. What was left were mere skeletons that barely hinted at the machines they¡¯d once been. He wove through the wreckage, and as he drew further away from Heaven¡¯s Bastion, he saw that the vehicles were slightly more intact. Clearly, that was where the settlement¡¯s crafters had found their raw materials. Once he was out of sight of the building, Elijah waited a few more minutes before he shifted into Shape of Venom. The second the transformation was complete, he took on Guise of the Unseen before padding forward. He¡¯d memorized a map of the area, but he quickly discovered that much of it was inaccurate, largely because huge swaths of the city had been replaced with other, out-of-place urban areas. Elijah saw signs in a wide variety of languages, ranging from English to what looked like Arabic, and everything in between. Still, he knew the vague direction of his destination, so he wasted no time before taking off at an easy jog that would have gotten him a reckless driving ticket in a school zone. The only thing that slowed him down was when debris or wreckage blocked the street. In those cases, he sprang to nearby walls, climbed until he could bypass the obstruction, then continued on his way. It wasn¡¯t long before he caught sight of the first zombie horde. They moved in huge clumps containing thousands of walking corpses. Perhaps even tens of thousands. Most were so rotted that Elijah could scarcely guess at their origin, but the few that were still intact were plainly Asian. However, Elijah saw enough variations in attire and ¨C oddly enough ¨C hair color that suggested that many of the zombies had originated in other places. Likely, they¡¯d come from the displaced additions to the city. Or maybe Hong Kong was more diverse than he¡¯d been led to believe. He was no expert, so that was just as likely an explanation. Regardless, Elijah noticed a couple of details about that first zombie clump that gave him pause. First, they were higher level than he had expected. Ethera wove through them in dense ropes of energy, suggesting that they were almost as powerful as the undead creatures he¡¯d fought in the Trial of Primacy. That was unexpected, especially considering that there didn¡¯t seem to be anything special about them. Surely, there were more powerful undead creatures out there as well, which brought the danger confronting the people of Hong Kong into sharper focus. After only a few moments, Elijah realized something profound ¨C those ropes of ethera bound them together, strengthening them. Were they under the influence of a Tactician? He didn¡¯t think so. Instead, it was more like they were a colony of individuals that functioned as a whole. Like coral. Or fungi. Elijah couldn¡¯t be certain without further study, but it appeared that the more of them that gathered together, the stronger each individual would become. The result was not encouraging. As it stood, people like Sadie and Dat ¨C and probably Nico ¨C could have fought the horde and won, but those guards he¡¯d passed would be woefully outmatched. It was no wonder they hadn¡¯t made more progress. The second factor that worried Elijah was that the zombies were not homogenous. Racial differences aside, he could tell that there were different types of zombies within the hordes. Some seemed like run-of-the-mill fighters, but when Elijah saw them attack a pack of wild dogs, he saw that many used powerful ranged attacks as well. Those were represented in a couple of ways, but Elijah was most disturbed by the ones that seemed to belch giant balls of sticky and caustic goo. A close second, in terms of disturbing sights, was when some of the zombies yanked boney projectiles from their ribcages and threw them with unerring accuracy. Needless to say, the dogs did not last long, and the feeding frenzy that followed left Elijah feeling nauseous. He¡¯d considered helping the animals, but the whole thing had happened so quickly that by the time he could have done anything, half the dogs were already dead. He could have killed the zombies ¨C probably ¨C but not before they finished their job. So, feeling both guilty and a little helpless, he moved on from the gruesome sight. Over the next hour or so, he saw a handful of similar scenes, which he studiously ignored. He wanted to help, but he knew that doing so would only delay the inevitable. If he really wanted to assist, then he needed to find the source and cut it off. By mid-morning, he found the first enclave of necromancers. To him, they looked much like normal people, though they were much more ragged than the residents of Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Elijah also saw that many of them used undead creatures for manual labor, including as guards. But more distressingly, he saw children playing in those settlements. Mostly, though, Elijah didn¡¯t feel threatened by them. They were just people, albeit ones that had chosen to exist within the framework of their environment rather than fight against it. He didn¡¯t know what to make of that. On the one hand, he found their resilience admirable. However, on the other, his senses rebelled against the idea. But most of all, he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if his concept of life was skewed by his experiences. It was definitely something he needed to consider. One thing was absolutely certain, though. The situation was a little more complicated than he¡¯d been led to believe. Eventually, Elijah found his way to what the locals had dubbed Dragon Tiger Mountain. The name irritated him, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to understand why. To the people who¡¯d named it, dragons were mythological creatures, and in a lot of ways, they¡¯d been adopted as mascots. But for Elijah, it was his reality, and he found the entire thing offensive. In any case, he quickly found that the area was crawling with skeletons clad in World War II-era military gear. Most of it was rotted, but Elijah caught sight of enough helmets to know what he was looking at. Fortunately, they were no more attentive than the zombies, though they did patrol the area in defined patterns. Weaving between them, Elijah noticed the rising levels of death-attuned ethera, and he followed that until, at last, he zeroed in on the source. It was a huge, concrete bunker with a large satellite dish ¨C probably two-hundred feet across ¨C pointed toward the sky. The thing had clearly been built decades before and abandoned not long after, because many of the panels were missing, and the mechanical parts looked to have been rusted shut. However, when Elijah entered the bunker itself, he quickly navigated the labyrinthine tunnels, following the increasing density of death-attuned ethera until, at last, he reached a large, rusted door. He laid his claw on it, and a notification appeared before his inner eye:
You have reached The Desolate Reach. To enter, receive a blessing from the Shrines of War, Water, and Cunning: Man Mo Temple Tin Hau Temple Ap lei Chau Temple Shrines will unlock in eleven days.
Elijah had found the Primal Realm, but it seemed that he had a little time to kill before he and the others could challenge it. 7-42. Unending Elijah spent the next few hours exploring the area surrounding Dragon Tiger Mountain, and he soon confirmed that Hong Kong Island had grown considerably, even connecting to the mainland by a half-mile-wide strip of land that had clearly originated in another city. Before, it had been around thirty square miles of land, which meant that it was around the same size as Elijah¡¯s island. However, now, it was at least twice that, with much of its area filled by buildings from other urban areas. More than once, he saw buildings that had been merged with one another, creating a sight Elijah found more than a little confusing to behold. However, there were plenty of landmarks that even he, as a stranger to the area, recognized. Among those landmarks was Victoria Harbor, which was chock full of drifting ferries and capsized boats. Some of those vessels were small and had been ripped apart by the elements, but there were a couple of enormous ships that reminded Elijah of the desolate desert outside of Seattle. During his exploration, Elijah also saw plenty more roving packs of zombies. He avoided them all, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder how he would fare against those thousands-strong hordes. Surely, his superior levels and cultivation would see him through, but the weight of their numbers was daunting all the same. Eventually, Elijah tired of going on foot, and he decided to take to the skies. He was well aware that there were airborne dangers as well, but he reasoned that if he was attacked, he could always get away. In the Shape of Sky, he soared into the air, quickly gaining elevation as he circled the enormous skyscrapers that dotted the city¡¯s skyline. From above, he quickly gained a sense of scope that he¡¯d otherwise lacked. There were far more zombies roaming the streets than he had expected, with their numbers easily reaching seven digits, rather than the thousands as he¡¯d hoped. Clearly, the vast majority of the city¡¯s population had been transformed. Not surprising, but still not encouraging. As he flew around, he also saw the other enclaves of necromancy, and he discovered that there were quite a few more than the people of Heaven¡¯s Bastion suspected. Before long, he¡¯d already counted ten, with each one large enough to contain at least a thousand people. Probably more if they were willing to live in cramped conditions. Finally, he found that the region¡¯s ethera continued to climb with every passing hour. It was incremental, and he didn¡¯t believe it would ever increase to the levels of his grove. However, he was surprised at how dense the ethera was. In addition, he couldn¡¯t deny the attunement to death, which pervaded everything in the area. Even the plants he found were infected by it, living as much off vitality as they did off the death-attuned ethera. There seemed to be a lesson in that, though it was one that would doubtless require quite a lot more observation before he learned it. Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild as he flew around, and with it, his perception of the density patterns of the local ethera came into clearer focus. He couldn¡¯t quite see everything, but his initial thought was centered on the idea that the ethera gathered in river-like flows that spanned the entire city. It only took a little more investigation before he saw that it was thicker around four locations. The first was, obviously, Dragon Tiger Mountain where the entrance to the Primal Realm was located. The second was on a smaller island in the middle of Victoria Harbor. The third, he found along the northern coast of Hong Kong Island. And finally, the fourth was located on a small island off the southwestern coast. But before Elijah could investigate further, he felt a handful of figures detach from a nearby skyscraper. He tried to bank away, but it was only a second later that the creatures saw him. An unholy screech echoed through the city, and to Elijah¡¯s horror, thousands more winged monsters leaped from the top floors of the city¡¯s skyscrapers. Before he could even begin to respond, there were tens of thousands in the air, and they were all coming his way. Elijah dove, and it was just in time to avoid the raking claws of a creature that looked like a cross between a bat, a zombie, and the skeletal undead he¡¯d seen around the entrance to the Primal Realm. It was vaguely humanoid, but with huge, membranous wings and bone armor that looked like it was wearing its skeleton on the outside. In short, it was a horrifying sight, especially when there were so many of them. Elijah was not equipped to fight in the Shape of Sky. He could do a little damage with his enlarged claws, but if that flight of undead monsters reached him, his comparatively delicate wings would be ripped to shreds. So, he continued his dive, gaining speed until he was only a dozen feet above the ground. Then, he snapped his wings out, arresting his dive and redirecting his momentum horizontally. He shifted, narrowly dodging between two overturned buses as he raced down the street. Behind him, three enormous impacts announced that the bat-like creatures weren¡¯t nearly as maneuverable as the Shape of Sky. They hit the pavement hard, and the sound of cracking bones announced that they weren¡¯t particularly durable. However, when they rose only a moment later, accompanied by a swirl of deathly energy, Elijah realized that they were equipped with a significant ability to regenerate. Fortunately, their wings were still broken, and on the ground, their gait was ungainly. They could cover ground, but not nearly at a rate that would put Elijah in danger. But Elijah was far more worried about the other flying creatures who were currently on a mission to dive bomb him. Thousands of figures dropped from the sky, their grotesque wings tucked close to their bodies. Elijah put on the speed, flapping his wings furiously as he embraced Savage Might. Yet, they were already ahead of him, and they seemed to have good enough timing that they were bound to intercept his route. He knew he had no chance of getting away ¨C not if he kept doing things the way he was, at least. So, without further delay, he began to look for cover. If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He banked around a building, narrowly avoiding a diving monster. Then, he threw his wings out, slowing himself just enough to avoid another that flitted by in front of him. He turned that into twist that allowed him to dodge a third. But they just kept coming. Even as he gained speed, they threw themselves from the sky, hitting the ground with the force of artillery. All around Elijah, concrete and asphalt flew into the air. Dust billowed, obscuring his form as he finally saw a safe haven. A red box-like structure, maybe twenty feet high and about fifteen feet wide, loomed before him. In the center was a set of stairs the led downward. Beside characters he couldn¡¯t read were English words that announced it was a metro station. Elijah tucked his wings and passed through the entrance. The second he entered, he initiated a transformation into the Shape of Venom. By the time it completed, he¡¯d reached the bottom of the stairs. But unfortunately, the station was far from empty. There was no way Elijah could count the number of zombies within the terminal. Thousands at the very least, and all packed into the space like sardines. Elijah¡¯s sudden arrival alerted them, but thankfully, they were slow to respond. He immediately leaped to the ceiling and sprinted toward the tunnel. That was when the first few ranged zombies attacked. Shards of bone hit the ceiling in his wake, and balls of sticky, caustic goo came a second later. Despite missing, the stuff splashed onto his back, eliciting a significant degree of pain. Even as agony lanced up his spine, Elijah never slowed. A good thing, too, because if he paused even for a second, his increased durability would have been put to the test. That was when the first of the flyers rammed into the building. Some made it through the entrance, though they were clearly incapable of fine movement. So, they caromed from one wall to the next, digging into the reinforced concrete like it was made of brittle sand. A moment later, the entire entrance collapsed, sealing the area away. Meanwhile, the zombies went wild, sprinting after Elijah. The melee fighters roared, while the ranged combatants continued to aim their various abilities at Elijah. Thankfully, they clearly lacked the Dexterity to aim properly, which meant that he managed to avoid the worst of the barrage. Still, he was clipped by enough boney projectiles that he knew he didn¡¯t want to stand and fight. Maybe in Shape of Thorn, but if he fought in any of his less durable forms, he would surely be ripped to shreds. So, he didn¡¯t stop even for a moment, but he was horrified to find that the number of zombies only increased the further into the tunnel he traveled. For a quarter of a mile, he raced along directly above the tracks, but he never got the chance to slip into Guise of the Unseen. He didn¡¯t panic, though. The horde couldn¡¯t be infinite. Eventually, he would find the end of their numbers. So, he kept going for mile after mile. Along the way, he passed a few exits, but all but one of them were entirely blocked. The one opening was clogged with so many zombies that he knew that using it wouldn¡¯t do much to address his issues. So, he kept going. Then, at last, he noticed that the horde of zombies had begun to thin. At first, it was barely noticeable, but after a few more minutes, it was indisputable. Miles later, Elijah began to wonder when the metro would come to an end. He got the answer to that question after ten more minutes, when he reached the end of the line. By that point, he¡¯d left the pursuing zombies far behind, though there were still a few clumps here and there. More distressingly, Elijah saw that, in addition to a few normal zombies, the exit was guarded by an undead creature that was larger than any he¡¯d seen so far. It was at least ten feet tall, with bulging muscles of decaying meat. With every passing moment, a green fountain of viscous pus erupted from various wounds in its torso. Elijah saw the ground smoking where it hit, indicating that it was at least as caustic as the gooey projectiles he¡¯d been dodging for the last hour. More importantly, it was standing in front of the exit. The message was clear. If Elijah wanted to escape, he needed to go through the giant undead abomination. And he needed to do so in a hurry, or the horde would reach him. Elijah dropped to the ground, already shifting forms. He had no interest in fighting the thing with tooth or claw. Doing so would invariably be quite painful. Instead, he intended to put his newest form to the test. By the time he¡¯d transformed into the Shape of the Master, a clump of zombies had reached him. His staff lashed out, crushing the first creature¡¯s legs. Spinning, he smashed the weapon into the next monster¡¯s ribcage, completely obliterating its torso. The next after that died when Elijah leaped high into the air, and on descent, crushed its skull. And its neck. And a good portion of its upper chest. In only a second, two zombies had been dispatched. Elijah smashed his staff into the one whose legs had been destroyed, then faced off against the giant. He knew it made for a comical scene. The thing was at least three times his height and many times his weight. And yet, he stood before it, entirely unfazed by the discrepancy. It stepped forward, its heavy footsteps rattling the ground like a small, localized earthquake. Another step, and it reached a jog. A third, and it was sprinting. Its long legs covered the ground rapidly, and in only a couple of seconds, it was on top of Elijah. It swung, its long, looping attack moving in what looked like slow motion. In the Shape of the Master, Elijah easily dodged it, but even as he ducked beneath the intended blow, he saw the creature¡¯s torso erupt into a spray of viscous pus. Elijah twisted, and turned, dodging every drop before he dove out of the way. A quick roll took him to safety. The monster wheeled around, roaring in anger as its pus hit the ground and melted through the concrete. Meanwhile, Elijah felt Heart of Fire ignite and come to a smolder. He lashed out with his staff, but when the Feral Spire hit the creature¡¯s knee, the decayed flesh absorbed the blow without issue. That told Elijah that he couldn¡¯t simply batter the monster to death. Instead, he needed something more powerful. Thankfully, with every passing attack, he felt the blaze within his chest further ignite. He held it within him, the power raging into a roaring flame. At the same time, the monster continued its fruitless attacks. With its obviously high Strength, it could move incredibly quickly. However, Elijah was protected by his improved reaction times, and he had no trouble dodging even the mightiest blows. Each one fed the flame. But Elijah knew he was running out of time. That supposition bore out when he felt the first zombies come into range of Soul of the Wild. By that point, Heart of Fire had only had a chance to build up to about half power, but he couldn¡¯t afford to wait any longer. So, after dodging yet another attack, he opened his mouth and let loose with Incinerate. A pillar of flame erupted from his mouth, digging into the undead abomination and, like a powerful cutting torch, slicing it in two. Even as the thing¡¯s now-separated halves slid apart, Elijah widened his focus, and the continuing flames engulfed the entire monster. It was burned to ash in only a second. A second later, when Elijah¡¯s ability was spent, there was nothing of the abomination left. A surprising turn of events, to be sure. He¡¯d known the spell was powerful. To think otherwise would have been silly. However, at half power, he¡¯d only expected to disable the monster, not obliterate it entirely. But Elijah didn¡¯t have time to admire his handiwork. With the zombies close on his heels, he raced up the stairs, leaving the metro behind. 7-43. Aug Energy The moment Elijah left the metro behind, he realized that he¡¯d just jumped out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. There were tens of thousands of zombies around, and more than a few were the augmented version he¡¯d just killed with Incinerate. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t immediately react to his arrival, so he had enough time to shift into Shape of Sky and leap into the air. Flapping his wings, he gained altitude, but as had happened before, it wasn¡¯t long before the bat-like creatures responded. They poured out of the skyscrapers¡¯ top floors like someone had kicked a hornet¡¯s nest, and Elijah instantly knew he only had one way out. Before he could enact his plan, he needed to get above the skyscrapers, so he continued to gain altitude, narrowly avoiding being ripped to pieces by divebombing monsters. Finally, more than a thousand feet from the ground, he aimed himself toward the edge of the city, then used Lightning Rush. He became lightning, streaking across the sky faster than at any time in the past. One second passed, and Elijah passed the boundaries of the city. Another second went by, and he was in the wilderness. He didn¡¯t resume the normal Shape of Sky until half a second later, and by that point, he¡¯d traveled hundreds of miles into the forested region around Hong Kong. He glided for a few more miles before his speed dissipated. Wanting to get a sense of the area, he landed in the first clearing he found. It was barely large enough to accommodate Shape of Sky, which was technically his largest form when taking his wingspan into account. Still, he had enough practice with the form that he managed the landing without difficulty. Then, he shifted back into his natural shape and let out a sigh. As he did so, he could only think of the mistakes he¡¯d made over the past few hours. He had survived, but that wasn¡¯t the point. He¡¯d gone into Hong Kong high on his recent advancements, and he¡¯d never even considered that the zombies ¨C or the flying creatures ¨C could pose much of a threat to him. And he had been wrong. It was just another reminder ¨C which he¡¯d sorely needed ¨C that even though he¡¯d made a lot of progress regarding his personal power, he was not invincible. The world had advanced as well, and it was still a dangerous place that required caution to survive. With that in mind, Elijah just sat in the middle of the clearing, spending the next few minutes centering himself. That helped, at least a little, and when he opened his eyes, he was ready to confront his current situation. Because of his cultivation advancements, Lightning Rush lasted almost half a second longer than it had the last time he¡¯d used it. In addition, it had felt faster ¨C if such a thing was possible. As such, he¡¯d traveled much further than he¡¯d intended. Before, Lightning Rush was enough to take him somewhere between seventy-five and a hundred miles, but with the additional duration and speed, he knew it was at least twice that. Maybe more, considering he didn¡¯t have much frame of reference for the distance traveled. That meant he had a long way to go before he returned to Hong Kong. Thankfully, the time constraints weren¡¯t nearly as onerous as he¡¯d initially suspected, largely because the Primal Realm ¨C or the shrines associated with entry ¨C wouldn¡¯t be active for another ten days. So, he had time to spare. With that in mind, Elijah shifted into Shape of Venom, adopted Guise of the Unseen, then slipped away from the clearing. The surrounding forest wasn¡¯t much different from many other sub-tropical regions he¡¯d visited, with a predominance of evergreen trees, thick undergrowth, and a thriving animal population. The region itself was fairly mountainous, and Elijah suspected that he¡¯d reached the foothills leading to a sizable range. Elijah wandered for a bit, mostly just to satisfy his curiosity. After all, it wasn¡¯t every day that he got to visit an entirely different part of the world, and he couldn¡¯t pass up the opportunity for exploration. In addition, he planned to eventually establish a dolmen in the area, so he remained on the lookout for an appropriately powerful intersection of ley lines. Often, those locations were characterized by natural treasures, but Elijah had found a few ¨C like where he¡¯d built the Dragon Circle ¨C that lacked such obvious signs. Regardless, it soon became clear that there was nothing of note. No natural treasures. No settlements. Just more of the same things he¡¯d found in the rest of his travels. He was just about to start making his way back to Hong Kong when he finally felt something different. It wasn¡¯t a ley line, though. In fact, it didn¡¯t feel natural at all. Instead, as Elijah followed his instincts, he quickly surmised that it was the exact opposite of natural. As he trekked through the wilderness, a mixture of trepidation and fear crept into his heart. Something had gone horribly wrong, and it was his duty to address it. Still, with what he felt, he questioned whether or not he¡¯d even be capable of fixing whatever was wrong. The closest he¡¯d ever felt to what he experienced was when he¡¯d stumbled upon the battleground in the desert surrounding Seattle. Back then, he¡¯d been compelled to cure the aura of conflict in that area, and he suspected he¡¯d stumbled upon something similar, though wholly different. When the vegetation started to thin, Elijah¡¯s dread climbed to new levels. And soon enough, it was gone entirely. More, he felt a tingling in his skin that told him that he¡¯d come under the effect of some low-level affliction. It wasn¡¯t enough to truly damage him ¨C his Constitution and Regeneration were too high for that ¨C but it was too strong to ignore. What¡¯s more, with every few hundred feet traveled, it got worse until Elijah was forced to counteract it by keeping Soothe active at all times. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. By that point, the local flora had thinned to almost nothing. Just a few sickly bushes and dead trees. On top of that, there were no animals in the area, either. Corpses, sure. Lots and lots of creatures that looked like they¡¯d just keeled over. Skeletons as well, indicating that the issue had been ongoing for quite some time. In short, the region had descended into desolation. However, Elijah was encouraged to see that all life hadn¡¯t been conquered. Scattered throughout the area were plants that seemed to have adapted to the poison in the air. They weren¡¯t species that Elijah could recognize ¨C just scraggly bushes with tiny flowers ¨C but they seemed healthy enough. In addition, Elijah stumbled upon a few sunflowers, a couple of dense clumps of ferns, and a handful of trees that had managed to adapt. Upon studying these via Soul of the Wild, Elijah found something incredibly interesting. He¡¯d always known that plants were simpler ¨C structurally, at least ¨C than animals, and because they lacked central systems, they were capable of rapid adaptation. And what he saw in the surviving plants supported that. They weren¡¯t immune to the poison in the air, but they were capable of halting the growth of damaged cells while funneling resources to healthier portions. Thus, they¡¯d managed to survive where animals had not. But even then, there were a few standouts. Specifically, the sunflowers were quite interesting, largely because they eschewed the strategies of the other plants, and instead seemed to metabolize the poison and use it to fuel their growth. Because of that, they were incredibly vibrant, and many had grown far larger than normal. One, in particular, was the size of a dinner table. Elijah stayed and studied that particular specimen for more than an hour, marveling at how adaptive life could be. But eventually, the tug of the wrongness in the air pulled him away. He needed to discover its source, and not just to satisfy his curiosity. Rather, it felt almost like a compulsion. So, he moved on from the large sunflower, and for a couple more miles, he found nothing else noteworthy. The poison in the air continued to grow more potent, but by that point, that was expected. He knew he had to be closing in on the source, so when he crested a steep hill and laid eyes on a collection of half-destroyed buildings, he wasn¡¯t surprised. Two enormous smokestacks, both at least a few hundred feet wide at the base and aroudn three times as tall, stood slightly apart from the ruined compound. A few much narrower cylinders jutted from the other side of the complex, though one had collapsed entirely. It only took one look for Elijah to make sense of the scene before him. It was an abandoned nuclear plant, and from the poison in the air ¨C which until that moment, he¡¯d yet to identify ¨C it had experienced a meltdown. Memories of what had happened to places like Chernobyl and Three-Mile Island flitted through his mind. Both disasters had been before his time, but those events echoed across recent history, rendering large swaths of land entirely uninhabitable due to radiation. Elijah¡¯s heart beat a little harder as he realized that, if he¡¯d been even a little less durable, he might¡¯ve already died. His experiences with cancer were not so far removed from the present that he had forgotten what it had felt like. And due to that, he desperately wanted to flee. However, it wasn¡¯t long before his good sense took over. He knew his body well enough, and because of that familiarity, he was certain that he¡¯d experienced no lasting damage. Part of that was due to his constant use of Soothe, but it was mostly because of his advanced cultivation and high Constitution attribute. In short, he wasn¡¯t really in any danger from something so mundane as radiation. Still, it was yet another reminder that there were plenty of dangers out there that could easily kill him. The levels of radiation in the air weren¡¯t currently a danger, but would that have been the case if ethera had mixed with it? He wasn¡¯t sure, but he resolved to be a little more careful going forward. Regardless, Elijah also knew that he needed to investigate further, and not just because of his nature-based cultivation. Sure, that was a big part of it. Intellectually, he recognized just how much damage the radiation could do to the environment. In addition, he felt it down to the very core of his being. But even more than that, it didn¡¯t take him long to imagine some hapless traveler stumbling upon the area. If that happened, they would surely die. Elijah didn¡¯t want that possibility on his conscience. So, for a variety of reasons, he descended the hill toward the disaster laid out before him. Within a few steps, he felt the radiation levels rise considerably, but it was still well within his ability to mitigate. He kept on, finding a road leading toward a gate, which he bypassed, stepping into a parking lot. There were a dozen cars present, most of which were intact. The tires looked like they were dry-rotted, and the glass had taken on a slightly darker hue. In addition, some of the paint on the older vehicles had bubbled, though most of the cars looked to be in decent condition. Elijah thought about removing some of the metal for Carmen to experiment with, but he decided that it was probably contaminated. While he could survive such exposure, he didn¡¯t think many other people could. So, he forewent that idea. A moment later, he saw a sign proclaiming that the plant had been owned by Aug Energy, which meant that it probably wasn¡¯t Chinese in origin. Not surprising, considering how jumbled the entire planet had become, but interesting nonetheless. The sign also featured a stylized horse as a logo, with a bunch of writing beneath it that had been rendered illegible by time and decay. Further exploration revealed more of the same. When he entered the compound, he found what he¡¯d expected. He¡¯d never entered any power plants before, but he¡¯d seen enough on television to know what was coming. And the interior of the Aug Energy Nuclear Plant lived up to those expectations. Mostly, the interior featured a bunch of pipes and machinery whose purpose Elijah couldn¡¯t guess at, but he also found an office, a locker room, and a large control room. And finally, he came upon the armored building where the nuclear materials were located. He didn¡¯t need his senses to recognize it, either. He saw a gaping hole in the side of the structure, beyond which was a huge mass of toxic metal mixed with sand and concrete. The elephant¡¯s foot. That was what they¡¯d called it in Chernobyl, and he knew that it was one of the most corruptive substances on the planet. From a few dozen feet away, Elijah could feel it breaking down his body, and he recognized that if he went even a few steps closer, its toxicity would outpace his ability to heal via Soothe. He could probably endure it with Nature¡¯s Bloom and Blessing of the Grove, but he didn¡¯t see any reason to tempt fate. What he did know was that he couldn¡¯t just let it stand. He had ten days until the Primal Realm opened, and he could only hope that it would be enough to begin the process of healing that the land demanded. 7-44. Failed Connections ¡°Stay here,¡± Benedict commanded, glancing back at his horde of imps. He¡¯d lost count of how many he¡¯d summoned over the previous month, and getting an accurate count was almost impossible due to the little minions¡¯ inability to stand still for more than a millisecond. However, he did know that there were at least a few dozen. It had, after all, been a busy few weeks, most of which was characterized by travel, but also included quite a few encounters with people who saw a lone traveler as a juicy target. He¡¯d disabused most of them from that notion, even managing to use them as fuel for his summons. Benedict just didn¡¯t understand people. Most of them were so selfish ¨C and ambitious ¨C that they couldn¡¯t turn down an opportunity to prey on their fellow man. It had happened so often that he¡¯d begun to worry that the apocalypse had fundamentally changed everyone for the worst. Or maybe they¡¯d always been like that. His own story supported that idea. He¡¯d spent most of his younger years being bullied, and the only thing that had changed that was isolation. He¡¯d chosen a job that didn¡¯t require him to be around the people that had, for most of his life, made his existence a living hell. Even then, he¡¯d had a few run-ins that supported the notion that people, at their core, were just horrible. And he hadn¡¯t experienced much in the wake of the World Tree¡¯s influence that changed his opinion. It wasn¡¯t all bad, of course. He had made a friend in Oscar, and his interactions with Elijah had been positive as well. Neither of them had tried to exploit him. They hadn¡¯t attempted to bully him, either. Maybe because they knew it wouldn¡¯t work, but he preferred to believe that they were just among the few good people left in the world. But Benedict was tired of being alone. He wanted company that his imps just couldn¡¯t provide. So, when he had laid eyes on the settlement in the distance, he¡¯d decided to give it a chance. To date, his experiences in such towns weren¡¯t great, but he still held out hope that this one would be different. He needed that, if only to keep him from tipping over the edge. He knew just how close he was to giving up, and though he believed that eventuality was inevitable, he instinctively turned away from it. He was still human. He still wanted companionship. And he wouldn¡¯t give up on that desire until he was certain that seeking it was a fruitless endeavor. ¡°Do not let yourselves be seen. Don¡¯t destroy anything. And if I call, do not dally.¡± ¡°Master is no fun!¡± ¡°Just a little fire?¡± ¡°Or a big one? That city looks¡­flammable.¡± On and on they went until Benedict shut them up by half-shouting, ¡°Enough. Obey me, you little cretins, or I will sacrifice you for replacements.¡± The small creatures were only minions, meaning that they were not real ¨C at least not as Benedict considered the term. Instead, they were mere collections of meat and magic, without sapience and only featuring the barest ability for independent thought. However, they did have enough consciousness ¨C or perhaps an instinct for self-preservation ¨C that his threat was an effective one. Like all creatures, real or conjured, they wanted to remain among the living. The origin of that desire and their nature made for an interesting philosophical question, but at present, it was not one that interested Benedict. They were throwaway minions, and he intended to treat them as such. Thankfully, the imps had progressed to the point where they had gained a new ability. Benedict didn¡¯t know what it was called, and any attempts to get the creatures to reveal the name were met with confusion. So, he¡¯d taken to calling it Camouflage. With it, they could hide themselves from all but the most studious observation. For himself, he¡¯d gained a new spell as well:
Call Minions Summon all eligible minions to your current location. Cooldown based on Ethera attribute. Current: 93.9 Minutes
That spell¡¯s existence was the only reason he¡¯d chosen to take the chance of entering the town alone. After all, in his experience, new places usually meant getting attacked for no reason. And he had no intention of letting his guard down. Certainly, he could deal with most people without his minions. His spells could incapacitate even strong fighters. However, what he couldn¡¯t handle was a mob. He didn¡¯t have the Constitution to take that kind of damage, and he lacked the firepower to put them down alone. That was the price he¡¯d paid for his class, which was focused on summoning and empowering his minions. Thus, his reliance on Call Minions. Without it, he would never have even entered the city. With it backing him up, he hoped to play the role of a powerful, if not dangerous, adventurer. And maybe ¨C just maybe ¨C he could avoid some of the things he¡¯d faced in other locations. With that in mind, he once again reiterated that the imps should use their Camouflage ability to remain hidden in the surrounding forest, and once they¡¯d acknowledged his order, he began the trek toward the town below. The region was slightly arid, though it was far from being a desert. However, the city itself had been bult on an island in the center of a huge river, on the banks of which were verdant fields of crops. It made for a beautiful sight that put him in mind of Elijah¡¯s fascination with nature. Benedict didn¡¯t know him that well, but he knew that the Druid would have been enthralled by the flora. If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. For his part, Benedict was more interested in the buildings, which reminded him of the Mediterranean style, with white walls, red tile roofs, and a preponderance of green ivy. It very much looked like an idyllic community that probably played host to a thousand people. Maybe they would be nice and accepting. Benedict began the trek down the hill, once again marveling at the transformation of his body. Once, calling him clumsy would have been a generous assessment. In school, he¡¯d eschewed anything athletic, often making excuses for why he couldn¡¯t participate in gym class. However, now, his body was strong and perfectly balanced, far exceeding the athleticism of all the boys who used to bully him so mercilessly. What would they do if they could see him now? How would they react to how much better he was than them? Probably poorly. He¡¯d discovered that much soon after the apocalypse had stuck the world, and he had no reason to suspect those idiots would have changed their tune. They hated him, and not just because they perceived he was weak. It went deeper than that, though Benedict had no idea what truly prompted their hatred. Perhaps he¡¯d never discover the truth. Such thoughts accompanied him as he descended the hill and, eventually, he approached the town¡¯s entrance. As far as he could tell, there were only a couple of bridges spanning the river, and as such, the place was well protected from invasion. Yet, he did notice that a wall still encircled the island, likely to protect the inhabitants from the denizens of the river. Smart. From what Benedict understood, large bodies of water were usually home to the most powerful creatures. He¡¯d yet to visit a true ocean ¨C aside from the Trial of Primacy ¨C but he could easily imagine enormous leviathans and sea serpents roaming those waters. The river wasn¡¯t on that scale, but perhaps there were terrible fish beneath the surface. Or crocodiles. He had no idea, but he also had no interest in discovering the truth. Let other people deal with aquatic monsters. He would stay on land, thank you very much. There were a pair of lazy-looking guards standing sentry at the end of the bridge, and even as Benedict approached, they didn¡¯t really react. Instead, they just watched him. One leaned against the wall of a small gatehouse, smoking a hand-rolled cigarette while the other sat in a nylon camp chair, enjoying a beverage. When Benedict reached them, the smoking guard asked, ¡°What¡¯s your business?¡± ¡°Just a wandering adventurer looking for a place to stay for the night,¡± Benedict answered as affably as he could manage. He even forced a smile. ¡°What¡¯s this town called?¡± ¡°Old Town,¡± the guard said, his words slightly accented. Perhaps he was speaking a different language, and the system had translated it. ¡°Used to be part of Verona, but not since the apocalypse. We got stuck in the center of this river. Not sure where the rest of the city ended up, but we got a few foreign areas in here as well. Bit of Greek. A few Americans. Even a couple of Polish.¡± ¡°Yep. We¡¯re a melting pot, we are,¡± said the seated guard in an entirely different accent that Benedict couldn¡¯t quite parse. ¡°You have money?¡± ¡°I do,¡± Benedict stated. During the Trial, he¡¯d discovered the existence of folios, which linked to his account in the World Tree and allowed him to access his funds. They were only really useful when others had folios, but the little pocket-watch-like devices were becoming more and more common. ¡°Then come on in. I see you¡¯ve got a few levels under your belt, but I¡¯ll tell you right now. You cause trouble, the City Lord will lock you down straight away,¡± the smoking guard stated. ¡°City Lord?¡± ¡°System official. He¡¯s got absolute power in this city, and make no mistake about it. Don¡¯t make trouble, and there won¡¯t be any trouble. But if you go the other way¡­¡± Benedict held up his hands in surrender. ¡°I get it,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t intend to cause problems. I genuinely just want to rest, relax, and recover. Maybe get a shower, sleep in a real bed, and eat some decent food. Nothing else.¡± ¡°Then welcome,¡± the guard responded with a nod. ¡°Come on in.¡± That got Benedict¡¯s hopes up. Those two guards were precisely the sorts of men who¡¯d have bullied him in the past, and the fact that they hadn¡¯t gone down that road left him feeling more than a little optimistic as he crossed the stone bridge. Soon enough, he was inside the town. And it was just as picturesque as it had appeared from the outside. Clean and well maintained, the whole place looked like a movie set. The people weren¡¯t particularly friendly-looking, but they mostly just glanced his way before moving on about their business. Indifference was far preferable to enmity, in his opinion. Soon enough, Benedict found a small inn that would serve his needs. Once he¡¯d hired a room, he went upstairs and, to his immense relief, found that it was equipped with a shower. The water was cold, but as dirty as he was, he didn¡¯t really care. After getting cleaned up and donning a fresh set of clothes, he went outside to explore the town. Benedict didn¡¯t really care much for people in general, but he was still a social animal. What¡¯s more, he wasn¡¯t immune to the draw of sightseeing, and he spent most of the afternoon just taking in the city¡¯s sights. Eventually, though, he found his way to what appeared to be a popular tavern. He¡¯d never been much of a drinker, but he was in such a good mood that he figured a little wouldn¡¯t hurt. So, that was how he found himself sitting at the bar. The alcohol served wasn¡¯t high quality, but the way he figured it, that they had any at all was a minor miracle. What¡¯s more, he couldn¡¯t deny the attraction he felt for the bartender. She was a pretty girl with dusky skin and a playful demeanor. And she very much had taken a liking to Benedict. Once, that might have struck him as odd, but his experiences in the Trial had made it clear that he had a certain appeal. It had taken him a while to get used to being considered attractive, but he¡¯d long since decided that he liked it. He was busy flirting with the bartender when he felt someone grab hold of his shoulder. The owner of that hand tried to spin him around, but he¡¯d clearly bitten off more than he could chew. Benedict¡¯s Strength wasn¡¯t anything to write home about, but during the Trial, he¡¯d managed to progress his Body cultivation to the second stage. As such, when he didn¡¯t want to be moved, he wouldn¡¯t be. He turned his head and saw a burly, dark-skinned man with a great bushy beard. ¡°Can I help you?¡± he asked. ¡°I was trying to have a conversation with this beautiful woman.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my girl!¡± the man spat. ¡°If you don¡¯t ¨C¡± Benedict reacted before he even thought about what he was doing. By the time he realized what he¡¯d done, his hand was already buried in the man¡¯s barrel-like chest. He yanked it free, spraying blood everywhere. ¡°People don¡¯t tell me what to do,¡± he said without emotion. Then, he turned back to the stunned bartender and said, ¡°I think I could use a refill.¡± That¡¯s when she screamed. Because of course she would. Someone yelled that he was a monster, and the tavern emptied a couple of moments later. The bartender didn¡¯t move, though. She obviously found him too captivating to give in to her fear. With a shaking hand, she refilled his glass. ¡°So, have you always lived here?¡± he asked. ¡°I moved around a lot when I was young. Lived in all sorts of places.¡± ¡°W-why did you kill him?¡± He cocked his head to the side. ¡°Because that¡¯s what bullies deserve,¡± he said. ¡°You give them an inch, and they¡¯ll take a mile. I¡¯m sure you agree.¡± ¡°Bully? He wasn¡¯t¡­¡± Just then, Benedict felt something settle onto him like a weighted vest. Suddenly, his attributes plummeted, and he felt the flow of his ethera restrict. Obviously, the town was just full of bullies. Clearly, the City Lord was one of them. Unfortunately for whoever claimed that title, they were also weak. He was weakened, sure, and not insignificantly. However, he was far from crippled, and he had plenty of power left to deal with the people who¡¯d unjustly attempted to oppress him. He pushed himself to his feet, saying, ¡°You had better take cover. Things are going to get messy soon.¡± With that, he used Call Minions. Instantly, his imps began to appear. Unlike him, they were not affected by whatever ability had suppressed his attributes. ¡°Go nuts,¡± he ordered. The imps went wild, flipping around in excitement as they made their way to the doors and windows. For his part, Benedict just sighed and returned to his drink. After downing it in a single gulp, he reached for the bottle the terrified bartender had left behind when she¡¯d used his moment of inattention to flee. Even as he poured his next drink, the smell of smoke and the sound of screams reached him. It was the same everywhere he went. Maybe one day he would find somewhere that wasn¡¯t populated by bullies. 7-45. The Persistence of Nature Sometimes, it was easy to forget that, no matter what else happened, no matter how many evolutions he went through, Elijah was always a Druid first. It took precedence over his class, and from it, everything else stemmed. It was a key distinction, and one that Elijah knew he shouldn¡¯t allow himself to forget. Never was it clearer than when he embarked on his quest to cleanse the Aug Energy site. The poison inundating the entire area offended him in a way he couldn¡¯t really articulate. It would have been one thing to simply kill everything in the region. Not a good outcome, but not offensive, either. However, the way the radiation corrupted and changed the natural world was something else entirely, and Elijah wavered between wanting to harness that and needing to reverse its course. To distract himself from that war within, he spent the first few hours thoroughly exploring the rest of the facility. He rifled through the lockers, and in doing so, he found a few relics from the past. Cellular phones were the most common, and they brought back memories of when the world had seemed ¨C and was ¨C so much smaller. He pocketed a couple of them in the hopes that someone back in Ironshore ¨C or perhaps Seattle ¨C could make use of them. However, Elijah also found plenty of other reminders from before the world¡¯s transformation. Some were far more personal in nature, like a couple of family photos pinned to the inside of one of the lockers. Employee identification badges bearing the visages of the people who¡¯d worked there were prominent as well. He even found an old magazine, half rotted and bearing a glossy photograph of a popular celebrity on the cover. Looking at it, he found himself wondering why people had cared so much about something so obviously contrived. He shook his head and moved on, eventually finding the remains of the former employees. There were only two left in the entire facility, which suggested that some of them had gotten away. Knowing what he knew about the site, Elijah suspected that they hadn¡¯t made it very far before the effects of the radiation killed them. But he had to hope for the best. After all, he¡¯d been doomed, too, and he¡¯d managed to survive. Perhaps they had come upon unique opportunities as well. Regardless, it only took a couple of hours before Elijah had exhausted the possibilities within the facility, so he soon left it behind. During his search, he remembered the sunflowers he¡¯d passed on his way to the power plant. They¡¯d displayed a powerful ability to adapt to the changing circumstances, surviving when so many other plants had died. On top of that, he couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that his latest spell evolution, Blessing of the Grove, incorporated a sunflower into its expression. That meant something, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain as to exactly what that something might be. He resolved to find out, which was why he spent another few minutes circling the site in search of a surviving sunflower. He found one only a hundred yards from the parking lot, and he was happy to see that it was even larger than the last one he¡¯d seen. Upon approach, Elijah settled down, casting Blessing of the Grove and Nature¡¯s Design while focusing exclusively on the sense he gained from Soul of the Wild. At first, Elijah had difficulty getting past the power of the radiation, through which significant ethera had been woven. That proved that it was far more powerful than it would have been before Earth¡¯s transformation, meaning that it would have likely killed the pre-Trial of Primacy version of him outright. Fortunately, he¡¯d made great strides since then, so with his heals constantly restoring damaged tissue, Elijah was only mildly uncomfortable. Still, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that the area might have proven to be quite useful as a catalyst for Body cultivation. After all, one of the key requirements was to consistently damage and rebuild one¡¯s body. However, at present, he was far from prepared to take such a step. But he did keep it in the back of his mind. Specifically, he thought of the elephant¡¯s foot, which was far more powerfully radioactive than anywhere else in the area. If he managed to collect that and store it somewhere with high ethereal density, then it could prove to be a perfect spark for the next step in Body cultivation. For now, though, he needed to focus on cleansing the area around Aug Energy, and he felt that the sunflower, with its ability to harness the radiation for its own purposes, was key to doing so. With that in mind, he cast his senses deep within the plant¡¯s substance, burrowing down until he found the essence of its nature. The most prominent thread was a familiar one. Nature. Or vitality, perhaps. If its attunements were represented by a tree, then that would have been the trunk. The branches were much thinner, and they were dedicated to less powerful elements like ice, fire, and air. However, Elijah¡¯s attention soon settled on what he likened to roots. He had no name for it, largely because it represented an esoteric concept, but as he saw those roots at work, he decided to think of it as adaptation. But after a few moments, Elijah realized that wasn¡¯t entirely correct. There was a second and intertwined ¨C but still distinct ¨C attunement at play. Purification. The second did precisely what the label he¡¯d given it suggested ¨C it purified the harmful elements of the radiation. Then, adaptation harnessed the energy that was leftover, funneling it upward to fortify the plant¡¯s already powerful life attunement. On the surface, it seemed like such a simple system, but it only took one look for Elijah to recognize the inherent complexity of it. If one factor was even a little out of balance, the whole arrangement would collapse in on itself, and the plant would die a quick death. Even more impressive was the fact that the sunflower had adapted to its environment so quickly and effectively enough to not only survive, but to thrive as well. It left Elijah in awe of the power of nature. But it was also daunting, considering what he intended. With Nature¡¯s Design, he could manipulate those threads. He could extend the roots. He could thicken the trunk. He could even force the branches to spread. But if the balance was even a little off, it would result in ruin. So, given the weight of what he intended to accomplish, Elijah spent some time just studying those threads of attuned ethera in the hopes of fostering some degree of understanding. Despite the pressure of his chosen task, Elijah was not one to shy away from what he considered his duty. So, he bent the entirety of his focus to the task, and slowly, he developed a degree of comprehension. Or so he thought. When he tried to put that understanding to work, he realized just how little he knew. ¡°Shit!¡± he exclaimed, panicking as the results of his meddling went out of control. One plucked thread, and the flower had wilted. It died a moment later as it succumbed to the radiation. ¡°Dammit.¡± After that, he moved on to another sunflower, and when he tried to alter it, he found the same results. Only then did he realize that those plants were too far along in their development for him to change their natures. Perhaps someone like Nerthus could manage it, but Elijah lacked the expertise ¨C or the patience ¨C to do so. With that in mind, he decided to start from scratch. So, that was how he ended up gathering hundreds of sunflower seeds from the surrounding area. He also gathered a host of other seeds and even a few crabapples from one of the surviving trees. Then, he headed closer to the Aug Energy plant, where he planted one of the sunflower seeds. Going forward, he ushered it through the stages of growth. As it germinated, then sprouted, Elijah gradually nudged it to display the characteristics he intended. The first plant died before it even reached the seedling stage, but the process taught him a lot about how the different attunements worked together. He used that knowledge to help the next one get a little further along, but it died as well. Over and over, he experimented with what worked and what would not. At the same time, he refined his control until he could isolate each thread, adjusting it so slightly that the results were barely even noticeable. And eventually, a new sunflower bloomed before him. This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it. It was only the first stage, though. Elijah knew that his spell wouldn¡¯t allow him to make sweeping changes to the sunflowers¡¯ nature. Instead, he needed to adjust it incrementally, generation by generation, as he mimicked more traditional, non-magical strategies for plant breeding. Fortunately, Nature¡¯s Design was more powerful than its predecessor, and though he couldn¡¯t usher a plant to maturity in a few minutes ¨C as Nerthus had done ¨C he could do so over the course of a few hours. It was far from a perfect solution, but Elijah had a little time to spare. And his task was important. So, over that first day, he took the sunflowers through a half-dozen generations. The second day saw that number increase to ten. The third, to twelve. Over and over, he minutely adjusted the pattern of the plants¡¯ attunements until, on the sixth day, he finally achieved his goal. The sunflower drank the radiation like water, cleansing it, then funneling the remaining energy into its own vitality. That was only part of Elijah¡¯s plan, though. It also dragged so much radiation into its being that it purified the surrounding air. Even without his influence, it grew almost as quickly as his initial attempts. The only problem was that funneling so much energy through what was still a mundane plant shortened its lifespan by a considerable amount. However, with its rapid growth and high metabolism, that wouldn¡¯t be such a huge deal ¨C at least for the new species as a whole. And it definitely was something new. The petals of the flowers glowed subtly with white light, and Elijah suspected that they had become low-grade natural treasures. He didn¡¯t think they would display any particularly useful properties, but that had never been the point. Instead, they only needed to do a single job ¨C help restore the balance to the ecosystem by absorbing the dangerous radiation ¨C and he suspected they would accomplish that task quite well. Over the next day, Elijah spent almost every minute helping to populate the region with the modified sunflowers. Even that endeavor needed to be balanced. If he put them too close together, they wouldn¡¯t have enough energy to survive. If they were too far apart, then there would remain pockets of radiation. The layout had to be perfect, so he spent just as much time ensuring everything was where it needed to be as he did ushering the plants to maturity. In the end, though, he accomplished his goal. If he¡¯d had more time, he would have modified a few other plants, but given that he spent almost an entire week on the sunflowers alone, Elijah knew he just didn¡¯t have time. Especially since he had one more task to accomplish before he left the area. So it was that he found himself staring at the mass of radioactive material known as the elephant¡¯s foot. From what he understood, the pile of brittle, grey rock was a combination of corium, sand, uranium, and concrete, and as he¡¯d previously established, it was extraordinarily radioactive. Even from a couple dozen feet away, he could feel his skin bubbling under its influence. Without his healing spells, he would have already died. Which was saying something, considering his high attributes. Yet, Elijah knew that he would need to get much closer if he was going to deal with the problem. Before that, though, he needed to create a containment area. To that end, Elijah looked to the containment building itself. As he understood it, the structure had been created for a similar purpose to what he intended, and as such, it would likely provide appropriate materials. And sure enough, when he inspected it, he saw that it had been built from steel reinforced concrete that was more than five feet thick. Even then, it had proven to be insufficient against whatever explosion had destroyed one of the walls. Elijah didn¡¯t know what could have done such a thing ¨C after all, such a containment building was designed specifically to resist such destruction, and it should have been capable of enduring anything short of a nuclear blast ¨C but at the moment, that was a mystery he had no time to solve. Instead, he focused on the problem at hand, eventually coming up with a plan to contain the massively radioactive elephant¡¯s foot. The first step was to dig a great, big hole. Elijah accomplished that minor feat by shifting into the Shape of Thorn and using his inflated Strength and enhanced size to knock it out in about an hour. When he was finished, he had a fifty-foot-deep hole, into which he tossed a huge section of the containment building¡¯s wall. Next, he lined the hole with as much concrete as he could, even tossing lead pipes, which he assumed were meant to facilitate the cooling system, inside. Once the thing was about half full, he leaped inside and used his immense Strength to pulverize the entire collection. It was surprisingly easy, proving just how much above a regular human he¡¯d become. He didn¡¯t dwell on that, though. He had too much work to do. Crushing the concrete left it much more condensed, so he was forced to repeat the process a couple of times before he had enough. Still, it went quite well, and it took less than a day before he was ready for the next step, which would be the trickiest part of his plan. After digging a sizable divot out of the powdered concrete, Elijah returned to the elephant¡¯s foot. He stared at it for along moment, taking one deep breath after another as he prepared for what was coming. Then, he renewed Soothe as well as Blessing of the Grove before shifting back into Shape of Thorn. Before the transformation had even completed, Elijah was striding forward, and by the time he¡¯d taken on the form of the thorned sentry, he was on top of the mass of radioactive material. He reached down, grabbing the awkward hunk of brittle stuff, and immediately, he was burned. Some of it was from the ongoing radiation, which spiked the closer he was to the elephant¡¯s foot. But it was also because the mass was extremely hot. Maybe three- or four-hundred degrees, which was enough to hurt him. Thankfully, his Constitution was high enough to resist severe burns, but ongoing exposure to the radiation was much more dangerous. To mitigate the damage, which would soon outpace even his healing spells, Elijah used Unchecked Growth. Immediately, his Regeneration spiked, and the damage repaired itself as soon as it was inflicted. With that taken care of, Elijah grabbed the mass, wrapping his vines around it to keep it together, then hefted it into his arms. The thing was large and dense enough that even lifting it was a strain, though not one Elijah couldn¡¯t overcome. He staggered back the way he¡¯d come, covering the two-hundred or so feet necessary to reach the hole he¡¯d dug. Then, he threw his burden inside. However, he knew he wasn¡¯t finished. He still needed to ensure it was covered by the concrete powder. So, he leaped inside, and before Unchecked Growth ran its course, he managed to burrow the elephant¡¯s foot deep into the pile of powder, then cover it up. Just as his ability ran out, he leaped to the lip of the hole, then retreated a few dozen feet. Sighing, Elijah let the last dregs of Unchecked Growth mend any damage he¡¯d incurred. Then, when his Regeneration went back to normal, he shifted back into his human form and cast a few heals, just to be sure. As he did so, he paid close attention to his body, ensuring that everything returned to normal. It did, but Elijah could easily sense that that would not have been the case had he attempted such a feat even a month before. That surety served as motivation. If he couldn¡¯t endure it, then what would happen if someone else stumbled upon the area? They would assuredly die, and he would be to blame. So, with that in mind, he headed back into the facility to gather a pair of fifty-five gallon drums he¡¯d found inside. Then, he shifted into Shape of Sky, took the drums in his claws, and flew south until he reached a large pond he¡¯d discovered nearby. Dipping low, he used the barrels to gather water before he returned to his half-filled hole. He dumped the water inside, then repeated the process a few hundred times. Elijah was no mathematician, and he was far from an expert on concrete, but he knew that it required close to a one-to-two ratio of water to concrete powder, he knew it would take more than sixty-thousand gallons of water to complete his task. And that meant about five-hundred trips, more or less. Thankfully, he could cover ground incredibly quickly in Shape of Sky, and the pond wasn¡¯t far away. Still, it took a further day to finish the task. By that point, the mass of powder had become a concrete slurry. Thankfully, that was just enough to let Unchecked Growth¡¯s cooldown to elapse. So, after shifting back into the Shape of Thorn and using Unchecked Growth, he leaped into the hole and cast Domain of Vines to properly mix the solution. Elijah could feel more than traces of radiation in the concrete itself, but he hoped that some of that would be mitigated by the sheer mass of the block. Once everything had been mixed together, he jumped out of the hole and went back to the facility, where he gathered as much lead as he could find. After piling that up, he started planting sunflowers in a large ring around the hole. By themselves, they would have been overwhelmed by the intensity of the radiation. However, with the other measures in place, he hoped that they would thrive and use whatever seeped through as fuel for their growth. Over the course of a day, as he promoted his sunflowers¡¯ growth, the concrete dried. Once it did, Elijah covered it with all the lead he¡¯d gathered. Then, he piled the excavated dirt into the hole, packing it down tight. And just like that, the project was done. He could only hope that it would be enough to not only contain the radiation from the elephant¡¯s foot, but also to restore the balance of nature to the region. But he¡¯d done everything he could think to do. Now, he needed to return to Hong Kong and deal with the other major problem at hand. Because in only a couple of days, the Primal Realm would open, and when it did, disaster would surely follow. 7-46. Preparation Elijah could move pretty quickly, even on foot. Part of that was due to his high attributes, but he also had Lupine Reflexes speeding him along as well. The upgrade to Essence of the Wolf hadn¡¯t gained anything in terms of raw speed, but the attributes he¡¯d gained over the past couple of months definitely affected his pace. In addition, the improved reaction times that came with it definitely made moving rapidly that much easier to handle. So, as he sped through the forest, he made great time, covering the distance back to Hong Kong in only four or five hours. On the outskirts, he found sparse collections of zombies, but as he progressed into the city, he was confronted with thicker congregations of the undead creatures. Fortunately, they weren¡¯t equipped with the best of senses, so as long as he remained under the influence of Guise of the Unseen, he remained undetected. Even so, his way was slowed by frequently being forced to climb walls or leap large rifts in the streets. He managed that well enough that those obstacles didn¡¯t slow him down too much, though. Crossing over to Hong Kong Island required him to climb along the bottom of one of the bridges, just so he could avoid the densely packed zombies on the surface. He had no issues with that, though. In the Shape of Venom, he could cling to nearly any surface, and traveling upside down came as second nature. Yet, as he did so, he couldn¡¯t ignore what he felt via Soul of the Wild. The zombies were familiar enough, but what he sensed just below the surface of the water was far more troubling. At first, he had quite some difficulty identifying the creature, but soon enough, two things became apparent. First, it was a squid, but one with necrotic tentacles that seemed on the verge of rotting off. Second, it was a monster, and a powerful one at that. It wasn¡¯t as strong as the kitsune guardian he¡¯d seen only a week or so before, but it was easily powerful enough to cause him problems. So, as much as he wanted to leap into the water and deal with it, he refrained. In fact, he stopped mid-stride as the thing passed beneath him. It stopped, and a moment later, a dozen tentacles, each one ending in a jagged hook, peeked above the surface of the churning water. Elijah didn¡¯t dare move, because he sensed that if he did, the monstrous squid would notice him. The tentacles crept closer, extending far above the waves until they latched onto the bridge itself. That¡¯s when it pulled itself above the surface, and Elijah very nearly lost his grip on the underside of the bridge. Calling the monster ugly was vastly understating it. Just like the zombies above, it was composed all of rotting flesh, with huge chunks missing from its body. However, what truly tipped it over into the realm of abhorrent disgust was how that appearance married to the sense Elijah got from Soul of the Wild. Because it was the best example of life through death that he¡¯d ever felt. And it just didn¡¯t make sense to him. It was like the natural order of the world had been subverted into an abomination that needed to be scoured from existence. He¡¯d never sensed anything quite so antithetical to the very core of who he had become, and every instinct within him screamed to destroy it. But Elijah was no unthinking beast, so he managed to subdue the calls of his nature. He had other responsibilities, and if he fought that creature then and there, it would doubtless bring quite a lot of attention down on him. Even if he won ¨C and that was no sure thing ¨C he would be in the same position he¡¯d found himself in after erroneously taking to the skies a week before. That had worked out, allowing him to right a wrong against nature. However, he didn¡¯t have time for any more side quests. So, he exercised his willpower to subdue his instincts. Even as those hooked tentacles came his way, he refused to move even a muscle. One slapped the bridge, sending a wet, squelching sound to assail his ears. Then, it crept forward. Inch by inch, as if it was searching for something. Still, Elijah remained motionless until the thing was only a foot away. Up close, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that the tentacle was much larger than it had first appeared. In addition, it was far more disgusting than his first impressions had suggested ¨C and that was saying something. Bits of flesh sloughed off into the water with every movement, and the smell that wafted into Elijah¡¯s nostrils was like week-old fish that had been left out in the sun. In short, it was one of the grossest things he¡¯d ever sensed, and considering that he¡¯d been nearly crushed to death by a slurry of rotting meat, that was a quite a high bar. It inched closer and closer, but just before Elijah would have been forced to react, a sound from up above echoed across the bridge. The rotting squid reacted immediately, and its tentacles shot out, wrapping around the structure. A moment later, it had heaved itself out of the water until its beak was even with the surface of the bridge. Then, its tentacles went to work. The zombies screeched, then sprinted to attack the thing. But as expected, they were far too weak, and it used their momentum against them, sweeping its tentacles across the bridge to gather the creatures into a clump that led directly into its mouth. Elijah swallowed hard, though he still refused to move. Doing so would have assuredly drawn the squid¡¯s attention, and given what he felt up above, he definitely didn¡¯t want to chance that. So, he remained in place as the thing feasted on the zombies. It took almost five minutes before it had consumed its fill of rotting flesh, and it released its grip on the bridge before flopping down into the water. A few moments later, it swam away, leaving Elijah more than a little disturbed. He remained in place for a few more minutes, just letting his heartbeat return to its normal pace. Part of it was fear, and he would never deny that. However, there was more to it than that. His instincts to rid the world of such an abomination played a part as well, but buried somewhere between those two factors was an excitement he couldn¡¯t overcome. Coming back from the Trial of Primacy, then getting an influx of levels afterward, he''d feared that he wouldn¡¯t find many challenges on Earth. He no longer worried about that. His experiences since leaving Ironshore had told him, and in no uncertain terms, that there were plenty of dangers left in the world. He didn¡¯t even have to look to find them. They were all around. This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. That realization came with a sense of relief ¨C and a healthy dose of fear ¨C that accompanied him as he continued across the underside of the bridge and made his way toward the giant skyscraper that housed Heaven¡¯s Bastion. It was far and away the tallest ¨C and most intact ¨C building in the area, so he had no trouble finding his way back. When he was a hundred feet from the plaza surrounding the glass and steel monstrosity of a building, he shifted into his natural form. It felt good, resuming his humanity. He felt that he wasn¡¯t in any danger of losing himself to his wild side, but if he spent too long in any of his bestial forms, he did find it slightly uncomfortable. It wasn¡¯t surprising, all things considered. He was still a man, so spending days on end walking around as a quadrupedal beast was bound to feel a little odd. He approached the building, and when he reached the gate, he found a different set of guards waiting on him. He explained who he was, but they still picked up their radios to get permission for his entrance. After that, they all just waited around for nearly ten minutes. Elijah was on the verge of simply barging in when a newcomer arrived. He was tall, with broad shoulders, and an immaculately trimmed mustache. What¡¯s more, he carried himself with confidence, and from what Elijah felt from him, he seemed to have earned it. He wasn¡¯t as strong as Dat or Sadie, but he was no slouch, either. He wore a set of modified riot gear, much like the others, but someone had added a bunch of silver filigree that Elijah knew signified decently strong enchantments. He wore a slender longsword at one hip and a dagger on the other. He was also white, which made him somewhat distinct, at least compared to the mostly Asian population he¡¯d seen or felt within the settlement. ¡°Ah, the famous Elijah Hart,¡± he said in a pompous British accent. ¡°So good of you to return. Some of us thought you might have seen the state of Hong Kong and fled to more favorable climates.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve met,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Of course, of course. How rude of me. I am Sir Gideon St. Claire, captain of the guard, so to speak,¡± he provided, thrusting out a hand. Elijah took it. As they shook hands, Gideon went on, ¡°How was your little holiday? Relaxing?¡± ¡°Very,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°Saw some interesting things out there. Were you aware that a couple hundred miles that way, you had a melted down nuclear power plant? Nasty place. I also don¡¯t recommend traveling via the local metro. Or in the water. The streets don¡¯t seem very safe, either. You know what? The skies are rough as well. But most importantly, I found the entrance the Primal Realm.¡± Gideon narrowed his eyes at the cavalcade of information in Elijah¡¯s response, but he didn¡¯t give any other indication that he¡¯d been thrown off his guard. Instead, he gave Elijah a winning smile before saying, ¡°You had better come with me, then. We were on the verge of finalizing our plan for when the Primal Realm opens.¡± ¡°Lead on,¡± Elijah said, not sure if he liked Gideon or not. The man¡¯s prim nature was a little off-putting, but that could have easily been chalked up to personal bias. It put him in mind of kings, queens, and aristocracy, all of which left a bad taste in his mouth. Still, he vowed to give Gideon the benefit of the doubt. After their meeting, Gideon led Elijah through the vast, empty lobby. Once upon a time, it had probably been quite a lot of steel and glass. However, much of the latter had been coated in a thick tint that kept out all the intended light, casting the area into a perpetual gloom that was only broken by the interior lights. ¡°How did you all end up getting the electricity working?¡± he asked. ¡°I know you converted ethera, but I¡¯m curious about how it all works.¡± ¡°House secret, I¡¯m afraid,¡± said Gideon good-naturedly. ¡°I doubt you would understand, in any case. No trees or wild beasts involved.¡± That snide remark definitely didn¡¯t endear the man to Elijah. ¡°I think you¡¯d be surprised how much I understand.¡± ¡°Indeed. If you are truly interested, I can arrange a tour of the engineering level down below. I prefer to let them toil in peace, but I¡¯m certain they would accommodate your curiosity.¡± ¡°Appreciated,¡± Elijah said as they entered the elevator. Soon enough, the thing was shooting up the towering skyscraper, bypassing floors by the second, until they shuddered to a stop. By Elijah¡¯s count, they were on the eightieth ¨C or somewhere around that ¨C floor. When the doors opened, he saw that they¡¯d arrived in an opulently decorated space dominated by what looked like culturally significant artwork. Elijah saw Chinese-style armor displayed on mannequins, polished marble floors inlaid with patterns representing animals like koi, cranes, and to his dismay, dragons. Large, framed calligraphy scrolls and ink paintings decorated the walls, and there were small fountains ¨C one in each of the far corners as well as another in the center of the room. Red lanterns emitting soft light dangled from the ceiling. ¡°A little overdone, but Mr. Song takes tradition very seriously. More so since the apocalypse,¡± Gideon stated. ¡°I don¡¯t blame him. Truly, an event of this magnitude could put any man in touch with his ancestors.¡± ¡°Mr. Song? Nico?¡± Gideon gave a harsh laugh. ¡°No, little Nico has no command responsibilities. This clan is run by his grandfather, Tianwei. The old man is ancient, but the apocalypse restored most of what age took from him. He is a formidable man and one of my dearest friends.¡± ¡°I see,¡± Elijah mumbled. Had Sadie ever mentioned her grandfather? He couldn¡¯t remember, but he didn¡¯t think she had. What did that mean? Was there something else going on? His hackles raised, but he wasn¡¯t sure if that was because he was truly in danger or if he was simply uncomfortable with his ignorance. Ultimately, it didn¡¯t matter. He¡¯d committed to helping Sadie and Dat, and he intended to follow through. ¡°Lead on,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think we have much time to dawdle.¡± Gideon gave a blindingly white grin. ¡°Too right,¡± he said. ¡°Too right. Let¡¯s go.¡± And then, he led Elijah through the lobby, down a hall, and to what seemed to be a conference room. That¡¯s when he got his first look at Sadie¡¯s grandfather. As expected, he was an older gentlemen with a shock of white hair and a matching, well-trimmed beard. When he stood, Elijah saw that the man wore a crisp three-piece suit and carried a cane that had a dragon¡¯s visage on the head. ¡°You are late, Mr. Hart,¡± the man said. ¡°I do not appreciate being made to wait. Please, sit. We have much to discuss.¡± Elijah immediately hated Song Tianwei, and from the man¡¯s expression, it seemed that the feeling was mutual. Still, he pushed his disdain aside, strode forward, and took the chair at the foot of the large conference table. He was accustomed to battles, but it seemed that he¡¯d just stepped into a different kind of conflict. 7-47. The Team ¡°I do not like him,¡± said Song Tianwei. For a long moment, he stared at the door, through which Elijah had just exited before adding, ¡°He is¡­impertinent.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not that bad,¡± Sadie said, glad that the meeting was over. Only she and her grandfather remained in the conference room. All the others ¨C including Gideon and her brother ¨C had gone to prepare for the upcoming expedition. ¡°He also provided us with vital intelligence. Without his input, it would have taken much sacrifice to discover the nature and location of the Primal Realm or the shrines.¡± ¡°True. Do you trust him?¡± the older man queried. Not that long ago, Song Tianwei had been on his death bed. At almost ninety years old, he had been nearing the end of his life, and he¡¯d looked it. However, just as the apocalypse took almost everything from humanity, it granted a few boons as well. Sadie¡¯s grandfather now looked like a man in his mid-fifties, and one who¡¯d focused on keeping himself healthy. He was strong and vital, and he owed it all to the touch of the World Tree that had killed so many others. It wasn¡¯t so different for Sadie herself. She¡¯d been strong enough before the apocalypse, and by any measure, she had been among the elites of the world, both in terms of ability and wealth. However, after, she had quickly established herself as one of the most influential people on the planet. Certainly, in terms of raw power, she was stronger than all but a handful of people. And as anyone would, she reveled in that strength. She enjoyed it for the freedom it represented. With her power, no one could control her life. No one would dream of telling her what she could and could not do. Yet, she still bowed to her grandfather¡¯s wishes, even when they ran counter to her own. It had gotten worse after Lisa had died. Even as Sadie lost herself in a quagmire of grief and guilt, Song Tianwei had remained a stoic, never-changing presence. An anchor that kept her from doing something stupid. A motivator that prevented her from simply giving up. ¡°I do,¡± she answered. ¡°He is a good man. Flighty and distractable, at times, but he is honest, powerful, and dedicated to doing what¡¯s right.¡± ¡°And his judgement?¡± ¡°Flawed,¡± she admitted after a moment. ¡°His moral compass does not always point in the right direction, but he does try. He is also loyal and compassionate. Vengeful, as well. Protective.¡± ¡°A dragon in truth, then,¡± her grandfather stated. Sadie shrugged. She didn¡¯t like equating anyone to their core, and for obvious reasons. She was no angel, even if she shared some of their power. So, she preferred to see Elijah as a human first and a dragon a distant second. But she couldn¡¯t deny that he had certain draconic tendencies, as noticed by Tianwei. Elijah might not have a hoard of gold to guard, but from what she understood, he certainly treated his grove like a treasure he needed to protect at all costs. ¡°What of the team?¡± the older man asked. ¡°Do you have any objections?¡± ¡°Only one, and you are well aware of my problems concerning that man,¡± Sadie stated evenly. ¡°Gideon is a good man.¡± ¡°He is a snake who seeks only power,¡± she argued. ¡°He latched onto you like a leech and has been drinking your blood for decades. You must see that.¡± ¡°I do. His limited ambition is a tool. He knows his place, which makes him a good underling.¡± ¡°Until he decides that he doesn¡¯t need you anymore,¡± she pointed out. ¡°What happens when he sees another opportunity? What will he do when he identifies another patron ripe for exploitation?¡± ¡°Is that what you think of me? That I am an old man being exploited?¡± Tianwei asked, his voice low but dangerous. He was a prideful man, even more so since he¡¯d regained his health. ¡°I think that Sir Gideon St. Clair will bleed you dry if given the chance.¡± ¡°Of course he will,¡± her grandfather agreed, pushing himself to his feet. Once, that would have been quite a struggle, but now, he didn¡¯t even need his decoratively carved cane. In retrospect, the dragon head was likely a bad choice, given Elijah¡¯s core, but that was probably intentional. Very little that Tianwei did was by chance. ¡°That is the entire point. It is why we must continue to grow stronger, lest his greed outweighs his fear of the consequences of betrayal.¡± Leaning forward, his hands on the sculpted table, he said, ¡°That is what you must remember when dealing with colonizers, Little Star. They are weak. They cannot survive on their own. They cannot cultivate their own advantages, so they must take from others.¡± ¡°Then why do you keep him around?¡± she asked, inwardly cringing at the nickname her grandfather had given her as a child. Little Star had originated when she¡¯d won her first martial arts competition, and it had stuck long after she¡¯d abandoned those tournaments. She¡¯d hated it from the very first time she¡¯d heard it, which only prompted her grandfather to use it more often. Eventually, she had simply accepted it as one of the many things about her life she could not change. ¡°I keep him around because he is useful,¡± Tianwei stated. ¡°He is not weak, and so long as I keep him fed, he will remain loyal.¡± ¡°Unless you show weakness.¡± ¡°Then that is something we will never do,¡± he countered. ¡°You know this.¡± She resisted the urge to sigh ¨C her grandfather wouldn¡¯t take that display of emotion kindly ¨C and turned away. Sadie did not agree with Tianwei¡¯s view of the world, but then again, he¡¯d lived through tumultuous times of which she had only heard stories. So, perhaps he had good reason to feel the way he did. In any case, he was far too old to have his opinions changed, so Sadie knew that arguing with him would be pointless. With that in mind, she turned back to him and said, ¡°Very well, grandfather. Aside from Gideon, I have no issues with the other members of the team.¡± ¡°Good. Then, we will proceed according to plan,¡± Tianwei ordered. ¡°You have my leave to complete your preparations.¡± She nodded in deference, then left the conference room behind. As she did so, Sadie barely paid any attention to the pretentious decorations her grandfather had commissioned. She had no issue with paying homage to their heritage, but the whole floor reminded her of a tacky Chinese restaurant she¡¯d frequented during university. To say it was overdone would have been a vast understatement, but Tianwei felt that acknowledgement of their past was even more important than ever before. So much had already been lost, and he felt a drive to preserve as much as possible. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Sadie couldn¡¯t argue with that sentiment, but she definitely believed it could have been more tasteful. Ironically, before the World Tree had laid its influence upon Earth, her grandfather had preferred a subdued and modern style. That he¡¯d changed his tune was a calculated play, rather than an expression of his taste, and it was just further evidence that the Tianwei was thinking two steps ahead on everyone else. Thankfully, the elevator wasn¡¯t far, so she soon left the garish d¨¦cor behind. At first, she didn¡¯t have any destination in mind. Her preparations had already long been completed, so she had nothing to do on that side of things. Almost inevitably, she found her way to the quarters given to Elijah for the night. The apartment was one of the nicer ones in the entire settlement ¨C what her grandfather deemed appropriate for such a powerful man ¨C but the moment she¡¯d been told of it, she knew it would be wasted on Elijah. After all, she¡¯d heard plenty of stories about his treehouse, so she knew that anything they could offer would pale in comparison. But it was a matter of respect, and one on which her grandfather would not be dissuaded. She hesitated in front of the door, which had been engraved by the local crafters with noise-cancelling runes. It was a gross luxury, having those Tradesmen work on something so inconsequential, but her grandfather had insisted. And as always, Sadie had accepted it, largely because she couldn¡¯t imagine going against his wishes. But there was also a thread of apathy there, at least towards the management of the settlement. She would do anything for the people she¡¯d been charged to protect, but she disdained the notion of actually governing them. Other people were better suited to that particular endeavor. Sadie took a deep breath, then raised her hand to knock. The door opened just before her knuckles descended, revealing a grinning Elijah. He¡¯d removed his armor and the rest of his gear, so he only wore a simple shirt and a pair of loose pants that ended at mid-calf. ¡°You¡¯ve been standing out here for a while. You want to come in?¡± he asked. ¡°I was just brewing a cup of coffee. I still can¡¯t believe you guys have actual coffee makers. I love my French press, but there¡¯s something to be said about brewing an entire pot at once. And keeping it warm. Anyway, come on in.¡± She accepted his invitation, and when she stepped inside the apartment, she was immediately appalled by the mess. ¡°How did this happen? You¡¯ve been here for like thirty minutes,¡± she said, taking in the disaster. In the foyer alone was muddy armor, two staves, and his bearskin cloak that, even from five feet away, smelled awful. And the next room was somehow worse. Elijah had shoved the furniture to the edges of the room, where he¡¯d piled a bunch of clothes and what looked like a bunch of garbage. ¡°Sorry. I was about to do some yoga,¡± he answered with a sheepish grin. ¡°And I haven¡¯t had a chance to douse my stuff in cleansing powder. This place doesn¡¯t have a laundry service, does it? I wouldn¡¯t mind saving my supply. It¡¯s not cheap, and the gnome who makes it for me is brutal when he thinks he has me at a disadvantage. Which he does, because he knows I can¡¯t get it anywhere else. I suppose I could take a sample to an Alchemist in Argos or Seattle or something, but that seems like a lot of work. And kind of wrong. Like copying the Coca Cola recipe or something. It makes me wonder if there are trademark laws in the multi-verse, you know? It seems like, if there isn¡¯t, there should be.¡± After he finished, he just stared at Sadie, who wore a slight smile. ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t think I would, but I missed you,¡± she answered. ¡°I knew my charm would rub off on you. Well, I call it charm. Most people just call it rambling annoyance. I¡¯m an optimist, though.¡± She laughed, glad that she¡¯d managed to quarantine Sense of Sin in its own facet of her mind. She couldn¡¯t ignore it entirely, but keeping it locked away definitely helped her see Elijah¡¯s better nature. ¡°You want some coffee? I know you don¡¯t normally drink it, but this is a new batch.¡± Sadie sighed. She¡¯d always hated coffee, and she couldn¡¯t count the number of times her friends ¨C especially back in her school days ¨C had tried to convince her to drink it. But no matter how many different varieties she¡¯d tasted, it was always awful. Even when she doused it in sugar and milk, the beverage just wasn¡¯t to her taste. However, just as had so often happened with her friends ¨C classmates and acquaintances, really ¨C she conceded and said, ¡°Fine. But I know I¡¯ll hate it.¡± ¡°Really?¡± he asked, incredulous. He¡¯d offered dozens of times back in the Trial, and she¡¯d always refused. ¡°What changed?¡± She shrugged. ¡°You just wore me down, I suppose.¡± ¡°Sounds like my dating life, honestly,¡± he joked with another grin. After that, Sadie took a seat on the only couch that wasn¡¯t covered in various items while Elijah headed to the kitchen to prepare the coffee. A moment later, he asked if she wanted honey, which she did, and it wasn¡¯t long before he returned with two steaming cups. Both were crudely shaped, and from what she understood, he¡¯d made them himself from clay he¡¯d found on his island. Sadie took the cup, muttering, ¡°Thanks.¡± ¡°So, what is going on with all this junk?¡± she asked, gesturing to the piles of items on the other couches. And the floor. ¡°I pick up a lot of stuff when I¡¯m traveling. Most of it¡¯s useless,¡± he admitted. ¡°But I¡¯m hoping that some of it will be worthwhile. I also have a hunk of super radioactive stuff I need to pick up after this is all done. I couldn¡¯t carry it around because it¡¯d probably kill everyone within like ten feet, but I think it might prove useful to the right crafter. Maybe Carmen can make weapons out of it or something.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t believe there was a meltdown so close,¡± she said, still cradling her cup of coffee. She really didn¡¯t want to drink it, but she did enjoy the warmth on her hands. ¡°I¡¯m surprised we weren¡¯t affected.¡± Elijah nodded, sipping his own coffee, which elicited a sigh of contentment. ¡°So good. But yeah,¡± he agreed. ¡°I think the local flora served to smother it. Or absorb it. I found some really well-adapted plants out there, and I¡¯m pretty sure they kept the radiation from spreading too much. I believe I¡¯ve got it contained for now, but I won¡¯t know for sure until I go back there in a month or so.¡± Sadie nodded. Then, at last, she decided to take the plunge and sip her coffee. She brought the homemade mug to her lips, then tilted it back. And when the hot liquid hit her tongue, she almost choked. ¡°That good?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°So gross,¡± she managed. ¡°Well, nobody¡¯s perfect, I suppose,¡± he said. ¡°Appreciate you at least trying it. More for me, though.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome to it,¡± she responded with a weak smile of her own as she handed the mug back to Elijah. Only then did she realize just how close he was sitting. To distract herself from that fact, she asked, ¡°What do you think about the team?¡± He shrugged. ¡°Honestly, I would have preferred if it was just you, Dat, your brother, and me. The others seem like they¡¯ll just get in the way,¡± he admitted. ¡°Not to undersell their abilities, but unless they¡¯re higher leveled than I was led to believe¡­¡± ¡°They¡¯re not.¡± Indeed, the other three party members ¨C Lin Tao, Zhang Yue, and Gideon St. Clair ¨C were no higher than level eighty, and only Gideon had reached that point. That meant they were decently strong, but they certainly weren¡¯t on the level of people like Dat or Sadie, much less Elijah. ¡°Then my point stands.¡± ¡°They have their uses,¡± she insisted. Lin Tao was a powerful Summoner, Zhang Yue was a great Explorer who¡¯d taken a hybrid Thief class, and Gideon was¡­well, Gideon was the odd one out. The only reason he was going along was because her grandfather had insisted. Otherwise, as a Warrior of middling level, he just didn¡¯t belong. However, Sadie wasn¡¯t about to disagree with Tianwei, especially not publicly. ¡°You¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°I hope so,¡± Elijah allowed. ¡°So, you ascended, right?¡± she asked, tucking her feet under her as she changed the subject. ¡°How was it? What kind of options for evolutions did you have available?¡± After that, Elijah excitedly went on to tell her everything he¡¯d been up to since they¡¯d parted ways after the Trial. They¡¯d spoken briefly when he¡¯d first arrived, but there hadn¡¯t been a chance to truly catch up. And now that they were, Sadie couldn¡¯t deny that she¡¯d missed talking to someone who didn¡¯t put her on a pedestal. Elijah respected her, but he didn¡¯t hold her up as something akin to a mythological figure. Given her station, that was rare. 7-48. Around Town ¡°Do you think I should do it?¡± Miguel asked, walking next to Nerthus as the spryggent made his rounds. Fat drops of rain fell upon the young man¡¯s shoulders, washing away the sweat of his most recent bout of training. It was cold, but he could ignore that so he could experience the rain¡¯s rejuvenating properties. The spell wasn¡¯t as powerful as Elijah¡¯s, but it was enough to wash away his fatigue and improve his training. ¡°I should do it, right?¡± ¡°I do not know why you ask me. I am no expert on mating traditions of adolescent humans,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°However, the answer to your question seems simple enough.¡± Despite his discomfort with how Nerthus had characterized his interest in Hope, Miguel asked, ¡°What is it?¡± ¡°You should do whatever necessary to foster a good relationship with Miss Hope. Ask her out, as you put,¡± Nerthus answered, letting his gnarled hand hover only an inch above one of the bushes. Ethera swirled, but Miguel couldn¡¯t see any change. He groaned. ¡°You¡¯re no help at all.¡± ¡°Would you like an alternative piece of advice?¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°Then you should pursue the girl quite ardently. She has a nature attunement, and as such, we should seek to tie her to the grove as quickly as possible. There is no proof that attunements are hereditary, but logic suggests that a child born to two nature-attuned parents and raised in a grove such as this will be quite an asset,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°For the grove, of course.¡± That was not the answer Miguel wanted to hear, and what¡¯s more, he couldn¡¯t stop his cheeks from reddening in embarrassment at the spryggent¡¯s frank discussion of the subject. ¡°I wish Elijah was here,¡± he muttered. ¡°Alternatively, you could ask your mother. She is a female, correct? Perhaps she could offer proper perspective.¡± ¡°I am not asking my mom for dating advice,¡± Miguel insisted. ¡°That¡¯s just¡­that¡¯s just wrong.¡± He couldn¡¯t articulate why he felt that way, but the thought of approaching his mother with the question of whether or not he should ask Hope out left him with knots in his stomach. He wouldn¡¯t go down that road unless someone forced him to. And even then, he¡¯d resist every step of the way. The problem was that he didn¡¯t know why he was so nervous. Hope had been friendly enough, and what¡¯s more, he¡¯d faced down deadly threats aplenty. By all rights, the prospect of spending the day with a girl his own age shouldn¡¯t have been nearly as daunting as fighting through dark elf infested forests. And yet, he could face the latter without a hint of hesitation, but the former prompted a panic response. It certainly wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d been interested in a girl. He¡¯d even had a girlfriend ¨C at least as much as a pair of pre-adolescents could claim such a relationship status ¨C back in Easton. However, what he felt when Hope looked at him was something altogether different. Something special. ¡°Do you seek any other advice? I must tend to the Frozen Glade.¡± Miguel shook his head. ¡°No. Thanks for trying, though.¡± ¡°I wish you luck, Warden.¡± ¡°A lot of help you were,¡± Miguel muttered after Nerthus was gone. ¡°What was that, Warden?¡± came the tree spirit¡¯s disembodied voice. ¡°Uh¡­nothing. Just talking to myself,¡± Miguel said, finally seeing Nerthus¡¯ face sticking out of the bush. It was so well disguised that even looking right at it wasn¡¯t a guarantee of detection. ¡°Very well.¡± Nerthus disappeared, and this time, Miguel didn¡¯t forget that in the grove, the spryggent was basically omniscient. So was Elijah, but the Druid didn¡¯t rub it in Miguel¡¯s face. Regardless, he was no closer to making a decision than when he¡¯d asked Nerthus for help. For the next few minutes, he paced back and forth, going over all the ways asking Hope out could go wrong. At worst, she¡¯d be offended, which could affect Elijah and the grove. Or she could just turn him down. Maybe she¡¯d even laugh in his face. A thousand different scenarios, each worse than the last, flitted through his mind until, at last, he pushed them aside. He was a powerful fighter. One of Ironshore¡¯s saviors. And Hope had acted like she was interested, at least in being friends. If he had the courage to face monsters and dark elves, then he could face the possibility of rejection. So, he made his decision and started toward the dock. Only then did he realize something extremely important. He absolutely reeked. And he wasn¡¯t wearing a shirt. In fact, if someone saw him right then, they¡¯d probably assume he was some sort of feral teenager who hadn¡¯t seen civilization for years. Recognizing that, he turned on his heel and marched back to the treehouse he shared with his mother. Once there, he took advantage of the shower ¨C as well as some of his uncle¡¯s soap ¨C which not only smelled good, but also reinvigorated him in a very different way than any healing he¡¯d ever received. It almost felt like it made him stronger with each application. More importantly, it did its job as a cleaning solution, and soon enough, he was standing in front of his closet and wondering what he should wear. He didn¡¯t have anything left from his old life back in Easton. Even if he hadn¡¯t ruined all those clothes, there was no way they¡¯d still fit. So, he¡¯d been forced to commission a few outfits from Mari, the Tailor his uncle had suggested. The dwarven woman had outdone herself, creating a half-dozen outfits. Three were meant to be worn beneath his armor, but the others were intended as casual wear. Fortunately, they were cut almost identically to one another, and the only choice he needed to make was what color shirt he would wear. As it turned out, he chose a deep green top with fancy, silver embroidery around the collar and cuffs. They were enchantments for durability, which was the only reason he¡¯d allowed for them. Otherwise, he would have preferred solid colors. The pants were dark, brown leather, and the embroidery up their seams was less noticeable. He dressed quickly, then tugged on his best boots. They were a bit worn around the toes, but he couldn¡¯t do anything about that. Still, he spent a few minutes with a wet rag trying to make sure they were mostly presentable. Once all that was taken care of, he spent another ten minutes trying to tame his hair. Most of the time, he just left it loose, but somehow, that didn¡¯t seem appropriate. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. In the end, he realized that he didn¡¯t have the resources necessary to do much, so he opted with a slightly neater take on his normal hairstyle. And just like that, he was mostly presentable. But he hesitated. It wasn¡¯t too late to call it off. He could just go back to training. In fact, he probably should. There was only so much time in the day, and he¡¯d mostly recovered from the morning¡¯s exertions. It was the right thing to do. He could talk to Hope some other time. Miguel was self-aware enough to recognize the excuses for what they were, though. While his excuses were all true, it wouldn¡¯t really hurt to take a day off. Truth be told, everyone kept telling him not to burn himself out, so taking a little time for himself was probably a good idea. ¡°I¡¯m doing this,¡± he said to his reflection. Predictably, the person in the mirror didn¡¯t object. With that, he took a deep breath, squared his shoulders, and left the treehouse. After he¡¯d descended the stairs, he found Trevor waiting for him. The young stag jumped around a few times, clearly wanting to play. However, Miguel just said, ¡°I¡¯m going into town. You want to come with me?¡± Trevor snorted, then flicked his antlers before bounding off into the nearby forest. That answer was clear enough, which meant that Miguel would need to use the rowboat to get to town. It was fine. He could easily manage it. But it would have been much easier if Trevor would have cooperated. Plus, he suspected that swooping in on a magical stag would be far more impressive, which seemed quite important. With a shake of his head, Miguel headed down the path to the dock, and along the way, he passively paid attention to his surroundings. The wildlife was just finishing their preparations for winter, and soon, some of them would go into hibernation. Most wouldn¡¯t, but they would definitely slow down. With that on the horizon, an anticipatory flurry of activity suffused the island. After only a couple of minutes, Miguel reached his destination, then climbed aboard one of the row boats and began the annoying progress of crossing the strait. He very much wished he possessed his uncle¡¯s ability to fly, but he supposed that without Trevor, he¡¯d be stuck on the ground for the time being. Still, he knew he had it better than most. Soon enough, he reached the dock and, after tying it off, headed into the city. He didn¡¯t garner nearly as much attention as he had when he¡¯d first arrived, probably because there were a lot more humans around. Most of those had come from Norcastle, but a few other travelers had found their way to Ironshore from places like Argos and from even as far away as Seattle. Those people largely kept to themselves, though Miguel knew that the authorities kept a close eye on them. After all, the last thing they needed was for a bunch of strangers to cause a fuss. For his part, he just hoped they¡¯d stay away from the island, or else he¡¯d be forced to react, as was his duty. Gradually, he made his way through the city until, at last, he reached the building where Hope and her father were currently staying. After taking a deep breath, he went inside and made his way to the appropriate apartment. Then, after only a little hesitation, he raised his fist and knocked on the door. ¡°Coming!¡± came a familiar and cheerful voice. A moment later, Hope yanked the door open. ¡°Oh, Miguel! I was just thinking about you. Come in.¡± ¡°You were thinking of me?¡± ¡°Well, of the grove, mostly, but you go hand-in-hand with that, right?¡± she answered. Miguel stepped inside, and she asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Is everything okay?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s fine. I was just¡­uh¡­you know, I know you¡¯re new around here, and I was thinking that maybe you wanted to see the city,¡± he offered, noticing a bunch of cloth sitting on one of the nearby counters. ¡°With me. Maybe we can get something to eat, too. And I could show you Druid¡¯s Park. If you want, I mean. If you¡¯re busy, I understand. You¡¯re busy. I get it. I¡¯ll just ¨C¡± ¡°No, of course I want to see the city! It¡¯s all so fascinating,¡± she said. ¡°And everyone here is just so nice. It¡¯s so much better than Forest Hills. Let me get my coat.¡± She did just that, grabbing a large, fur-lined cloak. Then, suddenly, she took hold of his hand. It happened so suddenly that Miguel had no idea how to react. Fortunately, Hope was more than happy to take the lead, and she quickly dragged him out into the hall, saying, ¡°I¡¯m so excited. I haven¡¯t had the chance to explore much at all. Just the couple of times I¡¯ve been out to the grove. And I visited the Alchemist, but that doesn¡¯t count. It¡¯s necessary, but it¡¯s not really exploration, you know?¡± As she led him outside, Miguel just let her go on about how excited she was to see the city. It was so refreshing, especially after everything he¡¯d been through. There was something about her that marked her as entirely different from all the other people he¡¯d met over the past few years. Part of it was innocence, but there was also an optimism about her that he couldn¡¯t help but appreciate. After they were outside, he escorted her through the city, pointing out landmarks and shops he recognized. And as time went on, he became more and more comfortable with her. He was still nervous, but she had a way about her that put his anxiety at ease. Eventually, the pair reached what had become Miguel¡¯s favorite restaurant. ¡°Is this Mexican food?¡± she asked. ¡°Yeah,¡± he said. ¡°Or Tex-Mex, really. My mom says there¡¯s a big difference, but being from Seattle, there weren¡¯t a lot of choices for authentic Mexican food. She tried to cook it a few times, but that is not¡­well, it¡¯s not a strength, even if she probably thinks it is. I¡¯m almost thankful that the way everything works now means that unless you have a cooking skill, you¡¯re probably not going to make anything worth eating. No more bad enchiladas.¡± Hope laughed. ¡°My dad was like that. He used to make his ¡®famous brisket¡¯,¡± she said, using air quotes. ¡°It wasn¡¯t famous, and I question if it was actually brisket. But if I used enough barbecue sauce, it was edible. For a while there, I used to dream about that brisket. Like, things were different back then. Easier. Even with mom gone, the world made sense.¡± ¡°I¡­I lost my mom, too. My other mom, I mean. It was after the world changed, but¡­but I miss her a lot sometimes. All the time, really, unless I¡¯m busy.¡± ¡°Is that why you train so hard?¡± Hope asked. He shrugged. ¡°Partly. But it¡¯s also because it¡¯s fun, pushing myself harder and harder. Seeing what I can make of myself, you know? Sometimes, I kind of resent the system. Like, I can spend months training, and then somebody can get a level and make the same gains. I know that doesn¡¯t change how much all my work means, but it does sometimes feel like it cheapens everything. Colt tells me it shouldn¡¯t matter, that we work at our craft not in pursuit of results, but because we love the process. That¡¯s hard, though. Really hard. He sighed, stopping a few feet from the restaurant¡¯s door. ¡°And now I¡¯ve got so much pressure on me because of the class I chose,¡± he admitted. ¡°Green Warden. It¡¯s supposed to be a leadership class. More than just a defender of the grove, but like a champion. A general, maybe. I don¡¯t know. But that¡¯s a lot, especially with my uncle being gone so much.¡± He looked up to see Hope looking at him with those wide, green eyes of hers. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I didn¡¯t mean to just unload on you like that. I don¡¯t get to talk to people much, unless you count Nerthus, and I really don¡¯t. He¡¯s great, but he doesn¡¯t get people. Other than that, my normal conversation partner is Trevor, and he can¡¯t even talk. So¡­¡± ¡°So, I¡¯m a step up, huh?¡± she asked, giving him a little smirk. She stepped forward and grabbed his hand again. ¡°You don¡¯t have to apologize, you know. I¡¯ll always listen when you need to talk.¡± ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Really.¡± Miguel felt some of the tension go out of his shoulders, but at the same time, his stomach twisted into even tighter knots. He leaned forward, closing his eyes. Then, his lips brushed against hers. She leaned into the kiss, and for the briefest of moments, Miguel froze. Then, instinct took over, and his hand found her waist. Just then, a voice called out, ¡°Hope Nancy Latham.¡± She pulled away. ¡°Crap. Be cool,¡± she murmured. Then, she turned and, in a much louder voice, said, ¡°Daddy! You wouldn¡¯t want to have dinner with us, would you? We were just about to come find you. You know Miguel, right? He¡¯s Elijah¡¯s nephew.¡± Miguel glanced toward the man Hope had addressed, and his heart leaped into his throat. He¡¯d met Ron once before ¨C the day after he had arrived in Ironshore ¨C but he¡¯d heard a few stories from Elijah about the Healer. His uncle had described the man as imminently patient, kind, and an all-around great guy. But in that moment, the glare he directed at Miguel made that description hard to believe. ¡°Hello, Miguel. So good to meet you,¡± was his terse response to his daughter¡¯s invitation. ¡°I look forward to getting to know you much, much better.¡± Given the man¡¯s tone, Miguel wasn¡¯t so sure if those words were true. In fact, it sounded like the complete opposite. His instincts told him to either get ready for a fight or to flee. However, one look at Hope¡¯s, well, hopeful face ¨C and the memory of the kiss that had been interrupted ¨C was all it took to put some steel in Miguel¡¯s spine. ¡°I look forward to it, too, sir,¡± Miguel said, giving Ron his best smile. It didn¡¯t seem to work, but that was okay. He¡¯d win the man over one way or another. Hope was worth it. 7-49. Man Mo Temple It felt like a thousand eyes were following Elijah¡¯s every move. It was not an unreasonable sensation, especially given the setting. In fact, there was a good chance that he¡¯d underestimated the threat. He¡¯d stopped counting the number of zombies in the area at around five hundred, and he knew he¡¯d only scratched the surface of their local population. Yet, none of them had reacted to his ¨C or the rest of the group¡¯s ¨C presence at all. ¡°Most disconcerting, is it not?¡± remarked Gideon. ¡°It feels as though we¡¯ve just jumped into a lion enclosure, but for some reason, the beasts just don¡¯t care about us. With every step, I feel as if I¡¯m waiting for the other shoe to drop and for them to pounce.¡± Elijah nodded. It was a good characterization of how it felt to walk through a horde of zombies who couldn¡¯t sense them at all. On more occasions than he could count, he¡¯d used Guise of the Unseen to walk undetected among his enemies. However, doing so in his human form was, as Gideon had pointed out, unnerving. He¡¯d also questioned whether or not the other members of the team ¨C aside from Dat, Sadie, and Gideon ¨C would be useful. However, at least Zhang Yue, the Thief, had proven his worth. He hadn¡¯t revealed the name of the spell that granted stealth to the entire party, but it was obviously very effective, considering that they¡¯d been using it for the last couple of hours. Lin Tao would hopefully be just as valuable of an addition. ¡°You know you can speak, right?¡± Gideon asked. ¡°Zhang Yue¡¯s spell has an auditory component.¡± ¡°I¡¯m aware,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I just prefer to limit distractions. No stealth is entirely foolproof. I know that from experience.¡± After that, Gideon went silent. Elijah was thankful for it, too. The man wasn¡¯t overtly rude, but something about his demeanor just rubbed Elijah the wrong way. As they continued on, he focused on the other members of the party. Dat was acting as the group¡¯s scout, ranging far ahead and charting their course. Meanwhile, Sadie took the lead, her large sword at the ready. She was wearing a new set of armor ¨C this set was blue enameled with gold highlights and veered closer to the traditional Chinese side than her old armor ¨C but Elijah was happy to see that she hadn¡¯t used her block of Celestial Gold. The material was extremely powerful, and it deserved to be worked by a true master like Carmen. Gideon wore the same armor he¡¯d worn the first time Elijah had met him, which meant that he was clad in modified riot gear. Zhang Yue looked like he was cosplaying a movie ninja, with all black clothing and a pair of shortswords strapped to his back. The Summoner, Lin Tao, wore a white outfit embroidered with subtle flames and featuring a tight bodice with wide-legged pants. Around her waist was a thick, leather belt that almost looked like a corset. She also carried a small wand in a holster at her hip. If he was honest, she was quite attractive, too ¨C in that porcelain beauty sort of way. However, when she was next to Sadie, Elijah had trouble even noticing the Summoner. Comparison between the two wasn¡¯t really something he wanted to focus on, but considering their proximity, it was difficult not to do so. Finally, there was Nico. To Elijah, it seemed clear that the pressure of being one of the strongest people in his settlement had gotten to the Healer. He was acutely aware of his every action, and when he spoke, it sounded almost like he was trying to give a speech. In short, he seemed like someone who¡¯d been thrust into the role of a politician, and he¡¯d reacted by embodying the worst stereotypes associated with that position. If Dat and Sadie hadn¡¯t already vouched for him, Elijah probably would have disliked him as much as Gideon. As it stood, he wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt, but disdain kept creeping in. He knew he¡¯d need to remain on guard for that. Otherwise, it would affect how he treated people, and that was the last thing he wanted. It also wouldn¡¯t help their group dynamics. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take to conquer the Primal Realm, but he suspected it would not be a short trip. So, he knew he needed to remain cognizant of how the group fit together. In short, he needed to be nice. Or at the very least, indifferent. Whatever the case, he would do his best not to offend Nico. Or even Gideon. The group slowly progressed through Hong Kong as they made their way to the first destination, which was the Man Mo Temple. Thankfully, it was not that far from the International Commerce Centre. Apparently, it had once been a single bridge away on the northwestern coast of Hong Kong Island, but after the transformation of the world ¨C and the shuffling of the land ¨C the International Commerce Centre was now on the northeastern coast of the same, now-enlarged island. That meant they needed to travel a little over ten miles in order to get to the Man Mo Temple. Which shouldn¡¯t have taken very long. After all, in Shape of Sky, Elijah could reach triple digits in terms of miles per hour. Yet, their journey was complicated by the presence of so many zombies and the flying creatures ¨C which the others called kamikazes due to their attack method. So, they continued on foot, moving slowly in order to avoid alerting the hordes of undead waiting to rip them to pieces. Elijah expected that if it came down to it, they could probably fight the creatures off. Even alone, he could make a good showing, and each member of the group was powerful in their own right. Still, from what he had experienced during his own bout of exploration, he knew that the numbers of undead were nearly endless. The group¡¯s stamina was not. So, if it ended up in a fight, they would, in all likelihood, be overrun. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. At least that was true of the others. For Elijah¡¯s part, he knew that he could always escape. But that wasn¡¯t his charge. It was further evidence that, in the Trial of Primacy, he¡¯d gotten incredibly lucky when it came to the other members of his group. That they could keep up with him was a minor miracle of coincidence, and he knew that, aside from Dat and Sadie, these new group members could never hope to match their performance. The result was that he had to slow himself down, and not by an inconsiderable amount. Especially with Lupine Reflexes active, which, due to the nature of its evolution, could no longer be applied to others. It took all of Elijah¡¯s patience not to simply shift into Shape of the Predator, use Guise of the Unseen, and go scouting. Or exploring, considering just moving was probably far more important to his psyche than finding any information that might help the group. Whatever the case, he pushed his impatience aside and focused on the task at hand. He trusted Zhang Yue¡¯s ability ¨C it had worked so far, after all ¨C but there were always exceptions. Who knew if there was a particular sort of undead who was capable of seeing through stealth? So, Elijah remained on guard as they wove their way through the hordes of zombies. Thankfully, his wariness wasn¡¯t necessary, because they reached their destination without issue. ¡°Are we certain this is the place?¡± asked Gideon, gazing up at the temple. From what Elijah understood, it had once been a relatively small building. Only about sixty feet wide and thirty feet deep. However, it had clearly grown, likely when it had been chosen as the shrine associated with the Primal Realm. Now, the building was at least twice the size of its former incarnation. Still not huge ¨C especially compared to some other, more complex temples in the city ¨C but big enough to be imposing. As far as the appearance, it was surrounded by a white wall topped with green tiles, and the building itself featured a sloped roof with elaborate carvings at the peak. Chinese characters Elijah couldn¡¯t read stood above the door. Sadie answered, ¡°It is. Can¡¯t you feel it?¡± Elijah certainly could, but Gideon looked a little skeptical. Clearly, his ability to sense ethera was too weak to recognize the powerful vortex emanating from within the temple. Unfortunately, Soul of the Wild was incapable of penetrating the building itself, so he had no idea what awaited within. ¡°What now?¡± asked Dat. ¡°Obviously, we¡¯re supposed to go inside,¡± Gideon answered before anyone else could offer an opinion. ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Without waiting, he stepped forward. However, when he reached the gap in the wall that was the entrance to the grounds, he hit an invisible barrier. After rebounding slightly, he frowned. ¡°That is quite unexpected.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± asked Lin Tao, the first time she¡¯d spoken. ¡°See for yourself,¡± Gideon replied, gesturing toward the opening. The others did just that, though Elijah hung back slightly. He waited, watching their expressions change as, one by one, they laid their hands on the invisible shield. Via Soul of the Wild, Elijah could barely sense the thin plane of ethera, and though it seemed extremely fragile, he knew that if he tried to shatter it, he would fail miserably. It was something created by the system, and as such, it was all but infallible. Finally, he stepped forward and laid his own hand against the barrier. Immediately, a notification appeared before his inner eye.
You have arrived at Man Mo Temple. To earn the Blessing of War, enter and complete the challenge within. Entry is restricted to one individual at a time. The challenge resets in 7 days upon completion or failure. For access to The Desolate Reach, only one party member (maximum of six for each instance of the blessing) is required to obtain the blessing. Do you wish to enter? [Yes] or [No]
¡°I see,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I should go,¡± Sadie offered. ¡°My summons make me perfect for this sort of thing,¡± stated Lin Tao. ¡°I should be the one.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°I¡¯ll do it,¡± he said. ¡°Of everyone here, I¡¯m the most self-sufficient. I can heal, do damage, stealth, and survive when most of you ¨C aside from Sadie and maybe Gideon, assuming he took some sort of defender class ¨C would be killed. I¡¯m the obvious choice.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to, Elijah. I can do it,¡± Sadie insisted. ¡°I know you can,¡± he responded. ¡°But¡­well, I¡¯m a higher level, and I¡¯m more versatile. I stand a better chance of doing this without injury.¡± It was an uncomfortable point to make, largely because much of Sadie¡¯s self-perception was wrapped up in the ability to do her duty. She was strong, and she used that power to safeguard her people. That was who she needed to be. It was who she had forced herself to become. However, if nothing else, Sadie was an eminently rational person, and though her agreement came begrudgingly, she eventually nodded and said, ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± She glanced toward the others. ¡°Any objections?¡± Gideon coughed and weakly offered himself for the role, but to Elijah, it was clear that the man never intended to follow through with it. He knew it would be refused, and the offer merely existed to save his reputation and avoid being called a coward. Or maybe that wasn¡¯t it at all. Perhaps Elijah¡¯s perception of the man¡¯s personality had infected the way he saw Gideon¡¯s actions. Regardless, everyone else agreed, and after spending a few moments stretching and ensuring he had all of his gear ready and buffs active, he stepped forward, Feral Spire in hand. Then, he laid his fingers on the barrier, re-read the notification, then selected the affirmative response. The barrier disappeared beneath his hand, and a new notification appeared:
Prove yourself worthy of the Blessing of War. Proceed into the Shrine.
After taking a deep breath, Elijah looked back at Sadie and grinned as he said, ¡°Here goes nothing.¡± Without waiting for a response, he stepped forward, and everything went briefly black. It only lasted for a second, but even in that short span, Elijah felt a moment of panic. Thankfully, it lifted soon after, but when he beheld the scene before him, he couldn¡¯t help but gasp. Clearly, he was no longer in Hong Kong. 7-50. A Matter of Martial Might Elijah stood on a cliff, staring in awe at the complex across the bridge. From an aesthetic standpoint, it was almost identical to the Man Mo Temple he¡¯d seen from without. However, it was much, much larger, looking more like a grand fortress than a modest temple in the middle of a city. The bridge itself was made of white bricks trimmed in jade, with sculptures of iconic creatures ¨C ranging from pandas to dragons ¨C adorning each pillar. ¡°You must proceed, or you will be expelled from the Shrine of War,¡± said a man Elijah hadn¡¯t even noticed. He had no presence, even to the sense granted by Soul of the Wild. It was as if he didn¡¯t exist. However, when Elijah looked at him ¨C clad in decorative, white and green armor in the Chinese style ¨C he looked solid enough. More importantly, the halberd he carried radiated a sense of power that made Elijah instinctively recoil. The guard gestured toward the bridge. ¡°Go. Test your mettle.¡± Elijah knew better than to disobey. So, he took a deep breath and stepped forward. When he set foot onto the bridge, he was immediately thrown against the railing by the gusting wind. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t tumble over, but he did get a view of the snow-covered ground thousands of feet below. He pushed away from the railing, braced himself for the frigid wind, then proceeded forward. Over the next few hundred feet, the elements tried extremely hard to dislodge him from the bridge. If he was knocked off, he could have survived the fall by shifting into the Shape of Sky. However, he suspected that flying in that environment would be extremely difficult ¨C if not impossible. What¡¯s more, he believed that getting across the bridge was part of the intended challenge. Regardless, Elijah had a good counter, so he shifted into the Shape of Venom, then skittered forward. With his much lower center of gravity and his ability to stick to any surface, the task became trivial, and he covered the remaining ground quickly and without incident. Still, when he finally reached the end and stepped off the bridge, he let out a hissing sigh of relief. Shifting back into his human form, he glanced around. Before the enormous Shrine of War was an expansive plaza paved with white stones that had been engraved with intricate patterns Elijah couldn¡¯t identify. On each end were tall trees that, to Elijah, felt like they¡¯d been wrestled into submission and shackled. From a visual perspective, that impression was supported by their unnatural shapes. The trunks were perfectly straight, and each limb was arranged to support a perfectly symmetrical whole. Clearly, someone had gone to quite extensive lengths to cultivate a very specific aesthetic. Elijah wanted nothing more than to free those trees, but he pushed those feelings aside. For one, he questioned whether or not the shrine was even real. In all likelihood, it was a solid illusion on par with what he¡¯d find in a tower. There was probably more to it than that, but Elijah didn¡¯t have time to figure out what qualified as real and what did not. In any case, the other reason he couldn¡¯t afford to think about it was because of his purpose. He¡¯d entered the shrine with specific intention, and that reason had nothing to do with mutilated and enslaved trees. So, he pulled his awareness back and approached the shrine¡¯s front doors. They were enormous ¨C probably twenty feet tall ¨C made of gold-inlaid jade, and three feet thick. Thankfully, they were also open. So, Elijah ascended the stairs, then entered the building. The interior was not what he expected. Certainly, the d¨¦cor followed the same theme, which was somewhat reminiscent of Chinese culture, but somehow bastardized by an outside source that only understood the most basic details. However, what truly drew Elijah¡¯s interest was the huge circle in the middle of the floor. It was a couple hundred feet wide and defined by a slightly raised platform upon which it sat. Around it were hundreds of figures, each wearing identical white robes. Three-hundred and fourteen, to be exact, according to Soul of the Wild. Some were stronger than others, but the most powerful stood in a clump of twenty-five. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how strong they were ¨C not exactly ¨C but he knew they were far from weak. Beyond that, his perception was a little muddy. ¡°Proceed to the center of the Ring of Battle,¡± they all intoned. However, Elijah¡¯s attention was on a lone figure ¨C easily missed ¨C on the other side of the room. The man looked like he¡¯d just stepped out of a kung fu film where he played the venerable old master, but more importantly, he was floating about four feet off the ground, his legs crossed in the lotus position. ¡°Proceed or die,¡± the circle of figures stated. ¡°You have five seconds.¡± Elijah wasted no more time before he obeyed their command. He thought he knew what was coming, but he would withhold judgement until he had more information. Whatever the case, when he reached the center of the so-called Ring of Battle, he held his staff at the ready, expecting a fight. ¡°Round one. Commence,¡± came a singular voice that Elijah vaguely recognized as coming from the old man. Immediately, one of the fighters ¨C he looked like a young man, maybe in his mid-twenties and well-muscled ¨C stepped forward. He bowed before Elijah, then launched into an attack. Elijah¡¯s reaction was immediate and instinctive. His Feral Spire lashed out, smashing into the man¡¯s head and sending him tumbling to the other side of the circle. He was dead before his momentum was spent. ¡°Round two. Commence.¡± Two figures stepped forward, one from either side of the circle. They both bowed, then approached more cautiously than the first. From the way they moved ¨C as well as the vibrancy of their life force and ethera ¨C Elijah could tell that they were slightly higher-leveled than their predecessor. When they attacked, they did so on two different vectors. One went high, while the other went low. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Elijah took the low blow, which barely even shifted his leg, but the second attacker¡¯s strike found nothing but air. Elijah countered, his staff crushing the unbalanced fighter¡¯s ribs and sending him skidding across the circle. The second, Elijah kicked in the face. She went down, her face a bloody pulp. For a moment, Elijah expected the next round to begin, but then he realized the truth. Simply disabling his opponents wouldn¡¯t be enough. He needed to kill them. Suddenly, he remembered the name associated with the challenge. It was the Shrine of War. Not of competition. Not of the friendly tournament. War was brutal and bloody, and often wasn¡¯t decided until the other side was dead. So it would be with this event. It was too easy, executing those people. He knew they weren¡¯t real, that they hadn¡¯t even existed before he entered the Shrine of War. However, they looked real enough to activate the parts of his brain responsible for a guilty conscience. He was well-versed in looking past those sorts of feelings, but that didn¡¯t mean he could ignore them entirely. Still, he did what he had to do, and when his two opponents were dead, three more entered the circle. Following the same pattern, they were stronger than their predecessors, but Elijah still had no issues defeating them. This time, when he counterattacked, he aimed for kill shots. That was easier than executing unconscious people. The next round featured four people. Then five. Six. On it went until fifteen fighters stepped out of the encircling crowd. This time, Elijah took a beating. More attacks landed, and when they did, they hit with enough force to stun him. However, with his healing spells, Elijah had few issues with defeating them. When sixteen fighters stepped out, he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to remain in his human form. By that point, though, Elijah had decided to use the Ring of Battle as an opportunity to test his fighting acumen. So, even though the situation likely called for Shape of Thorn, he instead shifted into the form of the blight dragon. Increased attributes flooded his status, making him stronger, faster, and more coordinated. More importantly, he had the potent Envenom on his side. He skittered across the ring, taking the battle to his opponents. The fighters all used a variant of martial arts that resembled kung fu, so the first one he targeted tried to stop him with a powerful front kick. Elijah had no trouble darting out of its path before leaping upon his enemy. To his credit, the man executed a perfect block, but he¡¯d clearly been trained to fight other humans. And at the moment, that did not describe Elijah. His fangs sank into the fighter¡¯s forearm, delivering Elijah¡¯s powerful venom. A second later, the man collapsed, dead before he hit the ground. It seemed that Envenom had become much stronger. It should not have been that surprising, given the advancement of Elijah¡¯s core to the Drakyn stage, as well as the sheer number of attribute points he¡¯d gained. Still, he hadn¡¯t expected the man to fall quite so quickly. He didn¡¯t take time to think about how much more potent Envenom had become, though. Instead, he sprang to the side, avoiding another attack before racing around and biting every fighter he could. He considered just taking the fight to the ones outside the ring, but he suspected that leaving the circle would be considered losing. Once the sixteenth fighter of the wave fell, the still-floating master in the back of the chamber announced, ¡°Round seventeen. Commence.¡± And unsurprisingly, the pattern continued. So it went all the way through the twentieth round, and though the challengers became stronger each round, Elijah had no real trouble defeating them. That changed in the twenty-first round, when the fighters took a large step forward in their strength. Suddenly, blows that Elijah could have easily dodged before connected, and he was forced to shift mid-air and resume his human form. He cast Soothe and Blessing of the Grove, landing in a roll. He didn¡¯t have time to shift into the Shape of Thorn, so even as he dodged one attack after another, he embraced Lightning Domain. Huge bolts of electricity erupted from his body, scouring the entire circle as they encircled him. The ones closest to Elijah were burned so badly that, within seconds, they¡¯d become charred husks. However, after around twenty feet, the whips of lightning lost some of their power, and the fighters were only injured. Twenty feet later, the only negative effects were a stun. Clearly, Elijah needed more power. He¡¯d always known that his class wasn¡¯t meant for casting. He could do it, and because of his stage of core cultivation, his attempts were strong enough to get results. Most of the time, at least. But at the root of his class ¨C and the evolution into the Primal Lord ¨C were his bestial shapes. And there was one form that was perfectly suited to fighting multiple opponents. As Lightning Domain wound down, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Thorn. Doing so took a bit longer than transforming into the blight dragon, so by the time the shift completed, the remaining fighters ¨C all eleven of them ¨C had closed on him. Elijah lashed out with his increased Strength, taking the first one by surprise. His backhand crushed the man¡¯s shoulder, but the fighter wasn¡¯t so easily deterred. He snapped out a kick that would have broken a leg if Elijah had remained in his human form. However, with his enhanced Constitution and Scales of Bark, Elijah barely felt it. More importantly, the surprise that came with such an ineffective attack opened the fighter up to Elijah¡¯s immediate reprisal. His fist descended with so much force that, when it hit, every bone in the man¡¯s torso broke. Many of them erupted from his chest, spraying blood and bits of flesh. After that, Elijah met the rest of the wave of attackers head-on. They landed plenty of blows, but such was the Shape of Thorn¡¯s durability that their attacks did very little damage. Still, the constant fighting had begun to wear on Elijah. He could keep going ¨C especially physically ¨C but he knew that his endurance was not endless. Not that it mattered. He still had plenty of tools to meet the challenge. The next round wasn¡¯t much more difficult than the last, but there was another jump in difficulty that came with the twenty-third wave. The same was true of the twenty-fourth, and what Elijah thought was the last round was the most difficult of all. Each landed attack now did significant damage, and Elijah found that he was too slow to truly combat the fighters. As a result, they pelted him with damage until, at last, he decided to play his most potent card. To combat the powerful fighters, Elijah was forced to activate both Domain of Vines and Unchecked Growth. Even that wasn¡¯t quite as effective as he¡¯d expected. Sure, a few were killed, but most were only trapped by the snaking vines. Instead, Elijah had to finish them off via execution. They tried to fight him off. They struggled against the powerful vines. But in the end, they were no match. Finally, when the last one died, all three hundred-plus bodies disappeared, and the old master finally opened his eyes. He locked his stare onto Elijah and said, ¡°Good. You have proven yourself worthy of testing.¡± He descended from his perch, his feet alighting onto the floor with barely a whisper. ¡°Prepare yourself, warrior.¡± Then, he stepped forward, and Elijah was overwhelmed by the weight of the man¡¯s presence. Like him, the master was ascended. 7-51. Master Elijah let Shape of Thorn fall away, and he stood statue-still in the center of the circle. Even the blood ¨C of which there was quite a lot ¨C had disappeared, leaving the tiles entirely pristine. The old man stepped into the circle. When he was ten feet away, he stopped and studied Elijah. His eyes settled on the Feral Spire, and he nodded. A second later, an unadorned quarterstaff appeared in his hands. It was as long as the old man was tall, which Elijah put at a little more than five and a half feet. In that respect, Elijah and his foe were almost identical, though he knew that he was a bit heavier than the old man. ¡°What is your name?¡± ¡°Elijah Hart. You?¡± ¡°I have no name. I gave it up to join my order.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that had any basis in reality or if the system had simply chosen an easy excuse for it not to come up with a backstory. Whatever the case, it supported the air of mystery hanging over the shrine as well as its occupants. While Elijah pondered that, the old man asked, ¡°Are you sufficiently prepared?¡± Elijah cocked his head to the side, then said, ¡°One moment.¡± Then, he activated Shape of the Master. The transformation took a little more than a second, but it came with a disorienting shift in perspective. When it was complete, he found himself looking up at the old man. Elijah rolled his narrow shoulders, then tightened his grip on the Feral Spire. ¡°I¡¯m ready,¡± he spoke, somewhat surprised at how deep his voice had become. It crackled like a campfire with every word, and tendrils of smoke drifted up from the corners of his wide mouth. The old man bowed, and Elijah felt compelled to do the same. A heartbeat after they¡¯d both completed the respectful gesture, the old master sprang forward. He moved so quickly that Elijah knew that if his reaction speeds hadn¡¯t been so enhanced ¨C by his current form, the Sash of the Whirlwind, and Lupine Reflexes ¨C he never would¡¯ve even seen the staff screaming toward his head. As it was, he managed to throw his own staff up in a block. However, what he had not expected was for that speed to translate into power. The Feral Spire was knocked aside, and Elijah skidded sideways across the smooth tile. He let himself tuck into a roll that dissipated his momentum before he leaped to his feet, ready for a follow-up attack. None came. The old man remained in place, looking slightly perplexed that his attack hadn¡¯t landed. His staff ¨C which looked to be a mundane piece of cylindrical wood ¨C arced with blue-and-white energy. ¡°You are more than you appear, shapeshifter,¡± the master stated. ¡°As are you,¡± Elijah countered, his voice crackling. With the block, Evasion had failed to activate, which meant that Heart of Fire had not ignited. He recalled the spell¡¯s description:
Evasion Each dodged attack builds a charge of Heart of Fire.
Clearly, he would need to actually avoid contact if he was meant to ignite Heart of Fire. However, he did recognize that the fight against the old man was the perfect opportunity to truly test the limits of his newest form. He¡¯d used it against the abomination in the metro, but that creature had been far enough below him that it had never been an even match. The old man was. He might even be stronger than Elijah. Certainly, he was faster. The only reason he felt confident about his chances was his enhanced reaction speeds. But even then, the outcome of the fight was no sure thing. And that excited Elijah. With his competitive juices flowing, he stepped forward, his staff at the ready. The old man didn¡¯t speak before he launched another attack ¨C this one, a blistering combination that alternated between high and low and ended with an overhand strike that should have crushed Elijah¡¯s skull. The man moved like water, his every motion flowing into the next without a hint of hesitation. Elijah dodged them all, leaping over the low sweep, then throwing himself backward to avoid the follow-up swing. Then, he danced to the side, dodging the overhand attack. The old man¡¯s staff clacked against the white tiles, echoing through the chamber. Even as the sound bounced from one wall to the next, Elijah felt his Heart of Fire ignite. It was barely a spark, but the warmth in his chest was incredibly comforting. However, aside from winning the fight and obtaining the Blessing of War, Elijah had another goal. So, when the next series of attacks came, Elijah raised his staff to block. The chamber was filled with the sound of clacking staves as the old man rattled off a half-dozen attacks in the space of a second. Elijah blocked them all, then sprang backward to take stock of his situation. And what he found was encouraging. Heart of Fire had grown no hotter, but he also hadn¡¯t lost any of the spark. The implications were clear. Blocking attacks didn¡¯t build charges, but doing so didn¡¯t hurt him, either. The next thing he wanted to check wasn¡¯t something he was looking forward to. Still, he steeled himself against his misgivings, then stepped forward. The fight resumed, with Elijah weaving blocks and dodges into the mix. However, this time, he also managed to attack a few times. The old man proved as adept at avoiding attacks as he was at dishing them out, and Elijah never even came close to hitting him. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Then, the opportunity Elijah was waiting on presented itself. It came in the form of a short jab ¨C just a measuring attack that was meant to establish distance. Elijah seized upon the chance, letting the butt of the man¡¯s quarterstaff clip in him in the shoulder. Even that blow ¨C barely more than a graze ¨C sent Elijah spinning sideways. The old man was obviously surprised to have connected, and for the first time, he hesitated. That was all it took for Elijah to recover and regain his defensive posture. ¡°Do you tire, shapeshifter?¡± asked the man. Elijah answered, ¡°Not even close.¡± However, as he spoke, he cast his attention inward, and he was unsurprised to see that his Heart of Fire had gone dark. The implications were clear. If he was hit, then he¡¯d have to start over. It was a powerful, but unforgiving ability. More, it cast the name of the spell in a new light. Shape of the Master did not, as he¡¯d previously thought, grant him mastery. Instead, the name was aspirational. Mastery was a requirement if he wanted to get the most out of it. To that end, Elijah tightened his grip and stepped forward. This time, the only thing on his mind was pushing himself to the limits of his fighting prowess. He was no master with the staff ¨C or really, as a fighter at all ¨C and it quickly became apparent that the old man was his superior in nearly every way. As he¡¯d first suspected, without his improved reaction times, Elijah wouldn¡¯t have stood a chance. Yet, he didn¡¯t let himself grow frustrated. Instead, he forced himself to adjust. He needed to adapt if he wanted to be more than just his abilities. So far, Elijah had mostly used them as a crutch. Sure ¨C there was always some strategy involved. The timely application of his spells was a skill in and of itself. However, he¡¯d mostly gotten by via superior attributes, the ability to heal himself from most injuries, and, at times, luck. That trend needed to end. Never was that more obvious than as the fight against the old man progressed. At first, Elijah struggled to build even ten charges of Heart of Fire before his efforts were ruined by a landed attack. Fortunately, he was able to avoid any real damage, but that wasn¡¯t the point. Even a glancing blow was a failure. Slowly, though, Elijah began to use the additional facets of his Jade Mind to keep track of multiple things at once. The primary facet drove his body, but the others focused on various aspects of combat. Like looking for indicators that the old man was about to attack. Slight shifts of weight. A blink. Tightening his grip on his staff. The subtle bunching of his muscles that indicated that he was about to swing his weapon. At first, it was difficult to interpret so much information. Yet, Elijah had developed some degree of skill in that arena. He used his hard-won expertise to anticipate the man¡¯s every movement, and over the stretch ¨C it lasted somewhere close to an hour ¨C his results were obvious. Attacks that should have surprised him were now telegraphed, and he went from topping out at around ten charges of Heart of Fire to closer to twenty-five. Still not enough to unleash Incinerate and expect to end the fight, but the progress was encouraging. Unfortunately, the old man was a veteran combatant and a master in his own right, and he suddenly switched his attack patterns. That nearly got Elijah killed. The staff came out of nowhere, and Elijah narrowly managed to throw himself to the side in an effort to dodge. He was unsuccessful, and the butt of the weapon smashed him across the side of the head. Fortunately, the force was somewhat mitigated by his preemptive movement, but even then, he went staggering across the circle, his mind spinning. He managed to push the disorientation into its own facet, and just in time to see another attack coming. Elijah threw his staff up, blocking the blow that would have broken his bones. It drove him into the floor, cracking tiles from the sheer force of the attack. Elijah held, though barely. He shifted his own staff into an attack that forced the old man back. ¡°You adjust well,¡± the old man said, circling Elijah. ¡°If only my students were so talented.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not talented. Just persistent.¡± ¡°One and the same, young one.¡± After that, the battle resumed. Elijah didn¡¯t let his concentration slip, but it felt like he was back to square one. He took a few hits here and there, but none were as effective as the last major blow. Yet, as the hours passed, he continued to learn. No person was infallible. Everyone made mistakes. And every fighter ¨C no matter how skilled ¨C fell into patterns. Elijah only had to find the old man¡¯s. However, it was almost ten hours into the fight when Elijah realized that he was following the wrong path. Focusing outward was all well and good ¨C necessary even ¨C but it was only a piece of the puzzle. He also needed to look inward, to control himself as precisely as he monitored his opponent. With that in mind, he delegated that task to one facet, and he immediately found a thousand flaws. Movements that he had taken for granted ¨C like a simple jab with his staff ¨C were now obviously inefficient. Correcting each one individually would only result in a slight improvement, but taken all together, they could make the difference he needed. Elijah shifted another facet of his mind to that endeavor. Retraining muscle memory was always difficult, largely because of just how much focus it required. However, with Elijah¡¯s Jade mind on the task, it became easier. Only slightly, but that was enough that he could enact real change in a relatively short amount of time. Hour after hour, he focused on the inefficiencies of his fighting style, and in doing so, he began to land more blows. It would take quite a lot of time and practice to cement the changes into new muscle memory. Weeks of focused training, at the very least. Perhaps months or years. But at the moment, he didn¡¯t need to go that far. He just needed enough to finish the old master. After a particularly furious exchange that resulted in Elijah landing three successive hits, the old man broke away. Between gasping breaths, he said, ¡°You learn much more quickly than I expected. The time for sparring is finished, though. I hoped to spare you from this fate, but my mission is clear. I am sorry.¡± Then, the old man slammed his staff into the floor, shattering the tiles. A second later, he thrust his weapon into the air. Ethera swirled, gathering around the staff, then snaking down its shaft and into the old man. Glowing blue veins bulged on his forehead as energy raced through his body. He opened his mouth to say something. But by that point, Elijah had had enough. He only had a few over forty charges banked in his Heart of Fire, but he hoped that would be enough to at least disrupt the man¡¯s spell. He opened his mouth and used Incinerate. The old man¡¯s eyes widened as a column of dense flames engulfed him. Elijah immediately knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill his opponent outright ¨C which was a testament to how powerful the old man really was. However, when the flames died down, he was surprised to see that the old man had not survived intact. His skin was broken and blistered, and his staff had turned to ash. One of his arms was missing from the elbow down, and his clothing had been entirely incinerated. The skin beneath was so charred that Elijah wondered how the man was still alive. But he was. Albeit only barely. Elijah stepped forward, intent on putting the man out of his misery. Yet, when he drew within a few feet, he saw a slight twitch that triggered one facet of his mind. He dove to the side just as a beam of blue-and-white energy erupted from the old man¡¯s chest. It hit the wall on the other side of the chamber, but it didn¡¯t stop there. Instead, everywhere it touched simply disappeared. It was obviously a similar power to what Elijah had seen from the white dragon in his core vision. Not as powerful ¨C he could tell that much ¨C but it clearly had a similar origin. When Elijah looked back at his foe, he saw that the old man had collapsed. He was still alive, though each breath was labored. He shuddered in obvious agony. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Elijah said, standing over him. ¡°Don¡¯t be, young one. There is no shame in defeat.¡± Elijah disagreed, but he couldn¡¯t quite articulate why he felt that way. Nor was he inclined to explain himself. Instead, he raised his staff, half expecting the old man to lash out again. He did not, and when Elijah¡¯s staff fell, it found no resistance. The old man¡¯s misery ended with a crushed skull, and Elijah received a notification saying that he had received the Blessing of War. He barely read it. Instead, he just turned, shifting back into his human form as he strode toward the exit. 7-52. To Tin Hau Temple Elijah stepped through the gate and found nothing waiting. For a moment, he was extremely confused until Dat spoke up. ¡°Hey, bro,¡± he said. ¡°We got tired of waiting out in the open, so we moved across the street.¡± ¡°Since when could you talk and not break stealth?¡± ¡°New evolution,¡± Dat answered. ¡°Come on.¡± With that, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild, and his efforts were rewarded with a subtle sense of Dat¡¯s position. It was so easy to miss ¨C just a slight disturbance in the local ethera ¨C that if he hadn¡¯t known about it ahead of time, he would have ignored it altogether. But now that he knew what to look for, he leveraged his Jade Mind to the task of keeping track of the Witch Hunter. Otherwise, he focused on crossing the street to what appeared to be a two-story restaurant. At one point, it had likely catered to the tourists visiting the temple, and it had been decorated to exemplify a similar aesthetic. However, where the temple had radiated age and elegance, the restaurant just looked like a cheap knock-off and a tourist trap. Appropriate, given that¡¯s what it had been. Once he¡¯d crossed the street, Elijah stepped into the restaurant to find the others waiting on him. To pass the time, Lin Tao and Zhang Yue were playing a game of Mahjong. Meanwhile, Gideon was reading a book while Sadie polished her sword. As far as Elijah knew, the latter was unnecessary ¨C the weapon was a high-grade item ¨C but he knew Sadie well enough to recognize that taking care of her gear was something akin to a nervous tick. A compulsion she needed to follow, lest she grow anxious. ¡°Good news,¡± he announced when everyone looked up. ¡°I have the Blessing of War.¡± Then, he went on to explain the nature of the Shrine¡¯s challenge. He kept the details relatively light, largely because he didn¡¯t want to reveal the depth of his abilities to a bunch of strangers. Dat and Sadie knew what he could do, but he trusted them. The others, not so much. Perhaps they would earn his trust along the way, but for now, he intended to keep them at arm¡¯s length. Especially Gideon, who always looked at him with a mixture of ambition, anger, and a healthy degree of disdain. Or at least that was true when he thought Elijah wasn¡¯t looking. When he thought he was being observed, he took on a very different and far more approachable demeanor. Regardless, Elijah explained what he could, then asked, ¡°So, should we move on to the next? I think it¡¯ll be more difficult, if only because of the location.¡± Indeed, the Tin Hau Temple was located on a small island in the middle of Victoria Harbor. That was where the giant squid lived, and Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if it was even the most fearsome creature that called the harbor home. Regardless, his previous scouting expedition had established the location of the next Shrine, so they didn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. ¡°Where¡¯s Nico?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Out back meditating,¡± Dat answered. Elijah cast his awareness into the sense afforded by Soul of the Wild, and it only took him a moment to find Nico. The man sat next to a faux-gold lion statue, his legs crossed as ethera swirled around him. It was clear that he was attempting ¨C and failing ¨C to cultivate. Elijah didn¡¯t know what to make of that, except to acknowledge that other people were trying to improve as well. If he stopped even for a moment, they would catch ¨C or even surpass ¨C him. And he couldn¡¯t let that happen. Not because he had a fundamental need to be at the top, but rather because he knew precisely how enticing his grove would be to the wrong sorts of people. He needed to be among the strongest people in the world if he wanted to protect it. Sadie offered, ¡°I¡¯ll go get him. We don¡¯t have time to sit around. The Primal Realm has been open for more than a day, and each passing hour will strengthen their position.¡± As she headed toward the back, Elijah realized that she was right. Dragon Tiger Mountain had been hard enough to infiltrate when the Primal Realm wasn¡¯t open, and he suspected it would be much more difficult now. When Sadie left the room, the others started gathering their things, and as they did, Elijah finally acknowledged that he¡¯d gained a level in the shrine, putting him at one-thirty-seven:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 137
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 374 (227)
Dexterity 372 (213)
Constitution 367 (236)
Ethera 251 (238)
Regeneration Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. 294 (241)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
His attribute had taken the expected leap forward, though in his human form, the numbers didn¡¯t seem quite as high as they did in his other shapes. Regardless, he was glad to see that his leveling speed hadn¡¯t been too negatively affected. It had taken more than three-hundred kills ¨C plus one truly powerful opponent ¨C for Elijah to gain another level, but that wasn¡¯t too far off the mark from the pace he¡¯d observed toward the end of the Trial of Primacy. Of course, he still wasn¡¯t certain how much experience he got from focusing on non-combat parts of his class. Tending to the grove, building dolmens, and experimenting with plant life all resulted in at least some progression, and in fact, most Druids relied almost exclusively on those to level. So, he expected that his actions during his month-long bout of nonviolence had probably given him more progress than he¡¯d expected. By the time he finished inspecting his status, Sadie had returned with her brother in tow. He didn¡¯t look happy, probably because his meditation had been interrupted. However, he gave Elijah a glare that suggested he hadn¡¯t enjoyed being kept waiting. As if Elijah had had any choice in the matter. He¡¯d dealt with the shrine as quickly as he could, and what¡¯s more, he suspected that if any of the others ¨C save for Sadie or perhaps Dat ¨C had attempted it, they would have died. Elijah decided to ignore Nico¡¯s obvious disdain, and soon enough, the group was back on the road, trekking across Hong Kong Island on their way to their next destination. The island they sought was off the eastern tip of the island, which meant the group needed to travel lengthwise across the entire landmass. From what Elijah had seen from above ¨C as well as what was on Sadie¡¯s maps ¨C the island had grown to nearly fifty miles across and half as wide. So, they had a long way to go. Fortunately, the terrain was mostly clear enough, which meant they were capable of making pretty decent progress. Their way was slowed by two factors, though. First, there were occasional obstacles in their way. From fallen buildings to piles of cars, the obstructions forced them into frequent detours. A few times, those alternate routes led to even larger obstacles, which in turn necessitated a winding path that took them farther inland than any of them preferred. Along the way, Elijah saw plenty of sights he had missed during his first bout of exploration. Once, Hong Kong had been a rich and incredible place, and beneath the destruction and grime of five-plus years of neglect, much of that still showed through. He saw more supercars ¨C abandoned and covered in detritus ¨C than he¡¯d ever thought possible, and there were dozens of businesses catering to wealthy clientele. It was odd, seeing high-end stores with their goods left mostly ignored. But then again, when the world had been inundated by magic and the city overrun by zombies, it was difficult to get excited about the latest design from Louis Vuitton. Not that such things ever really appealed to Elijah. Even before his cancer diagnosis, he¡¯d never been much for garish materialism. He appreciated quality in the things he bought, but the status represented by the ability to buy luxury goods was never terribly appealing to him. His ex-girlfriend back in Hawaii had been of a different mindset, which was probably one of the reasons they¡¯d drifted apart. That, and his cancer diagnosis, to which he¡¯d reacted by pushing everyone away. But if they¡¯d shared a similar mindset, perhaps they would have forged through that distance. It didn¡¯t matter, though. That was in the past, and in all likelihood, Nina and everyone he knew back in Hawaii was already dead. And if they weren¡¯t, then it was extremely improbable that he¡¯d ever see any of them again. Even before Earth¡¯s expansion, they were half a world away. But afterwards? They could be tens of thousands of miles distant. So, it was better if he just didn¡¯t think about that kind of thing. Instead, he focused on the other issue that plagued their journey across Hong Kong ¨C the undead. He¡¯d gotten a pretty good idea of just how ubiquitous the zombie population had become, but he was still surprised when they were confronted by half a mile of street where the creatures stood shoulder-to-shoulder, almost as if they were hibernating. One little sound, and they would erupt into a frenzy that would put starved piranha to shame. Thankfully, Zhang Yue was more than just a walking stealth bubble. Not only had he memorized the maps provided, but he was also equipped with a powerful Explorer ability that helped him navigate the terrain. Elijah already had a healthy respect for the archetype, but seeing how valuable Zhang Yue¡¯s guidance proved to be, he found himself even more appreciative for what a good Explorer could provide. It also begged the question of just what the other archetypes could do. It was easy to dismiss people that had chosen to become Scholars, Entertainers, and Administrators, but there were obviously benefits to every archetype. They just weren¡¯t all focused on combat, which meant that they were markedly less popular in what amounted to a post-apocalyptic situation. Those thoughts accompanied Elijah as they snaked their way across the city. Every now and again, he looked across the harbor and saw that Hong Kong extended onto the mainland. More, he knew from experience that there were quite a few other cities jammed into the area, creating an odd skyline that merely suggested the uniqueness of the cityscape. Eventually, night began to fall, and they found shelter on the second floor of an abandoned skyscraper. Zhang Yue once again showed his worth by using an ability to protect their campsite, though Elijah still kept his wits about him. A few hours after nightfall, Elijah sat on the edge of a shattered, floor-to-ceiling window, his legs dangling over the edge as he looked out across the cityscape. There were people out there. Not just zombies, but other settlements as well. ¡°We tried to work with them, you know,¡± Sadie said, easing into position beside him. She hadn¡¯t removed her armor, and she set her sword to the side where she could easily draw it. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°They started trying to convert people,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°Most of them don¡¯t even believe there¡¯s anything else out there. They think the whole world is like this. So did we, for the longest time. They¡¯re mostly lost, now. The adults¡¯ fate is bad enough, but there are children in most of those settlements. They won¡¯t have a choice but to follow their parents. They¡¯ll never get another option.¡± ¡°They¡¯ve tried to attack Heaven¡¯s Bastion, right?¡± She groaned. ¡°I hate that name. My grandfather¡¯s idea. He changed it after we got our elder cores,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°He wanted to play into the angel angle.¡± ¡°Angel angle. That¡¯s fun to say.¡± She smirked slightly, but she didn¡¯t otherwise acknowledge his comment. ¡°But yes. They¡¯ve attacked us multiple times. Some of them are militant. They think we¡¯re trying to cut them off from power,¡± she explained. ¡°Aren¡¯t you?¡± Sadie shrugged. ¡°I suppose. It¡¯s for their own good, though. If they have their way, the whole world will fall under the sway of undeath. I won¡¯t allow that,¡± she answered. Elijah didn¡¯t respond. Instead, he just sat there with Sadie, looking out over the ruined city as the night wore on. Behind them, the others slept, but Elijah could tell that Gideon and Dat were only pretending. Probably a good idea, all told. As he sat beside Sadie, Elijah considered the problem. His initial instincts were to eradicate undeath, but the more he thought about it, the more he wondered if that was his place. Death was the counter to life, but both were part of nature. Certainly, he considered the zombies unnatural, but they were just a symptom. More, he wondered if he had the right to exterminate people who pursued a path to power with which he didn¡¯t agree. Sadie wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do just that. But Elijah felt there was more nuance to it. Or maybe he just didn¡¯t like the idea of killing a bunch of people who¡¯d never really done anything to hurt him. And what he¡¯d seen in the necromancer settlements suggested that they were mostly just normal people trying to live their lives. When the sun finally rose, Elijah had given it quite a lot of thought, but he had yet to find any real answers. Not that it was his problem to solve. Functionally, he was just a hired gun. No matter what else happened, he needed to address the Primal Realm because, even if it was probably the source of their power, it would devour the necromancers the same as everyone else if left unchecked. So, he rose with the others, and soon enough, they were back to traveling through the city. Along the way, Elijah saw the fresh remains of a few people ¨C necromancers, according to Dat ¨C but they didn¡¯t stop to investigate further. Instead, they kept going until, at last, they reached their first destination. It was a small dock that marked the closest point to the island about a mile out into the harbor. Elijah looked around, then asked, ¡°How are we supposed to cross?¡± 7-53. The Ferry ¡°Just a second, bro,¡± Dat said, already striding forward. As he did so, Elijah studied the dock and its surroundings. Vaguely, he sensed that something was off about the whole scene, but he couldn¡¯t quite put his finger on exactly what was wrong. ¡°Where is he going?¡± asked Gideon. ¡°What is he doing? There¡¯s nothing there.¡± ¡°Dat has spent more time out in the city than anyone else in Hong Kong. Just trust that he knows what he¡¯s doing,¡± Sadie said. Elijah squatted, resting his hand on the ground as he focused on Soul of the Wild. It wasn¡¯t long before Dat passed out of its range, but Elijah was interested to note that the Witch Hunter hadn¡¯t bothered to use Ghost Cloak. He didn¡¯t even use his less powerful stealth ability. ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Gideon stated, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He didn¡¯t remove his riot shield from his back, but he was obviously ready for combat. ¡°You know the rumors about him as well as I do.¡± ¡°What rumors?¡± Elijah asked, rising to his feet. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Elijah. It¡¯s just gossip,¡± Sadie countered. ¡°Well, now I need to know,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Come on. I love gossip.¡± ¡°Mr. Bao is suspected of consorting with the enemy,¡± Gideon announced. ¡°There is an ongoing investigation into him, largely because he spends so much time in the city.¡± ¡°Because we require information,¡± Sadie pointed out. ¡°Be that as it may, he has been seen entering necromancer compounds on multiple occasions,¡± Gideon stated. ¡°Enough, Gideon,¡± Nico said, his first contribution to the conversation. ¡°Traitor or not, Dat is committed to this fight.¡± ¡°Not if he¡¯s a necromancer in disguise,¡± Gideon argued. ¡°He¡¯s just waiting on an opportunity to turn on us.¡± Just then, Dat winked out of sight. One second, he was there, and the next, he was gone. However, Elijah had seen his friend use stealth on enough occasions to recognize that this was something different. The disappearance was too sudden to have been the result of a spell. ¡°Where did he go?¡± asked Zhang Yue. Lin Tao, the summoner, was already starting to cast a spell. Sadie stopped her with a shake of her head. ¡°Not yet,¡± she ordered. ¡°Too noisy.¡± Lin Tao nodded. ¡°Do you want me to go check on him?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Just wait.¡± Elijah sighed, managing to remain silent for all of fifteen seconds before he said, ¡°This is torturous. Just let me go check on him. I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Sadie gave him a withering glare, so Elijah subdued his compulsion to remain active and, alongside the others, waited for Dat to reappear. A couple of minutes passed, and Gideon grumbled about traitors. Meanwhile, Sadie seemed as if she was on the verge of removing the man¡¯s head. Clearly, the tensions between the two ran deep, and it wasn¡¯t just because of his accusations regarding Dat. After a couple more minutes, Dat reappeared. When he returned, he said, ¡°It¡¯s all set up. Be cool.¡± ¡°I¡¯m always cool,¡± Elijah said with a grin. ¡°Wasn¡¯t talking to you, bro,¡± Dat stated, his eyes locked on Gideon. Then, they shifted to Nico. ¡°The ferry will take us to the island, but you¡¯re not going to like it. It¡¯s run by a necromancer.¡± ¡°We should kill them and take the boat,¡± Gideon said. ¡°Where is it, by the way?¡± ¡°You set foot on the boat, he¡¯s in control,¡± Dat answered. ¡°You won¡¯t see it before then.¡± Gideon was obviously frustrated by that revelation, but there was nothing he could do about it. He seemed like the type who was used to taking whatever he wanted, and by force if necessary. Being robbed of that option didn¡¯t sit well with him, as evidenced by his surly demeanor. Or maybe that was just his normal expression. Everything else was just a mask he wore. Regardless, after Dat explained that there was no other way across the harbor ¨C adding that the water was infested with aggressive monsters ¨C everyone agreed to the terms. Soon enough, he was leading them forward. Elijah felt it before it came into view. A one-story building to the left of the dock was hidden by some sort of ability. Without Soul of the Wild, he¡¯d never have detected it, suggesting unexpected strength. Twenty feet later, they passed into an unseen bubble, beyond which they could see the building. And more importantly, the boat gently bobbing next to the dock. It was clearly a repurposed ferry, with a green hull and white, two-story superstructure above. Elijah could see a row of holes running a few feet above the waterline. The whole vessel was at least a hundred feet long, but due to its width, it had a squat, squarish appearance. Elijah took all of that in at a glance, then focused on the building itself. It was unextraordinary, painted white and reminding him of a bus station. However, he was far more interested in the occupants, most of which were clearly zombies. In only a moment, he counted more than a hundred such creatures, but he stopped counting after reaching that number. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. There were only four living beings inside the building. One adult man, an adult woman, a teenager, and a toddler. Thankfully, the zombies were out of sight. Otherwise, Gideon might¡¯ve had a heart attack. For his part, Elijah had to remind himself that Dat had claimed everything was okay. Without the Witch Hunter¡¯s assurances, Elijah would never have approached the building ¨C not without Guise of the Unseen, at least. Still, he put his trust in his friend and, soon enough, reached the building, where they were greeted by one of the living humans Elijah had felt. The man was rugged looking, with a patchy beard and weathered skin. However, he did wear a broad smile that revealed a couple of missing teeth. He wore a simple blue shirt and work pants that were held up by suspenders. On his head was a worn baseball cap. ¡°Welcome, friends,¡± he said in heavily-accented English. Clearly, he¡¯d made an attempt to use the actual language rather than relying on the system to translate. ¡°Mr. Dat has booked passage to Tin Hau Island. Please, come inside while the ship is prepared for travel.¡± Dat didn¡¯t hesitate, and Sadie soon followed. However, the other Hong Kong residents all hesitated. After a few seconds, Gideon said, ¡°We will remain out here, guarding the perimeter.¡± Sadie had clearly expected as much ¨C as evidenced by the subtle roll of her eyes ¨C and she said, ¡°Suit yourself. Nico? Elijah?¡± Nico shook his head, professing his desire to remain with the group. Elijah, on the other hand, had never intended to remain outdoors. The situation inside was just too interesting to miss. So, he followed Sadie and Dat inside. The interior of the building was just what he¡¯d felt from without, and it looked like the lobby of a bus station. A few chairs lined the walls, and there was even a busted vending machine in one corner. But perhaps the most interesting factor was what he smelled the second he stepped inside. ¡°Is that coffee?¡± he asked, glancing back at the proprietor. ¡°It smells like coffee.¡± ¡°It is!¡± said the excited man, grinning broadly. ¡°We found a stash early on, and we have been hoarding it ever since. Would you like a cup?¡± ¡°Now you¡¯re speaking my language,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯m Elijah, by the way. The armored woman is Sadie. And you know Dat.¡± He nodded gravely. ¡°I know your identities,¡± he said. Perhaps he had an ability that helped with that. ¡°I am Ke Ming.¡± ¡°What about the people in the other room?¡± asked Elijah, not so subtly hinting that he was aware of their presence. ¡°Your family?¡± ¡°My wife, Mei, and my children,¡± the man answered. Elijah could feel the man¡¯s heartbeat quicken as he poured a cup of black coffee from a carafe that had been warming on the counter. The white mug had some Chinese characters on it that Elijah couldn¡¯t read, but he could interpret the meaning of the graphic on the other side, which resembled the ferry floating at the end of the dock. When he handed over the cup, Elijah said, ¡°Thanks. When do we get going?¡± ¡°At dusk,¡± Dat answered before the ferryman did. ¡°Any earlier, and the monsters are more active.¡± Elijah glanced through one of the windows. That was only an hour or so away, which was an acceptable delay. More than anything, he wanted to just shift into the Shape of Sky and fly over. However, he¡¯d already seen plenty of aerial threats that told him just how bad of an idea that would be. So, he sat in one of the chairs lining the wall and took a sip of the bitter coffee. It had clearly gone a little stale before it had even been brewed, but it was still palatable enough. Absently, he dipped his hand into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. That got a response, and the ethera swirled around the ferryman. ¡°Just getting some honey,¡± he said without looking up. He took the jar from his satchel, then popped it open. As he poured a dollop into the coffee, he added, ¡°Don¡¯t need to be so touchy. I¡¯m pretty friendly most of the time. By the way ¨C what do you plan to do with all those zombies down in the basement? I mean, far be it from me to deride a man¡¯s hobbies, but collecting zombies kind of seems dangerous. Especially with kids in the house. But whatever. I used to collect rocks when I was a kid. Not even special ones. Bought a polisher and everything. So you do you, I guess. I liked rocks, and you like ambulatory piles of rotting flesh. No judgement.¡± ¡°Elijah¡­¡± ¡°What? Collecting rocks is weird. Not zombie-collecting weird, but ¨C¡± Dat cut in, ¡°Lots of people collect rocks, bro. It¡¯s not that weird.¡± ¡°Yeah. People collect rare rocks. Or pretty rocks. I just collected ¨C¡± ¡°Elijah,¡± interjected Sadie. ¡°Stop.¡± He sighed, then slipped his honey jar back into his satchel. ¡°Fine,¡± he said, taking a sip. ¡°But nobody¡¯s going to convince me that collecting zombies in your basement isn¡¯t strange. Because it just is.¡± ¡°I¡­I am not collecting them. They are my workers,¡± Ke Ming pointed out. ¡°They row the ferry.¡± Elijah¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°Oh. That makes more sense. I retract my former statements, vis a vis weirdness. I mean, it¡¯s not normal. But it¡¯s different in an innovative way. Use that free labor and get rich, my man.¡± He raised his fist, adding, ¡°Capitalism. Yeah.¡± After that, an awkward silence followed ¨C a hint that Elijah had taken things a little too far. He tried to make idle conversation, but nobody seemed inclined to participate. So, he sat there, sipping his bad coffee and wishing he still had his old smartphone. Scrolling social media wasn¡¯t good for much, but it was great for making time pass more quickly in waiting rooms. In any case, Elijah spent his time examining the zombies in the basement via Soul of the Wild. And just as he¡¯d supposed in previous attempts at the same, he determined that they weren¡¯t entirely dead. They certainly weren¡¯t alive, either. Not in any way he could determine. Instead, they were motivated by some weird mixture of life and death that combined into something wholly different. It was both fascinating and more than a little revolting, kind of like seeing a dead body for the first time. Elijah spent most of the next couple of hours in that examination, and eventually, Ke Ming announced, ¡°It is time. Please warn your companions not to attack my laborers. Without them, we will never reach the island.¡± Sadie left the building to do just that, and Elijah didn¡¯t need Soul of the Wild to recognize that it caused a bit of an argument. If they weren¡¯t all hidden by the ferryman¡¯s ability, Elijah might¡¯ve worried that the shouted argument between Sadie and Gideon would bring hordes of hostile zombies their way. In the end, Sadie convinced her brother to support her side, and together, they cowed Gideon. Truthfully, Elijah understood the man¡¯s objections. He¡¯d been fighting zombies and other undead for years, and now he was expected to accept a situation where he was dependent on them? However, Elijah¡¯s fundamental dislike of the man colored his opinions enough that he immediately thought even more poorly of him. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t long before they followed a shambling procession of zombies ¨C Elijah counted nearly a hundred and fifty of them ¨C to the ferry. Fortunately, the undead went down below, while all the passengers remained on the deck. That would hopefully go a long way to undermining potential hostilities, though Elijah could easily predict that something would go wrong. At the very least, Gideon would one day return with enough people to wipe the ferryman ¨C and his family ¨C out. His hatred ran that deep. At worst, he would do something to foul their passage. Elijah vowed not to let that happen, less because he cared about Ke Ming and his family, and more because they were dependent on the man¡¯s expertise. At least, that was what he kept telling himself. However, Elijah knew himself well enough ¨C at least in the back of his mind ¨C that he recognized that practicality was not his chief concern. Ke Ming might be a necromancer, but that didn¡¯t necessarily make him a bad person. So, as a bank of oars stretched out from the holes lining the ferry¡¯s hull, and they pushed away from the dock, Elijah vowed to ensure things went off without a hitch. 7-54. Tensions ¡°It is abominable, don¡¯t you think?¡± said Gideon, leaning against the railing and staring out at the gentle waves. The ferry was incapable of moving quickly ¨C only a couple of miles an hour ¨C so the trip to the island where the Tin Hau Temple was located would take a little while. Elongating that journey was the fact that they were forced to make frequent stops so that Ke Ming, the ferryman, could use one of his abilities meant to dissuade the monsters of the deep from attacking. Even then, he¡¯d cautioned them that his abilities were not foolproof. If something powerful enough were to take interest in the ship, they would need to defend it. Elijah felt that was reasonable, but Gideon and Nico had both grumbled about wasting ethereum on a ¡°dirty necromancer.¡± It was then that Elijah recognized that the pair were allied. Looking more closely, it was so obvious that he started to question his interpretation of social cues. Sure, he¡¯d spent a lot of time alone, and as such, his sense of personal relationships had atrophied. But he¡¯d never thought he was quite that blind to social context. What was even more troubling was that both Lin Tao and Zhang Ye were seemingly on their side as well. Or at the very least, they were neutral, trying to stay in everyone¡¯s good graces. The only difference was that Sadie¡¯s long absence and Dat¡¯s situation as an outsider put them at a distinct disadvantage. If it wasn¡¯t for Sadie¡¯s position as Tianwei¡¯s granddaughter, she probably would have been ignored entirely. Even with her obvious power. ¡°Mr. Hart? Are you ignoring me?¡± asked Gideon. ¡°What? Oh. Sorry. Just thinking,¡± he answered. ¡°What was the question?¡± ¡°The undead,¡± the man replied. ¡°They have taken so much from us, and yet, people like this¡­ferryman¡­deign to associate with necromancy.¡± He turned away from the harbor, then leaned backward against the railing. ¡°I suppose I shouldn¡¯t be surprised. The peasantry will always seek out easy power.¡± ¡°Peasantry? Pretty sure Hong Kong isn¡¯t feudal.¡± ¡°Not in name, but certainly in practice,¡± Gideon stated. ¡°We never should have let them take it back. Backward savages who undercut everything we tried to accomplish here. Even before all of this¡­the city was on the verge of falling into the same quagmire of authoritarianism that plagued the rest of the country. We had a responsibility to the people who lived here, and we failed to maintain the way of life we gave them.¡± Clearly, he referred to the Handover of Hong Kong from the late nineties. That was a little before Elijah¡¯s time ¨C he wasn¡¯t old enough back then to even notice it ¨C but he had learned the basic history back in school. After a hundred and fifty years of colonial rule, the British had returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to China. It had been quite an economic detriment to the United Kingdom, but at the same time, a feather in China¡¯s cap. Gideon likely thought he was speaking from a position that looked out for the best interests of Hong Kong natives, but there was certainly a foundation of colonialist racism in there. As if the rest of the world had been a hotbed of savagery and they¡¯d only civilized under the influence of the west. The notion left a bad taste in Elijah¡¯s mouth, and his first instinct was to throw Gideon overboard. Still, even though he was certain the man was in the wrong, he didn¡¯t know enough about the socioeconomic or political climate of the region to speak intelligently on the subject and rebut the man¡¯s miniature rant. He was a little offended that Gideon had assumed he¡¯d be an ally, though. Elijah didn¡¯t get a chance to respond, because at that very moment, he felt something coming from below. ¡°Brace!¡± he shouted. A second later, an enormous tentacle burst from the waves and slammed down onto the ferry¡¯s deck. The weight of the thing nearly capsized the boat, but fortunately, a swirl of ethera kept it steady. However, the impact still threw a passenger free. Elijah watched as Lin Tao ¨C the Summoner who¡¯d yet to summon anything ¨C tumbled into the ocean. He prepared to leap in after her, but before he could even move, she disappeared into the maw of a giant, undead squid. It wasn¡¯t the same one Elijah had seen before. If it had been, the ship would have been torn to pieces. Instead, this was a much smaller version, but in the moment, that didn¡¯t seem to matter very much. It was more than large enough ¨C with its tentacles being at least five feet in diameter and hundreds of feet long ¨C to sink the ferry. Elijah acted, darting forward and shifting into the Shape of Venom. Partially, that was so he could keep his footing on the slick and rocking deck, but it was mostly because it seemed like the best way to kill the creature. He leaped, landing on the rubbery and rotting tentacle a second later. He dug his claws into slimy stuff, shoving them even deeper when the surface layer of the thing¡¯s flesh began to slough off. He bit it. And immediately, he regretted his actions. Elijah could feel the veritable cascade of bacteria entering his mouth, and they didn¡¯t waste any time making him sick. The inside of his mouth started to rot, but he didn¡¯t hesitate to bite again. And again after that. Over and over, he bit the thing, and with each attack, another instance of Envenom raced up the creature¡¯s tentacle and to its main body. However, he could only keep going for so long before he was forced to shift back into his human form, leap free, and start healing himself. In the space of only a few seconds, his jaw had very nearly rotted off, and it took all three of his healing spells ¨C Blessing of the Grove, Soothe, and Nature¡¯s Bloom ¨C to reverse course. When the last spell bloomed, it tipped him over the edge, defeating the rot. Meanwhile, the creature¡¯s tentacle had begun to spasm, and Ke Ming used some sort of skill to repel the monster just enough to free the ship from its slimy clutches. Elijah felt the undead rowers push the ferry to greater speed, but he knew the squid wasn¡¯t going to let it go so easily. Thankfully, Sadie appeared, glowing sword in hand. She didn¡¯t use any fancy attacks, skills, or spells as she joined the battle. Instead, she simply hacked into squid¡¯s enormous tentacle. Normally, her sword likely would have simply bounced off the rubbery flesh, but with Elijah¡¯s venom coursing through the creature and weakening it, it had no defense against her sharp blade. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. It bit deep, and the monster went wild. More tentacles erupted from the water, but the squid was intelligent enough not to commit too many of its tendrils to battle. It might¡¯ve been powerful, but so were the ferry¡¯s defenders. And it had most probably never been forced to feel significant pain, which made it hesitate. Sadie used that hesitation to continue her fight against the monster. At the same time, Dat leveled his crossbow and fired. The bolt hit the squid in its mostly submerged body, and it started to convulse. Elijah rejoined the battle after shifting into the Shape of Thorn. Like Sadie, he didn¡¯t bother with any complex maneuvers. Instead, he lowered his shoulder and rammed into the partially severed tentacle. A squelching sound echoed in his ears as the tendril ripped free, and Sadie finally cut through the final bit. ¡°Throw it overboard!¡± shouted Ke Ming from his position at the helm. Elijah wrapped his arms and roots around the giant tentacle and lifted. It wasn¡¯t as heavy as some of the huge rocks he¡¯d carried, but it was a far more awkward burden. That didn¡¯t matter. All he needed to do was get enough of it off the deck, and then gravity would take over from there. To his horror, though, the tentacle didn¡¯t want to go without a fight. Even detached from its host, it bucked and twisted like an enraged snake, and what¡¯s more, it began to emit a powerfully noxious gas that Elijah knew would have detrimental effects. Fortunately, he had enough Strength to wrestle it into some semblance of submission, and with Sadie¡¯s help, they managed to tip it over the edge. Even as it disappeared under the waves, the ferry surged forward, moving far more rapidly than before. Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough to outrun the squid, but to his surprise, the thing remained stationary, almost as if it was terrified of continuing the fight. ¡°It won¡¯t last long, bro,¡± Dat called down, almost as if he could read Elijah¡¯s mind. ¡°Curse of Binding. Keeps it in place for around thirty seconds. It¡¯ll come back at us as soon as the spell effect fades.¡± ¡°Shoot it again!¡± screamed Gideon, who hadn¡¯t even participated in the fight. ¡°Cooldowns, bro.¡± ¡°Useless!¡± Elijah shifted back into his human form, already healing. To his credit, Nico had already begun to heal as well, though he did so from the cover of the ferry¡¯s cabin. It was likely the smart move ¨C after all, if the Healer went down, the group usually followed ¨C but after spending so much time with Ron, who never had any issue with rushing into danger, it smacked of cowardice. Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t fair, but there it was. As the ferry sped away, Elijah focused on banishing the effects of the noxious gas. To his shock, it left behind an extremely stubborn effect that reduced his physical attributes by fifty points each. Fortunately, Elijah had Blessing of the Grove, which now featured the ability to banish negative ailments. Even as the sunflower grew in the center of the ship, Elijah watched the still-stationary squid. When the flower bloomed, he felt it begin to work on the debuff, though it took the flower¡¯s entire duration to cure it entirely. By that point, Dat¡¯s Curse of Binding had worn out. Elijah glanced at the island, the shore of which was still a hundred yards away. ¡°We¡¯re not going to make it,¡± he muttered to himself. He leveled his staff at the quickly moving monster and cast Swarm. A thousand piranha manifested, and they immediately tore into the creature. Chunks of flesh flew in every direction, shocking Elijah with just how many more pests he¡¯d managed to summon. What¡¯s more, he sensed that the afflictions they inflicted were that much more powerful. The squid faltered. The ship surged forward, then slammed into the beach. Miraculously, the hull wasn¡¯t ripped away, which Elijah figured came from some sort of ability from the ferryman. He didn¡¯t have time to truly consider it, because the second they made landfall, he sensed hundreds of zombies rush into range of Soul of the Wild. ¡°Sadie! Defend front!¡± he shouted. Such was the effect of a year¡¯s worth of cooperation in the Trial that she immediately leaped from the ship. Her feet thudded into the sand, and she commanded, ¡°Support me!¡± To their credit, the others ¨C including Gideon ¨C followed her. And soon enough, the sprinting zombies hit an ethereal bulwark that Elijah suspected was a new ability. It didn¡¯t last long, shattering a moment later, but that was enough to give Sadie and Gideon an opportunity to thin the herd. At the same time, Dat repeatedly fired arrows into the mass of undead. Even though he sensed there was more to come, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford the focus necessary to worry about them. Because the squid was only a few dozen yards away, and from what Elijah felt, it was not happy about what had happened. He rushed forward, already shifting into Shape of the Master. The way he saw it, it was the only way he could both keep the thing¡¯s attention while giving him a chance at finishing it off. Wading into the water, he planted himself in the monster¡¯s way. Then, he waited ¨C but for only a half second ¨C before another enormous tentacle erupted from the water and descended upon him. Elijah dove to the side, narrowly avoiding the massive limb. It kicked up a shower of sand and rock, but he escaped unscathed, sparking Heart of Fire. Yet, he knew he couldn¡¯t just dodge the thing¡¯s attacks. If he didn¡¯t keep its attention, it would climb ashore and assault his companions. They had everything they could handle with the zombie horde ¨C which included a couple of abominations as well as plenty of ranged attackers ¨C so if they were attacked from both sides, they would fall. Elijah wasn¡¯t going to let that happen. So, he leaped forward, taking the offensive as he leveraged every point of his inflated Strength into a staff strike aimed directly at the monster¡¯s fleshy body. It wasn¡¯t built like a normal squid. Instead, it was more like someone had mashed together an insect, an octopus, and a crocodile to create something wholly alien and completely terrifying. As horrific a creature as it was, its odd physiology offered one benefit to Elijah. It had clear weak sports in the hundreds of eyes peppering its head. He didn¡¯t know much about the monster, but he knew enough that, when the opportunity presented itself, poking an enemy in the eye was always a good idea. The Feral Spire slammed into the monster¡¯s bulbous eye, and the gooey orb exploded upon impact, spraying Elijah with a bunch of caustic muck that immediately inflicted a host of afflictions meant to rot him to pieces. Fortunately, he¡¯d cast Blessing of the Grove before shifting into Shape of the Master, so the curing effect was still ongoing. The monster went wild, and a thousand smaller tentacles erupted from its back, spraying even more liquified rot in every direction. Thankfully, getting splattered didn¡¯t count as getting hit, because his single charge of Heart of Fire didn¡¯t dissipate. And perhaps more importantly, the small tentacles screaming toward him represented a perfect opportunity to build more. Dodging the first few was easy enough, but before long, the air was full of the things. Not only would getting hit by one of the tentacles negate the rest of Elijah¡¯s efforts, but because each tentacle was barbed, he knew they would rip him to shreds like a chainsaw. He dipped and ducked, leaping into the air and spinning as he dodged or redirected every tendril. His charges of Heart of Fire built very quickly, and within ten seconds, he was already halfway to his maximum. Elijah kept going, though, largely because he suspected that if he cut it short ¨C even by a little ¨C the thing would live. At least as much as an undead creature could. Over the next fifteen seconds, Elijah was pushed to his limits as he avoided the tentacles. It was such a tall task that he was forced to use every facet of his mind ¨C save for the ones dedicated to his Locus and Soul of the Wild ¨C to assist him in the endeavor. It was as much a feat of endurance, speed, reaction, and technique as it was a mental struggle, but eventually, Elijah reached ninety-eight charges. He ducked under a tentacle. Ninety-nine. He slapped another aside with his staff, but as expected, he didn¡¯t gain another charge. Then, he dove to the side, dodging another tentacle by less than an inch. One hundred. With that, Elijah opened his mouth and unleashed Incinerate. 7-55. Monsters and Men Sadie swung her sword, hacking an abomination in half at the waist. It had taken two strikes ¨C the hulking monsters were incredibly durable, even with Dat¡¯s curses decreasing their Constitutions ¨C but she¡¯d managed it all the same. That was primarily due to her spell, Blessed Blade, which was an evolution of the generic Warrior ability Heavy Blows. It had been one of the first spells she¡¯d gotten after gaining her class, and it had been absolutely necessary for her survival ever since:
Blessed Blade Empower your weapon with the power of the Crusader, increasing the damage of all melee attacks. Increase dependent on Ethera attribute and Core cultivation. Current: Normal: 10.3% Unholy Creatures: 28.8%
Gaining nearly thirty percent damage against undead creatures was an incredibly potent boon, especially with her high Strength. Even then, it took multiple attacks to take down an abomination. As the thing burst apart, she deftly dodged a spray of caustic goo. She didn¡¯t know what, precisely, the stuff was, but she knew it would burn through just about anything it touched. Her armor helped, but it definitely didn¡¯t make her invulnerable. Even as the abomination¡¯s two halves slid apart, Sadie used another ability:
Blessed Bulwark Create a wall of ethera to protect allies. Size based on Ethera attribute. Durability based on Constitution attribute.
It was her latest spell, gained at level one-twenty, and she¡¯d found it to be an invaluable asset. The wall it created was a little more than fifteen feet long and almost as tall, and she¡¯d used it to bridge the gap between a boulder and a wrecked ship that had washed up on the beach. It wasn¡¯t quite long enough ¨C leaving a space of around three feet between the edge of the bulwark and the boulder ¨C but it was enough to funnel the enemy into a single location. Without it, she and her companions would have already been overwhelmed. As it was, she and the others were barely holding on. Dat was holding his own, steadily whittling down the horde of undead, and even Gideon had helped plug the hole. The man was self-serving and culturally bigoted, but he was not a bad fighter. More, he was loyal to her grandfather, largely because they¡¯d been business partners for more than two decades even before the Handover, and he¡¯d remained one of Tianwei¡¯s staunchest allies ever since. He¡¯d also proven to be incredibly talented at managing the various factions within Heaven¡¯s Bastion, which made him an invaluable asset. But Sadie just didn¡¯t like him or his attitude. Not that it mattered in the middle of battle. He was doing his part, which was all anyone could ask. The same was true of Nico, who took his characteristically conservative approach to healing. If someone could survive a wound, he barely did more than stop the bleeding. The only time he stepped in with his full power was when someone was on the verge of dying. Even then, he only used just enough ethera to get them back on their feet. It really was an impressive expression of control, even if Sadie couldn¡¯t follow that same philosophy. She wouldn¡¯t stand by while someone suffered. She couldn¡¯t. Nico didn¡¯t have that problem, though. He¡¯d always had a somewhat detached viewpoint, and it had struck her as incredibly strange that he¡¯d been offered the Healer archetype. It was even stranger that he¡¯d taken it. The only reason for his choice that she could come up with was that he liked the control it gave him. She had never asked him about it, though, so she couldn¡¯t really say for certain why he¡¯d taken the path of the Healer. Regardless, he did his job as well, healing both her and Gideon as they took hits from zombies ¨C usually the ranged ones ¨C and abominations. The big problem was that they lacked firepower. For all her power, Sadie was not an offensive juggernaut. She was a defender with utility, not an offensive fighter. Dat¡¯s abilities more closely resembled those of an Explorer than a Ranger by this point, and Gideon lacked attack power as well. Zhang Yue didn¡¯t count at all, as he possessed a class that was virtually useless in a fight. So, with Lin Tao dead, their only option was a strategy of endurance. Slow but steady. And safe. To that end, Sadie leveraged her abilities to the task at hand, cutting through another abomination ¨C this time, she hacked its legs off, then destroyed its head when it fell ¨C before turning her attention to the zombies. Dat steadily peppered the ranged undead with crossbow bolts, killing one with each shot. However, there were hundreds of the things ¨C maybe thousands ¨C and thinning the horde would take quite a lot of time. In a spare moment, Sadie glanced back at Elijah, only to see something unexpected. It actually took her a moment to recognize him, though in retrospect, it shouldn¡¯t have. The bipedal, salamander-esque creature bouncing around was clearly not native to the area. When she did realize that it was him, she had to question just what he was doing. Sadie knew that all of Elijah¡¯s forms had distinct purposes, but for the life of her, she couldn¡¯t understand what good such a small and seemingly harmless creature could do. Still, she couldn¡¯t deny that she was impressed with the form¡¯s speed. Tentacles came from every direction, but Elijah moved like he had eyes in the back of his head, avoiding them entirely. Hundreds of them attacked him, but all they found was air. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Sadie could only spare a glance to ensure that Elijah was handling things appropriately, so once she was certain that he¡¯d be okay ¨C at least for now ¨C she turned her attention back to her own fight. It was just in time to react to an abomination charging in her direction. It bowled through the other zombies, hitting her with unchecked momentum. But she didn¡¯t move, courtesy of Anchor of Faith:
Anchor of Faith Through the strength of your conviction, hold your ground.
It was a simple ability, but it had proven an invaluable part of her toolkit. As far as she could tell, when Anchor of Faith was active, it didn¡¯t matter how hard something hit her. She would remain rooted to the ground before any amount of force ¨C at least for a while. The ability wasn¡¯t limitless. Each time she was hit, it sapped some of its energy, and eventually, it would break. However, for at least one hit, it would work, even if the blow exceeded the maximum energy the ability could absorb. Bulwark of the Faithful shattered under the impact, increasing her physical attributes so much that when her sword flashed out, it cut through the abomination with a single blow. Just as the creature fell apart, something hit Sadie from behind. Anchor of Faith was still in effect, so she didn¡¯t fly forward. However, the ability did shatter under the impact. What¡¯s more, she felt intense heat wash over her, singing her hair and blistering any exposed skin. More troublingly, the others didn¡¯t have her Constitution or Anchor of Faith, so they were thrown into Blessed Bulwark with enough force to break bones. Only Dat seemed to weather the blow, flipping mid-air, hitting the shield with his feet, then spring backward. Nico, Zhang Yue, and Gideon were not skilled enough to repeat that feat, and all three were either knocked unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. Thankfully, Nico maintained his awareness and immediately started healing ¨C and for once, he didn¡¯t hold back. He didn¡¯t have Ron¡¯s levels, but in sheer output, he could outpace the other Healer. Only for a short burst, though. Ron¡¯s class, from what Sadie understood, was built around efficiency, while Nico¡¯s was best for massive bursts of healing that could turn the tide of any battle. And that wasn¡¯t even considering his Miracle. Whatever the case, Nico showed his worth, getting everyone back on their feet and recovered in the space of a couple of seconds. By that point, Sadie had gotten a chance to take stock of the situation. The heat and force had funneled through the gap, burning through a few zombies and knocking the rest back. That gave her an extra couple of seconds to look at the source of the fiery explosion. And what she saw was absolutely astounding. The undead squid-monster was charred beyond all recognition. Many of the smaller tentacles were simply gone, and the bulk of the undead creature¡¯s body had been turned to ash. The damage didn¡¯t end there, either. An entire side of the ferry had been turned to molten slag, the sand had been glassed, and the rocks were just gone. Even the water boiled. And in the center of all that devastation was Elijah in his upright salamander form, unhurt and unfazed by it all. When he looked back, Sadie couldn¡¯t ignore the flickering flames dancing across his skin or the tiny columns of smoke drifting up from the corners of his mouth. ¡°Monster!¡± shouted Gideon. When Sadie jerked her head around to the pompous man, she saw that his eyes had widened. Suddenly, Elijah was beside her ¨C still in his salamander form. He croaked, ¡°Not a monster. Still just a man.¡± With that, he let himself return to his human form. Gideon¡¯s eyes widened even further, and he scrambled back against Sadie¡¯s Blessed Bulwark. Sadie almost rolled her eyes. By that point, she was used to Elijah¡¯s power. Sure, the fire was new, but she¡¯d seen enough from him that she wouldn¡¯t be surprised by anything he did. So, she turned her attention back to the small gap and said, ¡°Good. You took care of that problem. Do you mind helping with the rest of these?¡± ¡°Suppose that¡¯s not too much to ask,¡± he answered with a slight smile. Pointedly, Gideon still hadn¡¯t moved. He seemed to have been frozen by the shock of what Elijah had done. His expression was that of a man who¡¯d suddenly come to understand the weight of true power. And it terrified him. The same could be said of Zhang Yue, who had yet to move and looked as if he was beginning to question the life decisions that had led to his inclusion in such company. But at least Nico didn¡¯t seem fazed. Dat, predictably, just grinned, saying, ¡°So cool.¡± The brief respite afforded by the backlash of Elijah¡¯s skill soon came to an end, and together, they plugged the gap and began the arduous process of slaughtering the undead. Elijah remained in his human form, but even in the month or so since she¡¯d last seen him, his technique had improved. Not a lot, but he was markedly more skilled. What¡¯s more, he¡¯d clearly gotten a new ability, which caused a huge sunflower to grow in their midst. From that sunflower came an ongoing barrier that helped to mitigate the damage of weak attacks. Gradually, and with everyone¡¯s help, they whittled the horde down until only a couple of abominations remained. Elijah shouted, ¡°Make sure everyone gets a hit in. We don¡¯t want anyone left out of the experience.¡± The group advanced, surrounding the monsters and killing them off. Zhang Yue and Dat used their ranged attacks, while Elijah, Gideon, and Sadie fought in melee range. Nico, of course, healed. The party wasn¡¯t nearly as well-tuned as the one back in the Trial of Primacy. Sadie missed Kurik¡¯s bombs ¨C as well as his surly personality ¨C and though she¡¯d never admit it, she preferred Ron¡¯s approach to healing over her brother¡¯s. The new group was powerful enough in its own right, though, and they were more than capable of meeting the challenges presented to them. Soon enough, the horde had been slaughtered. Thankfully, the island was small, and the population of undead was finite. The same couldn¡¯t be said for Hong Kong, where a single battle would inevitably attract millions of zombies. Some had come from the Primal Realm, but most were the city¡¯s ¨C and its surrounding area¡¯s ¨C residents. For the longest time, she and the others from Heaven¡¯s Bastion had tried to simply eradicate the threat, killing tens of thousands of zombies. Yet, after more than a year of using that strategy, they¡¯d barely made a dent. No ¨C they needed to get to the source. The Primal Realm was the origin of all of Hong Kong¡¯s problems. But to deal with it, they needed to do what they¡¯d come to the island to do ¨C get the Blessing of Water so that they could enter the Primal Realm and defeat its challenges. ¡°Where are you going?¡± Nico asked, bringing Sadie out of her thoughts. She looked up to see that Elijah had already started walking back the way they¡¯d come. ¡°Checking on Ke Ming,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I won¡¯t waste my healing on that trash.¡± ¡°Never asked you to,¡± Elijah responded. His frustrations were obvious, though. He hadn¡¯t lived through what everyone else had. Necromancers weren¡¯t responsible for quite as many deaths as the wild undead, but they routinely clashed with the people from Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Whole parties of gatherers had been slaughtered, and recently, they¡¯d resorted to using the Branch Teleportation Network to launch raids. They were the enemy. To Elijah, they were just people, though. Sadie wanted to feel the same way, but she¡¯d lost too many of her people to see things through that lens. Ke Ming might be one of the good ones, but Sadie had been burned too many times to give him the chance to prove it. She wouldn¡¯t kill him outright ¨C especially since he¡¯d rendered a service ¨C but she had a hard time even considering helping him. Still, she chose to follow Elijah¡¯s example and took a deep breath before joining him on the way back to the ferry. Gideon said something, and Nico just stared at her incredulously. Dat had already disappeared, presumably to scout, but she knew that he would agree with her choice. When they reached the ferry, they found that it was even more damaged than Sadie¡¯s first glance suggested. An entire side of the ship had been destroyed, and the charred bodies of its zombie rowers hadn¡¯t moved. They were obviously dead, though. ¡°Ke Ming?!¡± shouted Elijah, cupping his hands around his mouth. ¡°You still kicking, bud?¡± ¡°I live,¡± said the ferryman, peeking over the edge of the boat and looking down on them. ¡°Do you need me to help you with the boat? It looks a little damaged.¡± ¡°I can repair it well enough to get back to the dock,¡± the man answered. ¡°I am more concerned about the loss of rowers, but it is not the first time I¡¯ve lost a few good men. I¡¯ll be fine. The ship will be repaired in a day. Perhaps two.¡± Sadie wanted to groan. As much as she disliked the creatures the ferryman had referred to as ¡°good men¡±, she couldn¡¯t deny the usefulness of the service provided. Without Ke Ming, they never would have made it through the harbor. The squid wasn¡¯t the only monster that called it home, after all. Still, Elijah was mollified by the ferryman¡¯s insistence that he could repair the ship ¨C probably through some class ability ¨C so he nodded and turned to Sadie. ¡°So, you ready to go find the Tin Hau Temple and get the Blessing of Water?¡± 7-56. Tin Hau Temple Though he endeavored to hide it, even Elijah was a little surprised at how much damage he had done with Incinerate. The ability itself didn¡¯t sound terribly impressive ¨C especially next to more complex spells with flowery names ¨C but he couldn¡¯t deny its effectiveness. On the surface, killing one monster ¨C no matter how big ¨C didn¡¯t seem like a big deal. Except that doing so had given Elijah an entire level, pushing him to one-thirty-eight, which didn¡¯t seem like it should be possible. He¡¯d only just gained a level in the Shrine of War, which suggested that the creature he¡¯d killed was extremely high-leveled. It was no wonder that Ke Ming¡¯s abilities ¨C which were supposed to deter monsters from noticing his ship ¨C hadn¡¯t worked against the squid. The level disparity was just too large. And yet, Elijah had killed it, and mostly alone. Certainly, Swarm and Envenom had done their part, but he questioned whether or not they¡¯d even been necessary. Incinerate had been overkill, instantly killing the monster and irreparably damaging the environment. Even the harbor had boiled, albeit briefly, killing anything within a few hundred feet of him. Sure, the other forms had their places, but Shape of the Master was a total game-changer. ¡°Was that a new form?¡± asked Sadie, walking beside him. Via Soul of the Wild, he¡¯d already established that there were no beasts or monsters nearby. They¡¯d already killed all of the zombies, and the undead had taken care of any wildlife on the small island. ¡°Yeah,¡± Elijah answered. Then, he explained the basic nature of Shape of the Master before asking, ¡°What is this place called?¡± He¡¯d already noticed that the island¡¯s landmass formed a vague U-shape, and it was barely more than a quarter of a mile across. The total area was probably approximately three square miles, which meant that it was positively tiny, with a small, tourist-trap village at the base of the U. ¡°Peng Chau,¡± she answered. Then, as they waited for the others to catch up, she explained that it had undergone a massive restoration project a couple of decades before, and it had been a popular tourist destination ever since. ¡°I can see why,¡± Elijah said. The area was quite beautiful, with lush vegetation and quaint buildings that didn¡¯t intrude on the natural landscape. However, that perception was mitigated by the thick death-attuned ethera hanging over everything. The smell of charred squid didn¡¯t help, either. ¡°This Tin Hau Temple, do you know anything about it?¡± ¡°It is one of many,¡± she answered. ¡°Dedicated to the goddess of the sea and protector of fishermen and sailors. Religious nonsense, but each temple is culturally significant. I¡¯ve never been to one, though.¡± ¡°Wait ¨C you¡¯re not religious?¡± he asked. He¡¯d never even considered addressing the subject before. ¡°You¡¯re an angel.¡± ¡°I have an angel core,¡± she corrected. ¡°Which is just a powerful tool of magic that can help me protect my people. Angels are just another race, albeit a powerful one. They are not objects of worship.¡± ¡°Technically, they never were,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°They were servants of God, not gods themselves.¡± ¡°Regardless, I don¡¯t see any of this as religious. If anything, it counters every myth humanity once believed. Likely, the beings humans once considered gods were just the result of twisted tales of powerful people who¡¯d somehow come into contact with Earth,¡± she said. ¡°Not worthy of worship.¡± Elijah shrugged. He wasn¡¯t sure about gods or anything else, but he could see how the World Tree¡¯s touch might have changed a few minds one way or another. He¡¯d even heard that a few people worshiped the World Tree itself. In any case, he didn¡¯t think it was the time to have religious discussions. ¡°Interesting,¡± he said, noticing that Nico and the others had caught up. Dat was, of course, scouting ¨C for what, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain. The island wasn¡¯t big enough to house any significant secrets. ¡°You all okay?¡± ¡°We¡¯re fine,¡± Nico stated. Elijah could see that Gideon was limping ¨C just further evidence that Nico wasn¡¯t doing his whole job. It wasn¡¯t his place to tell a Healer how to heal, though, so he ignored it. Instead, he and Sadie continued up the slight hill until, at last, they reached their destination. Like the Man Mo Temple, it had clearly grown quite a lot. According to Sadie, the Tin Hau Temple on Peng Chau had once been sandwiched between two unrelated buildings. Back before the world had changed, it had been a tiny thing, only interesting because of its cultural significance. Now, though, it was a free-standing temple at least as large as the last one Elijah had visited, with a green roof and detailed frescoes decorating the eaves as well as the crown of the building. It also looked brand new, as if it had just been refurbished, and it glowed with powerful ethera. Sadie stepped forward, passing through the door without issue. ¡°Seems¡­normal,¡± she said. ¡°No teleportation to a hidden temple on a mountain.¡± Elijah had given her the rundown of the challenge against the three-hundred fighters and the old master, though he¡¯d downplayed the difficulty. When he¡¯d explained it, Gideon had scoffed, saying that it couldn¡¯t have been too taxing. Elijah had let him believe that. The last thing he needed to worry about was impressing someone like Gideon. However, he did wonder if the man still harbored such beliefs after seeing what Elijah had done to the squid. Stolen novel; please report. Probably not. That thought prompted a smile as he followed Sadie into the temple, and he was briefly taken aback by the richness of the d¨¦cor. Murals, each one depicting fishermen, sailors, or mighty sea creatures, decorated every wall, but his eyes were drawn to four pillars arranged around a simple dais in the center of the large room. As Elijah studied his surroundings, the others stepped inside, and even Gideon was impressed by what he saw. ¡°So much gold,¡± he muttered, losing some degree of his pomposity. Not all. But some. ¡°This place is worth a fortune.¡± Sadie shrugged. ¡°It used to be. Now, it¡¯s just gold,¡± she said. ¡°Pretty, but not useful.¡± She¡¯d clearly felt the same thing Elijah had. There was no ethera there, which meant that it was just mundane metal. The same could not be said for the pillars or the altar. The square in the center of the room practically glowed with powerful energy. Elijah stepped forward, drawn to that dense ethera. A disembodied voice, deep and resonant, echoed through the temple, ¡°The guardian¡¯s blessing lies beyond the tides. Find the pearl that glimmers and guides. Return it to its rightful home, to reveal the chance to make Tin Hau¡¯s blessing your own.¡± Elijah knew there was no speaker, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from looking around. Predictably ¨C as revealed by Soul of the Wild ¨C no one else was there. The others spent a few moments searching the chamber, finding nothing. By contrast, he spent his time recalling the poem. ¡°I think we need to find a pearl,¡± he said after only a few moments. ¡°And I think it¡¯s in the harbor.¡± ¡°We still have our water breathing rings,¡± Dat offered holding up his hand to reveal the clunky piece of jewelry. ¡°Wait ¨C you wear that all the time?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Seriously?¡± ¡°I think it¡¯s pretty, bro.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but smile ¨C at least until Gideon spoke up. ¡°You¡¯re not seriously considering going into the harbor, are you?¡± he asked, incredulous. ¡°There are more of those things down there.¡± ¡°Oh, there are much worse in the harbor, I¡¯m sure,¡± Elijah said. ¡°But I can get by without being seen. I¡¯ll go down there, find this pearl, then swim back. Easy.¡± ¡°We should go with you,¡± Sadie suggested. ¡°You don¡¯t have a stealth ability.¡± ¡°I know, but ¨C¡± ¡°Be smart, Sadie. There¡¯s more to this than just the pearl. You heard it. It¡¯s just a piece of the puzzle,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I can move more freely alone, and the rest of you can try to figure this thing out. Like, what are those pillars for? They seem important, right?¡± She clearly wanted to argue, but she decided against it. ¡°Fine. We¡¯ll stay here.¡± ¡°What about me?¡± asked Dat. ¡°I have stealth.¡± ¡°I swim a lot faster than you.¡± ¡°Oh. Right,¡± Dat said. They were all well-acquainted with one another¡¯s aquatic skills, and while they¡¯d made it work in the City of Toh back in the Trial, Dat¡¯s deficiencies as a swimmer were well established. He also clearly didn¡¯t enjoy being underwater for long stretches. None of them did, really. Except Elijah, who, for whatever reason, had no issues with it. When he¡¯d described his time in the Sea of Sorrows ¨C which had taken weeks to traverse ¨C it had elicited quite a few adverse reactions. But to him, that had never really been the issue. Instead, he¡¯d been focused on simple survival. In any case, everyone quickly agreed to his plan, such as it was. Elijah suspected that Gideon, Nico, and Zhang Yue would have agreed to just about anything that kept them out of the water. Or more importantly, away from ridiculously powerful monsters like the squid. Left unsaid was the fact that the Explorer likely had an ability that would facilitate underwater travel. After all, Hannah had kept Lamar¡¯s group from drowning long enough for them to conquer the Challenge of Niflara, and back then, she¡¯d only been a few levels higher than Zhang Yue¡¯s current level. But Elijah wasn¡¯t going to put him on the spot, largely because the man¡¯s reluctance to use his entire skillset played into what Elijah wanted. Which was to explore the harbor alone. He knew he could take care of himself, so bringing the others along would just endanger them. With that strategy decided, the others resumed their exploration of the temple while Elijah returned to the site of the previous battle. Unexpectedly, even in the short time that he¡¯d been gone, Ke Ming had already made noticeable repairs to the ship, and he was hard at work finishing the job. Elijah watched for a few minutes, but he couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of how it all worked together. Deciding that further observation wouldn¡¯t help, Elijah slipped out of sight, adopted the Shape of Venom, then used Guise of the Unseen. Cloaked in stealth, he padded into the gentle waves, which was colder than expected. As he waded forward, he couldn¡¯t help but notice just how peaceful it all seemed. At least until he felt the first creatures that entered into range of Soul of the Wild. They were just fish, but to Elijah, it was obvious that they¡¯d been affected by the ambient death-attuned ethera. Many were missing chunks of flesh, and they all moved with the same twitchy momentum characterized by the zombies. The second they detected prey, they threw themselves forward with such speed that Elijah was put in mind of schools of starving piranha. Only it was much worse because he could feel the beasts¡¯ twisted nature. Not quite alive. Not quite dead. There was life in there, sure. But death as well. To his senses, their existence seemed paradoxical but oddly fitting, like two sides of the same coin suddenly existed in the same space. It was both unnerving and fascinating, though Elijah couldn¡¯t spare the time to examine it further. He had a job to do. With that in mind, he swam forward, staying close to the seafloor, noting that it was largely devoid of vegetation. There were stands of kelp and patches of coral, but nothing like what surrounded his island. For a while, he just swam in a grid that spanned a few square miles, hoping to sense his goal. Along the way, he saw more than one undead horror. There were more squids, but none quite as large as the one that had attacked the ferry. A few octopi. Quite a lot of shrimp the size of housecats, and even a lobster that had grown to the size of a motorcycle. They had all been altered by the aura of undeath that lay over the region, though they¡¯d each adapted to it in their own ways. Only the weakest of the fish had gone the way of the zombies, with most of the stronger sea life developing more in line with humans. That meant they were healthy and alive, but they displayed abilities and characteristics that utilized the ambient ethera in novel ways. Elijah only got a glimpse of those traits ¨C like when he saw a large shrimp surrounded by undead shrimp minions ¨C but as he swam through the harbor, his fascination continued to mount. It took all of his willpower not to investigate further, but he kept himself on track until, at last, he sensed a powerful bubble of energy nearby. At first, Elijah wasn¡¯t even sure what he was feeling, he¡¯d spent so long surrounded by death. However, after only a moment, he knew the truth. There was a guardian nearby, and it was standing sentry over a powerful natural treasure. It didn¡¯t take a genius to recognize what it was guarding, either. Clearly, the quest for the pearl mentioned in the temple¡¯s poem was going to be slightly more complicated than simply grabbing it and returning to the island. Elijah swam forward to investigate. 7-57. The Pearl Under Guise of the Unseen, Elijah swam forward, passing through a dense clump of kelp until he saw his goal. His heart jumped into his throat as he beheld a once-magnificent clam. There was nothing else nearby. No fish. No other sea life. Just an enormous clam the size of a small SUV. It was obvious that, at one point, the clam had been beautiful, with an iridescent shell that radiated so much ethera that it created its own swirling current. However, it had just as clearly been affected by the death-attuned ethera, because the shell looked as if it had begun to rot, with large, black splotches marring its shimmering surface. Elijah was well aware that clam shells were incapable of rotting. At worst, they could be subject to erosion, much like any other mineral. But it didn¡¯t seem that the new world followed that particular rule, because the second he came within range of the creature, he recoiled from the deep-seated sense of death and decay. The clam was still alive inside its shell, but clearly, it wasn¡¯t far from succumbing. A little panicked, Elijah swam forward, already shifting into his human form. At the moment, he didn¡¯t care if something attacked him. Nor was he particularly worried about the pearl he felt inside the clam¡¯s shell. Instead, the only thing that concerned him was healing the guardian before him. The second he reached the creature, he laid his hand on its shell and cast Soothe. At the influx of vitality, the clam spasmed, vibrating its shell so violently that Elijah felt a sense of vertigo wash over him. His eardrums popped, and his body felt like it had come under immense pressure. He ignored it. Often, healing was painful. He cast Blessing of the Grove, but instead of a sunflower sprouting from the harbor floor, it was a huge sea anemone that had the same rough shape of a flower. Elijah barely paid attention to it, choosing to focus on the clam instead. The vibrations continued, growing far more violent. So, Elijah was forced to use Soothe on himself as well. Finally, he used Nature¡¯s Bloom, casting it over and over again as he tried to usher the clam back to health. For almost half an hour, Elijah poured ethera into the clam, but after only fifteen minutes, he knew it wouldn¡¯t work. He couldn¡¯t stop, though. He refused. It wasn¡¯t until his ethera bottomed out that he was forced to admit the obvious and give up on healing the magnificent creature. When he pulled away, the entire area was clouded with his blood. He hadn¡¯t even realized it, but the powerful vibrations had caused internal injuries. The only reason he hadn¡¯t been permanently affected was because of the effects of Blessing of the Grove. Without it, he would have probably died. And yet, despite his sacrifice, the clam was no better off than before his arrival. If anything, its condition had grown much worse. Unsure what else to do, once he¡¯d regained a little ethera, Elijah swam forward and laid his hand on the creature¡¯s shell. Then, he used Soul of the Wild, pushing his soul into the clam. He immediately blacked out, but only for the briefest of instants. When he regained consciousness, an entire world opened up to him. Suddenly, he knew the guardian¡¯s entire history. It was not a terribly exciting journey, and the highlight was being plucked from some other ocean and thrust into Earth, but it was also more profound than almost anything Elijah had ever experienced. But over it all was a single command: Kill me. Elijah broke contact, and if he hadn¡¯t been underwater, he would have been gasping for air. The clam wanted to die, and he understood why. It was in incredible pain and had been for years. Moreover, it could feel its body slowly surrendering to undeath. With its limited ability to move, it had tried to escape the region of undeath, but even though it had spent two years in the endeavor, it had made very little progress. What¡¯s more, it had grown far too weak to continue, settling in its current location. The only reason it was still alive was the powerful natural treasure that was its charge to guard. Like all guardians and their natural treasures, the relationship was symbiotic between the clam and the pearl. But Elijah had no words to describe how he felt about the clam¡¯s request. It reminded him of the two other instances where he¡¯d killed a guardian. The first had been the panther he didn¡¯t have the ethera to heal. That had been a scarring ¨C yet undeniably rewarding ¨C experience. Then, there was the boar who¡¯d rampaged throughout what had once been the Mongolian steppes. Both experiences had deeply affected Elijah. And yet, he knew it was part of being a Druid. He felt that in the deepest parts of his spirit. He was there to nurture and protect life, but sometimes, the only thing to be done was to end a creature¡¯s suffering. So it was with the clam. Pointedly, he didn¡¯t even consider the pearl he¡¯d come to retrieve. As far as he was concerned, Hong Kong could rot before he killed a guardian in cold blood. And if anyone else tried to do it, they would find just how terrible of an enemy he could be. The very notion got Elijah¡¯s blood pumping in a way it hadn¡¯t moved since Easton. However, he couldn¡¯t deny that a mercy killing was necessary. He felt it now. No matter how much ethera he used, he could never heal the clam. Because it wasn¡¯t truly dying. Instead, the undeath had infected it so deeply that it had changed the creature¡¯s nature. Soon enough, it would be like all the other monsters roaming the harbor. And it did not want to endure that fate. So, Elijah shook his head and tried to convey that he was sorry for what was about to happen. Then, he crossed his legs and closed his eyes as he recovered his ethera. He knew the clam was on the verge of passing the threshold into undeath ¨C he¡¯d felt it ¨C so he wanted to be ready for anything. It only took about thirty minutes of focused meditation to fill his core, and when he finally reached that point of saturation, he used Shape of Thorn. It was far and away his physically strongest form, and he knew he would need every point of Strength to enact the plan he had in mind. Strangely, when he looked down at his arms, he saw that the vines that usually curled around him had become something else. In a way, the tendrils reminded him of the sea anemones he¡¯d once studied, but there were elements of kelp in there as well. What¡¯s more, his scales had lost their bark-like texture, replacing it with something more coralline in nature. What hadn¡¯t changed was his Strength, though ¨C and that was what was important. He glided forward, skipping across the seafloor for two steps before reaching the clam. Then, he hooked his claws into the seam of the shell and pulled. The thing didn¡¯t budge. It did vibrate, though, and far more violently even than when he¡¯d tried to heal it. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Elijah wouldn¡¯t be deterred, though. The clam had made its wishes clear, and as much as he wished the vibrations were a sign that it had changed its mind, he knew that wasn¡¯t the case. It was just a natural defense mechanism that it could not control. So, he levered his claws deeper, yanking even harder. Still, it wouldn¡¯t move. What¡¯s more, even his increased Constitution wasn¡¯t up to the task of withstanding the vibrations. So, he did the only thing he could think to do, using Unchecked Growth, then Domain of Vines. Hundreds of tendrils matching the curious growths on his arms and shoulders burst forth from the silty seafloor, then wrapped around the clam, and pulled. To give them a little extra power, Elijah used Savage Strength. Finally, the clam moved. At first, it was just a small gap, but with every inch it opened, the task grew easier until, at last, it was open. Elijah recoiled from the sight before him. The soft flesh of the clam was almost entirely rotten, and it radiated death like few things Elijah had ever felt. Seeing that, his resolve hardened, and he directed his vines to wrap around the clam and yank it free of the shell. It resisted, but without its shell¡¯s protection, it was all but defenseless. Elijah tossed it onto the seafloor, then immediately shifted into the Shape of Venom. Before he even bit the thing, he knew it would only take one dose of Envenom to finish it off. It was almost there already. So, he swallowed his disgust and did what he needed to do. Biting into the thing sent the taste of rancid eggs lancing across his tongue. It was more than just taste, though. It infected him on a deeper level. And while Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t hurt him ¨C not like the squid¡¯s oozing flesh ¨C it definitely wasn¡¯t pleasant. But then again, nothing about the task was. That thought flowed through him as he watched the clam finally die. It didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, it rotted before his very eyes, dissipating into the ocean as tiny microbes. It made him sick. What was even worse was that killing the clam had actually awarded him another level, telling him just how powerful the guardian had become. Usually, he celebrated every level he gained, but this time, he just wanted to move on. Still, one-thirty-nine. He was only a single level from another ability or spell evolution. That was something, at least. A silver lining. After a moment, Elijah turned his attention to the shell, which had begun to break down the moment the clam had been torn free. What was intact was the large, basketball-sized pearl at the center. The thing was made of similar stuff as the shell, which meant that it had the same iridescent look. However, it also featured swirls of deep blue that glowed in the scant light on the harbor¡¯s floor. Elijah didn¡¯t want to dwell on what had happened, so he shoved the pearl into his satchel ¨C which stretched his carrying capacity ¨C then shifted into the Shape of Venom before using Guise of the Unseen. It was just in time, too, because only a moment later, a swirl of water announced the arrival of a large marine creature. Elijah was nearly swept up in the current of the van-sized creature, but he managed to maintain his footing as he looked up at the massive fish. It was clearly a tiger shark, but as with many of the beasts in the area, it was undead. Many of its ribs were exposed, and huge chunks of flesh were missing. The edges of those wounds were rotten, and Elijah expected that if he could smell underwater, it would have emitted the odor of decaying fish. The creature swam around, obviously confused, and it wasn¡¯t difficult to see why. It had come for the pearl, which it suddenly couldn¡¯t detect. That was not surprising, considering that the satchel had become part of him upon his transformation. He had no idea how it worked, but clearly, the pearl was no longer detectible. A good thing, too, because he very much did not want to fight the enormous shark on its home turf. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t long before the thing recognized that nothing was there, and it soon swam away. Elijah once again struggled to maintain his footing before the massive wake of the fish¡¯s departure, but once it was gone, he started back toward the island. As he swam, he considered the clam¡¯s fate. Normally, he wouldn¡¯t have been so concerned with such a relatively simple organism. Bivalves were incapable of feeling pain ¨C or really any sensations at all ¨C but guardians were clearly different. It had needed to die. It had wanted it. But Elijah hated that he¡¯d been the one to meet the terms of its wish. Those thoughts accompanied him as he went back to the island, but he¡¯d not found any peace by the time he reached the temple. Before he entered, he shifted back into his human form, retrieved the pearl from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, then stepped inside. Sadie looked up from where she¡¯d been studying one of the pillars, and the second she laid eyes on Elijah, her expression brightened. She even smiled, which made everything just a little better. ¡°You got it, did you? Good,¡± said Gideon, ruining the mood. ¡°Let¡¯s get this thing over with so we can depart this detestable temple.¡± ¡°Good to see you too,¡± Elijah said, striding forward. If the man didn¡¯t watch out, he might just become the object of Elijah¡¯s ire. After being forced to kill the clam, he was already close to the edge. So, it wouldn¡¯t take much to push him over. And if that happened¡­ Elijah shook his head, banishing those thoughts. Instead, he stepped closer to the pedestal, then asked, ¡°Is everyone ready.¡± ¡°Yes. Go. Now,¡± said Gideon. Elijah glanced at the man and said, ¡°I really wasn¡¯t asking you.¡± Then, he looked at Sadie, then Dat, and asked the question again. When they confirmed that they were, Elijah set the pearl on the pedestal. A beam of light shone down from above, casting the interior of the temple in blue swirls that reminded Elijah of a sunny day after it had been filtered through the surface of the sea. The voice returned, saying, ¡°Balance the tides of the mortal realm and the spirit sea. High meets low, calm meets storm. In harmony, the blessing shall be born.¡± In the aftermath of that cryptic poem, Elijah looked around, asking, ¡°Any ideas what that means?¡± ¡°I think I know,¡± Sadie said, glancing from one pillar to the next. ¡°Just give me a minute.¡± Then, she started rotating the pillars. Each one was comprised of four distinct pieces that could move independently of the others. They all bore various symbols that Elijah couldn¡¯t even begin to interpret. Sadie clearly knew what she was doing, though, because it wasn¡¯t long before the pillar she¡¯d been manipulating sounded a loud click. A second later, a beam of light tore away from the top of the pillar and hit the pearl. ¡°Yes!¡± she said, pumping her fist. ¡°One down.¡± ¡°Uh¡­Sadie¡­whatcha doin¡¯?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°It¡¯s simple. See those symbols. They represent high tide, low tide, a rising tide, and a falling tide. And those frescoes on the tops of the walls? They¡¯re instructions on the sequence to get the results we want. I didn¡¯t know what they meant until I heard the poem, but now it¡¯s obvious.¡± ¡°Not so obvious to me, bro,¡± Dat said, squinting at the indicated frescoes. ¡°Those don¡¯t look like moons to me.¡± They didn¡¯t to Elijah, either. But he wasn¡¯t going to argue with something that was obviously working. Nico didn¡¯t have any such reservations, ¡°Wait. I don¡¯t see it either. What if you¡¯re wrong and it¡¯s a trap?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not wrong,¡± Sadie said, already rotating the pillars. ¡°Just trust me.¡± ¡°I trusted you before. And now Lisa¡¯s dead.¡± She stopped. And for a long moment, there was no movement or sound. Then, Dat stepped toward Nico, wrapped his hand around the much smaller man¡¯s neck. Nico tried to resist, clawing against Dat¡¯s hand as the Witch Hunter lifted him into the air. He leaned close and said, ¡°Do not speak her name, coward.¡± ¡°Dat,¡± Sadie said. Gideon tried to move in, drawing his sword, but one look from Elijah was all it took to stop him in his tracks. ¡°Dat!¡± Sadie shouted. ¡°Let him go! It wasn¡¯t his fault!¡± Dat glanced at Sadie, then back at Nico. He dropped the Healer, who fell to the floor, gasping for air. ¡°I¡¯ll be outside,¡± he said. Then, without another word, he disappeared, obviously under the effects of Ghost Cloak. There was no indication that he¡¯d actually left, though. ¡°Go ahead, Sadie,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We¡¯ll deal with this later.¡± Sadie looked at her brother before glancing toward the door. A war of indecision played across her face before, at last, her steely resolve returned. Then, she resumed her manipulation of the pillar. It soon clicked into place, just like the other, and shined more light on the pearl. The third and fourth followed the same pattern, but even when Elijah received a notification that they¡¯d each gotten the Blessing of Water, he had no idea what Sadie saw in the puzzle. However, with that notification, they¡¯d gained two of the three blessings. Now, there was only one left before they could finally enter the Primal Realm. He only hoped that it wouldn¡¯t be too late. 7-58. Ap Le Chau Temple There were more of them. A lot more. And Elijah knew why. The Primal Realm had been open for a couple of days by that point, and it had wasted no time in disgorging hordes of undead. As the group slowly traveled through the city, making their way to the third and final shrine, they encountered thousands of zombies, ambulatory skeletons, and other, more esoteric undead. The worst were the wraiths, which had no corporeal body, but instead presented as wisps of mist that, according to Sadie, could drain a person of all life in only a few moments. Elijah knew he wasn¡¯t in danger of that rapid of a death, but the presence of what amounted to ghosts definitely left him feeling like he was walking through a horror movie. That sensation was only assisted by the cloudy atmosphere, which had cast the entire city in deep shadow. That, too, was all too normal for the area, and Sadie revealed that they¡¯d been dealing with it from the very beginning. In the deepest parts of winter, it was entirely dark for weeks at a time. No wonder she and Dat had been so desperate for help. Then there were the demons. Apparently, Zhang Yue¡¯s ability was only capable of shielding them from the undead, so they were forced to avoid the wandering demons via more mundane stealth. Thankfully, there weren¡¯t many of them around ¨C which would change over time, Sadie assured him ¨C but even then, there were more than a few close calls. If it came down to a fight, at least some of them would die. Probably Gideon. Zhang Yue, almost certainly. Even Nico was at risk. Elijah felt certain that Dat, Sadie, and he would make it, but with so many enemies around, there were no guarantees. Still, there was a part of Elijah that wished they had more time. The zombies seemed neverending, and though they wouldn¡¯t give a ton of experience, the sheer numbers would make them a good source of levels. The time constraints as well as the risk of being overwhelmed kept him from suggesting farming them, though. There was too much at stake to focus entirely on progression ¨C even if he was close to reaching another threshold where he would gain a new spell. No one spoke as they made their way through the city, which left Elijah to study his surroundings. As expected, there were plenty of undead around, and much of the city showed the telltale signs of long abandonment. Windows had been shattered, bloodstains decorated many of the walls, and shops had been scavenged clean. However, on more than one occasion, Elijah felt something he didn¡¯t expect. There were people in some of the buildings. They didn¡¯t feel particularly strong, and most were loaded down with scavenged supplies, but they were as normal as anyone else he¡¯d felt in Hong Kong. Some were extremely young, though. When the group stopped to rest in one of the more defensible buildings, Elijah asked Sadie about them. ¡°Scavengers,¡± she whispered. ¡°Mostly necromancers.¡± ¡°Some of them were children,¡± he responded, keeping his voice low. Zhang Yue¡¯s ability extended to sound, but Elijah didn¡¯t want to push its bounds. The man was already beginning to look a little haggard, but Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was from the strain of constantly using his abilities or if he was just worn out from stress. Probably a little bit of both, but it was obvious that the Explorer was in over his head. ¡°Those conclaves operate on a razor thin margin,¡± she explained. ¡°Everyone has to contribute.¡± ¡°Why doesn¡¯t Heaven¡¯s Bastion just take them all in? They¡¯re people too. Even if you don¡¯t like their classes¡­¡± Gideon, who was sitting nearby, snorted. ¡°Trash, the lot of them. Good for nothing but consorting with the dead. They have nothing we want, so why should we spend our resources supporting them?¡± ¡°Wasn¡¯t talking to you.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not wrong,¡± Sadie said reluctantly. ¡°Not about the trash part. Our resources are extremely limited, Elijah. We¡¯re already teetering on the edge of viability. If we added any more people, the entire settlement would fail. As much as my heart goes out to those people ¨C¡± ¡°Don¡¯t waste your sympathies on them,¡± Nico interjected with no small degree of venom in his tone. ¡°They would kill you in a second if they could. Likely, they would reanimate your body and use it for labor.¡± ¡°If I could help them, I would,¡± she said in a small voice. Then, she pushed herself to her feet and walked away. She didn¡¯t go far ¨C just to the window ¨C but it was clear that she didn¡¯t want to talk about it. For a moment, Elijah considered following her and offering some comfort, but he didn¡¯t think it was his place. So, he reluctantly remained where he was, giving thought to the situation in Hong Kong. On one level, he understood the notion of scarcity. The leaders of Heaven¡¯s Bastion ¨C which included Gideon, unfortunately ¨C had been forced to make decisions as to who was worth helping. If they chose wrong, then the whole community would collapse. In that case, most people would die. Instead, they had picked favorites based on their usefulness ¨C at least that was what they¡¯d implied ¨C so that they could save some portion of the population. It wasn¡¯t a complex concept, but in practice, it was incredibly complicated. And Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve that he discounted the likelihood of corruption. It was almost a certainty. Yet, he also knew there wasn¡¯t much he could do about it. He was just one man, and the completion of his mission ¨C to close the Primal Realm ¨C would help everyone, not just Heaven¡¯s Bastion. So, he didn¡¯t see how any of the information he¡¯d just received could change his path. It was food for thought, though. Eventually, the group was well-rested enough to continue on, and the journey through the city went much as it had for the past day. The prevalence of the undead was even more stifling with every passing hour, and there were quite a few different varieties that presented themselves. The most troubling were the hulking, chalky white creatures with incredibly long limbs with too many joints. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Wights, they were called, and according to Sadie, they were some of the most powerful creatures they¡¯d ever encountered. From what Elijah felt of them, each one was ascended, though only just. Thankfully, there weren¡¯t many of them, and the ones that were present were incapable of seeing through Zhang Yue¡¯s group stealth. But Elijah could tell that they sensed something amiss, which added a great deal of tension to each close encounter. Still, the group made it through without being forced into a fight, eventually arriving at their first major obstacle. The Hung Shing Temple at Ap Le Chau had once been located on the northern coast of Hong Kong Island, but for whatever reason, it ¨C along with its surroundings ¨C had been relocated inland. So, to reach it, they were forced to cross Victoria Harbor via a narrow causeway that stretched from the island to the mainland. As they did, Elijah felt dozens of powerful undead sea monsters on either side. If they were detected, any one of those unliving abominations would be able to assault them. And just like in the city proper, if one creature broke through Zhang Yue¡¯s stealth, then they would all be fully exposed. About halfway across the causeway, a crash sounded from up ahead, and Elijah watched as one of the flying creatures extricated itself from the crater caused by its impact. Even as its bones reformed, it threw itself back into the air, with something wriggling in its claws. A second later, a massive white saltwater crocodile launched itself out of the water, its jaws snapping as it engulfed the flyer. The crocodile hit the ground a moment later, destroying that portion of the causeway. Water flooded the area, creating a thirty-foot wide gulf as the crocodile retreated. Like the wights, it was clearly powerful and just as obviously undead ¨C at least to Elijah¡¯s senses. Everyone just stood there for a long moment, hesitant to move forward. ¡°I want to go home,¡± Zhang Yue muttered after a few seconds of silence. ¡°I just want to leave this place¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s okay, bro. Nobody really wants to be here,¡± Dat said, clapping him on the shoulder and forcing a smile. ¡°Think about the hero¡¯s welcome we¡¯ll get when we get back, though. I bet they¡¯ll even give you a promotion. You¡¯ll have your own suite, just below Song Tianwei¡¯s floor. You¡¯ll see.¡± ¡°Just do your job,¡± Nico spat. Left unsaid ¨C but evident in his tone ¨C was the implication that there would be consequences for failure. That got Zhang Yue moving. Fortunately, the Explorer¡¯s ability proved up to the task of concealing them as they crossed the causeway. After that, it was more of the same, though there were even more undead ¨C especially the powerful varieties ¨C than on the island behind them, and many of them were moving outward, spreading the Primal Realm¡¯s influence. Elijah also saw a few demons that had seemingly taken control of whole hordes of zombies. The demons themselves were exactly what Elijah would have expected, with pitch black skin, sweeping horns, and wings. There weren¡¯t many of them, but they all wore robes that concealed the rest of their forms, but he saw enough to recognize that they were equipped with powerful bodies and likely possessed hooves instead of feet. Thankfully, they were easily avoided, largely because they seemed focused on tasks of their own. So, there was nothing keeping the group from reaching the Hung Shing Temple at Ap Le Chau. From a distance, it resembled the Tin Hua Temple ¨C at least in terms of structure, coloring, and general size. However, as they drew closer, Elijah saw that it differed in a few key ways. For one, its surroundings were decidedly shabbier, reminding Elijah of the sort of urban decay that was so prevalent in major cities on the decline. For another, it lacked the prominent frescoes of the Tin Hua Temple. And finally, the fa?ade was slightly different, with blue walls instead of white. The green roof was similar, though. After a brief discussion, Elijah approached the door, and when he did, he saw a notification flash before his mind¡¯s eye:
You have arrived at the Ap Le Chau Temple. To earn the Blessing of Cunning, enter and complete the challenge within. The challenge resets in 7 days upon completion or failure. For access to The Desolate Reach, only one party member (maximum of six for each instance of the blessing) is required to obtain the blessing. Do you wish to enter? [Yes] or [No]
¡°It¡¯s like the Man Mo Temple. Like a tower,¡± Elijah said. ¡°We can all enter this one, though.¡± That prompted a discussion as to whether or not they wanted to send everyone inside. Gideon was fine with Elijah repeating his feat from the Man Mo Temple and going in alone. However, he was overruled by the rest of the group ¨C save for Zhang Yue, who offered no opinion ¨C so after that, they stepped inside. After a brief moment of nothingness, Elijah arrived at a completely changed landscape. A gate loomed before him, flanked by two stone statues depicting stylized lions. One turned its head to him and spoke, ¡°Through shifting paths, the clever stray. A winding test to light the way. No map will serve. No rules apply. The maze is solved only by the cunning eye.¡± ¡°Another ridiculous poem,¡± Gideon growled. ¡°What does it mean?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°Shifting paths can imply that the maze changes. Maps won¡¯t help. Maybe the line about no rules means that physics doesn¡¯t apply? I¡¯m not sure.¡± As Sadie and the others discussed it, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild. And what he sensed did not match what he saw before him. Choosing to trust the spell that had never let him down, he stepped forward and laid his hand on the jade inlaid column directly behind the lion statue. At first, there was a little resistance, but then, something changed, and Elijah¡¯s fingers passed through. ¡°Uh¡­guys? I think I figured it out,¡± he said, his arm sticking through the wall up to the elbow. ¡°It¡¯s an illusion?¡± Gideon said, stepping forward. He thrust his own hand toward the same wall, but instead of going through, a force erupted from the wall, throwing him backward hard enough that Elijah wondered if the man had broken bones. Nico was there in a second, mending Gideon¡¯s injuries. ¡°What the hell? How?¡± ¡°That one¡¯s solid. This one isn¡¯t,¡± Elijah said, withdrawing his hand. Then, Sadie touched the same wall Elijah had, and she received a similar backlash to Gideon. She weathered it much better, though, only grunting as she stumbled backward a few feet. ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said, tapping his lip. To him, there were pieces of the maze that felt entirely ephemeral, but the rest seemed solid enough. However, only he seemed capable of bypassing even the illusory bits. The only question was why. Some members of the group were disinterested in puzzling it out, though. Gideon, in particular, wanted Elijah to just go ¡°do his thing¡± so they could receive the blessing. But Elijah wasn¡¯t so quick to do so. For one, he wasn¡¯t sure what would happen to the others if he left them behind. It wasn¡¯t past the system to require everyone who entered to receive the blessing before they were allowed to leave. For another, he found the conundrum interesting, and he wanted to figure it out. So, he commenced with a series of experiments until, at last, he reached a conclusion. ¡°It¡¯s based on belief.¡± ¡°What?¡± asked Sadie, who¡¯d helped him while the others simply rested. ¡°I can feel that these walls aren¡¯t real,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I trust my ability, and because that, I believe I can walk through the walls. None of you have that advantage.¡± Gideon looked up and sneered, ¡°So you¡¯re saying that we need only believe, like we¡¯re in a fairy tale?¡± ¡°Something like that, sure,¡± Elijah replied. ¡°It¡¯s all about mental discipline. I¡¯m sure you can handle it.¡± 7-59. The Wrong Time is Sometimes Right Elijah stepped into the maze, looking both directions before picking one. The others followed close on his heels, though they seemed far more anxious than he felt. It wasn¡¯t surprising, either. To them, the notion of traveling through the endless twisting halls was a daunting prospect. But to Elijah, it felt like a casual stroll, largely because he could see all the gaps in the system of corridors. Unfortunately, every wall was not illusory. Instead, it resembled a normal maze, but with hidden paths concealed by the not-quite-real portions. Interestingly, he sensed that someone could make it through the maze without taking advantage of the easier hidden path, but it would be much more time-consuming and far more difficult. Especially considering that the maze was not deserted. There were creatures in there, many of them feeling powerful enough to give even Elijah trouble. They weren¡¯t overly large, and though they were humanoid, they clearly weren¡¯t people, either. Elijah only got a few glimpses of them via Soul of the Wild, but even those were enough to tell him that he didn¡¯t want to engage. He felt confident that, together, they could defeat the creatures ¨C each of which felt oddly shiny ¨C but without knowing their nature, he didn¡¯t want to chance it. That was especially true, given that he had an alternative. So, he led his companions through the maze, walking through semi-illusory walls throughout the process. Some handled it better than others. Gideon, particularly, had difficulty believing he could make it, but after the first one, he got a little better at it. After the first hour, no member of the party even hesitated. Gradually, they progressed, using Elijah¡¯s senses to guide them in the proper direction. It brought back memories of the first maze he¡¯d ever conquered, but instead of weathered ruins that were slowly being overtaken by the local flora ¨C as had been the case back in the first tower ¨C this newest incarnation of a maze was much more contained and better maintained. The walls were pristine, and the ceiling prevented Elijah from even considering bypassing the sprawling corridors. And there were no root raptors or sasquatch men to harass him, which made things a bit less nerve-wracking. It did come with a sense of nostalgia, though. Perhaps he would return to the tower sometime just for old time¡¯s sake. It wouldn¡¯t give him much in the way of experience or rewards ¨C not after having run it multiple times ¨C but he couldn¡¯t help but remember the whole experience with a fondness that probably didn¡¯t reflect the reality of his experience. After all, he¡¯d barely survived the place. Wanting to go back probably represented a serious flaw in his judgement as well as a healthy dose of trauma coping mechanisms. Elijah¡¯s mind wandered through his memories as they progressed, and after two more hours, they finally reached the end of the maze. Predictably, it was not unguarded. It was the first time Elijah had seen one of the creatures guarding the maze, but its appearance matched what he¡¯d felt with Soul of the Wild. That was to say that, as he¡¯d already come to realize, it was shiny. Very, very shiny. In fact, the entire thing looked like it was made of mirror shards, many of which were incredibly sharp. The second it laid eyes on Elijah and his companions, who¡¯d just emerged from the final hall and into a large, open room decorated with hundreds of mirrors, it let out a grating scream. It sounded like shattering glass, and it cut through Elijah¡¯s defenses. He fell to his knees, clutching his suddenly bleeding ears, as his mind went blank. Then, suddenly, the scream ended in a pained wail. When Elijah¡¯s mind cleared, he looked up to see Dat standing behind the collapsed creature, his shortsword in hand. The blade dripped with clear and glittering blood. ¡°What was that?¡± rasped a panicked and pained Zhang Yue. ¡°That was one of the things we¡¯ve been avoiding by taking the shortcuts,¡± Elijah answered, already having cast Blessing of the Grove to heal everyone. The damage was far more extensive than the few seconds of exposure would have suggested, but thankfully, none of it was permanent. After only a few seconds, they were all healed. Pointedly, Nico hadn¡¯t bothered, preferring instead to save his ethera for an emergency. Elijah hated that about the Healer. He was perfectly okay with letting people suffer on the off chance that he might need to respond to some hypothetical threat. Elijah understood it, but that didn¡¯t mean he had to like it. ¡°Did you use your Miracle?¡± asked Sadie when they joined Dat. The Witch Hunter nodded. ¡°Curse of Scrying told me it was the only way,¡± Dat answered. Then, he went on to explain that the monster ¨C called a mirror fiend ¨C only had one vulnerable spot. Hitting it anywhere else would result in a reflected attack, making it a truly dangerous foe. Could Elijah stand up to his own spells? Perhaps with the help of his heals, but he didn¡¯t like the idea. ¡°Well, good thing we have you, then,¡± Elijah said, gripping his friend¡¯s shoulder. Dat¡¯s muscles were tense, suggesting an abnormal level of anxiety. He still hadn¡¯t calmed from confronting Gideon. ¡°You know, when this is all finished, why don¡¯t you come back to the grove with me? You could use a vacation.¡± He glanced at Sadie and added, ¡°You¡¯re invited too, obviously.¡± She nodded, though under her breath, she muttered, ¡°Glad to be an afterthought.¡± Elijah felt certain that he wasn¡¯t intended to hear that part, but his senses had grown far more potent since he¡¯d progressed his cultivation to the Expert tier. Despite wanting to point out that he¡¯d already invited Sadie to the island on multiple occasions, he chose to keep his mouth shut. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Instead, he and the others approached the mirror fiend¡¯s body, finding nothing of note. Zhang Yue, whose class included some ability to harvest creatures, settled in to remove its mirror shards, saying, ¡°These might be valuable to crafters.¡± While the Explorer went to work, Elijah and the others approached a pedestal at the center of the room. To his surprise, when he touched it, he received a notification informing him that they¡¯d received the Blessing of Cunning, completing the set necessary to enter the Primal Realm on Dragon Tiger Mountain. ¡°That was a little easier than expected,¡± he remarked. ¡°It feels almost like we cheated this one.¡± ¡°It came with a high cost,¡± Dat admitted. ¡°I won¡¯t have the Miracle available for a while.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°We¡¯ll be fine. You thought it was necessary, and I trust your judgement.¡± Clearly, that sentiment was not universal, and as they retraced their steps through the maze, Elijah witnessed glares from both Nico and Gideon. Neither had shown any particular attachment to Dat, but it was obvious that they believed he¡¯d erroneously used one of their most potent weapons. It didn¡¯t take long to exit the maze, and soon enough, they were back in Hong Kong and trekking through the city. As twilight descended, they chose to find a place to camp until morning. Elijah had no issues traveling in darkness, but even he had to admit that it was far more dangerous after the sun set. So, before long, they found a defensible building and settled in. Only an hour into the night, Elijah heard a whispered conversation between Nico and Gideon. They were on the other side of the building and in another room, but so long as he focused on his enhanced senses as well as Soul of the Wild, Elijah could hear them clearly enough to know what they were saying. ¡°He¡¯s never been smart,¡± Nico hissed. ¡°We can¡¯t control him.¡± ¡°He¡¯s not the only one we can¡¯t control,¡± Gideon agreed, clearly believing they were too far away to be heard. ¡°The Druid is a wildcard, and he¡¯s affecting your sister¡¯s demeanor. She defers to his judgement. I don¡¯t need to remind you why that is a problem. If we lose her¡­¡± ¡°We won¡¯t. She¡¯s on our side.¡± ¡°You¡¯re sure about that?¡± Gideon answered, ¡°She would never go against Tianwei¡¯s wishes.¡± ¡°And what about after? The old man won¡¯t live forever. He has no talent for cultivation, and he¡¯s too weak to fight. He should not have chosen the Warrior archetype,¡± Nico stated. ¡°It was shortsighted, and it¡¯ll be the death of him. Sooner rather than later.¡± ¡°You have plans?¡± asked Gideon. Nico shook his head. ¡°No. Not yet. But the day is coming when we will need to make some tough choices,¡± he answered. ¡°I hope I can count on your support.¡± Gideon bowed his head. ¡°You are the future of Heaven¡¯s Bastion. We all know it.¡± After that, the pair fell silent. Elijah questioned whether or not he should get involved. He wasn¡¯t familiar enough with the situation in Heaven¡¯s Bastion to know if deposing Tianwei was a good idea. He wasn¡¯t even sure if that was what had been suggested. The man was old, and if he couldn¡¯t fight, then he wouldn¡¯t last much longer. By comparison, Nico would likely live for at least another century. More if he¡¯d worked on his Regeneration and Constitution. Or if he reached ascension. Elijah knew that life spans varied across the multi-verse. By this point, his own longevity would probably be measured in centuries ¨C perhaps more than a millennia ¨C but he knew that he wasn¡¯t really representative of the norm. It depended on cultivation, attributes, race, and overall level, which made exact estimates hard to come by. Regardless, if Nico wanted it, he was probably the logical choice to take over. The only fly in the ointment was Sadie, and Elijah suspected that she had no intentions of ruling anyone but herself. It just wasn¡¯t part of her personality. Still, the fact that Gideon supported Nico left a bad taste in Elijah¡¯s mouth. Not that he was going to intervene, save to offer a warning to Sadie. That would have to wait, though, because it wasn¡¯t long before Nico and Gideon returned to the main room and settled down to sleep. Elijah and Dat remained awake, watching for any threats. The Witch Hunter remained apart from everyone else, though, clearly wanting time to himself. Soon enough, Sadie joined Elijah, who sat with his back against one of the walls. ¡°Couldn¡¯t sleep?¡± he asked. She shook her head. ¡°Follow me,¡± he said, pushing himself to his feet. ¡°We need to keep watch,¡± she pointed out. ¡°I can feel everything in this building. If something comes, I¡¯ll know. Come on,¡± he responded, extending his hand. She took it, rising to her feet. He didn¡¯t want to let it go, and to his surprise, neither did she. So, he kept his grip as he led her to a stairwell in the back of the room. As they climbed, butterflies danced in Elijah¡¯s stomach. He¡¯d only intended to tell her what he¡¯d learned from the overheard conversation between Gideon and Nico, but somehow, it had become something else. Something far more personal. Elijah could feel it in the air, almost like a thunderstorm was brewing. Soon enough, they reached the roof and sat on the edge. With their legs dangling, Elijah desperately wished he could talk about anything else, but he felt obligated to say, ¡°I think your brother and Gideon intend to depose your grandfather. I overheard them talking about ¨C¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°It¡¯s been building for a while. I¡¯d hoped to dissuade him, but with me being gone for so long¡­he¡¯s been listening to all the wrong people,¡± she admitted. ¡°I don¡¯t think I have any chance of pushing him in another direction. And honestly, I don¡¯t know if I want to. My grandfather is a great man. Even before the world changed, he was powerful. But he was never a good person. Maybe that¡¯s what we needed, but¡­I don¡¯t know how long it can last. Nico might not be any better, either.¡± ¡°You could take over,¡± Elijah suggested. She shook her head, responding, ¡°Not a chance. I have no interest in leadership.¡± Elijah felt the same way, but what¡¯s more, he wasn¡¯t sure Sadie would be any better. He liked her ¨C especially since she¡¯d developed an ability to control her spells ¨C but he was under no illusion that she would make a good leader. She was far too rigid for that kind of role. But as much as Elijah often lamented his lack of social skills, he knew enough not to give voice to that assessment. Instead, he changed the subject, saying, ¡°You know you¡¯re still invited to my island, right? Once this is all finished, I mean.¡± ¡°Because you think it would be good for me?¡± she asked, turning to look at him. The moonlight played across her features, and Elijah¡¯s breath caught in his chest. ¡°Or is it because you want me there?¡± ¡°The latter. I think ¨C¡± She leaned in, and before he knew what was happening, her lips were on his. Once he got over the shock of her actions, he leaned into it, pulling her closer. When they finally broke away, his heart was beating out of his chest. She gave him a small smile, which he returned. ¡°I¡¯ve wanted to do that for a while,¡± she admitted. Glancing around, she added, ¡°But I don¡¯t think this is the best place to continue.¡± ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Then, they kissed again, this time far more passionately. 7-60. Mount Longhu Elijah¡¯s head was still reeling a day later, but Sadie had made it clear that she wasn¡¯t interested in addressing the romantic moment they¡¯d shared the night before. They¡¯d only kissed a little before remembering where they were and heading back inside, but even that was enough to twist Elijah¡¯s insides into knots. Making it even worse was Sadie¡¯s all-business attitude. He understood it, of course. They were still on a mission, and they didn¡¯t have the luxury of splitting their focus. That was how people ended up dead. However, just because he understood and agreed with her reasoning, he still couldn¡¯t help but doubt the sincerity of the moment. Did she see it as a mistake? Was it just a moment of weakness? She was nothing but mixed signals, and her refusal to even talk about it made everything worse. So, even as they headed toward Dragon Tiger Mountain on the eastern side of Hong Kong Island, Elijah forced those thoughts into their own facet. Often, he found that was the only way to deal with the things he didn¡¯t have the time ¨C or interest ¨C to address properly. He knew it wasn¡¯t healthy, just pushing things away like that, but with everything on his plate, he didn¡¯t really have much of a choice. On top of that, dealing with all the things he¡¯d buried so deep ¨C from his anxieties about the future of the world to his relationship with Sadie ¨C was far from comfortable. It was easier to just shut them away and ignore them. Whatever the case, it was with a mostly clear head that he followed the others through Hong Kong. Zhang Yue¡¯s group stealth was still up to the task of keeping them hidden from the undead, but with the climbing levels of ethera, Elijah suspected that wouldn¡¯t be the case for much longer. The undead were growing stronger with every passing day, and soon, they would exceed the Explorer¡¯s ability to fool their senses. When that happened, things would get very bad, very quickly. They were on a timer, even if no one wanted to acknowledge it. The Primal Realm had been open before the Trial of Primacy, but things had clearly changed. According to Dat, the levels of ambient ethera had been stable back then, and the power of the creatures it disgorged was relatively low. That was no longer the case, as evidenced by the strengthening population of zombies, wights, abominations, and other undead monsters. The wildlife was affected as well, though not in the way Elijah might have expected. For instance, the flora didn¡¯t wilt. Instead, it had begun to change, taking on a deathly attunement that felt both alive and dead. Elijah still couldn¡¯t make sense of that paradoxical situation, and he didn¡¯t have the time to investigate properly. What he did know was that if the Primal Realm remained open for much longer, Hong Kong would be forever changed. Thankfully, they had gained all three blessings, which meant that there was nothing standing in the way of their entry into the Desolate Reach. Well, nothing but millions of zombies, a causeway that would expose them to undead alligators and squids, and the unliving population of Dragon Tiger Mountain. Or as Sadie referred to it, Mount Longhu. ¡°Everything in Hong Kong seems to have multiple names,¡± Elijah muttered when she said as much. They¡¯d just crossed the causeway, thankfully without incident. ¡°Gets a bit confusing.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a translation, Elijah. Longhu literally means dragon tiger. And the mountain wasn¡¯t originally in Hong Kong. It was moved here during the world¡¯s transformation,¡± she reminded him. ¡°Oh. I guess that makes sense,¡± he acknowledged, referring to the name. Though he didn¡¯t know why the system translated some things while leaving others in the original language. It was more than a little confusing. In any case, they continued on through the city. It was much the same as it had been before, though Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that there were a lot more zombies in the streets. He even heard a battle raging a few miles away, which drew even more undead into the area. He wanted to go and help, but he pushed those desires away. They couldn¡¯t afford that kind of delay. Not with the city clearly on the brink. The only solution was conquering the Primal Realm, and they couldn¡¯t let themselves be distracted from that all-important mission. Eventually, they reached the mountain, though it took them most of the day to do so, largely because they were forced into a half-dozen detours by the growing population of undead. They even saw an abomination that was at least thirty feet tall. The thing lumbered around like a kaiju, ready to destroy anything that stood in its way. It demonstrated that readiness when it bumped into a compact car, which it kicked, sending the thing crashing into the side of a building hundreds of feet away. As much as Elijah didn¡¯t want to admit it, he knew he was no match for that creature. Not alone, and not in the group, either. If they were going to attack it, they would need an army. And it wasn¡¯t even the most troubling sight. That title belonged to a hulking zombie that, from the ethera swirling around it, had something akin to a Tactician class. There was also a light of intelligence in its eyes that Elijah couldn¡¯t mistake for anything else. It all said one thing, and very clearly ¨C if they didn¡¯t accomplish their goal of conquering the Primal Realm, Hong Kong was doomed. They had survived as long as they had because the enemy had been numerous but relatively weak. Now, that simply was not the case. So, it was with renewed commitment that they began the climb up Dragon Tiger Mountain. Elijah had already done so once when he¡¯d scouted the location of the entrance to the Desolate Reach, and even back then, the area had been crawling with undead. The variety present on Mount Longhu were clearly the animated remains of long-dead World War II soldiers, as made obvious by their outdated rifles and bayonets. According to Sadie, the area had been a hotbed of activity during the second World War, where Chinese irregulars engaged in asymmetrical warfare against the Japanese. As such, many of the reanimated soldiers ¨C which presented as skeletons ¨C wore rotted, period-appropriate civilian attire. But there were plenty of regular soldiers mixed in. Some wore Japanese uniforms, while others were dressed in rough, blue garb. Still others were clad in more modern, olive-green army uniforms. It was a little confusing, especially because they all seemed to be working together and patrolling the area like they were still soldiers instead of reanimated skeletons. Perhaps the two designations weren¡¯t mutually exclusive. When one squad marched off, letting Elijah and his group pass, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s move.¡± The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Their party dashed forward under the cover of Zhang Yue¡¯s ability. However, it wasn¡¯t long before their fortunes turned, and one of the skeletons noticed them. Elijah had no idea if they¡¯d done something wrong or if the creature was simply more observant than any of the others. It didn¡¯t matter, though. They had been discovered. The undead soldier raised its face to the sky and let loose with an ear-splitting scream that echoed across the entire mountain. Dat destroyed its skull with a well-aimed crossbow bolt only a moment into the scream, but it was obvious that the damage had already been done. Not only were its fellows already charging, but a hundred echoing screams erupted from every part of the mountain. ¡°Stealth broken,¡± Sadie announced. ¡°Go loud.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t need to be told twice. He immediately shifted into the Shape of Thorn, and it was just in time to meet the charge. The skeletal soldiers led the way with their bayonets ¨C which glistened with ethera ¨C but Elijah had no intentions of letting them reach his party. To combat that, he slammed his foot into the ground, activating Domain of Vines. At his command, hundreds of thick roots exploded from the rocky ground, sending a spray of dirt and stone in every direction. The roots and vines writhed as they wrapped themselves around the comparatively light skeletons. Of course, the creatures had no intentions of going down without a fight. Most used their bayonets to hack into the sturdy vegetation, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, they were moderately successful in holding back the tide. But moderate success wasn¡¯t enough against Elijah¡¯s power, and in only a moment, the creatures were overwhelmed. He flexed the vines, which felt almost like extra appendages, and they squeezed. Bones broke, and joints were torn apart, but even then, it took a few moments before he felt the familiar flow of experience that told him that he¡¯d killed the creatures. That was not good news. Domain of Vines was one of his most powerful abilities ¨C especially when dealing with multiple opponents. He¡¯d ripped an abyssal abomination apart from the inside out with it, and that was before he¡¯d even ascended. If the skeletal soldiers could resist that potent spell ¨C even for a moment ¨C then they were in trouble. ¡°We need to move,¡± he growled. ¡°We can¡¯t get surrounded.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Sadie said. None of the others objected, and they all followed Elijah as he sprinted up the mountain. Fortunately, they¡¯d acted quickly enough that they didn¡¯t meet immediate resistance, and because of the well-established trails, their way was mostly unimpeded by nature. Yet, it wasn¡¯t more than a few hundred yards before they found their way blocked by another squad. This time, Elijah didn¡¯t bother with Domain of Vines. It didn¡¯t have a cooldown per se, but the ability cost significantly more ethera with each subsequent cast. And it wouldn¡¯t reset for another half hour. So, he forewent that ability, favoring a strategy that could most easily be characterized as ¡°bull in a china shop¡±. After charging in and crushing one soldier underfoot, he lashed out, smashing another with a backhand blow. But that was as far as he got before he felt the bite of their bayonets. As he¡¯d already noted, they were not normal, and when they pierced his bark-like scales, they only made it a quarter of an inch through. That was enough. Cold fire spiderwebbed from the wounds, spreading more than a foot in every direction and eliciting a pained growl. Elijah had been melted, ripped in half, and submerged in acid. He¡¯d taken hundreds of wounds that would have been fatal without his ability to heal. So, he was no stranger to pain. But the agony he felt at the end of those rusted blades was something altogether different. It was like every ounce of vitality had been burned away from the affected areas, leaving only lifeless flesh behind. Instead of succumbing to that agony, Elijah went in the other direction. As a Druid, he was a creature of dense vitality. He lived with it, depending on it for everything. It was who he was. So, when that life force was snatched away, it left fury in its wake. He harnessed that rage, leaning into in a way that he hadn¡¯t since using the Silver Bracer of Rage in his old guardian form. It enveloped him, forcing his mind into its molten embrace. He roared, slamming his arms down and breaking their rifles-turned-spears in two. The skeletal soldiers leaped upon his back, tearing into his scales with sharpened claw-like fingers. Elijah threw himself backward, crushing them beneath his immense weight. But more of the creatures loomed over him, stabbing their hateful blades towards his chest. Those blades stopped inches from his scales as a shield of white energy flared around him. A second later, Sadie crashed into them, leading the way with her massive sword. It sliced through the bones easily, and the others followed a second later to finish the squad off. ¡°You¡¯re out of practice,¡± Sadie said, extending her hand to help him up. ¡°You don¡¯t have to do everything yourself, Elijah.¡± Every part of Elijah¡¯s furious mind wanted to slap that hand away, but it only took him a moment to recognize that those feelings weren¡¯t really his. Still, with so much rage flowing through him, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to take her hand. Instead, he just nodded and pushed himself to his feet. ¡°We need to move,¡± Gideon reminded them, his eyes wide with fear. Even so, he¡¯d killed two of the skeletons himself. The creatures were all focused on Elijah, sure, but it was still a notable achievement for the pompous Warrior. ¡°Agreed,¡± Nico said. Elijah, meanwhile, shifted into his human form, and he immediately felt relief from the anger. It was still there ¨C his reaction to those bayonets was a visceral one ¨C but it was muted. That would have to do. He healed himself, using Soothe and Nature¡¯s Bloom. His wounds dissipated, returning to normal, but Elijah noted that it took far more to heal them than normal. In any case, they kept moving as he healed himself, and over the next fifteen minutes, they covered quite a lot of ground. They didn¡¯t stop to fight. Nor did they bother with stealth. They simply bowled through the squads of skeletons without stopping. Some were killed, but that wasn¡¯t the point. They only cared about reaching the Primal Realm. And that was what they did, arriving at the bunker where it was located. Hundreds, if not thousands, of skeletal monsters followed in their wake, so they couldn¡¯t hesitate ¨C even for a moment ¨C before they tore through the underground corridors. As they went, Dat slammed the doors shut in the hopes of slowing down the skeletons, and Sadie started formulating a plan to defend in case they were denied entry into the Primal Realm. Fortunately, the tunnels were narrow, so they could probably make a good showing. But Elijah hadn¡¯t forgotten the sting of those bayonets. If they affected him so adversely, what would they do to someone like Zhang Yue? Or Nico? Dat and Sadie would probably be fine, and Gideon had a Warrior¡¯s constitution. But even so, it was possible that none of them would survive. Thankfully, when they arrived at the vault door that marked the entrance to the Primal Realm, it was unguarded. So, without hesitation, Elijah slammed his hand on the metal surface, and he immediately received a notification telling him that he¡¯d satisfied the requirements for entry. Then, it asked if he was ready. He selected the affirmative option, and the second he did, the vault door swung inward. There was nothing on the other side. Just a black void that reminded Elijah of a rift. Or the entrance to a tower. Whatever the case, the way was clear, so he said, ¡°Everyone in. Be ready for trouble once we¡¯re inside.¡± Sadie went first. Then Nico. Gideon followed. Zhang Yue was next. And finally, Dat passed through. Just as the Witch Hunter entered, a half-dozen skeletons burst through the closest door. Elijah dashed into the portal just in time to avoid being skewered by those hateful blades. He tumbled free of the portal a second later, and the first thing he noticed was the frigid air. Which was saying something, considering that he was still wearing his Cloak of the Iron Bear. Panic gripped him as he looked around. The others were there, clutching their arms around their chests with their breath misting before them. Elijah felt Nico casting spells, probably to stave off the effects of the frigid cold. Seeing that they were alive, Elijah turned his attention to the notification he¡¯d received upon entry:
You have entered the Desolate Reach. To conquer this Primal Realm, you must infiltrate the Citadel of Torment and slay Avara, the Queen of Desolation.
That was it. No other instructions. No mention of rewards. Just a goal. And Elijah expected it wouldn¡¯t be an easy one to meet. 7-61. An Army, Amassed The cave was entirely desolate, and when Elijah looked back, he saw that there was no evidence of the door through which they¡¯d arrived in the Primal Realm. However, he was more concerned about the cold. To him, it was only mildly uncomfortable, feeling like it was a touch above freezing. But the others were far more affected. The worst off was Zhang Yue, who looked as if he was on the verge of hypothermia, but Nico wasn¡¯t doing much better. The others took the frigid climate progressively better, with Gideon coming next, then Dat, and finally Sadie, who didn¡¯t seem much more affected than Elijah. And that didn¡¯t make sense. If Sadie could take it, then his Cloak of the Iron Bear should have been more than capable of countering the cold. So, Elijah took the garment off, stuffing it into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. Doing so left him slightly colder, but no more so than if he¡¯d removed any other fur cloak. Clearly, the Temperate effect did nothing against the cold. That suggested that it was system interference deactivating it, or the cold wasn¡¯t actually based on temperature. Whatever the case, Elijah had grown accustomed to the weight of his cloak, so he once again donned it. By that point, the others had already taken steps to combat the cold, as Sadie and Dat had removed winter gear from the packs they¡¯d gotten back in the Trial. Unlike the Ghoul-Hide Satchel, they had been made by a talented crafter, which meant that they weren¡¯t nearly as powerful as the tower reward. Still, they were spacious enough to hold winter coats, gloves, and hats for everyone except Elijah, who¡¯d never really needed it. That gave Elijah a moment to look around, both with his eyes as well as the sense granted by Soul of the Wild. And he was disappointed to find that they had arrived in an entirely ordinary cave. He saw nothing noteworthy, and with Soul of the Wild, he couldn¡¯t detect anything but more rock. There was also only one way out, so their path was clear. ¡°Do you want me to scout?¡± he asked after donning his own cloak. As the weight settled onto his shoulders, he felt far more comfortable. Not so much in terms of the cold, but rather, he¡¯d grown used to wearing it. ¡°I think we should stick together,¡± Sadie answered, adjusting her furry hat. It looked like a Russian ushanka, with red streaks among the white fur. The others wore mundane ski caps, though Dat had opted to keep his normal, wide-brimmed hat, claiming that he wouldn¡¯t compromise his style for a little cold. Otherwise, everyone had donned heavy coats trimmed in fur. That they were prepared for the frigid temperatures was laudable, and it highlighted how dependent Elijah had become on some of his magical equipment. ¡°Agreed,¡± Gideon stated. ¡°We haven¡¯t a clue what dangers are held within this Primal Realm.¡± Elijah nodded, and once everyone had adjusted their equipment for maximum mobility, they set off through the cave. Fortunately, the single exit meant that they weren¡¯t forced to make any decisions as to direction, so they could each focus on the environment. What Elijah felt was not promising. As expected, there was a heavy cloud of death attuned ethera in the atmosphere, and though it wasn¡¯t visible, everyone felt it. Elijah, Sadie, and Dat had no issues dealing with it, largely because they¡¯d felt something similar during the Trial of Primacy when they¡¯d fought for days in death-attuned tunnels. However, the others certainly weren¡¯t equipped to handle it, and all three looked like they were in the throes of a fever. Despite the cold, each face was coated in a sheen of sweat, and their skin had grown incredibly pale, with dark circles beneath their eyes. The only thing keeping them on their feet was Nico¡¯s healing. He might¡¯ve been reluctant to use his spells on what he considered superfluous injuries, but he didn¡¯t hesitate to cast them in service of keeping himself and the other two going. Pointedly, he didn¡¯t bother with Elijah, Dat, or Sadie. Maybe because he could tell they didn¡¯t need it, but given his obvious disdain for them, Elijah suspected other motives. Likely, he figured that if they experienced negative side effects, they could take care of the issues themselves. It was a marked difference between how Ron approached healing. He never hesitated, and he was always the first to offer help. Once again, Elijah questioned Nico¡¯s commitment to ¨C or suitability for ¨C his chosen role. Regardless, it was enough to keep everyone moving, so he suspected he was being a little harsh based on his personal feelings concerning the healer. Resolving to keep those to a minimum, Elijah led the way through the cave. It was more than a mile long, and he felt the exit well before they reached it. So, he wasn¡¯t surprised when they finally arrived at a gaping maw of a cave entrance, overlooking a landscape that took even Elijah aback. The snow-covered mountains surrounding them were enormous, and they looked as if they stretched far into the heavens. If they were less than twice the height of Mount Everest, he would have been incredibly surprised. Far above, a grey sky filled with dense clouds cast the area in what seemed a perpetual twilight. Snow drifted down from those clouds at a steady rate ¨C enough to account for the huge drifts Elijah sensed all around. However, as impressive as the natural environment was, he was far more concerned with the valley far below. ¡°This is not what I signed up for,¡± Zhang Yue mumbled, clearly out of his depth. ¡°I¡­I want to go back. How do I go back?¡± That was not an easy question to answer, because there had been no portal at their point of arrival. Elijah suspected that the only way out was to conquer the Primal Realm. That had always been his expectation, but obviously, Zhang Yue hadn¡¯t considered it. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Whatever the case, no one responded to the Explorer, because they were all focused on the valley. Or rather, its contents. There were thousands of undead down there, and even from miles away, Elijah could feel their power. These weren¡¯t like the creatures they¡¯d encountered back in Hong Kong. Each zombie was at least of a level with Gideon, and what¡¯s more, they certainly weren¡¯t alone. The zombies made up the bulk of the army ¨C and it was an army, Elijah knew ¨C but there were many other varieties in there as well. Huge, bulbous hulks ¨C they moved like obese toddlers armed with giant hooks and covered in scars ¨C ambled through the crowd, while giant, thirty-foot-tall skeletons in medieval-style armor stood sentry. Meanwhile, there were demons as well. Some were large and muscular, reminding Elijah of Tim Curry¡¯s portrayal of Darkness in the movie Legend ¨C complete with red skin, sweeping horns, and folded, bat-like wings. Others went on four legs and looked like the bull demon Benedict had summoned back in the Trial of Primacy. That wasn¡¯t the extent of the variety laid out before him, but Elijah didn¡¯t need to catalogue each type of undead or demon. Because he knew what that army represented. ¡°They¡¯re massing for an invasion,¡± he stated. Sure enough, there was a large arch made of fused bones standing before the army. It was currently empty, but Elijah suspected that it would be their point of entry into Hong Kong. ¡°We can¡¯t let them through that gate,¡± Sadie stated, having made the same connections Elijah had. ¡°There are only six of us, one of which does not possess a combat class,¡± Gideon replied, glancing at Zhang Yue as if his choice of class was a personal affront. ¡°We can¡¯t do anything about that army, even if we wanted to. Look at them.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t care what Gideon said. He had no intentions of leaving that army of undead alive. Or whatever passed for living among the undead. ¡°I¡¯m fighting them,¡± he said. ¡°And I¡¯m going to do everything I can to destroy that arch. Once it¡¯s done, we can move on to finding the Queen of Desolation.¡± ¡°You can do it alone, then. I¡¯m not fighting ¨C¡± ¡°He¡¯s not alone,¡± Dat interrupted Gideon. Sadie added, ¡°We just need to set up the right battleground. I wish we had Kurik with us. His traps would help.¡± ¡°But we¡¯d have to put up with his complaints,¡± Elijah pointed out. Then, he adopted his best Kurik impression, saying, ¡°Ain¡¯t no good reason nobody should be fightin¡¯ no zombies.¡± ¡°Was that supposed to sound like him?¡± Sadie asked with a smirk. ¡°Uh¡­yeah?¡± ¡°It didn¡¯t.¡± Elijah shook his head, ¡°Well, you got the picture. Anyway, my point is that this is going to be a lot more difficult without him.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t disagree,¡± Sadie said. ¡°But not impossible.¡± ¡°I said I¡¯m not ¨C¡± ¡°Listen, man ¨C I know you don¡¯t want to do this,¡± Elijah interrupted, turning to face Gideon. ¡°I get it. The odds don¡¯t look great. But here¡¯s the thing ¨C you see that giant wall on the other end of the valley? That¡¯s where we¡¯re going. Do you see what¡¯s between us and that destination? Right ¨C that army. And I¡¯m going to go out on a limb here and predict that Zhang Yue¡¯s group stealth won¡¯t let us pass through undetected. So, the way I see it, we¡¯ve got one option. We have to fight through them. Now, do you want to do that as an assault where we have to carve a path through them? Or do you want to set up somewhere, build some defenses, then draw them into a battlefield that favors us?¡± The wall in question was at least a couple thousand feet tall, and it looked as if it was made entirely of black iron, with spikey protrusions and flanges that gave it a sinister appearance. Atop that wall ¨C on each end ¨C there were enormous towers that glistened with so much ethera that they seemed to glow. Both were wreathed in blue fog that obscured their true height. There were even more undead up there, and through the fog, Elijah caught glimpses of creatures that dwarfed even the largest undead or demons down below. Even if they managed to climb the wall, reaching the top would offer no solace. Fortunately, there was a gate in the center of the wall which offered a clear path through. Reaching it, however, would require the decimation of the army before it. So, as Elijah had already pointed out ¨C the only way to accomplish their goal was by defeating the army of demons and undead. And Gideon seemed to recognize that, though he wasn¡¯t happy with it. Nico ignored Elijah, choosing to speak to his sister instead. Looking at her, he said, ¡°You went through similar battles in the Trial. What would you have us do?¡± Sadie took a moment before answering, ¡°We need to be careful with our preparations. Give me a few minutes to survey the potential battlefield.¡± With that, she stepped forward to the edge of the cave and looked down. Elijah joined her while the others retreated further into the cave, likely to take shelter from the frigid winds. There was no established path leading to the base of the mountain, but with their attributes, they wouldn¡¯t have any difficulty with the descent. She pointed to a clear spot flanked by a series of boulders. ¡°Will that do?¡± she asked. There were three approaches ¨C one from the rear, another from the front, and a smaller area to the left. ¡°You and I could plug that hole in the front. Gideon to the side. And we leave Zhang Yue in the back, just to warn us if someone¡¯s circling around?¡± he asked. ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking. Dat can support Gideon so he doesn¡¯t get overwhelmed,¡± Sadie explained. ¡°If one of us falls¡­¡± ¡°I know. Is your brother up to the task of keeping everyone healed?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°He¡¯s no Ron.¡± She sighed. ¡°He¡¯s not,¡± she agreed. ¡°If we had our whole team¡­¡± ¡°I know, but we have to work with what we have,¡± Elijah said. If he¡¯d been alone, he wouldn¡¯t have hesitated to use Guise of the Unseen to sneak around the army. But he had the others to worry about, and Zhang Yue¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t as effective as his personal stealth, largely because the Explorer¡¯s level was so much lower. He was good enough for Hong Kong, but the level disparity with the creatures down below was just too wide. ¡°I think it could work. If it comes down to it, I want you to leave us behind, though,¡± she said. ¡°You and Dat could make it.¡± It was almost like she¡¯d been reading his mind. ¡°I won¡¯t abandon you.¡± ¡°You might have to,¡± she stated. ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a martyr, but if we¡¯re overwhelmed, you and Dat might be the only chance Hong Kong has. If that army makes it through¡­¡± She didn¡¯t need to finish. The amassed army would decimate the city and kill everyone in it. It was not even a question. ¡°Fine,¡± Elijah said at last. ¡°But I won¡¯t break away unless it¡¯s the last option.¡± ¡°That¡¯s all I ask. Let¡¯s go tell the others,¡± she said. Before she left, Elijah grabbed her arm. ¡°Do you want to talk about us?¡± he asked. She gave him a small smile. ¡°Not the time.¡± ¡°Might not get another chance.¡± ¡°Maybe not, but that¡¯s just incentive to make this work, right?¡± she responded. ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right,¡± he acknowledged. Though he didn¡¯t actually believe that. If saving an entire city wasn¡¯t enough motivation, nothing would be. However, he rethought that as he watched her walk away. Sighing, he mumbled, ¡°Motivation indeed.¡± 7-62. Manageable ¡°Are we ready?¡± asked Dat, glancing back at Elijah and Sadie, who were nestled between two huge boulders. The pair of edifices were at least forty feet tall and almost as wide, with smaller rocks forming a wall that stretched around in a rough semi-circle until they merged with the steep slope of the mountain. Originally, there had been gaps throughout, and some of the rocks had only been a few feet tall. However, Elijah and the others had spent most of a day using their inflated attributes to enable the creation of their defenses. The trio who¡¯d worked together in the Trial were used to such preparations, so they led the way. That didn¡¯t sit well with Gideon and Nico, but they were intelligent enough to recognize the advantages granted by experience. So, they kept their grumbling to a minimum, though Gideon in particular kept muttering about peasant work. Clearly, he¡¯d never been forced to work with his hands, and he found it beneath him. Nico wasn¡¯t much better, but he confined his own displeasure to the occasional scowl. Zhang Yue helped a little, but he was far too weak to move any of the boulders. So, his assistance was limited to keeping them concealed. In that endeavor, he was mostly successful, though they were forced to kill the occasional zombie that wandered into range. Regardless, the defenses had slowly come together, creating a makeshift wall with the largest boulders at the center. The idea was to funnel the undead horde into the small gap between them, where their numbers would count for much less. Like that, the group could avoid being surrounded and focus their fire on the relatively narrow gap. As they¡¯d worked, Elijah had caught Sadie staring at him a couple of times, and he found himself wondering if it was regret he saw in her eyes. If it was, he could certainly understand it. For most of their relationship, the pair had been at odds with one another. It really wasn¡¯t that long ago that she was incapable of even looking at him with anything but disgust. And the kiss they¡¯d shared had left them both more than a little confused. Not in a bad way, but it definitely complicated things. More than anything, Elijah just wanted to go somewhere private and figure out where they stood. However, their mission wouldn¡¯t wait for them to ascertain the status of their changing relationship, so they had no choice but to move ahead and hope they had an opportunity to sort out their emotions sometime in the future. In the meantime, Elijah nodded at Dat and said, ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± He remained in his human form, though he was ready to shift at a moment¡¯s notice. Sadie had already drawn her sword and applied her personal shield. Nico stood far in the back, while Gideon was ready to plug any hole created by the horde. Their crude wall was formidable, but no one believed it was foolproof. The undead would break through at some point, and he needed to be prepared to fill the gap until the rest of the group could appropriately respond. The odd one out was Zhang Yue, who held a feeble-looking bow that he didn¡¯t have the skills to use. He had a couple of abilities that would allow him to incapacitate a single foe, but the bulk of his class was built around remaining undetected. In that, he excelled, but in a fight, his abilities left a lot to be desired. Sadie echoed Elijah¡¯s sentiment, adding, ¡°Be careful. Don¡¯t overextend.¡± The rest of the group remained silent, though they all offered a nod to signal that they too were prepared for the battle. Once he was satisfied with the group¡¯s preparation, Dat slipped away, using Ghost Cloak to ensure that he would remain undetected by the horde of undead. After that, a long moment of silence stretched out to more than a minute before the subtle rumble of dozens of footsteps reached the fortifications. A moment later, Elijah felt Dat race into range of Soul of the Wild. His gait was unhurried, but he still moved incredibly quickly. A few seconds after that, Elijah sensed the first zombies. They kept pace with Dat, proving that their normal, shambling demeanor could be discarded at a moment¡¯s notice. Dat arrived a few seconds later, slipping between Elijah and Sadie, then skidding to a stop on the icy ground. ¡°Three seconds,¡± Elijah announced, already casting his first spell. He used Blessing of the Grove first, and he felt the subtle shield envelop his allies. It wasn¡¯t strong, but perhaps it would make the necessary difference between death and survival. As he completed the casting, a white sunflower with petals of ice bloomed. Elijah would have found it fascinating if the zombies hadn¡¯t already come into view. There were hundreds of them, though it seemed that Dat had successfully managed to split the horde. That was the biggest danger. If the entire army of undead monsters had converged on them at the same time, they would¡¯ve been forced to retreat. The circumstances being what they were, the defenses they¡¯d constructed were formidable, but they were far from impregnable. Hopefully, they would prove sufficient. As the zombies sprinted toward them, Elijah cast Swarm, manifesting hundreds of blue insects whose wings looked like they were made of ice. They descended upon the horde, delivering their afflictions. Then, Elijah cast Nature¡¯s Rebuke, over and over again as he tried to affect as many zombies as possible. Unsurprisingly, the ones he targeted keeled over after a single step. The spell had grown incredibly powerful with his ascension and core evolution, and that potency was on full display as more than a dozen undead monsters fell and were trampled by their fellows. Elijah could have kept going for quite some time ¨C Nature¡¯s Rebuke was incredibly efficient ¨C but there were three issues with that. First, Nature¡¯s Rebuke took a couple of seconds to cast, so using it against the entire horde was unfeasible. Second, peppering the enemy with damage wasn¡¯t his job. And finally, the spell was only strong enough to quickly kill the least powerful zombies. The elites and other brands of undead in the horde possessed constitutions that could partially resist its effects. Instead, he was meant to defend the funnel with Sadie. So, as the monsters closed the gap, Elijah finally initiated his transformation into the Shape of Thorn. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. The transformation completed just as the wave of zombies hit them, and he met their charge with all the fury of the thorned sentry. His long arms and increased size came in handy as he blocked their progress. One of Sadie¡¯s spells erected an ethereal wall that further funneled the creatures into a narrow corridor. They weren¡¯t smart enough to realize what was happening, so they charged to their deaths without even considering taking another tactic. The first wave went down easily enough, with everyone playing their role to perfection. Even Zhang Yue got into it, firing his limited number of arrows into the horde. They didn¡¯t do a ton of damage, but Elijah couldn¡¯t help but recognize that the Explorer was likely to gain an influx of experience the likes of which he¡¯d never seen before. Perhaps he¡¯d get something decent out of it, like a Feat of Strength for his Legacy that might influence his evolution options ¨C assuming he ever got to that point. In any case, that first fight was just a taste of what was to come, and as soon as those monsters were destroyed, the group set about shifting them out of the way, piling them a few hundred yards away where they wouldn¡¯t interfere with the defenses. Once that was done, Dat set out to pull another group. This one was a little larger than the last, but the numbers were still manageable. The third group was slightly smaller, but despite the lesser threat, the group¡¯s performance was much worse. Sadie, Elijah, and Dat performed their tasks with similar efficiency, but Nico and Gideon could not say the same. Whether the reason was physical or mental exhaustion, the Healer¡¯s spells came much slower than before. In addition, when a few zombies slipped past ¨C an inevitability, given the numbers at play ¨C Gideon was slow to step in. That almost got Nico killed. Fortunately, the Healer was no stranger to combat, and he had high enough attributes that he wasn¡¯t completely defenseless. However, after that wave was successfully dealt with, Sadie announced that they would retreat to the cave and rest for a while. Of course, Gideon took issue with that, claiming that they needed to conquer the Primal Realm as quickly as possible. Elijah recognized that there was some truth to that, but he also suspected that Gideon¡¯s desire for haste was likely built upon a need for comfort. The cold hadn¡¯t ceased, after all, and the man was anything but accustomed to unfavorable conditions. And besides, Elijah suspected that Gideon would have objected regardless of which route they chose. He liked to complain, especially when an order came from someone that wasn¡¯t him. Thankfully, his objections were quickly overcome, but the others were still subjected to his subdued grumbling. They only rested for a few hours before they resumed their steady progress against the horde. As far as Elijah could tell, they¡¯d barely made a dent in the army, and what¡¯s more, they¡¯d broken off the pieces that were likely to come alone. Soon, they¡¯d draw the attention of the entire army. That was when they¡¯d truly find some difficulties. So, after the eighth wave, when everyone else went back to the cave to rest, Elijah set about improving their defenses. He started with deep trenches that he hoped would slow the charging zombies, but he also piled a few extra boulders onto the wall. Over the next few days, he continued his task, working when the others rested so that, when the time came, they would be prepared. As they continued fighting, they used similar tactics. Certainly, there were points where their defenses broke down. On the fourth day, Sadie was grievously wounded when one of the wights ¨C powerful monstrosities with chalky skin ¨C unexpectedly joined the charging monsters. She ended up killing it, but for the rest of the fight, Gideon was forced to take her place while she was healed. And despite his dislike for the man, Elijah was impressed with Gideon¡¯s prowess. He wasn¡¯t as powerful as Sadie or Dat, but he could hold his own well enough. Most of the time, he fought with his longsword and a parrying dagger, but he wasn¡¯t shy about using his riot shield when necessary. On and on it went, and the waves blurred together. Elijah never came close to being put out of the fight, and most of his spare time between waves was spent shoring up their defenses. Then, everything changed when one of the rotund and rotting giants came on the heels of the latest wave. Elijah immediately recognized the danger, so he shouted at a recently recovered Sadie, ¡°Hold the line. We can¡¯t let that thing reach us!¡± Without waiting for a reply, he dashed forward, barreling through the zombies as he endeavored to meet the abomination before it reached them. As he drew closer, he realized two things. The bulbous, hook-wielding monster was even larger than he¡¯d first suspected. It towered over his thorned sentry form by at least five feet, and it was almost as wide as it was tall. Its waddling gait sent its rolls of blubber jiggling with every step, and the thing¡¯s smell was reminiscent of formaldehyde mixed with rotting roadkill. It was a potent combination that made Elijah¡¯s eyes water. The second it saw Elijah, its beady eyes widened slightly, and before he could even react, the chain-hook was on its way. It smashed through three zombies, exploding them into chunks of rotted meat, and the short delay caused by those collisions was the only reason Elijah was able to dodge. At least that was true of the first toss. When it reeled the chain back in, the sharp implement caught him in the side, spinning him sideways. Thankfully, it was no more than a glancing blow, because if it had hooked into him, he¡¯d have found himself in close proximity to the monster. Elijah stumbled, finding his feet only a moment later, but by that point, the creature had already closed on him. He set his feet, expecting a battle, but the second it came within range, a huge burst of swirling ethera announced that something was going on. It gathered in the monster¡¯s bulging stomach, growing ever denser by the instant. Then, before Elijah could figure out what was going on, it exploded. The increased reaction speed afforded by Lupine Reflexes and his Sash of the Whirlwind saved him, but even though he recognized the danger a second before the explosion hit him, he could do no more than throw himself backward. He didn¡¯t get far enough away to save himself from the impact, but with his momentum already going in that direction, he lessened the blow. Still, as Elijah found himself skipping across the snow-covered ground, he knew he was in trouble. His entire front half had been coated in caustic goo, and what¡¯s more, many of his bones had been broken by the force of the eruption. He only had one option, and it was one he¡¯d hoped he wouldn¡¯t need to use so soon. But plans rarely fit reality, so he didn¡¯t hesitate before using Unchecked Growth. Before he even came to a stop, his bones had begun knitting back together. The caustic goo sloughed off, taking his bark-like scales with it. They were quickly replaced by new growth, but such was the incredible damage he¡¯d endured that it still took almost fifteen seconds before he was entirely healed. As he picked himself up, he saw a scene of absolute destruction. The wave of zombies were gone, completely obliterated by the explosion. And there was a sizable crater where the hulk had once stood. There was nothing left of it, either ¨C it had destroyed itself entirely. ¡°Are you okay?¡± demanded Sadie, rushing to his side. ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± he said, regretting that he¡¯d used Unchecked Growth. His decision had come in a moment of panic, and he¡¯d forgotten that he had a powerful Healer on his side. Still, his use of the ability had saved them some time. Nico was strong, but healing was rarely instantaneous. It would have taken a while for him to heal someone as powerful as Elijah. He moved on from his regret quickly enough, but he did admonish himself from reacting without thinking. He¡¯d need to do better in the future. For now, though, he was more concerned with something else. Still under the influence of Unchecked growth, he added, ¡°I think I have a plan.¡± 7-63. Letting Loose Everyone told Elijah he was crazy, but he felt confident in his plan. Still, he knew he couldn¡¯t implement it until Unchecked Growth came off of cooldown, which took close to an entire day. So, they continued as they were, with Dat taking care not to alert any more of the exploding hulks. Doing so required him to take some chances that ended with him pulling groups containing more powerful or numerous undead. But they were ready for them, and though things got a little dicey, the group managed to avoid any major injuries. Elijah did notice that Nico was characteristically stingy with his ethera, but he¡¯d already established that Nico wasn¡¯t cut out for his role. He was probably great in a clinical setting, but he lacked the ability to know when to pour ethera into a task and when to be conservative. Elijah knew that, if pushed, he could probably do a better job as a Healer than Sadie¡¯s brother, though he decided to keep that to himself. Because despite his lacking talent as a Healer, Nico was still a prideful man. He thought a lot of himself, and any hints that others didn¡¯t feel the same would predictably be met with a good deal of anger. Still, they made it through that day without too many problems, and eventually, Elijah¡¯s ability finally came off cooldown. When it did, he once again explained his plan, adding, ¡°Be ready to heal me if things go wrong. I don¡¯t anticipate it, but¡­well, I¡¯m not infallible.¡± ¡°Humility?¡± asked Sadie with a smirk that didn¡¯t reach her eyes. She was worried, and if Elijah was honest, that was a reasonable response to what he had planned. But the reality was that the group simply wouldn¡¯t make it if they kept going the way they had been. They¡¯d already scoured the edges of the army, killing all the easier targets. If they continued with the same strategy, they¡¯d get progressively larger and more powerful groups that they would struggle to handle. It was an army, after all, and they were a group of six. Those sorts of odds didn¡¯t favor them. Something had to change, or they would fail their mission before they overcame the first obstacle. ¡°I¡¯m the humblest,¡± Elijah said, returning her smile with one of his own. ¡°Everyone says so.¡± When no one laughed at his bad joke, he took a deep breath and added, ¡°Seriously ¨C be ready. I think this will work, but if it doesn¡¯t¡­¡± ¡°It¡¯s an unnecessary risk,¡± groused Nico. ¡°We should continue our current strategy,¡± added Gideon. ¡°This plan is foolish.¡± Elijah ignored them. The two had made the same arguments throughout their previous discussions, and the fact was that they didn¡¯t have any better options. Of course, they didn¡¯t see it that way because they hadn¡¯t seen how little difference their previous pulls had made. There were still tens of thousands of zombies out there, and it would take months to whittle them down at the current rate. And that was if they found a way to deal with the other hulks, the giant skeletons that would doubtless prove quite powerful, and the demons scattered throughout the army. Dealing with unintelligent zombies was one thing, but the demons were almost assuredly sapient. Like anyone with an ounce of intelligence, they would see through the group¡¯s makeshift defenses and figure a way around them. It was inevitable. That was what drove Elijah to change the game. He only hoped he was strong enough to enact his plan without getting himself killed. Once he was sure that everyone else would be capable of holding their own while he was gone, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Venom ¨C which Gideon, Zhang Yue, and Nico had never seen before ¨C then padded forward. The second he was out of sight, he used Guise of the Unseen and headed toward the army. The deep snow drifts had been destroyed by the previous passage of hundreds of zombies, so the way was easy enough, and soon, Elijah crested a hill and found himself only a hundred or so yards from the outlying elements of the army. They were only about ten miles from the base of the mountain where his companions were entrenched. That was far too close for comfort, though there wasn¡¯t much anyone could do about it. They were working within the constraints provided by the system. In any case, Elijah had no intention of repeating Dat¡¯s feats of enticing clumps of wandering zombies to follow him to their destruction. He had a different target. So, without further hesitation, he crept forward, staying low to the ground as he closed the gap between him and the army. When he drew close enough, he couldn¡¯t help but hold his breath. The sheer weight of their numbers was so intimidating that he very nearly thought better of his plan. His previous estimate that the army numbered in the tens of thousands seemed woefully incorrect, and he adjusted his count to the hundreds of thousands. Perhaps there were even a million of them present. Elijah silenced his doubts, then proceeded among the zombies. They were larger than the ones back in Hong Kong, but most of them still appeared vaguely human. Not a one was less than six feet tall, and most were closer to seven. What¡¯s more, Elijah could sense a degree of power that hadn¡¯t been present in the ones Dat had pulled back to their defensive position. As he proceeded into the central part of the army, Elijah noticed two things. First, they became far more densely packed, which forced him to take great care in his approach. If he brushed against them, Guise of the Unseen might protect him from detection, but he didn¡¯t want to trust it. So, he moved slowly, maintaining caution as he progressed toward his first destination. The second thing he couldn¡¯t ignore was that the further he traveled, the more powerful the zombies seemed to become. By the time he¡¯d reached the center, the creatures practically blazed with invisible ethera while their bodies were wreathed in pale blue mist. It clung to them like a cloudy aura that pulsed with enough power to give Elijah pause. They weren¡¯t ascended ¨C clearly ¨C but they were strong enough that, with their numbers, they could easily overwhelm Elijah. Part of it was due to something he¡¯d noticed about the undead back in Hong Kong. The more of them there were, the stronger they became. However, this exceeded his expectations, supporting his suspicion that another factor was at play. When he reached an open area, Elijah settled down to investigate that further, and it only took a little extra focus and a few minutes for him to detect, via Soul of the Wild, dense ropes of ethera leading to what appeared to be a camp at the base of the wall. Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Perhaps that was where their leader was located. Which made Elijah hesitate. He knew the demons scattered throughout the army were sentient, at the very least. Sapient, in all likelihood. That meant the enemy could adjust to whatever strategies Elijah and his companions conjured to combat the horde. But the presence of a true leader would further complicate matters, and not just because they were likely strong enough to rival even Elijah in single combat. He lowered himself, considering the conundrum, and after a few more minutes, he decided he needed more information before he enacted his plan. Previously, the idea was to use the exploding hulks to destroy large portions of the army. He¡¯d intended to survive it via the use of Unchecked Growth, following it by escaping into the mountains where he could use Guise of the Unseen to avoid any pursuit. But the presence of the leader changed everything. Not only would it nullify the viability of his plan ¨C he was counting on the zombies¡¯ braindead nature to shield him from reprisal ¨C but it also represented an opportunity he couldn¡¯t pass up. Even as he set off through the rest of the gathered horde, Elijah adjusted his plan. The size and density of the army meant that it took him almost an hour to make enough progress that he found himself approaching the camp. And as he took it in, he was impressed by how well laid-out it was. The tents were made of cloth embroidered with runes, but Elijah sensed that it was only meant to protect the interior from the frigid temperatures outside. Or perhaps that was hope. If those runes offered true defenses, then his adjusted plan was unlikely to work. Elijah didn¡¯t go directly into the camp itself. There was too much of a chance at detection. Rather, he circled around until he reached the massive, black wall, then approached from the side. Thankfully, he remained hidden until he came within range of the tent. Using Soul of the Wild, he inspected the interior, and what he found was somewhat encouraging. Inside was a demon being attended to by what Elijah could only categorize as succubi. The feminine demons looked like they¡¯d stepped right out of mythology, which meant that they took the forms of beautiful ¨C if red-skinned ¨C women, with wings, horns, and cloven hooves. The large demon at the center seemed much more problematic. Layered with dense muscle, he was at least nine feet tall and possessed a brutish appearance that suggested that he would solve most problems by assaulting them head-first. Nearby was a set of armor that glistened with ethera, next to which was a wicked battleaxe that probably weighed more than Elijah¡¯s human form. Completing the set was a huge slab of a tower shield. To call the demon intimidating would have been a vast understatement, especially considering that Elijah could sense that he was ascended. Barely, and judging by the sense of ethera that hung from him, he was less powerful than Elijah. However, anyone who¡¯d attained that level of power was dangerous. Elijah remained in place for a few minutes, studying his enemy, and he considered simply climbing the wall and going in search of the Queen of Desolation, wherever she was. It was then that he lamented the fact that he¡¯d brought a team with him. Certainly, they played vital roles, but he couldn¡¯t help but wonder if their presence was slowing him down. Not that it mattered. He couldn¡¯t just leave them behind. So, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind, then focused on the task at hand. Killing the huge fighter in the tent had become his primary goal, and he knew exactly how he intended to do it. But he also knew that it would be wrought with danger, and even if it worked properly, it would not be a pleasant task. In any case, Elijah couldn¡¯t afford to hesitate. So, after using Brand of the Stalker on the huge demon, he returned the way he¡¯d come. Thankfully, the spell was entirely undetectable by his enemies, but it would be invaluable in keeping track of the creature. With that done, Elijah retreated and soon found a rare empty patch of ground in the middle of the horde. Then, he went to work. Using Envenom, then Predator Strike, Elijah pounced on a demon. It never even had a chance to react before it collapsed, succumbing to the powerful venom. It would take a few moments to die, but in only a second, it had already become incapacitated. It was a good start. Elijah leaped from that fallen demon, racing through the horde until he saw another. In the Shape of Venom, he was capable of reaching speeds usually reserved for highways, and what¡¯s more, he was nimble enough to change direction on a whim. He used those characteristics to his advantage, barreling into another demon with enough force that he felt it rattle his own skeleton. The demon was far less durable, and Elijah suspected that the attack was enough to put it out of the fight. However, he still bit it, using Envenom for good measure, before moving on to the next. For the following ten minutes, Elijah never stopped moving. He targeted the demons, using his low profile and incredible speed ¨C and Flicker Step when things got dicey ¨C to stay ahead of any reaction to his presence. By the end of those ten minutes, he¡¯d killed nearly fifty demons, significantly impacting their numbers. But by then, the more powerful creatures had begun to respond. Seeing that the leader still hadn¡¯t responded, Elijah kept going, manipulating the zombies into following him. The enormous army was slow to respond, but once they knew of his presence, the zombies outpaced the larger, smarter creatures. That was by design. Elijah circled the area, gathering more and more zombies. Their attempts to catch him were laughable, but he knew that was only because they were incapable of independent thought. They had a predator drive, but that was it. So, it was easy enough to lead them on a merry chase. Eventually, though, Elijah found himself hemmed in by thousands of the creatures. They had no caution in their approach, instead rushing him with no concept of self-preservation. And when they drew close enough, Elijah shifted into his human form, then used Soothe, Blessing of the Grove, and Swarm. A second later, the first zombies reached him, and he met them with a whirling staff. His time in the Ring of Battle served him well, and he was intimately conscious of his every movement. He moved fluidly, his staff becoming an impassable barrier for the zombies. Still, Elijah knew that he couldn¡¯t keep it up for long. Just a few more seconds, and then he¡¯d need to enact the next part of his plan. He started taking hits, though his preparations proved enough to combat the damage he took. The renewing shield from Blessing of the Grove protected him enough that its heal as well as Soothe kept him from being overwhelmed. However, he only made it ten more seconds before he was in danger of being overwhelmed. He pushed it just a few more seconds, and more zombies clambered to rip him to pieces. He was stronger, faster, and far more durable than any individual zombie, but together, they were more than capable of tearing him apart. Fifteen seconds after he¡¯d stopped, he knew he¡¯d reached his limits. Elijah activated Lightning Domain. Huge bolts of electricity lanced through the zombie horde, turning the closest monsters to ash. Those whips of lightning swirled, arcing out to nearly a hundred feet and destroying anything in range. And Elijah¡¯s previous efforts meant that thousands of zombies fell all around him. But even as they were killed, he knew it was only the beginning. So, as the lightning whips petered out, then disappeared, he looked out across the charred aftermath of his spell. Then, he prepared himself for the next part, hoping it went half as well as the first. 7-64. The Head of the Snake A carpet of charred bodies stretched out before Elijah¡¯s eyes, extending more than fifty yards from his position. He didn¡¯t know how many zombies and other undead he¡¯d killed with Lightning Domain, but he suspected the number was close to five digits. Perhaps it had even exceeded that, given how eager the monsters had been to pile onto him. That he could inflict so much damage with a single spell was both humbling and awe-inspiring. He wasn¡¯t even a caster, and he could do that. What, then, could someone dedicated to spell-casting accomplish? Not that he had any time to consider it. As many of the undead as he¡¯d managed to slay, there were still tens of thousands left. And he had their undivided attention, as evidenced by their steady sprint in his direction. Elijah reapplied Soothe to take care of any lingering damage from the zombies¡¯ assault, then shifted into Shape of the Master. Immediately upon finishing the transformation, the zombies ¨C and other undead ¨C seemed to slow. Meanwhile, Elijah darted among them, using his improved reflexes and enhanced attributes to avoid their grasping hands. They closed in on him, and he knew that if he stopped moving ¨C even for a moment ¨C they would pile onto him and rip him to pieces. The worst were the remaining demons. He¡¯d gotten the vast majority of them in his previous attack, but there were still a couple left. Avoiding them was a pain. However, Elijah had a significant advantage in Heart of Fire. The zombies were comparatively slow and clumsy, which allowed him to easily dodge their attempted attacks. That, in turn, quickly built charges of Heart of Fire, and it wasn¡¯t long before it was burning with significant potency. With that, Elijah found an empty stretch of trampled snow, turned, and faced his pursuers. As he did, he kept his eye on the slower-moving hulks, which lagged more than a little behind the swifter zombies. Not by a lot, but over time, Elijah had altered his path to enhance his lead. The result was that they had slowly clumped into a group, completely unaware that they were playing into his strategy. At the same time, the leader had finally emerged from his tent, flanked by a host of succubi. He¡¯d donned thick, black armor, and, in addition to his wicked axe, he wielded an enormous slab of metal in the rough shape of a tower shield. It had clearly been crafted by a less-than-talented Blacksmith. The succubi, by contrast, looked fast and sleek, each one gripping a blade in each hand. Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that they were naked and quite well-formed, though despite their nudity, the most prevalent thought in his mind was that they must have been cold. Whatever the case, his path had taken him nearly a mile away, which meant that it would be a little while before he had to worry about them. Instead, he focused the bulk of his attention on the pursuing zombies. He dodged a few more attacks, then let loose with Incinerate. This time, he cast as wide a flame as possible, and the potent attack washed over hundreds of zombies all at once. That diluted its power, but due to the zombies¡¯ relative lack of strength, they had no defense against it. Hundreds were burned to a crisp, and vaguely, Elijah felt himself tick over to level one-forty. He couldn¡¯t give it the attention it required, though, so he ignored the notification and raced through the smoking aftermath of his ability. He¡¯d finally made a noticeable dent in the numbers of the undead, but he knew it would take days of continuous effort to kill them all. Still, he endeavored to repeat his feat, using the same tactic until he unleashed Incinerate once again. However, he couldn¡¯t ignore a simple issue ¨C the ability didn¡¯t have a cooldown, but like many of his other spells, its cost increased exponentially when used in quick succession. A quick calculation of his remaining ethera told him that he could only use it one more time before he¡¯d start to dip into his reserves, which he liked to leave untouched just in case he needed a potent burst of healing. So, he abandoned the idea that he could just remain on the same track and slowly reduce the zombie army to ashes. But that was fine. That had never been his primary plan. A quick glance at the pursuing hulks told Elijah that it was time to finally move on to the last phase. So, he dashed toward the enormous, waddling monsters, slowing just out of range of their hooks. There were at least two dozen of the huge and disgusting monsters in the group, and then four or five of them that weren¡¯t quite fast enough to keep up. Those stragglers stretched out for a hundred yards, though they were just as single-minded in following Elijah¡¯s path. Not ideal, but workable. Elijah turned his attention to the rear, and through Brand of the Stalker, he saw that the leader had finally begun his approach. Flanked by his succubi, he¡¯d used some sort of ability to take control of the nearby zombies. They moved stiffly under his direction, but they were obviously more disciplined. Also not a perfect situation, but Elijah figured he could work with it. So, he slowly led the hulks forward, shifting into his human form and casting Storm¡¯s Fury. The spell was far more potent than it had been before his ascension and core evolution, but it was still one of his lowest-level spells. As such, it barely harmed the hulks. However, it was flashy and probably painful ¨C if the things could even feel ¨C which was the entire point. All Elijah wanted was to keep their attention, and in that endeavor, Storm¡¯s Fury was more than up to the task. Gradually, he led the creatures across the battlefield, and soon enough, he once again found himself surrounded by zombies. In his human form, he wasn¡¯t nearly as adept at dodging their attacks, and despite his much higher attributes, he still found himself on the wrong end of a few claws. Thankfully, he had his healing spells on his side, and the wounds he incurred didn¡¯t slow him down at all. Keeping track of his own body, the horde of zombies, the group of hulks, and the oncoming leader and his retinue strained even Elijah¡¯s Jade Mind, and he struggled to keep everything straight in his thoughts. So, when he burst through one clump of zombies and found himself facing off against the leader and his controlled undead, Elijah was a little surprised. Still, he didn¡¯t hesitate to enact his plan, immediately prompting a shift into the Shape of Thorn. It completed a second later, but that slight distraction was enough to give his enemies an opening. They piled onto him, biting and clawing with vicious fury. Fortunately, the Shape of Thorn was more than capable of standing up to whatever punishment they could inflict. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. At least for a while. They would eventually wear him down, but regardless of whether or not they realized it, they didn¡¯t have that kind of time. With the sense granted by Soul of the Wild, Elijah kept track of his targets. The hulks had slowed, but such was their bulk and the nature of momentum that they couldn¡¯t completely stop. Instead, they crashed through the crowd of zombies, crushing more than a hundred of the monsters in the process. The leader, meanwhile, was far more successful in his efforts, stopping nearly fifty yards away. As much as he clearly wanted to deal with Elijah ¨C and he did, going by the scowl on his face ¨C he was willing to let his army do their job of ripping him to pieces. Not a bad strategy in most cases, but the thorned sentry was more than capable of enduring whatever they could dish out ¨C at least for a while. On top of that, the zombies were slowly killing themselves on his thorns, which came with a weak paralytic that, when allowed to build up, would slow them down considerably. Elijah inched closer to the leader, setting himself up for his final play. If it didn¡¯t work, he would need to flee. So, once everyone was in range, he activated Unchecked Growth. His Regeneration more than tripled, and any wounds he¡¯d incurred healed in the space of an instant. But that wasn¡¯t his primary reason for using the ability. Instead, he was more focused on its effect on his next step, which was to use Domain of Vines. As he activated the ability, thick roots and vines burst from the ground. But they didn¡¯t target the zombies. Instead, they went after the leader and the undead hulks. The latter, merely to hold them in place ¨C which, even with Unchecked Growth boosting it, was no mean feat ¨C and the former, to yank him from his feet. The huge leader tried to resist, and maybe he would have succeeded if he¡¯d seen it coming. However, he was clearly taken off guard, so the vines quickly wrapped around him, lifted him into the air, and threw him across the battlefield. It took all of Elijah¡¯s considerable focus to guide even that broad action, but he managed it all the same. He watched as the demonic leader sailed through the air, completely incapable of arresting his momentum. Then, he hit the first hulk in its bulbous stomach. For the briefest of instants, Elijah worried that his plan wouldn¡¯t work. It was more than possible that the hulks could control their explosive nature better than Elijah had hoped. However, he was banking on their instincts to ensure the success of his plan. And sure enough, less than a second later, the creature¡¯s huge belly split open, erupting with the force of a powerful bomb. It didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, it started a chain reaction, and when the blast hit its fellows, they too exploded. Before Elijah could congratulate himself, the explosion of caustic goo and immense force hit him. Agony immediately overcame any rational thought, flooding every facet of his mind as his entire body was broken. In the face of that explosion ¨C which seemed multiplicative, rather than additive ¨C his high Constitution and damage reduction was nothing. Unfortunately, the incredible Regeneration granted by Unchecked Growth was a double-edged blade. On the one hand, it was the only reason he managed to survive. On the other, it kept him conscious even as his body was broken, then remade. He wasn¡¯t even allowed to go into shock, so he felt it all. Thankfully, it didn¡¯t last long, even if it felt like an eternity of agony. In any case, he was thrown across the battlefield, and when he hit the ground, his momentum didn¡¯t stop until he rammed head-first into the wall. For a few moments, he simply lay there as his bones painfully shifted back into place and his head cleared from the obvious concussion he¡¯d just experienced. By the time Unchecked Growth extinguished itself, Elijah was back to normal. However, phantom pains still echoed throughout his body. After a few more moments, he picked himself up with a groan, then surveyed the scene of battle. Thousands of zombies had been completely obliterated. Tens of thousands, perhaps. It was difficult to tell, because the blast had destroyed them entirely. There were pieces here and there, but trying to track what went where was an impossible task. The only reason Elijah could make any estimate at all was because of the noticeably missing chunk of the zombie army. Their numbers had been halved. The site of the explosion had been reduced to a smoking crater coated in acidic, green goo. The hulks were all gone. So were the demons. The few giant skeletons that had been in range were dead as well, though they had remained mostly intact. That was a testament to just how durable they were. However, one thing was certain ¨C Elijah¡¯s plan had been a success, which, if he was honest, kind of surprised him. He¡¯d made a lot of assumptions and taken a lot of chances. That everything had worked out was a testament to good fortune. With the echoes of immense pain coursing through him, he didn¡¯t feel lucky, though. He stepped forward, his gait little more than a stumble. Perhaps he hadn¡¯t recovered as well as he thought. So, he shifted back into his human form, then cast Soothe and Nature¡¯s Bloom. That helped, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was due to the spells actually healing damage that Unchecked Growth had missed, or if it was just in his mind. Regardless, he relaxed a little with those two heals coursing through him. Surprisingly, when he reached the crater, he saw a single body at the center. There were bits and pieces of others. Elijah thought he saw the torso of a succubus that remained intact. A couple of arms and legs. But otherwise, it was empty, save for the demonic leader. Most of his equipment had melted onto his body, but his shield seemed entirely unfazed by the enormous impact. The same could not be said for the demon himself. The caustic substance had eaten through most of his body, exposing bones and rendering him unrecognizable. The only reason Elijah knew his identity was because he felt his life force. It was weak, but Elijah could feel that it was already beginning to recover. What attributes did this demon possess that he¡¯d survived that blast? Without Unchecked Growth, Elijah would not have. Even Shape of Thorn, which was far and away his most durable form, wasn¡¯t up to the task of surviving that much damage. With a sigh, Elijah descended the slope of the crater, already casting Swarm, then Nature¡¯s Rebuke. To his surprise, the latter only did its normal damage, meaning that the demon was a perfectly natural creature. Once Swarm had manifested its icy insects, Elijah shifted into Shape of Venom. The demon was alive but insensate, so there were no barriers to Elijah adopting stealth via Guise of the Unseen. Once he was undetectable, he used Envenom and Predator Strike before sinking his fangs into the demon. He didn¡¯t even flinch. But Elijah could feel the potent venom coursing through the leader¡¯s broken body. There was some resistance, but Envenom ¨C especially empowered by Predator Strike ¨C was his most potent available attack. Incinerate was better, so long as he had a chance to build up charges of Heart of Fire, but with no enemies nearby, it was unusable. In any case, Envenom was up to the task, especially when Elijah bit the demon a few more times. The combination of the damage the demon had already taken, plus the afflictions of Swarm and Envenom, overwhelmed his Constitution and slowly finished him off. Once the creature was dead, Elijah once again used Guise of the Unseen, then climbed out of the crater. The zombies weren¡¯t all dead, but they no longer possessed the same power that had once coursed through them. Clearly, killing the leader ¨C as well as the other demons ¨C had ceased their empowerment. Still, at the moment, he wasn¡¯t in any mood to slaughter the rest of them. So, he slowly made his way back to the group so he could inform them of his success. He also had reached a spell level, and he was eager to get somewhere safe so he could explore it properly. 7-65. Weighty Decisions The muffled clash of wrapped swords echoed across the training grounds as Miguel and Colt struggled for supremacy. For Miguel¡¯s part, he had to keep reminding himself that he wasn¡¯t there to win. Not primarily, at least. The training session was instead intended to help him work on some nagging bad habits. However, his every instinct screamed at him to finish his mentor off. Because he could have. Colt was still higher leveled, but so close to the grove, Miguel¡¯s attributes were similar. And despite the Samurai¡¯s obvious dedication to swordsmanship, he¡¯d long since reached a plateau. He had begun to stagnate ¨C at least in terms of his technique. Meanwhile, Miguel¡¯s training with Birk had unlocked his mind to an entirely new way to look at combat. The simple fact was that Colt was an old dog trying to learn new tricks. He¡¯d spent decades practicing his swordsmanship even before the world¡¯s transformation, and he struggled to incorporate his increased attributes into his fighting style. Miguel didn¡¯t have that problem, as his own technique wasn¡¯t as firmly etched into muscle memory. As a result, he had no issues adjusting to his growing attributes, which gave him a small but distinct advantage against his first mentor. He didn¡¯t press that advantage, though. Instead, he had resolved to use the training session to shore up some of his most glaring weaknesses. Colt was the best swordsman in town, so he was the only real choice as a training partner. Soon, though, Miguel would need to range further afield if he wanted to continue to improve. But that was true on other levels, as well. He hadn¡¯t gained any appreciable experience in weeks, and as such, he was beginning to grow a little uncomfortable with his complacency. Sure, he¡¯d made strides with his cultivation, but he hadn¡¯t quite pushed himself to the point where he could take the next steps in any of the aspects. He was closest on his Body, though, which according to Nerthus, wasn¡¯t unsurprising for someone with a martial class. In fact, once they reached a certain point, many fighters chose to forego certain aspects of cultivation, focusing entirely on their physical capabilities. Largely, this was because cultivating the Body came far more naturally to them, but it was also because it offered the largest increases in their capabilities. When Miguel had asked if that was a mistake, Nerthus had declined to answer, saying that a person¡¯s path through cultivation was something they needed to determine on their own. It was personal, and outside influences tended to foul all but the first steps along the path. Regardless, Miguel had his uncle as an example, and he knew that Elijah had spent just as much time working on his Mind and Soul as he did on his Core and Body. Miguel had resolved to emulate that strategy, even if it turned out to be a more difficult path. If that was the case, he would just work harder. He channeled that same attitude into his training, forcing himself to focus on tiny details that most swordsmen would ignore entirely. As he did, he sank into something of a trance where he automatically guided ethera through his body. It wasn¡¯t efficient. At the first stage of Soul cultivation, he lacked channels through which ethera was meant to travel. But his muscles drank what ethera they were given, pushing him closer to the peak of the Wood Body. It would take more than that to tip him over the edge, though. An influx of ethera and a much more rigorous training session. Still, sweat poured down his bare torso as he dedicated every ounce of his concentration to the task at hand. Finally, after some indeterminate amount of time, Colt danced backward, saying, ¡°Enough. I can¡¯t keep up with you anymore.¡± Miguel blinked. The sun had already begun to dip below the horizon, meaning they¡¯d been at it for hours without break. His muscles screamed in protest as the trance faded, and exhaustion settled onto his shoulders. In the moment, none of that had mattered, but now that combat had ended, he felt the full weight of the consequences of the day¡¯s training. His shoulders sagged, and he took a deep breath. Just as he was about to speak, Colt said, ¡°You¡¯re gettin¡¯ much better.¡± He forced a tired grin as he said, ¡°I¡¯ve had a good teacher.¡± ¡°That Birk fella musta been somethin¡¯ else.¡± ¡°I was talking about you, old man.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t that old,¡± Colt insisted, though his graying hair and beard said something else entirely. Miguel wasn¡¯t sure how old the Samurai actually was, but he suspected the man was at least in his sixties. And he¡¯d lived a hard life. Miguel was ignorant of the details, but he knew enough to recognize the consequences of a host of bad choices. Hopefully, cultivation, levels, and attributes would help with that, though he suspected that much of the damage had already been done. The results of age and hard living couldn¡¯t be reversed ¨C not entirely, at least. ¡°Sure,¡± Miguel said, following Colt to the edge of the training grounds where a couple of barrels of fresh water awaited. He dipped a ladle into the one meant for drinking, then sated his thirst. Letting out a sigh of relief, he passed the ladle to Colt, who repeated the action. In the meantime, Miguel cupped his hands, dipped them into the other barrel, and splashed the water against his face. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. After that, he looked around the training grounds. The whole complex was new, commissioned by the city and run by Captain Essex, who was also in charge of the city¡¯s defenses. That such a position had been given to a human was meaningful. Not only did it speak to the man¡¯s competence, which he¡¯d displayed during the siege, but it also showed Ironshore¡¯s willingness to integrate Earth¡¯s natives into the city¡¯s leadership. Some of the most important people in town were humans. ¡°I think I¡¯m gonna take the job,¡± Colt said, almost as if he was talking to himself. ¡°Huh?¡± asked a surprised Miguel. ¡°What job?¡± ¡°Oh. Meant to tell ya earlier. The mayor came to me a few days ago and offered me a position here as a trainer,¡± he explained, gesturing to the complex. It was one of the biggest compounds in the entire city, spanning multiple city blocks and incorporating four training yards, a barracks, and even lecture halls. There were also a few meditation rooms meant for cultivation, though Miguel questioned whether the ethera density in those areas was high enough to support those efforts. In any case, the new Martial Academy was meant to support the training of the city¡¯s growing army. The attempted invasion by the dark elves had proven that the city was vulnerable, and Ramik and the city¡¯s other leaders had taken proactive steps to meet similar threats. After all, the dark elves were still out there. As far as Miguel knew, there was another army somewhere between Ironshore and Argos. So far, their scouts¡¯ efforts had been thwarted by Artemis and Isaak, but that could only last so long. Eventually, the dark elves would make another move, and unless everyone was ready for it, they would be overwhelmed. ¡°Well, not just a trainer,¡± Colt admitted. ¡°They want me to run the joint. Givin¡¯ me an office and everything.¡± ¡°Congratulations,¡± Miguel said, though he wasn¡¯t entirely sure how he felt about it. In the back of his mind, he¡¯d always hoped that Colt would accompany him on any adventures he might undertake. Clearly, he couldn¡¯t do that now ¨C not with the responsibility he¡¯d just taken upon himself. Of course, that was a child¡¯s desire. In his mind, Colt was still an infallible rock. A safety net he could always depend on to catch him when he fell. But he¡¯d neglected to consider what the man had been through. He was still missing a hand, and he¡¯d watched almost everyone he cared about die. He¡¯d led a difficult life, and the position as a trainer represented a chance to settle down in safety while doing his part to protect the city he¡¯d adopted as his home. And it was probably the best way to guard Carmen, to whom he remained wholly devoted. Their relationship was curious. At times, he treated her like his boss, but at others, he looked upon her like a long-lost daughter. Maybe there was a story there. ¡°Ain¡¯t much congratulations to it. Just more work,¡± Colt said before spitting on the ground. He leaned against the nearby wall. ¡°What ¡®bout you, kid? What do you have planned?¡± ¡°My duty is to the grove,¡± he answered without thinking. ¡°That¡¯s a given. What else, though? That ain¡¯t a life. It might be a purpose, but it ain¡¯t a goal.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know,¡± Miguel admitted, though his mind immediately went to Hope. They¡¯d only met a couple of times since their first date ¨C if it could even be called that ¨C but Miguel was already smitten. He knew he would do anything for her, and he suspected she felt the same way about him. Of course, he knew that they were moving incredibly quickly. He was mature enough to recognize that. However, logic paled in comparison to his feelings, and it didn¡¯t take much to convince himself to ignore those sorts of thoughts. But there was something else weighing on him, and he gave voice to it when he said, ¡°I need to get stronger. Training and cultivating is good. It¡¯s necessary. But if I don¡¯t keep leveling, I won¡¯t be able to fulfil my duties.¡± Protecting the grove was part of it, but he also needed to keep Hope safe. She¡¯d started to work on her own cultivation, a process that was guided by Nerthus, but her progress was slow. With her weak body, she had to take cultivation in steps. Otherwise, she would never survive. As a result, Hope was incredibly vulnerable, and more than just about anything else, Miguel wanted to protect her. ¡°Then get stronger. The only thing holdin¡¯ you back is you. You know where the enemy is. Go get ¡®em.¡± Miguel frowned. He knew Colt was right. The dark elves were still out there, and his efforts could go a long way toward hampering their progress. He¡¯d already proven that he could kill them in droves. He was the obvious candidate to venture out into the wilderness and take the fight to them. Yet, he hesitated. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Colt asked. ¡°It¡¯s the girl, ain¡¯t it?¡± ¡°What? How do you ¨C¡± Colt chuckled. ¡°I ain¡¯t blind, kid. None of us are. I ain¡¯t so old that I don¡¯t remember what it was like,¡± he said. Then, with a slight sigh, he continued, ¡°Young love is a powerful thing. But you want some advice I wish someone had given me when I wasn¡¯t much older¡¯n you?¡± Miguel nodded. ¡°Talk to her. Tell her what¡¯s goin¡¯ on. Give her the opportunity to tell you what she thinks. I don¡¯t know much about relationships. I¡¯ve screwed up every one I¡¯ve ever had. But I know a thing or two about a thing or two. And one of those things is that people want the chance to offer input. Maybe you take it into account and maybe you don¡¯t. That ain¡¯t the point,¡± Colt explained. ¡°So, go tell your girl what¡¯s goin¡¯ on in that head of yours, and listen to what she¡¯s got to say about it. Trust me.¡± For a couple of minutes, Miguel remained silent. To distract himself from his thoughts, he glanced to the other side of the training ground, where a bunch of children were playing with practice swords and other weapons. No ¨C they weren¡¯t playing. They were trying to mimic his training. He even recognized many of them from his practice sessions in Druid¡¯s Park. Specifically, there was a tiny gnome girl who fought like a berserker, battering anyone who stood against her into submission. The contrast between her size and the beatings she dished out would have been comical if not for the fact that she actually displayed decent technique. A long way from good, but a considerable distance from bad as well. ¡°Trainees?¡± asked Miguel, nodding in their direction. ¡°S¡¯posed to be. They¡¯re enthusiastic, at least. Most of ¡®em idolize you, by the way. Wouldn¡¯t be surprised if a few end up makin¡¯ a pilgrimage to the island. Might want to warn Nerthus ¡®bout that.¡± Miguel resolved to do just that. But more, he decided to heed Colt¡¯s advice and talk to Hope about what was on his mind. Maybe she could help point him in the right direction. ¡°Thanks,¡± he said. ¡°For the advice and the training.¡± ¡°No need to thank me, kid. I¡¯ll always be here for ya. Now go on and git yourself to that girl. I imagine she¡¯s waitin¡¯ on you.¡± Miguel grinned in spite of his nerves, slipped his shirt back on, then went in search of Hope. 7-66. Another Spell Evolution After leaving the remnants of the army behind, Elijah returned to the group. Seeing them, still set up to defend, left him with mixed feelings. Sadie and Dat were certainly powerful, and he expected that if either of them went all-out, they could have carved away a good portion of the army. However, they would have certainly died in the attempt. Due to his versatility, Elijah was uniquely suited to fight alone. Not only were his forms powerful in their own right, but with his healing spells, he could recover from almost anything. He wasn¡¯t entirely self-sufficient, and his experiences in the Trial of Primacy had proven the need for help, but he couldn¡¯t help but recognize that he was almost as effective alone as when he participated in a group. Most of the time, they just held him back. That left him feeling a mixture of pride and sadness. The first, because he wasn¡¯t immune to self-congratulations. He liked being stronger than most other people, and there was no better proof of that than his ability to fight solo. However, the latter emotion was still present because it promised a life where he was forced to choose between loneliness and being held back by superfluous companions. But was that all they were? Just pieces of a puzzle meant to solve the problem of Primal Realms and towers? Or were they representative of real relationships that were their own reward? Elijah wanted to believe the latter, but there was definitely a part of him that recognized that things would be easier if he¡¯d come alone. Those feelings shifted through his mind as he returned to the fortifications he and his companions had built, and when he arrived, he shifted out of the Shape of Venom and announced, ¡°I put a pretty good dent in their numbers, and I killed most of the big ones. The leader¡¯s gone now, too. But I¡¯m going to take a break for a bit.¡± The others were too stunned to ask any of the most obvious questions on their minds, and by the time they recovered, Elijah had already begun his climb up the slope. A few minutes later, he reached the cave, where he settled down to inspect his gains. With everything on his mind, opening his status was a bittersweet moment:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 141
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 395 (248)
Dexterity 393 (234)
Constitution 388 (257)
Ethera 269 (256)
Regeneration 315 (262)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
In addition to gaining level one-forty, Elijah had passed level one-forty. He still wasn¡¯t sure how experience was calculated. In the past, he¡¯d established that each level took more than the last to reach the next threshold. However, higher-leveled enemies gave noticably more experience, and he suspected that things like cultivation and class rarity tended to affect things as well. The long and short of it was that more powerful foes gave more experience than weaker ones, but he had no idea what formula was used to calculate exact numbers. With that in mind, his previous thoughts about going solo gained even more support. Clearly, each enemy offered a finite amount of experience, and when more than one person was responsible for its death, that experience was split between everyone involved. When it was just him, it all went toward his progression. But then again, there were situations in his past where he couldn¡¯t have been successful alone. The first one that came to mind was when he¡¯d been ripped in half. If Sadie hadn¡¯t been there, he never would have survived. The same was true of most of the challenges in the Trial of Primacy. He sighed. There was no single answer to the question of whether or not he was better off going solo. So, accepting that, Elijah focused on the true reward for his progress. He¡¯d gained an opportunity for another spell evolution.
Congratulations! You have achieved the requirements for the evolution of the spell Swarm. Please choose a path: The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Plague Aspect of the Hive Primal Swarm
Evolve Swarm by focusing on amplifying its raw power, increasing the swarm¡¯s size, damage, and affliction potency while maintaining its original nature. Evolve Swarm by focusing on persistent progression of the swarm with specialized traits, granting utility, damage, and battlefield control based on caster¡¯s form. Evolve Swarm by focusing on transforming it into a dynamic force of nature, enhancing its persistence, lethality, and ability to adapt to different forms.
As had been the case with nearly every other spell upgrade he¡¯d gained, Elijah had already met the requirements for evolution. It was convenient, but in his current introspective mood, Elijah almost felt like he was missing out. Sure, he¡¯d already accomplished the necessary feats, which meant he wasn¡¯t really skipping anything, but it might have felt a little more satisfying if he¡¯d been forced to go on some epic quest in order to evolve his spells. A silly thought, certainly, but Elijah was in a weird frame of mind. In any case, he focused on the three options. The first, which was called Plague, was obviously a straight upgrade over Swarm. Its nature probably wouldn¡¯t change much, though it would grow more powerful in every respect. It was definitely a tempting pick, if only because Swarm had proven so invaluable over the years, and he couldn¡¯t help but mutter, ¡°If it ain¡¯t broke, don¡¯t fix it.¡± The old adage was oddly applicable. But the pull of novelty was too strong to ignore, so he looked to the second option, Aspect of the Hive. The name was certainly appealing, and it brought to mind swarms of wasps or bees descending on his enemies. Looking further, Elijah was a little surprised to see that it seemed to be more like Stormborn, in that it would likely have different expressions based on which form he¡¯d taken. That was a significant change, because at present, Swarm wasn¡¯t castable in anything but his human shape. The third choice, Primal Swarm, was similar in that respect, specifying that it would adapt to his different forms. In truth, the final two felt strikingly similar but for one particular phrase ¨C persistent progression. That seemed to imply that Aspect of the Hive would be subject to its own progression requirements. Perhaps it would be capable of growth independent of his attributes or level. That came with a couple of issues. The first was that it would add another factor he needed to worry about. He already had his plate full, and piling more onto it was probably not the best idea. The second problem was one that came out of nowhere. If the hive could grow independently, what was to prevent it from becoming too powerful for him to control? Every spell had limitations. Many choices had drawbacks. And Elijah¡¯s instincts told him that Aspect of the Hive was a trap. Infinite growth potential, but it likely started weaker than the others. In addition, the issue of control kept creeping to the forefront of his mind. So, even though it was tempting, Elijah eliminated Aspect of the Hive as an option. Perhaps he¡¯d one day see it was a mistake, but there were too many issues to ignore. So, he needed to choose between Plague and Primal Swarm. The first was obviously the safer pick. It would clearly work almost identically to his current spell. However, even though Elijah had discarded Aspect of the Hive, he wasn¡¯t completely immune to the pull of novelty. Plus, having another option added to all of his forms ¨C which was what Primal Swarm offered ¨C was kind of a game-changer. So, after a few more minutes of contemplation, he made his choice.
Primal Swarm Harness the primal power of the collective, conjuring a swarm of pests that infect your enemies with afflictions appropriate to your current form. Shape of Venom: Lurking Swarm Shape of Thorn: Thornbound Legion Shape of the Sky: Tempest Swarm Shape of the Master: Infernal Plague Human: Eternal Plague Each ability requires an expenditure of stamina and Ethera.
As Elijah read the description, he was more than a little excited. So, he didn¡¯t hesitate before looking at the first sub-ability, Lurking Swarm:
Lurking Swarm Conjure a swarm of phase spiders that will remain unseen until first strike. Attacks will inflict a potent venom upon enemies. Control dependent on Dexterity attribute. Potency based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of Venom (or appropriate evolutions).
That description exceeded Elijah¡¯s expectations, and the notion of having a swarm of invisible spiders assisting him definitely left him with a smile on his face. If the other abilities associated with Primal Swarm were as useful, he would be very happy with his choice. With that in mind, he moved on to the second:
Thornbound Legion Conjure a legion of thorned mites that burrow into the flesh of enemies, exploding into splinters that prevent regeneration, inflict minor afflictions, and lower attributes. Potency based Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of Thorn (or appropriate evolutions).
The spell ¨C based on the description he¡¯d just read ¨C was in line with his perception of the purpose of Shape of the Thorn. The form of the thorned sentry was intended to protect allies and hinder enemies. Certainly, it could also be used to do damage, but it truly excelled as a defender. And it seemed that Thornbound Legion was meant to support that mission. The ability to prevent regeneration would be invaluable, but lowering attributes was almost as powerful. Never mind the horror a sapient enemy would feel at having mites burrowing into their flesh and explode. Psychological warfare could sometimes be just as powerful as conventional attacks. After familiarizing himself with Thornbound Legion¡¯s description, Elijah moved on to the next:
Tempest Swarm Conjure a swarm of tempest flies that serve to increase the caster¡¯s speed and agility while disorienting enemies with hurricane-like winds. Some will carry sparks of lightning, delivering electric shocks when attacked. Potency based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of the Sky (or appropriate evolutions).
Elijah hadn¡¯t expected Shape of the Sky to be included, but in retrospect, he wasn¡¯t certain why he¡¯d made that assumption. It was just as valid a part of his toolkit as any of his other forms, so its inclusion should have been inevitable. And the expression of that inclusion was perfectly suited to the form, assisting in its purpose. At least based on the description ¨C he would know more once he got the chance to use it. In any case, he soon looked to the next, which was tied to Shape of the Master:
Infernal Plague Conjure a swarm of fire beetles that will detonate on impact with enemies. Detonations do immediate damage and inflict a slowing affliction upon foes. Strength of detonation dependent on Ethera attribute. Potency of affliction based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of the Master (or appropriate evolutions).
Infernal Brood seemed interesting. Conjuring a bunch of exploding beetles sounded effective, both in terms of damage and distraction. However, the most potent effect was that those explosions would slow his opponents. When using Shape of the Master, the gap between his effective speed and his enemy¡¯s was already pretty wide, especially with the enhanced reflexes that came with the form. And slowing his foes would only widen it. Elijah was very eager to test it out. In the meantime, he looked at the description for Eternal Plague:
Eternal Plague Conjure a swarm of pests that infect your enemies with appropriate afflictions. Channeled spell that grows in area the longer it persists. Escalating cost. Potency of afflictions based on Core Cultivation. Initial size of swarm dependent on Ethera attribute. Only useable in caster¡¯s natural form.
In a lot of ways, it seemed like a straight upgrade to Swarm. However, there were two key differences in the expression of the spell. First, it would persist so long as he channeled ethera into the spell. And second, the longer he kept it going, the wider the area of effect would be. In short, every expression of the Swarm¡¯s upgrade would obviously be very valuable. He would know more once he had the chance to test things out, though. Until then, he wanted to rest for at least a few more minutes before he rejoined his companions. So, with that in mind, he leaned back and closed his eyes, trying to center his mind as much as rest his body. 7-67. The Gatekeeper ¡°Are you okay?¡± asked Sadie, sitting next to Elijah. They¡¯d spent the previous day-and-a-half pulling progressively larger groups of undead to the fortifications they¡¯d built. Without the demons or the leader, and with most of the more powerful creatures having died as a result of Elijah¡¯s efforts, they zombies were markedly weaker than they had been when the group had first arrived in the Primal Realm. They were still strong enough to cause problems if the group wasn¡¯t careful, but so long as they kept their wits about them, Elijah and his companions had no issues dealing with them. Even so, it was a mentally exhausting process, and now that all but a scattered few zombies had been killed, everyone desperately needed a rest. To facilitate that, Elijah had offered to be the first on watch. By virtue of his cultivation and high attributes, he needed less rest than the others, so that decision made sense, even if it left him feeling even more isolated from the rest of the group. Sadie, ever attentive, had obviously noticed that, so after only a few hours of sleep, she¡¯d joined him atop one of the boulders, where they had a good view of the product of their labor. There were tens of thousands of bodies piled on either side of the gap, and that was with the group having already burned quite a few. At times, Elijah had a hard time marrying his self-perception with his actual capabilities. Most days, he still thought of himself as a normal guy and the same person he¡¯d been before the world had changed. It was a silly sentiment. He¡¯d left that man far behind, and in almost every way possible. Yet, people were capable of great feats of self-deception, and, in that respect, Elijah was no different. But more of an issue was the realization knocking on the door of Elijah¡¯s mind. He gave his worries voice when he said, ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know. I should have realized this sooner, but there¡¯s no chance of us ever being normal again, is there?¡± ¡°Is that what you want?¡± she asked, hugging her knees to her chest. Elijah had already offered his Cloak of the Iron Bear. Due to it being bound to him, its traits wouldn¡¯t work for anyone else, but it could still function as a blanket. Sadie had accepted his offer, so she was bundled in thick, brown fur. For his part, Elijah was fine with enduring the cold. It wasn¡¯t comfortable, but then again, he was used to a live plagued by discomfort. ¡°Sometimes,¡± he admitted. ¡°I know it¡¯s dumb, but sometimes, I think back to the people in Ironshore. They¡¯re just living their normal lives right now. Going to work. Hanging out with friends. That sort of thing. Meanwhile, we¡¯re here.¡± ¡°We have a responsibility, Elijah.¡± ¡°I know. I accept that. I¡¯m not even that upset about not living that kind of life,¡± he explained. ¡°It¡¯s just that I can feel the distance between me and everyone else. That gap is getting wider by the day. How long will it be before I can¡¯t relate to regular people? Before bringing others along would only put them in incredible danger? Once, I dreamed of helping my nephew gain levels. But if he came with me to a tower or into a place like this, he¡¯d be killed before I turned around. The same is true of Carmen. And I feel like some of this group is only a hair¡¯s breadth away from a similar fate. Zhang Yue is barely hanging on. Gideon can¡¯t really keep up. And your brother¡­I feel like I can heal better than him.¡± ¡°You haven¡¯t seen him at his best.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Maybe not. He could still surprise me,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°But I¡¯m close to twice his level, right?¡± That was true. Elijah was currently closing in on level one-forty-two, while Nico was probably in his mid-eighties. Maybe as high as ninety. Elijah didn¡¯t know for sure, but with his cultivation, the gap between them was even wider. ¡°Probably closer to half again his level,¡± she said. ¡°But he has an elder core as well.¡± Elijah could understand Sadie¡¯s desire to defend her brother, but that wasn¡¯t the point. He said as much, adding, ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it won¡¯t be long before I¡¯m too far ahead to benefit from grouping with people like him.¡± Also looming over him was the knowledge that, at some point, he would need to leave Earth. That was still a long way off, but the invitation to be trained in the Empire of Scale definitely weighed on him. When the offer had been extended to him, it had felt like it was a long way off. But his current progress suggested that it would come sooner than he¡¯d ever suspected. ¡°I don¡¯t know. Maybe I¡¯m worried about nothing,¡± he said, running his hand through his hair. He didn¡¯t believe that for a second, but he also didn¡¯t want to argue about it. Sadie was a proud person ¨C both in terms of her own power as well as her family¡¯s ¨C and she didn¡¯t want to admit that she would soon leave her little brother behind. He would probably always be strong, but there was a difference between that and being one of the world¡¯s front runners. Eventually, Sadie would be forced to confront a choice similar to the one standing before Elijah. Hamper her own growth, but stick around to support her family? Or would she strike out on her own in an effort to maximize her potential? Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. For his part, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder about his own future, which he suspected wouldn¡¯t include sitting around his grove and enjoying the fruits of his labor. The trip to the Empire of Scale was just the tip of the iceberg, and from what he understood, if he wanted to continue to progress, he would need to make some tough decisions concerning his personal relationships. After all, with his increased longevity, the prospect of far outliving everyone else on Earth was a distinct possibility. ¡°Maybe,¡± Sadie agreed. Then, for a few moments, she stared out across the battlefield and to the wall in the distance. It loomed over everything, an ominous portent of the difficulties to come. ¡°What do you think is past the wall?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah admitted. He¡¯d been far too focused on the army to even look through the gate. It was an oversight, but one for which he could forgive himself, given the circumstances. ¡°Something horrible, I¡¯m sure.¡± She nudged him with her shoulder. ¡°Not losing your nerve, are you?¡± she asked, smiling slightly at him. ¡°Not even a little,¡± he answered, scooting a little closer and putting his arm around her. It was not the most romantic setting, being surrounded by hordes of slain undead. Making it even stranger was that, beneath Elijah¡¯s cloak, Sadie was still wearing her armor. Even so, the closeness was more comforting than he could have expected, and it went a long way toward easing some of his tension. But eventually, the situation caught up to them. The Primal Realm was still quite a distance from being conquered, and their responsibilities weighed on them with such force that they couldn¡¯t really enjoy the moment of peace for very long. Still, Elijah regretted it when they were forced to break apart and gather the others. That feeling accompanied him as they crossed the scene of his battle. Until that point, only Dat had seen it, which meant that the others stared at it in awe. At first, they focused on all the dead zombies, but soon, they found themselves standing on the edge of the crater. ¡°You did all this?¡± asked Nico, glancing back at Elijah. In response, he shrugged, answering, ¡°More or less.¡± He didn¡¯t want to explain, and for a couple of reasons. The first was that he didn¡¯t want to revisit his memories of what had happened. Maybe he¡¯d be fine with going there at some point in the future, but for now, he was more than content not to even think about it. And second, he felt it was prudent to keep the others guessing. He didn¡¯t care if Dat and Sadie knew his secrets, but the same could not be said for the rest of the group. Specifically, Elijah didn¡¯t trust Gideon or Nico, so he decided to play things close to his chest when it came to his capabilities. After a little more awestruck investigation that made Elijah feel more than a little uncomfortable, the group moved on. Notably, Gideon claimed the demon¡¯s shield for himself, even though he could barely hold it aloft. As they approached the gate, Elijah saw that a couple of things had changed. First, it was shut, and the gate was blocked by an enormous portcullis. The size of the gate meant that the bars of that portcullis were at least as big around as Elijah¡¯s waist. The gate itself stretched dozens of feet tall, and he suspected that the ironbound doors were thick enough that, even in the Shape of Thorn and using Savage Strength, he wouldn¡¯t be able to knock it down. But that was the least of his worries, because standing before the gate was a skeletal figure that stood at least twenty feet tall. Its head was encased in green flame, and it carried a large scythe, the black blade of which was encased in similarly verdant fire. With its black robes, it looked like the grim reaper himself stood before them. ¡°Gate Guard,¡± Dat said. ¡°Ascended. Too high of a level for Curse of Scrying to determine its exact strength.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t attack,¡± Sadie said. Gideon didn¡¯t like that, saying to Elijah, ¡°Just do what you did against the army. It wouldn¡¯t survive a blast like the one that made that crater.¡± ¡°Sadie¡¯s in charge,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°If she says not to attack, then we won¡¯t.¡± Neither Gideon nor Nico were happy about that, but they knew they were in no position to argue. Zhang Yue hung back, trying to appear as small as possible. He knew he wasn¡¯t supposed to be there, and despite having made large strides forward regarding his levels, he still wasn¡¯t close to the others in terms of power. ¡°You want me to check it out, bro?¡± asked Dat. ¡°We should go together,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°Everyone, prepare for a fight. But don¡¯t attack unless I call for it. I sense that this thing could easily kill us all.¡± With that, Elijah shifted into the Shape of Thorn. Unchecked Growth had reset, so he had that in his back pocket. Even without it, the thorned sentry was Elijah¡¯s most durable form. They stepped forward, covering the few dozen yards until they drew within range of the black-clad skeleton. The thing was even bigger than Elijah¡¯s initial impressions suggested, and it practically glowed in his senses. Dat¡¯s supposition that it was ascended was obviously correct, and Elijah could sense that it was far stronger than anything else he¡¯d encountered. Sure, Yloa and many of the creatures in the various challenges of the Trial of Primacy had been technically more advanced. However, with the shackles imposed by the system, none of them could hold a candle to the flame-skulled skeleton. If it chose to attack, people would die. Fighting was out of the question. Even running wasn¡¯t possible, unless Elijah wanted to sacrifice his companions. He glanced at Gideon. Then Nico. Maybe that wouldn¡¯t be such a bad idea, so long as Sadie and Dat got away. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with. If it comes down to it, I¡¯ll try to hold it off while everyone escapes,¡± Elijah stated, knowing he could never abandon a group member, even if he¡¯d grown to detest them. Sadie agreed, though she wasn¡¯t happy about it. Still, she couldn¡¯t deny that he was best suited for that endeavor, so she had no choice but to go along with it. Soon, they were striding forward, feigning confidence as they approached the skeleton. They stopped just out of range of its massive scythe. ¡°It is good that you have not attacked,¡± the thing rumbled in a voice that sounded like a chorus of screams. It was so loud that it prompted a pounding headache. ¡°Before you lies the Gate of Screams. To bypass this edifice, you must travel through it. In doing so, you must display cunning, might, magic, or stealth. Be warned, this is an individual test. Do not think to lean on your companions. Choose and proceed.¡± 7-68. Whittled Down Four portals appeared behind the skeletal guardian, each one framed by twisted bones. Above each floated an ethereal symbol that Elijah couldn¡¯t interpret. However, he didn¡¯t need them to know what each portal represented. The left-most was dedicated to cunning, the next to might, and the third was meant to denote stealth. The final was devoted to magic. The Gate of Screams loomed over everything, casting them all in dense shadow. ¡°Choose,¡± said the guardian. ¡°Delay, and you will be destroyed.¡± The thing didn¡¯t even twitch, but Elijah could feel its ethera swirl. And the density of the flow was great enough to tell him that if it attacked, no one would survive. They only had one way through the Gate of Screams, and it was by playing the game set before them. ¡°I will choose stealth,¡± said Zhang Yue. That was as expected. He had no other applicable abilities. He certainly wasn¡¯t mighty, and he¡¯d displayed no great level of cunning. He had no magic to speak of, either. ¡°Proceed,¡± rumbled the skeletal guardian. ¡°Once the choice is made, it cannot be unmade. Nor are you permitted to delay. Go, or suffer the consequences of inaction.¡± An expression of panic bloomed on the thief¡¯s face. Clearly, Zhang Yue hadn¡¯t intended to be the first through, but it looked like he wouldn¡¯t have much of a choice in the matter. He was practically trembling at the prospect. But no one got to his level ¨C especially as a non-combat Explorer ¨C without facing plenty of danger. So, the Thief quickly pushed his anxiety aside, steeling himself for what was to come. Then, he squared his shoulders and stepped forward. The approach was stiff, but after he passed the guardian, he relaxed a little. Once he stood before the portal of twisted bone, he paused for a long moment, took a deep breath, then stepped through the third portal. It flashed with green energy as he crossed the threshold and disappeared. A pregnant silence reigned over the area as they awaited news of their companion¡¯s fate. For his part, Elijah wasn¡¯t particularly attached to the Explorer, but he didn¡¯t dislike the man either. After thirty seconds, the portal flashed again, and something came tumbling out. Elijah rushed forward, already knowing what he¡¯d find when he reached it. Even as it came to a stop, Elijah knelt beside the Thief¡¯s body. The man was dead, with most of his throat having been ripped away. Still, Elijah tried to heal him, but it predictably did no good. No matter how potent his heals, he couldn¡¯t fix dead. He looked up, locked eyes with Sadie, and shook his head. ¡°His ability in stealth was lacking,¡± intoned the emotionless guardian. ¡°The next challenger must now choose.¡± Elijah¡¯s mind whirled. The Explorer had possessed a powerful ability for stealth. Certainly, he wasn¡¯t as high of a level as the others, but he was still competent enough in his chosen field. And he¡¯d been found wanting. What was more, the challenges were clearly unforgiving. Failure meant death. Dat stepped forward while the others were still reeling from their companion¡¯s death. He announced, ¡°I choose stealth as well.¡± ¡°Dat!¡± He glanced back at Sadie and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, bro. If I¡¯m not, put what¡¯s left of me next to Lisa.¡± Nico ground his teeth, spitting, ¡°You impertinent ¨C¡± ¡°You¡¯ll be fine,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°But if not¡­if not, you have my word.¡± ¡°Thanks.¡± Then, Dat stepped forward, passing the guardian as if he didn¡¯t have a care in the world. A second later, he disappeared into the same portal that had killed Zhang Yue. For a moment, Elijah just stared at it, waiting for his friend to suffer the same fate. But then, Sadie¡¯s voice cut through Elijah¡¯s thoughts. ¡°We need to do something with his body,¡± she said. If they left it as it was, there was a good chance it would become a zombie. ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it,¡± Nico stated, approaching the corpse. He pulled something from his pocket, then knelt beside the body. Upon closer inspection, Elijah recognized a lighter. ¡°Stand back.¡± Elijah did, and when he was at a safe distance, Nico clicked the device, sending a dense fireball at the corpse. It engulfed the body, burning it to ash in the space of only a few seconds. Finally, Nico extracted a clay jar from his pack and placed it next to the pile of ashes. Ethera swirled, becoming a tiny whirlwind that gathered the ash and deposited it into the jar. After sealing it, Nico stuffed the container back into his pack. When he stood, he told Elijah, ¡°It¡¯s one of the first magical items we ever made. Burning corpses takes a lot of work, so we made a bunch of these lighters.¡± He held up the device. ¡°Only works on corpses, unfortunately. It won¡¯t even burn a zombie or a living creature.¡± Elijah found the concept interesting, but he was a little too distracted by his friend¡¯s situation to give Nico the attention he wanted. That prompted a frown, but Elijah ignored it. The man¡¯s issues weren¡¯t his problem. Instead, he returned to Sadie¡¯s side and said, ¡°He¡¯ll be fine. Ghost Cloak is a powerful ability.¡± ¡°So was Zhang Yue¡¯s.¡± This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. That was true, but Elijah had a little more insight into the comparative potency of the two abilities. With Soul of the Wild, he could still sense Zhang Yue, and without much issue. That put it on par with Dat¡¯s normal stealth ability. By comparison, whatever ability the Explorer used to hide the entire group from undead threats was a little more powerful, but it was limited in scope. When it came to the more powerful Ghost Cloak, Elijah was forced to focus if he wanted sense Dat. That gave him some hope that his friend would be okay. So, they waited, and soon enough, five minutes had passed. Then ten. When the duration of Dat¡¯s absence approached half an hour, the guardian rumbled, ¡°Your companion has proven his mastery over stealth. The next challenger must now proceed.¡± ¡°He made it!¡± Sadie exclaimed in an uncharacteristic show of excitement. She also threw her arms around Elijah and hugged him tightly. The embrace didn¡¯t last more than a second before she remembered they had an audience, but by then, the damage had been done. Her brother glared at her. He started to say something, but Sadie cut him off before he could even get started. ¡°I¡¯ll go next. I choose might.¡± With that, she strode forward, leaving a stunned Nico behind. Only a moment later, he turned his ire on Elijah, saying, ¡°Stay away from my sister.¡± ¡°What was that?¡± ¡°You heard me, Druid.¡± Elijah tightened his grip on his staff. More than anything, he wanted to meet the Healer¡¯s challenge head-on. He wouldn¡¯t kill the man, but his instincts screamed at him to put Nico in his place. But then he recognized the error of that line of thinking. If he hurt Nico, Sadie would never forgive him. ¡°You know that¡¯s not going to work out well for you, right?¡± he responded. ¡°Even if I let you intimidate me into leaving her alone, I¡¯m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you wouldn¡¯t be as successful in manipulating her.¡± ¡°What are you saying?¡± the man demanded, puffing out his chest and trying to appear larger than he actually was. He was only about an inch shorter than Elijah, but in that moment, Nico seemed like a blustering teenager. Perhaps he wasn¡¯t so far removed from that. He couldn¡¯t have been older than his early twenties. ¡°She¡¯s her own person, and she¡¯s made her interest pretty clear. Nobody can stop her from doing what she wants,¡± Elijah said. ¡°You telling me to stay away is only half of the equation.¡± Nico started to respond, but just then, the guardian interrupted, ¡°Your companion has proven her might. The next challenger must now proceed.¡± Before anyone else could volunteer to go next, Nico stormed ahead, announcing that he would take the magic challenge. It was likely the only one the man could reasonably hope to conquer. More importantly, he clearly intended to get through the challenge so he could confront his sister. Elijah would have paid good money to see that meeting, but it seemed he would need to wait for the recap. Dat would surely share, even if Sadie probably wouldn¡¯t. Nico disappeared into the portal after only a moment, which left Elijah alone with Gideon. The man said, ¡°You should not antagonize him. He will one day rule Heaven¡¯s Bastion.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t care about that, but he couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°What about Sadie? She¡¯s older, right?¡± ¡°She¡¯s also female.¡± ¡°That matters?¡± ¡°To Song Tianwei, it does. To the people of Heaven¡¯s Bastion, it is incredibly important. Regressive, certainly, but on this matter, their minds are set.¡± Elijah wanted to argue with that stance, but in the end, he chose to keep his mouth shut. By that point, he knew Sadie pretty well, and he felt confident that she didn¡¯t want to rule Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Defend it, sure. She would lay down her life to protect her people. But the notion of governing tens of thousands of people was the sort of thing that would have frustrated her to no end. In that respect, she and Elijah shared a similar stance. Finally, he said, ¡°Like I told Nico, I don¡¯t control Sadie. I like her, and she likes me. Maybe something will happen, and maybe this is just temporary. I won¡¯t cut it off just because a spoiled kid wants to control his sister. She deserves better than that.¡± Left unsaid was Elijah¡¯s own feelings, but he didn¡¯t think that would hold any sway with someone like Gideon. ¡°I think you misunderstand who I am, Mr. Hart,¡± Gideon said. ¡°I fully support your courtship of Miss Sadie. An alliance would be most beneficial, both for Heaven¡¯s Bastion as well as the world at large.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t ¨C¡± ¡°Your companion has proven his mastery of magic. The next challenger must now proceed,¡± the guardian rumbled. At that, Gideon asked, ¡°Do you want to go first? Or shall I?¡± ¡°You go ahead. There are still a few undead left, and I¡¯m the only one who can take them solo.¡± The man nodded, heading forward. ¡°I choose cunning,¡± he stated. It made sense. He wasn¡¯t as strong as Sadie, and he certainly had no real talent in magic or stealth. Cunning was likely the only real choice for someone like him.¡± That left Elijah alone and considering his own path. In Shape of Thorn or Shape of the Master, he was likely just as strong as Sadie, but if the challenge prevented him from using his forms, he would struggle to match her strength. Guise of the Unseen was far less powerful than Ghost Cloak, so stealth was out. But magic seemed right up his alley. With Soul of the Wild, he could sense individual flows of ethera with a great degree of accuracy, which he suspected would aid him in the magical challenge. Cunning was never even a consideration. Elijah felt confident in his intelligence, but his personality was too straightforward for him to be called cunning. That decision was supported when, just as had happened with Zhang Yue, Gideon¡¯s body came tumbling out of the portal. Elijah didn¡¯t need Soul of the Wild to know that he was dead. It should not have been a surprising turn of events. He knew that Gideon and Zhang Yue were both lacking in terms of levels. However, seeing the man¡¯s frozen form still shocked Elijah, probably because he¡¯d interacted with the man far more than he had with Zhang Yue. More, he couldn¡¯t help but think that there would be consequences for the man¡¯s death. ¡°He was not as cunning as he believed,¡± intoned the gate guardian. ¡°Perhaps you will prove more successful.¡± Just then, the gates dedicated to might, magic, and stealth winked out, disappearing in the space of only a moment. ¡°What the hell?¡± Elijah demanded, taking a step forward. ¡°You are an ascended. The rules are different for you,¡± the skeletal creature stated evenly. ¡°You must display all four traits. Cunning will be first, but you are required to pass all four tests.¡± ¡°And if I decide to skip your little tests?¡± Elijah asked. The skeleton¡¯s power flared, and Elijah took a step backward. ¡°That is not an advisable course of action.¡± It glanced up at the top of the wall, where monsters of untold might awaited. ¡°You are free to tempt fate and challenge the creatures atop the wall, but at your current level of power, you will be slaughtered. For you, this is the only way through. Make your choice.¡± Elijah seethed, but he didn¡¯t see any way around it. Perhaps he could shift into Shape of the Sky and fly over the wall, but he¡¯d seen what stood atop it. Those creatures made the skeletal gate guardian look mundane by comparison. More, he¡¯d already established that flight wasn¡¯t really an option. There were creatures in the clouds, and though Elijah had only seen a few hints as to their nature, he knew enough to recognize that they would prevent him from following that course of action. After all, the Primal Realm wasn¡¯t really so different from a tower. There were guardrails against going off course. They weren¡¯t as obvious, but they were there all the same. ¡°Fine,¡± he said. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll get this over with.¡± With that, he stepped forward and entered the portal leading to the test of cunning. 7-69. Riddles and Stones Elijah appeared in a simple, square room. It was made of the same material as the wall outside, so the surface glimmered dully in the light of a single torch set into the wall. A few wet spatters of blood glistened on the floor, evidence of Gideon¡¯s failure. However, Elijah¡¯s attention was solely on the figure at the center of the room. It was tall and slim, wearing a hooded black robe that obscured its features. Except for a pair of withered, black hands, nothing else of the creature¡¯s body was visible. But Elijah could feel everything he couldn¡¯t see, and he recoiled in horror. The thing defied description, and the sense of it felt like insects skittering across Elijah¡¯s mind. The most prominent thing he felt was that the thing was cold, and its skin looked like it was covered in advanced frostbite. However, it was not human, and its features were wholly alien, with a multitude of eyes and an odd skeletal structure. In only a second, Elijah knew he was dealing with a monster. In a voice that conjured memories of cracking ice, the creature hissed, ¡°I creep and crawl, an icy breath. A herald of stillness, a cousin to death. I sap the life and numb the pain. In my embrace, no warmth sustained. What am I?¡± Immediately, Elijah recognized the answer. ¡°Frost.¡± ¡°That answer is¡­acceptable.¡± At that, the temperature plummeted. Then, the creature said, ¡°You are clever, mortal, but one answer does not free you. The path to escape lies hidden, sealed away from prying eyes. No door I have. No hinge, no key. Yet power flows through parts of me. To wake my path, you must discern, the proper order for power to burn. What am I?¡± Elijah nodded, and even though the cold continued to envelop him, he felt that it wasn¡¯t quite as powerful as it should have been. Perhaps that was due to his Cloak of the Iron Bear, but it was probably because of Ward of the Seasons. He¡¯d long since taken to keeping it active at all times, and as such, he often forgot its effects. But it continued to silently protect him from elemental damage. In any case, with the effects of the cold having been cut, Elijah could fully focus on the riddle. It was only after a few minutes, during which the creature silently watched him, that he remembered the Tin Hua Temple. More specifically, he recalled the runes carved into the columns that had formed a puzzle that Sadie had solved. Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild, looking for flows of ethera. At first, he couldn¡¯t sense anything in the thick cloud of energy swirling around the monster at the center of the room. It pervaded everything, pushing the density of ethera much higher than it had been outside. Elijah looked deeper, though, and soon enough, he saw glyphs on the walls. There were hundreds of them ¨C one on each block that comprised the walls. The all glowed slightly in his senses, though some were far stronger than others. After a few moments, Elijah said, ¡°The glyphs on the walls. That¡¯s the answer.¡± ¡°Correct,¡± said the monster. ¡°Infuse your magic, and the path shall open. Beware, a single misstep, and the cold will consume you.¡± Elijah stopped mid-stride. He¡¯d expected there to be consequences, but he didn¡¯t think they would be so unforgiving. Clearly, he was wrong. So, he took another few minutes to study the glyphs. As he did, the monster said, ¡°Five runes conceal your fate. A touch of power must activate, the order¡¯s key, a sequence pure. Hints lie within the frost¡¯s allure. Warmth fights the cold, but cold remains. Seek balance now to break frost¡¯s unforgiving chains.¡± That gave Elijah some insight into what he saw, and it wasn¡¯t long before he recognized five symbols. The first was a snowflake, the second a flame, the third a water droplet, and a fourth was clearly meant to represent wind. Finally, there was a mountain¡¯s peak. Ice. Fire. Water. Wind. And earth. Elijah squatted, lost in thought. If it had been anyone else, they would have already succumbed to the frigid cold. He was merely uncomfortable, though, which allowed him to think clearly. ¡°Fire and ice,¡± he muttered. ¡°Ice, then fire. That makes water. Wind is a neutral element, spreading balance. Moving the water across the earth. Then, the cycle continues.¡± It fit together, though Elijah wasn¡¯t really as confident as he wished. There were some leaps of logic there, though it felt a little like taking a multiple choice exam. The answer was there, and even if he wasn¡¯t a hundred percent certain, he felt that he¡¯d found the most likely order. ¡°Well, no risk, no reward,¡± he said to himself. It didn¡¯t matter if he sat there for days, he wouldn¡¯t magically conjure another answer. So, after taking a deep breath, he stepped close to the rune representing fire and injected a small dose of ethera. It lit up, glowing powerfully, even in the visible spectrum. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. Without hesitation, he crossed to the other side of the room and activated the snowflake representing ice. When he did, a beam of light connected the two. Elijah closed with the water rune, and when he injected it with ethera, it followed the same pattern. Following that was wind and then earth. At the last, the light merged, hitting the far wall and outlining an arch. The black stone disappeared, revealing another portal. Elijah let out a relieved sigh as the monster said, ¡°You have proven your cunning. Proceed.¡± He didn¡¯t hesitate to do just that, and to his surprise, he found himself in a much larger, but otherwise identical room. This one, however, featured a giant, ogre-like demon with sweeping horns. The thing was made all of muscle, and it was at least a couple of feet taller than Elijah. ¡°Challenge,¡± the thing grunted. ¡°Lift rocks in order. Biggest rock wins.¡± Then, the creature pointed to a series of ten boulders that ranged from basketball sized to one that was at least as big as a minivan. The implication was clear ¨C they were to lift each of the rocks, one after the other, and whoever failed first would be the loser. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain what would happen if he lost, but judging by the size of those final boulders, he felt good about his chances. So, he shifted into the Shape of Thorn. The ogre-demon narrowed its beady eyes, but he didn¡¯t object. Instead, he said, ¡°I go first.¡± Just as Elijah had expected, the creature proceeded to pick up one stone after the other. At first, he did so easily, but about halfway through, the creature began to struggle. He reached the point of failure on the eighth stone. The problem wasn¡¯t really the demon¡¯s strength. He was certainly straining, but the real issue was that he struggled to grip the perfectly round stone. It slipped from his claws with a thud. The demon slapped his muscular slab of a chest and let out a roar before growling, ¡°You now. Go.¡± Elijah set his shoulders, then approached the first ball. With one hand, he lifted it. The thing was far heavier than its size would have suggested, but it was still no more than three or four hundred pounds. Which meant it wasn¡¯t difficult for Elijah to lift. After tossing it down, he moved on to the second, which was at least twice as heavy. Still easy enough to manage, but when Elijah reached the third stone and realized that the pattern continued, he started to worry. He was no stranger to lifting things weighing multiple tons, but if his estimates were correct, the tenth stone would weigh close to a hundred tons. In the past, that would have been out of reach. However, he¡¯d gained a few levels since he¡¯d built his last dolmen ¨C which was the last time he¡¯d tested his strength to any degree ¨C and even then, he hadn¡¯t pushed himself to his limits. So, perhaps he could manage it. But like the ogre-demon, he would struggle with his grip. Still, it wasn¡¯t as if he had a choice in the matter, so he set his mind to the task at hand. After spending the previous challenge relying on his brain, leaning on his brawn was a nice change of pace. It was almost relaxing, though that began to fade as he progressed from one stone sphere after another. And it disappeared entirely when he reached the seventh, which was at least as heavy as the hunks of rock he¡¯d used in his last dolmen. Surprisingly, he managed the stone without too much trouble. But Elijah knew the eighth would test him. So, after throwing down the seventh, he shifted toward the next. It was much too large for him to reach all the way around its circumference, but with his vines acting to stabilize the load, he managed it. Then, finally, he lifted. At first, the weight didn¡¯t budge, but then, inch by inch, he hoisted it aloft. He held it there for a short moment before letting drop to the ground. A normal stone probably would have shattered, but this one didn¡¯t. Magic, Elijah assumed. But he also knew he wasn¡¯t finished. The goal wasn¡¯t to simply match the ogre-demon¡¯s strength. He needed to best the creature. So, he shifted toward the next. By his calculations, this one weighed at least sixty tons, give or take a few thousand pounds. His estimates certainly weren¡¯t exact, but one thing was sure ¨C it was extremely heavy. Even so, Elijah felt good about his chances. The eighth stone had been taxing, but it wasn¡¯t his limit. Not by a long shot. So, using a similar strategy with the vines on his arms and shoulders, Elijah established a grip. Then, he lifted. His joints creaked under the strain, but with his adrenaline having peaked, he managed to get it off the ground. After that, it was just a matter of willpower, and like the last, Elijah managed to lever it into position. He released it with a pump of his fist. ¡°Strong. You pass,¡± said the ogre-demon, obviously ashamed at his showing. Elijah barely heard him. Instead, he had his eye on the final stone. It was at least twice the size of the last, and if his estimates were accurate, it probably weighed more than a hundred tons. Later, when he would look back on what happened next, Elijah would wonder what got into him to prompt such an action. It didn¡¯t make any sense. It wouldn¡¯t help him in any way. But with the challenge looming before him, Elijah needed to see if he could do it. So, he shifted into position before the final sphere, then wrapped his arms and vines around it. When he tried to lift, the thing wouldn¡¯t budge. The ogre-demon said something derogatory about Elijah¡¯s efforts, but by that point, Elijah had tuned everything else out. Instead, he only had room in his mind for two things ¨C his body and the stone. He let out a mighty roar, but still, the thing wouldn¡¯t move. Had he met his match? Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to admit defeat, so he activated Savage Strength. The stone shifted, then ascended an inch. Two inches. Three. Elijah passed his knees, then gave himself a break by setting it on his thighs. They nearly buckled under the weight. Then, with Savage Strength ticking down, Elijah tried to resume his lift. But it would not budge another inch. No matter how hard he pushed or pulled, it was stuck in place. And eventually, he had to admit defeat. Disgusted, he let the thing fall, and to Elijah¡¯s surprise, it actually cracked the black tiles on the floor. None of the others had done that. His shoulders sagged in exhaustion, but he was so dismayed with his failure that he didn¡¯t even glance back at the ogre-demon before he strode forward and through the next portal. 7-70. Tested ¡°Magic is weird,¡± Elijah mumbled to himself, looking around. He¡¯d expected the next challenge to take place in a room similar to what he¡¯d seen in the tests of might and cunning. However, what he saw before him couldn¡¯t have been more different. Three sides of the room were almost identical to what had come before, but the fourth wall was missing, revealing a bridge spanning a vast chasm. ¡°This is the test of stealth,¡± came a voice that made Elijah flinch. He¡¯d thought he was alone, but suddenly, there was someone standing beside him. Or crouching, really. He glanced at the creature, seeing it squatting only a few feet away. It was thin to the point of emaciation and wrapped in grey strips of cloth. Over its head was a hood, and a featureless mask covered everything but its eyes. The creature looked vaguely human, with all the appropriate pieces, but there was something about its twitchy movement that told Elijah that it was something else entirely. Not surprising. It cocked its head, then gestured toward the bridge. ¡°Proceed. Do not be seen, or you will be destroyed.¡± That was within his expectations. It was a test of stealth, after all. Still, Elijah wanted more information before he started. ¡°Is the exit on the other side of that bridge?¡± he asked. There was no answer. The creature had clearly given all the information it intended to give. So, Elijah sighed, then shifted into the Shape of Venom. When he looked back at the creature, it was gone. Or that was what his senses told him. The fact that he couldn¡¯t adopt the Guise of the Unseen said that the monster was still looking his way. That sent a chill up Elijah¡¯s spine. He¡¯d long leaned on Soul of the Wild to bypass most forms of stealth. Even Ghost Cloak couldn¡¯t completely hide Dat from him. Sure, seeing through it was difficult, and it required every ounce of concentration he possessed, but it was possible. And Dat¡¯s most powerful stealth ability was the strongest Elijah had ever encountered. Or at least it had been before he reached the test of stealth. ¡°You need to stop looking at me, or I¡¯m never going to be able to enter stealth,¡± Elijah pointed out in the hissing voice of Shape of Venom. There was no answer, but only a moment later, Elijah found himself relaxing as the sense of being watched disappeared. He immediately adopted Guise of the Unseen. Once he¡¯d removed himself from the visible spectrum, he took a step forward and proceeded onto the bridge. When he glanced back, the alcove had disappeared, replaced by a featureless black wall. Elijah shook his head and took stock of the situation. The bridge itself looked mostly normal, though upon further inspection, he realized it was anything but ordinary. For one, it was only a few feet wide, and because it lacked any railings whatsoever, it would assuredly be quite treacherous to cross. For another, there were carvings covering the entirety of the top surface. Finally, Elijah could feel creatures skittering back and forth. They were barely there in the sense granted by Soul of the Wild, but there were so many of them that he couldn¡¯t even begin to ignore their presence. When one crept closer, Elijah recognized that it was a spider. That brought to mind Elijah¡¯s most recently evolved spell, Primal Swarm. Or more accurately, the ability it granted to his blight dragon form:
Lurking Swarm Conjure a swarm of phase spiders that will remain unseen until first strike. Swarm will dissipate after attacking. Attacks will inflict a potent venom upon enemies. Control dependent on Dexterity attribute. Potency based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of Venom (or appropriate evolutions).
He wasn¡¯t certain if he was dealing with phase spiders, but reading the description of his spell definitely left Elijah with a couple of questions. Nowhere did it say that he couldn¡¯t use the ability while in stealth. Nor did it say that it would break Guise of the Unseen. Sure, the phase spiders would become visible when they attacked, but that didn¡¯t affect him, did it? Elijah wasn¡¯t sure, but he wanted to find out. It probably wasn¡¯t the best idea. If there was even a chance that it would affect his stealth, he should have left the experimentation for later. However, there were two factors that spurred him on. First, the creatures on the bridge seemed numerous, and they weren¡¯t particularly strong. To someone like Zhang Yue ¨C or even Dat ¨C they would be a deadly threat. But to Elijah, who could heal himself and cure any venom they might inflict, they were more like nuisances, only really dangerous because there were so many of them. He had the tools to deal with an enemy swarm, though, so he wasn¡¯t particularly worried about the spiders. The second reason he could even consider using Lurking Swarm was a little more ephemeral. Every new spell and ability came with some degree of instinct concerning its use. Those feelings weren¡¯t always foolproof or complete, but they gave him a sense of what he was dealing with. And what he felt about Lurking Swarm suggested that it wouldn¡¯t foul his stealth. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. There was a possibility that his instincts were influenced by his own desires, but he¡¯d gotten as far as he had by trusting his gut. And he didn¡¯t intend to stop now. Then there was the sense of overwhelming curiosity fluttering through his mind. He¡¯d yet to really use the evolution of Swarm ¨C he didn¡¯t want to reveal too much to people like Zhang Yue and Gideon, neither of whom he trusted ¨C so the concealment of the testing ground gave him the perfect opportunity to let loose. So, perhaps there were three reasons he wanted to use his new ability. It didn¡¯t take much for Elijah to convince himself to go ahead with it. So, without further hesitation, he used Lurking Swarm for the first time. The feeling of casting a spell in his blight dragon form was odd, mostly because it didn¡¯t go through natural mechanisms like his fangs. Rather, it was similar to casting a spell in his human form, though with the added oddness of requiring a bit of stamina as well. Not a lot, but enough to be noticeable. And he expected that subsequent casts would cost more and more until the soft cooldown reset. Spells that followed that mechanic didn¡¯t quite double the cost with every cast, but it wasn¡¯t far off from that characteristic. Regardless, he wouldn¡¯t be using the ability over and over in a single battle. Not without running himself dry of ethera and exhausting his body. But one cast was barely noticeable. Elijah felt the phase spiders manifest, and thankfully, they were already invisible. In fact, he suspected that if they weren¡¯t his minions, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to detect them at all. With a flick of thought, he directed the creatures forward. They skittered onto the bridge, and when they reached the first spiders, they pounced ¨C one for each enemy. Chittering screeches filled the air as two sets of spiders ¨C the glassy, crystalline phase spiders and thicker, hairier versions that looked like wolf spiders ¨C fought a localized battle. Lurking Swarm had summoned thirty minions, and they swept forward across the bridge with ruthless precision. Their first bites out of stealth were the most effective, and their victims died within seconds. However, even when they attacked from visibility, they could still do quite a lot of damage. They just didn¡¯t have any real durability to speak of. The wolf spiders marshalled their defenses, leveraging their much sturdier forms to rip the first few phase spiders apart. After that, it was a massacre. Elijah felt a slight spike of pain each time one of his minions died, but it was no worse than being stung by a wasp. The wolf spiders¡¯ victory was far from complete, though. For every phase spider they tore to pieces, they were afflicted with their enemies¡¯ potent venom, and by the time the last of Elijah¡¯s minions were destroyed, they had made a significant dent in the wolf spider population. It was a very successful test, and not just because many of the enemy had been killed. In addition, the surge of phase spiders had cleared the first twenty feet of the bridge, which allowed Elijah to race forward, then climb down the side and scamper across the bottom surface. There were far less spiders down there, and no runes at all. Given that Elijah suspected that those runes atop the bridge represented some sort of puzzle that he didn¡¯t want to take the time to solve, he counted himself lucky that he was capable of bypassing them. The rest of the journey across the bridge was easy enough. There were a few close encounters with wolf spiders, but the creatures were sparse enough that he had no issues attacking and killing any that ventured into his path. His own venom was potent enough that they never had an opportunity to call for help. They died in silence, falling into the chasm the moment their eight-legged bodies gave out. Elijah considered waiting and using Lurking Swarm again ¨C just to farm some extra experience ¨C but he decided that he¡¯d already taken too long with the tests. If he was delayed too much, the others might think that he hadn¡¯t made it and move on. So, he quickly made his way across the underside of the bridge, climbing up when he reached the end. That nearly got him killed, because there was a tarantula waiting on him that he hadn¡¯t sensed at all. It was larger than all the rest ¨C measuring at least five feet from one leg to another ¨C and it was obviously higher leveled. It was also an ascended creature, which meant that killing it wouldn¡¯t be quick or easy. And given that there were hundreds of other tarantulas that would inevitably join the fight, Elijah knew that trying to kill the thing was a bad idea. Even if he won ¨C which was no sure thing ¨C it wouldn¡¯t be quick or easy. The only reason Elijah noticed the thing at all was because he felt a slight shift in the local ethera. By that point, he was within a foot of the monster, and he had to quickly leap to the side to avoid running into it. Fortunately, it didn¡¯t sense him either, so he was free to move on. At the end of the bridge was another three-sided alcove, the interior of which contained a portal that he hoped would lead him to the final challenge. He didn¡¯t hesitate to move through, and unsurprisingly, he found himself facing another black cube of a chamber. The center featured a single pedestal made of the same black stone, but Elijah¡¯s attention was on the man standing next to it. He was human, and he was quite possibly the oldest person Elijah had ever seen. His beard was so long that it tickled the man¡¯s bare toes, and his robe was tattered and torn, revealing an emaciated body. But his blue eyes twinkled with recognition as he stared at Elijah, who was still in the Shape of Venom and cloaked in Guise of the Unseen. ¡°Ah, another visitor. I do hope you are kinder than your predecessor.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t see any reason to remain in his bestial form, so he let himself shift back to his natural shape. The old man didn¡¯t seem surprised by the sudden change, but his eyes did sparkle a little more keenly. It was only then that Elijah recognized that it wasn¡¯t just the result of torchlight reflecting off the man¡¯s eyes. Instead, there was a glimmer of ethera there. In fact, on further examination, Elijah realized that dense flows of ethera ¨C thicker than anything he¡¯d ever sensed ¨C coursed through the old man¡¯s whole body. He was at least an ascendent, and not on the lower end of that spectrum. Elijah took a deep breath and said, ¡°You aren¡¯t like the others, are you? They¡¯ve been demons or undead. What are you doing here?¡± The old man sighed. ¡°A story for another time. I am bound here, the same as any other, but I engineered these tests to help you bypass the wall and infiltrate the aptly named Citadel of Sorrow,¡± he admitted. Elijah had been wondering about that. From his understanding, Primal Realms were supposed to be self-contained environments. Worlds unto themselves, they weren¡¯t like towers, which were curated experiences with defined paths to victory. But the sudden appearance of the skeletal gate guardian had smacked of the latter. ¡°That was you?¡± he asked. ¡°My loyal minion,¡± the old man stated. ¡°Now, are you ready to prove yourself worthy of another task? In my situation, I cannot offer much, but if you are the man I think you are, what I can give you will be more than worth it.¡± ¡°And what is that?¡± Elijah asked. The man smiled. ¡°I am a captive,¡± he said. ¡°You cannot free me without defeating the Queen of Desolation. However, there are more like me, taken from your world and enslaved by the Chainspeaker. That is your reward. I will tell you where to find them and how to reach that location.¡± Elijah frowned. He¡¯d hoped for some powerful item, but after only a moment, he realized that what the old man offered ¨C the chance to free a bunch of people taken from Hong Kong ¨C was much more valuable than any trinkets. ¡°This puts you in danger, doesn¡¯t it? I can¡¯t imagine your captors would approve of what you¡¯re doing.¡± ¡°Assuredly not.¡± ¡°Then why do it?¡± ¡°Because I want you to free my daughter.¡± ¡°Is she one of the captives?¡± Elijah asked. The man smiled, though there was no happiness in the expression. Then, he shook his head. ¡°No. You misunderstand. My daughter is the Queen of Desolation, and the only way to free her is to author her demise.¡± 7-71. A Fathers Burden ¡°Your daughter?¡± asked Elijah, hoping he¡¯d misunderstood. ¡°Regrettably, yes,¡± the old man said, looking away, The twinkle in his blue eyes remained, though it was undermined by a sheen of moisture. A tear dripped down his weathered cheek, disappearing into his beard. ¡°I should have been stronger. I could have prevented a good deal of suffering.¡± ¡°She¡¯s more powerful than you?¡± Elijah asked. If that was the case, there was no way he or his companions could defeat her. He chuckled softly. ¡°There is more to strength than one¡¯s level,¡± the man said. ¡°My will was not up to holding her accountable. I ignored all the signs, and even when I discovered what she had become, I chose to look the other way. That is my weakness. I loved her too much. I still do. She is everything to me.¡± He sighed, then added, ¡°That is what keeps me here.¡± He lifted his hands, showing Elijah his manacles. They clinked softly in the silence, and Elijah saw that an ethereal chain stretched between the pair of shackles. ¡°These are easily broken. It would be the work of a few days, and I would be free.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you escape?¡± ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious?¡± It was, though Elijah wanted to hear it from the man¡¯s own lips. So, he shook his head. ¡°You want me to say it, do you? Very well. I stay because if I broke free, I would lose the only family I have left. She still visits me, you know. Not often, and when she does, she takes out her many, many frustrations on me. But even that is better than the alternative. I would not want to live without her in my life.¡± Elijah pitied the old man, but he could understand the reasoning well enough. Surely, the powerful mage knew what he was doing. He recognized what he had become. And yet, he didn¡¯t know what else to do. He couldn¡¯t give up the one thing he truly cared about. Frowning, Elijah considered the situation. Was there supposed to be a lesson there? Was the system telling him not to become too attached? He wasn¡¯t sure, but he¡¯d often thought about it. After all, with his potential lifespan, he would outlive most of his friends, family, and companions. Perhaps they would make it to ascendence. Probably, even. But progressing beyond that point required focused effort. It didn¡¯t happen by accident, and reaching the next threshold and becoming a demigod would take decades of commitment, even from the talented. There was an element of fortune to it, too. Even if they were blessed with opportunity, most normal people would require centuries that they just didn¡¯t have. Was the answer to just forego attachment? Elijah shook his head. No. He couldn¡¯t do that. That strategy would result in the sort of life that just wasn¡¯t worth living. So, it was with renewed understanding that he looked at the old man. ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± ¡°My well-being is not your responsibility,¡± the man sighed. ¡°But I would ask that you do the thing I¡¯ve never been strong enough to do. Please, defeat my daughter. Kill her if you must. But end her reign of terror.¡± Considering that was the only way to conquer the Primal Realm, Elijah could only nod. But he was interested in what the old man had mentioned when he¡¯d first arrived. ¡°You said something about captives. Where are they?¡± he asked. The man waved his hand, and the ethera in the room came alive, twisting into knots until Elijah lost track of where one thread began and the others ended. It was one of the most complex things he¡¯d ever witnessed. ¡°Solve the puzzle, and I will tell you what you wish to know.¡± Elijah shouldn¡¯t have expected anything else. ¡°Any hints?¡± he asked. ¡°You should not need them.¡± Frowning, Elijah turned his attention to the knot of ethereal threads in the center of the room. Calling it a puzzle was a bit of a misnomer, because it wasn¡¯t really about piecing things together. Instead, his task was to pick the threads apart. The problem with that was that Elijah had never done anything of the sort. Certainly, he had no trouble sensing them via Soul of the Wild, but aside from shoving bits of his soul into various organisms, he¡¯d had very little experience with the raw manipulation of ethera. Instead, he just used his spells and let them do whatever the system dictated. He frowned, realizing that that wasn¡¯t necessarily true. He¡¯d long known that his spells functioned on a spectrum of power. At the bottom was the default where the system dictated how much ethera was used, and to what results. However, he could flare the ethera consumption and push each spell¡¯s power a little higher. It wasn¡¯t a huge range, but it represented a notion he hadn¡¯t really considered. ¡°The system is just training us, isn¡¯t it?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course,¡± answered the old man. When Elijah told the ancient prisoner what he was thinking, the man said, ¡°It is far more complicated than that. Your class and archetype are your identity. They represent who you are on the deepest level. By the time you reach ascendence, it is all but set in stone. You can progress. You can shift course. But you will never escape your initial choice. However, what the most talented among us can do ¨C what the system wants from us ¨C is to improve upon its designs. Have you ever considered altering your spells without the aid of the system?¡± The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°They¡¯re too complex.¡± He held up a finger. ¡°Aha ¨C for now, they are!¡± the man exclaimed. ¡°But what about when you become a demigod? A deity? Certainly, a transcendent has the power to do whatever he wishes. The system is not perfect. Close enough that, for you and me, it doesn¡¯t matter, but one day, you will find that you know better how to progress than the unfeeling system. That is what this puzzle is for. You must learn to manipulate ethera, directing it according to your own will. That is the second step toward writing your own story and forging your own path.¡± ¡°The second? What¡¯s the first?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Cultivation, child. Cultivation was there long before the system existed, and it remains the most important aspect of any individual¡¯s power.¡± ¡°I was told that it is just one pillar, that it¡¯s no more important than a person¡¯s levels.¡± ¡°Levels are merely a measure of progression. The three pillars ¨C as they are often known ¨C of power are attributes, spells, and cultivation. I believe the third is far more important than the others, but there are those who pursue attributes above all. Just as there are individuals who will constantly tinker with their spells, attempting to get the absolute most out of the concept. All are valid pursuits, but cultivation is the true measure of someone¡¯s commitment to their path,¡± the old man explained. ¡°As such, I find it the most rewarding.¡± Elijah couldn¡¯t help but nod along. Perhaps his perspective was influenced by the fact that he¡¯d always had a talent for cultivation that others simply didn¡¯t seem to possess, but from the very beginning, it had been the reason for his survival. Whatever the case, he found that he agreed with the old man. ¡°A well-rounded approach is best, though,¡± the man added. ¡°Neglect one pillar, and you may remain standing. Neglect two, and you will surely fall. Now, I have offered more advice than is proper. Complete your test or suffer my wrath.¡± The last was said in the same kindly tone the man had used since the beginning, but Elijah knew better than to discount the underlying seriousness of the situation. So, he returned his attention to the tangle of ethereal threads. For a few minutes, he circled the knot, studying how it fit together. ¡°This reminds me of Christmas,¡± he muttered aloud. ¡°What is Christmas?¡± asked the man curiously. Elijah didn¡¯t look up from the tangle as he answered, ¡°It¡¯s a religious holiday on Earth, meant to celebrate the birth of God¡¯s son, who he sent to Earth to be martyred for our sins.¡± ¡°Sounds gruesome.¡± Elijah shrugged, peering closer. ¡°I guess. But most people looked at it as an opportunity to be with family and friends, giving gifts to one another,¡± he explained. ¡°One of the traditions ¨C at least in my country ¨C was to decorate our houses with colorful lights. They came in these little strings, and we reused them year after year. Well, inevitably, when we stored them, they would get extremely tangled.¡± ¡°Then they were not stored properly,¡± the old man reasoned. ¡°Maybe. But the job usually fell to me and my sister, and we were kids. We took shortcuts, you know? Just stuffed them in a box and forgot about them until next Christmas,¡± he said, smiling slightly at the memories. Decorating the house and the tree were some of the happiest times of his life. ¡°But of course, when we got them out of storage the next year, they were so tangled that we begged our parents to just buy new lights. They didn¡¯t, and because I was the baby brother, my sister made me untangle them. It looked a lot like this mess.¡± After that, Elijah got down to business. At first, he needed to physically touch the threads he wanted to manipulate, then send a pulse of ethera down his fingers. However, after the hundredth plucked string, he¡¯d grown confident enough to manipulate the energy without any help. It wasn¡¯t easy ¨C not at first ¨C but so long as he kept the right frame of mind and focused properly, he could manage it. The process wasn¡¯t so dissimilar from flaring his spells to create a more powerful effect, though with the added difficulty of directing his intentions into a narrow focus. That allowed him to slowly pick apart the threads, and gradually, he gained confidence and speed. And when he finally completed the task, he felt no small degree of pride. That pride disappeared when the old man said, ¡°The other one was much faster, but I sense that you do not focus on the magical arts. Tell me, child ¨C what archetype are you?¡± ¡°I am a Druid,¡± Elijah said without hesitation. ¡°Ah. And you completed the other three tests. Curious. Your kind rarely leave their groves.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯m not really that kind of Druid. I love my grove, but I feel like there¡¯s more to life than just a bit of gardening.¡± The old man looked at him like he¡¯d said something truly surprising. Then, he let out a great guffaw of a laugh that left Elijah stunned. ¡°Gardening. Oh, how I would have loved to call it that in front of one of them. I doubt I would have been allowed to leave the grove alive!¡± ¡°You¡¯ve visited a Druid¡¯s grove?¡± Elijah asked, very interested. ¡°Oh, I have. The galaxy grove of E¡¯cintris. Of course, I was only allowed in the outskirts, but even that was one of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed. I wish I¡¯d had the opportunity to learn more.¡± ¡°Galaxy grove? Is that to imply a grove the size of a galaxy?¡± ¡°Goodness no.¡± Elijah sighed in relief. The notion of a grove that size was enough to cause a panic. ¡°It was the size of a small solar system. Galaxy was a bit hyperbolic, but from what I understand, the archdruids in charge had plans for expansion.¡± Elijah¡¯s relief was short-lived. A solar system ¨C even a small one, as the old man suggested ¨C was unfathomably large, so the idea that a grove could reach that size made Elijah¡¯s stomach twist into knots not dissimilar from the ones he¡¯d just unraveled. His only solace came from the notion that the whole thing might have been a story concocted by the system to give the Primal Realm an immersive backstory. But he wasn¡¯t sure that was even how Primal Realms worked. Regardless, it was clear that his time being tested was over, as evidenced by the sudden appearance of another portal. This one, Elijah knew, would lead him to the other side of the wall where he could rejoin his companions. First, he needed a little information. ¡°The captives. Where are they?¡± The old man reached into his pocket and retrieved a piece of yellowed parchment. He handed it to Elijah, who realized only a moment later that it was a map. He even recognized the largest landmark ¨C the wall. Unfortunately, their destination was a long way off, if his interpretation of the scale was even close to accurate. ¡°Thank you,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to¡­free your daughter from her madness.¡± ¡°It is not madness, child. She is perfectly rational. It is evil that has infected her, and the only freedom on offer is death. Deliver it to her, and I can go to my grave with an unburdened conscience.¡± It was a powerful statement, and one Elijah intended to take to heart. He nodded once again at the old man, and then, without further hesitation, strode through the portal and into the frigid cold of the Desolate Reach.¡± 7-72. A Heavy Burden Camen kneeled on the floor, her face only inches from the tile as she inspected the inlay. It was subtle, intended to only be visible in direct light. However, just because it wasn¡¯t meant to be seen wasn¡¯t an excuse for shoddy work. ¡°This tile needs to be replaced,¡± she announced. ¡°Miss ¨C¡± She shot a glare at the assistant loaned to her by the city. The goblin girl was positively tiny, with enormous, bat-like ears and eyes the size of softballs, with green skin and the other exaggerated facial features of her race. Wearing a dress that definitely wasn¡¯t appropriate for a construction site, the girl definitely seemed out-of-place. But she was extremely competent, with an Administrator archetype that gave her many advantages in her chosen field. Since the beginning of the expanded project, she¡¯d been invaluable. But that didn¡¯t make her any less annoying to deal with. Before the girl could continue, Carmen said, ¡°I don¡¯t want any of that ¡®miss¡¯ nonsense. I¡¯ve told you, Lasha ¨C just call me Carmen.¡± ¡°Yes. Right,¡± Lasha said, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her large ear. ¡°But this is the seventy-third minor detail you¡¯ve noted, and that is just today. There were even more yesterday.¡± ¡°And? It needs to be perfect,¡± Carmen stated. That was one thing she hadn¡¯t anticipated. Apparently, all crafters weren¡¯t quite as dedicated to their crafts as she was. Some were perfectly willing to do the job only so well as it got them paid. If they got a little experience along the way, that was even better. Few truly pushed themselves in pursuit of perfection, which left Carmen extraordinarily frustrated. Because the Great Forge project needed to be as close to perfect as they could manage. Carmen practically winced when she looked at her previous efforts. The sloppy inlays, the slightly imperfect blocks of dragonstone, and the inefficient flow of ethera ¨C tiny details added up to create big problems. She¡¯d already been forced to redo much of her previous work, and it was markedly higher quality than that of the other craftsmen. Some of them were just downright lazy, and what¡¯s more, quite a few didn¡¯t seem to care about the project as a whole. They couldn¡¯t see how her vision could affect their futures. All they knew was that they had a job to do, and they were going to get it done. Quality was a secondary concern, and that characterization was being quite generous. Lasha cleared her throat, saying, ¡°I understand that. However, I must point out that you¡¯re stuck in the craftlock spiral.¡± ¡°The what?¡± ¡°Craftlock is a colloquial term from my world where a Tradesman ¨C usually lower-leveled one ¨C progresses enough by the end of a project that they choose to endlessly re-craft instead of moving on to the next job,¡± Lasha explained. ¡°It represents stagnation. Sometimes, it¡¯s best to simply move on rather than focus on minor improvements that won¡¯t make much difference.¡± Carmen frowned. It was the first time she¡¯d heard of craftlock, but it was a familiar problem. However, she didn¡¯t think it applied with the Great Forge. And that, ultimately, was the problem. She realized that only a few moments later, when she stood and looked around. By any measure, they had made a lot of progress on the project, with the foundations having already been expanded to represent the new plans. They¡¯d even excavated a significant amount of earth and shaped multiple underground levels that were intended for storage, both of finished products as well as raw materials. Yet, she knew they could have gotten much further if she wasn¡¯t such a perfectionist. But was she taking it too far? Was she stuck in craftlock? In some ways, she certainly was. She was self-aware enough to admit that. Yet, she didn¡¯t think the term was applicable to everything in the Great Forge. Sometimes, the work just didn¡¯t meet her standards, and when that happened, it needed to be redone. Still, she could recognize that she¡¯d fallen into that spiral on more than one occasion. So, she sighed, ¡°You¡¯re partially right.¡± ¡°I am?¡± asked a surprised Lasha, looking up from her notes. From what Carmen understood, the girl¡¯s skills meant that she didn¡¯t need those notes, but she kept them anyway. ¡°Ouch. Am I that bad of a boss?¡± Carmen asked, realizing that she wasn¡¯t exactly effusive with her praise. ¡°Don¡¯t answer that. I know I¡¯m not great at this kind of thing, but I¡¯m still learning. Hopefully, once the Great Forge is finished, I can get back into the smithy. This overseer stuff is just not my forte.¡± ¡°You could hire someone to do it,¡± Lasha suggested. Carmen shook her head, saying, ¡°That¡¯s not going to happen. It¡¯s too important for our future to pass on to someone else.¡± After that, she continued her inspection, and though she¡¯d taken her self-admonishment to heart, she wasn¡¯t any less strict when it came to her standards. The layout of the building was both simple and complex. The main hall ¨C which was where she and Lasha had performed their inspection ¨C was intended to be the central hub from which a series of other buildings stemmed. The idea was based around the Wheel of Creation, a symbol from the dwarven world meant to represent how all crafts were interconnected and, at their best, contributed to a final product. The individual crafting spaces were arranged in a circle around the main lobby, with nine having been planned. For now, there was a smithy, a tailoring workshop, a leatherworking studio, a jewelcrafting space, a room dedicated to woodworking, an alchemy lab, a space for enchanters and runecrafters, and an engineering chamber. The final room was dedicated to a communal space where different disciplines could work together to forge complex creations. There were additional, unused spaces planned for below, but the layout would maintain the same spoked-wheel design. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. The second floor contained an immense library dedicated to crafting that, for now, was only intended to extend above the main lobby, but there were tentative plans to add individual sections above each crafting space. As it stood, the library would house books devoted to crafting. As Ironshore¡¯s Scholars advanced, some would eventually take Archivist classes that would allow them to shift the information in those books to crystals not unlike those created by the Branch of the World Tree. That was how established factions in other worlds stored information, and Carmen couldn¡¯t deny the advantages. After all, those crystals were far more durable and, she had to admit, more user-friendly than books. Accessing one was not unlike searching the internet with one¡¯s mind. Regardless, it would be some time before Ironshore¡¯s Scholars reached that point. Until then, they intended to compile information in books. Carmen was happy with the new design, and she recognized that it was far superior to her original plans. Back then, she¡¯d only intended to create a forge, and as her intentions expanded, she¡¯d haphazardly added to the planned building. By the time an actual Architect took a look at it, it had become an absolute mess. Almost everything she¡¯d accomplished had needed to be torn down, with the lone exception being the central piece of the foundation. That remained intact. With the help of actual Builders and other Tradesmen, construction had progressed quickly, and even with her high standards, they¡¯d already managed so much progress. The only thing holding them back was the building materials. Specifically, the dragonstone blocks needed to be perfectly carved and inlaid with a very specific set of glyphs that would, according to the city¡¯s Enchanters and Ethereal Engineers, help to concentrate ethera in the crafting spaces. That, in turn, would serve to keep the crafters inside alert and aid in concentration while creating an environment conducive to saturating raw materials with ethera. In short, the complex was everything she¡¯d hoped it would be, which was why she¡¯d become so focused on perfectionism. It needed to be done right, and Carmen refused to accept lesser efforts. Finally, her tour of the project ended, and she told Lasha to distribute her notes to the appropriate people. The other crafters wouldn¡¯t thank her for making more work, but she didn¡¯t require their happiness. They¡¯d understand her perspective once the project was finished. Until then, they only needed to follow her directions. Once Lasha was gone, Carmen returned to her own forge to see a disaster area. The constant need to go behind everyone and inspect their work had left her little time to keep her smithy clean and organized. So, there were tools, failed products that would be turned into scrap metal, and half-finished projects scattered throughout the smithy. When Carmen saw that, she immediately embarked on a quest to tidy up. An organized workspace was incredibly important, and not just for efficiency. When everything was where it was supposed to be, it calmed her mind and let her focus on what was important. Cleaning was cathartic, and as she put everything in its place, she felt a sense of satisfaction that, of late, had been lacking. She knew the reason, too. With all the planning and overseeing the Great Forge, she had done a lot of work, but without the payoff of a completed project. That last bit was important for a crafter, and without it, she felt adrift. So, it wasn¡¯t long before she started up the forge. There wasn¡¯t much time left in the day, but it wouldn¡¯t be the first time she¡¯d worked into the night. Lately, she found that she needed less and less rest. Sure, she still slept most nights, but it was less because her body needed it and more because it helped to reset her mind. She could go without, though, and easily enough. Because of that, she got deep into forging a new sword ¨C probably her favorite thing to make ¨C before she even realized how much time had passed. ¡°I figured I¡¯d find you in here,¡± came her son¡¯s voice, interrupting her. She looked up from where she had been etching intricate runes into what would become the sword¡¯s crossguard. Miguel stood there, a pack slung across his back. Carmen recognized it as Gavina¡¯s work, which meant that it was a high-quality item that would hold far more than it seemed from the outside. At least twice as much, if she remembered right. ¡°You¡¯ve been working too hard.¡± She sighed, setting the crossguard down and straightening her shoulders. Her back popped, evidence that she¡¯d been hunched over the project for hours without rest. ¡°Sorry. Didn¡¯t mean to make you worry,¡± she responded, pushing herself to her feet. The statement made her feel like their roles were reversed, with him playing the role of disapproving parent while she was the unruly child who¡¯d stayed out too late. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°I was waiting on you in the grove. I didn¡¯t want to have this conversation here,¡± he admitted. ¡°But I need to leave.¡± ¡°What? Why?¡± she asked. ¡°I thought you needed to stay in the grove.¡± She¡¯d hoped that was the case. If he was in the grove, he was safe. He shook his head, unshouldering his pack. She noticed he had his sword strapped to his hip, and he carried a new spear in his right hand. He also wore his wooden armor, which wasn¡¯t new, but had clearly been recently repaired. Carmen recognized that it had lost a little of its viability, but it would still offer some protection. ¡°I got a message from Isaak,¡± he said. ¡°He¡¯s been trying to contact Elijah for the past couple of weeks, and when he couldn¡¯t reach him, he messaged me. Argos is in a tough spot, and he asked me for help. I¡¯m escorting Wilhelm there so he can get some teleportation spires started.¡± Carmen was aware of that plan. Originally, Elijah meant it to facilitate commerce, but with the dark elf threat, the advantages for mutual protection were obvious. The ability to instantly travel from one city to another would be invaluable if either city was attacked. ¡°Why you?¡± she asked. ¡°I¡¯m not going alone,¡± he said. ¡°The city is sending twenty other fighters. I¡¯m the only one that knows the way, though. They could probably figure it out, but with me, it¡¯ll be a lot faster. Plus, I¡¯ve been thinking about my future, about my progression. I can¡¯t really get any levels here in the grove. Not quickly, at least. And with everything happening, I need to get stronger. So, once those spires are finished and active, I¡¯m going to start running towers. I¡¯ll come back between runs, but I¡­I need to do this, mom. I know you don¡¯t want me to. I can see that in your face. But I have a combat class, and if I don¡¯t get stronger, I¡¯m going to end up dead when I need my skills. I can¡¯t let that happen.¡± ¡°Is there anything I can do to stop this?¡± she asked, knowing the answer. She¡¯d long since accepted that they lived in a dangerous world, but she had hoped that when her son had taken a class associated with Elijah¡¯s grove, Miguel would be forced to stick around. Clearly, that wasn¡¯t the case. He shook his head, and she sighed, ¡°Of course not. I don¡¯t even know why I asked.¡± In that respect, he was so much like Alyssa. However, his uncle¡¯s influence was obvious as well. Clearly, Miguel idolized Elijah, and he endeavored to emulate the man¡¯s wanderlust. After that, Carmen spent a couple of hours with her son. She learned that he had met a new friend ¨C Hope was her name ¨C and it didn¡¯t take her long to recognize that there was more than friendship there. That Miguel was willing to leave even when he was borderline infatuated with the girl was a testament to his dedication to progression. In the end, though, it was obvious that she couldn¡¯t keep him chained to Ironshore. ¡°You know I¡¯ll always come back, right?¡± he said before he left. They¡¯d just shared a long hug, which only made her stomach twist into knots with worry. Alyssa had always said the same thing. ¡°You¡¯d better,¡± was all she could say. ¡°Remember that I love you.¡± ¡°I love you too, mom.¡± With that, he hitched his pack higher on his back, then left the forge. He was only gone for a few minutes before Carmen sank into a chair and began to cry. 7-73. Playing Hero As he stepped through the portal, Elijah was feeling pretty good about himself. That lasted about half a second before the sound of battle echoed in his ears. That came only a moment before his vision returned, and he saw the source of the noise. Sadie held her sword above her, blocking a descending axe held by a thirty-foot-tall skeleton. For only an instant, Elijah couldn¡¯t help but recognize just how silly it looked. She was even shorter than him, though only by half an inch, and yet, she was holding back a creature more than five times her size. Then, she flexed, throwing the axe blade aside. As she did, Elijah took in the rest of the battlefield. And it was a battlefield. Hundreds of corpses lay in the snow, unmoving and mostly dismembered. Meanwhile, a dozen enormous skeletons charged, ready to end the fight. Sadie, meanwhile, leaped forward, swinging her sword in a horizontal arc that sliced through a handful of zombies that had tried to take advantage of the distraction provided by the skeleton. At the same time, Dat leaped upon the skeleton¡¯s shoulders, hefted one of his shortswords in both hands, and drove the blade deep into the creature¡¯s skull. With an uncharacteristic roar, he retracted his blade, then repeated the action. Chunks of skull flew from the point of impact, but Dat wasn¡¯t finished. Even as he once again stabbed the monster¡¯s skull, it attempted to shake him loose. That was when Sadie struck, hacking into its shin. Her blade bit into the bone, but it didn¡¯t make it all the way through. It didn¡¯t matter, though. Ethera swirled as she used some sort of ability, and a moment later, the smell of charred bone reached Elijah¡¯s nostrils. The monster¡¯s tibia snapped, and it staggered. Dat followed Sadie¡¯s actions with a herculean effort of his own. He finally made it through the skull, and he didn¡¯t hesitate to thrust his hand inside. His arm went in up to the shoulder, but he yelled, ¡°I can¡¯t reach it!¡± ¡°Make it work!¡± Sadie screamed back. She took a zombie claw to the unprotected part of her arm, sending a spray of meat and blood arcing away to pepper the already gore-strewn snow. Elijah was about to heal her when he saw that Nico had beaten him to it. The Healer was crouched in a small depression, armed only with a silver scepter. He directed a wave of ethera at his sister, and her arm mended after only a second. It was far and away the most potent heal Elijah had ever seen him use, and it begged the question of just how powerful Nico really was. He had quite a few levels under his belt, and he possessed an elder core. Those two factors alone should have warned Elijah not to underestimate him. But he¡¯d ignored what should have been obvious, focusing on the man¡¯s conservative nature when it came to using his abilities. Clearly, that was a mistake. Only a few seconds had passed, but that was enough to tell Elijah that his friends needed his help. What¡¯s more, they had given him the blueprint to dealing with the oncoming skeletons. The creatures were only a few seconds away, but that was enough to give Elijah the opportunity to shift into the Shape of Thorn. By the time the transformation finished, he was already sprinting forward. He passed Sadie, whose surprise he felt via Soul of the Wild, and rammed into the first skeleton in line. His shoulder hit the thing in the knee, buckling the joint and cracking bone. He didn¡¯t stop to finish it off, though. Even as it toppled to the ground, he turned his attention to the next one. He activated Savage Strength, then threw himself forward. The skeleton ¨C which was armed with a sword as long as Elijah was tall ¨C wasn¡¯t taken by surprise. It had seen what Elijah had done to its companion, and it was at least intelligent enough to try to stop. It skidded across the icy ground, struggling to keep itself upright. Elijah didn¡¯t let it regain its balance. Instead, he launched himself into the air, putting himself onto a collision course with the creature¡¯s skull. It tried to bring its sword to bear in a block, but Elijah couldn¡¯t have cared less about the blade. He crashed through it, sending the sword backward to bury itself in the monster¡¯s jaw. Then, Elijah was there, hanging on for dear life as it went wild. He used Domain of Vines, resulting in a hundred thick roots bursting from the frozen ground. They quickly wrapped around the skeleton¡¯s legs, tipping it over. But Elijah was more concerned with repeating Dat¡¯s feat. As the thing fell over, Elijah held on, and once it hit the ground ¨C hard enough to send a spray of snow nearly ten feet into the air ¨C he clutched his hands together and slammed them into the skeleton¡¯s skull. Cracks spread from the point of impact, but the bone didn¡¯t shatter. So, Elijah hit it again. And again after that. It took two more times before he managed to break through, and when he did, he saw exactly why Dat had been so focused on his own task. In the center of the skull floated a fist-sized crystal. Powerful fluctuations of dense ethera washed over him, confirming that the crystal was the motivating force behind the skeleton. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Elijah wrapped his claws around it and yanked it free. Of course, it didn¡¯t come easily or without protest, but even as the crystal burned his hands, Elijah pulled it from the skull. It was like playing a game of tug-of-war with an entire NFL football team, and at first, Elijah didn¡¯t think he could win. But then, something broke, and all the power he¡¯d directed at the task sent him stumbling backward until his back hit the snowy ground. Elijah only took a moment to gather his wits, but even that was almost too much. He refocused just in time to see an axe blade screaming through the air, intent on splitting him in two. He rolled away, avoiding the worst of it, but the strike shaved a good portion of the bark-like scales away from his back. That awakened a rage in Elijah¡¯s heart that, most of the time, he managed to ignore. There was just something about intense pain that brought it out of him. He leaped to his feet, then ducked under a follow-up attack. He threw himself at the skeleton, latching onto its ribs. After that, he embarked on a furious quest to tear it apart, one bone at a time. Elijah roared as he dismantled the skeleton, ignoring its feeble attempts to dislodge him. He didn¡¯t just use his hands. He used his jaws and vines as well. And after only a minute, he¡¯d taken the thing apart. It was still alive, but without arms, legs, or a ribcage, it posed no real threat. He wasn¡¯t satisfied, though. His rage was not sated. So, he looked around, locked his eyes on another skeleton, then threw himself across the battlefield, trampling zombies without a second thought. When he reached the creature, he hit it in the center of its spine, wrapping his jaws around the vertebrae and squeezing. Those delicate bones snapped in a second, and suddenly, the skeleton¡¯s top half was falling backward while its legs continued on. Elijah¡¯s hands shot out, grabbing the thing¡¯s ribcage as he landed. Then, he pivoted, spinning in place before he tossed the thing at another skeleton. Something hit him in the shoulder. Elijah blinked, unsure of what had happened. Then, as the seconds passed, and he started to come back to himself, he realized that something was pinning him to the ground. He struggled against it, but he couldn¡¯t move. Someone laughed ¨C a high-pitched and feminine sound that sent a chill up his spine. And he forced himself to take stock of the situation, to see it with rational eyes. He¡¯d been hit with a twelve-foot-long spear, and with enough force that fully half the thing¡¯s shaft was buried beneath the ground. That was why he couldn¡¯t move. Just at the edge of Elijah¡¯s senses flapped a pair of wings attached to a demon. She wore sleek armor whose bulk couldn¡¯t hide how painfully thin she was. Her wings were tattered, with deep scars at the joints and gaping holes across their membranous surface. But she was powerful. Ascended, maybe. Or if not, close to it. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if he was stronger than her, but at the moment, it didn¡¯t matter. She¡¯d gotten the drop on him, and now, he was a sitting duck. He struggled against the spear, but it was immovable. He might as well have been trying to uproot a mountain for all the good it did. No ¨C he only had one choice. With a roar, he shoved himself upward. The shaft was long enough that he only made it about halfway before his momentum was spent. To maintain his progress, he grasped it with his foot, then shoved again. He didn¡¯t get as far this time, but he¡¯d already proven the viability of his plan. Unfortunately, the flying demon recognized that. She cocked her arm back, and another spear appeared in her hand. She let it loose, and Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t even hope to avoid it. Then, Sadie was there, her sword tracing a line through the air as she knocked the spear aside. Such was its momentum that she could only redirect it by a foot, but even that was enough to prevent him from being impaled a second time. After finally freeing himself from the spear, Elijah rolled to his feet, and his eyes quickly found Sadie. She wasn¡¯t in the best condition, with a huge gash across her back, but she was still upright. ¡°You took long enough,¡± she said, never taking her eyes from the flying demon. ¡°They made me do all four tests,¡± he responded, letting Shape of Thorn fall away. Via Soul of the Wild, he sensed that Nico was down, and his core was nearly empty. Dat was balancing on one foot, with the other having been twisted out of place. So, the second he had returned to his human form, he started healing. Even while he cast, Sadie raised her voice and demanded, ¡°Who are you? What do you want?¡± The flying demon glared down at them. ¡°I have no name. I lost it long ago in service to my Lady, the Queen of Desolation. Perhaps I will earn a new one by killing you, interlopers,¡± she hissed. As she did, she hefted another spear. However, when she threw it, it was stopped mid-air by Sadie¡¯s Blessed Bulwark. It caromed off that plane of ethera, hitting the ground a moment later. That infuriated the flying demon. ¡°Hold her off for a few more seconds so I can get everyone back to normal,¡± Elijah whispered. ¡°Got it.¡± Elijah had expected Sadie to hunker down behind Blessed Bulwark. It had a high ethera cost, but it would last long enough for Elijah to heal the rest of the group. However, Sadie surprised him when she gathered a truly enormous amount of ethera, which she released in a wave of blinding radiance. A moment later, a pair of brilliant wings of white light emerged from her back. She launched herself into the air, momentarily shocking the demon. Elijah watched as Sadie closed in on the enemy, and a second later, she brought her sword to bear. The demon managed to raise her spear just in time to intercept the oncoming blade, but the momentum of the attack launched her backward more than fifty feet. Sadie didn¡¯t hesitate to pursue, flapping her wings of light and propelling herself forward. Elijah shook his head and focused on his own task. With the amount of ethera pumping through Sadie, she couldn¡¯t hope to keep that spell up for long. And Elijah needed to use the time she¡¯d given him to ensure that, when it petered out, they would be ready to assist her. As he healed himself, Dat, and Nico, the sound of the titanic clash between angel and demon filled the air. He desperately wished he could help her, but he knew that, with Nico out of it, he had a different role to play. So, he dedicated himself to doing so to the best of his abilities. 7-74. The Fall Power surged through Sadie, practically burning her ethereal channels with its potency. She ignored it, flapping her wings of light as she rocketed toward her enemy. The demonic woman was grotesque, with emaciated limbs and more scars than Sadie could quickly count. But it was also clear that, at one point, she had been quite beautiful, like a fashion model who¡¯d fallen prey to drugs and an eating disorder. Her eyes were the most striking, though, and when she looked upon her, Sadie felt her entire world shudder. The demon was ascended. That much was absolutely obvious. But after Sadie had reached one-twenty-five, she¡¯d gained a new ability that she hoped would help her bridge the gap ¨C at least until Elijah could assist.
Faith¡¯s Reckoning Conjure wings of faith, allowing for flight and significantly increasing all attributes. Duration determined by Ethera attribute. Potency based on Core cultivation. Current Duration: 73.3 seconds
Sadie had no idea how much her attributes had increased, and she didn¡¯t have the spare focus to look at her status. However, even as she surged forward, she could feel the difference. Not only was she obviously stronger, but she felt more coordinated than ever before. Finally, her core felt like it was on the verge of bursting, and she suspected her Regeneration had kept pace with everything else. In short, it was like she¡¯d gained fifty levels in a second. Hopefully, that would be enough to let her endure whatever the demonic woman had in store. Sadie reached her foe after only a moment, and she very nearly got a lance through the stomach for her unfettered haste. At the last second, she managed to shift to the side just enough to avoid being impaled. Still, the black lance scraped across her breastplate, filling the air with an unholy screech of metal on metal. She felt a pinch against her chest, but it was so faint that she easily ignored it. That seemed to surprise the demon, especially when Sadie used her momentum to whip around and deliver a backhanded blow that should have decapitated the woman. The lancer dipped low, but Sadie¡¯s glowing sword cut through her horn. The severed piece fell, disappearing into the mass of undead below. Sadie didn¡¯t watch. Instead, she flapped her wings, bringing her body to a screeching halt. A second later, she¡¯d drawn her dagger as she crashed into the demon. With short, punching strikes, she peppered the demonic woman with one attack after another. The first couple bit deep, but the low-quality dagger broke after the third. Still, Sadie didn¡¯t let up, repeatedly ramming the jagged tip into the lancer¡¯s stomach. Those attacks didn¡¯t do much damage, but from Sadie¡¯s experience, she needed to press her advantage while she could. That only lasted a couple of moments before the demon lashed out with a kick that sent Sadie tumbling backward through the air. At the same time, the lancer flapped her own wings, gaining distance. By the time Sadie recovered, the demon was racing forward in a charge, with her lance leading the way. The demon blazed a path through the atmosphere, leaving motes of icy ethera in her wake. The tip of her lance glittered with so much energy that Sadie knew that if it hit her, Faith¡¯s Reckoning wouldn¡¯t save her. At the last second, she dipped to the side, whipping her enormous sword up in a hasty parry. It didn¡¯t alter the lance¡¯s path by much ¨C just a scant few inches ¨C but it was just enough to once again keep Sadie from taking a chest wound. The gleaming blade did slice through her shoulder, shaving a good portion of her muscle away. That loss of flesh was a secondary concern, and it was easily overwhelmed by the icy pain spiderwebbing through her torso. It spread from the wound like arcs of lightning, freezing her ethereal channels along the way. Then, it reached her core. The swirling energy froze. It only lasted a moment before her powerful core churned through it, but for the space of a single instant, her power shuddered. The wings flickered, and her attributes plummeted. She fell, feeling a freezing numbness spreading through her entire body. It only lasted a second longer, but that was enough to leave her gasping and stunned. She hit the ground a moment later, and before she could react, she saw that the lancer was only ten feet away. Sadie willed her body into a roll, but she knew it wouldn¡¯t be quick enough. As a last-ditch effort, she used Blessed Bulwark. The lancer shattered the plane of ethera with less than an instant¡¯s delay. That was enough to give Sadie the chance to reapply her personal shield. It wouldn¡¯t stop the demon¡¯s lance, but there was a chance that it would slow the weapon¡¯s descent enough to save Sadie¡¯s life. She completed her roll to see that the lancer had adjusted her path to compensate for Sadie¡¯s new position. There was no dodging it and very little chance of survival. Her only hope was that her sacrifice would give her companions a chance to slay the hateful demon. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. But she wasn¡¯t going to go down without using every tool in her kit. To that end, she gathered her faith and prepared to use her miracle. She¡¯d have to time it perfectly, but it was her only chance of survival. By the time she was ready to use the miracle, the tip of the demon¡¯s lance was only five feet away, but Sadie was ready. Then, a blurry figure hit the lancer, sending her off course. The pair hit the ground only ten feet away, where they rolled to a stop. If Sadie hadn¡¯t already figured out that it was Elijah in his huge, lizard-plant monster form, she would have known it was him when hundreds of thick and thorny vines erupted from the ground and snaked their way around the demonic woman. She struggled, but there were so many vines that when she tore through one, two more replaced it. Then, the vines started to squeeze. Elijah¡¯s long limbs followed suit, and by virtue of his enormous and powerful body, he could apply quite a lot of force. Bones broke beneath his efforts. But then, just as Sadie thought the battle was over, a surge of ethera announced the activation of powerful ability, and suddenly, Elijah was thrown free. Thousands of icicles exploded from the demon¡¯s body, severing every root with ruthless precision. What¡¯s more, when the lancer rose, her body propped up by more ice, her bones visibly snapped back into place. In the space of a couple of seconds, she was entirely whole. By that point, Sadie had risen as well. Miraculously, she¡¯d managed to keep a hold on her sword, though her hand shook with the effort of gripping it. The demon¡¯s attack had left her incredibly weak, though her churning core worked hard to counteract the detrimental effect. If she¡¯d had time to look at her attributes, she suspected she would have seen that they were at least halved by the powerful affliction. Fortunately, her brother had already begun to heal her, though the effects were limited. She¡¯d taken a few wounds, but her real issue wasn¡¯t physical. Still, she appreciated the effort, which must have truly drained Nico¡¯s reserves. With some difficulty, she raised her sword. The recovered demon lancer readied her own weapon. Then, the two advanced. There were no reckless charges. Just two wary fighters who respected their enemy¡¯s prowess. But in the demon¡¯s eyes, Sadie saw a glimmer of ruthlessness. The predator had recognized weakness, and she knew she was going to win. Elijah ¨C who was still a hundred feet away ¨C stirred, though he¡¯d returned to his human form. Had the ice disrupted his core as well? Had it forced him to change shape? Sadie didn¡¯t know, but she didn¡¯t have the focus to spare for his fate. Instead, she needed every ounce of her attention on the enemy. By the look in her unwavering eyes, the lancer felt the same way. Which was why she never had a chance to notice Dat approaching from behind. Sadie didn¡¯t sense him, but she knew her companion well enough to have expected his presence. So, when he suddenly buried his shortsword in the demon¡¯s back, Sadie was unsurprised. The demon could not make a similar claim. Her eyes widened as a blade erupted from her stomach just below the sternum. For most people, it would have been a lethal strike, but the presence of ethera and a high Constitution tended to muddy those waters. So, the demon didn¡¯t immediately die. She did stagger, though. That gave Sadie the opening she needed to swing her sword. When her core had been disrupted, it had deactivated Blessed Blade, but her weapon was still her highest-quality piece of equipment. It was also a huge, heavy blade that descended with plenty of momentum. The demon couldn¡¯t react in time to dodge. So, she tried to raise her spear in a block. Sadie¡¯s attack sheered it in two, then hit the lancer. It barely missed the demon¡¯s head, but it was an accurate enough strike to tear through her trapezius muscle. The lancer staggered backward, losing her grip on one half of her spear. Dat stabbed her again, though with his other shortsword. Then, Elijah was there, and even as freezing rain began to fall, an icy blue flower bloomed, banishing the effects of the demon¡¯s attack. Then, he leveled his staff at the demon and hit her with a bolt of lightning. It wasn¡¯t particularly powerful ¨C not compared to his other abilities ¨C but it still stunned the demon long enough for Sadie to empower her next attack with Blessed Blade. This time, there was no stopping the strike. It hit the lancer in the other shoulder, cutting deep into her torso before coming to a shuddering halt. Dat stabbed her again. Elijah swung his staff, hitting her in the head with so much force that the sound of a cracking skull echoed over everything else. After that, the fight descended into butchery. The demon lancer held on for almost a minute as the three fighters slowly hacked her to pieces. Her body was incredibly durable, and her Regeneration was obviously extremely high. And Sadie worried that if they let up for even a moment, she would piece herself back together, either through her natural attributes or some sort of ability. It was gory, brutal work, but it had to be done. At some point, Nico joined them, though he was obviously disgusted by the task. He made himself useful by healing their wounds, which set them up well to combat the remaining undead. By that point, there were only a few hundred left ¨C mostly zombies, but there was one skeleton who¡¯d survived ¨C and now that Elijah was there, the group had no difficulty in dealing with them. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the area went quiet, but for their labored breathing. ¡°Where is Gideon?¡± demanded Nico, glaring at Elijah. ¡°Dead,¡± answered the Druid, glancing back the way they¡¯d come. Sadie followed his gaze to the wall, which cast them all in a shadow that went on for almost a mile. ¡°He chose the test of cunning and failed after only a couple of minutes. His body¡¯s still on the other side of the wall.¡± ¡°You didn¡¯t burn it?¡± Nico spat, obviously upset. He and Gideon hadn¡¯t always been close, but at some point during Sadie¡¯s absence, the older man had taken her brother under his wing. Much to her chagrin. She had never trusted Gideon, seeing him as a parasite who wanted to take advantage of her grandfather. He was a ladder climber of the worst sort, and she personally knew three instances where he¡¯d thrown underlings to the wolves in an attempt to avoid the consequences of his own actions. Before the world had changed, she¡¯d been on track to assume a position of some authority in her grandfather¡¯s company, and she¡¯d often told herself that her first order of business would be to get rid of people like Gideon. And now he was dead, which saved her some trouble. Not that she expected to take over anything now. She¡¯d lost her grandfather¡¯s favor, and she wasn¡¯t completely sure why. It had been his idea for her to set out in search of help. She¡¯d found it, too. But for whatever reason, he had grown extremely distant. Perhaps now that Gideon was no longer whispering in his ear, things would return to normal. But she doubted it. She hadn¡¯t been gone that long, but she barely recognized Heaven¡¯s Bastion anymore. The residents had become less tolerant and far more suspicious of outsiders. They weren¡¯t all bad people, but clearly, the situation had influenced them in all the wrong ways. ¡°Nope,¡± Elijah stated, rubbing the back of his neck. ¡°Probably should have, but I wanted to get done with the test as quickly as possible. I guess that¡¯s my bad.¡± ¡°Your bad? Your bad?!¡± Nico shouted. ¡°Stop,¡± Sadie interrupted, recognizing that Nico was on the verge of doing something very stupid. Elijah wasn¡¯t a particularly violent person, but he was prideful. He wouldn¡¯t just stand there and let Nico shout at him. ¡°But ¨C ¡± ¡°Just stop. There¡¯s nothing to be done,¡± she pointed out. ¡°We have other issues right now.¡± Then, she gestured toward the fortress atop the mountain. ¡°That¡¯s our goal. We can¡¯t afford to get distracted by bickering amongst ourselves.¡± ¡°There¡¯s something else,¡± Elijah said. Before Nico could make a scathing remark, he continued, ¡°I was forced to do all four tests, but I also got a reward. There are prisoners here. People abducted from Hong Kong. I was hoping we could rescue them.¡± 7-75. The Legend of Zhang Yue ¡°Survivors?¡± asked Dat, suddenly appearing nearby. Elijah glanced his friend¡¯s way, answering, ¡°I don¡¯t know how many there are, but the old guy in the test ¨C¡± ¡°You need to answer for Gideon¡¯s death!¡± Nico shouted. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have failed the test!¡± Elijah set his mouth in a firm line before turning to face the nearly hysterical Healer. Then, he asked, ¡°Are you accusing me of something?¡± Nico took a step back at Elijah¡¯s tone, but he maintained, ¡°Gideon wouldn¡¯t have failed. He was one of the best we had. Better than you.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°If you¡¯re going to accuse me of something, have the courage to say it outright,¡± he warned. ¡°Nico.¡± The Healer glared at his sister for interrupting. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Be careful.¡± It was at that moment that Nico recognized that he wouldn¡¯t get any protection from his sister. Elijah saw it in the changes in the man¡¯s expression. Surprise, then realization, followed by fear. He quickly covered it with a sneer, but Elijah saw it well enough that he had no doubts about what he¡¯d witnessed. ¡°There will be an inquiry when we return to Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Grandfather will not be happy that Gideon¡¯s dead, and he will have questions,¡± Nico stated, trying to save face. He glared at Elijah. ¡°You had better have satisfactory answers.¡± Then, he stalked off. Where he was going, Elijah had no idea. Save for the Wall and thousands of slain zombies, skeletons, and the demonic lancer, there was nothing around for hundreds of yards. After only a few minutes, Nico¡¯s steps faltered as he clearly realized the same thing, but he soon resumed his gait, having gone too far to admit his error. He stopped about forty yards away, where he started pacing back and forth and muttering to himself. ¡°Is he going to be a problem?¡± Elijah asked. Sadie sighed. ¡°I don¡¯t know him anymore,¡± she stated. ¡°He was always like that, but it was never this bad. I don¡¯t know what happened while I was gone, but he¡¯s gotten so much worse.¡± ¡°You never saw him like everyone else did,¡± Dat interjected. ¡°Lisa knew. That¡¯s why she tried to avoid depending on him. She said he would turn on her the second he thought it was advantageous.¡± ¡°He would never betray family.¡± ¡°He would never betray you or Song Tianwei,¡± Dat corrected. ¡°Lisa was different, at least in his eyes. The only reason you never saw it was because he acted so differently around you. He hates me now more than ever, probably because you chose me to accompany you instead of him.¡± ¡°He was better suited to take care of things here,¡± Sadie insisted. Dat shook his head. ¡°Maybe. But he doesn¡¯t see it that way. He thinks you abandoned him,¡± the Witch Hunter stated. ¡°Or maybe that you don¡¯t trust him. I don¡¯t know exactly what¡¯s in his head, but I can see that he resents you now. It won¡¯t be long before he turns on you. He probably already has, and we just haven¡¯t seen the fruits of his labor yet.¡± Elijah shouldn¡¯t have been surprised. He knew better than anyone that Dat was far more than the affable companion he¡¯d always presented himself as. Even so, every time Dat graced them with his keen insight, Elijah found himself stunned by the man¡¯s depth. ¡°I really need to stop underestimating you, man,¡± he said. ¡°No worries, bro,¡± Dat replied. Then, he glanced at Sadie, who seemed lost in thought. Seeing that she wasn¡¯t going to ask the obvious question, Dat did the honors. ¡°You said there are captives? Where? And how do we rescue them?¡± Elijah pointed toward the haunting keep atop the mountain the distance. ¡°Up there,¡± he said. From his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, he retrieved the map he¡¯d gotten from the old man and handed it to Dat, adding, ¡°This shows where they are.¡± Dat studied the map for a moment before saying, ¡°This is a route into the castle. I think we¡¯ll remain unseen. There¡¯s a disused bolt hole here.¡± ¡°Bolt hole?¡± ¡°Informal term for an escape tunnel. Lots of castles used to have them,¡± Dat said. Then, he sheepishly added, ¡°I watched a lot of history videos on Youtube.¡± ¡°Where does it lead?¡± Sadie asked, finally coming to terms with her misconceptions about her brother. Or maybe she¡¯d just set them aside to deal with at a later date. ¡°According to this map, it will take us to a storage room. From there, we can just follow the path to the dungeon,¡± Dat explained. Then, he pointed to a sentence that had been scratched into the parchment. ¡°Beware the Chainspeaker. What does that mean?¡± Sadie answered, ¡°It¡¯s obvious, isn¡¯t it? That¡¯s probably the guard.¡± ¡°Fancy name for a guard,¡± Dat remarked. Elijah said, ¡°A fancy guard, then. So, we¡¯re doing this, right?¡± He glanced at Sadie, asking, ¡°What¡¯s your brother going to say about that? He doesn¡¯t seem like the savior type. No offense.¡± ¡°None taken,¡± she responded, shaking her head in resignation, then glancing back to where her brother had stopped to rant to himself. ¡°Do you think he¡¯s going to be okay?¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Elijah answered truthfully, but in the back of his mind, he knew that if Nico kept down the path he¡¯d chosen, things would not end well. If he hadn¡¯t been Sadie¡¯s brother, Elijah would have put him in his place the second he started lobbing accusations his way. But he was Sadie¡¯s family, and that complicated things. Elijah would never claim to know everything about her, but he knew enough to recognize that if he hurt her little brother, she would never forgive him. Even if Nico deserved it. ¡°Let¡¯s just stay on task,¡± he said. After that, they analyzed the map in detail. As they did, they all noticed that more undead had begun the long trek down from the castle. Looking at them via Eyes of the Eagle, Elijah asked, ¡°Do you guys wonder where they¡¯re all coming from? Like, I know they¡¯re coming from the castle, but how are they made? They need a bunch of bodies, right? Where are those coming from?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sadie admitted. ¡°Probably magic, bro,¡± Dat answered. ¡°Right. But Primal Realms are supposed to be different, aren¡¯t they?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°They¡¯re bigger than towers, but they¡¯re also static systems. They don¡¯t reset until they¡¯re conquered. There are no floors. Just a big free-for-all.¡± ¡°That back there felt like a floor,¡± Sadie said, gesturing toward the wall. ¡°But we could have bypassed that. The old man said he set those up to help us. It had a distinct, in-universe justification. I¡¯m betting the zombies have something similar,¡± he reasoned. ¡°Maybe we ¨C¡± ¡°None of this matters,¡± Nico interrupted, having just returned. That earned him a glare from Elijah, which the Healer somehow managed to ignore. Elijah wondered if he would similarly ignore a quick cast of Storm¡¯s Fury. It wouldn¡¯t kill him. Probably. But it would definitely teach him a lesson about interrupting. He refrained, though, and Nico continued on, ignorant of how close he¡¯d come to getting a bolt of lightning to the face. He said, ¡°We have two jobs. Rescue the captives, then defeat the queen. They¡¯re both in the same place, and neither task requires us to know where the zombies are coming from.¡± ¡°In my experience, the more information we have, the better. But fine. Let¡¯s get going, then,¡± Elijah said, showing more restraint than he felt as he strode away. After a few moments, the others followed. The next few hours were characterized by extreme boredom. Trekking through chest-deep snow was no one¡¯s idea of fun, but it was necessary. Soon, they left the valley behind and, following their map, made their way into the mountains. Everyone there was equipped with decent attributes, so they had no real trouble with the terrain. However, they all felt the sting of Zhang Yue¡¯s absence. The man had been low-leveled and useless in combat, but his group stealth ability had saved them quite a lot of time. Now, they were forced to defend against every undead mountain creature whose path they stumbled across. And the mountains were full of them. Most were just zombified versions of normal animals ¨C not unlike what they¡¯d seen in the city and its surroundings ¨C but there were plenty of alien monsters as well. Elijah had just finished ripping the head off one such creature ¨C a zombified yeti ¨C when he said, ¡°This is ridiculous. I miss Zhang Yue.¡± Sadie was responsible for killing three others, while Elijah¡¯s kill count rivaled hers. Meanwhile, Dat had slain two, while Nico had kept them alive. Pointedly, he¡¯d never thrown a heal towards Elijah. Which was fine by him. He¡¯d rather know where he stood than expect help when it would not be forthcoming. He was used to taking care of himself, so it only took a slight adjustment in his mindset. For her part, Sadie recognized her brother¡¯s refusal to heal Elijah, and she¡¯d confronted him about it. However, Nico had claimed that he was just conserving ethera, adding that if he thought Elijah was in true danger, he would heal him. Elijah doubted that very, very much, but he didn¡¯t argue. Neither did Sadie. But Elijah did exchange a glance with Dat, who clearly didn¡¯t expect much healing from the man either. Changing the subject, Dat agreed, ¡°Zhang Yue was a great man.¡± ¡°The best,¡± Sadie stated evenly, yanking her sword out of a monster¡¯s chest. After that, every time they were forced to fight, they all extolled Zhang Yue¡¯s virtues. Elijah¡¯s favorite was when Dat said, ¡°Zhang Yue was a mountain of a man, both in body and spirit. A true hero who held the undead threat at bay while we humbly followed in his footsteps.¡± ¡°I heard that when Zhang Yue walked into a room, shadows asked his permission to stay,¡± Elijah responded. ¡°Indeed!¡± Dat exclaimed. ¡°The very ground was afraid to make noise when he stepped upon it.¡± ¡°You people are ridiculous,¡± Nico complained. ¡°Bro. Just go with it.¡± ¡°No.¡± Dat rolled his eyes. Clearly, Nico didn¡¯t understand that humor ¨C especially when it was bad ¨C was often a coping mechanism. Sometimes, for fear or trauma, but just as often for boredom. The trek through the mountains qualified for both situations. They continued on, slowly winding their way through the snow-covered wilderness. Killing the demon lancer and the rest of the undead had given Elijah a good bit of experience, and on the second day of their journey, he gained another level, pushing him to one-forty-two. The others made progress as well, with Dat reaching one-twenty-four. Sadie, of course, remained at the peak, and without the availability of a Branch, she couldn¡¯t ascend. Thankfully, all of that experience wouldn¡¯t go to waste, because it would be banked for when she finally chose her evolved class. Probably. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure exactly how it worked, but that had been the case for him. Nico kept information about his class and levels to himself, though even with his refusal to heal Elijah, he must have benefited greatly. Finally, Dat announced that they¡¯d reached the location of the bolt hole¡¯s exit. Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild, quickly finding the tunnel in question. It was buried beneath two feet of rocky soil and another three feet of snow, but it was only a matter of minutes before they managed to uncover it. ¡°That¡¯s going to be a really close fit,¡± he said, gesturing to the narrow tunnel. ¡°But at least there¡¯s no sewage.¡± ¡°Sewage?¡± asked Nico, briefly forgetting that he hated Elijah. ¡°Yeah, man. The best way into a castle is through the sewers. Everyone knows that,¡± Elijah said. ¡°One time, I had to dodge these caustic oozes ¨C turns out that they were actually pus from a troll¡¯s burst cysts. Well, I called it a troll. It occurs to me that that¡¯s probably not what it was. Anyway, if you¡¯ve never played real-life Frogger with acid oozes, you just haven¡¯t lived. Now, the second time I used the sewers to enter a castle, it was ¨C¡± ¡°Elijah.¡± He looked at Sadie. ¡°What?¡± ¡°Not now.¡± ¡°I¡¯m just saying ¨C at least there¡¯s no sewage. That has to count for something, right?¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°Just go.¡± ¡°Fine.¡± With that, he shifted into the Shape of the Master. Then, he wasted no time before scampering into the bolt hole, marveling at just how much room he had to move. The others were much more cramped. So, he couldn¡¯t help but turn back and say, ¡°Ah, the advantages of being a Pixar lizard.¡± He stretched his short arms out wide. ¡°So much room. I mean, technically, I don¡¯t think this form is a lizard. It¡¯s amphibious, so it¡¯s more salamander than lizard. Probably a bad characterization, considering it¡¯s almost assuredly dragon-based.¡± After giving Sadie his closest approximation to an amphibian¡¯s smile, he added, ¡°But my point is ¨C it¡¯s cute, small, and not cramped at all.¡± He gave a small laugh. ¡°Rhyme not intentional, but I¡¯m owning it.¡± ¡°I hate you,¡± Sadie growled, hunching over as she crawled into the tiny tunnel. 7-76. The Chainspeaker The clink of chains rustling reached Elijah well before he sensed the dungeon. His companions were still back in the storeroom where they¡¯d exited the tunnel, but both he and Dat had insisted on slipping into stealth and scouting the way. Neither of the others objected, but not for the reasons Elijah would have expected. They weren¡¯t overly tired. With the map, they already knew the way. Instead, Elijah suspected that Sadie wanted to confront her brother about his attitude. Elijah wholly supported that because, if Nico kept pushing his buttons, he was going to end up losing control. When that happened, he would do something he would no doubt regret. Maybe it would be as innocuous as an argument, but something inside of him pushed him to respond to the man¡¯s lack of respect with violence. He could control it, but that control only went so far. Sadie wouldn¡¯t change the man¡¯s mind over the course of a ten-minute argument, but Elijah hoped she could at least convince Nico to keep his misgivings to himself. Otherwise, things could go wrong in a hurry. They only needed to coexist for the duration of the Primal Realm. After that, Elijah would be on his way, and hopefully, he¡¯d never see Nico again. In the back of his mind, he wondered what that meant for his budding relationship with Sadie, but he couldn¡¯t allow himself to consider that. It was an unnecessary distraction. So, even as he padded silently through the hall ¨C it was made all of shiny black stone, which gave the place an alien look that left him uncomfortable ¨C he pushed those superfluous thoughts aside. Instead, he focused on the source of the sound, and soon enough, the edges of the dungeon came into range of Soul of the Wild. A few moments later, he could sense enough to confirm the truth of the old man¡¯s word. There were hundreds of captives in there, and not a one of them was in great shape. Most were malnourished, with stick-thin arms and legs as well as emaciated and dirty bodies. They all bore signs of torture, with jagged, half-healed wounds, multiple contusions, and even a good many broken bones. They wore the tattered remains of modern clothing, though it was hard to recognize details beneath all the blood and grime. And some of them were children. Anger flared in Elijah¡¯s chest, but he restrained himself. If he acted now, he would do so alone. Dat had gone to investigate the other direction. They knew it wasn¡¯t the route to the prisoners, but it would lead them up to the surface, where they would inevitably confront the true purpose of their infiltration. Elijah came to the door, which was predictably locked. As he did so, he couldn¡¯t ignore that it was wrapped in thick chains, many of which bore jagged shards that looked almost like thorns. And every couple of seconds, they quivered, rustling together as they shifted ¨C not unlike a python constricting its prey. When Elijah looked at those chains, he felt a tremor of fear race up his spine. More importantly, he felt dense flows of ethera running through them, suggesting that they were more than they appeared to be. He didn¡¯t dare get too close. Instead, he focused on Soul of the Wild, getting a better picture of the interior of the dungeon. It wasn¡¯t as large as he¡¯d initially suspected. Maybe a few hundred feet to each side, and that was divided into a multitude of cells ringing the main room. That central room took up the bulk of the dungeon, and it was filled with all sorts of torture implements. Elijah didn¡¯t recognize all of them, but he could sense every drop of blood ¨C dried or still wet ¨C and all the other evidence of what it was for. Notably, thousands of chains hung from the ceiling, steadily clinking together like the world¡¯s most gruesome wind chimes. At first, Elijah thought they were rusted, but upon closer inspection, he saw that they were merely coated in dried blood. Merely. It said something about what Elijah had seen in the past few years that he could even think such a thing. As for the prisoners, as he¡¯d drawn closer, he saw that there were more of them than he¡¯d first expected. That was because what he¡¯d originally sensed was just one cell, and there were nearly a dozen identical chambers lining the walls. And in the center of it all was a man. Or demon, perhaps. Elijah had difficulty making the distinction. He didn¡¯t have horns or wings like the lancer, and more than anything, he reminded Elijah of the Head Priest from the Hellraiser movies. Not because the thing had a bunch of nails sticking out of its head, but rather, because he was similarly clad in black leather and had a thin, almost androgynous build. Otherwise, his body was wrapped in thin chains that reminded Elijah of macabre versions of the vines in his thorned sentry form. And as he idly toyed with one of those thin chains¡ªmuch like a Catholic fingering a rosary¡ªhis gaze fixed on Elijah. He smiled slightly, revealing a mouth full of sharp, bloodstained teeth. Elijah felt panic rise in his chest as the chains on the door retracted, filling the hall with rattling echoes. In only a second, the door was bare. It was an invitation, and one Elijah would not even consider accepting. Instead, he backed slowly away. When he was out of range of the figure he knew was the Chainspeaker mentioned by the old man, he turned and ran. It didn¡¯t take long for him to reach the disused storeroom where he¡¯d left the others, and when he arrived, his heartbeat hadn¡¯t slowed at all. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! He shifted back into his human form, startling Nico and Sadie. Upon seeing that it was him, Sadie relaxed. Nico, pointedly, did not. Elijah didn¡¯t care. After what he had just seen, the Healer¡¯s petty grievances were inconsequential. ¡°We have a big problem,¡± he stated, forcing some measure of calm into his voice. ¡°A really big problem.¡± Then, he explained what he¡¯d seen, ending with, ¡°That thing is powerful. There¡¯s no chance the Chainspeaker isn¡¯t ascended, and what¡¯s more, I think that dungeon is his domain.¡± He went on to describe his clash with the warden back in Easton, adding, ¡°That man was lower level than me, and he still almost killed me because I fought him on his home turf. If we¡¯re going to rescue those prisoners, we need to figure something else out.¡± Dat flashed into view, sitting on a nearby crate. ¡°I can break the domain,¡± he said. Nico flinched. ¡°Where did you come from?¡± ¡°Been here all along, bro,¡± the Witch Hunter stated. He wasn¡¯t interested in elaborating, and Elijah saw it as a warning aimed toward the Healer. Not a mature action, but an understandable one. ¡°I can break the domain,¡± he repeated before continuing, ¡°But it won¡¯t last long. Maybe a minute. You need to kill him before that.¡± ¡°Why can¡¯t you just stab him in the back?¡± Nico demanded, still flustered. Dat shook his head. ¡°Won¡¯t do anything without breaking the domain first. And I can¡¯t do that in stealth,¡± he said. ¡°You get one or the other. Not both.¡± ¡°Useless,¡± Nico muttered under his breath. It was obviously not meant to be heard, but Elijah¡¯s senses were more than acute enough to make out the word. Elijah ignored the man¡¯s petulance. ¡°So, we have a minute. I don¡¯t know that we have the damage to kill him in that timeframe,¡± he said. His cooldowns had run their course during their trek through the mountains, so he had all of his abilities available for use. The same was true for everyone else, though Dat¡¯s miracle still hadn¡¯t recharged after using it on the mirror fiend in the third test. He claimed it wouldn¡¯t be available for a week or more. Faith was odd like that. It didn¡¯t naturally recharge like one¡¯s core. Instead, it was an entirely distinct resource that built according to a person¡¯s actions. So, Dat couldn¡¯t predict exactly how long it would take to recharge enough to power his miracle. Sadie and Nico still had theirs available, but they were both defensive in nature. Good in a desperate situation, but not very useful when they needed to pile on the damage in a hurry. Oddly enough, Elijah was probably their only viable weapon. So, he was the centerpiece of the strategy. There were other considerations ¨C like the prisoners ¨C but over the course of the next few minutes, they came up with a plan. ¡°It¡¯s not perfect,¡± Sadie remarked. ¡°It¡¯s the best we can do considering the circumstances,¡± Elijah reminded her. Sadie shook her head. ¡°I wish we had a real damage dealer,¡± she complained. Their group composition wasn¡¯t perfect, but that was to be expected. The number of people who could keep up with them was limited, as had been proven by Zhang Yue, Gideon, and the Summoner, Lin Tao. ¡°It¡¯ll work,¡± Dat interjected. ¡°Trust me, bro.¡± After that, the group set out from the storeroom and traversed the halls on their way to the dungeon. When they reached the doors, Elijah saw that the chains were still retracted, and the Chainspeaker was obviously expecting them. Still, he¡¯d already taken on the Shape of Venom and dipped into Guise of the Unseen. He wasn¡¯t sure if the Chainspeaker could truly sense him, but he was banking on Dat¡¯s ability to shatter the creature¡¯s domain to keep him hidden. Otherwise, their plan probably wouldn¡¯t work. Sadie asked, ¡°Is everyone ready?¡± Dat and Nico said that they were. Pointedly, the Healer looked more resolved than at any other point. He knew there was a tough fight coming. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t hold back. If he did, there was a good chance they would all die. With that context, his unfettered commitment to his companions wasn¡¯t altruistic in nature. Rather, it was entirely self-serving. But Elijah intended to keep his eye on the Healer as well as his friends¡¯ conditions. He couldn¡¯t heal as well as someone dedicated to the role, but he could make a big difference. All of that flitted through Elijah¡¯s thoughts as Sadie took a deep breath, then pushed the door open. The first thing Elijah noticed was the smell. It was blood, body odor, and rotting bits of flesh. Human misery in olfactory form. Then, he heard the Chainspeaker¡¯s voice. Predictably, it was like rustling chains ¨C discordant and abrasive, like rusted metal dragged over concrete ¨C as he said, ¡°Welcome, visitors. Have you come to play?¡± ¡°Stand down, fiend,¡± Sadie announced, her sword glowing as Elijah and Dat ¨C both in stealth ¨C spread out to circle the room. ¡°Release your prisoners and we will leave you unharmed.¡± ¡°My toys are mine to do with as I wish. They enjoy being played with as much as I cherish playing with them.¡± Sadie¡¯s teeth ground together. Doubtless, Sense of Sin was telling her all sorts of terrible things about the Chainspeaker. Elijah knew that, after she¡¯d advanced her Mind cultivation, she kept the ability confined to its own facet. However, she¡¯d revealed that it sometimes spilled over. Clearly, that was the case with the Chainspeaker. If ever there was a person cloaked in sin, it was the creature in the center of the room. ¡°Then we have no choice but to destroy you.¡± The Chainspeaker¡¯s chains rustled, mimicking the sound of laughter. ¡°Oh, such a joyous occasion. New toys.¡± With that, three things happened. First, Elijah used Lurking Swarm, manifesting dozens of phase spiders as he advanced. Second, Dat positioned himself behind the Chainspeaker and, still with Ghost Cloak active, raised his crossbow. And finally, Sadie threw herself at the creature, intent on cutting him in two with a single blow. Even as Sadie charged, her huge sword held high, the chains in the room broke into a cacophonous rattle that made her stumble. A second later, her blade fell to the ground, too heavy for her to hold upright. For his part, Elijah felt his own power plummet. He didn¡¯t need to look at his status to know that his attributes had been cut down to almost nothing ¨C at the very least. He wasn¡¯t as affected as Sadie ¨C or Nico, who fell to his knees ¨C but he felt the bite all the same. That¡¯s when Dat squeezed the trigger of his crossbow, and the room lit up with bright, white light. The Chainspeaker sensed the bolt coming his way, and he tried to block it with chains that suddenly descended from above, forming a pseudo cocoon around him. However, the bolt moved like it had a mind of its own, dodging between the links and slamming into the Chainspeaker. Instantly, the deleterious effects of the domain fell away, and Elijah felt his power return to normal. He attacked, directing his spiders to do the same. The battle had begun, and there was no time to waste. 7-77. The Slow Death Elijah used Flicker Step, instantly appearing on the demonic Chainspeaker¡¯s back. But when he bit down, his fangs were nearly deflected by rustling chains that had somehow superimposed themselves in front of his mouth. He adjusted, and his right fang managed to nick the demon¡¯s shoulder. It wasn¡¯t more than a scratch, but that was enough to deliver his Predator Strike-enhanced Envenom. An instant later, a chain looped around his middle and hoisted him into the air. The damage was done, though. And perhaps more importantly, the enemy had been so distracted by Elijah¡¯s attack that he never even noticed the swarm of phase spiders closing in on him. Mimicking Elijah¡¯s attack, they pounced, one after another. By default, the arachnids were cloaked in stealth that exceeded the potency of even Dat¡¯s Ghost Cloak, but when they attacked, their true forms were revealed. The spiders looked like glass sculptures, and they were just as delicate. They were destroyed the moment they bit the Chainspeaker, but the conjured creatures succeeded in delivering their potent venom. By that point, Sadie had reached the demon, and the second she got into range, she swung her recovered sword in a wide arc meant to cut the creature in two. The Chainspeaker looked boneless as he bent double, avoiding the attack before thrusting out his arm in Sadie¡¯s direction. Chains unwrapped from his forearm and sped forward, writhing like snakes as they attacked Sadie. She fended them off, but she was forced to retreat. Elijah used the distraction to initiate another transformation. This time, he used Shape of Thorn, then activated Thornbound Legion. Ethera raced out of his core and through the conduits of his soul while, at the same time, a powerful wave of fatigue swept through him. One cast of Primal Swarm ¨C or its variants ¨C wasn¡¯t that taxing, but two in quick succession was more than noticeable. A third time would be nearly exhausting. But Elijah knew better than to hold back. The Chainspeaker was incredibly powerful, and Elijah had no intention of leaving anything in the tank. When he used Thornbound Legion, a thousand tiny thorns grew out of his body, then shot free in every direction. Upon hitting the ground, the sprouted tiny legs, then raced forward as Elijah mentally commanded them to attack. As one, they surrounded, then leaped upon the Chainspeaker. Before he could sweep them away, the little creatures rammed their spikey bodies into his flesh and burrowed deep. He managed to pluck a few away, but the vast majority of the conjured mites splintered, inflicting yet another affliction upon the demon. This one wasn¡¯t about damage, though. Instead, it was meant to inflict a host of debuffs that would lower the Chainspeaker¡¯s attributes and severely hamper his Regeneration. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. Neither was Sadie, who, like Elijah, used the Chainspeaker¡¯s split focus against him. She seized upon his distraction, ramming her sword into his stomach up to its hilt. The blade burst from his back in a shower of blood, meat, and thorny splinters. Elijah knew better than to trust that the wound would slow the Chainspeaker down, and he raced forward, intent on finishing it off. He never got there. A storm of chains erupted from the ceiling, lashing out at both Elijah and Sadie. The sound was deafening, but at first, the chains struggled to get past his natural defenses. However, with every passing second, they picked up speed until they began to strip his scales from his body. To combat it, Elijah activated Unchecked Growth, then added Domain of Vines. Time was ticking down. If he didn¡¯t do something soon, the Chainspeaker¡¯s domain would return, and they would all die. Or worse, be imprisoned next to all the other captives. Vines burst from the floor and writhed all around Elijah¡¯s recovering body. They formed a living cocoon, shielding him from the worst of the storm. Meanwhile, other vines encircled the Chainspeaker. His chains fought against the vines, and at first, it seemed that they were winning. They ripped through Elijah¡¯s roots and vines like they were nothing. But the advantage of Domain of Vines had never been in their durability. They were strong, but not that strong. Instead, the reason they were effective lay in the sheer amount of vitality they could channel. With Unchecked Growth driving them, their ability to regenerate was nearly infinite. When one was struck down, another two took its place, overwhelming and clogging the demon¡¯s chains. That was only the first part, though. The second came when Elijah barreled into the Chainspeaker, tackling him to the ground. His efforts were rewarded by hundreds of chains tearing huge chunks of his flesh away, but those wounds sealed only a moment after they were inflicted. Such was the other advantage of Unchecked Growth, and Elijah used it to the extent of its advantage. He took hits he never could have otherwise endured, all in the hopes that he could tear the Chainspeaker to shreds. In service of that goal, he ripped the creature apart. But no matter how much he tore and shredded the creature¡¯s body, no wave of experience came. ¡°Fifteen seconds!¡± shouted Dat from the back of the room. Just then, a bloody hand, stripped of flesh, rammed into Elijah¡¯s stomach hard enough to lift him from the ground. He landed a couple of feet away, but even that short distance was enough to allow the Chainspeaker to slither away. Sadie was there waiting for just such a thing to happen, but when her sword descended, the demon snaked out of the way. The blow that should have cleaved him two only served to sever an arm. ¡°Five seconds!¡± Elijah knew they¡¯d failed. He yelled, ¡°Free the prisoners! Get them out!¡± Then, as Unchecked Growth ran its course, he began another transformation. This time, he resumed his human form. By the time he cast Blessing of the Grove, Soothe, and Nature¡¯s Bloom, Dat¡¯s domain-canceling ability petered out. Immediately, Elijah felt his attributes fall. To counter that precipitous drop, he embraced Shape of the Master. For the third time in only a minute, he cast a variant of Primal Swarm. This time, it manifested as a swarm of fire beetles. There hundreds of the fist-sized creatures, and each one glowed with fiery light. Their wings glittered like onyx as the first wave descended upon the Chainspeaker. This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. By that point, he had become a truly miserable sight. Most of his leather wraps had been ripped away, and huge chunks of his pale flesh had gone with it. That, along with his missing arm, was the only reason Elijah held out any hope at all. The first few fire beetles hit the demon like grenades, filling the dungeon with the deafening sounds of explosions. They weren¡¯t terribly potent, but Elijah hadn¡¯t expected them to me. He recalled the spell¡¯s description:
Infernal Plague Conjure a swarm of fire beetles that will detonate on impact with enemies. Detonations do immediate damage and inflict a slowing affliction upon foes. Strength of detonation dependent on Ethera attribute. Potency of affliction based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of the Master (or appropriate evolutions).
The power of the explosions was based on his Ethera attribute, which had been lowered considerably by the Chainspeaker¡¯s domain. However, his Core remained as powerful as ever, which meant that the slowing affliction inflicted by each exploding fire beetle was unaffected. Elijah could only hope that the creature¡¯s chains would be slowed right alongside his body, because that was their only chance of victory. Those thoughts raced through Elijah¡¯s mind as the transformation into the Shape of the Master completed. The explosions continued, wave after wave, until the fire beetles were no more. The Chainspeaker stepped through the final eruption, and he looked no worse off than before, save for a few singe marks. ¡°Cheap tricks,¡± he rattled. Then, he focused on Elijah¡¯s small form. ¡°What is this adorable thing? I must dismantle it immediately!¡± The chains came from every direction. Elijah saw them coming from a mile away. But with his attributes having been so thoroughly reduced, his body struggled to keep up with his reaction speeds. He leveraged every facet of his Jade Mind to the task at hand, using the lessons he¡¯d learned in the fight against the old master and his three-hundred warriors. It was enough. Though only barely. He dodged each chain by scant inches, and he knew that if he made even a slight error in judgement, he would die. He didn¡¯t have any other tricks. No more game-changing abilities. Not with his attributes having been so thoroughly bottomed out. The Shape of the Master was his only chance, and he seized upon it with every fiber of his being. Frustrated, the Chainspeaker shouted something unintelligible, and the ferocity of the storm of chains reached a fever pitch. All the while, Elijah remained in a trance-like state, knowing that if he let up, even for a split second, he would die. So would the captives. Hong Kong would fall. Dat would die. And he¡¯d lose Sadie. He refused to lose someone else. He would not allow it. Despite the impairment foisted upon him by the domain, Elijah found new levels of focus that spurred his body to an entirely higher realm of control. Each of his forms were more than a few extra attributes and access to new abilities. They were that. But they also came with hidden advantages. With the Shape of Venom ¨C and its predecessor, Shape of the Predator ¨C he became a peerless hunter. Shape of Thorn activated his protective instincts and taught him how to harness his rage. Shape of the Sky came with an innate understanding of airborne maneuverability. Each of those aspects had taken time to coax out of the forms, but they were there all the same. Shape of the Master allowed him to reach the levels of focus he needed to live up to the name of the ability. With that, he pushed himself harder and harder, and as the ferocity of Heart of Fire began to mount, he realized something important. If he unleashed Incinerate, he would kill everyone in the room. Thankfully, Sadie and Dat understood what was coming. As such, they¡¯d developed a plan to counter it. Even as Dat unlocked and ushered the weakened prisoners to the door, Sadie defended them from the chains. Her sword moved like a weapon half its size as she deflected one attack after another. If the Chainspeaker had focused on her, she never would have been successful in her mission. However, with the bulk of his attention on Elijah, his chains lacked speed and power. That observation almost cost Elijah when he narrowly avoided a pair of chains coming from opposite directions. He did so by springing backward, knocking one away with his staff while dodging the other. His actions only served to infuriate the Chainspeaker further. More chains descended from above and attacked from every side. Elijah¡¯s staff became a blur as he blocked more than he dodged. That didn¡¯t help him build charges of Heart of Fire, but it did keep him from losing the ones he¡¯d already acquired. Minutes passed. In battle ¨C especially one as furiously contested as the current one ¨C that was an eternity. And yet, Elijah never once lost focus. Finally, Dat managed to lever the door open, and the men and women who¡¯d been taken captive began to pour of the dungeon. The Chainspeaker screamed something unintelligible, then turned to direct his chains at the crowd waiting for their turn to escape. Seeing what was happening, Elijah leaped at his foe, twisting as he gained altitude, and smashed the Feral Spire across the back of the demon¡¯s head. It snapped forward with a mighty crack that echoed across the dungeon. Elijah continued his momentum, planting his feet on the demons¡¯ shoulder and somersaulting to safety. When his bare feet slapped against the dungeon floor, he was between the Chainspeaker and the escaping captives. More importantly, he¡¯d finally reached a hundred charges of Heart of Fire. But it was too soon to let loose with Incinerate. He couldn¡¯t do that until everyone was gone. So, he raised his staff and waited for the chains to adjust. They did, and far more quickly than Elijah had anticipated. They glistened with ethera, telling him that if they managed to make contact, he would be done for. It was a good thing, then, that he had no intention of allowing that. He resumed his evasion, and with every passing second, the Chainspeaker became ever more frustrated. But to Elijah, that wasn¡¯t important. The demon was already frothing at the mouth, with flecks of blood and spittle spraying with every snarled word, so a little more recklessness wasn¡¯t going to change anything. No ¨C all Elijah cared about was maintaining Heart of Fire until the prisoners escaped. Moving more than a thousand people didn¡¯t happen quickly, so Elijah had his work cut out for him. Fortunately, he was up to the task, if only barely. The closest call came when, suddenly, the chains surrounded the Chainspeaker, obscuring him from Elijah¡¯s vision. However, as was his habit, he¡¯d opened the fight by using Brand of the Stalker. So, the demon blazed bright in his mind¡¯s eye, and he had no trouble dodging an attack that otherwise would have been unavoidable. Gradually, the minor migration from dungeon to hall finished. Dat yelled out, letting Elijah know, but he didn¡¯t wait. He knew what was coming. They all did. After all, they¡¯d seen what he could do back on the island when he¡¯d killed the undead squid. The dungeon was about to become a very uncomfortable place to be. The door clanged shut, and suddenly, Elijah was alone with the Chainspeaker. Without further hesitation, he opened his mouth and released the flames he¡¯d held captive for far too long. They erupted from his throat with more fury than ever before, and chains that should have impaled him the second he stopped moving became molten slag. A second later, even that was gone as the metal became so much superheated vapor. The Chainspeaker never knew what hit him. He didn¡¯t melt. Nor did he turn to ash, as Elijah had hoped. Instead, when the flames ceased, the demon had become a charred husk. The dungeon glowed red with the heat, and suddenly, Elijah felt a wave of unbearably high temperatures wash over him. His skin blistered as the dungeon became an oven, and he collapsed. Before he fell unconscious, he had the presence of mind to resume his human form and cast Blessing of the Grove. The last thing he saw before blackness overtook him was a blooming sunflower with petals of fire. 7-78. The Nature of Healing Sadie barely got out of the way before the door went flying off its hinges and smashed into the wall on the other side of the hall. The bricks cracked, but thankfully, the structural integrity of the wall remained intact. An intense wave of heat billowed from the opening, mushrooming out and enveloping Sadie and any of the former captives who were within fifteen feet of the door. It only lasted a moment before Sadie used Blessed Bulwark, and the plane of ethera managed to seal it away. By that point, more than a little damage had been done, but Nico was already working to counter it. A cold ripple of ethera washed over everyone as the Healer used his powerful area spell, mending everyone within thirty feet of his position. That took care of the worst of it, but those at the front ¨C including Sadie herself ¨C had suffered more than all the rest. For her part, Sadie had gotten away with a few blisters, but she could thank her high Constitution it wasn¡¯t much worse. The nearest captives weren¡¯t so lucky, and their emaciated bodies had been subjected to intense burns that left them wailing in pain. ¡°Help them!¡± Sadie shouted, using her own meager healing spells to ease their agony. It helped ¨C probably enough to keep them alive ¨C but her efforts fell a long way short of mending what had been torn asunder. Fortunately, Nico wasn¡¯t far away, and he didn¡¯t hesitate to pour ethera into the task of healing the most injured. He knelt beside them, and swirls of life-giving ethera fanned out all around him. Sadie could see individual tendrils connecting to the most hurt, and before her eyes, their horrific burns scabbed over. Soon enough, those scabs sloughed off, leaving new, pink skin behind. Nico sagged in exhaustion as the last of them returned to health. Of late, Sadie had begun to question her perception of her brother. Nico was a curious mix of headstrong and easily led astray. A natural follower, he was never difficult to control. He¡¯d fallen prey to the predations of manipulative people in the past, and it seemed that Sadie¡¯s absence had only opened him to more of the same. Yet, deep down, he had a good heart. He cared about the people of Heaven¡¯s Bastion, and he would do anything he could to help them. And he had the power to do it, too. He was capable of great feats of healing that even Ron would struggle to duplicate. However, that power came at a cost, and in his case, the price was that he had very little in the way of Regeneration. Once his ethera was spent, he would need a long recovery before he could continue. That was why he was so conservative with his ethera usage. If approached healing like Ron, going all out, all the time, he would quickly become useless. It was a frustrating dynamic, and Sadie hoped that when Nico ascended, he would be given an evolution that would shore up that weakness. But for now, he was practically crippled by his low Regeneration attribute. The only reason he could somewhat cope with that was his large pool of ethera and the potency of his spells. Once the survival of the captives was assured, Sadie turned her attention to the dungeon door. It gaped open, but no sound escaped. She didn¡¯t have Elijah¡¯s senses, but she knew that no one was moving inside. She couldn¡¯t check until the heat dissipated, though. If she went in now, she¡¯d need more healing. Which did not bode well for Elijah¡¯s fate. Her heart was beating out of her chest as she waited the long minutes for the heat to disperse. The dungeon walls were made of some sort of black stone Sadie didn¡¯t recognize, but it didn¡¯t take her long to establish that the material was highly heat-conductive. As a result, the dungeon had become an enormous oven. Minutes passed, and she half-expected Elijah to come strolling out, make a pithy comment dismissing the danger he¡¯d just endured, and ask when they were moving on. But he didn¡¯t. After almost five minutes, Sadie judged that the temperature had dropped enough to permit her entry. When she stepped forward, Nico caught her arm and warned her against it, but she refused to heed his advice to wait a little longer. Instead, she jerked away and boldly strode into the furnace the dungeon had become. The second she stepped a single foot inside, she began to rethink her decision. The air scorched her throat with every breath, and she could feel her skin practically bubbling under the intense heat. The dungeon itself was unrecognizable, with the cages having melted under the onslaught. They had become puddles of rapidly cooling metal. Looking up, Sadie saw that the chains hadn¡¯t survived intact, either. Instead, they had twisted themselves together into a tangled and half-melted mass of metal. Closer to the ceiling, they had maintained their shape, though. It made for an odd sight ¨C almost like a modern art exhibit ¨C but one that only elicited disgust in Sadie¡¯s mind. It took her a moment to find Elijah. He¡¯d collapsed near the center of the room, where he lay unconscious and mostly buried by cooling metal and piles of ash that must have been all that was left of the Chainspeaker. A wilted sunflower lay next to him, still intact but badly burned. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. As soon as Sadie saw Elijah, her heart jumped into her throat. He wasn¡¯t moving, and he was as badly burned as any of the former captives. She ran to his side, dropping to her knees and sliding across the floor until she reached him. When she laid her hand on his chest, she felt a subtle rise and fall that told her he was still alive. But his breathing was shallow, and his heartbeat infrequent. He lived, but only barely. Sadie immediately used her healing spell, though it was like trying to fill a swimming pool with a bucket. The vital energy splashed down, doing little good. His Constitution was too high, and Sadie¡¯s healing abilities were far too impotent. The only person who could save him was Nico. Sadie ripped the melted metal away, taking skin and bits of Elijah¡¯s armor with it. Then, once he was free, she shoved her arms beneath him and ripped him away from the floor. He left a lot of skin behind, but she couldn¡¯t concern herself with that. If he wasn¡¯t already dead, losing a little skin wasn¡¯t going to kill him. But time might. There was none to spare, so Sadie stumbled to the exit and nearly collapsed when she reached the much cooler air outside. She barely maintained her balance until she reached Nico. Then, the effects of her short trip into the dungeon overwhelmed her. She fell to her knees, dropping Elijah¡¯s body harder than she¡¯d intended. Nico, of course, was quick to heal her. Even as she started to protest, she found that her voice was gone. All that came out was a strangled croak. Her brother¡¯s most powerful spell swept over her, instantly rejuvenating her body and mending the burns she had incurred. ¡°Not me¡­heal him¡­¡± By the time she managed to speak, the damage had been done. She saw it in his eyes. The way they tightened. The slight slump of his shoulders. The frown. It told her all she needed to know ¨C he¡¯d used the last of his ethera. ¡°I can¡¯t. I¡¯m out.¡± He didn¡¯t even sound regretful. In fact, his voice carried an undercurrent of smugness beneath his obvious exhaustion. In that moment, Sadie hated her brother. Aside from Song Tianwei, he was the only family she had left. She would always love him, but it was obvious that he had become someone she couldn¡¯t bring herself to like. There was no time to focus on that, though. Sadie focused on Elijah. Then, she turned her attention to the captives. ¡°Is anyone here a Healer?¡± she pleaded. ¡°I don¡¯t care what level you are. Just help me keep him alive until his Regeneration takes over.¡± A few people raised their hands, and Sadie could tell that they were far too low of a level to do much good. However, in that moment, she didn¡¯t care that they had no chance of affecting any change. She had to try. ¡°It¡¯s useless, Sadie. He¡¯s dying. I can feel it. Just let him go,¡± Nico said, his tone almost a sneer. She glared at him. ¡°I don¡¯t care. He¡¯s the only reason we survived. We can¡¯t make it out of here without him, either. But mostly, he¡¯s my friend. I¡¯ll do whatever I can to help him.¡± With that, she used Touch of Light.
Touch of Light Conjure the light of faith and heal an injured ally. Potency determined by Core cultivation.
Despite having the word ¡°faith¡± in the description, it had nothing to do with her angel core. Instead, it was a generic Crusader spell that she¡¯d gotten early on. So, at its base power, it was not very strong. Some of that was mitigated by her Core cultivation, but even so, it would never compete with the amount of vitality a true Healer could output. It was especially weak when it was directed at Elijah, who not only had achieved a higher level than her, but also had a much more advanced cultivation. Sadie had learned over the years that healing people wasn¡¯t as simple as mending bones and curing diseases. That was part of it, but the power requirement increased significantly with higher levels. The result was that healing a level one was much less difficult than healing a level ten. That trend continued on an exponential track, which meant that if a level fifty healer were to try to mend Elijah¡¯s injuries, they would find their efforts almost entirely inconsequential. There were other mitigating factors ¨C like core cultivation, attributes, and uncommonly powerful spells ¨C but the bottom line was that someone like Sadie, whose healing spell was already weak, trying to repair Elijah¡¯s wounds was a nearly useless endeavor. But that didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t going to try. Even as her brother shook his head, Sadie emptied the contents of her core into Elijah. As she¡¯d previously noted, it didn¡¯t do much good in healing him. However, when combined with his natural Regeneration, it did prevent him from getting any worse. Then, the other healers ¨C it turned out, there were ten of them ¨C knelt beside him and added their own spells to the mix. Individually, their efforts would have amounted to nothing. Altogether, though, they managed to tip the balance in Elijah¡¯s favor. Slowly, he started to heal. Not visibly ¨C his burns remained just as horrific as ever before ¨C but each breath came a little deeper, and his heartbeat strengthened. Then, the other Healers¡¯ ethera gave out. One by one, they fell away, exhausted. Sadie¡¯s pool of ethera was much larger, and she managed to keep it up for a few more minutes. Eventually, though, her core ran dry as well. After that, she could only hope that it would be enough. At last, Nico added a single heal. Almost as an afterthought, but Sadie could tell that it completely bottomed the Healer out. He fell backward against the wall, then slumped to the ground. It was enough, though. Elijah¡¯s eyes fluttered open. They were bloodshot, and his pupils were dilated. It took him a few moments to understand what was going on. ¡°Oh. Hey,¡± he croaked, focusing on Elijah. ¡°Fancy meeting you here.¡± It was only then that Sadie felt the tears streaming down her cheeks. Stress and worry had clearly gotten to her, and now, relief flooded her mind. ¡°Be still,¡± she said. ¡°You¡¯re still injured.¡± He winced. ¡°Kind of figured that one out,¡± he mumbled, his words barely intelligible. ¡°Oh. Shit.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Sadie demanded, panic once again suffusing her heart. ¡°I just realized that I¡¯m probably bald,¡± he said with a rattling sigh. Clearly, his lungs had not recovered. He added, ¡°Again.¡± 7-79. Emptiness ¡°You know,¡± Elijah said, running his hand over his smooth scalp. ¡°I think being cooked is way worse than being digested.¡± ¡°I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t know enough to offer an opinion,¡± Sadie admitted. ¡°Right. Did I tell you about the time I was ¨C¡± ¡°Yes,¡± she interrupted. ¡°Or what about when ¨C¡± ¡°That too. We know all your stories, bro,¡± Dat said. ¡°Well, you two are just no fun at all,¡± he said, pushing himself upright. Then, he hiked his thumb down the hall, where a thousand refugees huddled together like scared sheep. ¡°I should go hang out with them. They would be suitably impressed by my heroic tales of survival. I mean, I¡¯m no Zhang Yue, but who is, right?¡± ¡°Long live the legend of Zhang Yue,¡± Dat intoned. ¡°May he continue to inspire us to be better men.¡± He glanced at Sadie. ¡°And women.¡± She rolled her eyes, which was a curious gesture for her. So was the smile. Elijah felt like he was living in the twilight zone. Sadie looked the same as always, but she¡¯d never been the sort to show much emotion. Or laugh. She¡¯d made a few jokes during the Trial ¨C mostly towards the end, when she¡¯d gotten Sense of Sin under control ¨C but even then, she had been a dour person. Still, waking up to see her concerned face staring down at him had made everything a little better. He¡¯d still been wracked by agonizing pain ¨C being cooked alive was not a pleasant experience ¨C but the sight of her was a soothing balm. After regaining awareness, he¡¯d been shocked to find that he was covered in severe burns. Briefly, he¡¯d worried that he would be horribly scarred, but it seemed that, aside from a rough patch on his stomach, he¡¯d escaped mostly unscathed. It¡¯d taken most of a day for him to heal himself back to normal, but every time he looked at the former prisoners, he realized it had been worth it. Now that he was healed, he mostly just missed his hair. It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d had his hair burned off, but he hoped it would be the last. ¡°I really should stop and think about the consequences of heroism from time to time,¡± he said to himself. That elicited a hearty laugh from Dat and a slight chuckled form Sadie. ¡°What?¡± he asked. ¡°You¡¯re not the thinking type, bro.¡± ¡°You¡¯re really not. You¡¯re more of a charge-at-the-problem-and-hope-it-all-works-out kind of guy,¡± Sadie agreed. ¡°Ouch,¡± he winced, theatrically clutching his chest. He was still a little sore, but he was almost entirely recovered. ¡°Seriously though ¨C thanks for coming back in there for me. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d have made it without your help.¡± ¡°You would have done the same for either one of us,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°Yeah. But you two don¡¯t make a habit of blowing yourself up, either. Seriously, how did I not know that would backfire? Enclosed spaces and explosions don¡¯t usually mix well. I¡¯m not fireproof.¡± ¡°It was the only way we could have won,¡± Dat said. ¡°We¡¯re holding you back,¡± Sadie added. ¡°If I had access to a Branch, I could evolve¡­¡± ¡°Nobody¡¯s holding anyone back,¡± Elijah insisted. ¡°It¡¯s just a tough situation. It¡¯s no one¡¯s fault.¡± But as Elijah focused his senses on Nico, who was almost a hundred feet away tending to the wounds of one of the refugees, he wasn¡¯t entirely convinced of his own statement. Nico only had one job, and in that endeavor, he¡¯d failed miserably. Whether that was intentional or not was a question Elijah desperately wanted answered, but he knew that if he went around accusing the Healer of holding back, he would draw Sadie¡¯s ire. She¡¯d grown a lot since he¡¯d first met her, but she wouldn¡¯t easily endure accusations against her brother. So, Elijah held his tongue, resolving instead to remove Nico from his own plans. If the Healer did his job, then that would be a nice surprise. But Elijah wouldn¡¯t depend on him anymore. With that resolution in mind, Elijah continued his own healing, casting Blessing of the Grove and basking in the cooling rain that came with it. He wasn¡¯t unaware that, if he hadn¡¯t cast that spell before passing out, he would be dead. It had already saved his life, and he knew it wouldn¡¯t be the first time. As he healed, Elijah focused inward and looked at this updated status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 143
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. 262
Dexterity 248
Constitution 271
Ethera 268
Regeneration 306 (276)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
By defeating the Chainspeaker, he had gained another level, pushing him to one-forty-three. That raised most of his attributes by seven apiece, with ethera rising by six points. The only buff he¡¯d ensured was active was Aura of Renewal, which added a relatively paltry thirty points to the total. Otherwise, his badly damaged gear lay in a pile by his side, and he hadn¡¯t even had a chance to enjoy any of his jerky or coffee. Even so, his attributes had truly gotten out of hand, and at his current leveling speed, it wouldn¡¯t be long before he had three-hundreds across the board. More importantly, he was fast approaching another spell level. He had no idea if he would gain a chance to evolve one of his existing abilities or if he¡¯d get something new, but he did know that the interval between spells would soon grow larger. At one-fifty, it would jump from every five levels to some unknown number. It might be ten. Or it could be twenty-five. There were even some classes whose spells came every fifty levels. If that happened to him, he would definitely regret his choice of class evolution. Primal Lord had treated him well so far, but he would always wonder what he might¡¯ve become if he¡¯d picked Bloomwarden. Once Elijah had finished distracting himself with his status, he moved on to a recap of the battle. They had been victorious, but the fight could have easily gone differently. If he¡¯d not used his abilities ¨C Lurking Swarm and Thornbound Legion, especially ¨C the Chainspeaker would have been too powerful to defeat. It was a good reminder that, while he had a lot of advantages, others would too. Nobody reached ascendence easily, and to even qualify to take that step, one must have proven themselves worthy. Elijah didn¡¯t think he could have done anything differently, but he still needed to remember that he was neither special nor invulnerable. Otherwise, he might end up dead. To that end, he went over every second of the fight, and he found a host of mistakes. Nothing huge, but he knew he could be better. He would need to be. He was in the middle of that exercise when his body completed its healing, and Sadie announced that they needed to move on. ¡°What are we going to do with them?¡± asked Dat. ¡°We take them with us,¡± Sadie said. ¡°They¡¯re innocents, and maybe they can help.¡± ¡°The highest level is around forty,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°They helped keep you alive.¡± ¡°Fair point,¡± Elijah admitted, though he suspected that their efforts hadn¡¯t been as impactful as Sadie claimed. Sure, every bit of healing helped, but he believed that his Regeneration probably played a much larger role. He knew better than to say as much, though. ¡°Some of them are necromancers,¡± Nico interjected. His voice lacked the venom it usually did when he spoke of that group of people. ¡°So?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°They¡¯re people, and we¡¯re not leaving them here.¡± ¡°I never suggested it,¡± the Healer pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m only saying that we need to be wary. They are not known as the most trustworthy of people.¡± Elijah definitely didn¡¯t trust the man¡¯s sudden shift. Not that long ago, he was right beside Gideon calling such people trash. Now he wanted to save them? It didn¡¯t make a lot of sense. ¡°Noted,¡± Sadie said. ¡°But for now, we¡¯ll just lead them through the fortress above. Dat? Scout?¡± ¡°On it, bro.¡± Then, Dat disappeared, leaving Elijah a little jealous. Ghost Cloak had limitations, but the ability could be used even when someone was staring right at Dat. Guise of the Unseen ¨C or even Dat¡¯s less powerful stealth ability ¨C could not. After that, they waited for around fifteen minutes until Dat returned. When he reappeared, he said, ¡°We have good news, and we have bad news. Which do you want first?¡± ¡°Just tell us the situation, Dat.¡± He sighed heavily and shook his head at Sadie. ¡°You are no fun. Okay, so I found my way up to the surface,¡± he said. ¡°It¡¯s not even that far. But the place we¡¯re trying to get to, it¡¯s guarded by some serious-looking threats.¡± Then, he went on to describe two demons. The first was a slender male with swords and knives strapped all over his body. The second was a robed caster of some sort. The former was troubling, but the latter seemed like far more dangerous than him. In Elijah¡¯s experience, spellcasters were an unpredictable sort. ¡°The first one is called the Bladesinger. Warrior archetype,¡± Dat said. ¡°The second is the Corrupted. Healer archetype, though she¡¯s got some sort of shadow powers.¡± ¡°How do you know that?¡± asked Nico. ¡°The ghosts told me, bro.¡± Nico sneered, ¡°I¡¯m not your¡­bro.¡± ¡°I know. Sounded better than cowardly asshole,¡± was Dat¡¯s reply. ¡°Guys¡­¡± ¡°Sorry, bro,¡± Dat responded to Elijah¡¯s plea. ¡°Those two are flanked by a pair of wights. They¡¯re ascended.¡± ¡°The Bladesinger and the Corrupted?¡± asked Sadie, pointedly ignoring the animosity between Dat and her brother. Elijah had no interest in stepping between them, either. ¡°Ascended as well?¡± ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s going to be a rough fight.¡± After that, the group discussed their strategy. Nico remained mostly silent, interjecting his opinion only when absolutely necessary. Otherwise, he stood to the side, seething as he stared at Dat. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain what had gone down between the two, but he did know it had something to do with Lisa¡¯s death. Whatever the cause, there was a great deal of anger between the pair. Eventually, they all agreed to leave the refugees behind during the fight. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but they would just get in the way if they tried to participate. And that was the best-case scenario. The worst case they discussed was if the demons chose to take them hostage and use them as bargaining chips. Once that was decided, they started in on a plan of action. The problem was that they didn¡¯t have many assets. Sadie was a great defender, and Nico would probably keep them all alive. However, Dat just wasn¡¯t a damage dealer. Neither was Elijah, though he could make a decent showing. So, their available options were limited. But they all agreed that the Corrupted needed to go down first. That was the first rule of any confrontation ¨C the Healer needed to be dealt with before anyone else. So, they came up with a rudimentary strategy that, in a lot of ways, mimicked what they had used against the Chainspeaker. The only difference was that Sadie would work to tie up the Bladesinger while Elijah and Dat attacked the Corrupted with everything they had available. No one thought it was a good plan. They all knew it was, at best, workable. But with the options they had available, it was the best anyone could come up with. So, armed with that, they left the refugees behind ¨C much to their panicked chagrin ¨C then followed Dat as they twisted through the corridors leading them to the surface. In the end, they found themselves standing before a large marshalling yard just inside the main gate. Elijah felt the wights, but he also sensed a few abominations as well. It seemed that the party had grown since Dat¡¯s reconnaissance. And more were coming with every passing moment, as evidenced by a giant skeleton literally climbing out of the ground. That was when Elijah focused on the creature¡¯s origin. It was a pit, but it radiated deathly ethera on par with what he¡¯d felt back in the Trial of Primacy. ¡°There¡¯s a gateway to the Underrealm there,¡± he said. ¡°I feel it too,¡± Sadie agreed. ¡°We need to close it,¡± Dat stated. ¡°No,¡± Nico said. ¡°That¡¯s not the mission. It¡¯s just a distraction. If we focus ¨C¡± ¡°If we don¡¯t close it, there are going to be a lot more undead out there. We¡¯ll have to deal with those two demons and a horde,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°We close it. Then, we kill the demons, just like we planned.¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°No. We need to adjust. Here¡¯s what I think¡­¡± 7-80. A Demons Lament Once, she had a name. A history. A family and some degree of happiness. She could remember none of it, though. Now, there was only the Corrupted. By virtue of her archetype, she was a Healer. It disgusted her. The notion of helping anyone twisted her stomach into knots and if she thought too long on it, bile rose in her throat. No one else deserved her help because she knew the truth. She saw the world as it was, unclouded by idealistic propaganda espoused by those who wanted to breed a population of cooperative drones. No ¨C the world was a brutal place, and the only way to survive was through unerring self-interest. She had seen people leap in to save others, white knights who unhesitatingly sacrificed themselves for the sake of preserving life and innocence. Or for what they deemed the greater good. Narcissists, all. They didn¡¯t care about helping others. Nor did they care about the health of the societies they protected. Instead, they were motivated by their own inflated sense of self-worth. They had truly convinced themselves that they would be remembered, that they deserved the adulation of the masses. Fools, each and every one of them. That clarity gave her the strength to reject notions of collectivism or any sense of responsibility toward her fellow demons. Their society was based on harnessing the worst parts of their nature. Most didn¡¯t see it that way, but she saw beneath the surface of racial pride to recognize that the whole system was built upon distraction. Sins were embraced by the rank and file, and meanwhile, the powerful exploited them. They were told that there was no morality, that the only way to be free was to give in to their base instincts. To their sinful natures. And they were all happy to comply, like the good little fools they were. But everyone knew the truth. Deep down, they were aware that morality wasn¡¯t some societal construct. It was a very real thing, and when they neglected it, the only true result was rampant and hollow self-loathing. That played into the ruling class¡¯s claws as well. A depressed people was almost as easily manipulated as a distracted population. When those two factors were combined, the nation of demons didn¡¯t have a chance of escaping the crippling bonds they¡¯d shackled onto themselves. That was the source of her corruption. She¡¯d worked tirelessly to try to cure her people. And she had been derided for it. Called an Angel. She became an outcast, but still, she¡¯d tried to show them the truth, and slowly, she built a following. Just a few hundred demons, but enough that she felt she was making progress. But then, they came. The Muj¡¯akar. The most feared enforcers in the Hexarch Hegemony. They slaughtered everyone. Even when her followers surrendered, there was no mercy on offer. She pleaded with them to stop, unleashing more power than she¡¯d ever thought possible. But it was all for naught. She was a mere ascended, while they were all demigods at the lowest. Most were full half-step deities with thousands of years of experience. She never stood a chance. Still, she had fought until she had no more ethera in her core. Only then did she succumb, and she was captured soon after. The trial she¡¯d been forced to endure was a farce. They charged her with all sorts of detestable things, framing her attempts at helping them as imposition of ethical tyranny, subversion of individual autonomy, and violating the Doctrine of Supremacy. The last was the most laughable, because it assessed that any imposition of moral authority was an attempt for an individual to set themselves apart and above their fellow demons. In a twisted way, it made sense ¨C trying to dictate morality to someone was, at its core, a supremacist act. But she¡¯d taken great pains not to frame it that way. She never thought she was better than anyone else. Instead, she only posited that demons were better than their current incarnation. The justicars of the Hexarch Hegemony did not agree. They¡¯d added a host of other charges, including the corruption of innocence, which claimed that trying to impose moral standards was inherently corruptive of the natural state of hedonistic pursuits. But after a while, she had stopped listening. They were all ridiculous, and what¡¯s more, she knew that none of it mattered. Even if she¡¯d violated the laws of the hegemony, she knew she was justified. Still, the hegemony¡¯s macabre sense of justice fell upon her with the full weight of demonic vindictiveness. When she was convicted ¨C even after an impassioned speech that she thought might sway her accusers ¨C something inside her died. Then, they labeled her the Corrupted, and she was sentenced to give herself over to the World Tree. But unlike so many others who were meant to populate Primal Realms and the like, she wasn¡¯t given the solace of forgetting her past. Instead, she remembered what she¡¯d done. She remembered why she¡¯d ended up in the Desolate Reach. Her identity ¨C such as it was ¨C remained intact, as did her bitterness over how thoroughly she had been betrayed by her own people. The others weren¡¯t like her. They knew nothing other than the identities they¡¯d been given by the system. Certainly, they had their constructed backstories and some semblance of free will ¨C that was the key difference between towers and Primal Realms ¨C but they were hollow set pieces. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. She was different. A pitiful creature sentenced to an eternity of being slaughtered and farmed for experience and rewards. She welcomed it. After what she¡¯d experienced, she knew it was better than returning to the Hexarch Hegemony and their twisted sense of morality. Of course, there were other demonic enclaves of power. The Vexis Dominion was the most prominent, but there were hundreds of others. By their very nature, they weren¡¯t nearly as unified as the other surviving elder races. That was one of the reasons they¡¯d never managed to defeat the angels, though the Corrupted¡¯s experiences suggested that the eternal war between the two races wasn¡¯t as justified as she had been led to believe. Those thoughts fluttered through her head as she focused on the Bladesinger. He was just like the Muj¡¯akar, and he displayed all the worst demonic characteristics. Most of the time, he was wholly focused on advancing his martial prowess, and indeed, he was obsessed with blades to an unhealthy degree. However, he wasn¡¯t above succumbing to his vices. In particular, he enjoyed an unhealthy fascination with the Chainspeaker¡¯s captives. Some, he merely tortured, though when doing so, he was more fascinated than gleeful. The Corrupted was required to heal those poor wretches, and even if they were made whole through her efforts, they retained the psychological consequences. They were, each and every one, broken people. But the worst off were those pretty young things that drew his more carnal attentions. The Corrupted turned a blind eye to his lustful actions, much to her shame. She couldn¡¯t do anything to stop the Bladesinger. No one could. And what¡¯s more, there was an argument to be made that he was only acting according to the character that had been forced upon him. He was a victim, too, though to a far lesser degree. It was difficult to remember that when she knew the things he¡¯d done. Very, very difficult. At present, the demon was busy directing the elite undead to lead their charges to the staging area. The first army had been decimated, though no one was quite certain how. If a group from the world on the other side of the portal had infiltrated the Primal Realm, then they¡¯d disappeared without a trace. Which didn¡¯t make sense. Once inside, there was no way out but by defeating the Queen of Desolation. And what¡¯s more, from everything they knew, there was no one in the city known by the locals as Hong Kong that could meet such a challenge. Was the system punishing them, then? Perhaps. Maybe it was part of the script it wanted to play out. Whatever the case, they had no choice but to assemble another army, harvesting fresh undead from the Underrealm. Control of that gate was the reason the Queen of Desolation was in charge. That, and her unmatched personal power. Regardless, so long as they kept it open, they had an endless supply of soldiers that would wash over that world and earn them each more Feats of Strength for when they were reunited with their real selves. The Corrupted held out hope that if she grew powerful enough, she might be able to escape the Hexarch Hegemony. Perhaps she could settle in one of the other demonic enclaves. More likely, she would be killed once she¡¯d served her sentence in the Primal Realm. After all, she was far too large a threat to their way of life. Too dangerous to let live, she knew. The gate itself was set in a depression in the center of the courtyard. To the Corrupted, it had always appeared that the undead dragged out of the Underrealm were climbing out of their graves. A silly notion, but one she couldn¡¯t escape. Just as she was on the verge of giving an order ¨C those zombies were wandering off ¨C she saw something she never could have expected. A swarm of spiders ¨C each one almost a foot across and seemingly made of crystal ¨C pounced on the Bladesinger. The Corrupted could feel the afflictions piling onto him, and for the briefest of moments, she considered letting him suffer. After all, it wouldn¡¯t kill him. She could feel that much. But then she decided to do her job. However, when she started to cast her curing spell, she felt a pinch in her back. The wound was nothing ¨C barely enough to pierce her flesh ¨C but her spell was immediately interrupted. What¡¯s more, she felt the swirling ethera in her core come to a screeching halt. She whipped around, intent on finding the source. An instant later, she caught sight of a large human in a ridiculous, broad-brimmed hat. She aimed a backhand in his direction, but, defying his bulk, he nimbly danced aside before darting back in and peppering her with another three stab wounds. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a low-slung lizard-like creature appear on the Bladesinger¡¯s back. It bit him, and via Sense Injuries, she could feel that its venom was far more potent than that of the spiders. However, with her core having been disrupted, she could do nothing about it. She screamed at him to evade, but the Bladesinger was never one for defense. He was a Warrior, but one almost as focused on offense as a Berserker. So, he reacted predictably, spinning in place as he tried to dislodge the lizard monster and the spiders. The arachnids were easily killed, shattering almost like glass, but the larger creature was far more persistent. It bit him a dozen times before he managed to throw it free. Then, it ran. The Bladesinger shouted, ¡°Kill it!¡± The Corrupted tried to caution him against those actions, but when she tried to speak, she found that her words died in her throat. The big human had obviously used some sort of spell, but it was one with which she was unfamiliar. It didn¡¯t last long, but by the time she found her voice, the Bladesinger was already gone. And he¡¯d taken most of the undead with him. That¡¯s when she saw two other humans approaching from where they¡¯d hidden nearby. How they¡¯d gotten so close, she had no idea. They shouldn¡¯t have even been capable of infiltrating the fortress, much less gotten to the courtyard. However, there was nothing she could do about it now. Her eyes flicked from the man in the broad-brimmed hat to a woman in damaged armor. Finally, she looked at another human who lagged behind. He was their Healer, she was certain. And that meant he was her first target. The second her core churned back to life, she launched her lone offense spell in his direction. It was a simple bolt of force ¨C more of a stun than a spell meant to inflict real damage ¨C but she hoped it would be more effective against the Healer. He was weak, after all. Not even ascended. None of them were, though the other two were on the precipice. The armored woman leaped into the spell¡¯s path, slashing it with her sword. It shattered, proving that her attackers were not without power of their own. Then, the woman¡¯s sword glowed, and when she landed next to the portal to the Underrealm, the weapon descended. An explosion came a second later as she slashed through the governing runes. Even as the woman went staggering backward from the shockwave, the portal winked out. It was closed. There would be no more reinforcements from the Underrealm. But that was fine. She only needed to endure the assault until her detestable colleague returned. When the Bladesinger finished dealing with the lizard monster ¨C probably someone¡¯s tamed beast ¨C the intruders would die. The portal would be easily repaired, and the invasion would proceed. With that in mind, her only goal was to remain standing. To that end, she began to layer healing and protective spells. If she could survive the onslaught of Muj¡¯akar elites, then she could endure the attacks of a few mortals. 7-81. The Whole Kit More than half the horde chased Elijah away from the courtyard, but the bulk of his attention remained on the ascended, blade-wielding demon Dat had referred to as the Bladesinger. The demon was absolutely covered in weapons, ranging from large daggers hanging from his belt to smaller dirks secreted up his sleeves. There was even a brace of throwing knives hanging from a shoulder holster. It was so over-the-top that Elijah almost laughed. Until one of those throwing knives almost clipped him, which reminded him that as ridiculous as the Bladesinger looked, his presence was no laughing matter. Elijah followed the prescribed path, maintaining a pace that would keep him just ahead of the horde. More than once, he wished he could just race away and dip back into the Guise of the Unseen, but as effective as that strategy might be, it wasn¡¯t conducive to him accomplishing his assigned task. Instead, he was meant to lead the Bladesinger ¨C and the horde ¨C away, while the others dealt with the Healer. Separating them was the point, and he endeavored to fulfill his part of the plan. To do so, he twisted through the corridors they¡¯d just vacated, and along the way, he spared a thought for the former captives. They¡¯d been sent to take shelter in the passage leading to the exit in the mountains. They would doubtless be safer there than in the middle of a battle they were not equipped to fight. If they found themselves facing off against someone like the Bladesinger, they would all die. No ¨C it was better that they remain hidden away until Elijah and the others could escort them back to Hong Kong. Pushing those thoughts out of mind, Elijah focused on the task at hand. Eventually, they left the courtyard far behind, and Elijah drew closer to the location he¡¯d chosen for the showdown. He didn¡¯t think he could kill the Bladesinger ¨C not alone ¨C but he did hope he could severely weaken him. The others had a much easier task in that they only needed to overcome the Healer¡¯s spells, kill her, then join him to finish off the Bladesinger when he returned to the courtyard. It wasn¡¯t a foolproof plan, but it was the best they could come up with considering their limited resources. Soon enough, Elijah entered a large chamber ¨C it wasn¡¯t so different from the dungeon, though there were no chains. Once there, he skittered to the side, climbed the wall, and slipped under Guise of the Unseen. It wasn¡¯t long before the first elements of the horde barreled through the large door, but when they entered, they found no enemy awaiting them. They spread out, searching the area, but pointedly, they never looked up. Whether that was a natural blind spot, or the creatures were just too stupid to think properly, Elijah wasn¡¯t certain. However, he was very grateful for their inattention. After only a minute, the Bladesinger himself rushed in. He clearly felt the negative effects of Elijah¡¯s Envenom and Lurking Swarm, though he was healthier than expected. Elijah aimed to change that, leaping from his perch on the ceiling, hitting the demon¡¯s back, then sinking his Predator Strike-enhanced fangs into the creature¡¯s neck. He could have bitten him a second time, but Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to push his luck. Instead, he used Flicker Step, shifting through the shadows to land on a wight¡¯s back. For good measure, he bit the hulking undead monster as well, then leaped away. Mid-air, he initiated the transformation into his human form, and the second his feet hit the ground, he cast four spells in quick succession. First was Blessing of the Grove, which conjured a gentle rain as well as the sunflower that governed the other parts of the spell. It was just in time, too, because only a moment later, one of the zombies raked its claws across his back. The blow was stopped by a green shimmer of vital ethera before Elijah whipped his staff around and destroyed the thing¡¯s skull. Even as his staff whirled, Elijah continued casting. The second spell he used was Eternal Plague:
Eternal Plague Conjure a swarm of pests that infect your enemies with appropriate afflictions. Channeled spell that grows in area the longer it persists. Escalating cost. Potency of afflictions based on Core Cultivation. Initial size of swarm dependent on Ethera attribute. Only useable in caster¡¯s natural form.
He¡¯d never actually cast the spell before, but he immediately understood how it worked. As a channeled spell, it required a constant influx of ethera and focus. The drain of the first was a bit more than it normally would have been ¨C after all, he¡¯d just cast Lurking Swarm only a few minutes before, and it hadn¡¯t reset yet ¨C but it was still manageable. The focus was another story, and it required an entire facet of his mind to maintain. Elijah shifted it appropriately, and a swarm of stinging hornets manifested. They descended upon the horde of undead, stinging them with ruthless fury. And a second later, the swarm grew. Through Soul of the Wild, Elijah sensed that the number of conjured insects grew by somewhere around twenty percent. However, the draw on his ethera increased by about half that. So, every second he continued to channel the spell would result in twenty percent more volume of afflictions, but at a cost of ten percent more ethera. An acceptable exchange, but Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t maintain the spell for more than ten or fifteen seconds. If he went further, the spell would drain the contents of his core well past the point of comfort. And he needed that ethera to continue the fight, because he wasn¡¯t under the impression that a few hornet stings would defeat the horde. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. With that in mind, Elijah continued to fend off the undead creatures, using the lessons he¡¯d learned in the Man Mo Temple. He was a whirlwind, dodging grasping claws and breaking undead bones with every passing moment. He had more cards to play, though. The third spell he cast was Brand of the Stalker. Normally, he used that spell without even thinking about it ¨C almost like muscle memory ¨C mostly because it increased his damage. This time, though, he wanted to keep track of the Bladesinger. The chamber was full of hulking undead wights and abominations, and as such, it was easy to lose sight of the smaller demon. But with the awareness granted by Brand of the Stalker, he didn¡¯t even have to focus on Soul of the Wild to know where the demon was. And Elijah used that to his advantage, constantly moving through the horde and keeping undead monsters between him and his foe. After all, he wasn¡¯t quite ready for a confrontation. Finally, he used Nature¡¯s Rebuke. Not once or twice, either. Over and over, he cast the spell. Even as the room was filled with the sound of buzzing hornets, he used the powerful Nature¡¯s Rebuke on the unnatural monsters. Unsurprisingly, they were powerful enough to endure it, though when combined with Eternal Plague, the overall effect was deadly. Elijah lost count of the number of times he cast the spell, but he did focus on the more powerful members of the horde. Wights, abominations, and giant skeletons were his primary targets, but he didn¡¯t miss an opportunity to aim for elite zombies. By the time he cut Eternal Plague off, the number of hornets in the room had reached into the thousands, and each one had inflicted multiple instances of afflictions upon Elijah¡¯s enemies. The Bladesinger alone had taken hundreds of stings. But Elijah wasn¡¯t finished. After recasting Blessing of the Grove, Elijah used Soothe on himself. Then, he planted himself in the center of the room and cast Lightning Domain. Dozens of lighnting whips erupted from his body, stretching all the way to the room¡¯s walls. Every creature in the chamber felt the bite of Elijah¡¯s lightning. Some perished immediately, and many others were severely injured. None escaped unscathed, and even the most powerful among them were stunned. The Bladesinger used an ability, flashing forward and burying one of his swords in Elijah¡¯s stomach. Agony erupted at the point of entry, and Elijah felt some sort of affliction take hold. Fortunately, that was immediately cured by the secondary effect of Blessing of the Grove, and the damage of having a blade rammed into his torso soon started healing. More importantly, it was exactly what Elijah had expected. Even as he stared the demon eye-to-eye, he grinned. Then, he grabbed the suddenly panicked Bladesinger¡¯s shoulders, preventing his escape. Finally, Elijah initiated another transformation ¨C this time, taking on the Shape of Thorn. The change took almost two seconds to complete ¨C which was longer than normal, suggesting that the demon was using an ability to hamper its expedience ¨C but that was fine. If it took one second or two, Elijah still had the Bladesinger right where he wanted him. The demon knew that too, and he tried to escape. Elijah¡¯s grip was like iron, and he grew stronger by the second as he took on the form of the thorned sentry. The Bladesinger¡¯s eyes widened as Elijah grew, both in size and Strength. He was even more shocked when Elijah¡¯s vines wrapped around him, further hindering his movement. That¡¯s when Elijah used Domain of Vines. For good measure, he activated Unchecked Growth as well. It was great for healing, but it was also a potent buff for his vines. And surrounded by enemies ¨C weakened though they were ¨C he needed every advantage he could get. Roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around undead monsters and squeezing them. Elijah wasn¡¯t concerned with the Bladesinger himself. Rather, he wanted to use his brief advantage to finish off the horde. And he did just that. The demon eventually escaped his grasp, sacrificing a good bit of his flesh in the endeavor, but by that point, most of the monsters were broken and dying. Via Brand of the Stalker, Elijah felt the Bladesinger try to escape, but he directed his vines to block the door. The demon hacked at the vegetation, but it regrew almost as quickly as he could cull it. After a few seconds, he gave up. By that point, the horde was almost entirely finished. A few had managed to survive, but they were so tangled in roots and vines that they were incapable of affecting what would happen next. The second Unchecked Growth ran its course, Elijah shifted back into his human form, refreshed his healing spells, then adopted Shape of the Master. The transformation completed just in time for him to see the Bladesinger racing toward him. He dodged the first thrust, then leaped over a sweeping kick before landing in a roll. Three more dodges, and he used Incinerate. Not on the Bladesinger, but rather on the still-trapped undead. They burst into flames like fresh kindling, but Elijah didn¡¯t bother watching them burn. Instead, he kept going, dodging the demon¡¯s attacks and peppering the remaining horde with Incinerate. It didn¡¯t take long before fires flickered across the entire chamber. The horde died in flames. That left only Elijah and the Bladesinger. ¡°What are you? A beast?¡± demanded the demon, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His black skin bore a spiderweb of white veins, and the smell of disease surrounded him in a cloud of sickness. But he was far from finished. ¡°Does it matter?¡± ¡°Of course it matters,¡± the Bladesinger spat. Then, before Elijah could answer, he launched himself at him in a whirlwind of blades. Elijah dodged a few, but the storm of attacks was so furious that he was forced to block most of them. The barrage only lasted a few moments before the Bladesinger backed away, panting in exhaustion. Instead of making another demand ¨C as Elijah had expected ¨C the demon disappeared in a swirl of ethera. Elijah dove forward, narrowly avoiding a horizontal slash that would have removed his head. When he found his feet, he looked around and saw no evidence of the Bladesinger. Via Brand of the Stalker, he felt the demon easily enough, though. He recalled its description:
Brand of the Stalker Sear a brand on an enemy, preventing all forms of stealth and increasing your damage against them by fourteen (14) percent.
Normally, it was supposed to prevent all forms of stealth, but clearly, it had limitations. So, while the Bladesinger¡¯s ability hadn¡¯t been blocked, the ability compensated by keeping him apprised of the demon¡¯s location. That, in turn, let him focus Soul of the Wild, giving him a clear picture of his foe¡¯s location as well as orientation. And as it turned out, he needed it. The Bladesinger didn¡¯t hesitate to throw himself forward with a series of deadly attacks. Elijah dodged them, slowly building stacks of Heart of Fire. Then, when it reached twenty-five, he let loose with Incinerate. Clearly, the Bladesinger hadn¡¯t expected it, and so, if he possessed any defenses, he never got the chance to erect them. Instead, he took the blast directly in the face. It wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as what he¡¯d used against the Chainspeaker, but it was enough. Not to kill the demon. He lived through it. But it did put him down, allowing Elijah an opportunity to smash his skull in. That took ten blows, but only the first few were contested. After that, the demon had lost consciousness, and it became an execution. Elijah stood over the demon, panting from exertion as well as the lack of oxygen in the room. He¡¯d learned his lesson about using Incinerate at full power, at least in an enclosed space. So, he¡¯d managed to avoid being burned by his own ability. Or rather, the superheated air that resulted from it. Regardless, he¡¯d survived, and he¡¯d more than done his job. Now, he needed to get back to the courtyard and help with the Corrupted Healer. Hopefully, his assistance wouldn¡¯t be needed. 7-82. The Final Stretch Elijah returned to the courtyard expecting to find that Sadie and Dat had already wrapped things up. But to his surprise, the Corrupted remained among the living. The demonic woman was standing in the center of the plaza, surrounded by an ethereal shield. Sadie aimed one blow after another at the barrier, eliciting ripples of dense energy, but her efforts fell short of the obvious goal ¨C which was to shatter the shield and slay the demon within. The Corrupted Healer, meanwhile, was on her last leg. Literally. One of her limbs had been lopped off at the hip, and though the bleeding from the stump had ceased, the leg showed no signs of regrowth. More, that wasn¡¯t the only sign that she¡¯d gotten the worst of the battle. She was covered in other wounds, with a huge gash splitting her shoulder, traveling up her neck, and marring her jaw. But she seemed entirely unconcerned, with her eyes closed and ethera swirling all around her. ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± he asked, skidding to a stop. ¡°We can¡¯t get through,¡± Sadie growled, slamming her sword into the shield between each word. She was clearly frustrated, and her attacks lacked any of the grace she normally infused into her technique. But she made up for it with sheer power. ¡°Where are the others?¡± asked Dat, squatting nearby and staring at the shield like he was trying to find gaps in the Healer¡¯s defenses. ¡°Uh,¡± Elijah muttered, running his hand over his bald head. No matter how many times he lost his hair, he would never get used to it. Maybe Biggle could offer a solution. That was the sort of thing Alchemists were supposed to be good at, right? ¡°You killed them, didn¡¯t you?¡± Dat sighed. When Elijah didn¡¯t immediately answer, the Witch Hunter continued, ¡°Bro. You¡¯re making the rest of us look bad.¡± ¡°So¡­um¡­what¡¯s the plan here?¡± Elijah asked, glancing around. The others had killed the members of the undead horde who¡¯d stuck around, but they¡¯d obviously hit a wall when it came to the Healer herself. ¡°Not sure,¡± Dat answered while Sadie continued her furious assault on the Corrupted¡¯s shield. It was clearly useless, but she showed no signs of slowing down. ¡°There aren¡¯t any weak spots that I can see. I can get through it if I use my Miracle, but¡­¡± He didn¡¯t give voice to the obvious. If he used his Miracle now, then it wouldn¡¯t be available for the inevitable fight against the Queen of Desolation. And given the power displayed by what amounted to lieutenants ¨C the shield-bearing demon they¡¯d encountered in front of the Wall, the Bladesinger, the Chainspeaker, and the Corrupted ¨C it stood to good reason that, going forward, they would need every spell and ability they could muster. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s an option,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°I don¡¯t either. So, the only other choice is to just wear her down, and when she runs out of ethera, kill her,¡± Dat replied. Elijah understood what was going through Dat¡¯s mind. Killing was easy enough when it came in the heat of battle, but what he¡¯d described was a systematic execution. That would feel much different, and not in a good way. But it had to be done. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s like towers?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I don¡¯t know, and I don¡¯t care. They deserve what they get,¡± Dat answered, his voice taking on a hard edge. ¡°If the world was fair, they¡¯d be forced to endure what they put the rest of us through. That over there ¨C she¡¯s not innocent. That monster is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure. He knew that, in towers, people were forced to act according to their roles. Was it the same for Primal Realms? Maybe. The evidence suggested that it was subtly different, but Elijah wasn¡¯t certain what constituted those differences. All he knew was that he didn¡¯t blame them for the things they did. There was an element of inevitability to it that he knew was out of their control. Dat clearly didn¡¯t feel the same, and rightly so. He¡¯d lost a lot of people he cared about, and he took his frustration out on the Healer¡¯s shield. Sadie did the same, and slowly, they whittled it down. When it began to waver, the Corrupted opened her eyes and said, ¡°She will destroy you all. Know that killing me will not help you. I welcome the death you so generously offer, but my pain will not cease. My suffering will continue, and we shall meet again.¡± That only served to send Sadie into a more ferocious rage. Part of it was obviously born of frustration, but Elijah also knew that Sadie reacted poorly to demons. The two elder races were sworn enemies, and it seemed that enmity had been passed along to those granted their cores. For his part, Elijah remained where he¡¯d planted himself, watching in case the situation changed. As it turned out, his attention was unnecessary. When the shield finally shattered, the Corrupted fell, entirely exhausted. Sadie executed her after only a moment. Elijah didn¡¯t even get any experience for the kill. But that didn¡¯t mean that the fight hadn¡¯t pushed him forward, and he¡¯d made it to one-forty-four. One more level, and he¡¯d get yet another ability or an evolution of an existing spell. It was a truly remarkable pace of advancement, and Elijah couldn¡¯t help but notice that Primal Realms were great for leveling. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. The fact that they¡¯d already lost two people ¨C three, if he counted the Summoner who¡¯d been killed before they even got to the Desolate Reach ¨C was concerning, though. People hungry for power would doubtless challenge any Primal Realm they found, and many would perish in the attempt. Even if they knew the dangers, there was a thirst for ongoing progression that would push them ahead. Elijah saw a future where such places would need to be regulated, lest people end up dying unnecessarily. But then again, that wasn¡¯t a concern he could focus on at the moment. Instead, he and the others gathered what loot they could find ¨C there wasn¡¯t much, aside from the Bladesinger¡¯s blades ¨C and headed back to let the refugees know of their success. Once that was done, the group decided to take a short rest before moving on to what they hoped would be the final challenge. Dat had already scouted the way, and he¡¯d returned to tell them that the rest of the fortress was clear all the way to what he referred to as the throne room. ¡°That¡¯s probably not a good description, though. There¡¯s a throne there, but it¡¯s more of a platform than a room,¡± he had explained. It didn¡¯t matter, because he was quick to add that the Queen of Desolation was there patiently waiting upon their arrival. As they recovered their strength and ethera, Elijah noticed that Dat had sequestered himself away from the others. Meanwhile, Sadie and Nico stared daggers at one another, with Elijah stuck between them. If there was ever a dysfunctional family dynamic, Elijah had stumbled into it. So, he didn¡¯t hesitate to extricate himself from their midst and head over to Dat. After settling down beside his friend, Elijah asked, ¡°How are you doing?¡± Dat looked up, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know why I thought she¡¯d be one of the prisoners.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Lisa. I carried her body back myself. I knew she hadn¡¯t been captured. She¡¯s gone for good,¡± he sighed. ¡°But when you told us there were captives, I let myself hope again. I kept telling myself it was stupid, that it wouldn¡¯t have made sense. But none of this makes sense, right? Who knows what the system can do? Maybe it can bring people back. Maybe resurrection is possible.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t think it works that way,¡± Elijah breathed. ¡°Me neither,¡± he admitted. ¡°But sometimes, hope doesn¡¯t care about reason.¡± He trailed off, letting a pregnant silence stretch between them. Then, Elijah revealed, ¡°I thought the same thing. About my sister, I mean. She died in a tower, and I thought that maybe she was still in there. But dead is dead. There are some spells that can bring people back, but¡­¡± ¡°But what?¡± asked Dat, hope blooming in his eyes. ¡°But some people say it¡¯s not really them that come back. It¡¯s just a copy,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°There¡¯s no way to tell for sure, though, and the longer it¡¯s been since they died, the more power it takes.¡± ¡°Some of the necromancers say they can bring people back. That¡¯s how I met Ke Ming. After Lisa died, I started visiting their enclaves, looking for anyone who could¡­I don¡¯t know¡­resurrect her, I guess. None of them could help, though,¡± he went on. ¡°There was no body, you see? She was cremated as soon as we got back to Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Her grandfather¡¯s orders.¡± ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been her.¡± ¡°I know.¡± ¡°And even if it was¡­I¡¯ve read a few guides that deal with that kind of thing¡­¡± ¡°And?¡± ¡°I read a few accounts of people who were successfully brought back. To the people who resurrected them, only a few minutes had passed, but they were gone. Their spirits had departed. When they dragged them back, it was agonizing for those people. They begged for death. The wanted so badly to return to whatever was on the other side.¡± ¡°What was it?¡± Dat asked. ¡°On the other side, I mean.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°None of them could remember. They just knew they didn¡¯t belong here. Not anymore. Most of them went insane or killed themselves soon after,¡± he explained. And those accounts were limited to those people who¡¯d almost immediately been resurrected. For someone like Lisa, who¡¯d been gone for years, it would assuredly be much worse. Dat hung his head. ¡°So, she¡¯s in a better place? Is that it?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know, Dat.¡± After a few more moments, he said, ¡°She was nice to me from the very beginning. Most people in Heaven¡¯s Bastion weren¡¯t. I¡¯d dumped a bunch of problems on their lap when I brought back all those refugees, and I was a foreigner. That made me easy to hate. But not Lisa. She was too good of a person for this kind of a world.¡± Elijah nodded along. Then, he asked the question that had been on his mind ever since the they¡¯d received the blessing from the Temple of Tin Hua Temple. ¡°What happened to her?¡± ¡°Her brother happened.¡± ¡°What did he do?¡± Dat took a deep breath, and for a moment, Elijah thought he was going to refuse to answer. Then, he said, ¡°We were supposed to interrupt a ritual. Back then, they weren¡¯t that uncommon. A few demons would appear, and they¡¯d sacrifice some people to open a portal. We didn¡¯t know where those portals led, but they let undead monsters through. Death-attuned ethera, too. Since then, we¡¯ve discovered that they were kind of like terraforming. They¡¯re unnecessary now. What¡¯s happened to Hong Kong is permanent.¡± That supported what Elijah had felt while traveling in and around the city. The death-attuned ethera had twisted life to such a degree that it was self-perpetuating. Separating the two ¨C vitality and death ¨C would almost assuredly require killing everything off and re-seeding the entire region. ¡°Anyway,¡± Dat continued. ¡°She was with the main group, while I was off scouting. Something changed, and they were forced to act sooner than they normally would have. Lisa toppled the ritual, but not before hundreds of undead spilled out. She was wounded in the battle, but our so-called Healer refused to treat her wound.¡± He glared across the room at Nico. ¡°He said he wanted to conserve ethera. He claimed that she would heal on her own. She didn¡¯t, and when we were attacked again, he used the ethera he had left. He saved a bunch of people, but Lisa got worse. By the time we realized how close she was to dying¡­it was too late.¡± He wiped a tear from his cheek. ¡°She didn¡¯t feel anything. One second, she was alive, and I was telling myself that she would be better when we got back to Heaven¡¯s Bastion,¡± he explained. ¡°Then, she was gone. I¡­I attacked him. I would have killed him if Sadie hadn¡¯t stopped me. ¡°It wasn¡¯t long after that that we all got our angel cores. I hate that I¡¯m tied to him by that,¡± Dat said. ¡°Sadie knew I needed to get away, and¡­well, she asked me to go with her to search for help. That helped.¡± ¡°But now you¡¯re back, and you realize that all the issues are still there.¡± Dat nodded. ¡°I wasn¡¯t kidding when I offered to take you back to the grove once this is all over,¡± Elijah said, reaching out to grip the other man¡¯s shoulder. Then, he pulled him into a hug. At first, Dat seemed like he didn¡¯t know what to do with the gesture, but then, he just leaned into it. ¡°Thank you,¡± he said. ¡°That¡¯s what friends are for,¡± Elijah answered, patting the man on his back. 7-83. The Queen of Desolation As he climbed the steps next to Sadie, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild. He couldn¡¯t feel anything past the door at the top of the stairs, though he could sense an enormous amount of power that reminded him of Yloa. Not in its potency ¨C the Lightning Emperor was a Transcendent, after all ¨C but rather, in the way it felt. Like a bomb on the verge of exploding, it was a herald of immense destruction. And hate. Avara, the Queen of Desolation was not a misunderstood leader who¡¯d compromised her morals for the greater good. Neither had Yloa been, really. But he¡¯d believed it of himself, which made all the difference. That did not describe Avara. She radiated evil like nothing Elijah had ever felt. There would be no moral quandaries when it came to dealing with her. No second-guessing. Not only was their mission to save Hong Kong too important, but she seemed irredeemable. She was a sapient monster, and as a Druid, Elijah felt it was his duty to cull her. So, with his staff clicking against the black stone steps, he followed Sadie to the door. Upon reaching it, she hesitated, then turned to the others and asked, ¡°Are you prepared for this?¡± The question was for everyone, but she was looking at her brother. The implication was clear. Elijah and Dat had fought against similarly powerful opponents. They didn¡¯t know precisely what to expect from the Queen of Desolation, but they had a general idea. Nico had no such experience, and as such, he was the most likely to be overwhelmed by the situation. But to Elijah¡¯s surprise, the Healer nodded resolutely as he replied, ¡°I will do my duty.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good, bro.¡± ¡°One second,¡± Elijah said, initiating a shift into the Shape of Venom. After asking his companions to look away, he waited a second or two before slipping beneath the Guise of the Unseen. Once he was out of sight, Sadie looked from Dat to Nico, then announced, ¡°This is not like the other fights. She¡¯s going to be a lot stronger. We don¡¯t know what to expect here, so we need to be flexible. Hit her hard and fast, and don¡¯t let up until she goes down. Understand?¡± Despite knowing that none of them could see him, Elijah nodded. He already knew the plan. As they¡¯d made their way through the fortress, they¡¯d discussed it ad nauseum, eventually coming up with something everyone agreed was the best they could manage. The general idea was to pile on the damage before the Queen of Desolation had a chance to react. None of them thought that would end the fight, but they hoped it would knock her off-balance and give them an advantage during the rest of the battle. As for Elijah, after his initial attack, his task was simple. He was meant to protect Nico. If the Healer went down, then they were probably doomed. Elijah could heal almost as well, but if he was forced to do that, then he couldn¡¯t do anything else. That would be devastating for their chances of success. Of course, plans rarely lasted past first contact with the enemy, so Elijah wasn¡¯t terribly surprised when everything changed the second they stepped through that door. The first thing Elijah noticed was that the door itself slammed shut behind them, then disappeared entirely. The implications were clear ¨C there would be no retreat. Then, he realized that Guise of the Unseen had been stripped away. The same was true of Dat¡¯s stealth. That ruined the first part of their plan. Without stealth, Elijah chose to shift back into the Shape of Thorn and focus on his primary task ¨C protecting Nico. By the time the transformation had completed, he¡¯d gotten a good look at his surroundings. The stairwell had led them up a tall spire, ending on a flat disc measuring a few hundred feet in diameter. At the center ¨C and facing their position ¨C sat a woman on a throne of skulls. She was clearly demonic, though her features weren¡¯t as overt as the other demons Elijah had seen in the Desolate Reach. She almost looked human, though with grey skin and dainty horns curling up from her forehead. She wore a tight-fitting black top and flared skirts that concealed her feet entirely. The outfit bore numerous holes and rips, and the woman looked to be in no better condition. In fact, the combination of her attire coupled with her strained complexion reminded Elijah of a Tim Burton movie. Like Edward Scissorhands in feminine form. Dat agreed, muttering something about the Corpse Bride. However, Avara was no innocently quirky fictional character. She was all too real. As was her throne, which had been assembled from hundreds of skulls all fused together into the vague shape of a high-backed chair. Otherwise, the platform was mostly bare, save for three arches equidistant from one another and standing at the edges of the disc. They too were made of bone, resembling the portals that had led to the various challenges meant to test Elijah¡¯s and his companions¡¯ might, cunning, stealth, or magic. There was a note of familiarity about it all, though, and he understood the source. The old man he¡¯d met in those challenges was Avara¡¯s father, and the resemblance was obvious. In terms of physical appearance, they had the same eyes ¨C though hers were sunken even further than her father¡¯s. But the real similarity came from the magical aura surrounding her. It felt almost identical, confirming the woman¡¯s parentage and more than hinting that the old man was also her mentor. They probably had the same class, too, which was troubling, considering the old man¡¯s obvious power. After all, he had summoned the skeletal guardian that had governed entry into the tests, and Elijah knew the creature was too powerful even for him to confront. At his best, he could only hope to slow such a monster down. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Avara stood, and as she rose, her skirts shifting as if they were weightless. A staff made of black wood appeared in a flash of green fire, then settled into her hand. It was topped by a carving of a demon¡¯s skull, complete with curling horns and massive fangs. In its eye sockets, green fire burned, and to Elijah¡¯s senses, those flames hungered to consume everything. When it did, it would convert everything to undeath. ¡°You have come,¡± Avara said, stepping down from her throne. Her feet were bare, but they seemed human. ¡°You have slain my champions, ending their eternal suffering. I thank you for that. Do you challenge my dominion over the Desolate Reach?¡± ¡°We don¡¯t care about your dominion,¡± Dat said before anyone else could speak. ¡°We just want you to stop your invasion.¡± ¡°I cannot do that,¡± the Queen of Desolation replied, a note of sadness in her voice. ¡°Such is my lot in life that I am a slave to my purpose. We must spread, or we will perish. That is unavoidable.¡± ¡°Then we have no choice,¡± Sadie stated as she took a couple of confident strides forward. ¡°Surrender now, and face justice. You will be given a quick and painless death.¡± It was her attempt at absolution, similar to what she¡¯d offered to the Shadeborne assassin back in the Trial of Primacy. She¡¯d tried something similar with Yloa, but her offer had fallen on deaf ears. The situation with Avara seemed doomed to that same fate, though Elijah hoped it would work. ¡°Justice?¡± Avara asked. ¡°From an angel? Is such a thing even possible?¡± ¡°Of course,¡± Sadie said, taking another step. Her entire body was tense and ready to spring into action. Then, Avara laughed. It was a humorless sound, echoing across the platform to be lost in the swirling winds of the Desolate Reach. ¡°You cannot absolve me, child. I am the Queen of Desolation. My death toll is in the millions, and yet, my hunger for power is not yet sated.¡± She spread her tattered wings, and a moment later, they erupted into green flames. ¡°You offer justice. Absolution. Forgiveness. I reject it, for the only justice in this world is power. Prove you are my superior, and enforce your will. The other option is to surrender and die. You may join my army of minions and spread my influence across your virgin world. Do that, and your essence shall be eternal. Do it not, and you will meet a pitiful end, forgotten and unloved.¡± As she spoke, Elijah felt himself nodding along. They truly did not have a chance. He could feel her power, just as he¡¯d sensed that the guardian or the old man were well beyond his ability to deal with. ¡°Enough,¡± Nico said, and ethera swirled around him. Elijah and the others whipped around, with Sadie even saying, ¡°No!¡± But he¡¯d already cast his spell. However, it wasn¡¯t aimed at the Queen of Desolation. Instead, a white light spread around him, enveloping the entire group. Immediately, Elijah¡¯s mind cleared, and his previous thoughts disappeared. It was clear what had happened. Avara had tried to manipulate them into surrender. But Nico had saved them. ¡°Your wicked words will find no purchase in our minds!¡± the Healer shouted with more conviction than he¡¯d ever before displayed. Perhaps Elijah had misjudged him. Regardless, with their minds clear, the group refocused on the task at hand. The Queen of Desolation was still powerful and defeating her would be extremely difficult. Yet, that was their charge, and no one in the group would back down. Not of their own accord, at least. Hopefully, Nico would be able to keep active whatever protective ability he¡¯d cast. Otherwise, they would be vulnerable to mental manipulation. ¡°Ah, so you are not wholly unprepared,¡± the Queen of Desolation said, stepping forward. Her feet barely whispered against the ground, but her staff clicked loudly against the black stone. ¡°No matter. In the end, you will kneel before my might.¡± With that, she flicked one hand toward the arch to her right. A small ball of green fire sailed across the intervening space, then splashed against the space beneath the arch. The verdant flame spread from the point of impact, enveloping the structure itself, then burning brighter. By that point, Avara had thrown fireballs at the other two gates ¨C one behind her and the other to her left ¨C resulting in a similar show of power. Once all three gates had been lit, they flared even brighter. Ethera swirled around them, then solidified in a plane of green crystal. It cracked a second later, and a skeletal hand appeared. ¡°This isn¡¯t good,¡± Dat mumbled. As a giant skeleton armed with a massive scythe ducked out of the first arch, Elijah was forced to agree with his friend¡¯s assessment. His heart dropped even further when similar creatures appeared in the other gates. ¡°Left-most is a spellcaster,¡± Dat said. ¡°Middle is a defender. Right can heal.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a full group,¡± Nico breathed. ¡°New plan,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°Get the Healer. Dat, silence the spellcaster. I¡¯ll keep Avara and the defender occupied. Nico ¨C just do your thing. Don¡¯t hold back. We can¡¯t afford it.¡± Just then, a stream of other skeletons came pouring out of the arches. As opposed to the larger versions, they were much smaller and devoid of weapons or other equipment. However, via sheer numbers, they were arguably a larger threat. Especially because the flow didn¡¯t look like it was stopping. If it kept going, the group would be buried under the weight of so many. After all, the platform was only so large. ¡°Not going to work,¡± Elijah stated. ¡°We need to disrupt those gates. Play defense for now. I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± With that, Elijah initiated another transformation ¨C this one into Shape of the Sky ¨C and leaped into the air. With the advantage of altitude, he could see things a lot more clearly. And with that came a sudden understanding, which quickly bloomed into a plan. He could only hope that the others were successful in their defense, because it was going to take him a few moments to figure things out. With that in mind, he flapped his wings and used Tempest Swarm:
Tempest Swarm Conjure a swarm of tempest flies that serve to increase the caster¡¯s speed and agility while disorienting enemies with hurricane-like winds. Some will carry sparks of lightning, delivering electric shocks when attacked. Potency based on Core Cultivation. Only useable in Shape of the Sky (or appropriate evolutions).
Immediately, thousands of tiny pinpricks of light bloomed all around him. From afar, they twinkled with rarely seen beauty, but when he looked closer, Elijah could see that they were tiny insects with wings of lightning. They buzzed, and electricity arced among them as a howling wind bore down on the platform. A few of the smaller skeletons were entirely unprepared for that, and as a result, their comparatively light bodies were swept over the edge. The decrease in numbers barely made a difference. But that wasn¡¯t the point of the spell. As the swarm of tempest flies descended upon the horde of skeletons, the wind continued to build. Meanwhile, electricity arced among the enemy, stunning and disorienting them. Even the larger creatures were affected, which Elijah hoped would give his companions an opportunity to defend themselves. At the same time, he turned his attention to his chosen task. He dove, ready to do what was necessary. 7-84. Addressing the Real Problem Elijah hit the gate with the force of a speeding train. In the past, that wouldn¡¯t have been possible in his relatively delicate flight form, but with all the recent attribute gains, he could bear it. The gate didn¡¯t even tremble, though. The bones that comprised its arch were entirely solid. He hadn¡¯t even chipped them. That told Elijah everything he needed to know about their durability. At best, it would take a concerted effort harnessing every point of his Strength to dismantle the gates. That wasn¡¯t possible, given the flood of undead pouring out of them. But at worst, they were indestructible. So, he turned his attention elsewhere. And it wasn¡¯t long before he felt it. Three surges of power ¨C conduits ¨C flowing from the gates, and in two separate directions. One led to the throne of skulls, while the other led downward. Through Soul of the Wild, Elijah determined that the former wasn¡¯t the source. Rather, it was the recipient, channeling that power into Avara. But below ¨C that was a different story altogether, and one Elijah intended to investigate. With that in mind, he left his companions behind. He¡¯d given them what help he could afford to give, and hopefully Tempest Swarm would provide them with a chance to hold on until he took care of the real problem. If those gates weren¡¯t defeated, then they wouldn¡¯t have a chance of winning the day. After his ill-fated dive, he flapped his wings and regained altitude just in time to avoid the grasping claws of dozens of undead. He soon left them behind, then circled as he focused on Soul of the Wild. The conduits flowed toward the center of the spire, though Elijah knew better than to simply retrace the steps they¡¯d followed on their way up. He and Dat had already investigated every nook and cranny of those corridors, so if there was something inside, it wasn¡¯t connected to the main halls. Even as Sadie and the others fought against the oncoming horde, Elijah once again dove, soon passing the lip of the platform so he could see the underside. It was mostly as expected, forming shallow bowl-like shape festooned with sharp edges that made it look more aggressive. It was like the whole thing was designed by an edgy teenager going through a goth phase. Only a moment after that thought crossed his mind, Elijah felt ethera stir just ahead of him. At first, he thought he¡¯d found something relating to the conduits leading to the gates, but when he saw a shimmer in the air resolve itself into a vaguely humanoid shape, he recognized it for what it was. A wraith. The incorporeal thing was a deadly enemy, and Elijah narrowly managed to bank far enough out of its path to avoid its oncoming attack. From experience, he knew the things wouldn¡¯t inflict physical damage upon him. Rather, they would suck the life right out of their prey, one attack at a time. That meant that he couldn¡¯t afford to get hit. Otherwise, he¡¯d end up a lifeless husk. Unfortunately, that resolution was compromised by the fact that the wraith was not alone. Far from it, in fact. Suddenly, the air screamed with their presence, and hundreds of the incorporeal creatures descended upon him. Some looked mostly human ¨C though transparent and with a blue tint ¨C but others obviously took inspiration from various other races, like dwarves, goblins, elves, and ogres. The vast majority of the things took shapes he didn¡¯t recognize. It didn¡¯t matter, though. Elijah wheeled away, tucking his wings into a dive that let him avoid the closest wraiths. However, he couldn¡¯t dodge them all, and soon enough, a wave of frigid cold that had nothing to do with the ambient temperature swept through him. He didn¡¯t feel any weaker, but he knew that if he kept going like that, he¡¯d end up plummeting to the ground, entirely devoid of life. Thankfully, he managed to outpace them, and soon enough, something became entirely apparent. The creatures were capable of rapid movement, but it was limited in scope. They could only keep it up for a couple of seconds before they slowed considerably. That gave Elijah enough of an opening to lead them away from the battle, circling around and herding them into a pursuing mass of blue, ephemeral forms. Each circle took him further afield, and to his distress, took long seconds that he knew his companions couldn¡¯t afford. Yet, he knew he needed room to investigate the phenomena below the platform, and he couldn¡¯t accomplish his goals with the wraiths flying around. So, he continued his plan for another couple of minutes until, at last, he judged that he¡¯d gained enough of a lead to give himself at least a few minutes to search for a source of all that ethera. He returned to the platform, finally pushing himself to full speed, and when he reached his destination, took a second to notice that things were not going well. Sadie was holding her own, but Dat had disappeared. Nico threw out heals like Elijah had never seen before, which was probably the only reason either of them were still alive. That sight told Elijah he was on the right track. If he didn¡¯t stop the flow of undead, there was no chance of victory. Before he did that, he needed to help, though. So, he swooped down, targeting one of the largest skeletons ¨C the one Dat had identified as a Healer ¨C snatched its collarbone with his talons, and, with a mighty beat of his wings, took to the sky. He was over the lip of the platform in only a second, and he dropped the creature to the ground far, far below. That act hadn¡¯t come without a cost, though. The enemy spellcaster skeleton had peppered him with a dozen attacks that had singed through his wings. If he tried it again, Elijah¡¯s flight capability would be severely diminished. Despite his desire to help his friends, he needed to focus on the real problem and stop the flow of enemies from the gates. So, he latched onto the underside of the platform, shifted into the Shape of Venom, then adopted Guise of the Unseen. Once he was hidden, Elijah focused on Soul of the Wild, mentally following the conduit of ethera toward the central spire. It wasn¡¯t long before he found what he was looking for. It was a round hole covered in what looked like green crystal. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. Elijah shifted into Shape of Thorn, and using his vines to cling to the underside of the platform, he reared back and punched the crystal. The blow failed to harness his full power, but even without leverage, he managed to crack it. The ethera flowing through the conduit weakened slightly, telling him he was on the right track. So, he hit it again. After three more blows, it shattered completely, exploding with enough force that he very nearly lost his grip on the underside of the platform. But he was surprised to see that, even though the flow of ethera had weakened, it didn¡¯t stop. Instead, it remained incredibly strong. Seeing that, Elijah shifted back into the Shape of Venom, then skittered forward. Passing through the beam of ethera was not pleasant, and Elijah felt his scales blister under the onslaught, but it wasn¡¯t enough to dissuade him. For almost fifty feet, he fought against the current until, at last, he spilled out into a chamber hidden within the spire. For a couple of moments, he simply lay there, recovering his energy. Passing through such a concentrated flow of ethera left him feeling an odd mixture of energized and absolutely wrung out. Like he¡¯d drunk an entire pot of coffee after spending four days studying for an upcoming final. As the seconds passed, he slowly returned to some semblance of equilibrium, but more importantly, he realized that he couldn¡¯t afford to spend any time on recovery. So, he shifted back into his human form, then cast a couple of heals to counteract the blisters he¡¯d picked up. That was when he allowed himself to look around, and he was more than a little surprised at what he saw. In the center of the chamber was the largest power crystal he¡¯d ever beheld, and its size was probably the least notable aspect. Instead, that distinction belonged to the green tint and the sheer amount of power it contained. Kurik would have loved it. After taking in the sight of the crystal, Elijah glanced around the rest of the room. It was triangular in shape, with three connected halls leading outward. He couldn¡¯t see past their entrances, but he felt something sinister within those dark corridors. Predictably, three other beams of ethera ¨C in addition to the other three, which were on a different plane, leading outside ¨C went through those halls. Elijah¡¯s first instinct was to simply smash the power crystal. It was clearly the fuel for the portals, so getting rid of it ¨C or even disrupting the flow ¨C would likely deactivate them. But that plan was undercut by the fact that it was surrounded by a cage of black metal that proved too durable for Elijah to destroy. And for longer than he cared to acknowledge, he tried to do just that. It was like railing against a mountain, and he accomplished even less than that comparison implied. Regardless, it was a good hint as to what he needed to do next. So, he turned his attention to the dark halls. Deciding to be on the safe side, Elijah shifted back into the Shape of Venom, then adopted Guise of the Unseen. The sense of being watched disappeared, confirming that he was on the right track. He padded forward, and when he reached the hall, he hesitated only a second before passing through. Worry for his friends drove him forward as he climbed the walls, and he was so distracted by that that he very nearly ran into his doom. A giant, inhuman eye embedded into the ceiling flicked back and forth, clearly keeping watch over the entire area. Elijah had no interest in seeing what would happen if it detected him ¨C doubtless nothing good ¨C so he took extra caution as he traversed the dark hall. He could barely see a few feet in front of him, and the area was so infused with ethera that Soul of the Wild was of similarly limited use. Still, he inched forward, keeping watch for more evidence of the hall¡¯s creepy security system. Along the way, he saw four more eyes. They were just as large and when Elijah searched them with the sense granted by Soul of the Wild, he found himself utterly repulsed. The things weren¡¯t just watchful. They felt, for lack of a better term, cruel. It was further evidence that he didn¡¯t want to see what they would have in store if his stealth faltered even a little. He remained vigilant, driven by need as well as a little fear, and he soon found the end of the hall. A black obelisk stood at the terminus of the beam of ethera, and after seeing its glassy sides, Elijah struggled to understand what he was looking at. When he once again focused on Soul of the Wild, he saw two things. First, the sides of the obelisk were not as smooth as he¡¯d first thought. Instead, they featured a single rune on each surface. Second, the walls were absolutely covered in similar glyphs, each one pulsing with a subtle current of ethera. Most importantly, Elijah recognized the setup because he¡¯d seen something similar not long ago. Had the old man built those tests to give them hints as to what was to come? Almost assuredly. And Elijah wasn¡¯t shy about putting those lessons to good use. He immediately searched for the matching glyphs, then extended a tendril of his soul into each one. The runes on the obelisk lit up, one by one, and when all four sides were alight, the obelisk retracted into the floor. The beam of ethera ceased. Elijah pumped his fist, then started back toward the hall. Only when he felt that foreboding sense of being watched did he remember to shift back into Shape of Venom and slip into stealth. The way back was no less fraught with anxiety than the first trip through the tunnel, but Elijah managed it, immediately entering the next hall. What he found on the other side was an almost identical setup, though with a different set of glyphs. He had no idea what they meant, but he didn¡¯t need to, so long as he got the results he needed. The third hall went almost identically to the other two, though this time, the eyes in the wall were even more vigilant. That forced Elijah to slow down, which was not an easy task, given the anxiety flowing through him. He managed it all the same, and when he returned to the main chamber, he found that the cage had retracted into the floor. The crystal was exposed. Guessing that the test of strength had a purpose just like all the others, Elijah reasoned he was intended to remove the power crystal. So, he shifted into the Shape of Thorn, then stepped up to the pedestal where the crystal rested. The thing was at least five feet across and perhaps seven tall. It would not be no easy burden to lift. Elijah hoped he could manage it. To that end, he wrapped his arms and vines around the thing, then activated Savage Strength. It didn¡¯t budge. Not even an inch. The thing was at least as heavy as the tenth stone that he¡¯d failed to lift back in the test of strength. Perhaps even heavier. But back then, Elijah was driven by nothing more than adrenaline and pride. This time, his friends¡¯ lives were at stake. So, he tried again, and on this attempt, he managed to shift it an inch. Screaming with the strain, Elijah continued to struggle, and one inch became two. Two became three. And after tapping into every point of strength he possessed, he managed to lift the thing free of its cradle. The second it left, the beams of ethera ceased. He stumbled backward and dropped the huge power crystal. It hit the ground, shattering the stone beneath it, but it remained entirely intact. Seeing that, Elijah decided to finally use an item he¡¯d prepared for just such an occasion. Before he¡¯d left his island, he¡¯d bought another ring paired with the spatial anchor on his island. Until now, he¡¯d decided not to reveal its existence, but this seemed like a good opportunity. Once it disappeared, Elijah refocused on the task at hand. After all, he had some friends to assist. So, without further ado, he ensured that he hadn¡¯t missed anything in the chamber, then headed back the way he¡¯d entered. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t be too late to save his companions. 7-85. Topside Sadie met the descending blade of an axe with her sword, sending sparks flying in every direction. The force of the blow drove her to her knees, but she mitigated that by twisting and throwing the axe head to the side. It thudded into the ground, cutting deeply enough to lodge itself in the paving tiles. Sadie used that momentary distraction to her advantage, launching herself forward and swinging her sword in a horizontal arc. The off-balance skeleton couldn¡¯t react quickly enough, and her glowing blade hit the thing¡¯s shin in a shower of ethera. More importantly, her impeccable aim meant that she managed to hit the spot she¡¯d already targeted a half dozen times. A single blow couldn¡¯t cut through the durable creature¡¯s bones, but the seventh finally did the trick. The cut wasn¡¯t clean, and the result was more of a break than a severing, but the end result ¨C that the leg became detached ¨C was all that really mattered. The fifteen-foot-tall skeleton teetered on one foot, then fell with a crash, crushing a handful of zombies beneath its immense weight. It wasn¡¯t enough, though. She knew it even before she looked around and took stock of their situation. Hundreds of zombies flooded out of the bone-arch gates with every passing second, and they showed no signs of stopping. The only good news was that Avara, the so-called Queen of Desolation, hadn¡¯t personally joined the battle. Instead, she¡¯d planted herself on her grotesque throne, trusting that her minions would do her dirty work. More troubling was that Dat had disappeared, slipping into stealth. Elijah had tried to destroy the arches, but when he¡¯d failed, he¡¯d flown off, chased by incorporeal wraiths. Sadie had no idea when he would return. That left only her and her brother, and despite his relatively decent level, Nico was not suited for such a battle. Because of his incredibly low Regeneration attribute, he had no staying power. Even if Sadie managed to whittle the enemy down, she knew it wouldn¡¯t be a quick process. There was no way Nico could keep her ¨C or himself ¨C alive that long. Sadie needed to buy some time. So, she raised her sword and activated a Miracle. Her weapon erupted into a light so bright that if she wasn¡¯t protected from it, it would have blinded her. It didn¡¯t stop there, though. Instead, the light became a miniature sun, radiating with so much ethera that the atmosphere in a thirty-yard diameter felt as thick as water. And then, it exploded. Not with a force Sadie could feel. For her, it only felt mildly warm. To the undead monsters all around her, it was a different story altogether. The closest were entirely atomized by the blast, but with every yard it traveled, it weakened until those at the very edge were only knocked backward. It was the spell she¡¯d gotten at level one-twenty:
Light of Judgement A Miracle that channels the combined power of Ethera and Faith to unleash a surge of divine energy. The effect is lethal to undead foes, while allies within range benefit from a slight increase in Regeneration. Potency of explosion based on core cultivation. Increase in Regeneration dependent on caster¡¯s Ethera attribute.
Sadie stumbled at the loss of so much faith, though she was still grateful that it didn¡¯t take her entire store. The effect on the battle was obvious, with the charred remains of hundreds of zombies and a handful of giant skeletons littering the platform. But she knew it wouldn¡¯t be enough. The streams of undead flowing from the gates had briefly faltered, but after only a couple of seconds, it resumed. What¡¯s more, the rate of entry had increased, largely because there was now room for it. Without any other option, Sadie braced herself for the next wave. Meanwhile, Nico remained behind her, recuperating his ethera as best he could manage. Before she clashed with the enemy, Sadie used Aegis of Faith, the evolution to Bulwark of the Faithful. The upgraded version of her personal shield lasted longer, was stronger, and when it burst, it gave her a much more potent influx of attributes. There had been other options that added different effects, but she¡¯d opted for the straight-line upgrade. When she met her undead foes, the shield proved effective, protecting her from numerous blows before shattering. Even as it went on cooldown, her attributes skyrocketed, and for a few moments, she felt like a god amongst mortals. Her sword swept out, cleaving whole swaths of zombies in half. The skeletons fared no better, and though she didn¡¯t take them down in a single blow, she did manage to knock them off kilter. Like that, a tentative balance emerged. By the time her attributes returned to normal, Aegis of Faith had come off cooldown. So, there was barely any lag where she lacked the benefit of inflated attributes. And even then, she was protected by the powerful shield. Nico didn¡¯t have that advantage. And Sadie, try as she might, was incapable of being everywhere at once. Thankfully, she had another spell evolution at her beck and call. She cast Halo of Protection:
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Halo of Protection Protect allies with powerful shields of woven ethera.
It was not a complex spell, but it was different from its predecessor in one key aspect. Instead of having to individually place shields, as she had with Consecrated Shield, she could cast a single spell and protect all of her allies in a given radius. At the moment, that only included her brother, but it could shield up to five people before the strain on her ethera grew too strong to ignore. In any case, the new version of the shield was far more durable than the old one, and it was more than enough to keep him safe from the few zombies who made it past her. He wasn¡¯t entirely defenseless, and he¡¯d produced a small mace that he used to kill any zombies within arm¡¯s reach. Even so, Sadie knew she was engaged in a losing fight. Little by little and despite her best efforts, she lost ground. Slowly, she and Nico were pushed back until they found themselves against the wall of the central spire. The door through which they¡¯d arrived was now sealed. Their desperate situation got even worse when Nico growled, ¡°I can¡¯t keep this up for much longer. Where are you friends? Did the cowards run away?¡± Sadie frowned, wanting to argue with her brother. She had every faith that both Dat and Elijah were working toward solving the problem. Unless they were already dead, but that wasn¡¯t something she wanted to consider. So, instead of responding, she focused on their most immediate issues. And there was only one solution, even if she¡¯d have preferred to hold it in reserve. But what she wanted and what she needed to do were rarely the same, so she was used to compromise. In that spirit, she embraced the first spell of her updated plan of action:
Bell of Faith Let your Faith echo across any battlefield, stunning enemies and empowering allies. Duration based on Ethera attribute. Current: 6.3 seconds.
Immediately, a shining silver bell manifested above her head, then let out a pealing toll that echoed across the platform. The zombies crumpled to the ground, entirely insensate, and the more powerful undead ¨C which included wights as well as giant skeletons ¨C shuddered to a stop. Six seconds. That was all she had. So, she used her one-fifteen spell. It had an incredibly long cooldown, so she normally held it in reserve. However, in their current situation, she didn¡¯t think she had much of a choice in the matter. She needed all the power she could muster, and Divine Momentum would provide precisely that.
Divine Momentum Forge ahead with the momentum of the faithful. Every victory grants a 1% increase to all physical attributes. Lasts 1.2 seconds until dissipation. Duration renewed with every defeated opponent. Maximum increase to attributes determined by core cultivation. Current: 106%. Cooldown: 62 days.
Sadie erupted into motion, slicing through zombies with ease. Each one she slaughtered resulted in a one percent increase to her physical attributes. That didn¡¯t seem like much until she started stacking one kill after another. As the description implied, there were only two limitations to the ability. First, if she failed to kill an enemy within one-point-two seconds of the last, it would fall away. Not all at once, but about one percent per second until she returned to normal. However, she would then be incapable of extending it further. The second limitation was that she could only go so far with the increase, topping out at a little more than double. Still, that was an incredibly potent enhancement, and it could perhaps make all the difference in the fight. The only other problem with the spell was that, at around two months, it had such an incredibly long cooldown. That meant it was an emergency measure. She tore through the undead, one after another. Because of Aegis of Faith, she managed to avoid taking any damage that might interrupt her rhythm, but even as she sheared through one enemy after another, a couple of limitations became apparent. The most evident was that she lacked the experience to utilize her inflated attributes. As a result, she often overcommitted with her attacks, putting far more force behind them than was absolutely necessary. But almost as problematic was that, after that first burst, her enemies were a little more evenly spaced out. The platform was still crowded with undead, but they weren¡¯t packed in like they had been before. Because of that, she had to move further and further afield ¨C all while still trying to protect Nico ¨C just to keep the buff going. Inevitably, she faltered after only a few seconds at peak power, and with every following second, the buff decreased until, after a little more than ninety seconds, Sadie returned to normal. She had cut through hundreds of zombies and quite a few of the more powerful undead, but her efforts had barely made a dent in their numbers. In fact, because of the steady flow out of the three gates, there seemed to be even more than before. Or maybe that was just her trying to process the futility of the situation. No matter how many they killed, there were always more. After all, those gates assuredly lead to the Underrealm ¨C a plane occupied entirely by undead ¨C and as she¡¯d discovered during the Trial of Primacy, there was no shortage of creatures willing to cross over. On and on she fought, growing ever more fatigued. As she downed one undead monster after another, Sadie fell into a battle trance. Often, that was the only way she could endure long fights against massive hordes. She¡¯d developed the ability ¨C such as it was ¨C early on after the onset of the apocalypse, and it had been honed to perfection ever since. She was still aware and in control of her actions, but she was far enough removed that she barely felt her exhaustion or the pain from the many wounds she suffered. Thankfully, due to her own high attributes and her various shields, Nico wasn¡¯t forced to heal much, but she was well aware that his pool of ethera would eventually run dry. When that happened, they were doomed. It felt inevitable. Sadie was on the verge of accepting her own fate ¨C and making plans to go out with a bang ¨C when she felt a surge of ethera. It emanated from the throne, but it quickly tore across the platform and collected beneath the arches of bone. It built and built, not unlike a pressure cooker, and then, suddenly, the gates exploded. All the undead within a few feet of those arches were vaporized, but the explosion quickly dissipated, leaving most of the horde intact. However, with the destruction of the gates, hope bloomed within Sadie¡¯s heart. More importantly, she knew that it meant that one ¨C or both ¨C of her friends were still alive. That brief surge of hope bolstered her efforts ¨C right up until the Queen of Desolation let out a bellow of wordless rage at having her gates destroyed. Waves of green fire erupted in the sky, roiling like storm clouds, and casting the entire platform in verdant light. Suddenly, the zombies straightened to their full height, and the skeletons¡¯ bones shimmered with green-tinted ethera. More distressingly, their eyes erupted with green flames, and they moved much faster than ever before. Sadie defended as well as she could, but by that point, even the mundane zombies were her match. And she was completely outclassed by the skeletons and wights. But still, she fought on. Doomed as she was, she never considered doing anything else. 7-86. Heroism Dat ignored the ghosts screaming at him to turn back, telling him that his friends weren¡¯t worth saving. That Hong Kong was a cesspool of bad memories and even worse people, and it wasn¡¯t his job to pull them out of the muck. None of it was new. Ever single time he used Ghost Cloak, he was forced to endure their input. At times, tuning them out was easy enough, but when things got stressful, they turned up the volume. He didn¡¯t know if they were real. For all he knew, they could¡¯ve been his ancestors or the people he¡¯d loved throughout his life. Or maybe they were just manifestations of ethera meant as the price he needed to pay for his power. Such was the cost of becoming a Witch Hunter. It was a powerful class made even stronger by his angel core, but all that strength came with plenty of issues. The ghosts, which haunted some skills and spells, were just one prominent example. The others were less obvious but just as impactful. Dat had been forced to become quite adept at dealing with those issues, which he hoped to mitigate once he was allowed to evolve. He¡¯d reached one-twenty-five already, but without a Branch available in the Primal Realm, he was stuck there. And that meant the ghosts were even louder and more insistent than ever before. Now, with the situation laid out before them, it appeared that he might never get the chance to see what paths lay open before him. There were just too many undead. Fighting them head-to-head wasn¡¯t his forte, so he¡¯d donned Ghost Cloak and set out to end the most obvious threat. Even as Sadie battled against the undead ¨C backed up by her snake of a brother ¨C Dat crept through the horde, carefully weaving between the monsters so he could avoid detection. One wrong step, a single brush against the wrong creature, and he would be done. The wights were the worst. There was a gleam of sapience in their beady eyes, and they were more than powerful enough to act on it. Despite his Ranger archetype and propensity to participate in battles, Dat was not much of a fighter. That wasn¡¯t the point of his class. Instead, he usually played the role of an Explorer and a scout. Most importantly, though, he was first and foremost an assassin. He recalled the notification that described his class. The memory was burned into his mind, constantly hovering over his every action.
Class: Witch Hunter The Witch Hunter is a capable jack-of-all-trades, effective in battle, as a scout, and in certain non-combat tasks. However, the class specializes in a single task above all others: hunting down powerful enemies and ending the threat they represent. To accomplish this, the Witch Hunter employs many of the abilities characteristic of those they are tasked with hunting down. Curses, hexes, and communing with spirits are just the beginning of the sacrifices the Witch Hunter must make for the greater good.
Dat¡¯s compatibility with the class had been a perfect one hundred percent, which was one of the reasons he¡¯d chosen it over his other options. That, and he¡¯d grown up playing video games and reading comics, so the name of the class was very appealing to him. There was just something evocative about the term Witch Hunter that excited him. Perhaps those two characteristics were intertwined. Regardless, he¡¯d taken the class, and he¡¯d reaped the benefits, quickly rising to the top in terms of his position among the others in Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Yet, he¡¯d also learned first-hand just what the description meant by sacrifices. There were the ghosts, but in addition to that, some of his abilities just felt, for lack of a better term, evil. Even his most powerful Miracle, Blade of Severence, had sinister undertones.
Blade of Severence Sever the connection between body and soul, casting the spirit into disarray. Effectiveness based on comparative Core Cultivation.
It didn¡¯t simply kill his victims. That would have been far more acceptable. But Dat had seen the aftermath of Blade of Severance. He¡¯d heard the tortured wails of his victims¡¯ spirits. It was an effective ability, often killing his enemies in a single attack. And yet, the implications of its use were also horrifying. It was even worse when it didn¡¯t finish the deed, leaving his foes¡¯ spirits mangled beyond all recognition. That hadn¡¯t happened often, but those memories haunted his nightmares. Because, for better or worse, he could see people¡¯s spirits via the very first ability his class had granted:
Witch¡¯s Eye The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Observe the realm of spirits.
He glanced back at Sadie, who blazed with bright, white light that was a perfect encapsulation of who she was. Of who she aspired to be. For all her judgemental nature, she¡¯d always sought to do the right thing. She was never cruel, even if she wasn¡¯t as empathetic as others might prefer. It wasn¡¯t always an easy road to travel, and her abilities tended to make it even more difficult. But results were immaterial. The fact that she kept trying, kept striving ¨C that was the mark of a good person. Dat could only hope that he embodied similar characteristics, but he couldn¡¯t see his own spirit. For all he knew, it was just as twisted as some of his victims¡¯. That would be fitting. As he¡¯d discovered, the name of his class didn¡¯t refer to a person who hunted witches. Rather, he was a witch who hunted. And in the new world, names meant something ¨C none more so than witch. After glancing at Sadie, he looked to Nico. That man¡¯s spirit couldn¡¯t have been more different than his sister¡¯s. Grey and amorphous, it gave the impression of self-service and greed. Nico wasn¡¯t a good man. Nor was he evil, per se. He was somewhere in the middle, and his choices were driven by selfishness. Dat hated him. That wasn¡¯t a source of pride. Nor was it something he dwelled upon. But it was a feeling he could not escape, and not just because he held Nico responsible for Lisa¡¯s death. That was a big part of it, but it went far deeper than that. At his core, Nico just didn¡¯t care about other people. He would do his job as a Healer or as a leader, but he would never willingly bleed for his people. He didn¡¯t sacrifice for his companions. He was cold and calculated, and he would never be the man who¡¯d go all-out for others. He would never lay down his life to save his own sister, much less a bunch of strangers. Dat had difficulty not comparing Nico to Ron. They were so different. The latter wouldn¡¯t hesitate to give everything he had, just to save a single life. Stranger. Family. It didn¡¯t matter. He viewed it as his personal responsibility. If he thought it was the logical move, Nico would run rather than fight to save others. It was infuriating to see someone who¡¯d been blessed with the power to do so much good, and watch him squander it on self-preservation. So, Dat hated him ¨C unabashedly and without reserve. As Dat turned his attention back to the horde, he saw that each one of the undead had an aura too. Most were barely visible ¨C just a slight green illumination ¨C but the fact that Dat could see them at all was troubling. If those creatures had spirits, then were they alive, just in a different way? The spirits of the skeletons and wights blazed much brighter, though they were twisted out of shape. Dat didn¡¯t know how to interpret that, so like so much else that troubled him about his class, he pushed it out of mind. Instead, he focused on making his way across the platform. As he did so, Sadie fought against the horde, and though Dat wanted nothing more than to assist, he knew that was not his place. She had her task, and he had his. After a few minutes ¨C that felt like hours ¨C of stepping lightly around the undead monsters, the gates through which they¡¯d come exploded in a shower of green sparks. Only a few moments later, Avara, Queen of the Damned, screamed. Then, she slammed her staff of twisted, black bone into the ground, and green fire roiled in the sky. Or that was what Dat¡¯s normal vision suggested. Witch¡¯s Eye told a different ¨C and far more terrifying ¨C story. Those were spirits up there. To the naked eye, they looked like flames, but to Dat, they were writhing spirits screaming in agony as their very essence was harnessed to fuel a powerful spell. The resulting energy slammed into the remaining members of the horde ¨C there were still thousands of the monsters crammed onto the platform ¨C and their own spirits blazed with new fury. Their eyes lit with green flames, and they moved with far more purpose, precision, and, most troublingly, power. Dat knew he couldn¡¯t wait much longer. He rushed, uncaring if he was detected. With his high Dexterity and decent Strength, he could outpace most of the undead. Still, he made a point to avoid the powerful wights and domineering skeletons. As it turned out, caution was unnecessary anyway. When the undead had been empowered by the burning spirits above, they¡¯d focused entirely on the most visible target. Sadie fought valiantly against them, her own spirit blazing more brightly than ever before, but Dat could tell that her struggle wouldn¡¯t persist much longer. Dat¡¯s mission was more urgent than ever before. When possible, he darted around the zombies remaining between him and his target, but other times, he simply leaped over them. Even if they detected him, they paid him no heed. And then, after leaping onto the throne, he was in position. He drew his short sword ¨C a mundane weapon, but one that had seen him through countless battles ¨C and took aim at Avara¡¯s back. She wasn¡¯t a large demon ¨C probably five and a half feet at most, and painfully slim to boot ¨C but even with her small stature, she loomed over his crouched form. Her aura was almost as twisted as the wights¡¯, though in an entirely different way. It almost seemed like self-mutilation, rather than something that had been inflicted upon her by an outside source. Dat couldn¡¯t concern himself with that, though. Most of the enemies he¡¯d seen in both the Trial and in the Primal Realm were damaged beyond all recognition. Avara seemed no different. He knew he couldn¡¯t afford to hold back. He embraced Blade of Severance, and without further hesitation, struck. As the blade slid between her back ribs to pierce her heart, Dat knew it was a kill shot, especially with the benefit of the powerful Miracle contributing to the strike. Her aura shattered like glass and she slumped. But she did not fall. That was when the first vestiges of panic set in. They completely enveloped him a second later when the Queen of Desolation¡¯s aura stabilized ¨C still shattered and pulsing with whatever passed for agony when it came to spirits ¨C and she whipped around. She moved more quickly than Dat could track, and before he understood what was happening, her hand closed around his throat. Dat knew what was coming. He could sense the panic in her spirit. He saw the fury in her green-glowing eyes. She had no intention of letting him leave the Primal Realm alive. Even if she fell, she would ensure that he died right alongside her. So, Dat¡¯s next decision was an easy one. If he was already doomed, he intended to make his death worthwhile. He wasn¡¯t like Nico. He would do whatever it took to help his friends survive. Without an ounce of regret, he embraced Curse of the Greater Good:
Curse of the Greater Good Make a sacrifice for a worthy cause.
The last vestiges of his Faith whispered into the spell. It didn¡¯t matter. The primary fuel for the Miracle wasn¡¯t Faith, but rather, his willingness to martyr himself. The effect took hold, pouring energy into his shortsword. He twisted it, the act counting as an attack and releasing the energy. Just as Dat¡¯s life dissipated, he spared a moment to hope that Nico acted against his character. The one other time Dat had used Curse of the Greater Good, Ron had saved him. Dat was capable of the same thing. But being able was a very different thing than being willing. Even as Dat started to lose consciousness, the Queen of Desolation¡¯s shattered aura was scattered to the wind. She stumbled, releasing Dat to fall back upon her throne. He didn¡¯t have the energy to brace himself. Blackness closed in, and his last thought was that even if he died ¨C even if Nico refused to save him ¨C it was worth it. His class might have labeled him an evil witch, but he felt satisfied that his actions made him the hero he had always dreamed of becoming. 7-87. Down, but Not Out Elijah crested the lip of the platform to see two things. The first was Sadie taking a skeleton¡¯s axe to the shoulder. It shattered her ethereal shield, cutting deep into her torso. Blood sprayed from the wound as she collapsed, and Elijah¡¯s heart caught in his chest. But via Soul of the Wild, he felt something else that drew his attention. Suddenly, Dat appeared out of nowhere. Positioned behind Avara, Queen of Desolation, he¡¯d just rammed his sword into her chest. However, she reacted almost faster than Elijah could track, spinning around and grabbing the Witch Hunter by the neck. Her fingers closed, and even from so far away, Elijah could see that his friend was going to die. But out of nowhere, ethera and faith surged around Dat. Avara released her hold on his neck, and he fell backward onto the throne. She stumbled in the other direction, barely capable of remaining on her feet. More importantly, every undead creature on the platform faltered, then collapsed, lifeless and unmoving. Elijah felt Dat¡¯s vitality dissipating by the passing second, and he reacted accordingly. He beat his wings as powerfully as he could manage, surging forward until he slammed into the ground in an awkward landing. At the same time, Sadie screamed, ¡°No! Heal him! Not me!¡± Even as Elijah cast his healing spells ¨C first, Blessing of the Grove, then Soothe, and finally Nature¡¯s Bloom ¨C he felt the source of Sadie¡¯s distress. Nico had healed her wounds rather than targeting Dat. And she had a clear opinion about that choice. ¡°I¡¯m spent,¡± Nico breathed, falling to his knees. ¡°I can¡¯t heal anymore.¡± That sent Sadie into a panic, but Elijah focused more on his own task as he continued to heal Dat. However, it was like he was pouring water into a bucket that had a hole in it. No matter how much he healed his friend, his body refused to hold the vital energy. Instead, it all just seeped out, never actually taking hold. Then, Sadie was there. She used her most potent Miracle ¨C the one that had once regrown Elijah¡¯s lower half ¨C and a torrent of potent ethera flooded out of her. But she encountered the same problems Elijah had, and all but a few dregs of that life-giving energy dissipated into the atmosphere. Tears in her eyes, Sadie used her other healing spell. In the best of times, it was only enough to mend minor injuries, and Dat¡¯s situation certainly didn¡¯t qualify for that label. Elijah continued his own efforts, but even as he cast one instance of Nature¡¯s Bloom after another, he knew it was futile. Never was that more obvious than when he looked at his friend¡¯s waxy complexion. Elijah had seen plenty of dead bodies. He could recognize the lifeless eyes. The expressionless face. The absence of vital energy, save for what he and Sadie were pouring into the Witch Hunter. ¡°Sadie.¡± She didn¡¯t acknowledge him. ¡°Sadie!¡± ¡°Not now, Elijah. I need to concentrate,¡± she responded, urgency and a note of panic in her voice. ¡°I¡¯m almost there.¡± He reached out, gripping her shoulder. Her pauldron had been destroyed by the skeleton¡¯s axe, leaving the skin bare. Her flesh was cold and trembling. ¡°He¡¯s gone, Sadie.¡± ¡°What? No. He¡¯s ¨C¡± ¡°Gone. I¡¯m sorry, but¡­¡± Elijah had no idea how to complete that sentence. Even uttering it left him feeling empty, like the entire world had just fallen out beneath him and he was in freefall. Yet, he could feel that Sadie had taken it worse, and for valid reasons. Dat was her closest friend. A confidant on whom she had leaned since the very beginning. Their relationship stretched back well before Earth had felt the touch of the World Tree, and it had only grown stronger after the world¡¯s transformation. Relatively speaking, Elijah¡¯s friendship with Dat was ¨C or had been ¨C a shallow and inconsequential thing. He almost felt guilty even comparing the two, even though he knew that grief wasn¡¯t the sort of thing people should weigh against one another. Sadie was saved the necessity of a response when movement nearby jerked her attention away from Dat¡¯s body. Elijah felt it too, and he focused on the Queen of Desolation as she rose from the ground. Disoriented, she looked around at all the corpses. But then, she turned her attention to Dat. And she smirked. That tiny expression was all it took to break whatever control Sadie had managed to instill over her emotions. Tears streaming down her cheeks, she pushed herself to her feet and leveled her sword at the monster who¡¯d killed her closest friend. ¡°Pitiful, little angel ¨C¡± Sadie didn¡¯t let Avara get another word out before she threw herself at the demonic woman. As she sprinted across the intervening distance, she blazed with white light, and wings manifested from her back. They too were made of light, and they cast the entire platform in bright illumination. Avara flinched away, but by the time Sadie reached her, the demon had recovered enough to meet the charge. Sadie¡¯s sword cut a blazing arc through the air, but it was intercepted by Avara¡¯s raised staff of twisted black bone. Sadie used the momentum of her charge to put a shoulder into the slimmer Queen of Desolation, knocking her backward a few feet. That additional room gave Sadie enough space to deliver a vicious kick that should have broken the demon¡¯s leg. It didn¡¯t, proving that even having been so thoroughly weakened by Dat¡¯s sacrifice, Avara was no easy opponent. Elijah snapped out of his stupor. Sadie didn¡¯t need to fight alone. He recast Blessing of the Grove, then Soothe. Neither was currently necessary for the fight, but he wanted to be ready in case Sadie took a hit. He¡¯d already lost one friend, and he certainly didn¡¯t intend to let another one die. Once those two spells were cast, Elijah shifted into Shape of Venom, then cast Lurking Swarm. As the phase spiders manifested and leaped at the Queen of Desolation, Elijah did the same. Before long, she was covered in the crystalline arachnids. Each one delivered a dose of venom before they were shattered into a million pieces that quickly dissipated into the atmosphere. Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon. Meanwhile, Elijah darted in, using Envenom as he nipped her legs. She tried to avoid his attacks, but with so much else going on, she couldn¡¯t afford the attention necessary to dodge. At the same time, Sadie¡¯s assault never ceased. Wings of light blazing with righteous fury, she attacked like a machine. Elijah had never seen her move so quickly or with such precision, and yet, the Queen of Desolation never faltered. She met every attack with her staff, slapping the blade of Sadie¡¯s sword aside just enough to avoid being cut in two. Eventually, Elijah had delivered as much venom as he could manage, and he shifted back into his human form to renew his heals. Sadie still hadn¡¯t taken any damage, but he knew her ability wouldn¡¯t last forever. Once it faded, she would need the healing. After he¡¯d finished that off, Elijah shifted into Shape of Thorn. Again, he cast that form¡¯s version of Swarm, though after everything he¡¯d done since the battle began, he was starting to feel the effects on his stamina. But he knew he couldn¡¯t afford to hold back. The Queen of Desolation wasn¡¯t as overbearing as Yloa ¨C not in comparison to their current power levels ¨C but she was perhaps even more dangerous, largely because they didn¡¯t have so much back-up. No Ron. No Lamar and his group. No more Dat. It was just Elijah and Sadie against an ascended being who outstripped them in every possible way. The only reason they¡¯d survived so far was because Dat had weakened her so significantly. Elijah didn¡¯t know how long that would last, but he suspected it wouldn¡¯t be forever. They needed to end the fight, and sooner rather than later, or his sacrifice would end up counting for nothing. With that in mind, Elijah watched the mites conjured by Thornbound Legion descend upon Avara and burrow into her skin. She slowed noticeably as they exploded into splinters, but Elijah didn¡¯t pay much attention to that. Instead, he shifted into Shape of the Master, and for the final time, cast Primal Swarm. Fire beetles manifested from the local ethera, and the swarm of glowing insects didn¡¯t waste a second before divebombing the Queen of Desolation. A series of explosions followed, doing minor damage, but more importantly, slowing the demon woman even more noticeably. That gave Sadie a slight edge, and she used it to her advantage. Meanwhile, Elijah abandoned the Shape of the Master and prepared for Sadie¡¯s ability to end. It did only a few seconds later, and the effect was immediate. The Queen of Desolation hit Sadie with a baseball-style swing that should have crushed the Crusader¡¯s hip, and yet, with Elijah¡¯s Blessing of the Grove ¨C plus Sadie¡¯s personal shield ¨C it did nothing. Sadie countered it by punching the demon woman in the face with enough force to dislodge her jaw. Finally, Sadie sagged as the effects of her ability faded entirely. Avara sensed her weakness and pounced. Elijah met her staff to staff, but he was absolutely floored by the degree of Strength the demon put behind her blow. He skidded backward from the force of the impact, but he maintained his feet. A recovered Sadie used that opportunity to attack. She stabbed forward, but the demon¡¯s sudden retreat meant that Avara only took a flesh wound. She created a little more distance, allowing Sadie to complete her recovery from the loss of such a powerful buff. ¡°Your fate is inevitable. Surrender, and I will make your deaths quick,¡± Avara announced, though her voice quivered as she dealt with the sheer volume of afflictions eating through her. Burns covered large swaths of her body, and her wings had wilted under the effects of Elijah¡¯s venom. Finally, discoloration progressively crept up her neck, evidence that it had not halted its spread. She might not have been dying, but she definitely wasn¡¯t at full strength. By comparison, Sadie and Elijah were practically in pristine condition. Side by side, they advanced, ignoring the demon¡¯s offer. Elijah¡¯s pool of ethera had dissipated to almost nothing, but he had enough to power a few heals ¨C or a single transformation. ¡°No more heals,¡± he whispered after re-casting Blessing of the Grove. Hopefully, it would prove to be enough. Sadie nodded, and Elijah commenced a final shift into Shape of the Master. He¡¯d considered Shape of Thorn, but the form was too lumbering to be useful. And even with Unchecked Growth powering Domain of Vines, Avara was too strong to be held. But Shape of the Master was perfect for working with Sadie against a single opponent. In that form, he was small and quick. And if he could build a few instances of Heart of Fire, that ability was probably the only one in his repertoire strong enough to quickly finish the Queen of Desolation. By the time the transformation completed, Elijah and Sadie had reached their foe. Hatred billowed off Sadie as she aimed one vicious blow after another at the demon. Meanwhile, Elijah used his enhanced reflexes to dart in and out, hammering his Feral Spire into Avara¡¯s legs and hips. None of his attacks were strong enough to cause major damage, but his chosen task wasn¡¯t to end the fight on his own. Rather, he wanted to distract and wear down the Queen of Desolation. She didn¡¯t take it lying down, though. Her own staff blurred faster than any weapon Elijah had ever seen before. Even the master of the Shrine of War couldn¡¯t move so quickly, and more than once, Elijah had his plans to build instances of Heart of Fire fouled by her efforts. If he¡¯d focused only on dodging, he might have managed it. Maybe. But in this fight, he was not the primary attacker. That role belonged to Sadie who fought with more aggression than Elijah had witnessed from her in any of their previous battles. She didn¡¯t care about self-preservation. She simply threw herself into the fight without regard for her own safety. That¡¯s where Elijah stepped in. He deflected blows that would have shattered Sadie¡¯s bones, and on more than one occasion, took the hits himself. Due to the development of his combat style, he was mostly effective, though he did end up with a broken arm when he didn¡¯t move quite fast enough to avoid the full weight of one of Avara¡¯s blows. Still, despite their best efforts, they fought at a stalemate. The clacking of staff-on-staff, grunts of effort, and the sound of Sadie¡¯s sword smashing into Avara¡¯s weapon filled the air. Then, finally, Elijah saw an opening. Or more of a tell, really. It was nothing more than a slight discoloration of Avara¡¯s knuckles as she gripped her staff a little more firmly, but it preceded every attack. Seeing that, Elijah waited until just before she aimed what could have been a debilitating blow at Sadie¡¯s head. Elijah timed his own attack to hit just before Avara¡¯s staff descended. The Feral Spire smashed into her wrist, harnessing the full weight of his Strength as it broke the demon¡¯s delicate bones. She tried to clutch her staff a little harder, but when Sadie raised her sword to block, the force of the two weapons¡¯ collision was enough to dislodge the staff from her grip. It fell away, skipping across the ground before it settled between two zombie corpses. That was the beginning of the end. After being disarmed, Avara made a good showing as she dodged more attacks than landed. But every blow took its toll, slowing her even more until Sadie managed to ram her sword through the demon¡¯s chest. Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to smash his staff over her head, and the sound of cracking bone echoed across the platform. Avara didn¡¯t die, though. That was the thing about Regeneration. Often, powerful people clung to life long after they were incapacitated. When that happened, one needed to practically hack them apart to finish them off. So, that was what he and Sadie did. It was a gruesome and gory process, but Sadie neither hesitated nor let her dedication to the act wane. Not even after they received a flood of experience announcing the demon¡¯s death. And a notification telling them that they had defeated the Primal Realm. Neither of them cared, though. Once it was clear that the Queen of Desolation had finally succumbed to her many injuries, they both turned their attention to Dat. He lay where they¡¯d left him, half draped on the throne. In a stupor, Elijah and Sadie approached. Elijah fell to his knees, his hand on his friend¡¯s lifeless chest. And he wept. Sadie remained standing, her cheeks still wet. But no more tears came. Instead, she just stared at Dat, her face impassive but somehow conveying a sense of anguish that Elijah had rarely seen before. Only once, in his own mirror after his parents had died. He didn¡¯t know how to deal with it then, and he certainly didn¡¯t know now. So, without any notion of what else to do, he simply wept, letting his grief overcome his every other thought. 7-88. Shattered Elijah was out of tears. Yet, the ones he¡¯d shed felt like too few. His grief felt too shallow. Dat deserved more. He deserved wailing sorrow and anguish and vows of revenge. But the author of his demise was already gone. There was no one else to blame. All that was left was to wallow in grief, pick up the pieces, and move on. Which was the source of Elijah¡¯s guilt. Sadie broke that spell as Nico approached. Without a word, she pushed herself to her feet, wheeled on her brother, and grabbed him by the throat. ¡°You intentionally let him die!¡± she accused, lifting him from the ground. ¡°Admit it. I can see the sin curling around you. Admit it!¡± Elijah sprang to his feet and intervened, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t do this, Sadie. Let him go. Even if he¡¯s responsible, you¡¯ll never forgive yourself if you let this happen.¡± For his part, he didn¡¯t care if Nico died. The man certainly hadn¡¯t ingratiated himself to Elijah, and he¡¯d proven he was petty, cowardly, and unreliable. Still, Elijah knew enough about family to be certain of his statement. If Sadie killed her brother, it would be the first step down a very dark road. Maybe that was inevitable, but Elijah wouldn¡¯t forgive himself if he let it happen under his nose. Sadie stared at her choking broker for a second before she released him. He fell to the ground, gasping for air. ¡°You disgust me,¡± she growled. ¡°I¡¯d hoped you would be better, that you would learn to be someone worthwhile. But you refuse. I¡¯m more disappointed in you than you can imagine.¡± ¡°You think you have the right to judge me?¡± he coughed, massaging his neck. Sadie¡¯s grip had left a bruise ¨C a testament to how serious she¡¯d been. ¡°Yes.¡± Her voice was cold, lacking the familial tone she¡¯d always used with her brother. She didn¡¯t say it outright, but the implications were clear. He was still her sibling, but that designation meant less now than it ever had. ¡°We need to get out of here,¡± Elijah interjected. Against his better instincts, he added, ¡°Sort out your differences when we get out of the Primal Realm. There are still people depending on us.¡± Nico¡¯s eyes widened. He had clearly forgotten about the former prisoners they¡¯d left near the bolt hole. They were safe back there, but they couldn¡¯t escape without assistance. After all, the area was still dominated by undead, and returning to the portal in front of the wall was the only way out. It had been inactive last Elijah had inspected it, but he had a feeling it would now be open. Sadie said, ¡°He¡¯s right.¡± With that, she gathered Dat¡¯s body while Elijah took whatever he could find on the demonic Queen of Desolation¡¯s corpse. The staff was clearly the most valuable, but she also wore a couple of rings and a pendant that featured a sizable emerald. All of the jewelry glowed with subtle currents of ethera, so he suspected they were enchanted. He wouldn¡¯t know more until he got them all appraised. After slipping the loot into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel ¨C much to Nico¡¯s irritation ¨C Elijah led the group in their descent from the platform. Thankfully, the door had reopened, allowing them to return the way they had come. In a way, it was much easier to move on when he had other responsibilities on which to focus. Of course, doing so only increased his guilt, as if concentrating on their escape from the Primal Realm was a betrayal of Dat¡¯s memory. Elijah knew it didn¡¯t make a lot of sense. If Dat could have offered an opinion, he would have fully supported focusing on staying alive and rescuing the prisoners. But Dat wasn¡¯t there. He couldn¡¯t give his opinion. He couldn¡¯t joke or offer tidbits of keen insight. He was gone, and as far as Elijah knew, there was no coming back from that. Elijah was no stranger to loss. His parents had died shortly before his high school graduation, and the spiral of grief had led him to move thousands of miles away from home. It hadn¡¯t offered much real relief from his emotions, but it had been a distraction. The same was true of his reaction to the news of his sister¡¯s death. In that instance, though, he¡¯d embarked on a quest for revenge and slaughtered thousands along the way. A whole city had fallen by his hand. He couldn¡¯t let himself go down that path again, but he worried that Sadie would take that road. She had experienced plenty of grief as well, but Elijah wasn¡¯t certain how she would react to the death of her best friend. She looked at Dat as family, and the effect of his passing would surely be very impactful. Those thoughts flittered through one facet of Elijah¡¯s mind as he progressed through the spire, leading his remaining companions to the prisoners. The group of people were suitably shocked at the loss of Dat, but they hadn¡¯t had a chance to really get to know him. On top of that, he hadn¡¯t been responsible for their well-being in the same way that Nico had, so they weren¡¯t nearly as broken up about it as they probably should have been. Elijah wanted to tell them just how much Dat had sacrificed, but he knew they didn¡¯t have time for him to do so. The Primal Realm had been defeated, but judging by the rise of deathly ethera, the threat was not finished. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. Supporting that notion, the trip from the bolt hole¡¯s exit was characterized by constant battle. It provided a good distraction ¨C especially for Sadie, who attacked the problem with uncharacteristic brutality. She didn¡¯t hold back as she cleaved her way through hordes of undead monsters. Meanwhile, Elijah focused on keeping them on track while ensuring the safety of the refugees. Nico healed, though he was just as stingy with his ethera as ever. Elijah filled the gaps there as well. Perhaps predictably, the former prisoners adored Nico. His healing spells were flashy and obvious, so they could easily recognize his efforts for what they were. By comparison, Elijah¡¯s spells ¨C aside from Blessing of the Grove ¨C had no real visible component. And Elijah had heard more than one prisoner attributing the nourishing sunflower to Nico. After all, he was the Healer. They all recognized him, and it was so much easier to give him credit than to acknowledge the contributions of a stranger like Elijah. Never did he feel more out-of-place than in the middle of a bunch of people where he was so obviously different. Not that he tried to gain their acceptance. He didn¡¯t. He was too distracted ¨C by the task he¡¯d taken upon himself, the constant battle, and his grief over Dat ¨C to care much about how the prisoners saw him. Nico clearly felt differently, but then again, he wasn¡¯t affected by Dat¡¯s death. Not at all. So, he basked in the attention, reveling in their adoration. Meanwhile, Elijah and Sadie did what was necessary. Eventually, they made it back to the wall to find that the gate was open. Elijah didn¡¯t know if that was the Primal Realm rewarding them for their victory or if the old man had provided them a means of escape that didn¡¯t include summiting the wall. Regardless, it gave them a free path of escape, so they took it without question. Along the way, Elijah made certain to collect any loot they¡¯d left behind. That included the shield wielded by the demon commander of the undead army. It was much too large to carry around in his Ghoul-hide Satchel, so he instead stored it in the ring paired with the spatial anchor back in his grove. He¡¯d purchased a new one the last time he¡¯d visited a Branch, but he¡¯d yet to use it because of its limitations. Predictably, Nico didn¡¯t seem happy that Elijah had claimed the loot for himself. His ire was easily ignored, though. They also got a bit of a shock when they ran into Gideon. Or what was left of him. He shambled in their direction just like any other zombie. Due to the circumstances of his death ¨C and the cold preserving his flesh ¨C he looked strikingly similar to when he was alive. Yet, there was nothing of the man left, and Sadie wasted no time before decapitating him. The body crumpled to the ground, and she stepped over it like it was no different than any of the other thousands of zombies they¡¯d slain. Nico opened his mouth to object, but he stopped himself a second later. Instead, he recruited a couple of the stronger prisoners to gather the man¡¯s remains and carry it across the battlefield and to the portal. As Elijah had predicted, the interior shimmered with ethera, telling them that it was active. ¡°Is there anything else we need to do in here?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Rewards,¡± Nico said. ¡°Not the time,¡± Sadie stated. ¡°We¡¯ll sort through it when we get back.¡± ¡°But ¨C¡± Sadie didn¡¯t let him finish before she led the way through the portal. Elijah gestured for Nico to follow, then waited until the rest of the prisoners did the same. At last, he left the Primal Realm behind, fervently hoping that he would never need to revisit it. It had taken too much from him. Elijah appeared on the other side, and after only a few moments spent in reorientation, he soon discovered that they had reappeared at the base of Mount Longhu. That meant they wouldn¡¯t have to deal with the defenders, but they still needed to cross the city. Without Zhang Yue, that wouldn¡¯t be easy. Elijah¡¯s prediction was not inaccurate. At first, they were forced to battle just as hard as they had in the retreat from the Citadel of Sorrow. Yet, their experiences in the Primal Realm had prepared them well, and they managed it without too many issues. Eventually, they arrived at their destination. Heaven¡¯s Bastion loomed over them like a monolith. And of course, that¡¯s when things went wrong. ¡°Not letting those people in here,¡± said the guard, his eyes flashing with ethera as he used some sort of identification ability. ¡°Some of them are necromancers.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t be serious,¡± Sadie spat. ¡°They¡¯ve been through hell. Let them in. That¡¯s an order.¡± ¡°We don¡¯t take orders from you, ma¡¯am.¡± ¡°Then take them from me,¡± Nico interjected. ¡°Put them on the first floor. Get them healthy. Feed them. Then we¡¯ll sort this out later.¡± The guard looked a little wary, but he nodded and said, ¡°Fine. But if Song Tianwei objects¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take responsibility,¡± Nico said. That surprised Elijah, but he was in no mood to question it. In fact, he wanted nothing more than to relieve himself of the burden the prisoners represented. That would give him the opportunity to truly grieve his friend. After that, he just wanted to return to the grove where he could¡­ He wasn¡¯t sure what he would do there. His other responsibilities hadn¡¯t disappeared, but with the loss of Dat, they seemed further away than ever. The last thing he wanted was to jump straight into another ordeal, even if he knew that was probably what would happen. The events of the world didn¡¯t just stop because he wasn¡¯t in the mood to confront them. Unfortunately, the guard also balked at allowed Elijah inside, which snapped something in his mind. Before he knew what was happening, the guard was on the ground, and a half dozen weapons were aimed in his direction. He was just about to shift into Shape of Thorn when Sadie stepped in to defuse the situation. That didn¡¯t help as much as it probably should have, and the guards didn¡¯t back down until Nico intervened, healing the wounded sentry and vouching for Elijah. ¡°What the hell was that about?¡± he asked when he and Sadie separated from the others. ¡°I came here to help, and we accomplished our mission, but now they¡¯re treating me like a criminal?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Sadie said. ¡°But I¡¯m going to find out. First, we need to take care of Dat. I¡­he didn¡¯t have any other friends here, so it will just be you and me at his service¡­¡± ¡°I understand,¡± Elijah responded, glancing at their friend¡¯s body. They¡¯d wrapped it in some cloth they¡¯d found along the way, so they didn¡¯t have to look at his familiar but now lifeless features. But Elijah could feel them via Soul of the Wild. ¡°Do we need to make any other preparations before we lay him to rest?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. We can¡¯t afford to wait.¡± The implications were clear. If they didn¡¯t do it soon, they ran the risk of Dat becoming a zombie. So, it was with heavy hearts driven by practicality that they headed to the Shrine of the Fallen, where not that long ago, he¡¯d walked in Dat grieving for his fallen love. He reached out to grab her hand. ¡°We¡¯ll do it together.¡± 7-89. Remembrance ¡°I don¡¯t know what to say.¡± Elijah stood next to Sadie, but he didn¡¯t know how to respond to her statement. She¡¯d obviously lost people ¨C everyone had ¨C but from Elijah¡¯s experience, it never got any easier. Coping with the death of a loved one was one of the most difficult experiences one could endure, and what¡¯s more, it was always a personal process. Nobody could tell anyone else how to deal with it. All they could do was offer support. So, that¡¯s what Elijah did. He put his arm around Sadie¡¯s waist and pulled her close as he said, ¡°Dat was a good man. He was a great friend, and the best companion anybody could ever hope for. He gave without thinking of how it would benefit him, and he saved countless people. He was a hero.¡± As he spoke, Sadie sobbed, eventually burying her face in his chest. As he tried to offer comfort, he stared at the display they¡¯d had made for Dat. As was his request, it had been placed next to Lisa¡¯s in the Shrine of the Fallen ¨C a process that had taken only a few short hours. During that time, Elijah and Sadie had retreated to their respective quarters, where they¡¯d taken the time to clean up and make themselves presentable. For his part, Elijah had chosen to eschew his mostly ruined armor, donning the best from his limited wardrobe. The clothes were simple ¨C just a loose, white shirt and a pair of brown trousers that only reached his calf ¨C but it was the best he had available. It wasn¡¯t like he had a formal suit in his satchel, after all. The choice to leave his feet bare likely seemed a curious one, but it was largely driven by the fact that Elijah didn¡¯t trust that they were out of danger. Something told him that Heaven¡¯s Bastion was no longer a safe haven. Not for him, and maybe not even for Sadie. Doubtless, Nico was already spinning a web of lies ¨C or half-truths, more probably ¨C in an attempt to undermine his sister. And by extension, Elijah. It was such a petty thing, and it left him feeling more than a little disgusted with humanity. Was that all that was left of Earth¡¯s native population? Pettiness and distrust? Oppression and segregation between the haves and the have-nots? But the evidence just didn¡¯t support that notion. Sure, there were people like the ones in charge of Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Or the now-dead Roman in Easton. But there were also people like Isaiah in Seattle. He wasn¡¯t an easy man to like, but he seemed to have his people¡¯s best interests at heart. The same had been true in Norcastle before its fall to the dark elves. Argos was another exception. And Khotont. No - humanity wasn¡¯t doomed to governance mired in the self-interest of the governors. Rather, Elijah was just fixating on the exceptions. There would always be those. Even before the World Tree deigned to extend its branches toward Earth, leaders had ever been self-serving. That was why there were laws. Checks and balances. Countless rebellions peppered history to ensure that those in power never forgot that they served at the behest of the people, rather than the other way around. ¡°He deserves more than this,¡± Sadie said, finally pulling away. Elijah immediately missed the warmth of her body. After sitting on the bench in the center of the corridor, she leaned forward, her hands on her knees as she stared at the tile floor. No expense had been spared in the construction of the Shrine of the Fallen, and the tiles represented that commitment very well. They were ornate but tasteful, just like the rest of the shrine, which was characterized by row after row of memorials, each one bearing what looked like a holographic likeness of the deceased. It would have been beautiful, if it weren¡¯t for what all those memorials represented. Thousands dead, and those were just the ones who merited inclusion in such an exclusive space. How many more had been slain without anyone even knowing about it? In Hong Kong alone, the death toll was in the millions. Most of those had ended up as mindless zombies who roamed the streets, driven only by predatory instincts to feed. It was deconstruction of humanity on its most basic level, and it horrified Elijah as much as anything else he¡¯d experienced. He also couldn¡¯t miss the parallels between the people of Hong Kong and those who¡¯d once populated the world of Ka¡¯arath. Most of the natives of that world had become wraiths, nearly as mindless in their gluttony as zombies. ¡°It¡¯s what all he wanted,¡± Elijah countered Sadie¡¯s previous statement. Dat had made that clear. His only desire was to be laid to rest next to the woman he loved. So, after his body had been cremated, they¡¯d placed his urn next to Lisa¡¯s. ¡°He really did love her.¡± ¡°I know,¡± she said, sitting up and leaning into him. ¡°But my grandfather should be here. So should Nico. He should have a parade¡­or something. I don¡¯t know. But he deserves more than just you and me. His life should be celebrated.¡± ¡°What did Tianwei say when you told him about it?¡± ¡°Nothing,¡± she revealed, sniffing loudly, then wiping tears from her eyes. She let out a long sigh, then leaned back. ¡°He just nodded like it was an expected turn of events. I¡¯m not sure my grandfather anticipated our return. He knew people would die. Maybe he was counting on it. I don¡¯t know. I barely recognize this place anymore. When we started it, it was supposed to be a safe haven for anyone who could get here. We even sent out rescue parties, bringing people back. But now¡­now, it¡¯s like they¡¯re treating it as something exclusive. Like a gated community meant to keep out the rabble. Meanwhile, people out there are suffering. Not all of them are necromancers, either. Most aren¡¯t. And even if they were, so what? They¡¯re still people, and they deserve a chance to live as much as anyone else.¡± It was one of the longest speeches Elijah had ever heard come from Sadie¡¯s mouth, and it was one with which he wholeheartedly agreed. Clearly, she¡¯d kept her feelings on the subject bottled up, and when she¡¯d finally decided to let them loose, they¡¯d spilled out in a torrent. Elijah could relate. ¡°You could change it,¡± he suggested. ¡°Your grandfather ¨C¡± ¡°He doesn¡¯t listen to me anymore,¡± she interrupted. ¡°I¡¯m no longer the favored child. Nico was busy while I was gone. I¡¯m not certain if it was at my grandfather¡¯s request, but he spent most of that time setting himself up as a man of the people. He was very visible. Meanwhile, my reputation was subjected to a barrage of attacks in the form of rumors. Some claimed that I fled in cowardice. Others say that I was allied with the necromancers, people those same rumors make out to be a bunch of monsters instead of people just trying to survive. Most of the population here look at me like I¡¯m an outsider.¡± If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. ¡°What will you do?¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know.¡± Elijah offered to help, saying that whatever she needed from him, that she only had to ask. That elicited a small, sad smile, but no verbal response. After that, the pair just sat next to one another on the bench before Dat¡¯s memorial. Sadie continued to lean close, and both took comfort in the other¡¯s presence. It would have been a beautiful moment, but for the context that they were both still dealing with the death of their close friend. So, of course, it had to be interrupted. Elijah felt them coming before they arrived, but he dared to hope that their mission was one of respect. Or at the very least, benign. But the quartet of guards, each one more powerful than those Elijah had met before, had something else in mind. And they were led by Nico. Elijah didn¡¯t move as they fanned out to surround them. In fact, he didn¡¯t acknowledge their presence at all, which clearly infuriated Nico. ¡°I have come to escort you to be judged by a tribunal of elders,¡± the Healer announced in his most imperious voice. His eyes never left Elijah, making it clear who was the subject of his address. ¡°Judged?¡± asked Sadie, rising to her feet. ¡°For what?¡± ¡°Stay out of this,¡± he said. ¡°I¡¯m here for him.¡± Sadie wasn¡¯t going to take that lying down, so she once again demanded what grounds they had to judge Elijah. ¡°Answer my question,¡± she commanded, a dangerous glint in her eye. ¡°Fine. It¡¯s no secret. Elijah Hart is to be tried for the urder of Sir Gideon St. Claire,¡± Nico stated. He made the simple answer sound as if it was the most reasonable thing in the world. ¡°Rest assured, sister, if he is innocent, he has nothing to fear. However, there are enough inconsistencies to his story that we have no choice but to suspect foul play. In that case, he must pay for his crimes.¡± ¡°Crimes? Plural?¡± ¡°He also stole equipment vital to the well-being of Heaven¡¯s Bastion, and we have it on good authority that he consorts with necromancers,¡± Nico explained haughtily. ¡°In addition, I had no choice but to reveal his cowardly retreat from the last battle. As I said, if he is innocent, then he has nothing to fear. If he is guilty ¨C as I strongly suspect ¨C then he will feel the full wrath of Heaven¡¯s Bastion.¡± Sadie began to speak, but by that point, Elijah had had more than enough. He took a deep breath, then pushed himself to his feet. As he did so, he cleared his throat and said, ¡°I think you¡¯re forgetting one thing, Nico.¡± ¡°You will have an opportunity to present evidence of your innocence when ¨C¡± ¡°I won¡¯t be participating in your little trial.¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°You heard me. I¡¯m getting sick and tired of your attitude, man. I came here to help, and that¡¯s what I did. I helped deal with your little Primal Realm problem, and I didn¡¯t ask you for much in return. Do you know why?¡± ¡°Clearly, you mean to take advantage ¨C¡± ¡°Because of her,¡± he said, nodding toward Sadie. ¡°And Dat. But that only goes so far. I¡¯m only willing to take so much shit before I decide enough is enough. That¡¯s not the thing you¡¯re forgetting, though.¡± ¡°And what am I forgetting?¡± ¡°You have no authority over me. You have no means of controlling me. You can¡¯t kill me. You can¡¯t restrain me. If I want to, I could go on a rampage and kill every single person in this settlement, and there¡¯s not a damned thing you can do to stop me. The only person here who might have a chance is Sadie, and I¡¯m smart enough not to piss her off,¡± he stated. Though, in the back of his mind, he questioned whether or not Sadie could even stand in his way. If he did end up going on a rampage, she would try to stop him. That was who she was. But he suspected that she would fail. After all, he had a lot of levels on her. ¡°You overestimate yourself,¡± Nico hissed. ¡°You have no idea what defenses we can bring to bear.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s true. But again ¨C you¡¯re not thinking this thing through. You come after me with four guys, right?¡± he asked, glancing from one to the other. Via Soul of the Wild, he felt two flickers of movement. ¡°Oh, wait ¨C there are six. They¡¯re what? Late sixties? Maybe as high as eighty? Impressive levels, for sure. But do you truly believe they¡¯re enough to bring me down? If so, let¡¯s get to it, but I¡¯ll tell you right now ¨C it won¡¯t go well. You¡¯ve seen some of what I can do ¨C enough to know that you really don¡¯t want to push me. It¡¯s been a little while since I slaughtered a city.¡± Most of Elijah¡¯s instincts screamed at him to just attack and be done with it. Swatting them like flies would definitely satisfy some of his more insistent urges. Yet, for Sadie¡¯s sake ¨C and maybe that of his mental state ¨C he restrained himself, hoping for a peaceful resolution. But no matter what else happened, he had no intention of letting Nico or Song Tianwei judge him. Even if he wasn¡¯t innocent of whatever accusations they¡¯d conjured, he was so far above them that the idea of letting them pass judgement on him was laughable. The fact that he thought he was above the law should have scared him, but he barely gave it a second¡¯s thought. ¡°Elijah¡­¡± He turned to Sadie and saw the question in her eyes. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything wrong. Gideon died because he failed the test. Just like Zhang Yue. That¡¯s the truth,¡± he said. ¡°As far as equipment? I have no idea what they¡¯re talking about.¡± He also didn¡¯t feel the need to justify his actions in the final battle against Avara. He¡¯d done what was necessary, and that was that. ¡°The shield. The loot. You took them,¡± Nico spat. ¡°That¡¯s what you¡¯re worried about? For god¡¯s sake, man. It¡¯s just a shield. I¡¯ll get it back to you in a few weeks if that¡¯s what you¡¯re so worried about.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll give it back now! Along with everything else you stole in the Primal Realm!¡± ¡°Not liking your tone, man. In the interest of keeping the peace, here¡¯s what I¡¯ll do. The second I¡¯m done mourning my friend, I intend to leave this settlement. You never have to see me again,¡± Elijah offered. ¡°If you choose to stand in my way, you should be prepared to get trampled. Don¡¯t push me, Nico. I haven¡¯t killed you yet because you¡¯re Sadie¡¯s family. That only stretches so far.¡± Even saying that much was more difficult than Elijah had expected. With every instinct screaming at him to make an example of Nico and his companions, he struggled not to give in. But if he did that, he probably wouldn¡¯t stop with a few people. So, he shunted those feelings to the side, hoping to remain impartial and uninfluenced by the emotions raging through him. After that, he turned away from the furious Healer and faced Sadie. She had remained mostly silent so far, but she knew good and well what he was capable of. Not only had she seen it first-hand, but she knew the number of bodies he¡¯d left in his wake. There was more to it than simple murder, but his history was clear. If someone pushed him too far, it would be a massacre. ¡°The invitation still stands, you know. My island. All-expenses-paid. I¡¯ll even provide transportation.¡± ¡°Elijah¡­¡± ¡°I don¡¯t need an answer right now. I¡¯m going to be in the area for a few weeks, but in little while ¨C let¡¯s call it a month ¨C I¡¯ll be back. If you want to come with me, great. But if not, that¡¯s fine too,¡± he said. ¡°Just give it some thought. No pressure.¡± Then, he turned to Dat¡¯s memorial and said, ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you, man. Thank you for being my friend.¡± With that, he took a deep breath and strode toward the door. Nico clearly considered standing in his way, but thought better of it at the last second. After that, Elijah¡¯s path out of Heaven¡¯s Bastion was unimpeded. Only when he¡¯d left the building behind, taken on the shape of the blight dragon, and donned Guise of the Unseen, did he let himself relax. He''d been only a hair¡¯s breadth from a bloodbath. His every instinct had been screaming at him to put Nico down. And if he let himself start down that road, he wouldn¡¯t have stopped until everyone knew the cost of offending a dragon. Even now, his mind whirled with indignation and pride. He once again suppressed those emotions and focused on his next steps. Hopefully, they would turn out better than his experiences in the Primal Realm. 8-1. Defeat in Victory Elijah sat atop the high-rise overlooking the fallen city of Hong Kong. It was the second tallest building in the city, so it offered a fantastic view of the destruction wrought by what most people referred to as the apocalypse. Elijah disagreed with that label, regarding the touch of the World Tree as a good thing, but as he stared at the aftermath, his hold on that belief wavered. So much had been destroyed. So many lives had been lost. And yet, humanity had survived, albeit only in pockets. Small settlements ¨C usually no larger than a couple of blocks ¨C dotted the city, and a much larger community had taken up residence in Hong Kong¡¯s tallest building. Once known as the International Commerce Center, it was now Heaven¡¯s Bastion, and it played host to a population of thousands. Including his friend Sadie Song and her problematic family. But at the moment, Elijah knew that if he dwelled on those issues for even a moment, he would do something rash. Every instinct screamed at him to go back and return their insults with utter destruction. And he could do it, too. He wanted to. In a lot of ways, he needed to. There were only two factors restraining him. First on the list was Sadie herself. If he went on a rampage and turned Heaven¡¯s Bastion into another Easton ¨C or whatever silly name their despotic ruler had given it there at the end ¨C she would never forgive him. More likely, she would oppose him. Elijah had no desire to fight her, largely because even if he won, as he suspected was the most likely outcome, he¡¯d lose a friend along the way. He didn¡¯t have so many of those that he¡¯d willingly sacrifice one just to assuage his pride. The second restraint came from the surety that he would regret such an action. He wouldn¡¯t shed any tears for people like Nico or Tianwei, but there were plenty of innocents in Heaven¡¯s Bastion. He couldn¡¯t put them at risk. He refused to fall into that trap, even if his instincts told him to disregard those people as inconsequential. Perhaps that was the dragon him, screaming at him to assert his dominance. More likely, it was the simple consequence of setting himself so far above normal people. It was difficult to look at them the same way when he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was unequivocally better than them, and in almost every possible way. That was the thing about the system and its numbers. It left little doubt as to a person¡¯s relative place in society. Sure ¨C levels were just guides that marked a person¡¯s progress, but the numbers attached to his attributes were concrete measures of his power. On top of that, he had his cultivation, which was far more advanced than that of anyone else he¡¯d met. In short, Elijah often felt like a god amongst men, and as a result, he felt himself growing increasingly more detached from the plight of normal people. Thankfully, he was aware enough of that tendency that he could work to mitigate it. Because he didn¡¯t want to feel like he was better than others. He wanted to act like he was just like everyone else. He wasn¡¯t, though, and he needed time to wrap his mind around the idea that he couldn¡¯t just follow his instincts and vent his frustrations. There could be global consequences for something like that. Instead, he needed to adapt to who and what he had become. But even more importantly, he knew he needed time to cope with the death of his friend, Dat Bao, who¡¯d sacrificed himself so Elijah and his other companions ¨C one of which had never treated him with anything approaching respect ¨C could live. He was a true hero, and the world was a worse place for his passing. After almost an hour sitting atop that building and staring at nothing, Elijah finally turned his attention to another important matter. The conquering of the Primal Realm had not come without rewards. One was material ¨C all Elijah needed to do was acknowledge the notification, and he¡¯d receive his reward for overcoming the challenges of the Desolate Reach. But the other was more intrinsic. He¡¯d gained two more levels in the final battle, putting him at one-forty-six. That meant he¡¯d gained another ability ¨C either through the evolution of an old spell or an entirely new one. So far, Elijah had been too focused on other things to acknowledge it, but now that he had a little peace and quiet, he could do just that. So, it was without further ado that he looked at the notification and the new spell that came with it.
Shape of the Sea Take on the form of a mighty leviathan.
It came with a trait as well:
Ocean Native When submerged, grants vastly increased physical attributes. When on land, decreases attributes by a minor amount.
Elijah let out an appreciative breath. For a long time, he¡¯d wondered if he would gain an ocean-going form. The Shape of the Master, which was amphibious, helped a lot with traveling underwater, but it seemed the new form was, as the trait implied, a true native to the sea. Already, he was itching to try it out, though he knew that doing so in the undead-infested waters surrounding Hong Kong Island was a bad idea. Perhaps it would be powerful enough to withstand the mighty creatures that made their homes in places like Victoria Harbor, but Elijah wasn¡¯t going to chance it with a new form of unknown strength. Still, it was tempting. To distract himself from those temptations, Elijah focused on the other notification informing him that he¡¯d conquered the Primal Realm:
Congratluations! You have conquered the Desolate Reach. Grade: C Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Claim your reward? [Yes] or [No]
Elijah selected the affirmative option, resulting in yet another system prompt:
Reward for conquering the Desolate Reach: Antlers of the Wild Revenant
As he read the notification, Elijah looked at the chest that had suddenly appeared by his side. Instead of being silver, as had been the case with the boxes containing rewards for overcoming towers, it was gold with blue trim that created whirling designs that Elijah recognized as runes. Even trying to follow their patterns gave him a headache, so he didn¡¯t hesitate to open the box and retrieve the item inside. It was a helmet, though one with an unfamiliar design. Made of hardened leather, it featured decorative whorls that had been etched into its surface. More importantly, it practically glowed with dense ethera, suggesting that it was an incredibly magical piece of equipment. But Elijah knew better than to simply bind it without having it appraised. Once, his sister-in-law Carmen had been forced to forge a powerful sword for an enemy. It had turned out to be cursed, and it had infected the man¡¯s mind with delusions of grandeur that, ultimately, helped author his demise. So, he slipped the helmet into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, intending to have someone appraise it when he returned to familiar territory. Perhaps Atticus could help him. Or someone in Ironshore. Whatever the case, the item wouldn¡¯t offer him any help for what he planned for the near future. After Elijah had inspected his gains ¨C noting that the two increased levels had given him the same attribute increases he¡¯d come to expect ¨C he pushed himself to his feet, then retreated inside the building. Night was coming, and he didn¡¯t intend to set out on his mission when the local undead were at their most active. Once he¡¯d found an old, abandoned office with a sturdy and intact door, Elijah settled into a corner and inspected his updated status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 146
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 409 (290)
Dexterity 395 (276)
Constitution 418 (299)
Ethera 299 (296)
Regeneration 333 (300)
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
His numbers had become truly impressive, and not for the first time, he marveled at how far he¡¯d come. It hadn¡¯t been that long ago ¨C somewhere between six and eight years, though he wasn¡¯t sure exactly how much time had passed ¨C when all of those numbers were in the single digits. And the first time he¡¯d ever opened his status, his Constitution attribute had been at a meager one point. But back then, he was literally dying, so perhaps that was appropriate. Now, that attribute was his highest ¨C at least when he was buffed. It would have been satisfying if not for two issues. The first was relatively minor, but he still mourned the loss of his Armor of the Boar King, which had been so damaged that it had finally lost any efficacy. The Leatherworker back in Ironshore who¡¯d made it had warned him that it might happen, and it had held up far longer than he had any right to expect. Yet, it was still a disappointment. The other issue was far larger. Dat¡¯s death kept ambushing him. Every time he let his mind wander, it was there, leaping out at him like a hunting predator. And when it did, he was overcome with grief and guilt. The former was an understandable human reaction to loss, but the second was a little more nuanced. Part of it was simple survivor¡¯s guilt. He knew enough about psychology to recognize that much. However, the other piece of it was that he felt guilty that he wasn¡¯t giving his grief prominence in his mind. Every distraction was an accusation that he didn¡¯t care enough. None of it was rational. Elijah felt certain that he couldn¡¯t have done much more than he had. But grief, for all that it was a vital part of the human experience, was rarely logical. For most of the night, Elijah remained awake as he wrestled with those feelings, but eventually, he drifted off to sleep. That was a testament to his exhaustion. After all, his time in the Primal Realm hadn¡¯t given much opportunity for rest, and he had been going almost non-stop for weeks even before that. Sure, he could go without respite for a long time, but eventually, it would always catch up to him. So, when he slept, he went down hard, only waking around noon the next day. When he did, he took almost an hour to get going. He did some calisthenics, stretching sore muscles that protested the poor treatment of his body, then partook in a meal of dried pork and a grove fruit. He barely tasted either. Even when he made a cup of coffee, drinking it didn¡¯t cheer him up. Finally, Elijah decided that it was time to move on. So, he gathered what few things he¡¯d taken from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and headed outside. After shifting into the Shape of Venom, he adopted Guise of the Unseen and began his descent. He was so used to being able to stick to most surfaces that he never even considered braving the building¡¯s interior. Instead, he descended along the outside of the high-rise. Along the way, he regretted that he couldn¡¯t use Shape of the Sky. He could probably manage the dangerous flying creatures that populated the city, but doing so would have brought a lot of extra attention. In addition, if he was forced to escape, he¡¯d need to use Lightning Rush, which would send him far afield. That wasn¡¯t part of the plan, so he stuck to the ground. Going through Hong Kong was much the same as it had been before he and his companions had conquered the Primal Realm. There were a couple of key differences, though. First among them was that the undead seemed far less densely packed. There were still a lot of zombies around, but the more powerful unliving monsters were much less prevalent. The most troubling part of the trip out of the city was that, though the levels of ambient, death-attuned ethera had dropped significantly in the wake of their efforts, he could already feel that they were once again on the rise. Only a day had passed, and the cycle had resumed. That told Elijah that conquering the Primal Realms was not a permanent solution. It was like bailing water in a sinking ship. Sure, it kept them afloat ¨C for now ¨C but overall, it wasn¡¯t nearly as effective as their level of effort should have dictated. For now, though, it was all they had. Maybe the decrease in danger ¨C even if it was temporary ¨C would give the residents of Hong Kong the room they needed to grow powerful enough to meet the challenges ahead. Those thoughts and many more accompanied Elijah as he trekked through Hong Kong, crossed the causeway leading to the mainland, and eventually, left the city behind. Once he felt secure, he shifted into the Shape of the Sky and took to the air. As he did so, he spent some time reveling in the freedom of flight before finally focusing on the mission at hand. He wanted to build a dolmen so he could easily return to the city if necessary, and to do that, he needed to find the proper location. So, in service of that goal, he began his search. 8-2. Pillars in the Mist Elijah circled outward from Hong Kong, careful not to attract the attention of the flying creatures that nested in the tallest buildings. They were undead ¨C just like everything else in the city ¨C and they responded to any disturbance with undiluted fury. Elijah had been on the receiving end of their kamikaze tactics on more than one occasion, and he had no interest in repeating the experience. So, he kept his distance, slowly expanding his search for a proper location for his planned dolmen. With most of his circles, he¡¯d been lucky enough to stumble upon powerful natural treasures. Sometimes, they were protected by guardians ¨C like the kitsune he¡¯d encountered near Forest Hills, but after meeting Wilhelm what felt like a lifetime ago, he knew that natural treasures and guardians weren¡¯t really a requirement. Instead, the only thing necessary for him to build a dolmen was an intersection of ley lines, which were currents of energy that flowed through the Earth, acting as powerful conduits for ethera. Elijah suspected that they were responsible for the planet¡¯s ambient energy, but he wasn¡¯t certain how it all fit together. Whatever the case, his goal for the moment was clear enough ¨C he needed to find a ley line intersection so he could build a dolmen close to Hong Kong. The reasoning for his decision to use one of his available slots was simple ¨C Hong Kong was halfway across the world. It had taken Sadie and Dat nearly a year to reach Easton, which suggested a distance of thousands of miles stretching between the two locations. Building a dolmen in the area would extend his reach by quite a lot. And it would give him access to the Primal Realm, which he knew had already begun to rebuild its strength. He wasn¡¯t smart enough to calculate how long it would take before it once again started spilling powerful undead into the area, but he felt obligated to keep an eye on things. If not for the sake of the population of Hong Kong, then for Sadie. With that in mind, he circled until he found a likely candidate. The area was interesting enough, with a small peninsula ¨C maybe a couple miles long and half as wide ¨C dominated by sheer cliffs on three sides. More importantly, he sensed a slight increase in the density of the ambient ethera. He landed atop the cliff, where he was immediately beset by a flock of hummingbirds. They weren¡¯t the tiny creatures he might have expected, though. Instead, the birds were the size of pigeons, which was a little disconcerting, considering they had no concept of personal space. Thankfully, they were curious rather than violent, so they didn¡¯t pose any danger to him. At first, he even found himself laughing at their antics as they zipped around, but after a few minutes of experiencing their inexhaustible and energetic behavior, he grew a little annoyed. It was incredibly difficult to concentrate when a huge hummingbird kept tickling his forehead, after all. But he endured long enough to establish the source of the rise in ethereal density. Growing atop the cliff were small mushrooms ¨C Elijah couldn¡¯t identify the species, so he expected they had either experienced a forced evolution or were non-native to Earth ¨C that exuded thick clouds of ethera. They were natural treasures, though only mid-grade at best. Biggle would have fallen upon them with a level of vigor only a mad scientist could exhibit, but Elijah left them where they were. He had no interest in upsetting the natural ecosystem. The cliff wasn¡¯t suitable for a dolmen, though, so he quickly transformed back into Shape of the Sky and took to the air. The hummingbirds scattered when they discovered a huge predator in their midst, which left Elijah feeling more than a little satisfied. That, in turn, elicited a bit of guilt ¨C after all, the little birds hadn¡¯t really done anything to him. He pushed that side as he moved on. The next location he found was hundreds of miles away and in the center of an expansive marsh. Unlike the swamp where he¡¯d met Konstantino and his brood of orphan children, these marshlands were completely devoid of trees. More interestingly, the swampy morass of brackish water was home to two unique features. First, there were dozens of flocks of noble cranes living there, many of which had reached levels that made Elijah a little uneasy. A couple had even ascended, though none were actual guardians. Instead, they were normal beasts that, one day, might develop enough to acquire that particular label. Regardless, when they saw his flight form, they looked at him with a mixture of irritation, territoriality, and a little fear. The second feature Elijah noticed ¨C and the one that allowed him to identify the area ¨C was the prevalence of bright, red grass. Given the geographic location and the uniqueness of it, he felt certain that he¡¯d found what remained of Panjin ¨C or China¡¯s Red Beach. Unfortunately, it was unsuitable for a dolmen. Not only was he loath to disturb the cranes and other wildlife, he didn¡¯t feel like building a structure in the middle of a marsh. Even if he could stabilize it, the last thing he wanted was to teleport into waist-deep water. He¡¯d gotten enough swamp life, after all. So, despite being fairly certain he¡¯d found a ley line intersection ¨C a weak version, but still sufficiently powerful for his purposes ¨C he found himself moving on. Still, he spent a few hours there just enjoying the natural beauty. He even managed to get close to a few of the cranes, which were far more amenable to his presence when he¡¯d resumed his natural form. Eventually, he left the area behind, but with the sun having already sunk toward the horizon, Elijah took shelter in a tugboat that had run ashore on the banks of the river that fed the marshlands. Thankfully, the vessel was abandoned, and due to the shallow water, most of it was dry. This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Elijah did wonder about what had happened to the former occupants. They were long since gone, leaving very little evidence behind. On the bridge, he found a couple of coffee cups emblazoned with Chinese characters, an old, mostly rotted jacket, and not much else. But at least there were no skeletons. He slept well that night, and for the first time since beginning his visit to Hong Kong. He hadn¡¯t realized it at the time, but the constant submersion in the dense death-attuned ethera had taken its toll on him. It never went so far that it threatened his life, but it had definitely made him uncomfortable in a way that wasn¡¯t really evident until he¡¯d left it behind. Now that he had, he felt more relaxed than at any time since leaving his grove. But maybe it was more than that. He¡¯d spent the entire day exploring nature, and despite the fact that he usually used his abilities for combat, he was still a Druid, just like any other. Communing with nature was a fundamental part of his soul. He woke just before dawn, refreshed and ready for the day. After rising and using Blessing of the Grove to shower, he dressed and headed to the boat¡¯s highest point. There, he watched the sun rise over the horizon, casting the red grass in an even more vibrant hue. He made a small fire using some tinder he¡¯d gathered the day before, then boiled some water for a cup of coffee. After adding some honey, he took a sip. It was probably the best cup of coffee he¡¯d had in years, largely due to his surroundings. Often, it was easy to forget that, amidst the monsters and death, the world could still be a very beautiful and peaceful place. Elijah basked in that notion for a long while, drinking his coffee and simply enjoying the simple pleasure of existence within the bounds of nature. But eventually, after the sun had fully risen, he knew he needed to move on. So, after brushing his teeth, he resumed Shape of the Sky and did just that. The second day of exploration was no less filled with wonder. Elijah saw jungles and isolated islands and even a few pockets of human habitation. The population of those settlements fled the second they saw him, taking shelter in their homes, but he didn¡¯t stop to explain that he was just a guy with a few neat spells, rather than a huge, flying monster that looked very much like a dragon. The third day saw him exploring a mostly abandoned city that once held a decent population. Probably a few hundred thousand. Maybe more, depending on the population density. It was difficult to tell because most of the buildings had been reduced to rubble. A few of the smaller structures remained standing, but they had been entirely abandoned. Elijah spent a couple more days searching for survivors, but he found nothing. Neither did he discover any indication as to what had happened. All he knew was that something ¨C maybe a powerful monster or natural disaster ¨C had destroyed everything. It was with a little regret ¨C mostly because he wanted to know more about what had occurred, but also because he felt obligated to save anyone in the ruined city who might need his help ¨C that he moved on. On and on he went for another week-and-a-half until, at last, he found what he hoped would be a suitable location. He stood atop a mountain, looking down on an expansive valley populated by what looked like floating pillars of rock. Each one was covered in vines and other vegetation and surrounded by a dense layer of clouds. When he descended the mountain, he found that it was all just an illusion. The pillars were firmly rooted in the ground below, but the mist gave the illusion that they were suspended in mid-air. Elijah was more interested in the fact that the fog seemed magical in nature, though. The ambient ethera wasn¡¯t nearly as dense as it was on his island, and it felt like it had a different flavor, but it was stronger than just about anywhere else he¡¯d visited. It was obvious that the area featured a powerful ley line nexus, and what¡¯s more, it seemed like an ideal location for a dolmen. Not only was it still within a few hundred miles of Hong Kong, but it also featured plenty of building materials. And finally, it was isolated enough that he didn¡¯t have to worry about a bunch of strangers stumbling onto his circle of stones. Predictably, the valley was populated by a wide variety of animals. Elijah was delighted to see troops of monkeys flitting through the trees. They weren¡¯t overly strong ¨C if he¡¯d had to guess, they were probably in their mid-fifties in terms of levels ¨C but there were so many of them that he expected that, if someone came to the area with violence in mind, that person would find a rude awakening. On top of that, there were giant salamanders ¨C even bigger than they had been before Earth¡¯s transformation ¨C lounging in the rivers and streams cutting through the valley. The things didn¡¯t look particularly handsome, with short and stubby legs and fat bodies, but Elijah thought they were kind of cute, in an ugly-pet sort of way. There were black bears, hundreds of species of birds, and even huge flocks of colorful butterflies in evidence. In short, the entire place was paradisical in a way that Elijah had rarely experienced. There were plenty of signs of human development that marred the experience, though. More than once, he stumbled upon trash that could¡¯ve only been left by careless tourists. Most of it was old and degraded, but there was plenty of plastic there that wouldn¡¯t break down for centuries ¨C if ever. But the worst offender was an enormous, metal monstrosity of an elevator that led to one of the peaks. It looked so out of place that Elijah briefly considered embarking on a quest to tear the offensive thing to pieces. But that wouldn¡¯t really do any good, and it certainly wouldn¡¯t help with his frustrations. So, he turned away from it and continued to search for the ley line intersection that would enable his dolmen to reach its full potential. Not long after, he nearly stumbled when he felt something curious. He was being stalked. And oddly enough, the creature hunting him almost completely evaded the sense granted by Soul of the Wild. That meant it was powerful and dangerous. The only reason Elijah knew it was there was because he could feel a slight disturbance in the ambient ethera. Otherwise, he¡¯d never have detected the creature. Once it got close, Elijah reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and retrieved a hunk of dried pork. He didn¡¯t have that much of the stuff left, but as he¡¯d discovered with the bear ¨C and confirmed with just about every other powerful beast he¡¯d met ¨C the route to a good relationship with an animal was through its stomach. He tossed the pork on the ground behind him and waited. It took almost five minutes before the creature showed itself, and Elijah was delighted to see that it was a clouded leopard. It was no larger than was typical before the World Tree touched Earth, but it held itself with far more confidence than Elijah would have expected. What¡¯s more, it was obviously a guardian. And Elijah suspected that, for the first time, he¡¯d found one that had developed naturally. It was a great discovery, and one he wanted to investigate further. So, even as the leopard gobbled up the pork, Elijah retrieved more from his satchel and earnestly embraced the opportunity to make a new friend. 8-3. A Question of Class Sadie missed Dat. It was such a simple acknowledgement, but powerful in its lack of complexity. For years, he had been her rock. The person she leaned on more than anyone else. He¡¯d always been there, ready with a joke or a poignant bit of advice. He¡¯d helped reign in her worst impulses while offering the support she so desperately needed. And now he was gone. Just like Lisa. Or her parents. Uncles and aunts. Cousins. Everyone was dead or so far away they might as well have been. Of her entire family, only Nico and her grandfather, Song Tianwei, remained. They had made it clear that she was an outsider, too. Not in so many words, but it was blindingly obvious that something had happened while she¡¯d searched the world for help with the Primal Realm. Sadie wasn¡¯t certain exactly why or how everything had shifted, but she knew enough to recognize when her presence wasn¡¯t wanted. Not for the first time, she wished she¡¯d simply gone with Elijah. He wouldn¡¯t have complained, even if she knew she would have slowed him down. That was the thing about the Druid ¨C for all that Sadie had plenty of power of her own, he was just different, and in ways that she couldn¡¯t quite articulate. Part of it was strength. He had plenty of levels on his status and advanced cultivation to back it up. But there was more to it than that, though she couldn¡¯t really explain the way it all fit together. And against all odds, she liked him ¨C probably more than she liked anyone else in the world. With Dat gone, that wasn¡¯t a high bar, but the reality of it wasn¡¯t easy to dismiss, either. Was there a romantic future there? Her mind told her that it was silly to even consider such an entanglement. Elijah came with complications. He was a good person ¨C at least he tried to be ¨C but he also had plenty of baggage weighing him down. What¡¯s more, he looked at the world in such a strange way that Sadie feared that if they took it much further than the single kiss they¡¯d shared, their relationship would become volatile. But maybe that was what she wanted. Perhaps that was what she needed. For all her life, she¡¯d made the right choices. She¡¯d only dated people who had her family¡¯s approval. She¡¯d studied what she was supposed to study, and she had strived to embody everything she was supposed to be. Maybe it was time she made the wrong decisions. And for better or worse, that was what Elijah represented. A wrong choice. A bad decision. A relationship doomed from the start. But sometimes, that was what people needed, wasn¡¯t it? Did Sadie want to keep going through life, always worried about how her current choices might affect the future? No. But also yes. To say that she was of two minds on the subject ¨C both in broader terms as well as specifically about her budding relationship with Elijah ¨C was a vast understatement. So, to distract herself from a question that had no real answer at the moment, Sadie focused on something she¡¯d been awaiting for weeks. Her class evolution. She had reached the appropriate level halfway through the Primal Realm, but without a Branch, she had been unable to take advantage and continue to progress. Now that she was back in Heaven¡¯s Bastion, that was no longer an issue. So, she¡¯d already visited the Branch and received her options. At almost a hundred options, the number was a little overwhelming. Thankfully, many of those were lower-grade variations of the same class evolution, so they were easily disregarded. From Elijah, she¡¯d learned that there were nine class rarities. In order, they were: Common, Uncommon, Exotic, Legendary, Mythic, Arcane, Celestial, Primeval, and Eldritch. For the first evolution, which marked passage from the Mortal Realm to Ascendence, a class could not exceed Mythic rarity. She had not reached that mark. In fact, her highest rarity option was graded as Legendary, and there was only one of those. The rest were a mixture of Exotic and Uncommon. Still, she had spent a couple of hours whittling them down to three options:
Evolution Pathways for [Crusader]
Class Name Rarity
Knight of the Iron Sun Exotic
Eternal Sentinel Exotic
Justicar of the Broken Path Legendary
Her eyes were immediately drawn to the last listing, if only because it was the lone Legendary option. She focused on it, eliciting a more elaborate description that she¡¯d already read a few times before:
Class: Justicar of the Broken Path (L) The [Justicar of the Broken Path] is a knight errant, beholden to no force but justice itself. This is a deviation of the [Crusader] class, focusing equally on combat and non-combat roles. Required Archetype: Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. Warrior Required Class: Crusader Required Legacy: Exalted (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
9 1 9 4 4
From what she could tell, it was an incredibly powerful class, and what¡¯s more, Sadie liked the description. It reminded her a little of Elijah¡¯s philosophy. Often, he wandered around without rhyme or reason, completely untroubled by anything approaching a plan. Or at least that was how it seemed. Though, of late, she¡¯d begun to wonder if he had more layers than that impression implied. Regardless, the sheer weight of the class evolution¡¯s attribute gains was almost enough to force her to choose it without even studying the others. However, there was one factor that gave her pause. The word justicar implied that her path would focus even harder on judgement of other people. That facet of her Crusader class ¨C which included Sense of Sin as well as Confession ¨C had caused her quite a lot of trouble, and it was only recently that she¡¯d managed to wrangle it. So, committing further to that particular path was a daunting prospect, even if it was objectively the best option available to her. In any case, she moved on to the next one:
Class: Knight of the Iron Sun (E) The Knight of the Iron Sun is a defender of the weak, sacrificing offense for nearly pure defense. This is a slight deviation from the [Crusader] class, incorporating powerful healing abilities into a defensive mindset. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Class: Crusader Required Legacy: Esteemed (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
3 1 8 2 5
As expected, it featured lower attribute bonuses per level than the Justicar of the Broken Path, and yet, it was still appealing. Often, Sadie had lamented her relatively weak healing abilities, wishing she could have done more. It seemed that the Knight of the Iron Sun would offer her the opportunity to shift her path to one of defense and protection, adding heals for good measure. From the description, she expected that, if she chose that evolution, she would become practically unkillable ¨C at least by anyone at her level. The trade-off was that she would likely be unable to overcome others¡¯ defenses. It was a selfless path meant for the sort of person who put the fate of others well above their own. There was a certain appeal to that, especially because it epitomized the kind of person Sadie wanted to be. The problem was that she wasn¡¯t entirely certain it was who she actually was. After all, if that was the case, she would¡¯ve been the one to sacrifice herself instead of leaving it to Dat. That thought alone almost made her choose the Knight of the Iron Sun class evolution, though she forced herself to keep going. This time, she focused on the last of the three most powerful options:
Class: Eternal Sentinel (E) The Eternal Sentinel stands guard over those she chooses to protect. This is a slight deviation from the [Crusader] class, focusing on establishing a domain and protecting it. Required Archetype: Warrior Required Class: Crusader Required Legacy: Esteemed (within the constraints of the Mortal Realm)
Attributes Gained Per Level
STR DEX CON ETH REG
3 1 10 1 4
On the surface, it didn¡¯t seem very powerful. Sadie knew enough to recognize it as an upgrade to the Sentinel class she¡¯d been offered at level ten. However, there was obviously far more to it, as characterized by the mention of a domain. She only had to remember the Chainspeaker to recognize just how powerful such a thing could be. The only reason she and her companions had beaten the demon was because of the combined effects of Dat¡¯s domain-breaking ability and the overwhelming power of Elijah¡¯s fire breath attack. Sadie sighed, then lay back in her bed. It didn¡¯t feel like hers anymore. Not after being gone for so long. The rest of her rooms were the same. Sure, all of her stuff was still there, but she no longer felt as if she belonged in Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Maybe she didn¡¯t. Refocusing on the decision at hand, Sadie weighed the pros and cons, but she found that, objectively, her choice should have been easy enough. Justicar of the Broken Path was unequivocally the best option. Yet, it scared her. The others were good, too, but would they be enough? After all, Earth was still a dangerous, violent place, and despite the fact that she and her companions had managed to conquer the Primal Realm, she didn¡¯t think safety was in the world¡¯s future. She needed to be as strong as possible to meet the challenges ahead. So, her decision was even more obvious. She chose Justicar of the Broken Path.
Congratulations! You have chosen to evolve your [Crusader] class into [Justicar of the Broken Path]. Stand by while appropriate changes are made.
Elijah had already told her what would come next, but even so, Sadie was shocked by the pain that emerged from her chest. It enveloped her whole body, eliciting a scream that echoed throughout her apartments. Doubtless, if her quarters weren¡¯t soundproof, it would have drawn all the worst sorts of attention. The ambient ethera went wild as it swirled around her, pulsing with every beat of her heart. Then, a wave of pure, life-giving vitality swept through her, like a balm to her agonized body. Then, more pain followed by another pulse of vitality. Over and over again, it swept through her, wave after wave, until she lost track of how much time had passed. It was as if she was being broken down and remade, repeatedly and with every passing second. Then, finally, it tapered off until only the echoes remained. At last, they too faded until she received another notification:
Congratulations! You have reached the Ascendent tier. All banked experience will now be applied.
In the space of a moment, she gained three levels as well as the attributes that came with them. In the wake of so much pain, receiving such an influx of power was a heady sensation, and a welcome one at that. She¡¯d have continued to bask in it, perhaps even checking her status, but before she could, there came a chime from the door. With some degree of regret, she pushed herself to her feet and crossed her apartments on unsteady feet. A few seconds ¨C and another chime ¨C later, she jerked the door open. Immediately, her brother¡¯s nose wrinkled in disgust. ¡°What have you been doing? You smell ¨C¡± ¡°What do you want?¡± she interrupted, her voice wavering slightly. ¡°Grandfather wishes to see you. He wants answers.¡± Sadie resisted the urge to sigh before saying, ¡°Fine. I¡¯m going to take a shower. I¡¯ll be up in an hour or two.¡± Then, she shut the door in Nico¡¯s face. She no longer cared if she offended him. In fact, she was somewhat ashamed to call him her sibling. And yet, he was still family, so she¡¯d refrained from doing what she really wanted to do to him. If he hadn¡¯t been her brother¡­ Well, she didn¡¯t want to think about that. Instead, she headed to her private bathroom ¨C a luxury in Heaven¡¯s Bastion ¨C and got down to the business of cleaning away the foul-smelling muck that came with her ascension. 8-4. The Circle of the Hunter Elijah snatched his hand back, exclaiming, ¡°You little son of a bitch!¡± He glared at his attacker with undisguised hatred, considering drastic actions. The clouded leopard looked back innocently, then let out a chuff. Apparently, this particular species of feline could neither purr nor roar, which sort of fit, given its size somewhere between a big and small cat. But to Elijah, it sounded like the creature was laughing at him. He wanted to snatch it up, shift into the Shape of the Sky, and drop it from somewhere in the clouds. His relationship with the guardian had started off so well, but the moment he¡¯d stopped doling out treats, it had turned on him. It didn¡¯t pose much of a threat to him ¨C not really ¨C but that was less due to its power and more because it clearly thought itself so superior that it wouldn¡¯t deign to dirty its claws by killing him. But it had no issues with scratching him, and frequently enough that Elijah was already considering setting up his dolmen somewhere else. However, the misty valley was by far the best location he¡¯d found, and he had neither the time nor the desire to continue searching. He wanted to finish the dolmen, then get back to his grove for a much-needed break. His few days of traveling the countryside had done wonders for his soul, but the grove would serve him much better. And hopefully, Sadie would come back with him. He didn¡¯t know that much about the situation in Heaven¡¯s Bastion, but he could sense that it wasn¡¯t a good place for her at the moment. The clouded leopard continued to stare at him until, at last, Elijah gave it what it wanted. He reached into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel and tossed it a grove fruit, which it caught mid-air. Normally, felines were obligate carnivores, meaning that their bodies required them to eat meat in order to survive. While most berries weren¡¯t outright toxic to them, they offered almost no nutritional value. Apparently, grove fruits were different, because the stupid cat couldn¡¯t get enough of them. It really shouldn¡¯t have been that surprising. His grove fruits were packed full of ethera, counting as natural treasures in their own right. So, it stood to reason that basically any animal would trip all over themselves to get them. To that end, most beasts would have opted for a friendly relationship with him. The leopard chose a different and more cat-like tactic of bullying Elijah. And he let it because, well, it wasn¡¯t like he was going to hurt a creature like that just for a few scratches, even if some of them went all the way to the bone. All it took was one cast of Nature¡¯s Bloom, and he was fine. Still, he did fantasize about getting his revenge on the beast. ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯m not giving you anymore,¡± he told the cat. It looked at him with equanimity, but he suspected that it was intelligent enough to know it was a lie. So long as he stayed in the valley, he would pay the toll. If the cat¡¯s anatomy would have allowed it to roll its eyes, it probably would have. As it stood, it simply chuffed again, then disappeared into the surrounding brush, leaving Elijah alone to heal his injured hand. He only bothered to use Soothe before pushing himself to his feet and looking around. He¡¯d spent the past few days wandering the valley as he searched for the perfect spot for his dolmen. From an ethera standpoint, the whole area was suitable, and he¡¯d found that it was absolutely teeming with powerful beasts as well as mid-grade natural treasures. His instincts told him to protect it, but he suspected that the leopard ¨C or the other animals in the area ¨C were far more capable of that feat than he could ever claim to be. In any case, with the energy issue taken care of, he only needed to find suitable terrain. That was more difficult, because the landscape was filled with ravines, streams, and quite a few ponds. There was even a sizable lake where he¡¯d sensed another powerful guardian, though he hadn¡¯t taken the time to check it out, largely because when he considered it, he got the feeling he wouldn¡¯t be welcome. That wasn¡¯t a first for him. Not all guardians were as friendly as Snappy, the turtle who guarded the Circle of Spears outside of Seattle. Most would only tolerate his presence so long as it benefited them. So, it stood to reason that some would react to his intrusion with outright hostility. He didn¡¯t want to tempt fate by challenging some territorial guardian for no reason, so he¡¯d left it to itself ¨C though at the end, he got close enough to sense its nature, and he was surprised to find that it was an ascended catfish the size of a Honda Civic. Having no desire to deal with that, he¡¯d moved on, and to his irritation, the clouded leopard shadowed his every move. At first, he didn¡¯t mind its presence, but as it grew more insistent, he became increasingly irritated with it. Hopefully, he wouldn¡¯t have to deal with it much longer. So, to that end, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, then headed out through the forested valley. He only had one more section to search before he would choose between a handful of potential locations. None were perfect, but they would all work for what he had in mind. The next hour or two went much as the previous few days, but around noon, Elijah hit paydirt when he found a slight promontory with a flat summit. More importantly, the ethera in the area was particularly dense, and there were no animals in the immediate surroundings. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. In short, it was perfect. So, after Elijah spent the next day-and-a-half digging holes for his stones, he retreated into the nearby mountains to quarry the stone he¡¯d found on his first day in the valley. He wasn¡¯t certain what it was, but it looked a bit like marble. It was entirely black, with red highlights that really made it stand out. He spent an entire day carefully carving it away from the cliff, then another two days shaping it properly. Unlike how he¡¯d approached building the other dolmens, he had resolved to take his time with this one. Partially, that was because he felt he owed it to Dat, but mostly, it was because he knew he needed to waste a little time. If he returned to Hong Kong too soon, there was no chance that Sadie would come back to the grove with him. Instead, he wanted to give her the opportunity to figure out what was going on in Heaven¡¯s Bastion before he asked her to leave. He still wasn¡¯t certain what her answer would be, but he dared to hope for the best. Once he¡¯d quarried and shaped the stones into rough columns, Elijah shifted into Shape of Thorn and hefted one on each shoulder. When he did, he was surprised that he barely felt the weight. He knew he¡¯d grown stronger ¨C after all, gaining seven Strength with every level was a huge upgrade ¨C but he hadn¡¯t really contextualized what that meant. It was one thing lifting some arbitrarily heavy spheres back in the Primal Realm, but it was something altogether different to effortlessly carry multi-ton pillars across miles and miles of forest. It took him two more days to get everything back to the promontory, and when it was all said and done, he had twenty-seven black marble columns waiting to be deployed. Getting them onto the edifice was a little more difficult, but he found that Shape of the Sky was strong enough to carry one at a time. That trivialized the process, and soon enough, he¡¯d slotted the sarsens into place, then capped them off with the ones meant as the lintels, creating a circle of what he¡¯s recently discovered were called trilithons. Once everything was in place, Elijah spent the next few days roughly shaping everything, including firming the construction with mortice holes and tenons. All the while, he kept Blessing of the Grove and Nature¡¯s Design going, flaring them both to the best of his ability. As he¡¯d learned during the old man¡¯s tests back in the Primal Realm, there was some variation to the power of each spell, and he needed to learn how to manipulate it more finely. It would be a slow process, he knew, but the old man had hinted that he¡¯d one day be able to bypass the system and modify his own spells. Elijah desperately wanted to reach that point, and so, he had dedicated himself to taking those first steps. In any case, the presentation of the spells wasn¡¯t particularly important to the end product. It was only intended to bathe the area in his particular flavor of ethera, almost like marking his territory while infusing the stones with energy. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if it was absolutely necessary for the spell to work. Chances were, he only needed to build the dolmen and cast Roots of the World Tree. But this was how he¡¯d always done it, and he definitely wasn¡¯t going to shortchange the process with this iteration. Elijah¡¯s father was fond of saying that if something was worth doing, it was worth doing right, and he¡¯d long since taken that to heart ¨C at least when it came to things he truly cared about. Concerning other things ¨C like his long-lost career as a marine biologist ¨C he was less stringent with his own version of quality control. After completing the shaping process to his liking, Elijah took a long break. Of course, that meant another interaction with the clouded leopard, who had been watching him from afar. It only took one look before Elijah knew what it wanted. So, he grabbed a grove fruit and tossed it the beast¡¯s way. It caught it, then disappeared after only a second. That left Elijah to his own devices, and he spent the next few hours sleeping among the trilithons he¡¯d erected. Upon awaking, he found a large monkey perched on his chest. Its fur was tawny, and it didn¡¯t seem at all aggressive. However, it did hold its hand out as if expecting something. Elijah sighed. It seemed that his days of doling out grove fruits had just begun. He fed the monkey, but the simian didn¡¯t disappear like the cat. Instead, it hung around, swinging from one stone to the next as Elijah worked. Now that everything was in place, he only needed to carve the stones properly. To that end, Elijah had a couple of designs in mind. His abilities as an artist left a lot to be desired, but he had enough experience that he felt confident he could do what he wanted. So, he got to work, carving a series of scenes into the columns. Elijah didn¡¯t have the skill to create true-to-life work, but he could manage vague symbolism well enough. So, he got down to it, using every ounce of skill he possessed. As he did so, he continuously channeled ethera into his two spells. He lost track of how long it took him to carve the designs. However, the process was helped along by his previous experiences. For days, the area was filled with the sound of his claws scraping against the marble. Over and over, thousands upon thousands of times. And slowly, it began to take shape. Until, at last, the task was complete. Elijah stepped back and inspected his work. Because he knew his intent, it was easy to identify events from Dat¡¯s life. Elijah had been forced to use some artistic license for the feats for which he had been absent ¨C like Dat¡¯s heroic efforts in the immediate aftermath of the World Tree¡¯s touch ¨C but he felt confident that he¡¯d conveyed the tone properly. Many of the other scenes were easier, as Elijah had been present for each of them. The most difficult to carve had been the one meant to depict Dat¡¯s heroic sacrifice, and throughout that process, tears had fallen down Elijah¡¯s cheeks. But in the end, he was happy with how it had all turned out. At last, he cast Roots of the World Tree. It took some time to complete ¨C longer than ever before ¨C but soon enough, the local ethera surged and whirled before settling onto the dolmen. When it did, Elijah received the expected notification:
Congratulations! You have created a unique structure: [Circle of the Hunt] Overall Grade: Growth (Current: Complex) Enchantment Grade: C
That was better than Elijah had expected, given that his previous attempt at a dolmen had resulted in a D-Grade enchantment. So, he was making progress. However, he was still a little disappointed that he¡¯d so far been incapable of pushing the overall grade higher. It didn¡¯t matter, though. He¡¯d done what he had set out to do, and now, he only needed to return to Hong Kong, and hopefully, Sadie would agree to come back with him to the grove. 8-5. Argon and Alloys ¡°It started out as a forge, and it ought stay a forge,¡± said Carissa, her hands on her hips as she glared at Carmen, who was studiously ignoring the dwarven woman. ¡°There ain¡¯t no debate ¡®bout that. Callin¡¯ it a temple or some such is just gonna get confusin¡¯ to most people. Best keep it simple.¡± In truth, Carmen agreed, but she didn¡¯t want to admit it. Naming the Great Forge project had never been a task she¡¯d found appealing, largely because her creative streak lay in blacksmithing methods and engraving, not in coming up with fancy names for buildings. Secretly, she hoped that the system would take care of the naming, just as it had with all of her other creations. She looked up from her work with a sigh, saying, ¡°You know I can barely hear you over the hammering, right?¡± ¡°You can hear me just fine.¡± That was also the truth, though once again, Carmen refused to acknowledge that her friend was right. As much as she valued companionship ¨C and she very much did ¨C she mostly just wanted to be left alone, especially at that moment. With Miguel gone, she¡¯d thrown herself into her work, and she wasn¡¯t so self-delusional that she didn¡¯t recognize it as a distraction from her worry. He¡¯d yet to reach Argos and send a message back, but that wasn¡¯t surprising. The other city was a long way off, after all. Even so, a mother¡¯s worry wasn¡¯t always entirely rational. She knew Miguel could take care of himself. She¡¯d watched him grow from a timid boy and into a talented fighter approaching ¨C or by a lot of standards, reaching ¨C manhood. Yet, that didn¡¯t seem to matter when she imagined all the dangers he might face on the road. Or in the future. Because he hadn¡¯t made any bones about how he intended to progress, throwing himself at towers and other dangerous situations in the hopes of gaining levels and system rewards. It wasn¡¯t an uncommon attitude. Since the apocalypse, a whole class of people dedicated to that kind of thing had emerged. Adventurers, they called themselves, and there were even places where they¡¯d organized into guilds. It was easy to dismiss it as the madness of adrenaline junkies, but Carmen knew better than most that it was probably as rational a path as any other. After all, it wasn¡¯t like the world was the safe place it had been before everything had changed. If a person wanted to survive, much less thrive, they needed levels. And for a lot of them, the only viable option was to become a combatant. In that respect, Carmen was lucky. She had taken the Tradesman¡¯s route, and for the most part, it had treated her well. It helped that she was, as far as she could tell, one of the most talented surviving Blacksmiths in the world. She could create things no one else in Ironshore ¨C or probably anywhere else on Earth ¨C could, and she¡¯d reaped the rewards of that mastery. In fact, in terms of levels, she¡¯d managed to keep up with just about anyone else in Ironshore, though that was probably due to her manic work ethic and propensity to use her various projects as distractions from things she didn¡¯t want to think about. ¡°Are you ignorin¡¯ me again?¡± demanded Carissa. Carmen sighed, then picked up the dagger on which she¡¯d been working. Originally, she¡¯d intended it as a gift for a woman she¡¯d seen a few times in the past month, but in retrospect, that seemed a little forward. Relationships weren¡¯t exactly her forte ¨C even before the apocalypse ¨C and it seemed that no number of levels were going to help her on that front. ¡°Do normal women like weapons as gifts?¡± Carmen asked, holding the dagger up to see if it was straight. It had picked up a slight warp during the quenching process, but she thought she could grind it out. If not, it would go back into the pile of products that simply didn¡¯t meet her standards. Of late, that stack of weapons and armor had grown out of control, and most of them had ended up getting recycled into more mundane tools. ¡°Depends on the woman,¡± Carissa answered. ¡°That for that Baker you met a few weeks back?¡± Carmen didn¡¯t answer, but Carissa had become her best friend for a reason. So, her lack of a response was answer enough. ¡°Then that¡¯s a no. What¡¯s a Baker going to use a dagger for, huh?¡± Carissa asked. Carmen shrugged. ¡°Everyone needs a weapon for protection,¡± she reasoned. ¡°You¡¯d have been better off buildin¡¯ ¡®er a better oven.¡± ¡°Ovens are boring. Weapons are far cooler.¡± Carissa let out a long-suffering sigh. ¡°You won¡¯t get no argument from me on that front, but the fact of the matter is that most folks in this city won¡¯t ever see a lick of combat. You¡¯ve seen what Kurik¡¯s been up to, ain¡¯t ya? He¡¯s got this place buttoned up tighter¡¯n any fortress I ever seen. I pity the dark elf who tries to invade.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t,¡± Carmen stated evenly. As far as she was concerned, the entire race of evil elves could rot. She knew that might not have been fair, given that just like every other race, they probably featured a wide range of personalities. But after seeing dozens of friends and acquaintances die in the last battle of Ironshore, she wasn¡¯t really willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. ¡°Yeah, me neither,¡± Carissa agreed. ¡°But you didn¡¯t answer my question. Did you settle on a name yet?¡± A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Carmen shook her head. ¡°I¡¯m kind of hoping the system does it for me.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t work like that. The system don¡¯t think up names all on its lonesome. It uses what¡¯s in your head to come up with ¡®em. So, if you¡¯re thinkin¡¯ ¡®bout fairies and sunshine daisies while buildin¡¯ your forge, then you¡¯ll get the Fairy Shine Forge or some such. Best to put somethin¡¯ at the front of your mind before you finish the thing out. Otherwise, you might get somethin¡¯ embarrassin¡¯.¡± Carmen set the dagger down, then ran her hand through her sweaty hair. At some point, it had come loose, though a few stubborn locks had remained tied in the ponytail. The last thing she wanted was to think about the name of the forge, so she changed the subject to the one thing that would distract Carissa ¨C the mine. Over the next hour, the dwarven woman went on and on about how productive it had become until, at last, she decided to head home for the night. That left Carmen to work on another of her projects ¨C her tools for the forge. Making a hammer wasn¡¯t a particularly complex task. At its most basic level, all it really needed to be was heavy enough to move hot metal. The components were simple as well ¨C just a handle, a face, and a peen. But as with most blacksmithing, how simple the project was had everything to do with the smith¡¯s intentions. Even a sword could be broken down into its most basic components, but there was a world of difference between a lovingly forged katana and a sharpened hunk of metal. So it was with the tools Carmen had planned for inclusion in her new forge. The metal she¡¯d chosen for the task was something special, too. For weeks, she¡¯d searched the Branch Marketplace for something unique, and she¡¯d come across it only a few days before. Called volcanic mithril, it was exceedingly expensive ¨C taking almost every ethereum she¡¯d managed to save, and that wasn¡¯t even enough to make her tools. But that was okay, because she didn¡¯t intend for it to work alone. Instead, she¡¯d also acquired quite a lot of titanium, a few ingots of cold iron, and a guide meant to explain how to work with the volcanic mithril. She¡¯d also found a few tanks full of argon, which would allow her to forge weld the titanium. It was a finnicky material at the best of times, but after a little testing, she¡¯d figured out the best practices to do so. Without the argon ¨C or some other inert gas, which she intended to pump into a cannister to enable the forge welding ¨C what she had planned would be impossible. In any case, she had spent the intervening weeks repeatedly flooding the metals with ethera. And at last, they had taken all they could, so all that was left before she got down to the business of making the hammer was to forge weld the whole thing into a single billet of metal. To do so, she¡¯d flattened each ingot into a series of sheets, then cut them into identical square pieces exactly five inches wide. After that, she layered them. First was the volcanic mithril, which had a subtle red sheen even when it wasn¡¯t hot, then the cold iron, and finally, a slightly thicker sheet of titanium. Over and over, she repeated that pattern until she had created a stack eight inches tall. Finally, she set the whole stack into a cannister she¡¯d already prepared. It was made from mild steel, and she intended to peel it away when the much more valuable metals inside had forged together. To facilitate the injection of argon, she had drilled three holes. One larger hole in the center of the cannister and two smaller holes ¨C each about a respective inch from the top and bottom of the cannister ¨C before attaching a five-foot, hollow pipe to the largest hole. To that, she attached a hose connected to her tank of argon. Finally, she used Bond to fuse the cannister together. She could have done the same to her metals, but there was more to a Blacksmith¡¯s fire than heat. The result would have been acceptable, and she was sure that lesser smiths might have taken that shortcut. But she refused to cut corners. So, once the assembly was complete, she shoved it into her carefully prepared fire. It burned coal that had been infused with so much ethera that the flames had turned from red to blue, and she hoped that some of that energy would be transferred into the billet she intended to create. As the metal heated up, she pumped a slow but steady stream of argon into the cannister. She was no metallurgist, but from what she understood, titanium was an incredibly reactive metal, so the inclusion of argon ¨C an inert gas ¨C prevented oxidation. In any case, she¡¯d tested it a few times, so she knew it worked. Carmen watched as the would-be billet heated up, feeling the dense swirl of ethera inside. Slowly, the forge did its job, and she hastily removed the billet. Once it was free of the flames, she set it on her anvil and summoned her spell-wrought hammer to pound the disparate sheets of hot metal into a singular whole. In a modern forge from before the apocalypse, this step would have been accomplished by a hydraulic ¨C or perhaps mechanical ¨C press, but she didn¡¯t have access to that kind of machinery. And besides, with her high Strength, she didn¡¯t need such a crutch. She hammered the billet, repeatedly harnessing her impressive power to force the metals together. It wasn¡¯t a quick process, and she was required to repeat it a half-dozen times before she finally felt confident in the result. Then, once it had a chance to cool ¨C which took far longer than she thought it should ¨C Carmen spent the next few hours using a hammer and chisel to gradually peel the mild steel away. Fortunately, that process went off without a hitch, leaving her with a hunk of fused metals that far exceeded her expectations, both in terms of the quality of the forge weld and the results of her use of Tradesman¡¯s Appraisal:
Vulcanium Alloy Overall Grade: Complex (High) Enchantment Grade: N/A
Carmen threw her hands up in celebration, letting out an excited, ¡°Fuck yes!¡± It was the first time she¡¯d ever created a Complex-Grade raw material, and she couldn¡¯t have been happier with the result. However, that happiness soon turned to apprehension as she looked at the rest of the titanium, volcanic mithril, and cold iron she had bought. She still had a long way to go. After all, she had an entire smithy¡¯s worth of tools to forge, and she needed the material to do it. Now that she knew what was possible, she would accept no less than an entire set of hammers, tongs, and maybe even an anvil created from the vulcanium alloy. So, without further ado, she decided to get back to work. But after building a couple dozen cannisters and loading them with the metals that would become the alloy, she took a step back. She¡¯d been at it for more than twenty-four hours straight ¨C and that was just since Carissa had left. Though she was supernaturally gifted with stamina, both from her abilities as well as attributes, Carmen still needed rest. And she needed to be at her best if she wanted ideal results. So, it was with some regret that she turned away from her forge and started the long trip back to the island. 8-6. Seeking Understanding Elijah landed a few miles away from Hong Kong. There were still a few undead around, but the kamikaze flyers that plagued the city tended to stick to the high rises. So, after exterminating a small horde of zombies by using Lightning Domain, he shifted into the Shape of Venom, adopted Guise of the Unseen, and headed into the city. It wasn¡¯t long before he found the most obvious results of their efforts to conquer the Primal Realm. Before, powerful undead like wights and abominations had become fairly common. In addition, there had been more than a few roaming demons within the confines of the city. But now that the Primal Realm had been defeated, Elijah found that the populations of such foes had thinned quite a bit. There were still a few wights and abominations around, but the demons were completely absent. In addition, those stronger versions of undead generally confined themselves to specific locations, leaving the streets mostly devoid of anything but a few scattered groups of the weakest zombies. But Elijah knew it wouldn¡¯t last, largely because of the second factor that confirmed one of his previous suspicions. He¡¯d only been gone from the city for a few weeks, but even in that short time, the density of the death-attuned ethera had risen by a noticeable amount. The message was clear ¨C the Primal Realm was recharging, and if left alone, it would one day return to its former strength. When that happened, Hong Kong would be right back in the same situation. As Elijah realized that, he couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of hopelessness. After everything they¡¯d done, what was the result? A few months ¨C maybe a year or two ¨C of relative peace? It wasn¡¯t enough. If things kept going that way, humanity would not survive. If only he¡¯d built his grove beside a Primal Realm instead of a tower, maybe the resulting drain on the ethera would keep them from spilling out. But there was just as much chance that it wouldn¡¯t have worked like that. What¡¯s more, he probably would have long since died if he¡¯d been forced to deal with a bunch of undead while coping with the mundanity of survival. He wouldn¡¯t have made it a month if that had been the case. Those thoughts ¨C and a few others, mostly concerning Sadie ¨C flitted through Elijah¡¯s mind as he crossed the city. Along the way, he passed a couple of necromancer enclaves, but he didn¡¯t bother investigating them further. Partially, that was because when he sensed their servile undead, he felt a wave of disgust that screamed at him to destroy them all. He ignored those impulses, reminding himself that the residents of those enclaves were just people trying to survive the best way they knew how. If he attacked them just because of the tools they¡¯d been forced to use, he would be no better than people like Gideon or Nico. And Elijah refused to let himself become like them, even if his instincts told him they were probably right to hate the so-called necromancers. In any case, he bypassed those settlements as he passed through the city, and eventually, he arrived at his destination. Not Heaven¡¯s Bastion, but rather, Victoria Harbor. He stood near Ke Ming¡¯s ferry, marveling that the large boat had been almost entirely repaired. There were a few scars along its side where it looked like the ferryman had welded the thing back together, but otherwise, it looked fine. As for the ferryman himself, he was nestled inside his building having supper with his family. That scene ¨C which Elijah sensed via Soul of the Wild ¨C reaffirmed his refusal to heed the call of his instincts. Ke Ming was a necromancer. He used undead rowers to motivate his ferry. And yet, he was a good man with a lovely family. Perhaps the other necromancers were no different. But Elijah knew that probably wasn¡¯t always the case. There were assuredly bad apples among the bunch, but judging the entire population based on that was a bad idea. An obvious concept, but difficult to remember when his instincts were yelling at him to destroy them all. Difficult as it was, he turned his attention to the task at hand. A few moments later, he found himself swimming across Victoria Harbor and to the island containing the Tin Hua Temple. The swim was bittersweet, not least because it reminded him of the clam he¡¯d been forced to kill. There was no trace of the guardian ¨C it had practically dissolved into the surrounding water ¨C but the memories remained just as strong as ever. Elijah basked in those thoughts as he crossed the harbor, eventually arriving at the island where he¡¯d killed the squid monster. There was nothing left of the charred remains he¡¯d left behind, but the nearby rocks still bore the evidence of Elijah¡¯s fire. He moved past the beach, parts of which had been turned to glass, climbing the path to the temple itself. Thankfully, he wasn¡¯t forced to solve any more puzzles once he was inside, and, at last, he retrieved the giant pearl. It was a powerful natural treasure, and as the killer of its guardian, it belonged to him. So, he slipped it into his ring, then headed out, eventually reaching the shore and resuming his trek through Hong Kong. The city looked just as run-down as it had during his first trip through, but everything seemed even more decayed than ever. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it all succumbed to the rot of the death-attuned ethera in the air. But what would spring up in its place? Hong Kong was still home to quite a lot of people. The population didn¡¯t quite reach into the millions, but there were certainly hundreds of thousands of people left. And Elijah suspected that it would one day become a desirable destination for those with appropriate classes and attunements. Probably those who opposed them as well. Heaven¡¯s Bastion wasn¡¯t going anywhere, and Elijah knew that they wouldn¡¯t abandon their disdain for those who chose to embrace their environment rather than fight against it. Was war on the horizon? Maybe. But even that was dependent on whether or not they could solve the Primal Realm problem. If it was allowed to continue growing, repeating the cycle over and over again, no one would survive to fight against one another. Conquering the Primal Realm was a solution, but given the difficulties Elijah and the others had faced during their time in the Desolate Reach, it didn¡¯t seem very viable. Even if it was a weakened environment, it would kill just about anyone else in the city. Perhaps the answer was throwing numbers at it. This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon. Getting into the Primal Realm could only be accomplished by six people at a time, but there was nothing that said multiple groups couldn¡¯t do so individually, joining up once they were inside. Maybe that was the only real solution, though Elijah suspected that the attrition from using that plan would be overwhelming. It was a losing strategy, and one that would slowly whittle down the city¡¯s resources ¨C both in terms of human capital as well as material. Yet, it might be the only option. In any case, Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t solve the issue in the short time he intended to remain in Hong Kong. What¡¯s more, they didn¡¯t really need him to. The levels of death-attuned ethera were rising, but it would take some time before it reached the point where something needed to be done. But more than anything else, he suspected that any suggestions he made would fall on deaf ears. Song Tianwei was not likely to be very receptive to Elijah, especially if Nico had any say in the matter. So, without any other recourse, he wandered through the city until, at last, he found himself once again facing one of the necromancer enclaves. It was located in a series of older buildings, most of which had endured some structural damage. They had been repaired, but the results weren¡¯t exactly pretty. Likely, the people inside had other things to worry about than cosmetics. Eventually, Elijah decided to go inside. Partly, that was because he wanted further fuel to push aside his instinctual bias against them, and he expected that seeing them as normal people ¨C much as he had with Ke Ming ¨C would go a long way toward that goal. However, he also wanted a closer look, just in case his prejudice was well-founded. If that turned out to be the case, he wasn¡¯t certain what he would do. The only question was whether he would simply sneak inside or go in as a human. Eventually, he chose to opt for the latter. Creeping around under Guise of the Unseen wasn¡¯t really conducive to fostering an understanding of the people inside, even if it was probably much safer. After dipping into an alley, he let Shape of Venom fall away. As he did, he was once again reminded that most of his clothes were in a terrible state. Even his best set was dirty and a little ragged. That was probably a good thing, though. The people in that enclave were clean enough, but they¡¯d obviously fallen on hard times. Most wore clothes they¡¯d clearly salvaged out in the city, and those weren¡¯t really made to endure the harsh realities of their new world. Elijah left the alley behind and crossed the street. As soon as he did, he felt eyes on him. The necromancers weren¡¯t all magic users, after all. They had plenty of Rangers and Explorers among their number. ¡°State your business, stranger,¡± said a guard when Elijah approached the lone entrance. It was a large set of double doors reinforced with steel. Once, they¡¯d probably been glass, but the situation demanded something far sturdier. The man himself stood in front of it, but Elijah sensed a handful of others on the other side. ¡°Just a traveler looking for somewhere to rest and eat before moving on,¡± Elijah answered, holding out his hands. ¡°You¡¯re a pretty high level.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I¡¯ve done a lot of traveling.¡± ¡°Non-combat,¡± came another voice. ¡°Sort of. Still dangerous.¡± ¡°You going to cause trouble in here?¡± the guard asked. ¡°Don¡¯t plan to. Like I said, I¡¯m just passing through,¡± he answered. Then, he chose to add, ¡°They turned me away from that big building across the island.¡± The guard spat, then shifted in place before saying, ¡°They do that. Uppity assholes think they¡¯re better than the rest of us. They¡¯re not. They just claimed a nice, shiny building.¡± After that, the man was more amenable to Elijah¡¯s entry, and it wasn¡¯t long before he opened the doors. Once inside, Elijah was a little surprised to see that the building was a lot cozier than Soul of the Wild had led him to believe. That wasn¡¯t terribly surprising. He mostly just sensed life, which meant that in the death-attuned region, it was a little blurrier than normal. Still effective, but not at a hundred percent. In any case, the lobby of the building had been turned into a market of sorts, with dozens of stalls selling everything from fresh meat to patched clothes. None of it was particularly high quality, but it seemed decidedly normal considering the nature of the people who lived there. It was only when Elijah saw zombies being used as veritable pack mules that he remembered how different it was. Doing his best to ignore it, he began his quest of exploration. Unlike Heaven¡¯s Bastion, the enclave featured quite a lot of nods toward Chinese culture. Elijah even saw a small temple that drew him forward. When he entered, he was greeted by an old man. ¡°Hello, stranger,¡± the ancient fellow said. He was entirely bald, with a patchy white beard and a slight frame, all of which came together to give him a somewhat ragged appearance. Helping that perception along were his hunched posture and prominent age spots. Still, leaning on his cane, he exuded a sense of power that marked him as one of the stronger people he¡¯d met outside the Trial of Primacy. Maybe level seventy or so, which put him only a little behind Nico. ¡°Hey,¡± Elijah said, raising his hand. He introduced himself, adding, ¡°Impressive place you have here. Not a huge fan of all the zombies, but I guess you work with what you¡¯ve got.¡± The old man chuckled. ¡°Indeed. You are American?¡± ¡°Yeah. Seattle, then Hawaii. Most recently, Ironshore. You probably haven¡¯t heard of that last one, though. It¡¯s a long way away.¡± ¡°What brings you so far from home?¡± Before answering, Elijah studied the man before him. The twinkle in his eye reminded him of the old man back in the Primal Realm, though that was more than likely coincidental. If that old man had escaped, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have set himself up in a temple within a run-down necromancer enclave. Even if he had, the odds that Elijah would run into him were absolutely miniscule. Regardless, he didn¡¯t feel the same. Less powerful, certainly, but this old man didn¡¯t dabble in the deathly arts. No ¨C he was a different person, even if there were a few similarities. But Elijah suspected something that he wanted confirmed. ¡°You know who I am, don¡¯t you?¡± he asked. ¡°I do, Elijah Hart. Your name was atop the rankings for long enough that I would be a fool not to notice your arrival.¡± ¡°Are we going to have a problem? If so, I¡¯d just as soon leave. I have nothing against your people,¡± Elijah said. It was a minor lie. The notion of coexisting with walking corpses was abhorrent, but Elijah struggled to keep that disgust quarantined in its own facet of his mind. ¡°We are not here to pick fights, Mr. Hart. We only want peace.¡± Elijah let out a deep breath. ¡°Good. Now, what can you tell me about your people? And why can¡¯t you coexist with Heaven¡¯s Bastion? I¡¯ve got some information, but it occurs to me that most of it is biased.¡± ¡°Indeed, Mr. Hart,¡± the old man said with a sad smile. ¡°But that is the nature of people, is it not? We distrust that which we do not understand, and we look down upon those who we deem beneath us. The people of Heaven¡¯s Bastion are guilty of both sins, though they hide their guilt behind pretty words of purity. It is a lie. They are not monsters, but nor are they heroes. In that way, they are no different from any other group of people.¡± That made sense to Elijah, but more than anything, it put into context that he shouldn¡¯t judge the entirety of Heaven¡¯s Bastion based on his experiences with Nico or Tianwei. Still, he wanted to know more about the necromancers, so he said, ¡°I want to stick around for a day or two, see what you have going on here. In exchange, I can offer healing, and I can help with any crops you might have.¡± ¡°That would be wonderful, Mr. Hart. Wonderful, indeed.¡± 8-7. Disgust and Disappointment Sadie crouched in a fighter¡¯s stance, surrounded by enemies. The grip of her sword was slippery with sweat, and her muscles ached from long exertion. Still, she maintained her discipline, never wavering even as her seven opponents closed in. They attacked in unison, and if she¡¯d been a normal person, their cooperation would have spelled her doom. It was a good thing, then, that Sadie was no normal fighter. With her ascension came an influx of attributes as her banked experience was applied, and that meant that, even if she hadn¡¯t gained any new abilities, she¡¯d accumulated a few extra attributes. She used those now, leaping aside and batting the first attacker¡¯s weapon aside. Even as she swept her sword across the enemy¡¯s blade, another nearly nicked her shoulder. Still another came within an inch of hitting her spine. The others were a heartbeat behind, and she had no issues avoiding them by leaping high into the air, clearing their heads by more than a foot. She landed outside their circle and planted herself with her back to the wall. Now that they could only attack from a single direction, she was in much better shape to defend herself. Her blade blurred as she parried and blocked a half dozen attacks before, at last, she went on the offensive. In seconds, she¡¯d woven her own strikes into the pattern. Her opponents were good, but they were entirely outmatched. They fell, one by one, and within a minute, they were all either unconscious or otherwise incapacitated. When the fight was finished, a Healer darted forward to mend the wounds of Sadie¡¯s sparring partners. The woman wasn¡¯t particularly high level, but she managed her task with efficiency. It was one of the jobs where a Healer could make a good living, earning her keep and gaining resources for both survival and advancement. Working jobs like that was slow, and they would never offer a true chance at ascendence. But it was good, honest work, which was all most people could hope to find. The rest of Heaven¡¯s Bastion¡¯s population were faced with similar opportunities. Warriors could become guards, Healers could work in the clinic or healing in a place like the sparring grounds, and Explorers could work as scavengers, finding the resources necessary to keep the settlement afloat. There were other archetypes ¨C like Scholars and Entertainers ¨C who had found their own niches, but in an apocalyptic situation where safety was no guarantee, those archetypes had never been common. Sadie thought the settlement was worse off for that. All archetypes had value, but it was difficult to convince others not to take a combat class when there were zombies at the door. With a sigh, Sadie pushed those thoughts out of mind. An attendant rushed forward, ready to take her practice sword. When Sadie handed it over, the man nearly toppled over from the thing¡¯s immense weight. It was heavy even to Sadie, which meant that it was unwieldable by anyone else in the settlement. ¡°Thank you all for your time,¡± she said with a bow. Then, she retreated to the attached locker room. Once, the floor had been dedicated to a gym meant for the building¡¯s workers, but now, it ¨C as well as the floor above ¨C had been converted into a training ground. There, the settlement¡¯s fighters sparred with one another and engaged in more normal training like lifting weights, running, and acrobatics. But Sadie had outgrown it. None of the weights challenged her anymore, and the other fighters were only a threat inasmuch as they could gang up on her. Even then, it took dozens to even lay a hand on her, and that was if she forewent the use of her abilities, relying only on her martial technique and raw attributes. Those thoughts raced through her mind as she took a shower, then dressed in something more appropriate than her skintight training attire. After that, she headed upstairs to her personal quarters, where she settled in for a bout of meditation. It was all just a distraction, though. She knew that even as she sat in the middle of her floor and tried ¨C unsuccessfully ¨C to focus her thoughts. Instead, she couldn¡¯t help but think about her disgust with everything in Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Not with the basic functions of the settlement. By all rights, it was as well-run as anywhere else in the world ¨C at least the places she¡¯d visited. However, there was a deep strain of corruption running beneath the surface, and it originated with her grandfather. She barely recognized him anymore. He¡¯d never been a kind man. Even going back to Sadie¡¯s childhood memories, he was a harsh person who never accepted excuses. He expected the best of his line, and that attitude had pervaded the entire family. For her part, Sadie had used it as fuel, pushing her to excellence in her every endeavor, be they martial or academic. And he had favored her because of it. He was still a difficult man to love, but Sadie had always respected him for his dedication. The apocalypse had changed everything, though. One by one, he saw the people he cared about die, and instead of breaking down, he¡¯d chiseled away anything that wasn¡¯t as hard as diamond. Suddenly, excellence wasn¡¯t just a means of maintaining the family legacy. Instead, it was a requirement for survival. Sadie had taken to that responsibility well, but Nico had faltered, and more than once. The most prominent example was when he¡¯d allowed Lisa to die, but there were a hundred smaller failures marking his path. Before Sadie had left on her mission, Tianwei had clearly regarded Nico as something of a black sheep. A failure who needed his family to survive. But upon her return, things had clearly changed. Nico had gained their grandfather¡¯s favor, and for the life of her, Sadie could not understand why. But it felt like Nico had a hold on their grandfather to the point where the old man wouldn¡¯t even consider any other perspective. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! Not for the first time, Sadie wondered if Nico had some mind control powers he¡¯d never revealed to her. That would explain some things that didn¡¯t make sense to her. But it was more likely that Tianwei was just a classist ¨C and slightly racist ¨C old man who was clinging to tribalism to justify his grip on the settlement. Of late, those feelings had been aimed at Elijah. Sadie had been appalled at Nico¡¯s version of events in the Primal Realm, which had painted Elijah as a thieving coward who¡¯d probably killed Gideon and abandoned them all during the final fight with the Queen of Desolation. Sadie had explained the truth to her grandfather, but it was clear who Tianwei believed. And it didn¡¯t surprise her. Not anymore. It was so much easier to believe that Elijah had reached his position through nefarious means than to consider that he was simply better than them. Sadie sighed, then lay back on her floor. In years past, she would have confided in Dat, but he was gone. She felt selfish for looking at his death in terms of how it affected her, but she couldn¡¯t help it. It was especially difficult because she¡¯d never bothered to cultivate any other friendships in Heaven¡¯s Bastion. Or even before the apocalypse, really. She¡¯d always been a loner who focused more on success than on making friends, and it seemed that that attitude had come back to bite her. With her ostracization by her family, she had no one left ¨C at least not in Hong Kong. That made her truly consider leaving the city behind and taking Elijah up on his offer. She knew it wouldn¡¯t be permanent. More like a vacation before she returned to the city, but the idea of leaving it all behind was an attractive one. Making it even more enticing was the fact that both Ron and Kurik were there. They were her friends, too. But mostly, her desires were of a selfish nature. She just wanted to spend some time with Elijah without the threat of a zombie apocalypse to distract her from her feelings. Maybe then she could figure out what she really wanted from their relationship. Would he really come back for her, though? The settlement was locked up tight ¨C after all, Nico had been there when Elijah had once again invited her back to his island ¨C and even someone like Dat would have struggled to enter unseen. Yet, if anyone could find a way, it was Elijah. Finally, Sadie gave up on meditating, then pushed herself to her feet. Before she realized what she was doing, she¡¯d left her apartments behind and headed down to the more populated levels of Heaven¡¯s Bastion. There were plenty of people running businesses on the lower floors, though no one really used ethereum. Instead, they were required to use a point system unique to Heaven¡¯s Bastion. The idea of a captive currency wasn¡¯t a new one. In America, there was a long history of company towns where they were common enough. In most places, situations like that had been banned, but the apocalypse seemed to have reset most of the rules. And Tianwei, ever the opportunist, had pounced on the chance to further control the population. After all, if they were only allowed to trade in points he controlled, then they could never accumulate independent wealth or rebel. Sadie didn¡¯t like the system, but she wasn¡¯t at the point where she could openly defy her grandfather. His grip on the settlement was too firm, and she clearly didn¡¯t possess the persuasive powers of her brother. If it came down to a fight, she would obviously win, but she hadn¡¯t gotten to the point where she would even consider violence as an answer. After all, if it devolved into war, plenty of innocent people would be caught in the crossfire. Sadie wasn¡¯t willing to chance that. Yet. But she acknowledged ¨C at least in the back of her mind ¨C that that might not always be the case. Eventually, she found her way to one of the clinics, where she discovered something she very much did not expect. Nico was there, healing some of the population¡¯s worst injuries. That definitely wasn¡¯t like him. The people didn¡¯t know that, though. Indeed, the only thing they cared about was that someone powerful had descended from on high to help them with their issues. Sadie contributed how she could, but her class had never been meant to play the role of a true Healer. As a result, her efforts were far outshone by Nico¡¯s. The sick and injured people noticed, too. Sure, the ones Sadie managed to heal were grateful enough, but even they looked at the crowd around Nico with some degree of envy. And those he healed practically wept in gratitude, offering all sorts of gifts for his labors. Sadie tried to ignore it, but she couldn¡¯t escape the fact that they treated him like a messianic figure meant to be worshipped. Had he been engaging in such activities all along? And to what end? Nico was not a soft-hearted humanitarian, and she knew for a fact that he would have rather left such mundane healing to people he considered his lessers. Yet there he was, basking in the glory of their adoration. After a while, Nico¡¯s personal guards ¨C he rarely went anywhere without them now that they had left the Primal Realm behind ¨C ushered the worshipers out of the clinic. They were hesitant to go, and even Nico managed to look saddened by their departure. Sadie recognized it as an act, though. When the clinic had been emptied, Nico approached Sadie and said, ¡°Hello, sister.¡± ¡°What are you doing?¡± ¡°I¡¯m a healer. This is what I do,¡± he said innocently. ¡°I¡¯d ask you the same thing, though. I figured you would be off traveling the world and meeting with disreputable hobos.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t want to judge you, Sadie, but you should know that grandfather looks upon your actions with disappointment,¡± he went on, interrupting her. ¡°You bring shame to yourself and to our family. Surely you see that.¡± ¡°You did nothing in the Primal Realm. If anyone¡¯s actions are shameful, it¡¯s yours.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not how grandfather sees it. Our people view it differently as well. Already, they¡¯re telling tales of my legend. You¡¯re just a footnote in those stories, by the way. The Druid is a spiteful vagabond who did more harm than good,¡± Nico explained. ¡°Not so far from the truth, then. Amazing how close they came to the true tale of my victory.¡± For a moment, Sadie was dumbfounded. Did Nico truly believe his own lies? Since her return, Sadie had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt. She¡¯d made excuse after excuse, but hearing those words tumble so proudly from his mouth ¨C it was too much. ¡°What happened to you?¡± she asked. ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°When I left, you were normal. A little immature, but nothing like this. You know good and well that neither of us would have survived with Elijah. You spent most of the Primal Realm holding back for fear of spending too much ethera. You are a useless little man who does nothing but spout his own imagined accolades,¡± she spat. ¡°I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re my brother.¡± Then, before he could respond, Sadie turned on her heel and left. At first, she didn¡¯t know where her feet would take her, but before she knew it, she had ended up at the Shrine of the Fallen and standing in front of Dat¡¯s memorial. ¡°I can¡¯t do it anymore,¡± she said. ¡°This place is too far gone.¡± Indeed, the dark state of Heaven¡¯s Bastion disgusted her, and at present, she had no idea how to bring it back to the light. She had more power than anyone else in Hong Kong ¨C assuming Elijah wasn¡¯t back in the city yet ¨C but she couldn¡¯t force people to see things her way. They were too enamored with her snake of a brother to listen to anything she might say or see anything she might do. ¡°I¡­I think I have to leave,¡± she told her friend as she sank to the bench and buried her head in her hands. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll forgive me for abandoning you so soon, but I don¡¯t have a choice.¡± 8-8. A Picture of Myriad Colors Elijah sat in the middle of the temple, his legs crossed and his breathing even as he cast his perception as wide as possible. He couldn¡¯t sense the entire settlement via Soul of the Wild, but he got enough feedback that he felt it gave him a good picture. And he was shocked at the mundanity of it all. People, just going about their lives, doing the best they could to survive and thrive. Children played with one another, friends and lovers congregated, and families strove to protect and provide for one another. It was a scene he felt wouldn¡¯t have been out of place in any other settlement. And yet, through it all was a thick undercurrent of death. It pervaded everything. From the zombies they used as manual labor to the way the local Healers attacked various injuries, the entire population seemed to have been affected by the localized death attunement. Elijah found himself focusing on a pair of Tradesmen. One was an alchemist, and she was busy brewing various concoctions meant to help preserve the zombies. It was through her efforts ¨C and those of her fellow Alchemists throughout the settlement ¨C that the stench of undead was kept to a minimum. Elijah also suspected that her potions would help to strengthen and preserve the mindless creatures her people used to so wantonly. But she also made potions intended to help cure various diseases and stave off the wide variety of afflictions that plagued the people native to the area. Living in a city infested with undead came with many such risks, and her efforts were the clear response to that. Next, Elijah focused on a much more macabre scene. In a room that had been outfitted like a butcher shop, a dozen corpses hung. Naked and entirely lifeless, they were the canvas upon which the proprietor painted his masterpieces. In the past day, Elijah had learned that the man was known as the Fleshmonger ¨C probably his class¡¯s name ¨C and he was one of the reasons the settlement had managed to flourish. Elijah watched as ethera swirled and the man worked on one corpse, molding its flesh and removing any identifying features. It was not a quick process, and the man had clearly been working on this particular body for quite some time. Supporting that notion was the fact that it was entirely androgynous, with unbroken skin and a heavy build meant for manual labor. When the Fleshmonger completed his task, he would then sell the result to a true Necromancer ¨C not the label given to anyone not of Heaven¡¯s Bastion, but one with the actual class ¨C who would animate it and put it to work in service of the community. It was a very efficient system, and one that had clearly seen quite a lot of adjustment over the years since Earth had experienced the World Tree¡¯s touch. In some ways, it was beautiful. Nothing ever went to waste ¨C not even a dead body ¨C and it had proven quite effective, given the fact that the settlement seemed to be flourishing. But Elijah still didn¡¯t like it. His instincts screamed at him to embrace Nature¡¯s Rebuke and rid the world of those walking abominations. Yet, he restrained himself. Just because someone didn¡¯t live their lives the way he would have, it didn¡¯t mean their existence was invalid. Indeed, he¡¯d begun to suspect that undeath, as difficult as it was for him to accept, was just another form of life in the multi-verse. Maybe it was antithetical to his attunement, but that didn¡¯t mean he would go on a crusade against the people who had embraced it. Probably. His disgust was difficult to ignore, though, which hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed by Shen Xun, the old man who ran the temple, who interrupted Elijah¡¯s meditation by saying, ¡°I feel your disdain.¡± Elijah opened his eyes to see that the proprietor hovered only a few feet away. He stood with his hands tucked into the voluminous sleeves of his plain, white robe. Elijah asked, ¡°Is it that obvious?¡± ¡°To me it is.¡± Elijah let out a long sigh, then asked, ¡°Any tips on how to ignore it?¡± ¡°It will come in time,¡± Shen Xun answered. ¡°You are a creature of intense connection to the natural world. Regrettably, our embrace of the x¨ªng sh¨© z¨¯u r¨°u does not fall within those narrow confines. We do what we must, putting us outside your purview.¡± That was a good characterization of what Elijah felt. He didn¡¯t control nature ¨C not per se ¨C but his connection included a level of comfort with it that he found necessary for who he¡¯d become. And the settlement¡¯s use of zombies ¨C that Shen Xun referred to as x¨ªng sh¨© z¨¯u r¨°u ¨C felt like an intrusion upon what he felt was right. But was Elijah¡¯s perspective the only one that mattered? His instincts said that what he felt was immutable and undeniable, but his rational mind couldn¡¯t deny what he saw before him. The necromancers weren¡¯t evil. They were just different, even if their actions violated the laws of nature. ¡°As you grow more powerful, you will learn to ignore or embrace your own nature, depending on your situation.¡± ¡°How do you know? Is it something you read in a guide?¡± The old man laughed. ¡°K¨¨j¨« is not of the system,¡± he said. ¡°It is part of R¨²ji¨¡, or Confucianism for westerners like you. A concept meant to epitomize mastering of oneself. In that respect, it is similar to your culture¡¯s prominent religions. Christianity stresses overcoming one¡¯s sinful nature, for instance. It is no new idea, but one that I think will be very important in this new, changed world in which we find ourselves. You have a powerful connection to an extremely potent force. It will affect your instincts and drive your actions, if you let it. Overcoming that is the epitome of personal growth.¡± The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. ¡°And what if my instincts are right?¡± asked Elijah as he chewed on Shen Xun¡¯s words. ¡°What if what they¡¯re telling me is accurate?¡± ¡°Controlling your instincts is the first step. Learning when to listen to them is the next,¡± Shen Xun answered. Then, he smiled, his brown eyes shining as he added, ¡°But I am just an old man who has spent far too much time thinking when I should have been acting. So, heed my words at your own risk. For now, I think you have learned what you can of our people. Go now. Continue your journey and remember that just because we feel wrong doesn¡¯t mean that we are evil.¡± ¡°I didn¡¯t think that,¡± Elijah countered. ¡°No. But you might have if you let yourself dwell on it.¡± That was probably accurate enough, and Elijah didn¡¯t argue otherwise. Without the context provided by close proximity, the feelings he got from the undead ¨C and those who used them for their own purposes ¨C would likely overwhelm his memories of all the normal people. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine that he might let those overwhelm his good sense and develop an enmity for the necromancers when they didn¡¯t truly deserve it. But at the same time, Elijah wasn¡¯t blind to the possibility ¨C and the ease with which ¨C someone could use those powers for evil. He¡¯d seen it in the Primal Realm, and he wasn¡¯t likely to forget what those demons had been up to. So, he resolved to keep a close eye on Hong Kong, just to ensure that they didn¡¯t go down that road. Otherwise, he might wake up one day to find that they¡¯d created an unstoppable army of undead that was poised to sweep across the world. Or maybe he was being hyperbolic. Still, after exchanging goodbyes with Shen Xun, he finally left the settlement behind. Belatedly, he realized that he¡¯d never even asked what to call the place. He had no evidence to back it up, but he suspected it wouldn¡¯t be a name nearly as pretentious as Heaven¡¯s Bastion, which was his next ¨C and final ¨C destination before returning home to his grove. Crossing the rest of the city went off without incident. Elijah saw a few clumps of zombies and a couple of fights as various groups sought experience, but otherwise, he found nothing but more of the same. And that was the problem. As interesting as the interplay between life and death could sometimes be, Elijah was ready for a change of scenery. The bleak confines of the ruined city had worn thin, and he wanted nothing more than to go home. Or to go anywhere that wasn¡¯t Hong Kong. So, it was with some degree of relief that he approached Heaven¡¯s Bastion. The high-rise was much as he remembered, with the plaza ringed by a stout wall and manned by plenty of guards. Each one wore modified versions of riot gear, suggesting that they¡¯d raided a police armory for base materials. Instead of guns, tasers, and pepper spray, they were armed with swords, bows, and other primitive weaponry. It seemed that modern weapons were a thing of the past. Not surprising, considering the combination of their lowered stopping power ¨C apparently, combustion didn¡¯t work the same as it used to ¨C and the increased durability of the population. In any case, they were incapable of detecting Elijah as he scaled the wall under Guise of the Unseen. Instead of going in through the front door, he decided to climb the building¡¯s walls. As it turned out, it was a good decision, because he sensed something odd about the door, and he suspected that they¡¯d developed some technology that would strip him of stealth the second he passed through. Elijah had experienced similar things before, and he had no interest in giving away his presence. So, scaling the side of the building was the better option. It wasn¡¯t much more difficult, either, largely due to Shape of Venom¡¯s lizard-like ability to cling to just about any surface, and he reached the top of the high-rise after only a few minutes. Along the way, he got a good sense of Heaven¡¯s Bastion¡¯s goings-on, and he was both impressed and disappointed by what he felt via Soul of the Wild. It really wasn¡¯t all that different from the unnamed necromancer settlement. Most people within the city were just trying to live their lives. Certainly, Heaven¡¯s Bastion was far less chaotic, and there were no Fleshmongers or the like, but Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that they were just normal people. Mostly. But the higher he climbed, the more his disappointment came to the forefront of his mind. Even as the people down below toiled in relative poverty, the ones nearer the top lounged in luxury. And what¡¯s more, many of them hadn¡¯t earned it. They were weak. Low-leveled and middle-aged, they were obviously remnants of the old world upper class who¡¯d built their lives of comfort on the backs of those they deemed beneath them. Never was that more obvious than with Tianwei himself, who occupied one of the top floors. He was not a strong man. In terms of levels, he might¡¯ve been in his forties or fifties. And yet, he stood above everyone else. It would have been acceptable if he had done so in service of his people, but that was obviously not the case. His servants cowered in fear when he turned his eyes upon them, which seemed to please him. Elijah wasn¡¯t always the best judge of character, but since his first meeting with Song Tianwei, he¡¯d disliked the man. Now, he saw more evidence as to why. Then, he sensed Nico. The man was pacing back and forth and ranting, though no one was in the room with him. In fact, he was in a completely abandoned part of the high-rise, which meant that he was talking to himself. ¡°¡­and do I get any recognition at all? Of course not. I try to do what they want me to do. I heal everyone I can. I even chose to heal other people instead of Lisa, but what do I get from it? The hatred of that asshole who spread all kinds of rumors about me. My own sister hates me now, and the only thing that makes it worth it is that I¡¯m ¨C¡± He cut himself off when there was a knock on the door of the office in which he¡¯d been pacing. ¡°What?!¡± ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± said a servant, bowing as he opened the door. ¡°Song Tianwei requests your presence, young master.¡± Nico didn¡¯t hesitate before sweeping out of the room and leaving the area. Still, Elijah was left hanging from the building as he considered what he¡¯d overheard. Or sensed, really. His ears were sensitive enough to hear through the thick glass, but normally, all he¡¯d get was muffled sound. But with Soul of the Wild, he could make out details he otherwise couldn¡¯t have. In any case, he almost felt sorry for Nico. The man was clearly under a lot of pressure, and he was ill-equipped to cope with his own responsibilities. Elijah didn¡¯t know many details, but he could easily imagine Nico going back and forth, trying to please everyone at once instead of just doing his job. The result was that he never got anything done properly. He let out a hissing sigh, then continued on his way. Once he reached the top of the building, he slipped over the edge and crossed the roof. There were a few guards stationed up there, but they clearly weren¡¯t the cream of the crop. Moreover, their eyes were focused on the skies, clearly looking for undead flyers. Elijah passed them by without incident, then headed through the door. Thankfully, the same anti-stealth technology wasn¡¯t present on that entrance, so Guise of the Unseen remained intact. After that, his descent through the building was easy enough, and he soon found himself four floors down and standing at Sadie¡¯s door. He could sense her inside, where she was sitting in the middle of the main room, meditating. But watching her without her knowledge felt more than a little creepy, so he wasted no time before shifting out of Shape of Venom and knocking on the door. A few seconds later, Sadie opened the door. Her mouth fell open, but before she could say anything, he asked, ¡°So, are you all packed up? I want to take you somewhere before we head to the island.¡± 8-9. The Camp ¡°What do you think?¡± asked Miguel, glancing to the leader of the expedition. She was the shortest and stoutest dwarf Miguel had ever seen, with a beard thick enough that he¡¯d originally mistook her for a man. But despite her wide-as-she-was-tall stature, she¡¯d established herself as a solid woodswoman, a good fighter, and more importantly, extremely well-organized. Miguel couldn¡¯t have asked for much more from a leader of the expedition from Ironshore to Argos. At first, he¡¯d expected to be the one in charge, but in retrospect, he recognized how silly that notion was. He was stronger than most fighters, but he wasn¡¯t even close to the highest level in the city. On top of that, despite his experiences, he couldn¡¯t escape the issues that came with his young age. Putting a teenager in charge of anything was just a bad look. Thankfully, Katis was more than up to the job, and due to her leadership, the trip to Argos had gone off without a hitch. They¡¯d left Wilhelm and a couple of diplomats behind, then begun the trek back after only a couple of days in the city. For his part, Miguel had used that time to visit his mother¡¯s memorial, which had become a hotbed of activity. The city¡¯s Healers had taken their cues from Elijah, and they¡¯d set up shop within. There, they offered their services to anyone in need. It was a fitting tribute to his mother¡¯s memory, but the crowd made trying to pay his respects a lot less personal than it should have been. He¡¯d also tried to find Zoe, the thief he¡¯d once met in the city. At one point, he¡¯d been a little infatuated with her. Their meeting had been brief, but she¡¯d held a prominent place in his mind, though he¡¯d kept those thoughts mostly to himself. Now, though, he just wanted to make sure she was okay ¨C and maybe to show her that he had, indeed, made himself useful. However, he found no sign of her in the city, so he was forced to end his search unsatisfactorily. Otherwise, the visit to Argos had been mostly pleasant. The city was even better developed than Ironshore, and it had a human flavor to it that the other city never could. Miguel didn¡¯t exactly feel out-of-place in Ironshore, but at times, he definitely felt like an outsider. There was nothing of that in Argos, and he enjoyed the two days he spent in the city. But then, the time to head home had come, and though he¡¯d wanted to run their nearby tower, that would have to wait until he¡¯d done his duty. Once the spires were up and operational, it would be easy to go from one place to another. Now, though, two days after they¡¯d left the city behind, they¡¯d run into a problem. Katis scratched her beard, turning her attention to the scout who¡¯d brought the news. Rasana was a tiny gnome with a shock of blue hair that she chose to wear in something approximating pigtails. It made her look incredibly young, but she claimed that it was a traditional hairstyle for powerful warriors among her people. ¡°Are you sure?¡± asked Katis. ¡°Sure as can be,¡± replied the gnomish scout. She was one of the best in Ironshore, so if she said she¡¯d found signs of dark elves, then that was just how it was. ¡°At least twenty, judging by the size of the camp.¡± ¡°And you say it was abandoned?¡± Miguel asked. The gnome nodded. ¡°Not a soul in sight,¡± she answered. ¡°There were some tracks leading off to the south, but I wanted to report back before I followed.¡± ¡°Smart,¡± Katis grunted. ¡°We investigate together.¡± Then, she signaled to the entire column of soldiers ¨C there were fifteen in the group, plus an addition they¡¯d picked up in Argos ¨C and the party shifted directions. After that, they followed Rasana¡¯s lead for a little more than a mile. Along the way, Miguel noticed signs of the dark elves¡¯ passage. They were decent woodsmen, but he had the advantage of his experiences backing him up. So, he noticed their tracks as well as ¨C if not better than ¨C Rasana. After about half a mile, Trevor returned to the group. He¡¯d grown a little in the past few months, and he was beginning to look more and more like his father. His antlers weren¡¯t nearly as expansive, but it wouldn¡¯t be long before he cut just as majestic a figure. But with his maturity had come a bit of an independent streak. Most days, he went off on his own, exploring the wilderness around them. He always came back, though, and usually with a prance in his step that signaled how proud he was of himself. ¡°What do you think he gets up to out there?¡± asked Isaak, the new addition to the party. The Sorcerer had practically insisted on going back to Ironshore with them, and because he had plenty of power of his own, Katis had allowed it. Still, he quite obviously was not a woodsman, and the two days since they¡¯d entered the forested hills around Argos had been characterized by his discomfort. Miguel answered, ¡°Not sure. Deer things, I guess.¡± ¡°Oh. I thought¡­I don¡¯t know what I thought, actually. You¡¯re bonded to him, right?¡± ¡°We have an understanding. We¡¯re friends, but I don¡¯t know his thoughts any more than you do,¡± Miguel stated. Over the past year, he¡¯d researched his bond with Trevor, and while it wasn¡¯t entirely unique, the shape it had taken was different than anything he¡¯d read about. Most bonds with beasts were entirely one-sided on the part of the tamer, and that gave that person incredible insight into the minds of his contracted animals. It also gave them control, which just didn¡¯t sit well with Miguel. By comparison, his bond with Trevor was one of equals, which was practically unheard of. ¡°What do you think we¡¯ll find?¡± Isaak asked. ¡°Dark elves, probably. You¡¯ve fought them before, right?¡± Isaak nodded. He was one of the reasons the dark elves hadn¡¯t attacked Argos with numbers as they had Ironshore. He and Artemis ¨C his cat who¡¯d stayed behind to guard the city ¨C had been killing dark elves for the past year. The slender teenager adjusted his glasses, answering, ¡°Not really fighting. More just stumbling upon them and burning them to a crisp. Usually only a few at a time, though. And I always had Artemis with me.¡± ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got us backing you up now,¡± Miguel said, reaching out to pat the Sorcerer on his shoulder. It was surprisingly muscular, suggesting that the young man was more than the weedy and bookish teenager he appeared to be. Of course, that should have been obvious, considering the kill count Isaak had racked up. ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Trevor snorted his agreement. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. After that, Katis called for silence, and the group progressed accordingly. The terrain was hilly, but there weren¡¯t many obstacles barring their way. In addition, the trees were well spaced, and with the group¡¯s attributes, the changes in elevation weren¡¯t difficult to manage. Eventually, Rasana signaled that they¡¯d arrived at their destination. When Miguel joined them on a slight rise overlooking a mostly barren valley, he saw what had caught Rasana¡¯s attention. The camp had clearly been occupied by dark elves, judging by the layout and the style of the tents. Miguel had seen plenty of dark elf camps, so he recognized both easily enough. What didn¡¯t fit was that the fire had been allowed to burn down to the coals, which still smoked slightly. The dark elves had abandoned the camp without breaking it down or smothering their fire. ¡°Tracks leading away?¡± he asked in a whisper that was probably unnecessary. ¡°West,¡± Rasana answered. ¡°Something big was following them, though.¡± ¡°Some sort of beast?¡± asked Katis. Rasana shrugged. ¡°It was bipedal, with feet like a giant. Stride length suggests around nine feet tall. Maybe a bit shorter or taller, depending on proportions.¡± ¡°Ain¡¯t seen nothin¡¯ like that ¡®round ¡®ere,¡± Katis remarked. ¡°It can send twenty dark elves running. It has to be dangerous,¡± Miguel stated. ¡°We need to investigate. Don¡¯t want ¡®nother orc invasion or some such,¡± Katis said. Then, to Rasana, she gestured toward the camp and ordered, ¡°After you.¡± After that, the group fell upon the camp, scavenging what they could. There wasn¡¯t much, and what was there wasn¡¯t terribly valuable, but they took a few scattered pieces of equipment as well as the tents, which had been enchanted with temperature control. They also took the time to properly smother the fire. Then, they were off. Rasana led the way, but even someone as inexperienced as Isaak could have followed the trail. The dark elves were still as light-footed as always, but whatever had chased them away from their camp didn¡¯t care about leaving a wide path in its wake. So, they made proper time until, at last, they found their quarry. Or what was left of them. ¡°What in all the hells happened here?¡± muttered Katis as she stared at the aftermath. It was difficult to match all the pieces into individual dark elves, but Miguel suspected that there had been no survivors. Certainly, there were enough detached limbs and bloody torsos to suggest that ever single member of the party had been slain. Rasana swallowed hard, obviously trying not to vomit. ¡°The trail keeps going,¡± she said in her squeaky voice, pointing past the scene of the massacre. ¡°It looks like they fought the thing here,¡± Miguel said, kneeling next to one of the torsos. It had once belonged to a male dark elf, but the flesh had been shredded right down to the ribcage. Those had been crushed, suggesting that something with immense strength had authored the blow. Of course, that wasn¡¯t some great revelation. Some of the bodies had been ripped in half, and given that each one of the dark elf fighters probably had at least a few levels under their belts, it would have taken a truly mighty creature to accomplish that feat. ¡°And lost,¡± added Isaak. Unlike the others, the young man seemed entirely unaffected by the carnage. Despite his inexperience as a woodsman, the young Sorcerer was no stranger to the realities of combat. Like anyone with a combat class who¡¯d managed to reach any level of significance, he¡¯d probably seen plenty of terrible things since Earth¡¯s transformation. ¡°We need to find the beast,¡± Miguel stated. ¡°Aye, we do,¡± Katis agreed. ¡°Ain¡¯t nothin¡¯ good can come of lettin¡¯ somethin¡¯ what could do this run loose. Looks like it was injured, too.¡± Supporting that notion was the fact that its trail was characterized by quite a lot of blood. In some places, it pooled into deep puddles containing gallons of the thick, gooey substance. It was red, just like human blood, but its consistency was far different. Like oil, almost. In any case, it provided all the direction they needed. So, the group set out, their weapons ready as they stalked a creature capable of killing twenty dark elves. What was even more distressing was that it had sent them running. They¡¯d tried to fight, there at the end, but Miguel suspected that had been because they could no longer outpace the creature. Still, judging by the amount of blood it had shed, it was wounded. And Miguel was confident that his people made for a stronger force than the dark elves¡¯, so it was with some surety that he and the others followed the trail. His confidence was misplaced. The first sign that they were getting close was the slightly less curdled puddles of blood, but the more impactful was the smell. Like the musty scent of a wet dog coupled with the rotting odor of a predator¡¯s lair, it was wholly unpleasant and evoked a prey response that told them all to run for the hills. Everyone in the group was experienced enough to ignore that impulse, but it still put them on edge. So it was with no small degree of caution that they continued to follow the trail, and eventually, they caught sight of their prey. And it was like nothing Miguel had ever seen before. At least nine feet tall, with a rangy build that reminded him of an NBA center, the thing was covered in long, stringy hair that had been matted from all the blood loss. It was also missing one arm and the lower part of one of its legs, which meant that it had been crawling along. But most disturbingly, those limbs had already begun to regrow. The arm was little more than a nub, but the leg was fully shaped, even if it was a size more appropriate to a toddler. ¡°What is that thing?¡± Miguel whispered. For a long moment, no one answered his question. But then, finally, Rasana mumbled, ¡°Wild troll. This¡­this is a problem.¡± Even as they watched the creature crawling through the woods ¨C it was still fifty yards away, at least, so it hadn¡¯t detected their presence ¨C Miguel asked, ¡°Why? It¡¯s just a monster.¡± ¡°It ain¡¯t just a monster,¡± Katis stated evenly. ¡°Where there¡¯s one, there¡¯s always more. They ain¡¯t s¡¯posed to like the daylight, though. Most times, they stay underground.¡± ¡°It probably followed the dark elves up here,¡± Miguel reasoned. The species of dark-skinned elves were native to what they called the Hollow Depths, so his assertion made a lot of sense. ¡°We¡¯ll need to investigate,¡± Rasana added. ¡°People need to know if there are trolls in the area.¡± ¡°Agreed,¡± Katis said. ¡°But we need to kill that thing first. If we don¡¯t put it down for good, it¡¯ll regenerate and¡­well, you saw what it did to them dark elves.¡± After that, they made a plan to kill the troll. It wasn¡¯t particularly complex, and it depended mostly on ranged attacks meant to whittle down the creature¡¯s strength. Only when it was weakened would they descend upon it and hack it to pieces. That last bit was necessary because, according to Rasana, it was the only way to finish a troll off. Their Regeneration was off the charts, and a single lucky blow was never enough. The first part of the plan went off without a hitch, and because the monster¡¯s mobility had been sorely diminished by its previous clash with the dark elves, it couldn¡¯t harness its reportedly high Strength to respond to their attacks. Soon enough, flight after flight of arrows had turned the thing into a veritable pincushion. It had long since collapsed into a foot-deep pool of blood, where it lay unmoving. But it wasn¡¯t dead. Miguel and the other melee-specialized fighters stepped forward. With his attributes, which were still somewhat enhanced by his proximity to the grove, Miguel was far and away the strongest combatant, so he attacked it with vigor, hacking into it with the Blade of the Green Warden. It bit deep, but even as he withdrew his sword, the wound started to close. The monster stirred, but by that point, a dozen other blades fell upon it. What followed was a period of gruesome butchery that didn¡¯t end until the creature had been hacked into dozens of pieces. Even then, the hunks of meat and bone needed to be separated from the others, lest they find their way back together. Miguel had expected decapitation to finish it off, but that was not the case. Instead, the monster ¨C whose face looked like a combination of a goblin and a gorilla ¨C just stared at him with unabashed hatred. All in all, it took an hour of work until they each received experience for the kill. Even with the energy being split between twenty people, it was enough to push Miguel to the next level. Fifty-four. One more, and he¡¯d get a new skill. Even as that thought crossed his mind, he imagined finding more trolls. He shuddered at the thought, though. Killing even one that was already wounded had taken the combined efforts of twenty people. No ¨C he never wanted to see another troll again. 8-10. Running Away, Together ¡°It feels like I¡¯m running away from my problems,¡± Sadie said, running her hand through her hair as she looked around the room. ¡°My people need me now more than ever before.¡± ¡°But do they want you?¡± Elijah asked. It was a valid question, but Sadie didn¡¯t immediately answer. Instead, she turned away and walked toward her window. From the height of her apartments ¨C which were at least fifty stories above the ground ¨C she could see Hong Kong in its entirety. And what was on display was not an encouraging sight. The city was in ruins, and conquering the Primal Realm hadn¡¯t changed that. Sure, the city was better off than it had been, with fewer and less dangerous undead monsters roaming the streets. However, killing the Queen of Desolation wasn¡¯t a magical potion that could reverse the damage that had already been done. Elijah had seen that during his trek through the city, but even then, it was hard to escape the feeling of uselessness that came with that realization. The task of keeping the city safe felt like bailing water from a sinking ship. One moment of inattention, and they would fail. ¡°These people need to learn to take care of themselves,¡± Elijah added. ¡°I know you think it¡¯s your responsibility, but ¨C¡± ¡°It is my responsibility, Elijah. I¡¯m here to protect them. Whether they want it or not.¡± ¡°If you keep going like this, it¡¯ll kill you. Everyone needs a break.¡± ¡°If I take a break, people die,¡± she reminded him. What Elijah wanted to say was that maybe certain people needed to die. It was a great motivator for others to take up the responsibility, and it would force the population to find new ways of combating the problem. That was what had happened in other cities, and it would happen in Hong Kong too. But he knew that Primal Realms were different than towers. If normal people entered the Desolate Reach, they would die ¨C just like Gideon or Zhang Yue. It was a difficult problem to solve. Fortunately, from what Elijah could tell, it wasn¡¯t urgent. It would take years for the Primal Realm to reach full power, and in that time, others could step up and grow powerful enough to fight it. Still, that did nothing for Sadie¡¯s sense of responsibility. Elijah knew her well enough to recognize that she would never trust anyone else to do what she thought she could do herself. So, Elijah chose to take a different tactic. ¡°It¡¯s not as urgent right now. We¡¯ve earned a little respite,¡± he said. After all, the power of Primal Realms was cyclical. Immediately after being conquered, they were weaker than they ever would be again. With every passing day, they would continue to grow stronger until they burst forth with a level of power sufficient to subdue an entire region. Or a whole world, if what Elijah had read was correct ¨C though that was considered a rarity, if only because every planet was host to multiple Primal Realms. If one was sufficiently neglected so as to result in that kind of explosion of power, then the others would be too. In those cases, they usually fought one another for dominance, typically to a stalemate. Not that either scenario was encouraging for Elijah. If it came down to that, the world would become virtually uninhabitable by humans or any other race. But they weren¡¯t even close to that point, especially with the Desolate Reach. It had been drained, and it wouldn¡¯t become a significant threat for some time yet. Because of that, it was the perfect time for Sadie to take a vacation, which was the crux of his following argument. Eventually, Elijah convinced her, and soon enough, she¡¯d begun packing. All the while, Elijah was certain that they would be interrupted, but no one visited Sadie. No one showed up to convince her to stay. Even when they left her apartments behind and made their way to the roof, nobody tried to stop her from leaving. That was disappointing. It was her home. She had family there. And they hadn¡¯t tried to conceal her intentions to leave, either. Surely, Tianwei and Nico knew what she had planned, and still, they were content to let her leave without so much as a goodbye. ¡°Do you want to let your grandfather know where you¡¯re going?¡± Elijah asked once they reached the roof. ¡°He might worry¡­¡± Sadie stared at the roof, as if she could see through the entire building. Then, after a few moments, she shook her head and said, ¡°No. They¡¯ll figure it out.¡± Elijah considered trying to convince her otherwise, but then thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was to step into the middle of her family drama. So, without further ado, he shifted into Shape of the Sky and invited Sadie to climb onto his back. He knew it wouldn¡¯t be particularly comfortable up there ¨C he was shaped more like a snake with wings than an actual dragon ¨C but it was probably better than being toted along in his talons. ¡°Ready?¡± he asked in the hissing voice characteristic of the form. ¡°I¡­I guess,¡± she said, her arms around his slender neck. Elijah could guess what was going through her mind. Even if she fell ¨C which probably seemed likely at the moment ¨C she would survive the descent pretty easily. Hopefully, that was a comfort. With that confirmation, Elijah flexed his legs and threw himself upward with a mighty flap of his wings. Within moments, he was soaring over Hong Kong, though the act drew the inevitable attention of the undead flyers nesting within the tallest high-rises. After only a few seconds, they¡¯d begun to swarm. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. But Elijah wasn¡¯t worried. Once he¡¯d oriented himself in the right direction, he used Lightning Rush, leaving the monsters far behind. In the space of two seconds, he flew hundreds of miles from Hong Kong. It wasn¡¯t quite as much distance as he could have managed unencumbered, but the decrease wasn¡¯t as large as he might have expected. Probably because of his increased attributes. In any case, they were soon soaring over the Red Beach of Panjin, which made for a truly marvelous sight. Over the course of the next day, Elijah took Sadie on a tour of the surrounding area. Predictably, flying wasn¡¯t a comfortable endeavor for her, so they spent much of their time on the ground. But eventually, they reached their destination. And it took Sadie¡¯s breath away. She stood atop the mountain overlooking the mist-shrouded valley, speechless and with an expression of wonder playing across her face. ¡°This is Zhangjiajie National Forest Park,¡± she said. ¡°Everything here is bigger than it used to be, but it¡¯s one of China¡¯s most powerful natural wonders. I¡¯ve always dreamed of visiting.¡± ¡°Well, dream achieved.¡± After that, they shared a nice lunch atop the mountain. They were high enough above the mist that they weren¡¯t bothered by the wildlife, but they still had the advantage of the great view. Soon enough, though, they headed down into the valley. Predictably, Elijah was soon surrounded by animals. Apparently, during his short stay, he¡¯d built something of a following. It was wholly based on his propensity to feed the beasts, but he convinced himself that they just liked him for his gentle demeanor and magnetic personality. Sadie tried to act unfazed, but she wasn¡¯t quite as accustomed to it as him. ¡°You know some of these creatures are strong enough that they could probably kill you,¡± she said as he fed a hunk of meat to a small black bear. ¡°The way to any animal¡¯s heart is through its stomach.¡± ¡°Until you run out of food and they start looking at you like you¡¯re their next meal,¡± she reasoned. ¡°Well, yeah. Probably. But my buddies here wouldn¡¯t eat me. Would you, bud?¡± asked Elijah as he scratched the bear¡¯s head. It let out a low growl. ¡°Okay ¨C not a dog. Gotcha. Here.¡± He tossed a hunk of meat ¨C it had come from a wild boar he¡¯d hunted and roasted the day prior ¨C off into the woods. The bear followed. ¡°Where are we going?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t enjoy a little nature walk, but¡­¡± ¡°You¡¯ll see. It¡¯s not much further.¡± It took them a further half a day to reach the site of the dolmen, and then a short flight to get to the summit of the edifice where it rested. ¡°What is this?¡± Sadie asked, approaching the circle of trilithons. Each arch left a gap almost three feet wide, so she had no issues passing beneath them. She did so, running her hand along the surface of the carved stone. ¡°It looks like black marble, but I can feel the power coming from it.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know what it¡¯s called. I found it nearby.¡± ¡°It¡¯s pretty. I would¡­¡± She trailed off as she studied the first carving. Her speechlessness wasn¡¯t a surprise. Elijah had never been the most artistically gifted of people, but to anyone who¡¯d known Dat, the inspiration for the patterns etched into the stones was obvious. ¡°This is for him?¡± she asked. Elijah stepped closer to her. ¡°Sort of,¡± he said. ¡°When I make these dolmens, I always use something important to me as inspiration. I¡¯m not sure it matters, but when I get going, I sort of just go with the flow. In this case, it led me to Dat. This is called the Circle of the Hunter.¡± For a long few moments, Sadie just stared at the carving. It depicted the first time Dat had used his miracle in the Trial of Primacy, and he stood over the four-armed ka¡¯alaki, his shortsword raised above his head. The entire picture reminded Elijah of a schlocky fantasy book cover from the eighties, but he felt that was appropriate, given Dat¡¯s tastes. ¡°He would have loved this,¡± Sadie said, resting her hand on the carving. Tears traced lines down her cheeks as she added, ¡°He didn¡¯t have a lot of friends, you know. Not that were left. He was popular in school, but most of those people¡­¡± She didn¡¯t have to finish the statement. A large portion of humanity¡¯s population had fallen during Earth¡¯s transformation, and it would have been a surprise to find that Dat¡¯s old friends had survived. Not impossible by any stretch, but the odds definitely weren¡¯t in their favor. ¡°He was a great guy,¡± Elijah said. ¡°One of the bravest people I¡¯ve known. A hero.¡± ¡°He was.¡± After that, Elijah showed Sadie everything he¡¯d carved. The dolmen wasn¡¯t as densely covered as some of the others he¡¯d built, but each standing stone depicted something important about Dat¡¯s life. In all, it felt like a fitting tribute for the man who¡¯d sacrificed himself to save their lives. Sadie agreed, and the monument to her friend left her more than a little emotional. For Elijah¡¯s part, he¡¯d processed many of those feelings when he was building the dolmen, so he managed to maintain a stoic fa?ade. Eventually, though, they were forced to take a step back and make camp for the night. They could have gone to the grove, then and there, but Elijah felt that it was better for her to put a little distance between her current emotions and her first impressions of his home. Plus, the Zhangjiajie Forest provided plenty of wonder that neither of them wanted to quickly leave behind. Thankfully, the clouded leopard guardian kept its distance. As they sat around the fire, Sadie asked about the dolmens. ¡°Think of them like teleportation nodes,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°But I can¡¯t go from one to the next. They always lead back to the grove. But I can teleport from the grove to any of them.¡± ¡°How many have you built so far?¡± she asked. Elijah answered, ¡°So far? Six. There¡¯s the Circle of the Dragon. Circle of Spears. The Moon Well. Circle of the Boar King. The Circle of Hope. And now the Circle of the Hunter. The first few were probably kind of wasted, at least in terms of their proximity to one another. But I think this one and the Circle of Hope really expanded my reach. I¡¯ve got four more I can make before I upgrade my core, which I think is a little ways away. I haven¡¯t even figured out the method yet, much less started on the preparation process.¡± ¡°You talk about advancing cultivation like it¡¯s a foregone conclusion,¡± Sadie remarked with a shake of her head. ¡°For most of us, it¡¯s a struggle.¡± ¡°Maybe my island will help,¡± he suggested. ¡°The ethera density is much higher than anywhere else I¡¯ve been.¡± ¡°Perhaps.¡± After that, the conversation moved on to other things, but they both pointedly stayed away from the elephant in the room. The Primal Realm was still an issue, and neither of them relished the thought of constantly throwing themselves back into that death trap just so Hong Kong could keep its head above water. Eventually, though, they decided to call it a night, falling asleep in one another¡¯s arms. It was a decidedly big step in their relationship, even if neither of them acknowledged it. Instead, they simply enjoyed the comfort provided by the other. The next morning came with chirping birds and sunlight diffused through the surrounding mist. The effect was a feeling of surreality that gave the landscape a magical cast. After cleaning up and enjoying a breakfast of mostly tasteless pork chops warmed over an open flame, they once again ascended to the dolmen, and at last, Elijah used Roots of the World Tree to open a portal home. It was a long time coming, and even as he gestured for Sadie to step through, he felt a sense of immense relief. He followed her a second later, letting the atmosphere wash over him. 8-11. First Impressions Sadie stumbled slightly when a wall of dense ethera hit her. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself on what she thought was a tree. Then, it said, ¡°Welcome to the grove. Please step to the side so as not to block the portal.¡± She flinched away, her hand darting to the sword strapped to her back. She¡¯d foregone her armor ¨C largely because it was mostly destroyed in the Primal Realm ¨C but even if her sword was well notched with a few cracks along the central spine, it was still a deadly weapon. Before she could act on her shock, Elijah stepped through the gate of flowering vines, then planted himself between Sadie and what looked like a humanoid tree. That was when her mind caught up to the situation. ¡°Nerthus,¡± she said, remembering the spryggent Elijah had often described during the Trial of Primacy. ¡°You¡¯re much larger than I expected.¡± ¡°He¡¯s a growing boy,¡± Elijah said, relaxing as reached up to pat the tree spirit on the shoulder. He looked up, saying, ¡°You are getting pretty big, though. Pretty soon, this island won¡¯t be big enough for you.¡± ¡°I have nearly reached my adult size,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°Until ascendence, at least. After that, I will begin to grow again.¡± ¡°That¡¯s a relief,¡± Elijah responded. The tree spirit was already close to eight feet tall, so the notion that he would grow even larger upon ascendence was a little distressing. Before Sadie could contemplate it further, Elijah interrupted her thoughts and introduced her to Nerthus. ¡°This is Sadie,¡± he said. ¡°I think I¡¯ve mentioned her once or twice. And Sadie, this is Nerthus. He¡¯s like a brother to me.¡± Sadie said, ¡°From what you described, he¡¯s more like your keeper.¡± ¡°That is accurate,¡± Nerthus agreed. ¡°He is quite difficult to control. Like an errant child.¡± ¡°I¡¯m right here, guys.¡± Sadie glanced over to see Elijah rubbing the back of his neck. And against all odds, she let out a small chuckle. It was the first time she¡¯d really smiled since¡­ The expression faded as she remembered Dat¡¯s death. So often, it just crept up on her, ambushing her when she least expected it. She so wished that she could go a few happy minutes without being reminded that her best friend was gone. But even as that wish crossed her mind, it was clouded by guilt. Dat deserved a little sadness. He had earned her grief. Resenting it was the height of selfishness, and she refused to go down that road. Not like her brother. Not like her grandfather. She would not be like them. She refused. ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± asked Elijah, noticing the change in her expression. She sighed. ¡°Nothing,¡± Sadie answered. Then, she forced another smile, though she knew he¡¯d see through it. Perhaps if she did it enough, it would transform into something more genuine. To keep herself from wallowing in the guilt and grief gripping her heart, she looked around. And as she got her first glimpse of the grove, her breath caught in her chest. It was like a natural garden ¨C Eden made real ¨C and it defied easy description. The flora was bright and colorful, as if someone had turned the saturation levels up on the entire world, and she only recognized a few of the plants in evidence. It was saying something that the eight-foot-tall tree man wasn¡¯t even in the top ten of the most miraculous things she saw. Even as she was overwhelmed by it all, her mind catalogued the features. The density of the ethera was the first thing she truly acknowledged, and it was far thicker than anywhere she¡¯d been before. It was like dense humidity charged with an electrical current, and even that description was insufficient to truly convey the magical weight of it. There was also an undercurrent of vitality to the atmosphere that felt like a thousand jolts of energy, all at once. The terrain itself was mostly flat, and as she¡¯d already noted, it was paradisical in nature. She recognized thick bushes bearing the fruits Elijah always carried around, but they were markedly less impressive than the enormous, white tree in the center. Its branches spread out for dozens of feet in every direction, and it practically glowed with potent ethera. It was easily the most powerful natural treasure she¡¯d ever encountered. Nothing else came close in comparison. ¡°Pretty cool, right? Would you believe this whole meadow was empty ¨C except for the ancestral tree ¨C when I got here?¡± Elijah asked, jerking her out of her reverie. Sadie didn¡¯t know how long she¡¯d been staring, but it was definitely longer than she¡¯d intended. ¡°You made all of this?¡± ¡°Me? No. I just got things started. This place is Nerthus¡¯ masterpiece,¡± he answered. ¡°I am merely a caretaker,¡± the spryggent stated. ¡°You don¡¯t have to be modest, bud,¡± Elijah said. After that, the two went back and forth, neither of them taking full credit for the grove. The reality ¨C as Sadie saw it ¨C was that they were both responsible for its creation and upkeep. Nerthus was, as he¡¯d pointed out, the caretaker, and he guided its growth, but without Elijah¡¯s connection, none of it would have been possible. It was a symbiotic relationship that had resulted in the most magical place Sadie had ever seen. Once the modesty competition had come to a conclusion, with Nerthus excusing himself to go check on the coffee trees, Elijah offered to take her on a tour of the island and its surroundings. Before they got going, though, she had to ask about the aforementioned coffee trees. ¡°Wait ¨C you used something called a Miracle Seed to grow coffee?¡± she asked, incredulous. ¡°Not potatoes? Or some powerful herb that could be used in alchemy?¡± ¡°Nope!¡± he said, grinning. ¡°That¡¯s the dumbest thing I¡¯ve ever heard.¡± ¡°What can I say? I¡¯m addicted to caffeine. And this is magical caffeine, too. So, win-win.¡± You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s an appropriate label.¡± ¡°That¡¯s because you¡¯re a coffee-hating heretic. But that¡¯s okay. I still like you,¡± he said. ¡°We all have our flaws to bear.¡± ¡°Not a flaw,¡± she muttered. She¡¯d tried to like coffee. She truly had. Back in her university days, all of her classmates had been enamored with the stuff, and she¡¯d desperately wanted to fit in. But of all the drinks she¡¯d tried at her local Starbucks, the only ones that had tasted even remotely acceptable were the ones that were basically just milkshakes with a coffee flavor. And even those were only bearable. No ¨C as far as she was concerned, coffee was just an overrated, bitter drink that was only popular because of socialization and, obviously, because caffeine was addictive. In any case, Elijah pretended that he didn¡¯t hear her, and he happily proceeded to show her the rest of his island. It was a lot larger than she¡¯d been led to believe, but with their attributes ¨C and Elijah¡¯s unerring ability to navigate even the densest tangle of flora ¨C they had no difficulty traversing the terrain. It was much longer than it was wide ¨C maybe six or seven miles by one or two ¨C but that was still big enough to host a wide variety of fauna. Sadie saw giant fluffy rabbits the size of golden retrievers, squirrels that gave off an ominous sense of pressure, and even a family of deer with crystalline antlers. Elijah introduced them as Bubba, Annabelle, and Susan ¨C odd names for powerful beasts that made even Sadie a little uncomfortable, but she wasn¡¯t one to judge. Then, she was introduced to the foxes. ¡°Oh, my God ¨C they are so cute!¡± she exclaimed as the little foxes danced around Elijah like excited puppies. They didn¡¯t bark like dogs, though. Rather, they let out little high-pitched chirps that Sadie predictably found adorable. It was only when one of them nipped her finger, its sharp teeth cutting down to the bone, that she realized that they, too, were powerful creatures. Elijah healed it, saying, ¡°Sorry. They¡¯re not house-trained. Or grove-trained, I guess? I don¡¯t know. They haven¡¯t been around many people, though. They¡¯re not guardians yet ¨C you can tell because they each only have one tail. Their mother had nine, so you know she was strong. You¡¯d have probably lost a hand if she bit you. Nice fox, though, so long as she got her tribute. Not like that bastard of a clouded leopard. Now, he was just a little asshole, and there¡¯s nothing else to say about that.¡± Sadie had heard him complain about the leopard a few times while they were camping in the Zhangjiajie Forest, but she¡¯d never seen the creature. Still, it was difficult to imagine such a beautiful beast ¨C she¡¯d seen clouded leopards in the zoo ¨C being so temperamental. Chances were that Elijah had offended it somehow. Despite Sadie¡¯s brief bout with the fox¡¯s sharp teeth, she was still delighted by their antics. The snow-white creatures were perfectly suited to the vale where Elijah had planted the frozen oak, and the area was at least twenty degrees colder than anywhere else on the island. Eventually, they moved on, and Elijah showed her the coast as well as the enormous, monstrous crabs that he spoke of quite fondly. ¡°These things tried to eat me when I first washed ashore,¡± he explained. ¡°Tore my legs to ribbons. Back then, they were only about¡­oh, this big.¡± He held his hands about a foot-and-a-half apart. His voice was wistful when he continued, ¡°They got bigger, though. I ended up surviving off a diet of mostly crab for the longest time.¡± Sadie listened as he described his first few months. Despite the current, idyllic conditions of the island, it was clear that he¡¯d struggled just as much as anyone else. His problems were different from what the people of Hong Kong had initially faced, but his survival was difficult nonetheless. ¡°Then I lost the cat,¡± he said. ¡°I don¡¯t think it ever considered me a friend or anything. I¡¯m not even sure why it protected me, if that¡¯s what it was doing. Most of the time, I believe it was only tolerating me while it protected its natural treasure. But even so, we had an understanding that might have become a partnership once I got stronger. I won¡¯t ever know for sure. But after it died, things changed a lot for me. Suddenly, it was less about finding food and shelter and more about fighting Voxx and running towers. Oh, and killing this gnome Berserker who decided to invade my island.¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d described his first run-in with civilization after the world¡¯s transformation, but when he did so on the island, Sadie felt a distinct chill run up her spine. He felt no real remorse for killing those invaders. Not like he did with the people of Easton, who he¡¯d killed in a quest for revenge for his sister¡¯s death. Briefly, she let herself feel Sense of Sin. It only lasted a moment, but the swirling darkness around Elijah had intensified to such a degree that she nearly stumbled away. In that moment, he wasn¡¯t just a man who¡¯d done some questionable things. He was a powerful and uncontrollable force of nature who wouldn¡¯t hesitate to do whatever was necessary to protect what was his. ¡°Are you okay?¡± Elijah asked, reaching out to steady her. ¡°You¡¯re not hurt, are you? Some people take some time to get used to the ethereal density, but ¨C¡± She took a deep breath, shutting herself off from the ability as she said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. Really. Just an unsteady moment. You were talking about Ironshore, right? You¡¯ve developed a positive relationship with them, haven¡¯t you?¡± ¡°Oh, yeah. We¡¯re totally cool now.¡± As it turned out, that wasn¡¯t entirely true. After a short boat ride ¨C that Elijah seemed extremely put off by ¨C they arrived in Ironshore. The city itself was much larger than Sadie had expected. From the way Elijah had described it, she¡¯d anticipated that it would be a small town of maybe a few thousand people, but it seemed that the population had reached into the low six digits. It wasn¡¯t a metropolis on the level of somewhere like Hong Kong, but it was a decent sized city nonetheless. In any case, Elijah¡¯s characterization of being on good terms with the city¡¯s inhabitants was more than a little exaggerated. Everywhere they went, suspicious eyes followed. People were afraid of him, and mostly, they treated him like a wild animal that might suddenly attack. For his part, he seemed oblivious to that attitude, grinning as he showed Sadie around. The tour didn¡¯t even come close to revealing Ironshore¡¯s every nook and cranny, but it did give her a good sense of the place. And of its people, who ran the gamut from human to gnome and everything in between. Sadie had seen the represented races during the Trial of Primacy, but that had not prepared her for an entire city populated by what amounted to aliens. Sure, there were plenty of humans, too, but they were in the vast minority, which left Sadie feeling like an intruder. Not that the people weren¡¯t friendly. Most were, even if that attitude was likely driven by fear. But Sadie still didn¡¯t feel as if she belonged. Not until they finally reached the smithy. ¡°Carmen? You in here?!¡± Elijah called, barging through the door without knocking. ¡°I have someone I want you to meet!¡± The moment Sadie followed Elijah into the smithy, she was beset by intense heat and a wave of cacophonous hammering of metal on metal. It was so disconcerting that it took her a moment to find the source ¨C a short but muscular woman who was banging on what looked like a hammer with another hammer. The woman ¨C Carmen, Sadie assumed ¨C held up one finger to silence Elijah before she continued her work. Finally, after a few more strikes, she looked up and grinned. ¡°You¡¯re home.¡± Elijah didn¡¯t hesitate to throw his arms around his sister-in-law as they greeted one another. After they broke apart, the introductions commenced, and to Sadie¡¯s surprise, she found that she quite liked Carmen. So much, in fact, that she didn¡¯t even notice when Elijah left her alone with the Blacksmith. While he was gone ¨C running errands, it seemed ¨C Sadie and Carmen talked about all sorts of things ranging from blacksmithing to the situation in Hong Kong. But after about an hour, Elijah returned. This time, he carried a trio of clay mugs. ¡°Here,¡± he said. ¡°From the best tea place in town.¡± Both Sadie and Carmen took the cups, and when Sadie sipped hers, she was absolutely floored by the amount of ethera it conveyed. More importantly, it was one of the tastiest beverages she had ever consumed. She enjoyed it as the pair caught up, contributing a few tidbits here and there. But all the while, Sadie found herself growing both content and anxious. It was so easy to lose oneself in the comfort of a place like the grove or Ironshore, but that didn¡¯t change the world¡¯s situation. Sadie had responsibilities, and no amount of great tea or good company would change that. Still, it was a nice break. 8-12. Looking Forward Elijah lay awake, cradling Sadie in his arms and wondering just what he¡¯d done to deserve so much happiness. Despite the horrors that had preceded his return to the grove, the past week had been filled with contentment and joy. And most of that could be laid at the feet of the woman beside him. Sadie was still asleep, and without her bulky armor, she seemed so much smaller and far more vulnerable than usual. In that moment, with her breath coming deep and steady, she was no longer the powerful warrior. Instead, she was just a beautiful woman who¡¯d miraculously ¨C and likely despite her better judgement ¨C developed feelings for him. For his part, Elijah was smitten. He wouldn¡¯t have characterized it as love ¨C not yet, at least ¨C but the seeds had been planted. With proper management, they would bloom into something much greater. Alone, he and Sadie were formidable. But together, with real emotion backing them up, they could be so much more than they could ever be alone. For now, though, he knew he couldn¡¯t let his imagination run away with the fantasy. He¡¯d done that before, dreaming of the future while neglecting the present, and he wouldn¡¯t allow that to sully his nascent relationship with Sadie. Instead, he vowed to simply live in the moment and treat her the way she deserved to be treated. She needed it, too. Not just in the sense that everyone needed human companionship, either. After Dat¡¯s death, she¡¯d become uniquely vulnerable. She had no other friends and few interests that weren¡¯t rooted in the idea of fighting for her people¡¯s survival. It would have been tragic if it wasn¡¯t for Elijah¡¯s refusal to accept that he couldn¡¯t do anything about it. As it was, he¡¯d spent the past week trying to distract her from recent events. And to a certain degree, he¡¯d been successful ¨C at least judging by her enthusiasm for everything he had to offer. But he feared that her scars were too deep to truly ignore. So were his, if he was honest with himself. Certainly, distractions ¨C if he even dared to call his time with Sadie that ¨C helped. In the moment, he could think of nothing but her. But guilt and grief were never far away. So, he¡¯d chosen to focus on other things, like his daily training as well as cultivation. Sadie joined him for both, though she was obviously frustrated that she wasn¡¯t making much progress in the latter. ¡°Don¡¯t stare at me like that,¡± Sadie mumbled, her eyes still closed. ¡°It¡¯s creepy.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not staring,¡± he lied, even as he ran a finger along her bare shoulder. ¡°You are,¡± she countered, finally opening her eyes and turning to face him. ¡°But I suppose I¡¯ll allow it.¡± ¡°So generous,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°What distractions do you have planned for today?¡± she asked, obviously having guessed the intent behind the full itinerary that had characterized the past week. ¡°Nothing much. Just the grand opening of the hot tub,¡± he answered. ¡°Nothing you¡¯d be interested in, I¡¯m sure. I¡¯ll let you know how awesome it is.¡± Indeed, Elijah had checked on the site the previous day, and with the ash lotus having reached maturity, it had set the artificial spring¡¯s temperature to near boiling. Without their incredible durability, they never could have stood it, but with their high Constitution attributes, it was probably perfect. After that statement, Sadie was eager to get the day started. So, Elijah watched as she rose from the bed of moss and headed to the shower. Before she went inside, she looked back and said, ¡°You¡¯re staring again.¡± ¡°Might be the best part of my day.¡± She rolled her eyes, but she did give him one of her rare smiles. Elijah added, ¡°Might not want to shower just yet. Still have training this morning.¡± ¡°Ugh.¡± ¡°I thought you¡¯d get into the whole training thing. You definitely know how to put in the work,¡± Elijah said. ¡°That¡¯s different,¡± was her reply. ¡°This is¡­I don¡¯t know¡­like a vacation, I guess. I don¡¯t work out on vacations.¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°I never really took many vacations in my old life,¡± he acknowledged. Of course, with his apathy towards his chosen profession, as well as his choice to set up shop in one of the world¡¯s most well-known paradises, one could make the argument that Elijah¡¯s whole life had been a vacation. That was before the cancer, though. ¡°So, I¡¯ll have to take your word for it. But come on ¨C a little training is a good way to start the day.¡± ¡°Or we could do something else. Something more fun.¡± ¡°Training is fun.¡± Once again, she rolled her eyes. ¡°You know what I¡¯m talking about.¡± Elijah chuckled. ¡°I definitely do,¡± he responded, climbing from the bed. A moment later, he¡¯d stepped close, and their lips came together. After that, they lost themselves to passion, only coming up for air a little while later. Immediately, Elijah asked, ¡°Training now?¡± ¡°You really do have a one-track mind.¡± But Sadie had no other reasons to deny him, and what followed was a morning full of physical exertion ¨C and not the amorous kind. Rather, they took turns lifting heavy boulders, swimming or running laps around the island, and engaging in light sparring matches against Nerthus¡¯ helpfully-provided tree men. In all, it was nice practice, but to Elijah, something was obvious ¨C they¡¯d both outgrown normal training methods, and they needed to get a little more creative if they wanted to progress. Sparring against one another helped, but even then, their matches lacked a certain intensity that was necessary if they wanted the exercise to do much good. The problem was that Elijah didn¡¯t really know how to make things harder. Boulders only grew so heavy, after all, and he didn¡¯t find swimming through the ocean that difficult anymore. It was just one more problem ¨C most of which stemmed from ignorance ¨C to add to the list. Perhaps he needed to visit the Branch to see if he could find a few solutions. Otherwise, his list would grow so long that he couldn¡¯t keep track of everything. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. One thing he did have a handle on was cultivation, though. Elijah knew that he was more talented than most, but he only had to watch Sadie struggle with it to understand just how far ahead of everyone else he truly was. And she was a couple of steps below him, where things were much easier, too. In any case, Elijah had read in one of his guides that reaching the next stage of body cultivation ¨C called Bronze ¨C was far more difficult than previous advancements. He hadn¡¯t even truly begun to attack the advancement itself. Instead, he was only in the preparation stage. Utilizing a technique he¡¯d developed himself, the goal was to suffuse different parts of his body with ethera. Bones came first, then organs, muscles, and finally, skin. Only when he could push each one to bursting would he be ready for the next step ¨C breaking everything down via exposure to incredibly destructive forces ¨C which promised a level of pain he¡¯d never experienced. And that wasn¡¯t even the whole of it, either. Progression wouldn¡¯t come cheap, and part of Elijah dreaded pushing ahead. He knew it wouldn¡¯t be fun, and according to the guides, this point of progression was responsible for the vast majority of cultivation-related deaths. Partially, that was because finding a proper environment, which wasn¡¯t terribly common on most developed worlds. On those worlds, they were regarded as strategic resources and under heavy restrictions imposed by dominant factions. Getting access was reserved for those who could benefit those factions. Everyone else had to look further afield, which meant braving wild and uncontrolled places where anything could happen. And then there were the destructive elements themselves. Bathing in lava was the example given, and if the cultivator overestimated their ability to withstand the heat ¨C by even a little ¨C they would be melted. There were alchemical solutions, of course, but those were incredibly expensive and reserved only for scions with immense wealth. On Earth, Elijah was pretty well off, but in the context of the wider universe, he was a pauper. So, that wasn¡¯t really an option for him. When he¡¯d asked Biggle about it, the Alchemist had laughed in his face before making it abundantly clear that it would take a century or more of hard work before he reached the level necessary to concoct such a potion. In any case, once he and Sadie completed their training, they headed to Ironshore. Sadie wanted to have lunch with Carmen ¨C the two had struck up a friendship ¨C while Elijah had a few errands he needed to run. First on the list was a trip to meet with Kurik, who functioned as his liaison with the local hunters. Thankfully, the dwarf was around, which wasn¡¯t a guarantee of late. Not only did Kurik have plenty of responsibilities, most of which he¡¯d taken upon himself upon their return from the Trial of Primacy, but he¡¯d grown even more distant when he¡¯d learned of Dat¡¯s death. His solution was to retreat into the mines and focus on building more defenses against another dark elf invasion. By comparison, Ron had taken it much better, though Elijah hadn¡¯t missed that the man spent the next couple of nights drowning his sorrows in a bottle at one of the local taverns. In any case, they had a proper memorial planned for when everyone was ready to face the reality of what had happened. ¡°Did you get it?¡± asked Elijah, stepping into what had been affectionately dubbed the Hunter¡¯s Lodge. It was a building on the edge of the city ¨C right next to the wall ¨C where Ironshore¡¯s Rangers and Explorers were headquartered. Ostensibly, the reason for its existence was so that they could coordinate their efforts, but mostly, it was just a place where they could congregate and tell stories about their hunts. Kurik spent a lot of time there ¨C at least when he wasn¡¯t in the tunnels beneath the city or out in the wilderness where he was truly comfortable. Kurik looked up from where he was sitting in the corner, smoking his pipe. It was a new affectation, but it definitely fit him well. ¡°Yeah, I got it,¡± he growled, opening a small portal via the Key of Twisted Ethera he wore on a thong around his neck. A second later, a barrel slammed onto the floor. From what Elijah could tell, it was large enough to hold at least thirty gallons. Maybe as much as forty. ¡°Best fat they could find. Came from a bear that was huntin¡¯ our hunters. Woulda left it alone, but for how aggressive it was. Sure you understand.¡± Elijah did, though it hadn¡¯t been that long ago that he¡¯d killed a bunch of hunters for doing something similar. Certainly, what they¡¯d done was pointless murder, and the bear in question had been a guardian ¨C which made a difference ¨C but Elijah had since accepted that he couldn¡¯t stop people from going down that road. He regretted killing those hunters, even if, at the time, he¡¯d felt completely justified. Regardless, if he wanted to make soap, he needed fat. And he didn¡¯t really have the time to go out and hunt beasts of appropriate level. So, he¡¯d hired the task out, and judging by the ethera wafting off the contents of that barrel, he¡¯d been right to do so. ¡°What level was it?¡± he asked. ¡°No higher¡¯n a hundred. No lower¡¯n seventy,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°Good ¡®nuff?¡± ¡°Good enough,¡± Elijah answered, pulling his folio from his pocket. He transferred the agreed-upon fee, then asked, ¡°How are you doing?¡± ¡°Makin¡¯ progress,¡± Kurik answered. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you what ¨C if them dark elves try another invasion, they¡¯ll be sorry for it. Might not kill ¡®em all, but we¡¯ll take a big chunk out of ¡®em before they get here.¡± ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I was talking about, man,¡± Elijah said. ¡°I know. But it¡¯s what I¡¯m talkin¡¯ about.¡± After that, Elijah gave Kurik what he wanted, which was an opportunity to talk about all the death and destruction his traps would wreak upon the enemy. Pointedly, he didn¡¯t address the grieving process. Kurik had spent more time with Dat than anyone but Sadie, but he was clearly the sort of dwarf who kept his feelings on the inside. Until they exploded. When that happened, Elijah didn¡¯t want to be in Kurik¡¯s way. Upon hearing the story of Dat¡¯s death, Kurik had been ready to take it out on Nico, saying that the Healer had let him die on purpose. Sadie disputed that, and Elijah was inclined to agree. But if Nico had been there, Kurik would have certainly attacked the man ¨C consequences be damned. Elijah envied him that attitude, because in the wake of Dat¡¯s death, he¡¯d wanted to do something similar. Dropping Nico from the spire had been an option that had flitted through his mind. But he¡¯d refrained, largely because he knew what that would do to his relationship with Sadie. More, he suspected that incompetence, rather than malice, was the reason Nico hadn¡¯t acted. Elijah stuck around for a while, but eventually, Kurik ran out of things to say. So, when the dwarf¡¯s conversational skills had been exhausted, Elijah headed out, barrel thrown over his shoulder. After that, he dropped by Biggle¡¯s shop, where he picked up some other ingredients he needed for his latest batch of soap making. Thankfully, they fit into his Ghoul-Hide Satchel, which made walking around the city that much easier. When he returned to Carmen¡¯s smithy to reunite with Sadie, he found that the pair were engaged in a deep discussion about the origin of Sadie¡¯s sword. It was a fantastic weapon she¡¯d earned in a tower, but it had clearly seen better days. Unfortunately, Carmen didn¡¯t think she could repair the notches along the blade. Finally, Elijah remembered something important. ¡°Oh. I meant to tell you about this sooner, but it kind of slipped my mind,¡± he stated. Then, he went on to tell her about the elephant¡¯s foot he¡¯d found outside of Hong Kong. ¡°It¡¯s extremely powerful, and I was thinking that you might be able to use it for something.¡± Carmen tapped her lip. ¡°Hmm. I just got a new ability a few levels ago that might help me. Energy Shielding. It¡¯s supposed to protect me from harmful effects, but I don¡¯t know if it would do anything against radiation. I¡¯d be willing to try, though. Get me a small piece, and we¡¯ll test it out.¡± Elijah agreed. Then, not wanting to waste any time ¨C after all, there was no reason to, what with his ability to teleport ¨C he headed to the grove and used Roots of the World Tree, focusing on his individual transportation. Immediately, he appeared in the center of the Circle of the Hunter. Predictably, the clouded leopard was there, and it was hungry. Elijah had come prepared, though, and he tossed the creature a grove fruit before transforming into the Shape of the Sky and setting off for the ruined nuclear reactor. It didn¡¯t take long for him to reach his destination, and when he did, he was more than a little surprised by what he¡¯d found. The energy in the area was just as potent as when he¡¯d left, but some of the corrosive nature had dissipated. But that wasn¡¯t what truly drew his attention. Rather, he was far more interested in the sunflowers, which had all grown to the size of houses. 8-13. The Hollow Depths Irasi stood atop the walls of the citadel and watched as her people¡¯s doom descended upon Aeristh?n¡¯s walls. Perhaps the current charge would not destroy their defenses ¨C after all, the powerful thrum of ethera through the walls was still as strong as ever ¨C but she could see their fate writ large across the attacking army¡¯s amassed force. They didn¡¯t strike only from the ground, where the attackers rode massive beetles with mandibles well-suited to cutting through stone. They also came from above. Astride giant mosquitoes that she knew were just as dangerous as their riders, the trolls came for blood, howling in fury as they descended. But they didn¡¯t make it. Hundreds of feet up, they rammed into the city¡¯s main defense ¨C a powerful shield that drew energy from a hundred power crystals buried deep underground. Ripples of ethera spread out from the point of impact as the mosquitoes ¨C one after another ¨C rebounded, righted themselves a second later, then resumed their charge. That¡¯s when the beetle cavalry ¨C or siege weapons, if Irasi was concerned with accuracy ¨C hit the walls. Their mandibles cut deep into the stone, showing just how horrifyingly effective they could be. As they did, the riders on their backs launched themselves to the top of the wall, where the Illythiri waited. No one tried to kill the trolls. That was a task that would take far too much effort, and by the time they accomplished even a single kill, the others would overwhelm them. Instead, the Illythiri soldiers focused on dismemberment, all with the aim of knocking the trolls away from the walls. Even as they went about that task with workmanlike efficiency, Irasi saw many of her soldiers fall victim to their monstrous attackers. These were no wild trolls. Rather, they were organized, intelligent, and well-equipped with chainmail armor and crafted weapons that hungered for blood. It was as if the elder race had returned from extinction to wage war on a newly-touched planet. The only reason the city¡¯s defenses had held for so long was because the trolls¡¯ numbers were far from overwhelming. A few hundred in each charge, and that was likely a generous estimate. Indeed, if they¡¯d had even a few more trolls to throw into each attack, the city would have long since fallen. Even with their top-of-the-line defenses. Irasi watched as the beetles continued to wage war against the walls. However, their efforts were all for naught, because each time they gouged their way through the stone, it was immediately repaired by the powerful thrum of ethera running through them. It was an ingenious solution, and her crafters ¨C most of whom were earth-attuned ¨C had taken inspiration from the trolls themselves. Being durable was one thing, but eventually, even the strongest wall would fall. However, if the wall rebuilt itself after every attack, it would last much, much longer. Irasi had already sent the plans back to Eldrath?n. Hopefully, the Empress¡¯ crafters could adapt and improve upon the design before the trolls reached the capital. But that was not Irasi¡¯s burden to bear. Her job ¨C her lone task ¨C was to defend the city she¡¯d been granted. She knew she would fail. The crystals that powered Aeristh?n¡¯s defenses were a finite source of energy. They would eventually be spent, and when that happened, the city would fall. Trolls would not be deterred by simple walls or mundane weapons. ¡°Burn them,¡± she ordered. The soldier next to her raised a flag, and a second later, a loud gong echoed across the city. That sound elicited a ripple of activity, and every Sorcerer in the city stepped forward. Ethera swirled, thick and deadly, before they cast their spells. Unfortunately, only one in three were dedicated fire mages, and even then, most weren¡¯t powerful enough to create flames of sufficient heat to destroy trolls. But all together, the magical onslaught was enough to devastate the oncoming army. The trolls who¡¯d fallen were burned to a crisp, and though a few managed to crawl away to recover out of range, most died. It was a boon, having so many Sorcerers at her disposal, and those Illythiri mages had made substantial strides since the war had begun. One day, if they could defend the city long enough, they would reach a point where they could outpace the flow of trolls. But that had not happened yet. Never was that clearer than when that first wave was replaced by a second that was already on the way. So it had been for months. Charge after charge. Day after day. They rarely stopped, except for during the Trial of Primacy. That was when the defenses had taken a step forward. Irasi had hoped it would be enough, that they had finally progressed to the point where they could become a stalwart edifice against which the troll hordes would break. She had been mistaken. The defenses had grown stronger, but so had the trolls. The message was clear. Her city was doomed. She could only hope to delay them long enough for the Empress¡¯ forces to erect more defenses against the invasion. Aeristh?n was not the only city on the frontier. There were dozens of them, and each one was under siege. Along the route to the capital, there were nearly a hundred other fortresses and outposts guarding every conceivable path through the Hollow Depths. Thousands of soldiers manned those defenses, meaning that if the trolls broke through, they would still pay a heavy price before they ever reached the heart of Illythiri society in Eldrath?n. In most cases, it would have been overkill. But no one could have expected the presence of the trolls. They had planned for powerful creatures like the wild descendants of the elder race, but no one had anticipated an organized force of well-equipped and nigh-unkillable creatures hellbent on conquest. More often than she cared to admit, Inari had considered the implications of the trolls¡¯ presence. They were an elder race, and an extinct one at that. They¡¯d all been killed in an eternal war against another elder race, the hobgoblins. Neither race had survived intact. Reduced in numbers, their bloodlines had been tainted by outsiders. The descendants of the hobgoblins maintained their sentience ¨C eventually becoming the various races of goblins that had integrated into modern society ¨C but the trolls had gone the other way. Their bloodlines overwhelmed every other, but instead of retaining their sapience, they descended into monsterhood and became what everyone referred to as wild trolls. No better than beasts, they were menaces capable of fighting far above their apparent power level. But they weren¡¯t sapient. They did not use tools. And most importantly, they were almost always solitary creatures. The only exception to that was when they mated, which was a rare occurrence. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. So, the current situation was not one anyone could have prepared to tackle. Yet, Irasi was doing the best she could with the tools she had available. And by all rights, the defense had gone better than anyone could have expected. Still, failure was not something Illythiri normally tolerated, and she knew that retreat would earn her some sort of punishment. She refused to let that sway her, though. Her first priority was to stop the trolls, but her second task as general was to preserve her people¡¯s lives. That was almost as important as accomplishing the mission. ¡°Report,¡± she ordered when she sensed one of her Administrators approach from behind. The man looked half-starved and more than a little exhausted. He bowed. ¡°At the current pace of usage, the crystals will fail in three weeks,¡± he stated. ¡°Our Sorcerers¡¯ regeneration can no longer keep up with demands. If we divide them into smaller shifts, they will lack the power necessary to destroy the trolls. The casualties on the wall have been manageable, but if the current rate of disability continues, we will soon lack the manpower to defend the walls.¡± ¡°The Healers?¡± ¡°Overwhelmed, but working without rest.¡± ¡°Food and water?¡± ¡°Holding steady. They should not be a problem.¡± ¡°What of the evacuation?¡± she asked, still watching the oncoming second wave. ¡°They have reached Akth?n. Commander Olasir has implemented your orders, and their walls will hold. Civilians have continued on, though I am uncertain as to how far they have gotten,¡± the Administrator answered. ¡°At their rate of travel, they should reach the portal in Marith?n in a month. From there ¨C¡± ¡°They¡¯ll be in the capital.¡± The Administrator nodded. That the civilian population of Aeristh?n had passed Akth?n and were well on their way to the teleportation hub was great news. If her city fell before they made it, all of those people would be slaughtered. Their progress was just one more load off her shoulders, letting her focus on the task at hand. She gripped the banister as she watched an all-too-familiar battle play out. The trolls charged atop their insectile siege engines, then launched themselves to the top of the wall. At the same time, mosquito-riding enemies attempted to foul the dome-like shield protecting Aeristh?n from airborne attacks. They failed, just as they had the last time, but Irasi knew that that wouldn¡¯t always be the case. Soon enough, the power crystals would be spent, and the enemy would succeed. She had no more options. ¡°Begin concocting the plan for retreat,¡± she ordered. ¡°Maintain full rations of food and water. Increase the length of each shift but decrease the numbers on duty. I will bolster the soldiers myself.¡± There were other Tacticians scattered along the wall, but they were lieutenants while she was a general. That mattered, and not just because her level was higher. She also had a higher-grade class and more effective skills. In times of war, she was the heart of the army. And they were most definitely at war. When the latest charge was beaten back, the next didn¡¯t immediately begin. That gave Irasi¡¯s orders time to percolate through the defenders, and the changes were implemented. Soon enough, the soldiers and sorcerers manning the walls had been reduced by half. And Irasi had joined them. When the next charge commenced, she used the backbone ability of her class:
Bolster Increase the attributes of your subordinates. Efficacy based on Ethera attribute. Current: 10.1 percent. Duration based on Core cultivation. Current: 7.32 minutes.
Immediately, the soldiers atop the wall moved with more surety, which allowed them to fend off the trolls with far better results. There were fewer casualties, courtesy of increased Regeneration and Constitution attributes, and their attacks were more effective than ever before. During other charges, hacking a troll¡¯s limb from its body took the combined efforts of three or four Illythari, but under the effects of Bolster, it could be accomplished with two. And when the time came to burn the monsters alive, the Sorcerers¡¯ spells were that much more effective as well. It was too bad, then, that Irasi could only use the ability every thirty minutes or so. Thankfully, she had other abilities at her disposal. Rally was a much more potent buff, but it only lasted ten seconds. Protect helped shield her people from damage by improving their Constitutions by a significant amount. And Hastened Blades gave them a distinct advantage by improving their Dexterity. With so many abilities at her disposal, Irasi managed to instill her people with additional power on every other charge. It was enough to help them hold their heads above water, but she could sense the end coming. After all, she was just one Illythari. She could only keep it up for so long before she ran dry of ethera. When that happened a few days later, they returned to their previous pattern of defense while she took the time to recover. And then, once she was ready, she repeated the cycle. It felt neverending. Time passed, but it all blurred together. Then, finally, she got the report she¡¯d been dreading. The same Administrator said, ¡°The crystals are nearly spent. They have enough power for one more charge before they shatter.¡± Irasi nodded. She already knew it was coming, and she was read to give the order she¡¯d been dreading. ¡°Begin the retreat. Last shift first. We¡¯ll hold the walls and retreat when everyone is out of the city.¡± ¡°What about ¨C¡± ¡°Go. There is no time to waste.¡± Indeed, another charge was already underway, and the trolls showed no signs of backing down. They were a relentless force of pure hunger, and Irasi questioned whether anyone could stop them. But for now, her job was simple. She needed to halt a few charges so that her people could affect a retreat. They¡¯d been preparing for it for weeks, and now, the time was at hand. The first thing she did was use her most powerful ability:
Last Stand Vastly increase the value of your subordinates¡¯ attributes. Drains vitality as well as Ethera.
As the ability took hold, sending out thick threads of ethera to the best fighters in her army, weakness hit her like a physical blow. Ignoring it, she forced her back straight and growled, ¡°Keep me alive. We need to fight them off for a few more waves.¡± Even as those words left her mouth, the first of the current wave of trolls reached the top of the walls. They were just as huge, ugly, and hairy as before, but with Last Stand powering the troops, the creatures fell more quickly than at any time before. And when the Sorcerers let loose, the output was apocalyptic in nature. Huge gouts of flame erupted among the fallen trolls, burning them alive in seconds. Their aggressive tactics kept the waves of trolls at bay, preserving the shields¡¯ energy, but it would only extend the life of the crystals for a couple of extra waves. Irasi could only hope it would be enough. With every passing moment, she felt her ethera levels plummet to a dangerous degree. She grabbed a potion from her belt and downed it, giving her some respite. She had twenty such potions on her, which would hopefully last long enough for her people to escape. So it went for the next three waves. The constant drain on her vitality and Ethera was like nothing she¡¯d ever experienced. Certainly, she¡¯d used Last Stand before. Every general had. However, she¡¯d never employed the ability for such a long and continuous span. But it was her only choice. If she let it falter ¨C even for a second ¨C the ability would go on cooldown. If that happened, her soldiers would die soon after. Finally, after downing her last potion, she ordered the retreat. It was an orderly maneuver, well-practiced and without a single falter. It still wasn¡¯t quite enough, and just as the crystals gave out, the terrifyingly huge mosquito riders fell upon the last elements to vacate the walls. The scene was horrific, but Irasi couldn¡¯t spare the time to watch. She had other responsibilities ¨C like getting her people out of the city. The general led them along, and finally, they passed the first bulwark. When the trolls reached that location a few seconds later, they were greeted by waves of fire that burned them to a crisp. Those defenses were single-use traps, but they gave Irasi¡¯s people time to get away. Nearly a hundred such traps peppered the path to Akth?n, which was the only reason she and the last elements had any hope of escape. Not that Irasi would see it. Last Stand was well named, and the constant drain on her vitality had left her crippled. She knew she would be dead before they reached their destination. However, seeing that the majority of her people had survived was enough to cement it as a good decision. Satisfaction at that thought was the last thing that crossed her mind before she stumbled and fell unconscious. 8-14. The Outpost ¡°We wait,¡± said Katis, scratching her short, blonde beard. ¡°Reinforcements should arrive shortly.¡± Miguel frowned, though he didn¡¯t argue with her order. In a vacuum, waiting seemed like a good plan, but he knew that there was a good chance it would backfire. After all, not three miles away, there was a significant stronghold manned by at least fifty dark elves. They didn¡¯t look like the cream of the crop, but Miguel had seen enough to recognize the danger they posed. Especially considering that they would be nestled within the fortified defenses, which would give the enemy a distinct advantage. That was why Katis had sent a messenger back to Ironshore with a request for reinforcements. Their group of twenty had no chance of taking a small fort. Even with subterfuge and surprise on their side, it would be a difficult task. So, they¡¯d been camping out for two days while they waited for a response. Which left Miguel feeling more than a little antsy. He possessed plenty of patience, but with every passing minute, he expected to find a group of dark elves charging out of the surrounding forest. So far, they hadn¡¯t been detected, but he knew just how quickly that could change. One little mistake from their sentries, and a curious scout would find them. And if that happened, it wouldn¡¯t be long before they were forced into battle against a superior force. To distract himself, Miguel retreated to his tent and planted himself on the stump he¡¯d been using as a seat. Once he was in place, he drew the Blade of the Green Warden and a cloth soaked in specially made oil he¡¯d gotten from the Alchemist back in Ironshore, which he used to polish the weapon. It wasn¡¯t a wholly necessary act. The blade would remain sharp through just about any punishment he could inflict upon it. However, the process was calming and distracting, both of which were necessary at the moment. After a few minutes, Isaak approached and sat beside him. ¡°Wish Artemis was here,¡± the young Sorcerer remarked. ¡°She¡¯d get into that fort and tear them to pieces.¡± ¡°She¡¯d probably be caught,¡± Miguel replied, not looking up from his task. The cat was stealthy enough, but the dark elves assuredly had defenses in place to guard against infiltration. The most likely scenario was that Artemis would be detected the second she climbed their palisade wall, then subsequently killed. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. She¡¯s stronger than you think,¡± Isaak pointed out. ¡°How long do you think it¡¯ll be before our reinforcements arrive?¡± Miguel shrugged. ¡°Less than a day, if they don¡¯t find any distractions along the way. The better question is who they¡¯ll send,¡± he revealed. ¡°And how many. We¡¯ll need a numbers advantage if we want to take that fort with minimal casualties.¡± Indeed, the outpost itself wasn¡¯t anything special. Just a wooden wall encircling a glorified camp. However, even those defenses would provide a significant advantage. Once, Birk had told him that a defender on a wall was worth ten attackers, and while that wasn¡¯t true with something as flimsy as the defenses surrounding the outpost, the adage did make it clear that attacking and winning wouldn¡¯t come without a cost. The better course of action was to simply leave them be and come back with a better plan and an overwhelming force. The problem with that was that the dark elves had already proven that they were hostile, and Ironshore would never be capable of fielding a force large enough to make such an assault entirely safe. No ¨C the outpost needed to go, and every dark elf inside needed to die. They would hit them hard and fast, shocking them with their ferocity and destroying their entire force. Miguel sighed. ¡°What?¡± asked Isaak. Shaking his head, Miguel answered, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Just realizing that I might have a little more pent-up anger from the last fight against the dark elves.¡± Indeed, he¡¯d carried it deep down, but his return to Ironshore ¨C which had taken every ethereum he possessed, plus some donated by the city of Argos ¨C had been characterized by extreme dread. If he¡¯d been just a little later, people he loved might have died. The dark elves ¨C or Illythiri, as they called themselves ¨C had established themselves as irredeemable enemies in his eyes, making them so easy to hate. That hatred was well ingrained and difficult to overcome, especially when the enemy continued to pose a very credible threat to everyone he held dear. Like his mother. Or Hope. Or a dozen other acquaintances he¡¯d made since taking up residence in the city. The first step to getting past that disdain was awareness, though Miguel wasn¡¯t certain if he wanted to put in the effort. Fighting the enemy was so much easier when hatred was involved. ¡°I¡¯ve been there,¡± Isaak said. ¡°Really?¡± ¡°Yeah,¡± the Sorcerer answered. He removed his glasses, and with a cloth he pulled from his pocket, began to clean them. ¡°I¡¯ve been fighting them for a while, you know. Just small groups spread out all around Argos. Artemis hunted them down, and I burned them alive. It¡¯s too easy sometimes.¡± He sighed, then replaced his glasses. When he had them settled in place, he went on, ¡°They killed people. Mostly hunters and gatherers, but a few patrols, too. I knew a couple of those people, which was why I spent so much time going after them. For a while, I didn¡¯t really sleep. I barely ate. I just went from one camp to the next, exterminating them like pests. And you know what happened?¡± Miguel shrugged. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°Everybody in Argos praised me for it. By any standard, I was¡­I am¡­a murderer. Those are people. Maybe they look different from us. Maybe they have a different culture. But they are people all the same.¡± ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t want to see them like that.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t either, but I think it¡¯s necessary,¡± Isaak stated. ¡°It makes it easier, doesn¡¯t it? Just seeing them as the enemy.¡± ¡°I was thinking the same thing,¡± Miguel responded. ¡°Like they¡¯re just rabid beasts. Or obstacles that need to be overcome.¡± But they were more than that. Miguel had experienced it during his frantic flight through the wilderness, when he¡¯d been hounded by dozens of dark elf scouts intent on killing him. He¡¯d fought them, killing more than he could easily count. In the moment, it was so easy. Nothing mattered but the battle itself, but the memories were characterized by all the horrible things that came with a fight to the death. The blood and guts, the smell of excrement and vomit, the gurgling sounds of a man whose lungs were filling with blood ¨C it had all stuck with him. He had ignored most of it, shunting it into a corner of his mind where it couldn¡¯t really affect him. He hadn¡¯t progressed his cultivation enough to mimic his uncle¡¯s strategy of sealing it away in its own facet, but the human mind was already good enough at compartmentalization that he managed to forget all of that terribleness. Most of the time. He still remembered them in his dreams. He still smelled all those horrible smells when he let his mind wander. And each time he heard an errant sound in the forest, he felt himself flinching a little. Even so, he didn¡¯t let it affect him. A Warrior was meant to be stalwart and stoic ¨C like Birk or Colt ¨C not jumping at every errant sound. Thankfully, his conversation with Isaak came to a sudden close when something rustled the nearby bushes. Miguel was on his feet in the space of an instant, with his sword out and ready for whatever was out there. Fortunately, no dark elves came pouring out of the forest. Instead, he saw a familiar face. ¡°Colt?¡± he asked. ¡°What are you doing here?¡± ¡°Heard there was a battle comin¡¯ up, and I didn¡¯t want to miss it. How you doin¡¯, kid?¡± the old samurai asked. ¡°Um¡­fine. How many did you bring?¡± ¡°Twenty-five. S¡¯all we could spare.¡± It wasn¡¯t enough. Miguel knew that, and from his frown, Colt did as well. However, that couldn¡¯t stop them from doing what they needed to do. The outcome of a battle was contingent on more than just numbers, after all. History was full of people who¡¯d overcome long odds to achieve victory. But there were far, far more stories of people who were incapable of overcoming the disadvantage of insufficient numbers. Those stories usually didn¡¯t get told, except as cautionary tales meant to dissuade bad decision. Miguel chose not to think about that. Instead, he accompanied Colt ¨C who was in charge of the troop of soldiers sent by Ironshore ¨C to speak with Katis. Once there, they established a basic plan before setting out. They would have waited until nightfall, but Miguel pointed out that dark elves lived underground, which meant that their night vision was likely far superior to that of humans, dwarves, gnomes, and goblins. In any case, it wasn¡¯t long before the group had covered the distance between their camp and the outpost. Along the way, their scouts ¨C and Miguel, who lacked an appropriate class, but had plenty of experience moving silently through the forest ¨C took care of the enemy sentries, ensuring a surprise attack. Once everyone was in position, they charged. The plan was simple enough. The bulk of the force would attack the least protected flank in a lightning-quick maneuver meant to draw as much attention as possible. If the charge was successful, then they would surmount the walls and fall upon the elves inside. However, that wasn¡¯t the primary purpose. Instead, it was supposed to be a distraction. A small group of elite fighters ¨C including Miguel and Colt, as well as Isaak ¨C were charged with coming in from the opposite direction. Their movement would come a little after the other attack was underway, and hopefully, they would catch the dark elves unaware. Miguel held back, his every muscle tense as he watched the fort erupt into a hive of activity. The dark elves who manned the crude towers lining the wall let loose with a flurry of arrows, but Katis had planned for just such a volley. Most of the attackers were armed with thick ¨C if crude ¨C shields carved from the local trees. In addition, the Warriors each erected barriers of ethera meant to protect their fellows. A few of the arrows made it through, slamming into the shields with enough force to make their bearers stumble. But that was a minority occurrence, and most of the attackers reached the walls unscathed. However, when they leaped upon the palisade, they were met with fierce resistance. That was when Colt signaled the second charge from the opposite direction. Miguel ¨C along with ten others ¨C erupted from the forest and sprinted toward the outpost. Some dark elves had remained in position, but they simply didn¡¯t have the numbers to properly defend attacks from both directions. One Warrior next to Miguel went down, but he couldn¡¯t afford the attention necessary to determine if the woman was dead or merely injured. In a second, he¡¯d reached his destination. Utilizing his inflated attributes, he leaped, grabbed ahold of the top of the wall, then half-flipped, half-rolled over to the other side. His feet hit the ground on the other side, and he was off and running. That was when he first met resistance, and in the form of an armored dark elf who looked vaguely important. The man shouted something, but by that point, Miguel¡¯s blood was up, and he didn¡¯t care to hear anything the elf had to say. Instead, he dashed in, leading the way with the Blade of the Green Warden. The elf parried desperately, fouling Miguel¡¯s attack. However, doing so put him in a terrible position to defend against the next strike, which came in the form of a straight dagger that found its way into the dark elf¡¯s side. Due to the protection afforded by the enemy¡¯s armor, it was only a flesh wound, but that was fine. Enough of those could turn the tide of any battle. The armored elf danced backward, regaining his footing. Suddenly, blood sprayed from a dozen wounds, like he¡¯d been hit with a flurry of invisible blades. It only took Miguel a moment to recognize Colt¡¯s handiwork. Moreover, he didn¡¯t waste any time before dashing forward and aiming a horizontal strike at the elf¡¯s neck. Distracted by the Samurai¡¯s attack, the elf couldn¡¯t muster a defense, and Miguel¡¯s blade bit deep, stopping only when it hit the enemy¡¯s spine. Miguel jerked his sword free in a shower of blood, and the armored Illythiri fell to his knees, clutching his ruined neck. Miguel didn¡¯t let him suffer long, and he ended it with a second sword stroke that decapitated the elf altogether. Only then did he turn his attention to the wider battle. The elves fought valiantly, but the simple two-pronged strike had taken them entirely unaware. That did not speak too highly of their commander, who Miguel suspected he¡¯d just slain. Regardless, the next few minutes were characterized by extreme violence as the forces of Ironshore attempted to take the fort, both from within and without. Miguel did his part, hacking his way through a couple of enemies, and Isaak showed his worth as well, burning through their most stalwart defenders¡¯ shields. Curiously, they had no Sorcerers or Healers in evidence. Unfortunately, they didn¡¯t have the numbers to bar the elves¡¯ retreat, and soon enough, the defeated Illythiri fighters broke ranks and fled into the tunnel behind the fort. ¡°We need to investigate,¡± said Colt, yanking his sword free of a fallen dark elf¡¯s chest. ¡°Make sure there ain¡¯t an army waitin¡¯ down there. That¡¯s part of why I¡¯m here.¡± Katis nodded. ¡°Figured as much. Them tunnels are pretty close. Can¡¯t send the whole troop down there. Gather the best, includin¡¯ at least a coupla scouts as know how to navigate tunnels,¡± she ordered. ¡°We¡¯ll set out after ¡®em as soon as the injured get healin¡¯.¡± 8-15. The Ultimatum Elijah spent almost an entire day touring the area around the nuclear plant, and he was happy to discover that his plan was working. Certainly, there was a long way to go, but the sunflowers were doing their job of filtering the radiation from the air. Curiously, though, that same process had resulted in a significant uptick in the density of the ambient ethera. It wasn¡¯t on par with somewhere like Elijah¡¯s island, but it was markedly different than its surroundings. Unfortunately, it was limited in scope, and to Elijah, it seemed more like an oasis in the middle of a desert than an expansive rise in ethereal density. Once he¡¯d established that the sunflowers were healthy and thriving, Elijah started digging. Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t forced to use Unchecked Growth until he neared the center of the mass of concrete he¡¯d created to contain the elephant¡¯s foot. But once he did, he went on a furious rampage until, at last, he retrieved a basketball-sized hunk of the radioactive material. When he was done, he shoved it into his ring ¨C which he still hadn¡¯t emptied ¨C and began the process of re-covering the toxic material with his homebrewed and quite janky version of concrete. It worked, though ¨C probably due to magic ¨C which was all he really cared about. Once that was finished, he spent a few hours in recovery and decontamination before he was ready to leave. With his prize in hand, he considered taking a detour to Hong Kong. It wasn¡¯t that far away, and his instincts were still screaming at him ¨C though at a lower volume ¨C to go and teach Nico a lesson he wouldn¡¯t forget, but Elijah had grown more skilled at ignoring those of late. He did get close enough to confirm that the ethereal levels had continued to rise after the conquering of the Primal Realm. With that in mind, he used Roots of the World Tree, instantly teleporting back to his grove. It was just as he¡¯d left it, save for the fact that Sadie wasn¡¯t around. No doubt, she¡¯d crossed the strait to take advantage of everything Ironshore had to offer. It was good for her. In Hong Kong, she¡¯d been an outcast. It was her home, but she was obviously an outsider. Aside from Dat, she¡¯d had no friends, and she lacked even the comfort her family should have provided. She had been all alone. But Ironshore was different. For all its faults ¨C as well as the rocky start ¨C it was an incredibly welcoming place. The people who lived there didn¡¯t really care about someone¡¯s species. They embraced everyone ¨C so long as they made an effort to integrate and not cause trouble. That attitude boded well for the city¡¯s future, because Earth had become a melting pot of disparate races. In addition to the dwarves, goblins, and gnomes that lived in Ironshore, there were various races of elves out there, hill goblins, and ogres. And that was just the start. Back in the Trial of Primacy, Elijah had seen a half dozen other races whose names he couldn¡¯t even remember. If Earth was going to avoid becoming a site of constant conflict, the residents ¨C both new and old ¨C would need to learn to work together and accept one another. Hopefully, that would not be too tall of a task, and Ironshore¡¯s state gave Elijah some reason for optimism. But Sadie¡¯s absence from the grove gave him the opportunity to truly inspect a couple of projects that predated the Primal Realm. Specifically, he wanted to spend a little time with the ash lotus, the sapling from the ancestral tree that had absorbed the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might, and lastly, the Frozen Glade and the foxes who lived there. So, it was with some excitement that he headed to the site of the hot tub. He and Sadie had already taken advantage of its practically boiling water, but at the time, he¡¯d been a little too distracted to investigate the state of the ash lotus. But now that he was alone, he could spare all the attention such a miraculous plant deserved. The ash lotus itself was only the size of his hand, and it floated atop the steaming water. However, the rest of the plant extended a small web of thread-thin roots and vines that eventually reached the rocky floor of the spring. When Elijah looked closer, he could feel the dense fire attunement as it reacted and spread through the water. ¡°It is thriving,¡± Nerthus said. Elijah opened his eyes and looked up at his friend. ¡°Will it get any bigger?¡± ¡°No,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°The ash lotus grows according to its environment. Not only does it need significant ethereal density, but also physical space for its roots.¡± Elijah nodded. He knew Nerthus wasn¡¯t talking about the plant¡¯s physical roots. Those only took up approximately three feet. Rather, the spryggent referred to the ash lotus¡¯ ethereal roots, which stretched across the whole spring. In part, they were responsible for the uniform temperature of the water. ¡°Could we export these?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Like, maybe make a spring on the mainland where people pay to relax?¡± ¡°This spring is not limited to relaxation. Do you not feel it? Much like your soap, it has restorative properties. Though instead of strengthening your flesh, it will slowly burn off and consume impurities,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°But sadly, the answer to your question is no. It requires constant attention to exist in this environment. Without my assistance, the ash lotus would wither and die.¡± ¡°What is its normal environment?¡± Nerthus knelt down, dipping his gnarled, root-like fingers into the steaming water. ¡°Some say that they are native to Ignis, the realm of fire and ash,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°There is some truth to that, though they do appear in regions of extremely dense fire ethera.¡± ¡°What if I changed it?¡± Elijah asked. Then, he went on to explain what he¡¯d done with the sunflowers back in Hong Kong. ¡°That was successful. I don¡¯t see why I couldn¡¯t alter the ash lotus so it could exist away from you.¡± Nerthus pulled his fingers away. ¡°No. To alter this magnificent plan would be a travesty,¡± he said. ¡°Just because you can do a thing does not mean that you should. If you went down that path, the ash lotus would lose what makes it unique. It would cease to be a natural treasure, and instead, just become a pretty flower with petals of flame. Its limitations are a strength. Removing them would weaken it.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t so certain about that. The way he saw it, with enough time and effort, anything was possible. Nerthus was brilliant and knowledgeable ¨C especially about plants ¨C but he was also rigid in his nature. Regardless, Elijah didn¡¯t have enough information to dispute his friend¡¯s claims. Perhaps if he spent a few months studying the ash lotus, he would know more. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. It was too bad, then, that he didn¡¯t have time for that. The world was still spinning, after all, and his responsibilities continued to weigh on him. A break was necessary, but at some point, he would need to confront the items on his to-do list. Like venturing into the storm and rescuing the survivors of the plane crash. Or checking in on Seattle. In what was left of Seattle, there was the issue with Lamar¡¯s teammate-turned-warlord, too. And those were just the problems he knew about. Others would assuredly crop up, as well. He sighed. ¡°What is it?¡± asked Nerthus. The spryggent didn¡¯t always understand human expressions, but Elijah wasn¡¯t really one to hide his own feelings. ¡°Just thinking about the never-ending nature of responsibility,¡± he replied. Then, he shook his head. ¡°Nothing for it but to get to it, though. Let¡¯s go visit the tree.¡± As it turned out, the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might tree had grown significantly in the time Elijah had been in the Primal Realm, which he¡¯d noted the moment he saw it upon his return. However, a closer inspection using both Soul of the Wild and Nature¡¯s Design showed that it was far more mature than he could have expected. A complex web of ethera laced through the tree, rivaling what was present in its progenitor, the Ancestral Tree at the center of the grove. Certainly, like all of that majestic tree¡¯s offspring, it wasn¡¯t nearly as powerful as its forebear, but it was far stronger than any of the others of its kind. ¡°It¡¯s almost a shame that it¡¯s going to be used for a staff,¡± he remarked. ¡°Do not change your mind on this,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°This tree was grown for a specific purpose. If it is allowed to continue to exist, it will upset the balance of the entire grove. If you do not use it, then it will need to be moved elsewhere.¡± ¡°Why?¡± ¡°It uses too much ethera,¡± Nerthus answered. ¡°Can you not feel it?¡± Elijah had, but with how dense the ethera on the island was, he didn¡¯t think it was too much of a drain. However, he couldn¡¯t boast the same sensory capabilities ¨C at least regarding the flow of ethera ¨C that Nerthus took for granted. If the spryggent said it couldn¡¯t stay, then Elijah would simply have to trust the tree spirit¡¯s judgement. After spending a little more time inspecting the adolescent tree, Elijah moved on to the next item on his list ¨C the Frozen Glade. As he¡¯d already established, it was characterized by much lower temperatures. In that respect, it was similar to the ash lotus, though it was not nearly as powerful. Rather, it spread its influence much wider, encompassing a dell nearly two-hundred yards wide. Supporting that atmospheric alteration were the other natural treasures Elijah had brought back from the Trial of Primacy. Of course, the kits were there as well, and they wanted to play ¨C a wish Elijah was more than willing to grant. For more than an hour, he chased and was chased as the air was filled with the foxes¡¯ chirping barks. Elijah knew that foxes were not meant for domestication ¨C these especially, given their nature ¨C but his status as a Druid with an incredibly high affinity for nature gave him a little leeway to break those sorts of rules. If anyone else had tried, they probably would have been ripped to shreds. Not because the foxes were malicious. They definitely weren¡¯t. Rather, because they were wild animals, they had no concept of when to hold back. More than once, Elijah suffered minor injuries that, for anyone else, would have probably been debilitating. But he healed them without even thinking, then continued his rambunctious play. But all good things were destined to end. Elijah was on the verge of heading off to check on Biggle¡¯s garden when Nerthus stepped out of a nearby tree and said, ¡°Pardon the interruption, but Mayor Ramik wishes to speak with you.¡± With a sigh, Elijah nodded and regrettably left the foxes behind. One last look back told him that they didn¡¯t understand why he had to leave. They sat at the base of the frozen oak, looking at him with no small degree of longing. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t follow. About twenty minutes later, after Elijah had taken a shower and donned a set of fresh clothes, he found himself flying across the strait toward Ironshore. Not for the first time, he¡¯d considered simply using his latest form to swim the distance, but as always, he¡¯d refrained. He felt that such an important thing required a dedicated slot of time, largely because he knew just how distracting it would be. But it was coming. He couldn¡¯t hold off for much longer. In any case, Elijah landed in Druid¡¯s Park, then headed off to the city¡¯s governmental center. When he arrived, he saw that the artisans who¡¯d been tasked with beautifying the exterior of the building had outdone themselves. The fa?ade was decorative, with gilded statuary depicting goblins, dwarves, gnomes, and humans. The flowing lines were grandiose and kinetic, with curved walls, a series of decorative cupolas, and a massive domed roof. In short, it looked almost nothing like the building he¡¯d seen before, with the only real similarity being its basic dimensions. To Elijah, it was reminiscent of baroque architecture, though not quite as busy as the sixteenth century style originating in Italy. Regardless, it was incredibly impressive that so much had been done in such a relatively short amount of time. ¡°It¡¯s not finished, you know,¡± came a familiar voice. Elijah turned to see Ramik standing nearby. ¡°It looks finished to me.¡± ¡°Oh, the stonework and such are done, but it lacks the soul of true art. Do you know why?¡± asked the urbane goblin. He wore his normal three-piece suit and bowler hat, with the decorative cane that radiated ethera completing his look. ¡°Ethera. Any structure worth building will incorporate the natural ethera into its design. When this city was first built, none of our Architects had reached the level necessary to do that. However, the destruction caused by the war against the dark elves gave them an opportunity to truly hone their craft. It won¡¯t be long before they can give us the city we deserve.¡± Elijah nodded along, but if he was honest, he very much preferred his treehouse to whatever the Architects of Ironshore could dream up. But he had to admit that the building made for an impressive sight. More, Elijah could see the evidence of ongoing construction in the immediate vicinity, suggesting that Ramik wanted the city to display a consistent aesthetic. Not quite uniform, but in the same spirit. Elijah preferred something more chaotic. ¡°So, what¡¯s up? Nerthus said you needed to speak with me,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not just you. I asked Miss Sadie and a few others to attend the meeting as well. There has been a development,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°Come with me.¡± Elijah did just that, but to his surprise, they didn¡¯t end up in Ramik¡¯s office or one of the building¡¯s conference rooms. Instead, they headed to Ironshore¡¯s Branch of the World Tree. Once there, Ramik directed Elijah to touch it, and the second he did, he received a notification:
Congratulations on conquering your first Primal Realm. With this accomplishment, Earth will embark on the next phase of its integration into the wider universe. Before your world is truly and permanently integrated, you must prove that you can handle the responsibility thrust upon you. To that end, you are expected to conquer the eight remaining Primal Realms on your world. You have ten years to accomplish this feat. Doing so will result in full integration. Failing will earn excisement.
Elijah¡¯s jaw dropped at the proclamation, but after only a few moments, he found that he wasn¡¯t nearly as surprised as he probably should have been. Ten years to conquer eight Primal Realms was a tight schedule ¨C especially considering that he didn¡¯t even know where they all were ¨C but the system¡¯s standards were understandable. If they couldn¡¯t take care of their own planet, then they weren¡¯t worthy of inclusion into the wider universe. ¡°Did you know this was coming?¡± he asked, glancing at Ramik. The goblin shook his head. ¡°I did not. My home planet was integrated eons before I was born, so the process was lost to myth,¡± he explained. ¡°But this is not all there is to discuss. Please, come with me so we can get on with the meeting.¡± 8-16. The Invitation ¡°How long has this been up?¡± Elijah asked, still looking at the notification hovering before his inner eye. Ramik answered, ¡°A little more than a day.¡± Elijah frowned. He had to remember that, as a relatively important person ¨C whether he wanted to always admit it or not ¨C he needed to be available. His frequent jaunts into the wilderness were incompatible with that idea. ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± he said, running his hand through his hair. Thankfully, it had mostly grown back after he¡¯d lost it in the Primal Realm, but his beard was still a little patchier than he would have liked. ¡°I should have left some way of making contact.¡± He''d let Carmen and Sadie know he was leaving, but beyond that, he¡¯d taken no precautions. However, with the lack of mobile phones or the internet, there really wasn¡¯t much else he could have done. ¡°Speaking of ¨C what do people on other worlds do so they remain in contact?¡± he asked. Ramik answered, ¡°There are paired message books, though those were not permitted when we migrated here, and we lack the means of creating them. Perhaps some of our Tradesmen will figure it out when they gain a few more levels.¡± Elijah shook his head in disappointment. The people of Seattle had already cracked the code to make radios work, and that was years ago. Perhaps they¡¯d figured out how to make cell phones functional in their new world. Regardless, it wasn¡¯t long before Elijah was following Ramik to one of the government building¡¯s meeting rooms. Along the way, he discovered that the building had been named the Hall of Accord. ¡°It¡¯s meant to convey a sense of negotiation and fairness,¡± Ramik explained. Eventually, they reached the conference room, which was well furnished with a massive wooden table inscribed with a map of the area. In addition, the domed ceiling had been painted with a representation of the tree at the center of Druid¡¯s Park. Or maybe it was intended to be the ancestral tree that formed the basis for Elijah¡¯s grove. Whatever the case, he appreciated the effort ¨C as well as the sense of cooperation it represented. The more that nature was shown to be a thing of reverence, the better, at least as far as Elijah was concerned. But he was more interested in the meeting¡¯s attendees. Sadie was there, sitting patiently at one end of the table. She gave Elijah a small smile when he arrived. Carmen sat at the other end, fidgeting with a hunk of metal. Carissa sat next to her, though most of her attention was on Kurik, who just looked uncomfortable. Then there was a mousey goblin that Elijah would later learn was the city¡¯s chief Administrator. But Elijah was happier to see two other additions he hadn¡¯t expected. He grinned, focusing on an older, dignified man with gray hair and meticulously groomed beard. ¡°Cap¡¯n. Good to see you. And Jess! How¡¯s the hospital?¡± Of course, he¡¯d known that both had fled Norcastle to set up shop in Ironshore, but he¡¯d yet to get the chance to sit down and talk with either of them. Such was the case with many of his relationships ¨C a regrettable fact of life when he had so many responsibilities pulling him in every direction. ¡°Good!¡± Jess said in an excited tone. ¡°Ron is amazing. He¡¯s single-handedly increased our healing output by almost three hundred percent!¡± ¡°Please don¡¯t call me cap¡¯n,¡± Essex sighed. ¡°I am not a captain anymore.¡± ¡°Indeed,¡± interjected Ramik. ¡°General Essex is now in charge of our defense force. His sense of organization is second to none, and he¡¯s helped to revolutionize our entire training regimen.¡± ¡°That is more due to Lieutenant Colt¡¯s influence,¡± Essex stated. ¡°He understands what is needed for training in this new world better than anyone I have met. The next generation of fighters will be something special.¡± ¡°Can we get on with this?¡± asked Kurik. ¡°Not to interrupt the love-fest, but I ain¡¯t got time to sit ¡®round and talk. I got work to do.¡± ¡°Too right,¡± Ramik agreed, gesturing for Elijah to take one of the empty chairs. He did, and Ramik sat at other end of the table. Then, he said, ¡°We have been contacted by Isaiah Roberts, who rules a city named Seattle.¡± He turned to Elijah. ¡°I believe you have been there.¡± ¡°I have,¡± Elijah said. ¡°It was pretty messed up last time I was there, but I helped him take care of a few glaring issues, so maybe it¡¯s gotten better. What does he want?¡± ¡°What were your impressions of the man?¡± ¡°Rigid, but honorable. He likes his rules, and he¡¯s not afraid to use any means of enforcing them. You go to Seattle, prepare to be watched, and closely. But I think he¡¯s a good man who¡¯s trying to do right by his people,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°The cap¡¯n here would probably like him. He¡¯s a military man, through and through.¡± ¡°Does he seek conquest?¡± asked Ramik. Elijah shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but who knows? If he thought it was what was best for his people, maybe he¡¯d go down that road,¡± he allowed. ¡°But based on what I saw, I don¡¯t think so. He¡¯s not a warmonger, I can tell you that. He¡¯ll fight, but if I had to assess him right now with limited information, I¡¯d say he¡¯d only do so as a last resort. He¡¯d favor diplomacy until he deemed it a waste of time. Why? What does he want? He didn¡¯t demand our immediate surrender or something, did he?¡± If that was the case, Elijah would pay the man a visit. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. ¡°No, nothing of the sort,¡± Ramik answered. ¡°Here.¡± Suddenly, the light above the table flickered, then coalesced into what looked like a hologram. It was clearly a recreation of a notification ¨C specifically, a message using the Branch¡¯s Communication System:
Sender Recipient
Isaiah Roberts All Branches
To Those In Power: My name is Isaiah Roberts, and I am the head of government in Seattle. As is assuredly the case with everyone else in the world, our city has been through tough times. However, we have persevered and thrived. Hopefully, others have been as fortunate. The primary purpose of this message concerns the recent notification detailing the consequences of failure concerning the Primal Realms. To that end, Seattle will host a meeting in forty-five days so that we may develop a plan of attack. In addition, we plan to use said meeting to help people reunite with loved ones and as a means of developing alliances that will benefit everyone. Finally, there will be an auction intended to spread our world¡¯s wealth so that we may better combat the coming trials. To accomplish this, we have partnered with the Conclave of Travel to establish Teleportation Spires throughout the world. Attached is a list of existing spires, so you can find the closest one to your location. Please take advantage of this opportunity. Earth¡¯s survival depends on it. If you have any questions, please contact Seattle¡¯s Bureau of Administrators, who will endeavor to address all concerns. Thank you, and I look forward to meeting you. With Regards, Isaiah Roberts
¡°Is the Conclave of Travel so expansive?¡± was Elijah¡¯s first question. ¡°I didn¡¯t think they¡¯d spread that far.¡± ¡°Mr. Wilhelm is not a good example of their competences,¡± Ramik stated. ¡°I have spoken to a few of the mages they sent to build the spires outside the city, and they are far better organized than I expected. From what I understand, they have spent considerable ethereum sending mages all around the world.¡± Elijah nodded along, though he¡¯d already begun to wonder if he¡¯d done the right thing by pointing Wilhelm in the right direction concerning ley lines. On the one hand, enabling travel across the world was a net benefit to Earth¡¯s population, but on the other, there was a high likelihood it could be weaponized sometime in the future. For now, though, it seemed necessary if they were going to truly combat the world¡¯s Primal Realms and save Earth from excisement. ¡°What do we really think about all of this?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°It¡¯s a good thing,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°The auction and the promise of help finding loved ones functions as a lure, but the meeting is the real goal. Seattle is setting itself up as a world leader.¡± ¡°Do they have any notable resources?¡± Ramik asked. Elijah answered, ¡°Not that I saw. They have a tower, but there¡¯s not much special about the desert. Not that I saw, at least.¡± ¡°I saw nothing particularly noteworthy when I visited, either,¡± Sadie added. ¡°But their use of technology is interesting. If they¡¯ve continued on that track, there¡¯s a good chance that they will position themselves well going forward into the future.¡± ¡°God, I hope they have cell phones,¡± Elijah muttered. ¡°Unlikely,¡± Ramik stated. He¡¯d taken it upon himself to learn about Earth¡¯s history, so he knew all about the level of technology they¡¯d possessed before experiencing the World Tree¡¯s touch. ¡°The upper atmosphere is populated by air and space spirits that make satellites difficult to maintain.¡± ¡°Really? I¡¯d like to see ¨C¡± ¡°Not now,¡± Sadie interrupted. ¡°Yeah ¨C don¡¯t want none of your goose-chasin¡¯.¡± Elijah focused on Kurik, narrowing his eyes. ¡°Goose-chasing?¡± he asked. ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. It¡¯s one of your sayin¡¯s.¡± ¡°The expression is wild goose chase. And it does not describe what I do.¡± ¡°Disagree,¡± Kurik said, crossing his arms. ¡°We¡¯re getting off topic here,¡± Essex cut in before Elijah could respond. ¡°The question is who are we going to send?¡± ¡°Elijah needs to go. He¡¯s the strongest person in the world,¡± Jess said. ¡°That¡¯s debatable,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Not really,¡± said Sadie. ¡°You¡¯re the highest-level human, and you won the Trial of Primacy. You¡¯re famous.¡± Then, she added, ¡°I¡¯m going too, so you can keep me company.¡± Elijah recognized when an argument wouldn¡¯t get him anywhere. Besides, he believed she was right. As much as he didn¡¯t want to go back to Seattle, his presence was probably necessary. After all, he wanted some input in how the world tackled the problem at hand, and he wouldn¡¯t get that if he stayed in his grove tending his plants. ¡°I ain¡¯t goin¡¯,¡± said Kurik. ¡°My mine needs me,¡± Carissa added, though Elijah suspected that she would have gone if Kurik had. ¡°I must remain here,¡± Ramik stated. Jess, Carmen, and Essex also wanted to remain in Ironshore, which left only Elijah to represent the city. Sadie didn¡¯t really count because she was only a visitor. ¡°Do we really think this is a good idea?¡± he asked. ¡°I tend to make bad first impressions on most people.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll keep you under control,¡± Sadie said. Elijah sighed. ¡°Suppose there could be worst fates,¡± he said. After that, the meeting wound down, and he joined Sadie for dinner at one of the city¡¯s restaurants. This one featured gnomish food. The little people seemed to favor a communal dining experience that was characterized by dipping meats, breads, and vegetables into a wide variety of sauces and cheeses. Some were sweet, while others were savory. Many were also incredibly spicy, and to the point where Elijah felt certain that if his Constitution had been any lower, they would have counted as poison. In all, though, it was an enjoyable evening that ended with him flying Sadie back to the grove where they continued to enjoy one another¡¯s company in a more intimate context. The next morning, Elijah awoke to find that she¡¯d already risen and was ready for her day. He lay in the bed, propping himself on his elbow as he sleepily asked, ¡°What¡¯s gotten into you?¡± It was a viable question, largely because, while staying in the grove, Sadie had established herself as something of a late riser. Once she was up, she went about her day with characteristic vigor, but getting her out of bed in the mornings was always a chore. Today was obviously different. ¡°We have a lot to do,¡± she explained. ¡°We have a little more than a month to prepare for the trip to Seattle, so there¡¯s no time to waste.¡± ¡°Prepare?¡± ¡°You want to make the most of it, don¡¯t you?¡± ¡°I guess?¡± ¡°That¡¯s the enthusiasm I wanted to hear,¡± she said sarcastically. 8-17. Preparations ¡°That is so disgusting,¡± Sadie grunted as she performed her sword forms. Each one was exact and sudden, cutting through the air with practiced precision. She executed an abbreviated uppercut that flowed into a downward slash, ending in a sweeping strike that would have cut most enemies in half. Only then did her shoulders droop in relaxation, and she let out a breath. ¡°You heard me, right?¡± ¡°Kind of working here,¡± Elijah said, pushing Soul of the Wild and Nature¡¯s Design to their peak. Partially, that was so that Sadie could take advantage of the healing rain that came with the latter spell, but it was also useful in infusing the rendering fat with the essence of his ethera. ¡°Working? You¡¯re casting a few spells,¡± grumbled an extremely wet Biggle. ¡°I¡¯m doing all of the real work.¡± That wasn¡¯t entirely false. Without the Alchemist, Elijah¡¯s efforts at rendering the fat would have been far less effective. Sure, the soap he planned to make would probably be fine ¨C the ambient ethera on the island took care of that ¨C but he wanted more than just fine. He wanted to push the limits of what soap could be. And to that end, he¡¯d sought Biggle¡¯s help. After all, soap wasn¡¯t so different from the Alchemist¡¯s normal concoctions, was it? Certainly, his abilities still applied, which was all Elijah really cared about ¨C because as he¡¯d established every time he¡¯d tried to cook his own meals, classes mattered when it came to that sort of thing. With his previous batches of soap, he¡¯d gotten by via the sheer power of his ingredients, but if he wanted to take the next step, he needed professional help. Which was where Biggle came in. It hadn¡¯t been an easy negotiation, either, but they¡¯d managed to come to an agreement that combined their previous deals concerning soap into a real partnership. It favored Elijah, but Biggle¡¯s work would gain him a thirty percent share of any soap-related profits. And Elijah wanted to get his money¡¯s worth out of the gnome. ¡°I was wondering ¨C do you have cooking skills, too?¡± Elijah asked, using an entire facet of his mind to shove as much ethera into his ongoing spells. His method of infusing his products with ethera was a bit of a cheat, and an inefficient one at that. However, the combination of the incredible ethera density on the island and his powerful spells did the job. ¡°Only potions and their ingredients,¡± Biggle answered, tending to the rendering fat. ¡°But what counts as a potion? Isn¡¯t a stew just a potion? And how is soap considered ¨C¡± ¡°I don¡¯t make the rules,¡± Biggle interrupted, pushing wet hair out of his eyes. ¡°I just know what works and what doesn¡¯t. This works. Potions work. Powders, too. Even pills. But soup? I get nothing. If I didn¡¯t consider this fat a part of an alchemical product, then it probably wouldn¡¯t work either.¡± ¡°So, it¡¯s based on perception?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°To a point,¡± Biggle answered. ¡°No amount of belief will make a chair into a potion, though. It¡¯s complicated. Now let me focus. I¡¯m running low on ethera, and I want to make certain that this batch isn¡¯t ruined due to inattention.¡± Elijah went silent for a moment, then turned his attention to Sadie. She sat on a nearby log, her eyes closed as she clearly attempted to meditate. However, her efforts had been undermined by the smell of cooking fat. Her nose crinkled in disgust, but she remained in place. ¡°You know you don¡¯t have to stick around,¡± he said, sitting beside her. With one facet dedicated to the task, he didn¡¯t need to monitor his spells¡¯ usage. ¡°Not that I don¡¯t appreciate your presence. Obviously. Every moment I spend with you is like a ¨C¡± She giggled. ¡°You really don¡¯t need to finish that sentence.¡± ¡°What? Shall I compare thee to a summer¡¯s day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate.¡± ¡°No.¡± ¡°You want another?¡± he asked. ¡°Okay. The earth is like a child that knows no more heaven that it may hold. I have a heart for love to fill ¨C and I shall go to it, and will.¡± ¡°Please stop quoting poetry,¡± she said with an exaggerated sigh, though it was accompanied by a tight smile. ¡°And did you just say you love me?¡± ¡°Uh¡­it¡¯s just a poem?¡± ¡°No ¨C I heard it. You¡¯re ¨C¡± ¡°By all the gods, can you two just be silent? No amount of ethereum is worth this,¡± Biggle grumbled. ¡°Love this and love that. Nonsense! You know what love is? I have a potion that¡¯ll show you exactly what it is. You two¡¯ll be fawning all over one another in a matter of seconds!¡± ¡°We kind of already are,¡± Elijah pointed out. Sadie hit him in the arm. ¡°Ow.¡± Biggle looked at the sky and begged, ¡°Please, may the Tinkerer save me from love-struck youth. I will give anything.¡± ¡°Do you think he¡¯d be upset if we just started making out?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°I¡¯m game if you are.¡± Sadie shook her head, then smiled as she said, ¡°No. Best not push it too far with the old curmudgeon. Besides, I have some things I need to do in town. How long are you going to be working on this?¡± ¡°Most of the next couple of days, with a little cultivation work thrown in,¡± Elijah answered. ¡°I have a couple of other projects I want to finish before we have to leave, too. So, there¡¯s no real time to waste.¡± ¡°So, you¡¯re really going?¡± she asked. He¡¯d made no secret that he wasn¡¯t exactly enthusiastic about the prospect, but now that he¡¯d decided, he was going to throw his whole effort into it. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Elijah answered, ¡°I don¡¯t see that we have much of a choice. Plus, the auction sounds interesting. And I kind of want to find out if any of my old friends survived.¡± Indeed, he hadn¡¯t thought about her for a while, but his ex-girlfriend Nina back in Hawaii had once held a very prominent place in his life. It wasn¡¯t love ¨C he knew that now ¨C but at the time, it had felt like it. He still cared about her and wanted to know that she was safe. His other friends were less important to him, though he was at least curious as to their fates. And he would help them if they needed it. ¡°It¡¯s going to be dangerous,¡± she said. ¡°Everyone¡¯s going to be there.¡± ¡°Good guys and bad guys alike,¡± he agreed. ¡°And you¡¯re going to have a target on your back,¡± she warned. ¡°People haven¡¯t forgotten your name, and I¡¯m sure that word of what happened in the Trial of Primacy has spread. Some will try to manipulate you. Others might try to get rid of you. You need to take this seriously.¡± ¡°That¡¯s why I¡¯m bringing you along. You¡¯re the best bodyguard I could find.¡± ¡°I said to take it seriously.¡± He held up his hands in surrender. ¡°I am. Believe me,¡± he allowed. But in the back of his mind, he didn¡¯t think it would be much different than anywhere else he¡¯d been. Besides, he was always aware, even if he didn¡¯t seem like it. ¡°Somehow, I don¡¯t. But like you said, I¡¯ll be there with you to keep you in line. So long as you don¡¯t quote anymore poetry.¡± ¡°And here I was with a book of sonnets memorized,¡± he complained. She rolled her eyes, then pushed herself to her feet and left. That allowed Elijah to focus even more fully on the task at hand. So, with the rain from Blessing of the Grove bathing the entire area in precipitation, he continued to push the limits of how much ethera he could channel into his abilities. It was only a miniscule increase, but the way he saw things, it was little different from training any other aspect of his abilities. If he wanted to get stronger, he needed to repeatedly lift heavy things. Faster? He needed to run or swim. If he wanted to exercise his reasoning abilities, he needed puzzles and complex problems to solve. So it was with his spells ¨C every little improvement would put him closer to the peak of his potential. He concentrated on that as Biggle cooked, filling the air with the popping of rendering fat. Because of the power of the original creature, it was absolutely packed with ethera. Not as much as the fat from the boar king, but being rendered by a talented Alchemist kept most of it from dissipating. So, the end result was much more potent. It did take a lot longer, though. So, hours passed, and at times, Biggle was forced to take breaks as his pool of ethera refilled. During those moments, Elijah focused on the barrels full of wood ash and water that would eventually become lye. He¡¯d spent hours scouring the island for the perfect branches and sticks. The process wasn¡¯t dissimilar from how he¡¯d chosen the wood for the Staff of the First Dragon, though he was looking for entirely different characteristics. The search was easier this time as well, owing to the expanded senses granted by Soul of the Wild. Over time, he gathered hundreds of branches absolutely teeming with ethera. Each one exhibited an affinity for purification ¨C a sense Elijah couldn¡¯t really understand but accepted ¨C which he hoped would translate into much more powerful lye. Finally, when the wood had been burned to ash and piled into the barrels, Elijah had added water from the artificial hot spring. According to Biggle, it would only improve the resultant lye by a little ¨C indeed, most of the ethera would be lost when it was separated from the ash lotus ¨C but any gain was worthwhile. The first batch of lye hadn¡¯t been up to Elijah¡¯s standards in terms of potency, so he¡¯d cycled the process three times over the past few days. Now, he was on what he hoped would be the last cycle, and when he finally opened the tap, allowing the concentrated lye to drip into another barrel, it was practically sizzling with ethera. ¡°I didn¡¯t think your homemade barrels would make much difference,¡± Biggle admitted when he inspected the liquid. ¡°But I suppose I didn¡¯t account for the accumulated ethera from being on the island for years. Or previous uses. I won¡¯t make that mistake again.¡± The barrels in question were the same ones he¡¯d created from hollowed out logs during his first soap-making quest, and he¡¯d found no reason to replace them. Even when Biggle had practically insisted they use proper equipment made by a Cooper in town, Elijah had held firm. So, hearing the Alchemist admit that it was the right decision was more than a little gratifying. Once the lye was prepared, they spent the next few hours combining it with the rendered fat. For that process, Biggle had brought his cauldron with him. Made from a magical metal that resembled cast iron and passed down through his family, it was both an heirloom and a much more powerful item than any of Ironshore¡¯s Blacksmith¡¯s could create. Even Carmen couldn¡¯t have replicated it ¨C not yet, at least. In addition, as Elijah was beginning to discover, an item¡¯s past mattered. Inanimate objects didn¡¯t have Legacies like sapient creatures, but they could definitely grow more powerful over time. Such was the case with Biggle¡¯s cauldron, which was millennia old and had been used by dozens of his ancestors. But even such a large cauldron was insufficient to the task at hand, so they ended up having to mix three batches, adding a different scented oil to each iteration before pouring the concoction into wooden molds Elijah had made himself. All in all, the process took almost four days of constant work, but to Elijah, it seemed worth it. ¡°How many bars do you think this is?¡± he asked, his hands on his hips as he looked at the curing soap. ¡°Depends on how big we want to make them,¡± Biggle answered. ¡°At least two thousand. Probably closer to three. Each one is going to be a treasure, too. This is a fortune, so long as we find people willing to pay what it¡¯s worth.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what the auction is for,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, he¡¯d spent a good portion of his accumulated fortune when he¡¯d used the Branch¡¯s overpriced Teleportation Network to rescue Ron and his daughter and to get to Hong Kong. So, he needed to replenish his stores, so to speak, and the soap represented an opportunity to do just that. But he intended to keep a good bit of it for himself. He wasn¡¯t sure how much good it did, but Nerthus had told him long ago that it helped with body cultivation. And with what he had read about higher levels of cultivation, he figured he was going to need all the help he could get. After placing the bulky molds in the grove proper, Elijah escorted Biggle back to his garden. The gnome hadn¡¯t imposed too much of his will on the place, but Elijah could recognize quite a few non-native plants and fungi. He kept it within the boundaries he¡¯d been given, though, so Elijah had no complaints. But he knew the dangers of letting an Alchemist get too close. They didn¡¯t have the best reputation, often descending into greedy mad scientist tropes. Biggle seemed different, but Elijah intended to keep a close eye on the gnome. Which left him feeling a little guilty. Biggle might not have graduated to friend status, but he was definitely an acquaintance with whom he was on good terms. Looking at him with any degree of suspicion just felt wrong. Still, Elijah didn¡¯t extend trust very easily, especially when it came to the grove. One wrong move, and someone could plunder it for its resources. Elijah¡¯s entire purpose was to safeguard that, and he wouldn¡¯t allow himself to fail. However, once he left Biggle to his own devices, Elijah turned his attention to the next item on his to-do list. He needed to finally test out his new form. He¡¯d shifted into it once before, but he¡¯d barely had time to truly inspect it. In that respect, having Sadie around was a terrible ¨C and wonderful ¨C distraction. But the time had finally come for him to buckle down and get things done. So, without further ado, he waded into the surf, then cast Shape of the Sea. 8-18. The Allure of the Sea If there was one thing Elijah already knew about his new form, it was that it was big. Very, very big. Considering that the world leviathan was in the description, that shouldn¡¯t have been surprising, but even if he¡¯d briefly experienced the transformation once before, he was still shocked by its incredible size. Even as he pushed out to sea and into deeper water, Elijah estimated that the form was around fifty feet long and about two thirds as wide, not including the tail. Before, he¡¯d used Soul of the Wild to establish the basic shape in his mind, and he really wasn¡¯t surprised to find that it had characteristics that put him in mind of a primordial sea turtle. With a hardened but sleek shell festooned with three distinct rows of spines, it certainly resembled those sea-going reptiles. However, there were a few other notable differences. First was its size. The largest sea turtle in existence was only about ten feet long, and Elijah¡¯s new form was at least five times that size. He couldn¡¯t be certain, but he expected that the new shape weighed almost as much as a blue whale. The second difference was the powerful tail, which extended the total length by at least thirty more feet. Thick and rippling with muscle, it featured prominent spines that would render it an effective weapon as well as a means of propulsion. Then, there was the head. Thick-skulled, with various bony ridges and a powerful, beak-like jaw ¨C it was like someone had taken a look at a snapping turtle and said, ¡°More. Much, much more.¡± Finally, the form featured long and powerful flippers that Elijah had already established could help propel him forward at incredible speeds. In short, the shape was a sea-going tank of immense proportions, and it had the attributes to go with it. Once he was fully submerged, Elijah took a look at his status:
Name Elijah Hart
Level 146
Archetype Druid
Class Primal Lord
Specialization Connection
Alignment N/A
Strength 490 (290)
Dexterity 476 (276)
Constitution 499 (299)
Ethera 292
Regeneration 304
Attunement Nature
Cultivation Stage: Expert
Body Core Mind Soul
Iron Drakyn Jade Student
He had purposefully left all of his other equipment behind, even foregoing his morning coffee so that he could get an easier sense of the form¡¯s base capabilities. And looking at his status, Elijah was more than a little impressed. It didn¡¯t take a mathematical genius to conclude that Shape of the Sea gave him a massive increase of two hundred points to his physical attributes. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. However, he was disappointed when he climbed onto the beach and experienced a wave of incredible weakness. That was supported by another look at his status, which told him that he¡¯d not only lost the two-hundred-point increase, but he¡¯d experienced a further fifty point decrease. That tracked with the spell¡¯s description, which said that he¡¯d be weakened on land, but the degree to which his attributes had fallen was more than a little troubling. It was clear ¨C despite the form¡¯s obvious power, it was only intended for use in the sea. After a little more experimentation, Elijah found that there were loopholes, though. For one, the increased attributes would last for almost a second and a half after he exited the water. That would allow him to use his powerful jaws to attack creatures on land, much like a crocodile. More importantly, that decrease wouldn¡¯t occur unless he fully left the water. So long as he had even a bit of his tail in the sea, he would maintain the increased attributes. All good things to know, but at the moment, he was far more interested in putting Shape of the Sea through its paces in its natural environment. So, he quickly left the beach behind and swam to deeper waters. And he was absolutely floored by how easily the great leviathan could move. With only a flick of his flippers, he could propel himself forward with immense speed. If he¡¯d had to guess, he would have estimated it at more than a hundred miles an hour. Not surprising, considering the sleek and aquadynamic shape, as well as his incredible attributes. Idly, he considered that he could now swim faster than the fastest sea creature on Earth ¨C at least from before the World Tree¡¯s touch. But then again, that wasn¡¯t anything new. On land, he could run faster ¨C even in his human form ¨C than a cheetah, and in the air, he could fly at speeds approaching that of a cargo jet. Still, it was a striking realization, and it put into context just how much the world had changed in recent years. Of course, the second he reached deeper water, that minor realization was supplanted by awe. It was the same every time he went out to sea, and this time was no different. The only change was that he felt secure enough in his new form that he didn¡¯t fear anything he might find. Or that might find him. He¡¯d felt most of the nearby creatures, and he knew that none of them were large or deadly enough to truly threaten him. Yet, that didn¡¯t mean he was invulnerable. He was only a few miles out to sea, and already, the local wildlife was dense and varied enough to give most people pause. What would he find further out, or in the deepest places of the world? He longed to find out. Yet, as enamored with the idea of exploration as he was, Elijah didn¡¯t give in to his wanderlust. Instead, he swam around, enjoying the sense of freedom he felt in his new form. Shape of the Sky came with something similar, but Elijah had never been quite as interested in the air as he was in the sea. So, he spent far longer than he¡¯d planned, just flitting through the dense forests of kelp and riding the powerful currents further out into the ocean. Along the way ¨C and in only a few hours ¨C he saw plenty of wonders. Huge coral reefs spread across the ocean floor, populated by so much sea life that the mere sight would have given a nature photographer a seizure. Elijah saw hundreds of species of colorful fish he couldn¡¯t identify, as well as plenty of other sea creatures that had never existed on Earth before it had experienced the touch of the World Tree. Some ¨C like a giant octopus with limbs at least fifteen feet long ¨C seemed curious, but others fled the second they detected him. But most just ignored him, going about their lives as if he didn¡¯t exist. That was the effect of his nature attunement. For whatever reason, it had always elicited such a reaction in the wildlife. That allowed Elijah to move through the wilderness mostly unobstructed, which was far from the experience of most other travelers. Like everything else that came with being a Druid, Elijah very much appreciated that aspect of his archetype. He also threw himself out of the water more than once in an attempt to emulate a whale. It worked out well enough, but it soon became abundantly clear that turtle-crocodile-dragon hybrids weren¡¯t really built for such a maneuver. Still, it was fun, and at the moment, that was more important than the move¡¯s viability. Eventually, though, Elijah noticed that the sun had begun to set, so he decided to stop playing around ¨C which he told himself was testing the form ¨C and returned to the island. Along the way, he pushed himself as hard as he could, and he discovered that he¡¯d only scratched the surface of just how fast he could go. His previous estimate seemed more like a jog in comparison to a sprint. The result of his rapid pace was that he soon reached the island¡¯s shore, sending a collection of giant crabs scurrying in fear as he crashed onto the beach. For a long few moments, he lay there, just basking in the waning sunlight. Finally, he initiated the transformation back into his human form before rolling over, then sitting up so he could appreciate the setting sun. ¡°Today was a good day,¡± he said to himself. And he meant it. For all that he enjoyed travel and adventure, those activities usually came with significant danger. He rarely got the chance to just enjoy himself. Of course, that usually wasn¡¯t the point ¨C most of the time, he was trying to save people¡¯s lives ¨C but the jaunt into the ocean still highlighted the fact that he needed a little fun in his life if he wanted to keep from going crazy. Sadie helped with that, but the fact that he wasn¡¯t entirely sure where he stood with her left an undercurrent of uncertainty that he found difficult to ignore. Were they in a serious relationship? Would she go back to Hong Kong after recharging her batteries a bit? Did she love him? Did he love her? It seemed extremely premature to broach that particular subject ¨C despite his joking poems from before ¨C but he knew her well enough to recognize that he was on the doorstep of such feelings. But could either of them truly commit to that? Every instinct told Elijah to keep her at arm¡¯s length and avoid lasting entanglement. But fighting against those instincts was everything he admired about Sadie. Not only was she a good and honorable person who always tried to do the right thing, but she was also one of the few people who could keep up with him. In a world where his power set him so far apart from everyone else ¨C especially regarding potential longevity ¨C the fact that she had already ascended meant more than he really wanted to admit. She was also one of the most beautiful women he¡¯d ever seen, and he very much enjoyed her sometimes-prickly company. In short, she was just about perfect for him, and it was easy to imagine a life spent adventuring together. Yet, Elijah wasn¡¯t so na?ve that he expected that to come true. Sadie had responsibilities, just like him, and the specter of Hong Kong hovered over her like a malignant spirit. The reality of the situation was that there was no easy answer, and neither of them would know for certain what the future held until they got there. So, the only real solution was to keep going and hope for the best while appreciating what they had while they had it. With that in mind, Elijah picked himself up and headed inland to the grove. There, he saw Sadie once again going through her sword forms. As he¡¯d noted with Miguel, it seemed that her body cultivation centered around martial activities, so Elijah could feel the ethera swirling through her with every slash, thrust, or sword stroke. Still, she had a long way to go before she made a breakthrough of any significance. By comparison, Elijah had plans for his own cultivation. He¡¯d been working on it at least once a day since returning to the island, but it was nearing the point where he would need to devote more focus to the matter if he wanted to truly progress. Once Sadie sensed his presence, she wound down her activities. Upon his approach, she asked, ¡°Where have you been? You smell like the ocean.¡± ¡°Testing out my new form. It¡¯s¡­big and very specialized, but I think it opens up a lot of possibilities,¡± he answered. ¡°And just so you know, I think you smell wonderful.¡± ¡°I smell like sweat.¡± ¡°That¡¯s what I said,¡± he responded. ¡°I like the way you stink.¡± ¡°Ugh. Let¡¯s just go to the hot tub.¡± And they did. One of the interesting facets of soaking in that nearly boiling water was that the combination of heat and dense ethera did a number on the body¡¯s impurities. So, sweat and odor disappeared even as they relaxed in one another¡¯s company. ¡°A month doesn¡¯t seem long enough,¡± Sadie murmured, leaning back, with her head resting on the lip of the pool, just above the water. ¡°I know,¡± Elijah acknowledged. If he¡¯d had his way, they¡¯d spend a year or more just relaxing and improving. Even as that thought crossed his mind, Elijah knew it wasn¡¯t true. His swim in the ocean had reminded him just how much he enjoyed the thrill of novelty and exploration. So, in the back of one facet of his mind, he understood that he would never again be happy just lazing about the island. And he suspected that Sadie harbored a similar sentiment. For now, though, they both enjoyed their brief respite, dreading and looking forward to the not-so-distant day when they would be forced back into the real world, with all its problems and wonders. 8-19. Armor Sadie stretched her arms above her head, the movement loosening her tight muscles. She¡¯d gone a little too far with her training the day before, and even Elijah¡¯s healing had been insufficient to truly banish the consequences of overwork. And then she¡¯d pushed even further once the sun went down, though when she thought of her nocturnal activities, she couldn¡¯t help but smile. Her time with Elijah ¨C even though it was destined to end ¨C had proven to be a very necessary balm for her wounded body and soul. In the grove, it was so easy to forget all of her problems. Hong Kong¡¯s issues, as well as the impending meeting with the world¡¯s elite, faded so easily into the background as she basked in the dense ethera, relaxing atmosphere, and easy companionship. Not for the first time, she wished it could last. But it was not to be. Soon enough, the situation in the world would intrude on her found paradise, and she needed to be ready for what was to come. That was why she¡¯d trained so hard and for so long. After stretching, she stripped down and gratefully lowered herself into the miraculous hot spring Elijah and Nerthus had created. Even as the steaming water soothed her tired muscles, she let out a long, contented sigh. It would have been so easy to simply settle into a life of comfort. Once upon a time, she might¡¯ve been happy with that kind of existence. But probably not. Even before the apocalypse, she¡¯d been a high achiever who needed goals and purpose to give meaning to her life. That hadn¡¯t changed. What was different were the stakes, though. No longer was she concerned with social status or the performance of the family business. Rather, she now had to worry about the entirety of humanity and Earth¡¯s survival. Because without her help, they would never meet the system¡¯s requirements that the world¡¯s Primal Realms needed to be conquered within the next ten years. That countdown loomed large in her mind, and though a decade seemed like a long time, she was well aware just how quickly the years could slip away. After all, it felt like only yesterday that she¡¯d found herself suddenly thrust into a zombie apocalypse. Less than a decade had passed since then, and the intervening time felt both impossibly long and shorter than it should have. No ¨C she couldn¡¯t afford to stand idly by while the world dealt with its own problems. Neither could Elijah, which was why he¡¯d spent the past week working on his own cultivation. That he felt it was possible to reach the next tier ¨C in any category ¨C so quickly was a testament to his enviable talent. By comparison, Sadie would need a year or more of constant effort to feel confident in her own odds of progression. And she was a couple of steps behind him. It was just further confirmation that Elijah, for all his quirks, was special in a way that wasn¡¯t easily quantified. Part of her felt proud of him, but she would have been lying to herself if she didn¡¯t acknowledge the seeds of envy within her heart. The only thing that kept them from sprouting was the fact that he didn¡¯t hold his power over anyone else¡¯s head. In fact, Sadie wasn¡¯t certain he knew just how far ahead of everyone he really was. Still, soaking in the hot springs technically counted as training as well. Not only did it cleanse her of impurities ¨C according to Nerthus, at least ¨C but it also subtly supported her efforts at body cultivation. The same could be said for everything in the grove, ranging from the fruits Elijah ate, seemingly without even realizing that they were potent natural treasures, to the soap he obsessed over. Indeed, just living in such an ethereally dense region was a boon all its own. So, just existing on the island came with a certain amount of progression. That kept Sadie in the spring for almost two hours before her excuses ran out. That was when she pushed herself out of the spring, then headed to the treehouse to shower and dress for a trip to the city. But along the way, she got a bit of a surprise when she practically ran into a teenage girl. Which was a bit of an issue, because she hadn¡¯t bothered dressing after leaving the hot tub. Normally, there was no one else around, and Elijah had made it absolutely clear that he had no issues with casual nudity. Sadie had taken his cue, though seeing the girl¡¯s wide eyes and red face, she now regretted it. ¡°What? Who are you?¡± Sadie demanded, covering herself as best she could with her loose clothes. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be here. Elijah doesn¡¯t allow ¨C¡± ¡°I was going to say the same thing t-to you¡­¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± After that, Sadie got the girl¡¯s story. Apparently, she was a prospective member of the grove, which Sadie found a bit surprising. More importantly, she was Ron¡¯s daughter, Hope. That softened Sadie¡¯s stance, but only enhanced her embarrassment. Who knew what a teenage girl would talk about when she got away from the grove? Before Sadie knew it, tales of a naked woman prancing around the island would spread all across Ironshore. The very idea was mortifying. So, once Sadie had established that Hope had a reason to be there, she quickly extricated herself from the embarrassing situation and headed into the treehouse, where she quickly dressed. Thankfully, Hope wasn¡¯t in sight when she emerged. Pushing that from her mind, Sadie made her way across the island to the rowboat Elijah hated so much. Every time he was made to row across the strait, he filled those few minutes with complaints. For her part, Sadie didn¡¯t understand it. With their attributes, rowing wasn¡¯t even remotely taxing, and the passage was quick enough that it was over almost as soon as it began. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. But that didn¡¯t stop Elijah from complaining. Not one bit. It made Sadie a little grateful he wasn¡¯t around. Instead, he was in what he called his cultivation cave, where he¡¯d spent much of his time of late. When she arrived at the dock, she found her way to the berth reserved for Elijah¡¯s boats. Sadie expected that he didn¡¯t even realize that they¡¯d given him special treatment, but amidst the hustle and bustle of the dock, it was obvious to her that they¡¯d made allowances. All around, there were huge boats meant to brave the open ocean. They didn¡¯t venture far ¨C only a few miles one way or another ¨C though the ships were easily large enough to compare to those that had once crossed from one continent to the other. Now, because of the dangers of the new and transformed world, they couldn¡¯t venture too far from shore. Some were meant to hug the coast on mercantile missions. There were a few other cities to the south, though the closest in that direction was almost eight-hundred miles away. Still, the fact that trade existed between them at all was a good sign for Earth¡¯s development. Sadie tied the boat off, then climbed onto the dock. Soon enough, she was weaving her way through the crowd. It felt odd, going out in public without her armor. For years, she¡¯d worn it everywhere she went, and though she knew there wasn¡¯t much danger in Ironshore, she felt incredibly vulnerable. Naked, almost. Her cheeks reddened at her recent encounter with Hope, but she pushed her embarrassment away and focused on the reason she¡¯d come to the city in the first place. She didn¡¯t intend to get distracted ¨C not like Elijah was wont to do. Rather, she would remain on task. To that end, she broke free of the docks, leaving its congestion behind for slightly less dense traffic. Along the way, she passed the project everyone referred to as the Great Forge, marveling at the size of what would be a crafting center. Idly, she wished they had something like that back in Heaven¡¯s Bastion, though she knew they had neither the space nor the creativity to build anything of the sort. It was a stark reminder that her grandfather¡¯s repressive regime was anathemic to true progress. At best, they would maintain the status quo, which was probably Tianwei¡¯s entire goal. He was at the top, and he wanted to stay there ¨C progress be damned. Shaking her head, Sadie moved on, and eventually, she reached her destination ¨C Carmen¡¯s smithy. Since coming to Ironshore, she¡¯d grown to enjoy the Blacksmith¡¯s company. She was a no-nonsense person, and she seemed to genuinely care about other people. She¡¯d welcomed Sadie with open arms, which was definitely something she¡¯d needed at the time. They were friends, though the relationship was new enough that it felt a little premature to think of it as anything more than acquaintance. In any case, that was likely Sadie¡¯s own insecurities rearing their ugly heads, so she put that thought out of mind. She deserved friends, even if she sometimes wondered why other people would even tolerate her often-judgmental presence. Predictably, when Sadie entered the smithy, she found Carmen hard at work. She was still building the tools for her forge, which was far more complicated a process than Sadie could have ever expected. Further evidence that the system was right not to offer her a crafting class, all those years ago. She had neither the patience nor the imagination for that kind of thing. After a few minutes spent beating on hot metal, Carmen shoved the cooling billet back into the forge, then looked up. The second she recognized Sadie, the Blacksmith grinned ¨C a reaction to her presence to which she was definitely not accustomed. Maybe from Dat or Elijah, but nobody else. Carmen let her hammer disappear, saying, ¡°I¡¯d give you a hug, but ¨C yeah. Sweaty and probably a bit smelly. So, probably not the best idea for maintaining friendships. What¡¯s up?¡± ¡°How long have you been at it?¡± Sadie asked, stepping further into the smithy. It was like a furnace, and even with her high Constitution, she was more than a little uncomfortable. Immediately, she started to sweat. Carmen shrugged. ¡°No windows, so hard to tell. A day? Maybe. I don¡¯t know. But I¡¯m almost done with the metal for my tools. Look at this.¡± She grabbed one of the blocks of metal she¡¯d piled on a nearby table, hefting it into the light. It shimmered with iridescent beauty, with green lines cutting through a dull red metal. ¡°What is it called?¡± Sadie asked, taking the block. It was much heavier than she had expected. ¡°Vulcanium. Titanium, volcanic mithril, and cold iron. That hunk of metal right there is worth more than this whole smithy,¡± she said, grinning. ¡°Well, except for that over there.¡± She pointed to a corner, where another metal shone with ethereal light. ¡°Elijah dropped it off earlier today. Or maybe yesterday? Not sure. He said you would talk to me about it later. You know what it is, right?¡± ¡°Celestial gold,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°It was a reward from the Trial of Primacy.¡± ¡°A damn valuable reward. I thought volcanic mithril was expensive, but that stuff¡­¡± ¡°Can you work with it?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°I can work with any metal,¡± Carmen answered confidently. ¡°From what I understand, it¡¯s a finnicky material, and it¡¯s best used as a component of an alloy. Some ascended smiths can forge it alone, but¡­well, I can do it, but I¡¯d only harness a fraction of its power. Better to use it as part of an alloy. We¡¯ll stretch it that way, too.¡± ¡°What do you suggest?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°For the alloy, I mean.¡± ¡°Straight mithril. It¡¯s one of the most stable materials available at our level. Expensive, but that¡¯s true of anything worthwhile,¡± Carmen answered, scratching her ash-smeared chin. ¡°What do you want made?¡± ¡°Armor,¡± Sadie answered. ¡°And a new sword if there¡¯s enough material.¡± She removed the sword from her back, revealing its cracked and notched length. She might have been willing to go without her armor, but walking around completely unarmed was a fool¡¯s idea. ¡°This size,¡± she explained. ¡°I can deal with heavier, but I like the length of this one. How much mithril should I get?¡± Sadie hadn¡¯t spent any of her own money since the world had transformed. Instead, she¡¯d been given anything she could want, paid for by Heaven¡¯s Bastion. So, she had plenty of ethereum saved up. As it turned out, when she went to the Branch with Carmen¡¯s instructions in hand, she found that she was something of a pauper ¨C at least by multiversal standards. She bought as much as she could manage, but it wasn¡¯t even close to enough. So, when she returned to the smithy, ingots of metal in hand, Carmen told her that she would make it work. ¡°How much for the commission?¡± Sadie asked. ¡°Nothing from you. Elijah¡¯s already taken care of it,¡± Carmen said. Sadie frowned. She definitely didn¡¯t like charity. Carmen picked up on that feeling, saying, ¡°Just accept it. It¡¯s a gift. He only wants to keep you safe. He knows you¡¯re going to throw yourself into danger, so this is the best he can do. Be thankful someone cares enough about you to do that.¡± Sadie¡¯s frown faded, and she nodded. It would take some time to acclimate to the notion that someone wanted to take care of her. Normally, the shoe was on the other foot, with everyone expecting her to look after them. But the more she thought about it, the more she appreciated the idea. It was almost like having her family back. ¡°Do you think you can finish it before we have to go to Seattle?¡± ¡°I¡¯ll get it done,¡± Carmen stated. ¡°It¡¯ll be the first time I use my new tools, once I get them forged. It¡¯ll be awesome. I promise.¡± 8-20. Seeds of an Idea Elijah turned the seed from the ancestral tree over in his hand, studying its structure via Soul of the Wild. From a visual perspective, it was just a seed. The size of a walnut, its oblong exterior was rough and marked by deep grooves. It really didn¡¯t look like much. However, with his other senses, Elijah could feel just how different it was from any other plant he¡¯d ever studied. There was so much potential there. So much magic. It wasn¡¯t like the Miracle Seed that could have ended up as anything he wished. Yet, it was equally as potent ¨C just in a different way that he didn¡¯t quite understand yet. But he intended to plumb its depths and discover all of its secrets, because he believed that doing so might prove the answer to all of the questions he didn¡¯t even know to ask. Once, he¡¯d planted such a seed in Ironshore, and since then, the resulting tree at the center of Druid¡¯s Park had connected with its progenitor. Because of that, the ethera in and around the city was even higher than its proximity to the grove should have dictated. Doubtless, that would help with the city¡¯s development. It probably already had. However, that was only a shadow of what he felt was possible with the seed between his fingers. ¡°Are you just going to stare at that thing all day?¡± came Sadie¡¯s voice, cutting through his concentration. Elijah looked up to see that she¡¯d donned her form-fitting training outfit, which was comprised of skintight yoga pants and a short sleeve compression top. By comparison, Elijah just wore a loose set of tan trousers that ended mid-calf and a flowing shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows and the laces undone. It was a striking difference that marked how uniquely they approached the new world. Sadie hadn¡¯t quite left the old ways behind. Sure, she¡¯d embraced the need for medieval style armor and weaponry, but she still enjoyed the comforts of Earth¡¯s centuries of technological advancement. Meanwhile, Elijah had fully gone over to the other side. He¡¯d picked up some technology along the way ¨C like the laptop still sitting in his treehouse, unused and mostly forgotten ¨C but for the most part, he lived in a post-World Tree world. And his outfit ¨C as well as his home ¨C reflected that. Regardless, Elijah couldn¡¯t deny that he appreciated Sadie¡¯s attire for quite a few reasons that had nothing to do with practicality. ¡°I think it has the potential to be important somehow,¡± he answered, pushing those thoughts aside for the time being. ¡°I¡¯m not sure what form it might take, but it feels like a piece of a puzzle I just can¡¯t fit into place.¡± ¡°Then you¡¯re trying to force it into the wrong spot. That¡¯s how puzzles work.¡± ¡°Bad metaphor, then,¡± Elijah admitted, standing. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure what I want from it. I just know it¡¯s important.¡± ¡°You¡¯ll figure it out. Eventually,¡± she said with a reassuring smile. ¡°Do you want to spar a bit? We still need our second training session for today.¡± Elijah nodded, retrieving his staff from where he¡¯d left it on the ground. After that, the pair headed to the beach, where their training wouldn¡¯t disturb Nerthus¡¯ work. It wasn¡¯t long before the clack of Elijah¡¯s staff against Sadie¡¯s weighted training sword filled the air, echoing across the beach and scaring away the crabs. The sparring session went on for most of an hour without even the hint of a break, their weapons moving so quickly that it would have taken a high-speed camera to catch each movement. Without his Sash of the Whirlwind, which Elijah had left in his treehouse with all the rest of his equipment, he found the training that much more taxing. Sadie was fast and strong, and from a technical standpoint, she was miles ahead of him. The only reason he managed to keep up was due to his combat experience and high attributes. Even then, Sadie kept him on his heels ¨C which was the whole point but was still a little frustrating to endure. Because Elijah did not like losing. It was a simple acknowledgement ¨C after all, what kind of a person enjoyed such a thing ¨C but Elijah¡¯s hatred for coming in at even second-best was enough to put significant weight on his ego. That had always been the case, too. Even though he was apathetic toward his career, when he¡¯d participated in any competitive activity, Elijah had found the prospect of losing so frustrating that he¡¯d often said that he hated losing more than he liked winning. But however he put it, it just wasn¡¯t in the cards with Sadie as his opponent. At best, he could hold his own, but her superior technique was enough to ensure her victory. It was good practice, though, largely because it forced him to focus on all the little things he usually ignored. Like foot placement. Or efficiency with his movements. Or a thousand other factors that typically didn¡¯t matter because he could overwhelm his opponents with attributes or the increased reaction speeds that came with his equipment and Shape of the Master. Against Sadie, he couldn¡¯t do that. Which was both thrilling and frustrating in equal measure. It was also effective, and Elijah felt that if he kept it up, he would continue to improve. He wished he could say the same about the rest of their training regimen, which mostly consisted of running, swimming, and repeatedly lifting heavy boulders. It was taxing, to be sure. The running and swimming would always be difficult if they pushed themselves to their limits, but they¡¯d both reached a level of fitness where they could keep going for days without stopping. And the boulders were way too small. So, after another couple of hours of training ¨C and a further hour recovering in the hot spring ¨C they headed to Ironshore. Sadie wanted to check on Carmen¡¯s progress with the armor she¡¯d commissioned, and Elijah needed a similar status update from his sister-in-law, though for a different project. When they entered the forge, they found Carmen predictably hammering away at a piece of glowing metal. Visually, it was quite striking, as it shimmered in a rainbow of colors that rippled with every hammer blow. Elijah barely noticed it. Instead, he was wholly focused on the tiny shockwaves of dense ethera that came with each impact. Some of that emanated from Carmen¡¯s hammer, but much of it came from the metal itself. With Soul of the Wild, Elijah felt a host of disparate attunements in that small billet, though they¡¯d become so intertwined that he had difficulty separating them in his perception. For a few minutes, Elijah and Sadie watched Carmen finish her task. There were so many complex things happening that most people wouldn¡¯t even see. Multiple abilities at work, twisting the disparate attunements together ¨C Elijah couldn¡¯t help but wonder if Carmen was even aware of it all. Probably. She wasn¡¯t the world¡¯s foremost Blacksmith for no reason. Even if her senses weren¡¯t quite as attuned as Elijah¡¯s, she knew something was going on. The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Finally, she set the block of metal on her anvil, then removed the goggles she¡¯d been wearing to protect her eyes from the sparks. ¡°Hey guys,¡± she said with a grin that exposed her white teeth amidst all the soot covering the bottom half of her face. ¡°What¡¯s up? I¡¯m making tons of progress with the alloy for your armor, Sadie. That celestial gold is a mother to work with, but it¡¯s definitely doable. Did you know that it¡¯s not really gold? If it was, it would need to be melted down and poured into a mold. This is more like steel, though obviously much more complicated to manipulate. Can¡¯t even manage it without significant ethera running through the stuff. If I¡¯d had this when I was doing the engravings for the Great Forge project¡­¡± She trailed off, realizing that she was on the verge of rambling. She took her goggles off with a sigh, then said, ¡°Sorry. Running on about three hours of sleep in the past four days, so I get a little jittery. I¡¯m guessing you both want status updates, right?¡± ¡°You need to rest more,¡± Elijah said, already casting Soothe on her. Its effects weren¡¯t specifically meant to combat fatigue, but the spell still helped a little. ¡°You can¡¯t keep burning the candle at both ends. And you don¡¯t need to, either.¡± ¡°Oh, that¡¯s the good stuff,¡± she responded with a bit of a shiver. ¡°And I do need to go this hard. Sadie¡¯s armor is going to take weeks to get right, and in case you forgot, we¡¯re on a time limit here. Three weeks, right? I¡¯m going to struggle to get it done in time.¡± Sadie wrung her hands at that statement. Clearly, she wanted to tell her new friend not to worry herself, but Elijah knew that going to that meeting without her armor was just out of the question. So, she was at odds with her own mind. Elijah cut off any further discussion on the subject, saying, ¡°You finish with that hunk of radioactive waste I brought by?¡± Elijah had emptied his ring only a few days before. The shield was still sitting in his treehouse, waiting to be appraised, but the pearl had been placed in his cultivation cave. Meanwhile, the piece of the elephant¡¯s foot that he so recently reacquired had been left with Carmen. ¡°Oh. Yeah. I finished it. Nasty stuff. I made a bracer out of it. Well, mostly, it was made out of some leftover volcanic mithril ¨C you owe me, by the way ¨C with the radioactive stuff ground down and mixed into the metal,¡± she explained. ¡°It¡¯s in that box by the door. Don¡¯t open it here, though. It¡¯s extremely toxic.¡± That was within Elijah¡¯s expectations. ¡°What does it do?¡± he asked. To that, Carmen responded by handing him a piece of paper she pulled from her leather apron¡¯s pocket. On it was an item description, which she said, ¡°That¡¯s the result I got from Blacksmith¡¯s Eye.¡±
Shackle of Penance Overall Grade: Complex (Low) Enchantment Grade: C Trait: Corrosion ¨C Inhibits the wearer¡¯s ethereal flow while degrading their body.
Elijah frowned. ¡°Not exactly what I expected,¡± he muttered, handing the page back to Carmen. ¡°Keep it,¡± she refused. ¡°That thing is worse than a cursed item. The only advantage is that it¡¯s up-front about what it does. Not sure what use it could be. Maybe for a prisoner or something. It would probably kill anybody who wore it, though.¡± Elijah wasn¡¯t so sure about that. He¡¯d have to test it out to see for sure, though he definitely wasn¡¯t looking forward to that. Still, he collected the box, vowing to investigate the effects of the Shackle of Penance sometime in the near future. For now, though, he and Sadie spent a little time chatting with Carmen about her plans for the armor, but Elijah quickly lost interest and slipped away. He liked magical items as much as the next guy, but hearing the two women talk about runes and enchantments was more than he could handle. So, he wandered off, eventually reaching the Hunter¡¯s Lodge, where he hoped he¡¯d find Kurik. Not because he needed the dwarf for any particular task, but rather, because he was one of the few people in town who didn¡¯t treat him like an outsider. There was value in having someone to share a beer with, after all. Unfortunately, Kurik wasn¡¯t around, but Elijah did discover that the location served as more than just a meeting ground for the city¡¯s hunters. It was that, but it was also where they sold the raw materials they gathered while on the hunt. Most of the meat had already been claimed by the city¡¯s various restaurants, but there were quite a few hides, wild herbs, and other eclectic items up for sale. Perhaps it was because he had armor on the mind, but Elijah bought a hide that had reportedly come from a level ninety-five bull moose. He suspected the hunter had inflated the level a bit, judging by the ethera flowing through the rolled-up hide, but it was still the best available. So, he paid his fee before heading to Gavina¡¯s leatherworking shop. Fortunately, the place looked to be in a far better state than the last time he¡¯d visited, and the little goblin was much more amenable to taking his commission. Part of that was probably because she¡¯d hired a couple of burly dwarves to act as guards. In any case, Elijah commissioned the armor before heading back to Carmen¡¯s smithy to find that she and Sadie were still engaged in deep discussions concerning the set of armor she intended to forge. Not wanting to interrupt ¨C or perhaps, endure ¨C that conversation, Elijah told them he was headed back to the grove. However, along the way back, he got a little caught up in the freedom of flying and ended up far out to sea. So, he decided to put his new bestial form to the test in deeper waters. Mid-dive, he transformed into the huge leviathan. It completed just in time for him to crash into the waves, and he dove deep beneath the surface. One of the unlisted advantages that came with Shape of the Sea was that his vision was entirely unaffected underwater. Because of that, he got a fantastic view of the world all around him ¨C and once again, he was awestruck by what he saw. Even before the world¡¯s transformation, the oceans had hosted far more life than the land, but it seemed that trait had been taken to an extreme. There were so many colorful fish ¨C many of which were five or six feet long ¨C that Elijah briefly worried that he¡¯d get swarmed. However, despite the fact that they were clearly predatory in nature, they had no interest in challenging him. In fact, they darted away the second he drew close. Except for one sea denizen that wasn¡¯t a fish at all. The dolphin approached him curiously, but without even an ounce of fear. That was likely appropriate, considering that the sea mammal was clearly ascended. More importantly, Elijah recognized it, and, despite his changed shape, it recognized him as well. It darted in, bumping his nose before speeding away. It only got about thirty feet before it turned back to him, almost as if it was beckoning him forward. Elijah complied, using his powerful flippers to propel him in a chase. Very quickly, he discovered one important factor ¨C if it wanted to, the dolphin could have easily left him behind. Elijah could move very rapidly ¨C over a hundred miles an hour if he wanted ¨C but the dolphin was at least twice as fast as he was. But it didn¡¯t leave him behind. In fact, though it took Elijah a few minutes to figure it out, the dolphin wasn¡¯t leading him anywhere. Instead, it just wanted to play. And Elijah was definitely onboard with that. He chased the dolphin for more than an hour at full speed, changing directions rapidly as he pursued the sleek creature. Then, finally, it tired of the game and left him entirely behind. Elijah tried to keep up for a few minutes, but it was impossible. Soon enough, his playmate was gone, leaving him in the middle of the ocean. Deciding to get his bearings, he pushed himself to the surface, only to find that he¡¯d come closer to the edge of the giant maelstrom than ever before. It was still miles away, but the wind had churned the seas into gargantuan swells. Even with his enormous size, the towering waves made him feel extremely small. For a few minutes, he tried to ride them, but it soon became clear that if he continued along that path, he¡¯d find himself within the storm itself. So, he dove deeper than he¡¯d ever gone before, not stopping until he escaped the current. After that, he pointed himself back the way he¡¯d come and left the storm behind. Once he¡¯d gotten far enough away, he surfaced, took on the Shape of the Sky, and returned to his island. However, the brief contact with the maelstrom reminded him that there was one responsibility he¡¯d not considered of late. The survivors of the plane crash were still out there in the center of that storm, and he was probably the only one who stood any chance of rescuing them. That left a sour taste of guilt in his mouth that overrode the fun he¡¯d had with the dolphin. One thing was certain, though ¨C he couldn¡¯t afford to waste anymore time. He needed to buckle down, get to work, and prepare to fulfil some of his responsibilities. People¡¯s lives depended on it. 8-21. The Descent By all rights, Miguel had no business being included among the scouts. He was a Warrior by archetype, and his Green Warden class hadn¡¯t given him anything like a stealth ability. In addition, the terrain didn¡¯t lend itself to his nature attunement, which seemed to be much weaker away from forests and other flora-rich environments. The cave had plenty of life within it, but for whatever reason, he didn¡¯t connect with moss and fungi like he did trees and bushes. Plus, he¡¯d been forced to leave Trevor behind. Taking an animal his size into a subterranean tunnel just wasn¡¯t smart, partially because he simply couldn¡¯t fit into some of the tight spaces, but also because he just wasn¡¯t built to traverse such terrain. That showed itself in the clear anxiety he felt in any cave, much less the system of tunnels that honeycombed the area. Thankfully, Trevor had understood, and he¡¯d been all too happy to be left topside. Meanwhile, Miguel and the rest of the troop of soldiers from Ironshore had bypassed the fortress ¨C leaving a token force behind to man the stronghold ¨C and headed into the tunnel it guarded. That had been three days ago, and there didn¡¯t seem to be an end in sight. Miguel and the other scouts were tasked with finding a way through the tangled mess of tunnels and caverns, and though he was uncomfortable, he endeavored to do his job to the best of his ability. He might not have had an ability that helped him evade detection, but he could still move as silently as anyone. So, he kept to the deepest shadows as he stalked the underground caves. Along the way, he saw plenty of fauna in addition to the alien flora. Mostly, they were lizards and insects, but he saw a few mammals as well. Rodents, moles, and even a creature that looked like a feathered bear ¨C there was no shortage of life beneath the surface. But for now, Miguel remained still as he studied a campsite from afar. When he¡¯d first caught sight of it, he¡¯d assumed that the bodies were simply sleeping. But the longer he remained in place, the more he suspected that they were dead. Six of them, all lying around the spent remains of a fire ¨C they almost looked peaceful. However, when he caught a flicker of movement coming from the other direction, all sense of peace vanished. And when he saw what it was, Miguel very nearly let out a gasp of surprise. It was a mushroom, not so different from any amanita he¡¯d seen aboveground ¨C at least in terms of shape. The coloring was off, but it still possessed the same stalk and cap characteristic of a typical mushroom. However, the green-and-brown figure was also at least as tall as a man, with a cap that extended to more than four feet in diameter. And it was moving. Bouncing on its stalk, it descended upon the camp. Once it reached the bodies, it let out an ear-splitting shriek and flipped its cap back, revealing row after row of sharp teeth. What followed was one of the more gruesome sights Miguel had ever witnessed, and within only a few moments, the monster had completely devoured the corpses. Miguel readied the Blade of the Green Warden, though he remained entirely still. He had no clue how powerful the bouncing fungus was, and he had no wish to find out in the middle of a battle. So, his only hope lay in remaining unnoticed. The creature bounced around for a few more moments, clearly searching for more food. However, it wasn¡¯t long before it gave up and thankfully turned back the way it had come. Even so, Miguel didn¡¯t dare move. He could see a decent distance down the tunnel, so he knew the fungus-monster had left the area far behind. But he didn¡¯t know what else was out there. His caution was rewarded a few minutes later when he saw another flicker of movement in the center of the camp. This time, it was no fungus-monster. Instead, another body suddenly appeared amidst the scene of the mushroom¡¯s mastication. This one was still alive, though, considering the way they writhed in obvious pain, only barely. Miguel watched, and he waited. As uncomfortable as it was to see someone suffering like that, he refused to sacrifice his own safety just to end his enemy¡¯s torment. Not until he was certain it wasn¡¯t a trap ¨C or that the monster wouldn¡¯t return. Still, he didn¡¯t lack empathy. If he could have done so without jeopardizing himself, he would have put the dark elf out of their misery. After twenty more minutes, Miguel felt reasonably sure that the creature would not return. So, he crept forward, sword in hand and ready to respond with violence should a trap present itself. No such thing happened, and he reached the dark elf ¨C which turned out to be a slight woman with jaw-length hair and a gruesome gash across his face ¨C without incident. The dark elf flinched away when she saw Miguel. ¡°Who are you?¡± the enemy demanded, her voice strained. ¡°What happened here?¡± Miguel responded. He wasn¡¯t there to answer questions. Rather, he needed to know what was going on. If something could kill a half-dozen dark elves in their own territory, he wanted to know about it. Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°I¡­help me, and I will tell you. Get me a Healer.¡± Miguel stood there for a few moments as he tried to decide what to do. However, at the end of the day, it wasn¡¯t his choice to make. For all that he was used to acting alone, that was not currently the case. He answered to Katis, which meant that she was the one who needed to decide the dark elf¡¯s fate. ¡°Can you be moved?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the enemy answered. Miguel peered down the tunnel, then back the way he¡¯d come. It was less than a mile back to where he¡¯d left the others at an intersection. He could carry the elf that far without any issue. The only problem was that the enemy soldier might take that as an invitation for an attack. The last thing Miguel wanted was to get a dagger in his neck, so he contemplated simply going back to get instructions or ignoring the risks and carrying the elf to the Healer. In the end, it came down to one simple fact ¨C if he left and came back, there was a good chance they¡¯d only find a corpse. Or if the fungus-monster came back, they wouldn¡¯t even find that waiting for them. No ¨C the only real option was to carry the Illythiri to safety, even if it meant that Miguel put himself in some degree of danger. To mitigate that, he searched the elf for weapons, finding a brace of daggers and a shortsword strapped to her back. Miguel tossed those aside, then sheathed his sword before reaching down, hooking his arms under the elf, and hefting her slight form onto his shoulder. Then, he started back at an easy jog. With his attributes, carrying a body wasn¡¯t that difficult, though the dark elf did squirm quite a bit ¨C probably from the pain of being jostled while grievously wounded. Part of Miguel wished the elf would simply cut it out, but then he realized that if she did, that would probably mean that she¡¯d died. And even if Miguel didn¡¯t care about the dark elf¡¯s life, per se, he definitely cared about the information she¡¯d so far withheld. After only a few more minutes, he reached the temporary camp. They hadn¡¯t gone so far as to erect defenses, but the group of Ironshore natives had formed a perimeter against the threat of an attack. So, when Miguel arrived, he was forced to explain himself to one of the soldiers. Once they knew what was going on, they let him through. It wasn¡¯t long before someone took the elf and bound her with enchanted rope that wouldn¡¯t break even under tons of pressure. Once she was secure, the Healer stepped in and spent the next hour tending the Illythari¡¯s wounds. That it took so long was a testament to how thoroughly the elf had been injured. In addition to the gash across her face, she had suffered multiple broken bones, a laceration on her torso that went all the way to the bone, and more bruises than the Healer could count. There were also some internal injuries there, which was the first thing the Healer addressed. While that was going on, Miguel reported to Katis and Colt, explaining his actions and what he¡¯d found in the tunnel ahead. ¡°You weren¡¯t followed, were you?¡± asked Colt. Miguel shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so, but there¡¯s no way to be certain,¡± he admitted. ¡°I¡¯m not sure there was anything to follow me. When I got there, the camp had been abandoned for a while. Maybe a day or more.¡± Katis nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll know more in a bit. Get some food and some rest, and we¡¯ll ¨C¡± Just then, the ground shook, and Miguel struggled to maintain his balance. More distressingly, a sound like an avalanche echoed down the tunnel, coming from the direction of their descent. When the shaking stopped, Colt ordered Miguel, ¡°Go. Check it out. See what happened.¡± Miguel wasted no time before gathering a few other soldiers and heading toward the sound they¡¯d heard. It was in the same direction as the surface, which was more than a little distressing. As it turned out, their fears were well-founded. Only a few miles away from their current position, the tunnel had completely collapsed, cutting them off from the surface. Miguel raced forward to find a path through, but the second he came within range, he saw the rocks shift. He dove to the side just in time to avoid being crushed by a boulder the size of a beach ball. He rolled to his feet only to get hit by another one. He flew backward, then skipped across the ground before hitting the other fighters who¡¯d accompanied him. They all went down in a heap of tangled limbs, and it was a lucky thing that none of them stabbed one another. By the time Miguel pulled himself free, he saw something that defied his notion of reality. It was vaguely humanoid in shape, but that was where any similarities to normal creatures ended. As tall as the tunnel¡¯s ceiling, the thing looked like someone had bound a collection of rocks together into a unified whole, and it exuded enough power that Miguel knew good and well that he was not equipped to fight it. ¡°Retreat,¡± he breathed. ¡°Now!¡± The others didn¡¯t need much encouragement, and in the space of a moment, they were all sprinting down the tunnel. For a while, the rumble of moving earth followed them, but after half a mile mile, they left it behind. Another couple of miles, and they arrived at the camp. ¡°What happened?¡± demanded Colt. ¡°Is anyone hurt?¡± ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Miguel said. Gesturing to one of the others, he added, ¡°But Darik probably broke his arm.¡± ¡°Gonna have to deal with the pain for a bit. Lala is out of ethera after healin¡¯ the elf,¡± Colt stated, referring to the group¡¯s lone Healer. It now seemed an oversight that they hadn¡¯t brought another, but Miguel knew that Healers who were willing to go into combat situations were a bit thin on the ground. Most preferred to set up shop in clinics and temples, healing people within the safety of cities. That the defense force could even spare Lala was surprising, and Miguel expected that it was because the gnome had insisted. She had a bit of an adventurous streak. Whatever the case, Darik was escorted to Lala¡¯s tent, where she would tend to his broken arm when she regenerated enough ethera. In the meantime, Miguel reported what he¡¯d seen. ¡°The tunnel is completely caved in,¡± he stated. ¡°But that¡¯s not the biggest problem. It¡¯s guarded by some rock monster that chased us for almost a mile. If we go back that way, we¡¯re going to have to deal with it.¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± Colt spat, yanking his hat off his head before raking his arm across his forehead. ¡°Between that and what the elf said, we got problems. Big problems.¡± ¡°What do we know?¡± ¡°You remember that troll?¡± Miguel nodded. ¡°Well, this is worse. Much worse. Those elves weren¡¯t just out for a stroll. They were runnin¡¯.¡± ¡°From what?¡± ¡°War, kid. War. And we just stepped in it.¡± ¡°Orders?¡± ¡°Katis says we fortify this intersection and wait on the other scouts to report back,¡± Colt answered. ¡°Meantime, we keep questionin¡¯ the elf. Maybe she¡¯ll give us somethin¡¯ we can use.¡± 8-22. Purity With his legs crossed beneath him, Elijah sat atop a large, rocky edifice in the mountains. He was only a few miles away from where he¡¯d fought the spider who¡¯d once guarded the pass leading to Norcastle, but there was no life in his general vicinity. Even the microbes had been killed ¨C a fact which left him with more than a little guilt. But the damage was done. He couldn¡¯t turn back. Not now that he was finally making progress. He cycled dense ropes of ethera through his body, pushing until the channels of his soul burst. He gasped in pain, but there was nothing for it but to forge ahead. So, he shunted that agony into its own facet of his mind, where it joined all the other results of his self-imposed torture. Elijah knew that if anyone saw him at that moment, they would have been appalled. He could feel his skin flaking off with every passing moment, only to be renewed by his constant reapplication of Soothe, Nature¡¯s Bloom, and Blessing of the Grove. Without either leg of his trinity of healing, he would have melted into a puddle. Even with them working against the degradation assailing his body, he could barely keep up. That was the point, though. If he wanted to progress ¨C to truly push to the next grade of body cultivation ¨C his old body needed to be broken down to its most basic pieces, to have the very foundation of who he was sundered. During that process, he would remove all of the deep-seated flaws most people ignored. Only then could he rebuild, stronger and better. To accomplish that, he¡¯d regretfully donned the Shackle of Penance, and it was just as horrible as the name implied. Not only did it destroy his body with every passing second, but it also made his ethera channels far more permeable while restricting the flow to a molasses-like pace. A necessity, given that he needed to flood his body with dense ethera, but having to wrangle his nearly-solid ethera via focus alone was far more difficult than he¡¯d ever considered. And he had to do that while his body was steadily being broken down. At first, he¡¯d only managed it for a few minutes, but now, he was up to almost two hours. A huge leap by anyone¡¯s standards, especially given that he¡¯d reached that point in only a couple of days. At the moment, he couldn¡¯t consider that, though. It took every facet of his mind just to keep himself from dying. The seconds passed like subjective eternities, but Elijah kept at it. Cultivation had long since passed the point where it could be accomplished quickly, easily, or without pain. In that respect, it was like any other means of training. The idea to use the Shackle of Penance in such a way had come to him the very day he¡¯d taken possession. Since then, Elijah had worked toward the eventual goal of pushing to the next tier of body cultivation. The good thing was that the bracer supercharged his efforts, and as a result, he¡¯d made enough progress that he thought he could soon take the final step. But even then, Elijah wondered ¨C at least when he wasn¡¯t subjecting himself to torture ¨C if it was worth it. Slow and steady would have been a lot less painful, after all. That was how everyone else did it. But Elijah had never been like everyone else, and what¡¯s more, he couldn¡¯t afford to take his time. Too many responsibilities weighed down on him ¨C not least the fate of the world, which would be decided in only a few short weeks. So, he pushed himself to take more, to push harder. And the results spoke for themselves. Two hours passed. Then three. Four. Elijah sank into himself, and he continued going for five total hours before he finally sensed something click within him. It was just a feeling, but it was so powerful that he knew precisely what it meant. He was ready for the penultimate step. With no small degree of difficulty, he removed the Shackle of Penance, gingerly placing it in its shielded box before shutting it away. But the corruption it emanated remained within him, ravaging his body with every passing second. Elijah knew he couldn¡¯t take any more ¨C not now that his concentration had broken ¨C so he began to force it out. To do so, he harnessed the power of his own ethera, gathering it and pushing it to the surface. Then, he vented everything. Ethera and the shackle¡¯s corrosive power rushed out of him, all at once, and he couldn¡¯t contain the scream that came with it. Even with his voice echoing through the mountains, Elijah couldn¡¯t spare a moment¡¯s distraction as he scoured his body with the power of his own will-driven ethera. Bit by bit, he lost everything to the atmosphere. With that power went the last vestiges of corruption and the natural toxins that permeated anyone¡¯s body. Through it all, Elijah remained in place, his every muscle tense and quivering, until at last, he had nothing left to vent. He collapsed from his perch atop the rock, his body limp as he tumbled to the ground. Fortunately, the rain and the healing effects from Blessing of the Grove remained in effect, nourishing his broken body until he could finally push himself to his knees. Even that became a nearly impossible task. Elijah hadn¡¯t felt so weak since he was trapped within the prison of his cancer-stricken body. But he had survived that, and he would endure this. It was only a matter of willpower. Because he certainly wasn¡¯t finished. The final step of his cultivation was still to come. So, the second he felt strong enough to rise to his feet, he found himself trekking down the mountain. With Soul of the Wild, which was just as powerful as ever, he could feel the aftermath of his cultivation. The entire side of the mountain had been stripped of all life, and Elijah feared that if he didn¡¯t work to reverse the damage he¡¯d done, it would remain barren for all of eternity. He intended to do that, but for now, he had something more important ¨C and time sensitive ¨C on his mind. So, he descended the mountain and crossed the strip of land between the peaks and the coast as quickly as he could. He remained as weak as ever, and Elijah knew that it would take months ¨C or years ¨C to recover, if he left things the way they were. The only choice was to continue his plan, else he¡¯d never be capable of contributing to Earth¡¯s survival. In a way, the trek was no different from his experiences with the Shackle of Penance. It was a means of pushing himself just a little further, and he embraced it for what it was. Even if he could have shifted into one of his other shapes ¨C which was impossible because his ethera refused to regenerate ¨C he would not have gone down that road. Instead, he embraced the weakness as the test it was, meeting the challenge with an unbreakable will to succeed. Eventually, he reached the water, and when he dove in, it was like acid against his sensitive skin. Still, he pushed forward in an awkward paddle. Thankfully, no sea creatures bothered him as he swam ¨C if his stroke could even be called that ¨C toward the island. That wasn¡¯t to say it wasn¡¯t without issues of its own. Even in the strait, the current was incredibly strong, which meant that in his weakened state, making his way to the island was slow, tedious, and extremely painful. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Elijah could take a little pain, though, and hardship had never dissuaded him. So, he forged ahead, awkwardly cutting through the water until he finally washed ashore. For a few minutes, he simply lay there gathering the strength he knew would not return on its own. Nearby, he could feel Nerthus hovering in the trees, though the spryggent knew enough about Elijah¡¯s plans to stay away. After a few moments, Elijah felt something hovering over him, and he looked up to see that one of the crabs had gotten curious. It was reminiscent of how he¡¯d begun his post-World Tree existence, except that the crab seemed entirely disinterested in making a meal out of him. Was that because of his attunement? Or because it had learned to fear him? Elijah had no idea, but he was grateful the creature didn¡¯t do more than poke him with its massive claw. After a minute or two, Elijah felt strong enough to push himself to all fours. He was far too weak to walk, so he crawled down the beach, slithering over and between rocks until, at last, he reached his destination. By that point, night had well and truly fallen, and a blanket of stars lit his way as he once again returned to the sea. Because the cultivation cave was on the western side of the island, the surf was a lot rougher than in the strait, but he cut through it as best he could, eventually dipping below the surface and finding his way to the submerged tunnel. Even in ideal circumstances, traversing that small space was an experience in claustrophobia. In his current state, it was as terrifying as anything else he¡¯d ever endured. Yet, Elijah remained strong, dragging himself along its length until he finally reached the cave itself. Doing so didn¡¯t come without consequences, though. In his weakened state, the current of ethera was blisteringly strong, and it felt like someone was sandblasting his skin from his flesh. By the time he pulled himself into the cave, his body was beet red and screaming at him in agony. Like so much other pain he¡¯d already endured, Elijah shunted it into its own facet ¨C which was getting crowded ¨C before focusing on the cave. The level of ethera within the confined space was stronger than it had ever been before, courtesy of the Leviathan¡¯s Bones, the attention he¡¯d given it during the preparation process, and the pearl he¡¯d placed within. Even so, Elijah could only hope that it would be enough. As far as he knew, nowhere else on Earth could even begin to approach those levels. By all rights, taking the next step in his journey of cultivation shouldn¡¯t even have been possible on such a newly-touched world. Which meant that if he managed it, the gap between him and everyone else would be that much wider. Once he¡¯d finally completed the journey, Elijah let himself drift in the center of the room. He still hadn¡¯t recovered, and he knew he wouldn¡¯t until he took matters into his own hands. He couldn¡¯t even cast any spells, he was so drained of ethera, and he knew that if he looked at his status, his attributes would likely be in the negatives. He chose not to do so because it was all going precisely as he¡¯d planned. But now that he was in his cave, he was ready to take the final step, which would doubtless prove to be more difficult than anything that had come before. Steeling himself against what was to come, Elijah reached out with a tendril of his soul, absorbing the cave¡¯s ambient ethera and bypassing the apertures in his mind. He screamed as it felt like someone had poured boiling water through his veins. The ethera didn¡¯t confine itself to his still-malleable channels. Instead, it raced through every fiber of his being, saturating each cell until he felt as if he was going to burst. He strained, trying to take even one more drop, but eventually, he could hold no more. After that, he stirred it, directing it faster and faster through his body. Along the way, it gathered any impurities that remained. Metaphysical scar tissue dissolved. Even the most stubborn toxins ripped away, and imperfections were worn down. Faster and faster, Elijah directed the dense ethera until he could take no more. Finally, using the same method he¡¯d utilized before, he vented it. A cloud of black sludge erupted from every pore. Some of it was literal poison ¨C stubborn remnants of his previous experiences ¨C but mostly, it was a physical representation of something more ephemeral. Elijah nearly choked on it as he retrieved one of nine beads from the necklace around his neck. In normal circumstances, it was easy enough to unfasten ¨C just a simple latch ¨C but in his weakened state, it took a few fumbling attempts before he managed it. Then, he pushed a tiny bit of ethera into the small sphere to activate it. Instantly, a whirlpool swirled around him, sucking every ounce of contamination into the bead. It swelled to the size of a softball before it became too heavy for Elijah to hold. It fell to the cave¡¯s floor with a thud. But it had done its job, cleansing the water all around him. That meant he was ready for the next cycle. One down, eight more to go. Nine total, and when he was done, his body would be entirely pristine. Only then would he be ready to push to the next stage of body cultivation. Which meant that he had a lot of pain in his near future. That wouldn¡¯t change with delay, so Elijah dove in head-first, trying to push himself a little further with each cycle. The second was far more difficult than the first, though Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if that was in his mind or if it truly was harder. The third continued that trend, but by the fourth, he felt like he¡¯d found his groove. It was still incredibly taxing and horrendously painful, but for the next three cycles, it was easier to bear. Then, he hit a wall with the seventh. No matter how hard he pushed, his body didn¡¯t want to cooperate. His mind had grown sluggish, and his very being felt as if it had been torn to pieces. Yet, with every passing moment, he continued to move forward. It was like crawling across a world of sharp glass, but still, he managed it, completing the cycle with a bubbling roar. If that iteration was like crawling through glass, then the eighth felt like he¡¯d been forced to slither through it. While being doused in salt and bathed with rubbing alcohol. He¡¯d gotten this far, though, and he wasn¡¯t about to give up now. So, even though he felt certain he was killing himself, Elijah continued on. Inch by metaphorical inch, he completed the cycle. And then came the ninth. In some ways, it was easier. He could see the finish line looming before him. And in other ways, it was so much more difficult. Every ounce of saturation came with considerable pain. Every impurity he dislodged was incredibly well-entrenched. But he would not be denied. Too much depended on his success. Too many lives would be lost if he failed. And more than anything, Elijah refused to let himself lose. Others had accomplished the feat. The guide he¡¯d read explicitly said as much. So he knew it was possible. And that was all the motivation he truly needed. Finally, he completed the cycle, flushing the impurities from his body, which were then absorbed into the ninth and final bead he¡¯d brought along. Even as it fell to the cave floor to rest in the silt next to all the others, Elijah lost control of his body. He seized. His every muscle contracted. And more importantly, he absorbed more and more ethera with every passing second. It kept going until he couldn¡¯t hold anymore, and then, just when he thought it would stop, it continued. Ethera poured from his soul, clouding around him in a dense pocket of energy. Then, it began to condense. At first, it was like oil, but soon enough, it became semi-solid. Finally, it formed a crystalline structure that encased his body like a cocoon. Even if Elijah had been at full strength, he couldn¡¯t have broken through. And in his weakened state of near-death, he could only wait. Once the cocoon had formed entirely, Elijah felt a pain unlike anything he¡¯d ever experienced. There were no words to describe it, and thankfully, he only had to endure it for a split second before he lost consciousness. But in the space of that instant, he realized what was happening. His entire body had begun to dissolve. Elijah had just enough time to panic before he passed out. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t dream. Instead, he was entirely unaware until some indeterminate amount of time later, he awoke. For a few seconds, he was still encased in that same crystal, but it wasn¡¯t long before a single, hairline crack appeared. Then another. And another after that. Soon enough, those cracks spiderwebbed across the entire surface until the entire thing shattered. But Elijah barely noticed the shards of crystal dissolving into the water. Nor did he truly see that the cave had once again been stripped of all life and ethera. Instead, he only had eyes for one thing ¨C the notification looming before his inner eye:
Congratulations! You have cultivated a Body of Bronze.
And already, even after only a few seconds, he could feel a striking difference. 8-23. Scales Elijah looked at his forearms with no small degree of consternation twisting his expression. Part of it was the power he felt coursing through his body. Strength unlike anything he¡¯d ever experienced flowed through him. He had no idea how to quantify it, but he knew that taking the step from Iron to Bronze had been the largest leap he¡¯d taken in terms of body cultivation. Even without buffs like Wild Infusion, Elijah felt much stronger than ever before, suggesting quite a large step forward. However, the bulk of his attention was on the emerald scales covering the top of his hand and twisting around his forearm to end at his shoulders. He ran one finger over them, tracing the line of scales until it terminated in a point near his neck. The scales themselves were pliable ¨C much like normal skin ¨C but they were also firm and unyielding. There were similar lines of scales twisting up from his feet and along the length of his legs to his hips. Elijah felt a slight panic grip his heart. He was used to transforming into various beasts, so he was no stranger to growing scales. However, this was his natural form, which was vastly different from taking on a bestial shape. It was an assault on his identity as a human, and one that brought with it mixed feelings. Suddenly, Elijah became aware of another presence in the submerged cave, and he whipped around to see a familiar face staring back at him. ¡°You have grown, little dragon,¡± Kirlissa said, her perfect form flickering. ¡°I did not think it was possible to progress to the fourth stage of body cultivation on such a weak world, but I am happy to be proven wrong. You impress me, child.¡± She reached out, and though Elijah knew she was more like a hologram than a solid creature, he felt her run her own fingers down the scales on his shoulder. ¡°Emerald. A fitting development, but unexpected for an adopted member of my family,¡± she said with a tight smile. To Elijah, it was as if she was beset by a bittersweet memory. ¡°Why does this trouble you, child? It is a cause for celebration. Even without the context of the Empire of Scale, you should understand the depths of this new level of physical power.¡± Elijah opened his mouth, trying to speak, but only bubbles emerged. With how easily Kirlissa spoke, it was easy to forget that he was still underwater. She had an answer for that, though, and after a lazy wave of her hand, she created a bubble around Elijah¡¯s head. ¡°Speak freely, my son.¡± Elijah took a breath, noting that the air smelled like freshly cut grass. ¡°I¡­I¡¯m troubled because I¡¯m not supposed to have scales,¡± he stated. ¡°I¡¯m still human.¡± ¡°That is debatable,¡± she said with a more genuinely amused smile. ¡°You are a dragon. Dragons have scales. This is not the first change you will undergo. Each step forward on the path of cultivation will bring you closer to your true form. Once you reach the Lord stage of overall cultivation, you will have established yourself as a true dragon. A small and underdeveloped one, but a dragon nonetheless.¡± ¡°So, I¡¯ll look like Saraalinisa?¡± ¡°She is a gold dragon. You are an emerald dragon.¡± ¡°I¡¯m talking about shape. General characteristics. Like, four legs and wings and all that.¡± ¡°Of course.¡± Elijah sighed. ¡°What if that isn¡¯t what I want?¡± he asked. ¡°You would choose a different form?¡± Kirlissa asked. Elijah nodded. ¡°I like the way I look. I don¡¯t want to change. Not the base form, at least. I¡¯m fine with transforming into a thorned sentry or blight dragon, but I¡¯m still a human.¡± ¡°You are a dragon.¡± ¡°Yeah. I guess I¡¯m both, then,¡± he stated. ¡°I¡¯m not trying to be ungrateful here or anything. I¡¯m really not. It¡¯s just that I didn¡¯t know about all of this. When you said that I would become a dragon, I thought it was just metaphorical. Or maybe just about my core. I don¡¯t know.¡± What Elijah struggled to articulate was that his entire identity was wrapped up in being a human being. Sure, he could shapeshift, but his anchor was that he would always go back to being the man he¡¯d always been. Now that it seemed he was changing into something else ¨C and permanently ¨C he found that his sense of self had begun to waver. Thankfully, Kirlissa picked up on that, even if he struggled to put it into words, and her next statement lifted a weight from Elijah¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Then change it,¡± she said, waving her hand. Immediately, a notification emerged before Elijah¡¯s inner eye.
Natural Shapeshifter Dragons have ever been natural shapeshifters, and you are no different. Establish a humanoid form that you may adopt at will.
Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. After Elijah read it, he looked at Kirlissa, taking in the beauty of her form before asking, ¡°So, this isn¡¯t what you really look like?¡± She let out a small laugh. ¡°No, my son. If I appeared on this world in my true form ¨C even using a projection ¨C the weight of my presence would destroy it,¡± she answered. ¡°The same is true of my world. Only a few planets in this universe can remain intact in my genuine presence. The only places I can truly let myself free are in the other realms, and even they tremble when I fly overhead.¡± ¡°Sounds¡­difficult.¡± ¡°Do not pity me, child,¡± she said. ¡°We are natural shapeshifters for a reason. I am just as comfortable in skin as in scales.¡± She looked away. ¡°Remaining in my natural form would be a lonely existence.¡± Silence stretched between them, lasting for a few more moments before Elijah chose to change the subject by asking, ¡°Did you give me that ability?¡± ¡°No. I merely gave you the ability to see it.¡± ¡°How does that work?¡± ¡°You are not ready to understand the inner workings of the system. When you reach Transcendence, I will show you more.¡± Elijah nodded. He¡¯d only barely ascended, so he knew that day was a long way off. By then, he might have figured quite a lot out on his own. So, he said, ¡°Thank you. You¡¯ve eased my mind.¡± ¡°That is what mothers do, child,¡± she said. Elijah wasn¡¯t certain if he liked her referring to him as her son ¨C or herself as his mother ¨C but she was far too powerful to contradict. Besides, for all he knew, draconic society might attach different ¨C or broader ¨C meanings to such terms. Regardless, if she wanted to think of him as family, he certainly wasn¡¯t going to argue with the world-destroying dragon, even if he felt that doing so trampled on the memory of his true mother. He refused to consider that, though. Kirlissa had only ever been kind to him, supporting him in ways that ensured his survival. She didn¡¯t want to replace the memory of his mother. She merely wanted to be there for him. But deep down, Elijah wondered what her true motive was. He¡¯d heard stories of Gabriel ¨C the angel ¨C from Sadie, and he couldn¡¯t escape the notion that elder races, for all their power, were a manipulative bunch. Was Kirlissa the same, only using a different tactic? Maybe. But Elijah hoped not. Regardless, he said, ¡°Thank you.¡± ¡°My time here grows short. Do not forget the invitation I extended the last time we spoke. The Empire of Scale awaits.¡± With that, she disappeared, and Elijah felt the pressure he hadn¡¯t realized enveloped him dissipate. The bubble around his head dissolved, and the water rushed in. He barely noticed it. Instead, he concentrated on the new ability, firmly establishing in his mind what he wanted. Oddly enough, there was no swirl of ethera accompanying the ability. Instead, the scales simply retracted into his body, and skin grew in its place. At first, it was difficult to hold the form ¨C it kept reverting to scales when he lost concentration ¨C but after only a few minutes, it grew easier. An hour later, he didn¡¯t even have to concentrate in order to maintain it. There were no more notifications, though. And even when he pulled up his list of abilities, there was no listing for Natural Shapeshifter. It was as if it had never existed. However, he soon found that it only took a flick of his mind in order to bring the scales back. He practiced with it for a little more than an hour, going back and forth until he felt comfortable with the process, which felt more like forcing himself to blink than casting a spell. In any case, it wasn¡¯t that long before he turned his attention to the devastation he¡¯d wrought upon the cultivation cave. Any notions that he¡¯d use it to quickly fuel another step forward in cultivation were dashed when he saw that, aside from a single nodule of Leviathan¡¯s Bones, no life remained in the cave. Indeed, his efforts had dissolved everything, using it all for fuel, which left Elijah feeling more than a little guilty. Was that the fate that awaited after every cultivation improvement he made? That certainly seemed to be the case, which was regrettable but ultimately necessary ¨C a thought that gave Elijah chills when he considered the ramifications of thinking like that. Sure, it was easy to justify killing innocent creatures when they were just a bunch of marine plants and non-sapient sea creature. But considering how far above normal humans he¡¯d become ¨C especially given that, with every step forward in cultivation, he would be less and less one of them ¨C how long would it be before he thought of Earth¡¯s population the same way? It was easy to believe he¡¯d never think that way, but he recognized the dangers nonetheless. And they were horrifying. Not wanting to shortchange that thought process, Elijah spent a long time just floating in the cave and letting himself feel the ramifications of his own progress. So much death, just so he could take a single ¨C if large ¨C step forward. Once he¡¯d wrapped his head around it, he retreated to the open sea and began the process of repopulating the cave. Thankfully, the pearl remained intact, and the Leviathan¡¯s Bones would regrow from that single polyp. But a thriving ecosystem required more than that, so he transplanted huge strands of kelp and led a bunch of small fish inside before spending an entire day flaring Nature¡¯s Design. He didn¡¯t attempt to manipulate the plant life into any alternate forms. Instead, he just wanted to repair the damage he¡¯d done. However, he couldn¡¯t afford to spend any more time in that endeavor, so after a single day, he fled the cave and returned to shore. Soon enough, he was back in the grove, where he saw Sadie going through her sword forms. She stopped when she noticed his arrival. ¡°How long was I gone?¡± he asked. Sadie told him that he¡¯d been cultivating for eight days. ¡°You¡¯re stronger,¡± she said, her notched sword dipping to the ground. ¡°It worked?¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°I reached Bronze,¡± he revealed. Then, he explained the process as best he could. Some of it had blurred together ¨C especially when it came to the chrysalis he¡¯d undergone when the cocoon of ethera had formed around him ¨C but he told her everything he could remember. Finally, he let his scales return. ¡°Pretty,¡± Sadie said, her gentle fingers tracing the outline of the emerald scales on his forearm. ¡°Is this going to continue? Are you going to turn into a true dragon?¡± ¡°Eventually,¡± Elijah admitted. ¡°But I can go back to being human whenever I want.¡± ¡°Human. I don¡¯t think that term really applies anymore. Do you?¡± she asked. Elijah shrugged. ¡°I want it to.¡± ¡°Check your status,¡± she suggested. Elijah did, and aside from the line labeling his body cultivation as having reached the Bronze stage, there was another change:
Alignment Empire of Scale (Dragon)
Elijah let out a long, slow breath, then told Sadie what he saw. ¡°I don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m aligned with anyone but Earth,¡± he added. ¡°What do you think it means?¡± ¡°It means that our cores are far more impactful than we were led to believe,¡± she answered. ¡°You¡¯re a dragon, and when the time comes, I am going to be an angel. If I can figure out my cultivation, at least.¡± ¡°You will,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Maybe,¡± she offered. Then, before Elijah could respond, she asked, ¡°What now?¡± ¡°We need to complete our preparations,¡± he answered. ¡°Soon, we¡¯ll need to go to Seattle. After that¡­I get the feeling our little vacation is going to end.¡± ¡°But not tonight.¡± ¡°Not tonight,¡± he agreed. Then, they embraced, coming together in a fit of passion. 8-24. Power Source ¡°The Forge of Creation,¡± Carmen said aloud. ¡°I don¡¯t hate it.¡± The name had been suggested after a survey of all the other crafters who would one day use the facility, and against all odds, she liked it ¨C at least much better than any of the other options on offer. Still, Carmen wasn¡¯t certain that it was absolutely appropriate, largely because it seemed to give prominence to blacksmithing when the compound had grown far beyond the limited scope with which it had been first conceived. ¡°A ringin¡¯ endorsement,¡± said the dwarven head Builder Donagal, who was showing her around. Carmen didn¡¯t need his guidance. She knew the plans like the back of her callused hands. After all, she¡¯d been involved in every stage of its design, and she had engraved many of the bricks herself. ¡°This here is meant ta be the library. One day, we¡¯ll have an Archivist or a Librarian to manage the crystals, but for now, it¡¯s just books. We hired a Scholar to tend to ¡®em once we get it all finished and stocked up.¡± Carmen nodded along at the description, but she was more interested in her inspection than in listening to the dwarf¡¯s droning explanation of the expansive room¡¯s purpose. She leaned forward, inspecting the shelves. They¡¯d been built by one of the city¡¯s most prominent Woodworkers, and as such, they¡¯d been enchanted to preserve the books they were meant to hold. That would be necessary, given how easily books rotted. It was one reason why most of the known universe preferred crystals. They weren¡¯t as vulnerable to the elements, so they lasted much longer. The problem was that it took a Scholar of decent level and appropriate class to transfer information from a book to a crystal. Not to mention that the skills necessary to do so were extremely expensive ¨C in terms of ethera ¨C and creating the crystals themselves required a specialized Crystallographer. At the moment, Ironshore didn¡¯t have one of those, and it would take some time before they managed to cultivate one. So, in the meantime, they would be forced to purchase those crystals from either the Branch Marketplace or from other cities, assuming they could find someone with the talent to create them. In short, for now, they would be stuck with books. Not a huge deal, but settling definitely left a sour taste in Carmen¡¯s mouth. The library itself rivaled that of the university where Carmen had once worked as an adjunct professor ¨C at least in terms of size, if not regarding the aesthetic. The vaulted ceilings were similar, but there was a good deal less wasted space, with most of the square footage being dominated by the shelves that would hold tens of thousands of books. There were three levels, with dozens of connected rooms that were meant to hold tomes on more sensitive subjects. Because freedom of information was a thing of the old world. In the new one, knowledge was power, and giving such to the wrong people was tantamount to cutting one¡¯s own throat. So, they had made the hard choice to restrict access to certain information. The Council of Creators ¨C as they had begun to call themselves, even if Carmen had often insisted the name was pretentious ¨C would control who could study what. It was a point of contention, but Carmen¡¯s argument that they should let people study freely had fallen on mostly deaf ears. She had been quickly overruled, even by her human counterparts. That was a reminder that the project had grown far beyond her original scope. The plans had once only encompassed a space of a few thousand square feet. Enormous for a smithy, she thought. But now? It was an entire compound hundreds of times that size, reminding Carmen of a half dozen big box stores that had been stacked atop one another and connected via various halls. ¡°Like an old school shopping mall,¡± she muttered, leaning forward to inspect the engravings on a particular shelf. She couldn¡¯t check them all, regrettably. ¡°What was that?¡± asked the dwarf. ¡°Nothing. This looks good, so far, but I want the Woodworkers to check these engravings again,¡± Carmen ordered. ¡°There¡¯s no room for mistakes to slip through the cracks.¡± ¡°Aye,¡± agreed the Builder. Donagal was as much a perfectionist as Carmen, and he wouldn¡¯t accept anything else. Most of the Council was like that, though with different focuses. Biggle, for instance, cared more about perfecting his processes and pushing the boundaries of what he could do with any given ingredients. Donagal wouldn¡¯t be happy unless everything fit together so seamlessly that it defied the very notion of imperfection. And the others¡¯ expression of commitment to their work differed in a thousand other ways. The results were that everyone wanted the Forge of Creation to be the best it could be, which was why no one really complained when Carmen made them do something over again. Still, that attitude meant that the project¡¯s completion kept getting further and further away. The bones of the building were finished, the foundation of the complex had been laid and perfected. Now, they were engaged in detail work like the shelves. Or in the smithy¡¯s case, the tools and the forge itself. ¡°Cool shelves,¡± came a voice Carmen hadn¡¯t heard in more than week. She turned to see Elijah bending down with his face only an inch away from the wood. ¡°Lots of ethera. You know, if you asked, I could have furnished wood from the island. It would have been a lot livelier. But then again, maybe you don¡¯t want to promote vitality in here. It¡¯s supposed to be a library, right? If the vitality gets too high, you¡¯d probably start getting all kinds of interesting mold. I bet Biggle would go crazy over something like that, though.¡± The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Donagal took a step back, clearly trying to put some distance between himself and Carmen¡¯s infamous brother-in-law. ¡°Hey, Elijah. I see that you¡¯re done with your seclusion.¡± Indeed, despite looking a bit disheveled, Elijah was in better condition than she¡¯d ever seen him. His face seemed a bit sharper and more handsome, and he¡¯d even grown a little taller. It was like he¡¯d become an idealized version of the Elijah she knew. ¡°Yep. Proud owner of a Bronze body. You want to see something cool?¡± he asked. ¡°Uh¡­maybe?¡± Elijah blinked, then something on his skin stirred. At first, Carmen thought he was transforming into one of his bestial shapes, but there was no herald of swirling ethera to announce it. Before she could ask what was going on, he held up a hand, the back of which was covered in emerald scales. ¡°What the¡­¡± ¡°Apparently, I¡¯m part dragon now. Neat, huh?¡± he commented. Carmen narrowed her eyes, looking at her brother-in-law¡¯s face. They hadn¡¯t known one another that well before the world had changed, but she¡¯d come to recognize a few things about him ¨C like the fact that he often used humor and nonchalance to mask discomfort. She glanced back at Donagal, who took the hint ¨C or maybe saw an opportunity ¨C and excused himself. He moved so quickly that she wouldn¡¯t have been surprised if he¡¯d broken out into a run the second he was out of sight. For better or worse, Elijah had left quite an impression on the people of Ironshore, and she didn¡¯t think it would soon fade. ¡°You¡¯re freaked out, aren¡¯t you?¡± she asked. ¡°Uh¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me, either. I¡¯ll know.¡± He started to say something, but then, he just let out a long sigh before looking away. Finally, after a few seconds, he said, ¡°I¡¯m scared, Carmen.¡± ¡°Of what?¡± ¡°Of not being me anymore. It¡¯s one thing to use a spell to transform into an animal or something. That almost feels natural, even if I know it¡¯s not. But this? I talked to my¡­patron, and she said that I¡¯m going to fully turn into a dragon. Like, four legs. Wings. Covered in scales. It wouldn¡¯t bother me if it was just another form, you know? But this¡­this is going to be me. The real me. And that scares me,¡± he admitted. After running his hand through his hair, he gave a little chuckle, then said, ¡°I¡¯m turning into one of the most powerful creatures in the universe, and I¡¯m in the middle of an existential crisis about who and what I am. Seems silly, right?¡± ¡°A little,¡± Carmen responded. ¡°But with the state of the world, it¡¯s probably warranted. You want my advice?¡± ¡°Please.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t get worked up over it. You are who you are, and it doesn¡¯t matter if you grow scales and wings. None of that is going to change you into something else.¡± ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s literally untrue. If I turn into a dragon, that is, by definition, a change into something else.¡± ¡°You know what I mean. I¡¯m talking about inside. In your heart, you¡¯re still just Elijah,¡± she stated. ¡°Besides, it seems like you¡¯ve got a handle on it.¡± ¡°I do. It¡¯s the only thing keeping the panic at bay.¡± ¡°Steer into it, then,¡± she advised. ¡°Yeah. Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°Anyway, I didn¡¯t come here to talk about my issues. I came with a gift. Come on.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± she asked, struggling to catch up as he strode away. ¡°It¡¯s a surprise,¡± was all he would say. They left the library behind, descending the grand staircase that led to the next level down. Then, they passed through what would be the lobby, eliciting a few glances from the Sculptors working on the decorations along the way. Carmen ignored them. They weren¡¯t looking at her, after all. Judging by their nervous expressions, they were afraid of what Elijah might do. ¡°They really are terrified of you.¡± ¡°What? No. They¡¯re just surprised to see me around so much is all. They love me around here,¡± Elijah said. Carmen just shook her head. ¡°Where are we going?¡± ¡°Outside. That¡¯s where I left it.¡± Carmen frowned at that. Ironshore was a mostly lawful city, but crime wasn¡¯t entirely unheard-of. In fact, one of the issues they¡¯d found early on centered around their building materials ¨C which were quite valuable ¨C coming up missing. They¡¯d been forced to ask Ramik for guards. But then again, it was unlikely that anyone was going to steal from Elijah. Not after what most of the city had seen him do. Not only had he slaughtered fifty people who¡¯d trespassed on his island, but he¡¯d also single-handedly won the first battle of Ironshore. Finally, he¡¯d most recently beaten back the dark elves. So, perhaps she was worried about nothing. Finally, they left the lobby behind to find their way outside. The exterior was a muddy mess, largely because they hadn¡¯t gotten to the point where they could work on landscaping or anything more than rudimentary steps. That was coming, but for now, doing so wouldn¡¯t have made much sense. Not with how much traffic there was. Carmen was about to ask what was going on when she saw something that took her breath away. It was a large crystal ¨C at least six feet tall and almost as wide ¨C and the air practically shimmered with the sheer amount of ethera wafting off of it. ¡°What is that?¡± ¡°Power crystal. Full disclosure ¨C I offered it to Kurik first, but he said he didn¡¯t have any use for it. Didn¡¯t make much sense to me, but whatever. I can¡¯t force him to take it. Then I asked Ramik if he wanted it, and he suggested that you could put it to good use. Was he right?¡± Carmen didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she stepped forward, blanching at the power emanating from the crystal. And that was just the run-off. What it contained within was far more potent. ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± she admitted. ¡°But¡­I think so?¡± Already, she had a few ideas about how to put it to use. With as much power as it contained, there was every chance that it could run the entire facility. Indeed, if Ramik had taken it, it could have provided the whole city with power. Likely, he¡¯d chosen not to because that would have required an extensive reworking of the city¡¯s infrastructure to take advantage of such a power source. Better to send it toward Carmen and make that her problem to deal with. Or at least she expected that was his thought process. However, just because it would cause her no end of problems ¨C and more delays ¨C she knew it had the potential to become an incredible boon to the Forge of Creation. She just needed to get with the others so they could figure out how best to incorporate it into the facility¡¯s design. ¡°Thank you. I hate you for making so much more work for me, but thank you.¡± ¡°Always happy to help. Don¡¯t touch it, by the way. Pretty sure it¡¯ll burn your hand right off,¡± he said. ¡°Let me handle it.¡± Then, he wrapped his arms around the giant crystal ¨C which looked like it probably weighed thousands of pounds ¨C and lifted it without even a hint of effort. When he did, his scales flashed back into existence, though he clearly didn¡¯t notice it. ¡°Where do you want it, then?¡± She just sighed. ¡°Follow me.¡± 8-25. Kuriks Defenses ¡°Put yer gods bedamned pendants on, you rock-brained idjits!¡± shouted Kurik, his rough voice echoing down the tunnel well before Elijah caught sight of the angry dwarf. The sound brought a small smile to his face that only broadened when he rounded the corner and saw his friend demonstrably gesturing at a group of miners. ¡°Them traps down there¡¯ll rip you to pieces if you don¡¯t follow the rules! Now, put ¡®em on!¡± The group of miners obediently followed Kurik¡¯s directions, pulling necklaces out of their pockets and fastening them around their necks. Elijah could see why they wouldn¡¯t want to wear them. The pendants attached to those leather thongs were, in a word, massive. At least eight inches across and with deep engravings that looked more than a little uncomfortable ¨C they were assuredly a pain to wear. When the miners saw Elijah approaching, they quickly scurried away. They probably had a lot of work to do, and Kurik, for all his good intentions, wasn¡¯t the most personable guy in the world. No doubt, they wanted to get away from him as soon as possible, and Elijah¡¯s arrival had given them a good opening. ¡°What do you want?¡± growled Kurik, a little of his irritation still showing through when he spoke to Elijah. ¡°What was that all about?¡± ¡°Idjits, that¡¯s what. Them tunnels are full of so many traps that even you wouldn¡¯t survive goin¡¯ through. Bring the whole damn mountain down on ya. That¡¯s why we had the pendants made. But these morons refuse to wear ¡®em ¡®cause they¡¯re uncomfortable. One wrong step, and they¡¯d get blown up. But do they care? Not one bit. They¡¯re happy to just go traipsin¡¯ through the mine shafts believin¡¯ they¡¯re invincible. Morons, every last one of ¡®em.¡± He narrowed his eyes. ¡°Now ¨C what do you want? I ain¡¯t goin¡¯ on no more adventures with you. You can handle that meetin¡¯ in Seattle all by your lonesome.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t I just want to see my friend?¡± asked Elijah, glancing down the tunnel. With his step forward in Body cultivation, his body had improved dramatically, but at the moment, the most obvious way was that his senses had sharpened to a fine point. He couldn¡¯t see in the dark as well as he could in bright sunlight, but it wasn¡¯t that far off. That gave the mine a different, far less ominous feel. ¡°You woulda waited ¡®til I was outta the mine if that¡¯s what you wanted. Spit it out,¡± Kurik said. ¡°I got work to do.¡± ¡°What are you even working on? You said you¡¯ve already covered the area in traps,¡± Elijah responded. He sensed a few nearby, but they didn¡¯t feel very powerful. For anyone with any strength, they would be more like annoyances than true dangers. ¡°I¡¯m remaking some of my early attempts,¡± Kurik admitted. ¡°Plus, we can always go deeper. You know how far these mines go.¡± Elijah had some idea, but he¡¯d only glanced at the maps a couple of times. Even that had told him that they extended many miles underground ¨C much further below the surface than any mine had gone before the World Tree had extended its branches into Earth. ¡°I guess.¡± ¡°Gettin¡¯ good experience, too. Not like in the Trial, but still good. You ain¡¯t got no idea how many monsters¡¯re down there,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°So, why did you come down here. And don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s ¡®cause you want to check on my traps. You want somethin¡¯ from me.¡± Elijah rubbed the back of his neck, then said, ¡°Two reasons, actually. The first was that I wanted you to come with Sadie and me to Seattle. And not just because I could use someone else I trust. That¡¯s part of it ¨C I¡¯m not going to lie ¨C but mostly, I wanted you to come because the last time I visited, Seattle was already doing some interesting things with technology. I figured you might be interested in that kind of thing. For your class and all.¡± ¡°Technology,¡± Kurik spat. ¡°Machines and electricity addin¡¯ unnecessary steps. They ain¡¯t the first ones who¡¯ve tried to do that sorta thing. Whole civilizations have gone down that route.¡± ¡°And what happened to them?¡± ¡°They either figure out that they¡¯re muckin¡¯ things up and end up doin¡¯ what everyone else does, or they burn themselves out. Sometimes, they survive and rebuild doin¡¯ things the right way. Other times, they wipe themselves out. Either way, I got no interest in seein¡¯ how they do things. I got enough tangles in my beard as it is without addin¡¯ all that to the mix,¡± Kurik explained. ¡°Alright, then. Seattle¡¯s off the table,¡± Elijah said, even though he wasn¡¯t so sure that Kurik¡¯s view was as comprehensive as the dwarf seemed to think it was. Surely, someone out there had found a way to marry technology to ethera in a way that resulted in a sum that was more than its parts. Or maybe they had, and the result was what Kurik described as the way everyone else did things. Elijah was no authority on the matter, so he couldn¡¯t know for sure, but it was an interesting subject nonetheless. And he was more than eager to see what Seattle had come up with. ¡°You said there were two reasons?¡± ¡°Oh. Right. The first one wasn¡¯t the main one. Mostly, I came here with an invitation. Sadie and I are hosting a kind of memorial for Dat. I know it¡¯s been a while, but we kind of wanted to get everyone together and just remember him. Kind of for closure, but mostly because he deserved it,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°Closure,¡± Kurik frowned. When Elijah had revealed the news of Dat¡¯s fate to Kurik and Ron, they¡¯d spent most of that night drinking their sorrows away. It really wasn¡¯t effective ¨C after all, the next morning, Elijah felt even worse about Dat¡¯s passing ¨C and on top of that, Elijah didn¡¯t want to leave things like that. Dat deserved a night of happy remembrance, not the drunken and sullen couple of hours they¡¯d given him. In the end, Kurik agreed, and they left the mines after only a half hour he spent tying things up. Elijah watched the dwarf work on his traps, but as always, he couldn¡¯t really tell what was going on. He could track the ethera, but the abilities Kurik used were too complex for him to understand. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°How close are you to ascendence?¡± Elijah asked as they exited the mines. ¡°Close enough. Few more levels, and I¡¯ll get there,¡± Kurik answered. It wasn¡¯t a very specific response, but the dwarf was always a little cagey about his progression. Maybe that was normal in the wider universe. Keeping that kind of information to oneself was probably a defense tactic. For Elijah¡¯s part, he had no real desire to hide who or what he was. It was one of the reasons he¡¯d mostly ignored the Ring of Anonymity. Sure, he¡¯d used it a few times to try to conceal his identity, but those had usually ended poorly. Soon enough, they found their way to the clinic where Ron had set up shop. To Elijah¡¯s surprise, he found the place empty, save for Jess and Ron, who were sitting in one of the offices engaged in deep conversation. Elijah only needed one look to know that something was going on between them, and if he was honest with himself, he wasn¡¯t really surprised at that development. After all, the pair had been working closely together for a while now, and they shared enough in common that Elijah had already expected them to strike up a friendship. But seeing the way they looked at one another made it absolutely clear that they¡¯d gone well past simple friendship. Of course, Kurik didn¡¯t pick up on that, and the second they walked into the office, the dwarf started talking about an infection he¡¯d gotten on his feet. He even jerked off his boots and wiggled his somewhat green toes at Jess. ¡°What do you think? Anything to worry ¡®bout?¡± he asked. ¡°Kurik. We¡¯re not here to get checked up. And I could have healed you back in the mines if you needed ¨C¡± ¡°You ain¡¯t a real Healer. ¡®Sides, my granddad always told me that when you visit a Healer, you take advantage,¡± Kurik said. ¡°So? Is it the deep rot? It smells like the deep rot.¡± ¡°Deep rot?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°It¡¯s a fungal infection common among miners,¡± Jess said with a sigh. ¡°Left untreated, it¡¯ll completely destroy a person¡¯s flesh, eating it right down to the bone.¡± Then, she looked at Kurik. ¡°You really should have visited me sooner.¡± ¡°I ain¡¯t gonna lose the foot, am I?¡± ¡°No,¡± Jess stated. ¡°But if you would have waited even a week more, I might not have saved it.¡± She rose to her feet and gestured for him to follow, ¡°Come on. I¡¯ll get you sorted out.¡± Kurik did, leaving Elijah alone with Ron. ¡°Is it really that serious?¡± he asked the Healer. ¡°God no. With his Constitution, it would take at least a year before it really started to affect him. But Carissa wants to keep the miners clear of it because she claims it really stinks up the place,¡± Ron answered with a slight laugh. ¡°I¡¯ve smelled some of the worst cases, too. It¡¯s like a high school locker room got skunked.¡± ¡°Gross.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the point. Carissa doesn¡¯t want her mines smelling like that, so she spread the rumor that the deep rot can be fatal or result in lost limbs. They come to us pretty regularly now,¡± Ron answered. ¡°Jess will make a big deal out of it, act like she¡¯s casting some pretty powerful spells. You know, to hammer home how serious it is. But in reality, it¡¯s a low level infection that even an un-classed Healer could handle.¡± ¡°Oh,¡± Elijah said. ¡°All that to prevent a little odor?¡± ¡°It¡¯s a really bad smell. Plus, it can get serious in a small minority of cases if left untreated. Do you know how infections work in this world?¡± Ron asked. Elijah shook his head, saying, ¡°Not really.¡± ¡°I can¡¯t be certain, but I¡¯m fairly certain that bacteria and fungi have levels,¡± Ron explained. Then, he went on to posit that waging a war against a person¡¯s immune system ¨C and winning ¨C would result in that infection gaining power. ¡°The same as us, then?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Not the same, but not that different, either. I¡¯m still studying it. Most of the guides that touch on the subject are incredibly expensive ¨C to the point where even if everyone on Earth pooled their ethereum, it would probably only cover a tenth of a percent of the total cost. I think the system does that so that people don¡¯t weaponize the idea.¡± ¡°That¡¯s terrifying,¡± Elijah breathed. It wasn¡¯t difficult to imagine someone slowly leveling a specific bacteria until it was powerful enough to wipe out an entire world. Hopefully, there was more to it that would make that route impossible. ¡°I know,¡± Ron said. ¡°The only good thing is that there are Healers that specialize in combating that kind of thing. They can do normal healing, of course, but they focus on combating diseases and viruses. I¡¯m fairly certain I¡¯ll get offered something like that when I reach the point of evolution.¡± ¡°Will you take it?¡± Ron shrugged. ¡°Probably not,¡± he admitted. ¡°It¡¯s an attractive option because those classes normally come with huge attribute bonuses due to their rarity. However, with the state of the world, I don¡¯t know if I want to hamstring myself by concentrating my class on a situation that may never present itself. It¡¯s probably better to keep a broader focus.¡± Elijah nodded along, and when Ron finished, he asked a question that had been on his mind for a while. ¡°How is Hope¡¯s condition?¡± The girl had been hanging out around the island for a while now. She never stayed for very long, but she very clearly had made a connection with the grove. However, even Elijah could tell that she still wasn¡¯t entirely well. Better, maybe, but a long way from being cured. Or in remission. ¡°It¡¯s slow going,¡± Ron answered. ¡°We¡¯re keeping her condition stable, but she¡¯s still not strong enough to cultivate. If she tried right now, she would die from the stress. The only option is to keep treating it with Biggle¡¯s potions while we wait on her to level up a little more. Once she reaches that point¡­well, we hope for the best.¡± ¡°Have you asked for Nerthus¡¯ help?¡± ¡°He¡¯s the source of most of my information on it. If it wasn¡¯t for his advice, we¡¯d have already tried to push ahead. He stopped us from making a huge mistake.¡± ¡°Is there anything I can do? Maybe if she stays on the island permanently?¡± Ron shrugged. ¡°Maybe,¡± he said. ¡°But I¡¯m just not sure about anything. These diseases don¡¯t always work the way they should. Not anymore. I¡¯ll think about it, though.¡± He sighed. ¡°At least she¡¯s made some friends here. And she won¡¯t stop talking about your nephew. When is he coming back?¡± Elijah shrugged. ¡°Not sure. The last message we got was that they¡¯d dropped Wilhelm off in Argos and were headed back when they discovered a dark elf encampment. Essex sent Colt and some reinforcements so they could check it out, but we haven¡¯t heard back since then.¡± ¡°Are you going to look into it?¡± Elijah shook his head, saying that he didn¡¯t think it was his place. ¡°People here need to learn to take care of themselves,¡± he stated evenly. ¡°I can¡¯t always be here. If I step in every time they get into trouble, it¡¯ll stunt their growth.¡± It was a difficult thing to accept, especially because his nephew was out there and might be in danger. That was just the reality they lived in, though. As the conversation between Ron and Elijah went on, they moved to other, happier topics. Like the growth of Ironshore or the upcoming meeting in Seattle. Like Kurik, Ron refused to go along, citing his need to run the clinic. Eventually, Elijah asked Ron to attend Dat¡¯s memorial, which the Healer accepted without an ounce of hesitation, and when Kurik returned ¨C with a comically large bandage around his foot ¨C they set off for the island. What followed was a bittersweet night where the group ¨C including Sadie ¨C reminisced about their friend, drank to his memory, and expressed their hopes that he was now in a better place. None of them knew whether an afterlife existed, but if anyone had earned a little peace and happiness, it was Dat. In the end, they tried to focus on the good memories rather than the fact that their friend was gone. And though they were mostly successful, quite a few tears were shed on his behalf. Even Kurik wept a little, though he tried to hide it by claiming that something was in his eye. They all accepted his excuse, and the night wore on. Finally, everyone went their separate ways. Ron returned to Ironshore, while Kurik headed up to the treehouse where he passed out on the floor. That left Sadie and Elijah alone, where they huddled close together, taking some solace in one another¡¯s presence. It didn¡¯t cure their sadness, but knowing that they weren¡¯t alone was a step in the right direction. 8-26. Organization Isaiah peered at the monitor, which displayed a maze of tiny conduits. Some blazed with the current of ethera, while others conducted electricity. In a perfect world, the two would have worked in harmony, but anywhere they clashed, sparks flew. Thankfully, the system was designed for that, taking the best parts of both worlds. There was a problem, though, and one Isaiah needed to fix soon or things would go extremely wrong very quickly. Even as he guided his tools ¨C which resembled platinum tweezers but were actually made of inert metals that wouldn¡¯t interfere with anything ¨C he wished he¡¯d taken the Tradesman archetype. That would have made his current task so much easier. Instead, he¡¯d picked Scholar, assuming that knowledge would equate to power. Then, he¡¯d become a Technomancer, giving him a hybrid class meant to intertwine ethera-based technology with the machinery of the old world. So far, he¡¯d managed it to a great degree of success, not only improving himself via a robotic leg and an artificial heart, but also by ushering Seattle forward and helping his people recover from what could only be called a rocky start. And it put him on the radar of the mechaniques, who¡¯d given him an elder core, increasing his power by no small degree. In a lot of ways, that was as important as any other benefit of his class. But for a mechanique ¨C which was what he¡¯d become the second he¡¯d gotten one of their cores embedded within him ¨C progression was slightly different. He still had all the same lines on his status, but for him, cultivation was a more active process. No sitting around and meditating. No breaking the body down via various poisons, only to rebuild better and stronger. For a mechanique, cultivation was about active self-improvement. Slowly altering their inner workings until they reached the perfection of transcendence. It would be a long process. So far, Isaiah had only managed to reach the second tier on three out of the four aspects of cultivation, with only his Soul lagging behind. Considering that taking the next step in that category would require him to extend a complex pattern of wiring throughout his body, he was still stuck on the planning stage. If he proceeded too soon, he wouldn¡¯t survive the implementation of those plans. For now, though, he was working on something that would give him more power. Specifically, he was tinkering with the wiring of his artificial heart, which was the physical representation of his core. A complex piece of machinery that ran off his body¡¯s naturally generated electricity as much as ethera, it was already a work of art that far surpassed the artificial hearts of the pre-transformation Earth. But it needed to, with the strain that came with increased attributes. Finally, he found what he was looking for ¨C a miniscule stretch of burned circuit, no larger than a hundredth of a millimeter ¨C and began his repairs. In the old world, doing so would have taken specialized tools, but for Isaiah, he only needed to use one of his abilities:
Rewire Temporarily reroute energy to an alternate path.
The ability was far more complex than it seemed at first glance, largely because the rerouting in question occurred in another dimension. Isaiah could scarcely even sense it, and to the naked eye, it seemed that the current of ethera simply jumped from one place to another, skipping over the damaged portion so he could maintain the function of his heart while effecting repairs. Once that was done, he quickly got to work, knowing that Rewire would only last for a few minutes. That was enough, and he used a new material ¨C which resembled copper, but was capable of conducting ethera as well as electricity ¨C to repair the damaged section. It only took about thirty seconds, but when he was finished, sweat was pouring down his face. Part of that was tension. If his heart failed, no amount of attributes would save him. But mostly, it was the effort of pushing so much ethera through his taxed channels. None of his repairs were free, and the process was further complicated by the fact that he couldn¡¯t even see the circuits with the naked eye. That ¨C and the awkward positioning involved ¨C was why he had to work via the monitor before him. But now it was finished, and he let himself relax. After taking a long, deep breath, he let Rewire lapse. For a single heartbeat, he was terrified that he¡¯d made a mistake. No matter how many times he worked on the heart, he was constantly afraid that he¡¯d overlooked some detail. But it only lasted until he felt the ethera surge through the circuit. He let out a sigh of relief. Closing his eyes, he tilted his face toward the ceiling, basking in the feel of perfect circuitry. Soon enough, he¡¯d find more flaws. A burnt conduit here, a redundant loop there ¨C he knew well enough that he had a long way to go. But for now, it felt good. A few more months, and he might be able to make the attempt at a complete overhaul so he could push to the next tier of core cultivation. Before that, he would need to complete the wiring design for his ethereal conduits that represented his soul, then implement those plans. Indeed, he had a long, long way to go. For now, though, he couldn¡¯t focus on his cultivation. He had too many other things on his plate. So, he set his tiny forceps on a sterilized tray, then closed the gateway to his heart. Once it sealed, something approximating skin manifested atop it. It didn¡¯t quite match his complexion, but it was better than having an exposed metal port on his chest. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. When he was finished, he spent some time looking at a hologram of the heart. Once again, he marveled at the complexity of the design. Most of it was his work. Certainly, the Engineer who¡¯d originally designed it was extremely talented, but a mechanique¡¯s core was a very personal thing. As such Isaiah had iterated on the design dozens of times since it had been implanted, and as a result, it only vaguely resembled its former form. For a few minutes, he inspected the next area of inefficiency, zooming in to an almost microscopic level. But in the end, he knew he didn¡¯t have time for proper plans, so he eventually abandoned the task, intending to pick up on it at a later date. After that, Isaiah headed to his attached quarters, where he quickly showered and donned his official uniform. It resembled a U.S. Air Force dress uniform, though with a few cosmetic additions. Those had not been his idea, though he¡¯d been convinced that they were appropriate, given his station as the city¡¯s unquestioned leader. The color was predominantly navy blue, with gold circuit-inspired embroidery rising from the cuffs of the sleeves almost all the way to his shoulder. In addition, the jacket no longer had lapels, but instead sported a clean, minimalist design and a high, Mandarin-style collar. The pants were just navy trousers with calf-high boots. In all, he thought he looked like a would-be dictator, though a stylish one. The Tailor had explained her reasoning for the designs ¨C a whole lot about symbolism and clean lines ¨C but Isaiah had resolved himself to simply trusting the woman¡¯s expertise. She knew what she was doing, and she¡¯d designed the uniforms for the entire defense force. In any case, the uniforms were not just aesthetically pleasing. They were functional as well, offering some protection against projectiles and blunt force. However, the feature Isaiah appreciated the most was that they came with climate control. Given that Seattle was located in the middle of a desert, that was a welcome trait indeed, and it kept him cool even beneath the glaring sun. Not that he went outside that much anymore. He didn¡¯t need to, what with his network of drones, cameras, and other monitoring devices. Isaiah did his best not to intrude on people¡¯s privacy, but he considered the city¡¯s security to hold a much more prominent place in his list of priorities. Once he was dressed, he took one last look at his reflection in the mirror, and after he felt satisfied, he headed out into the Citadel. It was not only his home, but also the seat of Seattle¡¯s governmental operations. As such, it was a sprawling building that could rightly be called a palace. As he strode out of his quarters, a pair of guards ¨C both of which held the new ethera-powered guns his Engineers had developed ¨C fell in to either side. They didn¡¯t speak, but instead silently escorted him to his first destination ¨C the council¡¯s chambers. Upon entry, he was unimpressed by the d¨¦cor. That hadn¡¯t always been the case, largely because he knew how much time and effort had gone into the chamber¡¯s creation. But by this point, it had become mundane to him. In fact, he resented having to enter at all, largely because of the people he usually found within. And they were all present. At times, he considered them his nemeses, even if he knew they all had the city¡¯s and its population¡¯s interests at heart. Because of that, he accepted their arguments in good faith, even if he wanted to simply clamp down on them and force them to see things his way. The right way. But despite the impression given by his attire, Isaiah was no petty dictator. He valued other¡¯s inputs, and he took them under advisement when he decided the city¡¯s direction. ¡°Let¡¯s make this quick,¡± he said after taking his place at the circular table. It had a hollow center, allowing for a three-dimensional display which, at present, showed the layout of the city. The whole idea behind the circular table was to suggest that they were all equal. It was a lie. Isaiah was in charge, and everyone knew it. They accepted it both because of his power ¨C knowing everything that happened in the city was a potent thing ¨C and because of his track record. Under his watch, the city had prospered, and everyone there had benefited greatly. ¡°How are preparations going for the Summit?¡± he asked, glancing from one Councilor to the other. They each represented one of the city¡¯s factions. Some were elected officials from the various districts, but others led important forces ¨C like the Hunters or Crafters ¨C that gave their opinions weight. Willa Connors ¨C the Secretary of Logistics ¨C stood from her position. She was a tall woman with narrow shoulders and pale skin that made her look incredibly frail. She had some strength in her, though, and Isaiah appreciated her abilities more than most. ¡°We have received seven-thousand, two-hundred-and three responses,¡± she said. ¡°We expect at least ten-thousand delegates to arrive starting next week, with another few thousand trickling in as we approach the date of the Summit. However, in your packets, you will find a listing of the top two-hundred attendees, as well as another fifty or so wild cards who may show up but have not responded to the invitation.¡± She went on, ¡°Accommodations have been made according to perceived power. Those at the top ¨C mostly former rankers on the power list ¨C will be given rooms nearest the Citadel. Those near the bottom will be housed toward the edge of the inner city, with all others left to find their own accommodations.¡± ¡°Others? Even ones who weren¡¯t invited?¡± asked Alvin Saab, one of the other councilors. He represented the people of Mercer Mesa, and he was one of the most unpleasant people Isaiah had ever met. However, he got results, and after he¡¯d taken over that particular community, they¡¯d fallen into line quite quickly. ¡°We expect at least a hundred thousand undocumented attendees. Perhaps as many as half a million,¡± Connors explained. ¡°Word has spread very quickly, and with the ease of teleportation afforded by the Conclave, the barriers for attendance are nil. We are prepared for it, though.¡± Isaiah frowned. That was an incredible amount of people, and if the numbers grew by even a little, the newcomers would outnumber the residents. Thankfully, he felt confident that the Interdiction Force could handle the crowds ¨C especially with him watching everyone in the city. ¡°What do we have to tell them?¡± asked Isaiah. ¡°Three Primal Realms have been confirmed. We have found thirteen other locations that meet the ethera requirements, but we do not have enough information to confirm the presence of a Primal Realm. Each of those could simply be high-grade towers or regions playing host to powerful natural treasures. We¡¯ll know more when everyone starts arriving,¡± Connors answered. As expansive as Isaiah¡¯s efforts at surveillance were, he still had plenty of limits. Because of that, he needed the rest of the world to get onboard. The alternative was excisement. To that end, he¡¯d liaised with the Conclave, spending a good portion of Seattle¡¯s combined wealth to fund their spread across the world. Only through those efforts had they managed to reach so far and accommodate such an extensive population. ¡°Good. The auction?¡± Isaiah asked. ¡°Preparations are complete, with goods having already begun to arrive.¡± After that, the meeting went on, and Connors described the rest of the preparations. It was an enormous feat of logistical ability, organizing everything, but she seemed to have it all in hand. Not only was there the Summit itself and the auction they¡¯d intended to attract more people, but they¡¯d also established a carnival that would be ongoing throughout the Summit, including gladiatorial games, a market for goods that would never make it to auction, and a host of balls and other parties meant to establish relationships between the world¡¯s most powerful people. Because as Isaiah had already established, the stakes were too high not to make every effort. They needed the entire planet to work together if they were going to avoid disaster. He even had his own plans to ensure that everyone would follow his lead. ¡°Very good, Miss Connors,¡± Isaiah said. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get to security. We can¡¯t afford to mess this up.¡± 8-27. A Shrinking World Elijah hefted the boulder, then raised it above his head, where he balanced it on one hand. The pressure felt almost negligible though he knew from experience that it probably weighed between nine and ten tons. The real trick was managing the awkward burden, though he¡¯d combatted that via some deep handholds he¡¯d dug with the claws of his thorned sentry form. But as he held it above his head, Elijah was forced to acknowledge a simple fact: he¡¯d outgrown his old training methods. So, with a sigh, he tossed it into the water, where it landed with a huge splash. ¡°Disappointing,¡± he said to himself before turning to Nerthus, who was standing at the tree line. So long as he remained still, he was virtually indistinguishable from the thick tangle of flora characteristic to the island¡¯s temperate rainforest. That had not always been the case. In the past, the texture of his bark was more like a gnarled oak tree, but over the years, it had been influenced by his surroundings. ¡°How do people train on other worlds?¡± ¡°I¡­do not know for certain,¡± the spryggent answered. ¡°Perhaps there are denser materials, much as you said you encountered in the Primal Realm.¡± Elijah nodded. One of the tests within the Primal Realm had been meant to measure his strength, and it had done so by requiring him to lift progressively heavier spheres. He estimated that the final one had weighed somewhere close to a hundred tons, and even though it was quite large, its weight far exceeded the expectations incurred by its size. Perhaps there were more such materials out there. However, he suspected that if he were to repeat that test in his current form, he would have no issues with it. The crystal he¡¯d given to his sister-in-law weighed about the same, and he¡¯d easily lifted it. That was the potency of attaining a Bronze body. But there was another possibility. ¡°Do you think there are items out there that can lower a person¡¯s strength?¡± he asked. ¡°Cursed items?¡± ¡°No. Like something for training,¡± he elaborted before explaining the ring he¡¯d gotten back in the Trial of Primacy. Its primary purpose had been to bind the bane weapon they¡¯d used against Yloa together, but it had also functioned to restrict the flow of ethera. Back when Atticus had identified it, Elijah had considered trying to use it for training, but the situation had been so hectic that he¡¯d never gotten the chance. The ring had been lost when Sadie had used the weapon on Yloa, so he would never know whether his plan would work or not. ¡°It is possible,¡± Nerthus agreed. ¡°However, I should note that such items ¨C if they exist ¨C are more likely to be used on prisoners than as training tools.¡± Elijah had considered that as well, but given that he wasn¡¯t really in the habit of taking prisoners, he¡¯d dismissed the notion. Either way, he knew that further training under the current conditions would do him little good, so he headed back to the grove to check on Sadie. He found her quickly enough, but she was deeply engaged with her meditation, so he left her undisturbed. That¡¯s when he decided to go for a short swim. After diving into the ocean, he shifted into the Shape of the Sea and headed for deeper waters. It wasn¡¯t long before he found his dolphin friend, and the pair chased one another for a few hours until the guardian grew tired of their shenanigans and dove toward the seafloor. Elijah considered following, but he chose to refrain for two reasons. First, the dolphin gave him the distinct impression that she didn¡¯t wish to be followed. Elijah would have been a gross hypocrite if he chose to ignore that message. But more importantly, he could feel ¨C vaguely ¨C that a powerful natural treasure lay far below. Intruding on that could very well mark him as an enemy and get him killed. When it came to guardians, it didn¡¯t matter how good his relationship with them was. If he threatened their natural treasure, they would kill him. Or try. The only exceptions he¡¯d found so far were the deer, and he suspected that they weren¡¯t really native to the pool where he¡¯d built the Moon Well. Instead, they had been attracted to it after likely losing their real treasure. Or maybe he just didn¡¯t understand guardians as well as he thought. One thing he knew for certain was that he didn¡¯t want to chance the ire of the dolphin. He expected he could probably fight it to a draw, at the very least, but there was a good chance that it would take the intrusion as a personal afront and not stop trying to kill him until one of them died. Not a great outcome, so Elijah decided to swim to the surface, transform into the Shape of the Sky and fly away. Briefly, he considered heading into the storm and chancing an encounter with the birds that called it home, but he decided against that. Something told him that if he went down that path, he wouldn¡¯t soon return. And given the close proximity to the upcoming Summit, he needed to keep his schedule clear. Perhaps it was because he was thinking about the Summit, but he soon found himself heading toward the mainland. He dropped out of the sky and resumed his natural form. His scales flashed briefly, but he quickly established control over himself with Natural Shapeshifter, resuming his normal appearance. But he could feel the scales wanting to return. Perhaps it wouldn¡¯t be so bad to let them. After all, he was still a human, and he could probably pass them off as a cosmetic expression of some ability. As he strode through the forest, he shook his head. He didn¡¯t like that idea. As beautiful as someone like Kirlissa was, with her half-dragon, half-human aesthetic, that look was not aspirational for him. He liked looking the way he did, and for a wide variety of reasons. Those included a connection to his past ¨C after all, certain features favored his parents¡¯ ¨C but he couldn¡¯t really articulate many of his other reasons. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there. Regardless, Elijah refused to let those scales become his default. So, with that firmly in mind, he approached his destination ¨C the Teleportation Spires that had been built right outside Ironshore. The facility had expanded beyond the spires themselves, and the compound now included a handful of buildings and a troop of guards. Elijah approached cautiously, making no efforts at concealment. Predictably, he was soon stopped by a pair of guards. ¡°State your business, stranger,¡± said the dark-skinned man. He had a strange accent Elijah couldn¡¯t quite place, but he was human. His partner ¨C a woman, by her shape ¨C was also dark-skinned, though Elijah never got the chance to assess her accent. ¡°Just checking things out,¡± Elijah answered with his most winning smile. ¡°You got these spires up pretty quick. Nice compound, too. Very modern-looking.¡± Indeed, it was, and the architecture looked like a blend of fantasy and science fiction, with a predominance of ivory coloring with green trim. ¡°Needs more plants, though,¡± he remarked. ¡°A few trees would give it a homey sort of feel, I think you¡¯d agree.¡± ¡°Are you a local? This area is not restricted, but we do not allow vagabonds to visit unless they intend to use the service,¡± the woman said. She had the same accent as the man. ¡°Oh, yeah. I live on an island over that way,¡± Elijah gestured in the vague direction of the grove. ¡°So, how does this thing work, anyway? I assume you don¡¯t work for free. I just pay you, and step between those spires to be whisked away to another continent?¡± ¡°It¡¯s more complicated than that,¡± the man said. ¡°There are schedules to keep.¡± ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sure,¡± Elijah said, stepping past the man. Of course, he tried to grab hold of Elijah¡¯s arm, but a quick twitch kept him out of reach. He continued along, looking around like a tourist. He¡¯d seen the spires before, but back then, they were still under construction. Now, they hummed with so much ethera that he felt like if he touched them with his bare hand, he¡¯d be burned. So, of course, he intended to do just that. The guards had other ideas. ¡°Wait ¨C you can¡¯t just walk around ¨C¡± ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m an expert on teleportation,¡± Elijah said, striding along. Before he knew it, he felt almost two dozen men and women stirring in the various buildings. Apparently, the guards had raised some silent alarm. It didn¡¯t matter, because Elijah would reach his destination before anyone could stop him. Not that they didn¡¯t try. The female guard shouted, ¡°For your own safety, go no further.¡± ¡°African,¡± Elijah said, snapping his fingers. ¡°That¡¯s the accent.¡± He certainly had no idea what part of Africa those accents originated, but he¡¯d heard enough on television and in movies to feel relatively certain about his assertion. In any case, he reached one of the spires only a few moments later. Even as he reached out to touch the metallic surface, one of the guards tried to tackle him. She bounced off without moving him even an inch, and Elijah laid his palm on the metal. ¡°Oh, tingly,¡± he said as energy coursed through his arm. It wasn¡¯t quite as powerful a current as he felt in his cave, but the ethera was frighteningly dense. More importantly, it had been changed to such a degree that it practically became a weapon. It was no wonder that they¡¯d tried to stop him from touching it. He glanced back at the guards, both of whom were staring at him with a mixture of awe and horror. ¡°You really should keep people away from this. It seems pretty dangerous.¡± ¡°What is the meaning ¨C oh, no!¡± came an alarmed shout. Elijah focused on one of the newcomers ¨C a woman flanked by a dozen guards dressed in similar white uniforms that matched the d¨¦cor. She wore a fitted dress decorated with a green slash that stretched from shoulder to hip. ¡°Please step away from the spire! It has enough energy in it to burn you to ash!¡± ¡°Not quite,¡± Elijah said, doing as she said. ¡°Bit uncomfortable though, I¡¯ll admit. I¡¯m Elijah, by the way. I¡¯m guessing you¡¯re the person in charge?¡± ¡°Elijah¡­oh¡­Hart, perhaps?¡± ¡°That¡¯s me!¡± he exclaimed, grinning broadly. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to scare your people. They¡¯re good guards.¡± After that, the commotion died down. Clearly, they had put together who he was, especially when one of the guards whispered something in the head guard¡¯s ear. His eyes widened, and from then on, he treated Elijah with great deference. He didn¡¯t care so much about that. Instead, he wanted some answers. When he said as much, the woman in charge escorted him into one of the buildings and to what turned out to be her office. The walls bore multiple chalkboards, all of which were absolutely covered in advanced math formulas. Elijah leaned close to one, saying, ¡°I knew this whole thing was impressive, but I didn¡¯t expect there to be so much math involved.¡± ¡°Math is everything, Mr. Hart.¡± ¡°So I¡¯ve been told,¡± he muttered. Any academic who even dabbled in the hard sciences was well-acquainted with scholars¡¯ tendency to venerate mathematics. Elijah didn¡¯t necessarily disagree with their devotion. It just held little interest for him. ¡°So, what is it you do around here? I know you¡¯re in charge, but ¨C¡± ¡°I am a space mage,¡± she said without preamble. ¡°Without me, none of this works.¡± ¡°Oh. Neat,¡± he said. ¡°Didn¡¯t catch your name, by the way.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Eryka Masuku.¡± ¡°Well, I¡¯m Elijah Hart. Nice to meet the neighbors.¡± After that, he settled into an offered seat, and they embarked on a quest to get to know one another. Eryka was clearly incredibly intelligent, and as Elijah had expected, she had a background as an academic. In fact, she¡¯d been working on her doctorate in physics at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe when the world had changed. She was a little cagey about how the intervening time had gone, but it seemed clear that she had found a place in the Conclave, which originated in what had once been southern Africa. Since then, it had come to incorporate people from all over the world. ¡°I dream of seeing the stars,¡± Eryka said. ¡°All of this represents our first steps. One day, we will explore the entire universe. Imagine seeing a nebula with your own two eyes. No telescopes or computers. The wonder of space laid out before the naked eye.¡± Then, she went on to explain that the spires were about focus, control, and harnessing the ley lines¡¯ power. Without a space mage, they were useless, though. ¡°We have almost four-hundred active spires, with nearly double that number planned for more remote locations,¡± she said. ¡°In a decade, every major city in the world will be only a simple teleport away.¡± ¡°I hope that¡¯s true,¡± Elijah said. ¡°The more connected we are, the easier it will be to establish a plan to keep everyone safe. This world is a dangerous place.¡± ¡°It is,¡± she agreed. ¡°The endeavor has been expensive, but we hope that it will be worth it in the end. In the meantime, fees for passage to Seattle have been waved for the duration of the Summit. If you wish to attend, you only need to follow our schedule.¡± ¡°I¡¯m good. I can make my own way. But thank you for the conversation and the offer,¡± he said, raising his empty cup. At one point, she¡¯d offered him tea, and he¡¯d taken advantage. ¡°Here¡¯s to a shrinking world.¡± 8-28. Verdant Fang The tree was ready. Still, Elijah circled it, inspecting it with each of his senses. The smell was the most difficult to pick out, largely because it was overwhelmed by the grove¡¯s other aromas. But just beneath the surface was an odor that Elijah felt most resembled mint. That wasn¡¯t a good description, but there was something about the underlying sense of biting cleanliness that brought that familiar smell to mind. Visually, the tree looked little different than when he¡¯d returned to the grove. True to its ancestry, it was characterized by pale bark and blue leaves, though Elijah saw faint green tendrils flowing up its trunk like veins. Without his most recent advancement in cultivation, his eyesight would never have allowed him to see them. But now, they were plain as day. The sound of rustling leaves ¨C even when there was no wind ¨C greeted his ears, and when he ran his hand along the willow-like bark, Elijah¡¯s hand was shocked by a tiny bolt of ethera ¨C not unlike a static electricity, but far more powerful. If someone like Hope had touched it, she might have been gravely injured. But to Elijah, it only tingled a bit. However, as interesting as the feedback to his mundane senses was, Elijah was far more interested in what he felt from Soul of the Wild. The tree pulsed with ethera, but unlike what he normally felt from other organisms, it seemed entirely unattuned, save to nature itself. A blank canvas he could turn to his own goals. ¡°That is by design,¡± Nerthus said when Elijah remarked upon the characteristic. ¡°This tree has no spirit. It is only a conduit for energy.¡± ¡°Trees have spirits?¡± ¡°Of course. Everything has a spirit. With most flora, it is silent and largely inert. However, if you listen properly, you can hear them,¡± Nerthus explained. ¡°This tree has never had one, though. It is inanimate ¨C a thing of pure energy. A natural treasure without the connotations that come with such a designation. In short, it is perfect for your project.¡± ¡°Where did its spirit go?¡± Elijah asked. He¡¯d extended his soul into a few trees since gaining the ability to do so, and because of those experiences, he knew that plants were far more complex than he¡¯d ever considered. So, he was more than a little worried about the notion of growing a spiritless tree. ¡°It never developed,¡± Nerthus stated. ¡°In the wild, such a tree would have wilted and died. This one was kept alive by the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might, which it incorporated into its very being, using it as both fuel and in place of a spirit.¡± ¡°Interesting,¡± Elijah said. However, the idea did bring up more than a few disturbing concepts. Like, what would happen if someone did the same to a human? Was that kind of thing even possible? Suddenly, he realized just how easily someone could toy with the very nature of life. The notion sent a shiver of horror up his spine. ¡°The tree is ready for harvest, and I would ask that you do so as soon as possible. It does not belong here, and if we allow it to continue growing, it could sully the entire grove with its¡­unnaturalness.¡± Elijah nodded. ¡°That¡¯s the plan,¡± he said. He¡¯d been thinking about his new staff for quite some time. He knew he needed to get it right ¨C after all, chances to utilize powerful natural treasures didn¡¯t come along every day ¨C so he¡¯d been planning for weeks. Months. Even in the Primal Realm, he¡¯d given it plenty of thought. So, he knew precisely what he wanted to do. With that in mind, he got to work. Cutting the tree down was difficult, though it should not have been. With how much ethera flowed through the tree, it was incredibly sturdy. Moreover, with every bite of Elijah¡¯s saw, green sparks flew into the air. They were so bright that he considered flying over to Carmen¡¯s smithy and confiscating her homemade welding goggles for his own use. Instead, he opted to keep Blessing of the Grove going, which healed his eyes as quickly as they were damaged. Once he¡¯d cut through the four-inch-thick trunk, he carried the tree to a specially prepared section of the grove. It was located directly beneath the treehouse, but more importantly, it featured a large tarp Elijah had spread across the area so he could catch the valuable wood chips and saw dust. He had plans for those as well. After everything was in place, Elijah sat on his favorite round of wood ¨C it had been with him almost since the very beginning ¨C and started trimming the tree. First came the branches, which he stacked in a pile off to the side. Then, he marked the appropriate length ¨C a few inches less than nine feet ¨C and discarded the remainder. When he was finished, there was a sizable pile of leftover wood. That ended up inside the treehouse, where it would dry more rapidly. In the meantime, Elijah started carving. He needed to take a lot of material off, but thankfully, he had the tools to do so. Months before, he¡¯d asked Carmen to forge a set of woodcarving tools, and she¡¯d come through with an even better product than he ever could have expected. His tools were simple enough ¨C just a file set, a draw knife, a spokeshave, and a few knives of various sizes and shapes ¨C but they were all made of high-quality materials. That, combined with Carmen¡¯s skills, meant that the tools bit into the wood without issue. Moreover, they worked to contain some of the ethera that would have otherwise been lost. The rough-shaping was accomplished via the draw knife. Thankfully, the trunk was almost entirely straight, so he didn¡¯t need to work out any bends or curves. The worst bit was when he found his progress stymied by a couple of dense knots, but he worked through them nonetheless. After almost an entire day, Elijah was finished with that step. Then, he used the spokeshave to smooth everything out until, and after about eighteen more hours, he had a nearly perfect cylinder of white wood. The process had removed the bark, so the tree¡¯s green veins were much more prominent than ever before. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. With that done, Elijah started on the next stage, which required him to repeatedly soak the shaft in water, then bend it until it had the curves he required. Thankfully, with the wood as green as it was, it was still extremely pliable. Even more fortunately, Elijah didn¡¯t need to wait for days or weeks for it to dry. Instead, he enlisted Nerthus¡¯ help. The spryggent had an ability that he used to regulate the water content in plants which he employed to hasten the drying process. So, instead of taking weeks, it only took a little more than a day to get it into the proper shape. The next phase was more time-consuming, but Elijah sank into a nearly meditative state where there was nothing but him and the piece of wood in his lap. Throughout the entire process, he¡¯d continued to flare both Soul of the Wild as well as Blessing of the Grove. The first gave him insight that guided his knives and files, but the second fortified the would-be staff¡¯s ethereal essence, infusing it with Elijah¡¯s particular brand of power. It probably wasn¡¯t entirely necessary, given that his energy flavored everything in and around the grove, but it was part of his process. And he wasn¡¯t going to change things now. Not with such an important piece. The entire time, Elijah was very cognizant of how valuable the piece was. He couldn¡¯t afford to make mistakes, so he ignored everything else around him. For that degree of compartmentalization, his faceted Jade mind was perfect. Vaguely, he was aware of Sadie coming and going, but she understood just how important his project was. So, she left him to his project, going about her own business without interrupting him. And Elijah used that solitude to great effect. At times, he felt like he was back in the beginning, when he¡¯d carved his very first staff. Back then, he¡¯d had no idea what he was doing. He had whittled a bit growing up, but he certainly wasn¡¯t an expert. That, combined with the fact that he¡¯d lacked any real tools had made the process that much more time-consuming. However, that had worked in his favor, letting him suffuse the project with his ethera and carve something he never should¡¯ve been able to create. He was more experienced now, and in more ways than one. Far more powerful, too. But he kept those lessons at the forefront of his mind, never letting himself grow too comfortable. As his father had once told him, comfort was the friend of mediocrity and the enemy of greatness. At the time, he¡¯d just started boxing, and he¡¯d been on the verge of quitting due to the pain that came from training such a violent sport. After that, Elijah had taken the advice to heart. He¡¯d briefly forgotten it after fleeing to Hawaii in the wake of his parents¡¯ death, but it had returned with a vengeance once he¡¯d decided that survival was no longer enough for him. Maybe he wasn¡¯t particular enamored with greatness, but Elijah definitely wouldn¡¯t be satisfied with mediocrity. Not anymore, at least. He¡¯d nearly wasted his life by going down that road, and he saw the new world as his second chance. He wouldn¡¯t let himself fall into the same trap. Not again. So, he worked, and hour by hour, the staff began to take shape. When he began, he had a clear vision for what he wanted, but as time passed, that vision evolved. That was how it worked for him. He was no Tradesman who could guide his own creations. He worked at the whim of nature, following its call and doing its bidding. So, for him, it was less about forcing the wood into becoming something he envisioned. Rather, it was letting nature help him reveal what the wood had always wanted to be. Or maybe it was just his subconscious mind driving him. Regardless, it had always worked in his favor, so Elijah wasn¡¯t willing to change the technique. In the back of his mind, Elijah was well aware of the ethera swirling all around him. To an outsider, it might¡¯ve presented as a slight breeze, but to him, it was like being in the center of a whirlwind of potent energy. That helped block out distractions. Then, with a final stroke of his smallest file, Elijah let out a deep breath. He looked at his creation, first concentrating intently on the smallest features. Slowly, he widened his focus until he saw the whole. And he was very much impressed with the end result. The shape itself was roughly scythe-like, with a three-foot blade that had been carved to resemble a large fang. That fang, in turn, had been densely inscribed with a wide variety of symbols that, to Elijah, looked like gibberish. In truth, they were glyphs he¡¯d carved at the behest of his instincts. The result was that the densely carved tooth had taken on the basic appearance of scrimshaw. The attached shaft ¨C which was really all one piece ¨C was slightly curved and had been carved to look like snaking vines that rapped around the base of the blade. In short, it looked like a scythe that nature had slowly reclaimed. However, just because Elijah had finished carving the weapon, that didn¡¯t mean he was done. Not only did he still need to seal it, but his evolving design also required him to stain the wood. To do so, he brewed a few pots of coffee. Instead of drinking it though, he used it to stain portions of the wood. Already, it was intertwined with green veins, so he just used the coffee to stain the other parts, highlighting the natural look of it. For the blade, he used a mixture of lime ¨C the seeds for which Nerthus had acquired from Biggle ¨C and water, which gave it a bone-white appearance similar to ivory. For the final step, Elijah sealed it with a mixture of beeswax gathered from the grove¡¯s apiary and linseed oil he¡¯d bought from Biggle. He applied multiple coats, even treating the edge of the blade with Nerthus¡¯ sap employing the same technique Miguel had used for his sword. When he finished, Elijah didn¡¯t need to see the notification to tell him that he¡¯d accomplished something extraordinary. Still, it was nice to have it confirmed by the system:
Congratulations! You have created a unique item [Verdant Fang]! This item will serve to enhance any spells, skills, or techniques with a nature aspect. Grade: Sophisticated (Low)
Elijah felt like celebrating, but after nearly a week of constant effort, he didn¡¯t have the energy. Instead, he just stared at his creation with a mixture of awe, appreciation, and a sense of accomplishment. However, there was some degree of dread in there as well. With its sweeping blade and aura of power, the Verdant Fang was overtly aggressive ¨C like a challenge to anyone who might oppose him. He wasn¡¯t worried about how it might make people see him. Rather, he was more worried about how many people he might have to kill when they decided to accept the challenge such a weapon might promise. Sighing, he decided he couldn¡¯t concern himself with that at the moment. The time for the Summit was fast approaching, and he still had a few things he needed to take care of before that day came. But first, he needed some rest. So, he pushed himself to his feet and climbed the stairs to his treehouse. At first, he tried to wait for Sadie to return to the grove so they could spend some time together, but after taking a long overdue shower and falling into bed, he went out like a light. The last thought that flitted through his mind was that he¡¯d staved off mediocrity for the time being. 8-29. Appraisals ¡°I hate you so much. Have I told you that recently?¡± sighed Carmen, turning the Verdant Fang over in her hands. She handled it much better than he¡¯d have expected, given that she didn¡¯t have a combat class. But in retrospect, her familiarity with weapons should not have been surprising, given her background. She¡¯d been thrust into combat more often than many Warriors. ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± ¡°Uh¡­my new staff?¡± ¡°Obviously,¡± she said, rolling her eyes. ¡°But I mean, I¡¯ve been chasing Sophisticated-Grade for years. I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ll get there with Sadie¡¯s armor and new sword, but¡­you just pop out of your grove waving this monstrosity around, acting like it¡¯s no big deal? You realize this is probably the single best item in the world, right? You¡¯re not even a crafter.¡± ¡°I craft plenty of stuff.¡± ¡°You know what I mean,¡± she said, testing the weapon¡¯s balance. She had plenty of room in which to swing it, as the smithy located in the Forge of Creation hadn¡¯t been fully stocked. Her tools were there, as well as a temporary forge, but beyond that, it was just a big, empty room. ¡°I have a lot of advantages most people don¡¯t have, though,¡± Elijah pointed out. ¡°That weapon incorporated a natural treasure at least on par with that hunk of metal Sadie gave you. Nerthus has been growing the tree for months now. And it is entirely suffused with my flavor of ethera. I think the only way it could have gotten better is if I was an actual Tradesman, and even then, I¡¯m not so sure.¡± He went on to describe the process, making certain to emphasize the fact that he didn¡¯t really have much control over the final product. Which was true. He didn¡¯t. He couldn¡¯t even interpret the glyphs he¡¯d carved, and he certainly hadn¡¯t set out to create a scythe. But that was where nature had directed him. He massaged the back of his neck, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I feel pretty sure you wouldn¡¯t give up control just so you can get a slightly better stick.¡± Indeed, if there was ever a control freak ¨C especially when it came to crafting ¨C Carmen fit the description. Even if she didn¡¯t always acknowledge it. ¡°Whatever. Do you know what it does?¡± she asked. ¡°The description was kind of vague. I was planning on visiting Atticus to have him assess it. I have another piece I need him to look at before I put it on.¡± ¡°Smart. I can tell you that it has a trait, though. Plus bonuses.¡± Elijah had already established the first part, and he¡¯d been happy to find that the staff increased his attributes by thirty-five points in every category. Even if that was its only enhancement, those bonuses would make it his most powerful piece of equipment, except maybe for his Sash of the Whirlwind. It was difficult to quantify how much that little belt helped him, considering that he¡¯d grown so accustomed to the increased reflexes. Regardless, Elijah was very happy with the end result. ¡°How¡¯s progress with Sadie¡¯s armor?¡± he asked. ¡°Almost finished, actually. I got Gavina to create the padding, but I haven¡¯t attached it yet. That¡¯s probably the last step before I complete the project,¡± Carmen said. ¡°Well? Where is it?¡± he asked. ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m going to show you before I show it to Sadie?¡± ¡°I¡¯m kind of paying for it,¡± he reminded her. ¡°Is the crystal already hooked up?¡± ¡°Temporarily. It¡¯s running the forge over there,¡± she answered, hiking her thumb over her shoulder to indicate the direction. Elijah had already felt the dense ethera emanating from the flames, but with it closed at the moment, it was somewhat muted. ¡°Donny and the boys already have a design meant to funnel that power to the rest of the compound. We¡¯ll have more energy than we know what to do with.¡± ¡°Awesome,¡± Elijah said. ¡°So? The armor?¡± ¡°Not going to happen,¡± Carmen said with a grin. She handed the Verdant Fang back to Elijah. ¡°You about ready for your trip?¡± Elijah shook his head. ¡°Not really. I still have a batch of soap to make, and I need to pick up my new armor from Gavina,¡± he answered. ¡°I was going to roast some coffee to see if I could sell it in the auction, but the cherries won¡¯t be ready for a couple of weeks. I should jet over to Argos first, though.¡± ¡°Well, if you do, tell Atticus that he¡¯ll have a new shipment of armor coming before he leaves for the auction,¡± she said. ¡°Oh?¡± asked Elijah. ¡°Yeah. Figured I¡¯d throw a little something in there. I finished it just before I started on Sadie¡¯s armor.¡± ¡°Why go through Atticus?¡± ¡°He gets experience for that kind of thing. Plus, we¡¯re partners. Keeps me from having to deal with people,¡± she stated. ¡°I worked retail in college, and let me tell you ¨C I have no desire to do that again. Working with Atticus is a win-win for me.¡± That made sense. Anyone who¡¯d spent any time in a customer-facing position probably had similar views to working with the public. Still, Elijah wondered just how big of a cut Atticus was taking. Not that it mattered. Carmen¡¯s business was her own, and she was certainly capable of running it herself. So, despite his protective streak concerning his sister-in-law, Elijah left that topic behind. For the next few minutes, they talked about the state of the Forge of Creation ¨C Carmen had seemed to latch onto that name for her overarching project ¨C and Elijah¡¯s expectations for the upcoming Summit. Eventually, though, he couldn¡¯t justify staying any longer. Or maybe it was the fact that Carmen kept looking longingly at her forge, as if she couldn¡¯t wait for him to leave so she could get back to work. He obliged, telling her that he¡¯d stop by before he left for the Summit. Elijah wasn¡¯t sure if she even heard him, as focused on her forge as she was. She did wave goodbye, but even that gesture epitomized her distraction. Sighing, Elijah just shook his head in amusement as he left the smithy and traversed the Forge of Creation. He couldn¡¯t deny that he was more than a little impressed with the progress, but he couldn¡¯t really focus on it because he was too was distracted by all the things he needed to get done before he and Sadie headed to Seattle for the Summit. So, as soon as he was outside, he transformed into the Shape of the Sky and headed to the grove. Once there, he used Roots of the World Tree to open a personal portal to the Dragon Circle near Argos. Not long after stepping through, he found himself striding into the city. In a lot of ways, it was much the same as it always had been. The general aesthetic hadn¡¯t changed, but everything seemed cleaner, more prosperous, and, judging by the repositioning of the city¡¯s walls, much larger. The city had grown, and in more ways than one. He took a little time to stop by the temple he¡¯d built in his sister¡¯s memory, though he didn¡¯t stay long. However, he was intrigued by the aura of vitality it emanated. It wasn¡¯t as powerful as what encapsulated his grove, but he suspected that it helped keep most of the city healthier than they would have been otherwise. It was interesting to imagine what it might be in the future. Stolen novel; please report. But that depended on people like him keeping Earth safe from excisement or other threats. So, with that on his mind, he didn¡¯t stay longer than it took him to pay his respects to his slain sister. That left him feeling slightly guilty ¨C after all, she deserved his full attention ¨C but if anyone would have understood, it would have been Alyssa. After leaving the temple behind, Elijah made a beeline toward Atticus¡¯ shop. To his surprise, though, the small building where it had once been housed was gone. In its place was a large structure the size of a warehouse and featuring an elaborate fa?ade. Elijah stepped inside, only to be greeted by a young man in a crisp suit. It was well-fitted, but the boy was in that awkward stage where nothing seemed to go where he wanted it to. ¡°How may I help you, sir?¡± the gangly youth asked. ¡°I¡¯m here to see Atticus,¡± Elijah answered. Before the boy could object, he added, ¡°Just tell him Elijah¡¯s here.¡± Perhaps it was the confidence with which Elijah approached the subject, or maybe the boy could sense his power, but he quickly thought better of any objection he might¡¯ve raised and headed toward the back of the building. That left Elijah to peruse the goods on offer. And there were a lot of them. It reminded Elijah of a department store from an old school shopping mall, complete with mannequins and soothing music meant to put people in the mood for wanton consumerism. However, instead of various styles of clothing, the items on display were mostly armor or weapons. Clearly, Atticus had expanded. Not surprising, given the work he¡¯d put into creating his consortium back in the Trial of Primacy. Still, it was nice to see his friend moving up in the world. Elijah was leaning close to a large battle axe when he felt Atticus approaching. He looked up to see that his friend had cultivated a large, bushy beard and shaved his head. In addition, he¡¯d put on a little weight ¨C most, but certainly not all of it muscle. ¡°My friend!¡± he exclaimed, arms outspread. ¡°You should have warned me you were coming. We could have had a banquet!¡± Elijah considered dodging Atticus¡¯ friendly embrace, but in the end, he waited too long, and soon enough, the man¡¯s long arms were wrapped around him in a tight hug. When he broke away, Atticus held him at arm¡¯s length and said, ¡°You¡¯ve gotten stronger, my friend. Much stronger.¡± Elijah ran his hand through his hair, saying, ¡°Yeah. No rest for the wicked, I suppose. You have a minute to appraise some items? I know you¡¯re probably busy, so if you want to pass it on to one of your subordinates¡­¡± ¡°Never!¡± Atticus exclaimed. ¡°Come, come. Let me show you around first.¡± As it turned out, Atticus¡¯ business had exploded, and the current location was only one of many. He¡¯d expanded into three other cities, including Seattle. ¡°I believe you will be impressed with its progress. The city is doubtless much different than when you last visited.¡± ¡°I hope so. A little stability goes a long way,¡± Elijah acknowledged. The tour didn¡¯t take that long, largely because Elijah wasn¡¯t particularly interested in most of the goods. He was a simple man, and for the most part, he had everything he needed. Even so, he was still impressed when Atticus led him into the VIP area, where the most valuable items were kept. Some of those tempted Elijah, but he refrained from any large purchases ¨C mostly because he wanted to save his money for the auction. Finally, they reached one of the appraisal chambers, which was already manned by a stout woman in a pantsuit. Atticus ushered her outside ¨C which elicited a bit of a pout that the proprietor pretended not to see. However, when she was gone and the door had shut, he said, ¡°They work on commission. I¡¯ll make it up to her later, though. Besides, I¡¯m fairly certain you won¡¯t be selling whatever it is you want me to appraise.¡± That much was true. Elijah only had two items he wanted Atticus to look at, and the first was the Verdant Fang. The second he set it on the table, Atticus gave a sharp intake of breath. ¡°Sophisticated grade.¡± ¡°Yeah. Made it only a few days ago, but aside from the attribute increases, I have no idea what it does,¡± Elijah admitted. Atticus waved his hand, and a facsimile of a system notification shimmered into view:
Verdant Fang Overall Grade: Sophisticated (Low) Enchantment Grade: C Description: The Verdant Fang was made by and is bound to the Druid, Elijah Hart. Made from a cutting of an ancestral tree cultivated by a dedicated tree spirit and fueled by the Shard of Nature¡¯s Might, it is an incredibly energetic weapon. Attribute Bonuses: +35 to All Attributes Traits: Dragon¡¯s Echo: Creates an echo of any ability at 75% potency. Nature¡¯s Flame: When active, improves the potency of all nature-based abilities by 15%.
¡°My friend¡­¡± ¡°This is better than I expected,¡± Elijah said. Indeed, even the attribute bonuses were incredible, but those traits were absolute game-changers. Immediately, he wanted to try them out, but he thought he¡¯d let Atticus continue his explanation before he started shooting off lightning bolts. ¡°The first trait has an internal cooldown,¡± the Merchant explained. ¡°Maybe a minute or two. But you should know that if you use it too often, it will break. Not all at once, but it will slowly degrade until it shatters entirely.¡± ¡°How often can I use it, do you think?¡± ¡°Personally, I would not use it unless absolutely necessary. No more than once a day, except in dire circumstances. Fortunately, the second trait is constant. You only need to run ethera through it to activate the enhancement,¡± Atticus explained. After retrieving the staff from the table, Elijah did just that. Immediately, the weapon burst into ethereal green flames, though they didn¡¯t burn him. In fact, they felt energizing in a way he couldn¡¯t really explain. ¡°That is an amazing weapon, my friend. If it was anyone else, I would warn them to be careful that it is not stolen. Luckily, it will not work for anyone else It is bound to you and your grove.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t, though,¡± Elijah said, pulling the next item from his Ghoul-Hide Satchel. He set the Antlers of the Wild Revenant on the table, and Atticus used his ability to appraise it. A moment later, another notification shimmered into being:
Antlers of the Wild Revenant Overall Grade: Complex (Mid) Enchantment Grade: B Description: The Antlers of the Wild Revenant are only one piece of the Wild Revenant Raiment, once worn by the leader of a sect of groveless Druids. It is as much a symbol of authority as it is a useful piece of equipment. Attribute Bonuses: +25 Regeneration, +25 Etehra Traits: Crown of Authority: Manifest a visible sign of your power. False Grove: Create a pool of ethera from which you may draw power. Plain Sight: See past attempts at obfuscation and resist attempts at mental control. Hidden Authority: Will the helm into a separate space, making it imperceptible to all senses.
¡°That¡­I do not know what to think of this, my friend,¡± Atticus stated. ¡°Four traits is more than I have ever seen from a single item. The additional attributes are good, but for the grade, nothing special. The False Grove trait might be powerful, depending on the size of the pool. But the others¡­¡± Elijah nodded along. He wasn¡¯t certain what use the Crown of Authority ability might be, but he definitely liked the idea of having a second pool of ethera at his beck and call. In addition, the ability to see through stealth and invisibility ¨C as well as resist mental manipulation ¨C was incredibly useful. In all, he suspected that the Antlers of the Wild Revenant would prove to be just as ¨C if not more ¨C useful than the Verdant Fang. ¡°No curses or anything, right?¡± ¡°No. But this item does not have a happy history,¡± Atticus answered. ¡°Use it better than its previous owner.¡± Elijah agreed to do just that, then bound the item before slipping it back into his satchel. ¡°Now, on to happier developments ¨C I have opened my own restaurant nearby. I¡¯ve hired nothing but the best Cooks and Chefs, so I hope you¡¯ll join me for a feast!¡± ¡°You had me at feast.¡± ¡°That¡¯s the last¡­never mind. Let¡¯s go. I¡¯m starving!¡± 8-30. That is a Lot of Soap ¡°There is such a thing as too much soap,¡± Sadie said, her hands on her hips as she stared at the crates Elijah had piled next to the treehouse. As it turned out, his effort had produced much more soap than he¡¯d ever expected. Some of that was due to his abundance of materials as well as Biggle¡¯s help. However, it was also because he¡¯d recently added a few smaller crates to the mix. Those were the results of the very last of the lard taken from the boar king ¨C he¡¯d kept it preserved in a specially made cask ¨C and lye made from the ash from burning the wood from the tree from which he¡¯d carved his staff. He¡¯d also infused it with aloe made by Biggle ¨C and grown on the island ¨C which gave it even more potent restorative properties. However, that batch was intended for his own use, though he did set aside a dozen bars to sell in the auction. ¡°This is like gold,¡± Elijah explained. ¡°As long as people know what it is, it¡¯ll sell like hotcakes.¡± ¡°You barely use the money you have,¡± she reminded him. ¡°Well, yeah. But you never know when I might find something I can¡¯t live without. You should have seen some of the stuff at Atticus¡¯ place. Even you would have been impressed,¡± Elijah said. ¡°Speaking of which ¨C did Carmen finish your armor yet? What about your sword?¡± ¡°Supposed to pick it up today.¡± ¡°Cutting it a little close, aren¡¯t you?¡± Elijah asked. He¡¯d picked up his own armor shortly after returning from Argos, and he was mostly happy with the results. He recalled the description he¡¯d received from Gavina:
Druid¡¯s Armor Composed of seven pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Chestguard, Pants, Footwraps x2). Total attribute bonuses (from individual pieces): +25 Strength +30 Dexterity +20Constitution +15 Ethera +25 Regeneration
There was also a headband he could have worn, though Elijah had foregone it in favor of the Antlers of the Wild Revenant which could be thankfully concealed, even from his own senses. He couldn¡¯t even feel the helm, which was quite a relief. The armor itself looked a lot like his old set, though there were quite a few more decorative touches. Gavina¡¯s craft had improved, and the only reason the new set didn¡¯t have a trait attached to it was because of the materials. The hide used to create the Armor of the Boar King had belonged to a powerful guardian, while the leather of his new set of armor had come from a mundane ¨C if high-leveled ¨C beast. That kind of thing mattered for the final product. Still, Elijah wasn¡¯t disappointed with the results, and in addition to the increased attributes, the new set of armor was incredibly durable. He could cut it with one of his daggers ¨C as he established by toying with the headband he didn¡¯t intend to use ¨C but it took no small degree of effort. Hopefully, it would offer some protection, at least against slashing attacks. ¡°We¡¯re not leaving until the morning. It¡¯ll be fine,¡± Sadie said. ¡°The better question is how are you going to carry all of that with you.¡± ¡°Still working on it,¡± Elijah admitted. The crates would be easy enough to carry ¨C after all, soap didn¡¯t weigh that much, at least compared to giant rocks. However, the many boxes would make for an awkward burden. He intended to ask the local porter¡¯s guild for advice, though he expected he¡¯d have to pay for it. That was fine, though. He had money, and they deserved payment for their expertise. ¡°But I think you¡¯re forgetting one very important matter. Do you want to stay together while we¡¯re in Seattle?¡± It wasn¡¯t as simple a question to answer as it appeared to be. For one, they were both prominent people, and if they stayed in the same room, their alliance would likely draw plenty of attention. Elijah didn¡¯t so much care about that, but Sadie had rightly pointed out that it would probably make everyone else a little defensive. Or opportunistic, in some cases. Regardless of which way it went, the reality was that there would be long-reaching effects. In addition, Sadie expected that her family would be there as well. She hadn¡¯t quite given up hope for Heaven¡¯s Bastion, which meant that she knew she¡¯d need to return and set things right. Doing that would require working with her grandfather and brother. So, Sadie didn¡¯t want to offend them by shacking up with someone they clearly disdained. In addition, Tianwei was clearly a very old-fashioned sort of guy, and he would obviously have objections if he knew they were practically living together, albeit temporarily. It all seemed a little silly to Elijah, though he¡¯d never say as much to Sadie. If it was his family, he¡¯d have simply told them what was going on and expected them to accept it. If they couldn¡¯t, then they wouldn¡¯t be part of his life. Not that that would have ever happened with his family. The only thing they ever cared about ¨C at least concerning his decisions ¨C was whether or not his choices would make him happy. Sure, there were disagreements. Objections to bad decisions, too. Plenty of punishments for those bad choices, as well. But in the end, he was always free to make his own mistakes. So, he couldn¡¯t really relate to Sadie¡¯s issues, even if he understood them well enough. And when that kind of thing happened, he knew it was best to simply keep his mouth shut and support her, which was exactly what he¡¯d resolved to do. Once Elijah had finished cataloguing his soap, he joined Sadie to go pick up her armor. Unfortunately, that meant taking the rowboat he hated so much. For some reason, Sadie hated flying on his back, even if it was an objectively superior means of travel. There was no accounting for taste, it seemed. Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. In any case, after an interminable boat ride, they reached the docks. The trip through the city was pleasant enough, but even though Elijah wanted to stop for ice cream, Sadie was eager to collect her armor. So, they reached Carmen¡¯s smithy soon after their arrival in the city. ¡°Expected you a little sooner,¡± Carmen said, who for once, was just relaxing on the weathered couch against one wall. ¡°Almost dozed off.¡± ¡°Are you going to put that couch in the other smithy?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°The attached office, yeah. It¡¯s served me well,¡± she admitted, patting the piece of worn leather furniture with fondness. ¡°But we¡¯re not here to talk about couches, are we?¡± Sadie hadn¡¯t said a word. Instead, her eyes were locked on an object in the center of the smithy. It had a black cloth draped over it, but everyone in the room knew precisely what it was. ¡°Ready for the big reveal?¡± ¡°God, yes,¡± Sadie breathed. Grinning, Carmen pushed herself off the couch, then crossed the room. ¡°Took me a bit to get the alloy just right, but I think I got it perfect,¡± she said before grabbing hold of the cloth. Then, she yanked it away, revealing a white-and-gold set of armor that cast the entire forge in bright light. ¡°You want the appraisal notification first? Or you want to try it on?¡± ¡°Appraisal.¡± ¡°Thought that might be the case,¡± Carmen said. Then, she handed Sadie a piece of paper. ¡°Sorry. I don¡¯t have the ability to make a notification appear out of thin air, but this is what it says.¡± Sadie stared at the piece of paper for almost a minute, her eyes widening with every passing second. Finally, she breathed, ¡°This is amazing. Sophisticated?¡± ¡°Yep. And I didn¡¯t have to cheat to do it, either,¡± Carmen answered, puffing out her chest as she stared at Elijah. ¡°I didn¡¯t cheat.¡± ¡°Keep telling yourself that,¡± she argued. ¡°Can I see?¡± Elijah asked. ¡°Give her a second. Damn.¡± Elijah was incredibly impatient, and he considered simply looking over Sadie¡¯s shoulder. But that would have been rude, doubtless earning Sadie¡¯s ire. So, he refrained from giving into that particular impulse. Finally, she handed the piece of paper over. ¡°Take a look,¡± she said absently as she stared at the set of shining armor. Elijah took the page as she approached Carmen¡¯s creation, which was arranged over a sturdy, wooden mannequin. In addition to the armor itself, there was an enormous, scabbarded sword leaning against it from behind. Elijah took a look at the paper:
Justicar¡¯s Regalia Overall Grade: Sophisticated (Low) Enchantment Grade: B Description: The Justicar¡¯s Regalia consists of eight pieces (Bracers x2, Gauntlets, Breastplate, Greaves, Sabatons x2, Helm) Attribute Bonuses: +85 Strength +50 Dexterity +85 Constitution +50 Ethera +50 Regeneration Traits: Celestial Health: Slowly Heal over Time Light in the Dark: Reveal Hidden Enemies
¡°Damn,¡± Elijah breathed. It was unequivocally better than his armor, though that probably wasn¡¯t surprising. His was a lower-grade, and it had been made from less powerful ingredients. However, he did find that he was slightly jealous. If only he habitually wore plate armor, maybe Carmen could have made him something similar. Yet, the idea of cladding himself in metal just felt wrong. Then, he checked out the next listing, which was for the sword:
Final Verdict Overall Grade: Complex (Peak) Enchantment Grade: C Description: The Final Verdict is justice taken physical form. Attribute Bonuses: +15 Strength +30 Constitution +15 Ethera +10 Regeneration Traits: Verdict: Judge an enemy. Call of Penance: Force the guilty into submission.
Elijah felt a small wave of relief that it wasn¡¯t as powerful a weapon as the Verdant Fang ¨C at least regarding the attribute bonuses ¨C but he had to admit that it fit Sadie. After he¡¯d read the description, Carmen shooed him away from the smithy so Sadie could have some privacy while trying on the new armor. Carmen intended to make adjustments to the fit, and neither of them wanted Elijah underfoot while they dialed it in. So, he soon found himself kicked out and on his own. Which was fine. He had things to do. First on his list was to run by the porter¡¯s guild, where he met with Abraham, the human in charge. Apparently, he¡¯d worked as a truck driver before the world had changed, and he¡¯d taken the Teamster class when given the opportunity. ¡°Way I see it, you got two options,¡± the man said, mopping his bald head with a cloth. ¡°You can strap it all together, then carry it. Not sure if you got the muscles for that, but it¡¯s a viable option, I s¡¯pose. Or you can hire us to carry it for you. Now, we don¡¯t come cheap ¨C especially for such a long trip, but we¡¯ll get it there on time and intact. Nobody else can say as much, I¡¯ll tell you that.¡± Elijah very much didn¡¯t want to carry the crates of soap himself, so he completed a deal with Abraham that would have the porters deliver the soap via the Teleportation Spires. As Abraham had said, it wasn¡¯t particularly cheap, but Elijah felt it was worth it, all the same. Once they¡¯d stuck a deal, he headed back to the island, gathered one of the crates in his talons, and flew back to the porter¡¯s guild. That caused a bit of a ruckus, but once they realized it was him, people settled down. Mostly. Another few trips, and Elijah¡¯s soap was all where it was supposed to be. If everything went according to the porter¡¯s plans, then it would arrive in Seattle before he did. After all, the Teleportation Spires were already open, so they only had to wait for their time slot. With that finished, Elijah retreated to the island where he made his final preparations. He went over his packed bag what felt like a dozen times so that he was certain he had everything he needed. But in the end, he decided that if he forgot anything, he¡¯d just have to do without. Or replace it in Seattle. By that point, Sadie had returned, her armor in a crate on her back. She was happier than Elijah had seen her since Dat¡¯s death, so the meal they shared afterwards was as pleasant as any other they¡¯d eaten together. Then, they headed to bed, where they enjoyed one last night on the island. Because in the morning, they knew that they¡¯d have to get back to the real world and all the responsibilities that came with it. Neither really looked forward to it, but Elijah would have been lying if he said that he wasn¡¯t at least a little excited about what was coming. Vacations were great. Being with Sadie was even better. But over the weeks since he¡¯d been back in the grove, he¡¯d begun to grow a little antsy as his wanderlust returned to grab hold of his mind. No ¨C as much as he and Sadie had needed the break, it was a good thing that they were getting back to the lives they truly wanted to lead. 8-31. Deeper Miguel knelt near the site of the cave-in, his senses locked on his surroundings. The monster he¡¯d encountered there had long since moved on, allowing a close inspection of the path to the surface. However, there were two immediate problems. The first was that Miguel was the only one willing to get close enough to give it a good look, which meant that he was entirely alone. A couple of other scouts were a few hundred yards up the tunnel, but that was too far away to help if something happened. But despite the tendril of fear wrapping around his heart, Miguel was far more concerned with the other issue ¨C that the tunnel was entirely blocked. He¡¯d shifted a few rocks out of the way, but that only revealed more of the same. If they wanted to go back the way they¡¯d come, it would require a monumental effort. More likely, if they started digging, the cave would collapse even further, burying them under tons of rock. The result was that they needed to find another way out. Even with the rock-monster having vacated the area, going back the way they¡¯d come was impossible. So, with a sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and sheathed his sword before setting off down the slightly declining path. When he reached the other scouts, they took off at an easy pace, intent on reaching the intersection where the others had set up camp. It didn¡¯t take long ¨C just ten minutes or so ¨C but in that time, they covered almost two miles. They also descended a good distance, even if it was difficult to tell just how deep they¡¯d gone. Upon arrival, Miguel immediately went to Colt and explained the situation to the Samurai. He ended it by saying, ¡°If we want to get back to the surface, we¡¯re going to need to find another way.¡± ¡°Dammit,¡± Colt spat, one hand on his sword. After looking around for a moment, he growled again. ¡°Goddammit. This ain¡¯t gonna go over well, I can tell you that right now.¡± Miguel followed his mentor¡¯s gaze, taking in the state of the camp. It was still well-organized, and on the surface, everyone there seemed to be taking the situation well enough. However, it only took a few moments¡¯ worth of study to recognize that something was off. And what was worse was that Miguel knew exactly what was wrong. The fact of the matter was that being underground was not a natural thing for most people. Humans had it the worst, but gnomes and goblins were affected as well. Nobody was out-and-out claustrophobic, but becoming accustomed to long stretches spent underground with thousands of tons of rock above your head was a difficult thing. Only the dwarves seemed mostly okay, but even a few of them looked nervous. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s going to be a problem?¡± asked Miguel. Colt shrugged, then removed his hat before scratching his head with his metal hand. ¡°No way to know for sure. The way I see it, some people don¡¯t know they have a fear until they¡¯re forced to confront it,¡± he said. ¡°Had a friend once like that. Couldn¡¯t handle bein¡¯ underwater, you see? But he didn¡¯t know it. Not ¡®til after he went through the scuba divin¡¯ course and got under the ocean. Had a panic attack right then and there. Almost died when he ripped his respirator out. Would have, weren¡¯t for his wife. I reckon this¡¯ll be like that. It¡¯s easy to take it if you know there¡¯s an easy way out, but when the way back is blocked, things get real complicated.¡± He focused on Miguel. ¡°How ¡®bout you? Feelin¡¯ nervous?¡± ¡°Of course I am. I don¡¯t like it down here. But I¡¯ll keep it under control,¡± Miguel answered. ¡°Good man,¡± Colt said, clapping him on the shoulder. ¡°Hopefully, th¡¯others¡¯ll take a similar mindset. I¡¯ll go let Katis know the situation.¡± With that, Colt left Miguel in the center of the camp and headed to the tent they¡¯d erected as their headquarters. For a moment, Miguel didn¡¯t know what to do, but he quickly homed in on Isaak, who was the closest thing to a friend he had among the others. The young man was sitting with his back against one of the walls, a small book open in his lap. The scratch of pen on paper greeted Miguel as he sat next to the Sorcerer. He briefly got a glimpse of what Isaak was working on before the other young man slammed the notebook shut and tucked it away. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Who was that?¡± Miguel asked, reaching for the book. Isaak pulled it out of reach, saying, ¡°Nobody. It¡¯s nothing. What did you find?¡± ¡°That was a girl.¡± ¡°I¡­uh¡­yeah? Okay. I like to draw.¡± ¡°She looked like an elf,¡± Miguel stated. ¡°Whatever. What do you want? Did you find a way back to the surface?¡± Isaak asked, clearly wanting to change the subject. But Miguel wasn¡¯t going to let him. ¡°You first. Then I¡¯ll tell you what I found.¡± Isaak sighed. ¡°Fine. But it¡¯s not a big deal, okay? I just like to draw.¡± ¡°You said that already. Let me see.¡± Isaak handed the notebook over. Miguel flipped through the first couple of pages, finding that it was filled with descriptions and drawings of various monsters and people. That wasn¡¯t so out-of-the-ordinary, so he didn¡¯t pay those much attention. Not until he reached the last drawing, which depicted the dark elf he¡¯d recently saved. ¡°This is good,¡± he said, and he meant it. Not that the depiction was perfect ¨C some of the proportions were off, and the ears were far too large. But it was definitely good. ¡°You should have taken the Artist class.¡± ¡°I¡¯d be dead if I had. Not much survivability for the Entertainer archetype. Not in the beginning, at least,¡± Isaak stated. ¡°Besides, just because I like to draw doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m an Artist.¡± ¡°Can¡¯t help but notice you put a lot of effort into that sketch.¡± Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. Isaak shrugged. ¡°I guess.¡± Miguel glanced at the other young man, noticing his fidgety mannerisms, and decided not to push the subject. It was clear that Isaak had developed something of a crush on the elf, which probably shouldn¡¯t have been surprising. By Earth standards, she was extraordinarily beautiful, even if Miguel thought she looked a little too alien. Regardless, he preferred Hope. ¡°Were you there when they interrogated her?¡± ¡°It was more of an interview than an interrogation,¡± Isaak stated. ¡°She wasn¡¯t trying to hide anything. In fact, she begged Katis to take her to the surface. She said she didn¡¯t care if they threw her in a cell, just so long as she wasn¡¯t underground anymore.¡± ¡°Damn. What is she running from?¡± ¡°Trolls.¡± ¡°There¡¯s more of them?¡± ¡°Yeah. And according to her, they¡¯re not wild like the one we killed. She says the elder race has come back to conquer this world and regain the prominence they once lost,¡± Isaak explained. ¡°Katis thinks it¡¯s nonsense, said it smacks of a tall tale. But something scared Ektara. That¡¯s for sure.¡± ¡°Ektara?¡± asked Miguel, using context clues to establish that he was talking about the elven prisoner. ¡°You¡¯re on a first-name basis now?¡± ¡°Shut up.¡± Miguel just grinned at the other young man¡¯s discomfort, but before he could tease Isaak further, a commotion broke out on the other side of the camp. The scouts, it seemed, had finally returned ¨C and one of them was in bad shape. Everyone in camp rushed to help the battered gnome, but Rasana waved them away. ¡°No time,¡± she said. ¡°We need to move.¡± ¡°What is it?¡± demanded Colt as he ducked out of the tent. ¡°Trolls. Real ones, like that dark elf described. They¡¯re coming this way, and fast. I outpaced them, but they¡¯ll be here in a few hours. We need to be gone by then,¡± the blue-haired gnome explained. Miguel noticed that she was supporting one of her arms with the other hand ¨C probably due to a dislocated shoulder or broken collarbone ¨C and she sported multiple contusions on her face. ¡°You heard ¡®er,¡± Katis announced. ¡°Break camp. Scouts, get ready to obscure our scent. Move it double-time!¡± The soldiers all broke into motion. For his part, Miguel raced back to his own tent ¨C which he¡¯d only just erected a couple of hours before ¨C and started breaking it down. In the meantime, he kept his eyes on the tunnel from which Rasana had come. She was the best scout of the entire group ¨C and probably in Ironshore ¨C but she wasn¡¯t known for her speed. If those trolls were really chasing her, then ¨C He heard them coming before they arrived. Not footsteps, like he might have expected, but rather, like a staccato drumbeat. Miguel abandoned his preparations for departure, racing toward that branch of the intersection. He wasn¡¯t the only one, either. Colt had heard it too, and he¡¯d brough ten other fighters with him. ¡°It doesn¡¯t sound like trolls,¡± one of the soldiers mumbled. ¡°You don¡¯t know what trolls sound like,¡± another pointed out. ¡°I smell something weird.¡± ¡°Shut up and be ready!¡± snapped Colt. Then, his eyes widened. Without any further explanation, he turned and shouted, ¡°Healer!¡± Just then, one of the fighters fell to her knees, clutching at her throat as her face turned blue. Someone coughed, hacking up phlegm, and even Miguel felt a little woozy ¨C like he¡¯d been running for too long and couldn¡¯t quite catch his breath. ¡°What is it?¡± he asked, already embracing Recover. It wouldn¡¯t last long, and the increase to his Regeneration wasn¡¯t as impactful as it once was. But it was better than nothing. Thankfully, it made the difference he needed to keep himself from asphyxiating. Colt shouted for the others to mimic that strategy, but Miguel had no chance to ascertain whether or not they had followed the Samurai¡¯s orders. Because even as the words left Colt¡¯s mouth, their enemy showed themselves. But they weren¡¯t trolls. Instead, it was a troop of mushroom creatures, each about four or five feet tall with wide caps in a variety of colors. They shrieked as one and descended upon the uneven line of defenders. Miguel met the first with the Blade of the Green Warden, lashing out and slicing a chunk of its cap free. Either the thing couldn¡¯t feel pain or it was too worked up to care about losing a chunk of its flesh, but it barely even reacted to the attack. Instead, it barreled into Miguel, knocking him back a couple of feet before he managed to regain his balance. The thing could have pressed the attack, but it seemed entirely disinterested in doing so. Instead, it hopped forward, trampling anything in its way ¨C including tents and any people who happened to stand in its path. Miguel snapped out another attack, and this one hit the thing¡¯s rubbery trunk. The attack bit deep, only losing its momentum when it stalled about halfway through. But that was enough, and the fungoid creature toppled over. There it lay, quivering as it attempted to inch forward. Then, as he tried to figure out what else to do, Miguel felt something hit him in the back. This time, he couldn¡¯t keep his feet, and the impact sent him sprawling onto his stomach. Something else hit him an instant later. Then another impact drove the breath from his lungs. And another after that. He managed to keep his wits about him as he felt one blow after another land. To counter it, he curled into a ball, cradling his head to protect it from any potential concussions. It went on for what felt like hours but was probably less than a minute. And when it was finished, Miguel knew he¡¯d broken multiple bones and probably sustained a couple of internal injuries that would resist any healing. He looked up to see the retreating forms of hundreds of mushroom creatures. Most were about the same size as the one he¡¯d downed, but some were at least as tall as a house. So, it was no wonder he¡¯d been so injured. One look around told him that he¡¯d gotten off light ¨C either because of his attributes or just luck, he wasn¡¯t certain. But scattered across the intersection was the aftermath of the stampede. Broken bodies lay were everywhere, many of which were unmoving. Miguel forced himself to his feet and staggered toward the closest. Dead. The second was merely unconscious, so he dragged him to the edge of the cavern. With the third, he couldn¡¯t tell ¨C probably because of his own state ¨C so he dragged her as well. By that point, a few others had risen and had begun to contribute. Over the next few minutes, Miguel and a few of the more powerful members of the group separated the dead from the wounded. Fortunately, Lala was among the survivors, and after a few minutes of recovery, she was up and Healing as much as she could. Without her efforts, more would have died. ¡°What was that?¡± Miguel asked when everyone was settled. ¡°We call them mycomen,¡± said the elf, who¡¯d survived, though with a broken arm. ¡°Nuisances, mostly. But when they stampede, they¡¯re deadly.¡± ¡°What were they running from?¡± ¡°I think you know the answer. There are trolls down there. Not sure how far, but they are coming. Spreading. They don¡¯t like the surface, but they¡¯ll spill out eventually. We¡¯re all dead. We just don¡¯t know it yet,¡± the elf breathed, clutching her arm to her side. ¡°Once they get a taste for humans, there will be no stopping them.¡± Katis narrowed her eyes, but she didn¡¯t immediately respond. Colt had no such reservations, and he said, ¡°You know these tunnels, right? How do we escape?¡± ¡°No escape. Just delay.¡± With that, the elf passed out. She wasn¡¯t among the top priorities for Lala to heal, and she¡¯d finally succumbed to her wounds. She would survive, but it would probably some time before she regained consciousness. ¡°What do we do?¡± asked Isaak. ¡°When animals are running, the best thing is to follow them. They usually know where they¡¯re going,¡± Miguel stated. ¡°It don¡¯t matter. There¡¯s only one way to go now,¡± Colt said, pointing the way the mushroom creatures had gone. ¡°Don¡¯t have much choice. Way I see it, we gotta go deeper.¡± No one gave voice to any other options, so it wasn¡¯t long before they¡¯d gathered their wounded, stripped the dead of anything valuable, and set out down the connected tunnel. All the while, Miguel kept looking back, convinced he¡¯d see something big, lanky, and hairy charging through the darkness.